text:
Apple is facing major criticism on multiple accounts especially after the much-anticipated iPhone 13 was unveiled. The device proved to be underwhelming for the majority due to the minimal upgrades, some users even went as far as claiming that it was a downgrade from iPhone 12. Meanwhile, the iOS 15 seems to cause more issues than solving them. As always, Apple users have complained that there seems to be an issue with their iPhone’s battery after the iOS update.
Recently, there seems to be a skirmish going on between a security researcher and the Silicon Valley-based, company as the former claims that the tech giant did not him the credit he deserved after pointing out various zero-day vulnerabilities in iOS 15.
In 2019, Apple revamped its vulnerability bounty program, making it available to everyone and increasing rewards, among other things. However, the scheme has received a lot of backlash from the information security community. Another security researcher has now published their story, saying that Apple failed to acknowledge them for one zero-day bug they disclosed that was corrected, and that iOS 15 contains three more zero-day flaws.
After the researcher posted his concerns, Apple came across the comment and responded. “We saw your blog post regarding this issue and your other reports. We apologize for the delay in responding to you,” an Apple employee wrote. “We want to let you know that we are still investigating these issues and how we can address them to protect customers. Thank you again for taking the time to report these issues to us, we appreciate your assistance. Please let us know if you have any questions.”
The researcher provided proof of concept source code for three more zero-day vulnerabilities he discovered, including the “Gamed 0-day,” “Nehelper Enumerate Installed Apps 0-day,” and “Nehelper Wifi Info 0-day.”
The vulnerabilities caused the following issues:
- Without the user’s permission, every app downloaded from the App Store can access the user’s data which includes emails, files, messages, and much more.
- Any user-installed program can leverage the vulnerability to determine whether or not an app is installed on the device based on its bundle ID.
- Wi-Fi information could be accessed by third parties quite easily.
The aforementioned vulnerabilities are quite concerning since third parties could access user’s data without their consent. This is extremely poor execution on Apple’s behalf since data sharing of any kind without the user’s approval is a gross violation of their privacy. The vulnerabilities come as a major shock since the tech giant has been pioneering the data rights movement, especially after its App Tracking Transparency feature. We urge Apple to take strict actions to protect user data in order to protect their privacy. We hope the company will be more vigilant in the future and carry out its data protection policies more efficiently.
Meanwhile, the iPhone 13 is getting a lackluster response from the public. Apple users are reluctant to discard their devices for the latest upgrade since they do not see it as worth the hassle. We shall have to wait for some quantitative data to determine if the iPhone 13 is indeed a miss or a hit.


text:
Indian automaker Mahindra received bad news from the EPA last week, as it got a lower-than-expected fuel efficiency rating on the TR40, a diesel-powered compact truck it hopes to introduce to the U.S. market next year. Mahindra has been working with its U.S. distributor in Marietta, Ga., to develop a fuel-efficient compact pickup truck, reports Autoblog. The website said that the automaker had been counting on good fuel economy numbers to help the TR40 stand out in the waning compact pickup truck market. While the company’s goal had been 30 mpg on the highway, the truck only achieved 19/21 city/highway, only just outstripping American mainstays like the Dodge Dakota, whose V8 gets 14/18 city/highway, or the Ford Ranger, whose four-wheel drive model gets the same. Mahindra’s American distributor Global Vehicles USA had told PickupTrucks.com, “Good fuel economy will be an important part of the truck’s appeal, and we’re eager to see the fuel economy for all of the models, especially the two-door, two-wheel-drive model, which Mahindra told us to expect would achieve close to 30 mpg.” However, the TR40’s lackluster fuel economy ratings combined with its small, 120-horsepower four-cylinder diesel engine may end up making it a tough sell in the compact pickup truck category.
According to Left Lane News, Mahindra and Global Vehicles have not set a North American release date due to legal battles and infighting. However, if the TR40 finally makes it to the States, it would be the only compact pickup truck with a diesel engine. Diesel engines are known for greater durability and reliability than gas-powered engines, although sometimes diesel fuel costs more at the pump than regular gasoline. If you’re shopping for a compact pickup truck, now is a good time to be in the market. Ford, Chevrolet, Dodge, Toyota, and Nissan all offer compact and mid size pickups with good fuel economy and towing capabilities, at fairly low prices within the overall pickup truck category. Additionally, a few automakers may discontinue their compact pickup truck line, the way that Ford has been considering dropping the Ford Ranger, which has not been redesigned in more than a decade. That makes it a good time to be in the market for a small pickup, as manufacturers offer better incentives to move these small trucks off dealer lots to make space for their higher-priority offerings.

domain: news


text:
January 27, 2015
Demand for gluten-free foods has dramatically increased in recent years, with no signs of slowing down in 2015.
According to a new report from Packaged Facts, Gluten-Free Foods in the U.S., 5th Edition, gluten-free market sales in the retail sector reached $973 million in 2014, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 34 percent over the five-year period ending in 2014.
Looking ahead, the gluten-free market’s momentum isn’t expected to wane anytime soon. The report projects sales will more than double to exceed $2 billion in 2019.
“Retailers have embraced the gluten-free trend by stocking more gluten-free items, featuring them in store, and launching their own private label brands. In addition, retail chains have been courting the gluten-free consumer with a variety of festivals and events," said Packaged Facts research director David Sprinkle.
Packaged Facts’ July/August 2014 survey data reveals that more than one-third of consumers claim gluten-free/wheat-free is an important factor when they are shopping for food. In addition, one-quarter of survey respondents had purchased or used food products labeled gluten-free in the three months prior to the survey.
You May Also Like
CRN petition to FTC: RCTs aren’t required to substantiate ‘health-benefit’ claimsSep 22, 2023
Collagen peptide ingredient solutions for seniors’ changing needs – infographicSep 19, 2023
Radicle Insights—Covid Eris and dietary supplements: separating fact from fictionSep 21, 2023
More bioavailable hyaluronic acid complex for today’s beauty-from-within consumer – snapshotSep 18, 2023


text:
Lately, zombies seem to be everywhere, from television to right here in Kansas City.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – They're the subject of the hit AMC show Walking Dead, which drew in more viewers than the network's Emmy favorite Mad Men. You may have seen them out on the streets during Zombie Walks, where people dress like zombies and parade around town. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention even released a zombie graphic novel- a clever disguise for an emergency preparedness guide.
What you may not know though, is Kansas City has its very own zombie claim to fame. It's a full-scale production Web series called Dead Wait.
The series centers around a paranoid shut-in named Adam. He's prepared for an apocalypse, but not the right kind. So, when zombies take over Kansas City, he's unsure what to do next in order to survive.
Justin Parlette, director of the series, says he's more into the idea of zombies than the actual undead.
"There's this very capitalistic idea that we can infinitely grow our economy and our species on a finite planet. That just doesn't work," Parlette says. "Eventually we start to eat ourselves. That's kind of where I think our fascination with zombies comes into play."
Funding for Dead Wait is in large part thanks to fans of the series. They raised over $2,000 through Kickstarter, a website that lets you fund projects directly from the people who support you.
"We just say, 'Maybe instead of going to Starbucks today, you give us that three bucks and then we can make more of the show you like,'" Parlette said.
Even though Dead Wait fans come from around the world, the series is very local. When Parlette went to Comic-Con San Diego last year, he said Dead Wait was the only Web series not based out of New York or Los Angeles.
"I'm not a native of this city, but it's my home and I want to make things here with people here," Parlette says.
Watch the latest episode of Dead Wait below, as well as all the others here.


text:
Kiwibank customers continue to experience problems with the bank’s online services.
Customers this morning took to Facebook to express frustration at the situation, which lasted almost a week.
“All I wanted to do is go get some chicken & chips from Pak’nSave and I bloody can’t because I can’t transfer my money to get it,” one customer complained on Facebook.
The customer went on to urge the bank to sort out the issue because it was making it difficult to plan ahead of transferring money.
A Facebook message from Kiwibank this morning confirmed that there were still problems with the service.
“We are experiencing intermittent issues with access to internet banking, our app, and phone banking which we are working urgently to fix,” a Kiwibank spokesperson said today.
“There are no current issues with payments, ATMs or cards. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this is causing our customers and will continue to post updates via our social channels.”
A cyber attack on 8 September knocked a number of major organisation’s websites.
Kiwibank, ANZ, NZ Post and MetService. NZ Police all acknowledged that their sites were slow at times.
All the sites eventually came back online, but they continued to drop out in the days that followed.
CERT NZ posted a statement attributing the outages to a DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack.
Experts have told the Herald that the attacks could be a result of New Zealand’s lockdown conditions that have been well reported around the world.
“It would seem that because our situation in level 4 is as well known throughout the world, and that we are relying more on our digital services, particularly with banking, it makes sense for cyber-criminals to target those services – presumably believe that they could demand a higher ransom or that a ransom might be more forthcoming,” AUT senior lecturer in software engineering Ken Johnson told the Herald.
Other experts have also suggested that historical under-investment in cyber security has made New Zealand an easier target for hackers.
Source: Read Full Article


text:
Driving relevance means driving growth. Join global brands and industry thought leaders at Brandweek, Sept. 11–14 in Miami, for actionable takeaways to better your marketing. 50% off passes ends April 10.
Over the last 22 months of unprecedented change across media, marketing and tech, we’ve learned to work in new ways and to tackle the inherent challenges of doing so as they arise—always with an eye toward the future, as uncertain as it may still be. Forecasting the year ahead is no small task, but it’s one Adweek’s editors are more than up to.
From consolidation in the TV industry to the value of agencies in 2022 and the unintended consequences of media’s pivot to privacy, our editors grapple with tough questions about what that future will look like at the outset of yet another year that promises to be unlike any other.
Convergent TV outlook: With Warner Bros.


