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eNews Park Forest: “Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR-03) and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) announced plans to introduce bicameral legislation next week that would reconcile state marijuana laws and federal tax law. The Small Business Tax Equity Act, which was introduced last Congress by Congressman Blumenauer, would create an exception to Internal Revenue Code Section 280E to allow marijuana businesses operating in compliance with state law to take deductions associated with the sale of marijuana like any other legal business.”
Here’s the text of Congressman Blumenauer’s and Senator Wyden’s press release:
The Small Business Tax Equity Act of 2015
Congressman Earl Blumenauer ■ Third District of Oregon ■ www.blumenauer.house.gov
Senator Ron Wyden ■ Oregon ■ www.wyden.senate.gov
Background : Currently, the federal tax code prohibits anyone who sells Schedule I or Schedule II substances from deducting their business expenses from their taxes. Congress added this prohibition in 1982 after a drug dealer claimed his yacht and weapon purchases as legitimate business expenses.
Marijuana is a Schedule I substance , and therefore , even businesses operating in compliance with state law are not allowed to deduct the common expenses of running a small business , like rent, most utilities and payroll . They cannot claim the Work Opportunity Tax Credit if they hire a veteran, and they are limited in lawful deduction s relating to construction or operation costs if they want to remodel a building for their retail operations.
Legalization of Medical Marijuana
- Twenty – three states, the District of Columbia and Guam have passed laws allowing for the legal use of medical marijuana. A n additional 12 states have passed laws allowing the use of low – THC forms of marijuana to treat certain medical conditions.
- There are over one million legal medical marijuana patients across the country , and in many states, medical marijuana is sold through dispensaries . These dispensaries provide safe, legal facilities for patients who have a recommendation from a physician.
Legalization of Adult Use of Marijuana
- In Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia, voters passed measures allowing for the legal adult use of marijuana.
- Businesses in Colorado and Washington – from the production to retail side of the industry – are already up and running in compliance with state law.
Fairness to these Legal Businesses
- Because marijuana businesses are not allowed to deduct their expenses, this means that in certain circumstances, legal marijuana businesses can pay federal income tax rates at nearly 90 percent, while the U.S. Small Business Administration estimates that many small businesses pay an effective rate of around 20 percent.
- All businesses should pay their fair share of taxes, but not being able to deduct expenses creates a disproportionate burden that can put small marijuana dispensaries out of business and will keep many good actors from entering the industry in the first place, forcing the industry underground.
- Barring the marijuana industry from operating like a normal industry just incentivizes criminal activity and tax evasion.
What the Bill Does: The Small Business Tax Equity Act of 2015 creates an exception to Internal Revenue Code section 280E to allow businesses operating in compliance with state law to take deductions associated with the sale of marijuana like any other legal business.
This Legislation is Supported By: Americans for Tax Reform, the National Cannabis Industry Association, Drug Policy Alliance, Marijuana Policy Project, Americans for Safe Access, NORML
For further information about the Small Business Tax Equity Act, please contact:
Stephanie Phillips in Congressman Blumenauer’s office at (202) 225-4811
Charlie Pope with the Senate Finance Committee at (202) 224-4515


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TORONTO -- Ontario shoppers now have another choice beside the usual paper or plastic grocery bags: The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. of Canada (A&P Canada) here has launched a reusable shopping bag. Made from 100 percent recycled material, the handheld, machine-washable foldable bag is being hailed by the retailer as "an affordable and environmentally friendly alternative" to plastic.
"We have been committed to reducing our impact on the environment for many years through our in-house plastic-recycling program," said A&P Canada v.p., marketing and advertising Doug Brummer in a statement. "By encouraging our customers to purchase this new reusable shopping bag and use it every time they shop, we believe we can reduce our total bag usage by 20 percent."
The 99-cent reusable bag accommodates a maximum of 50 pounds of groceries -- the equivalent of two or three standard plastic bags. "If our customers use this bag on a regular basis, we could see a total reduction in excess of 50 million plastic bags a year," added Brummer.
"We are very encouraged by A&P Canada's initiative to reduce one-way plastic bag usage, and hope that consumers will make the decision to choose a reusable shopping bag," noted Jo-Anne St. Godard, executive director of the Recycling Council of Ontario. "These kinds of corporate programs are key to diverting more waste from Ontario's landfills and resolving our litter issues."
The reusable bag is the latest plank in A&P Canada's existing recycling program, which has the goal of reducing waste from the plastic bags and film used in its stores. Since 1996 A&P, Dominion, Ultra Food & Drug and The Barn shoppers have been able to bring back their plastic bags and place them in recycling bins at stores across Ontario. As of today, Loeb locations are also offering the recycling program.
The used plastic bags collected at A&P stores are combined with other plastic films at store level and sold to companies that use the recycled plastic to make new bags containing post-consumer recycled film. A&P Canada expects to recycle about 900,000 pounds of plastic film, the equivalent of 60 million bags, this year.
The bag can be purchased at all A&P, Dominion, Ultra Food & Drug, The Barn, and Loeb stores throughout Ontario.
The average Ontario resident uses about 200 plastic bags per year, and more than 2.5 billion bags are in circulation in the province annually.
A&P Canada, a wholly owned subsidiary of Metro, Inc., operates more than 235 grocery stores under the A&P, Dominion, Ultra Food and Drug, The Barn, Loeb and Food Basics banners throughout the province of Ontario.

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21 Apr 2023
Visiting Edinburgh in the spring has its benefits as it’s still relatively quiet on the tourist front but light in an evening, with the Princes Street gardens coming into bloom. The gardens were created in 1820 following the draining of the North Loch and to separate the Old Town seen in the distance from the new. It remains one of the most important urban parks in the heart of Edinburgh with over 37 acres and houses the National Gallery of Scotland which opened in 1859 - an elegant neo-classical building designed by William Henry Playfair. It is situated on The Mound, an artificial slope just off Princes Street. The park also features several famous statues, including that of Edinburgh poet and publisher Allan Ramsay dating back to 1862.
I had the opportunity to catch up with Gary Robinson, one of the co-managers of the Baillie Gifford American Fund. The fund performed very strongly in the Covid-19 period before suffering a setback in 2022 along with many other growth orientated mandates. The American team recognise that mistakes were made last year but looking forward, many of the holdings hardest hit have fallen to relatively insignificant positions within the fund. The fund’s prospects will depend on how its largest holdings perform and today, the top 10 names account for roughly 50% of the portfolio. The investment process continues to allow winners to run and looks to not add to losers, so over time the better performing names become the largest positions. They have recognised that in today’s world, capital will be harder to access by companies and there will need to be a greater emphasis on delivering profitability by businesses in this new environment.
While several companies in the technology and ecommerce space have needed to downsize their labour force, Baillie Gifford believe that companies can come out the other side stronger and more profitable. Companies held will need to have resilience as economic growth slows to fulfil the potential open to them in the future. Gary and the team still believe there are large structural growth trends in the global economy, but businesses need to be able to stay around to deliver on this. The expected post-pandemic growth rate for online, ecommerce, and digitisation has not occurred and there has been a retrenchment back to the original trend line of growth, but companies are still growing, albeit at their pre-pandemic trend. Some companies over invested during the pandemic including Amazon, Shopify, and Wayfair, but they are now restructuring their operations and going forward, leaner businesses will be able to respond more rapidly to changes in the marketplace.
Gary strongly believes the structural growth trends seen before the pandemic will continue in the post pandemic world. Ecommerce is a bit more mature but there is still scope for strong growth in cloud, digitalisation and the shift to electric vehicles. Many of the businesses held still have very strong long-term growth prospects such as the largest holding in the fund - The Trade Desk - leader in programmatic advertising but operating in a cyclical industry. It is providing data driven demand and the company continues to grow strongly with its operations in areas such as the connected TV market which is still in its infancy.
Last year Shopify chose to reinvest in its business to build out its own fulfilment centres to be able to compete with Amazon Prime and over time can significantly increase its take rate to the levels being charged by other competitors. The company is continuing to acquire merchants and has recently built out its position in the enterprise segment of the market (larger companies) with recent signings including Superdry and Mattel.
Moderna remains a large holding in the fund and is well known for its highly effective Covid-19 vaccine, but the mRNA biotech platform was invested in prior to the pandemic on the belief that its ability to leverage its technology platform across multiple different diseases would lead to a much higher success rate with new drugs than other biotech businesses. Gary Robinson is the team’s healthcare expert and has spent a lot of time in Boston visiting biotech startups and views this as a software business in healthcare.
Tesla remains a large holding in the fund. Last year its share price was depressed by fears of forced sales by founder Elon Musk to fund his purchase of Twitter, but it has rebounded strongly in 2023. Its auto industry margins are best in class at around 18-19% and the company continues to become more efficient with scale. The company is now positioned to deliver lower prices to consumers to gain market share.
The Amazon share price suffered last year with a general slowdown in the ecommerce space, but looking at AWS alone is now on a cheap rating and the cloud continue to gain market share. Nvidia in the semiconductor space will be a major beneficiary of generative AI which Gary believes will be at least as important as the iPhone on productivity and can re-shape industries, increasing productivity of knowledge workers. There is a question mark about where value will accrue in the AI chain and Nvidia as the provider of the ‘picks and shovels’, and a leader in the GPUs market, is well placed to capitalise on this secular growth theme. Its top end chips cost tens of thousands of US$ and there is a massive structural growth tailwind. Netflix remains a significant holding and while the company is more mature its scale means it can produce content more cost effectively than competitors, resulting in industry leading margins in the streaming space. There remains strong scope for the business to expand internationally.
The team have delivered strong results over the long-term by identifying US domiciled companies with the potential to become global leaders and looking at the top 10 holdings many of the names appear to have the potential to deliver on this. The fund can suffer high volatility over shorter time periods with its focus on finding stock market outliers but for investors looking for a portfolio with high potential over a 10 year+ period, offers opportunities for above average returns.
I headed to my next meeting across St. Andrew’s Square, which is now over 250 years old and the result of a design competition in 1766 by the City Fathers to build a New Town to deal with severe overcrowding and the squalid conditions inside the older part of the city. The winning design was based on a grid pattern, allowing for wide streets and large palatial town houses for the wealthy of the day. St. Andrew’s Square was one of the first areas to be built under the plan.
I caught up with Rob Harley who is part of the Stewart Investors Sustainability Team which, after a tricky period of performance in the first half of 2022 when quality growth stocks came under pressure from rising interest rates, has seen performance stabilise with the fund continuing to focus on high quality businesses which should prove resilient as and when economic growth slows. Exposure to consumer staples such as Beiersdorf and Finnish Telco Elisa, together with insurer Admiral have added resilience to the fund. The team have sold some names which, after holding up well in last year’s market turmoil, became very expensively valued on a relative basis, including Tomra and maker of restaurant ovens Rationale, with both businesses not really seeing a downturn in their operating performance, but rather a run up in valuations which was the driver of the sales.
A name which was a problem last year, Vitasoy, has now come good as the management have re-established themselves with the Chinese authorities, having been victim of a social media campaign against the company. Brazil listed Natura has been a problem holding but, with the sale of Aesop improving the balance sheet considerably and other parts of the franchise such as Avon and Body Shop now profitable, can hopefully turn the corner and the company still has a strong franchise in its home market.
Healthcare has been a detractor this year with some of the diagnostics companies seeing a de-rating and in the large cap space Roche has also struggled. The team still believe diagnostics will have structural tailwinds as they inform 70-80% of clinical outturns and innovation has accelerated. In the food and retail space supermarket Jeronimo Martins which operates primarily in Poland, although not listed there, has found the very high levels of inflation difficult to cope with, but will benefit if inflation falls back to around the 5% level. Current increases in the cost of living are seeing customers trading down and input costs rising.
Overall, the portfolio remains positioned for a more difficult global economy and on balance fund holdings have net cash rather than debt and are expected to have pricing power, even in periods of economic weakness. Within the emerging market content India remains a strong overweight.
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Original post date 2/10/09
I found two articles recently that make recommendations for eating healthy on a budget. This seems to be a huge issue in general, and especially during the economic downturn.
This article from the UC Daily News in Tennessee, makes some good points, like eating beans instead of meat. In January I ate meat only once a week for three weeks, and not only did my clothes get looser but I saved a lot of money. It recommends drinking more water instead of soda and alcohol, and eating whole grain versions of pasta, bread, etc., which fill you up more. However, I have to point out that dairy is not the best source of calcium (try kale, collards, broccoli, spinach, etc.).
This article from The New York Times is a little savvier. Recommending the book Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink, It turns the whole equation around to point out that “if you eat right, you’ll have more energy. That makes you more likely to succeed at work and earn more money. Then, you’ll be able to afford better food, stay healthy and spend less on medical costs. And the virtuous circle continues.”
I really can’t think of a better way to put it.


