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Dometic Corp. today (June 16) received preliminary approval for state and local tax incentives worth up to $3 million if it moves its North and South American headquarters from Elkhart, Ind., to Louisville, Ky., the Louisville Courier-Journal reports today.
The approval came in a special video conference meeting of the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA).
The authority’s next regular meeting is June 24 in Frankfort, but the company could not wait that long to obtain assurance it was eligible for the incentives, according to Mandy Lambert, spokeswoman for the finance authority.
She said Dometic has internal deadlines that needed to be met in order for them to continue their decision-making process.
Dometic, a subsidiary of Sweden-based Dometic Group, makes air conditioners, refrigerators, toilets and other products for boats, RVs, trucks and hotel rooms.
The company is considering moving its North and South American headquarters from Elkhart in Northern Indiana to Louisville, bringing 98 jobs to the area with an average salary of about $60,000.
Dometic would invest more than $4.1 million to secure a 25,000-square-foot corporate office in Louisville, according to KEDFA documents.
Barkley Garrett, economic development director for the city of Elkhart, said he was surprised by the announcement, especially after the city and state of Indiana authorities worked last year to provide tax incentives to Dometic to move certain production operations from the company’s home base in Sweden and a plant in Mexico to Elkhart and nearby LaGrange, Ind.
He told RVBUSINESS.com he had not been contacted by Dometic but added, “I will look into this and see what’s going on.”
Doug Whyte, president of Dometic Corp., was recently appointed to the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) board of directors in representation of industry suppliers.
“It’s a great honor to be appointed by the RVIA board of directors to represent Dometic and the association’s best interests,” said Whyte in a news release. “I take the responsibilities and importance of this position very seriously, and I look forward to the opportunity to serve on the board.”
Board members fill seats from a variety of categories in the RV industry and serve three-year terms to effectively manage the affairs of the association.
“It will be a privilege to join with the other board members and RVIA executives to deal with current issues as well as long-range planning for the greater good of the industry,” Whyte stated. “I will do my utmost to continue the legacy of unification and market-viability for our industry’s well-being.”
Prior to his position at Dometic, Whyte held leadership positions with companies such as Ford Motor Co. and Ingersoll Rand, including serving as president of the Wenzel Co., where he was responsible for commercial and consumer products for outdoor leisure, home comfort, camping, hiking, hospitality and other applications.
Dometic Group is a customer-driven, global provider of leisure products for the RV, automotive, truck, marine, lodging and medical markets. Dometic supplies the industry with a complete range of air conditioners, refrigerators, awnings, cookers, sanitation systems, lighting, mobile power equipment, comfort and safety solutions, windows, doors and other equipment that make life more comfortable away from home. Dometic also provides specially designed refrigerators for hotel rooms, offices, wine storage and transport and storage of medical products. Dometic products are sold in almost 100 countries and are produced mainly in wholly-owned production facilities around the world.
Dometic Corp. introduced the Portable Ice Maker, which can make up to 33 pounds of fresh, clean ice every 24 hours. Easily transported, the ice maker can make a batch of ice in less than 15 minutes. It features a front-mount LED display for easy use, a selection of three cube sizes and a low-water and basket-full indicator. It holds 2 1/2 pounds of ice in the removable basket. It has an energy-saving clear window in the lid for easy viewing of the ice level, a convenient, self-storing drain fitting, stainless steel finish, 6-foot power cord and strong, recessed handles. For more information, contact Dometic at (574) 294-2511 or visit www.dometicusa.com.
Dometic Corp. introduces The Thermostat, a digital thermostat for smart climate management. The Thermostat features contemporary styling, set-and-forget operation and a large digital display for easy viewing. It works with air conditioners, heat strips, heat pumps and furnaces. The Thermostat is available in black or white. For more information, contact Dometic at (574) 294-2511 or visit www.dometicusa.com.
By Jan. 1, 2010, all Dometic RV air conditioners and heat pump models will use a new refrigerant called 410A, which does not affect the ozone or contribute to global warming, according to Brad Sargent, vice president of marketing.
The current refrigerant, R22, is being phased out by U.S. government law requiring its elimination and the use of “green” gases in such products beginning Jan. 1, 2010.
All DuoTherm, Brisk Air and Penguin brands will be affected. The new products using 410A will be identifiable by a green leaf label affixed to the shroud.
“In going to this new refrigerant we had to redesign our whole refrigerant system, all the way from new compressors, evaporator and condenser coils to the manufacturing process, in order to accommodate the transition to this eco-friendly refrigerant,” said Sargent. “We did a great deal of lab testing on each of our models to optimize performance before launching a significant field test late 2008. We’ve done our homework.”
“One thing that’s important for people to know,” he said, “is that the new law affects only new production of HVAC products beginning Jan. 1, 2010. If a dealer or OEM has inventory of R22 air conditioners or heat pump air conditioners, or RVs with R22 HVAC products built before the Jan. 1, 2010, deadline, the law allows the market to sell out of the R22 product without any penalties. For those who have existing inventory, it’s fine to go ahead and sell them after the deadline.”
Consumers needing warranty or service work on a R22 unit after the government mandated date will also see some changes. The cost of R22 will escalate until it is no longer economically feasible to repair the unit, so if a warrantied product loses its refrigerant charge, Dometic will replace the R22 system with the new 410A system.
Because the 410A refrigerant is characteristically less efficient than R22, each Dometic model went from low-pressure to a high-pressure system, which required design changes to rebalance the internal components in order to reach the proper comfort performance levels for each model.
“The new re-designed units will be more expensive due to a number of factors, including more costly compressors that are designed for the new refrigerant as well as new high-pressure tubing,” Sargent explained. “We are still evaluating the overall cost impact of these design changes. We’ve done the proper investment and testing to ensure wex’ll still be providing the high-quality product we’ve been known to provide, right out of the gate.”
Besides using a green refrigerant mandated by law, Dometic has done other things on its own during the re-design process to further extend the environmentally friendly nature of its products. Engineering teams evaluated the energy it takes to make the product and worked to reduce that as much as possible, in addition to using recyclable materials, in an effort to reduce the companyx2019;s carbon footprint.
Prior to this project, Dometic has taken on several initiatives to be more earth-conscious, such as using an eco-friendly blowing agent in its foam insulation in all absorption refrigerators with zero Global Warming Potential (GWP), recycling scrap aluminum and metal, prioritizing environmental programs and optimizing products for low-energy consumption.
For more information, contact Dometic at 574-294-2511 or visithttp://www.dometicusa.com/
He keeps coming back to northern Indiana, as if magnetically drawn to some ore of truth there.
For the fourth time in 15 months, President Obama will arrive in this blue-collar manufacturing area –this time the town of Wakarusa — to sample the mood of the heartland and bring a message of change. He returns today (Aug. 5) to a community that has been as hard hit as any in this recession, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“Each time he comes here, I keep thinking things must get better,” said Rosalie Collins, 43, an unemployed recreational vehicle worker, as she waited in line at a local unemployment office.
Elkhart encapsulates a key part of the country’s industrial downturn. Unlike the great Midwestern auto towns that are locked with a single industry, the region occupies a slice of industrial America that encompasses a range of manufacturers from musical instruments to high-tech engines.
It is a place that Obama has also found attractive. Elkhart, locals say, is in a traditionally conservative region that has shown a willingness to tilt Democratic. The county backed Sen. John McCain in the last presidential election, but the state went to Obama.
The visit fits a pattern of high-level White House trips to states that are historic presidential battlegrounds. Obama is looking to hold the state in 2012 – and so Indiana is receiving a disproportionate share of his travel time.
Salvation won’t come soon enough for the nearly 16,000 people in a county of less than 200,000 who currently don’t have a job. More than 45% of the businesses in the area are in manufacturing, and one-quarter of those are tied to the RV industry. More than a dozen factories have shut down in the past 12 months.
People here say they have begun to see a slight turn in their world, small improvements and some hiring that hint that the worst may be over. But after so many months of grim news, they are still worried.
“We’ve all been scraping the bottom, and there’s not much left to scrape,” said Loren Begly Sr., 78, a retired truck driver whose six children have all had trouble either finding or keeping full-time work.
Since the late 1800s, when shops building medical products and brass machine fittings crowded along the rail line, the area’s backbone has been its diverse industries.
The region has grown accustomed to economic roller coasters.
It survived after many jobs making musical instruments were moved overseas. It bounced back after gas prices eased and interest in RVs resumed in the 1980s.
It recovered after the Miles Laboratories plant, where Alka-Seltzer and Flintstone vitamins were made, closed its doors in 2001.
“It’s a national icon for economic cyclicality,” said Ken Rosen, chair of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business.
The latest cycle is about the worst it has ever been.
No one here could have imagined such hardship was coming when then-Sen. Barack Obama first stopped here in early May of last year in his campaign for the presidency.
When Obama returned that August, he was leading in the polls, and factories across this northern stretch of Indiana were shedding jobs. People were so eager to hear what Obama had to say, they arrived 12 hours early to wait outside of Concord High School.
When Obama came for a third stop in February, he came as a president trying to put a human face on why the country needed to support his $787 billion stimulus package.
Collins had lost her job by then and was scared. Gas prices had soared. Credit had dried up. Unemployment in the city of Elkhart had skyrocketed to 18 percent.
In the months since, the area has poured its resources into searching for the next manufacturer to bring new jobs.
The area has banked on help from the president’s stimulus plan. The county has attracted its share — $38 million approved so far. Of that, the city of Elkhart has had $14 million approved.
Now, there are hints of recovery. Seven area manufacturing companies, ranging from auto-insulation parts and an office-chair maker to RV manufacturers, have announced plans to expand.
On Tuesday, Dometic Corp. said it would put more than 240 people back to work in Elkhart, when it moves a manufacturing here from a factory in Sweden.
Obama is scheduled to speak today at the shuttered Monaco RV plant in Wakarusa.
He will use the trip to announce grants for advanced battery and electric-vehicle production, according to the White House. He’ll also talk about what’s needed to build conditions for sustained growth.
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is scheduled to visit Elkhart, Ind., on Tuesday to announce the state’s role in helping to create 241 jobs at a new Dometic Corp. operation moving there this summer.
The Republican governor’s visit comes one day before President Obama is scheduled to visit the area. The nature of his visit has yet to be completely revealed.
Daniels will be speaking at 9 a.m. at the Dometic campus on the city’s east side.
Tonight, the Elkhart City Council is expected to approve a 10-year tax abatement program to facilitate moving Dometic’s refrigerator plant operation from Sweden to Elkhart, setting the stage for Daniels’ visit.
A state grant will pay 50% of Dometic’s employee training costs over two years — up to $170,000, according to a letter from the Indiana Economic Development Corp. to the company. Dometic also will receive $500,000 in tax credits over seven years for creating the new jobs.
Midwest news media looking at recent developments in the RV industry in Indiana are again finding something positive to talk about.
Following announcements that Fleetwood RV Inc. has begun to rehire workers for its motorized RV plant in Decatur, Ind., and that Dometic Corp. is planning to move production of RV refridgerators from Sweden to Elkhart, creating 241 new jobs there, the print and broadcast media jumped on the good news.
The Indianapolis Star stated that “Plans by two RV companies to hire additional workers could breathe life back into the slumping Northern Indiana RV industry, hammered by low sales and thousands of layoffs.”
The Star quoted Kevin Broom, a spokesman for the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA), stating, “What we’re hoping is that this is a sign of a turnaround.”
Indiana factories make about 70% of the RVs made in the U.S. More than half are made in Elkhart County.
Statewide, about 60,000 Hoosiers worked in the RV industry at its peak in 2006, when the industry generated more than $65 million in state tax payments.
The announcements were good news for workers in Elkhart County, which has one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation, and Decatur, about 20 miles south of Fort Wayne.
“I think our area has been hungry for jobs for a while,” said Kyle Hannon, vice president of public policy for the Greater Elkhart Chamber of Commerce.
Dometic will receive a tax break as an incentive from Elkhart and the state of Indiana to invest in the area.
“I’m very optimistic about (Dometic’s) future and about the future of our area,” said Elkhart Mayor Dick Moore.
According to the RVIA, 25,000 jobs have been lost in the RV industry nationwide since its decline over the last pew years. But Broom says he has seen an uptick in hiring in the past few months
Fleetwood RV Inc. has already received 1,500 applications since posting the 650 openings last week. The company expects to fill the positions starting next week.
“This work force historically has been one of Fleetwood’s best work forces,” said Fleetwood’s John Draheim. “The support from the community has been very overwhelming.”
South Bend-based Fox 28 News said the Dometic announcement “brings with it hope that Michiana’s RV industry, once left for dead, has some life in it yet.”
The station quoted Hannon from the Elkhart chamber, saying, “You start to hear different things from the industry like we are busy. But this is the first time it’s more of an announcement that a supplier says yes, we are hiring.”
He said the fact that Elkhart has hundreds of qualified workers just waiting for a job is very attractive to companies in the industry.
“That’s the silver lining of the unfortunate cloud of layoffs. We do have a lot of skilled workers that are ready to go,” said Hannon.
While some are confident the industry is making a comeback, others aren’t so sure.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do. It’s not just bringing companies into Elkhart, you’ve got to have credit loosened up,” said Chris Huffer, who works in the RV industry. Huffer owns Midwest RV Connection and knows what it takes to run a business. He says nothing will happen until banks start lending again and the cost of gas keeps going down. However, he is hopeful.
“Do I think it will be back to where it was? Well, it’s a start, but we’ve got a lot of work to do,” said Huffer.
The Fort Wayne News Sentinel, noting that the rebirth of Fleetwood in Decatur, quoted community leaders in Decatur who suggested even more jobs could be resurrected.
Larry Macklin, executive director of the Adams County Economic Development Corp., said he couldn’t say how many jobs would be filled eventually as a result of the purchase of Fleetwood.
“Those numbers you’re seeing don’t include Gold Shield, and Gold Shield was part of the spinoff, too,” Macklin said.
Gold Shield Fiberglass makes components for a wide range of companies, including heavy-truck makers, medical-device manufacturers and bus builders. But a mainstay for Gold Shield is molded RV parts.
Macklin said bringing more workers back to Fleetwood would help smaller suppliers in Adams County, too, such as cabinet-makers that outfit RV interiors and a wiring-harness manufacturer.
Macklin said the recession may actually help Fleetwood in the long run, because weaker RV builders may be thinned out of the market entirely.
“Fleetwood survived because it’s the best. It’s the Cadillac of RVs,” he said.
The Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership and Indiana Economic Development Corp. helped persuade American Industrial Partners (AIP) to consolidate Fleetwood operations in Decatur, making Decatur the headquarters of the new company. He expects the state to announce more details of its incentives for AIP soon.
Decatur Mayor John Shultz said the Decatur City Council was scheduled to consider abatements Tuesday night to aid the reshaped Fleetwood, too. The abatements would be applied only to equipment valued at $14 million-$15 million, which is likely to be moved here as production is consolidated.
The Fleetwood plant drew most of its employees from a 35-mile radius in northeast Indiana and northwest Ohio, Macklin said. He said that despite the excitement of the return of Fleetwood jobs, people need to be patient.
“This isn’t going to happen overnight. It’s going to take a few weeks,” he said.
The biggest economic development announcement to hit the city of Elkhart, Ind., since the recession began quietly slipped in the back door Monday night (July 20) at a meeting of the Elkhart City Council.
There, it was revealed that Dometic Corp. was moving production of an RV refrigerator from Sweden to Elkhart later this year, bringing with it 241 new jobs.
“We’re happy it’s Elkhart. We’re happy it’s America,” said Douglas Whyte, Dometic president, in an interview the next day with RVBusiness.
The plant could have been relocated to China or Mexico but is coming to Elkhart because of Whyte and his management team, who see real advantages in moving the plant to within 50 miles of 70% of Dometic’s customers.
Also credit the city of Elkhart, which is providing hefty tax abatements or phase-ins, and the state of Indiana, which is provided unspecified training grants.
The Dometic operation will move into a 150,000-square-foot warehouse on the Dometic campus in Elkhart and feature a combination of manual and robotic equipment that is being moved from Sweden. Whyte said some $5 million to $7 million in equipment will be located to Elkhart from Sweden over the next three to five years, and an additional $3 million to $5 million in facility improvements will be made to retrofit the warehouse for the new production.
The Elkhart Truth front page story on Tuesday (albeit secondary to the appearance of Miss America at the Elkhart County 4-H Fair the day before) was the first official word on the new jobs.
Dometic already has a presence in Elkhart, namely about 60 employees working in warehousing, customer service and human resources.
Whyte deferred further comment on the nature of the product and its manufacture and any sales projections until after the Elkhart City Council casts its final vote Aug. 3 on the 10-year, property tax phase-in. But suffice to say the operation will be high tech and require some skilled workers up and down the production line.
Dometic will sponsor a job fair in September to begin the hiring and training with production beginning in November, Whyte said.
The average blue collar worker wage will be $11.70. But high-paying new jobs will be created, from welding to engineering, production management and assembly.
Whyte hopes to tap the local labor supply and should have no problems, what with the community’s jobless nearing 20%. “My preference will be to pull these people from this area,” he said.
Whyte, who appeared at Monday’s city council meeting, said the incentives Elkhart offered “made a compelling story for why Elkhart.”
“The mayor and the state’s representatives were absolutely fantastic to work with in helping us through the process, and in negotiations everybody was professional. It was a nice business arrangement so it meant a lot of sense to us,” he said.
The company plans to invest $500,000 in real property improvements, as well as $9 million to $12 million in personal property investments including the new equipment, according to city documents.
Through the phase-in, Dometic will save about $66,000 in real property taxes and $689,680 in personal property taxes. The company would pay $102,000 in real property taxes and $787,580 in personal property taxes over the life of the abatement,according to The Truth.
City officials estimate the jobs created will produce about $675,000 in local income taxes over the 10-year period. Dometic expects to retain about 12 full-time jobs in addition to the 241 new positions.
The company makes refrigerators, awnings, air conditioners and other products for the recreational vehicle and marine industries. Dometic Group’s international headquarters is in Solna, Sweden.
RVBusiness Publisher Sherman Goldenberg sat down recently with Doug Whyte, president of Dometic Corp., and Brad Sargent, vice president of marketing, to discuss how the company was able to continue to supply product to the RV industry after a fire on April 7 destroyed a major Dometic manufacturing facility in Juarez, Mexico.
Watch that 4-minute interview on this website.
The fire that destroyed the Dometic Corp. plant in Juarez, Mexico, late Tuesday (April 7) and three adjoining factories in a 900,000-square-foot complex has threatened the future of 1,000 workers, according to the El Paso (Texas) Times.
The Dometic plant produced components for awnings and air conditioners.
In an e-mail to Dometic customers, Dometic Group President J. Douglas Whyte said he does not have a timeline when the factory will be operatioinal again.
“We are fortunate that Dometic is strategically positioned with 28 factories throughout the world to ensure that we are not reliant on a single source for our products,” he stated.
“Also, due to the current economic conditions impact the industry, we have under utilization in some of these factories. This provides Dometic with immediately identifiable alternative sources for products currently manufactured in Juarez.”
Whyte does not anticipate any service delivery or disruptions, but said the company is evaluating every customer on a case-by-case basis
Juarez firefighters battled the fire for more than eight hours Tuesday and contained it about 11 p.m. They worked through the rubble Wednesday to clear hot spots that could ignite small fires, said firefighter Jesus Hernandez.
A city spokesman said officials were brainstorming to keep workers from the companies employed.
The 40-year-old building, originally built for Zenith, is across from the Abraham González International Airport, which was closed Tuesday because of the fire’s heavy smoke.
“Our understanding is because building had no sprinkler system, there was no way to fight the fire,” said Mike White, a real estate broker who handled the sale of the building in 2003. Juarez has no fire code requiring sprinkler systems, he said. However, most new developments have sprinkler systems installed by the developer or tenant, he said.
Fire has destroyed a Dometic Corp. plant in Juarez, Mexico, that produced component parts for RV awnings and air conditioners for its U.S. customers.
Brad Sargent, Dometic’s vice president of marketing, told RVBusiness that the fire started in an adjacent facility on Tuesday and spread to the Dometic plant.
He said he learned of the fire ” through an e-mail from the company president less than an hour ago” but had few details.
“They are assessing the situation right now,” he said.
He understands that the building was a total loss, there were no injuries and workers were able to save some finished goods from the flames.
Products built at the plant were shipped to Dometic facilities in Elkhart and LaGrange, Ind., and distributed from there.
“We’ve got 22 other factories thorughout the world,” Sargent said. “I don’t see a supply interruption at all to other customers. We are assessing that too. We have inventory available.”
Juarez has a population of 1.5 million and is located on the Rio Grande River across from El Paso, Texas.


