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The City of Perry, Iowa has dropped its class action lawsuit against flushable wipes producers.
Since the lawsuit filing in 2015, Perry has not experienced any clogs or increased maintenance costs attributable to flushable wipes. Perry also admitted that none of its personnel were able to identify any flushable wipes manufactured by select companies in the city’s plumbing or wastewater systems. Perry dropped the lawsuit without receiving any compensation for alleged damages. Dave Rousse, president of INDA, the Association of Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, states “years of testing and field collection studies have shown that flushable wipes are not causing municipal clogs or increased maintenance.”
Recent collection studies in New York City, Maine, and California corroborated the statement. Those studies showed more than 98% of the items examined were not labeled or designed to be flushed, including baby wipes, surface cleaning wipes, paper towels as well as additional trash items. INDA is committed to educating consumers about proper disposal of non-flushable wipes through improved labeling and educating customers of the consequences of flushing these products.
So, wipes remain a problem for sewer system – and the flushable wipes industry wants to clarify that it is the non-flushable wipes that cause those problems.
ALDI was scheduled to offer Green Action Flushable Bathroom Cleaning Wipes this week as a special buy. Its promotion sparked outraged feedback on ALDI Australia’s Facebook page where customers posted comments imploring others not to buy the wipes as they are not flushable. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) also expressed their concern to ALDI. The ACCC is already pursuing alleged misleading flushable claims in federal court against Pental and Kimberly-Clark Australia Pty Ltd. While ALDI is standing by the flushable label as the product has passed INDA/EDANA flushability and biodegradability tests, they are bowing to social pressure to not sell the product.
Yorkshire Water is calling out the towns with the highest number of blockages caused by wipes. The towns of Huddersfield, Wakefield, Sheffield, Barnsley and Morley are at the bottom of the list. Yorkshire Water is called out to more than 30,000 sewer blockages every year, costing £2.4 million. In an effort to reduce the number of sewer blockages, Yorkshire Water has launched a new campaign, Yorkshire Loves a Binner. The campaign will run across social media and includes targeted activity in areas where wipes are the biggest cause of regular sewage blockages. The Yorkshire Water Yorkshire Loves a binner! website reminds people to only flush the three Ps (pee, poo and paper), shares do’s and don’ts to prevent sewer blockages, and has video of actual blockages. Yorkshire is rooting for a lot of binners.
If you follow the posts on NoMoreWipes.com, you recognize the havoc “flushable” wipes are wreaking on sewage systems. In Iberia Parish Sewer System District No. 1, they estimate wipes result in the burn up of 10 to 12 pumps a month. Now the sewer district has raised rates to cover the maintenance of those pumps. Customers are unhappy but the board that oversees the district has elected to wait a year to check the figures before making any rate adjustments. Customers are urged to stop flushing wipes to reduce the pump maintenance.
Late last year Washington D.C. passed first in the nation legislation that wipes marketed as “flushable” would have to abide by new standards on how quickly they break apart post-flush. The wipes industry is now lobbying Congress to reverse the D.C. law. Congress has the ability to attach a “rider” to an appropriates bill which would override the D.C. law. U.R. Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) opposes the law as it sets a flushability standard that no company could meet and would force products off the shelves. He says the law is a ban because companies are unlikely to produce special “nonflushable” packaging to be sold in D.C. alone.
In defense of the law, council members may try to shame Representatives into abandoning their effort by asking their constituents if they worry about what goes down the drain in Washington. Additionally, there are several wipes made by Japanese companies that meet the city’s definition of flushable.
What do you get when you mix old sewer infrastructure with new upgrades in personal hygiene products? A BIG mess.
Flushable moist wipes have been under fire at the state and local levels since 2014, with cities like Washington D.C. banning the products all together in an effort to combat the costly damages stemming from sewer blockages.
But why should we revert back to the past when we’ve made huge steps forward with personal hygiene by using disposable sanitation items? Wipes and other disposables provide freedom and dignity to today’s elders and parents of small children like never before. So how do we find the happy medium between keeping our wipes and saving our pipes? Blogger Elizabeth Samson says it’s all about educating the public to be responsible about knowing what is ok to flush.
Keeping our sanitation infrastructures clear and in good repair matters to everyone. But sending us back to the hygienic past is no solution. Wouldn’t doing more to teach consumers what not to flush be better than depriving us of a product that improves our lives and mitigates the problem?
The sky is blue, grass is green, and, someday, your pumps are going to clog. It’s just another fact of life — or is it?
By Kevin Bates, Global Marketing Director, JWC Environmental
Clogged pumps in wastewater systems is every operator’s worry, holding up operations and requiring a messy and disruptive maintenance call to clear the clog. All types of locations — from municipal collections and private lift stations to small ejector pumps and large pump station facilities — can be plagued by dreaded clogs.
This problem is not a new one, but with higher concentration of disposable wipes in today’s sewage it has reached a crisis level in many locations. Congested pumps, often choked with wipes and debris, were once the everyday reality for a nursing home in Michigan, a municipal pump station in California and a prison in Las Vegas. After incorporating a grinder into their systems, the operators for all three facilities can now tell you they’ve discovered the truth — clogged pumps do not have to be a fact of life.
Rochester, Minnesota’s Public Works Department breaks down the hazards of flushing wipes and other non-flushables into sewer systems. Watch as they go through the process of what must be done in order to remove the unwanted items and prevent backups.
“Every day Rochester residents are sending wastewater down the drain to the Water Reclamation Plant for treatment. Unfortunately it isn’t just toilet paper and human waste being flushed. Non-flushable items are causing damage and costly sewer back-ups for property owners.”
Comedian Adam Conover explains the madness behind the “flushable” wipes. As he takes a trip down the sewer, he comes across a “fatberg” and San Fransisco Utilities Commission worker, Tyrone Jue tells us what exactly that means and what it does for our sewer systems.
Wipes makers continue to block allegations…and pipes.
Raleigh, NC is no stranger to the “wipes clog”. On February 5th, the city was notified of a hefty blockage causing sewage to spill over into Crabtree Creek. The city states that while INDA may say that wipes marked safe to flush are ok for the sewer, they just can’t stand by it.
“Several years ago, the city tested various paper products, including facial tissues and wipes, to see how quickly they disintegrated in a beaker of swirling water. Toilet paper began to fall apart almost immediately, while the tissues and wipes – even those sold as flushable – remained almost completely intact.”
Are the flushed hospital wipes to blame for the madness?
On February 6, 2017 a sewage spill in Newport Beach, CA was the culprit of shut down roads in the Newport Bay area.
“An Orange County Sanitation District crew responded to a report around 9:40 a.m. Monday that sewage had backed up and was coming out of a manhole on the northbound side of Newport Boulevard and Hospital Road (near Hoag Hospital), said Anthony Martinez, manager of OCHCA’s Ocean Water Quality Program. It’s believed that a blockage in a main sewer line contributed to the spill, Martinez said.”
USA Today reported that each year, health facilities flush an estimated 250 million pounds of drugs down the drain. But thats not all – with the increased use of wipes in healthcare facilities, we’re beginning to see damaging clogs and spillage from hospitals flushing down the non-flushable waste.
Last month, at the Society of Plastics Engineers Polyolefins Conference in Houston, TX, it was reported that Kimberly-Clark had just made their first major move since ~2007. The company revealed that they are expanding into new global markets and adding new lines to be sold in Korea, Colombia, Brazil and Singapore.
It’s suggested that K-C’s “Coform” technology is the reason for the new expansion. What’s Coform? Coform is a direct formed, thermal bonded airlaid technology which was first developed in the 1970s. The product sold internationally will include this same technology but offer a lower tonnage to (supposedly) adapt to the needs of emerging markets. The industry giant claims that this product is groundbreaking because it’s special technology allows it to clean better than the competition with less abrasion.
What’s the big deal? Kimberly-Clark is targeting emerging markets for their diaper and wipes products where they have a lot less competition. The problem is that the global wipes clog issue is already a big problem in major cities worlwide, however, this expansion could push it into a global (expensive) underground catastrophe. What’s more? Some of these countries don’t have the resources and technology to support the detrimental effects that come with wipes building up in the sewers.
New to Japanese airport bathroom stalls: Smartphone wipes on a roll.
In December, Tokyo’s Narita International Airport introduced the Smartphone Wipe to encourage guests to disinfect their smartphone screens while they visit the restroom.
Why? Japanese telecom company NTT Docomo, the company behind the effort, cited research in their video (below) that smartphone screens carry five times the amount of germs than toilet seats. According to a BuzzFeed report, toilet seats carry three types of bacteria, but the average phone screen carries between 10 to 12 types, including E.coli and fecal bacteria.
While the company claims that the wipes are “flushable”, there is no data to back up the claim and prove that they are not a threat to detrimental sewer clogs.
Extensive Market Research shows a steady growth across the board for the Non-Wovens Industry sales.
Wipes can be divided into two subgroups: Consumer and Industrial. Consumer wipes include two categories: personal care and household care – think makeup remover wipes, moist toilet wipes, glass cleaner wipes, kitchen wipes, etc. Industrial wipes are broken into four subgroups: general purpose, specialty, food service and healthcare wipes.
As we can see from the chart above, the wipes market from 2016 came in with a whopping $11 billion for the consumer product sales and $4 billion for industrial product sales.
In mature geographic regions, new products and increased interest in sustainability will drive growth; while emerging market regions continue to discover the efficiencies offered to institutions by industrial wipes, and the convenience and time-saving offered to increasingly affluent consumers.
Read about each category of wipes and the rest of the Market Research study, here.
In response to a class action lawsuit filed by 6 Minnesota cities and utilities the target flushable wipes companies have come in to inspect what is in the clogs. The courts have ordered the cities to allow the lawyers from the wipes companies to check out the clogs for themselves. We hope they can keep their suits clean!
A Kimberly-Clark representative told local new outlets, “Our products meet or exceed the widely accepted industry standards of flushability,” and, “In Minnesota, Kimberly-Clark is not aware of any instance where a K-C flushable wipe has caused a clog in a municipal sewer.”
The lawsuit was filed in 2015 and, right now, the 20-day jury trial isn’t scheduled to start until April of 2018. Maybe in the meantime a Muffin Monster might help fight the wipes battle!
Earlier in the year, Kimberly-Clark was under fire for the misleading branding of their bathroom moist wipes as “Flushable”. Why? Because *shocker* they’re not actually flushable.
Many companies have branded their wipes “flushable” in hopes of trick consumers into believing that they are ok to use. Not only does this give them a leg up in the industry, but the claims of getting the user felling cleaner than regular toilet paper with no apparent downside has attracted many new consumers.
So what’s the takeaway here? The city of Brisbane, Australia has discovered that the influx in wet wipe usage is actually the major contributor to the expensive sewer clogs, so tricking customers into thinking they’re not adding to the problem is the big no-no here.
What’s next? The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission is ramping up to take out Kimberly-Clark Australia Pty Ltd and Pental Limited companies due to their false representations. If this works out in favor of the ACCC and the city of Brisbane, Queensland Urban Utilities would be saving a whopping $1.5 that they usually spend yearly clearing wipes from the sewer lines.
That’s right – “Flushable Moist Wipes” may soon be a thing of the past. The Council of the District of Columbia is considering a ban on the sale and advertising of these wipes and, if passed, will out rule the product city wide. As we know, a large majority of these wipes don’t actually break down in sewage systems and have led to some pretty incredibly disastrous problems…think sewage clogs, floods, and burst pipes in large cities like London, New York, Sydney, etc.
Skeptics and moist-wipe supporters are fighting back, stating that only 2% of the clogs from these disasters came from moist wipes and the other 98% is from baby wipes (and other wipes not marketed as flushable), paper towels, trash and plastic particles. They also point fingers at lawmakers saying that if this ban is passed it’s a direct violation of their freedom of speech to advertise the product and that it won’t actually fix the problem.
Pretty picture, huh? What you’re looking at is what we call a “fatberg”, a mixture of sewer clogging debris that causes expensive, detrimental clogs in pipes around the world.
As we know, there’s a wipe for just about anything you can think of nowadays; e.g. make-up removing wipes, beard wipes, deodorant wipes, kitchen cleaning wipes, and perhaps the biggest offender, the bum wipes which claim to be flushable and preach to get you feeling cleaner than regular TP after using the restroom.
Question:You wouldn’t knowingly flush pieces of plastic down the toilet, right?
Newsflash:Flushing a single-use wipe isn’t any better!
Wipes contain a tangle of synthetic cellulosic fiber and plastic fibers which makes them almost impossible to breakdown in an average sewer system.
“Fatberg season used to peak on Christmas Day, when people poured turkey fat down the drains in a mass festive clog. Now they’re an all-year hazard, thanks to the inexorable rise of the wet wipe.”
So, as we approach New Year’s resolution time, start thinking of ways you can vow to help the planet this year. Nix the habit of using household and personal wipes and opt for other alternatives. Need an example? Toilet paper mist (cheaper, portable, and your sewer will thank you!)
The nonwovens industry is under fire and it’s no surprise that companies are scrambling to comply with regulations and keep a strong hold on their customers….whether they do it ethically or not.
You may have heard of Hollywood celebrity Jessica Alba’s company. It’s called the “Honest Company” – but in recent allegations, they’ve been anything but honest with their customers.
“According to consumer complaints filed with the Federal Trade Commission, Jessica Alba’s Honest Company not only makes it virtually impossible to cancel subscriptions, the company sometimes signs you up for recurring payments without even telling you.”
What’s going on? After nearly three years in the works, the ISO has finally began making progress on establishing global standards for wipes manufacturers.
Who’s the ISO? Stands for International Standards Organization. They serve as a body for nearly 200 participating countries to develop global standards.
What’s the catch? It comes as no surprise that INDA, EDANA, and other nonwovens industry stakeholders around the world keep their hands in the mix to ensure they’re being treated fairly in testing methods and labeling practices.
But there’s good news for both sides!
If the ISO is successful in creating global testing standards, we will dramatically cut down on the amount of debris clogging up sewer systems around the world.
Wipes that do pass these standards will not only receive the gold stamp of approval to have “flushable” on their packaging (aka happy Marketing Teams), but they can also be sold for a pretty penny over the competition that wasn’t so lucky on passing the test.
New York may have come up with a solution on how to wipe out the wipes madness: A new bill is in the works that would fine any store that sells wet wipes that don’t comply with stiff new regulations.
How much would they be fined? A whopping $2,500.
How would stores know which wipes they can and can’t sell? Easy. This bill would also prohibit non-wovens manufacturers from labeling their wipes as “flushable” unless they’ve passed a series of tests that have been set forth by the city’s Department of Environmental Protection.
Why New York? The states’ aging pipes are requiring them to act quickly to nix the wipes clogs problem in order to avoid a major catastrophe.
Lawsuits are piling up and INDA (the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics) is beginning to worry.
Backstory: INDA has received 15 lawsuits so far for having a hand in some detrimental sewer problems from flushable wipes. Two of the lawsuits have already been settled and ended without a monetary loss to the Association. As of now, it cannot be proven that wipes in compliance with flushability regulations are solely to blame. However, 93% of the wipes tonnage used today is not marketed as flushable – and this is what makes INDA worry will get them into hot water.
So, as INDA hits the drawing board to come up with more flushability regulations for its industry to follow, lawyers are just getting warmed up.
“We are working with these manufacturers, converters and brand owners because there are increased risks if they don’t label their products under our Code of Practice,” he says. “The entire wipes industry needs to pay attention to this.” – Dave Rousse, President of INDA
Kerry County, Ireland, experienced a large amount of sewage discharging into the Mulaghi River this month.
After video footage and complaints from local residents surfaced, county officials dug in to find a cause.
The outcome? Sewage is believed to have been leaking into the river for several days before it was finally noticed. Council workers arrived at the scene only to find the pipes causing the discharge were completely clogged by a build up of wipes.
The well-know brand Kleenex recently responded to questions from Ad News’ Watchdog about whether their wipes should be labeled as ‘flushable’ due to recent findings around the world that supposedly flushable wipes are causing major plumbing blockages.
AdNews: Do you think there should be a warning on the packaging saying they do not disintegrate like toilet paper?
Kleenex: We just go by whatever the government says. If you want more information I’ll get your details and get someone to call you back.
While wipes remain at the top of the hit list for damaging pipes and clogging sewer systems, we must not forget that toilet paper can still be a large culprit of destruction.
It’s time that we start following in the footsteps of our more innovative counterparts overseas and begin using alternative methods to get cleaner – so, kiss your plunger goodbye forever (not literally, please) and say hello to the bidet. You’ll save money and resources AND feel cleaner….what’s better than that?
“Frankly, I got a bidet to ease the burden on my own infrastructure. But a second benefit is how much water I’m saving by eliminating most of the need for toilet paper, a water-intensive product at the production stage.”
“I estimate the pressurized squirting action uses one or two cups per appointment. But that’s nothing compared to the estimated 13 gallonsof water it takes to produce one roll of TP. And then there are the trees I’m saving. Global TP production uses an estimated 27,000 trees, daily. Additionally, I’m saving lots of money.
Furthermore, bidets will help prevent municipal pipes from clogging and ease sewage treatment processes.”


