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Plaza Retail Reit (PLZ.UN) Price Target Lowered to C$4.75 at Royal Bank Of Canada
Plaza Retail Reit (TSE:PLZ.UN) had its price objective reduced by Royal Bank Of Canada from C$5.00 to C$4.75 in a research note published on Monday morning. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock.
Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a C$5.25 target price on shares of Plaza Retail Reit in a research note on Monday, August 21st. Laurentian Bank of Canada reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a C$5.25 target price on shares of Plaza Retail Reit in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Canaccord Genuity reduced their target price on shares of Plaza Retail Reit from C$5.25 to C$5.00 in a research note on Monday, October 30th. Laurentian set a C$5.25 target price on shares of Plaza Retail Reit and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, Desjardins raised shares of Plaza Retail Reit from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a C$5.25 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. The company presently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus price target of C$5.08.
Plaza Retail Reit (TSE PLZ.UN) traded down C$0.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching C$4.33. The company had a trading volume of 24,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 49,845. Plaza Retail Reit has a 12-month low of C$4.27 and a 12-month high of C$5.18.
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Nissan Qashqai in production
Nissan topped off its 30th anniversary in the UK in style after announcing it produced over half a million vehicles at its Sunderland plant last year.
Nissan recorded a significant 30th anniversary in the UK in 2016, with output of more than 500,000 vehicles, cementing its position as the largest British car plant in history.
Production in Sunderland of 507,430 vehicles last year was the second highest total in the plant’s history.
Highlights included record volumes of the all-electric LEAF and the 2nd generation Qashqai, with the original crossover now made on both production lines for the first time.
And 2017 is set to be another big year for Nissan in Sunderland. Total volume at the plant is now approaching 9 million since the first car rolled off the line in 1986.
Other milestones on the horizon include the launch of a refreshed Qashqai, and the introduction of Autonomous Drive technology.
Kevin Fitzpatrick, Nissan divisional vice president, European manufacturing, said: “Since the birth of our factory three decades ago, North East England has become one of the major international automotive centres.
“Britain is now home to Nissan’s best-selling and most technologically-advanced models in Europe, covering our market-leading crossover range, the world’s best-selling electric vehicle and two premium models for global export.
“This has been achieved through hard work, innovative thinking, ingenuity and strong partnerships with forward-thinking local companies. With future models secured and new facilities in development, congratulations to all of my colleagues in Sunderland and across the UK on another great year.”
Following the start of production of the Infiniti Q30 in late 2015, a second Infiniti model, the QX30, went into production for global markets in 2016 – which also represented the first time vehicles have been exported from Sunderland to the USA and China.
Other highlights in 2016 included the installation of 19,000 new solar panels alongside the plant’s existing 10 wind turbines, taking the contribution of renewables to 7% of the plant’s total electricity requirements.
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Looking ahead, new facilities under development at the company’s Sunderland plant include a new £37m Extra Large Press line, due to start production in the coming weeks. Other investment announced in 2016 includes the £22m Qashqai capacity expansion and £26.5m in manufacturing a future generation of electric vehicle (EV) batteries in the UK.
In addition to the company’s £3bn annual injection into the British economy through suppliers, services and wages, £650m ongoing investment in new facilities and future models in Sunderland will take the total capital investment by Nissan in the plant since it opened to beyond £4bn.
Cllr Paul Watson, leader of Sunderland City Council, said: “Nissan’s continued excellent performance at its Sunderland plant is great news for the city, the region and the UK. We have the UK’s largest car factory and the strongest automotive component supply chain all within our city.
“Sunderland’s central location in the UK, excellent infrastructure, UK and Europe leading connectivity all contribute to producing the tangible results we’re seeing.
“Now we have the funding in place for the International Advanced Manufacturing Park, located just north of Nissan’s plant, we are set to create further growth, thanks both to the number of jobs it will provide and the high-quality of the jobs in the industries the IAMP will attract.
“The city’s long-term plan for targeted growth underpins its continued success in attracting automotive, hi-tech and advanced manufacturing companies from countries worldwide.”
Nissan’s continuing investment in the UK has been supported by several previously announced UK Government grants for innovation and energy efficiency projects, including future-generation EV batteries (£7.1m).
Employment in Nissan’s UK design studio (Paddington, London), technical centre (Cranfield Bedfordshire), manufacturing plant (Sunderland, Tyne and Wear) and sales and marketing operations (Maple Cross, Hertfordshire) now totals more than 8,000.
A further 28,000 jobs in Nissan’s UK supply chain and 4,000 in its UK dealer network takes the total British jobs supported by Nissan to more than 40,000.
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Adobe has announced new 3D printing capabilities for its flagship Photoshop Creative Cloud (CC). According to Adobe VP Winston Hendrickson, the latest features will allow users to more easily build, refine, preview, prepare and print 3D designs – setting the stage for explosive growth in the 3D printing market.
“The new 3D printing capabilities also help creatives to design in 3D from scratch or refine an existing 3D model and produce beautiful, print-ready 3D models using familiar Photoshop tools,” Hendrickson explained. ”Automated mesh repair and support structure generation ensure models will be produced reliably, while accurate previews allow creatives to submit print jobs with confidence.”
Hendrickson also noted that the new 3D print capabilities in Photoshop CC will help take the “guess work” out of printing 3D models for everyone.
“Before today there was a gap between the content produced by 3D modeling tools and what 3D printers need in order to deliver high quality results,” he added. “Now, by simply clicking ‘Print’ in Photoshop CC, creatives can bring 3D designs to the physical world.”
Indeed, designs can be printed to a locally connected 3D printer or via built-in access to popular online 3D print services. As expected, Photoshop CC supports the most popular desktop 3D printers, such as the Atmel-powered MakerBot Replicator. In addition, Photoshop CC also supports the full range of high quality materials available on Shapeways – the 3D printing community and marketplace – including ceramics, metals and full color sandstone.
Last, but certainly not least, Photoshop users can now directly upload their 3D models to the Sketchfab 3D publishing service, while embedding them in their Behance profile using Sketchfab’s interactive 3D viewer.
As we’ve previously discussed on Bits & Pieces, the DIY Maker Movement has been using Atmel-powered 3D printers like MakerBot and RepRap for some time now. However, 3D printing has clearly entered a new and important stage in a number of spaces including the medical sphere, architectural arena and science lab. To be sure, the meteoric rise of 3D printing has paved the way for a new generation of Internet entrepreneurs, Makers and do-it-yourself (DIY) manufacturers. As such, the lucrative 3D printing industry remains on track to be worth a staggering $3 billion by 2016.


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With the decision, announced by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, Italy has engineered nearly as thorough a commercial halt as seems imaginable.
Once the decree takes effect — Conte did not specify when — only the most essential parts of society will continue to function. Farms can still produce food, and factories can still churn out products, but people will have almost no reason to leave the house.
“You’re changing your life’s habits, making sacrifices, but these renunciations are offering a great, precious contribution to the country,” Conte said. “Italy is showing it’s a great community, united and responsible.”


