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Bob Iger's Back at Disney: 3 Reasons Investors Should Pay Close Attention
Walt Disney (DIS -1.04%) investors cheered the news of CEO Bob Iger's return, and it's not hard to see why.
In the nearly three years that former CEO Bob Chapek was at the helm, the stock sputtered as the company's pivot to a streaming-first enterprise seemed to lose steam and also spilled plenty of red ink on the income statement. As you can see from the chart below, Disney stock significantly underperformed the S&P 500 during Chapek's tenure.
Disney stock jumped 6.3% the day the news came out, showing Iger's got the support of the investor class, but will his return change anything for the company? Here's why the boomerang CEO could again flip the script at the House of Mouse.
1. He's a top-notch deal-maker
When he was CEO from 2005 to 2020, Iger closed a string of deals that gave Disney a colossus of intellectual property, including acquiring Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars-owner Lucasfilm, and finally 21st Century Fox.
Disney has mined that new IP for hit movies, theme park rides, consumer products like toys, and streaming shows. Its $4 billion acquisition of Marvel, for example, is likely one of the best deals in modern history as the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or the Marvel movies Disney has made, brought in nearly $20 billion just at the box office through 2019.
We're still in a golden age of M&A deals in the entertainment industry as Warner Bros. Discovery just formed, and it seems nearly every streaming outlet is looking to beef up its content or partner with a larger player. Arguably, there's no one better suited to navigate this era of consolidation than Iger, who has the experience and ability to put Disney on the best course in streaming.
2. He's universally respected in Hollywood
Leadership matters in any industry as CEOs set the culture and the tone for the company, and a well-admired leader like Iger will inspire and recruit new talent to join Disney.
In Hollywood, good leadership may be even more important because it's key to attracting talent to make hit movies and TV shows, and having Iger back in the hot seat should give Disney a step up in that area.
Even Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings doffed his cap to Iger upon his return, saying on Twitter:
According to Business Insider, a number of Disney employees, including some top brass, cheered his return, saying that Chapek's reorganization to prioritize the streaming division had left creative departments feeling short-changed and created animosity within the company. One even called Iger's comeback a "pipe dream" -- and in this case, it has come true.
There's plenty of anectodal evidence that bringing back Iger has given a morale boost to frontline Disney workers as well. One Orlando-based reporter, Gabrielle Russon, told The Motley Fool that the local response from Disney World cast members and others has been positive.
3. He's already gotten to work
In his first week on the job, Iger didn't waste any time correcting Chapek's mistakes. The new boss let go of Kareem Daniel, the head of the Disney Media and Entertainment Division that Chapek created, and he plans to restructure the media titan again.
He said the new organizational design would be in place in months, but emphasized that storytelling would be at the center of the business. He also said it was important to create a more efficient cost structure, indicating the company would slash some of the expenses that led the streaming division to lose $4 billion in the last fiscal year.
Iger, it seems, believes the pendulum had swung too far toward the streaming business, and sees putting out the best content as the company's most important priority.
It's not surprising that Iger's actions have already been fast and furious. The agreement with the board was that the 71-year-old would become CEO for two years and help find a replacement while he's there. His work won't be easy, especially with the Disney streaming unit bleeding cash and the need for another restructuring, but after his previous success, it's hard to doubt that he's the best person for the job.
It will take time for Iger's changes to pay off, but Disney stock seems to have a lot of upside potential, considering its wealth of intellectual property and its flywheel business model, where video entertainment, theme parks, and consumer products all reinforce one another and the overarching Disney brand.
That collection of assets is hard to beat. It's time for it to start working for investors.

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The NYU Hotel investment conference is a highlight of the hotel executive’s calendar, with thousands of hotel brand, investment and advisory leaders attending each year.
“Our business begins and ends with two words: guest experience” said hotel magnate Steve Wynn.
You may have heard that in 1979 at the inaugural NYU conference – some things are timeless. But what are the top lessons from the 2015 NYU Hotel Investment Conference? What stood out to me as new this year were two things:
A desire for the brand to engage and serve guests beyond the stay
In a world of rising acquisition costs, earning guest loyalty is more important than ever. And for Accor CEO Sebastien Bazin, focusing on improving the hotel stay itself isn’t enough to do this. “We have to think about how to provide our brand experience beyond the stay.”
The Four Seasons Jet was that brand’s most successful PR activity in company history, and received more than a few mentions at the conference. Looking beyond the glamour, it was the end-to-end service represented that made it so appealing. “We want our guests to ‘live in a Four Seasons bubble’ for their entire trip – not just when they’re on our property,” shared one Four Seasons executive.
But digital represents a much larger opportunity for this for most hotel brands – as it offers many more touchpoints and can be provided to many more people. For Hyatt CEO Mark Hoplamazian, providing great service through digital is “the biggest opportunity in hospitality today.”
An appreciation for the profound disruption technology represents
Whereas AirBnB was seemingly shrugged off in past events, it was taken much more seriously this year by hotel executives. But the conversation wasn’t just on this company – it was the larger trend it represents – how technology can become a game-changer. “Disrupt or be disrupted.”
“The hotel industry has focused on product and brand for the past 50 years. For the next 50, it will be on relationships and databases,” said Ashford CEO Monty Bennett. This is because databases and guest intelligence provides the ability to provide personalized service. As Starwood’s Allison Reid asked, “Today consumers design their own shoes, clothes – why shouldn’t they be able to customize their hotel room?”
Both of these trends depend on guest intelligence, making the collection and use of it key to gaining competitive advantage as we move ahead.
How can we put this into action?
Collect more feedback, more often. Feedback collection can be much more than just a one-time, post-stay survey. Expedia shared their approach for also collecting feedback while the guest is still on property — and how they have collected more than 1 million pieces of feedback this way over the past year, allowing hotel managers to intercept and resolve guest frustrations as quickly as possible. (ReviewPro’s mobile-friendly surveys allow you to do this as well.)
Use this guest intelligence to serve. If memories and loyalty are created by experiences then improving your service is a key differentiator. The more you know about your guests, the better you can serve them. Integrate your guest intelligence data across your technology suite and operating systems in order to enable consistently great service from each area of your company.
Use this guest intelligence to innovate. A “mega trend” in hotel development is building concepts that focus on delivering just what matters to guests – and none of the stuff that guests don’t care about. (CitizenM is a great example). Innovation can also happen for existing brands and properties. Marriott and Carlson Rezidor both shared how “crowdsourcing” innovation is key to their corporate strategy.
Use this guest intelligence to guide your growth. In today’s world there is more capital than ever before, but deals are also more competitive than ever before. When the stakes are higher you need all the information you can get.
How are you going to take advantage of these trends and harness the power of guest intelligence to differentiate your hotels?


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Advanced Malware Detection market could reach $43bn by 2033
The AMD market is set to hit $8.8bn by 2023, with forecasts predicting a growth to $43bn by 2033 due to rising global threat of sophisticated cyber attacks.
Small businesses targeted by cyber criminals for data
Crime groups will increasingly sell access to breached smaller businesses so attackers can scam consumers. .
Ransomware gangs increasingly 'professional' - WithSecure report
Ransomware gangs are becoming more professional, offering specialized services to one another, according to a report by WithSecure.
To click or not to click: What F-Secure learned from phishing 80,000 people
According to a new study from F-Secure, phishing emails mimicking HR announcements or asking for assistance with invoicing get the most clicks from recipients.
F-Secure and CyberPeace Institute partnership to counter attacks against vulnerable communities
F-Secure partners with the CyberPeace Institute to combat cyber attacks on vulnerable communities, including healthcare providers.
A third of suspicious emails reported by employees are phishing
One third of emails reported as phishing by employees are either malicious or highly suspect, new research finds.
Ransomware ravages Ireland's health service - experts comment
Ireland’s National Cyber Security Centre points to the ‘Conti’ ransomware variant, which caused the HSE's IT systems to shut down over the weekend.
CISOs facing rising security debts
CISOs are facing a rising security debt to protect against increasing cyber attacks, according to a report by F-Secure.
CISOs, don't underestimate the importance of soft skills
There is increasing importance on Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) having and developing the skill of emotional intelligence, a new report states.
Video: 10 Minute IT Jams – F-Secure talks APTs and the Lazarus Group
F-Secure, a Europe-based cybersecurity firm, discusses findings on APTs and Lazarus Group in 10 Minute IT Jams.
Lazarus Group linked to phishing attacks on cryptocurrency sector
Cybersecurity firm F-Secure links Lazarus Group, aka APT38, to recent attack on cryptocurrency company in its new research.
This is what our kids will hate us for: IoT devices 'asbestos of the future'
Experts warn that the lack of security in Internet of Things devices could make it the 'asbestos of the future'.
F5 Networks' BIG-IP load balancer product vulnerable to attack
F-Secure warns of severe config flaws in BIG-IP devices, risking data breaches.
Security breaches of great concern to consumers
New survey from F-Secure reveals that 71% of people fear becoming a victim of cyber crime, while 73% worry about the safety of their children.
Security alert: More than 2 million IoT devices are now junk
Millions of smart devices at hack risk - no fix available, warns expert.
FBI disrupts multiple botnets as part of anti-fraud operation
FBI and F-Secure tackle '3ve' fraud, dismantle botnets that used 1.7m IPs for ad scam.
Something old, nothing new: Cybercrims still rely on spam
The probability of a recipient opening an email increases 12% if the email claims to come from a known individual.
Electronic lock vulnerabilities can lead attackers directly to your hotel room
Next time you stay at a hotel as part of a business or personal trip, you may want to ask if the hotel’s locking systems are up-to-date.
Corporate users warned Intel AMT flaw has 'destructive' potential
Anyone who gains physical access to a machine could create a backdoor in less than 30 seconds and use the backdoor to remotely monitor activities.
Monetary Authority of Singapore launches Cyber Security Advisory Panel
The Monetary Authority of Singapore has set up its own Cyber Security Advisory Panel that includes global security experts and thought leaders.
F-Secure launches channel partner incentive program for India
F-Secure launches incentive programme for Indian channel partners, designed to boost sales of its security solutions.
Exclusive: Hemisphere adds six new security vendors; ups solution sell scope
The addition of six vendors to Hemisphere Technologies' portfolio is offering resellers new opportunities via a full solution sell, the distie says.
Hemisphere Technologies scoops up exclusive F-Secure distribution
Hemisphere Technologies has inked an exclusive distie deal with F-Secure opening the door for new business opportunities for the local channel.
Here's why you need to be aware of the internet of things
The rise of the internet of things is bringing an exponential increase in security threats for business and consumers, making IoT awareness crucial.


