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Este artículo también está disponible en Español.
Unsustainable consumption and production patterns are at the heart of the triple planetary crisis: climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. Environmental degradation has become even more evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the fragility of our societies. The EU and UNEP are joining forces with multiple stakeholders to ensure a greener future.
Half of the world’s biodiversity is found in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region. This region also leads globally in protected marine and terrestrial areas. Thus, LAC is critical to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 121. The EU recognises the geopolitical priority of this region for green development and has launched a working collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to support initiatives in biodiversity, climate change, pollution, waste management, and circular economy2.
The project Driving Sustainable Consumption in Latin America with Better Product Information and Design (ICSAL) – using a holistic approach – provides final consumers with simple tools and mechanisms for eco-friendly options in choice of products or services by:
- working with public authorities on the normalisation of rules established by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) according to their national and regional needs;
- supporting and ensuring the independent and competent products’ certification process by companies;
- advocating for the accreditation process of the above-mentioned steps based on the LAC regional eco-label through the Environmental Alliance of America3.
Best practices of the EU-UNEP project ICSAL:
1. Involving relevant stakeholders in the prioritisation of products and services for which certification and accreditation in LAC is needed
The Environmental Alliance of America wants to ensure that LAC products, processes, and services are recognised as green products, both in the region and in the international market. For this reason, the starting point is to normalise the ISO regulations within the priorities of each member of the alliance. Ignacio Sanchez Diaz, Resource Efficiency Officer at the UNEP office in LAC, explains, “ICSAL is assisting this joint decision-making of public authorities, independent certification, accreditation entities and the private sector in identifying opportunities, risks and prioritising.”
Luis Rodriguez, Eco-labelling Manager of the Environment and Energy Ministry of Costa Rica, agrees that “this intense collaboration of relevant stakeholders leads to a fruitful partnership in which the diversity of voices has allowed us to have a better perspective and decide on the right direction to take.”
This democratic and inclusive dialogue is carried out through technical working groups and meetings. All parties have the same rights and obligations to agree on the rules for the region and on the products that need to be certified in priority. This process is a fundamental element of the alliance, but is not without challenges. Dialogue can often delay urgent certification, and politics sometimes contradict the objectives of the ICSAL project. “COVID-19 delayed some decisions, but this is not our only obstacle. For example, national elections and the appointment of new governments are also barriers to the team needing to agree on priorities and build trust,” explains Ignacio Sanchez Diaz.
2. Ensuring the participative and collaborative role of the private sector
The proactivity and willingness of the private sector are essential to the sustainable implementation of the project. Ignacio Sanchez believes, “it is time to change the idea that sustainability is more expensive for the company. On the contrary, green productivity incurs fewer costs and allows new and better business opportunities.”
The cost-effectiveness of eco-labelling impacts the coffee industry; one of the most strategic markets in the region, with more than 15 countries manufacturing this product. Luis Rodriguez explains, “a regular producer has to pay for at least four different certifications to sell on the international market. This costly certification process won’t be needed anymore once there is an agreed single certificate for the whole production of coffee in the region, making it cheaper and more efficient.”
Eco-labelling also helps to build international trust. Luis Rodriguez highlights the results of a pilot coffee project in Costa Rica. “We decided to sell average quality beans at an international auction using an eco-label specifying the footprint of this specific product on the environment4,” he continues. “The price paid was 46% higher than for any other coffee.”
ICSAL supports more than 120 companies – through training and technical assistance – to build their capacity and promote a circular economy, life cycle planning and eco-labelling. This participative training involves multiple industries at national level, enabling them to network and share experiences. “This dialogue leads to business opportunities. For example, our training in Mexico facilitated the potential collaboration between one leading global company delivering food and a small company producing eco-friendly packaging,” says Ignacio Sanchez Ruiz proudly.
Like many other projects with a participatory and direct approach in their activities, COVID-19 challenged ICSAL not only because of social distance rules applied at national level and the impossibility of meeting, but also because of the economic crisis related to the pandemic, which made some businesses prioritise survival rather than certification.
ICSAL continues supporting companies despite these obstacles and is promoting sustainability as the only way to leave the current crisis behind and to thrive. To do that, the state’s support is crucial. Therefore, ICSAL is aiming to help public authorities identify drivers of sustainable production and consumption via fiscal incentives, recognition of green companies or banning the use of specific environmentally-harmful substances.
“Eco-labelling is not only for exports,” says Luis Rodriguez, “public procurement5 is an important tool to support sustainable development. The state purchases between 8 and 32% of the total buying capacity. Green public procurement could facilitate the absorption of the initial investment made by companies to be accredited.”
3. Integrating and innovating with the young population to bring change
Misconception, disappointment, and mistrust are often at the core of unsustainable practices carried out by the population. The greenwashing6 done by some companies is not helping to have informed, demanding, and responsible customers. However, Luis Rodriguez is optimistic about the increasing number of customers interested in a green lifestyle7. “The environmental education provided in most LAC countries for the last 20-30 years is paying off,” he continues, “In Costa Rica we recently conducted a survey in which 96% of the population over 25 years old said they demand greener products. The question is, are producers ready for this new wave of consumers committed to respecting the environment?”
ICSAL is aware of the need to align consumers’ expectations with the options available. The project therefore supports national dialogues on sustainable lifestyle between CSOs, NGOs, the private sector, and public authorities. Ignacio Sanchez Diaz recognises, “while a sustainable lifestyle is a personal decision, the external conditions should also be in place to facilitate this choice. These are not exclusively related to physical infrastructure, but also regulations, accreditations, etc.”
Eco-labelling and green development affect each economic sector, including health. EcoBlist is an awarded project producing biodegradable packaging for medicines, developed by a team of eight pharmaceutical students from the University of Costa Rica8. Álvaro Esteban Alfaro, pharmacist and developer of the project, explains the experience, “Successful projects require perseverance, trust in your ideas and lots of teamwork.”
EcoBlist is the first awarded project by the competition Innovation for sustainable lifestyles organised by ICSAL in Costa Rica. Álvaro Esteban Alfaro recognises the importance of this competition for the project, “UNEP’s institutional endorsement inspired and supported us in our innovative approach thanks to the bootcamp organised by the University of Los Andes in Colombia.”
The competition, Innovation for sustainable lifestyles, involved more than 1000 students from prestigious universities in Costa Rica, Colombia and Mexico through webinars and training sessions. Out of these participants, ICSAL received more than 100 proposals to improve sustainability in the region. The success of this has led to the organisation of a second edition of this competition for the LAC region.
ICSAL will continue working to promote sustainable lifestyles in LAC and is expanding the project by incorporating more circular economy issues through the Circular Economy Coalition for Latin America and the Caribbean, in line with EU priorities complementing the solutions available in the region.
Click on the play button below to watch our video about the ICSAL project.
Have you been involved in relevant interventions for the promotion of sustainable consumption? What was your approach?
Did you meet any challenges, and how did you address them?
Leave your comment below!
More about the EU-UNEP project ICSAL
Since November 2018, the project Driving Sustainable Consumption in Latin America with Better Product Information and Design (ICSAL)funded by the EU and UNEP, has been supporting governments, the private sector, and other stakeholders in implementing policies and practices that lead to improvements in product design and product sustainability information and increase consumer awareness to support sustainable lifestyles in Latin America and the Caribbean through these objectives:
Credit: Video © Capacity4dev | Photo © Naja Bertolt Jensen, Unsplash
1 The SDG12, related to ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns globally, stresses the need to develop recovery plans for a green future and reiterates the sustainable use of natural resources to decrease the global material footprint.
2 The EC-UNEP LAC collaboration builds on the XXII Forum of Ministers of Environment of Latin America and the Caribbean hosted by Barbados in February 2021 which launched the Action Plan for the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration containing 10 action measures to promote the recovery of terrestrial, marine and coastal ecosystems in the next decade, the first of its kind to be adopted in the context of the UN Decade on Ecosystem restoration 2021-2030.
3 The Environmental Alliance of America was born in 2015 by the joint efforts of Costa Rica, Colombia and Mexico to create the first regional initiative to develop a common eco-labelling and environmental declarations system in the LAC region. Since 2019, the ICSAL project has built-up synergies, helped identify opportunities and challenges, and provided partners with a tool to guarantee the integrity of environmental labels in the internal and external markets of LAC. Since then, Ecuador and Paraguay have also joined the initiative and eight other countries in the region have applied to join the alliance.
4 To learn more about the impact of coffee on the environment, read the International Trade Centre report published in February 2010 here
5 To learn more about public procurement in LAC region read the section about Strategic public procurement of the publication launched by the OECD (2020), Government at a Glance: Latin America and the Caribbean 2020, OECD Publishing, Paris here
6 Greenwashing is a marketing spin in which companies give a false impression or provide misleading information about how a company’s products are more environmentally friendly.
7 The areas of research to assess a sustainable lifestyle are: housing, mobility, leisure, purchases and nourishment.
8 EcoBlist team is composed of Álvaro Alfaro, Daniela Matarrita, Christopher Quesada, Ariana Fernández, Alison Vargas, Brayan Leiva, Christopher Rosales and María Alejandra Jiménez.
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Join top executives in San Francisco on July 11-12, to hear how leaders are integrating and optimizing AI investments for success. Learn More
Artificial intelligence and machine learning are continuing to level the playing field for businesses of all shapes and sizes, especially when it comes to enabling capabilities that have been available to only the largest of organizations.
And this is especially true in the way apps and websites are leveraging access and insights from first and third-party data sources to compete with consumer-focused behemoths such as Amazon.
An example of this in action?
Barnraiser — the good food and healthy living platform — has announced today the launch of its new Discover search and recommendation engine, which uses machine learning to help users continually explore and engage with the growing amount of information available from its 40,000 food makers, farmers, chefs, and tastemakers.
Join us in San Francisco on July 11-12, where top executives will share how they have integrated and optimized AI investments for success and avoided common pitfalls.
Barnraiser has already seen a good level of success since it was founded in 2014. Based in Sausalito, Calif., the company has raised over $2 million in funding. Billed as a crowdfunding site for good food and healthy living — a Kickstarter for foodies, if you will — it was founded by its CEO, Eileen Gordon, who told me she started the business as a way to “connect the millions of Americans who want sustainable farming with those that are making, growing, and providing the food.”
“We’re enabling the growing consumer base to connect with the growing maker base,” Gordon said.
Today’s launch shows how machine learning and AI capabilities are offering smaller businesses the opportunity to play on a world stage. I’ve seen Barnraiser’s Discover in action, and it provides functionality that could be described as the child of Pinterest’s boards and Amazon’s recommendation engine.
By using machine learning to understand user affinities and preferences, it not only provides relevant search results and recommendations but also proactively suggests new experiences for each user. And while the platform has had an extraordinary success rate for funding food projects — Forbes reported last year that 65 percent of projects on Barnraiser are successfully funded, versus around 26 percent for Kickstarter — these new capabilities will help drive higher engagement, further increasing the chance of success.
Of course, as user participation increases so does Barnraiser’s ability to generate revenue — for itself, and for makers who use the platform.
“We monetize the site through both native ads and content and commissions on the transactions, funding, and subscriptions associated with each project,” Gordon said.
Mostly, Barnraiser’s story shows the current impact of machine learning and AI. These capabilities are allowing emerging startups the ability to punch well above their weight and to scale quickly.
“We’ve launched our Discover platform with over 40,000 food makers, farmers, chefs, and tastemakers to connect with the 80 million people in the U.S. who care about how they eat and live,” Gordon said. “The platform gives exposure to the producers and brands of all sizes to find new audiences, raise capital, and connect with customers.”
VentureBeat's mission is to be a digital town square for technical decision-makers to gain knowledge about transformative enterprise technology and transact. Discover our Briefings.

