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Inflation has been a nagging concern. RBI had earlier projected consumer price inflation (CPI) at 6.8% for the second quarter and 5.4-4.5% for the second half of fiscal 2021. This is likely to see an upward revision, as per economists
MUMBAI: The Reserve bank of India (RBI) is expected to keep key policy rates unchanged when it next meets on 2-4 December to review monetary policy, as per a Mint survey of ten economists. According to the survey findings, while economic recovery will continue to remain the cornerstone of the central bank’s monetary policy focus for the foreseeable future, high inflation, that has hovered at the 6% mark, will likely outweigh other concerns in the next policy review.
India’s retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) hit a nearly six-and-a-half-year high of 7.6% in October, with food inflation registering a steep rise.
All the 10 respondents polled expect RBI to maintain repo rate at 4% while maintaining an accommodative policy stance for future interventions. “While the risks to growth still persist, RBI has had to adopt a judicious mix of maintaining an accommodative stance alongside holding rates steady in recent months as headline and core inflation indices have remained stubbornly elevated,” said Shubhada Rao, founder QuantEco Research.
Majority of respondents, however, expect the central bank to remain in wait-and-watch mode for the rest of the fiscal, contrary to their earlier projection of a rate cut before year end.
“We now expect the RBI to stay on hold through 2021 (vs our previous forecast of a 50bp cut), as inflation has remained stubbornly high, closing the window for policy easing. At next week’s policy meeting, we expect the RBI to revise up both its growth and inflation projections, but retain the dovish forward guidance,” said Nomura in a note.
Majority of economists expect RBI to revise both growth and inflation forecasts for this year. The latest gross domestic product (GDP) number showed that Indian economy saw a sharp recovery in the second quarter from the record decline of 24% during April-June. GDP contracted 7.5% in the July-September quarter, lower than the 8.6% decline predicted by the central bank’s “nowcast” model. Economists, however, are cautious about risks of a slowdown as they see resurgence in infections after the festive season. In its previous policy, RBI had estimated real GDP growth in financial year 2021 to be (-)9.5%, with risks to the downside.
Inflation on the other hand has been a nagging concern. RBI had earlier projected consumer price inflation (CPI) at 6.8% for the second quarter and 5.4-4.5% for the second half of fiscal 2021. This is likely to see an upward revision, according to economists.
“Inflation has also surprised on the upside, remaining above the upper tolerance level of 6%, mainly due to supply-side factors, such as unseasonal rains (vegetables), the cobweb cycle (pulses), labour shortages, higher services prices (as firms look to mend their balance sheets), higher commodity prices (oil, gold) and higher taxes. In light of this upside surprise, we expect the RBI to revise up its inflation projection by more than 1 percentage points (pp) to 5.5-6.9% in H2 FY21 (from 4.5-5.4%) and a new H1 FY22 forecast of 4.2-4.8%,” Nomura said in its note.
RBI has, however, sought to infuse liquidity without tinkering with benchmark rates. In October, the RBI allowed on-tap targeted long-term repo operations (TLTRO) for banks to borrow up to ₹1 trillion from the window and invest in corporate bonds and other debt instruments of certain sectors. It also announced that the size of open market operations, under which the RBI buys and sells government securities, will be raised to ₹20,000 crore to flatten the yield curve and keep interest rates benign. These measures had resulted in a surge in system liquidity and subsequent decline in interest rates across the economy.
Funds are easily available at competitive rates. Yet investment confidence is low due to the uncertainty about the duration of pandemic and the ongoing economic slowdown. I now expect RBI to come out with measures to absorb excess liquidity to reduce irrational pricing of money market instruments and protect the interest of savers,” said Rupa Niture, chief economist, L&T Finance.
“With so much liquidity floating around, and bank credit still on the slow growth trajectory, as a matter of policy, RBI should be directing liquidity flow towards the long-end given the excessive fall in short-end yields. One way of achieving this is by advancing the CRR cut which is expiring on March 27, which would lead to the draining of ₹1.46 lakh crore from the market. To balance that, RBI should announce simultaneous open market operations of an equivalent amount. Another possibility could be allowing mutual funds to participate in reverse repo in conjunction with a Standing Deposit Facility so that a floor is established. RBI can also introduce a Market Stabilization Scheme as was done earlier in times of excess liquidity conditions during demonetisation,” said Soumyakanti Ghosh, chief economist, State Bank of India.


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Tomorrow, Nintendo will be releasing the demo version of Pokémon Sun and Moon. This trial version of the upcoming game will be available for both the US and Europe.
The new Pokémon release will be a celebration of the series’ 20 year anniversary. The game’s setting is the Alola region, which is based upon a series of islands similar to Hawaii. The game has revealed a number of changes to the classic Pokemon form, including Alolan forms of classic monsters, exclusive moves, and new rare creatures.
Details haven’t been shared as to what the demo scenario will be for players. Nintendo has revealed the prize for full competition will be Ash-Greninja. He will be transferable to the full game once it launches. This special Greninja will have the ability to unlock its mega form, where he takes on an image similar to the anime hero. It has been reported that this is the only way to obtain this special Pokémon.
Fans can look forward to the release of Pokemon Sun and Moon on November 18.

domain: news


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Connectivity challenges, internet prices and the lack of Arabic content are the main challenges facing Arabs while using the internet, according to the latest survey conducted by UAE-based research and teaching institution Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government (MBRSG) and online recruitment website Bayt. The entities released their findings in a report titled “Arab World Online 2014” on Tuesday.
According to the survey, which sampled around 3,000 people from 22 Arab countries, 48% of respondents “faced challenges with connectivity and accessibility to the internet”, while 45% stated that the “cost of internet access was too high”. Around 41% of the people sampled argued that “the unavailability of Arabic language content was a challenge”.
The report said that 53% of the respondents spend between three and seven hours per day online, and around 25% spend over eight hours per day.
“With more than 135 million internet users in the Arab region and more than 71 million of them actively using social media today, many aspects of Arabs’ lives have been greatly impacted by increased internet penetration,” the report stated.
“Additionally, with around 400m mobile devices, and millions of other Internet connected ‘things’ used in the Arab world, the proliferation of ubiquitous digital connectivity is creating new opportunities and challenges for governments, businesses and societies on the economic, social and policy levels,” the report added.
94% of respondents said that having internet access has helped provide them with more learning opportunities and resources, while 90% indicated that it has improved their social activity.
The report also stated that 79% of respondents indicated that the internet has made them more involved in their community. Around 61% of respondents said that the internet facilitated their interactions with the government, and that “they could not live without it”.
The report also included what respondents consider to be negative aspects of the internet; 85% stated that the internet has replaced traditional forms of communication, while 72% said that online activity has disrupted normal social activity. Around 59% stated that the internet poses a threat to their privacy, while 32% indicated that it is a source of distraction in their lives.
Mobile penetration rates in the Arab region have reached 110%. According to the report, 42% of respondents said that they access the internet through their smart phones, 73% of whom use 10 or more mobile applications regularly.