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Outside the Zoo walls: orang-utan
In 2009 Melbourne Zoo initiated the Don't Palm Us Off campaign to help save the orang-utan from extinction. Through this campaign, Melbourne Zoo are educating and encouraging the public to take action to have legislation changed and make informed choices about the products they purchase.
Orang-utans in South-east Asia are facing rapid extinction due to the unsustainable production of palm oil. The orang-utans' rainforest habitat is being destroyed in order to make way for palm oil plantations. It is feared that the orang-utan could become extinct within the next 20 years.

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Temasek in advanced talks to buy stake in Li Ka-shing's A S Watson Co
21 March 2014
Temasek Holdings, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, is in advanced talks to buy a stake in billionaire Li Ka-shing's A S Watson Co, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The move comes just a week after a consortium led by Temasek has offered to buy the remaining stake that it does not already own in commodities trader Olam International, in deal valuing the Singapore-based company at $4.3 billion. (See: Temasek led consortium to buy Olam International in $4.3 bn deal)
Watson, the Hong Kong-based company behind Superdrug, ParknShop and The Perfume Shop, is planning a dual listing in London and Hong Kong later this year with plans to raise as much as £3.6billion.
Watson, which has been valued by analysts at more than $25 billion, is the largest international health, beauty & lifestyle retailer with over 11,000 stores operating 15 retail brands in 34 markets worldwide.
Watson, a subsidiary of multinational conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa, is Asia's largest health and beauty retailer under the Group's flagship brand Watsons.
Watsons operates over 4,000 stores and more than 900 pharmacies worldwide, including 10 Asian markets in China Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Korea, and Indonesia, as well as Turkey and Ukraine in Europe
It is also Europe's largest luxury perfumeries & cosmetics retailer with over 1,600 stores in 16 markets, operating under three retail brands, including Marionnaud, ICI Paris XL, and The Perfume Shop
Watson scrapped plans to sell its Hong Kong super market retail chain ParknShop after not receiving good offers, and said that it would instead focus on growth in China. (See: Hutchison Whampoa scraps sale of Hong Kong supermarket chain ParknShop)
Watson had expected the sale to have fetched around $3 billion to $4 billion, according to analysts.


