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Mercedes-Benz*, SolarMax Technology and sonnen investments in residential storage are a testament to their belief in the market’s future
Last year, U.S. grid-tied residential battery storage system deployments outnumbered new off-grid and grid-independent systems for the first time, according to GTM Research’s U.S. Residential Battery Storage Playbook 2017. By the end of 2017, grid-connected installations were expected to make up 57% of annual residential storage deployments, and a whopping 99% by 2022.
High solar penetration and storage programs make Hawaii and California leading states for storage, but areas with high electricity rates and need for backup power like the Caribbean hold potential for storage too. Maryland is taking a step toward storage with a new tax credit, and Nevada is working on an incentive program for storage as well. Utility programs could also encourage storage in areas like Georgia, Alabama, Utah, New York and Vermont.
Market potential attracts manufacturers
With so much opportunity, manufacturers are entering the storage market to get a piece of the pie. In late 2016, automotive giant Mercedes-Benz announced it was expanding its stationary energy storage business to the U.S. market. Boris von Bormann, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Energy Americas, explained that the company was already heavily investing in EVs, so it made sense to offer residential storage.
“We saw an opportunity for second-life batteries, batteries that are no longer suitable for EVs but can still be used in residential storage,” von Bormann said. “Energy storage prolongs the use of the battery and reduces the economies of batteries because we can use them again, and also reduces the environmental footprint of the battery.”
Mercedes also felt it could offer competitive advantages in storage in terms of its brand reputation and focus on quality.
“There’s a lot of companies entering the energy storage market—a lot of startups or dynamic companies where you’re not 100% sure how long they will be in business,” von Bormann said. “Hopefully a lot of them will make it because there’s going to be a huge opportunity, but you know Mercedes is going to be around to service your system no matter what because we’re a global business that’s been around now for more than 100 years. Testing and requirements for our systems are also very stringent so you know you’re getting that Mercedes-Benz quality. Still, we’re not looking to be the most expensive system in the market. We’re a premium brand, but we like to compete on a cost perspective with supreme quality.”
Mercedes-Benz Energy started with residential storage in Germany before setting its eyes on the U.S. market. It initially focused on California but is seeing opportunities in other areas across the country. However, the move hasn’t been without challenges.
“In Germany you have various utilities, but the main drivers, in terms of rate, are the same and also the regulations in terms of what you can interconnect,” von Bormann said. “One of the key differences in the United States is that markets can be different state to state, county to county or even city to city, depending on the utilities operating in that area. That’s very unique to the U.S. market. That obviously makes it a little more challenging because what happens on one side of the street may not be the same on the other.”
Mercedes is looking for partners to help navigate the market.
So far Mercedes has done a limited release and continues to explore the market and various channels to ensure its technology meets market expectations. While it’s dipping its toes in the water, SolarMax Technology has a whole foot in. The residential and commercial solar installer started in 2008 and has since diversified to offer LEDs, financing and finally its own storage product two years ago.
“Ten years ago when we started doing solar, the first customers we tried to approach were those who bought electric cars,” said David Hsu, SolarMax’s CEO. “And we’re finding many of the people who have solar want to have battery storage units.”
Hsu said SolarMax’s installation experience and California manufacturing location has its competitive advantages.
“We’re one or two steps ahead of other companies in that we have launched the product and have the technology and want to make sure it will be the best, most affordable product in the market.”
SolarMax has done many installations in Southern California but is looking to expand through a dealer network, training contractors to sell and install storage products in other states.
“We purposely designed the product so anyone with an electrician license can install it in a couple of hours,” he said.
But Hsu said SolarMax faces challenges too, mainly educating customers and a making better, higher-quality product while controlling costs.
Why consumers add storage
Mercedes is looking to expand in areas where storage makes sense, which can mean financial or emotional sense to the consumer.
“There’re some early adopters that really want it,” von Bormann said. “For some of them, it may not make 100% economic sense, but there’s a lot of areas people invest money in—such as smart homes or alarm systems—which may not have real, ongoing economic value, but there’s a convenience or security factor. It’s the same with a storage backup system. If the power goes out, it’s that 100% return on investment, and in between you have the peace of mind.”
Hsu finds his customers add storage for similar reasons.
“Many of our customers are well-educated early adopters,” he said. “It’s something they feel like they should have. But there’s a lot of people who say they’re working from home or have medical devices and they worry about black outs hurting their work or their health. Battery storage is perfect for them to make sure those things won’t happen.”
With more than a decade of intelligent energy storage, sonnen has two feet in the water and a more specific breakdown of its target customers. Blake Richetta, sonnen senior vice president and head of U.S. operations, explained that individuals most interested in a sonnenBatterie can be categorized under two personality types:
Prepper Petes are seeking a reliable and clean source of backup power in case of emergency. They typically live in bad weather areas or are connected to a grid that experiences frequent outages. They’re usually more interested in the reliability and peace-of-mind that comes with stored energy and are less drawn to environmental benefits or contributing to a greener Earth.
Sunny Sues are eco-minded earlier adopters of clean technology, simply because it’s the right thing to do. They tend to be affluent and willing to invest in premium products when it concerns a cause in which they’re passionate. Owning a solar+storage system is about using “locally grown energy” and playing an active role in the country’s clean energy future.
Whether Sue or Pete, Richetta said that storage is primarily an emotional decision for many customers.
“Investing in an intelligent storage system isn’t about immediate financial returns; in many cases it is emotional, whether they’re emotional about the environmental future of the earth, the fear of losing power or just being the first adopter in their neighborhood,” he said.
Advice for installers
Beyond personal passion, there are many factors to consider when assessing whether an energy storage system is right for a home.
“Contractors must be able to navigate the regulatory landscape with their clients and identify which, if any, incentives and credits they may be able to take advantage of by installing a storage system.” Richetta said.
Knowing the rules of the jurisdiction of the installation is also important, von Bormann cautioned.
“Storage is a very different animal,” he said. “Before you install, obviously make sure the utility or jurisdiction in which you’re installing is storage-friendly and you know the stipulations around the installation so there’s not a surprise after the fact.”
Contractors should also take time to understand each homeowner’s goals and how storage may benefit them.
“The key to properly designing an energy storage system is understanding the energy usage of the home and knowing the homeowner’s goals when it comes to energy storage,” Richetta said. “Consider if the end-user is just looking for backup power or for daily use to power the home. Initially identifying needs and objectives will help determine what product lifespan, model and size/capacity will be the perfect fit.”
Hsu cautioned against pressuring the customer to add storage.
“We don’t push the customer to get storage,” he said. “It depends on their situation and electricity use, but we offer it as an option.”
Another piece of advice for contractors interested in adding solar services is to get training. Most manufacturers sell through installation partners and require training and certification classes. This is to ensure the contractor has a solid understanding of the technology and use cases for storage, but also to ensure quality from the manufacturing side carries over to installation.
SolarMax and sonnen both offer storage training and Mercedes is launching a training program in 2018.
Outlook for 2018 and beyond
All three manufacturers are confident about the growth of residential storage. For example, von Bormann sees the proliferation of electric transportation, decreasing solar prices and increasing electricity costs really driving the need for storage.
“There’re certain uncertainties that we always have to deal with, but as a midterm and short-term trend I really see the growth in storage,” he said.
“One day, intelligent storage will become standard in every home—just like a water heater or a refrigerator,” Richetta said. “Proof of this concept is already happening with new developments, such as Mandalay Homes’ Jasper Community being built in Prescott Valley, Arizona. These developments offer new homebuyers a chance to purchase homes that are already outfitted with solar plus a sonnenBatterie system at only a slight price increase.”
Hsu said increasing volume and making labor more efficient will help further reduce storage cost.
“Ten years ago, why no one was talking about battery storage is because the battery quality wasn’t there and the cost was too expensive,” he said. “Now, the battery cost is probably only about 20% of what it was. It will continue to get cheaper and cheaper, just like solar. That will make the market wide open. Storage is going to be the new wave in the three, five, 10 years—no questions asked.”
Jim Petersen, president and CEO, PetersenDean Roofing & Solar
About 25% of all PetersenDean’s residential solar sales include a battery element, but president and CEO Jim Petersen said he expects that number to grow another 25% in 2018.
“With advanced digital technology, new storage options and supportive partnerships, I believe the prospects for storage battery technology get brighter every day,” he said.
Petersen said reliability and independence from the utility are the main reasons his customers add storage. His company offers it as an option to every solar customer.
Some of the selling points his team uses are:
- Storage can provide emergency power backup for peace of mind, and when the grid goes down customers will still have power (for essential loads) and their solar systems will continue to work and recharge.
- Self-consumption is a way to protect their investment. Storage allows customers to store excess solar (at full value) and draw from it as soon as their usage exceeds production, avoiding unnecessary fees and taxes that are now added to exported PV power.
- Customers’ electric bills are protected from high time-of-use rates, which gives them flexibility in an ever-changing utility landscape. When the utilities change their rates and TOU timeframes, customers can adjust the battery’s discharge times at the touch of a button.
Petersen said his company likes to offer LG Chem and SolarEdge’s storage solution because it gives customers a choice of using their backup power only when the grid goes down or to help limit future grid use when their solar system is not producing the amount of energy needed to power their home.
“We are indeed at the start of a new generation of energy, and hopefully we will continue down the road,” he said.
*Mercedes Benz exited the residential storage market in April 2018.


