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Just in time for the holidays comes the rumors that your Apple products may soon be out of date earlier than you expected. The Taiwan-based Chinese Commercial Times today reports that Apple will introduce new, perhaps lower-cost versions of its iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV in the first half of 2013. The translation, below, is a little rough, but it would be great and appreciated if readers want to either email or comment with a better translation.
Apple against Samsung quietly trial production, December edition iPhone (rumored iPhone5S) of 5 to 10 million units in the first trial production point of view, forecast massive shipment of the first quarter of next year. The industry pointed out that Apple’s new machine together, the new version of the iPhone, iPad and iTV in the first half of next year will be launched, including in low-priced products are also expected to debut, breaking Apple over the years, the practice of the year a new machine.
Industry, said Apple’s new iPhone certification send samples has been officially start trial production in December estimated 5 to 10 million units iPad facelift version is about to send samples, estimated the trial production of the second quarter of next year, components Jingji large Li-guang, jade crystal light is Wei Zhen Ding and Taiwan county are outside the new iPhone machine certification is made, the Japanese manufacturer, Kanto, KONICA Japanese soft-mill Fujikura (Fujikura) also joined the camp, Hon Hai is also naturally become assembly preferred .
The reasons for the quicker-than-usual cycle are said to be increased competition from Samsung as well as low-yield rates on the iPhone 5 design. We’d caution that it is hard to tell when Apple is going to ramp up their iPhone and iPad refreshes based on what suppliers are being asked for now. Also notable (and unlikely) is that “low priced products” are expected.
Speaking of Samsung, Chosun.com reports that Korea-based conglomerate is increasing the prices it charges Apple for its A-series processors by 20 percent. The processors, produced in Samsung’s Austin Texas plant, are designed by and produced exclusively for Apple. Obviously with all of the competition and lawsuits happening, Apple has been rumored to be looking for a new long-term chip-making partner. In the meantime, Samsung may be looking for additional revenue to help re-tool its plant.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.


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NEW YORK – Morgan Stanley, the investment bank for millionaires, big business and megamergers, is buying E-Trade Financial, the online brokerage that encouraged waves of regular investors to get into the market with ads featuring its talking spokesbaby.
The roughly $13 billion, all-stock deal would be one of the biggest deals on Wall Street since the financial crisis more than a decade ago, and it would mark the latest chapter in Morgan Stanley's transformation from a scrappy, deal-doing, stock-trading investment bank to a more well-rounded financial firm more reliant on its asset and wealth management businesses.
E-Trade will bring with it 5.2 million client accounts, $360 billion in retail client assets and a pool of customers who may become wealthier and use more of Morgan Stanley's full-service offerings. Morgan Stanley has 3 million client relationships and $2.7 trillion in client assets.
The deal also gives E-Trade some shelter during a time of massive disruption in the retail brokerage industry.
Its rivals Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade are in the midst of their own merger, and the industry is still absorbing the latest blows from its price war. Brokerages have made it free to trade U.S. stocks and exchange-traded funds online, slashing their commissions to zero in hopes of attracting and keeping customers.
Brokerages still make money from account fees and interest earned on customers' cash, but the price war has hurt revenues.
“Between zero trading commissions and competitive yielding savings accounts and cash management products, the competition for consumers' cash and investments is as fierce as ever,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst for Bankrate.com. “And this reaches a broad spectrum of households, it isn't just the ultra-wealthy that are in demand.”
Industry analysts believe the complementary parts of Morgan Stanley and E-Trade make them a good fit, and E-Trade's stocks surged 21.8% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 index Thursday. But Morgan Stanley's stockfell 4.5%, reflecting investors' concerns that it may be paying too high a price.

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text: Joe Gardiner, vice president of national sales at 84 Lumber, died in a boating accident on July 7. He was 43. … Petersen Aluminum announced a strategic marketing partnership with ABC Supply and its 44 locations in Florida. … Short & Paulk Supply in Tifton, Ga., says its truss manufacturing division will now operate as a separate, wholesale-only division. The new Georgia Structural Components will serve the company’s retail locations and dealer affiliates in southern Georgia. … Deer Park Lumber in Texas was named business of the year by the city of Deer Park’s chamber of commerce. The seven-acre yard opened in 1955 and has 50 employees. … Beacon Roofing Supply announced the retirement of David R. Grace, the company’s executive vice president and CFO, effective Jan. 1. He will remain until his successor is announced. … Former Florida Building Material Association president Bill Tucker was hired by Shaffer Associates, an executive recruiter. Tucker will serve as an account executive. … Ace Hardware named William Guzik as CFO. … Building Material Distributors now sells Simpson Strong-Tie products at its Southern California locations. … Russin Lumber, which distributes and manufactures building materials in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, hired Lauren Litwin for its outside sales team. Litwin will work with the company’s dealer network on Massachusetts’ North Shore, in southeastern New Hampshire, and in Maine. … Weyerhaeuser now distributes BarnwoodIndustries’ reclaimed wood in northern California. … Babcock Lumber named TimberTech as its Vendor of the Year and chose the vendor’s regional sales manager, Tony Groh, as its Vendor Representative of the Year. … MI Windows and Door’s Southern Division has begun manufacturing its Designer Series vinyl replacement windows in Carrollton, Texas. … Trex repaid the remaining $91.9 million principal balance on its 6% Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes, which matured in early July, converting the notes into 1.1 million shares of company stock. … Atlas Roofing promoted Stanley Bastek to district sales manager for the state of Georgia. Bastek will focus on growing the company’s asphalt shingle and rolled roofing products market share in the territory. … True Tech Doors designed an iPad app for its sales reps and affiliated distributors and dealers, giving them real-time access to the company’s product inventory. … Soft-Lite Gorell announced it will close its Indiana, Pa., facility. It will consolidate manufacturing into its 200,000-square-foot Streetsboro, Ohio location. … ProVia unveiled new packaging for its Heritage Stone product line that is water resistant and recyclable. The changes are designed to better protect ProVia products when they’re stored outside.


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Thailand’s economy strengthened in the fourth quarter on exports and consumer spending, supporting the central bank’s case to raise borrowing costs further.
Keywords: Thailand, GDP, Economy, Bank of Thailand, Minimum Wage
Gross domestic product rose 1.2 percent from the previous three months, the National Economic and Social Development Board said in Bangkok today. That compared with a revised 0.3 percent decline in the third quarter, which reflected a mid-2010 slump stemming from political unrest and flooding, and the 0.9 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 10 economists.
The Bank of Thailand is poised to extend interest-rate increases after saying inflation is a threat, as counterparts from Indonesia to China also strive to damp jumps in the cost of living. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has raised the minimum wage and will boost civil service pay, which may push up prices ahead of an election he plans to hold by the end of June.


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- E-liquid flavors at 23rd Street Vapes | Photo Erick Perry
Adam Bottoms three-pack-per-day smoking habit was expensive, and he knew that it wasnt good for him. Becoming a father changed everything. He wasnt going to risk secondhand smoke affecting his infant daughters already-delicate condition. So he walked into a shop that sold electronic cigarettes, also known as e-cigarettes or vapes.
There are various styles of handheld hardware that vaporize e-liquids, a mixture of flavoring and nicotine blended with a variety of nicotine strengths. The process produces a cloud of vapor users inhale instead of tobacco smoke.
Fatherhood motivated Bottoms to seek help with smoking, and he credits e-cigarettes with helping him stop smoking entirely for the last five years. Bottoms is one of many who have used the devices in their quest to become smoke-free. He also is one of many passionate users who enjoy working in the industry because of it. He now works full-time for an e-cigarette company here in Oklahoma City.
It isnt hard to find a shop that sells e-cigarettes and e-liquids. Thats because until recently, shops selling vaporizers and the liquid and accessories that go with them have been able to proliferate across the U.S. with little regulation from federal or state governments. Just about anyone who wanted to start a shop could.
But that changes starting Aug. 8. On that date, e-cig and vape liquid manufacturers, distributors and retailers will fall under a recently announced set of Food and Drug Administration regulations that are 499 pages long.
They have up to two years to adjust their practices to fit within the new rules.
The struggle has already begun over whether vape use is effective in curbing or stopping smoking, possible health impacts of use and quality control of e-cig liquids and restricting access of vapes and liquids to minors.
The new FDA rules define e-cigarettes and vape liquids as tobacco products, effectively regulating the entire e-cigarette industry under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (Tobacco Control Act).
The ruling is based on studies that show a dramatic rise in e-cig use by high-school-age youth, according to FDA-provided data included with the new regulations. It also highlighted the sale of vape liquids with names and flavors that appeal to that demographic.
The rules, approved May 5, ban sales of electronic nicotine delivery systems e-cigs, hookahs, e-pipes to anyone under age 18. Photo identification is also required for adults under age 26.
As cigarette smoking among those under 18 has fallen, the use of other nicotine products, and especially e-cigarettes, has taken a drastic leap, Sylvia Mathews Burwell, Department of Health and Human Services secretary, said at a May 5 news conference in Washington, D.C.
A May report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows e-cig use grew almost tenfold among high school students between 2011 and 2015. There was a nearly ninefold increase among middle school students.
Burwell also said hookah use and cigar smoking among the age group continues to be a problem.
This is not regulation; it is prohibition, American Vaping Association, an industry trade group, said in a press statement quoted May 5 in The New York Times.
It prefers the industry be regulated by food rules instead of tobacco rules.
Within weeks, several lawsuits were filed to attempt to stop the new regulations. Manufacturers and retailers also launched campaigns to sway public opinion against the new FDA ruling. One such business is based in Oklahoma City. They will have plenty of information to use in that campaign.
A recent report compiled by Public Health England, an agency of the United Kingdoms Department of Health, concluded e-cigarettes are around 95 percent less harmful than smoking.
In May, the CDC issued a report showing more adults are quitting smoking than ever before. However, while it recommends nicotine replacement products as scientifically sound methods of smoking cessation, it does not specifically recommend the use of electronic nicotine delivery systems.
More than 480,000 preventable deaths each year are caused by smoking tobacco, according to the CDC.
Oklahoma City manufacturer and distributor Ryan Vicedomini said he believes the industry will be dead within two years unless the FDA rules are modified.
He is founder and CEO of Vapor Supply, more commonly known locally as Vapor World. Its the company that Adam Bottoms now works for.
The approved regulations removed a controversial requirement that would have removed all flavored e-cigs and vape liquids from the market until they received FDA approval but the regulatoins still require companies to gain marketing permission for any tobacco-related product introduced after February 2007.
Vicedomini said that the expense of the extensive testing for FDA approval would have been something that only the two or three largest corporations could withstand and would likely drive mom-and-pop shops, which often create custom liquids in-house, out of business.
Even if I try to get one of my e-liquid flavors approved, just one, it could be as little as $300-$400 or as much as $2-$10 million, he said. One flavor; and we have over a thousand.
He owns retail shops in Midwest City, southeast Oklahoma City and Moore. In addition, Vicedomini said Vapor Supply is a wholesaler to smaller retail shops across the world. Its online presence allows the business to ship to individuals by complying with various state requirements for age verification before orders are completed.
The company has about 70 employees who could lose their jobs if the company closed. As Vapor Supplys business model shows, e-cig and vape supply can be lucrative. According to Vicedomini, his gross sales last year for all his operations were $25 million, with $3 million of that comprised of retail sales.
Vicedomini was set to ramp up e-liquid manufacturing operations when the FDA ruling was handed down.
He recently invested over $200,000 into a new Oklahoma City lab that ensures consistency, purity and greater safety for employees involved in the process.
The tax revenue paid on that $3 million in retail sales is something that Vicedomini thinks should be heavily considered.
Youre talking some pretty good tax income for the state, he said. There are 300 to 400 other stores in Oklahoma alone that collect taxes on their sales, too.
Print headline: Government control, Recently approved federal e-cigarette rules mean vaping is now regulated like tobacco.


