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Maybe not, for now. But with the way live streaming apps like Periscope and Meerkat have been receiving attention lately, it might not be long before people of all ages share live stream videos via their mobile devices as easily as posting on Instagram or updating their Twitter.
Live streaming on mobile is actually not a new concept. Back in 2011, Skype has acquired a mobile video startup called Qik, which had created a mobile app that would allow smartphone users to record and stream video content in real time, and then let other users be alerted in order to access and view the live stream feed. But several years ago, there were a number of technical hurdles that needed to be overcome. For instance, Apple once blocked any app that does live streaming because these apps initially had to make full use of a restricted screen capture API in order to work. Furthermore, the wireless carriers themselves were not prepared to carry that big an amount of data that the smartphone was delivering when live streaming, which sometimes caused shared streams to have unstable signals or connections.
But fast forwarding to 2015, advances in wireless technology have already taken care of most of these obstacles. Indeed, in recent events like the Arab Spring and the Occupy Protests, we have witnessed mobile users use their smartphones to stream events live.
It also really helps that social media has made society more conscious of the now. No longer are we content with reading about happenings through the morning paper or even on the evening news. We want to see things as they happen and react to them in real time. In the age of Twitter and Facebook, we want to be in the thick of the things more than ever.
However, there are other who think that having instant live streaming capabilities will only increase users' selfie mentality. Narcissistic folk will always use any piece of technology to feed their vanity. But live streaming that is used for the right reasons is a very good thing. For one, it helps facilitate faster sharing of information, especially those that work best in video format than in written or static formats. Examples include tutorials, seminars, TED talks, or product demos. Moreover, live streaming can be a useful media tool for various content creators -- those who cover sports can use it to broadcast sporting events in real time, adventurers can use live streaming to tell their latest adventures, and instead of podcasts, we could have livecasts.
For now, live streaming is just beginning to hit its stride. After Periscope and Meerkat, we could see other apps in the near future that will continue to expand the capabilities and uses of live streaming.
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FDA: Consumers Buy Imported Drugs Online to Avoid Prescription
U.S. consumers may be buying drugs online from other countries to avoid the need for a prescription rather than to save money, the FDA said, following a yearlong investigation.
U.S. consumers are spending money unnecessarily on potentially risky imported drugs, the report says. Of the 2,069 drug packages examined, 88 percent appeared to be prescription medicines available in the U.S. The remaining products included dietary supplements, drugs not available in the U.S. and products with illegible or incomprehensible labels.
More than half of the products sampled have FDA-approved generic versions that may be cheaper, the agency said, pointing to other studies that have shown that U.S. generics are generally less expensive than Canadian or Western European equivalents. Almost half of the sampled products can be bought for $4 at several U.S. chain pharmacies, a price often lower than shipping costs for the same drugs purchased online.
The FDA report is based on information collected between September 2006 and August 2007 in international mail and courier facilities across the U.S. In each location, all parcels suspected by customs and border patrol agents of containing pharmaceuticals were held back for 24 hours so the FDA could collect data on their contents.
Several drugs found in the survey require special monitoring by physicians or other healthcare professionals for potential adverse events and to ensure their effectiveness. These included antibiotics, antidepressants, the blood thinner warfarin and levothyroxine, a thyroid replacement hormone.

domain: news


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Healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) reported its first-quarter results on April 20, 2021.In this Motley Fool Live video, recorded on April 21, Motley Fool contributors Keith Speights and Brian Orelli discuss how J&J performed and which of the company's segments was the biggest winner in Q1.
Keith Speights: The big results for this week were from the biggest healthcare company on the planet, Johnson & Johnson. J&J announced their Q1 results. Brian, what do you think are the highlights from this update that investors should really pay attention to?
Brian Orelli: Sales were up 7.9 percent. Some of that was due to the stronger dollar. Operationally, sales were up 5.5 percent. Consumer Health was down year over year. That's not too surprising since there was a lot of stocking up in the year-ago quarter as the pandemic started happening, so that was understandable. Pharmaceuticals were up 9.6 percent and medical devices were up 10.9 percent. Adjusted earnings per share were up 12.6 percent, so Johnson & Johnson is doing as it always does and growing earnings faster than revenue, which is we'd like to see that continuing.


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Wings of Oman magazine, the in-flight magazine of Oman Air, was recently awarded the ‘Best In-House Magazine – In-Flight’ at the prestigious World Marketing Congress’s Global Marketing Excellence awards in Mumbai, India.
Ultratravel magazine, a leading luxury travel publication, has announced the launch of Ultimate Luxury Travel Related Awards (The ULTRAs).
Online voting to choose the best in the hospitality sector is now open and will close on October
Hyundai's all-new Sonata has been recognised as Saudi Auto magazine's car of he year.
The vehicle was introduced in Saudi Arabia last year and has taken pole position in the annual awards owing to its a
Playboy will no longer publish nude photographs of women, the New York Times reported on Monday in an article quoting Scott Flanders, the company's chief executive.
Founder and editor-in-chief Hugh Hefner, 89, who in his trade
An Opec (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) publication written by the exporter group's public relations team helped oil prices jump and prompted speculation over a possible shift in output policy - to the bafflement of some
The General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) in Dubai, has honoured the supporters and sponsors of Manafez Dubai, it’s the monthly bilingual publication, on the occasion of the first anniversary of the magazine.
Etihad Cargo, the cargo division of UAE’s national airline Etihad Airways, has won the ‘Cargo Airline of the Year’ by leading industry magazine, Air Transport News (ATN), at a ceremony in Geneva recently.


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Apr 11, 2019 - Technology
Uber Eats had $7.9 billion in gross bookings last year
Uber provided a look into its food delivery business — Uber Eats — as part of its IPO filing on Thursday.
By the numbers: $7.9 billion in gross bookings for 2018, up from $3 billion in 2017. This translates to $1.5 billion in revenue, up from $587 million in 2017, and $757 million in adjusted net revenue in 2018, up from $367 million the prior year.
Why it matters: Bankers courting the company gave Uber Eats a lofty valuation and expected it to become profitable quickly. But Uber's regulatory filing shows that while it's a growing portion of the business, it's still much smaller than its core ride-hailing business.
Go deeper: Uber files for its IPO


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The search engine optimization (SEO) landscape is shifting due to the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI). Many SEO experts are interested in how AI development will affect their field and the future of SEO in general. In this essay, we’ll examine SEO’s possible role in the development of AI.
SEARCH ENGINE ORGANIC TRAFFIC
Many viewed OpenAI’s November 30, 2022, release of ChatGPT as the first significant challenge to Google’s hegemony as the main search engine in the Western world. In response, Google unveiled Bard, an AI chat tool that will progressively be incorporated into Google searches.
Informational search inquiries are directly threatened by the integration of Bard into the search engine, the expanding market share of ChatGPT, and its integration into Bing. Over the next 12 months, websites that rely significantly on informational search inquiries, such “how do I cook pasta carbonara,” may see a major decline in traffic. But in the next years, it’s unlikely that money-related phrases like “health insurance” or “buy a Nike jumper” would be impacted by these innovations because AI chatbots can’t respond to those queries. not yet, at least.
Additionally, it’s possible that Bard’s development won’t proceed as quickly as predicted. Publishers may receive a lot of blowbacks as Google rolls out Bard because Google may choose not to link to the sources that Bard uses for its material. Additionally, AI models still struggle with hallucinations, which have led to occasions when nonexistent books have been suggested. a wholly artificial construction.
MORE LONG-TERM VALUE FOR LINKS?
Google may need to resort to other external elements to judge the value of a website because the growth of AI content generation may cause it to place less importance on content. Because of this, backlinks may end up being an even more important ranking element for SEO. As a result, creating high-quality relationships might be given more importance in the near future.
THE LONG TERM
Over time, it’s anticipated that AI chatbots will get better at helping customers complete activities, like purchasing or recommending goods and services. It is yet too early to know how quickly this development is moving and whether search results can be optimized for it, but it could pose a serious threat to SEO as a traffic source. An AI chatbot’s responses must, after all, be based on data that has been obtained elsewhere.
WEBSITE OPTIMISATION FOR AI BOTS
SEO may have a completely new optimization layer in the future. preparing your website or the websites of your clients for AI chatbots. If these tools will link to the original sources that they utilized to develop their content is one crucial aspect of that. Bing appears to be doing this for the time being. For Google’s Bard, though, it’s not entirely obvious yet.
The future of SEO is still up in the air as AI technology advances. However, it is obvious that AI will become a more important factor in how search engines work, and SEO specialists must adjust to these developments if they want to stay competitive. In order to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of our work, it is crucial to embrace technological growth. Focusing on producing high-quality material, establishing high-quality links, and keeping an eye on changes to search engine algorithms will continue to be crucial for success. By doing this, SEO experts may make sure that their efforts continue to have an impact in the rapidly evolving fields of AI and SEO.