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As hinted at earlier this week, WB is preparing yet another trailer for the sure to be blockbuster video game, Batman: Arkham Knight. Also promised was a returning character from Arkham City and, from what we can gather from the teaser embedded above, it looks like Azrael is back. Let’s not forget his chilling prophecy that Gotham will burn.
You will be happy to know that another full trailer will drop this Monday, April 27. Expect it to be on DKN, so keep checking back on that day.
Batman: Arkham Knight will be released on June 23 for Playstation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

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Antigua and Barbuda Await Your Winter Escape!
Antigua is a familiar Caribbean destination for many travel advisors;
its smaller sister island, Barbuda, less so. That’s partly due to Barbuda having far fewer hotels and resorts than Antigua, but also because the island has been spending the last few years recovering from the devastation caused by Hurricane Irma, which blasted the island with 185-mph winds in 2017, leveling almost everything in sight.
Needless to say, then, it’s a big deal for both Barbuda and travel advisors looking to send clients to a less-traveled Caribbean destination that Rosewood Hotels and Resorts had announced plans to open a luxury beach resort on Barbuda in 2028.
Barbuda Boosted by Plans for New Rosewood Resort
The Rosewood Barbuda will have 50 resort suites and 35 residences set on 85 acres of beachfront property, the company announced in December. The resort would be the brand’s fourth Caribbean property, joining the luxury Rosewood Baha Mar in the Bahamas, Rosewood Little Dix Bay in the British Virgin Islands, and the Rosewood Le Guanahani St. Barth.
Rosewood also had announced in 2018 plans to build a luxury resort on Half Moon Bay in Antigua, originally set to open in 2021 and then 2023. That project has apparently stalled, however.
Assuming the Rosewood Barbuda meets a better fate, the resort will be a real boost to a destination where 95 percent of all structures on the island were destroyed in the hurricane. Rosewood officials cited Barbuda’s “year-round warm weather, turquoise water, pink sand beaches, and authentic local culture” — where residents have shared communal control of the land on the island since the abolition of slavery in 1833 — as among the reasons that the island represented an ideal fit for the company.
“Rosewood Barbuda will effortlessly complement the existing natural wonders that have long made this intimate destination so captivating,” said Radha Arora, president of Rosewood Hotels & Resorts. “It is an honor to work with all parties involved in the project to realize our shared vision of creating an ultra-luxury resort that exists in harmony with its surroundings, providing guests with an escape in the truest sense of the word.”
The Rosewood Barbuda will include a Asaya Spa with six treatment rooms, a fitness center, and two swimming pools, one designated for use by families. One of the three restaurants planned for the resort will be a farm-to-table concept utilizing produce grown on Barbuda, according to a press release.
Travel advisors and their clients who don’t want to wait until 2028 have several options for experiencing Barbuda now. The island has several guest houses available to rent as well as the Barbuda Belle, a luxury beach resort with eight one- and two-bedroom bungalows and a gourmet seafood restaurant called The Mangrove. The Barbuda Ocean Club, a development famously involving Hollywood actor Robert De Niro, could someday add more accommodations to the island; meanwhile, however, it is open as a posh beach and residence club with activities like kiteboarding and paddle boarding, golf on an 18-hole, Tom Fazio designed course, and upscale dining.
Curtain Bluff and Hawksbill Resorts Reopen After Renovations
Curtain Bluff, Antigua’s most famous resort, is back for a 62nd year of offering luxury lodging after closing for the summer of 2023 for a major renovation. The Hawksbill Resort, which took a similar hiatus for a refresh, is also once again welcoming guests.
Improvements at Curtain Bluff include complete refurbishment of the resort’s Hulford Collection Suites, Morris & Grace Bay Pool Suites, and some Junior Suites. The resort also doubled the size of its adults-only wellness area, adding a yoga pavilion, infinity pool, and waterfront jacuzzi. Further room improvements are slated for summer 2024.
A new infinity pool also is part of the refresh of Antigua’s Hawksbill Resort; the hillside pool overlooking Sea of Grapes Beach has multiple lounging levels and a new bar.
Verandah Antigua Goes Adults Only
Elite Island Resorts’ all-inclusive Verandah Antigua resort will emerge from a summer renovation sans kids: the resort is now adults-only, following in the footsteps of sister property Pineapple Beach Club.
Kids are still welcome at Elite Island Resorts’ St. James Club & Villas, however; in fact, the resort is offering free stays for one child ages 11 and under on bookings with two adults sharing a room between now and January 2025.
Improvements at the Verandah include a new restaurant, the addition of four pickleball courts, and a new 18-hole miniature golf course. Guests of the resort also will be allowed to dine at both the Pineapple Beach Club and St. James Club as part of their all-inclusive stay.
Bookings Available for Royalton Antigua
The Royalton CHIC Antigua is set to debut on the island’s northwest coast in April 2024, but travel advisors can already start booking rooms for clients at the soon-to-debut resort.
The resort will include 235 rooms and suites, seven restaurants, five bars, sports and fitness facilities, and The Royal Spa. All will be set once Dickinson Bay Beach about 20 miles from Antigua’s V.C. Bird International Airport.
Antigua Adds Air Service
American Airlines and Silver Airways have both added seasonal flights to V.C. Bird International Airport, making it easier for travelers to reach both the islands of Antigua and Barbuda.
Silver Airways launched four weekly nonstop flights to Antigua from San Juan, Puerto Rico, in November. American Airlines, meanwhile, is looking ahead to next summer, when it will double its daily nonstop service to Antigua by adding a second flight out of Miami on June 5, 2024.
For more information visit www.visitantiguabarbuda.com


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Bitcoin Market: 2015 bitcoin investment has reached $9 billion
Bitcoin prices on Thursday (September 10th) the disc under pressure again, the continuation of yesterday’s weak performance.
KRAKEN announced the price display, bitcoin / euro (XBT/EUR) yesterday from 219 continued to decline to around 214, the trading days the Asian plate fell further to 213 level.
(bitcoin / $chart source: Peng Bo, FX168 financial network)
(bitcoin / Euro time chart source: Peng Bo, FX168 financial network)
The industry, PWC and Coindesk released data show that in 2015 a total of bitcoin investment has reached $9 billion 160 million, compared with the same period last year growth of 262.5%.
In this regard, chief commercial officer Bitpay Singer said, “the rapid growth of bitcoin investment, the most important number is this year compared to the same period last year investment rose by nearly 3 times.”
Coinometrics and Statistita report, bitcoin has taken similar remittance, digital money transfer and settlement platform Xoom global financial services companies and remittances.
At the same time, more and more well-known international companies such as DELL, Microsoft and Overstock are expanding application of bitcoin in ordinary businesses.
Beijing time 13:13 on September 10th, bitcoin / USD / Euro 237.60, bitcoin at 213.15.


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This story is available exclusively to Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.
- PayPal has built a virtual building to keep employees engaged during the period of remote work.
- Dubbed The Pavilion, the SimCity-like building features six floors of themed learning, from a futuristic security command center to a sunny courtyard complete with a water feature and the sounds of birds chirping.
- PayPal’s chief technology officer, Sri Shivananda, commissioned the project, which was initially thought of as a virtual stand-in for the company’s annual innovation expo.
- The Pavillion will live on as a way to train and connect PayPal’s more than 23,000 employees around the world.
- The company told Business Insider that it plans to stick with remote work through the first quarter of 2021.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories
Step into my office.
That's a phrase that precious few managers have been able to tell their employees of late, with millions of people still working remotely.
But PayPal, the digital-payments giant that employs more than 23,000 workers worldwide, thinks it may have cracked the code on the pandemic-proof office of the future — and chances are, it looks unlike anything you might have guessed it would.
The PayPal Pavilion, first launched in late July, is a fully virtual, six-floor immersive office space that exists entirely in the digital world. Available 24/7 — the Pavilion never shuts off the lights — the virtual campus is chock full of about 200 experiences that employees can access, with the promise of potentially hundreds more on the way.
Think of it as the SimCity of corporate America. Through innovations like this one, "we can continue to engage our employees in ways that defy spatial distancing," Sri Shivananda, PayPal's chief technology officer, told Business Insider in an interview.
The concept for the Pavilion was originally conceived back in March and has been online for about a month, said Genessa Nannini, PayPal HQ community engagement leader. There's no time card punching here: PayPal can track how long employees spend poking around the space using their virtual IDs.
To build the new platform, Nannini explained, "an army of volunteers" produced content spanning a variety of topics from trainings on developing your skills as a professional, to better understanding how PayPal's underlying security infrastructure keeps information safe.
There's also the promise of interactive games and challenges where employees can earn badges and points; in turn, they can redeem them for swag and prizes. PayPal told Business Insider that it plans to stick with remote work through the first quarter of 2021, so the Pavilion will continue to educate and foster a sense of community among its workers while they keep clocking in from home.
Business Insider was exclusively invited to tour the new PayPal Pavilion. Take a look around.
Outdoor Pavilion and Lobby
When employees first visit PayPal's new virtual Pavilion, they are greeted by a digital outdoor space that's replete with a water feature and audio clips of birds chirping in the background (every floor has its own unique soundtrack).
Inside, employees arrive in the lobby where they can explore a map of the Pavillion, look through the PayPal Marketplace which sells company swag, and catch the elevator to the other floors. Those floors house the specific content and experiences PayPal has created.
The idea for the entire space was born out of a longheld company tradition: the annual Innovation Expo, typically held at the company's San Jose headquarters, where PayPal shows off its latest tech and product advancements.
But, this year, the two-day event wouldn't be possible in light of the pandemic — so Shivananda commissioned something he thought might be an alternative way to drive engagement among staffers.
"A few of us got together and decided, what if we take this virtual?" he said. "What if we used extended reality as a setting to create an experience that still feels like you're coming through a convention center?"
So, in partnership with the design firm Blueprint Studios, Shivananda's team of engineers constructed the virtual building.
Infrastructure and Security
Data privacy is top of mind for a corporation like PayPal in the most ordinary of times — indeed, the payments company collects sensitive user data like names, addresses, banking informatoin, and credit bureau reports, among other things.
But 2020 has brought about a new set of corporate concerns for large companies, which are grappling with how to keep proprietary company information safe while huge workforces are accessing and interfacing with data from the comfort of their homes.
"What we all need to understand is that people are the new security and network perimeter," Shivananda said. "We always believed that the perimeter of our company actually is in people's homes, because any one of them could have worked remotely" prior to the pandemic.
In this case, PayPal created a designated Infrastructure and Security floor where employees can learn about how it protects the megalithic amounts of data it has access to. To evoke a high-tech vibe, the floor has been designed to look like a futuristic command center.
No coffee here — in the Branded Experiences floor, which looks like a virtual coffee shop, employees won't find cappuccinos or lattés, but instead can access information on PayPal's various brands, ranging from its its digital wallet and peer-to-peer app Venmo to shopping tools like Honey.
Users can navigate through the floor, clicking on links to videos or flip books to learn more about the consumer-facing side of PayPal's business.
The Omni Payments floor offers examples that demonstrate the different ways that PayPal interacts with consumers through the retail experience.
For context, PayPal has been going hard on new forms of payment in recent months like using QR codes at checkout, which PayPal launched in May. The company is also leaning in on the merchant side, most recently rolling out a buy now, pay later solution for US merchants to integrate into their checkouts.
The Common Platforms floor introduces employees to the various teams that keep PayPal operating, like the compliance and risk organizations.
Here, employees can brush up on their knowledge of PayPal's payment paltform — the company's central operation — or get more insight into how its safety measure protect merchant and consumer accounts.
Unlike prognostications of future offices having to adopt plexiglass screens and discard the communal meeting places and high-touch surfaces of yore, this floor echoes how offices before the pandemic used to look.
It even features design elements like fooseball tables (at the moment, they're just props — employees can't actually duke it out at the fooseball table during working hours).
Employee Experiences and Strategic Investments
The Employee Experiences and Strategic Investments floor is a verdant outdoor space complete with lush additions like bushy trees which provide some virtual shade from the virtual sunlight.
Its purpose is to use the space for gamification and engagement though. Here, PayPal plans to host a climate week in September; employees will be encouraged to virtually clean up this outdoor space and discard trash, earning points along the way while learning about the importance of environmental sustainability.
Employees who rack up points in the frequent challenges that the Pavilion will host can cash in those points for prizes at the PayPal Marketplace.
On this floor, employees can access training resources for recruiting, onboarding, and skills development.
During the pandemic, PayPal has seen employees engage more in online training, Shivananda said. "Over time we have moved from in-classroom training to a lot of online and virtual training, and what we have found is more people engage in that kind of training," he added.


