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I’m betting most people wouldn’t be too surprised to learn that the retail sector accounts for a third of all UK consumer spending.
What might come as shock however is that top business analysts now say it’s a sector in “broad decline”.
Earlier this year, Toys R Us and electronics chain Maplin went into administration. Last week, the Carpetright chain announced about 80 store closures.
All of them cite rising overheads and a weaker pound as reasons - but when an established discount operation like Poundworld says “falling consumer confidence” is behind poor performance then you know you’ve got trouble.
As it happens, Poundworld is owned by private equity firm TPG Capital, which also controls the troubled restaurant chain Prezzo who are closing 94 branches.
There’s a growing opinion among industry watchers that boardroom indifference means many retail failures are actually self-inflicted, as happened with ill-fated BHS. City-orientated owners with short-term interests would rather opt to divest holdings than consider ways to meet changing consumer needs, say study findings.
Clearly, the heady days of large-scale acquisition buoyed by a ‘big-is-better’ philosophy and easy borrowing are long gone. Nowadays you are more likely to have asset managers advising clients how to spot the warning signs of a retailer in trouble
The impact of all this isn’t immediately noticeable to us as punters. About 75% of the goods we buy are imported. So the first we hear about ‘decline’ is when the associated job losses start mounting up; and by then it’s too late.
It’s not just the big names that stand to be affected either as demand among retailers falters. An imploding supply chain hits everyone, large and small.
So is this a case of an over-heated market seeking out a new level? Or are there other factors at work?
Well, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is adamant that a squeeze on consumer incomes lies behind a fifth successive month of disappointing sales. What’s more, the employers’ organisation expects any future rises in living standards to be modest.
Tough times call for tough measures. Supermarket giants ASDA and Sainsburys yesterday confirmed that they are talking seriously about a merger. Tesco has already got itself a stake in the wholesale end of things. Meanwhile rumour has it that B&Q is considering swapping a few of its retail park megastores for High Street locations.
Is there a local solution?
I hear a lot about the need for city centres to re-invent themselves. The trouble is that its not at all clear how this can happen or where the resources would come from. You get a similar lack of definition as to what new competitive approach would involve.
Our shopping habits have changed drastically in less than a decade. E-commerce accounts for a 28 percent share of total business turnover in the United Kingdom. Roughly 80 percent of UK internet users shop online - the highest rate in Europe.
The people behind Swansea’s Business Improvement District (BID) recognise that online retail is here to stay. Their answer is to enhance local shopping with a ‘click and collect’ car parking service.
Changing the focus of the overall shopping experience to include food and leisure is also something that gets mentioned; although I’m personally not a fan of those kerbside cafes crammed with smokers.
Last week, I listened to a stallholder in a covered market complaining that car parking was difficult to access, overly expensive and in entirely the wrong location. The place in question was Doncaster but the refrain is a similar one across most towns and cities.
Developing a thriving night-time economy sounds like a good idea, provided you weigh things against the social impact. Get it wrong and its awful. Another balancing act is extending pedestrianisation in retail areas without killing off traditional passing trade. And then, of course, there’s the matter of business rates to consider.
Managing to stay afloat is a big ask given the tsunami of big-name closures that looks set to continue for a while to come.
Local solutions undoubtedly have a place but I’ve a feeling this particular downturn is going to need a credible fix from the people who run the economy – not just those who support it.


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Enjoy this weekly feed of inspiring, interesting and intellectual articles and news, with a focus on disruption!
Apple Car still in the works?
Apple has filed a new patent for use in autonomous cars. The name of the patent is “Apparatus and method to measure slip and velocity” and the technology helps a car assess the road conditions and stay stable. Its been long since the rumors started but it sure looks as Apple is still working on some sort of mobility platform and let’s hope, their own car!
Uber offers public transportation in-app purchases
Ubers long term mission is to become the mobility as a service provider. To do this they want to offer a variety of transportation alternatives meeting different transportation needs, all in the same platform. Not at least public transportation.
Uber has recently started to offer real time public transportation schedules in several cities, London as recent as this week. Denver however, becomes the first city were Uber offers in-app purchases for public transportations. We will probably see more of this, not only from Uber.
Related article: Denver Uber users can buy public transit tickets in the app
Hertz is suing Accenture over IT development failure
In August 2016 Hertz started a project with Accenture as IT-consultants, tasked with revamping the website and online presence. However, after several delays and nothing going live, Hertz lost their belief in Accenture mid 2018 and cut them off. Now they are suing the consultancy for the $32 million that was paid in fees.
“Accenture’s developers wrote the code for the customer-facing ecommerce website in a way that created serious security vulnerabilities and performance problems,” it says before noting that “the defects in the front-end development code were so pervasive that all of Accenture’s work on that component had to be scrapped.”

domain: news


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Heart sufferers with a pacemaker risk big if they use the wireless charger of the new iPhone 12: here's what happens to the life-saving medical device.
The warning comes directly from Apple: the iPhone 12 can be dangerous for pacemaker wearers. In addition to the smartphone, the MagSafe, or rather the magnet contained in the wireless charging accessory, could interfere with this type of medical device, blocking its operation.
To allow wireless charging through the Apple charger, MagSafe and MagSafe Duo use a special system of magnets. Once the smartphone and the charging cradle are correctly positioned, the two "magnets" contained in them keep the two elements close to each other, preventing them from moving, while at the same time allowing the transfer of the charge to the device's battery. Although simple, this system is not without risks, since the power of the magnets used can affect substantially with the electromagnetic fields present in the surrounding areas and on some devices used for health. These include pacemakers that, by sending electrical impulses, allow to maintain a stable heart rhythm in patients suffering from bradycardia.
iPhone 12, Apple's warning and safety distance
The warning from Apple started through the update of the support documentation of its four recently released smartphones, namely iPhone 12 and its three variants, iPhone 12 Mini, Pro and Pro Max.
If among the possible interactions between magnets and smartphones there are possible temporary malfunctions and damage, even permanent, to the circuits, obviously what worries most is the possible presence of problems related to medical equipment. In the first place, mentioned in the communication of Cupertino, there would be those that regulate heart activity and that, in case of interference in the operation, could endanger the lives of users themselves.
"Medical devices such as pacemakers and implanted defibrillators - reads the documentation - may contain sensors that respond to magnets and radiofrequency waves when they are in close contact. To avoid potential interactions with these devices, keep your iPhone and MagSafe accessories a safe distance from the device (more than 6 inches away or more than 12 inches away if charging wirelessly). Consult your physician and device manufacturer for specific guidelines."
iPhone 12, why is it potentially dangerous?
While iPhone 12 is not the only smartphone from the manufacturer to take advantage of a magnet system for charging, it is arguably the first to face such safety concerns. What makes the difference with the past, as specified by Apple itself, would be a feature of the magnets used, with a power significantly higher than those used in previous models.
According to the magazine Heart Rhythm, the issue is not only related to the latest phones from Cupertino but to a much wider range of devices. As reported in a recent publication, the magazine pointed out that the increased force of attraction of magnets is present in many new devices that have implemented this particular technology, including some fitness trackers that can completely inhibit the operation of life savers once placed at close range.


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After years of much hoopla and fanfare, we’ve finally had a glimpse of what could be the first 5G smartphone. At Qualcomm’s annual Snapdragon Summit, Samsung showed off its 5G concept phone in a heavily controlled demo, and it could very well be next year’s Galaxy S10. Here’s what it’s like.
Before we start, what exactly does a 5G smartphone entail? It’s the next step after 4G LTE, so you’re going to get gigabit download speeds on your smartphone, and that will change everything. It doesn’t just mean your phone will be able to download 4K movies incredibly fast, but it means a whole new wave of connected cars, appliances, and devices talking to each other thanks to the super low latency 5G brings. It has the potential to dramatically change industries. There are a lot of caveats, though.
The phone streamed 4K movies from Netflix, without a single stutter.
Onto our demo with Samsung, you should know there were a number of conditions we were told before we saw the device.
Samsung was quick to note this is not final hardware. Regardless, the phone looks sleek, though it surprisingly came with a notch — a design Samsung so far has strongly opposed. But this is no ordinary notch. It was located on the right-hand corner of the phone, not in the usual top center of the display. We don’t think this notch will end up on the final design of the phone — Samsung’s likely just hiding the Infinity-O display, where a floating camera sits surrounded by the screen (kind of like a hole-punch in a piece of paper). There’s a dual-sensor camera on the back, though we weren’t able to get a photo of it, as well as a headphone jack. Under the hood, the phone features the newly-unveiled Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset.
So what was the demo? The phone streamed 4K movies from Netflix, without a single stutter, and it was able to output the video to a connected 4K TV. It’s impressive, because streaming 4K content on a cellular connection today isn’t the smoothest experience. But sadly, that’s more or less the extent of what we were able to see, which is a little disappointing. It does raise a few questions, though. Considering carriers currently limit cellular video streaming to 480 or 720p, will
A 1GB file took around 19 seconds to download, which equates to a data speed of around 0.42Gbps
The phone didn’t seem particularly thick, which is surprising. We weren’t able to hold it, but we were expecting the inclusion of
- Samsung’s new rugged phone and tablet tout 5G and 5 years of updates
- Everything (and we mean everything) to know about 5G on the iPhone
- When is my phone getting Android 13? Google, Samsung, OnePlus, and more
- Samsung Galaxy S22 buying guide: everything you need to know
- LG’s doomed Rollable phone appears on video to show us what we missed


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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (PRNewswire) — Food Sentry, the Global Food Source Monitoring Service that finds and reports worldwide food safety events, has ended its subscription policy for access to its Food Risk Rating Guide and has made the product free to use.
"When we started Food Sentry over two years ago, our business model had the consumer at the center," says President and CEO Robert Silver, "but since then we've decided that consumers shouldn't have to pay for food safety."
Instead, Food Sentry has changed its model so that it helps businesses and organizations discover risks to their import food supply chain. This change has allowed them to make available their proprietary consumer Food Risk Ratings Guide at no cost through their website.
The Food Risk Ratings Guide is based on information that Food Sentry analysts find every day around the world about food safety issues. This information, typically found written in a variety of languages, is translated and entered into Food Sentry's database. That information is then used by their system to determine the risk to consumers posed by different unprocessed or minimally processed food that has been imported.
According to their website, the Food Risk Rating Guide was designed to help consumers make safer food choices by providing them with advice and information on risks to foods they may encounter while shopping.
Aside from the now free Food Risk Rating Guide, the Food Sentry website also provides United States and Canada-based food recalls, warning letters from the FDA to non-compliant food manufacturers in the US and internationally, and import alerts. Import alerts are unique in that they provide consumers and businesses information about contaminated or recalled food from other countries that still may be imported to the US.
About Food Sentry
Food Sentry is a global food monitoring service that provides businesses and consumers important and timely information on food product safety from around the world. Food Sentry is unique in that its team of highly trained analysts uses open-source intelligence gathering techniques to comb through immense amounts of information from both foreign countries and the United States to identify risks posed by imported and domestic food. Food Sentry then creates actionable intelligence and predictive assessments for risk avoidance and mitigation.


