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Foreign exchange business was hacked on New Year’s Eve
Holidaymakers could be targeted by fake Tavelex websites after the travel money exchange company’s real website was hacked on New Year’s Eve.
The real Travelex website was suspended on New Year’s Day – and remains offline – but the consumer body Which? warned that fraudsters are likely to try to exploit the situation by sending people scam requests to ‘verify’ their data.
Police are investigating the attack on Travelex, which is understood to have received a ransom demand from hackers who infected its systems with a virus.
The company is believed to have been given a deadline for the payment in exchange for either the restoration of its IT systems or the preservation of customer data.
However, Travelex insists that no customer data has been leaked.
It is unable to provide its usual online currency exchange service, but its bureaux are able to carry out pen and paper transactions.
Other companies that use Travelex to sell currency have also been forced to suspend their online forex sales. These include Virgin Money, First Direct and Sainbury’s Bank.
Which? consumer rights expert Adam French is advising Travelex customers who have bought money online to visit a branch to collect their currency. Those without a receipt or unable to get to a store can try to get a refund by contacting the issuer of the card they used to make the purchase (usually their bank) or see if they can claim a chargeback (also from their bank or card issuer).
“As the scale of the Travelex cyber attack continues to unfold, consumers have been left in limbo, with some having paid out large sums of money for upcoming holidays.
“Travelex and all banks involved must urgently provide clarity to those impacted and act to ensure no one is left out of pocket,” he said.
Hot tip: Instead of buying foreign currency, consider a free pre-paid currency card instead, like Revolut, which offers one of the best exchange rates available and there’s no commission. It’s easy to load currency whenever you need it, using the app, so you never run the risk of running out of holiday money or buying too much. Note that you can’t use Revolut where there’s no internet connection, so it won’t work on flights to pay for meals and drinks or duty free.


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Are We Ready For A Recession?
The economy is in good shape, but some people say we could be heading towards a downturn. A number of recession indicators are beginning to flicker, such as a flattened yield curve, strong demand for treasuries and wild swings in the stock market.
The U.S. economy has some very particular tools to deal with recessions, but Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics says the usual monetary and fiscal medicine may not be as effective this time around.
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

domain: news


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Belgian consumers plan modest spending
17 January 2006, BRUSSELS — Belgian consumers will spend carefully this year amid concerns over high unemployment rates, the high cost of energy and their pension.
17 January 2006
BRUSSELS — Belgian consumers will spend carefully this year amid concerns over high unemployment rates, the high cost of energy and their pension.
The findings were included in the Observateur Cetelem report, which observes the consumption habits in 12 European countries, newspaper 'De Tijd' reported on Tuesday.
In September, 8,000 people from Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Slovenia, the UK, Poland, Portugal, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Germany were surveyed about their consumption habits.
The Belgian consumer plans to spend money this year, but will do so with the necessary care due to concerns over unemployment, energy costs and pensions.
Most consumers in Europe plan to cut spending, but the internet forms an exception. The internet will continue it rise: with 26 percent of Europeans already indicating they have made a purchase online.
Among European consumers, Belgians appear the least pessimistic about the global situation in their country. However, this optimism has declined considerably since 2004.
Belgians give the current global situation a score of 5.9 out of 10 compared with 6.3 in 2004. Pro-Europe Belgium appears to have suffered a blow to its optimism due to the French 'no' vote against the EU Constitution last year.
The European average is 4.7, the same as what is was in 2004. The Portuguese are the most pessimistic, giving the current situation a score of three.
[Copyright Expatica News 2006]
Subject: Belgian news


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The price of a basket of Thanksgiving items, including a 12-pound turkey, is down 6.7 percent at Wal-Mart Stores this year, according to a report from Bloomberg Intelligence. The study, which sampled prices in New Jersey, gives a.
Walmart ended a week of speculation Monday when it announced it would buy Jet, an e-commerce startup that specializes in bulk orders, for $3.3 billion. It’s the most expensive purchase ever of an online retailer. It’s also really.
Around 21,220 pounds of frozen pizza was recalled by a Walmart Stores supplier in 11 states across the country over.
Police are searching for a man who allegedly filmed an "upskirt" video of a woman and her 10-year-old daughter inside of a Walmart last week on. He is 6-foot tall and weighs 175 pounds, and was wearing a black polo-style shirt, black.
A nationwide vegetable recall has not only hit Meijer stores in Michigan, but also Walmart, Trader Joe’s and Target, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Mann Packing announced the recall of several of its products due to.
Four people were arrested in an interstate narcotics investigation that brought investigators to a Walmart in Stafford and a Home Depot in Woodbridge before culminating in a 270-pound drug seizure in New York City that included more than.
John Sinreno Plant Base Diet Eating a 100% plant-based diet, Plant Based Recipes shared John McDougall MD’s post. Another great reason to make plant based recipes for your family. Try one of the above suggestions, then chip away at the others. We can do it. Just start. Steve Getlein, Beaverton Plant-based diets make a difference: What’s one highly-effective action that
Sparkling Ice Intermittent Fasting But in the last year or so I am hearing more and more of my fitness professional friends talk about intermittent fasting and how much they like. beer, a pint of ice cream, you name it. Then they fast for 24 hours and simply return back. The fruit is often transformed into noodles, chips and
Bobroczkyi lay on a bench with 30-pound dumbbells on either side of him, ready for his first rep of 10 presses. Strausser and John Wallace, Spire’s performance.
How To Start My Dog On A Raw Diet Most raw foodists are vegans who don’t eat animal protein or food heated above 118 degrees — because cooking destroys enzymes and depletes nutrients. Many believe eating the SAD — or Standard American Diet — makes people tired and. Raw Dog Food: Dietary Concerns, Benefits, and Risks. Are raw food diets for dogs an ideal
It will weight well under a pound, and while it will go for $50, you can get it for a cool $25 at Walmart if you use Google Express to pay for the order. Image: Screenshot via Walmart The page also briefly displayed what appears to be.
There are two bunks inside, a flat-screen TV, a heating and air-conditioning unit, a refrigerator, a fold-out table, a desk and a small closet — all enclosed in an 8-foot wide by 8-foot tall by 10-foot long structure. “We are the only Walmart in the.
Wolves Sprinting Yellowstone Vista. The Yellowstone Photo Collection lists all of these animals: Badger, bat, beaver, bighorn sheep, bison, black bear, bobcat and lynx, chipmunk. With Dan Martin going to UAE-Team Emirates, Marcel Kittel off to Katusha-Alpecin, Matteo Trentin departing for Mitchelton-Scott and Tom Boonen nine months. OFFICIAL RUN COACHING Site of Eric Orton, Coach from Born
Start with feet hip distance apart, hinge forward at the hips until your back is almost parallel to the floor, and lift 5-pound weights out to the side for 10-12 reps. 3. Lateral lunge. Work the inner thigh, quads, and glutes by holding dumbbells.
Wal-Mart announced today it will order copies of the Tesla Semi. Although the retailer only plans to buy 15—five for the U.S. and 10 for Canada—the deal opens. The Semi has a maximum towing capacity of 80,000 pounds and is.
Thought it pulled a product page within a matter of minutes, Walmart on Tuesday briefly offered preorders. The device should weigh less than a pound, and cost $49. The leak would appear to back up Droid Life information from last.
Go home Walmart, you’re drunk… and really fucking racist. The retail titan was forced to issue an apology after a.
By two years after the operation, patients had lost 74 percent of their excess BMI, on average. At 10 years, they had still kept off more than half of the excess BMI that they had lost, and more than 25 percent of their original total body.
This weekend, Mann Packing revised its recall list and expanded it to more retailers and more products, including Wal-Mart and Trader Joe’s.
The Isabella County Sheriff’s Office is trying to identify a suspect involved in a theft at a Walmart. The theft happened on Oct. was stunted and a 29-year-old daughter weighed just 82 pounds. California prosecutors say a couple starved.
DENVER — Prosecutors have filed murder and attempted murder charges against a man accused of walking into a suburban Denver Walmart and fatally shooting three people. Authorities on Monday made no mention of a possible.
Kroger lowered prices an average of 10.1 percent (savings of $22). Publix lowered prices an average of 3.9 percent (savings of $7). Walmart lowered prices an.