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Please stand by for the full NPD hardware and software charts, along with any accompanying press releases.
ADDITIONAL SOFTWARE SALES:
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds: 405,000
Pokemon X/Y: 225,000
Super Mario 3D World: 215,000
Xbox has seen record-breaking sales with the recent announcement of Xbox One selling more than 2 million units through to consumers worldwide since its launch.
November NPD Group figures released today revealed 909,132 Xbox One units were sold in the U.S. in the console’s first nine days, making it the fastest selling console on the market in the U.S. Xbox One sales averaged a volume of more than 101,000 consoles per day, significantly outpacing the nearest competitor.
November 2013 NPD highlights include:
Total retail spend on the Xbox platform (Xbox One and Xbox 360) in November (hardware, software and accessories) reached $1.21 billion, the most for any console in the U.S. (Source: NPD Group).
During the month of November, Xbox (Xbox One and Xbox 360) held five of the top 10 spots on the console game title list (Source: NPD Group).
During the month of November, Xbox One sold nearly three times as many units compared to Xbox 360 in the U.S. during its November 2005 launch (Source: NPD Group).
We are seeing strong consumer excitement for next gen Xbox One games, with U.S. consumers purchasing an average of 2.1 games* per console.
November NPD Group data reports on sales data for November, which included only the first nine days of Xbox One’s availability.
Demand for Xbox One is continuing to exceed supply in our 13 launch markets and is sold out at most retailers around the world. As retailers noted in our worldwide sales announcement yesterday, consoles are flying off store shelves faster than they can stock them and the Xbox team is working hard to meet consumer demand, delivering consoles to retailers as fast as possible to ensure everyone has an opportunity to experience everything Xbox One has to offer this holiday season.
For more information on Xbox One and Xbox 360, please visit Xbox Wire for the latest news.
*retail and digital (internal Microsoft data)
It’s now clear that the launch of PS4 is one for the record books. This afternoon we learned from market research firmNPD Group that PS4 was the top-selling console for November and PlayStation was #1 in sales overall for home consoles. This news comes on the heels of yesterday’s confirmation that the PS4 launch is the biggest ever in the history of game consoles. Ever! And it’s all thanks to you.
We’re also seeing gamers embrace the social capabilities of PS4 at a record pace. Earlier this week, we announced that hundreds of thousands of gamers are using the PS4’s integrated streaming capabilities. Nearly 800,000 gameplay broadcasts and more than 7.1 million spectate sessions have streamed through Twitch and Ustream, totaling more than 20 million minutes of live gameplay.
We’re extremely proud to have such a passionate community and are grateful for your support. Thanks for an unforgettable PS4 launch and for making 2013 such a historic year for gaming. We look forward to sharing exciting PS4 news in the near future.
NPD's US retail report shows a big jump in hardware thanks to PS4 and XB1 but top sellers like BF4 and Call of Duty weren't enough to spike game sales
The NPD Group has released its report for the month of November (covering US point-of-sale data from November 3-30) and the good news is that total industry sales did increase by seven percent to $2.74 billion. Hardware sales rocketed up 58 percent, as you might expect with next-gen system launches, to $1.327 billion. The accessories category, which typically gets a lift from new hardware as people buy extra controllers and other items, also jumped 17 percent to $327.4 million. The downside, however, is that even with top-tier AAA games like Call of Duty: Ghosts and Battlefield 4, software took a 24 percent dip year-over-year, generating sales of $1.1 billion (including PC and portables).
NPD analyst Liam Callahan noted that November 2013 was actually the best month ever for hardware sales in the US. "With the introduction of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, coupled with positive sales for the Nintendo 3DS, sales in November 2013 marked the best November for hardware sales on record," he explained.
And while the focus has been on PS4 and Xbox One, Nintendo's 3DS portable has been performing quite well. "Supported by strong content throughout the year, including this month's The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Nintendo 3DS hardware unit sales have increased by 15 percent year-to-date through November," said Callahan.
All games on the top 10 selling software chart below are sold across several platforms, so it's unclear what portion of say, Call of Duty, was sold on the new consoles compared to the old.
Nintendo Hardware Sales Increase by 100 Percent, Nintendo 3DS Surpasses 10 Million
Two games that are among the best reviewed of 2013 launched on Nov. 22: Super Mario 3D World for Wii U and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds for Nintendo 3DS. The strong response to these games helped sales of Nintendo hardware systems in November increase by 100 percent over the month prior. This includes nearly 770,000 units of the Nintendo 3DS family, which drove the lifetime total past 10 million to nearly 10.5 million units. Other sales milestones achieved for the month include:
Nintendo 3DS Family of Systems
Pokémon X and Pokémon Y each sold more than 225,000 combined digital and physical units in their second month on the market. This brought the combined life-to-date total to more than 2.35 million units. On Dec. 4, Nintendo revealed special edition Pokémon X and Pokémon Y Nintendo 2DS bundles that should keep the games’ momentum going through the holidays and into 2014.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, the sixth Nintendo 3DS title to have a Metacritic score of 90 or higher, sold more than 280,000 combined digital and physical units. That figure jumps to more than 405,000 total units when including the special edition Zelda-themed Nintendo 3DS XL system, which comes with a code to download the game.
A handful of first-party Nintendo 3DS titles saw triple-digit sales percentage increases in November over sales in October. This includes standout 2013 titles such as Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D (seventh month on market; 140 percent increase) and Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon (ninth month; 105 percent increase), and legacy titles such as Paper Mario: Sticker Star (13th month; 280 percent increase), Mario Kart 7 (23rd month; 130 percent increase) and Super Mario 3D Land (24th month; 235 percent increase).
Sales of Wii U hardware increased by more than 340 percent over sales in October.
Super Mario 3D World for Wii U, currently the highest-rated next-generation title with a Metacritic score of 94, sold more than 215,000 combined digital and physical units in its first eight days on the market.
“This holiday season, Nintendo is offering an unparalleled combination of value and variety,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of sales and marketing. “In looking at these results, two things are indisputable: Our hardware is gaining momentum at the exact right time and our software catalog is stronger than ever.”
*Data regarding physical sales of games in November are from the NPD Group. Data regarding digital downloads of games and combined physical/digital life-to-date numbers are from Nintendo’s internal sales figures. All numbers, unless otherwise stated, are specific to the United States only.


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THE WEEK THAT WAS: More from Paris and a key new Ford
Interviews conducted at the Paris show have been published this week - chats with François Bancon at Infiniti and Maxim Picat at Peugeot (also here) and also more from Ford's Mark Fields.
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And now there’s just-auto plus, our premium membership that gives you exclusive component forecast data, company profiles and extended news coverage - just for premium members.
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The Range Rover Evoke is one of the least expensive ways to slide into one of the industries most historic brands.
But it's first generation's looks and equipment never really felt right to me.
It felt more like an outsider in the family.
Now with the 2020 Range Rover Evoque, it feels like a fully fledged member of the family.
After debuting in Europe in 2018, the 2020 Evoque is finally amongst our amber waves of grain here at the 2019 Chicago Auto Show.
It bears more than a passing resemblance to another new member of the Ranger Rover family, the Velare.
Thin headline and a tape over the end give the eb=voke a much more premium look than before.
Now it's about the same size as before, but an extra .8 inches of real base benefits both lag room and cargo capacity.
The interior has been thoroughly reworked, once again borrowing more than a little from it's more expensive family member.
Storage cubbies are all over the darn place and the doors' own cup holders can now handle one and a half liter water bottles.
That's a lot of hydration.
JLR's in-control TouchPro duo info-tainment system is also available packing two ten-inch touch screens on the center console.
In the US, the Evoke will have two engines on offer.
The base is a 2-liter ingenium four cylinder gas engine putting out 246 horsepower But the real gem is the new 48-volt miled hybrid system.
In addition to allowing the engines to turn off when decelerating below 11 miles an hour.
It also boosts the net output of the whole system to 296 horsepower.
Not too shabby.
And, because it's a Range Rover.
The 2020 Range Rover Evoque goes on sale this spring.
Non-hybrid models will start around $43,000, while the hybrid models aren't too much more expensive, starting around 47,000.