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TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The EasyCard Corporation announced at a press conference on Sunday (Oct. 23) that EasyCard will be accepted in more than 2,000 stores in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture, also known as the Ryukyu Islands, starting Nov. 7.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said at the press conference that cross-border payments are a milestone for EasyCard and that after two years’ delay, EasyCard has finally broken through the barriers to international expansion, with its first international market being Japan’s Ryukyu Islands, CNA reported.
Not only will Taiwanese visitors be able to use EasyCards to make purchases in Okinawa, but people in Okinawa can also purchase EasyCards there and use them in Taiwan, Ko said. The mayor also said he plans to make a cashless day trip to Okinawa before the end of December.
EasyCard Corporation Chairwoman Ting Chen (陳亭如) said that using an EasyCard in Okinawa will be easier than using other means of cross-border payments. During the transaction, the payment is made instantly based on the spot exchange rate and no handling fee will be charged.
According to the EasyCard Corporation, Okinawa, only 1.5-hour flight from Taiwan, is the top choice for Taiwanese to vacation abroad, and beginning from Nov. 7, all Taiwanese over the age of 20 can use a registered EasyCard to patronize over 2,000 stores there, including shops at Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium, Kyoda Service Area, and the fish market in Naha.
EasyCards can also be used for public transport, such as taxis and buses. For detailed information about where EasyCards will be accepted, visit the company’s website.
The single transaction limit for a regular EasyCard and SuperCard is NT$1,500 (US$46.5) and NT$10,000, respectively. Cardholders should add sufficient value to their cards before leaving unless they are EasyWallet users who can add value via a mobile phone anytime, CNA quoted the company as saying.
Updated : 2022-10-23 18:19 GMT+08:00
Taiwan News © 2022 All Rights Reserved.


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The VIPAR Heavy Duty Family of Companies announced that its network of independent parts distributors and service specialists has grown to more than 920 locations throughout North America this year.
The network includes more than 240 VIPAR Heavy Duty stockholders and Power Heavy Duty members that comprise its expansive footprint, including nearly 600 service locations.
The VIPAR Heavy Duty Family of Companies supports these businesses by providing “True Group Value,” which includes strategic supply-chain management; world-class products from premium brands; technology-driven solutions; and marketing and communications resources, among other tools and services.
“Throughout our nearly 35-year history, VIPAR Heavy Duty has strategically expanded the breadth of services we offer to support our distributors and supplier partners, with an unwavering focus on serving the full range of aftermarket needs for our mutual end-user customers,” VIPAR Heavy Duty President and CEO Chris Baer said. “The VIPAR Heavy Duty Family of Companies is well-represented across North America with locations throughout the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico. Our network not only leads the industry in its footprint and quality of distributors, but also in its shared dedication to providing best-in-class customer service through unparalleled parts and service support. It’s a great time to be in the heavy duty truck parts business!”
VIPAR Heavy Duty was founded in 1989 by 20 distributor stockholders. In 2014, it acquired Power Heavy Duty. Today, the network boasts an estimated $2.5 billion at the final point of sale and locations throughout North America.
“We are proud to see our network reach this milestone. This accomplishment exemplifies the hard work, dedication and innovation of our distributors, as well as our supplier partners and the VIPAR Heavy Duty team supporting those organizations,” said Jim Pennig, VIPAR Heavy Duty’s vice president of business development. “We look forward to greater growth and success as we continue to deliver industry-leading products and services, while further expanding the many resources that make the VIPAR Heavy Duty Family of Companies the group of choice for distributors, service specialists, suppliers and, ultimately, the end-user customers we serve.”


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The VIII° edition of the Week of Italian Cuisine in the World is set to enchant Singapore from November 6 to December 1, 2023. The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation organizes this initiative that focuses on the theme “At the Table with Italian Cuisine: Savoring Wellness.” Its core mission is to celebrate island-wide the outstanding quality of Italian culinary traditions infused with innovative elements.
This rich culinary experience will feature many activities, including promotion of Italian restaurants, products, informative seminars on urban farming, the link between food and health and the Mediterranean diet, workshops and B2B event. There will also be convivial initiatives dedicated to Italian excellence, such as tastings, pairings, and elegant gala dinners.
The Embassy of Italy in Singapore coordinates this initiative in collaboration with the Italian Trade Agency (ITA), the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Singapore (ICCS), the Italian Academy of Cuisine (AIC), the Italian Cultural Centre Singapore (APICS), the Italian Women Association (IWG), the Singapore Italian Association, The Italian Catholic Community, companies, importers/distributors, and other valuable contributors and local partners.
On November 14, 2023, a joint project between Singapore and Milan called “BIZE_UrFarm” will be unveiled at the Singapore Institute of Technology. This project is part of a bilateral program in Science & Technology and is aimed at developing sustainable solutions for urban food production. This aligns with Singapore’s 30-by-30 plan and the legacy of EXPO 2015’s focus on food in Milan.
Click here to download the digital catalogue to explore all the events


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Radial opens 697,000 sq ft fulfillment centre in Brownsburg, Indiana to meet increasing e-commerce demand
Centre will be the largest building in the Radial network and marks the company's first on-the-ground presence in the state of Indiana.
Radial has opened its newest fulfillment centre in Brownsburg, Indiana. At 690,700 square feet, the need for the facility is driven by increased client demand from e-commerce and omnichannel sales said Radial.
To serve the new site location, Radial is initially looking to hire over 20 management level and 25 hourly positions. From there, the company plans to rapidly grow employment levels to over 150 this summer to meet customer demand.
The company plans to ramp up to full capacity by peak retail season, growing the employment base by an additional 1,800 seasonal jobs through the fall.


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The following employment changes were announced to the trucking industry last week (May 3-9, 2021).
To submit an employment announcement, please contact us here.
- Canoo Inc., a Los Angeles-based mobility technology company has named Christian Treiber senior vice president, global customer journey and aftersales.
- Grote Industries announced Brian Blanton has joined the company as chief financial officer.
- J&J Truck Bodies and Trailers has appointed Nolan Link national trailer sales manager.
- McMahon Truck Centers has promoted Janell McDaniel to the position of group warranty manager.
- Meritor announced that Joe Mejaly has been appointed vice president of North America Aftermarket. Meritor also appointed Jim Keane vice president of Industrial.
- Procede Software has added Bennett Whitnell as director, business intelligence.
- Proterra Inc. announced the election of Joan Robinson-Berry to the company’s board of directors.
- Rand McNally announced former Lytx executive Rush Akin has joined the company as senior vice president of sales.
- After nearly 21 years, Marty Krcelic, president and chief operating officer of TBC Brands and executive vice president of TBC Corporation, will retire effective June 30, 2021.
- Transervice Logistics Inc. has announced the appointment of Alex Lafaras to chief financial officer.
- Western Global announces Johnny Newlands as its director of national accounts.


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ELLSWORTH — Three of the four members of Maine’s congressional delegation joined last week to encourage U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to prioritize a trade deal with the European Union (EU) that would reduce or eliminate EU tariffs on Maine lobster.
In a letter last Friday, U.S. Sens. Angus King (I-Maine) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) continued to press Lighthizer to put lobster at the top of the list of issues in any trade deal with the EU.
In a Nov. 6 letter to Lighthizer, European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström rejected a U.S. request to reduce tariffs on the lobsters as part of a limited trade deal.
Any reduction in EU tariffs on lobster should come as “part of a wider agreement to liberalize tariffs bilaterally for industries products, including fisheries,” Malmström wrote.
Speaking by telephone from his office in Washington, D.C., Monday morning, King was untroubled that the delegation had not received any response from Lighthizer to last week’s letter.
“The good news is he was responsive to our initial requests to raise the issue with Europe in the first place,” King said. “The bad news, the EU won’t adopt a bobtail process. There’s no movement at all.”
Maine’s lobster industry has been seriously affected by administration trade policies and by the responses to that policy from U.S. trading partners.
The EU currently imposes an 8 percent tariff on live Maine lobster imports and tariffs of between 16 and 20 percent on processed lobster. That makes it tough to compete with Canadian lobster exports.
Since the adoption of the Canada-European Union Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) in September 2017, live Canadian lobsters can be imported by the 28 EU members without any tariffs and tariffs on processed lobster will be phased out over the next few years.
Tariffs arising from the U.S. trade dispute with the EU — the administration imposed tariffs on imported EU steel which, King said, is raising the price of lobster traps — aren’t the only impediments to the export of Maine lobsters.
The Trump administration has imposed tariffs on some $550 billion worth of Chinese products and is threatening to raise the rates on many items.
China, in turn, has imposed tariffs on $185 billion worth of U.S. goods, including live lobster.
In its communications with Lighthizer about the EU situation, the Maine congressional delegation reminded the U.S. trade representative that lobster exports to China dropped 64 percent in the first month after China established retaliatory tariffs in response to tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.
While negotiations with China are complicated by a number of factors unrelated directly to trade, King said, negotiating a trade agreement with Europe “should be easier. We don’t have all the problems we have with China.”
King is “skeptical” of free trade agreements with countries that don’t share U.S. concerns about the environment, working conditions and democratic institutions, he said, but “it should be easier” to negotiate trade agreements with countries, like many in the EU, that have economies and living standards similar to those in the U.S.
The negotiation of a new free trade agreement among the United States, Mexico and Canada “indicates the administration can do it,” King said. “CETA gives us a model.”
“This is a very tough time for the lobster industry,” King said, citing climate change, bait shortages and the struggle over regulations aimed at protecting endangered right whales. “It’s difficult enough to deal with Mother Nature and not have to deal with the federal government too.”
While there has been little movement on the trade negotiation front, King said that Maine’s concerns haven’t been ignored.
“I do want to emphasize that Ambassador Lighthizer raised the lobster issue” with his EU counterpart. “Let’s take the next step and get it resolved.”