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Shots fired: During the launch of YU Digital's new smartphone, the CEO and founder of Cyanogen Kirt McMaster attended, where he had some striking things to say about Samsung during a Q&A session after the announcement of the smartpone from YU Digital's new Yureka smartphone.
McMaster said that its competitors can't match them, and then said "Samsung couldn't build a good OS if they tried." He continued, adding that Cyanogen is all about "super optimizing Android and taking it to a new level. since they started. We believe that... there's an opportunity to be the first or second dominant version of Android on the planet."
He didn't only go after Samsung, he had some not-so-nice things to say about Mozilla's Firefox and Samsung and Intel's collaborative OS, Tizen, are "irrelevant" they have "zero user bases" and "it's meaningless." Don't hold back, McMaster, don't hold back at all, okay? You can watch him cut into Mozilla and Samsung at the 1:16:45 mark on the YouTube video above.
Markus "Notch" Persson may have dropped $70 million on the most expensive house in Beverly Hills, outbidding the likes of JayZ and Beyonce, but someone has spent much more time and effort recreating the amazing mansion in... you guessed it... Minecraft.
Dan Bovey has spent considerable time rebuilding the massive mega-mansion, with a close to shot-for-shot comparison between the recreated one in Minecraft, and the real $70 million mansion. Impressive stuff!
Microsoft and Sony are clashing with their Xbox One and PlayStation 4 game consoles, while Nintendo quietly develops ideas for a new generation game console, according to Shigeru Miyamoto. It's not uncommon for companies to quickly begin development of a new game console while actively promoting its current offering - but plans typically remain quiet, with company executives not discussing anything with the media.
"For the time being, our focus is on the Wii U hardware, but Nintendo as a whole has groups working on ideas for new hardware systems," Miyamoto said in an interview with the AP. "While we're busy working on software for the Wii U, we have production lines that are working on ideas for what the next system might be."
It's possible the next Mario game could be saved until the next Nintendo console platform is made available - but the gaming world will have to wait for confirmation.
The United States pointed towards North Korea being behind the massive Sony Pictures data breach, and many have argued for some type of retaliation against the country. However, trying to determine how to seek revenge on the North Korean government, in regards to cyberattacks, remains difficult. Trying a cyberattack in response would be risky, as the US has significantly more to lose if the North Koreans, along with its allies, decide to escalate the issue further.
"Nothing more," said Christopher Budd, online security communications professional, in a post published by GeekWire. "Yes, you read that right: nothing more. I believe that the U.S. should do nothing more in response to this situation than they already have: naming North Kore clearly as being behind this."
It seems more likely the US government will impose further sanctions on North Korea - and perhaps find ways to hurt the country's economy even further. Another idea is to find a way to distribute "The Interview" inside of North Korea, along with distributing "Team America" into the country - but that seems rather far-fetched.
Cyber espionage is a growing underworld business, with small nation states and foreign terror groups continuing to launch cyberattacks against enemies, according to a report released by McAfee Labs. Everything from distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks to malware being delivered via social engineering techniques are being added to cyber arsenals, used by increasingly sophisticated groups.
Established nations with cyber warfare programs will look for stealthier methods to gather intelligence and cripple political and military rivals - and developing cyber espionage programs remain dedicated to stealing finances and causing disruptions.
"Of particular note, McAfee Labs now sees sophisticated Eastern European cybercriminals shifting from quick, direct attacks on financial-institution customer credentials (leading to financial theft) to a more sophisticated advanced persistent threat (APT) approach in which they collect intelligence that they can either sell or use at a later date," according to the McAfee report.
BlackBerry's revenue dropped 34 percent during its fiscal third quarter, posting a net loss of $148 million, ending Q3 with $3.1 billion in cash. It may seem like a major financial loss, but the Canadian smartphone maker lost $4.4 billion during Q3 last year, and was a slightly smaller loss than reported during Q2.
The company expects it to take a "couple of quarters" before sales begin to increase, as BlackBerry still struggles to compete against the Apple iPhone - and smartphones from Samsung and other manufacturers using Google Android.
Here is what Chen said during the financial call: "Things are happening. I'm encouraged that they are happening, but I wouldn't say that all things are well. I mean we still need a lot of work and a lot of attention and working well together and that's what I'm spending most of my time on."
Bitcoin supporter Charlie Shrem, 25, was given a two-year prison sentence for his role in sending $1 million in bitcoins to Silk Road. He pled guilty earlier in the year for aiding and abetting an unlicensed money transmitting business. Shrem was a former vice chairman for the Bitcoin Foundation, and must also forfeit $950,000 for his role in the operation.
Shrem was described as someone who "excitedly" participated in the "very innovativeness" of drug trafficking, according to U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff. The bitcoin supporter faced up to five years in prison, while the court wanted a 57-month term - as Shrem's BitInstant company knowingly processed bitcoins that were used to sell and purchase drugs via Silk Road.
Shrem offered the following statement via Twitter: "I've been sentenced to 2 years, to self surrender in 90 days. Considering I was facing 30 years, justice has been served. #Bitcoin."
Despite both 'Transformers: Age of Extinction' lead Mark Wahlberg and director Michael Bay pouring cold water on their return for the inevitable 'Transformers 5', it seems both may have had a change of heart.
Speaking to ComingSoon, Wahlberg confirms he is "committed to doing a couple more" and will reprise his role as streetsmart inventor Cade Yeager. But even more surprising is his theory that Michael Bay will also be back, saying "I can't speak for Mr. Bay, but something tells me we'll be on set soon".
Bay has long held that 'Transformers 4' would be his final entry in the franchise, despite claiming the same following the previous film 'Transformers 3' in 2012. Wahlberg will be next seen in the sequel to Seth McFarlane's comedy 'Ted' in 2015.
It will be fun to see analyst sales figures for console sales after Christmas, as Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Andrew House admits the Xbox One is giving the PlayStation 4 a run for its money. Even though sales are described as "in line" with Sony's previous expectations, the cheaper price tag for the Xbox One has led to a significant sales bump for Microsoft.
The Xbox One starts at $350 in the United States, while the PS4 is available starting at $400. The $50 price cut was announced in November and will continue to January 3, 2015.
It appears to be a good time to be a console gamer, as both companies also have several appealing console/game bundles available. Expect continued price cuts and increased competition from both companies in 2015, while they try to woo gamers to their respective platforms.
T-Mobile will have to fork over $90 million in refunds, fines and penalties for its longstanding "cramming" behavior, hitting its subscribers with unauthorized charges - and refusing to issue refunds when some subscribers found the charges.
"This is a major settlement that will put tens of millions of dollars back into the pockets of consumers," said Jessica Rich, director of the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection, in a statement. "This case is about a core principle, that no business should bill a consumer for charges they did not authorize, period."
Cramming behavior seems to be quite popular among wireless carriers, and the most common type of cramming is premium Short Messaging Service (PSMS), normally focused on gossip and jokes of the day. AT&T and T-Mobile have already settled cramming cases, while Sprint is just beginning to face its own problems.


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UPDATE 1-Mexico's Homex reports fourth-quarter loss
* Q4 loss 206.43 mln pesos vs profit of 61.04 mln pesos
* Revenue up 21.5 percent to 7.98 bln pesos
MEXICO CITY Feb 26 (Reuters) - Mexican homebuilder Homex on Tuesday reported a fourth-quarter loss, hurt by a change in government that affected subsidies for the low-income houses it sells.
The company reported a loss of 206.43 million pesos (US$16 million) compared with a profit of 61.04 million pesos a year ago. An increase in sales costs along with an exchange rate loss also weighed on Homex in the quarter.
Revenue rose 21.5 percent to 7.98 billion pesos compared with 6.57 billion pesos a year earlier, helped by payments from the government for jails that Homex is building.
Revenue from home sales fell 4.4 percent to 5.7 billion pesos, the company said.
Homex shares closed up 0.44 percent at 27.16 before the company announced its financial results.
- Tesla says in talks with BMW over car batteries, parts
- Exclusive: China ready to cut rates again on fears of deflation - sources
- Actor Dwight Henry eyed in New Orleans killing after arrest for theft
- China building South China Sea island big enough for airstrip: report
- Obama to Republican critics on immigration: 'Pass a bill'
We are living longer but not creating financial plans to keep pace. Advisers give tips on how to make sure you don’t outlive your money. Video


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Answer Man: New Belgium booms? Field & Stream store?
Today's batch of burning questions, my smart-aleck answers and the real deal:
Question: Why are there containment booms in the French Broad River near the future New Belgium brewery that's under construction? Did they have a spill?
My answer: No, but it does give me an idea for a new tourism campaign, based on an intentional beer spill into the river — "Asheville: We're swimmin' in beer!"
Real answer: McCray Coates, the city of Asheville's stormwater services manager, told me the boom is a "turbidity curtain" used to control sediment that washed into the stream after recent heavy rains. It has nothing to do with the brewery and actually is part of the city work on a greenway and stream restoration project there.
"The turbidity curtain, what that does is prevent any turbidity — the fine particles and sedimentation mixing in the water — from leaving that area," Coates said. "Basically, we pulled out that little delta that had formed at the confluence of the two streams."
Penland Creek, which runs through the New Belgium site, enters the French Broad River where the booms have been place. Sediment had collected, forming a small delta.
The city is conducting a stream restoration project on Penland Creek, as well as a lot of greenway and road improvements in the area. The booms went up last week after city workers noticed the sediment collecting and contacted the N.C. Division of Water Quality.
The booms, which run about 30-40 feet, should come out this week.
The restoration project should be finished by December, Coates said, and will include some hardscape, grading and walls by parts of the stream, as well as a pedestrian crossing. New Belgian will also have two pedestrian crossings over Penland Creek, which runs between what will be the brewing area and a tasting room.
The city is using multiple funding sources for the restoration/greenway project, including $1.1 million in federal Economic Development Administration funds, $300,000 from the Golden Leaf Foundation and $400,000 from the Clean Water Management Trust in Raleigh.
Question: I've heard that a Field & Stream store is going to open at the new Asheville Outlets? Can you check that out? Supposedly, it's coming to the former Belk store.
My answer: There's nothing I love more than a good rumor that allows me to put a major retailer's name in an online headline. Wait, did I say that out loud?
Real answer: "I haven't heard that," Asheville Outlets general manager Sharon Morgan said.
She also said the stores do their own permitting, though. Morgan said she just received the keys to the former Belk store a week ago Friday, after a liquidator came in and store fixtures were removed.
Alan Glines, interim director for the city of Asheville's Planning and Urban Design Department, said he hasn't seen anything specific, but ...
"The plans received in the permit office do not specify the tenant, only that it will be retail," Glines said. "When a developer submits a plan, they are not actually required to specify the tenant. Parking counts, for example, are based on the type of use, not a specific tenant."
The proposal for the space is 52,000 square feet, he said.
A new Field & Stream store that opened in Cary last year is about 50,000 square feet.
The Triangle Business Journal reported last September that the store was "only the fifth Field & Stream-branded store to open across the country and the first store to open that's south of Crescent Springs, Kentucky. The Cary Field & Stream store is also only the second store to open in a brand new building location."
The stores look sort of like a Bass Pro Shop on the exterior, and they cater to hunters and anglers. Dick's Sporting Goods is the parent company of Field & Stream, and I left multiple messages with its media relations department, to no avail.
By the way, a reader asked awhile back if the Cinebarre movie theater that had operated at Biltmore Square Mall would reopen when Asheville Outlets opens May 1. Morgan said, "I can tell you they won't."
We'll keep you posted on the Field & Stream. Asheville Outlets will have some 75 stores.
This is the opinion of John Boyle. To submit a question, contact him at 232-5847 or firstname.lastname@example.org


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City Service SE
Notification on material event
On sale of a company in Russia
Vilnius, Lithuania, 2012-08-31 17:00 CEST --
The Board of AB City Service adopted the decision to sell ООО Жилкомсервис № 2 Невского района, a company based in Russia, St. Petersburg. The company is sold for RUB 54 million.
The houses maintained by the company have the worst figures in average age and area of all St. Petersburg districts where our companies provide services. The decision was made to sell the company, - commented Žilvinas Lapinskas, General Director of AB City Service.
The company now sold was acquired by AB City Service in 2009. The company manages 1.7 million. sq. m. of apartment building area, its sales amount to LTL 107 million per year.
Head of communications
+370 5 239 4900