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New Look appoints COO
Written by Peter Walker
The board of New Look Retail Group has appointed Nigel Oddy as chief operating officer, effective 1 April.
He was formerly chief executive of The Range, and prior to that, spent over 10 years at House of Fraser, as chief executive from 2015 to 2017 and chief operating officer from 2010 to 2014.
Executive chairman Alistair McGeorge, said: “His operational expertise and significant retail experience will be a great asset to the team as New Look continues to deliver on its turnaround strategy and reposition itself for future growth.”
Oddy joins the fashion retailer at a pivotal time, as it implements refinancing scheme, exits international markets and pushes on with a Company Volunatry Agreement that has resulted in store closures and job cuts.
He added: “New Look is a strong brand with 50 years of heritage and a great team – I look forward to being part of the business at this exciting point in its development.”


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One of the major and most vocal advocates for self-driving cars is Tesla CEO, Elon Musk. Many tech entrepreneurs such as Elon Musk believe self-driving cars will obsolete conventional cars. They also believe that this feature is safe and will get better in the future. However, a large number of Americans do not think the same. A new survey by insurance platform Policygenius found that three-quarters of Americans feel unsafe to drive or ride in a car with self-driving features. Likewise, 73 per cent of respondents felt unsafe knowing someone else was driving an autonomous vehicle. The Policygenius survey targets approximately 1,500 US residents over the age of 18.
Gizchina News of the week
“Whether it’s because of road rage, reckless driving or a car accident, it’s understandable that many people are reluctant to take their eyes off the road and rely on self-driving cars,” said Rachel, licensed property and casualty specialist at Policygenius. “As autonomous vehicle technology continues to advance, car companies and insurers will need to address a range of challenges, from helping people feel safe on the road to dealing with new insurance implications…”
Three-quarters of Americans think autonomous driving is unsafe
Currently, major automakers such as Ford, General Motors and Tesla are betting heavily on autonomous driving. Last year, Ford claims it plans to spend $7 billion on self-driving technology. In addition, GM plans to spend $2 billion on self-driving service Cruises this year alone. By contrast, Elon Musk has made Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) features a Tesla signature. He has said several times that Tesla will release a fully self-driving car to the public. However, the launch has been pushed back and forth. Tesla currently offers FSD as an add-on service for $15,000, or a monthly subscription fee of $199. The feature is still in beta mode and still requires a licensed driver to monitor the vehicle.
Self-driving technology has grabbed media headlines several times over the past few years, but it wasn’t always positive news. In June, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it had opened an investigation into dozens of Tesla accidents that occurred while Autopilot was used. Tesla owners and Waymo passengers also regularly post videos of Autopilot bugs on social media.


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After announcing two new apps on Thursday, Yahoo said it’s shutting down a few more products to sharpen its focus.
As of the end of April, gone are:
- Upcoming - a local event guide
- Yahoo Deals - its Groupon-like service
- Yahoo SMS Alerts - its news alert service
- Yahoo Kids - a web portal for kids with games, jokes, movies, etc.
- Yahoo Mail and Messenger feature phone (J2ME) apps - these apps were for less-smart phones
- Older versions of Yahoo Mail (you actually have until early June to wean yourself off this)
Earlier this week Yahoo showed off a new Mail app designed for iPad and Android tablets and Yahoo Weather.
But more of the focus might be on trimming down apps, starting with the least popular. CEO Marissa Mayer said in February that one of her goals was to streamline Yahoo’s app portfolio, chopping it down from the 60 or 70 the company had then to about 15 total.
In other words, don't get too comfortable with those slightly more esoteric Yahoo apps.


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[Part of a continuing series] A colleague told the real-world story about seeing a group of senior citizens talking about their grandchildren. To our observer, the curious part was that each of the 70-plus-year-old grandparents had their smartphone in hand, complete with proud-moment pictures and videos. This snapshot is a micro-moment reminder of how personal adoption of technology is changing…rapidly. And this impacts medical marketing to older Internet users.
As recently as five years ago, the senior-with-a-smartphone image would have been a rare encounter. Now, Americans age 65 and older account for 15 percent of the US population. And the US Census Bureau projects, that by 2050, 22 percent of Americans will be 65 and older. “Pew Research Center surveys find that seniors are also moving towards more digitally connected lives.
“Around four-in-ten (42 percent) adults ages 65 and older now report owning smartphones. Internet use and home broadband adoption among this group have also risen substantially. Today, 67 percent of seniors use the Internet…and for the first time, half of older Americans now have broadband at home.”
Marketing planners are solidly aware that Millennials—the largest demographic—are “digital natives.” These are people who have always known computers, the Internet and digital technology as part of their lives. Millennials are accustomed to, and typically expect, the immediacy, convenience and connectivity that flows from the Internet standard of living and lifestyle.
But the reach of technology (and the importance of digital and Internet marketing) is now pervasive in society. “The internet represents a fundamental shift in how Americans connect with one another, gather information and conduct their day-to-day lives.” [Pew Research Center Fact Sheet]
And the in-your-pocket device of choice is mobile. “Roughly three-quarters of Americans (77 percent) now own a smartphone," Pew reports. “Smartphones are nearly ubiquitous among younger adults, with 92 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds owning one. Nearly seven-in-ten Americans now use social media. Today, 69 percent of US adults are social media users…especially popular among younger adults (86 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds). Plus a majority of 30-49 (80 percent) and 50-64 (64 percent) use social media as well."
Nearly 20 years ago, MIT technologist Kevin Ashton coined the term “The Internet of Things” (IoT) broadly meaning how technology connects society. Everyone has a smartphone and/or tablet, but marketing minds are tracking the connectivity of home appliances, thermostats, voice-activated personal assistants and a zillion home and office devices large and small.
Technology has achieved major strides in the tools of hospitals, doctors and providers. But marketing savvy innovators are also keeping pace with telehealth connections, doctor-recommended wearables and health monitoring sensors, fitness and wellness trackers (for people, pets and other critters). Pew observes that the Internet of Things is rapidly expanding, “tying machines to machines and linking people to valuable resources, services and opportunities.”
What’s more, the well-connected modern world is nearly inescapable (or maybe it already is so). “Today, 49 percent of the world’s population is connected online and an estimated 8.4 billion connected things are in use worldwide.”
The future of the IoT envisions several major themes of connected life, reports Pew. Marketing-smart visionaries and planners recognize that “People crave connection and convenience, and a tech-linked world serves both goals.” The Millennial mindset champions these ideas, and “as life increases in complexity, convenience is the default setting for most people. And “the always-online younger generation can’t imagine being anything but connected.”
Marketing planners need to recognize that, in the near future, “the infrastructure of everyday life will be networked. How does one ‘disconnect’ from your home, city, airport or health care system?” The Pew Research Center observes, “If today’s adults don’t get more connected, the next generation will. To today’s 10-year-old, the idea of a watch that can’t take basic health information is like a 20-year-old trying to understand what the hell a cassette tape is.”


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Speaking to Car Advice at the international launch of the TT Coupe, Audi interior designer Artur Deponte confirmed the company will be bring a new TT Roadster at the 2014 Paris Motor Show which is happening next... Read More
The official 2015 Car of the Year candidates have been named for the global award. A total of 31 cars have been named on the provisional list which, again will be narrowed down by the end of the year. The final list... Read More
Audi has officially unveiled the TT Offroad concept in Beijing – a combination of a sporty coupe with the practicality of a compact SUV.
The plug-in hybrid drive
The four-door model has a four-cylinder 2.0-litre... Read More
Audi South Africa has celebrated the production of 500 000 TT compact sports cars with a limited edition model called the Audi TTS Competition.
There'll be just 25 of these special cars coming to South Africa and if... Read More
Audi has revealed a number of design sketches of a crossover concept which is scheduled to be unveiled later this month at the 2014 Beijing Motor Show.
The company is yet to reveal any additional information on the... Read More
Audi has officially unveiled at the 2014 Geneva Motor how the all-new third generation TT Coupe along with a powerful TTS variant.
Both cars are characterized by the use of innovative technologies in their engines... Read More
Audi South Africa has announced the launch of a new, cheaper entry-level Audi TT Coupe in South Africa. The new Audi TT Coupe provides customers with a more affordable entry into the compact sports car segment. The... Read More


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This week, everyone will be talking about Nike’s latest results and Ralph Lauren’s first in-person show since 2019.
In a bid to expand its business in Asia, the company is buying California-based shoe chain WSS, and Japanese streetwear retailer Atmos.
This week, Felicia Mayo, former head of diversity at Tesla, replaced Kellie Leonard in a similar role at the American sportswear giant.
How one of the world’s biggest athletic footwear retailers stumbled through the sneaker boom, but plans to catch up with the market.
The dip comes at a time of uncertainty for shoe sellers, given the potential of increased import tariffs on goods coming from China that could take effect next month.
The deal will allow Foot Locker to tap into the secondary sneaker market, and give Goat heft outside the US and at physical retail.
The footwear chain reported weaker-than-expected results by almost every benchmark — profit, sales and margins — and forecast continued sales declines over the rest of 2017.
Under Armour is counting on footwear to help fuel its next wave of growth, and Curry — a National Basketball Association star who plays for the Golden State Warriors — is central to those efforts.
Innovative retail and marketing concepts, as well as designer and celebrity collaborations have helped drive success in the athleisure sector.
Footlocker is reorganising its stores to further highlight top brands, designating areas to showcase trends, and adding more displays of full sports gear to encourage broader shopping.
Foot Locker Inc. rose the most in four years after the sneaker chain’s second-quarter results beat analysts’ estimates, helping propel shares of Nike Inc. and Under Armour Inc.
Athletic-shoe retailers Foot Locker Inc. and Finish Line Inc. climbed in New York trading after a Bank of America Corp. analyst raised his recommendations on the companies.


