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A massive Windows 11 leak shows a new UI, updated menus, and more
Microsoft will officially announce the next-generation of Windows later this month.
Microsoft’s big surprise for its June 24 event has leaked online early, showing off Windows 11 in all its glory. First, screenshots appeared on Chinese social site Baidu, and then the entire Windows 11 OS appeared, with users posting screenshots all over Twitter once they’d got it installed.
The first big UI change you’ll notice is that the Start Menu is in the center of the taskbar. That might make sense on Microsoft’s own Surface tablets, but longtime Windows users are going to have decades of muscle memory pulling them back to the corner.
You can change it back to the usual position with a registry change, or there’s probably a toggle switch in the settings somewhere, as Microsoft learned a hard lesson when it forced Windows 8’s live tiles on every user and had to create a way to choose between the classic and new Start menus.
The new Start Menu loses the Live Tiles found in Windows 10, and seems far more user friendly to search through. It has pinned apps, recent files, and easy access to power options like restart, a welcome change from the cluttered existing menus.
Windows 11 also brings softened, rounded corners to menus and windows, making everything feel a little bit Mac-like. It’s not a bad change to my eyes, but it will take some getting used to. There are new animations for some actions, like pinning programs to the taskbar, and Windows Widgets seem to be coming back with a slide-out action so they’re not in view all the time.
The coolest feature I’ve noticed in the content shared on Twitter is the new snap feature that’s built into the maximize button.
Now when clicked on it shows the possible places on the desktop that your window could be snapped to, and clicking on the relevant part of the icon snaps the window to that part. It’s a visual reminder that windows can be snapped to edges, and I love it.
The Windows Store seems to be unchanged from the existing one, so whatever Microsoft has planned here clearly isn’t ready for use. Maybe we’ll hear more about that on June 11. Xbox features are now integrated into Windows, with easy access to Xbox Game Pass games, Xbox social features, and the Xbox store.
We’ll not have long to wait until Microsoft officially announces the next-generation of Windows, as the big event is on June 24 at 11AM ET.
- Apple’s FaceTime is finally coming to Android and Windows
- Microsoft is stepping up its cloud gaming with an Xbox TV app and xCloud streaming stick
- Windows is getting a major overhaul ‘soon’ according to Microsoft’s CEO
- Everything revealed about macOS 12 Monterey during Apple’s WWDC


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December 15, 2011 |
NEW DELHI: French hotel company Accor has revised the completion time of its Sofitel hotel in Mumbai twice in the last three years. The hotel was to be opened in 2009, but it was later postponed to the third quarter of 2010. The hotel company has finally decided on a date, later this December, to open the hotel, albeit through a soft launch. The three-year delay has doubled the project cost for the hotel with all the inputs that go into building a hotel becoming expensive, says an industry source.
November 14, 2007 |
NEW DELHI: A Smile says a lot even if it is not accompanied by words. And that's giving the hospitality industry an idea to walk the CSR talk. So next time you visit a Cafe Coffee Day or Costa Coffee outlet, you might be welcomed by a silent brew master carrying a note: "I'm hearing impaired. Please jot down your order. " If corporate social responsibility (CSR) beckons hotels and restaurants across the country, they are all ears. To do their bit for the society, they are recruiting physically challenged people for various operations.
August 11, 2009 |
NEW DELHI: The number of foreign tourists coming to India increased marginally in July as travelers mostly shrugged off the swine flu scare, but opinion in the travel and tourism circles remains divided on the outlook for the sector in the months ahead. Foreign tourist arrivals rose to 4.32 lakh last month, up 0.6% over the same month last year, official data showed on Monday. For the January-July period, tourist arrivals into the country stood at 21.09 lakh, down 7.8% from year-earlier figures Executives in travel companies and hotels said they had not seen much of an impact on their business until now because of swine flu, but cancellations could rise if a panic situation set in. Swine flu has claimed seven deaths across the country so far and hundreds more have been affected as the spread of the virus has become front page new in most newspapers amid a steadily rising tide of people diagnosed as being infected by the virus.
July 13, 2010 |
NEW DELHI: Hotels in Delhi are expected to raise room rates by 15-20 % during the Commonwealth Games, which start from October 3, even as hoteliers are yet to see reasonable number of early reservations. "Demand is expected to pick up closer to the event that is expected to result in many hotels being fully occupied in October," said Ajay Bakaya executive director of Sarovar Hotels , which runs brands like Sarovar Premiere, Sarovar Portico and Hometel besides Carlson brands like Park Inn and Park Plaza . Lemon Tree Hotels vice president-sales and marketing Aradhana Lal said the increase in room rates is expected to be up to 20% more than the current rates.
June 20, 2007 |
MUMBAI: Growth plans of mid-market hotel companies have gone haywire with a 30-40% jump in land prices and a 14-15% hike in borrowing costs in a year. Hotel companies are putting on hold plans to enter metros and instead tapping tier II and III markets. While some are converting hotels to commercial establishments (as the returns are higher and gestation lower) others are understood to be renting out acquired land. Some hoteliers and developers in tier II markets plan to sell fully-constructed hotels or land as it doesn't seem viable.
July 10, 2011 |
NEW DELHI: The pace of private equity investments in the real estate space is picking up. The April-June 2011 quarter saw 15 investments in real estate projects and companies compared to 9 during the same period last year and 12 in the previous quarter, according to Venture Intelligence , which tracks PE and VC investment activity. Approximately $504 million were invested by PE firms across 10 deals in this quarter where investment values were disclosed. Some of the large deals in the April-June 2011 quarter included Warburg Pincus' investment commitment of over Rs 1,400 crore to Oceanus Real Estate, a 49:51 joint venture with its existing hospitality portfolio company Lemon Tree Hotels, JP Morgan's $30 million investment in Parsvnath's Developer's residential project La Tropicana in Civil Lines area of north Delhi, Monsoon Capital's Rs 70 crore investment in Phoenix Group's Golf Edge mixed-use project in Hyderabad and Texas Pacific Group Capital's Rs 450 crore investment in Shriram Properties for a 15% stake in the company.
July 14, 2014 |
NEW DELHI: The hospitality industry is witnessing an uptick in demand, especially from business travellers and companies seeking space for corporate events, amid expectations that the economy will pick up with the installation of a stable government at the Centre. Bookings for both flights and hotels have risen for July and August after a lull in the two preceding months, signalling a recovery for the domestic industry that has seen an oversupply of branded hotel rooms. "There has been a significant pick-up in both air travel and hotel bookings over the last one month," said Sharat Dhall, president of online travel agency Yatra-.com.
March 5, 2010 |
MUMBAI: The Indian operations of one of the largest international private equity players is seeing a churn. Rajesh Khanna , managing director and one of the founding members of the Indian unit of Warburg Pincus , has put in his papers. He will be replaced by another Warburg veteran, Dalip Pathak , who along with Mr Khanna and Pulak Prasad established the firm's India business. Warburg in a media statement said that Mr Khanna is pursuing the formation of, what is described as, "an independent investment business" in India.
March 19, 2008 |
Kotak Private Equity Group and Kotak Realty Fund are together looking at investing $300 million in firms in India by the end of this financial year, reports Nishita Saxena in Hyderabad. "Our focus will be on infrastructure, domestic consumption & consumer spending plays besides global manufacturing opportunities. Put together, the alternate assets group of Kotak which currently manages $1.4 billion of assets under the two asset classes ?private equity & realty funds ? will invest $300 million in these areas," said Nitin Deshmukh, group head, Kotak Private Equity.
January 11, 2012 |
NEW DELHI: Private equity firms made investments worth $10.11 billion in India during 2011, taking their total investment over the past five years to about $47 billion, a report by research firm Venture Intelligence says. In 2011, investments worth $10.1 billion were announced by way of 441 deals, compared to $8.1 billion through 362 deals in the previous year. Year-on-year deal activity has witnessed an upsurge despite PE investments witnessing a decline in the October-December period on a quarter-on-quarter basis.

domain: news


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A dairy farmer in Thoralby has received planning permission to build the largest circular slurry store in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
At nearly 41 metres in diameter and five metres in height, the store will be able to hold six months’ worth of slurry from Town Head Farm’s 600 cows, or 6,005 cubic metres in total.
It will be made from concrete panels and built into the hillside north of the village in a carefully sited position screened by trees and the lie of the land.
This story continues after the adverts:
This week’s planning committee meeting heard that the store would result in environmental benefits, as it would mean the farmer – Michael Lancaster – would no longer need to spread muck in the winter months, when high rainfall can cause run-off and river pollution.
It would also mean muck could be applied at the right time to match the nutrient uptake of the grass.
YDNPA deputy chairman, Ian McPherson, said: “The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority recognises the critical role farmers play in looking after this treasured landscape, and in keeping local communities strong.
“We want to do all we can to support them, and in this case I would like to congratulate the applicant for investing in dairy, an iconic Dales industry which has suffered a lot in recent years.
“Getting permission to build a massive industrial structure high up on a hillside in a protected landscape was always going to be a challenge – and late last year a first set of plans was knocked back.
“The applicant listened to our concerns and came back with a fresh proposal.
“Despite its scale, the slurry store will be sensitively sited so that it should not have an intrusive impact on the visual quality of the landscape of Bishopdale.
“This case shows once again that wherever possible, our planning service will work with an applicant to get a successful outcome. In the past five years, we’ve approved more than 95% of all agricultural building applications.”
The applicant’s agent, John Akrigg of WBW Surveyors Ltd, said: “WBW Surveyors are pleased to have secured for our client planning permission for a major new development within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Continued discussion and negotiation allowed a way forward to be found.
“The granting of planning permission is a good outcome that will allow the applicant to develop his farm business without detriment to the National Park.”
The Thoralby Town Head Farm store will be able to hold 6005 cubic metres of slurry (1,323,532 gallons).
It is thought that that will make it the largest slurry store of its kind in the national park, as it exceeds the size of the new circular tank at Green Farm, Rylstone, which received planning permission in May 2013 and stores 5457 cubic metres(1.25 million gallons ) of slurry.
The largest slurry store of any kind in the Park is thought to be the 100 metres by 50 metres rectangular ‘slurry lagoon’ at Gildersbeck Farm, Melmerby, which was given retrospective approval in March 2013.
In second place is thought to be the 70m by 40m slurry lagoon at Town Head Farm in Drybeck in Eden.
Larger than two Olympic swimming pools, the lagoon stores in the region of 1.5 million gallons of slurry.
It was granted planning permission by Eden District Council in 2015 (the YDNPA became the planning authority for Drybeck only in 2016, when the Park’s boundaries were extended).


