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Brick Flower Shop News
A Flower Display in Burlington Honored the COVID-19 Dead - Seven DaysWednesday, March 31, 2021
Burlington's Church Street caused passersby to pause, pull out their smartphones and take photos on Monday. Orange roses and fuchsia phalaenopsis orchids had been placed on the bricks in the shape of a heart. Dozens more roses surrounded the heart and extended down the pedestrian walkway. Each represented one of the more than 200 Vermonters who have died from COVID-19 since the disease struck the state nearly a year ago. "It often feels like we're just talking about numbers and tallies," said creator Jayson Munn, a florist who mainly works weddings and other events. "I thought this was a great opportunity to do it in the public square." Burlington was one of about 80 cities nationwide that hosted an art installation as part of the Floral Heart Project. Created by New York City-based artist Kristina Libby, the idea was to designate March 1 as a national day of mourning to publicly grieve those "lost to and suffering from COVID-19." As of Tuesday, more than 515,000 Americans have died. Munn said one woman he talked to had lost her husband to the disease. She told him that visiting the flower memorial had been the first time she'd publicly grieved his death; both she and Munn "started bawling," he said. He gave her a rose. "It was a really touching, touching moment," Munn said. Daniel "D.J." Boyd of Wilmington was walking down Church Street when he saw a crowd by the display and thought, Gee, only in Burlington do you see a bunch of roses in the street and everyone just walking around taking pictures. Boyd walked over himself and read the sign that Munn had erected explaining the display, "and it just struck me," he said. His uncles, twins Leon and Cleon Boyd, had died of COVID-19 early last April, just six days apart. "It's amazing," Boyd said of the display. "It's a good gesture. It puts it into perspective, you know?" Boyd walked over to Munn and told him he'd l... https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/a-flower-display-in-burlington-honored-the-covid-19-dead/Content?oid=32450871
4 local, women-owned flower and plant shops to check out right now - NEXTpittsburghWednesday, March 31, 2021
Eleven Mile Farm just outside of Pittsburgh, she offers socially distanced workshops in the great outdoors that help other women find their creative voice.While Dickson searches for a permanent brick-and-mortar location, she’s getting back to her roots by orchestrating pop-up floral installations throughout the city. She fills garbage cans with spring blooms and beautifies street lamps with colorful vines.“I love the power color and nature have to really shift someone’s mindset,” she says. “I do these pop-ups just to brighten the spirits of the community in a time when it’s really needed.”Photo courtesy of Perrico Plant Co.Perrico Plant Co., 158 41st St. (pick up only), LawrencevilleAbi Falcioni’s business caters to those who might describe themselves as plant killers.She opened Perrico Plant Co. in 2018 to help gardening novices make their thumbs a little greener. Turns out, her online-only business model is perfect for this pandemic world.Falcioni offers her products at sidewalk shops and pop-up sites around town, but customers can also order through the website, pick up items at her Lawrenceville warehouse or have their leafy goods delivered anywhere in the contiguous U.S.“Obviously, this has been a very useful structure in the last year with social distancing and the rise of curbside pickup,” she says. “I opened the warehouse in Lawrenceville in February 2020 so I could expand my business to include wholesale, which has allowed me to meet some other wonderful plant sellers in the tri-state area and has been such a fun opportunity to connect with other small business owners.”Falcioni specializes in hearty plants for beginners, pet-friendly varieties and hard-to-find herbage for expert enthusiasts. Shoppers also can get locally made plant stands, trellises and pottery (she’ll even put your new ficus or philodendron in one if you’d like).Check out Perrico’s YouTube page for tutorials and behind-the-scenes peeks at her plant lady life. ... https://nextpittsburgh.com/city-design/4-local-women-owned-flower-and-plant-shops-to-check-out-right-now/
Grow Plant Shop's First Brick-and-Mortar to Open Saturday - Fort Worth MagazineWednesday, March 31, 2021
It's the final week in the Airstream for Magnolia Avenue plant shop Grow.
That's because, on Saturday, Grow will be celebrating the grand opening of its new digs — the shop's first-ever brick-and-mortar location at 4800 Camp Bowie Blvd.
In a social media announcement, Grow stated that it would forgo a grand opening party due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Only six customers will be allowed in the shop at a time, and any overflow will need to wait outside, six feet apart. Masks are also required.
Still, it's a welcome change for the plant shop that built a loyal following on Magnolia, thanks to its eye-catching, chrome Airstream, parked on the lawn next to Maggie's R&R and stocked to the brim with an ample selection of shrubs, succulents, and other greenery. Owners Emily and Bobby Lynge always saw the Airstream as temporary, however, and during the pandemic, were able to make the move to the space once occupied by The Enchanted Florist on Camp Bowie.
The Magnolia Avenue Airstream will be open until Thursday. On Saturday, the Camp Bowie space will be open from 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Colorado Springs entrepreneur brings flowers and charm to Old Colorado City with Sweetwater: A Flower Market - Colorado Springs GazetteWednesday, March 31, 2021
Cline bought a building at 2419 W. Colorado Ave. in Old Colorado City for the brick-and-mortar business, where she felt the market would fit in with the historic vibe while growing the neighborhood.Cline, 52, created Sweetwater because she wanted to share her experience with a southern charm mercantile store in Nashville with the Colorado Springs community.“It was something about being there, the country, the music, the people,” she said. “It somehow got into my heart and inspired me to bring this to Colorado Springs, where we don’t have flower trucks, and we don’t really have interactive flower markets.”Cline wants Sweetwater to be a place where people can go and have a unique experience. Part of the shop is dedicated to bouquets, and customers are also welcome to pick stems to create their own bouquets. The other half of the store features mercantile products, including everything from linens and soaps to charcuterie boards and candles.The most unique part of the store, Cline said, is its flower trucks.The business’s first truck is a 1969 Volkswagen bus flatbed. The truck will make deliveries, travel to events, and share the joy of flowers with the surrounding community.“You can come and pick your stems like you would pick your fruit, and we’ll wrap it up for you,” Cline said. “You can take home this beautiful bouquet that you designed yourself.”Flowers have always been a significant aspect of Cline’s life. She took a floriculture class in high school and always keeps a full vase on her kitchen table.“The joy of receiving flowers is something that’s always made me feel great,” she said. “Even though they don’t last forever, the gift of receiving them, creating them, growing them, is amazing.”That same joy is what drives Sweetwater’s vision: to... https://gazette.com/cheyenneedition/colorado-springs-entrepreneur-brings-flowers-and-charm-to-old-colorado-city-with-sweetwater-a-flower/article_7dbaedde-77a5-11eb-8fe3-1b45ec1a2d2e.html
Small Business Spotlight: E. Stephen Hein - www.smileypete.comSunday, February 28, 2021
With abundant natural light and exposed interior brick walls, the space is full of charm – and flowers, of course. Hein’s selection of flesh blooms range from anemone, delphinium and freesia to calla lilies, pink Tabledance lilies and gerbera daisies, with dahlias, irises and tulips in between.
“I could go on,” Hein said. Small bulb gardens – landscaped with moss and decorated by hand by Hein with miniature garden critters – are popular with his customers this time of year, as the flowers can be planted during the summer and will come back every year.
Almost all his lilies come from Little Miami Flower Co., a wholesaler near Cincinnati.
“We buy a lot from the local wholesalers,” Hein said. “I try to do most of it pretty locally.”
When he opened shop in 1987, he was asked to handle floral arrangements for such charitable events as the Lexington Ball, the Steeplechase Ball in Cincinnati and Beaux Arts Krewe Ball in Birmingham. In more recent years, his work has been seen at the annual Fabby Abbey Ball, a benefit for KET held at Spindletop Hall.
Hein first came to Lexington in 1961 from his home state of Indiana. While attending Evansville College (before it became the University of Evansville) in the late ’50s, he got an offer to become an ice skating instructor in Terre Haute, Indiana. Then he was hired by Crystal Ice Palace, located in Lexington’s new Gardenside Shopping Center, in 1961. The developers of the center, Pierson-Trapp Co., operated the outdoor skating facility in winter and had a swim club called Cabana Club during the summertime, both of which closed around 1964.
Those same developers invited Hein to join as a managing partner in the Villager Gift Shop, he said. For several years, Hein ran the retail store: a bridal registry shop with gifts, antiques, an art gallery and framing department. The Villager Gift Shop was advertised in national magazines like House & Garden and House Beautiful, and gave Hein his first experience buying beautiful silk flowers, which had become available to the gift market “just after the horrible episode of awful plastic flowers for homes,” he recalled. By the time he changed the name of the shop to E. Stephen Hein, Inc., customers were coming in requesting silk flower arrangements en masse.
“I had to do an arrangement like I knew what I was doing,” Hein said with a laugh, recalling his early foray into floral arranging.
Over the next two decades, the gift shop in Gardenside closed and Hein became involved with a couple of other businesses and jobs, including a stint at W.P. Pemberton & Sons Greenhouses.
“I didn’t know what was going on with that shop, but I thought I wouldn’t mind going in to learn the flower shop business,” he said. It turned out that they were looking for a manager. Building off his experience with silk flower arrangements, he soon learned how to work with natural flowers and plants, and in 1987, he lef... https://smileypete.com/community/small-business-spotlight-e-stephen-hein/
N.J. communities mourn those lost to COVID-19 with flowers and memories - NJ.comWednesday, March 31, 2021
Nearly a year after New Jersey’s first reported case of the coronavirus, Garden State residents gathered at locations across the state to take part in a national day of mourning to remember the loved ones lost to COVID-19.On Monday, residents who lost friends and family to COVID-19 gathered in Passaic City, Roselle and Union to lay flowers arranged as hearts and to remember those who succumbed to the virus, including the first firefighter in the state to die from the coronavirus and a Passaic EMT.At each location, including a Passaic fire station and Anthony E. Russo Park in Union, family and friends eulogized their loved ones and laid a flower for them, said Amanda Elisca, the florist who coordinated the events across the state.The effort is part of the Floral Hearts Project, a nationwide initiative pushing for an official national day of morning for those lost to COVID-19, said Elisca. As of Tuesday morning, there were more than 100 hearts laid out across the country, she said.But for Elisca, the push t... https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2021/03/nj-communities-mourn-those-lost-to-covid-19-with-flowers-and-memories.html
Plant parents, rejoice! PlantShed, a trendy plant and coffee shop, opens in Englewood - NorthJersey.comSunday, February 28, 2021
Hide Caption Four City Brewing in Orange VideoRoger Apollon Jr. of Four City Brewing in Orange discusses the lack of diversity in New Jersey's craft brewing industry.NorthJersey.comIf quarantine has inspired in you a newfound passion for houseplants, you're in luck.PlantShed, a combination plant and coffee shop, just opened in Englewood. PlantShed also has three locations in New York City, but this is the first in New Jersey.The shop is a hipster plant-lover's dream. It's bursting with lush green plants of every creed — potted, hanging, flowered, prickly, frond. Among the shelves of plants for sale are kitschy pots, notebook, oil diffusers and other house accessories. Story continues below the galleryA cafe was installed among the greenery offering fresh-brewed coffee, tea and small pastries. Step up to the marble countertop and pick from a menu that includes macchiatos ($3.75), matcha ($4.25), and freddo espresso (a Greek-style frothed espresso over ice, $4.50). And no modern cafe, including PlantShed, would be complete without an array of non-dairy "milk" options — almond, coconut, oat, hemp and macadamia.The muffins, cookies and other small bites are brought in from NYC... https://www.northjersey.com/story/life/food/2020/08/10/plantshed-nyc-based-plant-and-coffee-shop-opens-englewood-nj/3330644001/
NJ Florist Gets Back to Business with Flower Delivery and Classes as New Jersey Reopens - TAPinto.netSunday, February 28, 2021
TAPintoTV’s original series, HomeGrown, spoke with Anna Coy, Florist and Owner of Blooms in Hand, about life during the COVID-19 lockdown and how her business has rebounded now that New Jersey has started reopening.Blooms in Hand is a full-service floral studio in Verona. While they are primarily a subscription service, delivering bouquets weekly, bi-weekly or monthly, they also host classes, workshops and service special events and weddings. “I’ve always had an interest in gardening and floral work,” said Coy, who worked with a florist in Philadelphia for over a decade learning the business, before she moved to New Jersey and starting her own business here. Sign Up for TAPintoTV NewsletterOur newsletter delivers the local news that you can trust.You have successfully signed up for the TAPinto TAPintoTV Newsletter.The COVID-19 outbreak and the closures it brought were difficult times. “I had a breakdown. I definitely did some sobbing,” Coy said. Her calendar for the spring had been loaded with events. “To have all of that gone in an instant was really kind of hard.” Once New Jersey began its Restart and Recovery Program, Coy waited until it was safe and deliveries could be ma... https://www.tapinto.net/sections/tapintotv/articles/nj-florist-gets-back-to-business-with-flower-delivery-and-classes-as-new-jersey-reopens
Imlay Florist celebrates 180 years as a family owned business in local community - Y-City NewsSunday, February 28, 2021
Dave Imlay, his wife, Katie Imlay and dedicated staff work to fulfill a large number of bouquets and arrangements.Originally started as a nursery in New Concord by William Smith Imlay in 1841, the New Jersey native slowly grew his business before relocating to Putnam Avenue and opening a greenhouse.William’s son, John Dillion Imlay, would get cut flowers out of his father’s greenhouse and peddle them downtown on his bicycle to sell.Eventually, the young entrepreneur was able to grow the business enough that he was able to rent a small space out of a drug store located at the corner of Market Street and North 5th Street where the Pollock Apartments stand today.John was then able to save up the money needed to purchase a one-room building along the same block of 5th Street to house his expanding business.In 1906, the structure was razed and replaced with the current three-story building that the flower shop still operates out of today.According to Katie, the Imlay family takes great pride in having served the community for so many generations.Her husband, Dave, worked alongside his parents from a very early age learning the interworkings of the business and except for a short stint away employed as a wholesaler for the industry, has worked at the flower shop his entire life.Katie added that Dave often tells fond memories of his childhood when he would go to the greenhouses, which were located where the South Zanesville Walmart is now, and spend time wi... https://ycitynews.com/20606/events/imlay-florist-celebrates-180-years-as-a-family-owned-business-in-local-community/


