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South Korea’s Shinhan Card Co. said on Wednesday that it has successfully raised $450 million in rare dual currency offering backed by its card receivables in average maturity of 42 months.
According to Shinhan Card, it has eliminated risk elements deriving from currency and interest rate fluctuations through swaps. The unsecured cross-border asset-backed securities received AAA rating by Fitch Ratings. The company said it was able to draw the new funding at relatively favorable conditions, but did not disclose the terms.
Shinhan Card plans to use the proceeds from the latest issuance to pay back existing debt and carry out operations. The issuance saved cost through a mix of offering in U.S. dollar and euro.
An unnamed official from Shinhan Card said that the latest successful issuance proves its high credit rating and procurement capability as it comes despite interest rate hike trend in the United States that has led to increased volatility in the financial market at home and abroad. Shinhan Card had also issued $350 million in dollar-denominated asset-backed securities in March.
By Oh Chan-jong and Lee Eun-joo
[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]


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PHOENIX — An Arizona woman claimed she was told to breast-feed in the bathroom of a Barneys New York by a store employee, according to New York Daily News.
Andrea O’Dowd, 32, said she attempted to breast-feed her daughter Serena in a dressing room last Thursday, when employees at the Scottsdale Fashion Square store told her she couldn’t because of “loss prevention” concerns, the article said.
“They tried to tell me to use their bathroom, which didn’t have an area to feed or change a little one, just stalls,” O’Dowd said in a Facebook post.
O’Dowd said she allowed the employees to search her stroller, but they refused.
“I’ve gotten a lot of support,” she said in an interview with the Daily News. “I decided to speak out because this should not be such a big issue — it’s just natural. They shouldn’t be intimidated.”
According to Arizona law, women are allowed to breast-feed their babies in any private or public location.
A statement from Barney’s New York said the company is reviewing its “lactation policy and training protocol for all locations to ensure that we are adhering to best practices,” the article said.
- Carroll Shelby’s 1966 Shelby GT to be put up for auction in Scottsdale
- Newborn boy found abandoned in Tucson airport restroom
- Scottsdale City Council votes to send letter to state for equal rights
- Scottsdale police accuse man of making explosive device
- Barrett-Jackson classic car auction rolls into Scottsdale this weekend

domain: news


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Demand for medical and packaging products sparked early sales in the year, which saw more than 43,000 machines sold. Its Mars series accounted for more than 37,000 of those machines for about $1.25 billion in sales — a 28.6 percent year-on-year increase. Meanwhile, its Zhafir series saw a 6.8 percent increase in sales to about $219 million, and its Jupiter series saw a 3.2 percent increase in sales to about $199 million.
Haitian reported that in North America, sales of its Haitian product lines (Mars and Jupiter Series) servo-hydraulic presses accounted for about 60 percent of total sales, while its Zhafir electric machines (Venus, Zeres and Jenius Series) made up the other 40 percent.
The Ningbo, China-based manufacturer of injection molding machines said its overall export sales grew 2.1 percent, to about $536 million.


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The American Bankers Association and the Consumer Bankers Association this week expressed support for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s recent announcement that it will increase nonbank supervision.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today said it would invoke a “largely unused” authority under the Dodd-Frank Act to directly examine nonbank financial services providers. “Given the rapid growth of consumer offerings by nonbanks, the CFPB is now utilizing a dormant authority to hold nonbanks to the same standards that banks are held to,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra.
As the Federal Reserve continues to consider which entities may become eligible for access to its payments systems, ABA and a coalition of trade groups called for the Fed to clarify how it will address problems of institutions with novel charters—such as state-chartered non-depository banks and crypto firms—seeking access.
Innovation that puts the payment system at greater risk isn’t “disruption.” It’s an unforced error that the Fed can and should easily avoid.
Republican lawmakers ask the U.S. Postal Service to stop the extension of a financial services pilot program that they claim has violated statutory restrictions since its inception.
The American Bankers Association told the Department of Justice today that the 1995 bank merger competitive review guidelines are outdated and do not take into account the competitive effects of online banking and competition from nonbanks.
Members of the Federal Reserve’s Community Depository Institution Advisory Council flagged cybersecurity threats—particularly related to ransomware—as a top threat facing community banks during a recent meeting, and noted that “a framework needs to be put in place that encourages cooperation and reduces risks of transparency (which currently is seen as leading primarily to punishment and reputational damage).”
The nonbank financial intermediation sector grew less than banking in 2020, according to Financial Stability Board report.
Ahead of a House Financial Services Committee hearing on digital assets today—at which the heads of several cryptocurrency firms will testify—the American Bankers Association submitted a statement for the record emphasizing the need for bank-like regulations for companies offering digital assets to consumers.
In a letter to the CFPB today, the American Bankers Association and the Consumer Bankers Association emphasized the need for consistent consumer protection and a level playing field for payments products offered by banks and big tech firms.


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Most of the Barbies we had growing up were blonde, blue-eyed homemakers with oven mitts and aprons. Yawn! Now, as HelloBeautiful reports, Mattel is flipping the script and creating Barbies with entrepreneurial goals and professional attire — knee-length dress, briefcase, smartphone, and iPad included!
Barbie, focusing less on vanity and materialism, is morphing into a brand spankin’ new role model for little girls. The change of direction was announced at The New York Toy Fair. But people are wondering if this is less about promoting career-minded tots and more of a marketing ploy. After all, Bryan Stockton — Mattel’s CEO — admitted that Barbie’s sales dropped 13 percent earlier this year.
During its 55-year history, Barbie has never been a business owner. But at the same time, career-focused Barbies aren’t a novelty. In the 60s, Mattel introduced Barbie with a cap and gown at a time when only 5.8 percent of women held Bachelor’s degrees.
She’s been a veterinarian, surgeon, pediatrician, dentist, a diplomat, and even a presidential candidate. Not sure Entrepeneur Barbie is pioneering enough to call a “publicity stunt,” but it certainly is grabbing national attention and could very well help drive up Mattel’s disappointing sales.
Barbie may have her hair pulled back, but she’s certainly not leaving behind her M.O. of being a fashion-forward woman:
“Ready for the next big pitch, Barbie Entrepreneur doll wears a sophisticated dress in signature pink that features modern color blocking and a sleek silhouette. Luxe details, like a glam necklace, cool clutch and elegant hairstyle, are smart, professional touches,” Mattel’s official site says.
Marilyn Nagel, a CEO herself, supports the concept of “Entrepreneur Barbie,” but isn’t a fan of Mattel’s focus on looks.
“It’s nice to have a Barbie that talks about women as entrepreneurs, but it’s important that you don’t see a difference in the look in particular. The big challenge is that we need to have visual images for girls of a variety of looks [and] body styles … that embody the diversity of reality,” Nagel, CEO of woman’s leadership non-profit Watermark, told Fox Business.
Entrepreneur Barbie hits selves in June for $12.99.