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Nordea picks Divido for point-of-purchase lending
Written by Peter Walker
Nordea Finance will license Divido’s white-label platform to deliver point-of-purchase finance to retail merchants.
The Nordic bank will leverage the technology under its own brand and immediately roll-out the platform across key markets, beginning in Norway, followed by Finland, Sweden and Denmark.
The company admitted that building a new lending platform in-house to replace current legacy systems, servicing multiple markets wasn’t a practical option. By using Divido’s omnichannel solution, Nordea Finance stated it will have the ability to provide point-of-purchase finance in multiple currencies across multiple markets.
“By licensing Divido, Nordea Finance will have access to technology that enables it to differentiate its product proposition and offer new credit products at the point-of-purchase,” added Christer Holloman, chief executive and co-founder of Divido.


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Wilsons Auctions awarded for a second consecutive year in recognition of its innovative new cryptocurrency service.
Wilsons Auctions, the UK and Ireland’s largest independent auction company, has been awarded for the second consecutive year at the Turnaround, Restructuring and Insolvency (TRI) Awards, named Best Technology Provider at a gala ceremony in London.
The prestigious national awards took place at Hilton London Bankside and championed the companies and individuals leading the charge for diversity across the TRI Arena.
The Best Technology Provider Award recognised Wilsons Auctions’ innovation over the past 12 months in successfully rolling out its new secure solution in realising crypto assets on behalf of government and law enforcement agencies worldwide.
The judges commented, “Wilson Auctions developed the world's first fully-insured storage and sale facility for crypto-currency assets. The judges felt this was a fantastic achievement. This facility will provide clients with the ability to secure and realise value for these assets. A pioneering move.”
Wilsons Auctions Group Operations Director, Peter Johnston said, “We are absolutely thrilled to be awarded Best Technology Provider at the 2019 TRI Awards. In a year which has seen Wilsons Auctions make history as the first private auction company in the world to securely store and sell cryptocurrency on behalf of its clients, this award is testament to the dedication carried out by our Asset Recovery Department in order to get us to this position.
“This award is further confirmation that as a forward-thinking company our innovative new crypto service is a welcome relief to our clients. As a reputable auction company, we are able to offer a secure solution in realising these difficult assets, overcoming the increasing problems of seized cryptocurrencies. We are very encouraged by the demand for our cryptocurrency auctions to date and look forward to seeing its progression in the near future,” he added.
Wilsons Auctions is a leading auction company with over 80 years of experience and has established itself as a global expert in managing seized assets. The Asset Recovery Department works with 17 countries worldwide realising assets from cryptocurrency to supercars, luxury watches and designer goods for government agencies, law enforcement agencies and insolvency practitioners.
For further information on Wilsons Auctions follow us on Facebook @wilsonsauctionsltd or go to @wilsonsauctions on Twitter and Instagram.


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Following conversations with Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty believes the company is ready to deliver ‘multiple refreshes per year’ of the iPhone.
Huberty made the prediction in a Wednesday note to investors relayed by AppleInsider. She also suggested that services would be a more prominent profit driver for the company. With 600 million ‘high-end’ customer accounts, Apple has the ability to create new revenue streams. Many believe that Apple will use its new Touch ID fingerprint sensor to create a Bluetooth-based mobile payment system.
Notably, there has already been another prediction that Apple could accelerate its yearly iPhone launch cycle. Piper Jaffary analyst Gene Munster recently said that the company will launch a ‘blockbuster’ iPhone 6 with a larger display next summer.


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Notes: June 7, 2005: Drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 1st round (1st pick) of the 2005 amateur draft. Signed Jan. 6, 2006.
Re-signed with Arizona to a six-year deal worth $51.2 million; Mar. 3, 2010
Traded to Atlanta in a six-player deal; Jan. 24, 2013
Traded to San Diego in a six-player deal, Dec. 19, 2014
Business and economic reports scheduled for release today:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Commerce Department will release reports today on personal income and spending for January as well as construction spending for the first month of the year. Also, the Institute for Supply Management will release its manufacturing index for February.
WEST PALM BEACH, FL -- (Marketwired) -- 03/21/14 -- Companies that pride themselves on being eco-friendly may have conflicted ideas between marketing with ad specialties and maintaining their green reputation. ...


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What Market Slowdown? GM Full-Size SUV Sales Jumped 59 Percent In October
America’s auto industry has now reported year-over-year sales declines in three consecutive months. The size of the market was 3.5 percent smaller in the August-October period of 2016 than during the same stretch in 2015.
Yet during the same period, U.S. sales of General Motors’ six full-size SUVs jumped 39 percent, a rate of success that throws pie in the face of an industry that’s now fading.
In October, however, the market’s fade became much more apparent. Industry-wide sales slid 6 percent, year-over-year, the worst monthly downturn since the recession. Yet at the same time, General Motors reported a 59-percent surge in full-size SUV volume worth nearly 12,000 additional sales.
Of course, the market’s October slowdown wasn’t as severe as it appears, and GM’s full-size SUV uptick is likewise not as inexplicable as it first appears.
The auto industry’s seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 18 million units was the highest of any month this year and higher than all but three months last year. The quirky auto sales calendar — “October 2015” extended two days into November; October 2016 was two days shorter — also means the daily selling rate grew 1 percent, year-over-year. Achieving this level of volume wasn’t easy — the average per-vehicle incentive in October 2016 was 16 percent higher than in October 2015.
As for GM’s extraordinary full-size SUV growth, big discounts on remaining 2016s played a factor, as did a huge increase in fleet volume. Automotive News reports that the average transaction price among the Chevrolet/GMC quartet was $2,470 lower than the year-to-date average in October. Fleet volume, meanwhile, quadrupled to form 32 percent of the Chevrolet/GMC full-size SUV total, Automotive News reported.
Modern full-size SUV fleet volume, remember, isn’t tarnished by the old reputation of fleet sales tied exclusively to daily rental companies. GM told AN that the huge uptick in fleet sales was linked to commercial and government fleet, higher-margin fleet avenues for vehicles that already produce huge profits.
Yet a 33-percent surge in retail sales of the dual Chevrolet/GMC twins makes clear that the huge October increase in overall GM full-size sales reflected real demand. These huge figures weren’t merely the result of GM’s need to clear out of stock.
Fully 12 percent of the new vehicles sold by General Motors in October were Cadillac Escalades and ESVs, Chevrolet Tahoes, Chevrolet Suburbans, and GMC Yukons and XLs, up from 7 percent a year ago. With the full-size pickup trucks on which these SUVs are based suffering an 8-percent sales decline in October, GM produced nearly one-third of its K2XX-platform volume with SUVs. A year ago, the SUVs generated barely more than one-fifth of that overall full-size volume.GM VehiclesOctober 2016YOY % Change10 Months 2016YOY %ChangePassenger Cars69,835-14.1%732,928-7.5%Other SUVs/Crossovers72,892-1.1%660,143-9.5%Full-Size Pickup Trucks64,818-7.6%654,814-2.7%Full-Size SUVs31,21359.2%226,62015.5%Midsize Pickup Trucks13,36341.0%120,61626.8%Commercial Vans6,505-25.9%75,902-1.1%Total258,626-1.7%2,471,023-3.6%
COMPETITION? WHAT COMPETITION?
In the sector controlled by the Chevrolet/GMC quartet, full-size volume brand SUVs, GM’s market share shot up to 81 percent in October 2016, up eight points from the year-ago period.
At the top of the leaderboard, Chevrolet Tahoe sales jumped 81 percent to 11,976 units, enough to make the Tahoe America’s 13th-best-selling SUV/crossover overall.
Gone are the glory days — the Tahoe ranked fourth overall as recently as 2007. But sales of the Tahoe were higher in October 2016 than at any point in the last nine years. October was just the seventh month in the last 106 that Tahoe volume climbed into five-digit territory.
So where’s our Buick Encounter?
Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures. Follow on Twitter @goodcarbadcar and on Facebook.
[Image: General Motors]
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- SPPPP Aggression is pretty much the reason that racing exists, so I am going to call this an unsolvable problem. It's a contrived scenario in which you take risks to get rewards. You may be able to improve it ... but never eliminate it.
- MaintenanceCosts This is now our fourth 20th Anniversary GTI, and the third of those four that had major structural modifications for purely aesthetic reasons. I didn't picture Tim as the type to want to join the STANCE YO crowd, but here we are?
- JMII This is why I don't watch NASCAR, it just a crash fest. Normally due the nature of open-wheel cars you don't see such risky behavior during Indy car events. You can't trade paint and bump draft with an Indy car. I thought it was a sad ending for a 500. While everyone wants a green flag finish at some point (3 laps? 5 laps?) red flagging it is just tempting people too much like a reset button in a game.The overall problem is the 500 is not a "normal" race. Many one-off competitors enter it and for almost every driver they are willing to throw away the entire season championship just to win the "500". It sure pays way more then winning the championship. This would be like making a regular season NFL game worth more then the Super Bowl. This encourages risky behavior.I am not sure what the fix is, but Indy's restart procedures have been a mess for years. If I was in charge the rule would be pit speed limiter until the green flag drops at a certain place on the track - like NASCARs restart "zone". Currently the leader can pace the field however they wish and accelerate whenever they choose. This leads to multiple false and jumped starts with no penalty for the behavior. Officals rarely wave off such restarts, but that did happened once on Sunday so they tried to make driver behave. The situation almost didn't happen as there were two strategies in the end with some conserving fuel and running old tires, driving slower with others racing ahead. However the last caution put everyone on even terms so nobody had advantage. It always gets crazy in the last few laps but bunching up the field with a yellow or red flag is just asking for trouble.
- Tim Healey Lol it's simply that VWVortex is fertile ground for interesting used cars!
- Jalop1991 I say, install gun racks.Let the games begin!
I'm in the market for a Suburban and this isn't going to help me get a good deal.
Although these are good looking Utes, I understand their quality is rated one of the top 10 worst. Not surprising for a GM product. I guess checking carcomplaints.com, before purchasing, would be your best bet. I look at former gen trucks, and see them looking like junk already.


