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David Gwyther, Director General of the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) says:
“The Budget Statement contains nothing of joy for our industry, but confirms the horrifying real picture of the national economy that we had all feared. Higher taxes, higher unemployment, lower amenity spending, and lower consumer confidence in the future are not going to help demand. The minor, political gestures on training and credit insurance are too little and too late.
It is therefore good to have seen the substantial sales increases, particularly of plants, our industry has in fact enjoyed over the last few weeks. It is a reminder that we remain resilient in the face of the most awful economic environment for years. The gardening public, including some new younger ones, are taking refuge in their gardens, and spending some of the current benefits of lower interest rates and prices on our products. The trick will be to make sure this trend is sustainable, and that we have the quality, value and innovation of products and services required to retain their enthusiasm. I am pleased that HTA has been able to help leading suppliers and retailers to get their costs down, improve margins and thus to unlock cash for investment and service so that the industry is well placed to survive the storm – a reminder, also, that we cannot rely on having good weather to do this.”
Tel: +44 (0)118 930 3132


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Motorguide Trolling Motor Maf16501 13" Outer Tube Stainless For 36" Column on 2040-parts.com
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Trolling Motor Components for Sale
CAR interviews Ian Callum (2013) at Frankfurt motor showTue, 10 Sep 2013
With XK, XF, XJ and F-type, design boss Ian Callum has transformed Jaguar from a brand unable to shake off its retro past into something edgier, cooler and altogether more modern. Now his C-X17 concept promises to take things a step further, breaking Jaguar into the crossover SUV market for the first time ever. CAR caught up with Callum ahead of the concept’s official unveil for an in-depth Q&A session.
Mercedes-Benz recalls diesel cars for a problem with the fuel filterMon, 17 Oct 2011
Mercedes-Benz is recalling nearly 7,000 diesel vehicles from the 2011 and 2012 model years to fix a possible defect with the diesel filter that could cause it to leak fuel. Mercedes said it is concerned that a crash or a fire could ensue in the event of a fuel leak from the area around the heating component in affected vehicles. The recall will involve an estimated 6,782 vehicles.
AAA unveils battery-charging trucks for stranded EVsMon, 18 Jul 2011
The American Automobile Association has unveiled an example of its new roadside-assistance truck, which is capable of recharging batteries for stranded drivers of electric vehicles. AAA first announced the plan in June, and the first truck was shown on Monday at the Plug-In 2011 electric-vehicle conference in Raleigh, N.C. It uses Green Charge Networks technology and has a removable lithium-ion battery pack that allows for mobile charging.
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Poul joined Maplewood, Minnesota-based 3M (NYSE:MMM) in 2011 as the global business VP of critical and chronic care solutions. She later became VP and general manager of the company’s food safety business and president of numerous 3M divisions, including infection prevention, 3M Canada, and safety and graphics.
As a result of her retirement, 3M named Jeff Lavers as her interim replacement, according to a disclosure filed with the SEC yesterday. Lavers is the group president of consumer business and will lead the health care group while the company searches for a new group president.
Prior to his consumer business group role, Lavers led 3M’s automotive and aerospace solutions divisions in the transportation and electronics business group. He also led the oral care business within the health care business group. Lavers has been with the company since 1987 and has held numerous roles with increasing responsibilities.


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Berry Global has developed a lightweight tube closure solution that combines modern design and material versatility with a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Caps & closures
Sacmi’s goal: to provide customers with profitable ‘green transition’ solutions, such as the ready-to-market products and technologies on show in Düsseldorf.
Sacmi at Chinaplas 2023: raw material and energy savings, ‘smart vision’ inspection
Whereas in the past only one category of product was usually run on aseptic lines, bottlers of sensitive beverages now face an ever-growing demand for flexibility.
Farmmash company has been steadily producing a wide range of modern packaging since 1999. The products are sold in 16 countries around the world, which proves their high quality.The products are sold in 16 countries around the world, which proves their high quality.
Berry’s new tethered closure on Coca-Cola bottles makes the closure less likely to be littered
Enhanced user convenience, climate friendliness, weight and material reductions are the key to success for future closure systems. Bericap is exhibiting solutions that already satisfy those requirements at Drinktec.
At Drinktec 2022, SACMI Beverage will be presenting a comprehensive range of products that focuses on process sustainability, with ready-to-use innovations that are instrumental in fostering the creation of a returnable PET and food-grade resin recycling chain.
Digital, profitable, sustainable. SACMI’s roadmap for a new ‘green deal’ in the rigid packaging sector
SACMI will be introducing its 4.0 line for cap and preform production at the Drinktec trade fair in Munich (Messe München, 12-16 September 2022). The focus will be on the new digital architecture of the machines and processes, with the development of new standards that are already compliant with the coming regulations, and will help our customers achieve sustainable and more competitive levels of production
As a branch of Akro-Plastic GmbH, Bio-Fed is the specialist for innovative and application-oriented biocompounds. The product portfolio of biodegradable and/or biobased compounds under the trade name M∙Vera is constantly being expanded with new products.
SIG announced today that tethered caps will be launched for its beverage cartons in Europe in the second half of 2021, well ahead of the July 2024 deadline set by EU regulations.
With over 650 machines sold in China, Sacmi is the country’s absolute leader in cap manufacturing solutions that use compression technology. In April the fair will showcase all the latest, with a sharp focus on efficiency and integrated process control.


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Global chip shortages and the need to prioritize the healthcare system
The chip shortages currently being witnessed could be traced back to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent shutdown of factories. Although all commodities initially went through a demand drop, there was a snapback in demand for semiconductors so remarkably that the supply chains were struggling to keep up.
Factors responsible for the global chip shortages
Last year, the semiconductor market witnessed an abrupt surge in demand for devices that keep people entertained and working remotely during the pandemic. This was followed by a rebound in demand for cars, mobile phones, systems, and electronics that use an increasing number of chips.
According to an estimate, nearly 75% of global semiconductor manufacturing capacity is located in four countries in Asia. With the COVID-19 outbreaks, suppliers were forced to temporarily shut down their facilities to prevent the spread of the virus, further reducing the overall semiconductor capacity and output. The resulting demand-supply mismatch causes an increase in lead times. In December 2021, it was noted that lead times for most conductors are running 40 weeks or more, with no waits shorter than 28 weeks.
The pricing has increased considerably alongside lead times. Wafers, substrates, assembly and testing, operational costs, and logistics have all become more expensive. For the supply chain to remain stabilized, the suppliers are being compelled to pass the costs on to the customers. This explains the 15% increase in the average price of a new car compared to 2020. The smartphone market, though at a slower rate, is also feeling the impact of chip shortages.
As Regards Healthcare
Ageing populations, the rise in chronic diseases, an increasing shortage of staff, and a significant rise in the number of patients have subjected healthcare providers to increasing pressure. The COVID-19 pandemic has not only worsened the situation by causing a surge in the number of patients but also exacerbating many health conditions.
Although the pandemic seems to have caused more damage, it results in the digital transformation of healthcare which helps ease the pressure and address the many challenges. There is advancement in virtual care and smart technologies which enable health providers to monitor and treat patients beyond hospital walls. This digital transformation largely depends on technologies and systems that need chips. Therefore, a situation where the chip shortage derails this transformation must be avoided.
The Need to Prioritize the Healthcare System
Chips are the brains powering modern technologies. They are essential components in vital medical equipment and systems that are important in diagnosing, monitoring, treating, and managing medical conditions which may or may not be life-threatening. The global shortage of chips threatens to disrupt the manufacturing of life-saving medical devices and systems. This, if not addressed, will have a lasting effect on healthcare and patients in all corners of the world.
The healthcare systems are currently dealing with huge patient backlogs caused by the pandemic. The much workload on them will only increase the demand for new medical equipment, which consequently requires more chips.
As the raw materials needed for chips continue to be limited in supply, there is a need to prioritize chip allocations to a level that enables the industry to meet the medical-device manufacturing demands.
Although the medical technology industry, representing just 1% of the total supply, is competing with others, such as automotive, smartphone, industrial, and consumer industries for a limited supply of critical semiconductors, there is a need to maintain a sustainable allocation of chips for life-saving medical devices and systems and continue to improve the delivery of care.
Steps to Mitigate the Chip Shortages
President Joe Biden, in an executive order issued in February, stated the need to prevent the supply chain crisis and the intention to bolster domestic manufacturing of semiconductors. Also, having recognized the impact of chip shortage on patients, the US government is in dialogue with the industry on prioritizing the medical technology sector. Likewise, the European Commission has issued a recommendation to Member States to address these shortages and engage with chip manufacturers to prioritize critical sectors such as healthcare.
There’s also a suggestion to curb the sort of panic buying and hoarding that have contributed to the shortage of chips.
About Med-Tech World:
It is now estimated that the global digital health market will increase to around $640 billion by 2026. Through our expertise coupled with optimized networking, we will ensure that both investors and startups are on the ground floor of this health revolution. The event which is organized and curated alongside a team of doctors, attracts legislators and policymakers, medical professionals, and investors from across the world, addresses the opportunities and challenges driving this million-dollar forum.
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When it comes to smart phone screens, strength and durability is an integral feature to prevent a cracked smart phone. Technology has looked to sapphire as a means to create the strongest mobile phone screens.
A recent report in MIT’s ‘Technology Review’, suggests that synthetic sapphire would be a near-indestructible alternative to the durable glass that is currently used in may smart phone screens. Synthetic sapphire is made using the same methods sapphire is created in nature. A process involving the heating and melting aluminum dioxide, and allowing it to crystallize creates a synthetic sapphire. This study identifies sapphire as the world’s second most rigid material, and a smart phone screen made of this would be protected against scratching and cracking. Only diamonds are considered stronger.
No more scratching from other items in your pocket. A drop on the ground could mean catastrophe for your smartphone screen. It seems that we have all experienced the frustrating visit to the mobile phone store, to replace your cracked smart phone screen. Apple uses man-made sapphire to guard the camera lens of its iPhone 5. The main concern with switching to sapphire from the current highly durable glass used in most smart phone screens is cost. ‘Corning’s Gorilla Glass’ is currently used for most smart-phone screens. This highly durable, light weight- glass is easy to work with and can be shaped without losing brawn. It is estimated that sapphire screens will cost ten times more than the popular ‘Corning Gorilla Glass’ screens which at this point is too high to apply affordably to current smart phones.
The MIT study estimates that the sapphire screen would be a few times stronger than the ‘Gorilla’ screens. This may not justify such an increased cost, especially with stronger versions of the ‘Corning’s Gorilla Glass expected in the future. An aftermarket sapphire protective case to cover smart phone screens is a viable option that won’t increase the cost of the actual phone.