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SAN DIEGO — A Chinese-American family of baristas is serving more than just coffee in San Diego’s Grantville neighborhood. Three sisters’ goal of helping their mother turned their American dream into a reality.
Despite opening their new drive-thru building three days before the initial COVID-19 lockdown in March of 2020, it’s business as usual at S3 Coffee Bar: the coffee is brewing and business is booming.
“We never knew that this was going to become something so special to us,” Claudia Kwong told FOX 5.
Kwong is one of three sisters — or S3, the namesake of this coffeeshop. But in fact, they had little to no experience in the barista arena when they opened.
“We basically just winged everything,” Kwong said. “We’re like, well how do you do this? Well, let’s Google it.”
Instead, S3 was birthed out of love for their Chinese mother, “Mama May.”
“Me growing up with Asian parents that didn’t really speak English 100%, it is hard to find a job,” Kwong said. “It’s very known between them and their friends to always open up their own businesses, because if you can’t find one, then you can create one.”
“We were looking for a job for my mom and she couldn’t find a job so we’re like, we’ll just open up a coffee shop,” Kwong added.
The start of their American dream was sparked by getting their hands dirty and putting in grueling hours themselves — traits they learned from their parents.
“Definitely no days off,” Kwong said. “I grew up seeing my parents work from opening to close every day. You are cleaning the bathroom, mopping the floor, taking out the trash.”
And so, 63-year-old “Mama May” went to work alongside her daughters, and as it turns out, Kwong — who is full-blooded Chinese but born in Mexico — found that being trilingual was a necessity in her fast-paced workplace.
In the beginning, there were six employees, four of which were from the Kwong family. Today, they have nearly 30 workers. Nothing could have prepared S3 or “Mama May” for their American dream to create opportunities for their community.
“I know that we wanted to open it to provide a job for my mom and now we’re providing it for the community, which is something that is so surreal for me,” Kwong said.
It’s a recipe for the American dream: hard work and no days off.


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Kitchen and bathroom retailers say that finding skilled fitters is the single biggest issue they face, according to an exclusive kbbreview survey.
Brexit, while it has undeniably caused consumer uncertainty for some retailers, others are reporting that it hasn’t affected their business at all.
In an exclusive survey of 300 independent kitchens and bathroom retailers conducted by kbbreview, 30% said that Brexit was one of the biggest challenges in their business.
However 50% said finding good fitters was their biggest headache.
The survey, conducted at the end of November, marks the start of kbbreview’s build-up to the kbb 2020 exhibition in March. The full results will be in the January issue of the magazine.
Anecdotally, retailers that are finding Brexit challenging say it is mainly causing their consumers to delay purchasing decisions.
“The uncertainty had led to customers keeping their hands in their pockets,” one said.
“The uncertainty it has created has made customers much more cautious and footfall is down on last year. Our suppliers are also having to plan for that uncertainty and price rises don’t help,” said another.
However, many retailers reported the opposite.
“Don’t think it’s affected us, we don’t bring it up and customers rarely mention it,” said one.
“As yet, we have not felt a direct impact to our business,” said another.
A similar survey was also conducted at the same time in 2017, ahead of kbb 2018, and finding fitters was also the top challenge for retailers then.
“The political machinations in Westminster have definitely affected broad consumer confidence,” said kbbreview editor Rebecca Nottingham. “But there are clearly sector specific issues that are much more pressing and don’t seem to be going away.
“Finding good people to fit kitchen and bathrooms is still the biggest challenge and it could be argued that, for this industry, solving this long-term problem might be just as difficult as Brexit has been.
“The industry needs to collectively do more to address this issue for the long-term as it can’t be fixed with an election.”
The full survey results, which cover everything from average order values to what retailers think of their suppliers, will be in the January issue of kbbreview.
To register your attendance at kbb 2020 go to kbb.co.uk.


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Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross honored 32 U.S. companies and organizations that export goods and services during the 2017 President’s “E” Awards ceremony. Companies representing 23 states and Guam were recognized as part of the 55th anniversary of the award. This year’s honorees include 26 small and medium-sized businesses and 11 manufacturers.
“Job creation is a top priority for the Trump administration,” Secretary Ross said. “As we kick off World Trade Week, it is a pleasure to honor these companies who increase our domestic exports and create good paying jobs for the American people.”
The President’s “E” Award is the highest recognition any U.S. entity can receive for making a significant contribution to the expansion of U.S. exports. In 1961, President Kennedy signed an executive order reviving the World War II “E” symbol of excellence to honor and provide recognition to America's exporters. Today’s honorees helped contribute to the United States’ exporting $2.2 trillion worth of goods and services in 2016, and the estimated 11.5 million American jobs supported by exports.
This year, 16 companies and organizations were honored with the “E” Award for Exports for demonstrating a sustained increase in export sales over a four-year period. There were 11 companies and organizations that assisted and facilitated export activities and received the “E” Award for Export Service. The “E” Star Award for Exports, which recognizes previous “E” Awardees who have reported four years of additional export growth, was awarded to three firms. And, two companies were awarded the “E” Star Award for Export Service, which recognizes previous “E” Awardees that have shown four years of continued support of exporters since first winning the “E” Award. The 2017 “E” Awardees are:
“E” Award for Exports
- ACMT, Inc. – Manchester, Conn.
- Arrow Dynamics, LLC – Sunrise, Fla.
- Aseptico, Inc. – Woodinville, Wash.
- Atlas Devices – Boston, Mass.
- Atlas RFID Solutions – Birmingham, Ala.
- Davenport Aviation, Inc. – Columbus, Ohio
- Hoosier Gasket Corporation – Indianapolis, Ind.
- JMC NC, Inc. – Durham, N.C.
- Lafe’s Natural BodyCare – Austin, Texas
- Leosons Overseas Corporation – Albany, N.Y.
- Lucigen Corporation – Middleton, Wis.
- Preservation Technologies, L.P. – Cranberry Township, Penn.
- ServerLIFT Corporation – Phoenix, Ariz.
- SnowPure Water Technologies – San Clemente, Calif.
- University of Colorado Boulder – Boulder, Colo.
- Western New England University – Springfield, Mass.
“E” Award for Export Service
- Bestway International, Inc. - Kansas City, Mo.
- Cosmoprof North America – Scottsdale, Ariz.
- Fisher College of Business – Columbus, Ohio
- Guam Visitors Bureau – Tumon, Guam
- International Tourism Marketing – Englewood, Colo.
- Interpreters and Translators, Inc. – Manchester, Conn.
- Kansas Global Trade Services – Wichita, Kan.
- MEDC International Trade Program – Lansing, Mich.
- North Dakota Trade Office – Fargo, N.D.
- Worldwide Logistics, Ltd. – Paramus, N.J.
- World Trade Consult, LLC – Saint Charles, Mo.
“E” Star Award for Exports
- ECS International, Inc. – Fort Worth, Texas
- Holmes Corporation – Eagan, Minn.
- Johnsonville Sausage, LLC – Sheboygan Falls, Wis.
“E” Star Award for Export Service
- Lafayette International Center – Lafayette, La.
- The New Jersey Office of International Business Development & Protocol – Trenton, N.J.
American companies are nominated for “E” Awards through the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service office network, located within the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration. Record years of successive export growth and an applicant’s demonstration of an innovative international marketing plan that led to the increase in exports is a significant factor in selecting the overall winners.
For more information about the “E” Awards and the benefits of exporting, visit www.export.gov.


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GumDrop pacifiers hit retail
OAK BROOK, Ill. — RC2 Corp. on Thursday extended its The First Years brand with GumDrop pacifiers and coordinating pacifier accessories.
Manufactured under a license from Natus Medical, GumDrop pacifiers feature the same nipple shape as the Soothie pacifier and are used by hospitals nationwide.
“GumDrop pacifiers are the perfect example of building on what moms and babies love about Soothie, and creating a brand-new retail offering with a unique product design,” stated Pete Henseler, RC2 president. "All of Mom’s top needs have been addressed: low-profile design easily attached to a clip and a one-piece design for safety."
GumDrop pacifiers also feature an innovative contoured shape, letting more of a baby’s face show.
The new pacifiers are available in two sizes, newborn (0 to 3 months) and infant, and come in green, blue, orange, pink and purple. In addition to GumDrop pacifiers, The First Years is introducing a line of coordinating pacifier attachers and cases.
Spartan Stores’ Q3 a mixed bag
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Net sales for Spartan Stores slightly declined nearly 0.6% to $782.3 million during the third quarter.
During the quarter, which ended Jan. 1, Spartan also experienced a rise in operating earnings, which increased from $13.7 million in third quarter 2009 to $16.6 million. Third-quarter earnings from continuing operations improved 42% percent to $7.5 million, or 33 cents per diluted share, from $5.3 million, or 23 cents per diluted share.
The company’s retail segment experienced a 1.8% decline in net sales to $435.4 million. In its distribution segment, Spartan said its net sales rose to $346.9 million from $343.6 million, thanks to an improvement in pharmacy-related sales.
Commenting on its third-quarter results, Spartan president and CEO, Dennis Eidson, said, “Although the Michigan economy appears to have stabilized, … market conditions remain challenging. We will continue to work diligently to further improve our sales trends and manage controllable aspects of our business."
Fred’s falls short of January expectations
MEMPHIS — Fred’s on Wednesday reported a fiscal 2010 sales increase of 3% to $1.8 billion for the year ended Jan. 29. Comparable sales were up 2.2%, versus an increase of 0.4% in the prior year.
January comp increases of 2.1%, however, fell well short of the 3.9% analyst consensus tallied by Thomson Reuters, a factor that may have had more influence in driving the company’s stock down 37 cents to $13.31 on Wednesday’s trading. Winter weather played a role in those not-as-good-as-expected results, the retailer reported.
"While we were pleased to see customer traffic continue to improve in January, along with stronger pharmacy department comparable scripts and sales, overall sales for the month were below plan,” said Bruce Efird, Fred’s CEO.
“Poor weather and the inability of our customers to get early tax refunds in January were critical factors contributing to the sales shortfall. We experienced sharp sales increases early in January, but as the month progressed, spending dropped significantly and customers placed increased focus on sale items,” Efird added.
Taking the sales and mix effect into account, Fred’s estimated that earnings per share for the fourth quarter will be in the range of 19 cents to 22 cents.
During January, Fred’s opened two new stores and one additional pharmacy. For the year, Fred’s added a net of eight new locations, consisting of 12 new stores and three new pharmacy express stores, which were offset by the closing of seven store locations. The company also opened 23 new pharmacies in 2010 and closed 15, for a net addition of eight pharmacies during the year.
Fred’s operates 677 discount general merchandise stores, including 24 franchised Fred’s stores, in the Southeastern United States.


