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- Conditions improve slightly for N.Y. manufacturers in May
Conditions improved slightly for New York manufacturers in May, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Empire State Manufacturing Survey shows.
- Ryco expands as demand grows
- Kodak Q1 loss grows, revenues drop
Eastman Kodak Co. reported a bigger first-quarter net loss as its revenues declined.
- RF sales down, operating income up; Exelis deal eyed for June
Harris Corp.’s Rochester-based RF Communications business reported a slight drop in third-quarter revenues, but an increase in operating income.
- RF Communications to get portion of $3.89B Army contract
Harris Corp.’s Rochester-based RF Communications business has been awarded a portion of a $3.89 billion, 10-year contract with the U.S. Army for its radios, Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-Perinton, announced.
- LiDestri, U.K. firm to form $17M joint venture for beets
LiDestri Foods Inc. is partnering with a United Kingdom-based firm to create Love Beets USA LLC, a $17 million Rochester-based joint manufacturing venture.
- Uni-Pixel ends joint activities with Kodak
Uni-Pixel Inc. has ended its partnership with Eastman Kodak Co. Kodak plans to move forward on its own with the development of the touch screen technology.
- Xerox sales, profit down in Q1, matches expectations
Xerox Corp. stock was trading down roughly 10 percent Friday after the company reported first-quarter financial results in-line with analyst estimates, but saw profit and revenue decline. The company also lowered its outlook for earnings for the year.
- Optimax president to participate in White House summit
A local business leader is participating in a White House national summit Friday focused on the need to “upskill” America’s workforce.
- Schumer says DOT proposal would hurt area manufacturers
Sen. Charles Schumer is urging the U.S. Department of Transportation to reconsider and clarify a proposal that could hurt Rochester-area manufacturers of buses and trains and put hundreds of jobs at risk.
- State site lists record number of available jobs
A record number of available jobs have been posted on the New York State Jobs Express website, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced this week.
- Harris gives early look at Q3 results
Harris Corp. announced Tuesday preliminary fiscal third-quarter financial results, in order to expand timing options for completing the permanent debt financing for its pending acquisition of Exelis Inc.
- RF Communications gets $74 million in orders
Harris Corp.’s Rochester-based RF Communications has received $74 million in orders from an undisclosed international customer to deliver tactical radios as the next phase of the country’s tactical communications modernization program.
- Vuzix acquires pair of patents
Vuzix Corp. has acquired two patents for an undisclosed price. One patent covers gesture controls of 3-D virtual objects; the other focuses on ambient light management in see-through wearable displays.
- Export-supported jobs increasing
- Conditions decline for N.Y. manufacturers, report shows
Business activity was flat for New York manufacturers in April, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Empire State Manufacturing Survey shows.
- Graham Corp. sees 6 percent rise in orders for FY2015
Graham Corp. was awarded $136.5 million in orders during fiscal 2015, which is up 6 percent from orders logged in fiscal 2014, the Batavia firm said.
- Black Button Distilling expands operations
Black Button Distilling is expanding its capabilities as well as its staff to keep up with increased demand.
- Corning, OLEDWorks ink agreement
Corning Inc. announced an agreement Monday with OLEDWorks LLC, a Rochester-based company.


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[UPDATE: 11/22] Zhang Ziyi says she will never ever buy Dolce & Gabbana again
n an epic and embarrassing public relations catastrophe, an ill-conceived Dolce & Gabbana ad campaign in China has led to the Italian fashion house being forced to cancel its high-profile show in Shanghai after managing to piss off the entire nation.
The new “DG Loves China” online marketing campaign notably included three short video clips of a giggling Asian model attempting to eat a pizza, a large cannoli, and spaghetti with chopsticks. While the brand was presumably trying to produce a humorous ad that would appeal to Chinese consumers, the videos instead struck all the wrong chords with its audience, criticized as being racist for its patronizing concept, the model’s overly stereotypical look, the voiceover’s condescending tone, and the fact that Shanghai was written in Japanese characters.
To top it all off, as the woman tries to eat the cannoli, the narrator pointedly asks her “is it too huge for you?”
The videos had been produced to promote the brand’s The Great Show in Shanghai, which had been scheduled for Wednesday night. While the clips were promptly removed from Weibo after inciting a furious backlash, they remain up on Dolce & Gabbana’s Instagram account where they’ve been bombarded with outraged comments from Chinese netizens.
You can watch all three ads below:
On Wednesday, the day of the planned show, things somehow only got worse for Dolce & Gabbana with one Instagram user sharing screencaps of a conversation that he says he had with the brand’s co-founder Stefano Gabbana, in which Gabbana is alleged to have written the following:
Soon afterward, Gabbana claimed that the comments were not his and that Instagram account had been “hacked,” adding that he “loves China and Chinese culture.”
Dolce & Gabbana has also claimed that its official Instagram account was “hacked” as well after other racist and derogatory comments were attributed to the account in the comment war underneath its posts.
All of this resulted in a number of Chinese celebrities and models publicly pulling out of the show and the hashtag “Boycott Dolce” going viral on Weibo. Eventually, less than four hours before showtime, Dolce & Gabbana announced that The Great Show would be “rescheduled” for a later date.
With all of Dolce & Gabbana work promoting the show now gone down the toilet, Chinese netizens have told the company not to let the door hit them on the way out:
— Ding Ding (@DingDing_2015) November 21, 2018
— 🎄 (@SydXmas) November 21, 2018
— ChrisJefferson (@reject_chris) November 21, 2018

domain: news


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Blackberry Updates: Final Smartphone, BlackBerry Mercury (DTEK70) Coming Soon
Blackberry has decided to move to a licensing model for their new smartphone hardware. However, many devices are still in the production pipeline, and this includes the current release of the Android which is powered by DTEK60 that focuses on security. The third Android device for 2016 is called the DTEK70.
Earlier this year, there were reports that Blackberry devices which were codenamed "Neon," "Argon," and "Mercury" are in the works. According to GizmoChina, there has been an announcement that Blackberry company was forced out of business by its more innovative and dynamic competitors. And just recently, the company has announced that it was selling its smartphone business arm to TCL which is the owner of the Alcatel brand.
However, before the shocking announcement happened, the company was reportedly working on a flagship device which will take over from DTEK 60 as the next generation DTEK 70. The said device goes by the codename of Mercury.
According to the reports, the Blackberry Mercury will be the last smartphone Blackberry with a full QWERTY keyboard which will be released by the company. Now, according to GMS Arena, the renders of the Blackberry Mercury has surfaced online to give customers a glimpse of the device, and it's QWERTY keyboard-sporting device that the company has put together.
Blackberry Mercury comes with a small display with 4.5 inches only. The presence of the QWERTY keyboard took occupies the space of where the screen should have been. So, it is expected the new Blackberry Mercury will likely have a small screen flagship. Furthermore, the device also uses a hyperbolic or curved display screen to enhance its appearance.
It was also reported that the new Blackberry Mercury would be powered by Snapdragon 821 processor with a large battery which is expected to last for two days. On the other hand, TCL which is planning to make Blackberry's handsets is projected to reveal some new devices on 2017. This will probably include some information about the new DTEK70 or Blackberry Mercury.


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Will Businesses Adopt Remote Working Permanently?
This blog in brief
Within a matter of weeks, traditional office workers all over the world were working remotely. There have been challenges, undeniably, but businesses have also seen the benefits. The question is: will they continue to offer and promote remote working post pandemic?
The ‘New Normal’
‘Remote working is not possible for our company’ – the popular pre-COVID statement that quickly became a necessity to survive the business world. The pandemic, and ensuing global lockdown, meant suddenly, flexible working was the only type of working – whether business leaders were prepared or not. Companies who previously offered remote working found the transition quick and easy, while those who did not have these structures in place had to adopt them quickly. The question is: will they continue to offer and promote remote working post pandemic?
A positive outlook
Industry leaders seem to suggest that the answer is yes. A new Gartner survey found that 74% of CEOs have already reported they intend to make the shift to remote work for some employees a permanent one. 4% of survey takers said they would leave 50% of their workforce remote, 17% of respondents said 20% would remain off-site, another 25% said 10% of workers wouldn’t return to an office.
“This data is an example of the lasting impact the Covid-19 crisis will have on the way companies work” Alexandar Bant reported in Forbes.
The benefits of a permanent shift
There are many reasons why businesses might want to make the shift permanent.
“Advocates say remote working encourages work/life balance and can result in higher productivity and increased employee satisfaction, loyalty and engagement,” says Kathryn Mayer in Human Resources Executive.
For businesses, it can save money by lowering office costs. Recent events showed that companies with flexible workspace arrangements in place had an easier switch when lockdown started than those who still had to set systems up.
It can also help businesses find and keep talent. A 2018 survey by Deloitte showed that flexibility (in terms of working hours and location) was the third most important factor to young workers. Half of Millennials and 44% of Generation Z described it as ‘significant’ when choosing whether or not to work for an organisation.
Of course, some countries and industries may find it easier than others to make the shift. According to research from 2019 by GlobalWebIndex, 75% of the world’s knowledge workers are able to work from home, but this fluctuates among different markets, increasing to 81% in India and 77% in the UK and falling dramatically to 50% in Japan.
At 87%, employees in the technology and communication sector are the most likely to be permitted to work from home and 1.5 times as likely as the average to be an innovator when it comes to adopting new technology or software products or services. This is followed by management and training (82%), arts, media and advertising (79%) and non-profit (79%).
The sectors which Global Web Index describes as “key to everyday life” – healthcare, education, and government – are the least likely to permit remote working.
Remote working is sometimes associated with newer, smaller companies with attractive remote working provision, but it looks as if the reality of the software and infrastructure investment needed puts larger organisations on a stronger footing, suggests the GlobalWebIndex data.
“Businesses that can implement remote working at scale appear to create a more agile working culture, that lets them respond quickly to sudden developments – pandemics included. Remote working can bring wider benefits to a business when properly implemented.”
About two-thirds of businesses that have adopted remote work policies because of COVID-19 plan to keep at least some of those policies in place long-term or permanently.
In May 2020, The Telegraph reported that several major employers, including Barclays, Next and Vodafone, were all exploring changes to their working practices. The companies had supposedly found mass remote working easier than feared and said they were already preparing to cut costs by reducing their office estates. So it seems clear that even once businesses are widely able to reopen, the workforce may look entirely different — and not necessarily in a bad way.
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Apple Post Steve Jobs Tribute In Commemoration For Him
One year has passed again and today is indeed a very special day as it is the first anniversary of Steve Jobs passing. Steve Jobs passed away on October 5 2012 and the weird thing is that one day before his passing Tim Cook announced the iPhone 4S at Apple's HQ. Steve Jobs is a true visionary and he shaped the whole digital era from the iMac to the iPod to the iPhone and the iPad. Tim Cook has placed an official note in the Apple website about his passing and said that the greatest gift that Steve gave the world is Apple. Additionally Tim also said that "our values originated from Steve and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple". A brief history of Steve's life, he was born on the 24th of February and he was one of the co-founders of Apple and Pixar animation. Here is the official statement by Apple, also make sure to watch the commemoration video below by Apple. With that said i would like to thank steve jobs for everything he has done to the digital era.


