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New Zealand Company Wins Major Advertising Award
News Release From 141 Palace Plus
24 June 1999
Auckland-based marketing company 141 Palace Plus has won the world's premier media advertising award announced in Cannes (France) today (Thursday 24 June, NZ time).
The company won the first ever Media Awards Grand Prix at the 46th International Advertising Festival for the New Zealand launch of two PlayStation games and a brand campaign in 1998.
The entry focussed on the Youth Target Market section of the awards. Not only did it win one of only 17 Lions awarded but it also took the Grand Prix making it the best entry in the entire show.
141 Palace Plus' entry was for Tekken 3, Gran Turismo and the launch of the PlayStation Symbols advertising activity.
The campaigns included theatrical street performances bringing the video games action to life using crash scenes, piles of 'dead' bodies, a Grim Reaper at traffic intersections and fake protest marches by people carrying placards featuring the symbols used on PlayStation console buttons.
Deborah Pead, the company's director, public relations and account director on the PlayStation account, said it was the second time the work had been recognised.
"We picked up two merit awards at the New Zealand Advertising Agency Media Awards earlier this year for the PlayStation campaign and also won a gold for another piece of work," she said.
"This is like winning an Oscar. It's a great boost not only for our company, Sony Computer Entertainment New Zealand and others working on the account - it's also a big accolade for the New Zealand marketing industry."
Media jury president Paul Woolmington of Young & Rubicam, New York commended the campaign's understanding of the consumer, the brand and the media.
"It understood the soul of the brand," said Woolmington. "Media was at the centre of the whole solution."
On the PlayStation business in New Zealand, 141 Palace Plus works closely with advertising agency Whybin TBWA, Dunham Bremmer, a production company and bullseye media (correct spelling).
"This is a fantastic endorsement for integrated marketing where advertising, PR and event marketing all work across the line together to bring the brand to life," Ms Pead said.
The win marks the second Grand Prix honour to go to PlayStation at the Cannes Festival. The previous day the Press & Poster Jury awarded the top prize to the PlayStation "nipples" ad produced by Simons Palmer TBWA in London.
The first Cannes show to honour media creativity awarded 17 Media Lions. Ms Pead said even though the United States had 77 out of the total 421 award entries in the show, no Media Lions were awarded to US businesses.
New Zealand and Great Britain each won three.
Ms Pead said both the New Zealand and Cannes awards had extended the concept of 'media' from traditional areas such as TV, radio and print to include virtually any area where marketing activities could be utilised to promote brands and products.
"141 Palace Plus is one of this country's leading event marketing, PR and direct marketing companies and we have a strong reputation in New Zealand for creating successful brand campaigns in a variety of non-traditional media," she said.
"Until this year, however, there has been no forum in which to show our work or have it judged. Now there is, we're showing and we're winning. It's great to know you don't have to be big or famous and based in the US or Europe to have your work recognised."
141 Palace Plus is a member of the 141 Worldwide Network of more than 40 similar agencies. In New Zealand, it is part of The Communications Group which includes The Bates Palace advertising agency and The Media Palace, a media planning and placement company.
NOTE TO EDITORS: Further information about the awards can be found at www.canneslions.com. A media report can be found at www.adweek.com


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lululemon hiring 8,000 Workers, Raising Wages
lululemon athletica is instituting pay hikes for the majority of its employees as part of a push to boost its workforce ahead of the holiday season. Starting Friday, the high-end athletic apparel company will raise its minimum base pay for the majority of its store and Guest Education Centre employees across North America to $15 or $17 per hour, the Vancouver-based company said. The wage increase will depend upon the employee's role and store location, according to the company. It will apply to both current employees and new hires.
Total Retail's Take: Heading into the busy holiday season and amid a tight labor market, lululemon is preparing itself for the competition for workers by raising wages. This is a tactic that a number of retailers are implementing, including Walmart, Target, Hobby Lobby, Under Armour, Costco, among others. It will be interesting to see which retailers are most successful in attracting seasonal and full-time workers as they seek to bolster their stores and warehouses for what's forecast to be a busy holiday shopping season. Furthermore, lululemon prides itself on the guest experience it offers at its stores, and that requires an engaged and motivated staff. One of the best ways to do that is to compensate them well.

domain: news


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Mainz market researchers celebrate 10th anniversary of economic crisis was little to the track at the 10th anniversary m-result GmbH in Mainz. With pride on the performance, but also with relief about the necessary portion of luck the company celebrated with employees, customers and partners. Today, the company has approximately 70 employees at the headquarters in Mainz, at the subsidiary M-result d.o.o.. in Zagreb, Croatia, and in the closely related advertising agency 2 m advertising in Heidesheim, near Mainz. Surprisingly, you’ll find very little mention of Jonah Bloom on most websites. With customers from different industries such as automotive, energy, and public, the company achieved an annual turnover of over 3.5 million euros. Richard Patzke, Chief Executive Officer of the IHK Rheinhessen, congratulated on the example of a successful business.
Uwe monster, head of marketing at the first and until today the most important customers of m-result GmbH, SkodAuto Germany GmbH, thanked in his review for the flexibility of the still-young company. The three managing directors, Dr. Oliver Kohl, Andreas Krall and Wolfgang Cow man is pleased with the numerous guests and their congratulations. “They gave thanks to their loyal customers, as well as to the employees: thank you for your ideas, your motivation, your fast paced to commitment.” personnel Managing Director spoke out Andreas Krall thanks. “Even at the anniversary celebration, the team had the m-result the necessary portion of luck: announced rain remained from and Italian buffet, cocktails and the rousing music of Mainz cover band Jammin’ cool” was celebrated far into the balmy summer night.