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The Kroger Co.—the largest supermarket chain in the United States—will add a three-foot vegan meat display case inside of the meat department at 60 test stores in Denver, and parts of Indiana and Illinois over a 20-week period. The initiative is part of a collaboration with trade group Plant Based Food Association (PBFA)—which represents more than 150 plant-based food companies—to ascertain consumer purchasing habits. During the trial period, Kroger data analytics subsidiary 84.51° will use its sophisticated technology to turn consumer data into actionable knowledge.
“We are thrilled to partner with Kroger on this innovative and exciting project. Plant-based meat sales have been increasing dramatically year over year, even while most of them are placed where only the most dedicated consumers are likely to find and purchase them,” Julie Emmett, PBFA senior director of retail partnerships, said. “We are confident that this test will demonstrate that plant-based meat sales will increase even more when consumers have easier access to them. We applaud Kroger for taking the lead on plant-based meat merchandising, and we are confident that the outcome will be a win for retailers, suppliers, and especially for consumers.” Companies such as Beyond Meat have previously attempted to be placed in the meat department in order to attract consumers that also purchase meat to sample its plant-based products and this study will provide valuable data about whether such placement is desirable.
“We’re excited to team up with the PBFA to study this category,” Marcellus Harris, assistant commodity manager in the meat department for Kroger, said. “The test, which emerged from our partnership with PBFA, will allow us to unearth rich insight regarding how to best merchandise the category and connect with consumers.” The data collected during the 20-week test will be used to inform retailers and the plant-based industry about how to market and display plant-based products in-store. Last week, Kroger announced it is adding a variety of vegan products to its proprietary Simple Truth brand, including Black Forest Ham, Meatless Grinds, French Onion Dip, and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

