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Investors are taking interest in General Motors. According to regulatory filings, at of the end of December, Jana Partners added to positions in the auto maker, upping it to nearly eight million shares. Leon Cooperman of Omega Advisors opened a stake in the largest U.S. automaker, buying more than one million shares. That sent the stock up two percent to $35.95.
VF Corporation saw fourth-quarter earnings climb ten percent on sales growth in its outdoor brands like The North Face. But results fell short of estimates because of declines in some of the company’s units, like its jeans business. That contributed to an outlook softer than a pair of well-worn wranglers. Shares tumbled five percent to $56.85.
J.M. Smucker also missed earnings estimates. The maker of Folgers coffee took a hit because of competition in its peanut butter business as well as currency-related issues. Health-conscious consumers didn’t help business either, since many are avoiding artificial sweeteners. A week outlook topped off the bad report. Shares fell nearly five percent to $90.51.
This miserable winter hasn’t been so bad for Campbell’s Soup. More American bought soup, which sent profits up more than 70 percent. The late Thanksgiving holiday also helped by pushing shipments to retailers into the company’s last quarter. The food maker reaffirmed its outlook. Shares rose five percent to $43.01.
Jos. A. Bank
After a series of back and forth buyout offers with Men’s Wearhouse, retailer Jos. A. Bank said it would buy Eddie Bauer, in an effort to stay independent. Bank is buying the privately held company for around $800 million, because it said the deal provided better shareholder value than buying or selling to Men’s Wearhouse. The chain also upped its share buyback plan. The stock rose slightly to $55.12.
There are reports that the U.S. Speedskating Federation is requesting to switch the team’s suits, which are designed by Under Armour. The team is trying to make sense of its poor performance and now the speculation has turned to the competitor’s new high-tech suits. The uniform was designed by the sports retailer with help from defense contractor, Lockheed Martin. Shares fell more than two percent to $106.


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Market Common is the place to be this fall in Myrtle Beach, when the upscale shopping district will host many new events. Market Common released its fall schedule of events, such as a Wine-tasting series, festivals, a car show, the DeVille Street Farmers Market and more. Here's the lineup for fall 2012:
* Travinia Italian Kitchen will host a wine tasting every Friday evening in September and October from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. For $10, guests will enjoy wine tastings and appetizer pairings in 104 Radcliffe, a suite with a balcony overlooking The Market Common. The lobby entrance is located in between Barnes & Noble and Travinia Italian Kitchen, and signs will direct guests to the event. Guests may pay at the doors.
Wine Tasting at Market Common — Photo courtesy of Market Common
* The DeVille Street Farmers Market will be open on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon in September and October 2012. The Market Common will continue the DeVille Street Farmers Market until the end of October. The market features fresh, locally grown produce and locally caught seafood. Each week at 11 a.m., Williams-Sonoma will host "Cooking at the Market", a chef demonstration series featuring produce from the Farmer's Market.
* The 5th Annual Oktoberfest will be held from the last weekend in September through the month of October at the Market Common in Valor Park. Oktoberfest will feature live German music, children's activities, pumpkin patch for kids, inflatables, face painting, German food and a large selection of German and Oktoberfest beer and wine.
* The Austin-Healey Car Show will be held October 6 from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. More than 100 Austin-Healey sports cars will be on display on Howard Avenue. Admission is free and food and beverages will be available for purchase.
* The Waccamaw Area Heart Walk will be held October 13 in Grand Park, where the American Heart Association will host their annual fundraiser. Participants will walk either a 1- or 2-mile route through The Market Common. Festivities include food, live music and activities.
Sunset at Market Common — Photo courtesy of Market Common
* The 3rd Annual Myrtle Beach Wine Fest will be held October 20 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. in Valor Park. The event will feature over 100 wines to sample, live music, food, beer and vendors. Admission is free. $5 Wine Tasting Glasses will be available for purchase, and all 2 oz. samples range from $1 to $6.
* The Souper Supper will be held November 4 from noon to 3 p.m. The American Culinary Federation will host the Souper Supper in Valor Park, featuring soups from over 40 area restaurants. Admission is $10 and includes all soup samples and breads. Proceeds benefit Horry Georgetown Technical College culinary students.
* The 5th Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony will be held Friday, November 23, beginning at 6 p.m. at The Market Common in Valor Park. The Tree Lighting Ceremony will feature live entertainment, hot chocolate by Canipes, and the official Lighting of the Tree. After the ceremony, complimentary carriage rides photos with Santa will be available. Carriage rides will begin in front of Tommy Bahama Restaurant & Bar. Photos with Santa will be located in front of Grand 14 Cinema, and guests are asked to bring their own camera.

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Google's intent is to encourage you to rent a movie for Valentine’s Day, but it’s good for any content in the Play Store.