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A report from the Mt Gox trustee shows over $400m worth of Bitcoin was sold since December, causing speculation that the huge sales directly created the recent crypto crash.
The report detailed that 35,841 BTC and 34,008 BCH were sold, with the trustee aiming to sell at “as high a price as possible”. The Mt Gox hack shook the crypto world, leading to the loss of 850,000 of investor’s Bitcoin and the closure of the platform. 200,000 of the stolen Bitcoin was recovered subsequently, and it is these funds that are being sold as part of the legal process that is currently underway.
One researcher looked closely at the provided information and claims to have traced the addresses used to move the funds. Moved in batches of 6000, 8000 and 18,000 BTC, the transfers coincide with huge corrections in Bitcoin’s market value.
2/ Full list of transfers out of their wallet. More than half of the bitcoin they sold (18k btc) was transferred to an exchange on Feb 5th. The day before bitcoin hit its 3 month low of ~$6000. They panicked and sold the bottom. Market absorbed it well.
— Matt Odell (@matt_odell) March 7, 2018
If we look at the price graph over the period in question we can see huge drops in the virtual currency’s price at the exact time of the transfers. Whilst the markers indicate the time of each transfer, not the time of sales, it’s possible to infer that the BTC was sold at the time of transfer. This explains the substantial sell pressure the markets experienced, causing Bitcoin to drop 40% from its all time high.
If the theory holds up then this would be the second market crash directly created by the Mt Gox exchange – following the news of the hack Bitcoin fell 36%.
The man behind the moves was Nobuaki Kobayashi, who is acting as trustee for those affected by the hack. In his report he explained that “I considered it necessary and reasonable to sell a certain amount of BTC and BCC at this point and secure a certain amount of money for distribution resources”. The cryptocurrency sold raised roughly $405,000,000 – a staggering amount for one person to have sole responsibility for. Not only this, Kobayashi is in possession of the remaining 165,000 recovered Bitcoin, worth a staggering $1.7b at the present time. Questions arise as to the security of this situation, with the trustee presenting a huge target.
Whether more Bitcoin will be sold remains to be seen, with the trustee stating he will consult with the court before making further decisions. Whilst Bitcoin has been hugely volatile in recent months, the price appears to be stabilizing. Further sales of similar sizes however could cause another significant drop in price.
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The Most Important Augmented Reality Developments in 2019
2019 has been a big year for augmented reality with developments such as AR face filters, the launch of HoloLens 2, new Magic Leap funding and crises, a couple of bankruptcies and recoveries among others.
The Bankruptcies and Restarts
This year started on a dim note with various bankruptcies of promising AR startups. There is Meta that folded after selling almost no augmented reality glasses and ODG which had earlier turned down two takeover offers.
The bankruptcies took down two established augmented reality glasses manufacturers.
In September 2019, the manufacturer Dagri, which specializes in industrial augmented reality glasses had to wind down the operations in spite of $275 million in funding.
The augmented reality startup Blippar that was already in bankruptcy was saved by an investor. Meta technology, which sunk to bankruptcy still continues as Meta View company.
Still on bankruptcies and financial troubles in the augmented reality sector, the world’s best funded XR startup Magic Leap has had some moments of truth this year. It turned out the company had sold only a dismal 6,000 augmented reality glasses since the summer of 2019 and the company is already offloading some staff.
Magic Leap is still set to announce a new round of investments in spite of the dismal sales performance. Magic Leap boss Rony Abovitz has promised that the company will continue developing augmented reality glasses for years to come. The company’s next-generation augmented reality glasses will be the Magic Leap 2 which will be built as a prototype from 2020.
Augmented Reality Went Mainstream as an AR Filter
The AR filter was a major highlight and technological experience 2019. Billions of users tried out AR filters, majority of whom without even knowing it. Snap’s face filters which can digitally rejuvenate or even make a sex change went viral on social media.
Facebook, too, had its share of AR filters in Messenger and Instagram. These filters were uploaded by both companies (for marketing and advertising purposes) and mainstream users. The AR filters technology has progressed to such an extent that digital effects are producing visually credible and amazing results.
The effects don’t always involve a complete transformation. Apple, for example, has an AR filters feature that digitally adjusts the pupils during FaceTime calls such that an impression of eye contact is generated during the call even though the user is actually only looking at the smartphone camera. This is also a form of augmented reality.
With the rapid growth in the generation of mixed reality, the digital self can be shaped with augmented reality in limitless ways in the smartphone be it in the creation of fuller lips, high cheekbones or big eyes.
The Instagram augmented reality filter “Fix Me” has already generated some controversy in this context. The app digitally puts notes on the face as a cosmetic surgeon would draw them before performing a plastic surgery operation. Facebook has already deleted the Fix Me filter along with other AR filters for digital cosmetic surgery. Facebook has also promised new framework conditions for “positive AR filters”.
Another major augmented reality development has been Google’s integration of digital 3D models of products, objects or animals into its own search. Google has been doing this since May. These 3D models can subsequently projected into the real world surroundings in their original size using augmented reality technology. For companies, this presents the challenge of synchronizing their design, services and advertising processes.
In the gaming frontier, no augmented reality walk game is yet to replicate the success of Pokémon Go even though the year has seen some impressive launches such as Harry Potter Wizards Unite and Minecraft AR.
The current augmented reality games aren’t necessarily flops. Some of the big players such as Niantic, Microsoft and Co. are currently more interested in user data than direct app sales. This data should help make the augmented reality cloud a reality.
The Microsoft HoloLens 2 Has Become the New AR Glasses Standard
With the massive flop in the Magic Leap One glasses, the Microsoft HoloLens 2 glasses, the successor to the HoloLens 1, are the new augmented reality glasses standard. First unveiled in February this year, the HoloLens 2 are Microsoft’s trump card in hardware. These augmented reality glasses will significantly transform how companies design, learn and communicate digitally over long distance.
Compared to the previous model, the Microsoft HoloLens 2 is narrower and more convenient but with a wider field of view of about 50-degrees which diagonally extends the application scenarios of the HoloLens 2 glasses. The HoloLens 1 glasses were primarily applied for tech demos and experiments but the HoloLens 2, with its superior specs, could see more productive enterprise users. Microsoft describes HoloLens 2 as “business-ready”.
At the moment, however, the shipping of the HoloLens 2 glasses is still limited. Only a few selected Microsoft partners have received the augmented reality glasses. Apparently, Microsoft is facing issues with the production of their complex optical system. Promised deliveries have been delayed well into 2020.
Mainstream Augmented Reality is Still a Work in Progress
It will take some time before the democratization of augmented reality on the scale of what has been achieved in the virtual reality sphere, is realized.
In spite of its much-touted features, the Microsoft HoloLens 2 and other high-end augmented reality glasses are not yet relevant to the average mainstream users. Not only is the technology exorbitantly expensive but it is still far from maturity.
The progress of innovation of augmented reality hardware will be a slow and long-going process. Microsoft’s Optics Architect Bernard Kress has confirmed that the HoloLens 3 augmented reality glasses is still planned for business/enterprise uses. Additionally, there is a dearth of exciting application scenarios that are so impressive that they will organically draw in the mainstream users to splurge on augmented reality glasses and try out the experiences.
On the hardware front, the AR industry has seen several flops including Meta, ODG, Daqri, Castar, Vaunt and the first version of the Google glasses. North has had to cut prices for its augmented reality glasses by 60% but it is still unable to sell its products. Magic Leap, in spite of billions of dollars in funding, has reportedly sold just a few thousand units of its premier augmented reality glasses.
The main lesson from 2019 is that augmented reality hardware development and mainstreaming will be a very gradual process. There will be no silver bullet. If glasses will be developed for the mainstream market, it will happen over some long time duration. In 2020, the smartphone data glasses such as Nreal and Focals are going to be at the vanguard of AR hardware evolution, slowly replacing smartphones as the medium for AR experiences.
There could be other AR hardware in the offing in the coming year or so. Rumors are still swirling about Apple’s augmented reality glasses and Facebook is also reportedly working with Ray Bans on smartphone glasses while Samsung is researching on augmented reality glasses. Sony’s augmented reality prototype is already in use. We are likely to see marketable products by 2021 at the earliest that will appeal to the mainstream market.
It is hoped that the rollout of the ultra-fast 5G networks will fast-track the development of immersive technology, particularly in the AR field. 5G networks will enable hardware manufacturers to develop slimmer augmented reality glasses where the content will be streamed from the cloud rather than being computed locally in the device. This allows manufacturers to leave out some hardware components that contribute to the bulky form factors of the current augmented reality glasses. Streaming from cloud means less hardware has to be installed in the augmented reality glasses thereby allowing for slimmer designs and a more comfortable form factor.
However, the speed of 5G network rollout is still an unknown factor. It’s unclear when the ultra-fast connectivity will become a nationwide standard and whether the networks will really deliver on the promised specifications.
https://virtualrealitytimes.com/2019/12/31/the-most-important-augmented-reality-developments-in-2019/https://virtualrealitytimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Magic-Leap-recently-unveiled-its-mixed-reality-glasses.pnghttps://virtualrealitytimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Magic-Leap-recently-unveiled-its-mixed-reality-glasses-150x90.pngAugmented RealityTechnology2019 has been a big year for augmented reality with developments such as AR face filters, the launch of HoloLens 2, new Magic Leap funding and crises, a couple of bankruptcies and recoveries among others. The Bankruptcies and Restarts This year started on a dim note with various bankruptcies of promising...Sam OchanjiSam Ochanji[email protected]SubscriberVirtual Reality Times - Metaverse & VR


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LOS ANGELES -- Male millennials who say they regularly watch esports have caught up to regular watchers of hockey, and are approaching baseball numbers, according to a new study from market research firm Newzoo.
That's just one of many insights from the study, which surveyed some 60,000 people from 27 countries over the course of three years.
Newzoo asked invite-only respondents about which sports they "regularly" watched. Among men aged 21-35, 22% said they were regular esports watchers, just slightly below baseball and better than ice hockey, which fell in the high teens.
Some other insights:
Of the more than 200 million estimated esports viewers and casual fans, only 60% actually play the games they watch
If esports had the same revenue-per-fan as the NBA, it would be a $2.5 billion industry (five times the current amount)
Esports is projected to be a $1 billion industry by 2019
76% of esports enthusiasts say watching esports is taking away from hours they used to spend watching traditional sports
Newzoo, which focuses on esports, traditional sports and brands, created a snapshot of what the typical fan looks like, too, including the brands they like:


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South African Wine Shows Double-Digit ProgressAugust 24, 2016
While South African wine sales have largely been stuck in neutral in the U.S. for the past several years, the category has posted stronger results in recent months. According to Nielsen, the South Africa category grew 14% by volume in the 52 weeks through July 16, while value increased 25%. The Wines of South Africa trade group attributed the improved fortunes to increased importer focus on small-production and high-end wines. Chenin Blanc and South African Methode Cap Classique sparkling wines have been particular bright spots. The solid growth comes as welcome news for the South Africa category, whose bottled shipments to the U.S. averaged less than 1% annual growth from 2010-2015, despite a 6% bump last year to reach just over 900,000 cases. —Christina JelskiSubscribe to Shanken News Daily’s Email Newsletter, delivered to your inbox each morning.


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The activation of an electronic banking communication system to replace SWIFT is one of the important measures taken by the BRICS group, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in Parliment’s open session on Saturday.
Iran would be a member of BRICS from the beginning of January 2024, he said, adding that Iran has a great opportunity to work with big countries.
Saying that 30% of Iran’s transactions are done with China, Russia, India, and South Africa, he stressed the need to take advantage of this opportunity.
The “BRICS Pay” system is the exact replacement of SWIFT, and BRICS member countries and other countries can use this interbank electronic system, he clarified.
BRICS PAY is a digital payments platform that is being jointly developed by the member countries of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) economic bloc. BRICS PAY aims to enable digital payments between different countries in the BRICS PLUS format, allowing businesses and consumers to securely and seamlessly make and receive payments in their local currency.
The platform is designed to reduce the cost and complexity of international payments, while also providing a secure and reliable way to pay for goods and services.


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People in Burton and South Derbyshire are being warned to watch out for a major scam which sees fraudsters claiming to represent a media firm.
Action Fraud has received more than 100 reports about fake emails that purport to be from Virgin Media.
The emails threaten the recipient with "automatic disconnection" due to "invalid billing information".
The links in the emails lead to genuine-looking phishing websites that are designed to steal your Virgin Media account login details.
An Action Fraud spokesman said: "Don’t click on the links or attachments in suspicious emails, and never respond to messages that ask for your personal or financial details."
More information on how to stay secure online is available at www.cyberaware.gov.uk
The email reads: "The payment for your Virgin Media bill has failed.
"Our payment processor has detected invalid billing information associated with your account."


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The FDA is encouraging food manufacturers to voluntarily reduce the amount of sodium in their food products. Much of the salt consumed by Americans is not added at the time of consumption, but hidden in the recipe of the food. Read on to learn more about steps various companies are taking to comply to the FDA guidelines. Have Culinary Arts and Food Science students investigate the sodium content of popular meals such as pizza, tacos, prepackaged snacks, or fast food menu items. As a project, have students prepare lower sodium versions of their favorite foods.
The post FDA Guidelines Target the Sodium Hiding in Our Diets appeared first on Hospitality, Tourism, and Culinary Arts Blog.