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Spain is once again the top protagonist of the Milan trade show with over 200 brands, representing the leading delegation at the fair.
Fairs news archive
A new format to recount the evolution of the footwear industry, from state-of-the-art materials to the most revolutionary consumer trends, from sustainability to innovative ideas in retail: MICAM “X” will debut with its Zero edition at the next edition of Micam, from 16 to 19 February 2020
Feverish preparations are underway for the 89th edition of MICAM to be held from 16 to 19 February at FieraMilano. Here’s what the new edition will hold in store.
As part of the theme “Show Your Flags”, the international fair of childrenswear in Florence will wave the flags of its brands and collections, with creative layouts and many special events programmed for the 90th edition to be held from 16 to 18 January at the Fortezza da Basso.
MICAM arrives in China with two important initiatives to present its brand and offer its all-inclusive vision of international footwear. The aim is to involve local operators and invite them to participate in the 89th edition of the event to be held in Milan from 16 to 19 February.
Making its return on 15 and 16 March is Moda Made in Italy at MOC in Munich, the event dedicated to high-end footwear and accessories, which is promoted by Assocalzaturifici and aimed in particular at the markets of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Only two days of exhibition, where 145 brands will present their products.
Notwithstanding the leading market value of the Russian market, Obuv mir Kozi – in Moscow from 21 to 24 October 2019 – did not manage to overcome the negative predictions made on the eve of the event, with clientele prey to the uncertainties surrounding the new system of mandatory marking, and the constant search for the best price.
From one end, the weak banking system and devalued currency in Kazakhstan, and from the other end, the political-economic crises of the Ukraine, influenced the outcome of the last editions of Moda Made in Italy @Almaty and Moda Made in Italy @Kiev organised by Assocalzaturifici with Ente Moda Italia. Despite this, a number of business opportunities still presented themselves.
The fiftieth anniversary of MICAM ends on a successful note, recording a slight rise in visitors (+0.94%) of a decidedly international scope.
The fair dedicated to womenswear, White, which will once again open its doors from 20 to 23 February 2020, expects to repeat the success of this past September’s edition
The event organised by IFEMA, which is increasingly a fashion fair of reference on the Iberian Peninsula, was visited by over 15 thousand professional visitors and 800 exhibiting brands coming from 37 different countries.
More than 10 thousand products displayed by over 500 world-renowned brands received the thumbs up from industry professionals at the AYMOD sector fair.
The Madrid event, organized by IFEMA and dedicated to the previews of shoes and accessories for Spring-Summer 2020, has attracted almost 3 thousand professional visitors, with a slight growth (+2%) in comparison with the previous edition.
ITKIB – Istanbul Textile and Apparel Exporters Association
Our companies at Lineapelle 2019 Hall 9 EXHIBITOR STAND ALPAKA DERI T11 – 13 BERK DERI U05 – 07 BESA N07 – 09 / P08 – 10 DABBAGH V11 GONCA DERI V09 ISKEFE LEATHER V12 – 16 KARIZMA C02 – 04 Hall 11 EXHIBITOR STAND AS ERDOGAN DERI V28 – 30 CEVAHIR DERI SINCE 1935 […]


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Mark Schlossman, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Accurate Box Company, was interviewed for a special edition in QSR Magazine about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the quick-service industry. See below for an excerpt from the article called “Pack It Up” featured in the November 2020 edition of QSR Magazine.
Sending a Message
Your packaging is speaking to your guests – do you know what it’s saying?
Maybe there was a time when foodservice operators could tell themselves that packaging wasn’t a pivotal aspect of serving their guests. Maybe packaging was an area they tried to pinch pennies on so that they could focus on the food that they serve, but savvy and successful brands have long known that the two go hand-in-hand: A satisfying dining experience goes far beyond the tastebuds.
Besides, like most everything else in the industry, the idea that packaging was a place to save money has been turned upside down by COVID-19. As brands pivoted to off-premises only for months at a time, packaging became an even more integral part of brand messaging and the customer experience…
While Instagrammable packaging was a fun thing to think about prior to the pandemic, the surge of social media use and off-premises ordering means attractive, well-thought-out packaging is an absolute must now.
“Consumers are almost as interested in their experience as they are in the overall taste of the food, exhibited by their penchant for posting photos and videos all over social media,” says Mark Schlossman, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Accurate Box Company. “We have seen some great successes with consumers promoting their favorite foods or brands simply by sharing photos and or videos online. It is in these situations where the printing and branding on the packaging will go a long way in putting a brand on the map.”
Whether brands like it or not, the packaging they use is sending a message to their customers, and at times, even those following their customers on social media. During a time in which so much is out of an operator’s control, it stands to reason that brands should take control of those limited things that they can…
Brands simply cannot afford to allow consumers to be turned off in any way right now, and building an effective packaging strategy is something that should be top of mind. It’s no wonder that the top brands in the industry have long been tinkering with and perfecting their packaging—it’s imperative to the health of a brand, especially now. Packaging, more than ever, can make or break a brand.
Read the full QSR Magazine article, “Pack It Up”, here!


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ALSO READAlibaba's financial arm acquires MoneyGram for USD 800 mn China's outbound M&A push to draw more scrutiny after record year When deals go bad - China state firm managers spooked by new liability rules In new China Inc M&A push, Oceanwide strikes $3.8 billion deal for ex-GE insurer Genworth
By Sruthi Shankar and Anna Irrera
REUTERS - U.S. electronic payments company Euronet Worldwide Inc launched a $1 billion bid for rival MoneyGram International Inc on Tuesday, arguing that its all-American deal would face less regulatory scrutiny than a lower bid by China's Ant Financial Services Group.
Ant Financial, the financial services affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, said it remained committed to its deal.
"MoneyGram and Ant Financial continue to work cooperatively under the terms of our merger agreement, and together, we are making progress on schedule towards obtaining all required regulatory and shareholder approvals," it said in a statement.
"MoneyGram remains subject to the terms of the definitive merger agreement with Ant Financial and MoneyGram's board has not changed its recommendation in support of the merger agreement with Ant Financial," it said.
MoneyGram shares surged nearly 25 percent to close at $15.77 on Tuesday, above Euronet's cash offer of $15.20 per share, indicating investors expect a higher bid to materialize. Ant Financial said in January it would acquire Dallas-based MoneyGram for $13.25 per share, or about $880 million, in its first major move to expand its presence overseas.
MoneyGram is one of the biggest players in the global remittance market and a takeover would enable Kansas-based Euronet to better compete against digital startups which are transforming the money transfer business.
"Euronet is the No.4 traditional offline global player via its Ria brand so it's not a surprise they have tried to crash the party," said Michael Kent, the CEO of money transfer business Azimo. "Should be a major synergy play there."
MoneyGram, alongside Western Union Co, has long dominated the global money transfer industry with its large network of retail locations. It has about 350,000 outlets in retail shops, post offices and banks in nearly 200 countries and territories.
A Euronet deal would not require clearance by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), a U.S. inter-agency panel that reviews foreign acquisitions of domestic assets for national security concerns.
The CFIUS has been a stumbling block for several Chinese deals in the United States and was considered a big hurdle for Ant Financial. A Euronet deal is likely to be more agreeable to U.S. policymakers against a backdrop of rising tensions between China and the United States over trade and foreign policy.
"There can be little doubt that if China is allowed to dominate the global payments market, it will use the information, technology, intelligence and economic power it obtains to the detriment of America's economic and national security," they wrote in the letter which was seen by Reuters.
Ant dominates China's online payment market but has been ramping up investment overseas amid fierce rivalry at home with peers such as Tencent Holdings Ltd's popular WeChat Pay.
A MoneyGram acquisition would have boosted Ant's international presence ahead of a future initial public offering, allowing it to deploy its technology in the large U.S. payments market with a well-known brand.
The takeover interest in MoneyGram spilled over into its biggest competitor, Western Union, whose shares rose 3.5 percent to close at $20.27.
Mark Palmer, an analyst at BTIG, wrote in a research note on Tuesday that Euronet's bid for MoneyGram underlines "the attractiveness and potential of the global remittance space" and that it may "have given rise to the notion that WU could be an acquisition candidate for another deep-pocketed firm."
Western Union declined to comment on Tuesday.
While a deal with Euronet would bring cost synergies, a combination of Ant's technological expertise and MoneyGram's brand had been seen as a game-changer for the international payments industry with scope for more consumers to use online transfer services rather than taking cash to storefronts.
"The combination of Euronet and MoneyGram offered stockholders a clear path to closing," Euronet Chief Executive Michael Brown said in a letter to MoneyGram's board, adding the current agreement with Ant carried conditions that made closing "highly uncertain."
Euronet shares ended little changed at $83.22 on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru, Anna Irrera in New York, Diane Bartz in Washington, Catherine Cadell in Beijing and Liana Baker in San Francisco; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Stephen Coates)
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)


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Thursday, 28 February 2008
Let's get drastic with plastic bags
A great piece of chutzpah from the Daily Mail this morning, claiming credit for the Marks and Spencer plan to charge 5p for plastic bags nationwide from May. Here in Bath, M&S have been doing it all this month, with the expectation that they would extend it nationwide, and it has worked as a great discipline remembering to bring the 'bag for life'. There is no doubt that plastic bags are an unnecessary, hugely wasteful part of modern life, often creating terrible waste hazards for wildlife. I have seen the ban in operation in Ireland for years, where it is an accepted part of everyday life. People just bring old plastic bags to the supermarket to reuse. In bookshops and department stores, tasteful and recyclable paper bags are provided instead of the unsightly plastic still offered by many stores here. So, I agree with the Mail - it is time for other stores to follow suit or for the government to introduce a bag tax to make sure change happens.


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An Oceanside City Councilman wants businesses in his city to begin reopening in three weeks.
“What I’m calling for, in a safe and healthy way, is to open up businesses essential to our economy by May 1 and we do it slowly and we do it smart,” said Councilman Christopher Rodriguez.
Councilman Rodriguez said he’s worried Oceanside will not be able to pay its own bills.
“We need the sales tax,” he said. “We need the revenue in order to survive this and we cannot continue much longer.”
Rodriguez said his primary concern was paying firefighters and police officers.
He said some businesses can slowly reopen following social distancing, face mask, and glove rules currently followed by grocery stores and other essential businesses.
“I think we can open businesses, essential to our economy and help us make it through this, and we can also focus on flattening the curve,” he added.
“The main thing is making sure that everybody follows those rules,” said Kristina Blair.
Her father owns the popular Mary’s Family Restaurant right across the street from Oceanside City Hall. However, they said their business has almost dried up.
“It still hurts because we know what this place is like when it’s open,” said Blair.
She and her father agreed any form of loosening of the restrictions would help.
“You’re trying to keep your doors open, you’re trying to keep your lights on, and you’re trying to stay happy, but it beats you up day by day,” said Blair.
NBC 7 contacted San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond about Councilman Rodriguez’s desire to reopen businesses beginning May 1.
“We are coming up with plans and talking to business owners daily,” said Desmond in a statement. ”While I'm not a public health official and I look to them to make decisions… we need to be looking at the future, so that when we turn the corner on this virus we can get businesses open right away.”