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It’s been a few months since the launch of Nintendo’s Wii U and as of late, it’s certainly struggled to be successful and has had some bad publicity to boot. One could argue for the specific reasons the Wii U hasn’t been a huge hit, but a common opinion is the lack of truly huge exclusives. Other than Nintendo Land and New Super Mario Bros. U at launch, Nintendo’s lineup of new titles for the console has been virtually nonexistent. Traditional heavy hitters such as Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. have been completely missing in action, but that’s about to change. A recent tweet from the official Nintendo of America Twitter account had this tasty tidbit to drop:
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) May 17, 2013
Announcements don’t get more confirmed than this. Not only does Nintendo have some much-needed major titles in the works for their new console, but they are very close to showing them off, especially since E3 is less than a month away. The Wii U needs a major shot in the arm to have a notable place in the upcoming generation of consoles, and if Nintendo plays their cards right, these titles could be the first step to repairing the system’s reputations. As they say, though, only time will tell.
Until then, feel free to post your thoughts on this announcement in the comments section below. We will be sure to deliver news from this next Nintendo Direct soon after it is released.


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Ted Nelson Reveals Satoshi Nakamoto’s Identity. Technologist claimed that Bitcoin knew Nakamoto, the inventor.
Although there are many claims about who Satoshi Nakamoto could be, no one has been able to prove that he was the inventor of Bitcoin. Whilst Craig Wright, Hal Finley, Adam Back and many other names are thought to be Satoshi, or if they claim it themselves, it is thought to be a mystery that will last forever.
Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?
However, technologist and philosopher Ted Nelson stated in a recently published statement that Nakamoto knew who he was. Nelson actually made his similar estimate and statement in 2013. Pointing to the Princeton graduate mathematician named Shinichi Mochizuki , Nelson emphasizes that he is the only inventor to be the inventor of both Bitcoin thanks to his high grades and similar features to Satoshi.
“Does he speak good English? You can be sure. As I said earlier in the videos, everyone is actually looking for famous cryptographers and he has a Newtonian genius when it comes to mathematics. Seminars were held on her work, and she doesn’t even attend. ”
Indicating that more than one person represents a group or as some claim that Nelson, Mochizuki actually works instead of the standard platforms with Nakamoto also said they are published on different platforms. The Mochizuki previously denied these allegations and that he had confirmed that Satoshi…..


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Lei Jun, the founder and CEO of electronics giant Xiaomi (HKSE: 1810), gave a three-hour-long speech at the company’s 10th anniversary event. Besides recounting the company’s history, the 50-year-old entrepreneur said the company will pledge RMB 10 billion (USD 1.44 billion) in research and development in 2020 and introduced products including a limited version of its flagship Mi 10 Pro smartphone and a transparent TV.
The speech comes at a time when the company has encountered setbacks in homegrown chip development and a decline in smartphone shipments. Lei confirmed earlier this week that Xiaomi has ended plans to mass-produce its Mix Alpha concept phone. He reaffirmed the company’s commitment to long-term development and its user base.
“We look at everything from the length of ten years. Do things that have long-term value and make friends with time,” he said.
The newly-released transparent TV featuring a see-through OLED screen is a novelty. “This TV will usher in a new way to consume visual content previously only seen in science fiction films,” reads a Xiaomi blog. This TV is set to be released in China for RMB 49,999 (USD 7,200), and it will be available to order on August 16th. In addition, it released limited editions of its Mi 10 Pro and Redmi K30 smartphone, a Lamborghini version of Ninebot Balance Car Kart, along with a 55W wireless charger and phone case.
Lei also used his speech to reminisce about the company’s founding in 2010 and journey to become a leading global electronics brand.
A decade ago, the Chinese market was dominated by international firms like Nokia, Motorola, and Samsung, as well as upmarket Chinese giants ZTE and Huawei. Low-quality China-made knockoffs were rampant.
“As a phone aficionado and also an entrepreneur, I was not impressed,” Lei said. “Although I had never made a phone, a dream was born: make the best mobile phone in the world, and sell it for half the price so everyone can afford it.”
Lei released his first smartphone model just a year later in 2011, the M1, with a price tag of RMB 1,999 (USD 287.8). It received 300,000 orders after release and more than seven million units were sold in total.
With a reputation for budget products, Xiaomi soon topped the Chinese smartphone market, beating out Samsung and other peers in 2014 with a 12.5% share according to IDC. It managed to retain the spot the following year but was then was overtaken by Oppo in 2016.
Since then, Xiaomi developed an Android-based operating system MIUI, pioneered an internet marketing model, and expanded to a whole ecosystem of IoT devices including home appliances and other consumer electronics. Besides phones, the company manufactures TVs, refrigerators, and even scooters. In the first quarter of 2020, Xiaomi’s revenue from the IoT and lifestyle products segment was RMB 13.0 billion (USD 1.87 billion) with a 7.8% year-on-year (YoY) increase, making up 26% of total revenues.
“Xiaomi’s past decade is the ten years of mobile internet. Together with our peers, we popularized smartphones and push the evolution of mobile internet,” Lei noted.
Despite the company’s ambitious plans, it now finds itself operating under changed rules for Chinese firms, and a weaker market for smartphones.
The company saw the first signs of a downturn in 2016 when shipments dropped by 16% YoY to 55 million units. As Vivo and Oppo play catch-up and Huawei refocuses on the domestic market due to the US sanctions, Xiaomi faces competition like never before. In the first quarter of 2020, its market share in the Chinese smartphone market was 11%, lagging behind Huawei’s 41%, Vivo’s 17%, and Oppo’s 15%, data from Counterpoint shows.
Per IDC data, the worldwide smartphone market is forecasted to decline 11.9% YoY in 2020 with shipments totaling 1.2 billion units, following the largest year-over-year decline in history during the first quarter of 2020 due to impact on consumer spending from the COVID-19 pandemic. Global smartphone shipments are not expected to return to growth until the first quarter of 2021.
India, where Xiaomi shipped 43.6 million units in 2019 topping all other smartphone vendors in the country, banned Chinese apps amid geopolitical tensions, forcing the company to take a “Made in India” stance and rebuild its MIUI without blocked apps.
Facing these challenges, Lei emphasized three “iron laws” in his speech that would keep the company competitive in the next decade: technology, cost-effectiveness, and cool products.
“Insisting on making the coolest product is Xiaomi’s eternal pursuit,” he said. “To be the coolest company in the hearts of users is Xiaomi’s vision.
Looking forward to the next ten years of Xiaomi, Lei concluded three keywords—”restart entrepreneurship”, “Internet + manufacturing”, and “go steady and far”. By which he means Xiaomi needs to reignite the passion of starting a business, digitize supply chains and manufacturing processes, together with a stabilized long-term strategy.


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Nvidia left Wall Street in awe once again with stratospheric fiscal third quarter 2023 results driven by its booming artificial intelligence (AI) segment. Revenue surged 38% annually to a record $5.93 billion while profit rocketed over 500%. But shares surprisingly sank in late trading as investors took some chips off the table.
Despite the after-hours drop, Nvidia stock remains up a stellar 60% year-to-date in 2022 after more than doubling last year.
Turbocharged Growth Trajectory
Breaking down the numbers, Nvidia generated $18.12 billion in total sales during the quarter. Revenue from its core gaming business climbed 12% to $5.16 billion thanks to strong demand for the company’s GeForce RTX 30 gaming GPUs.
However, the undisputed star was the data center segment which sells GPUs for AI workloads. This business saw sales explode to $3.83 billion, up 55% annually. Data center now contributes a leading 31% of Nvidia’s total revenue.
“Adoption of AI continues to accelerate. Virtually every industry seeks better ways to apply AI to grow their business—from factory floor to operating room to classroom,” said CEO Jensen Huang. “We are still in the early innings of AI adoption and its impact.”
When including Nvidia’s networking, embedded and automotive segments, the company’s entire AI platform revenue surged a stunning 220% to reach $6.19 billion last quarter. This figure underscores Nvidia’s undisputed leadership in the AI chip industry.
For the current fiscal 2023, Nvidia expects a sizzling 54% revenue growth to $23.5 billion. Impressively, this guidance incorporates some anticipated impact from new U.S. restrictions on exporting high-end AI chips to China. Nvidia believes alternative products will offset much of this potential headwind starting early 2023.
AI Market Domination
Nvidia dominates the red-hot market for AI accelerators which are chips specialized to accelerate machine learning tasks like image recognition and language processing. The company owns over 80% market share in this niche, according to analysts.
Nvidia GPUs power leading cloud platforms from Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and Alibaba Cloud. Its wide array of graphics and AI chips also support AI-based services from key players like IBM and Oracle.
With AI adoption booming across enterprises and cloud infrastructure spending growing 25% a year, Nvidia enjoys a tremendous growth runway for its data center business.
Despite the macro backdrop, Nvidia’s execution continues to shine,” lauded Wells Fargo analyst Aaron Rakers, who sees 30% long-term growth for its data center segment. “We see NVDA’s AI leadership supporting durable growth.”
Autonomous Driving Potential
In addition to its AI enterprise products, Nvidia is pioneering self-driving vehicle technology which represents another massive addressable market. During its GTC Europe 2022 conference, Nvidia unveiled a number of new autonomous trucking partnerships using its Drive Orin system-on-a-chip (SoC).
Nvidia also revealed that luxury electric vehicle maker Polestar plans to use Drive Orin chips in cars starting 2025. Management believes its automotive opportunity will be larger than gaming over the next decade.
- Nvidia delivered spectacular Q3 results, easily beating estimates as revenue grew 38% annually to a record $18.1 billion.
- Strength was broad-based across gaming, data center, auto and other segments. But AI was the brightest spot, surging 55% to reach over $3.8 billion.
- Nvidia dominates the high growth AI chip industry with over 80% market share in accelerators, the heart of AI infrastructure powering cloud and enterprise AI.
- With AI adoption still in early phases, Nvidia sees multi-year growth tailwinds for its data center business which sells GPUs for AI modeling.
- The company sees 54% revenue growth this year to $23.5 billion even as U.S. export rules hamper some high-end AI chip sales to China.
Top AI Stocks to Buy
Nvidia’s sparkling results highlight the tremendous growth runway for companies on the leading edge of artificial intelligence technology. AI has become indispensable for analyzing big data, improving business efficiency and unlocking innovation.
According to IDC estimates, global AI software spending will skyrocket from $37.5 billion in 2021 to $239 billion by 2025, translating into whopping 55% compound annual growth. This exponential growth is creating incredible investment opportunities.
Here are two top AI stocks every tech investor should consider buying:
As the clear leader in AI chips powering cloud infrastructure, data centers and edge computing, Nvidia enjoys powerful competitive advantages. The company is also pioneering software platforms like Omniverse which enables real-time 3D collaboration critical for industries from manufacturing to architecture.
Nvidia estimates its total addressable market across its various segments will expand from around $100 billion today to $1 trillion over the next decade. With a commanding AI franchise and emerging opportunities in metaverse, Nvidia has visible runway for growth and deserves a premium valuation.
Software behemoth Microsoft is transforming into an AI powerhouse as it ramps up investments through its Azure cloud platform. Microsoft is reportedly investing $10 billion into AI research lab OpenAI, maker of red-hot chatbot ChatGPT.
By integrating OpenAI models like Dall-E for image creation and Codex programming assistant into Office 365 and Azure, Microsoft can significantly expand its consumer and enterprise reach.
According to UBS analyst Karl Keirstead, Microsoft is “arguably the best way for investors to play the AI trend over the next three years.” He sees MSFT stock reaching $250 over the next 6-12 months.
With digital transformation accelerating across the global economy, AI-focused companies like Nvidia and Microsoft enjoy strong tailwinds supporting rapid growth.
Nvidia is the undisputed 800-pound gorilla in supplying key components like high-powered GPUs and AI accelerator chips that drive AI modeling and inference workloads.
Meanwhile Microsoft is positioned to infuse AI capabilities through Azure cloud and Office subscription services used by billions worldwide.
Savvy investors would do well to buy these AI leaders as part of a diversified, long-term portfolio.