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Taking it to another dimension
How to get more out of existing transistors
STRICTLY speaking, Moore’s law is about the ever greater number of electronic components that can be crammed onto a given device. More generally, though, it is used as shorthand for saying that computers are always getting better. As transistors become harder and harder to shrink, computing firms are starting to look at making better use of the transistors they already have. “Managers in the past wouldn’t want to invest a lot in intensive design,” says Greg Yeric at ARM. “I think that’s going to start shifting.”
One way is to make the existing chips work harder. Computer chips have a master clock; every time it ticks, the transistors within switch on or off. The faster the clock, the faster the chip can carry out instructions. Increasing clock rates has been the main way of making chips faster over the past 40 years. But since the middle of the past decade clock rates have barely budged.
Chipmakers have responded by using the extra transistors that came with shrinking to duplicate a chip’s existing circuitry. Such “multi-core” chips are, in effect, several processors in one, the idea being that lashing several slower chips together might give better results than relying on a single speedy one. Most modern desktop chips feature four, eight or even 16 cores.
But, as the industry has discovered, multi-core chips rapidly hit limits. “The consensus was that if we could keep doing that, if we could go to chips with 1,000 cores, everything would be fine,” says Doug Burger, an expert in chip design at Microsoft. But to get the best out of such chips, programmers have to break down tasks into smaller chunks that can be worked on simultaneously. “It turns out that’s really hard,” says Dr Burger. Indeed, for some mathematical tasks it is impossible.
Another approach is to specialise. The most widely used chips, such as Intel’s Core line or those based on ARM’s Cortex design (found in almost every smartphone on the planet) are generalists, which makes them flexible. That comes at a price: they can do a bit of everything but excel at nothing. Tweaking hardware to make it better at dealing with specific mathematical tasks “can get you something like a 100- to 1,000-fold performance improvement over some general solution”, says Bob Colwell, who helped design Intel’s Pentium chips. When Moore’s law was doubling performance every couple of years at no cost anyway, there was little incentive to customise processing this way. But now that transistors are not necessarily getting faster and cheaper all the time, those tradeoffs are changing.
That was Sean Mitchell’s thinking when, a decade ago, he co-founded a company called Movidius. The firm designs chips for use in computer vision, a booming field with applications in everything from robotics to self-driving cars to augmented reality. Movidius has since raised nearly $90m in funding.
“When we looked at the general-purpose chips out there,” says Dr Mitchell, “we found that they were very inefficient.” So Dr Mitchell and his co-founders set about designing their own specialised microprocessor.
“We’ve got to process high-resolution images, each containing millions of pixels, and coming in at 60, 90 or even 120 frames per second,” he says. By tweaking the hardware to the task at hand—by providing exactly the mix of computational resources necessary for the mathematics of visual processing while leaving out any of the extraneous logic that would allow a general-purpose chip to perform other tasks—Movidius’s Myriad 2 chip can crunch huge amounts of visual information but use less than a watt of power (which is about 20% of the consumption of the chips in smartphones and only about 1% of those in desktop computers). In January the firm announced a deal with Google.
Custom-built chips are already in use
Custom-built chips are already in use in other parts of the computing industry. The best-known examples are the graphics chips used to improve the visuals of video games, designed by firms such as Nvidia and AMD and first marketed to consumers in the mid-1990s. Intel’s newer Pentium chips also come with built-in specialised logic for tasks such as decoding video. But there are downsides. Designing new chips takes years and can cost tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars. Specialised chips are also harder to program than general-purpose ones. And, by their very nature, they improve performance only on certain tasks.
A better target for specialised logic, at least at first, might be data centres, the vast computing warehouses that power the servers running the internet. Because of the sheer volume of information they process, data centres will always be able to find a use for a chip that can do only one thing, but do it very well.
With that in mind, Microsoft, one of the world’s biggest software firms and providers of cloud-computing services, is venturing into the chip-design business. In 2014 it announced a new device called Catapult that uses a special kind of chip called a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), the configuration of which can be reshaped at will. FPGAs offer a useful compromise between specialisation and flexibility, says Dr Burger, who led the team that developed Catapult: “The idea is to have programmable hardware alongside programmable software.” When one task is finished, an FPGA can be reconfigured for another job in less than a second.
The chips are already in use with Bing, Microsoft’s search engine, and the company says this has doubled the number of queries a server can process in a given time. There are plenty of other potential applications, says Peter Lee, Dr Burger’s boss at Microsoft. FPGAs excel when one specific algorithm has to be applied over and over again to torrents of data. One idea is to use Catapult to encrypt data flowing between computers to keep them secure. Another possibility is to put it to work on voice- and image-recognition jobs for cloud-connected smartphones.
The technology is not new, but until now there was little reason to use it. What is new is that “the cloud is growing at an incredible rate,” says Dr Burger. “And now that Moore’s law is slowing down, that makes it much harder to add enough computing capacity to keep up. So these sorts of post-Moore projects start to make economic sense.”
At the IBM research lab on the shores of Lake Zurich, ambitions are set even higher. On a table in one of the labs sits a chip connected by thin hoses to a flask of purple-black liquid. Patrick Ruch, who works in IBM’s Advanced Thermal Packaging group, sees this liquid as the key to a fundamental redesign of data centres. He and his colleagues think they can shrink a modern supercomputer of the sort that occupies a warehouse into a volume about the size of a cardboard box—by making better use of the third dimension.
Leaving aside innovations like finned transistors (see article), modern chips are essentially flat. But a number of companies, including IBM, are now working on stacking chips on top of each other, like flats in a tower block, to allow designers to pack more transistors into a given area. Samsung already sells storage systems made from vertically stacked flash memory. Last year Intel and Micron, a big memory-manufacturer, announced a new memory technology called 3D Xpoint that also uses stacking.
IBM’s researchers are working on something slightly different: chip stacks in which slices of memory are sandwiched between slices of processing logic. That would allow engineers to pack a huge amount of computing into a tiny volume, as well as offering big performance benefits. A traditional computer’s main memory is housed several centimetres from its processor. At silicon speeds, a centimetre is a vast distance. Sending signals across such distances also wastes energy. Moving the memory inside the chip cuts those distances from centimetres to micrometres, allowing it to shuttle data around more quickly.
But there are two big problems with 3D chips. The first is heat. Flat chips are bad enough; in a conventional data centre thousands of fans blowing hot air out of the server racks emit a constant roar. As more layers are added, the volume inside the chip, where the heat is generated, grows faster than the outside area from which it can be removed.
The second problem is getting electricity in. Chips communicate with the outside world via hundreds of metal “pins” on their undersides. Modern chips are so power-hungry that up to 80% of these pins are reserved for transporting electricity, leaving only a few to get data in and out. In 3D those constraints multiply, as the same number of pins must serve a much more complicated chip.
Dr Michel has dubbed the liquid “electronic blood”
IBM hopes to kill two birds with one stone by fitting its 3D chips with miniscule internal plumbing. Microfluidic channels will carry cooling liquid into the heart of the chip, removing heat from its entire volume at once. The firm has already tested the liquid-cooling technology with conventional, flat chips. The microfluidic system could ultimately remove around a kilowatt of heat—about the same as the output of one bar of an electric heater—from a cubic centimetre of volume, says Bruno Michel, the head of the group (see article).
But the liquid will do more than cool the chips: it will deliver energy as well. Inspired by his background in biology, Dr Michel has dubbed the liquid “electronic blood”. If he can pull it off, it will do for computer chips what biological blood does for bodies: provide energy and regulate the temperature at the same time. Dr Michel’s idea is a variant of a flow battery, in which power is provided by two liquids that, meeting on either side of a membrane, produce electricity.
Flow batteries are fairly well understood. The electricity industry has been studying them as a way to store intermittent power from renewable energy sources. Dr Michel’s system is still many years away from commercial deployment, but the principle has been established: when Dr Ruch switches on the flow, the chip to which the hoses are connected flickers into life—without a plug or a wire in sight.
This article appeared in the Technology Quarterly section of the print edition under the headline "Taking it to another dimension"
From the March 12th 2016 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contentsExplore the edition


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Escalating trade war could mean higher prices for appliances, furniture
In the long run, President Donald Trump and supporters of his trade policy, placing steep tariffs on Chinese imports, say it will lead to a better deal for the United States.
At least for now, the escalating trade war is causing difficulties for farmers and American consumers. Talks between the U.S. and China broke down a couple weeks ago and both sides have increased tariffs with more likely on the horizon.
The tariff hike could mean higher prices for household appliances and furniture as many of those products are made in China, or use parts from overseas.
Tuesday, Eyewitness News spoke with a Wichita appliance dealer to find out how you can avoid being hit with higher prices.
If you're in the market for a new refrigerator, washer, dryer or stove, you should buy it now. That's the advice from Lytton's Appliance owner Bob Finn ahead of potential price increases caused by tariff hikes on Chinese goods.
"Usually now around Memorial Day and July 4 weekends are the manufacturers promote products, so the prices are lower now anyhow," Finn says.
So far, Finn says he has not received a notice from any manufacturers about price increases. He says most of the brands Lytton's sells in store are made in the U.S., but it's possible some of the parts used are from China.
If so, those products could be impacted by escalating trade war.
"I don't know exactly what the tariff is going to be on, whether it's going to be on steel -- you know if it's on steel, then that will impact probably all brands because that's a major component of appliances," Finn says.
He says if manufacturers are forced to increase prices, it could deter customers from purchasing new appliances, at least for a while.
But for now, he says Lyttons' prices will stay steady until they hear otherwise.


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San Francisco Bay, News
San francisco bay, Latest News
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco and colloquially known as SF, San Fran, Frisco, or The City, is the cultural, commercial, and financial center of Northern California.
Netflix making documentary about QuadrigaCX Bitcoin saga
San Francisco, Sep 25 Streaming giant Netflix has announced a slate of upcoming true crime documentaries. Along with ... ...
Musk confident chip shortage will be solved by next year: Report
San Francisco, Sep 25 Tesla CEO Elon Musk has disclosed he is confident that the ongoing chip shortage ... ...
At meet with PM Modi, Biden highlights Kamala Harris' Indian roots, calls her mother 'remarkable woman'
US President Joe Biden on Friday (local time) pointed out his deputy Kamala Harris' Indian connection during his first in-person meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and called her mother Shyamala Gopalan, who was from India, "remarkable woman". ...
Self-proclaimed 'Elon fanboy' builds Tesla position worth over $4.6 bn
San Francisco, Sep 24 A self-proclaimed Elon Musk 'fanboy' has managed to accumulate a Tesla position worth over ... ...
Twitter will let users send, receive Bitcoin tips
San Francisco, Sep 24 Four months after micro-blogging site Twitter first introduced in-app tipping, the company is now ... ...
Musk says Inspiration4 crew had 'challenges' with toilet, promises upgrade
San Francisco, Sep 22 Tech billionaire Elon Musk took to the Twitter to reveal that there were "challenges" ... ...
Spotify poised to overtake Apple Podcasts this year: Report
San Francisco, Sep 22 Music streaming giant Spotify will have more US users listening to podcasts on its ... ...
iPhone 13 mini tipped to be last 'mini' iPhone model
San Francisco, Sep 22 Apple recently launched iPhone 13 lineup which includes iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13, iPhone ... ...


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A "Toyota insider" has supposedly spilled a few more beans to 7Tune about the upcoming front-engine, rear-wheel drive coupe the automaker is collaborating on with Subaru, and according to the source, the 2+2 will carry a few of the Lexus LF-A's design cues when it hits the market next year.
Over the past few months, rumors have circulated that the joint venture between Toyota and Subaru to develop an affordable, front-engine, rear-wheel-drive coupe has been delayed. ToMoCo president, Akio Toyoda, sought to address those concerns at last month's Tokyo Auto Salon, and according to Toyota's new overlord, development is still underway.
- Most and least efficient car companies
- Fastest-depreciating cars in the United States
- Find and compare 2017 Models


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This is another great breakthrough for crypto currency world. Can you believe that crypto.com has been sold at last, despite the refusals of the original registrant of the domain back in 1983; I just found out this morning while reading through on namepros.com that Matt Blaze, a Professor of Computer and Information Science at the University of Pennsylvania seems to have sold the domain – Crypto.com to Monaco; MCO Technology the real name of the company, headed by Kris Marszalek has now re branded to Crypto.com and have re branded the page.
This message was found on their website:
/CRYPTO.com , formerly known as Monaco, seeks to accelerate the world’s transition to cryptocurrency. Its MCO branded consumer financial services embrace a vision of Cryptocurrency in Every Wallet.
For more reading on this new development please visit
Post a Comment


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Alexei Dyumin, Governor of the Tula Region, and Alexander Petrov, General Director of McCain Foods Rus, signed an agreement on construction of a potato processing factory in the Uzlovaya Special Economic Zone, the Tula Region Government informed.
McCain Foods Limited
Company's website: https://www.mccain.com
T: (416) 955 1700
Contact: Max Koeune, President and CEO
McCain was established in Canada in 1957 and now operates 51 factories in Canada, US, Australia, EU and other countries. In Russia, the company runs a distribution unit, McCain Marketing (Rus), and a potato farm, McCain Agriculture (Rus).