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Buca di Beppo recently earned 34,000 new Facebook "likes" by promising $10 in free food to every member of its email list. That's not a great deal, writes Jay Baer: The promo appears to have achieved only about a 3.4% conversion rate, and could cost the company as much as $10 million. "I give Buca credit for putting so much weight behind their liking campaign. But I'm not sure the math matches the method," Baer warns.
Published in Brief:


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On the 20th July this year Rishi Sunak launched what is probably one of the most exciting initiatives ever to be backed by a UK Chancellor under the leadership of Ron Kalifa OBE.
For those of us who both work in and support the UK’s digital agenda it presents a unique opportunity to contribute to the next phase of a technical revolution that can further empower and connect individuals to the benefit of all.
The terms of reference for the review cover five major workstreams, each intended to advance three core objectives leading to a total of fifteen recommendations which should result in defining key deliverables.
At DIGIMASS we have been promoting a consumer centric ecosystem that supports how individuals could better manage their finances, spanning all aspects of their financial wellbeing. For further information click here.


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Will Hodgman, Premier & Minister for Trade
The passage of the Brand Tasmania Bill 2018 through Parliament marks a major point for one of our most important and valuable assets, our brand.
The Bill establishes the new statutory authority, Brand Tasmania, which with more resources and capacity, will have a stronger ability to promote and protect our brand, and ensure Tasmania continues to stand out from the pack.
The Tasmanian Government is committed to expanding and developing international markets for Tasmanian businesses to export their world-class goods and services globally.
Following the passage of the Bill the work of the Brand Tasmania Council will now transition to the new Authority.
The Tasmanian Government would like to pay tribute to past and present Brand Tasmania Councillors, who through their pioneering work, have built recognition and reputation of Tasmania and our world-class products, produce and services.
Brand Tasmania Council partners will be invited to continue their partnership with the new Authority and the Government looks forward to working with them into the future.
This is an exciting time for our State and the Government is committed to promoting Tasmania to the world to open up new markets, support local business and create even more local jobs.


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Planners for Volkswagen's new welcome center have identified a 20-acre tract near Interstate 75 as the prime spot for what will be the face of the automaker's return to making cars in America.
The site sits on the northwest corner of the I-75 interchange where a new road will be built entering Enterprise South industrial park and leading to the $1 billion VW factory, said Steve Leach, the city's public works administrator.
Since the plant itself won't be visible from I-75, VW officials see the welcome center as the chance to communicate the company's brand to an estimated 55 million travelers expected to drive by the site annually.
While Volkswagen officials aren't talking about the design, the center is to be "green," with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design professionals taking part in how it will be crafted.
April Wortham, a VW spokeswoman, said work to bring the welcome center to fruition is under way, though the plant's construction is a priority now.
"At this time, the primary focus is on constructing the production facility to assure start of production in early 2011," she said.
Some welcome centers at auto production plants have become big tourist attractions in their own right.
At BMW's welcome center at its Spartanburg, S.C., assembly plant, 35,000 people a year check out the exhibits and another 35,000 start tours of the factory there, according to the automaker.
BMW's 28,000 square-foot Zentrum, which means "center" in German, showcases the company's heritage of engineering and innovation. It features BMW's history in aircraft, motorcycles and cars as well as a look inside the auto manufacturing process.
In Vance, Ala., Mercedes built its first visitors center outside Germany next to its U.S. auto plant. The center chronicles the history of Daimler-Benz and tells about the company's vision.
The new Kia production plant going up in West Point, Ga., the only auto assembly facility to open in the United States this year, likely will have a welcome center, company spokeswoman Joanne Mabrey said.
She said Kia's sister Hyundai auto plant in Montgomery, Ala., has a center from which plant tours are launched.
Before the VW welcome center is finalized, Mr. Leach said a land swap may have to take place. The 20-acre parcel is located in the park portion of the former Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant, he said.
He said the city will have to swap other property at Enterprise South and/or pay the difference in value after an appraisal.
"There's a process we go though with the U.S. Interior Department. It was the grantor" of the park land, Mr. Leach said.
He said he doesn't expect a problem because the land is next to the interstate and on the edge of the 2,800-acre park property. The 2,800 acres of the 7,000-acre VAAP site was deemed not suitable for industrial development and will be used as a buffer to the industrial park and for recreation.
To fund the center, local government will match up to $6 million of VW money, according to an agreement between the parties.
In addition, local government will pay the operating costs of the part of the center that emphasizes the adjacent park and recreation center, the agreement said.
To fund the welcome center, local government will match up to $6 million of VW money, according to an agreement.


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After four years in its original form, the boxy Scion xB was totally redesigned for 2008. Scion said that owners...
This is it.
Read This Article
Toyota and Subaru teamed up to develop a new sports car that was about handling and precision instead of maximum horsepower, and called it the Subaru BRZ, Toyota GT-86 and Scion FR-S.
Scion, Toyota's kid-brother-brand, yesterday unveiled yet another confusing and irrelevant ad campaign marketed to…we have no idea.
From the same automaker responsible for bringing us the Scion iQ comes this: a car, we think.


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HMD Global has started rolling out July Android security patch update to its Nokia 3 smartphone. The smartphone was launchedback in 2017 with Android Nougat operating system. Later, it started receiving the Android 8.1 Oreo update in December last year. This year, the device received Android Pie update as well.
As per a report, Nokia 3 has started receiving the latest Android security update from Google. The update is 83.1MB in size and it is being pushed as an over-the-air in batches. One can check for the update manually by going to Settings > Software updates.
The Nokia 3 smartphone comes with 5-inch HD 2.5 D curved displays with Corning Gorilla Glass protection. We get 1.3 GHz Quad-Core MediaTek MTK 6737 chipset with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage which is expandable up to 128GB via microSD card. Nokia 3 is backed up by a 2650 mAh battery inside.
The phone has 8-megapixel cameras on both front and back with f/2.0 aperture, 1.12-micron pixel size along with LED flash at the back and display flash at the front. For connectivity, we have Micro USB (USB 2.0), USB OTG, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS and NFC for sharing. Apart from this, we get Accelerometer (G-sensor), ambient light sensor, e-compass, fingerprint sensor, gyroscope, and a proximity sensor.
Recently, Nokia 5 and Nokia 6 also received July Android security patch update in India. The update for Nokia 6 is 352MB in size and it is currently rolling out in India while the update size for Nokia 5 is 396.1 MB in size. Prior to this, Nokia 2 also received June Android security patch update.


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Anxious eyes are trained on West Coast ports
Farmers, retailers, tug owners could lose
Published 10:00 pm, Tuesday, September 3, 2002
Longshore workers and shippers are threatening to plunge West Coast ports into disarray, as their labor dispute could spark slowdowns and even a shutdown of shipyards that would hurt everyone from farmers to tugboat operators.
Businesses are watching negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and employers that remained stalled yesterday. The talks broke off abruptly Sunday, and there were no signs of new talks last night.
Yesterday, union members were at work moving cargo as usual in Seattle, Los Angeles and elsewhere. Union officials met yesterday to debate their options, but did not announce any decisions, according to Steve Stallone, a spokesman for the Longshoremen.
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"From what we can tell, it's normal operations," Port of Seattle spokesman Mick Shultz said yesterday.
Around the country, companies are anxious because the dispute raises the specter of a shutdown at West Coast ports, through an employer-led lockout or worker slowdown.
A shutdown would disrupt tens of billions of dollars in cargo that flows through the ports and threaten the national economy.
For example, wheat farmers are eager to take advantage of a market that has bushel prices up for the first time in years. Although some farmers have already begun to ship this year's crop, a number will continue to do so through the beginning of next year.
That could all come to a halt, however, if West Coast ports close down.
"That would be a pretty serious blow again ... if we were in a situation where the price is strong and we cannot move our product," said Perry Dozier, immediate past president of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers.
About 90 percent of the state's wheat is exported. In the past, farmers have lost a number of their customers to other countries during government sanctions. Some worry that a port strike would allow foreign farmers to take their market share once again.
"If Portland is shut down, it would be a disaster," said Ben Barstow, who farms about 15 miles north of Pullman. "If Wal-Mart closes, you'll go to Kmart or the next best thing. The customers who are used to buying out of Portland will go somewhere else to get needs their needs filled."
The Crowley Maritime Corp. is also keeping a close eye on the talks.
"We have tug service up and down the West Coast from north Puget Sound to Long Beach. ... Any kind of strike would obviously impact the vessel activity, which would impact our business," said Mark Miller, Crowley's director of corporate communications.
Retailers are also worried about any disruptions. But, many stores have been stockpiling goods for months, in case the ports close.
President Bush could postpone the economic pain by invoking an 80-day cooling off period. That's because Bush could claim a shutdown threatens to interfere with the nation's public health and safety, says Gary Chaison, who teaches industrial relations at Clark University in Worcester, Mass.
That would not be the case if members of the Machinists union struck The Boeing Co, Chaison adds.
Although a Boeing strike would threaten workers and regional economies, it would not be on the same scale, he said.
Bush may have the legal authority, but he may not have the political will.
After trying to convince steelworkers, carpenters and other union workers they can trust the Bush administration, the president may not want to jump into the middle of a labor fight, Chaison adds.
Democratic Gov. Gary Locke and other political leaders have urged Bush not to intervene.
"I think he would be very hesitant to get involved, because he is trying it make friends with labor right now," Chaison.
Instead, Bush could summon both sides to the White House if a shutdown seems imminent, Chaison said.


