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Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood dated for PC
PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 owners’ days of exclusive assassinations are over. In a swift update on the official forums – sadly without giving any kind of shock update on the title itself – the PC version of Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood is now scheduled for a March 17th release in the US and on the 18th in the UK (with a few, minor deviations in certain countries), in three dimensions and everything.
Brotherhood launched on consoles last year and has managed, without the help of a PC version, to sell a whooping 6.5 million copies worldwide since then, no doubt partly due to glorified reviews which at this point have clearly done their job in aiding Ubisoft make another entry in the franchise a success.
No wonder another one is already on its way.


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Bulgarian Consumer Protection Watchdog Chair Urges Swift Legal Changes
Bulgaria's Parliament may avoid an infringement procedure for the failure to amend the Consumer Protection Act on time, according to the Chair of the consumer protection watchdog.
In a Monday interview for the Bulgarian National Radio, Veselin Zlatev suggested that the Bulgarian Parliament would find the time to transpose the EU Directive which had taken effect on June 13 so that the draft legal changes to the Consumer Protection Act, which had passed second reading at the parliamentary economic committee, would guarantee that Bulgarian consumers exercise their rights freely just as any EU citizen.
Zlatev claimed that the proposal to adopt a law stipulating the merger of the competition protection watchdog and the consumer protection commission would lead to a serious disturbance.
He made clear that the proposal would be discussed at an upcoming meeting with EU Commissioner for Consumer Protection Neven Mimica.
Zlarev vowed that he would present his opinion and the views of his colleagues on the forthcoming legal changes, stressing that the amendments could not possibly have a beneficial impact on the current situation in Bulgaria.
- » NATO Secretary General Inaugurates Force Integration Unit in Romania
- » Turnover of Bulgarian Stock Exchange Down 68% Y/Y in H1, 2015
- » Bulgaria Moves to Criminalize Unauthorized Coal Mining
- » Bulgarian Development Bank to Get EUR 150 M for Energy Retrofitting of Homes
- » Ernst & Young Foresees Modest Growth of Bulgarian Economy in 2015-2016
- » Bulgarian Watchdog Orders Market Withdrawal of 10 000 Liters of Diesel Fuel

domain: news


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The FDA, along with CDC and state and local partners, investigated a multistate outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections in the fall of 2020. The epidemiology and traceback investigation have determined that the outbreak was linked to leafy greens.
The FDA and CDC, in collaboration with state and local partners, have completed the investigation on two of three multistate outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections in the U.S. this fall.
This new tool will share information on FDA foodborne illness outbreak investigations, even in their early stages and as soon as FDA begins its response to the outbreak. It will give consumers early awareness of developing multistate outbreaks that are occurring across the United States.
Kristen Pogreba-Brown, assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Arizona, said people get frustrated at why food outbreak investigations take so long, but there are many reasons.
The FDA and CDC, in collaboration with state and local partners, is investigating illnesses in a third multistate outbreak of E.coli O157:H7 infections this Fall.
FDA's Frank Yiannas said the agency is issuing the update early in the investigation "as part of our continued commitment to transparency and early communication. We are also working toward making a new resource available soon on our website to provide early updates on new and active investigations."
As of October 15, 2020, CDC reported a total of 101 cases across 17 states.
According to the CDC, the outbreak involving Salmonella contamination of onions appears to be over.
As of September 25, 2020, CDC has announced this outbreak is over. FDA’s traceback investigation is complete, however the cause or source of the outbreak has not been determined.
As of August 28, 2020, Canada, Singapore, and New Zealand have issued recalls of Prima Wawona peaches.


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The Christmas season is just heating up in Europe, but for investors in retail property, the shopping spree has been going on all year.
The volume of malls, shopping centers and other retail real estate purchased this year hit €64 billion ($67.8 billion) as of the end of November, according to data firm Real Capital Analytics. That already makes this year a postcrash record and makes it likely that 2015 will chalk up the highest retail property sale value in euro terms since Real Capital started collecting data in 2007.
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The IPKat thanks his trusty friend Kristof Neefs (Laga, Belgium) for drawing his attention to a press release today from Google, headed "Authors, Publishers, and Google Reach Landmark Settlement: Copyright Accord Would Make Millions More Books Available Online". The press release reads, in relevant part:
The IPKat says, this seems wonderful -- never has so much reading material been made available to so many readers so swiftly and with so little effort on their own part. Merpel says, some words are missing from this press release. They include orphan, Berne, indemnity, liability, infringe, moral right and damages ...
"The Authors Guild, the Association of American Publishers (AAP), and Google today announced a groundbreaking settlement agreement on behalf of a broad class of authors and publishers worldwide that would expand online access to millions of in-copyright books and other written materials in the U.S. from the collections of a number of major U.S. libraries participating in Google Book Search. The agreement, reached after two years of negotiations, would resolve a class-action lawsuit brought by book authors and the Authors Guild, as well as a separate lawsuit filed by five large publishers as representatives of the AAP’s membership. The class action [the IPKat wonders, should this read 'agreement'?] is subject to approval by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The agreement promises to benefit readers and researchers, and enhance the ability of authors and publishers to distribute their content in digital form, by significantly expanding online access to works through Google Book Search, an ambitious effort to make millions of books searchable via the Web. The agreement acknowledges the rights and interests of copyright owners, provides an efficient means for them to control how their intellectual property is accessed online and enables them to receive compensation for online access to their works [The Kat thought this was impossible. If the Guild, the AAP and Google can manage this, perhaps they'd like to tackle global warming, the credit crisis and Madonna's divorce settlement too].
If approved by the court, the agreement would provide:
More Access to Out-of-Print Books – Generating greater exposure for millions of in-copyright works, including hard-to-find out-of-print books, by enabling readers in the U.S. to search these works and preview them online [more access to hyphens too, it appears ...];
Additional Ways to Purchase Copyrighted Books – Building off publishers’ and authors’ current efforts and further expanding the electronic market for copyrighted books in the U.S., by offering users the ability to purchase online access to many in-copyright books [any prizes for predicting the impact of this on Amazon's business?];
Institutional Subscriptions to Millions of Books Online – Offering a means for U.S. colleges, universities and other organizations to obtain subscriptions for online access to collections from some of the world’s most renowned libraries [what about non-US institutions, distance learning institutions etc?];
Free Access From U.S. Libraries – Providing free, full-text, online viewing of millions of out-of-print books at designated computers in U.S. public and university libraries; and
Compensation to Authors and Publishers and Control Over Access to Their Works – Distributing payments earned from online access provided by Google and, prospectively, from similar programs that may be established by other providers [this looks like a sop to those worried about lack competition], or through a newly created independent, not-for-profit Book Rights Registry that will also locate rightsholders, collect and maintain accurate rightsholder information, and provide a way for rightsholders to request inclusion in or exclusion from the project.
Under the agreement, Google will make payments totaling $125 million [until a few short weeks ago, the IPKat used to think this was a lot of money ...]. The money will be used to establish the Book Rights Registry, to resolve existing claims by authors and publishers and to cover legal fees. The settlement agreement resolves Authors Guild v Google, a class-action suit filed on September 20, 2005 by the Authors Guild and certain authors, and a suit filed on October 19, 2005 by five major publisher-members of the Association of American Publishers: ... . These lawsuits challenged Google’s plan to digitize, search and show snippets of in-copyright books and to share digital copies with libraries without the explicit permission of the copyright owner.
Holders worldwide of U.S. copyrights can register their works with the Book Rights Registry and receive compensation from institutional subscriptions, book sales, ad revenues [do the Kats pick up the scent of AdSense?] and other possible revenue models, as well as a cash payment if their works have already been digitized.
Libraries at the Universities of California, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Stanford have provided input into the settlement and expect to participate in the project, including by making their collections available. Along with a number of other U.S. libraries that currently work with Google, their significant efforts to preserve, maintain and provide access to books have played a critical role in achieving this agreement and, through their anticipated participation, they are furthering such efforts while making books even more accessible to students, researchers and readers in the U.S. It is expected that additional libraries in the U.S. will participate in this project in the future.
Google Book Search users in the United States will be able to enjoy and purchase the products and services offered under the project. Outside the United States, the users’ experience with Google Book Search will be unchanged, unless the offering of such products and services is authorized by the rightsholder of a book.
For more information about this agreement, including information about whether you may be a class member, please visit http://books.google.com/booksrightsholders [when time permits, this may be fun]. Class members include authors (the Author Sub-Class) and publishers (the Publisher Sub-Class), and their heirs and successors, of books and other written works protected by U.S. copyright law.
A teleconference for the media will be held today, Tuesday, October 28, 2008, at 10:30 a.m. Eastern. To participate, reporters in the U.S. should dial 877-340-7913, and reporters internationally should dial 719-325-4845. Please tell the operator you would like to join the “Authors, Publishers and Google” call".
Feline library here


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After much hype and hubbub about Google’s Moto X phone, Google turned around and agreed to sell its Motorola Mobility unit to Lenovo, the rising Chinese computer maker. The planned $2.91 billion sale feels like a bit of letdown after the commotion (and generally positive reviews) of Google’s phones.
When Google bought Motorola Mobility in 2012 for $12.4 billion, most speculation at the time centered on the value to Google of Motorola’s patent portfolio. Motorola’s 17,000 patents were seen as protection for Google’s Android operating system in the face of similarly well-armed competitors. Google will retain most of the patents in this deal.
It was assumed then that the patents were by far the most valuable parts of the deal for Google. Somewhere along the way, though, it started to seem like Google’s secret plan for Motorola was not to marshal its patents but … well, to make and sell phones. Wired Steven Levy posited that the Moto phones would be the “gateway drug” for Google’s entire software ecosystem.
So much for that. Google may be selling Motorola now for any one of a number of reasons — or all of them. It may be that, as as Bloomberg Businessweek’s Brad Stone points out , Google’s Android partners didn’t love the idea of competing with Google hardware. Or maybe that it just didn’t establish enough of a foothold in the market. Or Google may have been mainly interested in the patent portfolio after all. No matter which way you cut it, suddenly it does seem like even Google may not have its strategy for world domination totally thought out.