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Online auto retailer Carvana is opening its newest car vending machine in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
The company said the “world’s first slot machine for cars” stands 11 stories tall and can hold up to 39 vehicles.
“We are ready to raise the stakes in Vegas with our iconic Car Vending Machine, giving customers a slot machine like they’ve never seen before,” Carvana founder and CEO Ernie Garcia said in a press release.
The tower is located at 3720 Morgan Cashman’s Way, on the west side of Interstate 15 across from the Rio.
Hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
According to Carvana, users can shop online and schedule as-soon-as-next-day pick-up at the machine, along with touchless home delivery. Buyers also receive a seven-day return policy.
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Our daily blend of the latest news, trends and tips for the small business community.
What’s going ‘on’:
Unemployment claims inch higher: The number of unemployment applications increased by 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 366,000, the Labor Department reported on Thursday. The less-volatile four-week average, however, fell to its lowest level since March.
Square unveils flat-rate service: The increasingly popular mobile payment company has introduced a flat-rate option for small business owners, offering a monthly fee of $275 instead of 2.75 percent per swipe, adding yet another credit card-processing option for retailers.
Romney leverages small business resentment: The Romney camp is circulating a letter from 16 small business owners criticizing Obama’s handling of the economy. The campaign paid to publish the letter in Iowa on Wednesday, where the president has been campaigning this week.
Keep an eye ‘on’:
East Coast business travelers turning to trains: Amtrak’s share of commercial travel between New York and Washington has increased from roughly a third to three quarters in just over a decade. The pattern steps from increased airport security and flight delays coupled with faster trains and online Amtrak ticketing.
Helpful advice ‘on’:
How to make Yelp work for your business (OSB)
How to improve your business meetings (Entrepreneur)
How to search for loan alternatives (Fox Business)
How to approach your private equity options (NYT)
How to shop for a small business bank (WSJ)


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Serato + El Capitan Support for SL 2/SL 4 Announced
Rane has released drivers supporting the use of its SL2 and SL4 Serato interfaces.
This marks support for seven Rane devices to date, adding to current support of its Sixty-One, Sixty-Two, Sixty-Four, Sixty-Eight, and SL3 products.
The company has also slated driver support for the MP25 and MP26 rack mixers for release soon.
You download the drivers from Rane’s website.


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GLOBAL – As well as new devices and operating system news, we also have the latest update from Ovi Store today. The Store now serves up to five million downloads a day, with 158 developers from 41 countries having passed the one million downloads milestone.
The size of the Store has grown by nearly eight times in one year, with more than 40,000 apps now available. About 1000 new apps are added every week.
The attraction to developers is driven by Nokia’s huge user base of smartphone users (around 200 million) and operator billing for apps. Operator billing has been shown to increase the likelihood of purchases by up to four times. Nokia leads the field in this: there’s integrated operator billing with 112 operators in 36 markets – that’s 25 times more than our nearest competitor. New revenue opportunities for in-app billing and in-app advertising are in Beta.
These opportunities are also being extended to Series 40 devices, which will enable apps for the next billion mobile phone users. The rollout of the latest Ovi Store on S40 has resulted in more than 35 per cent growth in downloads in the last two months, making up about a quarter of the total.
Our favourite catapult users approve. “Nokia’s Ovi Store has given our Angry Birds a fighting chance to defeat those havoc-wrecking green pigs and share the joys of clearing levels from every corner of the globe,” said Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio. “We look forward to continuing development for Nokia’s latest Symbian devices and working with Nokia and the future of the Windows Phone platform.”
“In about a year, Nokia’s Ovi Store has gone from approximately one million downloads per day to up to five million downloads per day today, and the velocity appears to be increasing, fueled largely by Series 40 and new Symbian devices,” said Josh Martin, senior analyst, Strategy Analytics. “At this new rate, that’s nearly 2 billion annualized downloads and with the company’s new direction, app developers can surely capitalize on this growth today and in the future with the estimated approximately 150 million Symbian devices that Nokia expects to deliver.”
We’re delighted with Ovi Store’s success. Let us know what you think in the comments.


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New Delhi: Drug firm Zydus Cadila
on Tuesday said it has received approval from the US health regulator
to market generic Fluocinonide cream
used for treatment of various skin conditions. The final approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA
) is to market Fluocinonide cream USP, 0.1 per cent, Zydus Cadila said in a statement.
The drug will be manufactured at the group's topical manufacturing facility at Ahmedabad, it added.
It is used to treat a variety of skin conditions such as psoriasis, eczema, dermatitis, allergies and rash, Zydus Cadila said.
The group now has 279 approvals and has so far filed over 386 abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) since the commencement of its filing process, it added.


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Whether you play GTA Online for fun or for competitive gameplay amongst crews of other players, it’s not hard to notice the high prices for new vehicles and homes, or the radio station adverts promoting the Shark Cards. You can enjoy GTA Online without spending a single cent or penny, but that doesn’t mean that people haven’t spent a fortune on it already.
According to a statement made during the recent lawsuit regarding former Rockstar employee and head Leslie Benzies, Rockstar Games have have a profit of $500 million on microtransactions alone. That doesn’t include the base game. That is on virtual credit cards in-game.
Whether it’s flashy cars, helicopter gunships and private jets, super yachts or luxury mansions, GTA Online gives players a wealth of options on how to spend money earned via taking part in heists, races or contract missions. It’s quicker to buy a Shark Card with real money, but you can have a good time making money the old fashioned way with the use of community created and shared jobs.
Leslie Benzies took sabbatical leave in September of 2014 for a supposed seven months, although it ended up being just short of 18 months. Rockstar put out a statement saying he was departing the company, but there was another truth behind that, supposedly.


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MENOMONEE FALLS — Stacked chairs and an empty buffet bar marked a drastic change for the normally packed Pizza Crafters on Silver Spring Drive near Pilgrim Road in Menomonee Falls.
“We are an all-you-can-eat pizza pasta and salad buffet, and I knew when things started to change, that I was probably one of the front line restaurant types that people would start to worry about,” said Tim Rohlfs, owner of Pizza Crafters.
Rohlfs said the restaurant was taking a big hit financially because of the coronavirus pandemic, so to help boost business, he changed his all-you-can-eat buffet model to carryout.
“They can also select curbside pick-up, so they don’t have to get out of their car,” Rohlfs said.
From pasta dishes to creamy mac and cheese, delectable meals are available with a quick call or online order. Thinking outside of the box, Rohlfs added a new item to the menu — take, make and bake pizzas.
“We know that everyone is home with their kids, and the kids are probably sick of doing puzzles, so they’ve done all the puzzles in the house,” he said. “We are trying to give them something creative to do that also is interactive.”
The kit includes a signature dough ball, pizza sauce, real mozzarella cheese, and you can add proteins to your order, with sausage or pepperoni. It’s packaged in a plain white box to encourage kids to design their own pizza box.
If you’re participating, share your designs with the hashtag #pctakemakeandbake.
Source: Thanks https://fox6now.com/2020/03/22/pizza-crafters-brings-creativity-to-the-kitchen-with-take-make-bake/


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“For car buyers, an end to the days of dickering?” reads the headline across the center of the front page of the Washington Post this morning. No, it’s not an article about new tools to make car buying easier. It’s a story about electric vehicle maker, Tesla Motor’s impact on car retailing.
The article details the state by state battles Tesla continues to fight for the right to open showrooms and actually show, tell and sell Tesla vehicles. The article notes that more than 20 U.S. states allow sales of Tesla vehicles from company showrooms, but highlights the growing interest across the country in promoting the sales of electric vehicles generally from any car maker including Tesla.
The article arrives as I am reading Martin Ford’s “Rise of the Robots” which details the forces disrupting service (among other) industries such as retail – as industry after industry faces the kiosk-ification of product sales (think Redbox). Decades ago I was an editor at Computer Retail Week which was part of CMP (now United Media) which owned Computer Reseller News.
A once-mighty and weighty publication, Computer Reseller News effectively chronicled the rise and fall of computer (value-added) reselling. I still remember the special reports and editorials pointing out the flawed model that Dell, the Tesla Motors of the computer industry, was hopelessly pursuing vis-a-vis Compaq. (Compaq?)
Computer Retail Week faded along with the likes of Computer City, CompUSA, Incredible Universe, Circuit City and many smaller regional computer superstore chains (notably Micro Center and Fry’s continue to survive and thrive). Blockbuster is the most frequently cited poster child of retail consolidation and decline today, but regional and national chains serving a range of consumer needs continue to decline in the face of direct sales. Been to Borders lately for a book?
But reselling cars is a different proposition, you might say. Consumers want to touch and feel the product. That’s why dealers have massive lots with loads of inventory.
If you want a flavor of the future, visit Europe where most dealers carry little inventory and as much as 50% of car purchases are built to order. In the U.S. consumers still like to kick the tires… for now.
The National Automobile Dealer Association touts the broad social, political and economic impact of dealers. According to 2015 statistics from NADA:
- There are 16,545 franchised new car dealers in the U.S.
- Dealers account for 2,305,159 jobs – including 1,088,001 direct and 1,217,158 induced and indirect jobs
- An average of 67 employees per dealership
- $63B payroll – $52,144 average annual earnings – $20.3B state and Federal income taxes paid
- $862.7B total retail sales – 17.9% share of state sales
The impact of dealers is more than economic. Dealers influence local politics, interact with most banks to conduct their business, and are active in their communities. Is Tesla sponsoring any local charity events or softball teams?
The case for dealers is strong, but when faced with the rise of the robots in the form of direct sales it’s important to remember that sympathy for dealers has its limits. Everyone has a story reflecting unpleasant interactions with dealers. My Toyota dealer recently tried to get me to replace a left control arm ($2,000+) that my independent repair shop told me was not necessary. My son’s Ford dealer swapped two cars out from under him AFTER all the paperwork was signed before he finally drove away a “happy” customer in his new Fiesta.
There’s a reason they’re called “stealers.”
If Tesla’s popping of the franchise dealer bubble were to open the flood gates for direct vehicle sales few consumers would be shedding tears. But the legal line in the sand stands and Michigan Tesla buyers, like those in other states that do not allow Tesla stores, will have to turn to Ohio or Illinois if they want to buy a Tesla.
The key issue is that electric vehicles like the Tesla Model S require little or no service which is a core consumer value proposition for dealers. Also, the structure of the industry has hardened such that new car makers lack the DNA to deal directly with consumers. For car makers, selling cars is a B2B proposition. Car makers sell do dealers.
But the B2B bubble is quivering on an entirely separate front. While the Washington Post article is focused on the new sales model enabled by the introduction of EVs, the growing role of car sharing and driverless vehicles is also emerging as a dealerless vehicle-oriented value proposition. Why buy a car, if I can borrow one?
Dealers have ample reason to be concerned. NADA lobbyists are surely mobilizing not only to fight the opening of Tesla stores, but to preserve a role for dealers in the emerging world of driverless cars. Lobbying alone cannot overcome a lack of creativity.
It’s time for dealers to turn in the direction of the skid. Dealers need to confront the structural weaknesses in their existing sales and service model, own up to their unfriendly consumer-facing processes and rework their operations to tackle the changing transportation landscape that is emerging faster than they realize.
Visit any dealer on any given day and watch the sales process unfold. Watch the delaying tactics, the wearing down of the customer(s), the dissemination of misinformation and disinformation. If new car dealers want consumer support and sympathy for their good works in the community they need to change their ways in the showroom and the shop. Otherwise, the robots will rise earlier than we think and we’ll all be buying or borrowing our next car with the press of a button on an app.Share this post via:


