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While recently discussing the best-selling cars of 2017, I added a figurative asterisk to the list because although the Toyota RAV4 crossover was the top car on the market, it was actually the fourth best-selling vehicle. First, second, and third place were all held by trucks.
That is good news for automakers, since these vehicles tend to be their priciest and most profitable vehicles. With that in mind, let's take a look at which truck models (including SUVs) are winning as the year comes to a close. These are the top five, in reverse order, with their year-to-date sales and percentage increase or decrease over last year (as of November's sales numbers).
5. Jeep Grand Cherokee (217,074, up 14.8%)
Fiat Chrysler's (FCAU) Jeep Grand Cherokee remains the automaker's top-selling Jeep model, and its most profitable, particularly as the other models have struggled. Yet even here, sales seemed to tail off toward the end of the year, as they were growing about 20% over 2016 early on. Still, that's a healthy gain, and the largest percentage increase of any of the five top-selling trucks. It was also the model's best November showing since 2003.
4. Ford Explorer (242,565, up 7%)
Early on, Ford (F 3.17%) was predicting that the SUV segment would perform well not only this year, but also for the next few years. It anticipates SUVs "accounting for more than 45% of the non-premium U.S. retail industry in the next five to seven years." That's good news for Ford, as it says that 35-to-44-year-olds buy more midsize and large SUVs than any other demographic. Then, as millennials get older, they're expected to step into SUVs as well, and the Explorer (and Expedition) ought to benefit from their upgrades.
3. Dodge Ram (455,816, up 3.2%)
Like the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Fiat Chrylser's Dodge Ram pickup truck is a profit center for the automaker, and accounts for about one out of every four of its vehicle sales in the U.S. It faced a tough November as sales of the third-most-popular light-duty truck fell 0.5% for the month, but sales are still up 3% year to date, despite a massive recall earlier this year. A just-released special-edition 2018 Ram 1500 Hydro Blue Sport, which Fiat Chrysler says will be the final special-edition Sport the brand will offer in 2017, may be the truck that will gain traction next year.
2. Chevrolet Silverado (518,188, down 0.5%)
General Motors' (GM 3.05%) Chevrolet Silverado is perennially the second-best-selling truck in the U.S., and 2017 is proving to be no different. Though sales rose 2.6% in November, they're down a half-percent so far across the year. The Silverado could still end 2017 in the black, as GM's VP of sales pointed out, "More vehicles are sold in December than any other month," so it still has a little time to score big.
GM's domestic light-duty trucks generally are doing well, up almost 5% this year, even as it has seen car sales slide more than 18%. Still, with the increases in incentives GM was offering on its trucks early this year, it would undoubtedly be a disappointment if they can't cross the finish line with higher sales.
1. Ford F-Series (807,379, up 10.1%)
It's no surprise that Ford and its F-series pickup truck was once again at the top of the list. Like day follows night, this pickup truck is America's best-selling vehicle year after year, and has been for decades. In fact, the F-series pickup has been the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. for 35 consecutive years and the best-selling truck in the country for 40 years. With just a month to go in 2017, and the wide gap between it and the Silverado, it's safe to assume that Ford's pickup truck will notch its 36th and 41st years, respectively, atop the lists.


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Sony's phones have been on sale all over the place lately. Last week, we reported that there were price drops on a number of Xperia devices at several retailers. At the time, the premium Xperia XZ3 was $100 off its $900 MSRP. Now, it's fallen even further at B&H, currently going for $730.
The XZ3 has all the trimmings of a modern, high-end Android device: a six-inch, 1440p display; Snapdragon 845; glass construction with wireless charging; and a 19-megapixel rear camera. Its looks are unique, too, thanks to very eye-catching green variant (there's a red one, too, but B&H doesn't stock it).
In his review, Scott was pleased with the quality of the device's build and display — the XZ3 is Sony's first phone to market with an OLED panel. He also noted, though, that at $900, it's not a good bargain. That's arguably true of just about any phone, but a significant discount can make a big difference. If you're looking for a flagship that stands out, head over to B&H and give the XZ3 a look.

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Every year, shoppers spend hours scouring through the deals, clipping coupons and editing their list. This year, many more will be doing this online via websites and apps. In fact, our 2014 holiday shopping survey results showed: compared to last year, there is a 70% increase in the number of shoppers that prefer using websites and apps to research latest holiday deals.
In addition to knowing what you want to buy, and where you want to go — there are still more savings opportunities available using your trusty texting device. When it’s time to go shopping, make sure you have these five key apps for saving time and money while holiday shopping.
Yes, we’re a little biased, but with the new Cash Dash feature, the Find&Save mobile phone app easily tops the list as a must have for holiday shopping this season. Be sure to install the app for your iPhone or Android phone, as there will be special alerts all week for extra savings at major retailers.
In addition to the Find&Save Cash Dash alerts, the app also provides all sales nearby based on your current location. With more than 500 major retailers in its database, the app scours all the relevant coupons and deals to let you know where you can find the best bargain.
2. Discount Calculator
An investigation by KTVU News in San Jose, California, showed retailers were failing their accurate pricing obligations by 42 percent. The holiday season is fraught with price changes, and mistakes happen more commonly than you would think.
Stay on top of what sales you’re really taking advantage of with a simple calculating app tuned in to figuring discount prices, such as Discount Calculator. Type in an item’s original price and the percentage off, and instantly get a tally on what price should ring up as.
It is great to see gas prices dropping, but you could be getting an even better deal to fill your tank just around the corner. The GasBuddy app helps you save in a different way while you’re out and about shopping. The app will alert you to the best prices on gas in your area, allowing you to spend more of your money on holiday gifts.
Speaking of saving gas, Waze helps you do that by spending less time in traffic — and saving something even more valuable: time. The app uses real-time traffic information that it gathers from its users to determine traffic conditions along all the possible routes to your destination. It then recommends routes based on that data, ensuring you get where you need to go as efficiently as possible.
Waze will even reroute you if there is an accident while you are in transit. They were recently acquired by Google and you may notice some of the features now in Google Maps, but the Waze app still has more timely information as their content is continuously updated by its users.
Have you tried any of these apps? What are your favorites for saving a pretty penny? Let us know in the comments below.


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Should the 30-Year-Old Guidelines Governing Kids Marketing Be Revised?
How vigorous should the advertising industry be in policing itself, particularly when it comes to promotions aimed at children? That's the question that will be at the heart of the debate soon to be underway by a new task force just named to review the industry's 30-year-old self-regulatory guidelines on children's advertising.
To lead the review, the Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) has tapped a longtime Washingtonian attorney, Joan Z. (Jodie) Bernstein, who headed the Federal Trade Commission's consumer protection division during the Clinton administration.
The broad review comes two months after a prestigious national science panel called on the industry to revise and expand its guidelines for governing the marketing of food and beverages to children. Noting that most food products promoted to children were high in calories, sugar, salt and fat and low in nutrients, the Institute of Medicine said there was strong evidence linking television advertising to obesity.
CARU has become a central issue in the debate about children's advertising, with food companies and advertising firms pointing to CARU as proof that the industry is being careful about what it promotes to children, noting that CARU has made sure such ads are truthful, accurate and age-appropriate.
But CARU's critics say that that's not enough--it's time for CARU to play a more active role in policing ads aimed at children, perhaps even limiting certain products that can be advertised to kids, such as highly sugared sodas or cereal. The critics also say the guidelines are out of date since they don't address a lot of the current ways companies are using to attract kids, such as advergaming, where kids can play online games featuring Cheetos or M&M's, in-school promotions or special marketing events.
All those issues and more will be on the table--and all interested parties will be invited to give their thoughts in what Bernstein has promised to be a thorough review of the 30-year-old guidelines. Bernstein has also promised results in about four months--a tall order for the nation's smallest consumers. The bottom line, however, will still be up to the industry since these are voluntary standards run for, and by, the industry.
February 6, 2006; 10:00 AM ET
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THE UNVEILING of a high-speed version of Li-Fi has brought the revolutionary technology closer to widespread adoption.
French manufacturer Oledcomm has demonstrated its latest model which gives 16 users simultaneous access to 100Mbps internet connectivity via visible light from LED luminaires, rather than tradition Wi-Fi.
The LiFiMax platform requires the users to plug a transceiver dongle into their device, which allows for 100 Mbps download and 40Mpbs upload. The download information is ‘embedded’ in the high-frequency visible light from the light fitting.
LiFiMax – which will be available this September and costs £700 (€780, US$900) – was launched at the CES Show in Las Vegas and is compliant with Windows, MacBook and Linux-based devices. The luminaires are connected to an internet access point via a network cable and feature a Li-Fi-compatible driver which converts data into modulated light.
Oledcomm founder Benjamin Azoulay says the LiFiMax product has been 10 years in development. He believes Li-Fi’s early adaptors will in specialist applications. These include ‘the health community or electro-sensitive people for whom Wi-Fi is prohibited.
‘There’s also a stronger security scenario since a broadcast of this type is more difficult to intercept than Wi-Fi. Our technology can also appeal to those seeking selective connectivity – we are limited to a place – or for those who try to avoid being connected all the time and everywhere’.
The introduction of LiFiMax follows the launch of a downlight in November from fellow French manufacturer Lucibel which offers internet speeds of up to 54 Mbps.
The world’s first Li-Fi luminaire was unveiled at the LuxLive exhibition in London in 2017. That innovation – developed by Lucibel and Scottish start-up pureLiFi – was first to put all the necessary Li-Fi components in a single unit. It is able to support between eight to 16 users at once, and deliver data at rates of 45 megabits per second.
Last February, a US technology company showed a prototype of the world’s first LED panel with integrated Li-Fi. Developed by Virginia-based VLNComm, the panel is capable of a download speed of 108Mbps and an upload speed of 53Mbps, and provides 48 square metres of coverage.
Around 15 users can simultaneously receive data through the use of standard white LEDs.
Meanwhile US firm Linmore launched the first-ever Li-Fi battens, designed as retrofit for fluorescent luminaires. These light fittings deliver data speeds of up to 43 Megabits-per-second (Mbps) up and down.
- See the latest Li-Fi luminaires and drivers at LuxLive 2019 at ExCeL London on Wednesday 13 November and Thursday 14 November 2019. See more information HERE.