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Billboard is excited to announce the addition of Tasha Green as its new fashion editor.
Green joins Billboard from The Wall Street Journal, where she served as men’s style editor and contributed to both the Off Duty weekend section and Wall Street Journal magazine, as a market editor, writer and stylist.
STORY: ‘Divergent’ Makeup Artist Reveals Painstaking Process Behind Four’s Tattoos
Green’s career began with the launch of Men’s Vogue, where she served as associate editor. Later, she designed a women’s ready-to-wear collection under the Hester label, during which time she worked with stylists Lori Goldstein and Bill Mullen. She joined Departures magazine in 2010 as fashion news editor, covering both men’s and women’s markets, writing and editing features and styling shoots.
“I am looking to bring people in who are great journalists first and foremost and people who can help bring Billboard to a larger audience,” says Janice Min, chief creative officer and co-president of Guggenheim Media.
STORY: Jimmy Choo Perfume Confiscated at Arizona Airport for Resembling Grenade
Green will start on March 31 and report to Degen Pener, who now serves as culture editor of both The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard. Recently, Billboard also announced several new hires, including design director Rob Hewitt, art director Frank Augugliaro, designer Carrie Lam and photo editor Samantha Xu. In addition, Frank DiGiacomo and Eileen Daspin have joined as contributing editors to strengthen Billboard‘s news and features coverage, and Carson Griffith has also come aboard as a contributing editor, working on the magazine’s lifestyle coverage.
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The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) has published a new report that correlates the market uptake of plug-in vehicles in the EU countries with both GDP and government incentives.
Unsurprisingly, ACEA’s data shows that EV uptake is far greater in the richer countries – the only European countries that have a plug-in market share above 1% also have a GDP per capita of more than €30,000 ($35,000). In countries with a GDP per capita below €17,000, plug-in vehicles’ market share remains close to zero.
Of the EU’s 5 biggest car markets – Germany, the UK, France, Italy and Spain – only the UK and France have reached a plug-in market share over 1 percent. The lowest market shares are found in the poorest countries.
“Our data demonstrates that, even though it is growing, the European market for [plug-in vehicles] remains extremely patchy, which makes it difficult to envisage anything like an EU-wide mandate or crediting system,” said ACEA Secretary General Erik Jonnaert. “Many people take the Norwegian market as a benchmark. But just like its €64,000 GDP, more than twice the EU average, Norway’s [plug-in] share of 29% is an exception in Europe. Nobody looks at Greece for instance, where only 32 [plug-in vehicles] were sold last year. This should be a wake-up call for policy makers. Future decarbonisation measures should be inclusive, rather than assuming that all countries are in the same position as a handful of advanced ECV markets.”
Government EV incentives vary widely across Europe, and the ACEA’s figures show that plug-ins’ market share is only significant in countries that offer substantial incentives. Five EU member states do not offer any incentives at all.
“The final product alone – no matter how good it is – is not sufficient to create demand,” said Jonnaert. “As well as harmonised and coherent consumer incentives to stimulate sales, we need more investments in recharging and refueling infrastructure in all EU member states, before we can expect consumers throughout the EU to really embrace alternatively-powered vehicles.”


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We’ve heard people say that you’d have to be brain-dead not to be making money as a for-hire fleet owner these days. A quiet, knowing laughter follows on all sides. But in some such conversations, the laughter isn’t quite so automatic. It’s the trucking game, after all, and that means cycles up and down. Unnerving cycles.
In fact, there’s nothing frightening on the horizon. The industry is buying trucks at a record pace in an effort to keep up with growth in the economy. With barely a whiff of an economic downturn in the air, carriers seem to have little to fear but the chronic driver shortage and the inability of some trucking outfits to keep up with technology and demands for ever-higher levels of service.
Those last two points are important, especially in Canada where fleet size-and thus revenues-are significantly smaller than in the United States. As a fleet’s size decreases, it’s progressively more difficult to compete on the technology front, because that’s a mighty expensive game that depends on economies of scale. The latest trucks, the latest electronic wizardry, they’re all more expensive if you’re buying 50 instead of 1000. But, in the classic circular problem, you can’t compete if you don’t have ’em.
Similarly with service, insofar as that depends on high-tech solutions. These days, service goes far beyond the charm of a firm handshake and remembering the birthdays of your client’s kids. Ozzie and Harriet might have responded to that, but not so the distribution manager at ABC Corp. He wants an impossibly low price and then he also wants to know to the metre where his freight is at any given time. And he wants access to that information by tapping into your computer system. His kids have nothing to do with it. The lack of that capability-not to mention the inability to price your service competitively because you’re simply too small to bring those per-mile or unit costs down-is likely the main driver behind the apparent rush to sell the farm. Or buy one.
Welcome to the Canadian for-hire trucking industry, circa 1999. Sometimes it seems as if just about every medium-sized carrier out there is being groomed to look good to Cabano Kingsway, Mullen Transportation, or Contrans Corp. these days. The respective presidents of these outfits-Alain Bédard, Murray Mullen, and Stan Dunford-are all too gentlemanly to talk much about it, but they get dozens of calls a week from people wanting to sell.
The reasons are many. Maybe the company needs the resources a larger operation can provide in order to grow and be competitive, resources that go beyond mere iron into the realms of money, technology, or getting past what Dunford calls the “the brick wall” of a driver shortage. Maybe the owner sees selling out as an exit strategy. Given the cyclical nature of the business, maybe he thinks things are as good as they’ll get for a while.
Dunford hears these things all the time. “Almost without fail, the other guy’s going to lay out his five-year profit history,” he told us last fall, not long after Contrans acquired Ottawa-area general freight hauler Christie Transport. “And then he’ll explain his ups and downs, and then you’ll hear, ‘But next year is going to be really fantastic, and here’s why.’ He’ll tell you it’s because the company just upgraded its vehicles, or added satellite tracking or whatever. They all want you to sweeten the offer based on what’s going to happen in the future.
“Well, I can’t buy on the future. I have to buy what’s there today. And if those good times develop, then that upside belongs to me. I’m not going to pay for it in advance.”
The giant fleets may be growing in big ways, but others on our Top 100 list certainly are not sitting still.
Take Saskatoon’s Yanke Group, for example. It was the object of a failed purchase bid by Westminster Holdings (the Chicago-based owner of Highland Transport and Canpar) last year, and rebounded from that situation to post record profit performance in 1998 on more than $70 million in revenues.
The 1307-vehicle, mostly truckload fleet just ordered 140 new trucks and 300 new 53-foot air-ride trailers. It exited markets that weren’t viable in the long term (less-than-truckload and refrigerated freight) and expanded its more promising ocean and freight-forwarding operations into Manitoba. And Yanke announced an investment of $1.2 million to enhance driver pay.
For other carriers, the decision to expand has been dictated by the performance of key customers. Muir’s Cartage of Concord, Ont., hauls for three retailers who have seen skyrocketing growth in the past year-Home Depot, Future Shop, and Wal-Mart.
“We’ve focused on the larger, very demanding type of retail customer, and face very tight delivery deadlines, a lot of electronic data transmissions, and so on,” says general manager Mark Alden. “We’ve had to make changes to be able to keep up with them and give them what they need.” Operating almost exclusively in Ontario and Quebec, the company moved into a new 145-door facility in Concord with over 100,000 square feet of cross-dock area last year, and also bought a new computerized dispatch system.
Any investment that will make the company more efficiency is important. Like so many other fleets, what have not grown at Muir’s-at least not with its largest clients-are rates.
Aside from the inability of the big boys to buy up all the smaller guys, is there a cloud on the horizon? It seems not. The American economy-especially in car and truck production, new-home construction, and capital investment-is running strong. Our economies have always been intertwined, but never more than they are today. Inflation is low, unemployment is down, and the loonie is pegged at a rate that means booming export sales.
But what if our dollar suddenly rises in value?
Calamity, some say, former Prime Minister John Turner among them. In a recent CBC radio interview, Turner said the reason our economy is doing well is the eight-year economic expansion in the U.S. Turner is a staunch enemy of the initial Free Trade Agreement with the U.S., claiming that we never achieved free trade anyway. What the FTA (and the subsequent version that included Mexico) created, according to Turner, is no more than a dispute-resolution mechanism.
Recent trade battles over one commodity or another seem to prove his point, while demonstrating that resolving such conflicts is often beyond the ability of that mechanism to cope. It’s a compelling argument. Meanwhile, with our American neighbors thriving, our very cheap exports-including trucking services-are decidedly attractive. He asks where we would be with a dollar worth 85 cents-as it was a decade ago-instead of 66.
It’s a good question.
One has only to look at truck traffic on Hwy. 401 between Toronto and Detroit to see a big shift in the last 10 years (Ontario, incidentally, is the source or destination for 50% of Can-Am truck freight). Back in 1988, that highway was clogged with red trucks from CFI, beige trucks from J.B. Hunt, white ones from KLLM and other American carriers. That’s changed. But if the Northern dollar were to revive, who knows? That risk may or may not exist, but it hasn’t diminished the lure of cross-border freight.
Penetration of that market was a factor in both Cabano Kingsway’s purchase last year of Groupe Papineau, and freight-forwarder Clarke Inc.’s acquisition of Concord Transportation. In each case, the acquired carrier had real strength in the international market whereas the buyer did not.
That trend shows no sign of letting up, and you can count on savvy buyers like Stan Dunford to be in the middle of it all in significant ways-perhaps even before this issue even makes it off the press.
And you can count on next year’s Top 100 telling yet another new story.
Have your say
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Having female executives helps venture capital-backed startup companies achieve success, a new study shows. The participation of women executives, particularly at the vice presidential and director levels, makes a significant difference, the researchers found.
VC-backed companies that made successful exits – through public offerings or by being acquired – employed more female senior executives than unsuccessful companies did, according to the study of the VC industry conducted by Dow Jones VentureSource.
Venture Source analyzed 20,194 U.S.-based companies that received venture capital financing or were exited between 1997 and 2011 and all senior executives at those companies, including founders, board members, C-level executives, vice presidents and directors.
Fifty-five percent of the analyzed companies had at least one female executive, and the proportion of female to male executives at these companies was 2 to 9, or 22 percent. In successful companies the median proportion of female executives was 7.1 percent, more than double the median (3.1 percent) in unsuccessful companies.
The study also found that every 10 percent increase in female executives at the VP level yielded a 6 percent increase in the company's odds of success; a 10 percent increase at the director level produced a 3.3 percent jump in the offs of success.
VentureSource defines a successful company as one that exited through an initial public offering, is in IPO registration, is privately held and consistently profitable, or has been acquired for an amount greater than the total venture investment.
Within the information technology, business and financial services, consumer services and health care industries in particular, the median number of female executives at successful companies was significantly higher than at unsuccessful companies.
But no relationship was found between female executives and success in the consumer goods, energy and utilities and industrial goods and materials industries.
Women are late to receive an invitation to the startup party, the study also found. Companies in the startup and product development stages are the least likely to have a female executive. Companies that are generating income or are profitable are more likely to have at least one woman in the executive suite.
"This study shows that, in some cases, hiring female executives into management roles can improve a company’s odds for success," said Maryam Haque, senior research analyst at Dow Jones VentureSource. "In the venture capital industry, where companies are as likely to succeed as they are to fail, this information shows that gender diversity in the executive suite can give a company an edge."