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Due to the growing market demand for LCD panels, LG display, a South Korean LCD panel manufacturer, has extended the production time of LCD panels for another year according to the requirements of its parent company LG Electronics. At present, LG Electronics is facing difficulties in obtaining enough LCD panels to meet its own needs, so it requires its subsidiary lejin display to extend the production time of LCD panels. According to reports, LG display decided to continue to produce LCD panels until the end of this year.
It is reported that lejin originally planned to stop manufacturing LCD panels in its factories in South Korea by the end of last year, but it plans to continue manufacturing LCD panels in its factories in Guangzhou.
However, in the third quarter of last year, due to the rising demand for LCD panels and the fact that some manufacturers were unable to produce enough LCD panels due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Le king decided to extend the production of LCD panels in South Korea.
The move follows the pace of Samsung display, a panel maker owned by Samsung Electronics, its rival. At the end of last month, Samsung display company announced to extend the production time of LCD panel.
Although the company has extended the production time of LCD panels, it said how much longer it will be depends on market conditions and profitability.
Previously, in March 2020, Samsung display company said that it would end the production of all LCD panels by the end of last year, including three large-size LCD panel factories in South Korea and the 8.5 generation line in Suzhou, which had not been reported to be closed before.
LG display is one of the world’s largest manufacturers and suppliers of thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels, organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and flexible displays, and occupies a leading position in the global large-scale OLED TV screen market. The company makes displays for a range of companies, including some of Apple’s iPhones.
TFT-LCD, AMOLED and other new display technologies, including flexible display, are all based on semiconductor technology, which can be collectively referred to as semiconductor display. Semiconductor display can be defined as the display technology of controlling each smallest display unit independently by semiconductor devices.
Editor in charge ajx


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SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA – October 20, 2016 - FICO (NYSE:FICO), a leading predictive analytics and decision management software company, will announce its fourth quarter fiscal 2016 results on November 7, 2016, after the market closes and will host a conference call on November 7 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (4:00 p.m. Central/ 2:00 p.m. Pacific).
This call will be webcast and can be accessed at FICO’s website at www.fico.com/investors. A replay of the webcast will be available through November 7, 2017 and can be accessed at our Past Events page.
The webcast will also be distributed through the Thomson StreetEvents Network to both institutional and individual investors. The webcast can be accessed via Thomson’s password-protected event management site, StreetEvents (www.streetevents.com).
SAN JOSE, Calif. — October 19, 2016
New research by analytic software firm FICO reveals that that mortgage delinquency rates rise for US consumers beyond a certain age. FICO data scientist Scott Shulz, who discussed his team’s research on the FICO Blog, points out that while older people have higher credit scores in general than young people, both mortgage and auto delinquencies are rising for many older Americans. The FICO® Score does not consider age in its score calculation.
FICO’s chart shows the serious delinquency rate (90+ days past due) by age over the prior two years for various credit products. The analysis is limited to consumers with activity during the period. 90+ delinquency rates for mortgages and other closed-end loans reach their lowest points for consumers in their late 60s or early 70s, before rising again. Conversely, delinquency rates for revolving trade lines (which include credit cards) decrease throughout consumers’ lives.
- eDriving(SM) and FICO partner to launch a groundbreaking safe driving score
- Just as the FICO® Score is the standard measure of consumer credit risk, used by all players in the credit ecosystem, the FICO® Safe Driving Score will provide a measure that facilitates consistency and fairness in driver safety assessment
- The score will be made available initially through eDriving’s Mentor℠ smartphone telematics solution
- The Mentor offering and FICO Safe Driving Score will roll out first to the fleet driving market and teen/novice drivers safety and education before mainstream rollout
- eDriving and FICO are recruiting members for an industry advisory board to facilitate turning the FICO Safe Driving Score into a powerful, ubiquitous industry score
Oakland and San Jose, Calif. — October 12, 2016 — eDriving, the largest provider of online driver training and global driver risk management solutions, announced it has partnered with leading analytics software firm FICO to launch new scoring algorithms to capture driving behavior and develop a transformational risk predictor — the FICO® Safe Driving Score. Just as the FICO® Score is the standard measure of consumer credit risk, used by all players in the credit ecosystem, the FICO Safe Driving Score will provide a measure that facilitates consistency and fairness in driver safety assessment.


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An Australian researcher has expressed concerns about consumers' tendency to 'stack' nootropics — also known as 'smart drugs' — claiming it has unknown effects on health, and urgently requires more research.
Improvements in financial performance is a sign that its “strategy is directionally correct,” said Vitamin Shoppe president and interim-CEO Alexander Smith during the company’s Q2 earnings call this week.
Depression and anxiety are common symptoms among people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). A study out of India suggests that probiotic supplementation may improve these symptoms among those with IBS.
Global ingredients supplier and consumer foods business Kerry Group is leveraging its unique consumer insights to make sure its business is one step ahead of emerging trends in the F&B space. CEO Edmond Scanlon shares some insights.
One year on from its European launch, Premier Protein has secured a stronghold in Germany thanks to a continued rise in everyday protein appeal and will now focus on building brand equity, executives say.
HerbalGram has grown into one of the world’s most influential herbal medicine journals as it celebrates its 35th anniversary. Founder Mark Blumenthal says he’s certain he made the right decision almost 30 years ago to give the publication away.


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Automotive News also reports that Lexus' long-rumored seven-passenger crossover, dubbed 'VX', has been delayed, even after several years of study. As far as the automaker's CUVs and SUVs go, the RX will get a redesign in early 2014, using some of the new bits found in the updated Toyota Camry platform. The larger GX, which was redesigned in 2010, will not see any major changes, and the grandaddy LX will likely carry on unchanged for the foreseeable future – possibly beyond 2015.
Lexus' sedan lineup will also see some big changes over the next few years, starting with the launch of the all-new 2012 GS early next year. Following that, the ES will be redesigned and tuned and a hybrid version will finally be offered. The smaller IS will get an overhaul in late 2012, based on a chopped version of the new GS platform.


text: 's fashion induction is complete. The actress has been confirmed as a presenter at the 2014 CFDA Awards. And for once, this will be an award that the Oscar-winning actress can't take home herself, as she'll be handing out the Womenswear Designer of the Year prize—either to Alexander Wang, Marc Jacobs or Joseph Altuzarra. Nyong'o is the first of this year's presenters to be announced: previous years have seen everyone from Ralph Lauren to Hilary Clinton awarding the esteemed fashion accolades. The 2014 CFDA Awards will take place on June 2 in the Lincoln Centre's Alice Tully Hall.