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Tesco and Morrisons hit by Christmas slowdown as sales slide
Both Tesco and Morrisons saw their sales dip over Christmas
Thursday 09 January 2014
The supermarket landscape is radically shifting according to the bosses of Morrisons and Tesco, who both today revealed customers were steering clear of big, out-of-town stores, preferring to order online and favouring discounters Aldi and Lidl more than ever.
It means both saw sales over Christmas fall, with Morrisons revealing a particularly bad slump, down 5.6 per cent in the six weeks to January 5 on a like-for-like basis compared with a year earlier.
Morrisons, the UK’s fourth-biggest supermarket, surprised the City today by releasing its results 11 days early following a board meeting yesterday where it was agreed sales were far worse than expected.
Chief executive Dalton Philips said: “I was disappointed with the sales performance but we are under-represented in key areas.
“We are going as fast as we can, but this year customers were shopping online and through convenience stores.”
Morrisons opened its first convenience stores last year and only recently launched its website after previous boss Marc Bolland — the current Marks & Spencer chief executive — refused to offer online deliveries.
The company’s shares plunged 14.9p, 5.9 per cent, to 239.2p as the company also revealed that full-year, underlying profits — which exclude one-off costs such as the website — will be at the lower end of expectations.
Previously, profits were expected to hit around £812 million, but they will be nearer to £783 million, the company said.
Over at Tesco, the UK’s biggest supermarket admitted its larger stores had suffered as overall sales fell 2.4 per cent for the six weeks to January 4 on a like-for-like basis compared with a year earlier.
Chief executive Phil Clarke said: “Customers can order at home on the sofa from their laptop, phone or tablet. That’s why we’ve got to reinvest in that format and why we are introducing things like Giraffe restaurants and Harris and Hoole cafes.”
General merchandise has been particularly difficult for the supermarket as it attempts to shift away from big-ticket items like TVs and focus on smaller goods like cookery and homeware.
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Verizon Communications said Thursday its net income increased 15.8% to $1.95 billion in the first quarter as the telecom giant added more wireless subscribers while its FiOS pay-TV and broadband business also continues to grow.
Its earnings per share of 68 cents - 15.3% higher than 59 cents in the year-earlier period - beat analysts' estimate of 66 cents. Total operating revenue rose 4.2% to $29.4 billion.
"Verizon is off to an excellent start in 2013," said Lowell McAdam, Verizon chairman and CEO. "Our strategic investments in wireless, wireline and global networks have given us the platforms to sustain momentum and take advantage of growth opportunities in key markets for broadband, video and cloud services."
With more customers drawn to its enhanced wireless network called 4G LTE, revenue for Verizon Wireless, its wireless carrier subsidiary jointly owned with U.K.-based Vodafone, totaled $19.5 billion, a 6.8% year-over-year increase. Its operating income margin - 32.9% - was a record high.
The largest wireless carrier in the U.S. added 677,000 post-paid (or contract) customers, after accounting for those who left its service. That's a 35% increase from a year ago. Verizon Wireless now has 98.9 million customers in total added from its retail operations.
Its 4G LTE service is available in 491 markets in the U.S., the most expansive coverage among U.S. carriers.
Even though Verizon has largely stopped expanding its landline FiOS network, the service - which brings pay-TV and broadband Internet connections to customers' homes -grew by 15.1% to $2.6 billion in revenue for the quarter.
FiOS added 188,000 Internet customers during the quarter, while 169,000 signed up for its TV service. Its average revenue per user rose 9.5% to $107.15.
"With ongoing improvements in operating efficiency, we expect continued growth in free cash flow and earnings as we move through the year," McAdam said.


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The rumoured smartphone is also speculated to feature a 5.7-in Full HD display, and the octa-core Kirin 935 SoC
Power New Possibilities | Dell PCs starting at Rs.35,990*
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Huawei has started teasing its premium phablet Mate S through a series of tweets, and is set to be launched today. It boasts some major hardware improvement over the Mate 7, alongside the Force Touch display. A couple of leaked images show the device is indeed named Mate S.
The Force Touch display is being touted by Huawei as the big feature of the Mate S. The same technology is expected to be present in the iPhone 6S and the iPhone 6S Plus. The “Incredible Touch”, as the company is calling it, is quite similar to the pressure-sensitive display of the Apple Watch. This feature opens up some interesting possibilities and it can be presumed that the UI of the Mate S is going to incorporate it in some way. From what Huawei had been teasing so far, knocking on the screen will probably have something to do with the experience. On the hardware front, the Huawei Mate S will probably feature 5.7-inch Full HD 1080p display as compared to the 6-inch on the Mate 7. It will be powered by the Kirin 935 SoC featuring an octa-core CPU and the Mali-T628 GPU and 3GB of LPDDR4 RAM. Rumors also point to a 20-megapixel primary camera with dual LED flash as well as an 8-megapixel front camera. The fingerprint scanner is located below the primary camera, and it also houses a 4100 mAh battery.
Huawei looks all set to become the first manufacturer to release a phone with Force Touch technology. In May, Apple announced the new 15-inch MacBook Pro which features a Force Touch trackpad, and the latest leaks reveal its presence on the new iPhone models, set to be launched next week. Alongside the Mate S, Huawei is also set to announce the Android Wear-based Huawei Watch today, at the IFA press conference.
Although not quite similar, RIM tried out a form of tactile feedback on the touchscreen of the Blackberry Storm. But, Force Touch technology has taken pressure-sensitive touchscreens beyond a gimmick and might be able to open up a whole new way of interacting with touch devices.
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These box office numbers do not include the cost of production or marketing costs. They also don't count the billions in merchandising that Disney has made over the last...Entertainmentread more
Stocks in Asia traded lower on Monday morning, as a Nasdaq-style technology board on the Shanghai Stock Exchange marked its debut.Asia Marketsread more
When Cathy Hsu and Tony Hsieh wanted to build an English language app for Chinese children, they decided to follow Facebook and Google's lead.Start-upsread more
Instagram began tests that hide "like" counts on posts. That means influencers who market products on Instagram will have to rely on different metrics to show success.Technologyread more
Peter Neupert worked for Microsoft and Amazon-backed Drugstore.com, where he got to know Jeff Bezos. He now advises start-ups.Technologyread more
The firing of the tear gas was the latest confrontation between police and protesters who have taken to the streets for over a month to fight a proposed extradition bill and...China Politicsread more
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Amazon's Fire TV products are great for streaming movies and listening to music on your television.
But there's a lot more to them. Here are a few tips and ticks that will help you get more out of your new Fire TV.
Ordering products on your TV st really useful in case you just got home, forgot to get something and have already sat down next to the TV. Just do this:
The Fire TV isn't the best place to browse the web, since it's clunky to do so by voice and without a full keyboard. But you can do it if you want to watch videos that are only available on the web. Here's how:
You can upload and view all of the photos you take on your iPhone or Android phone on an Amazon Fire TV. I also like that you use them as the screensaver, which basically turns your Fire TV into a giant photo frame when it's sitting idle. Here's how to set your family photos as the screen saver:
You can listen to books you've purchased from Audible on the Fire TV. This can be helpful if you start listening to an audio book on your commute and want to continue from the couch when you get home.
If you and your loved ones are watching a movie and want to decide where to go to dinner, you can all look together instead of crowding around a phone. All you have to do is speak to Alexa on your Fire TV.
To do that:
Those are some of my favorite tips that I'm not sure everyone knows about. You can ask Alexa for tips no matter what app you're in by holding microphone button on your remote and saying "Alexa, what can I say?"


