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In a bid to allow retailers with success companions, final mile service suppliers and different worth added providers, Unity Retail has closed a seed spherical with Boston Fairness Companions.
The undisclosed six-figure funding – a quantity north of $100,000 – is meant to assist the eCommerce expertise firm deal with progress and product improvements, comparable to making a reverse public sale mechanism for figuring out the most affordable or proximate final mile supply associate.
“We’re eager on democratizing e-commerce for Pakistan,” stated Shoaib Ahsan, co-founder and chief product officer at Unity Retail. “Our answer permits any native or worldwide participant to have out of the field entry to the most important success community in Pakistan in a single day in addition to notice greatest within the enterprise e-commerce operations practices.”
A part of the fifth graduating batch at The Nest I/O, Unity Retail was based in early 2017 as a market integration firm akin to Technifai. Because of enterprise buyer suggestions, the enterprise pivoted in the direction of enabling retailers with a single centralized software that integrates with their storefront to sync and course of orders. This was launched in mid-2019.
“Empowering retailers to totally leverage the potential of e-commerce is on the core of Unity Retail’s mission,” stated Atif Sami, co-founder & CEO of Unity Retail. “The rising curiosity in our platform with zero advertising and marketing spend is a testomony to the market demand for our providing and we’re very proud to onboard buyers that share our imaginative and prescient of democratizing entry to e-commerce.”
The enterprise claims to be constructed on a synthetic intelligence enabled auto pilot mode, the place orders are processed for affirmation, cargo reserving, monitoring and money on supply (COD) reconciliation. Thus far, the corporate claims to have processed upwards of $90 million gross merchandise worth for companies comparable to Zellbury, Habitt, Tarz, and Mumuso in Pakistan whereas doing so for Khaadi in Pakistan and the worldwide market.
“Unity Retail is singularly positioned for e-commerce enablement,” stated Arif Baigmohamed of Boston Fairness Companions. “Whereas the demand for the service is critical on the enterprise stage, the true scale is the place the platform makes it simple for SMEs and residential based mostly entrepreneurs to leverage the e-commerce alternative to by means of a plug and play answer. These dynamics have been validated in different markets with gamers like ShipRocket in India, Easyparcel in south East Asia, and different gamers in North America.”
Based on State Financial institution of Pakistan (SBP), the eCommerce market dimension for the yr upto Q320 was Rs96 billion, of which 60pc could be assumed to be from COD, making prepayment value Rs 39 billion over the identical interval. The trade progress is fuelled by a mess of things such because the growing buying energy of the center class, a widening vary of merchandise that may be bought on-line, the emergence of recent digital enterprise fashions, in addition to technological developments within the supply segments that permit for immediate and time-definite supply.
The World Financial Discussion board tasks that by 2030, the demand for last-mile-delivery will soar 78pc by 2030, pushed by 60pc of individuals dwelling in cities which propels urbanization. The worldwide NGO additional predicts that by the tip of 2021, over two billion folks all over the world will make an internet buy, with 20pc of retail gross sales coming from eCommerce. Further forecasts counsel that same-day supply demand will develop 40pc with the moment supply market rising 10pc.
Revenue speculates that Unity Retail will make technological developments to shorten supply occasions, working with automotive authentic gear producers (OEMs) that assist the work of parcel drivers with the help of machine imaginative and prescient object monitoring and superior analytics-based driver apps. The expertise firm could even improve the dealing with of parcels in retailer or logistic firm distribution centres by means of self-learning purposes akin.
This pure development has been reached by Alibaba and JD.com, that are investing closely in automating the provision chain, with the previous investing $15 billion in logistics automation and driverless expertise over the following 5 years.
PTCL licence expired on December 31 final 12 months
LAHORE: The Pakistan Telecommunication Firm Restricted (PTCL) licence has expired on December 31, 2020, it was learnt on Friday.
The PTCL has began discussions with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) for the renewal of its licence.
In accordance with a letter despatched to Pakistan Inventory Trade (PSX), the PTCL wrote that the built-in licence, which was issued for 25 years with impact from January 1, 1996, has expired on December 31, 2020 and its renewal is required from January 1 this 12 months.
“Subsequently, within the curiosity of enterprise continuity and operations, the PTCL has sought everlasting injunction from the Sindh Excessive Courtroom (SHC) by submitting Go well with No 2081-2020, whereby the PTA is restrained from taking any opposed motion on expiry of license, and interfering within the enterprise of the PTCL and the supply of companies on the idea of the license,” the PTCL talked about within the letter.
It was additionally talked about within the letter that the PTCL is in discussions with the PTA and the federal authorities to finalise the phrases and situations of the renewed license. “The PTCL is assured that its license shall be renewed on the earliest,” the PTCL wrote.
As per phrases of the licence, the PTCL had initiated the renewal course of by formally requesting the PTA on June 29, 2018 [30 months prior to the expiry of the license].
Nonetheless on October 1, 2018, the PTA responded in affirmative by a letter and stated that the PTCL’s licence shall be renewed in accordance with the federal government’s coverage prevalent on the time of renewal.
Lahore, Karachi chambers be a part of palms for commerce promotion
LAHORE: Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Trade (LCCI) and Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Trade (KCCI) have determined to make joint efforts to advertise commerce, business and financial actions within the nation.
This settlement was reached throughout a gathering between LCCI President Mian Tariq Misbah and KCCI President Shariq Vohra. LCCI Senior Vice President Nasir Hameed Khan, Vice President Tahir Manzoor Chaudhry, together with government committee members Haji Asif Sehar, Ali Afzal, Saleem Asghar Bhatti and Malik Riaz Iqbal, had been additionally current on the event.
It was additionally agreed that each chambers would control the commerce and funding alternatives and guarantee well timed trade of delegations in order to share their commerce and financial analysis work.
They’d additionally work collectively to settle points with the Federal Board of Income, in addition to chalking out methods to make sure their illustration in financial insurance policies in any respect ranges.
As well as, LCCI would take the Karachi chamber on board concerning the enterprise and funding convention in Gwadar Metropolis, scheduled to be held within the final week of January or first week of February.
Talking on the event, LCCI President Mian Tariq Misbah stated collaboration between the 2 chambers would go a good distance and assist enterprise communities of the 2 mega cities to find new locations for commerce and funding.
He additionally highlighted the continuing financial challenges and burdened the necessity for collective method to convey the nation out of those issues. Each chambers have their very own strengths and the becoming a member of of palms by the 2 establishments would convey optimistic change on the financial entrance, he added.
The LCCI president urged the enterprise communities of Lahore and Karachi to concentrate in the direction of branding and modern method, which holds the important thing to success for companies that wish to go world.
In the meantime, KCCI President Shariq Vohra stated that the concord between the LCCI and KCCI would give additional increase to the inter-chamber interplay, including that Karachi was the hub of high quality merchandise and supplied matchless alternatives to each native and overseas buyers.
Amazon buys 11 plane to make deliveries quicker
Amazon.com Inc mentioned on Tuesday it purchased 11 Boeing 767-300 plane, because it appears to be like to spice up its supply capabilities to cater to a surge in on-line orders.
The plane, together with seven from Delta Air Strains and 4 from WestJet Airways, will be part of Amazon’s air cargo community by 2022, the net retailer mentioned in an announcement.
In June, Amazon had leased 12 Boeing 767-300 transformed cargo plane from Air Transport Companies Group Inc, bringing its complete fleet to greater than 80.
“Having a mixture of each leased and owned plane in our rising fleet permits us to raised handle our operations,” mentioned Sarah Rhoads, vice chairman of Amazon World Air.
The corporate mentioned in October its heightened spending on supply infrastructure would probably proceed over years.
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You’re going to hear a lot about HDMI 2.1 in 2019. It’s the latest iteration on the A/V connection format that consumers have used since it replaced previous A/V connections nearly two decades ago, and with 8K TVs ready to beat down the door into your living room, HDMI 2.1 is a necessary and much-anticipated upgrade.
Windows 10 users may soon notice their hard drive storage organized a bit differently.
Google’s aptly named AI helper, Google Assistant, is poised to have a great year in 2019. Not only will the digital assistant be spreading to numerous devices old and new, but there are a host of new features coming, too, several of which were shown off at CES 2019 last week.
How many people put a sticky note over their laptop webcams because they’re worried about someone spying on them? Rumors of hackers accessing webcams and USB microphones are ever-present in today’s technological world, but it’s even worse when the manufacturer responsible for a connected camera is the one leaking…
Update: It appears the developer plans to pull the game from Itch.io next week. If you haven’t downloaded and plan to play it, grab it quick before yet another version of P.T. disappears. Original story follows.
Google’s monthly Android Pie security update for January 2019 is available now. As with previous updates, it fixes numerous potential security shortcomings in the Android OS that could be exploited by hackers and malicious programs. While these fixes apply to all Android Pie devices, the January update also has Pixel…
With just about every major US cellphone service provider prepping their 5G network rollouts, you’ve probably seen 2019 hyped as the beginning of the “5G revolution,” or something similar.
Not all smart speakers are created equal. In fact, some barely meet the qualifications to be called “smart” in the first place—but they’re getting better at answering your questions, assuming they can understand what you’re saying.
Whether you have friends or family members who work and live different schedules than you, or you find yourself sending more “happy belated birthday” messages than you’d like, having the ability to schedule text messages ahead of time is an incredibly useful feature.
Video games are a popular holiday gift, and publisher Ubisoft is channeling some serious winter cheer by giving away one of its best releases of 2018—Assassin’s Creed Odyssey—for free as a gift to those who participate in Google’s Project Stream beta.
Google has rolled out screen time and app management features to the Chrome OS version of its parental supervision app, Family Link, so now you can remotely manage and monitor your child’s activity on laptops and tablets running the OS, as well as on any Android device running Android 5.1 or higher.
Another day, another tech company being disingenuous about its privacy practices. This time it’s Microsoft, after it was discovered that Windows 10 continues to track users’ activity even after they’ve disabled the activity-tracking option in their Windows 10 settings.
Google’s short-lived messaging service, Allo, is going the way of Google Reader, Google Health, and the Dodo bird. It’s not a surprise—Google began porting and integrating some of the more interesting features (like Google Assistant and web support) from Allo into Messages app for Android earlier this year, signaling…
Nothing has signaled that we’ve finally entered the cyber future more than the rise of blockchain networks and cryptocurrency. And that makes HTC’s upcoming blockchain-based smartphone, the HTC Exodus 1, one of the most cyberpunk (and strange) devices yet.
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One of the most convenient features Pixel 2 and Pixel 3 owners enjoy, call screening, is getting an important upgrade. By the end of the year, your device will be able to save the call transcriptions it creates when dealing with suspected spam calls (or calls you choose to screen manually). And if you don’t want to…
There are few smartphone hacks as useful as ones that extend your device’s battery life, and via this Reddit post by user u/neq, you might be able to give your Android phone’s battery life a significant boost by disabling to a relatively unknown feature.
Google has recently upgraded its virtual private network (VPN) feature for Project Fi customers, allowing users the option to use a VPN for everything they do on Project Fi—wifi and cellular connections alike.
Facebook’s new video-chatting device, the Portal, goes on sale today. Throw caution to the wind by picking one up, and it taps into your Facebook account to let you make hands-free video calls, display photos, play music, stream video content, and more.
Researchers at the Netherland’s Radboud University have uncovered serious security issues with several solid-state drives that use hardware-based encryption—vulnerabilities that would allow an attacker to access a drive’s “encrypted” contents without needing the password that decrypts it.