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"I choose to go to the moon!" said the 42-year-old Maezawa, who founded Japan's largest online fashion mall and is worth nearly $3 billion. The company kicked off its announcement this evening, taking the wraps off its customer: Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa.
The Moon is about 385,000 km away from Earth and the last time an astronaut travelled there was in 1972 as part of the Apollo 17 mission.
Musk introduced Yusaku Maezawa, founder of the worldwide custom-fit clothing company Zozo and an avid art collector, as the one who is investing in the spaceship project in order to take the trip, possibly in 2023.
Maezawa says he is not planning to make the lunar voyage alone, but will invite up to eight artists to journey with him.
The fashion tycoon says he intends to take along artists from around the world who will then create artworks based on the experience, to help "inspire the dreamer within each of us".
Forbes ranks Maezawa as the 18th richest person in Japan.
"This has done a lot to restore my faith in humanity - that somebody's willing to do this", Musk said.
The company has revealed little else about the trip, and it's anyone's guess when it might actually happen.
Elon Musk looked enthusiastic and excited at the event.
Mr Musk has said he wants the rocket to be ready for an unpiloted trip to Mars in 2022, with a crewed flight in 2024. It's unclear if Maezawa was one of those people.
Entrepreneur Elon Musk's space launch company said last week that the person will fly to the moon aboard a new rocket called the BFR, which is still in development.
The BFR, for Big Falcon Rocket, will make a single swing around the moon. It has contracts with the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration to carry cargo and crew to the International Space Station.
The trip to the moon on the SpaceX rocket could take place as early as 2023.


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As the coronavirus pandemic continues and the COVID-19 vaccine rolls out, Better Business Bureau Upstate SC officials warn of scammers that are hawking everything from vitamins to essential oils and herbal teas that they say will prevent and cure coronavirus.
Tagged: BBB Scam Tracker
The Better Business Bureau®of Upstate South Carolina and the Federal Trade Commission are holding free webinars for businesses and consumers on avoiding coronavirus scams.
The #Classof2020 Facebook challenge is attracting the attention of scammers, the Better Business Bureau warns.
As concerns over the spread of coronavirus increase, the Better Business Bureau of the Upstate is warning consumers about emails, social media posts and websites pushing products that purportedly prevent or “cure” the virus.
During the holidays, consumers are looking for the best deals, but this can leave you vulnerable to unethical business practices...


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SEOUL (Reuters) - Flat screen maker LG Display Co Ltd is supplying touch-screen panels for Apple Inc’s new iPad, a source close to the matter said on Wednesday.
Bloomberg reported earlier that Samsung Electronics Co Ltd was the sole supplier for the new iPad, launched last week, after LG and Japan’s Sharp Corp failed to meet the U.S. company’s quality requirements, quoting an analyst from research firm iSuppli.
“LG is also in a panel supply deal with Samsung for the new iPad,” the source said.
The source was not authorized to speak to the media and declined to be identified.
Reporting by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Chris Lewis
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


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New technology intended to help people with adult incontinence is already finding its way into outer space and may one day make its way into the world of manufacturing.
"Just about any process you can think of where you have a motor in close proximity to electronics could be a candidate for leakage control," said Susan Schreter, president of Caring Products International, Inc., based in Seattle. "If you get a leak in the motor's cooling system or lubrication system, you want to absorb liquids before they soak the electronics. Quick absorption is what our technology does."
Schreter was in Chicago recently talking to people at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center and at the Rehabilitation Institute about doing clinical studies to demonstrate the efficacy of her firm's brand of adult diapers called Rejoice.
The Rejoice pads are much thinner than other adult diaper brands and are designed differently. A major difference is that ultra-absorbent polymer fibers are injected throughout the paper-like material in Schreter's product, which she conceived after seeing her grandmother's dislike of the traditional cumbersome adult diapers.
"Other adult diapers are made by firms that were already in the baby diaper business. The adult diapers are basically just a variation of the same thing they already made with the same machines they already had," said Schreter. "We started from scratch to design something to meet adult needs exclusively."
An estimated 15 million adult Americans suffer incontinence, mostly as a side effect of surgery or some disease, and as Baby Boomers age, that number can only continue to grow, Schreter said.
But Schreter, who was an investment banker before starting Caring Products, reasons that it makes sense to diversify into manufacturing applications, as well as other medical applications such as using ultra-absorbent material as a wound dressing. So while she was in Chicago paying calls on some medical people, she also visited some manufacturing companies to gauge their level of interest in new leakage control technology.
"NASA approached us about using Rejoice for astronauts when they're inside their spacesuits," she said, "We're just looking for as many applications as possible."
Too private? The new service to help phone customers duck unwanted calls from telemarketers announced by Ameritech Corp. last week has already attracted thousands of customers, exceeding Ameritech's hopes. But it's not without potential glitches.
On the first try at a demonstration to the press at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry, the service, called Privacy Manager, didn't work.
The demonstration featured John Rooney, president of Ameritech consumer services, posing as a telemarketer, trying to dial up Diane Primo, president of Ameritech product management. Rooney made the call and got an automated message asking him to identify himself, which he did.
The system then rang Primo's phone, which she picked up. Primo heard the announcement that her Privacy Manager service was calling, and pushed a button as directed. But the call from Rooney never came through and Rooney just stood there for several seconds holding the phone until the pair decided to start over.
What apparently happened was Primo took too long to push a button after getting the Privacy Manager message, said Bill Pendergast, an Ameritech spokesman. The logic of making a customer push a button when her Privacy Manager calls is to accommodate interfaces between Privacy Manager and Voice Mail or customer answering machines.
"If you're not home and Privacy Manager calls and gets your answering machine, no button will be pushed at the prompt so the caller can be put through to the answering machine or Voice Mail," he said.
Privacy Manager is based on the assumption that most telemarketing calls block their identity from Caller ID technology, but it is potentially important for some Caller ID-blocked calls to get through to a customer. Some long-distance companies don't carry Caller ID info and virtually all calls from payphones are blocked to Caller ID.
But if Privacy Manager customers aren't adept in punching buttons quickly, or if their Voice Mail greeting is too long or short, it's possible for callers from payphones or out of town to be left holding the phone.
And unlike Ameritech's Rooney, who was standing a few feet from Primo, they won't have a clue what's going on.
Going digital: The Blaupunkt division of Germany's Robert Bosch Corp. will offer a digital car radio/CD player for the U.S. aftermarket. The company's DigiCeiver technology converts analog radio waves to digital data and processes them to screen out interference and distortion. Blaupunkt, which has Western Hemisphere headquarters in suburban Broadview, says its analog-to-digital conversion is much faster than existing digital audio.
Besides better reception, the digital radio platform offers easier integration with navigation, telephone and other digitized automotive systems. It's part of the larger trend of so-called convergence--packing a variety of communications and information functions in a single device.
Prices for a DigiCeiver radio/CD player will start at $259 and be available in October.


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Audi’s Diesel-Electric Supercar Dropped
Last year, we heard the first details on a possible Audi diesel-electric supercar. It was supposed to be offered with a diesel engine combined with an electric motor for a total output of around 700 horsepower and at least 737 pound-feet of torque, allowing it to sprint from 0 to 60 mph in the 3-second range.
But as this sounded just too good to be true, new reports suggest that Audi dropped the idea of offering such a supercar. Instead, it appears that Audi’s focus is squarely on the production version of the Sport Quattro concept set to be unveiled in Frankfurt.
The model was rumored to be named Scorpion or R20 and was supposedly based on the R18 racecar. From the sounds of it, Audi has already prepared several design concepts for the new supercar, but now it has "bigger and more pressing issues to tackle."
This decision made a few Audi people very unhappy, but it’s not a big surprise to us, considering that electric technology is still in its early stages, as the company announced that another electric vehicle, the R8 e-tron, wouldn’t make it to production.
Click past the jump to read more about the R8 V12 TDI - the concept that supposedly inspired the Scorpion.
The R8 V12 TDI was unveiled at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show and was one of the most amazing concepts shown by Audi. It was powered by a 6.0-liter V-12 TDI engine that delivered a total of 500 horsepower and 737 pound-feet of torque.
Audi claimed it could sprint from 0 to 60 mph in just 4.2 seconds and hit a top speed of more than 186 mph.


