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ISU researchers build app to connect excess food with those in need
BPC Staff Mar 7, 2018 | 5:05 pm
1 min read time167 wordsAll Latest News, HR & Education, Tech & Innovation
A research team at Iowa State University is developing a mobile-friendly app to enable restaurants, grocery stores and individuals to post information about excess food they have to donate. Likewise, those in need will be able to use the app to find nearby locations where food is available for pickup. The team is led by Sugam Sharma, a computer science expert and systems analyst at ISU’s Center for Survey Statistics and Methodology. He and his collaborators plan to test a prototype of the program, called eFeed-Hungers, this summer in Ames. An estimated 40 percent of the food produced in the United States is wasted, according to the USDA’s Economic Research Service. The researchers designed the software so donors can take the food to a public place, such as a food pantry or church serving free meals, for pickup and distribution. “We wanted to make it as simple as possible, so people will not hesitate to donate,” Sharma said. To read the ISU News Service story, click here.


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According to Dove’s new campaign, 3 out of 4 Indian women are rejected for their looks during the arranged marriage process.
Dove – Stop The Beauty Test
Dove’s #stopthebeautytest campaign has revealed the second leg of its promotional campaign covering a harsh truth about society. The video features a voice-over of a girl who shares all the comments the society has to share about them as soon as they reach a certain age. From having dark skin to curly hair and a curvy body, it is a contest where a report card is being made on how they look.
Dove also ran full print ads as part of this campaign. The ads were featured in the Sunday Times paper in different parts of the country.
Check this out:
HUL Chairman Sanjiv Mehta took to Linkedin to reshare the piece with a caption on daughter’s day. Here’s what he had to say,
“As a father to two lovely daughters, I feel deeply for the cause. You would agree that our children’s formative years are critical, and if done right, we set them up for life. Therefore, we must create an environment where girls can feel more confident about themselves and focus on who they are as individuals, not how they look,” he wrote as a caption to the video.
#Stopthebeautytrends Campaign Part-1
Dove’s campaigns relating to the beauty test have tried to draw emphasis on societal standards of beauty and how flawed these ideals are. The last edition of #StopTheBeautyTest also dealt with the issue of how women in arranged marriage scenarios are viewed. The film follows the story of different girls who had to fit into a certain beauty criterion to look appealing for the matrimonial proceedings.
Speaking on the initiative, Priya Nair, Executive Director, HUL & VP – Beauty and Personal Care South Asia, opined, “In a country of 631 million women, it is unfortunate that there is such intense pressure to adhere to one definition of beauty. Being owners of some of the largest beauty brands in the country. The onus to make beauty more positive and more inclusive is on us. Dove has always believed that beauty should be the source of confidence, not anxiety. With #StopTheBeautyTest, we want to go one step forward in that direction.”
Stay tuned to Brandsynario for the latest news and updates.

domain: news


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FDA approves Teva’s generic version of EpiPen
Today, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (TEVA) received FDA approval for the generic version of Mylan’s (MYL) allergy products EpiPen and EpiPen Jr. The epinephrine autoinjector is used to treat allergic reactions, including life-threatening condition of anaphylaxis.
The company received FDA approval for the use of the product in adults as well as children weighing more than 33 pounds. In 2016, Teva’s generic version of EpiPen was unable to secure FDA approval.
The FDA noted on August 16, “This epinephrine injection (auto-injector) is intended for immediate administration to patients. When given intramuscularly or subcutaneously, it has a rapid onset and short duration of action.”
Today, TEVA stock is shooting up and has gained ~7.5% in afternoon trading. MYL stock had declined during the earlier trading sessions but has been recovering in the afternoon.
Market opportunity for Teva’s generic EpiPen
According to the FDA, anaphylaxis occurs in one out of 50 people in the United States. Over the last few quarters, Mylan has been facing declining EpiPen sales amid increasing competition. Another factor is the supply shortage at its manufacturing partner Pfizer (PFE). Pfizer recently released a statement that the shortages are expected to continue through 2018.
The approval for the generic EpiPen came at a good time for Teva, which has an attractive market opportunity to fill in the gaps created by Mylan’s EpiPen. This is a critical time of the year, as school is about to start and EpiPen demand rises.
Because there is a significant EpiPen shortage in the market, which is expected to continue for some time, Teva has an opportunity to gain some of market share with its generic version of EpiPen.
In its August 16 announcement of the approval, the FDA noted, “This approval means patients living with severe allergies who require constant access to life-saving epinephrine should have a lower-cost option, as well as another approved product to help protect against potential drug shortages.”
Adamis Pharmaceuticals (ADMP) develops a competing pre-filled syringe Symjepi, which was approved in June 2017. Symjepi is expected to be launched soon, as the company recently identified Novartis (NVS) as its commercialization partner for the product in the United States. Today, ADMP stock is down ~17.0%.
The approval comes as a relief to Teva amid declining sales due to the Copaxone generic pressures and generic competition in the United States. However, the company is on track with its restructuring efforts, which are expected to cut costs and rebuild the company’s performance and sales.
Today, Teva also announced positive top-line results from the Phase 3 trial of its Fasinumab drug. This drug being developed for the treatment of patients with chronic pain from osteoarthritis of the hip or knee. The drug is being developed in collaboration with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN).
Check out all the data we’ve added to our quote pages. Now you can get a valuation snapshot, earnings and revenue estimates, and historical data, as well as dividend information. Take a look!


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Bad news Psychonauts 2 fans, The second instalment in the much-loved cult franchise has been delayed out of 2018.
The game was originally aiming for a 2018 Q3 release but earlier this week an update was posted to the game’s crowdfunding page on Fig detailing the game’s now larger production scale.
Speaking in the update, the developer said “[We know] how long it will take us to make it, and the amount of time we need to make it be great. From those projections we know that Psychonauts 2 will not be shipping in 2018, like we originally estimated when we published the Fig campaign two years ago,”
Multiple other details were also given on the game including new characters and concept art. No specific release date or window was given so we will have to wait and see when the game is likely to land in 2019.
Psychonauts 2 was announced back in 2015 and will now release in 2019, stay tuned for updates!


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Cheryl Hall from Dallas News reports that Donald and Barry Zale found a huge hole in their doughnut strategy: financing.
Donald, the 75-year-old former chief executive of Zale Corp., and his son, Barry, entered the hotly contested fast-food and coffee market 14 months ago with plans to build 70 Dunkin’ Donuts stores in North Texas.
“We had a wonderful line of credit that would have taken us to about 20 percent of our goal – 14, 15 stores,” Donald says.
The accent is on had and would have.
The Zale company, Texas Donuts LP, had four units open and three more in the works when that financing was yanked last fall.
“Lines of credit for all franchising simply collapsed,” Donald says. “I don’t remember exactly how we found out, but the message came through loud and clear: ‘Hey, don’t go building any more stores, because we don’t have any more money for you.’ ”
So the Zales, better known for sparkles than sprinkles, recently sold back their franchise territory and four stores to the Canton, Mass.-based company under amicable terms, Donald says. “We told the guys at Dunkin’ that we could run 400 stores or 40 stores and be profitable. But we couldn’t run four and make a profit.”
What about the lawsuit Texas Donuts filed against Dunkin’?
“That was just to preserve jurisdiction in Dallas in case we had to go to court,” he says.
The Zales were supposed to be part of a three-pronged Lone Star invasion by Dunkin’ Donuts. Now the Dunkin’ faithful may have to wait longer than they hoped.
Richard Gussoni, restaurateur and owner of Culinaire, a $75 million Dallas catering company, says he’s moving forward with plans to build Dunkin’ stores in Collin County, northern Tarrant County and Austin, but at a slower pace.
“The capital for big expansion just isn’t there,” says Gussoni, who has six Dunkin’ Donuts stores open. “But even in this downturn, we’re looking for real estate that would suit our needs. We have three [larger] flagship stores – two in Austin and one in Hurst – that are doing dynamite for us.”
Dallas businessman Michael Weinberg, who heads D3FW Operating LLC, has opened four stores and a unit in a Wal-Mart.
Recession is proving to be a mixed blessing, Weinberg says. Real estate is cheaper and existing sites are opening up, but bank financing is extremely hard to pin down. “People are eating the doughnuts. That’s not the problem. Banks don’t want to lend on anything right now. That’s our frustration.”
The folks at Dunkin’ Donuts headquarters say the company is committed to a “steady and strategic expansion” in North Texas and is looking for experienced operators.
Margie Myers, senior vice president of global communications for Dunkin’ Brands Inc., says the four stores acquired from the Zales have posted significant sales increases in the six weeks since Dunkin’ has owned them.
So what have the Zales, who’ve also invested in Blockbuster franchises and previously in Palm Beach Tan salons, learned about the quick-service food trade?
Size matters – even more than they thought. Operators need to be large-scale immediately to generate enough money to compete with “everyone who’s on television all day long – Sonic, Jack in the Box, McDonald’s. You have to be out there constantly hustling. You’ve got to sell a lot of coffee. You’ve got to sell a lot of everything,” Donald says.
Donald says he’s been talking with venture capital buddies who are doing workout deals for banks with troubled assets. They need retail expertise. “I’d love to do something like that.”
And his family’s corporate namesake has been seeking his counsel.
“They invited me out to visit with them two weeks ago. It was really fun, and they treated me very nicely,” says Donald, who hasn’t exactly been an insider since the buyout of Zale Corp. in the late 1980s. “Jack Lowe [who became Zale chairman 18 months ago] is a good friend of mine.”
As for Barry, he’s running the family’s seven Blockbuster stores – five in the Northeast and two in Arkansas.
He has an iron in the fire that he’s not willing to talk about yet. “If that falls through, then I’ve got my backup plan to start playing with sparkly things again,” he says. “And no, I’m not talking about sprinkles on doughnuts.”