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It’s time to add one more name to the list of retailers who are looking for effective ways to use digital platforms to reach their younger customers. The department store Kohl’s, in conjunction with AwesomenessTV, has launched the Life’s S.o. R.a.d. web series to promote the store’s S.o. R.a.d. junior fashion line.
Life’s S.o. R.a.d. will be an interactive, transmedia series covering several seasons and involving teen influencers from YouTube, who interact with the S.o. R.a.d. line in fictional situations. Viewers will be able to participate in the social conversation around the line using the hashtag #sorad on Twitter and Instagram. The first season of Life’s S.o. R.a.d. will feature Lia Marie Johnson and Amanda Steele (aka MakeupbyMandy24) getting involved with the creation of the brand, with other influencer pairs to come in the later seasons with their own unique storylines.
“We are thrilled to partner with a cutting-edge company like AwesomenessTV and leverage the power of their new frontier of YouTube influencers to bring amazing product to our junior’s shoppers,” said Will Setliff, Executive Vice President of Marketing at Kohl’s, in the release. “We recognize the growing value of digital content creation and social media consumption, and are confident this new platform will create genuine, organic conversation among our teen demographic.”
This certainly isn’t the first time a retailer has partnered with a digital studio or YouTube creator to help generate buzz about a new product line. Just recently, for example, PacSun got together with StyleHaul and a few popular beauty and fashion YouTubers to promote the retailer’s new line of denim in a back-to-school video campaign. Kohl’s decided to get in on the digital movement.
“We understand that our teen audience wants to engage with both content and influencers, that’s why the S.o. R.a.d. campaign operates on so many levels,” said Brian Robbins, Founder and CEO at AwesomenessTV, in a release. “We developed the brand first, found the perfect partner to execute in Kohl’s and then created an original series that positions Kohl’s as a style destination in a cool way.”
The Life’s S.o. R.a.d. web series will debut on September 19 on AwesomenessTV’s YouTube channel and promoted across all the network’s channels (which boast over 52 million subscribers), so the potential reach for Kohl’s is huge. Johnson and Steele will also be uploading R.a.d.-related videos to their YouTube channels. Additionally, the S.o. R.a.d. line, which features seven limited-edition capsules full of everyday essentials like sweaters, skirts, dresses, and leggings, will have the first capsule in stores on September 22, just two days after the release of the first episode of the web series.
Creative, forward-thinking initiatives like this just make me wish I’d had such opportunities available to me when I was a teenager (though I am glad I’m past that stage of life).


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Washington — Homaro Cantu, winner of the Food Network’s Iron Chef America TV show competition, has joined the panel of experts judging the Most Innovative new Product Awards at the 2013 Sweets & Snacks Expo May 21 to 23.
The panel will select five nominees in eight categories from more than 210 new products based on packaging, innovation, go-to-market potential and taste. Nearly 6,000 retail and wholesale trade customers will vote for their favorite nominated item on the first day of the Expo. The winners will be announced Wednesday, May 22.
“Cantu is an internationally recognized chef, a leader in the field of postmodern cuisine and a culinary maverick who views food as an artistic experience,” says NCA President Larry Graham. “His unique culinary perspective will add another dimension for other panelists to consider while vetting the product submissions.”
Cantu is chef and owner of Chicago restaurants moto and iNG.


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Nigeria is one of the biggest countries in Africa and one of the largest in the world with a population of over 180 million people.
However, our food sense is definitely something to write home about we have many coding-rich foods that explains how rich our food culture is. Hardly will you reach any street in Nigeria without finding a food vendor who specializes in preparing delectable meals for customers.
Many of these scrumptious Nigerian local foods was tasted by Anthony Bourdain of popular travel Channel series “Parts Unknown” who visited
Lagos, Nigeria recently.
Talking about Bourdain, he is known for exploring the world, he is an enthusiasts and also a foodie. He was received by three Nigerian food blogger’s namely; Iquo Ukoh of (1qfoodplatter), Ozoz Sokoh of (kitchenbutterfly) and Atim Ukoh of (Afrolems) who took him around to indulge some great cuisines like: Àmàlà (Yam flour), Jollof rice, ewedu, Efo riro (Vegetable soup) and many more.
He also visited the computer village (one of the biggest in West Africa, where phone/computer accessories are assembled, repaired and also bought) he was received by Journalist Tunji Andrews who discussed extensively with Anthony Bourdain and they both had a feel of some great cuisines and drink found in the locality.
Moreover, Anthony Bourdain didn’t leave Lagos state without catching a glimpse of the famous ‘Dambe Boxing Match’ a traditional fighting style of the Hausa/Fulani indigene.
In conclusion, the overwhelming and numerous feedbacks received just like Anthony Bourdain said he “has not seen a city like Lagos” we really appreciate.
We are hoping a better narrative about Nigeria is passed across to the whole world. we can’t thank enough the Nigerian food blogger’s featured and also all chefs in Nigeria who are doing fantastically well in shaping Nigeria and the culinary world at large.
2 thoughts on “Encompassing report on the visit of Anthony Bourdain host of CNN travels series “Parts Unknown” to Nigeria.”


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Debuts new mobile, storage and Hadoop offerings for the mainframe
IBM has unveiled new offerings for System z that will provide clients with a platform for the rapid development and deployment of mobile applications and the complete integration of these with their core business processes, applications and data.
As part of the announcement, IBM is also unveiling a new flexible pricing model for mobile mainframe clients that will allow them to pay only for the computing capacity they need and use.
With three times the number of mobile phones in the world as computers, it is essential that businesses have an IT infrastructure that can enhance their ability to deliver new mobile and cloud services. Combined with trends showing that by 2015, there will be twenty times more content, fifteen times more applications and four times the number of mobile transactions as there were in 2011, it is clear why many organizations are turning to the mainframe to manage their enterprises.
The growth in the number of mobile transactions is challenging businesses that are seeing a concurrent rise in their costs related to integrating new mobile applications. The IBM System z Solution for Mobile Computing helps these businesses to rapidly integrate and deliver new mobile and cloud services leading to a better experience for their customers.
This news expands this offering by announcing new pricing for mobile workloads on z/OS which can improve the cost of growth for mobile transaction volumes that can cause a spike in software charges. This new pricing will provide up to a 60 percent reduction on the processor capacity reported for Mobile transactions, which can help normalize the rate of transaction growth used for software charges.


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Win a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) Created by MastercardSeptember 16, 2021 | By James Thorpe
Sweepstakes to Give First-Ever Mastercard NFT to a Cardholder in the UK
SEPTEMBER 16, 2021 | PURCHASE, NY and LONDON, UK – Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are exploding in popularity featuring digital art, music, collectibles, and more. Mastercard is excited to offer the chance to win its first-ever NFT created in partnership with José Mourinho, renowned football coach and Mastercard global ambassador. This unique NFT is an animated digital football with José's signature on one of the panels.
An NFT is a digital asset that represents real-world objects like art, music, in-game items and videos. They are bought and sold online, frequently with cryptocurrency, and they are usually encoded with blockchain technology.
Today’s announcement of a new sweepstakes means that one lucky Mastercard cardholder in the United Kingdom will be randomly selected to win the NFT. UK-based cardholders can sign up now through September 30 for a chance to own a digital piece of history. Good luck!
About Mastercard (NYSE: MA)
Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments industry. Our mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart and accessible. Using secure data and networks, partnerships and passion, our innovations and solutions help individuals, financial institutions, governments and businesses realize their greatest potential. Our decency quotient, or DQ, drives our culture and everything we do inside and outside of our company. With connections across more than 210 countries and territories, we are building a sustainable world that unlocks priceless possibilities for all.