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The brand new 2011 APA Directory is launched today, featuring the very latest news, theories and opinions in the world of content marketing, alongside listing of APA member agencies and affilates. Click here to find out more and to order your free copy. Read more »2Comments
To ensure you get the maximum amount of time to get your entries in, we've extended the deadline for entries to the International Content Marketing Awards 2011 to Friday 9th September.
To enter, go to www.ilovecontent.co.uk/awards, complete your entry online and then post your entry packs to the APA. Winners will be announced at the Awards Dinner at Old Billingsgate on Wednesday 23 November 2011.
From Vancouver and New York to London and Udaipur, Canadian architects and interior designers are creating hotels that boost international reputation. To celebrate their work, award winning Air Canada magazineenRoute - published by Spafax Canada Inc - assembled a panel of industry experts to choose the winners of the first ever enRoute Hotel Design Awards. Read more »
With only 1 week to go to the closing deadline to enter the International Content Marketing Awards 2011, we have put together our top 5 tips to submitting a winning entry.
With 27 categories available to enter and more agencies entering than ever before, this year's awards promises to be the biggest yet, attracting entries from all over the world from a huge variety of publishers and agencies. Find out how to create a winning entry »
This week APA's Julia Hutchison provides further comment on ABC's latest circulation figures; Seven offers an exclusive interview with Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki for Elevate magazine; how brands should act in the digital space; a new magazine for Nokia; and a look at why branded entertainment content works. Read more »


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The Abu Dhabi Farmers Services Centre (ADFSC) announced that they will be supplying fresh local produce to Elite Agro, a leading Abu Dhabi producer and distributor of fresh vegetables and fruits in an agreement that will see both consumers and farmers benefit from the buying power of a strengthened domestic supply chain. At the recently concluded Global Forum for Innovation in Agriculture (GFIA) exhibition held at ADNEC in Abu Dhabi, an agreement was signed between Nasser Mohammed Al Junaibi, ADFSC acting Chief Executive Officer and Dr Abdulmonem Al Marzooqi, CEO of Elite Agro LLC for the distribution of ADFSC produce through Elite Agro’s retail partnerships.
“ADFSC is proud to partner with Elite Agro as it shares the vision of producing high-quality produce that can compete with the high levels maintained by imported produce” Both customers and consumers will benefit from this venture as the exposure to high-quality produce grown in the UAE will increase in direct competition with imported produce Al Junaibi said.
“We aim to increase the farmers’ income through the marketing of their products to consumers in an attractive way. Prior to this stage, we strive to improve these products – whether agricultural or animal – so that not only the consumer approves of them, but they also meet and surpass the highest international standards. In addition, it is a move to enhance the competitiveness of domestic produce being a high-quality fresh product.” He added
ADFSC will supply a range of produce including tomatoes, capsicum and cucumbers and Elite Agro will ensure this reaches key retailers and consumers. In doing so, customers and consumers will receive fresh produce as opposed to the imported produce that can be up to one week old. The demand for fresh food continues to increase in the UAE as consumer attitudes towards local produce changed significantly over the last year. Consumers now perceive local produce as equal, if not better in quality than imported produce and are aware of the low carbon foot print for local products compared with imported products.
According to Euromonitor, UAE consumers ate 3.3 million tonnes of fresh food in 2017 and the market is predicted to grow in the high single digits. The turn towards healthy living may also be contributing to the increase in consumption. Fresh and healthy foods are a part of burgeoning change in lifestyle in the UAE. In recent years, the incidence of Diabetes and heart-related diseases have surged, mainly due to sedentary life-styles and high-caloric intake. However, as consumers become more aware of the choices available in the market, and turn to fitness and health consciousness, fresh high-quality foods are seen as an important resource.
Both Elite Agro and ADFSC are passionate about high-quality and sustainable agricultural practices, and this collaboration combines ADFSC’s best farming practices with Elite Agro’s distribution and retail relationship power. “GLOBALG.A.P. Certification is a pre-requisite for crops and without it we would not have a market and this will encourage the local farmer to be certified by GLOBALG.A.P” said Dr Abdulmonem after signing the agreement.
Elite Agro’s and ADFSC’s strategy includes the supply of high value quality products suited to the health and wellbeing consumer segment as well as encouraging the population to make healthier, fresher choices. “The welfare of the people and the country is of equal importance to us. Making healthier and fresher food choices is a step in the right direction. With the increased demand for health-giving fresh products, we are committed to supplying a product that consumers need. By signing this agreement with ADFSC we have taken a decisive step towards meeting increasing consumer demand for local produce and have secured a consistent high-quality supply” Dr. Al Marzooqi added.The co-operation between ADFSC and Elite Agro will benefit both the organisations as their respective market positions are expected to strengthen, a wide range of customers, and the end consumers. The relationship is expected to grow and prosper just as agriculture in the UAE grows and prospers


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Joseph, the London-based fashion chain, has been put up for sale by its Belgian owner, who may end up losing money on his five-and-a-half-year involvement with the business.
Albert Frere, a billionaire Belgian banker, has asked merchant bankers BNP Paribas to sell the business. Sales memoranda went out earlier this month and preliminary bids are expected in the next few days.
However, despite a price tag of around £110m, the market for fashion businesses is mercurial at the moment and it is extremely likely that no offer will match the £98m valuation put on the chain when Mr Frere bought a controlling stake in Joseph in 1999.
The fashion chain was founded in the 1960s by the Moroccan-born designer Joseph Ettedgui, who ran it with his younger brother, Franklin. The company came to prominence in the 1980s, when its knitwear and linens became required wearing, and has maintained a strong reputation for its intricate designs.
In the land grab for fashion assets in the 1990s, it was snapped up by Mr Frere's Compagnie Nationale à Portefeuille, which took a 54 per cent stake. The Ettedgui family retained a minority holding but were able to bank £17m, which they used to invest in the leather goods company Connolly.
Mr Frere, the son of a nail merchant who was one of the leading lights in the Banque Bruxelles Lambert group, is one of the best-connected business people in Europe, and sits on the board of Bernard Arnault's fashion, wine and spirits giant, LVMH.
He hired BNP Paribas to conduct a strategic review of Joseph late last year and this resulted in the sales process, which has just started.
Joseph reported an operating profit of £9.4m on sales of £52.8m in 2003, the last set of accounts that is available. It operates from around 50 outlets in the UK - including concessions in Harrods, Harvey Nichols and Selfridges - and has some 300 staff.
The chain is unlikely to prove attractive to the big fashion houses - such as LVMH, Gucci and Burberry - because it is so UK focused. But there may be a fair bit of private equity interest: the likes of Change Capital Partners - the investment business formed by former Marks & Spencer chairman Luc Vandevelde - Advent International, Apax Partners and 3i are all likely to be tempted. Another potential buyer mentioned is Keven Stanford, the backer of the Karen Millen women's fashion shops, which he sold last year for £120m.
However, despite the potentially long queue of potential acquirers, the recent history of selling UK fashion businesses does not indicate that Joseph will command the £110m that BNP Paribas is looking for. "Joseph needs quite a lot of investment if it is going to be a serious international business, and I'm not sure anyone is prepared to put the money in," said a banker with fashion industry connections. "The sale could be another LK Bennett."
Linda Bennett, the award-winning founder of the ubiquitous footwear chain LK Bennett, asked accountants BDO Stoy Hayward to find potential buyers for the business last year. Despite over 30 expressions of interest, the highest bids fell more than £30m below the £75m valuation that Ms Bennett put on the company, and she withdrew it from sale last month.
Others, however, have done better selling fashion companies in recent months.
The owners of fashionista shoe maker Jimmy Choo cashed in by selling a half stake in the business to American investment company Hicks Muse for £101m. The price was five times the amount that had been paid for the business in 2001.
Similarly, Barclays Private Equity made a fivefold profit on its investment in Hobbs, the fashion shoe chain, when the business was sold to 3i in a £111m deal last autumn.Reuse content