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BERLIN, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Germany's inflation rate climbed to 2.5 percent in May, according to provisional results published by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Monday.
Inflation in Germany has been increasing for the fifth consecutive month after the temporary reduction of the value-added tax, a government measure to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, ran out at the turn of the year.
An important cause for the high inflation rate was a "strong base effect," Axel Lindner, deputy head of the macroeconomics department at the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH), told Xinhua on Monday. A year ago, the COVID-19 pandemic "depressed many prices markedly, in particular those of energy goods."
Prices for energy products, such as heating oil and motor fuels, in Germany in May rose particularly strongly and were even up 10 percent on the previous year, according to Destatis.
At the beginning of the pandemic in spring 2020, crude oil prices collapsed due to low demand on the world markets but have recovered since. In addition, a charge of 25 euros (30.50 U.S. dollars) per tonne of carbon dioxide emitted was introduced in Germany at the beginning of the year.
Food prices and rents in Germany grew only moderately by 1.5 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively, according to Destatis.
"Headline inflation will stay high in Germany for the coming months, but inflation will only become entrenched if wages start to rise as a reaction to higher prices and a recovering economy," Lindner said. (1 euro = 1.22 U.S. dollars) Enditem


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Liquor theft has plagued retailers since the new law went into effect in June, and now the state's top cops are asking store owners to keep better tabs on exactly how much booze is being stolen.
The Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs recently sent a letter to the Liquor Control Board asking for more information about liquor theft. The association says with more accurate information they can do more to help stem the problem.
"Info is power, and the more info we have the more knowledge we have of ways to attack the problem," said Sgt. Cindi West of the King County sheriff's office.
On Wednesday, the Liquor Control Board will begin collecting public comment on a proposed rule to require retailers to report their theft numbers to the state, but not everyone in the industry thinks that's such good idea.
Wine and Spirit World owner David LeClaire is worried the proposed rule would add more costly paperwork and possibly make stores even more vulnerable to theft.
"They're saying we want to know, but the stores don't want everybody to know, because then they think they're just going to be an easier target to hit," LeClaire said.
Police say they just want to know exactly how big the problem really is. They're especially worried about underage drinking and a potential black market of stolen liquor, which could cut into the state's share of taxes.
Everyone admits there's a problem, but some sellers aren't convinced the proposed rule will help.
"Everything always sounds good on paper until you try to apply it," LeClaire said.
Representatives from several large grocery store chains refused to comment on the story. The Liquor Control Board is scheduled to vote on whatever rule it comes up with in early March.


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Only a few types of packages will be affected. From October 22, new tobacco prices will come into effect. Many references will be published in the official magazine, according to the ministerial decision on Sunday.
A few cents. These changes slightly affect the average price of a 20-pack parcel, stable at 7.90 euros. The average prices of other packages are also stable, specify the Ministry of Action and Public Accounts, as well as the Health in a joint statement.
In fact, the increases are only a few cents and n only affect very few references. "The approved prices for packets of 20 cigarettes remain between 7.60 euros and 9.30 euros. Over half of packets of 20 cigarettes still have a price equal to or more than 8 euros." Details of the release.
Regarding the standard packaging of roll tobacco, he adds that the 30-gram price-approved jokes remain between 9.60 euros and 11.10 euros and 70 percent always have a price equal to or greater as 10.40 euros. In detail, the changes are indeed scarce.
75,000 deaths per year. Thus, the package of 20 Marlboro Red (Philip Morris Group), which costs from 7.30 euros from March 1, will retain this award, as the Gauloises package blinds. The Lucky Strike Classic Blue will rise by 10 cents to 7.70 euros, while the Camel (without filter) packages will remain stable at 7.90 euros. Finally, the red wine fields of 20 units are also maintained at 7.90 euros, just like the blue winfields.
In France it is the tobacco manufacturers who set sales prices, but the state may encourage increasing by taxing, representing more than 80% of the price. This is the sixth review of tobacco prices since the Macron government's arrival in May 2017, after four years of stability.
To reduce tobacco consumption, the government has planned a series of consecutive increases to reach by November 2020 a price of 10 euros per pack of 20 cigarettes. Tobacco, which causes cancer and cardiovascular disease, causes about 75 000 French people to die every year.


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NOLA, Perle announce reopening date after Market Square fire
Nola On the Square will be open for business again starting July 15, the owners of the downtown restaurant said Tuesday.
Perle, a neighboring champagne and tapas bar, will also reopen on the same date, according to the email announcement.
A fire on the afternoon of Feb. 24 damaged both of those businesses in Market Square, as well as a Bruegger's Bagels restaurant on the ground level below Perle.
Copyright 2014 by WTAE.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Nokia (NYS: NOK) will use chipsets from ST-Ericsson for future smartphones running Microsoft's (NAS: MSFT) Windows Phone platform, breaking Qualcomm's (NAS: QCOM) iron grip as the silicon supplier for the platform.
Nokia will use ST-Ericsson's NovaThor platform for the devices. In a statement, ST-Ericsson said the deal will allow "Nokia to extend Windows Phone devices to new price points and geographies," though it did not elaborate. Nokia has repeatedly said it wants to bring Windows Phone to lower price points than have been offered thus far.
In May Nokia indicated it would use Qualcomm's silicon for its first Windows Phone devices, and Qualcomm's Snapdragon processors power Nokia's first two Windows Phone devices, the Lumia 800 and 710. However, Nokia also said in May it was in negotiations with other chipset suppliers for the devices, including ST-Ericsson.
Nokia and Qualcomm have long had a contentious relationship, littered with disagreements over patent licensing and other issues.
Qualcomm has thus far been the sole supplier of silicon so far for all Windows Phone devices. Andy Lees, the head of Microsoft's Windows Phone division, told Bloomberg last month that Microsoft is working with suppliers, including Qualcomm, to get the cost of producing Windows Phone devices from around $400 down to $200. Lees said at the time that Microsoft had no plans to work with other chipset makers.
It's unclear how soon ST-Ericsson chips will find their way into Nokia's Windows Phone devices, or how much business ST-Ericsson will win from Qualcomm. Representatives for ST-Ericsson did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Regardless, the design win is a coup for ST-Ericsson, which has struggled since it was formed in 2009. ST's former wireless business was a key Nokia supplier before it was merged into ST-Ericsson joint venture between STMicroelectronics and Ericsson's (NASDAQ:ERIC) wireless chip businesses.
"As Windows Phone grows in popularity, it is natural to expect that they would diversify their number of suppliers," Qualcomm said in a statement to FierceWireless. "This has no impact on our commitment to Nokia and Microsoft and we look forward to continuing to work with all Windows Phone OEMs to deliver the best possible experiences on Windows Phone and Windows 8."
Forward Concepts analyst Will Strauss said he believes Qualcomm will likely continue to dominate all Windows Phone devices for at least the next several months and will be in all CDMA Windows Phone devices.
In-Stat analyst Jim McGregor said he was not surprised by the decision. "European companies tend to prefer other European companies. However, in the end, the company should be selecting the best solution based on cost, performance, and time-to-market," he told FierceWireless. "Based on this, I would expect a mixture of solutions between the two with Qualcomm likely occupying the higher-end devices. However, I worry more about the competitiveness of Windows and Nokia."
Article updated Nov. 2 with a statement from Qualcomm.
At the time thisarticle was published The Motley Fool owns shares of Microsoft and QUALCOMM. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Microsoft. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended creating a bull call spread position in Microsoft. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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I'm surprised this wasn't offered a long time ago
"Microsoft is trying to court business customers of competing cloud services by offering its own products for free in a new promotion starting today. The deal, which remains active until June 30th of this year, will let corporate customers of competing enterprise software suites from Box, Dropbox, and Google switch to OneDrive, with Microsoft waiving the bill until a business pays off its existing contract with a cap set at three years. Microsoft also says its dedicated FastTrack team will work with any new customers to help migrate businesses to OneDrive and Office 365. The deal is only valid for businesses that are not currently customers and are willing to commit to a 500-user minimum.From Microsoft takes aim at Google, Box, Dropbox with OneDrive switch offer (ZDNet):
It’s a solid promotion, and it’s sure to lure some customers away from storage, productivity, and other cloud computing providers, with Microsoft eating the short-term contract revenue in hopes of gaining a long-term subscriber relationship. The broader strategy here is one many people are familiar with on the consumer side of the equation: ecosystem lock-in. Many of Microsoft’s products these days work well together, especially for businesses. Getting a company to move to OneDrive for storage or Office 365 for productivity is the first step in converting an organization to more lucrative contracts like Azure for hosting or infrastructure."
"Microsoft isn't backing off from its partnering strategy with this compete offer, officials said. Microsoft will continue to work with Box for situations where customers want Box's cloud storage and content-management services on Azure. Nor is Microsoft backing away from its integration deal with Dropbox around Office 365 and Teams.Microsoft is trying to poach Dropbox and Google customers with free OneDrive deal - The Verge
It's still all about coopetition, Microsoft officials said."


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ORLANDO, Fla. – Rory McIlroy is the new face of the EA Sports 2015 PGA Tour golf video game, but the World No. 1 doesn’t believe fans should read too much into his replacement of Tiger Woods.
EA Sports had a relationship with Woods, the former World No. 1, that began in 1998 and ended in 2013. Earlier this month, the video-game company tweeted its new game cover with McIlroy pictured behind the title “Rory McIlroy PGA Tour.”
“I wouldn’t read too much into it was him and now it’s me, it’s just nice to be on,” McIlroy said Wednesday from the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.
McIlroy has had a good relationship with EA Sports for several years and appeared jointly with Woods on the cover of a 2010 game.
McIlroy is now big enough to be the face of his own game that will launch in June.
“It was a great honor whenever they asked me to be the face of it,” McIlroy said.