domain: news


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Wang Xin, Director of the Bank of China Research Bureau, said interest in the digital yuan project is growing. The Central Bank official explained that one of the things that triggers this could be the rise in bitcoin price.
China is one of the first names to take action in this area with the digital central bank money (CBDC) it started to develop in 2014. The Central Bank, which distributed $ 1.5 million in digital yuan for testing in Beijing in February, announced that these tests will continue.
The rise of bitcoin may have affected
“Everyone follows the digital yuan closely,” said Wang Xin, a Central Bank official, according to CNBC’s report. He said that the interest shown in the project grew.
It was stated that one of the reasons for this may be the increase in the number of countries trying to issue their own digital currency. In recent months, countries such as the USA, Japan, and the United Kingdom have started various studies for CBDC.
Another reason people are getting interested in the digital yuan, according to Wang, may be the rise in bitcoin price. Digital yuan; It differs from Bitcoin in terms of being decentralized and not blockchain-based.
China had decided to close the Bitcoin exchanges in the country in 2017.
Digital yuan tests will continue
China, which has organized tests in cities such as Shenzhen and Chengdu as well as Beijing, announced that these studies will continue. The public tests “will grow in scale,” Wang said.
The Bank of China aims to get citizens to use the digital yuan, which is not yet clear when it will be completed.


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More to Read
Some say that climate change and technology will bring an end to employment, and even worse, to chocolate. But are the warnings overblown?
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Healthcare holds a coveted place in our culture, as if it is more important than anything else. But from an economic perspective, it's not that special.
A recent tweet by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders left me in shock, due to its correctness and coherence.
I was told to judge people by character and not by skin color. Was that wrong?
Part 6: The supply of doctors and medical goods is an important consideration in healthcare costs.