Be the expert mixmaster all with a few taps of your phone and Google's streaming dongle.
Roku just made it a whole lot easier to watch Google Play content on your TV.
The new Google Play Games lets players challenge one another if they're in the same room.
Part with your money before the latest flick is even available.
There is finally better details in Google Play for what those not-so-free games will actually cost.
You may soon be able to see how much that free app will really cost you.
The new Google Play rule applies to those with paid apps or in-app purchases.
Developers also get better e-commerce tools for tracking shopping habits.
It's not an official change yet, but we tried it out and Google kept offering a refund well after the usual 15 minute window.


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HONG KONG: Brilliant Global Knitwear to use Crailar fibre
Hong Kong-based private label knitwear manufacturer Brilliant Global Ltd is to use the new cotton-like flax-based fibre Crailar in some of the items it produces for global brands.
The new agreement will begin next month and will involve a minimum of 1.5m pounds of the fibre. It's the third deal since March and takes the Crailar client roster to seven global brands, including HanesBrands and Levi Strauss.
"Brilliant works with the most recognisable brands and retailers in North America and we intend to demonstrate the significant capabilities of Crailar Flax to perform seamlessly within its portfolio, while integrating a sustainable, all-natural fibre into its textile mix and its consumer product story." Ken Barker, CEO of Crailar's developer, Naturally Advanced Technologies Inc (NAT).
The fibre is produced using a process that bathes the flax in a proprietary enzyme wash to remove the binding agents that contribute to its stiff texture.
The result is a textile fibre that combines the strength and durability of flax with the softness and comfort of cotton. Crailar flax fibres are also said to shrink less than cotton, wick moisture better, and have increased dye uptake - which means they require fewer chemicals to achieve the same depth of colour.
Yarns made from Crailar fibres can be used in knit, woven or non-woven fabrics alone, or blended with other natural fibres.
Featured research from just-style's store this week includes a look at the apparel sectors in Taiwan and Malaysia, a round-up of the latest developments in technical textiles, and a report on the west...
T-shirt and underwear maker HanesBrands says its decision to raise prices three times over the past year in response to rising input costs "worked well" in its core business, and that retailers "have ...
Naturally Advanced Technologies Inc, producer of the Crailar fibre made from flax and other bast fibres, is getting closer to its first full phase of production and says improvements in its cycle time...
Discount retail giant Target Corporation has joined global brands and retailers including Levi Strauss, H&M, Gucci, Benetton and Esprit in banning the use of sandblasting on all owned-brand and nation...
Columbia Sportswear Company has appointed Hyung-Rae (HR) Cho as the new general manager of its wholly owned Korean subsidiary, with immediate effect....
Apparel group HanesBrands has reported a 25% jump in full-year profit, but admitted that sales softened during the fourth quarter....
Jeans giant Levi Strauss & Co has seen its fourth quarter profit nearly cut in half as rising cotton costs outpaced higher ticket prices....
Naturally Advanced Technologies has announced a partnership with Tuscarora Yarns to explore a range of blended yarns using Crailar Flax....
- Why have US FTA imports fallen to a record low?
- Hanesbrands sourcing to cut Pacific Brands costs
- Why China makers are moving out or moving online
- Multiple country choices require complex decisions
- Apparel manufacturing hubs vying for business
- Li & Fung divests Asia distribution business
- US looks to boost trade with Sri Lanka
- Vietnam textile sector calls for strategy update
- Aeropostale to close 154 stores amid bankruptucy
- US Q1 in brief: Wolverine Worldwide, Weyco


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New plant drives Denway net higher
Denway Motors, Honda Motor's mainland partner, said profit rose 18.6 per cent last year after a new plant boosted output of Accord sedans.
Net income jumped to HK$2.26 billion from HK$1.91 billion a year earlier, in line with the estimate by a Bloomberg survey of 13 analysts.
Sales fell 5 per cent to HK$807.6 million.
The main profit driver was its 50 per cent-owned venture with Japan's Honda, which contributed HK$2.09 billion, a 10 per cent rise from 2005.
Denway, a unit of the mainland's sixth-largest carmaker Guangzhou Automobile Group, sold 260,000 cars last year, up 12.7 per cent.
It made about 262,000 units last year, an increase of 13 per cent, after a production line capable of making 120,000 vehicles a year came on stream in the fourth quarter.
'The performance of the group's motor vehicle trading business last year was slightly below expectation given the intense competition in the market,' the company said.
About 7.2 million cars were sold in the mainland last year, up 25 per cent, while output grew 27 per cent to about 7.3 million units.
Denway plans to boost both car production and sales volume to 310,000 units this year, an increase of more than 19 per cent.