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Shoppers in Seaham were left missing the Wilko store after it closed on Tuesday (September 19) – with shelves empty and the seaside town store empty.
The Seaham store is just one of a number of closures across the North East, with Bishop Auckland and North Shields already closing branches, while further closures are due in Newton Aycliffe, Redcar, Byker and Gateshead this week.
Read more: Wilko: What will happen to the 22 Northeast branches?
As part of the closure in Seaham, Byron Place Shopping Center in the town released a farewell message to the store on behalf of the store’s staff.
The Byron Place Shopping Center post said: “It is with a heavy heart that we have to announce that our Wilko store will be closing on Tuesday 19th September.”
“The dedicated store team would like to thank you all for your years of customer satisfaction
“Here at Byron Place we will do everything we can for the employees. We wish them the best of luck for the future and will miss them very much.”
Although the news was met with sadness, it doesn’t mean all doom and gloom for the store, which will become a Poundland in the future.
This comes after a number of Wilko stores in the North East were bought by rival Poundland after a deal to rescue Wilko from HMV fell through.
According to PwP management, the deal will see the thrifty retailer take over the leases for nine Wilko North East stores.
Nationally, Pepco Group will rebrand 71 former Wilko stores in Poundland and recruit new staff, giving priority to those who previously worked in the stores.
According to the PwC administration, all 400 Wilko stores will close by the beginning of October.
Last week administrators confirmed that rival discount chain The Range had acquired Wilko’s brand, website and intellectual property.
Wilko recently suspended its online home delivery service, telling customers they would not be able to deliver orders and instead directing them to use its click-and-collect service or search for items in its stores.
Zelf Hussain, joint administrator, said: “Despite the significant and intensive efforts of both us and Putman Investments – the remaining party interested in acquiring a significant part of the business as a going concern – a transaction could not be completed due to the Inability to drive forward reduce core infrastructure costs quickly enough to make a business economically viable.
“We have been humbled by the commitment shown by all team members during this time and we are grateful for the patience and understanding they have shown.
“Like those who have already been given notice of termination, we will guide and support affected team members through the termination claims process in the coming weeks.”
“We are also continuing to work closely with the relevant authorities and are contacting potential employers to enable those affected to quickly return to new employment.”
“We continue to work with potential buyers for various business sectors and are confident of completing the transactions in the coming days.”
https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/23799242.seaham-wilko-emotional-goodbye-becoming-poundland/?ref=rss Seaham Wilko says emotional farewell before leaving Poundland


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Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, has been generating business opportunities for Chinese suppliers and exporters, as a large quantity of goods such as festival items, fabric, and garments are shipped every year to the areas with large Muslim populations in the months before the holy month. These business ties have been growing in recent years thanks to the China-proposed Belt and Road initiative.
For Lucy Liu, a saleswoman at a decorative lights trading company called Shenzhen Reson Technology in South China's Guangdong Province, the Muslim holy month of Ramadan has presented new business opportunities.
Because of the growing demand for decorative lights during Ramadan, the company started exporting lights to the Middle East in 2014, Liu said.
"So far, our shipping volume for 2017 has slightly increased over the same period in 2016, and we have been working with e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and eBay since 2016," she told the Global Times on Monday.
Liu noted that Reson Technology sells an estimated $300,000 worth of Ramadan festival lights each year.
Ramadan, which begins and end according to a lunar calendar, started on May 26 this year. During the month, Muslims around the world fast from sunrise to sunset.
In many cities with large Muslim populations, people decorate streets and alleys with festival lights of different shapes to prepare for the holy month.
Countries and regions with the largest Muslim populations have close trade ties with China. Business representatives come to China to source products and ship them back home. For instance, in Yiwu, home of the world's largest small commodities wholesale market, businessmen from different Muslim countries purchase large quantities of goods ranging from decorations to household items. A large proportion of those items is garments and shoes.
"It's customary that all Muslims wear new clothing and new shoes on Eid al-Fitr," the holiday that closes Ramadan, said Mir Faisal, chief executive of Shanghai-based Xianhong Trading Shanghai Co. Originally from Pakistan, Mir said he has been living in China for 15 years.
Festival lights are used to decorate mosques during the holy month, he said.
The growing demand for small commodities provides business opportunities for Yiwu's vendors.
"It's a peak business time," he told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Recently, a post about things to watch out for during Ramadan has been widely circulated on Chinese social media networks.
For example, Chinese exporters need to arrange their shipment planning in advance because some services including customs clearance and logistics may be delayed during Ramadan, according to a microblog post on May 26.
The post listed 22 Arab countries and 26 other countries in Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa and the Middle East affected by changes during Ramadan.
"Usually, exporters ship their goods to Muslim regions two months ahead of Ramadan, because the shipping route usually takes 50 days, and those products can arrive in those regions when Ramadan ends," said a contractor surnamed Yang with a trading company based in Guangzhou, the capital of South China's Guangdong Province.
Yang noted that people go shopping a lot in the days after Ramadan.
Cai Zhenghao, a merchant with Gemei Electronics in Yiwu, East China's Zhejiang Province, said he exports about 20 to 30 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) of cosmetics every month to countries such as Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
"The cargo shipping plan must be calculated well, because productivity declines in the second half of Ramadan due to the physical stress of fasting, so services like transportation and logistics may be affected," he told the Global Times on Tuesday.
While the Asia-Pacific and Middle East-North Africa regions were home to 61.7 percent and 19.8 percent of the world's Muslim population in 2010, according to a US-based Pew Research Center post published in January, some countries and regions sit along the route of the China-proposed Belt and Road (B&R) initiative.
"It means more business opportunities," Yang Bo, deputy manager of market operations at Zhejiang China Commodities City Group Co, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
In the first quarter of 2017, Yiwu's trade volume rose 23.72 percent year-on-year to 48.9 billion yuan ($7.2 billion), according to a post published on the local government's website on May 15. Trade with countries and regions along the Belt and Road accounted for more than 50 percent of the total.
Countries with Muslim majorities such as Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran have signed cooperative agreements with China under the B&R framework. The initiative has helped create a dynamic business environment that has made Ramadan sales better in 2017 than in previous years.
"In 2017, more foreign merchants have come to the Yiwu market. For example, more Russian customers said the application for business visas in China is now more convenient thanks to the Belt and Road," said Zhang Jiying, a local merchant who export umbrellas. Zhang said umbrellas have accounted for 30 percent of her company's exports in 2017.
"I am more confident about doing business with countries [and regions] along the route, especially now that we have more choices for transportation," she told the Global Times.
The 1,000th CHINA RAILWAY Express (CR Express) linking Yiwu and Madrid, Spain, departed on May 13, carrying goods such as clothing, fabric and daily necessities.
Some of the cargo transported by CR Express can be further transferred to Muslim regions.
Back in February 2016, the first train from Yiwu passed through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to Iran, carrying 32 containers of goods to Iran's capital of Tehran, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
"Exporters now can choose to transport goods by railway instead of by sea, which saves them about 15 days. And when freight trains traverse Central Asia, some goods can be transferred to the Middle East," Yang said, noting that ties with Muslim countries are expected to grow stronger.


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Monday, August 3, 2020
The Walgreens on Astor Place closes at the end of August
The Walgreens location on Astor Place at Lafayette is closing at the end of the month... signs are now up on the plywood outside announcing Aug. 31 as the last day in business...
Walgreens is transferring prescriptions to nearby stores — in this case one on West Fourth Street.
Last August, Walgreens announced that it was closing nearly 200 U.S. locations, including its Duane Reade brand, as part of a sweeping $1.5-billion cost-cutting measure.
With that, three neighborhood Duane Reade by Walgreens locations have closed in recent months. The outpost on Avenue D at Houston and First Avenue between 14th Street and 15th Street shuttered last November while the storefront on 10th Street and Third Avenue shut down in early March.
The Astor Place Walgreens had been looted in early June along with other businesses along this corridor.
Thank you to Vinny & O for the photos and tip!
Posted by Grieve at 5:42 AM
Labels: closings 2020, Duane Reade by Walgreens, Walgreens
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Hmm. That corner seems like it’d be a good place for a wine store.
It was Astor wines before, I assume that’s the joke?
Staff rude to locals. Nice to NYU kids.
Another casualty of Cuomo and Deblasio's policies
CVS and K-Mart nearby make it a little redundant but losing pharmacies during a pandemic is not great.
Anon at 11:06. Funny you mention that. I bought a boxed cosmetic item there that was missing its key ingredient. The person in charge accused me of stealing it when I went to make an exchange. Even an email to corporate didn't garner a response. Hope something nice fills that space. I miss the Astor Wine/Barnes and Noble corner.
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Spotify was down: what happened, when the music app returned, and more
Please don’t stop the music
If you’ve been having frustrating issues with Spotify today, you’re not alone – the music streaming service suffered a major outage, but fortunately most of the issues appear to have been resolved.
The outage hit most of Spotify’s major functions, including search, offline listening its browser-based web player. Users all over the world, including at TechRadar, also reported glitches that ranged from songs being skipped to broken connections with speakers like those from Sonos.
This led to a huge spike in reports at the website Down Detector, which peaked at around 5.40am PT / 12.40pm GMT. At their peak, the reports totaled around 20,000 in the US and just under 7,500 in the UK, which represents a significant outage.
Fortunately, most of Spotify’s issues have now been resolved. While Spotify didn’t respond to our request for comment on the cause of the issues, the official Spotify Status Twitter account recently stated that “all clear! Thanks for your patience”.
This meant Spotify’s issues lasted for around three hours in total, a pretty significant period for the world’s most popular streaming service. That said, a few Spotify users are reporting on Twitter a few issues remain, including songs stopping halfway through playback.
If you’re still experiencing Spotify problems, the streaming service suggests dropping a message on Twitter to its official SpotifyCares account for tech support.
12:50:32 – April 19, 2023
Spotify outage aren’t too common, but the streaming service did have some similar issues back in January.
Fortunately, back then everything was back up and running in just over two hours – so if you’re in the middle of a long journey, there’s still hope that you’ll get some tunes before you get to your destination.
Spotify Status hasn’t yet sent out its standard “everything’s much better now” Tweet, so it looks like the issues are still ongoing – as confirmed by the fact that Spotify is now trending on Twitter with 667,000 tweets and counting.
12:39:23 – April 19, 2023
If you’re finding it difficult to play music on Spotify or generally use its app, you’re not alone – the website Down Detector is seeing a high number of reports from users from around the world that the streaming service isn’t working.
These reports are continuing to spike around the world, suggesting this isn’t a just an intermittent glitch. We’ll update this liveblog with any official news as soon as we hear back from OpenAI.