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Indian mobile giant Bharti yesterday said it was scouting for a new partner to replace Walmart in a retail joint venture with reports saying it was in talks with France's Carrefour and Japan's AEON.
The new partner would replace Walmart, the world's biggest retailer,
Etisalat, a leading telecom group in the UAE, recently opened a retail shop-in-shop inside an outlet of electronics retailer Sharaf DG in Dubai Mall.
Etisalat’s first such key retail shop-in-shop counter inside Sharaf DG outlet will enable customers to avail of all services
The spending of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) on luxury goods is set to increase globally this year, said a survey.
The Wealth Report’s Attitudes Survey found that over a third of the wealth advisors expected their clients to spend more on luxury goods this year
Kuwait Support Services Company (KSS), a major multi-business group headed by Sheikh Ameer Al Sabah of Kuwait, has signed a joint venture agreement with China-based Kingold Jewelry, a leader in design and manufacture of gold jewellery.
The two companies will form a combined entit
Majid Al Futtaim, the leading shopping mall, retail and leisure pioneer in the Mena region, has joined joining forces with the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) to establish a retail academy and industry consortium.
It is aimed at boosting educational support for the growing re
Samsung Electronics Levant has signed a deal with United Pioneering Business (UPB) to supply American Excellence School (AES) in Jordan with its latest air conditioning system launched in the region.
The DVM S System features Samsung’s ‘Full Inverter Compressor’
Samsung Electronics, a global leader in technology, showcased a lineup of its latest ultra high definition (UHD) monitors at its recent Mena Forum in Malaga, Spain.
The line-up included the UD590, SD590, SD390 and SD391 monitors, all of which provide consumers and businesses with
Unilever, a leading fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) company, has been named the ‘No 1 Employer of Choice’ for university students in Saudi Arabia, according to a recent survey.
The survey was conducted by TNS, an independent research company, among senior students f
Nokia and Intercol, the authorised partner for Nokia in Bahrain, have launched the Asha 500, 502 and 503 models in the kingdom.
The Nokia Asha 503 is the first 3.5G model in the new generation of Asha platform smartphones, said a statement.
The device features a la
Canon Middle East, a leader in imaging solutions, has launched two compact and user-friendly imageRunner A3 black-and-white multifunctional printers (MFPs).
Both the imageRunner 2202 and imageRunner 2202N models combine intuitive print, copy, scan and share functionality with rel


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California holds garage sale to pay down debt
The cash-strapped state of California is holding a massive two-day garage sale to get rid of cars, computers, prison gear and anything else deemed surplus and beef up empty coffers in the process.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger came up with the idea of the "Great California Garage Sale" after slashing the government car fleet by 15 per cent. He's since become the garage sale's biggest promoter, holding news conferences, discussing it in web chats and Tweeting about it to followers.
"Welcome to our garage sale,'' Schwarzenegger told reporters during a warehouse tour in Sacramento Friday morning. "As you know, we're trying to raise some extra money here, getting rid of the old stuff we don't use anymore.''
Some items could be bought at the warehouse while others were available online on eBay and Craigslist.
The sale raised $1 million US in its first day and continues Saturday, with some items set to stay up on eBay until early September.
Thousands of potential buyers began lining up at 5 a.m. Friday in hopes of snagging some of the ridiculously cheap goods:
- $5 surplus jeans and shirts from the Department of Corrections
- $25 BlackBerry cellphones
- $30 wood desks
- $200 laptop computers
California used the governor's celebrity to boost prices any way they could, with Schwarzenegger signing various items to give them added Hollywood sheen. Anyone who ever wanted to own something signed by the "Terminator" need not look further. His signature could be found on car visors, motorcycles and clothing.
A leather jacket he signed was going for $1,775 on eBay Saturday morning, with bidding ending Sept. 4. Schwarzenegger said he was hoping the jacket would get more because another one that he once signed had been sold for $30,000.
Also on the shopping block is $731,000 worth of vehicles, $237,000 in warehouse items and $58,000 worth of items on eBay. Some items were even put up on Craigslist.
At the warehouse, people could buy, for instance, a 2004 Ford Crown Victoria for $2,100 or a 2005 Dodge Durango 4X4 for $3,300. There are 600 cars in all, almost half sold the first day.
California needs to raise the cash to help ease a budgetary crisis brought on by the recession, the housing market collapse and legislative gridlock in Sacramento, the state capital. The state faced a massive $26-billion deficit, and had to resort to using I.O.U.s this summer to pay taxpayers, vendors and contractors.
This week, the rating agency Fitch put California's general obligation debt at just two notches above speculative, or "junk" status but said the state's outlook was stable.
The rating move came after state officials passed a historic and austere budget pact last month that saw $15.6 billion in cuts to services and forced state workers to take three unpaid days off each month.
With files from The Associated Press


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blackhawks soccer style retro jersey
However, many people don’t understand what they mean and why soccer players have to wear a number. Those interested in buying USA soccer jerseys have a couple of distinct options. The online retailer launched a new section of its site Monday, called Amazon Storefronts, that only lists products sold by small- and medium-sized businesses in the U.S. However one can also find it online on Amazon. It might be hard to believe, but this is an excellent example of community-based wildlife conservation in action.


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Drunken Monkey to expand in Telangana, AP
City-based startup Drunken Monkey plans to expand its Smoothie Bar franchise chain to 150 from the present 50 outlets in 12 cities by March 2019 in addition to expanding the footprint to overseas markets as well.
Hyderabad: City-based startup Drunken Monkey plans to expand its Smoothie Bar franchise chain to 150 from the present 50 outlets in 12 cities by March 2019 in addition to expanding the footprint to overseas markets as well.
The startup is keen on tier-2 cities in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and has decided to open 12 franchised stores in these two Telugu states, taking the total count to 24. To support its expansion plan, Drunken Monkey will increase its headcount from 500 to 1,000 by the end of 2018. With the expansion plan in place, the startup expects Rs75crore for the current fiscal as against the Rs25cr in 2017-18 fiscal.
Samrat Reddy, Founder of Drunken Monkey, said: “With an untapped smoothie market, we believe to have the potential to grow to 150 bars in the next one year in India. We will be opening our stores shortly in Belgium, Canada, US and UK, while we’re also considering the Australia, Singapore and Vietnam market. An initial investment of nearly Rs20 crore will be required for each country.”
Considering the stiff competition abroad, Drunken Monkey had earlier put its expansion plan on hold. However, it’s reworking on expansion plan by customising its product range as per the specific requirements of overseas consumers and availability of raw material.
The startup invested Rs four crore in R&D over the past one year and launched its first store at Madhapur here in February 2016. “In the first year of our launch, we opened four stores and it reached 50 in February 2018 as we launched 46 new stores in the last financial year. We had to take our expansion very extensively as our idea couldn’t be patented and we wanted to mark our presence in different cities before someone else would copy us,” adds Reddy.
“Including initial investment of Rs five crore, the total investment reached to Rs10 crore. We mobilise funds through franchising model and the same will be invested in the expansion. Business is doing good at tier-2 cities on par with tier-1 cities,” he said.


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Easy Root Removed From Android Market, App Now Available From Developer’s Site
The developer of the Easy Root application, which allowed owners of the Motorola Droid, Droid X, and Motorola Milestone (your handset must be running Froyo) to easily root their handsets, has announced that his application has been removed from the Android Market. While this is extremely unfortunate, you had to know this was coming.
Despite this, apparently the application is now live and for sale via PayPal from the developer’s site. Click here to purchase it. I am recommending all Android folks to support this guy. Keep at it developers! This is why Android rules folks!
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Let the social networking…..continue we guess. The location based social network Whrrl has announced today that they have released their Android based app that is tied into their service.
T-Mobile customers can choose from six tones of animated sounds, including wolf howl, train whistle, and the T-Mobile jingle.


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The previous 12 months has introduced on a huge shift for virtual entrepreneurs and organizations. Within the wake of GDPR — and with CCPA going into impact in not up to six months — knowledge privateness compliance has turn out to be a point of interest for organizations around the globe.
Information privateness compliance company OneTrust announced that it has closed an excellent $200 million Collection A funding from Perception Companions in its newest spherical of investment — bringing the valuation of the platform to $1.three billion. The multi-million buck funding demonstrates the mounting precedence companies are hanging on operationalizing privateness compliance.
“It’s been a thrilling 3 years at OneTrust, with our consumers partnering with us to outline and construct probably the most extensively used era platform in a fully new marketplace,” stated Karbir Barday, CEO and fellow of data privateness at OneTrust. “This funding will assist us to deliver a brand new degree of scale and toughen for our consumers, coming at a well timed juncture with simply six months ahead of California’s CCPA is about to be enforced.”
Why we will have to care
Simply this week, the Eu Union slapped large fines on British Airlines and Marriot for knowledge breaches that affected masses of hundreds of thousands in their consumers. The sheer sizes of the fines — $230 million and $123 million, respectively — will have to be sufficient to position compliance at the vanguard of your virtual technique (if it isn’t already). 3rd-party distributors like OneTrust are spotting the want to supply gear and answers for compliance control.
Information privateness is turning into a visual a part of our methods, in particular in virtual advertising. As we discover ways to arrange the other regional rules and international laws, many organizations will flip to third-party distributors to assist force the compliance part of our methods.
We will be able to be expecting to peer extra knowledge compliance control platforms getting into as enterprises and their provider suppliers put in force new systems and new rules evolve.
Extra at the information
- OneTrust already serves over three,000 shoppers in additional than 100 nations.
- Merchandise throughout the OneTrust platform come with processes to automate CCPA and GDPR necessities, together with “proper to be forgotten,” “get right of entry to,” and “don’t promote”.
- Previous within the week, San Francisco-based TrustArc raised $70 million in its newest investment to assist organizations construct privateness and compliance systems.