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Tower to build $8bn fab in India?
Online reports say Tower Semiconductor has submitted a proposal to create a major new facility, with the Indian government paying half of the cost.
The Indian Express believes that Israeli chip maker Tower Semiconductor is in talks with Indian government representatives about subsiding the construction of a fab in the country to produce 65nm and 40nm chips. It speculates that the state will pick up half of the USD 8 billion price tag.
It's all unconfirmed speculation, but Tower and India do have plenty of history. Tower previously submitted a proposal to build a fab in Karnataka as part of the International Semiconductor Consortium (ISMC) – a joint venture between Tower, Abu Dhabi-based Next Orbit Ventures and Intel Corp. ISMC was a key plank of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's USD 10 billion plan to incentivise companies to set up semiconductor operations in India.
But that project was canned when Tower began a merger with Intel (which was itself later cancelled). Now, with the Intel-Tower Semiconductor deal off the table, it would appear negotiations have resumed.
Tower Semiconductor serves over 300 customers worldwide across diverse sectors including automotive, medical, industrial, consumer, aerospace, and defence. It is ranked seventh in global foundry revenue according to TrendForce.


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The ACCC is urging NBN customers with slow connection speeds to contact their provider as they may be eligible for a refund.
Over the last 15 months Telstra, Optus, TPG, iiNet, Internode, Dodo, iPrimus and Commander have each admitted that they likely made false or misleading representations about the connection speeds NBN customers could experience.
According to the ACCC these providers advertised and sold NBN plans with maximum theoretical speeds when, due to the limitations of NBN technology, many consumers could never experience these speeds.
The consumer watchdog has accepted undertakings from each of these eight RSPs that they would contact more than 142,000 affected consumers to offer them a range of options, such as moving to a lower speed plan of their choice, or exiting their contract and receiving a refund.
ACCC acting chair Mik Keogh says there are hundreds of dollars up for grabs still.
"A large proportion, two in three affected consumers, have not responded to the letter or email from their RSP," says Keogh.
"They may be eligible for refunds, some in the hundreds of dollars."
"The ACCC is urging NBN customers to contact their NBN retailer if they have received a letter or email offer of a remedy or think they might be entitled to a remedy."
These refunds are not just for old customers those who have recently signed up to a new NBN plan may also be eligible for a refund where the provider advertises maximum connection speeds. Within four weeks, providers must check their speeds and if the speeds are below that advertised for the plan the consumer chose, the provider must offer remedy options.
"Our message to providers is that if you advertise a particular connection speed and customers cannot experience that speed, you risk breaching Australian Consumer Law," says Keogh.
"We expect providers to provide consumers with accurate information up front about the internet speeds they can expect to experience, and then deliver on those promises."
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We are delighted to announce that Nikos Iatropoulos has joined the Kairos team as Head of Operations, reporting to Jim Demetriades, Founder and Managing Partner.
In his new role, Nikos will oversee corporate marketing, information technology, implementation and monitoring of internal operating processes and procedures, and establishment and nourishment of relationships with university partners. He will also draw on his entrepreneurial experience when representing Kairos on portfolio company Boards.
“I am thrilled to be joining Kairos at this important juncture. Jim Demetriades’ vision to revolutionize the way science and technology can be transformed into successful businesses has come to fruition. Kairos is now entering a period of hypergrowth as we expand our university partnerships, and I am looking forward to contributing to the company during these exciting times.”
Prior to Kairos, Nikos was the CEO of Lingospot, an enterprise software company he co-founded. Under his leadership, Lingospot became a key provider of semantic search and machine learning technologies to some of the world’s largest media and technology companies, including Bloomberg, Forbes, Time Inc., Intel, Sky, Boston.com, USA Today, Gannett, McClatchy, and many others. Nikos negotiated the sale of Lingospot to Piksel, one of the largest OTT software and service providers in the world, whose technology serves over 85 million subscribers.
Prior to founding Lingospot, Nikos was the founding CEO of Upstream, a global mobile marketing company. He was also the founder of Snack TV, led the global launch of RCS Mobile (acquired by Clear Channel), and has served on the boards of and also advised several digital media companies including Behavioral Signals (in the Kairos portfolio), Out There Media, NCI Mobility (acquired by In-Touch), Hi-Tide Media, and Event Now. Nikos is also a Judge for the MIT $100K Competition, a Mentor for the Columbia University Entrepreneurship Coaches Network and a Judge for the Columbia University Venture Competition.
Nikos holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Columbia University and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.