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In 2015 Larry Page handed over Google’s CEO position to Sundar Pichai and became CEO of the new holding company Alphabet Inc., which was set up as an owner of Google. Some other former Google projects were transformed to separate companies under Alphabet too. However, despite the impressive focus on these “Big Bet” investments in innovations, looking back, many of those projects ended up without any tangible business result to show for it. Not so much because they failed in the technology part, but mainly because Google failed to create a sustainable business out of them. Larry Page owned 779 million shares in Alphabet and controlled 3,891 million shareholder votes as of December 2022. It manages other people’s money through its mutual funds and exchange-traded funds and also offers other related investing and financial planning services.
While the failed startups never go beyond this stage, the one’s that do, proceed to the Series A round. Pre-seed Funding- This is the earliest stage of a startup, and the funding here is mostly the initial investment in the idea and is done by the founders themselves. This stage isn’t even officially included in the funding rounds, however, it is where a startup begins. Even when, back in the 2000s, a “grown-up” CEO, Erick Schmidt, was brought in, Brin and Page still had more than 50% of the voting power. The company has adopted several collective decision-making systems over the years. If we look at the individuals owning the company, we have Larr Page and Sergey Brin, which together have 51% of the voting power.
- Its search engine alone processes billions of queries daily, and its other products, like YouTube and Gmail, have similarly massive user bases.
- Its investment portfolio includes companies such as GitLab, Verve, Stripe, Bowery, Dapper Labs, Determined AI, and Nimble.
- As of December 2022, the market value of Vanguard’s stake in Alphabet was $80.1 billion.
- But not everybody was persuaded that the acquisition made sense at the time.
Before 2004, Schmidt made $250,000 per year, and Page and Brin each received an annual salary of $150,000. In April 2021, The Wall Street Journal reported that Google ran a years-long program called ‘Project Bernanke’ that used data from past advertising bids to gain an advantage over competing ad services. This was revealed in documents concerning the antitrust lawsuit filed by ten US states against Google in December. In June 2005, Google was valued at nearly $52 billion, making it one of the world’s biggest media companies by stock market value. In March 1999, the company moved into offices at 165 University Avenue in Palo Alto, home to several other noted Silicon Valley technology startups. After quickly outgrowing two other sites, the company leased a complex of buildings in Mountain View at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway from Silicon Graphics in 2003.
Héctor García-Molina and Jeff Ullman were also cited as contributors to the project. While conventional search engines ranked results by counting how many times the search terms appeared on the page, they theorized about a better system that analyzed the relationships among websites. They called this algorithm PageRank; it determined a website’s relevance by the number of pages, and the importance of those pages that linked back to the original site. Page told his ideas to Hassan, who began writing the code to implement Page’s ideas. Google began in January 1996 as a research project by Larry Page and Sergey Brin when they were both PhD students at Stanford University in California. Alphabet is owned by a number of shareholders, with American investment advisors The Vangaard group owning the most with seven per cent.
Who are the founders of Google?
Eric Schmidt as chairman and chief executive officer of the company. Schmidt, who previously had held the same positions at the software company Novell Inc., had a doctorate in computer science and melded well with the technocratic impulses of the founders. During Schmidt’s reign as CEO, Page served as president of products, and Brin was president of technology.
Vanguard owned 905 million shares in Alphabet and controlled 482 million shareholder votes as of December 2022. The two largest Alphabet owners are asset management giants Vanguard, which owns a 7.0% share, and BlackRock, with a 6% share.Vanguard and BlackRock are the two largest asset managers in the world. Therefore it is hardly surprising they are also among the largest shareholders of Alphabet .
Its creations include a neural network that systematically learns how to play video games in the way a human would, and the Neural Turing machine, which mimics the short-term memory of our brains. Its primary product is the GIF Keyboard, which lets users find and share GIFs on apps of their choice, putting it in direct competition with Giphy. Silicon Valley-based predictive analytics firm and provider of API management Apigee was acquired by Google in 2016 for $625m. These are no doubt critical milestones in the firm’s incredible history, but it has also absorbed a number of smaller companies you may know less about.
Not necessarily, as is apparent from the last couple of years when Larry and Sergey are still selling shares, but their voting power is stuck slightly above 50%. This is possible thanks to Alphabet Inc. buying back a massive amount of its own shares each year. Nobody from the board of directors or executive officers holds more than 0.05% of Alphabet’s shares, except for founders Larry and Sergey. Later in 2014, the company issued new Class C shares with no voting rights that are traded under the ticker “GOOG”.
Alphabet: An Overview
Private equity firm Hellman & Friedman paid $1.1 billion in a « take-private » transaction to become majority owners of the company in 2005. Fitbit was founded in 2007 by James Park and Eric Friedman, whose goal was to create a wearable product that leveraged wireless technology to enhance users’ health and fitness. The company’s products include smartwatches, armband fitness trackers, a digital fitness tracking application, and related gear, accessories, and services.
Sundar Pichai is the CEO of Google and also became the CEO of Alphabet in December 2019, replacing Larry Page. Now let’s take a look at the breakdown of all issued stocks as of December 2018 by stock class. Let’s take a second look at the difference between the owner of an Alphabet equity and the owner of a vote in a more visual way. We have included all shareholders with at least a 5% share in any of Alphabet’s three stock classes. « Google’s executives are driven by wanting to have start-ups… they want to have a portfolio of start-ups, » says Mark Bergen of online technology publication Recode.
The majority of Alphabet’s revenue is generated from advertising. The company offers performance advertising, which allows advertisers to connect with their users with measurable results. It also sells brand advertising, which aims to enhance users’ awareness and affinity with brands.
Its search engine alone processes billions of queries daily, and its other products, like YouTube and Gmail, have similarly massive user bases. This has made Google and its parent company, AlphabetAlphabet, incredibly influential in shaping how we interact with and consume information on the internet. Who owns google companyOwning Class B shares is the key to Larry and Sergey controlling Alphabet .
Industry: Social MediaGV Investment: $33 Million
However, the most commonly known and used Google services are Gmail, Youtube, Docs, Photos, Calendar, Translate, and Google Play. On the other side, Android Auto, Android O.S., Chromebook, and Android T.V. Brin is currently the shareholder with the second-largest stake of Alphabet Class C shares, holding approximately 38.9 million shares. The key was to leverage Web users’ own ranking abilities by tracking each Web site’s “backing links”—that is, the number of other pages linked to them.
Larry Page is the 6th wealthiest person globally while Sergey Brin is the world’s 7th richest individual. As at this writing or this article, Larry Page has approximately 40.1 million Class C shares in Alphabet. Google was created by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1998 when they were Computer Science graduate students at Stanford University.
A bit of History
Investors made a deal with the founders and agreed to their super-voting status. Moreover, if Larry’s and Sergey’s combined share of votes falls below 34%, they are allowed to start selling C shares only. This provision will enable them to keep their share at the 34% level for a very long time unless they find some new, ridiculously expensive hobby requiring liquidating all of Alphabet’s stocks.
YouTube was founded in 2005 by three former PayPal employees who believed that ordinary peopled would enjoy sharing their homemade videos online. By the summer of 2006, YouTube was already offering more than 100 million videos per day. Both technical problems that accompany rapid growth and lack of commercial success prompted YouTube to begin searching for a buyer. Google announced its intent to purchase publicly-traded cybersecurity firm Mandiant, Inc. on March 8, 2022, for $23 per share—roughly $5.4 billion. The company, which focuses on cybersecurity testing and cyber-incident response, will be folded into Google’s cloud computing business to help better secure cloud data.
Based on this the real owner of Alphabet is Class B shares Holders. Larry Page and Sergey Brin are the real Owners of Google-Based On The Above Details. But who owns google company he does think there are people within the company who genuinely believe in the motto and that that has stopped Google from abusing its dominant position.
Instafollowers blog is the best place to learn to create a social media marketing strategy. With countless valuable content, you can get more followers, likes, and shares on social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok. According to some sources, the Alphabet’s net worth is $992.45 billion on October 9, 2021. You need to reach the current stock price and the number of shares outstanding. When you multiply these variables by each other, you will find the net worth of the company.
« Google’s cofounders are stepping down from their company. Here are 43 photos showing Google’s rise from a Stanford dorm room to global internet superpower ». Following media reports about PRISM, the NSA’s massive electronic surveillance program, in June 2013, several technology companies were identified as participants, including Google. According to unnamed sources, Google joined the PRISM program in 2009, as YouTube in 2010. After U.S. Congressional hearings in July 2020, and a report from the U.S.
Let’s now go through the list of the largest shareholders of Alphabet Inc. one by one and look at who they are, how many shares they own, what is their voting power, and how much is their stake in Alphabet worth. Alphabet’s shareholder with the third-largest voting power is former CEO Eric Schmidt, who controls 4.2% of votes while owning “only” 0.6% of all shares. His voting power is also the result of super-voting shares he and some other shareholders own. Alphabet is controlled by its two founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who together hold 51.2% of all votes, despite owning “only” 11.8% of all shares.
It’s important to note that Class B shares are not publicly traded in stock exchanges. In 2007 Google made its largest acquisition to date, buying online advertising firm DoubleClick for $3.1 billion. Two years later the company responded to the explosive growth of the mobile applications market with a $750 million deal to acquire the mobile advertising network AdMob. All of these purchases were part of Google’s effort to expand from its search engine business into advertising by combining the various firms’ databases of information in order to tailor ads to consumers’ individual preferences.
UK artificial intelligence company DeepMind was founded in 2010 in London, and now has research centres in both California and Canada after being acquired by Google in 2014. Originally founded as Sonoa Systems before a 2010 rebrand, the company offers its services on a subscription basis. So now you must have known that Google Company Belongs To Which Country & Who Owns Google Now?


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Angry Birds crossing the final frontier — Rovio has revealed the newest expansion to its hit Angry Bird Franchise — Angry Birds Space. The game will feature all-new birds and puzzles with a zero gravity twist according to Yahoo! Games’ exclusive report. The game will be released on Mar. 22. NASA and National Geographic are on-board to be launch parters for the title.
Neilsen: Children love tablets — According to a new study by Nielsen, 70 percent of tablet owning households with children under 12 allow children in the household to use the tablet. The most common usage is to play games (77 percent), followed by educational purposes (57 percent).
KongZhong acquires Noumena — Chinese mobile internet provider KongZhong has purchased Noumena, the developer of the Handymo game development engine. Under the terms of the deal KongZhong will pay $15 million USD in cash and provide 40 million ordinary shares for Noumena.
Hironobu Sakaguchi working on iOS games — According to a tweet translated by Andriasang, Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi is working on three games for iOS. No further details were given.
Apple boosts developers cut of iAd revenues — As of Apr. 1, developers will earn 70 percent of all advertising revenue generated from iAd, up from the current 60 percent share they currently receive. Apple has also lowered the minimum campaign cost to $100,000 according to VentureBeat.
Madhouse launches Indian subsidiary — Chinese mobile ad network Madhouse has launched an Indian subsidiary called Madhouse India. Madhouse is the largest mobile ad network in China and has worked with Rovio, EA and China Unicom.
Words With Friends can lead to Romance — Zynga has released some interesting Words With Friends statistics. According to the company, 44 percent of players have admitted to flirting with an online opponent and one in 10 players admitted the game has led to a in-person meeting.
Rovio wins two Toy of the Year awards — Rovio has won the Property of the Year award at the 12th annual Toy Industry Association’s Toy of the Year awards. Rovio won the award for its successful brand expansion through licensed toys and games. The Angry Birds themed Angry Birds Knock on Wood Game by Mattel won the Game of the Year award.
Cellufun crowdsourcing new name — New York-based Cellufun is tempting fate by polling the internet for its new name. Anyone will be able to suggest a name until March 1, after which the company will choose 16 submissions and put them up to popular vote. The user who suggests the winning name will receive $10,000.
Smartphone ownership to reach 1 billion by 2016 — The New York Times reports Forrester Research is predicting more than one billion people will own smartphones by 2016, which will push consumer spending in the mobile app market to $56 billion annually.
Zeptolab announces merchandising deals — Russian developer Zeptolab is following Rovio, Outplay7 and Halfbrick and getting into the merchandise business, announcing a series of deals that will see Cut The Rope branded game controllers, board games and sleepware hit the market.
Former THQ devs go mobile, social with Twiitch — Australian game industry veterans Shane Stevens and Steven Spagnolo, formerly of THQ and Blue Tongue Entertainment, have launched a new independent studio called Twiitch. The company’s first game is iOS physics puzzler Coco Loco, which will be published by EA’s Chillingo. Twiitch is also working on a Facebook game.
[Launch] Flickr co-founder launches Pinwheel — Caterina Fake has unveiled her latest business venture, location-based note sharing app Pinwheel. The app is currently in Beta and has received an undisclosed amount of funding from True Ventures, Betaworks and others according to VentureBeat.
[Launch] Outplay brings Word Trick to iOS — Scottish developer Outplay Entertainment has launched its scrabble-inspired game Facebook game Word Trick on iOS. The game is cross-platform and players can play up to 21 games at once.