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Did you know that geoFence helps make you invisible to hackers and guard your personal data?
The growth of the Network Security Tools market is due to the rising sophistication of cybersecurity threats. Cyber frauds and thefts have grown in size and intensity over the last decade, leading to huge losses for businesses. As cybercrime threats have escalated tremendously, businesses throughout the world have boosted their investment in new cybersecurity tools to bolster their in-house security networks. Cybersecurity against online threats has grown more vital in the latest days as the world’s digital environment has changed.
The growth of the Network Security Tools market is due to the rising of cybersecurity threats. The market is expected to reach $27,593.9 million.
What Are The Future Predictions For The Network Security Tools Market?
From 2020 to 2027, the market is expected to reach $27,593.9 million, with a phenomenal CAGR of 20.7 percent. Market leaders include IBM, Cisco Systems, SecureWorks, AT&T, McAfee, Google (Alphabet), etc.
Segments Of Network Security Tool Market
The Network Security Tools market is divided into four categories: business, geography, kind, and applications. Organizations, stakeholders, and other players in the industry in the worldwide Cyber Security Tools market will get an advantage by utilizing the study as a valuable resource. In terms of profit and projection for the period to 2027, the segmentation approach depends on revenues and estimates by Type and Application.
Impact Of COVID-19 Pandemic On The Market
The outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020 had a beneficial influence on the market expansion. For distant counseling and medical diagnosis during the epidemic, healthcare practitioners are increasingly employing phones, chat apps, emails, and virtual medicine websites. As a result, network security tools are in high demand in the healthcare business to safeguard online financial transactions as well as personal data. During the epidemic, this aspect is promoting overall growth.
The worldwide network security tools market is expanding as a result of increasing technological advancements and a considerable increase in the number of data breaches. Furthermore, rising government support for network security legislation and rising demand for cloud-based security testing solutions are likely to open up the lucrative potential for market expansion throughout the projected timeline. Higher costs associated with the deployment of network security technologies, on the other hand, are expected to stifle market growth.
Stay with the hit news industry for more updates.
On a final note, let's keep in mind that geoFence helps make you invisible to hackers and guard your personal data and that's the the real deal!


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Orange EV is celebrating the ribbon-cutting of its new 440,000-square-foot headquarters and production facility in Kansas City, Kansas, where the company will manufacture its electric yard trucks.
Founded in 2012, Orange EV produced its first pure-electric yard trucks in a 2,000 sq ft facility, but the company ultimately outgrew this facility and needed to expand three times – first to 12,000 sq ft, then 52,000 sq ft, and now to 440,000 sq ft.
This new facility will allow Orange EV to produce more than 200 trucks per month, allowing it to keep pace with the increasing demand for electric trucks in various sectors throughout the US.
The company commercially deployed its first electric heavy-duty yard truck in 2015 and now has more than 1,000 heavy-duty electric trucks active in 36 states across the US.
Recent partners include:
- Commercial Trailer Leasing (CTL): Deployed e-yard trucks to food distribution customers throughout the US to save up to $90,000 per truck annually in fuel cost reduction, emission control elimination, and powertrain and brake maintenance costs.
- DHL Supply Chain: Purchased 50 e-yard trucks and plans to purchase an additional 50 trucks.
- Penske Truck Leasing: Deployed e-yard trucks that will be leased to truck yards, distribution centers, warehouses, and container terminals.
Electric yard trucks are known to present several benefits over traditional diesel options.
For instance, one diesel truck consumes an average of 8,000 gallons of fuel annually. By switching to an electric option, companies can experience an average savings of 90%.
Yard trucks also tend to stay onsite, making it convenient to charge during breaks – reducing fueling downtime and increasing operational efficiency.
Finally, electric trucks often feature regenerative braking, which reduces stopping distance and time by up to 50%, creating a safer environment for drivers.
“From the beginning, we set out to build a truck that was better in every way than diesel. As a result, our trucks average more than 98% uptime compared to 75% for comparable diesels,” said Kurt Neutgens, Orange EV Co-Founder and President. “Our zero-emission trucks are a win-win: the right thing for the plant and the right thing for the business bottom line.”


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For Giving Tuesday, the Kendeda Fund is matching all donations 3-to-1.
Don’t wait: this special match is TODAY ONLY!
It’s a weird time to be in the video game business. On today’s Tech Report, we tell you about Ouya, a not-yet-built console that raised a million bucks in just eight hours on Kickstarter and has raised over four million bucks overall, promising an open environment for game developers. So people do like games.
That fondness is not reflected in new sales figures, however, that show game sales tumbling a whopping 29 percent in June. 29? Yes! WHAT? I know.
Among losers, Microsoft was the winner, says Bloomberg:
Microsoft Corp. said U.S. retailers sold 257,000 Xbox 360 game consoles in June, giving the company more than 40 percent market share for the 18th straight month. A year ago, Microsoft sold 507,000 of the consoles.
If I’m a video game executive, I’m bumming. But I’m not a video game executive. I’m a dad and I think this news is actually good news. It means that in the first month of summer, kids might be going outside instead. GO OUTSIDE, KIDS! YAY! BIKES! POOLS! YAY!
As a nonprofit news organization, our future depends on listeners like you who believe in the power of public service journalism.
Your investment in Marketplace helps us remain paywall-free and ensures everyone has access to trustworthy, unbiased news and information, regardless of their ability to pay.
Donate today — in any amount — to become a Marketplace Investor. Now more than ever, your commitment makes a difference.
Our biggest match ever.
TODAY ONLY your donation has 4x the impact!


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TCL, partially Chinese state-owned and licensee of the Alcatel smartphone brand, has been exposed as the sole owner of massive a spyware ring developer Shenzhen Hawk Internet Co. It had released 24 popular apps with more than 382 million installs before Google removed them from the Play Store.
What is worse is that some Shenzhen Hawk apps were installed on TCL licensed Alcatel smartphones as early as 2005 (and ongoing) under the official guise of mie-Alcatel.support. These include File Manager, Sound Recorder, Joy Launcher, Turbo Browser, Weather Forecast and Calendar Lite.
We have asked TCL/Alcatel Australia for an update on this. According to reader comments, the factory-installed mie-Alcatel apps cannot be uninstalled.
VPNpro broke the news a couple of months ago, but it has taken time to untangle the ties that lead back to partially Chinese state-owned TCL – and its involvement with the Alcatel brand that sells well in the Australian pre-paid market.
Spyware or rogueware?
The Shenzhen Hawk apps request app permissions well beyond what is apparently necessary to do the job. Of the 24 initially found (and there may be more in the pipeline) some unnecessarily:
Access the camera/mic
Place calls or sends SMS to premium paid-for services
Access call history, contacts and SMS/MMS
Access a user’s GPS location
Read and exfiltrate data from internal or external connected storage
Collect and exfiltrate details of a user’s phone, network and contacts
Record any audio on the device or its servers
Download and install further malware
Data collected by the apps are sent to Shenzhen Hawk’s Chinese servers. TCL denies that it has sold such data to any third-party. Well, we have to ask then, why collect the data in the first place?
The full list of 24 apps is below, and many are still on third-party app stores meaning Shenzhen Hawk is still operating them. Oddly, its public website http://en.ehawk.com/ is now ‘offline’.
Candy Selfie Camera
Virus Cleaner 2019
HiVPN, Free VPN
Alcatel Innovative Lab
What is TCL?
According to Wikipedia, TCL is mostly state-owned by the Guangdong provincial government with strong ties to a Chinese military-owned company which produces communication devices and navigation systems for the Chinese army.
“Behind Shenzhen HAWK, there is an even larger company, specialising in the development of electronic devices present in homes and businesses around the world.”
“TCL Corporation has at least 52 subsidiaries worldwide and owns the licensing rights of Alcatel, Palm, Ffalcon TV, Palm, RCA and Thomson among other brands. The main controversy is its close ties to the Chinese government, whose support was essential for the establishment of TCL as a large transnational corporation.“
You can read more about TCL and its Chinese Government-aided quest to dominate our living rooms here.
That TCL allowed these apps to be developed, let alone placed on a trusted brand like Alcatel is, at the very least, inexcusable.
GadgetGuy recently profiled TCL here and is willing to publish any valid company response.
[UPDATED] TCL Response 23 June 2020
“The data security and privacy of our customers is something we take very seriously, which is why we adhere to all local laws regarding user data and privacy. While it is true in the past that there was some unauthorized use of our application APIs by outside third-parties, we removed that access as soon as we became aware of that issue. Our company continues to work very closely with Google on all our device software to ensure those experiences are properly developed, audited and monitored to offer the peace of mind and trust our customers expect from us.”