text:
TO celebrate the start of summer, a gardening workshop is being launched.
Fareham in Bloom, supported by Fareham Borough Council, marks the launch of the summer season with a free gardening workshop and flowering fuchsia plant.
A series will take place in the greenhouse at St Margaret’s Nurseries in St Margaret’s Lane, in Titchfield, today.
They aims to help gardeners create the perfect hanging basket or container to put on show this summer.
Several sessions will take place between 10am and 1pm.
The first 60 people will receive the fuchsia plant and a 20 per cent discount voucher for the nursery.
Paul Doran, director of environmental services at the council, said: ‘These free sessions are a “must do” for anyone with an interest in gardening.
‘It is also a perfect opportunity for beginners to pick up tips and creative ideas from gardening experts.
‘I look forward to seeing an array of blooming baskets around the borough this year.’


text:
Organic Personal Care Market Trending to Billions
The Organic farm-to-table trend in food is moving into the personal-care product market.
Growth in sales of Organic skin, natural hair care products, and chemical-free cosmetics is fueling a global market projected to reach nearly $16-B by Y 2020, according to a new report by Grand View Research, a marketing outfit that tracks such trends. That’s nearly 2X the sales of such products in Y 2013.
“Rising consumer awareness regarding personal health safety is expected to support the market growth over the forecast period,” the report’s authors state.
“Decreasing use of harmful chemicals including phthalates, aluminum salts, and parabens coupled with committed efforts from numerous multinational corporations of shifting towards sustainable products has contributed to increasing consumption of personal organic products.”
Another factor: Recent approval from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Food and Drug Administration for a range of products that have entered the market in the past several years.
According to the new report:
- Organic skin care products with natural anti-aging compounds found in herbs, vegetables, and fruits dominated the global demand.
- Natural hair care products free of chemical substances such as ammonia, sulfur, and paraben are expected to grow by nearly 10% annually from Y’s 2014 to 2020.
- Organic oral products designed to protect against gum disease, periodontal disease, and bleeding gums are increasing market share. Companies such as Colgate-Palmolive and Hindustan Unilever have incorporated herbal substances such as neem and clove in their product offerings.
“Retailers all over the country are expanding their personal care items to include more Organic and natural products to meet the growing demands of consumers,” the report’s authors noted.
“Consumer perceptions are changing to embrace environmentally sustainable and natural products that can deliver results without the use of chemicals or toxins. Along with the market expansion, more approvals for human health and safety regulatory bodies like the USDA and the FDA will also see a correlating rise in certified personal care products.”
Eat healthy, Be healthy, Live lively
Latest posts by HEFFX (see all)
- Tesla Is Hiring Someone To Defend Elon Musk And Fend Off Attacks By Twitter Trolls - January 20, 2021
- PayPal Will Continue To Profit From A Huge Increase In Volume And Accounts - January 20, 2021
- Google’s Ethical AI Division Investigating Sharing of Sensitive Documents - January 20, 2021


text:
When your chicken sandwich has been touted as the ‘best chicken’ in the industry it time to share it. In a continued effort to drive new electricity into the Popeyes brand Popeyes is offering a free sandwich.
Success does leave clues and Popeyes has learned that consumers love their new chicken sandwich. So, now leveraging its partnerships with Postmates, when consumers order at minimum of $15 then you will receive a fresh chicken sandwich. Here is how they explained the program:
“Leap year only happens once every four years, and this leap year, Postmates is delivering something extra for the extra day.
L(ove)E(ating)A(t)P(opeyes)? Postmates is celebrating Leap Day by delivering something extra from Popeyes. Anyone who purchases a chicken sandwich from Popeyes through Postmates between February 24–28 will receive a free chicken sandwich code via email on February 29.
Customers must hit a minimum order of $15 to receive the promotion.” So, tired of pizza try chicken for lunch instead.
Johnson stated “that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply chain and includes such things as fresh foods, Online ordering, delivery, plant based foods, sampling, toy’s, beer, developing brands, unique urban clothing, grocerant positioning, fresh food messaging, autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, plates, glasses, cash-less payments, digital hand-held marketing.
All food and beverage retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food and beverages that are portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different. Does your retail path forward look more like yesterday than tomorrow?
Are you looking for a new partnership to drive sales? Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing tactics look more like yesterday that tomorrow? Visit www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information or contact: firstname.lastname@example.org Remember success does leave clues and we just may have the clue you need to propel your continued success.


text:
The pandemic may be a long way from being over, but they are parading down the catwalks in New York this week. Uber sunny in mood and attitude, designers appear to be longing for a return to a new normalcy.
The owner of Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein is focusing on its flagship labels and has sold its heritage brands for $220 million, in a deal that has made Authentic Brands (ABG) a specialist in formal American menswear.
It’s hard to think of a designer more in synch with a great fashion house than Wes Gordon, the creative director of Carolina Herrera. We Zoomed Wes to discuss creating for an iconic house and designing in the pandemic.
In a never-ending season in fashion in 2020 due to the pandemic, with designers unable to stage runway shows, few creators have designed a more succinct collection and video than Brandon Maxwell, unveiled Sunday night.
U.S.-based Indian designer Bibhu Mohapatra has created a fashion film to launch his spring/summer 2021 collection. For the film, Mohapatra was inspired by late Indian- Hungarian artist, Amrita Sher Gil.
Just when one thought that you’d expire from the lack of any new fashion in London Fashion Week’s debut digital season, along came Tiscar Espadas, Xander Zhou and Ka Wa Key with some genuinely new clothes.


text:
Ford Had the Hottest Vehicles of the 2015 SEMA Show
Ford had some of the most popular customized cars and trucks on display at this year’s SEMA Show in Las Vegas. The Ford Focus, Mustang and F-150 won Hottest Sport-Compact, Hottest Car and Hottest Truck of the show, which is the first time any manufacturer has won three of the event’s awards.
Over 28 Ford vehicles were featured on the Ford stand alone, with nearly 50 Ford cars, trucks and SUVs on display when combined with the popular Ford Out Front demo track. Ford featured custom builds of six Ford Focus and Fiesta STs, seven Ford SUVs like the Explorer and Edge, eight Mustangs and seven Ford F-150s.
The Mustang and F-Series have proven popular among specialty equipment manufacturers for many years, with each vehicle winning multiple awards at past shows. This is the first year the Focus has won Hottest Sport-Compact at SEMA, thanks to the car’s increasing popularity among consumers and in the aftermarket community.
“Winning SEMA’s hottest vehicle awards for Mustang, Focus and F-Series is a great affirmation of the popularity of Ford vehicles with this trendsetting part of the market,” said Dave Pericak, director of Ford Performance. “We’re proud the aftermarket has embraced these three vehicles with as much enthusiasm as our customers invest to personalize their Mustang, Focus and F-Series.”
There were unique Ford vehicles from many famous custom car builders, including Chip Foose, Petty Garage, Roush Performance and Galpin Auto Sports. There were also several classic Mustangs on display, including a beautiful restoration from Kar Kraft and rally driver Ken Block’s custom 1965 Mustang dubbed the “Hoonicorn.”
Ford also unveiled the new 2016 Cobra Jet Mustang drag racer as part of the company’s turnkey race car program at this year’s show. The NHRA Stock and Super Stock legal drag racer uses 75 percent production Mustang GT components, but uses a Whipple supercharger and solid rear axle for fast eight-second quarter-mile times.
Find out more about the latest Ford vehicles like the 2016 Mustang and F-150 by visiting us at Five Star Ford of Plano and by viewing our extensive online inventory of Ford cars, trucks and SUVs in Plano, Texas.