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Nvidia has used it to promote GP GPU, its growing presence in HPC (high-performance computing), and also new applications for big data, and now mobile. Long ago, Nvidia tired of the tit for tat competition with Intel, AMD, and several companies that have since disappeared. The company’s strategy has always been to change the game, write new rules, and buy the playing field. Thus, as software companies struggled to transition to the new age of multi-core/multi-chip, Nvidia developed CUDA, a slight fork in the code road to make it easier to develop applications that could take advantage of Nvidia multi-core GPUs and heterogeneous computing. As mobile grew big enough to tempt us to write requiems for the PC, Nvidia introduced its Tegra line of mobile products.
Jen Hsun Huang set the tone in his keynote by talking about where the bottlenecks are and how Nvidia intends to overcome them. Nvidia has been talking about a unified memory plan for the CPU and GPU, but Huang surprised attendees with the announcement of the upcoming Pascal for 2015, to follow Maxwell, which succeeds Kepler. Nvidia has done some re-arranging of the road map. In previous road map presentations, Huang had talked about Volta, that chip has now been pushed up the road map.
Pascal addresses the bottleneck between the CPU and GPU with unified memory, the new NVLink. It also features 3D memory and stacked DRAM chips. The NKLink is a serial interconnected-like PCIe, and it will be used for GPU-to-CPU and GPU-to-GPU communication. It will enable much faster bandwidth, five to 12 times faster, to 80GB/sec. The Pascal GPU will also include 3D Stacked DRAM with through-silicon-vias (TSVs) that enable more density for memory with no additional room taken up on the PCB.
Although Huang said the GTC Conference is about everything but gaming, it’s inconceivable that an Nvidia event could happen without a big clanging transformer video of the latest graphics board. This one required earplugs. Nvidia showed off the upcoming GeForce GTC Titan Z, which is based on two GK110 GPUs, each with 6GB of frame buffer memory. Each GPU has 2,880 CUDA cores for a total of 5,760, with 12GB of frame buffer memory.
But really … cars
In the second half of 2013, with the arrival of the Nvidia’s K1 chip in January, Nvidia announced that its Kepler architecture had been extended to the Tegra line of low-power processors for mobile, bringing with it CUDA support and the ability to accelerate apps for automotive, the Internet of Things (IoT), robots, tablets, phones, and whatever magical thing comes along. The K1 includes 2GB memory support for USB 3.0, HDMI 1.4 Gigabit Ethernet, audio, SATA, miniPCIe, and an SD card slot.
At GTC, Nvidia officially announced the TK1 Developer Kit, codenamed Jetson. The company has actually had Jetson out there for some time, but now Nvidia is seeking to make it widely available to encourage tinkerers to start tinkering. The Developer Kit comes with a C/C++ toolkit for CUDA and Nvidia’s VisionWorks toolkit with support for cameras and sensors. In addition to CUDA, the SDK supports OpenGL 4.4. It’s available now to the public for pre-order for $192 from Nvidia, Microscenter, and Newegg. It can also be ordered through Avionic Design, SECO, and Zotac in Europe.
Nvidia has been showing off its UI Composer Studio for some time now. It’s an application that enables car designers to design, prototype, evaluate, and deploy digital instrument clusters and in-vehicle infotainment systems. Even if the manufacturers do not use the tool in their actual production, it makes a nifty demo to show off the promise of digital technology in the car.
Nvidia's UI Composer Studio is a 3D content creation application for car dashboards. The company has
been working with automotive companies to push the evolution for digital dashboards, and Tesla has put it into production with its spectacular center module. (Source: Nvidia)
Audi and Tesla are pretty far along in their work with Nvidia’s chips for automotive, and BMW is another customer. First, the applications are for infotainment systems, which is low-hanging fruit for the companies building mobile application processors. The application isn’t so different from tablets and, in fact, Nvidia showed back-seat tablet companions for automotive infotainment, which could be used to control music, video, and other content from the back seat.
Next up comes assisted driving, and Nvidia is talking about the work it is doing with Audi. Jen Hsung Huang said, “The car of the future is going to be your smartest robot.” Andreas Reich, head of Audi pre-development, arrived on stage with a self-driving Audi. The first features we’ll see are traffic assist so when you’re stuck in a horrible traffic jam, the car can take over the stop-and-go and maybe stave off insanity. Also, self-parking is on the way with systems that can process 120 millions of pixels per second.
Baby you can park my car: Audi’s computer vision can survey the surroundings for spaces in which the car can fit. There is no doubt the machine can probably do a better job of getting into tight spaces than a harried human.
Jen Hsun Huang is enthusiastic about the automotive industry. He said, people ask, why do you want to be in the automotive industry? It’s not a very big industry, and it moves slowly. Huang challenges the idea that the automotive industry of the future will be small, pointing out that subsystems in cars, including computer vision, infotainment, and digital dashboards, will use multiple processors, and some of them are going to be Nvidia’s.
“We're the only semiconductor company that serves all three markets,” Huang told investors at a later meeting.
During the keynote, Reich showed off a computer module in the self-driving car that arrived on the GTC stage, and he talked about how modules can be upgraded. In addition, the cars of the future will get regular upgrades to change features. It will be easily done with digital dashboards and networking. Jen Hsun marveled at the upgrades his Tesla gets that has made it more responsive, even enabling the car door handles to move out to meet Jen Hsun’s hand.
Straightening out the investor community
Nvidia holds its investor day at GTC so it can expose investors to the wider world of Nvidia’s business. This year, Jen Hsun was adamant that the PC business is only a small part of Nvidia’s future. To put the company’s business in perspective, Huang pointed out that the PC business had a CAGR of 9%, which is better than the industry average because he’s counting specialty PCs for gaming and design. Nvidia’s mobile business has enjoyed a 48% CAGR, and cloud/HPC business has grown 64%. Yes, these are smaller businesses, and Nvidia’s mobile business has had challenges to overcome, yet Jen Hsun’s point is that the future for Nvidia is in the direction of these younger, rapidly evolving industries.
One hapless investor asked Jen Hsun how he intended to overcome the “challenges” of the PC business, and he pointedly told her Nvidia is not a chip company. They’re not depending on chips sold for computers. “We use a lot of chips,” he conceded, “but we’re not a chip company.” Rather, he preferred to talk about the company’s software development, their patent technology, and their ability to sell systems for virtualization, cloud-based computing, and cars. Nvidia just loves cars these days.
GTC comes just one week after GDC, the Game Developer Conference (hilarious misunderstandings ensue). At GDC, Nvidia talked about the advances in its freely available technologies, including PhyX and VisualX. These technologies have gotten bundled up in middleware Nvidia calls GameWorks.
Nvidia is increasingly self-identifying as a software company, and the GameWorks along with tools like UI Composer Studio make the argument much more compelling. Nvidia’s Tony Tamasi, SVP of Content and Technology, is heading Nvidia’s software development, which covers the development of tools, middleware, performance, technology, and research. The fact that Tamasi is in charge is an indication of how important Nvidia thinks software development is to Nvidia’s future. GameWorks is only one part of the effort, but it does give Nvidia the chance to show what GPU compute really means. When you can see physics at work moving the complex geometries of water, or the random destruction of walls and flaming particles, you get that it is a job for as many processors as you can put to work.
Titanfall by Respawn Entertainment is the showcase game for the Xbox One, and the game developers are taking advantage of Nvidia’s GameWorks technology for physics and particle effects. (Source: Respawn)
At GTC and GDC, Nvidia demonstrated its latest tool in the GameWorks toy box, FlameWorks, which enables cinematic smoke, fire, and explosions. It includes a grid-based fluid simulator with a volume-rendering engine. Nvidia says it supports user-defined emitters, force fields, and collision objects. Also, the new PhysX FleX is a particle-based simulation technique that includes a highly parallel constraint solver that can take advantage of the GPU processors. At GTC, Jen Hsun unveiled a demo for GameWorks that featured a giant blue whale breaching scattering phospherescent organisms and veils of cascading water. Nvidia’s GameWorks tools have been used in Call of Duty: Ghosts, where HairWorks was used to create more realistic characters and wolves. They also use Nvidia’s tools for turbulence and TXAA (anti-aliasing to reduce crawling and flickering during gameplay). Turbulence was also used for snow, steam, and fog effects in
Batman Arkham Origins.
Nvidia has a long history of exploring these kinds of technologies to enable better, more beautiful, bloody, frightening game effects, but Tamasi’s team is now putting more work in packaging these tools so they’re accessible to game developers. They’re being sold as developer tools with GeForce and Tegra.
Where there’s a pixel … Nvidia’s message at GTC 2014 is that Nvidia has a play just about everywhere a pixel gets to the screen. Nvidia and Audi are working on next-generation cars that will get more and more competent. Meanwhile, under the hood, advances in GPU/CPU performance, like the improvements coming with Tegra, will help drive those smarter cars as Nvidia pushes its architecture across its products. (Source: Jon Peddie Research)
End to end to end
Although cars were the big attention-getters at GTC 2014, and ever more impressive games graphics are emblematic of Nvidia, the advances being made in virtualization have the power to change computing for everyone. Nvidia was early with the introduction of its Grid virtualization technology. So early, that most people didn’t understand how it would affect them and most businesses were more concerned about security than they were about getting to computers in the back room or in the cloud. It’s amazing how fast that has been changing. Dell and HP are offering turnkey virtualization along with their PCs and servers. Companies like Citrix, VMWare, Amazon, and Penguin are improving the path to implementation so that all customers have to do is sign the check.
At GTC, the company announced an alliance with VMware, which claims to be the largest player in enterprise virtualization, whereby people can access remote computer resources and share GPUs or, if more appropriate, get access to multiple GPUs in the cloud for rendering, analysis, simulation, visualization, big data processing, and all that. The company’s primarily business has been in helping build private cloud systems.
VMware and Nvidia are looking at wider markets as they expand VMware’s desktop as a system (DAAS) to public clouds, enabling cloud-hosted desktops, to any device, anywhere. At Nvidia’s annual GPU Tech Conference (GTC) in San Jose, VMware announced they are adding virtual GPU (vGPU) support to vSphere. vSphere was conceived as an enhanced suite of tools for cloud computing, and the company’s announcement that they're bringing Nvidia’s Grid technology to their Horizon DaaS platform is a pretty big deal.
In order for this to happen, two very critical and unusual things had to happen involving closely guarded IP. VMware had to open up their source to Nvidia, and likewise, Nvidia had to open up their Grid source code to VMware. And somehow, without soul-crunching and deal-breaking legal “oversight,” the presidents of the two companies, Pat Gelsinger and Jen Hsun Huang, came to an agreement.
To make DaaS with GRID, Nvidia and VMware embedded Nvidia’s microcode into VMware’s Hypervisor.
Nvidia hardware and software run though the VM stack.
Now, any enterprise VMware private cloud, or any VMware public cloud, will be able to employ, and deploy, virtual GPUs into their virtual systems anywhere in the world. VMware users will be able to have a dedicated GPU or a piece of a virtual GPU on any platform the enterprise is supporting with VMware. As a result, Nvidia is looking at a much larger pool of customers.
What Nvidia wanted to communicate above all else is that the company’s technology can be in everything you touch: your computer tools, your phone, running business in the cloud, accelerating discoveries in science, and in your car. The company has a pretty good force-field going. Nvidia has struggled to get its mobile processors in a significant number of phones, and the company has some impressive wins in the car industry, but they’ve got plenty of company fighting for a job under the hood or in the dashboard – it will be a while before we see if Nvidia’s vision of the car future makes the company a major automotive supplier. But, the company has a strong position in gaming, and it moved fast to gain the advantage in virtualization.
In 10 years, the tools we use and the machines we rely on are going to be completely different from what they are now, but Nvidia intends to be there in a big way.
Kathleen Maher is a contributing editor to CGW, a senior analyst at Jon Peddie Research, a Tiburon, California-based consultancy specializing in graphics and multimedia, and editor in chief of JPR’s “TechWatch.” She can be reached at


