text:
Mondelez International, the US-based snacks giant, has announced its plan to close its biscuit factory in Château-Thierry, France, by the end of 2025, as part of its strategy to improve its competitiveness and efficiency. The decision will affect 61 employees, who will be offered relocation or severance packages.
Biscuit factory closure: a result of high production costs and low demand
The biscuit factory in Château-Thierry, which produces brands such as Mikado, Petit Ecolier, Granola, Pépito, and Pim’s, has been operating since 1972, and is one of the oldest and smallest plants in Mondelez’s European network. However, the plant has been facing several challenges in recent years, such as high production costs, low demand, and outdated infrastructure and equipment.
According to Mondelez, the production cost at Château-Thierry is twice as high as at its other plants in Europe, and the plant has no capacity to accommodate new production lines or technologies. The demand for the products made at the plant has also been declining, due to changing consumer preferences and increased competition.
Mondelez said that it had explored various options to improve the situation at the plant, such as investing in modernization, diversifying the product portfolio, and outsourcing some production to external partners. However, none of these options proved to be viable or sustainable, and the company decided to close the plant as a last resort.
Biscuit production to be transferred to other Mondelez plants in France and Europe
Mondelez said that it will gradually phase out the production at Château-Thierry over the next two years, and transfer it to other plants in France and Europe. The company said that it will maintain the same overall volume of production in France, and that it will continue to invest in its other plants in the country.
The main beneficiary of the production transfer will be the plant in La Haye-Fouassière, in western France, which will receive a €10 million ($10.8 million) investment from Mondelez to install a new production line and a new packaging line. The plant will also take over the production of the Figolu brand, which is currently outsourced to a partner in the UK.
The other plants that will receive some of the production from Château-Thierry are the plants in Clamart, near Paris, and in Opava, in the Czech Republic. Mondelez said that these plants have more modern and efficient facilities, and that they can offer more innovation and variety to the consumers.
Mondelez to support the affected employees and the local community
Mondelez said that it is aware of the social and economic impact of its decision to close the biscuit factory in Château-Thierry, and that it will support the affected employees and the local community. The company said that it will offer relocation opportunities to the employees who wish to continue working for Mondelez, and that it will provide severance packages and outplacement services to those who choose to leave the company.
The company also said that it will work with the local authorities and the social partners to find a suitable buyer for the plant, and that it will contribute to the development of the local economy and employment. The company said that it will maintain a dialogue with all the stakeholders, and that it will respect the legal and social procedures.
Mondelez said that its decision to close the biscuit factory in Château-Thierry is part of its global strategy to optimize its manufacturing footprint, and to ensure its long-term competitiveness and growth. The company said that France remains a strategic market for the company, and that it is committed to offering high-quality products and services to its customers and consumers.


text:
August 19, 2014 - Industry News
The American Council of Frame and Alignment Specialists has announced SOLD ’15, a two-day program focused on building better truck service businesses.
Tags: Technician Training, ACOFAS, HDAW, Technicians
February 5, 2014 - Industry News
The more complex, expensive and harder to replace the component is, the more likely fleets are to purchase the manufacturer’s brand, according to a recent study by MacKay & Co.
Tags: Aftermarket Parts, Parts, Aftermarket, HDAD, HDAW, MacKay and Co., Alliance Truck Parts, HDAW 2014, Euclid, Fleetrite
January 31, 2014 - Industry News
Components and parts are lasting longer, which means fleets will be spending less on replacement parts. According to survey results from MacKay & Co. presented at the Heavy Duty Aftermarket Dialogue in Las Vegas, the most significant component longevity gains have been in power transmission.
Tags: Aftermarket Parts, HDMA, Aftermarket, HDAW, MacKay and Co., HDAW 2014
Bob Phillips, chairman and CEO of Phillips Industries, was inducted into the Heavy Duty Aftermarket Hall of Fame during Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week.
Tags: Phillips Industries, Aftermarket, Polk, People, HDAW, IHS Automotive, HDAW 2014
January 30, 2014 - Industry News
Online parts ordering is a growing trend, based on results from a recent MacKay & Company survey on fleet parts purchasing, presented during Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week.
Tags: Aftermarket Parts, Aftermarket, MacKay and Co., HDAW, HDAW 2014
January 29, 2014 - Industry News
Meritor has long positioned itself as a provider of information and training, but has gone one step further developing two Nissan high-roof NV3500 trucks that will deliver onsite product and systems education to fleets, warehouse distributors and independent service garages in the United States and Canada.
Tags: Maintenance, Training, Meritor, Aftermarket, Technician Training, Brakes, Technicians, HDAW 2014, HDAW
January 22, 2014 - Industry News
Citing safety and a concern about counterfeit parts, Shaun Shroff, vice president of DuraBrake, says the company is forming the Wheel End Manufacturers Association, Linkedin Group.
Tags: Aftermarket, Wheels, Brakes, HDAW
November 25, 2013 - Industry News
Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week organizers report record-breaking registrations from exhibiting suppliers for the 2014 conference, with a 105 year-to-date increase in the number of supplier-company exhibitors from the previous year.
Tags: Aftermarket, HDAW
October 30, 2013 - Industry News
SOLD, which stands for Service Opportunities and Learning Day, will once again be held for aftermarket service providers the day before Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week in January.
Tags: Events, HDAW, Sold14
August 12, 2013 - Industry News
Scott McKain, bestselling author, will kick off the 9th annual Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week with a keynote address at the opening general session addressing how to distinguish yourself from the competition.
Tags: Events, HDAW
August 8, 2013 - Industry News
As part of the Heavy Duty Remanufacturing Group Summit to be held in Las Vegas, Nevada on Jan. 27, 2014, there will be a luncheon featuring the annual “Heavy Duty Remanufacturer of the Year” Award.
Tags: Events, HDAW, HDRG
July 10, 2013 - Industry News
Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week '14 conference organizers announced that “Driving Energy Into the Industry’s Future " is the theme for the annual conference, to be held Jan 27-30, 2014 at the Mirage in Las Vegas.
Tags: Aftermarket, Events, HDAW
January 29, 2013 - Industry News
The 7th Annual Heavy Duty Remanufacturing Group Summit was held on Jan. 21 at the Mirage Hotel prior to Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week.
Tags: HDAW, HDRG, Aftermarket, Remanufacturing, Right to Repair
January 22, 2013 - Industry News
LAS VEGAS -- Betts Company announced BettsHD as the company's new operating division for spray suppression and fender products
Tags: Industry, Betts Company, HDAW, Aftermarket
December 28, 2012 - Industry News
The Automotive Parts Remanufacturers Association's Heavy Duty Remanufacturing Group will host its annual HDRG Summit at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas on Jan. 21
Tags: Events, HDRG, APRA, HDAW, Aftermarket
December 27, 2012 - Industry News
Dr. Bob Dieli of RDLB Inc. will give aftermarket attendees an economic outlook for 2013 when he speaks Jan. 21 at the first Heavy Duty Aftermarket Dialogue conference
Tags: Events, HDAD, HDMA, HDAW
The Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association and MacKay & Co. have announced the title and description of the presentation to be given by Stuart MacKay, president of MacKay & CO. as part of the First Annual Heavy Duty Aftermarket Dialogue conference
Tags: Events, HDAD, HDAW, HDMA
November 30, 2012 - Industry News
Organizers have announced the participants of the Heavy Duty Distribution Panel, one of three Industry Expert Discussion Panels at the Heavy Duty Aftermarket Dialogue conference, to be held Jan. 21 immediately preceding Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week 2013
We offer e-newsletters that deliver targeted news and information for the entire fleet industry.
The expert, Mark Betner from CITGO, will answer your questions
Ask a question
The expert, Rence Oliphant from Hendrickson, will answer your questions
Ask a question
Ultimate Test Drive Video: Detroit Assurance- Fuel Economy
Video: Life on the Road With Women Truck Drivers
Obama Repeats Call for Tax Reform to Pay for Highway Bill
Ultimate Test Drive Video: Detroit Assurance -The Basics
Split-Shaft PTO Control for Eaton UltraShift Plus
Two Post Lift Made For High Roof Vans
Dayco’s New Serpentine Belt is Thinner
Aljex Debuts Capacity Hub for Proactive Truck Booking

domain: news


text:
Mexican restaurant chain Benito’s Hat has entered into administration after buckling under the pressure of coronavirus.
The company called in creditors this week after being left with “no option” but to cease trading due to the complete closure of the hospitality industry as the country fights the outbreak.
In a statement, financial firm Begbies Traynor confirmed it had been engaged in late January to assist with the sale of Pico’s, trading as Benito’s Hat.
Four of the restaurants – at London’s O2, King’s Cross, Bromley, and St Albans – had already shut indefinitely, but four other locations – Covent Garden, Farringdon, Oxford Circus, and Oxford – were set to relaunch.
It is unclear whether this will still happen, but the former managing director Michael Pearson is believed to be lining up a new opening as part of a new company.


text:
Ambassador Sriswasdi hosted a working dinner for the Austrian delegation
On 31 October 2022, Ambassador Sriswasdi hosted a working dinner for the Austrian delegation, comprising of (1) Mr. Nikolaus Berlakovich, President of Burgenland Chamber of Agriculture / Member of Parliament and former Minister of Agriculture, (2) Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Otto Prieler, Chamber Director of Burgenland Chamber of Agriculture, (3) Mr. Tobias Lang, Secretary General of the Rural Youth Austria (LKÖ) and (4) Ms. Simone Hutter, Vice President of International Farm Youth, who participated in the project of cooperation between Thailand and Austria on organic farming.
Both sides discussed ways and means to further promote and strengthen cooperation between the two countries on agriculture, including exchange programme of youth farmers and researchers, among others, with a view to exchange knowledge and best practices for mutual benefits.
On 25 to 30 September 2022, the said Austrian delegation visited the Royal Projects in Thailand. They met with the relevant agencies and organisations to discuss about cooperation on organic farming between Thailand and Austria, related regulations and laws, imports and exports as well as the opportunities to further export Thai agricultural products to the European market in the future.