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This is according to an interview with Gary Stevenson, president and managing director of MLS Business Ventures by The Drum. “This is truly the sport of the new North America,” he explained.
“Soccer is in the DNA of so many people that come to the country. It is ingrained in the culture, it is a flower that is blooming.”
The game’s accessibility, the simplicity of its rules, and its heritage across Europe, Asia, and South America mean there is already an aspiration and a proven model.
Stevenson contrasted soccer with some of America’s favorite sports. “It is a new, interesting, fast-paced alternative to what exists. Some of the sports that are popular in this country either require expensive equipment, a long time, a lot of people... This sport? You just need a patch of turf, a ball, and four pals.”
Moreover, the match, including commercial breaks, takes place in a relatively neat two hours, with just one segment of ads once the game begins. “In the US and Canada, our sports have commercials throughout the entire game. The millennial audience finds the fact that there are two uninterrupted halves in soccer very appealing.”
Meanwhile, the MLS maintains that clubs’ ongoing marquee signings, such as the Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovich’s move to LA Galaxy or fellow former Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney – now of DC United – are key to building interest. The tipping point, however, will come when players move to the MLS in their prime. For now there is work to do.
The draw for brands is the game’s young, engaged, multicultural fanbase. Brands such as Coca-Cola, Audi and Target are among the long list of current partners. For sports brands, such as Adidas, which invested $700 million in the MLS and will provide kits for all of the teams clubs, it is an attractive growth market.
“If I had to highlight what we do well, we approach innovation, technology and relationship-building in a unique way,” said Stevenson. This includes putting microphones on goalkeepers in order to interview them mid-match.
“It’s a very American thing to do,” he admitted: the inside look at the players is an important draw.
Sourced from the Drum, USA Today; additional content by WARC staff


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Asia: Tapping into contactless payments
- 02 September 2015
- 653 views
Tap-and-go contactless payment technology is taking off in the Asia-Pacific region – even in emerging markets where, traditionally, cash is king.
Making life easier for the consumer is usually a smart move or business – particularly when it involves enabling them to spend money. The take up of contactless payments – waving your credit or debit card over a reader – is accelerating rapidly in the Asia-Pacific region. MasterCard recently reported that the use of contactless payments had risen by 49 per cent year on year from 2013 to 2014 and that this trend will continue to gather pace. Australia is leading the way, with nearly two thirds of in-store MasterCard transactions being contactless, while in Singapore contactless users doubled year on year.
Elsewhere in the region this trend from cash to cashless contactless payment is being repeated. A recent survey by financial services consultant RFi Group suggests Asian consumers are leading the way in penetration rates – with Singapore (45 per cent), Taiwan (41 per cent) and Hong Kong (32 per cent) enthusiastic adopters of contactless payment methods. These markets are characterised by a highly connected population, with growing smartphone penetration, an emerging middle class and a younger demographic.
Raj Dhamodharan, group head of emerging payments, Asia Pacific, at MasterCard, explains: “Markets that are more advanced when it comes to internet and smartphone penetration typically have better connectivity. Increased connectivity has the ability to create more efficient, easier ways to receive, hold, access and activate money. As a result, we are also able to bring into the financial mainstream those who have been previously excluded, especially in emerging markets.
“We are also seeing the immense potential of near-field communication or NFC. It is predicted that one in three mobile phones will be NFC enabled by 2017 and that the number of contactless transactions via mobile handsets will exceed 9.9bn globally by 2018, up from 3bn in 2014.” NFC enables contactless payment functionality to be embedded directly into mobile devices.
The convenience and speed of transactions using contactless card technology – such as Visa payWave or MasterCard – are a major attraction for consumers globally. But getting people to experience that in the first place – changing credit card-using habits, or even raising awareness that customers already possess contactless-enabled bank cards they can use – can be a challenge. Local campaigns, such as the recently-launched ‘Mister Sim’ multi-platform campaign for Visa payWave in Singapore can be an effective way to address specific local market issues.
Although penetration rates are currently lower than in Singapore and Taiwan, the RFi survey suggests emerging markets such as China, Indonesia and Vietnam have greater potential for the adoption of cashless payment technologies.
“Emerging markets have an advantage because there’s no strong legacy of traditional payment methods, so consumers seem more enthusiastic at the introduction of digital or mobile payments,” says Gerald Ferguson, general manager of RFi Group.
Of course, consumers are only one side of the equation. Getting the infrastructure in place to support it and achieve a critical mass, enabling the contactless payment ecosystem to flourish, is crucial. Consumers can often perceive retailer take-up of the contactless to be lower than it actually is, according to RFi, so it’s important that retailers are advocates and promote support of contactless payments, particularly in countries where cash is still king.
Nonetheless, the explosion in connectivity is a key driver in the evolving payments environment, says Dhamodharan of MasterCard: “We are in the midst of a dramatic, global transformation in consumer behaviour. From PCs to smartphones, tablets, TVs and game systems, wearables – and even appliances like refrigerators – are now connected. Connected devices have moved us into a connected digital environment, where not only everything, but everyone, will be connected.
“The fundamental changes in how consumers interact and use these smart, connected devices – for research, or communication or consuming media – will also transform how they transact. To address this shift to digital, shopping and payment experiences need to evolve as connected devices provide more opportunity for engagement – and commerce – before, during and after a purchase. And we’re helping to transform any connected device a consumer may have into a commerce device to make and receive payments – all the while leveraging the most safe and secure payment technology for digital transactions, both in-app and in-store.”Back to all
- 653 views


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We're excited to announce that our Investment Director, Lukasz Garbowski, has been named as one of Global Corporate Venturing's top 50 Emerging Leaders in 2023.
The annual GCV awards recognize the outstanding professionals working in corporate venturing, making Lukasz one of the top 0.5% of individuals in the profession.
The entire BTV team is immensely proud of Lukasz's achievement, coming on the back of his GCV Rising Star award last year.
As Investment Director, Lukasz has led a significant numbers of investments and exits made by BTV since its inception in 2019 and also spearheads the fund’s ESG initiatives.
Commenting on his award, GCV wrote:
Digital innovation, ESG and functional foods have been strong focus areas for Garbowski, whose path to BTV included stints in investment banking, private equity and corporate development as well as Harvard Business School’s MBA programme. In addition to leading investments, he has overseen two successful exits – Brazil-based last-mile logistics provider Uello, and California-based freight and supply chain services provider, ClearMetal.
The rigorous selection process to be named an Emerging Leader involved research into more than 20,000 individuals, in more than 2,500 corporate venturing units.
The selection process took performance metrics into consideration, as well as recommendations from managers and colleagues.
Attracting top entrepreneurs to our CVC, given the legacy business of our parent – it’s not the easiest story to tell. If explained correctly, it makes sense but has been challenging.
BTV MD, Juan M. Palacios, says:
The entire BTV team is thrilled for Lukasz. We all know how valuable he is to our business, and we have always been confident in his leadership skills. But now it’s official. Lukasz also shines in his role as leader of the GCV Global Consumer Council, which brings together corporate VCs in the consumer sector to work together on driving the market further. This recognition from GCV is formal acknowledgement of Lukasz’s unique expertise and ability.
We couldn’t be more excited for him. This is just the latest step of Lukasz’s inspiring professional journey. I also want to recognize the great team who is behind the scenes supporting Lukasz on investments and portfolio management, along with Lukasz they all have played a key role in the success of BTV.”