text:
Almost 90% of Tesco staff at the Carrick-on-Shannon store are on strike and picketing today, Saturday, December 22.
Staff started the picket at 6am today and are taking it in shifts to have their voices heard until 12 midnight tonight.
Staff members told the Leitrim Observer that "this is the last thing we want to be doing today, this was our last and only resort." Members of the public have brought them coffee, sweets and treats to show their support.
The Mandate Union members cannot picket directly infront of the store so they are dispersed, with some handing leaflets out at the Dublin roundabout, and groups at the corner of woodies and others at the corner of Q2 beside the laundry machines close to Tesco.
Staff are requesting that no one crosses the picket and while in general most people are respecting the strike, there are a few dashing into Tesco to get their last bits for Christmas.
David Gibney, Mandate Communications told the paper that some part time staff were "bullied" into working with threats of hours being cut in 2019. He said they understood 47 Tesco staff from Head Quarters are working in the store today.
"This is the first ever strike at Tesco, Carrick-on-Shannon" he commented and he added, "this can be resolved to day if Tesco would just sit down and talk with us."
Mr Gibney also noted that if Tesco, the biggest private sector employer in Ireland can get away with not dealing with Trade Unions, other will follow. "This cannot be allowed to happen, the staff here are fighting for the rights of every Irish employee."
Tesco stated to the Leitrim Observer they were “extremely disappointed” that the Mandate strike proceeded at Carrick-on-Shannon today. “This series of one-day strikes is entirely out of proportion as these are local disputes involving local issues that don’t warrant such disruption in Christmas week.” The store thanked their colleagues and customers for their co-operation.
"We regret this action by Mandate and the disruption inflicted on our colleagues, our customers and to other businesses in the two towns by these unjustified strikes. It is particularly disappointing action by Mandate for these close-to-the-Border towns in the run up to Christmas.”
"We reject Mandate’s claims that the union is left with no option but to have strikes in Sligo and Carrick-on-Shannon or that it is Tesco’s failure to follow and implement agreed collective procedures. It is in fact the complete opposite, we remain committed to the State’s industrial relations machinery as we were before when we accepted a Labour Court recommendation that continues to remain rejected by Mandate. Unlike the union, we continue to respect the Industrial Relations processes and remain committed to them.
"Tesco remains committed to resolving this dispute. We request that Mandate, even at this late stage, desist from the industrial action and refer these issues back to the WRC where we are willing to engage with the union. Mandate should return to the agreed norms in industrial relations as is provided for in our current agreement and call off this unnecessary and damaging action.
"In Carrick-on-Shannon the local issues have not yet even been referred back to the WRC by Mandate indicating these strikes are pre-emptive.
"It is unfathomable that Mandate is taking this approach when Tesco fully respects our colleagues’ right to choose to be represented by a trade union, unlike many other retail stores and businesses this Christmas who do not recognise or engage with Mandate."
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.


text:
The European Commission (EC) has proposed a new set of EU-wide rules on packaging that it hopes will tackle “this constantly growing source of waste and consumer frustration”.
The new rules will come at a serious cost to the huge European packaging industry and its supply chain.
But the EC cla...
Want to read this article?
Register for ultimate access to this article and ALL our premium content
ULTIMATE ACCESS PROVIDES YOU WITH
- Unrestricted access to Commercial Risk, Commercial Risk Europe and Global Risk Manager news, exclusive expert analysis and opinion
- Breaking news, daily and/or weekly Commercial Risk Europe newsletters and regular digital publications
- Breaking news, weekly and monthly Global Risk Manager newsletters and quarterly digital Journal
- European and global surveys, rankings and special reports
- National European local language newsletters
- Preferential access to webinars and virtual and physical conferences
If you are already a registered user or subscriber you can LOGIN below for ultimate access:


text:
The OPPO Reno series has worked quite well for OPPO and has apparently even sold well. After the launch of the OPPO Reno 2 series in August back year, we’re now nearing to the launch of the OPPO Reno 3 Pro in India. Tasleem Arif, Vice President at OPPO India, confirmed in a tweet that the Reno 3 Pro is “launching soon” in India with “4G specifications. In the same tweet, he also confirmed that OPPO will also be launching 5G products in India in 2020.
This isn’t the first time we’re hearing about the OPPO Reno 3 Pro. Last month reports emerged that the Indian variant of the OPPO Reno 3 Pro will differ from the Chinese variants that were launched in December in China. Since the Chinese variant of the phone makes use of a 5G-integrated Snapdragon 765 chipset, the Indian variant was said to come with different specifications.
Excited to share the most awaited news of 2020 - #OPPOReno3Pro with Expert Camera credentials is launching soon with 4G specifications in India. Moreover, there are a pipeline of products by OPPO which will come with 5G version in India this year!— Tasleem Arif (@tasleemarifk) February 10, 2020
A leaked poster of the OPPO Reno 3 Pro suggests that the phone will come with a 44MP dual punch-hole camera. This is a step above the Chinese variant that comes with a single 32MP punch-hole camera. YouTuber Mrwhosetheboss also tweeted the image of a phone with a 44MP dual punch-hole camera that, on the basis of the visible icons, seemed to be running ColorOS 7.
Holding an unreleased smartphone right now, with world's FIRST 44MP Dual Punch-hole front camera...— Arun Maini (@Mrwhosetheboss) January 20, 2020
Can anyone guess from which company? pic.twitter.com/A0VhiXxJog
The phone is expected to have a primary quad-camera setup that will be headlined by a 48MP sensor. Other sensors are rumoured to be an 8MP ultrawide sensor, a 13MP telephoto sensor and a 2MP monochrome sensor.
Since India doesn’t have any 5G networks yet, the phone is expected to switch the Snapdragon 765 for the Snapdragon 730G that we recently saw on the Realme X2 and the POCO X2. The leaked poster of the Reno 3 Pro suggests that the phone might even lose its curves and have a flat OLED display instead.
Other specifications are said to be identical to the Chinese variant of the phone. So, expect a 90Hz display, up to 12GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, a 4,025mAh battery with VOOC 4.0 30W fast charging and Android-10 based ColorOS 7.
Cover Image: OPPO Reno 2


text:
Kangana Ranaut’s Thalaivii to Release on OTT Two Weeks After Theatres: Report
The digital streaming rights of Kangana Ranaut's Thalaivii are with Netflix (Hindi) and Amazon Prime.
Kangana Ranaut-starrer Thalaivii will release theatrically on 10 September. The film’s producer Vishnu Vardhan has reportedly decided to release Thalaivii digitally two weeks after the theatrical release, Film Information reported.
The film, which follows the life of actor-turned-politician J Jayalalithaa, also stars Arvind Swamy and will release in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi. While Zee has the distributing rights for the film, the digital streaming rights lie with Netflix for the Hindi version and Amazon Prime Video for the Tamil and Telugu versions.
Film Information reported that the reason behind Vardhan’s decision is the box-office collectons of recently released films. The producer decided to keep the window between theatrical and OTT release at 2 weeks since films haven’t earned a lot at the box office post-pandemic. BellBottom producer Vashu Bhagnani reportedly convinced exhibitors to let him release the film on OTT four weeks after it released in theatres even though the pre-pandemic window for films used to be 8 weeks.
BellBottom was the first film to release in theatres after the second wave of the COVID pandemic, even as theatres in Maharashtra continued to be shut. This affected their box office earnings since Maharashtra contributes almost 30% to box office earnings. Even cinemas in other states opened at a partial capacity.
While some filmmakers have decided to opt for direct-to-OTT releases, Chehre producer Anand Pandit and Thalaivii producer Vishnu Vardhan are among those who decided to give their films theatrical releases. There are also many Bollywood films that’ve indefinitely postponed their release owing to the pandemic.
Zee had announced Thalaivii’s release on social media and wrote, “With a personality queen size, Jayalalithaa's story has always belonged to the BIG SCREENS! Embark on her inspiring journey from being a cine star to becoming one of the most influential CMs IN THEATRES near you on 10th September.” The film’s release was earlier delayed due to the pandemic.
Thalaivii stars Kangana as former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa and Arvind Swami as the MG Ramachandran, and is written by KV Vijayendra Prasad and directed by AL Vijay. The film’s trailer was released on Kangana’s birthday on 23 March. Thalaivii also stars Prakash Raj, Madhoo, Bhagyashree, Poorna, and Jisshu Sengupta.
Subscribe To Our Daily Newsletter And Get News Delivered Straight To Your Inbox.


text:
eat & drink
The evolution of the Twin Cities' dining landscape is nothing short of revolutionary. But it didn't happen overnight.
Get ready for Cheesy Sriracha Funnel Cake Bites, Mini Donut Lattes and Peaches n' Cream Nachos. The Minnesota State Fair has announced its new foods for the 2019 fair, and the list includes the usual attention-seekers and potential gut bombs.
Chef Vincent Francoual and sommelier Nico Giraud are joining the Minneapolis country club.
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Taste — the section debuted in the Minneapolis Star on Oct. 1, 1969 — here are 10 classic…
From newcomer Lat14 to a favorite like Bellecour, you can find excellent food outside of Minneapolis.
Environmental and health concerns — and a love of adventure and social media hits — are helping drive the trend.
Bartenders are putting their own spin on the popular Aperol Spritz.
Confusion over the historic sign might have something to do with it.
Let's take an opinionated and hunger-inducing look back at the first six months of Burger Friday.
Chocolate-Chip Cricket CookiesMakes 36 cookies.Claire Simons, co-owner of local cricket farm 3 Cricketeers, uses this recipe, from the blog Bug Vivant, to make cricket-fortified…
Twin Cities ice cream makers have a knack for creating on-a-stick frozen goodness — witness Joe’s Brrr Bars, the better-than-Dove Bars at Sebastian Joe’s, or…
Say goodbye to smoked alligator and crawfish boils, for now.
Whether for patio, picnic or poolside, these wines are just right for al fresco sipping.
From pizza to pulled pork, the St. Paul dining scene continues to grow.
It will replace the former Meyvn.
Owners of the popular food truck were inspired by East Coast roadside stands.