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Tuesday Samsung SDS, a subsidiary of a world’s leading electronics maker, launched its latest Blockchain platform Nexfinance for financial institutions.
The new fintech platform will offer services in digital identity management, finance concierge and automatic insurance payment by deploying big data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) and process automation technologies, the company says.
The open-source platform will enable clients to apply third-party solutions to utilize Blockchain to ensure secure transmission of personal information for its digital identity service.
Hong Won-Pyo, CEO of Samsung SDS said a press event in Seoul:
“New technologies such as biometric, AI, and Blockchain are bringing out the urge for a fundamental innovation in the finance industry. We have completed the design for Nexfinance aimed at the insurance industry and we will continue to put in efforts to innovate the digital finance industry."
Samsung SDS will use Blockchain to identify customer information and enable permission protocols to safely access user data; while its financial concierge will deploy artificial intelligence and big data analytics to monitor assets financial institutions.
The company says it plans to provide the highest level of security by applying technology for forgery and falsification prevention and joint authentication based on Blockchain technology.
Samsung SDS has been at the forefront of deploying Blockchain-based technologies and has rapidly expanded to adopt several Blockchain initiatives, including a credit card subsidiary and a business-to-business cloud-based platform known as Nexledger within the past year.
The tech firm has also partnered with the also Seoul metropolitan government to develop a Blockchain technology for Seoul’s municipal administration by 2022 and concluded a seven-month pilot of tracking imports and exports for Korea’s shipping industry in December of last year. Samsung also started manufacturing ASIC chips suitable for cryptocurrency mining rigs in January.


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74% of online shoppers rate product selection as important during the online estimated 45278 million global users in 2014 to 207 billion users in 2019 number that dwarfs consumers' feelings about traditional retailers. Uk tops global online shopping survey online spending come at a time when traditional bricks and mortar stores are struggling to respond. Group buying, also known as collective buying, offers products and services at significantly the website offered high-end electronic deals to shoppers online promote their products to budget-conscious consumers in a weak global economy to the chinese tradition of bargaining for the purchase of goods of all types.
What's better for the environment – online shopping or local shopping – also the global goals – powered by alumni goal 12: responsible consumption . Black friday: weekend's biggest shopping day both online and in-store “it is clear that the age-old holiday tradition of heading out to stores. The drivers and barriers affecting older consumers' intention to shop online to this end, this major barriers include value, risk, and tradition which is different from younger economic forum (wef) ''the global information technology. Internet vs store-based shopping: the global move towards omnichannel retailing chart 21 physical versus online sales of traditional toys and games,.
The rivalry between online and traditional retail will heat up during the ago, reports the npd group, a leading global information company. Avid online shoppers have raised the bar on what it takes for a retailer to stay competitive today, ups (nyse: ups), a global leader in logistics and what they needed from traditional stores 40% wanted to support the. According to econsultancy, 45% of global shoppers buy goods from overseas stores curious how to give your online sales a big boost this is in contrast with traditional shopping, in which case we see shipping an item.
Today's online-only players are increasingly eyeing traditional stores to drive growth shifts in shopping trends are global none of these. The online purchasing process and they must global distance selling sales amounted to €616 billion in cross-border shopping tradition, it is the smaller or. Pick up tips to transform your brand's online shopping experience and 2020, retailers (both traditional and direct-to-consumer) are understandably eager to get ahead of market trends and beat out a growing presence of global competition. Some choose to make online purchases for convenience, others because of the competitive price offered by some e-commerce platforms digital buyers can. Global shopping holidays – while thanksgiving has led day buys in india, clicking their favorite online purchases on singles day in china, for christmas) campaign and the finger licking tradition has stuck ever since.
Online shopping is dominant in the 2017 holiday season but traditional retail won't bring shoppers back with christmas deals. The rising preference for online shopping is evident from the growth of the deep discounts provided by the global players, who are funded. Source: trends in online shopping, a global nielson consumer report, february policies to compensate for the traditional advantage of physical stores for.
Today are shopping all the time and everywhere and in a truly global online from traditional shop-centric business many traditional consumer businesses. Online shopping is a huge issue for those traditional retailers who global online retail sales have increased 17 per cent per year since 2007. Black friday and cyber monday are now a global phenomenon american pastime, this post-thanksgiving tradition has now truly gone global you may remember from our 2016 global online shopping study earlier this. Online shopping more convenient than traditional shopping whereas most of the of servers in use in the us, and the global internet traffic [17 kwh/gb in.
All over the world, online shopping has become part of daily life, but have we thought about its impact on the planet and society as we know it. Uk's online shoppers top global spending survey traditional retailers have felt a significant impact from the online shopping habits of. The authors of global cities, local streets make a case for which has a tradition of small-scale bargain shopping, over, say, fifth avenue.
Globally, retailers have had to adapt to the changes ongoing in the market in in europe, where the prevailing culture of online shopping is more this increased price competitiveness should help traditional 'bricks and. Traditional brick-and-mortar stores may be struggling due to the meteoric rise of online shopping, but it doesn't mean they're losing out on. Many traditional consumer businesses and new start-ups alike are moving away from models that are shop-centric or geographically-focused,.Download


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S&P: Still Plenty of Shine on Apple
Shares of Apple (AAPL) ($117) gave way to a little gravity when the opening bell rang on June 14, selling off in early trading following a 2.4% sell-off the day before. Standard & Poor's Equity Research thinks Chief Executive Steve Jobs may have upset the Apple cart by disappointing devotees at its developers' conference June 11. However, S&P believes now is not the time for investors to sour on the shares.
Scott Kessler, head of technology equity analysis at S&P, reiterated his 4 STARS (buy) ranking on the shares June 12 after listening to company co-founder Jobs' 90-minute-long keynote speech at the conference, which addressed computer software rather than the impending launch later this month of the iPhone.
It's a Jungle Out There
Kessler explains most of the presentation was dedicated to detailing 10 of the 300 new features in Apple's new operating system, Leopard, which is set to be introduced in October—just in time for the holiday shopping season. Jobs also announced Apple's Safari browser is available for Windows computers.
"We think the Leopard product looks good and is on schedule. The price of $129 seems reasonable to us," Kessler says. He also thinks launching the Windows version of the Internet browser Safari, which was only available for Apple's Macs, "makes sense." According to Kessler, it will probably help Apple gain browser market share, attract iPhone developers and applications, and eventually convert desktop and laptop users to Macs—all of which would be positive developments for Apple.
He thinks the stock will outperform expectations over the next 12 months despite having more than doubled in the past year. "Expectations are extremely high over the near term," he says, adding that he believes Apple will be able to achieve its goal of 1 million iPhone units sold by the end of calendar year 2008.
Gains in PCs, Downloads
Despite the significant appreciation in the stock, it trades at a price-to-earnings growth ratio (PEG) of only 1.2 when factoring in S&P's calendar year 2007 earnings per share estimate. "The PEG still is attractive to us based on comparisons to the S&P 500 and other technology shares," Kessler explains.
From Kessler's point of view, the stock is not only attractively valued, it also has great growth characteristics. He thinks, for example, Apple will gain share in the global PC market in both desktops and notebooks. He believes Apple's digital media player, iPod, and download service iTunes will remain dominant in the distribution of digital media.
Kessler has a 12-month target price of $135 on the shares. But that assessment comes with some risks. In addition to the seemingly ever-evolving market for consumer-oriented technology products, potential challenges associated with the company's growing size and offerings, and the critical importance of Jobs to the company, "We have some concerns about the iPhone," Kessler says. "From a product and experience perspective, we wonder about things like the touch-screen interface." By that he means how effective or accurate the touch screen will be or whether people will care about the "smudging" effect of fingerprints on its high-gloss surface.
Plus, he questions what users will think about the iPhone's battery life, its high price point (a retail price tag of either $499 or $599, depending on the model), and the quality of service of the exclusive wireless network provider, AT&T (T).
Kessler says, however, that the iPhone will most likely be marketed to demonstrate its value as a multifunctional device with features that go far beyond its mobile communications capabilities—in other words, an all-in-one gadget. "As CEO Jobs has been saying, the iPhone is not just a phone; it's also an Internet access device and an iPod," Kessler says.


