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TOKYO – IBM (IBM), Sony Corp. (SNE) and Toshiba Corp. (search) Monday revealed their plans for the powerful new "Cell" processor the three are jointly producing to run next-generation computers, game consoles and televisions.
Cloaked in secrecy and the object of much speculation since the three technology conglomerates announced the project in 2001, Cell is billed as being far more powerful than conventional chips and able to shepherd large chunks of data over broadband networks.
In a joint release, the three firms gave a glimpse of their respective plans for Cell-powered products, but offered only outlines of the technical conference in San Francisco.
Sony said it would launch home servers and high-definition televisions powered by Cell in 2006, and reiterated plans to use the microchip to power the next-generation PlayStation (search) game console, a working version of which will be unveiled in May. Toshiba said it planned to launch a high-definition TV using Cell in 2006.
IBM said it would start pilot production of the microprocessor at its plant in East Fishkill, N.Y., in the first half of 2005. It will use advanced 300 millimetre silicon wafers, which yield more than twice the number of chips per wafer than the 200 millimetre variety.
IBM also announced plans to first use the chip in a workstation it is developing with Sony, targeting the digital content and entertainment industries.
Together, IBM, Sony and Toshiba are investing billions of dollars to develop and prepare for mass production of Cell, which is a multicore semiconductor composed of several processors that work together to handle multiple tasks at the same time.
"In the future, all forms of digital content will be converged and fused onto the broadband network," Ken Kutaragi, executive deputy president and COO of Sony, said in a statement. "Current PC architecture is nearing its limits."
Intel Corp., the dominant supplier of personal computer microprocessors, has similar plans to introduce dual-core microprocessors next year and has sought out new markets, including home entertainment devices, for its chips.
The Cell processor won't steal business from Intel in the near term, but Cell's abilities in network-connected consumer electronics should serve as a "wake-up call" for the chip giant, said Richard Doherty, the director of Envisioneering, a technology market research company based in Seaford, New York.
"If the industry embraces this form of computing, Intel could wake up and find the world's changed," Doherty said.


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For the past 80 years Sperry has been selling Top-Sider boat shoes. A product with limited appeal if ever there was one. But plenty of people buy yoga clothes even though they never do yoga, so the brand could transcend its inherit limitations.
To that end, the company is launching a new campaign targeting adventurous Millennials. According to Karen Pitts, VP of Marketing, "Odysseys" plays to the brand's essential qualities -- American, authentic and adventurous and the primal excitement water can evoke. As part of the campaign, 80 people will be sent on journeys to create content on their adventures for Sperry. (Monllos, 2015)
Here are two of the ads
So what do you think? Will these ads capture your attention? Will the Odyssey stories, which will presumably be posted online do it? But most importantly, will you buy Sperry's? (Apparently they have dropped Top-sider).
Monllos, K. (2015, February 19) Sperry Goes Back to Basics With a Campaign for Adventurous Millennials. adweek.com. Retrieved February 19, 2015, from http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/sperry-goes-back-basics-campaign-adventurous-millennials-162983
Bell, J. (2015, February 19) Sperry Prez Rick Blackshaw Talks New Brand Identity. footwearnews.com. Retrieved February 19, 2015, from http://footwearnews.com/2015/business/media/sperry-new-brand-identity-13806/

domain: news


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Yesterday we have attended the DisruptionTalks 2.0 event, which took place at CUTing Edge innovation center of the Cyprus University of Technology. DisruptionTalks is a series of meetups, bringing together entrepreneurs and technology enthusiasts.
This time around, there were two speakers with a 30-minutes or so Q&A session each.
First, Shahar Burg, an Israeli entrepreneur shared her inspiring story, passion, and vibrant energy. She went from a software developer in the military, to experience-gathering quality assurance engineer, to the startup founder and product manager of the company that has been acquired by Wix.
Second, Angelos Gregoriou, the CEO of Dynamic Works, shared his path to technology, as well as both hardships and benefits of building a technology company in Cyprus.
Much like with any technical event, there was a corner where attendees could play around with some of the latest and greatest gadgets, including the virtual reality headset from Oculus.
Networking, drinks, and general chatter followed the Q&A sessions and gradually spilled into the streets of the Limassol old town.
For those of you who missed this event, we’ve been live-tweeting some of the thoughts, ideas, and comments over at our Twitter account. Check it out and make sure to attend the next event! We definitely need more of such meetups to help people and business promote technology, innovation, and the spirit of entrepreneurship.
See you there next time!
P.S.: Huge thanks to organizers, speakers, and attendees for making this event happen.


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The second wave of COVID-19 has hit India hard with infections as well as mortalities hitting a peak in May. Many states imposed lockdowns of varying degrees, which has had a huge impact across sectors, especially those that are contact-intensive. In this backdrop, the Reserve Bank of India has gone all out with a focus on economic growth, even as it flagged inflationary concerns rising from global commodity price increases.
The monetary policy committee of the RBI unanimously left the benchmark repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent. The MPC also decided to continue with the “accommodative stance as long as necessary to revive and sustain growth on a durable basis and continue to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, while ensuring inflation remains within the target going forward.”
Data released by the government’s statistics office earlier this week showed that India’s economy grew for the second quarter in a row. The January-March quarter GDP grew 1.6 per cent, although for the full year ended March 31, 2021 it still shrank 7.3 per cent. Other economic data too has been mixed.
Mining and electricity output, for instance, surpassed pre-pandemic levels in March. The output of core industries also registered double-digit growth in April. However, GST collections, which hit a high in April, are likely to moderate in May due to lockdowns in various states. Other, high frequency indicators like railway freight traffic, port cargo, steel consumption, cement production and toll collections also saw a sequential moderation over April-May.
So, reviving growth gains prominence even as inflation concerns have risen.
“The MPC was of the view that at this juncture policy support from all sides is required to gain the momentum of growth that was evident in the second half of 2020-21 and to nurture the recovery after it has taken root,” said RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.
Over the last few months, there has been an increase in prices of raw materials from oil to metals and cement, driving varying degrees of price hikes of automobiles to consumer goods. Looking ahead, the RBI sees uncertainties on the upside as well as downside.
The rising trajectory of international commodity prices, especially of crude, together with logistics costs, pose upside risks to the inflation outlook. On the other hand, a normal south-west monsoon along with comfortable buffer stocks should help to keep cereal price pressures in check, it said.
The central bank feels, excise duties, cess and taxes imposed by the Centre and states need to be adjusted in a coordinated manner to contain input cost pressures emanating from petrol and diesel prices.
The RBI has raised its inflation expectations in this wake. It has projected retail inflation at 5.2 per cent in the June quarter, 5.4 per cent in the second quarter (5.2 per cent expected earlier), 4.7 per cent in the third quarter (earlier forecast of 4.4 per cent) and 5.3 per cent in the fourth quarter (earlier expected 5.1 per cent).
On the growth front, a rebound in global trade and improving demand conditions in advanced economies aided by stimulus packages and vaccination drives is expected to boost India’s exports, even as the second wave of COVID had an impact on domestic demand. The RBI has called for targeted measures to drive India’s exports post pandemic.
“India’s exports in March, April and May 2021 have launched into an upswing. Conducive external conditions are forming for a durable recovery beyond pre-pandemic levels. The need of the hour is for enhanced and targeted policy support for exports. It is opportune now to give further policy push by focusing on quality and scalability,” said Das.
In line with several ratings agencies, the RBI, too, has scaled down its GDP growth forecasts. It now sees India’s economy growing at 9.5 per cent in the current financial year ending March 2022, compared to 10.5 per cent it had predicted earlier. GDP growth in the June quarter is forecast at 18.5 per cent on a low-base, sharply lower than the 26.2 per cent it had expected earlier.
In the backdrop of the second COVID wave and the impact it has had on contact-intensive sectors like hotels, restaurants, tourism, aviation ancillary services like supply chain and ground handling and other services like private bus operators, event organisers, car rentals, repair services, beauty parlors and salons, a separate liquidity window of Rs 15,000 crore will be opened till March 31, 2022, with tenors of up to three years at the repo rate.
- RBI ease on credit card ban: HDFC Bank will be aggressive to win lost market share
- HDFC Bank shares gain as RBI lifts curbs on new credit card issuances
- RBI policy: Analysts see baby steps towards monetary policy normalisation
- RBI continues to prioritise growth; leaves repo rate unchanged for 7th time
By way of an incentive, banks will be permitted to park their surplus liquidity up to the size of the loan book created under this scheme with the Reserve Bank under the reverse repo window at a rate 40 basis points higher than the reverse repo rate.
In order to boost funding support to small and medium enterprises, the RBI plans to extend a special liquidity facility of Rs 16,000 crore to SIDBI (Small Industries Development Bank of India) for on-lending/ refinancing through novel models and structures. This facility will be available at the prevailing policy repo rate for a period of up to one year, which may be further extended depending on its usage.
In the previous monetary policy announcement in April, the RBI had announced G-SAP 1.0 (government securities acquisition programme). Up to May 31, the RBI undertook regular open market operations and injected additional liquidity to the tune of Rs 36,545 crore, in addition to Rs 60,000 crore under G-SAP 1.0. The RBI will conduct another operation under G-SAP 1.0 on June 17 to purchase government securities worth Rs 40,000 crore. It also announced G-SAP 2.0, whereby the central bank will conduct secondary market purchases to the tune of Rs 1.20 lakh crore in the second quarter.
Das hopes that the various measures announced thus far will help the economy regain momentum.
“The sudden rise in COVID-19 infections and fatalities has impaired the nascent recovery that was underway, but has not snuffed it out. The impulses of growth are still alive. We will continue to think and act out of the box, planning for the worst and hoping for the best,” he said.