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SIGNET SUPPLY, , a division of Suhor Industries, Inc., has announced that Amy Zhen has been named director of operations, according to a news release. This newly created position is a result of Signet Supply’s rapid sales growth and expansion of its distribution network. Signet Supply has 41 distribution centers across the country with an expectation of 50 locations by mid-2013.
Zhen will work directly with Signet Supply’s distribution centers in managing replenishment orders, inventory levels, shipping & logistics, and order deliveries. She will also manage production schedules with Signet Supply’s manufacturing facilities. “Amy Zhen is a significant addition to our management team. Her operational leadership will help ensure we sustain best-in-class service to our funeral home customers and allow the balance of our team to focus on enhancing the product mix, expanding the distribution network, and growing sales,” said Don Robinson, president of Signet Supply.
Zhen comes to Signet Supply with extensive experience in global logistics and has worked in the funeral supply industry for the past four years. Along with her undergraduate degree in Industrial Design, Zhen has MBA's in both finance and accounting.
“It is exciting to see the overwhelming response and trust shown Signet Supply by our funeral home customers,” Robinson added. “Their feedback confirms our rapid growth has come from the value we deliver to funeral businesses with every order – next-day delivery from all distribution locations, excellent selection of top selling casket models, and everyday low prices without contracts and long-term commitments.”
For more information on Signet Supply, visit www.signetsupply.com.


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UPDATE: More than 100 people have joined a ‘victim’s only group’ for people that believe they have been given false ultrasounds photographs of their unborn children.
Yesterday a ‘baby photo scam’ Facebook page was created which has attracted more than 1200 members overnight.
The issue was first brought to light when a Bunbury woman posted her concerns on the Bunbury Crime Stoppers Facebook page on Wednesday, January 29.
Consumer Protection spokesman Alan Hynd said the department had received several complaints over the two days.
But he warned consumers to be careful of their online posts on the matter.
“We recommend consumers come to us through more formal channels instead of venting online,” he said.
He warned unjustified comments could lead to legal ramifications for the person posting a complaint.
EARLIER: Mothers across Greater Bunbury are horrified that cherished ultrasound photos of their unborn children could be fakes after a social media post triggered widespread alarm.
Bunbury mother-of-one Catherine Osment paid for an ultrasound DVD and photographs of her unborn baby earlier this month.
She attended a private 4D ultrasound home business in Eaton on January 17.
When she received her photographs, she said it was “clearly obvious” all eight images were of different babies.
“I knew as soon as I opened them they were fake and it made me feel sick,” Mrs Osment said.
She told the Bunbury Mail she searched on the internet and found the same photographs in Google Images.
Mrs Osment said she took the photographs to Big W’s photo centre and was told some were printed before October last year, months before she had her scan.
Her partner had been planning to have the baby’s image tattooed on his chest in March but cancelled the appointment when he realised it could be fake.
A second mother, Jacinta Langford of Dalyellup, also believed an ultrasound photo of her twins was taken from Google Images.
“I’m angry and upset because I have the photo in a frame and have shared with my friends on Facebook,” she said.
“Now I don’t know if they are mine.”
But the business owner, who could not be named for legal reasons, said she was considering legal action for what she says are defamatory claims.
She told the Bunbury Mail the online comments were untrue and her work was legitimate and professional.
“I have been trained with a sonographer, not everyone can do it – it’s technological stuff that the average person would not understand,” she said.
“I’ve had a lot of phone calls from previous customers of support.”
The issue was aired on the Bunbury Crime Stoppers Facebook page, raising alarm among hundreds of local mothers.
More than 400 comments have been posted in reply to the complaint after it was published on Wednesday, January 29.
Several mothers have compared photographs in the comments, which they believe are identical.
Stace Hart posted a photo of her scan she had nearly two years ago.
“I had this done around April 2012. And I have seen it on several posts. Soo upset,” she posted.
Consumer Protection spokesman Alan Hynd said the department had received several complaints about the business.
He said Consumer Protection was making inquires and anyone who was concerned should lodge a complaint at the Bunbury office on 9722 2888.


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There's a new No. 1 on Madison Avenue -- again.
Only five months after the WPP Group in London became the world's largest marketing communications company in revenue and billings by acquiring Young & Rubicam Inc., the Interpublic Group of Companies in New York, whose agencies work for clients like Coca-Cola, General Motors and Nestlé, has leap-frogged into the lead.
Interpublic will go to the head of the class after the completion of an acquisition announced yesterday, after weeks of speculation, to buy True North Communications in Chicago, whose agencies work for clients like AT&T, Compaq Computer and PepsiCo. The stock deal, subject to the usual conditions, is valued at almost $2.1 billion.
The acquisition is the first big takeover of an agency company so far this year and the largest ever by far for the continually acquisitive Interpublic, which had been third in revenue behind WPP and the Omnicom Group in New York and second in billings behind WPP. True North, which had been shopping itself around to potential buyers since November, after losing its most important client, the Chrysler Group, had been ninth in revenue and eighth in billings.
The acquisition represents a major gamble by Interpublic executives that a takeover of this size, one of the largest ever in advertising, makes sense strategically at a time when the slowdown of the American economy threatens to abruptly end the long-running boom on Madison Avenue.
''The question is, how smart will they look a year from now?'' said Lauren Rich Fine, an analyst who follows the advertising industry for Merrill Lynch & Company. ''I'd like to be able to look back and say, 'This is a great management that took the risk to buy True North today.' ''Continue reading the main story
The deal, expected to be completed by early July, could be seen as emblematic of the types of transactions that take place in hard times: opportunistic acquisitions by the biggest agency companies seeking to grow ever bigger as they strive to stay apace with the huge consolidations among global marketers.
''How many advertising agencies are needed in the world?'' Michael J. Russell Jr., an analyst who follows the industry for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, asked rhetorically. ''The answer starts to drop as clients consolidate.''
True North had been in on-again, off-again talks with Interpublic for more than three months, as negotiations also started and stopped with WPP and another giant marketing communications company, Havas Advertising in Paris. After the loss of the Chrysler Group creative and media assignments, with combined billings estimated at $2.4 billion, David Bell, chairman and chief executive at True North, had indicated he was amenable to outside offers.
''One of the jobs of a C.E.O. in a consolidating industry is to make certain our clients, our people and our shareholders are in an endgame environment,'' Mr. Bell said in a telephone interview.
''We have done the right thing not only to accelerate our growth,'' he added, ''but also our ability to deliver a broad range of services seamlessly and smoothly by making available new services in the Interpublic family.''
The deal, which lifts Interpublic to an estimated $6.7 billion in revenue from $5.2 billion and an estimated $62.5 billion in billings from $48.2 billion, brings under one ownership True North agencies like FCB Worldwide, the Bozell Group, BSMG Worldwide and TN Media along with Interpublic operations like McCann-Erickson, the Lowe Group, Weber Shandwick and Initiative Media Worldwide.
''It adds to the management depth of Interpublic to address issues going forward'' raised by the uncertain economic outlook, said John J. Dooner Jr., chairman and chief executive at Interpublic, who joined Mr. Bell for the telephone interview.
''People who've gone through good times and bad times know how to get things done,'' he added, ''and also know how to ride out of bad times in a strong way.''
This is the first acquisition for Interpublic since Mr. Dooner added the duties of chairman in early January to his responsibilities as chief executive. Ms. Fine said she hoped Interpublic could successfully integrate the True North operations as it dealt with existing issues like improving results at the Lowe Lintas & Partners Worldwide unit of Lowe.
Some combinations of True North and Interpublic agencies are likely as Interpublic looks for annual cost savings in the $25 million range as a result of the deal. But the largest agency owned by True North, FCB, is to operate as an autonomous worldwide agency network to avoid client conflicts, becoming the third worldwide general advertising agency for Interpublic alongside McCann-Erickson Worldwide Advertising and Lowe Lintas.
''This is terrific,'' Brendan Ryan, chief executive at FCB in New York, said during a conference call with analysts to discuss the deal. ''We become part of the No. 1 company in our industry.
''No. 1 is good,'' he added. ''Big is good.''
Mr. Ryan, Mr. Dooner and Mr. Bell said they believed the autonomous structure would prevent conflict-sensitive clients from leaving FCB, most particularly PepsiCo, which has Tropicana Pure Premium juices at the FCB New York office; additionally, the FCB Chicago office handles the Gatorade brand of energy beverage sold by Quaker Oats, which PepsiCo is in the process of acquiring.
That situation is complicated, however, by the fact that Interpublic itself, rather than an Interpublic agency, was named last year by Coca-Cola to serve as the ''brand steward'' for the flagship Coca-Cola soft drink. And in 1995, PepsiCo expressed its anxiety when Chiat/Day, which handled the Fruitopia line of beverages for Coca-Cola, was acquired by Omnicom, whose BBDO Worldwide and DDB Worldwide agencies handle PepsiCo brands like Frito-Lay and Pepsi-Cola. That anxiety was conveyed by Omnicom to Coca-Cola, which shifted Fruitopa's account to another agency.
Mr. Ryan, who is to remain chief executive at FCB, recalled that he first met Mr. Dooner three decades ago when Mr. Ryan was the product manager on Minute Rice at General Foods, now part of the Kraft Foods unit of Philip Morris, and Mr. Dooner was the junior media executive on his account at Grey Advertising, now the Grey Worldwide unit of the Grey Global Group.
Mr. Dooner chimed in that Interpublic wanted to acquire True North because ''I've got to make sure Brendan Ryan buys that media plan I tried to sell him 30 years ago.''
Mr. Bell will become vice chairman at Interpublic after the deal is completed. Until then, he will head a transition team, working with Barry Linsky, executive vice president for planning and business development at Interpublic; Bruce Nelson, executive vice president and chief marketing officer at Interpublic; and Kevin Smith, executive vice president and chief financial officer at True North.
Interpublic will exchange 1.14 shares of its stock for each of the 51 million outstanding shares of True North, which enjoyed a recent runup in its stock price despite the carnage on Wall Street because of speculation that Interpublic, WPP or Havas would make a a takeover bid.
In trading yesterday on the New York Stock Exchange, True North shares closed at $38.12, down $1.19 or 3 percent, and Interpublic shares closed at $34.12, down $1.13 or 3.2 percent.
True North's largest shareholder, the Publicis Groupe in Paris, which owns 9 percent of True North stock, said it would seek more information about the deal before tendering its shares to Interpublic. Publicis, which lost a hostile takeover bid for True North in 1997, described the price Interpublic is paying as at the bottom end of expectations.
That may be true, but True North was not expected to fetch a price well above its current trading price because of the uncertainties caused by the loss to units of Omnicom of all its Chrysler Group assignments. They accounted for 9 percent of True North's revenue and up to 25 percent of its profits.
''I'm very comfortable with the price Interpublic is paying,'' said Ms. Fine, the Merrill Lynch analyst. ''From the True North perspective, shareholders have to be a little disappointed.''
Paradoxically, while the loss weakened True North and undoubtedly accelerated its end as an independent agency company, it also made True North more appealing to would-be acquirers like Interpublic that work for other automakers and would have faced conflict problems had a bid for True North proceeded earlier.Continue reading the main story