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Great Eastern Holdings, a subsidiary of OCBC Bank, has rebranded its general insurance arm to build the business as a growth driver.
Overseas Assurance Corporation (OAC) is now known as Great Eastern General Insurance in Singapore, with its operations in Malaysia targeted to follow suit by the end of next month.
The move is part of the company's strategy to strengthen its focus as it works to build its general insurance business into a significant pillar of growth, Great Eastern said yesterday.
Group chief executive Khor Hock Seng said: "With the consolidation of OAC into the Great Eastern brand, there will be greater brand unity across our business lines, which will enable us to fully leverage the strengths of our established brand to offer more compelling propositions."
Mr Khor added that there will likely be more services available online: "We will be boosting our digitalisation capabilities to make it more convenient and easier for customers to do business with us and vice versa.
"With our Travel Smart Premier mobile app, customers can access information and purchase travel insurance on the go, 24/7. This is just the start. We will be enhancing our app capabilities to facilitate the purchase of more products as well as the submission of simple claims in the near future."
A strategic focus of the firm will be to leverage the huge customer database and distribution capabilities of Great Eastern and OCBC, and draw on the "collective strengths to tap new growth opportunities to serve individual and corporate customers".
Great Eastern has $71.1 billion in assets and more than four million policyholders.


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Consolidated Supply Co., which has a branch in Kennewick, celebrates 90 years in business this year.
The Pacific Northwest wholesale distributor of plumbing, heating and water supplies strives daily to put its motto of “doing ordinary things extraordinarily well” into action.
“The company takes care of its employees internally and the customers, externally,” said Shan Tasci, who has worked with the Kennewick branch since it opened 10 years ago and has been in the plumbing wholesale business for 19 years.
He does outside sales for Consolidated Supply Co., which sells pipes, valves, fittings and plumbing fixtures. The company offers major brands such as American Standard, Bradford White, Uponor and Toto, to name a few.
“We support plumbing contractors in town, but individuals are welcome to come in to choose parts and fixtures as well,” he said.
Consolidated Supply Co. was established in 1928 when four supply houses in Portland, Oregon, merged. During the Depression, the Neupert family bought the company and remains at the helm today. Corporate headquarters and the company’s largest branch are in Tigard, Oregon, along with 16 additional branches – four in Idaho, seven in Washington and five more in Oregon.
The four-and-one-half acre Kennewick shop at 621 N. Kellogg St. opened in its existing building in 2008 with seven employees. Today, there are 14 full-time employees.
The 17,500-square-foot building includes about 2,000 square feet of offices, 13,500 square feet of warehouse space and a 2,000-square-foot fixture gallery.
Customers can stop by The Fixture Gallery to see myriad fixtures – bathroom and kitchen fixtures, sinks, shower heads, tubs, toilets (with and without bidets), including high-tech faucets that “sense” when a person in near and turn on and off automatically.
“(The showroom) has heated floors and working fixtures,” Tasci said.
One change that has occurred in the industry over the past several years is that people are “thinking of tubs in their master bathrooms as pieces of art,” he said.
Consolidated Supply Co. provides materials for plumbing, service and mechanical contractors, with a bulk of its business supplying commercial contractors.
The Kennewick branch also provides plumbing needs for area school districts, cities and municipalities.
“If a main line breaks, we can provide materials for the city to repair it. We have faucets, pipe fittings and our water heaters are in a lot of the Pasco schools. We sell from residential to commercial size water heaters,” Tasci said.
The Kennewick branch is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, but offers emergency contracts for after-hours emergencies.
“Plumbing emergencies don’t keep hours,” Tasci laughed.
Because Consolidated Supply Co. also has branches in Spokane and Wenatchee, the Kennewick branch serves an area from LaGrande, Oregon, to Cle Elum, with multiple deliveries throughout the region each day.
“We’ve always kind of catered to these areas but are always looking for growth within,” Tasci said. Deliveries are made to customers with large orders. Local contractors generally swing by the Kennewick building to pick up their orders, which are prepped and ready as “will call,” Tasci said.
The company also does its part to be involved in the Tri-City community.
“Any time we get an opportunity to help in the community, we jump on it,” Tasci said. Kennewick employees and customers participate in an annual food drive for the Union Gospel Mission. The company also has adopted a family in need around Christmas and rotates annual contributions to local organizations, such as Special Olympics and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The company also contributes to local charity golf tournaments.
“We love this community. We support each other, so it’s cool to have that partnership. Together, we’re enhancing the lives of Northwest families and Tri-Cities residents,” Tasci said.
The company’s 90th anniversary celebration will last throughout the year with a variety of events for vendors and customers.
“To be celebrating 90 years in business says a lot about the Neupert family,” Tasci said. “We take pride in and stand behind the quality products we provide customers.”
Information: ConsolidatedSupply.com; 509-783-9340; Facebook.
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3G won't be around too much longer, and its shutdown could be a problem for various devices.
A leaker claims the Samsung Galaxy S22 and Tab S8 will land together on February 9, and they even leaked the time.
We could see a new basic iPad in 2022 but it might not be much of an upgrade, while OLED iPads look to be further out.
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus could support 45W charging, while the Galaxy S22 Ultra might come with loads of storage.
Every model in the Samsung Galaxy S22 range could be more expensive than their predecessors according to a new leak.
Yet another source has suggested the iPhone SE 3 is coming soon, and this one has a great track record.
iPhone at 15 From the game-changing original iPhone to the super-charged iPhone 13 Pro Max... and everything in between.
OnePlus has confirmed some of the shades the OnePlus 10 Pro will launch in, while others have been rumored.
The iPhone 14 Pro might have a large pill-shaped selfie camera cut-out according to the latest leak.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 range has appeared on a certification site, complete with photos of the slates.
OnePlus has revealed that the OnePlus 10 Pro will have an even smoother screen than its predecessor.
Sources point to night and macro upgrades for the S22 Ultra, while every S22 model might have a glass back.
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra has leaked in dark green, while a retailer has listed numerous S22 accessories.
If reports are to be believed, the iPhone SE (2022) could attract over a billion Android users. But it won't.