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eCampus.com textbook rentals saved my life, and about $200, now I can afford to buy groceries!
Lexington, KY (Vocus) October 12, 2010
Students on college campuses all over the country are saving more money with textbook giant eCampus.com’s textbook rental option. Renting is rapidly growing in popularity as a result of the substantial savings and the ease of the return process.
eCampus.com allows students to rent their textbooks along with being able to buy used, new, or ebook textbooks. In accordance with their stated mission, eCampus.com’s rental process has been designed to be easy, fast, and cheap. The process is hassle free and the return shipping is free as well.
Students, like Hannah F. at Utah Valley University, like that she is able to return the textbook and not have to keep it on her shelf. “eCampus.com textbook rentals are great! I got all my books within a week of ordering them, all in good condition, and it cost me a fraction of what buying a book would cost! Plus, I don’t have to deal with the hassle of trying to sell the books back at the end of the year!"
This Back to School season, eCampus.com has saved students over $2.4 million in textbook costs. On average, students who rented from eCampus.com saved 65% of retail price on their course materials.
“Students are saving tons of money by renting their textbooks from eCampus.com. We are thrilled to be able to combat the rising costs to parents and students when it comes to obtaining required course materials.” said Matt Montgomery, President and CEO of eCampus.com
Renting textbooks has become eCampus.com’s most popular purchase option and students all over the country are enjoying the extra cash they would have spent on textbooks. Now students can afford that new iPad, or even buy gas for another trip home for the weekend.
“eCampus.com textbook rentals saved my life, and about $200, now I can afford to buy groceries!” said Gabe D., a Senior at Duke University.
“Thanks eCampus.com for your amazing textbook rental service, you saved me time and money, and I don’t even have to deal with the bookstore here on campus.” said Kevin S., Junior at Arcadia University.
Since its founding in July of 1999, eCampus.com has grown into a major online retailer providing cheap textbooks for college and high school students. eCampus.com’s stated mission is to provide the easiest, fastest, and cheapest way for college and university students to rent textbooks, buy textbooks and sell textbooks.
eCampus.com believes the Internet buying experience should be fun and that shopping for textbooks should be as fast and convenient as possible. The company makes a personal commitment to every customer that eCampus.com will be the best source for everything they need.


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DIXONS Retail, the owner of Currys and PC World, and Carphone Warehouse are poised to announce the final terms of their proposed £3.7bn merger next week in a deal that will create one of the biggest high street technology giants.
The companies are understood be planning to unveil details of their tie-up alongside Dixons’ trading update tomorrow, ahead the extended deadline set by the Takeover Panel of 19 May.
The deal, first revealed by Sky News, is expected to be a merger of equals, with Dixons boss Sebastian James becoming chief exec and Carphone Warehouse’s founder Charles Dunstone taking over as chairman of the combined group.
James has made no secret of wanting to step up the company’s exposure to mobile phones.
The new company, which is considering the name Dixons Carphone Group, would have a powerful presence across European high streets with about 2,900 stores.


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Russian cyber criminals are using British victims’ reward points and airmiles to enjoy luxury holidays at budget prices, a report has revealed. Research by security firm Flashpoint uncovered a thriving online marketplace where illicit “booking services” offer discounts at the expense of genuine customers in the UK and elsewhere.
Facebook Bans MyPersonality For Data Misuse As announced in its official blog post on Wednesday, Facebook bans MyPersonality app since it was sharing user data with some third parties. The popular quiz app primarily remained active before 2012. Powered by Cambridge Psychometrics Centre, the app offered various personality tests to collect users’ data from Facebook. The institution used the data for various researches and academic purposes. They also offered the data to others upon requests. The CPC staff used to vet every request prior approval.
T-Mobile today confirmed that the telecom giant suffered a security breach on its US servers on August 20 that may have resulted in the leak of “some” personal information of up to 2 million T-Mobile customers.
heddar’s Scratch Kitchen restaurants in the US have disclosed a data breach which could have affected its customers who visited late last year or early 2018. Darden Restaurants Inc who owns the restaurant chain announced the breach could have affected customers visiting between November 3rd 2017 and January 2nd 2018.
The hacking group Lazarus based in North Korea has deployed a new malware according to a report shared by the Russian anti-virus maker Kaspersky Lab, and for the first time they are using MacOS platform. The group has penetrated the IT systems of a cryptocurrency exchange platform based in Asia.
On the twentieth of August, Microsoft made public that it effectively terminated 6 websites in affiliation with the Russian Military Intelligence Service GRU. The hacker group that has come to light is the well-known Fancy Bear also referred to here, as APT28 which likewise has been formerly connected to cyber-espionage campaigns directed towards various governments around the globe, including to the hack of the Democratic National Committee before the 2016 US Presidential Election.
The ransomware encrypts data that’s in the storage, in the personal computers and in the data centres. The attack had several victims to its name, including some of the major organizations in the USA and other countries.
Once again, the telecommunication sector has been threatened by a major cybersecurity issue. This time, the affectees include several Internet Service Providers (ISPs) from Canada. Reportedly, a vulnerability in the SOLEO IP Relay affected these ISPs as all of them ran the same vulnerable software. However, by applying Soleo’s patch, these ISPs are now safe.


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Translation by Karani Medios:
The Alliance of National, State, and Municipal Organizations for Social Justice
The National Independent Democratic Union of Agricultural Laborers
San Quintin, September 7, 2016
To all organization
To all democratic unions
To all communities
To all autonomous comittee’s
To all Media
We Clarify and Reiterate that the Driscoll’s Boycott Continues in Full Force
The Alliance of National, State, and Municipal Organizations for Social Justice (AONEMJS) and the National Independent Democratic Union of Agricultural Laborers (SINDJA) declare the following:
After more than a year of struggle that we began in the Valley of San Quintín, when more than 80,000 farm workers rose up in protest in order to better their working conditions and living facilities we have remained in resistance and have denounced before the government several times, they have heard our voice in the clamor of officials, before the congress of the ONU and also have come to know the inhumane living conditions that our people, the farm workers, live every day.
We clarify and reiterate that the boycott against Driscoll’s continues in full force because we called for a boycott over a year ago and the consumers have backed us up here in Mexico and in the United States and other parts of the world. We recognize and are grateful to all the organizations, democratic unions, communities, the autonomous consumer committees who have supported us up to this point. The case of San Quintín has illustrated how slavery was never fully abolished in Mexico, we continue to live in the labor camps in the same inhumane conditions, the same negative treatment, the same discrimination and the lack of protection for farm workers, fields continue to have chemicals applied to them which contaminate the water and the fruit that is harvested; until now no company that sources the transnational corporation Driscoll’s nor their executive officers have wanted to legitimately recognize the union (SINDJA) that represents the farm workers in San Quintín or to negotiate towards a binding collective bargaining agreement. According to some misinformation where contradictory stories have cast doubt upon the general boycott, we continue with the same position but with further conviction that this boycott is significant to the wellbeing of farm workers in San Quintín.
We emphasize our commitment to continue our call for a boycott, and that in respect to this we will expand the boycott in more cities in Mexico and in the United States with much more tenacity this 2016 just as we have agreed to in the march of the two Californias; we will continue to open spaces to raise the consciousness of millions of consumers that by Driscoll’s products throughout the world; we will not abandon organizational work that has cost us much and is more than a year advanced; we will take the time that is necessary to continue pressuring through the boycott, we know that it will take a long struggle but we are convinced that we will be victorious with the support of the pressure that millions of consumers observing the boycott foster.
We will continue the resistance through the boycott of Driscoll’s for the dignity of thousands of farm workers that have supported the movement since March of the previous year, always with good will, cordiality and peace and in the effort to have a better life and a better future for the families of farm workers in San Quintín.
NO TO EXPLOITATION!
FOR A BETTER FUTURE AND TOWARDS A NEW COUNTRY!
The Alliance of National, State, and Municipal Organizations for Social Justice (AONEMJS) and the National Independent Democratic Union of Agricultural Laborers (SINDJA).