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Organic wholesaler Eosta in Waddinxveen is labelling more and more fruits and vegetables using a laser. Others are also discovering this sustainable labelling method. Not only will this save tons of waste, there are more advantages to laser branding.
Eosta from Waddinxveen was the first to start using this technology, called natural branding. Michaël Wilde of Eosta: “We have been delivering ‘natural branded’ products to various supermarkets in Sweden, Belgium, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands (Hoogvliet and Albert Heijn) for six months now. These products include courgettes, squash, sweet potatoes, avocados, ginger, mangoes and cucumbers.”
He continues: “For one customer – ICA in Sweden – we calculated how much plastic we are saving. This is 750,000 items of packaging a year! That’s enough foil to wrap around the entire globe – twice!” The Hoogvliet supermarket also calculated how much plastic they will be saving by applying natural branding to 85,000 organic avocados and 20,000 pieces of organic ginger. “That’s more than 100,000 a year. As an innovative company, we consider this to be very important. An innovative invention that will allow us to achieve considerable savings on packaging”, says Ed van Venrooij of Hoogvliet. Nevertheless, plastic also has its advantages. They recently conducted a test at Hoogvliet supermarkets: sweet peppers packaged in plastic remained in good condition for four to five days longer than unwrapped sweet peppers. “We had to discard 17% fewer sweet peppers. That is also worth something”, says Van Venrooij.
Higher inventory turnover
According to Michaël Wilde of Eosta, not using plastic foil has another advantage: “Various studies – including one conducted by Wageningen Research University – revealed that consumers are more inclined to buy organic produce if it is unpackaged. This means a higher turnover rate, and therefore eliminates the problem of perishability. Additionally, 70 to 80% of all organic products are packaged. This is not so much to extend their shelf life, but to make the distinction between organic and non-organic products. Only a few products are packaged in plastic with a view to extending shelf life or to keep small fruits together, like blueberries, cherry tomatoes and grapes.”
The technology works as follows: using the low-energetic carbon dioxide laser, the outer layer of the peel or skin is heated locally. This causes the pigment to evaporate. According to Eosta this process is extremely superficial and has no impact on the flavour, aroma or perishability. Laser-branded peel or skin is perfectly edible. The method is suitable for all sorts of fruit and vegetables, but not for oranges, mandarin oranges, lemons and pomegranates due to the self-restorative property of the peel. After a few days, the markings would therefore no longer be visible on these fruits.
Besides Eosta, wholesalers in the UK and Spain have also started laser branding. In the Netherlands, the Cool Port Packing Rotterdam (CPPR) packaging company plans to start using this technology in the last quarter of 2017. Laser branding devices can be used to burn a logo, text or message into the peel of the relevant fruit or vegetable. The thickness of the peel is of no consequence. Up until now, the laser has been tested on ginger, avocado, citrus fruits, melons and pumpkins. According to CPPR the method is environmentally-friendly, safe and EU-approved.
Source: NOS/Eosta/CPPR. Photo and video: Eosta.


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Is Bath & Body Works going out of business?
There will, however, be some new locations opening.
The store’s parent company, L Brands, revealed in a first quarter earnings presentation that 50 Bath & Body Works locations in the United States, as well as one store in Canada, will close in 2020.
Is Bath and Body Works Canada closing in 2020?
The parent company of Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works says hundreds of locations in Canada and the U.S. are permanently closing as retailers struggle to stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Are Victoria Secret and Bath and Body Works permanently closing?
Victoria’s Secret to close about 250 stores in the U.S. and Canada, Bath & Body Works to close 50. Victoria’s Secret plans to permanently close approximately 250 stores in the U.S. and Canada in 2020, its parent company L Brands announced Wednesday.
Is Bed Bath and Beyond closing in 2020?
Is your Bed Bath & Beyond store closing? See the full list of the 63 stores slated to close by the end of 2020. More than two months after Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. announced plans to close 200 of its namesake stores over the next two years, the company has revealed the locations of the first 63 stores that will shutter.
Is Victoria Secret closing in 2020?
Victoria’s Secret: 238 stores Victoria’s Secret’s parent company, L Brands, said in May that it plans to close 251 stores in the US and Canada in 2020. Most of the closures — 238 total —will be in the US.
Is Michaels going out of business 2020?
Following the completion of a strategic review, on May 14, 2020 the Company announced that it plans to close its Darice wholesale operations. … Based on the current state and local laws and guidance, the Company anticipates substantially all 1,273 Michaels stores will be open by the end of June 2020.


text: is reporting that General Motors has stopped production of its Continuously Variable Transmisision (CVT). The CVT uses belts and pullies to adjust ger ratios to optimize performance and efficiency, while improving fuel economy. The CVT has been installed in at least 82,000 vehicles, though GM estimates it to be over 100,000. The CVT has been available in the Saturn VUE and the Saturn ION at a $1,900 and a $900 surcharge respectively. GM is not reacalling any cars that have been sold with CVTs or any vehicles that are on Saturn Dealers lots, however GM has stated that there was a manufacturing problem with the CVTs (not design or engineering problem). Consumers have been complaining that their vehicles that have the CVT are slow to launch and are nervous to stop. GM says that only a small percentage of CVTs are affected and that no harm would be done to the customers who purchased the CVT equppied vehicles. It is unknown wheter or not, the CVT will be produced ever again, but reports say that it probably will. GM has said that the CVT would be applicable to any vehicle equupied with a Ecotec engine, which includes SAABs, Vauxhauls and Opels.


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Australian-owned Richter Audio has finally released its long-awaited Thor 10.6 subwoofer, the most recent addition to the Thor Series 6 subwoofer line-up.
The Spendor SP1, designed by Spendor’s founder, Spencer Hughes, was a unique design, because it partnered a 203mm bass/midrange driver with two dome tweeters
Edifier has released a pair of two-way active wireless remote-controlled bookshelf speakers that it claims are ‘Hi-Res Audio Certified’ and sell for just $399.95.
Deep powered bass blending effortly with the passive drivers: truly superb at the price.
Pure Music Group is now the Australian distributor for the AnalogMagik turntable/cartridge set-up system.
8K is on the way this year, says research company IHS Markit. But China will get it first.
A truly great speaker – divine Esotar2 treble and perfect balance across the full frequency range.
IsoAcoustics Orea component isolators, manufactured in Canada, are now available in Australia from Convoy International.
Put a Mongoose in your dash, and enjoy the connected delights of Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.
This neat media box networks with a Humax PVR in your living room to deliver everything you need in a second video zone.
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In 2010, more than one third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. A new startup called Fitly wants to fight that statistic by making it super easy for families to prepare healthy meals.
The DreamIt Health company, which lets customers choose meals from a menu and delivers the necessary groceries and recipes to a pickup location, launched earlier this month. Fitly costs about $100 for a family of four using the service for five dinners a week.
Don’t confuse Fitly with Real Food Works, another local healthy meal subscription service: Fitly has more of a focus on family meals and is offering up just the ingredients, whereas Real Food Works partners with local restaurants to deliver prepared meals.
Fitly, based at Callowhill incubator Venturef0rth, is also trying to raise $25,000 through Indiegogo to “bridge the gap” between the current pilot phase and the time it could take to raise venture funding, founder Anthony Ortiz said. The team made its first delivery with local partner The Fresh Grocer last week.
Ortiz, 36, leads a team of six, including a registered dietician and cofounder Heidi Chapnick, who spent seven years as the Director of eCommerce Development for online grocer Peapod. A South Jersey native, Ortiz currently lives in Atlantic City. He previously owned a transportation logistics company called EcoExpress. He plans on keeping the business in the city after DreamIt Health ends later this month.-30-


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Rakuten Mobile chairman and CEO Mickey Mikitani (pictured) revealed many customers are not heavy mobile data users, as the Japanese operator unveiled a tariff tailored to the trend.
The flexible data plan follows moves by the nation’s operators to offer more affordable and easy-to-understand packages. In an online briefing today (29 January), Mikitani explained Rakuten Mobile found 66 per cent use less than 5GB of data per month.
Due to financial reasons, “there a quite a few people” in Japan who are unable to access smartphones, meaning operators must adapt to achieve a goal of providing “high-quality, high-speed service to everyone”.
Mikitani noted Rakuten Mobile does have some “extremely heavy users, as 5G data usage is growing”: the operator’s mission is “to design a plan for both”.
Its Unlimit VI plan is free for customers using up to 1GB a month, JPY980 ($9.34) for 1GB to 3GB; JPY1,980 for up to 20GB; and JPY2,980 for more than 20GB.
He said 5G service is available for no extra charge and unlimited domestic calls are free on- and off-net.
Existing customers will automatically be upgraded to the new plan on 1 April, with fees applied after a year-long offer expires.
So far, 2.2 million users have applied for Rakuten Mobile’s free unlimited offer, which is open to the first 3 million applicants, Mikitani said.
He highlighted the tariff can be chosen in stores as well as online, a difference to rival operators which are offering discounts for online customers only.
Mikitani argued online-only plans increase the digital divide: “We want to make it easy for everyone to sign up.”
Since launching commercial services in April 2020, the operator has deployed 11,500 base stations nationwide, giving it 73.5 per cent population coverage, with the aim to hit 96 per cent around the middle of the year, when “most of our services will be provided by our own network”.Subscribe to our daily newsletter Back