text:
Irish whiskey Tullamore D.E.W. is giving away DNA testing kits as part of its global Beauty of Blend marketing campaign.
The idea behind ‘Beauty of Blend’ is the fact that no-one is 100% from one place, and to give drinkers the chance to find out what blend they are, Tullamore D.E.W. has partnered with MyHeritage DNA, one of the biggest companies offering family history and DNA testing, to give DNA kits to those interested in discovering their own unique blend of ethnicities and countries.
The William Grant-owned brand, the world’s second biggest selling Irish whiskey, says the “limited edition branded kits” will be given away through a “gifting program” and the Tullamore D.E.W. social channels over the coming months.
The DNA partnership is part of a massive global marketing platform which premiered in New York last month. D.E.W.’s “Beauty of Blend” was launched at New York’s Lower East Side Tenement Museum. It will include television and digital advertising, an ongoing social media campaign, micro-site, events and influencer marketing.
William Grant says the driving creative concept behind ‘Beauty of Blend’ is the “unique triple blend of pot still, malt and grain whiskeys that make up Tullamore D.E.W. Original. Triple distilled and triple blended for sweetness and strength, Tullamore D.E.W. was the first and remains one of the few Irish whiskeys to pioneer this blend of three, which results in a smoother Irish whiskey with an added complexity.”
The “Beauty of Blend” campaign launches with a new film entitled “Danny Boy,” created by New York agency Opperman Weiss and directed by Laurence Dunmore, who collaborated on the whiskey’s previous TV and online ad, “The Parting Glass.” “Danny Boy” is intended to celebrate cultural diversity in a way that is “aspirational, authentically Irish and distinctly sociable.”
Tullamore D.E.W. Global Brand Director Caspar MacRae says: “Tullamore D.E.W. is built on blend. It runs through every bottle of our original triple blend Irish whiskey. There are numerous examples in the worlds of food, music and beyond where something beautiful has been created because of the blending of different cultures or ideas, and we think that is worth celebrating. ‘Beauty of Blend’ celebrates our belief in the spirit of blend – from the original triple blend in our Irish whiskey to the blending of cultures, rooted in our historic association with Irish emigrants around the world.”
John Quinn, Global Ambassador for Tullamore D.E.W., adds: “As the world’s second largest Irish whiskey brand, Tullamore D.E.W. is proud of its heritage and blend of flavors, and wants to encourage our fans to explore their own unique blend and heritage. Put simply, the campaign celebrates the unique spirit of the blend – in our whiskey and in our world.”
The 45-second television ad will air in the US for 12 weeks over the next few months in key markets. Late night television will be the focus including The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Late Late Show with James Corden, Late Night with Seth Myers and Saturday Night Live.
Additionally, through the digital #IAMBLEND campaign, Tullamore D.E.W. will encourage people from around the world to share their personal blend stories through social media and via www.iamblend.com.
Tullamore D.E.W. is the second largest Irish whiskey in the world in the fastest growing category. Created in 1829, the brand’s strong heritage started in Tullamore, a town in the heart of Ireland, and was fostered by the vision of an early founder Daniel E. Williams, whose initials live on the bottle to this day. In 2014, Tullamore D.E.W. was brought back to its roots with the opening of a new distillery in the town of Tullamore, which returned whiskey production to the town 60 years after the original distillery closed its doors.
William Grant & Sons is an independent family-owned distiller headquartered in the UK and founded by William Grant in 1887. Its portfolio of spirits includes Glenfiddich, The Balvenie, Grant’s, Hendrick’s Gin, Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum, Tullamore D.E.W. Irish Whiskey, Monkey Shoulder Blended Malt Scotch Whisky and Drambuie Scotch Liqueur.


text:
Infosys reported a soft 3.1% on-year growth in net profit in the fiscal first quarter, to touch Rs 5,362 crore, missing Dalal Street expectations. Although the company reported growth in profits when compared to the previous year, sequentially, profits were lower. The consolidated revenue in constant currency terms of the Information Technology behemoth soared 23.6% from the same period last year to Rs 34,470 crore. Infosys was expected to post an 8-10% growth in net profit in the April-June quarter of the current financial year. The Infosys stock had closed down 1.73% at 1,506 per share on Friday.
The operating margin of the company stood at 20.1%, a decline of 3.6% on year and a decline of 1.4% on-quarter basis. Infosys added 106 clients during the quarter in review while total employees increased to 3.35 lakh from 3.14 lakh last quarter. “We are investing in rapid talent expansion while ensuring rewarding careers for our employees, to better serve evolving market opportunities,” said Salil Parekh, CEO and MD of Infosys. “This has resulted in a strong performance in Q1 and increase in FY23 revenue guidance to 14%-16%”, he added. Margin guidance has been retained at 21%-23%.
Infosys segment of Infosys’ business saw 32.8% growth to $2,710 million while core segment revenue was up $1,734 crore. Digital revenue as a percentage of total revenue stood at 61%. Financial services continued to remain the firm’s largest business segment, contributing 30.6% followed by retail and communication at 14.5% and 13%, respectively.
The IT major was expected to post strong numbers in the April-June quarter with analysts at Motilal Oswal projecting a net profit of Rs 5,710 crore, up 9.8% on-year. ICICI Direct had expected net profit growth of 8.5% to Rs 5,638 crore.
“We are fueling the strong growth momentum with strategic investments in talent through hiring and competitive compensation revisions. While this will impact margins in the immediate term, it is expected to reduce attrition levels and position us well for future growth. We continue to optimize various cost levers to drive efficiency in operations”, said Nilanjan Roy, Chief Financial Officer, Infosys. Voluntary attrition in the April-June quarter stood at 28.4% up from 27.7% last quarter and 13.9% a year ago.
“Infosys reported a subdued 1QFY23 performance. Margins were below our expectations. However, management raised its FY23 revenue growth guidance from 13-15% to now 14-16% and maintain its EBIT margin guidance at 21-23%, indicating better performance during balance of 9M of FY23,” said Mitul Shah – Head of Research at Reliance Securities. “Considering the industry-leading double-digit revenue growth, rising share of digital business (61% of revenue), likely improvement in EBIT margin levels from current levels and valuation comfort post stock price correction, we have a BUY recommendation at present,” Mitul Shaha added.


text:
STOCKHOLM—A group of former Nokia Corp. employees has raised €200 million ($258 million) from a variety of telecommunications-industry players to introduce a new mobile operating platform based on discarded Nokia technology, and the group will unveil a new phone next month.
Finnish start-up Jolla Ltd. made waves earlier this year when it announced its intention to use Nokia's MeeGo operating system as the basis for a new line of mobile devices. Nokia abandoned the system last year in favor of using Microsoft Corp.'s Windows system, but allowed Jolla and other companies access to the technology.
Jolla's code name for its new MeeGo-based system is "Sailfish." Further details about the new phone aren't being disclosed at this time.
The foray into the ultracompetitive mobile-device and operating-system business comes as an array of new smartphones are hitting a market dominated by Apple Inc.'s iPhone and devices running Google Inc.'s Android software. Those platforms together accounted for more than 80% of the smartphone market in the second quarter, according to research firm Gartner Inc.
Jolla Chief Executive Jussi Hurmola said Tuesday that recent developments in the smartphone industry—including Apple's world-wide legal campaign to beat back the growth of Android—have prompted many worried smartphone manufacturers to look for alternatives.
"There has been a lot of interest in what we're doing and it has been a busy few months," Mr. Hurmola said.
The investor consortium is made up of an array of mobile-industry players—including at least one telecom operator and a chip set maker, as well as device and component manufacturers. Mr. Hurmola, a former Nokia veteran, also said his company is putting €10 million of its own money into the plan.
Still, he has a lot of work to do. The company is looking to establish research-and-development operations in Hong Kong and mainland China, and it needs to raise a further €50 million in equity this spring. An initial public offering of stock is among the financing alternatives Mr. Hurmola is looking at.
"We're also looking into mobile advertising models as a potential source of revenue," he said. Mr. Hurmola plans to show off the first working MeeGo phone by Jolla in November, and Jolla will distribute its version of MeeGo free of charge to device makers.
However, Mr. Hurmola plans to earn fees from licensing Jolla-developed software features as well as intellectual-property rights related to the user interface.
The company said the Sailfish system will be ready for licensing by other device manufacturers, design houses and service companies in spring 2013.
MeeGo, which was introduced in early 2010, is an abandoned attempt by Nokia and U.S. chip maker Intel Corp. at establishing an open-source operating system for smartphones, much like the Android platform.
The software was only used once commercially, in a Nokia smartphone called the N9. MeeGo was developed as an alternative to Nokia's homegrown Symbian platform, but after deciding to adopt the Windows Phone platform for its future smartphones, Nokia halted MeeGo development.
Since starting the company about a year ago, Mr. Hurmola said Jolla has been working hard to make its version of the MeeGo operating system capable of working on different types of devices, including smartphones, touch-screen tablet computers and television sets. Another benefit with the MeeGo-based software is that it won't require the same high-end, costly hardware needed to run the latest versions of Android or Windows Phone.
"This means our platform will be able to function well on lower-end devices as well," Mr. Hurmola said.
Mr. Hurmola also said Jolla's MeeGo-based Sailfish platform is an unlikely candidate for patent-infringement or other intellectual-property disputes.
"Much of the recent litigation between Apple and Android makers have touched upon user-interface infringement. Our software is well-patented and we haven't copied anybody. That's a big opportunity for device makers," he said.
Write to Sven Grundberg at email@example.com
Corrections & Amplifications
Jolla's MeeGo-based platform is called Sailfish. An earlier version of this article contained one reference to the platform that misstated its name as Starfish.