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CONSUMER inflation and retail sales data due out this week will provide important clues on the likely pace of economic growth this year.
South Africans are braced for a further rise in the consumer price index (CPI) on Wednesday after the Reserve Bank’s recent inflation forecast had a poor outlook.
The Bank’s concerns about the growing risks to inflation from the weak rand and higher food prices have begun to materialise.
Consumer inflation jumped to 5.2% year on year in December from 4.8% in November, the fastest acceleration in a year, partly because of a significant spike in food inflation.
BNP Paribas Securities expects last month’s figures to show that headline consumer inflation touched the upper 6% target band, driven partly by a further sharp rise in domestic food prices, as well as less favourable base effects in fuel prices.
The intensity of the drought has resulted in a sizeable revision to the Bank’s food price outlook. It now expects food inflation to peak at about 11% in the fourth quarter of this year.
This, and a much weaker rand assumption, caused the Bank to revise up its headline CPI forecast significantly last month.
It now expects inflation to remain at more than the 6% upper limit of the target band for the next two years, averaging 6.8% this year and 7% next year (compared to 6% and 5.8% forecast previously).
The Bank’s move to hike the repo rate by 50 basis points to 6.75% last month is viewed by many economists as the minimum response it could have mounted, given such a sustained anticipated breach of the inflation target.
"The extent of upside pressures that feed through into domestic prices over the next few months will be instrumental in guiding market expectations on the future path of policy rates," said BNP Paribas’s Jeff Schultz.
The forward rate agreement market is pricing in a further 90 basis points in interest rate hikes over the next year.
Retail sales data for December will also be released by Statistics SA on Wednesday. The expectation is that retail spending is likely to begin slowing from the 3% real average growth rate attained over the past 12 months to about 1% over the course of this year.
Retail spending was still buoyant in November, growing well above expectations at 2.5% month on month and nearly 4% year on year in real terms.
Stanlib chief economist Kevin Lings attributed the sector’s resilience to the fact that household income growth typically exceeded inflation in SA because of above-inflation wage increases in many parts of the economy.
However, Mr Lings warned that retail spending was likely to slow this year given the expectation of mounting inflation and tax increases, as well as higher interest rates and electricity and water charges.
"The critical factor that will determine whether the retail sector experiences an outright recession in 2016, as opposed to modest growth, is the performance of the labour market," Mr Lings said.
If the economy can maintain the current level of employment this should ensure that the consumer sector avoids a recession this year.
The week’s releases will be rounded out by civil cases for debt and wholesale trade sales on Thursday, while US initial jobless claims data, out on Friday, often move the rand.


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ISLAMABAD: Production of farm tractors increased 19.83pc to 19,041 units during the first five months (July-November) of the current financial year (FY2020-21), as against the production of 15,890 units in the same period of last year.
According to data released by the Pakistan Automobile Manufacturing Association (PAMA), as many as 3,252 units of light commercial vehicles, vans and jeeps were manufactured during the July-Nov FY21 period, compared to 1,893 units manufactured in the same months of FY20, showing a year-on-year growth of 71.79pc.
The production of trucks, however, witnessed a decline of 10.4pc YoY, falling from 1,480 units last year to 1,326 units during the period under review.
Similarly, the output of buses dropped 14.02pc YoY, from 271 units last year to 233 units; production of pickups decreased 4.27pc to 6,957 units from 7,268 units last year; whereas that of passenger cars fell 3.73pc to 50,527 units from 52,489 units last year.
On the other hand, the manufacturing of motorcycles and three wheelers in the country rose to 789,295 units during the period under review from 674,429 units last year, showing a growth of 17.03pc.


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A Huge Win For Apple: Samsung Found Guilty In Patent Lawsuit
Samsung Found Guilty In Patent Lawsuit
The jury has reached a verdict in the Apple vs. Samsung patent lawsuit.
Apple originally filed suit against Samsung in April 2011, charging that the company had copied elements of its smartphone and tablet design. In addition to demanding 2.5 billion in damages, Apple called for Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones and tablets to be taken off the market. The suit went so far as to allege that Samsung’s designs were so similar to Apple’s that consumers had difficulty distinguishing between the iPad and the Galaxy tablet. Samsung countersued Apple in response, claiming that it had in fact infringed on Samsung patents.
The nine member jury was presented with extremely detailed technical arguments from both sides–including over 700 examples of alleged infringement–but reached a decision after only three days of deliberation.
That turned out to be bad news for Samsung, as the jury ruled that it willfully infringed on five of six of the alleged patents. They also upheld Apple’s trade dress patent, which relates to the visual appearance and UI design of iPhones and iPads. Furthermore, they concluded that Samsung had “diluted” Apple’s trade dress in the design of certain Samsung products. In laymen’s terms, the jury agreed that Samsung had copied elements of Apples patented designs.
In total, Samsung will be forced to pay 1.05 billion in damages.
Apple was vindicated by the jury’s finding that it had not, in fact, infringed on any Samsung utility patents; and, Samsung was awarded no damages in their countersuit.
Any way you slice it, the landmark ruling represents a huge win for Apple. That the jury upheld Apple patents that show ownership of certain ubiquitous UI designs–the pinch and zoom, for example–will certainly affect the future of competitor’s smartphone designs.


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Wanxiang increases bid to win Fisker asset sale
DOVER, Del. (AP) — Participants in a bankruptcy auction for failed electric-vehicle maker Fisker Automotive say Chinese auto-parts conglomerate Wanxiang Group has won with a bid of more than $149 million.
Two people who participated in the auction said Friday that Wanxiang's bid, which includes more than $100 million in cash, beat out Hybrid Technology, led by Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because an official statement had not been released.
Going into the auction, which began Wednesday, Hybrid offered $30 million in cash and cancellation of $25 million in debt it says it is owed as Fisker's senior secured lender.
Wanxiang had offered $35.7 million in cash and an equity stake for creditors in a reorganized Fisker, with the possibility of additional recoveries for creditors through lawsuits.


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- Venafi’s initiative allows the creation of a solution to apply Self-Sovereign Identities based on IOTA with filancore.
- The solution for verifiable credentials can be accessed via Venafi’s marketplace.
Filancore CEO Markus Soppa revealed yesterday a credentials verification and decentralized identity creation solution based on IOTA. Created through a Venafi initiative known as Machine Identity Management Development Fund, the solution has been conceived as a bridge between the Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) ecosystem and its users.
Venafi is a cybersecurity company that creates software to protect cryptographic keys and digital certificates. The company has created authority certification products such as Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Secure Shell (SSH). Venafi’s solutions are used by companies such as Microsoft and organizations within the Global 5000.
IOTA revolutionizes the concept of identity
The filancore solution allows companies to create their own identities and register them using the IOTA distributed ledger. The identities can be verified using Venafi x.509 certificates, as Soppa stated:
(…) the software requests a certificate from Venafi, and then converts that certificate into a verifiable credential.
The filancore and Venafi solution allows its users to manage a device by giving it an identity. This also allows the user to protect the device against falsifications. The certified devices can communicate through different platforms or networks and make the Internet of Things (IoT) experience more secure. Furthermore, Soppa highlighted the following:
Using SSI, they can not only provide their machines with a decentralized and secure identity but also cover authentication and authorization through verifiable credentials issued on top of these identities.
The company led by Soppa has set out to create a product that not only allows decentralized identifiers to be used in a versatile ecosystem but also aims to have its product applied to any scenario within the Industrial Internet of Things. Decentralized identifiers operate as follows:
[…] enabling us to sign arbitrary claims and prove those claims towards third parties. These claims are called verifiable credentials and can be used to identify and sign any declarative statement whatsoever. That’s a really powerful concept because the applications are so broad.
The solution is already available and can be accessed via Venafi’s Marketplace. The filancore team will offer more details about its operation in the upcoming days.
Under the Machine Identity Management Development Fund, Venafi is investing $12.5 million to expand its ecosystem. In addition, the initiative is a means to support developers and create solutions that “accelerate innovation” in distributed applications, Internet of Things (IoT), micro-services, and cloud services, among others.