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National Coffee Day is Saturday, September 29, and according to a new survey commissioned jointly by Dunkin' Donuts and CareerBuilder, food preparation and service workers are the professions that need coffee the most, followed by scientists and sales representatives. The survey results also show that coffee plays a major role in helping professionals perk up at work, as 43% of those who drink coffee claim they are less productive without a cup of Joe.
For the third year in a row, Dunkin' Donuts, the national leading quick service retailer of hot brewed/flavored and iced coffee, according to The NPD Group/CREST, and CareerBuilder, the global leader in human capital solutions, partnered to determine the latest coffee consumption trends brewing in the US workplace. The survey was conducted from Aug. 13 to Sept. 6, 2012 and included more than 4,100 workers nationwide.
According to the results, the professions with the highest proportions of workers stating they are less productive without coffee vary widely. Those who need coffee to get through the workday the most are:
Food Preparation/Service Workers
Marketing/Public Relations Professionals
Nurses (Nurse, Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant)
IT Managers/Network Administrators
The survey also shows other ways that coffee fits into people's workplace:
Let's drink two: Sixty-three percent of workers who drink coffee actually drink two cups or more each workday. Twenty-eight percent drink three cups or more.
Coffee helps younger workers stay productive: The majority of younger workers need coffee for energy and motivation, as 62% of workers aged 18 to 24 say they are less productive without coffee, with 58 percent of workers aged 25 to 34 making the same claim.
Workers in the Northeast are cup champions: Fifty-five percent of workers claim to drink at least one cup of coffee each workday. Geographically, 64% of workers in the Northeast drink at least one cup per day, compared to the South at 54% and the Midwest and West at 51%.
Higher productivity boost for women: Overall, 43% of workers who drink coffee claim they are less productive without their cup of Joe. Forty-seven percent (47%) of female workers claim they are less productive without coffee, compared to 40% of male workers.
According to John Costello, Chief Global Marketing and Innovation Officer at Dunkin' Brands, "On National Coffee Day we celebrate the important and unique role coffee plays as a vital part of our daily lives. As these survey results show, coffee continues to become more and more essential in the workplace in particular, helping workers across all professions stay productive throughout the workday," he said.
According to Cynthia McIntyre, Vice President of Marketing & Communications at CareerBuilder, "There's a reason why coffee is a staple in the workplace. Workers report that coffee fuels higher energy and productivity, and serves as a means to socialize with colleagues."


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'They are fantastic role models': Brisbane teenager, 15, follows in the footsteps of Samantha Harris and Ruby Rose as she wins coveted Australian model competition
It is one of the most coveted model competitions, with the winner often going on to find fame and success.
Now Emily Rink joins the likes of Ruby Rose and Samantha Harris after being named this year's winner of the Girlfriend Priceline Pharmacy Model Search.
The 15-year-old from Brisbane, Queensland, beat 2,500 other teenagers to snag the coveted title, which has launched some of the biggest names in Australia modelling.
As well as the Orange Is The New Black star, previous winners of the magazine's model search, now in its 25th year, include Catherine McNeil, Alyssa Sutherland and Abbey Lee Kershaw.
Scroll down for video
Winner! Emily Rink from Brisbane, Queensland, beat 2,500 other teenagers to win the Girlfriend Priceline Pharmacy Model Search 2015
But the aspiring model admitted that out of all the past winners, 21-year-old indigenous model Samantha Harris is her biggest inspiration.
Sam, who took home the title in 2007 when she was just 13 years old, was also a guest judge on the panel as she is now an ambassador for the competition's sponsor, Priceline.
'I'm inspired by Karlie Kloss and Sam Harris because they are fantastic role models and seem very ambitious!' Emily said of her predecessor.
Now Emily is a cover star in her own right, appearing on the front of the December issue of the mag, on sale Monday.
On the cover, the youngster looks fresh-faced with minimal make-up but eye popping bright pink lipstick standing out against her pale pink and white floral dress.
Inspiration: Previous winner, Samantha Harris, has gone on to walk catwalks around the world
Editor of Girlfriend, Sarah Tarca, said in a statement: 'Emily has such a unique look, and her confidence and bubbly personality really shone through in this competition.'
'I already know she’ll be a star,' she added.
Inside the issue, the new reigning teen queen is featured in a photo spread, which is also the first time she's ever had her hair and make-up done professionally.
Speaking about the experience, Emily said it was good to get 'a feel for what the modelling industry is like.'
'It was very glamorous and meeting the Girlfriend team and getting my hair and makeup done was an amazing experience,' she added.
Feature photo shoot: The 15-year-old appears inside the magazine in a photo shoot, which was the first time she had her hair and make-up done professionally
The young brunette beauty poses in cute and age appropriate dresses, including a denim overall-style button front knee-length dress with strappy heels.
In another shot the avid horse rider, who one day hopes to become an actress, is seen in a beige and white striped dress with a khaki bomber jacket over the top.
The teenager is thrilled about her foray into the modelling world, saying: 'I’m excited by the opportunities that I can be part of, like travelling and meeting new people.'
Girlfriend magazine's December issue goes on sale Monday, November 9.
On sale Monday: Girlfriend magazine's December issue goes on sale Monday, November 9
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Local businesses in Meridian prepare for Small Business Saturday
Updated: Nov 30, 2020
For those who might have missed in-store Black Friday sales, there will be another day to catch some in-store holiday shopping deals, by supporting local businesses. Tomorrow is Small Business Saturday.
Falling between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday encourages holiday shoppers to take a break from the big chain retailers.
Local Meridian business owners, Holly Brand, co-owner of Brand New You, and Clinton Hales, co-owner of The Liberty Shop, told Twin States News that they are thankful for the support they receive from local shoppers each year on Small Business Saturday.
“It means so much to us to have the community of Meridian supporting us and shopping us and shopping with us, for every dollar that you spend at a small business, approximately 68% of that stays in the local community. So, its very important to shop local and we’re just grateful to be a part of a community that does that and supports us,” said Holly Brand, co-owner of Brand New You.
“It helps local stores like ours and others, who have invested in their communities for so many years, this is our 46th year in business, here in the Meridian area, but it think there is an awareness that people have today, that ,maybe they didn’t have 5-10 years ago, about small business shopping and Small Business Saturday helps highlight that,” said Clinton Hales, co-owner of The Liberty Shop.
Both also stated, that they hope to see the same support this year, during the pandemic.
“We hope so, we’ve been seeing a lot of people in the store thins morning, so it was great to see people in person, but we also have a lot of people that love shopping online. So, actually –this year, we did something different and ensured that all of our sales were available online too,” said Brand.
“I think during the pandemic a lot of people understood the importance of shopping local, and really made an intentional effort to do that anyway and I think that a lot of our customers have remained faithful and loyal in doing that throughout the pandemic, and so we’re very, very, thankful for them, and this is just another reminder at a different time of the year, to continue to shop local,” said Hales.
Small Business Saturday has been an American shopping holiday for over a decade, and each year it falls on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.


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Motorola One Vision receives stable Android 10
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Sharp S7 Android One phone heads to Japan
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Android Auto, One, and TV pick up new logos as part of recent rebranding
Earlier this month, Google revealed its updated design language for the Android logo ahead of the Android 10 release. In addition to elevating the bugdroid (or at least its head) to the logo itself,
Nokia keeps promises, two years of phones will receive Android 10
One of the Nokia resurrection’s defining traits has been the company’s commitment to software updates, and now they’ve confirmed all their 2018/2019 phones will receive the latest major Android
Why it’s hard to buy a bad budget smartphone in 2019
Finding a bad budget Android phone is trickier than ever has been — but why? Join us as we investigate.
Motorola One Action hands-on review
Motorola’s latest phone is called the Motorola One Action, and it wants to end vertical videos once and for all. The unique action camera lets you film in portrait orientation, yet still captures
Digital Trends: Gaming
Top-end Motorola One Action with 21:9 display could cost just $300
We've been tracking developments with Motorola's Android One phones in the pipeline. One of them is the Motorola One Action, a phone with a 21:9 full HD display with "hole-punched" selfie camera,
Android One limits the maximum brightness of the Xiaomi Mi A3
Xiaomi recently announced the Mi A3, an Android One powered version of their Mi CC9e smartphone. It features a pretty strong set of hardware, including triple cameras, in-display fingerprint scanner,
Xiaomi’s Android One Mi A3 disappoints with poor value and 720p display
Xiaomi typically offers some of the best value devices around, however their latest Android One phone lets their range down with poor specs which pale against Xiaomi’s Mi UI devices. Xiaomi first
Xiaomi’s New Android One Mi A3 Phone Looks Awesome at €249
Xiaomi doesn’t sell phones in the US and that’s really unfortunate. They keep releasing affordable Android One phones with super clean Android that (should) get frequent updates and an appealing set
Xiaomi's Android One-toting Mi A3 is official: 48MP camera and in-screen fingerprint scanner for €250
After recent leaks, we knew Xiaomi would soon be introducing its latest Android One phone, and now the Mi A3 has been officially unveiled. Its predecessors were pretty well received, so we have high
Nokia 2.2 arrives as $140 unlocked Android One phone for US buyers
The Nokia 2.2 is the company's first Android One phone in its 2 series and brings about a low-cost, stock Android experience on a budget.
The Nokia 2.2 budget phone is now available in the US for $139
Last month, Nokia unveiled the 2.2, a strong contender in the budget smartphone market, thanks to its removable battery, 5.7" display, and Google Assistant button. Unfortunately, the device was only
Nokia 2.2 Android One phone starts shipping from Amazon
It may never happen or it may be a while before Nokia make it to the top rank in the mobile industry but we believe HMD Global has what it takes to make any brand shine. It’s been handling the Finnish


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The federal government is investing $170,000 into Canada’s organic sector to help with quality development and marketing.
“We want to give Canadian farmers and processors a competitive edge in the organic sector and help them meet consumer demands at home and abroad by providing organic products of the highest standards,” said Gail Shea, minister of fisheries and oceans, announcing the investment on behalf of Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz.
The Organic Trade Association (OTA) in Canada will receive more than $118,000 to help it participate in international trade shows, develop promotional materials, and build a long-term international strategy for the organic sector.
“We are excited about what this federal funding means in terms of building new markets for Canadian organic products,” said Matthew Holmes, OTA in Canada’s managing director.
“The global organic market is expanding rapidly and this support will allow Canada to establish itself as a supplier of quality organic products.”
The Canadian Organic Growers Association (COG) will receive almost $50,000 to develop a strategy for determining how current on-farm food safety systems can best meet the specific needs of organic agriculture. Five organic commodities will be chosen for this project in consultation with organic farmers across the country.
Both contr ibut ions are funded under the Government of Canada’s Growing Forward framework.
The Canadian organic retail market was valued at close to $2 billion in 2008, representing a 66 per cent growth from the $1.2 billion organic retail value in 2006.