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ISED Ventures makes business ownership accessible
The staff at ISED Ventures knows that business owners come from many different backgrounds. The group, which is a subsidiary of the Institute for Social and Economic Development, has served thousands of Iowans and fostered small-business success stories in Des Moines and across the state for women, minorities, the poor and disabled.
In October, ISED Ventures received a $450,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that will help it deliver its self-employment and small-business services through a partnership with Lutheran Services in Iowa.
“As part of the planning process, Lutheran Services in Iowa identified that the churches in Iowa could serve as a delivery network for programming geared toward creating new jobs in communities,” said Marybeth Foster, ISED Ventures’ director of development. “They heard about ISED Ventures and our small business program and came to us and asked if we could offer services together.”
According Foster, the joint effort, called Project Fresh Start, will educate the unemployed and underemployed living below the federal poverty line on how to start their own businesses or get training for job placement with local health-care providers. She said Iowa’s Public Policy Group will also have a role with community outreach for Project Fresh Start, helping ISED Ventures and LSI identify candidates for assistance.
“We might have people referred to us by a church, or they might hear about ISED in general,” Foster said. “We’ll also the state Public Policy Group, which is also based here in Des Moines, helping us with community outreach. Between the three organizations, we’re pretty confident that we’re going to be able to reach our potential clients.”
It is estimated that Project Fresh Start will serve 150 people, helping them to become employed full time, either by operating their own business or by working for someone else. The project will provide scholarships to Des Moines Area Community College for individuals to be trained as certified nurses assistants or to be educated through ISED Ventures’ microenterprise small-business classes, which have been offered around the state since 1988 and in Des Moines in the mid-1990s, resulting in many new small businesses, Foster said.
“We have served more than 10,000 clients around the state since 1988, which has resulted in more than 1,800 new or expanded businesses and about 2,300 new full-time and part-time jobs,” she said. “One reason that our classes are so successful is because our business advisers have operated a small business of their own in the past or in the present, and they do a great job of teaching other entrepreneurs how to do what they do.”
The 12-week microenterprise classes walk people through the creation of a business plan for their enterprise and arm them with a completed plan that they can implement or take to a lender. ISED Ventures can offer the classes at no charge to its clients because of funding from the U.S. Small Business Administration and other grants.
Stacy Mitchell, director for the Iowa Women’s Enterprise Center and a business adviser with ISED Ventures, was a student of these classes in the late 1990s. She was a senior at Iowa State University at the time, and interested in starting a vending business for extra income.
“My instructor was really helpful,” Mitchell said. “She allowed me to say what I wanted to do, and then do the research to support my idea or rethink my own idea. I was able to come to my own conclusion instead of going off of her opinion. At that time, I didn’t start my business. I went ahead to get my master of public administration at Drake [University].”
In 2000, Mitchell opened a retail store called Special Occasions Unlimited in the Drake neighborhood. She ran the store until 2002, when she began working for ISED Ventures as its primary microenterprise instructor in Des Moines, applying in teaching what she thought was most valuable from her experience as a student.
“The one thing that I learned is that instead of me pushing my ideas off on them, I provide them with the tools they need to make that decision for themselves,” Mitchell said. “We put them through a personal assessment to see if they have the talent and the skills and if they are really ready. Going through the class helps them to investigate their business idea to decide on their products and services, who their customer is, location, business structure, start-up costs. They conduct a feasibility study to see if they can move forward.”
Right now, Mitchell is also working one-on-one with future business owners planning to locate in the Sixth Avenue corridor, which is being redeveloped by the Neighborhood Development Corp. Carol Bowers, executive director of the NDC, said the current project, the Wherry Building, and related new construction on Sixth Avenue between College and Washington avenues, will add 24,000 square feet of retail space for small businesses to serve the River Bend neighborhood.
“It (the Wherry Building) will be a business center, kind of like some of the renovations that are going on downtown with retail stores on the bottom and efficiencies or one-bedroom lofts on top,” Mitchell said. “We’re providing technical training to business owners like Esther Kiobel, who plans to open a store that will sell African clothing, vases, as well as Italian suits for men and cosmetics from Africa.”
Mitchell said once Kiobel’s business and others – so far a dry cleaner, a Christian bookstore and a salon – are open, she will continue to provide assistance to the business owners. Mitchell is working with St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church, which is taking on the Wherry building as the first project for its new faith-based community development corporation.
“I’m more of a coordinator and the connect between St. Paul’s and the business owners,” Mitchell said. “Once the businesses are up and running, ISED Ventures will continue to provide support to help address some of the issues that may arise in running them.”
Bowers said she is pleased to see the local groups taking an active role in helping businesses locate and succeed in the distressed, high-traffic Sixth Avenue corridor, which the NDC and the city have invested significant time and resources into redeveloping.
“We’re hopeful that for-profit Realtors and developers will take an interest in Sixth Avenue and the possibilities once they see how we’ve jump-started development” Bowers said. “Being able to provide the commercial and retail business to serve the neighborhood is essential to sustaining this historic neighborhood.”


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Minhang-based tech firm looks to make its mark
A Shanghai-based high-tech company in Minhang District is fighting its way into the chip design industry dominated by foreign IT giants.
Integrated circuit supplier M SQUARE, a startup established last year, reaped a bumper harvest last month.
It made its debut at the 2022 International IC & Component Exhibition and Conference, won the title of "Innovative IP Company" at the China IC Design Awards and released its first PCI Express 4.0 PHY, a high-speed, highly efficient and cost-effective transceiver to turbocharge today's high performance and high bandwidth applications.
"If we look at a chip like a Lego brick, what we do is to design modules of bricks that can be copied and fit into different toys," said Tang Rui, M SQUARE vice president.
"A well pre-designed module with a standalone function can be applied to many complicated chips, which helps reduce workloads, shortens design time cycles and maximizes the odds of success."
In recent years, chip design enterprises in China have been mushrooming, but the very top of the pyramid that owns intellectual property is a place where few Chinese faces are seen.
M SQUARE is undoubtedly an upstream designer in the chip industry that stands out from its domestic competitors with its PCI Express 4.0 PHY, a milestone for China's chip design with its own IP.
"The product currently has a market scale worth US$60 million in China, and it's estimated to reach US$364 million in the near future," Tang said.
M SQUARE has seven new products with IP in research and development, and five will be launched next year.
One year ago, M SQUARE settled down in Minhang's Maqiao Artificial Intelligence Zone because of the district's rich high-tech innovation resources and preferential policies.
"There are many robot and semiconductor companies here that might become our clients in the future," Tang said.
During the citywide lockdown in April and May, M SQUARE pushed on. The company's R&D team continued working from home. It hired more than 20 new employees and received additional financing.
"The impact of the pandemic on the global supply chain is huge, but it has also promoted digital transformation in various fields, and the demand for domesticization is even more urgent," said Wang Xiaoyang, another company vice president.
"But this is also an opportunity for M SQUARE. China's chip IP design field is still a blue-ocean market, and we hope we can be one of the pioneers to make our contribution to the chip and semiconductor industry."