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Accor partners with Fragrance Group for a Novotel in northwest Tassie
Singapore’s Fragrance Group Limited is once again partnering with Accor to open a 187-room Novotel in Tasmania later this year.
The Novotel Devonport is nearing completion and is expected to open in the fourth quarter of the year.
The coastal town of Devonport is a gateway to Tasmania’s North West and has long been under-supplied with quality accommodation. Accor says the Novotel property has been one of the biggest tourism investments in the area for years.
“The presence of this popular international brand will expose Devonport and the greater northern Tasmanian region to a wider market and contribute to the region’s ability to attract major conferences, events and groups,” said Sarah Derry, CEO of Accor Pacific.
“Novotel recently celebrated its 30th anniversary in Australia and during this time has established a dominant position in the four-star hotel segment. Novotel Devonport’s offering will suit smart, successful business and leisure travelers who value excellent customer service and cutting-edge design.
Novotel Devonport is the fifth hotel partnership between Fragrance Group and Accor in Australia, following Mövenpick Hotel Hobart, Mövenpick Hotel Melbourne on Spencer, Novotel Perth Murray Street and ibis Styles Hobart.
“We are delighted to further develop our partnership with Accor and deliver Novotel Devonport, which will be an important addition to the tourism offering in Northern Tasmania,” said Fragrance Group CEO James Koh.
“The city of Devonport is on the verge of a major tourism boom, with additional major infrastructure works underway to further enhance the destination. The Novotel Devonport is a celebration of innovative interior design, thoughtful detailing and, importantly for this location, will provide an excellent dining experience for guests and the local community.
Lyons Architecture designed the hotel to act as a horizontal land bridge, visually linking the River Mersey to the city of Devonport. Raised on sculptural columns, the hotel seems to float above its park setting.
The interior design, by Singapore-based Kreat Studio, follows a neutral and natural color palette, with hints of warm reds and yellows, to reflect the local landscape.
The hotel will offer a restaurant and bar, 24-hour room service, fitness center and meeting room, with a range of accommodation options including standard, superior and deluxe rooms , as well as a selection of executive suites.
Local photographer Nuala Byrne has created a mural of the Northwest Tasmanian landscape which will be featured behind the bed in each bedroom.


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A French appeals court has said US chemicals giant Monsanto was guilty of poisoning a farmer who said he suffered neurological damage after accidentally inhaling fumes from a weedkiller made by the company.
Paul François, a cereal farmer, had already won previous lawsuits against Monsanto, which was bought by Germany’s Bayer last year, in 2012 and 2015.
He said he fell ill in 2004 after being exposed to Lasso, a weedkiller containing monochlorobenzene that was legal in France until 2007 but had already been banned in 1985 in Canada and in 1992 in Belgium and Britain.
François argued that Monsanto was aware of Lasso’s dangers long before it was withdrawn from the French market and sought damages of more than €1m (£860,000) for chronic neurological damage that led to long hospital stays.
The court in Lyon rejected the company’s appeal on Tuesday but did not rule on how much Monsanto might have to pay, which will be determined in a separate ruling. It ordered the company to pay €50,000 immediately for François’s legal fees.
In its ruling, the court found that Monsanto should have clearly indicated on Lasso’s labelling and instructions for use “a notice on the specific dangers of using the product in vats and reservoirs”.
“The plaintiff’s assumed technical knowledge does not excuse the lack of information on the product and its harmful effects – a farmer is not a chemist,” it added.
Speaking after the verdict, a lawyer for Monsanto France, Jean-Daniel Bretzner, said the company would probably appeal, since the ruling applied to Lasso’s producer – in this case, Monsanto Europe.
It was the latest judgment against Monsanto involving its weedkillers and pesticides, which have been widely used around the world for years.
Last month, a San Francisco court ordered the company to pay about $80m to a retiree who blames its popular Roundup weedkiller, which contains glyphosate, for causing his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
The company said it would appeal, as it faces thousands of similar lawsuits in the US.
Monsanto denies that the weedkiller causes cancer and has challenged findings by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, an arm of the World Health Organization, which classified glyphosate as a “probable carcinogen” in 2015.


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Overwatch's latest event has introduced more than a few bugs into the game.
This might be our first look at a new type of gun coming in the Destiny sequel.
Could Blizzard be planning a birthday bash for Overwatch?
The Modern Warfare Remastered mode that started as a joke is back by popular demand for a few days.
Spectrograms, morse code… Could this be the start of a new Borderlands 3 ARG?


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Money in fashion is made with the back end. Yes, runway looks and fashion shoots get all the attention, but the ability to produce and deliver goods in the most efficient and cost-effective way ultimately separates the winners from the losers. But the supply chain we currently have is severely underfunded and in need of massive retooling. Cue Shekar Natarajan and his radical solution.
Natarajan is the executive vice president and chief supply chain officer of AEO, the parent company of American Eagle Outfitters, and he has a career spanning some of America’s major nameplates (Coca-Cola, Walmart, and Target, for to name a few). He believes the future of retail and delivery depends on creating a platform that all businesses can use to share supply chain assets and resources. After AEO acquired several logistics companies in 2021, Natarajan began to realize his idea of a shared back-end environment by creating a logistics platform that other companies could also access. This pool of shared resources quickly paid off. The network already has 67 merchants, including AEO, in its customer portfolio, as well as 30 logistics partners.
The model is designed to reduce costs over time for all network members and help them operate more sustainably. The idea is that brands and retailers will be better able to compete with the biggest companies in the world, at least when it comes to logistics. And the early days are seeing signs of success. Although in its infancy, the fledgling platform allowed users to deliver e-commerce orders to end consumers a day and a half faster and cut package miles by 10%.
Edward Hertzman: We all know the supply chain is broken. While the pandemic was the straw that broke the camel’s back, the system has been struggling for years. Add to this the rise of mega-players in the retail sector, where economies of scale have made it extremely difficult for small and medium-sized players to compete. Does that seem fair to you?
Shekar Natarajan: Obviously the supply chain capacity is limited. The pandemic has accelerated e-commerce by years and has made freight, warehouse, last mile, labor and other constraints more severe than ever. Growing retailers are now all competing for a greater share of these limited resources, but operating under the mistaken impression that they must own their own supply chain assets.
This doesn’t make sense for small and medium retailers because no matter how much they invest in acquiring more capacity, they will never be able to achieve the same efficiencies that allow them to compete on the supply chain. sourcing with the biggest players – the Walmarts and Targets of the world. These companies have been investing in their supply chains for decades, move tens of billions of products a year, and have the ability to have logistics companies prioritize their own shipments, leaving less capacity available for everyone else.
If you think about it, companies generally don’t own the factories where their goods are made, or the ships and trucks that transport those goods. They may own a distribution center, but they don’t own the workforce to run it. They do not own DHL, FedEx or UPS. So many retailers have tried to build their own vertically integrated supply chains, but building more assets and buying more resources is not the answer to achieving large-scale efficiencies. Sharing is.
This has been key for some of the fastest growing companies we’ve seen over the past decade. They have evolved rapidly, but they lack the assets to provide their services. Airbnb does not own a single hotel room. Uber does not own the cars in which passengers travel. And Seamless doesn’t have any restaurants. An open and shared supply chain network is the only way to level the playing field, so businesses of all sizes can compete with the biggest players.
I have heard you say many times that most supply chains are not efficient. Do you think brands and retailers would agree? Companies see their supply chains as competitive advantages that they like to keep close to their chest. Are they wrong?
The typical supply chain is small scale. Suppose a medium-sized retailer has a distribution center large enough to meet its fulfillment needs during the peak holiday season. That’s only about four weeks out of the year, meaning the center is only operating at about 60% capacity for the other 48 weeks. Additionally, due to land use regulations and the infrastructure needed to support operations, this facility will compete with other companies’ distribution centers in the same area for resources such as electricity. and the workforce.
Even though this hypothetical company is extremely good at controlling this narrow part of its supply chain, it will end up paying proportionately more to operate than larger corporate retailers because they can access efficiencies at massive scale. The mid-level retailer will never be able to even the odds with the bigger names.
Some retailers have ruled for years by having a superior back-end. If they can’t win in sourcing and logistics, where is their competitive advantage?
Listen, the back end is not the place to try to compete with other retailers and brands – the front end is. Retail companies should be free to focus on product competition and customer experience. It’s what they do best and it’s what customers expect of them. Buyers don’t care about back-end operations, the engineering behind a company’s e-commerce site, or trucking capacity constraints. Resource sharing generates efficiencies that allow each brand to compete on its core offerings.
Your company you work for acquired AirTerra and Quiet Logistics last year. Was this the first step in building this type of network? And why did you land on these two firms? What separated them from the many new logistics companies in existence?
I started imagining this new kind of shared supply chain model about four and a half years ago, and AEO’s leadership team has been extremely supportive of bringing the concept to fruition, culminating in these acquisitions of 2021. AirTerra consolidates packages from multiple shippers and delivers them through its transportation network to generate economies of scale. Quiet Logistics operates a network of fulfillment, consolidation and sorting centers that allow brands to position inventory closer to stores and consumers’ homes. Both companies are rooted in a sharing model.
Can you tell me what originally inspired this idea of creating an open supply chain network? Was it to create an advantage at American Eagle or was it triggered long before you joined AE?
I grew up in an area of India where many people did not have access to adequate educational opportunities or even electricity, and I think the developed world could learn some lessons about managing shortage in the developing world. Businesses now have to manage the kind of limited resources that less well-off people around the world have always had to deal with.
In my opinion, most midsize retailers [firms with annual retail between $100 million and $1 billion] have two big problems. First, they mistakenly perceive their brick-and-mortar stores to be the best places to add last-mile fulfillment capacity. Retail stores are usually too small for this. Additionally, store inventory often has to be picked, packed, and shipped to a customer across the country, which is very inefficient. And store associates aren’t logisticians, so they can’t be expected to optimize execution on their own. Solutions like curbside pickup have become very popular during the pandemic, but so have same-day and next-day home delivery, and these present additional challenges because, for most businesses , the last mile is actually about 1,300 miles.
And that doesn’t even address the issue of why we all receive home delivery orders in multiple packages, most of which have a small item packed into a large box full of packing material. What if everything came in one box? We seek to help brands bring their resources to the consumer’s door – the door click, as we call it.
The second problem is that midsize companies will never achieve the same scale that allows larger retailers to become hyper-efficient. Walmart, for example, can move 50 billion products a year. It can move as many units in half a day as AEO does all year. No matter how well a mid-sized retailer’s supply chain is managed or how much they invest, that business will never be able to catch up and compete in the supply chain with the biggest names. .
I started considering this shared platform when I realized that supply chains are not competitive advantages for brands; efficient supply chains are. If every retailer shared supply chain assets, we could reduce transportation miles by 9 trillion per year, have 90,000 fewer trucks on the road, and dramatically reduce the industry’s carbon footprint. Ultimately, supply chain scalability is a matter of sustainability, both environmentally and financially.
Edward Hertzman is the founder and president of Supply Log and the executive vice president of Fairchild Media.