text:
Cosmote TV unifies the capacities of the satellite and broadband (IPTV) platform, as well as offering interactive household and on-the-go TV services.
Its advanced services consist of Cosmote TV Go, which includes 33 HD channels, among them Cosmote Sport channels; Cosmote Replay TV, of up to 48 hours; Cosmote Cinema on Demand; Cosmote TV Plus; and PVR.
Commenting on the development, Dimitris Michalakis, Cosmote TV director, said: “We welcome our subscribers to the holistic entertainment world of Cosmote TV. In the new, advanced, hybrid environment of our service, subscribers are the protagonists. They continue enjoying the richest program in content and quality and now they have the opportunity to control when, how and where they will watch their preferred content. Only by connecting their decoder to the Internet all our subscribers will now be able to enjoy the new, interactive services of Cosmote TV”.


text:
Queen Elizabeth always looks polished and poised, with not a hair out of place during her official royal engagements in public.
And now the queen official stylist Angela Kelly has let royal fans in on some of the queen’s beauty secrets in her new book, The Other Side of the Coin: the Queen, the Dresser, and the Wardrobe.
Angela worked initially as the queen’s senior stylist and then later as her personal advisor and curator, and received the queen’s official blessing to write the book.
Angela has worked with the queen for the past 25 years and revealed that the 93-year-old monarch always does her own makeup, even for formal royal events.
The queen’s signature look is a light dusting of powder, blush, and pink lipstick, which she always applies herself.
But according to Angela, there is one special occasion each year where the queen calls on the help of the professionals and gets her makeup done by a makeup artist — the recording of her annual Christmas message at Buckingham Palace.
She arranges for makeup artist Marilyn Widdess to be present on the day of filming to ensure her makeup is perfect when she records the message.
“You might be surprised to know that this is the only occasion throughout the year when Her Majesty does not do her own makeup,” Angela wrote in her book.
It makes total sense that the queen would want to look her best during filming, because her official Christmas message reaches seven million people in just the UK alone, along with millions of others.
We don’t know too much about which makeup products the queen loves to use herself, but iconic brands Clarins and Elizabeth Arden have official royal warrants, meaning these brands are allowed to promote the fact that the royals their products in their advertising.
In 2016, a representative for Elizabeth Arden said the brand frequently communicated with Angela to service the monarch.
“We work closely with Angela Kelly and her team to ensure we provide excellent service for whatever Her Majesty requires, or would like to try,” the rep told the UK’s Telegraph.
“We can reveal however that we are immensely proud.”
Clarins is also a favorite of the queen.
The queen famously commissioned the brand to create a lip color to match her ceremonial robes for her Coronation in 1953 and the brand was granted an official royal warrant in 2007.
This article originally appeared on our sister site, Now to Love.


text:
To-day let us focus on the Dow Industrial Average because unlike the “hot” 1980’s - today’s Dow should have a name change – to the Dow Consumer Average because unlike the 1980’s when there were 18 industrial components – now there are only 6 industrial components. The number of consumer related components has jumped from 6 in 1982 to 12 in 2014
Last September 2013, Dow Jones Indices announced that Goldman Sachs, Visa and Nike will be added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, to replace Hewlett-Packard, Bank of America and Alcoa. The recent addition of Apple Inc – a consumer related entity is just another example of the transition to a Dow Jones buy-stuff-made-somewhere-else average
The “new” Dow has rendered one Dow Tenet – according to Charles Dow -The Averages Must Confirm Each Other totally useless. That is because Charles Dow referred to the industrials and the rails and to-day the Dow Jones Industrials are no longer “industrial”.
Our chart displays the Dow Industrials and the SPDR Consumer Discretionary sector – monthly bars spanning about seven years – marked a plot A and plot B – which is which? Probably not what Charles Dow had in mind with his “Averages Must Confirm” theory. By the way - the “NEW” consumer weighted Dow will react badly to higher interest rates.


text:
Thieves steal more than a dozen vehicles worth Â£200,000 from Sheffield garageÂ
Thieves stoleÂ more than a dozen vehicles worth Â£200,000 from a car dealership forecourt in Sheffield '“Â just days after 14 were taken from another dealer.
A gang of thieves struckÂ The Car Megastore '“Â Wadsley Bridge, on Penistone Road overnight.
The boss of the car dealership has offered a Â£20,000 reward for any information that leads to a conviction or return of the vehicles.
The theft comes just four days after 14 cars were stolen from anotherÂ dealership inÂ Deepcar.
Steve King, from The Car Megastores '“Â Wadsley Bridge,Â said the thieves broke through security gates, shutters and a window before '˜completely ransacking' the business between 10.30pm last night and 1.30am this morning.
'We came in this morning to find the place all open,' he said.
'The have picked out the best vehicles.
'The stock value they drove away with is Â£200,000 and then there is the damage caused to the premises on top of that.
'Ironically, I'd heard about the break-in at the other dealership the day before.
'It has got to be an organised gang, they knew what they were doing.
'They came back two times to ferry vehicles around three or four at a time.'
Mr King said the family-runÂ business, which has six staff and has been open for 21 years, is now closed until further notice.
He added: 'It's probably half our stock gone.
'We are not a big dealership and this effects the families we employ.'
Mr King urged other dealerships to tighten security to prevent further businesses being targeted.
'If they have targeted somewhere as secure as us, then the more open dealerships need to be aware,' he said.
Police are examiningÂ CCTV footage.
The theft comes after 14 cars worth Â£120,000 were stolen fromÂ Deepcar Motor Company, on Manchester Road, overnight on Friday into Saturday.
Garage owner Emil Berek, who has worked in the motor trade for more than 30 years, said the raid had '˜absolutely decimated' the business.
He too believed theÂ raid on his businessÂ was a '˜planned and professional job'.
Anyone with information should call South Yorkshire Police on 101.
Crimestoppers can also be contacted, anonymously, on 0800 555111.


text:
We can finally talk about it. The Central Feature for the 2022 Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard has been revealed, and we think it’s one of the best.
Gallery: 2022 Festival of Speed Central Feature revealed
This year, we are celebrating BMW M’s 50th Anniversary, and what a run it’s been. In half a Century, those famous three stripes have adorned some of the world’s best road and racing cars, from the E30 M3 to the V12 LMR Le Mans winner.
You only need to take a look at the cars displayed on the Central Feature to see just how wide a catalogue of machines the iconic M brand has birthed. There’s a car for each of BMW M’s five decades. The headline act is arguably the newest, BMW’s LMDh racing car, primed for is debut in the IMSA sportscar championship in 2024, and a possible return to Le Mans: the M Hybrid V8. It’s joined quite rightly by its V12 LMR ancestor (BMW’s last outright Le Mans winner), alongside BMW M’s first creation – the 3.0 CSL – an M1 Procar, and a WTCC M 320si.
It's a brilliant selection of icons that proves just how important BMW M has been for the automotive industry. Here’s to another 50 years.
Subscribe to Festival of Speed news
Our email newsletter contains all the latest news, stories and event information about the Goodwood Estate


text:
Marijuana entrepreneur Marvina Thomas is the first Black woman to own a legal cannabis store in Arizona. Thomas, who also owns and operates a legal marijuana outlet in Las Cruces, New Mexico, “entered into an agreement to operate and acquire” the Arizona Wellness Center in Safford, spokesperson Sadie Thompson told MJBizDaily. That permit was one of six new licenses issued earlier this month, Thompson said. David Fowler, co-founder and executive director of the Marijuana Industry Trade Association of Arizona (MITA-AZ) , confirmed to MJBizDaily that Thomas is… Read more.
Your daily dose of news & information.
A bill proposed in Arizona would allow patients with autism and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to access medical cannabis products in the state, the AZ Mirror reports. The measure passed the House Health and Human Services Committee 7-2 on Monday. Earlier this month, the legislation was approved by a bipartisan 24-6 vote in the state Senate and will move next to the full House after approval by the Health and Human Services Committee. During testimony on the measure, Aaron Jacobs, the father of a… Read more.
Jupiter Research, a marijuana vape cartridge subsidiary of Phoenix-based Tilt Holdings, refinanced and extended its revolving credit facility. The amount of credit available to Jupiter increased from $10 million to $12.5 million, according to a Tuesday news release. The debt now matures July 21, 2024, instead of July 2023. The interest rate is the prime rate plus 3%. The funds are secured against Jupiter’s property, inventory and accounts receivable as well as through a $6 million guaranty from Tilt. Jupiter initially entered… Read more.
Women-led multi-state operator The Flower Shop is focused on curating a larger selection of cannabis flower and products in a growing number of state markets. The company showcases artisan and craft cannabis products in a reimagined retail setting tailored to appeal to both men and women. “We operate in Arizona, Utah, New Jersey, and we will be going to Florida—hopefully soon,” says President of The Flower Shop Greta Brandt, as the company is currently securing licensing in the newer states. As president… Read more.