text:
UK retail sales fell sharply in April, with a significant decline in petrol sales partly to blame.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that retail sales slumped by 2.3% during April, the steepest monthly fall since the beginning of 2010.
It means the 2.0% increase in retail sales in March has been reversed.
The ONS said that sales of fuel were largely to blame for the downturn in retail sales, as fuel receipts fell by 13.2% in the month.
Discounting the decrease in fuel sales, retail sales have fallen 1.1% compared with the same month last year.
Sales of clothing also declined during the month, with the record rainfall contributing to the fall.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said that a number of factors contributed to the disappointing figures.
"This is not just about petrol buying. Miserable weather sums up the mood of many customers and compounded long-standing difficulties for retailers, particularly those trying to sell clothing and shoes," commented Stephen Robertson, director general of the BRC.
"Interest in summer fashions and outdoor products had been good in March's sun but April was a washout. Sales of food held up but even there spending was down on a year ago as hard-up customers sought out value even more determinedly.
"April sales were always going to struggle against a strong performance a year ago helped by better weather, a later Easter and an extra bank holiday then but real-terms sales declines are bad news."
Disclaimer: Information is correct as of the date of publication (shown at the top of this article). Any products featured may be withdrawn by their provider or changed at any time.
Moneyfacts.co.uk will, like most other websites, place cookies onto your computer’s
hard drive. This includes tracking cookies.


text:
Computer Science Engineering
Electronics & Communication Engineering
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department organised a three day workshop on ‘3D Printing - An Important Additive Manufacturing Technique’. The workshop was conducted by Mr. Yelti Shiva Reddy who discussed some rare and important features about 3D Printing and helped Mechanical Engineering students develop a product using the 3D printing machine.
The discussions were followed by hands-on exercises where students manufactured the CATIA models designed by them using a 3D Printer.
Additive manufacturing / 3D printing methods are bringing about the next industrial revolution. It is becoming the go-to manufacturing process for many different areas and hence revolutionizing the conventional manufacturing process.
Aerospace engineering is one of the major areas for 3D printing owing to its strict performance standards and market competition and Bennett University is proud to acquire it for the Mechanical Engineering laboratory.


text:
Adobe Systems has announced that they will be announcing ALL their new CS5 products on Monday, April 12.
One of the exciting new features in Adobe Premiere is what Adobe calls their Mercury Engine – a REALLY fast rendering and playback engine exclusively for Adobe Premiere. For those of you wondering what 64-bit memory addressing and GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) support can mean for video, you need to see what these new versions can do. This also gives MacPro owners a reason for owning all that horsepower.
Anyway, this morning, Adobe sent me a note about rumors that are floating around about this new version — many of them are not true. So, if you are interested in learning more, check out this Adobe blog posting debunking Mercury myths:
P.S. I’m getting a lot of email asking what Apple is doing. I am sure that Apple is not standing still. However, April announcements belong to Adobe.
NEW & Updated!
Edit smarter with Larry’s latest training, all available in our store.


text:
Boston City Council Votes to Ban Plastic Bags
Cambridge, Brookline, and Somerville have already passed similar measures.
The Environmental Protection Agency estimates as many as one trillion plastic bags—more than 31,700 per second—are used annually worldwide. But Boston will soon curb its contributions to that astronomical total.
Boston City Council voted unanimously in favor of the ban of single-use plastic bags on Wednesday, according to NBC Boston, bringing an end to more than a year’s worth of debate around the city. But if you’re worried you’ll get stuck at the checkout counter without a bag, don’t be: Stores will still stock bags. The measure, spearheaded by Councilor Matt O’Malley, encourages shoppers to carry reusable bags by charging 5 cents for thicker plastic bag carried at grocery, drug, and convenience stores, the Boston Globe reports.
After the vote, O’Malley tweeted he was “incredibly grateful,” that the measure passed.
Council unanimously passes Reduction of Plastic Bag ordinance sponsored by myself & @wutrain. Incredibly grateful to my colleagues for their leadership & support. #bospoli #mapoli #BostonGreenprint #banthebag
— Matt O’Malley (@MattOMalley) November 29, 2017
Ahead of the vote, supporters of the measure said reducing plastic bag use is an environmental necessity. Not only do errant bags litter the streets of Boston’s neighborhoods, but producing the bags also drains scarce fossil fuels. On the other hand, the proposal’s opponents argued the ban amounts to little more than another consumer tax. They said it wouldn’t even be a huge step in the green direction because so many products people buy are made of plastic—a plastic shampoo bottle is still a plastic shampoo bottle even if it’s inside a reusable canvas bag.
Hundreds of communities across the country (including around 60 in Massachusetts alone) have adopted plastic bag bans. In moving forward with the ban, Boston joins neighboring Cambridge, Brookline, and Somerville, along with Chicago, Seattle, and the entire state of California. And yet, ahead of the vote, the proposal was not a shoe-in.
In December 2016, the Globe reported that Mayor Marty Walsh did not support the measure, citing concerns about how the ban would affect small businesses and low-income residents. At the time, Carl Spector, the city’s environmental commissioner, said the administration was creating its own plan to protect the environment. Whether that plan includes any check-out counter stipulations remains to be seen.
This story was updated on November 29 at 1:17 p.m. after Boston City Council voted in favor of the plastic bag ban.


text:
UK marketing executives cut their budgets for the third quarter running in the three months to the end of June, as business confidence fell to its lowest point in more than two years and fears over the outlook for the economy worsened, according to the latest Bellwether survey.
The influential report, jointly produced by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising and BDO, found that marketing executives slashed their budgets in the second quarter of 2011 as companies attempted to reduce operating costs and protect profit margins amid concerns around the economic outlook.
The quarterly Bellwether survey found 22% of UK companies reported that they cut their budgets in the second quarter. It is the third consecutive quarter that more UK marketers cut budgets than raised them.
Business confidence among marketing executives about the financial prospects for their own companies dropped to its lowest level in nine quarters, since the depth of the recession in 2009, according to the report.
"The economy is going sideways and this seems to be the way it is going in the advertising marketplace too," said Nicola Mendelsohn, president of the IPA. "The decline in confidence doesn't augur well, but it is not surprising amidst a continuing climate of concern surrounding the financial and political outlook both at home and internationally."
Spend across mainstream media in the second quarter – such as TV, press and radio advertising as well as other sectors including spend on PR and events – saw a decrease, the survey found.
The report said the decline in main media in part "reflected a distinct easing in growth of internet advertising spend" – which is classified as a sub category of main media advertising – with the survey registering the smallest upward boost in internet ad budgets in the last two years.
"With online spend now being one of the major constituents of brands marketing budgets it is as expected that, in a time of less economic confidence, it would no longer show the hugely disproportionate budget increases of previous times," said Matt Simpson, group chairman of the IPA's digital media group.
To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email email@example.com or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".


text:
INGOLSTADT, Germany -- Audi will build a four-door electric sports car in Germany starting in 2020, the brand's CEO confirmed. The e-tron GT, which will be shown in concept form later this year, will be the third model in Audi's range of full-electric cars.
The e-tron GT will be a low, sleek coupe-styled sedan with aggressive sports car detailing, based on a teaser photo of the model that Audi released on Thursday. It will be built in Audi's Boellinger Hoefe site near its Neckarsulm assembly plant in Germany. Audi currently builds the R8 supercar at the site, which opened in 2014.
The new model will become a flagship for the automaker's Audi Sport brand, CEO Rupert Stadler said at the brand's annual financial results press conference on Thursday. "It proves that electric drive can also deliver high performance," he added.
The e-tron GT will be built on VW Group's J1 premium electric car platform shared with Porsche's Mission E sedan, which is expected to launch later this year.
Stadler also revealed today that the automaker's first full-electric model, the e-tron SUV, will cost about 80,000 euros ($100,000) in Germany. That price is slightly more than the recently launched Jaguar I-Pace crossover, which will start at 77,850 euros in Germany when it goes on sale in June. The Tesla Model X electric SUV starts at 96,250 euros in Germany.
The e-tron SUV be will revealed at a special event in Brussels, Belgium, this summer, Stadler said. The car will be built at Audi's factory there.
Stadler promised that by 2025 Audi would offer about 20 electrified models, more than half of them will be full-electric vehicles. This includes the e-tron Sportback, which is due in 2019 and will also be built in Brussels, and another SUV below the one that arrives this year. The smaller SUV will be underpinned by VW Group's MEB platform. Stadler said Audi plans a fifth electric car that would either be an SUV or "sports activity vehicle."
Audi's other electrified models will include plug-in hybrids and mild hybrids. Stadler said added that all "core model" series cars would be equipped with mild hybrid technology. The first example of this is Audi's new A6 large sedan, which debuted at last week's Geneva auto show.


text:
TUCO the University Caterers Association, recently reported that branded food and drink outlets are being brought onto Campus from the high street.
The current trend to bring the highstreet onto campus has seen the University of Warwick launch a Pret A Manger for staff, visitors and students and the University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol, launch a Subway.
Director of Food and Retail at the University of Warwick said, ‘The opening of Pret A Manger is the latest exciting development in our new retail strategy based on customer research, which aims to offer a broader choice for students and staff, and encourage more people from the local community onto campus to eat, drink and shop'.
The university selected the retailer as one which shared its own vision for sustainability, as well as the excitement for bringing something new to Coventry, where Pret A Manger is yet to establish a high street outlet.
The Business Development Manager at UWE said, ‘Following student survey feedback, we realised that improving the university’s food offering was key to giving our students a great experience on campus’.
Fast service, high street competitive offer and variety are certainly key areas to focus on in a student environment and Red Box Consultancy Services can see the value in presenting students, visitors and staff with a current and established food offer. Bringing in an outside caterer with expertise and vision can ensure delicious options are available for all and allow consistancy throughout the day.
Red Box Consultancy Services recently worked on a project to review the catering at Manchester Metropolitan University and we are experienced in providing bespoke services which includes review and recommendation for university catering strategies. We would welcome the opportunity to discuss the needs of your education site.