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Google may be about to introduce a new music-streaming service within YouTube after it was discovered that the latest YouTube app for Android devices refers to a new ‘Music Pass’ service.
There has been speculation for some time that Google has been bridling to enter the market dominated by Spotify, Pandora and Deezer in a more defined way. Google sells music as downloads via Google Play.
The development suggests Google has been negotiating with the music industry separate to Google Play to create a service for paid subscribers. It also chimes in neatly with Google’s ‘mobile first’ maxim and for YouTube – the second largest search engine on the planet after Google – and a premium subscription service without the annoying ads makes sense.
According to Android Police, the new YouTube app 5.3 refers to a new service called ‘Music Pass’ and a file called music_upsell_dialogue.xml contains text that promises offline playback and the ability to ‘Take your music everywhere’.
The files also contain text referring to the ability to ‘keep your music playing while listening to other apps’ and uninterrupted music ‘with no ads on millions of songs’.


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Olive oil, part of the Mediterranean diet plan, has been thought to be unhealthy in the past. However, we now know it's positively loaded with healthy fats, with large amounts of antioxidants and strong anti-inflammatory properties. New research suggests it could play a part in fighting some of the negative effects of aging, alongside the best vitamins for women over 50 and supplements for men over 50.
However, it can't do it alone. It's not enough to just drizzle olive oil on your salad (or a doorstop-thick piece of sourdough): you need to give it a helping hand by restricting your calories and exercising regularly.
The study, published by researchers at the University of Minnesota Medical School, found one of the ingredients in olive oil is a compound known as resveratrol, which can activate a certain pathway in cells known to increase lifespan and prevent age-related diseases.
Lead study author Doug Mashek, PhD, found just eating olive oil wasn't enough. To activate the pathway in a more meaningful way, his researchers found the effects of resveratrol were at their best when combined with trying to lose weight by fasting, limiting caloric intake and exercising regularly.
Mashek said: "We found that the way this fat works is it first has to get stored in microscopic things called lipid droplets, which is how our cells store fat. And then, when the fat is broken down during exercising or fasting, for example, is when the signaling and beneficial effects are realized."
The Mediterranean diet is known to be one of the best ways to eat healthily: full of fish, nuts, grilled vegetables and healthy sources of fat, it's very light on red meat and processed carbohydrates, which tend to increase our risk of early death when eaten in excess. Already a healthy diet, exercising regularly and eating smaller portions can help the resveratrol in olive oil keep you healthy well into later life.
As we get older, are muscles naturally waste away due to a process called atrophy, making our bodies weaker and frail. Building muscle with weights fights against this process, keeping us strong and healthy.
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Start your week with achievable workout ideas, health tips and wellbeing advice in your inbox.
Matt Evans is an experienced health and fitness journalist and is currently Fitness and Wellbeing Editor at TechRadar, covering all things exercise and nutrition on Fit&Well's tech-focused sister site. Matt originally discovered exercise through martial arts: he holds a black belt in Karate and remains a keen runner, gym-goer, and infrequent yogi. His top fitness tip? Stretch.
Start building your upper body by mastering these five simple dumbbell moves, which every beginner should know
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Workout This trainer's seven favorite exercises will challenge your lower body mobility
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German dairy group MEGGLE has moved to snap up domestic cheese supplier Stegmann Emmentaler Käsereien from French cooperative Sodiaal.
Financial terms were not disclosed. In a statement, Meggle said the acquisition would “strengthen” its presence in cheese, which the company described as “historically important” for the business. just-food has approached Meggle for further comment.
Stegmann Emmentaler Käsereien generated turnover of EUR120m (US$141.3m) in its most recent financial year, the statement read, without disclosing the time-frame.
The company employs around 200 staff across two sites in Kempten in southern Germany and in Altusried, a town eight miles further north.
“With Meggle and Stegmann, two Bavarian companies with a long and successful history are coming together. We will bundle our competences, make investments and use the great potential,” Meggle CEO Matthias Oettel said.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval.
just-food has asked Sodiaal to comment on the asset sale.
Last week, the co-op announced it would acquire full control of the European operations of yogurt business Yoplait. In a multi-faceted deal with fellow Yoplait shareholder General Mills, Sodiaal agreed to sell its stake in the yogurt business’ Canadian arm to the US food group.


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Application Gallery to all users this morning after launching it in public beta last March. In that time over 1,000 applications have been approved and added to the gallery and there have been over 2.1 million application installs across the site. Today, MySpace began promoting applications to users by adding an icon for the gallery on MySpace.com and a link on user control panels.MySpace officially opened its
Every application on the MySpace platform will receive its own profile, similar to musical artists, which will allow developers to communicate directly with their core audience -- those who have "friended" the app. Facebook has started down this road by encouraging app reviews and more recently letting users become "fans" of apps, but applications really need to set up separate "Pages" to get the same functionality that MySpace will bake in.
"MySpace was the original open platform, and the MySpace Application Gallery is the evolution of that vision, taking MySpace users around the world to the next level and empowering them to take control of their online presence in new and exciting ways," said MySpace co-founder Chris DeWolfe in a press release. While it's a bit of a stretch to call MySpace the original open platform (they apparently forget that nasty time a couple of years ago when they were blocking widgets left and right and thought the better strategy was to build competing service - see: MySpaceTV vs. YouTube), it is likely that apps will play well to the MySpace crowd.
We're not sure if they'll empower anyone to "take control of their online presence," but the same crop of silly, fun applications that have done so well on Facebook, should play to the MySpace audience as well.
When MySpace launched their app gallery in beta in March we noted that application spam, a problem that has plagued Facebook, may be a large hurdle to adoption unless the company can nip it in the bud. "MySpace has largely killed the messaging spam that plagued its user experience for so long, [so we] don't imagine users will be happy to see something like it back again," we wrote. MySpace has already started putting app notifications in their equivalent of the Facebook News Feed, with all of their 120 million exposed to applications, it will be interesting to see if app spam becomes a problem.
Today is an important day for the MySpace platform, though. We fully expect a quick uptake from MySpace users, who have already shown an affinity for widgets. The long term success of the platform may depend on whether MySpace can keep the noise to an acceptable level.


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Crafted with the best malt, hops and wooder, 2SP’s Delco-brewed beers look better than ever.
This [rebrand] is a huge deal for us,” says Mike Contreras, Director of Sales and Marketing for 2SP Brewing. “Coming out of COVID, we learned a lot about our brand. We saw the opportunities and investments we needed to make.” So, to coincide with the brewery’s 6th anniversary earlier this year, the team at 2SP got to work rebranding their award-winning brews.
2SP is fiercely proud of their home county of Delco, so they made sure the new cans conveyed the locally brewed message: Pennsylvanian through-and-through. “We really wanted to make an impression that we are a local brand,” says Contreras.
To better convey a message of locality, all of 2SP’s new artwork displays the Keystone, the official symbol for the state of PA, front and center. To add a more personal touch, an unmistakable caricature of head brewer Bob Barrar is also featured on the front of the cans. He is one of the most awarded brewers in the country having won 36 medals at the Great American Beer Fest and 11 at the World Beer Cup. Finally, the name of the beer can be found across the front and down the back of the can, which gives it a nice billboard effect no matter which way you turn it.
Along with the rebrand, 2SP has updated their lineup of year-round offerings. Delco Lager, an American amber lager, leads the pack. This beer, the #2 2SP brand at Origlio, has been enjoying a recent uptick in popularity (thanks to a brief appearance in the HBO hit series Mare of Easttown) and Contreras thinks the new look will continue to bolster sales. Up & Out is 2SP’s number one brand, growing year-over-year. This hazy IPA is newly available in 12-packs and is priced to move. As for their fruit-forward, less bitter pale ale, Back & Forth, 2SP expects big things in our market. Pony Boi, a light lager that has a growing fan base in Philadelphia and nearby Baltimore, is up 58% year-to-date. It’s a great alternative for craft accounts that don’t want to carry a “light” beer. Rounding out the all-weather offerings is Up, Up & Away, a New England double IPA that just made its year-round debut in early 2021. 2SP fans can also expect new looks for their limited releases, like Pale Smoke, High Dive and the highly anticipated Wawa Winter Reserve, just to name a few.
In their first six years, 2SP has shown their dedication to community and the art of brewing. With a new look, a stellar lineup and plenty of enthusiasm, the future is looking bright for our friends down in Delco.


