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Vince Holding Corp.’s expects its fourth-quarter profits to meet or exceed analysts’ consensus estimates after posting a 20.5 percent increase in fourth-quarter sales.The New York-based contemporary fashion brand, which went public in November, generated sales of $87.8 million in the 13 weeks ended Feb. 1, up from $72.8 million during the 14-week year-ago period. Comparable-store sales were up 12.2 percent, the company said, marking its 17th consecutive quarter of comp growth.RELATED CONTENT: WWD Earnings Tracker >>Based on preliminary and unaudited results for the quarter, Vince expects adjusted earnings for the quarter of between 21 and 23 cents versus expectations among analysts, on average, for earnings per share of 21 cents. The EPS projection excludes, among other items, costs associated with its initial public offering and the separation of the non-Vince businesses with which it was formerly grouped at Kellwood Co. Revenues fell slightly below the consensus estimate of $88.2 million, contributing to a 3.1 percent decline in Vince shares, which closed Thursday at $26.08 in New York Stock Exchange trading.“We achieved record fourth-quarter and full-year sales performance for fiscal 2013, with continued double-digit growth in both our wholesale and direct-to-consumer segments,” said Jill Granoff, chief executive officer of Vince. “During the fourth quarter, wholesale grew by approximately 17 percent as a result of strong sales performance with our domestic department-store partners, as well as increased penetration in key international markets and higher licensing revenues from our women’s footwear business.” Direct-to-consumer revenues were up 37 percent, she said, based on the growth in comps, the addition of six stores “and solid sales growth in our e-commerce channel.” For the full 52-week year, Vince’s sales rose 19.9 percent to $288.2 million versus the 53-week prior year and were ahead 29.7 percent on a comparable 52-week basis. Adjusted EPS for the year is estimated to be 71 to 73 cents on a diluted basis. The company will report full results on March 27.
Exclusive: @isabelmarant and @lorealmakeup have teamed up to create a capsule makeup collection. "She is rather natural in the day but doesn't have time to go back home before going out [in the evening] and redo her entire beauty look," said Marant on the 5 products included in the collection, which will launching in September. Read @jenniferbethweil's interview with the designer on WWD.com. #wwdnews #wwdbeauty
After 17 years, Tomas Maier is leaving @bottegaveneta. “I am deeply grateful to him and I personally thank him for the work he accomplished, and for the exceptional success he helped to achieve,” said François-Henri Pinault, head of parent company @kering_official. Head to WWD.com for more on his departure. #wwdnews #wwdfashion (📷: Davide Maestri)
@shaymitchell is no stranger to teaming up with beauty brands, but she’s made her latest partnership official: She’s signed with @buxomcosmetics as global creative brand ambassador, WWD learned exclusively. Mitchell and Buxom will collaborate on campaign development, social media strategy and content and new product and shade development. Read more on WWD.com. #wwdbeauty (📷: @clint_spaulding)
Today we’re at the WWD Retail 20/20 Forum where industry leaders will be talking about the future of shopping for fashion, footwear and beauty. Tune in on Instagram Live at 9 am and 3:30 pm to hear from two of our speakers –– @therealreal’s Rati Levesque and @bandier’s Stephen Ippolito. #wwdsummits (📷: @elizaflorendo)
Seen last night at @coach’s launch party for “Life Coach,” an interactive pop-up in Soho: @joansmalls. Open now, visitors of the pop-up can engage in themes of “creativity and self-expression,” through tarot, carnival games, live performances and art. See the rest of the party pics on WWD.com. #wwdeye (📷: @vnina)
“We figure there’s enough cynicism to go around the world right now let’s go out there and be ourselves, let’s be enthusiastic, let’s have positive energy, which is something I think a lot of people really want and need right now,” said musician @joshgroban ahead of hosting the Tony Awards with @sarabareilles. Read @leighn’s interview with Groban on how he picked his look for the night, his next record and more on WWD.com. #wwdeye #tonyawards (📷: @vnina)
“Rock as an attitude and not a uniform. Street as a style and not just clothing. Sportswear as the new normality,” @paul_surridge said of his first @roberto_cavalli men’s wear collection, previewed here. The British designer joined the brand as the creative director in May 2017, and is gearing up to unveil his debut for the label with a runway show at the Florence Charterhouse on June 13 at #PittiUomo. Head to WWD.com to read more about his collection and see more sneak peek photos. #wwdfashion (📷: @simonelezzi)


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Pitbull Plays Giant Beer Pong With Jimmy Fallon In Those Tight, White Rolled-Up Pants: Watch
Pitbull‘s tight, white rolled-up pants stole the show at the FIFA World Cup opening ceremony in Brazil. Which is no easy feat when you’re standing next to bombshells like Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte. Ever the good sport, Mr. Worldwide brought his famous trousers along to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last night (June 19) and rocked them during an impromptu game of giant beer pong (above).
Pit also sat down for a good-natured chat about taking men’s fashion to the next level with his attention-grabbing outfit and spoke about his excitement at receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. There were also a string of bad jokes about Sofia Vergara and a couple of tidbits about his new forthcoming LP. See what the recent college graduate had to say after the jump.
Is Pitbull your new fashion icon? Let us know in the comments below.
Get an eyeful of even more pop music coverage, from artist interviews to exclusive performances, on Idolator’s YouTube channel.

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GAFFNEY, SC/LOS ANGELES, FEBRUARY 10, 2021– Ryan Vargas will sport a new look at the NASCAR Xfinity Series season opener this weekend at Daytona International Speedway. Swann® Communications, a veteran in the global security camera market, will adorn the No. 6 Chevrolet for the first of four races on Saturday. This week marks the start of Ryan’s first full-time season for JD Motorsports with Gary Keller, and will also be his first career start at Daytona. The Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender looks to start his relationship with Swann Communications on a high note.
“It’s an honor and privilege to bring Swann on board for four races this season, including the first race of the year at Daytona! It’s always a great feeling to bring new partners to the sport! I’m excited to showcase their products including their line of Enforcer branded products.”
In addition to the season opener at Daytona, Swann Communications will serve as the primary partner in races at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, Road America in July, and Texas Motor Speedway in October – the site of Vargas’ first Top 10 finish. Swann will also be an associate sponsor for the entire 33-race season.
“Swann is ecstatic to be sponsoring Ryan Vargas and our Company logo will be wrapped on the No. 6 Chevrolet Camaro for JD Motorsports that Vargas will be driving in the NASCAR Xfinity Series,” said Mike Lucas, CEO of Swann. “Be on the lookout for Swann on the track.”
For more information including a full list of Swann Communications products, visit them on the web at www.Swann.com.
The 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series season kicks off at Daytona International Speedway on February 13th. To keep up with Ryan Vargas, follow his social media pages and visit his official website at www.RyanVargas.com. For all things, JDM, follow along on our social media pages @JDMotorsports01 and visit the team’s official website at www.TeamJDMotorsports.com. #TeamJDM
About Swann: Swann is a veteran in the global security camera market and has been in this business for over three decades. Founded in Melbourne, Australia, Swann creates innovative DIY security solutions including their patent-pending Enforcer Series product line, which offers enhanced crime deterrence with red and blue flashing lights when unwanted activity is detected. Also, Swann is the only brand on the market that offers a complete line up of inter-connectable wired and wireless security solutions via the Swann Security app that is completely integrated with Google Assistant and Alexa. As the global leader in wired, DIY security solutions, Swann helps its customers protect their homes, businesses, and garages no matter where life takes them – around the world or around the track. Swann’s products can be found at Best Buy, Sam’s Club, Lowe’s, Menards, Costco, Amazon, Ingram Micro, etc. Follow Swann on social media to stay updated on the latest products and news: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
Feature Photo Courtesy of JD Motorsports with Gary Keller


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Latest in a series of posts on the environment
Didn’t we also have one on the Greenway last year (Fridays?) and on Payrow Plaza (Tuesdays?).
Bethlehem Farmers Market
This popular market, based at 1 Farrington Square on Lehigh University’s campus is back after a yearlong hiatus due to the pandemic.
Opening day will be April 29 and the market will once again be held 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursdays, May through October, offering fresh local produce, lunch items, baked goods and more.
Bethlehem Rose Garden Farmers Market
Opening day: June 6
Regular hours: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. June to October
Location: Historic Rose Garden, Eighth Avenue and Raspberry Street
Details, vendors: The market, held in arguably one of the prettiest spots in the Valley, will be back with more than two dozen vendors (with at least eight new ones) offering organic and humanely raised chicken and beef, produce, baked goods, peanut butter, nuts, vegan yogurt, dairy, flowers, kombucha and microgreens as well as soaps and women’s and children’s clothing. This market is also moving to the circle in the park, a more central location to enjoy all the scenery.
Shoppers may notice a lot of improvements at the park this year thanks to a state grant that has funded the addition of walking paths connecting the site of the market to the children’s play area and bandshell.
Looking further ahead, the market will be part of Rose Fest, which is planned for June 26 and will be a rededication of the park and mark the 90th anniversary of the garden.