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Honor Note 9 specs might include 6GB RAM, Kirin 965 CPU and massive 4,600 mAh battery
like the predecessor that sports a 6.6-inch panel, but the images accompanying the list of specs reveal an edge-to-edge bezel-less display.
According to the list of the specs leaked recently, Honor Note 9 should come with a dual-camera setup comprising of two 12-megapixel snap shooters. Also, the phone will carry a large 4,600 mAh battery, which is much needed considering this could be one of the biggest smartphones on the market.
Under that shiny chassis, the Honor Note 9 will pack the next-generation Kirin 965 processor, an improved version of the current Kirin 960 chipset, which hasn't been introduced yet.
Finally, the phablet is said to include 6GB RAM and 64GB expandable storage, which is only fit for a flagship device. The Honor Note 9 is likely to be announced in September, but it might not go on sale until later this year.


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This week's top 10 paid and free apps for iPhone and iPad on the App Store
Review: The ups and downs of doing chores with Google Glass apps
Colorado coalition helps struggling rural theaters switch to digital before year-end deadline
Decorative shells that are meant to protect MacBooks from scratches, dents and dirt - not to mention add a splash of color - may do more harm than good.
Game Review: 'Kinect Sports Rivals' a moving experience for Xbox One
Review: Fire TV among best streaming devices, some features not ready for non-Amazon content
No Internet connection required: New mobile messaging app enables 'off-the-grid' conversations
A new set of smart shoes uses sensors and GPS to revolutionize navigation for pedestrians helping tourists, the blind and athletes get where they're going.
Old habits at home embarrass South Korean consumer electronics giants abroad
Tech stocks lead stocks lower...3 million sign up for Medicaid...Groups launch campaign to stop sale of spy software
Human rights groups launch campaign to stop sale of spy software to unsavory governments
Amazon unveils Fire TV streaming video device at New York event
BlackBerry ending US licensing deal with T-Mobile; says strategies no longer complementary
Review: Narrative Clip life-logging camera captures all moments, both interesting and mundane
Two local high school students have invented an online method that channels the popular video game Guitar Hero but teaches users how to play a real guitar.
Microsoft expected to reveal Windows 8 updates at conference in San Francisco
Samsung attorneys say patents contested by Apple were developed by Google engineers
Hi: 57 °F | Lo: 41 °F


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Imports keep gnawing at Korean carmakers’ lunches
According to data released by the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association (Kaida), the market share for foreign automakers in the country in the first half of this year hit an all-time high of 16.6 percent with sales of 119,832 units, a 27.1 percent rise from a year earlier.
BMW Korea once again took the best-selling spot, selling 24,206 units through June, followed by Mercedes-Benz (22,923), Volkswagen (18,653) and Audi (14,559).
Ford came in fifth, selling 5,625 cars thanks to its midsize diesel sedan Mondeo and Explorer SUV. Most of the foreign brands including Land Rover and Volvo reported double-digit increases in sales from a year ago.
BMW sold more cars, though Benz made 2.14 trillion won ($1.8 billion) in revenue, about 500 billion won more than BMW, thanks to its premium S-Class sedan, which goes for between 128 million won and 294 million won. Kaida said about half of Benz’s revenue came from the S-Class, of which the company sold 6,379 units through June.
Audi sold 4,076 units fewer than Volkswagen, but saw 997.6 billion won in revenue, about 284.9 billion won more than Volkswagen, thanks to its best-selling sedan A6.
The company sold 2,985 units of the A6 35 TDI and 2,072 units of the A6 45 TDI Quattro.
One of the biggest reasons sales of imported cars hit an all-time high was that foreign brands carried out a series of discount promotions to clear their stocks of Euro 5 models, as the all-diesel cars will be subject to Euro 6 emission standards in Korea starting in September.
BMW offered discounts of up to 10 million won for its popular 3 and 5 Series models. The company sold a total of 3,596 units of the mid-size sedan 520d through June, the second most among all imports, and 2,447 units of the 320d, the sixth-most among foreign models, during the same period.
“Consumers were able to purchase BMW cars about 10 million won cheaper than before with a discount offered by the company and an additional cut by the dealer,” said a BMW dealer. “That means that customers were able to purchase a 3 Series sedan for a price that is only 5 million won more expensive than Hyundai Motor’s Sonata.”
BMW is even creeping up on the nation’s fifth-largest automaker, Renault Samsung Motor (RSM), in terms of sales as it sold 5,744 units in June, only 1,179 units short of RSM. The gap between the two companies was about 5,000 units last year, but sales by RSM only increased by 0.8 percent through June from a year ago, while sales by BMW increased by about 20 percent. The company doesn’t want to lose the chance of widening its share even more. It will roll out a new premium large size sedan, the 7 Series, and a compact SUV X1, as well as upgraded editions of the 3 and 6 Series.
“Previously, most of the popular imports were expensive cars that only people in high-income brackets were able to afford,” said Yoon Dae-sung, a Kaida executive. “But foreign brands have been competitively introducing cars that offer high performance and fuel efficiency at reasonable prices. Looking at the sales figures, it looks like more than 200,000 imports are expected to be sold this year.”
Industry insiders worry about local automakers because it looks like they don’t have a clue how to fight back. The nation’s two auto giants, Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, announced in January that they aim to sell 8.2 million cars combined, but they failed to sell half that amount in the first six months. Together they sold 3.94 million units through June.
Hyundai Motor recently expanded the lineup for its best-selling sedan Sonata by adding a turbo and diesel engine models, but the company recently decided to reduce production of the Sonata at the Asan plant in South Chungcheong.
The new large size Aslan sedan, which the company said targets corporate executives, was a complete failure and only 5,230 units were sold this year.
The company recently announced that it will strengthen its marketing with some discounts, but it’s questionable whether that’s an ultimate solution. “Offering a discount can’t be a solution for sure because it would damage the operating profit,” said car columnist Seo Myung-soo. “Leading automakers like Hyundai and Kia need to focus on improving premium cars so that they can compete with imports.”
BY KWON SANG-SOO [firstname.lastname@example.org]


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If you're shopping for a car in China, Bitauto (NYSE:BITA) wants to be there to help. The company announced that it has entered into an agreement with storied American auto price information provider Kelley Blue Book and the China Automobile Dealers Association to establish a joint venture. Neither the terms of the deal nor the structure of the joint venture were made public.
According to Bitauto's press release heralding the news, the enterprise "will provide Chinawide vehicle valuation products via Web and mobile to consumers, automakers, auto dealers, along with insurance, finance and other automotive-related companies that seek vehicle valuations."
Bitauto added that it has witnessed growing demand for pricing services, particularly in the nation's used-car market. It said this is "now entering a period of rapid development."
Total sales of automobiles in China stood at 19.3 million units in 2012, a 4% gain from the previous year's tally of 18.5 million.


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The drive by Apple and Samsung to equip their handsets with the latest sensor technology will lead the market to almost triple between 2012 and 2018, new research has claimed.
According to a report from IHS, the sensor market for smartphones and tablets will hit €5.13 billion by 2018. The market is split in two, with established sensors comprising the likes of motion and light sensors, as well as Mems microphones.
However, the biggest growth will come from the emerging device segment, that includes the likes of fingerprint scanners, optical pulse, humidity and gas. That part of the market will hit sales of €1.82 billion by 2018, up from €19 million in 2012.
Marwan Boustany, IHS Senior Analyst for Microelectomechanical Systems and Sensors, said: “The next wave of sensor technology in smartphones and tablets has arrived. Led by Apple and Samsung, the mobile market is moving beyond simply integrating established devices like motion sensors and now is including next-generation features like fingerprint and environment/health sensors. Adoption of these newer devices will drive the expansion of the mobile sensor device market in the coming years.”
The report follows recent research from the same agency into the wearable sensor market, which will expand sevenfold during the next five years.
Demand for fitness and health monitoring devices will expand the market from 67 million units last year to 466 million in 2019. By that date, the average wearable device will have 4.1 sensors, up from 1.4 last year.
Jérémie Bouchaud, Director and Senior Principal Analyst, MEMS & Sensors, at IHS Technology, said: “The main factor propelling this phenomenon is a transition in market share away from simple products like pedometers and toward more sophisticated multipurpose devices such as smartwatches and smartglasses.
“Instead of using a single sensor like the simpler devices, the more complex products employ numerous components for health and activity monitoring, as well as for their more advanced user interfaces.”


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The Director of Public Health has instructed the Prevention of Food Adulteration Cell in Tamil Nadu to lift samples of ‘idli/dosa' batter from all over the State.
“We have instructed our food inspectors to pick up samples, following the publication of reports of contaminated batter samples being sold in the market,” R.T. Porkaipandian, DPH, told The Hindu. Each of the 150 food inspectors in the State, will have to lift about two samples for analysis.
Last week, CONCERN, a unit of Consumer and Civic Action group, released the results of a study they had conducted on idly/dosa batter samples lifted from Chennai city. They claimed to have found that 55 per cent of the batter had failed in the test conducted. They also said the samples were found to contain hydrogen sulphide producing bacteria.
Dr. Porkaipandian said though the PFA cell lifted samples of all food products periodically, so far no batter samples had been examined.
The results would be available after a week's time, Dr. Porkaipandian added.