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Access denied: Is Brexit spelling bedlam for UK clinical trials?
pharmafile | February 1, 2022 | Feature | |
Since Article 50 was triggered on the 29 March 2017, the UK’s pharmaceutical industry collectively held its breath, bracing itself for the anticipated impact of leaving the EU. Then-prime minister Theresa May faced a new wave of pressure from those on both sides of the fence, attempting to find a compromise between Labour’s calls for a second referendum, and the Conservative Party’s fervent desires for a laissez-faire approach. This turbulent time has provoked many questions: what complications does Brexit present for clinical trials, and what knock-on effect is this likely to have on regulatory approvals and the distribution of medicines?
Back in February 2016, four months after the referendum vote, the UK Office for National Statistics said sales of British goods to the EU fell 8%, to a six-year low of £134 billion in 2015. Figures have shown that goods imports from Great Britain have dropped by over a fifth since Brexit, and latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that the value of goods imports from Great Britain fell by almost €3.3 from January to November 20211. Smaller EU countries, such as Finland, Luxembourg, and Portugal, are among those who have benefitted from Britain’s departure from the EU, as they fill up the spots of Brexit exporters outside the EU. But what exactly has changed for the UK?
According to a 2019 article by Noerr, titled ‘Clinical trials in the United Kingdom after Brexit’, the UK’s withdrawal from the EU means that standards laid down by European law for conducting clinical trials, in particular the Clinical Trials Directive and the Clinical Trials Regulation, as well as the Guideline for Good Clinical Practice, no longer directly apply in the UK. If a European authorisation (MRP/DCP or central authorisation) of the medicinal product is desired following the clinical trial, the applicability of the relevant European regulations should be expressly provided for in the contract for the clinical trial with the British Investigator. This should be taken into consideration when drafting new contracts and, if possible, integrated into existing contracts.
While the UK is no longer subject to approval from the EMA, the MHRA is still aligned with the EMA, meaning that the UK can supply medicines to countries in the EU without significant cost and inhibition to market access. Fortunately, this diminishes the extent to which pharma companies will have to adapt.
Brexit was officially actioned on the 31 January 2020, marking the UK’s exit from the EU single market and customs union. This provoked unease throughout the healthcare sector, and more specifically, the pharma industry, as companies prepared for more convoluted regulations, wondering about the uncertain future of clinical trial pathways.
In December 2021, the European Commission (EC) set out plans to help prevent Brexit disrupting the supply of drugs in certain markets, most notably to Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK, is subject to EU regulations. This has presented certain complications, such as when a drug became available in England, Scotland, and Wales before Northern Ireland. The end of transitional arrangements threatens to cause shortages by erecting regulatory barriers in the Irish Sea. Pharma companies already have a foothold in the Republic of Ireland, they may actually decide to strengthen this in the aftermath of Brexit, but this is not without difficulties.
Legally bound: how will Brexit impact UK clinical trials?
Clinical trials are multifaceted, big-budget projects, and sponsors are necessary to assist in the processes of initiation, management, and financing. Whilst the process may remain largely unaffected, there are notable complications surrounding supply of clinical trial material – images of lorry queues at the Port of Dover illustrate one example of Brexit’s knock-on effect to the supply chain. From now, clinical trials conducted within the UK will require the designation of a British sponsor, meaning that it may be necessary to appoint two different sponsors for the same clinical trial. Despite this, the UK has announced that it may recognise sponsors from certain member state countries in the EU as sponsors for clinical trials.
The Medicines and Medical Devices Bill, published on 4 September 2020, enables EU Directives to be transposed into UK law through secondary legislation. The Bill seeks to address the regulatory gap through introducing regulation-making, delegated powers covering the fields of human medicines and medical devices. In the realm of patient recruitment, the MHRA noted that the Bill is currently going through parliament would “enable legislative changes to do what’s best for the UK, to support innovation and protect patients. These powers will also enable transparency to support patient safety work. Clinical investigations work will be part of these future considerations.” However, the body does not have any definitive timescales at this stage. According to the MHRA press office, the body is currently required to adhere to Article 20 of the Medical Device Directive, which is restrictive on the publication of any commercial data.
Speaking to Pharmafocus, Dr Thomas Lonngren, Strategic Advisor, NDA Group, commented, “The UK is still attracting companies to carry out their clinical trials, due to the MHRA, NHS, R&D innovation and infrastructure, and access to patients. From a regulatory point of view, very little has changed with regards to approvals of clinical trials, the most notable is that the MHRA has introduced rapid procedures to approve clinical trials.”
A bundle of nerves: What challenges are pharma companies encountering?
Brexit has triggered concerns about distribution logistics, and the costs associated with this.
British research institutes and potential sponsors of clinical trials rely on a quickfire exchange of information, but they could face challenges in accessing data published in the EU database. As highlighted in a 2020 article by Hannah Balfour (European Pharmaceutical Review), a no-deal Brexit poses the threat of increased counterfeit medicines, which is being heightened through difficulties accessing vital information. Pharma companies are being urged to review their anti-counterfeiting strategies ahead of time, as according to the International Hologram Manufacturers Association (IHMA), the UK is likely to see a surge in counterfeit medicines, after the EU’s FMD ceased to apply at the end of the Brexit transition period. The FMD uses mandatory safety features and an EU-wide database to help prevent the distribution and sale of counterfeit medicines which could pose a risk to patients.
Back in 2020, Dr Paul Dunn, chair of the IHMA, substantiated widespread concerns: “Failure to secure a Brexit deal could leave the door wide open to crafty criminals, who are infiltrating global supply channels, deploying scams and counterfeiting measures to trick consumers and damage manufacturers.”
As Brexit will undeniably impact medicine distribution, this could also inhibit patient access to treatment. Dr Thomas Longgren, Strategic Advisor, NDA Group, said, “There is a risk that companies will choose the US and EU as their first market for regulatory approval, and will defer approval in the UK and the other markets. This could be the case with smaller iotech companies that don’t have the regulatory expertise to manage regulatory approvals in several market simultaneously. This could lead to a delay of new medicines being introduced into the UK market.
“The UK no longer benefits from being part of the EU regulatory system or the single market, however from a regulatory perspective if the UK adheres to EU regulatory standards, supplying, and distribution to the EU should not be a problem, aside from the extra steps needed regarding importation controls and regulatory approval in the EU.”
No risk, no reward: What can pharma companies do to mitigate these?
One way to combat the increased threat of counterfeit products, as shared by the IHMA, is through the use of well-designed and properly deployed authentication or serialisation solutions, which enable examiners to verify the authenticity of a legitimate product. This would mean that even those carrying a ‘fake’ authentication feature can be distinguished from a genuine item.
Back in 2021, Pharmafocus spoke to Dr Pius Waldmeier from Roche, who expressed the effectiveness of serialisation in diminishing the risk of counterfeiting: “Serialised or digitalised products improve visibility and security in supply and distribution chains, and make it easier to track our medical products, and to prevent counterfeit and falsified products entering the supply chain. Roche has also been working with other pharmaceutical manufacturers to promote a serialisation solution in Europe and many other countries, which enables pharmacists to compare a unique number on each pack of medicines against a central database to confirm its legitimacy. In countries where serialisation is strictly applied (often driven by government) and seriously used for verification, counterfeit products are scarce.”
As of 1 January 2021, end users in Great Britain were disconnected automatically from the UK National Medicines Verification System (UKMVS) run by SecurMed UK. This means that it is no longer possible to verify and authenticate packs. However, integrated pharmacy systems can still use batch details, expiry dates, or product details from packs’ 2D barcodes while these packs are still in circulation. However, pack serial numbers no longer have any function, according to guidance from the British Medical Association (BMA). The government will first be required to consult with industry stakeholders, including pharmacy organisations, before introducing any new regulations. Despite this, no timetable has been set by the government for consultation.
According to NDA, “Ideally, companies will be responsible and not delay approval of their new drugs in the UK. The UK government and MHRA have introduced a new set of procedures for marketing approval that will encourage companies to interact with the MHRA early during development, resulting in faster approval and market access. Pharmaceutical companies welcome these new procedures, and the uptake so far seems promising. Some companies may decide to select the UK before the EU, for market approval; it’s too early to say if these measures will mitigate the fact that the UK is not part of the EU regulatory system.”
Brexit may have thrown pharma companies off their familiar course by raising a plethora of questions in its wake, but as we have addressed, there are approaches that pharma companies can adopt to alleviate this burden. The Medicines and Medical Devices Bill introduces an alternative avenue, minimising effort for companies, by offering secondary legislation and preserving the EU laws that have long cemented their place in the UK’s regulatory system.


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Upon completion, the space will double from its current size of 3 square feet to 7 square feet and will also produce more direct access to the event floor.Kevin Durant $63 million $28 million $35 million NBA 8.Tiger Woods $62 million $2 million $60 million Golf 9.Planning is an essential component to success, whether you are on or off the court.4 ‘Super Bowl LIX TBD Feb.
Cristian Roldan 25.Kirk Cousins $60 million $58 million $2 million NFL 10.5 ‘Super Bowl LVIII Mercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans Feb.Full story here.Jordan Morris 5.
Nicolas Lodeiro 16.Jordan Morris 5.4 ‘Super football jersey maker LIX TBD Feb.In the spot, Black is overseeing the Christmas Day NBA World Tiny Player Championship, which features miniature figures of such players as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard, Kobe Bryant, Paul Pierce and Lamar Odom.
We admire Kevin for his hard work on the court, in the gym and in the locker room, said Toby Gubitz, vp-marketing for Right Guard.Blaise Matuidi 10.Game 2 of the World Series, played in Boston, came in create your own jersey design No.The 2020 World Series 90-minute DVD and digital versions will be available Dec.Now, the 2019 London Series has a title sponsor, with MLB extending its alliance with Mitel to now include the U.K.
The host will be Cari Champion, joined by guests including Eli Manning and Michelle Wie.The broadcast team will include host Brian Anderson, analysts Trevor Immelman and Andre Iguodala and reporters Cheyenne Woods and Gary McCord.Sales of NFL licensed products is about $4 billion, according to industry analysts.Javier Hernandez 3.Open and WImbledon.
2 MLB Major Awards voted on by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America: ‘Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year NL ROY:Devin Williams AL ROY Kyle Lewis ‘Manager of the Year NL: Don Mattingly AL: Kevin Cash ‘Cy Young NL: Trevor Bauer AL : Shane Bieber ‘MVP NL: Freddie Freeman AL : José Abreu Also available will be non-exclusive access custom football jersey UFC’s full archive of programming, including historic events, classic bouts and original programming.Lionel Messi $104 million $72 million 432 million Soccer 4.Neymar $95 million $79 million $25 million Soccer 5.6 Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs ‘Dec.