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Adam Annen takes a picture of Emmett Baker with his friend Alex Jurasko from Taneytown, Md. inside the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile on Saturday in Wal-Mart parking lot in North Hanover in this 2009 photo. (THE EVENING SUN -- FILE)
The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile will be stopping at Kennie's Market, 440 N. Main St., Spring Grove, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday.
The Wienermobile is on a journey across the United States to celebrate its 25th anniversary.
After Spring Grove, the famous hot dog-shaped car will travel to Saubel's Market, 65 E. Forrest Ave. in Shrewsbury, where it will be from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday.
More local business news
More local news


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Having moved nearly 12 million pounds of fresh asparagus around the world in the first six months of 2018 – it’s safe to say that American Airlines Cargo’s team is helping consumers around the globe eat their vegetables.
Growers in Mexico and Peru supply the majority of the early season asparagus for Europe and Asia. American then forwards the veggies on its widebody belly aircraft from a number of key US hubs.
American Airlines Cargo’s managing director for sales in the western division, Joe Goode said: “The majority of what we move is green asparagus, but we do move very small amounts of both the albino and purple varieties.
“And because they are all fresh spears, they do require careful specialized handling.”
“In addition to moving significant volumes of asparagus, we also move large volumes of lettuce, radicchio, tomatoes and mangoes into Asia over the same period of time,” added Goode.
Peak demand for fresh spring asparagus in Europe begins in mid-February and lasts until Easter, which is when the US growing season starts. One of the largest markets for US – grown asparagus is Asia.
This spring, American carried multiple shipments of the vegetable on a daily basis between Los Angeles (LAX) and Tokyo and to put it into perspective, this year the carrier has shipped enough asparagus to fill nearly 240 space shuttles.
American Airlines Cargo operates a perishables cooler at LAX that processes delicate, temperature-sensitive goods, like fruit, vegetables and flowers. The airline also has similar facilities at Dallas-Fort Worth, Miami, London Heathrow, among other key perishable hubs.


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Welcome to Side Hustle Britain – where a quarter of us now make extra income for all sorts of weird and wonderful activities, from making healthy chocolate to drag performance. And it’s millennials who are leading the way, with 37 per cent making additional money in their spare time.
The North East of England is also embracing the side hustle revolution, with 30 per cent of residents saying they have one, but other parts of the UK (including Scotland) lag behind, with only one in five admitting to additional income streams.
A side hustle is a secondary business or job that brings in, or has the potential to bring in, extra income. The fast-growing trend could be contributing over £70 billion a year to the UK economy, according to academics at Henley Business School, which predicts a significant rise by 2030.
Over half of the UK’s side businesses have appeared in the last two years, and at this rate half the entire adult population will have a side hustle by 2030, says Henley. Already 37 per cent of 25 to 34 year olds have a side hustle, and 24 per cent of 16 to 24 year olds.
A quarter of side-hustlers have to work up to 50 hours a week – 36 per cent more than the average UK worker – yet the majority say they feel more productive in their main role and happier in life overall.
Employers are divided on how to respond to the trend, but the study warns that not embracing it could cost firms £340m a year as talented staff look for more supportive employers.
Three-quarters of people who start a side hustle do so to follow a passion or explore a new challenge, but there are financial benefits too, with side businesses contributing 20 per cent to side hustlers’ income, the study found.
But there is a marked gender gap: only 21 per cent of women are side–hustling, against 30 per cent of men, but 62 per cent of women have started their project in the past two years, so they are catching up.
Henley says the trend is being driven by a shift in millennial attitudes towards work, and advances in technology which enable people to run a business from their phone.
According to research by financial site Finder, among the most popular jobs are freelance creative work, driving, labour, cleaning and ‘advice’. It says some young workers are creating big businesses in their spare time, becoming ‘intrapreneurs’ with a dual existence.
Suzanne Graham is co-founder with her husband of Glasgow-based Rebel Chocolate, a ‘healthy chocolate’ venture only two years old but growing rapidly with stockists all over the country. Suzanne says:
I am currently working as an improvement specialist in the NHS in a fulltime role. In the evenings, weekends and annual leave days I work for Rebel Chocolate doing everything from processing orders, running our social media and PR campaigns, admin/book keeping, generating new sales and the list goes on. So my side hustle has turned into my second full-time job. I’m not complaining though – I am sure the hard work will be worth it.
For Tom Halewood, it’s his job as a platform administrator for a finance company that pays the bills, but on the side he is a drag performer and artist. Tom, 22, from Glasgow, says:
Drag is a very important side hustle for me – it’s my way of creating art in a way that helps me develop both confidence and a range of skills from makeup to sewing to dancing. Making some good cash through it would be the dream but for now it’s more for both an escape from the day job and for pure fun.
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“The chief enemy of creativity is good sense.” (3/6) Did a Picasso inspired look today after putting it up to a vote on my story. I enjoyed this one but I spent ages deciding what to do at each step 👁 #picasso #surrealism #makeup #art #drag #dragqueen #muotd #queer #face #weepingwoman #facepaint #instaqueen #instadrag #instamakeup #qwerrrkout #paint #genderfuck #localqueen #localdrag
Many of those north of the Border turning to side businesses are doing so to help with the cost of bills, savings and debts, and bring in an average of £272 a month on top of their main income, according to online lender Sunny.
But it’s not all fun. A fifth of respondents in Scotland cited the difficulties of balancing their side and main job with their personal lives, and a third said a side enterprise was an added burden.
About two-fifths of those with side businesses sell goods, such as secondhand furniture or clothing at car boot sales, or through online marketplaces such as eBay, Amazon, Depop and Shpock. And about one in ten make their extra cash through arts and crafts, with creative pursuits such as making and painting pottery and designing jewellery.
For those selling goods or services there is a tax-free trading allowance of £1000 a year – if less than that is coming in you don’t even have to let the taxman know.
The trading allowance includes turnover. As soon as your business hits the £1000 mark, you have to tell HMRC via a tax return. Be sure to ‘elect’ for the allowance, otherwise you may end up paying tax on all your earnings less expenses.
There is also a £1000 property allowance if you are renting out space in your home in a small way , such as for a car parking space. But if you are renting out a room you should instead claim the Rent a Room allowance which is £7,500 – you can’t also claim the £1000 allowance.
According to the Finder survey, more than a quarter of millennials in the UK earn extra money outside their normal job without declaring it to the taxman.
But if you start a new side hustle where earnings will have to be declared, there is a statutory requirement to notify HMRC by 6 October following the end of the tax year concerned, which can be done through the self-assessment website.
THIS BLOG HAS BEEN ADAPTED FROM A STORY PUBLISHED IN THE SCOTTISH MAIL ON WEDS 31 OCTOBER
Copyright: Iona Bain