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Filinvest Land Enters Joint Venture for Flexible Workplaces with KMC
Published on 5/24/2023 by BusinessWorld
FILINVEST Land, Inc. (FLI) said on Tuesday that it had entered into a joint venture agreement with KMC Community, Inc. to establish and operate flexible workplace facilities.
“By entering into the joint venture agreement, FLI can leverage the expertise and experience of KMC in the flexible co-working space industry,” the company said in a regulatory filing.
It added that the partnership with KMC would be able to increase its brand awareness in the co-working space industry and “be able to reach new markets and expand its operations to multiple locations.”
Under the agreement, FLI will develop, manage, operate, and maintain flexible workplaces that offer private serviced office seats and co-working seats within commercial buildings.
The company said the move was prompted by the rapidly growing demand for co-working spaces.
“This growth is being driven by a number of factors, including the rise of remote work, increasing popularity for multiple office venues, and the growing demand for more conducive work environment,” it added.
FLI will invest P100 million in the joint venture company and will subscribe to about 70% of its authorized capital stock, while KMC will own the remaining 30%.
FLI said that before the execution of the agreement, it “already caused the incorporation of the new company, which shall be the entity that will be utilized by the parties in implementing” the joint venture. It said that profit sharing between the two companies will be based on equity interest participation in the joint venture company.
KMC will be appointed to manage the business under the terms and conditions set by the two companies. The company is a unit of KMC Solutions, a provider of flexible private and co-working office spaces.
FLI shares closed unchanged at P0.74 apiece on Tuesday.

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It's been a great week for prefab enthusiasts — with news from LivingHomes, KitHAUS, and Blu Homes — but there's still more. Recently, developers at Kootenay Lake Village completed this LVL prefab near Nelson, British Columbia. The new home has double insulated walls, high grade energy efficient windows, low-flow bathroom fixtures, and a green roof, just to name a few of its green features.
Yesterday, LivingHomes announced that this modern prefab in Newport Beach received LEED Platinum certification. Designed by KieranTimberlake, the KTLH1.5 model home was a showcase for TED 2009 and features stylish, contemporary interiors from Kristin Kilmer Design. Steve Glenn, CEO of LivingHomes, said the home “uses far less energy, water, and materials resources than most homes and … has far better indoor air quality.”
Blu Homes continues to dominate the green prefab world. Today the company announced the relaunch of Glidehouse, a gorgeous home originally made famous by Michelle Kaufmann. Glidehouse will be available nationally and built in Blu’s own factory using the company’s proprietary steel and wood framing system. The new Glidehouse retains all of the signature features of the old design and can be purchased for $360,000+.
KitHAUS, a California-based prefab company, recently introduced a tiny new design called the Kpod. The 117 square-foot structure is made with bolt-together aluminum framing, SIPs, dual-glazed windows, cement board siding, and either a wood or steel clad sliding barn door. KitHAUS specially designed a solar power and HVAC system for the Kpod, though solar is not included in the sub-$20,000 price tag. Perfect for shedworking, Kpod is ideal as a backyard studio, workout space, or something similar.
Clayton Homes turned the prefab world upside down last year when it announced the i-house, a modern, green prefab with an approachable price tag. I-house has been insanely popular and installed in various locations. And it turns out that the company is nearing the release of a new version of green prefab, i-house 2.0, which will have an enhanced front entry, warm and natural exterior materials, and more interior space to accommodate families.
This is a modern home office that was designed and prefabricated by five design-build students in a graduate architecture class at Academy of Art University in San Francisco. The project, built with various reclaimed and green materials, was recognized recently with a Citation from the East Bay chapter of the AIA.


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Making money by giving it away: that is part of the plan for the largest corporate sponsors at the All-Star Game in St. Louis this year.
State Farm, Bank of America, Pepsi and other sponsors have increased the money they plan to give to charities at this year’s event. For each hit in the game, Bank of America will donate $5,000 to Feeding America, which runs a national network of food banks. State Farm expects to exceed the $370,000 it gave to the Boys and Girls Clubs at the Home Run Derby it sponsored last year. Pepsi helped pay for a free concert by Sheryl Crow on Saturday that raised money for Stand Up to Cancer, a research group.
The strategy is in keeping with the times. Unemployment is up, incomes are down and conspicuous consumption is out. The last thing Major League Baseball or sponsors want is to appear insensitive to the economic challenges that many fans face.
The companies also want to deflect criticism of corporate spending on sports, which has become a symbol of the excess of the past decade. Increased scrutiny from politicians, shareholders and consumers has tempered spending on luxury suites, hospitality tents and event sponsorships.Continue reading the main story
This is particularly true at Bank of America, General Motors and other companies that have taken taxpayer money to stay afloat. For them, the task is even tougher: how to seem altruistic yet frugal while spending millions of dollars to increase sales.
“We’ve cut our promotions hugely, and we’re trying in the few activities that we remain in to make sure we get a return on our investments,” said Ed Peper, the vice president for Chevrolet at General Motors North America, which sponsors the Roberto Clemente Award, honoring the top humanitarian on each team.
“We sell cars and trucks, and we need to sell them to help repay the money we borrowed,” Peper said.
Incorporating philanthropy into corporate marketing messages at sporting events is not new. Teams of all stripes have favorite charities that they promote and give to. The N.F.L. has had a long relationship with the United Way. Baseball and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America have worked together for years. But few sporting events showcase corporate giving as well as the All-Star Game. Baseball is woven into the fabric of many communities and is perceived as a wholesome and less commercial sport.
The All-Star Game, in mid-July, is one of the few events competing for viewers’ attention, so companies have a better chance of having their philanthropic efforts noticed.
“It is on a broadcast network, it’s prime time, it draws a relatively large audience and it draws a lot of attention leading up to it and has a bit of an afterlife,” said Eric Wright, the vice president for research and development at Joyce Julius & Associates, a sports market-research firm.
In concert with baseball, companies are expanding their giving this year. MasterCard will give $1 million to Stand Up to Cancer if a batter hits one of the Hit it Here signs in the outfield during the Home Run Derby or the All-Star Game. In the past, the money went to a fan chosen in a sweepstakes.
As it did last year, State Farm will donate $17,000 to the Boys and Girls Clubs for each gold ball hit for a home run during the derby. It will also donate $5,000 for each home run hit with regular white balls this year, which should help the company increase its total donation to $500,000.
“Charities like the Boys and Girls Clubs are facing tighter times, so this is a great way to help their fund-raising,” said Mark Gibson, the assistant vice president for advertising at State Farm.
Bank of America will match donations that fans make to Feeding America during the All-Star Game, up to $100,000.
Sports marketing experts say that although charitable giving is a solid strategy, some messages can be lost on viewers if the philanthropy is seen as a one-time effort or a blatant attempt to drum up sales.
“There’s a cacophony of ribbons out there,” said Carol Cone, the chairwoman of Cone Inc., which advises companies about cause marketing. “If there’s not enough below that ribbon, it becomes wallpaper.”
The companies and baseball are careful to note that their giving during the All-Star Game is part of broader, year-round efforts not just to help charities, but also to improve their bottom lines.
For every dollar it spent on sponsoring baseball games, General Motors said, it generated about $5 in sales. About 200,000 people have visited the league’s Web site to take part in a program that gives fans tickets and merchandise based on how often they stay at Holiday Inn hotels. Bank of America said that for every dollar it spent at sporting events, it generated $3 in net income.
“I can completely understand the cynicism and understand the questions about philanthropy and investments in sports,” said Ray Bednar, who is in charge of global sponsorship marketing at Bank of America. “But we make money at this, and that’s the most important message to get out.”Continue reading the main story