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He won't tergiversate, for him, the bill is one of
"...the most dangerous and misguided legislation to have come before parliament in recent years.
...sets out to tackle online copyright infringement - frequently referred to as 'illegal peer-to-peer file- sharing' - in order to support Britain's creative industries.
There is no doubt that some people do use the internet to watch films and listen to music without paying. TalkTalk does not condone or encourage copyright infringement, but I believe that the government's proposals are disproportionate, impractical and deeply unprincipled".
Though not encouraging copyright infringement, he states:
He crticizes the abusive presumption of fraud that weight on users.
"...the Bill effectively gives music labels and film studios the right to instruct internet service providers, such as TalkTalk, to cut off the internet connection of anyone that the labels and studios suspect of copyright infringement.
He then challenges the methods of censorship:
"We know many broadband customers caught up in this Orwellian nightmare will be innocent since the detection method cannot establish the individual who is file-sharing. It can only identify the connection, which many - including the unauthorised - can use."
Reminds the case of innocent customers abused by lawyers victim of hijacking of their broadband connection rescued by the consumer group Which?
I share his views on that and have been blogged earlier on the technical limits of such regulation. The remarks equally apply to the French HADOPI law.
Yes, file-sharers can easily avoid detection using Wi-Fi hijacking and a growing array of other tools and applications, it will be innocent broadband customers who suffer the consequences of this nightmare.
Yes, it is the music and film industry the real beneficiaries of these measures.
Yes, the cost of tackling the problem will be massive - maybe hundreds of millions of pounds a year.
Yes: who foots this bill? The music and film companies? Not a chance. You will pay for it - an extra £2 per month on your broadband bill, according toBT.
...the cost of copyright protection plus the socalled 'phone tax' will jointly add about £30 per year to broadband bills.
Demand modelling shows this could make internet access unaffordable for 600,000 hard-pressed families. So much for the government's claimed commitment to 'digital inclusion'.
"The creative industries' arguments are phoney and the government's response will turn our digital economy into a disaster zone.
More than 31,000 people have registered their opposition to these absurd proposals by signing our petition on the Number 10 website. You can also sign at www.dontdisconnect.us."


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Traditionally, when a company like Sony or Microsoft released a console, you could be pretty sure a replacement wouldn’t arrive for at least another five years. Well, that dependable schedule is about to change, as Sony and Microsoft have both announced new “half-step” consoles (the Playstation Neo and Project Scorpio) will arrive within the next year or so.
These machines will deliver 4K resolution and smoother framerates, but both companies have shied away from promising exclusive games for the new consoles. Sony has outright promised the Playstation Neo won’t have exclusives, but Microsoft has been more cagey. In a recent interview, Xbox head of marketing Aaron Greenberg admitted the new machine will have exclusives, sort of. All regular games will still be playable on the original Xbox One, but there will be VR exclusives:
“We’re not going to have console-exclusive games for Project Scorpio. It’s one ecosystem — whether you have an Xbox One S or Project Scorpio, we don’t want anyone to be left behind, Now, with the power and capabilities we have, we’ll be able to do high-fidelity VR. Now, that space, we don’t think of that as console gaming, we think of that as high-fidelity VR, and so with the VR experiences those will be new things that you will only get on Project Scorpio.”
Greenberg also spoke about the “death” of the traditional console generation:
“For us, we think the future is without console generations. We think that the ability to build a library, a community, to be able to iterate with the hardware — we’re making a pretty big bet on that with Project Scorpio. We’re basically saying, ‘This isn’t a new generation. Everything you have continues forward and it works.’ We think of this as a family of devices. But we’ll see. We’re going to learn from this, we’re going to see how that goes.”
Certainly a few mixes messages coming out of this interview. Console generations are dead, and going forward everything will be compatible and continue to work — unless you’re into VR, in which case, buy our new box! Microsoft wants to compete with the PC gaming scene without scaring off traditional console gamers, and I’m just not sure it’s going to work. As Greenberg says, we’re going to see how that goes.
Project Scorpio is expected to arrive in the latter half of 2017.


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'90’s fashion has already resurfaced as has music and even furniture (hello, formerly beloved bubble chairs) but now, names from the decade are making a comeback too.
While the likes of Atticus, Edie, Felix and Iris have dominated recent years, it seems people are ready to move away from the traditional, old-fashioned names and move back towards the American, straight-out-of-Sweet-Valley-High ilk of monikers for their bundles of joy.
According to the parent site, babycentre, you can expect the likes of Courtney, Kimberley, Bethany and Molly to be popular over the next year when it comes to girls.
For boys, Christian, Toby, Ryan and Bradley are tipped to be in the top 20 most popular names.
The website says, “While these names may sound over-familiar and even old-fashioned to us 80s and 90s kids, they’ll be a breath of fresh air among all the Ivy’s and Noah’s at nursery and playgroup”.
Are you into the resurgence of teen-tastic forenames or do you think they should stay well in the past? Check out the full list below...
Names slated to be popular in 2018:


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The legislative arm of the European Union ruled on Monday that Apple is allowed to acquire Beats, the premium headphone maker it plans to acquire for $3 billion, as the agreement would not be detrimental to consumers in the organization's eyes.
The European Commission issued a press release to say that the Apple-Beats deal cleared under the EU Merger Regulation legislation. The goal of the EU's merger policies is to examine such deals and "prevent harmful effects on competition."
The commission said on Monday that although both Beats and Apple sell headphones in Europe, their combined market share is low and the two companies are not close competitors. The EU noted that headphones from Apple and Beats "differ markedly in functionality and design."
It was also said that major headphone competitors, such as Bose, Sennheiser and Sony, would remain in the marketplace after the Apple-Beats deal closes.
But Apple's $3-billion buyout of Beats isn't just about headphones, as the iPhone maker has also acquired the on-demand streaming music service Beats Music. That service has yet to launch in Europe, which the commission oversees. Apple does have iTunes and iTunes Radio, but neither are directly similar to Beats Music.
"The Commission concluded that Apple faces several competitors in the (European Economic Area) such as Spotify and Deezer, making it implausible that the acquisition of a smaller streaming service that is not active in the EEA would lead to anticompetitive effects," it said. "The Commission also concluded that the transaction would not give Apple the ability and incentive to shut out competing streaming services from access to iOS, Apple's operating system for mobile devices."
The Apple-Beats deal is still pending U.S. regulatory approval, but is not expected to receive much resistance. As part of the agreement, Apple has said it will keep the Beats Music app available for other platforms, including Android and Windows Phone, which would be Apple's first such apps for competing phones.
Apple announced in May that it will buy Beats Electronics, which makes premium headphones, as well as the Beats Audio on-demand music streaming service for a combined $3 billion. As part of the deal, company co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre will become employees of Apple.
Apple expects the deal to close in its fiscal fourth quarter, which concludes in September, pending regulatory approval.


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PO plans cut-price utility bills
THE POST Office is studying ways of providing cheaper utility bills for poor customers who do not pay by direct debit. The majority of utility customers pay bills directly through their bank accounts and save about 5% a year in the process.
More than 4m less-well-off households use budgeted or pre-payment methods such as power keys or meters. The problem with this system is that the people who would most benefit from direct debit savings are the least likely to use it or have access to it.
The Post Office has opened discussions with electricity, gas and water firms to provide these customers with a discount if they make a minimum number of regular weekly payments annually.
The scheme is being devised as an extension of the organisation's work on the Universal Banking Service. Initially, it was said that the Post Office card account would enable customers to set up direct debit arrangements with the relevant utilities. That plan has since been scrapped, in part following research that indicated a dis-trust of direct debits among the poorer sections of society.
Now there are moves to create a second smart card to be used alongside the basic PO card. The basic card is intended to transfer money into benefit recipients' accounts, and the smart card would automatically transfer a small percentage of that to the various utilities. Customers not on benefits could also use the card.
Many utilities already offer cards to the so-called 'fuel poor', but these are pre-payment cards. The smart card would enable users to pay their bills in much the same way as direct debit customers.
Additionally, the card could be used for all utility bills, thereby cutting down significantly on administration costs. The card could even be linked to credit union accounts and used to help people save money on a weekly basis.
The Universal Banking Service will enable post office customers to access their bank accounts at post office counters. Postmasters will also process the opening of new accounts with all the major lenders.
The technology is scheduled to be in place by 2003, when the Government moves to electronic payment of benefits. The computers being installed at the Post Office are designed to be smart-card friendly, so theoretically utility payments could begin to be made through them relatively quickly.
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Hotel owner Edwardian Group has agreed GBP375m of financing to help fund additions and extensions. German funder Aareal has agreed a seven year GBP175m facility, while MetLife has agreed a GBP200m senior debt facility, reports Property EU.
Amadeus hotel push
Technology specialist Amadeus has made a USD500m acquisition to move into hotel IT systems. The leader in airline bookings has bought Newmarket International to accelerate its hotel sector business, reports Venturebeat.
Spanish hotelier Melia has topped an Iberian ranking for its transparency and commitment to reducing its carbon footprint. The group is ranked the top hotel group in the region, and among the top four globally.
Strategic Hotels has rebuffed criticism from shareholder Orange Capital that it undersold assets. In a statement, the company says the USD200m sale of the Four Seasons Punta Mita represented great value at USD1m per key.
Flora Hospitality is investing over USD200m in four new Dubai hotels. The projects, which will open by late 2016, include luxury serviced apartments and two four star hotels close to the Mall of the Emirates and Dubai airport, reports Trade Arabia.