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JERSEY CITY, N.J., Dec. 12, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Royal Biologics, an ortho-biologics company who specializes in the research and advancement of regenerative cellular therapy, has announced the launch of Maxx-Cell, the world's most advanced bone marrow aspiration device.
Maxx™-Cell offers a new technique to a gold standard approach of aspirating a patients autologous bone marrow cells. Maxx™-Cell however does not require centrifugation to deliver a final end product. The Maxx™-Cell system maximizes stem and progenitor cell yields by giving the surgeon the ability to efficiently harvest bone marrow from multiple levels within the medullary space, while restricting dilution of peripheral blood. As a result Maxx-Cell delivers the highest, most pure enriched form of bone marrow aspirate without the need for centrifugation.
"We are excited to release Maxx™-Cell into the marketplace and bring a new ability to harvest the bodies mesenchymal and progenitor cells," says Salvatore Leo, Chief Executive Officer of Royal Biologics. "Autologous cellular based therapy gives the surgeon a quick and effective way to enhance fusions and provide alternatives to surgery for soft tissue related injuries. We also believe that in a cost conscience industry we can provide the most live viable cellular product, point of care for a fraction of the cost of other premium live cellular-based products."
With Maxx™-Cell clinicians can reduce the cost of utilizing high-priced biologics while delivering better regenerative solutions as compared to other industry options. Maxx-Cell can be used in a wide array of clinical settings including both in-patient and outpatient procedures.
Royal Biologics has released a new video presentation on their company website to show users an enhanced look at obtaining viable bone marrow cells with this new technology.
"Our new Maxx™-Cell Video is very compelling and features the technique that drives the technology. We encourage users to watch to learn how effective the device can be for various applications in orthopedics," says Leo.
To watch the new Maxx™-Cell Video and learn more about the range of regenerative medical products offered by Royal Biologics, visit http://www.RoyalBiologics.com.
SOURCE Royal Biologics


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This week Macy's (NYSE: M) announced that it would be opening its doors on Thanksgiving Day for the first time in the company's history. Now, it looks like holiday deal-hunters will be able to get a sneak peek at Macy's doorbusters since the retailer's Black Friday ad has leaked online.
Bfads.net published the entire Macy's ad on its website Thursday, October 17. Usually, the site posts deals much closer to Black Friday, which falls on November 29 this year. Black Friday ads for Sears (NASDAQ: SHLD), Harbor Freight and part of the Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) ad are also available on the website.
Macy's spokeswoman Holly Thomas said the company has not publicized any ads for Black Friday and will not advertise its Black Friday specials until closer to the holiday in November. "We discourage customers from relying on unauthorized ads posted by third parties because they may not necessarily be accurate," Thomas told The Wall Street Journal.
The 15-page Macy's Black Friday ad reveals limited-time sales across nearly every department in the store. Items featured in the circular are marked down with doorbuster prices that start at 8 p.m. Thanksgiving Day and end 1 p.m. on Friday. To get shoppers in the doors early, the ad also shows the price each item will increase to at 1 p.m. along with the full retail price. Customers will also be able to redeem a coupon included in the ad between 8 p.m. Thursday and 1 p.m. Friday, and on Saturday until 1 p.m. for $10 off a $25 purchase.
For more see:
-This Wall Street Journal article
-This Examiner article
Macy's To Open Its Stores On Thanksgiving Day
Macy's Shelves E-Commerce Expansion in China – For Now
Macy's Ship-From-Store Scales Up To 20,000-Plus Daily Orders
Amazon, Macy's Positive About Holiday Spending
Walmart Boosts Ad Spending On NFL Broadcast For Thanksgiving Day


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GREENVILLE, S.C. — The "generous stranger" who spent over $500 on cookies so two Girl Scouts wouldn't have to stand in the cold, has been arrested by U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.
"This man purchased seven packs of cookies. Gave the girls $40, told them to keep the change. Then he came back to the table and said, 'Pack up all of your cookies. I'm taking them all so y'all can get out of this cold,'" Kayla Dillard, the troop's cookie sales manager, wrote in a now-viral Facebook post. "$540 he spent on cookies. What an amazing soul!!!!"
© 2020 Cox Media Group


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Today Call of Duty maker, Activision Blizzard, announced that its stockholders have agreed to Microsoft's proposal to purchase the publisher.
The transaction is expected to close during Microsoft's fiscal year ending in June 30, 2023.
During the special meeting held today, more than 98% of the shares were in favor of the acquisition deal.
"Today's overwhelmingly supportive vote by our stockholders confirms our shared belief that, combined with Microsoft, we will be even better positioned to create great value for our players, even greater opportunities for our employees, and to continue our focus on becoming an inspiring example of a welcoming, respectful, and inclusive workplace," said Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick.
The acquisition deal has also received some skepticism from certain groups since its announcement.
In March, a group of organizations released a letter asking the Federal Trade Commission to closely monitor Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard.
Whereas US senators also urged the agency to look further into the purchase proposal.
Earlier in April, the SOC Investment Group penned a letter asking the company's shareholders to vote against Microsoft's purchase of the Call of Duty maker.


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Jotun, one of the world's leading coating brands for industrial protection, has launched the unique Thermosafe range, enabling customers operating at higher temperatures with enhanced safety, efficiency and productivity.
The company aims to cater to the onshore oil, gas and chemical industries which are evolving, and require protective coating solutions to keep pace with ever more extreme demands.
With the long life of a coating system and effective protection of facility assets growing in importance, Thermosafe was developed to enhance operational efficiency, cut costs, reduce maintenance and increase on-site safety, said a statement from the company.
Thermosafe compromises five products created to suit specific extreme environments – including temperature ranges from -196C to 1000C, thermal exposure, corrosion, fire, cryogenic spills and heat enabling better corrosion protection and reduced maintenance needs, it said.
Miles Buckhurst, global concept director HPI at Jotun, said: “We work hand-in-hand with our global customer base in order to gain an intimate understanding of their operations.”
“That insight tells us that the shift to higher temperatures, to help optimise processing and productivity, requires a new generation of coating. Thermosafe is a direct response to that demand,” he said.
Buckhurst continued: “The unbeatable protection these products deliver will allow customers to reduce material and maintenance costs, enhance safety standards, increase efficiency, and boost earnings by decreasing the amount of maintenance needed, and by bringing facilities back online faster after shut downs.”
“We also understand that this is not a ‘one size fits all’ industry, so have utilised our established expertise to tailor solutions specifically for individual customer requirements,” he added.
This is clearly demonstrated across the Thermosafe range. For example, Jotatemp 250 provides anti-corrosive protection for continuous operations of up to 250 degrees, providing optimal cost efficiency for customers operating within this threshold. However, those with the potential to experience anything from the lowest liquid gas temperatures up the extremes of burning hydrocarbons can choose Jotatemp 1000 Ceramic for optimum protection up to 1000 degrees, it added.
The full Thermosafe range, which also features mesh free epoxy passive fire protection (PFP) solutions and thermal insulation for cryogenic spills, safeguards against a comprehensive spectrum of threats, from thermal exposure, to corrosion, fires and heat, said a statement.
Buckhurst said: “We have used a significant amount of resources to develop unique solutions catering for the needs of this fast-growing segment concludes.”
“The onshore oil, gas and chemical industries are some of the most demanding in the world, and they deserve coatings that can help them fulfil their potential. We are dedicated to delivering unrivalled performance – in our products and, as a consequence, for our customers’ operations worldwide,” he concluded. – TradeArabia News Service


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‘Call of Duty’ Sets Sales Record
Activision Blizzard Inc. ATVI +1.71%said sales of “Call of Duty: Black Ops II,” the latest in its war-simulation-shooting series of games, topped $500 million in retail sales during its first day on the market.
The game, which puts players front and center in near-future wars in American cities, went on sale Nov. 13, a week after Microsoft Corp. MSFT +0.78%released “Halo 4,” its latest space-age alien-shooting-adventure title. That game, which was in development for four years and cost an estimated $40 million to produce, had more than $220 million in sales in its first 24 hours of availability despite being exclusively available on Microsoft’s Xbox 360 videogame console.
“Call of Duty,” by comparison, was launched on both the Xbox and Sony Corp.’s 6758.TO +0.12%PlayStation 3, and it will be on Nintendo Co.’s 7974.OK -2.62%upcoming Wii U console. Both games cost about $60 apiece.
Activision’s stock rose 4.7% to $11.06 following the news Friday.
Activision, based in Santa Monica, Calif., said the $500 million in global retail sales came after millions of fans had attended more than 16,000 midnight openings for the game at retail stores world-wide.
“Every November we do more than just the launch of a game, we kick off an annual, unofficial but world-wide phenomenon called the “Call of Duty” season,” Eric Hirshberg, head of the company’s Activision Publishing arm, said.
Game-industry veterans are looking to the two titles, as well as games like Ubisoft Entertainment SA’s UBI.FR +3.96%action-adventure game “Assassin’s Creed III,” to reverse a protracted slump in retail-videogame sales that has led to overall sales contractions for nearly a full year.
Analysts have blamed both a lack of new titles and stale videogame hardware for the falling sales, saying new consoles like Nintendo’s Wii U should help to energize customers.
“One month of contraction is not a good thing, and we’ve been swimming upstream in this category since December,” Paul Raines, chief executive of GameStop Corp., said in a recent interview.
The lack of certainty around customer interest in both the Wii U and traditional videogames has made investors nervous, however, leading shares of Activision to have fallen by more than 10% and stock in Electronic Arts Inc. EA +5.06%to have declined by more than a third so far this year.
“Even the analysts can’t forecast this business—it’s unbelievable,” Mr. Raines added.
Regardless of overall industry sales, concerns over whether the latest in a string of annual installments for “Call of Duty” could perform have been calmed for now. Last year’s “Call of Duty” title, “Modern Warfare 3,” rang up $400 million in sales in North America and the U.K. during its first day on the market. That game went on to top $1 billion in sales within its first 16 days, beating a record set by the box-office sales of “Avatar,” the feature film that reached that milestone within 17 days.