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Apple just sent out invitations to a potential iPad Mini press event event in San Jose on October 23, teasing “We’ve got a little more to show you.”
Given that recent rumors point to that date for an iPad Mini launch event, it’s pretty likely we’re going to see a smaller Apple tablet then. We’ve also heard that Apple may show off a 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro at the same event.
The timing of Apple’s invitation seems almost trollworthy, given that Microsoft announced the official pricing of its Surface RT tablet just this morning. In fact, Apple’s invites went out right when Microsoft opened up Surface pre-orders online.
The iPad Mini is expected to feature a 7.85-inch screen to compete with 7-inch Android upstarts like the Kindle Fire and Nexus 7. In terms of pricing, I’m expecting it to run between $250 and $300.
VentureBeat will be on the ground at Apple’s October 23 event, so check back here for updates!


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Is Sanyo selling off its mobile phone division?
Sanyo Electric is seriously considering cutting its mobile phone operations loose, and is apparently in talks with a number of competing manufacturers about purchasing the ailing line. At the top of the "interested parties" list are Sharp and Kyocera, well known phone-makers hoping to pick up the company's under-performing slack (which currently constitutes about 15 percent of Sanyo's overall sales). The news comes as little surprise, given the current restructuring scramble Sanyo is attempting after a whopping 72 percent drop in operating profit in recent months. Phone sales for Sanyo are now expected to fall 1.5-1.6 million short, according to the company, which has posted a net loss for the past three years and is rumored to be selling off its semiconductor operations. At this rate, there may be dark days ahead for the Japanese giant.
All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.


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That stability is now shaken.
On May 22, Prisa, which owns Spain’s most-read daily El Pais and largest radio net Cadena Ser, announced it was mulling selling “all or part” of satcaster Digital Plus, its biggest revenue driver and most-convincing claim to cutting-edge media modernity.
It has little choice. A e2 billion ($3.1 billion) bridging loan, syndicated by London-based HSBC Bank that allowed Prisa to hike its stake in Digital Plus owner Sogecable from 50% to 100%, is due June 20. So is at least $3.2 billion more in prior debt.
Prisa wants to keep Sogecable’s crown jewel, the fast-growing terrestrial web Cuatro, which turned profits in 2007 just two years after launch.
But it has already started to divest other assets. It’s just netted $487 million for real estate sales, including its Gran Via HQ and raised $77.3 million by selling its film and TV production unit Plural to Portugal’s Media Capital, which it co-owns.
Prisa is Spain’s biggest media company. But Spain’s still quite a small pond: Prisa’s 2007 cash flow was just $1.2 billion.
“Prisa hasn’t the money to pay all that debt,” says one analyst.
El Pais quoted CEO Juan Luis Cebrian saying a Digital Plus sale is one of many options it will have to consider.
The Spanish media are lining up suitors, including the usual suspects.
One is News Corp. Adding Digital Plus to its other Euro feevee assets — Blighty’s BSkyB, Sky Italia and Germany’s Premiere — News Corp. could play still harder ball on Hollywood product deals.
Others tipped to kick Digital Plus’ tires are Mexican telco magnate Carlos Slim, France Telecom and Spain’s Telefonica.
A telco could make a killing offering a triple play of pay TV, Internet access and telephony — particularly to Digital Plus’ 2.1 million subscribers who “represent the cream of Spain, with large disposable income for media and telecommunications,” according to Eduardo Garcia Matilla, prexy of research company Multimedia Corp.
“Offering clients a global telco package plus soccer could allow a telco to extract far more money from each sub than Digital Plus alone, which is offering just pay TV,” he added.
However, it’s unclear who will own Spanish soccer rights from 2009 — a pay TV driver in soccer-mad Spain just as it is all over Europe.
From the 2009-10 season Digital Plus could lose most Spanish soccer rights to film and TV company Mediapro.
The soccer rights are the subject of a labyrinthine legal dispute, which looks likely to be settled out of court.
If Mediapro wins, it will probably license the rights to Digital Plus at a much higher rate.
With or without soccer, suitors could be put off by the asking price for Digital Plus. Owing a lot, Prisa will ask a lot — maybe as much as $6 billion.
But there are few other such corporate deals to judge whether this is a good price or not.
Transactions that do exist hardly run in Prisa’s favor.
Early this year, News Corp. ponied up $844 per subscriber for 14.6% of Premiere.
Buying up all Sogecable in order to sell its Digital Plus, Prisa’s paying an estimated $2,320 per Digital Plus client.
CEO Cebrian has underscored Digital Plus’ high average revenue per sub: $881 in 2007 vs. Premiere’s $459.
Yet sub growth potential — even from a low base — is limited (see chart) due to high pricing, piracy and a lack of VOD services.
Prisa will most likely try to buy time, extending debt deadlines or buying money, maybe via a bond-issue.
But one thing’s certain: the Digital Plus disposal will become a sell-a-thon.