text:
Due to the great domestic and international demand for Brazilian mangoes and intense heat, supplies have been running low lately as producers and exporters sought to fill higher orders. According to Guilherme Secchi, logistics manager of GrandValle Agro in Brazil “Prices remain high, with strong demand from both domestic and export markets. However, supply is currently limited, and our export volume has fallen by half in recent weeks.”
GrandValle are growers and exporters of mangos who provide a strong internal market supply. They are based in the municipality of Casa Nova, in the state of Bahia in the North-East region of Brazil. “We also do a lot of mango by boat and air. Our main market for exports are Europe, US, South Korea, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay.”
Secchi says with other mango exporting countries struggling this year, Brazil is happy to serve a key market like the US where the demand has been high. “We typically ship until week 42 to the US market. However, with strong prices and high demand, we extended our shipping this year to week 46. There are still exporters who continue to ship to the US, and as far as I know, the market remains good.”
The El Niño weather phenomenon led to a warmer winter meant there was very little flowering on Peru’s mango trees, leading to less fruit growing and a substantially lower harvest. The lower mango volumes in Brazil are due to intense heat, says Secchi. Importers in Europe say that, due to this heat, there could potentially be a big shortage of mangoes from Brazil that are expected from the end of December and from the beginning of January onward.
“We did not experience issues with rain, rather, it was the intense heat that, I believe, hastened the growth of the plants. Furthermore, what led to the low mango supply were the poor prices last year; almost no one wanted to produce to have enough supply available for this window this year. It also happened that competing countries suffered from the weather and did not produce. This generated high demand and a low supply of mangoes in general,” explains Secchi.
For more information:
Tel: +55 879 991 94949


text:
Some bad news for all the Maggi lovers out there as Nestle has decided to withdraw the noodles brand from the Indian Market.
The decision to take Maggi off the market came after the nationwide protest that was kick started once an excessive amount of lead were found in the samples. Nestle stood strongly on their claim that Maggi was safe to consume but was forced to take away their product due to pressure from the media. They also conducted tests on 125 million Maggi samples which showed that the lead was well below the permissible limits.
Six States in the nation have already banned Maggi after carrying out tests with Tamil Nadu being the first from the lot.
“The trust of our consumers and the safety of our products is our first priority. Unfortunately, recent developments and unfounded concerns about the product have led to an environment of confusion for the consumer, to such an extent that we have decided to withdraw the product off the shelves, despite the product being safe,” Nestle said in their official statement.
Along with the withdrawal from the market, the Indian army has advised its personnel not to eat the noodle. Maggi is one of the most popular snacks in the nation and over the years it won over the people with its taste, easiness to make and at the same time for being affordable. After India, several other countries have started to test Maggi for the amount of lead content.
Tune into Cookbook for the latest developments in the situation of Maggi.


text:
Ammo Shortage Continues to Deepen in South Dakota
It's become a weekly pilgrimage for a lot of South Dakotans. Making the rounds at the sporting goods and gun stores in the search for ammo.
2020 has been a perfect storm for shortages of everything from toilet paper to coins, but finding ammo is rarer than a unicorn right now.
Ammo shortages are nothing new. We've had shortages in the recent election years of 2008, 2012, and 2016, but 2020 has been the worst by far. Of course, the 2020 election wasn't the only reason for this lastest shortage. Throw in a pandemic, a severe economic downturn, mass unemployment, and unprecedented social unrest, and it's a recipe for an ammo shortage like we've never seen.
I've seen the line of people at Scheels when a new ammo shipment arrives. Customers are taking boxes off the shelves as fast as the worker is stocking them. Within a few hours, hundreds of boxes are gone until the next truck comes.
Reports of ammo factory shutdowns due to workers contracting COVID-19 is slowing the supply down at a time when the demand has never been higher. Some ammo manufactures are running at 40 percent of capacity.
If you can find ammo, be prepared to pay more for it now than this time last year. As with any shortage you can expect price increases and the law of supply can demand kicks in.
Will we ever see ammo supplies return to 'normal'? Ron Menning, owner of K&R Firearms in Edgerton, Minnesota told Dakota News Now don't expect it anytime soon.
“Right now I’m telling my customers I have no idea what’s going to happen after the first of the year, but I don’t see an end to this very soon,” Menning said.
Falls Park Winter Wonderland 2020


text:
MP3 players, DVDs and PDAs – not many things have remained “cool” over the past 15 years. The compact Mazda3 is an exception, however, appearing on Kelley Blue Book’s 10 Coolest Cars list every year since the car debuted in 2003.
Mazda Motor Corporation has announced the following executive personnel changes, including Representative Directors, proposed to take effect on June 26 following the 152nd ordinary general meeting of shareholders and the subsequent meeting of the board of directors.
Mazda Team Joest broke through to record its best result of the season on Sunday afternoon at the IMSA Sports Car Challenge at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
The 2019 Mazda CX-3 incorporates improved materials, sound insulation, newly available full-leather seating surfaces and a standard electronic parking brake.
After its best finish of the season at the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race on the Streets of Long Beach, Mazda Team Joest is looking to build upon that momentum at this weekend’s IMSA Sports Car Challenge at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.
Kelley Blue Book Announces Mazda as Winner of Best Performance Brand and Best Car Styling Brand Awards
This is Mazda’s second consecutive year for the “Best Car Styling Brand” award, while it is the first time Mazda has earned “Best Performance Brand.”
2018 Mazda MX-5 Miata and 2018 Mazda CX-5 Earn Top Honors in New York Daily News’ Annual 2018 DNA Awards
The 2019 Mazda CX-5 compact crossover SUV and MX-5 Miata sports car earned top honors in the New York Daily News’ 2018 Daily News Autos (DNA) Awards, as chosen by its editors.
Mazda Motor Corporation has been awarded Gold at the Edison Awards for its breakthrough SKYACTIV-X compression-ignition engine.
Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) today reported total March U.S. sales of 33,302 vehicles, representing an increase of 35.7 percent versus March of last year.
The new CX-3’s interior has undergone significant improvements, most notably the adoption of an electronic parking brake that frees up space and allows for a significant increase in storage space.
Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) is blazing a new path for the brand as it prepares for a premium 7th generation product evolution.
Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) today announced the addition of Emily Taylor to its marketing team as director, communications and experiential marketing.
This weekend, Mazda will bring the excitement of the Battery Tender Global MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich Tires to fans around the world with a livestream of the season opening races at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas.
Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) today announced the availability of its new Rear Seat Entertainment System (RSES) accessory kit for the 2016-18 Mazda CX-9 midsize crossover SUV.
Until the final pit stop of the 66th Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring, the No. 55 Mazda RT24-P driven by Jonathan Bomarito, Spencer Pigot and Harry Tincknell was closing in on a potential victory at the famed circuit.
Mazda, ELIIY Power and Ube Industries Agree to Jointly Develop 12-Volt Lithium-ion Starter Batteries for Vehicles
The three companies will work together to develop durable, heat- and impact-resistant 12-Volt lithium-ion batteries as a viable replacement for lead-acid starter batteries in motor vehicles by 2021.


text:
As regulators in China and South Korea crackdown on cryptocurrencies, Japan is quickly turning into a safe haven for market investors.
According to a report from the Nikkei Asian Review, Japanese authorities are on a thin line between boosting technological innovation in the country and maintaining consumer protection. It adds that there is the fear that Japan could be exposed to financial risk if it fails to tighten the rules on bitcoin trading.
Global regulators are focusing more attention on the crypto market in light of increasing investor interest. By the end of 2017, bitcoin’s value had increased by 1,700 percent, pushing the price of one coin to nearly $20,000 last month. Into the new year and market values have slumped, primarily due to a major market selloff and regulatory uncertainty.
One government that is establishing a stricter stance toward cryptocurrencies is South Korea. Earlier this week, it was reported that the government was planning to collect corporate and local income tax from the nation’s digital currency exchanges. Additionally, South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) revealed that cryptocurrency investors in the country would now need to have real-name bank accounts if they want to continue trading. The use of anonymous trading accounts will be banned by the 30th January.
These are just a few of the measures that South Korea is putting into place in order to rein in the volatile market. China, too, has taken a firm approach toward the sector. Last year, the government banned initial coin offerings (ICOs) and prohibited the operation of domestic digital currency exchanges.
However, unlike South Korea or China, Japan has been taking proactive steps to embrace cryptocurrencies. As an early adopter of them, Japanese legislators accepted digital currencies such as bitcoin as a legal form of payment last year in its Payment Services Act. This is despite the negative experience the country has had with the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt Gox. That’s not to say, though, that the government hasn’t put measures into place to ensure consumer protection.
Provisions to the Act require cryptocurrency exchanges to register with the government and to manage customer assets from their own. Furthermore, before any other country Japan introduced a registration system for digital currency exchanges while traders need to provide identification when dealing in currencies.
Yet, while critics have said that Tokyo’s regulations are not tight enough, Taro Aso, Japan’s Finance Minister, said:
I don’t think it is good to regulate anything and everything.
It seems that Japan, for now, has found its sweet spot.


text:
Gaming cryptocurrency Enjin Coin (ENJ) is up 70 percent just after news reviews earlier currently that confirmed a partnership with South Korean technological know-how large Samsung.
On Friday, media shops in South Korea noted the partnership between Enjin, the Singapore-based firm powering ENJ, and Samsung’s flagship smartphone S10, was confirmed, which ignited Korea’s investor foundation to leap in.
When achieved out by CoinDesk for remark, Enjin offered affirmation pertaining to a partnership with Samsung Electronics, the precise entity powering the S10 flagship smartphone, but declined to reveal more particulars.
In late February, Samsung offered S10 at MWC Barcelona 2019, and showcased the phone’s Blockchain Keystore function, which will residence personal keys to cryptocurrency property – a purpose that has drawn focus thanks to the flagship product’s predicted reach of 45 million customers in 2019.
All through the showcase of Blockchain Keystore, the firm also shown a picture that provided the logo of the Enjin crypto gaming platform. Lots of have been speculating considering that then the probability that the Enjin wallet will be integrated with the Samsung Blockchain Keystore on S10.
ENJ is a cryptocurrency for virtual products, specifically in-recreation things that can be exchanged, traded or swapped cross platform with the opportunity to make totally new in-recreation e-commerce ecosystems utilizing the ERC-1155 token based on the Ethereum blockchain.
The place it all started
Rumors started circulating Feb. 25 with this picture aligned to the Samsung Blockchain Keystore and a leaked online video of the Samsung Cell Company Improvement Summit that includes Enjin’s logo.
Considering the fact that then selling price action has given way to speculation as buyers piled on to consider edge of the bullish bulletins.
That sparked a frenzy of self-perpetuating investor curiosity as it rose 206 percent just before closing out 116 percent up on the past day.
ENJ also seasoned an additional key spike on March 5 just after asserting their Blockchain Software program Improvement Kit (SDK) is because of to launch on March 14, which helped selling price near out 27.5 percent increased although March 8 place those people gains to shame growing an additional 76.1 percent over a 24-hour interval to exactly where it at the moment stands.
Disclosure: The author retains no cryptocurrency property at the time of crafting.