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China’s Xi warns ‘period of turbulent change’ as external risks rise
Chinese President Xi Jinping warned that the world’s second-biggest economy is facing a period of ‘turbulent change’ and that rising external markets risk required policymakers to increasingly rely on domestic demand to spur growth. The five-yearly economic blueprint is expected to be unveiled in the annual parliament meeting next year, and Xi said China must be prepared for “a period of turbulent change” as the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated protectionism, hammered the world economy and disrupted supply chains. “In the coming period, we will face more and more headwinds in the external environment, and we must be prepared to deal with a series of new risks and challenges,”.
China keen to work with ‘US states, local councils, businesses’ despite Washington’s hostility, Xi Jinping says
President Xi Jinping is keen to de-escalate rising tensions with Washington and ensure American companies continue to do business with China. China has had close ties with states on the West coast of the US, while purchases of agriculture products have also boosted interactions with Midwest farm states.
Chinese foreign minister says US decoupling doomed to fail
Wang Yi called on Europe to resist ‘unilateral bullying’. He is expected to call on Europe to remain open to Chinese business during a week-long tour of the continent. US trade representative Robert Lighthizer and Chinese counterpart Liu He held a phone conversation on Tuesday morning and
agreed to continue to implement the phase one trade deal signed in January, which binds China to buying an additional US$77 billion worth of goods from the US this year compared with 2017 levels.
China boosts macroeconomic cooperation in ‘constructive’ trade talks with US
Negotiators review progress of phase one trade deal in telephone conversation on Tuesday.
Both sides say they are committed to making progress on the agreement signed last year. US President Donald Trump in recent weeks has stepped up his rhetoric against China ahead of what is expected to be a tough re-election fight, raising questions about the deal’s fate as well as the possibility of a phase two agreement.
US and China hold ‘constructive’ trade talks after delay
The US and China have held talks over their so-called “phase-one” trade deal after the discussion was delayed earlier this month.
Donald Trump says US and China could decouple, if ‘they don’t treat us right’
America ‘doesn’t have to do business’ with China, president says in an interview with Fox News. Comments come as senior officials wait to review the phase one trade deal signed in January.
How the US uses the dollar payments system to impose sanctions on a global scale
The US dollar’s global dominance gives Washington a powerful tool that it uses to enforce sanctions on people, institutions and countries. The decoupling of the world’s two largest economies has raised concerns about the United States deploying the ‘nuclear option’ of freezing China’s banking sector out of the global US dollar payments system
US dollar weakness won’t last. Signs show a turnaround is due
In an evolving situation, dollar bears have to decide if it still makes sense to buy another currency in preference to the dollar. While Chinese data may justify yuan strength versus the dollar, European data does not quite justify euro strength.
The problems with China’s “Dual Circulation” economic model
May, when President Xi Jinping first introduced the concept of a “dual circulation” economic model, analysts who follow the Chinese economy have been struggling to understand exactly what the Chinese leadership has committed to. From the many subsequent formal references that have followed, it seems that Beijing’s new economic strategy calls for the country to continue to expand domestic production for exports (“international circulation”) while shifting the economy towards a greater relative emphasis on production for domestic consumption (“internal circulation”).
Foxconn, Pegatron among Asian firms considering Mexico factories as China risks grow
Taiwan-based electronics manufacturers Foxconn and Pegatron are among companies said to be eyeing new factories in Mexico. The plans could usher in billions of dollars in badly needed fresh investments over the next few years for Latin America’s second-largest economy.
Hong Kong, China stocks turn down; US-China officials see ‘progress’ on trade deal, hopes rise for Covid-19 vaccine
US-China officials spoke by phone Tuesday, reiterated commitment to trade deal. US stocks hit record highs on hopes for Covid-19 therapies, vaccines
Jack Ma’s Ant Group files plans for dual listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai, showcasing profitable business
Ant generated a pre-tax profit of 24.4 billion yuan (US$3.5 billion) in the six months to June 30, up from 3.02 billion yuan a year earlier. Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group Holding, will donate 611,337,334 shares of Ant Group to charitable causes.
Jack Ma’s Ant Group sets aim for world’s largest IPO
Alibaba affiliate files for stock sale on HKEX and STAR Market, targeting $30bn.
Could New Threats Force Alibaba Out Of Taiwan?
The Taiwanese government is giving a local Taobao branch, owned by Alibaba, six months to re-register as a Chinese investment, or it must leave the country. On Monday, Reuters reported that the Taiwanese government gave the local branch of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s e-commerce platform, Taobao, six months to re-register as a Chinese investment rather than a foreign one, or it must leave the country. The order comes at a time of escalating political tensions, emphasized through the country’s intensified scrutiny of Chinese investments.
KAOLA HELPS GLOBAL BRANDS REACH CHINA’S GROWING MIDDLE CLASS
Alibaba Group’s cross-border e-commerce platform Kaola has announced a strategic upgrade to help overseas brands and domestic companies reach China’s burgeoning middle class.
When Controversy Hits in China, Luxury Brands Bank on Short Attention Spans
Some global luxury brands have created marketing campaigns that have offended the sensibilities of Chinese netizens. What lessons can be learned?
China’s ‘American Factory’ laid off more than 2,000 jobs worldwide in first half of 2020 due to weak car market
Fuyao Glass Industry Group featured in the award-winning Netflix documentary, American Factory. Founder Cao Dewang remains pessimistic about the outlook for the second half of the year due to weak demand amid the coronavirus
World’s largest vaping devices maker Smoore defies coronavirus, trade war to expand capacity amid booming sales
The Shenzhen-based maker of e-cigarettes, which sells half its products in the US, reported a 40 per cent rise in profits for the first six months of the year The firm says higher import tariffs have not stopped US demand from growing because its products are ‘technologically superior’
China’s ByteDance receives mixed reaction at home for suing the US government over its TikTok order
Public opinion in China over ByteDance’s legal challenge remains mixed, with many netizens saying the company ‘has no backbone’. Even if its lawsuit succeeds, ByteDance still has to deal with the other executive order about divesting TikTok’s US operations
TikTok sues Donald Trump and US government over threatened ban
US president’s executive order gave China’s ByteDance 90 days to divest popular video-sharing app’s US operations. Meanwhile, some ByteDance investors are looking to use stakes to finance bid for TikTok.
How Hong Kong can boost the development of data centres and emerge as a regional hub
Demand for data centre services from users of cloud computing, e-commerce and high-frequency trading in Hong Kong has never been greater. Provision of suitable land supported by well-developed infrastructure is of utmost importance, if Hong Kong is to become an international data centre hub in Asia-Pacific
Green and digital: A Chinese recipe for global economic competitiveness
As Americans consider how to rejuvenate the economy in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, profits at China’s industrial firms rose 11.5 percent year-on-year in June, marking the quickest profit growth since March 2019. China’s rebound from the COVID-19 crisis is already in full swing. So while trade tensions between U.S. and China look set to continue, what is China’s strategic growth plan?
Will Chinese bottled water giant Nongfu Spring’s Hong Kong IPO lead to more success for its low profile billionaire founder?
Nongfu Spring is seeking up to US$1 billion in initial public offering. Zhong Shanshan, 65, holds 87 per cent of the company and is currently the 29th wealthiest person in China.
How to teach China-US relations as tensions between the two superpowers soar?
Students – and the rest of the world – would appreciate a workable plan to escape the calamity of entrenched policy silos, where nation-states never rise above juggling their own interests
Why Indonesia is poised to become the next AI start-up hub
Knowledge exchanges are crucial to ensuring continued growth, along with an emphasis on creating Indonesian scientists. China is also facilitating education growth in Indonesia, offering numerous scholarships for scientific research and collaboration
ALIBABA’S LUXURY CHANNELS GET GEN Z UPGRADE
Alibaba Group on Monday unveiled plans to retool its luxury platforms, including Tmall Luxury Pavilion and Luxury Soho, as it gears up to help high-end brands reinvigorate their growth and connect with China’s Generation Z shoppers after Covid-19.
China’s social security fund is being propped up by local government subsidies, but for how long?
Without contributions from local governments, national social security funds would have run at a deficit since 2013, a South China Morning Post analysis of records finds Beijing exempted companies from paying into the system during the coronavirus, but the move could come at the expense of supporting the nation’s most vulnerable
Blockchain Bitcoin Cloud Mining, Cryptocurrency, Blockchain
China’s dino-banks are starting to look more favorably upon blockchain. Huobi is charging towards blockchain-powered finance, and wants to help people save cryptocurrencies. A Chinese startup has sold its public blockchain solution to a provincial government, and Vechain wants to sell blockchain for the sustainability of supply chains. Meanwhile, cryptocurrencies are being used to transfer money from China overseas.
Brush up on Mandarin, as China’s banks are hiring tens of thousands of graduates in latest rescue mission to prop up jobs
The four biggest state banks, led by Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, this month kicked off their autumn campus hiring, instead of in November as in previous years China Construction Bankplans to add 16,000 graduates this year, up from 13,000 last year. Bank of China will increase its hiring by 15 per cent to more than 10,000, according to their advertisements
Hong Kong home rents drop near universities, as mainland Chinese students stay at home for online classes
Rents in some areas close to universities have dropped by about a third, by 3.4 per cent since January overall Landlords are offering generous concessions as they shift focus to local tenants
Why India’s bid to bring Russia into the Indo-Pacific initiative is unwise
Russian involvement in the Indo-Pacific will help India avoid making tough choices in the US-China face-off and could induce a split between Moscow and Beijing However, given close Russia-China military and economic ties, this is unlikely to happen. Instead, India could anger its allies in the Quad and Asean
Donald Trump says China will ‘own’ US if Joe Biden wins presidential election in November
US president makes unscheduled appearance at Republican National Convention during nomination roll-call vote He also rails against Beijing’s accession to the World Trade Organisation during largely unscripted remarks
Trump or Biden, which candidate does China want in the White House?
Pei said the split in Chinese attitudes toward Trump and Biden depend on whether officials in Beijing are taking a short- or long-term view. Those who take a long-term view prefer Trump, since they view him as being incompetent and unable to get allies on board, thus giving China more room to maneuver. Another four years of Trump would lead to more internal divisions within America, reducing its ability to successfully wage a long-term struggle against China, Pei said.
China’s navy drills in 4 regions show ability to counter US, observers say
Exercises held at roughly the same time in South China Sea, East China Sea, Yellow Sea and Bohai Gulf . US last month conducted air defence exercises in the disputed South China Sea and indicated greater willingness to confront China there.
Why claims that Hong Kong’s national security law will have a limited impact ring hollow
While officials insist the effects of the law will not be significant, the arrests of pro-democracy figures, disqualification of Legco candidates and suspension of extradition treaties tell a different tale.
US-China relations: Chinese state media steps up attacks on ‘fact-twisting’ Mike Pompeo
Piece running to 33,000 words defends Beijing’s policies towards Xinjiang and Hong Kong and rejects a series of ‘false’ claims about China. Pompeo has been singled out for denunciations in recent months as relations between the two sides deteriorate.
Chinese military: Rocket Force drills prepare for possible US nuclear weapons attack
Anti-CBRN exercises are a major training focus, simulating defence against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear warfare Rocket Force’s largest anti-nuclear weapon drill involved thousands of soldiers and hundreds of military vehicles in the Gobi Desert
Secret migration of China’s rich, led by Asia’s richest woman, revealed in leaked Cyprus document
Yang Huiyan, with an estimated wealth of US$28 billion, is among more than 500 Chinese people said by Al Jazeera to have received a Cypriot ‘golden passport’ in recent years. Chinese citizens may apply for permanent residency or citizenship in foreign countries, but obtaining citizenship abroad generally means losing Chinese citizenship
Modern ‘Ai’: Passion, Patriotism, and China’s Politics of Love
Whether it was of God, country, or one’s fellow man, “love” has always been a political act in modern China. Lin saw public displays of emotion as a marker of aesthetic sensibility and moral superiority. His appalled fellow townspeople, meanwhile, derided him as a wild scholar.
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July 11, 2016
After endless hype everyone is finally getting a chance to experience virtual reality and augmented reality in the best way possible; by playing a game. Pokémon Go was an instant hit when it launched recently for mobile phones. It’s literally and figuratively a game-changer and the first of what’s sure to be many new products making clever use of AR.
Meanwhile, for the first time in years, the Chinese box office is not just slowing down, it’s shrinking. Hollywood movies are dominating the market but that hasn’t stopped the Chinese government from loosening the reins to let in more Hollywood movies just to sell more tickets.
In fact, the deal limiting the number of imported films into China to 34 per year ends in 2017. As Hollywood goes back to the negotiating table with the Chinese government, they will not only be pushing to get more movies into the country, but also a bigger piece of the box office, which is presently limited to 25%, though is often less.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including why season seven of “Game of Thrones” is going to be delayed, how music streaming services have surpassed 55 million paid subscribers and the three leads of the Broadway sensation “Hamilton” have taken their final bow.
April 4, 2016
In yet another sign that the difference between broadcast and cable networks is eroding, NBCUniversal announced that it would include all of its cable outlets in their traditional upfront presentation to advertisers for NBC. By combining shows from networks such as Bravo, Telemundo and Oxygen with the big primetime hits on NBC, the Comcast owned media giant is signaling that the best way for advertisers to reach viewers is through aggregating audiences.
Time Warner Cable, on the other hand, is struggling to distribute its own content through different cable providers. Specifically, none of the other pay-TV companies is willing to force their customers to pay for SportsNet LA, the regional sports network owned by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Could this be an indication that cable operators finally understand that technology will force them to unbundle their basic cable offering?
Meanwhile, short, cheap and entertaining books – once called dime store novels or pulp fiction – are making a comeback. As are serialized novels, short stories and lots of things that don’t fit into the 250 pages or more standard of most books today. Technology and the need to hold the attention of readers are the reasons it’s happening.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including the controversial film pulled from the Tribeca Film Festival lineup, the death of comedian Gary Shandling and the porn industry gets into virtual reality.
November 9, 2015
Until the past few years virtual reality felt more like actual fiction, as proponents offered up underwhelming demonstrations which requiring expensive and cumbersome equipment. The days however, the ongoing work by the pioneers developing VR has transformed the technology into a viable platform for more than just the odd hardcore gamer.
As VR products and content make their way into the consumer market, it seems no industry trade show or film festival is complete without addressing the technology in some way. In fact, just last week, the Sundance Institute announced they would begin a residency program in VR and the New York Times launched their own VR initiative. We dive into the hype behind VR and try to make some sense out of what all the fuss is about.
Meanwhile, as the MPAA confirmed a new agreement for film distribution in China, and with the country on track to surpass North America as the world’s largest movie market in 2017, a number of organizations are claiming China isn’t abiding by international trade rules to which it had originally agreed.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including the nominees from this year’s European Film Awards, Showtime’s plans for the revival of “Twin Peaks” and why a number of police departments are calling for their officers to boycott Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming movie.
September 28, 2015
It is said numbers don’t lie, however in the entertainment business they don’t always tell the truth either. When it comes to box office grosses, television ratings, home video earnings and book sales, numbers can often present misleading or incomplete information which paint an unrealistic, or at times purposefully skewed, financial picture.
Netflix, for instance, released data detailing what they claim is the episode when their customers get hooked on a television series. However, the “hook study” performed by the subscription video streaming service was limited in scope and may simply be an example of how good Netflix is at spinning its numbers into great PR opportunities.
Meanwhile, like every other area of the entertainment industry, the book world has been rocked by the digital revolution. But publishers believe the business is leveling out based on sales figures which leave out large segments of the market. None of this explains why e-books cost more than paperbacks though.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including Amy Schumer’s big book advance, a lawsuit over the movie “Goodfellas”, which Warner Bros. says was a huge flop, and the Harry Potter origin story will become a two part theatrical production on London’s West End.