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Deputies arrest five merchants from Laotian community
Spartanburg County sheriff's deputies raided two businesses in the Camp Croft Laotian community Thursday, charging storekeepers with running a lottery and selling prescription medicine.
Maj. Willie Brown, of the Sheriff's Office, said the rare bust in the tight-knit community came after an in-depth investigation by deputies assigned to the area. Deputies raided two small stores and a home about 6 p.m. Thursday and seized financial records, liquor, medicines such as penicillin shipped into the area from foreign countries, and more than $1,000 cash. Three women and two men were charged. According to reports, deputies made one raid at a small grocery store at 105-B Cedar Springs Road where players would bet money on the Georgia state lottery's three-number game. Players from the community were issued receipts for their bets and could claim them after the daily drawing, Brown said. He said the storekeepers also sold liquor without a license. "Basically, they pretty much tried to cater to the community and provide what they wanted," Brown said. The arrests were the first time deputies uncovered illegal trade in the community, he said. At another small store and attached home at 2550 W. Croft Circle, deputies seized more numbers-game evidence and cash, reports state. Neither store appeared to have a name, Brown said. Authorities arrested Bounhom, 51, and Bounnoune Limthakoun, 50, both of 2550 W. Croft Circle; as well as Vong, 37, and Thongsoune Pooagith, 33, of 120 Landis Drive. They were charged with setting up an illegal lottery, unlawful storage of alcohol and unlawful possession of prescription drugs. Deputies also charged Seut Vongsiraksa, 38, of 370 Dairy Ridge Road with setting up an illegal lottery. She was released from the Spartanburg County jail Friday on $2,000 bond. The other four were released Friday on $10,000 bond.


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Bermuda's iconic tailored shorts are a leading menswear trend this spring, but as Maryam Siddiqi discovers when she visits the original supplier, there's still a right and a wrong way to wear them
To have an ideal island day out, one must balance signature sights and flavours with secluded spots and pants with forgiving waistbands
Bermuda is a paradise a blind person could love.
Microsoft Corp. is preparing to launch a smartwatch within the next few weeks that will passively track a user’s heart rate and work across different mobile platforms, Forbes reported on Sunday
Starbucks Corp. is introducing its first order-ahead mobile application this year in Portland, Oregon, in a bid to speed up service and boost sales
OS X Yosemite, Apple Inc.'s new operating system for Macs, is now available to download from the Mac App Store. Yosemite represents a bold visual redesign, but one that still feels rooted in a familiar simplicity


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Has McDonald's had its UK chips?
McDONALD'S is closing a series of restaurants across Britain after five years of falling sales.
Britain is seen as one of the worst performing countries in the entire burger empire and the closures are part of the biggest revamp in 20 years.
Details of the closures were revealed in the company's annual accounts, which show that the sales fall in Britain is dragging down its entire European operation.
It did not give a detailed country breakdown, but last month Britain and Germany accounted for a 0.5% slide in European like-for-like sales compared with a 5.7% global rise and a 9.7%increase in the US.
When other factors such as rents from franchisees and service fees were taken into account, sales in Europe plunged by 6.6 per cent.
New European supremo Denis Hennequin has admitted that McDonald's is struggling to compete against the new coffee and sandwich chain rivals flourishing in Britain's high streets.
Hit with a global downturn in sales amid health concerns and a tired image, McDonald's has spent years revamping its brand, introducing healthier menus and updating its plastic chairs and harsh lighting.
The company is putting aside £23m to pay for the closures of 25 branches. Hundreds of its 1,200 UK restaurants will be refurbished over the next few years. The moves come after more 30 years of relentless expansion since the first British branch opened in Woolwich in 1974.
And in an alarming signal for the company's future in Britain, a survey last week found teenagers are shunning junk food in favour of healthier options.
In the Teen Vision survey by Coutts UK, only one per cent of 13- to 15-year-olds said that a McDonald's is their favourite meal - a six per cent slide in a year.
The chain introduced salads in all its restaurants in 2003 and promised to provide more nutrition-information to an increasingly health-aware public. It even signed a deal with vegetarian brand Quorn and teamed up with the Vegetarian Society but recently it was still forced to announce further efforts at rebranding in Britain.
It has had some success on the Continent, where it has replaced plastic seating with sofas and armchairs and introduced wireless internet facilities.
The company owns and operates about 8,000 of its 31,000 restaurants worldwide, with the remainder operated by franchisees.
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Effects Of The Recession
Magazines and periodicals have been hit by the recession, in much the same way as most other businesses. However, the falling newsstand sales figures published by some of the bigger players don’t show the whole picture. For example, Bauer Media – publishers of FHM, Empire and other huge titles – revealed very positive sales on the majority of their brands from January to June, despite the general downturn.
What the news reports and commentary also don’t show is that long-term sales are still rising. A survey of 81 leading titles published last month by MediaPost showed that readership has increased by 8% since 2000 – and that specific men’s and women’s interest magazines have seen over 13% growth.
Surprisingly, very few of these figures take online readership and subscriptions into account. Given that the world becomes more connected every day, this would seem to be a massive oversight, but many publishers consider online readership less indicative of overall trends. Their belief is that too many of the site hits reported are one-off visitors and not regular readers.
In truth, this shows a lack of understanding more than anything else. With careful analysis, the one-off visits can be filtered out of the overall picture in much the same way as customers browsing the magazine stand, but not buying, are excluded from paper sales data. Unique, repeat visits can be identified. With RSS feed and online subscription data providing similar detail to real-world subscriptions, the information collected is comparable in quality with newsstand statistics.
Unfortunately, tracking those figures is not an easy task as there is little centralized reporting. The Audit Bureau releases paper sales figures regularly in the US, from over 500 participating publishers, but online data is not included. In the UK, ABC reports independently on the media industry and has recently been pressured – by the industry itself – to include Internet figures as part of ABCe, the electronic media division. How many publishers will be included remains unknown.
The important message in all this is that online publishing is still seen as being of secondary importance. While many of the smarter periodicals have already made the leap to the Internet and are receiving regular attention from a devoted readership, much of the industry remains stuck in the mud of paper publishing and concerns over falling newsstand receipts.
Spending on online advertising is now bigger than television advertising expenditure: surely that should be enough to convince even the biggest publisher that online readership is just as important.