text:
News of cyber attacks dominate today’s headlines. No country is safe from malicious cyber actors. In a world where cyber threats are constant, it is important to understand both how governments are addressing cybersecurity challenges and steps they can take to do better.
Today, BSA | The Software Alliance released its first Asia-Pacific (APAC) Cybersecurity Dashboard, an in-depth study of 10 APAC markets and their approaches to cybersecurity. Our goal is to inspire government leaders in each market to prioritize cybersecurity as an issue of national importance. This APAC Dashboard is a companion to the European Union Cybersecurity Dashboard, released by BSA earlier this year.
The Dashboard’s findings are clear: the 10 markets examined in APAC have been slow to produce comprehensive national cybersecurity strategies and implement the legal frameworks needed for security and critical infrastructure protection. Yet there are tremendous opportunities to improve the systems needed to protect against, prevent, mitigate, and respond to cyber attacks. Doing so will bolster enterprise, government, and consumer confidence in cutting edge Internet-enabled technologies and services, driving economic growth and productivity, and will reduce the costs and risks associated with growing cyber threats.


text:
By Colin Barnden
What’s at stake:
Ford and VW will no longer bankroll Argo’s autonomous driving ambitions, but its software and IP will still likely form the foundation of the automakers’ automated driving systems. As automotive OEMs and their technology partners defer the dream of fully automated consumer cars, we parse the odds on the winners and losers.
Argo AI, a Pittsburgh-based developer of autonomous vehicle technology, is shutting down. Details are scant, but there is sufficient information to see the reasoning behind the decision. Let us try to fit the pieces of the puzzle together.
First, the questions. How safe is safe enough for autonomous driving? How long is the R&D phase for this technology? How much will it cost to develop? Why autonomous driving anyhow?
The answer is the same: No one knows. In the end, Ford and Volkswagen, Argo’s two backers, simply said “stop.”
“It’s become very clear that profitable, fully autonomous vehicles at scale are still a long way off,” said Ford CFO John Lawler, commenting on the automaker’s plans to focus development efforts on advanced driver assistance systems.
“Especially in the development of future technologies, focus and speed count,” said Volkswagen AG CEO Oliver Blume. “Our goal is to offer our customers the most powerful functions at the earliest possible time and to set up our development as cost-effectively as possible.”
What we have just witnessed is the end of the promise of autonomous driving in privately owned passenger vehicles. Ford and Volkswagen (VW) will now redeploy whatever IP assets they can from Argo, but the goal here is clearly to focus development on the next generation of automated driving systems, such as Ford’s BlueCruise.
Winners and losers
Who are the biggest winners? Qualcomm. We need only put recent news flow together to see the big picture. VW Cariad has partnered with Qualcomm; Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon Ride Flex system-on-chip barely a month ago, with multiple automaker design wins; Ford and VW are Argo’s two backers.
The obvious conclusion is that both Ford and VW are signed up to use the Snapdragon Ride Flex SoC. VW’s Argo press statement also declares that it is working with Bosch on automated driving, so the assumption must be that Ford is working with Bosch as well.
Across Ford, VW, Cariad, and Argo is the collective expertise to develop an automated driving system incorporating the Argo IP. The Snapdragon Ride Flex SoC is an open architecture, meaning the partners can develop proprietary vision stacks and drive policies to run on Qualcomm’s chip.
Argo’s autonomous driving ambitions may be over but going forward its software and IP looks set to form the foundation of Ford’s and VW’s automated driving system. Hence, we must conclude that Mobileye is the biggest loser, which explains its recent IPO difficulties.
The Ford/VW plan looks to be following a similar path to that of General Motors, which was the first automaker to commit to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Ride SoC family and the first to develop a proprietary vision stack and drive policy running on Qualcomm’s open chip architecture, deployed for Super Cruise and Ultra Cruise.
BMW has followed a somewhat different path, announcing plans to work with Qualcomm using the Arriver vision stack and drive policy for automated driving.
My working assumption is that BMW, Ford, GM, and VW are the first four automakers to commit to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Ride Flex SoC. BMW has announced a technology sharing partnership with Stellantis, while GM has a broadly similar agreement with Honda. Accordingly, all six automakers could be unveiled as customers of the Qualcomm Flex SoC at CES in January, which looks set to be quite the party.
As we’ve previously reported, Qualcomm is eating Mobileye’s lunch.
The Ford and VW announcement is a pragmatic decision considering the auto industry’s convergence on what Phil Koopman, associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University, calls supervised automation.
Broadly speaking, a supervised automation system operates on divided highways only, provides automated longitudinal and lateral vehicle control, and employs sophisticated driving monitoring to manage the driver’s attention state and engagement level in the supervisory role.
Research indicates that BMW, Ford, GM, Honda, Stellantis and VW — in addition to Fisker, Mercedes-Benz and Renault — all use driver monitoring systems provided by Seeing Machines (Canberra, Australia).
Seeing Machines recently entered an exclusive partnership with Magna for the provision of driver and occupant monitoring embedded in the rear-view mirror. The Australian company is rapidly emerging as the leading supplier of this technology, both for regulatory compliance (to meet Euro NCAP five-star testing and the European General Safety Regulation) as well as to ensure safe supervised automated driving on the highway.
As the auto industry comes to terms with the death of the “self-driving” dream, questions will inevitably be asked of the future of other autonomous driving developers, most notably GM Cruise and Waymo.
With Ford ending funding for Argo’s autonomous driving ambitions, U.S. financial analysts will soon challenge the wisdom of GM CEO Mary Barra’s decision to continue pouring billions of R&D dollars into GM Cruise. Meanwhile, Waymo has announced plans to expand into Los Angeles, albeit with no announcement of plans to achieve profitability. It cannot burn cash and raise new funding forever.
No one has ever successfully answered the question “How safe is safe enough?” for autonomous driving, not even Koopman in his recent book of the same title. Perhaps an easier question would be “Was autonomous driving just a by-product of a near-zero interest rates?”
To which the answer is probably “yes.”
Colin Barnden is principal analyst at Semicast Research. He can be reached at email@example.com.
Copyright permission/reprint service of a full Ojo-Yoshida Report story is available for promotional use on your website, marketing materials and social media promotions. Please send us an email at firstname.lastname@example.org for details.


text:
Apple Airs New iPhone ‘Privacy Matters’ TV Ad, Watch It Right Here
Apple continues to make a big deal about privacy in a world where many tech companies seem to want to vacuum up your data, and it’s released a new ad on its YouTube channel that further highlights this.
The ad also appeared on air last night and will continue to show throughout the United States ahead of a worldwide launch.
The ad is 45 seconds in length and carries the tagline “privacy matters”, which is a stance Apple has been taking for years. Throughout the ad we’re showing situations where people might want their privacy protected as they go about their daily lives, with Apple highlighting that people often take privacy for granted.
However, Apple isn’t immune to having privacy issues of its own. As many have pointed out, this ad comes just weeks after a bug saw Group FaceTime used to eavesdrop on people after it was found that a call recipient didn’t have to answer in order to be observed. Apple has now fixed that bug, however, and it’s important to note that a bug is one thing. A business model which revolves around dipping into, and then using other people’s data, is a different one.
Facebook and Google, take note.
Apple has long seen itself as an advocate for privacy and the iPhone is an extension of that. During CES in Las Vegas recently, Apple took out a building-sized ad which simply stated “what happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone.”
Except if you were on the receiving end of a Group FaceTime call, of course.


text:
The Perfume Shop opens in The Broadway Centre, Bradford
The Perfume Shop opens their new and improved experiential store in The Broadway Centre, Bradford on Thursday 15th June 2023.
The retailer revealed a new and improved customer experience with a stylish new layout and upgraded services including a digital screen, personalised ribbon machines, as well as offering The Perfume Shop’s signature expert fragrance consultations, complimentary gift wrapping and a recycling service where customers can drop off used perfume bottles to receive 15% off their next purchase.
The new store also marked the occasion with a bottle giveaway to the first 30 people who spent £60 across Thursday 15th June – Friday 16th June. The Bestsellers on the day of opening were Paco Rabanne 1 Million Royal, Boss Bottled Night and Lancôme La Vie Est Belle.
The Perfume Shop’s continuous expansions on new stores across the UK and re-fitting existing store to ensure sustainability is always at the forefront. With this, stores continue to benefit from factors such as energy efficient LED lighting throughout, which contributes to The Perfume Shop’s commitment in reducing their energy consumption by 30% by 2030 vs 2015. All Principal Contractors are ISO14001 accredited to ensure their waste management on site is adhered too along with the control the ongoing environmental impact of their operations. Where possible, existing materials and equipment are retained or reused.
The opening was over seen by Store Manager Satwinder Anand who has worked for The Perfume Shop for over 4 years.
Satwinder said: “We were so excited to reveal the new and improved store refit in Bradford. The Perfume Shop offers a fantastic service where our experienced staff are here to guide welcomed customers through a wide selection to ensure they chose the right fragrance. With passion and expertise at the forefront, we can’t wait for customers to experience this. From the brand-new layout, classic designer scents, digital screens and personalised ribbon service, we’re glad the opening day was such a success.”
One of the UK’s largest speciality retailers and home to nearly 130 brands, from designer perfume houses to celebrity fragrances, The Perfume Shop has been a staple on the high street for 30 years, serving those with a nose for great value.
The new store is located at Unit 27, Charles Street Mall, The Broadway Centre, Bradford. BD1 1US.