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SecureWorks (SCWX) reported quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, Jun-1-2016. The company said it had a profit of $-0.09 Earnings per Share for the quarter. The results exceeded Wall Street expectations beating the analyst consensus estimate by $0.06. Analysts had a consensus of $-0.15. The company posted revenue of $99.79 million in the period, compared to analysts expectations of $94.81 million. The company’s revenue was up 28.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $-0.12 EPS.
Many Wall Street Analysts have commented on SecureWorks. SecureWorks was Initiated by Goldman to “Buy” on May 17, 2016. JP Morgan Initiated SecureWorks on May 17, 2016 to “Overweight”, Price Target of the shares are set at $18.RBC Capital Mkts Initiated SecureWorks on May 17, 2016 to “Outperform”, Price Target of the shares are set at $16.


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Beijing, China – The Chinese economy, a global powerhouse, is experiencing a renaissance characterized by renewed consumer and entrepreneur confidence. This renewed vigor, which is palpable across various sectors, is complemented by the country’s unyielding commitment to technological innovation and industrial upgrading.
The first three quarters of the year have brought a wave of optimism to the Chinese economic landscape. As of the latest available data, total retail sales of consumer goods have surged to an impressive 34.21 trillion yuan ($4.68 trillion), marking a substantial year-on-year increase of 6.8 percent. This surge in consumer spending has underscored the renewed faith in the economic prospects of the nation.
In the manufacturing sector, the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for September registered at a solid 50.2, reflecting a 0.5 point increase from the previous month. This positive trend has been echoed in the realm of production and operation expectations, with the index for enterprises reaching a noteworthy 55.5.
In the service sector, China’s business activity index for September was an encouraging 50.9, surpassing the pivotal 50-point threshold that distinguishes growth from contraction. Even more telling is the business activity expectations index, which stood at a remarkable 58.1. This serves as a testament to the expanding horizons of the service industry.
The reinvigorated Chinese economy is not solely the result of renewed consumer and business activity; it is also the product of a commitment to technological innovation and industrial transformation. As China continues to transition from traditional growth drivers to new and sustainable avenues, it has opened the doors to promising opportunities in areas such as technological innovation, digitalization, and green initiatives.
Several nations’ experiences have demonstrated that as a country advances, it must move beyond mere technological catch-up to become a leader in innovation. China is no exception to this rule. Throughout the first three quarters of this year, high-tech industry investment in China has soared by 11.4 percent year-on-year, with high-tech manufacturing and high-tech services investments growing by 11.3 percent and 11.8 percent, respectively. These investments illustrate a nation’s commitment to embracing cutting-edge technology and ensuring it remains at the forefront of global innovation.
In the realm of foreign trade, China’s new economic momentum is also finding expression. Although the total value of China’s imports and exports witnessed a slight decline of 0.2 percent in the first three quarters, three specific products have shone as bright spots in foreign trade growth. Electric passenger cars, lithium-ion batteries, and solar cells have experienced surging demand overseas, emerging as new driving forces behind China’s foreign trade growth.
This year marks a significant milestone for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), celebrating its 10th anniversary. The positive impact of the BRI on China’s trade dynamics is striking. In the first three quarters, China’s imports and exports with Belt and Road participating countries reached a staggering 14.32 trillion yuan, representing a notable year-on-year growth of 3.1 percent. These transactions accounted for a substantial 46.5 percent of China’s total foreign trade volume, attesting to the continuing vibrancy of trade activities within the framework of the BRI.
In a noteworthy development, Belt and Road participating countries have evolved into indispensable contributors to China’s foreign trade growth. Looking ahead, as these regions continue to experience income growth and engage in industrial upgrading, it is reasonable to expect that China’s total trade volume with them will expand, while the product structure will continue to improve.


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Nintendo is taking a closer look at the new Game & Watch hardware coming on November 13 that will already come with the original Super Mario Bros. sport. If you missed out on the announcement last week, this is a $ 49.99 device that is being released in limited quantities for the celebration of Mario’s 35th anniversary – and it’s possible to get your hands on one too Be difficult. In addition to the original Mario title, it comes loaded Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels (Continue as Super Mario Bros. 2 In Japan) and a Mario themed version The ball, A new twist on the classic game and watch game that was first released decades ago.
This video clip mostly depicts the ins and outs of modern Game and Watch consoles (Nintendo’s handheld devices predating Game Boy). It has a sharp LCD screen that appears to be backlit, and the general design is reminiscent of the GBA Micro. To its right, the Game and Watch features a USB-C port to charge its rechargeable battery.
Nintendo also teased the Easter Clock-filled digital clock function, which only reflects a few Yoshi’s Super mario world Style. Maybe we’ll see a future game and watch next with that SNES classic?
It seems incredibly basic in terms of device functions and features, but it’s quite exciting to see Nintendo recreate handhelds. The Nintendo Switch has effectively transformed the company’s dedicated handheld business, but it’s good to see that its chops are still kicking in making experimental pocket-friendly devices.


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Lumi Wallet takes another step towards becoming the premier wallet for the EOS blockchain, celebrating the recent adoption of a new cryptocurrency with a massive giveaway for its users, bestowing them with 1,000 EOS accounts worth $5,000 in partnership with Changelly and Minergate.
Lumi has come a long way to start implementing this blockchain into their ecosystem and now it’s finally here. In the previous update, the EOS token was listed in the wallet; in the most recent one, users received an option to create an EOS account – and the swiftest can do it for free.
“We decided to make the registration for our most faithful users fee-free. Firstly, because we want them to have an easier gateway to EOS. Secondly, because we really do believe that EOS is the platform to check out, if you somehow haven’t. Their development progresses rapidly and we want our users to have no barriers exploring this ascending blockchain platform”. — Diana Furman, Lumi CEO


