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29 Jan, 2020 Coronavirus could seriously impact global tourism industry as China had 159 million outbound tourists in 2019Posted in Coronavirus
Following the news that Hong Kong is restricting its borders with the mainland to limit the spread of coronavirus;
Ben Cordwell, Travel & Tourism Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view on the current situation:
“As reported cases of the coronavirus increase and spread far beyond China, concern within the global tourism industry is understandably peaking. Travel stocks were among the biggest losers on global markets yesterday as the realization of the damage that would be caused by a long-term reduction in both inbound and outbound tourism through China dawned on investors.
“GlobalData figures show that China has grown from the fourth largest source market in the world, with 47.7 million outbound tourists in 2009, to become the largest, with a staggering 159 million outbound tourists in 2019. This accounted for 12.2% of all outbound travelers globally. Furthermore, the Chinese outbound market was the second highest spending in 2019, with expenditure of $275bn.
“These figures highlight the importance of the Chinese market on the tourism industry and are a stark warning of the economic impact the coronavirus could have. We have already seen changes in travel advice from the likes of the UK and US, while restrictions have been put in place within areas of China. Any increase in domestic and international travel restrictions, as well as increasing apprehension from travelers, could mean a significant decline in global tourism if the spread of the virus continues to exacerbate.
“The tourism industry is already facing a number of headwinds, including ongoing uncertainty over the terms of the UK’s upcoming Brexit withdrawal and intensifying geopolitical tensions between a number of powerful nations. These factors, combined with the coronavirus outbreak, could mean a tough year lies ahead for the international tourism industry.”


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UAE - Evolving consumer demand, particularly towards healthier options, means that the UAE will be seeing a wealth of new food products being introduced into the market, experts at Gulfood 2018 noted.
Global Food Industries, part of Albatha Holding, showcased their healthy chicken burgers and nuggets, which will be available in retail outlets in March this year.
Jacek Plewa, general manager of Global Food Industries, described the new products as an indulgence in fast food.
Similarly, Anchor Food Professionals showcased their new range of dairy products at the show. With the Middle East and Asia (MEA) dairy market expected to grow at 4 per cent compound annual growth rate between 2017 and 2022, the region is predicted to outperform world sales, according to a report by Euromonitor International.
Speaking to Khaleej Times, Alastair Bruce, GM of GCC Foodservice, Anchor Food Professionals, said: "Consumers are much more careful about what they are eating. As consumers get busier around the world, the demand to eat high-quality food out of home is rising quickly, making the food service sector the fastest growing food category in the world. Driven by a growing class of young, educated and rich consumers, F&B outlets are challenged to meet increasingly sophisticated demands."
Simon Penfold, general manager for the Middle East and Africa at Fonterra, said the region is slowly maturing when it comes to healthy food and lifestyles.
"Most of this is due to the rise of several social media personalities who are sending out the message of healthy eating and active lifestyles. We have a broad range of dairy ingredients that we are showcasing here today to suit different consumer demographics. We can see demand for sports nutrition, infant nutrition and high protein beverage solutions is increasing, and we expect interest in these solutions to continue to grow."
Copyright © 2018 Khaleej Times. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).

domain: news


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Welcome to Consumers’ Notebook, where we feature news-you-can-use and other timely information to help you become a more informed consumer. Check back often to read the latest pieces in our Notebook.
Starting on December 1, a new 0.5 percent “adverse market fee” will be added to many mortgage refinance loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
If you do the grocery shopping in your family, you’ve probably noticed that the grocery bills keep going up. Blame the pandemic for pushing up the prices of many staples. Here are some simple tips to help lower your food bills.
By law, the IRS owes interest on refunds that accrued between the original April 15th filing deadline and whenever the refund was actually paid.
The Census Bureau is emailing more than 20 million households to encourage participation. Top digital security experts interviewed by Checkbook agreed that this is a bad idea that creates an opportunity for cyber-criminals.
If you get a call from someone claiming to be a debt collector, it’s not always easy to tell if the caller is a real debt collector or a scammer. That’s why it’s important to go slowly and know your rights.
The number of people saddled with excessive debt is growing. Help is available in the form of debt management, debt settlement, consolidation loans, and bankruptcy attorneys. Some are good choices; others could make your financial situation worse.
Contact tracing is one of the critical tools state and local health departments are using to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. Unfortunately, it’s also given criminals a new way to scam people.
Stimulus payments, expanded unemployment benefits, government loans, and payment accommodations from lenders have helped keep many families and businesses afloat so far. But as these programs end, millions will find their budgets stretched to the breaking point.
Fraudsters have created fake customer service numbers for many well-known companies and wait for you to slip up and call them. This scam is deviously simple, which is why it’s often difficult to spot.
During a move, you’re trusting a company to get your possessions from here to there on time, without damage, and at the agreed upon price. All too often that doesn’t happen, especially for long-distance interstate relocations.
At a time when American consumers need more protection than ever from predatory loans, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has issued a final rule on payday loans that rolls back important protections.
The Skin Cancer Foundation says a good sunscreen, used properly, can dramatically lower your risk of skin cancer––reducing the risk of developing melanoma by 50 percent.
Many Consumers Enrolled in COVID-19 Payment Modification Programs Find Their Credit Files Erroneously Tarnished
Many lenders let their customers make reduced payments or skip payments altogether, without damaging their credit histories. But, in many cases, companies haven’t held up their end of the deal.
Phishing is one of the most popular techniques used by cyber criminals because it’s simple and effective. The typical phishing attack involves creating an email that appears to be from a reputable company or organization and encourages potential victims to click on a link.
People are buying cars again. To regain lost business, car manufacturers and dealers are promoting steep discounts and special financing.
Ready to pounce on a deal on new wheels? Don’t let hype about current deals bait you into spending too much. Our strategy of collecting competitive bids will save you $1,000 or more compared to other buying approaches.
As stores across the country reopen, customers will soon be able to return some unwanted merchandise they’ve been stuck with during the coronavirus shutdown. Some retailers have already made changes to accommodate the inconvenience.
Con artists are putting a new twist on the old gift-card scam by sending out email and text messages that look as if they originated from someone at your church, synagogue, or mosque asking you to buy some gift cards to give to needy congregants or others in the community.
Nearly 4 million people are being sent their Economic Impact Payment by prepaid debit card, instead of a check, in a plain envelope. Many recipients are throwing theirs away (assuming It's junk mail) or destroying them (afraid it's a scam).
Every wireless company claims to be the best, but consumer surveys tell a different story—some carriers are clearly doing a better job of delivering network quality, customer service, and value.


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Flexographic Printing - Narrow Web
Fortis Solutions Group recently invested in two high-speed, 24” flexo label presses from Lombardi Converting Machinery, an Italian manufacturer known for its quality and streamlined innovative technology.
At this event, which is a combination of in-person and online formats, BOBST will outline its clear vision for the label industry and provide an exclusive experience showcasing the BOBST oneLABEL portfolio.
Mark Andy has named Shannon Stamberger Director of Technology Center Operations. In stepping into this role, Stamberger will continue to lead Mark Andy’s demo facility operations, providing world-class customer experience while also enhancing both in-person and virtual demonstration experiences.
In his new role, Keith Nagle will drive sales, customer engagements, and networking opportunities for MPS. Nagle has 25 years of experience in international print applications, with knowledge of multiple technologies and processes.
More than 300 participants from more than 20 countries attended the MPS Grand Prix of Performance, a virtual event hosted by MPS on June 10. During the event, MPS revealed its new logo and brand promise: Connect to Grow.
During this event, MPS will reveal its new vision, branding, and logo. By looking beyond the machine and addressing all aspects involving the printing press, MPS enables customers to achieve the best performance and maximum return from their machine investment.
At the recent FTA Forum, industry experts discussed a range of topics that included print quality scoring, color theory and consistency, establishing standard operating procedures, plate technologies, customer satisfaction, defect detection and correction, and screening technologies.
Following needs and market developments in the label and packaging industry, MPS is set to launch a new corporate vision and brand identity. During its upcoming event on June 10, MPS will reveal its vision along with a new logo, branding, and website.


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Vancouver, May 15th, 2016
The digital shop POWERSHiFTER has recently welcomed a new addition to their growing team. Clint Singh was hired to join the agency as Director of Business Development for the Toronto office. POWERSHiFTER is a digital agency
ReadWrite was founded on April 20, 2003, by Richard MacManus, as ReadWriteWeb; it took its current name in 2012. ReadWrite is now one of the most widely read and respected tech news sites in the world.
Digital Ad Agency Vertic Expands to Seattle” and “We are excited to share with our community that Vertic is opening a new office in Seattle:”
Agency poised for further growth following expansion. Vertic, a leading independent digital advertising agency, has


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It’s been the year of Chanel. With Karl Lagerfeld releasing a black and white film featuring Keira Knightley as Coco Chanel, picking up the flawless Diane Kruger for the face of Chanel Beauty and opening their largest Chanel boutique in London. Chanel has been on a constant success ride. With all the glitz and glamour aside, there is still more to know about the force that is Mademoiselle Coco Chanel. Forty years after the fashion legend’s death, the London College of Fashion is revealing an exhibition of portraits of the icon.
Created by artist and personal friend of Chanel, Marion Pike, the five portraits will be paired with a selection of couture pieces that exemplify the pair’s creative friendship, which began in 1967.
The exhibit opens from 5 September to 16 November, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Fashion Space Gallery, 20 John Prince’s Street, London, W1G 0BJ.