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According to the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade, 44,719 jobs were created in 27 industrial fields in Iran during the first half of the current fiscal year (March 21-Sept. 22), registering a 16% rise compared with the corresponding period of last year.
Brownfield and greenfield sites accounted for 18,957 and 25,762 of the jobs created and indicated a 66% upsurge and a 5% fall respectively.
With 6,871, 5,996, 5,148, 4,451 and 3,456 jobs created, the fields of food and drinkables, chemical materials and products, metals, plastic and rubber products and non-metal mineral products generated the most employment over the six-month period.
The top five provinces creating the most jobs were Isfahan with 4,213, Tehran with 3,792, Alborz with 3,663, East Azarbaijan with 3,110 and Qazvin with 2,755.
The number of jobs created in Isfahan, East Azarbaijan and Qazvin registered a 15%, 36% and 62% growth respectively while those for Tehran and Alborz show 7% and 16% decline respectively year-on-year.
Industrial job creation in Iran’s free trade and special economic zones experienced a 109% hike to stand at 2,069. Aras, Chabahar and Anzali were the top FTZs in terms of job creation over the period under review.


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Ryanair has launched the UK’s biggest winter schedule.
Irish airlines have announced that they will operate more than 3,000 daily flights to and from 21 UK airports this winter.
This opens up 21 new routes from Stansted to destinations such as Finnish Lapland. From Liverpool to Rome, Italy. From Birmingham to Stockholm, Sweden. And from Edinburgh to Grenoble, France.
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said at a press conference in London:
“This winter, Ryanair will offer UK customers lower fares as it operates a full schedule of over 3,000 flights daily with many new routes and unbeatable value for UK consumers and their families. and more secure winter travel plans.”
Mr O’Leary also launched a scathing attack on British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s “ineffective” cabinet.
He advised Johnson’s successor to “get rid of them all.”
Asked at a press conference in central London how the new prime minister could help the aviation industry, O’Leary said Britain’s home secretary Pretty Patel was “incapable” and said that Grant Shaps transport He said there would be “no loss” in removing him from his position as secretary. ”.
Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak are the final two in the battle for 10th place and the winner will be announced on September 5th.


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International research team identified chemicals that contribute to tomato flavor.
Hackers matching the profile of a pro-Kremlin group managed to wrest at least partial control of wireless networks at several hotels across Europe last month, a cybersecurity firm said Friday, exposing what it said appears to be a widespread intelligence-gathering effort aimed at government and business travelers. Read moreRead More »
California-based Zipline, the company that generated buzz with its plans to transport medical supplies to remote communities using drones, has officially launched its delivery service in the small African nation. Read moreRead More »


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Avon Protection, a renowned leader in innovative personal protective equipment, is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with OPEC CBRNe, a designer and manufacturer of chemical, biological and antiviral suit systems.
Twenty-year Defence veteran, Geoff Rowland, is the newly appointed General Manager of UK based OPEC CBRNe. Geoff will arrive in the UK in August to take over the reins.
Sometimes the planets just align and so it has proven for recently recruited Sample Sewing Machinist, Gaby Townley. Gaby has enjoyed a hugely successful career in the textile industry. She started out as an apprentice tailor before working as Tailor for the British Forces where she undertook sizing’s and alterations of uniforms. This was followed up with work as a Tailoress
The team at OPEC CBRNe are delighted that our Kestrel CBRN garments have commenced their rollout across Australian Defence and are now forming part of CBRN training for the Australian Army, Navy and Air Force. The Kestrel was selected by the Australian military for its winning combination of comprehensive CBRN protection supplied within a lightweight, breathable garment,
The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated plastic pollution globally through high use of disposable personal protective equipment including PPE, masks and gloves.
Two of OPEC CBRNe’s protective garments recently winged their way to Australia to support NSW first responders.
While the Salisbury attacks have increased our awareness of lethal nerve agents, chemical nerve agents have been used to tragic effect across many other conflicts. Here is the story of their evolution. #CBRNprotectivegarments #chemicalnerveagents #sarin #tabun #novichok
It’s official: Our parent company OPEC Systems was recognised as the Defence Innovator of the Year 2019 at the Australian Defence Industry Awards held in Canberra on 26 September. In a room filled with luminaries from the Australian Defence industry, OPEC Systems was recognised for its innovative CBRN protective garment design and construction, and its
OPEC CBRNe Ltd took its first tentative step into the US CBRN marketplace last week with a booth at CBRNe Convergence in Orlando, Florida. With exhibitors and delegates from all corners of the CBRN world, the event enhanced our global perspective on the size and nature of this unique market. If you didn’t get the
Our Kestrel permeable CBRN suit offers the ideal balance between low burden and high protection. But don’t just take our word for it – have a listen to what serving soldier Richie Barr has to say.


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Fashion retail: omnichannel steps on to the catwalk
Omnichannel was once an empty buzzword. Now it has a new look, accessorised by voice search, gamification and augmented reality
The Covid-19 pandemic forced fashion retailers of all stripes into a gear shift. With most of the planet subject to lockdowns that forced them to stay at home, e-commerce purchases soared. But fashion, the support system of a social life, was left behind, and clothing sales reached a nadir in Q2 2020, when retail sales in Europe dropped by a disturbing 43%.
To recover, fashion businesses have had to quickly improve e-commerce platforms, adopting ever-more creative ways to engage consumers through virtual and augmented reality and gamification. Among retailers, 67% said they’ve accelerated their digital transformation strategy as a result of Covid-19, and 63% said they’ve increased their digital transformation budget.
Retailers have also had to reimagine physical stores and make them work harder to generate revenue – at a time when new shopping generations are demanding increasingly engaging consumer experiences. Recovery overall has been supercharged by an uptick in easy-access, buy-now-pay-later finance.
Phygital: the true omnichannel experience
Omnichannel has long been a buzzword in fashion retail but now the need for recovery has driven brands to realise some of its long-discussed potential.
During the pandemic, 76% of consumers changed stores, brands or channels, showing brand loyalty to be a thing of the past. In response, bricks-and-mortar stores are working with clever digital strategies to co-create “phygital” retail – the convergence of the physical and digital experiences – to maximise attention on brand and activate further spending. Customers converting from online shopping to physical stores spent up to 60% more on average per order.
Deloitte’s 2020 survey into luxury goods shopping showed that 63% of Generation Z respondents prefer offline shopping channels to online platforms. The features of phygital retail play to that crowd, combining the convenience of online shopping with the in-store experience. Store rails are augmented with digital kiosk points mimicking the “endless aisle” of online, while smart labels, QR codes and self checkout are making it easier for shoppers to find and purchase the items they want.
Discovery: voice search and live-stream shopping
New routes to product discovery are a key trend in fashion retail. Voice search is growing: a 2020 report showed that, while only 3% of fashion shoppers had used voice to buy, 22% expressed that they would use voice in the future. With 1bn shoppers having activated voice search in Google’s ecosystem alone, it’s an opportunity retailers can’t ignore, and they are beginning to harness voice search to improve convenience and discoverability in an increasingly competitive e-commerce environment.
At the same time, social commerce is integrating social media video and influencer engagement to create an entirely new digital shopfront. China and the US are hotspots, with social buyers in China expected to increase to 446.8m by 2023. In Europe, retailer priorities are also reframing: 30% of retailers in Euromonitor’s latest retail survey said social commerce would be a part of their investment agenda.
New tools and platforms: VR, AR and integration with gaming
Fashion has found an unlikely ally in the ever-growing gaming industry. Covid-19 restrictions led to an accelerated global gaming market, which reached a $74.9 billion value in 2020, and the metaverse is slowly evolving into a new reality.
Monetising games has traditionally been through in-app advertising but there is now a shift to in-app purchasing, and fashion is supplying both avatar apparel as well as portals through gaming to buy physical items. E-sports has been a positive testing ground: the global e-sports market is projected to reach $1860.2 million by 2026. And many users have money to spend: 60% are between the ages of 25 and 39; many of them are parents, and a notable 38% are women.
Augmented and virtual reality are also boosting fashion and its cousin industry, beauty, allowing users to try before they buy and reducing costly product returns, while adding to brand experience and marketing efforts.
Snap Consumer AR, in partnership with Deloitte Digital, reports that, by 2025, nearly 75% of the global population and almost all smartphone users will be frequent AR users, and that interacting with products that have AR experiences leads to a 94% higher conversion rate. Again, it’s not just a Gen Z trend; millennials are predicted to take up a slightly greater share in the AR-enabled consumer figures, come 2025.
Supercharged shopping fuelled by buy-now-pay-later
Buy-now-pay-later is possibly as old as commerce itself. But in the e-commerce era BNPL has had a makeover, to give shoppers faster and easier access to micro loans.
The BNPL industry is predicted to grow to $1.1 billion by 2024-25, with an annualised growth of 9.8%. The main source of income for BNPL providers such as Klarna comes through merchant fees, which are usually between 3% and 6%. The BNPL industry is expected to reach $680 billion in transaction volume worldwide in 2025.
Fashion retail may have taken a hit during the pandemic, but through a wholehearted embrace of tech-enabled omnichannel the industry has refreshed, renewed and repositioned itself for future growth.
This article is based on the Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center's industry trends report on Digital Retail Transformation and the impact of the Covid-19 pademic.
All data is from the report unless otherwise indicated.
Download the abstract of the report here.