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Following yesterday’s grandstanding Hustler Fund launch where top government officials and leaders bought goods from small-scale traders, a follow-up is now revealing some minute details between the president and a man who is believed to have been selling roasted maize at the Greenpark Bus Terminus.
The whole debate was brought about by a post from Saddique Shaban who wondered whether the mystery man was indeed a maize seller or undercover cop. His tweet read,
The maize seller could well be an undercover cop…
Tweeps quickly noted that the make of his jacket was too expensive to be that of a simple maize seller. Others noted that his upright “Attention” poise gave him away as secret service. Others were quick to pick out the fact that the fellow was tagged.
Hustlers who had convened at the Green Park Bus Terminus in Nairobi yesterday for the launch of Hustlers Fund had a reason to smile after government big shots gifted them hundreds of thousands of shillings.
Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen and Majority Leader in the National Assembly Kimani Ichung’wah gave a boda boda rider Sh200,000 to buy his own motorcycle after he said that the money he was making in a day was too little to feed his family.
The boda boda rider from Umoja narrated his predicament, saying he’d make close to Sh1,000 in a day, but the motorbike owner would take Sh600, leaving him with only Sh400.
“I hardly make enough to comfortably support my family,” he said.
It was after his narration that Murkomen and Ichung’wah gifted him Sh200,000 to buy his own motorbike.
Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria, on the other hand, paid an artist from Busia Sh60,000 for a painting.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua bought a mtumba shirt for Sh50,000.
“Hustlers” from different sectors, including transport, second-hand clothes and food and beverages, attended the Wednesday launch.
Other prominent people who gifted the “hustlers” include Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa, Telkom Kenya CEO Mugo Kibati and President of the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry Richard Ngatia.
For current information about Kenya, pandemic regulations, Real estate, credit and other companies offering loans to individuals and small businesses, healthcare and treatment information, always browse Kenyan Report.


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WWD announced today that the Kendo division of LVMH Moët Hennesy Louis Vuitton has created a makeup deal with Rihanna at an estimated massive cost of $10 million. With an
investment that high, there should be no doubt this makeup will hide them pores and take away that T-zone shine, am I right?
The new makeup brand will be titled Fenty Beauty by Rihanna and is set to launch Fall 2017. “Fenty Beauty by Rihanna is a beauty rocket ship that will appeal to a huge and diverse global audience,” David Suliteanu, chief executive of Kendo, told WWD. “We are aiming for the stars.” Rihanna’s makeup brand will mark Kendo’s third major color cosmetics project, following those by Kat Von D and Marc Jacobs.
Rihanna is no rookie when it comes to the beauty department. She has recently collaborated with MAC Cosmetics, represented Viva Glam lipstick, and has produced seven fragrances for Parlux Ltd. It was noted that one veteran cosmetics executive pointed out everything about
Rihanna is off the charts. They can definitely say that again. RiRi’s Drake-featured track “Work” continues to dominate the #1 spot on Billboard‘s Top 100 Chart for the seventh week in a row. Is there anything this bad gal’ can’t do?
Stay tuned for more details on the upcoming makeup line, and check out the full story here.
Picture via Forbes


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Acer has announced its Nitro 5 Spin gaming laptop today. However, this one isn’t targeted at serious players. The Acer Nitro 5 Spin is an entry-level gaming laptop designed for casual gamers. Acer Nitro 5 Spin comes with a 15.6-inch HD IPS display, 8th-Gen Intel Core i7 processor, a PCIe SSD up to 512GB, and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 graphics.
Acer Nitro 5 Spin convertible also supports Windows 10 Hello and will last up to 10 hours on a charge. According to the company, it should be able to run games like Dota 2 and Overwatch smoothly. The Acer Nitro 5 Spin will be available in North America and Europe in October for $999 / €1,199.


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Chinese Firm to Buy Sunseeker Boats
Chinese company on brink of secure majority stake in Sunseeker
Rumours are rife that Chinese company Dalian Wanda are set to plunder Poole for the Sunseeker boatbuilding firm.
Negotiations are believed to be ongoing, with both sides reportedly having settled on a figure somewhere in the region of £300m for a majority stake in Sunseeker.
Dalian Wanda is a Chinese property business and is hoping to have the deal pushed through by the end of the month.
Although Sunseeker is remaining tight-lipped on the identity of any potential buyer, Dalian Wanda chairman Wang Jianlin has been quoted as boasting that “We bought the best yacht company in the UK.”
Sunseeker have confirmed that a sale is imminent, although that it still had to get the go ahead from the regulators. There were also adamant that the Dorset-based firm will: “remain a British company, headquartered in Poole.”
To that end, Sunseeker have said that they will keep their production operation, workforce and infrastructure based in the UK.
Even after the Dalian Wanda deal is complete, company founder Robert Braithwaite will still be the group president.
UK Boatbuilding to Remain
A statement from Sunseeker stressed that any potential deal would be a shot in the arm for the boatbuilding industry:
“The potential new majority shareholder, who has no current interest in the luxury motor yacht sector, supports Sunseeker’s commitment to superior products and its premium brand, both of which would be further enhanced by its investment.”
“If a deal is concluded, it will be fantastic news for the business, the wider Sunseeker ‘family’ and the motor yacht industry and will allow Sunseeker to expand its global base still further while retaining its current operational and manufacturing infrastructure at our headquarters in Poole.”
According to reports in the Financial Times, Sunseeker’s owner – Irish investment company FL partners – who purchased the company in 2010, open up negotiations with Dalian Wanda last year about the possible sale.
If the deal is completed, Wanda would be following fellow Chinese firm into the luxury yacht industry after the Weichai Group’s purchase of Ferretti Group last year for about £150m.
Category: News & Guides


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With the news that Bowie died on the last day of London Collections Men, there was no surprise that Burberry paid tribute. I am sure we will see more of his influences on catwalks in later seasons but for now, below are the menswear trends we are likely to see for Autumn/Winter 2016. Overall, there was predominately […]
The Met Gala is the ultimate red carpet event for fashion. Held in New York this week it has been a well documented fashion event with models and celebrities wearing standout dresses to grab the media spotlight. In contrast to the fashion in the early years, this year showed many celebs in show stopping ‘barely there’ outfits, which leads you […]
Having reported at London Fashion Week (HERE), I had an idea of the trends to expect for autumn winter 2015, but analysing them now, there are definitely some strong themes we can expect. In particular, the designers seem to be looking back in history for inspiration. As mentioned by Ken Downing (Senior Vice President of Neiman […]
It seems that everyone from Cheryl Cole to Jordan Dunn are getting their hair cut in the new ‘must have’ summer hair cut! So much so that it’s quickly becoming the new ‘Rachel’ we saw back in the Friends heyday and not wanting to be too inventive, the word on the street is that this new cut is called the […]
I recently attended the trend seminar by the worlds leading trend analysers WGSN and blow are the predictions of what we will be wearing for autumn/winter 2015. Having been at London Collections:Men (see menswear trends) which is often a good indicator to what the womenswear trends will be, this seminar helps to understand the main […]
Looking across the board the overall theme seemed to be a mixture of the 1940’s wide leg trousers, double breasted blazers and shearling jackets mixed with the 70’s polo neck’s, paisley prints & scarves. Here are my predictions of the menswear autumn winter 2015 trends… TEXTURE Shearling Magazines & bloggers are already talking about this and […]
London Collections: Men AW2015 street style in pictures…….


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Data-hoarders should be pleased to know that Verizon is bringing back unlimited data plans. After announcing in January it would be nixing unlimited plans for customers who routinely burn through 200GB, the telecoms giant is now offering what it claims is “the best unlimited plan in wireless.”
With Verizon Unlimited, customers pay $80 for unlimited data, talk and text. Family plans increase incrementally from there: Two lines cost $140, and three cost $160. A family of four pays $180 ($45 per line), for unlimited data, talk and text, while paper-free billing and automatic payment is mandatory to enroll.
To help drum up some excitement, the company will even throw in a complimentary, brand-new smartphone for those who enroll. For a limited time, you can hand over one of fifteen eligible devices and receive some of the best phones on the market, including the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, Google Pixel, Moto Z Droid, Moto Z Force Droid, Samsung Galaxy S7, Samsung Galaxy S7 edge, or LG V20. To participate, visit any Verizon store near you.


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Utah’s next brewery will soon be open and the natives couldn’t be happier. On Monday, August 5th this grand craft beer palace on the northern most end of Utah County will open it’s doors, bringing local suds to Utah’s bustling technology corridor.
The Lehi brewery is a pretty remarkable achievement; mixing carnival, garage and theatrical themes. It’s defiantly one of the most unique craft beer spots that you’ll find anywhere in North America.
Once Lehi’s brew house goes online, look for head brewer, Shawn Smith to get his core brands on tap before he has the opportunity to get his “passion projects” to you. Strap Tank Lehi, has a restaurant license so bring your appetite; or at the very least plan on ordering an appetizer with your beer.
I think the opening of this new brewery is very telling in regards to Utah’s changing attitudes on beer and where entrepreneurs are choosing to spend their money to bring it to the masses.
Congrats to the Strap Tank gang and to Utah County beer nerds in ge …
Source: Utah Beer
Read the full article here.