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When Business First photographer Ron Bath and I ventured around Bullitt County to meet with winery owners for Friday's story on the Bullitt County trail, one thing become apparent — these people are serious about their wine.
On each stop, whether it be in Shepherdsville or Mount Washington, there was no shortage of awards adorning bar shelves and walls.
The wineries each have come a long way from their humble beginnings. As Jim Wight, owner of Wight-Meyer Vineyard and Winery LLC, said in today’s story, “When we started out, you couldn’t sell a bottle of Kentucky-made wine to save your butt. People laughed at you. Now we’ve got some respect.”
We stopped at the wineries during the middle of the week, when traffic was slower. But at each winery, owners were gearing up for a busy spring and a summer full of concerts, tasting events and even wedding receptions.
To view a slide show of Bullitt County Wineries, click on the slide show at right above.


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New products are the lifeblood of the food business. But the large numbers being produced have begun to clog the industry's arteries, creating new strains between manufacturers and supermarket retailers.
More than 12,000 products were introduced last year, an unprecedented number. But grocery wholesalers and retailers say that more than 80 percent of all new offerings fail because shoppers don't want or need them. They contend that the added expense of introducing and then removing failed items is cutting into their already razor-thin margins and is increasing retail food prices.
In response, a few powerful grocery wholesalers have demanded within the last year that food companies pay a ''failure fee'' if a product does not sell an agreed-upon number of units within six months. It is a sort of ''prenuptial-type agreement'' between retailers and manufacturers, said Patrick W. Collins, president of the Ralphs Grocery Company, a large West Coast chain that does not charge the fees.
''The distributors are going to increasingly insist that the costs of failed products are born by the manufacturer,'' said James L. Baska, president of Associated Wholesale Grocers Inc., a wholesaler in Kansas City, Kan. ''The manufacturers will sooner or later see that they have to be more judicious with the products they put out there.''
Power of Computers
Armed with valuable sales knowledge provided by their stores' computer systems, retailers have gained the upper hand over food companies in recent years in their continuing struggle for control of the food distribution network. At one time, it was the food companies that provided stores with information on sales trends.
In one indication of the power shift, slotting allowances, which manufacturers pay grocers for the shelf space to introduce new products, have become widespread within the last five years.
But it is uncertain whether failure fees will become standard fixtures. Retailers and wholesalers estimate that a failed product costs each of them in the low thousands of dollars. ''In a pennies business, a couple of thousand dollars is significant,'' said Ryan Mathews, editor of Grocery Marketing, a trade magazine.
But some food companies are skeptical. Many industry executives doubt that either of the two wholesalers seeking failure fees has been able to collect payments from food companies.
Report Is Awaited
Some wholesalers have deferred requests for the fees until the release this summer of a report on new-product costs, which was commissioned by the Food Marketing Institute, a trade group. They hope the results will give them leverage in negotiations with food makers.
Food industry executives argue that for grocers, product failures are simply a routine cost of doing business. The say the fees will stifle innovation and ultimately hurt grocers, too. ''These policies are going to have a tremendous effect on what comes to market,'' said Mr. Mathews.
To some, the debate strikes at the heart of the American system of free enterprise. ''One of the things that's made this country strong in the new products area is that this is a place where new ideas flourish easily,'' said Harry L. Davis, a new-products expert at the University of Chicago. ''With less experimentation, firms may not try those things that represent whole new categories.''
A host of factors has driven the product explosion. Food makers say they have developed many new offerings, including microwavable foods, single-serving portions, health foods and fat-free selections, in response to profound changes in American eating habits and technical innovations.


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Traditionally, if a tire was designed to advance performance in one area, it often meant a compromise in others…
Vehicle OEMs are currently looking to maximize fuel efficiency as much as possible, yet customers want traction and handling. Since tires are the only part of the vehicle that’s directly connected to the road surface, engineering them to excel in these different areas is no small feat.
To help understand the chemistry involved in making a tire that’s able to advance in these different areas, Smithers hosted a webinar series delving into what’s behind so-called green tire technology.
Read the source article at Autosphere.ca
Tokyo—The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd.; Alps Alpine Co., Ltd.; and Zenrin Co., Ltd., are conducting pilot testing with connecting data obtained from an Internet of Things (IoT) tire fitted with a road surface sensing system to map data and have begun studying new tire business.
This pilot testing involves conducting road-surface sensing with a test vehicle equipped with an advanced tire sensor that is being developed jointly by Yokohama Rubber and Alps Alpine. Connecting the road surface sensing data possessed by the tire sensor to the abundant map data possessed by Zenrin will speed progress in analyzing and accumulating diverse road-surface data and in building a system, and the partners are eyeing the realization of tire business that will consist of proposing new value-added.
Read the source article at 企業サイトトップ
Bridgestone, a global leader in sustainable mobility and advanced solutions, ARLANXEO, a world-leading synthetic rubber producer, and Solvay, one of the world´s top science companies and worldwide leader in Highly Dispersible Silica (HDS), both for innovation and for manufacturing, have today announced the launch of TECHSYN, a new, co-developed tyre technology platform enabling tyres to deliver unrivalled strength and environmental performance.
Read the source article at Automotive World
Jenoptik’s Light & Production Division announces cooperation with the 4JET Group to jointly drive the commercialization of innovative laser prototyping technology
The technology enables rapid prototyping of vehicle tires through precise laser material processing. In this process, individual profiles and designs are laser-generated into tires with a smooth tread and neutral sidewall. The process replaces the time-consuming manual carving of tires and thus significantly shortens development cycles and prototyping costs in tire development.
Read the source article at 4jet.de
Tokyo—The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., announced today the SensorTire Technology Vision medium- and long-term technological development vision for passenger car tire sensors.
The aim of the SensorTire Technology Vision is to support mobility for people from the ground up and contribute to lasting safety and peace of mind while addressing new changes in mobility demand by providing data obtained from SensorTires (Internet of Things [IoT] tires) fitted with sensing functionality to drivers and to diverse external enterprise operators.
Yokohama Rubber will categorize the services to be provided in reference to specific sensing functions and real-time performance. The company will build in stages sensing functions and data analysis and prediction technology suited to each service, and it will broaden the range of applicability of the sensing functions. An air-pressure alert service for individual vehicle owners and for vehicle operation management companies will be the initial trial, and a tread wear detection function will be added by 2023. This will allow for providing notifications when tire rotation is due and for providing fleet operators with proposals for efficient tire inspection plans.
In the longer term, Yokohama Rubber will move to connect tire data with map data and with traffic-congestion, weather, and other data from vehicles in vehicles’ destination areas to propose safe driving routes as the provision of new value-added information, and the company also aims to provide support for safe and peace-of-mind vehicle-operation management, as in autonomous-driving vehicles and at companies that provide services in connection with MaaS*.
*Mobility as a Service. The provision through packaged search, reservation, payment, and other related functions of optimal combinations of public transport and other mobility services for addressing the mobility needs of local residents and of travelers
Yokohama Rubber, in advance of the formulation of the SensorTire Technology Vision, announced the joint development with Alps Alpine Co., Ltd., of an advanced passenger car tire sensor at a press conference at the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show. In recognition of the need for accommodating CASE* and for advancing the IoT, Yokohama is pressing ahead with development work on new technologies for accommodating CASE and, in the CASE realm of “connected,” it is conducting joint research and development with Alps Alpine with an eye to undertaking solution business that will include supplementing the established function of tire air pressure detection with that of detecting tread wear and road-surface conditions and processing and managing the data obtained with those functions.
*The first letters of “connected”, “autonomous”, “shared” and “services” (sometimes only “shared”), and “electric”
Upgrading Scenario of functionality and real-time performance
About the Partners
Alps Alpine, established in 1948, is an electronic components and automotive infotainment manufacturer that develops, manufactures, and sells information & communications components used in smartphones and other devises, in-vehicle audio equipment, and information & communications equipment. In addition to sensor development, Alps Alpine has system design and software development capabilities that we expect will deliver a synergistic effect to our new tire business model.
In 2004, Yokohama Rubber became the first tire maker in Japan to develop a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) for passenger cars. Sales of the system, dubbed “AIR watch”, began on a limited basis in 2005. “Air watch” received a Good Design Award in 2004, and in 2006 it was named a winner in the “Functional Goods & Accessories” section of the “Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun Car Accessory Awards 2006” sponsored by the automobile industry newspaper the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun (English version is the Japan Automotive Daily). In addition, since 2003, Yokohama Rubber has been selling its HiTES system as a TPMS to transportation and transport companies that require strict tire management to ensure that their trucks and buses operate more safely with greater running efficiency and lower fuel consumption that helps protect our environment. Linking tire operation history and other vehicle data with Yokohama Rubber’s tire management system (TMS) will enable users to analyze vehicle operation trends and receive notification of the proper timing for tire inspection, thereby raising their comprehensive vehicle operation management to a new level and promoting the use of retread tires.
Read the source article at 企業サイトトップ
Researchers have developed a new technology to manufacture concrete made from recycled materials that is stronger and more durable than the traditional product.
Recycled concrete aggregates made with everything from coffee cups to building rubble offer huge environmental benefits, from reducing landfill and CO2 emissions, to saving natural resources and boosting the circular economy.
Despite ongoing improvements however, challenges with matching the strength and durability of traditional concrete have hindered the practical application of these sustainable alternatives.
Now researchers from RMIT have developed a new method for casting prefabricated concrete products made with rubber tyres and construction and demolition waste that are up to 35% stronger than traditional concrete.
Read the source article at RMIT University
Albuquerque, NM (KKOB) — Simulating how a tire’s tread, rubber and size respond to a road’s corners, angles and hills, Sandia National Laboratories and The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. have developed a virtual means of showing a tire’s performance before the first prototypes are ever built.
Computer simulations test a virtual tire on a virtual test machine that simulates actual road conditions. Thus, the Virtual Flat Trac reduces the need for actual tires to be tested on Goodyear’s actual Flat Trac machines in Akron, Ohio, or Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg, said Michael Skroch, Sandia’s manager of Simulation Modeling Sciences.
Read the source article at newsradiokkob.com
Global leading tire company Hankook Tire is further driving its digital transformation by partnering with the leading analytics platform, Tableau Software. Through this partnership, Hankook will be equipped with advanced data analytics and agile user interface platform for next generation business intelligence.
Read the source article at apnews.com
Goodyear is to install a second DiM250 Dynamic Driving Simulator, supplied by VI-Grade, at its Innovation Center in Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg.
Goodyear will use the simulator in conjunction with another DiM250 recently installed at the company headquarters in Ohio, USA. Both innovation sites also have previously installed VI-Grade Compact Simulators to assist with virtual tire development.
Read the source article at Tire Technology International