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The coffee market in the UK is huge, worth nearly 10 bn. You can’t go to a city or town in the UK without seeing a number of them dotted around, full to the brim. Even as consumers have turned away from their favourite shops and restaurants on the high street, the coffee shop market has grown, including premium coffee vending machines.
It seems as if a nation of tea drinkers has fallen in love with coffee. In the last 10 years, coffee shops have spread across the UK. A decade ago, there were less than 10,000 places to buy a coffee. By the end of 2017, there were over 22,000 coffee shops. Branded outlets had doubled in numbers. Shockingly, research has shown that Brits spend on average £2,111 per year in coffee shops.
For a number of years, Costa Coffee has dominated the UK’s £9.6bn coffee market – but sales fell last year for the first time. The question must be asked, is trouble brewing for the high street brand? There has been some thoughts on why this might be, with ideas based on the decline of the high street in general and introduction of premium coffee vending machines.
In the UK, Costa Coffee clearly dominates the coffee market. Set up in 1971, they now have around 2,300 stores in the UK alone, twice the amount it had in 2010. This is in comparison to the next two biggest brands, 956 Starbucks and 675 Caffe Neros. In 2017, Costa was voted the Nations Favourite Coffee Shop for the 8th year running, and in early 2018, made a ground-breaking product placement deal with Coronation Street which resulted in a Costa on the cobbles. Not only does it appear on our tv screens, but also on our roads, in our railway stations, hospitals, pubs and even cinemas.
Coffee shops are not the only venture for Costa in recent years. You can now get your caffeine fix on the move through premium coffee vending machines. Costa have introduced over 6,000 Costa Express vending machines. These machines have opened up the premium coffee vending machine market for other companies as now consumers expect to get high quality coffee from them. And are prepared to pay for it. Shops which didn’t focus on selling coffee before, have started to cash in on this market as well. McDonalds heavily promote their McCafé brand and Greggs now sell premium coffee too.
Costa, Starbucks and Caffé Nero hold the top spot with 53% share of the coffee shop market. However, independent coffee shops are on the rise. Even with loyal followers, these big brands could be challenged by quirky independent cafes, or premium coffee vending machines.
In January 2018, Costa Coffee announced that its sales dipped by 1.5% in the 3rdquarter of 2017 – only the second time they have fallen. Citigroup (investment bank) research suggests that due to the huge amount of growth recently, the opening of new stores will stall in the next 5 years.
Considering 70 million cups of coffee are drunk per day in the UK, it doesn’t however seem like the nation has fallen out of love with coffee. Instead there has been a change in the way coffee drinkers behave. Online shopping and high rent costs have taken people away from the high street. And premium coffee vending machines have reached such a high quality that they are now comparable, if not better, than the high street alternative. The machines can be placed within stores, petrol stations and unmanned cafes, much more suited to the convenient lifestyle that we are all used to in the 21stcentury. As well as convenience for customers, there are benefits for the owners as well. In particular they need less staff as the machines do not need to be staffed 24/7, and so can be open around the clock.
Cyril Lavenant, Food Service Director UK at the NPD Group (a market researcher), thinks we may be even closer to coffee shops stalling. He suggests, “Already there’s huge competition in the coffee market – it’s not only the big coffee shops, it’s everyone from fast food to bakeries – everyone is offering coffee”.
Coffee shops have seen a slight decline in sales as high streets have struggled but they have still important in every-day life. A coffee shop has become a social hub where people not only socialise but work too. 4 out of 5 people spend part of the working day doing their jobs in a coffee shop on phones, laptops and tablets. There is a rising trend in the number of people who use coffee shops as offices, sometimes known as the third space – somewhere for people to escape to and socialise in.
Starting to pop up is unmanned cafés. A blend of premium coffee machines and café. They need less staff but still provide the ‘third space’. We have seen this in action with our own Doozy unmanned cafés. People come in to have meetings or just take a break, somewhere different from their workplace. At Doozy HQ, we opened a showroom which local people are welcome to come in to use and of course have a premium Doozy coffee. We share our business estate with a variety of companies and charities, including Help for Heroes, who regularly drop by for a meeting or a break. One employee, Sue, has this to say,
“Thank you to the team at Doozy for allowing their showroom to be used as a meeting venue. As a sole trader it is a real treat to find a unique space that is suitable for meetings and for coaching sessions with clients. The décor in the showroom is relaxing and a little quirky, mix that with great coffee, some thought provoking quotes on the walls and you have the best setting to work in.”
Interestingly, shifting consumer tastes and shopping patterns have replaced the pub with the café as a primary social venue, with some predicting coffee shops will overtake pubs by 2030.
There is no doubt that premium coffee vending machines are on par and sometimes better quality than their high street alternative. It seems over the next few years, while convenience is key, the desire for them will continue to grow. However, a huge number of people still visit coffee shops regularly and therefore they very much still have their place.


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For Immediate Release
September 06, 2011
For More Information Contact:
Mayor's Press Office
As Boston prepares to phase out sugary drink sales in city-owned buildings, Mayor Thomas M. Menino today unveiled a hard-hitting public awareness campaign to get residents to reduce their consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, which he and public health officials link to rising obesity rates and its impact on higher health care costs.
The campaign, developed by the Boston Public Health Commission, targets parents and caregivers who often make grocery-buying decisions for the household, and teens and young adults who consume more sodas, sports drinks, energy drinks, sweet teas, and other sugar-sweetened beverages than any other age group, according to a new US government nutrition study.
“With the launch of this campaign, I’m asking all parents in the city of Boston to join me in taking responsibility for helping young people choose healthier foods and beverages. And I’m asking youth – especially teenagers – to take a leadership role among your peers and push them to make healthier choices,” Mayor Menino said.
The campaign, funded by the US Department of Health & Human Services through an initiative called Communities Putting Prevention to Work, starts this week with a media blitz that includes TV, radio, MBTA, web, print, and billboard advertising. It launches a month before Mayor Menino’s executive order to phase out the sale, advertising, and promotion of sugar-sweetened beverages in municipal buildings is set to take effect.
Signed in April, the executive order gave city buildings and departments until Oct. 7 to phase out the sale of so-called “red” beverages, or those that, based on science, are known to be loaded with sugar - such as non-diet sodas, pre-sweetened ice teas, refrigerated coffee drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks, and juice drinks with added sugar. The order also prohibits the promotion of “red” beverages in city buildings through sponsorship agreements with city departments, including banners and advertising panels on vending machines. The new rules apply to cafeterias, vending machines, concession stands, and beverages served at meetings, city-run programs, and events where food is purchased with city dollars. City officials say they will honor existing vendor contracts, but once those expire, the new restrictions will kick in.
Dr. Barbara Ferrer, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission, said the public awareness campaign gives the city an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the health effects of sugar-sweetened beverages to a much broader audience, beyond just city employees.
“This campaign is a unique opportunity for Boston residents to have a real dialogue about how sugary beverages contribute to obesity rates and lead to other preventable diseases like type 2 diabetes,” she said. “The nation spends $147 billion a year to treat obesity-related health conditions and Boston is not immune to that. It costs more to treat obese patients than a patient with a healthy weight,” Dr. Ferrer added.
The public awareness campaign specifically targets blacks and Latinos, who have higher obesity rates than other racial groups. According to Boston Public Health Commission data, about 63 percent of black adults and 51 percent of Latino adults in Boston are considered overweight or obese, compared to 49 percent of white adults.
A similar pattern was found in the federal government’s National Health and Nutrition Examination survey released last week, which analyzed data between 2005 and 2008. It reported that among adults 20 years and older, sugary beverages make up 8.6 percent of blacks’ caloric intake, compared to 5.3 percent of whites’.
The public awareness campaign includes an ad called ``Protection,’’ which is a series of vignettes showing measures that parents take to protect their kids – strapping them into a safety seat, adjusting their helmets – before asking if they also know how dangerous sugary beverages can be. The ad urges parents to give their kids healthier options, such as water, seltzer, and low-fat milk because, “After all, they are sweet enough already.”
A second ad developed by the Boston Public Health Commission’s Youth Media Council that targets Boston youths illustrates how the empty calories in sugary drinks can add up to fat. In this ad, a glob of fat flies at youths when they drink a sugary beverage. “Don’t get smacked by fat,” the ad says. “Calories from sugary drinks can cause obesity and type 2 diabetes.”


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Microsoft rebuts Blu-ray Xbox 360 rumours - again
Blu-ray? US? Never!
It's a good job gamers aren’t holding their collective breath in hope for an Xbox 360 with a built-in Blu-ray Disc drive. Microsoft has once again stepped in to quash the latest rumours that it’s developing one.
On Friday morning, it was alleged that Microsoft is working with Taiwan's Pegatron Technology, a subsidiary of PC manufacturer Asus, to develop Xbox 360s equipped with Blu-ray drives. It was also said that the first such model would be available within six months.
However, Microsoft later that day stated that it has “no plans to introduce a Blu-ray drive for Xbox 360". This, according to the software giant, is because "games are what drive consumers to purchase game consoles, and we remain focused on providing the largest library of blockbuster games available”.
Clearly, Microsoft doesn’t realise the irony in its latest statement. If videogames are what drive consumers to purchase games consoles, then why did it bother to develop an add-on HD DVD drive?
Sponsored: Beyond the Data Frontier


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eBay is trying to reshape its image among the younger generation, and it toured college campuses to generate buzz. One student newspaper described the event held on its campus. Reporter Shelby Whitehead of the University of Tennessee – Knoxville’s Daily Beacon wrote:
“The event attempted to dispel three myths when talking to students. The first was that only old or vintage items are sold on eBay. The second is that eBay is auction-only. The third was that eBay has slow shipping.”
The #eBay2Ways campaign also encouraged students to share pictures on social media sites.
EcommerceBytes had recently noted eBay was trying a hip approach in its email marketing.
Comment on the EcommerceBytes Blog.