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Trying to keep up with the modern-day Joneses on social media is leading to buyer's remorse for many consumers.
Just over 60% of social media users say they regret making at least one impulse purchase of a product they saw on social media, according to a recent Bankrate survey.
But targeted advertising on social media puts hot new items right at your fingertips, which can make impulse purchases hard to resist, Bankrate's analysis finds.
"Targeted ads are getting smarter and smarter by understanding the things you like and making it easier than ever to spend," Andrew Meadows, senior vice president at Ubiquity Retirement + Savings, tells CNBC Make It.
Younger generations also tend to be more influenced by digital ads than their older counterparts, according to an August Ipsos poll.
On top of that, social media "inherently entices people to keep up with their neighbor," Bankrate's survey finds. About 25% of respondents said they want to appear successful on social media, which can contribute to spending more to impress followers.
Additionally, about a third of respondents in the Ipsos survey said the top reason for their most recent impulse purchase was because they felt the "price was too good to pass up."
But, "even if you're buying something advertised as being on sale, you're still spending money, not saving it," Meadows warns.
A "treat yourself" mindset can also trigger impulse purchases, especially for younger generations. Nearly half of Gen Z respondents in the Ipsos survey said the reason for their most recent online impulse buy was to reward themselves, compared to 34% of the general population.
While there's nothing wrong with treating yourself, "it's all about making sure that it does fit into your wallet and doesn't break the bank," says Sarah Foster, an analyst at Bankrate.
Unplanned purchases could be hitting your wallet harder than you think. The price of common impulse buys such as clothes and shoes have increased over the past year by 5.1% and 6.2%, respectively, according to the Bureau of Labor Satistics.
Stress can be another cause of impulse spending. When your brain is overloaded, you tend to rely more on impulses to guide your decision making, says Michael Liersch, head of advice and planning for Wells Fargo Wealth and Investment Management.
"Even though we know that during times of financial challenges we should be more intentional about spending to ensure that we have enough to pay bills, make critical purchases or save and invest for your future — in times of stress we can become less intentional," he tells CNBC Make It.
Spending money online is easier than ever, but it is possible to keep it in check. Here are three tips to help you resist the urge to buy on impulse.
1. Wait a day or more before buying
"The key is to put some time between our emotional impulse to get something and actually buying it," says Brad Klontz, a financial psychologist and author of "Mind Over Money: Overcoming the money disorders that threaten our financial health."
Delaying the decision to make a purchase can also help you to ask yourself key questions, such as "Is this something I can afford?" and "How will I feel about this purchase next week?" says Klontz.
2. Put money you would've spent into a savings account
If you decide not to make an impulse purchase, Foster advises putting the money you would have spent into a savings account.
"That way the money's out of sight," she says. "You're also accumulating a 'fun money' fund you can use down the road when you do find something you want to purchase."
3. Curate your screen time
"Use social media to your benefit by following accounts that celebrate your values of fiscal responsibility, retirement and financial security through saving," Meadows says. This way, you'll be reminded of what you truly want in the long term versus what you want in the moment after seeing a sponsored ad, he says.
Social media won't be going away any time soon, so it's important to understand how it can influence you, Meadows explains.
"The more you know how these networks market toward you will allow you to truly focus on things that make you happy beyond the double tap, swipe, or temptations of 'buy now,'" he says.


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Samsung Gear S smartwatch officially debuts with 3G connectivity, curved display, Tizen Aug 28, 2014 07:45 AM EDT
Samsung has officially launched its new Gear S smartwatch, which boasts a Super AMOLED curved display, 3G connectivity, and runs Tizen OS.
Tizen-powered Samsung Z pushed back again – Will the OS make it in the end? Jul 29, 2014 04:26 AM EDT
Samsung has again delayed the commercial launch of its Tizen-powered Z smartphone, leaving the future of the OS uncertain for now.
Samsung to launch another Galaxy S5 with Tizen OS instead of Android? Jul 02, 2014 07:09 AM EDT
Samsung has apparently started testing the Galaxy S5 hardware with Tizen OS on board instead of Android.
Meet the Samsung Z, world’s first commercially available Tizen smartphone Jun 02, 2014 06:34 AM EDT
Samsung has officially introduced its new Samsung Z smartphone that runs on the Tizen platform.
Samsung ‘watch-phone’ to launch in June or July with smartphone capabilities, Tizen OS May 24, 2014 06:55 AM EDT
Samsung has apparently made big plans for the wearable market this year and plans to introduce a 'watch-phone' gadget able to handle calls, take photos, send email, and more.
Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 to ditch Android for Tizen? Feb 19, 2014 09:11 AM EST
Samsung has reportedly decided to use Tizen instead of Android as the operating system for its next-generation Galaxy Gear, which should debut next week at the company's Unpacked 5 event.
Why Android's Fall Could Be Samsung's Doing Mar 13, 2013 09:38 AM EDT
Android is reaping success, but its demise could come from an unlikely source: Samsung.
China Feels Threatened by Android, Looking to Adopt Windows Phone, Tizen OS, And Firefox OS Mar 10, 2013 11:14 AM EDT
China is looking to adopt Windows Phone, Tizen OS, and Firefox OS as Android seems to become too powerful for comfort.
Tizen Can Take Place Of Android If Samsung Develops It With Interest Feb 27, 2013 07:03 AM EST
The user interface (UI) of this OS is quite impressive as typing and other interactions with the device are very smooth.
Samsung To Stay With Android, Says No To Firefox OS Feb 26, 2013 07:33 AM EST
According to a CNET report, Samsung will not take Firefox OS for any of its future devices and will stick to Android and Tizen, for now.
First Pictures of Close-To-Final Samsung Tizen Smartphone OS Feb 18, 2013 07:40 PM EST
Earlier this year Samsung confirmed that it would release smartphones running Tizen OS, the open-sourced, Linux-based operating system it had co-developed with Intel. The first images of what the operating system will look like have been revealed.
Copyright © 2014 Mobile & Apps All rights reserved.


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David Page, the restaurateur and current chairman of Fulham Shore – owner of the Franco Manca and The Real Greek chains – says it is becoming cheaper to open new restaurants due to landlord incentives.
An unprecedented amount of capital has been invested in the UK restaurant sector over recent years, with demand for sites leading to increased property costs.
But following the recent challenges facing the market, and operators slowing their expansion, there has been a rebalancing in the market, according to Mr Page, whose group operates more than 60 sites. He says landlords are now making it more attractive to tenants in a bid to fill vacant premises.
“The capital needed to open a new restaurant is declining due to landlord incentives. Incentives alone, however, are never the right reason to open in a particular location and, if anything, this could continue poor expansion decisions being made in the sector,” he said.
“We still intend to open a limited number of new restaurants this year and to fund these openings largely from our internally generated cash. Any increase in our openings target would be for stand-out and highly profitable locations which would immediately offer above average returns.”
Mr Page said that negotiating low rents supports his company’s ability to offer low menu prices.
“Franco Manca especially concentrates on finding compact sites that may not be in the most prime locations,” he explained. “These off pitch locations are often at lower rents, but there is balance as it may take time for customers to find us and for the individual site to build up trade. We fit the premises out for what they are: hardwearing pizzerias built for very high volumes. Our two design imperatives are Enzo Apicella’s original artwork and our industrial and spectacular pizza ovens.”


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Sales activity in the UK residential market is increasing, but a slow start to 2017 is expected due to a lack of stock.
The RICS UK Residential Market Survey published on 8 December suggests a slow recovery in housing sales for the start of 2017. It predicts that the sales activity is likely to pick up but at a rather modest pace. The housing market will continue to be impacted by the macro-uncertainty, the ongoing supply shortfall and the most recent tax changes.
RICS UK Residential Market Survey November ’16 Sales main points:
- Interest from new buyers increases marginally for the third consecutive month
- Activity moves up but figures are consistent with only modest increase in near-term transactions
- Supply chain continues to stagnate with no increase in supply for the ninth consecutive month
RICS UK Residential Market Survey November ’16 Lettings main points:
- Tenant demand rose only marginally, and the new landlord instructions fell slightly.
- Tenant demand continues to outpace supply across most of the UK areas and rents are expected to continue to rise.
- However, surveyors in London report a decline in tenant demand and rent expectations in negative territory for the fifth consecutive month.
RICS UK Residential Market Survey November 2016 in full click here.