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The Nasdaq is absolutely on fire. The broad macroeconomic picture has been about as good as it could get for growth stocks.
The economy is not too hot and it’s not too cold. Inflation is coming down, and the Federal Reserve may be set for interest rate cuts later this year, even as asset prices remain strong.
As a result, traders are piling into Nasdaq stocks. We’ve seen momentum trades break out to the upside in categories such a semiconductors and artificial intelligence. This all makes sense from a macroeconomic perspective.
But not all of these surging Nasdaq stocks are going to see continued prosperity. In fact, many appear to be setting up for steep declines once the current hype cycle wears off. These are seven Nasdaq stocks to sell before they really start to tank.
Nasdaq Stocks to Sell in April: Apple (AAPL)
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is a great example of how investors have assigned high valuations to many leading Nasdaq stocks for years.
Investors have viewed Apple as a safe haven. There was no need to worry about its lofty valuation because it had a dominant hold on the smartphone market. It was considered a defensive stock and folks bought AAPL shares without any concerns around interest rates or a potential recession.
You could say that Apple has an effective tax on the communications market. The problem should be evident now that the government is taking aim at its purported monopoly on high-end smartphones.
Apple’s defensive nature has been called into question. Only time will tell if the government succeeds in limiting Apple’s allegedly monopolistic powers or perhaps even breaking up the company entirely. Regardless, 27 times earnings seems excessive for a business that has barely grown in recent years and which has a huge amount of exposure to the struggling Chinese market.
Apple stock is suddenly quite a terrifying thing to hold at this elevated starting valuation. Traders should use the antitrust lawsuit news to exit AAPL stock before its overvaluation is exposed.
At first glance Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) might not seem like the most obvious Nasdaq stock set to plummet.
After all, hasn’t Tesla already dropped dramatically, at least, in comparison with the rest of the market?
The thing is, however, that Tesla was starting from an exceedingly high valuation. It had a triple-digit price-to-earnings () ratio at various points in recent years. That’s a simply ludicrous level for what is, at its core, a car manufacturing company.
Tesla has now pulled back to about 50 times earnings which is less egregious than before. But 50 times earnings is still a huge number for an automotive firm.
Furthermore, there’s no guarantee that those earnings will grow either. If anything, with the price cuts and mountains of competition in the EV space, earnings could be set for a considerable decline in coming years. Elon Musk’s erratic behavior on social media could also dissuade potential Tesla buyers. Multiple analysts have also downgraded TSLA stock recently.
All this suggests that the Tesla stock could plunge much further in a Nasdaq bear market.
Nasdaq Stocks to Sell in April: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) is one of the companies that has been central to the recent artificial intelligence ( ) and semiconductor themes.
AMD has been a longtime rival to Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) across various markets. Traders are hoping that AMD will be able to cash in on some of the same trends that have powered Nvidia’s exponential rise over the past year.
Many bears have been quick to say Nvidia is a bubble stock selling at an unfathomable valuation. However, say what you will about the sustainability of Nvidia’s business, but it is earning a ton of money right now.
AMD by contrast has been far slower in launching its AI products. And as a result, its profitability is limited to say the least. While AMD now has a nearly $300 billion market capitalization it is earning less than $1 billion per year of net income. This puts it at a shocking 345 times trailing earnings. Shares also go for 13 times revenues and a jaw dropping 260 times free cash flow. These are figures that make even the dot-com stocks of the 2000 bubble look reasonable by comparison.
Perhaps the AI boom will be strong enough and persist long enough that even the second-tier slow-to-market companies like AMD will eventually cash in. If not, however, AMD stock seems set for a crash so large it will be recorded in the history books.
It might be a surprise to hear that Costco (NASDAQ:COST) is a Nasdaq stock at risk of major downside. What’s Costco doing on the Nasdaq in the first place?
While the Nasdaq is mostly tech-oriented growth stocks, there are some names from other sectors as well, including club retailer Costco. Indeed, COST stock is part of the flagship Nasdaq 100 Index. And like many of its peers, Costco has become wildly overvalued.
Costco recently reached $750 per share. That’s a gigantic move given that the stock was under $500 not all that long ago. In total, the stock is up 54% over the past year. This has pushed COST stock up to a baffling 46 times this year’s estimated earnings.
Meanwhile, analysts are projecting just 5% revenue growth for the year and the firm just missed earnings last quarter. As a brick-and-mortar retailer there’s only so much Costco can do to grow. It has already built stores in most of the best possible locations. Costco is not a particularly strong player in e-commerce, limiting growth from that channel as well.
It’s a mature company that has significant limits to growth. Investors are about to discover that paying 46 times earnings for a slow-growing retailer usually doesn’t end well. A tech company may be able to grow its way out of this sort of inflated P/E multiple. A big box store almost certainly will not.
Nasdaq Stocks to Sell in April: Monster Beverage (MNST)
Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) is another one of the more surprising companies in the Nasdaq 100 Index. Despite not being a tech company, however, Monster has certainly proven to be a quality growth stock over the years. Shares are up more than 400% over the past decade.
However, Monster may now be living off its past accomplishments. The energy drink market is saturated. The U.S. market and various international markets now have tremendous distribution of energy drinks and there are fewer new consumers left to reach.
Monster also benefited from strong consumer spending as the economy came roaring hot out of the lockdowns. But that tailwind will let up at some point, particularly as consumers struggle with the impacts of higher inflation and food prices.
Monster also faces more competition. In particular, Celsius Holdings (NASDAQ:CELH) has created a highly competitive product that has shown absolutely sizzling growth in recent years. In many ways, Celsius today could be what Monster was 10 or 15 years ago.
Monster is now a mature company with a much slower growth rate. As such, MNST stock’s 35 P/E multiple is far too high as it runs out of juice.
Compared to many of the companies on this list, Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB) might seem like a relative value at around 25 times earnings. The travel and hospitality company has built a strong platform around sharing homes and apartment rooms.
The company also did a tremendous job of maintaining its business’ core advantages during the Covid disruption and it has fully cashed in on the travel recovery trend of the past few years. But the growth is coming to an end.
Airbnb is no longer a plucky newcomer. Nowadays, most savvy travelers are quite familiar with Airbnb and either regularly use the platform or have rejected it for one reason or another. Growth will be much harder to come by as Airbnb can’t grow simply from word-of-mouth advertising anymore.
There’s also increasing pushback as Airbnb’s prices have escalated. Oftentimes Airbnb is more expensive than just using a hotel nowadays. Consumers are complaining about excessive fees, cleaning costs, and so on.
Finally, there’s a great deal of regulatory pushback. Cities like New York and Barcelona have put severe limitations in place on Airbnb’s business model. It’s not just a couple of huge cities, either. Increasingly even cities in emerging markets such as Medellin, Colombia are greatly limiting the short-term rental market.
Combine a slowing travel sector, increasingly expensive product, and mounting regulatory pushback – that’s a recipe for significant declining Airbnb share price.
Do you remember the weight loss drug phenomenon from last fall? How GLP-1 drugs were going to wipe out packaged foods companies, alcohol producers, and more? The knives were also out for the healthcare companies that treated people with obesity and diabetes.
Fast forward six months, and it’s as if that risk never happened. Diabetes monitoring and management company Dexcom (NASDAQ:DXCM) is a leading example of this.
Dexcom shares fell more than 30% last fall as analyst suggested that fewer people would use the company’s glucose monitoring solutions thanks to the weight loss drugs. Some people were suggesting that the whole diabetes management field might become obsolete.
The claims around the speed and efficacy of the weight loss drugs were probably hyperbolic to a degree. That said, there is something real. The GLP-1 drugs are still gaining momentum – more people are taking these drugs as doctors are becoming comfortable with prescribing them.
As long as the trend toward GLP-1 drug usages continues, that should help limit the population of folks dealing with chronic diabetes. This, in turn, will have an impact on Dexcom’s available market for glucose monitoring solutions.
DXCM stock has regained all of its losses since last year. That seems overdone given the longer-term questions to the business model. As if that weren’t enough, Dexcom shares are trading for more than 60 times forward earnings.
On the date of publication, Ian Bezek did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.


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The legendary base career Kobe bryant will be remembered and celebrated along with its successful association and impact on the athletic industry, after the company Nike launches « Mamba Week » on August 23, the date on which the icon of the Los Angeles Lakers would turn 42.
On at 09:01
The following day, the two jersey numbers worn during Bryant’s two-decade playing career will be celebrated.
The concept of « Mamba Week » follows the name of Nike’s celebration of Bryant’s last NBA game., the April 13, 2016 outing at Staples Center called « Mamba Day » that saw him leave the field and retire from active sports with 60 points against the Utah Jazz.
The week-long schedule of product launches will mark the first time Nike has released Bryant’s coveted exclusive sneakers or jerseys since his tragic death in January, when Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash while en route. to the Mamba Sports Academy for a basketball tournament.
Nike worked together with his wife Vanessa Bryant to finalize the « Mamba Week » strategy., according to sources.
Initially, there was internal uncertainty after Bryant’s death surrounding the company’s plans for its Kobe sneaker series, which included 11 exclusive models during his playing career, six additional exclusive models released after his retirement, along with several lower priced shoes.
After a series of planning meetings that spanned months, Nike has confirmed an ongoing commitment to celebrate Bryant through product launches that will ultimately benefit funding for youth sports initiatives.
« Nike will continue to release Kobe ‘Protro’ athletic shoes, allowing the millions of fans he inspired around the world to keep Bryant’s legacy alive »the company reported in a statement. « Nike will also continue to work with the NBA to release limited quantities of Bryant’s iconic Los Angeles Lakers jersey. »
The concept « Protro » itself was initially a term coined by Bryant during a series of brainstorming meetings with Nike designers to discuss where his line was heading after his retirement.
While Michael Jordan’s previous sneakers have created a thriving retro sneaker business that still generates around 3 billion a year, Bryant wanted to take a different approach than simply releasing each shoe as is, combining performance and retro in one strategy.
« We always look to take advantage of the things that we have done in the past and try to improve them. Protro is about evolving and improving the things that were, » Bryant commented in 2018, just before the launch of the Kobe 1 Protro.
The former NBA star also said at the time that he wanted to build a business that wasn’t just based on things he had done in the past.
« It is important that the brand is synonymous with performance and that everything we do is innovative. Even if we do release footwear from the past, it still needs to be based on performance, « Bryant said.
During ‘Mamba Week’, Nike is expected to release various colors of the Kobe 5 Protro, the sneakers Bryant wore during the 2009-10 NBA season when he won his fifth championship.
A gold-accented version will feature graphics of the pairs she wore during the 2010 Finals, while a trio of colourways featuring Los Angeles-based boutique Undefeated will celebrate her induction into the Hall of Fame.
The brand will also release Lakers jerseys featuring his numbers 8 and 24, with the front half of the jersey celebrating the first decade of his career and his second number on the back.
« As part of upholding Kobe’s legacy, the Nike Foundation will make a one million dollar donation to the Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation in memory of Kobe and Gianna, » Nike reported. « The foundation, whose mission is to make a positive impact through sports, will use these funds to further Kobe’s goal of keeping children active and moving them toward success in life, as well as preserving Bryant’s mindset and ethics. » .
In 2018, Bryant published a book with a similar title, The Mamba Mentality: How I Play, which reveals the inspirations that fueled his work ethic throughout his 20-year NBA career.
Since his passing, League players have continued to wear his shoes and will often refer to that « Mamba Mentality » as a driving force of inspiration and a connection point to Bryant’s legacy.