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Pubs will have been closed for 105 days by the time the first pubs who’ll serve food re-open today. During that period of closure the vast majority of pubs had zero income and most of the 50,000 people employed in the industry were unable to work.
The LVA estimates that nearly two out of every three pubs in Dublin will resume trading in the coming days.
However ‘wet pubs’ or pubs that don’t offer food will not be allowed re-open until the the 20th of July.
Many pubs have been undertaking extensive work in preparing their premises for re-opening. This includes implementing social distancing between tables, closing off bar counters, installing hand sanitiser stations at entrance points and throughout pubs, instigating advance booking procedures, taking steps to collect the name and contact details for the lead member of each group, providing training to staff, creating menus that adhere to the guidelines and ensuring the compliance of their toilet areas as well as many other measures.
“With the public health situation improving, the re-opening of pubs will be an indicator of Ireland’s emergence from the lockdown,” said the LVA Chief Executive Donall O’Keeffe, speaking about the re-opening, “It will signal to the outside world that our country is beginning the journey back to normality and our economy is once again open for business.
“It is of the utmost importance that any pubs that are re-opening this week ensure they’re closely following the guidelines,” he stressed, “We need to show that not only are the pubs open again, but that they will provide a safe and comfortable environment to their customers and staff.
“Speaking to publicans across Dublin we understand there has been a strong interest from the public, with a significant level of customer bookings confirmed for the opening week. There is a demand out there for the re-opening; it will now be up to each individual pub to make sure they provide an environment that maintains public confidence and allows them to continue to trade,” he concluded.
60% of VFI members not opening today
The partial opening of the country’s pubs will enable publicans to start rebuilding their businesses after three months of enforced closure, stated the Vintners Federation of Ireland, but it will also introduce an onerous responsibility on them to ensure new health guidelines are properly enforced.
“There is a pent-up public demand to return to the pub” said VFI Chief Executive Padraig Cribben, “mixed with some natural anxiety but we’re hopeful the considerable time and money spent by publicans ensuring their premises are as safe as possible will reassure the public that hospitality remains at the heart of our pubs.
“While the introduction of the one-metre distancing rule will make a substantial difference to our members’ ability to trade, there remains many challenges within the guidelines for publicans to surmount. The 105-minute ‘sitting time’, for instance, is a directive our members must implement, but when it comes to policing the rule they’re left to their own devices.
“What’s very clear at this early stage is that publicans, staff and customers will have to work together to make the re-opening a success. Technically, the guidelines are not law but the Health & Safety Authority has the power to close premises while any publican flouting the guidelines could encounter difficulties when it comes to renewing their pub licence in September,” he added.
While there will be considerable interest this week as some outlets re-open, most pubs will remain closed until the 20th of July.
“It’s important to remember that the majority of pubs are not opening on 29th June,” he pointed out, “In fact more than 60% of our members will remain closed until phase four in three weeks’ time. There will be huge scrutiny of the pub trade in the interim, probably to a greater extent than any other sector re-opening in phase three. Publicans and their customers are now on a steep learning curve where mutual respect will be crucial,” he concluded.
Meanwhile a new campaign seeks to boost consumer confidence and drive excitement about a safe return to Ireland’s hospitality sector.
Re-opening with Respect
Reopening with Respect was launched by Drinks Ireland to encourage consumers to act respectfully and #BeSound when returning to their favourite pubs, bars and restaurants in the coming weeks.
The campaign aims to support the work being done by the Government and venues in introducing new guidelines and safety measures across the hospitality sector. The campaign has also been launched to support the relevant agencies including Fáilte Ireland which has also launched a new campaign of its own in ‘Staycation’.
The Reopening with Respect campaign will encourage consumers to ‘respect the guidelines’ set out by individual venues upon re-opening. They’ll be asked to ‘respect the staff’ by being patient and cooperative and to ‘respect each other’ to ensure the experience is enjoyable for everyone.
The campaign will be digitally-led at first, with a campaign toolkit available to drinks brands and the on-trade sector.
Both the VFI and the LVA have endorsed the campaign.


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Asia's Nike LeBron ST
Low gets a new colorway, this time in Solar Red. The majority of
the upper is covered in Solar Red with black accents, and finished
off with a black sole. No word on if these will hit the U.S., but
stay tuned for more on the Nike LeBron ST.


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It had been hoarded over decades by a French collector in the biggest barn find of the century. those cars were sold at the Artcurial auction in Paris, and the bidding was spiritied, with many cars bringing multiples of what was expected. The one that demonstrates the state of the classic-car market best? This pile of rust that was once considered the most beautiful French post-war car ever built — and which found a new home today for $1.9 million.
The Saoutchik family only built four bodies like this one, and used this car to advertise their talents at auto shows around Europe, giving it every special touch they had. After its show days ended, the car fell out of sight, and for most of the last four decades, auto historians considered it lost.
It wasn’t. Some 35 years ago, the Saoutchik had been picked up by Roger Baillon, the French businessman whose hoarding of classic cars in rickety, open-air barns led to today’s auction. The interior of the Saoutchik looks like a time-lapse bomb of rust, but even after three decades outdoors the exterior work retains its character; up close you can still see the fine details like the Buick-inspired portholes.
The Saoutchik wasn’t the most expensive car at the Baillon auction; that honor went to the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider, which had been stored indoors — albeit under a bunch of books — and brought $18.5 million. Given its state and the still-rising value of classic Ferraris, it will most likely get a full restoration. That’s a tougher equation for the Saoutchik; recreating its glory would easily run another $1 million, a price it would struggle to recover. Simply stopping the decay from getting any worse would also cost money, but leave the Saoutchik work intact. Sheet metal is cheap; authenticity keeps getting more expensive.
via Yahoo! Autos


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Iveco & Nikola getting closer to truck plant in Germany
Nikola & Iveco gear up for truck production in Germany at the Iveco plant in Ulm as planned. The factory has now been officially presented with the production of the Nikola Tre to begin there this year. The pilot customer in Europe is the Port of Hamburg that will work up to 25 trucks next […]
ZSW breaks ground for HyFaB factory
In Germany, the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) in Ulm has broken ground for the HyFaB research factory, an open industry platform with a focus on fuel cell stacks. Commissioning is planned for the beginning of 2022.
ZellkoBatt project to further German battery production
The ZellkoBatt project starting this month has the goal of optimising large-format lithium-ion cells for automotive applications while reducing the costs of components and production processes. The project will be undertaken by the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) in Germany.
Nikola Tre to build electric trucks at Iveco in Germany
Iveco-owner CNH Industrial and Nikola Motor will build the Nikola Tre in battery-electric and fuel cell version at the Iveco plant in Ulm, Germany. The first e-trucks to go into production from 2021 are the battery-electric 4×2 and 6×2 vehicles. The fuel cell version is planned for 2023.
German battery cell production research centre situated
The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft has announced that its battery production research centre (FFB) will be located in Münster and will be set up at MEET (Electrochemical Energy Technology centre at Uni Münster). The German government funds the project with 500 million euros.


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Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is the newest tech giant to lay off a significant portion of its workforce. Yesterday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees that the company would lay off 11,000 employees and its hiring freeze would continue through the first quarter of 2023.
Meta isn’t the only company to implement such large-scale layoffs — Salesforce, Twitter, and Stripe have also announced sizeable layoffs. Other companies, like Amazon and Apple, have also implemented hiring freezes.
In many ways, the layoffs come as a surprise since the most recent jobs report alluded to a stronger economy, showing that the U.S. added 261,000 new jobs in October. So, what does this recent wave of layoffs indicate about the economy, and what should workers expect in 2023?
What’s Behind the Tech Layoffs?
The wave of high-profile company layoffs has congested the news headlines over the last few weeks. Twitter laid off 7,500 employees, Salesforce laid off hundreds of workers, and Stripe plans to reduce its workforce by 14%.
Other companies are following suit by implementing hiring freezes or significantly reducing their spending. This has led to doubts about the strength of the economy and, more importantly, what will happen in 2023.
Many of these layoffs are the result of companies that overhired during the pandemic and were forced to cut staff when business slowed. This was the case with Meta — the company assumed that the pandemic-fueled surge in revenue growth would last.
Instead, the company has seen its revenue decrease due to the economic downturn and increased competition. Other companies have been affected by the recent rate hikes and reduced consumer spending.
While it’s worth paying attention to mass layoffs, these incidents don’t necessarily reflect the tech industry as a whole. What’s really worth paying attention to is how quickly the employees that have been laid off are able to re-enter the workforce.
What Should You Do If You’re Laid Off?
Getting laid off is stressful, but it’s important to remember that your skills are valuable and needed elsewhere. Certain large tech companies are dealing with decreased earnings, but there are opportunities elsewhere.
Here are some steps you can take if you’ve been recently laid off:
- Ask for a letter of recommendation: If you’re laid off, ask your manager for a letter of recommendation. This document will highlight your skills, work ethic, and make it easier for you to find another position.
- Update your resume: Before you start applying for new jobs, take some time to update your resume. Include your most recent work experience, skills you’ve gained, and any new qualifications you have. An updated resume will make it easier to stand out once you start networking and applying for jobs.
- Begin networking: Networking is one of the most effective ways to find a new position. You never know which business contact will know a hiring manager or recruiter looking for qualified candidates.
- Stay positive: Getting laid off can be demoralizing, but do your best to stay positive. Continue looking for new work since you never know when a new opportunity will present itself.