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The FDA’s recent decision to delay implementation of the premarket tobacco application (PMTA) by four years is a huge and welcome reprieve for the vape industry.
Vape Organics successfully submitted to the FDA our establishment registration and product listing, featuring the first and only certified organic e-liquids that contain nicotine.
In an industry characterized by innovation, vape companies have constantly made it a priority to both imagine and develop new and improved technologies for vape devices. Tracing the relatively short history [...]
Branding, or the ongoing curation of the image your company conveys to the world through a variety of mediums, is a crucial factor in the equation to build a successful business. In arguably oversaturated markets like the vape industry, a [...]
The vape industry finally received good news recently with the announcement of the FDA’s decision to delay implementation of its problematic Deeming Regulations. The agency has additionally committed [...]
Social media has become one of the primary marketing tools of the modern age, lauded for its function as a grassroots awareness-raising tool, its facilitation of direct communication with people who could benefit from exposure to your company


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Customers of US telecoms giant AT&T can send text messages to up to 10 contacts using Amazon’s Alexa artificial intelligence assistant. The AT&T Send Message skill went live on 18 November allowing users to ask to text a friend, after which the assistant prompts them to say their message. The launch came on the same day that Amazon Echo and Echo Dot devices were made available on the AT&T website and in its retail stores.
- Atac pilots contactless fare payments on buses in Rome
- Nigeria to let consumers use feature phones to make payments with national digital currency
- Central bank rolls out national contactless transit ticketing system in Costa Rica
- Ethiopian government adds health records to contactless cards
- RBR: More than 12,000 checkout-free contactless stores to be in operation by 2027
This article is more than five years old


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The Competition and Tariff Commission (CTC) is assessing a 2020 strategic alliance between Dairibord and Tavistock, its largest raw milk supplier.
The transaction is one of the applications that the CTC was considering in the first quarter of this year, the regulator says in its latest filings.
In 2020, Dairibord announced that it had entered into a partnership with Tavistock. Under that deal, Dairibord would help Tavistock secure structured finance through loan guarantees and other capital raising methods to fund growth. Dairibord subscribed to preference shares in Tavistock.
In its 2020 annual report, Dairibord said the partnership would result in the growth of raw milk intake, which would “feed into the long term vision of Dairibord to develop the local milk supply industry to have capacity to fully displace milk powder imports, reduce production costs, increase product diversity, improve regional competitiveness and increase exports”.
Tavistock operates a dairy farm near Beatrice. It is owned By Christopher Hawgood, a long-time dairy producer who sits on the board of Dairibord.
In 2020, farmers produced less milk, as they felt the impact of high costs of stock feed, the outcome of drought. Raw milk intake last year declined by 6% largely caused by reduced milk yields at dairy farms due to stock feed price increases
Between January and May, Dairibord sales volumes were up 49%, but milk sales were held back by a fall in raw milk supplies, which fell 2% over the period.
Dairibord accounts for 39.1% of national raw milk intake. It is currently in draw-out talks to merge with Dendairy, the number two producer. Kwekwe-based Dendairy, formed in 2004, is owned by the Coetzee family, with Scandinavian private equity firm Spear Capital holding a minority stake in the company. Spear bought 27% of Dendairy in 2015.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This report corrects earlier incorrect article to show that CTC is assessing the 2020 alliance between the two entities, and not any new corporate action. newZWire regrets the error


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NEW INITIATIVES UNVEILED FOR MERCEDES-BENZ FASHION WEEK AUSTRALIA 2014
IMG Fashion has announced the dates for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia (April 6-10, 2014) and various new initiatives that will open the doors of fashion week to the general public and give consumers the opportunity to see the very latest Spring/Summer collections months before they land in store.
IMG Fashion will launch Mercedes-Benz Fashion Weekend Edition, a weekend event that directly follows Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia giving ticketholders the opportunity to see the very latest collections on the runway mere days after the industry has viewed it. The Weekend Edition will consist of a series of runway shows featuring the Best of #MBFWA, how-to sessions from hair & beauty stylists, trend showcases, discussions with International bloggers and exclusive shopping opportunities. The event will take place at Carriageworks, April 12-13, 2014.
“It’s exciting to see Sydney and Australia pioneering new initiatives that will assist in creating even more opportunities for local designers. The new Mercedes-Benz Fashion Weekend Edition will generate consumer interest by leveraging the buzz and excitement that is generated from showing at a fashion event of this global scale. The NSW Government, through Destination NSW, is proud to support this highlight on the international fashion calendar,” says Andrew Stoner MP, NSW Deputy Premier and Minister for Trade & Investment.
Traditionally the domain of industry professionals, fashion weeks around the world are exclusive invitation-only events that present wholesale designer collections for the trade to plan the looks that will appear months later in magazines and in retail stores. Fast forward to 2014 and the consumer audience is hungry for the very first sighting of the runway fashions. Enthralled by live streamed shows and social media feeds, the fashionable consumer is deeply engaged in the designer brands from the moment the very first look is showcased at these prestigious trade events. This was proved at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia 2013, where live streams were viewed in more than 95 countries, with an average viewing time of 21 minutes.
For showcasing designers, the media and social frenzy that follows their runway show is a major spike in global and local brand attention. To further leverage this exposure for designers, IMG Fashion will for the first time, launch an e-commerce extension to the global gateway site MBFashionWeek.com, enhancing the runway by creating ‘shoppable’ experience. Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia designers will have the opportunity to create a capsule collection for sale exclusively on this platform where consumers can purchase via the live stream or direct from the runway at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Weekend Edition. This means live stream viewers and Weekend Edition attendees will have the unique opportunity to own the latest Spring Summer 2014/15 trends first – months before the collections land in store for retail sale.
The City of Sydney is a sponsor of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia and Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the 2014 event would be the biggest yet. “Each year Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia puts the fashion world’s eyes on Sydney. Opening Australia’s premier fashion event to the public is an exciting opportunity that will do even more to support local designers and retailers," said the Lord Mayor.
Australian fashion has seen challenging times as an industry with the influx of international fast fashion brands, manufacturing constraints, coupled with seasonal and export challenges. With online retail in Australia expected to grow to $27 Billion in 2016, IMG Fashion are excited to be leading the way with initiatives that support local industry, drive return on investment for runway shows, and help local brands maximise the global attention generated by involvement in the event series. Both Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia and Mercedes-Benz Fashion Weekend Edition are wholly owned and operated by IMG Fashion.
“The consumer activity at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia is an exciting next phase in the evolution of the Australian fashion industry. The Weekend Edition is a powerful marketing initiative that allows participating designers to engage a consumer audience and leverage their show investment. Via exclusive capsule collections available to buy immediately, Shop the Runway will assist Australian designers to generate actual consumer sales during a time traditionally restricted to B2B sales. All the additional marketing benefits of the consumer facing event series come at no additional cost to designers,” says Elle Turner, Director of Brand & Strategy, IMG Fashion.
“Synonymous with innovation and luxury, Mercedes-Benz is excited to be a partner with IMG Fashion for the 2014 season as the event takes an innovative step forward to revolutionise the global format of Fashion Weeks by including a consumer component offering access to the very latest collections," says Horst von Sanden, Managing Director, Mercedes-Benz Cars.
The trade focused, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia, will once again showcase the very best in design talent atCarriageworks, Eveleigh from April 6-10, 2014. The 4-day schedule will include a curated selection of Australia’s established fashion designers as well as a showcase from the brightest emerging talent the country has to offer.
Tickets for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Weekend Edition are strictly limited and are on sale now via MBFWeekendEd.com.au


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About a year ago, at the Consumer Electronics Show, a Taiwanese company called XYZprinting Inc. launched what many industry insiders considered to be one of the best consumer based 3D printers for the money. The da Vinci’ 3D Printer cost $449, and had the quality of printers nearly three times its price, according to judges at the show. Fast forward about 14 months and XYZprinting is about to begin shipping the da Vinci’ 2.0 3D Printer.
The da Vinci’ 2.0 has been at the center of a lot of buzz over the last few months within 3D printing circles. XYZPrinting will finally begin shipping the machines next month, at a price of $649. Initially it will be available both online, and on store shelves in the U.S, China, Japan, and much of Europe.
In addition to its higher cost, the da Vinci’ 2.0 will have several major changes from its predecessor. The new machine will actually have a smaller build volume of approximately 5.9 x 7.8 x 7.8 inches, while featuring not one, but 2 extruder heads, allowing users to print two different colors at once. The two extruders will also speed up some project’s print speeds.
Here are some of the specifications of The da Vinci’ 2.0:
- Printer Weight: 65 lbs
- Build Volume: 15x20x20 cm
- Nozzle Diameter: 0.4 mm
- Print Speed: 150 mm/s
- Filament diameter: 1.75mm
- Print Material: ABS/PLA – 12 Colors
- File Types: .stl
- Additional Features: Dual Extruders, Empty Filament Detection, Auto Nozzle Cleaning, Print-Bed Auto Calibration.
XYZprinting hopes to see their sales grow substantially over the coming year with the help of the this new 3D printer. They currently have global sales targets at 100,000 units for 2014, and over 1 million units from 2014-2016. They have been working on a major new production line, which will be able to produce over 10,000 printers per month. Discuss this printer at the da Vinci’ 2.0 forum thread.
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The LA Times reports California state regulators are getting ready to curb the growing “power gluttony” of flat-screen TV sets by drafting the nation’s first rules requiring retailers to sell only the most energy-efficient models, starting in 2011.
The consumer electronics industry opposes the regulations, expected to pass in mid-2009, and claims that they could remove some TVs from store shelves and slightly boost sticker prices.
Said the story: “But the California Energy Commission is looking for ways to relieve the strain on the power grid. Officials say the standards, once fully in place, would reduce the state’s annual energy needs by an amount equivalent to the power consumed by 86,400 homes.
During a peak viewing time when most sets are on, such as the Super Bowl, TVs in the state collectively suck up the equivalent of 40% of the power generated by the San Onofre nuclear power station running at full capacity. Televisions account for about 10% of the average Californian’s monthly household electricity bill.
Some manufacturers could struggle to meet the new standards, particularly those that make plasma TVs. And the regulations could create a "gray" market, sending consumers intent on buying power-hungry models to Amazon.com and other Internet retailers based outside the state.
Sales of television sets are growing by 4 million a year, the vast majority of them flat-panels. LCD — liquid crystal display — sets use 43% more electricity, on average, than conventional tube TVs; larger models use proportionately more. Plasma TVs, which command a relatively small share of the market, need more than three times as much power as bulky, old-style sets.
The regulations would be phased in over two years, with a first tier taking effect on Jan. 1, 2011, and a more stringent, second tier on Jan. 1, 2013. Purchasers of Tier 1-compliant TVs would shave an average of $18.48 off their residential electric bill in the first year of ownership, the Energy Commission estimates. Tier 2 sets would save an additional $11.76 a year.”