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The Athlete's Foot Stores' recent bankruptcy filing is not expected to have a material impact on the shoe retailer's securitization backed by franchise fee revenues, sources familiar with the situation said. However, analysts at Moody's Investors Service are not taking any risks, and have placed the bonds on review for a possible downgrade.
The $30 million single-tranche 4.2-year offering came out of the gate with a rating of Baa3' from Moody's in Sept. 2003. The franchise operator announced that it would voluntarily liquidate roughly 120 of its more than 700 stores last month. All 120 stores are owned by a single franchisee, according to published reports. Of those 120 stores, 20 are responsible for the majority of the franchise royalties, said Robert D'Loren, president and CEO of UCC Capital Markets, the placement agent on the private securitization. "It is expected that those 20 stores will be converted to individually owned franchise stores," D'Loren said.


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You can more - Fotolia
Fujitsu has taken further steps to de-risk the move to as a Service for those partners that are still adapting their business models.
The firm has been adapting its managed service partner support levels over the last 18 months and has responded to a clear demand for more help for those in the channel that have traditionally been based around selling hardware through a capex model.
The latest innovation from the vendor is to team up with Cyxtera to provide Nutanix Enterprise Cloud on PRIMERGY as a service, making it possible for a partner to offer collocation services without having to invest in the hardware upfront.
Resellers will get access to the CXD platform, which is operated by Cyxtera, removing the need for partners to invest any capital in hardware, software, network and data centre infrastructure.
There are significant number of customers that are looking for public cloud like features on a private cloud or in a colo environment and Leigh Schvartz, head of product innovation strategy at Fujitsu UK&I said that its own research from earlier this summer had indicated the majority of customers were operating with a hybrid infrastructure.
“We have stepped up out models and offerings and in the feedback from the channel they definitely see demand in the customer base. But there are challenges for some partners that have been selling hardware and for those that are having to change their compensation models,” he said.
“With this offering it can be consumed on a per month basis so they can pay-as-you-go and there is no risk,” he added.
Graham Bromham, head of cloud & managed service provider sales at Fujitsu, said that the partnership with Cyxtera would start operating out of a UK datacentre but would be extended to Amsterdam and Frankfurt locations soon.
He added that it had started reaching out to MSPs in May last year on a recruitment drive but the door remained opened to those channel partners that would be attracted by its latest offering: “We would like to use this as an opportunity to work with service providers”.
“We have spent a lot of time over the last 18 months developing the ecosystem and have been looking at the breath of partners and running co-creation events to drive joint thinking and co-creation of opportunities,” he said.
Fujistu is also encouraging its existing resellers to increase their as a service options because they are able to exploit current customer relationships.
“Customers want to work more closely with existing partners and want to work more with embedded partners,” said Bromham.
“Fujitsu PRIMERGY on Cyxtera’s on-demand data centre platform provides channel partners a cost-effective way to service customers who lack capital budget for infrastructure build-out,” said Tina Gravel, vp, channel sales for Cyxtera. “It also enables partners to facilitate cloud-first initiatives with flexible, dedicated infrastructure in Cyxtera’s secure data centres.”
Added to recent moves by HPE to offer its entire portfolio as a service by 2022 it is becoming clear that vendors are starting to move in that direction.


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The rocket engine, named Dhawan-1 in honour of Indian rocket scientist Satish Dhawan, has been developed using 3D printing technology and is fuelled by liquefied natural gas and liquid oxygen—a high-performance, low-cost and clean rocket fuel, the company said.
“This is a completely ‘Made-in-India' cryogenic engine developed using 3D printing with a superalloy, reducing manufacturing time by more than 95%,” said Pawan Kumar Chandana, cofounder and chief executive at Skyroot Aerospace. “This test makes us one of the very few companies in the world to have successfully demonstrated this technology.”
Cryogenic engines are given the name due to the use of propellants that are stored at cryogenic temperatures of less than negative 150 degrees Celsius.
With this milestone, Skyroot has demonstrated all the three propulsion technologies that will be used in its first series of small satellite launch vehicles, it said. In December last year, the company successfully test fired its Kalam-5 solid propulsion rocket engine, a larger version of which will be used to power the lower stages of its Vikram rocket.
Skyroot is backed by the promoters of renewable energy firm Greenko Group, explosives manufacturer and ISRO supplier Solar Industries and Curefit founder Mukesh Bansal.
The company is looking to develop and manufacture rockets that will hurl small satellites into space at an extremely low cost and with quick turnaround times. Apart from 3D printing to manufacture the rocket engines, Skyroot plans to use carbon composites to develop the rocket case, a material that’s lighter than steel, yet stronger.
Skyroot also plans to be able to fire its rockets off portable launchers, something that will offer a lot of flexibility to firms that partner with it.
In September this year, the company became the first space tech firm to formally enter into an agreement with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to utilise its facilities and get access to its expertise for testing and qualification of its small satellite launch vehicles, the first launch of which is scheduled for 2022. Skyroot was a finalist in the Top Innovator category of the 2021 edition of The Economic Times Startup Awards.
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Final Fantasy 16: Another rating as likely release date reveal
Final Fantasy 16 Gets Another Rating as Release Date Announcement Rumors Grow.
Gematsu has reported that Final Fantasy 16 received a rating in Brazil, marking the action-RPG’s second rating this month. Earlier in November, a Square Enix newsletter revealed that Final Fantasy 16 would have a provisional rating of 18+. The Brazilian rating, however, recommends a 16+ rating for the game, which is lower than the European rating.
Final Fantasy XVI has been rated in Brazil: https://t.co/KlUEeEHRUK
Release date announcement and new trailer due out by the end of 2022: https://t.co/bs1NEUZ0jW
Pre-orders rumored to open on December 7 or 8: https://t.co/LVKvKgCuqj
— Gematsu (@gematsu) November 30, 2022
This news comes after several recent interviews with game producer Naoki Yoshida and director Hiroshi Takai. Takai mentioned that Final Fantasy 16 is about 95% complete and that a demo is being developed. Yoshida also hinted that a release date announcement might come before the end of the year.
For those keeping an eye on upcoming gaming events, The Game Awards is scheduled for next week on Thursday, December 8, in Los Angeles. As the last significant gaming event of 2022, it could be an ideal platform for revealing Final Fantasy 16’s release date.
Earlier this month, Insider Gaming (opens in new tab) claimed that pre-orders for Final Fantasy 16 would begin in December, either on the 7th or 8th. If this information is accurate, pre-orders might coincide with a release date announcement at The Game Awards. Considering Yoshida’s previous statements, there is reason to believe that an announcement could be on the horizon.


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Hyderabad: SVKM’s NMIMS Hyderabad, signed an MoU with T-Hub. The MoU is in line with NMIMS’ industry outreach and partnership programme with a view to fostering innovation and leadership in the startup ecosystem.
The partnership will provide students with industry exposure in case studies, capstone projects, research papers, mentorship, and developing a better understanding of startup dynamics. Furthermore, the T-Hub will provide industry assistance in curriculum building, particularly in fostering innovation, entrepreneurship, and in other allied areas.
Speaking about this collaboration, Dr Tapan Kumar Panda, director, NMIMS Hyderabad said, “We have always reached out to experts from various industries in order to gain insight and ensure that our curriculum remains relevant and highly applicable in the real world. This partnership with T-Hub gives us an opportunity to work with entrepreneurs and change makers across various sectors.”
“T-Hub’s pioneering efforts to create a synergy between multiple stakeholders in the startup world is commendable and will provide our students with a valuable understanding of realities on the ground. The learnings from these interactions will ensure that our students are industry-ready,” he added.
The main objectives of the MoU are to further the outreach of NMIMS long-term and short-term programmes, including its management development programmes, co-creating certificate programmes for startups/entrepreneurs/corporates, and to facilitate faculty/trainers exchange between T-HUB and NMIMS Hyderabad campus.
Ravi Narayan, CEO of T-Hub, further added, “Our association with NMIMS will be immensely valuable in the exchange of knowledge and expertise. We hope that NMIMS and T-hub can enter a symbiotic partnership and together, we can create an enriching startup and business ecosystem.”


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The 22nd annual Burger Run will take place in Vista from 8 a.m. 1 p.m. Jan. 10 at Pepper Tree Frosty.
This is one of the biggest car shows in Vista. Last year there were more than 400 classic cars and hot rods. They are expecting more than 500 this year. The trophies are handmade and each one unique. Come see these beautiful cars and have some lunch at an iconic Vista restaurant.
For directions or more information, contact Joe Free at (760) 744-3340
The Coast News has been delivering high-quality news, community voice and storytelling since its inception in 1987. Since then, the news organization has grown into a successful newsgroup covering a majority of San Diego’s populous North County region.