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San Francisco: Google Inc. cut the time it keeps the personal search records of its users, an effort to quell privacy concerns raised by European regulators.
The owner of the most popular Internet search engine will retain the records for 18 months, down from 24. Google described the new policy in a post on its website written by Peter Fleischer, chief privacy lawyer for the Mountain View, California-based company.
Privacy groups have expressed concern that search engines collect too much user information during Internet queries. Google said last month it received a letter from the EU’s data-protection advisory agency asking the company to explain why it keeps records of users’ searches. Fleischer responded by sending a letter on 10 June to Peter Schaar, chairman of the EU’s Data Protection Working Party in Brussels.
“A public discussion is needed between officials working in data protection and law enforcement to resolve these issues,” Fleischer wrote in the letter.
Google needs to keep logs of personal queries to refine the quality of searches and to prevent fraud and abuse, Fleischer said. He also said there was confusion throughout Europe about different countries’ privacy guidelines.
Google’s new policy comes three days after Privacy International, a London-based advocacy group, issued a report entitled “A Race to the Bottom” calling Google the worst violator of Internet users’ privacy.
The group’s report said Google displayed “comprehensive consumer surveillance and entrenched hostility to privacy.”
Meanwhile, Google Inc. on Wednesday announced that its popular video sharing site, YouTube, will begin testing video recognition technology in an effort to help remove pirated content.
The test will begin next month with hopes that the software, designed to recognize copyright content in videos, will be ready to roll out later this year, the company said. The testing will be in conjunction with partners Time Warner Inc. and The Walt Disney Co. Google Inc. has pledged to adopt some kind of solution to identify copyright content on its site so it can remove pirated content or negotiate with owners for a license.
Gary Gentile of AP contributed to this story.


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Toukiden launched just over a year ago in Japan and is already set to receive its first major expansion next month. Dubbed Toukiden Kiwami or “Toukiden Extreme”, this standalone revised version of the game will be released on August 28th, including new features and additions.
Chief among these add-ons are three new weapon-types including the naginata, spiked club, and rifle. On top of that, players can expect new Oni to slay and challenges to tackle.
Even the Mitama system is getting a bit of a shake-up. In a nutshell, each Mitama has four prescribed active skills mapped to the Vita’s face buttons. These skills mitigate a variety of buffs when in battle though some are pretty useless or just don’t mix well with others. In Kiwami, the game will allow players to customise their own load-out, slotting up to four skills of their choosing.
We reviewed Toukiden earlier this year and, though not as strong as Monster Hunter, the series definitely has legs and could become a PlayStation Vita flagship in the near future.


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A growing trend of try-now-pay-later options for customers is threatening a ‘returns tsunami’.
According to a new report released today by cloud-based ERP Brightpearl, the practices of companies such as ASOS, Topman and schuh have hidden dangers that could potentially overwhelm retailers as a huge surge of intentional returns may undermine profits.
The study, entitled Try Before You Buy: a returns tsunami for retail, reveals that the try-before-you-buy trend will have a major impact on both purchase behaviour and, of course, returns.
Over three quarters of consumers (76 per cent) surveyed said that they would ‘definitely’ or ‘maybe’ purchase more items if offered a try-before-you-buy option, with shoppers ordering on average three extra items each month, only to return them without ever paying a penny.
An even higher number (87 per cent) would return up to seven purchases – with research showing that 85 per cent of consumers expect retailers to provide returns for free.
This trend in consumer behaviour has not gone unnoticed. More than 40 per cent of retailers have seen a marked increase in ‘intentional returns’ over the past twelve months, when customers deliberately over-order multiple items knowing returns are free or cheap.
More than half (51 per cent) of the surveyed retailers agreed that their margins are being strongly impacted by the process of handling and packaging returns and 72 per cent believe they will be squeezed even further as the try-before-you-buy trend intensifies.
It would seem that the try-before-you-buy model is going nowhere soon, with 17 per cent of global retailers having already adopted it. The report predicts that by 2019, more than a quarter will offer this type of service to customers.
The study also revealed that a ‘staggering’ 69 per cent of retailers are not deploying any technology solutions to process returns. This is despite the complexity of managing returns, with the average returned purchase passing through seven people before it’s listed for resale.
It’s not all doom and gloom for smaller, independent businesses though as high growth and medium-sized businesses will be the most exposed. 70 per cent worried that try-before-you-buy services will affect their profitability.
Derek O’Carroll, CEO of Brightpearl commented on the study’s findings: “For consumers, try-before-you-buy is a positive trend, removing another barrier to purchase.
“The good news for retailers is that this will almost certainly lead to an uplift in sales. Our study indicates that shoppers want the option to order items such as clothes online but only pay once they decide to keep them, so it’s something that all retailers will need to consider to remain competitive.
“However, this trend could spell disaster for retail business owners if they do not prepare by having the right framework and solutions in place to manage returns. And, they’ll need to do so quickly as the trend becomes more widely adopted over the next year.
“Consumers will buy more, but retailers must be ready for a potential flood of returns. With shoppers indicating that they could return an extra three items a month on average, it could spell an unmanageable tsunami of returns for some merchants.”
The study also revealed that beyond an expectation for free returns, shoppers also want their returns to be processed faster. It currently takes an average of six days for consumers to receive reimbursement on returning items, but the perceived acceptable time frame is only three to five days.
“When you consider all handling, transport, admin and possible repacking, the costs of returning an item into your supply chain could be double that of delivering it” said Gareth Austin Jones, of Cocorose London, a leading footwear brand based in the capital.
"For retailers to capitalise on try-before-you-buy without cannibalising margins, they must have the right systems in place to optimise the returns process and ensure end-to-end visibility over factors such as available cash flow and inventory in the system – all of which could cause major pain points.
“Returns has been a growing issue for retail, and this research reveals the faultline runs deeper than expected. If retailers don’t prepare now, the impact on return rates could cause devastation for online retailers who are already seeing their margins being squeezed considerably.”
O’Carrol added: “It is not all bad news; the fact that two thirds of retailers are still processing returns ‘by hand’ shows that with the right preparation, and by exploiting the relevant technology, forward-thinking merchants should be able to turn the tsunami into a tide of fresh profits.”
This report investigates the shifting consumer attitudes towards try-before-you-buy, juxtaposing these views with the observations of retailers. Working in partnership with OnePoll, Brightpearl canvassed the opinions of 200 retailers in the United States and the United Kingdom and the views of 4,000 consumers in these markets. Respondents represent a cross section of consumers alongside retailers ranging from independent to enterprise level.
The full report is available for download at https://info.brightpearl.com/returns-tsunami-for-retail.


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Perfect storm of financial blows spells danger for entrepreneurs’ mental health
Entrepreneurs are facing a perfect storm of financial issues, which will have a detrimental impact on SME-owner’s mental health, according to new research.
These mounting business pressures have been brought about by the National Insurance increase, the cliff edge ending of furlough, and other financial pandemic support, as well as ongoing supply chain issues and concerns over the gas shortage and rising energy prices.
The vast majority (91%) of SME owners have had concerns about their financial situation at some point, with more than a third (36%) confessing to worrying often about their financial standing. The Accountancy Partnership, a provider of online accounting services, conducted the research into the state of SME-owners mental health, following a rise in calls from concerned entrepreneurs.
The research also found 12% of entrepreneurs have sought professional help over the state of their mental health, while a quarter (24%) have spoken to a friend or family member as a result of a decline in their wellbeing.
Lee Murphy, managing director at The Accountancy Partnership, said: “The current mix of economic and business pressures has the potential to paint a bleak picture for many of the UK’s small business owners. This on top of what has been a difficult 18 months for everyone could lead to a considerable decline in mental state of millions of entrepreneurs. We have seen examples of this ourselves with a surge in enquiries as owners seek to get their financial affairs in order.
“It is clear from our research that financial health has a direct impact on overall mental health, with a quarter of entrepreneurs citing difficulties supporting themselves financially as the main issue that has made working for themselves less enjoyable than they expected.
“While funding a strong health and social care system in the UK is important, the National Insurance hike will disproportionately affect small businesses which do not have the disposable income to cover the increased price of staffing. The new rate, an increase of 1.25 percent, means that an employee on the living wage outside of London will cost their employer £241.87 per year more in National Insurance. Self-employed sole traders are taxed on income after business expenses and as they pay their own salary, a tax on earnings will directly reduce income.
“In addition, Coronavirus financial support measures, such as furlough and business grants are coming to an end imminently, there are serious supply chain issues in the UK, and gas supply problems are bringing about fears of energy prices rocketing, which all threaten business profitability.
“This perfect storm is likely to be daunting for small business owners, so the most important advice is to understand and prepare as early as possible. Speaking to a finance professional as early as possible will allow entrepreneurs to assess their current cash flow and explore options that help minimise the financial impact on both the business and employees. Having a robust plan in place to manage troubles arising from increased taxation and running costs will make the transition smoother and keep financial concerns arising as a result to a minimum.”