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In 2014, a group of university students in Beijing founded Ofo, a bike sharing startup that allows customers to scan QR codes to rent bikes for short trips around cities and to pick up and drop off the bikes wherever they want.
The convenience and ease of dockless bike shares spawned competing startups like Mobike and Bluegogo, with each brand standing out for the bright colors of their bikes. The motorcycles were ubiquitous on the streets and sidewalks of China’s largest cities, and the startups attracted billions in investments, turning founders like Dai Wei, CEO of Ofo, into prominent entrepreneurs.
But four years later at least five Chinese bike-share startups had gone bankrupt, and a Chinese court announced in June 2019 that Ofo, the pioneer in the sector once valued at more than $ 2 billion, had done so “Basically no fortune” and was unable to pay significant debts to suppliers and customers.
Millions of Bike Share users who were unable to recoup the deposits made through the programs posted their complaints on social media. Since they accused the companies that wasted billions of dollars, littered the city streets with clumps of unused two-wheelers and never returned their money.
In one viral postA user in China found he wasn’t getting a refund until after posing as a foreigner. The hashtag “Pretend to be foreign and Ofo will refund you immediately” picked up 240 million views on China’s Twitter-like Weibo Platform. Users claimed the company prioritized its global image over its local customer base.
Some users have taken their complaints offline. In December 2018 Hundreds of people in thick winter coats lined up in front of Ofo’s office building in Beijing to reclaim their $ 14 deposits from the beleaguered startup. Something waited For hours only with Ofo’s promise that their deposits will be refunded within three days. Something Refunds received but others are still waiting. In February 2020, Ofo was renamed as a shopping app. offer Users receive a discount on new purchases instead of a cash refund on their deposits.
“It was visibly embarrassing for everyone involved,” says Dev Lewis, an employee at the Hong Kong-based think tank Digital Asia Hub.
By then, the Chinese public had largely glorified their national tech champions and the billionaires they made. Early tech success stories like Alibaba, the e-commerce giant that Jack Ma founded in 1999, were the subject of national pride, which was lauded for proving China’s economic and technological advancement worldwide.
But as Chinese technology blossomed, its role in everyday people’s lives blossomed too. A handful of apps owned by an even smaller number of companies now convey the most routine tasks in China, from dining to shopping to booking medical appointments, and making each abuse allegation extra personal to users. Outrage over the demise of Ofo and other unicorns who share the bike was one of the first signs that public opinion was beginning to turn against domestic tech companies.
The golden era of Chinese technology
For years, Jack Ma was the clear symbol of China’s technical success and inspired legions with his personal story of moving from high school teacher to founder of two of the most famous Chinese tech companies: Alibaba and its sister company, the fintech Titan Ant Group. He became the figurehead of the government’s campaign to drive domestic innovation. Beijing pledged 2006 to make the country an “innovative society” by 2020 and a global technology leader by 2050.
Today tech giants like it Alibaba and Tencent, which operates the billionaire user “Super app” WeChat has only increased its presence in people’s daily life. Each of them operate platforms with user metrics that dwarf most countries’ populations.
As China’s tech sector grew, so did people reference at the time as the “Ma Yun Era”, using Ma’s Chinese name.
The State People’s newspaper Newspaper in 2013 ran a photo gallery of Ma with pictures from his youth to middle age and the headline “Reform Era:” The Great Times “for Ma Yun”. The play proudly described his rise from a Hangzhou boy who “failed college entrance exams” to “one of the world’s billionaires”.
Six years later, the same paper released An editorial declaring that “there is no such thing as a Ma Yun era, only an era that includes Ma Yun,” underscores how some tech giants – and Ma in particular – have fallen out of favor.
The bubble starts to burst
After the Chinese bike-sharing bubble burst in 2018, more scandals followed, exacerbating the anti-tech sentiment of some consumers.
Big tech platforms like the grocery delivery service Meituan, the rider Didi and the online travel agency Ctrip are accused Compilation of purchase information and other data for consumers and then use of this data to bill certain consumers higher prices. The practice is so ubiquitous that it has deserves a name in China: “Big Data Backstabbing”.
In 2019 it became the Beijing Consumers Association found in a survey that 88% of Chinese consumers believed that online shopping platforms used user data to maximize prices for customers. Then this week the government-sponsored China Consumers Association accused Chinese tech giants using data to “harass” consumers have called for more regulation.
Meituan who controls 90% of the Chinese food delivery market together with the delivery app Ele.me came under special fire in December allegedly Some customers charge twice the shipping costs compared to others. A hashtag about the incident received over 580 million views from Weibo, with one user commenting, “Where are the government regulations on this case?”
The public anger at technology platforms has spread beyond treating customers to the way companies manage their employees.
Videos of Liu Jin, a delivery driver for Ele.me, were posted on social media on Monday. set yourself on fire Protesting thousands of renminbi against unpaid wages and renewing public anger over the treatment of drivers by the delivery platforms whose work makes them so profitable.
In September 2020, China became Renwu Magazine published an investigation report on grocery delivery drivers showing that workers are subject to a strict algorithm that penalizes drivers for late deliveries and urges them to drive recklessly.
The article went viral, prompting Meituan and Ele.me to do so relax Delivery time targets for their drivers.
Weibo users weren’t impressed with the company’s response: the top rated comment Ele.me’s public statement said drivers would use the extra time to pick up more orders instead of driving more safely and accused the company of “treating the symptom, not the cause”.
China’s tech industry is now for white-collar workers notorious for his long working hours and high burnout rates. Tech founders like Jack Ma have approved Controversial work tactics such as “996” – 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days a week – say that such a schedule offers “the happiness and rewards of hard work.”
More recently, tech people have become more resolute in opposition to the executive-imposed 996 mindset. In 2019, Chinese web developers worked for e-commerce companies Youzan and JD.com created a GitHub page, 996.ICU, to protest companies’ long hours.
The congestion debate flared up again in January when e-commerce company Pinduoduo – its founder Colin Huang were China’s second richest man last year –Approved that a 23-year-old Pinduoduo employee died On December 29, another Pinduoduo employee, a male engineer who joined the company in July, died of suicide after leaving work at 1:30 a.m. Pinduoduo said After these deaths, she set up psychological counseling services for all employees.
After the death of the first employee, a pinduoduo hashtag was posted on Weibo with more than 250 million views and thousands of users criticizing the tech company’s work culture and wondering whether the employee’s overtime had led to her death. After the death of the second employee, Pinduoduo, in a statement Capital, did not comment on the company’s work culture, but said it “does everything [it] can “to support the worker’s family and loved ones.
A Weibo user said worker exploitation was “the essence of 996”. Another user called it “ironic” that another popular Weibo search term was the fortune of Pinduoduo founder Colin Huang, adding, “Capitalists are bloodsuckers.”
Consumer dissatisfaction with tech giants coincides with China’s growth Prosperity gap and an increasing defect social mobility. China has more now Billionaires than the US, but around 600 million people still live on less than $ 150 per month. Chinese regulators seem to be clinging to the backlash, using it as an opportunity to tighten rules on tech firms and shift the blame for China’s economic injustices away from Beijing.
“There are signs that general public opinion and sentiment is now turning against tech companies,” said Lewis. “It’s kind of a window of time where … the government can choose to drive to drive home some regulations on the platforms.”
No one can testify to Beijing’s newly won regulatory mandate more than Jack Ma.
In October, the extravagant billionaire delivered a searing speech in Shanghai, in which he criticized the Chinese financial regulation as “out of date” and accused Chinese banks of having a “pawnshop mentality”.
Days later regulators stopped the IPO of Ant Group, Ma’s fintech company, on the eve of its $ 37 billion double listing that promised to be the largest IPO in the company’s history. Officials said the company must meet new regulatory requirements before it can compile a list. Ant and Ma received little sympathy online after the IPO was suspended. Weibo users largely one-sided with regulators calling the once-revered Ma “a selfish tech villain” who “believes he is above the law”.
There’s no new date for Ant’s IPO, and Ma has not been seen in public since his speech in Shanghai.
Much of the online rage was centered on Ant’s lending service, which stood out almost 40% of its earnings in the first half of 2020. Some users of Huabei, Ant’s line of credit, told the Financial Times that the service’s pop-up actions sometimes result in them accidentally paying for items on credit without knowing it, making it easy to get into debt.
“People ran into thousands of dollars in debt [using Huabei]”Says Lewis.” People have been very skeptical of Huabei and their business practices, to pressure people to borrow more and buy more. ”
A Weibo comment With over 3,600 likes, Ant’s suspended IPO was a good thing as “loan sharks shouldn’t be listed on the stock exchange”.
Ant is facing a crowd now new regulations about the lending business it must adhere to before it can complete its IPO. Last month, China’s central bank made public criticized Ant and advised the company to focus on its original business, online payments, and fix issues in other areas of the business such as credit service.
The Ant saga is not the end of China’s regulatory turmoil, much of which is centered about the weakening of the market monopolies that Chinese technology companies have created for themselves.
China’s market regulator in mid-December Fine Alibaba Group and a Tencent-backed online literature platform under an antimonopoly law began an investigation into a merger between two Tencent-backed live streaming game companies. The market watcher warned that “the Internet industry is not outside the control of the antimonopoly law”.
On December 30th, the regulator again asserted itself against technology giants, convicting three e-commerce companies of price irregularities and say explicitly The fines were in response to consumer complaints about unfair price increases and fraudulent promotions.
This week the regulator repeated This antimonopoly regulation has priority in 2021.
According to Jeffrey Towson, a private equity investor and former management professor at Peking University in Beijing, China’s tech giants and their founders are seeing “more oversight and questions about their practices” than in previous years. “The big Chinese tech companies are very influential, but they are also very accountable to consumers through the government.”
According to Lewis, China has not seen a technological controversy on the scale of the Facebook-Cambridge-Analytica scandal of 2018, which was harsh Wake up call US and European consumers on how their online data could be misused.
However, concerns about Huabei, big data backstabbing, 996 culture, and the online defense of regulators’ action against Jack Ma and Ant are signs that Chinese consumers are increasingly suspicious of big tech.
“I think all of these things lead to a much more regulated Chinese internet ecosystem,” says Lewis. “This could be a point where we look back and say that there is little shift in consumer demand and expectations of tech operations.”
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The Social Media giant Facebook today
warned announced that this Thursday would see an escalation of its running campaign to slip into obsolescence.
The campaign, code-named "Operation MySpace", began with the introduction of "Sponsored Stories" in 2011 and has escalated continuously ever since. When News from
Rockettopia asked an employee, who declined to be named, about the campaign, she told us: "I was involved in Operation MySpace from the beginning. We thought that
'Sponsored Stories', you know,
making unsuspecting customers into spokespeople for 55-gallon barrels of lube, would do the trick, but they just kept coming!" A weapon of mass frustration was launched
later that year with the timeline bug feature, which persists to this day despite calls by everyone, ever, to remove it. Facebook continued the campaign into 2012 with
the introduction of mobile ads to clog up smartphone screens and hopefully drive customers away to Twitter, Tumblr, or Pintrest. And all this time, Facebook made it
very clear that they would sell any personal information on a user to any client with the money.
"Quite frankly, I'm surprised that there's anyone still on Facebook at this point,", our informant told us. "I would think that at this point they'd be desperate enough to go to Google+ if need be, but we seem to have underestimated the power of brand loyalty. But we haven't given up yet."
Facebook hopes that their new autoplaying video ads in users' newsfeeds and the taunting launch of the dislike button only for private messages will manage to disgust their customer base enough to end Facebook's run as a top Social Networking site. Our contact, however, is skeptical. "If we haven't managed to drive away every man, woman, and child on Earth by now, there's no hope. We'll try, but nothing could possibly break Facebook except turning off every server in the world. That or an influx of parents."