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BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (NSDQ:RIMM) on Monday said it will unveil a pair of the new smartphones that offer new spins on old favorites.
The Waterloo, Ontario smartphone maker on Monday revealed the new BlackBerry Bold 9650 and the BlackBerry Pearl 3G, updates on the originals that have been available for the past few years.
According to RIM, the BlackBerry Bold 9650 packs 2G power into a candy-bar form factor with a full QWERTY keyboard and RIM trackpad. The updated BlackBerry Bold also adds Wi-Fi connectivity to the mix.
The Bold 9650 also ties in 512 MB of flash memory and an expandable memory card slot for up to 32 GB.
In a statement, RIM said the BlackBerry Bold 9650 “fuses form and function in a striking design” along with packing in the messaging and communications capabilities like email, IM, SMS and MMS, along with access to many social networking features, that made BlackBerry a business staple and helped it cross the consumer chasm, as well.
The gloss black Bold 9650 features a 2.44-inch display; a 3.2 megapixel camera with flash, zoom, autofocus and video; an advanced media player with a 3.5 mm stereo headset jack; and easy access to Facebook, MySpace and Flickr, along with BlackBerry Messenger. Other features include GPS, Bluetooth 2.1 and support for BlackBerry App World, RIM’s mobile application store.
Meanwhile, RIM’s updated BlackBerry Pearl received a 3G make over and marks the “smallest BlackBerry smartphone yet,” RIM said in an announcement.
The new BlackBerry measures less than 2 inches wide and weighs just 3.3 ounces. It adds support for high-speed 3G, Wi-Fi and GPS. The new BlackBerry Pearl 3G also features an optical trackpad for navigation, a 3.2 megapixel camera with flash and support for up to 32 GB of personal content.
The miniature candy-bar smartphone can access BlackBerry App World and, like the Bold 9650, supports BlackBerry Media Sync for syncing photos, Apple (NSDQ:AAPL) iTunes and Windows Media Player with the device.
RIM said both the BlackBerry Bold 9650 and the BlackBerry Pearl 3G will be available in May via various carriers. The smartphone maker didn’t divulge pricing for the devices or specify which carriers would support the new smartphones.


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Third Wave Automation (“TWA”), providers of the most versatile and effective autonomous solutions for the materials handling industry, announces logistics and supply chain executive Chris Lingamfelter to lead go-to-market efforts and join its executive team as the VP of Sales. Chris joins TWA as the company has geared up for several announcements including strategic forklift OEM partnerships and its first mixed mode automated forklift, the new TWA Reach (which will be debuted at MODEX 2022).
“I’m very excited to join the Third Wave team” Lingamfelter stated. “Having served as head of sales for several robotic firms that have solved the each-picking problem, I am keen to work with this rapidly growing start-up to apply similar labor-saving robotics to the pallet movement side of the supply chain. This is a fairly untouched frontier for robots in warehouses and no one is solving the problem yet like TWA.”
With an impressive track record of 31-year in the field, Lingamfelter has served in well known, executive sales roles at Manhattan Associates, Kiva Systems (now known as Amazon Robotics), Dematic, Intelligrated, and most recently, Vice President of 6 River Systems (now owned by Shopify).
TWA Co-founder and CEO Arshan Poursohi said Lingamfelter’s expertise and industry knowledge will serve the company well as it accelerates its plan to bring game-changing, mixed-mode, autonomous forklifts to market. Coupled with their Collaborative Autonomy Platform, Third Wave offers a unique approach by combining remote operation, remote assistance and autonomy services without the requirement for significant infrastructure changes to facilities.
“Our preemptive $40M B-Series round has given us the ability to accelerate our go-to-market plans. With the global supply chain challenges and a record tight labor market, customers in the industry are looking for fast, flexible, automated forklift solutions. Chris’ phenomenal background in supply chain robotics and warehousing allows us to scale our business at speed in order to meet our growing customer’s needs.” says CEO and Co-founder Arshan Poursohi.


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Alexander Wang is rumoured to be replaced by the head of Vetements, Demna Gvasalia at Balenciaga, although it has not yet been announced.
Alexander Wang's Balenciaga replacement is rumoured to be the head of Vetements, Demna Gvasalia.
The 31-year-old fashion designer put on his last show for the elite label at Paris Fashion Week last Friday (02.10.15) and leading the list of designer's eyed up to take over, include the creative director for Japanese label Sacai, Chitose Abe and the head of Vetements Demna Gvasalia, who might have already been ''confirmed'' for the job, according to a source.
A source told the New York Post newspaper: ''The most left-field name is the one at Vetements, but some say he's already confirmed.''
Other contenders include, lead McQ designer Alistair Carr and Paco Rabanne's creative director Julien Dossena, who have both worked for Balenciaga in the past under Nicolas Ghesquière.
At Balenciaga's final catwalk with Wang under the wing, he previously said of the Spring/Summer 2016 collection: ''Balenciaga is a house known for innovation and I wanted to look at simple, humble cloth, and the craft of artisans.''
And he shared how ''grateful'' he was to have the chance to work for the brand and that he can't wait for his ''next chapter''.
He commented: ''I am very grateful for the opportunity and I'm excited for the next chapter.''
However, he gave no hints as to who is predecessor will be.
Why has pop-punk made a 2020s resurgence?
One of the most diverse line-ups we've seen for a major awards show in a while.
Having formed in 1999, Kings Of Leon went on to release their debut album, Youth & Young Manhood in 2003, but it was in April 2007 when they released...
Will you be logging on for virtual Glastonbury this May?
Her new lingerie photos have divided opinion across the internet.


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Accenture and WeConnect released their most recent research demonstrating the successful steps of Singaporean businesswomen in improving the nation’s economy. The report entitled “Businesswomen Grow Economies. Singapore is Next,” looks at the $95 billion opportunity that female entrepreneurship can contribute if given an equal chance to grow and thrive.
Singapore’s women entrepreneurs contribute to the economy in terms of innovation, revenue, job creation, community support and inclusive growth. The recommended steps in this report can help to address overcoming barriers, in turn enabling more women to realize their full potential and help significantly grow the economy.


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The launch of the Vivo Y75 5G has not been officially confirmed by the Chinese smartphone company. But before that, renders of the upcoming Vivo Y-series phone appeared on the network. The key characteristics of the smartphone were also named separately. The renders offer Aurora and Black color options for the Vivo Y75 5G. It features a waterdrop notch display on the front to accommodate the selfie shooter. In addition, Vivo Y75 5G is said to be powered by MediaTek Dimensity 700 chipset under the hood. It is assumed that the smartphone is equipped with a 50-megapixel main camera and a 5000 mAh battery.
Famous tipster Ishan Agarwal (@ishanagarwal24) in collaboration with MySmartPrice leaked Vivo Y75 5G renderings. As mentioned, the leaked renders show the phone in Aurora and Black color options. It can be seen that the Vivo Y75 5G has a waterdrop notch. The renders of the Vivo phone also show a triple rear camera setup located on the top left corner of the phone. The renders also show that on the right edge of the phone are the power and volume buttons. In addition, the SIM tray and secondary noise-canceling microphone are visible at the top of the phone, while the bottom edge has a 3.5mm audio jack, charging port, and speaker grille.
Vivo Y75 5G Specifications (Expected)
Separately, the characteristics of the Vivo Y75 5G were indicated. tips according to a 91Mobiles report. According to the leak, the upcoming Vivo phone will be available in Aurora and Black colors. The Vivo Y75 5G is said to be running Funtouch 12 OS based on Android 12. The phone is expected to feature a 6.58-inch Full HD+ (2408×1080 pixels) display.
It can be powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 700 processor paired with 8GB of RAM. The top-end Vivo Y75 5G variant is said to offer the option to add an additional 5GB of virtual RAM.
In terms of optics, Vivo Y75 5G should get a triple camera setup headlined by a 50MP main camera and dual 2MP sensors. The display has a waterdrop notch to house a 16-megapixel selfie camera.
In addition, Vivo Y75 5G is expected to come with a 5,000mAh battery that supports 18W fast charging. For authentication, the phone can be equipped with a side-mounted fingerprint scanner. The Vivo Y75 5G is said to measure 8.25mm and weigh 187 grams.