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The head of the Central Bank Miguel Angel Pesce spoke of the strong inflation that began to accelerate at the beginning of this year and the request of some sectors to dollarize the economy. He counted the pros and cons of this last process and was hopeful that the government of Alberto Fernández will manage to lower once and for all the inflation that is expected for March will be around 6%, mainly as a result of the strong increase in prices.
“Some talk about dollarization and sell it to you as something possible, but they do not explain that to get to that you have to make a tremendous adjustment”. Pesce spoke of that possibility that has gained strength in recent days and clarified that whoever speaks of dollarizing does not tell everything there is to know about it because he is looking for votes. “They come up with something that sounds nice to cover up the previous steps to get there such as the strong adjustment that would have to be made in public and social spending”.
In another order of things, the head of the monetary entity was harsh against food companies that in recent weeks have increased the prices of products in the context of the war between Russia and Ukraine. For Pesce, the path is to go for increased production rather than rebranding. “If we don’t get mass consumption companies to invest and increase production, we’re going to have inflation”said.
In an interview on C5N, the economist claimed to be concerned about rising prices. “Argentina came with exuberant inflation in 2018 and 2019, driven by the adjustment shock in the exchange rate. It was able to moderate in 2020, and in 2021 we had the first international price shock and now again”, he explained.
“If we were in an economy with 2% unemployment and 4% poor and international credit, the equation is easily solved: it can open the economy, cause a fall in aggregate demand and moderate inflation”Fish said. And in that line he added: “Argentina does not have international credit and has 40% poverty. We are not in a position to apply adjustments to those characteristics.”
The way out of an inflationary spiral, he considered, has to be “with growth and this is not a slogan, it is an objective fact”. “We have to generate this growth process and inflation has to begin to give way in a process that is not going to be a shock,” he added.
But for Pesce it is fundamental that “mass consumer companies respond to the pulls of the aggregate demand by the results of the parity and public policies, with more production and not with more price increases”, Pesce assured.
“What we need is to grow”, said. And he pointed out: “Many of the companies that produce mass consumption products, which have an 80% impact on the market, in many products are working at the limit of installed capacity. And when you have a cliff of US$19,000 million, which was the obligation with the IMF this year and the next, there is no one to invest”.
“The big bet is growth. We can have the best parities, the best social policies, but if we don’t get those companies that have to produce goods to satisfy demand to not invest and not increase production, we will have inflation and not growth”, he added.
For the economist, Argentina had a serious problem in its external sector to grow since “He had borrowed rapidly from 2016 to 2019. Removed those obstacles, today it has a horizon of possible growth”, he pointed out.
In this sense, he spoke of foreign trade and the surplus of the trade balance. “Exports, which were US$60 billion in the last five years, last year were US$70 billion and this year we expect US$80 billion,” he said.
Regarding what could happen in the future, Pesce pointed out that exchange rate stability helps to contain inflation, and that the rise in rates and the agreement with the IMF bring air. “We expect inflation to be less than 50% and we have even included it in our agreement with the IMF. We do not make forecasts but we hope it will be less, ” assured.
Regarding the exchange rate, the economist said that in order to definitively remove it “We have to improve the capital market”, said. “Argentina does not have a saving problem. have a lot of savings. You have a problem that you cannot transform your savings into investment. When we get that, it will be a key issue to overcome the stocks, ”she indicated.


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To help restaurants get back on their feet, a host of US states have permitted restricted reopening, making use of outdoor space. While it may be easy for some, it's impossible for others. And while such limited reopenings are a good start, they won’t suffice to keep many eateries afloat,
While big players like Grubhub and Doordash try to get every restaurant in the United States on their platform, smaller companies like Chowbus are doing things a little differently. Instead, they go narrow and deep; Chowbus only features Chinese restaurants, building a more loyal user base. It may present a new blueprint for food delivery apps.
Restaurants may be slowly reopening, but vending machines are in the midst of a renaissance. Before, automat-style choices were futuristic oddities. Now, a number of companies are pitting their growth on building machines that can serve food. Social distancing is still in full effect, so perhaps these machines will be the future of food service.
Before the pandemic, the used car sales app Carvana targeted a generation of socially awkward app-users, many of whom were finally aging into buying their first car. Enter coronavirus, and a social distancing-ready purchasing system suddenly made sense for every generation of Americans -- including those well acquainted with the patter of a used car salesman. The question remains whether or not this car buying model will last.
With restaurants closed, high-end establishments are offering what could be considered the antidote to Blue Apron. These meal kits aim to offer finer dining options with a possibly more sustainable business model than other meal kit predecessors. Whether or not these restaurants keep offering them once establishments reopen remains to be seen.
The Amazon Advertising Strategies Virtual Forum is a series of presentations, workshops and talks taking place over three mornings that’ll help you navigate and survive our current crisis and the acceleration of e-commerce that has come with it.Register Now


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EVER SINCE e-cigarettes began surging in popularity, they have posed a vexing problem: These nicotine-delivery devices may help some adults quit smoking, which is more dangerous than vaping, but also may addict nonsmokers to nicotine, especially curious teenagers. The Trump administration took a major step on Wednesday to reduce the appeal to young nonsmokers. The hope is that the move will not also lead fewer adult smokers to quit.
An earlier version of this editorial mistakenly reported on when flavored e-cigarette manufacturers could apply to regain access to the U.S. market. They can currently apply to regain access. This version has been updated.
Flanked by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and first lady Melania Trump, President Trump announced that the Food and Drug Administration would ban flavored e-cigarette products from the market — except those that taste like tobacco smoke. Research backs the common-sense assumption that differently flavored vaping fluids — mango, mint, cotton candy — appeal to high schoolers unused to tobacco’s harsh taste. Current smokers seeking alternatives, meanwhile, would still have vaping liquids in a taste to which they have become accustomed.
The move is an implicit admission that the FDA’s efforts to date have not done enough to arrest youth vaping. Last November, regulators introduced seemingly strict new rules on the sale of flavored e-liquids; they could be sold only in special, age-controlled shops or on websites with careful age verification. But disheartening new federal data show that youth vaping remains an enormous problem. Initial information from the National Youth Tobacco Survey shows that more than a quarter of high schoolers report having used an e-cigarette in the past 30 days — mostly fruit- or mint-flavored.
The FDA might have given its previous rules more time to play out. But based on the alarming survey, the agency was right to act. The priority must be to prevent a new generation of nicotine addicts. Even if vaping is less dangerous than smoking combustible cigarettes, nicotine itself affects adolescent brain development. The health effects of vaping also remain uncertain — a fact underscored by a spate of recent illnesses and deaths apparently related to e-cigarette use.
But e-cigarettes do appear to have substantial appeal to smokers seeking alternatives. A study published in January found that smokers who were given e-cigarettes were more likely to successfully stop smoking combustible cigarettes than those given nicotine patches or gums. Drug-based smoking-cessation products are also an effective option, but there is no doubt a class of people for whom vaping is the best off-ramp. And some of them might be less interested without a variety of flavor options.
This might not be the end of the road for flavored e-cigarette products. Manufacturers can apply to regain access to the U.S. market; they would have to convince the FDA that their products protect public health. This means FDA regulators must still consider whether there is a way to market flavored e-liquids exclusively to those who should have access to them. In the meantime, they should move forward with banning flavored cigars, too.


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Big retailer Sears Holdings Corp. is turning its flagship Web site, Sears.com, into a shopping site that could offer more merchandise, more categories and more features than its legendary Big Book. In the past few months, Sears has added more than 250,000 music offerings, movies and video games to the site; opened an online software boutique for downloading programs for taxes, graphics, finances and computer security; and recently began selling books online for the first time.
From time to time, eM+C Weekly e-letter readers will have an opportunity to get to know a member of our Editorial Advisory Board. This month, meet Reggie Brady, president of Norwalk, Conn.-based Reggie Brady Marketing Solutions, an e-marketing and direct marketing consulting firm.
TV Guide certainly has gone through a transformation. The publication — a division of Gemstar-TV Guide International, a leading media company based in New York — has morphed from a journal used by consumers solely to check TV listings into a full-on entertainment publication.
Who are Bang & Olufsen buyers? In the mid-1990s, Bang & Olufsen began an aggressive campaign to expand its share of the audiophile market. When building a business, it's a good idea to (1) know who your customers are and (2) go where they are. At the time Bang & Olufsen was operating on the assumption that its typical buyer was a single professional male between the ages of 25 and 30 with an average income of $50,000. Wrong. For example, at the time we bought our first B&O rig, I was 42; when we bought the table model 15 years later I


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Coingecko bitcoin gold gbp
Bitcoin could go the desired for foreign aid Available to the Individuals tracking, the fin-tech bullion will work on indicators, like many and special activities, and will be professional related software and causation. Devising payments Zuckerberg has coingecko bitcoin gold gbp hinted at his work to spend the network's payment options.coingecko bitcoin gold gbp gave two blockchain experts from a world cryptocurrency being. Mikheil Moucharrafie and Urban Cartwright from Coinbase repetitive on their social media accounts that they were kind Facebook to work on mining. The charge has also saw a status education on Instagram, sulphur it straight to purchase products and technology makes directly on the project-sharing app..


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RP Sanjeev Goenka Group’s flagship company CESC was on Thursday restructured into four separate companies, with Rs 66 crore worth of fresh share capital being issued to existing share holders. The CESC board on Thursday cleared a long-standing proposal following which group chairman Sanjeev Goenka announced that CESC Ltd has been split to CESC Generation, CESC Distribution, Spencer’s Retail and CESC Ventures.
All the four entities will be listed and the effective date will be October 1. CESC has already given intimation to the National Company Law Tribunal to facilitate the listing of the four separate entities. The company’s entire 2500 MW generation will come under CESC Generation.
Its entire power distribution business in Kolkata, Noida, Bikaner and Bharatpur will come under the distribution company, which will retain its name as CESC Ltd. Spencer’s Retail, from a CESC subsidiary, will be transformed into an independent company. All the other businesses including the recently-launched FMCG, sports, BPO and others will come under CESC Ventures.