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3 Consumer Stocks to Ring Up as We Head Into Prime Shopping Season
In the holiday shopping season, consumers benefit from three very positive trends. The first positive development is that gasoline prices have dropped sharply since the summer, putting significantly more money into consumers’ bank accounts. This cash flow surge has led to this list of consumer stocks to buy.
In a related trend, inflation has continued to slow, helped by lower gas prices, supply chain improvements, and reduced electricity costs. Finally, the labor market has remained relatively tight while wages rapidly increase.
Given this environment, many retailers should thrive during the holiday season and beyond. Here are three consumer stocks to benefit from retailers’ bright outlook.
Discount retailer TJX (NYSE:TJX) reported strong Q3 results on Nov. 15 as its revenue climbed 9% versus the same period a year earlier to $13.3 billion, while the sales of its comparable stores jumped a robust 6%. Encouragingly, the latter increase was “entirely driven by customer traffic,” not price increases. As a result, the company’s comp sales will likely continue to jump sharply going forward. On the bottom line, its earnings per share increased 13% versus the same period a year earlier to $1.03.
TJX provided Q4 EPS guidance of 97 cents to $1, well below analysts’ average estimate of $1.13. However, given the company’s excellent Q3 results and the solid macro environment, I believe this outlook will be conservative. It also makes TJX one of those consumer stocks to buy.
Strengthening my belief in the latter thesis, CEO Ernie Herrman said, “The fourth quarter is off to a strong start, and…We are strongly positioned as a shopping destination for gifts this holiday selling season. We are convinced our values and fresh shipments to stores and online throughout the season will be a major draw again this year.”
Given the company’s impressive growth, its forward price-earnings ratio of 22.4 is attractive.
Specifically, the company’s revenue rose 5% versus Q3 of 2022 to $161 billion. That was $2.26 billion above analysts’ average estimate. In America, the company’s comparable sales climbed 4.9% year-over-year, while its earnings per share, excluding certain items, came in at $1.53, 1 cent above the mean estimate.
Also noteworthy is that WMT’s operating cash flow jumped $700 million versus Q3 of 2022.
Finally, in the U.S., Walmart’s e-commerce revenue rose 24% year-over-year. The latter metric and its overall results show that it’s more than holding its own in this e-commerce-oriented era.
Although some raised concerns about CFO John David Rainey saying that its sales growth had slowed in the last two weeks of October, Rainey added that the response to its discounts had been “pretty good.” As a result, I think the deceleration in October will be nothing more than a temporary blip.
Like Walmart and TJX, restaurant chain Brinker (NYSE:EAT) reported powerful Q3 results, showing that it is well-positioned to thrive in this year’s prime shopping season. (Although restaurant chains are not officially part of the holiday shopping season, they benefit from people going out to shop and eating at restaurants afterward).
The company’s top line jumped 5.7% versus the same period a year earlier to $1 billion, while its operating income rose to $24.2 million versus an operating loss of $19.8 million during Q2 of 2022.
Among the factors that led to the huge improvement in its OI were lower commodity costs, labor costs, and higher prices. It’s definitely one of those consumer stocks to keep on your watchlist.
On the date of publication, Larry Ramer did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
Larry Ramer has conducted research and written articles on U.S. stocks for 15 years. He has been employed by The Fly and Israel’s largest business newspaper, Globes. Larry began writing columns for InvestorPlace in 2015. Among his highly successful, contrarian picks have been PLUG, XOM and solar stocks. You can reach him on Stocktwits at @larryramer.
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The post 3 Consumer Stocks to Ring Up as We Head Into Prime Shopping Season appeared first on InvestorPlace.


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Irish are charged more for mobiles
IT’S NOT good to talk: Ireland’s 3m mobile phone users are paying more for phones and calls than users in Britain, according to a new survey.
Ireland’s chattering classes — 80% of the population now have mobile phones, compared with 10% in 1997 — are shelling out up to five times what their British counterparts are paying for top-of-the-range digital camera mobiles and standard handsets, despite subscribing to the same operators.
The survey, by the Consumers’ Association of Ireland, also revealed that mobile calls can cost prepaid, pay-as-you-go customers four times more than contract customers. Critics say that companies are reaping huge profits from young users, and those with low incomes, who are penalised because they cannot afford or are not eligible to sign contracts for billed phones.
Only one country in Europe spends more money on mobile phones than Ireland — it is Switzerland which tops the average revenue per user (ARPU)


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You will not find a squeaking hot dog rotisserie in Amazon.com’s cashier-less convenience store. Instead, you will see Mediterranean lamb sandwiches, fresh salads and to-go containers of fruit.
After more than a year of testing with an employee focus group, Amazon Go opened to the public last week in downtown Seattle, putting to the test the online retailer’s technology that lets shoppers grab what they want and pay online.