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Calgary Industrial Market Report
Future Growth Potential and Ongoing Population
Expansion Paint a Positive Long-Term Outlook
Key metrics point to substantial runway for growth. When compared to 2019, Calgary’s industrial vacancy rate has contracted 370 basis points as of the third quarter — the largest drop among Canada’s major metros. Despite this robust demand, asking rents sat roughly 15 per cent below the national average and 35 per cent below Vancouver. As a result, many investors see Calgary as a potential growth market with future upside rent prospects. Given these below-average rents, coupled with historic population growth, the region is attracting many tenants priced out of Vancouver. Combined with Calgary’s relatively easy access to Canada’s largest shipping ports in British Columbia, the metro is becoming a distribution hub for Western Canada. With population growth forecast to eclipse last year’s historic level, logistics and e-commerce space demand should be well-supported. This may cap upward pressure on vacancy rates, causing investor and tenant sentiment to remain positive.


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Walmart botches its chance to smack Bernie Sanders and all his ignorant claims down
Bernie Sanders made a fool of himself, crashing the Walmart shareholders' meeting for political grandstanding purposes and then spewing ignorance about how publicly traded companies operate.
Unfortunately, Walmart humored him, doing itself no favors, given the damaging impact of believing anything he says about business. He called for a minimum wage hike. He made absurd claims about company ownership. He mixed up revenues with profits, unable to distinguish between the two. Yet instead of throwing him out as a stooge of the boobocracy, they nodded agreement, maybe hoping he'd go away.
Doesn't work that way with guys like Sanders, unfortunately.
Be that as it may, John Merline has a good one over at Issues & Insights laying out a vigorous defense of free markets. His argument is the argument Walmart should have used instead of meekly going along with Sanders's ignorant 1930s-style tropes about capitalist pigs or whatever. Here's just one passage from a lot of them:
Sanders goes on to talk about how big and profitable Walmart is, and "surely with all of that, Walmart can afford to pay its employees a living wage of at least $15."
He apparently doesn't understand the difference between revenues and profitability.
Walmart is the biggest company in the U.S. in terms of revenue, no question about it. But in terms of profitability, it ranks 40th on the Fortune 500 list. And on a per-employee basis, Walmart ranks 99th. Ironically, the company that has the highest profits per employee is Fannie Mae, which is a government-sponsored enterprise.
Measured against revenues, Walmart's profit margin is a tiny 1.3%. That's well below companies liberals love, like Starbucks (18.3%), Apple (22.4%), and Costco (2.2%).
So the idea that Walmart has piles of cash sitting around that it can shower on its workers while continuing to run as a profitable business is another ill-informed myth.
There's a lot of education in this piece about how companies work and how free markets work. The people running Walmart blew their chance to educate the public about that and allowed the socialist who honeymooned in the Soviet Union to steamroll them. They played Clark Kerr to Sanders's Mario Savio, and they look about as foolish as Kerr did back in those Berkeley 1960s radical years. Merline did the company's job that it wouldn't do, and frankly, the shareholders owe him.


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It’s hard to not follow the crowd in this grind of a market.
We’ve flocked overseas — specifically to Europe — after a not-so-amazing U.S. performance this year. Of course, BTIG’s Dan Greenhaus notes today that the U.S. has outperformed its European counterparts by a whole 2.2 percentage points since the end of the first quarter. But that’s against a 13% underperformance since the beginning of the year.
And bonds? Like Omega Advisors’s Leon Cooperman said at the Sohn conference yesterday, (and lots of others these days): fuggeddaboutit. J.P. Morgan tells us in a note today that with the dollar starting to weaken and bond yields spiking, there really is nowhere else to go but equities. They also say it’s a fine time to start looking at multinationals. See our Chart of the Day.
As for the inability of investors to forge their own path, that isn’t their fault, really. It’s all down to that central-bank global money spigot, says Citigroup. Analysts there have taken a long look at what’s going on with liquidity in the markets, specially that “here-today-gone-tomorrow” mentality that’s haunting lots of institutional investors.
It’s all about “herding,” says Citi. Central-bank intervention and asset purchases have been forcing investors into positions they would otherwise not hold. The more liquidity officials toss at markets, the more they upset the natural diversity of markets
“For the past few years, valuations in more markets seems to have stopped following traditional relationships and instead followed global QE. Likewise in meetings with investors, we have been struck by how little time anyone spends discussing fundamentals these days, and how much revolves around central banks,” says Citi’s global head of credit strategy Matt King.
King’s “ominous” conclusion? “On the way in, it has mostly proved possible to accommodate this, as investors have moved gradually, and their purchases have been offset by new issuance. The way out may not prove so easy; indeed, we are not sure there is any way out at all.”
Speaking of herd mentality, there are lots of naysayers on Tesla these days. At least two analysts are taking them to task. Check out our Call of the Day.
Key market gauges
Futures on the Dow
and the S&P
are down, putting the market on track for its first loss in three sessions. Aussie stocks
“No one can set the price of oil — it’s up to Allah.” — Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi talking to CNBC about the futility of predicting oil prices.
CoreLogic home-price data showed a bump up in March to an eight-month high. The U.S. traded deficit jumped 43% in March to the highest level since 1996. ISM nonmanufacturing is coming up at 10 a.m.
In a trend we’ve been seeing with food companies lately Panera US:PNRA says it’s going to shift towards a healthier menu. The sandwich-and-salad chain plans to axe 150 artificial sweeteners, colors, flavors and preservatives from its menu by next year.
Ratings changes are pushing up a few shares, like Netflix
The call of the day
It’s not just Pacific Crest. Jefferies has also come out swinging on Tesla. Its analyst Dan Dolev has initiated the electric-car maker with a buy rating and a $350 price target (upside $450/downside $150). Firstly, he says worries about Chinese sales are overblown, citing a detailed consumer survey that reveals Tesla could sell at least 500,000 cars by 2020 in North America/Western Europe alone. That survey also shows little consumer enthusiasm for Apple/Google cars.
Stacking Tesla models up against its peers, the seeds are sown for the company to deliver a 60% adjusted-earnings compound annual-growth rate through 2020. One big plus for Tesla, notes Dolev, is the key competitive advantage it has with its battery.
Pacific Crest is also taking on Tesla
Going long S&P 500
“After a sharp 17% outperformance of this pair trade over the last 6 months (32% over the last 9 months), we recommend investors take profit on this trade and go long multinationals as they have become more attractive on a relative-value basis, U.S. dollar valuation is rich and growth is improving abroad,” he says. Here are a couple of charts to back up his case:
It helps that multinationals are out of favor, compared with domestic stocks. Plus, slowdowns have historically favored high-quality, stronger balance sheets and healthier margins, all qualities of multis.
Which companies getting the bulk of revenues from abroad does J.P. Morgan like? Coca-Cola Enterprises
Want to explain the stock market to your favorite millennial? This should do it. (h/t Learnbonds)
Swap stories, play dominoes. Obama on hanging out with Letterman after retirement.
Your beard. Gross.
The FBI had been watching one of the Garland, Texas shooters for nearly a decade.
If you can make a forex joke out of a baby, you must be Jimmy Fallon:
Need to Know starts early and is updated until the opening bell, but sign up hereto get it delivered once to your email box. Be sure to check the Need to Know item. The emailed version will be sent out at about 7 a.m. Eastern.


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Criminals Are Scamming Zelle Users. Here's How to Keep Your Money Safe
The free payment app Zelle is hugely popular because it lets users transfer funds directly between bank accounts at no charge. But the popularity of Zelle -- a collaboration between Capital One, JP Morgan Chase and other top banks -- has also made it a major target for fraud.
Stories of Zelle users losing thousands of dollars in money-transfer scams continue to make headlines.
In an April 26 letter, Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Robert Menendez, both members of the Senate's banking committee, questioned Zelle's parent company, Early Warning Services, about "the extent to which Zelle allows fraud to flourish and the steps your company is taking to increase consumer protection and help users recover lost funds."
The FRPA alert system distinguishes us from other groups by gathering and providing information to law enforcement, retailers AND financial institutions.more information
Your electronic library to help in fighting financial fraud for all of our partners.more information