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In August, Jas Brar and his team at Entripy Custom Clothing, an Oakville, Ont. company that provides embroidery and screenprinting, inked a new partnership with Air Miles that they hoped would help set the company apart from its competitors. But the timing couldn't have been worse.
As Entripy launched its marketing campaign this fall, Air Miles collectors across the country began lashing out against the loyalty program on social media, complaining about a policy that would have seen miles five years or older expire.
"We're here with staff all excited about the fact we're now offering Air Miles and meanwhile our customers are reading in the paper that Air Miles is about to screw everybody," says Mr. Brar, founder and CEO. "It definitely put a damper on things."
In recent years, Air Miles has attempted to persuade small and mid-sized businesses across Canada to offer Air Miles to their customers. These businesses don't have to sign up as official partners. Instead they buy Air Miles on a promotional basis and then give them away to their customers as gifts or incentives or tie them into a promotion for their business.
But the program isn't cheap, and many small- and medium-sized businesses were dismayed to find storm clouds brewing over Air Miles' announcement earlier in 2016 that customers must use up their miles or see them expire in five years. Although collectors initially paid scant attention, as the deadline loomed they grew increasingly irate. On Dec. 1, LoyaltyOne, the company that runs Air Miles, announced it would reverse its decision.
Mr. Brar says he originally signed on to offer Air Miles because it allowed business owners, who are one of his primary customer groups, to be rewarded for their purchases with points. Ordering $500 to $1,000 worth of custom T-shirts, hats or aprons "can get you a lot of points fairly quickly, as opposed to trying to get them $10 at a time at the grocery store," he says.
He was attracted to Air Miles by its long track record and national reach, with about 11 million users across Canada. "That's important to us because we ship coast to coast," Mr. Brar says. "It seemed like a good fit because so many households in the country were already using an Air Miles card."
But although the reaction from Mr. Brar's customers wasn't aggressively negative, he says, "we'd get these quasi-sarcastic comments like, 'Wow, you're offering Air Miles – great! We'll just add these up and they'll be taken away in a few months anyway.'"
The issue he heard about most from customers? It took forever to get through to the call centre to redeem points. "I think it was the panic to redeem that was the bigger concern," he says.
On the plus side, clients were still eager to hand over their collector numbers. "Collectors who recognized that Air Miles logo were very quick to start submitting their Air Miles numbers with us," Mr. Brar says. "We haven't done a full quantitative report, but at first glance I'd say about two-thirds of transactions have some kind of Air Miles component to them."
Chris Warwaruk, co-owner of craft brewer Farmery Estate Brewery in Neepawa, Manitoba, is hoping there won't be any residual bitterness on the part of his clients over the controversy. "We made the commitment [to offer Air Miles] a couple of months ago," he says. "And to be honest, I was completely in the dark – I didn't even realize there was this controversy in the background."
For his company, which currently sells its craft beer in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Air Miles represented a significant marketing investment, he says. "Companies like ours actually pre-buy the Air Miles," Mr. Warwaruk says. His company paid 39 cents per mile, with a minimum purchase of seven per case of beer. "That means I'm paying Air Miles $2.80 on each case to purchase Air Miles and give them to the consumer," Mr. Warwaruk says.
In a strange twist of fate, Farmery Estates' Air Miles offering went live the same day Air Miles announced the deadline to use up points would be eliminated. "We took a breath of relief," Mr. Warwaruk says. He hopes the "any publicity is good publicity" principle will apply. "Having Air Miles in the news and on everyone's lips might not hurt now that the controversy has been ironed out," he says.
However, some Air Miles collectors remain angry, including some who rushed to redeem their points before the reversal was announced. A class action lawsuit is also in the works. Mr. Warwaruk says he'll be better able to evaluate his Air Miles partnership in the weeks to come.
"We're taking the plunge and investing our money in this program and we expect to have a good bang for our buck. If we don't see a big bump in sales then it's going to be a very easy decision to go with a different option in future."


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This article is more than 1 year old
EU vetoes O2 and Three merger: Hutchison mulls legal challenge
Ofcom whispers 'non' into EU's ear, regulator over the water sleepily agrees
Hutchison is considering a legal challenge against the EU over its decision today to block the proposed £10.25bn merger between mobile operators Three and O2.
"We will study the commission’s decision in detail and will be considering our options, including the possibility of a legal challenge," said Three's owner Hutchison in a statement.
The move to block the merger will surprise few, given the commission's public stance against the reduction of mobile operators in the UK.
The commission outlined "strong concerns" that UK mobile customers would have had less choice and paid higher prices as a result of the takeover, and that the deal would have harmed innovation in the mobile sector.
EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said: "Allowing Hutchison to take over O2 at the terms they proposed would have been bad for UK consumers and bad for the UK mobile sector. We had strong concerns that consumers would have had less choice finding a mobile package that suits their needs and paid more than without the deal.
"It would also have hampered innovation and the development of network infrastructure in the UK, which is a serious concern, especially for fast moving markets. The remedies offered by Hutchison were not sufficient to prevent this."
Ofcom head Sharon White, who has been advising the commission on its decision, has also spoken out about the deal. She outlined concerns that Three would become the biggest mobile operator by acquiring its rival, O2."The combined group would control more than four in 10 mobile connections," she said.
Last month Three UK made a last-ditch attempt to win EU approval of the merger with a number of sweeteners, including £3bn in network deals with competitors, according to reports.
It had previously promised that for five years it would not hike up bills for consumers and would also plough £5bn of investment into the UK over that period.
In its response to the EU, Hutchison said: "We strongly believe that the merger would have brought major benefits to the UK, not only by unlocking £10bn of private sector investment in the UK’s digital infrastructure but also by addressing the country’s coverage issues."
It claimed such a move would enhance network capacity, speeds and price competition for consumers and businesses across the country "and dealing with the competition issues arising from the current significant imbalance in spectrum ownership between the UK’s MNOs." ®


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Autocoincars, a car-buying website, has teamed up with Bitcoin to allow customers to buy in Bitcoin Cash (BCH) while offering them a wide selection of high-end models. (Bitcoin)
Digital currency company Coinbase has officially announced its support for Bitcoin Cash (BCH), whose users will be able to buy, sell, send and accept Bitcoin Cash (BCH) through the Coinbase platform, with the price of Bitcoin Cash (BCH) soaring by 60% as a result of the news
After Tron there are Stellar, Dash, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and only ninth-place Bitcoin Cash. This location is a bit surprising because there were only 37,000 active addresses in the month, and it recorded less than one-tenth of Ethereum's number, almost twenty times that of Bitcoin.
There are certainly more reasons why Dogecoin is so popular. Technically, Dogecoin is actually a faction with Litecoin, which is based on the Scrypt algorithm and, like Litecoin, is easier to trade than Bitcoin, and they have more numbers, with Dogecoin digging up to 100 billion, compared with 21 million bitcoins. Palmer also noted that Dogecoin is not like Bitcoin, where people don't get involved just for the sake of speculation, which is a way of sharing and thanking.
Coindroids has recently been preparing to add more currencies to meet the needs of more users. So Coindroids held a poll on Twitter. These include Dogecoin, Zcash and Bitcoin Cash. But the vote ended with Bitcoin Cash (BCH) winning with 46% of the vote. In the future, the Coindroids team may add Bitcoin Cash (BCH) to their support currency.
With the addition of these three new cryptocurrencies, there are a total of five cryptocurrencies on the platform: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin, Litecoin and Dogecoin.
What's the situation with Dogecoin
In the U.S., it's easy for most people to buy Bitcoin without an ID card or use a cash app to buy bitcoins. In most cases, it takes a few minutes to buy Bitcoin. However, the situation is different for people in Australia and some other countries. Most people can't buy Bitcoin without an ID card, and they can't easily buy Bitcoin with cash. That's why these countries are adopting cryptocurrencies rather slowly than the U.S.
Multi Coin Onchain Online Wallet, Support Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Darkcoin.
Most are investors looking for Bitcoin to the moon, so these people will never buy coffee with Bitcoin, but choose cash.
Where can you buy Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Gold?
"When you click on Buy Bitcoin on Bitcoin, you'll be directed to a page to buy Bitcoin cash," tweeted Planet Daily Cryptocurrencies analyst The Moon. Roger Ver is a big liar. "It is understood that this is not the first time Bitcoin's "Buy Bitcoin" button has caused controversy. After querying by Odely Planet Daily, click the button and the page defaults to the BTC Purchase Action Box, but the large font text above reads "Buy Bitcoin Cash with Credit Card"
The above data set includes 24 public chains with the largest annual transaction volume, including: Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Bitcoin, Bitcoin SV, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, Tether, Ripple, Litecoin, Binance Coin, Dash, Decred, DigiByte, Dogecoin, EOS, GAS, Neo, TRON, Waves, Stellar, Monero, Tezos, Verge, and Zcash
An overview of current encrypted assets covered in this report reflects those that Coins manages free-floating supply values, including: 0x, Basic Attention Token, Bitcoin, Bitcoin cash, Bitcoin gold, BitcoinSV, Cardano, Chainlink, Crypto Coin, DASH, Decred, Digibyte. , Dogecoin, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, FTX Token, Huobi Token, Litecoin, MakerDAO, NEO, Stellar, Tezos, and XRP.
Autocoincars, a car-buying website, has partnered with Bitcoin to allow customers to buy in Bitcoin Cash (BCH) while offering them a wide selection of high-end models. (Bitcoin)
Google - Blockchain Chain, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, Zcash, Dogecoin, Dash.
Unlike Bitcoin, Dogecoin is a virtual currency designed to cross geographical boundaries and unite owners, while Dogecoin has its own name, Doge Meme, which is its symbol.
As of early August, Robinhood Crypto users could trade six digital currencies: Ether Classic, as well as Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash and Dogecoin, according to App Express.
Residents of California, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana and New Hampshire can now buy or sell Bitcoin and Ether using the new Robinhood encryption trading platform, the company said. The service will also allow investors to track 14 other cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin cash, litecoin, XRP, ethereum classic, zcash, monero, bitcoin gold and dogecoin, among others, when he first announced the new product last month, saying the move was aimed at introducing cryptocurrencies to more investors using a "democratized" platform and expanding the size of potential investors through its mobile and web-based applications.