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Business at Snohomish County’s hotels and motels was strong enough in December to again outstrip King County. Fifty-eight percent of the county’s rooms were occupied during the month, according to Smith Travel Research Inc. statistics made available Wednesday. For all of 2007, occupancy at the county’s inns rose to an average of 72 percent, topping all other reporting counties in Washington. King County averaged 71.5 percent occupancy for the year.
Starbucks’ profit rises only slightly
Starbucks Corp. said its fiscal first-quarter profit rose by less than 2 percent, and it detailed plans to open fewer U.S. stores and more overseas to revitalize the chain. It plans to close 100 poorly performing U.S. stores. For the 13 weeks ended Dec. 30, Starbucks posted net earnings of $208 million, or 28 cents per share, up from $205 million in the year-ago period. Starbucks shares fell 75 cents to close at $19.22 on Wednesday.
Chinese airline to buy 30 Boeing jets
China Eastern Airlines, China’s third-largest carrier, has agreed to buy 30 single-aisle 737s from the Boeing Co., the airline said Wednesday. The Shanghai-based carrier said the order was for about $1.94 billion, based on catalog prices as of July 2005. Boeing has not reported the order. China Eastern said it is scheduled to receive the jets between 2011 and 2015.
Profit doubles for Amazon.com
Amazon.com Inc.’s fourth-quarter profit more than doubled, helped by fast-growing international sales, the company reported. The Web retailer also issued better-than-expected sales guidance and appeared unconcerned about a possible recession. Amazon’s earnings in the crucial holiday quarter climbed to $207 million, or 48 cents per share, from $98 million, or 23 cents per share, in the same period last year.
Costco loses bid to change wine rules
Costco Wholesale Corp.’s effort to beat Washington’s post-Prohibition liquor laws in hopes of driving down prices for beer and wine came up short, with a three-judge federal appeals court panel saying most of the rules are valid. The ruling from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned decisions by a U.S. District Court.
Dell to close sales kiosks in malls
Dell Inc., which has been pushing its computers into more retail stores, said it will close its 140 shopping mall kiosks in the United States. Dell now sells computers and other devices in more than 10,000 stores around the world, including Wal-Mart and Best Buy. The kiosks, where customers could place orders for delivery, may be losing some of their novelty.
Isuzu to stop selling vehicles in U.S.
Isuzu Motors Ltd. has decided to stop distributing new passenger vehicles in North America as of 2009. The Japanese company blamed the move on General Motors Corp.’s decision to cease production for Isuzu of its sport utility vehicle and pickup trucks. Isuzu sold only 7,098 vehicles in the U.S. in 2007.
From Herald staff
and news services
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Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation Contributions Make Toshiba the Winner of the 2017 MIPI Corporate Award
Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation today announced that Toshiba Corporation (Toshiba Corp.) has received the 2017 MIPI Corporate Award, one of the MIPI® Alliance Membership Awards. The award effectively recognizes the work and achievements of the company, Toshiba Corp’s representatives in the alliance, and its European subsidiary, Toshiba Electronics Europe GmbH, and was presented to Toshiba Corp. as the alliance member. Toshiba Corp. is the first Japanese company to receive the award, which was presented at an awards ceremony held during a member’s meeting luncheon at the Leela Palace, Bangalore, India on October 25.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171026005622/en/
Joel Huloux, Chairman, MIPI Alliance (left) and Ariel Lasry, Chief Engineer, Toshiba Electronics Europe GmbH (right) (Photo: Business Wire)
MIPI Alliance is a collaborative global organization that designs and promotes hardware and software interfaces for mobile devices that simplify component integration. The MIPI Alliance Membership Awards Program annually recognizes outstanding contributions and achievements by individual and corporate members. The MIPI Corporate Award is presented to companies that provide the MIPI Alliance with years of outstanding corporate leadership.
The company, formerly as part of Toshiba’s electronic devices business and today in its present form, has been instrumental in bringing to market important specifications that are widely adopted in mobile applications. The company consistently delivers unbiased support of MIPI® specifications in its IC products, and has helped to pioneer a number of specifications, including UniPro and CSI. It also exercises a leadership role in MIPI Alliance working groups that seek to improve specifications under development and drive consensus for the benefit of the industry as a whole.
Since Toshiba Corp. joined the organization in 2004, it has played a leading role in developing specifications for mobile and mobile-influenced devices, and many specifications developed by the MIPI Alliance are global standards. The company’s “Visconti™” image recognition LSI, interface bridges and high frequency switches, and Toshiba Memory Corporation’s UFS memory chips, all conform with MIPI® specifications, have been adopted in smartphones, consumer and industrial equipment, and automotive systems.
Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation will continue to participate in the MIPI Alliance and to contribute to promotion of MIPI® specifications for the mobile market and new markets.
* MIPI® is a registered trademark of MIPI Alliance, Inc.
* All other company names, product names, and service names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.
About Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation
Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation combines the vigor of a new company with the wisdom of experience. Since being spun off from Toshiba Corporation in July 2017, we have taken our place among the leading general devices companies, and offer our customers and business partners outstanding solutions in discrete semiconductors, system LSIs and HDDs.
Our 19,000 employees around the world share a determination to maximize
the value of our products, and emphasize close collaboration with
customers to promote co-creation of value and new markets. We look
forward to building on annual sales now surpassing 700-billion yen (US$6
billion) and to contributing to a better future for people everywhere.
Find out more about us at https://toshiba.semicon-storage.com/ap-en/company.html
Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation
Motohiro Ajioka, +81-3-3457-3576
Public Relations & Investor Relations Group
Business Planning Division
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Hilton Launches New Brand, Signia Hilton, Delivering Sophisticated Travel While Reimagining Meetings and Events22.2.2019 17:00:00 | Pressemelding
Hilton (NYSE: HLT) today announced the launch of Signia Hilton, its dynamic, new meetings-and-events-focused brand. The portfolio of hotels is setting out to transform the industry for meeting professionals and sophisticated business travelers by infusing state-of-the-art technology and design into every aspect of the guest experience. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190222005071/en/ The brand further reinforces Hilton’s commitment to innovation that meets the evolving needs of today’s travelers and will bring premium experiences to top urban and resort destinations around the world. “In our 100th year of hospitality, we are more focused than ever on providing exceptional experiences to all of our guests – and that includes evolving those experiences to meet their changing needs,” said Christopher J. Nassetta, president and CEO, Hilton. “We are proud to launch Signia Hilton, which exemplifies our innovative sp
Axonics® Granted Expanded CE Mark Label; First and Only Sacral Neuromodulation System Approved for Use with Full-Body MRI Scans22.2.2019 16:30:00 | Pressemelding
Axonics Modulation Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AXNX), a medical technology company focused on the development and commercialization of novel implantable Sacral Neuromodulation (“SNM”) devices for the treatment of urinary and bowel dysfunction, announced today that it has received CE mark approval for 1.5T and 3T full-body magnetic resonance imaging (“MRI”) conditional labeling for the Axonics r-SNM® System. The Axonics r-SNM System is the only implantable SNM system that has received full-body MRI conditional labeling for sale in Europe1. Raymond W. Cohen, Chief Executive Officer of Axonics, said, “Without this labeling, any patient requiring an MRI scan on any body part below the head must have their neurostimulator surgically explanted prior to the MRI scan, resulting in an additional surgery for the patient and additional costs to patients and the healthcare system. This authorization of full-body MRI scans in Europe is another important milestone for Axonics, differentiating our te
Fantastec Joins Forces with Arsenal FC Launching Official Blockchain Collectibles App22.2.2019 14:30:00 | Pressemelding
Fantastec announced today its first football licensing agreement with Premier League club Arsenal FC for a new blockchain authenticated collectibles app called Fantastec SWAP. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190222005277/en/ Arsenal players appear on Fantastec SWAP in official licensing deal (Graphic: Business Wire) London-based Fantastec is a leading sports fan technology innovator, and its blockchain based ‘SWAP’ app will have broad appeal to global sports fans, gamers and sports card collectors alike. Fantastec SWAP unlocks unique and authentic club content through the app, like player autographs and exclusive footage. With its innovative blockchain technology, fans around the world can now discover, collect and swap officially licensed club collectibles with other fans with complete trust. “Fantastec SWAP is a game-changer for international football fans as well the sports collectibles industry,” commented
Volkswagen Protects Virtual Key Sharing App with Trustonic Application Protection22.2.2019 13:42:00 | Pressemelding
Volkswagen is working with mobile cyber security leader Trustonic to enable customers to use smartphones to access their vehicles, and to securely share their digital car keys to grant access to others via a smartphone app. Volkswagen is using the Trustonic Application Protection (TAP) platform to secure the mobile app and ensure that sensitive information and key transfer requests are securely displayed to, and approved by, a real authenticated user on a trusted device and not by hackers or malware simulating a user or device. “The smartphone is becoming the vehicle key of the future and our We Connect service is the interface for this today in the new Volkswagen Passat,” comments Alf Pollex, Head of Infotainment and Connected Car at Volkswagen AG. “The user installs the We Connect app on their smartphone which is then authorized via the infotainment system with a Transaction Number. The Mobile Key will be compatible with Android-based Samsung devices. No mobile network connection is
Mundipharma EDO GmbH: US FDA grants Orphan Drug Designation for etoposide toniribate in relapsed/refractory biliary tract cancer22.2.2019 13:30:00 | Pressemelding
Mundipharma EDO GmbH, part of the Mundipharma network of independent associated companies, and Imbrium Therapeutics L.P., an operating subsidiary of Purdue Pharma L.P., today announced that the US FDA has granted Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) to etoposide toniribate for the treatment of relapsed/refractory biliary tract cancer, also known as cholangiocarcinoma.3 This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190222005126/en/ Biliary tract cancer is a rare tumour with approximately 8,000 patients diagnosed in the US every year and 10,571 in Europe.4,5 The FDA grants ODD status to medicines intended for the treatment, diagnosis or prevention of rare diseases or disorders that affect fewer than 200,000 people in the US. Radical surgery is the only curative treatment for biliary tract cancer but, in most cases, the cancer is inoperable. Patients who fail first-line chemotherapy have limited treatment options and the standard of
Lenovo Data Center Group Delivers Broad Edge Computing Portfolio, Expands Investments in IoT22.2.2019 13:13:00 | Pressemelding
Next week at MWC Barcelona, Lenovo Data Center Group (DCG) will showcase continued investments in its solutions supporting IoT and edge computing as part of its IoT growth plan over the next few years. Building on the momentum of its fifth consecutive quarter of profit growth, Lenovo DCG is building a portfolio that takes infrastructure to where the data is, whether that be in the traditional data center, in the cloud or increasingly, at the edge. Today, around 10 percent of enterprise-generated data is created and processed outside a traditional centralized data center or cloud. By 2022, Gartner predicts this figure will reach 75 percent. This migration is driving increased concerns around data privacy, security and regulations coupled with challenges of latency, bandwidth and downtime. Lenovo is addressing these challenges by creating a broad portfolio of edge computing offerings that address the different ways that customers want to deploy edge computing solutions for IoT use cases.