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MILAN — Diego Dalla Palma has revived its 20-year-old skin care line.
Called Concura ("with care," in English), the new incarnation has the same name as the original Diego Dalla Palma skin care line, launched two decades ago by the Milanese makeup artist who founded the brand.
Milan-based AGGF Cosmetic Group, which acquired the Diego Dalla Palma brand in 2001, created new formulations for the line's 10 products. The firm also utilized similar design details from the original line.
Packaged in opaque, white glass with black graphics, Concura includes a cream cleanser, a toner and moisturizing creams.
But Giovanni Sartori, product manager of Diego Dalla Palma, said the line's star product was an antiaging serum called Rinnova ("renewal" in English). Sartori said the serum, to retail for 48 euros, or $65.20, for 50 ml., contains extracts of an African tree called Kigelia africana, which yields substances known for their skin-toning properties. The serum also features a tripeptide formulated from the antivenom of a viper snake, which acts as a wrinkle relaxant.
"The tripeptide has the same effects as Botox; we believe it is one of those ingredients that will revolutionize the cosmetic industry," said Sartori.
Concura first hit shelves in Italy late last month, and will be rolled out to 800 points of sale in Italy by June. Concura also will be launched in 10 doors in Russia by the end of this year, as well as eight doors in Lebanon and 15 doors in Saudi Arabia.
Plans to distribute the line's cosmetics and skin care items in India and Singapore next year are also under way, and the company is working on formulating a whitening line of skin care products for the Asian market.
AGGF's relaunch of Diego Dalla Palma color cosmetics began four years ago. Since then, the brand has been repackaged and it has reached full distribution on the Italian market, said Alessandro Milani, export manager.
AGGF plans to follow Concura's launch with two new body products in the fall, as well as work on more skin care lines targeting specific skin conditions. Plans are also in the works for a fragrance, said Sartori. "There were three different fragrances in the Diego Dalla Palma archive so we want to launch a fragrance eventually, but for the moment, the focus is expanding on the skin care and body lines," said Sartori. — Stephanie Epiro
Lauder Exhibit Bows in Beverly HillsLOS ANGELES — Evelyn Lauder played Beverly Hills artist-in-residence last week when her "Perceptions of Beauty" photography exhibit decorated the walls of the Gagosian Gallery for three days.
Lauder, dressed in a black Michael Kors number she chose for its high waist and vintage bodice, said at a reception at the gallery on April 12 that proprietor Larry Gagosian called her multiple times to compliment her art. "He said, 'I really thought it was a young, new artist,'" she recounted.
The photographs, which raise money for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation founded by Lauder, had a turn from March 20 to 21 at San Francisco's John Berggruen Gallery before landing in Southern California. Frequent subjects of the work are flowers, ceramic lady-head vases and natural settings.
One of Lauder's favorite images is of orange calla lilies bathed in natural light and bunched in a glass vase on a wooden tabletop. "I schlepped that vase all the way down to Miami for Art Basel," Lauder recalled. "I woke up in the morning and the sun was coming in, and I grabbed the camera." — Rachel Brown
Clinique Names Mackler Vice President
Clinique has appointed Stacy Mackler vice president of global communications. Mackler, who will officially take the post on Monday, was most recently senior vice president of global consumer marketing and director of fashion and beauty at Manning Selvage & Lee. At Clinique, Mackler will report to Lynne Greene, global president of Clinique, and Marianne Diorio, senior vice president of global communications for the Estée Lauder Cos.
@chanel and @pharrell dropped what’s being dubbed as the world’s most exclusive sneakers yesterday. The Adidas Originals NMD Hu, which Williams designed in collaboration with Chanel and @adidasoriginals, has a waiting list of over 120K people who pre-registered online at chanelatcolette.fr –– and only 500 pairs are on sale. The singer predicted the resale value of the shoes could reach $40K. Read the full interview on WWD.com. Link in bio. #wwdfashion (📷: Dominique Maître)
@imanshumpert is diving deeper into his creative endeavors and relaunching his clothing line, Post 90s, and is helping to raise money for the hurricane victims in St. Maarten with a jersey he’s designed with his brother. The Cleveland Cavaliers player talked to WWD about kneeling during the national anthem, working with fashion brands and how he wants to be more than an @nba player. Read the interview on WWD.com #wwdfashion (📷: George Chinese)
Not only does #TheProfit return to CNBC tonight, but @marcuslemonis has launched @shopmarcus, a new shopping and lifestyle retail experience in Aspen and Chicago, with more locations to come. The retail stores offer in-store stylists and a variety of contemporary womenswear selections.
“It’s life, I’m going to face it,” @mingxi11 sighed. “I fell, but you know, I think the most important thing is that I get back up. I had the love, the help from my sister — the girl next to me Gizele [Oliveira] — she’s so nice. When I went backstage everybody was trying to comfort me like ‘Oh Ming, it’s OK.’ I’m really, really touched. I think it’s them who gave me the courage to go back on stage for the finale,” Xi told WWD of her fall at the @victoriassecret fashion show. (📷: David Fisher) #wwdfashion #vsfashionshow #victoriassecret
@louisvuitton tapped @therealpeterlindbergh for its latest city-centric photo book, which is part of a series called Fashion Eye. The primarily black and white book captures the spirit of Berlin in 57 images shot between 1989 and 2019. “Berlin is an inspiration for me, more than a city. I mean @millajovovich is simply Berlin!” said Lindbergh. #wwdfashion
“You know, I think audiences expect a certain performance so I have to deliver to them what they’re expecting to a certain degree. But I’m also a different actor and a different person, I have my own spin on the character,” says @noahegalvin of his takeover of the leading role in “Dear Evan Hansen” following the departure of @bensplatt, who originated the role. Read WWD’s interview with the 23-year-old actor on WWD.com #wwdeye (📷: @jilliansollazzo)
For pre-fall 2018, @etro created richly-colored wonderland, using tapestries, textiles and wallpapers from the Eastern world at large. The line featured floral and graphic prints and jacquard motifs, like this two-piece look featured here. #wwdfashion (📷: Giovanna Pavesi)
@kith is moving into children’s. The men’s and women’s streetwear brand has launched Kidset, a Kith kids line located in New York at 64 Bleecker Street. The line includes mini versions of staple Kith pieces like the Astor bomber jacket and the Kith box logo sweatshirts, along with a wall that can display up to 120 pairs of shoes from @adidas, @newbalance, @timberland and more. #wwdfashion
“I just wanted to create this fully rounded character, but I do think what excited me most was just the opportunity to give a group of people representation that I feel needs it. I like to do characters in projects that stand for something and Karolina definitely does, so that was really exciting to me,” @ginnygardner says of her new role in @hulu’s “The Runaways.” Gardner plays Karolina Dean, a queer superhero, which is a rarity for @marvel. Read more about Gardner’s character on WWD.com #wwdeye (📷: @dandoperalski)


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The Myth of Provo-bition: Where to Drink in Utah County
No, Utah County isn’t ‘stone-cold sober.’ We’ve got proof.
At Downtown Provo’s City Limits Tavern, someone held a sign reading, “Drink Wisconsinably.”
Up the street at ABG’s Bar, meanwhile, hundreds of visitors crowded the establishment, all clad in the University of Wisconsin’s red and white. It was still morning.
Utah’s third-largest city hosted the Wisconsin Badgers football team as they faced hometown heroes Brigham Young University that afternoon. That also meant hosting hordes of visiting Wisconsinites who’d flown in for the game — and in this case, satiating a hearty Midwestern thirst for pre-gaming.
“Financially, it‘s the biggest day I’ve ever had here,” ABG’s owner Gary Whiting told a Salt Lake Tribune reporter.
Badgers or otherwise, Utah County visitors are getting more liquor options these days. Distilleries, bars and liquor-licensed restaurants are popping up throughout Provo and its neighboring cities, thanks in part to a rapidly growing business sector and a consequent demographic shift. It seems the area’s “stone cold sober” reputation is giving way to something more nuanced.
Join us on a quick tour through Utah County, some of its liquor hotspots and the laws/norms that’ll help you acclimate.
One Flock (Black Sheep Included)
Tessa Santiago, manager at downtown Provo’s Black Sheep Cafe, recalled when the restaurant revamped its cocktail menu — a project spearheaded by a “brilliant server” who, surprisingly, is also a practicing member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (More than 80 percent of Provo’s population are Latter-day Saints, a religion that eschews drinking.) This server sampled the liquor without hesitation, though, asserting to Santiago that no, it wasn’t a conflict of interest: Her husband was studying to be an OB-GYN, and didn’t pursue that job’s particulars in his free time either. They leave work at work.
“I love the fact that we do sell alcohol,” Santiago said, “because I really like to have a place in Provo that allows different kinds of people to meet without any judgment. That’s why I love Black Sheep. I think it’s really important to have spaces like that.”
Boasting a full liquor license, Black Sheep serves a variety of hard beverages, some inspired by the restaurant’s high-class fusion of Native American, Mexican and Southwest cuisine. (If you squint while gazing at their Chihuly-style chandelier, it’s easy to imagine Santa Fe.) Beverage highlights include the Cactus Pear margarita, made from an imported cactus pear puree, and Black Sheep’s popular Naughty Palmer, which uses Yanabah — a traditional Navajo green tea — blended with cactus pear lemonade, fresh mint and whiskey.
Black Sheep belongs to the Heirloom Restaurant Group, a collective of Utah County eateries. And some of these other Heirloom restaurants (Pizzeria 712 and Communal) serve alcohol, too. Heirloom’s founder, Colton Soelberg, was born and raised in Provo, and explained Utah County’s expanding alcohol options thusly: “Obviously, it’s not going to be exactly like New York City or San Francisco, but it’s not hard (to find a drink).”
"I love the fact that we do sell alcohol,” Santiago said, “because I really like to have a place in Provo that allows different kinds of people to meet without any judgment."
Booze Peddling, and Boozed Pedaling
Before you imbibe, a quick primer on Utah liquor laws.
First is the “intent to dine,” which requires Utah’s liquor-licensed restaurants to also serve food with each alcohol purchase. Our bars can serve alcohol sans food, but restaurants comprise a growing portion of Utah County’s liquor spots.
Additionally, the state’s DUI limit is 0.05% — on par with most Western European countries — and includes operating both cars and bikes. If you want a tipsy bike ride, pedal at your own risk.
So no, Utah doesn’t really exude that Mardi Gras ethos, but we’re not total prudes either. (The Utah territory’s fur trappers reportedly paid $4 a pint back in the 1820s, and Utah’s first commercial brewery opened in 1864.) There are 14 distilleries in Utah — “given our market of just over 3 million people, that’s a lot,” said Adam Opalek, a Utah ambassador for NEFT Vodka. That means Utah has about one distillery for every 234,000 residents. For comparison, the state with the highest number of distilleries — California — has approximately one distillery per 252,000. See, we can hang!
Utah’s alcohol by volume (ABV) limit for draft beer is 5% — or 4% by weight — which is actually an improvement for local liquor lovers: Before 2019, Utah’s long-standing ABV limit was 3.2%. (The Budweiser Clydesdales even paraded through downtown Salt Lake City in 2019 to celebrate the change; true story.) If you want a beer stronger than 5% ABV, you’ll have to choose the bottled or canned variety.
For cocktails and spirits, Utah bars and restaurants wield a unique device called The Berg, which pours an exact 1.5-ounces of “primary liquor” for mixed drinks. For more info about the state’s liquor laws, check VisitUtah’s handy guides.
While The Berg may seem like a buzzkill, Utah bars have adapted. Up Provo Canyon is Sundance Mountain Resort’s Owl Bar, where the bartenders “are good at making drinks that don’t taste like the booze was carefully measured,” as reported by Salt Lake Tribune journalist Kathy Stevenson. (She’s partial to Owl Bar’s “Spicy Steve” cocktail, which mixes gin, hot sauce and cucumber.)
Owl Bar leverages a cozy Old West vibe: leather, copper and reclaimed wood galore; old photos of Butch Cassidy; and most notably, a genuine 1800s bar back imported from Thermopolis, Wyoming, where Cassidy and his outlaw buddies actually visited. Today’s clientele are less rugged, but things still get lively on Friday and Saturday nights, when the bar hosts live bands. The bar draws a mix of locals and tourists, according to Laurie Falk Cornia, Owl Bar’s manager, who has worked there for 13 years — and occasionally Robert Redford, who founded Sundance Mountain Resort in 1969. (Redford made local headlines when he sold the resort in 2020. Read about his history there: “Robert Redford Sets the Sundance Scene.”)
The menu showcases Owl Bar’s mainstay cocktails, and others that rotate seasonally. “I think we have one of the best hot toddies you’ll ever have in the wintertime,” Cornia said. The bartenders here make their own Bloody Mary mix from scratch. Owl Bar also has a private wine program. And for whiskey and beer, the bar focuses on stuff that’s locally made.
“And with how the breweries have been going over the last five years in Utah, we’re so lucky that almost every beer is a local beer in the bar now,” Cornia said. “A lot of these new places popping up are really quality, so there’s a lot of pride to have as much local as we can.”
Clear Water, Full Stills, Can't Lose
North of Provo in Pleasant Grove is Utah County’s first distillery, Clear Water Distilling Co.. “I don’t think we’re going to be the last,” said Clear Water’s founder Matt Eau Claire. Since opening in 2020, Clear Water now ships product to 30 different states. They’ve got plans to build an elaborate tasting room on site, and eventually host distillery classes.
Clear Water specializes in big-flavor, small-batch, slow-processed spirits that defy traditional categorization — thanks to distilling techniques more common to moonshining than mass distilling. Eau Claire worked in software for 25 years, and considers Clear Water a “wide open canvas (to) do whatever we want.”
Case in point: Clear Water’s popular “Lorenz” spirit, named after Arctic explorer and all-time ass-kicker Lorenz Peter Elfred Freuchen. The Lorenz mixes traditional rum ingredients and apple cider in its mash, which is then run through the gin basket with a Madagascar bourbon vanilla bean for creamy floral notes and cinnamon sticks for added spice.
“But it’s not sweetened at all,” Eau Claire explained. “There’s no sugar that we add to this, so it’s a pure spirit.”
North of Clear Water, on Utah County’s northernmost end, is the “Silicon Slopes,” an ever-expanding tech startup sector that includes companies such as Adobe, Qualtrics and Oracle. The Silicon Slopes are beginning to alter Utah County’s demographics, as more and more out-of-towners are now calling Utah home.
James Fowler, who owns Sugar House Distillery in Salt Lake City, said this tech sector boom has increased Utah County’s demand for more high-quality entertainment/leisure — including liquor. “I really think that that whole area down there is starting to really come together with a nice craft scene,” he added.
Utah-made liquor, Fowler explained, revolves around local terroir (i.e.: physical terrain and climate), which can yield some seriously alchemic results. In a humid state like Kentucky, for example, Fowler said whiskey loses about 6% of its water to evaporation. In Utah’s dry climate, by contrast, “we lose about 12 to 14% to evaporation. But when we lose that to evaporation, it just seems like it sweetens up the barrel,” Fowler said.
In other words, the water leaves while the alcohol stays.
"We’re so lucky that almost every beer is a local beer in the bar now,” Cornia said. “A lot of these new places popping up are really quality, so there’s a lot of pride to have as much local as we can."
Where the Rubber Meets the Road
Remember those Wisconsinites we mentioned at the beginning of this story? Well, it all comes back around. As we finish this tour, though, Madison gives way to Milwaukee.
Milwaukee’s Harley-Davidson factory — where the brand began — has a twin. And that twin is just south of Provo, off the I-15 in Springville. Meet Strap Tank Brewery.
Strap Tank is a brick-covered replica of that old Milwaukee factory. The brewery’s founder, Rick Salisbury, loves bikes, and runs an astounding motorcycle museum, Legends Motorcycles, next door. Both spots are spacious, rustic love letters to a bygone era of transportation. And fittingly, transportation plays a big part in Strap Tank’s ongoing growth. “We’ve had people from Maine, from Vermont, from Canada, from just all over the place — just people kind of driving through,” said Justin Schuda, Strap Tank’s assistant general manager. “The proximity to the highway definitely drives business.”
And business is good: Strap Tank now has a second location, 25 miles north in Lehi. Schuda attributes the growth to Strap Tank’s laid-back, community-focused atmosphere. Customers don’t just come for the food and brews, but for the interaction with a friendly staff.
Schuda moved to Utah from California’s San Diego County — “a beer Mecca,” he said — and described Utah’s liquor scene as more broadly focused than other, bigger markets. This manifests in Strap Tank’s liquor menu. “We have a style of beer for pretty much any beer drinker out there,” Schuda said. Among its most popular drinks is the Cosmic Fog, a sour, glittery, eye-poppingly purple beer. They also serve a peanut butter stout that’s highly recommended.
While Utah’s robust religious culture places a high premium on tradition, Utah’s liquor scene seems to leverage the opposite principle. Here, alcohol is about innovation, exploration and creativity — and tradition is to be tinkered with. And that ethos continues in Utah County’s bars, distilleries and liquor-friendly restaurants.
The area’s Latter-day Saint population is still the majority, of course — and yes, Utah’s liquor laws are on the stricter side — “but the flavor and the quality of the beer are still the same,” Justin Schuda said. “Other than those kind of little funky things, it’s no different.”
We’ll drink to that.


