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ThomasNet's newest Industry Market Barometer (IMB) shows North America's industrial/manufacturing sector surging forward, accelerating the momentum of its recovery with the promise of further expansion to come. Several key indicators all demonstrate a sector that's "caught on fire"-taking into account more company growth, fewer business declines, a resumption of hiring, a winding down of layoffs, and new investments.
"Looking at three Industry Market Barometers over the last 18 months, we've seen a winning formula unfold. Those companies that reported deploying new strategies, such as new product development and online marketing, have propelled to growth mode. Buoyed by the results of their initiatives, these successful companies are moving to the next level, fueling industry's recovery," said Eileen Markowitz, president of ThomasNet.
IMB is a semi-annual survey of the buyers (engineers and purchasing agents) and sellers (owners, managers, sales and marketing executives) in the manufacturers, distributors and service companies that comprise the industrial sector. It measures company growth, decline, strategies used to succeed, and the segment outlook. This is the third consecutive IMB, tracking industrial companies since January 2009. Its data is unique as the majority of respondents are from small and mid-sized companies, mirroring the makeup of the industrial/manufacturing sector. More than 3,243 industry professionals participated in the latest IMB.
Quickening Growth; Fewer Declines
One key indicator is the dramatic increase in companies reporting growth over the past 18 months: For the period January through June 2009, during the heart of the national recession, only 17 percent of respondents reported growth.
The figures began to steadily improve, with 27 percent reporting growth for July through December 2009, building to the latest figures, where 45 percent of respondents say their business grew during the first half of 2010. Those reporting a decline in business performance is just as telling. Only 19 percent of respondents report decline over the first half of 2010, down significantly from 41 percent six months ago and 54 percent when the IMB was first fielded.
The respondents also report a sense of optimism. Indeed, 60 percent of respondents forecast growth for the remainder of 2010, and 83 percent of those that are already growing expect that expansion to continue.
New Job Creation; Layoffs Nearly Over
The growth of industrial companies is leading to the creation of new jobs, with 34 percent of respondents saying they plan to hire again this year. The kinds of jobs companies are adding also indicate more growth ahead. For example, 25 percent of firms with new openings are adding line workers, an indication of increased product demand. Twenty-three percent are adding sales and marketing staff, showing confidence in customer buying power. Nineteen percent are recruiting engineers, supporting stepped up product development.
While many companies are adding new jobs, the IMB also shows layoffs winding down. Nearly 60 percent of respondents plan to keep headcount level this year, and only eight percent plan to downsize.
In previous Industry Market Barometers, ThomasNet found that companies were investing in areas such as product development in order to seed growth. Putting the recession behind them, they are ramping up for new growth, with investments in technology (40%), facilities/renovations (37%) and capital equipment (36%) for the second half of 2010. And, in the first half of 2011, technology is projected to be the dominant area of investment.
Strategies for Continued Success
Respondents also share their top four strategies for continued success: developing business in new US geographies, developing innovative products and services, pursuing business in new industries, and increasing online marketing.
"Our sales are up 37 percent over the same period last year, and we've set four successive months of sales records," said Richard Rubin, President of Maxi Container, Detroit, a distributor of eco-friendly containers for industrial and commercial use.
"More attention to online marketing and sales has allowed us to penetrate new markets and seed demand for new products. I am optimistic that this approach will lead to our best year ever."
Small Businesses Ignite Industry Growth
In addition to examining the industrial sector, the IMB also paints a picture of a growing small and midsize business (SMB) sector. The largest increase in business comes from these smaller companies.
"The success of smaller suppliers is revving up the industrial supply chain, and igniting industry as a whole," said Markowitz. "Their growth is fueling the expansion of the companies that buy from them-leading to increased innovation, decreased time to market, and additional hiring."
Much of that hiring will continue to remain in North America, where respondents' operations are located. Only 27 percent report that they have manufacturing operations overseas-and of those, 47 percent plan to make no changes, and 18 percent are making a concerted effort to move manufacturing back to the US.
To download the full results of the IMB, go to: http://www.thomasnet.com/pressroom/Industry_Market_Barometer.html
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Telepresence systems that let you go to work remotely have proved awkward to use. One startup thinks it has solved those problems.
Vicarious thinks it can mimic the brain to create software that learns to see as we do.
Nuance is working with chipmakers on technology that would enable “persistent listening” apps.
A smarter, safer new industrial robot could bring automation to new areas of manual work and help many U.S. manufacturers regain a competitive edge.
Crowdsourcing can create an artificial chat partner that’s smarter than Siri-style personal assistants.
Image-processing and machine-learning algorithms could help stores to manage inventory.
Siri may not be the smartest AI in the world, but it’s the most socially adept.
Reviewers like the new iPhone’s personal assistant, but it would be better if Apple opened it to outside developers—just as it did for the phone itself.
Google’s head of research explains why artificial intelligence is crucial to the search company’s future.

domain: news


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The Year of Tourism 2023 forum will take place from Nov. 23 to 26 in Ürümqi, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China.
Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Zhang Ming announced this.
The SCO’s press service reported on Nov. 11.
SCO member states declared 2023 as the Year of Tourism in the SCO. It is in response to the challenges the pandemic posed.
That halted the tourism industry in the SCO space and worldwide, Zhang Ming said.
He shared at the upcoming forum their plan. They will raise issues pertaining to the development and implementation of measures in tourism across the SCO space.
The forum may bring together heads of tourism administrations from member states, SCO observers, dialogue partners, international organizations, heads of national tourism companies, representatives of business circles, and the media.
The SCO Secretary-General emphasized that Almaty received the desgnation as the cultural and tourist capital of the SCO for 2023-2024.
After taking over the SCO chairmanship in July, Kazakhstan outlined specific plans for developing tourism in the SCO space, Zhang Ming noted.
He added that an international tourism forum taking place in Aktau is among the initiatives designed to contribute to tourism revival.


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AT&T Interactive and Yahoo! announced an agreement, under which AT&T’s advertising sales force of more than 5,000 will sell Yahoo! display inventory to local businesses across the United States. The collaboration adds Yahoo!’s display inventory to AT&T Interactive’s local online advertising portfolio, and takes advantage of Yahoo!’s audience reach and targeting technologies.
“Local businesses are looking to drive in-store traffic, and our alliance with AT&T Interactive will help them reach a local audience of highly-engaged potential customers on Yahoo!,” said Jim Schinella, Senior Vice President, North America Region, Yahoo!. “As local businesses shift their advertising spend to reach the growing number of Internet consumers, AT&T Interactive and Yahoo! can equip them with the tools and expertise they need to be successful online.”
AT&T Interactive maintains close relationships with local businesses in the $14 billion local online ad market, according to Borrell Associates. Hundreds of thousands of local businesses, spanning thousands of business categories, have built online local advertising programs around AT&T Interactive’s YELLOWPAGES.COM local search marketing solutions, online video ads, web sites and more. These businesses can now add Yahoo!’s targeted display advertising to their marketing campaigns through their relationships with the AT&T Advertising Solutions sales force.
“Our local advertisers are focused on growing their business so they look to us to help find the most comprehensive and effective ways to reach consumers,” said Matt Crowley, Chief Marketing Officer, AT&T Interactive. “Adding Yahoo!’s reach through highly targeted display advertising enhances our existing portfolio of local advertising products, allows our advertisers another way to raise their visibility and reach more online consumers. This joint effort is a natural extension of our existing relationship with Yahoo! and takes advantage of each company’s assets in the local market.”
The AT&T Advertising Solutions sales force intends to begin selling Yahoo! display inventory later this summer. AT&T Interactive anticipates it will become available across AT&T Advertising Solutions’ nationwide footprint through a phased rollout.
The agreement between AT&T Interactive and Yahoo! is the latest addition to the strategic relationship between AT&T and Yahoo!, which runs across many Yahoo! products and services, including portal and mobile services. By tapping into AT&T’s Advertising Solutions industry leading local ad sales force, Yahoo! extends its growing presence in the local online ad market, spanning a range of search and display advertising sales partnerships.


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With over 4,400 votes from iLounge readers, our latest poll—“What do you use today as your primary Apple device for media playback?”—has ended. Readers could choose between the iPad, the iPhone, iPod nano, iPod shuffle, iPod classic, iPod touch, or Apple TV.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Apple’s iOS-based devices dominated the responses — one-in-three (33 percent) readers said they used an iPhone for their primary media playback device, followed closely by 27 percent of readers who said an iPod touch was their primary Apple device, and 20 percent who said the iPad was their go-to media playback device. Overall, these three iOS devices accounted for 80 percent of all responses. The high-capacity iPod classic was tops amongst non-iOS devices with 10 percent of the overall vote, followed by the iPod nano with six percent, and the iPod shuffle with just one percent. Notably, three percent of readers said the Apple TV was their primary device for media playback; we have broken this number out separately since the second-generation model is an iOS device while the first-generation is not. Thanks for all your votes!
Our new poll focuses on your holiday season shopping plans. Do you plan on buying an Apple media product as a gift for a friend or family member this year? Perhaps an iPad, iPhone, or some model of iPod? Or perhaps you’ll be gifting an Apple TV? Our new poll, “Do you plan to purchase an Apple media product as a gift this holiday season, and if so, which one?” lets you answer that question. As always, you can find the iLounge Poll in the left column of the main iLounge.com homepage. Cast your vote today!