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iPhone 6 orders are forecast to be the most in demand product in the 38 year history of the brand. Just last year analysts and journalists were bemoaning the death of the brand with the passing of Steve Jobs. What they didn’t account for was the culture he created and the empowerment he entrusted with Tim Cook to make the brand his own. When a real sense of mortality and reality set in with Jobs he seemingly spent a lot more of his genius focused on creating not just a new iPhone but a company culture inspired by his values of the intersection of art, technological innovation and emotive marketing. If you look at the list of recent hires from Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine, Angela Ahrendts, Marc Newson, Ben Shaffer, etc. Tim Cook is creating an unparalleled culture of creativity all built around the values Steve Job espoused and created the most interesting company training program in the world. In any business your most valuable asset is the team of people who work there, I think Tim Cook’s roster of talent may exceed the current market capitalization that is already the most valuable in the world.
Has any sports league imploded faster than the NFL over the last week? The Ray Rice video and the Adrian Peterson child abuse charges certainly seem like the tipping point in negative public sentiment against a league that has been bullet proof as a money minting machine. The big question is when will people stop watching? As a father of three daughters I find the whole week disturbingly repulsive and will skip football this Sunday for the first time in thirty or so years. I think that is the only way the owners will come to their senses and make a change at the top by firing Roger Goodell, unless they are unexpectedly influenced by Bill Simmon’s mailbag column. The only thing these guys understand is money and with the unforgettable video and graphic images of abuse how can the league ever recover?
Vice now has $500 million to build the next iteration of their business. It will be interesting to see where they go beyond expanding their footprint by covering different subjects and opening up new audience targets. Their core business is selling ads around video and delivering branded content targeting under 40 year old males, which is a valuable demographic (just look at NFL TV rights), how does this model scale beyond their current $2.5 billion valuation? From the previous investment by A&E and failed negotiations with Turner it was rumored they want to run a cable TV channel. My question is why? The shift towards on demand programming is moving at a rapid pace and the revenue model where cable providers pay high carriage fees is on the way out. There is also the high cost of creating enough TV quality content to fill a network schedule, their margins would unquestionably suffer. As eyeballs shift towards mobile devices (especially phones) it would make sense for them to focus on what has been delivering staggering growth at high margins in the near term. Regardless of how they move forward it will be one of the most interesting things to watch in the media and advertising space.
This Wall Street Journal article really got me thinking about whether there is a ceiling on all things sports related in the US market target both men and women. TV ratings continue to climb in the NFL, NCAA football, EPL soccer and the NBA in the face of double digit ratings declines for traditional TV programming. Next season Kevin Durant will earn more from Nike than he does playing for the Thunder. What will the ceiling be on all things sports related? Are yoga pants now considered business casual? How much will LeBron James demand if he hits the open market on his next Nike deal?
John Cassidy speculated as to why Mitt Romney hasn’t released his tax returns for the last 5-10 years in The New Yorker. Here are the reasons he outlined:
1. Extremely high levels of income. According to the tax filings and estimates he released earlier this year, Romney earned about $21.7 million in 2010 and $20.9 million in 2011—most of it from capital gains on investments related to Bain Capital. This is a lot of money, but Romney may well have earned considerably more in earlier years. His ten-year severance agreement with Bain Capital ended in 2009. The terms of it haven’t been revealed, but quite probably it allowed Romney to keep pocketing a substantial portion of the firm’s profits. And the years before 2008 were massively successful ones for Bain and other private-equity firms.
But even if Romney earned fifty million dollars a year in some years, would be that be sufficient reason for him to keep his returns secret? I doubt it. Americans don’t begrudge people a telephone-number income as long as they are perceived to have earned it. And insofar as any private-equity mogul earns the money he makes, Romney earned his. He created Bain Capital and ran it for (at least) fifteen years.
2. More offshore accounts. The Obama campaign has already made much of Romney’s Swiss bank account, his Bermuda-based investment company, and the income he receives from Bain Capital-related trusts that are domiciled in the Cayman Islands. It is perfectly possible that in the years before 2010, Romney and his financial advisers were even more aggressive in their use of overseas investment vehicles and tax shields. Hedge funds and private-equity funds, such as Bain Capital, routinely exploit offshore shell companies, to minimize their tax burdens but also to escape government regulation and oversight.
Here, too, though, I doubt whether this would be sufficient reason to justify not releasing the returns. Thanks to the Obama campaign, Romney’s name is already indubitably linked to offshore accounts. I doubt whether the average American is very shocked. Most people know full well that one of the reasons rich people employ so many fancy accountants and tax lawyers is to shield as much of their income from tax as possible, and that one of the ways they do this is by keeping cash offshore.
3. Politically explosive investments. Over the years, Bain Capital invested in all sorts of companies, including some that helped corporations outsource and offshore some of their operations, and one, a medical-waste-disposal company, that helped family-planning clinics to dispose of aborted fetuses. Romney, even after he left, kept much of his money in investment funds managed by the firm.
First I think all think all of these are true, I would like to speculate on point #3. What if his trust made bets against mortgage CDOs in 2007 or 2008 that delivered a huge return? By 2006 and 2007 the investment banks like Goldman Sachs that built the mortgage CDO industry began to bet against them in the form of credit default swaps usually sold by AIG. Goldman Sachs was the biggest of the profiteers at the expense of the American tax payer to the tune of a direct transfer from the treasury of $13.9 billion dollars which backed AIG’s bets at 100 cents on the dollar. If you add in the $8.4 billion AIG transferred in collateral they would transferred over $20 billion in risk that was covered by the US taxpayer. These default swaps would be extremely profitable for banks like Goldman as rates are similar to buying life insurance at a small premium and hoping they die quickly. What if Romney’s trust showed huge income from these sorts of investments while the US taxpayer was withering on the vine and their taxes were being used to bail out Romney’s hedge fund/investment bank ilk who took on extremely stupid risks? Is there a more made for TV political ad? Is this something the Romney campaign could recover from (I doubt it)? Romney released 10 years of records to the McCain campaign in 2008, some of these could have leaked to Obama campaign and they will be willing to spend all of their TV ad dollars until Romney is forced to release them knowing it will kill his campaign.
When Mark Cuban wasn’t winning NBA titles he was predicting exactly what was coming in the stock market on his blog post here. There was also a 60 Minutes piece on it. In essence all of the proprietary trading platforms that make split second trades can cause a market flash crash (or up swing) due to lack of human oversight. The huge influx of capital invested by these platforms and the number of trades they make has created a volatility bubble that is going to drive more and more “regular” people out of the market. How can a retiree or someone close to retirement see swings of 500 or 600 points every day and not panic and pull their money out of the market at a low point? I would go as far as to say this is exactly what Goldman Sachs and the rest of what Cuban refers to as “hackers” want to have happen. They want to create a volatility bubble and buy up securities at a 30-50% discount and then sell them back to all of poor schleps with 401Ks when enough confidence is mustered once the market goes back up 20-30%. So when Cuban asks what business they are in I think I know, their business model is creating bubbles and taking advantage the market swings and in essence working people who are not “in the know”. What can be done from a regulatory perspective? The SEC is useless, I mean Bernie Madoff was the Chairman of the Board of Directors and on the Board of Governors of the NASD for Christ’s sakes. If I were Obama I would put someone like Eric Schmidt in charge of the operation. The argument that he doesn’t have a financial background all the more positive to me, he was the CEO of Google I think he knows enough about finance to get by. What they need is someone who understands extremely complex systems and architecture to decipher what the hell is going on. To prove my point that people get bad advice from people who don’t know shit about finance read this article in the Boston Globe today about investment advisers are like sheep, that may well be true but they aren’t making any of these trades that have caused the volatility over the past week or so. Here are some points Cuban makes in his post:
The only people who know what business Wall Street is in are the traders. They know what business Wall Street is in better than everyone else. To traders, whether day traders or high frequency or somewhere in between, Wall Street has nothing to do with creating capital for businesses, its original goal. Wall Street is a platform. It’s a platform to be exploited by every technological and intellectual means possible.
The best analogy for traders ? They are hackers. Just as hackers search for and exploit operating system and application shortcomings, traders do the same thing. A hacker wants to jump in front of your shopping cart and grab your credit card and then sell it. A high frequency trader wants to jump in front of your trade and then sell that stock to you. A hacker will tell you that they are serving a purpose by identifying the weak links in your system. A trader will tell you they deserve the pennies they are making on the trade because they provide liquidity to the market.
Over just the past 3 years, the market has changed. It is getting increasingly difficult to just invest in companies you believe in. Discussion in the market place is not about the performance of specific companies and their returns. Discussion is about macro issues that impact all stocks. And those macro issues impact automated trading decisions, which impact any and every stock that is part of any and every index or ETF. Combine that with the leverage of derivatives tracking companies, indexes and other packages or the leveraged ETFs, and individual stocks become pawns in a much bigger game than I feel increasingly less comfortable playing. It is a game fraught with ever increasing risk.
Last week to much fanfare Amazon.com sold Lady Gaga’s new album for $.99 as a promotion for their new cloud music player. They sold 440,000 copies of the total 1,108,000 for the week, which was the best selling album since 2005. 662,000 copies of the total were sold via digital download giving Amazon a 66% share of the digital market for this particular album. Gaga’s record label confirmed that Amazon paid the full $9 wholesale cost of the album netting them a loss of $8 per sale (not factoring costs of delivering the album, etc.). That equates to a cost of $3.5 million for the promotion or a little more than a :30 spot during the Super Bowl. Was it worth it? Well, lets say it netted Amazon 200,000 new customers along with all of the earned media buzz, $3.5 million is still a lot of money but their timing seems to be perfect since Apple announced that they will be launching iCloud next week so anything Amazon can do to gain first mover status in the category will be needed to go head to head with what promises to be a cloud solution that is tightly integrated with the huge Apple ecosystem.
They don’t have any clients aside from their parent company but Google Creative Labs is coming out with the most engaging TV ads around these days. They connect emotionally to deliver a memorable message.
This ad for Chrome debuted on Saturday Night Live in conjunction with her appearance with Justin Timberlake. I don’t know if made more people switch from IE, Firefox or Safari but it connected the Google brands with a large, desirable audience….and I bet they didn’t pay Lady Gaga to appear as it is essentially a 1:30 commercial for her new album.
When my wife saw this spot for a Dad who tracks the childhood of his infant daughter through a suite of Google products made my wife cry. I was happy it wasn’t for diamonds or a car because I probably would have been shelling out for whatever they were selling.
The next spot “It Gets Better” probably demonstrates the power of the web to connect people (using Google products) and change a life more than all of the articles on TechCrunch ever could. I saw a few people post on Facebook how emotional the ad made them, an important timely message that delivers in 1:30.
Emotional advertising used to be the sole domain of Apple in computers (do people still use the word computer?) and electronics but Google is making more creative ads. I think a lot of people in the advertising industry wondered what they were up to when they put together their all star team for their in-house agency. I guess they wanted to make cool ads….imagine that.
Amazing data from Google regarding mobile device usage and their place in the consumer decision process. We live in the future. Highlights from the article:
- Search engine websites are the most visited websites with 77% of smartphone users citing this, followed by social networking, retail and video sharing websites
- Nine out of ten smartphone searches results in an action (purchasing, visiting a business, etc.)
- 24% recommended a brand or product to others as a result of a smartphone search
- 95% of smartphone users have looked for local information
- 88% of these users take action within a day, indicating these are immediate information needs
- 77% have contacted a business, with 61% calling and 59% visiting the local business
- 79% of smartphone consumers use their phones to help with shopping, from comparing prices, finding more product info to locating a retailer
- 74% of smartphone shoppers make a purchase, whether online, in-store, or on their phones
- 70% use their smartphones while in the store, reflecting varied purchase paths that often begin online or on their phones and brings consumers to the store
- 71% search on their phones because of an ad exposure, whether from traditional media (68%) to online ads (18%) to mobile ads (27%)
- 82% notice mobile ads, especially mobile display ads and a third notice mobile search ads
- Half of those who see a mobile ad take action, with 35% visiting a website and 49% making a purchase


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Andreas Conrad Nominated as the new Senior Vice President Operations of HARTING Technology Group
He will take over the management of a company in the automotive supplier and consumer goods industry as Chief Executive Officer
From the 1st of November, Andreas Conrad is the new Senior Vice President Operations at the HARTING Technology Group. He succeeds Torsten Ratzmann. Mr. Conrad graduated in mechanical engineering and later completed a further degree in industrial engineering on an extra-occupational basis. Mr. Conrad's last position was Managing Director at Schaeffler Technologies GmbH & Co. KG (Herzogenaurach) with responsibility for production and logistics at the Wuppertal site.
He was also responsible for the manufacturing plants in Romania, China, India and the USA as Head of Production. After eight years as Managing Director and most recently Senior Vice President Production and Logistics, Mr. Torsten Ratzmann will leave the HARTING Technology Group of his own accord by December 31, 2015 at the latest. He will take over the management of a company in the automotive supplier and consumer goods industry as Chief Executive Officer.


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|Processing fish for exports. Agro-processing is among areas Viet Nam wants UAE businesses to invest in. VNA/VNS Photo Minh Trí|
HÀ NỘI - Minister of Industry and Trade Trần Tuấn Anh has revealed plans to promote economic, trade and investment ties with the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
He was speaking at a business forum held in Hà Nội on Tuesday.
The Việt Nam-UAE Business Forum was organised during a visit by UAE Minister of Economy Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, along with some trade promotion organisations and about 20 major UAE businesses.
The UAE businesses present included import and export, textiles, farming products, processed foods, energy solutions, waste treatment, logistics, retail distribution and financial services.
In his speech, Minister Anh said the Vietnamese Government has always encouraged and created favourable conditions for foreign investors, including UAE companies.
The minister suggested that business communities of the two countries continue to have close cooperation with the State management agencies of Việt Nam and the UAE to exploit opportunities and promote economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries.
To enhance the bilateral relations the minister said UAE businesses should study investment in many areas such as infrastructure development for energy, logistics, oil, gas, renewable energy and energy saving.
Those areas also include chemical industry, supporting industry, materials production, agro-processing, food and industrial park construction in some potential economic areas of Việt Nam such as Central Highlands, South Central and Southwest.
At the forum, Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri said he appreciated the potential of Việt Nam’s market and the business opportunities during the economic development of Việt Nam.
In addition, Việt Nam’s participation in many free trade agreements (FTAs) would bring many opportunities and open its market for businesses from other countries to invest, including the UAE, he said.
According to Minister Mansouri, the two sides should continue to support activities to facilitate trade as well as connect the business communities.
At the business forum organised by Việt Nam's Ministry of Industry and Trade and UAE's Ministry of Economy, Vietnamese and UAE businesses signed cooperation agreements in investment and trade.
In the past, the governments of the two countries have had specific measures to improve efficiency in cooperation and expand the cooperation in all fields, especially trade, according to Minister Tuấn Anh. Businesses of Việt Nam and the UAE have had more and more contribution to the bilateral trade.
Statistics show bilateral trade has been growing strongly, reaching US$5.67 billion in 2018, up 1.3 per cent year on year. The figure is estimated at $4.26 billion in the first nine months of this year, down slightly from the same period of 2018.
Anh said Việt Nam had a number of competitive products with stable quality and prices including textile-garment, wood products, mobile phones, computers, electronic devices and footwear, which also have export potential in Arabian and Gulf countries.
For its part, the UAE is known for liquefied chemicals, animal feed and consumer goods, for which Việt Nam also has great demand.
Việt Nam, with a stable economic expansion of 6.5-7 per cent and a double-digit export growth rate, was an emerging market and also an opportunity for foreign businesses, including UAE firms, to capitalise on, the official noted. - VNS