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Carlisle, Hologic, Office Depot: U.S. Equity Movers
(Corrects description of Plantronics in story published July 27.)
Shares of the following companies had unusual moves in U.S. trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses, and prices are as of 4 p.m. in New York.
Gold producers declined after a rally in global equities eroded demand for the precious metal. Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM US), the largest U.S. gold producer, fell 4 percent to $55.78. Goldcorp Inc. (GG US) dropped 3.7 percent to $38.82.
Carlisle Cos. (CSL US) fell 13 percent to $34.12 for the biggest drop in the Russell 1000 Index. The maker of construction materials, tires and trailers reported second- quarter results that fell short of expectations because of higher costs for raw materials and weak selling prices, Ajay Kejriwal, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets, said in a report.
DuPont Co. (DD US) rallied 3.6 percent to $40.38 for the biggest advance in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The third- biggest U.S. chemical maker posted second-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates and raised its full-year earnings forecast.
Energizer Holdings Inc. (ENR US) rose 9.9 percent, the most since January 2009, to $60.72. The maker of batteries and Schick razors reported third-quarter profit excluding some items of $1.35 a share, 41 percent higher than the average of 11 analyst estimates in a Bloomberg survey.
Ferro Corp. (FOE US) gained 12 percent to $10.23, the highest price since May 18. The maker of porcelain enamel for cookware and appliances raised its sales forecast for the fiscal year and posted second-quarter earnings per share that beat analysts’ estimates.
Hologic Inc. (HOLX US) rose 8.8 percent, the most since March 11, to $15.04. The maker of mammography equipment said its Selenia Dimensions 3-D system, not yet available in the U.S., is scheduled to be reviewed by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel on Sept. 24.
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (JEC US) slipped 7.2 percent to $37.09, the biggest decline since June 4. The second-largest publicly traded U.S. engineering company reported backlog of $13.5 billion in the fiscal third quarter. That’s down $1.2 billion from the previous three months, implying light bookings and raising concern about the pace of recovery in the company’s end markets, JPMorgan Chase & Co. said.
Level 3 Communications Inc. (LVLT US) declined 8.3 percent to $1.10, the biggest drop since July 1. The network operator reported a wider loss in the second quarter as sales decreased.
Lexmark International Inc. (LXK US) rose the most in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, advancing 8.5 percent to $37.76. The maker of laser and inkjet printers posted second-quarter revenue and profit that topped analysts’ estimates on improving equipment and services sales.
Masco Corp. (MAS US) fell 12 percent, the most since April 27, to $10.53. The insulation installer reported second-quarter revenue of $2.05 billion, missing the average analyst estimate of $2.12 billion in a Bloomberg survey.
Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NDAQ US) increased 2.6 percent to $19.49, the highest price since June 16. The owner of the second-largest U.S. stock exchange reported second-quarter profit that beat analyst estimates as trading revenue rose.
Office Depot Inc. (ODP US) fell 7 percent, the most since June 29, to $4.40. The second-largest U.S. office-supply chain said third-quarter operating profit will be little changed and sales in two of its three units won’t see growth.
Plantronics Inc. (PLT US) dropped the most since December 2008, falling 9.4 percent to $30.21. The maker of telephone headsets forecast revenue of $163 million at most in the fiscal second quarter, trailing the average analyst estimate of $167.7 million.
PrivateBancorp Inc. (PVTB US) gained 14 percent, the most since Jan. 25, to $12.09. The Illinois-based bank posted a loss excluding some items of 1 cent a share in the second quarter, narrower than the 22-cent average analyst estimate in a Bloomberg survey.
Range Resources Corp. (RRC US) fell 7 percent, the most since May 2009, to $37.24. The natural-gas exploration and production company reported second-quarter profit excluding some items of 9 cents a share, missing the average analyst estimate by 1 cent.
Sanmina-SCI Corp. (SANM US) slumped 17 percent, the most since June 2009, to $13.18. The maker of computers and phones reported third-quarter profit excluding some items of 32 cents a share, missing the average analyst estimate by 5 percent.
Tellabs Inc. (TLAB US) fell 5.9 percent, the most since June 8, to $7.33. Chief Executive Officer Rob Pullen said on a conference call that AT&T is testing another supplier of telecommunications equipment for its high-speed network. That’s weighing on the stock, said Lawrence Harris, an analyst at CL King & Associates in New York.
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (TMO US) fell 9.5 percent, the most since February 2005, to $46.17. The world’s largest maker of laboratory instruments forecast full-year revenue of $10.75 billion at most, trailing the average analyst estimate of $10.78 billion.
Unisys Corp. (UIS US) advanced 12 percent, the most since Oct. 28, to $26.86. The Pennsylvania producer of mainframes and computer services reported second-quarter profit and sales that topped analysts’ estimates.
U.S. Steel Corp. (X US) fell 6.4 percent, the most since June 4, to $45.76. The country’s largest producer of the metal posted an unexpected second-quarter loss after revaluing a $1.4 billion loan made to a European unit.
AK Steel Holding Corp. (AKS US) declined 4.7 percent to $14.49.
Volterra Semiconductor Corp. (VLTR US) tumbled 13 percent, the most since Oct. 20, to $24.01. The maker of power-regulating chips reported second-quarter profit that topped the average analyst estimate by 7.8 percent, the smallest beat in three quarters, according to Bloomberg data.
Zoran Corp. (ZRAN US) declined 8 percent, the most since April 27, to $8.99. The maker of software and chips for digital audio and video products was cut to “hold” from “buy” at Needham & Co. Inc.
To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Stanton in New York at firstname.lastname@example.org


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Fans of the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. will be please to know the second installment is planned for a 2021 launch … the developers have released a Gameplay Trailer, so enjoy.
Taken from Engadget … S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl was announced in 2001 and didn’t ship until 2007, so news that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is preparing for a 2021 release more than ten years after it was originally announced is fitting. Presumably first-person shooter players will once again put on their radiation suits to survive in Chernobyl while fighting mutants, but the clip released today doesn’t give away many hints. A Facebook post refers to the player’s character “Skif,” and says “loading” along with “PDA 2.0.”
Ukrainian developer GSC Game World posted this teaser trailer on IGN’s YouTube channel, with a note saying it represents “how the game actually feels: fast-paced change of scenery, ominous landscapes and the ever-present feeling of an inevitable danger accompanied by a barely-distinguishable guitar soundtrack.” The brief clip is presented in 4K and certainly brings to mind the first game’s gloomy environment, and says it’s our first in-engine look at the game, as opposed to a longer trailer that popped up this summer.


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LeanCor is among a select group of companies whose customers recognize them for providing outstanding solutions and services.Continue Reading →
"From trans-oceanic freight to truck driver shortages, from deteriorating domestic infrastructure to last mile headaches, the furniture industry faces supply chain bottlenecks that create a disconnect between manufacturer and retailer abilities and consumer expectations." - Furniture Today MagazineContinue Reading →
Creating a connected enterprise is a challenge business leaders have attempted to overcome for years.
In this free, 1-hour webinar, start seeing your business in a new light as CSCMP and LeanCor discuss how today’s companies are advancing supply chain performance to create the connected enterprise and discover hidden profit.
Continue Reading →
We all know the joke: "I just bought the brand new [insert electronic device here] and it’s already obsolete!" Product life cycles are shortening, consumers are the most educated they’ve ever been, and their expectations are continually increasing. My colleagues in supply chain are scrambling to evolve their supply chains to accommodate the challenges. After several interviews and a few transformational projects, I wanted to share my findings.Continue Reading →
In this special post, Plant Lean Manager Todd Markward from Select Comfort (manufacturer of Sleep Number and Comfortaire beds), shares how his team made a few simple improvements to their value stream mapping process that shifted the entire operation's focus to safety as a top priority.Continue Reading →
As Vice President of Industrial and Supply Chain Strategy at Camso -- a multinational tire and rubber manufacturer with four business units and a 9,000-mile supply chain -- Joe Schnippert is faced with his share of daily challenges. Amid port strikes, long lead times, and manufacturing line disruptions, Camso has continually kept customer service in the forefront and maintained an aggressive focus on operational excellence.
We interviewed Joe to learn about some best practices that have helped pave the way forward.Continue Reading →


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Casualty prices are too low, and this is not a business that should take price adequacy lightly
The first-half results season has brought much optimism from industry chief executives.
The earnings releases, which for the most part show big improvements in profits, have been littered with quotes from senior figures about rising rates and new opportunities.
Of course, a good chief executive would be expected to put a positive spin on results, however gloomy. These messages are one of the few occasions in the year when they get to communicate with shareholders, who need to be kept interested by talk of improvements and growth.
However, it is important not to get too carried away, as the industry still faces several challenges. Chief among these is casualty pricing.
The industry agrees that casualty prices are too low. And this is not a business where companies should take price adequacy lightly, especially during a global economic downturn in an increasingly litigious world.
The Libor-fixing debacle should serve as a wake-up call that financial scandals often emerge in times of economic weakness and can bring a raft of lawsuits.
So far, the industry has been spared the flurry of crisis-related liability claims expected after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. But that does not mean it should wait for a big loss to start charging risk-adequate prices.
The arrival of a large claim is not a good time to be telling your boss or shareholders that you have been writing the business below the technical rate just because the rest of the market is doing it too.
The reinsurance industry focuses heavily on natural catastrophes because of the potential for huge losses. However, property-catastrophe reinsurance is mostly adequately priced. If a hurricane hit Florida, the industry would barely flinch. Could it say the same about an equivalent casualty loss?