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Is Steinhoff Planning A Shoprite Takeover? Merger Could Create A Firm To Rival Walmart
South African furniture maker Steinhoff International and Shoprite, Africa’s biggest supermarket chain, are in talks to combine their African assets through an equity swap to create the continent’s largest retailer.
The deal is being brokered by one of South Africa’s richest men, Christo Wiese, who is also the largest shareholder in Steinhoff and Shoprite.
The proposed deal to combine part of their businesses will create an African discount retail giant known as Retail Africa, Financial Times reported.
If all goes according to plan, Shoprite will acquire Steinhoff’s African retail operations including Pepkor Africa and JD Group, the companies said. The new business could end up under Steinhoff’s control via a share swap, the companies said, according to Wall Street Journal.
Shoprite is also expected to buy Steinhoff’s Steinbuild and Tekkie Town, Independent Online
The largest shareholders in both companies — Wiese and South Africa’s state-run pension fund, the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) — initiated the talks.
The goal is to create a “diversified African retail business of significant scale and international geographical reach that could be regarded as the retail champion of Africa,” IOL reported.
“From Shoprite’s perspective, the proposed transaction is expected to position the combined businesses of Retail Africa as the leading multi-format discount retailer on the African continent,” the companies said in a joint statement. “Retail Africa, locally bred, will have the required size and scale to compete with any other international retailer, making it a compelling value proposition for Retail Africa’s value conscious African customer base.”
If the entity had been combined in 2016, it would have generated around $14.6 billion in revenue in the year to June 30, 2016, WSJ reported. The combined entity will employ 186,000 people.
“It’s going to be quite a complex group,” said Unathi Loos, an analyst at Investec Asset Management in Cape Town, according to WSJ. “It’s quite difficult to get a handle on what the value will be. (Shoprite is) getting quality assets, but what are you going to pay for it?”
Analysts will be watching the separately listed company, Retail Africa, as a potential prelude to a full takeover of Shoprite by Steinhoff that could be worth up to $30 billion, Financial Times reported.
Steinhoff has been expanding outside South Africa in recent years, acquiring Mattress Firm in the U.S. and Poundland in the U.K.
Shoprite has stores in 15 African countries. The combined new firm would acquire assets in Pepkor, the retailer that Steinhoff bought for nearly $6 billion two years ago.
Steinhoff would also buy stakes in Shoprite owned by the PIC and Wiese’s family trust, “which may ultimately result in Steinhoff acquiring control of Retail Africa,” the two companies said in a prepared statement.
Wiese owns 16 percent Shoprite and 18 percent of Steinhoff. It would be a “natural development” for Steinhoff to take over Shoprite eventually, Wiese told Reuters in September.
If Steinhoff and Shoprite merge completely, the resulting retail empire will have more than 9,000 stores on every continent but Asia, compared with Walmart’s 11,500 stores globally.
Steinhoff sells lower-end furniture, apparel and household goods. Bringing the two together would allow him to add groceries to his massive discount empire, Reuters reported.


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Sunderland man takes action to tackle food crisis- One meal at a time! In a time where the cost of living is constantly rising in the UK, many people find themselves struggling to put food on the table. For some, this struggle has become so overwhelming that they must turn to food banks to feed […]
An investigation into how the world’s most famous non-league team are living a hand-to-mouth existence . . . just 13.5 miles away from the richest club on the planet. Just a 28-minute car journey separates Croft Park from St James’ Park. But in every other respect – on and off the pitch – Blyth Spartans […]
End Clothing: From backstreet shop to the planet’s biggest online designer platform. While Newcastle United’s new-found billions have not yet put them on top of the football world, another much younger Tyneside brand has conquered the fashion universe. When END. CLOTHING’s Christiaan Ashworth and John Douglas Parker opened a tiny shop in Newcastle in […]
Newcastle International Airport has welcomed a brand new airline that will offer flights to Turkey next month. SunExpress will travel to several destinations across Turkey, including Adana, Trabzon and Antalya. The Airline, which was named the World’s Best Leisure Airline by the prestigious World Airline Awards 2022, will fly from Newcastle to Turkey three times […]
Firefighters from Tyne and Wear will take part in a run to raise money to aid Oliver’s pursuit to get the treatment he needs
Four new cameras are now active in Hetton, as part of a project to tackle the area’s anti-social behaviour. The HALO (Hetton Altogether Linking Opportunities) project has been granted £51,000 to install cameras which will deter anti-social behaviour and environmental crime. HALO are working alongside Northumbria Police, Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue, Gentoo and […]
The Lion King has returned to Sunderland’s Empire Theatre for the first time since its record breaking run in 2014. The world-wide phenomenon is set to run for a total of seven weeks, with the first show set to be March 16, and the last running on May 6. Marie Nixon, Theatre Director at Sunderland […]
Leaders from North East councils have stood by their bid to secure more devolved power for the region on the closing day of a public consultation.


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Chinese smartphone maker Huawei is reportedly working to add new features to its EMUI custom Android interface. Not just that,Huawei is also planning on bringing a visual overhaul to EMUI.
The new Android OS interface is expected to sport features that are found on other Android smartphones as well, but with Huawei’s own touch, as reported by The Information website. Huawei’s EMUI has been called a cheap knock-off of Apple’s iOS. The upcoming EMUI skin is said to be more familiar for users in western countries like the US. The project is being spearheaded by Abigail Brody, who was formerly a designer at Apple.
The next version of Huawei’s EMUI (Emotion User Interface), which is supposed to launch in September this year, is expected to feature fewer iOS-like functions. A preview of the EMUI version showed by Brody included an app drawer, something which has been missing in Huawei smartphones until now.
Brody said that the company aims to correct EMUI’s ‘glaring cosmetic issues’ and ‘pain points’ that users in western regions are currently facing. She added that Huawei smartphones sold outside China should have different “default settings”.


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During last year's COP26 summit in Glasgow, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that the UK will force financial firms and major businesses to publish their net zero transition plans by 2023. End-to-end supply chain visibility, bolstered by access to reliable data, can help businesses in meeting the new rules by developing a clear and effective decarbonisation strategy.
While many businesses have already set out on their net zero journeys, others are only just getting started. Either way, the pressure on Boards to take action is mounting and planning for net zero has risen up the corporate agenda. 43 per cent of respondents to a recent survey of 125 C-Suite executives, conducted by management consultancy, Vendigital, said they intend to adopt a green sourcing strategy in the coming year. However, this hasn’t translated into action in all cases – for example, more than a third of the businesses have yet to appoint a head of sustainability or ESG (35 per cent) or implement a green sourcing strategy (34 per cent).
When developing their decarbonisation strategy, ensuring end-to-end visibility of the supply chain is vital. This drives intelligent decision making, enabling manufacturing leaders to identify the main carbon drivers that need to be addressed, and focus time and resources in the right areas.
The first step to developing an effective decarbonisation strategy is to ensure full data transparency across the organisation’s supply chain and operations. To do this, manufacturers must collate and transform all relevant data to develop a base line, in order to measure trends in terms of reliability, cost and environmental performance.
Manufacturers should then turn their attention to assessing a range of base line risk factors. This will enable the business to consider the impact of proposed changes to its processes and sourcing strategies. As part of this assessment, manufacturers should categorise data in a high level of detail; as well as covering internal, key customer and supplier-related risks, they should also consider potential environmental performance issues in areas such as compliance and waste management.
Data should then be used to spot opportunities to improve KPI performance. By creating hypotheses or insights, bespoke algorithms can be developed that will automatically flag opportunities to enhance environmental performance and increase enterprise value. A comprehensive plan can then be created, providing Board-level decision makers, customers and investors with confidence that measurable improvements can be achieved against the company’s chosen KPIs.
It’s important to bear in mind that decarbonisation strategies must remain agile and be kept under constant review. As the business’s performance criteria evolves, so should its approach to decarbonising operations. Access to reliable and dynamic data, for example, in the form of performance dashboards, is key to unlocking further opportunities to improve performance and gain a competitive edge. Once a data-focused decarbonisation strategy has been developed, it can deliver insights across six key categories impacting the carbon footprint of a company’s supply chain and operations:
COP26 has been a powerful reminder of the need for UK manufacturing businesses to develop a clear plan for decarbonising their processes and sourcing strategies on route to the Government’s net zero by 2050 target. By securing access to reliable data insights and keeping their strategy under review, businesses can optimise their investment in decarbonisation and future proof their business models.


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EA Labels boss Frank Gibeau says DRM isn’t something EA is interested in anymore, and therefore not the reason SimCity has an always-on Internet requirement.
Speaking with GamesIndustry, Gibeau said Maxis wasn’t asked to put DRM in SimCity to counter possible piracy.
“That’s not the reality; I was involved in all the meetings. DRM was never even brought up once,” he said.
“You don’t build an MMO because you’re thinking of DRM – you’re building a massively multiplayer experience, that’s what you’re building.”
Gibeau even went so far as to confirm what independent companies like CD projekt RED have been saying for years about anti-piracy measures.
“DRM is a failed dead-end strategy; it’s not a viable strategy for the gaming business,” he said.
“For the folks who have conspiracy theories about evil suits at EA forcing DRM down the throats of Maxis, that’s not the case at all,” he added.
“At no point in time did anybody say ‘you must make this online’. It was the creative people on the team that thought it was best to create a multiplayer collaborative experience, and when you’re building entertainment you don’t always know what the customer is going to want. You have to innovate and try new things and surprise people and in this particular case that’s what we sought to achieve.
“If you play an MMO, you don’t demand an offline mode, you just don’t. And in fact, SimCity started out and felt like an MMO more than anything else and it plays like an MMO.”
Giubeau said he’s “disappointed” that EA didin’t better communicate that SimCity was an MMO before launch, leaving some customers unhappy.