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Facebook is teaming up with the nation's attorneys general to launch a public awareness campaign aimed at keeping young people safer on the site.
Lyft and Sidecar may be the kings of ridesharing right now, but Uber is coming up in the rearview mirror.
Tweets may soon have beats. Twitter appears to be readying its own music application designed to let users discover new artists and songs based on trending activity on the site.
Twitter, in an effort to make its site more useful to an ever-increasing number of people, is rolling out its Trends topic discovery feature in 160 new locations.
LinkedIn, the world's largest professional networking site, continues to beef up its content publishing platform with its agreement to acquire Pulse, which makes a mobile news aggregation, reader and content distribution application.
An IDC study has found sweeping changes in how mobile display advertisements are sold, with Facebook, Pandora and Twitter successfully wresting away control from advertising networks over the last year.
Last week, Facebook released new software for Android phones called "Home." The software is a set of apps that you can download to put Facebook photos and messaging front and center on your mobile device.
Facebook has posted a Q&A on its website about the privacy implications of its new Facebook Home software for Android phones, though it was unclear if it has addressed all the concerns raised.
Facebook has released new software for Android phones that gives quick access to Facebook services and aims to further boost use of the social network on mobile devices.
Facebook's Home mobile software for Android-equipped smartphones might only appeal to the most active Facebook users at first, but the company's plan to integrate third-party social services into it could broaden its appeal.
It's not quite the long-rumored Facebook Phone, but HTC's new First phone isn't far off.
Twitter's in-the-moment stream of quick comments and links might seem tailor-made for those with short attention spans, but the company is rolling out changes that will make tweets more interactive, including the ability to access mobile apps from in...
Salesforce.com continues to build out its Chatter social networking and collaboration software, with upcoming "social intelligence" capabilities that will allow users to find information through new Topics and Expertise categories.
A new report shows just how much smartphone users love Facebook, checking it as much as 14 times a day. In advance of Thursday's Facebook phone announcement, this could be good news for the social network.
Line, the messaging platform widely used in Japan, is breaking out of Asia and now has 10 million users in Spain, the company said Wednesday.
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By News Reporter
In this installment of On the Job, we go inside LG’s System Integrated Circuit (SIC) Center to learn how LG is leveraging the latest AI to help deliver new customer experiences.
Imagine if there was a refrigerator that could play music and change color to match your current mood or spice up your kitchen décor. Well, as it happens, such a fridge actually exists – the newly introduced refrigerator with MoodUP from LG. The unique capabilities and customer experiences offered by LG’s latest kitchen innovation owe much to the LG8111, an on-device AI system-on-chip (SoC) developed by LG’s SIC Center.
Even before it was known as LG Electronics, the company began producing chips for consumer electronics as far back as 1992, at the ASIC Center under Goldstar’s Central Research Institute. Now, LG’s SIC Center is responsible for developing all of the AI chips used in LG products. These technologies have evolved over time to become the AI-based integrated circuits now used in cutting-edge appliances and home entertainment solutions such as LG OLED TV, and now, the fridge with MoodUP.
(From left to right) Chang Woon-suk, lead of Smart Solution TP, LG SIC Center, and Lee Jin-jong, LG SIC Center professional
Greatly expanding the customer experience, the company’s latest AI chips can process innumerable data points and enable LG appliances to communicate with one another – and with other smart devices as well. LG8111, the new AI chip used in the MoodUP, features an acceleration engine that processes information gathered from the refrigerator’s built-in cameras, microphones and sensors in real time. This allows the MoodUP to quickly recognize changes in its immediate environment and adjust performance accordingly, facilitate more convenient interactions with users and accurately assess if all of its features are functioning optimally.
Recognizing the importance that AI will play in consumer electronics and wanting to find a solution to differentiate LG products, engineers at the LG SIC Center began to develop the LG8111 in 2017 and created the first prototype in 2018. The LG8111, a highly integrated AI chip that is equipped with an LG-specific AI processor, is perfectly designed for LG products. While the chip performs and functions better online, its AI functions can also be utilized offline as well.
Impressively, the LG8111 can provide three types of AI: vision intelligence (the ability to recognize and distinguish between different spaces, locations, objects and users), voice intelligence (the ability to recognize users’ voices or specific noises associated with a certain type of space) and control intelligence (the ability to adjust and optimize performance according to physical or chemical changes in the environment). Also, when connected to Wi-Fi, any product equipped with the LG8111 can transmit information to nearby devices or to cloud servers.
“We spent a considerable amount of time deciding which device would be the first to apply our new on-device AI chip,” said Chang Woon-suk, lead of Smart Solution TP, LG SIC Center.
Various appliances were in contention, but ultimately, the SIC team decided to go with a refrigerator, a choice made because the household fridge has the distinction of being the only home appliance to operate 24/7. The first recipient of the state-of-the-art chip, the color-changing LG refrigerator with MoodUP boasts a seamless voice recognition feature that allows for convenient, remote control and monitoring via the LG ThinQ app.
“All of our top-notch researchers at the LG SIC Center are dedicated to developing chip solutions based on the core goal of maximizing customer value,” said Chang. “While we’re pleased with the success of the LG8111, we will continue to push the envelope as a team to take the customer experience to the next level.”
The successful implementation of the LG8111 in the new LG refrigerator with MoodUP opens the way for the chip’s use in a wide range of LG solutions, from other smart home appliances to electric vehicle components.
Stay tuned to
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By News Reporter
New Video Camera Solution With LG webOS Facilitates Convenient
Medical Staff-Patient Interactions, Day and Night
SEOUL, Jan. 26, 2023 — LG Electronics (LG) is unveiling its Smart Cam Pro (model AN-VC22PR), a 4K video camera designed for use in hospitals and healthcare centers. LG Smart Cam Pro delivers sharp, clear image quality with or without the lights on, allowing seamless video communications at any time of day or night. The new model also presents healthcare solution providers with customizability through the integration of LG’s versatile webOS platform.
LG Smart Cam Pro incorporates a 4K RGB main camera and a 4K night vision camera, each offering crisp, ultra-high definition (3,840 x 2,160) images1 and 4x digital zoom. The device also implements LG’s HDR effect, which adjusts color and contrast to make the subject easier to see, even when they are backlit by strong, natural or artificial light. When paired with a TV/display2 in the patient rooms, LG Smart Cam Pro with customized solution makes it possible for medical staff to complete their rounds virtually and ascertain if a patient needs specific support before physically attending to them. Also, after accepting a call placed through LG Smart Cam Pro, the screen of the recipient’s TV3 switches from the content being viewed to the camera feed, then switches back once the call has ended.
Featuring a compact, space-saving design with a foldable mount, LG Smart Cam Pro can be placed on or near a TV or display. The device has a subtle, dark silver casing and a gloss-black front featuring a manual privacy cover that can be moved over the main lens at the user’s discretion. To provide clear communications between patients and medical staff, LG Smart Cam Pro is equipped with a built-in 4-way microphone system with echo cancellation and noise reduction.
Additionally, LG’s 4K smart camera leverages the LG webOS platform, which provides a convenient user experience with the ability to add new and customized services in the future, and a Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. high-performance system on chip (SoC) for the Internet of Things (IoT) – capable of providing an excellent video experience and intensive Edge AI applications – to deliver seamless software services4 for healthcare solutions.
“Utilizing both Qualcomm Technologies’ system-on-chip innovations and the LG webOS platform will allow the LG Smart Cam Pro to transform the way that medical services are performed across the globe,” said Jeffery Torrance, senior vice president and general manager of Connected Smart Systems (CSS), Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “LG and Qualcomm Technologies are continuing to advance IoT camera technology for consumers and businesses alike.”
“Based on the LG webOS platform and Qualcomm’s advanced SoC, the new LG Smart Cam Pro is a 4K video camera solution intended to provide a convenient means of medical staff-patient communication in busy healthcare settings,” said Paik Ki-mun, senior vice president and head of the Information Display business unit of LG Electronics Business Solutions Company. “A reliable innovation partner, LG will continue to provide a wide range of product lineups designed to meet the specific needs of diverse business sectors.”
The LG Smart Cam Pro will be introduced at ISE 2023, which will be held in Barcelona, Spain from January 31 to February 3. To learn more about the innovation, visit
link hidden, please login to view. # # #
1 Image definition may vary depending on the network environment.
2 Available on a TV/display connected via HDMI.
3 Available on compatible LG commercial TVs when connected via MPI port.
4 Performance may vary depending on the network environment.
Hi just got a new QNED LG to replace 2021 Nano tv
the problem is I can’t move my HD channels down to channels 1 to5.
the program manager does not have the function to move channels like my old Nano tv which is only a year older.
is there anyway I can get around this strange function?
By News Reporter
For LG, 2022 was a defining year for its unwavering journey towards sustainability after the company successfully redirected its focus to collaborations for a greater collective impact through its global innovation challenge, the LIFE’S GOOD AWARD.
Innovators hailing from all four corners of the globe answered LG’s call with creativity, passion and a drive to make sure Life’s Good, with novel solutions that bring much-needed hope of a brighter future for people and the planet. Among the countless game-changing ideas submitted, the best four were selected to be presented at the LIFE’S GOOD AWARD Conference held in January, in what would be the grand finale.
(From left to right) Lee Jeong-seok, head of LG Electronics’ Global Marketing Center, CTO Dr. Kim Byoung-hoon and CSO Lee Sam-soo
With innovation at its core, it was only fitting that LG Sciencepark, the company’s immense innovation hub based in Magok (South Korea), was chosen to host the conference. The four finalists joined the judging panel of respected scholars and LG executives to give their final pitches that would determine which award they would be taking home. But this was by no means a closed event, as the public was warmly invited to tune into the conference’s afternoon events.
Lee Jeong-seok, head of LG Electronics’ Global Marketing Center
The day kicked off with a presentation from each team and the judging panel gave valuable feedback and asked questions based on the solution’s impact, innovation and sustainability. And finally, the moment everyone had waited for; the announcement of who would be receiving what prize at the awards ceremony held later that day.
Public attendees interested in LG’s latest sustainability efforts were greeted to the park by a special exhibition booth providing an interesting overview of each top-four solution, as well as a look into LG’s most notable products promoting environmental sustainability and accessibility.
The ‘Dot pad,’ Dot Incorporation’s tactile graphic display, was one of them. Featuring 2,400 braille pins/dots which move up and down to convert information, this device gave visitors the opportunity to experience how the visually impaired ‘see’ the world through their fingertips.
Next up was Day1Lab’s alternative plastic solution which promotes its vision of a green Earth devoid of all harmful microplastic waste. This exhibit was set up to clearly demonstrate how carbohydrate complex materials degrade naturally in freshwater and earth, as to not harm the planet’s beautiful and diverse ecosystems.
Similarly, SOLUTUM presented an alternative plastic solution which degrades naturally in freshwater without toxic residue. Attendees were eager to see the eco-friendly material close up, especially as it’s expected to be featured in consumer products soon in partnership with a leading beverage brand.
Water desalination was the key initiative outlined in NONA Technologies’ exhibit. It’s here where onlookers could discover how a desalination solution that removes minerals from raw water completely changes the outlook of agriculture and water-deprived communities over the world.
Professor Christopher Marquis, a professor at Cambridge Judge Business School
Following this exclusive tour of the winning solutions, everyone gathered for the long-awaited awards ceremony. But before the awards were handed out, a welcoming address by LG, special lectures from presiding professors and speeches from the winning teams were conducted, a perfect example of how businesses, scholars and innovators can come together as one for a better world.
(From left to right) Dot Inc.’s Ki Kwang Sung, CSO Lee Sam-soo and Dot Inc.’s Ju Yoon Kim
The curtains closed on the ceremony with a big round of applause for the winners, with Dot Inc. (South Korea), SOLUTUM (Israel), Day1Lab (South Korea) and NONA Technologies (the United States) claiming the Grand Prix, Gold, Silver and Bronze awards, respectively. The jury lauded the four winners’ amazing dedication and visionary solutions.
Through a relentless drive for innovation and an unwavering commitment to connecting with some of the brightest minds in the world, LG will continue to foster a Better Life for All. Stay tuned to
link hidden, please login to view to learn how LG’s latest efforts are putting the world on a more sustainable path. # # #


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Millennials are markedly different than previous generations, forcing retailers to develop new strategies to draw their business.» Read More
David Hamaty, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Kurt Salmon highlights the likely impact and possible winners and losers of the sales tax hike in Japan.
As China restructures its economy to become more consumption driven, CNBC's Eunice Yoon looks at the rising role of the mainland's younger generation.
Amid an inventory backlog, Wal-Mart Stores is cutting US orders, according to a Bloomberg report that the discount giant called "misleading."
"You see strength in anything touching the home," Chris Horvers of JPMorgan says.
While Men's Wearhouse's outlook remains cautious, its new CEO Doug Ewert told CNBC he is focusing on the company's strengths.
A survey released by the National Retail Federation says fewer people will be celebrating Halloween, and they will be spending less too.
The deadly assault on a luxury Nairobi mall has sent shock waves around the world, raising concerns about security at shopping centers.
Nomorobo, a website, went live Monday. It offers a free way to block those annoying—and often illegal—automated phone calls that interrupt your day.
After last year's holiday hiring frenzy, retailers are showing more restraint in ramping up their staff for the crucial holiday shopping season.
As supermarkets tighten policies to curtail coupon use, shoppers have to get creative to save on groceries.
While French fries are a staple of the fast-food burger business, they have long been vilified by nutrition experts.
J.C. Penney said it expects to raise up to $932 million via a public stock offering.
CNBC contributor Stacey Widlitz says the retailer's priority should not be online but getting people back in stores.
JC Penney shares are down sharply after the company raised $1 billion through a new stock offering. CNBC's Scott Wapner breaks down the retailer's problems. And Tom Stemberg, The Highland Consumer Fund and former CEO of Staples, shares his play on the troubled retailer.
Michael Binetti, UBS analyst, weighs in on whether there is any hope for the retailer, as the stock comes under serious pressure. It's going to be very "tricky" for the company to get customers back into the stores.
JCPenney said it will sell 84 million shares of stock in a secondary offering, potentially raising more than $800 million.
JC Penney CEO Ullman told investors the retailer does not see conditions for the rest of the year where it would need to raise liquidity, a source said.
JC Penney shares are sinking after hours on news the retailer is launching a new issuance of 84 million shares, reports CNBC's Kayla Tausche. The "Fast Money" traders take their positions.
JC Penney CEO Mike Ullman says he is "pleased with progress in the company's turnaround efforts," and "vendors are very supportive." Rick Snyder, Maxim Group; Jan Kniffen, Worldwide Enterprises CEO; and CNBC contributor Herb Greenberg, discuss.
Deborah Weinswig, Citigroup analyst, explains why there is growing concern among vendors about the ailing retailers liquidity levels as the holiday buying season approaches.