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Australia’s best-selling car brand did it tough in November.
Toyota sales for November 2021 dived almost 35 per cent compared to the same month in 2020, on the back of the factory closures and component shortages announced in September and October.
Despite the ongoing supply troubles, Toyota Australia vice president of sales and marketing, Sean Hanley, has previously said the brand is “optimistic about future production”.
“We appreciate the trust and patience our customers have shown us during this challenging time. We are doing everything we can to get customers behind the wheel of their new Toyota vehicles as quickly as possible,” Mr Hanley said in November.
Sales of the Corolla fell by 24.2 per cent in November, while the HiLux 4×4 was down 28.7 per cent.
Prado sales fell by 72.4 per cent, and just sales of the full-sized LandCruiser wagon were down more than 90 per cent as Toyota works to roll out the new 300 Series.
The latest RAV4 SUV has been plagued by supply struggles since launch, and was down 52.1 per cent in November.
Despite sales dropping from 3800 to 1820, the RAV4 still outsold the Mitsubishi Outlander (1633) and Hyundai Tucson (1541) to hold the crown of best-selling mid-sized SUV in November 2021.
Toyota used a media conference at the start of October to apologise for the wait times on many of its most popular models.
The company admitted three-quarters of its models have average wait lists of up to six months, while big-volume models such as some LandCruiser 70s and the RAV4 Hybrid have average wait times across the dealer network of up to 10 months.
Toyota cut the output at its global factories from 900,000 to just 470,000 cars in September, and slashed its October forecast by 330,000 compared to initial forecasts.
The latest round of production cuts hit the Japanese-built Corolla, Camry, Yaris, LandCruiser, LandCruiser 70, Prado, and Yaris Cross sold in Australia. Also hit were the Lexus NX, UX, ES, and RX.
Production in November was forecast to hit between 850,000 and 900,000 cars, up on the 830,000 vehicle record set in November 2020. Toyota also expects normal December production numbers, or 800,000 cars, from its global factories.
Despite its stock struggles, Toyota Australia sales are up 14.4 per cent to date in 2021 compared to at the same point in 2020. With 207,405 cars sold as of the end of November, it’s ahead of Mazda (94,041 sales) and Hyundai (67,138) in the sales race.


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Tantalising Tikka and BBQ Rib get a well-rounded introduction.
Oct 18, 2010
Doritos' newest flavors, "Tantalising Tikka" and "BBQ Rib" get a 360-degree push in the U.K. component of the brand's new Late Night campaign, promoting new chip tastes inspired by classic after hours foods. AMV BBDO recruited director Chris Cairns to shoot an interactive video for "Coming to Get Me," an exclusive track written and performed by British rapper Professor Green. Viewers can click on the clip to see the goings on from every angle. The explorable video will also soon be available on the iPhone.
The "Late Night" campaign is Doritos' first ever global promotion and was created out of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. Additional components of the effort include a Rihanna AR music video, created out of Goodby with production company Hi-Res.


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Microsoft Corp. and LG-Nortel, a joint venture of LG Electronics and Nortel, have signed a Memorandum of Understand...
June 26, 2006
Microsoft Corp. and LG-Nortel, a joint venture of LG Electronics and Nortel, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for collaboration in Voice over IP (VoIP), including WinCE-based IP terminals and the new WinCE 6 videophone.
WinCE 6 is Microsoft’s new integrated embedded development environment for the next generation of smart devices.
Under the MoU, the scope of the strategic alliance will include joint R&D, cooperative marketing to customers and channels worldwide, and a licensing agreement for WinCE 6.
The MoU builds on the strength of an existing relationship between the two companies, marked by LG-Nortel’s development of a WinCE 5-based multimedia Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, the LIP-6824CD, and the world’s first WinCE 6 videophone for global markets.
“This partnership provides a perfect fit for our strategy of developing innovative IP solutions for leading telcos looking to expand into IP Centrex services and such multimedia services as video calls, MMS/EMS and other value added services,” said Jae Ryung Lee, CEO, LG-Nortel.
Terminals based on Microsoft’s new WinCE 6 platform will serve as a platform for application-oriented enterprise and residential products based on embedded devices.
Microsoft and LG-Nortel expect to conclude a definitive agreement within the next few months. At that time, new WinCE 6-based IP phone designs and features will be announced.


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KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 — A total of 568 goods or 63.2 per cent of 900 consumer goods saw a price reduction between May-December 2018, says the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry.
Deputy Minister Ching Chieng Jen said 317 goods (35.3 per cent) recorded price increases while the price of eight other goods (0.9 per cent) remained unchanged.
He said the 900 goods were selected based on findings of the ‘Malaysia’s Household Expenditure Survey 2016’ conducted by the Department of Statistics Malaysia.
“An analysis on price monitoring activities carried out on 2,256 business premises was aimed at assessing the effects of the Sales and Services Tax (SST) on the price of goods,” he said during the question and answer session in Parliament here today.
Meanwhile, he said 125 investigation papers were opened under Section 21(5) of the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011 for various offences by traders who refused or failed to provide feedback to notices from the assistant price controller while 327 investigation papers were opened under Section 14(1) due to profiteering.
“The ministry is also in the process of adding more items to the list of controlled goods to ease the cost of living for the people,” Ching added. — Bernama


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Election Day is finally here, so get out there and vote.
Need a little incentive to go stand on line at the polling station? How about free stuff?
My local cupcake shop is giving voters free baby cupcakes today and my local Starbucks is participating in the nationwide promotion offering a free cup of Tall drip coffee to all voters.
Sadly, the free coffee offer doesn’t extend to Starbucks outlets in airports (or bookstores), but that’s just one more reason to vote – and grab a cup of free coffee – before you head to the airport.
It doesn’t seem like any airlines are offering freebies to voters, but a few cities are offering free bus rides.
Need more incentive to vote? Participating Ben & Jerry scoop shops (but probably not those in airports) are giving away a free scoops of ice cream between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Many Krispy Kreme branches are offering free star-shaped doughnuts.
As outlined in this USA TODAY article, several other national brands are offering free stuff as well.


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Last month the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) blocked Microsoft’s £55 billion takeover of Activision, a video game publisher and cloud gaming company. Cloud gaming is a service where you can stream titles in real time, replacing the need for physical console games. There has been a lot of angry kvetching by Microsoft and others since the announcement, but not much of substance relating to the deal.
This decision matters for several reasons. Far from being niche, cloud gaming is a multi-industry and multibillion-dollar opportunity; telecommunications, advertising and marketing, entertainment, hospitality, and others all have a growing market to exploit. For context, the most successful piece of media entertainment in history isn’t Avatar ($2.8bn); it’s the video game Grand Theft Auto 5, grossing more than $7.7bn+ of income since its 2013 release, of which over $1bn has come from cloud gaming. A game that was developed in the U.K.
Microsoft’s support literature says cloud gaming is just $2.3bn of the current $100bn+ annual market. They don’t say, however, that it will be $14bn by 2026. Cloud gaming is in its infancy, and Microsoft already controls around 70% of the market. You don’t protect an entrepreneurial ecosystem by having one player control the platform on which all else is built. The gaming industry in the U.K. has grown close to 10% yearly for the last five years. The U.K. is also the largest European video gaming market. This is a brilliant opportunity for our economy.
Microsoft President, Brad Smith, took the CMA decision with the pragmatism of a spoilt child told to stop playing World of Warcraft at 1am on a school night. Brad went full throttle, describing the decision as ‘a bad day for Britain’, ‘the darkest day in [Microsoft’s] four decades in Britain’ and, my personal favourite, stating ‘the European Union is a more attractive place to start a business than the United Kingdom.’ Ouch Brad, that hurts.
Microsoft’s relationship with the E.U. over the last 10 years hasn’t been smooth sailing. It has been fined a staggering £1.4bn+ for breaching antitrust rules and for failing to halt antitrust practices. Six months ago, it was fined £50m+ for bombarding advertising cookies on users by French regulators and, although not European, it’s worth mentioning that in April 2023, US regulators fined Microsoft $3.3m for ‘allegedly’ violating US sanctions on Russia.
Microsoft knew months ago that the CMA wasn’t warm to this deal. I can’t help but think a sense of ‘huge company entitlement’ and perhaps an assumption we were just too weak post-Brexit to stand up to the mighty Microsoft played its part in their thinking. Clearly, this was going to be a thorny issue, and Microsoft wasn’t up to the job of making the case for the takeover assessed by a CMA expert panel with in-depth knowledge of the gaming sector.
The CMA hasn’t made many friends with this move, but it’s hard, thus far, to fault it. Brad Smith’s petulant attack on the UK as a bad place to start a business is an emotional response to an issue requiring data-driven facts and hard assurances regarding Microsoft’s intent. The President of Microsoft should play the ball and not the man.
However, Microsoft is still a powerful $2.3 trillion company, and during any appeal process, the CMA needs to be prepared to go the extra mile to ensure its rationale, whatever the outcome, is very clearly understood. A repeat of the 18-month process in ruling on Amazon’s (successful) $500m investment in Deliveroo that left the CEO, Will Shu complaining he was ‘treated like a criminal’ isn’t good for UK business either. A pyrrhic victory is no victory at all.