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Valve has already revolutionized PC gaming distribution with its industry-leading Steam platform, and now it has its sights set on bringing that same level of innovation to your living room, according to a report from The Verge. Valve is said to be working on hardware and software specifications...
Posted on Oct 22nd 2014 5:00PM
Posted on Oct 20th 2014 3:30PM
Posted on Oct 20th 2014 12:49PM


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With Apple now on the record about an October 4 iPhone event, analysts are reaffirming their prognostications about the phone's hardware--and adding an item or two to a growing list of specifications.
Chris Whitmore, Deutsche Bank Equity Research, said in a research note Monday that he expects an iPhone 5 with aluminum unibody construction, better camera, and a slightly larger screen size. No big surprise there.
Ashok Kumar, an analyst at Rodman & Renshaw, said on Tuesday he expects better graphics silicon--not unlike the big performance increase that Apple boasted about for the iPad 2.
Piper Jaffray's Gene … Read more


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The gross merchandise volume (GMV) of food delivery in Southeast Asia reached a total of USD 11.9 billion in 2020, a dramatic 183% growth compared to the year before, while neighbor China hit USD 82 billion, which is almost seven times higher, according to the latest Momentum Works report received by KrASIA.
“COVID-19 is the key accelerant to growth. Due to social distancing, many consumers shifted to food delivery,” said Momentum Works CEO Jianggan Li on Monday.
He further added that economic growth, urbanization, and growing smartphone penetration in most countries also provided the natural impetus for market growth.
Ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab is dominating the sector in Southeast Asia with a 49% share, followed by Foodpanda’s 21% and Gojek’s 16.8%. Grab is also taking more than half of the local market in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. In Singapore, it led with a market share of 42%, and only in Vietnam, it fell behind Sea Group’s food delivery arm Now.
This article is part of KrASIA’s “Key Stat” series, where KrASIA picks and presents the most significant figures of the day’s technology and business world.


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Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) launched its new Waku Doki Multi-Media
campaign targeted at the youth in India.
creatives of the campaign have been conceptualised by Percet/H.
With this campaign, Toyota introduces the audiences to its
new brand promise, Toyota will make your heart go Waku
The name of the campaign 'Waku Doki' in Japanese means 'Heightened
anticipation and excited heart thumping.
focus of the campaign is to communicate that the product offers
excitement to the youth through different activities. The
campaign also aims to involve people from various walks of
life to share their moments wherein they have felt Waku
Doki. The feeling will then be linked to owing a Toyota
and driving the vehicle.
The campaign provides racing heartbeats, adrenaline rush,
thrilling excitement and exhilaration which can be felt by
any individual in instances to connect the essence of the
phrase Waku Doki with the Indian audience.
Percept H Pvt Ltd senior creative director NileshNaik said,
The task was to make Waku-Doki synonyms with exciting,
heart thumping moments. We did this through an integrated
campaign which shows people from various walks of life, young
and old experiencing Waku-Doki moments in their everyday life.
Moments that every Indian can relate to.
campaign has appeared in the newspapers and has hit the TV
channels. It has also aired on You Tube and radio channels.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor MD Hiroshi Nakagawa said, With
this campaign we are trying to move to the next level and
assume a new face thrilling, exhilarating and fun.
With this shift, we hope to build up the emotional quotient
and endear our consumers to the brand .We are very Waku
Doki with this campaign and hope this Waku Doki feeling
can be widely spread in India.
In the year 2010, Toyota launched its Quality Promise
campaign which was supported and further enhanced by the Toyota
yani Bharosa campaign. It aimed at rewarding every consumer
with a smile.


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China Travel upbeat despite profit dip
Travel agency and hotel operator China Travel International Investment is upbeat on the long-term outlook of the mainland property market and will invest in tourism-property complexes there.
The company's net profit dropped 8 per cent year on year to HK$330 million in the first six months of this year, owing to start-up costs at its hotel project in Xianyang, Shaanxi, and exchange losses from its investment in Zhuhai hotel projects. Sales increased 7 per cent to HK$2.1 billion in the period.
"China will become the largest economy in the next 10 years and will have one billion people living in urban areas by 2030," Xu Muhan, executive director of China Travel, said yesterday.
"In the longer term, the mainland property market will be on the uptrend, regardless of cooling measures introduced by the government."
The company has invested billions of yuan in hotels and tourist spots on the mainland, Hong Kong and Macau. It is now diversifying its focus into residential projects in popular tourism destinations, aiming to build resorts and upmarket residential developments near cities or areas popular with tourists.
The company expects the hotel business in Hong Kong and on the mainland to continue to be robust this year.
One of its properties, Ocean Spring Resort in Zhuhai, however, continued to weigh on the bottom line as it swung into a HK$17 million loss in the first half from a HK$15 million profit in the same period last year.
Earnings per share fell 7 per cent to 5.8 HK cents. The board declared 2 HK cents as interim dividend.


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A House of Lords’ report has just suggested that poor broadband is harming the UK’s seaside towns. In truth, the malaise goes much deeper than that. So has the situation improved since we first wrote about it nearly two years ago? Or are the UK’s seaside towns really on the rocks…
Way back in the mists of time, in the Autumn of 2017 when people were still vaguely interested in Brexit and it would-all-be-sorted-out-soon anyway, we wrote about the decline of British seaside towns. Some of what we wrote then bears repeating:
Today the situation is serious. Far from ‘taking the waters’ because it is good for your health, a new report suggests that living in many seaside towns is both bad for your health, and for your wealth.
The report, from the Social Market Foundation, a non-partisan think tank, has revealed that some of the poorest areas in the country are seaside towns – with five of the 10 local authorities with the highest unemployment (in the three months to March 2017) being ‘beside the seaside.’ These were Hartlepool, North Ayrshire, Torridge (in north Devon), Hastings and South Tyneside and Sunderland.
Not only are you less likely to have a job if you live at the seaside: if you do have a job you are likely to be less well-paid. Of the 96 local authorities on the coast, 85% had pay levels below the UK average in 2016. The SMF’s report suggests that average wages are £3,600 a year lower in these ‘pockets of deprivation.’
We all know of the link between low pay and poor health and not surprisingly, ten of the 20 local authorities in England and Wales with the highest proportion of people in poor health are coastal. These include some of the areas mentioned above – as well as Blackpool. Clearly, a walk on the Golden Mile a day does not keep the doctor away.
Has the situation improved since 2017?
In a word, no. If anything, it has got worse. In 2017 we pointed out a variety of reasons why seaside towns were doing so badly: poor transport links, the decline of traditional industries like fishing and poor educational achievement.
Since then, another factor has entered the equation: poor broadband connectivity. On Monday, we wrote about the 5G revolution and the opportunities it could bring to the UK, making the point that many rural areas in the UK – and, in particular, businesses in those areas, were suffering because of poor 4G connectivity. That an upgrade to 5G was useless if the phone companies decided it was not economically viable to connect you.
For ‘rural areas’ you can equally well read ‘seaside towns,’ with a new report from the House of Lords saying that seaside towns are being ‘killed’ by poor broadband. The Lords’ committee called on ministers to ‘support high-speed broadband in coastal areas’ saying ‘it would provide an opportunity to overcome the challenges of peripherality.’
Well, given that even Brexit seems to be second on our MPs’ priority list – an 11-day break over Easter is obviously at the top – you suspect that ‘broadband in Burnham-on-Sea’ could be a long way down the list.
I would simply repeat the point I made on Monday – broadband is about as essential as running water. Quite why successive governments have allowed the phone companies to decide which parts of the UK should or should not get broadband I have no idea.
Meanwhile, M&S is closing down…
When we first wrote about the decline of seaside towns back in 2017 there were plenty of dark clouds on the retail horizon. Now, it has started raining…
February brought news of the worst high street trading for ten years. Marks and Spencer’s are going to be closing more branches as they look to focus more on food and less on clothes. WH Smith is trading profitably at railway stations and airports – but not on the high street. Boots have announced that many of their stores are becoming unprofitable. Debenhams – even if Mike Ashley rides to the rescue – is teetering on the edge and if rural bank branches are closing at a record rate then seaside ones cannot be far behind.
Regular readers know that I live in Scarborough on the Yorkshire coast. Scarborough is a very long way from the most disadvantaged seaside town – it has a thriving creative community, a theatre with a worldwide reputation and is poised to benefit from the potash development on the North Yorkshire Moors – but over the next ten years it will face real challenges. The town currently has a Boots, Debenhams, M&S and WH Smiths. I cannot believe that more than two of those stores will still be open in 2030. One bank branch in the town centre has already closed: there are five others which must be vulnerable.
If I go 20 miles down the road to Bridlington, the future has already happened. M&S announced plans to close their store in the town last year: as town centres lose ‘anchor’ stores like this it makes it very difficult for neighbouring shops to survive. Inevitably that makes the town less attractive as a tourist destination, more shops close and the vicious circle intensifies…
So what can seaside towns do?
If, however, I turn left out of my front door instead of the right, 20 miles takes me to Whitby. On a bright, sunny day Whitby is the quintessential English seaside town – when the rain is horizontal off the North Sea it is another matter, mind you…
Last time I went to Whitby – at the end of March – it was heaving. Smart little restaurants were springing up, the town has a specialist gin shop and it was almost impossible to find a parking place. What Whitby does have – which a town like Bridlington lacks – is a very strong identity.
You can tick off the main selling points of Whitby in a sentence. Close to the Moors – Heartbeat – Captain Cook – fishing port – fish and chips – Dracula – Goth festival.
Now clearly, Whitby got lucky when Bram Stoker had Dracula land there as opposed to Scarborough or Bridlington. No-one though wrote about the Goth weekend. It is now held twice a year and – like other small towns having food or literary festivals – it has really established a ‘brand’ for the town.
You’re on your own…
What is clear is that the UK’s seaside towns – whatever the House of Lords say – will get no real help from the government. So they are going to have to act independently: they are also going to have to act quickly. Online shopping is here to stay and the British weather is not going to suddenly replicate Southern Spain. The UK’s seaside towns may currently be on the rocks – but they are not yet out for the count.


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Amazon’s Fire TV is the Amazon Fire of set top boxes. I’m not saying that to sound like an idiot. I’m trying to emphasize how Amazon’s affinity for highly proprietary and basically functional hardware spans categories. The fancy new Fire TV is no exception.
When competition heats up, you can expect somebody to get burned. Today, Amazon absolutely scorched Google and Apple by banning the two companies’ streaming TV products from its marketplace. Amazon says it’s “to avoid customer confusion.”
Amazon just added the last piece necessary to make its Fire TV set-top-box an unstoppable beast: Now it's got HBO Go. (Updated with comment from Amazon and Comcast below.)
Amazon's Fire TV just got some new apps and games, most notably good-Amazon-Prime-Music-alternative Spotify, and season two of Telltale's fantastic Walking Dead game series.
Amazon's Fire TV is a great, speedy, oddly expensive piece of hardware, and so naturally Amazon needs to find something that can make it special. Something that can make use of that controller. And what better console-selling exclusive than...Flappy Bird? Yep.
Amazon debuted its $100 streaming TV box today. It's impressive! It's affordable! And it has a whole bunch of apps. It just doesn't have HBO Go, which is probably the one app that so, so many folks were hoping for. And that could be problematic.