The inventory caters to health-conscious, affluent millennials rushing to their next meeting or home. There are typical convenience store staples like peanut butter, milk, eggs and bread. Freshly made items get prominent shelf space, as do veggie chips and other products from the Whole Foods “365 Everyday Value” brand.
“We got a lot of feedback on selection,” Amazon Go’s Vice President of technology Dilip Kumar said.
Amazonians prefer their salad dressing on the side, for instance. And boxed meal kits to be cooked at home should be clearly labeled if they are vegan or gluten-free.
Amazon Go is the company’s most ambitious effort to change the way people shop in stores and a play for the struggling $550 billion U.S. convenience store industry. Amazon hopes the cashier-less technology will help it stand out from the nation’s 150,000 convenience stores where traffic jams can form at the checkout counter.
It’s all part of the company’s larger brick-and-mortar ambitions, which include a stepped-up push into groceries by acquiring Whole Foods Market and opening bookstores in large markets.
To enter the Amazon Go store, customers download a smartphone app and scan a QR code to open a glass turnstile. Those shopping in a group scan the account holder’s phone once for each person entering and sensors will associate them with that account.
From there, machines take over, watching the items plucked from shelves and adding them to a shopping cart.
Shoppers are billed once they leave and if there are any mistakes or the customer isn’t happy with an item, you push a “refund” button to have that item removed from the bill.
The system at the store in Amazon’s new Seattle headquarters complex is designed around the honor system.


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Owners of a highly-anticipated family entertainment center are eyeing a June opening for its Dothan location.
While it was originally slated for an October opening, two of its three owners Johnny Lee and Keith Paniucki said they didn’t want to open Hangar 38 amid the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s a bigger space that typically attracts large crowds,” Paniucki said on Tuesday. “We wanted to be responsible.”
Work has picked back up at the site, located in the former Carmike Cinemas building in the Circle West Shopping Center on Ross Clark Circle, and the owners believe they’ll be able to have a soft opening within the first couple weeks of June.
The trio opened the first Hangar 38 in Tallahassee in May 2019. After the first location’s success, they spent three months touring several cities to decide on a second location before landing on Dothan.
“We felt like it was underserved from an entertainment standpoint, certainly for family entertainment,” Paniucki said. “As soon as we decided Dothan was our choice, it didn’t take us long to realize we made an excellent choice after sitting down and talking to the chamber and all of the people representing the city.”
The owners worked with Watson and Downs to secure the old theater as its site at the beginning of last year. Dothan leaders incentivized reinvestment by offering up to $750,000 in sales tax rebates to the developer and building owner Commercial Consulting Corp. of Dothan to reconstruct and renovate the 18,000-square-foot building for its new tenant, Hangar 38.
Dothan’s Hangar 38 will have an eight-lane bowling alley, around 80 arcade games – some retro and some that utilize newer technology like virtual reality, a 200-seat restaurant, large bar, outside beer garden, TVs for sports games, and several spaces for small and large private parties.
“Our emphasis is on family, so we’ll have something for everyone,” Lee said.
Owners say they are perhaps equally known for their great food as they are for their entertainment amenities. Their menu is vast including popular arcade favorites like burgers and pizzas, but also charcuterie boards, sushi, fried ribs, and rice bowls. Lee said they plan to populate their beer selection with products from local breweries as well as other popular preferences.
Hangar 38 plans to hire 80 to 100 people in various positions and will hold job fairs soon.
For the latest information on job openings and other updates, people can follow Hangar 38 on its Facebook page “Hangar 38 – Dothan.”


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Severe weather items sold tax-free this weekend
This is Severe Weather Awareness Week in Alabama, which concludes with a tax-free weekend for emergency supplies.
Sales taxes won't be applied to qualifying items costing less than $60, including batteries, weather radios, flashlights, tarps, plywood and other items for protecting windows in storms, ice chests and coolers, ice packs, first aid kits, and fire, smoke and carbon dioxide detectors. Sales taxes won't be charged on generators costing less than $1,000.
The tax-free weekend ends at midnight Sunday. For more information, go to www.revenue.alabama.gov/sales-use/sales-tax-holidays.


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You may be familiar with the joy of getting home and finding an extra order of french fries in your fast food bag, so imagine how rad it would be to find $3,600 cash stashed in your to-go bag.
That’s what happened to a trio of Taco Bell visitors in Kentwood, MI, who were miles away from the eatery when they realized that the cashier at the drive-thru had screwed up their order, by handing them a bag full of cash instead.
“It ended up being three bags of money,” says one of the customers. “A lot of money. And then like another wad of a ton of twenties.”
She says that they initially wanted to keep it but decided that returning it was the right thing to do (and maybe they’ve seen how movies like A Simple Plan, and Shallow Grave have turned out).