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Earlier this month the U.S. Senate passed by a vote of 63-35 the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2011. The bill is intended to subject imports from China to countervailing duties based on a presumed undervaluation of China's currency. The measure is similar to a bill that handily passed the House of Representatives in September 2010. Although a majority of Representatives have signed on as co-sponsors of the House version of the bill, the House’s Republican leadership has indicated it will not allow the measure to come up for a vote.
It is good that Congress will not be able to pass this bad piece of legislation. While there may be some tactical advantage in keeping pressure on Beijing through Congressional gamesmanship, Beijing will not act, because of a posturing U.S. law, against what it determines to be China’s best interests. Indeed, legislative efforts to force China to speed up appreciation of its currency through application of countervailing duties will likely lead to Beijing’s imposition of new tariffs on imports from the U.S., dramatically reducing sales of U.S. products and services to our third-largest export market and leading to the loss of more jobs in the U.S.
This outcome, of course, is exactly opposite of what the bill’s bipartisan sponsors promised: that by forcing China to raise the value of its currency against the dollar, the price of Chinese products in the U.S. would rise while the cost of U.S. goods in China would fall, leading to increased U.S. exports to China and decreased imports from China. Higher demand for American products would lead to the creation of more American jobs.
The logic of this argument is lovely in its simplicity, but fatally flawed nonetheless. The first problem one must deal with is whether in fact we are running a huge trade deficit with China simply because the currency is undervalued. Let’s look at that one for a moment. When Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) first began advocating legislative action to address our trade deficit with China, he maintained that China’s currency was being held by Beijing at least 40 percent below its market value. Exactly how he determined this was not explained, but even assuming 40 percent was a verifiable figure, China’s currency has appreciated about 30 percent against the dollar since 2005, with no positive affect on the trade deficit.
Moreover, official appreciation of the yuan against the dollar in that time does not take into account inflation in China, which in the recent past has been running above six percent. Inflation has the same effect as currency appreciation in that it makes Chinese products more expensive and U.S. products sold in China cheaper. Add the effect of inflation to official currency appreciation and the real increase in value of the yuan against the dollar since 2005 is nearly 40 percent. Yet, Sen. Schumer still maintains that the yuan is undervalued by at least 30 percent. This is hard to explain except through the somewhat circular reasoning that China’s currency undervaluation is to blame for our trade deficit, we still have a large trade deficit despite the increase in the value of the yuan over the past six years, and therefore, since we still are running a huge trade deficit, the yuan is still undervalued.
While there is no doubt that exchange rates play a role in trade flows, there is more to the story of our trade deficit with China than the exchange rate. China is exporting more to the U.S. and the rest of the world in large measure due to trade displacement within Asia. Even as our deficit with China has grown over the past ten years, our deficits with other Asian export economies have fallen because much of the production for export undertaken by Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong shifted to China in that time.
But the fundamental reason why we buy goods from China is that Chinese products meet American quality standards and are sold at a low price that American consumers appreciate. Blunting Chinese exports to the U.S. through countervailing duties will not stop Americans from seeking bargains; the slack created by a decrease in Chinese exports to the U.S. will simply be taken up by other countries with equally low labor and input costs, and many products created for export in those countries will be made by the same multinationals now producing in China. Ironically, it will likely be Chinese companies themselves that lead the rush to offshore production if products made in China become less competitive globally.
There is only one way to unilaterally reduce our global trade deficit, including our trade deficit with China: buy less stuff. In China, personal savings rates average more than 40 percent of income. In the U.S., they are near zero. If we saved and invested more of our incomes, we would be buying less from China and other overseas suppliers. This would drive down our trade deficit while at the same time increasing the amount of capital available at home to meet our national debt obligations and for infrastructure and education, the very things in which China is now massively investing. Now that would be a novel idea.
Joseph Borich is the president of the Washington State China Relations Council. A career Foreign Service Officer, he was the U.S. Consul General in Shanghai from 1994-1997.


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March 10/Seatlle/AFP - RELAXNEWS -- Starbucks has launched a new logo and a new line of products this week as part of its 40th anniversary makeover.
Stores across the world have been rolling out the new Siren signature one by one. The most notable change is the drop in the Starbucks name. The logo was inspired by a twin-tailed mermaid from Greek mythology and is made over with finer facial features.
The roll-out fanned the word and was unveiled in stores in Beijing, London, Paris and New York. The company has more than 17,000 locations in 50 countries.
New products like Cocoa Cappuccino, Starbucks Tribute Blend coffee, and a range of small cakes like Cake Pops, Red Velvet Whoopie Pies and Mini Cupcakes have also been launched.
The fight for coffee domination and brand loyalty is ongoing. Last month, Dunkin' Donuts announced expansion plans to move into India, while Canada's largest fast-food chain Tim Hortons announced plans to set up shops in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
From the March 14, 2011, Prepared Foods' Daily News
For more of the latest news from the food and beverage industry, visit Prepared Foods' Daily News


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Fashion dolls plot to edge out Barbie, 50February 6th, 2009 - 11:33 am ICT by IANS
Nuremberg (Germany), Feb 6 (DPA) Barbie, the original fashion doll, turns an ageless 50 next month and must fight off a string of equally skinny challengers vying for attention from the world’s little girls.Mattel, the world’s biggest toy company, is planning celebrations all year marking the anniversary of the March 9, 1959 appearance at the New York Toy Fair of Barbie, who has since developed separate African-American and Hispanic identities and dozens of doll friends.
During the Nuremberg Toy Fair, which opens its doors Thursday for a six-day run, live models with outrageously long false eyelashes are showing 50 years of Barbie fashions. The company is celebrating Barbie as a role model who opened up new careers for girls.
Barbie came out in astronaut clothing in 1965, as a dentist in 1997 and dressed as a US presidential candidate on three occasions.
Fashions change, but fashion dolls, which enable young girls to fantasize about what it will be like to be grown up, never go out of date in the toy shops of the world. As if to emphasize that this really is just fantasy, the newest crop claim magical powers.
Among the hopefuls at the fair is Wayne Jacobs, a South-African- born toymaker offering his first-ever doll, Princess Petal.
Sold with her own storytime book for the 3-7 age range, fairy Petal can flutter her wings when touched with a magic wand.
The wand contains a magnet which activates a battery-powered motor inside the doll’s body. Lithe-limbed Petal is part of the Sparkle and Friends series which all have “magic” abilities.
Jacobs, who originally set up his business in Sydney, Australia, moved a year and a half ago to Hong Kong, the centre of the world toy industry. “My dream was to take this worldwide,” he said in an interview in Nuremberg, where he was looking for distributors.
Giochi Preziosi, an Italian firm that says it is the world’s fourth largest toy company, is this month to launch another long-legged fairy doll, Tinker Bell, who dresses in skimpy clothes.
Manufactured under licence from the Disney Fairies franchise, she is being sold as a tie-in with the computer-animated, direct-to-DVD film Tinker Bell, which was released late last year. Disney is set to release three sequels, one per year, into 2011.
Claudio Macchi, brand manager of the company, which is based near Milan, said Giochi Preziosi would follow up this summer with fairy dolls that can variously move their wings, release pixie dust (actually a puff of fine glitter) and even blush.
In the Tink and Terence two-doll pack, 23-cm-tall Tink’s cheeks glow red whenever she is brought close to male fairy Terence.
Giochi Preziosi is in the process of winding up its distribution in Italy of Bratz, the line of US fashion dolls which were hit by a lawsuit at the end of last year, and is glad of a replacement series that little girls can collect.
Once wildly popular among little girls, the sexily-dressed Bratz dolls face an uncertain future after Mattel won a court case in California against the manufacturer, MGA Entertainment, alleging copyright infringement and breach of contract.
Despite the new competition from Petal, Tink and their fairy friends, Barbie, who has been available for ages in a fairy version with wings that flutter, reigns supreme among girls aged three to eight in much of the world.
Stockton explained that Barbie today is more than just a doll: it is a brand.
“If you look at every euro spent on the brand, roughly half is spent on the Barbie toy and nearly half is spent on Barbie-brand products: fragrances, backpacks and so on. So the brand is an important part of girls’ lives,” he said.
That appeal continues right through to young professional women in Asia who enjoy wearing the Barbie look.
In “another first for the brand,” the House of Barbie Shanghai retail store, a clothing and accessories boutique for young women, is opening in China. Its most expensive item is a $15,000 wedding dress.
At 50, Barbie is as fresh as ever. Stockton said Mattel will continue to develop new Barbies that reflect changing dress fashions.
“Our job is to build on her legacy,” he said.
- New Barbie dolls for Olympics 2012 - Jul 26, 2012
- After Katrina, Hrithik may walk the ramp for kids - Jan 13, 2012
- Barbie doll-maker slammed over recruitment of models as young as 12 - Feb 13, 2011
- Barbie maker's new dolls that 'have to wax' spark outrage - Mar 12, 2011
- New Barbie with hidden camera branded a "gift to paedophiles" - Nov 03, 2010
- Barbie dolls inspired by Kardashian sisters - Jan 06, 2012
- New dolls on Pattinson, Stewart 'Twilight' wedding - Jan 12, 2012
- Rowling, Clijsters, Sweden's Crown Princess turned into Barbie dolls - Feb 04, 2010
- Katrina Kaif: The Perfect Barbie Doll! - Nov 25, 2010
- Iran shutting down shops selling Barbies? - Jan 22, 2012
- "Barbie Video Girl" - A Trap Set By Pedophiles? - Dec 24, 2010
- Recession hits 50-year-old Barbie but not Lego, other heritage brands - Dec 25, 2009
- New Barbie collection inspired by Aussie beauties - May 05, 2010
- Barbie maker Mattel wins legal battle over MGA Entertainments Bratz doll - Dec 05, 2008
- Barbie Doll all set to come as a Computer Engineer version too - Feb 16, 2010
Tags: challengers, fairy doll, false eyelashes, fashion doll, fashion dolls, friends series, hopefuls, italian firm, little girls, magic abilities, magic wand, magical powers, new york toy fair, nuremberg germany, nuremberg toy fair, sydney australia, toy company, toy industry, toy shops, young girls