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Health technology requires a human will
Published 10:05 pm, Friday, January 11, 2013
LAS VEGAS - In a city built on excess, health and fitness technology was a growing topic at the 2013 International CES, which wrapped up here Friday.
Vendors displayed an array of wristbands, belts, weight scales and other sensor-enabled gadgets that monitor whether your lifestyle is keeping you fit. The FitnessTech zone alone had more than 220 companies, a 25 percent increase over the previous year.
The competition in the health-tech products field is being ignited by a convergence of more affordable sensor technology and heightened consumer demand driven by news of soaring health care costs and a growing awareness that people have to take better care of their bodies.
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"We're starting to see the democratization of health care," said Jeff Holove, CEO of Basis Science, a San Francisco company that makes a health-monitoring wristband.
"We're not all trained as doctors, we don't all have the backgrounds, so we're looking for easy tools to do that."
Another key factor is the emergence of cloud computing. Now, data gathered by these devices can be stored in the cloud and parsed to mean something to the users, whether it's telling them they're not exercising enough, should brush their teeth longer or chew their food more slowly.
Of course, technology alone doesn't ensure good health. People still have to be motivated to do take care of themselves.
Holove's 3-year-old startup showed its new $199 wristband devices with sensors that monitor heart rate, perspiration, motion and skin temperature throughout the day.
The data suggest easy changes in a person's daily routine, such as going for a walk during a coffee break instead of sitting at Starbucks, and set health goals.
Other health-tech gadgets at the show:
1 LUMOBack: Andrew Chang suffered from back problems for 11 years before he took classes to improve his posture. "My life was transformed," he said.
Those classes were the inspiration for Lumo BodyTech of Palo Alto, Calif., which recently launched a Bluetooth- enabled LUMOback sensor and app that constantly measure whether a person is slouching or maintaining good posture.
The $149 LUMOBack belt, worn around the waist, will gently vibrate if the wearer is slouching, and the information is sent to an iPhone or iPad app in real time.
1 Fitbit: Health tracking monitor maker Fitbit demonstrated a new line of Bluetooth Fitbit Flex wristbands that monitor your activity 24 hours a day.
The San Francisco company has been working on measuring a person's daily physical activity, like walking and running, without also capturing extraneous movements like typing and gesturing.
The $99.95 wristband will come in five colors when it launches this spring. It can sync to Android phones as well as iPhones and iPads.
The sensors send data to your devices - distance traveled, calories burned, number of active minutes and hours slept - that help you set fitness goals.
1 Siemens Aquaris: People who rely on hearing aids have some limitations because of the durability of the devices. Jumping in a pool, for instance, can be disastrous.
So the hearing-instruments division of Siemens has introduced the Siemens Aquaris, a waterproof, dust-proof and shock-resistant hearing aid.
The company said about 37 million Americans have hearing loss, but only 20 percent of them use hearing aids. One in six restricts activities for fear of damaging their hearing aids, which can cost $1,000 to $2,000.
It took engineers four years to get the proper seal around the Aquaris' battery compartment, microphones and chips, which have 18 million transistors that can process about 250 million instructions per second.
The Aquaris costs $2,500, which includes the device, fitting and examination by a hearing specialist.


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Lack of support from the top is holding dealerships back on social selling and marketing.
BY LAURA MADISON
A social media movement is rocking the retail automotive sector, but the people at the top – dealership owners and general managers – seem to be struggling to accept and execute a strong social presence. Beyond sparsely updated Facebook pages, many owners and GMs are failing to take sufficient action to sell as many cars as they could.
There seems to be a very serious disconnect between dealers and the amazing opportunity to use social media to sell cars. At a time when 87 percent of car shoppers are online doing research, any dealer unwilling to try and connect with customers in this online space using is completely missing the bus.
Their salespeople, however, are a group that does understand the power of online visibility. Salespeople seem to be in tune with the reality that the majority of the car shopping process has moved online; they understand it’s crucial you be there when prospective buyers are looking. Salespeople also acknowledge that people buy from people they know, like and trust, and that social media can be an incredible tool to capitalize on this principle.
Trend Numbers Don’t Lie
The statistics behind the power of automotive social media activity are powerful:
43 percent of car buyers say they would use Facebook to search for a local dealership.
59 percent would trust a review from a Facebook friend more than reviews found at other sites.
87 percent of car buyers report that their friends’ comments on social media either extremely or somewhat influence their opinions on car makers and brands.
80 percent of consumers say they are more likely to turn to their social network for car buying advice than to the salesperson.
Why Dealers Hold Back
So, with all of this trend information available and being discussed, why do owners and GMs continue to be the last people to see the value in using social media more aggressively to sell cars? In my experience working with and speaking to dealerships, there are three key reasons:
They don’t understand the opportunity. This social movement has erupted so quickly that some owners and GMs have barely noticed it. They continue to dump advertising money into newspaper, television, and radio without having ventured into this unfamiliar (for them) social zone.
Today, many car shoppers are active on social media, taking steps such as watching videos on YouTube to help inform their decision. Again, the statistics are powerful; 69 percent of people who watched YouTube videos while buying a vehicle were influenced by these videos. That’s more than with TV, newspapers or magazines.
Automotive review videos have been watched more than 3 million hours during the first nine months of 2015. When owners understand that the overwhelming majority of their prospective customers are looking to social media to help make their car-buying decisions, they will begin to focus more of their energy on this realm.
They are concerned a salesperson will “go rogue.”Some dealers are concerned that salespeople will move on and take customers, and prospective customers, with them. The reality here is that there are numerous ways for salespeople to participate in social media underneath the umbrella of the dealership – in a controlled and effective manner. Also, many dealerships are enacting a social media policy that can combat any inappropriate online behavior.
They focus too much on the showroom. Many dealership owners and managers are missing the social media bus because they remain extremely focused on showroom activity. While what happens in the showroom remains extremely important to a dealership’s bottom line, salespeople standing around with their faces pressed against the glass waiting for the next customer are not generating visibility or motivating people to walk through the front door.
When you take into consideration that the average car shopper today makes fewer than two dealership visits before purchasing a vehicle, visibility in the online space becomes even more paramount to sales success.
How Social Media Can Drive Sales
What’s perhaps more important than the why behind dealers’ and GMs’ late arrival to the social media realm is how they can move forward to use social media to increase sales.
First, the auto industry must understand that social media is about real connection. Most car dealerships have been using Facebook, if at all, as an advertising platform. They share photos of inventory, rates and specials on cars, an announcement of an upcoming sale and awkward, uncomfortable photos of customers with their new cars.
These dealers are not really engaging with an online community. They are not listening on these platforms, and they are certainly not connecting. Rather than bombard prospective customers with sales messages, dealers would find social media effective if they actually became SOCIAL. For example, they could start a conversation about topics related to the industry that are important to customers: Safety, cost of ownership, tips, advice about buying a car. Or, they acknowledge that YouTube videos influence prospective customers and start creating more videos.
Next, dealers could share their engagement in community events, post compelling pictures of vehicles at favorite local spots, and share behind the scenes dealer happenings to make people more comfortable with the dealership.
Finally, dealers could use social media as a portal where customers connect with salespeople. Creating visibility for salespeople with prospective buyers generates opportunities for the conditions we know lead to a sale – customers knowing, liking and trusting the dealership staff. It was networking guru Bob Burg who said, “All things being equal, people will do business with, and refer business to, those people they know, like and trust.” Social media is the tool that will accomplish this.
How To Get Started
To get the ball rolling at your store, a dealer or GM first needs to encourage this activity within his staff. Highlight the benefits of social media in a morning meeting, and create an environment where business social media use is encouraged. This is a powerful message that needs to come from the top.
Once the interest is there, provide guidance to your staff by implementing a social media policy, and give resources and training to those who are interested. The effort required here is minimal, but the results could be incredible.
Instead of the current situation with many local dealers struggling to understand how social media can help sell cars, we could as an industry decide to be active in the social community in a way that makes sense and boosts sales. If you try some of the simple tips I’ve discussed here, you could begin building a community of raving fans on social media and ultimately be rewarded with many more car deals.
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The ecommerce giant will dethrone Baidu as the largest player in the country's digital ad space.
Will the Martha Stewart name translate in China? The domestic diva is en route there now to find out.
China-based internet company Baidu received approval to test its self-driving cars in California.
McDonald's has received final bids from at least three groups for its China and Hong Kong outlets.
Tencent Holdings has become the most valuable company in Asia, beating out China Mobile and entering the the world's top 10, the SCMP reports.
Duncan Clark, author and chairman of BDA China, talks about Alibaba, its founder Jack Ma and the growing importance of the private sector in China.
The KFC owner is selling a slug of its China unit to Alibaba's mobile payments arm and a firm run by former Goldman Sachs partner Fred Hu
Alibaba founder Jack Ma says people will come to their senses and get over anti-China sentiment after the U.S. presidential election.
Alibaba's Jack Ma says globalization has benefited large firms and developing nations, but there has to be a way to take small businesses global too.
Ant Financial Services Group's Chen Long says the traditional and digital financial sectors have different strengths and serve different financing needs.
Ant Financial Services Group's Chen Long says China's online consumption is growing tremendously, although it might be affected by the economic slowdown.
Tencent on Thursday became China's largest technology company by market value, overtaking e-commerce giant Alibaba after beating earnings forecasts.
Whether Alibaba can sustain the success of its diversification strategy remains questionable, says Partners Capital International's Ronald Wan.
Macquarie's Wendy Huang explains why she upgraded Alibaba's rating to outperform after it released its Q1 earnings report.
China and India, the two most populous countries in the world and Asia's economic giants, have had a chequered history.
Alibaba has improved the disclosure of its underlying business metrics to investors, says Amplify ETFs' Christian Magoon.
Wedbush Securities' Gil Luria shares that his concerns about Alibaba have more to do with the weakness in the Chinese economy, than the company itself.
Wal-Mart is set to acquire online retailer Jet.com in the largest-ever acquisition of an e-commerce company, Recode reports.
Quixey is the latest mobile start-up in need of debt financing after raising a big equity round last year.
Yahoo started out as a search company but got involved in several other things, and then Google came along, says Creative Strategies' Tim Bajarin.


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Many marketers are seeing a shift in budget allocation within their organization, from traditional IT to marketing and advertising—all because of digital.
A majority of respondents said that, because of digital, they see a shift in dollars being reallocated from IT budgets—which come from the traditional CIO’s office—to marketing and advertising budgets, overseen by CMOs. Of that group, 43% said that shift was accelerating.
Approximately 20% indicated no shift occurring, while even less respondents (9%) said they weren’t sure.
Digital isn’t the only thing driving marketing tech investment. Over the past year, more marketers have invested in the technology by adding to their existing marketing tech stack.
A survey from Squiz conducted in January found that a large share of senior marketers are leveraging marketing tech to better understand who their customers are. Additionally, more than half said they’re doing so to automate processes and reduce time on administration.