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Vestiaire Collective raises €59m in funding
Vestiaire Collective, the global platform for pre-owned fashion has completed a €59 million round of financing, as it says the COVID-19 crisis is accelerating the shift to circular fashion business models.
Existing shareholders have reinvested in the platform alongside new investors Korelya Capital, which is backed by Korean technology conglomerate Naver, funds managed by Fidelity International, Vaultier7 and Cuir Invest, which is backed by the French Leather industry.
Vestiaire Collective said it had seen deposits and orders "quickly rebound to the pre-COVID 19 baseline or above". The platform has nine million customers and focuses on the re-sale of premium and luxury fashion.
The company said the latest round of fashion would accelerate its international expansion. Currently, over 80% of the French headquartered company’s transactions are already generated cross-border.
It will focus in particular on expansion in the US market and further developing its Direct Shipping model. Launched in Europe in September 2019 the service is increasingly popular with a growing number of customers, the company said.
Currently already over 50% of orders in the EU are fulfilled through Direct Shipping, which is also growing at a rate of +60% month on month. The model will be launched in the United States in early summer followed by Asia before the end of 2020.
Max Bittner, Vestiaire Collective CEO said: “I am personally convinced that this unprecedented period of disruption will not only challenge where we shop but how we shop. Vestiaire Collective was built during the 2008 crisis, and proves today how it can help people in their daily life to make the most out of their belongings, but also to access fashion in a sustainable and conscious way. Everyday, I feel proud and amazed by our global community of fashion activists who are leading the way towards a brighter future”
Paul Degueuse, General Partner of Korelya Capital added: "As we all take a step back and contemplate the way we live, we believe consumption patterns are on the verge of a deep structural evolution, and C2C platforms have a strong role to play here. We see in Vestiaire Collective an emerging leader and catalyst of this upcoming disruption. We are extremely enthusiastic to support Vestiaire Collective and its founders in its expansion. There are tremendous opportunities for growth in Asia, and we look forward to helping the company accelerate its expansion in this part of the globe."
The platform's existing investors who also took part in the funding round include: Eurazeo (Eurazeo Growth & Idinvest Venture funds), Bpifrance, Vitruvian Partners, Conde Nast, Luxury Tech Fund and Vestiaire Collective CEO, Max Bittner.
It was launched in Paris in October 2009 and now has nine million members across 90 countries worldwide with offices in Paris, London, New York, Milan, Berlin and Hong Kong. Over 60,000 new items are submitted by its community of sellers every week.


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John Mack, the former Chief Executive Officer for Morgan Stanley, is taking the plunge into the cryptocurrency world in a big way as he breaks from traditional investment models in order to launch an ICO.
Mack is one of a few traditionalists who is moving with the times, hoping to not be left out in the digital currency cold as it plows astronomically forward. Many in this traditional sphere of investments have been skeptical of what cryptocurrency can offer.
The project that the former investment CEO is hanging his hat on is Omega One, which is, according to Alex Gordon-Brander of Omega One, “the bridge between traditional capital markets and the crypto markets.”
This melding of the traditional aspects of investment with the new and unheralded world of cryptocurrency seems to be a safe baby step towards an institutional adoption of cryptocurrency markets.
Omega will be launching its own ICO, and if Mack’s enthusiasm is to be believed, he will be a huge driving factor in pressing the drive for Omega on the open market.
Mack the Revolutionary
After having followed cryptocurrencies and the cryptocurrency market for several years, Mack believes that a company like Omega One is poised to transform the whole burgeoning industry. In fact, in a recent interview with Bloomberg, he states:
I have been watching and investing in the cryptocurrency market over the last several years, and I find Omega One to be an important next step in the emergence of this new economy.
It is understandable why Mack is looking to a company like Omega One, and backing them, as their purpose seems to be to offer cryptocurrency investment in a similar style as to regular asset investments. By doing so, digital currencies are pushed into the broader public view, and therefore more readily available to investors.
The Introduction of Institutionalized Investors
While Mack joins a list of growing traditional investors, the question has always been: How do these giants of their field make the same impact in a new field where the playing field is essentially leveled? Mack has chosen his backing of Omega as a way to do just that, but there are other methods as well.
Education of the digital currency sphere is what seems to be a huge factor in holding back many investors, who, if they joined, would add a lot of legitimacy to the cryptocurrency world. However, those who are determined enough, are making the splash that they need to.
Does a successful traditional investor getting involved in digital currencies make you more confident of it, or not? Does this new technology need these old-school investors to legitimize it? Let us know in the comments below!
Images courtesy of AP, Omega.one, Wikimedia Commons, Reuters/Mike Seger


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Fueled by consumer demand, Otis Spunkmeyer rolled out its No Funky Stuff platform, removing all artificial colors and flavors, high-fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated oils.
We are an information-driven society that seeks the narrative in all places. Think about how much weight a simple Facebook photo can carry. Not to mention, we’re also a viral society, so one simple image can go a long way — further than any of us could have imagined just 10 years ago — reaching global proportions. That goes not just for images but the words we say as well.
Today, people want the story. And they’ll get one whether you offer it or not — even if they have to write it themselves — so telling the truth has never been more important.
The baked goods you make and sell can no longer speak for themselves; your customers and consumers expect you to speak for them. People want to know where their food comes from, and that applies to anything from the ingredient list to the company’s story.
Just look at Los Angeles-based Otis Spunkmeyer, this month’s plant feature. As it celebrates its 40th anniversary, the iconic cookie brand is also rolling out its No Funky Stuff platform for which it has removed all artificial colors and flavors, high-fructose corn syrup, and partially hydrogenated oils. The two-year journey toward No Funky Stuff foods was one that, at times, felt like an insurmountable task, according to Jonathan Davis, senior vice-president of R&D for ARYZTA, Otis Spunkmeyer’s parent company.
For the cookie company, the commitment was real and one that Mr. Davis took quite seriously, despite the brand’s fun reputation. Now, No Funky Stuff is as much a part of the Otis Spunkmeyer story as its decades-long history that began with the late Ken Rawlings and his daughter Kimberly, who helped name the company when she was just a tween.
Otis Spunkmeyer isn’t the only company keeping it real. Denise Morrison, president and CEO, Campbell Soup Co., Camden, NJ, recently referred to Campbell, which also owns the Pepperidge Farm brand, as “a purpose-driven company” when she addressed investors in July. The company has a new mantra: “Real food that matters for life’s moments.” Transparency is a huge part of that, and consumers can find the proof on Campbell’s websitewww.whatsinmyfood.com.
So, as a bakery manufacturer, what’s in your food? Do your customers and consumers know your story, or are you leaving them to write their own? Blanks cannot be the space where consumers live … face it, it’s time to get real.


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- The Foundry: Conservative Policy News from The Heritage Foundation - http://blog.heritage.org -
Big Labor Ignores Free Trade Proponents
Posted By Conn Carroll On February 20, 2008 @ 2:10 pm In International | Comments Disabled
Upon their return from Colombia, People’s Weekly World  reported that a delegation led by AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez Thompson “met with leaders of the major Colombian labor federations who told them they were opposed” to the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (TPA) because of “the harmful effects the deal would have on Colombian workers.”
What People’s Weekly neglected to mention was that the U.S. labor delegation went out of its way to avoid any encounters with the heads of the many trade unions in Colombia that support the deal . Over 80,000 Colombian workers in export industries like cut flowers, mining, petroleum products, coffee, textiles, sugar, and bananas support free trade with the U.S., but big labor does not want to hear about it.
As Commerce Secretary Carlos Guiterrez pointed out Tuesday , one of the best ways Congress could stimulate the economy is to pass pending free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. Europe and China are currently moving aggressively to increase their share of global trade. Congress needs to stop keeping the U.S. on the sidelines and let us back into the game.
Article printed from The Foundry: Conservative Policy News from The Heritage Foundation: http://blog.heritage.org
URL to article: http://blog.heritage.org/2008/02/20/194/
URLs in this post:
 People’s Weekly World: http://www.pww.org/article/view/12514/
 trade unions in Colombia that support the deal: http://www.heritage.org/Research/LatinAmerica/wm1821.cfm
 pointed out Tuesday: http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0739641220080207
Copyright © 2011 The Heritage Foundation. All rights reserved.