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Who do you trust for news?
If we accept that the old model of journalism is dead – one where advertising funded the most-respected news outlets supplemented by low-cost subscriptions – we can begin to rebuild what is needed to sustain a modern free press.
In the past few years, we have seen a wave of high-net-worth individuals step in to buy cash-strapped, venerable news brands (The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and Time Magazine.) Add to this that the entire industry has transformed to digital, which means print is competing for eyeballs alongside CNN, Facebook, and Fox. Noting that these giants are publicly-traded-multi-nationals mandated by shareholders to maximize profit. On the same landscape, politically funded propaganda platforms have emerged. We can look to right–wing businessman Bob Mercer’s funding of Breitbart and the Sinclair family’s roll-up of local TV stations that now fall under Sinclair Broadcasting who demands their stations tilt right. The result is a deluge of content snarled together on small devices.
Society is left sifting through infotainment, marketing, and propaganda for actual news. As of late, these venerable print brands have been working hard to hold firm as stalwarts in journalism. Now owned by incredibly wealthy individuals who also own major commercial consumer brands such as The Red Sox, Amazon, and Apple - does this matter? As print brands take a sigh of relief for a savior in these flush patrons, some are working hard to build up their digital subscription base after the decimation in print. Time will tell if these private-owners value journalism over their commercial interests. The hope is that somehow they have been schooled in the value of a free press and that their business acumen will turn around a troubled industry without compromising truth. In desperation, we assume a benevolent dictator. However, if the owner has a mission that usurps society's well being this will have been a terrible experiment.
We must also accept that in this new reality – with Square Space, Constant Contact, MailChimp, and Facebook – anyone can publish and disseminate information and stories to shape a conversation, and connect a society. With a front row seat to this phenomenon, bootstrapping TheEditorial as both publisher and journalist, I have been privy to both innovation and responsibility of a news property. Many times during our now 125 interviews I have had to push back to the interviewee's desire to edit their content, relentlessly explaining that what's recorded is what's printed and move on. On the record is on the record. I have learned the value of standing up to power and distinctly remember how I felt the time I folded. And if that is true on a small scale, we must ask how we protect the tenets of journalism in this new landscape, where philanthropists and wealth are crafting both old media and new media? These tenets include: offering a wide range of information sourced for people to digest and decipher, independently, rather than presented by the news outlet as opinion. They include a pursuit of truth, a pursuit of holding those in power accountable, and recognizing and addressing bias.
With constant digital amusements, the new luxury product is the truth. Who can we trust most to bring this to us? And when you trust these journalists and brands, it would ensure independence if you pay for it.
Readers are beginning to pay for facts funding both investigative news as well as stories of progress through paid subscription. Most Americans do not pay for news and, instead, consume the deluge of random content available to them. For me, this is problematic, and some leading news veterans are focused on finding a solution. The New York Times now offers free subscriptions to over 1.3 million high school students thanks to donations, and I recently began working with DailyChatter, an international daily newsletter focusing exclusively on important global issues. While they use a paid subscription model, they are also focused on bringing college students high-quality international news as a public service. This distinction for our youth, between news and infotainment, is imperative.
We are making progress. In 2017, we saw a meteoric rise of digital subscriptions for more significant players. The New York Times now has 2.5 million digital-only subscriptions bringing in revenue of $86 million, and The Washington Post doubled its digital-only subscribers in the past year now surpassing the one million mark. Local brands like The Boston Globe reported 90,000 digital subscribers and The LA Times at 105,000 digital-only – a 100% increase from 2015.
This is good news for journalism. Americans voted with their wallets. With that momentum, we have seen an increasing focus on big investigative reporting with journalists like NYT Jodi Kantor breaking the Harvey Weinstein story and opening the floodgates for the #Metoo movement and niche beats like The Washington Post’s David Fahrenthold who consistently explores President Trump’s businesses and conflicts of interests. That is literally his beat. These illustrate the power of investigative reporting, and in this, we see how journalism impacts our society. I would argue The Washington Post has risen as the most unbiased, respected digital print daily this year with Marty Baron at its helm. And yet, if you add up the subscribers of The New York Times and The Washington Post you are still only at 3.5 million readers in a nation of 322 million. Hello? That’s one percent of our country. With local papers dying, that is a lot of Americans that we must hope are listening to NPR or reading The Atlantic and The National Review. We are at a crisis point for quality news consumption in this country, and I would argue it deeply affects our social well-being and progress.
So here is my question for 2018:
How do we as a society elevate both emerging and old news brands we have come to trust? How do we encourage more Americans to desire them and pay for journalism?
*It requires both the reader and the media-owner take responsibility for this shift.
The reader must ask: How do we elevate news brands, large and small, that we trust and how much should we pay for those properties, which deliver truth regardless of their audience? How do we reward owners of large news organizations and small newsletters alike, who are growing unbiased news outlets that serve society for public good? How do we value good journalism?
And we must ask the media-owner: How do they ensure they are willing to allow their newsrooms to cover their own corporate interests and people critically? If simultaneously we have billionaires funding politically motivated news, how do these owners who believe in a free press show a clear distinction from the self-interest owners who have a mission? Ethical owners who believe in journalism and its vitality for a robust, intelligent and competitive society must work hard to show this distinction and illustrate their removal of influence from the newsroom.
The entire situation is a clear argument for publicly funded media such as NPR and PBS, but let’s be honest; this is America where we are steeped in capitalism. Commercial media will always be possible and exist. This can fund new technologies, push progress and keep an industry vibrant.
I urge you in 2018 to stay in conversation with your community, family, and friends in other parts of the country and ask them: Where do you get your news? Do you know who owns the site, newsletter or YouTube channel? Do you trust the owner? Do you trust the journalist covering the story? Do you trust the person sending you this news? The trusted voice can come in the shape of a tiny newsletter much like your friend who makes craft beer, or it can come from a venerable brand like The Atlantic long covering stories of national significance. Demand Trust. Demand it from the owner to the reporter, who in these digital startup times may be one in the same as they grow. Be critical in both your thinking and feedback to these newsmakers. Get involved to protect what you value.
I wouldn’t buy chicken from someone I don’t trust. Yet, I would buy chicken from the small craft farmer I’ve come to know who follows the tenets of poultry farming and who has earned my respect, and I would continue to buy from a national grocery store who has long held high standards and who has a venerable reputation to lose.
In 2018, I encourage you to demand journalism. It is you, the consumer, who will shift the tide. At this moment, content is no longer king – It is the paying reader, who rules. For a society without a free press is a lost society. Protect it, help fund it, become an investor and demand you get your money’s worth of trust.
Happy New Year! May 2018 bring us all peace, hope, and progress,


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In a step that could shake up the economics of the record industry, Universal Music Group said Wednesday that it would slash the wholesale price of its CDs by 25% in a bid to revive an ailing market and discourage piracy.
The move by the world's biggest record label -- whose acts account for nearly one-third of new music sales in the United States -- upended years of industry orthodoxy. Before Wednesday, music executives had fiercely resisted cutting prices, contending that they were justified by the enormous costs and risks that record companies assume when investing in often-unproven talent.
Consumers may be the biggest beneficiaries of Universal's action, while retailers could be among the biggest losers.
The Vivendi Universal Inc.-owned giant -- home to such artists as 50 Cent, Limp Bizkit and Jay-Z -- cut the suggested retail price of most new releases, which have gone as high as $18.98, by as much as 32%, to $12.98. Many stores traditionally have sold CDs for even less than the suggested figure.
"This is like a bombshell," said Don Van Cleave, a Birmingham, Ala., music retailer who heads a coalition of about six dozen independent record stores. "People are like 'Oh my God, are you kidding?' "
Although stealing songs off Web sites obviously carries the cheapest price of all, Universal said consumer research has shown that people could be motivated to rush into record stores when the retail price of a CD drops to about $13. One Universal executive called this "the sweet spot."
Doug Morris, Universal Music's chairman, said the price cuts were intended "to reinvigorate the music business in North America." The company said the lower prices, expected to kick in Oct. 1, would be maintained at least through the year-end holidays.
By cutting prices, Universal is offering consumers a carrot, precisely as the Recording Industry Assn. of America is wielding a stick in the form of subpoenas and threatened litigation against those who take songs without paying via the Internet.
Only days ago, the trade association disclosed that U.S. music shipments dropped 15% in the first half of the year, twice the rate of decline of a year earlier. By the end of last year, overall shipments had fallen about 15% from their peak in 2000, triggering an industry-wide crisis that has spawned mergers, layoffs and widespread record-store closings.
Executives from Sony Corp.'s Sony Music Entertainment, AOL Time Warner's Warner Music Group, the Bertelsmann Music Group and EMI Group declined to comment on the Universal move Wednesday. But it appeared that none was immediately ready to follow Universal's move.
Privately, several competitors characterized the price reductions as a short-term solution intended to bolster Universal's holiday numbers at the expense of the industry's waning strength. They predicted that the gambit would be abandoned before long.
Competing executives also suggested that Universal could lose hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue and find itself hard-pressed to impose higher prices if the cuts don't draw customers back into stores in huge numbers.
What's more, if sales don't rise sharply, the plan may trim the paychecks of many Universal recording artists, whose royalties are based on their albums' wholesale price. Nevertheless, several artist managers expressed support for the move.
"As a company concerned mostly with overall artist development, we feel anything that increases consumer appetite for music -- as a price decrease should -- is good for the artist," said Jeff Kwatinetz, chief executive of management giant the Firm, whose Universal clients include such top sellers as Mary J. Blige and Limp Bizkit.
The new Universal policy would reduce the wholesale price for most albums to $9.09 from $12.02. Albums by its biggest artists, including Eminem and Shania Twain, would be pared slightly less, to $10.10. The new pricing schedule doesn't include Latin or classical recordings.
In a conference call late Wednesday, Universal told several retailers that in exchange for the wholesale price cuts, the record label expected the stores to guarantee that at least 25% of their shelf space would be devoted to the label's acts.
Meanwhile, Universal also jolted retailers by disclosing a plan to halt discounts and "positioning" fees for prominent shelf placement -- two long-standing industry customs. Instead, Universal wants to redirect its efforts toward its own radio, TV and print advertising campaigns. Many record store owners have been earning more money from fees than they do from selling CDs.
Van Cleave, of the independent retailer group, questioned how successful an advertising blitz by Universal would be. "I don't think the industry's ever been that great about promoting a record outside of radio and MTV," Van Cleave said. "How are they going to use those funds to motivate the consumer?"
Some industry observers voiced concern that Universal's move would validate arguments that CDs have been overpriced -- a common rationale among computer users who download music for free from file sharing networks such as Kazaa.
But Universal executives characterized the price shift as a bold effort to rescue music in the U.S., the world's biggest music market, from devastation.
"Music has always been a great value. It just got better," said Zach Horowitz, Universal Music's president and chief operating officer. "We're not blind to the fact that [file sharing] services have ravaged our industry, which has absolutely nothing to do with the underlying value of the music. We have to take steps to try to deal with it."
Universal Music -- which wasn't part of this week's proposed deal to merge parent Vivendi's entertainment assets with NBC, a unit of General Electric Co. -- didn't say how much the move might affect its earnings. But analysts were preparing to slash their profit forecasts.
Drew Borst, an analyst at Wall Street firm Sanford C. Bernstein, said he had projected that the music unit's earnings would slip 15% this year to about $900 million, but now he would probably trim his estimate further. "It's going to be pretty painful," Borst said. "It's pretty unrealistic to think that, in the short term, they'll be able to make up the lost revenue with an increase in the number of units sold."
Still, Borst added, he could see the logic in Universal's strategy. "Long term," he said, "I think it's the right move to get this industry in a position where it can have a healthy demand" among consumers again.
From the Los Angeles TimesCopyright © 2015, Chicago Tribune


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They’ve been firm friends for years so it was only natural for fashion designer Stella McCartney to call on her supermodel bestie, Kate Moss to star in her new Autumn/Winter campaign. Due to appear in the September issue of Vogue, the new campaign shows Moss amongst a starry sky and icy glaciers as she stares intensely into the distance. “Kate epitomizes the Stella McCartney woman and I wanted to capture her dreams and the moments we have shared over the years,” the British designer explained. “I wanted to escape into something surreal this season and fashion should make us dream, sometimes.”
The images were shot by renowned fashion photographer duo Marcus Piggott and Mert Alas and will be accompanied by a short film titled ‘Kate Dreams’ by Fred Gibson.