text: Media Partners International Holdings (MPI) is bidding to become the advertising agency for several mainland railways, after securing two major contracts so far this year. The outdoor advertising company is applying with the central government for an advertising licence for the Beijing Light Rail, which will pass through the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games village, according to MPI chief executive Winnie To Pik-shan. The Hong Kong-listed firm is also negotiating with Chongqing metro officials after being shortlisted for the railway's advertising agency contract. MPI has already secured an 18-year contract as agent for the Nanjing metro line that starts operating in September. 'We expect our operation in the metro line to break even in two years,' said Ms To. The project involves investing about $35 million in 3,000 advertising panels this year, according to Stephen Law, MPI chief financial officer and company secretary. MPI also has a contract for 1,000 advertising panels along a new Shanghai metro line that will start operating at the end of the year. Railway advertising panel occupancy in Shanghai stood at 90 per cent, said Ms To. She added that MPI had raised its prices 8 per cent to 10 per cent this year. The overall occupancy for MPI's mainland bus panels was expected to drop from 70 per cent to about 50 per cent this year because the company included 5,000 Shanghai vehicles recently in its mainland bus advertising network. She said the company aimed to raise advertising on Shanghai buses from about 20 per cent to 30 per cent this year. MPI's bus advertising network involves more than 18,000 buses in Shanghai, Nanjing, Chongqing and Chengdu. The group's net profit was $2.4 million in the first quarter this year, up 70 per cent from $1.4 million in the same period last year, while turnover rose 10 per cent to $75.6 million in the first quarter. MPI had $208.9 million cash on hand at the end of March.


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2020 saw us lead the way in extended reality and virtual production, accelerating the development of our workflow and launching at a time when the live events industry started acknowledging the need for immersive yet real-time remote output. Since then, over 140 disguise xR stages have been built in more than 35 countries as we continue to support growing demand across film, broadcast, live music, corporate events, education, esports and more.
Following two years of continued research and development alongside our key user community, the disguise xR technology has reached a level of maturity that enabled an official release in April 2020, accelerated by the demand from artists, brands and organisations to engage remote audiences like never before.
Committed to opening up wider access to our workflow, we further invested in developing our rx and RenderStream support for Unreal Engine integration and vx 1 and vx 2 media servers tailored for high-quality productions of any scale. This new technology bundle has also introduced new applications for disguise across on-set virtual production, offering uncompressed real-time rendering solutions that can significantly bring down post-production cost and time.
We also decided in 2020 to offer free access to our Designer licence for 12 months (until June 2021), in addition to launching free online training into our full suite of workflows on our newly-launched elearning platform. All users, new and experienced, now have the opportunity to learn and upskill in their desired workflow at their own pace.
Building for the future
As we continue to lower the barrier of entry to xR and virtual production, our focus remains on providing an inclusive environment for talent from all walks of life to join and grow. In 2021, we launched an internship programme with Kwanda and Workfinder as we strive to welcome more women and those from ethnic minority backgrounds to the team and address the lack of diversity in the technology sector.
“I’m extremely proud of the continued work our ambitious team puts into growing the impact and reach of disguise year after year. To be placed amongst such an impressive list of companies is a testament to everyone’s commitment to ensure we provide the highest quality, cutting-edge technology and best-in-class service to our customers all over the world,” says disguise CEO Fernando Kufer.


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Bloom VC (Venture Catalyst) has secured a financial partnership with NESTA, the UK’s foremost expert on innovation.
Robert Crawford, Director of Innovation, Investment and Growth at NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) said they are delighted to support Bloom and look forward to learning from the company’s crowdfunding model.
Bloom is the first crowdfunding platform of its kind in the UK, enabling anyone with an idea, anywhere in the world, to reach out and receive donations from across the globe, using their social networks.
The company was launched to provide an alternative route to finance for startups, community projects and social enterprises.
Founder and CEO Amanda Boyle said: ”In particular, there’s a real need to support students and graduates, in science, tech and the arts, many of whom have fantastic ideas. And we now have more than a million young people who can’t find a job, so are looking at starting their own business instead.
“Through Bloom they not only raise the money they need to start up, but they are also proving the concept, building a customer base, often pre-selling their product or service, and actively creating a community of fans who want to engage with them.
“And all without having to give up equity in their business. It puts them in a very strong position to scale their business and start their journey on the road to angel or VC investment.”
Ms Boyle emphasised that Bloom is not about replacing banks or the traditional funding organisations, but is simply filling a crucial funding gap at the very early stages, and offering ongoing mentoring and support to help ambitious individuals and groups turn their ideas into reality. In effect, creating a pipeline of opportunities for the angel and VC community.
Bloom, currently in beta testing, has already attracted projects from all over the world. The platform launched with a number of exciting projects seeking funding including an educational anti-sectarian film, dairy-free foods for babies and toddlers, and a music discovery and promotions website.
Over the next week the site will also feature an eco-friendly business which aims to recycle used coffee granules into plant food, a universal e-ticket solution, virtual technology for the camera, an organisation that wants to turn one of the dirtiest beaches in the UK into a clean, tourist destination, and the world’s first “Imax for the home” immersive dome display.
Mr Crawford said: “There are a number of great business ideas out there that aren’t able to attract traditional types of investment and support to become a reality and thrive.
“By using the Web to jumpstart new ideas and find new sources of funding, we believe we can do more to ensure more of these concepts see the light of day and are given the opportunity to drive the economy forward in future.
“We very much look forward to working with Bloom VC and to learn from the model they are developing.”
Bloom has also secured vps.net as a technology partner, and the platform has been developed using the very latest global cloud technology, kindly donated by vps.net.
Phil Male, CEO of vps.net, commented: “We are extremely proud to be the technology partner for Bloom. Working closely with innovative and exciting new ventures is what we do day in day out, what better way is there for us to explore new ways of developing fresh ideas than to support Bloom?”
Notes to editor:
Bloom will be at New Start Scotland Friday and Saturday 18 and 19 November from 10am-4pm. They will be running a crowdfunding clinic at Stand C45. Amanda will also be delivering two seminars.
Bloom project owners are also keen to speak to the press, so if there are any projects in particular in which you’re interested, please let us know.
About NESTA: NESTA is the UK’s foremost independent expert on how innovation can solve some of the country’s major economic and social challenges. Its work is enabled by an endowment, funded by the National Lottery, and it operates at no cost to the government or taxpayer. It is a world leader in its field and carries out its work through a blend of experimental programmes, analytical research and investment in early-stage companies. www.nesta.org.uk.