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Clermont councilman cited for selling alcohol to a minor
Clermont City Councilman Keith Mullins, who owns a local wine shop, has been cited for selling beer to a minor.
The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation in Tallahassee released a report Monday, detailing the Dec. 16 incident by an undercover state agent at Mullins’ Bacchus Vino Etc. on Montrose Street. The minor who purchased the beer was a 17-year-old investigative aide accompanied by Rebecca A. Oden, a special agent with the Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco.
The aide paid for a bottle of Gaelic Ale beer with money provided by Oden and the aide left the store with it, but Mullins is said not to have asked for identification, the report states.
“Mullins was issued a Notice to Appear for violation of F.S.S. (Florida State Statute) 562.11 and a notice of intent to file administrative charges was issued to the premises,” the report says.
That statute says: “A person may not sell, give, serve, or permit to be served alcoholic beverages to a person under 21 years of age to consume such beverages on the licensed premises.”
The disciplinary penalties the division could impose are a $1,000 fine and seven-day license suspension for the first occurrence, a $3,000 fine and a 30-day suspension for the second occurrence and revocation of a license for the third occurrence.
Mullins declined to talk about the incident.


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Peloton Interactive’s loss narrowed as revenue topped expectations, sending shares higher.
The home-fitness company lost $49.8 million, or $1.29 a share, in the first quarter of fiscal year 2020, a $4.8 million improvement from the year before. Revenue rose 103 percent year-over-year to $228 million. Wall Street analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting a loss of 40 cents a share on revenue of $197 million.
“We benefited from continued strong demand for our connected fitness experience, attributable to our effective brand and performance marketing and growing word-of-mouth referrals from our loyal Members,” the company said in its earnings release.
Peloton’s 103 percent growth in connected fitness subscribers raised its total to 562,774. Its member base stood at more than 1.6 million through the end of its fiscal year 2019.
On average, workouts per connected fitness subscriber rose to 11.7 per month, from 8.9 a year ago. Peloton’s average net monthly connected fitness churn rate was 0.9 percent while its 12-month retention rate was 94 percent.
Looking ahead, Peloton sees connected fitness subscribers growing 88 percent in the second quarter to between 680,000 and 685,000. It sees total revenue of $410 million to $420 million, up 58 percent at its midpoint.
For fiscal year 2020, Peloton sees 885,000 to 895,000 ending connected fitness subscribers and total revenue of $1.45 billion to $1.5 billion.
On Sept. 26, Pelton went public at $27 a share, down from the $29 where it priced the evening prior. Shares settled at $24.61 apiece on Monday, down 8.8 percent from the initial public offering price.


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Today, MEPs vote in plenary on a resolution for the “right to repair”, which was presented and adopted by the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) in March. According to the text, the repair industry and consumers should have access to repair and maintenance information free of charge. MEPs also call for a longer warranty period as well as for more information on product labelling. According to the European Pirates in the European Parliament, the text is a step in the right direction.
Patrick Breyer, Member of the European Parliament for the German Pirate Party, explains:
“We welcome this initiative because we believe that users should have control over the technology they use on daily basis. The digital products require special attention, so we are happy to see that functionality updates should be reversible and not lead to diminished performance.
“We still believe the right to repair can go even further. While commercial manufacturers of IT devices must provide updates for a reasonable period of time according to current laws, there is so far no obligation to patch known vulnerabilities in a timely manner. There is also a lack of manufacturer liability for the often devastating consequences of such vulnerabilities. This must be changed. The source code and development tools should have to be made public to allow the community to maintain it as soon as a manufacturer decides to abandon a product that is still in widespread use.”
The EU Commission is considering proposing a draft law on a right to repair in the third quarter of 2022. According to a Eurobarometer survey, 79% of EU citizens believe that manufacturers should be obliged to facilitate the repair of digital devices or the replacement of their individual parts, and 77% would rather have their devices repaired than replaced.”
Marcel Kolaja, Member and Quaestor of the European Parliament, member of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO), explains:Marcel Kolaja, Member and Quaestor of the European Parliament, member of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO), explains:
“Reduction of e-waste is one of the key pillars for the sustainable and circular economy. Europe must create legislation that is fair. Consumers should have better access to spare parts and independent repairs at reasonable costs and within reasonable time-limits. On top of that, we also call for the legal guarantee of products to be extended. We believe that longer guarantee period will provide an incentive to choose repair over replace.
“It is also crucial to label the products with information on estimated lifetime and provide as much information as possible on repairability. Manufacturers cannot force consumers to buy new products every other year. That is certainly not the right way towards sustainability. Therefore, I am really glad to see that the Parliament calls for strengthening consumers’ rights in today’s resolution.”


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Verizon Wireless announced today that the Windows Phone 8-based Samsung ATIV Odyssey will be available for purchase starting tomorrow. The mid-level handset will cost just $49.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a two-year contract.
It’s a decidedly unexciting device, at least from a specs perspective: It features a 4-inch Super AMOLED display running at 800 x 480, a 5 megapixel camera (and front-facing 1.2 megapixel camera), just 8 GB of onboard storage, and microSD expansion. So there’s not much to say here.
I previously wrote about the ATIV Odyssey in Samsung Windows Phone 8 Handsets Finally Coming to the US.


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Microsoft is said to be moving to a new development schedule for Windows. The company is expected to return to its traditional three-year cycle, meaning the next major version could be released in 2024. This version could be Windows 12 if the company chooses to stick with it. its current naming trends, according to the report. Microsoft is also expected to double down on the release of new features for the current version of Windows. The company recently finalized the 22H2 update for Windows 11, which is expected to arrive sometime in September or October.
According to one report by Windows Central, Microsoft likely to release the next major version of Windows – supposedly Windows 12 – in 2024. The company reportedly scrapped the expected 2023 version of Windows 11, codenamed ‘Sun Valley 3’, to adopt this new schedule. Just a year ago, Microsoft announced that it plans to release a major feature update for Windows 11. It now plans to ship major versions of Windows every three years, according to the report.
Between major releases, Microsoft may plan to increase the rollout of features for the latest version of Windows. Starts with soon to be released Windows 11 version 22H2 (Sun Valley 2), it is supposed to introduce new features up to four five times a year. In the past, most Microsoft development teams had to wait for an annual release to roll out new features. But for now, these teams are expected to be able to reveal these features sooner. Microsoft is said to have tested this ‘Moment’ approach earlier this year when it included Taskbar improvements with some other features. It is now expected to bring some new features from ‘Sun Valley 3’ that were purposely dropped like the aforementioned ‘Moments’ update for ‘Sun Valley 2’.
Not much information is available regarding the 2024 version of Windows. Rumor has it that the developers have named this version the ‘Next Valley’ client. Microsoft has yet to officially confirm the existence of this version.