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Nokia X Runs Android Apps, Microsoft Services
Updated: Added pricing and strategy info, plus photos.
Nokia today announced the Nokia X, Nokia X+, and Nokia XL, its first phones to run the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) platform. The phones run standard Android apps, available through a new Nokia Store, or side-loaded. The phones offer Microsoft services - such as Outlook, Skype, HERE Maps, and OneDrive - instead of Google services. The interface is a blend of Lumia and Asha, including re-sizeable live tiles like Windows Phone, plus FastLane from Asha. The Nokia store supports carrier billing and in-app purchases. Facebook is pre-loaded. The X and X+ include a 4-inch display. The X+ adds a memory card slot. The XL steps up to a 5-inch display and a 2-megapixel front camera. The Nokia X will sell for 89 Euros. The X+ will sell for 99 Euros, in Q2. The XL is coming in early Q2 for 109 Euros. Nokia will sell the X family globally, starting in "growth markets." Nokia also re-affirmed its commitment to Lumia and Windows Phone. The company expects to price all X family phones lower than its Lumia phones. It will also continue offering Asha touch phones, at even lower price points, such as the new Asha 230, which will sell for only 45 Euros.
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Microsoft Brings Cortana Assistant to Skype for Android and iOS
Microsoft today ported its Cortana personal assistant to its Skype chatting application, providing people with access to information without forcing them to leave Skype. Microsoft says Cortana in Skype can suggest useful information based on chat contents, suggest smart replies, manage schedules and/or reminders, and more.
Microsoft Makes Branding Change Official
Microsoft today indicated its branding transition from Nokia Lumia to Microsoft Lumia is progressing as planned. Microsoft has slowly been rebranding apps, services, and web sites from Nokia to Microsoft.
Microsoft Releases Edge Browser for Android and iOS, Launcher for Android
Microsoft today made a beta version of its Edge browser available to Android and iOS devices. The beta, available to registered Windows Insiders, requires users to initiate the signup process through a Windows 10 PC.
Nokia Expands its Android Lineup
HMD Global — the new custodian of the Nokia brand for phones — today announced three new Android-based Nokia phones. Nokia 6: Already released in China, this 5.5-inch-screen, metal-bodied phone will released globally for 229 euros.
here we go


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Fans hoping to get their hands on tickets for the Carolina Panthers' Jan. 12 playoff game at Bank of America Stadium will have to turn to the secondary market -- and they'll have to pay a premium.
A limited number of tickets for the NFC divisional playoff game went on sale through Ticketmaster at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, and they sold out in the first three minutes, the team said.
"Thank you for the tremendous support this morning." the Panthers tweeted at 10:17 a.m. "#Panthers playoff tickets sold out within the first three minutes! #BELONG."
And within an hour, thousands of tickets had poured onto StubHub.com, an online marketplace owned by eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) that connects buyers and sellers of tickets, WBTV reports.
A quick look at the site this morning showed nearly 6,000 tickets available, with prices starting in the neighborhood of $150 -- more than double the starting face value for tickets to that game.
The sellout frustrated fans -- many of them calling the Ticketmaster process unfair -- as well as N.C. Sen. Malcolm Graham, according to WBTV. "How does the average joe, blue collar worker fan get their hands on tickets at a reasonable price?," Graham said when contacted by the news station.
As we previously reported, the Panthers will face one of three teams in their playoff debut: the Philadelphia Eagles, the Green Bay Packers or the San Francisco 49ers. Which of those teams will be headed to Charlotte will be determined by the outcome of the wild-card playoff games this weekend.
The team announced Wednesday afternoon that players will be sporting their popular black-on-black jerseys for the NFL's second-round playoff match-up.
The Panthers returned to the practice field at BofA Stadium on New Year's Day to begin preparing for their postseason run, NBC Charlotte reports.


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The new generation of Toyota Corolla, which will be launched next year, will be released not only as sedan, but also in hatchback and wagon (thus the name of the Auris will be eliminated).
Corolla at the outset will be sold in Europe not only with petrol and diesel engines, but with a hybrid powertrain, although it's performance still kept in secret. Moreover, it is possible, that Toyota will begin selling two hybrids at once. One of them will get the old hybrid installation (as Prius and other hybrid Toyota and Lexus). Second hybrid can be recharged from an ordinary electrical outlet. This means, that such machine for short runs do not require gasoline!
Externally, the new Corolla, for sure, would resemble a miniature Camry. Car will receive a large number of various "bells and whistles", which, incidentally, is not set on Camry now. It is a systems of control the movement of the bands, the automatic cruise control and so on - european buyers have started to get used to such security systems.
P.S. By the way, Toyota has introduced a new Corolla in the Japanese market - there sedan called the Corolla Axio and wagon called Corolla Fielder. However, european cars are very different from the Japanese counterparts.


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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Lexmark International Inc. fell prey to selling Tuesday, pulling back as the company's first-quarter financial results came in below estimates in the face of increased spending on product development.
The Lexington, Ky.-based printer manufacturer LXK also issued a second-quarter forecast that was below analysts' estimates for both earnings and revenue.
Shares of Lexmark slipped nearly 9% by the close of trading Tuesday, falling to $56.44. The stock has lost more than 22% so far this year.
For the first quarter, the company reported earnings of $92.4 million, or 95 cents a share. For the same period last year, earnings came in at $86.2 million, or 78 cents a share. The company said the latest profit included a restructuring charge of a penny a share.
Revenue slipped 1% compared to the first quarter last year, coming in at $1.26 billion.
Analysts had been expecting earnings of $1.03 a share on revenue of $1.26 billion, according to estimates compiled by Thomson Financial.
Operating expenses rose 6.5% during the quarter, sapping Lexmark's profit growth.
Paul Curlander, chairman and chief executive, cited the company stepped-up investments in brand development as well as reasearch and development. In a statement, he also cited weak sales to original equipment manufacturers as a factor in what he termed as a "mixed quarter."
Steering the Street lower
For the second quarter, Lexmark predicted earnings would come in between 82 cents a share and 92 cents a share -- well below Wall Street's consensus of 99 cents a share.
The company also said revenue would be down at a rate "in the low-to-mid single-digit percentage range" compared to the 2006 second quarter. That would also come in below Wall Street's forecast of $1.25 billion.
Prudential analyst Jesse Tortora downgraded Lexmark to a neutral rating, saying he'd been bullish on the company's shares because of expectations for gains in the printer market.
He said the results may also be a cause of concern for Hewlett-Packard Co.
"We view Lexmark's commentary, 'aggressive hardware pricing in both inkjet and laser' and Canon's commentary, 'severe price competition in inkjet and laser' as concerning for both Lexmark and Underweight-rated H-P, as it derives roughly half of its earnings from printing," Tortora wrote in a note to clients.


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The Rivian name is displayed on one of their new electric SUVs in San Diego, USA on December 16, 2022.
Mike Blake | Reuters
Rivian Automotive plans to raise $1.3 billion in cash through the sale of convertible notes, joining a growing list of electric car makers struggling to raise cash as demand falters.
Rivian shares fell more than 14% on Tuesday.
Rivian said late Monday it plans to sell convertible notes — bonds that can be redeemed for cash, stock or a mix of the two — to help finance the development and launch of a smaller series of R2 vehicles expected in 2026. Institutional investors purchasing the notes will have the option to purchase up to $200 million in additional notes above the initial $1.3 billion.
Rivian is not in dire need of cash, at least not yet. At the time of its fourth-quarter earnings presentation on Feb. 28, the EV maker had $12.1 billion on hand at the end of 2022, enough to fund its operations through 2025. 6% of its workforce and push R2 per year launch.
Rivian also said last week it expects to produce 50,000 vehicles in 2023, down from the roughly 60,000 expected by Wall Street analysts. This could be a sign that demand for its premium pickups and SUVs is falling below expectations.
UnderstandableAnother high-priced electric vehicle startup pointed investors to lower-than-expected production in 2023 and said it plans to expand its marketing in the coming months, suggesting it too will see fewer orders than expected.
Rivian raised about $12 billion when it went public in late 2021, helping it raise a fund that dwarfs that of many other electric startups. Since its debut, the company’s stock has lost more than 80% of its value.
Rivian said the convertible notes qualify as “green bonds,” meaning they meet criteria that tend to attract institutions willing to accept low returns rather than support sustainable development.
The notes mature in March 2029. The interest rate and other terms will be decided when the offer price is determined.


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Mercedes Benz has made it official: the 2011 C-Class Coupe is on its way. The German luxury automaker has announced it will build the two-door C-Class at its massive Bremen plant, with production scheduled to begin in 2011. The addition of the Coupe gives Mercedes Benz three different variants of the C-Class, with a convertible almost certainly to follow. The impressively flexible Bremen plant, which employs 12,600 workers, also makes the C-Class sedan, wagon, GLK, two E-Class variants, the SL and SLK.
With the C-Class Coupe officially on its way to production, we’re more than a bit curious as to how Mercedes will differentiate the smaller Benz two-door from the larger, more expensive E-Class Coupe. See, the bi-door E-Class already utilizes the C-Class platform, and the more expensive E Coupe is almost identical in every dimension to the C-Class Saloon. But the E-Class coupe commands a price premium of $9,000 compared to a C-Class sedan with the same 3.5-liter V6 engine.
We suspect Mercedes will shorten the C-Class platform to better differentiate the C Coupe from the larger, more expensive E Coupe. But unlike the larger E Coupe, which is virtually the same price as sedan with the same name, the C Coupe may receive a bit of a price bump compared to its sedan brethren. It’s a good bet that we’ll know a lot of these answers by the time the Paris Motor Show opens its doors to the media in September. Hit the jump to read over the official press release.


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This new vehicle, the Sparrow 2, is the latest incarnation of what was first called the Corbin Sparrow, the brainchild of motorcycle-seat maker Mike Corbin. Corbin started deliveries of the $14,000 Sparrow in 1998 and at one time had taken $40 million in orders. Ultimately, the company only made 289 cars before going bankrupt in 2003, according to Wired. Corbin has long been working on a successor to the Sparrow, even pitching a gas-powered version called the Raven in 2007 through his Sparrow Motors. Corbin has said that vehicle would get as much as 100 miles per gallon in fuel economy. His new mission is to get the Sparrow 2 onto the road, but he's got a long way to go.
The upcoming Sparrow 2 is different from the Duo from Myers Motors. Myers ended up with the leftovers of Corbin Motors and created the NMG (No More Gas), a one-seat, high-top-shoe-shaped vehicle that costs $29,995. The updated version, the Duo (which stands for Don't Use Oil and seats two), has been claimed in the past to cost about $25,000 before the federal tax credit for EVs kicks in and may have a single-charge range of about 60 miles as well as a top speed of 75 miles per hour. Tallmadge, OH-based Myers Motors, which is taking $250 pre-orders on its website, was set to deliver the vehicle (which is classified as a motorcycle) last spring. The website now says, "Start driving electric in 2012."