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We’ve seen the Transformer Prime in a flashy teaser trailer and under the harsh lights of a stage, but until now we hadn’t gotten a chance to see what the Transformer Prime looks like at home with its hair dock down.
No new revelations from these images, but the ... Read More »
Though we’ve had some information trickle in about the number of Android tablets in the wild, these numbers have largely been tablet shipments, which can vary significantly from the number of activated devices. At AsiaD this morning, Google Senior VP Andy Rubin mentioned that there are roughly six million activated Android tablets in the hands ... Read More »
Google Docs is one of Android users’ best friends, especially for those who like to work in the cloud. Viewing and editing documents from multiple platforms and devices is indeed convenient. But in the midst of the Honeycomb explosion, this app did not receive a tablet-optimized UI.
Thankfully, this issue has ... Read More »
Every time a new Android tablet comes out, it’s always the same thing: “This tablet has THIS dual-core processor. This tablet has THIS size display. This tablet has THIS firmware.” Over, and over and over again. Don’t get me wrong, specs are important to a certain extent. The problem is, they don’t matter nearly as ... Read More »
Did you know GameStop now allows you to turn in an old iPod Touch, iPad or iPhone for cash or in-store credit? But for what you ask? How about a GameStop-branded Android tablet?
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry, GameStop president Tony Bartel has revealed that GameStop has selected a tablet they plan ... Read More »
Those in the market for a 4G tablet that won’t make a huge hole in your bank account can now rejoice. As Android fans, we respect manufacturers that offer quality Android products at a good price. Such is the case with Acer’s Iconia Tab A500. This tablet has already earned our respect and ... Read More »
The tablets keep on coming. Amazon’s plan for an Android tablet has been the worst kept secret in the mobile world. So, it should come as no surprise that the rumors have now been confirmed; TechCrunch was lucky enough to get some hands-on time with the new Android-powered Kindle.
Reportedly, this ... Read More »
Dell hasn’t had the best luck when it comes to their phones and tablets division. Be it funky software or a crazy huge screen (the Streak 5 has paved the way for smartphones coming out now, display-wise), the company simply hasn’t seen the success it would like. When it comes to the Streak 7, poor ... Read More »
It may have taken Sony a while, but its tablets are definitely the most interesting-looking Honeycomb devices. Not only is Sony now fully jumping onto the Android bandwagon, but the electronics giant is also not afraid of taking some risks. Offering some interesting form-factors, Sony plans to stand out from the crowd by ... Read More »
Can Toshiba go from having the worst Andorid tablet last year at IFA Berlin to having the best device at this year’s show? NotebookItalia just filed a report that says Toshiba will unveil an ultra-thin Android tablet at IFA in September and the device ... Read More »


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The flameout of pseudo Programs Inc. is giving rise to a fire sale. After agreeing to acquire the remaining assets of the defunct Internet broadcaster in January for $2 million in a bankruptcy auction, INTV Inc. is unloading most of them in a virtual garage sale.
Starting today, digital production company INTV will offer a video tour on the Pseudo site of Pseudo facilities at 600 and 632 Broadway for potential buyers. What they'll find is a high-tech bazaar that includes 300 brand-new Dell desktops, a dozen PC-based editing systems, a pair of Sun servers and a floor full of high-end Knoll office furniture.
"We're getting ready to sell off a lot of equipment, and it's basically going to be on a first-come, first-served basis," says Edward Salzano, chief executive of Manhattan-based INTV. His company plans to revive Pseudo later this year as a stripped-down operation that will offer both free and subscription-based on-line content.
INTV expects to raise $5 million by selling Pseudo's assets, which Mr. Salzano says will be discounted 30% to 40% below retail prices. "Pseudo had a lot of extra baggage, which I think was their downfall," he says.
Already, INTV has taken steps to create a "technology center" at 600 Broadway by subleasing one of the two 10,000-square-foot lofts it acquired to three digital production companies. The other floor will be used by Pseudo itself. INTV is also converting the 10,000 square feet at 632 Broadway into a television studio, which it plans to rent out.
The Pseudo booty is already going fast. Mr. Salzano says that since Pseudo shut down, 600 Broadway has been broken into repeatedly, resulting in the theft of about $200,000 in computers and other equipment.
With the financial crunch affecting new media companies throughout the city, DME Interactive Holdings Inc.-which received favorable media coverage for its efforts to provide low-income minorities with a PC and Internet service package for only $249-is having to cut back on its own costs.
The company is moving out of its $21,000-plus-per-month Manhattan space at 39 Broadway and relocating to its original offices in Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
"As part of our restructuring plan, it made sense for us to move back to New Jersey," says Chief Executive Darien Dash.
The move is another symptom of how bad things are financially for the company. DME has nearly run out of cash. Last summer, it was forced to lay off 60 employees, more than half of its staff. It also had to put on hold plans to provide urban-oriented content. Its stock has recently taken a plunge, to a low of 7 cents from a high of $12 a little over a year ago.
The company's last Securities and Exchange Commission filings show that it had only $35,799 in cash as of Sept. 30. Without a new infusion of cash, DME will be forced to go out of business. If that happens, Mr. Dash-who has become a spokesman for bridging the digital divide-may turn out to be a better pitchman than entrepreneur.
Mr. Dash has been able to survive because DME proved attractive to socially conscious corporations and public partners. In February 2000, he announced a partnership with America Online Inc.'s CompuServe Interactive Services to provide Internet service access for a fee. That service will be rolled out later this year, he says. In addition, last October he signed an agreement with Hewlett-Packard Co. to provide his customers with used hardware for a fee.
"We're operating, and we will keep running our business," says Mr. Dash, who says his company has been able to obtain interim funding but declined to give details.
Michael Covitt, president of Manhattan-based Sabatier Group Inc., a firm that brings together entrepreneurs and investors, says DME has not yet raised additional funds but is in the process of doing so.
When it comes to management turnover, Worldwide Xceed Group Inc. may be hard to beat. None of the top five officers listed in the executive compensation table of the company's proxy statement filed last month is still with Xceed. Each resigned or was terminated between March 2000 and December 2000, including former Chairman Scott Mednick and former CEO Werner Haase. The management team was a casualty of the Internet implosion that devastated Xceed and other Web consultants that depended heavily on dot-com clients.
Don't feel too sorry for the ex-Xceed leaders, though. Mr. Mednick, who was initially lured to Xceed with a $960,000 signing bonus, will continue to be paid his base salary of $350,000 through July 17 and will retain rights to his vested and unvested stock options. Of course, with Xceed's stock trading last week around 20 cents a share, it isn't exactly a golden parachute.


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One of the reasons why Facebook collects information on its users is because they can use that information to sell to advertisers, who can then create targeted ads to hawk products and/or services to Facebook users. Save for ad blocking, there is no official way to disable ads on Facebook.
However earlier last week during Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony to the US Congress, he seemed to hint that Facebook could be considering a paid version of its platform which presumably would not come with ads. However the question is, how much would an ad-free Facebook cost users? According to a report from TechCrunch (via 9to5Mac) who crunched the numbers, it could cost users anywhere between $11-$14 a month in subscriptions.
Now it should be noted that this is only a hypothetical analysis which more or less is based on how much Facebook would have to make to offset the cost of reduced ads purchased on its platform. This means that should there ever be a day where an ad-free Facebook is launched, the price could be something else entirely.
However it has been pointed out that while $11-$14 might seem relatively low, it could encourage other websites to implement similar models which means that users could end up with subscriptions totalling hundreds a month just to escape ads. TechCrunch also notes that this could have a negative psychological effect on Facebook users who might start to end up resenting the company because they can’t afford it or can’t justify paying for it, but what say you?
Is $11-$14 a month something you might pay for an ad-free Facebook experience?
Filed in Facebook.. Read more about


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Car lovers pull into Wisbech Light Cinema for VIP launch of Fast & Furious 8
- Credit: Archant
Dozens of car-lovers packed The Light Cinema in Wisbech on Saturday to mark the release of Fast & Furious 8.
Chloe Gray, of the Cambridgeshire Modified Motors Owners’ Club who organised the launch event, said: “It was a great opportunity for Cambridgeshire’s car enthusiasts to get together and show the rest of the public what the modified car scene is all about in a calm and orderly fashion.”
Among the attractions was a supercar inside the cinema, along with 50 high-speed, high-spec vehicles in the VIP area outside.
King’s Lynn company Adrian Flux were also in attendance with their ‘flux babes’.


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As earlier reported that Meizu is all set to unveil its upcoming smartphone, Meizu E3 at an event scheduled on March 6, now the phone has been spotted on TENAA revealing four images showcasing different sides of the phone. The front panel of the phone flaunts an 18:9 display.
Interestingly, the upcoming Meizu smartphone has no fingerprint sensor on the front and back of the device, however, the sensor is present on the right hand side of phone below the power button.
Meizu E3 has got a dual rear camera setup aligned vertically. On the front, there is a single lens.
No specs details of the phone is known yet. Details will be out in days to come.


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Monday, May 24, 2010
LG Panther Heading to Hands of Developers
Posted by Jon Westfall in "Windows Phone Developer" @ 01:00 PM
"Looks like that LG Panther (GW910) is getting around these days. 'Innovative Singapore' received not one but two of the prototype devices to actually start developing their WP7 software. If you recall, we reported on how Windows Phone 7 devices will be going out to developers soon and sure enough, that time has come. Not only do they show more images of the phone, but they have some of the not-yet-finalized packing and even a sample shot from the camera. Their brief hands on is repeated verbatim below. Needless to say, developers must be getting excited at the prospect of using actual WP7 hardware. We know we can't wait."
Sometimes you just need a physical phone to do development work, and certain developers are going to be grabbing an actual WP7 handset in the very near future. Now if we can just get some for the rest of us, we'll be happy!


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Posted: Monday July 18, 2016. 10:40 a.m. CST.
By Aaron Humes: As a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and under the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT), Belize is subject to a review of its trade policies every six years.
The third such review is now on and Belize’s Ministry of Trade and Directorate of Foreign Trade are hosting consultants of the WTO this week.
Belize, said Director General Leroy Almendarez, has come a long way since 2004 when the first review took place, including increases in human capacity and data collection.
WTO Counselor John Finn repeated that the organization is not writing the review on its own, and welcomed all cooperation with the government and its agencies.
In related news, a National Trade Policy is to be launched later this week.
© 2016, BreakingBelizeNews.com. This article is the copyrighted property of Breaking Belize News. Written permission must be obtained before reprint in online or print media. REPRINTING CONTENT WITHOUT PERMISSION AND/OR PAYMENT IS THEFT AND PUNISHABLE BY LAW.