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RSA, the country's biggest insurer, said 2012 got off to a "solid start" driven by good demand for household and pet insurance in the UK and strong sales in emerging markets, particularly Latin America.
It said first-quarter, net written premiums rose by 5 per cent from the previous year to £2.2bn with all regions delivering good growth.
RSA, which owns the More Than brand, said it was in the final stages of negotiation to provide home and pet insurance to John Lewis and Waitrose customers in the UK.
The chief executive Simon Lee said: "For the full year, we remain confident of delivering good premium growth and a combined operating ratio for the group of better than 95 per cent."
The life insurer Legal & General also said 2012 started well with overall sales flat for the first three months at £434m, despite a marked slowdown in savings sales as UK consumers tightened their belts.Reuse content


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With the Covid-19 pandemic sweeping nations and economies off their feet, no industry has been left untouched. Despite people working and spending more time at home, and ordering more things online, the postal industry has still been hit – both in a positive and negative way. Parcel2Go experts look at the ins and the outs of how posts are coping now, and what the industry’s plans are to future-proof the sector in general.
Will the upsurge in demand for online shopping and parcel delivery remain?
The postal industry has been changed forever thanks to the pandemic. With over 83% of posts having to adopt new solutions and approaches to their offerings, there has been an exponential shift within the sector.
Ashley Taylor, head of commercial at parcel delivery comparison website Parcel2Go, commented, “A major trend we have seen is a noticeable uptick in customers wanting their items collected from home as opposed to going to their local store to drop their parcels off. We also encouraged this by offering discounts with some collection products to assist our customers. We also worked with some of our partners to offer new collection products to deal with the new demand.
“Since the Covid-19 pandemic Parcel2Go has seen an incredible surge in demand. As consumers have been homebound, there has been a surge in online purchases via retailers and marketplaces, as well as people sending items to loved ones. As a result, more people and SMEs have been looking for shipping solutions which met their needs. As Parcel2Go offers access to nearly all major UK couriers, we’ve seen over 10,000 new customers a week come to Parcel2Go to access courier services via our website. Couple this with an increase in items being shipped via our existing customers, we’ve seen 400,000 parcels a week being shipped through the comparison website.”
What technology and data analytics have helped?
Innovative tech and analytics can help postal services determine how busy they can expect to be, help to reduce overall running costs and also give them the ability to expand revenue opportunities. If for example, couriers don’t offer certain services such as click and collect or collect from home, by looking at the data and introducing new technology to their operations, they will be able to not only expand, but also see how often these services are being used and how successful they are.
What does the future of the postal industry look like?
With new services in place, data being used to determine busy periods and the expansion of many postal and courier services, Parcel2Go head of marketing Larisha McGurty discussed what the future might look like: “As lockdown restrictions are reduced further in the coming months and customers start to make a return to high street shops, we expect the demand for online purchases to remain high. The Covid-19 pandemic turned parcel delivery into an essential service and ensured the experience was a safe one for those receiving deliveries, while it also highlighted to the public the array of items that can be delivered to your door with great ease and efficiency.
“In the current climate, customers feel safe shopping online and it is likely that these habits, whether it is buying essentials, treating yourself or even buying a gift for a relative, will continue for the foreseeable future. Even when the public starts to venture back to normality with a trip out to the shops, we expect the positive online shopping experiences during this period to encourage more online purchases than before the lockdown period.”
With so many Covid-19 changes looking to stay put, will the future of the postal and courier industry continue to push forward on an upward trajectory?