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The rate of falling shop prices slowed in October as the inflation of ambient grocery products rose ahead of the 12-month average.
Shop price prices fell 0.4% year on year in October, behind a 0.6% fall in prices the previous month, according to the BRC-Nielsen Shop Price Index.
Shop prices fell in the month ahead of the 12-month average inflation of 0.2% and the six-month average of 0.2% price deflation.
Food price inflation accelerated 1.6% in October, ahead of a 1.1% rise in September, exacerbated by ambient food inflation rising to 2.7% in the month, ahead of 1.7% inflation in September and 2.3% and 2.2% price inflation the 12- and six-month averages respectively.
By contrast, fresh food inflation edged up to 0.8% in October, ahead of the 0.7% year-on-year inflation rate in September.
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Blackberry users rejoice! After being announced at the launch event at the end of January, Whats app has finally made its way to BlackBerry 10. The company announced that popular cross-platform messaging application is now available for BlackBerry 10 users.
WhatsApp for BlackBerry 10 features “real-time push notifications” that are displayed even when the device is locked, as well as tight integration with the Hub and Flow, allowing users to check messages as part of their normal workflow. According to the post when first logging in to WhatsApp, your contacts will be uploaded in encrypted form to the company’s servers, which will then match up your local people will those on the app.
“WhatsApp is a leading mobile messaging app that connects people to their contacts on several platforms, and we are pleased to work with WhatsApp to bring their service to our customers“, said Martyn Mallick, Vice President of Global Alliances and Business Development at BlackBerry in a company statement.
The value of WhatsApp has always been its ability to connect users across different mobile platforms, and now that BlackBerry 10 users are joining the party, it will surely see even a greater momentum.
I think adding WhatsApp Messenger was a necessity for Blackberry if it wants to stay in the smartphone race. The company has always been criticized for the lack of a robust app ecosystem on its BlackBerry 7 smartphones. Also integrating Whatsapp with Blackberry Z10 might be a sale booster for the expensive handset.
Download Link | Whatsapp on Blackberry App World


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Why the token shortage is a spoiler, Auto News, ET Auto
The global crisps shortage that power modern gadgets and cars are disrupting the business plans of industries large and small.
- Reliance Jio delayed the launch of its recently announced “ultra-affordable” smartphone, the JioPhone Next, which will be produced in collaboration with Google, due to a shortage of chips.
- The passenger car sales in India fell 13.8% sequentially (from the previous month) in August as automakers, stifled by lack of semiconductor supply, slowed production.
- Main car manufacturers, including Maruti Suzuki, Tata and Mahindra and Mahindra, had stalled production and / or reduced shifts due to the supply shortage, despite an expected increase in demand due to the holiday season.
- Global car manufacturers are also penalized by the shortage. Toyota on Friday reduced its annual production target of 300,000 vehicles. US majors Ford and General Motors and German luxury automaker Daimler, among others, have also cut production.
- Experts are waiting the shortage will continue until 2023, disrupting the economic recovery of several countries.
- Thus the conditions that caused the shortage are still in play: the rapid growth of cloud computing and the rollout of 5G in major economies.
- According to the research firm The IDC, computer and wireless industries account for over 50% of global chip demand by value. The automotive industry represents less than 9%.
So governments intervene.
- South Korea announced a 10-year, $ 450 billion plan to modernize and expand foundries (chipmakers). He also controversially released Lee Jae-yong, vice president and de facto executive of Samsung, the world’s largest semiconductor company, prematurely from prison.
- United States announced grants worth $ 52 billion to bolster its chip industry.
- China is pushing for “self-sufficiency” in semiconductors. Last week, China’s minimum wage announced an investment of $ 8.87 billion for a new chip factory in Shanghai.
- IIndia also “urged” companies to set up smelters there, although expectations are moderate. Currently, India imports all of its semiconductors, worth around $ 24 billion, according to CII. Demand could reach $ 100 billion by 2025, he says.
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Amazon Prime—a.k.a. the only streaming service whose offerings include The Man In The High Castle, Transparent, and free shipping any time you buy a new pair of headphones or a bag of dog food from the internet—is about to get a little more pricey. For some users, at least: Recode reports today that the service is bouncing its monthly pricing up from $10.99 to $12.99, an increase of 18 percent that bumps Prime’s annual cost up to $156 a year for month-to-month users.
The pricing change won’t affect the company’s annual plan, which will continue to cost $99 a year. It’s still rough news for the low-income customers the monthly rate was designed to target, though, ones who couldn’t necessarily justify a single hundred-dollar lump sum for a year of TV streaming and inexpensive shipping. It also pushes the service’s price well above the $10.99 monthly rate being charged by its chief competitor, Netflix.
The change comes as Amazon’s video production side seems poised for a big (and expensive) change in its programming strategies; the company just canceled a number of low-budget TV products, and is reportedly hunting around for big, flashy TV shows and movies to round out its library of content.


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Alexander’s Highland Market is proud to be part of Associated Grocer’s “Stuff a Truck! Fill a Need!” campaign underway and collecting donations for our Houston neighbors until the end of September. By mid-month, generous customers like YOU had contributed $34,362 for Hurricane Harvey relief efforts at 86 participating retail locations, and AG’s first “stuffed trucks” was delivered to Second Harvest of South Louisiana and Feeding Texas, the two coordinating food banks.
Below, AG’s Caroline Lagneaux stands near the next truck waiting to be loaded with supplies.
Community Giving, News | September 18th, 2017


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The retail market has certainly changed, or rather accelerated, its trajectory over the last two years! The COVID-19 pandemic, technological advancements, changes in the economy and other local, national & global events have collectively significantly affected the retail industry – for better or worse.
It wasn’t long ago that the only electric cars in existence were pricey and manufactured by the upscale Tesla. These days you can buy anything from sports cars to pickup trucks in an electric, or at the very least hybrid, model. How does this affect the retail landscape? Well, if more and more cars on the road are electric what will happen to gas stations? Will they be converted to charging stations or will they just close down? And if gas stations close down, what happens to the convenience stores attached to them? Who will supply us with our Doritos, Diet Pepsi and Powerball tickets?
Speaking of Doritos and Diet Pepsi – Instacart, DoorDash, UberEats and GrubHub have taken off exponentially. Some of these services aren’t reserved just for restaurant pick-up and drop-off, either. Now you can have anything from a nice Italian dinner to some eye drops, a shower curtain and a pint of ice cream delivered to your door within the hour.
There was a point last year where it seemed like COVID-19 was going away, and then this new Omicron Variant emerged throwing the country back into a tailspin of vaccinations, booster shots, mask mandates, etc. After a spike in cases in NH mid-January, we have steadily been seeing a decrease in the number of new daily cases. Vaccine and mask mandates are being lifted, events are being put on and stores are being shopped at.
Now, it seems the biggest threat to consumers is rising inflation (7.5+% - the highest since 1982) and mortgage interest rate hikes, on top of higher gasoline and oil prices and sticker shock at the supermarket. Additionally, though we have low unemployment rates, businesses from factories to fast food can’t find enough help to sustain current demand, let alone growth. The lack of both workforce housing and affordable housing for first time homebuyers is stifling growth and needs to be addressed immediately.
In regards to retail - although we have seen some store closures, many shopping centers have still been able to infill vacant units in a reasonable amount of time. Crumbl’ Cookies opened their second Nashua location in the former Huntington Learning Center on Amherst St. Patel Brothers has opened in the former JC Penney Home Store on Daniel Webster Hwy. Apple Tree Shopping Center in Londonderry now has all units up and running with the opening of Jersey Mike’s (who also opened in Plaistow on Rte. 125). Wrap City also opened up two new locations – one at the Nashua Mall on Coliseum Ave. in Nashua and the other at Hood Commons in Derry.
Hooksett Village Shops on Rte. 3 recently was sold and in Concord, Steeplegate Mall will be moving several tenants to make room for a yet-to-be-announced new tenant. At the end of 2021 Sleep Number opened a free-standing retail location and just down the street BJs opened their new gas station. In early February, Seth Dichard Golf Schools opened on Lowell Rd. in Hudson. Amazon Fresh continues to be under construction both on Daniel Webster Hwy. and Amherst St. with no word as to when they will open.
In Bedford, Tuckers has opened at the former Outback Steakhouse and Pressed Café has begun construction in front of Target and Lowes on South River Rd. Tuscan Village has most recently added Sleep Number, Chase and Chick-Fil-A to their roster. It doesn’t appear that there are any new shopping center developments on the horizon, there are several new apartment complexes under construction and/or recently approved and it appears that some will have a small mixed use/retail component to them.
After successfully fully leasing Apple Tree Shopping Center in Londonderry, Berkshire Hathaway Verani Realty has taken on the leasing assignment for the recently purchased Belknap Mall (new name to-be-determined) in Belmont, which will be undergoing a complete overhaul by the new owner. Verani Realty has successfully fully-leased three shopping centers in the last year, and aims to do the same with Belknap Mall.
Coming off of a strong first quarter, my forecast for the spring in Southern New Hampshire is that retail will be incredibly vibrant!
Andrew Levy, CCIM, is the senior manager of retail at BHHS Verani Realty’s commercial division, Londonderry NH.