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Fish will be promoted to shoppers as great value for money, delivering major health benefits as well as giving a much-needed boost to Scotland's fishing and fish-farming sectors.
Despite being one of Europe's primary fishing nations, Scotland consumes much less fish than other countries. On average, consumers in Spain, Portugal and Norway eat twice as much fish as Scots.
Recent figures also show a dip in fish consumption and that consumers are eating considerably less than their recommended two portions of fish a week.
The plans were unveiled by Fisheries Secretary Richard Lochhead at the 'Fishing 2009' Expo in Glasgow last week.
The key points are:
- Promotional work by Seafish, which will work with major retailers, fishmongers and independent retailers to raise consumer awareness of the health benefits of eating fish
- A Scotland-wide competition to find the country's best young seafood chef
- A new web portal to give consumers a single source of advice on buying and eating Scottish fish, including recipe ideas
- Seafood promotions at public events, including the Taste Festival in Edinburgh
Mr Lochhead said: "Scottish fish is harvested sustainably from one of the most spectacular marine environments anywhere in the world. Over 60 species are caught off our coastline yet we lag behind countries such as Latvia, Malta and Finland when it comes to fish consumption levels.
"Fish is a natural wonder food, packed with healthy essentials such as protein, minerals and vitamins. Oily fish in particular is rich in omega 3 which has been shown to help protect against coronary heart disease.
"By eating at least two portions of fish a week consumers are getting a major health boost. They're spoilt for choice and, what's more, eating more fish not only delivers real value for money it also gives a huge boost to our fishermen who work so hard to land quality produce day in, day out.
"In partnership with other major organisations we'll be ensuring as many consumers as possible get this message over the coming weeks and months."
The push to get more consumers eating Scottish seafood is supported by: Scotland Food and Drink, the Scottish Fishermen's Federation, the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation, Seafish and Seafood Scotland.
Stephen Cameron, Managing Director of the Scottish Shellfish Marketing Group, said: "Scottish Shellfish welcomes this new initiative aimed at boosting the consumption of seafood.
"Many consumers are still unsure about preparing seafood when in fact it is probably the easiest foodstuff of all to cook. We have long been promoting the fact that Scottish mussels and oysters are incredibly nutritious and tasty and we are sure this new campaign will help to underline that message.
"Over the coming year, Scottish Shellfish will be participating in this new promotional campaign and we are confident that it will help in improving the diet of consumers and open their eyes to the vast array of quality Scottish seafood that is available."
In addition to promoting seafood at home, efforts will continue to help the catching and processing sectors push into new international markets.
Over 60 different species are landed around Scotland's 4,000 kilometres of coastline and Scotland's fishing industry is leading the way in sustainable practices, with west coast langoustines the latest Scottish stock to receive Marine Conservation Society accreditation.
Food Standard Agency (FSA) advises that people should eat at least two portions (280g) of fish a week including one portion of oily fish. Promotion of this advice is in line with Scottish Government policy.
Figures for the period 2005-07 show that on average people in Scotland are eating 155g of fish a week. Other figures show that across the UK fish consumption fell from 185g in 2006 to 178g in 2007.
Seafish, the authority on seafood, was founded in 1981 by an act of parliament and supports the seafood industry for a sustainable, profitable future. It's services range from research and development, economic consulting, market research and training and accreditation through to account management and legislative advice for the seafood industry.
The European Fisheries Fund (EFF) is worth around £50 million to Scotland's fishing, processing and aquaculture sectors.
The Scottish fishing, processing and aquaculture sectors are together worth around £1 billion to the Scottish economy.


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Security solution provides secure key provisioning
As the LoRa (Long Range) technology ecosystem quickens, security continues to be an area for development in the market due to vulnerabilities that leave the network and application server keys accessible in the memory of modules and MCUs paired with a LoRaWAN stack. If keys are accessed in a LoRaWAN device, a hacker can imitate it and authorise fraudulent transactions, which can end in a scalable attack with big losses in service revenue, recovery costs and brand equity. The company, in partnership with The Things Industries, has released what is claimed to be the industry’s first end-to-end security solution that brings secure, trusted and managed authentication to LoRaWAN devices at a global scale. The solution provides hardware-based security to the LoRa ecosystem, combining the MCU and radio-agnostic ATECC608A-MAHTN-T CryptoAuthentication device with The Things Industries’ managed join servers and the company's secure provisioning service.
“Hardware-based security is imperative for today’s connected applications,” said Nuri Dagdeviren, vice president of Microchip’s Secure Products Group. “Similar to how a Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card securely stores an international mobile identity number and its related key to authenticate subscribers on cell phones, the ATECC608A adds a hardware root of trust to the LoRa ecosystem to establish a trusted authentication when a device connects to the cloud.”
“The rapidly growing LoRaWAN market needs an efficient and secure system that provides additional security while reducing the time spent on provisioning devices,” said Johan Stokking, chief technology officer at The Things Industries. “We are excited to collaborate with Microchip to enable this for devices that utilise our global network.”


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Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 9 December 2020: Dubai Economy has announced the launch of the Unified Payments Network (UPN), an inclusive platform that will bring together all payment service providers to facilitate cashless transactions. Launched at the GITEX Technology Week currently under way in Dubai, the platform is a subsidiary of the flagship ‘EngageDXB’ initiative of Dubai Economy to promote engagement between the private and public sectors and aims to empower the existing players in the payment ecosystem to accelerate the transition towards a cashless society.
UPN is an infrastructure solution that will enhance the current service offerings for all local wallets and payment service providers. The platform offers zero onboarding cost to encourage merchant adoption, while providing an end-to-end digital payment acceptance solution, capable of processing any digital payment, including micropayments, from cards to wallet, locally or internationally issued.
UPN will boost the growth of digital payment and ensure that no merchant or individual is left behind in the race towards a cashless society. Merchants will be able to join the platform seamlessly; they will have the choice to configure the payment acceptance channels on the go. UPN allows all payment service providers to offer their service through its network and empower the merchant with the ability to choose the right provider, based on their fee structure.
His Excellency Sami Al Qamzi, Director General of Dubai Economy commented that: “We are pleased to launch UPN on behalf of the Government of Dubai, particularly for the benefit of the under-served merchants and individuals, while also empowering the existing players in the digital payments ecosystem. UPN will enable and accelerate the digital and cashless initiatives aimed to enhance the competitiveness of Dubai and UAE in the digital transformation race globally. UPN will help achieve the secure and seamless transition of Dubai towards a cashless society in line with the vision of the government and the strategic plans of the Cashless Dubai Working Group constituted recently.”
Mohammed Shael Al Saadi, CEO of the Corporate Strategic Affairs sector in Dubai Economy, remarked: “UPN will further reduce the time, efforts and the investment to market and promote new payment products and services. This platform will encourage payment service providers to focus on their offerings and to onboard more users, without investing further on the traditional acceptance network. It’s indeed a win-win situation for payment service providers, merchants and individuals.”


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Hot Topic Inc
Jones Group shares jumped nearly 5% in late trading yesterday (19 December) on the long anticipated news the struggling US clothing and foot...
Lured by warm weather and deep discounts as stores cleared their summer merchandise, US shoppers hit the malls in July giving an overall boo...
While cold weather, storms and flooding dampened demand for spring and summer merchandise in May, US apparel retailers rebounded with a bett...
After receiving a late Easter boost to sales last month, it was perhaps inevitable that US apparel retailers would see only modest sales gai...
US clothing and footwear company The Jones Group is to be bought by private equity firm Sycamore Partners in a deal worth US$2.2bn.
Private equity firm Sycamore Partners has completed its US$600m buyout of teen apparel retailer Hot Topic.
Teen apparel retailer Hot Topic has reported a 34.4% increase in its fourth-quarter profit, driven by higher sales.
US teen apparel retailer Hot Topic has announced the appointment of two executives - Don Hendricks as chief operating officer and George Wehlitz as chief financial officer.
Teen apparel retailer Hot Topic is set to be acquired by private equity firm Sycamore Partners for around US$600m.
Months of speculation over a buyout of The Jones Group came to an end last week when it was confirmed the US clothing and footwear company's new owner will be private equity firm Sycamore Partners.
- PSF 2014: No one size fits all in apparel sourcing
- PSF 2014: Shifting focus from cost to consumer
- Garment manufacturers eye Myanmar outsourcing
- Teen retail being rocked by fast fashion headwinds
- Bangladesh industry development moving backwards
- Adidas China supplier in discussions over strike
- Gap issues mirror widespread industry challenges
- Bangladesh PM asks clothing buyers to pay more
- H&M "pushing the process" on sustainable fashion
- Adidas plans mobile phone hotline at all suppliers
- Ethiopia – the emerging textile and clothing industry
- Antimicrobial fibres, fabrics and apparel: innovative weapons against infection
- Trade and trade policy: clothing imports, consumer expenditure and trends in five emerging markets: Brazil, Colombia, India, Kazakhstan and Peru, 4th quarter 2013
- Sustainable Textiles for Apparel: Fact, Fiction and Future Prospects
- Jeans in Italy