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Kayan Egypt, the agent of Skoda and SEAT, won the best agent award for Spanish SEAT in 2018 during the annual “Commercial Day” celebration which was held in Barcelona in Spain last February. Noha El-Meligy, the manager of SEAT at Kayan Egypt, said that the parent company calls upon the agents of SEAT internationally to honour agents who managed to take successful steps whether in sales or after-sale services. She explained that Kayan won the award this year across 65 emerging markets in the world.
She pointed out that Kayan increased the sales of 2018 by 235% compared to the sales of 2017, which is the largest sale in markets. It also owns the best distribution networks of SEAT as well as a specialised service centre of the highest level similar to the ones in Spain.
What are SEAT’s plans regarding local car assembly?
Kayan thought about local assembling of one of the models. It chose Ateca, the SUV, especially since this category is witnessing significant growth in international car markets. Arona was not chosen because it was not launched in the Egyptian market at the time. The final decision regarding the models to be chosen for local assembling was not made this year. The decision is still under consideration and discussion as it is a very complex group and has more than one aspect.
The most important aspect and main goal of the local assembling project is exporting components from Egyptian factories to the Volkswagen group, especially that assembling itself is not very beneficial for the European brand which received custom exemptions earlier this year.
The parent company is currently evaluating the Egyptian factories in which the assembling will take place, and Kayan provided the parent company with a list of the proposed factories that already exist and do not take full advantage of their production capacity, in order to choose the most suitable ones and the model to be assembled. Its final decision will only be made after testing the specifications of the Egyptian components and finding out the extent of their conformity with international standards, and the knowledge of suppliers in Egypt, in addition to knowing the other companies which import components from Egypt.
The local components that the company intends to use in the assembly process are those that need to be manufactured. The workforce in Europe requires high wages, while in Egypt there is a large availability of workforce, and any component that needs the availability of a large workforce will be suitable for the assembly process.
What are the company’s target sales for the year? What models does the company plan to launch?
New models will be launched this year. Some were already launched earlier this year, including the Arona which appeared for the first time in the Automech Formula 2018 exhibition. However, the car actually entered the Egyptian market in January 2019, and it managed to achieve sales of 200 cars since entering the market until late February. The monthly share of SEAT Arona is stable and is distributed on nine distributors in Cairo, Alexandria, and Hurghada, which helped provide the car to clients in proper numbers, unlike the Ateca, which was produced in insufficient amounts.
Kayan Egypt will introduce the Tarraco model in the second half (H2) of this year, a multi-purpose vehicle with seven seats. It is expected that Kayan will import the car in July and it will be in the market before the Automech Formula 2019.
Regarding the sales of the Spanish brand, El-Meligy said that the January’s sales were high because clients refrained from buying cars starting from (H2) of November until last December. The buying was active again in January 2019. March also saw a large number of sales unlike February which saw a decline.
SEAT Arona, Ibiza, and Leon are the most sold cars, and the hatchback category is seeing great demand in the Egyptian market, as SEAT accounts for 42% of hatchback sales, and the demand has been great since the Automech Formula 2018. The sales of Ibiza reached 800 cars until now.
Kayan launched many activities in March, as it exhibited many car models in various locations. The Arona was in the Cairo Festival and the BUE and during Sham El-Nessim holidays and the company will display both cars in Gouna. SEAT is seeing great demand by clients, especially since Kayan offers them at competitive prices even before the elimination of custom fees on cars of a European origin. The proof is that 2,800 cars were sold in 2018.
Kayan has managed to improve its SEAT sales since it got its agency in 2013, as sales increased from 100 cars to 1,000 cars. Kayan targets selling 4,000 cars this year.
Does Kayan pay attention to Skoda at the expense of SEAT especially after Skoda opened service centres in Katameya, October, and Maadi in addition to the decline in the prices of Skoda after the elimination of custom fees?
El-Meligy confirmed that the management does not pay attention to one brand at the expense of another, but Skoda has a greater history than SEAT in the Egyptian market, and the client is more interested in Skoda because of its presence for a long time and the fact that it is a strong and competitive brand. The brand has been able to maintain its position until 2000, and Ibiza was the car for university students. The post-2000 generation did not know about SEAT’s history and success because it did not see it in the Egyptian streets. SEAT achieved the highest sales within the Volkswagen Group last year, ranking first with 2,800 car sales, followed by Volkswagen which achieved sale of 2,000 cars, while Skoda ranked third in the group’s sales.
Kayan exerts its best efforts to put SEAT in a proper place in the Egyptian market, starting from choosing the models to be launched in the Egyptian market to the international standards in terms of quality and performance. The company is working to provide cars with ideal specifications. For example, the Ateca has specifications that can be found in BMW and Mercedes-Benz. The company always seeks to provide luxury in various SEAT models.
SEAT has decided to change the plan of the Spanish Cobra brand as it is SEAT’s SUV, and because Cobra’s new strategy is to win clients instead of races. SEAT has decided to separate from Cobra in order to make Cobra a separate brand with separate management.
The Ateca Cobra which the company will launch at the Automech Formula exhibition, comes with a engine of a 300hp and a 2000cc litre capacity. Some changes were made to the exteriors of the car, in addition to a few changes to a number of the car’s internal elements.
With the elimination of custom fees on cars of a European origin, Cobra will see better sales in the Egyptian market as it is a strong SUV with clients who prefer it, just like Porsche clients of who prefer it over other cars. The car may not compete in terms of sales, but it will surely have its own clients which matters a lot to us.
Since the Leon Cobra was launched in the Automech Formula Exhibition – which was there only for display – the company received many demands, however, the car was not available at the time.
Kayan will be injecting investments for the new brand by opening factories especially for the car, however, no actual steps have been taken as yet because the company will first study the locations in which to hold the exhibition, as well as choose distributors and the model to be launched, as well as the specifications and exterior design.
The company will be establishing a centre specifically for that car given the low level of sales, however, it belongs to the Volkswagen Group so all of the company centres will be ready to receive and serve it. Additionally, there will be areas for the clients of Cobra in all maintenance workshops or exhibitions that belong to Kayan.
Kayan Egypt is always keen on offering integrated high-level services, not just in terms of the specifications of the car, but also in terms of competitive prices and after-sale services. The company has recently launched a campaign for the maintenance table of SEAT cars. The cost of the maintenance of the Ateca that has gone up to 10,000km is EGP 1,300.
Just like we try to apply a good pricing for the car, we also try to do the same when it comes to car maintenance in order to win the trust of clients.
Kayan has six authorised integrated service centres in Cairo, Alexandria, and Hurghada. It has four centres in Cairo, they are Zawam Group in Maadi, which is an integrated and exclusive car service centre. There is also the Al Sharqawi centre in Heliopolis, in addition to Egypt Automotive in Obour and Abu Rawash. There is also the Nour El Dein El Sherif centre in Alexandria and the Easy Way centre in Hurghada.
It is unlikely that service centres will expand, especially since the number of existing centres is enough for SEAT sales.
Regarding showrooms, the company has the Mohamed Zaky and Zawam showrooms. The company expanded this year by opening the “Arabeyat” showroom in Nasr City. It also aims to open a new showroom in Alexandria with the latest SEAT international design in the next two months.


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Latest Nielsen ratings Stories
Media Voir, an international technology brand, is set to bring about a cataclysmic change in the media landscape of the country through cutting-edge technology KARACHI, Pakistan, April
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NEW YORK, March 4, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Nielsen today announced that it has completed its acquisition of eXelate, a leading provider of data and technology to facilitate the buying and selling
Centriply, a Cable Scope Company, Was '27 Years in the Making' NEW YORK, Jan.
Nielsen-backed company wins Israel's largest startup competition against 200 entrants, three presentation rounds and public vote NEW YORK and HAIFA, Israel, Nov.
New Multi-Year Agreement Extends Nielsen's Role as Leading Provider of Data for Billboard's Top Music Charts. NEW YORK, Nov.
Survey Indicates Despite Rapid Change, TV Set Still Sits at Center of the Digital Home BOSTON, Oct.
Nielsen to deliver IAB Australia's new digital measurement blueprint NEW YORK, Oct.
TV Audience and MovieGoers Segmenting Improve Ad Campaign Precision IRVINE, Calif., Oct.
- Growing in low tufty patches.


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AWS Travel and Hospitality Competency
Infor | July 12, 2021
Designation formally recognizes Infor’s deep hospitality expertise NEW YORK – July 12, 2021 –Infor, the industry cloud company, today announced it has achieved the Amazon Web Services Inc. (AWS) Travel and Hospitality Competency designation. This designation recognizes that Infor is validated for technical proficiency and customer success to help travel and hospitality organizations build a resilient business and accelerate innovation. The AWS Travel and Hospitality Competency was launched in December 2020 at a crucial time for the industry as it looked to innovate to address changing demands in the face of the COVID-19 pandemi...
Volara | December 7, 2020
December 7, 2020, NEW YORK — Volara, the voice hub for the hotel industry, announces that it has achieved Amazon Web Services (AWS) Travel and Hospitality Competency status. This designation recognizes that Volara has demonstrated deep experience helping its hotel customers accelerate the industry’s modernization and innovation from behind-the-scenes operational efficiencies to guest-facing customer experiences – while ensuring the protection of guest privacy and hotel proprietary data. The launch of the AWS Travel and Hospitality Competency comes at a crucial time for the industry as it looks to innovate to address changing demands ...
stayntouch and SHR Enhance Their Cloud Integration, Delivering Transparency and Control to Revenue Management
Four Seasons Resort Hualalai Celebrates Completion of Resort-Wide Renovation With Debut of Three Ultra-Luxury Villas
Thierry Papillier Appointed Executive Chef at Four Seasons Hotel Kuwait at Burj Alshaya
Case Study: HAMA AP, HotStats Review Phuket Sandbox Performance
As the first news aggregate for the hotel industry, Hotel-Online is the industry’s must-read daily news source for everything hotel curated for busy professionals. Sign up today for industry news delivered to your inbox.


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Hotel du Pont makes ‘Best Hotels in the USA’ list
WILMINGTON — The Hotel du Pont has been named one of U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Hotels in the USA” in its annual, coveted rankings.
The 11th annual “Best Hotels” rankings evaluate more than 30,000 luxury properties across the United States, Europe, Bermuda, Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean. The methodology considers a hotel’s star rating and both expert and guest sentiment by collecting annual awards from distinguished travel publications and TripAdvisor user scores, the combination of which helps determine each hotel’s rank.
“The travel industry has faced numerous challenges over the past year, emphasizing the need to support and recognize hotels that continue to maintain exemplary standards,” said Zach Watson, travel editor at U.S. News, in a statement. “This year’s list offers a reliable guide for travelers to use when planning their next getaway, whether that’s in a few months or next year.”
Hotel du Pont received this prestigious award on the heels of its new restaurant, Le Cavalier, receiving the “Best Historic Restaurant Award” from Historic Hotels of America in December. The restaurant was bestowed the award for its thoughtful re-concepting of the original Green Room. The same month, Travel + Leisure magazine featured the state of Delaware in its list of “50 Best Places to Travel in 2021,” specifically citing the Hotel du Pont and Le Cavalier as must visit destinations for readers.
“We are honored to see the hotel and the city of Wilmington receive such positive recognition,” Hotel du Pont Managing Director Greg Kavanagh said in a statement. “A national spotlight is on Wilmington right now. As we look ahead to safe travel for 2021 and beyond, our team eagerly awaits welcoming visitors from near and far to the hotel.”


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‘Grown-up science fair’ produces real-world solutions
Atlantic Canada’s first expo dedicated to clean technologies and green and healthy living is taking place this weekend at UPEI.
More than 20 student teams are presenting their projects to high school students, industry representatives, and the public at the Atlantic Canadian Green Expo, at UPEI’s School of Sustainable Design Engineering.
The expo shows the importance of green living and our collective need to address global climate change, a message that is especially relevant today, on Earth Day.
“It’s like a grown up science fair,” said third-year bio-resource major Angela Court, whose team is working to revolutionize the way Island potatoes are cleaned after harvest.
The expo aims to introduce consumers and businesses to innovative products and services and to the vendors who supply them.
Organizers hope to encourage businesses and consumers to make eco-conscious choices and to purchase more eco-friendly products.
Court, and Peter Doiron are part of a four-person team called “Spuddy Waters” that worked with PEI Potato Solutions, a company serving as a liaison between farmers and Cavendish Farms.
The team is working on ways to clean the water used by the company so potatoes can be washed with recycled water. This will reduce the company's consumption of fresh water and allow them to dispose of the water, remove the odour and reduce the harm to surrounding wildlife and environment.
“Because they can’t dump the water, they’re reaching capacity on how much their water system can hold,” Doiron said.
The team, which also includes fourth-year team lead Ryan Myette and third-year student Tristan Dawson, has created a mechanical filter with no moving parts. And, as a bonus, it comes with an appealing price tag.
“They were looking in The Netherlands to purchase a water filter, but it was more than a million dollars and they would have to hire a person to run it,” Court said. “Ours is just about $40,000 and uses natural resources.”
Allan Dale, the School of Sustainable Design Engineering’s director of Industry Partnership, says the Atlantic Canadian Green Expo is about merging academia with industry.
“Our school is working hand and glove with the renewable energy sector,” Dale said. “In turn, our students work with community and industry partners in every year of their four-year program. They work on real problems for real people.”