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CVS buys home healthcare giant Signify Health for about $8 billion
The CVS logo is displayed in one of their stores near Bloomsburg.
Paul Weaver | Light rocket | Getty Images
CVS Health has closed a deal to acquire home health care provider Signify Health for about $8 billion, the companies said on Monday.
CVS said it will pay $30.50 per share of Signify, an acquisition that will be based on its growing healthcare services. Signify provides technology and analytics to help you care for patients at home.
“This acquisition will strengthen our relationship with consumers in the home and enable providers to better serve patients as we deliver on our vision to reimagine the healthcare experience,” Karen Lynch, President and CEO of CVS Health, said in a press release.
The deal is that competitors from Amazon to Walgreens are pushing further into the healthcare sector. In July, Amazon announced it was acquiring primary care provider One Medical for about $3.9 billion.
Shares of Signify Health are up nearly 45% over the past month, bringing their market value to about $6.7 billion at a price of $28.77 per share at Friday’s close, according to FactSet. Wall Street Magazine informed August 2 Signify is exploring strategic alternatives, including a sale.
Signify, which went public in February 2021, surged in late August after reports that Amazon was among the bidders.
Last month, CVS announced plans to acquire or acquire a stake in the primary health care company by the end of the year.
The Signify deal follows other acquisitions and shifts to primary care. CVS previously acquired Aetna insurance company and Caremark Pharmacy Benefits Manager, and customers can get vaccines or emergency care at MinuteClinic outposts inside its stores. Recently some stores have introduced mental health therapy.
The companies expect the acquisition, which requires regulatory approval, to be completed in the first half of next year.
The companies said private equity firm New Mountain Capital owns about 60% of Signify’s common stock and has agreed to support the deal.
CVS Health and Signify Health will meet with analysts and investors Tuesday at 8:30 am ET to discuss the deal.


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Ellton John has promised to make it up to his fans after his concert in Blackpool had to be abandoned because of bad weather. Just under two hours into his set he told them that the gig was over due to high winds at the outdoor Tower Headland arena.It was the opening concert at the brand new venue.
More top news
Commuters are facing major disruption after last night’s city centre fire caused part of the Metrolink to shut down.
The mum shot in the legs by a gunman who also shot her seven-year-old son has been named locally as Jayne Hickey.
Shopping baskets at a Tesco store in Wythenshawe are being security tagged after a surge in thefts.


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Tiny “microbeads” in beauty products seemed great, until someone tried to clean them up.
Sometimes product innovation turns out beautifully. Other times, it gets messy and requires a clean up. The story of plastic microbeads in personal care products–the tiny spheres in many body washes and toothpastes that Illinois became the first state to ban last week–is an example of the latter.
Some time in the 1990s, more and more beauty and cosmetics companies realized that microbeads answered a market demand: Women wanted to have glowing, younger-looking skin, but natural exfoliants used in many products–like ground up apricot or walnut shells–irritated their face. Plastic spheres, on the other hand, could slough off dead skin and dirt without being too harsh that a customer wouldn’t want to use it every day. They also could give lotions a creamier, silkier texture and help fill in facial lines. More and more brands began new “gently scrubbing” cleansers, and today, microbeads are ubiquitous on drug store shelves, in hundreds of products.
But all of this innovation also gets washed down the drain, and that’s the problem. Because the spheres are too small to be removed in many wastewater treatment plants, they end up in the lakes, oceans, and other waterways. Instead of decomposing, they just float around, and toxins like pesticides and PCBs that already are in the water can cling to their surfaces. Eventually, the plastics can wind up in the stomachs of birds and even seafood that humans eat, though the extent that this is happening is not known.
The Latest on: Microbeads
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Microbeads” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Microbeads
- A Simple Technique for Removing Microplastics from Drinking Water Revealed by Researchon March 4, 2024 at 8:01 pm
As microplastic fragments increasingly infiltrate our systems, largely through consumption of contaminated food and drink, scientists are seeking effective solutions to combat this issue. Researchers ...
- Destroying microplastics in tap water is surprisingly simpleon March 4, 2024 at 6:32 pm
In an age where nano- and microplastics (NMPs) pervade our environment, the quest for feasible solutions to destroy them intensifies.
- What will it take to make truly compostable plastic?on March 4, 2024 at 5:00 am
Materials scientists are cooking up environmentally friendly polymers from natural sources like silk, plant fibers and whole algae. Economics and acceptance remain hurdles.
- How a single-use coffee cup could now cost you up to $5,000 in this stateon March 2, 2024 at 12:59 am
Western Australia is the first state to ban single-use, non-compostable coffee cups with individuals and businesses who fail to comply threatened with hefty fines.
- Western Australia becomes first state to ban non-compostable takeaway coffee cups, saving millions from landfillon March 1, 2024 at 11:09 pm
The state's environment minister says more than 150 million coffee cups will be saved from landfill each year.
- Australia's first ban on single-use plastic coffee cups comes into effect in Western Australiaon March 1, 2024 at 8:30 pm
Also banned on Friday were unlidded disposable plastic food trays, such as sushi trays and bento boxes. Bans on several items, including microbeads and cotton bud sticks, came into effect in 2023, ...
- Plastic coffee cups tamped out in nation-first banon March 1, 2024 at 7:37 pm
Caffeine addicts will have to get used to compostable cups or bring their own after Australia's first ban on plastic-lined takeaway coffee cups took effect.
- The 11 best bikini hair removal products, tested and reviewedon March 1, 2024 at 1:55 pm
Below, you'll find the best bikini hair removal products in every category based on the results ... She also recommends using an exfoliant made without harsh ingredients, microbeads, or acids to ...
- Australians are washing microplastics down the drain and it's ending up on farmson February 18, 2024 at 6:20 am
Australian wastewater treatment plants produce thousands of tons of treated sewage sludge every year. This nutrient-rich material is then dried to make "biosolids," which are used to fertilize ...
- Bye bye microbeads! Here are Liz Earle's alternativeson January 17, 2021 at 6:16 pm
Each year billions of tiny plastic beads pollute our seas because of the use of beauty products containing microbeads. Last week, the UK government announced plans to ban microbeads in cosmetics ...
via Bing News


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SINGAPORE - HP has officially opened its new S$100 million Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ) campus in Singapore, bringing together for the first time more than 3,000 employees from 35 nationalities onto a single location to carry out sales, logistics and research and development for the region.
Located in Depot Close, the campus spans over 450,000 sq ft and is designed to leverage natural lighting and intelligent controls to conserve energy. It includes collaborative spaces, mobility solutions, as well as a research and prototyping facility.
It also features a new Customer Welcome Centre that will allow customers and partners to explore tailored HP solutions based on their needs or target markets.
Richard Bailey, president for APJ at HP, said: "The Singapore Campus is a reflection of our drive to constantly reinvent the way we work as well as develop new technologies to enhance productivity and efficiency across our global operations."
HP on Wednesday (Dec 13) also unveiled its world's first Smart Manufacturing Applications and Research Centre (Smarc), a 6,000 sq ft facility located within its new APJ campus. Smarc seeks to "help digitally transform and reinvent" HP's supplies manufacturing processes by using digital technologies such as additive manufacturing (3D printing), advanced robotics, and large-scale data analytics.
Smarc's target is to improve productivity in HP's supplies manufacturing processes by at least 20 per cent. The centre, which comprises four labs, is manned by a team of engineers who oversee more than 50 supplies manufacturing lines globally. Successful developments from Smarc will be implemented across HP's supplies manufacturing lines across the world.
Mr S. Iswaran, Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry), who was guest of honour at HP's official opening event, highlighted Singapore's commitment to ensure the sustainability and competitiveness of its manufacturing sector.
He added: "HP is also an important partner in our efforts to raise the capabilities of our SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises)." The minister said that HP has for instance, partnered local SME suppliers Mega Plus Technology and Super Pak Manufacturing - under the Partnership for Capability Transformation programme - to create a more environmentally-friendly packaging for ink canisters.