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Whether its new or used equipment, affordable inks and media, financing options or strategic planning, now there's an online resource that can provide businesses in the wide and grand format industry easy access to these products and services.
Grand Format Success, www.grandformatsucces.com, serves as a one-stop online portal that unifies the brands of Panoply Finance, Global Imaging, Global Garage and Panoply Supplies. "We wanted to provide anyone in the wide and grand format business the convenience of an online resource that serves as a gateway to finding the right products and services to accommodate their needs," said Tara Lamb, president of Global Imaging. "At this simple portal our clients and others in the industry will find everything they need to be successful from used or new equipment, to inks, to creative finance programs."
The idea for the site came when Lamb and her team realized that customers utilizing one of the companies' services or products, would also take advantage of another company such as Panoply Supplies or Panoply Finance for additional support. "Why not provide one place where customers could pick and choose from our wide range of products and services based upon their needs," she said. "We have always been able to provide a complete array of products and services as well as the experience and knowledge to assess our customers' whole business and offer solutions tailored to their specific business challenges. Now they can find all of these offerings in one centralized place."
The site is one of the first of its kind in the industry, according to Lamb. As the site grows, she hopes to include additional information about industry news and trends. "We are excited about providing this new industry tool that enables anyone in the wide and grand format business to benefit from the experience and resources available through the Grand Format Success portfolio of companies," Lamb said.


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The U.S. Import Price Index rose 0.8 percent in August. The increase was led by an advance in petroleum prices, although a rise in nonpetroleum prices was also a contributing factor.
Petroleum prices rose 2.3 percent in August, and were up 25.9 percent over the past five months.
Nonpetroleum prices also increased in August, rising 0.5 percent. For the year ended in August, prices for nonpetroleum imports rose 2.7 percent while overall import prices advanced 6.6 percent.
Export prices rose 0.4 percent in August as higher prices for both agricultural exports and nonagricultural exports contributed to the increase.
These data are from the BLS International Price program. Import and export price data are subject to revision. Learn more in "U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes - August 2006" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 06-1586.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Import prices in August 2006 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2006/sept/wk2/art05.htm (visited December 02, 2023).


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French multinational Webhelp seals partnership with software company Pigment – showing the demand for a new approach to business planning.
PARIS - Dec 6, 2022 - Pigment, the innovative business planning platform founded in 2019 which recently raised an additional $65 million, has beaten out established industry competitors to secure a deal with Webhelp – a major multinational consultancy and business services corporation with over 110,000 employees and € 2.5 billion in annual revenue.
The deal marks a new chapter in Pigment’s journey towards empowering people in organisations of all sizes to unlock the potential of their business data, through Pigment’s suite of powerful modelling, analytics and visualisation tools.
Webhelp’s core business involves providing tech, business and customer service support spread across 55 countries. The global nature of these operations can make it difficult to share and use data across the whole group, since different countries and teams are likely to deploy a varying range of definitions, assumptions and tools to store and manage relevant information and documents.
For example, a single client of Webhelp might have different account managers in each country, each of whom tracks progress and makes predictions in their own way; when it comes to harmonising these insights with senior management, crucial insights can be lost and errors introduced.
With Pigment, Webhelp’s employees will be able to ‘live’ together inside one platform – making comparisons and planning across operations and countries much smoother, more intuitive and accurate.
Pigment was co-founded by Eléonore Crespo, a former financial analyst at Google and investor at pre-eminent venture capital firm Index Ventures, and Romain Niccoli, the CTO and co-founder of Criteo – the ad-tech company that is one of Europe’s most prominent tech success stories, following a successful NASDAQ IPO in 2013.


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- Wuxi Mobis to Play Crucial Role in Mobis’ Global Business - Annual Sales in China to Reach W300 Bil. by 2007
Hyundai Mobis has taken over a Korean auto parts maker in China, signaling an aggressive investment in the world's fastest-growing automobile market.
The acquisition of the firm in China's Jiangsu Province, which produces brake and steering systems, is part of a Mobis plan to strengthen global supply network and expand businesses in emerging markets.
The company, which has been renamed as ``Wuxi Mobis, will produce up to 1 million brake systems annually from the current 100,000 and up to 1 million steering pumps from the current 200,000 by 2007.
The Hyundai Motor affiliate is hoping for annual sales of 300 billion won in China in 2007, making it the largest South Korean auto parts maker in China. Its annual sales currently hover at 3 billion won.
For the goal, Hyundai Mobis plans to establish new facilities in China to manufacture various key auto parts, including brake systems, steering pumps and steering assemblies.
Currently, Mobis provides products to Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, its key affiliates, to help their operations in China. By 2007, the Wuxi Mobis will be able to provide services to other global automakers, as well as Hyundai and Kia operations in India and Slovakia.
Mobis will set up a test center at the Wuxi Mobis to help it improve the quality of products.
The company expects Wuxi Mobis to play an important role in Mobis’ expansion in China and raising the bar of China’s auto parts technologies.
In June, Mobis took over local parts maker Kasco, which produced brake systems, steering systems, power strain systems and various low-end items.
It won a 200 billion won ($192 million) order in early July to supply brake systems for five new models produced by Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors by 2008.
Until the end of next year, Hyundai Mobis plans to invest 51 billion won to set up a test center inside an industrial complex in Sosan, South Chungchong Province. The test center will include a round-shape test drive course and a number of facilities that will used to examine the quality of various auto parts.


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Kat Von D, the bombshell and brains behind Kat Von D Beauty, announced via Instagram Thursday afternoon a donation of $50,000 (gifted to her by business incubator Kendo) to the internationally celebrated non-profit Mercy For Animals.
“In celebration of a groundbreaking year for @katvondbeauty Kendo gave me this amazing gift! I am thrilled to donate all of it to @mercyforanimals – an organization dedicating its efforts to ending animal abuse,” Von D wrote
A social media storm ignited in July when Von D first posted to her millions of Instagram followers about her vegan lifestyle. The story gained even more attention when she responded to comments with a 30-minute YouTube video in which she further explained her strong stance against animal cruelty and her decision not to consume animal products. The video instantly exploded, garnering hundreds of thousands of views.
Von D has received many accolades from animal lovers the world over for the fact that her makeup line, Kat Von D Beauty, does not test on animals. She is also famous for labeling cosmetics in her line that contain no animal products with the hashtag “#VeganAlert.”
Mercy For Animals, a Los Angeles-based non-profit, is an award-winning and widely acclaimed international farmed animal protection group most famous for its groundbreaking undercover investigations inside factory farms and slaughterhouses.
Also known for its far-reaching work with compassionate celebrities, Mercy For Animals most recently teamed up with Emmy Award-winning actor Alec Baldwin to expose the cruelty endured by chickens for Tyson Foods, the largest meat producer in the United States. Television icon Candice Bergen also participated in the hard-hitting campaign.
“All of us at Mercy For Animals are overwhelmed by Kat Von D’s kindness and generosity,” said Mercy For Animals director of communications Ari Solomon. “Her incredible gift will go a long way toward helping us create a more compassionate world for farmed animals. We are truly moved and grateful. Christmas came a few days early.”


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Atlanta Hawks paying Georgia 400 tolls
- Dave Williams
- Staff Writer- Atlanta Business Chronicle
Motorists on Georgia 400 will get a free trip through the toll booth on Wednesday morning, courtesy of the Atlanta Hawks.
Atlanta’s pro basketball team will be paying all northbound and southbound tolls from 7 a.m. until 9 a.m., including both the cash and Cruise Card/Peach Pass lanes.
Besides the free tolls, Wednesday’s promotion also will include appearances at the booth by mascot Harry the Hawk and the Hawks’ cheerleaders. They will be handing out magnetic game schedules, Hawks branded air fresheners and $50 Hawks cards good toward the purchase of tickets to home games during November and December.
Bob Williams, president of the Hawks and Philips Arena, said the Hawks are paying the tolls as an expression of gratitude to metro Atlanta and the team’s fans.
The Hawks will tip off the 2012-13 season Nov. 2 at home against the Houston Rockets.
Dave Williams covers Government
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Shredding financial documents that are no longer wanted is absolutely essential – don’t just chuck them in a black bag for an opportunistic fraudster to find
(PRWEB UK) 16 May 2013
According to the latest data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), mortgage lending to first-time buyers increased by a fifth in March with more than 19,000 loans worth £2.4 billion advanced. Whilst this is excellent news for the housing market, identity fraud expert, Equifax, is urging consumers to take care of their identity when moving. As Neil Munroe, External Affairs Director, Equifax explains, home-movers can be particularly vulnerable to this invisible crime.
“Moving house can be one of the most stressful times in a person’s life. But as well as sorting out their finances and organising the move, it’s also important that home-movers ensure they don’t give fraudsters easy opportunities to steal their identity. Moving home often prompts a clear out of old and unused paperwork and possessions. But if old documents containing personal or financial information aren’t disposed of properly they could give fraudsters just the knowledge they need to steal someone’s identity”.
It has been proven that it can only take as little as three pieces of a consumer’s personal information to be able to obtain money or goods in their name, which is why Equifax is urging home-movers to be extra vigilant.
“Shredding financial documents that are no longer wanted is absolutely essential – don’t just chuck them in a black bag for an opportunistic fraudster to find” continued Neil Munroe. “And make sure that post is properly redirected by the Post Office rather than relying on new occupants to forward mail. Post left lying around in communal hallways or empty properties can be very tempting for fraudsters.
Equifax also encourages home movers to get a copy of their credit report, both before they make the move to enable them to get the best financial deal, and afterwards to check that their new address details are up to date. The Equifax credit report monitoring service will also provide alerts about any unauthorised applications for credit – particularly important when home-movers might be concentrating on other matters.
The Equifax Credit Report is accessible for 30 days free simply by logging onto our website . If customers do not cancel before the end of the 30 Day Free Trial, the service will continue at £9.95 per month, giving them unlimited online access to their credit information and weekly alerts on any changes to their credit file. It also includes an online dispute facility to help them correct any errors on their credit file simply and quickly.
The Equifax app is available from the Apple iTunes Store on iPhone and iPad and from Google Play for Androids.
Equifax’s top tips to protect against ID fraud when moving home
- Shred old statements, bills and other personal documents that you’re throwing away
- If you are disposing of old phones, computers, or other electronic device that store data make sure you remove the information from the hard drive
- Set up for the Post Office to redirect mail from previous addresses
- Register on the Electoral Roll at your new address
- Ensure that passwords for new accounts online are secure and not all the same
- Always check bank statements and credit card statements carefully against receipts
- Never store your online passwords or PINS on mobile phones, blackberrys, tablets or laptops
- Regularly check your credit file for any unauthorised applications for credit or new credit accounts
Equifax is a global leader in consumer, commercial and workforce information solutions, that provides businesses of all sizes and consumers with insight and information they can trust. Equifax organizes and assimilates data on more than 500 million consumers and 81 million businesses worldwide, and uses advanced analytics and proprietary technology to create and deliver customized insights that enrich both the performance of businesses and the lives of consumers.