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Latest Scanner Stories
Islamic scholars seek changes to scanner software, urge pat-down alternative WASHINGTON, Feb.
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Feb. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc., the market leader in document imaging scanners and services, today introduced the latest breakthrough in production-level scanning - the Fujitsu fi-6800.
TORONTO, Feb. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- PlanOn, a leading provider of portable scanning and printing solutions, today introduced new pricing that dramatically lowers the list price of its popular DocuPen RC805 full-color, full page, high speed handheld portable scanner from $299 to $159 USD.
NEW YORK, Nov.
FORT WORTH, Texas, Oct. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Uniden America Corporation, a leading manufacturer of wireless consumer electronics, today announced their new lines of wireless video surveillance products and two-way radios for the North American market.
OREM, Utah, Oct. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Juicy Development, creator of popular iPhone app Police Scanner, has partnered with RadioReference.com, the world's largest radio communication data provider, to provide feeds for its emergency frequency scanner application.
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Oct.
Scientists in the UK have developed a portable microwave scanner that is small enough to be used covertly at some distance from the subject that is expected to help police identify individuals carrying concealed guns and knives.
Unique Solutions Acquires Intellifit(R) to secure its position as the market leader in 3D body measurement technology for customized products and services. HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, March 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Unique Solutions Design, Ltd., the market leader in 3D body scan measurement technology used for customized consumer products such as apparel and health and wellness, announced today that Unique has acquired the majority interest of its top competitor, Philadelphia based Intellifit Corporation.
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Nov. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc., the market leader in document imaging scanners and services, today announced the introduction of its next-generation network scanner into the expansive lineup of document imaging solutions.
- To play, gamble.
- To impose upon; delude; trick; humbug; also, to joke; chaff.
- A deceitful game or trick; trickery; humbug; nonsense.


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A survey conducted by the GSM Association’s Mobile Money Live website has found that spending money on marketing is seen by most readers as the way to address user fears about NFC security. 35% of readers thought “a massive marketing campaign to address anxieties” was the best way to solve the problem while only 29% suggested that introducing extra security would be the best way ahead.
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Courtesy : Metro
It seems Friends just doesn't lose anywhere, does it? Be it during its run-time, its run on streaming services and now on DVDs, the love and madness for the show continues to only grow.
It is no secret that Friends was taken off Netflix earlier this year and till the show comes back on HBO Max soon, the show is only available on DVDs.
The streaming hiatus already appears to be paying off for Warner Bros. Home Entertainment: According to senior vice president of TV marketing Rosemary Markson, sales of both physical and digital copies of “Friends” have “roughly tripled” since it was announced last year that the show would be exiting Netflix.
“At the beginning of the year, it was the top-selling catalog-TV franchise in home entertainment,” Markson says. “We were seeing strong sales across both physical and digital, and we’ve seen a particularly strong uptick in digital. If you think of DVDs as the original bingeing mechanism, it’s a way to collect and adds permanence and repeatability to be able to watch the show.”
“The only way to guarantee evergreen access to content is through ownership, and that message needs to be reinforced to the public,” says Kathi Chandler-Payatt, executive director for the media entertainment practice at The NPD Group. “Although platform-owned titles may or will be held back for exhibition on the distributor’s platform, and audiences may know where to find the content, there’s no guarantee that the content will always be available.”
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment launched a new “Friends” website last year timed to the 25th anniversary of the show, and took part in the cross-promotional push around the show, certain that demand would spike during its streaming hiatus.
Once Friends returns on streaming via HBO Max, Markson says she hopes the company continues to find the right balance between the two platforms. “We do feel transactional and streaming can coexist,” she says.


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We begin our tour of the wonderful world of 3D printing at Relativity Space’s HQ in Los Angeles. Wired recently featured Relativity Space, the startup making waves in the 3D printed rocket industry. Indeed, “Relativity Space may have the biggest metal 3D printers in the world, and they’re cranking out parts to reinvent the rocket industry – both on Earth – and on Mars.”
Relativity Space’s Chief Executive and Cofounder Tim Ellis, 29, “wants to combine 3D printing and artificial intelligence to do for the rocket what Henry Ford did for the automobile…Relativity wants to not just build rockets, but to build them on Mars…with robots [and 3D printing.]”
At Relativity Space’s Los Angeles HQ, there are “four of the largest metal 3D in the world, churning out rocket parts day and night. The latest model of the company’s proprietary printer, dubbed Stargate, stands 30 feet tall and has two massive robotic arms protruding like tentacles from the cylindrical machine. The Stargate printers will manufacture about 95 percent, by mass, of Relativity’s first rocket, named Terran-1. The only parts which won’t be printed are the electronics, cables, and a handful of moving parts and rubber gaskets.”
In rethinking rocket design, Relativity Space says Terran-1 “will have 100 times fewer parts than a comparable rocket….by consolidating parts and optimizing them for 3D printing, Ellis says Relativity will be able to go from raw materials to the launch pad in just 60 days – in theory, anyway. Relativity hadn’t yet assembled a full Terran-1 and doesn’t expect the rocket to fly until 2021 at the earliest.”
As for printing the components, the Stargate printers are ideal for printing large components quickly, but for parts requiring more precision, “such as the rocket’s engine, Relativity uses the same commercially available metal 3D printers other aerospace companies use. These printers use a different printing technique, in which a laser welds together layers of ultra-fine stainless steel dust.”
As Ellis explains: “fully assembled, Terran-1 will stand about 100 feet tall, and be capable of delivering satellites weighing up to 2,800 pounds to low Earth orbit. This puts it above small satellite launchers like Rocket Lab’s Electron but well under the payload capacity of massive rockets like SpaceX’s Falcon 9. This will make Terran-1 particularly well-suited to carrying medium-sized satellites.”
The intersection of the space and additive manufacturing industries was also apparent this month aboard the International Space Station. Extreme Tech reports on a recent development carried out by Russian cosmonauts on the Russian side of the International Space Station up in Earth orbit.
Apparently, these Russian cosmonauts were able to 3D print synthetic meat in space! Prior to the success of this experiment, the “options for artificial meat were limited to plant-based materials from brands like Impossible and Beyond. The next step would be to generate real meat with the aid of bioprinting.”
This is where Israeli startup Aleph Farms comes in.
Aleph Farms “has partnered with several 3D printing companies to conduct this experiment with Russian cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station.” Aleph Farms claims “this is the first time anyone has produced synthetic meat in space.”
In order to create this synthetic meat, Aleph Farms’ process involves “mimicking the natural muscle-tissue regeneration process in cows. If you’ve ever eaten a bad steak, you know it’s not just the animals cells which matter – it’s also the way in which they are organized.”
Aleph Farms’ “process results in a more realistic piece of slaughter-free meat. Getting a meaty texture right has been a challenge for lab-grown meat, and doing this work in space could help inform how we do it back here on Earth.”
As for the cosmonauts’ experiment, they used a “printer developed by Russia-based 3D Bioprinting Solutions. The animal cells were mixed with growth factors to create the ‘bio-ink’ for the printer. The printer lays down layer after layer of cells, which grow into a small piece of muscle tissue. The company says bioprinting meat in space has the potential to be much faster than it is on Earth. Without gravity, the biomaterial can grow in all directions without a support structure. On Earth, a lattice is required and means you can only print from one side at a time.” Up in space, the process can be made far more efficient.
Of course, financially viable 3D printed meat on Earth is a long way off, “but the costs of space travel are already astronomical. It would behoove interstellar explorers on extended missions to produce some of their meat in 3D printers.”
However, “Aleph Farms still aims to begin expanding its beef printing techniques here on Earth, paving the way for the bioprinting and selling of meat requiring far less water and farmland than traditional cow meat.”
Finally, 3D printing not only helped industries in physical space but also in the mental space as well. Dezeen reports on a recent project developed by Japanese design studio Nendo. Apparently, Nendo envisioned an “alternative to the tricky task of nurturing a bonsai tree” and therefore created Grid-Bonsai.
Grid-Bonsai is “a 3D printed version of the plant owners can prune to their liking. The traditional Japanese art form of bonsai involves using cultivation techniques to produce small plants in pots, which imitate the appearance of full-scale trees. Bonsai artists shape their trees by trimming the leaves and pruning and bending branches, as well as adding decorative elements like moss and stones to the soil.”
This art takes an intense amount of focus and effort, of course. “Maintenance of the tree requires sunlight exposure and constant watering, and often entails a substantial amount of professional expertise, which presents a challenge for retailers…Nendo explains it is still very rare to find [bonsai trees] outside of Japan due to agricultural import restrictions. As a result, the popularity of Bonsai-growing among young people and overseas has diminished.”
This is where Nendo comes in.
The studio “aims to tackle these challenges with a 3D printed version of the bonsai tree, which takes the form of an interactive puzzle-like object.” This Grid-Bonsai has been specially designed so its owner can easily trim it, “using a pair of bonsai scissors, just like a natural plant.”
Grid-Bonsai is also “designed to be user-friendly and suitable for beginners. As Nendo’s bonsais aren’t living plants, there are no import and maintenance restrictions, making over the counter sales easy both domestically and abroad.”
Currently, the Grid-Bonsai “comes in seven different shape and sizes, all referencing typical forms of the bonsai tree. Each 3D printed tree is able to be customized from its square-shaped extruded form into a smooth, rounded design.”
Tune in next month for more 3D printing news!
Image Courtesy of Relativity Space and Wired
Quotes Courtesy of Relativity Space, Wired, Extreme Tech, Nendo, and Dezeen.