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Last but not least, Playboy has announced that The Sandbox will be behind its virtual MetaMansion. The well-known magazine company said today that the Playboy MetaMansion will be living in The Sandbox. Playboy first gave hints about the MetaMansion when it released its Rabbitar NFT collection in the fall of 2021.
When it released its collection of Rabbitar NFTs in October 2021, Playboy gave the first hint that it would build a virtual version of the famous Playboy Mansion. Well, the company followed through on its promise today by putting out a teaser video.
To sum up, Playboy thinks that The Sandbox will be a place where MetaMansion will be an immersive, social, and interactive game. There will also be programming for events, NFT releases, and more.
All of Playboy’s activities in The Sandbox are, of course, based on the magazine’s 70-year history, its content library, and its art collection. Most importantly, the Playboy Mansion has been home to a long list of famous events.
People with Rabbitar NFTs will be able to use the Playboy MetaMansion in The Sandbox in a unique way. For instance, people who own a Rabbitar will get VIP access to special events, quests, giveaways, and more. Also, people who own Rabbitars will be able to help decide what the future of MetaMansion will be like.
What will happen next in the Metaverse with Playboy’s Mansion?
Playboy now has its own “Playboy MetaMansion” channel in The Sandbox Discord. This is meant to get people excited about the project.
Rabbitar owners will be able to verify their NFT in order to get a “Playboy Rabbitar” role. So, in the future, they will be able to get special access, free stuff, and other perks. Lastly, both the Playboy Discord server and the Playboy channel in The Sandbox server will have updates about the MetaMansion.
Another important thing is that Playboy didn’t give any dates. But it will work with The Sandbox to keep everyone up to date on when MetaMansion experiences will happen. This includes when Playboy LAND will be shown to the public.
All in all, this partnership is a big step forward for Playboy in the metaverse. Not to mention that it is now joining other well-known brands that have shops in The Sandbox. For example, TIME, another well-known American magazine, has been around for a long time. The web3 branch of the magazine is working with The Sandbox to make a digital version of TIME Square.
Other companies that have worked with Sandbox in the past include Ledger, HSBC, and Snoop Dogg, who is NFTs’ favorite celebrity.


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The Scottish launch of the event called Small Business Saturday was held in the European Room at the City Chambers this evening. Our photograph shows Deputy First Minister John Swinney with Michelle Ovens the Campaign Director for Small Business Saturday and Councillor Frank Ross who is the Economy Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council.
The importance of these smaller companies was emphasised by the attendance of Deputy First Minister John Swinney MSP who addressed the assembled audience made up of councillors, MSPs, business owners and representatives of business organisations.
Small Business Saturday on 5 December 2015 aims to support and inspire these enterprises and give them a lift not only at this time of year but also throughout the year. A bus tour of Britain will start in November and will travel the country from John O’Groats to Land’s End calling at 27 towns en route. The bus tour is a promotional campaign and will deliver workshops and seminars for the business owners.
This evening six of the businesses in the Small Biz 100 showcased what they have to offer. The Small Biz 100 allows the organisation to highlight one business per day for 100 days leading up to 5 December 2015.
We spoke to the Deputy First Minister after the networking event.
Small Business Saturday was founded by American Express in 2010 in the US and the company is a founding supporter in the UK.


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Byju’s cleared all of its fees to Blackstone by paying the $234 million it owes the global investment giant to $1 billion acquisition of Aakasha source familiar with the matter told TechCrunch, addressing one of the criticisms aimed at the Indian edtech giant in recent months.
Start-up company with headquarters in Bengaluru, worth 22 billion dollars, which pushed back some payments for its roughly $1 billion acquisition of the physical education chain last year, citing regulatory reasons. Blackstone, also an investor in Byju’s, owned about 38% of Aakash prior to the acquisition.
Byju Raveendran, founder and CEO of the edtech startup of the same name, told TechCrunch earlier this month in an interview that Byju’s and Blackstone jointly decided to process the payments then. . The source said the Indian startup cleared its debt this week, requesting anonymity because the details are private.
Blackstone and Byju’s did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday night.
The Indian startup, which provides online and offline learning services to students from kindergarten to those preparing for competitive college entrance exams, has spent more than $2.5 billion la in the last two years to get the scores of companies including US-based Epic Reading Platformencoder TynkerGreat Learning in India, GradeUp, Topper and GeoGebra of Austria.
Raveendran confirmed in the previous interview that they have also made an attempt to acquire the publicly listed edtech company 2U.
Earlier this month, the Indian startup discloses its financial accounts for the year ending March 2021, after an extended delay. Byju’s said it posted revenue of $305.6 million and extended its loss to $577.4 million in the fiscal year ending March 2021. Raveendran said about 40% of its fiscal 21-year revenue – due to the consumption period and credit sale period – deferred to the following Year.
The startup, which includes Blackrock, Tiger Global, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Sequoia India among its backers, said it generated total revenue of $1.258 billion (unaudited) in the financial year ending in March of this year. From April to July, the startup posted revenue of $570 million.
Byju wants to go public next year. In an earlier interview, Raveendran said Byju’s is closely monitoring macro market conditions and will file for an IPO within nine to 12 months. “I don’t think the market will change this year,” he said.


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Samsung’s new Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus flagship smartphones will be the first on the market to include support for Bluetooth 5.0, The Verge reports. Bluetooth 5 was unveiled in June 2016 and has been designed to “double the speed and quadruple the range” of low energy Bluetooth transmissions. Samsung unveiled its new devices earlier this week.
- Contactless transit payments go live in Miami
- Telia tests 5G face recognition payments
- Lojas Americanas opens checkout-free automated convenience stores in Brazil
- Apple rolls out Apple Card, extends 3% cashback offer to third party merchants
- Facebook to partner with banks for WhatsApp payments rollout?