text:
BSL Eco Energy is pleased to announce that we have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Shenzen Kstar New Energy Co Ltd for the distribution of Kstar inverters in Malaysia.
Kstar is an award-winning technology enterprise based in Shenzhen that develops and manufactures high quality products and provides full services to over 90 countries. Aside from being China’s third largest PV inverter manufacturer, Kstar is a globally renowned UPS manufacturer and a professional integrator and manufacturer of data centre infrastructure.
Kstar has supplied inverters to landmark PV projects globally including the world’s largest PV plant in Bahawalpur, Punjap (900MW) and Astrakhan, Russia (230W). Kstar believes strongly in R&D, with over USD1,911 million invested in 2017 alone, and nearly 500 employees dedicated to R&D.
The MoU was signed by Shenzhen Kstar New Energy Co Ltd Global Sales Director Mr Gary Ye and Area Sales Manager Mr Troy Yao, BSL Eco Energy Chairman Mr Jimmy Teh and BSL Eco Energy Marketing Director Mr Andy Woo on 12 April 2018. The MoU covers the distribution of KStar string, central and hybrid inverters across Malaysia for a year, ending in May 2019.
Mr Andy Woo said he believed that the Malaysian PV industry would welcome the wide range, quality and flexibility presented by the Kstar range of inverters.
“Kstar is an industry leader for photovoltaic inverters, with world classed factories, over 480 R&D engineers, an established technical team and a strong reputation for after sales services and support,” said Andy.
“We’re also excited to introduce Kstar’s ITS system, which combines Inverters, Transformers and Switchgears into one system,” he added.
Mr Ye from Kstar affirmed that they were very happy to be establishing this good relationship with BSL Eco Energy.
“BSL Eco Energy has a proven itself as an EPC in Malaysia, with several successful and well-established projects under its wing,” said Mr Ye.
“We are very serious about our product quality and have invested heavily in our manufacturing processes and research & development. With our partner’s help, we believe we will be stronger in this market,” he added.
BSL Eco Energy Chairman Mr Jimmy Teh and BSL Eco Energy Marketing Director Mr Andy Woo signing the MoU.
Shenzhen Kstar New Energy Co Ltd Global Sales Director Mr Gary Ye signing the MoU while Kstar Group Vice President Mr Lichunying looks on.
(L-R) Mr Andy Woo, Mr Troy Yao and Mr Jimmy Teh at the Kstar corporate office.


text:
One of the biggest questions arising in the Mexican pet food industry is how much online pet food sales grew in 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. As authorities limited the opening times and access at traditional retail outlets and urged consumers to stay home, brick-and-mortar sales dropped consistently during the most critical months of the pandemic.
Yet while e-commerce initially replaced retail sales, the effect of the lockdown on the e-commerce surge likely diminished. Rather, because online pet food sales were rapidly growing before the pandemic, it was logical that e-commerce continued to boom in the middle of the outbreak, no matter the access to brick-and-mortar stores.
Online pet food sales increased rapidly enough in 2020 to become a nascent force in the Mexican market. According to Triplethree estimates, premium pet food e-commerce grew more than 100% compared to 2019, to reach nearly 5% of the total premium pet food market in volume terms.
Amazon taking the lead
Petco and Maskota are the largest pet food chains in Mexico, but a few online platforms, such as Amazon and Mercado Libre, are shaping the market due to larger scale.
One feature of the Amazon Mexico platform is the consistency of the product array and best-selling products. For example, Nupec Adulto (green packaging) led the platform’s sales during the entire year, as it was ranked the best-selling product nearly every day in 2020. The product features 3,344 customer reviews, including 89% of them granting a five-star rating. Other Nupec products also made it to Amazon’s top 10 during the year.
On Petco.com in Mexico, Proplan Sensitive Skin is currently the best-selling product. The platform ranked other Proplan varieties as best-selling at some point in 2020.
Online platforms using two prices to attract attention
In the Mexican market, the online platforms of Amazon, Petco and Maskota (to some extent) usually publish two prices for each product offered: a discount price and the regular price. The tactic is a competitive feature exclusive to an online platform, providing an incentive over shopping at traditional retail outlets. Along with many other benefits that internet sales offer, it seems that such a pricing strategy has, at some level, supported the increasing interest from shoppers to shift to the online environment.
With online premium pet food sales booming during the pandemic, platforms that possess a sound distribution capacity, such as Amazon, have emerged even stronger. At the same time, Nupec has reinforced its leadership in the online premium segment and become the best-selling pet food product online.
It is foreseeable that online sales will continue to rise in Mexico regardless of the pandemic and the economic outlook, as consumers are more used to purchasing online today.
View our continuing coverage of the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic.


text:
Customer service remains the number one differentiator for any brand. Consumers today care more about the experience businesses can offer than their products, services, features, or even prices.
The good news is that companies recognise the need for exceptional service, with 65% of brands saying they plan to increase their investment in customer experience solutions during 2023.
The bad news is that many companies still don’t know where to get started with their strategies to boost client satisfaction. As the landscape we know continues to change at a phenomenal rate and customer expectations evolve, it’s challenging to determine where organisations should be focusing the majority of their efforts. Fortunately, if we look at the current patterns in the customer service landscape and the statistics surrounding CX, we can see some emerging trends.
Here are 5 of the key customer service trends businesses will need to prepare for in 2023:
- Customer Service Channels Continue to Evolve
First, companies need to be prepared for the channels they use to interact with customers to change more aggressively in the years ahead. Over the last couple of years, we’ve seen a range of new platforms for customer communications emerging around the world.
Consumers have started connecting with brands on social media, interacting via video, and even using instant messaging tools like What’s App. Going forward, experts predict the lines between the digital and physical world will become increasingly blurred, thanks to the emergence of the “metaverse” and XR technology. “Phygital” experiences, which blur the line between physical and digital with AR-enhanced apps, and QR codes, are likely to increase in the years ahead.
We’ll also see a larger number of companies investing in extended reality to meet their customers in the digital world. Brands like Nike, Wendy’s and Gucci have already started expanding into these areas.
2. Hyper-Personalisation Becomes Crucial
Consumers are becoming increasingly less enamoured by their favourite brands. Customer satisfaction levels have dropped to their lowest point in 17 years, and clients are becoming increasingly frustrated by one-size-fits-all experiences. Analysts like Gartner believe the companies who will succeed in the years ahead are those who focus more aggressively on “hyper-personalisation”.
Companies will need to think more carefully about how they can transform customer service experiences to suit the individual needs of each user. This will mean not only giving customers more say over how they interact with a brand (in person or on digital channels) but also providing each customer with unique offers, guidance, and support during their purchasing journey.
Going into 2023, we can expect to see more companies exploring ways to help customers have more of a say in the services, support, and offers they get.
3. Companies will Leverage AI for Proactive Service
Demand for artificial intelligence in the customer service landscape has been increasing rapidly in the last few years. Brands have begun to learn that leveraging AI allows them to provide more personalised and unique experiences to their users across virtually every channel. Already, we’re seeing companies utilise intelligent tools to automate customer service requests, route conversations to the right agents, and analyse sentiment during conversations.
As customer expectations continue to evolve, one key area where business leaders are likely to increase their investment in AI is to develop proactive services. Artificial Intelligence can use historical information to pinpoint trends and patterns and provide business leaders with insights into how they can solve customer issues before they even begin.
Moving forward, we’re likely to see more companies looking for ways to get one step ahead of their customer needs with proactive support, assistance, and sales.
4. Automation Will Continue To Increase
As staffing concerns and shortages continue to wage war on company productivity levels, countless businesses have begun turning to automation to reduce the pressure on their teams. Intelligent chatbots and conversational AI tools have emerged as valuable resources for businesses looking to reduce the number of support and service requests actually requiring human interaction.
At the same time, businesses are also leveraging automated systems to help reduce the number of repetitive tasks their team needs to complete daily. The right systems can automatically store information, record conversations, and even follow up with customers without the need for human input. This gives team members more time to focus on the conversations that really matter.
In 2023, these intelligent automation tools will likely become indispensable tools for companies that need help making the most of their human resources. Unfortunately, they won’t be able to address the staffing shortage alone, which leads us to our final trend prediction.
5. Service Teams Will Invest Substantially in Outsourcing
While automation and AI will go some way towards empowering companies to accomplish more with fewer employees, they won’t eliminate the need for informed, educated, and empathetic human interactions entirely. As consumers continue to demand more hyper-personalised and engaging interactions across every channel, companies will still need to ensure they have access to the right human resources.
Since cost constraints and severe skill/people shortages will make it difficult for business leaders to hire full-time employees to fill the gaps, many will begin looking into outsourcing strategies to augment and supplement the workforce.
For those who are looking to engage with outsourcing for the first time, those returning to the solution, or those looking for a hybrid approach, DDC OS can support you from a range of global locations to suit your requirements.