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Here are all of the posts tagged ‘social media’.
Continuing our series of reports on the social, digital and mobile landscapes of hundreds of countries around the world, today we’re very pleased to share a report on countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey.
As always, we begin with a quick update on the latest global figures:
If you’re looking for in-depth numbers on specific countries beyond the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, you may want to check out these previous reports:
The Internet in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey
As in so many other areas of life, internet usage in the Middle East is a story of variety. There’s a huge disparity in terms of access, from almost complete penetration in Kuwait to barely 8% in Iraq:
Interestingly, however, the role of mobile access is still very low in the Middle East, especially when compared to the numbers we saw in last week’s India report:
Given the high rate of internet penetration in Kuwait, as well as that country’s relatively higher adoption rate of mobile internet, we believe that mobile devices will be the key driver of improved internet access throughout the region in coming months, and we’d expect overall numbers to increase significantly in the near future.
Social media continues to grow in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, with many countries showing strong penetration figures:
Meanwhile, Facebook does not release user figures for Syria, although recent evidence suggests that it’s still a powerful platform within the country.
Mobile is a key component of social media usage in the region, with many countries seeing impressive figures for access on the go:
Despite the lower-than-expected numbers for mobile internet adoption, mobile usage in the region is strong and growing, with most countries exceeding the global average:
However, 3G access remains elusive even in the most developed nations, and the vast majority of the region’s population continues to rely on lower-speed connections:
Individual Country Details
You’ll find complete data for 20 of the region’s key economies in our full report:
In the meantime, here are the slides for Turkey to whet your appetite.
Looking for stats for other countries? See our full range of free reports and social media guides here.
It’s been a few months since our Europe report, but today we’re delighted to announce the publication of the latest in our series of studies on the Social, Digital and Mobile landscapes from around the world.
This new report explores 30 countries across North, Central, and South America and The Caribbean, and contains more than 230 slides with all the key statistics, data and behavioural indicators you need to understand The Americas’ digital landscapes.
Here are some of the highlights:
As always, we begin the report with a fresh look at the key global statistics:
It’s worth noting that we’ve changed our data source for Internet users, so there has been a marked changed in the figures reported for this area since our Europe report.
In terms of material changes, there have been some changes in the global social media platform rankings though, with Tencent’s WeChat passing Google+ to take the number 5 spot:
Brands belonging to China’s Tencent now account for three of the top five social media platforms in the world, with Qzone, QQ and WeChat all recording growth in monthly active user (MAU) numbers in the company’s most recent quarterly results.
Facebook showed more modest relative growth since our last report, but still recorded 50 million new active users since February.
Google+’s reported active user numbers grew roughly 14% in the same period, up from 300 million, while LinkedIn posted 16% growth in MAUs.
However, the big growth story is WeChat, which posted 46% growth – almost 125 million new MAUs – since our last update. By comparison, Whatsapp grew just over 11% in the same period, adding 50 million new active users.
It’s also worth noting that more than 200 million people around the world now use Facebook’s standalone Messenger platform, but this does not bring it into the top 10 rankings (yet).
Added together, the populations of The Americas are approaching 1 billion, accounting for 13% of the world’s total population.
The region claims a disproportionate share of the world’s users across all digital areas though, with social media showing particular strength in the region:
Mobile social figures in the region are even stronger still, with one-quarter of all global mobile social media users calling The Americas home.
The Internet in The Americas
There are more than 600 million users across The Americas – 63% of the region’s population – with 60% of these users living in North America:
Internet penetration varies considerably across the region though, from 95% in Canada down to just 12% in Haiti:
Mobile internet usage is growing throughout The Americas too, although mobile’s share of total web traffic varies considerably:
Note that the chart above is based on the share of total web traffic – i.e. page views – as opposed to the number of actual internet users.
Social Media in The Americas
Facebook dominates social media across The Americas, with more than 460 million monthly active users.
As with internet use, though, social media penetration levels vary considerably by country, from 61% in Chile down to just 7% in Haiti:
Note that Facebook does not report user numbers for Cuba.
It’s worth highlighting that the figures for social media penetration in individual countries will often exceed those for internet penetration, especially in fast-evolving markets. There may be a number of reasons for this:
- Social media stats are almost always more up to date than those for internet usage, largely because they are collected by commercial entities on an on-going basis and published at least quarterly to help with advertising sales. In Facebook’s case, the monthly active user figures are available in almost real-time.
- Many reports on internet usage and penetration omit mobile internet usage, meaning many mobile-only users aren’t included in the internet user figures (partly because they’re more difficult to identify). However, in many emerging markets, mobile-only use can account for a significant proportion of internet users (even if slow speeds mean they account for a relatively low share of the overall web traffic). In contrast, people accessing social media through mobile devices will be counted in social media user figures, meaning that social media numbers are often a more accurate indication of actual internet use and penetration in these markets.
- On the other hand, some people may have multiple social media accounts on the same platform, leading to a slight inflation of social media users, although we don’t anticipate this is the main cause for the difference between internet and social media usage numbers.
Mobile social media use is common amongst social networkers throughout The Americas, with more than 80% of social media users logging in via mobile devices:
Perhaps unsurprisingly, penetration levels for mobile social follow similar patterns to those of general social media use, although there are some variations between individual countries:
These numbers are particularly interesting when compared to penetration levels for 3G mobile access, which you’ll find below.
Mobile in The Americas
There are just over 600 million unique mobile users in The Americas, with each user maintaining an average of 1.77 active subscriptions, resulting in more than 1 billion active mobile connections across the region:
Behaviour again varies between individual countries though, with Chile, Argentina, and Brazil all home to subscription rates well in excess their populations:
Mobile subscriptions aren’t all made the same though, and there are some significant differences between individual countries when it comes to pre- and post-paid contracts:
Similarly, access to faster 3G networks isn’t evenly distributed across the region, ranging from a high of 55% in the United States to barely 0.0005% in Cuba:
As a result, access to an affordable, rich mobile internet experience remains elusive for many people across Central and South America, and marketers will need to craft content and distribution plans accordingly.
In addition to the regional overview, the report also features regional breakdowns for North, Central, and South America, as well as The Caribbean:
In addition to these regional snapshots, our Americas report contains detailed reports on 30 countries across The Americas:
To whet your appetite, here are the slides for Brazil:
You can read We Are Social’s full Americas report here. You’ll also find the rest of our Social, Digital and Mobile reports here. If you’d like to make sure you don’t miss any of our future reports, why not sign up for our regular newsletter by clicking here?
We’d like to thank the lovely folks at GlobalWebIndex for allowing us to use their data again in this report.
The social, digital and mobile ecosystem in China is unlike anywhere else on earth.
With a wide variety of home-grown platforms, technologies and behaviours, understanding the Chinese digital landscape can be both daunting and difficult.
Hopefully, our new report will help to demystify things.
Continuing our series of studies into digital trends and developments around the world, our new China report profiles a variety of critical data points, including the penetration rates of different technologies, the top-ranking social platforms, and a wealth of interesting facts and figures on Chinese netizens’ behaviour.
China’s population exceeds 1.36 billion people, with urban areas accounting for more than half of the country’s residents. 51% of the country’s population is male.
China’s 618 million Internet users represent 45% of the country’s population, and account for almost a quarter of the world’s internet users – for reference, here are the latest global stats:
The majority of China’s internet users live in urban areas, with fewer than 1 in 3 living in rural parts of the country.
Beijing (75%), Shanghai (71%) and Guangdong (66%) have the highest Internet penetration of the country’s administrative regions:
Instant messaging (IM) is the most popular online activity in China, with CNNIC quoting in excess of 530 million active users across platforms.
Although QZone claims to have the highest number of active social networking users at 625 million, Weixin (WeChat) and Sina Weibo are the current ‘darlings’ of Chinese social media, with 355 million and 129 million monthly active users respectively:
Brands continue to be highly active on Sina Weibo, contributing to a reported 153% year-on-year growth of Sina Weibo’s advertising revenue in Q4 2013.
In terms of the users themselves, and reflecting a behaviour pattern we see on other social platforms across Asia, China’s micro-bloggers can’t seem to resist checking Weibo immediately after food:
Weixin (WeChat) users are actively using the platform’s various chat features like text and voice voice messaging , as well as its social networking features like ‘Moments’:
It’s worth pointing out that WeChat is now the world’s second biggest active chat app service, and is still growing at a staggering rate:
Roughly half of China’s population now owns a mobile phone, with each user maintaining an average of nearly 2 active SIM subscriptions.
The ubiquity of mobile devices makes them China’s internet tools of choice, with 81% of the country’s netizens accessing the Internet via mobile handsets:
In line with this, mobile shopping and mobile payment services experienced significant growth during 2013:
Online shopping as a whole is hugely important to China’s economy, contributing almost US$300 million in 2013 alone.
Group buying is particularly popular, and was the fastest growing online activity in China, with a robust growth rate of 69% in 2013.
If you need more numbers, be sure to check our full 95-page report above for loads more useful and interesting stats.
We’re delighted to announce the latest in We Are Social’s series of Social, Digital & Mobile Worldwide reports, this time with more than 250 pages of stats and behavioural indicators for 40 countries across Europe.
We featured a number of these countries in our global report just a month ago, but as you’ll see in this new report, many of the data points have already changed.
The critical changes are to the Social Media figures, with many countries seeing increases in monthly active user bases in the past couple of weeks.
The lovely folks at GlobalWebIndex have also given us permission to share figures from their fresh new Wave 12 study, released just last week. This new wave of GWI data brings us up to Q4 2013, and provides a hugely informative perspective on the freshest numbers and behaviours for the region’s biggest economies.
The Global Picture
As we saw in the APAC report, online landscapes never stay the same, so we start this report with another fresh look at the global landscape.
The main difference in this report is the number of active social media users, which has grown by almost 2 million active users since our APAC report just 2 weeks ago:
Internet in Europe
Europe has impressively high levels of internet usage, with 7 countries around the region registering penetration of more than 90%.
Iceland and Norway lead the way, with 95% each.
Penetration in the Ukraine lags the rest of the region by some way, but is still on a par with the global average of 34%.
On a regional basis though, more than two thirds of Europe’s population is now online:
The total number of internet users around the region is also impressive, with Europe now counting more than half a billion people online:
In terms of time spent online, it’s the Eastern side of Europe that leads the way, with internet users in Poland and Russia spending an average of 4.8 hours on the net each day.
Italy leads the way when it comes to mobile internet usage at an average of 2.2 hours per day, while Irish, Spanish and Polish internet users all spend an average of almost 2 hours per day connected via mobile devices:
Social Media in Europe
At the start of 2014, Europe boasts almost 300 million active social media users, accounting for 40% of the region’s population:
However, when it comes to platforms of choice, the social media landscape in Europe is split in two.
Facebook dominates in Western Europe, with 37 countries around the region accounting for a total of 232.2 million active users – roughly 19% of the platform’s total global user base.
To put that in perspective, these countries account for less than 8% of the total world population.
Eastern Europe is still a VKontakte stronghold though, with users in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus accounting for more than 60 million active accounts.
Facebook is present here too, and its user base continues to grow in these countries, but the world’s favourite social network currently only claims 12.4 million monthly active users across these 3 countries combined.
As with internet penetration, Iceland also leads the way in terms of social media penetration, with 70% of the country’s population using Facebook in the past month.
Malta puts in an impressive showing at 58% penetration, with Scandinavian countries rounding out the rest of the top 5:
Time spent on social media continues to account for a large part of overall online activity too, with Italy and Russia – the most ‘socially active’ nations in Europe – spending more than 40% of their connected time on social media:
Meanwhile, mobile social continues to grow in importance around the region, with two thirds of the region’s social media users regularly accessing via mobile devices:
This is still considerably lower than the same proportion in APAC though, and accounts for a penetration rate of barely 26% of the total regional population.
The figures vary considerably between countries, with more than half of the populations of Norway and Iceland connecting to Facebook via a mobile device in the past month:
At 30 million active mobile social users, the UK leads the way in terms of absolute numbers, while Germany, France and Italy all register 20 million active users each:
We’re pleased to include overviews for each of Europe’s sub-regions too, with 7 distinct analyses showing how the online landscape varies across the ‘continent':
Each of these sub-regional analyses provides a top-level picture of key stats, helping marketers to plan multi-market activities with greater ease.
For illustration, here’s the overview for Northern Europe, which covers Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden:
In-Depth Country Analysis
We’ve included an in-depth analysis of the local picture for 40 countries in this report, with a wealth of stats and behavioural indicators for each nation.
In particular, we’re delighted to include data for Spain, which was the most-requested country following our global report a few weeks ago.
You’ll find all the numbers you need for each country in the full SlideShare presentation (as featured at the top of this post), but just to whet your appetite, here are the numbers for Spain:
And there we have it – another bumper collection of online facts and stats.
Do get in touch if you’d like some help making sense of these numbers, or if you’d like us to work with you to turn these insights into an actionable strategy.
Sources for all the above data are listed in the full report. We’d especially like to thank GlobalWebIndex and GSMA Intelligence for their help in providing data for these reports, and for allowing us to publish their valuable data.
The astonishing growth of all things digital continues to gather pace around the world, as We Are Social’s new Social, Digital & Mobile Worldwide report on the key social, digital and mobile stats from around the world demonstrates.
It should come as little surprise that much of this growth is being fuelled by connected mobile devices, but this year’s data do reveal some interesting trends and anomalies, especially in relation to Japan and Korea.
You’ll find the complete story in the SlideShare deck above, but we’ve pulled out some of the highlights below.
Adding up all the users in individual countries around the world, there appear to be around 2.5 billion global internet users today – roughly 35% of the world’s population:
While this represents around 150 million more users than this time last year, these numbers may still be conservative. Reliable, recent data for some countries remains patchy, but the International Communications Union estimates that there are probably closer to 3 billion global internet users, with most of the difference made up by mobile-only connections.
Users are still not distributed evenly either, with some parts of the world still struggling to reach double-digit internet penetration. In particular, Africa, Central and Southern Asia all report relatively low numbers, although it’s worth highlighting that mobile internet users may contribute a significant – yet uncounted – increase in these areas.
With reference to the continued growth in internet penetration, it seems clear that mobile connections will account for the vast majority of new sign-ups in the coming months. As the chart below highlights, the distribution of mobile penetration matches much more closely to the distribution of the world’s population, meaning most people around the world now have a realistic opportunity to access the internet:
The cost of mobile data clearly remains a barrier in much of the remaining world, but as costs continue to fall, and as the benefits continue to increase, it’s likely we’ll see more and more people in the developing world putting increased importance on reliable internet access.
Social channels continued to show strong growth over the past 12 months, with top social networks adding more than 135 million new users in the course of 2013.
This number is slightly misrepresentative of actual growth though, as we’ve decided to focus solely on monthly active user figures to report social media usage in this year’s report. As a result, some numbers may appear lower than they did this time last year (when we used total registered user numbers for some platforms), while the actual growth in active usage may appear smaller than it really was.
Due to the different usage contexts, associated behaviours and opportunities for brands, we’ve also chosen to treat chat apps such as WhatsApp and WeChat separately to social networks in this year’s report.
However, these platforms continue to capture significant interest from users and marketers alike, a trend reflected in their huge active user bases:
It also appears that social media is now an engrained part of the lives of people across different demographic groups. This increased ubiquity may result in some changes to the specific demographic bases of individual platforms, but even if people’s habits are changing, it appears that people are moving from one social platform to another, rather than deserting social media in its entirety.
Despite this increasing ubiquity, though, social media penetration remains unevenly distributed around the world:
As might be expected, mobile is playing an increasingly important part in the social media landscape. Facebook reports that almost three quarters of its 1.2 billion monthly active users around the world access the platform through mobile, while on any given day, almost half of its users are mobile only.
The importance of mobile is mirrored across other platforms too, with Twitter increasingly a mobile-dominated platform, and platforms like WhatsApp, WeChat and Instagram depending entirely on a mobile ecosystem.
Given the above, most marketers have now accepted that mobile devices are people’s most important devices, but the opportunities they offer continue to evolve at a staggering pace.
Connected mobile devices have already outpaced more traditional means of internet access such as laptops and PCs, while smartphone sales now outnumber those of feature phones around the world too.
The number of mobile subscriptions jumped by 173 million in 2013, and the number of active mobile subscriptions around the world now equates to roughly 93% of the world’s population.
Penetration rates are more healthy all over the world too, with two-thirds of Africa’s population now mobile powered. Meanwhile, many regions – including those in the developing world – have penetration levels far in excess of 100%:
Mobile broadband access has exploded around the world in recent months too, and 1.5 billion people now have access to relatively fast internet from their mobile devices:
A Regional View
While the picture in many Western countries has converged, there are a number of areas around the world that maintain their idiosyncrasies. In particular, China and Eastern Europe continue to prefer local social networks, while Africa, Central and South Asia are considerably under-represented when it comes to internet penetration:
The world’s most populous region saw another strong year of growth across all things digital in 2013.
China’s social media giants continue to post strong growth, whether it’s active users on Qzone, or the incredible growth of Weixin (WeChat).
However, both Japan and South Korea have seen some fragmentation of the social media landscape, with chat apps like LINE and Kakaotalk continuing to gain momentum. Neither company releases monthly active user numbers though, so it’s hard to know exactly how these platforms compare to the more traditional networks like Facebook and Twitter.
Interestingly, however, ‘claimed’ usage of social media in both countries differs dramatically from the picture painted by Facebook’s monthly active user numbers, suggesting that Northeast Asia’s netizens may be harnessing a wider variety of platforms.
Facebook continues to lead Twitter in both countries though, and appears to maintain its top spot almost everywhere.
China and countries in Eastern Europe host the few exceptions to Facebook’s global dominance, with Qzone and VKontakte claiming the top spots in a handful of nations.
However, with more than 1 billion monthly active users, it’s safe to say that Facebook will continue to play a central role in the social media landscape in 2014 too.
The Local Picture
We’ve gone into an extra level of detail in this year’s report too, offering insights into the local digital ecosystem across 24 of the world’s biggest economies:
Alongside offering the key digital indicators, we’ve also collated some key behavioural indicators, including time spent on the internet and on social media, as well as the prevalence of important activities on connected mobile devices.
You’ll find all the facts and figures for each country in the complete 180+ page report on SlideShare (as embedded at the top of this post).