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Commissioner Fried Warns Floridians About Scams at the Pump
Florida Commissioner of Agriculture & Consumer Services Nikki Fried held a press conference yesterday in Hialeah to highlight the dangers of gas skimmers and ways to avoid being scammed.
Today, I visited a @RaceTrac in Hialeah to talk gas pump skimmers — these illegal devices can cause $1 million in fraud each.
Find our top tips for avoiding skimmers here.⬇
— Commissioner Nikki Fried (@NikkiFriedFL) April 12, 2021
Skimmers are devices that are illegally inserted into gas pumps that store a customer’s card information when they pay.
According to the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, over $1 million dollars of consumer fraud can happen with just one skimmer.
Fried gave her support to Senate Bill 430.
This bill will provide more security measures to gas stations. This will include taking pumps found with skimmers out of service until a thorough inspection of the pump has been complete.
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text: One person among the other property was inherited an old car. He just could not go, he had no motor or gearbox, so many things over the years has lost an old car. The new owner decided to sell a car on eBay, who can buy dollars for 500. A week later, a car bought for $ 226,521. As it turns out it's Pontiac LeMans Tempest Super Duty was released in 1963 in the amount of 6 pieces, these cars raced in those years.


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(Adds details on Walmex performance)
By Sheky Espejo and Noe Torres
MEXICO CITY, April 5 (Reuters) - Mexico's biggest retailer, Wal-Mart de Mexico, said on Thursday that same-store sales rose in March by the biggest margin in more than 12 years on holiday shopping.
Sales at Mexican stores open for at least a year rose by 13.5 percent from March last year, Walmex said. The growth was the strongest since January 2006, when such data was first available.
Sales rose in the days leading up to Easter Sunday, known as Holy Week, as many people went on vacation. The holiday fell in April last year.
"In addition to the Holy Week holidays, Walmex's sales were supported by the company's promotional campaigns ... which have helped it gain market share," said Marisol Huerta, an analyst at brokerage Multiva.
Total sales in Mexico increased by 15.1 percent on the year.
In Central America, the company controlled by U.S. retailer Walmart Inc posted a 13.9 percent increase in same-store sales.
Walmex said it opened six new stores in the region in March, bringing the total to 3,156 stores at the end of the month.
The company's share price rose 2.3 percent to close at 48.64 pesos on the Mexican stock exchange ahead of the earnings report. (Reporting by Sheky Espejo and Noe Torres; Writing by Julia Love; Editing by Richard Chang)


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Gordon Dumesich takes on the mantle of CEO while Neil Thompson moves into the chairman position.
The Missouri-based raw pet food maker has promoted Neil Thompson to chairman after leading the CEO role for 4 years.
As chairman, Thompson will look to bolster external relationships further and will continue to be a board member of Agrolimen’s subsidiary, Affinity Petcare, a Spanish pet food supplier.
Under his past tenure, the company “significantly strengthened” its financial standing and invested more than $100 million (€95M) in its Center of Excellence production unit in Nebraska. He also enabled Instinct to invest in a “scientific discovery process” to measure the advantages of raw feeding with the University of Helsinki.
Gordon Dumesich fills his shoes now after serving as the company’s chief growth and marketing officer for 4 years.
Dumesich was responsible for creating a “highly cohesive and effective commercial team,” which has been crucial in producing “consistent strong double-digit growth” as well as contributing to “ever-increasing market shares.”
The latest articles
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The conglomerate’s pet category is the largest contributor to organic growth, while global sales decreased by 1.5%.
Better Choice to develop weight loss supplement for pets
The Florida-based pet health and wellness firm recently acquired all issued and outstanding shares in Canadian Aimia Pet Healthco for an undisclosed amount.
European pet food manufacturers establish new group
SANYpet, Natural Line and Codico have created a new production and distribution group to capture the international market.
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Samsung has announced a collaboration with Red Hat in next-generation memory software technology, the partnership will be focusing on the development of open-source software for existing and new memory storage.
Samsung and Red Hat will work together to develop software and will participate in open source communities like the Linux Foundation.
“Samsung and Red Hat will make a concerted effort to define and standardize memory software solutions that embrace evolving server and memory hardware, while building a more robust memory ecosystem,” said Yongcheol Bae, Executive Vice President and Head of the Memory Application Engineering Team at Samsung Electronics. “We will invite partners from across the IT industry to join us in expanding the software-hardware memory ecosystem to create greater customer value.”
“In the upcoming data-centric era, the integration of memory-centric hardware and software architectures will become increasingly essential, and for this purpose, Red Hat is happy to participate in the joint undertaking with Samsung,” added Marjet Andriesse, Senior Vice President and Head of Red Hat Asia Pacific.
The new partnership marks the first time that Samsung has joined forces with an open source software company to foster engagements across the IT marketplace. As an extension to this strategic collaboration, Samsung will launch the Samsung Memory Research Cloud (SMRC), where the two companies will develop and verify software solutions on diverse server environments.
You can find out more details about this new collaboration between Samsung and red Hat over at Samsung’s website at the link below.
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A lawsuit that accuses Google, Apple and other top Silicon Valley companies of driving down wages by agreeing not to hire each other's workers can go to trial, a judge ruled on Friday.
A New York judge has given the go-ahead for a group to collectively sue Apple for damages over its collusion with publishers to fix the price of electronic books.
The never-ending legal battle between Apple and Samsung enters a new phase Monday when lawyers begin selecting a jury for a new trial that will address new complaints against a different set of phones.
Attorneys say they're making progress toward a possible settlement in Silicon Valley's employee poaching case, in which Google, Apple and other companies are accused of conspiring not to hire employees from other tech giants.
French consumer protection group UFC-Que Choisir has issued Facebook, Twitter and Google with a summons to appear before the Paris High Court, which it has asked to strike out what it says are unfair or illegal clauses in the companies' user agreemen...
Apple has settled a legal dispute with Belgian consumer organisation Test-Aankoop over its warranty practices, the consumer organization said Monday.
This week's emphatic denial from Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto that he had anything to do with the creation of Bitcoin also hinted at a possible lawsuit against Newsweek, though legal experts say it would be an uphill battle.
Hewlett-Packard's November 2012 decision to write off billions of dollars in connection with the acquisition of infrastructure software vendor Autonomy continues to dog the company as it prepares to face shareholders at an annual meeting Wednesday.
Google and Viacom have settled a 2007 lawsuit in which Viacom originally demanded US$1 billion from Google for what it said was massive copyright infringement on YouTube.
A former SK Hynix employee is at the center of a brewing legal battle between top flash memory rivals after allegedly stealing trade secrets.
The U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has temporarily reversed its earlier order that call records collected by the National Security Agency should be destroyed after the current five-year limit.
Google is facing a lawsuit over unauthorized in-app purchases on Android devices by children.
A court in California has prohibited the destruction of phone records collected by the government until further orders, raising a potential conflict with an order last week by the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in Washington, D.C.
Sprint has been sued in a federal court for allegedly overcharging federal law enforcement agencies for surveillance related services by over 50 percent.
A class-action lawsuit has been filed against the Mt. Gox Bitcoin exchange and its owner Mark Karpeles, seeking damages in the hundreds of millions of dollars and the return of bitcoins to users whose accounts were frozen on the site.
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For work use, Microsoft Word and Excel programs pre-installed on the device are adequate for preparing short documents.
The Fujitsu LifeBook UH574 allowed for great mobility without being obnoxiously heavy or clunky. Its twelve hours of battery life did not disappoint.
The screen was particularly good. It is bright and visible from most angles, however heat is an issue, particularly around the Windows button on the front, and on the back where the battery housing is located.
My first impression after unboxing the Q702 is that it is a nice looking unit. Styling is somewhat minimalist but very effective. The tablet part, once detached, has a nice weight, and no buttons or switches are located in awkward or intrusive positions.
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Toyota Launches Redesigned “Prius PHV” in Japan As the pillar of next-generation environmental vehicles, the new Prius PHV boasts an EV mode range of 68.2 km, more than double that of its predecessor
Toyota City, Japan, February 15, 2017―Toyota Motor Corporation announces the launch of the redesigned Prius PHV in Japan, and sales will begin at all Toyota, Toyopet, Toyota Corolla and Netz dealers nationwide on February 15.
Toyota has been working on enhancing its product lineup significantly, and is positioning plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHVs) as the pillar of next-generation environmental vehicles after hybrid vehicles (HVs).
With the new Prius PHV, Toyota has greatly advanced on the environmental performance that is characteristic of the Prius lineup, along with the powerful and smooth drive which is an attribute of an electric vehicle (EV). Futuristic advanced equipment has been added and charging convenience greatly improved, thus evolving the new Prius PHV into a prime vehicle.
During short-distance drives, such as daily commuting and shopping trips, a plug-in hybrid operates as an electric vehicle (EV) and does not consume any gasoline. At the same time, it can be driven over long distances as a hybrid vehicle (HV) even after the battery charge is depleted. Toyota positions PHVs as the core vehicle segment in the company’s Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050―where the goal is to achieve a society in which cars, people and the environment co-exist harmoniously – and plans to continue strengthening this product line.
In January 2012, Toyota launched the Prius PHV with the goal of promoting vehicle electrification. To date, sales of the Prius PHV have totaled approximately 22,000 units in Japan, and approximately 75,000 units worldwide, including the U.S. and Europe.
New Welcab versions (special features have been installed by Toyota) will also be launched in April. A new model with a rotating and tilting front passenger seat makes it easier for a person requiring assistance to get in and out of the vehicle, thus easing the burden on the caregiver.