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CARLSBAD ---- Darth Vader and his stormtroopers will be patrolling Legoland California next weekend for the park's annual Lego Star Wars Days.
The weekend-long event --- hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Aug. 7 and 8 ---- will put parkgoers in the middle of the dark side with activities like Droid Hunts, video game battles, trivia competitions and costume contests. The park has had a "Star Wars" event every year for the past five years.
"Each year it gets a little bigger. This year will be bigger and better than ever." said Beth Downing Chee, the park's media relations representative.
Winners of most of the activities will receive prizes, including Legoland tickets, annual passes, "Star Wars" toys and collectibles. The grand prize for the costume contest will be worth $500.
The first 5,000 people in line both days will receive "droid badges." The stormtroopers and Darth Vader himself will be scouring the park for badge-wearers, asking them, "How long have you had these droids?"
Badge-wearers will answer with a specific quote they will be given upon entry to the park. The characters will then give them tickets entering them into a drawing.
"People definitely want to be caught," said Chee.
"Star Wars" video game battles will take place in the park's Xbox Family Gamespace. Twelve two-player and two four-player modules will be available to gamers. Bragging rights will be the prize for any winners in the Gamespace.
Trivia junkies will also be tested in competitions happening both days.
Costume contests will take place at 4 p.m. both days. Judges will be various Legoland employees looking for the most creative costumes.
"They want to see ones that they haven't seen before. Ones that are not store-bought," said Chee.
Two years ago, she said the winner was a young girl dressed in a costume that included a handmade airplane built around her. Chee said the costume was from a scene in "Star Wars: Episode IV."
There will also be a fan art gallery containing "Star Wars"-themed models from SandLUG, a local group of Lego enthusiasts.
"It's cool Lego works based around 'Star Wars.' This year we've added two artists," said Chee.
The artists added to this year's fan art are Gareth Payne and Mike Stimpson. They both will be raffling off their "Star Wars" art in the gallery.
No light saber battles have been reported from past years but Chee admitted she would be disappointed if none took place this year.
Lego Star Wars Days activities are free with paid admission to the park, which is $67 for general admission, $57 for seniors (60 and over), and children ages 3-12. Parking is $12. Legoland is at 1 Legoland Drive in Carlsbad. Call 760-918-5346 or visit california.legoland.com.


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"Win the race against trolls": the trademark implications of Trump’s Cuba policy reversal 19 Jun 17
On Friday, President Trump unveiled his plans to re-adjust the policy of the United States towards Cuba, announced that he was “cancelling the last administration’s completely one-sided deal” with the country. The move has implications for trademark owners, although in many respects overall strategies shouldn’t change – not least when companies are faced with third parties seeking to register their brands.
The National Security Presidential Memorandum on Strengthening the Policy of the United States Toward Cuba requires the Secretary of State to “identify the entities or sub-entities that are under the control of, or act for or on behalf of, the Cuban military, intelligence, or security services or personnel”, with direct financial transactions with these to be prohibited (with some exceptions). Within 30 days a process to adjust regulations to ensure adherence to the statutory ban on tourism to Cuba will also be initiated.
When President Obama ordered the restoration of full diplomatic relations with Cuba in December 2014, there were a number of dimensions for the trademark community to consider – both in terms of the prospect of the Cuban market opening up to US brands, and the possibility that Cuban companies may soon be able to target the lucrative US market. This latest policy announcement has implications for both, and brand owners should ensure that the right strategies are being implemented.
First, the prospect of US companies doing increased business in Cuba in the near future has been impacted. However, the ability to register marks in the jurisdiction continues and David K Friedland, partner at Friedland Vining, tells World Trademark Review that this should continue to be a focus: “Based on the changed policy, there is no reason for US brand owners to stop the process of seeking Cuban registrations. The new policy does still appear to permit brand owners to register their marks in Cuba, notwithstanding that the ability to enter the Cuban market has been somewhat restricted under the new policy. So US brand owners should definitely continue to seek registrations in anticipation of the market fully opening in the future. Given that judicial and administrative precedent shows that brand owners may register their marks without establishing use in Cuba (in the Kool-Aid case, a Cuban court excused non-use of a US brand in Cuba on the basis of the embargo), there is no real downside to doing so at this time.”
Aside from preparing for possible future market entry, registrations could also serve a defensive purpose. In issue 57 of World Trademark Review, Jaime Angeles, partner at AngelesPons, reflected on a rush of Cuban applications for well-known US trademarks (including for such brands as Chase and the NFL) following Obama’s 2014 policy shift. Reflecting on the situation now, he notes: “The number of trollers has been almost non-existence in recent months, but it is still a risky business to leave the door open.”
Friedland concurs, adding: “Avoiding the ‘troll’ issue is among the top reasons for brand owners to register their marks in Cuba, a first-to-file jurisdiction. By registering their marks now, they can (hopefully) win the race against trolls who are registering well-known, famous brands at an alarming pace in Cuba. As I mentioned, Cuban courts have excused non-use of a mark due to the US embargo, so cancellation on that basis remains unlikely. Furthermore, although Cuba is a signatory to the Pan-American convention, it still remains to be seen whether the trademark office and/or courts will honour a decision against a troll who registers a well-known brand in the hope of scoring a big payday down the road.”
In terms of the real-world impact on those brands that have made in-roads into the Cuban market, it remains a case of ‘wait and see’. Angeles suggests, for example, that “the hotel industry will have to take close look on the way to conduct business in Cuba”. Marriot International, for example, announced it would enter the Cuban market last year, shortly after Starwood Hotels and Resorts announced it had signed three hotel deals in the country – making it the first US hotel company to do so in 60 years. CNN also reports that the Four Points by Sheraton Havana is operated by Cuba’s Armed Forces Business Enterprises Group (GAESA), which is – according to a senior administration official – to be included on the prohibited entities list. Writing in The Atlantic, J Weston Phippen says that the policy “is expected to make an exception for US companies already doing business with GAESA, so flights, cruises, and already-scheduled hotel deals will likely be exempt”. What will be all-important is the precise detail behind the policy, which will become clearer over the next 30 days.
For Cuban brands eyeing the US market, nothing has effectively changed over the weekend. While Friday’s announcement makes the prospect of free trade seem some way off, it was never imminent and the trademark challenges that existed last week will continue. For example, while Obama’s thawing of relations intensified the legal and political row over ownership of the HAVANA CLUB mark, that dispute has lasted decades and will rumble on still. Similarly, whenever the embargo is finally lifted, Cuban organisations that have seen other companies commercialise their brand names (such as non-Cuban versions of cigars with identical names sold in the United States) will have similar battles to face. Friedland comments: “The trademark debate still will require some sort of government intervention to decide the ongoing (for decades) disputes related to the HAVANA CLUB rum mark, as well as various cigar brands that carry registrations for both the Cuban and non-Cuban versions of cigars bearing the same name. The USPTO and various courts have been juggling these issues for decades and, when the embargo finally ends and the market is ready to welcome competing brands with the same name, some sort of policy change will need to be enacted in order to protect the consumers of these brands.”
Trump’s latest announcement does not roll back Obama’s Cuba policy stance in its entirety, with the embassies in Washington and Havana, as well as diplomatic relations between the countries, remaining open. Similarly, the immediate impact on trademarks is arguably not world-changing. The arguments for registering marks remain valid, while Cuban products (aside from those taken out of the country for personal use) remain blocked from the US market. However, the policy change does provide a timely reminder to review portfolios and strategies to ensure that brands are properly protected.
Managing portfolio risks and challenges emanating from the political environment – including Cuba – is a focus at this year’s Managing Trademark Assets, held in Chicago on October 17. For more information, visit the event website here.
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Local Motors’ focus is to create smart, safe, sustainable vehicles—with a 3D printer.
“THE CAR AS WE KNOW IT MUST DIE.”
That’s how David Woessner ’01, Detroit-based general manager of automotive innovator Local Motors Inc., introduced the company’s vision to students and faculty during his visit to campus in December. Local Motors’ business model is equally audacious.
The Financial Post calls it “so radical that it’s hard to comprehend at first: crowd-sourced, 3D-printed electric vehicles built in local micro-factories the size of grocery stores, then sold directly to consumers.”
Woessner explained it this way to the Wabash community:
“In 2015 more than 80 million vehicles were produced in the world, and the average utilization of a car is between 3 and 5 percent. That means 80 million cars produced sat idle 95 to 97 percent of the time.
“We can create a more sustainable car industry, so there aren’t as many old cars around in junkyards in 40 years, and that’s our focus: to create smart, safe, and sustainable vehicles.”
Woessner considers Local Motors part of a third Industrial Revolution—digital, CAD-drawn, and 3D-printed.
“As battery technology and electronics are advancing, the car is changing from a mechanical vehicle into the most heavily regulated and complex consumer electronic device in the world today,” says Woessner, who previously managed his own automotive consulting firm, W Advisors, in Detroit. In 2009 he also helped bring together leaders from across the country for a summit to find ways the city could work its way out of the Great Recession. He joined Local Motors in 2014.
“Our competitors like Tesla and Elio Motors are still making cars the same old way. We’re fundamentally different in the way we design, build, and sell our products,” Woessner says.
“We combine communities of enthusiasts and problem solvers to understand local needs, harnessing the power of the crowd to develop and design a vehicle. Then we produce it locally at micro-factories, using locally developed fuel sources and locally sourced suppliers.”
Local Motors was co-founded in 2007 in Phoenix by Jay Rogers, whose grandfather owned Indian Motorcycle Company and built the first steel mini-mill. The company made headlines in January 2015 when it introduced the first 3D-printed car at the Detroit Auto Show.
Now it’s ready for the big leap.
“We’re not going to be like BMW and we’re not going to be Hyundai,” Woessner says. “We believe in distributed manufacturing.”
And there will be no chain of dealers to add cost between the manufacturer and the consumer—an equally revolutionary concept that will require changes in the laws of many states.
“You’ll walk into our facility, design your vehicle, and in a few days it’s built and ready for you.
“As Wabash likes to say, we’re changing the world one Little Giant at a time.”
The first LM3D cars are being built at Local Motors’ existing micro-factory in Knoxville, TN. Another facility celebrates its grand opening (in June 2016) in National Harbor, MD.