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I recently published a new post on Forbes titled, “Rihanna, Kylie, & Others Set To Become The New Merchant Princesses Of 21st Century Retail”
A quick excerpt —
The latest news from Rihanna and Kylie Jenner portends a new retail world that will soon send shock waves through the industry.
Read the entire article via Forbes here —
Be careful out there.
– Chris and the Omni Talk team


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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumer prices were unchanged for a third straight month in January, leading to the smallest annual increase in inflation in more than 1-1/2 years, which could allow the Federal Reserve to hold interest rates steady for a while.
The Labor Department’s report on Wednesday supported the Fed’s recent description of price pressures being “muted.” In a policy statement last month, the U.S. central bank kept rates unchanged, pledged to be “patient” before tightening monetary policy further and discarded promises of “further gradual increases” in borrowing costs.
“Inflation still appears to be well in check,” said Jim Baird, chief investment officer at Plante Moran Financial Advisors in Kalamazoo, Michigan. “That should be enough for the Fed to take time to evaluate the gradual effects of its prior rate hikes and move more slowly and thoughtfully in administering rate policy in the months ahead.”
The Consumer Price Index last month was held down by cheaper gasoline, which offset increases in the cost of food, rent, healthcare, recreation, apparel, motor vehicles and household furnishings. In the 12 months through January, the CPI rose 1.6 percent, the smallest gain since June 2017. The CPI increased 1.9 percent on a year-on-year basis in December.
Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the CPI gained 0.2 percent, rising by the same margin for a fifth straight month. In the 12 months through January, the so-called core CPI rose 2.2 percent for a third straight month.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the CPI edging up 0.1 percent in January and the core CPI rising 0.2 percent.
While the steady increases in core inflation resulted in the biggest three-month annualized gain in 10 months, economists said they did not believe it signaled a material shift in underlying inflation trends.
“The Fed will be focused more on longer time frames,” said Eric Winograd, senior economist at AllianceBernstein in New York. “The quarter-on-quarter annualized figure has moved both higher and lower without signaling any meaningful change in the year-on-year rate before.”
The dollar rose against a basket of currencies as traders focused on the three-month rise in the core CPI. Prices of U.S. Treasuries fell. Stocks on Wall Street were trading higher amid optimism that the United States and China could strike a deal during trade talks in Beijing.
LITTLE UPSIDE RISK
Despite the increases in the core CPI, underlying inflation remains moderate. The Fed, which has a 2 percent inflation target, tracks a different measure, the core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, for monetary policy.
The core PCE price index increased 1.9 percent on a year-on-year basis in November after rising 1.8 percent in October. It hit 2 percent in March 2018 for the first time since April 2012. PCE price data for December will be released on March 1.
It was delayed by a five-week partial shutdown of the federal government that ended on Jan. 25.
Inflation is remaining moderate despite a tightening labor market, in part because of slowing economic growth in China and Europe, which is helping to lower oil prices.
“We don’t see a ton of upside risk to inflation over the next several months,” said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania. “The unemployment rate could fall even further without stoking significant inflation, since the slope of the Phillips curve remains flat.”
The Phillips curve describes the relationship between inflation and unemployment. It holds that as unemployment declines, inflation should rise. In the current environment, the lack of a strong inflation impulse suggests there is no danger of the labor market overheating.
In January, gasoline prices fell 5.5 percent after dropping 5.8 percent in December. Food prices increased 0.2 percent, rising for a third straight month. There were increases in the prices of poultry, eggs, fish and beef. But consumers paid less for fruits, vegetables, cereals and dairy products.
Owners’ equivalent rent of primary residence, which is what a homeowner would pay to rent or receive from renting a home, increased 0.3 percent in January after gaining 0.2 percent in the prior month. The cost of postage stamps jumped 1.7 percent, the most since February 2013.
Healthcare costs rose 0.2 percent after advancing 0.3 percent in December, with doctor visits costing more. Apparel prices surged 1.1 percent last month, the biggest increase since February 2018.
Airline fares dropped 0.9 percent. The cost of motor vehicle insurance fell for a third straight month.
Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Paul Simao
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


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New laws that will see more drones requiring registration are coming into effect in Ireland this year.
Owners of drones here that weigh more than 250 grams will have to register the device.
Previously it was only drones over 1kg that had to be registered.
According to the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA), there are more than 11,000 drones registered in Ireland - up from more than 8,500 in December 2017.
For the first time ever, Europe-wide rules for the registration and certification of drones have been agreed.
It comes after thousands of flights were disrupted due to drone activity at London's Gatwick Airport before Christmas.
Ireland South MEP Deirdre Clune said people who own and operate drones have a responsibility to ensure they are used in a careful manner.
"Many people will have gotten drones as Christmas presents this year and will be perhaps looking to purchase them in the January sales.
"With an exponential year-on-year growth of drone-related incidents, it is quite clear that drones will be a major safety challenge in the years to come.
"We should never forget that drones can do harm to people, they are a significant security threat and a risk to aircraft."
"Drones are a sector of aviation that is fast developing and offers great potential to produce new jobs and growth.
"The increased use of drones does however brings up a range of legal and commercial issues, including public safety."
Drones are considered to be unmanned aircraft which are remotely piloted or controlled.
Drone registration is mandatory in Ireland.


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The European Union (EU) today gave its final approval which demands that by 2024, the USB-C port will become mandatory for a range of electronic devices including mobile phones, tablets, and headphones.
In a public statement, the EU ministers say the goal was to make it no longer necessary to buy a different charger every time customers purchase a new mobile phone or similar device: all of them can be recharged using the same charger.
“We all have at least three mobile phone chargers at home. Looking for the right charger, either at home or at work, can be quite annoying. On top of this, these chargers amount to 11.000 tonnes of e-waste every year. Having a charger that fits multiple devices will save money and time and also helps us reduce electronic waste,” Jozef Síkela, Minister for Industry and Trade, says.
The law specifically targets mobile phones, tablets and e-readers, digital cameras and video game consoles, headphones, earbuds and portable loudspeakers, wireless mice and keyboards, and portable navigation systems. In addition, all laptops will also be covered by the new rules 40 months after the law takes effect in 2024. That said, in previous statements the Commission specified that it would apply to “laptops that are rechargeable via a wired cable, operating with a power delivery of up to 100 Watts,” which means more powerful computers won’t be held to this standard.
While no company is specifically called out, the company most notably affected by this demand is Apple. While the Silicon Valley giant has shifted some of its products to USB-C, most recently its new iPads that were just launched last week, the iPhone still uses the proprietary Lightning port.
The new rules, which were first introduced in June before being approved by a vote earlier this month, will make it so that most electronic devices sold in Europe can be charged using the same cables interchangeably.
It also makes it more palatable for consumers who are already buying new products that don’t come with a charger, a more common practice among smartphone sales since Apple stopped including a charging brick with its iPhones a couple of years ago. The EU argues that this will not only save consumers money, but it will also reduce the e-waste associated with production, transportation, and disposal. Four years after the directive becomes enforced, the EU Commission will assess whether this unbundling of sales should be made mandatory.
While this directive only applies to cables, the EU Commission is not blind to the possibility of wireless charging.
“Although becoming more popular, wireless charging has not yet been harmonized across devices. To enable this technology to become available for more devices, the Commission will work on harmonizing wireless charging for electronic devices and on interoperability based on technological developments,” the commission writes.
As previously reported, Apple can still create regional units for the European Union alone, allowing it to keep its Lightning and dongle supremacy in the U.S. and other markets.


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Flexible solar panels could power next-gen Internet of Things devices
A highly-flexible and portable solar cell could power the next generation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, its creators have claimed, including wearable technology and foldable displays.
Traditional solar panels’ rigidity and high weight have limited their application in flexible electronics, said the researchers at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia. The team, led by Muhammad Hussain, aimed to overcome these issues with a new design while maintaining the same levels of efficiency.
To tackle the issue, the researchers built rigid silicon segments linked by screen-printed aluminium contacts, positioned at the back to optimise light absorption and allow modifications of the silicon sections. The result is an array that can bend to different shapes such as zig-zags or two-sided cells.


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No new credit cards, digital launches, RBI tells HDFC following outages
New Delhi, Dec 03: The HDFC Bank has been has been asked by the Reserve Bank of India to stop launches of new digital business activity and not add new credit card customers following repeated outages in its electronic banking services.
The RBI also asked the bank to examine the lapses and fix accountability. "The RBI vide said Order has advised the Bank to temporarily stop i) all launches of the digital business generating activities planned under its program ‐ Digital 2.0 (to be launched) and other proposed business generating IT applications and (ii) sourcing of new credit card customers. In addition, the order states that the Bank's Board examines the lapses and fixes accountability," a letter to the stock exchanges by HDFC Bank said.
While the bank has said that this was a one-off issue, customers have taken to the social media to complain about an issue with the server delays with regard to receipt of one-time password and authorisation of transactions.
HDFC Bank said in a statement that it has taken several measures to fortify its IT systems. We will continue to move swiftly to close out the balance and to engage with the regulator in this regard, the bank said.
This is for the first time the RBI has taken such a drastic action against such a large bank.
HDFC said, "the bank has endeavoured to provide seamless banking services to its customers. The bank has been taking conscious, concrete steps to remedy the recent outages on its digital banking channels and assures its customers that it expects the current supervisory actions will have no impact on its existing credit cards, digital banking channels and existing operations. The bank believes that these measures will not materially impact its overall business."


