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Yep, it’s true. Ford is cutting most of its car lines, dropping the Fusion, Taurus and Fiesta in favor of producing more trucks and SUVs.
Bemoaning this news ought to be a natural reaction for a kid who grew up in a small Ford dealership in eastern Colorado.
Yet, as an automotive journalist of more than 40 years, I’m aware of the changes in consumer preferences in automobiles.
Summing it up is this note sent to me Thursday morning by Debra Hotaling, head of Western U.S. Communications for Ford Motor Co.: “Given declining consumer demand and product profitably, our company will not invest in next generations of traditional Ford sedans for North America.”
The move away from sedans is everywhere you look in our part of the country. In fact, the Colorado high country has led the surge to trucks and SUVs equipped with four-wheel and all-wheel-drive systems.
That is why it was surprising that Volkswagen last week delivered to me a front-wheel-drive edition of its new, large Atlas SUV. I reviewed a four-wheel-drive Atlas last July. The three-row Atlas, the largest SUV crossover ever introduced by VW, was equipped with a 276-horsepower, 3.6-liter V-6 engine and 8-speed automatic transmission, with four drive modes, including normal, snow, offroad and offroad custom.
I won’t be reviewing the two-wheel-drive model. I checked with a couple of Denver VW dealers; together they have in stock 42 new Atlas SUVs, and all 42 are four-wheel-drives. Though the two-wheel-drives aren’t regularly stocked, the dealers have quick access to one if a customer should desire it.
Regarding Ford, the only cars it plans to retain in its lineup are the long-popular Mustang and a Focus Active replacement for the Focus sedan. By 2020, almost 90 percent of the Ford portfolio in North America is projected to be trucks, sport utilities and commercial vehicles.
While the Ford Fusion five years ago was selling more than 300,000 mid-size sedans per year, its sales last year totaled barely more than 200,000, a drop from 265,000 in 2016. Fusion’s sales decline has continued during the first three months of this year, as have those for the Taurus full-size sedan and Fiesta subcompact.
Sales of Ford pickups have led the U.S. industry for more than 40 years. The company introduced its first F-series pickup in 1948. U.S. sales last year of F-series trucks was approximately 900,000.
Similarly to this move by Ford, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles more than a year ago announced it was dropping production of its mid-size Chrysler 200 and compact Dodge Dart. FCA’s strength in sales comes from its Ram trucks and Jeep SUVs.
General Motors in the past year has studied the possibility of eliminating several models from its lineup of cars.
Ford has been a leader in the sport utility vehicle field since the fall of 1990, when it introduced the Explorer. It overtook the Jeep Cherokee as sales leader, and two years later had a fresh competitor when the Grand Cherokee showed up for Jeep.
– Bud Wells, a native of Wray, is a former Page 1 editor of the Denver Post and has reviewed automobiles for the past 40 years. He can be contacted at email@example.com.


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Just One Serving of Fruit and Vegetables a Day Can Boost Your Mental Health
Another reason to eat your veggies!
It can be a daily struggle to get your kids to eat their fruits and veggies. But how about you? Are you eating food from nature every day? We know the importance of eating a well-balanced diet that includes plenty of fruits and veggies for their nutrients and vitamins. However, a new study suggests that eating produce every day can actually make you happier and give your mental health a boost. Pass the broccoli, please!
According to a study from Leeds and York Universities in the United Kingdom, researchers analyzed data from over 40,000 people living in the UK during a seven year time period. They found that when there was an increase in produce (more fruits and veggies) in the participants’ diets, they reported better moods.
It’s often recommended that half of our plate is filled with fruit and veggies, but when we’re rushed or eating on the go, that’s not always the case. So, how many salads or sides of fruit should we be adding to our plates in order to feel these effects?
What researchers found interesting was that the participants didn’t have to eat tons and tons of produce to feel the mental health boost — it was after just one serving that people reported feeling happier. Plus, the results were pretty significant with researchers saying that eating just one extra portion of produce a day had the equivalent effect on mental well-being as eight extra days of walking at least ten minutes per month.
This is great news if you have picky eaters at home or if you’re not a fan of produce yourself. Focusing on adding one serving a day seems manageable.
"It’s well-established that eating fruit and vegetables can benefit physical health," says co-author of the study, Dr Neel Ocean. "While further work is needed to demonstrate cause and effect, the results are clear: people who do eat more fruit and vegetables report a higher level of mental well-being and life satisfaction than those who eat less."
The authors of the study say that the vast majority of people living in the UK don’t eat the daily recommendation for fruits and veggies: five servings a day. Their hope is that this study gives people in the UK and around the world the motivation to change their eating habits, not only for the nutritional value, but for the mental health benefits as well.
"Encouraging better dietary habits may not just be beneficial to physical health in the long run but may also improve mental well-being in the shorter term," added co-author of the study, Dr. Peter Howley
If you’re looking to add more produce into your family’s diet, start with smaller portions at each meal. For picky eaters, you can add dips like peanut butter or yogurt to encourage more bites or smoothies for the whole family that are packed with plenty of fresh produce. Also, don’t feel like you always have to serve up fresh produce because frozen or canned fruits and veggies still have all of the health benefits, but in easier packaging.
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Are Electric Car Subsidies Really Needed?
The electric vehicle (EV) market in the US enjoys subsidies from the US taxpayer in so many ways they are almost uncountable. Rather than pick apart the Zero Emissions Vehicle credit and direct subsidies that are often hidden from the consumer, like when the taxpayers of Maryland paid the factory utility costs for Fisker, let’s just look at the most obvious and easily understood subsidies. That being the $7,500 federal EV tax credit and $2,500 state refund that most EV buyers are offered. Let’s ask ourselves why these subsidies are in place and if the reasons are sound.
EV World is running a poll asking, "As an American citizen, if federal tax credits went away, would you be less inclined to buy an electric car?". See results to date here.The primary reason most people and state agencies give for these types of taxpayer funded subsidies is that without them the cars won’t sell. Meaning won’t sell at all, or won’t sell robustly enough for the manufacturers to consider the vehicles viable. At a recent clean transportation promotional event this month the Governor of the Commonwealth Massachusetts touted a new $2500 direct rebate to EV buyers. In a Worcester Telegram article explaining why these types of funding programs are necessary, John O'Dell, senior editor and green car expert at Edmunds.com (a publication we respect), was quoted as saying. "Anything that makes a purchase less expensive helps. Electric (vehicles) aren't selling as well as some hoped they would."
This statement is typical of the opinion of EV advocates, which is why it was well suited to the story about Mass. deciding to give EV buyers some money. However, is it factual? Are EVs not selling because they cost too much and will “Anything that makes the purchase less expensive help make EVs sell the way advocates hope?” Let’s look at the two leading electric cars in America.
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New Lincoln’s model will be revealed by the end of 2015. Lincoln Motor Company decided to bring us a real refreshment – its remarkable 2016 Lincoln MKX.
Exterior and interior improvements and redesign
First, we shall start with the platform. New Lincoln MKX will be built on the new Ford’s CD3 platform. This same platform we can see on the Mazda CX-9. This great Lincoln’s mid-size crossover has been made mostly for the China and North America market. This is why its concept has been presented in 2014 at the Beijing Motor Show. New MKX will have lighter and more muscular body. It will look more powerful and stronger than its predecessor. Front part of the vehicle will suffer major changes. Lincoln’s splitted front grille will get a new shape, giving to the new 2016 Lincoln MKX more aggressive look. Also, redesigned will be and new headlights which will be powered with the latest LED and biXenon technology. New model comes equipped with new wheel sizes in range from 18 to 22 inches. Interior of the new MKX will be very spacious and comfortable with a lot leg space. The cabin will be made of the highest quality materials and equipped with the latest standard and safety technology features.
2016 Lincoln MKX powertrain
Under the hood of the new Lincoln’s model we shall find probably two engine options. The first one will be a 2.3-liter four cylinder turbocharged EcoBoost engine. This power unit is capable to produce 285 horsepower. As the second option, there will be a 3.7-liter V6 engine. This engine is capable to deliver 300 horsepower and 280 lb-ft of torque. 2016 Lincoln MKX will come with FWD as standard and AWD as optional. Both engine options will be paired with 6-speed automatic transmission.
Release date and pricing
New model will hit the US market very soon. Like we have said, new 2016 Lincoln MKX will be revealed by the end of 2015. It is expected that the base model will cost around $32,000.