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New entrant Wind Mobile officially launched their wireless service back in December of 2009 and now operate in Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. After much speculation, today they officially announced they’ve “exceeded 100,000 subscriptions in early July 2010″. We’re now in the middle of August so the number might be a few thousand higher. There’s no word on which launch cities make up the most subscriptions, but one thing to consider is the number of customers Wind would like to bring on. It’s known that the goal is to have 1.5 million customers during the first 3 years.
In a release this morning Anthony Lacavera, Chairman of Globalive & WIND Mobile said “We’re thrilled to have welcomed over 100,000 customers in our first two quarters. We will continue to expand and grow, and we welcome competition as part of our commitment to offering Canadians the kind of mobile experience they want and deserve.”
100,000 customers on board… 1.4 million to go. Impressive stats for a start-up company.
Update: Just finished an interview with Wind CEO Ken Campbell about the 100,000 subscribers. They’re pretty happy about the results. In addition, over the past year he states that their network has seen improvements, adding more cell sites and dropping less calls. He says that the industry average of dropped calls is less than 1% and they are “well below” this mark, but “depends on the area”.
Check it out the interview after the break (more…)


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Harsh Crypto Regulations Force Another Indian Exchange out of Business
Indian crypto market faces another strong blow as Coinome exchange announced that it will be shutting down business from May 15, Quartz reported May 10, 2019.
Third Major Crypto Business to Fall to Unfavorable Regulations
The recent bill introduced by the Indian government that proposes a blanket ban on cryptocurrencies has had a far-reaching effect on the major crypto companies in India.
Suppressed by the previous laws along with the recent announcement of an unfavorable crypto bill, and the drop in trading volumes that followed, Coinome crypto exchange was pushed to the corner. It announced on May 9 that it will shut down its business within a week. This makes it the third major Indian crypto business to be clamped due to unclear crypto regulations.
The lack of supportive crypto regulation had already caused India huge loss in the new technological landscape. After facing difficulties due to the ban on financial entities to deal with crypto companies, India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Zebpay moved their office to Malta in September 2018.
Half a year later, on March 30, 2019, the day of Supreme Court’s previous hearing on crypto regulations in India, Coindelta announced that it too was rolling out of business.
Expressing the difficulties Coindelta faced in operations before being forced to circle on the final decision, they stated on their website:
“The curb on the bank accounts by RBI has made us handicapped in order to provide seamless deposit and withdrawal services.”
Owner of another struggling cryptocurrency exchange told Quartz that Supreme Court’s March hearing was expected to cast a clear crypto regulation, but shattering all hopes, that too fell flat. “A lot of players are beginning to lose hope,” Quartz quoted the owner, who preferred not to be named.
The Crypto Community Can’t Keep Calm
Crypto exchange WazirX’s CEO, Nischal, has been running a Twitter campaign using the hashtag ‘IndiaWantsCrypto‘ for the past 190 days to reach out to those in power and help the crypto community’s voice be heard.
Blockchained India, an incubator for blockchain developers, also hosted a series of open town hall gatherings across four major Indian cities in March to add to the cause.
These efforts are worth mentioning, but until now, the voices only seem to be falling on deaf ears. In such a time, the statement given by Ajeet Khurana, CEO of Zebpay, during his announcement of moving Zebpay services to Australia, acts as the beam of hope. He said:
“I have talked to all of the top stakeholders in the Ministry of Finance, the central bank, the securities regulator and despite them having a certain amount misgiving around crypto I have never heard them talk of banning it.”


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UK ports association wants assurances on post-Brexit Customs arrangements
14 Jul 2017 - by Staff reporter
The British Ports Association (BPA) has called on the UK government to focus on assurances around cross-border customs arrangements following the publication of the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill yesterday (Thursday).
The Bill is designed to convert all existing EU legislation into British law. However, on the day of publication, the head of the British National Audit Office, Amyas Morse, warned that the UK would not have a new customs system in place by the time it left the EU.
BPA chief executive, Richard Ballantyne, noted that this was why the transition of Brexit needed to include guarantees on cross border trade.
“Leaving the Customs Union will almost certainly mean that freight carriers moving between the UK and the EU will be required to provide customs declarations, potentially leading to congestion at ports,” he said. “It is vital that the new customs arrangements are non-disruptive and in place in time to ensure that important parts of the freight and ports industry [are] not faced with a ‘cliff edge’ Brexit scenario.”
Ballantyne added that the BPA would be encouraging government to consider amending legislation which he said could allow for fast-track planning and consenting at ports and would be calling for the repeal of the EU Port Services Regulation post Brexit. This, he observed, would help stimulate economic growth and trade.


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Earlier this year, a federal jury in Chicago convicted Robert O’Rourke, an employee of a cast-iron manufacturing firm, for stealing trade secrets and attempting to bring them to his new employer, a rival Chinese company. During trial, the evidence showed that O’Rourke was employed at Illinois-based Dura-Bar for 30 years, when in 2013 he began negotiating new employment with a rival firm in Jiangsu, China. After accepting the position, but before leaving Dura-Bar, O’Rourke downloaded Dura-Bar’s electronic data and documents, planning to bring the trade secrets to China.
At the time of his conviction, O’Rourke faced up to 10 years as he was found guilty of seven counts of trade secret theft. But earlier this month, on October 10, 2019, O’Rourke was sentenced to just a year and a day in federal prison and was fined $100,000. Notably, in denying O’Rourke’s motion for a new trial, Judge Andrea R. Wood underscored the importance of intent for the crime of attempted trade secret theft. She held that, for attempted trade secret theft, the government did not need to prove that a trade secret in fact existed; rather, it was simply required to prove that O’Rourke took the information with the belief that the information was a trade secret.
TIP: This case serves as a reminder that the U.S. government is committed to holding individuals and companies criminally liable for stealing trade secrets. Companies should ensure that data security measures are in place to prevent theft from even lifetime employees.


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Everyone wants to sue Ringing Bells, the makers of Freedom 251. While the world’s cheapest phone could soon prove to be a costly mistake for its makers, it is unlikely that the actual buyers of the phone will sue the company. That is because the costs of litigation will far outweigh the cost of the phone.
If the company finally ends up failing to deliver the phone as promised, not many people will bother going to consumer court for something that cost them just Rs 251. Unless you have the drive to bring the company to book, thousands of customers who bought the phone won’t bother spending their precious time in courts for a refund of this amount.
In fact, some experts say the pricing gives Ringing Bells a big advantage. “They can actually pay back the money to the guys who pester them for the phone. Afterall, it is just Rs 251,” said the CEO of a tech manufacturing company.
There are still a lot of unanswered questions about the phone. The most important one still is who is subsidising the phone? While the phone is priced Rs 251, Adcom — the actual manufacturers of the units Ringing Bells showcased last month — claim the phones were sold at Rs 3,600 apiece.
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So who is picking up the tab for the Rs 3,350 that is due just on the cost of the phone? And if someone is subsidising the phone, what is responsible for this sudden outpouring of philanthropy? The only business model that can help sustain subsidised hardware is monetised content, and in India not even Apple or Google have been successful on that front, certainly not to the extent of being able to recover Rs 3,300 a year.
Some suggest that the idea behind the big launch of the Freedom 251 could have been brand building. You get a lot of press on the “world’s cheapest phone”, burn money by absorbing the subsidy to make this possible for a limited number of phones and then finally launch phones at a higher, more plausible, price point. “But by then your brand is made and everyone knows you,” says Datawind CEO Sunit Singh Tuli.
Tuli adds that this pricing has also muddied the waters for all companies planning to launch really cheap smartphones. Ringing Bells in a way took away a bit of Datawind’s thunder, as the company was reportedly working of a Rs 999 smartphone — which would have been the world’s cheapest had Freedom 251 not come along — for this year.
“Now, everyone will look at Freedom 21 as the benchmark, even if they are not able to deliver in the end,” says Tuli. The company had launched a smartphone priced Rs 1,999 last year.


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AutoGuide News Blog
The AutoGuide News Blog is your source for breaking stories from the auto industry. Delivering news immediately, the AutoGuide Blog is constantly updated with the latest information, photos and video from manufacturers, auto shows, the aftermarket and professional racing.
French automaker Citroën may be struggling but it ain’t dead. The beret-wearing brand will reveal a new concept vehicle called the Cactus at next week’s vehicular blowout in Frankfurt.