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Xbox One X will be the most powerful console in the world when it launches later this year. While gamers are excited about its capability of running games at 4K but, most of the gaming community was not exactly thrilled about its $499.99 price tag and more importantly compared to PS4 Pro’s $399.99 price tag. Now, Xbox exec has explained that they could have sold Xbox One X for $399 but it would not be a 4K console.
Speaking with Polygon, Mike Ybarra explained that Microsoft could have sold Xbox One X for just $399 but that would have cost its 4K capabilities and 4K is a design pillar for the console which can’t be compromised.
[at $399] we wouldn’t have been able to usher in 4K to the living room, and that was a design pillar for this box. There’s lots of goals in the program, from compatibility to everything. But one, let’s really usher in true 4K where developers don’t have to think about, ‘Wow, how do we stretch this and make it really work?’ We needed to deliver that to consumers. They asked us for uncompromised true 4K in the living room. And so we leveraged a lot of PC technology, from the cooling, the power management system that’s in this, to get it this small — while managing acoustics. That was the goal.
Forza 7 was the first game Microsoft showcased running at 4K/60 FPS on the console. Given that the game runs at native 4K many had assumed including me that it would take everything that the console has got to achieve it. However, that is not the case, even though the console will run Forza 7 at 4K/60 FPS it will still have 30% of GPU power to spare.
Are you excited for the upcoming console from Microsoft? Let us know in the comments.


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India: More Than 4k Register to Surat Diamond Bourse
The Surat Diamond Bourse (SDB) in India is currently under construction and expected to open later this year. Meanwhile, according to Rough & Polished, Surat “is attracting a large number of diamond traders and professionals working in the industry.”
Approximately 4,350 businessmen and professionals got registered in the SDB and membership in Surat Diamond Association (SDA) also spiked. According to industry leaders mentioned in the piece, “the rise […] is mainly due to the rule that those willing to buy property in SDB were required to have membership in any of the diamond industry bodies.”
In other India-related news, exports of gold jewelry grew 50% year-on-year to $8807.50 million in 2021, according to another report in Rough & Polished.


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Philadelphia Macaroni Company, a more than 100-year-old, family-owned company, is operating a new pasta-making plant in Harrisburg, saving 43 jobs in the process.
The company makes dried pasta and noodles at the plant, which was previously operated by Unilever. The Harrisburg Regional Chamber & CREDC recently reported that Unilever had been contemplating vacating the facility.
“Philadelphia Macaroni Company’s purchase agreement and business plan to operate from this facility effectively saved 43 full-time jobs in the city of Harrisburg,” explained the Chamber.
“The Harrisburg plant was recently updated with state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment,” said Philadelphia Macaroni President Luke Marano, Jr. when announcing the plans last year. “This facility, complemented by its dedicated and professional workforce, is a valuable asset critical to the future development, growth and success of Philadelphia Macaroni Company.”
Philadelphia Macaroni Company was founded in 1914 in Philadelphia’s Italian Market. Today, a fifth generation of the founding family runs the company, headquartered in Philadelphia. In addition to the new Harrisburg plant, the company operates factories in Warminster, North Dakota and Washington State, and mills durum and hard red spring wheat at its Minot Milling division in North Dakota. Besides being one of the country’s oldest pasta makers, the company is one of the largest industrial pasta manufacturers in the U.S.
Company spokeswoman Linda Schalles declined to reveal terms of the sales agreement in Harrisburg, but according to the Capital Region Economic Development Corporation, the chamber’s economic development arm, the company recently closed on a $450,000 Enterprise Zone Loan towards the purchase of machinery and equipment at the facility.
More hiring is expected at the plant, Schalles adds.
Source: Linda Schalles, Philadelphia Macaroni Company; Harrisburg Regional Chamber & CREDC
Writer: Elise Vider


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Contact: Brenon Daly
In this era of disruptive technologies, what does the future hold for enterprise IT? What new innovations are expected to reshape software, networking and even the datacenter itself in the coming year? For a look ahead, join us for a special webinar on Thursday, February 9 at 9:00am PST/12:00pm EST. (Click here to register.) The heads of several practice areas at 451 Research will highlight a number of key trends in their sectors, and what impact that will have on the broader IT landscape.
Topics we will cover in the hour-long webinar include the emergence of truly virtualized infrastructure, the rise of software-defined networks and the trend toward modularity inside the new datacenters. We will also cover some of the financial implications of those trends, both in terms of capital raising and M&A valuations. To join the webinar on Thursday, simply register here.
Contact: Brenon Daly, Henry Baltazar
As Fusion-io continues to bask in the glow of its newly created billion-dollar valuation, Wall Street is already looking for the next solid-state storage specialist. Conveniently enough, Violin Memory popped up earlier this week, announcing a $40m round at a $440m valuation. (It’s pure coincidence, certainly, that Violin – headed by the same guy who used to head Fusion-io – picked the same week as Fusion-io’s debut to trumpet not only the new investment but also the valuation it fetched. Just a fluke of the calendar, of course.)
Whatever the motivation for landing two rounds of funding in just four months, Violin also talked about topping $100m in sales this year, which would certainly put it on track for an IPO of its own. Provided, that is, the company intends to go public. If it should opt to head for the other exit and sell, we suspect that the most interested bidder in Violin may well be Hewlett-Packard.
The two companies have been publishing benchmark results from a combined offering, and HP undoubtedly could use the technology boost to more effectively compete with Oracle, which has been punching HP every chance it gets. (Oracle’s none-too-subtle ‘cash for clunkers’ ad campaign around HP servers comes to mind.) Another possible suitor for Violin would be Juniper Networks, which has already invested in the startup.
-Contact Thomas Rasmussen
The market for solid-state-drive (SSD) technology is heating up. As an increasing number of consumer and enterprise products (including servers, desktops, laptops and netbooks) incorporate the technology, some old-line technology companies are looking to expand their SSD offerings. Western Digital acknowledged that last week by acquiring SSD vendor SiliconSystems for $65m in cash after about a year of on-and-off talks. (It was Western Digital’s first purchase since its $1.14bn acquisition of Komag in mid-2007.) On the other side, SiliconSystems had taken in just $14m in venture capital since its inception in 2002 from Miramar Venture Partners, Rustic Canyon Partners, Samsung Ventures America, Shepherd Ventures and SanDisk.
We understand that SiliconSystems generated about $50m in trailing 12-month (TTM) sales, meaning Western Digital paid about 1.3x TTM sales for the startup. This is in line with historical averages for the space, but comes at a time when the median valuation for venture-backed startups has been nearly cut in half. In the first quarter of 2009, the median valuation in a sale for a VC-backed tech company sank to just 2.1x TTM sales, compared to 3.8x TTM sales during the same period last year. (See our full report on first-quarter M&A.)
SiliconSystems will be re-branded as Western Digital’s Solid-State Storage business unit and will be headed by former CEO Michael Hajeck, who used to run STEC Inc’s enterprise SSD division. The importance of this relatively small acquisition should not be underestimated. Having essentially become a player in the SSD space overnight, Western Digital has taken the first step toward securing its future survival. With $1.4bn in cash, we wonder if Western Digital will continue to use acquisitions to expand in this market. Possible targets are Hajeck’s former employer STEC, which we previously speculated might be on sale, as well as Smart Modular Technologies. There are also a few potentially disruptive startups out there worth looking at such as Pliant Technology, Texas Memory Systems and Fusion-io.
Western Digital M&A
||Price to sales multiple
|March 30, 2009
|June 28, 2007
|July 24, 2003
Source: The 451 M&A KnowledgeBase *451 Group estimate
-Contact Thomas Rasmussen
When SanDisk released its dismal earnings this week, dismayed shareholders hastily headed for the hills. The exodus caused SanDisk’s stock to plunge 25%. In the fourth quarter of 2008, the flash memory giant lost $1.6bn, pushing its total loss for the year to $2bn. This red ink from operations was exacerbated by the company’s $1bn of acquisition-related write-downs stemming from its $1.5bn acquisition of msystems in July 2006. In the days following the dire news, SanDisk has been trading at a valuation of around $2.2bn. That’s a far cry from the $5.6bn that Samsung offered for SanDisk in September.
To put the decline in perspective, SanDisk’s three largest outside shareholders – Clearbridge Advisors, Capital International Asset Management and Capital Guardian Trust, which collectively own more than 15% of SanDisk (as of September 30) – suffered a paper loss of more than $700m since the day Samsung walked away from the proposed deal. Given this, we wouldn’t be surprised if shareholder ire forced SanDisk to reconsider its strategic options this year. On its earnings call this past Monday, the company reiterated that its board is indeed open to deal with any interested parties, which begs the inevitable question: Who might be willing buyers?
With private equity largely stymied and longtime partner Toshiba repeatedly stating that it’s not interested in a deal, Samsung is still the most logical fit. It has the cash, has shown a willingness to pay a solid premium, and would integrate well with SanDisk’s overall portfolio of products. In addition to its valuable intellectual property assets (which would eliminate those ugly royalty fees) and flash and solid-state drive lineup, SanDisk would instantly give Samsung the second-largest share of the music player market, behind only Apple. Perhaps it’s time for SanDisk CEO Eli Harari to brush up on his Korean, or at least learn how to say ‘please come back’ in that language.


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With Thanksgiving Day gatherings behind us, this year’s Chicago holiday shopping action re-focused on the Black Friday sales phenomenon. Early reports were encouraging—but confirmed what Chicago businesspeople expected: a substantial tilt to home-based shopping.
CNBC’s initial late-night observation was that bargain hunters were ringing up record online sales. This was a result that had been foreseen by retailers, who had prepared for the reluctance consumers might show to in-person shopping.
Even so, the National Retail Federation had projected that this year’s holiday sales would grow by somewhere between 3.6%-5.2%. If that proves accurate, sales will exceed averages reached during the previous five holiday seasons—a shot of good economic news for this seesawing (some would say, ‘whipsawing’) year.
At least as significant for Chicago businesses was Black Friday’s weekend successor—Small Business Saturday—which USA Today called “crucial” for myriads of local U.S. establishments. Many local Chicago businesspeople would probably agree, having spent most of 2020 battling spikes in COVID-19 and the strictures aimed at curbing its spread. For the many Chicago small businesses who succeeded in improving their online sales functionality, this week’s Cyber Monday looked to possibly match the national projections, which were widely expected to set sales records of their own.
Much of the media’s coverage urging patronage of local businesses emphasized the altruistic nature of “shopping local”—but from a local homeowner’s perspective, doing so is equally self-serving. Real estate’s “location, location, location” exhortation includes the attractiveness of the community—which is instantly recognizable by visitors in the energy and vitality on display through its local commercial outlets. That activity attracts further investment—or not. And the whole package winds up being reflected in property values—not just in its commercial sector, but in the residential community surrounding it. Area homeowners who make a point of patronizing our own Chicago merchants don’t just keep their neighbors and neighborhoods humming—they assure that local properties will see their values continue to advance in the years ahead.