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Amazon has launched a new mobile web store for MP3 tracks that is specially optimised for iPhone and iTouch.
In a declaration of digital war on iTunes and their music monopoly, the new HTML MP3 web store offers 22 million tracks via a specially formatted mobile website.
When you buy music from Amazon, it will be automatically transferred to your Amazon Cloud Player app, which offers 5GB of free storage.
This app is free to download and available on the iPhone, iPhone touch, iPad, Kindle Fire, Android smartphone or tablet, Sonos or any web browser, so you can play it on any of your devices.
This means that you never have to sync your devices as it will all be magically stored in cyberspace and your music downloads will not impact on your storage allowances.
In an act of flicking the v's at Apple, this web store and app combo circumvents Apple's purchasing guidelines which means that Amazon won't have to pay it's rival the 30% fee that Apple demands from all purchases made through apps.
The online retailer have developed the MP3 store to operate seamlessly on Apple's web browser and offers everything you have come to expect from Amazon, including personalised recommendations, bestseller lists and user ratings.
With a whole heap of free music, 79p singles and albums under £5, Amazon are also hoping to undercut iTunes on price too.
Steve Boom, Vice President of Amazon Music explained, 'Since the launch of the Amazon Cloud Player app for iPhone and iPod touch, a top request from customers has been the ability to buy music from Amazon right from their devices.
For the first time ever, iOS users have a way do that – now they can access Amazon's huge catalogue of music, features like personalized recommendations…and they can buy their music once and use it everywhere.'
But will you be switching from iTunes? Leave a comment below to be in with a chance of winning a £100 goodie bag
LOST LUGGAGE IS A THING OF THE PAST
LOW TECH: TURN YOUR IPHONE INTO AN IPAD
WHAT IS IT? PEBBLE SMARTWATCH


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DI — BioEnergy International AG, a specialized plant engineering company from Styria, Austria, broke ground on January 26, 2018, in the Hartberg Ecopark (Styria) for an industrial plant based on its innovative photobioreactor system for the production of algae biomass.
After years of research, BDI succeeded in developing its proprietary production system and in scaling it up to industrial size. Planning, building and operating its industrial algae production plant marks BDI’s first step into this business sector as raw material producer.
The wholly owned subsidiary BDI — BioLife Science GmbH will produce algae-based raw materials for food supplements, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries. According to Dr. Edgar Ahn, a member of the Management Board, “We are very proud that we have been able to bring once again a product of our R&D into industrial realization. By building this industrial plant, we can guarantee location-independent and cost-efficient production of valuable, high-quality algae products under optimal, environmental friendly conditions.”
“Projects like this are the best way to strengthen the Styrian regions. They provide benefits, jobs and thus quality of life,” said Minister of Economic Affairs MMag.a Barbara Eibinger-Miedl. “I am pleased that with the ground breaking ceremony today, the starting signal for an important investment in the future is being made. I am sure this project will further accelerate the development of green technologies in Styria.”


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Hawaii plans on educating locals on the ‘unlikely’ event of a missile strike from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The tourism industry fears this will mean fewer visitors to the Aloha State. But Hawaiian businesses tell a different story, with tourists still flocking to the islands.
CGTN’s Patrice Howard reports from Waikiki.
Despite missile threats from the DPRK, Hawaii’s Waikiki Beach is swarming with tourists.
The Hawaii Tourism Authority reports the number of visitors traveling to Hawaii in July increased 6.8 percent compared to the previous year.
Clarence Booth, is the owner of Waikiki Shore Beach Service, one of the busiest surf shops on Waikiki shore. Booth said his shop relies on tourists “ninety-nine percent.” But the DPRK’s latest threats of a ‘merciless’ strike on the U.S. haven’t kept them away.
“I think the crazier the world gets, I hate to say it like this, but the better it gets for Hawaii because this is considered the safest tourist destination in the world,” Booth explained. “It’s very isolated, under U.S. government protection, and the people here are just so nice, so Aloha.”
Hawaii is among the closest U.S. states to Pyongyang, and the islands will soon begin tests of an “attack-warning” siren, much like the one that rang out in Japan this week when one of Kim Jung Un’s missiles flew over the country.
The Hawaii Tourism Authority supports preparedness efforts, but released a statement expressing concern that if messages are misinterpreted about the state’s need to prepare for an attack, it could scare travelers away.
“Even though there is a threat, and it’s been ongoing for a few months now, we haven’t seen any drop off in numbers,” Mufi Hannemann, President & CEO of the Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association said.
Hawaii is constantly updating emergency plans to address natural disasters, like hurricanes or tsunami’s. Tourism experts have said a man-made threat is no different.
“Every hotel has a plan, every lodging accommodation is aware of what we need to do,” Hannemann said.
The economy of the Hawaiian islands relies on the 9 million visitors who come every year. Tourism is the biggest industry for the state, bringing in $13 billion a year.
Threats of a strike may hang in the air, but Hawaii’s tourists appear to be breathing easy.


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LG is expected to unveil a Galaxy Note 2 competitor at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
This device will be a 5.5-inch phablet smartphone that is the same size as the wildly popular Samsung device.
There is a possibility that the phablet could be the rumored Optimus G2. This device is supposed to become LG's flagship smartphone for 2013 and will help the company steal some of the market share away from Samsung, who is currently the only player in town when it comes to devices like the Note 2.
LG is also expected to unveil a new 7-inch tablet at CES. This device will come with 1920 x 1200 pixels resolution with a 324 pixel density. This will make it one of the most reader friendly 7-inch tablets on the market and will be a competitor for the Google Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD, and Nook HD.
Huawei is also expected to release a Galaxy Note 2 competitor this year with its Ascend Mate tablet.
Photos of the upcoming Huawei Ascend Mate tablet leaked onto the internet this week. The device will feature a 6.1-inch 1080p display and the pictures reveal even more about its appearance.
The resolution is crystal clear in the images, and it has a miniUSB port at the bottom, with an SD card slot and headphone jack at the top.
Rumored specifications for the Huawei Ascend include a 1.8GHz quad-core CPU, 2GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel camera, and a 4000mAh battery. The thickness of the device is rumored to be around 9.9mm.
The company also released an ad that is thought to be for the tablet. The ad compares this Huawei device to the Samsung Galaxy Note 2's 5.5-inch screen. This makes sense as a 6.1-inch screen would give Huawei's device a significant advantage over its Korean competitor.