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So when EA misjudgedly launched a package that included a transferable Hero item for the low price of 250,000 FUT coins the market was hit by an abundance of low-cost Heroes that caused it to fall and destroying the supposed value of more rare items. Players holding onto rare Heroes were forced to sell them when they saw their prices fall and putting gasoline on FUT 23 Coins the fire. It's understandable since rarer Hero items are worth hundreds of dollars in real-world value when sold via third-party platforms.
The error has been rectified, with the pack only available for a short period of time however, the damage had been done. EA has not yet made a comment on the situation, and while the market has started to rebound, the damage seems to be irreversible, and it remains to be seen what the publisher will do to rectify the situation.
? How do you feel about the next EA game will be? The FIFA 23 will be undergoing routine maintenance on October 10 The 10th of October is the date for routine maintenance, and EA Sports has made an official announcement acknowledging the similar. The routine maintenance will permit developers to improve their services and guarantee that your overall experience becomes more fluid.
That being said, servers also have inconspicuously-detected issues when the service is involved. Since the game's release it has experienced major problems with the gameplay. The result is that players are not being able to progress while servers for the game had previously gone down without any prior announcements. There are ways to tell players what time the game will be down.re? Kick-off , in the comments section below.
Manchester City didn't let off the accelerator for a single second during this game week, taking 4-1 winners over Southampton. Erling Haaland managed to net once during the game, but fell short of the impressive standard that he's set up in the last few weeks. A spirited performance from Dortmund saw them come back from a 2-0 deficit against the infamous Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, with two players in particular potentially worth selection on the Team Of The Week. Here's our prediction for the starting team for FIFA 23 TOTW 4.
That's our prediction to the FIFA 23 TOTW 4 starting XI. With Foden missing out last week It would make sense that he be featured this time as the fact that he's been in good form. of results. If Schlotterbeck gets with a unique card that would mean that his OTW is upgraded too. If you're in search of an easy option to buy FIFA 23 Coins earn yourself unique cards, we offer solutions to the Advanced, Around The World, and Puzzle Master SBCs, all of which award you with rare packs at the completion.


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|Day Low/High||113.80 / 114.77|
|52 Wk Low/High||85.78 / 115.49|
Jim Cramer weighs in on Lyft's lock-up, Trump and China and his latest take on the markets.
HD is promoting optimism among more defensively minded retail investors.
Most retailers do not, but here are a few that have the right story.
It was another tough week on Wall Street, but our inverse ETFs and some domestically focused names outperformed.
The stock of the world's biggest retailer is advancing. Several analysts increased their price targets after the company beat Wall Street's second-quarter-earnings expectations.
Shares of department store chain Dillard's plunge after the company posts a quarterly loss that missed analysts' estimates amid an ongoing decline in same-store sales.
U.S. equity futures look set to end a volatile summer week on a high note Friday, as investors around the world climb back into risk markets amid increasing hopes of near-term support from major central banks and stronger-than-expected retail sales and earnings data from Wall Street.
Here's what you need to know now for Thursday, Aug. 15.
It's not really a boom or a bust, says Jim Cramer. The truth is we're muddling along. But it's hard to outrun the bond bears.
Stocks end mixed Thursday as strong Walmart earnings and a positive retail sales report beat back trade uncertainty and worries about falling bond rates.
Everyone seems to be either thinking we're going to hell in a handbasket or that we're strong and nothing's wrong -- here's my take.
Curious about Walmart after the company posted impressive earnings?
You need to let shares settle down first before nibbling and that will require some time.
With WMT's U.S. dominance, these are the two big waves of momentum it needs to ride to revalue shares in the long term.
The retail behemoth reported strong sales growth above expectations, and gave new guidance that suggests the king of retail isn't too worried about a recession.
While we do not have a dog in the digital shopping fight, we are watching shares of Farfetch, a technology platform company for the luxury fashion industry.
Walmart's second-quarter performance was a reminder that value can be captured in a generally soft equities market, particularly by playing the high-quality, counter-cyclical card amid macroeconomic worries.
Clearly the shift to digital shopping is not only underfoot, or more properly stated on a variety of keyboards, it is accelerating.
With tariffs looming and hard competition, here's how to play the mega-retailer after earnings.
Jim discusses this morning's interview with Cisco Systems CEO Chuck Robbins and he reiterates the stocks we like on volatility.
Walmart can hit new 52-week highs as long as bulls remain in control of price. With the company's latest earnings beat, that makes investors' job much easier.
Walmart posted stronger-than-expected second quarter earnings Thursday, and boosted its full-year profit guidance even as it said the world's biggest retailer highlighted the uncertainty of trade relations between the U.S. and China.
Michael Reynolds, investment strategy officer at Glenmede, sat down with TheStreet to talk about the strength of the consumer.
Jim Cramer shares his latest take on the market, and no, he still doesn't see a recession...yet.
U.S. retail sales have risen at WMT for an unparalleled consecutive 20 quarters.
Wall Street futures steadied Thursday as China vowed to retaliate on last month's tariff move by the United States and Hong Kong's ambassador to the United Kingdom warned that Beijing would not "sit on its hands" as protests in the city head towards their eleventh week.
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Canada Post is “very open-minded” on reviving retail banking services, the newly-appointed chair of the board yesterday told the Commons committee on government operations. Jessica McDonald said she will consider releasing a redacted 811-page analysis obtained by Blacklock’s in 2014 that rated postal banks a “win-win” for the corporation.
“Postal banking has been under a tremendous amount of discussion and continues to be,” said McDonald; “While postal banking is not a specific part of my mandate letter, I do think it’s important to note Canada Post does provide some financial services, and I think we need to be very open-minded.”
Canada Post currently has a money transfer service and sells a version of certified cheques. The post office for a century took retail deposits until the service was closed amid protests from banks and credit unions.
Public Services Minister Carla Qualtrough in a January 24 mandate letter urged the Canada Post board to consider “best practices and successful innovations in other countries”, but made no mention of reviving postal banks disbanded in 1968. Access To Information records indicated management studied retail banking from 2009 to 2013.
“This would be a win-win strategy,” read one report Banking: A Proven Diversification Strategy. The corporation has never released an uncensored copy of its banking files that cited average profits of 20.5 percent a year by online banks like ING, PC Financial Inc. and Canadian Tire Bank.
“The study Canada Post did on banking, when will that be made public?” asked MP Brian Masse (Windsor West, Ont.), New Democrat industry critic. “Why has it not been made public? Those are some of the potential solutions out there. We need to see if there is really some value there.”
“I have asked for that report to be looked at again,” replied Chair McDonald; “I have asked for new advice about the content of the report.”
“I do think it’s important in all of these conversations to be open and transparent,” said McDonald; “I would like to focus personally on new conversations about enhanced services.”
McDonald, a former CEO of British Columbia Hydro, was appointed chair of the post office last December 12. McDonald yesterday told the committee:
- • a new Corporate Plan on Canada Post services will be finalized next year;
- • alternate-day delivery of letter mail “is all part of the strategic analysis”;
- • the corporation will name a new CEO “in the very near term”;
- • new appointees will be named to the board “in the coming days”;
- • Canada Post will report its fourth consecutive profit in a pending 2017 Annual Report.
“We now have several years of positive financial results,” said McDonald. “This does give breathing space to the corporation to find the path to move forward.”
“Given that we do have positive financial results over the past few years, that trend is expected to continue,” said McDonald. “For how long?” asked Conservative MP Kelly McCauley (Edmonton West). McDonald did not reply.
Canada Post in 2016 reported a $55 million net pre-tax profit despite the $110 million cost of a threatened lock-out of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. Previous profits were $63 million in 2015, and $194 million in 2014.
By Tom Korski