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President Donald Trump returned to one his favored gripes about Canada Tuesday, suggesting that sky-high tariffs are turning Canadians into chronic shoe smugglers.
During an address to the National Federation of Independent Business in Washington, Trump said that Canadian tariffs on everyday items like shoes mean that U.S. business is being “treated horribly” by Canadian consumers who enter the U.S., purchase shoes and return home without declaring them at the border. (RELATED: Obama Ambassador To Canada Says Trump ‘Punched Canada In The Face’)
“There was a story two days ago in a major newspaper talking about people living in Canada coming to the United States and smuggling things back into Canada because the tariffs are so massive. The tariffs to get common items back into Canada are so high that they have to smuggle ’em in,” Trump told the group of businesspeople. The reference to “a story” may have an article that appeared in the New York Post that suggested Canadians love to shop in the U.S.
Neither Trump nor the Post story is entirely inaccurate as many Canadians view clothing that has been worn while vacationing in the U.S. as not subject to duties.
However, because of NAFTA, Canadians need only spend 48 hours south of the border to receive an automatic $800 exemption of duties for all items purchased during their stay. In addition, as the Calgary Herald notes, the trade agreement has also eliminated tariffs on U.S. shoes, as the Star notes.
Just how not paying duties to the Canadian government is hurting Americans is not clear.
The Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America apparently cannot find a connection either. In a statement following Trump’s speech, The group said, “The president seems misinformed about footwear trade.”
It continued: “On behalf of the American footwear industry, we welcome anyone from anywhere to come and purchase shoes in America. It helps both our brands and retailers grow. Period,” the group said. “We don’t care where they wear them, and if they get scuffed up all the better so we can sell them more.”


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Yahoo has opened up a new platform allowing developers to congregate and build their own search engines in order to gain some much lost ground in terms of global market-share among search engines.
Yahoo BOSS will allow people to customize the way they scour the web, building their own mini search engines using an API (applications programming interface).
According to Yahoo, “The goal of BOSS is simple: to foster innovation in the search industry,” Yahoo explains on the site. “Developers, start-ups, and large Internet companies can use BOSS to build and launch web-scale search products that utilize the entire Yahoo! Search index. BOSS gives you access to Yahoo!’s investments in crawling and indexing, ranking and relevancy algorithms, and powerful infrastructure. By combining your unique assets and ideas with our search technology assets, BOSS is a platform for the next generation of search innovation, serving hundreds of millions of users across the Web.”
A monetisation platform will be launched in a few months for the platform in order for Yahoo! to expand its ad network and enable BOSS partners to jointly participate in the compelling economics of search.
The monetisation service will be in exchange for letting Yahoo tap search terms from the various platforms.


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Are We Headed For An “Auto Loan Crisis” As Delinquencies Begin To Rise?
Automobile affordability worsens as Americans are saddled up with monthly payments topping $1,000, and loan delinquencies are creeping higher thanks to increasing economic pressures thanks to the Federal Reserve’s aggressive monetary tightening regime to rein in the highest inflation in 40 years. A Fed-induced downturn in the economy could end up bursting the auto bubble.
“We are seeing delinquencies start to increase,” Ford Chief Financial Officer John Lawler told the Deutsche Bank 2022 Global Automotive Conference last month.
“We’re looking for every indication and every data point we can to get a read on where the consumer is, where they’re headed given everything that we see out there, the inflationary pressures, the economic issues, et cetera,” Lawler said.
He continued: “So we are seeing some headwinds there a little bit when it comes to delinquencies as maybe a leading indicator.”
Edmunds’ executive director of insights Jessica Caldwell also noted, “auto loan delinquencies are expected to rise,” adding consumers must “understand the risks associated with financing more than what they can afford.”
Meanwhile, June data from Edmunds shows monthly auto payments topped $1,000. Cox Automotive showed the average monthly car payment reached $712 in May. These auto payments are higher than rent for one-bedroom apartments in Wichita, Kansas, and Akron, Ohio.
Combine auto, shelter, energy, and food costs that are soaring, and no wonder consumers have maxed out their credit cards and drained savings as they struggle to survive the worst inflationary storm in 40 years. This situation is expected to worsen as the Fed is determined to hike into a downturn and may trigger a recession in the middle of the second half of 2022, according to a note from Nomura.
What’s surprising to Jack Liebersohn, an economics professor at the University of California, Irvine, is that auto payments are topping shelter costs for some consumers.
“Normally housing is the thing people struggle to pay — autos are typically an optional expense you can delay, so the phenomenon of car payments exceeding rent is surprising to me,” Liebersohn told Bloomberg.
Given the souring macro economic backdrop, auto delinquencies are beginning to trend higher following a plunge in early 2020 and another in early 2021, thanks to auto loan deferment programs and stimulus checks. Now the safety nets are gone as consumers with insurmountable debts, paying the highest ever monthly payments, become financially paralyzed by the high inflation. This won’t end well and could trigger a tsunami of delinquencies.
Banks have begun modeling possible scenarios in the event of an economic downturn and increasing delinquencies, leading to an increasing rejection of credit applications (this is broad, not just autos).
What’s even more concerning are Google search trends for “voluntary repossession of car” have surged to the highest level since the summer of 2008. This can only suggest consumers with high monthly payments contemplate surrendering their vehicle to the bank to avoid falling behind on payments.
The last time search trends for “voluntary repossession of car” were this high, the stock market was halved in the second half of 2008 and didn’t find a bottom until March of 2009.
The “strong consumer” narrative that President Biden and Fed Chair Jerome Powell pedal could be ‘smoke and mirrors’ as a wave of auto loan delinquencies could be nearing as recession risks soar.
For more color on what could happen next. Auto expert Lucky Lopez warns an “auto loan crisis” is about to unfold.
Besides an auto loan crisis, eight million Americans are behind on rent payments and face eviction.
Storm clouds are gathering.


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- Alibaba announced a development roadmap for artificial intelligence and quantum computing as part of the company's initiative to develop disruptive technologies that will support its cloud, internet of things and other commercial applications. The company will develop its own quantum processors for cloud-accessible systems that will deliver the technology "as a utility" and develop quantumclassicial hybrid algorithms.
- Alibaba has also established a chip subsidiary to work on embedded and customized AI chips for its cloud and IoT businesses. Next year, Alibaba is planning to launch its first self-developed AI chip to support a cloud-based IoT infrastructure. Executive Chairman Jack Ma has expressed the need for China to reduce its reliance on the foreign chip market, which is "controlled by America," reports CNN Tech.
- Alibaba's cloud unit also announced on Wednesday a partnership to bring SAP's cloud platform and S/4HANA cloud products on Alibaba's infrastructure as a service for Chinese customers. The companies are building off a two-year working cloud partnership for enterprise solutions.
Reports surfaced earlier this month that Alibaba was scaling back its cloud expansion in the U.S. following disappointing returns and growing tensions between the two global superpowers. Alibaba retains the second largest IaaS presence in the APAC region following Amazon Web Services.
By making inroads with more software and platform as a service providers, such as SAP, Alibaba is opening up its potential customer base for other technology endeavors. Whether it can stick as well in the American market going forward, however, remains to be seen.
Escalating tariffs between the U.S. and China may negatively impact cloud computing and force a shuffle in supply chains and trade partnerships.
While Alibaba is trying to reduce its dependence on the American chip market, the Chinese government is walking back on its intensive plan to establish AI leadership and calling for a "borderless approach" to AI research and development, Bloomberg reports.
But national security implications tied to artificial intelligence and quantum computing make international cooperation, especially between governments, a precarious field. China is steadily gaining an edge in both fields, no thanks to a nationally directed technology plan and heavy government funding in these areas.