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NEWTOWN BOROUGH >> The day after Governor Wolf began easing COVID-19 restrictions in Bucks County, David Witchell’s popular South State Street beauty salon remained dark.
Instead of returning to work, he was standing out on the sidewalk with a group of bipartisan lawmakers making his case on why beauty salons, barbershops and nail salons should be allowed to reopen.
Under the Governor’s yellow phased COVID-19 reopening plan, which took affect on Friday in Bucks County, salons, barbershops and nail salons must remain closed, along with indoor malls, casinos and movie theaters.
Addressing a gathering of reporters and other salon and business owners, Witchell said the salon industry is ready to get back to work safely, but warned that the continued closure is creating unsafe conditions - “unlike any we have seen since the 1930s.
“This closure is no longer about public safety,” said Witchell. “It is having the opposite effect.
“While salons remain in a state of forced closure,” Witchell said “well-trained and highly-skilled professionals are being pushed out from safe, controlled environments into garages, backyards, bathrooms and kitchens or at best they are sneaking clients through the backdoor of their salons.
“The perception of unsafe conditions in the professional beauty industry has been created by our state leadership who, by their own admission, know nothing about our industry.
“Don’t mistake this for begging to open our doors,” said Witchell. “This is speaking out loudly that our industry must be recognized as professionals trained in sterilization and sanitation that can work safely under CDC guidelines.
“At some point, everyone has to take a stand,” said Witchell. “We have taken ours. On one side, someone calls us cowards for not joining the movement to boldly reopen against the Governor’s orders. On the other side, the Governor calls us cowards simply because we disagree with him.”
Witchell said from the start, their goal has been to exhaust every possibility to arrive at a reasonable compromise.
“Now we finally achieved the bi-partisan support to get the professional beauty industry back to work,” he said.
But, he added, where logic ends, defiance begins.
“Governor Wolf, don’t underestimate the will of the American entrepreneurial spirit. Listen to the bipartisan and logical voices of your constituents and reopen all remaining industries in yellow.”
Joining Witchell at Saturday’s press conference was the county’s health
director, Dr. David Damsker, along with a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including State Senator Steve Santarsiero (D-10) and State Reps. Frank Farry (R-142), Wendi Thomas (R-178) and Meghan Schroeder (R-29) Unable to attend was State Rep. Perry Warren (D-31).
Damsker told the gathering the number of COVID-19 cases in Bucks County has flattened from what had been a quickly escalating uphill climb.
“Taking the steps the governor did made a lot of sense. And it still makes a lot of sense,” he said. “We had to get the numbers down. Now that we have gotten it down to a reasonable level we’re all on the same page that we have to do extra things to maintain that low number of cases.
“I believe that places like salons and gyms, they are in a different frame of mind then where they were before,” said Damsker. “And if they follow the four basic rules of the overall plan I think they can all probably reopen this minute.”
Those rules, he said, include pre-screening for the virus; social distancing between salon stations; masking when appropriate; and paying special attention to the sanitation and cleanliness of the facility.
“We have to make things safe for people,” said Damsker. “I believe if anyone has a good plan they can open up just as safely than businesses that are already open now. I can’t override the Governor. All I can talk about is logic and reason and common sense.”
The lawmakers promised a bipartisan campaign to persuade the governor to change his mind. They have already
sent letters asking the governor to reopen the beauty industry under the yellow phase.
Farry said Republicans proposed legislation to that affect, which ultimately was vetoed by the governor. He said they’ll try again with a bill this week that would give counties the decision-making power on whether salons and barbershops can open under yellow.
“We are with you. We have heard your collective voices,” Farry told the salon owners. “A lot of these businesses can be opened ... We’re hopeful that with continued effort we can get the Governor, with just the stroke of a pen, to sign an executive order providing the proper guidance that would allow salons and fitness facilities to open under yellow and allow our restaurants to begin limited capacity seating inside.
“As Dr. Damsker touched on, these decisions can be done safely,” said Farry. “Here’s your science and here’s your medicine right here. He is not going to recommend you do anything that is unsafe.
“We stand with Dr. Damsker. We stand with our small business owners,” said Farry. “Right now you can be cattle-herded into a big box store to pick up your garden supplies and whatnot, but you can’t get your hair cut.”
Santarsiero, like his colleagues across the aisle, promised to continue lobbying the governor to change his mind and to issue an executive order allowing salons to open under yellow.
“I am happy to stand here with David and Galina because I know they are committed to doing the right thing. They are committed to reopening and to making sure the protocols are followed,” said Santarsiero.
Santarsiero sent a letter to the governor on May 28 asking that the beauty industry be allowed to reopen under yellow. So far the Governor has been resistant to making that change.
Santarsiero pointed to protocols adopted by the state of Ohio that have been successful. “They have not seen an increase in cases in those areas and that’s proof that it can be done safely,” he said. “And I believe there are similar protocols that can be done in the fitness industry that would allow them to open up in the yellow as well.”
While standing with his GOP colleagues in urging the governor to sign an executive order reopening salons in the yellow phase, Santarsiero differed on seceding the decision-making to the individual counties.
“With 57 countries, that would be a very disjointed effort. I think it’s better for the state government to make that decision,” he said.
With businesses reopening and the potential of salons and barbershops reopening soon, Santarsiero said now is not the time for residents or business owners to ease up on precautions.
“We are now almost three months into this pandemic and as Dr. Damsker alluded to a few moments ago, we have been largely successful. We have been able to flatten the curve. And flattening the curve has meant our hospitals have not been overwhelmed.
“This is early June and the experts say we may face a threat of the virus coming back in late fall,” said Santarsiero. “But they’re also saying that a second phase will be directly impacted by what we do now. So while we’re here today to talk about reopening our salons, we cannot forget that over the next three to four months how we behave and what we do, whether we’re businessowners or ordinary citizens, it’s going to have a direct impact on that severity.”


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News that Congress was moving forward with $2 trillion in economic stimulus has many stocks surging higher today. At 2:13 p.m. EDT, both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average are up more than 4%, with many stocks up even more. However, things have started to turn down after a morning that had just about every kind of stock moving higher.
In late morning trading, shares of retailers Best Buy (BBY -2.51%), Kohl's Corporation (KSS -4.01%), and Macy's (M -3.16%) were up more than 5%, but at this writing, all three have sharply reversed course, with only Best Buy retaining some of its gains. Best Buy is up about 2%, while Kohl's stock is now down 1.5% and Macy's shares have reversed to a sharp loss, down almost 9%.
This morning's excitement over the passing of an unprecedented financial stimulus by the U.S. Senate seems to be abating. The bill still must go to the House for approval -- it's scheduled to happen Friday -- and would provide direct financial support to millions of Americans, extend the eligibility period for unemployment benefits, and create a program to help businesses. The U.S. economy is likely already in recession; more than 3 million people filed for unemployment benefits last week, by far the biggest increase in a single week. Direct aid to individuals and businesses to the tune of $2 trillion would help soften the blow from what is expected to be the biggest economic contraction in U.S. history.
The past couple of days of exuberance is starting to abate as investors digest the reality that retailers like Best Buy, Kohl's, and Macy's, which sell primarily discretionary consumer goods, likely still face a very tough period ahead. Economic stimulus will certainly make a big difference for many individuals and help support many small and large companies that could face insolvency in the weeks and months ahead, but it's not likely that these three companies would be significant direct beneficiaries. And even if they are, those benefits would help stave off losses and insolvency, but they aren't likely to be shareholder-accretive gains.
But while that explains why investors have likely gone from buying to selling, it's not a suggestion that selling is the right move for everyone. To the contrary, for investors who treat stocks appropriately -- as ownership of businesses that tend to deliver the best returns when owned over many years -- today's prices probably still represent great buying opportunities. After all, they are still down 33%, 61%, and 64% respectively at recent prices.
Of course, there's risk. Forced store closures to reduce the spread of the coronavirus is cutting revenues to a trickle for Macy's and Kohl's, and Best Buy's recent move to close its stores to the public -- though it's offering curbside store pickup for online orders -- is likely have a similar impact on its sales in the months ahead, as the surge in demand for work-from-home products proves temporary. These companies are going to have to live on the cash and debt they can access to bridge the gap between now and the eventual return to normal.
And yes, things will return to normal; we just don't know when that will happen. But when it does, I expect today's prices will prove bargains for all three of these retailers, so long as they have the liquidity to bridge the gap between now and then.


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Biodun Okeowo, and her son, AyomidePopular Yoruba actress, Biodun Okeowo, alias Omoborty, has taken to Instagram to celebrate her son, Ayomide on his 20th birthday.
Taking to the photo-sharing app, the proud mom shared a photo of herself and her handsome son.
The film star also showered encomium on her son as she thanked him for being obedient and not deviating from the way he was brought up.
“20 fabulous years Ayo mi. I will never have cause to cry or mourn over you son. Than
Maryam SandaAn Appeal Court in Abuja has dismissed the appeal filed by Maryam Sanda for lacking in merit.
The court upheld the judgment by the FCT High Court which had sentenced her to death by hanging for killing her husband, Bilyaminu Bello.
Recall that on 27th January, Justice Yusuf Halilu gave the sentence in Abuja while delivering judgment on the protracted trial of Missus Sanda.
Also Read: Why Appeal Court Must Uphold Maryam Sanda’s Death Sentence: Police
In his two-hour Judgement, Pr
Nigeria News | Laila's Blog Borno Massacre: “Those killed were Boko Haram informants not farmers” – Resident claims
Local sources have claimed that those killed by Boko Haram in Borno state were actually informants to the insurgents and not farmers.
The deadly Boko Haram Terrorist group reportedly beheaded 43 farmers in Zambarmari, a town in Borno State.
The tragic incident happened on Saturday at Koshebe village in Mafa Local Government Area, while the farmers where working in a rice fie
Nigeria News | Laila's Blog Headies 2020: Falz is most nominated rapper
Folarin Falana, better known by his stage name Falz, is the nominated rapper for the 2020 Headies Award.
Nigeria’s premier music award show, Headies, earlier today released the nomination list for the 2020 Award show.
Falz is the nominated rapper for this years edition of the prestigious Headies Award, after he got four nods.
He was nominated in the; Best Rap Single (two nominations), Headies Viewers choice, Best Coll
Nigeria News | Laila's Blog “What doors can you open?” – Kiddwaya brags about his connections
Big Brother Naija (BBNaija) 2020 star, Kiddwaya has bragged about his connections as he told people to build their networks and not just chase money.
According to the billionaire son, money is temporary but connection stays, which is why one needs to be focused and build their network.
It isn’t quite clear who he was sending a message or what could have prompted his post, but he is known to post s
The weekend is here again, first weekend in December, and we have compiled the list of the most downloaded movies of the week. Some you have watched, some you are yet to see but the list will help you make an inform decision on what to watch this weekend.
‘Greenland’ tops the chart, followed by ‘Tenet’. ‘Let Him Go’ completes the top three. This week we have four new entries in the list. The American disaster movie Greenland is the most downloaded title this week.
Late in October, it was reported that PayPal will start charging dormant account beginning from December 16 for people who’ve left their accounts inactive for over 12 months.
Meaning if you haven’t send, nor receive or perform any transaction with your paypal account for 12 months, PayPal will charge you €12 or $12. So if there is only $4 in the account, only $4 will be debited.
If only a bank account or a credit card is connected to the account and there are no amounts available on
November last year 2019, we published an article that DStv was planning to launch a standalone dishless streaming service, now, the Pay tv provider has launched its dishless service.
DStv has launched a standalone streaming service where customers can subscribe and watch all channels via the DStv app, without a decoder or satellite connection.
All old and new subscribers can access the DStv streaming content on their preferred devices which includes smartphones, tablets, gaming conso
I guess all Airtel users are taking advantage of this 20x recharge bundle offer from the telcos. This offer has been around for as long as you can think, available for Airtel users who rarely use their SIM, or are just joining the network. Or you use your SIM but don’t frequently recharge.
We’ve written an article like this before and we are bringing it to your notice again so that you can benefit from it while it lasts.
Airtel 20x recharge gives you extremely mouth-watering bonuses
Some couple of weeks back, Infinixmobility unveiled Infnix Zero 8i with Helio G80 gaming chipset, now the company is warming up to launch Infinix Smart HD 2021.
The upcoming Infinix Smart HD 2021 smartphone has already been listed on the company’s website, revealing some of its key features. It will feature a 6.1-inch IPS HD+ display with 500nits brightness.
While the chipset powering the device is not yet known, it has been revealed that the processor has a clock speed of 1.3GHz. It
MTN has introduced its newly improved eSIM solution – capable of supporting a number of Apple and Samsung devices.
When it first introduced eSIM earlier this year, it supported only few number of devices as can been seen here. But now, more device supports has been added to it.
“The digital journey of MTN customers takes another leap forward with the addition of embedded SIM (eSIM) connections on selected smartphones this month and the inclusion of eSIM connections for selected Apple