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Fife Council faces ‘bullying’ claim over plan to demolish dilapidated shopping centre
Fife Council has been accused of "bullying" and "underhand tactics" as it seeks to buy out and demolish a dilapidated shopping centre.
Objectors to the local authority's compulsory purchase order (CPO) on the Glenwood Centre in Glenrothes say the council is not proactively engaging them to ensure the process is fair.
Council bosses began the CPO process in March this year after swearing to buy-out and demolish the run-down complex in 2019 as it was, it said, too expensive to refurbish and had become a haven for anti-social behaviour.
It has outlined proposals for a £23 million regeneration programme for the centre to benefit Macedonia and the wider West Glenrothes area, boasting 121 flats, 17 commercial units, a community hub and a library extension.
However, the buy-out is being contested by the landlord and tenant of one retail unit, who say the centre deserves a second chance.
Henry Patterson planned to open a takeaway and convenience store in Unit 14 in the centre after securing planning permission for the former Costcutter store last year.
Mr Patterson says he has "lost everything" due to the coronavirus pandemic, and suggested his future as a businessman depended on the Glenrothes unit.
Writing in his formal objection to Fife chief planner John McNairney, the 63-year-old said the council had done "very little" to try to work with Glenwood occupants before opting to buy the centre out.
"It is my business that is effected [sic] and I am the one who is suffering," he said.
"You should in my opinion...be critical towards the councils approach of somewhat bullying and underhand tactics.
"There is no excuse why these properties cannot be viable they have no structural issues which is very important."
Kendra Richardson, a solicitor representing Unit 14's owner Amara Anwar, says the decision to buy out and demolish the Glenwood is "premature".
"It is not clear what steps have or are being taken by the Council to support the affected businesses, including advice on relocation options and prospects, and how the Council intends to meet its [legal] obligations...in due course," she said.
"Our client is very concerned about the apparent lack of a relocation strategy."
Fife Council however, maintains that demolition is the best way forward for the centre, which has more vacant units than it has occupied - and pointed to a record of meetings and discussions with private owners as proof of open consultation.
"Taking into account the fact that a number of the commercial properties are currently vacant and unoccupied, with little prospect of any beneficial use and that it would not be viable to refurbish the existing residential properties it is considered that...the exercise of Compulsory Purchase Powers is justified and proportionate," it said in its statement to ministers.
Ownership of the Greenwood is complicated.
There are 24 flats above the centre, which is made up of a number of lock-ups, 16 retail units and a taxi office. Most of the units are privately owned by independent parties.
Fife Council owns one commercial unit and 15 of the flats, but put an end to allocating them four years ago due to their unpopularity with tenants. The remainder are owned by landlord Gurminder Singh of Rosyth, who has not objected to the buy-out.
And while it has the power to undertake a process of compulsory purchase, Fife Council's right to buy out the centre is not absolute. The decision must be approved by Scottish ministers, and that process is ongoing.
The next step in the process will see an inquiry held with the objectors and the council, conducted by a Scottish Government reporter.
A pre-inquiry hearing was scheduled to take place next week but has been postponed, with a new date yet to be set.
A Fife Council spokesperson said: "Negotiations are ongoing with a number of the owners."


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WELCOME TO The capital REPORT
Ernest Chan, Founder at PredictNow.ai, is also the Managing Member of QTS Capital Management, LLC., a commodity pool operator and trading advisor. QTS manages a hedge fund as well as individual accounts. More informa...
Avalara | July 16, 2021
Avalara, Inc., a leading provider of cloud-based tax compliance automation for businesses of all sizes, today announced updated products to assist businesses in complying with new EU VAT rules for ecommerce that went into effect on July 1, 2021 — Avalara VAT Registration, Avalara AvaTax for VAT, and Avalara VAT Reporting. An assault of substantial VAT legislation changes has impacted firms selling into and around Europe in recent years. Businesses negotiating the complexity of global trade...
Comerica Bank | May 08, 2020
Comerica Bank processed approximately 13,000 Paycheck Protection Program loan applications.
Comerica commits additional $4 million to community nonprofits.
FTV Capital | June 24, 2020
Derivative Path, Inc. (DPI), a leading capital markets financial technology and services company, announced today that it has secured $35 million in growth equity funding from FTV Capital, a successful investor in innovative, high-growth companies within the enterprise technology and services, financial services, and payments and transaction processing sectors. The investment is DPI’s first outside institutional round and will be used to expand its product offerings and help accelerate the...
Payscout | February 08, 2022
Payscout, one of the global leaders of payment innovation, is elated to announce its latest integration with Optimus. Payscout is known as one of the global leaders of payment innovation. The company has provided specialized processing solutions for vertical-specific industries such as Healthcare, Accounts Receivable Management (ARM), and Enterprise merchants. Optimus is known for its comprehensive cloud-based collections and recovery software platform from Telrock Systems.
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Mexico and the EU have signed a preliminary agreement on an expanded and far reaching trade agreement.
Measures to tackle money laundering are a key feature of the agreement that contrasts strongly with increasingly isolationist trade policies, notably in the US.
Deeper and broader
The expanded EU-Mexico Global Agreement will “deepen and broaden the scope of an existing trade agreement signed in 1997” according to European trade commissioner, Cecilia Malmström.
For 98 per cent of goods traded there will be no duties from the moment the agreement becomes effective and for the items that remain, quotas will be imposed bilaterally, for example in dairy and meat exports.
Money laundering measures
Tools designed to tackle money laundering will be introduced. Codes will be drawn up to strengthen internal controls, external auditing, and financial reporting.
Anti-corruption measures are also contemplated in the new agreement, with bribery listed as a criminal offence for government officials.
Categories: Trade Based Financial crimes News


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Beat the record photo teen star Justin Bieber.
Obama seems destined to be the person who created history. Being the first black president in the United States and the second democrat politician who was elected president for two terms in a row since World [...]
Cover story this week will discuss the new smartphone Samsung Galaxy S4.
One thing that most attracted the attention of the successor to the Galaxy S3 is the availability of Octa-core processors (8-core), which is believed to provide exceptional performance.
Forget for a moment about advanced products. During the next week, TechBoom will discuss more about the person behind the successful world of IT companies in his career.
The first person to be examined is Steve Ballmer. Are there some of you who’ve [...]
About 60 percent of those planning to buy a tablet chose Nexus 7.
Christmas Day will soon be arriving. In many parts of the world, it is time to hunt items to be used as Christmas gifts. According to a survey in the U.S. revealed that many public want [...]
Although there are many audio applications and media that can be used to play music on your Mac, iTunes is still the most popular choice in the management of musical content.
iTunes offers the ease of controlling the sequence of music, create playlists, [...]
The presence of the iPhone 5 is certainly making the selling price of the underlying series has decreased slightly. For those of you who want to taste the iPhone but the funds are limited, buy second hand or used iPhone can be an option.
But be careful, [...]
Apacer Technologi Inc., as one of the manufacturers of SSD products, digital consumer products and memory modules, Thursday (10/04) launches a USB 3.0 flash drive AH450.
One thing that most enjoy is the speed of data transmission is very high up to 140 [...]
Toshiba Singapore Digital Products and Service Group (DS) today introduced the Canvio Portable Hard Drive Slim, with a capacity of 500GB.
In a press release received TechBoom, Saturday (2/2), Canvio Slim is one external 2.5-inch hard drive form factor [...]
Become a Facebook future strategy.
The number of game enthusiasts on Facebook continues to grow from year to year. As of September 2012 was 251 million people playing games on Facebook, up from 226 million in September 2011. Growth was assessed as the [...]
As a gift to the loyal fans of the game ‘Angry Birds’.
In the third birthday, Rovio as a manufacturer of world’s most famous game, Angry Birds, released the latest level for the loyal fans.
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The use of female anime characters are cute.
On Monday (10/29), Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said that since its launch last week, the rate of sales of Windows 8 exceeds the rate of sales of Windows 7, which is the top-selling version [...]


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Before I begin, let me just state that TSA has yet to confirm any of this on its website, so the details aren't entirely clear at the moment. That said, there are several indications that orders have been issued to cease the use of electronics during international flights. Yes, that means no laptops, no iPods, no Kindles, no CD players, no portable DVD players, no Nintendo DSes -- nothing that requires any sort of power on these flights. ...
[T]he simple fact is that if the TSA was really this seriously worried about electronic devices, they could have banned them anytime since the attacks on September 11, 2001. Instead, they're doing it more than 8 years later after a man apparently lit some sort of mixture of powder and liquid in his lap. How that relates to electronics, I'm not sure. This just reeks of a "well, we have to do something" move.
[It] looks like we'll have to revert back to the old standards: Books, magazines, and newspapers for these flights. If I were the print media companies, I'd jack up the prices in airports immediately. They may have just found a business model that will save them: Fear.
I stand by my statement earlier: If they take electronics away from us on plane, I'd much prefer to be put into a state of hibernation on the flights like in Avatar. That's about the only thing that will make those cattle cars tolerable at that point.
--MG Siegler, TechCrunch.com, on the surprise comeback of print media. I may finally finish Anna Karenina.


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Samsung Mobile announced today its plans to roll out new software updates to some of its recent flagship devices particularly for the Galaxy S20 models. The upgrade is set to bring in a newer version of Samsung’s proprietary interface, dubbed OneUI 2.1. It is already rolling out widely in Kenya to improve on performance, photography and general users experience for these devices. Luckily, Galaxy S10 smartphones will also be legible for this upgrade.
The OneUI interface wouldn’t really be described as perfect but is one that Samsung has tried to improve over a number of years with every new generation of smartphones released. Users of the S20 and S10 series will be lucky to get features like an improved haptic sensation when typing messages or notes. This will reduce sensitivity that makes you key in letters or characters that you never intended.
The Galaxy 20s’ 120Hz display has also been improved to ensure better feedback when scrolling, playing videos and games. Animation and basically anything in motion will appear much smoother without many visual glitches.
Photography is also improving with the UI 2.1 upgrade specifically for the S10 models that are getting the Single Take feature that was only available on S20 smartphones. With this feature, users are now able to take multiple photos and videos simultaneously and get recommendations for the best image from the algorithm. The Night Mode has also been improved on the S20 as the S10 had already gotten the upgrade last year.
Other than the smartphones, Samsung has also brought in new connectivity features to Galaxy Buds through a software update. This is meant to ensure the buds can connect faster to smartphones or computers as well as improve on Ambient Sound.