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New protein supercluster project to improve transparency and productivity of Canadian farms
“The Protein Industries Supercluster project is showing the way for increased collaboration between SMEs by bringing together partners from across the agriculture value chain. Both Canadian consumers and farmers will benefit from reliable farm-level data that can support Canada’s reputation as a supplier of traceable food ingredients and a champion of sustainable farming practices.”
– The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry
“This project is truly ground-breaking for the Canadian agriculture and food sector, ensuring that Canada’s reputation as a safe and reliable supplier of healthy, sustainably produced food is protected. The collaboration and scope of this project, from on-farm through to processing, captures the spirit of the supercluster. By bringing together partners from across the value chain, the project will improve the traceability of our agri-food products across the chain of custody and provide metrics for sustainability initiatives.”
– Bill Greuel, CEO, Protein Industries Canada
This project represents a total investment of up to $9.2 million, including up to $4.6 million from the Government of Canada’s Innovation Superclusters Initiative and $4.6 million in contributions from industry and academia.
Under an agreement signed with Protein Industries Canada, the Government of Canada is investing up to nearly $153 million in the supercluster, with industry expected to match dollar for dollar in project value over a five-year horizon.
The Protein Industries Supercluster is expected to create more than 4,500 jobs and add more than $4.5 billion to Canada’s economy over 10 years.
Office of the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
Follow Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada on Twitter: @ISED_CA.
Find more services and information at Canada.ca/ISED
Report a problem or mistake on this page
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The size of China’s hog herd – one of the most important numbers in world agriculture – will rise for the first time in four years, after being undermined by a dent to pork demand fuelled by a crackdown on official banquets.
The US Department of Agriculture’s Beijing bureau, in its first forecasts for Chinese livestock dynamics next year, forecast a rise of 1.3m head in total swine inventories over the year, to 421.7m head.
While the forecast increase in the herd is only small in percentage terms, it would bring an end to a period of marked decline in the Chinese swine herd, which accounts for approaching 60% of the world total hog population.
Numbers are seen ending 2015 down more than 55m in three years, a loss equivalent nearly to the combined size of the Brazilian and Russian herds, the world’s fourth and fifth biggest.
Banquets off the menu
The decline reflected a drop in pork prices from early-2013 highs, which left producers facing an “extended period of losses”, and was in part down to the knock-on effects of a clampdown by China’s president, Xi Jinping, to clean-up public office.
Besides weaker economic growth, the pork market slowdown is down to “the fight against corruption reducing the number of official banquets”, the USDA bureau said.
The impact of the measured has been evident “particularly at high end hotels and restaurants”.
‘Main protein source’
However, a Chinese population that “is still growing and becoming more urbanised will support overall pork consumption”, the bureau said in a report.
“Pork is still the main protein source for many Chinese consumers, and consumption will continue to increase as the population continues to grow, albeit a slower pace.”
Chinese pork prices as of May were, at 23.13 yuan a kilogramme, 6.6% higher than a year before, a third successive month of increase after 15 months in a row of falling prices.
Growth in imports
The recovering pork prices are, besides reviving hog producer profitability prospects, encouraging imports of the meat too, which the bureau pegged at a record 830,000 tonnes next year, up 30,000 tonnes year on year, extending a long-term increase.
“The price gap between domestically produced pork and imports can be as much as 50% reflecting the high cost of production as result of limited land and increasing labour costs.”
The increased level of imports, which a decade ago stood at 48,000 tonnes, is being sourced mainly from the European Union, which has a 70% share of Chinese purchases, with the US disadvantaged by its use of growth promoter ractopamine, on which China operates a zero tolerance policy.
Chinese imports of beef will grow too next year, by 50,000 tonnes to a record 600,000 tonnes, supported by tight domestic supplies of cattle for slaughter, at a time of growing taste for the meat.
“Beef consumption will remain firm in 2016, supported by increasing incomes, continued urbanization and increasing consumer preference over pork,” the briefing said.
Australia will, despite higher prices, remain the main origin for China’s beef imports, “a position bolstered” by a recent free trade agreement.
China’s meat dynamics are of huge significance to world farming, not just through determining its need for imports, and so having a big impact on prices in exporting countries, but also its requirements for crop imports too to keep its huge hog herd in feed.
While the country has huge supplies of corn, their relative expense has encouraged imports of feed grains, notably barley and sorghum, which are not subject to import quotas.
And with China importing well over 80% of the soybeans required as a source of soymeal, a higher protein feed ingredient, its needs have a big influence on whether farmers in Americas sow the oilseed or corn – in turn affecting grain markets worldwide.
(Source – http://www.agrimoney.com/news/chinas-hog-herd-to-expand-for-first-time-in-four-years–8822.html)


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In the Bronx, thousands of foodies came out to celebrate the diverse cuisine available in the borough.
The 12th Annual Allerton International Food Festival took place Saturday. The event showcased local restaurants, with dozens of options to savor like Spanish and African flavors, even some unusual ones like Albanian food. It was all in an effort to encourage residents to dine locally.
Nathalia Fernandez (D) Assemblywoman representing the Bronx says “they're here today promoting themselves, and this is just to get their names out there and get their food out there and to let the public know who’s out and available for food and service and everything.”
The event also included dancing and games, to burn off all those calories.


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Apple Inc. may be willing to spend big in an effort to make a name for itself in the crowded world of video streaming.
The company has reportedly committed more than $6 billion for original programming, according to the Financial Times, as it prepares to go live with its Apple TV+ streaming service that’s expected out in the fall.
One of the company’s forthcoming shows, The Morning Show, stars Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, and Steve Carell. The FT says that program will cost more on a per-episode basis than HBO’s Game of Thrones, which reportedly cost more than $15 million per episode of the latest season.
Apple AAPL, -1.94% is under pressure to make its service stand out as more media companies plan to enter the streaming landscape. Walt Disney Co. DIS, +0.38% intends to launch its Disney+ service in November, while AT&T Inc. T, -1.22% plans to launch HBO Max early next year. While Apple’s new rivals can lean on a stash of older programming to build out their offerings, while Apple is new to the content game and will have to build a library from scratch. Disney will be pulling Star Wars from Netflix Inc. NFLX, +1.83% and HBO Max will take back Friends.
To get a leg up on Disney, Apple plans to launch its service within the next two months, according to the FT, ahead of Disney’s stated launch day of Nov. 12. Pricing is key though as consumers seek to wade through the barrage of streaming services that will soon be available. While Apple hasn’t announced pricing details for its service, Bloomberg said Monday that the company was considering a $9.99 monthly subscription fee. That would make Apple TV+ more expensive than the cheapest Netflix plan, which goes for $8.99, as well as Disney+’s launch price of $6.99.
Apple TV+ is just one of the smartphone giant’s big attempts to generate more subscription revenue amid a slowdown in device sales. The website 9to5Mac reported Monday that the company intends to charge $4.99 a month for its Arcade gaming service, which has also yet to debut.
The company didn’t immediately respond to a MarketWatch request for comment on its streaming spending or pricing plans.
Apple shares have gained 33% so far this year, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.14% has risen 12%.


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PARIS — As a prelude to the Women’s Forum Global Meeting, which opened in Deauville on Wednesday, Cartier hosted a lunch for the finalists of the 2015 edition of its Women’s Initiative Awards.
In a speed dating format, the 19 participants from 16 countries gathered in the restaurant of the Sofitel Paris Le Faubourg hotel in Paris on Tuesday to present their plans, which ranged from a sustainable housing project in Nigeria to a platform that can track and detect anomalies in livestock behavior.
Carmen Hijosa, founder and chief executive officer of Ananas Anam, has developed a new sustainable nonwoven textile made from pineapple leaf fibers called Piñatex. The first industrial run of the leather alternative, which is produced with a cooperative in the Philippines, is about to hit the market.
“We are developing the supply chain from the farming community to the end, so after these five years of intense research and development, we have reached the point where the material is technically viable,” she said.
“Obviously our inclination is to sell it to people that are looking or that have some sustainable background,” she added.
Early prototypes using Piñatex include sneaker designs by Puma and Camper and bags by Ally Capellino. “It’s very, very light. It’s about the quarter of the weight of leather, which as a woman carrying all this stuff, is important,” Hijosa noted.
Mouna Abbassy, managing director and founder of Izil Natural Argan Beauty, used her experience working for L’Oréal in the Middle East to found her own natural cosmetics brand using organically certified argan oil and other traditional ingredients.
“When you are buying argan oil, you are directly and indirectly affecting the lives of Moroccan Berber women, because those are the ones who are harvesting by hand these nuts,” she said. The line is available online and through four concept kiosks in the United Arab Emirates, where it is based, but Abbassy has set her sights high.
“Our benchmark is to become the L’Occitane of Morocco. When you go into L’Occitane you feel like you are in Provence. You don’t have a Moroccan brand where you feel like you’re in Morocco, with all the benefits of Morocco,” she remarked.
At 22, Thato Kgatlhanye, ceo and founder of Rethaka Trading, was one of the youngest entrepreneurs in the room. The South African for-profit business is behind Repurpose Schoolbags, a backpack made from recycled plastic bags that incorporates a solar panel to provide light for pupils without access to electricity.
Rethaka sells the bags for $25 to corporate donors, non-governmental organizations and individuals, with 4,000 bags distributed so far in South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique. Having produced conference bags, Kgatlhanye aims to reach a wider audience.
“We’ve looked at developing a luxury brand which will launch at the end of this year, probably in November, which will be a line of handbags, clutch bags and backpacks for women who obviously want to go green. We’ll be mixing plastic and leather, which has never been done before,” she said.
“It will be called Kiama, which actually means ‘magic’ in Swahili, because that’s exactly what we’re trying to do, and for every one of those bags that we sell, we will give a child a schoolbag,” she added.
The awards are an international business plan competition created in 2006 by Cartier, the Women’s Forum, McKinsey & Company and INSEAD business school to identify, support and encourage projects by women entrepreneurs.
The Paris-based jewelry and watch brand is due to announce the winners at a ceremony in Deauville on Thursday.


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In 20 years eBay has transformed online retail. From humble beginnings in 1995 to revenues of $17.9 billion in 2014, its rise to the top has been staggering. The site now has 157 million active users.
Along the way, eBay made some important steps to improve the quality of their service. For example, eBay incorporated feedback facilities as early as 1996. eBay realised very early on that feedback is essential to online retail and implemented it before anyone else was even thinking about it. Thanks to a variety of innovations eBay was worth $7.7 billion as early as 2008.
As for the future of eBay, new Ceo Devin Wenig has identified his plans for eBay going forward. He intends to focus on small and medium sized merchants that make up 70% of the global retail market. Individual customers are also seen as vital to the future of eBay.
You can find out more in this 20 Years of eBay Infographic info-graphic from Snap Parcel.
We believe in no distant time, eCommerce companies in Nigeria will also be counting years just like their foreign counterparts.Share This