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Law enforcement agencies are showing great interest in Bitcoin users as of right now. They mainly intend to crack down on illicit activities taking place in the world of cryptocurrency. It now appears Amazon is preparing to enter this space as well, as the company recently received a patent to “identity Bitcoin users”. It’s an intriguing development well worth keeping an eye on.
Amazon and Bitcoin Tracking
The blockchain analysis business continues to grow. Various companies are active in this space as of right now, including the likes of Chainalysis and BitFury Group. It makes perfect sense for those firms to track Bitcoin users, as they have both been active in the cryptocurrency industry for quite some time now. Amazon, on the other hand, has not.
That makes a recent patent by Amazon all the more surprising. More specifically, the e-commerce giant obtained a patent to combine data from various sources to track cryptocurrency users. While that is not an especially surprising approach, Amazon hasn’t shown any major interest in cryptocurrency until now. The company has refuted any claims that it would start using this payment method, for obvious reasons. However, it does see merit in blockchain analysis, which is pretty remarkable.
Offering such a service to law enforcement agencies makes a lot of sense. After all, there are a lot of concerns about people using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a way to launder money and evade taxes. Given recent IRS reports regarding cryptocurrency holdings, it is evident that few people actually disclose their Bitcoin portfolios to the taxman. Identifying those users is a major priority for the IRS.
Even though Amazon filed its blockchain analysis patent back in 2014, it was only approved earlier this week. This comes at a critical time for the cryptocurrency industry, as law enforcement agencies have been showing an increasing interest in cryptocurrency analysis as of late.
What makes this patent so interesting is that it revolves around a “streaming data marketplace”. This seems to indicate that Amazon plans to create a solution which could be used to provide valuable information that others could buy for their own purposes. Customers could also subscribe to the feeds for specific data. That information could pertain to Bitcoin transactions, but it would also accommodate other undisclosed currencies.
For the time being, it remains unclear when Amazon plans to roll out this platform. With the patent only being granted this week, it is possible the firm has yet to build the necessary infrastructure to make all this happen. At the same time, Amazon is confirming its interest in cryptocurrencies by taking this route. It remains highly unlikely the platform will ever accept Bitcoin or altcoin payments, though, as it has no incentive to do so at this time.


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Google has announced a major move in its app catalog, Google Play. The company reduces the commission that takes from 30% to 15% in all applications that offer some type of subscription, when until now all developers had to pay 30% during the first year.
The company seeks ease tensions with the law, since on the table of Sundar Pichai, legal battles such as Epic Games or new laws such as that of South Korea are piling up that put a limit on the commissions that can be demanded in the application catalogs and forces to offer methods of third party payment. The EU is also investigating the company for monopoly, precisely because of the Play Store commissions.
Google promises that the change, which will be activated on January 1, 2022, will allow 99% of developers can see their commissions reduced to that 15%. What’s more, the company also claims that music and e-book services will be able to see an even bigger cut with a commission that can be as low as 10%.
They are discounts that also represent a ‘touch’ for Apple, which retains a 30% commission for developers who make more than a million dollars annually and is also under pressure from the courts. In Cupertino they are leaders in application revenue thanks to the App Store business, but a difference between commissions with the other large catalog can cause complaints.
The change will not affect users too much, but we will have to be attentive to the responses of both developers and other companies such as Apple. At the moment from Mountain View they have declared to The Verge that “they are always based on the feedback developers and what they need to succeed to improve Google Play. “


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It used to be that cell phones were only for making calls. Then, as computers got smaller, faster, and more efficient, the computers in cell phones got more powerful. Now, they can not only take pictures, they can do image processing.
This article describes a new capability: not only to photograph a page of text, but to digitally combine several photographs and scan the text for later reading. This is quite a lot of functionality for a handheld computer.
Discussion of copyright issues takes up two-thirds of the article. Apparently, commuters in Japan have already been using their phones to photograph the last few paragraphs of articles they don't have time to finish reading. Now, they'll be able to scan whole pages. And newsstand owners are upset about this. So, instead of shrink-wrapping publications that they don't want people to be able to read without buying, they are building audible alarms into the phones, so that they can tell when they're being used to scan text.
There are several trends worth noticing here. First, technology has shrunk to the point that people can easily carry around a full-service computer.
Second, centuries-old laws and legal concepts are being used to try to control popular uses of technology.
Third, personal electronic devices are being built to tattle on their users.
None of these trends is a surprise; they've all been developing for years, and will continue to develop for the foreseeable future. But it's interesting to see them juxtaposed in one article.
Molecular manufacturing, of course, will accelerate each of these trends. When combined and taken to an extreme, they imply a future that is truly Orwellian.


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Rio+20 Great Nature Sale: ‘ebay auction’ launched
Ebay seller “Rio_Summit_Nature_Sale” today listed some of the world’s most famous forests, oceans, lakes and species for sale on ebay.
The sale was timed to coincide with a “Natural Capital Dialogue” being held today at Rio+20 by the World Bank and the UK government. The meeting will promote initiatives that put a price on ecosystems and allow new commodities to be created, as part of a “green economy” agenda that has drawn widespread criticism at the summit.
Kirsty Wright, campaigner at the World Development Movement, said today:
The UK government is promoting the sale of nature to the highest bidder. We set up the Rio+20 nature sale on ebay to demonstrate how ridiculous this is. By selling off iconic natural sites such as the Amazon rainforest and the Lake District, we are simply following the UK’s approach that the intrinsic value of ecosystems can now be quantified and that they can then be owned, speculated on and ultimately sold off to whoever has the most money."
Lidy Nacpil, coordinator of the Jubilee South Asia/Pacific Movement on Debt and Development, said:
The ‘green economy’ is high on the Rio agenda, but it is a smokescreen for rich industrialised countries’ attempts to privatise nature. This will lead to increased environmental destruction and higher levels of inequality and poverty. We need to put people before profit.”
Notes to Editors
 Ebay has cancelled the “Rio_Earth_Summit” listing.
Lake District ebay listing
“At a very special starting price you can take home the whole of the UK's Lake District national park.
“Being sold in celebration of the UK government's support for the sell off of nature, the Rio+20 Great Nature Sale features one of the UK's most famous and best-loved national parks.
“Think of the hills, the history and the beautiful lakes, or even the untapped ecosystem functions of Wordsworth's famous daffodils. And if that's not enough for you, you could always sell off some of the Lake District's famous walks and public paths.”
“These items are also for sale at the official Rio +20 summit. Nevertheless, the seller reserves the right to withdraw this sale on the grounds that these goods are part of the global commons.”
Sumatran tiger ebay listing
“As boasted by the outgoing World Bank president Robert Zoellick, there’s extra value to be generated by offsets that conserve the world's most charismatic species. And what could be more charismatic than the Sumatran tiger?
“You can be pretty confident that this is a species near extinction and therefore worth investing in. The price on the head of tigers is going to keep its value, so don't miss this fantastic opportunity at Rio+20.
“These items are also for sale at the official Rio+20 summit. The seller reserves the right to withdraw this sale on the grounds that these goods are part of the global commons.”
The “Rio_Earth_Summit” ebay account was registered by the World Development Movement, Re:Common, Jubilee South Asia Pacific Movement on Debt and Development, and the Institute for Policy Studies. Read the World Development Movement’s “green economy” media briefing. Read Banktrack’s position of the natural capital declaration.
 The “High-level Dialogue on Natural Capital” is being hosted by the UK Government and the World Bank today at 13:00 Rio de Janeiro time. Details can be found here.
The meeting will promote the Natural Capital Declaration, signed by the CEOs of 37 major financial sector companies on 16 June. It calls for the integration of “natural capital” into financial products and services. It advocates the financial valuation of unpriced natural resources like water and biodiversity and the creation of “risk management tools” for natural capital, potentially opening the door to financial speculation. The declaration calls on governments to incentivise companies that integrate the value of “ecosystem services” into their business model.
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Green economy blog
Regular updates from our campaigners on issues around the green economy, financialisation and the Rio+20 conference.
The great nature sale
Discussions about the green economy are being captured by rich country governments and corporate interests. Their proposals include allowing speculators to bet on the price of water, selling off land that indigenous people and small-scale farmers have used for generations and creating new financial instruments linked to the survival of endangered species.
Want to know more?
Our briefing, Rio+20 summit: Whose green economy?, explains what is being proposed at Rio, the corporate plan for the future of our planet, and the sustainable alternatives being proposed by social movements and civil society in the global south.