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The world needs to band together right now to fight the COVID-19 virus outbreak. This is no longer an issue of one country facing a crisis, but the entire world. As such, we’re starting to see various companies starting to make changes to their operations to help do their part in combating this disease.
Many have been wondering what Apple’s plans are for Beats. Apple had acquired the company a few years ago and it did not take them long to kill off Beats Music and fold it into what is known as Apple Music today. So what about the Beats headphones? Given that we haven’t seen any many new Beats headphones (save for new color options), there has been speculation that Apple could […]
Recently we have been hearing rumors that Apple could apparently be planning a new variant of the AirPods Pro called the AirPods Pro Lite. Now according to a tweet by Jon Prosser, he claims that the earbuds will actually be known as the AirPods X and that it will apparently be launching at WWDC 2020.
When it comes to music streaming services, it’s no secret that Spotify is still pretty much leading the way. Now according to the latest figures from Counterpoint Research, it seems that Spotify is still pretty much holding onto its position as based on the data, Spotify remained as 2019’s largest music streaming service.
Trends in social media are ever-evolving. Previously, Snapchat was pretty much what all teens and young adults used, but these days, TikTok seems to be pretty popular. This is why it doesn’t come as a surprise to learn that other companies are looking to develop something similar of their own.
A couple of years ago, Instagram introduced a new feature that allowed users to add music to their Stories. Some of the music sources that Instagram users could choose from included Spotify and Pandora. Missing from that list was Apple Music, but that could change soon, according to a recent sighting in the iOS 13.4.5 beta.
The classic iPod has been discontinued for years now, but there’s no denying how big of an impact the device has had on the world. It changed the way we consumed our music and also helped to lead the rise of digital music. If you love the retro iPod, then you might want to check out this cute toy by Classicbot.
A lot of the times, true wireless earbuds tend to focus more on portability and mobility. As a result, many of them don’t sound quite as good compared to other earphones or headphones, but we suppose that’s one of the sacrifices one has to make. However, if you value sound quality and mobility, then Sennheiser might have something of interest to you.
There are many who are undoubtedly concerned about the spread of the coronavirus. One of the ways to prevent the spread is to keep ourselves as clean as possible by washing our hands, using hand sanitizer, and to avoid touching our faces. So much so that Apple is now trying to prevent customers from trying on certain products in their stores.
It seems that Apple could have a stellar year on their hands as far as the AirPods are concerned. This is according to a report from DigiTimes (paywall) in which they are claiming that based on information from sources within Apple’s supply chain, the company is apparently planning on boosting AirPods shipments by as much as 50% in 2020.
While Apple’s AirPods are used by many at the gym, the fact that they are only splash resistant means that it might not necessarily be too useful for those who perform very intensive workouts and might sweat a lot, especially if you want to rinse them off later. This is where the Powerbeats series comes in, and it looks like Apple could have a new model in the works.
According to the rumors, Apple has a bunch of new accessories planned for 2020, one of which is a rumored pair of high-end headphones. How true are those rumors? According to a recent discovery by the folks at 9to5Mac, it’s starting to look very likely as within the iOS 14 code, they have come across icons that depict a pair of headphones.
At the moment, Apple’s HomePod is designed in such a way that the controls are placed on the top of the speaker where users can control music playback. They can also control it using Siri. However, it seems that in the future, HomePods could sport touch-sensitive fabric that would allow users to control the speakers by touching anywhere around the speaker.
There have been rumors that Apple could have a cheaper version of the AirPods Pro in the works dubbed the AirPods Pro Lite. While Apple has never officially confirmed it, it was speculated that the company would probably announce it at an event held towards the end of March where they will also announce new iPhones, iPads, and maybe new MacBooks.