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For Honor is a pretty big get
Xbox Game Pass is about to get a little more full this week.
On top of the recent additions that Microsoft unleashed in the past few weeks, June is getting a little spicier as soon as today. The Wild at Heart is actually coming out now on mobile cloud devices, with Backbone arriving on June 8 on PC and Darkest Dungeon is coming out on June 10 on mobile, consoles, and PC. Man it’s so annoying that I have to clarify where each game is coming and not just “Game Pass,” but maybe Microsoft can smooth that out one day. Right?
Oh and I almost forgot the big one! For Honor is hitting the service on both mobile and console on June 3. I mean, it’s entirely possible that you already own For Honor for free on PC because of one of several “giveaways.” But if you don’t, or are a console person, you can grab it on Xbox Game Pass and just hack and slash away.
Again, this is a fairly big get for Microsoft. For Honor is somewhat of a lifestyle game, with Ubisoft hosting all sorts of events for it and players coming in by the droves at any given time. It’s also gotten a decent amount of support, as well as quality of life patches and numerous gameplay upgrades over the years. It’s one of the several “turnaround success stories” the publisher has been enjoying in recent years. Imagine that, putting actual time and effort into development and having it pay off.
But going back to Game Pass, you can find the full list below!
Week of May 31:
- The Wild at Heart, June 1 (Cloud)
- For Honor, June 3 (Cloud and Console)
Week of June 7:
- Backbone, June 8 (PC)
- Darkest Dungeon, June 10 (Cloud, Console and PC)


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Plans & Pricing
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As growth in Brazil, Russia, India and China—known as the BRIC countries—slows, multinational consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands are examining other developing markets where young populations with a growing middle class are hungry for new products and experiences, according to a new eMarketer report, “CPG in Developing Markets: Consumers' Digital Habits in Emerging Economies.”
Demographics, geography, infrastructure and unstable political situations will create challenges for brands as they enter new territories. But these markets also present great opportunity.
In many of these markets, a young, mobile-connected middle class has emerged that is beginning to recognize and prefer name brands. But these mobile-toting consumers don’t necessarily parallel American or European consumers, or even each other. Indeed, mobile is probably the only universal marker—a starting point when considering the opportunity.
Infrastructure may be suboptimal in many of these markets, but this has sometimes been a catalyst for innovation and new consumer behaviors. The development in Kenya of a simple, successful mobile banking system is indicative of how these countries’ consumers are leapfrogging over traditional technologies to embrace new ones.
The lack of a strong banking system in the country prompted Safaricom, Kenya’s biggest mobile service provider, to create a service that would allow the unbanked population to make transactions without needing to carry large amounts of cash.
M-Pesa allows Kenyans to pay bills and make purchases directly to businesses and individuals via feature phones. As of June 2013, more than 15 million customers in Kenya are using the system, conducting 80 transactions per second for a range of purchases from small CPG items to much larger purchases.
Nigeria is another African country with huge potential. Colin Coleman, head of investment banking for sub-Saharan Africa at Goldman Sachs, said Nigeria’s massive growth could make it “one of the mainstream economic actors on the continent.”
Turkey is an emerging market CPG brands should also pay attention to. Ruchir Sharma, head of emerging market operations at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, referred to Turkey during a speech at a private equity conference in May 2013 as one of the next “breakout economic stars,” according to an article from The Wall Street Journal. He also called Kenya, Nigeria and Vietnam “frontier markets.”
Paul Berney, CMO and managing director at Mobile Marketing Association’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) branch noted that feature phones are still the norm in Turkey, yet mobile campaigns have become more sophisticated, relying on multichannel efforts that use mobile as the call to action.
Asia is, of course, a huge region with enormous potential. Procter & Gamble’s annual 10-K report, released in August 2013, noted that Asia is now as large a market as Europe, prompting one analyst to tell The Cincinnati Enquirer that “Asia and other emerging markets is the future of Procter & Gamble. These customers are up for grabs. There are so many of them that are trying these products for the first time.”
The full report, “CPG in Developing Markets: Consumers' Digital Habits in Emerging Economies,” also answers these key questions:
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Source: Gumpapa, Adobe
Every week we track the business, tech and investment trends in CPG, retail, restaurants, agriculture, cooking and health, so you don’t have to. Here are some of this week’s top headlines.
Check out our weekly round-up of last week’s top food startup, tech and innovation news below or peruse the full newsletter here.
Some 14% of all food produced is lost annually, with central and southern Asia, North America and Europe accounting for the biggest shares, according the UN FAO.
FreshDirect is looking for a buyer after a “poorly planned and executed move” to its new distribution facility in the Bronx.
Uber is getting into the grocery delivery business, at least in Mexico, Chile, Peru and Canada. Details of the agreement were not disclosed.
Sonoma Brands is the sole investor in the round. Milk Bar will continue push deeper into e-commerce with its “care packages” and keep expanding its physical presence, but it will use Sonoma’s expertise to expand into CPG.
The Grocery Manufacturers Association is rebranding to the Consumer Brands Association and pivoting to focus on representing all CPG companies. The rebrand signals the emergence of a new landscape for foodmakers, one in which there is no central, unified lobbying group representing the sector inside the Beltway.
M13’s $175 million fund will primarily invest in seed and series A rounds. M13 has already made 80 direct investments (including Daily Harvest, Ancient Nutrition, Union Snacks, Thrive Market and Good Catch) and has had 16 exits (including Kevita and Blue Bottle).
Working with 600+ brands, Pod Foods is expanding its food distribution platform to Los Angeles and New York City.
Lear more about Pod Foods at Rethinking CPG SF on Nov 5.
Nestlé bought two-year-old startup Persona, a customized vitamins-pack subscription service, to expand into personalized nutrition and compete with the likes of Care/Of, Ritual, GNC and Vitamin Shoppe.
DoorDash, Grubhub, and Uber Eats all made ‘virtual restaurant’ announcements this month.
Barclays used geolocation tracking to study traffic at Burger King restaurants in St. Louis during the company’s trial phase of its new Impossible Whopper. Analysts showed traffic grew about 18%.
Chilean startup Algramo initially used vending machines to sell refills of staple goods in stores. Now it’s expanding to include a mobile refill unit—and it’s coming to the U.S.
Dubbed the Ferment Fund, the investment vehicle will invest in two to three companies using its bio-engineering tech per year.
Pontifax is a growth equity fund focused on foodtech and agtech. It invests at Series B stage and beyond. Its first fund, a $105 million vehicle, has already had two exit events with the acquisition of robotics startup Blue River Technology by John Deere and the IPO of Precision Biosciences.
Pontifax Agtech and Temasek led the round.
Over $1.45B was invested across 247 deals in 2018, according to the research in our second annual investment report produced in partnership with Ryan Willams. Check out the report for a deep dive into the investor and investment trends. We also share a complete list of deals and acquisitions.


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We all know how ridiculous we all look when trying to use Snapchat right?
Well Snapchat (now changing their name to Snap Inc) has a new way for us to use the app.
This fall they’re coming out with Spectacles. Sunglasses with a built in camera that records video in real time that you can upload to your snapchat app.
“Spectacles connect directly to Snapchat via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi and transfer your Memories directly into the app in our brand new circular video format which plays full screen on any device, in any orientation,”
The glasses, which can be recharged in their case, will come in one size and be available on a limited basis. They’ll come in three colors — black, teal and coral — and, according to the Journal, will cost $129.99. They should be making an appearance sometime this fall.


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TSMC's second generation integrated fan-out (InFO) wafer-level packaging technology is said to bring more competitiveness to the foundy's 7nm FinFET process technology.
Samsung has grabbed Apple's A9 chip orders for the new 9.7-inch iPads introduced earlier in 2017, the observers claimed. TSMC, which is already the sole supplier of Apple's 10nm A11 chips for the upcoming iPhones, will still likely obtain all of the next-generation A-series chip orders for Apple's 2018 series of iPhones with its 7nm FinFET process, the observers said.
The innovation in backend packaging will be key in securing exclusive orders from Apple despite Samsung aggressively vying for orders as well.
Hit the link below for more details and please follow iClarified on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or RSS for updates.


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The pioneer Japan's sports travel industry KNT has over 75 years of history.
On behalf of DER Touristik, one of the largest Tour Operators in Europe, DERTOUR live is happy and proud to become a member of the ISTAA.
Björk & Boström Finland proudly announces to be the Official Travel Partner for ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2017 Helsinki (29 March -2 April).
JacTravel, has been awarded the Queen’s Enterprise Award for international trade on account of its export growth. Overseas sales have nearly tripled in the six years to 2015, rising to over 80% of the business.