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Marley Drug in W-S grows with mail-order, generic drug program
Bucking the image of the small, independent neighborhood pharmacy, Winston-Salem’s Marley Drug is taking out advertisements in the Philadelphia Inquirer and applying for pharmacy permits and making preparations to sell in nine states.
A six-member marketing team brought on board in January and February is spreading out across North Carolina to pitch Marley Drug to local physicians.
It’s all to promote Marley Drug’s extended-supply generic drug program, a mail-order pharmacy initiative that owner Dave Marley said cuts out health insurers and pharmacy industry middlemen to save patients and self-insured businesses money.
With a current pharmacy staff of 13, Marley anticipates the growth in the generic drug program making it necessary to add a second shift of workers by this fall, with the potential to add a third shift — all filling mail-based pharmacy orders — in the future.
“Prior to launching this program, we were looking at layoffs,” Marley said. “Now we’re looking at expanding.”
Cutting out middlemen
With the program, Marley Drug is selling a core list of more than 50 popular generic drugs in supplies of up to a year directly to patients without the involvement of health insurers or Medicare.
That’s not what’s become the traditional pharmacy model, which typically relies on pharmacy benefits managers to act as middlemen between the pharmacy, consumers and payers. The effect of that middleman, Marley said, is that the prices of generic drugs, which are an increasingly large portion of the market, only fall incrementally from brand-name prices and are still significantly higher than what the pharmacy can buy the drugs for.
Owen Covington covers health care, insurance, law/bankruptcy court, media/advertising, local government and sports business.
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Ok Kat fans: Grumpy Cat Limited, the company behind the ever-angry feline, filed a lawsuit against coffee company Grenade Beverage LLC for copyright and trademark infringement as well as trademark dilution, cybersquatting, breach of contract, and accounting. The lawsuit demands Grenade to stop using Grumpy Cat naming and imagery for products and sales, and seeks damages in the Californian federal court. The coffee company also operate the domain name grumpycat.com. Grumpy Cat image by Gage Skidmore.
A Virginia federal jury has reached it's verdict (PDF), ordering Cox Communications to pay $25 million to BMG Rights Management for turning a blind eye to music piracy with the jury finding that the company's behavior amounted to a willfully infringed copyright. In what could be a landmark copyright case, an ISP loses its "safe harbor." The verdict comes at the close of a two-week trial, which took place after US District Judge Liam O'Grady issued an opinion (PDF) slamming Cox's behavior, saying that the ISP isn't protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act "safe harbor" because the company did not "reasonably
implement" a policy to terminate repeat infringers. More on ArtsTechnica here.
|Abbott & Costello|
Music Week reports that three Members of US Congress have introduced a bill aimed at modernising and changing the status of the country's Copyright Office. The bill, known as the Copyright Office for the Digital Economy Act or the CODE Act, is sponsored by Congresswoman Judy Chu, Congressman Tom Marino and Congresswoman Barbara Comstock. The draft bill was first released in June and, following months of discussion with various stakeholders, it now reflects "a consensus across various industries and public interest groups,” according to the sponsors of the legislation. The CODE Act would "ensure that our country has a Copyright Office that reflects the 21st century,” according to Congresswoman Chu.
A federal judge has dimissed claims by the heirs to Abbott and Costello against the producers of a Broadway play in which a character uses a sock puppet to perform part of the comedians’ famous “Who’s on First” routine. The copyright holders sued “Hand to God” producers, promoters and playwright Robert Askins in the Manhattan federal court for copyright infringement. Federal Judge George Daniels in Manhattan rejected the lawsuit Thursday, saying the play transforms the original routine enough that it does not violate copyrights. The lawsuit had claimed the play “copied the very heart” of “Who’s on First.”
And finally, The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) has filed criminal charges against MTN Nigeria Communication and its Nigeria’s Chief Executive Officer, Ferdi Moolman, over alleged copyright infringements. In the two-count-charge, MTN and Moolman are alleged to have infringed on copies of the musical work of an Abuja based musician, Dovie Omenuwoma-Eniwo (aka Baba 2010). More here.


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An economic viewpoint: what’s affecting logistics?
Samuel Duah, Head of Real Estate Economics, BNP Paribas Real Estate UK pointed out that because of the geopolitical tensions in Europe, the slowdown of the Chinese economy and rising energy prices, the European economy is facing a number of challenges, which are undeniably affecting the real estate market and in turn logistics.
The US market in comparison to Europe faces less of a shock, as it appears to be holding up well, whilst for Europe the likelihood of a recession appears to be inevitable. Across the continent, with energy prices being affected by inflation, the response to how this will be managed has varied with the UK consumer taking on the rising prices.
Focusing on a positive trend, the high level of job and low unemployment is being witnessed across Europe.
A Europe outlook: how is the continent faring?
Vincent Robion, Head of Research Alliances & Logistics Europe, BNP Paribas Real Estate, spoke about the trends and economic situation which the logistics market is currently experiencing. Describing the record level of take-up in H1 2022, which is particularly remarkable when compared to 2021 which was until then the highest level witnessed. This in turn has meant that the logistics market is experiencing very good, dynamic activity.
Within Q2 of 2022, there has been some changes in activity as logistics enters a new pivot period of time. With a slowdown in take-up and investment, an acute lack of supply pushing rents upward, inflation and bond rates on the rise we arebeginning a period where we are likely to see a decompression in investment.
Take-up across Europe has inevitably varied, with Germany, Spain and Poland seeing no slowdown compared to the UK, France and Netherlands, which have all seen a reduction in activity. For many countries, an acute shortage of supply has affected the vacancy rate with Germany, the UK and France experiencing vacancy rates below 4%.
Vincent Robion went out to explain that, for logistics, the main driver of the market remains e-commerce. With increasing consumer interest for e-commerce, each country has seen rising rates of online sales. There are however differences in the spending of consumers across the continent. Online sales per capita in Spain and Italy are around €350 euros a year, whilst in the UK it is more than €2,000. This means that the potential in southern and central countries is very interesting and in turn can lead to a potential for growth and greater demand for warehouses.
In terms of investment potential, the market is experiencing strong demand, with logistics above retail for investor demand since 2020, taking up 24% of investor demand in Europe in Q2 2022 compared to 14% for retail.
Whilst demand is strong, the increase of government bond yields means that the first signs of decompression are being observed and we are entering into a period of change for the market.
A changing landscape for logistics
The logistics sector has held up well throughout the year, in spite of a number of social, political and economic factors, supported in large part by the demand for e-commerce. This is turn can lead to cities being redesigned and structured to adapt to greater infrastructure needs.
With environmental concerns affecting how occupiers view buildings, there are also questions about the upgrading of buildings and how obsolete buildings can be brought back into the market.
These varying factors and new investor and occupier concerns are likely to affect the very structure of the logistics market. As the market embarks on a new period of change, opportunities for new interactions and dynamics are inevitable and the strength of logistics will once again be tested.


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Boehringer Ingelheim announced that the FDA has approved its supplemental filing for Cyltezo (adalimumab-adbm) as the first "interchangeable biosimilar" with AbbVie's Humira (adalimumab). The FDA originally cleared Cyltezo in 2017 for multiple chronic inflammatory diseases and this latest approval designates it as interchangeable across all of these indications, meaning it can now be substituted for Humira without the prescriber having to change the prescription.
Cyltezo becomes the second interchangeable biosimilar product approved by the agency and the first interchangeable monoclonal antibody. In July, the FDA authorised Viatris' biosimilar insulin product Semglee (insulin glargine-yfgn) to be substituted for Sanofi's long-acting insulin analogue Lantus (insulin glargine).
Boehringer Ingelheim noted that Cyltezo is not commercially available in the US at the moment, but that its commercial license will begin in July 2023, following a patent settlement agreement reached with AbbVie a few years ago.
According to Boehringer Ingelheim, the approval for interchangeability was backed by the Phase III VOLTAIRE-X trial, which studied the effects of multiple switches between Humira and Cyltezo. The company said the findings, presented earlier this year at the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) conference, found "no meaningful clinical differences" in terms of pharmacokinetics, efficacy, immunogenicity and safety between the switching and continuous treatment groups.
There are five other Humira biosimilars approved and lined up for market entry in 2023 as well, with Cyltezo expected to be among the first to enter the market. Launching in June 2023 is Hadlima, a biosimilar developed by Samsung Bioepis and slated for launch in partnership with Merck & Co.'s Organon spinout, although it does not have interchangeable status. The other Humira biosimilars that have FDA approval are expected to launch in later months of 2023.
AbbVie, which is slated to report third-quarter results next week, said in July that Humira had generated sales of $5.1 billion in the second quarter, which was up nearly 5% from the year-ago period.
To read more Top Story articles, click here.


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Good news if you’re an owner of the first generation iPod nano. Apple is offering free replacements to those still in possession of the company’s device circa 2005 to 2006.
Apparently due to a faulty battery the first generation nano has been recalled, with owners being offered a free shiny replacement.
On the downside, though, there is danger that your nano could spontaneously combust due to the defect before you get a chance to send it back.
Guess that would add a whole new literal meaning if you happen to be listening to “Burn baby Burn” or “Relight my Fire” at the same time.