“You see a bunch of money and you’re like, ‘Let’s keep this, this’ll be awesome!'” added one of her fellow diners. “But then you’re like, ‘No, someone’s going to lose their job. Let’s bring this back.'”
“It’s not like we were losing anything by giving it back,” points out the third good Samaritan.
The group returned the money, which presumably was destined for the eatery’s safe or maybe a night-deposit at the bank.
Taco Bell customers find $3,600 in take-out bag [MyFox8.com]


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Rumor: Iconic Mario Games Remastered on Nintendo Switch
Jacob Blazewicz, 30 March 2020, 22:28
There was an intriguing leak on the web related to the Mario series. Nintendo intends to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the franchise with announcements of new games and remasters of iconic titles. There are also plans to announce an animated movie with the company's mascot in the main role.
Mario and Other Projects Related to Nintendo Disappear From Dreams on PS4
Konrad Serafinski, 22 March 2020, 14:53
The project of one of Dreams players was stopped by Nintendo intervention. The giant doesn't like the fact that users use iconic company characters with impunity. This probably means the end of projects openly imitating Mario, Linka or other iconic characters.
Nintendo Announces LEGO Super Mario
Michael Kulakowski, 10 March 2020, 22:25
A short trailer and announcement of LEGO Super Mario appeared on Nintendos official Twitter profile. For the time being, we don't know whether it will be a series of physical lego sets under the license of the legendary platform game or a bigger collaboration between companies, which may result in new games on Nintendo Switch.
Unique Nintendo PlayStation Sold for Over 360 Thousand Dollars
Adrian Werner, 09 March 2020, 13:53
The auction of Nintendo PlayStation, a prototype console that has never been officially distributed, has ended. The winning bid was $360,000.
Players are Waiting for PS5 and New Xbox; Sales of Old Consoles Decrease
Bart Swiatek, 17 February 2020, 15:12
The NPD group has noted a significant drop in interest in the current generation of consoles - PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Sales dropped more sharply than expected by Sony and Microsoft.
You Can Bid For The Prototype of Nintendo PlayStation
Laty, 14 February 2020, 14:05
Nintendo PlayStation is a child of a short collaboration between Sony and Nintendo. The hybrid console has recently been put up for auction, and the highest bid is already $350,000.
Rumor: Zelda Breath of the Wild 2 Only in 2021
Adrian Werner, 02 February 2020, 22:01
There have been reports on the web that the development of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 takes more time than initially planned. As a result, we will probably have to wait until 2021 for the game's release.
2020 Without Nintendo Switch Pro
Peter Doron, 31 January 2020, 12:38
Nintendo officially announced that we will not see a new, improved model of the Switch console in 2020. Instead, we'll get several limited editions - the first one, intended for fans of the Animal Crossing series, will be released in March.
52 Million Units of Nintendo Switch Sold; Great Result of Pokemon
Adrian Werner, 30 January 2020, 11:44
Nintendo has reasons to be satisfied. Sales of the Switch console have already exceeded 52 million copies. In addition, Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield are doing great on the market.
Nintendo Earned One Billion Dollars in Revenue From Mobile Games
Jacob Blazewicz, 29 January 2020, 23:16
Sensor Tower, the analytical group, revealed the financial results of Nintendo's mobile games. Titles like Fire Emblem Heroes or Mario Kart Tour have brought the company one billion dollars in revenue.
Nintendo Switch with GameCube Controller - Impressive Fan Design
Konrad Serafinski, 12 January 2020, 18:41
The popular youtuber has created unique Joy-Cons for Nintendo Switch that look just like the GameCube controller. Moreover, they are fully functional and work both connected to the console and wirelessly.
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX Announced
Adrian Werner, 10 January 2020, 17:01
The Pokemon Company has announced Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX, a turn-based RPG with roguelike elements that will debut this year on Nintendo Switch. The game is a remake of two classics from DS and Game Boy Advance.
Expansion Pass for Pokemon Sword and Shield Announced
Peter Doron, 10 January 2020, 11:47
Nintendo, The Pokemon Company and Game Freak have announced an Expansion Pass for Pokemon Sword and Shield. The pack will include two major extensions to one of the biggest hits of 2019.
In 2019 79% of Japanese Console Market Belonged to Nintendo
Adrian Werner, 09 January 2020, 14:33
Thanks to Famitsu, we have learned the scale of Nintendo's domination on the Japanese market. As many as 76% of the consoles sold last year were models from the Switch family.
Rumor: New Model of Nintendo Switch in Mid-2020
Adrian Werner, 07 January 2020, 15:02
There have been rumors suggesting that Nintendo intends to release a new model of the Switch console in mid-year. Production is expected to start in this quarter.