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Up until then, their negotiations had been perfect.
“They seemed pretty excited about it,” says Ethan Imboden, founder of adult toy startup Jimmyjane, about his discussions with contract manufacturers for the firm’s line of vibrators for women. Towards the end of their conversation, the contractor, who also made handgun parts in another section of his facility, asked Imboden about the cylinder-shaped object. “It’s a vibrator for women,” the 42-year-old entrepreneur explained. Imboden says the contractor backed out the next day citing “moral reasons.”
“So, this is a company that had absolutely no issues, from a morality standpoint, manufacturing handguns but absolutely refused to work with a company involved in sexual health and well-being,” he muses.
That was just the beginning. Over the years, Imboden has had to deal with magazines pulling out his product ads at the last minute and credit card services confusing Jimmyjane for a sex service.
In the adult toy industry, Imboden is a pioneer of sorts.
He started Jimmyjane back in 2003, when the industry was dominated by cheap and badly-designed products. Much has changed as Imboden successfully carved out a niche market of audiences interested in his upscale products. However, much remains the same as entrepreneurs working in this, otherwise, taboo industry have discovered.
Manufacturing costs and rapid prototyping regularly top the list of issues for most hardware startups.
For adult toy startups, however, morality and religion cast a long shadow on an entrepreneur’s journey. In turn, they trump financial considerations in making several critical decisions, whether those decisions are related to investment or manufacturing.
“Sex and porn are generally lumped together,” says Jackie Strano, executive vice-president at Good Vibrations, San Francisco’s oldest adult toy store. This association has had a negative effect on branding for the adult toy industry. It has also affected entrepreneur and investor perception of the adult industry. “They (entrepreneurs) are fearful because of stigmas around sex and pleasure in this country,” says Strano.
Entrepreneurs in the adult toy industry prefer to categorize their products as consumer goods. The Adult market listing on Angel List, a popular database of companies and angel investors, lists 38 companies and zero investors. None of the startups listed in this category is located in Silicon Valley. Instead up-and-coming startups, such as Crave and Minnalife, and established companies, such as Jimmyjane, are listed under Consumer Goods category.
Imboden from Jimmyjane charted a different path and struck out on his own ten years ago. In recent years, some, not many, entrepreneurs have joined him. This is partly due to entrepreneur inhibitions about associating themselves with the industry.
Dema Tio from Vibease, another San Francisco-based adult toy startup, says he was asked to “go to the porn industry, instead of coming to tech/startup conference” by fellow entrepreneurs.
“Entrepreneurs prefer working in spaces that are “sexy” but don’t involve sex,” says Justin Wilcox, who designed an Android app - CloserToGetHer - that records and transmits vibrations.
After he won second place at a startup event last year, Wilcox researched the adult toy industry to convert his app into a business. “Watching some of the interactions between businesses and their customers (think cam girls), it felt a little skeezy,” he says.
Wilcox talked to his mother, who handles his bookkeeping, before launching the app in the Android marketplace. “Her reaction was actually very positive and supportive,” he says. But, he adds, she hasn’t shared this app on Facebook unlike other apps that he built.
Investors seem to share adult toy the entrepreneur’s inhibitions about associating with the adult market. Over the last couple of weeks, I contacted several venture capital firms and angel investors for this post. None was available to comment on their investments or the industry’s prospects. I also also scoured Google for references to previous investor interviews with investors in this space without much success.
Lack of information or commentary from investors is surprising, especially so in Silicon Valley, where the window of time between a successful startup and disaster is extremely short. In such a scenario, public statements and interviews provide rapid customer traction and publicity. They also set the stage for further investments in the industry.
Even as he regularly comments on news, legendary investor Tim Draper from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, a venerable Silicon Valley venture capital firm, has remained silent about his investment in Jimmyjane. Phil Schlein, member of the board of directors at Jimmyjane and a personal investor in the company, provided a clue to the silence when he said that Silicon Valley has “a bit of puritanical attitude.”
That attitude is also a result of conservative limited partners. “A lot of big money is still tied to people with certain religious or cultural beliefs,” says Strano from Good Vibrations.
Michael Topolovac, chief executive officer at Crave, another startup working at the intersection of adult toys and technology, can attest to that. “To the extent that we have faced pushback, it has mainly been due to religious reasons,” he says. He says his pitch to institutional investors was rejected because the investors were answerable to their partners who consisted of Catholic institutions. His co-founder Ti Chang also relates another story about their job listing being disallowed by an open job board because it was for an adult toy startup. “Religion always gets in the way of culture,” she says.


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NVIDIA has just launched and unlaunched their high-end GeForce RTX 40 series graphics cards but it looks like the AIBs have well been informed about the future plans which include mainstream cards such as the GeForce RTX 4050.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Graphics Card Packaging Spotted At GALAX's RTX 40 Launch Event In The Philippines
Posted by user, TheBloodNinja, in the NVIDIA subreddit, we can see that GALAX recently hosted a big launch event of NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 40 series graphics cards where they showcased their new custom designs including the flagship GeForce RTX 4090 SG variant which recently broke some big world records.
Also present at the event was a mysterious box with the label of an unreleased NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 series graphics card, the GeForce RTX 4050. The box was sitting under the display table next to the GeForce RTX 4080 packages and it seems to be of a similar size. We doubt that the GeForce RTX 4050 will be the same size as the RTX 4090 or RTX 4050 but GALAX may be using similar packaging for the graphics card.
Do remember that NVIDIA hasn't officially announced any model besides the RTX 4090, the RTX 4080 16 GB and the RTX 4080 12 GB (which was canceled today). So why this box exists and why it was displayed during GALAX's launch event remains a mystery.
It is likely that GALAX might have printed the boxes of future graphics cards early on and someone accidentally brought them to the event. We can think of several reasons but unless GALAX themselves comment on this, we would never know. NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4050 graphics card will be positioned in the mainstream lineup but it won't see a launch until mid of 2023 since the green team already has a large inventory of mid-tier graphics cards to get rid of from their inventory.
Many thanks to our reader, LongGone, for the tip!


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HOME TECHNOLOGY ACCESSORIES such as giant-screen HDTV and surround-sound speakers not only add family entertainment value but also allow adults to escape the tensions of their stressful lives. But that other great modern plaything, home automation, is also gaining ground. The Consumer Electronics Association of Arlington, Va., reports a swelling consumer interest in well-designed technology products that integrate seamlessly into the home. It's one of the trends driving up sales of consumer electronics products: Factory sales to U.S. dealers are projected to top $125 billion this year—an 11 percent gain over 2004's volume of $113 billion.
Earlier this year, the CEA's third annual State of the Builder Technology Market Survey showed that while structured wiring and security systems remain the two most common technologies included in new home starts, the number of builders offering whole-house technologies such as energy management systems is on the rise. More importantly, thanks to the decline in installation costs over the past year, builders report that their profit potential on tech products is creeping upward.
HIGH-TECH ESSENTIALS By now, about half of all builders install at least a standard structured wiring hub that gets buyers ready for add-ons, according to the survey. One such builder is Centerline Homes of Coral Springs, Fla., whose houses range in price from $270,000 to $700,000. Its buyers currently receive a generic structured wiring system, although starting with the next single-family home community, the builder plans to take its tech offerings a step further. “We've interviewed some subcontractors and are just about to offer some home automation options like security or lighting,” says Debi Brown-Whitcomb, design options department manager. She adds that although touch-screen controls and programmable lighting pathways don't regularly appear on the wishlists of Centerline's buyers, the builder wants to stay in step with other builders and with the high-tech customers who walk through the door.
Ray Scenna, president of Laurel, Md.-based IQS, a Craftmark Homes subcontractor, says that while the hottest trend in tech-savvy homes is multi-room distributed audio, the company's top seller is built-in speakers for the kitchen, family room, and master suite, followed by surround-sound and security systems. “Security is No. 3 on the list,” he says, “even before structured wiring.”
PUTTING OUT FIRES Builders point out that because high-tech options are more complicated to sell and install than other upgrades, it's harder to realize a traditional 30 percent markup. “We don't make a ton of money on home technology,” says Chris Weir, vice president and director of production operations at Brookstone Homes in Oconomowoc, Wisc. “We offer it more for the home buyer convenience of rolling it into their mortgage.” This fall, however, the company will roll out a new twist on home security—whole-house fire sprinkler systems. Brookstone currently is in the process of getting such a sprinkler system up and running in a model home. In addition to offering it as an option, Brookstone wants to install the sprinklers as standard in certain communities in order to qualify for municipal incentives allowing builders to increase the density of developments.
“We're seeing absolutely every market installing sprinklers, from home builders doing entry level to [home builders doing] $2 million houses,” says Alden Spencer of Affordable Fire Protection, which he says has outfitted more than 2,000 homes in Atlanta for builders such as D.R. Horton and KB Home. The sprinklers, which cost roughly $1.50 per square foot when installed throughout a development, operate off the household water-main through CPVC piping that's run behind ceilings and walls. “It's a calculated system that's more technical than plumbing,” Spencer says. “We have to figure the demand on the system, work our way back to the supply, and work out the hydraulics. It often will require a larger meter and pipe size coming into the house.” He adds that concerns about extensive water damage are unfounded, since only the sprinkler that senses a fire will activate.
Whatever the application, CEA's research shows that home technologies are becoming bigger players in the marketing of new homes and, at least in parts of the country, a necessity for competing for buyers.
SOURCE: THIRD ANNUAL STATE OF THE INDUSTRY BUILDER TECHNOLOGY MARKET SURVEY, CONSUMER ELECTRONICS ASSOCIATION


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Insider: The Coalition has started development on the sixth instalment of the Gears series
By: Anton Kratiuk | 03.02.2023, 15:37
In the latest edition of the Game Mess Mornings podcast, insider Jeff Grubb revealed that studio The Coalition has started development on the sixth installment of the Gears series (originally known as Gears of War).
Here's What We Know
According to Grubb, The Coalition had two projects in development before working on the new shooter in the popular franchise, but for some reason they had to cancel them.
Active development on Gears 6 started last year, according to Jeff Grubb.
Even a rough release date for Gears 6 has not been given yet, but it is unlikely that the game will be released before 2025.