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Fitzgerald Cecilio – 4E Sports Reporter
New York, NY, United States (4E Sports) – Fantasy sports operators DraftKings and FanDuel jointly announced their merger, which is expected to be finalized in the second half of 2017.
While the merger is pending regulatory approval, both sites will continue to operate under their respective brand names.
According to sources, it will be a 50/50 split between the fantasy giants. With each company getting three seats on the board, with one independent director.
DraftKings CEO Jason Robins will be the CEO of the new company while FanDuel CEO Nigel Eccles will become the chairman of the board.
The name of the joint company has not been revealed. It will have headquarters in New York and Boston.
“We have always been passionate about providing the best possible experience for our customers and this merger will help advance our goal of building a transformational global sports entertainment platform,” Robins said in the release announcing the agreement.
“Joining forces will allow us to truly realize the potential of our vision, and as a combined company we will be able to accelerate the pace of innovation and bring a richer experience to our customers than we ever could have done separately,” he added.
“Being able to combine DraftKings and FanDuel presents a tremendous opportunity for us to further innovate and disrupt the sports industry,” said Eccles .
The merger is expected to draw scrutiny, potentially from the Federal Trade Commission as FanDuel and DraftKings make up more than 80 percent of the daily fantasy marketplace.
An estimated 40 million North Americans play only season-long fantasy sports, eight times more than the number of those who play daily fantasy.
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AI cybersecurity startup Darktrace raises $75M at $875M valuation
Cyberattacks may be bad for most businesses, but this year they have been great for the cybersecurity industry.
Between the WannaCry ransomware that swept Europe and the more recent Petya attacks, cybersecurity shares have surged this year, and so has cybersecurity funding. The latest startup to benefit from this security boom is Darktrace Ltd., which today announced that it has closed a $75 million Series D funding round.
The round was led by Insight Venture Partners, and it included participation from existing investors Summit Partners, KKR and TenEleven Ventures. Darktrace’s latest round brings the company’s total funding to nearly $180 million and sets its post-money valuation at $875 million.
Founded in 2013 in the U.K., Darktrace offers an Enterprise Immune System, its cybersecurity platform powered by machine learning. According to Darktrace, its platform takes advantage of artificial intelligence to detect and fight new threats in real time. The company said its platform can even spot suspicious patterns early to prevent attacks before they even occur.
According to Darktrace, the Enterprise Immune System now has more than 3,000 deployments worldwide across various industries. The company also said it has managed to double its staff over the last year, and it now has more than 500 employees. It said the new funding proves the potential of its machine learning approach to cybersecurity, and the company said that it will use the financing to continue growing its business.
Darktrace is not the only company looking to apply AI and machine learning to security, nor is it the only one to receive significant funding within the last few months. For example, AI cybersecurity startups CrowdStrike Inc. and Cybereason Inc. each closed funding rounds in the last three months that exceeded $100 million.
The funding announcement indicates that the cybersecurity boom is likely not going to end anytime soon. But as the market becomes more and more crowded with “unique” machine learning platforms, investors may find it harder to decide which are worth backing.
Photo: Visual Content Data Security via photopin (license)
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Identifying Israeli products by their barcode.
POSTED ON BEHALF OF : Africa to Gaza Aid Convoy
- Gaza rally backs boycott of Israeli goods (mondoweiss.net)
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- Ex-Israeli diplomat: Boycott my country (csmonitor.com)
- ANC demands full boycott of Israeli products (windowintopalestine.blogspot.com)
- United Church of Canada passes controversial boycott of products tied to Israeli settlements (life.nationalpost.com)
- Canadian Zionists Outraged at Latest Bds Victory (desertpeace.wordpress.com)


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If it can be fried, it's been tried at the State Fair of Texas.
Twinkies. Oreos. Candy bars. Cookie dough. Butter. Meatballs. Lettuce. Green beans. Peaches. Pralines. Pecan pie. Jelly beans. Macaroni and cheese. Bacon. Coke. Latte. Beer. Margarita.
We've come a long way from when popcorn and cotton candy were the fair food headliners.
Pity the hamburger. You poor peanuts. Hot dog, you're not so hot. We're just not into you anymore - at least not at the fair.
Food has been a featured attraction ever since the State Fair opened in 1886.
People need to eat, after all.
But, through the years, fair fare has evolved.
Since 2005, there's been a fried food explosion, thanks to a contest that honors the top new foods.
These days, food is a main reason why many people head to the fair, which opens Friday at Fair Park.
The fair's food frenzy is reflective of a food-oriented culture that has a greater appreciation of food, said Christi Erpillo, a veteran fair concessionaire. Think about the scores of food programs on TV.
"Food itself has taken on a whole new role," she said. "Fair food has become more interesting, more intriguing. It's a finer food." From simple fare to showmanship
As long as people have gathered to attend public events, food vendors have been there to serve them.
They sold their goodies at the Roman Coliseum, at Medieval fairs and at the Globe Theatre during Shakespeare's time, said Lynne Olver, editor of The Food Timeline, a website that explores the origins of a smorgasbord of foods.
"Any place where there's money to be made and people to be fed, there will be food vendors," she said.
During the 1880s and 1890s, the early years of the State Fair of Texas, foods included sausage sandwiches, fried chicken, fried pork chops, hard-boiled eggs and oysters, said Nancy Wiley, a fair consultant.
At first, church groups and civic organizations sold food for fundraisers, but then commercial enterprises took over, Wiley said.
Last year, fair visitors spent about $26 million on food and amusement rides. Officials say the fair usually gets 23.5 percent of the gross sales from food and beverage concessionaries.
Many fair food vendors generate sales in the low tens of thousands of dollars. Some, though, can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars, officials said. Then there are the Fletchers, who sell more than 500,000 corny dogs - more than $2 million worth - during the fair.
Fair food as we know it took off in 1904, thanks to the World's Fair in St. Louis. The event popularized several foods, including the hot dog. Those treats spread to state fairs, including Texas.
Fair food would change forever in 1942, when the corny dog made its debut at the Texas fair. Fast forward a couple of decades and Belgian waffles arrived on the scene. Then, by the early '80s, funnel cake.
Over the past decade, the fair entered its fried-food era, thanks to fried Oreos, Twinkies and candy bars.
But fried food started getting wild in 2005, when the fair launched the Big Tex Choice Awards for the top new foods.
Combine imaginative food vendors and a public that's at the fair to escape reality, and you have a recipe for fried food success, Olver said.
"The concessionaires are really showmen," she said. "They want to outdo each other. They want to do something a little bit different. It's a matter of experimenting. You have deep-fried Oreos. If you can deep fry an Oreo, why not a Nutter-Butter. It goes from there." Competitive cottage industry
Dishes that win the Big Tex Choice competition attract endless media interest, and the stranger the item, the better.
When Jake Levy won a Big Tex award for his Deep Fried Latte in 2007, his family received requests from media outlets worldwide. This year, he's serving the Deep Fried Frozen Margarita, one of the finalists in this year's contest.
"If you're the 'it' food at the fair, you are at the pinnacle," Levy said.
Some years, foods that win Big Tex honors generate more than $100,000 in sales - sometimes, much more.
No one has capitalized more on the fried food mania than Abel Gonzales. He's won Big Tex awards for Deep Fried Butter, Texas Fried Cookie Dough, Fried Coke and a Fried Peanut Butter, Jelly and Banana Sandwich.
He's done so well that he quit his job.
"It's not something I planned," he said of his successful creations. "If you start thinking, 'Ooh, I've got to start thinking of something bigger and better,' you're not going to come up with anything at all."
In recent years, however, vendors have become much more competitive - and secretive, Levy said. Mark Zable has shrouded his Fried Beer, a Big Tex winner this year, in secrecy. He's applied for a patent and trademark.
"We used to call each other at the beginning and say, 'Hey, I'm thinking about doing this,'" Levy said. "It's become a briefcase and handcuff deal. We're always trying to outdo what we've done. It's bigger than the State Fair of Texas."
How far does this food craziness go? No one's sure.
"There will be some brilliant concessionaire who will ride the next wave and you'll look at this 10 years from now and you'll be like, 'That was the deep-fried era,'" Olver said.
"You're going to have things like corn dogs ... that will survive as classics. The rest of them are going to be relegated to that big closet called food fads."
While this year's fair just started, the vendors are already brainstorming entries for next year. They're in their kitchens, experimenting, frying up a storm.
What are they planning?
They're not saying. A FAIR FOOD EVOLUTION
When it comes to food, the State Fair of Texas sure has packed it in through the years. Since the first fair in 1886, food has been a star attraction. Here's a sampling of what's been served through the years: 1880s and 1890s
Church groups and social clubs serve hot meals, cold lunches and desserts. Items include fried chicken, pork chops, potatoes and vegetables. There are sausage sandwiches, hard-boiled eggs and raw oysters, as well as popcorn, peanuts, ice cream and watermelon. Ice cream on a stick called Hokey-Pokey and Concord grapes are available, too. 1900s and 1910s
1900: Wienerwurst and hamburger steak
1901: A Mexican restaurant opens.
1912: Peanuts and hamburgers, lemonade and ice cream cones reign supreme.
1916: The Mothers' Council of Dallas proposes a ban on liquor sales at the fair. The ban stays in place until 1933. 1920s and 1930s
1922: Barbecued "chevron' - or goat - is featured.
1931: "An epidemic of smiles swept over the ranks of hamburger, candy, soda pop and souvenir vendors Tuesday as the high school students invaded the grounds in wave after wave."
1932: "There were hungry kids, young and old, feeding on hot dogs or stick candy, drinking apple cider, eating apples on a stick. Depression? Fun is always new and never old ... and there is no depression in laughter."
1936: Fritos are introduced. 1940s and 1950s
1942: The corny dog debuts. Jack's French Frys arrive a few years later.
1950: "Concessionaires were moving in supplies which will amount to 200,000 candied applies, two carloads of potatoes, 50,000 cones of cotton candy, over two million hamburgers and hot dogs, a million and a half sacks of popcorn, ten million bottled drinks and 50,000 gallons of ice cream." 1960s and 1970s
1964: Belgian waffles arrive. Also, French wines, cheeses and meals are available.
1972: "Pizzas, Poor Boys and Pink Things compete with chili, chicken and cheeseburgers confront the customer as he threads his way through a maze of stands."
1974: "A hungry person can choose from country sausage, Western stew, hot dogs, hamburgers, tacos, nachos, beans, french fries, skillet potatoes and German sausage."
1977: New items include shrimp, egg rolls and the Texas Grinder, a pressed sourdough sandwich filled with beef and cheese and dipped in butter. 1980s and 1990s
Early '80s: Funnel cakes arrive.
1989: The Waf-A-Taco, a waffle cone filled with taco fixings, makes an appearance.
1992: Fairgoers can eat "at least four kinds of sausage, candy and caramel apples, boiled corn, shrimp, teriyaki steak, a bunch of frozen confections, and something called a Cajun stick, all served k-bob style. Hickory Farms even sports something called a 'beef pop,' a round slice of beef sausage presented in lollipop-fashion."
1996: Jamaican food booth opens. 2000s
Early 2000s: All sorts of deep-fried food debuts at the fair, including fried Oreos and candy bars.
2002: "Fried Twinkies are the new junk food delight - or not, depending on your taste. ... They're deep- fried versions of the yellow cream-filled cake. About 30,000were sold at the California State Fair. Are fried Ho-Hos next?"
2005: The fair launches Big Tex Choice Awards, ushering in a new fried-food era.
SOURCES: State Fair of Texas; The Great State Fair of Texas: An Illustrated History; Dallas Morning News research