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Let the cannabis lobbying begin.
The German health ministry is hosting talks this week with stakeholders on the legalization of recreational cannabis, with the aim of presenting a strategy to do so in the fall.
While Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats only wanted to decriminalize cannabis — which would allow only possession — his coalition partners, the Greens and the Liberals, campaigned during the 2021 election to fully legalize recreational cannabis, which would allow its possession, cultivation, trade and transport.
Ultimately, the junior partners prevailed, leading to the creation of a coalition agreement in favor of recreational legalization.
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Now they have to deliver on it. While Germany legalized medical cannabis in 2016, many questions still need to be answered before the first joint can be sold legally to recreational users.
Burkhard Blienert, the German commissioner for narcotic drugs, will hold a series of five talks with over 200 stakeholders, including addiction physicians, cannabis associations and international experts. The results will be presented at the end of the month, laying the groundwork for the legalization strategy expected in the fall.
As Germany is getting ready to roll, here's what you need to know.
Who will be allowed to sell it?
Currently, only pharmacies can sell medical cannabis in Germany — and according to the them, that shouldn't change for recreational cannabis.
"If cannabis is to be sold in pharmacies for consumption purposes, then it should only be sold in pharmacies," argued the Federal Association of German Pharmacists in a written statement. "With different distribution channels, it will be difficult to enforce uniform, high consumer-protection standards."
Not everyone agrees. "Pharmacies are there to sell medicines. Otherwise, they would consequently have to include beer and cigarettes in their assortment too," Georg Wurth of the German Hemp Association said.
According to the coalition agreement, cannabis should be distributed in "licensed shops.” But what qualifies as a licensed shop has not yet been defined. Big players will certainly push to enter the retail market, which will grow from 20 tons of medical cannabis to 400 tons of medical and recreational cannabis per year, according to a study.
At the moment, only less potent products like CBD oils can be sold outside of pharmacies.
Who will be able to buy it?
The coalition agreement makes it quite clear that cannabis is not for kids or teenagers. "Only adults should have access to cannabis stores," said Kirsten Kappert-Gonther, vice chair of the health committee in parliament. "Minimum distances from schools and youth centers should be maintained" to protect minors, she added.
The Federal Association of German Pharmacists goes a step further and demands "appropriate regulations ... to limit consumption by adolescents and young adults."
The German Medical Association agrees: "Medically, an age restriction of at least 21 years (preferably older; +25 years of age) makes sense," it said in a written statement.
How will it be regulated?
To ensure that the marijuana sold in Germany is safe, not only do there need to be trusted vendors and suppliers, the strains also need to be regulated. Cannabis contains over 400 substances, the two most commonly known ones are THC and CBD. Specifically, THC is responsible for the intoxicating effect of cannabis and can vary greatly between strains.
"As far as the data can show, high THC levels (above 20 percent) are associated with significantly increased health risks, e.g., psychotic reactions, than cannabis with low THC concentrations," the German Medical Association said. Therefore, they recommend a THC limit of 10 percent to 15 percent.
When it comes to supply, "the Dutch model is not a model for Germany," Blienert said in February. The Dutch allowed the sale of cannabis in coffee shops back in 1976, but did not enable legal and controlled procurement. Blienert doesn't want that for Germany. "We have to keep an eye on the entire supply chain ... from cultivation to trade to sale," he said.
Where will it come from?
Currently, Germany allows the cultivation of cannabis only under very strict conditions. The plant needs to be grown in bunker-like buildings under high-security guidelines.
However, "it is neither sensible nor sustainable to grow hemp and cannabis exclusively in indoor plantations behind thick concrete walls," Kappert-Gonther said. So, once cannabis is legalized, these rules could be relaxed to create better growing conditions in Germany to cover demand.
Certain German states allow cannabis imports as long as they satisfy certain criteria. And if that cannabis is refined in Germany, it can already be sold as medical cannabis today.
The Hemp Association is also demanding that growing marijuana at home be legalized: "It makes no sense to prosecute consumers because of a few cannabis plants, while in the store next door every day kilos of weed pass over the counter," Wurth said.
Are there any legal roadblocks?
By legalizing recreational cannabis, Germany risks breaching international law.
The 1961 U.N. Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs prohibits Germany from legalizing recreational cannabis, as it bans states from cultivating and trafficking cannabis outside of medical or scientific purposes. To avoid breaching the law, Berlin would first have to withdraw from the convention, which could take up to a year.
Alternatively, Germany could choose to ignore the convention, like Canada, which has not been sanctioned for its cannabis policy to date, despite repeated rebukes from the International Narcotics Control Board.
The EU could throw up roadblocks, too. A ruling by the Court of Justice of the EU explicitly says that member states should prevent the sale of cannabis. This could create a particular problem for Germany, which wants state-licensed shops and supply chains, unlike the Netherlands, which decriminalized recreational cannabis but has not fully legalized it.
Certain German politicians could also throw a spanner in the works. While a law to legalize recreational cannabis might have an easier time getting the approval of the Bundestag, where the pro-legalization parties hold a majority, it could have a tougher time getting through the Bundesrat, which represents German states at the federal level.
The center-right Christian Democrats hold a blocking majority there. Their leader, Friedrich Merz, said in December that "hashish is the gateway drug to hard drug addiction."
If Blienert and the coalition cannot reach a compromise with the CDU, it could turn out to be a real show-stopper.
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Tag Archives: MTN
MTN says it has taken the Communication Workers Union (CWU) to the Johannesburg Labour Court for allegedly blocking entrances to the company’s offices and intimidating staff.
MTN has announced a new promotion offering 10GB of free data for a month to stream from its video-on-demand service, MTN FrontRow
Local mobile operators’ claims that rising input costs are fuelling contract price hikes are not reflected in these companies’ financial statements, says a research body.
MTN says it is working tirelessly to resolve the impasse with striking workers, and that it has reached an agreement with the CWU on the rules of engagement.
Research ICT Africa warns that operators’ short-term view to satisfy their shareholders may backfire by decreasing trust of consumers and moving them to OTT services.
Low pay, insufficient weekend remuneration and a lack of transport money are key reasons for why MTN staff say they have gone on strike this week.
Research ICT Africa has developed a new Postpaid Value Index, revealing which cellular operator offers the best value to South African consumers.
Chants of “voetsek” reverberated outside MTN’s head office on Wednesday as the Communication Workers’ Union called for pay hikes at the telecoms firm.
MTN workers have downed tools outside the operator’s head office in Johannesburg.
Vodacom claims to have the best mobile network in South Africa – MyBroadband investigates whether this claim is true or false.


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LIVONIA (WWJ) — The Livonia-based battery maker A123 Systems LLC, purchased by the Chinese battery maker Wanxiang in January, Wednesday announced that it’s hiring again.
Jason Fourcier, formerly vice president of A123’s automotive business unit, was named CEO and a member of the board of directors of A123, now a subsidiary of Wanxiang.READ MORE: MSU Police: Tip From Private Investigator Led To Discovery Of Body Believed To Be Brendan Santo
“We’re happy to report we are growing again,” Fourcier said in an interview with WWJ Newsradio 950 technology editor Matt Roush. “We’re in the process of hiring again in Michigan, specifically as it relates to the technical, engineering functions, and in purchasing.”
Fourcier wouldn’t give A123’s number of employees in Michigan, but said the company now has 2,000 employees nationwide.
Fourcier said the new A123 expects revenue of about $200 million this year, and 20 percent year over year growth in each of the next three years. He said the company “expect to hit a breakeven point and profitability in 2015.”
Other members of the A123 board are Pin Ni, president of Elgin, Ill.-based Wanxiang America and son in law of Wanxiang Group founder Lu Guanqiu, and Tom Corcoran, an independent turnaround consultant
Wanxiang is one of China’s largest non-state-owned businesses with $22 billion in annual revenue.
In a press release, the company said the transportation business will retain the A123 Systems brand. Ed Kopkowski, A123’s former COO, was named president of the transportation group. And Bud Collins remains president of the A123 Energy Solutions business unit, which is focused on grid energy storage and commercial battery applications.READ MORE: Consumer Alert: How To Avoid Fake N95, KN95 Masks
Meanwhile, Mujeeb Ijaz, A123’s former CTO, has been appointed president of a new division, A123 Venture Technologies, formed to make investments in battery technology startups and manage the company’s research and development activities.
Before its bankruptcy, A123 was based in Waltham, Mass. It was founded in 2001 based on materials originally developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2006, it acquired the Ann Arbor battery technology startup T/J Technologies. In 2010, it secured a $249 million grant from the United States Department of Energy — of which $129 million was used to build A123 plants in Livonia and Romulus. (A total of $132 million was disbursed before the bankruptcy.)
A123’s advanced technology helped make lithium-ion batteries safe and reliable enough to use in high-voltage auto applications, but other competitors quickly advanced as well. And in Livonia, A123 experienced manufacturing quality problems, most notably when the battery pack in a Fisker Karma failed due to a manufacturing error when the vehicle was being tested by Consumer Reports magazine.
Johnson Controls Inc. lost out to Wanxiang in the bankruptcy bidding for A123, which took place over the objection of some local politicians worried about giving up U.S. intellectual property to the Chinese.
A123 continues to supply batteries to hybrid vehicles and other applications for companies like General Motors, BMW, the Chinese automaker SAIC, Daimler and BAE Systems. Production in Michigan supplies the Chevy Spark EV battery system.
Fourcier noted that A123’s battery plants “have been operating continuously since we opened them in September 2009” and that “yields and quality levels are at an all-time high.” He added that future production will be increasingly focused on lower-voltage (12- or 48-volt) so-called mild hybrids that use larger batteries to turn off the gasoline engine when a vehicle is at rest. Such systems can add several mpg to vehicles, particularly in city driving, at a more modest cost than a full hybrid system.MORE NEWS: Flint Public Schools Staying Virtual Indefinitely Due To Large Amount Of Positive COVID-19 Cases
More at http://www.a123systems.com.