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RAISING NATIVE CHICKEN
Manila, July 24, 2003 (STAR) Native chickens used to be grown in backyards and were intended for family consumption only. Hence, there was no native chicken industry to speak of in the old days.
But Anthony P. Inocencio, who used to be a contract grower for a big food company in the 80's, decided that native chicken could become a profitable industry, provided someone starts breeding it with other foreign breeds on a commercial scale.
In 1997 he decided to mate imported sasso (an acronym for selectione de avecole dela Sartre et sud ouest or selections from Sartre, France and southwest) with local native chickens to produce a superior breed in meat and egg production. SASSO is a cooperative of native chicken farmers in France who bonded together and adopted the acronym as the trade name as well. The biggest farm in France produces 25 million heads a year and the smallest produces 60,000 chicken a year.
In Asia, sassos are being bred with the native chickens in Thailand, Malaysia and Taiwan with the later having the biggest production at 100,000 heads.
Inocencio said he shifted from white leghorns to native chickens knowing how they are being pumped with so much chemical medicines and preventive antibiotics the residuals of which are eaten by humans making them more prone to allergies and other diseases such as breast cancer, among others; and b) because free range chicken are healthier since they feed themselves with more greens that in turn get to be consumed by humans.
Besides, he said, there is room for starting a commercial native chicken industry in the country considering that more and more consumers – who can afford it – are following the Westerners hunger for organic food and the mounting volumes of scientific and medical research showing the ill effects of residual antibiotics and inorganic medicines on humans.
With the GATT in place next year, there is no telling how big the organic chicken market abroad is, which could not be filled unless someone starts an industry now. This early, he said, Germany has required only the sale of table eggs from free range chicken by 2004 and in the whole of Europe by 2007. By 2012, the European market will buy only free range (native) chickens.
The Inocencio Farm, which used to be called Teresa Farms when it was still a white leghorn enterprise, devotes half of its 20 hectares of rolling terrain to sasso chickens, which are kept in existing houses but are allowed to roam freely for the entire day. Though they are fed with the feeds that Inocencio himself formulates, they are left to go around pecking at plants, roots, soil and other things.
The farm contains 10,000 head of chickens at any given time – but only 8,000 of this population is for production purposes – to produce chicks that would be distributed to other satellite breeders of sasso in the country.
While the price of native chicken is P95 per kilo for live and P150 to P180 per kilo for dressed chicken versus the leghorns' P80 per kilo dressed, there is a huge local market, which could hardly be filled by local sasso production, Inocencio said.
Demand for chicken in the Philippines is at 635 million a year. Chicken is the cheapest protein source.
The breeders produce to four to five times a year and are productive for one to one-half years with those that have gone past their productive stage being put under rehabilitation or are sold as meat (with trade name Tony's Country Chicken) in organic stores including Landmark. A breeder can last up to five years.
A female can produce 150 chicks with the chicks costing P35 a piece, Inocencio said.
Reported by: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2003
by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE


text: TDI PACKSYS wanted to bark up leads at a major trade show. After learning their inspection equipment can detect the smallest contaminant, we designed a bag of dog food, and hid a lucky glass bead inside. Recipients scanned their bag at the booth. If they had the bead, they’d win an Apple Watch®. The result was doggone amazing. TDI’s CEO said “People were stunned by our booth … It created a lot of legitimacy with some very large customers.” We also unleashed the company’s new website and corporate brochure.


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Kiwibank to increase penalty fees
Kiwibank is to increase penalty fees for customers who have cheques or automated payments dishonoured. Account and transaction fees are not changing and Kiwibank's overall fees remain up to 50 per cent less than the other nationwide banks.
Chief Executive Sam Knowles said a small percentage of customers incurred penalty costs for not honouring payment commitments and that it was not fair and reasonable for this to impact on other customers.
"Kiwibank is determined to maintain its position as the bank with the lowest fees. To do this we need to make sure that the vast majority of our customers do not have to carry the costs of those who have payments dishonoured."
The new penalty fees will come into effect on 1 November 2003. Customers who have repeatedly had payments dishonoured are being contacted directly and provided with assistance to manage their accounts more effectively.
The new penalty charges are an increase in a cheque dishonour fee from $15 to $25; automatic payment dishonour fee from $7.50 to $25, direct debit dishonour fee from $7.50 to $25 and a new charge of $7.50 a month for unauthorised overdrafts.
Mr Knowles said the new dishonour fees move Kiwibank rates in line with the lowest charges by main nationwide banks.
For further information:
Bruce Thompson, Communications Manager
(04)460 6831 (027) 475 3521


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Troyes, France – Lacoste is establishing an online presence in Greater China using a new multichannel commerce solution from Accenture that features Demandware as the core digital commerce platform. Under terms of the agreement, Accenture has designed and built Lacoste’s online store and will continue to manage the operations of its online business in China.
This includes technology support, back office services, integration with microsites, customer services, logistics payment services and social media networks. Lacoste will retain responsibility for all brand related activities, such as digital marketing, eMerchandising, branding and media. Accenture will use Accenture Interactive to help deliver the services to Lacoste.
“We are excited to be making the iconic Lacoste brand available online to Chinese consumers,” said Sébastien Fayet, head of digital at Lacoste. “Accenture’s solution offers Lacoste the ability to quickly reach millions of Chinese consumers, and provide them with a quality and secure online experience.”


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The Christmas buying season is completely different for retailers
Shoppers on Regent Street in central London.
Dominic Lipinski – PA Pictures | PA pictures | Getty Images
LONDON – The coronavirus crisis has posed major challenges for many retailers this year. The holiday shopping season was seen as the last chance to generate much-needed sales.
In the UK, as in many other countries, December is usually the best sales month of the year. However, amid one of the worst economic crises in history, there are concerns about how the sector will perform.
However, experts have told CNBC that UK retailers are optimistic for at least three reasons.
“Of course, many people will have financial problems as a result of the pandemic, but cash flows will have improved significantly for many other households across the UK as they were forced to spend less on travel, commuting and going out and many will have taken advantage of this.” Opportunity to build her savings and pay off her debts, “said Amisha Chohan, a stock research analyst at investment management firm Quilter Cheviot.
The UK household saving rate, the percentage of money people save and not spend, rose from 9.6% in the first quarter to 29.1% in the second quarter, according to the Bureau of National Statistics. This was a record since the data began in 1987.
“There is real optimism that this forced saving will ensure that there is some catching up to do in the weeks and months to come,” said Chohan.
Data from the UK Bureau of Statistics showed that consumers spent around £ 82 billion in November and December 2019. However, due to pent-up demand, the UK Retail Consortium, a trade association, has announced that sales will “exceed” last year’s sales.
Shopping baskets might look a little different this year.
“People have more time, so they have adopted new habits and that will bring some sales,” Jat Sahi, director of retail advisory at Fujitsu, told CNBC last month.
Fitness equipment, puzzles and board games, for example, were among the most popular items in the UK ahead of the second lockdown in November, data from eBay showed.
“We use our homes differently to make them more comfortable,” Sahi said, suggesting that housewares are also likely to be the first choice for consumers who expect to work from home, at least for the foreseeable future.
Back in the holiday season, music and movies, as well as books and computers, were the top three items bought as gifts, according to the Bank of England. At this time of year, new clothes were also the first choice for many consumers.
“Clothes are facing the biggest problems because people don’t go to Christmas parties,” Jonathan Pritchard, retail analyst at Peel Hunt, told CNBC on the phone.
It’s not just what consumers buy, but how they shop, which is likely to be different this Christmas.
Retailers have seen online sales spike in the aftermath of the pandemic as consumers have been forced to stay indoors. This trend is expected to continue over Christmas as many UK cities still have social restrictions.
According to eMarketer, a data company, UK consumers will spend £ 141.33 billion on online purchases for all of 2020 – a 34.7% jump from last year.
‘We deserve it’
“It’s an emotional thing. We’ve been in lockdown for so long, we deserve it,” Sahi told CNBC about the reasons for some of the purchases this season.
Due to the pandemic, people have been prevented from doing activities, but shopping is still one of the few options they have.
Chohan also noted the willingness of people to get into the Christmas spirit earlier this year.
“There have been few reasons to be cheerful this year, and this lack of joy has encouraged many to get into the festive mood early by putting up their decorations and starting Christmas shopping much earlier than usual,” she said .
A shopper wearing a face mask on Regent Street in London after the second national lockdown ended and England has a strengthened system of coronavirus restrictions.
Victoria Jones – PA Pictures | PA pictures | Getty Images


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Start-up dining establishments are well-known yet really expensive businesses. Start-up expenses differ substantially from situation to situation; however usually vary from the countless amounts of dollars. The majority of potential entrepreneurs don’t have the full amount of cash available. Even
There’s no greater moment compared to give increase your restaurant. The economy is puttering along and you will find severe offers on leasing area and restaurant loan, equipment and machinery, actually carpet could be had in a great value. Companies
In a survey conducted on restaurant loans, it was concluded that almost 50 per cent American adults have worked in restaurants at some point in their professional career. And out of this percentage about 40 per cent wish to own
Fast food giant McDonald’s has reported better-than-expected profits for the first quarter of 2011, with sales up in the US, Europe and Asia. According to a scrutinizing figures, First quarter profits were $1.2bn), up 10.9% from a year ago, with revenues rising 9% to $6.1bn. McDonald’s global analogous sales were 4.2% higher.