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Two industrial titans – one from Europe and the other from Asia – have agreed a partnership relating to the development of collaborative robot automation. The two companies – ABB and Kawasaki – are both industrial giants with wide-ranging business activities, and collaborative robots are actually a relatively small part of their respective operations. However, it’s … Continue reading ABB and Kawasaki to partner on collaborative robot automation
Kawasaki Robotics has sold 2,000 units of its duAro dual-armed collaborative industrial robot in China, according to a report on Bloomberg.com. The company is now looking to increase sales to 5,000 units of duAro as the country’s industrial sector struggles with labour shortages. As anomalous as it seems for a country with 1.4 billion … Continue reading Kawasaki sells 2,000 duAro units in China, looking to sell even more robots amid labour shortages
Kawasaki Robotics is planning to manufacture significantly more robots this year than it did in previous years, according to a report on Nikkei.com. The company is investing an extra $1 million in its Chonqing facility to increase robot production capacity. The parent company, Kawasaki Heavy Industries employs around 35,000 people.
Kawasaki is clearly very pleased with the appearance of not one but two of its industrial robots in the new Hollywood blockbuster film, Transformers 5: The Last Knight. The company has been crowing about its fame on its website. The two Kawasaki RS010L robots make an appearance in the Transformers film.
Robotics giant Kawasaki has signed up AV Birch Automation to its exclusive integration program as a preferred specialist. The partnership, announced on August 12th, means that AV Birch Automation have access to the expertise, training and software tools of the Japanese manufacturer. The comprehensive range of robots and machine loaders manufactured by Kawasaki already feature … Continue reading Kawasaki signs up AV Birch Automation to its integrator program
The global semiconductor market is growing at a phenomenal rate, evidence of which can be seen by anyone who cares to look around them. Almost everyone on Earth either directly or indirectly uses some sort of device or machine which contains semiconductor technology. And in some ways, this is just the beginning of the semiconductor … Continue reading Sector spotlight: Record growth of semiconductor market good sign for industrial robot manufacturers
2018 looks all set to be a bumper year for sales of industrial robot arms across all categories – from the large, heavyweight class right down to the small desktop variety. With established robot makers expanding their range, and with new startups launching innovative new models, the market is more dynamic than ever. Oversupply may … Continue reading 30 industrial robot manufacturers to watch in 2018
Chinese robot makers manufactured more than 100,000 industrial robots in the first 10 months of this year, according to the Communist Chinese government’s propaganda mouthpiece Xinhua. The unstoppable growth indicates a massive increase in output of 70 per cent compared with the previous year, says Xinhua. And if the output of the two months of … Continue reading Chinese robot makers produced more than 100,000 industrial robots in first 10 months of 2017
Exclusive interview with Ram Ramachander, chief commercial officer for social innovation in the EMEA region, Hitachi Hitachi is one of the largest companies in the world, employing more than 300,000 people globally and generating revenues of more than $80 billion a year across all its many business units. Classed as a conglomerate, Hitachi has interests in … Continue reading Exclusive interview: Hitachi Europe boss explains how company uses AI for IIoT
The market for collaborative industrial robotic arms in the Chinese industrial sector is forecast to grow to almost $200 million, according to a report on ChinaDaily.com. Quoting statistics in the Blue Paper of the Cobots Industry for 2017 – a report produced by Universal Robots and the Shenzhen Gaogong Industry Research Consulting Company – China Daily … Continue reading Collaborative industrial robot market in China forecast to grow to almost $200 million by 2020
Material handling refers to the movement of items within relatively small spaces, such as a warehouse. In that sense, it’s different from logistics, which refers to movement of goods over longer distances, from city to city or across countries and continents. But material handling falls within logistics, obviously, and can sometimes be categorised within intralogistics … Continue reading Material handling: An overview of a fast-moving market
Midea, the Chinese giant manufacturing giant which makes household appliances such as washing machines and refridgerators, is launching robot pharmacists which would put 400,000 humans out of work. That may sound unlikely in the short term, but market analysts quoted by Bloomberg estimate that robots will account for 20 per cent of all pharmaceuticals sales … Continue reading Midea’s new robots could replace 400,000 pharmacists in China
Yaskawa Electric says it has achieved a staggering 150 per cent growth in net profit for the period from April to September, compared with the same period last year, according to a report on Nikkei. Nikkei says Yaskawa’s profits for the period were $184 million, beating its own previous records. Yaskawa, which also owns the Motoman … Continue reading Yaskawa Electric reports stunning 150 per cent more profits with robotics and automation leading the way
Painting was one of the first applications for industrial robots, but it didn’t start well. When they were first introduced in the 1980s at General Motors’ Michigan plant, the robots initially painted each other, according to an article on industrial robot history, published on Robots.com. The complexity of painting is probably under-estimated because humans can … Continue reading From two months to a few seconds: A brief overview of automotive robotic painting systems
Riftek, the optoelectronic measurement and systems manufacturer, has released a new multifunctional software application that utilises its RF625 series 2D laser scanners for automated seam tracking and measurement with welding robots. Available with full support in the in the UK and Ireland from Ixthus Instrumentation, Riftek’s exclusive distributor, the Riftek Lamia software is intended for … Continue reading Riftek launches automated software for robotic weld seam tracking and measurement


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eBay is the most popular e-commerce app in the US, according to new data from Nielsen, as smartphone owners increasingly complete their online shopping on mobile devices, rather than desktop PCs or laptops, reports StrategyEye. According to the report, US smartphone owners spent an average of 1.04 hours browsing eBay’s mobile app in June, with the site attracting some 13.16 million unique visitors during the period. The firm is closely followed by Amazon with 12.12 million uniques, although browsers spent far less time on the site, at just 18 minutes on average during the period. Groupon attracted 11.24 million visitors in June who spent around 21 minutes on average browsing its deals, indicating that there is still strong demand for its service despite fears that consumers are tiring of group buying.
Nielsen claims that 47% of US smartphone owners used mobile shopping apps in June. Given that smartphone ownership has now reached tipping point in the region, this indicates that nearly a quarter of the US population is now using a smartphone to shop online. The research house claims that some 45 million smartphone owners accessed m-commerce apps an average of 17 times last month, highlighting the growing shift in consumer behaviour.
“Retailers are finding that consumers are willing to use smartphone apps to enhance their shopping experience, and this data shoes usage of shopping apps is growing,” says Nielsen director of telecomm insights, Don Kellogg.


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ENGLAND – Diageo, a leading global beverage company, has introduced a new partnership lab, ‘Fusion by Diageo,’ intending to identify innovative companies to collaboratively develop the next generation of digital products that will enhance consumer experiences during social celebrations.
While Diageo’s Distill Ventures focuses on early-stage startups dedicated to creating the next generation of beverage brands, ‘Fusion by Diageo’ is specifically designed for growth-stage technology companies.
It aims to join forces with these companies to create digital concepts that go “beyond the bottle.”
By merging Diageo’s strategic innovation pipeline and brand-building expertise with cutting-edge technologies and ideas from external innovators, this program will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of social celebrations.
“Innovation is a crucial part of our growth ambition and Fusion enables us to partner with some of the world’s most pioneering companies to accelerate the future of celebration together,” Mark Sandys, Diageo’s Chief Innovation Officer, highlighted.
The inaugural theme for the first cohort of ‘Fusion by Diageo’ is ‘Celebrate at Home.’ Participants in this cohort will explore new horizons for how people relax, experiment, and entertain within the confines of their own spaces.
The 13-week program is scheduled to commence in January 2024, and Diageo is currently accepting applications to select 15 companies for the first cohort.
Throughout the program, participants will gain access to Diageo’s industry expertise, consumer insights, external speakers, and coaching to help develop consumer-centric digital concepts.
The program will be divided into two phases: the first phase will involve brainstorming and broad concept ideation, and the second phase will focus on refining the concepts.
The second phase will culminate in an in-person ‘Demo Day,’ during which Diageo will select up to five concepts to advance to a post-program pilot stage.
In the post-program ‘build’ stage, selected participants will have the opportunity to establish a commercial relationship with Diageo and receive support to co-develop, validate, refine, and launch new products in the market.
“Our portfolio consists of some of the most iconic brands in the world and it is our job to ensure that our brands remain at the forefront of social celebration,” Guy Middleton, Global Breakthrough Innovation Director, noted.
“The Fusion Partnership Lab allows us to build and explore the consumer experience of tomorrow in collaboration with some of the best entrepreneurs.”
Meanwhile, Diageo has planned to expand and continue running future editions of the ‘Fusion by Diageo program, with each edition focusing on different priority areas for the business.
“All program participants will become part of the ‘Fusion by Diageo’ alumni, forming a growing community of pioneers dedicated to redefining how people celebrate life, every day, everywhere.”


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INDO, the Spanish-based lens manufacturer, increased its market share in Spain by 1.5 percentage points last year, consolidating its position as the third largest lens brand in the country. According to figures provided by the company, its revenues in the lenses’ category went down by 4 percent for the whole ...
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Montgomery Exhibitions, parent company of the Irish Furniture & Interiors Fair has announced that the show will not go ahead for the next couple of years starting from now. It may decide to resume the show and brand in the future.
The next event for the 5th-7th Oct in the RDS main hall will not go ahead.
This decision has been made despite increased bookings year on year for the 2014 event and improving conditions for its traders.
Tim Graham, general manager of Irish Services Montgomery, issued the following statement: "It is with much regret that Irish Services Montgomery has announced that the Furniture & Interiors Fair which was scheduled to take place on 5th – 7th October 2014 at the RDS, Dublin has been cancelled.
"Montgomery Exhibitions continues to own the Furniture & Interiors Fair and plan to return to the Irish market with the show once market conditions allow."


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The coronavirus outbreak could bring about “the biggest recession to ever hit the world economy” and will stymie growth in the toy trade if companies don’t act fast, according to the CEO and founder of MGA Entertainment CEO.
In a press release, Isaac Larian says he foresees a tumultuous year for the toy trade, as the viral pandemic forces closures of the industry's core manufacturing hubs in mainland China.
“The biggest toy factory in China just extended its closure by yet another week; I am sure they will extend again,” he says. “The Coronavirus is not solely China’s problem – the spread of the virus and the implications of the virus will impact more than those who have been or will be afflicted by it – it will impact the global economy.”
The health and welfare of overseas employees caught up at the eye of the storm are also high on Isaac's agenda. MGAE says it will support employees closest to the centre of the outbreak in China and Hong Kong by airlifting in preventative goods, including 6,000 masks and “anti-viral treatments”.
“We will provide additional support next week,” Isaac added in the statement, released last Friday, 7 February.
The MGA boss also branded White House officials who have played down the economic impact of the pandemic, and insisted it will not measurably hurt US trade, as “out of touch”.
“This crisis will bring the biggest recession to ever hit the world economy if it is not dealt with now,” he says. “It’s time that we all put our differences and nationalism aside and combat this monster that is threatening humanity.”
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases has soared to more than 40,000 globally, though mostly in China where the outbreak began. The death toll has reached at least 908, though health officials say the daily rate of new infections has begun to stabilise.