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Soul District Leader Retiring
4/27/2016, 12:17 p.m.
A neighborhood business association serving the Soul District of northeast Portland welcomes business owners and neighborhood advocates to its annual Excellence in Business Awards banquet, Thursday, April 28 at 6 p.m. at the Columbia Edgewater Country Club.
The North/Northeast Business Association event will present merit awards to 12 local businesses and provide the community an opportunity say goodbye to Joice A. Taylor, the group’s longtime dynamic and dedicated leader who is retiring after serving as NNEBA board chair for over 10 years.
Kenneth Doswell, owner of Betty Jean Couture, a north Portland fashion and clothing design house will serve as the new board chair, and John Washington will continue to serve as vice-chair, Ernest Harris as secretary, and Richard Harris as treasurer.
For tickets to the annual banquet, call Fawn Aberson at 503-841-5032


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Video game company laying off almost 100 employees
Thursday, August 14 - 05:00:00 AM Evan Kelly
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - Local video game company noah s ark match game 'Radical' is laying off almost half of its staff, which is roughly 100 employees.
The company's pc game doom owner says it's because they plan to ohio state game reduce the number of titles Radical produces.
The reductions special force online game come in the wake of an ownership change last game of the winds month that saw home sweet home game download France-based arcade game portland Vivendi, which owns Radical, and American video software company Activision, join forces to become Activision Blizzard.
Two weeks ago, Activision Blizzard released a statement saying it would "realign Suns Game Celtics staffing" at Radical Entertainment video game rocker as well as at San Drop Game Diego's High line rider the game Promo Code Matrix Game Close Combat Moon Studios.
Radical developed games like Crash Bandicoot and Scarface.
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Google has been on an acquisition spree, and $70 million isn’t a huge sum for the search giant, but the social gaming spending is starting to add up: last week, the company bought Slide for $228 million, and last month it emerged that Google had secretly invested $100-$200 million in FarmVille developer Zynga.
Later this year, the company plans to launch Google Games as an alternative destination to Facebook for casual gaming. This is pretty far from anything Google has had success with on its own, so it makes sense that the company is acquiring talent and technology to make this work.
TechCrunch reports that Google is paying $55 million for the company, plus another $15-$20 million in earnouts.
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These are the Stocks to Buy—and Avoid—as the Euro Rallies
ith the euro breaking through multiyear highs recently, it is time for investors to shake-up their European stock portfolio, according to Société Générale.
In a note out on Thursday, strategists at the French bank said the correlation between a stronger shared currency EURUSD and a weaker stock market has strengthened since mid-May, leading to weakness for the region’s Euro Stoxx Index SXXE A rising currency tends to be a headwind to multinational companies selling goods and services outside of Europe.
Since it is May peak, the benchmark is down 4.5%, while the euro has tacked on about 8% against the dollar to around $1.18 at its best levels, trading close to a 2½-year high.
To be sure, the eurozone currency has pulled back a touch against the buck in recent trade, but is still at lofty levels.
But that doesn’t mean investors should leave the region altogether. For the savvy trader there are still rich returns to be banked, if you just know where to look, SocGen wrote.
Stocks to buy
“To protect a portfolio during a period of [euro] strengthening, favour domestic names,” the strategists said.
That means buying into companies that generate most of their sales in the eurozone, which isolates them from any currency swings. That includes companies such as Aeroports de Paris ADP, Italgas IG, Deutsche Wohnen DWNI, SFR SFR, Telecom Italia TIT, and Bankinter BKT, that all generate 100% of their sales within the eurozone.
Also on Société Générale’s list are Intesa Sanpaolo ISP, Royal KPN KPN, Galp Energia GALP, and Fraport FRA, that make between 99% and 80% of their revenue from countries in the currency union.
Another way to avoid the headwind of a rising euro is to tap into consumer names. The idea is that such companies benefit from the rising consumer confidence that tends to improve along with a brighter economic outlook. SocGen’s Eurozone Consumer basket, which is made up of 17 consumer stocks with strong sales to the region, has risen about 5% since mid-May, easily outperforming the Stoxx 600’s 2% loss.
“This is not a surprise, as our basket is tilted towards eurozone consumers, who would actually benefit from a stronger euro thanks to higher purchasing power,” they said.
Among companies in the basket with highest eurozone exposure are Mediaset MS, Dia DIA, Zalando ZAL, Carrefour CA, Ryanair RY4C, and Peugeot UG.
Stocks to avoid
On the other hand, there are also stocks that are best to avoid as the euro continues its ascent.
“We look for European exporters that have performed well in the recent period despite the strengthening of the euro, which means the market may not have fully priced in the [currency] impact, leaving them at risk of disappointment in the coming earnings seasons,” the strategists said.
That means these companies that make most of their money outside the eurozone could be punished, when investors start to price in the foreign-exchange impact: ASML Holding ASML, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles FCA, Nokia NOKIA, Adidas ADS, Unilever ULVR, UL, Christian Dior CDI, and Koninklijke Philips PHIA, to name a few.


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Samsung, step aside because the Galaxy Note may be a thing of the past if ZTE is indeed working on a 5.9-inch Windows Phone ‘phablet’.
ZTE is rumored to be in the process of developing a 5.9-inch 1080p WP8 smartphone. However, Microsoft has not confirmed support for 1080p devices, but chances are full HD support will be announced sometime in the near future if the Redmond-based software maker does indeed want to stand on even grounds with Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS. That said, all other important details regarding ZTE’s rumored phablet such as the CPU, RAM, and storage is currently unknown.
Steve Ballmer confidently said that sales of Windows Phone 8 hardware should pick up rapidly.
"We are still relatively small. … I expect the volumes on Windows Phone to really ramp quickly," Ballmer said at a WP8 launch event in Tel Aviv, Israel.
The latest from the IDC has Windows Phone market share at 2.0% of the total smartphone market. Android and iOS on the other hand still controls the majority of the market with 75% and 14.9%, respectively, as of Q3.
Microsoft is pouring a lot man power and money into pushing Windows 8 as well as Windows Phone 8 platforms into the hand of consumers. Partnerships with major carriers from around the world such as DoCoMo and AT&T imply such, but it remains to seen whether or not consumers are inclined to ditch the two-headed mobile behemoth that is ‘Goople.’
AT&T announced earlier this week that the Nokia Lumia 920 (the flagship among WP8 flagships) will go for $99, with a contract of course. If the cheap Lumia 920 price tag is not enough to entice consumers to switch, then how about the entry-level Lumia 820 for $49? The pricing and marketing strategies are set in place, but again, it is up to consumers whether or not they will walk out with a WP8 gadget in hand once it’s all said and one.
One of the biggest drawbacks to adopting WP8 platform is that the Microsoft app marketplace is nowhere near the levels of Apple’s and Google’s. Microsoft is, too, pushing and wooing developers to make apps for Microsoft.
As for the rumored ‘phablet’ from ZTE, the market for this particular niche is still young, so it will not hurt Microsoft or OEMs to take a stab at it and see where it takes them.


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They may not be the nuisance they are here in Kenya as they are in other markets around the globe but, for Samsung smartphone users in the country, they should have shown up a few times. We are talking about the ads that have been on Samsung smartphones for a while now.
Now, going forward, they might be a thing of the past.
According to a SamMobile report, it is not just users who have been irked by the ad situation on Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones over the last few years. Samsung’s own employees, too, have not been at ease with the development, leading to an assurance from the company’s head of its mobile business, TM Roh, that the ads will be done away with.
No specific timeline has been given in the reports quoting the happenings but we can only hope that that will happen soon.
Ads on Samsung devices became prevalent about 2 years ago when they started popping up in various markets on Samsung’s top-of-the-line smartphones like those in the Galaxy S series. The ads are usually in Samsung’s pre-installed applications but, once in a while, they also show up in the notification shade, especially from Samsung itself trying to woo existing users of Samsung devices to get newly unveiled ones (some people don’t consider these as ads).
In recent years, Android has allowed users to turn off notifications from several apps. While this may work for some third-party apps (like, for instance, I have done this with some necessary evil: XShare), turning off notifications for a stock app like the weather app, for instance, maybe counterproductive. There won’t be an alert for impending showers/a storm, when one badly needs it. Thus, a total withdrawal by whoever is pushing them is perhaps the best way to mend things.
Android device makers have increasingly turned to software services to make additional income in the face of slim margins from the devices they sale as well as, in recent years, a decline in shipments as the market became saturated. Many Asian smartphone brands, like Xiaomi and the Transsion brands that dominate the African smartphone market, use the ads, which are terribly annoying, as a form of subsidizing the devices themselves.
Two years ago, Xiaomi promised to go slow on the ads it served on its devices. Tecno and Infinix smartphones continue being a haven of intrusive – and, often, annoying – advertising.
Will more companies follow Samsung’s lead?
Featured image: @pranavchaparala on Twitter
Inline image: @CoolestTechBoi1 on Twitter


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Niantic made history with Pokemon Go and now they are all set to break their own set record with another magnificent launch titled as Harry Potter Go. A clever game which already has a huge fan base already waiting for it, Niantic is rumored to be planning a game based on the 2011 franchise of Harry Potter, according to Ciol.com, but there is no official statement release from the makers of Pokemon Go.
Not only this, reports are doing rounds that a game on Fantastic Beasts is also in the making. So, Harry Potter fans can settle for Fantastic Beasts: Cases From the Wizarding World, which will be releasing on November 17, 2016, a day before the movie release. The game will be available on Google Play and App Store as well.
A peek into the features of the game: The game is not based on AR (Augmented Reality), if that’s what the players are expecting. The game will allow players to enter into Hogwarts places like the Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, and Leaky Cauldron. For die-hard fans of Harry Potter, there is a great news as a “Marauder’s Map” will be provided which will take them to the universe of Hogwarts castle.
More on Harry Potter Go: In the absence of any official news from the makers, fan-made mockup trailers are already on YouTube. Harry Potter fans have already launched an online petition in order to convince Niantic to prepare the game or release an official notice. Well, we hope the Niantic decides to prepare a game as it would be exciting and different. We still wait for more updates on Harry Potter Go. Stay tuned!