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No boot deal for Harry Maguire
Premier League World's most expensive defender doesn't have one
Manchester United made Harry Maguire the most expensive defender ever this summer when they purchased him from Leicester City, but despite that label he doesn't actually have a boot sponsor.
As such, he had to wear all black boots in the team's 4-0 win over Chelsea last weekend.
According to The Sun, he is about to sign a new footwear deal soon.
The world's leading sports brands have been competing to work with him and a long-term contract worth around 750,000 euros per year could be on the cards.
For the time being, however, this high-profile centre-back will be wearing all black on his feet.


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TAG Heuer has recently collaborated with Nintendo for a limited-edition Super Mario version of the Connected Watch, which sold out in all markets in less than 10 minutes.
According to reports, the watch has been proven to be one of the brand’s most successful launches. Its original retail value stood at ¥235,000 yen (or $2,150 USD.)
Now, the watch is already reaching as high as ¥650,000 Yen (or $6,000 USD) on the resale market.
The TAG Heuer x Super Mario Limited Edition features Mario on the animated dial and he reacts to the wearer’s energy levels. If the wearer has higher levels of activity, then Mario becomes increasingly energetic as well.
New animations are also unlocked once a user hits his daily targets through in-watch game.
Only 2,000 units of the watch have been sold, and there no reports of a follow up release. TAG Heuer said in a statement that the project was “the beginning of a long-term collaboration between the two brands.”


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The company also learned that saving a few dollars may not be the primary motivation for One Kings Lane’s customers. Of the 803,000 unique visitors to the website in July, 51 percent had household incomes exceeding $100,000, according to Andrew Lipsman, a vice-president at comScore, an Internet research company.
People now come to the site not just for a lamp but for an aspirational experience akin to flipping through the pages of a design magazine. “We wouldn’t just sell you that mint-julep cup,” Mack says. “We put it together with several other pieces and inspire you to say ‘I want this in my home.’ ”
A big step in the company’s evolution came in 2010, when they acquired the design firm Helicopter, where Joshua Liberson (and his co-founder Ethan Trask, who also joined One Kings Lane) had helped launch Domino and Radar magazines.
“It’s one thing to say that we curate products, and it’s another to say we invest in the imagery that brings curation to life,” Liberson says. In New York, the creative hub of the company, employees spend the day steaming cashmere throws and painting sets for photo shoots before heading to the office’s late-afternoon happy hour. It’s hired full-time photographers and stylists and can shoot products in India and China. Photographs now incorporate more natural light, and styling has become increasingly rigorous. The company’s offerings have also diversified. It launches 2,500 new items for sale each day, selling everything from $45 salad-plate sets to $5,000 antique settees. According to Mack, “scaling the business isn’t the challenge.”
This fall, One Kings Lane will offer two proprietary bedding and bath collections. In 2014, it will launch Hunters Alley, a companion site where individuals can sell their furniture directly to one another. And it’s rumored that, for the past year, the company has been more cautious in its spending in preparation for either an acquisition, possibly by Scripps Networks, which it is currently partnered with, or an IPO.
“I think there’s an opportunity to build a true lifestyle brand as an online business, and no one’s ever done that before,” Mack says about the company’s future prospects. “And what I mean by a lifestyle brand are those companies like Ralph Lauren, or Nike, or Michael Kors, where you build deep, deep customer loyalty.”
That’s typically a challenge for flash-sale sites, where Pedraza likens the shopping experience to “one-night stands.” So it’s not surprising that of all the numbers—membership growth, sales figures—the one executives at One Kings Lane find most promising is that 80 percent of sales is repeat business, lending some credence to their motto, “Design is never done.”


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The year 2020 has had a less than desirable start to say the very least. In mid-March we witnessed the entire global economy be brought to a painstaking halt as COVID-19 ravaged communities. As soon as the spring weather hit, we were collectively forced into self-isolation as a means to combat the pandemic. And though the vast majority of affected communities have luckily witnessed the COVID-17 curve flatten, we are far from out of the woods.
It cannot be expressed enough the importance of continuing to follow social distancing guidelines as a second wave of the virus is making itself present. Not even businesses deemed as essential are safe from the Corona virus’ grasp. For instance, in Scarborough, ON it was been recently reported that an LCBO worker has been infected with the COVID-19 virus – and he reportedly only worked one meager shift which led to his infection!
Better safe than sorry! And although cannabis dispensaries had been deemed essential businesses along with LCBO, why put yourself in a potentially dangerous situation if you have the very feasible option to avoid it? In Burlington, we now offer weed delivery right to your door! And to make the deal even that much more sweet, because you are ordering locally, you are privy to same day delivery!
By visiting Weed Delivery Scarborough, you can make all your cannabis essential purchases without leaving the safety of your home. Weed delivery has never been more efficient and in these trying times never safer!
Covid-19 may have stripped us of our springtime, however so long as we work together and maintain social distancing guidelines, who is to say we can’t make the very best of 2020 summer?
What’s stopping you? Check out our website and get started today at www.weeddeliveryscarborough.com


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Nobel-prize winning economist and famous bitcoin critic Nouriel Roubini, also known as ‘Dr. Doom’, admitted that bitcoin could serve as a store of value in an interview with Yahoo Finance.
Dr. Doom has endorsed bitcoin as a store of value.
Roubini still believes cryptocurrencies (altcoins) are worthless.
In his view, CBDC’s will make crypto redundant.
The prominent economist, also known as doctor doom for calling the 2008 financial crash, recognised bitcoin as a ‘partial’ store of value in an interview with Yahoo Finance.
“It may be a partial store of value because unlike thousands others (what I call shit coins) it cannot be so easily debased because there is at least an algorithm that decides how much the supply of bitcoin raises over time.“
He added that most altcoins are literally worse than the US Federal Reserve due to pervasive bad actors in the space. Amazingly, one of the biggest bitcoin critics is now on the side with staunch bitcoiners who often call-out the FED and dodgy altcoins.
Doctor Doom is notably extremely critical of cryptocurrency as an industry. He often described the term ‘cryptocurrency’ as a ‘misnomer’, since it cannot function as a unit of account according to him.
Roubini went on to criticize bitcoin’s lack of scalability, given its five transaction per second (TPS) throughput – which pales in comparison to Visa’s 25,000.
Back in 2013 and all the way up to 2019, Roubini openly ridiculed and criticised bitcoin consistently, so much so that the man became a living meme.
In his view, now that Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC’s) are on the horizon, cryptocurrencies will become obsolete.
He said: “Once you have a central bank digital currency, every individual can use an account with a central bank to do payments. So not only you don’t need crypto, you don’t even need Venmo, you don’t even need a bank account, you don’t even need a check”.
While this is not inaccurate, Roubini might be underestimating the new monetary battleground the same way he underestimated bitcoin. Indeed, currency might be entering into a phase wherein private (cryptocurrencies), public (bitcoin) and government (fiat) money are all competing for similar populations.
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Apple has been highly vocal about its Lossless audio support for Apple Music. And, while the option to listen to your favorite music in Lossless quality is excellent, not having the support for Apple’s own TWS earbuds — AirPods Pro, AirPods Max, and even the latest AirPods Pro 2 is bizarre.
The company, however, is looking at other possibilities to improve the audio quality of its products without the limitation of audio codecs.
As per a report by What HI-FI Via MacRumors and 9to5Google, Apple acoustics team engineer, Esge Andersen, claims Apple wanted to “give everyone AirPods Max in their pocket" with the launch of AirPods Pro 2. The company has tweaked the internals of the AirPods Pro design to offer cleaner highs and a deeper base. While the design remains identical, the microphones and air vents have been repositioned to optimise airflow.
Apple’s Lossless codec offers uncompressed audio for high-fidelity sound. While the company does offer the feature through millions of songs on Apple Music, none of the AirPods support it.
However, according to Andersen, there are other ways to improve the audio quality, and relying on codecs alone limits reliability. Apple also chose the trusted AAC codec because it’s “more about reliability" for the company.
“We want to push the sound quality forward, and we can do that with a lot of other elements. We don’t think that the codec currently is the limitation of audio quality on Bluetooth products," Andersen said.
Andersen also acknowledged that better codecs, including LDAC and aptX are available, and Apple is indeed “open for change."
Read all the Latest Tech News here