Unique Prototype of Nintendo PlayStation Goes to Auction
Frozen, 18 December 2019, 14:24
A rare prototype of a hybrid console resulting from the short collaboration of Sony and Nintendo will soon be put on sale. This will be the first ever opportunity to purchase this unique device.
A Very Peculiar Trailer of No More Heroes 3
Michael Kulakowski, 13 December 2019, 03:28
The Game Awards 2019 presented a new and rather unconventional trailer for No More Heroes 3, produced in the form of a five-minute animation inspired by cartoons from the 80s and 90s. The video also confirmed the release date of the game on Nintendo Switch.
Pokemon Sword and Shield Break Sales Records Despite the Controversy
Paul Wozniak, 21 November 2019, 22:15
According to official data, the latest installments of Pokemon have sold very well in the first week since their release. The games became the fastest growing title in the history of Nintendo Switch console, breaking the record of sales in Japan, among others.
Techland Announces Call of Juarez Gunslinger on Nintendo Switch
Bart Swiatek, 25 October 2019, 09:48
Techland announced that the shooter Call of Juarez: Gunslinger will hit the Nintendo Switch console on December 10. The release will use a number of features specific to the platform. The first trailer was also presented.
Techland Begins Advertising Call of Juarez Gunslinger on Switch
Bart Swiatek, 21 October 2019, 11:09
It seems that Call of Juarez: Gunslinger may soon appear on the Nintendo Switch console. Polish developer Techland has started an advertising campaign, which leaves no doubt in this respect.
Problems Between Blizzard and Nintendo Result in Overwatch Refunds?
Bart Swiatek, 17 October 2019, 15:38
There are reports on the web that Nintendo does not promote Overwatch - at least not in the USA. Some users also report problems with the game's availability in the eShop and the alleged possibility of refunds of the title. Is the case somehow related to the events in Hong Kong? Or is it just a simple misunderstanding?
Mario Kart Tour Remains in the Lead - Over 90 Million Downloads
Milosz Szubert, 03 October 2019, 12:45
The free racing game Mario Kart Tour has been downloaded over 90 million times in the first week since its launch on mobile devices. This is the best result of a Nintendo game in this market.
Mario Kart Tour is a Record Mobile Debut With Nasty Microtransactions
Jacob Blazewicz, 28 September 2019, 00:16
Mario Kart Tour's recent debut proved to be record-breaking among mobile games, easily outperforming the previously unbeatable Pokemon GO. Unfortunately, the success of the game was overshadowed by the stink raised by extremely nasty microtransactions.
Nintendo Sues Another ROM Website; Millions of Dollars are at Stake
Jacob Blazewicz, 12 September 2019, 15:33
Nintendo has filed another lawsuit in connection with illegal sharing of games on the Internet. This time it was the RomUniverse website, from which the publisher demands substantial compensation.
Switch Gets Bent Controllers? Nintendo Patents New Joy-Cons
Bebop, 09 September 2019, 16:18
Nintendo may introduce new, more ergonomic Joy-Cons for the Switch console. May, but it doesn't have to, because so far the patent for bent controllers has only been filed online.
Nintendo Direct - Divinity: Original Sin 2 Launches on Switch and More
Frozen, 05 September 2019, 21:01
We have gathered all the most important information and announcements from the Nintendo Direct presentation that took place this morning.
Astral Chain Review Bombed on Metacritic by Jealous Gamers
Bart Swiatek, 05 September 2019, 17:44
NintendoLife reports that Astral Chain - the latest production of the Japanese developer PlatinumGames - has become the target of the so-called review bombing. The reason for players' anger may be the exclusivity of the game for the Nintendo Switch platform.
Astral Chain Reviews - PlatinumGames has Delivered Another Hit
Jacob Blazewicz, 26 August 2019, 21:59
Astral Chain received its first reviews. Reviewers agree - the new work of PlatinumGames is a very good and unique game, offering great gameplay and engaging storyline (and lots of cats).
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on Switch - New Trailer and Release Date
Milosz Szubert, 19 August 2019, 21:14
There is a new trailer for the upcoming Nintendo Switch version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The game from CD Projekt RED studio will launch on the Japanese console on October 15, this year.
Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo Develop New Policy on Lootboxes
Jacob Blazewicz, 07 August 2019, 22:48
Entertainment Software Association has revealed that Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft intend to change their policy on lootboxes. From next year, companies will impose the obligation to provide information about the chances of obtaining specific items from lootboxes in games published on their consoles.
The Witcher 3 Soon Playable on Nintendo Switch
Paul Wozniak, 02 August 2019, 22:49
Those present at gamescom will be able to test The Witcher 3 and other productions aimed at Nintendo Switch. New gameplays from these titles will be released on the Internet on August 20-22.