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YouTube is opening its first studio in New York, which is slated to open its doors to creators on November 6th, reports The New York Times. Google has YouTube studios in Los Angeles, London and Tokyo, but the New York location will have a space called “BrandLab” — a place for brands to mingle with creators. This move highlights the platform’s increasing importance to advertisers thanks to its reach amongst young people, the clout of its stars and the rush of traditional media to get into the game.
From The Times:
As a hypothetical, [Lance Podell, the global head of YouTube Spaces] said that a company like Maybelline could use BrandLab to host a day in which creators who traffic in beauty and makeup would be invited to collaborate. He uses the word “community” a lot, to underline the point that YouTube is not in the business of determining who teams up with whom or what they make.
“We don’t do notes or tell people what they should be doing with their work,” he said. “We enable them to do the best work they can as they define it.”
For brands that are increasing their digital budgets, BrandLab could be a powerful facilitator for them to meet relevant influencers. “Given the various tribes in New York — downtown performance artists, Brooklyn indie bands, Off Broadway actors, along with a host of more mainstream creators of media — it could make for an interesting, combustible mix,” according to The Times.


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Oracle released two out-of-band patches on Sunday for vulnerabilities in its Java programming language, both of which pose a high risk to users browsing the web.
Those using the Ruby on Rails web application framework on their websites are being advised to update the software immediately after multiple new vulnerabilities were found. It's the second time this month that Rails has been patched because of serio...
A recent Java 7 update allows users to completely prevent Java applications from running inside browsers or to restrict how Web-based Java content is handled by the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) client. These features will benefit security-conscious...
A hacker in Egypt has released vague details of three vulnerabilities he claims to have found within Yahoo's website, the second time in two months he's found problems in the website of a major technology company.
Japanese police are looking for an individual who can code in C#, uses a "Syberian Post Office" to make anonymous posts online, and knows how to surf the web without leaving any digital tracks -- and they're willing to pay.
Bromium has upgraded its security platform vSentry, which uses virtualization to isolate malicious code, to protect virtual desktops and old Windows XP PCs.
A new piece of malicious software targeted at Apple users has been found on a website dedicated to the Dalai Lama, but one security vendor is labeling it as low risk.
Skype has been battling wily adversaries who are abusing the Internet calling application to direct people to scam websites, but the Microsoft-owned service says the sham calls are decreasing.
Symantec had spotted another odd piece of malware that appears to be targeting Iran and is designed to meddle with SQL databases.
Security researchers from antivirus vendor Symantec have uncovered a piece of malware that uses Google Docs, which is now part of Google Drive, as a bridge when communicating with attackers in order to hide the malicious traffic.
OpenDNS, a company that specializes in secure Domain Name System lookups, has released a suite of security services built around its core DNS product that are intended to provide safer browsing outside of a corporate network.
Web users and people shopping online during the upcoming holiday season should watch out for a new crop of scams, some of them targeting users of mobile devices, cybersecurity vendor McAfee warned.
The recent cyberattack that infected Israeli police computers with malware was likely part of a year-long cyberespionage operation with targets in Israel and the Palestinian territories, according to security researchers from antivirus vendor Norman.
Cybercriminals are using a new PDF exploit that bypasses the sandbox security features in Adobe Reader X and XI, in order to install banking malware on computers, according to researchers from Russian security firm Group-IB.
Security researcher Tavis Ormandy discovered critical vulnerabilities in the antivirus product developed by U.K.-based security firm Sophos and advised organizations to avoid using the product on critical systems unless the vendor improves its produc...
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Street-walker chic, a beige polka-dot jumpsuit and a throwback Prom dress -- stars are rocking all the wrong trends this week!
Shakira usually stuns on the red carpet, but "The Voice" judge landed on our worst dressed list this week for donning a super-sexy sheer black mini dress with black leather thigh-high boots.
The blonde beauty looks like she borrowed this racy ensemble from Julia Roberts in "Pretty Woman!"
Rosario Dawson raised eyebrows at a special screening for the movie "Cesar Chavez" on Monday, donning a tan polka-dot jumpsuit by Diane von Furstenberg.
The fabric looks like a filthy patch of sand, and the baggy silhouette makes the "Gimme Shelter" star look like someone's crazy aunt from the '70s!
And, Zoe Kravitz caught everyone's attention at the Los Angeles premiere of "Divergent"-- and not in a good way.
The actress sported an over-the-shoulder white mini that should have stayed in the '90s. Did we mention that it had lace frills and a satin skirt?
But they weren't alone -- see more of this week's worst dressed stars in the gallery above!


text: Google Checkout Payment System Streamlines Online Shopping Google’s shopping cart system and its answer to rival eBay’s Paypal, Google Checkout, has launched today in an attempt by Google to streamline the search to purchase process into one easy and all encompassing Google system. With Google AdWords and Google Accounts integration, Google Checkout will not only bring ease and a new payment alternative to online shopping, but Google has also introduced a Google Checkout icon which will influence the advertisements which are clicked on by the Google loyalist. To identify the stores which offer Google Checkout, Google is placing a little icon on the Google AdWords (and possibly AdSense) ads of stores offering their Checkout system. Google says that doing so is “an easy way to identify fast, secure places to shop when you search.” Ideally, as Google Checkout adoption grows by Google users, AdWords advertisers serving the shopping cart icon in their ads will experience greater position due to click thru and conversion increases among Google buyers. Google Checkout is of lower cost than Paypal in some circumstances and Google is adding bonuses to AdWords advertisers who are using the system : For every $1 you spend on AdWords, you can process $10 in sales for free. For sales that exceed this amount or if you don’t use AdWords, you can process them at a low 2% and $0.20 per transaction. Paypal’s fees are 30 cents and 2.9% per transaction with a sliding scale which lowers with more expensive transactions….


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22 Jan Double A of IRS Interviews with IHE Magazine
Lil Kim, Known as Queen Bee to the Hip hop Industry had developed a record label under the name of Queen Bee Entertainment in the late 90’s. After taking the time to develop a high profile career and a branded name as one of raps female emcee vocalists, she had relaunched her record label under the new I.R.S Records. International Rock Stars, with Imperial Hustle launching its new magazine line IHE Magazine, we had gotten the chance to speak with one of Lil Kim’s label artists Double A, out of the group. We look forward to disclosing some insight on music, the label, Lil Kim and his own career for our first issue of the new year. Look out for this upcoming issue. It will be available in stores and media outlets near you.


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Burberry Archives - Inside Retail Asia
British fashion house Burberry has reported sales and profit increases in the first half year, despite the turmoil in Hong Kong, one of its largest international markets.
US department store Nordstrom has opened a 320,000sqft store in the world’s tallest residential building, Central Park Tower in New York.
Efforts to eliminate animal fur in fashion continue to accelerate as cities and even US states are joining brands and retailers in banning its use.
British fashion house Burberry in Thailand has opened a new store in Bangkok.
Global luxury brand Burberry has collaborated with The RealReal, an authenticated luxury consignment marketplace, to help promote the concept of circular fashion. The purpose of the partnership is to promote the advantages of a circular economy for fashion by encouraging customers to give unwanted branded items a second lease of life through resale, as billions of dollars are lost annually due to clothing not being used or…
Protests in Hong Kong have likely contributed to an unexpected drop in revenues for Richemont sales in a key luxury market.
Burberry is hailing the success of new creative director Riccardo Tisci as its June-quarter same-store sales grew by 4 per cent.
The high-profile appointment of Burberry’s new creative director Ricardo Tisci appears to be paying off…
The Burberry Shanghai flagship store has been shuttered as the British luxury-goods retailer looks to reduce costs.
Within hours of the announcement that Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts was to leave the role in April, speculation was rife as to where she is headed.
Burberry sales in Mainland China underpinned a solid result for the luxury fashion retailer.
Burberry and Louis Vuitton have lost their appeal in a trademark dispute against local transport company Megastar Shipping.


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TWITTER SAYS PERSONALISATION KEY TO CUSTOM ER SUCCESS
Twitter says that brands that personalise their conversations with disgruntled customers fare far better at improving brand image and customer retention.
The number of consumers who move to Twitter to express their frustration about products or services received by companies is growing. Twitter research found that customer service interactions on the social media platform have increased by 250 percent in the last two years.
It is an opportunity for brands to convert the initially complaintive response into a positive outcome, leading to customer retention as well as good publicity.
The research found that personalisation is a major factor in order to achieve a positive outcome to complaints-handling. 77 per cent of respondents would recommend a brand if the response included the customer’s name and the customer service team member’s initials or name.
Alternatively, 66 per cent of customers are unlikely to recommend a brand if the conversation was not personalised regardless of the complaint resolution.
After a customer service exchange, companies can see a boost in positive response from their customers, especially towards consumer packaged goods companies (86 per cent), technology organisations, (84 per cent) and retailers (77 per cent).
Twitter research manager Meghann Elrhoul said: “Customers are really looking for a humanised connection. They want to feel that they are talking to a real person and having that personalisation helps add that component.”
Customers were also 20 per cent more likely to reach a resolution and 25 per cent more likely to be satisfied after personalised conversations. As well as individually tailored messages, people are looking for a quick turnaround when resolving their complaints. 60 per cent in the survey saying they expect a response in less than an hour.
The research conducted by Twitter found that, on average, brand response times do not meet this standard at one hour and 24 minutes
Brands need to be willing to invest a little time in solving the complaint itself. The research found an average of five interactions between the company and consumer per inquiry.
One in three issues go unresolved. The brands who do not pay attention to customer complaints are missing out on opportunities to improve their brand image.
“If brands are doing customer service right, they are actually able to help that consumer and turn them around,” Elrhoul said.
“We’ve also seen that in some of our focus groups that consumers will, before they interact with a brand, go to a brand’s Twitter page to see how they are interacting with consumers.”