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The new Chevrolet Camaro convertible has been revealed, just one day after leaked images of the new model appeared online.
Joining the sixth-generation Camaro range, the convertible features a folding soft-top roof which can be opened and closed at speeds of up to 30mph.
Rivalling the Ford Mustang in both coupé and convertible forms, the new Camaro is 57mm shorter, 20mm narrower and 28mm lower than the outgoing fifth-generation car.
The new Camaro is based on GM’s Alpha platform, with more than 60kg saved from the car’s structure compared to the previous car. The Camaro’s kerb weight has also been reduced by 90kg in both coupé and convertible forms, a significant saving on the fifth-generation model’s 1687kg.
Chevrolet says the most significant weight savings have come from replacing the instrument panel frame with an aluminium unit and introducing a new five-link rear suspension system. A MacPherson suspension set-up features at the front.
As a result, the US firm says the new Camaro “delivers better lap times than the fifth-generation’s track-focused Camaro 1LE package”.
The new Camaro’s engine line-up includes a new 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol unit that produces 271bhp and 295lb ft, with maximum torque arriving between 3000 and 4500rpm. It’s capable of propelling the Camaro to 60mph in under six seconds and can return more than 30mpg, which makes this the most efficient Camaro ever.
Camaros with this engine also get the option of a sound enhancement system, which “amplifies the native sounds” of the powertrain.
Also available is a new 3.6-litre V6 petrol, which produces 330bhp and 284lb ft and includes cylinder deactivation technology for the first time.


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As COVID-19 continues to disrupt life around the world, veteran analyst Piers Harding-Rolls of Ampere Analysis has published a report discussing the potential impact of the pandemic on next-gen consoles.
Market intelligence firms unanimously agree that the global recession will have a serious impact on consumers’ purchasing power. Harding-Rolls predicts that the impact will be felt “more significantly later in 2021” after the initial surge of early adopters dies down. He’s also of the view that since next-gen consoles will be backwards compatible and “most” new third-party games will support older consoles as a result, players impacted by the recession won’t feel the need to upgrade their hardware right away.
“Stating that the games sector is ‘recession proof’ holds some general truth as during downturns people find great value in playing games,” reads the report. “However, in 2020 the tendrils of games reach far and wide, so breaking down the industry into segments reveals that disruption is likely to be varied.”
Barring supply chain bottlenecks, Harding-Rolls expects both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X to launch around November 2020, with price tags between $450-$499. Additionally, he believes that the impact of COVID-19 on video game development is only a short-term problem.
“The shift to home working has caused disruption to game development schedules and there has been a number of release delays for games that were close to launch when the crisis struck,” the report continues. “Games that are due towards the end of 2020, alongside the launch of the consoles for example, are expected to be at less of a risk to delays due to the ability to make up lost time over the next few months.”
Although COVID-19 reportedly thwarted Sony’s marketing plans for the PS5, insiders say that the company’s production capacity remains unharmed.
[Source: Ampere Analysis]
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Hyundai Motors is planning a budget electric hatchback – but it will likely be some time before we see anything like it on local roads.
At a Europe automotive event in Prague, Hyundai Motor Europe’s marketing chief Andreas-Christoph Hofmann said the carmaker is already working on an all-electric successor to the i10.
However, it will be some time before it is ready for production, and would be made available in Europe to begin with.
Key to the challenge of producing a vehicle of this size is price. The current i10, which is at the smallest end of the electric hatchback scale, was introduced in Europe in 2020 and sells in Germany from 11,415 euros ($A16,930 converted).
It is generally accepted that an electric minicar would need to be priced under 20,000 euros ($A29,730 converted). Hoffman confirmed with Auto News Europe that Hyundai would be targeting this price mark also.
“Everybody in the industry knows the target of this kind of vehicle is 20,000 euros,” he told the Automotive News Europe event.
But it will still be some time before electric minicars become commonplace, at least in Australia.
And while Hyundai is committed to introducing 11 more electric models in Europe by 2030, Hoffman says the technical challenges of electrifying small cars means they are not at the top of its list.
Although many drivers are waiting for affordable electric vehicles, the price margins are much lower compared to larger, more expensive vehicles.
In Australia, the microcar segment is one of Australia’s lowest selling. Because of the added costs of local homologation, import and other costs – plus a limited audience – it makes little sense to local car arms looking to introduce small cars in Australia, let alone electric ones.
There are just three microcars available to buy locally – the Fiat 500/Abarth, the Kia Picanto and the Mitsibishi Mirage.
Hyundai’s small i30 hatch does reasonably well, with almost 12,000 sold to end June in 2022. It has also just introduced the i20 N, a zippy performance hatchback in the light segment but has sold just 402 this year.
But it currently costs $34,990 before on-roads after a recent $2,000 price increase, just $5,000 (equivalent converted pricing) more than the i10 sells for in Europe.
Instead, we expect to see Hyundai continuing to target better-selling segments locally first, such as the high-performance Ioniq 5 N which has now been confirmed for a 2023 launch in Australia.
Hyundai also has recently revealed the Ioniq 6 “streamliner”, an aerodynamic rival to Tesla’s Model 3, and also has plans to launch an Ioniq 7 large electric SUV aimed at the US market
The carmaker plans to introduce 17 new electric models in total by 2030.
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model 3 and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.


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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – Virgil Taylor could only shrug at the price of plywood, as he loaded a couple of sheets onto a cart.
His focus was beating Elsa to the roof deck of the Tangra Nightclub where he said a pricey television was in her path.
“I was getting this for $14. Now it’s $47. So, it’s way up there,” Taylor said. But the cost for this is worth the cost for that monitor.”
Several aisles away, new stock of generators arrived at the Tampa Home Depot where Taylor was shopping, but the machines were not expected to last long.
Flashlights and batteries were also selling fast, along with pumps and of course plywood.
Buying is only step one for Sebastian Leon, a sub-contractor assigned to securing an open building before the storm hits.
“I’m a little scared that we won’t be able to finish it on time because the weather’s not helping us,” Leon said. “It’s stopped raining, then it starts raining every hour or so.”
The Grace brothers hit a pair of hardware stores hoping to gather the goods to protect their Tampa business.
PlayNation has already been forced to play in the mud.
“Got water up to here,” Adam Grace explained, pointing to a cinder block near the foundation of the business.
The last few days of rain flowed through a door threatening to waterlog wooden playground equipment.
While Adam rolled in a new generator, his brother Tim bought some pumps that will be aimed at redirecting the water that falls this week.
“I’m not super panicky about these storms,” Tim Grace said. “I know what water can do. That’s my biggest fear. I’m not worried about the wind. I’m not worried about any of that. I’m just worried about the water.”
As the drips from a downspout turn into rushing water in the coming hours, the Graces will watch from home and hope their network of pumps and generator can keep up with Elsa
“We’ve got cameras on the inside, so we’ll be able to monitor where the water’s coming in,” Adam Grace said. “And if it does, we’ll come up here.”
For Marjorie Johnson, Irma proved to be a pricey reminder of what can happen if you’re not prepared.
That bad weather memory motivated Johnson to buy a gas grill as a backup plan after her family lost power during the 2017 hurricane season.
“Six days. All our food went bad. This time I can cook,” she said. “Stop having to worry about using wood or charcoal. I got propane fast. Get it down.”
There are several storm-related items you may need that were hit by pandemic-related inflation.
Plywood is up by about 40 percent, gas by about a dollar a gallon, and the demand for groceries has climbed by 11 percent during the past year.