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There is a concept rattling around the blogosphere that Sony’s victory over Toshiba in the war to define the high-definition video disc format is moot because soon people will be downloading high-definition videos rather than buying them on discs.
I suspect Sony’s Blu-ray will have a hard time for a few years, but not because of downloading. Downloading is simply too hard for the mass market. Buying discs is easy to do and easy to understand.
The competition for Blu-ray players is the latest generation of DVD players that can generate a high-definition picture from a standard-definition disc.
Right now, Blu-ray players cost $350 to $400. Sony PlayStation 3 game machines, which also play Blu-ray discs, also cost about $400.
I called Mike Abt, the president of Abt Electronics, the big Chicago area electronics retailer, to ask about his take on demand for Blu-ray players in the wake of the withdrawal of Toshiba’s HD DVD format.
He said the biggest question is how Sony and the other manufacturers approach pricing.
“If Blu-ray is really smart they won’t raise prices even though they can now that they have no competition,” he said. “They haven’t got everyone to join in and want a Blu-ray.”
“Most people are happy just buying a better DVD player, instead of spending $350 or $400 for Blu-Ray,” he said. “An upconverting DVD for $79 is a great value. It has a great picture, really better than an old DVD. You really see a difference.”
Damon Darlin, my colleague, points out that a Blu-ray movie played on a Blu-ray device connected to a 1080p HDTV is noticeably better than that. Images are sharper and appear almost three-dimensional. But Blu-ray faces other obstacles. Consumers, he said, will be put off because Blu-ray discs cost $5 to $10 more than standard DVDs.
Sure the super high end home theater buyers will start to buy Blu-ray players, Mr. Abt said. They had already been buying the combination Blu-ray HD DVD players from Samsung and other makers. (The home theater owners are the folks who may experiment with Apple TV or other ways to download movies, I suspect, but they will have disc players too.)
But Blu-ray will represent far less than 25 percent of disc players sold until the price falls below $200 or even $150, he said.
What about all the people who bought HD DVD players prompted by Toshiba’s aggressive price cuts? Mr. Abt hopes he can at least partially mitigate their anger and frustration by pointing out how well the players can display standard DVDs.
“We have a lot of people who bought HD DVD players in the last few months,” he said. “We are going to communicate with them, ‘You have an upconverting DVD player, enjoy it. You paid $150 for it, so you didn’t lose too much.'”


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Consumers See Ammo Shortage In Stores
Increased demand and supply chain disruptions are being blamed for a shortage of ammunition experienced by Wisconsin gun dealers.
Some stores report empty shelves disappointing customers. They say when they do get a delivery, the ammunition is quickly bought up and the shelves are bare again.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation estimates almost eight-and-a-half million people bought their first gun last year. According to the F-B-I, federal background checks jumped 40 percent – even higher in Wisconsin where the state Department of Justice reports background checks for handgun purchases were up by 174 percent in 2020.


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The report was published by RethinkX, an “independent think tank” created by James Arbib, a London-based venture investor, along with serial entrepreneur and author Tony Seba. It says that as self-driving vehicles become common, most people will stop owning cars and instead pay by the ride for Uber-like on-demand autonomous electric vehicles. Doing so could save a family more than $5,600 a year — equivalent to a wage raise of 10% for the median American household.
Self-Driving Cars Could Soon Save the Average Family at Least $5,600 a Year
“This will keep an additional $1 trillion per year in Americans’ pockets by 2030, potentially generating the largest infusion of consumer spending in history,” the report says.


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Supply chain shortages have been affecting dairy producers and consumers alike for the past few years, but the most recent product in short supply directly affects the dairy industry and the people who depend on the nutrients milk provides. Inventories of half pint milk cartons are running low, and this greatly impacts schools as well as places such as nursing homes and prisons.
The shortage has been making headlines in newspapers in states across the country, including New York, Pennsylvania, and California. Unable to purchase 8-ounce milk cartons, schools have been left to find beverage alternatives. Of course, milk could be purchased in larger containers and poured into cups, but that is not practical in some school settings. For some schools, this means water or juice is being served with meals.
Normally, schools are required to offer milk with meals. However, the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service released a memorandum in response to the shortage permitting state agencies to allow child nutrition program operators to serve meals with an alternative form of milk or without fluid milk.
The scarcity of packaging reportedly traces back to the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when schools across the country switched to virtual learning and the demand for cartons of milk tanked. Some carton manufacturers went out of business, and today, only a few remain that make the smaller packages.
Dairy groups are emphasizing that this is a packaging shortage – not a milk shortage. Still, the ability to provide milk in the volume and container that works best for school meal programs will be critical to ensure children are receiving the essential nutrients milk provides. Patrick Penfield, a professor of supply chain practice at Syracuse University, said in an interview with WRVO News in New York that the problem could persist until early next year.


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Microsoft announced that their improvements will focus on Office 365 business, Office 365 education and Office 365 government users of their SharePoint service. Users of this product line who have it installed locally and hosted on their own servers will not be receiving these touch improvements, at least not at this time. In addition, Microsoft will be coining a new term for these enhancements, calling them "Touch Design mobile pages" which will provide an "app-like experience" when retrieving documents and team sites using SharePoint Online. Click here to read the full story.
This article was originally published on November 22nd, 2013


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Tag : 2017 Toyota Corolla release date
title : 2017 Toyota Corolla Release Date, Price: Ups Ante For Safety,
summary : The best selling sedan from Toyota, the Toyota Corolla, is set for its 2017 model release soon. Boasting of updated safety features for a small family sedan, will the 2017 Toyota Corolla be priced to sell? Read on to find out.
date : Sep 30, 2016 11:07 AM EDT
title : 2017 Toyota Prius Prime and Corolla Release Dates, Specs and Updates
summary : It seems that Toyota is gearing up for something big this year. The Japanese car manufacturer is set to introduce the hybrid 2017 Prius Prime and the sophisticated 2017 Corolla later this year. Now, here's what is currently known about 2017 Toyota Corolla and Prius release dates, specs, and rumors on the web.
date : Apr 06, 2016 11:36 AM EDT


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Blog: Iconix brands in China
Leonie Barrie | 1 May 2008
Today's move by Iconix Brand Group to set up a Chinese joint venture is an astute one on many levels.
China might already be saturated with luxury brands, but Iconix and its partner, Hong Kong based Novel Fashion Holdings, are hoping to tap in to perhaps the most lucrative void in this exciting market – brands that serve the country’s new emerging middle class.
They're looking as at many as seven hundred million middle class consumers in the near future, a mind-boggling number by anyone’s standards. And these people are apparently all searching for individual, genuine, authentic brands they will have seen or heard about in the West.
When it comes to brands, Iconix has them by the bucketload. Candie's, Bongo, Badgley Mischka, Joe Boxer, Rampage, Mudd, London Fog, Mossimo, Ocean Pacific, Danskin and Roca Wear are just some on the labels in its line-up.
But not only does Iconix have a world class portfolio of brands it also has an interesting business model that should help them realise their full potential. Iconix China says it will identify local operating companies with the potential to go public, provide them with one of the Iconix brands as well as marketing and brand management support, in exchange for an equity stake.
Iconix yesterday posted a 43% hike in first quarter profit – which suggests it must be doing something right in the already saturated markets it currently operates in. It’ll be interesting to see whether the Chinese are as hungry for its brands as it hopes.
Fashion retailer H&M and UK based glove and leather manufacturer Pittards both say they are monitoring the situation in Ethiopia closely after the country's government declared a state of emergency af...
Increasing competition for garment sourcing contracts is seeing China not only being challenged by other countries in Asia, but by sub-Saharan African and even Russian suppliers too. And it is pushing...
The monthly minimum wage for workers in Cambodia's textile, garment and footwear sector is set to rise to $153 from January next year, following a vote on the issue last week. The increase marks a ris...
The results of two highly-anticipated initiatives in the sportswear sphere were revealed last week: the launch of Under Armour’s new UAS lifestyle brand and the first pair of running shoes created at ...
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A 900% increase over forecasted shipments for 2013 with new entrants set to ignite the market
Tick tock: Time is marching forward in the worldwide smart watch market, which is predicted to exceed five million unit shipments in 2014 according to the latest Canalys forecasts.
Canalys estimates that over 330,000 smart watches were shipped in 2012, led by Sony and Motorola. Kickstarter-backed Pebble Technology has joined Sony as a market leader in 2013; over 500,000 units will be shipped this year.
Smart watches are then set to explode by the end of 2014, growing tenfold as a new generation of devices from Apple, Google, Microsoft, Samsung and others are launched.
Unlike earlier products, these smart watches will provide more sophisticated software and more elegant hardware. At a glance information, integration across sensors and hooks into web services will be key features. These companion devices will not replace smartphones, but rather complement them as 'appcessories', claimed Canalys.
'Smart watches will be the most important new product category in consumer electronics since the iPad defined the market for tablets,' said Chris Jones, Canalys VP and principal analyst. 'Software platforms tied to smart watches will also be a tremendous opportunity for developers to write apps in categories such as health and wellness or sports and fitness.'
Hardware design will be critical for smart watches, as consumers will only want to wear fashionable products. The market for traditional watches will quickly be disrupted once consumers determine that smart watches add sufficiently valuable functionality to their lives while being 'stylish enough'. Canalys estimates that over a billion watches overall were shipped in 2012.
Device vendors will face a number of tough challenges, according to Canalys analyst Daniel Matte: 'Strict power constraints will prohibit cellular technology, limit the number of sensors and necessitate communication with smartphones over Bluetooth Low Energy. ARM architecture licensees that design custom silicon will enjoy significant hardware advantages in this space.'
Smart watches will also require custom software, noted Canalys analyst James Wang: 'An effective smart watch won't just be a second screen for a smartphone. Creating a competent developer platform specifically for the form factor will be an enormous challenge. Google and Microsoft must execute more successfully than they have done with their tablet platforms and will have to adapt their business models appropriately.'
Technology companies cannot afford to wait, warned Canalys. Innovative companies that create compelling apps will be best poised to capitalise on this major market opportunity.
Canalys defines smart watches as smart wearable bands. Smart wearable bands are multi-purpose devices that can run third party computing applications and are designed to be worn on the body, and not carried. These forecasts are taken from the Canalys Appcessory Analysis service.