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From Central Hall to The Venetian, Matter was the buzzword throughout CES 2023 this year, with most companies even remotely connected to the smart home loudly discussing their Matter plans (although a few were more subdued). The new smart home standard was featured in several keynotes and displayed prominently in smart home device makers’ booths as well as in Google, Amazon, and Samsung’s big, showy displays.
More importantly, dozens of companies and manufacturers announced specific plans. Several companies said they would update entire product lines, while others announced new ones, sometimes with actual dates and prices. And Matter controllers have become a major thing, with at least four brand-new ones debuting at CES. Interestingly, nearly all of them have a dual or triple function, helping banish the specter of seemingly pointless white hubs stuck in your router closet.
Its undeniable momentum at the biggest consumer tech show of the year is one reason we named Matter The Verge’s “best in show” for CES 2023. And here, we’ve rounded up all the announcements from the show that, well, matter.
In case you missed it, Matter is an open-source interoperability standard that allows smart home devices from any manufacturer to talk to other devices directly and locally with no need to use the cloud. This should make the smart home easier to set up, simpler to use, and more reliable to run. Matter works over the protocols Thread, Wi-Fi, and ethernet and has been jointly developed by Apple, Google, Samsung, Amazon, and pretty much every other smart home brand you can name, big or small.
If a device supports Matter, it will work locally with Amazon Alexa, Samsung SmartThings, Apple Home, Google Home, and any other smart home platform that supports Matter. It will also be controllable by any of the four voice assistants.
Matter should make the smart home easier to set up, simpler to use, and more reliable to run.
However, Matter is still totally unproven, as there are very few devices anyone can actually get their hands on to test, so there is a lot of speculation still as to just how effective it will be. Plus, the initial Matter rollout since the launch in November has been complicated.
The big four have turned on Matter support on their platforms, but Amazon’s approach has been piecemeal, and aside from Apple, nobody supports onboarding devices to Matter on iOS yet.
However, that is shifting: at CES, Amazon announced a full rollout by spring, and Samsung’s Jaeyeon Jung told The Verge that Matter support is coming to its iOS app this month. There’s still no news on Matter support in Google Home’s iOS app. Then there’s the whole competing Thread network issue, although that sounds like it will be resolved sooner rather than later.
If all of these companies continue their support of Matter, then these early teething problems shouldn’t be more than that. After all, the rollout of a new wireless standard is never going to be easy. Just ask the Wi-Fi Alliance and Bluetooth Special Interest Group, which both sent representatives to the Connectivity Standards Alliance’s CES Matter party to show their support (and maybe sympathize).
And the following cascade of announcements includes dozens of new products, so the Matter device drought should be over soon — although, judging by most of these ship dates, not until at least the second half of 2023.
Matter updates coming to existing products
- Amazon will update its Echo 4th-Gen smart speaker to be a Thread border router this spring and will expand its Matter support to more device types — including thermostats, blinds, and sensors in addition to light bulbs, plugs, and switches. All of its remaining compatible Eero and Echo devices and its iOS Alexa app will also become fully compatible with Matter in the spring. (Currently, you can control Matter devices with the Alexa app on iOS, but you can only onboard them using the Android app.)
- Leviton announced Matter support for its entire lineup of Wi-Fi light switches and plugs via a firmware upgrade later this year, starting with the Decora Smart Wi-Fi dimmer and switch. The remaining products will get their turn later this year.
- Lockly announced the Flex Touch Pro, a retrofit door lock with a built-in fingerprint sensor. Lee Zheng, CEO and founder of Lockly, told The Verge that Lockly’s entire line of fingerprint-reader Wi-Fi smart locks will receive an over-the-air update to support Matter later this year. That includes the Lockly Vision Elite and the Lockly Secure Pro.
- Twinkly, of smart holiday lighting fame, announced its new entertainment mirroring app. The Entertainment Hub desktop app lets you sync visuals and audio to any Twinkly lights. Andrea Tellatin, CEO at Twinkly, told The Verge that it will make Matter updates available on all of its existing Wi-Fi smart lighting products and build Matter support into its new products. The next product to be released will be more budget-friendly RGB string lights called Twinkly Candies. These feature fun ball-, star-, and candle-shaped LEDs and are expected to launch in fall 2023. They will cost $49 per string and will ship without USB-C power adapters to keep prices down.
- Eve announced its Matter-enabled Thread products will arrive March 28th. The Eve Door and Window contact sensor, Eve Energy smart plug, and Eve Motion sensor will work with Matter out of the box. The company also announced that its Eve MotionBlinds will be upgraded to Matter in late Q1. Also on March 28th, Eve will launch the Eve MotionBlinds Upgrade Kit for Roller Blinds plus new smart honeycomb and Venetian blinds. Matter support will come to all the MotionBlinds products in Q1. The Venetian blinds are interesting because they’ll be the first smart slatted blinds that can raise and lower remotely rather than just tilt.
- Lock manufacturer Yale confirmed that its Thread module has received Matter certification and should be coming soon. You can sign up here to be notified. The module can be inserted into the company’s Yale Assure Lock and Yale Assure Lock 2 lines (except for the Lever Lock) and turn them into Matter-compatible locks.
- Smart lighting manufacturer Yeelight announced its new Cube Smart Lamp with Matter support as well as new products for its Yeelight Pro smart lighting series, which will support Matter with an over-the-air update before Q2 2023. Yeelight also announced an automatic curtain opener, which won’t work with Matter at launch.
New Matter devices announced at CES
- Aqara — whose smart home hub will be updated to support Matter this month — unveiled a new Presence Sensor FP2 ($60, coming Q2), T1 LED light strip, and U100 smart door lock ($160 to $200, Q2). The company also showed off the G4 video doorbell ($120, February). Aqara said all of these devices will support Matter when their respective device types are added to the Matter spec. The company’s Thread-based P2 door / window contact sensor and P2 motion / light sensor will also work with Matter and were on display at CES and are slated for release in early 2023. No pricing has been announced.
- Nanoleaf announced its first Thread-based smart switches, which will be Matter compatible. The Sense Plus Smart Light Switch and Sense Plus Smart Wireless Light Switch will work with the new Nala Bridge, which is also a Thread border router and a motion sensor / night light. The company’s new Nanoleaf Skylight modular ceiling panel is also Matter compatible over Wi-Fi and can act as a Thread border router. Nanoleaf confirmed its Matter-enabled, Thread-powered Essentials light bulbs and light strips will arrive in Q1 and that it will be upgrading its existing modular light panels and light bars (Shapes, Elements, Canvas, and Lines) to Matter.
- GE Lighting confirmed it will produce Matter-compatible A19 Cync Full Color Direct Connect Smart Bulbs and Cync Indoor Smart Plugs later this year, but it will not upgrade existing devices to support Matter. While it does plan to bring more Matter-compatible products to market this year, its new Dynamic Effects products, announced at CES and coming later this year, won’t have Matter support at launch.
This is because Matter doesn’t currently support the type of dynamic lighting effects that are the main feature of the lights. Patrick Miltner of GE Lighting told The Verge that the company might change that plan if and when Matter supports more advanced lighting functions. He also said it could upgrade all of the existing Direct Connect Cync lighting products to Matter with an over-the-air firmware update and will evaluate the benefit of doing that as Matter support rolls out more broadly across the industry.
- TP-Link announced it will release a Matter-enabled Tapo P125M Mini Smart Plug, Kasa KP125M smart plug, Tapo S505D Smart Dimmer Switch, Tapo P306 Smart Wi-Fi Outlet Extender, and the Tapo L535E Multicolor Smart Light Bulb in 2023. (Yeah, I still don’t get the difference between the Tapo and Kasa brands, either.)
- Smart lighting company Govee introduced its first Matter-compatible product, the Govee LED Strip Light M1. It also confirmed it will release new products that support Matter this year but will not upgrade its existing line of smart color-changing lighting products.
- Sengled announced it will release a new Matter version of its multicolor A19 smart bulb in Q1 of this year. Ted Zhang, vice president of Sengled, US market, told The Verge that the company’s current A19 bulbs will not be upgradable to Matter, but the company does plan to release more Matter-compatible products later this year. Pricing for the A19 Matter bulb will be approximately $14.99 for a one-pack and around $27.99 for a two-pack, he said.
New Matter controllers that launched at CES
Matter controllers are required to onboard and control smart home devices in Matter. There are already a lot of Matter controllers out there — including 17 of Amazon’s Echo devices, Apple’s HomePod Mini and Apple TV line, and Google’s Nest Hub smart displays and Nest speakers. Some Matter controllers are also Thread border routers and can onboard Thread devices to Matter; others work over Wi-Fi only.