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A state Supreme Court judge has stopped New York City from implementing its ban on the sale of large sugar-sweetened drinks that was scheduled to go into effect March 13.
In a ruling March 11, New York Supreme Court Judge Milton Tingling said the city "is enjoined and permanently restrained from implementing or enforcing" the new regulation, which would have prohibited certain establishments from selling sugary drinks in cups and other servings larger than 16 oz.
The ban was proposed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and adopted by the city's health department. It applied to delis, restaurants, street carts, movie theaters and sports stadiums but did not apply to convenience and grocery stores or to drive thrus, even drive thrus of affected restaurants (Feedstuffs, Oct. 1, 2012).
It also did not prohibit a consumer from ordering two 16 oz. servings of a desired drink.
Tingling, responding to a lawsuit brought by beverage, restaurant and theater interests (Feedstuffs, Oct. 22, 2012), said the regulation was "fraught with arbitrary and capricious consequences" and would be enforced unevenly block-by-block and citywide.
Violations would have been subject to $200 fines.


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Traveloka Is Said to Halt Talks With Thiel’s Bridgetown SPAC
Indonesia’s Traveloka has halted talks to go public through a deal with Bridgetown Holdings Ltd., a blank check-company backed by billionaires Richard Li and Peter Thiel, according to people familiar with the matter.
The board of directors of the Southeast Asian online travel giant has decided not to pursue a listing via a special purpose acquisition company now as the enthusiasm in the SPAC market has waned, the people said, asking not to be named as the matter is private. Traveloka will likely explore going public via a traditional initial public offering in the U.S. instead, the people said.
If the market recovers, Traveloka may revisit talks with Bridgetown or a different SPAC, one person said. The two sides will continue to monitor the situation in the coming weeks, this person said.
A representative for Traveloka wasn’t immediately reachable for comment. Bridgetown declined to comment.
SPACs -- shell companies that raise money from investors through a listing on the promise of merging with an unidentified private company -- have been one of the hottest trends of global markets over the past year. Of the $461 billion raised globally through IPOs this year, about $131 billion went to SPACs before the booming market came to a near-standstill.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has stepped up its scrutiny of them this year after the fundraising surge. Chairman Gary Gensler has called for more transparency around their financial structure.
Traveloka had been in talks with Bridgetown since around April as it sought funds for growth to expand its geographic reach as well as the range of its services, Bloomberg News has reported. The deal could have valued the company at about $5 billion.
Singaporean online real estate firm PropertyGuru Pte agreed in July to go public through a merger with Bridgetown 2 Holdings Ltd., a second blank-check company backed by Li and Thiel. Their third SPAC, Bridgetown 3 Holdings Ltd., filed for an IPO in May.Read more


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The Launch Pad to Open Tech Accelerator in Downtown Miami
Coral Gables (September 28, 2012) — With downtown Miami fast emerging as a hotbed of international commerce, the community’s public and private sectors are joining forces to create a technology business accelerator program that will attract early-stage companies and the entrepreneurs who run them to the city’s urban core. The Launch Pad Tech Accelerator – a new endeavor by the Miami Downtown Development Authority (DDA), Miami-Dade County, and The Launch Pad at the University of Miami – will focus on recruiting and cultivating tech businesses in sectors closely aligned with Miami’s economic future, including health care, hospitality and tourism, and creative sectors such as design, music, art, fashion, and film.
The program will be fueled by $1 million in funds from Miami-Dade County over the next four years and another $460,000 in funding from the Miami DDA in 2013 and 2014. These dollars will support ongoing operations and provide incentives aimed at attracting 10 promising companies to downtown Miami from around the world during the initiative’s inaugural year, with 10 additional companies recruited in each of the following cycles. The program is projected to create 330 new direct and indirect jobs through 2017.
Beyond offering $25,000 grants – without an equity request – for the selected companies, the Launch Pad Tech Accelerator will provide services ranging from entrepreneurship training and intensive mentoring from industry leaders, to subsidized office space and access to Launch Pad workshops. The program will be based at downtown Miami’s Terremark NAP (Network Access Point) of the Americas, where optical, Ethernet, voice, and Internet traffic is linked between Latin America and the rest of the world.
“The Launch Pad Accelerator will spur a vibrant start-up culture that complements the residential, commercial, and hospitality growth under way in downtown Miami,” said City of Miami Commissioner and Miami DDA Chair Marc Sarnoff. “This will be a catalyst for attracting forward-thinking companies that bring new ideas, new ways of doing business, and new jobs to Miami. The Launch Pad Tech Accelerator is a real-world example of the public sector empowering private sector entrepreneurship and innovation.”
The new program was developed by The Launch Pad at the University of Miami, which was started in 2008 by a team that has helped students and alumni launch more than 80 businesses that have raised more than $10 million and created more than 150 South Florida jobs. The Launch Pad has been replicated to six other universities with the support of the Blackstone Charitable Foundation, creating the only national network of collegiate entrepreneurs. In the July/August issue of Harvard Business Review, The Launch Pad was noted as one of the two concepts that work in entrepreneurship.
“Launch Pad Tech creates unparalleled opportunities for student engagement and education. We have scores of Launch Pad entrepreneurs in various stages of their tech startups that can become part of these teams, experiencing firsthand what it takes to grow a business from two to 50 employees in less than a year, becoming members of the ecosystem and contributing to its growth,” said Susan Amat, co-founder of The Launch Pad and framer of Launch Pad Tech. “The skills sets of students, whether in law, engineering, med, business, communication, or music, can all be utilized, honed, and enhanced through Launch Pad Tech in ways that could never be done in a classroom. While The Launch Pad brings the community in to support the students, Launch Pad Tech brings the students into the community for inimitable experiential learning.”
Amat adds that in addition to the ten selected companies, Launch Pad Tech will also “adopt” an additional 25 startups outside of the designated vertical sectors, which will then have the opportunity to attend structured program offerings, participate in mentoring, and have access to resources.
“As a Miami entrepreneur, I have experience with the challenges of starting technology businesses,” said Juan Diego Calle, CEO of .CO Internet SAS, the company behind the fast-growing .CO domain. “The Launch Pad Accelerator will ease the process for a new wave of entrepreneurs by igniting a cross-pollination of ideas, capital, mentorship, and talent that is critical to a tech ecosystem.”
The Launch Pad Accelerator takes flight just as Miami’s urban core comes alive as a thriving residential district, with the area experiencing an 80 percent spike in population over the past decade and another 15,000 residents expected in the coming years. Along these lines, author and professor Richard Florida notes that urban areas such as downtown Miami are enjoying heightened demand among tech companies and entrepreneurs for reasons ranging from lifestyle decisions to business networking opportunities.
“Miami-Dade County is proud to support the Launch Pad and its mission of attracting forward-thinking entrepreneurs to our community and giving them the tools they need to succeed here,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez. “My top priority as mayor is job-creation – diverse job-creation – and the Launch Pad supports that goal by positioning Miami-Dade County as a hotbed for dynamic start-up businesses that support new jobs.”
Applications for entry to The Launch Pad Tech Accelerator program may be submitted now through November 5 at www.launchpadtech.co. For updated information about the program, please follow on Twitter @launchpadtech.
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‘It’s not part of the job’: Violence and verbal abuse towards shop workers - A review of evidence and policy
among many findings highlights: Assaults and threats committed against the wholesale and retail sector have increased almost three-fold from 524 incidents per 1,000 premises in 2016 to 1,433 in 2017 according to the Home Office’s Commercial Victimisation Survey (CVS).
These statistics back up an Usdaw survey of 3,272 retail workers across England and Wales, which found that 80% believe that abuse and violence have increased in recent years. Forming the basis of Usdaw’s response to the Home Office ‘call for evidence’, the survey also revealed:
Usdaw’s full response: www.usdaw.org.uk/UsdawEvidence
- 62% have been the victim of verbal or physical abuse.
- Almost a quarter describe threats of physical violence, with over half of these involving threats with weapons – most commonly knives, syringes or bottles.
- 15% describe actual physical violence, varying from workers being pushed, spat upon, punched or kicked or attacked with weapons.
Usdaw’s call for Government action has been backed by retailers and their representative organisations. A joint letter sent to the Home Secretary and other Ministers called for:
Full joint letter: www.usdaw.org.uk/RetailViolenceLetter
Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary says:
- Tougher sentences for those who attack shopworkers.
- Change to the out of court disposals system (e.g. fixed penalty notices) which is failing to have an impact on reoffending.
- A full review into the response of police forces to incidents of violence in the retail sector.
“The mounting evidence from retailers, police and our own survey of shopworkers all show a disturbing increase in retail crime and they are backed up by Home Office stats. This cannot be allowed to continue, action must be taken.
“We have long been concerned that retail crime is not taken seriously and sometimes regarded as victimless with only large companies affected, but the reality for shopworkers is very different. Life on the frontline of retail can be pretty tough and there needs to be government action to protect shopworkers.
“The police must have the resources from Government to respond to incidents and investigate retail crime. We want the Government to legislate for stiffer sentences for the thugs that attack shopworkers. We want to see retailers, police and the courts working in partnership to ensure better protection for shopworkers. Retail staff are an important part of our communities; their role must be valued, respected and protected.”
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers)
is the UK's fifth biggest and the fastest growing trade union with over 410,000 members. Membership has increased by more than one-third over the last couple of decades. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.
Usdaw survey of violence and abuse against shop staff full report: www.usdaw.org.uk/2018FFFReport
For Usdaw press releases visit:
http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion