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Founded in 2014, M.D.-based Wild Kombucha remains one of the few kombucha brewers in the Baltimore area, and it hasn’t been letting its early jump on the market go to waste.
The brand, started by step-brothers Adam Bufano and Sergio Malarin and their childhood friend Sid Sharma, has steadily built its retail presence to over 700 stores in five states, expanding a little over 100 percent year-over-year, according to Sharma. In relocating from its current 3,400 sq. ft. production facility in suburban Timonium to a new, 13,652 sq. ft. space in northwest Baltimore early next year, Wild Kombucha aims to further stake its claim on the Mid Atlantic kombucha market.
“If you live in a certain area, we want you to run into Wild Kombucha at least 3 to 4 times every day, or every week,” Sharma told Beverage Industry during a call last week. “That’s how you build visibility; people feel like they are seeing it everywhere, curiosity builds, and you have to try it.”
In Baltimore, Wild Kombucha has enjoyed plenty of space to grow; along with Hex Ferments, which also manufactures a range of other fermented foods, is one of only two local kombucha brands. The company began with Sharma, Bufano and Malarin brewing and bottling on nights and weekends out of a local juice shop near Johns Hopkins University campus, where they found a receptive audience in local students and in coffee shops. Within six months, the brand had secured placement at Whole Foods and the trio were working full time on scaling Mobtown Fermentation, Wild Kombucha’s parent company.
In 2016, Wild moved to Timonium, bumping up its production capacity to 10,000 bottles and 30 kegs per week. Upon moving to its new facility in Feb. 2019, output is expected to reach more than 40 times current levels; when operating at full capacity in approximately five years, Sharma said it would be able to produce upwards of $40 million in revenue for the company. 9,500 sq. ft. of the new facility will be devoted production space featuring larger fermentation tanks and expanded cold storage. The facility will also feature a retail component where visitors can take a brewery tour or drop in the “kombucha lounge” for a kombucha flight tasting.
While noting the brand is excited to be returning to the city, Sharma indicated that the move has additional geographic importance.
“We’ve outgrown our capacity here, but the bigger piece is that we are in 700 stores and they are all within 100 miles of our brewery,” he said.
Besides Whole Foods, Wild Kombucha’s seven varieties — Blueberry Yerba Mate, Tart Cherry Ginger, Watermelon Hops, Mango Peach, Elderberry, Ginger Grapefruit, and Apple Spice — are available at select MOM’s Organic Market and Harris Teeter locations in the Mid Atlantic. The company also began offering local home delivery service through a partnership with produce provider South Mountain Creamery in August.
To service those accounts, Wild has partnered with Coastal Sunbelt Produce for distribution in the DC-Maryland-Virginia area. It also recently signed a deal with Lancaster Farm Fresh to enter the Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York City markets. In foodservice, Wild Kombucha is sold at all La Colombe cafe locations in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., with expansion into all New York City cafes potentially on the horizon. Sharma said the brand plans to support growth by hiring three sales team members over the next year.
“The difference now is that the sales team focuses more on independent locations, and we are able to take meetings with the larger chains,” Sharma said. “We can focus on bringing in 10 to 50 new stores instead of one at a time.”
2019 will also hold more changes then just a move. The company is currently raising its first round of private equity, and is preparing to launch two new beverage products next year — one which Sharma said was an extension of the Wild Kombucha brand that will be offered in cans but is not a kombucha.
By Spring, the brand will also have implemented a new brewing process which Sharma said will both increase the product’s shelf life and ensure the liquid’s alcohol content by volume (ACV) does not rise above the legal limit of 0.5 percent after secondary fermentation.
“For us it has been interesting because despite our shorter shelf life, it hasn’t been an issue since we don’t have a large geographic footprint,” he said. “In the tests we’ve undergone, it would take us to 4 to 5 months, so we wouldn’t have to worry.”


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BOONE — The Women’s Fund of the Blue Ridge invites the High Country community to support its neighbors by giving the gift of food. The group is kicking off a food drive called “Pack the Pantry” in Ashe, Avery and Watauga counties. With the help of the community, a designated van, trailer or bus in each county will be packed to help those in need.
The food drive will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. throughout the drop off dates. Collected food items stay in the counties where they were donated.
Help the Women’s Fund of the Blue Ridge to pack the various vehicles with non-perishable goods such as canned fish or meat, canned soups, crackers, pastas, peanut or almond butter, baby food and formula, granola bars, juice boxes, nuts and cereal. Home-canned goods cannot be donated.
Please contact Karen Marinelli at firstname.lastname@example.org or (828) 264-4002 for more information.


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Aptar Pharma, a leading provider of innovative drug delivery systems, has announced that its patented Freepod® nasal spray device with GlaxoSmithKline’s Otrivin® has won a Medical & Pharma category award at the World Packaging Organization (WPO) 2019 WorldStar Packaging Awards ceremony, which took place on May 15, 2019 in Prague.
GlaxoSmithKline’s Otrivin® is well-known globally for providing temporary relief of nasal congestion. Aptar Pharma’s Freepod®, a multi-dose preservative-free nasal spray pump, with GlaxoSmithKline’s Otrivin® was recognized by the WorldStar Awards jury for its sustainability impact.
Howard Burnett, Aptar Pharma Vice-President Global Account Management, commented, “We congratulate GlaxoSmithKline on this prestigious WorldStar Packaging Award win. At Aptar Pharma, we’re very proud that our patented Freepod® technology has been recognized with GlaxoSmithKline’s Otrivin® as a deserving winner in the Medical & Pharma category of the WorldStar Packaging Award.”
The WorldStar Awards Competition, hosted by the WPO, recognizes the continual advancement and excellence in packaging design and technology, and is considered to be one of the most prestigious international packaging awards events.
Full details found in the Press Release.


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Melbourne-based managed services provider KMT Group has re-branded to Kaine Mathrick Tech and has added a barrel of new cyber security services.
The 2017 and 2018 CRN Fast50 company and Impact Awards 2020 finalist changed its name to better reflect its offerings and align with growth targets, according to marketing manager Carla Bates who led the re-branding initiative.
“We really wanted to focus on being straightforward and honest in our branding, I think clients are more responsive to that than ever.”
“We started Kaine Mathrick Tech because we believed for too long technology providers have been providing Australian businesses with poor and inconsistent service and expensive, complex solutions that didn’t necessarily have the best interests of the client in mind. Focusing on profits before quality partnerships.” co-founder and MD Bradley Kaine said.
“We aim to change the game of managed services by providing a business model with solutions that put people and relationships first – ultimately being the human face of tech.”
The company has also launched a new cyber security capability based on the NIST framework which is used by insurance companies to calculate cyber risk.
The new offerings range from entry level office 365 protection to a SOC-as-a-service. Co -founder and CTO Scott Mathrick said the offerings were targeted at organisations of up to 300 seats and used a mix of vendor and bespoke technologies..
“We developed these solutions in February 2019 and were running them internally for some time. We launched the offerings to our existing customers this year and are now offering it to the broader market.”
Despite restrictions in its home state of Victoria, the company has grown to 35 seats and now counts over 100 customers. Its Cyber vendors include Fortinet, Cylance, SentinelOne, Solarwinds and ConnectWise.


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INDIANAPOLIS – An Indianapolis-based Software-as-a-Service company is planning to expand its central Indiana operations. Catipult.AI, which has developed an artificial intelligence platform to help businesses manage and track strategic goals, says it will invest more than $2.6 million to secure a larger office space in Indy and create up to 51 jobs by the end of 2024.
Catipult.AI currently operates out of its office on Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis. The company says it will begin hiring for sales, marketing and product development positions in the second half of the year.
“Indianapolis is the perfect place to grow a tech business,” said Peter Fuller, president of Catipult.AI. “There is a growing technology hub here, and we are excited to be a part of that growth.”
The company’s platform was launched last year and in December, Catipult received $80,000 in seed funding from the Elevate Nexus Pitch Competition.
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. has offered Catipult.AI up to $1 million in tax credits and training grants, which the company will not be eligible to claim until Hoosier workers are hired for the new jobs.
Last July, Fuller appeared on Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick to talk about the platform. You can watch the full interview below:
Original article from Inside Indiana Business.


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LG Electronics India appoints Amit Gujral as new CMO
Gujral, who was the head of mobile business marketing, has now been given the additional responsibility of being the chief marketing officer of the company
LG Electronics India has rejigged its senior leadership team, as it tries to spruce up business after a year of dismal growth and when white goods sales are forecast to remain muted at least for another quarter due to demonetisation.
The country's largest maker of refrigerators and washing machine has made changes in about 30 key roles at its local headquarters as well as regional and branch levels, apart from deciding to decentralise the marketing function to focus on localised initiatives and consumer promotions, two senior industry officials said.
The Indian unit of South Korea's LG Electronics had in June decentralised the sales function, breaking the market into two territories (India One which includes the North and East, and India Two comprising the West and South) with independent sales heads.
Amit Gujral, who is the head of mobile business marketing, has now been given the additional responsibility of chief marketing officer of the company. The erstwhile chief marketing officer, Niladri Datta, has been moved to a sales role to head the washing machine business where LG of late is facing challenges from rival Samsung, which has increased market share.
Rishi Tandon, who was the head of the Delhi region, has been made the head of home entertainment business to lead sales for LED televisions and home theatres. The earlier head for LED TV business, Anuj Ayodhyawasi, has been made the head for the refrigerator business. These changes will be effective January.
When contacted, an LG India spokesperson said the realignment will help the company strengthen market leadership and drive growth.
"LG India has always been committed to improving operational efficiencies and occasionally revises portfolios to best suit the talent and skills of its team ... At LG, our aim is to continuously grow and develop our human resources," the spokesperson said.
LG India has also beefed up its regional teams. Manish Raj, who was the head for washing machines, has become part of the India One leadership team.
Deepak Jasrotia, who was heading Chandigarh, has been made the head of the Delhi region. The company has also divided East into two markets: West Bengal, which will be headed by Vishal Sharan, and the Rest of East with Prabal Shekhar leading it.
LG's rejig is gaining importance since demonetisation is threatening to pull down growth rates, which have been in the double digits for the company since the beginning of the fiscal year in April
In 2015-16, LG India's sales growth had tapered down to 4% at Rs 14,498 crore, growing below the market rate, due to entry of newer brands, it shying away from online sales and the failure to revive the smartphone business. Demonetisation has come at a time when growth has picked up again.
LG is the market leader in refrigerators, washing machine and microwave ovens, while it is among the top two brands in LED televisions and air-conditioners.
White goods sales have been down by almost 50% in November after the government demonetised old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes, since more than half of all sales are in cash. While the market has recovered little in the cities this month, the industry says the outlook is bleak until March next year.