- Samsung was all in on Matter at CES, with nearly its entire booth dedicated to its SmartThings platform and a large section featuring the launch of its $60 SmartThings Station. This is a SmartThings hub that supports Matter and Thread and doubles as a 15W fast wireless charging pad for Galaxy smartphones and earbuds. You can read more about it in our first look / early hands-on here.
- Samsung also confirmed its Family Hub fridge line will be updated to be a Matter-over-Wi-Fi controller this month. 2022 Samsung TVs and monitors will get the update in March, and the SmartThings Hub Dongle — which is designed to work with Samsung fridges and TVs to add Thread and Zigbee support — will be updated in the first quarter of this year. However, the TVs and fridges will not be Matter devices, so they won’t be controllable by other Matter apps and platforms.
- Starting this year, new Samsung products, including TVs, monitors, and smart fridges, will support Matter, Zigbee, and Thread natively. The company is building a SmartThings Zigbee and Matter / Thread One-Chip Module into all of its products, so you won’t need the separate SmartThings dongle.
- Other TV manufacturers announced or reconfirmed support for Matter as a controller in their 2023 and newer TVs, including LG through its new webOS 23 operating system and Hisense, which joined the CSA and said it plans to bring Matter support to products in 2023, including Hisense and Toshiba televisions.
- SwitchBot has a new Matter-enabled hub — the SwitchBot Hub 2 — coming in March for $69. The Wi-Fi-based hub will bridge SwitchBot Bluetooth devices to Matter, starting with the SwitchBot door lock, curtain controller, and SwitchBot Bot devices. In keeping with the trend for hubs to be multipurpose devices, the Hub 2 is also a temperature and humidity sensor with a large LED display.
- The second-generation Mui Board, scheduled for release later this year, will support Matter as a controller over Wi-Fi for select devices, including lights. Preorders for the new Mui Board will begin this June through Kickstarter for $599. Devices should ship in November.
- The Homey Pro smart home hub is allegedly finally coming to the US in Q1, with support for Wi-Fi, BLE, Zigbee, Z-Wave, 433MHz, and infrared at launch. Matter and Thread support are scheduled for Q2 (Matter) and Q3 (Thread). Homey says the Homey Pro will act as a bridge to bring any non-Matter device into Matter (as long as it’s a device type supported by Matter). You can preorder it for $399 now, with shipping slated for February.
- TP-Link showed off its first smart home hub — the Homebase Tapo H900 (no pricing or release date). The triangular orange device works as a Matter controller and a Thread border router. The hub also supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and is designed to control Tapo smart home devices. It doubles as a video storage device for Tapo cameras and also works as a stand / charger for a tablet, similar to Google’s upcoming charging speaker dock. This should allow you to access the Tapo app and control your smart home directly from the hub.
What’s next for Matter?
For Matter to work, it needs mass adoption in the tech industry, and not every company is jumping in with both feet. A few are dipping an early toe in, while others are putting their feet up and waiting to see what the standard can really do for them. A handful have had very little to say at all.
Also, some companies that suggested they could offer Matter updates for existing products have walked that back. That’s in part because the Matter spec changed and in part because of the complexity of sending a firmware update to customers’ devices that removes existing integrations and makes them have to re-pair it with all of their smart home services (something Eve had to deal with during its rollout of firmware updates last year).
GE Lighting’s Miltner told The Verge at CES that the company doesn’t see the use in updating existing products to Matter as “it will break their existing functions.” Customers will have to reset devices to work with their favorite platforms. However, looking forward, Miltner sees the value. “It’s one specification for every single product; it’s the massive piece the smart home has been missing for so long.” Once Matter hits critical mass, he believes there will be plenty of benefits for GE Lighting and its customers.
A number of companies are taking this wait-and-see approach. “It benefits Schlage more to wait to see how things are going to come out first,” Paul Wilkie, a spokesperson from lock manufacturer Schlage, told The Verge. “That’s not to say that there’s not already something in development — it’s clear that there is something in development. But we are waiting to see how everything congeals over the next year.”
He pointed out that it’s one thing for smart lighting and plug manufacturers to jump on a new bandwagon, but for a device that secures your home like a lock, it’s important to make sure people are ready for the new tech.
“It’s one specification for every single product; it’s the massive piece the smart home has been missing for so long.” – Patrick Miltner
While Matter wasn’t designed to leave existing smart home devices behind, it’s appearing more likely the most benefit will be for the future smart home rather than the past or present one. “We have a go-forward strategy for Matter,” Tobin Richardson, president of the CSA, which manages the Matter standard, confirmed to The Verge. “Moving forward, Matter solves a lot of compatibility issues, but in terms of backward compatibility, not every device will be upgradeable. You may just be doing it through a gateway.” He says that should be a straightforward process if manufacturers upgrade their bridges.
For those of you with robust smart home setups that you want to bring into Matter, bridging is going to be the most reliable route for backward compatibility. There aren’t a lot of solutions yet, but a few companies — including Aqara and Philips Hue — have announced their platforms will support bridging into Matter.
It’s also likely we’ll see dedicated bridges coming out that can bring Z-Wave and other products with proprietary protocols into Matter. Silicon Labs announced a new Unify SDK that will provide both a hardware and software solution for manufacturers to do exactly this.
One company for whom bridging would make a lot of sense is Lutron, with its popular Caseta smart lighting line of switches and plugs. Adam Mack of Lutron Electronics told The Verge that while the company is a member of the CSA and is watching the rollout carefully, it has no announcements around adding support for the standard to its product line. Which, to be fair, is one of the most interoperable and reliable smart home products on the market today.
It’s also clear that Matter needs to step up its support for more functions and device types. Currently, only basic functions are supported. Lights, locks, sensors, etc., will have basic control capabilities: on / off; lock / unlock; motion / no motion; brighten / dim. But Matter doesn’t support advanced features such as dynamic lighting effects, adaptive lighting, shared access codes for door locks, and energy management for smart plugs.
Those who want to use those features will need to either choose a platform that supports them (for example, the Apple Home app supports adaptive lighting) or use the manufacturer’s app for that function (for example, the Eve app supports energy management for the Eve Energy plug).
We are also waiting on new device types to be supported in Matter. Initially, there will be support for light bulbs and light switches, plugs and outlets, door locks, thermostats, blinds and shades, sensors (motion and contact), bridges, and TVs.
The CSA told The Verge that its next release, slated for spring, will include support for battery performance (so you can keep track of battery life or devices such as sensors), white goods home appliances (such as fridges, washing machines), and robot vacuums. But cameras and garage door controllers, which were previously announced as coming next, look like they’re still going to be a while.
“I have to remind them all that while monetization is important, this is building a market, not a way to shut others out.” – Tobin Richardson
There are also a number of categories in the initial Matter spec with few or no actual products announced, like thermostats, for example. There’s the Nest Thermostat (new) and a couple of radiator options that have been promised. But none of these have been updated yet and no timeline has been given. The Verge spoke with Ecobee CEO Stuart Lombard, who confirmed that its line of smart thermostats will support Matter but wouldn’t give any further details. Previously, the company has said its thermostats could be upgraded to Matter with a firmware update and could support Thread. Amazon hasn’t said if its smart thermostat will be upgraded.
So, what is the biggest challenge for Matter now that it’s had its big public debut and seemingly passed its big CES test? “The complexity can be a concern,” Richardson, of the CSA, told The Verge. “What we’re trying to do is straightforward. How IoT happens can sometimes be so complex and confusing that consumers back away.”
If every company continues to be invested in Matter and “doesn’t back into proprietary shells,” Richardson feels confident Matter will achieve all it set out to do. However, “the commercial teams are now coming in and looking for the differentiations,” he said. “I have to remind them all that while monetization is important, this is building a market, not a way to shut others out.”
Matter may not be the solution to the smart home’s challenges that every company wanted. But it is the solution they got. Now, we wait and see if it’s the solution they can actually deliver.