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The Android tablet challenge
The million-dollar question now is whether Amazon's model of success can extend to the rest of the Android tablet market, which thus far has struggled to take off. While many analysts predict continued growth for Android overall -- Gartner, for example, forecasts Android tablet sales increasing eight-fold over the next five years -- some industry experts question whether playing the price game will be enough.
"Lowering the price on Android tablets will help, but that in and of itself won't sell the products," contends Sarah Rotman Epps, a senior analyst with Forrester Research.
Epps argues that products like tablets are as much about their interface as their hardware: You buy an Amazon tablet because it provides simple access to Amazon's content, just like you buy an iPad because it makes it easy to get and use stuff from Apple's iTunes store. The hardware matters, she says, but it isn't everything.
"Amazon has been successful because it does a great job delivering on the customer relationship -- the transaction," Epps explains. "A cheaper device from Google doesn't fix its shortcomings in that area."
Google may not have reached Apple's or Amazon's level of marketplace success, but it's working to get closer. The company has taken steps toward improving its mobile ecosystem over the past months, integrating its marketplaces for purchasing movies, books, music and mobile apps, and then rebranding it all as "Google Play". Still, fighting the perception that the Android tablet ecosystem is lackluster may be Google's greatest challenge in establishing itself as a major tablet player in the months ahead.
"Google has spent more than a decade training consumers to associate its brand with 'free,' and now they're trying to retrain consumers to transact with them," Epps says. "That's a hard sell. Part of making Android tablets successful is convincing consumers that Google has a marketplace where they want to do business."
Low-end tablet competition
One way or another, the lower end of the tablet market seems to be an area where Google thinks it can thrive. In the company's quarterly investors' conference call this month, CEO Larry Page acknowledged the success of "lower-priced tablets" using "not-the-full-Google-version of Android" and touched on the company's plan to pursue that segment of the market further.
"We definitely believe that there's going to be a lot of success at the lower end of the market ... with lower-priced products that will be very significant. It's definitely an area we think is quite important and that we're quite focused on," Page said.
Frequent Google partner Samsung already seems to be on the same page. The company just launched a new 7-inch version of its Galaxy Tab tablet that bears an eye-catching $250 price tag with hardware that exceeds the typical budget-tablet model. With that device and the even more attention-grabbing products on the horizon, we could soon see a change in the very notion of what a "low-end tablet" means.
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A newly invented natural dye is expected to reduce the cost of textile production in the country.
According to Moi University Vice Chancellor Richard Mibey, who is the principal researcher, the dye will considerably cut operational costs since local producers have been relying on imported varieties.
“This innovation will go a long way in the revitalisation of the textile industry in Kenya that has remained threatened by the second-hand clothes (mitumba) industry over the years, due to the latter’s affordability,” Prof Mibey said.
Rivatex East Africa Textile Mills launched the natural dye that is produced from a local herb — tagetes minuta, commonly referred to as Stinking Roger, a herb that grows naturally in various parts of the country.
It took the university three years to make the discovery that is expected to save the industry at least Sh18 million.
Other co-inventors were Dr David Tuigong, the Rivatex East Africa managing director, and Mr Billy Makumba, an employee of the university.
Rivatex was bought by Moi University in 2007 after nine years as a basket case.
The university has initiated several projects to rejuvenate the cotton industry to feed the factory, including partnering with Alexandria University of Egypt to help farmers in Kenya revamp cotton production.
Mr Tuigong said that with the discovery of the dye, coupled with acquisition of modern machines, production at the factory had roared back to life.
“We have been able to accelerate the production time and now our clients will be assured of a variety of high quality goods on time,” said Dr Tuigong.
Speaking during the launch at Moi University, Higher Education minister Margaret Kamar appealed to lecturers to move beyond teaching and publishing and increase the number of innovations they churn out if Kenya is to meet its goal of being a middle income country by 2030.
“Our over-reliance on imports can lead us to consuming rejects from other countries. We should implement the research findings we come up with,” said the minister.
Prof Kamar said new technologies were key to creating wealth and challenged other scholars to invest heavily in sustainable research that can solve the current challenges bedevilling Kenya.
She appealed to scholars to apply for and utilise funds available for research from the National Council of Science and Technology (NCST), adding that she could push for increased funding for universities in the next fiscal year from the current Sh400 million.
Speaking at the event, the university’s chancellor, Prof Bethwel Ogot, appealed to the government to consider rewarding scholars who come up with successful innovations and upgrade research laboratories to enable lecturers embark on research.
“The government has a duty to protect innovations and reward those behind them. Some scholars are carrying out research from their cars,” said Prof Ogot.
Others at the event included Prof Adipala Ekwamu from Makerere University, Prof Abdulrazak Shaukat of NCST, Kenya Industrial Property Protection Institute managing director Henry Mutai, and Mr David Magwaro, a representative of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Industrialisation.


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Canada’s national consumer battery collection and recycling program, Call2Recycle Canada Inc., recently revealed that a record 4.1 million kilograms of household batteries were recycled in 2020. Despite the global pandemic impacting battery recycling habits, Canadians continued to recycle their batteries safely and contributed to the largest amount of batteries diverted from landfills in Call2Recycle’s history.
With frequent lockdowns and restrictions across the country impacting battery recycling behaviour, Call2Recycle focused its efforts on educating Canadians about the importance of safely protecting and storing their used batteries at home until it was safe to visit a drop-off location. The 2020 collections results represent Canadians’ dedication to battery recycling and safeguarding the environment despite the challenges they faced.
While battery recycling momentum increased across the country, regulated provinces – British Columbia, Quebec and Ontario, which implemented its battery recycling regulation on July 1, 2020 – saw the highest collection results.
“Given the circumstances last year, we are beyond grateful for Canadians’ continued commitment to recycling their used batteries and the significant role they play in helping to protect our environment while keeping our homes and communities safe,” said Joe Zenobio, president of Call2Recycle Canada, Inc. “Thanks to the ongoing support of our collection and program partners, we navigated the challenges of COVID-19, and our collective efforts resulted in recycling more batteries than ever before.”
Collections by the Numbers
- Battery consumers across Canada recycled more than 4.1 million kilograms of household batteries in 2020.
- Provinces with regulations for end-of-life battery management (Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Manitoba and Prince Edward Island) continued diverting used batteries from landfills despite COVID-19 disruptions:
- Ontario residents collected 1.7 million kilograms of used batteries in 2020, including collections from July 1, operating under the province’s new regulation for end-of-life battery management.
- Quebec residents collected 1.2 million kilograms of used batteries, maintaining a steady pace with collections from 2019.
- British Columbia residents recycled over 780,000 kilograms of used batteries resulting in an annual increase of more than 8 percent.
- Manitoba residents recycled more than 98,000 kilograms of used batteries resulting in a slight decrease compared to 2019.
- Prince Edward Island residents recycled almost 20,000 kilograms of used batteries resulting in a decrease compared to 2019.
Call2Recycle Canada, Inc. has been administering its consumer battery collection and recycling program, Call2Recycle®, in Canada since 1997 and continues to ensure Canadians have accessible recycling options through its regulated and voluntary provincial battery recycling programs. In 2020, Call2Recycle introduced more than 1,000 new collection sites to its Canadian network by launching the Ontario consumer battery collection and recycling program. Ninety-two percent of Canadians live within 15 kilometres of one of Call2Recycle’s public drop-off locations in retail stores, municipalities, businesses, schools/universities and government buildings.
The recycling organization accepts household batteries (weighing up to 5 kg) for recycling and eMobility batteries used to power eBikes, eScooters, eHoverboards, and eSkateboards.


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Google’s push to organize the world’s information has recently been focused on figuring out the best way to index mobile apps. Today, the company started indexing Android apps that don’t have matching web content, and started to experiment with letting users stream content from those apps if they don’t have them installed.
Google has been experimenting with various levels of app indexing for years, with features showing up as early as December 2013. The company typically starts with Android, and then considers expanding functionality to iOS. This time is no different: Both these features are only available on Google’s mobile operating system.
Until now, Google has only indexed apps that have matching Web content. Now, the company is going after content that lives primarily in an app. The company is starting with 9 apps: Hotel Tonight, Weather, Chimani, Gormey, My Horoscope, Visual Anatomy Free, Useful Knots, Daily Horoscope, and New York Subway.
Additionally, if you don’t have a given app installed, Google will now let you stream content (as long as you’re on a good Wi-Fi connection). That means you don’t have to install the app to get the information you’re looking for.
In fact, you can even accomplish tasks like booking a room without installing a given app. When these apps show up in search results, they are accompanies with a new Stream button. Tapping it takes you into a streamed version you can interact with as if you had the app on your phone (Android Lollipop is required, and tablets are not yet supported).
Google “wants to make sure users are engaging with this app only content” and that “the streaming experience works well.” “If users enjoy it, and we see they’re using it, we will expand the scope.”
How does this work? “These apps are running on virtual machines on Google Cloud Platform, using the same technology as the Google Cloud Test Lab,” a Google spokesperson told VentureBeat. “It’s similar to a streamed video, but interactive, with swipe, tap, etc. signals being sent to the streamed app in essentially real time. We are experimenting with a few apps initially to get the user experience right, but we are looking to scale to more apps soon.”
This could fundamentally change how searching for content in apps works on mobile devices. Right now, Google serves up the app if you have it installed. If not, it gives you the webpage. Going forward, Google will give you the app whether you have it installed (it just launches) or not (it just streams).
Google also shared it now has over 100 billion deep links into apps in its search index. These include popular apps like Facebook, Instagram, Airbnb, and Pinterest. In fact, over 40 percent of Google searches on Android now surface app content.
Google is well aware that search has evolved from simply entering queries into a desktop browser. “Today, you’re more likely to be searching on your mobile device, and the best answers may be buried in an app … perhaps one that you don’t even have installed yet,” the company acknowledged.
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