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Apple sued over the Apple Pay payment system
Apple has been hit by a lawsuit in the US over Apple Pay.
The tech giant is accused of using its market power in the mobile phone industry to fend off competition from other payment card issuers.
The class action complaint was filed in federal court in California by Affinity Credit Union, a chartered credit union based in Iowa.
Apple did not immediately respond to the BBC’s request for comment.
According to the complaint, Apple “forces” consumers who use its smartphones, smartwatches and tablets to use their own wallet for contactless payments, unlike Android device makers who allow consumers to choose wallets such as Google Pay and Samsung Pay .
The complaint alleges that Apple is preventing consumers from using competing mobile wallets capable of offering competing payment solutions with the touch of a phone.
Iowa’s Affinity Credit Union said Apple’s anti-competitive behavior has forced more than 4,000 banks and credit unions that use Apple Pay to pay at least $1 billion in overpayments annually for the privilege.
He also said Apple’s behavior minimized the incentive for the California company to make Apple Pay work better and be more resilient to security breaches.
“Apple’s conduct harms not only issuers but also consumers and competition as a whole,” Affinity Credit Union said.
“If Apple faced competition, it would not be able to sustain these substantial fees.”
The suit seeks unspecified damages and an end to Apple’s alleged anti-competitive conduct.
More legal battles
Apple already faces a possible hefty fine after European Union regulators said on May 2 that it abused its dominance in iOS devices and mobile wallets by refusing to give payments rivals access to its technology.
According to the complaint, Apple charges issuers a 0.15% fee for credit transactions and a flat fee of 0.5 cents for debit transactions using Apple Pay, while Android competitors charge nothing.
The plaintiff is represented by the law firms Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro and Sperling and Slater.
Last August, they helped win a $100 million settlement for smaller iOS developers who claimed Apple overcharged them in commissions.
Discussing the European Union’s investigation into Apple’s mobile payments policy in May, the bloc’s digital chief Margrethe Vestager said Apple claimed it could not provide access to NFC for security reasons.
In Europe, most in-store payments made by mobile phone rely on a wireless technology called “Near Field Communication” – NFC.
This feature enables communication between the customer’s mobile phone and the store’s payment terminal – enabling “tap and go”.
“Our investigation so far has not revealed any evidence that would point to such a higher security risk,” Vestager said on the EU’s website.
“To the contrary, the evidence in our file suggests that Apple’s conduct cannot be justified by security concerns.”
So does Google
Allegations that Google overcharged millions of UK app users will also go to trial.
The lawsuit was brought by consumer campaigner Liz Coll on behalf of almost 20 million UK Google Play store users.
It aims to compensate British users of Android smartphones and tablets for years of alleged price gouging by Google and breaches of competition law.
She said: “We are confident that our claim is correct.
“The Google Play Store’s imposition of a headline 30% charge on our digital purchases is illegal and unjustifiable and we look forward to fighting for UK consumers in court.”
Google said it would defend its claim.
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DES MOINES, Iowa — During a Wednesday a press conference, Gov. Kim Reynolds stood by her decision to lift a mandate that required Iowans to wear masks and placed limitations on capacities for Iowa businesses.
"I’m not saying go out there and be carefree and irresponsible," Reynolds said. "I’m saying I trust Iowans to do the right thing, and I know our businesses will do the right thing, too."
With the choice now in their hands, some business owners are choosing to stick with mask requirements they already had in place.
"We want to let everyone know that even though Governor Kim Reynolds lifted the mask mandate, we are STILL requiring our team AND customers to wear masks inside of our restaurant," 5 Borough Bagels posted on Facebook.
The same goes for Noce Jazz Club in Des Moines, where they also plan to continue operating at limited capacity.
However, not all businesses are keeping up with restrictions. Yoni Wax Boutique in Des Moines posted on Instagram that they will no longer require masks.
Jeff Bruning, owner of multiple bars and restaurants in the metro such as Buzzard Billy's and Fong's Pizza said staff members will still wear masks, noting he wants customers to still feel safe.
He was less clear about how they'll adjust capacity, adding, "Right now, it's prudent and wise to follow the Governor's opinion in saying that she strongly recommends we follow the Iowa Department of Public Health."
"Our livelihoods are on the line here," George Migliero, owner of G.Mig's 5th Street Pub in Valley Junction and Iowa Restaurant Association committee member said during the press conference. "We just want to make sure that people don’t think that because [Reynolds has] lifted some of these [restrictions] that everybody is ... that it’s a free-for-all. It is not."


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Six area businesses were honored by the U.S. Small Business Administration earlier this week.
The 16th Annual SBA Small Business Excellence Award luncheon took place Monday at the Double Tree Hotel in East Syracuse, to recognize the achievements of regional small businesses based on their longevity, innovation, sales growth, increased employment, ability to overcome adversity and community contributions.
Sherry DePerno’s Marcy-based Advanced Tools Inc., was one of six local companies honored at the ceremony. She said the award an unexpected honor, and was happy to see so many area companies represented among the 23 total winners.
The other local winners were:
* Legacy Fiberoptics of Clinton, owned by Ken Stewart.
* A&P Master Images of Utica, owned by Howard and Amanda Potter.
* Cathedral Corporation of Rome, owned by Marianne Gaige.
* Davidson Automotive Group of Rome, owned by Donald, Diane, Douglas, and Dwight Davidson.
* Parry’s of Hamilton, owned by Gwenn and Evan Werner.


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New Delhi, May 24 (PTI) Zinc prices dipped by 1.39 per cent to Rs 170.15 per kg in futures trade today after speculators reduced their exposure, driven by muted demand from consuming industries at spot market.
At the Multi Commodity Exchange, zinc for delivery in May fell by Rs 2.40, or 1.39 per cent to Rs 170.15 per kg in business turnover of 2,226 lots.
On similar lines, the metal for delivery in far-month June contracts shed Rs 2.35, or 1.36 per cent to Rs 170.65 per kg in 168 lots.
Market analysts said weakness in zinc futures trade was mostly due to offloading of positions by speculators due to sluggish demand from consuming industries in the spot market. PTI KPS SUN ADI MKJ