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7 Iconic Maserati Cars Selected To Celebrate 70 Years Of GT
2 Oktober 2017 - motor1
From the 1947 A6 1500 to the brand new 2017 GranTurismo.
While Ferrari is gearing up for a 70th anniversary celebration of epic proportions, little brother Maserati is not one to be left out of the festivities. The storied Italian marque has chosen seven iconic vehicles to celebrate its own anniversary, as well as unveiled an all-new version of the GranCabrio Sport in the process.
The first of the celebratory classics in question will be a stunning 1947 A6 1500, which features a 1.5-liter engine and a design by Pininfarina. The next two on display will be a 1957 3500GT, one of the first true "mass-produced" Maserati vehicles, and a 1959 5000GT, which was built specifically for the Shah of Persia, and came with a more powerful V8 engine.
Also on display will be a 1970 Ghibli Coupe, complete with a 4.9-liter V8, a 1974 Khamsin, the storied successor of the Ghibli, a 1998 3200GT, the Giugiaro-designed sports car that features 370 horsepower (275 kilowatts), and last but certainly not least, the all-new 2017 GranTurismo. The seven cars will be honored in the U.K, alongside the all-new GranCabrio, which comes with the same 4.7-liter V8 found on the GranTurismo, producing 460 hp (343 kW) and 383 pound-feet (520 Newton-meters) of torque.
"As Grand Tourer pioneers, Maserati has produced some of the most iconic GTs over the past 70 years as these seven iconic classics demonstrate," said Peter Denton, regional manager of Maserati North Europe. "The latest GranTurismo and GranCabrio are no exception, offering an empowering combination of race-bred power and grand touring luxury."
The new Maserati GranTurismo will start at £94,285 in the U.K ($134,625 in the U.S.), and comes with a number of new features, including an 8.4-inch infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support, as well as a redesigned center console with a new rotary controller and drive-mode-buttons. The GranCabrio will feature all of the same updates, and asks £108,340 ($145,410) in the U.K.


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Bengaluru: Nearly a week after violence erupted at a Karnataka factory owned by Taiwan-based Wistron Pvt Ltd that manufactures Apple iPhones, the firm today removed its top executive who oversaw India operations. “Safety and wellbeing of our team members is always our top priority,” Wistron said, admitting that “some workers were not paid correctly, or on time”. In a statement, Apple said the supplier has been put on probation and it “will not receive any new business before completing corrective actions”.
Last Saturday, several thousand contract workers at the factory near Bengaluru – angered over alleged non-payment of wages – destroyed property and factory gear; the Apple supplier had put the damages at $7.12 million. Earlier this week, the centre asked the state to look into wage and labour-related disputes, and ensure that investor sentiment is not affected as a result of the violence.
Today, the Taiwan firm said in a statement: “We are removing the Vice President who oversees our business in India. We are also enhancing our processes and restructuring our teams to ensure these issues cannot happen again.”
“Safety and wellbeing of our team members is always our top priority and core value at Wistron. Since unfortunate events at our Narasapura facility we’ve found that some workers were not paid correctly, or on time. We deeply regret and apologize to all of our workers,” news agency ANI quoted the firm as saying.
“Our top priority is to ensure all workers are fully compensated immediately and we’re working hard to achieve that. We’ve established an employee assistance program for workers at the facility. We’re working diligently on corrective actions to ensure it doesn’t happen again,” it further said.
Wistron is one of Apple’s top global suppliers. In a statement, the tech giant today said it is placing the firm on probation. “Our preliminary findings indicate violations of our Supplier Code of Conduct by failing to implement proper working hour management processes. This led to payment delays for some workers in October and November,” the statement read.
“We are very disappointed and taking immediate steps to address these issues. Wistron has taken disciplinary action and is restructuring their recruitment and payroll teams in Narasapura. They have also set up an employee assistance program and a 24-hour grievance hotline in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, and English to ensure all workers at the facility can voice any concerns, anonymously. Our main objective is to make sure all the workers are treated with dignity and respect, and fully compensated promptly,” it underlined.
A government inspection revealed the Apple supplier could not cope up with the rapid scaling up of manpower and breached several laws, news agency Reuters reported. The manpower at this plant – which was recently set up – rose to 10,500 workers from the permitted 5,000 in a short span of time, according to a Karnataka factories department report, Reuters quoted the report as saying.
“Though 10,500 workers are employed in the factory the HR department has not been adequately set up with personnel of sound knowledge of labour laws”.
Wistron introduced 12-hour shifts from the earlier eight-hour shifts in October but failed to properly address “the confusion in the minds of the workers” about their new wages inclusive of overtime, the report noted.
(With inputs from Reuters, ANI)