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The Oatmeal’s new book promises ‘life, death, love,’ and bears
Why Grizzly Bears Should Wear Underpants is a 168-page array of “comics, facts, and instructional guides”
Oatmeal creator Matthew Inman does not put himself out in the wild very often, preferring to create his comics and publish them online, but that’s set to change—starting in the second week of October.
That’s because Inman has a new book, Why Grizzly Bears Should Wear Underpants, a 168-page array of “comics, facts, and instructional guides” set to hit shelves on Oct. 1, and he’s heading on a book tour to promote it.
Inman’s set to embark on a seven-city tour next month, starting in New York City and winding rather unorthodoxly across the top of our country—and Toronto and Vancouver—over the span of 10 days.
“My publisher chooses cities based on the availability of a time slot that works with the rest of the tour,” Inman wrote. “If I don’t come to your city it doesn’t mean I hate you, it just means we probably couldn’t find a bookstore that worked with our schedule.”
Sounds good. Anybody who shows up at any of the appearances will have the opportunity to get Inman to sign “anything” they want: Sriracha bottles, stuffed animals, the book itself—you name it.
Grizzly Bears will be the third book Inman’s released to print. His debut collection, 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch A Dolphin In The Mouth (And Other Useful Guides), was released March 2011; he followed that up with the New York Times bestseller How To Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting To Kill You 18 months later. And it’ll follow the same template as its predecessors: a series of pre-published comics from his website, along with a smaller collection of original material.
Among them, he writes, one should expect the “Dear Sriracha Rooster Sauce,” and “What it’s like to own an Apple product,” “in addition to plenty of never-before-seen comics about life, death, love, romance, bears, explosions, and testicles.”
Photo via the Oatmeal/Facebook
Chase Hoffberger reported on YouTube, web culture, and crime for the Daily Dot until 2013, when he joined the Austin Chronicle. Until late 2018, he served as that paper’s news editor and reported on criminal justice and politics.


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UK EV registrations up 185% in 2020, despite impact of Covid-19
Despite new car registrations falling to their lowest in nearly 30 years in 2020, the proportion of the market accounted for by electric vehicles (EVs) grew significantly, according to new figures from the automotive industry's trade body.
Data published today (6 January) by the Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reveals that 1.63 million new cars were registered in the UK during 2020, compared with 2.3 million in 2019. The 29% year-on-year decline is the steepest seen since World War 2, according to the body. The last time that just 1.63 million new cars were registered was in 1992.
The EV market, however, was not hit as hard as the market for petrol and diesel models. Of the new cars registered in 2019, just 1.5% were pure electric. The proportion stood at 6.5% in 2020. Similar growth was recorded for plug-in-hybrids. Overall, more than one in ten cars registered was either pure electric or hybrid.
Some 108,200 battery electric vehicles and 66,870 plug-in hybrids were registered during 2020. More than two-thirds of these registrations were for company cars, indicative of the growing movement towards fleet electrification among businesses of all sizes.
Auto Trader’s commercial director Ian Plummer appeared on BBC radio this morning, stating that sales of new EVs and plug-in-hybrids could overtake diesel sales for the first time this year. Like other analysts, he pointed to the ban on new petrol and diesel car sales being brought forward to 2030 and to the public’s wish to lock in the reductions in transport emissions and air pollution recorded during lockdown.
In a statement released alongside the data, the SMMT said that key players in the UK’s automotive industry see EVs are a core part of their plans for recovering from the financial hit of the pandemic. Its members are planning to bring 35 new electric models to the UK market in 2021, marking a record year-on-year increase.
“With the rollout of vaccines and clarity over our new relationship with the EU, we must make 2021 a year of recovery,” SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said. “With manufacturers bringing record numbers of electrified vehicles to market over the coming months, we will work with the government to encourage drivers to make the switch, while promoting investment in our globally-renowned manufacturing base – recharging the market, industry and economy.”
Nonetheless, the SMTT believes that more must be done to stimulate battery production in the UK in the post-Brexit landscape. Under current investment plans, UK battery factories will collectively have a capacity of 15 GWh by 2023 – enough to produce 250,000 EVs per year. The SMTT wants to see the Government and industry collaborate to bring a further 45 GWh online through to 2030.
The SMTT also stated that stronger policy support will be needed to encourage EV uptake among individual motorists. Specifically, it has posited better financial incentives and more investment in public charging infrastructure, particularly in on-street scenarios.
The 2020 Budget saw the Government announcing a new commitment of ensuring that all EV drivers in the UK are never more than 30 miles away from a publicly accessible fast EV charger. Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirmed a £500m support package for fast charging networks to support progress.
UK businesses and policymakers have faced repeated warnings that the scale of EV adoption has far outpaced the introduction of charging infrastructure in recent times. PwC, for example, has claimed that UK’s EV stock reached 134,000 vehicles in 2017 – a 54% increase on 2016 figures – but that there were only 13,500 charging points to support these vehicles at that time. Chargers have since been installed at retail and community hubs by many large businesses, including KFC, McDonald’s, Marston’s, Lidl, Morrisons, Tesco and Mitchells & Butlers. Progress with on-street charging seems to be slower, with many councils claiming they need more financial support from central government to deliver on their ambitions in this space.
According to Department for Transport data, the UK’s EV charging network and now consists of around 19,500 charge points, 3,500 of which are rapid.
The great EV switchover
In related news, Zap-Map has this week published the results of a survey of 2,000 UK motorists, conducted to garner EV-related habits and plans.
91% of the respondents – who were selected because they already use EVs – said they would never consider switching back to petrol or diesel. Only 1% said they were definitely keen to switch back.
Zap-Map’s co-founder Melanie Shufflebotham said this finding evidences “the strong and enduring impact of switching to a clean car.”
“The challenge for the automotive industry is to take advantage of the opportunities that EVs present, not only in terms of the rapidly expanding range, but also ensuring that sales staff are knowledgeable enough to present the benefits to their customers,” she added.
© Faversham House Ltd 2023 edie news articles may be copied or forwarded for individual use only. No other reproduction or distribution is permitted without prior written consent.


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When it comes to Pokémon, there seem to be a lot of rumors flying out there. Pokémon Z, the projected sequel to the popular Pokémon X and Y, doesn't seem to be getting any release anytime soon, but it has been expected for a long time. As for Pokémon GO, this location-based game was announced last summer for iOS and Android, but there hasn't been a decent release date set on that one either. This is what we know about the Pokémon GO and Pokémon Z release date, and why a lot of signs are pointing to February of 2016.
A recent report from MNRDaily states that the release date for Pokémon Z could be in February 2016. Not only that, it states that Pokémon GO could be released at around the same time.
As we have reported before, most people point to the December 2015 issue of CoroCoro magazine to give details, but there really should be news from that source, considering that the month is halfway over. Not only that, the December issue of CoroCoro is usually devoted to talking about the next Pokémon movie.
A report from KPopStarz states that CoroCoro's December issue confirmed that Volcanion, the first fire/water type Pokémon will make its maiden appearance together with Zygarde in the upcoming Pokémon XY and Z movie.
It is possible that Pokémon GO is in its beta phase, so it is just not ready for a quick release date as yet. Niantic will have a Pokémon GO with a winter closed beta test run, and that is apparently as close to a release date as one can arrive at by now. One wouldn't think that a company could have a closed beta test in the winter and release it in February.
Considering that Pokémon GO is a location-based game, where the players will be running about to find Pokémon to capture and train, wouldn't it make more sense to release the game in the summertime when the player wants to go outside? Have it released in the winter will only encourage the players to go out into the cold, which they might not want to do.
Pokémon GO is also going to integrate Bluetooth into the mobile devices, and they will communicate with a Pokémon GO Plus, a wrist wearable that looks like a Pokémon Ball.
Yes, Pokémon fans have a lot to look forward to in the next year, assuming that there isn't more information about Pokémon Z showing up next month. With Pokémon GO, there will be more revealed as it gets to its official release date, so Pokémon fans should stay tuned.


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By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com — U.K. consumer confidence sank to a new all-time low this month as the country’s cost-of-living crisis took an ever-tighter grip on the public mood.
Market research firm GfK said is now at a lower ebb than during the 2008 financial crisis or at the depths of the pandemic two years ago, despite the fact that is at a 50-year low, due to galloping .
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey told parliament this week that there was little it could do to stop inflation peaking at over 10% later this year, citing the surge in global prices for energy and food.
“Nothing on the economic horizon shows a reason for optimism any time soon,” said GfK client strategy director Joe Straton.
However, the pound edged higher in early trading in London, after official data showed a surprising bounce in in April. Both overall and rose 1.4% on the month, in contrast to expectations for a further 0.2% decline. The Office for National Statistics noted, however, that on a three-month/three-month comparison, sales were still down 0.3%, extending a decline that started last summer.
By 2:55 AM ET (0655 GMT), the was up 0.1% at $1.2475.
The ONS said that the rise was chiefly the result of higher spending on alcohol and tobacco in supermarkets, while stronger clothing sales lifted overall online sales by 3.7%. While much about consumer spending has reverted to its pre-pandemic pattern, the ONS noted that the shift to online shopping remained intact. Online sales now account for over 27% of the total, well above their pre-pandemic level of 19.9%.


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El Presidente! There is a problem on the island; citizens are reporting strange things happening around a new house that’s appeared. Could it be some sort of voodoo?
Today sees the release of the latest DLC pack for Kalypso Media’s Tropico 4 in the form of the new Voodoo add-on. This latest piece of DLC adds a new building and mission for use in-game, as well some new clothing for your avatar on the island.
This time around is the new Voodoo Manor which can be used as a tourist attraction, and the Voodoo Curse mission which sees El Presidente cursed by a mysterious Soviet Sorceress.
You can get the new DLC right now on both Xbox 360 and PC for just £3.49/€3.99, or 400 Microsoft Points if you’re doing it via the Xbox Live Marketplace. Voodoo is already available on Steam and the Kalypso Launcher, and is ready to install as soon as you buy it.