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Decryption and possible solutions for industries
82% of French companies are facing supply chain problems linked to shortages of materials*. Since the summer of 2020, the shortage of electronic components has become one of the major problems that manufacturers must face and learn to reorganize. According to governments, the situation is not expected to improve before 2023. What are the origins of this crisis? What solutions can industries consider?
Why this shortage of electronic components?
The pandemic has changed behavior in work and leisure: we have seen a sudden increase in the consumption of laptops due to teleworking, but also in video games, followed closely by the adoption of 5G. Electronic chip producers therefore initially focused on these markets, but when at the end of the pandemic the automobile industry resumed, accentuated by the excitement of the electric car, demand literally exploded. Global production can no longer keep up.
Although it was the automotive and IT industries that set the scene on fire, all sectors that depend on electronic technology are affected: aeronautics, transport, nuclear, pharmaceuticals, etc. virtually no sector is spared.
Other factors have also contributed to aggravating this shortage, such as the obstruction of the Suez Canal for several weeks, or the Chinese energy crisis in 2021. And let’s not forget that this crisis also has geopolitical roots due to the divides Asia / USA and currently the war in Ukraine which amplifies the impoverishment of raw materials.


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- Dec 17, 2013
There are a lot of folks out there wanting VR to start out as mature as console and PC gaming.
The number one complaint you'll see about gaming on Oculus Rift or the HTC Vive right now is a lack of popular ? commonly referred to as AAA ? games. As gamers, we're used to a major hardware launch including a list of games that were made in coordination with the manufacturer. Games that, at least in part, show off what the system you're playing on is capable of. Perhaps more important than how functional the games are, some those launch titles in the last few generations have been staples in the console ecosystem.
While these expectations aren't unreasonable from the perspective of someone who has grown up on consoles, it's a thought that misses the larger picture when it comes to VR gaming. It also unnecessarily puts the smaller VR experiences that already exist in an box they don't belong in.
Full story from the WindowsCentral blog...


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Wal-Mart is attempting to follow consumers as they migrate to the Internet in China.
Wal-Mart said in a statement that Yihaodian will be led by Wang Lu, president and CEO of Walmart Global eCommerce in Asia.
"Yihaodian co-founders, Chairman Gang Yu and CEO Junling Liu have announced they are leaving Yihaodian," Walmart said in a statement.
Afer a stellar Q2 earnings report, Amazon hit a huge milestone: If officially became more valuable than the biggest retailer, Wal-Mart.
Retail Group runs 28 restaurants that include pizza, burgers and ice cream in the diamond-rich southern African country.
Asian shares retreated to two-year lows on Wednesday after Chinese stocks extended their plunge, continuing to stoke fears.
ET Textile Index, which covers cos across the value chain, has given 90% returns in the past three years, while the Nifty has given 40% returns.
There has been increasing interest in stocks of select textile companies -thanks to healthy capacity utilisation due to improved demand.


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The recently published financial details of Uber that projects $100 billion valuation for its IPO has left analyzed divided and all of them agree that this valuation cannot be guaranteed as accessing it is not easy. Analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities when questioned about the possibility of $100 billion valuation of Uber stated that everything lies in the beholder’s eyes and it could be what investors are likely to pay. Paul Meeks of Wireless Fund stated that as there are no previous profit benchmarks of the firm so the best way to access its valuation is through its sales figures.
He said that pricing its stock six times above sales value is a healthy valuation for an established technical brand like Uber so its value should be around $73 billion and that of Lyft should be $14 billion with estimated shares at $ 50 per share. He said that though there is nothing wrong for a firm that is making losses to go public for funding its expansion plans but the growing losses of Uber are a cause for worry. During 2018 the EBIT adjusted losses of Uber stood at $1.8 billion and its revenues also stopped growing which raised investors’ concerns.
The fear among investors about Uber’s progress is compounded by the sharp fall of Lyft’s stocks that sank from $ 72 its IPO price to $59.90 late this week. Both analysts have connected the uncertainty around IPO of Uber to debut of Amazon which also suffered from steep losses. Ives said that though some investors feel that the stock of Uber has same potential as Amazon comparing them is a little foolish as profitability path of Uber is still fuzzy. Meeks seeks limited opportunity for Uber to make profits out of its core business of ridesharing like Amazon which made money from its cloud product.


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Updated: For the last year, Mozilla has been looking to build a mobile operating system as part of its “Boot to Gecko” project. Today at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the first fruits of that effort appeared, with the news of a partnership with Spanish operator Telefónica to build out a new generation of handsets that have web technologies at the core.
The project, which is being dubbed “Open Web Devices,” uses the
Android Linux kernel but has an entirely new layer on top that puts HTML5 in the spotlight. It’s essentially a complete phone system run on web technologies that gives the on-board software access to core APIs through an embedded version of Firefox. That, in turn, means all apps on the phone essentially run in the browser.
While the proof of the pudding is in the eating — and the devices themselves won’t be out until later this year — the big question has to be whether the world needs another mobile operating system.
For consumers, the answer is decidedly unclear. They’re already fleeing a multitude of setups toward the top of the chain, in the sort of tectonic shift that has left long-term players like Research in Motion (s:rimm) and Nokia all at sea.
For operators, though, it could actually make some sense to back this scheme: rather than be cut out entirely of the revenue loop with customers almost entirely (as has happened with Apple (s:aapl) and Android (s:goog) ), they can potentially be a greater part of development and therefore win a slice of revenue from apps and other additions. That’s great news for the likes of Telefónica, the world’s third largest operator, and the owner of major brands like O2, which has been having a tough few years.
But can it really work?
Remember, this approach has been tried before — sort of — by Palm, which developed it’s own webOS as a way of using a suite of web technologies to power the handset. For all the plaudits that initiative won the company (our own Kevin Tofel was a fan), it simply couldn’t stop the company’s slide — which eventually ended with a fire sale to HP (s: hpq), which then promptly underwent its own internal crisis, let Palm wither and saw senior staff such as Jon Rubinstein leave.
And although HP shopped webOS around to try and offload it, it was ultimately unsuccessful. And with nobody taking the bait the company considered shutting it down completely, before finally taking the move to open source the system just before Christmas.
That is not to say Mozilla’s effort is doomed to failure. The world, and web tech, has moved on significantly since Palm launched webOS, and Mozilla has a different structure — and different incentives for success. But the smartphone market’s incredibly crowded already with iOS, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry all trading blows. What do these Open Web Devices need to do to stand out?
Article corrected to OWD is based on the Linux kernel, not Android.


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The threat of government regulation has been looming over Facebook like a dark storm cloud for more than a year now, and it feels like it may finally be starting to rain.
Last week, we learned that the FTC is considering slapping Facebook with a reported “record-setting” fine for abusing its users’ data and privacy. This week, two more things happened that make it seem like that cloud will be staying around for a while.
The first was an op-ed by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg that was published late on Thursday in the Wall Street Journal.
Titled “The Facts About Facebook,” the op-ed laid out why Facebook sells ads (“to offer services for free”); why Facebook uses peoples’ personal data to target them with those ads (people “prefer more relevant ads”); and added a friendly reminder that “we don’t sell people’s data.”
Zuckerberg also pointed out that Facebook’s free service is great for users because it helps them “stay connected to those they care about and to express themselves,” and it’s also great for small businesses. “Most couldn’t afford to buy TV ads or billboards, but now they have access to tools that only big companies could use before,” he wrote.
In other words, Facebook provides an invaluable service to the world, and its advertising business is necessary to keep that going.
If you’ve followed Facebook or Zuckerberg at all over the past few years, you’ve probably already heard most of this stuff. So why is Zuckerberg announcing it in a fancy WSJ opinion piece?
There are a lot of people who want to regulate Facebook. And regulators, both in the United States and in Europe, probably read the Journal. That likely includes politicians who want to pass laws that would limit Facebook’s ad business, or regulators like those who work at the FTC.
Zuckerberg is bringing his argument for why Facebook doesn’t need to be babysat — “we give people complete control” — to a news outlet that should reach the people who might disagree.
But while Zuckerberg’s focus in his WSJ piece is on Facebook’s data and advertising business, the New York Times reminded everyone that this isn’t the only kind of regulation Facebook should be concerned about.
In a story published Friday, the Times reported that Facebook is planning to combine the technology for all three of its standalone messaging apps: Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. That would enable an Instagram user, for example, to send and receive messages to people using WhatsApp, something that isn’t currently possible.
Setting aside the technical challenges of connecting different apps with different features — WhatsApp only requires your phone number, for example, while Instagram allows you to have an anonymous account — the move would create one giant Facebook messaging ecosystem. Each of those services has more than a billion users.
There are a lot of people who already think Facebook is a monopoly. This move won’t change their opinion.
“This is why there should have been far more scrutiny during Facebook’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp which now clearly seem like horizontal mergers that should have triggered antitrust scrutiny,” tweeted Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democratic congressman from California. “Imagine how different the world would be if Facebook had to compete with Instagram and WhatsApp. That would have encouraged real competition that would have promoted privacy and benefited consumers.”
Could the FTC try and break up Facebook? It certainly feels possible. But as The Verge’s Casey Newton pointed out Friday in his daily newsletter, Facebook may beat them to the punch.
“If the Federal Trade Commission ever planned to compel Facebook to spin out WhatsApp and Instagram — a big if, I know — you can imagine the company explaining that there was no longer such a thing as ‘WhatsApp’ or ‘Instagram,’” Newton wrote.
Maybe something for Zuckerberg to explain in his next op-ed.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.