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Facebook Purchases Oculus VR for $2 Billion
Facebook announced today that they bought Oculus VR for…a lot of money. The total amount after adding together their $400 million purchase of the company and 23.1 million shares of Facebook stock comes to approximately $2 billion.
Oculus issued a statement regarding the matter.
“At first glance, it might not seem obvious why Oculus is partnering with Facebook, a company focused on connecting people, investing in internet access for the world and pushing an open computing platform. But when you consider it more carefully, weâ€™re culturally aligned with a focus on innovating and hiring the best and brightest; we believe communication drives new platforms; we want to contribute to a more open, connected world; and we both see virtual reality as the next step.”
“Mobile is the platform of today, and now we’re also getting ready for the platforms of tomorrow,” Mark Zuckerberg said. “Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate.”
This is huge. This could be good news for Oculus, allowing them to broaden their horizons and deliver products they couldn’t before.
Then again, it could just be that they wanted that ginormous paycheck and now Facebook will throw them in the garbage and give the world what it really wants: VR Farmville.
Markus Persson wasn’t too enthusiastic about the deal as evidenced in this tweet:
We were in talks about maybe bringing a version of Minecraft to Oculus. I just cancelled that deal. Facebook creeps me out.
â€” Markus Persson (@notch) March 25, 2014
Responses like that are pretty par for the course whenever Facebook is involved with anything, but the overall direction of the deal is really unpredictable at this point. Hopefully something good will come out of it all.


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Legislator reintroduces measure from previous term
State Rep. Tommy Brann, of Wyoming, has reintroduced a bill he sponsored during the 2017-2018 term that would provide 8th grade social studies students with entrepreneurship and free enterprise instruction.
Brann said he was inspired by his personal experience as a restaurant owner and by his upbringing in his father’s business.
“At 19 years old, I was lucky to learn lessons about entrepreneurship firsthand while working in my father’s business,” Brann said. “Not everyone has the opportunity to learn these lessons, but everyone does have the ability to succeed as an entrepreneur. I want each and every one of our kids across Michigan to know that, and to learn the lessons I was lucky enough to receive.”
Under Brann’s proposal, the Michigan Department of Education would develop or adopt one or more model programs for use in school districts and public school academies. The program must include all of the following instruction:
- Business vocabulary, including entrepreneurship, free enterprise, business finance, goods and services, and innovation;
- Entrepreneurs from Michigan and around the world;
- Action activities, including setting short-term and long-term goals;
- Business basics, including taxes for businesses and corporations, essential skills for business owners, and product and service-based business ideas; and
- Creating a student project-based business plan.
Aimed at educating and providing students with the tools to open their own business, Brann said this initiative will ultimately give kids an understanding of how job creation works with the economy.
“I’m very passionate about this plan,” Brann said. “If I can succeed as an entrepreneur, I believe anyone can, given the right tools, education and confidence in their abilities.”
House Bill 4826 was referred to the House Education Committee.


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Woolworths supermarket has revealed how it upcycles old bread to create a new product and avoid wastage.
The company has shared a video on social media platform TikTok showing how workers at its store in Double Bay in Sydney give unsold loaves of bread "a new life in the delicious form of garlic bread".
The video explains that if loaves of bread are not sold before they are no longer fresh, they are cut and filled with garlic butter, then frozen for 12 hours before being sold as garlic bread.
Many TikTok users have commented that they "love" the idea, asking for Woolworths to take up the initiative in all stores.
Many other users have commented that the store could give the unsold bread away to the less fortunate, as is done by many other stores.


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BMW Adds News from CNN to BMW Assist
Back in 2008, BMW became the first automaker to allow drivers to send destination information directly from Google Maps to their car and is the only automobile manufacturer that offers Google local search in the vehicle.
This week BMW quietly added a real-time news feed to its online services portfolio.
Drivers now have access to the latest reports from CNN, covering general and world news, business news, sports coverage, news from the entertainment world, and the latest news from BMW. While drivers in Europe have had access to news through BMW Online for several years (and unlimited access to the Web in Germany), information services in the United States have been limited to weather, stock market indices, and fuel prices until now.
Each news article is only a couple of sentences and the car can read news to the driver using sophisticated text-to-speech technology which sounded quite good in our tests.
See our exclusive video for a full demonstration.
BMW Assist is standard for four years on most models including the 5er, 6er, and 7er Series and optional on other models. The Convenience Plan (required for information services) costs an additional $199 per year. The speech-to-text feature is available in cars manufactured starting in September 2009.


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London, Dec. 5 (CNA) Taiwanese popular restaurant chain Din Tai Fung (鼎泰豐), known for its steamed dumplings called xiaolongbao, launched its first European store in London Wednesday.
Located in the city’s Covent Garden, the restaurant is housed on two floors and can seat 250 people. The London site also features a cocktail bar serving Taiwanese drinks, including the popular bubble milk tea.
Din Tai Fung Chairman Warren Yang (楊紀華), who attended the store’s launch, said the London location marks the establishment’s 153rd store overseas.
Founded in 1958, Din Tai Fung opened its first international chain in Japan in 1996, followed by Singapore, which welcomed the popular chain in 2003, according to Yang.
Singapore alone now has 22 stores, Yang said, thanking his partner George Quek (郭明忠) from BreadTalk Group for bringing Din Tai Fung to the city state and for helping develop the business.
Quek is the founder and chairman of the Singaporean multinational food and beverage company.
According to Din Tai Fung, the London site is a joint venture between the Taiwanese chain and BreadTalk.
Explaining the reasons for choosing London as the chain’s first European venture, Quek said they are because the United Kingdom is the fifth-largest economy in the world and a major financial and transportation hub in Europe.
London is a densely populated city, whose residents are known for their spending power, Quek said, adding that the U.K. is an important market and has the potential to expand beyond 20 store locations in the country.
The restaurant’s launch also welcomed the presence of British comedian Stephen Fry and former Mayor of London Boris Johnson, who tried their hands at making xiaolongbao.
Outside Taiwan, Din Tai Fung currently has branches in Japan, the United States, China, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macau, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, the Philippines and the U.K.


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Amazon is buying a 10 per cent stake in Future Retail, India’s second largest retailer marking its second major investment in the country this month. Future Retail is seeking 20…Read More
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My.EOU Portal Current Students Faculty/Staff
January 9, 2015
BEND, Ore. – The seventh annual business conference and economic forecast for central Oregon will be held Thursday, Jan. 29 from 7 to 11:30 a.m. at the Riverhouse Convention Center. Washington Federal is the title sponsor with Rivera Wealth Management and Zolo Media as lead sponsors.
The 2015 conference, “Entrepreneurship Through Innovation,” brings some of the nation’s foremost leaders in business, innovation and entrepreneurship to the region to provide leading-edge information, experience and knowledge. This year’s lineup features “What’s Brewing? Lessons from the Craft Brewing Industry” as one of three dynamic segments:
EOU Professor Jeff Dense
Lessons from Brewing promises to be a popular segment as participants look at the craft beverage industry from a national and local perspective and get practical advice on how every central Oregon business can apply lessons learned from the successes of this growing industry. The keynote speaker is Ryan Lake, vice president of First Beverage Group, who represented 10 Barrel in their sale to Annhauser-Busch. He will address national trends and opportunities in the beverage industry. Dr. Jeff Dense, professor of craft beer studies and political science at Eastern Oregon University, will also speak. Dense is an internationally recognized expert on the political economy of the craft brew industry. Local beverage industry leaders will form a panel to present their stories and how they have been innovative to succeed.
Innovation in Business is with Mr. Robert Tucker, president of Innovation Resource, a global consulting and executive development firm devoted exclusively to strategic innovation. The author of international bestseller “Managing the Future: 10 Driving Forces of Changes,” Tucker is one of the thought leaders in the growing innovation movement. A frequent contributor to numerous publications, he has been a guest on PBS, CBS News and CNBC. Tucker is a much sought-after speaker and his clients include more than 200 of the Fortune 500 companies as well as international companies. He will share lessons from his international work in innovation and incorporate three local businesses into an intelligent talk show format that will unveil how innovation has lead to their success. Businesses leaders to be interviewed are Issac Tolpin, CEO of Choose Growth, Patricia Bartelson, owner from Straw Propeller and Doug King of Epic Air.
The 2015 Economic Forecast segment will feature top economist Dr. William Watkins, executive director of the Center for Economics at California Lutheran University. Watkins will once again present a compelling overview of economic trends and realities for 2015 that effect central Oregon, the state of Oregon and the nation. He will discuss the challenges and opportunities faced in central Oregon and how to use the information to frame strategic business plans for 2015.
The business conference provides independent, unbiased economic data, analysis and forecasting for central Oregon. Register to attend by January 28 at https://centraloregoneconomicforecast.com or contact Christin Hunter at 541-388-0404.
« Meet EOU’s Outdoor Program coordinator | Ramping up for “Then & Now: Replay” »
Sept. 27, 2022 EOU’s board of trustees takes action on presidential search process LA GRANDE, Ore. – The Eastern Oregon University board of trustees met in special session on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022 to take action on Resolution 22-08, which establishes the presidential search process. Board chair Cheryl Martin opened the meeting by responding, in […]Read more
Sept. 23, 2022 “Honey Eyed” exhibit coming to Nightingale Gallery LA GRANDE, Ore. – Eastern Oregon University’s Nightingale Gallery welcomes the new fall term with an exhibition by Portland artist Leslie Vigeant. Vigeant’s “Honey Eyed” is a multi-part installation, part tragedy and part comedy. The visual notes of her installation pokes holes in the societally-assumed […]Read more
EOU board of trustees calls special meeting Sept. 20, 2022 LA GRANDE, Ore. – Eastern Oregon University’s board of trustees will host a special board meeting on Monday, September 26, from noon to 1 p.m. to discuss and take action on a resolution describing the search process for EOU’s next president. The meeting will be […]Read more


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Walmart is offering big savings on a string of Apple products including a free one-year subscription to Apple TV+ for selected customers.
With this update, Apple brings a major emphasis on entertainment with new apps and begins to blur the line between devices by introducing Sidecar.
The update will "make everyday tasks on iPhone and iPad faster and more responsive," Apple said.
Group FaceTime calls, faster performance and improved AR sound good, but what's the catch?
He also revealed how Steve Jobs persuaded him to join Apple.
Psychologists are pushing back on a letter to Apple by two of its investors about the supposed dangers of smartphone use.
Souq, the Amazon of the Middle East, aims to break its own records in third year of sales bonanza.