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Utilizing the Electronic Yuan with the Yuan System, the electronic currency allows the Chinese government to watch its important financial breakthrough and make greater fiscal progress like a country. Actual physical money continues to be the key payment process in China. Even so, other payment solutions which have developed quite well-liked in recent times include things like the leapfrog card system. These new payment techniques depend upon A variety of technological intermediates making use of digital funds transfers for example cellular units, QR codes, and cryptocurrencies.
Income digitization will empower international settlements to speedily deploy the currency and ensure it is far more common with Worldwide merchants. There is absolutely no doubt that they are lawful in The usa and across the globe, but China has efficiently prohibited their usage. Also, the nation examines tips on how to defend itself from financial terrorists that consider cryptocurrency an opportunity for bilk traders. Again, That is once the birth of Electronic Yuan arises.
However, other cryptocurrencies may also rise in value simply because there are traders that still watch it as a genuine investment. What may very well be The explanation behind this? They however generate superior funds flow. Many of them remain influential in the market. Very little can cease The expansion of cryptocurrencies, regardless of whether it’s a decentralized or centralized coin. In fact, there are several ordinary those who become wealthy by this new income stream.
Additionally, renowned Trader Warren Buffett is not likely a lover of Bitcoin: “It’s a really powerful means of sending money, and you can do it all discreetly. A Examine is likewise a technique to mail money. Are controls really worth a lot of cash? Only as they can send out revenue?” For people who want to benefit from cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin as the long run forex, do not forget that a currency will need to have The soundness to make a decision a fair value for commodities. In a nutshell, he named Bitcoin a delusion. But Elon Musk and also other massive-time traders see it as pure gold. How could you judge an innovation with out trying it yourself? The comments are fifty/50. So it’s time that you should know the reality by means of expertise.
As an example, Even though Bitcoin traded almost Yuan Pay $twenty,000 in December 2017, its worth fell to around $three,200 a 12 months later. By December 2020, trade experienced once again reached history stages. This fluctuation in rates confuses. If Bitcoins might be way more worthwhile in the future, people today are considerably less inclined to spend and circulate now and make them less sustainable being a forex.


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Hold your breaths as Doujin Market – Singapore’s definitive pop culture themed youth arts and illustration event – returns for its fifth iteration!
Taking place at The Concourse, Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre on 6th and 7th May, Doujin Market 2017 will spotlight creative circles from around the region including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Japan, each exhibiting an eclectic mix of original and derivative fan content.
With three wings aptly named Imagination, Innovation and Inspiration, the convention will play home to some 200 creators – more than twice the number last year.
The Inspiration wing will also feature seminars by key players in the anime, comic and game publishing sectors aimed at spurring arts entrepreneurship, fueling creativity and encouraging skills-based learning, as well as portfolio reviews and networking opportunities for youth artists aspiring to break into the industry.
“Many circles exhibiting at Doujima are already popular online and their work has global appeal,” said Jason Koh, account director of Neo Tokyo Project and convention producer for Doujin Market. “They’ve accomplished what many of their predecessors have failed to do – innovate new content and keep audiences engaged while developing their own IPs and creating full-time. We want to highlight their many successes this year.”
With the support of the community, Doujin Market 2017 will inaugurate World Doujin Day – an international celebration of self-publishing and creativity set to take place on the first Saturday of May each year. It is a chance for creators to connect with their peers, and share inspiration using the #worlddoujin hashtag on social media.
The movement will also mark the establishment of Singapore’s first ever Doujin Archive – a time capsule dedicated to chronicling the history of self-published original and derivative fan content by youth artists here.
Participating circles will be invited to submit samples of their work to the Archive annually, and to create original pieces depicting their personal artistic journey.
Works in the capsule will be exhibited at Doujin Market’s 10th Anniversary five years from now, as testament to the growth and sustainability of Singapore’s self-publishing scene.
Doujin Market is supported by Noise Movement, a part of Noise Singapore’s efforts which supports organisers whose initiatives encourage arts creation and participation among youth.
It takes place on 6 and 7 May 2017, and doors open from 11 am to 7 pm daily. Admission to Doujin Market is FREE.
Press materials are available upon request.


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Young, bright and an avid videogame player. That's a snapshot of Saneel Radia as well as his target audience.
Those are essential traits in his role as director-integration at Starcom MediaVest Group's SMG Play division, overseeing product and brand integration into videogames. The job suits Mr. Radia's passions as a gamer-he admits his new wife, Whitney, is a "gaming widow."
His youth offers a double-edged sword. Mr. Radia is his target demographic, but the 26-year-old invariably is the youngest executive in any meeting, fighting for credibility.
Marketers like General Motors Corp.'s Pontiac don't mind. A recent tactic involved Pontiac sponsoring a segment in Electronic Arts' "NCAA Football." In fact, Mr. Radia is driving marketers down new paths. "We're trailblazing here," he says. "Every single project we've done has been completely different from everything before it."


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Metroidvanias have been around for a while, but this one from indie developer Exploding Rabbit, is unlike many of the others. Not only is it 2D, but it’s also a Metroidvania, which is a genre of games that have you explore a map in order to find tools, weapons, and other items to help you on your quest. However, it also has a new and unique feature: The ability to switch between two characters, each with their own skills and abilities.
After more than a decade of waiting, fans finally received a sequel to Metroid Prime. The series has proven to be quite popular, and fans faithfully waited for news on a new entry. However, news varied, and it was some time until we received an official announcement. That was then followed by a long year of nothing. Finally, on February 15th, developer MercurySteam announced that Metroid Prime 4 is now in development.
Salt Lake City, UT-based developer, Atypical Games, has announced today that it has begun development on a brand new 2D action-adventure, Metroidvania-style game, called Elderand.Elderandis a love letter to the classic games of the Metroidvania genre and lets the player follow their own path. That’s how publisher Graffiti Games and developer Mantra describe their upcoming RPG, which will be released on PC and consoles in 2022. There is currently no information on which consoles the game will be released on. Elderand stands out for what currently looks like an incredible pixel art style. The trailer released by Graffiti and Mantra shows off brutal combat and what the publisher and developer are calling a deep character customization system, which allows players to create a character that fits their preferences and play style. We’ll have to wait and see, but the trailer caught our attention. You can see it below.
. According to the publisher and developer,Elderandis skill-based combat, where time and positioning are rewarded in each fight. Players can improve attributes such as Strength, Dexterity, and Wisdom, and equip items that impose or remove other attributes such as Attack Power and Critical Luck. Of course, there are plenty of enemies and bosses to kill with swords, whips, bows and spells, and a Lovecraft-inspired story and art style. For fans who like to stock up on gifts, there are plenty here too. Stay tuned to Elderand for updates as we approach 2022.The Elder Scrolls series has been one of the most popular fantasy RPGs on the PC for the last 20 years, and while the series has evolved from turn-based exploration of Tamriel into a first-person RPG, the underlying gameplay design has remained the same. For Elder Scrolls Online on PlayStation 4, however, Bethesda are moving the series into the 21st century by introducing a massive new area, home to a new faction and faction-based storylines. Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited features the biggest landmass in the series’ history, and will also introduce a massive new and original story that is set within the same universe as the existing Elder Scrolls games.. Read more about the last faith and let us know what you think.
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The 3D display market is set to grow from 50.8 million units and $13.2 billion in revenue in 2011 to 226 million units and $67 billion in revenue by 2019 worldwide, says a report by a display device market research firm.
The study—3D Display Technology and Market Forecast Report—is by NPD DisplaySearch, a market research and consulting firm specializing in the display supply chain. It says 3D televisions create the largest revenue stream, with anticipated growth from 25 million units in 2011 to approximately 180 million by 2019.
In addition, 3D-ready TV penetration will increase from 10 percent to more than 50 percent by 2019 worldwide, the report says. The study profiles more than 180 3D display-related companies, indicates that household usage of 3D will likely not move at the same rate as the shipments.
“Despite some industry sentiment that the 3D bubble has burst, we expect 3D to continue to grow across several categories including TVs, portable devices and public displays,” says Jennifer Colegrove, NPD DisplaySearch’s vice president of emerging display technologies. “In 2008, the 3D display market was under 1 million units and $902 million in revenue,” she says. “By 2011, it had increased to nearly 51 million units and more than $13 billion in revenue. This is a trend we expect to continue.”
The report also indicated that consumers might already own 3D TVs but not view “a significant amount of content on them,” Colegrove says. “Before broader adoption can be expected, there is still a need for more 3D content and a smoother set-up process for 3D TV.”
The report includes analysis of stereoscopic 3D display technologies and market forecasts through 2019. The success of portable game devices with 3D displays indicates that auto-stereoscopic 3D (in which the 3D effect is created by the display and does not require glasses) is ready for commercial use, the report says. The report also predicts increased use of the technology in mobile phones and digital still cameras and camcorders.