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Toolstation, part of the Travis Perkins Group, recently celebrated the significant milestone of opening its 400th branch. The new outlet, on the Zennor Road Trade Park in Balham, was officially opened at a launch event on Friday 24 January.
The 400th branch opening follows a period of sustained growth that is set to continue into 2020. The business has enjoyed ten consecutive quarters of double-digit growth whilst the most recent Q3 trading results showed growth of 21.3%, and 15.4% on a like for like basis. For the Travis Perkins Q3 2019 trading update, click here.
Trade brands such as Trend and Everbuild were in attendance, showcasing their products and talking to customers. And in an attempt to win a DeWalt Combi drill, rugby fans were able to try their luck at the Toolstation rugby kick and pass challenge.
As well as being the 400th nationwide, the Balham branch is the 64th in London and forms part of the Group’s ambition to double the number of stores in the capital in the coming years.
In 2019, Toolstation opened 67 new branches nationally, creating 800 new jobs. In London, nine new branches opened and 67 jobs were created last year and this growth looks set to show no sign of slowing down with a similar number of new branches planned to open in the year ahead.
James MacKenzie, Managing Director, commented: “Toolstation is one of the fastest growing retailers in the UK. As well as having market leading products at great prices, we make it easy for our busy trade customers to buy online and pick up from store. The 400th Store in Balham has free parking and complements the other 63 stores in London, which means a Toolstation is never far away.”


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Assessing progress in greening electronics
According to the latest Greenpeace report, brands are making progress in reducing polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in products. Apple is leading the pack in completely eliminating these chemicals in personal computers (PCs), while TV manufacturers are lagging their PC peers in reducing PVC and BFRs. On the supply chain front, Greenpeace challenges the brands to be transparent on chemicals use and to eliminate all chemicals of high concern in manufacturing. The on-going challenges of managing the huge volume of e-waste highlight the need to use inherently safer chemicals in products.


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2016 Range Rover Sport SVR named FOUR WHEELER of the Year.
The U.S. publication, which is now in its 43rd year, is open to all new or significantly updated SUVs and judged over a week of testing featuring more than 1,000 miles of real-world driving.
FOUR WHEELER judges said the Range Rover Sport SVR performed best on and off road.
The first model to wear the high-performance SVR badge from Jaguar Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations (SVO), FOUR WHEELER Editor, Christian Hazel, says the V8 Range Rover model was a stand out.
“The Range Rover Sport SVR could have easily eschewed off-road capability in the interest of impressive track numbers, yet it remains pure to the off-road heritage the Land Rover brand was founded on,”
“Despite its impressive technological abilities, when you slide behind the wheel, drop the transfer case into low range, and point the front bumper at the top of the mountain, you feel you’re piloting a wonderfully analogue off-road animal.
“The driver-to-vehicle connection is uncomplicated. And at the end of the day, that’s what the true enthusiast-whether at the race track, dirt wash, or rocky trail-is after: the ability to become one with your machine.
“The Range Rover SVR delivers this connection, and that’s a huge reason why it was a favorite with our judges.”


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Rooter-Man Franchise News
Browse the latest corporate news from Rooter-Man.
Rooter-Man, a plumbing, septic, and drain cleaning franchise has partnered with MyCryptoCheckout.
Entrepreneur Magazine has just announced its 39th annual evaluation of the top franchises in all industries. For the 16th consecutive year, Rooter-Man was recognized as the #1 Plumbing Franchise.
Franchise Gator recently released its annual Top 100 List and named Rooter-Man a Top 100 franchise for 2018.
Rooter-Man Has Been Ranked The #1 Plumbing Franchise By Entrepreneur Magazine For The 15th Consecutive Year
Rooter-Man is a national plumbing, sewer, and drain cleaning franchise with over 580+ locations in North America.
Rooter-Man, the premiere plumbing and drain cleaning service provider in U.S. and Canada, has recently added two new franchise locations to their ever growing franchise chain.
Sign-up and we will contact you when Rooter-Man franchise opportunities become available on Franchising.com.


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Apple and Qualcomm have been accusing each other for more than a year, but upcoming hearings in the U.S., China and Germany are expected to bring some progress in the case.
In the the U.S., the International Trade Commission in Washington will begin a hearing on Qualcomm's argument that Apple is infringing three patents as soon as next week.
Qualcomm is asking the agency to ban imports of all iPhone 7 models that dont have Qualcomm's chips.
Another court in Mannheim, Germany, is hearing a case by the chipmaker that argues iPhones using Intel chips infringe Qualcomm's patents and should be excluded from access to Europe's largest national market. The judge tentatively agreed with Qualcomm but put the case on hold while the European Patent Office decides whether the patent in question is valid.
In China, tthe Chinese Patent Review Board begins hearings this month and next to consider Apple's request to invalidate patents that Qualcomm is trying to use against it.
For its part, Apple it trying to save some billions in technology licensing payments by forcing chipmaker Qualcomm to change the way it does business. The iPhone maker has argues that Qualcomm uses its ownership of patents that cover the basics of how modern smartphones communicate to extract unfairly high payments.
Qualcomm claims that Apple is stealing its property by refusing to hand over fees for technology that the rest of the industry pays for.
Apple may be the hook for $2.5 billion to $4.5 billion in unpaid fees, a total that could be equivalent to about one-fifth of Qualcomm's annual revenue.
More than 50 separate intellectual property and antitrust proceedings have been filed across 16 jurisdictions in six countries. While no single case will resolve everything, a number of decisions in the second half of 2018 could create an incentive to settle.
Eventually, a settlement is widely expected between the two behemoths, though the timing and terms are uncertain.


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Firefox 3.0 will have several new security features baked in, according to Mozilla's chief of security.
The browser will likely have a tool for automatically blocking sites suspected of harbouring malware. It will also offer support for the extended validation Secure Sockets Layer (EV SSL) certificates, said Window Snyder, Mozilla's chief security officer.
The malware blocker, which relies on blacklists generated by Google, has been publicly debated by Mozilla and Google developers, with mock-ups of the on-screen warnings surfacing in early June.
"We wanted to make sure that it's obviously not a security notification that they can ignore," Snyder said, describing how the warnings will work. "The [user interface] makes it clear that this [site] is dangerous. And it does not give the user a click-through," Snyder said. In other words, users will be able to back away from the potentially malicious site but won't be able to simply accept the warning and continue on.
"Nothing's ever done until it ships," Snyder cautioned, hinting that changes are still possible, or if necessary, the tool might still be ditched.
The other feature set for Firefox 3.0 offers support for the new EV certificates now used by a few of the largest online retailers, banks and financial institutions. Those certificates, which in Internet Explorer turn the address bar green, require more extensive background checks of the buyer by the issuing authority to guarantee that they're given only to trustworthy sites. One of the first sites to use EV certificates was that of PayPal.