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States team up to collect `use taxes' from out-of-state shoppers
People who recently bought an appliance, boat, jewelry, or other consumer item out of state may soon receive a bill from their state's tax department. State taxing agencies, facing revenue losses from cross-border sales and the fast-growing mail-order business, are going after consumers who either deliberately avoid paying these sales taxes, or who don't know they have a tax liability.
While the states have tried several tactics to collect the taxes, one of the latest is the interstate tax compact. The compacts are formed to collect ``use taxes,'' which are duties imposed on the consumer who does not pay a direct sales tax and are assessed for the ``privilege'' of using items from out of state. Historically, use tax laws have been difficult to enforce: If consumers did not step forward, it was virtually impossible to identify who owed the tax.
Under provisions of the Great Lakes States Sales Tax Compact, formed in July 1986, businesses are encouraged to collect use tax for other states in the compact. So if an Indianapolis merchant ships merchandise to a consumer in Michigan, the merchant won't impose a direct sales tax, but will levy the Michigan use tax and later turn it over to that state.
If a business does not collect the tax voluntarily - the law prohibits one state from ordering businesses in another state to cooperate - the compact has a provision for identifying those consumers who owe taxes.
For example, an Indianapolis business that ships merchandise to Michigan is subject to business laws in Indiana. A state tax auditor can order the business to produce lists of customers in Michigan. This list is turned over to Michigan officials to see if the buyer paid his use tax.
From the time the program began until the middle of August, the Illinois Department of Revenue, using lists supplied by Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin, had sent out 277 bills seeking over $82,000 in unpaid taxes. One high-level Chicago executive was hit with a use tax of $13,000 for a yacht purchased in 1985, says department spokesman Verenda Smith. He was also charged interest of $4,700 and assessed a penalty of nearly $1,000.
The Great Lakes tax compact is one of many either in existence or being formed, says John Gambill of the National Association of Tax Administrators. The first was the New York-New Jersey compact formed in February 1986. Louisiana and Mississippi recently signed an agreement, and the Tri-State Compact for Sales/Use Tax Enforcement has just been formed by Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.
If direct-marketing companies do not advertise, maintain facilities, or otherwise have an out-of-state business presence, they are not required to charge sales tax. The Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations estimates that up to $1.5 billion is lost each year to state and local governments because of the inability to tax direct-marketing sales.
Tax agency officials contend that the use tax is a protection for home-state businesses. Without the tax, they say, out-of-state businesses would draw consumers across the borders with lower prices.
But Robert Levering of the Direct Marketing Association argues that the loss is only about half that. He says many mail order companies are opening stores and distribution centers in more states, and then charging sales taxes there.
Direct-marketing firms have vigorously opposed formation of the interstate compacts. According to Mark Bugher, deputy secretary of the Wisconsin Revenue Department, the direct-marketing companies are a ``very formidable force in this state.'' When they saw what they believed to be the ``first small step toward nationwide sales tax collection,'' they mounted a strong campaign and were sufficiently persuasive that Gov. Tommy Thompson ordered the Wisconsin Department of Revenue to withdraw from the Great Lakes compact, Mr. Bugher says.
While not aimed at imposing a national sales tax, there have been efforts in Congress to force businesses to collect use taxes. A bill introduced by Rep. Jack Brooks (D) of Texas would give states the authority to require out-of-state companies that are ``soliciting'' customers across borders to collect use tax for these states.


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If you’re willing to wait an hour for it to boot up, you can enjoy the ludicrous pleasures of running Windows 95 on an Apple Watch.
TECHCRUNCH: Telegram is poised to come out with Apple Watch support and, as I hinted, a brand new Bot platform (this will be in Telegram 3.0 for iOS). If you want you can also get a preview here. Pavel Durov of VK.com fame, recently explained to me how the Bot API and platform will allow third-party developers to create Bots which are simply Telegram accounts operated by software sporting A.I.-like features. (more…)
THE NEXT WEB: Jawbone has announced that its new UP4 fitness tracker which monitors users’ activity, sleep, heart rate and also allows payments via American Express. The $200 wrist-worn device lets users with an eligible American Express Card connect their accounts with Jawbone’s app and tap the UP4 on a store terminal to pay for their purchases. (more…)


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Apple Music has just been announced, signalling Apple’s intentions to seriously rival Spotify as a music streaming service. The company unveiled Apple Music at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).
The new app combines a streaming song and music video library, an internet radio station and allows artists to share unreleased tracks and other material. User input and computer algorithms will also be used to recommend songs.
The UK will be the first country outside of the US to get the Apple Music service. It’ll host several radio stations, one of which includes the Beats 1 radio station. Ex-BBC DJ Zane Lowe is amongst many big names who will be hosting on the station. You can also ask Siri to play a song from a movie soundtrack or year without needing to know the track’s name.
Apple Music and Beats
The team behind the Beats Music service built Apple Music. Apple acquired Beats Music back in 2014.
“2015, music industry is a fragmented mess. Do you wanna stream music? You can go over here. If you wanna stream video, you can check some of these places out. If you wanna follow some artists, there’s more confusions with that,” said Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine as he introduced Apple Music on-stage at WWDC.
“So I reached out to [Apple executives] Tim Cook and Eddy Cue and said: ‘Guys, can we build a bigger and better ecosystem with the elegance and simplicity that only Apple can do?’ … All the ways you love music, all in one place, and that place is in almost a billion hands all around the world already: one single app on your iPhone.”
The service will launch in over 100 countries on 30 June and would cost $9.99 (£6.50) a month for one person in the US – the same as Spotify. Families of up to six people can also sign up for $14.99. Users won’t need to pay a fee to listen to Beats 1.
Mac and iOS devices will be the first to get the service, with Android devices getting it later in the year.
For more on Apple, visit What Mobile’s dedicated Apple page.


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Bankrupt balloon company sold $350,000 in unused tickets
The Great American Balloon Company sold at least $350,000 worth of tickets that were never used to consumers in Wisconsin, Illinois and Florida.
The company that had been named as its assignee/trustee on behalf of its creditors, Moglia Advisors, reported the figure in a notice to consumers looking to get money back from the now-defunct hot-air balloon company.
“The books and records of the company are incomplete, with financial statements not having been prepared on a timely basis,” the notice from Moglia reads. “A preliminary review of the records available to the assignee indicates that approximately $350,000 of unused flight ticket liability may exist, dating back through at least 2010. Other liabilities may exist.”
Tickets routinely sold for $175-$225. Since News 3 first reported the company’s demise last month, numerous people around southern Wisconsin have contacted us about holding tickets and having flights cancelled as many as 20 times. Some consumers say they paid up to $1,000 for multiple tickets through the company more than two years ago and never had the chance to redeem their purchases.
The notice states that “the only assets of significance are believed to be six hot air balloons and related equipment,” which will be sold in an auction on Sept. 12 at 9 a.m. The Great American Balloon Company served as the parent company for Sunbird Balloons, LLC, Token Creek Hot Air Balloon Company, LLC, Windy City Balloon Port, LLC, Sky Rides, LLC and Cloud 9 Balloon Port, LLC.
Consumers should begin receiving the notice by mail or email this week. Enclosed is a form they will need to fill out and they are being encouraged to provide proof of their ticket purchase while retaining copies for themselves.
“It is uncertain at this time what the Assignee’s sale will generate in terms of proceeds or whether adequate funds will be generated in order to make any distribution to creditors, whether on a pro rata basis or otherwise,” the notice reads. “However, creditors are encouraged to submit their claims for any unused ticket refunds or any other amounts believe to be owed by the company to the assignee for review.”
Consumers holding unused tickets should send an email to: firstname.lastname@example.org in order to get the claim form necessary for any possible reimbursement.


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They revealed the packages were "designed to cause real harm".
Three explosive devices were mailed separately to football manager Neil Lennon, lawyer Paul McBride QC and former Labour MSP Trish Godman.
They were initially thought to be hoax packages but analysis has revealed they were viable bombs that could have gone off. A package addressed to Mr Lennon was intercepted at the Royal Mail sorting office in Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire, on March 26.
On March 28 a parcel for Ms Godman was intercepted at her constituency office and, on April 15, a package was intercepted en route to Mr McBride, who has represented the football manager during a dispute with the Scottish Football Association.
Strathclyde Police are investigating and have offered safety advice to the intended recipients of the packages as well as to Royal Mail staff and workers in the mail room at Celtic. It is the latest in a series of incidents targeting people linked with the football club.
Earlier this year packages containing bullets were sent to Lennon and to Celtic players Paddy McCourt and Niall McGinn, all three of whom are from Northern Ireland.
Ms Godman has previously been pictured wearing a Celtic top at the Scottish Parliament.
Detective Superintendent John Mitchell of Strathclyde police said sending the packages was a "despicable and cowardly act".Reuse content


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Mayor Ford reiterated his pro-subway stance during a special council meeting on the future of transit in Toronto. He asked that the matter be postponed for 30 days until an expert panel’s review is complete. Stintz reiterated her pro-LRT stance.
Morning Webcast: Scotland rejects independence and hundreds line up to buy the new iPhones.
Scotland has rejected independence and hundreds have lined up at the Apple store at the Toronto Eaton Centre to buy the new iPhones.


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Want to turn your smartphone into a cosmic ray detector? Well there’s an app for that. Cosmic Rays Found in Smartphones, or CRAYFIS, uses smartphones’ and tablets’ standard camera equipment to detect some of the super-rare particles that shower down on the Earth when a high-energy cosmic ray hits the atmosphere. CRAYFIS collects that data, then sends them onto physicists at the University of California’s Irvine and Davis campuses for analysis.
You don’t have to do anything yourself except download CRAYFIS. The app is supposed to work a bit like SETI@home or Folding@home, two programs that allowed ordinary people to donate idle computer memory to massive science projects. In this case, CRAYFIS is designed to switch on when it senses the phone is plugged in and has been idle for a few minutes.
One fun bonus: If you sign up for CRAYFIS with your full name and scientists use data from your phone in a scientific paper, the science team will list you as one of the paper’s authors, the CRAYFIS website promises. Users may also choose to send their data anonymously.
The app works by detecting high-energy photons, which are abundant in cosmic ray-induced particle showers, plus a type of particle called a muon. Photons are particles of light, which cellphone cameras are already built to detect. Camera equipment is tuned for photons in the visible light spectrum, but they still work for the higher-energy photons present in particle showers, according to a paper the California team wrote. (The paper hasn’t yet been peer-reviewed.) In addition, the team wrote, photodiodes in cameras will also interact with muons, which are charged particles that easily pass through buildings, phone cases, and other obstacles.
Besides the phone’s camera, CRAYFIS will also use the phone’s GPS to locate where particles land, and the phone’s Wi-Fi to send data to servers.
Cosmic rays hit the atmosphere regularly, but scientists still know little about the highest-energy rays. Where do they come from? What can they tell us about the early universe? A number of astronomical observatories measure cosmic rays as they come in, including the Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina, but the California team thinks its app could be another, cheaper way to study cosmic rays.
The app is in beta testing right now, but you can sign up to try it on the CRAYFIS website. It’s supposed to be available for Apple and Android devices.