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Los Angeles-based videogame hitmaker and esports organizer Riot has big plans to expand the universe of its popular League of Legends PC title, which launched 10 years ago. In addition to the brand’s first new playables in a decade — including a fighting game, mobile installment, digital card game and an esports management sim — the company has announced an animated series spin-off.
Building on the studio’s well-received animated LoL shorts and music videos, Riot is producing the animated series Arcane in-house, eyeing a launch next year. Set in the game world, in “utopian Piltover and the oppressed underground of Zaun, the story follows the origins of two iconic League champions — and the power that will tear them apart.”
Also on the docket:
- Wild Rift: New LoL version, built from scratch, coming to both mobile devices and TBA consoles.
- LoL additions: A new character named Senna is launching Nov. 10, and the Summoner’s Rift map is set to get major updates with new dynamic features.
- “Project L”: A 2D fighting game featuring LoL characters, currently in early development.
- Legends of Runeterra: A free-to-play, digital collectible card game in the vein of Hearthstone for PC and mobile launching next year. Players will be able to directly purchase any card with either earned or paid currency, Riot announced.
- Teamfight Tactics for mobile: The auto-battler mode launched a few months ago has become very popular with LoL players, and will now spin off into a standalone title for mobile. Early next year, both the PC and mobile versions of the mode will have a new structure which cycles champions and abilities every few months.
- League of Legends Esports Manager: An Inception-esque concept which takes the team management sim model and applies it to professional gaming. In the game, players manage a pro LoL team, and revenue from the title will be shared with real-world pro teams featured in it.
- “Project F”: The announcement slate’s big mystery! Riot describes “a very early development project that explores the possibilities of traversing the world of Runeterra with your friends.” VR? AR? Officially licensed LARP? Who can say!
Aside from the LoL 10th anniversary updates, Riot also announced an all-new title currently dubbed “Project A” and described as a character-based tactical shooter set in a beautiful, near-future Earth.
[Source: The Verge]


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A new hot-rodding trend is emerging lately. A lot of people are experimenting with the idea of swapping big fuel-guzzling internal combustion engines from classic cars with eco-friendly electric motors to build retro-futuristic hotrods. A simple search on YouTube will return plenty of videos of such conversions where you can see big muscle cars with electric powertrains taken from Tesla cars. But a London-based company has done something that will piss-off a lot of automobile purists. The company aptly named Charge Automotive has created a fully-electric classic Ford Mustang with a body-shell from the sixties.
For the electric Ford Mustang project, the company teamed up with engineers who previously worked at Williams F1, McLaren Automotive, and Jaguar Land Rover. The electric car gets an officially licensed Ford Mustang body-shell, available in both Fastback and convertible versions, and is fitted with a 64kWh battery pack paired to an electric motor producing 300kW power and 1,200Nm of torque, which is equivalent of over 400bhp and a tarmac-ripping 885lb ft of torque. While the maximum range on a single charge is a dismal 125-miles, it is capable of accelerating from zero to 60mph in just over 3 seconds. The prices start at an equivalent of $256,000 USD and the company plans to build 499 of them. If American muscle is not your taste and you want an electric version of something more beautiful, something like the Jaguar E-Type Zero might interest you.


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The main culprit behind rapid inflation is high energy prices, however some internal factors have also helped boost inflation in Estonia to the EU's fastest. A clear pattern of consumers opting for discounted products had emerged in June already.
Bank of Estonia economist Kaspar Oja noted that the Estonian economy had recovered rapidly enough from the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, and the country's economic situation was fairly strong by the end of last year.
"At the same time, the budgetary stimulus has continued to remain in the economy," he continued. "And money released from pension funds reached the economy fairly recently, and more has apparently continued to reach it in the following months."
Oja believes that price increases will really start to impact consumption in the second half of the year.
"We initially thought that it would start strongly reducing consumption; recent data, however, indicates that that's not how things have gone," he said. "People have begun spending more financially; there hasn't been a significant blowback in consumption yet. I believe that a greater impact will arrive this fall and winter, when new heating bills start coming in that are even bigger than last winter's."
Nonetheless, retailers confirm that they've already noticed changes to consumer behavior.
"It wasn't as noticeable during the first few months of high inflation, but June may be the first month in which patterns have more clearly changed," said Kristjan Anderson, director of business accounting at supermarket chain Selver. "If you look at how the proportion of discounted goods has changed in people's shopping carts, it's reached a record level — nearly 40 percent. That's not typically the case in June."
The same tendency applies at the pump as well.
"High fuel prices have impacted consumption, and first and foremost in rural areas," said Risto Sülluste, marketing and communications director at fuel retailer Neste Eesti.
"If we compare the current situation with that of the same time last year, we're seeing a decrease of 8-10 percent in Harju County, and 10-12 percent in rural areas with more price-sensitive consumers," he noted.
As gasoline and diesel fuel prices have begun falling on the global market, Estonian fuel retailers followed suit and dropped prices at their gas stations on Thursday morning, reducing the price of 95 octane gas to €2.049 per liter and diesel to €1.949 per liter.
In U.S. dollars per gallon, this equals $7.91 for 95 octane gas and $7.53 for diesel.
98 octane gas, meanwhile, fell to €2.099 per liter, or $8.10 per gallon.
Jam season: sugar sales up, prices to follow
The arrival of jam-making season in Estonia means stocking up on sugar. While this year has been extraordinary due to the war in Ukraine, as a result of which people began stocking up on sugar in March and April already, retailers warn that significant price increases yet lay ahead.
According to Tõnis Tomingas, assortment and purchasing director for Prisma Peremarket, June saw a significant increase in not just regular, granulated sugar but also jam sugar as well. While the latter is more expensive, many jam makers prefer it due to its unique properties that make it especially suitable for jam-making.
"Sugar purchases traditionally always go up when [Estonian] strawberries ripen — that's when the preserves season begins," Tomingas explained. "We're seeing that same trend this year as well."
The purchasing director cited daily Postimees' July grocery bill review, according to which sugar was cheapest — at €0.59 per kilogram — at Prisma.
He noted that the chain's June sugar sales had increased significantly on year, "Apparently due to both such a cheap price and the expansion of the Prisma chain of stores."
Grossi Toidukaubad commercial director Eve Heinsaar and a representative of Lidl likewise confirmed that sugar sales have gone up in recent weeks, and volumes don't look likely to fall anytime soon.
"We have indeed noticed clients' increased interest in sugar in connection with the start of the preserves season," the Lidl representative said. "Comparing the last few weeks, sugar sales at our stores have nearly doubled. The price of sugar, however, has remained stable at our stores."
Heinsaar, meanwhile, noted that sugar sales had increased since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in late February, and have not increased as significantly since. Grossi supermarkets have sold some 300 tons of sugar in the past two months.
"Sugar purchase prices have already increased closer to 60 percent," Heinsaar explained, adding that Grossi stores are currently selling sugar at a loss due to stiff competition. "A significant increase in the price of sugar lies yet ahead," she warned.
Selver communications director Rivo Veski told ERR that they have seen a decrease in sugar sales, despite sugar purchases typically starting to go up in June already.
Veski believed this could be the result of two factors: people still consuming sugar they had bought in bigger quantities in February and March, and the increase in price, which most recently stood at 12 percent.
"Jam sugar sales haven't picked up steam yet," he added.
According to a Prisma representative, the price of sugar has been impacted primarily by the general inflationary economic environment. The purchase price of sugar has increased 25-35 percent.
Talis Raak, head of purchasing at Rimi, said that the price of sugar is currently being affected the most by the increase in electricity and fuel prices.
"It's natural to stock up more on sugar during preserves season," Raak said. "That has always been the case, and there has been nothing particular to note in that regard this year either. Sugar sales have increased in the middle of summer during previous years as well; so they have this year as well."
Editor: Aili Vahtla


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LED Source, Wellington
Lighting provider, design, development and project management specialist was tapped to replace 382 exterior metal halide lights at the Miami Tower in a retrofit project along with Philips Lighting and Jones Lang LaSalle. The old bulbs consumed 1,000 watts each and were limited to only a few static colors.
The four story building which features 623,000 square feet of commercial space now boasts 216 ultra-modern LED fixtures that can produce 16 million colors and hundreds of dynamic lighting effects.
Fleet Advantage, Fort Lauderdale
The truck fleet analytics and financing company has just signed the seventh largest independent foodservice distributor in the United States, Maines Paper & Food Service Co., headquartered in Conklin, New York.
LinguaSys Inc, Boca Raton
The human language technology company was tapped by Salesforce Marketing Cloud, a San Francisco-based cloud computing company, to understand and analyze multilingual foreign language social media feeds, such as Twitter and Facebook entries, in their native language (for example, Chinese or Russian), so companies can see what their customers around the world are saying about their brands and products on social networks. LinguaSys uniquely analyzes social media content in its native language.
Use photo attached to package and see cutline abovePort Everglades, Fort Lauderdale
The port is First Place Winner of the 2012 Catherine Durda Marketing Award for its creative advertising, by the The National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones (NAFTZ)
A print ad that shows shelves of goods that can be found at businesses located in FTZ No. 25 such as clothing, wine, cosmetics and automobile parts.
These goods are imported and redistributed to other international destinations with the FTZ benefits of exempt, deferred or reduced Customs fees.
"Our FTZ leads Florida in the value of international goods handled through our facilities," said Chief Executive & Port Everglades Director Steven Cernak, in a written statement.
Discovery Clothing Company, Davie
The Chicgo-based independently-owned discount retailer of women's fashions is opening its newest 15,500-square-foot design concept store in Davie Nov. 9, at 1964 University Drive.
This marks the 26 year-old retailer's third location in Florida and 30th overall.
Send your South Florida business news to email@example.com 954-356-4662 Twitter@mindingyourbiz.