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|By PR Newswire||
|February 10, 2014 10:15 AM EST||
LONDON, Feb. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportbuyer.com just published a new market research report:
U.S. Wavelength Services Market Forecasts, 2013
This research study covers the U.S. market for wavelength services through the period 2012 to 2017. The analysis in the study is segmented by retail (sales to enterprises) versus wholesale (sales to service providers) revenues; and percentage breakouts of revenues by native versus Ethernet over Waves speeds.
The wavelength services market is expected to witness higher single digit growth rates throughout the forecast period, due to exponential bandwidth demand from wholesale and retail customers. Ethernet over Waves (EoW) has provided the much needed push for the wavelength services market, with almost all service providers that were interviewed for the study confirming that the majority of their sales in the past year has been for EoW circuit versus native or transparent waves.
Key research finding of this research are as follows:
•Native wavelength services revenue is expected to decline throughout the forecast period, as the market shifts to EoW services. This is true for wholesale and retail markets, but the decline is faster on the retail side.
•Demand for X Gbps speed is declining rapidly as the bandwidth requirements are surpassing XG andXG speeds.XG remains the most predominantly used transparent waves service in the market today. XG continues to struggle with market acceptance as customers want to make the leap to XG directly.
•EoW market revenues are expected to witness double digit growth throughout the forecast period. 1 GigE revenues are expected to decline as CSPs are increasingly offering GigE speeds over layer 2 switched Ethernet services.
• GE is the new 1 GigE, with a majority of the new provisioned EoW circuits being X GE.
• GE is gaining traction, but growth has been slow. CSPs report that interest in XGE has picked up due to pricing concerns associated with 100 GE. While the market waited for XG service to make the leap, the pricing of 100GE circuits available today is higher than the market expectation. Customers expected to payX to X times the 10x10G price, but the 100GE circuits cost X to X times a 10x10G implementation.
•Most CSPs have deployed 100G in their backbone network, and have also announced XGE service; however, no sales forXGE have been reported. Most customer requests are still in the RFP stage, hence the low estimates for XGE service. This is expected to change in the next couple of years, with market revenues steadily increasing.
•Wavelength services, as defined in this study, include all native wave service speeds— XGbps,XGbps andX Gbps, and Ethernet over Waves (EoW) service speeds—1 GigE,X GE, XGE andXGE. Traditional wavelength services entail unprotected connections between two locations. But wavelengths can also be protected and can be built for geographic redundancy.
•Most service providers in the U.S. market offer transparent wave services, where the service is protocol independent, allowing customers to run any protocol over the waves. Some of the protocols that are typically run on native wavelength services are Enterprise Systems Connections (ESCON), Fiber Connection (FICON), Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI), Fiber Channel, Digital Video, and Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET) OC-48 & OC-192 protocols. However, some service providers do categorize their wave services into different products, depending on the application that is being run on the waves. For example, AT&T offers a wave service called FiberMAN, which is sold to customers looking to run Fiber Channel protocol for storage area networking.
Research Scope & Methodology
•This research study covers the U.S. market for wavelength services through the period 2012 to 2017. The analysis in the study is segmented by retail (sales to enterprises) versus wholesale (sales to service providers) revenues; and percentage breakouts of revenues by native versus Ethernet over Waves speeds.
•Frost & Sullivan conducted detailed primary interviews with leading communications service providers, analyzed their quarterly and annual reports, and utilized internal databases to perform detailed revenue analysis on the wavelength services market. The revenue estimates for leading service providers were sent to individual companies for feedback, and any responses were further analyzed and compared to our forecast model. The resulting revenue market size reflects a sum total of our estimates for individual companies.
Total Wavelength Services Forecasts
The total wavelength services market revenues were close to $X billion in 2012, largely due to the growth in EoW services adoption in the retail market.
Retail market revenues are growing faster than wholesale due to a surge in EoW services adoption among enterprises.
Total Wavelength Services Forecasts – Wholesale Market
Growing demand for EoW services is contributing to higher single digits growth in wholesale service revenues.
Table Of Contents
Executive Summary 6
Market Definitions & Scope 9
Total Market Forecasts
Total Wavelength Services Market: Revenue Forecast, U.S., 2012–2017 12
Total Wavelength Services Market: Revenue Split by Retail vs. Wholesale (U.S.), 2012–2017 13
Total Wavelength Services Market: Wholesale Market Forecasts (U.S.), 2012–2017 14
Total Wavelength Services Market: Wholesale Revenue Split by Metro vs. Long Haul (U.S.), 2012–2017 15
Total Wavelength Services Market: Retail Market Forecasts (U.S.), 2012–2017 16
Total Wavelength Services Market: Retail Revenue Split by Metro vs. Long Haul (U.S.), 2012–2017 17
Total Wavelength Services Market Shares (U.S.), 2012 18
Wholesale Wavelength Services Market Forecasts
Market Trends 20
Wholesale Wavelength Services Market: Total Revenue Forecast, U.S., 2012–2017 21
Wholesale Wavelength Services Market: Revenue Split by Native vs. EoW, U.S., 2012–2017 22
Wholesale Wavelength Services Market: Native Waves Revenue Forecast, U.S., 2012–2017 23
Wholesale Native Wavelength Services Market: Revenue Split by Port Speeds U.S., 2012–2017 24
Wholesale Native Wavelength Services Market: 2.5 Gbps Revenue Forecast, U.S., 2012–2017 25
Wholesale Native Wavelength Services Market: 10 Gbps Revenue Forecast, U.S., 2012–2017 26
Wholesale Native Wavelength Services Market: 40 Gbps Revenue Forecast, U.S., 2012–2017 27
Wholesale EoW Services Market: Total Revenue Forecast, U.S., 2012–2017 28
Wholesale EoW Services Market: Revenue Split by Port Speeds U.S., 2012–2017 29
Wholesale EoW Wavelength Services Market: 1 GigE Revenue Forecast, U.S., 2012–2017 30
Wholesale EoW Services Market: 10GE Revenue Forecast, U.S., 2012–2017 31
Wholesale EoW Services Market: 40 GE Revenue Forecast, U.S., 2012–2017 32
Wholesale EoW Services Market: 100 GE Revenue Forecast, U.S., 2012–2017 33
Wholesale Wavelength Services Market: Total Market Shares (U.S.), 2012 34
Wholesale Wavelength Services Market: Native Waves Market Shares (U.S.), 2012 35
Wholesale Wavelength Services Market: EoW Services Market Shares (U.S.), 2012 36
Retail Wavelength Services Market Forecasts
Market Trends 38
Retail Wavelength Services Market: Total Revenue Forecast, U.S., 2012–2017 39
Retail Wavelength Services Market: Revenue Split by Native vs. EoW, U.S., 2012–2017 40
Retail Wavelength Services Market: Native Waves Revenue Forecast, U.S., 2012–2017 41
Retail Native Wavelength Services Market: Revenue Split by Port Speeds U.S., 2012–2017 42
Retail Native Wavelength Services Market: 2.5 Gbps Revenue Forecast, U.S., 2012–2017 43
Retail Native Wavelength Services Market: 10 Gbps Revenue Forecast, U.S., 2012–2017 44
Retail EoW Services Market: Total Revenue Forecast, U.S., 2012–2017 45
Retail EoW Services Market: Revenue Split by Port Speeds U.S., 2012–2017 46
Retail EoW Wavelength Services Market: 1 GigE Revenue Forecast, U.S., 2012–2017 47
Retail EoW Services Market: 10GE Revenue Forecast, U.S., 2012–2017 48
Retail EoW Services Market: 40 GE Revenue Forecast, U.S., 2012–2017 49
Retail EoW Services Market: 100 GE Revenue Forecast, U.S., 2012–2017 50
Retail Wavelength Services Market: Total Market Shares (U.S.), 2012 51
Retail Wavelength Services Market: Native Waves Market Shares (U.S.), 2012 52
Retail Wavelength Services Market: EoW Services Market Shares (U.S.), 2012 53
Read the full report:
U.S. Wavelength Services Market Forecasts, 2013
For more information:
Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44 208 816 85 48
SYS-CON Events announced today that G2G3 will exhibit at SYS-CON's @DevOpsSummit Silicon Valley, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Based on a collective appreciation for user experience, design, and technology, G2G3 is uniquely qualified and motivated to redefine how organizations and people engage in an increasingly digital world.
Aug. 31, 2015 11:00 PM EDT Reads: 498
Any Ops team trying to support a company in today’s cloud-connected world knows that a new way of thinking is required – one just as dramatic than the shift from Ops to DevOps. The diversity of modern operations requires teams to focus their impact on breadth vs. depth. In his session at DevOps Summit, Adam Serediuk, Director of Operations at xMatters, Inc., will discuss the strategic requirements of evolving from Ops to DevOps, and why modern Operations has begun leveraging the “NoOps” approa...
Aug. 31, 2015 10:30 PM EDT Reads: 395
Too often with compelling new technologies market participants become overly enamored with that attractiveness of the technology and neglect underlying business drivers. This tendency, what some call the “newest shiny object syndrome,” is understandable given that virtually all of us are heavily engaged in technology. But it is also mistaken. Without concrete business cases driving its deployment, IoT, like many other technologies before it, will fade into obscurity.
Aug. 31, 2015 09:00 PM EDT Reads: 363
Organizations from small to large are increasingly adopting cloud solutions to deliver essential business services at a much lower cost. According to cyber security experts, the frequency and severity of cyber-attacks are on the rise, causing alarm to businesses and customers across a variety of industries. To defend against exploits like these, a company must adopt a comprehensive security defense strategy that is designed for their business. In 2015, organizations such as United Airlines, Sony...
Aug. 31, 2015 07:15 PM EDT Reads: 479
The Internet of Things is in the early stages of mainstream deployment but it promises to unlock value and rapidly transform how organizations manage, operationalize, and monetize their assets. IoT is a complex structure of hardware, sensors, applications, analytics and devices that need to be able to communicate geographically and across all functions. Once the data is collected from numerous endpoints, the challenge then becomes converting it into actionable insight.
Aug. 31, 2015 07:00 PM EDT
Puppet Labs has announced the next major update to its flagship product: Puppet Enterprise 2015.2. This release includes new features providing DevOps teams with clarity, simplicity and additional management capabilities, including an all-new user interface, an interactive graph for visualizing infrastructure code, a new unified agent and broader infrastructure support.
Aug. 31, 2015 06:30 PM EDT Reads: 521
Consumer IoT applications provide data about the user that just doesn’t exist in traditional PC or mobile web applications. This rich data, or “context,” enables the highly personalized consumer experiences that characterize many consumer IoT apps. This same data is also providing brands with unprecedented insight into how their connected products are being used, while, at the same time, powering highly targeted engagement and marketing opportunities. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Nathan Trel...
Aug. 31, 2015 06:00 PM EDT Reads: 243
Amazon and Google have built software-defined data centers (SDDCs) that deliver massively scalable services with great efficiency. Yet, building SDDCs has proven to be a near impossibility for ‘normal’ companies without hyper-scale resources. In his session at 17th Cloud Expo, David Cauthron, founder and chief executive officer of Nimboxx, will discuss the evolution of virtualization (hardware, application, memory, storage) and how commodity / open source hyper converged infrastructure (HCI) so...
Aug. 31, 2015 04:45 PM EDT
In their Live Hack” presentation at 17th Cloud Expo, Stephen Coty and Paul Fletcher, Chief Security Evangelists at Alert Logic, will provide the audience with a chance to see a live demonstration of the common tools cyber attackers use to attack cloud and traditional IT systems. This “Live Hack” uses open source attack tools that are free and available for download by anybody. Attendees will learn where to find and how to operate these tools for the purpose of testing their own IT infrastructu...
Aug. 31, 2015 04:30 PM EDT Reads: 455
The web app is agile. The REST API is agile. The testing and planning are agile. But alas, data infrastructures certainly are not. Once an application matures, changing the shape or indexing scheme of data often forces at best a top down planning exercise and at worst includes schema changes that force downtime. The time has come for a new approach that fundamentally advances the agility of distributed data infrastructures. Come learn about a new solution to the problems faced by software organ...
Aug. 31, 2015 04:30 PM EDT
With the Apple Watch making its way onto wrists all over the world, it’s only a matter of time before it becomes a staple in the workplace. In fact, Forrester reported that 68 percent of technology and business decision-makers characterize wearables as a top priority for 2015. Recognizing their business value early on, FinancialForce.com was the first to bring ERP to wearables, helping streamline communication across front and back office functions. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Kevin Roberts...
Aug. 31, 2015 03:15 PM EDT
IBM’s Blue Box Cloud, powered by OpenStack, is now available in any of IBM’s globally integrated cloud data centers running SoftLayer infrastructure. Less than 90 days after its acquisition of Blue Box, IBM has integrated its Blue Box Cloud Dedicated private-cloud-as-a-service into its broader portfolio of OpenStack® based solutions. The announcement, made today at the OpenStack Silicon Valley event, further highlights IBM’s continued support to deliver OpenStack solutions across all cloud depl...
Aug. 31, 2015 03:00 PM EDT Reads: 248
Red Hat is investing in Tesora, the number one contributor to OpenStack Trove Database as a Service (DBaaS) also ranked among the top 20 companies contributing to OpenStack overall. Tesora, the company bringing OpenStack Trove Database as a Service (DBaaS) to the enterprise, has announced that Red Hat and others have invested in the company as a part of Tesora's latest funding round. The funding agreement expands on the ongoing collaboration between Tesora and Red Hat, which dates back to Febr...
Aug. 31, 2015 02:45 PM EDT Reads: 375
With the proliferation of connected devices underpinning new Internet of Things systems, Brandon Schulz, Director of Luxoft IoT – Retail, will be looking at the transformation of the retail customer experience in brick and mortar stores in his session at @ThingsExpo. Questions he will address include: Will beacons drop to the wayside like QR codes, or be a proximity-based profit driver? How will the customer experience change in stores of all types when everything can be instrumented and a...
Aug. 31, 2015 02:30 PM EDT Reads: 456
The Internet of Things (IoT) is about the digitization of physical assets including sensors, devices, machines, gateways, and the network. It creates possibilities for significant value creation and new revenue generating business models via data democratization and ubiquitous analytics across IoT networks. The explosion of data in all forms in IoT requires a more robust and broader lens in order to enable smarter timely actions and better outcomes. Business operations become the key driver of I...
Aug. 31, 2015 02:30 PM EDT Reads: 417


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The transcript from the webcast event can be viewed here.
Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) will hold a live conference call with the Investment Community at 7 a.m. CST on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2018, to discuss the company’s fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2018 earnings results, as well as its outlook for fiscal year 2019. Doug McMillon, president and chief executive officer, Walmart Inc., and Brett Biggs, Walmart executive vice president and chief financial officer, will host the call to discuss the results and answer questions.
Walmart continuously looks to communicate with the investment community as effectively as possible. In addition to its annual Meeting for the Investment Community each October, the Company now plans to host a live earnings call with executives in conjunction with its fourth-quarter results going forward. It will follow its typical earnings release process for other quarters during its fiscal year.
The event will be webcast live and accessible by logging on here. The webcast will be archived and available beginning at approximately noon CST on Feb. 20.
The company will release its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2018 earnings results and related materials at 5:30 a.m. CST on Feb. 20.