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Author Salman Rushdie is clear to use the moniker on his Facebook profile, after defeating the firm’s strict naming policy which required him to use his lesser-known first name, Ahmed.
Huawei is spending $530 million (€390 million) to buy out Symantec's 49% stake in Huawei Symantec, a joint venture that markets security solutions.
Google has published the source code for Android 4.0, however the code is more likely to benefit larger device vendors with stronger ties to the search giant.
Samsung is not seeking an injunction on the iPhone 4S in South Korea, in a move which appears to be driven by PR concerns.
Egypt’s spring revolution continues to cost carriers dear, with Telecom Egypt yesterday revealing 3Q net profit fell 21% year-on-year, while revenue declined 10%.


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CARACAS—Police in Venezuela say they have seized nearly 2,500 rolls of toilet paper in an overnight raid of a clandestine warehouse storing scarce goods.
The Thursday announcement on Twitter said that the officers raiding the garage in western Caracas also seized about 400 diapers and 7,000 litres of fruit juice.
The World Daily: Venezuelans missing toilet paper, wine
Police chief Luis Karabin told Venezuelan news agency AVN that police, acting on a telephone tip, found “merchandise that we know is scarce on the shelves and doesn’t reach the people.”
Toilet paper is hard to find in Venezuelan grocery stores, as are staple food items such as sugar, milk and cooking oil.
The government vowed earlier this month to import 50 million rolls of toilet paper to boost supplies.
Economists say Venezuela’s shortages stem from price controls meant to make basic goods available to the poorest parts of society and the government’s controls on foreign currency.
“State-controlled prices — prices that are set below market-clearing price — always result in shortages. The shortage problem will only get worse, as it did over the years in the Soviet Union,” said Steve Hanke, professor of economics at Johns Hopkins University.
President Nicolas Maduro, who was selected by the dying Hugo Chavez to carry on his “Bolivarian revolution,” claims that anti-government forces, including the private sector, are causing the shortages in an effort to destabilize the country.
Commerce Minister Alejandro Fleming blamed the shortage of toilet tissue on “excessive demand” built up as a result of “a media campaign that has been generated to disrupt the country.”
Patience is wearing thin among consumers who face shortages and long lines at supermarkets and pharmacies. Last month, Venezuela’s scarcity index reached its highest level since 2009, while the 12-month inflation rate has risen to nearly 30 per cent. Shoppers often spend several days looking for basic items, and stock up when they find them.


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Trade-Off Gets Tougher Between Security, Convenience
Voice biometrics, fingerprint recognition, device ID and behavioral analytics are at long last becoming accurate and convenient enough for prime time.May 12
An RSA cybercrime expert walks us through a typical online/mobile banking attack with a new twist: an SMS forwarder that steals authentication codes.June 10
An old dilemma is growing more vexing as cybercriminals get better at impersonating customers to loot their accounts and as regulators increasingly push banks to adopt multifactor authentication.
The stronger security features designed to keep fraudsters out — passcode key fobs, for instance, and so-called challenge questions (What was the name of your best friend in elementary school?) — can also block legitimate customers from accessing their own accounts. Many banks' mobile apps' listings in the app stores are littered with complaints from customers who had trouble logging in to their accounts. The same is true for desktop banking.
"What customers get frustrated with is if we lock them out of their online banking because they're using their cousin's computer on Christmas break, so they've logged in from a different state, on a different computer with a different IP address, and they can't remember what city their parents met in," said Dominic Venturo, chief innovation officer at U.S. Bank. "All they were trying to do was transfer money so they could cover some yearend expense. They get pretty crabby about that."
Insisting that customers provide a passcode from a multifactor token they may have lost, accidentally run through the washing machine or simply left at home won't go over well.
The challenge of toughening security without irritating customers is part of broader cultural changes in our society.
"In this new age of the digital world, customers are finding that lots of things they do are easy, like restaurant reservations, with no consequence from a liability or loss point of view," said Arkadi Kuhlmann, CEO of the startup Zenbanx and founder of ING Direct. "So the expectation is I should be able to access, move and do things with my money as easily as making a restaurant reservation."
This puts a lot of pressure on banks. "If there are losses, the customer doesn't want to take responsibility or the loss," Kuhlmann said. But if banks tighten security, making access to money more difficult, then people are unhappy.
"You are between rock and a hard spot," he said.
The impetus for tighter security is growing stronger. In a November letter to all the national bank regulators, the New York State Department of Financial Services called for stronger cybersecurity requirements for banks, including the use of multifactor authentication for customers and employees.
Yet help from law enforcement agencies is not always forthcoming, Kuhlmann said. "When we talk to law enforcement about terrorists, we get attention. When we talk to them about fraudulent activity — they only have so many resources."
Meanwhile, malware and social engineering attacks grow ever more sophisticated and effective, sometimes drawing on personally identifiable data stolen in breaches and available on the black market. Security blogger Brian Krebs described in a recent post how a cybercriminal took over his PayPal account by getting his password reset through the company's call center. The lesson, he said, is that banks ought to at least make two-factor authentication available. (PayPal does offer mobile authentication — a code texted to the user's smartphone — but doesn't require or promote it.)
"It behooves any company doing business online to at least offer two-step or two-factor authentication," Krebs said. "They don't need to mandate it, but for those of us who would take advantage of that added account security, it's a huge plus."
Krebs also acknowledges the need for a balance between security and usability.
"It makes a lot of sense for those organizations to invest in the kinds of back-end technologies that can help minimize account takeovers," he said.
Many banks do. U.S. Bank, for example, does a lot of its security work in the background, to minimize the impact on customers. Like other banks, it applies algorithmic logic to check the device identity and location and the user's behavior patterns, among other things. The bank also offers voice authentication on Apple devices, as well as the ability to instantly lock down all a customer's accounts when a device is reported stolen.
Wells Fargo and USAA also use voice recognition in their apps and call centers to confirm customers' identities and detect bad actors.
"That strikes me as a tremendous benefit for companies, because the people involved in account takeovers are generally doing this on a large scale, and will very often call in to banks and try to assume the identity of multiple individuals," Krebs said. "Rarely are these one-off cases."
Apple made fingerprint recognition popular by including Touch ID fingerprint recognition technology on iPhones and making it part of Apple Pay. Apple device users tend to complain when a mobile banking app doesn't support TouchID — they have grasped the ease of use if not the security benefits. Citi, Chase and Bank of the West are among those using it to let customers log in to mobile banking with the press of a finger.
Atom Bank, a digital "challenger bank" in the U.K., recently announced that it is using face and voice biometrics as credentials for customers logging in. (USAA and Zenbanx are among the U.S. companies that have adopted facial recognition.)
So there are options for forging that middle way between convenience and security. But getting the majority of core banking software providers to support them, banks to invest in them, and consumers to use them, will continue to be an uphill battle for some time.
Editor at Large Penny Crosman welcomes feedback at firstname.lastname@example.org.


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CPA issues clarification on rising metal prices | Oman weather
Muscat: The Consumer Protection Authority (CPA) has released a clarification regarding the increase in metal prices in Oman markets.
A statement released online by the Consumer Protection Authority (CPA) said: “The Authority has followed with interest the surge in metal prices that the Sultanate’s markets are witnessing recently, and after research and studies , it became clear that this increase is not only at the level of the Sultanate, but also of many countries around the world, countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, where the high cost of metal fabrication has led to a price increase.
The rise in prices is contributed to the following reasons, an increase in commodity prices for the metal (falls) from India and some Asian countries to the GCC, at rates ranging from 35% to 40%, due of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has dramatically affected business and commerce due to high and rapidly increasing infections, as well as a 65% increase in shipping prices as countries around the world have almost completely shut down their ports and that India has closed its ports 100%, which has led to a scarcity of raw materials in the metallurgical industry. In addition, China has taken a series of measures that have contributed to the rise in iron prices. The decline in production from Brazil, which is the largest producer of raw metal in the world, has also played a role, as has the instability of production at steel plants abroad. “
Initial expectations indicate that prices will continue to rise if the situation continues as it is, noting that global efforts are being made to reduce the prices of raw metals in order to control rising world prices in light of falling demand. and economic stagnation in most countries around the world due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the other hand, the Authority ensured that it was fulfilling its role by monitoring suppliers and importers to avoid the exploitation of the current situation and by storing iron to make more profit at the expense of the consumer.
He also advised consumers to postpone the decision to purchase or not to purchase huge quantities at once, so as not to place a burden on them at present, and stressed the need for them to continue to follow the prices firsthand.