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Maxon Computer, most known for its DCC "Cinema 4D", is on a shopping spree. It has just been announced that Maxon has acquired Pixologic and their powerhouse sculpting software, Zbrush. This is the latest in a series of notable purchases by Maxon, which acquired the "Redshift" render engine in 2019, the "Red Giant" suite in early 2020, and the iOS sculpting app "Forger" in March of this year.
Big news! We are thrilled and proud to announce the next milestone in the #ZBrush story! Pending regulatory approval later this month, we will be joining #Maxon and their software ecosystem! For now, read our announcement at: https://t.co/yYwodar09x pic.twitter.com/SL9Ma5DSL2
— ZBrush (@pixologic) December 14, 2021
Pixologic announced the news in an statement on their website, stating that Zbrush will be joining the Maxon ecosystem and that, among other things, perpetual licenses are expected to continue.
Check out the full announcement on the link below:


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Ecuador and Essex - potential trading opportunities !
The British Ecuadorian Chamber of Commerce is looking to include the products and services that Essex Chambers Members' have to offer in their next digital issue of LINKS magazine. The trade article will showcase potential opportunities for trade between the UK and Ecuador.
The deadline is Monday 12th July. Please include an overview of the services and products you offer along with company details and a high resolution logo or image. Email to firstname.lastname@example.org
View the latest edition HERE
Polish company producing IT systems for imaging diagnostics is searching for partners in medical industry under licence agreement
A Polish company specializing in IT systems and software for the medical industry is looking for foreign partners who will use their IT systems. The systems would use, inter alia, artificial intelligence, especially in the area of imaging diagnostics. The company is also interested in cooperation regarding the implementation of tools supporting the operation of medical image viewers in the DICOM format - cooperation will be on the basis of a license agreement.
The company is looking for partners in Europe and beyond, who are interested in cooperation on the basis of a license agreement.
FIND OUT MORE
THE GLOBAL BUSINESS INNOVATION PROGRAMME
TAIWAN - DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY FOR MANUFACTURING
Regrettably, we have had to update the timeline for the virtual Global Business Innovation Programme (GBIP) for Digital Technology for Manufacturing. Taiwan is currently experiencing its first lockdown due to another wave of Covid-19. Our overseas partner in the market has requested more time to support the delivery of planned activities.
The closing date for applications is now 9 August, with workshop and initial market activities commencing from 7 September.
FIND OUT MORE


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Soho’s finest record store, Phonica, will celebrate its seventh birthday with a party at Corsica Studios this October 2.
Headlining is Innervisions lynchpin Henrik Schwarz, whose set at Phonica’s second birthday still gets talked about at the shop today. Close behind him is Kieran ‘Four Tet’ Hebden, who recently submitted his remix for the next release in the Phonica 12” series, Bob Holroyd’s ‘African Drug’, and is enjoying his highest state of acclaim to date following his excellent new album There is Love in You.
Also on board is Barcelona’s John Talabot, and Midland, a close associate of Ramadanman’s who recently put out the excellent Play the Game EP. Tickets will be available in a few days from the shop and Resident Advisor.
Before then, the shop will be following their recent Kode9 in-store DJ set with one from Brackles, presnted by Tiger beer to celebrate his forthcoming mix CD for !K7. That’s on Friday August 27, from 6.30pm.


text: Johnsonville announced a voluntary recall of its Cheddar Cheese & Bacon Grillers on Friday because they may contain black rubber bits. The recall comes after three complaints, and applies to the 24-ounce package with the following "Best Flavor By" dates and EST numbers: July 24, 2019 and an EST 34225; Aug. 13, 2019 and an EST 34225; and Aug. 14, 2019 and an EST 34225. The product was shipped to 31 states. Purdue has also issued a recall of chicken nuggets that may be contaminated with wood. The Invesco Dynamic Food & Beverage ETF PBJ, -0.44% has lost 7.1% over the last year while the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.69% is down 4.6% for the period.


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With home COVID testing now readily available, some might be saving for when they need to test, but how long can you actually wait?
According to the US Food and Drug Administration, tests, including those sent to Americans by the government for free, may expire.
“COVID-19 tests and the parts that make them up can degrade or break down over time,” the FDA states on its website. “For this reason, expired test kits could give inaccurate test results.”
The duration of the tests will depend on the manufacturer.
Late last month, the FDA extended the shelf life of iHealth’s rapid home tests to nine months. This test brand was among those distributed free of charge by the government.
The problem? Tests should be stored between 2 and 30 degrees Celsius, or between 35 and 86 degrees Farenheit.
Similarly, in January, the FDA extended the shelf life of BinaxNOW tests to 15 months – for tests stored at room temperature.
Typically, the FDA says COVID tests expire between four and six months from the date the test was manufactured.
“COVID-19 test makers perform studies to show how long after manufacture COVID-19 tests work as accurately as the day the test was manufactured,” the FDA reports. “Because it takes time for test manufacturers to perform stability testing, the FDA typically allows at-home COVID-19 testing with an expiration date of approximately four to six months from the day the test was tested. manufactured, based on the initial results of the study.”
But once additional studies are completed, manufacturers can request extended expirations.
“Once the test manufacturer has more stability test results, such as 12 or 18 months, the test manufacturer can contact the FDA to request that the FDA allow a longer expiration date,” as seen with iHealth, according to the agency.
The FDA has said it does not recommend using a test after the stated expiration date.


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VCCircle Digital Gaming Investment Forum held on July 28 in Mumbai examined the possibility of a gaming revolution in India and also set a stage for over 150 entrepreneurs, private equity and venture capital investors to unravel exciting business models in gaming - such as social networking and mobile gaming segments, innovations. Here is a quick vox-pop on what attendees have to say.
VCCircle Digital Gaming Investment Forum And Why Participants Liked It
By VCC Staff
- 12 Apr 2012


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POOLE has celebrated its annual tourism awards ceremony, The Palms, for the fifth time.
Over 90 key tourism and business figures gathered at the Harbour Heights restaurant to celebrate the high standard of tourism operators and businesses in the town.
Bruce Grant-Braham, chairman of the Poole Tourism Management Board, said: "Poole businesses are leading the way and setting even higher standards which exceed customers expectations year on year."
The Les Bouviers Restaurant with rooms was named Development of the Year for providing Poole's only five star guest graded accommodation and the growth of Poole Park Fest from a small community event to 25,000 spectators this year earned Promotion of the Year.
Tourism personality of the Year was awarded to John Corderoy, owner and managing director of Tower Park based Breeze Volkswagen, for his personal support and sponsorship of tourism events.
A special judges award was also presented to The Lost Quay street theatre by Fladermouse Productions, which brought Poole's rich history to life with stories about the infamous pirate Harry Paye.
Jonathan Sibbett, director at Sibbett Gregory, said: "We are proud to sponsor this event as Poole has an excellent tourism product which serves to make the town attractive not just to visitors and residents but to people wanting to invest and grow in this vibrant town.
"The Palms is a fantastic way to reward those businesses and individuals who have invested both their enthusiasm and commitment to play their full part in Poole's reputation for excellence."


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Slow Food movement profiled in Columbus Alive!
From Columbus Alive!
Kitchen Ink: Slow & Steady
by G.A. Benton
It looks like the Slow Food movement is growing pretty fast. Witness the vigorous interest shown in the local chapter’s upcoming dinner at Rigsby’s – by the time you read this, the $65, five-course wine meal likely will be sold out.
Shortly after moving to Columbus last year, Colleen Braumoeller noticed that our town wasn’t represented in the Slow Food USA organization and so she decided to start a local branch (called a “convivium”) herself. The still-growing collection of like-minded real-deal diners has conducted several intriguing and green-leaning events, like locavore farm dinners and an inspired Ohio vs. Michigan state-made wine taste-off held during the week of the big game.


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Link2City’s Community Initiative for January 2021: Identifying and Cleaning Up Toxic Backlinks
Link2City, a Miami-based digital marketing agency, has launched its new monthly initiative to support local businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.
FLORIDA, Jan 18, 2021 — Led by Danny Sibai, Link2City has consistently delivered digital marketing solutions with a focus on supporting small, local businesses that have been disproportionately affected by the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Every month since the beginning of the outbreak, the Miami SEO Agency has helped local businesses strengthen key elements of their online presence — e.g., Page Speed, Browser Compatibility, ADA Compliance, etc. — to ensure that their digital marketing efforts are as efficient as possible. The trend continues in 2021 as well; for January, their focus area is “toxic backlinks.”
What are toxic backlinks, and how do they affect a business’s online presence?
Backlinks are at the forefront of every good search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. As a matter of fact, they are one of Google’s top three ranking factors; the other two are content and RankBrain. Important as they are, not all backlinks are equal.
There are high-quality backlinks that can positively impact a business’s visibility on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) and ultimately bring in a plethora of quality traffic to its website. Because high-quality links come from trusted sources with a high Domain Authority (DA), they can also help a business to become an authoritative voice in its niche.
Then there are toxic links (often referred to as bad links, spammy links, or unnatural links) that could negatively affect a business website, endangering its search engine rankings, organic traffic, and, as a result, revenue. These low-quality backlinks can also deteriorate a business’s brand identity by virtue of association with untrusted websites (such as spam websites, virus-infected websites, private blog networks (PBNs), or websites that have not been indexed by Google). In addition to affecting a business’s online marketing efforts, toxic backlinks are also heavily penalized by Google as they intend to manipulate PageRank, which is a violation of the Google Webmaster Guidelines.
How Will Link2City Help?
Link2City has announced its new monthly strategy to support the digital marketing efforts of small businesses and bring up their cash flow as they enter 2021. As part of this new action plan, Link2City is offering eligible local businesses a comprehensive toxic backlink audit to help them proactively identify any issues and areas of concern with their link quality so that they can take action to improve their site’s organic performance.
With a comprehensive backlink audit, Link2City aims to help local businesses get a bird’s-eye view of their website’s backlink profile and identify toxic links before low-quality links can do some serious damage to their online presence. Once identified, these links can be removed to raise the bar on a business’s SEO for higher ranks and more qualified traffic.
Any small business owner who wants to take advantage of Link2City’s toxic backlink audit can visit their “Annual Checkup Digital Strategy for 2021” or call them directly at (305) 259-7776.
Link2City is a full-service digital marketing agency based in Miami, Florida. They offer a wide range of integrated marketing and website development services to help businesses build their brand and increase their bottom line. Link2City has been serving businesses for about two decades and has received multiple Business Excellence Awards for its innovative digital marketing solutions.
13501 SW 136 Street – Suite 203 Miami, Florida 33186 – USA