text:
New Chevrolet Trailblazer turned out to be cheaper TrackerNovember 22, 2019
Chevrolet’s new Trailblazer off-road vehicle continues to provide interesting details. The novelty will enter the home market as early as 2020.
The new Chevrolet Trailblazer in the United States will be available next spring. Recall that currently in the Chevrolet line there are two Trailblazer models. The first is a frame SUV, sold in South America and selected Asian countries. The second is a crossover with a supporting body for China. Now, the manufacturer decided to adapt the Chinese Trailblazer for the United States. The brand will offer its customers in America the new Chevrolet Trailblazer, based on the VSS platform.
Outwardly, he will almost completely repeat the “celestial” SUV: a two-tier head optics, two-tone body color, etc. The interior of the novelty will house modern multimedia in with a widescreen display.
Already in the “base” the SUV for the United States will receive emergency braking and frontal collision avoidance systems, a rear-view camera, a lane control assistant, etc. The motor range of the new product will include 1.2 and 1.3 liter gas turbo engines with a return of, presumably, 139 and 157 hp. A couple of them will be a variator. But the all-wheel drive Trailblazer with a top engine can count on a 9-speed automatic.
As for the price lists for the new Chevrolet Trailblazer, then, according to the Carscoops portal, it will be cheaper than the Chevrolet Tracker – the smallest crossover in the model range of the brand. US Car Dealerships Will Sell Tracker for $ 20,000
- Elon Musk calls the new Tesla Yoke wheel a great idea
- Scientists have shown a way to fully charge electric cars in 10 minutes
- The development of electric vehicles may slow down
- Chinese Great Wall is interested in buying Daimler
- Porsche sets up new venture with German battery manufacturer Customcells


text:
Maine once again is at the forefront in regards to affordable medication for Americans. In June of last year Maine passed a law allowing Mainers to order from licensed pharmacies in Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia. The good news for PlanetDrugsDirect customers in Maine is that we offer prescriptions from Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia.
Gabriel Levitt, Vice President of PharmacyChecker.com wrote “Maine passed a good law last year, lifting the state’s ban on personal prescription drug imports from pharmacies in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. U.S. pharmacists and drug companies want Mainers to believe lifting the ban is not safe even though it is….”
Gabriel told us “I think the Maine Law is an encouraging development that could have positive ramifications of safe importation from online pharmacies.”
What’s good about this law for Maine is that it saves tons of taxpayer dollars at state and municipal levels. Some of our customers in Maine won’t be able to order products from our other pharmacies, but overall this is an excellent law put in place by Maine.
Why does this matter to non-Mainer Americans?
Currently, there is a lawsuit in Maine with big dollars and politics at stake. The result of this lawsuit could radically reduce prescription drug prices in the United States and, if things go well in Maine there are several other states that may consider following in their footsteps.


text:
Peter Johnston’s London-headquartered enterprise technology start-up Lystable has raised $11m in a Series A round led by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures, as well as Goldcrest Capital and Spring Partners.
Lystable, which was a Siliconrepublic.com Start-up of the Week only in January of this year, was founded by University of Ulster graduate Johnston, who had previously worked as a designer for Google, M&C Saatchi and others.
The company was created in response to the rapid growth of the freelance economy, and it allows large enterprises to create their own network of talent.
‘This phase is now one of growth. We have figured out a lot of nuances and worked to make our model repeatable and scalable with large companies’
– PETER JOHNSTON, LYSTABLE
Lystable has created software to help businesses manage relationships with an increasingly flexible workforce of freelancers, independent contractors and vendors.
Lystable’s clients include Google and The Economist, with recent additions including Airbnb, MTV, and CNBC.
It has more than 60 enterprise clients managing over 20,000 contractors and vendors on a weekly basis.
A new league for enterprise software
“This phase is now one of growth,” said Johnston. “We have figured out a lot of nuances and worked to make our model repeatable and scalable with large companies.
“Securing this funding allows us to scale out sales and marketing and bring in a number of key senior hires on product and engineering.”
James Fitzgerald of Valar Ventures and Leila Zegna of Spring Partners have joined Lystable’s board of directors, and Adam Ross of Goldcrest Capital has joined as a board observer.
It is estimated that there are currently 53m people working as freelancers and contractors in the US alone, a figure which is expected to rise rapidly over the next decade. The number of independent professionals in the EU rose from 7.7m to 9.6m between 2008 and 2015.
“Legacy software is not equipped to deal with the growing freelancer economy,” Fitzgerald explained.
“Lystable’s product solves a real pain point for enterprises that are managing an increasing number of freelancers and contractors. Their product is in another league compared with the incumbents.”


text:
South Africa’s online payment revenue grew by 66% from 2019 to 2020, well above the global average of 26%. We have seen how quickly South African consumers have adapted from a somewhat hesitant audience to regular users of online payment. As a result of shifted consumer behaviour, eCommerce is expected to grow by 150% by 2025.
The rapid increase in eCommerce has subsequently sparked greater uptake in digital payments like Zapper, SnapScan, and various buy now pay later platforms. Digital payments are expected to grow by 9% until 2025, with 34% of the users between 25-35 years of age.
According to the World Bank, the percentage of internet users in South Africa has grown from 10% in 2009 to 68.2% in 2019, however stable connectivity remains an issue. ICASA recorded that smartphone usage has increased from 44% in 2016 to 91% in 2019; creating valuable potential for mobile commerce.
At Transaction Junction, we are excited to experience the growth of eCommerce first-hand. As the leading payment processor in South Africa, we ensure that online payments are processed seamlessly and securely, and we provide intuitive back-office analytical and reconciliation tools.


text:
- Subscribe NowLimited Time Offer
Sign Up for the Pittsburgh Business Times Afternoon Edition Newsletter
Send this story to a friend
As it battles SuperValu, family opens stores under multipe banners
- Tim Schooley
WHITE OAK — A former commercial pilot, Mark Scozio experienced what might be described as a crash landing in 2000 as his family built what was to be a new Shop'n Save grocery store in Penn Township.
With one-third of the new store's $4.4 million construction completed, Mr. Scozio said, Shop'n Save's parent company, Minnesota-based SuperValu Inc., pulled out of the project.
While the reasons SuperValu did so remain a mystery even three years later, Mr. Scozio said he realized his longtime family business's relationship with SuperValu clearly had to change.
And, in an era in which Wal-Mart is causing major reverberations throughout the grocery industry and independents find it harder and harder to survive, the Scozios are now growing their operations more quickly than ever — reaching $80 million in sales last year.
The Scozios eventually opened the Penn Township store under the Festival Foods banner, and Scozio Supermarket Group continues to look outside SuperValu for growth opportunities.
After years of stability operating six Shop'n Save stores in the region, the Scozios now have eight stores under four different brands with a ninth to open soon. THe brands are: Shop'n Save, Festival Foods, Sparkle Markets and Save A Lot. The Scozio family also finds itself juggling three different distributors, along with a court case with SuperValu.
"The dynamic of being an independent operator has changed," said Mr. Scozio, 40, who became president of the family business four years ago. "Big corporations operate a lot differently than independents do."
As part of its ongoing difficulties with SuperValu — which still serves as a distributor for three of Scozio Supermarket Group's stores — the Scozios filed a federal lawsuit in late January against the company. The lawsuit accuses SuperValu of breach of contract and negligent misrepresentation. The lawsuit claims SuperValu misused advertising money contributed by the Scozio franchise and damaged franchisees' sales with its Greenpoints program, a customer incentive venture SuperValu started last year as an updated version of the once-popular Green Stamps program.
A spokesperson for SuperValu would not comment on the pending litigation.
The food distribution industry has been consolidating for some time. SuperValu, with more than $23 billion in yearly revenue, is one of the largest wholesale food distributors in the country.
The Scozio family became involved in that consolidation decades ago, when SuperValu acquired the Greensburg-based distributor Charley Brothers, where John Scozio was a vice president. The senior Scozio decided to become one of the first Shop'n Save operators in the Pittsburgh market. He was once named a SuperValu retailer of the year.
Today, Mark Scozio believes his family's strained relationship with SuperValu began when SuperValu bought Wetterau Inc., the local distributor of local Foodland grocery stores, about 10 years ago.
"When SuperValu acquired Wetterau, here in Pittsburgh, you had (franchises) in the same center that were once competitors now being supplied by the same wholesaler," he said.
Conflicts were sure to follow. Of prime concern, as described in court documents, was SuperValu's mingling of advertising dollars paid by Scozio with advertising revenue for Foodland.
In court documents, the Scozios said they paid $1.4 million to SuperValu for advertising only to have SuperValu "improperly" spend that money "for the benefit of Foodland retailers who are in direct competition" with the Scozios and their Shop'n Save stores.
In their lawsuit, the Scozios claim this was a conflict of interest for SuperValu for nearly 10 years. The lawsuit also alleges that the Greenpoints program SuperValu established has harmed sales.
The tension between the Scozios and SuperValu heightened when SuperValu added 19 new corporate Shop'n Save locations in Pittsburgh, closing in on the Scozios' independent territory and limiting growth opportunities.
One wholesale industry salesman dealing in meat and seafood, but who requested his name not be published, said he was once reprimanded by a SuperValu executive for selling directly to the Scozio family.
Yet the Scozios reassured the salesman they would keep buying from whom they wanted.
"These guys will buy from anybody who has the best numbers that will impact the bottom line," he said of the Scozios. "They're true independent retailers."
THE SCOZIO LINEUP
Today, the Scozios only operate two stores under the Shop'n Save name, in White Oak and Irwin. SuperValu holds the lease on both stores.
Since opening the Penn Township store as a Festival Foods, the Scozios have opened two others, one in McMurry, the other in Wexford. In the next few months, the Scozios will open a fourth Festival Foods in McIntyre Square in Ross in a former 63,000-square-foot Super-Phar-Mor location.
Festival Foods is a grocery store brand owned by Dallas-based Fleming Food Cos., another major U.S. food distributor. Festival Foods is known in the industry as a "price impact" grocer that maintains regular low prices without sales.
Mr. Scozio said he saw it as an attractive brand because Festival Foods stores are hybrids, offering full service and a variety of perishable foods that would complement his family's own brand of private label products and baked goods. More important, Festival Foods allowed the Scozios to maintain their independence.
"The thing with SuperValu is they control a majority of your business," said Mr. Scozio. "With Fleming, we actually control all of our marketing and merchandise."
Mark Hamstra, who covers the grocery industry as a reporter for the Supermarket News, said Fleming and SuperValu are distributors going in opposite directions
"Fleming is getting out of retail operations almost completely, while SuperValu is growing its corporate stores," he said.
In February, the Scozios converted two of their older and smaller Shop'n Save stores in Jeanneate and Norwin to Sparkle Markets. Sparkle Markets is a collaboration of independent operators operating throughout eastern Ohio, pooling marketing costs and buying power.
Previously, the Scozios had converted a former Shop'n Save to a Save-A-Lot, another SuperValu banner that offers a limited assortment of grocery and food items.
"Because of the way things are going with competition, one program doesn't work anymore," said Mr. Scozio. "We try to fit our markets at this point."
Jimmy Nichols, a regional president for Flemming based in Massilon, Ohio, said its not uncommon for family grocer franchises to operate multiple store brands.
"The Scozios are perfectly aligned to do the Festival Foods format. And that's where their future seems to be going," he said. "That doesn't mean that they don't do well in some of their other locations."
While Mr. Scozio said making such major changes was difficult for his father, now 76, he believes Scozio Supermarket Group is positioned to serve different markets in a way similar to a car dealership, offering a variety of grocery store banners instead of car models.
"I think we're repositioning ourselves in the best way to stay in the retail business," said Mr. Scozio. "That's really what we've been trying to achieve in the last three years."
MR. SCHOOLEY may be contacted at firstname.lastname@example.org.
- Most popular
- Michael Baker International to make downtown its corporate HQ
- Movie on former Steelers' death to film in Pittsburgh and star Smith
- Choderwood adds houseboats
- Pittsburgh gains a new headquarters
- â€‹New 15-story hotel in the works next to Duquesne Incline
- Moby, Portugal. The Man to headline Thrival Festival
- Ohio workers OK pay cuts, PA workers nix plan
- Willow restaurant to close for renovations
- Community groups crowdfund fight against new AutoZone store on Penn
- Barnes joins Pepper Hamilton
Associate Director of Development West Virginia University | Morgantown, WV
Account Executive Pittsburgh Business Times | Pittsburgh, PA
Supervisory Trial Attorney â€‹The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission | Miami, FL
Development/Major Gifts Officer Indiana University of Pennsylvania | Indiana, PA
Business Development Manager Jaskolski Demolition Services/Steel City Demo | West Elizabeth, PA