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In a bid to further strengthen the group’s offering in the online news segment, Dainik Bhaskar group recently revamped its English news portal, Dailybhaskar.com.
On the thought process behind the revamp, Kaustuv Chatterji, head – brandcomm and marketing, Dainik Bhaskar Digital Division, said, “We have strong presence in Hindi and Marathi markets, but English is something we’re focusing on now in a big way. With the revamp of dailbybhaskar.com, we expect a lot of traction of Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns.”
Chatterji added, “With the new look, we wanted to ensure that the site looks more vibrant, cool and sexy. Content-wise, we will be looking to offer not just news but everything that our TG is looking out for.”
On the marketing strategy, he explained, “The idea was to position ourselves as the coolest site in the online news space. We’re using print and online media to promote the revamp of the site.”
Key markets the website expects maximum traction from are Jaipur, Bhopal, Indore, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Chandigarh and Mumbai.


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A recent survey conducted by the NY Rising project gathered information to help assess the toll that Sandy took on the borough’s business community. NY Rising is a state and borough initiative that commenced in September and will award Staten Island $25 million to pay for post-Sandy reconstruction.
According to the survey, 66 percent of merchant participants still need capital, 50 percent have yet to secure loans to remediate damage caused by the storm. Additionally, a large portion of Staten Island’s storm-affected businesses suffered more than $100,000 in damages.
The survey also found that:
- 90 percent of businesses on Staten Island suffered physical damage from the storm.
- Roughly 5 percent of Staten Island businesses have yet to reopen.
- 20 percent of businesses impacted by the storm moved locations.
- More than 50 percent of affected businesses were able to reopen, at least partially, within a month of the storm one month, but needed more time to completely reopen.
- More than 50 percent of the businesses impacted by the storm suffered damages over $100,000.
- About sixty-six percent of survey respondents have yet to purchase new equipment and/or furnishings necessitated by storm-related losses.
- Approximately 40 percent of survey participants still need to make building or structural repairs.
- One-quarter of businesses surveyed saw decreased revenue decreases of more than 51 percent as the result of Hurricane Sandy.


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Spring is in the air in Japan, as the ume blossoms have already bloomed and the sakura (cherry blossoms) are not far behind. Starbucks locations across the country are marking the season with a series of fresh new products inspired by the delicate pink flowers that are synonymous with Japan in spring.
From tumblers in every shade of pink and flower prints to stationery and mugs decorated with iconic Japanese imagery, the collection is extensive. Starbucks has even released a new Spring Season Blend, which is available as beans, instant coffee or single-serve filter packs. Fittingly, the package design features cherry blossoms and tones of pink in an abstract pattern.


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Image source: Apple.
Drexel Hamilton analyst Brian White, well-known for his sky-high price targets on Apple stock, published a research report detailing his findings from meetings with members of Apple's supply chain (via MacRumors).
The analyst said that Apple plans to begin mass production of its next-generation iPhones in July. Per one of his supply chain contacts, Apple will see iPhone sales grow year over year during the second half of 2016 after a rough start to 2016.
White also confirmed KGI Securities' earlier report that only Apple's larger iPhone 7 Plus would feature a dual-lens camera, with the iPhone 7 coming equipped with a single lens.
Arguably more interesting, though, was the information that White gave about Apple's next-generation Apple Watch.
Say hello to Apple Watch 2White indicates that his field work suggests that the next-generation Apple Watch won't launch alongside the new iPhones in the fall. Instead, the new devices could come at Apple's World Wide Developers Conference, which is generally hosted in June.
White doesn't give too many details about the device, but he does say that it could be anywhere from 20%-40% thinner than the current generation model. Given that the original Apple Watch is quite bulky, a slimmed-down design would be most welcome.
Why does this matter to investors?When Apple dropped the price of its entry-level Apple Watch at its "Let Us Loop You In" event, it was clear that the company wanted to stimulate demand for the devices. If Apple Watch sales were going gangbusters, then it probably wouldn't have made sense to lower prices until the next-generation models arrived.
Now, Apple may have by far the most successful smartwatch industrywide (by a large margin, too), but in my view, the category is still in its infancy and the features and functionality required to drive significant mainstream adoption just aren't there in the first gen product.
There were also many complaints on the Web about the thickness/form factor of the device. For a product that's virtually a "fashion" item, that's hardly ideal.
The second-generation Apple Watch has the potential to shake things up, though. With a substantial boost in processing power, app developers should have a lot more freedom to build more interesting and exciting stand-alone applications.
At any rate, the more capable the Apple Watch becomes, the more likely it is that Apple will be able to grow unit shipments and ultimately revenue. Though it'll be a while before Apple Watch brings in the kind of revenue that something like the iPad is able to, the more diverse the company's revenue base is, the less risky it is -- meaning a potentially higher price-to-earnings multiple.
One more thing...An Apple Watch in June would also serve to keep the buzz around Apple alive in the months leading up to the big iPhone 7/7 Plus launch. New Apple Watches could also help Apple boost its revenues a bit in the final quarter of its fiscal 2016 in order to partially offset the relatively lackluster sales of the iPhone 6s/6s Plus.
The article Apple Inc. May Launch Thinner Apple Watch at WWDC 2016 originally appeared on Fool.com.
Ashraf Eassa has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


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Better sharing of information between rival food companies could save time and money and improve food safety and quality across the industry, says Stefano Crea, global manager of food and beverage at DNV Business Assurance.
Speaking at the recent Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) conference in Barcelona, Crea told FoodNavigator that he would like to see companies using trade organisations and common tools more often to channel information on food safety and quality to the whole industry.
He said that the GFSI has been a major contributor to fostering collaboration within industry, in terms of securing supply chains.
“You can just imagine how much they are fierce competitors when they are on the marketplace, but they are really willing to sit around the same table to develop tools together,” he said.
And major food companies also are helping to improve food safety and quality by adopting standards themselves, and then requiring the same standards of their suppliers.
“They are leading by example by adopting them themselves,” he said.
The fact that food safety is not an area where companies can gain a competitive advantage was a common thread throughout the conference, with several speakers and delegates pointing to crises like the horse meat scandal as evidence that what affects a few players in the supply chain can taint the whole of the supply chain in consumers’ minds.
“We are actively working with main players to work out what can be shared,” said Crea, adding that information sharing could also benefit everyone beyond food safety, by extending into areas like ethical sourcing, sustainability and food adulteration. Companies have a huge volume of information on their suppliers, but they need to find a way to share that information without disclosing any type of confidential material, he said.
“It is a matter of efficiency but also a matter of effectiveness. …Everybody can see a small piece, but together the industry can see the whole picture, as long as they can agree on how to share it.”


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A couple of days back, Samsung has introduced fours new Android handsets of Galaxy portfolio – Galaxy W, Galaxy Y, Galaxy M Pro and Galaxy Y Pro. A few hours ago, we also learned that Samsung plans to launch three new devices Galaxy Tab 7.7, Galaxy Note and Wave 3 devices at IFA event this year. According to the folks over SammyHub, the manufacturer is also intending to bring a high-end spec’d super fast Android phone, which is probably the LTE version of the Samsung Galaxy S II at the same event. So we will be seeing all the aforementioned Samsung handsets showcased at this year’s IFA 2011 in Berlin next week.
The LTE version of the Samsung Galaxy S II will be sporting the same specifications, except a few important changes. It will be having a 4.5-inch Super AMOLED Plus display (Galaxy S II has got a 4.3” display), a super fast dual-core 1.5GHz processor (1.2GHz SoC for G S II), 8 megapixel camera, NFC functionality, a 1850mAh battery.
We are not ware of the brand name for the LTE version of the Galaxy S II handset. Earlier, we heard a a couple of brand names like Samsung Galaxy S Plus and Samsung Celox. We heard that Celox will be sporting 800MHz frequencies, but not the 700MHz radio. So the 4G radio on the Celox is tuned to 800MHz which is a frequency used in Europe and not in the U.S. where Verizon uses 700MHz for its LTE service. AT&T is also set to launch its LTE network with 700MHz frequencies support by the end of this year. Unfortunately, Verizon pass up the long-awaited handset Galaxy S II for this year. Yes, according to the sources, they do not plan to carry the Galaxy S II and we don’t know the reasons.