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Qualcomm’s CEO, Paul Jacobs, has confirmed today that the chip giant is working on a 1.5GHz Snapdragon processor with plans to release it in late 2011.
The announcement was made at the Innovation Qualcomm event in London, where Jacobs said “we have a 1.5GHz processor coming,” which should see their way into a number of new smartphones and tablets, primarily of the Android variety.
Jacobs also said that the 1.2GHz Snapdragon processor it announced in June would appear in new devices within the first quarter of 2011.
Qualcomm was the first to release a 1GHz processor for mobile devices and many handset manufacturers used the Snapdragon processor to boost speeds over the main rival, Apple’s iPhone, which at the time was still at half that speed. HTC chose it for the successful Desire and Droid Incredible and also used it for Google’s self-branded Nexus One, making it a kind of flagship processor for the Android market.
HTC planned to get dual-core 2GHz smartphones on the market by the end of the year, with speculation surfacing that a new phone called the HTC Glacier would tout one of Qualcomm’s new dual-core processors by the end of 2010, which was when Qualcomm originally planned to have its 1.5GHz processor out.
This now appears unlikely, with both of the new Snapdragon processors pushed back to a 2011 release, which may mean delays for HTC or the possibility of a different chip partner.
In the presentation it was suggested that the new processor would be available in early 2011, perhaps even launching at the Mobile World Congress 2011 event in Barcelona in February, but it was later confirmed to Recombu that Qualcomm made a mistake with the date given and it would in fact release in late 2011 instead.


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The pandemic has accelerated people's sense of belonging, with 50% now saying they have a stronger emotional connection to their local community (Posterscope, 2020). This is driving customers to take a stand on local issues, wanting to engage with brands who are focused on making a difference in society.
With the issue of food poverty being discussed nationally in the UK right now, brands and supermarkets are partnering with charities to provide food and emotional support to help the local communities they operate in.
Co-op and Pret A Manger are partnering with Deliveroo to deliver surplus food to charities Felix Project and FareShare. The charities will then redistribute the food to local charities, food banks and vulnerable families. This new partnership not only aims to tackle food poverty but reduce food waste.
John Lewis and Waitrose are launching an appeal to raise £5 million for FareShare and Home-Start as part of their Christmas campaign. Customers will be encouraged to donate to both charities in different ways e.g. through purchasing exclusive products or activating a donation through using their loyalty cards.
Amazon launches one-hour pickup at US Whole Foods Market locations for Prime members
Tesco starts delivering groceries via drone in Ireland
Nordstrom Local expands to two more LA locations
Hilton UK partners with electric bike brand Lime to help guests travel around London safely
John Lewis & Partners Christmas campaign will coincide with a fundraising campaign of £5m to tackle food poverty
Co-op and Pret A Manger are partnering with Deliveroo to deliver surplus food to charities and food banks
LVMH will acquire Tiffany for $15.8B
Primark has joined the United Nations Fashion Charter, as it pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030
John Lewis plans to convert 45% of its London Oxford Street flagship into office space
Bobbi Brown launches new clean beauty brand called Jones Road
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- Business of Brands
- 4 min read
A silver lining for FMCG firms in H2 amid rising inflation
Consumer product companies expect a recovery in demand and profitability during the second half of the financial year due to good monsoon, elevated farm prices, fading inflationary pressures in the coming months, and the 'low base' effect, even as they face slowing demand in the current quarter
"Given the forecast for a normal monsoon this year coupled with a good harvest and farmers getting better prices for their crop, I am hopeful of a faster rural recovery. While there is an immediate pressure, we expect rural demand to recover by end-June this year," said Mohit Malhotra, chief executive officer at Dabur India.
During the Jan-March quarter earnings performance, most companies blamed slowdown in the rural market for dragging the overall growth. However, expectations of a normal monsoon and elevated food prices have brightened the outlook for rural income in rabi and kharif season for FY23. In addition, non-agri wage growth has started to improve, up 4.2% in the second half of last fiscal after declining 0.5% in early FY22.
Volume, or unit sales, of daily consumer products people bought fell 4.1% year on year during the March quarter.
Decline Sharper in Rural Areas
During the quarter, shoppers cut back on household spending due to inflation and the Omicron wave dented sales, industry officials said, quoting Nielsen data. This was the second consecutive quarterly decline in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) market after a 2.6% volume decline in the December quarter. The decline was sharper in rural areas that saw volume growth shrink by 5.3% during the March quarter while urban markets fell by 3.2%.
Marico Ltd managing director Saugata Gupta said FMCG market growth constituted a challenge in the near term due to high inflation and high base, but demand and volume growth should improve towards the end of the September quarter. "This would be driven by the significant steps the government is taking to control inflation and lower base of the previous year. Even rural demand should improve in the next four to five months with projections of a normal monsoon and stability in inflation," said Gupta.
The government took a series of measures in order to cool inflationary pressures including reduced central excise duty on fuel, provide subsidy on gas cylinders and increased fertiliser subsidy. "These interventions are likely to reduce inflation directly by 25 basis points, while indirect benefit can be another 25 bps. We expect inflation to average at 6-6.3% in FY23," said a recent report by Antique Broking. The lifting of a ban on palm oil export by Indonesia from Monday will aid margins too, which in turn, could slow down price increases that the companies have been making since several months.
Emami Ltd vice chairman Mohan Goenka said while overall FMCG demand has been subdued, the summer products portfolio has registered double-digit growth for the first time in three years. "Inflation is impacting the recovery, but we expect a recovery within the next two quarters. The government has already taken steps to control inflation and markets are wide open. If more stimulus is given by the government and there is normal monsoon, the recovery could be even earlier, including rural markets," he said.
Companies, however, said a bulk of their growth could still be driven by price increases and not by greater unit sales, especially in discretionary categories. "Consumers are getting impacted by inflation in almost everything they buy and consume. This will lead to conservation in the form of controlled consumption or downtrading in the next two quarters. While the impact on essentials will be marginal, other purchases may get postponed," said Varun Berry, managing director at Britannia Industries.
Godrej Consumer Products said it anticipates a double-digit top line growth with low-single digit volume growth. "Bottom line is hard to predict, but if the cost moderated to Malaysian ringgit 6,000 for palm oil, about 7% to 8% lower than where they are today and $100 for crude, we should see some margin expansion especially in the second half of the year," Sudhir Sitapati, managing director at Godrej Consumer Products, said during its earnings investor call.
The consumer electronics industry had forecast a recovery of mass segment products and a revival in rural markets in the second half of this fiscal, but price increases of raw materials and consequentially final products will delay the recovery, industry executives said. Around 50-55% of the input cost are imported hence the industry expects prices will continue to go up by 5-6% every quarter. Prices have gone up by 10-12% already including the latest increase this month.
"Consumers of entry-level products are withholding discretionary purchases and buying electronic products only when there is a necessity. So the boom in AC and refrigerator purchases due to the heat wave may die down due to product price increases and overall inflationary environment," said Godrej Appliances business head Kamal Nandi.


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WASHINGTON, March 6 (UPI) -- The Commerce Department said Thursday that orders for manufactured goods jumped 2.1 percent in January to $327.1 billion -- their highest level in 20 months.
Most economists on Wall Street were expecting new orders placed with U.S. factories to rise 1.9 percent during the month after rising 0.3 percent in December and falling 0.8 percent in November..
The report showed the gain was paced by a 14.6 percent gain in orders for autos and auto parts.
Investors watch the report to keep their finger on the pulse of the economy because it usually dictates how various types of investments will perform.
The stock market likes to see healthy economic growth because that translates to higher corporate profits. The bond market prefers more moderate growth which is less likely to cause inflationary pressures. By tracking economic data like factory orders, investors will know what the economic backdrop is for these markets and their portfolios.
The report shows how busy factories will be in coming months as manufacturers work to fill those orders.
This report provides insight to the demand for not only hard goods such as refrigerators and cars, but nondurables such as cigarettes and apparel. In addition to new orders, analysts monitor unfilled orders, an indicator of the backlog in production. Shipments reveal current sales. Inventories give a handle on the strength of current and future production.
All in all, this report tells investors what to expect from the manufacturing sector, a major component of the economy and therefore a major influence on their investments.
The latest report from the Commerce Department showed excluding transportation equipment, orders rose 1.5 percent after rising 0.9 percent in December.
Orders for non-durable goods, which include industrial chemicals, drugs, papers and textiles, rose 1.2 percent after rising 1.1 percent during the previous month.
Orders for petroleum products rose 5.1 percent after jumping 6.5 percent a month earlier.
New orders for durable goods, which account for more than half of the report, rose 2.9 percent after slipping 0.2 percent in December. Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft jumped 4.5 percent after falling 0.3 percent a month earlier.
Non-defense shipments, which economists consider a proxy for current business investment in computers and software, rose 4.5 percent after falling 0.6 percent in December.
Shipments of capital goods, which are used in calculating gross domestic product, rose 3.2 percent after declining 1.3 percent a month earlier.
The report no longer includes orders for semiconductors after chipmakers stopped taking part in the voluntary government survey. Chips had accounted for as much as 4 percent of all durable goods orders.