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Toyota’s new President, Koji Sato, has large designs for the organization, which he desires to Toyota may share EV technology with fans like Mazda and Subaru of adversaries like Tesla. To assist with producing more scale, it might impart its new battery innovation to its accomplices, as Subaru, Mazda, Suzuki, and others.
As a component of its arrangement for the future, Toyota intends to sell 3.5 million EVs each year by 2030, about portion of which will be founded on a recently planned EV stage that it will carry out in 2026. This new stage could sometime offer scopes of upwards of 932 miles (1,500 km), on account of new battery innovation.
However, the effectiveness of the new stage won’t be restricted to the street. Autonews reports that the automaker is likewise going to a recently made unit called the BEV Industrial facility business, which will plan the new vehicle engineering to be essentially as basic as conceivable to fabricate.
Through new creation processes, for example, Tesla-roused giga squeezes that permit vehicles to be made utilizing less pieces, and a self-pushed creation line (in which vehicles drive themselves through a plant, decreasing the requirement for conventional lines), Toyota desires to diminish expenses of EVs, which are prominently costly to fabricate.
The automaker additionally desires to decrease its dependence on laborers, however it plans to upskill representatives into additional useful jobs. In addition, it will utilize what it realizes making its new EVs in its other vehicles, whether they’re electric.
By and large, they sell 16.3 million units each year, and it has previously teamed up with accomplices to make EVs like the Toyota bZ4X/Subaru Solterra. Toyota has focused on giving that organization its cutting edge half and half innovation. At last, imparting the innovation to accomplices will assist with fanning out the expenses of its creation, similar as VW is doing with its EV stages.
“Those innovations ought not be applied exclusively to battery electric vehicles,” Takero Kato, the leader of BEV Industrial facility, said. ” It’s tied in with expanding our quality and adaptability. We will actually want to smooth out the entirety of our assembling and creation exercises through this movement.”
To assist with facilitating siphon up its volume, Toyota said it might likewise impart its new EV innovation to accomplices. The Japanese monster holds stakes in different organizations, like Subaru, Mazda, Suzuki, Daihatsu, Hino, Isuzu, and that’s just the beginning.
If you are looking to buy Used Cars, Machinery, Bus, Trucks, Parts from Japan. We provide high-quality used vehicles directly from Japan.
Please visit our website: www.japanesecartrade.com
Check more useful blog pages: blog.japanesecartrade.com/blog


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Hewlett-Packard intends to be a major player in Ultrabooks, and on Wednesday, this goal came into sharper focus with the unveiling of several new models tailored to business users.
At HP's Global Influencers Summit in Shanghai, China, CRN got a first-hand look as company executives took the wraps off the EliteBook Folio 9470m, an Ultrabook featuring a 14-inch high-definition display and a sleek casing that's only 19mm. Though it weighs just a bit more than 3.5 pounds, the EliteBook Folio 9470m comes with Ethernet and VGA ports built in, a measure of flexibility that HP believes will be a selling point with enterprises.
The EliteBook Folio 9470m also comes with Intel vPro and support for 3G and 4G LTE wireless broadband. It's expected to be available in October, but HP isn't talking about pricing yet.
HP, which launched its Envy 14 Spectre Ultrabook in January at the Consumer Electronics Show, is adding a new model -- the Envy Spectre XT Ultrabook. This is not the Gorilla Glass-coated stunner that turned heads at CES, but it does feature a lightweight design and, at $1,049, it's much less expensive than the Envy 14 Spectre, which starts at $1,399.
The Envy Spectre XT comes with Beats Audio, a 13.3 inch high-definition display and video camera, and a TPM chip, which secures data on the solid state drive as well as in e-mail. HP has redesigned the touchpad, adding more real estate for Windows 8.
There are minor design tweaks, too: HP's marketers found that spelling out "Hewlett Packard" on the Envy Spectre XT casing conjured thoughts, in the minds of consumers, of the innovative aspects of HP.
HP is sweetening the pot with full versions of Adobe Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements preinstalled on the Envy Spectre XT, as well as HP's Concierge service, which can help if the device is lost or stolen.
"This class of product will have value-added software, and the services offering will be more robust going forward," James Mouton, who leads the Personal Computers unit of HP's Printing and Personal Systems (PPS) Group, told the roughly 500 attendees at the event. "The industry has moved beyond speeds and feeds. On the PC side, we're looking at the total process a businessperson gets involved in."
HP also unveiled its Envy Pro Ultrabook line, which starts at $849 and comes with 14-inch or 16-inch high-definition displays, integrated Beats Audio, dual speakers and subwoofers. This line is aimed at creative professionals, though HP is clearly targeting the middle ground between personal and business use that consumerization brings out.
NEXT: HP Also Refreshes Regular Business Notebooks


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Analysts are coming down hard on Nokia by cutting first quarter sales estimates for its first ever Windows Phone 7 device by half.
According to an article (opens in new tab) on Channel Register, analysts believe Nokia will only be able to sell 500,000 units of the Lumia 800 device in the first quarter instead of the 1 million devices they had earlier predicted.
The device has garnered a lot of positive reviews from notable bloggers and review websites, but analysts seem to be almost sure the device is going to fail.
"With no breakthrough innovation, we believe Nokia's new phones are unlikely to get traction in a highly concentrated high-end," said Bernstein Research's Pierre Ferragu, in a research note.
Meanwhile, in an attempt to silence skeptics, the company revealed the Lumia 800 had seen the largest week sale for any device in Nokia's long history.
But, as the Channel Register points out, Nokia would need a lot more to get back in the smartphone market than a week's sale. While Nokia was busy developing the device and forging road maps, its share in the smartphone market plunged by 82 percent in the third quarter.


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Rocket Lab says it has closed a $75 million Series D financing round for production of its low-cost Electron rocket, which is expected to see its maiden launch within the next couple of months. The round was led by Data Collective, with additional new funding from Promus Ventures and an undisclosed investor, plus fresh funding from Khosla Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners and K1W1. Rocket Lab, now headquartered in Huntington Beach, Calif., has received $148 million in funding to date for a valuation in excess of $1 billion. That qualifies the company as a “unicorn,” in tech parlance.
- My Tweets


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NINH THUAN — A pilot project to grow red-flesh dragonfruit, a sweeter version of the white-fleshed fruit, has yielded big profits for farmers in the central province of Ninh Thuan.
Since planting the fruit trees in April 2010, farmer Tran Cam has total sales of more than VND20 million (US$950) and a profit of VND10 million from two harvests from his 1,000 sq.m, 500-tree dragonfruit orchard.
Cam and five other farming households in Ninh Hai District were chosen to participate in the pilot project, which comprised a total of 5,000sq.m.
The red-flesh dragonfruit suits the area's hot climate and dry, pebbly soil, according to Tran Huu Nhan, head of the district's Agriculture and Rural Development Bureau.
The bureau, which implemented the pilot project, provided 60 per cent of investment capital to the farmers, and taught them cultivation techniques.
In addition, the district bought 1,500 dragonfruit stem cuttings from neighbouring Binh Thuan Province to provide to participating farmers.
Ha Thi Hoa said she and many farmers were worried that they would not have enough money to create support poles for the dragonfruit plants, and were concerned about the yield in their less-than-nutritious soil.
But their anxiety proved to be unfounded.
"Profits from red-flesh dragon fruit have been higher than that from other plants or trees," she said. "Because it is a new fruit on the market, traders come to my orchard to buy it at a high price."
Although the price sold at orchards is VND15,000-20,000 a kilo, the initial investment to plant 800-1,000 dragonfruit trees is nearly VND100 million, according to Hoa.
Early this month, participants at a meeting with the bureau said the project should be expanded because it could provide a stable income for local farmers.
When mature (two years after planting), the red-flesh dragonfruit plant yields seven to eight harvests a year for up to 20 years. — VNS


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New Recovery and Renewal 2021 – The Path Ahead Plan doesn’t give Restaurants or Hospitality a clear road map to reopening with specific dates and metrics
- Government must now provide meaningful & appropriate financial supports for the survival of restaurants and hospitality businesses
- 150,000 Hospitality workers require certainty regarding their jobs and when they can return to work.
The Restaurants Association of Ireland has expressed extreme disappointment at the Government’s announcement of the revised plan for living with COVID today. The Association said extension to existing supports do not go far enough and said that it was unacceptable that no clear path to reopen was outlined and no information given on what metrics will now be used to determine reopening dates for restaurants and hospitality.
Adrian Cummins CEO of the Restaurants Association of Ireland said: “The sector has been closed almost a year now and has complied with restrictions and lockdowns preventing businesses and employees for being able to work and to earn a living. They are now tiring and running out of money and in need of sight of the end goal.”
He continued: “If we are all in this together why are we; the public, businesses and employees not being informed of the plan for reopening sectors?! What metrics are being used, be they vaccinated people, hospital admissions, the R number? What do we all, as a society need to work towards to safely reopen again? Until that day what meaningful supports will be offered to businesses who simply cannot trade and are keeping banks and landlords at bay?”
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Find out more about the benefits of memberships
with the Association here.


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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – U.S. Customs and Border Protection is warning shoppers about counterfeit goods ahead of the busiest shopping season of the year.
At the Port of Dallas, officers are assigned to check all cargo flying into Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.READ MORE: Big Brothers And Big Sisters Of Texas Is Looking For Volunteers To Mentor Young Boys
The haul includes everything from jewelry to home decor.
Even when you think you’re ordering the real deal, you could be getting a fake.
“We put things on hold that may be a danger to children,” said Chief Customs and Border Protection Officer Raul Orona. “Mainly Christmas and around Black Friday is when we do operations.”
CBS 11 News accompanied agents on a blitz, which is when officers open shipments to ensure they meet U.S. guidelines.
During the blitz, officers pointed to children’s bicycles that they said tested for high levels of lead.
Products sold in the U.S. must meet federal health and safety standards. Many goods must be approved by the Federal Drug Administration or the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
If items fall short of certain regulations, CBP can hold the shipment.
Orona pointed out small toy insects from a children’s camping kit that CBP decided to hold.READ MORE: 2 Shannon High Students In Birdville ISD Taken To Hospital After Overdosing On Benadryl, MedStar Says
“[They] are a choking hazard, so they’re going to go in and take out all the insects from the kit,” Orona said.
Batteries and cell phone chargers also present concerns. During inspections, agents look for UL labels, which prove that an electronic item has passed rigorous safety testing.
But it’s not all about kids items.
Beauty products are some of the most common counterfeits.
Orona revealed a haul of dermal fillers.
“You don’t know what’s in there,” Orona said. “All you know is you have a needle, some gel… you don’t even know who the manufacturer is.”
So far this year the CBP has already made more than 1.4 billion seizures nationwide. If you think you’ve received a counterfeit item, you can:
1. Look for a country of origin tag; i.e., “Made in USA.” Every item needs one.
2. Inspect the packaging. Items from luxury brands like Cartier, Louis Vuitton and Chanel don’t typically ship their items wrapped in plastic or unmarked cardboard boxes.MORE NEWS: Voter Registration Deadline For Texas' March Primary Fast Approaching
3. Research the seller, especially if it’s a third-party seller through sites like Amazon and eBay. If you can’t contact the company by phone or email, it might be safer to order directly from the brand or retailer.