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Power battery recycling, fill the missing ring
Although the general direction of the policy has been clear, the market for power battery recycling is relatively slow. In the construction of recycling technology and recycling system, we should speed up the study of foreign companies.
The power battery performance of new energy vehicles will decrease with the increase of the number of uses. With the increase in the number of new energy vehicles in China, the power battery packs that have reached the end of their service life will be largely eliminated. The effective recycling of power batteries will directly affect the sustainable development of the new energy vehicle industry. At present, China has begun to strengthen the technical guidance and norms for the recycling and utilization of power batteries, and establish a power battery recycling system linked by upstream and downstream enterprises to prevent the old road of “first chaos and then rule” that other wastes have passed. However, although the general direction of the policy has been clear, the market for power battery recycling is relatively slow. Among them, in the construction of recycling technology and recycling system, China should speed up learning from foreign companies.
Power battery recycling will become an important issue
The development of new energy vehicles is the trend of the times, and various Chinese automobile companies have also entered the field of new energy vehicles. Last year, China's new energy vehicle production has jumped to the top in the world. The annual production of automobiles was 340,471 and the sales volume was 331,092, an increase of 3.3 times and 3.4 times respectively. It can be said that China's new energy electric vehicle industry has ushered in the peak production period. In 2016, industry stakeholders also estimate that new energy vehicles will double their growth and new energy vehicle production will continue to expand.
There is no doubt that the development of new energy vehicles has many advantages. When most people mention new energy vehicles, they can always say a series of advantages such as energy conservation and environmental protection, but the drawbacks of developing new energy vehicles are known. There are very few. From the perspective of the service life of the car, a serious problem has already been put in the reality, that is, in a few years, the first batch of new energy car batteries that are available in China will soon face a new generation, so how to eliminate the used batteries? Security processing will become an important issue.
It is reported that from the cost structure of new energy vehicles, the battery cost of new energy vehicles with a price of 300,000 is about 100,000 yuan. Although the life of a power lithium battery is about 20 years, its life is generally only 5-8 years. Because its capacity is reduced to less than 80% of its initial capacity, the cruising range of an electric vehicle will be significantly reduced. Among them, when the lithium iron phosphate battery has 70% residual performance, it needs to be decommissioned. If the remaining performance is 50%, it will be dismantled directly; when the performance of the ternary lithium battery is 70%, it needs to be decommissioned. Therefore, the car power battery needs to be replaced in about 5 years.
Industry-related data gives this reality that cannot be ignored.
According to industry estimates, the cumulative scrap of new energy vehicle batteries in China will be about 20,000-400 tons in 2015, and the number will increase by about 20,000 tons per year. By 2020, only lithium batteries will be scrapped annually. Will reach 12-17 thousand tons. If these batteries are not recycled and disposed of in time, they will cause secondary pollution to the environment. The data shows that 20 grams of mobile phone batteries can pollute 1 square kilometer of land for about 50 years, so a few tons of electric vehicle power batteries are discarded in the natural environment, which will inevitably cause greater pollution to the environment.
At the same time, the production capacity of China's new energy vehicle battery industry is also increasing rapidly. Among them, the investment in the battery industry in 2015 is about 100 billion yuan, and the capacity under construction and nuclear construction is 180 billion watt-hours. With such a large battery capacity, after five or six years, it will enter a large-scale phase-out period. Who will recycle it? Where is the recycling industry? Both have become an urgent problem to be solved.
Moreover, as a kind of "venous industry", China has no mature experience in the recycling of power batteries. According to foreign data, the technical route of battery recycling is quite complicated. For example, in the treatment of waste lithium batteries, it must first be pretreated, including discharge, disassembly, crushing, sorting; plastic after disassembly and iron casing. It can be recycled; the electrode material is then subjected to alkali leaching, acid leaching, and various processes followed by extraction. This process is complex and costly. How to enable companies to enter the industry and achieve certain benefits has become a potential problem.
The country is clear: don't take the old road of "first chaos and then rule"
Over the past 30 years, China's economic development has actually taken the old road of "first pollution and governance". China's export-oriented economy, except for steel, coal, cement, paper, chemicals, textiles, printing, materials, etc., is basically a big polluter. This kind of flowering pollution has made China's land extremely short. Time to bear a lot of pollution.
The new government has made it clear that China will not follow the old road of “first chaos and then rule” because serious air pollution, water and soil pollution have caused huge economic losses to the country. Therefore, we have seen that in the past two years, in addition to anti-corruption, anti-pollution has become another important starting point for visiting officials.
On January 4 this year, the Central Environmental Protection Inspector Group, known as the “Environmental Admissions”, officially unveiled the first station to select Hebei for inspection. On May 3 this year, the Central Environmental Protection Inspector Group reported the situation of the inspector to Hebei Province. Among them, “Hebei Province attaches great importance to environmental protection work and work intensity, and there is still a big gap between the central government requirements and the expectations of the masses.” “The leaders of the former provincial party committee did not really pay attention to environmental protection work, and did not really grasp it.” These are not The criticism of mercy points to the point of the problem. This is the first bright sword of the Central Environmental Protection Inspectorate. By strictly implementing the responsibility of the main body of environmental protection, strengthening the "responsibility and responsibility of the party and government" and "one post and two responsibilities", and breaking the environmental governance over the years, environmental protection inspectors have high hopes.
The country has not slacked off the recycling of power batteries for new energy vehicles.
In January 2016, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Commerce, and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine jointly issued the "Technical Policy for Recycling and Utilization of Electric Vehicles for Electric Vehicles (2015 Edition)" (referred to as "Technical Policy"). On the basis of the consultation draft issued in September 2015, the official policy issued on the recycling of new energy vehicles' power batteries. Although this policy is not a mandatory policy, the joint release of the five ministries is sufficient to illustrate the importance the government attaches to this issue. The Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang also clearly stated on the "China Electric Vehicles 100 People's Association 2016" held on January 23rd: "We must pay close attention to one thing and accelerate the study of the recovery and reuse of power batteries."
The person in charge said that the main purpose of the "Technical Policy" is to strengthen the technical guidance and specifications for the recycling of power batteries, clarify the main body of responsibility for recycling of power batteries, and guide related enterprises to establish a power battery recycling system linked by upstream and downstream enterprises. This will help to cultivate a good recycling system and prevent the old road of “first chaos and then rule” that other wastes have passed.
It is worth noting that in order to build a new version of the traceability system for battery recycling, the Technical Policy clearly states that a power battery coding system will be established. It is reported that the specific coding work is the responsibility of the production enterprise, and the national automobile standardization authority will formulate the coding standard for the power battery product as soon as possible; the power battery production enterprise (including the importer) shall encode all the power battery products produced (or imported), and Establish a traceability system.
In addition, in order to improve the comprehensive utilization level of waste energy storage batteries for new energy vehicles, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has also formulated the “Regulations for the Comprehensive Utilization of Waste Energy and Power Storage Battery for New Energy Vehicles” and the “Specifications for the Comprehensive Utilization of Waste Energy Storage Battery for New Energy Vehicles”. The Interim Measures for the Administration of Announcements shall come into force on March 1, 2016.
Enterprise layout has just begun
Although the general direction of the policy has been clear, the market for power battery recycling is relatively slow. Because there are still some obstacles in the battery recycling technology in China, especially due to the large weight and volume of the power battery, the variety of materials, the poor consistency of the battery batterys and the complex life prediction evaluation, the power battery for the vehicle is not only difficult to recycle, but also difficult. And there is no ability to create profitable returns. Therefore, the entire recycling industry is still in the state of scattered, small, chaotic and poor.
In general, power battery recycling is still a "difficult bone" in China, with little oil and water. Without the lead of national policies and no subsidies, it will be difficult to form a climate. Many people estimate that it is not excluded that in the future, the state will formulate subsidy policies and supportive policies for this special field. In addition, the state has also prepared a large amount of special funds for recycling technology research to attract enterprises to invest, so some companies began to deploy power batteries. Recycling market.
For example, the new three-board company Ding Duan equipment announced in April this year that it signed a cooperation and development agreement with the Tsinghua University Nuclear Energy and New Energy Technology Research Institute for the development of new energy vehicle waste battery recovery equipment. It is reported that the specific cooperation contents of the two are: the development of recycling equipment for lithium-ion batteries for new energy vehicles; the development of recycling equipment for metal hydride nickel batteries for new energy vehicles; and the recycling equipment for super-capacitors for new energy vehicles. Developed. During the cooperation period, Tsinghua University Nuclear Energy and New Energy Technology Research Institute shall not cooperate with third parties for the same content.
It is understood that the team of Professor Xu Shengming from the Institute of Nuclear Energy and New Technology of Tsinghua University began researching lithium ion battery recycling projects in 2002, and has undertaken and participated in the National Natural Science Foundation project. After years of continuous research, we have accumulated a wealth of technical reserves in the field of lithium-ion battery recycling.
The "Recycled Nickel Hydrogen and Lithium Battery Recycling Project" of Cangzhou Haopeng Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Haopeng International Group, which was listed in the US, was recently awarded the Energy Saving Cycle of the National Development and Reform Commission's 2015 Central Budget Investment Plan. Major project funds for economic and resource conservation. The release of this special fund is a major support of the State Ministry of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the field of new energy vehicle power battery recycling and harmless treatment.
It is reported that Cangzhou Haopeng's waste battery recycling project for processing 10,000 tons of various waste batteries, battery pole pieces and other raw materials has been implemented in Cangzhou City, Jiangxi Province. The project is mainly aimed at new energy vehicle power batteries and various electronic products. The scrapped batteries are treated with advanced environmental protection technology and equipment for harmless treatment. At present, they have established strategic partnerships with many domestic new energy automobile factories, and signed the disposal of used batteries and discarded electronic products with hundreds of governments and enterprises. Recycling and disposal agreements to jointly promote the construction of a green recycling system for used batteries. In 2015, the company signed a cooperation agreement with the Institute of Process Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to jointly promote the utilization and recycling of power battery ladders for new energy vehicles.
Nandu Power said in its 2015 annual report that the company will gradually carry out recycling business in the field of lithium and electronic products, build an industrial platform in the field of circular economy, and lay the industrial foundation for the company's strategic transformation into system integration and operation services. Further enhance the advantages of the industrial chain.
China's mining "city mine" enterprise GEM also pointed out in the annual report that the company will actively expand the power battery recycling mode and develop the power battery cascade utilization system based on the original waste battery recycling system and the scrapped vehicle recycling system. Construction, joint venture with BYD Company to establish a storage power station (Hubei) Co., Ltd., to promote the construction of a new energy industry value chain and recycling industry of “material recycling – battery recycling – new energy vehicle manufacturing – power battery recycling” chain.
Fujian's famous new energy battery manufacturer Ningde era has complete research and development and manufacturing capabilities in the field of power and energy storage batteries. At present, it is also studying the recycling of ternary batteries.
In addition, in order to encourage production companies to recycle power batteries, many local governments have begun to actively explore. For example, the Shanghai policy shows that the government will subsidize 1,000 yuan per vehicle for recycling power batterys; Shenzhen will establish a power battery utilization and recycling system. For each car manufacturer, 600 yuan will be paid out and the government will pay 300 yuan for recycling power batteries. Initially establish a mechanism for battery recycling.
From the perspective of the development trend of various enterprises, the key to disposing of used power batteries in China is to break through the technical bottleneck and find a feasible path that is both environmentally friendly and economical. Whether the relevant companies can succeed or not can also provide solutions for large-scale disposal in the future by developing a viable business model.
Experiences in Japan and Germany are available for reference
In the recycling of used power batteries, Japanese and German car companies have not only successfully realized the multiple use of power batteries, but also established a ladder recycling industry chain around the world. Domestic companies learn.
For example, Toyota (including Lexus) has sold more than 1 million hybrid cars in Europe since 2000, which is larger than the current number of new energy vehicles in China. In 2011, Toyota launched a project to recycle nickel-metal hydride batteries in the country.
Toyota cooperates with Sumitomo Metal, and with the world's first-class high-purity extraction technology, Toyota has realized the multiple use of nickel in the hybrid vehicle's power battery, which can recover 50% of the nickel in the battery pack; Toyota Chemical Engineering and Sumitomo Metal Mine are equipped with a dedicated production line that can recycle the equivalent of 10,000 hybrid car batteries per year. In 2012, Honda and Japan Heavy Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. cooperated with a similar production line, which can be recycled more than this line. 80% rare earth metal used in the manufacture of new nickel-hydrogen batteries. Although recycling batteries is the responsibility, Japanese companies rely mainly on recycled metals (including rare earth elements that are extremely valuable to Japan) as a driving force in the recycling industry.
At the same time, in order to extend the service life of the power battery, avoid the peak production capacity limit. Toyota also promoted the power battery ladder utilization project. In 2015, Toyota used the used batteries of the Camry Hybrid for the energy storage of the Yellowstone National Park facility. Nissan also collaborated with Sumitomo to develop a battery system using a waste lithium battery for electric vehicles to serve as an auxiliary energy storage system for solar power generation for independent power supply at night and under-light conditions. 4REnergy, a joint venture between Sumitomo Corporation and Nissan, aims to commercialize the recycling of used lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. Since its establishment five years ago, the company has become the most successful lithium battery recycling company in business.
Germany's Daimler has already launched its first generation of electric smart in 2007. In June 2015, the third generation of smart fortwo electric drive electric version was launched. On the one hand, the use of the ladder of the power battery can achieve energy saving, and on the other hand, the popularity of the ladder utilization will greatly reduce the cost of the new energy vehicle. Based on this idea, Daimler of Germany has established a joint venture with a number of related companies to set up the world's largest decommissioned battery storage power station to balance the pressure on the entire German grid. It is expected that the capacity of the energy storage power station will be 13 MWh, and the energy storage devices will all come from the decommissioned smart electric version of the power battery.
The United States is also facing the problem of safe recycling of power batteries. At present, the United States mainly promotes the establishment of a battery recycling network by the government, and adopts an additional environmental fee. When consumers buy batteries, they charge a certain amount of handling fees and the battery manufacturing companies pay a part of the return fee, which is supported by the funds for product scrapping and recycling. The battery recycling company sells the purified raw materials to the battery manufacturer at a negotiated price. According to reports, Toxco, a waste battery recycling company in the United States, freezes batteries in a liquid nitrogen environment, then disassembles the batteries and extracts useful materials. For example, lithium components are converted into lithium carbonate and sold as raw materials to battery manufacturers.
Of course, to realize the recycling of the future of electric vehicles and power batteries, it is not enough to rely solely on the unilateral efforts of recycling companies. As a node in the entire industrial chain of electric vehicles, the recycling of electric vehicles and power batteries involves the interests of major automakers, battery companies, charging and replacement stations, battery leasing companies and the majority of car owners. In the field of resource recycling, especially in the field of recycling of used power batteries, China has lagged behind developed countries. China needs to learn from the advanced experience of power battery recycling in Japan, Germany and other countries. Only when electric vehicles solve the problem of waste pollution, can electric vehicles run faster and further on the new energy road!