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Canadians who wanted to work didn’t have much choice. A record number of vacancies were reached in the first three months of 2022, with Quebec’s number exceeding that of the unemployed.
Updated yesterday at 11:33 PM.
According to data compiled by Statistics Canada, 957,500 jobs were to be filled in the first quarter of 2022. In Quebec, there were 224,370 jobs, while the number of unemployed was fewer, at 190,000.
If we compare the situation with the first quarter of 2020, just before the epidemic filled the entire planet, and at a time when labor shortages were rampant, the increase in the number of job vacancies is enormous. Within two years, there was a 72.3% increase nationally.
This upside is going back even further. It has been running since the first quarter of 2016. The vacancy rate measures the number of vacant jobs as a percentage of total labor demand.
Code red in health care
Many Quebecers have seen it for themselves in the field, and the statistics support their observations: There is an acute shortage of health and social assistance workforces. Moreover, the pandemic has exacerbated the problem.
The number of vacancies in this field reached a new record high of 136,800, an increase of 5% from the peak recorded in the fourth quarter of 2021. Compared to the first quarter of 2020, the increase is 90.9%.
We are looking for registered nurses and registered nurses (+77.8% to reach 22,900), nurses and nursing aids (+166% to reach 11,300) as well as nurses and nurses (+84.2% to reach 21,900).
Strong demand in construction
The construction sector also records a record number of vacancies. Industry players sounded the alarm several months ago and the statistics reflect their concerns.
In the first quarter of 2022, on a seasonally adjusted basis, employers in the construction sector were actively seeking to fill 81,500 vacancies. Compared to the first quarter of 2020, this represents an increase of 107%.
Two years ago, workers (+97%; +8,800) and carpenters-carpenters (+149.1%; +6,600) were in high demand.
New highs were also recorded in the manufacturing and retail sectors. The largest increases were observed in the manufacture of manufactured metal products (+115.7%; +6100), general merchandise stores (+102.3%; +4.700), food stores (+93.2%; +10300) and food processing (+81.8%); +6800).
average increase of 3%
In the face of the increase in the number of vacancies and intense competition to hire talent, some employers have increased salaries.
Across all industries, wages offered rose 2.5% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2022 and average hourly wages for all employees rose 3.0%. The rate is lower than the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which rose by 5.8% during the same period.
Over the past year, employers in certain sectors have loosened their financial constraints further, notably wholesale trade (+9.4% to $26.10), transportation and warehousing (+8.0% to $24.25) and construction (+6.6% to $27.50) and Manufacturing (+6.6% to $23.45).
By comparison, wages increased little or not at all in health care, social assistance (+2.4% to $25.60), utilities (+1.3% to $37, $55) and educational services (-3.5% to $27.30).
demand higher wages
What could explain the large number of job vacancies is the difference between employee salary expectations and what employers offer, which excites Statistics Canada.
In February and March 2022, the Labor Force Survey collected data on the minimum hourly wage that job seekers are willing to accept for a job. In some sectors such as retail, accommodation, restaurants and construction, workers want to be paid 22.4% more than the wages offered.
However, in some sectors, vacancies are due to a shortage of skilled workers. For example, in the health care and social assistance sector, average wages offered were 8.9% higher than wages expected by workers.
#Recruitment #peak #vacancies


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NEW YORK — The Warnaco Group Inc. posted strong fourth-quarterearnings, beating analysts’ estimates, but the company gave 2011guidance that was less than expected.
Joe Gromek, president andchief executive officer, said the firm’s retail business was off to astrong start this year and the firm was poised to continue its globalexpansion, but he also acknowledged price increases building in thesupply chain.
“While we are clearly facing product cost andsupply chain inflation, we believe our business model, anchored by ourpowerful Calvin Klein brand and our high-margin international and retailoperations, positions us to address these challenges,” he said.
Netincome for the quarter ended Jan. 1 rose 74 percent to $19.2 million,or 42 cents a diluted share, from $11 million, or 23 cents, a yearearlier. Revenues increased 17 percent to $591.5 million from $505.4million. Adjusted earnings of 74 cents beat Wall Street’s best guess by 4cents.
Annual profits rose 44.4 percent to $138.6 million, or$2.99 a diluted share, on a 13.7 percent increase in revenues to $2.3billion.
Adjusted annual profits tallied $3.57 a share, a figureWarnaco plans to boost to $3.85 to $4.05 this year — below the $4.08analysts projected. The firm projected revenue growth of 7 to 9 percentthis year.
Shares of Warnaco inched up 1.3 percent to $59.71Monday, prior to the afternoon earnings report. The stock was down inafter-market trading.
In all, it was a quiet day for themarkets. The S&P Retail Index advanced 0.2 percent, or 0.96 points,to end at 512.79, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.8percent, or 95.89 points, to close at 12,226.34.
Shares of J.Crew Group Inc. slipped 10 cents to $43.12. The falling price couldindicate some trepidation ahead of today’s shareholders’ meeting, whereinvestors are scheduled to decide whether to sell the company to TPGCapital and Leonard Green & Partners for $43.50 a share, or about $3billion.
@margotrobbie steps out onto the red carpet wearing @miumiu. The actress is nominated for “Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role” in “I, Tonya” at the #SagAwards. (📷: Stewart Cook) #wwdfashion
For @massimogiorgetti of @msgm, the Nineties are his favorite decade. “They had a huge impact on my personal growth. What I like of the Nineties is that they are not so precise in terms of style as other decades…there was actually a bit of everything,” he said. As seen on MSGM’s Spring 2018 show: tie-dye and a bit of grunge, two styles that are synonymous with the decade #wwdfashion #wwddecades (📷: @kukukuba)
Breaking News: @hedislimane joins @celine as its new artistic, creative and image director. One of fashion’s preeminent image-makers and trendsetters, Slimane is to join the LVMH brand on Feb. 1 and unveil his first fashion proposition for men and women next September during Paris Fashion Week. It marks a major homecoming for Slimane, who cemented his reputation – and influenced men’s tailoring for more than a decade – as the designer of Dior Homme between 2000 and 2007. He went on to reinvent and ignite the house of Yves Saint Laurent, which he rechristened Saint Laurent, between 2012 and 2016 – all the while maintaining a close relationship with the Arnault family, which controls LVMH and Dior. Read the full exclusive story on WWD.com. Link in bio. #wwdnews #wwdfashion
“Personally I believe the Eighties have been the richest and more vivacious period for international fashion,” Giorgio Armani said when asked what his favorite decade of fashion is. It was a moment of disruption and experimentation and only thinking back to the first years of that decade is always an emotion for me, for what they have meant to me and my work.” The influence is clear in @giorgioarmani spring 2018 collection, pictured here, which was full of bright colors and unexpected prints. Read more about which decades designers loved most on WWD.com #wwdfashion #wwddecades (📷: @aitorrosasphoto)
For Lady Gaga’s only Italian show on her “Joanne World Tour,” the singer wore a range of @versace_official outfits. The standout piece: this custom-made bodysuit inspired by the brand’s spring 2018 collection. #wwdfashion (RG: @ladygaga)
@_camillaruth_ is expanding on the wellness-craze concept with @westbourne – a new NYC restaurant that’s both a healthy-minded café as well as a business that gives back to the community. Marcus works with the Robin Hood foundation to give back to The Door, a non-profit providing youth development services, and also hires employees through The Door. Read our full interview with Marcus on giving back through food on WWD.com. #wwdeye (📷: @lexieblacklock)


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Google Payment has received an e-money license to operate in the European Union, paving the way to expand its financial services into the area.
In its bid to provide European customers with financial services, Google Payment has now been granted an e-money license by the Lithuanian central bank. The move opens up many opportunities for Google to be able to offer e-money issuance, payment processing, and services related to electronic money wallets across the European Union. It also means that Google is joining an increasing number of “fintech” firms who have sought similar licenses from Lithuania to offer financial services in Europe.
The e-money license will not allow Google to offer full banking services like bank accounts, loans, or mortgages. It will, however, allow companies to store and transfer money electronically. Up until now, Google Pay allowed its customers to store card details in their digital wallets, which, they can use to make purchases online or through an app. It also allows them to use their mobile devices as payment methods in-store.
Lithuania – one of the countries to join the EU in 2004 – is currently issuing e-money licenses in only three months, and has granted 39 so far, making it second in the EU to the UK which has granted 128 licenses so far. This reflects Lithuania’s efforts in the last years to actively develop “a fintech-conducive ecosystem.”
While many tech companies are seeking to expand into financial services, Google is now one of the last to be granted its e-money license. Facebook has a permit in Ireland, while Amazon and Paypal have theirs from Luxembourg.
Google’s current e-money efforts centre around Google Pay, the unified payment solution formed in January from the merger of Google Wallet and Android Pay, and which it has upgraded with several features like integration into Messages, NFC payments and P2P transfers, as well as payment for travel and other things like movie tickets. In August, the company rebranded Tez into Google Pay as well.
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The New York Stock Exchange welcomes executives and guests of Roblox (NYSE: RBLX), today, Wednesday, March 10, 2021, in celebration of its Direct Listing.
Here’s how the company did:
- Loss per share: 30 cents vs. 21 cents expected, according to a survey of analysts polled by Refinitiv.
- Revenue: $639.9 million vs. $644.4 million expected, according to Refinitiv.
Shares fell more than 14% in after-hours trading.
The revenue figure is what Roblox calls bookings, which include sales recognized during the quarter and deferred revenue. Bookings declined by 4% year over year. The company generates revenue…