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By Dan Neil
GAS PUMP HANDLES. Is there anything more cootie-fied? Apparently not, says paper products giant Kimberly-Clark, which in 2011 studied the filthiest surfaces people touch on the way to work and found gas pump handles to be the No. 1 grottiest. Other contenders included mailbox handles, escalator rails and ATM buttons.
I’ve spent a life around cars and, as far as I can tell, until the coronavirus, it never occurred to anyone to wipe down a gas pump handle. To the extent that such practices outlast the current crisis, it’s possible to hope other infectious diseases traveling the gas-station vector will be curtailed. That would be good.
Last month, as the nation took its collective foot off the gas, skies cleared.
Coronavirus has taught us a few things about transportation. We’ve had a glimpse of an economy where our corporeal presence is in many affairs optional—a 21st-century version of the wartime public reminder, “Is this trip really necessary?” Especially for younger wage-earners and students, struggling with the costs of mobility, that might be a win. After years hiding behind state franchise rules in an effort to fend off Tesla, auto makers and retailers are now learning to love online sales.
Most of us have taken crash courses in tele-work, tele-school or even tested the limits of tele-medicine, in lieu of the daily grind. When this is over I bet a lot of people will find it hard to put on pants again. Now if only the sky would stay blue.
Passenger-vehicle traffic volume was down 30% nationwide on March 20, compared with the month before, according to the transportation research firm INRIX. Air quality improved markedly—as in, visibly—over U.S. cities. The week of March 22, emissions and carbon-monoxide over New York City dropped more than 50% below typical levels, according to researchers at Columbia University. In Southern California, levels of particulate matter dropped 40% between March 16 and April 6, according to UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health.
Take a look at that sky, wilya? We can get that back. With a national stimulus program embracing transportation electrification funded by a gas tax.
This is where some of you dismiss me as a loon. Yeah, no. I am a pro-business, for-profit capitalist, almost innately centrist; and compared with the protectionists and market manipulators in D.C., I’m Milton frickin’ Friedman.
What I am not is blinded by my age, my jingoism, my favorite cable-TV FUD-Rucker, or my comfort with the familiar, pining for the days of four-barrel carburetors. Fact: Most world governments, representing most of humanity and regulating about 85% of the global light-vehicle market, have committed to banning internal combustion-powered (IC) vehicles within 20 years, in favor of widespread vehicle electrification. Ask any CEO or board chairman of any car company. And it isn’t because the Otto cycle is evil but that, in concentrations typical of 21st-century megacities, its combustion products make people sick and die.
While greenhouse-gas emissions get most of the attention, our recently bluer skies reminds of the other reason, the older reason, we regulate tailpipe emissions: hydrocarbons, diesel particulate matter, smog-forming nitrogen-oxide (NOx), carbon monoxide, benzene and volatile organic compounds. Outdoor air pollution is estimated to have caused 4.2 million premature deaths in 2016, according to the World Health Organization.
In China, the world’s largest car market, urbanites have been wearing masks for a long time. Electrification has risen to an urgent national priority because, to the State Council, megacity air quality represents not just a threat to public health but to civil order.
EV skeptics will sometimes argue that charging cars with grid electricity merely moves the pollution somewhere else, aka, the long tailpipe argument. Yes, but location matters, particularly for megacities with geographies that tend to trap airborne pollutants, such as Beijing, L.A. and Mexico City.
In Europe, post-Dieselgate, parliaments have shown little sympathy for auto makers, laying on much higher testing standards, CO2 limits and levying larger fines for noncompliance. But, as in China, the urgency for tailpipe reform is coming from ground level, caused by chronic and worsening urban air quality in picture-postcard capitals such London, Rome and Vienna. Even Stuttgart and Munich, homes of Mercedes-Benz and BMW respectively, have low-emission zones and bans on older cars.
In many ways the Trump administration has been the worst best friend the domestic auto makers ever had. The recent Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule flattens the curve of fleet efficiency gains through model-year 2026—as in, makes it nearly flat—and relaxes enforcement. Meanwhile, the Administration has challenged California and other states’ power to set stricter vehicle standards, in a case that is expected to take many months to decide.
But regulatory relief comes at a strange time, maybe the strangest time in automotive history and may end up doing more harm than good. After years of dithering, global auto makers have begun mobilizing tens of billions in capital for EV research and development, scaling battery production, establishing supply lines and charging infrastructure. Much of their prestige, consumer goodwill and their stock valuations depend on how the companies are so positioned. Example: Tesla is now worth more than GM and Ford combined.
VW Group is all-in. The company has committed $50 billion to electrification, including new vehicle platforms and battery factories, like the one under construction in Tennessee. Meanwhile, technical development of IC platforms and powertrains has all but stopped. What you are seeing on dealer lots now is effectively obsolete. With the bottom falling out of the market, legacy car makers don’t need help defending the rump of a failing business model. They need help selling EVs.
The straightest line would be a dedicated gas tax. Failing that, I propose rewriting and expanding the federal EV tax credit program and creating an EV Cash for Clunkers program, to encourage sales and help accelerate fleet turnover. What if you could turn in your old Chevy Tahoe and get a federal credit toward one of GMC’s electric Hummers? How’s about trading your clapped-out Ford Mustang for one of those Mach-E things?
The car makers can’t go back now. The only way is forward.


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It is a foolish time to buy almost anything within the technological sphere. As the tech geek among my family and friends, I have been asked many times whether it is a good time to buy a new phone, or a desktop, tablet, etc. The answer has not been as easy as it is right […]
Google IO 2013 was heavily targeted at developers unlike the IOs of the past. There was no real new consumer hardware and glasses did not make an appearance in the keynote. What Google did this year was to tighten the bolts and iron out the chinks. Google has a massive list of products and Larry Page’s appointment
Facebook Home has just been launched and it is basically an Android home screen replacement. In mobile operating systems, the screen of apps and icons is basically an app in itself. That is called a launcher or a home screen. Those unfamiliar with Android should be informed that you can change your launcher without needing to root. Unlike
Windows Phone has been constantly reviewed as a great operating system by tech writers and journalists. However, adoption rates have been low and Microsoft is currently battling Blackberry (formerly known as RIM) for a distant third spot. Many are quick to point out that the lack of apps is the main reason for its low adoption
There’s a new area in which you can buy and sell stock. Look no further than the mirror. Firefox OS is daring but the big question is if it can clean up the messy glut of web apps. Everyone thought that the Avengers was a bunch of green screen work in real life New York.
2012 was a huge year for Microsoft. Huge in terms of product launches and changes in directions. It was a year in which Microsoft threw everything they had and completely revamped the company. Windows went all touch based. ARM was embraced. Old web services made way for unified new ones. Office became a subscription service.
Android 4.2 was launched on the same day as Windows Phone 8. These announcements concluded 2012 for mobile operating systems. Similar to how Apple had nothing really innovative in iOS6, Android 4.2 and WP8 are marginal updates. 2012 has seen Android take a surging lead in the mobile market. A lead that comes at the


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We’ve come a long way in the last three years, that’s for sure. I was lucky enough to be one of around 100 auto industry policy makers and clean- car advocates invited to attend a meeting titled “Advanced Vehicles: Driving Growth” sponsored by the White House Council on Environmental Quality in Washington at the end of June.
The meeting, which featured a variety of auto sector experts, advocates and industry representatives along with key administration officials, focused on the successes and future opportunities for growth and environmental improvement in the auto industry.
Think back to just three short years ago, and the attitudes Washington policy- makers expressed toward the American auto industry then. Things have changed. Now people are upbeat about the recovery under way and about the possibilities for success in the future. And best of all? Vehicle fuel efficiency is now at the center of the discussion.
At the meeting, there was discussion about the renaissance of the auto industry, which now leads all manufacturing sectors in job growth. Several speakers emphasized the value of the industry to the nation's economy, especially during the financial crisis when the whole U.S. supply chain was in jeopardy, not just the OEMs.
There was also a lot of enthusiasm about the rollout of energy efficiency innovations in the industry, much of them driven by new fuel economy standards, but also by new technology. While most agreed that near-term gains will be made by improvements to conventional gasoline vehicles, there was also recognition that over the long-term we will continue to see success with alternative fuels like electricity, natural gas and advanced biofuels.
A major source for that optimism? The Obama administration's proposed 2025 standards, which would roughly double the fuel efficiency of new vehicles, will help drive much of the innovation needed over the next decade.
But speakers also made it clear that advanced technologies will continue to need sustained and predictable government support to help get them to market. And the industry will have to be smart competitors, too. The old rule is still true: you can’t avoid change by standing still.
Until next time . . .
Climate & Energy Program Director
The Ecology Center
P.S. For more details about the meeting, see the blog post from my colleague Zoe Lipman at the National Wildlife Federation, or the post by Roger Kerson on the new website Driving Growth. To view the live stream from the meeting, see here and here.


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As the United States prepares for a crucial midterm election, a series of conflicting headlines — layoffs at Big Tech, volatile stock markets, a central bank determined to bring pain to fight inflation — blur the picture. answer to a simple question: is the economy improving?
Maybe. Maybe not. If you’re frustrated with this, you’re not alone.
On the employment front, there is great news for anyone looking for work. The US economy added 261,000 jobs in October, about 60,000 more than economists expected. Unemployment remains at a historic low of 3.7% and there are almost two jobs open for every person looking.
But that tight labor market is bad news for the Federal Reserve, which fears that the easier it is for workers to press for higher wages, the harder it will be to bring down prices that have remained stubbornly reared for more than a year. By aggressively raising interest rates, the Fed sought to introduce some easing into a tight labor market. Slack, which means less job growth, less wage growth, or even layoffs.
“The Fed is likely frustrated,” wrote Rucha Vankudre, senior economist for Lightcast.
It’s like when you put money in a vending machine so it eats your change and withholds your snack, says Vankudre. “You put some money in it and the food moved a bit but it didn’t fall. And then you threw it and put more money in it, and it still didn’t fall. It’s a bit like what the Fed is doing.
Rather than getting what it wants – a slowdown in inflation – the Fed’s rate hikes are, for now, only making things harder for cash-strapped Americans. Inflation remains high, but it is now much more expensive to take out loans or pay off credit cards. And the Fed’s actions are wreaking havoc on overseas economies by bolstering the value of the US dollar, the cornerstone of international trade.
US mortgage rates, which are indirectly influenced by the federal funds rate, climbed to 7% last week for the first time in 20 years. (The average 30-year fixed rate fell slightly this week, to 6.95%. That’s still more than double what it was a year ago.)
Combined with low inventory, this has turned the housing market into a nightmare for both buyers and sellers.
Potential buyers find few homes they can afford. Sellers are not motivated to list, in part because even if they find a buyer, they would face historically high prices and low inventory when looking for a new home.
It’s been especially difficult for young first-time home buyers who don’t have the equity or savings to shell out for a home. The result is that they rent longer, which helps drive up rental prices.
A painful series of layoffs and hiring freezes are hitting workers at some of Silicon Valley’s top companies, a worrying sign that a recession could be on the horizon. Elon Musk began firing employees on Twitter on Thursday; Lyft announced it was cutting 13% of its staff; and Microsoft and Amazon are freezing corporate hiring.
Of course, tech companies aren’t representative of the broader labor market, economists warn. Many of them have grown rapidly in the pandemic era and are now shrinking as advertisers rethink spending and demand cools.
“There is no doubt that there are high profile layoffs in Silicon Valley, but overall the tech sector is still healthy and creating jobs,” wrote Bledi Taska, Chief Economist for Lightcast. “The story doesn’t always match the numbers.”
The economic pain we are currently living with is rooted in the uniquely devastating impact of the pandemic. In 2020, the virus forced a screeching halt which, even two and a half years later, continues to reverberate through the global economy.
Demand for goods grew as supply chains became distorted. It caused a cascade of shortages of everything from toilet paper to computer chips. The prices were raised. Consumers stuck inside their homes used their government stimulus checks to buy more stuff, fueling inflationary pressures. Then Russia invaded Ukraine, once again bringing supply chains to breaking point and exacerbating global food shortages.
The Fed, meanwhile, kept interest rates near zero and invested heavily in bonds to prevent financial markets from imploding. Throughout 2021, Fed officials downplayed rising inflation as a “transient” effect that would eventually unwind.
This was not the case. And now the Fed is playing an aggressive game of catch-up to prevent price spikes from becoming entrenched in a vicious circle.
Despite some tentative signs of a slowdown — the consumer price index hit 9.1% in June and has since fallen to 8.2% (still well above the Fed’s 2% target) — prices are unlikely to drop overnight.
This all points to a difficult puzzle for Democrats trying to hold onto power midterm next week.
Even though the U.S. economy is not, technically, in a recession, nearly 75% of likely voters in a recent CNN poll said they felt it was.
Wages are rising, but not enough to mitigate the high prices of basic necessities like food, fuel and housing.
For those who invest in equities, the year has not been great either, and it is particularly difficult for retirees who live off their investments.
Economists will get a fresh look at the state of inflation next week with October’s CPI reading on Thursday. But if there is any good news in this report, it will be two days too late to influence voters one way or another.
#economy #improving #days #halfterms #good #answer #CNN #Business