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Colorado is the cradle of fast-casual dining, the birthplace of Chipotle, Noodles & Company and Smashburger.
A 2013 report by the market-research firm NPD Group calculated fast-casual restaurants per capita, and Colorado cities swept the podium, Nos. 1, 2 and 3, at a density more than double the national average.
Pizza, Mediterranean, vegan, Asian, farm-to-table — Colorado has them all.
This summer, a new restaurant opening near Denver Union Station will push the envelope of the industry’s fastest-growing segment even farther. The owners will do it, they hope, by elevating the food into a realm traditionally reserved for white tablecloths.
“This is really breaking the box of fast casual. This is fast fine,” said local restaurant entrepreneur Ben Kaplan, an adviser and investor in the project.
When it opens at 1900 16th St. in July, Honor Society Handcrafted Eatery will have a fresh, seasonal chef-driven menu that includes items like grilled flank steak and sustainable Scottish salmon, organic fire-roasted rainbow carrots, gluten-free macaroni and cheese and sauteed spinach and kale with garlic and chili flakes — but at the same price point and service tempo that diners love about fast-casual.
Unlike its fast-casual compatriots, Honor Society also will have a full-service bar and craft cocktails created by the former head bartender at Oak at Fourteenth. The food menu was crafted by Justin Brunson, owner and executive chef at Denver hot spots Old Major and Masterpiece Delicatessen.
“The quality Chef is putting on the table at the prices and speed that this concept is able to deliver on is just utterly impressive,” said Kaplan, co-owner of Oak at Fourteenth. “It respects my time, it respects my pocketbook and it respects my health.”
A diverse group of businessmen — founding partners Jonas Tempel, Rob Alvarado, Ian Smith and Brunson — is working to bring “fast fine” to life in Denver.
Tempel, the brand guy, started Denver ad agency Factory Design Labs, which has counted among its clients The North Face, Audi and Oakley. He was also a founder of Beatport, an online retailer of electronic music that was sold in 2013 for $60 million, and a consultant to Beats Music.
Alvarado is CEO of Palo Alto Inc./Alvarado Concepts LLC, which owns and operates 144 Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC franchises in Colorado, California and New Mexico.
Smith, who has nearly 20 years of experience in the food and beverage industry, is president of Prosper Food & Beverage Consulting.
Raising the bar
Honor Society will be a LEED-certified “barn meets loft” space where you can stop in for a quick lunch or meet up with friends after work for happy hour, Alvarado said. Food will be ordered at the counter.
Menu items will be in the $8-$14 range, which puts Honor Society in line with fast casual’s upper reaches. Brunson is also planning daily specials, with seasonal ingredients sourced from the local farms and purveyors he uses at Old Major.
Keeping things simple will be the key to making the concept work, Brunson said. The partners spared no expense in outfitting the kitchen with the right equipment, including high-powered combi-ovens.
“I might not look like it, but I do eat healthy most of the time,” Brunson said. “My wife is a total yoga nut. Most of the meals at our home are exactly the food we’re cooking at Honor Society — high protein, low fat, high vegetable, low carb.”
Honor Society, industry analysts said, is part of an emerging trend that is narrowing the gap between fast-casual and casual and fine dining.
Fast casual is a $39 billion industry that’s growing faster than any other restaurant category, and everyone from fast-food restaurants to high-end chefs is trying to emulate its successes, said Bonnie Riggs, a restaurant industry analyst for NPD Group.
“There’s definitely an evolving eating behavior to fresh food and healthier options,” Riggs said.
“Fast fine” restaurants are trying to take it a step farther by raising the bar on restaurant design, food and service — while still maintaining that fast-casual price point, according to a 2014 article in trade publication Nation’s Restaurant News.
But Darren Tristano, executive vice president of Technomic, a food industry research firm, said “fast fine” is more of a marketing strategy than a new restaurant category.
“Now that most consumers are used to paying the higher price points for fast casual, there are restaurants who believe the market for a little bit better is underserved. And they’re trying to fill the gap,” Tristano said.
“It’s really a higher price-point fast casual,” he said. “It’s even better quality of fast casual, but still within an attractive price point.”
Tempel said the goal all along with Honor Society was just to make a restaurant they would want to eat at themselves.
“We want to have the permission to get involved in our customers’ lives at a deeper level,” Tempel said. “What does that mean? We’re not 100 percent sure yet, but what we think is we can get involved in the community, we can get involved in education, we can inspire our employees and educate at a higher level. We can create fitness-type events that are fun to do.”
Ambitious plans are in the works, Alvarado said. A partnership with Ruby Hill Elementary School and the Colorado I Have a Dream Foundation will build community gardens, and the restaurant is working with the Latin American Education Foundation to provide scholarships to students studying hospitality management or sustainable agriculture.
The partners also are optimistic the same demographics that make Denver a hotbed for traditional fast casual will mean success for them as well.
“One of the things that we love about this market and what those brands have done is they’ve created a customer who is more knowledgeable and has higher expectations of what fast casual can be,” Alvarado said. “Our brand and our concept might not work in trying to be an elevated fast casual without that more demanding consumer.”
Tristano said there is “a lot to be said for the Denver market” and how success there can translate across the U.S.
“It tends to be a good place because you’ve got a very well-grounded consumer who recognizes quality and is willing to pay for it,” he said.
Emilie Rusch: 303-954-2457, email@example.com or twitter.com/emilierusch


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Kinder’s Meats, the Concord-based deli and meat market with locations across the East Bay, has a spiffy new business partner: Earl Tywone Stevens Sr., who’s better known as E-40, the Vallejo rap star well-known to mainstream audiences for his 2006 smash “Tell Me When To Go.” Via Instagram, Stevens announced the launch of Goon With The Spoon, a company that, with Kinder’s support, will sell a line of gourmet sausages with flavors like “Philly Cheesesteak Chicken” and “Turf Burritos.” What are Turf Burritos, you ask? Speaking with TMZ, Stevens explains: “I’m from Magazine Street and right down the street, everybody would get turf burritos at 7-11,” he said. His will be “the ones that everybody loves: the green chills and the red chilis.” Goon With The Spoon officially launches on Nov. 15, and joins Stevens’s other forays into food, including multiple wine and tequila labels and partial ownership of Oakland-based Filipino destination The Lumpia Company.
Officials in Contra Costa County briefly shut down an East Bay In-N-Out. You likely know the all-too-tiresome tale by now: the SoCal chain, long known for its conservative leanings, politicized efforts to prevent the spread of deadly virus COVID-19 by flouting vaccination mandates in San Francisco and Contra Costa County, with a company spokesperson referring to rules around vaccination as “unreasonable, invasive, and unsafe.” Officials in Pleasant Hill, San Ramon, and Pinole fined those restaurants for allegedly serving diners indoors without requiring vaccination proof, the Bay Area News Group reports, and suspended the Pleasant Hill location’s permission to operate this week. That In-N-Out’s dining room remains closed as of publication time, but ABC 7 reports that its drive through and takeout operations have reopened.
Workers at a Richmond factory for meal-kit delivery company HelloFresh are unionizing over workplace safety fears. KQED reports that “everyone is rushing to meet their delivery targets” at the factory, leading to multiple accidents “involving loose plastic, pallets and tripping,” a concern on top of the massive COVID-19 outbreak at the warehouse that resulted in Cal/OSHA fines over “workplace safety violations.” Now, about 1,000 workers between HelloFresh’s Richmond and Colorado facilities are attempting to organize, a first for the meal-kit delivery industry. According to an Inc. report from 2018, HelloFresh is “The World’s Most Ruthless Food Startup,” turning its first profit in 2020 to the reported tune of $430 million.
- Berkeley’s El Tiny Cafe just serves coffee and sandwiches now, but owner Lilia Vizcaino hopes to expand into Mexican rice bowls and “pastries, ones that you won’t find in every coffee shop.” [East Bay Express]
- Food critic Soleil Ho describes new Oakland spot Jo’s Modern Thai as “an inclusive, truly Oakland-style take on Thai American cuisine.” [SF Chronicle]
- Diwali, the Indian festival of light, starts on Nov. 4 this year, and East Bay cookbook author Amisha Dodhia Gurbani has some ideas of how to celebrate. [Bay Area News Group]


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AMD suffered a setback in federal court yesterday as a judge threw out large parts of its antitrust case against rival Intel due to lack of standing.
Much of Intel's alleged bad behavior took place in other countries, which is why AMD filed similar lawsuits in Japan, Europe, and South Korea, but US law generally prohibits lawsuits about conduct that does not occur in the US. The Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvements Act of 1982 made explicit the ways in which US monopoly law was to be applied in such cases—an action can only be brought if it has a "direct, substantial, and reasonably foreseeable effect" on American commerce. In this case, the judge ruled that the threshold was not met.
Intel helpfully pointed out to the judge that AMD is a multinational company which does most of its fabrication in Germany and its assembly in Asia, making claims of a "direct effect" on US commerce harder to prove unless Intel's alleged harm was done in the US. Unfortunately for AMD, most of its allegations and examples occur outside the US, such as its claim that Intel made illegal pricing arrangements with a German computer retailer.
AMD argues that these overseas actions do directly effect its US operations, claiming that the market for microprocessors does not exist separately in each country, but is instead a unitary, world-wide market. Intel's actions in other parts of the world are therefore alleged to impact AMD's US business. AMD also claims that "as an American company selling an American engineered and designed product, AMD... may invoke United States antitrust laws to address the conduct of its American competitor."
Judge Joseph Farnan disagreed. In his ruling, the judge points out that "direct effects" must be immediate consequences, not ripple effects. "In the Court's view, however," he wrote, "AMD's chain of effects is full of twists and turns, which themselves are contingent upon numerous developments." Therefore, AMD cannot claim that (as Intel puts it in one filing), it lost money in Germany, which gave it less money to supply discounts to customers, which affected particular US deals, which affected AMD's overall competitiveness in the US, which then affected US commerce.
The result is that AMD's overseas allegations are thrown out and the case against Intel is pared down substantially. The ruling is certainly a blow to AMD, though it is free to pursue its foreign claims in foreign courts. Without being able to show a worldwide pattern of behavior, AMD may have more trouble proving its US case.