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In continuing its ongoing offerings in the e-commerce space, honor Malaysia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Lazada Malaysia, Southeast Asia’s largest e-commerce platform. The official honor store will now be made available on Malaysia’s No. 1 e-commerce player’s platform come 2 April 2018.
“We are thrilled to announce our latest partnership with Lazada Malaysia and cannot wait for our collaborative efforts in bringing new excitement and offers to both our customer bases.
“This expansion will further strengthen our presence in the e-commerce space. Leveraging Lazada’s platform, we would now be able to cater to the increasingly cost- and digitally-savvy customers who are constantly on the lookout for value-add purchases,” said George Zhao Zhiwei, Head of honor Malaysia.
The partnership between these two leading digital players provides consumers an additional avenue to purchase these affordable honor handsets on a well-trusted platform, without cause for concern.
“We look forward to collaborating with honor in growing their online presence, especially in the online shopping space. As Lazada Malaysia celebrates its sixth birthday in April, we see tremendous growth in our users, even with the e-commerce marketplace getting saturated slowly but surely.
“We are always striving to be better – and more new features will be added to our platform this coming year and this partnership with honor will only serve to elevate our 2018 growth strategy,” said Simon Patterson, Chief Business Officer of Lazada Malaysia.
Amazing offers and promotions with honor and Lazada
To celebrate this partnership, honor will be offering its form meets function smartphones at an even lower rate on Lazada when the honor official store opens its virtual doors on 2 April 2018. Below are the offers:
|honor Device||RRP||Promotion Price|
|honor View10||RM 2,099||RM 1,899|
|honor 8 Pro||RM 1,999||RM 1,499|
|honor 7X||RM 1,099||RM 899 + RM50 Lazada voucher|
|honor 9 Lite||RM 749||RM 749 + Bluetooth headphone|
|honor 6A Pro||RM 699||RM 499|
To be part of the exclusive opening offers and promotions, visit http://ali.lazada.com.my/wow/i/my/MYCampaign/honor-official-promotion?hybrid=1


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The troubled data storage industry took another blow Thursday on news Komag Inc. (KMAG) KMAG, +0.00% expects its first-quarter net loss will besignificantly wider than the consensus estimate of a loss of 53 cents. Komag said sales will decline as much as 55 percent from fourth-quarter revenue of $159 million. In January, the disk-drive component maker said it expected sales to decrease by 40 percent. The company cited intense pricing pressure from industry oversupply. Komag shares closed down 9/16 to 15 1/16.
Shares of Intel (INTC) INTC, +0.95% closed up 2.8 percent after approving an increase of 100 million shares to its share buyback program. The company can now buy back 129.8 million shares. The company also said President and Chief Operating Officer Craig Barrett will replace Andrew Grove as chief executive, while Grove retains the position of chairman. Intel shares rose 2 1/8 to 78 3/16.
HMT Technology (HMTT) hmtt also closed down 7/16 to 12 3/8, after BancAmerica Robertson Stephens lowered its fourth-quarter earnings estimates. Analyst Patrick Tenney cited Komag's forecast of aggressive pricing going forward as well as the pre-announcements of HMT customers Quantum (QNTM) qntm and Iomega (IOM) IOM, +1.90% .
Emulex Corp. (EMLX) emlx lost 16 percent by the bell on its warning that it will take a $13-million charge in the third quarter. The maker of network connectivity products said it will exit its manufacturing business and slash 48 percent of its workforce. Emulex said it will outsource its manufacturing and focus on core technologies. Shares fell 1 7/8 to 9 7/8.
Computer component manufacturer Mylex Corp. (MYLX) mylx slid 3.2 percent on a dimmed first-quarter outlook. The company said it will report a loss of 9 to 11 cents a share, wider than the expected loss of 5 to 7 cents a share. Mylex also expects first-quarter revenue to drop 15 percent from fourth-quarter levels of $31.4 million. The company blamed weak demand for certain products in Asia as well as an unfavorable product mix which lowered gross margins. Shares closed down 1/4 to 7 5/8.
Tech Data Corp. (TECD) TECD, +1.20% closed up 4.9 percent after the microcomputer-related hardware and software products distributor posted a fourth-quarter profit of 55 cents a share, outpacing the consensus estimate of 52 cents a share. The year-ago fourth-quarter profit was 40 cents a share. Steven A. Raymund, chairman of Tech Data, said the company had a strong fourth-quarter sales and a "terrific year." Shares rose 1 7/8 to 40 1/8.
Motorola Inc. (MOT) MSI, +0.61% and 3Com Corp. (COMS coms ) have reached an agreement in their patent-infringement litigation battle by cross-licensing each other's modem technologies. Details were not disclosed. Shares of Motorola gained 5/16 to 56 13/16, 3Com rose 1 1/4 to 36 3/4.
Prudential Securities upgraded its projections for Xerox Crop. (XRX) XRX, +0.52% The brokerage firm raised its 12-month price target to $120 a share from $105 a share. Nevertheless, shares closed down 3/8 to 100 5/8.
Shares of automotive electronics and data communications products company Sheldahl Inc. (SHEL) shel closed up 15 percent on news the company sealed an order from Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN) TXN, +1.34% for products used in telecommunications applications. Sheldahl shares closed up 1 37/64 to 12 5/64 and Texas Instruments gained 1/4 to 55 13/16.
Semiconductor test equipment maker Teradyne Inc. (TER) TER, +1.21% got a boost following BancAmerica Robertson Stephens initiated coverage with a long-term attractive rating. The firm expects the company to earn $2.50 a share in 1998 and $3.10 a share in 1999. Shares closed up 1 1/2 to 41 1/16. Binti T. Harvey is an online reporter for CBS MarketWatch.


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The second round of trade talks between the United States and the United Kingdom begin on Monday. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is emphasizing his goal of reaching a comprehensive trade deal with the United Kingdom.
Politico says that may have been to quell some nervousness in Congress that the U.S. Trade Rep might settle for a mini-deal, similar to the one struck last year with Japan.
“We want to have a full-blown agreement with the U.K.,” Lighthizer said last week during a members-only event at the Economic Club of New York. “Right now, they have a very unbalanced trade relationship with the European Union, as we do, and this is an opportunity for each of us to sell more products to each other and possibly increase trade.”
While he was emphasizing his desire for a full trade agreement, he put the brakes on the possibility of a quick agreement. “These things will take time,” he says, “both, because they’re complicated but also because each of us has to wrap ourselves around the fact that there is going to be a compromise in reaching a major trade deal.”
(From the National Association of Farm Broadcasters)