Dragalia Lost is Nintendo's Second Most Profitable Mobile Game
Konrad Serafinski, 28 July 2019, 19:07
Dragalia Lost, a mobile game from Nintendo, has exceeded the $100 million revenue barrier, making it the second most profitable mobile title from the Japanese company.
Nintendo Comments on Defective Joy-Cons [Updated]
Frozen, 24 July 2019, 15:53
The Japanese company commented on the problem of „drifting” Joy-Con controllers for the Nintendo Switch console. However, it was not the answer the fans were hoping for.
Standard Switch Gets New CPU
Jacob Blazewicz, 11 July 2019, 12:57
Nintendo has filed an application to the Federal Communications Commission to change the specs of Nintendo Switch. The document refers to the original console model and mentions the NAND memory and Nvidia Tegra chip modifications, which, as rumors suggest, may translate into increased performance.
Smaller, Portable - Nintendo Switch Lite Announced
Jacob Blazewicz, 11 July 2019, 00:38
Rumors about the new model of the Nintendo Switch console have been confirmed. Presented today, Nintendo Switch Lite will give up the hybrid character of the original console in favour of mobile functions.
Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo Want to Limit Console Production in China
Konrad Serafinski, 08 July 2019, 10:10
According to the Nikkei Asian Review report, Sony and Microsoft and Nintendo plan to limit their console production in China. All because of the political impasse between the USA and China, which will result in additional duties being imposed on goods from the latter country.
Nintendo Mini Switch 2 - New Version With Larger Screen?
Adrian Werner, 05 July 2019, 15:16
Thanks to the offer of a licensed manufacturer of accessories there are rumors about Nintendo Mini Switch 2, a new version of the console, which, despite its name, is to offer a larger screen than the standard version of the device.
Fans Ressurect Super Mario Bros Royale
Paul Wozniak, 01 July 2019, 00:00
The popular Battle Royale mod for Super Mario Bros has disappeared from the web due to Nintendo's intervention. However, this did not prevent the fans of this unusual gameplay from resurrecting the mod and releasing it as an open-source project.
Consoles 25% more expensive? Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft Against Trump's Sanctions
Julia Dragovic, 27 June 2019, 15:12
Major console manufacturers Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft issued a joint statement opposing Donald Trump's proposal for 25% penalty duties on, among others, consoles manufactured in China. If sanctions are adopted, Switch, Xbox and PlayStation prices in the U.S. will rise by at least 25%.
Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 May Draw From Red Dead Redemption 2
Milosz Szubert, 13 June 2019, 16:00
During an interview for IGN, Eiji Aonuma, the producer of The Legend of Zelda series, suggested that the continuation of Breath of the Wild could be partly inspired by Red Dead Redemption II. Details about the project are still shrouded in mystery.
Summary of Nintendo Direct E3 2019 Broadcast; Witcher 3 Is Coming To Nintendo Switch
Conrad Hazi, 12 June 2019, 01:06
The last big presentation at the E3 Expo 2019 is behind us. Nintendo has revealed its publishing plans for the upcoming months. The leaks suggesting that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will hit Nintendo Switch have been confirmed.
Daemon X Machina - New Trailer and Release Date
Christian Pieniazek, 11 June 2019, 22:22
Nintendo showed a dynamic trailer of Daemon X Machina and shared its release date. The production, in which we operate powerful mechs, will debut before the end of summer.
The Legend of Zelda Link's Awakening - Trailer, Release Date, Level Editor
Milosz Szubert, 11 June 2019, 22:14
During a special presentation from the Nintendo Direct series at E3 Expo 2019, a new trailer of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening was revealed. Dungeon editor will be available in the game. Game received a release date, too. It's September 20, this year.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 The Black Order - Heroes Vs Thanos On A New Trailer
Milosz Szubert, 11 June 2019, 19:30
A new trailer of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order made its debut at Nintendo Direct E3 Expo broadcast. The title will be released on July 19, this year, on the Nintendo Switch console.
Watch The New Trailer of Fire Emblem Three Houses
Jacob Blazewicz, 11 June 2019, 19:26
Nintendo has shown another trailer of Fire Emblem Three Houses. The video focuses on the story of the new version of the popular tactical RPG series.
Contra Returns - New Trailer And Release Date Of Contra: Rogue Corps
Christian Pieniazek, 11 June 2019, 19:21
The Contra series is eternally alive, as evidenced by the fact that Konami has announced the next part of the series. Nintendo Switch owners can prepare for the arrival of Contra: Rogue Corps.
The Witcher 3 Gets a Nintendo Switch Version This Year
Agnes Adamus, 11 June 2019, 19:07
During the Nintendo Direct stream organized as part of the E3 2019 Expo, it was revealed that The Witcher 3 (definitive edition) will get to the Nintendo Switch console. The release is scheduled for later this year.