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Consumer Electronics Show Ogilvy Labs Report By William Harvey @WilliamEdHarvey
Every January, the tech and innovation community come together in the Nevada desert for what is now as the largest technology conference in the world, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
It's the pinnacle event for the whos who in the technology sector to kick start the new year and showcase the latest and greatest in new tech. All the major tech companies attend: Sony, Intel, Samsung, LG and Google. They see it as an opportunity to show the market what to expect from them this year and to check out fellow competitors and developments in the market.
This was Ogilvy's 4th year attending the show, our aim: Sift through and then pull together all the exciting announcements and innovation, helping explore what this might mean for brands looking to embrace emerging tech and its impact on the future of the consumer market. Originally an electronics show that allowed major chip and tech manufacturers a space to get together and announce their latest wares, the show has evolved dramatically over the years. The most noticeable change is the complete integration of
brands and advertisers into the show. This year we saw a new designated space called 'C-space' that was a destination for creative communicators, brand marketers, advertising agencies, digital publishers and social networks.
4 day conference 170K attendees with 45K being international250K tweets 20K new products launched2.2 million sq. feet of floorspace3.5K exhibitors
One to Watch Surprising star of the show Asctec Drone took stage on the 1st day of the show as part of Intel's keynote. Intel was showing off a number of possible applications using their new Primesence camera.
ASCTEC have been working with Intel to maximise the level of detail and accuracy that the Intel Primesence cameras were able to read and process. They showcased a prototype drone that had been fitted out with 6 Primesence cameras facing outwards. It was able to
read and detect the surroundings due to the 360 coverage and the processing power inside the device. They gave a few examples using this combined technology such as the ability to read its surroundings and avoid oncoming objects, they demoed this by playing the world's first drone ping pong match between 4 people on stage.
The drone was completely reactive to being approached, an exciting step forward for a drone to have contextual awareness of its surroundings to avoid collisions and adapting to changes in environments.
Trends for 2015 What to expect to see this year Each year we walk the vast floor of exhibitors and attend numerous talks and discussion sessions to pick up on key trends emerging. Here are just a few.
Intimate Technology The battle for our body and behaviour is joined. This year a waterfall of new products are flooding the market. We saw the continuing trend of technology nesting itself between us, close to us and even within us. We're seeing a growing reliance on technology to be part of our daily routine and event to undertake simple tasks we used to do ourselves. Maths, communication and even relationship management are of course already well-catered for by tech. The behaviour of, and therefore our interaction with, our personal devices poses a possible disconnect with reality. A recent study by the University of Missouri concluded that that iPhone separation anxiety can make us dumber in cognitive tests. All is not lost. There a number of small behavioural cultural changes it appears more of us are adopting, and they can help restore the balance and reliance on technology. Charging devices in a different room to where you sleep, reducing the use of 2nd screen when doing existing tasks, and bans on phones at the table or other social situations.
4K Goes mainstream Streaming just got a whole lot sharper. CES '15 saw a number of high profile announcements around HDR (High Dynamic Range) and 4K. Sony,
Samsung and LG, presented UHD TVs that are a whole lot more affordable (a 4K panel for 899 compared to 1899 in 2014.) Content providers showed that they feel the that the market has matured enough to adopt the format by bringing it to the mass market. Last year Netflix, dipped their toes into distributing 4K shows like 'House of Cards'. This year there's a boom of other content providers jumping on the band wagon : YouTube, GoPro and Playstation all presented 4k wares. The challenge for content providers to is to keep up with this ever demanding higher quality thrust from consumers. With home 4K camcorders, GoPro and the like in the hands of you and I, programme makers and advertisers will need to work harder to keep up.
Time to get Immersive Virtual reality gets real close. Back at the 2013 CES, we talked about 'Oculus
Rift' gaining traction and interest, leading then to its acquisition by Facebook. At CES 2015, we were almost overwhelmed with new and exciting VR experiences: flying with a drone's eye view whilst controlling it from the ground, extreme shooting rigs, where you run on the spot and in the game you move. It still has a long way to go to hit 360 viewable, quality content but it will only grow more with developments of capturing our environments with 360 cameras such as Giroptic that allows users multiple experience options. Samsung made a bold step by creating a immersive content market place called Milk VR, allowing users to experience places and tasks they have never have dreamt of seeing. We will see an increase of these immersive capturing devices especially in the live streaming space.
1.3M 4K TVs were sold in 2014 and predictions of 4M+ to be sold in 2015.... ..this is forcing service providers to keep up with with the demand and new ecosystem Shawn DuBravac - Chief Economist and Sr. Director - CEA
FlyBy Scanning Centre stage as part of Intels Keynote, as well as on the show floor, Displaying the reach of Primesence
Intel Curie As part of Intel's Keynote at CES last year, their CEO Brian Krzanich took to the stage once again to show their vision of the future as well a number of exciting R&D projects. The announcement that was the biggest surprise was 'Curie', a purpose built system on a chip (SoC) for wearable devices. The device has a low powered Intel Quark (SoC), Bluetooth low energy, motion sensors and battery charging capability. It's only the size of a button. Brian made this announcement towards the end of the keynote in a fairly theatrical manner, by pulling the button off his jacket and stating by the way, I've been wearing our latest innovation this entire time, may I present Curie. This marks a very big moment for the possibilities that smaller, smarter, connected devices offer the consumer. The ability to integrate an entire computer into something the size of a button is and exciting step forward from Intel and a great follow up to last year's 'Eddison' chip the size of a SD card.
New 3Doodler 3D printing. Yeah, I know, it's no new thing, but this year saw a number of new machines enter the market from chocolate printers to amazing life-like replications of objects. One of the surprise announcements was from 3Doodler, the company that raised $2.3M on Kickstarter in March 2013, to bring to market the world first 3D printing pen. They announced their follow up device: a more refined, slimmer and durable device that lets you draw objects in mid air to create 3D objects. No one has yet used the device a a marketing tool, but it has a wide range of creative possibilities.
Imagine what could happen in the hands of children. Imagine unlocking creative uses to take an idea from 2D into a 3 D world! As of early January '15, Doodler 2.0 raised $1.2 M of crowd funding capital in just 10 days.
Samsung Edge We saw the new Samsung Edge Smartphone close up. Their experimental phone that launched in Vegas, and it will be sold in the States this year. It's their first step into using curved display on mobile. On the right of the phone, the display curves seamlessly over the corner and down the side. It has a number of interesting functions, from a quick access sidebar for more popular apps to a notification bar visible from the side when the phone is flat on the table. My initial thought toward the device was that perhaps it was a bit of a gimmicky use of the technology, but after playing with it, the possibility of curved displays becoming a reality in the personal device market started to seem very real. We might finally be looking at something other than at very traditional, boxy, flat and bland same-y products. Keep your eye on this space as it has real disruptive possibilities.
People are asking themselves Are we a technology company? My response is that we are all now Technology company if we realize it or not as it is now so integrated in our culture and Lifestyles John T. Chambers - CISCO CEO
Latest Tech Physical tech to watch
Smaller and Smarter This show saw a number of enhancements to existing technology making them smaller and smarter! (Left) Intel 'Curie' (Right) '3D Doodler'
Last year we saw the category of wearable become recognised by the industry with a number of fitness trackers and some smart watches, such as Pebble, entering the market. This year was no different, but we saw a dramatic growth and shift within the wearable market.
According to the latest numbers from the CEA, there will be 10.8 million wearable units expected to ship in 2015 that is almost 350% year on year growth. Many predict 2015 will be the watershed year of wearables as the category starts to get its own subcategories: smart watches, fitness trackers and glassware. One of the turning points for this adoption is wearables becoming more desirable by being more fashionable.
Android Awaiting Apple Whilst attending a number of sessions across the show there was a key missing player in the room when it comes to the wearables... Yup, Apple. Known for no longer showcasing at CES and famous for having staff attending under different company names, Apple had been predicted to be lauching a smart watch for a number of years. Its competitors, fed up waiting have brought out a number of devices over the last 2 years to test the water and hunger for smart watches: Samsung's 'Gear,' Moto 30 and LG Watch R. There have been mixed reactions from industry and consumers, all
waiting to see what Apple would do before making the next move due to Cupertino's success in refining new product categories. Apple announced back in September it would be entering the Smart Watch market with Apple Watch,rumoured to be launching the 1st quarter 2015. Taking its time to bring out it's product, Apple will shape the way its competitors go by taking wearable technology and make it fashionable. The Apple Watch will most likely mark the adoption of the category by the masses.
Misfit Partner with Swarovski Misfit is the activity, fitness and sleep wearable tracker that has a very simple interface and form factor. That's the combination that has done extremely well the past couple of years at CES. This year Misfit announced a partnership with SwarovskiMisfit tech with the Swarovski's iconic brand design and fashion. This signals a change in target market, taking very reliable technology with proven benefits to 'early adopters' and positioning the products from this collaboration at the fashion and fitness-conscious market, a much broader and potentially more lucrative market.
When the Apple Watch is launched it will have a BIG effect on what is known as a subcategory becoming a main one. What it takes is a big player to put a stake in the ground to get others to follow. Jack Cutts - CEA Business intelligence - Wearables
Luxury Wearable tech Time for Tech to be fashionable
Weird and Wonderful A whole host of weird and wonderful robots, drones and automated environment were visible at the 2015 show
Drones, driverless cars, and connected homes... CES '15 CES saw a spike in the artificial intelligence space with a number of designated zones in the exhibition halls. One was able to explore these interesting new companies and products coming to market this year.
A drone for you and me Drones are nothing new, but affordability and availability is something that is now putting them in consumer's hands. We saw a number of interesting developments in that space: the world's first entirely 3D printed drone (including integrated circuits) from start up 3D printer Voxel8. A number of features are now available on drones. 'Air Dog' allows you to programme your drone to follow you or fly a preset route. Unsprisingly, there's a huge increase in concern over drone regulations and the creation of code of conduct. This came from the FAA who are working on updating regulations as we have seen an increased number of accidents and stunts involving handling drones inappropriately.
Robots to rule the world? Robotics is another technology that a few years ago was seen as very science fiction. This year, we will really start to see robots entering the home. Innovators are developing new ways for robots to see, think and adapt so that they can become more aware of their surroundings. We saw the show floor flooded with intelligent, autonomous machines that can potentially change the way we live at work, at school, at the doctors and at home. They are connected to the cloud, controllable by mobile devices and capable of seeing, hearing, feeling and reacting to the environment in ways once thought impossible.
This is to be something that will evolve and develop as a debatable matter of ethics in the coming years.
Keep on connecting Unlocking the possibilities of connected homes is of ever-growing interest, as we start to see individual connected devices working with one another. This year we saw a number of security systems and smart lock releases (including an affordable tap-to-unlock lock for your front door and Intel proof-of-concept facial recognition. Using this device, you won't need your phone to unlock a door when your hands are full just looking at the camera on the wall would do it.
I'll virtually be there Telepresence and...