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The revenues of Jason Fried's scrappy Chicago startup are estimated at maybe $10 million annually. Twitter, meanwhile, is about to deposit ten times that in its already-stuffed bank account. Which helps explain why Fried's sniping has reached mocking extremes.
It's great fun. 37signals issued a fake "press release" on the company's influential and freewheeling blog yesterday mocking Twitter's reportedly imminent $1 billion valuation by way of a $100 million investment. "37SIGNALS VALUATION TOPS $100 BILLION AFTER BOLD VC INVESTMENT," read the headline. The post began:
37signals is now a $100 billion dollar company, according to a group of investors who have agreed to purchase 0.000000001% of the company in exchange for $1.
It later declared that 37signals would cease taking in actual money, so investors could fantasize about the company's potential instead of thinking about reality. It's a salient point, and one we've made ourselves. The satire also nails how the adulation and money lavished on Twitter invite disturbing comparisons to the 2000 dot-com bubble.
But as much as we enjoy and heartily encourage this sort of bitchery, we'd be remiss not to point out that Fried seems to have a chip on shoulder. Just look at the context: a series of high-profile public pronouncements in which Fried and his tight-knight crew at 37signals have set themselves up as the marked antithesis of Twitter.
To hear Fried's people tell it, Silicon Valley is filled with flaky startup dreams like Twitter; 37Signals is the level-headed Midwestern outfit. Valley companies conjure imaginary business models; 37signals actually sells things. The message 37signals pushes most energetically is that it charges users for its product, while companies like San Francisco-based Twitter give them away and hope for the best.
"The days of the traditional San Francisco startup approach are numbered," wrote 37signals' David Heinemeier Hansson, in an essay in which he relished the thought that Valley startups who fail to "charge for stuff" would be "flushed down the drain." Hansson cited earlier comments by Fried, who has said "free is not the future of business" and that the idea of dropping "an advertisement into the conversation every once in a while" is "toxic."
Fried also this month lacerated the founders of Mint.com, saying they "bent over" in selling their company to Intuit for $170 million. Presumably they should have stayed in the notoriously breakneck, personal-life-destroying world of tech startups until they reached Fried's serene plateau of self-evident emotional tranquility and nirvana. Oh, and did we mention that Twitter CEO Evan Williams himself sold a series of startups before co-founding Twitter, which is widely expected to be likewise flipped someday? Just like those sumissive Mint.com guys, hmmm.
We'll readily concede that Twitter is a 37signals customer, and Hansson to his credit wrote a post called "Hail to Twitter" a year and a half ago, albeit to make up, we presume, for the one he did a week earlier, "Bitching is the killer app for Twitter." But we still detect in Fried something of a grudging obsession with Twitter which, crazy talk aside, has accumulated an impressive 40 million or so estimated users, a massive ecosystem of related startups and the highest profile roster of users the tech world has ever known. Hey, look, we know from grudging obsessions with the microblogging service and its founders. But even a jaded observer like Valleywag can see that Twitter wasn't valued at $1 billion in a throwaway $1 investment. It took $100 million from serious-as-hell investors who very much expect to get that money back, and then some. Deep down, we bet Fried knows the difference too — even if he can't admit it.


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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Shares of Cisco Systems tumbled after the networking giant released a disappointing sales outlook for the current quarter.
Cisco (Fortune 500) stock fell nearly 7% in premarket trading Thursday, after executives said on a post-earnings conference call late Wednesday that the company expects sales to grow only 2-5% in its fiscal fourth quarter.,
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting 7% revenue growth in Cisco's fourth quarter, which ends in July.
Investors seized on the downbeat outlook, punishing the stock and brushing off a solid earnings report for the current quarter.
Cisco's earnings rose 20% over the year to $2.6 billion, or 48 cents per share, excluding one-time charges for the quarter that ended April 31. The company logged $11.6 billion in sales. That was almost exactly in line with what analysts had expected.
Last year, Cisco took strong measures to restructure the company and focus on business-crucial technologies. Those moves included streamlining the company's organizational structure, cutting 6,500 jobs last July and ditching the Flip video camera business last April.
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Apple began assembling iPhones in India in 2017, but until 2022, the Cupertino, California-based tech giant was assembling older generation iPhone models in India. Apple launched the iPhone 14 model in September, and the company began assembling the new iPhone 14 in China 10 days after the global launch of the iPhone 14 series. .
Recently, JP Morgan analysts said Apple will expand local manufacturing capacity in India to produce 25% of all iPhones by 2025.
China’s mistake in following zero Covid restrictions and the upcoming worker unrest at Apple’s biggest contract manufacturer Foxconn’s Zhengzhou manufacturing facility will play a major role in boosting the assembly of iPhone models in India. However, India’s Product Linked Incentive or PLI scheme also deserves credit for making India an attractive place to assemble iPhones.
“India is a very attractive market for smartphone players. India has almost the same population size as China and a high birth rate. Therefore, many local and international consumer electronics brands see India as an important strategic market. Moreover, the continued improvement and maturity of production technology coupled with supportive government policies have seen an increase in domestic smartphone production,” said Prachir Singh, Senior Research Analyst at Counterpoint Research. told ABP Live.
iPhone India has three assembly partners Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron, all of which are in the PLI scheme and are expected to ramp up production in the coming years.
India will account for 3-4% of global iPhone manufacturing in CY2021, and Counterpoint Research believes it will grow to reach 7-8% by CY2023.
Mumbai-based Tata Group also started talks this year to buy Wistron’s Indian plant in the southern state of Karnataka for Rs 4,000-5,000. Analysts said this would be a big boost to India’s local manufacturing capacity.
“Having an Indian company to make iPhones would be a huge boost to India’s efforts to challenge China’s dominance of electronics manufacturing, reducing Apple’s reliance on China. global electronics brands can be persuaded to consider assembling in India, so they will not rely solely on China.”
India’s smartphone market and domestic demand, the world’s second-largest growing smartphone market after China, is also the main reason why Apple chose India as the manufacturing destination for “China Plus 1.”
As China seeks to lure back disgruntled employees at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou factory, the largest iPhone supplier, India is seizing the opportunity to sell iPhones that are assembled exclusively in Foxconn’s China factory. You can even start building the Pro model.
“This is a good opportunity to acquire Pro model manufacturing/assembly and expand our operations in India to try to establish India as a manufacturing and export destination for China + 1. India.
“India is an attractive destination to assemble iPhones only to the extent that it is less disruptive than we see in China. It must compete with China on labor and long-term viability as a global export hub.


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Bitcoin Banking Coming Soon?
We’ve got Bitcoin ATM’s, Bitcoin printing presses, mining companies, even credit cards. The one thing Bitcoin doesn’t have, however, is it its own bank. Bitcoin ATM company Robocoin now plans to launch an online bank and will use its ATM machines to act as “branches” across the world. This development could bring even more services to the global Bitcoin community and if any company appears to be in the position to pull it off, it’s Robocoin. The company has 13 Bitcoin ATMs in operation across Europe, North America, and Asia.
MIT Giving Students Bitcoins
That’s right, if you’re an MIT student, a university club will be putting an extra $100 bucks in your pocket. When next the semester begins next fall, every MIT student will be getting $100 dollars worth of Bitcoins. The project is being sponsored by the MIT Bitcoin Club, an on-campus group, that has raised funds privately and will now use some of that funding on this campaign. The logic actually seems pretty straightforward. MIT is the world’s leading tech university, so engaging the entire MIT community could build a lot of support for Bitcoin.
Mt. Gox Founder: I Lost 50K in Collapse
Did you know that Mark Karpeles didn’t in-fact start Mt. Gox, the now-collapsed Bitcoin exchange? Nope, it was actually started by Jed McCaleb who sold the company to Mr. Karpeles back in 2011. Jed still owns 12 percent of the company and actually lost 50 grand worth of Bitcoins when the exchange crashed. Either way, it looks like Jed was smart to cash out when he did, given Mt. Gox’s stunning collapse. 50 Grand is only a tiny, tiny slice of the hundreds of millions of dollars that were lost when the exchange collapsed.
Larry Summers: Ignore Bitcoin At Your Own Risk
Okay, it’s not much in the way of an endorsement, but it’s something right? Financial guru Larry Summers has finally weighed in on the Bitcoin debate and he’s got some good things to say. According to Mr. Summers, the global financial system is fraught with inefficiency. Further, something like Bitcoin could go a long way in stripping away these inefficiencies. Mr. Summers also reminded people that a lot of so-called experts ignored the internet when it first appeared and anyone looking past Bitcoin could be making the same mistake.
MasterCard Lobbyist Adding Bitcoin To “To-Do” List
Bitcoin now has its very own paid lobbyists! It appears that MasterCard has added Bitcoin to the topic list for its lobbyists. It’s hard to know the company’s attention, but so far MasterCard has supported a company-backed Bitcoin debit card. MasterCard only spent 70 grand on Bitcoin lobbying services, a tiny fraction of the overall $4.1 million dollars the company spent on lobbying services all together. Still, it’s a good sign that the company is spending funds at all.


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Takata has hired public relations firm Sard Verbinnen & Co, as the company continues to deal with the fallout from its recall crisis.
The Japanese safety parts supplier said in a statement on Tuesday that it hired Sard Verbinnen last week. More than 20 million vehicles have been recalled around the globe by companies since 2008 for defective Takata inflators.
The potentially defective air bag inflators, which can spray vehicle occupants with metal shrapnel, have been linked to five deaths.
Honda alone has been forced to recall 13.4 million vehicles, mainly those sold in the U.S. Honda is easily Takata's biggest customer, according to Reuters.
The hiring of Sard Verbinnen puts a more professional public relations firm in charge to handle communications for the company. The change does raise some questions regarding if Chief Executive Shigehisa Takada will speak on the issue publicly finally, said Scott Upham, president of Valient Market Research, which tracks the air bag industry.
Sard Verbinnen is a financial communications firm with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and London. Founded in 1992, the company has worked on some of the biggest mergers and acquisitions in the U.S., like an $8.7 billion leveraged buyout of PetSmart, announced earlier this week.
Takada, 48, did apologize to shareholders during Takata's annual meeting in late June, but has not been seen in public since then. The meeting was closed off to the media.
Takata spokesman Alby Berman, 69 confirmed a few weeks ago that he will retire at the end of December, but will remain with the supplier as a consultant.
Honda and its two joint ventures in China announced today plans to recall approximately 569,769 cars over potentially defective air bags which the automaker said were made by Takata. Mazda announced earlier this week that it would recall 330,000 vehicles in the U.S. over faulty driver-side Takata air bags.