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78 articles in 2012 • page 1 of 2
Monofonus Press explores early computers and the games they played
Screens Daily, Dec. 18, 2012 12:00 PM
With Austin Wintory, Replay Games, Gl33k, and other notable game folks
Screens Daily, Dec. 13, 2012 12:30 PM
Game developer Adam Saltsman pairs Mayan panic with Dikembe Mutombo
Screens Feature, Dec. 13, 2012
Founder and CEO of OUYA, an "open-source" gaming console
Screens Daily, Dec. 11, 2012 11:18 AM
Seven figures paid for local author's follow-up to 'Ready Player One'
Screens Daily, Dec. 6, 2012 5:09 PM
and other new ways to play in the God of Blades world
Screens Daily, Nov. 30, 2012 1:05 PM
Put yourself in the shoes of your gaming giftee and answer the following questions on your path to the perfect purchase.
Screens Feature, Nov. 29, 2012
Local company turns your physical mailbox into an inbox
Screens Daily, Nov. 16, 2012 3:45 PM
Slay and play until you have to go back to work
Screens Daily, Oct. 19, 2012 3:23 PM
A clickable guide to the participating studios and their games
Screens Daily, Oct. 18, 2012 11:45 AM
SXSW Gaming Expo and 'The Austin Chronicle' present Game On Austin
Screens Feature, Oct. 18, 2012
Pikachu: From Slave to Freedom Fighter. Seriously.
Screens Daily, Oct. 11, 2012 4:46 PM
Two new games from local developers
Screens Feature, Oct. 11, 2012
The shirtless, the dead, and the 'emotionally heightened'
Screens Daily, Oct. 10, 2012 4:18 PM
First-person actioner from local developer Arkane Studios
Screens Daily, Oct. 8, 2012 2:39 PM
A free game to help with your debate withdrawal
Screens Daily, Oct. 5, 2012 3:28 PM
Battlecry Studios to be lead by ex-BioWare head
Screens Daily, Oct. 3, 2012 2:40 PM
'Adventures in Plymptoons!'
Screens Daily, Oct. 2, 2012 11:15 AM
Lord British showed, clothes were swapped, weapons were brandished
Screens Daily, Sep. 24, 2012 1:19 AM
In which I get a taste of blood and victory
Screens Daily, Sep. 23, 2012 4:15 AM
Fantastic Arcade snaps
Screens Daily, Sep. 22, 2012 10:00 AM
It's all about money, stories, and nerds.
Screens Daily, Sep. 20, 2012 8:43 PM
Brandon Boyer launches Venus Patrol
Screens Feature, Sep. 20, 2012
Fantastic Arcade incites a 48-hour creative explosion
Screens Daily, Sep. 17, 2012 8:01 PM
Who else has watched 174 hours of 'One Tree Hill.' Anyone?
Screens Daily, Sep. 6, 2012 10:00 AM
A taste of the Fantastic Arcade
Screens Feature, Sep. 6, 2012
Winners get backing of web behemoth
Screens Daily, Aug. 31, 2012 4:39 PM
Some random games for distraction purposes
Screens Daily, Aug. 30, 2012 5:29 PM
Free versions of exhibiting games
Screens Daily, Aug. 24, 2012 9:10 AM
Mars Mania helps a locally developed game
Screens Daily, Aug. 22, 2012 4:52 PM
Am I running out of free browser games yet?
Screens Daily, Aug. 16, 2012 6:43 PM
New Releases, LeetUps, networking, and more
Screens Daily, Aug. 10, 2012 4:52 PM
Cool your Olympic fever with free games
Screens Daily, Aug. 3, 2012 3:20 PM
Massive online game goes free-to-play this fall
Screens Daily, Jul. 31, 2012 3:25 PM
Middle-schoolers learn that gaming is in the details
Screens Daily, Jul. 26, 2012 4:35 PM
Releases to purchase, look forward to, and KickStart
Screens Daily, Jul. 23, 2012 2:37 PM
Do you want the bad news or the bad news first?
Screens Daily, Jul. 20, 2012 6:19 PM
Supporting the scene has never been so easy
Screens Daily, Jun. 29, 2012 3:21 PM
Where do all those free, online games come from?
Screens Daily, Jun. 22, 2012 3:34 PM
The Retro Studios rumor mill; and betting on games at Gambitious
Screens Feature, Jun. 21, 2012


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By Alexander Villafania
MAKATI CITY, METRO MANILA– The growth of international business partnerships as well as the need to improve operational efficiency are key drivers for companies to add up network security as part of their capital expenditures.
Software security firm Kaspersky Lab is hoping to utilize this need to target enterprises in the Philippines. While the company claims that it is growing its market share in the consumer level security software space, it is hoping to target the enterprise business in the country and finally go head-to-head with some of its rival in the enterprise security space.
Kaspersky Lab recently launched its Endpoint Security 8, which is targeted at enterprise-level customers. The software provides a number of protection capabilities against malicious software and hacking attempts.
One of its key features is its global Kaspersky Security Network which monitors and updates Kaspersky product users with the latest anti-malware functions, virus signatures, and technical support.
In an interview, Kaspersky Lab Asia Pacific Director for Corporate Sales Gun Suk Ling says software security is increasingly becoming one of the top priorities for enterprises in their capital and operational expenditures.
This is driven by the need to have a secure network infrastructure especially when dealing with foreign businesses.
In addition, the ever-growing threat of identity theft and corporate espionage is also a driving factor for companies to have their networks secure. Ling stressed that Filipino firms are seeing that the cost of losing important data to hackers and even competitors outweighs the cost of investing on security software.
Apart from desktop computers, he said are also using smartphones and tablet PCs for their mobile workers. This adds to the “vectors” for potential hacks and malware attacks via mobile devices that are connected or synchronized to their local area network in the office.
“The mode of attacks has increased beyond computers or laptops. There are other platforms that can be used now to peek into corporate data or launch malicious attacks on corporate networks. The good thing here is that Filipino companies are getting familiar with that already,” he said.
Advertising Agribusiness Agriculture Airline Industry Aquaculture Automobiles Banking Car Accessories consumer elec Consumer Electronics Consumer Goods and Concerns Cooperatives Cottage Industries Death Enterpreneurship Entrepreneurship Filipinos Abroad Food Establishments Groceries and Shopping Centers Handicraft Handicrafts hardware Hardware Solutions Horticulture Internet Livelihood Programs Malls Mass Media and Communications Mobile Phone Industry OFWs Outsourcing Real Estate Software Solutions technology Technology Industry teleco Telecommunications Tourism Transportation Vermiculture Wholesale and Retail


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Post By Admin| On 07.20.2017
U.S. Chamber of Commerce – Announcement on NAFTA Negotiations; U.S. Chamber of Commerce – International Affairs Division – Americas
Today, the U.S. Trade Representative released a summary of its objectives for the upcoming negotiations to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The negotiating objectives can be found on USTR’s website, here.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President and Head of International Affairs Myron Brilliant issued the following statement on these objectives:
“The Chamber and its members are ready to roll up our sleeves and get to work modernizing the NAFTA. We commend the administration’s recognition that we must do no harm to the American jobs, businesses, and industries that depend on trade with Canada and Mexico and adhere to the process laid out in the TPA law. Working with industry, agriculture, and our partners in Canada and Mexico, we can keep the current benefits of the NAFTA, enhance them with modern, new provisions, and proceed in a way that avoids disrupting the flow of trade and the millions of jobs it supports.”
Please reach out to Reuben Smith-Vaughan ([email protected]) with any questions, or to learn more about the Chamber’s NAFTA priorities and programming.
023194_INTL_US Mexico Economic Council_logo_300res


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@apresher: I think the battle between iOS and Android is keeping everyone on its toes. It's a good thing anyway since the competition is done in a spirit where the users can benefit the latest technologies from both parties. Just a matter of time on who will do it first.
mrdon, Not sure what their plans are but I would be surprised if an Android app isn't on the horizon. It's clear that those two platforms will be battling for the near term, and the user base for both is huge.
Charles, Thanks for the comment. It seems alot of companies are using the iOS as the defacto standard when developing apps instead of the Android OS. I've also been reading quite a few tweets from Entrepreneur magazine the tides made been changing as Android devices are becoming more prevalent in the business world compare to the iPhone or iPad products. Very interesting times in tech!
A middle school team from Rochester, Mich., has again nabbed the grand prize in the annual international Future City Competition, which drew students from 37 regions of the United States, as well as from England and China.
The word “smart” is becoming the dumbest word around. It has been applied to almost every device and system in our homes. In addition to smartphones and smart meters, we now hear about smart clothing and smart shoes, smart lights, smart homes, smart buildings, and every trendy city today has its smart city project. Just because it has a computer inside and is connected to the Web, does not mean it is smart.
Are you being paid enough? Do you want a better job? According to a recent survey Manpower released just before Engineers Week, employers and engineers don't see eye-to-eye about the state of US engineers' skills and experience.
Focus on Fundamentals consists of 45-minute on-line classes that cover a host of technologies. You learn without leaving the comfort of your desk. All classes are taught by subject-matter experts and all are archived. So if you can't attend live, attend at your convenience.