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The American Heart Association has outlined 10 key features of a heart-healthy eating pattern in a new scientific statement that emphasizes the importance of overall dietary pattern rather than individual foods or nutrients and underscores the critical role of nutrition in all stages of life. These features can be adapted to accommodate individual food likes and dislikes, cultural traditions and whether most meals are consumed at home, or on-the-go, according to the statement: 2021 Dietary Guidance to Improve Cardiovascular Health, published in the Association’s flagship journal Circulation.
The new statement reflects the latest scientific evidence on the benefits of heart-healthy eating throughout life and that poor diet quality is strongly associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and death. The statement emphasises the importance of looking at the total dietary pattern rather than ‘good’ or ‘bad’ individual foods or nutrients.
A dietary pattern refers to the balance, variety, amounts and combination of foods and beverages regularly eaten. The statement also highlights the critical role of nutrition education, starting healthy eating early in life and maintaining throughout the lifespan, as well as societal and other challenges that may make it harder to adopt or maintain a heart-healthy diet pattern.
“We can all benefit from a heart-healthy dietary pattern regardless of stage of life, and it is possible to design one that is consistent with personal preferences, lifestyles and cultural customs. It does not need to be complicated, time consuming, expensive or unappealing,” said Chair of the scientific statement writing group Alice H. Lichtenstein, D.Sc., FAHA, senior scientist and director of the Cardiovascular Nutrition Team at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston.
Because food is often eaten in places outside the home, the statement also emphasises following a heart-healthy dietary pattern regardless of whether food is prepared: at home, in a restaurant, ordered online, or purchased as a ready-meal.
“You can absolutely adapt a heart-healthy diet to different lifestyles,” said Lichtenstein, who is also the Stanley N. Gershoff Professor of Nutrition Science and Policy at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, “including one that incorporates eating out at restaurants. It might take a little planning, however, after the first few times it can become routine.”
The statement details 10 features of a dietary protein to promote heart health:
A heart-healthy diet can also help the environment
For the first time, the issue of sustainability is included in the Association’s dietary guidance. Commonly consumed animal products, particularly red meat (beef, lamb, pork, veal, venison or goat), have the largest environmental impacts in terms of water and land usage, and contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. Hence, shifting reliance from meat protein to plant protein can also help to reduce overall environmental impact.
“It is important to recognize that the guidance is consistent not only with heart health but also sustainability – it is a win-win for individuals and our environment,” said Lichtenstein.
And, for the first time, the 2021 dietary guidance discusses several challenges that can make it harder to adopt or maintain a heart-healthy diet. These include:
Public health action and policy changes are required to address these challenges and barriers, according to the statement.
“Creating an environment that promotes and supports adherence to heart-healthy dietary patterns among all individuals is a public health imperative,” the statement concludes.


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Haidinger To Tognum Executive Board
Tognum AG announced that effective July 1, Dr. Michael Haidinger will be part of the company’s executive board, functioning as chief sales officer. He succeeds Peter Kneipp, who left the executive board at the end of February by mutual agreement.
Haidinger had been president of Rolls-Royce Deutschland and a member of the Tognum supervisory board. With his latest appointment, Haidinger will assume responsibility for the Engines and Onsite Energy business units in addition to the global distribution and service business.
Haidinger has worked in various international companies in the aerospace industry since 1989, such as DASA, Fairchild/Dornier, Airbus, Eurocopter and, since 2006, Rolls-Royce.Edit Module


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We are proud to announce we took part for the 17th consecutive time in the pharmaceutical industries most important world fair, CPhI Worldwide, which was hosted this year in Madrid, Spain, on October 13-15.
CPhI is an opportunity to meet international pharmaceutical companies and excipients manufacturers, besides keeping up-to-date with the latest industry trends, keeping a step ahead of the constantly changing pharmaceutical market.
Over 36 thousand professionals, from 150 countries attends this event, one of the largest audiences ever recorded.
We will be present once more at the fair’s next gathering, in Barcelona! Come see us at booth 4K75!


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The Cupertino-based tech giant Apple has hiked the prices of four new Apple audio products in India today without any major announcement. The products that have witnessed a price hike include three popular AirPods as well as the most premium headphones from the company – the AirPods Max. While the AirPods Max has seen a massive price hike of Rs 7,000, the 3rd gen AirPods from Apple now costs Rs 2,000 more and the third-gen AirPods Pro costs Rs 1,400 more.
The Reason Behind Price Hike
Even though the particular reason for the rice hike hasn’t been revealed by the company, it is very likely that it could be because of the hike in import duties of headphones and earphones. This hike was announced just a few weeks ago at the Union Budget. Going by the new budget for this financial year (2022-23), customs duties on headphones are earphones have been increased to 20% from 15%. This could be a possible reason for the price hike of the above-mentioned audio products in India.
The price hike in Apple audio products was first spotted by the tipster Abhishek Yadav and apparently, the changes are being reflected only on the Apple website. The high-end headphones from the company, the Apple AirPods Max were originally launched for Rs 59,900 and will now cost Rs 66,100. In addition to this, the price of the third-gen AirPods Pro has been increased to Rs 26,300 from its former price of Rs 24,900.
The third-gen AirPods will now cost Rs 20,500, which is a Rs 2,000 hike from the previous price of Rs 18,500. Moreover, Apple has also increased the price of its 2nd gen AirPods which is now listed at Rs 14,100 as opposed to the old price of Rs 12,900. As mentioned before, these changes in the price of the audio products are currently being reflected only on Apple’s website and e-commerce partners like Amazon and Flipkart are still showing the previous pricing.


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BARTON, AL, Oct. 21, 2013 (Press Release) - SCA, a leading global hygiene and forest products company, marked the 10th anniversary of its operation in Barton, Ala., with a community event Thursday, Oct. 17, 2013.
"10 Years of Growth in Alabama: SCA Barton Plant 10th Anniversary Celebration" commemorated the company's investment of more than $500 million in the Barton operation, which currently employs nearly 500 people.
The event featured top officials of SCA, including Don Lewis, President, SCA Americas, elected local and state officials, local business and economic development leaders, the United Steel Workers and community organizations.
"We are proud of what SCA has achieved in Barton, where the products we make have such a positive impact on the lives of so many people," said Lewis. "We celebrate the contributions that SCA and our employees have made and will continue to make to the Shoals community."
The Barton plant, built on a Greenfield site, broke ground in October 2002 and produced its first case of tissue in April 2003. That same year, it opened a distribution center. In 2004, its first paper machine and deinking plant started up, producing parent rolls for onsite converting into towel, tissue and napkin products. The company broke ground again in 2007 for a second paper machine, which started up in 2008.
Today, the Barton operation manufactures 185,000 tons of tissue each year, made from 100% recycled paper. The plant produces the Tork® line of napkin, towel, tissue and wiper products used in commercial settings such as office buildings, restaurants, schools and healthcare facilities.
In addition to Alabama, SCA has U.S. operations in Arizona, Kentucky, New York, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
SCA is a leading global hygiene and forest products company that develops and produces personal care products, tissue and forest products. With sales in 100 countries, SCA has 36,000 employees and had revenue in 2012 of $13 billion. With nine manufacturing facilities across North America, the company's Americas headquarters is in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In North America, SCA produces the Tork® line of napkin, towel, tissue and wiper products used in commercial settings such as office buildings, restaurants, schools and healthcare facilities and the TENA® line of incontinence care products used by consumers at home and in healthcare facilities. TENA and Tork are the global leading brands in their categories.


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Artificial Intelligence is the most groundbreaking field of science today. Lately, news about new applications for this technology, as well as AI startups getting massive funding, seems to be ubiquitous.
But the news usually comes from industries like Healthcare, Automotive, or Financial Services. We know that self-driving cars are coming, but what about robot marketers?
In this article, we’ll see what AI is, and how it fits into various things that digital marketers do on a daily basis – copywriting, campaign planning, and content creation.
Flash course on AI
The most basic definition of Artificial Intelligence comes from Minsky and McCarthy, pioneers in this field. In the 1950s, they described AI as programs performing tasks which, if a human carried them out, we would say they had to apply intelligence to perform them.
It’s a broad definition, but it means that AI is a technology that has human traits:
- Ability to manipulate and move objects
Overall, AI is a branch of computer science that deals with creating computer systems that can accomplish human tasks with human-like (or better) efficiency.
In the past 10 years, investment in AI startups has been growing steadily. Let’s take a look at a few notable examples just from this year:
- $620 million raised by SenseTime Group, Chinese facial recognition company, making it the world’s most valuable IA unicorn at a $4.5 billion valuation
- $153 million raised by UiPath, enterprise robotic process automation software company, which went from less than 100 to over 700 customers in 2017 alone
- $102 million raised by Pony.ai, an autonomous driving platform developer in China
- $10 million raised by Drishti, company specialized in using AI to digitize human actions on assembly lines
- $12 million raised by Alloy.ai, a company developing a digital supply chain platform collecting scrambled data to uncover additional revenue opportunities
- $14.2 million raised by Avaamo, which is building an AI-based chat service for enterprises
- $56.5 million raised by SparkCognition, a company that provides cybersecurity and machine learning application to businesses
While these are just the tip of the iceberg of AI startups around the world, it’s worth noting that none of them is focused 100% on digital marketing. Does it mean that marketers are safe, and don’t need to worry about AI taking away their job?
Maybe. PWC analysts predict that in the coming years, the biggest AI disruptors in digital marketing will be:
- Customised content creation
- Personalized marketing and advertising
Right now AI is doing great at recommending content to users based on what they’ve seen before. But that’s just the first step, and analysts suggest that down the way we will see this technology being used for automated telemarketing that feels like a real conversation, and in the even longer term – use-case specific and individualized AI-created content.
So AI will be able to talk to (and understand) our customers and create super-personalized content for them based on huge amounts of data that would take years for humans to analyze. It’s starting to look a bit bleak for us marketers, but those are just predictions. Instead of trying to paint a picture of what might yet come, let’s see how advanced AI is at the moment. Can it already perform fundamental tasks of digital marketers?
Writing constitutes a large part of digital marketing. Marketers write copy for paid advertisements, blog posts, cold emails, scenarios for video ads, research papers and more.
So far, AI hasn’t beaten us in creative writing. A lot of brain power goes into the complicated operations that result in a great piece of writing.
Not for lack of trying – new research is paving the way towards creating AI that will finally understand language. Currently, the most widely tested model is called Elmo – Embeddings from Language Models, released just this spring by the Allen Institute.
It goes to show how dramatically fast AI technology is improving. The Elmo model was better than previous comparable models at tasks like reading comprehension by as much as 25%.
But it’s not perfect yet. The main trouble in teaching AI to understand language is insufficient amounts of labelled data. We use language in unpredictable ways. Because of that, collecting enough data for AI to learn all about how we talk and write is virtually impossible. So the trick is to create models that can distinguish patterns from messy, unlabeled data.
It will take a lot of experimentation and a huge amount of brainpower to solve all challenges related to building AI that understands human language, and uses it like we do.
Marketers also have to create other types of content – images, audio, video.
A big breakthrough for image recognition came in 2012, when computers started recognizing images thanks to feeding millions of labelled images, from a database called ImageNet, into neural networks. This has made it possible to create self-driving cars, as well as build the robot that automatically tags people in your Facebook photos.
Can AI already create images for our blog posts and ads? Kind of, but not really. A good example of this is Google’s DeepDream – a program that finds and enhances patterns in images. It has been applied in tools that can combine two images into one, for instance, make your photo look like a Van Gogh painting. It can also do this:
In this example, the DeepDream neural network was taught to recognize dogs and run on an image of jellyfish. The results, as you can see, are pretty crazy, but far from the images that marketers create on a daily basis.
Another tool worth mentioning is Panels by Getty Images – a tool that uses AI to choose the right images for news stories. It doesn’t create the images, just picks them.
Can AI create music for our videos? Yes. There is a variety of open-source tools that allow you to do this, but those usually require a computer science degree and a certain level of genius to make them work. However, there already are products based on AI for music creation, which do the job perfectly – one of them is called Amper, and it’s childishly easy to use. You just specify what kind of music you want, and it generates the music for you.
Can AI create videos? Also yes. Perhaps not cinematographic masterpieces, but companies like Wibbitz or Wochit use AI to empower media companies and small creators to make engaging short-form videos optimized to engage viewers, and provide a database of material to use in their creations.
Managing digital marketing campaigns essentially requires collecting and analyzing large amounts of data. This is something that AI can do pretty well, and there are a lot of AI-powered tools already available for marketers in this area.
Artificial Intelligence is good at:
- Programmatic media buying
- Propensity modelling
- Predictiveness analysis
- Lead scoring
- Ad targeting
- Dynamic Pricing
- Web and App personalization
- Predictive customer service
- Marketing automation
But managing marketing campaigns with AI requires combining multiple tools, a well-thought-out strategy, and a deep understanding of the business and of target customers.
So AI is already helping us run campaigns, and our results often depend on how well we’re able to use algorithms to our advantage. The most common example here is the field of Search Engine Optimization – SEO optimizes content to make it more visible to search engines’ inherent algorithms.
Will AI make digital marketers obsolete?
Not likely. Even if AI learns to create all types of content, and run different digital campaigns by itself, it will still need a person to tell it what to do.
At the moment, marketers don’t have much to worry about. Most proponents of AI say that the aim of this technology isn’t to make human jobs disappear but to empower humans to generate better results with less work, and focus on high-level creative tasks while AI does all the repeatable, time-consuming tasks.
So AI won’t take our jobs, but its role in digital marketing is a very important one. Which means that we need to learn about this technology, and be on the lookout for new AI-powered tools that help us do our job better.
In the end, we must not be afraid of AI. We need to embrace it.