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Authorities are searching for two people suspected of shoplifting watches Tuesday from the Kohl's on Shugart Road, according to a Dalton Police Department news release.
Two male suspects were recorded by store surveillance concealing several watches on their person and disposing of the watch boxes. The store's loss prevention staff reported that they also took a shirt. The stolen items totaled $359.95 in value, the release stated.
One of the suspects is white with brownish blond hair and wore a gray Adidas hooded sweatshirt with black sleeves and black Adidas sweat pants with white shoes. The second suspect is white with darker hair and wore a white T-shirt and black sweat pants
Anyone who recognizes the suspects is asked to please contact officer Justin Smith at 706-278-9085, extension 9573 or by email at firstname.lastname@example.org.


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Central Intelligence Agency chief met with sanctioned Russian spies, officials confirm
- Amelia Warner hasn't watched Fifty Shades movies
- ASUS is launching its new dual-camera smartphone lineup at MWC 2018
- LA school shooting: 1 arrested, 1 in critical condition
- What do The Cabinet Files mean for Australia's allies?
- Samsung is now working to make chips specifically designed for cryptocurrency mining
- Jordan Hugill: the imposing target man in talks with West Ham United
- Fox turns lower after locking up Thursday NFL for $3B
- Apple faces a probe from USA authorities over older iPhone performance throttling
- February is Black History Month
- Orca Learns to Say 'Hello'
- Indonesian police in Aceh province cut hair of transgender women
- Man Charged in Five Murders Reportedly Targeted Toronto's Gay Community
- Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett, JPMorgan starting healthcare company


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Emap Active, the recently formed consumer publishing division of
Emap plc, has appointed Vital PR. The account, valued at around six
figures, was awarded after a competitive pitch. Vital worked on a
project basis to officially launch the Active brand last October. The
agency will handle consumer PR for existing titles and new launches.