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According to a report on Vanguard, Nigeria spends a total of $2 billion annually on importation of agricultural products into the country. This was made known by the Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi during an inspection tour of rail station from Kaduna to Abuja.
These produce include rice, flour, fish, tomatoe paste, sugar, poultry products such as birds and eggs among others which can be produced locally in the country. Nigeria has an advantage in its population of about 170 million and this will be an advantage is agriculture is given urgent and adequate attention.
Nigeria’s over dependence on oil as the main source of revenue has left other viable sectors redundant or almost non-existent and the minister stressed the importance of diversifying and developing other sectors of the economy especially agriculture.
Major agricultural imports are wheat, rice and sugar. These agric produce come from the US and the EU. The country’s main agricultural exports are cocoa beans, rubber, sesame seeds and cocoa butter. Key agricultural export destinations are the UK, the US, Canada, France and Germany”
“We were known to be exporters of cocoa beans, gum Arabic, groundnuts, cotton, palm oil and many other agricultural commodities, but now, we import most of the agricultural commodities that we can produce because of the neglect of the sector.
The importance of developing the agricultural sector of the economy cannot be over emphasized, it will help the nation achieve an enviable success in its food security objective, increase production capacity, improve rural livelihood of the farmers, job creation and boost foreign exchange earnings among others.
To achieve these feat, government needs to employ various approach such as developing a working policy that will support the entire value chain process involved in agriculture and also employ latest technologies that can help increase production efficiency.


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See on Scoop.it – The Cultural & Economic Landscapes
Retailers won’t disclose how much money they’re getting from SNAP. Why not?
Alison D. Gilbert‘s insight:
The entire SNAP or food stamps system is becoming more of a disgrace. This article just adds to the outrageousness of it.
See on www.motherjones.com


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FAST FIVE: IHS Market Warns Of "Armageddon" For US Propane Market
IHS Market Warns Of “Armageddon” For US Propane Market The expanding energy crisis is causing propane to rocket higher (read: here) as supplies dwindle to below seasonal levels as research firm IHS Markit Ltd.
warns of “armageddon” during the Northern Hemisphere winter. IHS analyst Edgar Ang told attendees during a virtual presentation on Tuesday that US propane inventories are at a record low and will be extremely tight as cold weather is ahead.
The surge comes as a global energy crunch threatens to derail the global economy. In a separate report, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects households that use propane and heating oil this year will spend much more than last.
This could strip out some of their spendings in other areas of the economy, such as eating out.
Soaring energy prices, plus food, shelter, and other costs, will continue to pressure the Biden administration to solve persistent inflation that eats away at real wages. Making matters worse IHS expects a cooler winter that could boost energy demand and continue to place a bid under propane prices, analyst Veeral Mehta said.


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Beijing time on July 2nd news, social networking in recent years in a period of rapid development, more and more companies choose to advertise on social networking platform. Then, the effect of advertising on social networks like? Market research firm Custora released the latest report gives the answer: compared with traditional mail advertising, advertising in the Facebook Twitter, the effect is not obvious, and this trend in the short term will not change.
at present, if a brand has failed in Facebook, Twitter and other social media to establish their influence or advertising on these platforms, people will think of the brand does not pay attention to the network marketing, the marketing consultant will always suggest that they entered the social field.
mail marketing effect is obvious
social networking era has arrived, but the online advertising industry has emerged a return to ancient signs. According to market research firm Custora released report shows that new customers online retailers by mail marketing to attract the customers of the total number of 7%, more than four years ago increased more than 4 times, mail advertising profits even more than the advertising revenue directly on the internet.
report pointed out that although Facebook growth for the world’s largest social network platform in the past four years, the number of monthly active users reached 687 million, but it has not become the mainstream advertising channels, by Facebook advertising attracted the number of new customers also failed to appear significant growth. As for Twitter, its advertising effect is even worse.
"organic search" and "cost per click" marketing comparison
Custora analyst, said: from the current market situation, ‘organic search’ is the most popular network marketing model, followed by the ‘click on the cost’ of online advertising marketing."
for the report, over the past two years Custora tracked 86 online retailer and 72 million consumer network usage data, and focus on the consumers click on the source (such as email, Twitter, Google etc.), the amount of consumption, purchase of goods, buy goods channels etc..
According to the
survey results show that under normal circumstances, from the search results page to jump to the retailer’s website consumers, its costs 50% more than ordinary consumers; and from consumer advertising jump over the mail, the expenses than the average cost of 11%. On the contrary, consumers jump from the Facebook, the cost of its spending is only on average; and from the Twitter jump over the consumer, the cost of spending less than the average cost of 23%.


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Acquisitions happen naturally within any industry, with gaming companies being no exception.
According to recent research done by the Corum Group in 2014, it was found that out of the top 10 deals in the gaming industry, 9 of those involved Asian acquirers.
This trend held strong as last year there were 8 Asian firms involved out of the top 10 acquisitions within the online gaming industry. This may have been because the casual gamer is on the rise as mobile games become more widespread especially within Asia. In 2013, the value of all deals relating to games rose by 29% up to $5.6 billion total.
The video game industry is always in a state of uncertainty as any major publisher/game developer can get bought out and become a subsidiary of another large corporation. This is the case, recently, with From Software, developers of Dark Souls and Armored Core.
Technology companies these days rarely only have one function, rather encompassing a multitude of services. This seems to be the case with Amazon because recently, they acquired Double Helix Games for both IP as well as the talent.
Acquisitions are a fun but controversial topic within the gaming industry and are hard to avoid with so many innovative startups coming into play these days within the technology industry. This holds true with the recent blockbuster acquisition made by Facebook to acquire Oculus VR for 2 billion dollars.


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Why Boston Retail's Going To Have A Strong '17
The recession was hard on retail, but the sector's recovery has been robust in Boston—and will continue to be next year. Colliers International SVP and retail team leader Peter Montesanto tells us "2017 should be a very strong year for the retail sector."
Retail growth will be led by the Seaport, which will add about 200k SF of retail space next year, Peter says. All of the Seaport Boulevard retail being built by WS Development should be completed in 2017 and 98% of that space is committed.
Downtown Crossing has bounced back nicely with the opening of Millennium Tower, he adds. "The project has seen great success with the addition of retail tenants, including Primark, Roche Bros supermarket, and soon-to-be-opening Old Navy and Café Nero. Boston Properties will start construction on its beautiful glass addition at 100 Federal St that will feature a food emporium."
The Back Bay continues to earn its highest retail rents ever, Peter notes. Newbury Street is seeing more vacancy than in recent years, but that inventory will lease quickly. The Prudential Center is going through a major capital improvement plan with the additions of Eataly, Under Armour and Earls Kitchen + Bar with a roof deck that will have spectacular views.
"2017 will see a new Four Seasons Hotel and residence next to the Sheraton Hotel and The Fenway will mature with two new projects coming online with significant retail components."
Suburban retail will do well next year as well. Recently Colliers International facilitated a 68k SF lease with Market 32 by Price Chopper as the grocery anchor at the 293k SF Maynard Crossing in Maynard. The town has historically lacked a retail center, and upon completion in mid-2018, the property will include banks, restaurants, stores and residential units.
“With centers trending towards a more grocer-centric mentality, Market 32 will increasingly drive daily trips to Maynard Crossing," Peter says.
“We’re bullish on the Boston retail market as construction has been restrained and vacancies have dropped. However, all local submarkets have to be able to stand on their own,” Robert Schmitt, a fund manager for The Hampshire Cos, tells us.
“We’re seeing some submarkets that are stronger than others due to residential growth, access to public transportation and infrastructure, proximity to other major retail, and local barriers to entry for new development.”
The Hampshire Cos recently acquired an 84k SF BJ’s Wholesale Club at 200 Crown Colony Drive in Quincy from Clarion Partners. The long-term viability of the tenant, along with possible future uses as a mixed-use residential development, makes it a good investment, Robert says.
“As Boston’s economy continues to grow, easily accessible suburbs like Quincy will be a popular residential destination," says Hampshire Cos portfolio manager John Goldsmith. "The retail opportunities present in these locations will continue to grow."
Hear more about the outlook for retail and other property types in Boston at our Boston 2017 Forecast on Dec. 15 at the Westin Boston Waterfront.