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Bad Boy Mowers will celebrate a manufacturing milestone by going racing once again with David Ragan. The zero-turn mower manufacturer will join the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports team Sunday at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International after setting a new in-house production record for mowers manufactured.
The Batesville, Ark.-based company specializes in zero-turn radius lawn mowers and other commercial and residential lawn care equipment. Launched in 2002, Bad Boy Mowers offers a full line of equipment built in its Ozark Mountain headquarters and shipped to retailers nationwide in its own fleet of haulers. The year 2018 has seen the company’s largest manufacturing output in its history, with sales helping it to grow into the number-one selling zero-turn mower in the country.
“We’re happy to have Bad Boy Mowers back on our Ford Fusion,” Ragan said. “They’re making and selling more mowers than ever before, which is a big deal, and we want to congratulate them for that. They got a taste of superspeedway racing earlier this year with us at Talladega, and now we’re going to take them road course racing. It will be a cool weekend for everyone.”
“We are excited to be back with David Ragan and the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports team this weekend,” said Bad Boy Mowers spokesperson Bill Hurst. “We wish the team good luck this weekend and hope they have some ‘mow fun’ road racing at The Glen.”
While celebrating a record in 2018, Bad Boy Mowers is already preparing to launch its 2019 product line. Visit badboymowers.com to follow all company news and updates.
Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race, the Go Bowling at The Glen, is scheduled to air live on NBC, with coverage beginning Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET.


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If you decided to take a more pure Android experience this year and went for one of the Google Edition flagships by either Android or HTC, you’ll be glad to know that without the added user interface overlays, the middleman for software updates have been cut out, which means your Google Edition flagships will receive updates much faster than the standard HTC One or Samsung Galaxy S4 handset.
In fact, both Samsung and HTC have recently announced that their Google Edition flagships have just received the go-ahead to release the new Android 4.4 Kitkat update.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Edition smartphone received the update on November 25th, and it has started to roll out on that date.
The HTC One Google Edition smartphone on the other hand received the update a few days before the Galaxy S4, which means it’s likely that if you do not yet have the latest Android 4.4 Kitkat update on your stock OS HTC One, you’re likely to receive it very soon.
If you haven’t yet received the Android 4.4 Kitkat update on the Galaxy S4, it’s likely it won’t take long before the update is rolled out to you either.
The release of both the HTC One and the Galaxy S4 Google Edition flagships marked the first time that manufacturers teamed up with Google to re-release their smartphone with stock software.
Despite very minimal sales compared to the sale of the original handsets, a niche audience that prefers the stock experience over HTC Sense UI and Samsung’s TouchWiz UX has been pleased, although now that the Nexus 5 has been released, there is little reason not to dive for the full Nexus experience instead.
image source: TheVerge


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Riot signs deal for League of Legends toys
Multi-year agreement with Paw Patrol toy maker Spin Master should see action figures hit shelves in fall of 2021
League of Legends will be getting its own line of action figures, as Riot Games today announced a multi-year agreement with Spin Master Corp. that gives the Paw Patrol and Bakugan toy maker the global master toy license to the publisher's flagship franchise.
League of Legends toys -- including action figures, playsets, and role-play items -- are expected to start arriving on shelves in the fall of 2021.
"Spin Master is excited to collaborate with Riot Games to bring innovation and meticulous attention to detail to the rich characters and unique worlds in League of Legends," said Spin Master senior VP of licensing John Blaney.
"Our League of Legends line up will appeal to fans of all ages, delivering high-quality products on the cutting edge. We look forward to delivering enhanced collectability and unique play experiences for the massive global League of Legends fanbase both on- and offline."
Spin Master is no stranger to video games. Its Bakugan franchise has spawned a number of games, and Spin Master acquired the kids mobile game franchises Toca Boca and Sago Mini in 2016.
It also launched a toys-to-life brand, Sick Bricks, in 2015.


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Ford will offer a minivan of the updated Transit Connect in 5- and 7-passenger configurations.
Ford has had a troubled history when it comes to minivans – first rejecting the design that instead became Chrysler’s industry game-changing Voyager and Caravan models, then fielding a fleet of me-too designs that never caught on with consumers.
Now, after being out of the segment for a half-decade Ford is making its return with a 7-passenger version of its European van dubbed the Transit Connect Wagon. It will provide a more traditional, van-like alternative to Ford’s bigger “people-mover,” the Flex.
“Transit Connect Wagon gives young families and people on the go the fun-to-drive and efficient vehicle they’ve been looking for,” said Mark Fields, recently named Ford’s new Chief Operating Officer and the outgoing Ford President of the Americas. “It’s an all-new, smaller seven-seater that has better mileage than larger vans and creates a segment of its own. Customers also will love the unique combination of style, adaptability and affordability this wagon brings.”
Stay on Top!
The Transit Connect has been offered in the U.S. market for several years but until now, the focus has been on commercial and fleet users, rather than on retail buyers. The personal use market becomes a major target as Ford rolls out an all-new update of the Transit Connect previewed several months ago at a company-wide product event in Amsterdam. European buyers have had the option of buying a van-like Transit Connect called the Tourneo.


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Google Says Micro-Moments Are The New Path To Purchase
New data shows consumers use mobile devices more often, but in shorter periods of time, to research and buy.
Last month, when Google announced several mobile-centric updates for AdWords — shiny image-based ads for car manufacturers and hotels, among them — the company said the updates were in response to mobile’s impact on the way consumers are making purchasing decisions. This week, Google released new stats on what this behavior looks like.
As mobile’s share of web sessions has increased 20 percent in the past year, the time spent per visit has fallen by 18 percent, according to the company. Users dart on and dart off their phones to find information, but Google also says that mobile conversion rates have also increased by 29 percent, aggregated Google Analytics data shows.
AdWords head, Jerry Dischler, has explained that if we thought there was a linear customer journey before, that idea is now dead. Rather than dedicating periods of time to researching products on a desktop or laptop, we now turn to our phones in a series of small time increments, says Google. The company is calling this new behavior — these short bursts of activity that occur primarily on mobile devices — micro-moments.
In Google study with Ipsos called “Consumers in the Micro-Moment”, released last month, 60 percent of online consumers said they now make purchasing decisions faster because of online research now compared to a few years ago.
The challenge for brands, now, is to be visible in the moments whenever their target consumers choose to pick up their phones during their decision making.
Google has launched a new website Micro-Moments website to house the insights it is collecting on consumers’ mobile behavior — 82 percent of smartphone users research products on their phones when making in-store purchases — and to help marketers understand the opportunities and challenges of meeting consumers in these moments with relevant messages.
Jerry Dischler will be talking about some of this research and what it means for marketers with us during the keynote discussion Wednesday at SMX Advanced in Seattle.
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.
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