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August 13, 2014
Metro turns to buybacks to boost earnings per share
Tough times and flat performance force grocer’s actions.
Metro Inc. reported disappointing operational results across the board this morning. Almost all of the major third quarter numbers were either down or flat in real terms. The one increase, in earnings per share, came due to stock buybacks, which divided existing net income among fewer shareholders.
Sales at Metro Inc. for the quarter came in at $3.62 billion, up by 1.4 percent over the same period last year. Same store sales increased by 1.0 percent and net earning were flat. However all of these slight percentage increases were dwarfed by Canada’s inflation rate, which ran at 2.36 percent during the 12 months to June 2014. (Metro’s internal inflation rate on its existing sales base ran at 1.5 percent). The upshot was a decline in tonnage sold during the quarter.
Food inflation on the fresh side
Eric La Fleche the company’s chief executive officer, in a conference call with analysts this morning, attributed the lacklustre sales results, to tough competition in Quebec and Ontario and to higher food prices, notably on the fresh side, which could not be fully passed on to consumers due to fears of “sticker shock.” Meats were particularly affected with many consumers changing buying patterns in the category during the quarter in response to the price increases.
Metro’s results were also hit by a rise in the minimum wage in Ontario and increasing energy prices. The latter are leading consumers to take fewer trips to grocery stores, particularly in rural areas. That said an increasing average basket size is somewhat compensating for the traffic decline. La Fleche lauded Metro’s ability to keep selling, general and administrative expenses, roughly in line as a percentage of sales, given these constraints.
Traffic flows continue to discount stores
La Fleche also noted favourable performance in Metro’s recently acquired Adonis chain, which it will continue to grow at a rate of a couple of stores per year and continuing traffic migration from traditional stores to discount outlets.
La Fleche also commented publicly for the first time on the company’s acquisition of controlling interest in Premiere Moisson, a Quebec-based grocery products producer and distributor. He noted that Metro expects to leverage the strong brand that the Colpron-Fiset family had built up for the Premiere Moisson chain and that it would increase both the chain’s retail base and its offerings in Metro stores.
Financial engineering saves the day
That said, the big story at Metro remains the slick financial jiu jitsu which more than compensated for its sluggish operational results. Like many North American firms, that are struggling to grow earnings in a low-growth economic environment, Metro has been take advantage of cheap interest rates, to buy back its own shares and thus boost net income per share.
The huge stock buyback plan that La Fleche authorized began on September 10th of last year. Between then and August 1, the company bought back 6.64 million common shares, for $424.8 million. This reduction in outstanding shares means that earnings per share increased by 9.4 % during the quarter, compared to the same quarter last year, to $1.63 per share.
La Fleche did not rule out acquisitions to fuel future growth however he noted that none are on the horizon right now. “We are satisfied with our results achieved in an environment that remains challenging” said La Fleche. “We will continue to invest in our network to offer a superior customer experience and to pursue growth.”
· Sales of $3,622.1 million, up 1.4% over last year
· Same-store sales up 1.0%
· Net earnings of $144.5 million, flat versus last year
· Fully diluted net earnings per share of $1.63, up 9.4%
· Declared dividend of $0.30 per share, up 20%
© 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998
Peter Diekmeyer Communications Inc.


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Update (1425 ET): Americans across the country are increasing Googling “meat shortage” as the afternoon progresses following the news of the JBS ransomware attack.
The difference is controlled speech. Rumors of misleading information given into the ag markets in this country can be vetted by the participants and critiqued and refuted. When the Chinese speak, few dare expose misinformation. The ones suffering the damage are those gullible traders who accept Chinese statements as fact and trade on the information.
* * *
Update (1409 ET): Reports continue to trickle out, this time with Bloomberg, JBS, the world’s largest meat supplier, has suspended operations at ten meat plants after a ransomware attack.
* * *
Update (1405 ET): The White House has confirmed JBS, the world’s largest meat supplier, was the victim of a “ransomware” attack over the weekend.
Headlines from Reuters, citing Biden administration officials, who spoke with JBS, indicate “Russia was the source of the attack.” White House officials have talked with the FBI’s cybercrime unit to assess whether the attack, which has shut down JBS’ five biggest beef plants in the U.S., will affect the nation’s supply.
Bloomberg said JBS’ five meat processing plants handle approximately 22,500 cattle per day. The result of halting these plants for an extended period could result in a decline of upwards of a quarter of America’s meat production.
As we noted earlier this morning, slaughter operations in Australia were also affected. Also, Canada’s largest beef plant was idled for a second day.
Readers need to focus on that a quarter of all beef capacity and about a fifth of all pork capacity in the U.S. has been affected due to the ransomware attack.
The timing of the attack comes after a long holiday weekend in the U.S. when tens of millions of Americans buy pounds of meat and have backyard barbeques. Supermarkets usually reload on supply the following week.
“Retailers and beef processors are coming from a long weekend and need to catch up with orders,” Steiner Consulting Group said in its Daily Livestock Report. “If they suddenly get a call saying that product may not deliver tomorrow or this week, it will create very significant challenges in keeping plants in operation and the retail case stocked up.”
Bloomberg points out JBS closed meat processing facilities in Utah, Texas, Wisconsin, and Nebraska and eliminated shifts at Iowa and Colorado shifts on Tuesday.
Visualizing JBS’ U.S. capacity is rather frightening, as this may suggest soaring meat prices and shortages could be next.
In the last month, hackers mounted a ransomware attack spree in crippling supply chains of critical commodity-linked companies. Three weeks ago, Colonial Pipeline Co.’s ransomware attack resulted in shortages, soaring gas prices, and panic hoarding.
What do you think happens here if ransomware issues at JBS aren’t resolved promptly?
* * *
JBS USA, the world’s largest meat supplier, released a statement Sunday evening, saying it was the target of an “organized cybersecurity attack.”
JBS, which has North America headquarters in Greeley, Colorado, said the cyber attack “affected some of the servers supporting its North American and Australian IT systems.”
“The company took immediate action, suspending all affected systems, notifying authorities and activating the company’s global network of IT professionals and third-party experts to resolve the situation,” the statement continued. “The company’s backup servers were not affected, and it is actively working with an Incident Response firm to restore its systems as soon as possible.”
Industry website Beef Central said the attack already impacted two shifts and halted processing at one of Canada’s largest meatpacking plants. Operations at all beef and lamb slaughterhouses in Australia ground to a halt, and some slaughtering and fabrication shifts have also been canceled in the U.S.
It’s still unknown how the attack might impact consumers or if a meat shortage would be sparked. There is still no word on a timeline of when the JBS’ systems will be completely restored.
Earlier in the month, hackers attacked the biggest U.S. gasoline pipeline operator, crippling East Coast energy infrastructure, which resulted in disrupted fuel flows, sending gasoline prices at the pump to multi-year highs. News of the hack led to panic hoarding by concerned folks.
This one-two punch of hacking incidents in the commodity industry shows that nothing is safe.
CATTLE MARKET REPORT AND ANALYSIS
LikeLiked by 1 person


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The Scandinavian organic market, especially in Denmark, Norway and Sweden continues to expand with retailers and industry associations reporting strong growth figures in grocery and fruit and vegetables. Despite Danes becoming more price-conscious during the financial crisis, with sales of basic organic products such as milk, potatoes and carrots falling by 10-20%, sales of Danish organic foods domestically increased by 0.5% in 2012, according to Statistics Denmark.
However, new research points out that the sales of organics among Danish canteens, restaurants and institutions have doubled within the last three years, while exports are booming.
Organic Denmark was well represented in Hall 1 at BioFach 2013 held in Germany, and a major topic in Hall 1 at several pavilions was weak organic standards in some EU countries that has the potential to impact on consumer trust in organics.
Klaus Bentzen, export manager of Organic Denmark’s view was that the horse meat substitution scandal may benefit certified organics, while there are issues with EU organic regulations where organic products are not 100% certified organic and rules developed in the 1970s and 1980s need to be updated.
“I believe fresh products, including organic produce, meat, dairy, cheese, and groceries, should meet 100% certified organic ingredients standards as the only level to maintain consumer trust,” he said. “Only one certifier is allowed to certify organics in Denmark that has helped maintain very strong standards, unlike in some European countries,” Mr Bentzen said.
The outlook for Danish organics is very solid. “Demand from organic customers is growing more rapidly than some companies can supply and French and German consumers are demanding higher quality organic products,” he said. “The growth trend in both countries continues to rise and it’s an opportunity for Denmark, which has been able to open up the French market for its products, while Germany is our strongest market.”
The numbers of exporting companies over the last five years increased by more than 60%. “Exports sales were up 21% in 2012 and we have doubled exports four times in the last six years,” Mr Bentzen said. “We’re aiming for 15% domestic organic consumption by 2020 and consumers are looking for more convenience products in organics and more complex products.”
The sales of organics among catering centres in Denmark has reached almost EUR 134 million. The research comes from the latest reports of the 15 largest food service companies in Denmark, Organic Denmark, an organisation for organic farmers, businesses and consumers in Denmark and Økosalg og Oplysning, an association of Danish organic producers with subsidy by the EU and the Danish Ministry of Agriculture.
Research also indicates that organics are especially popular among canteens and public institutions. Organic sales among catering centres are split up as follows (in per cent): 32% canteens; 33% public institutions; 16% restaurants and hotels; and 20% others. “The sales growth of organics in catering centres means an important step towards more sustainability in this sector. The increasing number of canteens, restaurants and institutions turning organic helps to strengthen the overall organic movement in Denmark and in effect the positive societal outcomes” says Rikke Thorøe Grønning, food service coordinator at Organic Denmark.