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The Las Vegas organization will receive $22,500 in AHR Expo Innovation Awards proceeds
November 28, 2016
Opportunity Village serves children and adults with intellectual disabilities in the southern Nevada community and aims to enhance their lives via vocational training, community employment, day services, advocacy and arts, and social recreation.
HVACR manufacturers exhibiting at show encouraged to submit new or upgraded products
June 9, 2016
The International Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating Exposition (AHR Expo) announced its call for entries for the 2017 AHR Expo Innovation Awards competition. The winners in each of 10 HVACR product categories will receive special recognition.
On Tuesday at the 2016 AHR Expo, the winners in each of the 10 product categories of the AHR Expo Innovation Awards gathered in Product Theatre A to learn which of them had been chosen as the 2016 AHR Expo Product of the Year Award winner.
Winners will be recognized in a formal ceremony at the expo
January 24, 2016
The AHR Expo Innovation Awards competition honors the most inventive and original HVACR products, systems, and technologies showcased at each year’s show in the categories of: building automation; cooling; green building; heating; indoor air quality; plumbing; refrigeration; software; tools & instruments; and ventilation.
Contribution will go toward replacing and upgrading air handling systems at one of PAL’s facilities
January 24, 2016
Each year the AHR Expo gives back to the local community by donating the sum of Innovation Award entry fees to an organization in the region where the show is being held. This year, the Jacksonville Police Athletic League (PAL), was selected as the beneficiary.
The annual awards competition honors the most inventive and original products, systems, and technologies showcased at each year’s AHR Expo in 10 categories. The winning products are selected from numerous entries by a panel of judges consisting of ASHRAE members who evaluated the products based on innovation, application, value to the user, and market impact.
Entries were evaluated based on innovative design, creativity, application, value, and market impact
November 19, 2015
International Exposition Co. has announced the winners of the 2016 Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating Exposition (AHR Expo) Innovation Awards. The annual awards competition honors the most inventive and original HVACR products, systems, and technologies showcased at each year’s AHR Expo.
Awards competition honors the most inventive and original products, systems, and technologies
September 25, 2015
The International Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating Expo (AHR Expo) announced its call for entries for the 2016 AHR Expo Innovation Awards. The awards will be presented at a formal ceremony during the show, set for Jan. 25-27 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.
From energy recovery ventilators (ERVs) to filters and compressor technology, these manufacturers are pulling out the stops to meet consumer demand for better IAQ at home, work, school, and everywhere in between.
At the 2015 AHR Expo Innovation Awards ceremonies on Jan. 27, Danfoss’ Turbocor VTT Series compressor was selected as winner of the 2015 Product of the Year. The new Danfoss compressor was chosen as the top product from among the Innovation Award winners in 10 HVACR product categories.


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Electric vehicles could have exclusive green number plates following a government announcement this week. The plans form part of the government promise to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. This is one of many initiatives including the announcement of an increase in funding to the UK charging network, specifically targeted at improving access for people without off road parking.
The green number plates will do more than just signify that your vehicle is running on electric power. The government has said that cars carrying the new plate could also receive additional driving perks to incentivise the purchase of electric vehicles. These may include access to reduced or free parking and the ability to drive in priority lanes.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps commented: “The UK is in the driving seat of global efforts to tackle vehicle emissions and climate change and improve air quality, but we want to accelerate our progress.
Green number plates are a really positive and exciting way to help everyone recognise the increasing number of electric vehicles on our roads.
By increasing awareness of these vehicles and the benefits they bring to their drivers and our environment, we will turbo-charge the zero emission revolution”
The design for the new number plates is yet to be finalised. What is known that the black writing will remain, the options for the background include fully green or yellow with the addition of a green banner or circle to signify the electric engine.
It is also hoped that this initiative may help to sway consumer behavious. The government behavioural insight team have said that helping to drivers see the amount of electric vehicles on the road may help to increase take up from drivers. Elisabeth Costa, Senior Director at the Behavioural Insights Team, said:
“The number of clean vehicles on our roads is increasing but we don’t notice as it’s difficult to tell clean vehicles apart from more polluting ones.
Green number plates make these vehicles, and our decision to drive in a more environmentally-friendly way, more visible on roads. We think making the changing social norm noticeable will help encourage more of us to swap our cars for cleaner options.”
The plans are yet to be confirmed, so we don’t yet know when you’ll be seeing an electric Mercedes-Benz sporting a green number plate, but we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled!
If you’d like to learn more about electric drive, read our interview with our customer Mr Stroud, who recently drove away in the limited 1886 edition EQC.
For all the latest news on the new Mercedes-Benz EQC, sign up below.
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China’s economy is suffocating following the outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus which has forced the WHO to declare the deadly virus a global health emergency.
The Shanghai Composite index closed 8 per cent lower last week, its biggest daily drop for more than four years.
The Hubei Province where the outbreak started is on total lockdown with the death toll surpassing1,367 dead and about 59, 805 infection as of February 13, 2020, and still counting. Schools are closed. Many businesses have temporarily closed their locations, and employees who can are working from home.
While the Chinese government and the WHO are racing against time to salvage the situation, it appears it’s not everyone who is worried. In fact, some countries are profiting from this disease. For instance, Ghana’s currency has made a strong recovery against the dollar following the outbreak. This is because traders who hitherto would have gone to China for trade have had to hold on.
But the US appears to be the biggest winner. US President, Donald Trump is reported to have said that Coronavirus will have a “very good ending” for the US.
Since Donald Trump came to office, the trade war between China and the US has heightened. On May 15, 2019, Donald Trump signed an executive order banning US companies from doing business with Huawei claiming that the company could pose a risk to national security.
Apart from increasing tariffs on Chinese goods, the US went further to accuse the Chinese company, Huawei, of espionage and unfair trade practices.
The claims against Huawei could be legit. This is because the founder of the company, Zen Zhengfei has openly declared that he supports Xi Jinping’s Communist regime.
But beyond this fear, the US rift with China could be about the latter’s chance of launching 5G technology before the US.
You may wonder what this fuss about 5 G technology is.
Well, 5G will usher the world to a new dispensation than has ever happened before. With 5G, one can download a 2-hour movie in just 3.6 seconds, unlike the current 4G which takes 6 minutes to download a 2-hour movie. Yes, that’s how fast the 5G service is expected to be!
When the US won the race for the 4G service, it added USD 100 billion to its GDP. But 5G is projected to create 3 million jobs and add up to USD500 billion to the GDP of whoever gets the nod (either US or China).
Apart from that, 5G means enhanced surveillance, better GPS, a faster internet connection, etc.
Already, China is testing its 5G technology and has announced that it will launch it by the end of 2020 while the US, Japan, South Korea, EU, etc are projecting to finish it by 2025.
If China succeeds in launching 5G this year, it can give it to up to 57 countries which will enhance China’s economic outlook and put it on a pedestal of overtaking the US as an economic powerhouse.
This is what the US wants to prevent. The rift between these two powerhouses appears to be technological warfare pivoted on the US’s fear to lose the 5G bid to China.
As the coronavirus continues to ravage like wildfire with its complex economic repercussions on the Chinese economy, it’s paving opportunity for the US to buy time and catch-up with their arch-rivals or possibly launch the 5G before China does.


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Telekom Austria could take-over Romanian mobile telephony giant
Friday, January 28, 2005
Bucharest, Romania —Communications corporation Telekom Austria has stated that it intends to expand in southeastern Europe and is specifically targeting the Romanian mobile phone giant Mobifon, which operates under the brand name Connex. Mobifon's Connex GSM network is the second-largest in Romania, with more than 4.9 million subscribers. Mobifon is also one of the largest and best-known Romanian companies, as well as one of the largest ISPs in the region.
This is not the first attempt by Telekom Austria in its drive towards expansion in the region. At the end of 2004, it signed an agreement to buy Mobiltel from the Bulgarian government for 1.6 billion euro. Telekom Austria also intends to expand into Serbia and Bosnia in 2005, followed by Macedonia and Montenegro.
Mobifon, the Romanian operator, is currently a branch of Telesystems International Wireless (TIW), a Canadian communications company which also owns the Oskar brand in Czechia. The main shareholders in TIW are Netherlandic operator Mobifon Holdings BV, with 63.45% share, as well as Vodafone Europe BV (20.15% participation) and Deraso Holding BV (14.4% participation).
With 4.9 million customers, Mobifon has significant market share of Romania's 10.2 million mobile phone subscribers. It also plans to be the first operator to establish a 3G network across the country.
- Cristiana Tudor. "Telekom Austria could take over Mobifon" — , January 28, 2005


text: Identity verification using facial recognition is widely adopted in China, as the technology has become an integral part of apps from mobile payments and travel to retail, as well as surveillance systems and online platforms for government services. That development, however, has made cybersecurity a major issue in the world’s second-largest economy, where a group of tax scammers has been caught hacking a government-run facial recognition system to fake tax invoices and make millions of yuan in the process, according to a report by the Xinhua Daily Telegraph . Invoices issued by the State Taxation Administration are used to track payments and help crack down on tax evasion. Prosecutors in Shanghai said a criminal group duped that platform’s identity verification system by using manipulated personal information and high-definition photographs, which were bought from an online black market, so its registered shell company can issue fake tax invoices to clients, according to the report published on Tuesday. The Shanghai People’s Procuratorate in the city’s Hongkou District indicated that the fake tax invoices issued by the criminal group were valued at 500 million yuan (US$76.2 million), the report said. A notice posted on the Shanghai prosecutors’ official WeChat account from January this year said that a duo surnamed Wu and Zhou were prosecuted for the crime. It said the duo had been operating since 2018. The suspects duped the government-run platform’s facial recognition system by manipulating the illegally obtained high-definition photos with an app to create a video, making it seem like the faces were nodding, shaking, blinking and opening their mouths. “After obtaining the videos, we used a special mobile phone to hijack its camera,” an unnamed suspect was quoted saying in the report. “During the facial authentication process, the mobile camera would not start and the system would receive the pre-made video. The system accepted that I was in front of the camera, so I passed the certification.” The case reflects how China continues to grapple with data privacy concerns amid a thriving underground trade of personal information . Without a law dedicated to protecting personal information and the lack of clear guidelines, China’s enforcement agencies have struggled to keep up with an increasingly skilled industrial chain of insiders and data brokers . To build a ‘Digital China’, the country must first tackle its black market for personal information The Xinhua Daily Telegraph investigation found that the cost of hacking facial recognition systems for illegal gain is low. Image-manipulation apps – including Huo Zhaopian, Fangsong Huanlian and Ni Wo Dang Nian, also known as Remini Photo Enhancer – are readily available for download, while the special mobile phones used to hijack cameras can be bought for 1,650 yuan. Online services to crack facial recognition are also available, with prices ranging from 30 to 250 yuan. These services can tackle facial recognitions systems – biometric computer applications that identify a person based on a database of digital images – used on a range of apps and government platforms. The situation reinforces China’s reputation as one of the worst countries at protecting biometric data . Many of China’s 1.4 billion population are already online, but the country is known for lax controls over the collection, storage and use of individual digital data. In response to privacy concerns, Beijing has stepped up to rein in the collection and use of personal data by mobile apps. A new regulation on necessary personal information for common types of mobile internet applications will take effect on May 1. It also covers the basic functions and services for 39 app categories, including messaging, online shopping, payments, ride hailing, short video, live stream and mobile games. Regulators are also sharpening their focus on the use of deepfake technology . Deepfakes refer to manipulated videos, or other digital representations produced by sophisticated artificial intelligence, that yield fabricated images and audio that appear to be real. The government has also issued a draft legislation, the Personal Information Protection Law, aimed at preventing private data leaks and abuses. It proposes to impose fines of up to 50 million yuan, or 5 per cent of a company’s annual revenue, for such offences.