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The Impreza WRX earned a lot of street cred as a rally car in the WRC circuit, with its iconic blue livery and legendary drivers like Colin McRae, Richard Burns, and Petter Solberg. But it’s been 14 years since Subaru has even participated in the WRC, and a new rally car is here to take the crown. While Subaru has been cashing in on a reputation it built decades ago, Toyota has been designing new cars, racing, and winning––and the result is the 2023 Toyota GR Corolla.
Toyota’s history in rally dates back just as long as Subaru’s. In fact, in 1993, Toyota was the first Japanese company to win a WRC Constructors Championship, stealing the show with the Celica GT-Four. In the last four years, Toyota’s Gazoo Racing WRC team has picked up two more Constructors Championships and three Drivers Championships. Now that rally legacy has come to the streets of America with the GR Corolla.
A Real Rally Car
It seems that AWD performance cars are everywhere these days, but the GR Corolla uses a purpose-built rally drivetrain designed to provide incredible traction and driver control. The GR-Four system is always active, giving drivers the option of a 60/40, 50/50, or 30/70 torque split, similar to the driver-controlled center differential of the Subaru WRX STI. Add the available Performance Package, and the GR Corolla also gets front and rear Torsen limited-slip differentials, leaving the WRX in its dust on slippery surfaces.
Under the lightweight aluminum hood of Toyota’s rally car is a turbocharged three-cylinder engine producing an even 300 horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque. For those of you still keeping score, that’s 29 horsepower and 15 lb-ft of torque more than the 2.4L four-cylinder in the larger WRX. Even better, the GR Corolla comes with a standard 6-speed manual transmission that includes auto-rev matching for perfect downshifts during high-speed driving.
Even the smaller elements of the 2023 GR Corolla display the attention to detail that has given Toyota’s Gazoo Racing its recent rally wins. Fixed four-piston calipers on 14-inch ventilated and slotted rotors give racecar level braking performance, real fender vents and rear diffuser improve aerodynamics, and the standard Michelin Pilot Sport 4S performance tires maximize grip. Opt for the Circuit Edition, and you will even get a forged carbon roof to cut weight and reduce the center of gravity.
Toyota Is Knocking It Out of the Park
In the last few years, Toyota has single-handedly revived the affordable performance car segment. The GR86 and GR Supra resurrected legends for the modern era, giving drivers traditional sports cars. But with the 2023 GR Corolla, Toyota is creating a new legend, born from Gazoo Racing’s success in WRC and drivers like Ott Tanak and Sebastien Ogier. While Subaru has rested on its laurels for years, Toyota has forged ahead, and the GR Corolla is the new king of the street-going rally car segment.


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Keep in mind the rush of feedback that took after the OnePlus 5 dispatch the previous summer when the last plan of the handset ended up being an explicit iPhone 7 duplicate? Prepare for a rehash! Truly, we heard a week ago that the OnePlus 6 will have a score like the iPhone X, and now a moment report appears to affirm everything.
The greater part of the iPhone X clones that are hitting stores this year won’t have 3D-detecting forward looking cameras, a current report stated, singling out Huawei and Xiaomi as the main two handset makers that may dispatch cell phones with 3D cameras in 2018. OnePlus wasn’t specified in that report. Does that mean OnePlus 6’s indent won’t have a 3D camera? It’s too soon to tell, and the present break doesn’t sparkle any light in such manner.
Be that as it may, Android Central statements a source comfortable with OnePlus’ arrangement, who says that the OnePlus 6 (codenamed A6000) will have an iPhone X-like show indent.
The telephone will likewise pack the top of the line specs anticipated from 2018 Android telephones, including the Snapdragon 845 stage which will enable it to hit AnTuTu scores of more than 276000 focuses.
The OnePlus 6 will include a show with 19:9 perspective proportion, “which is successfully 18:9 with some additional space up top for the indent,” Android Central reports. The center of the status bar is taller, clearly, and “prominently clear.” The framework clock is set on the left, while a truncated arrangement of symbols is found on the right. Obviously. No word on OnePlus Animoji yet.
On the off chance that this is exact, at that point there must be a clarification for the majority of this. It’s feasible that OnePlus fashioners attempted numerous models at the end of the day arrived at the conclusion that the best way to do all-screen plans this year is to do it like Apple. Once more.
A week ago’s hole said the telephone will have a vertical double focal point camera on the back — duh. Be that as it may, in any event, it was put halfway, as opposed to in the upper left corner.
It’s likely too soon to discuss the telephone’s dispatch, so be set up for a couple of periods of additionally confounding OnePlus 6 spills, including diverse model breaks. That is precisely what happened a year ago before the OnePlus 5 took off.


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Toronto printing company uses Ghomeshi quotes in ads
A Toronto printing company has decided to co-opt Jian Ghomeshi's recent Facebook declaration of innocence in a new round of ad materials. Corktown Printing Co. recently sent out flyers featuring their own tweaks on quotable quotes from Ghomeshi, who has recently been accused of sexually and physically assaulting at least 10 people. Naturally, the Internet was not pleased - the mailers, which feature the line "my tastes in higher quality printing may not be palatable to some folks," even made it to pop-feminist blog Jezebel.
Have a look at the full ads below.
Images by Lauren Williams on Twitter
Join the conversation Load comments


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IBM has rolled out a new appliance designed to help organizations manage and communicate with the billions of mobile devices and sensors in automobiles, traffic management systems, smart buildings, household appliances and beyond. It's called MessageSight, and it's Big Blue's response to the emerging Internet of Things trend.
Over the next 15 years, the number of machines and sensors connected to the Internet will explode. According to IMS Research, there will be more than 22 billion Web-connected devices by 2020. These new devices will generate more than 2.5 quintillion bytes of new data every day, while every hour enough information is consumed by Internet traffic to fill 7 million DVDs.
IBM MessageSight is capable of supporting 1 million concurrent sensors or smart devices and can scale up to 13 million messages per second. This makes possible large volumes of events to be processed in near real time, the company said, and allows organizations to consolidate all of the information in one place to glean insights to make better business decisions.
IBM is targeting MessageSight for governments and organizations looking to connect and infuse intelligence into cities and across industries such as automotive, healthcare and finance. IBM offered an example of an automotive manufacturer, which could use MessageSight to help manage the features and services of its automobiles.
With thousands of sensors in each , a dealer can now be notified when a "check engine" light turns on in a specific car. Based on the information transmitted by the engine sensor, the dealer could then notify the owner that there is a critical problem and they should get their car serviced immediately.
Zeus Kerravala, principal analyst at ZK Research, said there was no question we are moving into a world where everything is connected. The question is: How will these things connect?
"With MessageSight, IBM has built a lighter protocol to allow lots and lots of connections to happen without overloading the network," Kerravala told us. "IBM has some good partners, with TIBCO and Cisco and Red Hat backing the standard. Cisco alone is three-quarters of the world's network. That does give it some credibility."
MessageSight is designed to complement IBM's MobileFirst offerings. MobileFirst helps companies create mobile solutions, and manage and monitor those mobile devices in real time. Essentially, it's a collection of mobile enterprise software, services, cloud and analytics capabilities.
According to IDC, the market for mobile enterprise infrastructure software and services was $14.5 billion in 2012, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 16.3%. IDC expects this market to reach $30.9 billion in 2016.
With that opportunity in mind, IBM has extended its MobileFirst portfolio with new
mobile analytics capabilities and cloud services so that mobile apps can now be constantly tailored to meet the needs of the specific audience they are trying to reach. One of the new features is geolocation services for developers. Geolocation triggers can be used to extend applications to take contextual action based on a user's location to provide personalized service.


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Major league baseball turned 150 years old this year. But the game is far from perfect.
Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, the maker of Cigar Aficionado’s Cigar of the Year, will be in New York City next month, smoking cigars for a good cause.
Babe Ruth's New York Yankees road jersey, dated between 1928 and 1930, sold at auction for $5.64 million, the highest price ever for a memorabilia item.
Bidding for Watches Online: The Driver’s Collection will open on August 14 and run through August 20.
Mixing it up with vodka.
A look at how the bar inside Dukes Hotel crafts its signature Martini.
Walking the cobblestone streets and narrow alleys of Altos de Chavón with their overhanging balconies and stone walls, it is not hard to imagine that you are in 16th century Europe.
Father’s Day is coming right around the corner on June 16, so if you haven’t bought a gift for dad, it’s time to start shopping.
Yevgen Staroselskiy recently reached the top of Mount Everest carrying a box of Saint Luis Rey Herfing Exclusivo Medio Oriente cigars.
Bulgari continues its streak of record-breaking, ultra-thin watches with the Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT Automatic.
An agave shortage isn’t keeping Tequila down.
Sudden interest in pre-Prohibition whiskey is boosting Bourbon on the auction market. But the current market also has finds that will develop a history of their own.
The history of the green jacket, the most coveted piece of apparel in the sports world.
Spring is here, and that means it’s time for a tradition unlike any other—betting your hard-earned money on The Masters.
The standout steakhouse Keens is decorated with tens of thousands of clay pipes harkening back to the smoky days of yore.
Great globes put the whole world in your hands.
The 2019 Els For Autism charity golf tournament raised more than $1 million.
Zenith has teamed up with Habanos to create a series of limited-edition Trinidad branded watches.