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On-device AI growing fast among smartphones
According to the report, on-device AI already powers one third of smartphones. By 2023, the report forecasts, 80% of smartphones will have on-device AI.
“Edge AI computing where AI processing is brought from the cloud to smartphones, is increasing the need for on-device AI solutions,” says Senior Analyst Ville-Petteri Ukonaho. “Advantages of on-device Edge AI computing include lower latency, better data privacy. and overall lower power consumption.”
Ken Hyers, Director at Strategy Analytics, adds, “A smartphone equipped with on-device AI can perform key tasks more efficiently. On-device AI can perform tasks such as taking pictures with sharper images and better videos, improve communication, and better sense surroundings, making smartphones of the future more useful tools for users.”
Physical AI cores make up the majority of on-device AI smartphone volumes, says the firm, with over 95% share of on-device AI processing solutions. These include physical silicon cores like Huawei’s Neural Processing Unit (NPU) and software frameworks like Qualcomm Neural Processing Engine (NPE) that use algorithms to offload AI computation to several processors.
Upcoming technologies such as 5G will greatly benefit from the new capabilities improved by AI and vice versa, the firm says. For more, see the report “Smartphones: Global Artificial Intelligence Technologies Forecast: 2010 to 2023.”
AI replaces smartphone proximity sensors
MediaTek SoC brings AI technology to consumers’ smartphones
AI-enhanced 3D imaging coming to smartphones
AI, cryptocurrencies next wave of semiconductor innovation, says TSMC


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Subaru has moved up the order cutoff date for its 2017 Impreza compact sedan to June 28, as a result of production changes at its assembly plan in Indianapolis, the company has announced.
Fleets interested in ordering the vehicle must submit an order by the end of business on June 27. Subaru is based in Cherry Hill, N.J.
Subaru has also announced pricing for its 2018 Outback and Legacy vehicles.
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Google’s parent company Alphabet has followed up its immense growth in the second quarter of this year with yet another quarter of exceptional financial results.
Beating Wall Street expectations almost across the board, the tech giant saw revenues of $65.12 billion USD over the past three months, with earnings per share at $27.99 USD. Advertising, in general, performed particularly well, seeing a 43% increase to $53.13 billion USD from $37.1 billion USD the same period last year, $7.20 billion USD of which came from YouTube ad revenue alone. Google’s cloud division also saw immense growth, recording a 45% climb to now $4.99 billion USD while narrowing operating loss down from $1.21 billion USD to $644 million USD.
Despite great results, Google’s chief business officer Philipp Schindler also remarked that there’s still a lack of certainty when it comes to market recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. “We continue to see a lot of unevenness,” he said in reference to markets from different countries. “It’s clear that uncertainty is the new normal.” Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat also revealed that the company’s headcount grew by 6,000 over Q3 and will continue to expand in the coming quarter. The company’s stock price surged by 58% this year alone.
Elsewhere in tech, Jeff Bezos has unveiled plans for Blue Origin to build a commercial space station in the future.
Source: Read Full Article


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Sales of personalised number plates raked in £111million last year with the most expensive JSK1 going for more than £56,000
- The DVLA began selling personalised number plates in 1990 to generate income
- In the last 25 years it has made a staggering £2billion selling them at auctions
- This year one Mercedes driver forked out £56,000 for the number plate 'JSK 1'
Sales of personalised number plates raked in a staggering £111million last year - with a driver splashing out more than £56,000 on one.
The DVLA has made £2billion in the last 25 years after putting the plates up for sale at auction.
And the agency was able to generate £250,000 by selling the five most expensive plates of the year in the last 12 months.
More and more Brits are purchasing personalised number plates (pictured, the car of Pimlico Plumbers, Charlie Mullins)
The number plate 'JSK 1' was bought by a Mercedes owner for £56,200 at the Cheltenham Chase Hotel auction in May.
Two number plates which featured the letter 'O' were second and third on the list of the most lucrative plates sold by the agency, reports The Sun.
Most expensive plates in 2017
JSK 1 - £56,200
96 O - £52,500
45 O - £51,000
812 S - £45,500
1 HSV £41,500
One plate, '96 O', went for £52,500 at the Cambridge Belfry Hotel in September, while '45 O' sold for £51,000 at Mercedes Benz World in July.
The '812 S' plate sold for £45,500 and '1 HSV' was bought for £41,500 at the Cheltenham auction.
The most expensive plate ever sold in the UK was '1 25 O' after it was bought for £518,480 in November 2014. It is now worth an eye-watering £750,000.
Meanwhile, the asking price for the plate 'F 1' is now more than £10million after it was sold for £440,625 in January 2008.
One motorist forked out £7,324,207 for the number plate '1 D 5 AED 33m' in Dubai in 2016 - making it the most expensive plate in the world.
The DVLA began selling personalised plates in 1990, with the amount sold rising steadily each year from around 70,000 in 1995 to the huge total today.
The DVLA has made £2billion in the last 25 years after putting the plates up for sale at auction
PEN 15 BUT NOT VA61 ANA: THE PLATES BANNED BY THE DVLA
As with anything that can be personalised, there are bound to be controversial choices made by drivers over their special number plates.
And the DVLA has put its foot down to prevent some potentially offensive plates appearing out in the real world.
From the obscene to the obscure, an official 46-page report shows that people can drive a PEN 15, but VA61 ANA is inappropriate.
The full list of 'suppressed' car registration plates reveals that the DVLA has attempted to censor some religious references, such as JE55 US, AL14 LAH and 15 LAM.
But people can drive a car with a licence plate that reads 'PEN 15', pictured
However, KR15 HNA and M014 MED have both slipped through the net, with the first selling for £233,000 and the latter expected to fetch more than £100,000 when it goes up for sale.
Plates related to alcohol are also banned, including AL60 HOL, AL60 POP and SL05 HED.
More vulgar terms are also banned, with potential plates including PU15 SSY, UP15 BUM and SH15 TTY all outlawed by the licensing agency.
But less expected banned plates include MA55 MDR, OM63 WTF and OS55 AMA.
The list emerged after a man with the surname Islam applied to the DVLA for an 15LAM plate, but was told it was 'inappropriate'.
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Spain Sees Widest Inflation Gap With Germany in Euro HistoryAngeline Benoit
Inflation in Germany, the guardian of price stability in the euro region, is outstripping that of Spain by the widest margin since the creation of the single currency.
Spanish consumer prices rose 0.5 percent from a year ago in September compared with a 1.6 percent increase in Germany, the bloc’s largest economy, according to the EU-harmonized price gauge. The 1.1 percentage-point difference exceeded the 1 point spread that opened between the indexes in June 2009, during the first wave of the global financial crisis.
Under pressure from the European Union, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has introduced the deepest austerity measures in Spain’s democratic history since coming to power in 2011, and brought in measures to help lower wages in a bid to balance its current account and narrow the budget deficit. Slower inflation in Spain may help correct the imbalances that strained the currency union, forcing the European Central Bank to intervene with its July 2012 pledge to backstop governments.
The euro region’s fourth-largest economy has contracted for eight straight quarters.
“Spain is now the good student after years of letting inflation loose,” said Ludovic Subran, chief economist at Euler Hermes, a Paris-based credit insurer. “The question is whether Spain’s adjustment will continue long enough to get it into the Franco-German league.”
The EU measure of inflation in Spain last year jumped to 3.5 percent in September from 2.7 percent in August after Rajoy raised the main rate of sales tax by 3 percentage points to 21 percent. Retail sales fell 4.2 percent from a year ago in August, continuing the pattern of annual declines each month since June 2010, INE said today in a separate release.


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Time Journal may have Ether (ETH) on its steadiness sheet for the primary time as a part of a cope with crypto funding agency Galaxy Digital to coach its readers in regards to the Metaverse.
The 98-year-old publication introduced on Thursday, November 18, that it has partnered with the crypto firm to discover the metaverse and educate and have interaction as many individuals as doable in regards to the rising know-how.
Mike Novogratz, CEO and founding father of Galaxy Digital, spoke in regards to the growth and stated: “Over the following ten years, the Metaverse will develop into an more and more necessary a part of the worldwide economic system; our bodily and digital realities are already troublesome to differentiate. We stay up for partnering with Time, an iconic model that drives innovation as we search to deliver readers, creators and the curious into the metaverse and demystify the large transformation that’s happening inside. “
The favored New York-based journal will publish a weekly publication targeted on Metaverse, compile a Time 100 firm checklist for Metaverse-related corporations, and have academic sources in a brand new part of its publication, and digital house as a class in. contains its annual checklist of the 100 Most Influential Individuals within the World.
Galaxy Digital will provide its experience to elucidate the metaverse and its potential utilizing, for instance, the insights of Galaxy Interactive Common Companions Richard Kim and Sam Englebardt.
The checklist will spotlight corporations with the best influence within the metaverse house, a few of which can embrace blockchain corporations whereas others might provide options to make experiences within the metaverse extra profitable, impactful, or accessible to companies and shoppers.
Time Journal stated the deal was the primary of its type amongst media corporations. Though the monetary phrases weren’t disclosed, Time firm representatives introduced that the deal would run for about six months.
Other than that, Time journal talked about that the partnership with Galaxy was digitally dealt with by way of Ether (ETH), which the media firm needs to maintain on its steadiness sheet. The publication has been working since April Bitcoin as a part of its partnership with the crypto funding agency Grayscale.
The rise of the metaverse
Touted as a greater model of the web, the Metaverse gives a digital world for immersive experiences the place individuals all around the world can meet, watch, play and commerce.
As Blockchain.Information reported on the finish of October, curiosity in Metaverse elevated after Fb introduced a reputation change to “Meta Platforms Inc.”. The social media large has withdrawn its former title “Fb” as a result of it believes it’s only a single product. “Meta”, the prefix of the phrase “Metaverse”, contains the idea of shared digital worlds and communities, which is the branding that Fb is attempting to seize.
Microsoft Inc. can be engaged on the Metaverse. Mesh for Crew, a digital workspace, was just lately launched.
Because of this, different massive companies are additionally shifting their focus within the subsequent iteration of the Web.
Galaxy Digital seems to be targeted on increasing into the metaverse. In October, the corporate raised a $ 325 million fundraising spherical aimed toward digital ventures.
Picture supply: Shutterstock


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Facebook is reportedly developing a dedicated camera app to allow its 1.6 billion users to create and share images and videos. The development, which is still in early stages, could be an attempt to increase user engagement on its site amid reports of declining social interaction.
The Wall Street Journal suggested that the app would look similar to photo sharing app Snapchat and would also include livestreaming capabilities.
Facebook could be aiming to reverse the “increasingly passive behavior” of its users. Rumors of its dedicated camera app follow Facebook's recent addition of emojis to its online platform, which provide a wider range of reactions to shared content on its site.
Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg has previously confessed his interest in livestreaming and desire to push the social platform into a more video-oriented direction. This may be an early step toward this.
Would you be interested in a dedicated Facebook camera app? Would that encourage you to post to Facebook more often? Let us know in the comments.