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Carnivore Meat Company and its employees held a “Meat the need” holiday food drive Dec. 11-18, collecting canned meats and other non-perishable food items to support Paul’s Pantry. The company donated 2,029 lbs of food to the local charity, which is focused on solving food insecurity in the Green Bay area.
Paul’s Pantry supplies food to about 125 households a day, five days a week, averaging about 12,000 people per year. The pantry receives no federal, state or local tax revenue and relies on the community support of volunteers, food suppliers and donors to continue operating.
Every holiday season raw frozen and freeze-dried pet food manufacturer Carnivore Meat Company partners with a charity organization to hold a food drive, setting up donation drop boxes at each of its three locations. The company also matches all employee donations, doubling their support. Paul’s Pantry volunteers were present on December 23 to accept the donation.
Paul’s Pantry Executive Director Craig Robbins expressed appreciation for the Carnivore Meat Company food drive donations. “We’ve already sorted it and distributed it and the donations helped feed hundreds of households,” he said.
This year’s food drive was especially meaningful, as the pandemic continues to cause hardships that leave more and more people in need of community services. Earlier this year, Carnivore Meat Company made a $100,000 donation to support area nonprofits during the pandemic, including Paul’s Pantry. “Carnivore Meat Company has been a big help throughout this whole ordeal,” Robbins commented.
Paul’s Pantry is open year round and is always in need of food, funds and volunteers.
“2020 has been a particularly difficult year and we feel blessed to be able to support our community this Christmas season and throughout the year,” commented Carnivore Meat Company VP Sales & Marketing Melissa Olson. “Our employees really stepped it up and showed their generosity to support an organization helping those in need.”
By Leah Wilkinson
A new year brings new opportunities and excitement, and 2023 is bound to be the same, with several chances for advancing policy issues of importance to the U.S. animal food industry.
By Lindsay Beaton


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26 April 2022
With today’s frenetic pace of life, South Africans are increasingly demanding more convenient and safer banking transaction options, resulting in a dramatic shift in the country’s financial environment.
Al Baraka Bank’s Senior Manager: Electronic and Transactional Banking Division, Mrs Aasiya Jamal, said: “Customer changes in behaviour and interest in electronic payments and transactions has shown a sharp upward trajectory, especially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and resultant Government restrictions.”
“Today, time is a critical factor for many. Because of the demands on our time, more and more people are accessing and using technology, radically altering the way South Africans go about their daily life. Technology is key and Al Baraka Bank has fully embraced the 4th industrial revolution, applying technological advances to bring to our clients’ greater levels of safety and convenience to the financial services they demand,” she added.
Although the Bank has ATMs in place around the country, Mrs Jamal said that for the additional safety and convenience of clients, both withdrawals and deposits were also possible at major supermarkets.
“Being associated with major supermarket chains, including Checkers, Shoprite, Usave, Pick ‘n Pay and Boxer, for transactional banking purposes is not only convenient to clients, but – in effect – significantly expands our Bank’s national footprint.”
She said: “Withdrawals at till points are based on an individual’s card limit, to a maximum of R5 000, and also depend on the store’s in-house rules. Some stores may reduce this amount due to cash intake at particular stores. Of course, it is also possible for our clients to deposit up to R3 000 directly into their transactional banking accounts utilising till points at Checkers, Shoprite and Usave stores, and to a maximum of R5 000 at Pick 'n Pay and Boxer outlets, whilst paying for their shopping. Critically, deposits made at retail till-points anywhere in the country reflect immediately in the client's account.”
Shoppers wanting to undertake in-store banking transactions are not required to queue separately to benefit from the service. Although Al Baraka Bank does not charge any fees for such deposits, a fee of R19-95 is charged up-front per transaction, irrespective of the amount deposited.
Mrs Jamal said that the Bank’s clients were able to also deposit funds by utilising any of its fully-fledged branches, as well as via an estimated 600 ABSA branches and ATMs. Cash withdrawals may be performed at any bank ATM, making it convenient for clients without access to Al Baraka Bank ATMs to transact.
“Supermarket transaction facilities exist at 1 700 Pick 'n Pay and Boxer stores and 1 200 participating Checkers, Shoprite and Usave outlets across the country. Our primary objective is to continuously evolve our services to clients. We regard the convenience of transacting in the banking experience as a top priority," she said.
The Bank has also announced the recent introduction of its Mobile Banking App, providing convenience and safety for clients wishing to conduct their daily transactions on mobile devices. Another exciting development set for the near future includes a web portal for client applications for motor vehicles and residential properties, which will be added to the Bank’s website soon.


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Fetch Robotics raises $20M to help automate warehouses
Industrial robotics startup Fetch Robotics raised $20 million in Series A funding on Wednesday to fulfill increased demand for warehouse robots.
SoftBank led the round with participation from seed investors O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures and Shasta Ventures. SoftBank’s Kabir Misra will join Fetch Robotics’ board of directors as part of the investment. The company has raised $23 million to date.
Steve Hogan founded the San Jose-based startup in 2014 to build robot systems to automate warehouses and fulfillment centers. Now headed up by CEO Melonee Wise, the company makes robots designed to work independently alongside human workers, performing repetitive tasks such as picking up items, packing them and warehouse delivery. Wise was one of the earliest employees of robotics company Willow Garage, which developed the world’s first all-purpose personal robot, the PR2.
“I’m delighted to have SoftBank join the team and help us change the world of logistics and material handling,” Wise said in a press release. “SoftBank’s expertise and worldwide resources with respect to technology, production, distribution and more will be a big help to our growing organization.”
The company’s robots, dubbed Fetch, feature a unique arm-and-gripper system designed to rotate 360 degrees. The design allows the robots to autonomously pick most items off warehouse shelves. The company also makes a Freight robot, which can carry the items where they need to go.
The company will use the new capital to expand sales and marketing operations and to meet accelerating demand from warehouses and fulfillment centers.


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A brand-new legislation on CBD in Washington has the possible to drastically straighten the CBD market as it currently exists in the state by basically handing the field over to the cannabis market.
Under the legislation, authorized by Gov. Jay Inslee last month, CBD items which contain also map quantities of complete THC are currently successfully taken into consideration “cannabis” as well as based on policy by the Washington State Alcohol as well as Marijuana Board (WSLCB). That suggests CBD sales will likely be restricted solely to certified pot dispensaries in the state.
Details laws in Washington are not anticipated for a month or even more, as well as numerous essential concerns continue to be open, according to lawyer Jack Scranton of the Seattle-based Harris Bricken law office, which released a post summing up the regulation.
The legislation, SB 5367, shows up to remove CBD sales at non-licensed retail electrical outlets, which would certainly require those vendors to end supply agreements as well as sell off existing stocks. On-line sales, approximated to represent 40% of the state’s complete CBD market, are likewise most likely to be impacted.
The modifications have little to do with security worries however instead are the outcome of effective lobbying by the state’s cannabis market, Scranton composed.
” The persistence by Washington legislators that hemp-derived CBD items include 0.0% of any type of THC isomer does not review like a public health and wellness campaign,” according to Scranton. “Instead, it feels like the marijuana entrance hall efficiently utilizing the lawmaking procedure to regain a substantial component of the CBD market.”
The marketplace will certainly be more regulated by cannabis rate of interests due to an existing postponement on brand-new marijuana licenses, Scranton likewise observed. “So it is not as if services tossed out of conformity by SB 5367 can just get as well as acquire a marijuana certificate,” he stated.
Along with limiting CBD sales to certified cannabis suppliers, vendors have to evaluate their items for THC degrees, as well as classify their items with exact THC quantities.
The brand-new legislation modifies language to specify “THC focus” as consisting of all kinds of THC in CBD items, even more limiting than previous language which referred just to the complete delta-9 THC existing in such items.
The legislation likewise updates the meaning of “hemp palatable” to accept “any type of item meant to be eaten or soaked up inside the body whatsoever consisting of breathing, intake, or insertion, with any type of noticeable quantity of THC”– consisting of however not restricted to smokable hemp cigarettes, CBD essences as well as casts. If such items include any type of THC, they might be marketed just by certified cannabis suppliers, the expense suggests.
” The frequency of CBD items in Washington retailers elevates a significant inquiry for these sellers concerning exactly how (as well as whether?) the WCLCB will certainly impose the legislation,” according to Scranton. “Lots of CBD items with noticeable degrees of THC rest on racks throughout the state now. What are these sellers to do with that said item if they can not market it prior to July 23? What will the charges be for infractions? Will there be a moratorium of some type?
” The state requires to supply assistance on these as well as various other concerns to make sure that stakeholders can prepare themselves,” Scranton composed.
It is likewise vague if the state plans that both manufacturers as well as vendors of all items having noticeable degrees of THC currently call for a WSLCB marijuana certificate.
States have actually been compelled to handle CBD in the lack of government policies. The united state Food & & Medicine Management (FDA) proclaimed in January that it is incapable to establish policies for CBD up until Congress acts to plainly legislate such items, after almost 5 years throughout which stakeholders consistently required the facility of a governing structure complying with the legalisation of hemp as well as its downstream by-products as an outcome of the 2018 Ranch Expense.
FDA has actually consistently held that CBD items continue to be prohibited to market due to the fact that the company has actually not authorized them, however the items have actually multiplied regardless of undergoing the Federal Food, Medicine as well as Aesthetic (FD&C) Act. FDA last month stated it intends to develop an unique course to market for CBD.
CBD items have actually been extensively readily available in corner store, bodegas, grocery stores as well as various other retail electrical outlets in Washington. Limitation to cannabis dispensaries would likely result in boosted costs for CBD items as certified vendors hand down the expenses of policy to customers.
Washington cultivators placed in much less than 400 complete acres of hemp in 2014, around fifty percent of which was committed to the hemp blossoms required for CBD manufacturing, according to the united state Division of Farming.