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Minuum, one of the more distinctive third-party keyboards available for Android devices, is coming to Google Glass. The keyboard was shown off this morning in a video of the prototype app running on Glass. The second half of the video, however, is far more exciting.
The keyboard relies on swipes on Glass’ touchpad and the built-in predictive algorithms that power Minuum. As anyone who has used the keyboard on an Android device knows, it isn’t perfect. It is, however, accurate enough for quick messages.
Minuum will have to be approved by Google before it can be widely available to all Explorers. If you’re interested in testing the app on your Glass unit, you can contact the developers at firstname.lastname@example.org.
The second half of the video strays away from features that are currently in development, and instead moves into proof of concept territory. From a ring that can track the movement of your finger, to a keyboard lit up on your arm, the developers of Minuum are thinking big.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.


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Supermarket giant Asda has been revealed as the cheapest UK supermarket despite its pricing increasing on last month.
For the ninth month in a row, Asda retains its title as the least expensive option for British consumers looking to keep grocery costs down in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The results have been determined by carefully tracking how each online retailer prices the 43 items outlined in the Government’s Consumer Price Index ‘shopping basket’ on a week-by-week basis.
An online price tracking website has been monitoring the price increases and decreases across seven major UK online supermarkets – Asda, Iceland, Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Ocado and Waitrose.
It has revealed that each of the seven supermarkets being tracked all had higher average basket costs than they did in December, with basket prices increasing from between 22p and £9.38.
The results have been determined by carefully tracking how each online retailer prices the 42 items outlined in the Government’s Consumer Price Index ‘shopping basket’ on a week-by-week basis.
Not only was Asda found to be the overall cheapest supermarket for the month of January, it was also found to be offering the cheapest items for three of the four weeks of analysis throughout the month, with Morrisons the cheapest in week four.
However, Iceland took Morrisons’ crown of 2nd overall cheapest supermarket with an average basket cost of £115.53 – £1.89 cheaper than Morrisons, but still £6.33 more expensive than Asda.
Squash (Robinson's Summer Fruits) was £1.65 at Tesco in week one but went down to £1.50 in week two, staying the same for the rest of the month. Coca-Cola Zero (2L) at Asda took a price cut in week two, going from £2.10 to £1.98, despite being on sale for just £1.50 a bottle at Sainsbury’s.
Although on the pricier side, Ocado still enjoyed a number of price cuts, in particular for their gin (Gordon’s London Gin 70cl) and vodka (Smirnoff Red 70cl) – both being reduced in price from £15.50 to £13.00, making them the cheapest for gin in particular compared to all the other stores.
Andy Barr, co-founder of www.alertr.co.uk, said: “We are well and truly in lockdown and it seems supermarkets are indeed increasing their prices as all stores had a higher average basket cost than they last month, but it seems Iceland noticed they were becoming more expensive than Morrisons and have taken price cuts to keep up with the competition, crowning them the second cheapest supermarket for the month of January.
"Asda still remains the reigning champion as the cheapest online supermarket for the ninth month in a row and it seems other supermarkets will really have to look into cutting their prices if they want to knock them off the top spot any time soon.”
The online price tracking website has been tracking the prices of 42 everyday items from the shopping basket on the Office for National Statistics’ Consumer Price Index (CPI) since 2019.
Included within the list are items such as eggs, milk and bread, as well as non-perishables such as pasta, rice and cereal.
The prices across seven of the largest supermarkets are analysed, with discount retailers Lidl and Aldi not included due to the inability for customers to shop full ranges online and not having the same like-for-like branded products that other supermarkets stock.
Own-brand items (or their equivalent) were monitored in the research to give the most unbiased comparison of goods and their prices, with the exception of branded items that all seven supermarkets stocked (e.g., Coca-Cola, Kellogg’s Cornflakes, etc.).
The full breakdown of each supermarket’s average basket costs, from lowest to highest over the four-week period in January, were as follows:
1. ASDA - £109.20 (£7.22 higher than last month)
2. Iceland – £115.53 (£3.75 higher than last month)
3. Morrisons – £117.42 (£9.38 higher than last month)
4. Tesco – £118.19 (£5.43 higher than last month)
5. Sainsburys – £119.47 £119.22 (22p higher than last month)
6. Ocado – £127.44 (£3.85 higher than last month)
7. Waitrose – £127.70 (£5.17 higher than last month)
What's happening in your area
To ensure the results across the stores are fair, if an item is unavailable or out of stock in one of the seven online stores for a week, then the product was dismissed and not analysed within the final basket costs for the month.
There were however no products that were out of stock during the month, and if they were then they can also be replaced with another like-for-like item as long as it is in stock across all seven retailers.


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A decision by Cumberland Farms to file suit against the boards of health in Barnstable and five other commonwealth communities over the banning of flavored tobacco products represents the latest gross example of a corporation putting profits over people. This preference for common greed over the common good should be held up for what it is, hopefully shaming the chain into reversing course.
In addition to peddling food, fuel and lottery tickets, the regional convenience store chain also sells tobacco products, offering a wide variety of cigarettes, chewing tobacco, and electronic smoking options. This, of course, is its right, provided of course that it only sells such products to those aged 21 and older. But a recent reprehensible trend on the part of tobacco companies to craft flavored products has helped foment a market among younger customers. These products have proven popular, not just among adults, but also among young people. In fact, many believe that the underlying purpose behind the introduction of flavored tobacco products is to prod the addiction of the next generation of tobacco users in a manner that echoes the marketing campaigns of traditional cigarettes back in the 1960s.
In fact, many teenagers in the commonwealth who have taken up vaping have cited the availability of flavored products as one of the reasons they began vaping in the first place. According to one study, 80 percent of high school students who use tobacco reported using a flavored tobacco product in the past 30 days.
These statistics have not gone unnoticed. Some at the state level have pushed to regulate flavored tobacco products in much the same way that Barnstable and like-minded communities have proposed. Others, including Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, have pushed to have flavored tobacco products banned altogether, although it remains unclear as to whether there are sufficient votes in the Legislature to pass such as measure.
Meanwhile, health-savvy communities have decided they cannot afford to wait and have worked to stem the tide of flavored tobacco by putting such products as far out of the reach of children as possible. As a result, bylaws such as the one in Barnstable have limited the access of underage purchasers by restricting sales to those who are at least 21 in such stores as smoke shops.
Local store owners have decried the move, saying that it puts them at a competitive disadvantage, especially given that consumers can easily travel to a neighboring town if they want to purchase the flavored products. Some have also argued that they are already required to police sales of all tobacco products, helping to ensure that they are not sold to underage patrons.
Their fears are not unjustified, especially given the popularity of flavored tobacco products among all age groups. However, if state lawmakers, rather than local boards of health, were to pass a statewide initiative, fears of people traveling to neighboring communities would be largely put to bed, with the exception of towns along the state’s borders.
Some e-cigarette manufactures have at the very least paid lip service to the idea that young people should not use their products. Kevin Burns, the CEO of JUUL, one of the most popular brands of e-cigarettes today, wrote that the company wants to keep its products out of the hands of young people: “Our intent was never to have youth use JUUL products. But intent is not enough, the numbers are what matter, and the numbers tell us underage use of e-cigarette products is a problem. We must solve it.”
JUUL has taken some initial steps to do so. It has limited the purchase of some of its flavored products to online sales, arguing that would-be buyers must prove they are 21 before they are allowed to buy the product. Still, if the company is truly interested in reducing the use of flavored products by young people, why not make all of its flavored products exclusively available via online sales?
Barnstable, which has temporarily suspended the rollout of the new rule due to the pending litigation, should be praised rather than sued for adopting a commonsense rule designed to protect young people from a lifetime of addiction, health problems, and an early death. Cumberland Farms, which claims its argument focuses on unfair sales practices rather than the merits of flavored tobacco products, should be called out for pandering to the almighty dollar.