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Congratulations to Holly Borgmann, Vice President of Government Affairs at ADT, for being named Vice Chair of Enterprise Florida! Chaired by Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, Enterprise Florida is a public-private partnership between Florida’s business and government leaders. The organization’s mission is to expand and diversify the state’s economy through job creation.
2020 New Product of the Year Award? ✔ Thanks, Security Today 😎
We are so excited to announce that Blue by ADT, the recently introduced DIY smart home security brand from ADT, is expanding its product lineup to offer fully customizable DIY smart home security solutions. Our innovative suite of smart home security products provides build-as-you-go flexibility to fit each customer's unique security needs.
This week, ADT and Google begin a new, long-term partnership to create the next generation of smart home security solutions that help people protect and connect to what matters most. Read more about ADT + Google on the ADT Newsroom.
ADT is proud to be D.R. Horton's premier provider of smart home security and automation services. New D.R. Horton homes will be delivered ADT security-ready!
Succeeding as a team working remotely comes down to open, constant communication and building trust. Hear from ADT unit manager Nayeshah Glover about what she's done to ensure her team stays as productive, engaged, and collaborative at home as they were in the office.
Congrats to Tom Nakatani, IT VP of Customer Monitoring Technology for ADT, for being elected as the new President of the Partnership for Priority Verified Alarm Response (PPVAR). “I am honored to take on the role of PPVAR President and to work with the distinguished and influential group of industry thought leaders, Public Safety leaders, and key partners on our Board of Directors,” Nakatani said.
Listen up here's a story...we're thrilled to be partnering with music group Eiffel 65 to turn the world BLUE! For its marketing campaign debut, Blue by ADT leaned into nostalgia and partnered with the iconic ’90s music group to remix their 1998 hit “Blue (Da Ba Dee)” as the brand’s new anthem. The anthem is part of the upcoming campaign to launch the full Blue by ADT DIY security system, which will be introduced in August 2020. Take a look at one of our newest spots below. If the song isn’t already stuck in your head, it will be!
Today, ADT Commercial – a premier provider of commercial security, fire, life safety and risk consulting services and the commercial channel of ADT – announced it is joining forces with Dollar Tree Inc. to help provide protection to the majority of Dollar Tree and Family Dollar retail locations nationwide, including equipment, service enhancements and 24/7 remote support from ADT.
We are proud to be partnering with Instacart to provide our mobile safety solution, Safe by ADT, to the delivery company’s 500,000 shoppers through an in-app safety feature beginning this month. The Safe by ADT platform will power Instacart’s new safety and emergency response feature, allowing shoppers to quickly and discreetly signal for help anytime they may feel unsafe. “ADT is eager to work alongside Instacart as it quickly grows and provides more ways to help keep its shoppers and customers safe with tech-based solutions like Safe by ADT,” said Leah Page, Vice President, Mobile Security & Strategic Projects at ADT. “At ADT, we believe everyone has the right to feel safe, and companies like Instacart that institute solutions like Safe by ADT are helping to create safer working experiences for hundreds of thousands of Americans.”


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The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 remains to be the phablet of choice for those who want to score a device with massive screen with stylus, but not for long because Samsung itself already confirmed the arrival of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 this year.
Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Release
At this point, all signs point to a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 release in the second half of 2014, more specifically sometime this fall.
A couple of weeks ago, the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 release has been heavily rumoured. According to IT Today, the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 release will likely happen this year. In January, a Samsung executive announced that the Samsung Galaxy S5 will be for spring and the Galaxy Note 4 for fall.
Water and Dust Resistance
Rumours say that the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 4 will at least have one feature in common. IT Today reported that the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 will also feature an IP67 certification, which means that the phablet will be dust-proof and water-resistant, similar to the Galaxy S5. Another rumour suggests that the Galaxy Note 4 will sport a Galaxy S5-ish fingerprint sensor.
Thus far, apart from the aforementioned, rumours about the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 remain scarce. However, according to a Bloomberg report, Samsung is prepping to put three-sided display on the Galaxy Note 4 to improve better viewing angles on the phablet.
Other rumours suggest that the South Korean tech giant is also trying to incorporate QHD display this year, but since the Galaxy S5 went with a full HD 1,080p display instead, the Galaxy Note 4 might be the first Samsung device to sport the QHD display this year.
Thus far, although these rumours are credible given the 2014 plans of Samsung, consumers must take these rumours with a grain of salt. Essentially, at this point, the only thing that is likely is that the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 release will be this fall and everything else might change as the release date approaches.


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Photo: Hutchison Ports
Hutchison Ports has signed a formal agreement with the Ports of Stockholm to run the new Swedish container terminal.
The facility is still under construction, and is located 60 km south of the Swedish capital in Nynäshamn. It will have 450 m of quay with a depth of 16.5 m alongside when it opens in 2020. The future expansion will lift Norvik's capacity from planned 300,000 to 450,000 TEU per year.
Hutchison Ports has been operating the Container Terminal Frihamnen in central Stockholm since 2009. The existing terminal will be redeveloped by the Ports of Stockholm for residential purposes once the new facility opens.
“We are delighted to complete the formal agreement to operate at Stockholm Norvik Port. The new facility will be the nearest container terminal to the Greater Stockholm area which generates 45% of Swedish GDP. As the only deep-water container facility on the East Coast of Sweden, Norvik Port will deliver both economic and environmental benefits by reducing overland transport, bringing ships and cargo closer to the country’s largest market,” Clemence Cheng, Managing Director of Hutchison Ports Europe, said.
Johan Castwall, Ports of Stockholm's Managing Director, added; "Our cooperation with Hutchison Ports, the world’s leading container terminal operator, is a very important step to make sure that Stockholm Norvik Port will be one of the leading container ports in the Baltic. Together we are creating the best sustainable conditions for transportation of goods to and from the region."


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Samsung has recently planned to postpone the One UI 5 beta program for the China market which was scheduled for August 23, 2022. Apart from the new One UI version the company is also rolling out the current month’s patch updates for its select Galaxy devices.
Now, according to the information, the Galaxy S10e, the Note 10, the Galaxy A7 from 2018, and the Galaxy S5 Neo from 2015 have also started receiving security patch updates in the Netherlands.
August 2022 Security Updates: Galaxy S10e, Note 10
Samsung has started rolling out the August 2022 security patch updates for the Galaxy S10e and Note 10 Plus users. The latest update is rolling out with the firmware version G970FXXSGHVH2 and N97*FXXU8HVGA respectively.
In addition to the August patch, the changelog also reports that “the overall stability of your device has been improved “.
Samsung older models Galaxy S5 Neo and A7 (2018) grabbed July 2022 Patch:
After the S10e and Note 10+, the company has also pushed out the July 2022 security patch updates for the Galaxy A7 and Galaxy S5 Neo. Both the devices are grabbing the month-old patch with the firmware versions A750FNXXU5CVG2 and G903FXXU2BVG3 respectively.
In addition, the update also includes the stability improvements that many other Galaxy devices have recently received. The S5 Neo also got the same GPS fix that we also saw on the Galaxy S7 and S8 last week.


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Google continues to expand into the world of IoT, and an easy way to do that is to use Google Assistant on more devices, giving users virtually the ability to control everything manually.
The company he said that Google Assistant will work with refrigerators and air coolers if of course the developers add such features to their devices.
If for too many it sounds very nice to control them smart devices with voice, is not something that can be done immediately, as Google has been trying to expand in this area for quite some time. According to 9to5Google, the company already has Google Assistant on some smart refrigerators, so today's announcement is no surprise.
Google says Google Assistant will be able to control all kinds of features provided by refrigerators, such as turning them on or off, turning on a specific function, and adjusting the temperature.
As for air coolers, the Google Assistant will be able to control the fan speed, humidity and temperature settings, but also to turn the device on or off.
Today's announcement shows that the IoT world is evolving very fast and that technologies such as digital assistants are further enhancing the experience of devices entering our homes. Sure, there is still a lot that can be done on this issue, especially from Google, which is trying to make Google Assistant one of the top choices for those who build smart devices.


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Kiwis with a passion for building projects are set to maximise their purchases at PlaceMakers stores, thanks to a new-look loyalty programme and partnership with fuel discount giant AA Smartfuel. Cardholders can accumulate 20 cents per litre off fuel for every $100 spend or get a 10% instant in-store discount .
The partnership signals a step-change for New Zealand’s largest building material and hardware supplier as the former Know How Card makes way for Know How Rewards, a faster, easier and more rewarding loyalty programme for the 200,000+ -strong customer base across 58 stores nationwide. All current Know How Card customers will be automatically transferred to the new Know How Rewards programme.
AA Smartfuel has 2.5million registered cardholders with over 1 million active users each month, earning $100 million in fuel savings each year.
For every $100 (inclusive of GST) or more spent in a PlaceMakers store, Know How Rewards members can choose either 10% off their purchase or accumulate 20c off per litre of fuel. Rewards can be accessed instantly.
Bruce McEwen, PlaceMakers General Manager, said the opportunity to create a streamlined and engaging programme that offers a choice of high-value rewards sets PlaceMakers apart as the ‘go to’ DIY retailer for Kiwis wanting to make their money work harder.
“We are thrilled to be on board with AA Smartfuel as part of our new Know How Rewards programme, and it couldn’t be simpler for our customers to take advantage of the excellent discounts available,” said Mr McEwen. ”They can still take up instore promotions as well so shopping at PlaceMakers will be better value than ever.”
PlaceMakers customers simply sign up free instore or online for the Know How Rewards programme.
AA Smartfuel Director Ian Sutcliffe is excited to add PlaceMakers to the line up of partners and expects customers to reap the benefits from the new partnership.
“Adding PlaceMakers to our programme gives everyday Kiwis who love getting stuck in to their projects around the house another reason to stack- up fuel discounts as a reward option – it’s a smart choice.”
The new Know How Rewards website provides a dashboard for members to track their discounts as well as extra information on the programme https://knowhowrewards.placemakers.co.nz .