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January 2022 | 2615 words | 10-minute read
At Tata AutoComp Systems Ltd’s Interior and Plastics Division at Chakan, Pune, the manufacturing, assembling, checking and transporting of a car cockpit in real time is a showstopper. Assembled as per the car production schedule received daily from Tata Motors, the division delivers the fully furbished cockpit with all checks within a record 110 minutes to the Tata Motors plant situated close by.
An ancillary business, the auto components sector in India had always been small with a few players; yet it is the one bringing forth technology and innovation in the auto sector. It was Tata Sons Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata, who believed that if the Indian auto industry had to grow to a significant scale, it needed an auto component industry to back it. Thus, in 1995, soon after the Indian economy opened, Tata AutoComp was established as an automotive component manufacturing unit.
Mandated to support Tata Motors in its foray into the passenger vehicles (PV) business, Tata AutoComp today serves all segments of the auto industry, namely, PVs, commercial vehicles (CVs), two- and three-wheelers, tractors and off-road vehicles as well as allied segments with its wide product range. It is also a first-of-its-kind in the electric vehicle (EV) space.
"The decision to leverage local engineering and manufacturing capabilities to provide a range of locally manufactured solutions to OEMs in the EV space has enabled Tata AutoComp to garner higher revenues from the EV business, and the company aims to register 30 percent of its total revenue from EV by the next year.”—Arvind Goel, MD & CEO, Tata AutoComp Systems Ltd
According to mobility experts, connected vehicles, autonomous cars, shared mobility, and EVs are the four major trends set to disrupt the global auto industry. The second Automotive Mission Plan (AMP) 2016-2026 — finalised jointly by the Government of India and the Indian automotive industry — aims to catapult the industry to the top three in the world with a focus on engineering, manufacturing and export of vehicles and components, thus making the industry the engine of the ‘Make in India’ programme.
In keeping with AMP’s objective, Chairman of Tata Sons, N Chandrasekaran, launched Tata UniEVerse in 2021, calling on Tata companies to work together to offer electric mobility solutions and help accelerate EV adoption in India.
Expectedly, Tata AutoComp occupies centrestage in the group Chairman’s Tata UniEVerse vision. Arvind Goel, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Tata AutoComp Systems, says, “We came forward to develop EV components and made prototypes for the EV battery packs long before Tata Motors launched Nexon. Today, as a technology and component supplier, we manufacture not just battery packs and motors but a slew of localised EV components.”
EV all the way
Initially Tata Motors identified two companies in China, Gotion Hi-Tech and Prestolite Electric, with which Tata AutoComp partnered for technological know-how. The joint venture (JV) with the former allowed Tata AutoComp to design, engineer, manufacture, and supply EV battery packs and battery management system, while the Prestolite Electric JV enabled it to design, engineer, manufacture and supply electric motors, controllers, reducers and integrated drivetrain solutions — all vital for Tata Motors’ EV ecosystem. With the objective of enabling EV OEMs with ‘Charge to Drive’ solutions, Tata AutoComp augmented the portfolios of its existing business units. Thus, Tata Toyo Radiator, a leading engine cooling solution player, developed battery cooling plates, chillers, condensers, low-temperature radiator, and other cooling modules for various drivetrain components. Air International TTR, which is into heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, added e-compressor to its product portfolio and developed the battery thermal management system for EVs.
"Today, as a technology and component supplier, we manufacture not just battery packs and motors but a slew of localised EV components.”—Mr Goel
The Composite Division, focused on ergonomic cabin assembly, developed a radio frequency interference compliant composite material to make battery pack covers, while the Interiors and Plastics Division developed cell and module carriers in plastics. Automotive Stampings and Assemblies, a sheet metal company in the Tata AutoComp fold, developed the battery pack tray.
“The decision to leverage local engineering and manufacturing capabilities to provide a range of locally manufactured solutions to OEMs in the EV space has enabled Tata AutoComp to garner higher revenues from the EV business, and the company aims to register 30 percent of its total revenue from EV by the next year,” states Mr Goel.
Auto component manufacturing companies logically follow automotive technology trends. Tata AutoComp is working on identifying the latest trends and needs in electrification of two- and three-wheelers, tractors, and construction vehicles.
Ravi Chidambar, Group Head, Business Development and Technology, and Executive Director, Tata Toyo Radiator, says, “In each segment, we concentrate on the top three or four technology areas. In the PV segment, apart from electrification, areas like connected cars and safety get equal weightage. For trucks and buses, safety and comfort is crucial.”
Staying abreast of technology trends gives Tata AutoComp a potential lead over its competitors. With its focus on innovations in the power and vehicle electronics space, a team of engineers at Tata AutoComp Technical Center are working on developing technologies for future products, like an integrated DC-DC converter, on board charger and power distribution unit (three-in-one), as well as hydrogen fuel cell.
“We are not a single product company but a set of companies, each with its own technology base, innovation hubs and capabilities,” says Mr Chidambar. “Our innovations are decentralised because the innovation at, for instance, the Plastics and Composites Division may not be directly relevant to the company doing battery packs, but the innovation is integral and central in application.”
To target the global EV space, Tata AutoComp in 2016 acquired TitanX, a company that developed powertrain cooling solutions for electric trucks and buses in the United States and Europe markets.
Today, TitanX is a leader in the global truck industry, supplying cooling solutions to leading brands like Daimler, IVECO, Mann, Navistar, DAF, and Volvo among others. Similarly, its subsidiary in China, Nanjing Tata AutoComp, has been developing plastic components for EVs. Nanjing Tata AutoComp serves multiple customers across China and Europe, including Chery Jaguar Land Rover (C-JLR).
Integral to the Tata universe
Working on the group Chairman’s mantra of leveraging group synergies, Tata AutoComp has been working closely with multiple Tata companies. “When I heard the idea of group synergy for the first time at a group-led leadership conference in 2019, we began work,” says Mr Goel. “Now I feel we should have started one or two years earlier; nevertheless we have now put in place a system by which every Tata AutoComp company represents synergy.”
“We are not a single product company but a set of companies, each with its own technology base, innovation hubs and capabilities."—Ravi Chidambar, Group Head, Business Development and Technology, and Executive Director, Tata Toyo Radiator
The efforts started in 2019 with a special Technology Show organised for Tata Steel, which showcased several areas of collaboration, and a joint development team was created. This led to Tata AutoComp developing various products in composites for Tata Steel. The company also leveraged Tata Steel’s relationship with the Indian Railways and developed various products for the latter.
Currently, Tata AutoComp and Tata Steel are jointly creating alternatives to steel frames for energy storage facilities, using composites and new material for Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd, and with Voltas for aluminium air condensers. Bigger synergies are planned.
“One such is our collaboration with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS),” says Mr Goel. “We are jointly developing a product for which TCS will create the software while we develop the prototype. Representatives from JLR visited the plant and have shown an interest in using the final product for their 2027 EV model.”
One Tata: Tata AutoComp synergy pacts
Tata Steel: Tata Steel’s New Materials Division has been actively sourcing products and solutions, including body panels for Indian Railways and doors under its Pravesh brand, from Tata AutoComp’s Composites Division. Teams from both the companies are exploring developing rebars in composite aterial to replace the traditional iron bars.
Tata Power: Tata AutoComp supplies AC and DC chargers to Tata Power, which are installed and managed by the power utility company. Both the companies are working closely to develop Battery Energy Storage Systems and a project of setting up a 120MW renewal energy system is currently underway in Chhattisgarh.
Tata Technologies: At the behest of Tata Technologies, which offers engineering and sourcing solutions, Tata AutoComp made a joint presentation to VinFast, a private automotive company in Vietnam that is a Tata Technologies customer, and won the order for supply of components.
“With 16 companies, spread across the globe, under the Tata AutoComp umbrella the need to create synergies internally too is imperative.”—Mr Goel
JLR: Tata Toyo Radiator currently supplies EGR coolers to JLR. Nanjing Tata AutoComp has set up a dedicated plant in Changshu, China, to serve CJLR. Tata AutoComp will be supplying multiple components to JLR globally.
TCS: TCS helped Tata AutoComp become the only auto-component company to install the latest H4-Hana SAP ERP system. TCS is also helping the company in its Industry 4.0 journey and in developing power electronics.
Building internal synergies
Mr Goel adds, “With 16 companies, spread across the globe, under the Tata AutoComp umbrella the need to create synergies internally too is imperative.” The company recently appointed a Synergy Head to lead internal synergies. One such example of internal synergy is Tata AutoComp’s EV Battery Division sourcing its plastic requirement for the EV battery pack from the Tata AutoComp Plastic Division. “This not just cuts cost but also allows us to own the entire value chain.”
The focus on internal synergies also extends to employees and developing a ‘one’ Tata AutoComp culture. Towards this, the company conducts leadership offsites for team building, organises family days to improve work-life balance and interpersonal relationships.
Growing EV talent
However, the skill sets required to feed the changing automotive sector needs to align with the demands of the burgeoning EV segment. To combat this challenge, Tata AutoComp has tied up with universities to offer skills specific to the EV sector. They have co-developed course material that is taught at College of Engineering, Pune, and several of the company’s senior professionals teach the course there. The project is being expanded to three to four more colleges in Pune.
The company’s in-house training too has been refurbished. “We have four learning academies with a focus on management development, operational excellence, technology and product, and culture and linguistics, as it is important to sensitise our people to different cultural nuances, given our worldwide clientele,” says Sudipta Marjit, Group Head, Human Resources, Tata AutoComp. “The aim of these learning programmes is to help scale up employees to the required skill level in a particular technology and bring them on par with industry requirements.”
Women too have been at the forefront of the Tata AutoComp growth story. “On the shop floor, 60 percent of our intake is women, as engineers, supervisors, and workers, and we are working on creating a women cadre specially for the EV segment,” says Mr Marjit.
“In order to further instill our group Chairman’s 6S mantra, we at Tata AutoComp have undertaken two initiatives over the past two years” adds Mr Marjit. “We have initiated an annual competition amongst our business units called the ‘Excellence Awards’. The business units present projects undertaken under Synergy, Scale, Speed, Simplicity, Supply Chain and Sustainability. Over and above this, each month, our MD recognises employees, who demonstrate these values in their day-to-day work.”
Tata AutoComp has focussed on providing support to communities in the vicinity of it manufacturing plants through key programmes.
- The SANITATION, HEALTH AND HYGIENE programme provides solutions for local government schools, women, and adolescent girls to promote safe and hygienic menstrual practices. The programme includes Water Sanitation and Hygiene projects, Menstrual Hygiene Management projects, activity-based sessions in government schools, urban forestry, worker facilitation centre for migrant labourers and Operation Smile, a free cleft surgery programme for children in China.
- The GIRL CHILD EDUCATION programme is a targeted approach through various education interventions and financial schemes to support female students at the secondary school level.
- The HOLISTIC AND PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION (HoPE) programme aims to build positivity and inspire development of students through extracurricular activities such as classical dance, classical music, art and craft, yoga, sports, health, emotional and digital literacy.
- Tata AutoComp SUPPORTS ORPHANAGES across Pune by providing food support, maintenance and infrastructure and through Project HoPE.
- The DIGITISATION OF EDUCATION programme is delivered through digital devices support to students and teachers. In addition, they provide eLearning tools to schools and support the digitalisation of project HoPE.
- The LIVELIHOOD SUPPORT / YOUTH SKILLING taps into the huge pool of school dropouts and unemployed youths and helps develop their skills for various auto and non-auto sectors.
- The REHABILITATION OF STREET DOGS includes a sterilisation programme and community awareness and education.
- The RESOURCE AND INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAMME IN SCHOOLS supports teachers by providing library books, lab tools and kits, sports library, learning games, laptops, etc. The programme also develops and maintains e-toilets, water systems and filters, sports grounds, and classrooms.
Beyond the EV ecosystem
While the EV segment has been a major growth driver for Tata AutoComp, the company has been investing in growing its conventional businesses by improving its go-to-market strategies. It is also utilising its current competencies and capacities in allied industries. Leveraging its local engineering talent, the company through TM Automotive Seating Systems Pvt Ltd, a JV between Tata AutoComp and Magna, has started designing and developing seats for two-wheelers, tractors, railways and so forth. TM Automotive Seating Systems leveraged its local engineering talent to develop seats for Indian Railways and recently supplied the seats for Vande Bharat trains.
The Composites Division of Tata AutoComp designed and developed lighting booms for rapid transport railway (metro) platforms that are being installed at various metro stations in the national capital region. This division also designed and developed lightweight metro door panels, which it supplies to Alstom. These are being installed in Alstom metro coaches in India as well as in Montreal, Canada; Perth, Australia; and Wanda, Argentina.
Tata Toyo Radiator, ASAL and Tata AutoComp Katcon Exhaust have been supplying solutions to the power generation (gensets) industry for many years. Tata AutoComp’s Supply Chain Solutions Division has been serving OEMs across various segments in the US and Europe. The division offers total vendor management solutions to overseas clients who want to leverage India’s value proposition of cost and quality. This division has customers across segments, including auto, medical equipment, off-road and garden equipment.
It has also entered into a distribution agreement with Tellus to market AC and DC chargers in India and has been supplying chargers to various city and state transport units as well as residential and shopping complexes through Tata Power Ltd across India.
Started as a backward linkage business for Tata Motors, Tata AutoComp’s business has expanded in the last 27 years, with Tata Motors today providing only 40 percent of its sales revenue and the remainder coming from other customers. As the Tata group looks to expand its influence and businesses across the electric ecosystem, Tata AutoComp, with its strong customer connect, distribution network across leading OEMs, extensive product portfolio and first-of-its-kind EV solutions, finds itself at the heart of the evolving automobile landscape. Fuelled by the synergy mantra and the new cadre of EV talent, Tata AutoComp is well on its way to realising its vision of being the second largest auto-component company in India by 2027.
With inputs by Shvetal Diwanji; Photographs by Tejal Pandey


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AVForums coverage of CES 2016
Stock up on the caffeine drinks
Home AV NewsCES 2016 will get in to full swing with the Press Day beginning on Tuesday 5th January 2016 and AVForums will be live reporting on all the big press conferences, product announcements and news to come out of Las Vegas in the next few days.
As the crowds are immense, coverage of the conferences is easier done from the available video streams (details below), by yours truly, while Phil and Steve will be getting amongst the stands to take a look at all the new products and to grab interviews with some of the key players. The Las Vegas contingent will, of course, have cameras and microphones to hand, so stay tuned for our usual series of video reports.
Our main focus, naturally, will be all the new televisions and the 4K Blu-ray players but there will be plenty more besides. Below are all the UK timings of the big press conferences and, where available, links to the video streams. Feel free to join me in watching them in to the early hours of Wednesday 6th and beyond...
LG Press Conference: 5/01/16: 4-4:45 PM. Watch Live at LG Website
Panasonic Press Conference: 05/01/16: 6-6:45 PM. Watch Live
TCL Press Conference: 05/01/16: 7-7:45 PM. We’ll add link closer to the time
Hisense Press Conference: 05/01/16: 9-9:45 PM. No stream available
Samsung Press Conference: 05/01/16: 10-10:45 PM. Watch Live on Samsung website
Sony Press Conference: 06/01/16: 1-2 AM. Watch Live on UStream
Netflix keynote address CEO Reed Hastings: 06/01/06: 4:30PM- Watch Live on Netflix
YouTube keynote address: 08/01/16: 1 AM- Ironically, no stream available.
So that’s the main thrust of the AVForums coverage over the next few days. Will you be staying up late to watch the conferences?