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Huawei Honor recently announced yet another impressive smartphone for the consumers in Pakistan. Huawei has been growing aggressively over the past few years and they’ve released some seriously good smartphones. From budget to flagship, Huawei offers phones for every category.
This time its Huawei’s sub E-Brant, Honor, that has released a flagship level smartphone, the Honor 10 in Pakistan.
Honor 10: Specification and Features
Honor 10 in Pakistan seems like a really impressive smartphone considering the specifications and features it comes with.
To begin with, the phone is all covered in glass except for the aluminum frame around it. The display is a 5.8” FHD+ resolution with Gorilla Glass protecting it (most probably).
The phone runs on Huawei’s own Kirin 970 Octa-Core processor, which certainly is a strong performer. It incorporates 4/6 GB RAM and 64/128 GB built-in storage.
As far as the camera is concerned, the Honor 10 comes with a dual camera setup on the back with one being a 16MP lens with aperture f/1.8 and PDAF while the other is a 24MP B/W lens with aperture f/1.8 and PDAF.
The front camera installed on this device is a 24MP lens with aperture f/2.0.
The Honor 10 in Pakistan also incorporates other interesting and useful features intended to extend convenience. These include Fast Chagrin capability, Type-C reversible connector, USB OTG and a fingerprint sensor alongside other necessary sensors. All of this is powered by a 3400 mAh battery.
Another standout trait of this device is the interesting color that it comes in. Honor recently unveiled the Phantom Green color for this device, which apparently changes shades from different angles.
Huawei Honor has heavily advertised this smartphone. They also initiated a marketing campaign, ‘HonorXJunejo’, to enable videographers collaborate with the renowned Pakistani Youtuber, Irfan Junejo, who also made a commercial for this smartphone.
Aspiring Youtubers and videographers were given a chance to submit their entries and showcase their work.
Honor 10: Price in Pakistan
The Huawei Honor 10 in Pakistan costs Rs.56,000 and it certainly is one of the strongest performers in this price range.


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The music for the film was released by the Crescendo team on top platforms such as iTunes and Saavn
. Shakirul said: "We promoted the film at several live events, sometimes to over 3,000 or 4,000 people, with our actors and musicians performing our movie music live.
Sponsors of the 3AF 2016 Asian Marketing Summit included Jade sponsors: Publicis Media; Sony TV; Star TV; Viacom 18; Zee TV; and Saavn
; Lunch sponsor: Nielsen; Bronze sponsors: Comcast; CMPG; The Korea Daily; and OnDemand Korea; Pearl sponsors: Inquirer.net; iTalk BB Media; The Korea Times; TIMES NOW; and iPinYou; industry partner, the Association of National Advertisers, and others.
But Hassan, who was recently present at a meeting with Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and who sat with other greats including Tesla and Amazon and even Saavn
from India, boldly put forward what he thought was missing with their plan.
, India's premier audio streaming service, has entered into a strategic partnership in the Middle East with VIVA Bahrain, a subsidiary of STC, to bring Saavn
Pro to South Asian audiences in Bahrain.
, the leading Indian music streaming platform, have also just been confirmed, as has Gilles Peterson, the international club DJ, curator and music producer.
Vikram Mehra, managing director of Saregama India Ltd, says, " The music streaming business is already very crowded with the likes of Saavn
, Gaana and Hungama -- all of whom we provide content to.
Opera Max promises that its latest version will allow users to save about 50 percent of the data they would usually use to stream music from YouTube Music, Pandora, Slacker Radio, Gaana and Saavn
. The service that's obviously missing here is Spotify, but if you're a heavy user of one of the supported apps - and you don't have an unlimited plan (or are on T-Mobile's post-paid network), it's probably worth a try.
On the supply side, in addition to the familiar names like Spotify and Deezer that continue to expand, including through partnerships with mobile carriers and device makers in different markets, there are also local services that have experienced fast growth as well, like Saavn
and Gaana in India and Tencent in China.
.com, a Bollywood digital media company, illustrates the challenges that producers and media companies face.
Even pay revenues are showing some traction as viable subscription services such as Saavn
The PMUY anthem, aiming to reach the Ujjwala message to every household in the country by its powerful and inspiring rendition, is available on online music platforms such as Amazon, Apple,EeHungama, Wynk, Google Play, Saavn
, and many others.


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The new iPad mini is coming in 2024, rumors say
31st January, 2023 at 5:14 pm by Flynn
Image credit: Apple Inc.
- A new report by Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo indicates that the next generation iPad Mini 7 will launch in early 2024, with mass production starting in Q1 of the same year.
- The current iPad Mini 6 features an 8.3-inch display, A15 Bionic chip, USB-C port, Touch ID power button, and 5G support. The size of the device may not change much, but there may be an updated design.
- Kuo believes that the main selling point of the iPad Mini 7 will be a new processor, with only a spec bump expected for the device.
- In December, Kuo had expected mass shipments to start in 2023 or H1 of 2024, but his latest tweets suggest that the launch may be delayed.
- Rumors from a Korean leaker suggest the iPad Mini 7 may feature ProMotion display technology, but display analyst Ross Young believes it is unlikely.
Apple fans who were eagerly awaiting the launch of the iPad Mini 7 will have to wait a little longer, according to a report by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The next generation of the popular tablet is now expected to launch in early 2024, with mass production starting in the first quarter of that year. This latest information indicates that there will be no new iPad releases in the next nine to twelve months.
The current iPad Mini 6 features an 8.3-inch display, the A15 Bionic chip, USB-C port, Touch ID power button, and 5G support for cellular models. While the size of the device is not expected to change, there may be an updated design. As for specifications, Kuo believes that a new processor will be the main selling point of the iPad Mini 7, with only a spec bump expected for the device. Image credit: 9to5mac In December, Kuo had expected mass shipments of the updated iPad Mini to start towards the end of 2023 or in the first half of 2024. However, his latest tweets suggest that he no longer believes it will launch before the end of this year.
An unreliable rumor from a Korean leaker previously suggested that the next-generation iPad Mini will feature ProMotion display technology, allowing for a maximum 120Hz refresh rate. However, display analyst Ross Young believes that Apple is already working on an iPad Mini 7, but it is unlikely to feature ProMotion technology.
Aside from the iPad Mini 7, Kuo's latest predictions also included a reference to a foldable iPad with a carbon fiber kickstand, which he believes will be launched by Apple sometime in 2024.
As soon as details on the launch date and specifications of the iPad Mini 7 become available, we will keep you updated. Fans of the tablet will no doubt be eager to see what Apple has in store for its latest iteration.


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Eastpointe Gears Up For 'Cruisin' Gratiot' Event This SaturdayAs many as 200,000 people are expected to line Gratiot's curb and median with lawn chairs and blankets this Saturday.
Tesla To Release Lower-Priced Versions Of Model S CarThe new version, called the Model S 60, starts at $66,000.
Ford Recalls More Vehicles To Fix Passenger Side Air BagsA total of 1,898,728 vehicles now are affected by this safety recall.
Auto Parts Supplier Plans $95 Million New Plant In DetroitAuto parts supplier Flex-N-Gate plans to invest $95 million in a new Detroit plant that's expected to create at least 650 jobs.
GM Offers Debit Cards Or Longer Warranties In Mileage CaseAbout 135,000 customers will get letters stating their amounts starting May 25.
Hillary Clinton Voices Support For UAW At Tennessee Volkswagen PlantClinton said in the tweet that the Volkswagen workers are "raising their voices for the rights they deserve.
A Record April for Car and Truck SalesFiat Chrysler sales rise 6 percent. Ford up 4 per cent. GM, which has been cutting fleet sales, down 4 percent.
Trucks, SUVs Push Fiat Chrysler To 6 Pct. April Sales JumpThe Italian-American automaker says it sold almost 200,000 vehicles last month.
GM To Make Investments At Tennessee And Michigan FactoriesThe company has scheduled news conferences at factories in Spring Hill, Tennessee, and Bay City, Michigan.
Fiat Chrysler Chief Isn't Thrilled About 'Almost Unbelievable' Shifter Recall Sergio Marchionne is complaining about a global recall of 1.1 million cars and SUVs because drivers can't tell if they are in park.
Ford Investing $1.6 Billion In Livonia And Ohio PlantsFord says the projects are part of its commitment to invest $9 billion in U.S. plants over the next four years.
VW Owners Can Pick Buybacks, Fixes In Emissions DealAn agreement will give consumers who bought Volkswagen vehicles rigged to cheat on emissions tests the option of having the automaker buy back the cars or fix them, a judge said Thursday.