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India’s finance minister said yesterday that Mastercard and Visa were losing market share to domestic payments networks, months after Mastercard complained to the US government that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was using nationalism to promote a local rival.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley spoke about the surging growth of RuPay and Unified Payment Interface (UPI), which allows swift inter-bank fund transfers, on the second anniversary of Modi’s shock decision to replace high-value bank notes in a bid to flush out untaxed wealth.
Modi has said when Indians use RuPay they were serving the country as its transaction fees stay within India and could help build roads, schools and hospitals, an endorsement that has worried Purchase, New York-based Mastercard, which is the world’s second-largest payments processor. “Today Visa and Mastercard are losing market share in India to indigenously developed payment system of UPI and RUPAY Card, whose share have reached 65% of the payments done through debit and credit cards,” Jaitley said in a Facebook post about the various results of the note scrapping exercise, known as demonetisation.
Visa declined to comment. Mastercard did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
RuPay process payments between banks and merchants for purchases made with credit or debit cards, while UPI instantly transfers funds between two bank accounts linked to mobile phones.
Jaitley was referring to the volume of transactions, not the value. Though RuPay, owned by many Indian and foreign banks, accounts for more than half of India’s 1bn debit and credit cards, industry sources say Visa and Mastercard still process the vast majority of the value of payments transactions in the country.
Indian payments transactions were worth $51bn in August, according to central bank data. Jaitley said RuPay’s total transactions had leapt to Rs84.3bn ($1.16bn) as of September, from Rs11bn before demonetisation. Total transactions done using UPI had jumped to Rs598bn ($8.26bn) from Rs500mn in October 2016, around the time it was launched.
Reuters reported last week that Mastercard complained to the Office of the United States Trade Representative on June 21 that Modi “associated the use of RuPay cards with nationalism, claiming it serves as ‘kind of national service’.”
The Mastercard note said that while Modi’s digital payments push was “commendable”, the Indian government had adopted “a series of protectionist measures” to the detriment of global companies.
The story sparked a backlash on social media against Mastercard in India, one of the world’s biggest payments growth markets.
Several people said on Twitter they had asked their banks to replace their Mastercard with RuPay, with some using the hashtag #BoycottMastercard to voice their concerns.
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FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- Tandy Leather Factory Inc. said Thursday its March revenue at retail stores open at least a year jumped 14 percent from a year ago.
The figure rose 2 percent for its wholesale leathercraft business, the company said.
Revenue at stores open at least a year, is considered a key measure of retail performance because it excludes sales at locations that opened or closed within the last year.
Total March sales rose 7 percent to $6.2 million from $5.8 million in the same month last year.
Retail sales rose 15 percent to $3.6 million, while wholesale sales fell 6 percent to $2.3 million and international sales jumped 37 percent to $241,000.
The Fort Worth, Texas-based company sells leather goods, buckles and accessories at 76 Tandy Leather stores and 29 Leather Factory stores.


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(PRWEB UK) 24 November 2012
Golfholidays.com the most modern golf holiday website and home to GolfPlanet and French Golf Holidays has reported their best sales period for over 5 years with sales for the last quarter up nearly 40% on last year and just shy of the record set in 2006.
Its a combination of factors we believe says Morgan Clarke, Managing Director. Our new contracts for winter 2012 and beyond offer incredible value, our relatively-new colleagues are now extremely competent, the website brings in over 50,000 unique visitors a month and clients now understand that were still GolfPlanet and French Golf but just have a fancy new website
We also see that cross-Channel destinations are on the rise and that has been our traditional stronghold. Northern France, Normandy and Belgium offer easy access, sensational golf and taking your own car obviously avoids the increasing cost and hassle of flying. Northern France has learnt its listen and at long last responded to our calls for the need to offer competitive valueWhilst there are many attractions there, most golfers have been looking for value first and near-guaranteed sunshine and Northern France could not offer either. However, now weve got two night breaks at the renovated Hotel du Parc in Hardelot with three rounds of golf and Eurotunnel travel at Hardelot for


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Apple has removed the Financial Times app from the App Store, due to disagreements over in-app subscription payments. Despite winning an Apple Design award last year, Apple felt they could no longer play host to FT who were not content with Apple’s rule forbidding external links within an app to purchase content. “The FT iPad … Read more No FT? Apple Says ‘No Comment’
The FT Tech Hub has a great article today reporting how David Cameron wants the authorities to consider blocking social media access to individuals plotting further violent acts following a week of riots and looting on the streets of England. How would it be possible to only block individuals? Is this an infringement on society? … Read more Cameron Wants To Block Rioters In England From Social Media – Why?
US president Barack Obama cited Apple boss Steve Jobs as an example of the ‘American dream’, saying that the incentive to be rich is a ‘good thing’ and part of the free market. “We celebrate somebody like a Steve Jobs, who has created two or three different revolutionary products. We expect that person to be … Read more ‘Steve Jobs – The American Dream’ By Obama


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For the second consecutive year, Sony has decided it won’t be attending the E3 this year as well. E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, considered to be one the prime trading events in the video games industry, has lost out on its attendance in recent years, which is touted as the reason behind Sony skipping the event. Sony is launching the PlayStation 5 but it won’t be attending the E3 in Los Angeles. Its counterpart, Microsoft Xbox will attend the show as confirmed by the company.
E3 has been an ideal platform for the launch of many popular games across the gaming community. However, there has been a drop in the popularity of the event as other similar events have started gaining the upper hand now. Los Angeles Convention Center, the venue for E3, is an expensive place to exhibit, which is also the reason why there has been a drop in the number of attendees in recent years. Last year, 66,000 was the attendance for E3, down from 69,000 a year before that. Gamescom, a similar event held in Europe and arguably Europe’s largest gaming fans festival, recorded an attendance of 370,000 over the last two years.
Sony stunned the show at CES 2020 recently with the launch of Vision-S, a fully functioning prototype with 33 sensors built into it. Vision-S is an electric sedan that focuses on high level safety while self driving the car. Despite the launch of their prototype, Sony remains reluctant to enter the automobile industry. When asked whether Vision-S will enter into production stage, the company stated it was happy to consider this a one off experiment for now. Vision-S came to many as a big surprise as nobody expected the tech giants to show up with an automobile masterpiece.


text: The accession to the European Union of Cyprus and Turkey along with other candidate states would benefit union members and boost the consumer market by up to 31 per cent, thereby allowing businesses to grow with lower production costs, according to a report by a European business group made public yesterday. The accession of 12 EU candidate states – including Cyprus – would boost the single market by 22 percent – giving businesses access to 482 million new consumers – with Turkey’s inclusion adding another 65 million to the consumer base, concluded the report by the Union of Industrial and Employers’ Confederations of Europe (UNICE) of which the Federation of Greek Industries (SEV) is a member. UNICE is the official voice of more than 16 million small, medium and large firms active in Europe, employing over 106 million people, the union’s press release said yesterday. The report suggested that EU enlargement is an opportunity for businesses rather than a boost to the economy by adding that the inclusion of all candidate states – whose total gross domestic product (GDP) is 7 percent of the EU’s GDP for 2000 – would only increase annual economic growth by a scant 0.1 per cent. «UNICE supports a merit-based approach. Each candidate country should be allowed to join the EU as soon as it is ready. There is a cost attached to delaying enlargement for frontrunners but also to precipitate accession by those countries which are not fully ready,» the secretary-general of UNICE, Philippe de Buck, said. Cyprus is a frontrunner for EU accession and the union has said that it does not need to have solved its political problem with Turkey before joining. Meanwhile, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz warned on Friday that the government was running out of time to carry out reforms needed to join the European Union. «We have a serious time problem. We must show more will and speed up our moves in order to start accession talks,» the Anatolia news agency quoted him saying. «Our membership is uncertain if we cannot start negotiations this year,» said Yilmaz.


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Earnings at China's industrial firms in November dropped for the first time in nearly three years, as slackening external and domestic demand left businesses facing more strain in 2019 in a sign of rising risks to the world's second-largest economy.
The gloomy data points to a further loss of economic momentum as a trade dispute with the United States piles pressure on China's vast manufacturing sector and as firms, bracing for a tough year ahead, shelve their investment plans, executives say.
Industrial profits fell 1.8 percent in November from a year earlier to 594.8 billion yuan ($86.33 billion), the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on its website on Thursday. It marked the first decline since December 2015.
The fall in profits largely reflected slowing growth in sales and producer prices as well as rising costs, He Ping of the statistics bureau said in a statement accompanying the data.
Economists expect earnings to continue to worsen next year, weighed down by smaller gains in industrial prices due to cooling demand, with some even warning of the risk of deflation.
"Soft economic indicators such as producer prices, industrial output and orders all point to further pressure on corporate profitability," said Nie Wen, a Shanghai-based analyst at Hwabao Trust, adding that firms' revenues have been hit by shrinking demand.
"Industrial profits next year might very well post a 5-10 percent decline on average."
In November, China's factory price growth slowed to the weakest pace in two years as domestic demand lost further momentum.
"Survival is paramount for us (next year) - we will be more cautious with our investments," Jiang Ming, chairman of Henan-based Tianming Group that has businesses in healthcare, construction and finance, told Reuters.
"We also need to maintain better cashflows and save our ammunition to prepare for the tight, tough and difficult days ahead."
China's economy expanded at the slowest pace last quarter since the global financial crisis, hit by a years-long deleveraging campaign, cooling property market and a trade dispute with the United States, and is expected to cool further next year.
The growing pressure has prompted the government to roll out a range of measures to juice up demand. In a key annual economic conference held this month the country's top leaders said they will ratchet up support for the economy in 2019 by cutting taxes and keeping liquidity ample, while promising to push forward trade negotiations with the United States.
At the beginning of this month, U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed to a 90-day truce delaying a planned U.S. tariff hike on Jan. 1 as they negotiate a trade deal.
Yet there is uncertainty whether the two sides can bridge their differences over a myriad of issues - including trade and intellectual property rights - to reach a durable pact.
MORE BAD NEWS IN 2019
Earnings growth at China's industrial firms has been cooling since April this year as factory price gains slowed on the back growing strains in the global economy. The bitter trade war with the United States has also pressured overall output and demand in a blow to business investment plans.
For the first eleven months, profits at industrial firms rose 11.8 percent from the same period a year earlier to 6.1 trillion yuan, slowing from a 13.6 percent increase in January-October. In the same period, earnings growth at state-owned industrial enterprises also cooled. Upstream sectors such as oil extraction, coal and metal mining still commanded the lion's share of profit gains in the 11-month period but again their growth softened in November.
Profits for oil and natural gas extraction rose 333 percent in the first eleven months of the year, easing off from a 371 percent jump for January-October.
"The next drag on profits would likely come from upstream sectors where raw material prices have been sliding fast," Hwabao Trust's Nie said.
With the arrival of winter, industrial output has taken a hit as the government intensifies a crackdown on pollution to restrict production in smoke-belching factories.
China's top steelmaking city Tangshan asked steel mills earlier this month to cut extra output during December 9 and 31, which is an additional reduction on top of that ordered during the winter heating season.
All of this pointed to more bad news for businesses next year.
"We expect the downtrend in industrial profit growth to extend into 2019 given weakening domestic demand, the continued credit downcycle and an escalation in the China-US trade conflict," Nomura analysts said in a note to clients.