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TEFAF, One of Europe’s Premier Art Fairs, Closes Four Days Early After a Dealer Tests Positive for Coronavirus
The fair is a major force for the local economy and the international Old Master market.
In an abrupt about-face due to fast rising concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, organizers of the annual TEFAF show in Maastricht, the Netherlands, announced today that this year’s edition will close for good at 7 p.m. today, four days earlier than planned.
The decision came after the Art Newspaper reported earlier today that an unidentified exhibitor from Italy, who returned to his country on Monday, March 8, had been diagnosed with COVID-19. Initially, the fair said it had decided, in conversation with local authorities, that the event could continue as planned, but as concern mounted, it changed course.
The decision to close early is a major blow for the world’s leading Old Master fair, for which exhibitors—which numbered 285 this year—famously hold back prized masterworks in order to debut them at the event. It’s also a blow to the region’s economy, which employs hordes of locals to support the fair ranging from caterers and servers, to fair greeters and guides, to cleaners and drivers.
In a statement, a spokesperson for TEFAF said it made the decision to “shorten the fair to close by the end of the day” in close consultation “with the city of Maastricht, the health authorities, and MECC,” the recently renovated Maastricht Exhibition and Convention Centre where the fair is held each year.
Compared with other art fairs, which typically run a maximum of five days, TEFAF has a longer run of over a week, which is matches the slower pace of buying for Old Master collectors and museums. Although TEFAF told exhibitors that the affected dealer did not show symptoms at the fair and was tested at home on Monday, March 9, it is unclear whether visitors could have been exposed to the virus.
“Given the recent developments in the regions around Maastricht and increasing concerns, we no longer feel it is appropriate to continue as planned,” TEFAF chairman Nanne Dekking said in the statement. “We want to thank our exhibitors, visitors and staff for their trust and support in this unprecedented situation.”
Maastricht mayor Annemarie Penn-te Strake said: “I support and respect this decision. We understand the unrest is growing due to circumstances in the countries of origin and the regions surrounding us. It’s only right that there is attention to this concern.”
So far, the immediate reaction from exhibitors has been positive, despite the fear that it could impact their bottom lines. “We support the decision!” said a representative for Hong Kong jeweler Wallace Chan, which had overcome its own set of challenges to travel from Asia to Europe for the fair.
“I dont think anyone is surprised at the early closure given the news,” London dealer Hugh Gibson, of Thomas Gibson Fine Art, told Artnet News via email. “Some dealers are relieved, some disappointed. Personally i think it was the right thing to do. Vsitor numbers were down, however business was being done.”
TEFAF had already reported lower attendance than usual for the opening preview last Thursday: 4,000 people, down 29 percent from last year. The event is often the biggest sales opportunity of the year for Old Master dealers. Among the top sales were Van Gogh’s Peasant Woman in Front of a Farmhouse (1885), which London-based Dickinson to a private collector for around €15 million ($17 million). It had originally been spotted in a junk shop in London in 1968 and snapped up for less than $60.
TEFAF said it will issue another statement regarding the logistics of the fair’s closure soon.
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Learn what it takes to have a successful future from these company leaders in our new series.
Map info provider charts wider course
Canvas Mapple Co., which provides road map information to portable car navigation systems, plans to take more business opportunities to utilize its content.
The data is provided by the country's biggest map publisher, Shobunsha Publications Inc., which is a parent firm of Canvas Mapple.
In recent months, the map content provider has launched a series of projects to widen a range of businesses to overseas portable car navigation markets as well as those for other types of wireless gadgets, such as cameras and smart phones.
And the company does not plan to limit its business to existing markets. "I'm aiming to introduce our content to any portable device," President and CEO Yukihiro Yamamoto, 48, said in a recent interview with The Japan Times.
In general, automotive navigation systems come in two types, portable and fixed. A portable system is wireless and can be carried anywhere. The fixed types are installed on a panel inside a vehicle. Both types display a digital map with a GPS (global positioning system) that finds one's location to show the best route to a destination.
Canvas Mapple has grown quickly since it was established in 2006. In the 1.2 million unit market for portable car navigation, the firm currently commands a share of 20 percent. If including fixed-type systems, the overall market has 4 million to 5 million units.
The strongest point of the company's road navigation software is the various content provided by Shobunsha, which has a more than 50-year history.
The publisher, known for the "Mapple" road map series, has a reputation for road map information and currently has an 85 percent share of the country's map market.
Shobunsha also issues magazines providing information about driving, hot springs, gourmet and other entertainment information as well as guidebooks for domestic and overseas tourism spots.
Besides ordinary maps, it also publishes unique maps. One is for drivers, highlighting areas often jammed with traffic and showing routes to avoid in the target areas.
Another unique map is for people who need to walk home when a big earthquake hits Tokyo and all public transportation stops, as happened on March 11.
The "Shinsaiji Kitaku Shien Map" ("Map to support one's return home at a time of big earthquakes") has been published for the past several years and shows major routes from central Tokyo to surrounding areas. The compact booklet is convenient because it marks locations of parks and benches where one can rest, toilets one can use and concrete-block walls and big signboards that could endanger pedestrians.
To take advantage of the abundant content owned by Shobunsha, Canvas Mapple has launched a series of projects.
The latest one is for the Chinese market with huge potential. Canvas Mapple launched a project on April 1 to tie up with a Chinese map maker and will start selling portable car navigation systems there by the end of March next year, Yamamoto said.
The Chinese portable car navigation market has grown rapidly, Yamamoto said. The market stands at 6 million units in the business year that ended in March, tripling the size of the previous year, according to Yamamoto.
On March 25, the company tied up with Olympus Corp. and launched a digital camera with a retail price of ¥42,800.
The camera is equipped with a GPS system and displays names of locations the user takes pictures of.
In the United States, a similar type of camera with overseas location data provided by Navteq went on sale in early March.
Canvas Mapple also started to sell in December an application that provides navigation data or tourism information for smart phones such as iPhones and iPads.
The company also is considering digitizing its "Kitaku Shien Map" amid strong demand for the map, Yamamoto said.
The company had originally aimed at ¥2 billion sales, following ¥1.2 billion sales for the business year that ended in March and ¥600 million sales for the previous business year. But quakes cloud the forecast, Yamamoto said.
Now, the company expects its sales to stand at around the same as the last business year that finished in March.
The hardest thing for Yamamoto was to hire enough engineers with experience to launch the project. Yamamoto met as many as 100 candidates who have expertise in digitizing the content provided by its parent firm, Shobunsha.
It took almost two years for Yamamoto to finally pick a few to start with.
The next problem is there are many competitors in the car navigation market.
This series has been prepared in collaboration with Enjin Co., which produces and operates a video website, kenja.tv, specializing in profiles of up-and-coming Japanese entrepreneurs.


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The Women’s Jewellery Network has introduced membership to the organisation.
All of their subscribers have now been automatically transferred to the network’s Essential tier package, which offers jewellery professionals free access to a number of WJN goodies.
For example, members on the Essential tier will receive a monthly news round-up, as well as a commitment to receive WJN news before general release.
There are plans to launch the next membership tier, which will be the industry organisation’s first paid-for package, within the next few weeks.
Women’s Jewellery Network managing director, Victoria McKay, shares: “It’s been a long time coming but we are very proud to announce the roll out of our membership packages. We’ve deliberately held back on launching a paid-for offer. We wanted to demonstrate real value to the industry before seeking to monetise our offer. And we believe that we have done just that.
“We have achieved so much with literally just our blood, sweat and tears, over the past three years and of course incredible goodwill and support from organisations and individuals across the global industry.
“We’re incredibly grateful for the support we’ve had from our 4,000+ followers and fans across our multiple social and digital channels. And we can’t wait to deliver even more, with focus and, crucially, investment in commercial revenue streams, which in turn allows us to do even more to effect real change across the trade.”
Current subscribers have received an email update advising them that they now have access to free Essentials membership, with new subscribers automatically joining the WJN global movement on this new free tier.
Professional Jeweller readers will be able to find out more about the Women’s Jewellery Network, and the type of subjects it tackles, in our special collaborative issue which lands this week.