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Almost a dozen Scottish farming organisations have united to ask the Scottish Government to accelerate support payments to help the industry cope with cash flow issues.
Writing to Rural Secretary Mairi Gougeon, the organisations – which include tenant farmers and landowners, auctioneers, the farmers’ union, QMS and sheep, dairy, pig and beef national associations – state unprecedented input cost inflation is causing many farmers to reassess their production choices.
Some even fear the critical mass of Scotland’s agri-food sector is at risk.
They write: “Right now, the key to safeguarding the food supply chain in Scotland, and all the allied businesses and associated jobs it underpins, is cash flow. Therefore, we are collectively calling on the Scottish Government to utilise all options at its disposal to pay the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and Greening as soon as it possibly can.
“Such a step could help to build confidence across the industry.”
The Scottish Government has already indicated that for 2022 it intends to make “advanced” BPS and Greening payments from mid-October, using the scope of the Agriculture (EU Retained Law and Data) (Scotland) Act 2020. But the co-signatories warn this would not go far enough.
“That intention was set out before the current input cost crisis fully took grip and the advanced payments schedule proposed would, in fact, see farmers and crofters receive support payments later than under previous years’ “loan” scheme,” they state.
The stakeholders make it clear that the collective request to bring forward payments is not a call for additional funding.
They add: “This is about the accelerated delivery of already committed resources in order that input cost rises can be endured and to help ensure the continuity of agricultural production at economically sustainable levels.
“Given the urgency of the situation, we would welcome a quick response. We are ready to engage with your officials to consider what options are available and how best they might be used to help address the current concerns of so many farmers and crofters and all those who rely on them.”
The letter emphasises the current challenges faced by farmers will have implications for downstream businesses that rely on agriculture.


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If you’re an entrepreneur, chances are a garden-variety office worker has looked you in the eye at some point and asked: “Are you crazy?”
No matter what sector you enter into, starting a new venture involves tonnes of risk and little sleep. Trading up a regular salary for the promise of bigger returns down the line can be terrifying, so are some people more cut out for the game than others?
This week, we headed to Sydney to hear from a range of entrepreneurial minds about what drives them. Here are six qualities these company founders attribute their success to. Are you able to harness them?
Founder of Sydney property buyer agent Your Empire, Chris Gray, was “semi-retired” by the age of 31 but says his business acumen stems from thinking well into the long term, rather than focusing on immediate gains.
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Speaking during an Entrepreneur’s Organization Sydney panel event at Vivid Festival, Gray said he got started in the property market when he returned home to the UK to live with his parents after a stint as a backpacker; he realised he could start a career in the property market through one initial investment.
“I just had the foresight to say, I need to get into property and once you work the numbers I’ll actually have more money to go to the pub with,” Gray said.
However, with his own property portfolio and business on the go, Gray says entrepreneurs should understand long term value isn’t without downsides and risk. The trick is to see through that.
“You see the beautiful story and it’s all passionate, but there is the darker side of debt. My life is pretty much about debt … and I’ve pretty much been in debt all my life,” he said.
Richard Branson has said that for a business to be born in the first place, someone has to have been brave. But the question is, how do you harness that bravery?
One option is to put yourself in situations where you don’t have a Plan B, like L&A Social founder Gina Lednyak.
Lednyak started her social media agency in 2008 after landing in Bondi from the US the year before, and says at the time, she had no choice but to persist with the business because to fail would mean completely uprooting her life again.
At 23, and without any savings or support, losing momentum would mean moving back home.
“I couldn’t go move back in with my parents, that would mean going back to America with my tail between my legs,” she told the panel event.
Lednyak also had the instinct that “social media was about to explode in Australia”, so she followed her gut and started chasing clients, knowing that while there wasn’t a formal “Plan B”, she would always find a means to support herself.
“It was knowing that worst case scenario I could go work on a sailboat, or something,” she said.
3. Harnessing emotion
Starting a business out of spite might not be on everyone’s agenda, but for retail queen and founder of Showpo, Jane Lu, a multimillion-dollar business was born out of a desire to prove everyone wrong.
After some false starts with business ideas that didn’t go to plan, then 24-year-old Lu had quit her corporate job, had no business partners and no idea what to do next.
“All of a sudden I was unemployed, I lost money during my first business, my business failed and it was all in the middle of the GFC [global financial crisis] — I didn’t know what else to do,” Lu said.
“My only go to was to start this business, to start Showpo was to start another business.”
Still living with her parents, Lu pretended to keep going to the corporate gig she’d quit each day and it was during those fake commutes that she realised she had to turn her frustrations into action.
“That spite, not wanting to go back to work, pushed me into making it, I guess,” she said.
Plenty of entrepreneurs find themselves in high-pressure, low satisfaction roles before breaking out on their own, but that doesn’t mean they’re ready to start a new venture.
Michael Frizell, founder of pet food delivery platform Pet Circle, was tired of his banking job and looking for a change. He said the first step was straightforward.
“The first step was to decide to quit my job. I’d always wanted to start a business … One day I just decided, ‘this is not what I like, I’ve learned enough, I’ll leave’,” he said.
He took off travelling, but quickly learned this wasn’t the way to come up with a stellar business idea; you need to prepare and do deep research before finding the thing that will fit for you.
“One day you just get this bug that you have to do something, you’re bored, there’s more to life,” Frizell said.
A friend in private equity tipped him off that the pet industry was an interesting one, but the Australian market was fragmented and there was no market leader. Frizell was hooked by that information, but before he could launch Pet Circle, which would later take out top place in the 2014 Smart50 awards, the hard work had to begin.
“[I] came up with four ideas in the industry, decided to get serious went to the US,” says Frizell, before deciding on the model that would eventually build into a $70 million business.
Growing a strong enterprise is also about knowing your strengths and interests, says founder of Pulse Collective, Lauren Fried.
The advertising expert and Gruen panelist has grown her agency into one that services just the nation’s entrepreneurial community. Fried says she made the choice to prioritise because she knew there was something in Australian early-stage businesses that really captured her interest.
“It was uncontrollable: because all entrepreneurs plan and stuff, but they don’t know what’s going to happen,” she said.
Compared with her larger corporate clients, startups and small businesses were willing to take more risks and threw up new challenges, which captured Fried’s attention.
“I like the bravery and risk associated with working with entrepreneurs,” she said.
The decision to hone in on that niche also has had an effect on the creative process of Fried’s team, who approach problems holistically and with a growth mentality.
“They are always X-raying businesses and asking how can we grow this business?” she said.
The idea of starting a business off the back of a hobby is pretty seductive, but simply having an interest in something isn’t enough to monetise it.
For iFLYflat founder Steve Hui, business success has come from joining the dots between his professional strengths, interests and the creation of value for customers.
IFLYflat “is about turning points from balances into travel dreams” — a travel advisory service that promises to leverage frequent flyer points to find bargain business class fares.
“Two things really excite me — a bargain and luxury, if I combine the two, that’s what iFLYflat is about,” Hui said.
But that excitement isn’t what drives value. Reflecting that he’s a bit of an introvert, Hui has had to push through to sell his idea to customers, and work out ways of communicating with people to actually sell the concept as a business.
“How can I help people turn their points that they believe are worthless or really hard and convince them they have value?” he said.
One way to connect with customers is by building the idea into a story.
“I like my clients to open up Google Maps, pick a place which they’ve always wanted to go and [I say], ‘I’ll get you there for $2500.'”
SmartCompany attended the Vivid Festival event as a guest of Entrepreneur’s Organization Sydney.


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Mario Kart 8 Deluxe launched over four years ago, but the last new mainline Mario Kart game was the original Mario Kart 8 for the Wii U back in 2014. Fans have been craving a new game in the series for a long time now, but with how well Mario Kart 8 has sold, and given that it refuses to slow down, many have said that it’s unlikely a sequel will happen any time soon. After all, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has sold over 35 million copies by now, while the original for the Wii U had sold around 8.5 million a year ago, so with all of that sales momentum, why would Nintendo bother making a new game?
Well, according to known Nintendo insider Zippo, a new game is indeed coming, and coming soon. In a recently published blog update, the leaker wrote that series producer Kosuke Yabuki and his team have been working on a new mainline game in the series for three years, and stressed that this project had nothing to do with the likes of mobile title Mario Kart Tour, AR title Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, or the Universal theme park ride.
Zippo is unsure of exactly what the nature of this game is, but states that it’s looking likely it will launch either Holiday 2021, or early 2022.
It’s always best to tread with caution where unverified insider leaks are concerned, especially when it comes to the notoriously secretive Nintendo- so, you know… tread with caution.
In the same blog update, Zippo also wrote that the sequel to Breath of the Wild is unlikely to launch this year, and that a new Donkey Kong game, developed by the Super Mario Odyssey team, will be revealed at E3.
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2020 has delivered a VUCA disruption like no other. While millions of consumer-facing businesses world-wide, it has been a struggle to just stay afloat as consumers deferred their discretionary spends, others managed to navigate the economic crisis caused by the pandemic with lower damage levels.
As millions of people stay home in the pandemic, immersive technologies such as augmented and virtual reality and 3D content can enhance consumer purchasing confidence and increase online sales, according to an Accenture report.
In such a volatile situation, what will the future of business innovation be? Will the Retail Industry emerge resilient and withstand the test of uncertain times?
The answers to all these questions and more underpin the philosophy of the Phygital Retail Convention. This one-of-a-kind conference is all set to hit your screens LIVE on October 14-15, 2020.
In its inaugural virtual congregation, the PRC – Live on Your Screen event aims to bring together multiple stakeholders in Global and Indian Retail and E-Commerce businesses to hack the most critical disruption-ready strategies around technology and innovation.
The PRC – Live on Your Screen event will broadcast a powerful blend of panel discussions, talks and masterclasses, exhibitions to showcase solutions and innovations in technology, products, services, retail spaces, ideas, concepts.
In addition to a reservoir of relevant content and in true tradition of IMAGES Group events, PRC – Live on Your Screen will also provide immense opportunities to connect with fellow delegates through AI prompted match-making, video chat opportunities, text and video chat rooms for networking with peer groups and scheduled video meetings for up-to a whole month!
For more details please log onto www.phygitalretailconvention.com
CLICK HERE to REGISTER NOW