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So Harley-Davidson is going to great lengths to ensure we all know its newly unveiled Street 750-based XG750R is a race-only prototype, but we’re not convinced. Because if the firm created a road-going equivalent it would have an instant rival to one of the world’s top-10 best-selling bikes: Ducati’s Scrambler.
Given the fact that nearly half a century on from its launch, the old Harley-Davidson XR750 is still the definitive flat tracker, and that the V-twin flat-track look has long been a favourite among custom bike builders, it doesn’t take a university-educated beancounter to see there’s enormous potential for both profit and growth.
The sticking point with Harley’s previous attempts at road-going street trackers, most recently the XR1200 of 2009-2012, has been that the firm’s large capacity, but underpowered air-cooled engines. However, the new Street 750’s liquid-cooled Revolution X engine used in the Harley-Davidson XG750R racer cuts both the bike’s size and costs down to a level where owners are seeking downright entertainment, not outright performance.
Just look at the Scrambler; it’s not fast, but it’s unthreatening and joyful, and with the right price and the right style to ensure it’s a massive success. It’s already Ducati’s best-selling bike worldwide, and the addition of extra versions – notably including the Flat Track Pro model this year – will only add to that appeal.
Just as Ducati cobbled together the Scrambler around an engine that was already built, but positioned a long way from the rest of its model range, Harley-Davidson’s XG750R represents a significant departure from anything else H-D offers — and it has cost the firm diddly squat.
The Harley-Davidson XG750R prototype uses a Vance & Hines-tuned Street 750 engine mounted in a tubular steel monoshock flat-track frame that’s virtually identical to the ones currently used on XR750 racebikes. It’s presently being campaigned in AMA Pro flat track racing by 18-year-old factory rider Davis Fisher, who achieved an impressive eighth place overall finish in the final of its first event, just days after Harley announced the bike. Fisher’s teammate Brad Baker took third place on his old-school XR750.
Harley’s official line is that the XR750 is “strictly for race competition and will not be offered for sale at this time”. The emphasis, we suspect, is on the last three words. It just doesn’t wash.


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In CT, the Tustin, CA-based vendor will be devoting attention to its new 160-detector helical scanning capability for its Aquilion One and Aquilion Premium scanners. The work-in-progress ultrahelical scanning mode can scan the entire chest, abdomen, and pelvis in less than five seconds, according to the firm. Toshiba believes the method is ideal for routine body imaging and for patients who have difficulty staying still during exams.
Toshiba will also be featuring a new wide-volume imaging protocol for Aquilion One. The method is designed to image a large region of the chest in only two to three volume x-ray rotations. Targeted at ECG-gated CT imaging, Aquilion One's 16-cm coverage and wide-volume cardiac protocol allow physicians to quickly image the entire lung, aorta, and heart, Toshiba said.
In low-dose CT developments, Toshiba will be debuting Target CTA and its work-in-progress adaptive iterative dose reduction (AIDR) technology. Target CTA is an Aquilion One dose cardiac protocol for patients with stable heart rates, including pediatrics, Toshiba said.
AIDR, a software algorithm that reduces noise from images to increase image quality and lower radiation dose by up to 75%, is pending U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance. When available, AIDR will come standard on the Aquilion Premium and One scanners.
In MR, Toshiba will again be highlighting its work-in-progress Titan 3-tesla MR scanner, first showcased at last year's RSNA meeting. The company said it will also tout its proprietary noncontrast imaging technologies, including fresh blood imaging (FBI), contrast-free improved angiography (CIA), time-spatial labeling inversion pulse (Time-SLIP), and time and space angiography (TSA).
In x-ray, Toshiba will bring its Infinix VF-i/BP vascular x-ray system to Chicago again this year, and will be highlighting new advances in its 3D roadmap technology. The vendor's RadRex-i mixed-detector digital radiography system will also return this year. In addition, Toshiba will showcase its Kalare radiography/fluoroscopy system.
In ultrasound, Toshiba will unwrap upgrades to its Viamo ultrasound system. The vendor has incorporated ApliPure Plus; tissue pure imaging; a new high-frequency, tightly curved transducer; and DICOM structured reporting capability. A new 40-cm depth setting also has been added.
Toshiba is also shining the spotlight on 4D imaging and workflow enhancements to its ultrasound line. The company said it has added easy setup of preset imaging parameters and improved its 4D imaging quality across its whole ultrasound family.
The vendor will also introduce three new transducers, including two intraoperative transducers and one high-frequency curved-array transducer.
By Erik L. Ridley
AuntMinnie.com staff writer
October 26, 2010
Toshiba taps Cooper to lead CT business, October 4, 2010
Toshiba nets Fla. ultrasound install, September 20, 2010
Toshiba reaches Vantage MR milestone, August 30, 2010
AHRA, Toshiba sponsor patient safety program, August 23, 2010
Toshiba to show new AIDR feature, August 20, 2010
Copyright © 2010 AuntMinnie.com


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Normally, when we go on a flight…it’s not the greatest of experiences. Granted, that’s because we’re usually stuck with an airline like Frontier or United that…isn’t the greatest. But Southwest Air is usually one of those airlines that’s better than most. And one particular flight going to San Diego Comic-Con today turned out to be better than most. That’s because the airline teamed up with Nintendo to give some lucky flyers a free Nintendo Switch and a copy of Super Mario Maker 2. Yep, you read that right.
Lauren, a host for Funimation, shared the story over on her Twitter account, which you can see below. It begins with them getting an interesting message from an attendant waring a Mario Maker hat. But then, as they get on the plane, the jig is up – and the gifts are given out…
And that gift is in the form of a voucher that gives them a Nintendo Switch console with red and blue JoyCons, along with a physical copy of the Mario Maker 2 game. And they were handed right out to the consumers right when they got off the plane, so they could enjoy them as they made their way into the city. Now, why they weren’t Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 is beyond us, since that’s the “hot” release of the week for Nintendo and all, but, hey, who are we to question this awesome promotion?
Meanwhile, we could barely get our hands on a soda without paying several bucks for it, much less a pillow or something along those lines. C’mon, stewardess, we paid good money for these seats!