text:
Monroe County Business Owner Pleads Guilty to Sales Tax Fraud Bell-Mar Enterprises failed to remit $105,000 in sales tax collected from customers
For Release: Immediate,
For press inquiries only, contact: James Gazzale, 518-457-7377
The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance today announced that a Monroe County businessman has pleaded guilty to 23 felony counts in a sales tax fraud case.
Dragan Mitrevski, 47, of 10 Silverknoll Drive, Rochester, is the self-employed operator of Bell-Mar Enterprises, a commercial cleaning business at the same address. He pleaded guilty in Monroe County Court to second-degree grand larceny, five counts of third-degree criminal tax fraud, and 17 counts of first-degree offering a false instrument for filing.
The case was prosecuted by the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office.
“The defendant admitted to blatantly failing to remit sales tax collected from his customers, putting law-abiding businesses at a disadvantage and depriving his immediate community and all of New York State of revenue needed for vital services,” said Acting Commissioner Nonie Manion. “We continue to work with our law enforcement partners to bring tax criminals to justice.”
According to court documents, from December 2009 through November 2014, the defendant collected at least $105,859 in sales taxes from his customers—but failed to remit those funds to New York State.
You can report tax evasion and fraud online at the Tax Department's Web site or by calling 518-457-0578. The information is kept confidential. The Tax Department takes this type of illegal activity seriously, promptly reviews each complaint, and takes corrective action when appropriate.


text:
British sales and rental companies are systematically falling under the spell of SGM’s groundbreaking IP65-rated LED portfolio.
High up in the north east of England, Graeme Sewell first started lighting local bands around the Durham area more than 30 years ago, and after setting up Vortex Lighting was an early investor in ‘intelligent’ products. Today, Vortex Lighting supplies major hire companies and venues throughout the UK, specialising in concert touring.
In the early Nineties, Graeme developed a relationship with Ian Kirby and Clive Bailey, who now head up SGM UK, and news that Peter Johansen had taken over the Italian lighting company and relocated it to Denmark quickly ignited his interest.
After making an initial investment in X-5 white LED strobes he was soon captivated by the P-5. “It was a combination of the compact form factor and high power output that impressed me and my customers — as well as the quality of the colours,” he said. “We use them for up-lighting buildings, with the standard 43° lens, but they also find regular use indoors on conferences. They also look sleek, with their low profile design — very different from the large ugly fixtures we have used in the past.”
Sewell also adds that a further bonus is their wireless DMX support. “We like any products with Wireless Solutions built in, and with the impressive IP rating and support we know we would get from SGM UK, we are delighted with the investment.”
But the journey with SGM is far from over as Graeme Sewell’s appetite was whet further — as with the announcement of the IP65-rated G-Spot, he could immediately see huge application potential.
“SGM brought one up for us to test and we ran it against a 700W discharge; it was substantially brighter, beating it on open white as well as the colours."
“Aside from its obvious use outdoors without dome protection it is perfect for nightclub use, in smoke filled environments, since it’s a sealed unit and does not require any cleaning.”
After placing his first order for G-Spot, the enquiries he received from customers in the north-east has resulted in him immediately doubling his order.


text:
Student Debit Card Demand: Block Those Fees
NEW YORK (MainStreet) A request by Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) for the Department of Education's Inspector General to dig into fees charged by the issuers of student debit cards finally bore fruit when a report was released yesterday. It concluded that colleges and universities are too close to the third-party card vendors they use to disburse student aid. Students get whacked with user fees and their personal data is put at risk in the bargain. Higher One and Sallie Mae were identified as the largest vendors.
"Today's report demonstrates the clear need for the Department of Education and colleges to better protect students and their financial aid," said Durbin and Congressman George Miller (D-Calif.) in a joint statement. "We must closely examine the recommendations made in this report and work to ensure transparency, rein in fees, prevent conflicts of interest, and safeguard students' personal information." A separate report by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group's Education Fund concluded that over 9 million people are at risk of being gouged, adding to their existing student loan debt.
Based on the IG's report, debit card vendors have been flouting the requirements of Title IV of the Higher Education Act, from which all federal student loans, Work Study programs and other types of aid flows.
The Department of Education IF called for increased transparency and disclosure, including the annual average cost to account holders. The IG's report also wants to ban transaction or administrative fees charged to access Title IV funds, and for debit card vendors to address conflicts of interest and financial incentives in campus debit agreements. What constitutes fee-free access to campus ATMs would be defined, which would be important in spelling out when fees are applied. PIN fees, balance inquiry fees, account closure and card reloading fees are on the table.
Durbin and Miller also collaborated on a June 2012 letter to the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Richard Cordray expressing concern over the adverse financial impact debit card agreements between banks and schools may be having on college students. Durbin and Miller urged the CFPB to carefully examine the bank-affiliated student debit card practices at over 900 colleges and universities.
The CFPB responded by opening an inquiry last fall into the impact of campus financial products marketed to students by colleges to determine whether these arrangements are in students' best interests. The CFPB has found a shift in financial product marketing partnerships from college credit cards to student checking, debit and prepaid card products.
--Written by John Sandman for MainStreet


text:
Lower taxes boost Safeway 3rd quarter profit
Published 4:00 am, Friday, October 15, 2010
Safeway Inc., the fourth-largest U.S. supermarket chain by sales, posted third-quarter profit that topped analysts' projections as income-tax expenses dropped.
Safeway said Thursday that profit, excluding some items, was 35 cents per share, compared with the 31-cent average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg. A decline in Safeway's tax rate helped add 2 cents in profit.
Sales dropped less than 1 percent to $9.4 billion. The grocer is increasingly vying with discount retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. for customers. U.S. consumers have sought discounts as they struggle to recover from the economic slump and an unemployment rate close to a 26-year high.
Net income fell to $122.8 million (33 cents per share), the Pleasanton company said. A year earlier, third-quarter profit amounted to $128.8 million (31 cents).
Safeway also said full-year earnings will come in at the lower end of its outlook. In July, the company cut its earnings forecast for the year to at least $1.50 per share from a minimum of $1.65. Analysts on average project $1.56.
Safeway, led by Chief Executive Officer Steve Burd, trails Wal-Mart, Kroger Co. and Costco Wholesale Corp. in grocery sales, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.


text:
Indian court rejects radio taxi predatory pricing appeals
A tribunal in India has rejected a pair of appeals that sought to overturn the national antitrust authority’s ruling that Ola Cabs could not be accused of predatory pricing because it is not a dominant player in the taxi market.
To read more
Subscribe to Global Competition Review
Subscribe to unlock unlimited access
Get news, unique commentary, expert analysis and essential resources from the Global Competition Review experts.


text:
Harris Teeter is giving University of Virginia (UVA) students another chance to save on entire purchases during its second College Night, which will take place at the Barracks Road store on 975 Emmet Street in Charlottesville, Va., on Saturday, Sept. 22, between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. The Southeast regional grocer held its first College Night at the Barracks Road Harris Teeter last February.
Shoppers with a valid UVA student ID and who’ve joined Harris Teeter’s “UVA Student Rewards” program will be able to take advantage of the 20 percent discount, which applies up to a $500 maximum order (after all coupons and VIC discounts are deducted) on purchases made during the specified time. Tobacco, tickets, gift cards, money orders and wire transfers are excluded from the discount.
“Harris Teeter has been a part of the Charlottesville community for many years, and we offer exceptional savings to all of our shoppers who choose to join both our VIC and e-VIC loyalty programs,” said Catherine Reuhl, the Matthews, N.C.-based company’s communication manager. “We also work closely with the University of Virginia to offer Cavs’ students additional discounts at our stores. Our first College Night was such a success, and we hope to re-emphasize our commitment to the university students by putting a bit of excitement back into the grocery shopping experience.”
The event will feature live entertainment and free samples. Harris Teeter urged students not yet enrolled in the College Rewards program to visit stores’ customer service desks to sign up in advance.