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2018 Nonwoven Sales $367 million
David Meldram, CEO; Shachar Rachim, deputy CEO; Gilad Frenkel, vice president of sales and marketing; Soren Lian, APAC sales director; Thomas Dort, vice president of technology
Israel, North Carolina, China, Russia, India
Israel’s largest nonwovens producer, Avgol, now majority owned by multinational chemical producer Indorama Ventures Group, continues to make spunmelt nonwovens primarily for hygiene applications. Indorama acquired a 65.72% stake in Avgol in July 2018.
“Avgol is a unique fit for Indorama,” says Nick Carter, director of market intelligence. “It brings them one step closer to the customer and they can provide us with superior knowledge of the polymers.”
Indorama Ventures is already the owner of a number of nonwovens industry raw material suppliers including FiberVisions, Wellman International and Trevira.
According to Carter, Avgol has been able to remain fairly autonomous under Indorama’s ownership. As it has with its other subsidiaries, Indorama has allowed Avgol to continue its best practices to serve the global hygiene industry.
“Indorama is not about having us conform to their way,” he says. “It’s more about us showing them what we have and what we can do.”
With existing operations in North Carolina, Russia, Israel and China, Avgol’s latest frontier is India where it recently completed work on a spunmelt line for local hygiene markets. The investment is the first non-Reicofil line in operation by the company. It came onstream in 2018.
“India was a very important step for us,” Carter adds. “For us the focus of this investment is not really promoting new products but providing our customers with a means of developing the products they need to serve consumers in India.”
A combination of a strong birth rate—with 20 million babies being born annually—and government incentives for product development, India is rapidly becoming a strong growth market for baby diapers and other hygiene products.
Approximately 97% of Avgol’s business is in the hygiene market, where the company says it is very passionate about quality. This passion has guided Avgol in leading an industry-wide effort to decrease the weights of core wrapping materials to as low as seven gsm.
Throughout its entire business, Avgol has been seeking to develop new products and new technologies that respond to the changing needs of the hygiene market. In January, the company launched a range of breathable fabrics which exceed the performance of current commercially available spunmelt SMS materials. The development is in line with Avgol’s Forward Innovative Thinking (“FIT”) strategy for new product innovation.
“The enhanceFIT family is being developed to meet evolving product designer needs for lighter weight fabrics, having improved elasticity, barrier and breathable performance properties,” Carter says. “This family is based on multiple technology platforms that allows Avgol to tailor fabric performance for the needs of specific markets, including hygiene, medical and industrial applications.”
enhanceFIT Breathe is the first in a line of new fabric solutions resulting from Avgol’s recent developments in new assets and technology. The fabrics demonstrate enhanced uniformity with corresponding improvements in barrier, appearance and coverage in materials less than 25 gsm, without relying on cumbersome submicron filament fabrication methods. In practical applications, downgauged fabrics are now available that have previously required higher basis weights to achieve air permeability specifications.
According to Carter, the FIT Strategy was born out the customers’ demand that it innovate, which has partially been the result of ecommerce-driven need for differentiation. “The days of nice 24 hour runs of material are going to be fewer. We are seeing more niche products and shorter runs,” he adds.
Through this focus on new technologies, Avgol has also developed beneFIT Control, an antimicrobial solution for nonwovens.
beneFIT Control was developed to aid in contamination, discomfort and odor by controlling the microbial activity within hygiene applications, including diapers, adult incontinence and feminine care products. It is part of the beneFIT family of functional skin wellness technologies, a new range of chemistries and processes developed by Avgol to deliver superior performance and comfort to consumers.
Carter says that the development of new technologies to enhance its product range is part of its aggressive strategy to win new customers. “Our customer base is changing but so are the people that design our products,” he said. “The biggest influence will be the next generation of hygiene customers and how they perceive value.”


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The Nexus 7 was always pretty close to the ideal Android tablet.
Working with an OS that’s never quite matched the app support and productivity bent of the iPad, the Asus-made slate instead focused on what Android does best: provide a nice enough, fast enough, and much more affordable alternative, one that was entirely geared toward entertainment.
If you just wanted to browse the web or watch a movie, it was better than average and still a good bargain.
The Nexus 7 also hasn’t been refreshed in three years. Now, though, a spiritual successor of sorts might be on the way.
According to tech reporter Evan Blass, who has a long history of accurately predicting upcoming gadgets, Google is set to launch a Huawei-made 7-inch tablet by the end of the year. There isn’t much word on the device’s feature set or cost, but Blass says it will come with a fairly robust 4GB of RAM.
Huawei and Google were not immediately available to comment.
This isn’t the first we’ve heard of a Huawei-made Google device arriving in 2016. Back in June, a rep from Huawei’s South African group reportedly confirmed that the company had another Nexus machine coming this year, but at the time it wasn’t clear if that would be a phone or tablet. The Chinese firm previously partnered with Google on its Nexus 6P smartphone last year.
If the rumour is true, it will be interesting to see how Google decides to brand the device. Last week, a report from Android Central claimed that Google plans to drop the “Nexus” name from its two forthcoming smartphones, which are now widely expected to be made by HTC.
Soon after, Android Police reported that those devices would instead use the “Pixel” branding Google typically reserves for in-house hardware, such as its Chromebook Pixel laptop or Pixel C tablet. It’s also worth noting that Huawei filed a trademark for a “Huawei 7P” earlier this year.
Whatever it’s called, the device would enter a tablet market that’s in steady decline, and an Android tablet market that hasn’t seen much excitement over the past few years. Lenovo made waves last week with its new Yoga Book hybrid, but the fastest growing Android slate recently has been the ultra-cheap Amazon Fire.
A genuine Nexus 7 successor would fall somewhere between those two, but we’ll have to wait and see if Google and Huawei have actually taken that route. Google is expected to hold an event on October 4 to announce the new “Pixel” phones, among other things, so that would seem to be the day to watch here.
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Hawks Talon Gaming Club, the official NBA 2K League affiliate of the Atlanta Hawks, has announced a one-of-a-kind content series called Talon Takeover which will feature celebrities, entertainers and influencers playing the popular video game NBA 2K21 online with the team’s Head Coach Wesley Acuff. For the first stream in the series which will take place at 8:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, Nov. 19, the team’s Team Manager and Head Coach Wesley Acuff will be joined by one of Billboard’s top hitmakers 24kGoldn.
The series, which launches later this week, will be available for viewing for free on the team’s official Twitch channel. As part of the series, Acuff will be joined by a star-studded lineup that also features hip-hop artist Lil Eazzyy and comedian/hip-hop artist Ron Suno. Future guests will be announced at a later date.
“We are thrilled to announce this one-of-kind content series as we continue to engage with the next generation of basketball fans and provide them an unforeseen level of access to their favorite celebrities,” said Hawks’ Vice President of G League and 2K League Operations Janice Koon. “Fans will not only be able to watch the stream to learn more about their latest projects, but also join us online and play against their favorite celebrities in the popular video game.”
As part of this announcement, Hawks Talon welcomes Emmanuel Lawrence (also known as Manni Supreme) as the host of the series. Lawrence, a student at downtown Atlanta’s Georgia State University, is the school’s Live Entertainment Director and works part-time with Streetz 94.5, one of Atlanta’s urban hip-hop radio stations. In this role, Manni will host the conversation with both Coach Acuff and the special celebrity guest.
To subscribe to Hawks Talon GC’s official Twitch channel and be notified of each stream in the series, click here.
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St. Johns, Antigua (PRWEB) September 21, 2007
High stakes, hot women and killer parties in exotic locales - Bodog has always known how to roll. It's all part of the company's play hard philosophy and now it's all part of the Bodog life, as the digital entertainment giant is pleased to announce the launch of http://www.bodoglife.com
Recently, there have been changes at Bodog concerning the company's domain name. Bodog temporarily used newbodog.com after their root domain was hijacked in a frivolous patent dispute. In an effort to move to a more accurately-named home, the company is pleased to announce bodoglife.com.
"Hey, the world changes, and if you don't change with it, you get left behind. We've been leading the good times for a long time, and nobody will leave us behind," said Calvin Ayre, Bodog's founder. "That said, although the Bodog address is changing the bottom line is: at Bodog, it's business as usual. Same great site, just a new Web address."
Though the domain dispute caused some drama throughout the company, a talented staff of over 1000 people rallied together and maintained the billion dollar business on a strong growth curve during one of the busiest seasons. In addition to debuting the new domains, the company launched a Football Fantasy site, announced the winner of their Bodog Battle of the Bands contest on fuse TV, launched multilingual customer service, had a Bodog qualifier at the final table of the World Series of Poker Europe and put a new season of Bodog Fight into post-production. Phew.
Bodog is still the most trusted place on the planet to get your kicks, whether they be poker, music, mixed martial arts, casino or sports betting.
This is Bodog. This is the life.
http://www.bodoglife.com. Play hard.
About Bodog Entertainment
Bodog, with its head office located in Antigua, is licensed in the United Kingdom, and Antigua. Bodog Entertainment Founder Calvin Ayre recognized as a world authority on branding in digital entertainment, was featured on the cover of Forbes magazine's best-selling 2006 "Billionaires" issue. Bodog offers a host of entertainment services, including: online gaming (http://www.bodoglife.com ), which includes Poker, Casino and a host of other gaming products; a fast growing fantasy football site, an international record label a million-dollar band search competition, a publishing division (with an online magazine and blog); and an international television division which produces reality series, such as Bodog Fight and Calvin Ayre Wild Card Poker. For more information, contact Media Relations at email@example.com. BODOG is a registered trademark of Bodog Entertainment Group. The Bodog brand is operated for gaming in North America by Morris Mohawk Gaming Group, under license.