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The FDA's commissioner testified before the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Wednesday and revealed the health regulator has asked multiple federal agencies to help it investigate recent vaping-related illnesses.
Acting Commissioner Ned Sharpless told lawmakers the FDA's investigation is focused on identifying what products are causing the illnesses and "following the supply chain to the source."
"Because many of the products associated with cases contain THC oils, we have engaged the DEA to help with our investigation," said Sharpless.
In written testimony, Sharpless also revealed his agency is working with Customs and Border Protection to help "identify potential illicit FDA-regulated products at the border."
At the hearing, Sharpless doubled down on a previous announcement that the agency would be criminally investigating vape-related illnesses, with a focus more on potential suppliers than users.
"But to be clear, if we determine that someone is manufacturing or distributing illicit, adulterated vaping products that caused illness and death for personal profit, we would consider that to be a criminal act," said Sharpless.
Around the same time as his testimony, the Georgia Department of Public Health announced it had "identified the state's first death from a vaping-associated illness." That, plus a death in Florida, brought the U.S. death toll to 11 as of Wednesday.


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We've improved Slashdot's video section; now you can view our video interviews, product close-ups and site visits with all the usual Slashdot options to comment, share, etc. No more walled garden! It's a work in progress -- we hope you'll check it out (Learn more about the recent updates).
timothy from the this-golden-goose-soup-is-delicious dept.
theodp writes "Recalling that CEO Jeff Bezos originally explored placing Amazon.com on an Indian Reservation near San Francisco to 'have access to talent without all the tax consequences,' the NY Times argues it's time to put an end to the e-tailer's 'entity isolation' tax-avoidance games. The LA Times chimes in, saying Amazon's claims that collecting sales tax constitute an undue burden are 'worth a horselaugh,' noting that Amazon boasts it has no problem keeping track of millions of unique products."
"What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is
the exact opposite."
-- Bertrand Russell, _Sceptical_Essays_, 1928


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College Bookstore to open in Providence
Posted On July 19, 2021
The Providence College bookstore, the first to open within the same building since its founding in 1892, will be opening in Providence’s historic Old Town.
The bookstore, at 2 Washington St., will feature a wide selection of academic books and other reading materials.
It will also include a dedicated reading room.
The College Bookshop, which was opened by the College Board in January 2018, is part of the new College of William and Mary, which also is adding a new section, “Read and Learn,” in the basement.
The College Book Shop, which opened in January, will feature an expanded library, a new bookstore and an interactive program.
The new bookstore is part a larger effort by the college to expand its educational offerings.
The new store will be the first of its kind in the United States.
It is part the College of Willamette University, which has been in the works for several years, and is one of only three U.S. college bookstores to be part of a single corporation.
The college bookstore, which will include a wide range of academic titles and other literature, is slated to open its doors to students in late 2019.
The first 100 customers will be given a chance to buy the books in person before they are distributed.
The remaining 100 will be able to purchase the books from the online store.


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Chile: Consumer confidence jumps in December
Despite the significant increase, the index remains below the 50-point threshold separating pessimism from optimism.
December’s rise was driven by a large improvement in consumers’ views of the country’s economic prospects over the next 12 months.
Consumers also became more optimistic regarding their personal economic situation, the country’s current economic situation and Chile’s economic stability over the next five years.
Consumers’ willingness to purchase household items was the only sub-category of the index which dropped in December.
Panelists participating in the LatinFocus Consensus Forecast expect total consumption to grow 2.2% in 2017, which is up 0.1 percentage points from last month’s forecast.
For 2018, the panel sees total consumption increasing 2.8%. ■


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The company that revolutionized the way urban residents travel is taking on the mayor of New York City. Uber users in New York City will notice something is a little different when they open up the app on their smartphones.
You’ve probably heard of UberX, UberBlack, UberXL, and even UberCopter. But the ride-sharing service released what could be its most exciting tab yet: "De Blasio" mode.
The company founded in 2009 and operating in over 300 cities worldwide has been in a messy fight with the mayor over his proposed new bill that would cap the number of cars Uber could have on the streets. The mayor says the new law is necessary to combat congestion, but Uber believes it is nothing more than an attempt to hurt them because taxicab unions have donated millions to de Blasio.
When switched to "De Blasio" mode, a message appears warning customers of the consequences of de Blasio’s plan the New York Post reported. Uber asserts wait times for rides will skyrocket up to 25 minutes longer if their growth is capped.
"This is what Uber will look like in NYC if Mayor de Blasio’s Uber cap bill passes. Email the Mayor and City Council. Say ‘NO’ to de Blasio’s Uber!"
New "De Blasio" option in Uber tells you how long rides will take if NYC mayor's legislation passes. Only Uber. pic.twitter.com/Hx2u9ggzZd
— Ben Cunningham (@codeblue87) July 16, 2015
The feature shows no cars available and highlights increased prices as part of their powerful and effective demonstration.
That is not the only attack Uber has launched to discredit the mayor. The company released a minute-long ad airing in New York and its suburbs that highlights the good pay and quality service the app provides.
"The public has a right to know what’s behind the Mayor’s push to cap Uber and to hear directly from real Uber drivers about the economic consequences of his proposal," an Uber spokesperson said. "The real story here is campaign contributions, not congestion."
Hillary Clinton is not a fan of the convenience Uber offers drivers and riders. In an economic policy speech on Monday, she criticized the company’s business model. Jeb Bush, on the other hand, used the ride-sharing service in San Francisco.
Obama’s 2008 campaign manager, now Uber’s chief political strategist, David Plouffe has had to consistently fight liberal cities loyal to taxicab unions such as Portland, Seattle, and Denver.
"Mayor de Blasio’s plan to stop Uber will cost 10,000 jobs, hurt underserved areas and make wait times for Uber cars skyrocket," Plouffe said in a released statement. "With this view, New York City riders can see for themselves how much time this political payback to big taxi owners will cost them."
De Blasio, who frames himself as a populist champion of the poor and middle class, has yet to comment on Uber’s creative protest.


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B&Q is thought to be planning a £460million overhaul to expand out of the failing DIY market.
The chain will move away from its image as the home of do-it-yourself into home furnishings.
It will introduce about 4,000 upmarket furnishings, wallpaper and paint lines to appeal more to women and the lucrative decorating market.
It also wants a "do-it-for-me" image, with a "Let's do it" slogan replacing the "You can do it" strapline which it has used for about 20 years.
The Kingfisher-owned group said sales fell 2.3 per cent in 10 weeks to July 14 as rain and interest rates hit summer sales.
Refits for some of the chain's stores have also been postponed ahead of an announcement on Thursday.


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Quintiles Transnational, the world’s largest pharmaceuticals services company, expects to rapidly expand its business in Asia over the next five to 10 years as rising incomes in the region spur "dramatic" growth for new medicines.
In an interview with the Financial Times in Singapore, CEO Dennis Gillings said that Durham-based Quintiles has expanded strongly through the global economic slump because big pharmaceutical companies have stepped up efforts to cut costs by outsourcing sales and research.
Gillings, a former UNC-Chapel Hill professor who founded Quintiles more than 25 years ago in a trailer, told the newspaper that the company's Asian business will increase from a fifth of its global total to 25 percent within two years, and then to a third in five to 10 years.
“The reason to move to Asia is that is where the economies are growing, the amount of pharmaceuticals that gets sold is growing dramatically and the research base is growing from scratch and expanding,” he said in the interview.
Gillings orchestrated a buyout that took Quintiles private in 2003, and the company doesn't disclose detailed financial results. But Gillings said its research, sales, consulting and agency businesses earn global annual revenue of a little less than $3 billion.
Quintiles moved into a new world headquarters just off I-40 at the edge of Research Triangle Park in March. The company employs about 24,000 worldwide and 1,700 in the Triangle.
Read the full Financial Times story here.


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Retail: Tesco suffers further fall in market share ahead of expected fall in profits
- Credit: PA
Tesco sales are falling at the fastest rate in the grocery industry as the ongoing price war continues to benefit shoppers and squeeze the major retailers, according to new market data.
The supermarket, which is expected reveal a steep fall in half-year profits on Thursday after a £250million shortfall in its accounts, saw its sales fall 3.6% in the 12 weeks to October 12, the figures from Kantar Worldpanel showed today..
Its market share declined to 28.8% from 30.1% a year earlier although Tesco will draw some comfort from the sales decline being the weakest since June.
The grocery market continues to show discount retailers Aldi and Lidl growing their share, albeit at a slightly slower rate, while upmarket rival Waitrose achieved a record market position after a strong rise in sales.
Grocery prices fell by 0.2%, a record since Kantar’s records began in 2006, as the growth of Aldi and Lidl continues to drag prices down across the industry.
Among the big four supermarkets Asda, which embarked on price cuts before its peers last year, was the only firm to make gains. Its sales lifted 1%, and its market share rose to 17.3% from 17.2% over the 12 months.
Sainsbury’s saw its sales fall 3.1% and its market share slip to 16.1% from 16.7%. Sales at Morrisons declined 1.8%, with its market share dropping to 11% from 11.2%.
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The German discounters continued to attract increasing amounts of shoppers, but at a slower rate to suggest that price cutting by rivals may be beginning to have an effect. Aldi saw its sales jump 27.3% and its market share lift to 4.8% from 3.8% while Sales at Lidl rose 18.1% as its market share increased to 3.5% from 3%.
Kantar’s head of retail and consumer insight Fraser McKevitt said: “While the supermarkets are battling it out on price, the real winners are consumers.
“Extensive price cutting by some supermarkets in a bid to win the price war means that customers are saving on everyday items such as vegetables and milk.”
Meanwhile at the top end of the market Waitrose saw its market share rise to a record 5.2% from 4.9% a year earlier, while sales lifted 6.8%.
Mr McKevitt added: “We are seeing clear polarisation of the market with both the premium and discount ends of the market gaining share, while the mainstream grocers continue to be squeezed in the middle.”