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From the Office of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) today made the following statement after learning of Ford’s plan to hire 1,200 employees at the Chicago Assembly Plant in anticipation of increasing consumer demand for fuel-efficient cars. Ford plans to invest nearly $400 million in its Chicago plants to launch the production of the next-generation Explorer SUV, which feature fuel economy gains of at least 25% over the current model.
“More new, fuel-efficient cars are being purchased in Illinois and around the country. As a result, local dealerships are seeing increased demand and autoworkers are going back to work. I commend Ford’s decision to respond to consumer demand by increasing production and creating good paying jobs at the Chicago facility.”


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Tanzanian trade authorities have hosted a trade and economic delegation from Nanshan District of Shenzhen, south China’s Guangdong Province, hoping Chinese investors to make use of the business opportunities in the East African nation as the country moves toward industrialization.
Tanzanian trade authorities on Tuesday hosted a trade and economic delegation from Nanshan District of Shenzhen, south China’s Guangdong Province, hoping Chinese investors to make use of the business opportunities in the East African nation as the country moves toward industrialization.
While addressing a one-day China-Tanzania Economic and Trade Conference that discussed bilateral business opportunities held at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Center in Dar es Salaam, the economic hub of Tanzania, John Mnali, the director of investment promotion with the Tanzania Investment Center, said the Chinese companies were welcome to do business in oil and gas, mining, tourism, agriculture, livestock, fisheries, and information and communication technologies.
This photo, taken on April 25, 2023, shows a one-day China-Tanzania Economic and Trade Conference at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Center in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.(Photo by Herman Emmanuel/Xinhua)
Aristedes Mbwasi, the director of Investment in the Ministry of Investment, Industries and Trade, stressed that the Chinese expertise and technical know-how will help Tanzania move to another level of economic development.
Fortunatus Mhambe, the director of export promotion with the Tanzania Trade Development Authority, said he was optimistic that the conference stood to solidify economic cooperation between China and Tanzania.
Mhambe invited the Chinese companies to participate in the 47th Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair slated for July 2023, saying the fair is the largest trade promotion platform in East and Central Africa.
Chu Kun, the economic and commercial counselor at the Chinese Embassy in Tanzania, said China’s current investment in Tanzania covers manufacturing, construction, telecommunications, agriculture, mining, transportation, services, and tourism. “Especially in the cement and ceramic factories invested by Chinese enterprises in Tanzania, they have filled the market gap, with high-quality products at affordable prices, resulting in good market feedback,” said Chu.
He said Chinese enterprises have also extensively participated in the construction of infrastructure projects in Tanzania, including highways, railways, ports, and power.
Nanshan has become an economic zone, a technology stronghold, and an innovation hub in Shenzhen, China’s reform pioneer, with an economic volume of about 117.3 billion U.S. dollars and a total number of market entities exceeding 400,000, according to Huang Xiangyue, mayor of Nanshan District People’s Government.


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Billed as the most influential tech event in the world, the annual Consumer Electronics Show is a showcase for visionary companies. Found amidst the 2,200 booths on the CES 2022 Las Vegas show floor this week is wireless power innovator Powercast. Ahead of the show, the company created a promotional video showing…
- 3D printed wearables that monitor biomedical signals for at-home diagnosis and athletic training, developed by University of Arizona researchers; and
- An all-in-one robotic retail price-changing system combining Powercast’s immortal battery-less electronic shelf label (ESL) and Badger Technologies‘ autonomous robots for retail.
Both of these are leading-edge cool, but what excited me most was the portion showing a wirelessly powered, illuminated packaging display that starts at the 48 second mark of the 3-minute video below. It’s a blinking logo on the box.


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On Friday, Sept. 14, the team at Vinted Goods was riding high. Their Kickstarter project for a line of vintage-style leather bags and accessories had doubled its original goal, Details magazine had dubbed them “Another Kickstarter Success”, and they were closing in on the deadline. Then, 10 hours before the project was due to succeed, it vanished — replaced by a page that simply says, “Sorry, this project is no longer available.”
According to Vinted, the project (which is still cached on Google) was taken down over an intellectual property dispute: Spencer Nikosey, former mentor to Vinted Goods’ product designers and owner of design shop Killspencer, issued a cease-and-desist letter to the team, then invoked the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in a notice to Kickstarter. Kickstarter responded by summarily yanking Vinted’s campaign.
It turns out Vinted Goods’ leather isn’t the only Kickstarter project to be silently removed from the crowdfunding site. At least five projects have been removed by Kickstarter since April, replaced with the same terse message. This despite Kickerstarter’s stated commitment to openness and transparency, and language in Kickstarter’s FAQ promising that it doesn’t remove projects at all. “Projects are not closed or taken down, they remain on site for reference and transparency,” the FAQ reads. “For the same reasons, projects cannot be deleted, even if they were canceled or unsuccessful.”
One of Vinted Goods’ bags. Photo: Courtesy of Jason Yeh. It’s only the latest pain-point as Kickstarter navigates between its lofty goals and the complicated realities of raising money online. Earlier this month, the crowdfunding site published an update on accountability and refunds partially in response to NPR’s coverage of these issues as they related to the Ouya videogame console. And last week it updated its policies again to state “Kickstarter is Not a Store” while disallowing the use of renderings and simulations in pitch videos for hardware projects.
The policy changes appear intended to dispel the clouds of uncertainty that surround projects like the Wi-Fi-enabled LIFX LED lightbulb, which managed to raise $1.2 million in six days despite concerns about whether the team has any hope of delivering on its promise. With tremendous funding successes like Pebble, the e-paper watch and Double Fine Adventure, the site’s newfound mainstream attention is at risk of attracting scam artists, copycats, or the naively over-ambitious.
But in the spate of silent takedowns, the DMCA seems to be the driver. Under that U.S. law, if a site receives notice of copyright infringement, it must promptly remove the content or face civil liability itself. The site isn’t required to give notice to the alleged copyright infringer until after the takedown has occurred. At that point, the alleged infringer can file a counter-notice, and if the complainant doesn’t file an infringement lawsuit within 14 days, the site can put back up the disputed content.


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There are a whole mess of fancy new smartphones hitting the market right now, so many that choosing can be a little bit overwhelming. Do you go for the Palm Pre despite the issues with its carrier? Do you wait a few weeks for the iPhone 2009? Or, do you take the safe decision and go with one of the time-proven BlackBerry Smartphones?
Don't Miss: Sam's Club Black Friday 2016 Details
It's a difficult decision to make, but if you're an AT&T customer it just got a little bit easier. They just announced that they are reducing prices on the BlackBerry Curve and Bold 8900 smartphones. The Curve is dropping from $199.99 to $149.99, while the Bold is dropping from $299.99 to $199.99. That's a respectable drop for the Curve, and a huge discount on the BlackBerry Bold.
How To: Buy a Pokemon Go Plus
Both new smartphones should now be substantially more affordable. Two-hundred bucks for a 2 year contract on a BlackBerry Bold is a solid deal, you could do a lot worse when shopping for a cell phone. This is a smart move on AT&T's part; not everyone wants the latest and greatest, but Summer is definitely a big season for mobile buying. Find AT&T Smartphone deals on LetsTalk.


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A Revolution in Telecom industry is on its way. Cut throat competition has made telecom companies to come on their knees. Call charges have been plunged drastically. Open policy in handset manufacturing has given wings to lots of companies and smart phones are talk of the town now. Sensing this, Mobile application IT companies are mushrooming in and around the city with a promise to deliver much more. While fishing out rest, we just bumped an app which only allows you to be connected with friends, family, chat, around the clock but also have potential (with latest version ) to be a "MUST INSTALLED" app in your mobile once 3G would be launched.
The hospitality industry has been one of the worst-hit due to COVID-19. The pandemic left the sector heavily crippled and forced many...
Putting an end to all speculations Microsoft has confirmed that the company is actively exploring options to buy TikTok. The Redmond giant...
If you ever asked any question on the internet, Charlie Cheever needs introduction to you. Old wine in a...


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In his new role, Lewis will work with the company’s brand and creative teams to ensure maximum penetration across a number of retail sectors in the U.K., including developing lines for major retailers.
Prior to joining Character World, Lewis served as sales director at The Christy Group Limited for 16 years.
“We’re pleased to welcome Tony to the team. In his role as sales director at The Christy Group Limited, Tony worked closely with licensors like Disney to produce and sell licensed fancy dress costumes,” says Danny Schweiger, joint managing director, Character World. “This wealth of experience in both the textiles and licensing world will be an asset to our business.”
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Anyone who wants to take out a car leasing deal on an auto that boasts environmental credentials may want to pay attention to some of the vehicles debuting at this week’s LA Auto Show.
Honda has unveiled its Fit (Jazz) EV concept model, with the carmaker also announcing its plans to produce a mid-size, plug-in hybrid vehicle.
The Fit EV utilises Honda’s two-motor hybrid technology and has a range of approximately 100 miles. It is set to launch in Japan and the US in 2012, the organisation revealed.
Meanwhile, Toyota has unveiled its RAV4 EV concept, which was jointly developed with Tesla. The vehicle combines the compact SUV body of the RAV4 with an electric powertrain from Tesla.
During 2011, 35 vehicles will be constructed and used for testing, with the final version expected to arrive on forecourts from 2012.
Jim Lentz, president and chief operating officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA, commented that the customer experience has been central to the development of the model, with the company aiming to provide a vehicle that is “compelling and affordable”.
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