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This story is part of Apple Event, our full coverage of the latest news from Apple headquarters.
Following September’s Apple event — packed, in typical fashion, with new hardware like the iPad Air and a low-cost Apple Watch SE to go along with its top-of-the-line Apple Watch Series 6 (but, sadly, no new iPhone) — it’s the lowly iCloud photo and backup service that may have the biggest impact on your relationship with the company, through the newly announced Apple One subscription bundle.
Apple One bundles together a number of the key services the company has rolled out over the last two years, including Apple Music, Apple TV Plus, Apple Arcade and, for the highest tier, Apple News Plus and the newly announced Fitness Plus. Surprisingly, iCloud storage, which barely gets a mention at these kinds of events, served as the anchor for these bundles.
For the $14.95 (£14.95, AU$19.95) a month “Individual” tier, you get Apple Music, Apple TV Plus, Apple Arcade and 50 gigabytes of storage. The $19.95 (£19.95, AU$25.95) “Family” plan gets you the same services plus 200GB. The $29.95 (£29.95, AU$39.95) “Premier” plan throws in Fitness Plus and News Plus and 2 terabytes of storage. As typical with Apple plans, the slim amount of storage in the smaller plans essentially forces power users to go with the Premier option.
Cloud storage, which lets you store photos, videos and other items online that then can be accessed from multiple devices, is an increasingly important service at a time when file sizes for things like 4K video or high-resolution photos are getting too large for our physical hard drives. It’s another example of how many aspects of our lives, from the shows we watch to the goods we buy, have moved online.
The irony is that even as cloud storage has grown increasingly important in our lives, you wouldn’t suspect this shift when you watch tech companies talk about the latest and greatest bells and whistles. Though they all offer ways to store and share your photos, the likes of Google, Facebook and, yes, Apple, have largely ignored cloud storage and instead focused on flashier developments in areas like augmented reality or artificial intelligence.
But at Apple’s “Time Flies” event, Lori Malm, director of services for Apple, noted that these plans all centered on iCloud storage.
Indeed, cloud services is a huge market. Back in 2016, Eddy Cue, head of software and services for Apple, disclosed on a podcast with Jon Gruber that the company had 782 million iCloud users, although he noted that included multiple devices. Most of them were likely free accounts (Apple has never disclosed the number of paying subscribers), but even if a fraction of those users were on accounts, that’s a massive business.
In comparison, Apple said last year it had 60 million subscribers. The company hasn’t disclosed Apple TV Plus subscribers, although analysts say many are still on free trials. The company hasn’t offered numbers on Apple Arcade or Apple News Plus either, although News Plus reportedly struggled to find an audience early on.
Bundling everything together may be a way to get more people interested in the individual services. But iCloud storage could be the ingredient that really hooks people in, thanks to its large user base and the fact that it serves a need that anyone who’s run out of storage on their iPhone can understand. (Access to Apple TV Plus originals or a number of video games that you’ve never heard of is a more dubious proposition.)
“In some cases, Apple One will also encourage people to take an additional subscription beyond Apple Music to less-popular services such as Arcade and News Plus,” said Ben Wood an analyst at CCS Insight.
If Apple One is somewhat akin to Amazon’s Prime bundle of services, iCloud storage would essentially be the equivalent of free shipping.
The bundle represents the first change since Apple dropped the price of its 2TB plan to $9.99 a month. The plan is almost a no-brainer considering the lower-tier plans (50GB for 99 cents and 200GB for $2.99) aren’t sufficient for heavy users or families. In comparison, Google Photos lets you store “high-quality” versions for free, but requires you to pay for Google Drive storage to store original photos. As part of Prime, Amazon offers unlimited photo storage and 5GB for video.
But what Apple has going for it is the ability to automatically sync those files in the background.
I was skeptical about the need for iCloud until last year, when a thief stole my iPhone while I was in Barcelona to cover the Mobile World Congress trade show. In the end, I was able to get access back to my work files, but I had lost many photos of my family because I hadn’t backed the device up in a few months. I use Google Photos, but because I hadn’t opened the app in a little while, a few months of photos never backed up.
I immediately snapped up the $9.99 2TB plan and gave my family access. All of a sudden, my wife and my mother stopped complaining about running out of storage space. At that point, I could never go back to an iCloud-less life.
Throw in Apple Music, Apple TV Plus, Apple Arcade and Apple News Plus for a discounted additional fee, and I may be more ready than ever to sink myself into the company’s universe of services.


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Rite Aid is trying to ensure its Ohio customers stay as healthy as possible.
Duane Reade, a division of Walgreens, on Friday at midnight launched a holiday photo contest on Facebook.
New York City drug store Duane Reade, a division of Walgreens, on Tuesday celebrated an important social milestone — surpassing one million followers on Twitter — with a gala event at the chain’s flagship on Wall Street.
Duane Reade announced that its 250 plus stores are integrating into Niantic Labs' new mobile game, Ingress.
Walgreen Co. reported that profit for the quarter ended Nov. 30 dropped 4.5% to $554 million, compared with $580 million in the year-ago period.
Walgreens plans to start selling health insurance to customers this fall, according to CNN Money.
Walgreens on Friday reported that its same-store sales rose 3.2% in November.
Rite Aid announced disappointing second-quarter results Thursday. The chain hopes to remedy the losses with...


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Mercedes-Benz Vans is to end supply of semi-knockdown (SKD) Sprinter van kits to the US from Germany and set up a new $500m plant in North Charleston, South Carolina before the end of the decade. The company said production of the van in the US would offer a “faster and more individualised supply to its customers”, considerably reducing delivery time to market.
Work on the new plant began last week with a ground-breaking ceremony attended by the governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley, and the head of Mercedes-Benz Vans, Volker Mornhinweg.
Mercedes-Benz already has a plant in North Charleston assembling Sprinter models from imported SKDs. The kits are made at its German plants in Düsseldorf and Ludwigsfelde. The vehicle maker has been importing SKDs since 2006 for the larger Sprinter models and added SKDs of the Metris (Vito) mid-sized van last year.
SKDs attract an import tariff of just 3.4%, compared to 25% of the sales value of the vehicle for finished vans. Chassis weighing more than 11,000lbs (4,990kg) and minibus variants are not subject to the 25% US ‘Chicken Tax’ and are imported directly.
Despite the import tariff advantage, however, the use of SKD assembly has resulted in a significant competitive disadvantage on the US market, said Mercedes-Benz, as vehicles made domestically don’t incur any import tariffs or international transport costs. In addition, there is a long delivery time on Sprinter SKD imports from Germany to the US – anything up to six months, according to the company.
A spokesperson for Daimler said that with the new plant, Mercedes-Benz Vans would be closer to its customers’ needs.
Faster, more economic delivery to market is important to Mercedes-Benz because the US is one of the fastest growing van markets in the world and is set to become the second-largest single market for the Sprinter after Germany. Mercedes-Benz Vans reported delivery of around 28,600 vans to US customers last year – 11% more than the 25,800 it delivered in 2014.
In terms of local content, Mercedes-Benz said its integration partners for the new plant – Auto Truck Group and the Knapheide Manfuacturing Company – would establish production sites in the region.
“We will have a mix of on-site, just-in-time and ship-in supply,” said Daimler’s spokesperson. “We have Mercedes-Benz Vans and Daimler internal [and] external suppliers worldwide. The most important criterion is always economic efficiency. We will continuously increase the grade of localisation in our factory in Charleston over the years.”


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The Elder Scrolls Online Greymoor Delayed Due to COVID 19 Pandemic
The upcoming The Elder Scrolls Online Greymoor got delayed due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Matt Firor, the game director of Zenimax Online Studios posted on their site that the game will launch a little after the announced launch date. The game was supposed to launch this May 18th.
|The Elder Scrolls Online Greymoor||
|The Elder Scrolls Online Greymoor Xbox One||
Firor started the post by wishing everybody well and goes on to say, “As you probably know, in response to the current pandemic, everyone at ZOS has been working from home since March 16. This is the first time we’ve ever tried remote work as a studio, and so far things are going well. It looks like we’ll be able to ship Update 26 (with the Greymoor Chapter) about a week after we initially planned it”.
Right now France is in lockdown, in fact, all of Europe is. The French voice actors of the game are not able to go to the recording studios to record their lines. Once the recording studios open, it would take about two to three more months for the language to be included in the game. There will be French subs, and the only voice overs are in English.
The current pandemic has people in self-isolation being stuck at home. Because of this, a lot of gamers were able to play their favorite games. Firor said, “Our player population is larger than normal right now as many of you are stuck at home, and video games like ESO are a wonderful distraction from a daily life that is not always awesome. We’ve had some really fun ESO events this month, including our ongoing Anniversary Jubilee, so we will all be watching for any issues caused by an already large population playing ESO getting even larger.”
Firor reassures the community that Greymoor will be released and that they are doing everything that they can do to make that happen. Firor closes the post by saying, “Please stay safe and healthy and enjoy getting away from your daily life for a bit by adventuring in ESO–and wash your damn hands.”
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The Elder Scrolls Online Greymoor Free Trial is Here!
Additional features were shared by Bethesda Software for their upcoming game The Elder Scrolls Online: Greymoor. The game is set 1000 years before the events of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.