text:
ProConnect Supply Chain Solutions Ltd (ProConnect), a leading national 3PL company announced recently that it had acquired 90% stake in Auroma Logistics Pvt Ltd. (Auroma Logistics)
ProConnect is currently servicing across 12 industry verticals, through a growing network of over 155 warehouses with a capacity of 6.6 Mn Sq.ft and deliver to more than 36,000 customer locations across India. This acquisition will enable ProConnect to expand its Supply chain Business in Consumer Durables vertical resulting in bringing net new businesses.
As businesses in India continue to move towards outsourcing warehousing requirements to take full benefit of GST, acquisitions such as these create a stronger value for businesses to firm up on their decision to outsource.
Confirming the deal, Mr. E H Kasturi Rangan, Director, ProConnect said, “Auroma Logistics is a natural fit with ProConnect because both companies share similar values”. Dr. R Arunachalam, CEO, ProConnect shares, “We have a robust suite of capabilities on a pan India basis in the growing 3PL market. Our combined strengths will give our customers best-in-class services.” “This acquisition will bring more synergy to ProConnect and efficiency to customers of Auroma Logistics” concludes Mr. P S Kasi Viswanathan, CFO, ProConnect.


text:
Whether it's food, alcohol or gifts, the holiday season is typically a time of excess.
But there is a growing appetite for a low-waste Christmas.
Perth's malls have been packed with last-minute shoppers, yet among them was change.
"No wrapping paper this year," one shopper said. She planned to give people their gifts simply as purchased.
Another shopper said he was trying to limit plastic bags, and any Christmas leftovers would go into his compost pile.
"I don't like buying things we already have so they have to wait until they break," said another.
Outside supermarkets, trolleys were filled with a mix of plastic and reusable bags, while some customers walked out with items in their arms.
Surge in demand for eco-friendly products
Rob Frost opened a bulk wholefood food store in Subiaco last year and quickly expanded to sell sustainable products.
He said in the lead-up to Christmas, he wasn't able to keep up with demand.
"We've seen a big surge in the reusable coffee cups, but we're now also seeing a massive surge in things like produce bags to stop people using the plastic bags when they're doing all their green groceries shopping," he said.
"Also things like beeswax wraps which eliminate the need for aluminium foil and glad wrap."
Customers use supplied paper bags or fill their own containers with bulk goods to avoid plastic and reduce food waste.
"You can buy however much you need, you don't need to buy a kilo of something when you only need 100 grams," Mr Frost said.
Sustainability not a fad, retailers say
Emma Daly rebranded her Fremantle store earlier this month to focus on zero-waste living.
She said consumer awareness had grown significantly in the past year, especially in the past six months.
"People are now coming into the store specifically asking about things and wanting things and already having an awareness about them, as opposed to before you'd feel a lot more customers were discovering things when they came here."
Ms Daly said people of all ages, particularly youth, came from across Perth to purchase zero-waste items.
"It's one of those trends versus fads that's just going to keep growing as people have now started to pique their interest," she said.
"People want to get further into it, want to take it further and start replacing things in their own lifestyles where they can and where it makes sense."
Ms Daly works closely with suppliers to ensure items stocked are packaged and shipped in sustainable materials such as paper and recycled newspaper instead of plastic wrapping or styrofoam.
Mr Frost expects the zero-waste movement to continue in the New Year.
"It's grown so much so I can't see why it would stop now," he said.
"More and more sustainable products coming out, people working out ways of replacing single-use plastics in their life so … I think it's going to keep growing."
West Australian shoppers will be forced to give up plastic or pay for it from next July, when a State Government ban on single-use bags takes effect.


text:
The rocketing UK gigabit fibre to the home (FTTH) broadband market has been marked with intense competition that has seen internet service providers (ISPs) battle to gain a competitive edge, and this battle has now entered the home.
Seeing quality of Wi-Fi coverage as a key selling point and tapping into what it sees is a clear opportunity, Linksys has launched a suite of Wi-Fi 6 products to ISPs in the UK.
Outlining the reasons for its launch, the networking hardware solutions provider said the UK broadband market’s evolution has gained pace significantly in recent years, with altnets seeking to provide ultrafast broadband to millions of homes in a race against established ISPs to lay fibre to the home. Linksys is partnering with ISPs to provide what it claims will be robust, secure routers and mesh systems capable of providing fast, whole-home coverage.
Given the pace of growth, Linksys is increasing its emphasis on working directly with ISPs to complement its global service provider business. It believes companies are currently transitioning from Wi-Fi 5 to Wi-Fi 6 or 6E, due to its better throughput and latency, lower susceptibility to interference and its ability to allow mobile battery-powered devices to make more efficient use of battery life.
Linksys claims to be the first to market with a Wi-Fi 6 solution and says it is continuing innovation with its Wi-Fi 6 and 6E mesh products that can be offered in dual-band or tri-band and give consumers the flexibility to configure networks across the home.
Linksys said its Wi-Fi 6 routers allow customers to enjoy four times faster speeds compared to Wi-Fi 5. Each Wi-Fi router is sold in a range of bundles (1, 2 or 3+ pack solutions) and users can use an app to set up and manage their Wi-Fi. Each device is connected to its own personal node, which functions as a router. Coverage can be expanded by adding more nodes.
Linksys is working with UK ISPs such as Community Fibre, Hey! Broadband, UpFibre, Airband and Connect Fibre, among others, to help them stand apart from the competition and expand connectivity across the UK.
“The UK broadband market is more fiercely contested than ever, with altnet providers hastening their broadband roll-outs due to the unprecedented demand for connectivity brought about by the pandemic,” said Albert Farag, vice-president of Europe and global ISP at Linksys.
“These altnets are quickly changing the dynamics of the market and bringing fibre to the homes of millions around the UK, but they require a partner that can ensure gigabit fibre is mirrored with quality in-building Wi-Fi that delivers reliable, secure and widespread coverage.”
The Community Fibre network offers up to 3Gbps to residential homes and 10Gbps for businesses. It recently announced an offer over its 100% full-fibre network to provide businesses with more broadband choice than ever before, with connections of up to 10Gbps.
Claiming to be the UK capital’s fastest-growing full-fibre provider, the provider announced in May 2022 that it had passed a milestone which demonstrated its commitment to offering 2.2 million homes and businesses its full-fibre, multi-gigabit-capable broadband by the end of 2024.
“Extending our 100% full-fibre network reach to homes across London is paramount, as is providing fast and secure broadband connections to households. Our partnership with Linksys ensures that we can continue to deliver London’s fastest and best value broadband,” said Community Fibre’s chief operating officer, Neil Heffernan.
Read more about mesh Wi-Fi
- Qualcomm announces Meta partnership as it stakes out connected future, unveiling plans to embed its connectivity technology – encompassing Wi-Fi 7, 5G and even satellite – within virtual and real-world environments to drive connected experiences.
- Virgin Media aims for in-home connectivity transformation with Intelligent WiFi Plus, ramping up gigabit network development in locations across the UK and launching Wi-Fi access devices to work with new access system to bring up to three times faster in-home wireless speeds.
- Comms tech provider Huawei unveils new in-home Mesh Wi-Fi solutions to focus on the home with new product designed to deliver high-speed, reliable and secure Wi-Fi 6 Plus for large households and to support third workspace.