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Abstract In 2016, the GDP (gross domestic product) growth rate was about 6.7%, the total economic output exceeded 70 trillion yuan, the CPI (consumer price index) rose moderately by 2%, the contribution rate of consumption to the economy reached 71%, and the GDP energy consumption decreased. About 5% &helli...
In 2016, the GDP (gross domestic product) growth rate was about 6.7%, the total economic output exceeded 70 trillion yuan, the CPI (consumer price index) rose moderately by 2%, the contribution rate of consumption to the economy reached 71%, and the GDP energy consumption decreased. About 5%... Xu Shaoshi, director of the National Development and Reform Commission, at the press conference of the State Council Office on January 10, using a set of data to show that Chinaâ€™s economy and society maintained a stable and healthy development in 2016, and the 13th Five-Year Plan had a good start. .
A number of experts analyzed that industrial production and market demand grew steadily, the effects of de-capacity and destocking policies appeared, and the relationship between supply and demand gradually improved. The lack of prices has risen sharply, and the prices of industrial products are unlikely to continue to rise. Next, while maintaining steady growth, more emphasis will be placed on structural reforms. The total economic output exceeded 70 trillion
Xu Shaoshi said at the above-mentioned press conference that in 2016, the supply-side structural reforms were promoted in an orderly manner, and the key tasks of â€œthree to one, one reduction and one supplementâ€ have achieved initial results. The GDP growth rate in the first quarter, second quarter and third quarter is 6.7%, and is expected to be around 6.7% for the whole year.
Xu Shaoshi said that it is estimated that the country's total economic output will exceed 70 trillion yuan in 2016, an increase of about 5 trillion yuan. This increase is basically equivalent to the increase of 10% in five years ago, equivalent to 1994 in China. The total economic output is also outstanding in the major economies of the world.
Xu Shaoshi said that the IMF (International Monetary Fund) recently released a report, and the German Voice website published a review article saying that in 2016 China contributed 1.2 percentage points to the global economic growth rate, and the United States and Europe were 0.3 and 0.2 percentage points respectively. In this proportion, China contributes more than 30% to global economic growth. Since it became the world's largest contributor to economic growth for the first time in 2009, it has continued to provide sufficient momentum for the global economy. China's contribution to the world economy will grow larger and larger.
According to the China Economic Growth Report 2016 issued by the National Economic Accounting and Growth Center of Peking University, Chinaâ€™s per capita GDP calculated by the exchange rate method in 2020 is close to or reaches the lower limit of the current high-income country group. The total GDP may be close to or reach the US. Level.
Liu Linan, senior strategist at Deutsche Bank, said that analyzing China's economy depends not only on GDP growth, but also on structural changes in terms of declining production capacity, rising consumption, and slowing growth in real estate investment. We should continue to further promote supply-side structural reforms, reduce macroeconomic imbalances, strengthen financial market reform, opening up, and formal management, and further improve macro-prudential regulatory frameworks; gradually digest debts and reduce the debt burden of local governments and enterprises.
Qu Hongbin, chief economist at HSBC Greater China, believes that the Chinese economy will stabilize in 2016 and this trend will continue in 2017. As demand increases, deflationary pressures will continue to ease. The improvement in prices will help increase corporate profits, reduce the debt burden, and stabilize private investment and even moderate recovery. CPI rose moderately
On January 10, the National Bureau of Statistics released CPI and PPI data for December 2016 and the full year. In December, the CPI rose by 0.2% month-on-month and 2.1% year-on-year, slightly lower than expected. In 2016, the CPI rose by 2.0% year-on-year, an increase of 0.6 percentage points over 2015.
Regarding the next price trend, Lian Ping, chief economist of Bank of Communications, said that the downturn cycle of pork prices in the first quarter of 2017 may end and then rebound. Affected by supply and demand factors and speculation, pork prices in some regions have already risen sharply. The cold weather in winter affects the production of vegetables. When the peak season of consumption comes, the prices of vegetables, fruits, meat and aquatic products may rise. In the early stage, market liquidity remained abundant, supporting CPI, commodity prices and crude oil prices rose, industrial product prices rebounded, and industrial product prices rose to the consumer side, driving the core CPI to rise, forming a price up cycle.
Lian Ping believes that due to the gradual stabilization of the macro economy, the tone of the monetary policy is intended to be stable and neutral, and relevant policies will pay more attention to structural reforms while stabilizing growth, and will not easily adopt excessive stimulus measures. Under the combined effect of supply and demand and speculative factors, some food prices with tight supply and demand may rise rapidly. It is expected that the CPI will increase slightly in the future.
Zhang Jun, chief economist of Morgan Stanley Huaxin Securities, told the First Financial Reporter that the central economic work conference put forward a "neutral" statement on monetary policy stance, and more aimed at preventing asset price bubbles and reducing financial risks. Financial de-leverage will objectively tighten the monetary environment, thus restraining inflation from rising to some extent.
Zhang Jun believes that along with the central bank to strengthen macro-prudential supervision and the de-leveraging of financial assets, while the Fedâ€™s pace of interest rate hikes has led to increased downward pressure on foreign exchange holdings and the central bankâ€™s sharp cut in the deposit reserve ratio space, this yearâ€™s The slowdown in M2 growth may, to a certain extent, curb the rise in inflation from the monetary conditions, so the central bank does not need to take additional monetary tightening measures like interest rate hikes. Rapid growth of PPI is not sustainable
In December 2016, the national industrial producers' ex-factory price (PPI) rose by 1.6% month-on-month and 5.5% year-on-year. In 2016, the PPI decreased by 1.4% year-on-year, and the purchase price of industrial producers decreased by 2.0%.
In terms of industries, the prices of ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing, coal mining and washing, oil and gas extraction, non-ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing, and petroleum processing industry rose by 35.0%, 34.0%, 19.7%, 17.1% and 16.6%, respectively. The increase was 12.8, 5.4, 13.5, 4.5 and 7.6 percentage points higher than the previous month. The total impact of PPI increased by about 4.2 percentage points year-on-year, accounting for about 76% of the total increase.
The reason for the increase in PPI growth is the analysis of the national day of the rope. First, it is affected by many factors such as exchange rate fluctuations. The price of imported bulk commodities has risen, which has pushed up the ex-factory price of some industrial products. Second, the industrial production and market demand have grown steadily, and the capacity has gone. The effect of the inventory policy has emerged and the relationship between supply and demand has gradually improved.
Zhang Liqun, a researcher at the Development Research Center of the State Council, said in an interview with the First Financial Journal that the effect of steady growth has already appeared, the benefits of enterprises have improved, the manufacturing and private investment have recovered, and the situation of economic stabilization has emerged. The PPI grew rapidly from September to December 2016, from 0.1% to 5.5%. On the one hand, the production and supply of upstream products decreased, and on the other hand, the investment in infrastructure construction and the recovery of private investment. Increase the demand for commodities and rapidly change the relationship between supply and demand.
However, Zhang Liqun said that the rapid rise of PPI is not sustainable. The scale of production capacity is still quite large. The ability to increase production under the influence of market prices is very large. On the demand side, it is not a strong and continuous expansion demand, but a smooth recovery of demand. From the perspective of future trends, the situation of demand recovery is more and more gradual, and the situation of supply recovery will become more and more obvious, so the future supply and demand relationship will develop in a balanced direction.
Zhu Baoliang, chief economist of the Economic Forecasting Department of China National Information Center, also believes that the situation that total social supply is greater than total demand in 2017 has not changed, and the lack of price has risen. From the perspective of industrial product prices, the kinetic energy of further sharp rebound in international commodity prices is still insufficient. Chinaâ€™s overcapacity problem is still relatively prominent, and prices are unlikely to continue to rise.
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Motorola is reportedly planning to broaden its foldable smartphone sequence with Moto Razr+ 2023. There have been varied reviews on the anticipated identify of the smartphone. It was beforehand reported that Motorola will launch this new foldable smartphone with the Razr+ moniker as a substitute of the Razr model identify. Now, the smartphone has additionally been listed on the CQC and TDRA itemizing, as per a current report, revealing its battery capability and charging velocity. with the mannequin quantity XT2321-3 on each web sites. Nevertheless, the Canadian REL certification web site has been noticed with the telephone carrying the moniker — Motorola Razr 40 Extremely.
In accordance with a report by 91mobiles, the Moto Razr+ 2023 has just lately been noticed on the China High quality Certification web site in addition to the UAE’s TDRA webpage and Canada’s Radio Tools Checklist web site. The telephone is listed on all of the three web sites with mannequin quantity XT2321-2, XT2321-1 and XT2321-3, respectively.
Whereas the TDRA itemizing hints on the smartphone being named Moto Razr+, the Canadian REL web site suggests the moniker Motorola Razr 40 Extremely, hinting that the smartphone might debut with totally different names in several areas.
An earlier report steered that the Motorola Razr+ might characteristic a 2.7-inch cowl show. It was additionally stated to be backed by a 2,850mAh battery with 30W quick charging assist. The upcoming smartphone will succeed Moto Razr 2022, and is tipped to come back with an even bigger battery than its predecessor.
In the meantime, the Moto Razr 2022, which was unveiled in China in August final yr. It runs on Android 12-based MyUI 4.0. The handset sports activities a 6.7-inch foldable OLED most important show and a 2.7-inch OLED outer cowl show. It’s powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC paired with as much as 12GB of RAM and 512GB of onboard storage.
For images, there’s a twin rear digicam setup on the Moto Razr 2022, comprising a 50-megapixel most important sensor and a 13-megapixel secondary sensor. For selfies, there’s a 32-megapixel entrance digicam. The smartphone is backed by a 3,500mAh battery with assist for 33W quick charging.


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From Allison Acosta. Email her at allison[AT]borderstan.com.
Eleven years ago Gina Schaefer and her husband, Marc Friedman, had the somewhat unconventional idea to open a hardware store that would serve local customers doing home improvement projects.
The couple, then residents of Logan Circle (now living in Shaw), wanted to fix up their condo with locally purchased goods rather than have to drive across the city (or the suburbs) to get home repair supplies.
In March 2003, Gina and Mark opened Logan Hardware at 1416 P Street NW. Little did they know that their dream to open a local hardware store would start them on their way to a small empire of nine urban Ace hardware stores from DC to Baltimore.
Beginning this week, customers will be able to purchase items from the new Made in DC program which spotlights locally made merchandise.
Since opening Logan Hardware, their stores have employed more than 300 people, made 300,684 house keys, mixed more than 42,000 gallons of paint, and served more than one million customers. Logan Hardware’s most popular item: light bulbs.
On March 2, Logan Hardware hosted a 10th Anniversary celebration to show their appreciation for local residents with a 20 percent- off discount throughout the store and a raffle that benefited House of Ruth and Jubilee Jobs.
Made in DC Program
Beginning this week, customers will be able to purchase items from the new Made in DC program which spotlights locally made merchandise. The first products come from local crafter Tina Seamonster, who is offering up altered DC flag and cat, dog and bike magnets, DJ cat tote bags, zombie magnets and more.
Also new in the store: Look for spring flowers for your garden, a new line of nostalgic candy and sodas and an expanded pet section that includes Bully Sticks, Blackstone dog food, and more.


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Future looks good for industrial Reits
Industrial real estate investment trusts (Reits) will likely benefit as the Government pushes for more higher-value-add businesses, said a report yesterday.
The boost for Reits will be underpinned by the new economy, which is expected to boost demand for hi-specifications factories and business park space even as the current supply glut tapers off.
Maybank Kim Eng analyst Chua Su Tye noted that the industrial sector - having digested the effects of policy measures similar to those in the residential market - is approaching the tail-end of a supply surge that has been in place since 2014.
"Supply surplus, which has plagued sector dynamics, should abate in 2018 as demand looks set to exceed new completions," said Mr Chua. He added that rents will likely bottom out this year and recover in the next, helped in part by growth in the manufacturing sector.
"Singapore's economic remodelling efforts should steer industrial demand needs towards hi-specs factories and business parks," he said, pointing to the Government's deliberate efforts to prioritise new economy industries - such as e-commerce, technology research and development, data centres - over traditional manufacturing.
Separately, an earlier report by RHB noted that recent economic data is pointing to steady growth in the manufacturing sector, which augurs well for industrial demand.
"While supply pressures remain as an overhang, a pick-up in demand ensures that rentals and capital values are unlikely to decline sharply," said RHB analyst Vijay Natarajan.