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Sandeep Engineer likes to narrate anecdotes from his own life to explain his belief that big stories have their origins in very small ideas. One such instance goes back to 2002 when the Brihanmumbai Licensed Plumbers’ Association was holding its annual meeting. On an impulse, his company, Astral Poly Technik, decided to become a sponsor for the event. The attendees at the day-long function were largely plumbers, accompanied in smaller numbers by architects and contractors. As a sponsor, Engineer was asked to address the 300-strong audience and over the next few minutes, he spoke about his company and the benefits of installing his CPVC (chlorinated polyvinyl chloride) pipes. “It was apparent nobody had ever taken the effort to speak to the plumbers,” he recalls. As he stepped off the dais, Engineer was inundated with requests from plumbers to visit their sites and offer advice. The next day, he visited the Hiranandani Gardens site at Powai, a north-east Mumbai neighbourhood, with snacks and complimentary T-shirts branded with the Astral logo. “It became an event of sorts and it was really the first time the plumbers were interacting with a company,” he says.
The key learning from the experience: the plumber is the influencer and decision maker, a fact that is often overlooked by others in the pipes business. Engineer put in place a formal plumber training programme, which currently imparts skills to over 40,000 plumbers across India. “There is a module taking place in some part of India all the time. Right now, for instance, we are having one in Kerala,” he says. Most importantly, his CPVC pipes — plumbing material that is used in many parts of the world on account of its durability, ability to resist corrosion and, most importantly, high temperatures — has been accepted by large parts of the community as a viable alternative to the more archaic galvanised iron (GI). As a result, it is the plumbers themselves who are recommending CPVC pipes to apartment owners and builders. “The ease of working with the product and the advantages that it offers is well understood by them,” feels Engineer.
It is not surprising, then, that today developers of repute, such as Hiranandanis, Lodhas, DLF and Unitech, are clients of Astral. That’s showing in Astral’s numbers. The company has grown four-fold to over ₹821 crore in FY13 in the past five years, thanks also to a diverse portfolio that cuts across the spectrum of plumbing and drainage solutions using both CPVC and the relatively inexpensive PVC (polyvinyl chloride) pipes. Within this, the firm covers segments such as water plumbing systems, multi-layer composite pipes, fire sprinkler systems, column pipes, heavy metals and soil and waste systems. Now, Engineer is eyeing a three-fold jump in turnover to ₹2,500 crore in three years (FY18). While that appears to be a tall order, for Engineer, who came back from the brink of bankruptcy a few years ago, impossible is nothing.
The early years
When Engineer started his entrepreneurial journey, CPVC figured nowhere on the roadmap. He began as a manufacturer of bulk drugs following a stint with the Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadila. Then, a delayed pollution clearance changed everything and Engineer, a chemical engineer by qualification, was introduced to CPVC by his uncle, who was then working for Noveon International, a specialty chemical company in the US. “Plastics seemed like a good idea since it does not face issues related to pollution. I knew CPVC was a good polymer for pipes and I went for it,” says the 52-year-old.
But the initial phase, starting early 1999, was anything but easy and none of the people he met were convinced that plastics could replace metal. “They laughed at the idea and said plastic was incapable of handling something as strong as sulphuric acid,” he recalls. His early stumbles wiped out his entire ₹80 lakh savings from the pharmaceutical business that he had invested in the new venture. The foray into plumbing started later that year, but Engineer’s run of bad luck wasn’t over yet. In almost no time, his lender, Madhavpura Mercantile Co-operative Bank, collapsed. “In one stroke, we lost all access to capital. There was anyway no profit in the business nor was there any product range to speak of,” says Engineer with a wry smile.
That changed in a couple of years, thanks to Astral’s tie-up with Lubrizol (then known as BF Goodrich), a Fortune 500 company. With access to technology ensured, Engineer took a bold decision to advertise. In 2004, when Astral had a topline of a modest ₹25 crore, it brought Mudra on board as its advertising agency. “That year, we ploughed our profit of ₹2.5 crore into branding. I was certain there was a huge replacement market in GI and we needed a pan-India brand if we had to matter,” Engineer explains. The gamble paid off and it became possible to get good distributors. The progression from a small firm to something bigger got underway. Today, the company has 380 distributors and over 20,000 retailers stocking its products.
Astral leads the high-margin chlorinated polyvinyl chloride pipe market, with a strong brand portfolio
The emphasis on product portfolio has paid back in spades. Lubrizol, of which Astral was already a licensee, was taken over by Berkshire Hathaway in March 2011. Astral leveraged its tie-up with Lubrizol by launching its quality plumbing products such as Corzan, FlowGuard,FlowGuard Bendable and most recently, BlazeMaster, a fire sprinkler system. The plus for Astral is that it has access to four Lubrizol products, unlike its competitors, including Ashirvad and Ajay, who have access to just one or two products. “As such, the CPVC market is highly organised, with Astral, Ashirvad and Supreme being the three largest players given the constraints in the availability of the patented CPVC compound, which is at present manufactured by only three companies globally, with Lubrizol enjoying 70% market share,” points out Arun Gopalan, director of HBJ Capital Services .
Since 1997, Astral also had a tie-up with the US-based Specialty Process, tapping into its manufacturing expertise. To ensure the US firm remains more than just a partner, Astral made it a 7% stakeholder. And in 2011, it also forayed into manufacture of solvent chemical by setting up an 85%-owned subsidiary, Advanced Adhesives (100% owned by Astral now). Solvent chemical is used to join pipes and the American firm is the market leader in its manufacture. Capacity, too, has kept pace. From 4,037 mtpa in 2006, Astral’s capacity has grown to 95,000 mtpa now. The expansion has been funded through internal accruals, evident in the company’s debt-equity ratio of 0.37.
Not surprisingly, Astral’s growth caught the eye of the investing fraternity. California-based PE fund WestBridge Capital was quick to spot the potential and invested $10 million between 2012 and 2013, translating into a 11% holding. “We are sitting on 5X return on our investment even as we speak,” informs Sumir Chadha, co-founder and MD, WestBridge Capital, whose fund has also invested in another PVC major, Supreme Industries. What caught Chadha’s fancy was the large and highly unorganised pipes market that Astral is targeting. “There is a shift from GI to plastic pipes owing to no corrosion and a longer life, in addition to a shift from unorganised (estimated to account for 50% market share) to organised players as customers and plumbers appreciate quality over price,” explains Chadha.
Currently, CPVC pipes bring in 60% of Astral’s revenue. Besides being the market leader in the CPVC space, it is also a competitive player in the PVC pipes business. “This has resulted in Astral growing at over 40% for eight years in a row. And this, in an environment where 20% growth is considered extremely good,” points out Chadha.
Getting growth right
The question now is, can Astral continue to grow at a faster rate on a larger base? Engineer remains confident that his company will sustain this growth momentum without much ado. “There are houses to be built. New airports will come up and we will address every segment with our diversified product portfolio,” he says. The pipes at Delhi’s T3 airport terminal as well as Mumbai’s T2 were supplied by Astral, he points out. “It is not obvious to people how much work we actually do.”
Going forward, too, Engineer is counting on getting similar large projects, although routine business will continue to grow at around 25% a year, he predicts. The huge opportunity coming up is from underground drainage systems. “This will involve replacing the existing sewer lines of the municipal corporations. At this stage, we are trying to understand what opportunities exist and are making presentations to the municipal corporations,” he says. There is an export foray as well, with Kenya and some neighbouring countries being key markets. “We will make some progress here, though India will keep us occupied for a long time,” Engineer opines.
It will also work to Astral’s advantage, say analysts, that the company did not play the pricing game: its products are priced 7-8% higher than its competitors. “Offering a specialist and high-quality product was a very effective strategy to deploy. Launching lead-free pipes was also a good innovation,” says Nitin Bhasin, analyst, Ambit Capital. He expects the fire sprinkler system, BlazeMaster, especially to be a ₹200-crore business in the next three to four years. Engineer, for his part, is very optimistic about the segment. “It is a big market and we need to ensure that we get it right on areas like installations,” he says. Astral received the approvals for this product in early April 2014 after an almost five-year wait.
Astral has proactively adopted new technology to create new products
The next big opportunity for Astral will be agriculture. “There is a huge market for column pipes, commonly used in agriculture and made using only PVC right now,” says Ambit’s Bhasin. Consider this. In agriculture alone, there is a market worth ₹6,000 crore waiting to be tapped; column pipes for borewells is a ₹3,000-crore opportunity and within CPVC-based pipes, fire safety pipes is a market worth ₹1,500 crore. There’s another very good reason to continue in the CPVC business: margins in some categories can go as high as 25%, while PVC pipes bring in as little as 5%. That’s reflected in Astral’s operating margins, which have been around 14%.
For now, the housing sector remains Astral’s primary market, accounting for nearly 65-70% of its business, with the rest coming from the industrial side. “Both sectors are growing by at least 35% each year, though the margins are higher in the industrial vertical. However, industrial takes time to adapt, especially in the chemical industry, where they still use polypropylene,” explains Engineer. Geographically, the bulk of its business, about 60%, comes from the west and south. “The northern market is very price-conscious, so it took a while for the market to adopt CPVC. Also, with prices of GI pipes going up, the difference between CPVC proved to be negligible. Besides, GI pipes take 7-8 days to instal, while CPVC takes 1-2 days,” says Engineer. Today, the north accounts for 25% of overall revenues.
In keeping with the geographic spread, Astral has also established a pan-India manufacturing footprint spread across four locations — two in Gujarat, one at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh and the most recent one at Hosur in February this year. The east is currently serviced by the Gujarat plants but Engineer’s team has, in the past, scouted locations in Odisha and West Bengal to set up a new facility. “At some point, we expect incentives to come from the states in this region. That is when we will probably open a plant there,” he thinks. Before the Hosur plant, the south, too, was serviced by Gujarat. “This was at a freight cost of 7-8% of the total cost. It will now be possible for Astral to quickly gain market share in the south by passing on savings in freight costs to retail customers,” thinks Bhasin of Ambit.
One expense that will continue is advertising. Astral will continue to invest 1.5-2% of revenue in branding, especially as it expands into more retail products such as agri and borewell pipes. When Salman Khan’s Dabangg 2 was released in December 2012, Astral struck an in-film branding deal, where the star was seen using the company’s pipes. To get his partners enthused, Engineer distributed 70,000 tickets for the night show on the first day.
Inviting stakeholders to movie shows is not the only way Engineer shows his appreciation for his customer base. Astral has moved up to become the Brihanmumbai Licensed Plumbers’ Association’s main sponsor and continues to use the platform to interact with key partners. “We have not forgotten that our story really took off from there,” says Engineer with a smile.


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Written By | Loyd Brumfield
No, you don’t need to get your eyes checked: That’s a “W” popping up today at McDonald’s.
The fast-food company recognized International Women’s Day on Thursday by turning its iconic golden arches logo upside down in the shape of the letter “W” on its social media channels and by supplying special uniforms and other packaging at 100 of its restaurants.
At least one McDonald’s in Lynwood, Calif., physically changed its signage and turned its arches upside down.
“We have a long history of supporting women in the workplace, giving them the opportunity to grow and succeed,” McDonald’s spokeswoman Lauren Altmin told CNBC. “In the U.S. we take pride in our diversity.”
The company, in a video, said that six out of every 10 of its managers in the U.S. are women.
And because this is Texas, at least one fan of another fast-food giant chimed in:
Other companies are also recognizing women, Newsweek reported. Mattel rolled out a line of Barbie dolls based on real women, including Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins, Winter Olympics gold medal-winning snowboarder Chloe Kim and artist Frida Kahlo.
In addition, Brawny replaced the man in its paper towel logo with a woman — something it has done in years past — and Johnnie Walker is putting a woman on its logo for a limited edition “Jane Walker” whiskey bottle, The Hill reported.