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Australia’s top shopper watchdog has after again warned firms to be prepared to substantiate any sustainability or environmental promises when marketing their items and products and services.
The Australian Opposition and Buyer Commission (ACCC) are actively concentrating on ‘greenwashing’ this calendar year amid “growing worries that some corporations are falsely promoting environmental or environmentally friendly credentials to capitalise on switching client preferences”, reported ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard in a speech to the Sydney Early morning Herald Sustainability Summit this 7 days.
“Broad phrases like ‘environmentally friendly’, ‘green’, or ‘sustainable’ have restricted value and might mislead people, as they not often supply more than enough information and facts about what that particularly signifies in conditions of the products or support consumers are thinking about purchasing,” Ms Rickard explained.
When corporations may opt for quick and snappy slogans in excess of lengthy explanations of their steps and processes, the ACCC said companies “need to be cautious to not overstate the status of their changeover by way of the claims they make.”
Corporate greenwashing proceeds to be a important challenge in the nation. Final 12 months, the Australian Securities and Investments Fee (ASIC) experienced mentioned the rising demand for sustainable or ethical financial investment possibilities from traders in Australia and introduced a evaluate to build whether the practises of resources were ESG-concentrated as claimed.
A 2021 report by Greenpeace Australia Pacific also discovered that most of the optimum-emitting businesses in the ASX200 with net-zero targets, like Qantas and AGL, possibly have no business strategies to stop their use of coal to meet up with their concentrate on or rely on the use of dubious carbon offsets.
The study unveiled that though above 50 % of Australia’s leading 80 emitting ASX200 businesses experienced set carbon neutral or internet zero targets, just 16 organizations experienced committed to switching to 100 per cent renewable electrical energy to lessen emissions.
“Many of the net zero targets from Australia’s major local weather polluters are nothing at all but corporate greenwash, distracting from the urgent need for emissions reduction,” mentioned Dr Nikola Čašule, Greenpeace Australia Pacific Head of Investigate and Investigations.
Noting that a business’s sustainability changeover doesn’t acquire spot overnight, the ACCC is urging companies to be ready to again up any ESG statements through transparent offer chain info, dependable 3rd-bash certification, responsible scientific studies, or other types of evidence.
Ms Rickard elaborated, “Through the consumer law, the ACCC performs a section in this by guaranteeing that organizations explain to the fact, but there will also be roles for standards bodies, certification strategies, business and governments by means of plan reform.
“The ACCC is actively checking eco-friendly promises in the current market and will be considering what ways can be taken to make improvements to their integrity. This will include engaging with field and generating direction for organizations.”
Read Extra: Renewable Vitality Workshop for Australian farmers searching for less expensive ability


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Two Hammer blows against the cable television industry were struck last month when giants HBO and CBS announced that they in 2015 will begin offering monthly online subscriptions to all their content. They are the first two major channels to make the complete shift, though most channels offer online time-shifted or supplemental content before.
These announcements, many pundits have declared, will open the floodgates for television channels to go directly to consumers without cable or satellite delivery.
The success of Netflix as monthly online service, coupled with Netflix getting into the content creation business with shows like House Of Cards, has pushed big media giants like HBO to decide to jump ship from cable television and go out on their own.
The stakes in this battle of disruption are enormous. Comcast and Time Warner Cable, the two largest cable providers, are worth more than $250 billion. They make money by providing tiers of television service for cable television, Internet and home phone service. HBO, for example, is usually offered as a premium channel for around $10 a month.
HBO is betting that over time they can trade their $1.5 billion in revenue from cable television systems from 30 million subscribers for two or three times that amount in direct subscriptions to the 110 million US cable households.
The CBS online service has one big carve-out: NFL games carried by CBS stations will be blacked out. The NFL announced an eight year extension of their online deal with satellite service DirectTV worth more than $1.5 billion a year to the league. So for the time being the biggest sports giant will remain on the sidelines.
All sports—especially the NFL—are critical to any channel, due to their popularity, and their real-time delivery that ensures television commercials will be watched and not fast-forwarded as with DVRs.
The media companies are especially concerned about two groups of customers. The first is “cord-cutters,” people who reach the point where they cut their cable television subscription because they can get all the content they want from online streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, You Tube, Amazon and iTunes.
The other group is “cord-nevers,” people who never have subscribed to cable television and won’t start now that more content is being brought direct online.
55% of US households with broadband Internet have at least one streaming online channel. New flat panel televisions often come with WiFi capability and Netflix or Amazon built into their remotes. As more televisions with WiFi are delivered into the market, the audience for unbundled online channels grows.
As MIT’s Nicholas Negroponte observed 20 years ago, “anything that can be digital will be digital.”


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New Delhi: VAHDAM® India, a native Indian wellness brand that has brought India’s finest teas, spices & superfoods to markets like the US, Canada, Europe & more has raised INR 174 crore in its Series D Round led by IIFL AMC’s Private Equity Fund.
The existing investors include a consortium of Sixth Sense Ventures affiliates, the Mankind Group Family Office, Infosys Founder Kris Gopalkrishnan’s Family Office, Urmin Group, and White Whale Ventures also participated in this round, continuing to back the fast-growing consumer business.
Following this round of investments, the total funding raised by the company to date is over INR 290 crore.
The amount raised will be utilized to expand the company’s distribution – both online & offline, enter new geographies, and foray into new complementary categories. The company is working on a vision to take native Indian products to global markets, with a focus on the wellness category.
VAHDAM® India closed FY20-21 with net revenue of over INR 160 crore growing 110% YoY from revenue of 75 Crores in FY19-20 while achieving net profitability. The company is now aiming to reach 500 crores in revenue over the next 3 years.
VAHDAM® India was founded in 2015, by Bala Sarda (Forbes 30 Under 30,
Entrepreneur 35 Under 35, BW 40 Under 40) with a mission to build a home-grown Indian brand for the world. With direct sourcing from farms & estates across India, in-house manufacturing in their 100,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art facility in NCR, local distribution in key markets like the USA, Canada, Europe, strong customer love &
organic endorsements by global celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Mariah Carey & more – the company is executing a unique digital playbook of creating strong & scalable consumer brands globally.
Bala Sarda, Founder & CEO says, “The pandemic has accelerated our growth, given the shift towards high quality and trusted wellness products and larger adoption of e-commerce globally. We are excited to have IIFL AMC join our mission of building one of India’s most loved consumer brands in global markets. With the current fundraising, we plan to continue deepening our distribution in key markets, both online & offline. We will also look at entering new categories, new markets, invest heavily in R&D, and further strengthen our management team”.
Chetan Naik, Fund Manager, Private Equity at IIFL AMC, says “VAHDAM is a rare example of a company, which has successfully taken products of Indian origin to global markets. With its superior quality and innovative blends, VAHDAM has been able to create a premium brand and reach out to global consumers via digital channels. It is remarkable that the company under the leadership of Bala has been able to execute this by being highly capital efficient and achieving EBITDA profitability.”
With offices in the US & Europe, VAHDAM® India has been endorsed by global icon Oprah Winfrey and has won over 35 awards globally last year, including the SOFI 2018, 2019 & 2020, Great Taste 2019, 2020 & several other recognitions. VAHDAM® India was also awarded the Global SMB of the Year by Jeff Bezoz during his trip to India last year. It was recently recognized as a Forbes 100 To Watch Companies in Asia.
DC Advisory was the exclusive advisor to VAHDAM® India on this transaction.


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Mr Leonid Musatov, Executive Director of Sistema Asia Group, and Mr Edward Tay, Chief Executive Officer of Sistema Asia Capital, paid a courtesy visit to the SMF.
On 8 January 2021, Mr Leonid Musatov, Executive Director of Sistema Asia Group, and Mr Edward Tay, Chief Executive Officer of Sistema Asia Capital, paid a courtesy visit to the SMF. SMF President Mr Douglas Foo warmly welcomed both leaders as they visit to understand the role of the SMF and the local manufacturing sector.
Mr Leonard Musatov ( third from left) and Mr Edward Tay ( first from left) paid a visit to the SMF.
During the visit, Mr Musatov shared how the Sistema Asia Group has supported businesses in developing their expertise and reduce financial risks globally. He also indicated that Sistema Asia Group is currently partnering with Enterprise Singapore (ESG) on the SG-tech innovation network to boost the tech economy in Singapore.
SMF President Mr Douglas Foo presenting a token of appreciation to Mr Leonard Musatov (middle) and Mr Edward Tay (left)
Mr Tay also introduced their venture capital arm, Sistema Asia Capital, which offers long-term growth opportunities for start-up companies and SMEs. In order to reach out to more companies to cement Singapore’s position as a business hub among ASEAN countries, the company is keen to explore collaborative opportunities with the SMF such as exchanging of business leads.
Mr Foo mentioned that the SMF could help bridge and link SMF member companies with Sistema Asia Group member companies from Russia, Europe, USA and India. This will help business to be diversified for growth opportunities.


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Toy Safety issues are a concern over the holiday season
Lisa DeLuca is a busy mom. When it comes time for Holiday shopping she has two very different ages she's looking for.
"The boys are a little older, so they're into the smaller pieces," said DeLuca. "So they like Legos and that's tougher for the girls, because they'll pick up pieces and put them toward their mouth."
Joan Lawrence, the senior vice president of safety affairs for The Toy Association, says age awareness is the biggest thing shoppers need to pay attention to.
"Older kids toys will have small parts. That's really important to keep those away from those younger children," said Lawrence.
To see if a toy is safe, use a toilet paper roll. If the part fits into the roll it's too small for kids ages three and younger. Lawrence says you can still get the products -- just keep them away from the younger kids.
"You can look on a package and see its marked," said Lawrence. "Keep an eye out for those labels."
The U.S. has strict safety standards that every toy must meet, from its physical parts to its chemical makeup. But consumers should always inspect the toys themselves to look for defects or poor design.
Also, if you're ordering online, you also want to be careful where you're ordering from.
"We always recommend to shop with a retailer that you know and trust," said Lawrence. "You want to go with someone you know will be around if there's an issue.
It's also suggested that you read online reviews, look for the age grade and safety guidelines, and pay attention to recalls, so if there is an issue, you can catch it quickly.


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How does a 288cc, 162lb (73kg) fully fueled off road machine sounds? Yes, it sounds like the 2016 Montesa Cota 300RR Trials bike. This made-for-competition machine is built in the Honda-owned Montesa factory in Barcelona, Spain and will join the Cota 4RT260 in Honda’s expanded 2016 lineup of Montesa trials models.
Currently being campaigned by Cody Webb in the AMA NATC MotoTrials USA National Trials Championship, the brand-new Cota 300RR is a unique, competition-focused motorcycle developed for the most demanding trials riders. Compared to the Cota 4RT260, the Cota 300RR’s redesigned 288cc engine has a longer stroke and larger bore, resulting in increased power and torque across the range, and it has a programmable ECU that allows fine-tuning for varying weather and terrain conditions.
“We’re excited to expand our trials lineup by bringing the brand-new Montesa Cota 300RR to American customers,” said Lee Edmunds, Manager of Motorcycle Marketing Communications at American Honda. “Montesa’s Honda-powered four-stroke Cota models have long ruled both the outdoor and indoor World Trials Championships, and this light, powerful, agile new motorcycle is already enjoying success in international competition. With the Cota 300RR, riders will be ready to tackle the most challenging sections.”
Given the very specific nature of this machine, both the new Montesa Cota 300RR and Cota 4RT are limited-edition models and are only available via a special ordering process which can be accessed here. The price for the Montesa Cota 300RR Trials is $9,999.