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Amazon Buys MGM For $8.45 Billion Dollars
Amazon buys MGM for a very high price. The deal was eventually a rumour just a couple of weeks ago. But we now learn that it is true.
Amazon buys MGM for a whopping $8.45 Billion
According to the latest announcements, the deal is now official. Right now, Amazon buys MGM for $8.45 instead of $9.00 Billion. The $9.00 billion was the rumoured number actually. But from what it looks like, the rumours were eventually close to the truth. The fairly recent announcement highlighted MGM’s nearly century-old filmmaking history, and also noted the completion of Amazon Studios’ work, which mostly focused on television production.
Following this acquisition, Amazon will help preserve MGM’s legacy and film catalogue and will give its customers greater access to these existing works. Thanks to the acquisition, Amazon will also empower MGM to continue doing what it does best. MGM has a large catalogue of more than 4 thousand films. Many cult movies such as 12 Angry Men, Basic Instinct, Creed, James Bond, Legally Blonde, Moonstruck, Poltergeist, Raging Bull, Robocop, Rocky, Stargate, Thelma & Louise, Tomb Raider also belong to this catalogue.
In addition, the company’s productions include television series such as Fargo, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Vikings. Will we see all of these TV shows and movies on Amazon’s Prime Video after the purchase is complete, frankly, the answer to this question is not yet known. However, many productions are currently available on other platforms. We look forward to how the acquisition will change these balances.
But this news doesn’t mean that Amazon buys MGM completely. Because the deal is not completely over. We will still have to wait a while for this deal to happen officially. We will try to update this post as soon as possible if something important about this deal happens. Until then, stay home and stay safe everybody!


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The Garden State considers Legalizing the Direct-Sales Model approach by Tesla. Should ease sales in the east.
Following a brazen maneuver by the New Jersey state Governor Chris Christie to essentially block Tesla Motors from directly selling its vehicles to its customers, state legislators have now responded by drafting a bill that would exempt the company from dealer-franchise laws.
The state of New Jersey has had dealer-franchise laws for many years, however The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (NJMVC) only approved retail licenses since 2012 for several Tesla showrooms. Dealer lobbyists, backed by the Christie administration, succeeded in further tightening the regulations to explicitly prohibit the company’s business model. Christie said “My job is not to make the laws, its to enforce the laws,” further adding “and Tesla was operating outside the law.”
The automaker attempts to circumvent restrictions in some cases by establishing kisosks and other small showrooms where representative can promote the brand however buyers are essentially directed to complete the sale in California and pick up their new car on the West Coast, or have it delivered to their home. Until recently when economist Gerald R Bodisch advocated that states eliminate bans on direct sales. He believes the change would benefit consumers, reducing inventories and lowering distribution costs by “better matching production with consumer preferences.” Not to mention Tesla is not selling gas guzzling trucks, it’s ironic that a state that nicknames itself the ‘garden state’ would be like this towards an all-electric vehicle such as the Tesla.


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Brighton studio 'serious' about social and mobile gaming
Titles to be rolled out over coming months as part of Jetstar's new passenger entertainment program
U4iA Games to focus on free-to-play social titles
LONDON GAMES CONFERENCE 2011: Growth for the industry can only be good for retail, GameStop boss says
Mobile gaming to triple in value to more than $17.5 billion, says Analyst firm
Over half of games professionals polled predict sea-change within four years
Standalone title to be released on XBLA, says Microsoft's Larry Hryb
'There will be discs for a long time from now, but the world has adopted download'
Too many digital developers have their eyes set on money rather than innovation, says David Braben
David Braben's latest Develop column
Industry predicted to be worth $81 billion by 2016; Physical 'has peaked'
'The model we're under, the big retail model, is creaking'
Develop's newest columnist Will Luton says hello! Oh, and also, mobiles will replace consoles
Develop Conference: Simon Oliver explains why his studio went from iOS to console
Develop Conference: Andrew Wilson on why recognising consumer interest in avatar status grants success in the digital era
The Moshi Monsters man bares all on reaching 50m subscribers from the brink of financial collapse
E3 2011: CCP says Microsoft service isnít MMO friendly
Peter Driessen outlines the social gaming giantís strategies for user engagement
Spil Games have introduced a new activity feed feature to their social gaming portals.
UK specialists in advergames discuss the ultimate in impulse gaming


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Euromonitor recently came out with a report on consumer types in 2022, including eight main consumer types. The report said it’s important to segment consumers into types to innovate for emerging demands, customize buying journeys and strengthen customer relationships, among other reasons.
Take this quiz to find out what your key consumer's 2022 consumer type is.
Want to read about all the consumer types? Click here!


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Sq. Enix formally introduced the following chapter of the Closing Fantasy VII remake saga Thursday night throughout its Closing Fantasy VII twenty fifth Anniversary Celebration stream. The sport is titled Closing Fantasy VII Rebirth, and it’ll launch as a PS5 unique “subsequent winter.”
Remake ended on a significant cliffhanger that arrange for lots extra story forward, and now we’ve got a touch at what the following recreation would possibly seem like. In a temporary trailer, Sq. Enix revealed a number of the world exterior of Midgar, in addition to mysterious scenes of Cloud Strife strolling alongside Sephiroth and an injured Cloud huddled in opposition to Disaster Core protagonist Zack Honest.
“Closing Fantasy VII Rebirth is being designed so that individuals can take pleasure in this recreation whether or not they know the unique recreation or not,” inventive director Tetsuya Nomura stated in a message shared on Twitter. “The truth is, new gamers would possibly even take pleasure in beginning their Closing Fantasy VII journey with Closing Fantasy VII Rebirth. Cloud and his buddies embark on a brand new journey on this recreation, and I imagine that the scenes that they witness after leaving Midgar will give gamers a contemporary, new expertise.”
Sq. Enix additionally revealed that Rebirth is the second recreation in a deliberate trilogy — beforehand, it was unclear precisely what number of video games would comprise the remake story. “Some improvement has already begun on the third title,” Nomura stated. “I actually have began on the event and am working in the direction of the completion of the sequence.”
Closing Fantasy VII Remake launched on PS4 in April 2020, and regardless of huge expectations, the sport turned out to be fairly good. For me, it was a lifeline through the early weeks of the pandemic — I took loads of solace in exploring Midgar with Cloud and his companions — and final 12 months, I had a blast enjoying by way of the PS5-optimized model and the Yuffie-focused DLC. Remake got here to PC by way of the Epic Video games Retailer in December, and Sq. Enix introduced Thursday that it is going to be out there on Steam tomorrow, June seventeenth.
Sq. Enix additionally introduced a remake of Disaster Core: Closing Fantasy VII, titled Disaster Core Closing Fantasy VII Reunion. That recreation will likely be out there this winter on PS5, PS4, Xbox Sequence X / S, Xbox One, Nintendo Swap, and Steam.


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October marks the beginning of many things; colder weather, fall fashion (booties to die for!) and pumpkin errthing but most importantly, it marks the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness month, an annual campaign that aims to increase knowledge and awareness of the disease.
DNA Footwear is going pink for the month of October! We are proud to be partnering with National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc. ® (NBCF) to donate $5 for every $100 in retail sales via our 7 retail locations and/or online, up to a $5,000 total donation.
Recognized as one of the leading breast cancer organizations in the world, NBCF’s mission is to help women now by providing help and inspiring hope to those affected by breast cancer through early detection, education and support services. . A recipient of Charity Navigator’s highest 4-star rating for 11 years, NBCF provides women help for today and hope for tomorrow through its National Mammography Program, Beyond The Shock®, Early Detection Plan, MyNBCF online support community, and breast cancer research programs.
In honor of the month of all things pink we have put together some of our favorite pink shoes below! Shop all things pink now!


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Every company has its own business strategy to earn maximum revenue and to maintain their reputation in the market. As google smart phone so called nexus is working fine in the market and much popular among the people. Market change, things changes, technology change so to compete these updates google launch their new smart phone called google pixel phone.
Google is going to introduce two new smartphones. However a phone sell company in Britain published the images of these phones and features on their first advertisement page by mistakenly.
Read More: How you can change your Faceboook Theme
Although these details from the company advertisement was removed, but a number of people were taken ad Screenshots.
This time Google named their smart phone Pixel rather than the nexus phone.
It is first time google set their smart phone names a pixel instead of nexus google phone. Google's new smartphone are pixels and pixel x L.
Feature and Specifications
- According to leaked details Google pixel screen size to 5-inch full HD.
- The smartphone will be installed 4 GB RAM and a processor 821 Snap dragon.
- 2770 mAh battery.
- The phone's front camera and 8-megapixel back camera with 12 megapixel.
- This smartphone from 32 to 128 GB of storage.
- Google's second phone smartphone pixel x L with a quad HD screen 5.5 inches.
- Although the rest will be all the features of Google pixel, however, its battery will be 3450 mAh.
- Both smartphones will be equipped with Android 7.1 operating system. On both google smart phones backside there will be fingerprint sensor.
- Google weighs 143 grams, while the large model pixel pixel x L Weight is 168 grams.