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If you were unfortunate enough to have your ultra-expensive RTX 3090 brick while playing Amazon’s new MMO New World, we have some good news for you.
EVGA has responded to the concerns of New World players and says the company will cover all graphics cards impacted by this deadly bug. EVGA recently released an update that will reduce GPU load by capping FPS.
Imagine you’re excited to play a brand new MMO with your friends after waiting for months. You finally get into the world and suddenly your $2k GPU in all its glory does mid-battle. Yeah, not super cool.
Although it sucks in the first place, EVGA is being a real sport and replacing all affected GPUs.
Even popular streamers like Gladd had his GPU fried from New World.
Luckily, EVGA had a stock of 3090s laying around and the shipments should already be happening. If you were one of the unlucky gamers that had their card bricked, a brand new shiny card should already be on its way.
Besides this unfortunate setback, New World has been kicking some serious butt. This new MMO developed by Amazon is becoming more popular and successful by the day. Although the game is still in closed beta, it’s currently in a playable state and is very fun.
There are some classic elements of other MMOs that were brought in, but some aspects of the game are fresh and exciting. For instance, you can elect a governor of a settlement!
We’re all eagerly awaiting the full launch on August 31st. Anyone with a bricked 3090 will have their replacement shortly and you won’t have to go through this mess again! At least EVGA is being a true sport about it.
In other news
We could be getting Ubisoft games on the Steam Deck!
XDefiant is Ubisoft’s take on a hero shooter.
Wanting to start League of Legends? Check out our beginner’s guide.


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The new Redmi 10 / 2022 MIUI 13 update has been released, which significantly improves system security for Global. While Xiaomi continues to develop the MIUI 14 interface, it continues to release the recently introduced MIUI 13 to its devices. It aims to increase system stability and security by issuing devices with new MIUI 13 updates.
A new Redmi 10 / 2022 MIUI 13 update has been released today. This released update brings with it the Xiaomi July 2022 Security Patch. The build number of the new Redmi 10 / 2022 MIUI 13 update is V188.8.131.52.SKUMIXM. Let’s take a look at the update’s changelog.
Redmi 10 Specs
Redmi 10 mobile was launched on 17th March 2022. The phone comes with a 60 Hz refresh rate 6.70-inch touchscreen display offering a resolution of 720×1648 pixels (HD+). The display sports Gorilla Glass for protection. Redmi 10 is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 processor. It comes with 4GB, and 6GB of RAM. The Redmi 10 runs Android 11 and is powered by a 6000mAh battery. The Redmi 10 supports proprietary fast charging.
New Redmi 10 / 2022 MIUI 13 Update Global Changelog
The changelog of the Redmi 10 / 2022 MIUI 13 update released for Global is provided by Xiaomi.
Updated Android Security Patch to July 2022. Increased system security.
The new Redmi 10 / 2022 MIUI 13 update that has been released improves system stability and brings with it the Xiaomi July 2022 Security Patch. This update is currently available to Mi Pilots. If there is no problem, it will be made available to all users.


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Weslaco family spreading holiday cheer by turning their home into Northopolis
For more than two decades, Rey and Minerva Banda have shown their Christmas magic by transforming their home into Northopolis.
The mother and son duo are dedicated to bringing extra holiday cheer to their community.
"It's unique because it's not just an inflatable that you can find at the store," Rey said. "No, this is something different. You're never going to see a house like this. I mean everything's homemade."
The pandemic caused them to reconsider their holiday tradition, but ultimately they decided to keep it going.
"We need something positive to really lift everybody's spirit right now." Rey said. "There's so much negativity right now and I was like no, I have to do this. We need this Christmas spirit."
Watch the video for the full story.


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The new Leica SL2 camera is rumored to arrive in mid-2019. According to a Leica Italy representative, the Leica SL2 full frame mirrorless camera with L-mount will be announced in June 2019.
The company recently announced the new Leica Q2 full frame compact camera. A Leica Italy representative answered a question on Facebook that upcoming Leica SL2 will be released in June, 2019. The comment was deleted later.
According to previous rumors, Leica SL2 will feature a 47MP full frame image sensor the same found on the Leica Q2. It will be a new full frame mirrorless camera to the new L-mount.


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CANNES, Today: Next year’s Cannes Lions are undergoing a refresh, including change, and preparing to introduce the industry to a new category – the Entertainment Lions for Gaming.
A Cannes spokesperson said: “Lion-winning work that has featured gaming has risen by 74% in the last five years – so we’re proud to recognise this.
“This new category is being introduced at a time when the gaming industry is truly reaching new heights.”
Celebrating creative work that connects people to brands through gameplay, the new Lion will be judged and awarded for the first time in June 2023 – with Francine Li, global head of marketing at LA game esports tournament outfit, Riot Games, serving as the inaugural jury president.
“This new category is being introduced at a time when the gaming industry truly is reaching new heights,” she said.
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1 Tapering, Chinese hard landing biggest threats (Issac John in Khaleej Times) The tapering of the Federal Reserve’s monetary easing is the single largest threat to global economic growth in 2014, according to business leaders and economists attending the Asian Financial Forum (AFF) in Hong Kong. Some 32 per cent of delegates opined that “tapering” of the US quantitative easing programme would be the biggest global economic risk this year while 29 per cent were of the view that a “hard landing” for the Chinese economy would be at the top of their risk list.
Structural issues in emerging markets were identified by 23 per cent of the delegates as the biggest risk this year at the annual global gathering of a record 2,300 business leaders and senior government officials. About 16 per cent delegates considered other risk factors as serious challenges to the global economy. The US Federal Reserve has decided to taper its quantitative easing policy by $10 billion per month, to $75 billion.
2 Fake CVS flood India job market (Dawn) Forging qualifications, faking experience, and inventing companies, desperate candidates are resorting to all sorts of fraud to land jobs in a tough Indian employment market. Low business confidence and high interest rates have led economic growth to plunge to the lowest in a decade, making private sector job opportunities harder to come by.
A survey by AuthBridge, which has screened millions of candidates, showed that nearly one in five had fudged some information on their CV in 2012-13. As many as 51 per cent submitted fake education documents. Background screening was hardly heard of in India until the turn of the millennium, and has been largely driven by the outsourcing and IT industry, one of India’s biggest economic success stories.
Foreign companies taking their back office operations to India wanted assurances that employees were reliable, while intense competition led to high staff turnover and huge recruitment needs. The Indian Association of Professional Background Screeners pegs the size of the industry at about $32 million annually and growing fast. Figures from the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) show the number of qualified workers in the IT sector has risen 17 per cent year on year, more than double the rate of growth in new jobs.
3 What secrets your phone reveals of you (Elizabeth Dwoskin in The Wall Street Journal) Fan Zhang, the owner of Happy Child, a trendy Asian restaurant in downtown Toronto, knows that 170 of his customers went clubbing in November. He knows that 250 went to the gym that month, and that 216 came in from Yorkville, an upscale neighborhood. And he gleans this information without his customers’ knowledge, or ever asking them a single question.
Mr. Zhang is a client of Turnstyle Solutions Inc., a year-old local company that has placed sensors in about 200 businesses within a 0.7 mile radius in downtown Toronto to track shoppers as they move in the city. The sensors, each about the size of a deck of cards, follow signals emitted from Wi-Fi-enabled smartphones. That allows them to create portraits of roughly 2 million people’s habits as they have gone about their daily lives, traveling from yoga studios to restaurants, to coffee shops, sports stadiums, hotels, and nightclubs.
Turnstyle is at the forefront of a movement to track consumers who are continuously broadcasting their location from phones. Other startups, such as San Francisco-based Euclid Analytics Inc., use sensors to analyze foot-traffic patterns, largely within an individual retailer’s properties to glean insight about customer behavior.
Their success speaks to the growing value of location data. Verizon Wireless last year began crunching its own location information from customers to help retailers see which neighborhoods shoppers arrived from or limited information about their habits, such as restaurants they drive. Apple recently released its iBeacon technology, which can be integrated into sensors to read customer’s smartphone signals in brick-and-mortar stores.
But Turnstyle is among the few that have begun using the technology more broadly to follow people where they live, work and shop. The company’s dense network of sensors can track any phone that has Wi-Fi turned on, enabling the company to build profiles of consumers lifestyles. As the industry grows in prominence, location trackers are bound to ignite privacy concerns. A company could, for example, track people’s visits to specialist doctors or hospitals and sell that data to marketers.
Right now, the only way to opt-out of geolocation is to either switch off the Wi-Fi on a cellphone, or make a request through a website of one the data companies like Turnstyle that has an opt-out option.


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The "highest-end model" in the lineup will offer a "completely wireless experience," says Kuo.
Apple will create more differentiation between the highest-end and high- end models. It will benefit the shipment of the highest-end model and iPhone ASP. Among new 2H21 iPhone models, we expect that the highest-end model would cancel the [Lightning] port and provide the completely wireless experience.
Presumably, a wireless iPhone would need to support much faster wireless charging. Current devices support wireless charging at a max of about 7.5W compared to around 18W for fast charging via the Lightning port.
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