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Longfellows Restaurant of Saratoga Springs, Rivers Casino & Resort in Schenectady and Toro Cantina of Colonie took multiple awards in voting for the 11th annual timesunion.com/Table Hopping Mac-n-Cheese Bowl, a benefit for the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York.
Held in a drive-through format, with participants picking up samples of macaroni and cheese from 10 Capital Region restaurants and caterers on Saturday (3/27) from the food bank’s Latham headquarters, the event raised a projected $25,000, according to the organization’s executive director, Mark Quandt. In recent years, the Mac-n-Cheese Bowl attracted upward of 2,000 people over three hours to Siena College’s MAC Center and brought in $50,000 to $60,000 for the food bank.
“It’s less than in the past but obviously more than if we hadn’t been able to have it at all,” Quandt said.
The Mac-n-Cheese Bowl sold out all 500 of its available sample packs two weeks in advance, with about 150 participants opting to upgrade to a ticket with a four-pack of New York state craft beers.
Mac-n-cheese samples included traditional styles with only pasta and cheese as well as more complex variations with Buffalo chicken, maple and bacon, mushrooms, General Tso’s sauce, Reuben sandwich components, braised short ribs, and macaroni and cheese inside a meatball.
Mac-n-cheese was supplied by Brown’s Brewing, Feed Albany, Katie O’Byrne’s Irish Pub, Livin’ The Dream Food Cart, Longfellows Restaurant, Mazzone Catering, Rivers Casino & Resort, Saati Deli & Catering, Toro Cantina and Unidine, with beer from Jack’s Abby Brewing, Rare Form Brewing, Swiftwater Brewing and Thin Man Brewery. This year’s principal sponsors were Hannaford, the Times Union, Old Brick Furniture + Mattress Co. and CAP COM Federal Credit Union. Cabot Cheese and Barilla supplied restaurants with cheese and pasta, respectively.
More than 180 participants voted online between midday Saturday, after picking up their samples, and noon Monday. Their top favorite was maple-bacon mac-n-cheese from Longfellows. Voters gave second place to Toro for a variation with the restaurant’s spicy salsa negra, and third to Saati of Latham, which entered a traditional mac-n-cheese.
The judging panel was made up of representatives of the Times Union, sponsors CBS6 Albany and WGY and Chloe Sink, the winning kid cook from the 2019 Mac-n-Cheese Bowl, who was unable to defend her title for the past two years because of pandemic-related restrictions.
The judges awarded first place to Rivers Casino for a version with braised short ribs and caramelized onion. Second place went to Toro, third to Longfellows.
The food bank was unable to hold any of its major annual fundraisers, among them dinners, auctions and a golf tournament, in traditional formats in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Like the Mac-n-Cheese Bowl, the food bank’s fall September gala involved participants picking up meals provided by area restaurants, and it too sold out. Other fundraisers last year were canceled entirely.
Although demand for the food bank’s services was up by almost 40 percent from the start of the pandemic through the end of February, Quandt said, expanded financial support from patrons and sponsors, as well as increased food donations from federal and state sources, allowed the organization to help meet increased needs of the food insecure across a 23-county region. The food bank serves nearly 1,000 agencies, feeding 350,000 people per month, according to Quandt, who said it provided 55 million pounds of food in 2020.
Quandt will retire in the fall after 38 years with the agency, meaning the 11th annual Mac-n-Cheese Bowl was the final under his leadership.
“But it won’t be my last one eating the mac-n-cheese,” he said. “My family and I love it. We’ll definitely be back just to enjoy it next year.”


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It's unclear whether dozens of shops in Lower Hutt's Queensgate Mall will move out after part of the complex was declared an earthquake risk.
An ANZ branch has already pulled out but the mall's owner insists it's safe to stay.
The latest detailed seismic assessment found parts of the building are still below 34 percent of seismic strengthening standards, affecting 50 tenants.
Ideally, the building would reach at least 67 percent of the standard.
In November 2016 the mall was damaged in the 7.8 magnitude earthquake, meaning the cinema had to be demolished, but it was reopened from April last year.
Mall management says they contacted all 50 tenants who will be affected by the latest assessment by letter yesterday morning.
ANZ has since moved out its staff indefinitely.
Store manager at Kess Hair and Beauty, Bobby Babu, said they were still recovering from when their shop was closed after the 2016 earthquake and was unaware of the new report.
Mr Babu said he'd been able to contact hairdressing clients about the shop closure but not customers of the beauty services. "So still we're impacted by the earthquake and I was shocked to hear about [the report] now," he said.
He had only just heard of the report and wasn't sure what would be happening with the store.
RNZ approached seven other shops, all of which had workers or owners who either weren't aware of the report or had only heard from their head office that afternoon.
Philip Littlewood, chief executive of property owner Stride Investment Management Limited, said hey were being open with tenants and shoppers.
"We didn't have to come out and say, and let people know in the way that we have, but we thought it was the right thing to do ... because it's important for us that our customers and tenants trust us," he said.
Mr Littlewood said the small areas of the mall affected would remain open while strengthening work was undertaken.
Shoppers were divided over whether they felt safe in the affected part of the mall and whether it would change their shopping habits.
"Can't it be closed before they've done the work? Lives are a bit more important than the supermarket or this side of the mall being open," said Megan Frew, who was shopping with her children Daniel and Jessica.
She then added she was moving to a different part of the mall.
Melissa Beard said she rarely visits the mall since since the earthquake.
"I've found alternative shops and I tend to go back to them now, we're honestly just passing through because of the rain," she said.
"I don't think it will change anything for us, we're locals, we love the Hutt and I hope it stays open," said another shopper.
Lower Hutt Mayor Ray Wallace said he was happy for the mall to remain open.
"I still feel very safe in the building, I have shopped there very regularly since the Kaikōura earthquakes and will continue to shop there, I think the work Queensgate is undertaking is very good, but it won't put me off buying locally," he said.
Mr Wallace supported the mall's handling of the situation and said the council would be working closely with management while strengthening work was undertaken.
The report is still waiting to be peer reviewed, but mall management have confirmed strengthening will take place over the next 12 months.


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Noida-based Gemopai Electric, an electric vehicle manufacturer has announced annual road-side assistance and personal accident cover complimentary with the purchase of every Gemopai electric two-wheeler.
The company says this in regard to strengthening its commitment to provide complete peace of mind to its customers. The service scheme, named ‘Gemopai Secure’ will be valid on all models sold starting from February 15, 2021 and will aim at further lowering the after sales cost of ownership of the customer.
Amit Raj Singh, co-founder, Gemopai Electric said, “Thanks to the benefits offered by the government, the market is seeing a lot of good traction for electric scooters. These vehicles are becoming increasingly popular because of their low running costs, especially in the wake of increasing fuel prices which make ICE (internal combustion engine) based scooters expensive to afford. The upcoming offers is just another way to build confidence among the EV buyers to switch to electric.”
At present, the company has over 70 dealerships across the country, with each of them mandated to run a service centre. Gemopai is currently focused on building its fleet of Made-in-India electric models and is rolling out the offer complimentary with every purchase. However, customers can renew the RSA plan at any Gemopai dealership after its expiry date. With the ongoing safety concerns in lieu of the pandemic, Gemopai wants to ensure that every customer looking for an affordable private electric vehicle is enabled to do so.


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Shep has started 2021 off strong as we were named to BTN Europe’s 2021 Hotlist as one of three companies that are “driving change and leading business travel’s recovery.”
“Nice surprise to wake up this morning to an email from Mark Corbett congratulating us for joining his company, Thrust Carbon, on the 2021 BTN Group Hotlist companies!” – Daniel Senyard
There were nearly 200 nominations after the process opened on 5 November 2020 that BTN “initially whittled down to 77 by the BTN editorial team before being shared with nine industry figureheads” who ended up picking the final 20 (only three of which were companies) for the 2021 Hotlist.
A big surprise
While we have no idea who nominated us (thank you!), it’s a real honor to be picked and to be in such high company as Thrust Carbon and travel consultancy, Festive Road. This is the second time in just a few months that Shep and Thrust Carbon have been recognized together as Shep was runner up to Thrust Carbon’s BTN Innovate award in November 2020.
You can see the entire 2021 Hotlist of people, products, trends, and developments shaping the business travel industry here.