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An early poll of analysts suggest that Samsung has finally overtaken Nokia in global mobile phone sales (smartphone and feature phones) in Q1 2012, after a 14-year reign at the top by the Finnish mobile giant, since 1998 when it overtook Motorola.
Samsung is thought to have sold between 88 to 92 million cell phones in Q1 2012, with Nokia officially selling 83 million. In the last quarter (Q4 2011), when Apple retook the smartphone crown, Nokia had remained on top of the overall global mobile phone sales graph – with 23.4 percent market share. Samsung was second, with 19 percent share, and Apple, surprisingly, without any feature phones on offer, was third, with ZTE and LG following.
Official quarterly results from Samsung and other manufacturers are still due, and we’ll have to wait till then for confirmation of market positions. The sudden drop in Nokia’s share is expected to have occurred in February and March, with an early January poll of analysts predicting the Finnish giant will retain overall dominance.
In Q1 2012, Nokia is thought to have sold only 12 million smartphones, and 71 million feature phones – a ratio that shows just how badly Nokia is losing out in the global smartphone segment, with companies like Apple shipping nearly three times as many iPhones in the last quarter of 2011.
Nokia’s recently been facing some tough times in the PR sphere, acknowledging software errors in both its flagship Nokia Windows Phones – the Lumia 900 and Lumia 800, shortly after their launches. In the former case, the company even offered $100 rebates to all customers, effectively making the Lumia 900 free.


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As the Covid-19 lockdowns lift around the country it is time to update our FirstLook Market Alert on pre-owned vehicle values. Here are the major headlines:
- “We’re back!” As states open across the country we are seeing people emerge with savings from two months of being holed up at home (along with canceled vacation savings) and are catching up on their spending.
- Pre-owned sales came back in May and continue in June.
(May sales were up 6% year over year nationally)
- The federal Payroll Protection Program started in late April lifting employment rolls from modern record lows.
- Stimulus checks did what they were designed to do - drive spending.
- “The most common down payment last month was $1,200”
- Factories’ struggles to ramp up production are dampening new vehicle sales which further boosted used vehicle sales and values.
- Despite being the world’s leading manufacturing industry, automakers have generally struggled to ramp production back up as quickly as other industries.
- Auto auctions have been slow to ramp up backend operations which has limited supply.
- "We still got this bottleneck that's happening, where the auctions are not back to full staff," Laura Wehunt, vice president of vehicle valuations at Black Book told Automotive News. This means vehicles are sometimes not getting checked in, reconditioned and posted for sale as quickly as they normally would.
- Economists big worry is what happens when the stimulus and supplemental unemployment benefits “steroids wear off” later this summer.
- The Fed Chairman has cautioned Congress that they do not expect employment to bounce back fully as many laid off employees will not be recalled and will be unable to find work in their industry as companies use the crisis to get lean permanently.
- Bottom Line: The recession looks more likely to be mild instead of severe - make the most of the post-lockdown boom but don’t assume that the rest of the year will look like June unless another massive stimulus is passed in the coming weeks.
- “The other shoe hasn’t dropped yet.” Auto finance companies artfully dodged a bullet this spring by aggressively extending leases (so aggressively that more than a dozen attorney generals admonished them). This allowed them to push off the major off-lease overhang until markets opened up again.
- 560,000 additional lease returns have been pushed into the second half of the year along with 250,000 rental cars continuing to be liquidated, moving price pressure from the Spring into the later Summer/Fall.
- Institutional remarketers have been very disciplined in liquidating their inventories and have taken advantage of the struggles of new car factories to limit the damage to vehicle values.
- Bottom Line: The result is that the decline in pre-owned vehicle values, forecast to bottom out at an average of -10% to -12% in our mild recession scenario, is mostly ahead of us.
- As Tom Kontos chief economist at KAR Global told Automotive News: "We really haven't dealt with the supply that's out there yet.” The likely influx of vehicles, coupled with economic uncertainty, is why industry observers foresee a period of volatility this summer and fall. While the rebound in retail sales already happening should help offset the disruption, uncertainty abounds. Many millions of Americans are still out of work, and increased unemployment benefits put in place because of the pandemic are set to end in July.
- Black Book echoed a similar sentiment in its latest analysis: “At the same time, we expect a large, incremental influx of used inventory to hit the marketplace over the next six months, coming from prolonged lease return delays, downsizing of rental fleets (including the expected sell-off of a large number of Hertz’s units), increased repossessions, and un-sold inventory from the March-May time period.”
- The impact will vary significantly by segment. Given the complex dynamics at work, the impact of the drop in values will vary dramatically. For example:
- Pickup trucks will generally hold value.
- Last month SUVs, Crossovers and Light Pickup Trucks represented 78% of vehicles sold vs 65% two years ago and 71% at the beginning of this year.
- This is driven by low fuel prices and lower interest rates.
- Light pickup truck prices are not going to get better for a while given the shortage of used supply (they aren’t common in rental fleets and were a lower portion of sales in 2017 when current lease returns were originally sold). Until factories ramp up enough production of new pickup trucks to make up the gap, the used market will be tight.
- The values of sedans and other passenger cars are likely to be hit harder.
- With all passenger cars only representing 22% of recent new sales, there is a significant excess of supply of these vehicles in rental car liquidations and the 2017s returning off-lease which will pressure prices down as these vehicles hit the wholesale market later this summer and fall.
- This was the first time that pickup trucks surpassed cars in market share and reflects the long evolving move towards SUV/Crossovers and Pickup Trucks reaching shocking new heights.
- For the latest forecasts check out your FirstLook Pricing Alerts or our price forecasting dashboard.
The Path Ahead: Remain flexible as conditions change. Keep an eye on the auctions, changing new car supply and consumer demand as the stimulus wears off. You know your market and customers better than anyone. Remain disciplined and use all the market data available, paired with your sales data and local understanding to help your dealership perform well in these turbulent times.


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Over the weekend the humble Toyota Corolla surpassed 10 million in domestic sales, and Toyota Japan released a small video to in honor of the occasion. Of course the Corolla is already entered the record books in late 2013 for racking up 40 million in worldwide sales, but considering the fact that Japan has a population of just 127 million, those are pretty stellar numbers. The second-best selling car, the VW Beetle — which was still being built in Mexico until 2003 — doesn’t even come close at 21.5 million.
The video gathers together seven artists to sing the 1931 Japanese standard 丘を越えて (Beyond the hills) while generations of Corollas and their sales numbers flash by. There’s even some cartoon 2000GTs in the mix. It’s not clear whether Sprinters or Levins are included in the final tally.
To get an idea of how many Corollas 40 million is, if parked end to end they’d wrap the equator four times. In the time it took you to watch that minute-and-a-half video, three Corollas were built and sold. Toyota estimates that about 26 million are still on the roads, spread across the 150 countries where they are sold.


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In the past, the Marist MPorium (the college’s on-campus boutique located in the Donnelly Fashion Plaza) has done a world of good by designating specific days in which they donate a portion of their proceeds to a worthy cause. On Wednesday, April 4, Autism Speaks U is collaborating with the MPorium for an event that is sure to be incredible!
Between the hours of 11 am – 3 pm, 15% of all MPorium proceeds will be donated to an amazing cause: Autism Speaks U. Shoppers will also have the opportunity to purchase a blue bracelet, and all proceeds from that sale will go directly to the foundation.
This isn’t the first time Autism U has gotten involved on-campus. According to Maura Sullivan, the President of Autism Speaks U Marist, the club “has always put a focus on collaborations with other clubs to increase interest and engagement with different organizations on campus.” Previously this has included the ASU yoga event, the annual Color Run in April, and a collaboration with Best Buddies and the Marist Ice Hockey team on the ‘Disable the Label’ game. It is also the national charitable organization of the on-campus fraternity Theta Delta Chi.
Sullivan continues to add that she is thrilled to add the MPorium to the list of clubs Autism Speaks U has joined forces with. “We are so excited for the pop up on April 4th and hope we can reach new people on the Marist campus that can help us raise awareness for those with Autism,” Sullivan adds.
Senior Katie Heaton, a member of the Fashion Entrepreneurship class which runs the boutique, is very excited for the event. “The Autism Speaks event is super important because it raises money and awareness for an important cause that hits home for so many people,” Heaton says.
Sullivan wholeheartedly agrees. “I have always been so passionate about Autism Speaks and love giving back,” she says. “My board has been very supportive of our initiatives this year and we are so excited to work with a new group on campus. We hope that we can continue to work with MPorium in the future!”
This event, truly for a terrific cause, is sure to be a tremendous success.