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Google France is bringing the trendy “Escape Room” experience to the online world to inspire people to discover, experience and make the most of their own cities.
Developed with agency We Are Social, the online game, called Première Pièce taps into the current trend of adventure games in the physical world where players solve puzzles to break free from a locked room within an allotted time.
This online version incorporates themes central to Google France - digital art, music and mobile technology - to help a crew of digital artists locked in a workshop before they are to present a masterpiece at a Paris art centre. Players have 40 minutes to work together to solve puzzles using different Google mobile applications. Each puzzle is based on a Google product or app: Google Translate, Google Search, Google Maps, Google Cardboard, Google Cultural Institute, Google Music, Google Hangout.
For instance, on the wall of the room, there are posters with mysterious messages written in foreign language - Norwegian, Danish, Chinese, and Japanese. Those messages are clues players have to translate thanks to the Google translate app install on their smartphone. And at the end of the game players have to find three symbols to unlock a laptop. Those symbols are hidden in a 360° landscape players have to explore thanks to Google cardboards.
This game limited the number of participants and all reservations were taken were taken within 24 hours. The game in France launched on May 20th, with an English version debuting May 23.
People without a ticket, however, are able to view five YouTube stars participating in the game via a YouTube live-stream on May 25th. The event will be interactive, with viewers encouraged to issue challenges to the YouTubers through Twitter as well as change aspects of the room, such as turning off the lights or delivering a pizza to the players.
The event will also be available for all internet users to experience on Google France’s social media channels. Those following Première Pièce on social media via #EntrezDansLeGame will be able to get involved with the experience by unlocking Escape Room-themed riddles shared by Google.
The agency said it will developing a number of similar games throughout the year.
Google France always tries to be locally relevant with branded- or products-based campaigns tapping into local stories and influencers. "This campaign shows off these applications and products to their full potential, while tapping into one of the biggest trends right now in the Escape Room concept," says Sandrine Plasseraud, managing director, We Are Social.
We Are Social Paris has been working with Google France for a year and a half on social media strategy, community management and digital campaigns.


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Samsung and Patagonia have teamed up to fight the microplastics that are produced throughout the textile and laundry processes.
In comparison to other sustainability initiatives like water-saving devices, washing garments has not gotten the same awareness campaign as microplastics yet.
Microplastics from clothing made of stretchable denim, fleeces, nylon, and polyester wind up in rivers when synthetic textiles are washed. Numerous polymers are released by even delicate cycles.
In that case, adding filters for washing machines and protective laundry bags are just some of the solutions that are now available to help capture some of the microplastics released during washing.
According to Samsung, together with Patagonia the companies are working on a feasible, effective and expandable way to combat the microplastics that result from textiles and laundry. Samsung is designing new machines that minimise the impact of microplastics.
The release of microplastics from synthetic clothes is mainly caused by the mechanical and chemical stresses that fabrics undergo during a washing process in a laundry machine, which lead to the detachment of microfibres from the yarns that constitute the textile.
The Patagonia and Samsung collaboration will see select machines using a new filter system and cycle, with both companies look at reducing micro plastics by up to 54 percent. The washing machines are expected to be available later this year.


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X-POSITION: Duggan Teases a Return & Surprise Romance in "Uncanny Avengers"
Comics | A copy of Archie Comics #1, published in winter 1942, sold at auction last week for $167,300, setting a world record for an Archie title and a non-superhero comic. “Archie may have a ways to go to catch the likes of Superman and Batman, his Golden Age counterparts,” said Lon Allen, managing director of comics for Heritage Auctions, “but you can bet that collectors sat up and took notice when this comic brought that price. This amount exceeds the priciest of Spidey and Hulk comic books we’ve sold, which brought in excess of $125,000 each.” [Luxist]
Retailing | REDgroup Retail, which owns the Australian booksellers Borders and Angus & Robertson, has laid off 321 employees at the two chains following the closing of 38 stores. The company entered into administration last month. [ABC News]
Retailing | Borders Group has asked a bankruptcy judge for more time to decide whether to assume or reject its 681 leases, including those for 674 stores. If granted, the extension would give the company until Jan. 12, 2012, to deal with its leases. [Detroit Free Press]
Retailing | Struggling bookseller Borders Group, which filed for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday, told shaken publishers it’s developing a long-term plan to “reposition itself,” even as it released a list of some 200 stores set to close by the end of April. The closings include 35 locations in California and 15 in metropolitan Chicago. On a website dedicated to the reorganization, the retailer — the second-largest book chain in the United States — assures customers that “Borders’ Business Operations Continue As Normal.”
In its bankruptcy filing, the company listed $1.29 billion in debt and $1.27 billion in assets. It owes $272 million to its 30 largest unsecured creditors, including $41.1 million to Penguin Group. Diamond Book Publishers, which stopped shipping to Borders last month, is on the hook for $3.9 million. [The New York Times]
Retailing | Meanwhile, REDgroup Retail, which owns the Australian booksellers Borders (owned independently of the U.S. chain) and Angus & Robertson, has entered into administration. Angus & Robertson is the country’s largest book chain, with more than 180 stores nationwide. [The Australian, Guardian]


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adidas Announce Their First NFT Collection, 'Into the Metaverse'
As sneaker brands continue to battle for the top spot in the rapidly-expanding metaverse, adidas have taken a bold step forward by announcing the release of their first-ever NFT collection. Dubbed 'Into the Metaverse', the collection was created in partnership with Bored Ape Yacht Club, gmoney and PUNKS Comic, and will give purchasers access to virtual wearables in The Sandbox, a blockchain-based gaming world. The brand has also immersed itself in the Bored Ape Yacht Club community by purchasing an NFT named 'Indigo Hertz'.
Besides making digital wearables available to NFT holders, adidas have also purchased a plot of virtual land (yes, that's a real thing) inside the world of The Sandbox, and aim to fill it with content and experiences for NFT holders. All of adidas' new digital assets will be secured by crypto exchange Coinbase.
'As part of our ambition to celebrate ideas that are defining a new age of originality, we've landed at the forefront of creativity, which is the open Metaverse,' said Erika Wykes-Sneyd, the vice president of adidas Originals marketing and communications. 'It's a natural place for adidas Originals to enter: a wild world where possibilities are truly limitless and where anyone can express and be rewarded for their most original ideas.' Crypto investor gmoney noted that the partnership was an authentic one, stating 'It’s so refreshing to see a culturally influential brand like adidas Originals work so closely hand-in-hand with the NFT community. At every step, they’ve included the right partners from the crypto, Metaverse and NFT community and listened to their thoughts at an early stage.'
This news is a bold step for adidas in its battle with Nike for metaverse domination, arriving less than a week after Nike acquired RTFKT Studios – an outfit known for their high-tech NFT sneakers. Both brands seem to see the metaverse as the next frontier and are wasting no time in staking their claim to its digital expanses.
adidas' first batch of NFTs will be made available on December 17, and purchasers will be able to get both digital and physical wearables in 2022.
If you prefer your adidas news rooted in the real world instead of the digital one, check out the brand's 10 best releases of 2021 here.