text:
Poor harvests lead to rises in food prices
FOOD prices are soaring after the early summer heatwave and freak weather around the world caused poor harvests.
For the first time in years supermarkets are passing on substantial price rises to customers in what industry analysts are hailing as the end of the price-cutting wars.
The result has been a leap in food costs of 3.2% in the past year. Industry experts now expect price rises at all the supermarkets.
The trend could even accelerate with higher fuel and electricity prices pushing up long-term costs for producers.
The rising costs will put further pressure on households already weighed down by increases in domestic energy bills, council tax, personal debt and mortgage interest rates.
Personal debt levels now stand at a record £1.2 trillion while Department of Trade and Industry figures have revealed how personal bankruptcies soared 74% in the second quarter of the year. The rate of bankruptcies is expected to double again to 100,000 a year within 18 months.
To add to the woes the British Retail Consortium confirmed food prices rose in July for the third successive month.
Despite a general fall in prices, which saw non-food items fall by 1.25% in August, the BRC said food prices had increased in five of the past seven months.
Industry analyst Richard Ratner, of Seymour Pierce, told the Financial Times: 'It's not a temporary phenomenon. I think the supermarkets will make these price increases stick.'
The increase represents a release of the pressure on prices which has built up over years of fierce competition between the 'big four' supermarkets - Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrison.
Up until 1998 British consumers spent more on food than any other items. But the last five years have seen prices dropping by up to 15% since 2000.
Industry figures indicate that the British now pay less for their groceries than most other European consumers, including Norwegians, Irish and Greeks.
But this summer's early heatwave has resulted in poor fruit harvests, while heavy rain in Vietnam is being blamed for coffee prices hitting a seven year high. Prices for orange juice are at a 16-year high.
The BRC figures also revealed that meat prices leaped 3.1% in the past year, with beef prices rising to levels not seen since the 1996 BSE crisis.
Vegetable prices rose 4.7%, while milk, cheese and eggs rose 2.3% after several months of falling prices. Bread makers have warned they will increase prices next month due to rises in the cost of flour.
A spokesman for Britain's biggest food retailer Tesco said: 'Obviously poor harvests and changes in market conditions can have an effect on availability of produce.
Most watched Money videos
- What the frunk!? Ford Lightning features a trunk on the front
- New £2m electric Nevera: The fastest accelerating car in the world
- Citroen unveil the My Ami Cargo, a dinky electric van
- Rare 1960 crashed Jaguar sells at auction for £90,000
- Audi showcases electric A6 e-tron concept with 'cinematic' headlights
- Take a look at £3.3 million Bugatti Chiron Super Sport hypercar
- Learn more about the electric features of the Ford F-150 Lightning
- Ineos Grenadier 4X4 is tested for sturdiness on the toughest roads
- Highway England catch dangerous drivers using unmarked supercabs
- Are unloved bank shares primed to bounce back?
- Europe's most powerful EV charging hub to be installed in Oxford
- The all-new 7-seater SUV Kia Sorento with a panoramic sunroof


text:
China's First Ever Dairy Cow Pageant Pits Human Models Against Bovines
Over the weekend China celebrated it's first ever dairy cow beauty pageant, and brought in some bikini-wearing models to spice up the...field. The human models sparked controversy, looking uncomfortable and out of place. Plus, some noted, they drew the eye away from the cows - the true beauty queens at this event. The Wall Street Journal has the story:
Designed to promote the dairy industry of Shanyin County in the central Chinese province of Shanxi, the weekend contest pitted more than 200 cows against each other based on looks, milk and pedigree.The concept is a strange one even for a country with more than its fair share of mystifying events. But it’s the eight bikini models hired for the bovine pageant – and made to pose awkwardly next to, and even milk, the cows – that has churned the controversy.
Photos of the girls — all of them, perhaps understandably, wearing masks — spread around traditional and social media websites on Monday, and even earned an editorial on the website of the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily.


text:
Organisations all over the UK are increasingly using open source technologies, despite cybersecurity fears. This is according to a new report by Rackspace (opens in new tab), based on a poll of 300 large UK organisations. More than half (54 per cent) of those using open source technologies, consider them the biggest cybersecurity challenge to their organisation. Almost half (49 per cent) of organisations using both open source and proprietary code, consider the latter to be more secure. Another 43 per cent worry about vulnerabilities in the open source code.
“While open source technologies have been around for many years, it is great to see that enterprise businesses are finally dipping their toes in and seeing the tangible benefits,” said John Engates, Chief Technology Officer at Rackspace.
“However, while the perception issue is significant, we don’t expect that open source usage will decline because of security concerns. As an industry, open source code is amongst the most scrutinised, and its commitment to transparency means that – where there are vulnerabilities – businesses will be aware of these and take steps to protect themselves.”
Cost saving is the primary driver of open source technologies, being cited as the number one reason in 60 per cent of respondents. The average cost per project gets reduced by £30,146 with the use of open source, and for many – this is a significant sum. Half reported being more innovative thanks to open source, and almost half (45 per cent) said they were quicker to reach the market.
Engates continues: “Every industry and business sector faces disruption, enabled by the digitalisation of products and services, and the ability to manage the scale and agility needed in today’s competitive environment. With an increasing amount of a company’s value derived from software, the acceptance of open source as a viable solution helps businesses compete. By using the same strategies and tactics as the market leaders, businesses of all sizes will be able to build and launch innovative solutions faster than by using closed source technologies in isolation.”
Image source: Shutterstock/McIek


text:
Microsoft founder Bill Gates expressed confidence in the success of the new Xbox 360 game console as well as the high-definition HD DVD technology, while visiting Japan on Friday.
Japan is a key battleground for next-generation video game consoles and DVD players. Gates said he hoped the Xbox 360 would win a new legion of older fans with its simple games and online multi-player system.
Video game consoles is the one area that Microsoft is still struggling with in Japan where Japanese rival Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 2 outsells Microsoft offerings, including the latest Xbox 360.
"The Xbox came out for the last Christmas season. That's been a very sold-out product and really ushering in this idea of high-definition gaming -- realism -- but even more importantly, the idea of community.
"Bringing that social community aspect into this we think is very critical and it will redefine and revolutionise those products, in fact make it attractive not just to young men but to people of all ages," he told reporters.
The U.S. software is supporting the HD DVD format pushed by Toshiba and NEC, which is vying with the rival Blu-ray format, led by Sony and Panasonic.
"We think products like HD DVD and Xbox 360 are really going to drive consumers to expect that high definition," said Gates.
He also indicated that Microsoft's next operating system, Vista, the release of which has been delayed until next year, could eventually be made compatible with the Blu-ray format if its developers share the necessary information.
"In terms of Blu-ray that's also coming along. As they finalise their specifications we'll understand how well that's able to connect up to Windows. As yet they haven't shared that," he said.
He also reaffirmed the U.S. software company's commitment to the Japanese market as he kicked off a campaign here to offer some free technology help to nonprofit organizations.
Microsoft officials will travel to various regions in Japan to teach nonprofit groups ways to hook more easily with donors and let the public know about their services, he said.
Microsoft software dominates the Japanese market as it does with much of the rest of the world. Japanese government agencies have been trying to increase the use of nonproprietary software such as Linux but relies heavily on Microsoft.
The company, based in Redmond, Washington, also boasts key business partnerships in Japan, including those with electronics makers as well as game-software makers.


text:
Aaron's Announces the Opening of its Newest GenNext Stores in Live Oak, FL and Rockford, IL
Furniture World News Desk on
The Aaron's Company, Inc., a technology-enabled, omnichannel provider of lease-to-own and retail purchase solutions recently announced the opening of its newest company-operated Aaron's GenNext stores in Live Oak, FL and Rockford, IL.
The new Aaron's stores in Live Oak and Rockford mark a return to both markets for Aaron's, and they reflect the latest expansion of the Company's GenNext store initiative, which is transforming the in-store customer experience. The new store in Live Oak is conveniently located at 10550 70th Street, beside the Walmart shopping center just off I-10. The store is open Monday – Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. The new store in Rockford is located at 6325 E. State Street in Forest Plaza near Rockford University, and it is open Monday – Saturday from 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
"GenNext stores are an integral part of the Company's strategy to better serve communities across the country," said Douglas Lindsay, CEO of The Aaron's Company. "As we open new GenNext stores, we continue to receive positive feedback from our customers and team members. We look forward to delivering exceptional value and service to our customers in Live Oak and Rockford with a best-in-class shopping experience."
Aaron's GenNext stores include larger showrooms and/or re-engineered store layouts, updated signage, expanded product assortment, enhanced technology-enabled shopping and checkout, and an innovative operating model, providing a best-in-class experience for shoppers. The GenNext program includes remodeling existing stores into the updated format as well as opening stores in new locations. So far this year, Aaron's has converted or opened 38 GenNext stores, bringing the total to 249 company-operated GenNext stores since launching the initiative in 2018.
About The Aaron's Company, Inc.
Headquartered in Atlanta, The Aaron's Company, Inc. (NYSE: AAN) is a leading, technology-enabled, omnichannel provider of lease-to-own and retail purchase solutions of appliances, electronics, furniture, and other home goods across its brands: Aaron's, BrandsMart U.S.A., BrandsMart Leasing, and Woodhaven. Aaron's offers a direct-to-consumer lease-to-own solution through its approximately 1,250 Company-operated and franchised stores in 47 states and Canada, as well as its e-commerce platform. BrandsMart U.S.A. is one of the leading appliance retailers in the country with 11 retail stores in Florida and Georgia, as well as its e-commerce platform. BrandsMart Leasing offers lease-to-own solutions to customers of BrandsMart U.S.A. Woodhaven is the Company's furniture manufacturing division. For more information, visit aarons.com, and brandsmartusa.com.