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The official website for Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Impact has opened it’s doors! To celebrate, Namco Bandai Games has released a slew of new screenshots and character art!
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Impact is an action/fighter under development by CyberConnect 2 for the Sony PSP. It will feature over 20 playable characters, co-op play, boss battles, 1-on-1 fighting, and 1-vs-100 action. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Impact is scheduled for release by publisher Namco Bandai Games in Japan, Europe, and North America later this year.


text: LAS VEGAS, Nov. 12, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rolling out what the Company described as one of its most ambitious ideas to date, Galaxy Gaming, Inc. (OTCBB:GLXZ) announced a program to partner with competition winners at the 5 th annual Raving's Cutting Edge Table Games Conference. Dennis Conrad, President and Chief Strategist of the Raving Consulting Company, which co-produces the event with BNP Media Gaming Group, publishers of Casino Journal, said, "Attendees will hear from leading table game operators and suppliers and from some of the foremost experts on table games in the world." The Conference, to be held November 18-20 at Paris Las Vegas, showcases the best new casino table games and recognizes what the industry considers those to have the greatest opportunity for successful commercialization. Each year, Galaxy Gaming's entry has placed in the top three of all games entered. The last two years, Galaxy's entry has claimed the first place prize with Triple Attack Blackjack and High Card Flush winning Casino Journal's Best New Table Game of 2011 and 2012. For this year's Conference, Galaxy announced that although it will introduce and demonstrate several of its new table games to the numerous casino executives in attendance, it will no longer enter them into the contest. Rather, the Company has teamed up with Conference producers and will be part of the prize fulfillment for this year's winners. Specifically, Galaxy Gaming will provide a range of inventors and development services valued as much as $50,000 to the first, second and third prize winners. Members of Galaxy's leadership team commented on the Company's strategy pertaining to its new role at the Raving Conference. "There is no shortage of good ideas for new table games, but there is a shortfall of good opportunities to bring their best to the marketplace," said Ken Dickinson, Galaxy Gaming's Product Development Manager. "We have the relationships in the industry and a record of refining the best games, so this is a win-win for us and the winners at Raving."


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Motorsports has always been the ultimate platform for car manufacturers to showcase their automotive technologies. Audi has proven motorsports is the best platform to test its Quattro (via rallying) tech and TDI (via the Le Mans Prototype) prior to putting them into their production cars. Now, Toyota is set to follow suit, with the next-generation Prius, which will inherit technologies from its 2014 TS040 Hybrid Le Mans race car.
Toyota Motorsport GmbH president Yoshiaki Kinoshita said that the new Prius will be equipped with technologies such as microchips and micro-controllers from its TS040 Hybrid Le Mans racer. Such components are not performance boosting items, instead they’re there to reduce the cars’ fuel consumption.
The TS040 has had a tremendous season in this year’s World Endurance Championship (WEC), where the team has won four of the eight races so far; three of them are 1-2 results. Toyota however, only managed a third place finish in the prestigious Le Mans 24 hours race, with another car succumbing to mechanical failure after leading the race for 13 hours. The all-wheel driven hybrid racer is powered by a 3.7-litre V8 with one supercapacitor system mounted in both front and rear axle.
The next-generation Prius will be introduced by the end of 2015, and word has it that the Prius ‘Godfather’ Satoshi Ogiso said the new Prius will be the most fun-to-drive Prius ever, as well as the most economical. As ambitious as it sounds, look out for the new fourth-generation Prius in Malaysia sometime by 2016.
[Source: Car Advice]


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LAHORE: Pakistan’s embedded financial services platform Neem Exponential has raised $2.5 million in seed funding to build and scale financial wellness focused Banking as a Service (BaaS) and lending services.
The funding came from local and global financial technology investors which include Korean SparkLabs Fintech, Arif Habib Ltd and Cordoba Logistics and Ventures Ltd., Taarah Ventures, My Asia VC, Concept Vines, and Building Capital.
The round was also joined by partners at Outrun Ventures and strategic angels as CSO of tech house BPC, founding partner at Mentors Fund, as well as fintech veteran and ex-CEO of Seccl and others. An internal document shared with Profit confirmed the amount of the raise.
Founded in 2019 by Nadeem Shaikh, Vladimira Briestenska and Naeem Zamindar, Neem is an embedded finance platform focused on providing financial wellness for the underbanked communities in Pakistan. The startup provides customised platforms for communities served by its partners for embedded financial services, and undertakes microlending.
Neem currently requires a license from the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) to operate as a non-banking financial company (NBFC) and undertake the lending business. The SECP has told Profit that Neem has not received an NBFC license yet.
Nadeem Shaikh, the cofounder and CEO of the company told Profit that they are currently lending through partners which have these licenses. While Shaikh could not name these partners, he confirmed that they were licensed and that Neem was lending through these associations. According to Nadeem, Neem is currently in the process of getting a license.
Pakistan has a very large unbanked population with an estimated 100 million adults without a bank account, and access to credit below 10 per cent.
Pakistan has, therefore, for long had a financial inclusion problem. Fintech startups in Pakistan have been focused on increasing this access to a bank account and credit facilities. There are other components too, however, which require control over for better decision making and consequently a better overall financial health. Neem does exactly that for consumers as well as MSMEs.
At Neem, financial wellness underlines control over four components for a better overall financial health: payments, where people have control over the finances and have an efficient way of doing it; credit facility which is reasonable in line with what they need to grow, for example for working capital; insurance which is a protection plan; and savings and investments for future.
“Our plan is really to enable all of those components over time,” Nadeem Shaikh tells Profit. “Some of the components we already have in place and we are building the tech structure and business architecture by creating the right set of partnerships to be able to provide that full spectrum of products to promote consumers as well as the SMEs.”
Neem works on the concept that since Pakistan’s underbanked population is very large and access to credit is limited, there is a big opportunity to provide services across the entire financial wellness spectrum.
Neem therefore builds speacialised platforms for its partners under its Banking as a Service (BaaS) vertical for distribution of financial wellness products. For instance, Neem has a joint venture in place with South African fintech company Kuunda with which it has developed a credit scoring platform for one of its partners to disburse working capital loans to kiryana merchants.
Similarly, Neem could build a specialised platform for certain requirements of a partner which is serving the underbanked in, for instance, the agriculture sector. Neem’s BaaS platform could pertain to having embedded payments, lending, marketplace and insurance solutions.
The company further has a lending arm for disbursement of micro loans to consumers and SMEs, and uses anonymised data from partners to assess credit worthiness for disbursement of such loans. The loans are provided to end customers of the same partners for meeting their working capital requirements, say for replenishing inventory at a micro retailer.
Neem therefore operates as a B2B2C business.
“We believe that especially in emerging markets, having spent a lot of time thinking and operating in other markets as founders, there is a very low level of trust when it comes to financial institutions and financial services,” Nadeem Shaikh, cofounder and CEO at Neem Exponential tells Profit.
“So you have to build that trust with people in communities, whether it is the agricultural community, the SME community; people in logistics or people in eCommerce and so on. You have to enable them on where they have already transacted. So we are building the platform based on access and trust to those communities to enable the right kind of products to those customers.”
Nadeem says both lending and BaaS are major business verticals for the company, which is seeking to be profitable within a few years. The company plans to spend the funds on building the technology stack, adding products and categories and completing some of the capitalisation requirements to grow the lending portfolio.


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The service features more than 500 films, thousands of television episodes from providers like Disney, Pixar, Marvel, “Star Wars” and National Geographic, and 26 original movies exclusive to the service.
“Launching in seven markets simultaneously marks a new milestone for Disney+,” says Kevin Mayer, chairman, Walt Disney, direct-to-consumer and international. “As the streaming home for Disney, Marvel, Pixar, ‘Star Wars’ and National Geographic, Disney+ delivers high-quality, optimistic storytelling that fans expect from our brands, now available broadly, conveniently and permanently on Disney+. We humbly hope that this service can bring some much-needed moments of respite for families during these difficult times.”
From today, audiences can stream content on mobile and connected TV devices including gaming consoles, streaming media players and smart
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It’s rare to see long standing rivals unite under any circumstance, but I believe it’s a step in the right direction. I wonder if there will be more spots to come. I saw this one for the first time about 4 or 5 days ago. Here’s a blurb from Ameribev.org…
It’s a brand new day in America’s schools when it comes to beverages. Our industry has delivered on its commitment to change the school beverage landscape. We’ve removed the full-calorie sodas and replaced them with low-calorie, nutritious, smaller-portion choices.
Each brand stands to benefit from this reposition. It’s one thing to speculate, but they’re actually making a move which is good. I wonder though, will these smaller portions come with a smaller price? I’m doubtful. Until my freshman year of college, none of the schools I’d been to K-12 even had vending machines. On occasion, we had soft pretzels for a quarter and that was it pretty much. Oh the memories!
Maybe the new packaging will look something like this?