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Avatar: The Way of Water has secured an exclusive digital release date and will include several hours of additional content upon its arrival as a science fiction sequel.
20th Century Studios has announced that Avatar: The Way of Water has set its exclusive digital release date and will be available on major digital platforms like Prime Video, Apple TV, Vudu, and Movies Anywhere from March 28. In addition, the sequel will come with several hours of bonus content, such as a commentary from the cast and crew, and behind-the-scenes featurettes. The movie will be available in 4K Ultra HD quality and feature Dolby Atmos audio.
Following its record-breaking theatrical run, Avatar: The Way of Water is set to be digitally released. The science fiction blockbuster is currently the third highest-grossing movie in history, behind the original Avatar and Avengers: Endgame. The movie was well-received by critics and earned numerous accolades and nominations at recent industry awards shows. Additionally, it is currently nominated for four Oscars (including Best Picture) at the upcoming 95th Academy Awards, set to air on March 12, 2023.
What James Cameron Think About The Success of Avatar 2
In a recent interview, James Cameron, the director of Avatar: The Way of Water, spoke about the film’s critical and commercial success. He refuted the notion that the popularity of the sequel was entirely due to its groundbreaking visual effects. Cameron stated that the movie’s success was due to its characters, and he even avoided discussing the behind-the-scenes technical aspects of the film because he believes people are more interested in the characters.
In a recent interview, James Cameron discussed the critical and commercial success of Avatar: The Way of Water. He emphasized that the film’s popularity is not solely due to its groundbreaking visual effects, but rather because of the characters and their stories. Cameron likened himself to J.R.R. Tolkien and Peter Jackson, saying that he had to create a whole new world from scratch, unlike adapting an existing book. The film is currently showing in theaters and will be available for purchase on VOD platforms starting March 28, 2023.


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Brand endorsements: they're not all fun and games, free clothes and truckloads of money. They also come with their share of restrictions, and if you don't keep in line with them, you can find yourself in a bit of hot water. This is the lesson Rita Ora learned when Italian shoe brand Superga took her to court after she was caught wearing sneakers from a competing label.
Ora signed on with Superga to be the face of its Spring/Summer 2013 campaign last year, and according to The Hollywood Reporter, she was not allowed to be spotted out on the town wearing shoes from any other brand—a stipulation she breached when she was photographed leaving a London nightclub in April of 2013 rocking a pair of white Converse sneakers.
As a result, the folks at Superga withheld the final two installments of her £180,000 fee (about $250,000). Ora fessed up to her misstep, agreeing that she had broken contract, but made it clear that she would not be giving up her pounds so easily. The singer asked for £90,000 plus VAT, costs, and interest—a request we're learning today was settled out of court.
We don't know for sure if Superga ever filled the rest of her bill, but if anything, we bet Rita will take better care not to (accidentally?) bite the hand that feeds her.


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Apple today has updated banners on its App Store and iTunes Store on Mac and iOS devices in the U.S. requesting users to donate to Mercy Corps to support those who have been affected by massive flooding in Kerala. If you aren’t following, Floods in Kerala have effected a lot of districts in the state since August 8th.
With this new initiative, Apple is allowing customers to donate to Mercy Corps using credit and debit cards that are already on file with the iTunes Store and App Store for a no-hassle donation process. Users can donate up to $5, $10, $25, $50, $100, or $200, 100% of which goes to Mercy Corps. This isn’t the first time Apple has used iTunes or App Store to raise funds.
The company recently collected money on behalf of the American Red Cross to help fight California wildfires, and Apple has also collected donations for major disasters like the 2015 Nepal earthquake, the 2013 Philippines typhoon, Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami, and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. As for Mercy Corps, it is a global humanitarian aid organization whose mission is to “alleviate suffering, poverty, and oppression by helping people build secure, productive and just communities.”


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The 10-day event, which aims to showcase China’s rural revitalization strategy, includes an exhibition and a forum inviting experts and scholars in the field to offer advice and suggestions.
The CCIAFF Expo is co-held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, People’s Government of Jilin Province as well as the city government of Changchun. It has been successfully held for 16 times and become one of the most influential agricultural fairs in China, as well as an important platform for Jilin’s foreign cooperation and exchanges in the agricultural field. More than 200 foreign companies from 21 countries, and over 2,000 domestic agricultural companies participated in this year’s expo.
Jilin is at the geographic center of Northeast Asia, home to the world-renowned “golden corn belt” and “golden rice belt”. Its yearly gross grain output has maintained 70 billion kg for five consecutive years. Using only 4 percent of China’s arable land, the province produced 10 percent of the country’s total commodity grain. Jilin’s per capita grain availability, commodity rate, transfer volume, and corn export volume have topped the country for many consecutive years. The output of its agricultural production industry exceeded 560 billion yuan (82 billion U.S. dollars), becoming one of the province’s three pillar industries, the other two being automobile and petrochemical engineering.
Focusing on modern agriculture, the expo provides various platforms for products trade and exhibition, industrial demonstration, education, forums and online interaction. Through the exhibition of advanced agricultural scientific and technological achievements, the expo seeks to pioneer a green development, promote agricultural cooperation, assist China’s high-quality agricultural development, and offer intellectual support for the rejuvenation of Northeast China.
The Jilin rural revitalization summit, and first China ecological agriculture renewable resources recycling development and modern agricultural machinery industry forum are held during the expo. New technology, facilities and patterns such as non-heating greenhouse, soil-less culture, and stereoscopic agriculture are also presented.
The CCIAFF Expo has aimed for internationalization and professionalization during its preparations. The organizing committee paid great efforts to attract world-class modern agricultural technology, famous agricultural products and companies to the exhibition, build first-class platform for their exchanges and cooperation and offer an amiable market environment, to make the expo an agricultural meeting of domestic popularity and world influence.
SOURCE Changchun Municipal Government


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- Brinker will bring virtual brand It’s Just Wings to Chili’s core menus in a process Brinker CEO Kevin Hochman described as “graduating... to the real world,” on the company’s Q4 2023 earnings call.
- It’s Just Wings will be added “prominently” to Chili’s new bar menu, which debuts in September, and as a subsection to the standard dining room menu, Hochman told analysts and investors.
- Brinker axed one of its other virtual brands, Maggiano’s Italian Classics, earlier this year as part of an effort to simplify restaurant operations. But the success of It’s Just Wings, and its integration with Chili’s menu, shows it’s possible for virtual brands to grow from marginal sales drivers to more important menu categories.
Brinker believes It’s Just Wings can attract trips to Chili’s bar and strengthen the brand’s image as a wings joint, Hochman said. Chili’s plans to strengthen the debut of It’s Just Wings by aligning it with “sports events and viewing occasions” that encourage bar traffic. In Chili’s main dining area, Brinker expects It’s Just Wings to spark add-ons and trade up in appetizers.
“We’ll start with football season and drive the Wings business throughout the year,” Hochman said.
In-store sales will complement the virtual brand’s off-premise sales and offer it a chance for to grow significantly, Hochman said.
“It's Just Wings is one of the largest, if not the largest, virtual brands in the world, and it's likely to get a lot bigger in the for-real restaurant world,” Hochman said.
Brinker is building a “more sophisticated” CRM program in partnership with GALE, a restaurant CRM agency, to encourage trial of It’s Just Wings in store. Brinker will use digital communications to ensure the brand is prominent in the runup to sporting events, when consumers are likely to look for wings.
Last quarter, CFO Joe Taylor said that diner demand for virtual brands has weakened since COVID-19 dining restrictions ended. Phasing virtual brands into hybrid service, where they exist both online and in store, may help restaurants offset such declines in digital engagement. Chuck E. Cheese and Applebee’s both recently added items from their virtual brands to their in-store menus.
Steve Provost, who Hochman credited with developing the It’s Just Wings concept, will retire from Brinker at the end of August. Provost served as CMO and head of innovation at Chili’s from 2017 to 2018, and as Brinker’s chief concept officer from 2019 to June 2020, before returning to his role as president of Maggiano’s Little Italy. He held that role from 2009 to 2018, and from June 2020 onwards, according to his LinkedIn profile.


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The moment we’ve been waiting for a long time has finally arrived and the Elden Ring trailer has been released recently. Elden Ring trailer was released recently. Although almost two years have passed since its announcement, we could not see anything official except for the announcement trailer about the game. After frequent rumors and leaks that broke out in the past months, the Elden Ring video was released at the Summer Game Fest finale.
Elden Ring Trailer and Release Date Finally Released
You can check out the Elden Ring trailer video of the game, which was released recently, below. Of course, since the video has an age limit, you have to watch it directly on Youtube.
First of all, we can say that the trailer of the game looks really perfect. Especially in terms of diversity, players who love the Souls genre will be waiting for different scenes, places, and of course bosses. Another point that draws attention in the video of the game is that it also has open world dynamics. Some areas seem very large. We can say that these open-world parts gain even more meaning with the horse summoning dynamic. We can enter the battlefield with our horse and perform different actions with its disappearance.
Players have been waiting for Elden Ring for a long time, but it seems that this wait will continue for a while because the game will not be released this year. According to the developer company, the production will be with us on January 21, 2022, if there is no delay. As for platforms, Elden Ring will debut on all current and next-generation consoles, as well as PC.
When we look at the video, Elden Ring has many elements that are especially familiar to Dark Souls players: Swords and magic, giant legendary monsters, a dark atmosphere, and more. However, there is another feature that fans are not used to: Horses. In the video, it looks like we will be traveling the world on the back of a flying horse.
As we mentioned above, Elden Ring was first announced at E3 2019 as the next project of FromSoftware, the makers of Dark Souls, and the game’s world was named after the creator of Game of Thrones, George R.R. It was announced that it would be developed together with Martin. We finally have something concrete about the game, about which a lot has been written and drawn since then.
In this trailer, which was published, some scenes that we saw in the leaks that appeared before were also included. The game, which will be released on January 21, 2021, will come to PC, PS4 and Xbox One platforms besides PS5, Xbox Series X.
So, what do you think about this Elden Ring trailer video published? Do you think Elden Ring will be worth the long wait? You can share your ideas with us in the comments section.