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The Society for Automotive Fitness and Environment (SAFE) is an initiative by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) to spread awareness on environment protection, sustainability and eco-conscious growth. On the World Environment Day, SAFE organised mass awareness campaigns across 5,500 automobile dealers throughout the nation.
The initiative was extended for a week in select dealerships for better reach and services. It highlighted the importance of inspection and certification of vehicles, reduced emission from in-use vehicles as well as drive increased safety on roads. Additionally, SAFE organised seminars in coordination with state governments and other stakeholders.
The auto industry collectively has come forward to work towards creating better environment. Climate change has been a major issue that has resulted in many environmental crises. It is imperative to garner the support of individuals, corporate and societal entities as well as communities at large for the common cause of environment protection. The industry has undertaken various measures which will result in a healthier, cleaner and safe environment.
Some specific activities undertaken by SAFE include free Pollution Under Control (PUC) check-ups for over one lakh vehicles. Besides, drawing competition for kids, environment conservation tips for customers, sapling distribution, tree plantation, green processions and awareness rallies were conducted at dealership outlets.
The activities are part of several initiatives by SIAM to adopt global standards on emissions, safety and manufacturing. SAFE is founded on the firm belief that community education and public consciousness about environmental issues are pivotal to curb air pollution.
Through Road Safety Awareness Programmes, SAFE educates the community on traffic rules and inculcates a proper, responsible attitude towards fellow road users. We urge all vehicle owners across India to work towards the cause and help realise the goal of ensuring sustainable, environment-friendly growth in coming years.
Member companies that participated in the initiative included Ashok Leyland, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, Honda Cars India, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, Mahindra &Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki India, Mercedes-Benz India, Nissan Motor India, Tata Motors, TVS Motor Co, Ford India, Toyota Kirloskar Motor and Skoda Auto India.


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Google announced on Thursday that its next generation mobile operating system will be named Android 10, not Android Q. “As a global operating system, these names should be something that is clear to everyone in the world and everyone can relate to it,” said Samir Samat, vice president of Android Product Management, in a blog post. In such a situation, this number will be used for the next version of Android, and will be known as Android 10. We hope that this change will help to issue an easy name to our global community. We are giving you complete information about Google changed Name Android q to Android 10.
Do you know about Google’s new mobile operating system Android Q? Google released Android 10.0 beta version a few days ago, its name is Android Q. It has added many new and exciting features. Can you install this OS in your Android Phone? In this article, we will tell you what the Android Q is and what new features will be available in it?
South Korean company Samsung has launched his another Galaxy M series smartphone Samsung Galaxy M30. This year the company has introduced its Galaxy M series. The old phones of the series Samsung Galaxy M10 and Samsung Galaxy M20 also liked users too. Today we will give you Samsung Galaxy M30 Pie Update, Android Q Update and Timeline information.
Google has launched its new Android Q. Last year, Google launched developer preview of Android pie, but this time the company has launched an Android Q Beta version. Google has introduced Android Q Beta 1 update. Android Q Beta is first release to the Google Pixel Series. Users can install this update on Pixel 3, Pixel 3XL, Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. Here we are giving you information about the best features of Android Q.
Google’s new Android Q has been rollout for operating system users. It has been introduced in beta version. First of all, this update has been provided in Google Pixel Devices. It includes pixels 2, pixels 2xL, pixels 3, pixels 3xl smartphones. If you also use a pixel smartphone, then you can also update Android Q. However, before this it is important to remember that before updating your phone, you must backup your data. Here we are telling you how to install and download Android Q in your phone.
The world’s largest tech company Google’s developers conference GDC19 is scheduled to be held this month on March 19. Google’s main focus in this conference will be on gaming. Google has given this information through its tweet. Even before this conference, Google has started rolling out the first version of its latest operating system Android Q Beta to Google Pixel smartphone users.


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Trump and Stormzy: How Beano creates content kids want
British comic book publisher Beano has an 80-year history in print, but now it wants to be the online destination for children 6 to 12.
At a time when reports of inappropriate content for kids on YouTube abound, the unit of DC Thomson has put a lot of thought into what online media should look like if designed for kids.
“When we talk about need states in adults, we talk about the need for serendipity or to surprise and entice audiences,” said Martin Ashplant, chief product officer at Beano. “Children want to interact with the content, and when it comes to user interface, they want familiarity and security.”
In 2016, the company renamed itself Beano Studios and expanded beyond comics to TV, digital content, merchandise and partnerships. Its digital revenue comes from branded content, display ads and consumer insight.
Beano has about 35 employees creating digital videos each day, from top 10 lists, trend stories and pieces on YouTube stars. Recent videos have included Alexa joke fails, food trends of 2018 and six reasons to love reality TV celebrity Georgia Toffolo. They also make interactive quizzes, games and craft videos, like how to make 3D paint.
Beano publishes some of its content to YouTube, but the focus is on growing its own site and app traffic. Average session time in its app is around 10 minutes and more than a third of its app users return every month, according to the company. Its Facebook and Twitter content tends to be nostalgic content that’s aimed at adult fans.
The company runs Skype user testing sessions every six weeks with kids from its target demographic. These focus on a particular element of the site or app to understand how audiences respond to navigation or content types.
Much of Beano’s content is informed by Beano’s panel of children, who are each paid £20 ($28) a month for a weekly 15-minute chat. With tracking, retargeting and outlinking heavily regulated for kid-aimed content, feedback from the panel and user testing supplements anonymous data that Beano uses to make products kids want. Based on the panel, their interests are more varied than one might think. Along with fidget spinners and slime, children are talking about Donald Trump and grime artist Stormzy, Ashplant said. Last year, the two most popular topics among Beano’s target age group were the U.K. general election and Justin Bieber’s “Despacito,” he said.
“Stormzy is part of their popular culture, but there are elements of the music that won’t be appropriate for kids,” he said. “That’s the balance for Beano, too: the characters are mischievous but still safe.”
Member ExclusiveSlowly but surely, the TV ad market is changing in profound ways
For decades, TV’s annual upfront marketplace has been organized around a bargain. In exchange for locking themselves into long-term commitments, advertisers receive lower rates than if they were to spend their money in TV’s so-called scatter market, where networks sell ad space left unsold by the upfront sales process. Now, driven by advertisers canceling portions […]
Connected TV advertisers gravitate to multi-DSP model as Amazon, Roku push their own bidders
Using a single DSP would simplify the complicated CTV ad market for advertisers, but no single DSP is sufficient, say agency executives.
Media companies will need to wait until 2021 for IGTV ad revenue
Instagram will test IGTV ads this year with individual creators and share 55% of ad revenue.
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In a new video, experts from GumGum, The Martin Agency and Pinterest discuss the future of video advertising — and outline their vision for how video ads can be less disruptive.
How Roku aims to win over TV and digital advertisers in this year’s upfront
Roku will offer guarantees to ensure advertisers’ campaigns don’t overlap with linear and increase site visits and app installs.
TV advertisers want new rights to pull out of ad deals
TV upfront advertisers want more options to take money out of the market and to put money into the market closer to when their ads will air.


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Intel Adding Code to Microsoft's iOS Bridge
Over the past several years, Apple’s App Store has built up an impressive collection of software—over 2 million apps, according to some counts. Meanwhile, Microsoft has spent those same years attempting to convince developers to build for the Windows platform. While major corporations continue to produce games and productivity software exclusively for Windows, the developers who routinely build software for Google Android and Apple iOS haven’t rushed to port their products to the Windows environment. With Windows 10, Microsoft is making another bid for those developers. First, Windows 10 is built to run on a variety of screens and form-factors, from high-powered desktops down to tablets and smartphones. Second, Microsoft and Intel are contributing code to a “bridge” that will (at least in theory) allow developers to port apps built in Objective-C to Windows 10 devices running on Intel chips. Code for the iOS bridge is available on GitGub. Intel recently contributed what it calls the “Accelerate framework,” which it described in a blog posting as containing “C APIs for vector and matrix mathematics, DSP, and image processing.” Those APIs are vital for applications with “scientific computing needs, including audio and image filters.” (You can see an example of its output above.) The Accelerate framework joins other Intel contributions to the project, including BLAS APIs, Accelerometer APIs, Gyroscope APIs, and so on. At one point, Microsoft also had plans to build an Android bridge. In February, however, the company dropped those plans. “For those developers who spent time investigating the Android Bridge, we strongly encourage you to take a look at the iOS Bridge and Xamarin as great solutions,” read the company’s official blog posting at the time. Will a well-built bridge convince iOS developers to port their products to Windows 10? Even with bridging software in place, expanding an app to a new platform takes a good deal of time, effort, and money; developers are likely to adopt a “wait and see” attitude.