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Tickets for next year's Commonwealth Games that are illegally resold will be nothing more than "hot air" and people would be "mugs" to buy them, organisers have warned.
Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation (GOLDOC) chairman Peter Beattie issued the warning on Monday amid reports some tickets were already being offered online for 10 times their original value.
The Gold Coast Bulletin reports one website is offering tickets to the badminton, boxing and hockey events for more than $600, while $80 swimming heat tickets had been offered at more than $1500.
Mr Beattie says GOLDOC is monitoring the activity and will cancel any tickets they know have been sold by scalpers.
Despite successful ticket applicants being told earlier this month which events they've secured seats at, Mr Beattie says the actual tickets won't be issued until January next year.
He says those who missed out, or are still hoping to buy tickets, should do so through official channels.
"My advice to anyone thinking of buying a ticket online, an illegal ticket, is don't do it because you're buying nothing. You're buying hot air," Mr Beattie told reporters in Brisbane.
"We will go to anyone online who has tried to fleece people, we'll ask them to take it down ... if you don't, we have the option to cancel your ticket.
"We're not going to have people ripped off.
"Anyone who's buying it would be a mug."
Mr Beattie says those who had successfully acquired tickets for next year's Games are allowed to resell them, but only within 10 per cent of their original value.
"We recommend you sell it to a loved one, or a friend. You can do it at the value you paid for it," he said.
"Go beyond 10 per cent, then you're breaking the law."
Remaining tickets for the Games will go on general public sale on July 5, with those who missed out in the original allocation being given priority access on July 3 and 4.
© AAP 2019


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Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile all confirm support for BlackBerry 10 (Sprint as well!)
at least six new BlackBerry 10 models will be launched in 2013. The first two units to be released will include one all-touch phone (BlackBerry Z10) and one model with a physical QWERTY (BlackBerry X10).
Tech author Robert Scoble announced on his Facebook page that he had a chance to look over BlackBerry 10. While he has been extremely bearish on RIM, after getting that hands on with the OS, Scoble said that while he liked BlackBerry 10 a lot, "it won’t get any Apple or Android fan hot and bothered." RIM lost 1 million users in the last quarter. Perhaps merely staunching the red ink would satisfy BlackBerry and its fans for now.
"We're extremely optimistic that it's going to be a successful product and our business customers are extremely interested in it."-John Legere, CEO, T-Mobile
"It's logical to expect our current (BlackBerry) customers will have the best BlackBerry devices to choose from in the future."-Jeff Bradley, handset executive, AT&T
source: Reuters, BlackBerryCool
1. aquariumdude (Posts: 40; Member since: 11 Jan 2012)
Hmm Sprint seems to very stubborn with Windows Phone 8 and Blackberry 10. I really do feel sorry for Sprint users.
4. MC1123 (Posts: 1249; Member since: 12 Nov 2012)
actually sprint also confirmed that they will carry blackberry 10!!! they actually tweet it to a costumer!! they said just be patient because it's coming
6. TROLL (banned) (Posts: 4851; Member since: 13 Apr 2012)
Cause Sprint Verizon and T-Mobile don't, dislike WP cause there failing!
12. papss (unregistered)
Huh? That made no sense
2. Birds (Posts: 1028; Member since: 21 Nov 2011)
Sprint is like becoming the anti-network for new platforms....What is going on with them?
5. MC1123 (Posts: 1249; Member since: 12 Nov 2012)
no, not really... they will support the upcoming Firefox as well!! they apart confirm that they will carry blackberry 10 months ago... and they reply to a tweet regarding if they will carry blackberry 10 device.. and they said yes...
3. marleneamaro (Posts: 4; Member since: 24 Dec 2012)
as of right now it seems like WP is on the rise, So this is the perfect time reintroduce BB to the world once more; let people get acquainted with this OS for those who've only known about iOS & Android
7. TROLL (banned) (Posts: 4851; Member since: 13 Apr 2012)
Where is Nicholas Oliver and Pikapowerise....?
9. Nikolas.Oliver (banned) (Posts: 1574; Member since: 01 Jul 2012)
here i am...btw pikapowerize's real name is junfe al mark,
8. JohnnyBravo (Posts: 105; Member since: 02 Dec 2012)
Really looking forward to BB 10. They wont dominate but eventually they will sell well...I believe if RIM gains some momentum this year then they will be happy with that. Baby steps!
10. Droid_X_Doug (Posts: 5954; Member since: 22 Dec 2010)
More like stop the migration of BB users to Android, iOS and WP. Scoble's comments weren't exactly portending a reversal of BBs fortunes.


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Global medtech firm SciCan deepens commitment to domestic manufacturing with 8,000 square foot expansion of Toronto facility
TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – Jan. 5, 2018) -
Note to Editors: two photos for this release are available on the Canadian Press picture wire via Marketwired.
SciCan, a Canadian manufacturer of dental and medical technology, completed the expansion of its warehouse this fall, adding 8,000 square feet to its Don Mills manufacturing facility and signalling the continued growth of international demand for Canadian medical exports.
“Infection control solutions play a critical role in the prevention of disease and the promotion of health standards worldwide, and SciCan has been an important part of the global supply chain for dental and ophthalmology markets for over 20 years,” says SciCan Chairman Arthur Zwingenberger.
Innovative technology fuels growth
SciCan rose to prominence on the international dental scene in the 1980s with its compact, innovative STATIM sterilizers that use a patented steam technology invented in Canada. The company’s growth exploded in the following years and it quickly took up space in Don Mills in 1994 where it built three production lines.
Today, SciCan has four production lines making upwards of 200,000 products every year. It employs 250 people worldwide and its technology is distributed to 100 countries around the globe.
Part of a US$336 billion global market
From 2011 to 2016, Canadian medical device exports increased from $1.8 billion to $3.1 billion, according to a report from Global Trade Atlas. Growth in emerging markets, health care reform and infection control standards of compliance are among some of the forces driving innovation and interest in this sector. Dental products comprise an important 8% of Canada’s estimated US$6.7 billion medical device market, which is 2% of the global US$336 billion market, according to Industry Canada’s 2016 figures.
In the medical device sector, small to medium enterprises such as SciCan are common and tend to be R&D intensive. SciCan’s 25,000-square-foot facility houses research labs, but unlike many of its peers almost half of its space is dedicated to the manufacturing and warehousing of medical technology.
ABOUT SCICAN LTD.
For over 25 years, SciCan Ltd., headquartered in Toronto, has been focused on protecting patients, doctors and healthcare providers with innovative infection control equipment. It is best known for its top-selling countertop sterilizer, the STATIM, as well as its line of HYDRIM washers and disinfectors. Through a sustained legacy of growth and expansion, SciCan is now a global leader in infection control specializing in dentistry and ophthalmology in more than 100 countries around the world.
Brand Marketing Manager


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You’ve probably heard by now about the crazy complicated and restrictive path Microsoft has chosen to travel with their next video game console, the Xbox One.
After Sony took the stage and had the crowd cheering wildly over their much less restrictive PlayStation 4, many thought it would be in Microsoft’s best interest to realize what was happening, and make changes where necessary. But it does not look like they’re prepared to do such things. The company is firmly confident that their system is the future, and that people simply do not realize it yet. And they may be right—only time will tell on that—but looking at it as we the gamers are, it’s pretty mind boggling to see unfold.
Lately people have been asking Microsoft representatives what exactly all of those people who have no internet connection whatsoever are supposed to do if they want to play Xbox One games. The company’s answer? Well…it’s not going to go over well.
Micrososft Interactive Entertainment Business President Don Mattrick spoke about the new console and their “future proof” vision, and when it came to those without any internet connection available to them, Mattrick said “fortunately we have a product for people who aren’t able to get some form of connectivity, it’s called Xbox 360.”
Mattrick spoke a little more on the topic after that as well, and you can check out the full interview courtesy of Game Trailers. The 360 comments begin around 1:40 in.
That’s not the end of it, though. Microsoft Games Studio VP Phil Spencer also spoke on the topic to Destructoid.
Spencer wasn’t as blunt, using a cell phone analogy to try and make sense of it all:
“I mean the analogy, and I don’t know if it’s a great analogy”¦ let’s say I live in an area that doesn’t have cell service. I wouldn’t go buy a cell phone. Now, I might roam in different areas where my cellphone becomes active.
The 360 ecosystem is a great ecosystem for somebody that’s in a purely disconnected state for long periods of time. We have built a natively connected device with Xbox One and we think the experiences are moving in that direction.”
Spencer thinks because everything else is going digital and because things like your phone or iPad are always connected, video games need to as well.
“I think the critical thing that people should get their head around is your social and gaming identity, and the content that is associated with your identity, and where your identity roams your content roams with you. It’s how you expect so much of your content to run today.
You want your library to move with you, you want your friends list to move with you. We think the investment in live that we’ve made over the last 8 years has been really important to growing that capability, and when you think about your gaming library associated with your identity is an incredibly important thing. We’re going through that transition right now and gamers will come along.
Any other device that you own, your library is digital. Frankly, if you’re on the PC, or a Steam customer, or an App Store customer on iOS devices — this is how you think about your library of content.”
The thing with this is not everyone feels this way, and that’s the problem. Microsoft has it in their heads that their “vision” is the only way, and it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. Again, they may be right when it’s all said and done; you can’t deny that the world IS digital now. BUT, that does not mean you take away your customer’s ability to choose. Develop the system to be as digitally ready as it can be, but also leave a little door open that allows those who aren’t ready to go full digital or can’t afford things like an internet connection the ability to still enjoy these exciting new games of the future.
It’s the separation from and ignoring of a large group of your fans and customers, as well as the lack of overall control people who spend hundreds of dollars to “own” this sophisticated piece of machinery will actually have that has everyone so pissed off at the moment.
Thankfully most of the games that are on the way are still going to be released on the 360 as well, but it will get to a point where people will be missing out on great new games because they’re exclusive to an Xbox One system those people cannot use, and that’s where things really become an issue.
Do you think Microsoft has a good idea of what the future of gaming will be and that everyone else will eventually realize they’re right, or are they completely off course at this point?
[Source: via Games Radar]