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To announce its new status as the Official Logistics partner of the Ferrari Scuderia F1 team, UPS has rolled out a self-referential film to promote the new alliance.
Despite little marketing support beyond PR, the film has already racked up 53,000-plus YouTube views to date. Perhaps illustrating the unique pulling power and popularity of the Ferrari F1 brand.
The deal, which was officially announced in Barcelona where the final pre-season F1 test sessions were taking place, sees UPS appear on the car, as well as having visibility of the drivers’ (Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa) racing overalls and on the team’s fleet of transporters and trackside equipment.
Plus, UPS will also act as the logistics partner for Ferrari which will see the brand move the team’s cars and equipment around the world through the upcoming season.
The deal will see UPS go head-to-head in the sport with long-time major rival DHL which is a global partner of the F1 tights owner (see previous case study).
Although no figure has officially been announced as to the value of the deal, it is a long-term, multi-year partnership.
The logistics brand seems to be steadily building on its global sponsorship strategy after its role as Olympics and Paralympic supporter, as well as its other major partnerships which include deals with the NCAA and the European Golf Tour.
UPS has been involved in motor racing for the last 12 years – particularly through its NASCAR partnership where the company serves as the Official Logistics Provider for the rights owner and teams competing in the flagship Sprint Cup series.
The logistics business also has a team-specific alliance with Roush Fenway racing as an associate sponsor of the No. 99 Ford car driven by Carl Edwards
The new F1 deal may see a similar activation as it already employs in NASCAR, which stretches from its UPS Racing website to employee hospitality programme.
As with many of its existing deals, UPS is clear that it has chosen F1 because of its global reach (the 2013 season will visit 19 countries). Particularly in its ability to engage throughout key Asian markets where F1 has expanded in recent years.
While UPS is a US headquartered company, F1′s recent move back into the US is not cited as a key reason for the brand joining the racing platform.
Despite this, the Grand Prix of America (currently scheduled to take place along the New Jersey shoreline in 2014) looks set to run directly across the river from UPS’ global headquarters building on West 43rd Street in Manhattan.
‘It is not just a sponsorship, it’s much more than that for us,’ says UPS’ Christine Owens. ‘It also gives us a chance to demonstrate our capabilities and to become a household name worldwide.’
‘We want to show our global capability, sending things from Europe to Asia, to the USA. F1 is truly global, it runs for 10 months of the year, which helps it to stay more top of the mind and nothing compares with its fanbase.’
‘We are extremely pleased to have UPS on board as our new Partner, as they are one of the most successful and recognized brands worldwide,’ says Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal Stefano Domenicali.
‘Excellence, innovation and precision are critical across every process within the team. Working with an organization that has the global reach and scale of UPS, and that also shares these values, will allow us to jointly explore and implement ways to improve operations and increase efficiency across the team.’
This deal follows hot-on-the-heels of a group of major global brands entering the F1 field in recent weeks, including Blackberry, Emirates, Experian and Rolex (and Coca-Cola’s entry into the landscape with its close-season Burn/Lotus F1 deal).
Two of these new global giants come to F1 has team partners and two as sponsors of the rights owner.
Surely, having so many huge international brands joining the F1 global circus is an encouraging sign for the sport as a leading worldwide sponsorship platform?
It goes some way to offsetting recent concerns that some sponsors may be put off F1 by some signs of declining viewer numbers as the series moves to a pay-TV platforms in several key European markets.
The new multi-year agreement spans both the role of sponsor, as well as practical racing activity partner via the integration of the logistics brand’s transport services into Ferrari’s global freight movement.
UPS join an impressive line-up of main sponsors for the Ferrari Scuderia F1 team that includes Fiat, Hublot, Kaspersky, Philip Morris, Santander, Shell, TNT and Weichair Power.
These sit alongside am equally strong set of official partners that number IIR, Infor, Iveco, Magneti Marelli, Mahle, NGK, Pirelli, Puma and SKF.
Scuderia Ferrari, founded in 1947, is almost certainly the most famous name in racing (and is also the most successful). Ferrari has competed in the F1 World Championship continuously since its inception in 1950 and holds a slew of records).
But quite how this new deal with gas-guzzling brand Ferrari and property F1 fits in with some of UPS’ other eco-led global sponsorships remains to be seen.
For example, initially it seems to sit uncomfortably alongside UPS’ partnership role with entertainment giant Live Nation – for whom it is also fulfils the role of official sustainability partner.
This alliance includes a carbon-neutral equipment and ticketing shipping commitment through a comprehensive offsetting programme.
Perhaps a similar commitment will develop with the world’s top motor racing team?
UPS Ferrari Webfilm YouTube
Ferrari F1 Website


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Joey Foley via Getty Images
John Shearer via Getty Images
"I look like a Kardashian, nose job and all."
The model shared some very exciting news at the 2016 Met Gala on Monday.
Athletic wear has never looked so glam.
The 23-year-old model did the Toronto Edgewalk with boyfriend Justin Verlander while visiting Toronto.
Happy Birthday, Kate Upton! Everyone's favourite buxom blond turns 23 today (June 10), and we want to celebrate by taking a look at 100 of her sexiest moments.
Granny panties were already hot ... but Kate Upton just made them sexy again.
The swimsuit model watched the team win a crucial game to avoid elimination.
Remember that "Cat Daddy" video Terry Richardson posted of Kate Upton dancing, catapulting her to fame? Well, according to the 22-year-old model, she was not impressed with the controversial photograp...
Steve Jennings via Getty Images
You may be used to seeing Kate Upton rockin' sexy bikinis, but high fashion sure looks good on her. The 22-year-old appears on the cover of the latest edition of The Edit (Net-A-Porter's online magaz...
While the fashion world was going bananas for the latest trends at Paris Fashion Week, Kate Upton proved that the basics will never go out of style. On Tuesday, the Vogue cover gal attended the Expres...
She might not be on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue this year but Kate Upton has moved onward and upwards! Proof? Her contract with retailer Express, which just released a sizzling...
If you're trying to get attention for a good cause, there's no better celebrity to call up than the most Googled model of 2014: Kate Upton! The 22-year-old blond beauty covers one of five special edit...
A model who's been touted as the "next Kate Upton" appears in a steamy new Carl's Jr. Super Bowl commercial, um, just like, Kate Upton did. Charlotte McKinney is the face of the fast food chain's new...


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Sony Ericsson CEO Hints at PlayStation Phone
During an interview, Sony Ericsson CEO Bert Nordberg said, “There’s a lot of smoke, and I tell you there must be a fire somewhere,” regarding a PlayStation Phone. Sony has an extremely strong offering in the gaming market, and that’s very interesting.”
The existence of the mythical PlayStation Phone has been a rumor for many years now, though pictures of a possible prototype released into the wild a few weeks ago, along with potential specs for the device. Pictures of a PSP2 prototype also found their way into the wild last week, so it seems Sony is either hard at work attempting to dominate the portable market, or it’s just that time of year when pictures of fake prototypes begin floating around the Internet.
If both devices are real, one has to wonder why Sony wouldn’t attempt to combine the PSP2 and the PS Phone, rather than possibly confuse and splinter the market with two similar devices, one being a phone that plays somewhat sophisticated games, and the other being a gaming handheld that plays very sophisticated games, but doesn’t have any other important features.
In theory, the only real reason to own both would be if the PSP2’s games are much, much more sophisticated than the PS Phone’s games, but even then, people would undoubtedly wonder why Sony didn’t just shove phone capabilities into the PSP2 with a completely optional carrier plan. Sony already attempted something like this idea once before when they stuck a DVD player into their PlayStation 2–gamers who owned a PlayStation 2 didn’t have to buy or watch DVDs, but the option was there, and proved very successful.
(via The Wall Street Journal)
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]


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We recently asked our experts from across the globe about the critical areas of B2B marketing in the coming 12 months. In this article, Jani Aaltonen from BBN Finland shares his thoughts on Marketing Technology (Martech).
Businesses and marketing departments might be facing budget cuts during 2021, but marketing technology is not an area that will be widely affected since businesses of all types and sizes have found themselves in the position of having to move large portions of their operation online.
In many industries, marketing and sales processes and practices have had to be reformed. Also, purchasing has gone online, and businesses and consumers alike have become even more demanding in terms of seamless digital customer experiences. Companies have accelerated their digital communications strategy and marketing technology has suddenly become a ubiquitous need.
In 2021, operations will continue leaning into digital engagement, digital transformation and digital customer experience. And that’s where martech and marketing automation thrive. There will be an ever-renewing spring of opportunities for businesses to make their marketing better since technology is continually improving their ability to deliver content in ways that are more interactive, immersive and impactful.
Will there be in-person events in 2021? Maybe, but certainly not at the scale we are used to. Marketing technology will need to do much of the heavy lifting when companies and brands focus on building relationships via interactivity.
Bringing people together through interactive virtual events and with the help of digital tools will be an ongoing trend even after 2021. People are now used to collaborating and working together in distributed settings and they are not willing to give up the remote work and digital communication options easily. Thanks to the fact that the world is becoming more digital fast, the amount of marketing data will be insane in the near future. This requires standardised and well-structured data gathering, governance, privacy and visualisation solutions – all provided by martech solutions.
Investing in and adopting marketing technology tools will benefit businesses long term. Our role is to help companies to fine-tune their new processes, integrations and tools so that their lead flow to sales is smooth and steady.
Martech is worth around $121.5 billion worldwide. This part of the industry will remain rich and diverse even if the wider marketing industry, is facing occasional hits.
To get the full report with insights from 11 of our experts across BBN covering 4 key areas of B2B marketing and five of our top industry sectors. Click here


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A developer has reaped more than $19 million from the sale of a Walmart-anchored retail center in Hamilton Township, in a newly announced transaction by Marcus & Millichap.
A real estate investment firm has landed in Atlantic County for its largest purchase of the year to date, acquiring a nearly 400,000-square-foot retail power center for $60 million.
Dollar Tree has leased nearly 10,500 square feet in Ocean County at what will be one of its newest locations in New Jersey, brokers with R.J. Brunelli & Co. LLC announced.
Levin Management Corp. has added to its leasing team with one of its newest hires.
A nail salon has leased 2,250 square feet at Hamilton Plaza, a 175,400-square-foot shopping center along Route 33 in Hamilton Township.