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NHTSA Rejects Request for Delay of Black Box Standards
August 14, 2012 6:59 PM
comment(s) - last by
Event data recorder (EDR) or "black box"
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers wanted to push the setting of black box standards to September 2013
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) declined the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers' request to delay
set standards for "black boxes"
The black boxes, called event data recorders (EDRs), are used in autos to record the last moments
before an accident
to identify its cause. Automakers have been using them for awhile now, but the NHTSA's new standards, which are to be set September 1, could force auto companies to replace their current EDRs for more expensive ones.
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which represents automakers like Detroit's Big Three, wanted to delay the setting of EDR standards to September 2013. The group said automakers with older EDRs can meet the new regulations by disabling these older versions, but only as long as the new rules set standards for the devices -- not mandate them.
The NHTSA rejected the request in an eight-page letter, saying that it has already cooked up some ways to help automakers comply without having to spend extra money. Besides, the new standards have already been delayed several times since the rules were finalized in August 2006.
"The agency has made it a priority to work toward a proposed standard that would mandate these devices on all passenger vehicles on the nation's roadways," said Lynda Tran, NHTSA spokeswoman. "NHTSA remains committed to proposing a standard in the coming months that will help save lives by ensuring both automakers and the agency have the necessary data to make continued improvements in vehicle safety."
According to NHTSA, EDRs are already in 91.6 percent of vehicles today, and it would only cost about $24.4 million to boost this number to 100 percent. This is based on the sale of 15.5 million light vehicles annually.
Back in April, the U.S. Senate passed a bill called the
"Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act,"
also called "MAP21." The bill aimed to place EDRs in all 2015 model year vehicles, but also had a bit of a downside -- the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) could strip Americans of their passports if they owed enough tax money.
The Detroit News
This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
RE: Gentlemen, we have to protect our phoney baloney jobs!!!
Dr of crap
Dr of crap
8/15/2012 8:41:32 AM
"...politicians, start doing your jobs and focus on REAL ISSUES"
Do you REALLY EVER think this will happen???
It's ALL about the money and keeping themsleves in office - nothing else. Our political system has turned to sh$t and it only getting worse!
I'm thinking the founders of our govt wouldn't like what they see now days, but Ben Franklin, I think it was, made reference to something like this. He could see that the form our govt they set up wasn't bound to last to long!
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Technology can make real, positive contributions to your business.
We write a lot about cyber security at TMB. It’s one of those unavoidable subjects that needs to be addressed, because it’s so important. But let's be honest: it’s not exciting. Most of the time, when it’s working, you’ll barely know it’s there, and it’s designed to protect your business, not to improve it. As much as security matters, though, there are many other reasons to invest in IT – in ways you’ll notice every day.Read More »
Is it time to augment your business reality?
In May 2018, we asked ‘Is the Microsoft HoloLens Worth It For SMEs?’ Now, as of yesterday, it’s time to ask whether the HoloLens 2 has worthwhile uses in a business setting or whether it’s merely a solution looking for a problem.Read More »
Updated criteria to aid in responsible purchasing choices.
Earlier this week, the world-leading sustainability certification for IT products, TCO Certified, launched the latest generation - the eigth, in fact - of its set of criteria.Read More »
Surface devices discounted
It’s strange to think that Black Friday wasn’t a thing in the UK until relatively recently. The day was traditionally a one-day event, originating in the States, to mark the day after Thanksgiving and to act as the first day of the Christmas shopping season.Read More »
Mobile connectivity gives Microsoft tablet a fresh look.
During the summer, while we were all sweltering amid what would eventually turn out to be the joint hottest on record, Microsoft launched a tablet that could genuinely be seen as an alternative to Apple’s iPad (and Google’s Chromebooks, to boot).Read More »
If it says 'changeme', please take the hint.
The importance of strong passwords should be obvious, yet when it comes to IT hardware an alarming number of people never bother to set a password at all. Instead, they stick with the default password and happily go about using their equipment – completely oblivious to the danger of their inaction.Read More »
Who's up for saving the planet?
Classified ads site Craigslist is known the world over as a place to advertise goods and services to sell to others. You’ll find anything on there if you look hard enough. New homeowners can fill their bare new abode, keen sports fans can purchase memorabilia and equipment, and job-hunters might even be able to find a new career.Read More »
What’s okay today may not be so tomorrow.
It Still Works… three words that anyone working in IT services will have heard at some point. It’s a perfectly valid objection to buying new technology: the existing solutions are functioning perfectly well, so why replace them? In other words, if it ain't broke... Also, keeping what you’ve got will save you money and make sure you get maximum value for money.Read More »


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Eastern Propak sees strong peach season ahead
With a state-of-the-art facility located in Glassboro, NJ, just minutes away from the major Delaware ports, Eastern Propak has long been a hub for those on the East Coast, fulfilling a long list of multiple services for its customers, including receiving, repacking, shipping, cold storage and more.
The company serves as a second-party co-packer for Jersey Fruit and has four several local growers that provide fruit that it packs under the Jersey Fruit label.
With the calendar turning to June, Eastern Propak is turning its focus to peaches, and has a state-of-the-art peach packing line that ensures it is a leader in the segment.
Robert Kearney joined the company in November as CEO and noted that while 2021 started a little slow, it has picked up really quickly.
“We’re in a very good position this time of year versus previous years,” he said. “We’re anticipating a very strong third and fourth quarter as well.”
One of the reasons for the optimism is that people are demanding higher quality food, especially in light of the pandemic where people started thinking more about healthy options.
Another is that early indications on the peach crop are very strong, with many believing this could be the best New Jersey peach crop in decades.
“We’re really excited about that,” Kearney said. “I think that the weather, obviously, is the biggest indicator. We’ve had the right amount of rain, the right temperatures and though we had a couple of scares with frost, that did not happen. We were very, very lucky. Other areas of the country weren’t so lucky with weather this year.”
Peach growers in the state are doing all they can to have an exceptional crop and Eastern Propak is looking forward to what’s to come. They expect to pack around 400,000 boxes of peaches in 2021, a record high for the company.
Last year’s peach pricing was based on more of a supply and demand issue. So even though the supply wasn’t as strong. the demand and the impact on pricing helped the growers.
“I think that with a strong crop this year and people still wanting the product, it will hopefully keep the prices at a level where everybody will be happy,” Kearney said.
In addition to working with domestic peaches, Eastern Propak serves as a cold storage facility in the area. It extended its facility by 100,000 square feet several years ago and will have no problem being able to handle an output of more than 4,000 cases this season.
“A few years ago, we made an investment to expand our cold storage capacity and we made the right decision,” Kearney said. “So, any capacity issues that we’ve had in the past are no longer a concern going forward.”
Elsewhere around Eastern Propak, the company’s expanded its blueberry packaging capabilities.
“We have a new Proseal machine that gives us the ability to seal using top seal — the plastic cover that goes over the container where you just peel it back, versus the clamshells,” Kearney said. “We think from a food safety and sustainability standpoint there’s going to be a high demand in the market, so we made a significant investment to prepare for that.”
As of now, the format is strictly for blueberries, but with customers interested in this technology, the company is looking at enhancements to the line where it could package other commodities in the future, such as grapes and peaches.
New Jersey is known for its great tasting peaches, and Kearney believes retailers would be smart to advertise when they’re coming in, creating excitement for the upcoming season and letting consumers know about the expected great crop.
“They’re phenomenal from a taste standpoint, and quality standpoint, and this year, we should exceed expectations all around,” he said.
Eastern Propak has an increased focus on its customer base in 2021, expanding its hours, listening to their needs more and being more flexible than it has in the past.
“We’re becoming much more a company of ‘yes,’ than we have in previous years,” Kearney said.
Photo: A few years ago, Eastern Propak made an investment to expand its cold storage capacity. Now, capacity issues are no longer a concern.


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Some MTN contract costumers allege that the service provider has sneaked in price increases without sufficient notification.
The customers say MTN has increased the contract payments with R8.
MTN has denied claims that it had introduced the price increases without proper communication.
Speaking to Joanne Joseph, MTN spokesperson Jacqui O'Sullivan says the changing of prices in the mobile industry is a legislated process.
We have to give customers 21 days' notice.— Jacqui O'Sullivan, Spokesperson - MTN
MTN has not adjusted its subscription for probably three years. We announced on March 29 about the specific price adjustments and we sent SMSes to all customers that were going to be impacted.— Jacqui O'Sullivan, Spokesperson - MTN
We sent a separate letter that went out with the bill of those affected customers and we have a note of the bill as well.— Jacqui O'Sullivan, Spokesperson - MTN
O'Sullivan says they had to delay some price increases for six months.
Listen to the full interview below...


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