text:
Canada Launches Task Force to Review Payments System
Canada’s Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty has launched a task force to review the payments system and help guide its evolution.
The task force fulfils a commitment made in Budget 2010 to review the safety, soundness and efficiency of the payments system: whether there is sufficient innovation in the payments system; the competitive landscape; whether businesses and consumers are being well served by payments system providers; and whether current payments system oversight mechanisms remain appropriate. Pat Meredith, an expert on financial sector strategy with a particular focus on payments issues, will chair the task force.
“Technology and the Internet have fundamentally changed the way Canadians access and spend their money,” said Meredith. “The work of the task force will therefore be dynamic and thoughtful, with the broad aim of laying the foundation towards making our payments system a leader and an example for the rest of the world to follow.”
The task force is mandated to provide the Minister of Finance with recommendations by the end of 2011.


text:
Yosuke Matsuda, executive director of Square Enix, told the Financial Times in an interview that while the $ 145 billion sector has benefited from people who have spent more time at home due to coronavirus bans, social distancing restrictions are affecting the development pipelines had met new games.
“There are also significant effects on the production side. It will resonate in the future. What we’re selling now may have delivered some positive aspects, but on the negative side, time has stood still in terms of production. We couldn’t develop anything. This is where the impact will come, ”said Matsuda, whose company has annual sales of $ 2.5 billion.
The blunt assessment of one of the top executives in the Japanese gambling sector differs from the rosier picture painted so far by other leading industry experts. This suggests that current game release plans, which focus on the hyped November launches of next-gen consoles from Sony and Microsoft, may be at risk.
Mr. Matsuda’s comments come as shares in Square Enix – which is also responsible for the people Dragon Quest Franchises – up 68 percent from a low in mid-March during the worst of the turmoil in the coronavirus market.
Brokers like Mizuho, Daiwa and SMBC Nikko have raised their target price on the stock after a surge in digital sales of games – such as: Final Fantasy VII Remake – Resulted in a more than three-fold increase in operating profit for the first quarter.
Developing the type of blockbuster games that Square Enix specializes in has a lot to do with film production, as motion capture and voice actors have to work closely together in studios. Artists and programmers also need to work on sophisticated machines that cannot simply be taken home.
Executives of large gaming companies have yet to acknowledge specific shifts in production plans. However, Sony’s CFO Hiroki Totoki said the Japanese group is watching out for possible delays and realizing that productivity could decline when game developers operate under “various constraints.”
Square Enix said Friday that the launch of its Marvel’s Avenger The game for the new PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X will now be postponed to an unspecified date next year.
Customers are less and less likely to go to the store and shop online. I still don’t know how much it will affect us
There’s a lot going on at the launch of the two platforms, which is a replay of the “console wars” that have been waged between the two in the past and has created a mess to secure the best exclusive content.
Analytics firm NewZoo predicted in May that global gaming industry revenue, which includes the huge contribution of smartphone-based titles, will soar over 9 percent to $ 159 billion this year, reflecting Covid’s lockdown -19 and the introduction of the new console.
However, Mr Matsuda said the pandemic had made the outlook for the important Christmas season uncertain as gamers were more likely to buy new consoles online as queuing at physical stores became more difficult.
“Customers go to the store and buy online less and less. I still don’t know how much it will affect us, ”said Matsuda.
These were the details of the news Final Fantasy developer warns of pandemic hits in game development for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by giving you the full details and information. To follow all our news, you can subscribe to the alerts system or to one of our different systems to provide you with all that is new.
It is also worth noting that the original news has been published and is available at de24.news and the editorial team at AlKhaleej Today has confirmed it and it has been modified, and it may have been completely transferred or quoted from it and you can read and follow this news from its main source.


text:
French bistro Mimi's in Turkey Creek gets rebrand with new cocktails, snacks
Mimi's, the French-inspired cafe in Turkey Creek, is getting a brand refresh.
The bistro chain will change its name to Mimi's Bistro & Bakery, owner Le Duff America announced Monday.
The change is an attempt to modernize the restaurant and its menu after 41 years in business.
“Creating a new name and face for Mimi’s has been a long overdue and exciting experience for our team,” Philippe Jean, chief operating officer for Le Duff America, said in a press release. “We are ready for a fresh phase that strengthens our connection with France, while maintaining Mimi’s heritage that made our guests fall in love with our brand in the first place.”
The Knoxville Mimi's is located at 10945 Parkside Dr. Mimi's has 77 locations in 16 states, including one in Murfreesboro.
The company announced that 10 locations will be renovated by fall 2019 with new interiors, including a new bar area, furniture and technology. The Knoxville location will not undergo renovations.
New Mimi's menu
Mimi's will launch a Bites + Beverage menu that includes the new Mimi's House Wine, made special for the brand in Bordeaux, France. The House Red and House White will be sold for $6 a glass and $22 a bottle.
The drink menu will also include classic cocktails like the French 75, twists on classic cocktails like the French Mule, and a selection of martinis. It will also include Mimi's signature mimosas, like the mimi-mosa, mango mimosa and triple berry mimosa.
Appetizers on the Bites menu will include hummus and crudites, flatbread, and a brochette trio: skewers of grilled chicken, shrimp and ground beef topped with custom sauces.
“Our new Bites + Beverages menu is a delightful addition for our guests,” said Tiffany McClain, head of marketing for Mimi’s Bistro & Bakery. “Our restaurants are a destination where we celebrate life around food, friends and family. We are looking forward to welcoming new and loyal guests to explore our menu, try a tasty libation and enjoy the new look and warmth of Mimi’s.”


text:
Registration for the 34th Independents Conference and Expo is Now Open!
The conference will take place April 18-21 at the Encore at the Wynn in Las Vegas.
Developed by the AFSA Section on Independent Operations, this is the main event for independent consumer and sales finance companies, including traditional installment lenders providing personal loans and subprime auto finance companies that purchase contracts from independent and franchise auto dealers. These companies range from single office consumer finance companies to mid-size and large regional national companies.
You can get more information about the conference and register directly via AFSA's redesigned Independents Conference & Expo website.
February 9th, 2017 by Dan Bucherer


text:
If you’ve got summer style on your mind, you need to check out the new collaboration between Todd Snyder and Birdwell Beach Britches just as soon as you can. Even if the sun and sand feels a bit far off, the new collaboration from the famed American menswear designer and the iconic surf brand will definitely get you in the right mindset.
Released late last month, the Birdwell Beach Britches for Todd Snyder collaboration considers every part of your stylish beach gear haul, and then some. The collection features updates to Birdwell’s iconic board shorts, plus handy extras like an exclusive Birdwell for Todd Snyder beach towel and an updated Birdwell Competition Jacket that plays off Mr. Snyder’s penchant for excellent outerwear.
With nearly 60 years of authentic heritage — the brand launched in Santa Ana, Calif., in 1961 — Birdwell was an ideal brand partner given its iconic style and commitment to quality, Snyder said.
“It’s such a great story — it was almost like this time capsule,” Snyder said of exploring the brand’s history. Indeed, a book of surfing photographs that sits alongside the collection in Snyder’s Madison Avenue store showcases page after page of authentic Birdwell board shorts on beaches far and wide. “They’ve been a part of this history.”
Like the designer’s recent collaboration efforts — from the standout Timex x Todd Snyder Mod Watch to the weather-ready Todd Snyder + P.F. Flyers sneakers — the collection plays off a feeling of vintage Americana brought forward into the 21st century.
It’s Birdwell’s heritage — loved and worn by everyone from surfers, lifeguards and vacationers for decades — that proved so intriguing, Snyder said.
“It doesn’t get more authentic,” Snyder said, adding that he’s worn the brand’s durable swim trunks for years. Snyder put his own spin on Birdwell board shorts for the collaboration, taking the Birdwell board short and adding New York-inspired black-and-blue colorblocking.
For $168, the Jailbird Stripe Board Short is as premium and stylish a pair of swim shorts as you’ll find. The collection’s other board
The Birdwell team also welcomed the chance to explore the brand’s deep history and put a unique spin on recognizable silhouettes, said Birdwell President and CEO Geoff Clawson, calling the brand’s heritage “a great canvas” to work with.
The Birdwell team has also admired Snyder’s focus on updating heritage styles for the everyday guy, another benefit of the partnership.
“It was born of a mutual admiration,” said Birdwell’s creative director, Natas Kaupas.
Looking at the collection, it’s clear that it’s an effort that plays to each side’s strengths. With a mix of crisp block colors and Birdwell’s recognizable logo blended with Snyder’s eye for well-considered details — right down to a retro-inspired red-and-white striped tee — the offering is a far cry from standard beach-going fare, and consumers are all the better for it.
If a swimsuit upgrade is on your horizon, rest assured that the Birdwell Beach Britches for Todd Snyder collaboration features premium durability in addition to major style points. Experienced in sewing and tailoring, Snyder closely examined the clean stitching on a pair of board shorts at his Madison Avenue store: “That’s really hard to do!”
When it comes to the Birdwell Beach Britches for Todd Snyder collaboration however, looking good at the beach this summer should be easy.