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Take a look at what appears to be the meanest C7 Corvette produced so far.
The owner of the car says they’ve been working on it since February 2014, and they took it out for the first competitive runs at the Cecil County Dragway in Maryland.
Our friends at ProTeam Corvette are hosting a Tax Time Sale which has 14 rare and highly coveted Corvettes discounted from their regular prices. The sale pricing is in effect through April 15th at Noon or upon notice by Pro Team.
One of the Corvettes on Terry’s list that caught our eye was an unrestored 1968 L88 Corvette Convertible with a drag racing history.
The last time we saw the 1954 Pizza Man Corvette racer it was crossing Mecum’s red carpet in St. Charles, Illinois in October of 2012. Back then it was a no sale after a high bid of $120,000. Recently it showed up on eBay still for sale. The “World’s Fastest Six Cylinder Corvette” beat up on the competition from 1962 to 1971 with Earl Britt behind the wheel.
Back in 2009 we first told you about Rod Saboury’s wicked street legal 1963 Corvette drag car. The 2,600 hp monster will run the quarter mile in a mere 6.75 seconds at 209 mph. Then, in late 2012, the car showed up on eBay where it failed to sell in October. Now you’ve got another chance to score this sick whip when it crosses the Barrett-Jackson auction block next week in Scottsdale, Az.


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DETROIT -- A Harvard education. Global experience. Mentored by a charismatic predecessor. And a clean elevation to CEO for a company not exactly known for seamless transitions.
Mark Fields was supposed to be the poster child for a new Ford.
Only he wasn't.
And that reality, unleashed in the dead of the night last week, may have said more about the state of the industry than the fate of Mark Fields.
The reality that a leader who successfully managed the massive transformation of the F-150 pickup, repositioned a dying Lincoln brand, restored European profits, renegotiated labor agreements and started a movement to the ambiguous, amorphous world of mobility could be fired after producing record profits raised these painful questions: Is anyone safe? Is anyone pursuing the correct path? And what exactly does the correct path look like if you're not sure about the destination?
Mark Fields, the metaphor.
If you're looking for an indicator of the angst that is enveloping this industry — a market softening, companies caught cheating and question marks surrounding a traditional business model — look no further than Fields.
Or just listen to some of the 250 suppliers and purchasing bosses at a charity golf event in suburban Detroit who tried to comprehend the overnight headline, dropped like an anvil on the heads of every industry leader.
Weird. Strange. Odd. Sad. All synonyms for Fields' firing.
"What I don't understand," one executive wondered privately, "is the fact that Mark delivered results but was still a scapegoat. What does that mean for the rest of us?"
Just 35 months ago, Fields' promotion to president and CEO was characterized by Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, associate dean of the Yale University School of Management, as a "classic textbook, done-right, CEO succession."
Fields had been put on the short list of future Ford chief executives as far back as 2008 and had already engineered a few turnarounds of his own. At age 39 in 2000, he became CEO of Mazda, in which Ford had a controlling stake at the time. There, he led a turnaround with several Ford executives who would later partner with him in reviving Ford's North American business.
So where did the wheels come off?
Perhaps in early 2016, after a secret deal with Google fell apart. Or when cooling auto sales and falling profits put even more pressure on that ever-declining stock price.
Some say Bill Ford and his board had a number of accumulated grievances with Fields. Maybe so. But it's clear that failing grades are being handed out on a much harder curve than before. That's what had the supplier executives spooked.
Did Fields make the wrong bets or not bet with enough certainty?
Did he underestimate Silicon Valley's cultural peculiarities or rely too much on Detroit's automaking tradition? Much of it is unknown — and unfortunate.
Fields' firing is a clear signal that it's not enough to run plants efficiently, invest in electrification, revamp a segment leader using advanced materials, pay factory workers hefty profit-sharing checks, increase dividends and sell lots of cars and trucks.
He was aware enough to know that the core business still fuels many of those investments in the future that show no positive results on today's balance sheet. But Fields ran out of time without knowing how fast the clock was ticking.
And if he wasn't fast enough, very few people can articulate exactly what the speed should be.


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BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Freschetta has introduced two products to its lineup of frozen pizza: Freschetta Simply...Inspired Pizzas and Freschetta By The Slice.
"We know consumers' tastes have evolved, and they are seeking more flavorful variations in their frozen pizza selections, which until now is a need that hasn't been met," said Mary Brown, Freschetta's senior director of marketing. "With Freschetta Simply...Inspired Pizzas, we are elevating the quality of frozen pizza with distinctive combinations of large-cut vegetables, flavorful sauces and delightful varieties of cheeses and meats to create new varieties unseen before in this category. And for when our consumer is time-strapped, Freschetta By The Slice provides the perfect solution when seeking one perfect slice of pizza in minutes."
According to the company, the Simply...Inspired collection goes beyond the traditional frozen pizza and incorporates such unique ingredients as roasted red peppers and shitake mushrooms. Freschetta said that it also utilized its latest packaging in its Simply...Inspired line. Each of the eight varieties is wrapped in new Fresch-Taste Seal packaging that the company claims uses 30% less packing by weight than a traditional pizza carton.
The Freschetta By The Slice product offers consumers the convenience of a single slice of pizza in minutes. According to the company, this single-slice variety is cut from a whole pizza, is made from the same ingredients found in all Freschetta pizzas and provides an oven-baked taste right out of the microwave.


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Google debuted its official music store this week, and it's clear that the company has made a serious effort to bring to market a product that is geared towards consumers and artists alike. But can it crack a market that's already well-saturated (not to mention lead by the juggernaut that is iTunes)?
Things are getting a bit more interesting in the ongoing fight between Microsoft and Barnes & Noble. You'll remember that earlier this year, Microsoft began suing B&N for refusing to fork over Android-related fees from the Nook Color. Barnes & Noble has responded, alleging in its motion that Microsoft "is using its licensing practices to improperly broaden the scope of its patents in an attempt to dominate mobile operating systems such as Android that threaten Microsoft's monopoly in personal computer ("PC") operating systems." It may sound odd at first that Microsoft would be at Android's throat over PC operating systems, but indeed, it was recently discovered that Microsoft attempted to compel Google to provide its Android strategy, including information about Android's current abilities as a PC platform.
An update to the Android Market bringing it up to version 3.3.12 surfaced late Friday night. This version seems to be an incremental update to the previously available 3.3.11 - in fact, we're not really sure what exactly changed between the two. A cursory run through all the menus didn't yield any obvious additions, although these improvements could be all under-the-hood.
You might remember this video, which cropped up earlier this month, showing off an Android-powered contraption that mixed drinks automatically. Well, it would appear that the device, lovingly named iZac, (after a barbot from the popular show Futurama) has made its official debut, mixing real cocktails for patrons at the Creative Sandbox in Sydney.
Right now, iZac can handle dispensing up to six liquids, and the Android interface includes an "I'm Feeling Lucky" option, which ostensibly creates a totally random concoction for those feeling bold.
The creators of the popular Flick games (Flick Soccer and Flick Golf) have done it again, recently releasing NFL Flick Quarterback to the Android Market. The game combines the popular flick controls from Full Fat Productions' other games with NFL action, allowing players to "become the QB you’ve always dreamed of becoming."
Flick Quarterback offers much more than its controls and impressive graphics however. Players can choose from Playmaker and Trick Shot modes, which each offer their own unique gameplay twists.
Giving new life to a classic board game, EA Games has brought The Game of Life to the Android Market. The game has been given a three-dimensional treatment, taking users through "winding roads and lush environments." In order to maintain the multiplayer nature of the board game, EA has opted for a pass-to-play mechanic, accommodating up to four players on a single device.
Personally, I find the graphics less than "amazing," but the gameplay looks fun enough for a pass-and-play reimagining of the popular board game.
Here's some info that's sure to excite... well, nearly everyone. According NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsus Huang, Tegra 3 tablets could drop to just $299 after only "a couple of quarters" on the market. In fact, he expects it. Huang didn't really give any insight as to why he thinks this, but the fact that he said it to begin with is pretty promising. Think about it -- quad-core chips and Ice Cream Sandwich for less than three hundred bones.
Have you ever wondered what the AOSP source tree would look like if someone stitched together a video of every commit, update, and release? Ponder no more, friends, because YouTube user xcco3x has made that a reality. A visually amazing 21 minute reality, to be exact.
A little background info, per the description on YouTube:
The graph represents the source tree. Non-leaf nodes are directories and leaf nodes are files where their color represents the type of file.
So, it turns out that the Galaxy Nexus doesn't support USB mass storage (UMS), which happened to come as a shock to many users. Anyone who owns a XOOM, Nexus S, Galaxy Tab 10.1, or any device lacking a SD Card slot is familiar this setup, though, as all of the aforementioned device work similarly to the Galaxy Nexus - using MTP instead of UMS.
When one Redditor pointed out the fact that the GN doesn't support UMS, Android Engineer Dan Morrill was quick to jump in and explain the details.
This diminutive little guy is more than meets the eye. It weighs 21 grams, which is the same as the bag of the Cotton Candy it is codenamed after. The unassuming USB stick is actually an Android 2.3 Gingerbread powered device that packs a wallop. Here are its specs:
Dual-core 1.2-GHz Samsung Exynos ARM CPU
microSD card slot
The magic happens when you plug Cotton Candy into a Windows or OSX device.