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Despite last week's scary headlines, reports of problems caused by DNSChanger aren't as widespread as expected. That's definitely a good thing, but it doesn't mean Internet users are out of the woods just yet.
Here's the scoop so far: the FBI shut down government-sponsored domain servers earlier this morning that were used to keep DNSChanger-infected PCs and Macs online. Users infected with this malware were at one time possibly redirected to criminal-owned servers hosting legitimate-looking sites by way of modified DNS settings. Cybercriminals reaped profit from unsuspecting visitors thanks to paid advertisement.
DNSChanger has been circulating the Web since 2007, and at one point as many as four million PCs and Macs were infected, bringing in around $14 million to the malware authors. However the FBI finally shut down the operation last November -- ala Operation Ghost Click -- by arresting six Estonian men and seizing more than 100 servers. The government established substitute servers to keep infected Web users online while the campaign educated everyone about what happened and what needs to be done on the consumer end.
But with these stand-in servers now offline, Internet users still infected with the DNSChanger malware wouldn't have been directed to the FBI-supported sites. In fact, they wouldn't be able to go anywhere. The FBI claimed that around 275,000 computers were still infected and potentially wouldn't have Internet access on Monday when the malware triggered the traffic redirection.
But as of Monday evening, no major web disturbances from companies had been found. However there was a brief incident regarding New York City's subway ticket-vending machines which unexpectedly went down for about an hour. There was speculation that the outage was due to the malware, but the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said it was unlikely.
"There was a period of about an hour where debt and credit card were unable to be processed at metro card vending machines, but there is no indication that it has nothing to do with malware," a spokesperson told Mashable. "The issue is still under investigation."
"The number of customers affected [by DNSChanger] is very, very small," said Mark Siegel, an AT&T spokesman, said on Monday. A spokesman for Verizon's FIOS Internet service added that call centers had not seen any activity, that a very, very small number of customers had been affected.
Here in the U.S., the 45,619 IP addresses DCWG reported as infected as of July 4 represented just 0.02-percent of all Internet-able desktops and laptops, or just 2 out of every 10,000 PCs and Macs, reports Computerworld.
So was it just overblown hype similar to the end-days of Y2K? It could have been worse had the FBI not informed companies and Internet users alike about the possible problem. In addition to the FBI's website, broadband providers distributed warnings to their subscribers and well-established websites also posted warnings alone. The news media also helped to spread the word of Monday's potential risk.
Yet Dan Brown, director of security research at security firm Bit9 thinks it's too soon to brush DNSChanger off as a Y2K clone.
"It is too early to label DNSChanger as overblown hype like Y2K," Brown said in an e-mail statement. "It’s important to keep in mind that many of these infections are side effects of more serious malware infections. Companies should monitor their networks for DNS traffic going to the expected IP addresses and thoroughly investigate or reimage affected systems that they find."
He pointed out that many affected companies simply may not report any problems related to the malware.


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More than $6 billion is hoped to be raised by selling shares in a stock market listing in Hong Kong next month by Xiaomi – amongst the leading smartphone makers of the world.
The planned value of the listing was announced by the Chinese tech firm on Saturday. The value is lower than the $10 million figure that the company had said it hoped to achieve a few weeks ago. However, the number would still be the largest initial public offering (IPO) in the last two years.
“In the future, Xiaomi has huge potential for growth,” CEO Lei Jun said at a news conference in Hong Kong. “We’re a very rare company that can do hardware, e-commerce and internet services.”
Priced between 17 and 22 Hong Kong dollars each ($2.20 to $2.80), the tech compnay is planning to sell almost 2.2 billion shares to global investors in the IPO, Xiaomi said.
The range values Xiaomi between $54 billion and $70 billion, said James Paradise, an Asia-Pacific president at Goldman Sachs which is also one of the sponsors of the IPO. Compared to the almost $100 billion Xiaomi was reportedly hoping earlier this year, the valuation figure would be lower.
“We never said how much we were valued,” CFO Chew Shou Zi said at the news conference. “In the last several months, the market had a lot of speculation.”
There is concern among investors about the ability of Xiaomi to enhance its profit margins in the future and that is the primary reason for the lower valuation, said Hao Hong, chief strategist at Hong Kong-based broker BOCOM International.
“The explosion of Xiaomi has been at the low end of the market. It’s not taking the premium end of the market like Apple and Samsung. That’s why its profit margins are very difficult to expand,” he said.
It is expected that trading for the shares of Xiaomi would begin on July 9 on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Increasing its research and development facilities and global expansion would be the primary use of the money that would come from the IPO.
It is also expected that some of the cofounders of the company and its early employees would be made extremely wealthy by the listing.
For his contributions to the company, stock worth about $1.5 billion was awarded to the cofounder and the CEO of the company Lei, Xiaomi said in a recent filing.
Xiaomi said that the awarding of the stock was a common practice.
“We reached a consensus to make the decision because of Lei’s devotion over the last eight years, he started the company from scratch,” said Xiaomi President Lin Bin, another cofounder.
(Adapted from Money.CNN.com)


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Petrochemical company hires 2,200 people to work in UAE, says official
The Petrochemical Corporation of India (PCCI) has appointed 2,100 people to positions across the country.
The PCCI has also created a new ‘Petrochemical Jobs Portal’ that is available to its employees, according to a release.
The portal is available for users to search for vacancies and apply for jobs.
The portal also has a list of vacancies that can be filled through the portal.
The company says that the portal will be launched in the next few days.
Petrochemists have been on the rise in the UAE in recent years.
In the last five years, the country has seen an increase in the number of companies that produce petro chemical products.
The country has become the world’s third largest producer of petro chemicals, after China and the United States.
The country also exports some of its petro products to the UAE.
Petrol, diesel, aviation fuel, chemicals and other products are the main ingredients used in petro chemistry.