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HP is about to lay off a massive number of workers, sources tell us, with one business unit, HP Services, to be particularly hard hit.In 2008, HP spent $13.9 billion on EDS and gave it the name of HP Enterprise Services (HP ES). HP reports earnings on May 23 and HP Services “is projecting a $280 million profit shortfall in FY 2012,” one source told us.
CEO Meg Whitman and crew have laid the blame on employee costs such as their salaries. Employees say the problem is one management blunder after another.
“Around March 13, HP had an all-hands employee global webcast where Meg Whitman made a few statements that revealed a complete lack of strategy, and total focus on Band Aid fixes to staunch investor concerns and HP’s reputation,” one source told us. “The one statement that caught my attention was ‘When you have a 10% increase in costs and zero revenue growth, that is no way to stay in business. Services are HP’s biggest problem and we must immediately address it.'”
Employees say that the reason HP ES has had no growth is because it’s had no leadership.
“HP Services is not growing because there continues to be no investment in: a) talent ; b) new offerings; and c) HP Services is in a constant state of restructuring,” a source told us.
An employee that just left the company said: “John Visentin was set up as the vice president of ES by the board of directors and Whitman almost as an afterthought late last year. Since that time, ES has made absolutely no strategic changes in how it is targeting future business and how it must reduce costs. It’s a ship without a rudder.”
HP has already begun to ax employees. We heard from one worker laid off last month. But the big action is yet to come. HP wants to reduce its workforce by 10-15% between layoffs, early retirement and attrition, a source told us, though that number seemed high to us. Others say 8%, or 25,000 employees, will be cut.
The bigger issue is that these layoffs are being extremely poorly managed, our sources tell us. Employees with high salaries are being targeted, even when that employee is bringing in lots of business, they say. We heard from one ex-worker who took “$20M revenue at a 30+% margin” with him to a new company after getting the pink slip from HP a few weeks ago.
HP is internally discussing selling part of HP ES, known as the Business Process Outsourcing unit, or shuttering it, our sources say. This unit lets big companies hire HP to do tasks such as CRM, HR and payroll, accounting. This is an area that is growing rapidly for other companies. SAP just spent $3.4 billion to acquire SuccessFactors, for instance.
If HP keeps it, it will likely still lay off many workers and send those jobs offshore.
HP could not be reached for comment.
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Tesla announced today that it closed its new capital raise yesterday and it was over-subscribed with underwriters selling the additional shares and notes for total proceeds of $2.7 billion to boost Tesla’s cash position.
The automaker first announced a capital raise last week and said that it aimed to raise up to $2.3 billion.
At the time, the company said that it would use the proceeds from the capital raise for general use after its cash position dropped by over $1.5 billion dollars during the previous quarter.
A day later, Tesla increased its capital raise to total potential proceeds of up to $2.7 billion.
Today, Tesla confirmed that it sold about $860 million in shares and raised $1.84 billion in convertible notes.
The company wrote in the SEC filling:
“On May 7, 2019, Tesla, Inc. (the “Company”) closed its previously announced underwritten public offerings of (1) 3,549,381 shares of common stock of the Company, par value $0.001 per share (the “Common Stock”), which includes 462,962 shares sold pursuant to the underwriters’ (the “Underwriters”) option to purchase additional shares, which was exercised in full on May 3, 2019; and (2) $1.84 billion aggregate principal amount of the Company’s 2.00% Convertible Senior Notes due May 15, 2024 (the “Notes”), which includes $240.0 million aggregate principal amount of Notes sold pursuant to the Underwriters’ option to purchase additional Notes (the “Option Notes”), which was exercised in full on May 3, 2019, in each case pursuant to a Registration Statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-231168) (the “Registration Statement”) and accompanying prospectus, together with the related prospectus supplements for the underwritten public offerings of the Common Stock and the Notes, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.”
Here’s the new SEC filing in full:
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Image credit: COMMERCE COMMISSION
In the interview, Kath says even when there’s good intent behind green messages, organisations often aren’t thinking them through or addressing the reality in their communications.
Kath talked to Jenny about petrol retailer Gull, whose forecourts are prominently signed ‘Driven by Nature’. A closer look shows the signs only relate to their Force 10 product, and of this one product just 10% is biofuel. All Gull’s other products and 90% of their Force 10 is traditional fossil fuel, harming the climate and polluting the air with every kilometer, just like other petrol. Even sustainable business leaders GoodSense has talked to are misled by the ‘Driven by Nature’ message with cavorting kiwi and kea graphics so what chance do general members of the public have in understanding what is meant.
In our view, the Gull advertising is an exaggerated environmental claim that implies Gull’s overall range is better for the environment than it is and would fall foul of both the voluntary Advertising Standards Authority guidelines and the legally binding Commerce Commission rules on such claims.
To steer clear of greenwash, Kath says: “… vague language like ‘natural’ and ‘biodegradable’ are a red flag. Look for the businesses who are investing in proper Fair Trade and organic certifications, programmes that cost money for a good reason. There are companies that make fluffy self claims about being fair trade, so look for the gold standard certifications.”


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Food Distribution Guy Interviews Paige Ohliger of Plantricious
Food Distribution Guy’s Richard Baker had the privilege to interview Paige Ohliger, CEO and Founder of Plantricious this past week.
Plantricious was born when a few close friends came together armed with knowledge and an idea; they knew the scientific evidence shows us that, a mostly plant-based diet is not only the best diet for us, it’s also the best diet for our planet. They learned that not all plant-based foods are created equal.
Foods we assumed to be healthy, labeled vegan, vegetarian and plant-based, more often than not, turned out to be highly processed, full of added sugars, sodium, oils and other not-so-healthy ingredients. With over 50% of our nation’s population looking to put more plants in their diet for health reasons, we knew we were not the only ones having this problem.
Their idea – make finding truly healthy plant-nutritious foods easy!
So, they worked with and continue to work with some of the nation’s most respected medical
leaders in plant nutrition, to create guidelines the medical community agrees defines, healthy plant nutritious foods and we created the Certified Plantricious Seal to easily identify them.
Plantricious continually seeks and certifies those recipes, food services and packaged foods that meet our simple but meaningful guidelines.


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Search giant reveals annual investment in clean energy is approaching $900m
Google has confirmed it will invest $94m in four large scale solar photovoltaic (PV) projects, edging the total amount invested by the search giant in clean energy projects this year towards $900m. ...
IRENA report argues increasing clean energy capacity will enable India to meet its climate pledges and boost its economy - but warns it must significantly step up its renewables investments
Lightfoot will install its in-car coaching device into 200 vans and 20 cars that make up Hughes' delivery fleet
The menswear range, available now, is made from denim that uses less energy, water and chemicals in the manufacturing process
New low-carbon heating network will heat 30,000 homes and businesses across the borough of Enfield in North London


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Super Bunnyhop, a Youtube channel that has close to 100,000 subscribers claims that they got in touch with an employee within Konami. According to the Youtube user, the identity of this source within Konami has been identified but as with any rumor, the information has not been verified. But the reasons given by Super Bunnyhop tie up pretty well in what is happening at Konami. Before I proceed, the information within this article should be taken with a grain of salt.
The recent re-structuring at Konami is due to the fact that the company wants to shift their focus from developing expensive console games to making cheaper mobile games. Konami not only operates digital entertainment in Japan, the firm is also into health clubs, fitness clubs and other properties. Their latest financial reports suggest that their non console gaming business has overtaken their console gaming business, although not by much.
Kagemaza Kozuki, CEO of Konami has invested a ton of money in other fields other than gaming. In short, console gaming is no longer making that amount of money that say, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty made for Konami. However the source claims that there is an internal rift between Kozuki and Kojima. According to the source, Kozuki actually hates Kojima which would perhaps explain the reason behind the treatment he is been given by the company.
Furthermore, Kojima Productions is simply now know as Unit 8 within the company and hundreds of people are expected to lose their job, not only Kojima. The source also revealed that Kojima can sue Konami but he has a game to make and Konami are well aware about this. This falls in line to what was reported in another rumor where Kojima is encouraging his team to complete The Phantom Pain for the fans.
What is disturbing is that the developers in Kojima Productions are not even being treated well…constant blackouts, security doors not working and staff being forced to change their workstations every now and then. One employee believes that it’s literally a hell.
Given the recent happenings at Konami, the information presented in this article might be true but as mentioned before, take this info with a grain of salt as usual. You can find the full transcript of the conversation between Super Bunnyhop and the Konami employee here.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain launches this September.


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Interbride is where professionals from the bridal fashion industry come together. It is the international trade fair for bridal fashion that is organized by the bridal fashion industry for the bridal fashion industry.
In 2022 the Interbride will take place for the 10th time in Düsseldorf, the fashion capital of Germany. During the Interbride, the bridal fashion shops put together their 2023 collections with all the bridal fashion manufacturers relevant to them.
Interbride works with a few media partners who are specialized in the wedding market, B2B and B2C.
subscribe for our newsletter and we keep you informed about the latest news, trends and the upcoming event.


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20 million shoppers will be using their mobile phones to pay for goods and services by the end of the decade, according to new research from the Centre for Economic and Business Research.
The same study also predicts that the value of purchasing via mobile phones will triple to £14.2 billion by 2018, while by 2020, mobile payments will represent 1.4 per cent of total consumer spending.
The Centre for Economic and Business Research also suggests that the benefits of this mobile activity increase will be a reduction in fraud, lower transaction costs and an easing of cash flow problems.
UK based mobile payment specialists Powa Technologies’ chief executive, Dan Wagner, is championing the findings: "Mobile point of sale should be at the heart of any retail technology strategy.
"The technology will be especially helpful in crowded shops in the run up to the festive season, improving the shopping experience by reducing waiting time and making the process more personalised.
"More than ever before the industry needs a technology driven revolution to create new ways to engage with customers as they gear up for Christmas."