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A recently published market report indicates that the use of robots in a number of industries has more than tripled in the past five years and by 2018, robots are projected to be used for 27 percent of new line installations for medical device primary packaging. For the pharmaceutical industry, robots are expected to service 34 percent of primary packaging efforts, a 13 percent increase from 2013.
A new Dust Hood for Bulk Bag Dischargers contains spillage and dust that can escape through...
Each of these ductless chemical fume hoods has advanced safety monitoring and controls and is...
This vacuum inlet trap is designed to protect central source vacuum systems in hospitals, university science buildings and research facilities.
The June issue is our annual Pharmaceutical Supplier Directory. Organized by product category this complete resource for the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry features detailed listings of the companies that supply products, equipment, systems, and services to the pharmaceutical industry. The 2013/2014 Supplier Directory is a must have for anyone involved in the development, scale-up, and manufacturing and packaging of pharmaceuticals.
The complete contamination-control floor edging system is designed to offer a clear demarcation zone that is fully audit compliant, effective in removing 99.9 percent of foot and wheel contamination and reducing 75 percent of airborne contamination.
noraplan® sentica is a high-performance floor covering that offers versatility for commercial applications, including life science and industry lab facilities.
The 72S bulk linen truck features an optional, new, one-piece, rotomolded lid and door that shuts tightly, opens easily and remains safely in the opened position as needed.
The HemiPleat® eXtreme nano fiber filter delivers MERV 15 efficiency. Also available is a high efficiency (HE) MERV 16 eXtreme media that delivers tested efficiency of 99.999 percent on 0.5 micron and larger particles by weight.


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Image via Rocksteady Studios
It's been a hell of a year when it comes to game releases and now gamers can start to get excited for next year's releases. With so many games to look forward to in 2022, we've put together a list of some of the best upcoming PC games to watch next year.
God of the war
Screenshot via Sony Interactive Entertainment
After four years on PS4, Sony has given PC users a chance to experience Kratos' journey in God of War. This reboot sees Kratos leaving behind his Greek heritage and the many bodies of the Greek gods. He and his son, Atreus, travel through Norse mythology and battle the characters in those stories. The game is due out on Steam on January 14, 2022, and it's currently available for pre-purchase for $49,99.
Capture d’écran via Deep Silver Volition
Saints Row returns as a new reboot of the series, taking fans back to its origins as they explore the gang's original lineage. The release is scheduled for August 23, 2022, players will start the game with a team of four and fight their way through the city of Santo Ileso, building their criminal empire. With a more grown-up feel to the game, players can expect to leave their mark on the city with a fun and playful approach.
Related: Best Xbox Series X games coming in 2022
Marvel's Midnight Sun
Screenshot via Marvel Entertainment
Marvel's Midnight Suns is a strategy role-playing game based on the Marvel comic book series, The Midnight Sons. With a top-notch superhero roster that includes Blade, X-Men, and The Avengers, this game definitely feels like the one to experience. Slated for release in March 2022, the game features a new card-based ability system and players will have to battle Lilith, the mother of demons, with cunning strategy and a team of slayers.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
Capture d’écran via Rocksteady Studios
Harley Quinn, Deadshot, King Shark, and Captain Boomerang return as the Suicide Squad with a mission to kill the Justice League superheroes that Brainiac has brainwashed. Scheduled to release in 2022, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will be set in Metropolis. This will likely give fans a completely different look at the universe Rocksteady Studios has assembled.
Dying Light 2 Rester Humain
Screenshot via Techland
After several delays, Techland's sequel to Dying Light seems to be right around the corner. Dying Light 2 is set to release on February 2, 2022 and will consist of a larger map, a grappling hook, and a glider to improve parkour mechanics. They will definitely need it to survive these zombies, which will be even more hostile this time around.
Related: Best Fighting Games of 2021
Screenshot via FromSoftware Inc.
From the creator of Dark Souls (Hidetaka Miyazaki) and author of Game of Thrones (George RR Martin), Elden Ring is set for release on February 25, 2022. Players will explore an open world as Ternished and discover giants among other creatures in the fantasy world of Elden Ring. The action game was originally announced in 2018 by developers FromSoftware and might be their biggest game yet.
Screenshot via Avalanche software
We finally have the chance to become a student of the infamous Hogwarts Legacy School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. With a release date to be announced sometime in 2022, Hogwarts Legacy is based on the lore of the Harry Potter series which will consist of an open-world RPG set in the late 1800s. i.e. back when Dumbledore was a student. As an Elder who has just transferred from schools affiliated with Ancient Magic, players will make friends and foes and battle dark magic while fulfilling their Hogwarts legacy.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum
Screenshot via Daedalic Entertainment GmbH
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum has been announced with a rather vague release date yet to be determined in 2022. Play as Gollum, as the game begins in a fortress in Mordor called Barad-dûr, where the wild creature is held captive. . Players can certainly expect to get lost in the action-adventure game while traveling through the beautifully crafted world of Middle-earth as the corrupted invertebrate, Gollum.
Happy Holidays from PGG! Be sure to check out the staff favorite picks in Games of the Year 2021 from Pro Game Guides staff.


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BOSTON (Legal Newsline) - Telehealth company American Well this week filed a lawsuit in federal court against competitor Teladoc for patent infringement.
American Well filed its lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts Monday.
The company connects patients with board-certified physicians and other medical professionals for live, on-demand video consultations via mobile phones, tablets, computers and telehealth kiosks.
Basically, patients create an account online. Then, using the Internet or one of the company’s mobile apps -- which can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play -- they can see and speak with a doctor over live video.
At issue in this case is American Well’s U.S. Patent No. 7,590,550 entitled “Connecting consumers with service providers.”
The Boston-based American Well, in its 10-page complaint, argues that Teladoc’s system relies on its patented technology, but Teladoc is not authorized to practice any of its patent claims.
American Well also contends that Dallas-based Teladoc is “well aware” that it has been engaging in and continues to engage in the unauthorized practice of its patented inventions.
“Although Teladoc publicly states, ‘we do not believe our business is dependent to a material degree on trademarks, patents, copyrights or trade secrets,’ Teladoc recently sought to obtain a license to American Well’s patents. American Well rejected Teladoc’s request,” the complaint states. “However, Teladoc has chosen to continue making, using, offering to sell and/or selling the Teladoc System.
“Moreover, in March of this year, Teladoc filed a request for the Patent Trial and Appeals Board to conduct an inter partes review of four claims within American Well’s ‘550 patent.”
IPR is a procedure for challenging the validity of a patent before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The procedure, which allows third parties to challenge bad patents, is conducted by the PTAB.
According to American Well’s complaint, the PTAB has not decided whether to institute the IPR and American Well has not yet had the opportunity to respond. The company said it believes Teladoc’s “limited attack” on four claims will not be successful.
“Teladoc’s filing of the IPR request, however, shows that it was aware of American Well’s ‘550 patent before March 2015 and that Teladoc was concerned that it infringed the ‘550 patent,” American Well wrote in its lawsuit. “Meanwhile, Teladoc has chosen to continue making, using, offering to sell and/or selling the Teladoc System.”
American Well is seeking a judgment against Teladoc, an injunction, compensatory damages plus interest and costs, a judgment declaring the infringement “willful and deliberate,” treble damages and prejudgment interest, a judgment declaring the infringement “exceptional,” and expenses, costs and attorneys’ fees.
“Teladoc has infringed American Well's intellectual property,” said Ido Schoenberg, CEO of American Well. “While a transparent and competitive landscape is an imperative for innovation, Teladoc has unfairly disregarded American Well’s ownership rights to advance its business.
“We developed and patented these innovations and we owe it to our clients, partners and shareholders to protect them.”
According to its website, American Well has created an intellectual property portfolio that includes 26 U.S. patents, with another 25 applications pending.
Jason Gorevic, CEO of Teladoc, said in an emailed statement that American Well’s action is a direct response to Teladoc’s March 24 petition with the PTO to invalidate certain American Well patents.
“We very strongly believe that those patents are invalid,” he said. “For one, American Well’s claims of being ‘first-to-market’ are demonstrably false due to the fact that Teladoc and others were providing telehealth long before American Well was even formed as a company.”
Teladoc was founded in 2002; American Well was founded in 2006.
“Second, the patents in question are impermissibly broad and cover matters that are too obvious to be patented,” Gorevic said. “We will continue to pursue our petition to have American Well’s patents invalidated.
“As for today’s action by American Well, Teladoc will vigorously defend itself as it would in any other non-meritorious, ordinary-course litigation.”
IP law firm Fish & Richardson PC is representing American Well in the lawsuit.
According to the docket, Judge Indira Talwani has been assigned to case.
From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by email at firstname.lastname@example.org.