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The chair of the P.E.I. Lobster Marketing Board said the 2021 fall lobster season is thriving with strong catches and high prices.
Although some harbours are noticing they’re down slightly – around 10 per cent from last year – the price is way up due to high demand.
Lobster prices opened at $8 per pound for canners and $9 per pound for markets, while it was $4.50 per pound and $5 per pound respectively this time last year, said Charlie McGeoghegan.
“The price basically goes up around twice time compared to last year. We know it’s going to be a record, but the season is still ahead,” he said, noting 2021 lobster landings are not yet available, and the fall season this year runs until early to mid-October.
According to the Department of Fisheries and Communities, in 2019, the P.E.I. seafood sector contributed approximately $1 billion to the provincial economy. Meanwhile, lobster is and continues to be considered the largest economic driver in the industry. In 2020, despite the impact of COVID-19, lobster was worth $330 million to P.E.I.’s economy.
However, catches were down last year due to the two-week delay in starting the 2020 spring season (LFA 24 and 26A) as a result of COVID-19. In 2019, while lobster landings were 42.3 million pounds, catches in 2020 dropped to 39 million pounds. Fall season landings in 2019 were 10 million pounds, increasing in 2020 to 11 million pounds.
The demand for P.E.I. lobster is higher now than it's ever been, McGeoghegan said. Even with COVID-19, the industry saw a huge uptake in domestic sales, mainly in Ontario, Alberta and B.C., with an increase of 40 per cent in volume.
“We feel that the industry has come to a place where they're finally getting paid what they should have been paid years ago and getting their fair share of the pie. Fishermen are in a much better place right now,” he said.
There's no product and inventory left from the spring season or last year, explaining part of the increase in demand, he said.
“They’re all sold,” he said. “It’s a very good feeling.”
“We feel that the industry has come to a place where they're finally getting paid what they should have been paid years ago and getting their fair share of the pie. Fishermen are in a much better place right now,”
- Charlie McGeoghegan
There are also more countries now demanding lobster than ever, McGeoghegan said.
“The U.S. is our biggest market, and China is our second. They’re competing for products. It increases the demand, and that increases the price,” he said, noting orders are also requested from many other countries worldwide.
Cody Campbell, the manager at Water Prince Corner shop, said prices are up compared to last year for retailers. As of now, lobster ranges anywhere from about $14 to $15 per pound, while it was around $8 to $10 per pound retail this time last year. It’s been a challenge for retailers and local customers, he said.
“It is much more expensive,” Campbell said. “If we pay more, that’s going to get passed on to customers as well. Lobster price is about three times more expensive this year than it was last year, but as a retailer or in the restaurant, we can’t triple our prices.”
But high prices don’t seem to affect the demand, he said.
“People that want it still want it regardless of the price. And that's been a good thing. The order would just be smaller,” he said, noting the restaurant has been busy with lobster being the main item for not only dining in but also retailing and delivering.
“But for the industry generally, and for the fishers in particular, the increase in demand and prices is definitely a good thing.”
McGeoghegan said the fishery industry has come a long way after 15 years.
“It makes us feel great because the board has been working hard to try to showcase Prince Edward Island lobster and get it sold in more countries than we've ever done. And that's where we're really working now,” he said. “We see demand continuing to increase so we think that looks good for years to come.”


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Gome sees profit jump
Chinese electrical appliances and consumer electronics retailer Gome booked a net profit of 322 million yuan ($52.6 million) during the six months to June.
The retailer says that’s up 153 per cent from a year ago.
Sales rose 10.2 per cent to 27.1 billion yuan as its ‘multi-channel retailer’ strategy has now started bearing fruit.
“The group’s sales revenue, operating cost, net profit and single store performance all showed significant year-on-year improvement and consolidated gross profit margin has reached a record year-on-year high,” said CEO Wang Junzhou.
However, Gome’s e-commerce business, which accounted for five to six per cent of the company’s total revenue, has yet to turn to profit as it lost 120 million yuan in the first half. But it is optimistic about its long-term potential.
“Our priority for e-commerce at the moment is profitability, not quantity. We are actively cutting costs and raising money. Hopefully we can see the service make money in at least one month this year,” said CFO Fang Wei.
Gome opened 35 stores and closed 70 during the period, bringing the total number of stores to 1073.
It expects to open stores in 30 to 50 new cities by 2016.
“We firmly believe that the Chinese home appliances market still holds immense potential and Gome still has significant room for growth,” said Junzhou.


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NEW YORK – Goya Foods is in the midst of its largest expansion in its history.
The company is already the largest Hispanic-owned food company in the country, and is now poised to continue to grow.
Goya opened its brand new headquarters last week – a $250 million facility – in Jersey City, New Jersey. The relocation to Jersey City from Secaucus promises to retain 500 jobs and add up to 250 more jobs, the CEO of the company, Bob Unanue, said in an interview with Fox News Latino.
“It’s just a reflection on how, not only how we’ve grown, but the Hispanic community has grown in the United States as the No. 1 minority in this country and also the United States is the second largest Latino community in the world so we are very happy to be a part of that family,” Unanue said.
It’s been said by some experts that just 10 percent of family businesses survive through the third generation. Goya Foods has been around for 78 years and is now under the leadership of its third generation and mentoring the fourth generation who are already taking roles in the business.
“I believe it’s a common goal of all of us wanting what’s best for the company, the employees and the shareholders and keeping that excitement, passion and enthusiasm, treating each other with respect,” said Peter Unanue, the executive vice president of Goya.
The company credits its authenticity and family atmosphere for its recent global expansion. The company now has 26 facilities throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Spain. Last year, the company opened up new facilities in Texas, California and Georgia, a state that continues to see a burgeoning new Latino community.
“We have grown to over 2,200 different products that represent the diverse representation of the Hispanic community,” Bob Unanue said. “We want to hit that market but we also want to hit the general market. But you have to be authentic. You have to know what you’re doing. We go neighborhood by neighborhood we look at the changing demographic in every community.”
Watch the rest of the one on one interview with the Unanue brothers above.


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Western sanctions against Russia are boosting demand for Chinese cars and this surge could continue as long as those sanctions remain in place, an executive with China’s auto association has told Reuters.
Chinese automakers were also planning to assemble vehicles in Russia and localise production, Xu Haidong, deputy chief engineer at the China Association of Auto Manufacturers (CAAM), told the news agency.
“There’s still huge demand in the Russian market but that won’t necessarily be solely reliant on imports,” Xu said.
“China’s auto exports to Russia will still be in high demand over next 2-3 years and after that China’s auto sector will likely increase their localisation in the Russian market.”
Reuters, citing CAAM data, noted Russia was the top destination for China’s auto exports for the first seven months of the year with 464,000 cars sold. Mexico was second with 224,000 units.
For the whole of last year, Mexico was the top importer of Chinese cars with 254,000 units while Russia was the fifth largest with 162,000 units, the CAAM data showed.
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Reuters said imported Chinese cars now accounted for 49% of Russia’s market, reaching 40,000 units in June, compared with a pre war share of just 7% in June 2021. Chinese firms were also assembling vehicles in Russia, taking over factories vacated by western automakers.
China was the world’s largest auto market but Chinese automakers were increasingly looking abroad to offset intense competition and weakening demand at home, the news agency report added.


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The company makes over 2 billion euros of purchases in real estate during the year
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Nokia CEO Makes Something That Might Make You Think. Pekka Lundmark, CEO of Nokia, claims that by 2030, smartphones will largely be gone. They claim that many devices will be implanted directly in our body. With this, the commercial use of 6G will start by 2030.
When he was asked that when will smart glasses or any other devices replace smartphones? So Lundmark said that this will happen even before the arrival of 6G. He has said that it will no longer be the most common interface for smartphones as we know them today. Many things will be made directly in our bodies.
However, Pekka Lundmark didn’t say what these electronic products would be that would force people to give up phones. In 2030, the technical requirements of 6G networks will also change to a great extent. This will require massive computing power and faster network speeds. It will be about 100 times or 1,000 times faster than the current network.
How will be the future of technology?
It is estimated that by 2050 people will stop using smartphones. Instead, their brain will be directly connected to the internet. The human brain will be connected to the Internet through advanced brain-computer interfaces. When someone needs some information, like- call a friend, turn on the light, order food, just think about it and it will happen. AI algorithms will run with normal brain function. It will help people learn new skills, manage their lives and perform difficult tasks. The cloud will become an extension of a person’s mind.


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Apple Sues Think Secret [Updated x 2]
CNET News reports that Apple is suing rumor site Think Secret for posting Apple trade secrets and for encouraging and inducing persons to provide product information in breach of agreements. Previously, Apple had named ThinkSecret.com, along with AppleInsider.com and PowerPage.org, in subpoenas while tracking down leaks of information about Asteroid.
The court filings list particular Think Secret articles, including the headless iMac and iLife '05 stories, without identifying which reported details are true.
"Apple has filed a civil complaint against the owner of ThinkSecret.com and unnamed individuals who we believe stole Apple's trade secrets," Apple said in its statement. "We believe that Think Secret solicited information about unreleased Apple products from these individuals, who violated their confidentiality agreements with Apple by providing details that were later posted on the Internet."
In the suit, Apple outlines the damage that leaks cause, noting that disclosures give competitors a head start and hurt the buzz created around its products. "Unauthorized disclosures diminish the interest of both the mainstream and trade media in the launch of a new product," Apple said.
Previous related stories: Apple Sues Over Leak, Apple Sues Tiger Leaks, $499 Headless iMac?, iWork '05 Productivity Suite?
[Update] Think Secret has released a statement addressing the suit
"We're confident that Think Secret's reporting is consistent with the right and privileges granted by the First Amendment," dePlume wrote. "The complaint is being reviewed, and Think Secret defers further comment until it has been analyzed."
[Update] The Mac Observer reports that the Electronic Frontier Foundation will provide legal representation to AppleInsider.com and PowerPage.org, but not ThinkSecret.com, in this matter.
Apple's second-generation AirPods Pro are finally nearing launch, with a release expected later this year. If you are considering upgrading to the new AirPods Pro once they are released, keep reading for a list of five new features to expect.
In addition to all-new features, the second-generation AirPods Pro will likely adopt some features added to the standard AirPods last year.
There's just about a month to go until Apple holds its annual September event focusing on new iPhone and Apple Watch models. We thought we'd take a quick look at everything that's rumored for Apple's September event to give MacRumors readers a rundown on what to expect when the first fall event rolls around.
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