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Wireless carriers in the United States are currently in a race to offer truly 5G networks and Sprint just announced that it plans on being the first one to roll out nationwide 5G coverage during the first half of 2019.
To achieve this, Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure says the carrier will add new antennas to its towers that are capable of sending and receiving large MIMO transmissions. 5G support will be added to the towers/antennas with a software update, and unlike other carriers, Sprint will be deploying its 5G network through its 2.5GHz spectrum.
Over half of Sprint's towers already support the 2.5GHz standard, and the goal is to expand this to all operating towers by the end of 2018. Furthermore, to help ensure the 5G network's expansion, Sprint will utilize the power of 40,000 "outdoor small cell solutions" 15,000 strand-mounted cells, and as many as 1 million of the network's Sprint Magic Boxes (small signal boosters that customers can purchase and use in their homes).
According to Marcelo –
Sprint is the only carrier that doesn't have to compromise what 5G can deliver because we can deliver super wide channels of more than 100 MHz while still delivering mid-band coverage characteristics.
Another thing worth noting is the fact that Sprint's 5G network is expected to cost more than what it currently charges for unlimited 4G LTE speeds. This is something the market saw during the transition from 3G to 4G networks, and while Sprint says it'll continue to be a "price leader" before its 5G rollout, customers are going to "potentially see some modest price increases in the next year, but nothing substantial."
Speaking more on the 5G price hike, Marcelo states that –
It's going to be very difficult for our competitors to increase the price of unlimited, but we're going to have a lot of room to increase our price of unlimited to get to similar prices as Verizon and AT&T in the future. You get that by having that amazing network. You get that by being the first one to launch 5G. So we're looking at 5G as an amazing opportunity for the company not only for the position of the company, but also to charge for the blazing fast speeds.
In early January, AT&T announced that it would introduce a genuine 5G network to 12 markets across the U.S. by the end of 2018. T-Mobile is expected to start deploying its 5G network at some point in 2019, and Verizon will launch its 5G service in a handful of cities this year.
With 5G just on the horizon of finally becoming a reality, what are looking forward to the most with these increased speeds?
- Which unlimited plan should you buy?
- Verizon's Unlimited plans: Everything you need to know
- Everything you need to know about the T-Mobile ONE unlimited plan
- Everything you need to know about the AT&T Unlimited plan
- Everything you need to know about Sprint's Unlimited Freedom plan
- Join the Discussion
Samsung sends accidental 'Find My Mobile' notification to Galaxy phones
A global ‘Find My Mobile’ push notification was sent out to Galaxy smartphones worldwide today, causing confusion and worry among owners.
Android 11 is on the way — here's everything you need to know
Android 11 is the big Android release for 2020, and it's shaping up to be an exciting update. We're following all of the changes and new features so you know exactly what to expect when the final build is available later this year.
Ninja's comments show how games continue to be inaccesible, and it sucks
Games are inaccessible enough without somebody as visible as Ninja coming along and making it worse.
These are the best Sprint phones you can buy right now
Sprint offers some of the best smartphones worth bringing home. We've rounded them up just for you!


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Danny Meyer, CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, is considered an industry leader and is taking a bold step in his higher-end NYC restaurants like Gramercy Tavern. He is raising menu prices and also eliminating the expectation that the customer will leave a tip. The service charges (meant to be shared among both servers, cooks and others) will be reflected in the higher prices. The question (discussed at RetailWire) is simple: Will it work?
If Mr. Meyer raises prices by, say, 20% but no longer expects customers to leave a 20% tip, will they see any big difference in the tab? Probably not. But American diners are trained to acknowledge good or excellent service and may find it hard not to leave some extra cash on the table. Even in European restaurants where a service charge is included, I usually “round up” anyway.
The economics are interesting, because it’s clear that the “back of the house” workers — from chefs to dishwashers — are short-changed by the current system. At the same time, Meyer may need to raise “front of the house” wages significantly to offset the loss of servers’ tip income. I’m sure there will be a shakedown cruise at USHG restaurants before the new model is widely adopted.


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Eat at McD’s today and donate to Carson schools
Local McDonald’s restaurants in Carson City are holding a 100 percent sales day for participating local schools today.
Customers can come in, purchase selected items and name the school they wish to benefit – 100 percent of the sale of that product will then be donated back to the stated school.
These select items are:
• Any premium chicken salad
• Any size shake or McFlurry or fresh fruit smoothie
• Any iced or hot McCafe drink or hot chocolate
• Any Happy Meal or mini meal
• Any snack wrap
• Egg McMuffin sandwich or oatmeal
“We love this community, and are committed to helping our schools receive the resources they need to help our kids grow and receive the best education possible,” said Chris Kassity, local McDonald’s restaurant owner from Carson City.
In 2009, Kassity and his wife, Sharon, started the Kassity Family School Fund, a non-profit organization that assists local schools. The program enables customers to come into McDonald’s restaurants owned by the Kassity’s, purchase select items on the menu, and then 25 cents of each item ordered goes back to the customer’s school of choice.
“Our schools are in desperate need of funding right now,” Kassity said. “Our hope is that this 100 percent sales day will assist our local teachers and school administrators provide a solid education for our future generation.”


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peak District TV is celebrating an exceptional start to 2012 after its videos have notched-up a staggering 100,000 views online.
The company has had so much success on Youtube, the online video sharing website, that they even have their own channel dedicated to life in the Peak District.
Showcasing local wildlife, nightlife, music, holiday accommodation, farmer’s markets, and much more, the range of videos that PDTV create is seemingly endless.
James, a spokesman for Peak District TV, said: “It’s taken a lot of hard work and dedication from my team to get these videos out there. Our aim was to try and reach as many people as we could to try and highlight parts of the Peak District no one has seen before.”


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People across the globe are putting their Christmas lights back up as a sign of hope as the Coronavirus continues to spread.
It could be Christmas in March!
We earn a commission for products purchased through some of the links in this article.
With COVID-19 continuing to spread and social distancing becoming ever more important, Twitter users in America are calling for people to put their Christmas lights back up, why? this is to try and spread a little cheer and to literally look on the brighter side of life, and it’s going down a storm!
With bars, restaurants and social gatherings canceled, this could be a great way for us in the UK to also see light at the end of the tunnel.
With kids now being sent off from school, and parents looking for ways to keeping them occupied, and not just watching streaming services, this could be a wonderful way for parents to entertain their children.
So if you’re home with nothing to do, and can afford to do so, why not hang up your Christmas lights again, ask your neighbours to do the same and admire all the gorgeous lit up homes.


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Prescient Devices Lands $2M Seed To Speed IoT Adoption
Boston-based Prescient Devices closed a $2 million seed round as it looks to help companies move more quickly on their IoT plans.
IoT development platform Prescient Devices nabs $2M
Prescient Devices, a platform for internet of things (IoT) software and service development, today announced that it raised $2 million in seed funding. The company says it’ll put the proceeds toward product ideation and ramping up its sales and marketing programs.
Prescient Devices Secures $2M Round to Accelerate Growth and Expand its Ground-Breaking IoT Low-code Solutions Platform for Accelerated IoT Adoption
BOSTON, April 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Prescient Devices, Inc. (PDI), a leading provider of SaaS based IoT solutions, announces today that it closed a $2 million round of financing to expand its Prescient Designer low-code solutions platform by addressing the rapidly growing IoT market across the industrial and enterprise space.


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On July 20, officials from the UFCW met with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to highlight issues that are important to our members all along the food supply chain. UFCW International President Marc Perrone, along with International Vice President and Director of the Legislative and Political Action Department Ademola Oyefeso and Legislative Director Rachel Lyons, attended the meeting with Secretary Vilsack and his top staff at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in Washington, D.C.
At the meeting, Perrone outlined key issues that our union is advocating to strengthen workers’ rights and improve health and safety conditions in grocery, meatpacking and food processing. These issues include holding the USDA accountable for procuring food from companies that pay good wages and support unions, as well as ensuring SNAP online purchases and delivery support good jobs, and swine and poultry line speeds are limited to keep workers safe.
This meeting is part of the UFCW’s ongoing effort to engage President Biden’s administration and advocate for labor issues on behalf of UFCW members in all industries.
“Nearly one million UFCW members are employed in the food processing and retail food industries,” said Oyefeso. “Food safety, nutrition, and agricultural policies are important to all Americans, but especially to UFCW members. As the union that puts food on America’s tables, the UFCW wants to partner with the USDA to improve the health, nutrition and quality of life of all Americans.”


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As announced last week, the Google Glass project (at least in its current form) is shutting down. Now, it’s not cancelled; in fact it’s spinning off from Google[x] into its own team. It’s in capable hands, seeing as it will be led by former Apple exec and Nest founder Tony Fadell.
But the truth is no one (outside of Google at least) knows what the next iteration of Glass will actually be, and this shutdown/pause/sayonara is an appropriate time to reflect on a device that cost $1,500 and never really reached anything approaching broad consumer acceptance. For a device that had geeks (myself included) somewhere on the scale between “intrigued” and “all in a tizzy,” was it even successful at what it set out to do?
What Was Google Glass Supposed to Be?
Hardware-wise, Glass isn’t all that impressive. It’s a frame, a camera, a microphone, a touchpad, and a mini video screen. It’s a GoPro you can talk to and watch while wearing it. Neat, but not really mind-blowing. The magic was always in the software, and the potential to use it in novel ways. One such possibility was augmented reality, where a heads up display (HUD) could show relevant information about the world in front of you, all in real time. Perhaps the best use of this functionality came when surgeons were able to collaborate on a cleft lip repair by using Glass to mark out incision sites.
But What About Consumers?
Glass began with developers in mind, but eventually became available for consumer purchase. Seeing as the average Joe isn’t doing surgery, there just wasn’t a lot of utility in having a Glass. Certainly not $1,500 worth of it. And with concerns over privacy for users, it seemed readily apparent that this gadget wasn’t ready for the mainstream. Google never released sales numbers for Glass, so it’s unclear just how many units were sold, but if it’s any indication, today is the last day they’re available and they’re not selling out.
So Did It Fail?
If you think that Glass was always intended to be a mass-produced consumer product, then yes, Glass was indeed a commercial failure. But I don’t think that was really Google’s intention. Glass was meant to be a playground for innovative minds. The Explorer project was all about exploring (see what I did there?) what features people used and how they used them. Selling it to the general public was more about answering demand and making clear that this wasn’t meant to be some exclusive item only for the hand-selected few. At the same time (and it’s especially clear now, nearly three years later), Google never had the consumer in mind with this project.
If I knew the answer, I’d probably be hunted down by Google’s lackeys. But that doesn’t mean I can’t speculate. Like I said earlier, the magic is really in the software, and I think augmented reality is really going to expand in the future. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see the next version of Glass put the screen unabashedly in front of the user’s entire field of view, seamlessly integrating data from the semantic web into our real-world lives.
Then again, the smart money is betting that Google will just blow our minds with something we didn’t see coming, so we might as well just sit tight for now.