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The coronavirus pandemic will continue to weigh on all segments of Hong Kong’s property market this year. From mass housing to luxury residences, from offices to shops, no major segment will be spared from the recession and rising unemployment, analysts say.
A straw poll of 20 analysts, agencies and developers by the South China Morning Post on housing prices in 2021 showed six expect them to drop, seven were unsure. Only seven predicted outright gains.
“The uncertain economic and business outlook and weakness in labour market conditions are likely to impact mass residential severely despite very supportive borrowing costs and fundamental demand-supply imbalance,” said Harry Tan, head of research for real estate in Asia-Pacific at Nuveen. The firm is among the most pessimistic in the poll by calling a 5 to 10 per cent drop in mass residential prices in 2021.
Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China.
The government has forecast the city’s economy to shrink by a record 6.1 per cent in 2020, surpassing the 5.9 per cent slump during the Asian financial crisis in 1998. Unemployment, already at a 16-year high of 6.4 per cent in the July to October period, is expected to worsen after the government’s HK$81 billion (US$10.3 billion) wage subsidy scheme to preserve jobs ended in November.
The fourth wave of coronavirus infections has already put a dampener on secondary home prices. The official price index for lived-in homes slipped 0.2 per cent to a seven-month low of 380.4 in November, putting them on course for the first annual drop in 12 years. Analysts believe the full impact of the current spike in Covid-19 cases will show up in December’s data, which will be released at the end of January.
The luxury property segment, usually resilient to the economic vagaries, could see a decline between 5 and 10 per cent in prices, according to JLL, adding that activity is likely to be remain low this year.
“Although market activity is expected to pick up mildly when the Hong Kong-China border reopens, in times of high economic uncertainty, transaction volume will remain much lower than historic levels,” said Nelson Wong, head of research at the consultancy.
Tan of Nuveen sees volumes for both mass and luxury segments trending lower because of the “still very uncertain macro landscape”.
The pandemic and rising unemployment will also affect the uptake of grade A offices from businesses, particularly in the central business districts of Admiralty and Central, observers said. As work-from-home becomes a norm, landlords will respond to occupiers’ desire for more flexibility and make use of vacant space to offer more flexible workspace and shared amenities, putting their development properties in competition with the established flexible workspace operators.
Under such a scenario, Cushman & Wakefield forecasts grade A office rents to fall between 11 and 16 per cent in 2021, managing director John Siu said.
“Competition among landlords will intensify as they begin marketing of several new office buildings set to launch in 2022,” Siu added. Price cuts generally follow as desperate landlords offer bigger discounts to attract tenants, he said.
On the retail front, analysts see traditional prime areas such as Queen’s Road in Central and Russell Street in Causeway Bay to be affected the most. As such, overall retail rents are seen retracing by 10 to 15 per cent in 2021, with industry analysts noting that landlords will be confronted with a new reality.
Landlords will face a difficult choice between offering shops on short-term leases and new long-term leases at a significant discount to the previous rates, which in turn will affect shops’ valuation, analysts said. The new tenants looking to take up this space, most likely retailers of daily necessities and mid-range products, will have lower rental affordability, they added.
Meanwhile, the absence of inbound tourists because of Covid-19 has led to an increase in vacancy rates of shops in Causeway Bay and Central, which stands at over 15 per cent, said Martin Wong, associate director of research and consultancy in Greater China at Knight Frank. “Retail rents will continue to find bottom in 2021.”
Moody’s Investors Service expects the return of tourists to be “gradual” even if travel restrictions are lifted, given the general public’s sentiment around the pandemic. This factor and lingering economic uncertainty will continue to “constrain” the city’s retail sector over the next 12 months.
The rating company also said that the accelerated shift to online shopping because of Covid-19 could further reduce leasing demand from apparel and footwear retailers.
Despite the bleak outlook surrounding the property sector, investment appetite remains “solid” among private equity fund managers, who are scouting for opportunities to deploy capital, said Rosanna Tang, head of research at Colliers International.
“Defensive assets such as residential development sites, neighbourhood malls, strategic industrial assets and en-bloc commercial buildings remain popular among investors,” said Tang.
Additional reporting by Sandy Li, Cheryl Arcibal and Pearl Liu
More from South China Morning Post:


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VoIP isn't just for saving money - it can be used to add security too, according to One Day Mobile, which said that its Babylon nG voice encryption software for mobile phones could have made recent phone tapping scandals impossible.
The software is a SIP client for Windows Mobile or Symbian smartphones and voice-enabled PDAs, which adds 256-bit AES encryption to the VoIP data. One Day Mobile's Joe Francis said that it operates along the lines of Skype or instant messaging, with each phone having a list of available contacts.
The software requires a central gateway server, and initially only mobile-to-mobile calls are possible, but Francis said that a desktop PC client is on the way. Users have the option to run their own gateway or subscribe to One Day Mobile's.
He added that the strength of the encryption means that anyone wanting to buy the software must have their identity verified. "We wouldn't want to be seen handing it out to anyone," he said. "It's aimed at PLCs, government bodies and so on."
One Day Mobile will localise, test and distribute the software in the UK - its developer is a German company, Safe-Com - but will sell it through specialist resellers such as Formjet, rather than through its own online retail channel, Francis said.
A potential problem is that Babylon nG runs over the packet data channel - and GPRS in particular is noted for its latency. Francis claimed that this has improved of late though, so while his engineers were getting delays of 2.8 seconds on GPRS VoIP in early testing, that's now down to 0.8 seconds. He added that latency hasn't been an issue on 3G and EDGE, and that if the mobile device supports WiFi it could run Babylon nG over that instead.
"We could improve the speed by moving to 128-bit encryption instead of 256-bit, but we don't want to do that," he said.
Users may also need to ensure that their tariff permits VoIP, as some T-Mobile ones don't, for example - although as Francis points out, if the data is encrypted, how is the network going to identify it?
A few other companies already offer secure VoIP to mobile handsets, for example earlier this year Allied Telesis (Allied Telesyn as-was) released a lightweight VPN for mobile devices, which also supports SIP-based telephony and includes 128-bit encryption.
Allied's David Ward warned that voice-only encryption was the wrong way to go - instead, you should encrypt the whole data channel, he said.
"My clients love IP telephony because they don't have to run a separate security network for voice, they just run it within the data envelope," he added. "It's narrow-band thinking to think only of voice - you need multiple modes of communication."
There is also the possibility that Safe-Com has jumped the gun on VoIP security. The Internet Engineering Task Force has produced an RFC for Secure SIP, which should eventually lead to a standard.
"We've got to have a common, standard, no-options protocol," said Kurt Jacobs, channel business development director at IP PBX developer Sphere Communications. He added that the problem is the load that encryption places on a smartphone's processor at a time when handset makers are trying to drive cost out of their phones.


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Glasgow’s popular nextbike scheme has today unveiled OVO Energy as its new sponsor in the city - with a week of free rides and the launch of a new green route of the city to celebrate.
The three-year-deal will see Glasgow’s nearly 1,000 strong standard fleet of nextbikes turned green for the duration, with OVO Energy’s eye-catching branding proudly displayed on the city’s bikes - which will now be known as OVO Bikes.
And in celebration of the sponsorship deal, free rides will be available to all customers from July 26 - August 1.
Nextbike MD, Krysia Solheim, said she was thrilled to be welcoming OVO Energy as the scheme sponsor partner.
"We're delighted to be revealing OVO Energy as our new scheme sponsor in Glasgow. At nextbike, we're passionate about the part that sustainable transport can play in helping the UK achieve its ambitious net zero targets, so OVO Energy, with its own zero carbon mission, is the perfect fit,” she said.
To celebrate the sponsorship launch and champion more sustainable travel options, the green power supplier has partnered with famous Scot and Radio 1 DJ, Arielle Free, to curate the OVO Bikes Green Route for Glasgow residents and visitors to explore a selection of the city’s finest sustainable spots.
From vegan eatery turned music venue, The Hug & Pint, to famed vintage and thrift store Emily Rose Vintage, and 100% plant-based soap gifting at Och! Vegan x Hatch; OVO and Arielle’s curated ‘OVO Bikes Green Route’ presents the best collection of unmissable sustainable stops for city dwellers, all within an easy bike ride from one another.
Ms Solheim added: "We love the idea of a green cycling route around the city and hope customers new and old will enjoy trying out the OVO Bikes Green Route, and will take advantage of the free rides offer that OVO Energy has put into place over the next week.
“It’s more important than ever that people start to think about how they can reduce their own carbon footprints – and thinking about the way we move around our cities is a great place to start. Thanks to this deal, OVO employees will all get free memberships and OVO customers will be eligible for free rides.
“Transport is responsible for approximately 20 percent of emissions across the UK. And with the arrival of COP 26 in Glasgow this November, now is the perfect time to shine a spotlight on cycling as a sustainable mode of transport.
“The Government’s recent Decarbonisation of Transport unfortunately made no mention of bike share and the impact schemes can have in towns and cities across the UK, but we know that bike share is an essential part of the transport ecosystem in cities like Glasgow.
“By switching from a daily car journey to a bicycle, people could make a huge difference, saving on average 249g of CO2 for every kilometre travelled. If we can persuade enough people to make the change, the impact could be significant and will help to realise Glasgow’s 2030 Net Zero Mission ambition.”
Adrian Letts, CEO at OVO, says:
“At OVO, we’re on a mission to zero carbon. Our OVO Bikes arriving in Glasgow city are part of our ongoing commitment to drive progress towards greener living, whether that's the transport we use or the way we power our homes. Glasgow is a thriving city with so many fantastic, independent businesses who champion sustainable practices, which is why we wanted to highlight the good work they're doing through our OVO Bikes Green Route. Opting to travel around via bicycle, couldn’t be an easier and healthier way of discovering a city. I can’t wait to cycle round the route to each sustainable stop on my next visit.”
The sponsorship comes as part of OVO’s drive to create a net-zero world, and intention to make sustainable living for the masses as easy and accessible as possible. OVO is seeking to uplift and support hard-working, Glaswegian businesses, driving OVO Bike riders across the city to support local.
Councillor Anna Richardson, City Convener for Sustainability and Carbon Reduction, at Glasgow City Council, which funds the bike share scheme, said:
“Glasgow’s cycle hire scheme is a huge ongoing success and it’s easy to understand why it has managed to attract a major new sponsor.
“We now have a 1000 bikes at 100 hire stations across the city and the scheme is playing a major role in supporting the growth in active travel across the city.
“The hire bikes are now being seen in an increasingly diverse range of Glasgow communities and that’s not only great news for the scheme itself, but also for the new sponsor’s visibility.
“The refreshed bikes look fantastic and OVO’s map of sustainable businesses is a great motivation to get on a bike and get around the city.
“Ultimately having more people on a bike on a more regular basis is essential if we are to achieve Glasgow’s target of carbon neutrality by 2030. A successful cycle hire scheme therefore has a vital role to play in the city’s effort to tackle the current climate crisis.”
To celebrate the launch of the sponsorship and OVO Bikes Green Route, the OVO Bikes will be free for the first 30 minutes of each standard rental for the first week! The promotion will apply to Glasgow OVO Bikes from July 26 to August 1, giving unlimited rides up to 30 minutes per bike. This offer does not apply to the e-bikes.
Rides over 30 minutes will be charged at the normal rate of £1 per 30 minutes or a maximum of £10 per day (24hrs) for Pay As You Ride customers and 50p per 30 minutes or a max of £5 per day (24 hours) for current members. Download the nextbike app to register and start riding! For more information on how to use the scheme, visit nextbike.co.uk/en/glasgow.
To find out more about OVO Bikes, the Green Route and to download the map, customers should head to www.ovoenergy.com/ovo-bikes.