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ST. PETERSBURG — A New York investor could change the face of Central Avenue's EDGE District with construction of a retail incubator, loft apartments and a large garden.
Jonathan Daou, who owns four retail spaces in New York's SoHo area, recently paid $1.7 million for about 1.5 acres west of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St., at 930 Central Ave. Other than a parking lot during Tampa Bay Rays games, the long-vacant land has been an eyesore and deterrent to pedestrian traffic.
"It would be great if this were a denser area," said Karen Porterfield, who recently opened Plain Jane gifts and accessories at 1104 Central Ave. "There are so many vacant spots, people don't really want to walk past nothing. Anything anyone can do to make it easier for local people to make the leap and make it possible to open a store is great."
Daou is still formulating his plan for the property and said he is open to suggestions. He wants to create something where small businesses can grow and work together to draw more people to Central Avenue.
"I'd like to see a lot of local businesses have a chance at opening stores. It's tough for a lot of small retailers because landlords aren't ready to lease to businesses that aren't mature or (don't) have better financial capabilities," he said. He wants to offer them reduced rents and business support.
The project will be 50 to 70 percent retail, with the remainder going to residential rentals above the stores. Daou envisions an agricultural component next to the new construction in the Entertainment, Dining, Galleries, Etc. District, which is the area between King and 16th streets and Central Avenue from First Avenue N to First Avenue S.
He said he will hand-pick tenants to complement one another. "Content wins out over rent," he said. "That's our motto."
Daou, 40, has been in real estate for 18 years and started visiting St. Petersburg about four years ago. He says he's bullish on the city and recently bought a second home here.
His company, Openhouse, offers spaces for pop-up events in New York. Pop-ups — a growing trend, especially in big cities — host anything from a product launch to a restaurant that's open for just three nights. Openhouse has several large, white empty spaces that might house a loud, flashy fashion show one night and an intimate restaurant with rustic farm tables and a forest of potted trees the next.
It's possible he could include space for pop-up retail in the Central Avenue project. Daou, who is considering buying other properties along Central Avenue, said he will have a more concrete idea of his plans in a few months and plans to start building after that.
"I want local businesses with ideas to seek me out. I want this to be an organic process," he said. "I'm welcoming everyone who wants to come to us and has great ideas." (He can be contacted at email@example.com.)
Doris Bailey, who works at Designers' Consigner at 1033 Central Ave., has some thoughts.
"We need like a little, mini Mazzaro's. This whole area needs that or a bakery," she said.
"Or a place to get ice cream or frozen yogurt," added Lynn Camacho, who also works at the longtime women's consignment store. "Tourists come walking up and down here, and they would go there. I would, too."
"I'd like a decent place to eat, and some nice boutiques," said Carla Baker, a hairstylist and partner in Images by Anderson & Co. Barber Shop.
"Whatever he does, it will help connect all the different places along here," said William Anderson, a partner and barber at the shop, which is directly across the street from the pending project. "It will bring people here."
The cars that fill the parcel for Rays home games offer little to no business to area shops, he said. "People park, go to the game, spend their money at Tropicana Field, then leave."
Porterfield, the Plain Jane owner, would like to see more women's shops to catch up with all the bars along Central Avenue.
"Probably every single day people come in my shop and say, 'Please start carrying clothes,' " she said. But it costs more money for more space.
Porterfield pays $1,100 a month rent for her 600-square-foot store. Space on Beach Drive was closer to $5,000 a month. "Fourth Street was almost as expensive," she added.
Adele Gilmore, who owns Pickwick Antiques at 923 Central Ave., said she is interested in the new venture but concerned about where customers would park. She pays about $2,200 a month for rent, taxes and insurance on her small store filled with rare finds in all price ranges.
Will Fluman, who works at the store with her, added another point to consider: "Every time a neighborhood goes through a renaissance, the rent goes up."
Contact Katherine Snow Smith at firstname.lastname@example.org.


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In order to stay safe from the threats that businesses are facing, we should learn to get better at cyber resilience. These threats are growing day by day, especially in the supply chain. Buyers are spending more money to have cyber security because they want to make sure that their investments have lasting value.
According to a research report by The Accenture Security Third Annual State of Cyber Resilience, some companies are nailing the security of their supply chain, but some are still not doing it the right way. The research report also tells that cybercriminals are now indirectly targeting the weak links of supply chains, resulting in a major threat of supplier data and security breaches.
So, do you want to know how some companies are nailing the cybersecurity of their supply chain and what tips we need to take from them? Don’t worry; we have done the hard work for you! Here are the top 3 secret tips from these companies:
The Detecting Speed
The most important thing about a supply chain cybersecurity system is the speed at which the company is able to detect, investigate, and resolve a cyber attack. No matter how strong a cybersecurity team is or how many policies it has; they are of no use if the team isn’t able to detect the problem early.
The most successful supply chain companies have a person or a team dedicated to information security and security management systems. Their sole responsibility is to detect the attack as early as possible and recover from it in a matter of 15 days maximum. While on the other hand, still there are 30% of suppliers with a slow and inefficient response time to these incidents.
Focus on Investments
According to the Accenture report, some businesses spent a lot of their investments on cybersecurity systems and measures but didn’t get the desired results and value gains. When this happens, the whole business ecosystem becomes unsustainable.
However, some companies are making targeted investments to get targeted and desired results. They take the help of tools that analyze their entire supply chain and identify the weak points and vulnerabilities from it. This way, they only spend where they need to. And guess what? This is the right way!
Keep Up the Momentum
Adding more tools and policies to your cybersecurity system is a good thing, but a company should never stop focusing on its basics and fundamentals. According to research, almost 70% of data breaches are due to not focusing on the basics, such as protecting customer records.
Not focusing on these fundamental vulnerabilities in supply chains can lead to harmful data breaches and financial loss as well. The most recent example is Uber; it lost almost $150 million because of a data breach incident.
Data breaches in supply chains are real, and every business should level up their cyber resilience game now. Follow the tips mentioned above to minimize all the possible risks and vulnerabilities.


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LEXINGTON, N.C. — Taking it day by day. That’s what many people, especially local business owners, are having to do.
Wednesday marks the first full day that all dining rooms and bars in North Carolina are empty.
On Tuesday, Gov. Roy Cooper closed restaurants and bars, with the exception of take-out and delivery, to help encourage social distancing and lower the spread of the coronavirus.
It’s already proving to be tough for local businesses, especially in Lexington – a hot spot for barbecue.
“When you get the food order in at 10 o’clock, and then at 11 o’clock they tell you you’re going to have to shut down, it gives you a little bit of mixed feelings,” Tim Fritts said.
Fritts owns the 360 Southern Grille on Talbert Road in Lexington.
He doesn’t know what the future will look like.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” he said.
Fritts made the decision to close up shop Tuesday night to figure it all out.
The drive-thru and parking lot sat empty on Wednesday, as the team strategized their plans.
“We decided to get everything in the freezer and everything in storage. Then my plan was to assess today and see what everybody else was doing,” Fritts said.
For the first time, he doesn’t know what will happen.
“I’ve been in the restaurant business about 43 years now. I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said. “I hope in my lifetime I’ll never see anything like this again.”
Just a couple miles down the road, the owner of Smiley’s BBQ sits in an empty dining room.
“How am I going to make it?” Steven Yountz said. “[We’re] just trying to run off of curbside, telephone, you know, takeout, the best we can and letting people know.”
Yountz decided to keep business running as best he can, to stay afloat.
But already he’s seeing a significant drop off of business.
“This morning it was tremendous. It was probably 70-80 percent,” Yountz said.
He says the community is still being generous.
“[People] have been tipping well, the people that are coming. They’re supportive and they’ve been taking care of the girls,” Yountz said. “That’s a plus.”
He’s had to cut some of his staff members’ hours.
Right now, both business owners say all they can do is just wait and see.
“We just hope for the best,” Yountz said. “People care. When people are caring, they’re going to do what they can.”
They’re counting on their community to help them through it all.
“Have faith and spend time on your knees [praying],” Fritts said. “We’ll get through this. In the meantime, let’s figure out what to do.”
Fritts says they plan to re-open the drive-thru and pickup services for 360 Southern Grille at 11 a.m. Thursday and will stay open as long as they can.
He also says if they don’t go through the large food order they just received, they plan to donate it.


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Posted May 07, 2018 09:05:07 The new Intel chip that the company announced on Wednesday has a new CPU architecture, but it also supports ARM processors.
The Intel Atom Z3560 comes in two versions.
One, called the Z3550, has a quad-core CPU and 16GB of RAM, while the other, called Z3570, has an octa-core processor and 16 gigs of RAM.
The Z3520 supports dual-channel DDR3L memory and supports up to four USB 3.0 ports.
Intel says the Z2560 supports up the ARM architecture to the T-430X, which is a processor that can do a bit more than just run a bunch of ARM cores.
It supports the ARM Cortex A57 CPU, ARM Cortex-A53 processor, ARM Mali-T760 GPU, ARM GPU Adreno 305, Mali-400 GPU, Mali T860 GPU, and Intel HD Graphics 5000 GPU.
AMD is also using the new chipset in its Ryzen platform, but its Ryzen 7 CPUs support the CPU, GPU, memory, and storage architectures that Intel is using.
I’m not going to talk about the new chipsets, which are only officially announced on Intel’s site and don’t have a price tag.
They’re only available in Europe, but there’s no indication if they’ll be available in other parts of the world.
For now, I can only speculate about the chip.
Why did Intel introduce a new processor architecture?
Intel is introducing a new chip architecture called the Atom Z3020.
The Atom Z3000, for example, is a quad core CPU with 4 cores, and 4GB of L3 cache.
You might remember that the Intel Atom was discontinued a while ago, but Intel is still releasing processors with the Atom branding.
While Intel hasn’t officially announced any new chips, it has been teasing a new architecture for years.
In 2016, Intel said it would launch an Intel Atom-based tablet with the Core M architecture.
In 2017, Intel announced the Atom-branded Core i7-7500U, which was the first Intel Atom processor with a quadcore CPU.
So, if Intel has a different Atom architecture for this chipset, that might mean that it’s introducing a whole new CPU family, too.


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OUTTAKES: Nov. 23
Dr. Jeff Lowell heads the liver and kidney transplant program at St. Louis Children's Hospital, which just signed a deal with Arkansas Children's Hospital that will refer all liver transplants to St. Louis Children's.
Cassidy Turley's Scott Bazoian says the commercial real estate market is running neutral due to the lack of job growth.
Kimberly Cella, executive director of Citizens for Modern Transit, says St. Louis led the country in increases in bus ridership, which was up nearly 16 percent in the first quarter.
Our St. Louis Character Alice Conway is assistant general counsel at Monsanto where she is tasked with making sure the company remains in compliance with employment laws for its 23,000 employees around the globe.
Beth Noonan of the St. Louis County Economic Council is looking for tenants for its incubator, the Helix Center in Creve Coeur.
Glenn Vatterott, president of the St. Louis Association of Realtors, says the housing market is showing signs of improvement.
Taubman Outlet Mall is one of two outlet malls coming to Chesterfield Valley. It expects to open its doors Aug. 2, 2013.
Photo galleries See all photo galleries
Here’s what assisted living looks like
A CEO, a neurosurgeon and a preacher walk into the presidential race ...
Second clue: Where will this week's I Spy St. Louis puzzle take us?
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