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A new Touch ID function was revealed in a new patent application published on Thursday by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which is titled “Fingerprint Sensor in an Electronic Device.” The filing uses words to describe how Apple might include a fingerprint sensor into the display stack on a device like an iPhone. Read more
Apple is moving away from TSMC and back to Samsung to manufacture the chip which is the power-house behind the iPhone, which was reported by Recode. The source notes that Apple had “hoped” to rely more heavily on TSMC for the next-generation A9 processor. However, things didn’t work out that way due to TSMC’s limits in manufacturing.
Reuters on Thursday, simply reported that HealthKit trials are moving away from universities and into hospitals. Something that’s worth noting, more than half of the nation’s top 23 hospitals have recently released their own trials of the HealthKit platform, or gearing up to do so. HealthKit simply allows third-party groups to integrate and interact with the user’s health database on iOS 8 devices. Read more
The United States Patent & Trademark Office on Tuesday granted Apple an interesting patent on advanced automotive control by linking your iPhone to your vehicle through Bluetooth.
Samsung is confirmed to build the 14-nanometer design, which was highly anticipated to be adopted by the company’s next-generation processor, and expected to be called the “A9″ chip, which Re/code reaffirmed on Wednesday. Read more
On Wednesday, TechCrunch relayed new survey by market research firm Kantar Worldpanel. Kantar simply underlines a small highlight for Apple’s global rivalry with Android as the company overtook Android vendors in terms of units shipped in the United States, this happened during the last three months of 2014. Read more
Recently, some interesting news had surfaced up on the official App Store Distribution data as of yesterday, iOS 8 is now running on 72% of iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices. Read more
On Tuesday, a report from BGR had made some claims that Apple is planning to release iOS 8.2 around March, ahead of the Apple Watch launch, which is suppose to land in April. “A trusted source” privy to Apple’s most recent roadmap told the site that Apple isn’t planning to release iOS 8.2 this month. Read more
After Apple simply shipped a record number of 74.5 million handsets during the holiday quarter, representing more than half of Apple’s total revenue for the quarter, the Cupertino firm could be gearing up to move about 50 million iPhone units in the first quarter of this year. Read more
Recently reported by Bloomberg, Apple is said to invest close to $2 billion to convert the Mesa, Arizona factory into a data center after the facility failed to produce sapphire screens for iPhones. Read more


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Mike Ashely’s Frasers Group has upped its stake in Boohoo again, taking it from 17 per cent to over 22 per cent.
Shares in the fast fashion firm leaped over three per cent this morning as investors responded positively to the news.
Frasers, formerly called Sports Direct, said over the summer its purchase of Boohoo shares was consistent with its strategy of building “supportive” positions in “attractive” companies.
The fashion powerhouse has slowly been building a presence in a host of retailers including Currys and Asos.
Just last week, the firm now fronted by Ashely’s son in law Michael Murray, became Asos’s second largest shareholder upping its stake to over 24 per cent.
The group said before Christmas it was on track to hit profit guidance of £500m-£500m.
However, Murray did warn that the firm’s luxury and premium segment – largely based around the Flannels brand – was being hit by cost of living pressures.


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After weeks of speculation, Motorola has officially unveiled the Moto G smartphone at an event in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Motorola Moto G will be available in at least 30 countries with Google’s partners by 2014.
Google owned handset maker has announced that the Moto G will be sold through the company’s website in US, with no contract, no SIM lock and an unlockable bootloader at $179 (Rs. 11,300 approximately) for the 8GB inbuilt storage model, while the 16GB variant will be available at $199 (Rs. 12,600 approximately).
Motorola Moto G will be available in Brazil starting this week, and the smartphone will be released in Latin America, Europe, Canada and parts of Asia over the next few weeks.
Interestingly, Motorola has finally confirmed that Motorola will be re-entering India with its latest Moto G smartphone, with a launch in “early-January 2014”. Other markets to get the Motorola Moto G in the same period include the US, the Middle East and more countries in Asia. Further, Motorola announced that Moto G will also be available in a dual-SIM variant, for selective markets.
While announcing the Motorola Moto G, Dennis Woodside, Motorola CEO also compared the device with some premium smartphones and said, “Today we’re introducing Moto G, a smartphone that delivers a premium experience for a third of the price of current high-end phones.”
The Motorola Moto G runs Android 4.3 out-of-the-box and the Google-owned handset maker also ‘guaranteed’ that the smartphone will be getting the Android 4.4 KitKat by January 2014.
It features a 4.5-inch HD display with a resolution of 720×1280 pixels and boasts a pixel density of 329ppi. The Moto G is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor along with 1GB of RAM. On the camera front, the Moto G sports a 5-megapixel rear camera along with an LED flash and also includes a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera. The rear camera supports HD video recording. The Motorola Moto G also features water-resistant coating.
The Moto G packs a 1950mAh battery, which Motorola claims can deliver up to 30 percent more battery life than the Apple iPhone 5s. The Moto G also features removable curved back and the company also announced a bunch of accessories including coloured removable shells, flip-cover and some music accessories like JBL wireless speakers for the device.
Motorola Moto G also comes with some proprietary features like Motorola Assist and Motorola Migrate. The company is also offering 65GB of free online Google Drive storage will the Moto G
Motorola Moto G key specifications
- 4.5-inch HD display with a resolution of 720×1280 pixels
- 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor
- 1GB of RAM
- 8GB and 16GB inbuilt storage
- Android 4.3 Jelly Bean
- Dual-SIM variant (For selective markets)
- 1950mAh battery
- Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G
Motorola just unveiled their newest entry, the Moto G, and it’s looking to be a game changer. Although the smartphone will surely be slammed by first world smartphone owners as under-powered and undesirable, the affordably priced unit will finally bring the latest Google software and decent specs to many who otherwise could not afford it.
Spec wise, the Moto G touts a Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor running at 1.2 GHz, a 5 megapixel camera, 1 GB of RAM, a 4.5 inch 720p HD display, and will come with 8 or 16GB of storage. The device will ship unlocked and untethered, all for $179 for the 8GB model and $199 for the 16GB model. The Moto G will ship with Android 4.3, and will receive Android 4.4 KitKat in January.
Motorola has made a video showcasing the Moto G, and it looks pretty sweet to me. Check it out below, and expect to see the Moto G hitting U.S. shelves in early 2014.


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When the G1 launched back in October, a common question clanged through the halls: wheres the multitouch? When a few clever minds managed to patch in their own multitouch support, proving that the hardware could handle it, things got even more perplexing. Had Google just not ironed out the multitouch workings enough to support it in this first device, or had Apple’s patent stranglehold scared them away?
According to details given to VentureBeat by an Android team member, it’s something along the lines of the latter. If their source’s retellings ring true, Apple “asked” Google not to make multitouch a part of the device. it’s unclear whether “asked” here means “Please don’t include multitouch support” or “Please don’t include multitouch support, or our lawyers will eat your face.”
The source also adds that they were glad Google didn’t challenge Apple’s request. Google and Apple have a rather strong relationship, especially in the mobile realm – the iPhone comes out of the box with Google Maps installed, Google’s search engine in the browser’s top bar, and Apple has seemingly turned their heads on the fact that Google’s voice search application relies on restricted APIs.
While it might work out for everyone involved for the time being, I can’t imagine it’ll stay that way for long. Heavy marketing of the capabilities of many-fingered input on Apple’s part has made it a look-for feature, and no manufacturer wants to be on the wrong side of a trend. Palm seems to be moving forward with the Pre (which makes heavy use of multitouch), regardless of the threat of litigation by Apple’s COO Tim Cook. Multitouch has become a staple and, if they have hopes for Android to be successful as a platform (beyond the initial rush of device’s we’ll likely see at Mobile World Congress next week), Google will have to find a way to offer it.
It’s highly unlikely that a simple request from Apple has scared Google from multitouch altogether. What’s more likely is that multitouch support is being developed and maintained throughout the platform, but in a seperate (and private) development branch – in other words, “behind the scenes”. When an end to the dispute is reached, be it by Apple licensing the patent (probably not going to happen) or losing the legal ability to dictate who can detect two fingers rather than one (more likely), Google could be ready. As we’ve seen through the user-made demos, Android supports multitouch with just a few lines of code in the right places; with a few quick switches, multitouch could be sent out to the masses.


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AP News in Brief at 4:58 a.m. EST
Americans prepare to mark Thanksgiving with family, celebrations; Sandy overshadows for some
NEW YORK (AP) — Airports, train stations and highways were expected to remain busy as people made their way home to reconnect with family and friends for Thanksgiving — although some reunions might be bittersweet because of the damage and displacement caused by Superstorm Sandy.
For some, the once-sacrosanct harvest feast now starts the holiday shopping season — and store openings keep getting earlier. Black Friday now starts on Thanksgiving day itself at many national stores and some shoppers eagerly race from their dinner tables to line up for bargains, delaying their second helpings until they've purchased the latest toys or electronic devices.
The popular Macy's thanksgiving Day Parade, attended by more than 3 million people and watched by 50 million on television, was scheduled to kick off in New York City.
This year, the giant balloons were to welcome Elf on a Shelf and Papa Smurf. A new version of Hello Kitty was to be included while Buzz Lightyear, Sailor Mickey Mouse and the Pillsbury Doughboy remained in the lineup. Real life stars were to include Carly Rae Jepsen and Rachel Crow of "The X Factor."
Other cities planned to have showy marching bands, cartoon character balloons, and musical extravaganzas, as well. Chicago, Philadelphia and Detroit were among the big cities hosting parades.
As truce holds after 8 days of Hamas-Israel fighting, Gazans emerge from homes to clear rubble
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Gaza residents cleared rubble and claimed victory on Thursday, just hours after an Egyptian-brokered truce between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers ended the worst cross-border fighting in four years.
The cease-fire announcement had set off frenzied late night street celebrations in the coastal strip, and raised hopes of a new era in relations between Israel and Hamas. The two sides are now to negotiate a deal that would open the borders of the blockaded Palestinian territory.