text:
Mobile, once Facebook's greatest flaw, is now the social network's greatest success thanks to its ownership of four of the world's most powerful apps.
That's not enough. Now, Facebook is working on further integrating these apps to dominate your smartphone experience — while simultaneously building for the next platform.
"For a while it didn't make sense to do multiple standalone apps," said Scott Stanchak, New York Times managing director of platform operations, "but Facebook proved that theory wrong."
The numbers for the company's standalone apps are already huge. Facebook says it attracts more than 1.79 billion people per month overall. Instagram counts 600 million users per month and Messenger has 1 billion. There is some overlap in these numbers, since users can belong to more than one app, but it's a massive user base.
Furthermore, users of these apps spend an average of 50 minutes per day across them. These figures don't include Facebook-owned WhatsApp, which pulls in another cool 1 billion users monthly. VR platforms of Oculus and Samsung Gear VR will also add to the tally. There's also Workplace, Facebook's app for business.
By tying these giants together, Facebook is looking to address one of its biggest issues — missing the boat on smartphone hardware and operating systems. While Facebook will continue to operate on the hardware and operating systems of other companies, it's consolidating an ecosystem within the larger one that users never have to leave.
In short, they're making their family of apps the next best thing.
That network is "the unfair advantage that Facebook and Amazon have. For Facebook, they've been able to establish their format and translate from the desktop to mobile," said Mike Jaconi, CEO of Button, a marketplace for mobile partnerships. "They've learned that the platform effect wins."
Losing the system, winning the game
Facebook started on desktop, but it didn't win the computer.
"Apple and Google were the operating system," Jaconi said. "It was an app-oriented battle."
When Facebook filed its paperwork to go public in 2011, it issued a major risk factor. "Increased mobile usage," the company wrote, could be detrimental since the company was not displaying ads or "commercial content" on its apps. At that point, Facebook's more than 400 million mobile users threatened its success.
Facebook's more than 400 million mobile users threatened its success.
Now, Facebook, has essentially eliminated the "major risk factor" and engulfed its business with it.
More than 90 percent of Facebook's daily active users accessed the network via mobile and more than 80 percent of its total ad revenue came from mobile, as of January last year. Sponsored posts and video ads across the Facebook app and Instagram are a normal feature.
While other companies are known to buy and shut down (Google), buy and integrate (Apple) or buy and destroy (Yahoo), Facebook has taken to buying, growing and monetizing—with some exceptions (MSQRD, an app for video filters, is still available in the app store but its selfie tech is being integrated into Messenger.)
The core Facebook app is being positioned as the portal, where Facebook users can click through to websites while messaging on groups, planning events and shopping, all within Facebook's universe.
"For me, the core Facebook app is the news feed and their objective is keeping users in that experience as long as possible," Stanchak said.
Instagram competes for that attention, however, and that's why Facebook has been testing closer navigation between the two.
“People have told us they’d like an easier way to switch between their Facebook and Instagram apps, so we’re testing features such as the ability to navigate between those apps for people who have connected their accounts," a Facebook spokesperson told Mashable in an email.
Facebook did not shut down Instagram nor rebrand it after its acquisition. Rather, Zuckerberg let the team operate separately while keeping tabs on what worked. Five years later, Facebook's ownership is quite obvious within the app. When your Facebook account is integrated, the Instagram app suggests to invite friends from Facebook.
"Right now, Instagram is an extremely favorable brand. I see only positives for Facebook to align itself closer with it," Stanchak said.
Messenger is the clearest example of how close Facebook's apps can be. With Messenger, accessible to Facebook users at the top left corner of the Facebook app, users can access services like payments and video calling.
"The diversification is seamless between the core app and Messenger -- they feel as one," Stanchak said.
Facebook's VP of messaging products David Marcus wrote(opens in a new tab), on Facebook, earlier this year that he viewed Messenger as a "virtual living room" that is also your "global directory of people and businesses."
"Nothing makes me happier than seeing that not only more of you are joining the Messenger community, but also intensifying your usage at an accelerated rate," he wrote.
As Marcus noted, Messenger users do not need a Facebook account to use it.
Snapchat, which Zuckerberg lost out on owning, is following Facebook's portal strategy. As of Snapchat's latest update, users can more easily navigate between the Snapchat app and Bitmoji app. On Tuesday, Snapchat introduced its own portal feature for accessing any website within its own app.
But there's no sign-up for Snapchat across the web or within apps, other than for Snapchat-owned Bitmoji — yet.
The next portal
Not every company is as content as Facebook with giving up on owning more of the smartphone hardware or software market. Alphabet (Google's parent company) is dominant with its Android OS, but still felt the need to try its hand once again at selling its own smartphones.
Facebook's ambitions are elsewhere. In virtual reality, Facebook sees the ideal platform for its biggest asset — social connections at a scale never seen before.
"It's closing in on 2 billion humans. That’s staggering to imagine. It's not just the scale. It continues to prove to people that it may just get bigger. It is in their DNA," said Jeff Reeves, analyst of InvestorPlace.com.
Facebook is placing its bets on owning the next hardware play: virtual reality. With his $3 billion acquisition for Oculus, Zuckerberg has called virtual reality the "next great computing platform."
Now, with the revenue from mobile dominance, Facebook wants to own the future in virtual reality and in artificial intelligence and voice. That doesn't come cheap. Like Google, Facebook may have to get used to making costly bets that sometimes don't pan out.
Reeves says that's just fine with Zuckerberg.
"Facebook is still a very young company," Reeves said. "He’s trying to think about AI and the future."


text:
Greek authorities have announced the recall of a list of products, including a line of chicken nuggets, because of horse-meat contamination.
Some contained significant levels of horse meat – in some cases half or more of the total meat content.
The Hellenic Food Authority (EFET) gave the details of the products which were the subject of the recall.
They were listed as follows:
- The frozen traditional meat product soutzouki M.K., 80g, best before date 12/2/20/14, cartboxes of 4kg. Horse DNA was detected at more than 25 per cent.
- Frozen chicken nuggets 25g, best before date 7/1/2014, cartboxes of 3 kg (horse DNA was detected at levels of more than 10 per cent but less than 25 per cent.
- Frozen snitchel (sic) M.K., 130g, before date 13/2/2014. Boxes of 3kg. Horse DNA was detected at least than 1 per cent.
- The frozen traditional meat product soutzouki Μ.Κ., 80g, best before date 16/1/2014. Boxes of 4kg. Horse DNA was detected at more than 50%.
- Frozen snitchel Μ.Κ., 130 g, best before 7/12/2013, boxes of 3kg. Horse DNA was detected at less than 1 per cent.
The agency said the above products were produced by the T&T Foods S.A. company in Chalkidikis for the Choutos Catering S.A. company.
The agency also announced the recall of precooked frozen meat burgers, Ifantis, in packages of 10 burgers with a net weight 800g and best before date of 15/11/2013. Horse DNA was detected at more than 50 per cent. They were produced by the Ifantis S.A. company in Kifissia.
It also gave details of two further recalls:
Frankfurt-type sausages with the trade name Nikas Beef sausages t. Frankfurt, 280 g, with a best before date of 5/5/2013. Horse DNA was detected at levels greater than 10 per cent but less than 25 per cent.
- Meat product Parizaki with the trade name Nikas Beef parizaki, 300g, with a best-before date of 6/6/2013. Horse DNA was detected at levels greater than 1 per cent but less than 32 per cent.
- Those two products are produced by the P.G. Nikas Avee company in Ag. Stefanos Attiki.
EFET said it had requested the immediate recall/withdrawal of the above products from the internal market.
It stressed that the recall/withdrawal referred only to the above batches of the products.
The agency said the samples would be tested further for the veterinary drug phenylbutazone, a common anti-inflammatory drug used in horses which is banned from entering the human food chain.


text:
A bearish reversal formation was discovered in the daily chart of the EUR/CHF.
The demand zone has held the selling pressure and EUR/CHF lost his footing. The rate fell back below the midpoint of the previous candles body. This pattern allows the trader the Chance of a trend reversal to participate, he should position himself at the opening of the next candle Short.
It is also a warning signal for the bullish set market could represent participants that the exchange rate responds to the supply zone.
Forex and Bitcoin News
- Bitcoin news all — All news about bitcoin in one site
- Expert forex trading – Metatrader expert advisors tutorial
- Forex factory news
- Forex online broker
- Trade currency – Trading Opportunities and Financial Tips
- Trading options
- Trading stocks economic, financial


text:
On Thursday, Imint has announced a new partnership with the phone maker Infinix. The Swedish company provides its video stabilization algorithm solutions to other phone maker brands like Xiaomi, vivo, Oppo, nubia, OnePlus, and more recently, Motorola with the Edge+. The first Infinix device to have Vidhance is the Note 7.
The Infinix Note 7 runs a MediaTek Helio G70 chipset, so the partnership shows that Imints solution can work across many devices, regardless of chipset. Imint has previously announced a new integration with Qualcomm hardware that would improve power efficiency of its video stabilization processing.
Infinix Note 7
Imint explains that Vidhance uses the devices motion sensors to predict the phones movement, and compensates against unwanted camera movement, even while panning. Vidhance Video Stabilization offers low power consumption and high performance even in low light conditions and can be depoyed in both real-time and post-processing.
The partnership only mentions Vidhance Video Stabilization, but the company provides OEMs with a few other video-related solutions like Vidhance Selfie video, Stable zoom, and active Object tracking. A new feature that would seamlessly switch between cameras with different focal lengths has been in the works. Here’s a hands-on we did with a few of these modes.
The Infinix Note 7 has a 6.95display with HD+ resolution, and features a quad-camera setup with a 48MP sensor as the main one. Theres also a huge 5,000 mAh battery, and support for 18W Super Charge.


text:
EMMAC said it will immediately begin production and distribution of a number of medical cannabis products from its Medalchemy manufacturing site in Spain
FastForward Innovations Ltd’s () has noted that its portfolio firm, , has become the first European cannabis company licensed to manufacture medical cannabis extracts as active pharmaceutical ingredients containing delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) for commercial purposes at its Medalchemy manufacturing site in Spain.
EMMAC said Medalchemy will immediately begin production and distribution of a number of medical cannabis products across multiple jurisdictions in Europe and beyond as well as supplying white-label medical cannabis products.
“This is a landmark announcement for EMMAC, and is the realisation of our vision to create a vertically integrated multi-national operation”, EMMAC chief executive Antonio Costanzo said in a statement.
“This milestone will position EMMAC as a trusted leader in the medical cannabis market in Europe and is testament to the continued innovation and excellence at Medalchemy, as we focus now on scaling production of our medical cannabis export to meet growing patient demand”, he added.
FastForward holds a 2.3% interest in EMMAC.