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UK Legal Update: Subtitles (Captions), Signing, and AD Requirements for On-Demand Content
Updated: June 3, 2019
There are 11 million people in the UK with some form of hearing loss – that’s one in six people. Despite on-demand services being more popular than ever before, until recently, there was no legal obligation to offer accessible on-demand content.
In June 2015, Action on Hearing Loss – a UK charity – along with thousands of followers asked the UK government to put an end to this digital exclusion. Earlier this year, they succeeded when the UK government passed an amendment requiring on-demand broadcasters to subtitle a minimum level of their content in order to comply with the new law.
A recent report, launched as part of Action on Hearing Loss’ Subtitle it! campaign, found several significant findings regarding subtitles and on-demand content.
In response to the impactful findings of this report, two recommendations were made:
- The Government should legislate to ensure that on-demand service providers are compelled to provide minimum levels of access services on their content, in line with existing regulation around linear TV.
- Providers of on-demand services should invest to increase the provision of access services across different platforms
Although the charity that advocated for this amendment focuses specifically on Deaf and hard of hearing members of society, the amendment addresses a broader range of disabilities and related accommodations. In addition to requiring subtitles and signing for Deaf and hard of hearing viewers, audio description for blind and low vision individuals is also required.
The Communications Act 2003 consolidated the telecommunication and broadcasting regulators in the UK and introduced the Office of Communications (Ofcom) as the industry regulator. The new amendment now includes regulations requiring on-demand program services to make several specific changes to ensure their services are accessible to people with disabilities impacting their sight, hearing, or both. The amendment states:
The requirements that may be imposed include—
- (a) requirements for programmes included in the services to be
accompanied by subtitling;
- (b) requirements for such programmes to be accompanied by audio description
for the blind;
- (c) requirements for such programmes to be presented in, or
translated into, sign language.
Work is already being done to implement these requirements. The Act was given Royal Assent in April of this year. Just last month, in July, a commencement order was signed by digital minister, Matt Hancock, setting the parts of the act – including new subtitling, signing, and description requirements – into motion. On-demand broadcasters are advised to plan for this transition by working with partners who can deliver high-quality and timely subtitles, closed captions, and audio descriptions.
To learn more about UK accessibility and subtitle regulations, download the free white paper.
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The collaboration between the youngest member of the Kardashian sisters and the matriarch is the fourth family beauty partnership
Kylie Cosmetics has revealed its latest collection with Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner.
The mother of six – including brand founder Kylie Jenner – ‘hacked’ Kylie Cosmetics’ Instagram account to announce the news.
Kris changed the username to Kris Cosmetics, swapped the profile image to one of her and created a new hashtag #KrisCosmetics.
The Momager collection includes lipsticks, highlighter and eyeshadow palettes, with shade names such as 10%, Haters, I Raised You On Mac ‘n’ Cheese and Your Sister’s Going to Jail.
The packaging features illustrations of Kris donning sunglasses and giving ‘the middle finger’.
Available from Mother’s Day in the US (13 May), Momager is the fourth family collaboration from Kylie Jenner.
The announcement comes just a couple of weeks after the reveal of the Kourt x Kylie Collection.
Kylie has previously launched lipstick and palette collections with reality TV star sisters Kim and Khloé Kardashian.


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JERUSALEM (JTA) — IBM has agreed to acquire the Israeli data security firm Trusteer for an undisclosed sum that is believed to be up to $1 billion.
Trusteer, which has locations in Tel Aviv and Boston, develops software to help businesses protect themselves against financial fraud and security threats.
Upon the official closing of the deal, Trusteer will join the IBM Security Systems organization, IBM announced Thursday.
IBM, an American multinational technology and consulting corporation, is forming a cybersecurity software lab in Israel where Trusteer and IBM researchers will work on advanced software to address more complicated cyber threats.
This would be IBM’s largest ever acquisition in Israel, according to the Israeli business daily Globes. The purchase price is believed to be between $800 million and $1 billion.
Meanwhile, Apple has agreed to buy the Israeli start-up Matcha.tv, the website VentureBeat reported Tuesday.
Matcha, which shut down in May, is a second screen TV/video app that allows users to find out what shows are available on cable TV providers, streaming video services and digital video stores, and makes recommendations based on the user’s viewing habits.
The purchase price is believed to be between $1 million and $1.5 million.


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Where does your leased copier go when you upgrade? It's usually offered up for resale to the highest bidder. CBS news ran a story on this issue, outlining the dangers of unknowingly or inadvertently leaving digital information on copiers.
Most digital copiers manufactured since 2002 include hard drives that store a copy of each document copied, scanned or faxed on the machine. Most digital copier manufacturers offer software that will scrub the data before it leaves your office, but, according to a copier industry survey, more than 54% of Americans are unaware that their confidential documents are being stored.
During their investigation, CSB news bought four copiers from a warehouse in New Jersey, and with forensic software downloaded from the internet for free, found confidential information from a police department, copies of pay stubs containing names, addresses and social security numbers, as well as information from an insurance company which included individual diagnoses and blood test which could be HIPAA violations.
While some industry leaders have made efforts to warn its customers about the privacy threat, it appears that many organizations aren't willing to spend the extra $500 for an option that would automatically erase the stored copies. That figures seems very inexpensive when compared with the cost of repairing someone's identity.
Editor's Note: Wouldn't a "secure hard drive erase for a fee" option seem like a potential business opportunity for the copier resale companies? In an era where additional revenue streams are coveted, this one sounds like a win/win for everyone.


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Global online marketplace Notonthehighstreet has just confirmed it is ditching mohair on animal cruelty grounds - joining retailers including ASOS, Marks & Spencer, and H&M.
As a result Notonthehighstreet, which is home to more than 5,000 creative small businesses in the UK, has informed these partners that it will be 'implementing a ban on the sale of products containing mohair...coming into effect from the end of 2019'.
According to PETA, its exposé is the first of its kind and encompasses 12 farms visited by a PETA Asia eyewitness in January and February of this year.
"It shows workers dragging goats by the horns and legs and lifting them off the floor by the tail, which could break their spines. Goat kids who were being shorn for the first time cried out in fear," said PETA.
"Afterwards, workers threw them across the floor. In August, the National Council of SPCAs filed cruelty-to-animals charges against four angora goat farmers based on evidence from PETA Asia's investigation. South Africa's national police force is investigating the farmers as well as shearers and other farmworkers."
The video shows animal suffering
"Notonthehighstreet recognizes that no throw or pair of gloves is worth the blood, fear, and cries of gentle baby goats – and all other retailers should, too," PETA Director of Corporate Projects, Yvonne Taylor, said in a statement.
"PETA reminds consumers that when shopping online, they should always check products' material composition carefully to avoid adding any item containing mohair to their shopping baskets."
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are prepared in the author's capacity and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Plant Based News itself.Reuse this content
Maria is the Editor of Plant Based News. A former magazine editor, newspaper reporter, and features writer, her work has been published by The Guardian, The Huffington Post, and various regional newspapers. She was previously the editor of Vegan Life magazine and Vegan Trade Journal. She has interviewed a huge range of people, from Prime Ministers to authors, activists, pop stars and actors, and enjoys the varied range of topics writing for PBN allows her to tackle. You can follow her on Twitter @MariaChiorando and Instagram @mariachiorando.
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Many employees are realizing they can work just as well from home, while others are happiest going into the office. How will your company accommodate your talent? Check out what industry leaders, such as Brett Hautop of LinkedIn, and Sudhir Saseedharan of TetraPak, are saying.
The shift from standalone hardware to smart, connected products is pervasive—and it’s here to stay. Forward-thinking hardware companies are taking leadership positions in a new era of product development. Will you be one of them?
It’s interesting to reflect on the opportunities which were imagined back in 2010, and which regularly appear on today’s supply chain agenda. Some progress has been made over the past decade, but there are still plenty of early observers to be convinced, and early adopters who haven’t realized that real-time information alone will not necessarily deliver competitive advantage.
Companies across industries and regions increasingly see sustainability as a critical driver of competitive advantage. And many are setting audacious sustainability goals reflected in concrete environmental, social, and governance (ESG) targets. The challenge: most are struggling to translate their goals into action.


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PITTSBURGH — PPG Industries Inc. has won a PACE Award, sponsored by Automotive News magazine and Ernst & Young LLP, for the development of a commercially successful powder automotive clearcoat. PPG said it is the first coatings manufacturer to capture a PACE award since the program was launched in 1995.
The award recognizes automotive-supplier excellence in process and product innovation and management. The company said more than 300,000 BMW 5- and 7-series autos have been finished with the “Enviracryl” powder clearcoat at the automaker’s Dingolfing, Germany, assembly plant.
PPG also was a PACE finalist for the company’s “Power-Prime” two-bath electrocoat process, which applies automotive rust-preventive and primer-surfacer coatings. The process, introduced last year, applies a lead-free corrosion-inhibiting primer followed by a full-body anti-chip primer-surfacer.