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While Hurricane Maria bears down on Puerto Rico and the mainland United States waits with bated breath to see where the storm will go next, the cost of the damage from Harvey and Irma is only beginning to become clear.
Estimates for the cost of Hurricane Harvey’s damage range from $65 billion to $190 billion. If the real cost falls on the higher end of that range, it could become the most expensive disaster in the history of the U.S.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Irma damage could end up costing between $50 billion and $100 billion.
Much of the recovery expenses will go to property damage, but the extensive flooding during Harvey means that vehicle losses will also be extremely costly, especially considering that Houston and many areas of Texas have a higher car ownership rate than the national average.
How many cars did each hurricane destroy?
Harvey and Irma submerged cars and property across the southern U.S. as the two Category 4 storms made landfall within the same two-week span.
Hurricane Harvey destroyed 300,000 to 500,000 vehicles in Houston alone, according to Cox Automotive estimates. The firm, parent company of Kelly Blue Book and AutoTrader.com, has its headquarters in Atlanta. The cost of licensed cars lost in the storm — excluding vehicles flooded while waiting in dealership parking lots — falls between $2.7 and $4.9 billion.
Although fewer cars were estimated to have been lost to Hurricane Irma damage, an estimated 200,000 and 400,000 vehicles were destroyed by the storm.
The two big storms of the 2017 U.S. hurricane season have so far destroyed more vehicles than Hurricane Katrina in 2005 or Hurricane Sandy in 2012, which claimed 200,000 and 250,000 cars respectively, according to Cox Automotive.
Will insurance go up because of the hurricanes?
Not all hurricanes leave the same kind of damaged vehicles in their wake, but most of them do cause insurance rates to rise.
“They’re completely different storms in a lot of ways,” said Michael Bassi, director of partnerships at Runzheimer, talking about how Harvey and Irma compare to Hurricane Katrina. What made the 2005 storm especially damaging were its high winds. Whereas with Harvey and Irma, most of the damage dealt out from those storms came from flooding.
Bassi says drivers across the country, not just in Texas and Florida, will see insurance rates increase slightly over the next year due to the cost of replacing cars in the affected areas.
He predicts that insurance rates for personal vehicles could increase two to four percentage points over the course of a year, but notes that consumers won’t feel the impact until it’s time to renew their contracts.
Though auto sales dipped in August due to Hurricane Harvey, the loss of vehicles will eventually lead to a spike as drivers replace their cars this fall, especially for trucks and SUVs.
Prices for used cars in Houston are up from this time last year, according to CarGurus.com. Typically they are below the national price index, but they now trail the national average by 1.75% — an increase of a percentage point from this time last year.
How to spot a flood damaged car
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Sandy and other major flooding incidents, storm-damaged cars were cleaned up and resold to unsuspecting drivers.
“Residents that live in a flood-damaged area and are looking to replace their vehicle should do their homework and not only use online tools to make sure they’re getting a fair deal from a top-rated dealer, but should also make sure that the car they are buying has not been detrimentally impacted by the recent flood,” said CarGurus.com data analyst Lisa Rosenberg.
Past research from Carfax shows that about half of the estimated 500,000 cars damaged by Harvey will end up back in the marketplace.
The Federal Trade Commission put out guidelines for consumers on how to avoid buying a flood-damaged car. Carfax notes that the technology most newer vehicles rely on, similar to what powers a smartphone, and would be rendered useless after significant water damage.
Consumers should take precautions like getting a history of repairs and checking the VIN number in the National Insurance Crime Bureau and National Motor Vehicle Title Information System databases. Even without a database, strange stains and smells can be a red flag that a car has weathered a flood. Consumers buy a used car should check for signs of water damage — mineral deposits, mildew and the smell of mold or overpowering scents of cleaning supplies that may be trying to mask it.
And not just in Texas or Florida. After Hurricane Sandy, for example, The New York Times reported that because of inconsistencies in state regulations, flood-damaged cars can be sold at auction and wind up on used car lots hundreds of miles away without so much as a warning that they’d weather a massive storm.
State departments of motor vehicles publish DIY tips as well. But the best safeguard against being misled, they say, is to ask a mechanic to inspect the car since some sellers go to great lengths to conceal damage.


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Much of Ontario is opening up from lockdown and going back onto the province’s COVID-19 response framework’s Red Zone, but Niagara Region is not one of them.
Niagara is the lone municipality of the 27 which received an upgrade – scheduled for Feb. 16 – to move to Grey Zone. All others, including Hamilton, which will move to red zone will move into red, orange, yellow, or green.
This will mean, for example, retailers deemed essential – supermarkets and other stores that primarily sell groceries, convenience stores – can open up to 50 per cent capacity.
Non-essential retail – such as discount and big box retailers, liquor stores, hardware stores, garden centres – can re-open to 25 per cent capacity.
The Grey designation also means Niagara’s beleaguered restaurant industry will remain closed to indoor dining.
Hair salons, photo and yoga studios, gyms and barber shops must also remain closed.
No explanation was provided in the provincial press release regarding data to support this decision.
“In consultation with the Chief Medical Officer of Health (Dr. David Williams), the Ontario government is transitioning 27 public health regions out of the shutdown and into a revised and strengthened COVID-19 Response Framework: Keeping Ontario Safe and Open (the “Framework”). The four remaining public health regions, Toronto Public Health, Peel Public Health, York Region Public Health and North Bay Parry Sound District, will remain in the shutdown, and the Stay-at-Home order and all existing public health and workplace safety measures will continue to apply to these four public health regions,” reads the provincial release.
Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff noted the decision for Niagara was made after consultations between Williams and Niagara’s medical officer of health, Dr. Mustafa Hirji. Then the decision was made to keep Niagara in Grey.
- Weekly incidence rate is 40 per 100,000 or more
- Percent positivity is 2.5% or more
- Rt is 1.2 or more
- Repeated outbreaks in multiple sectors and settings, increasing number of large outbreaks
- Level of community transmission and non-epidemiologically linked cases remains high
- Hospital and ICU capacity at risk of being overwhelmed
- Public health unit capacity for case and contact management at risk or overwhelmed
- The advice of our Niagara Medical Officer of Health”


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Megadimension Neptunia VIIR PS4/PSVR Game Launches in N. America on May 8
posted on by Alex Mateo
Idea Factory International revealed on Tuesday that it is launching its Megadimension Neptunia VIIR (Shin Jigen Neptune VIIR) game for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation VR in North America on May 8. The European release date will be announced at a later time.
The game is the first VR game in the Neptune/Neptunia franchise. The game launched for the PlayStation 4 in Japan on August 24. Players can play the game on their PS4 consoles without owning a PlayStation VR device.
Idea Factory International describes the game:
This enhanced version of 2016's Megadimension Neptunia™ VII features smoother graphics courtesy of a new engine, a revamped battle system, and a whole new VR experience. Now, their dimensions and yours are connected! Hang out one-on-one with each of the Gamindustri Goddesses, listen to their conversations, and watch as the Goddesses react to you!
Idea Factory released the Megadimension Neptunia VII game for the PlayStation 4 in Japan in April 2015, and then released the game in the West in February 2016. Idea Factory released the game on PC via Steam last July.


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Starting tomorrow, the biggest pinball museum in the world will host the third annual Arcade Expo and allow unlimited gaming for ticket holders. The Museum of Pinball in Banville, California has about 600 pinball machines and 300 classic arcade games.
Some machines are more than 150 years old, dating back to 1855. The museum also houses a number of rare games and oddities, such as the oversized pinball machine Hercules that uses cue balls instead of pinballs. Joust is a competitive pinball machine that pits two players against each other in an air-hockey-style match, and only 402 were ever built. Nowhere else can you gain access to such a massive treasure trove of classic arcade games.
"A lot of people go 'I don't want you to touch my machine,' but I want to share," museum founder John Weeks told the Los Angeles Daily News.
Due to maintenance difficulties, the museum is only open a few days a year, and the Arcade Expo is the best chance to test out the mechanical wonders. Last year's Expo saw about 3,500 pinball fans gather from around the world, and this year's event is likely going to be even bigger.
You can buy tickets for the Expo here, and you can even reserve a campsite near the Museum to get chummy with some real pinball aficionados. A weekend pass is $100, which is less money than most pinball wizards spent in quarters during the 70s and 80s.


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The PlayStation Experience was a very useful event to give Sony the opportunity to show many upcoming titles for the PlayStation VR headset. However, many of the titles shown were the result of independent developers who worked almost exclusively on VR, so many users have wondered if even the “big” software houses will produce games for virtual reality.
To answer our doubts is the usual president Shuhei Yoshida who said he was optimistic about the support of the most powerful software houses towards the PlayStation VR viewer.
Sony Worldwide Studios president said:
“We really like independent developers but obviously we hope to see triple A publishers working on PlayStation VR as well. We have already shown games from Capcom , Sega and Square Enix and we hope to be able to introduce more in the future. The biggest software houses, due to their immense resources, wait to see the evolution of the market before investing on a large scale, but I’m sure they will join us too “.
In fact, there are already several producers of “famous” games who are working on titles for PlayStation VR; Ubisoft for example has announced Eagle Flight , Bandai Namco has unveiled Ace Combat 7 , it has also been announced that Tekken 7 can also be used with the headset. In addition to these aforementioned, Square Enix also stated that it is currently working on an exclusive project for virtual reality.


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According to the website, Diya, Sparkle, and Om are the most popular emojis on Diwali. Other relevant emojis for the festival include Hindu Temple, Pray, Fireworks, Sari, Indian Flag and more.
PM Modi challenges Yogi Adityanath, asks PMAY beneficiaries to light 18 lakh diyas and surpass Ayodhya’s record
PM Modi said, "About 7.5 lakh diyas will be lit in Ayodhya. But, 18 lakh diyas will be lit in the houses of my poor brothers and sisters."
Ahead of Diwali, demand for made in India earthen diyas go up as customers give Chinese products the boot
PM Modi’s call for Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan in which he asked the citizens of India to become “Vocal for Local” products is playing an essential role in increasing local production of different products and services. S
Twitter users were not happy with the obnoxious Hinduphobia.
A novel campaign to pay tribute to our soldiers