Pokemon Shield and Pokemon Sword - Trailer and Release Date
Michael Kulakowski, 06 June 2019, 01:05
Game Freak has announced Pokemon Shield and Pokemon Sword release date, and published a new gameplay trailer, showing elements never before seen in the series. Both games will be released exclusively on Nintendo Switch.
Detective Pikachu and Pokemon Masters Sequel Announced
Adrian Werner, 29 May 2019, 19:31
Pokemon Masters and the continuation of the adventure game Detective Pikachu have been announced. Pokemon HOME and Pokemon Sleep are also planned. All these novelties were revealed at a conference organised by The Pokemon Company in Tokyo.
Nintendo Switch Sells Better than PS4 in Japan
Conrad Hazi, 16 May 2019, 12:36
According to data published by Famitsu, Nintendo Switch outperformed PlayStation 4 in terms of sales in Japan. The result is noteworthy as Switch debuted on the market 3 years later than PS4.


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Did the tech giants finally explode? I hate to speculate | John Notting
a Speculative bubble, Nobel Prize winner Robert Schiller wrote in illogical AbundanceHis landmark book on human folly, is “a situation in which news of price hikes stimulates investor enthusiasm, which is spread by psychological contagion from person to person, in the process of amplifying stories that might justify price hikes and bring in the largest and most broad class of investors, who, despite skepticism about the The real value of the investment, they are attracted to partly by envying the successes of others and partly by the excitement of the gambler.”
Tech industry watchers are familiar with this kind of irrationality. Throughout 2020 and 2021, when the Covid-19 virus wreaked economic havoc in countries across the Western world, the tech industry remained aloof from what was happening on the ground. While the rest of us have shrunk in lockdown, the pandemic has made tech heads and owners insanely richer. Their companies grew faster and became more profitable while other industries declined. Apple had so much extra cash that it spent $90 billion (£74 billion) – nearly Kenya’s GDP – to buy its own shares. Amazon committed $50 billion in 2021 on warehouses, hired tens of thousands of employees, ordered fleets of electric vehicles, and built cloud computing centers. and so on.
So, while the pandemic has put many traditional companies on life support, it has seemed as if it cemented the dominance of Alphabet (neé Google), Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft and Apple, making them masters of our networked world.
Then something happened. On November 19, 2021, the Nasdaq stock index (which is heavily influenced by technology companies) reached an all-time high of 16,057, then suddenly declined rapidly. As I write, the number was 12369. And so the question became: Is this exactly what economists euphemistically call a “market correction” or an indication that this particular speculative bubble has already burst?
The answer, if the quarterly numbers released last week by the tech giants are anything to go by, is that it looks as if the bubble has at least been punctured. The numbers, according to an analysis by Luke Gbedemah and Sebastian Hervas-Jones of Tortoise Media, point to the emergence of a split between companies that can “withstand an economic downturn and those that may face existential decline”. The numbers show that for the first time in the industry’s history, the growth rate of companies’ combined real revenue was negative rather than positive, and real revenue was generally lower than the previous year.
For example, Alphabet’s revenue is up 13% but its profit is down 14%. Apple’s revenue increased slightly but profits fell by more than 10%. Amazon’s revenue rose 7% but profits fell by a whopping 60.6%. Meta – that is, Facebook – had a bad quarter, with revenue down slightly but profits down 36%. Microsoft was almost the only bright spot: its revenue was up about a fifth, but even then, profits were up 2%.
When interpreting these numbers, the usual caveats apply: These are just one quarter results (although Meta now has a shocking two); Global supply chain problems and the withdrawal from Russia may have a disproportionate impact on Apple; Amazon’s results may reflect the impact of its massive investment in Rivian, the electric car maker, which has ordered 100,000 vehicles.
But in general, one feels that these giant money-printing machines are moving into territory unfamiliar to them – an area where, instead of endless resources to expand and experiment, margins will be squeezed, costs and perks slashed, workers laid off and efficiencies found. Suddenly, the CEO of Alphabet called for employees to “be more entrepreneurial, work with more urgency, sharper focus, and be hungrier than we showed on sunny days.” Undoubtedly, similar sacred warnings were issued by his peers in the other giants.
Two other ideas stand out. The first is that the period of what we might call “tech exceptionalism” — the era in which these companies and their pioneers were lauded for being different from the boring regular — may be coming to an end. From now on, they are just companies – like BT or Unilever.
The second is how much we’ve all underestimated Microsoft just because they fumbled at the smartphone opportunity. Instead, it focused on providing the basic computing infrastructure for the organizational world. The NHS, for example, has approximately 750,000 computers, all running Microsoft operating systems and software. The same is true for the UK government, large corporations, university administrations and small and medium-sized enterprises in the Western world. She now has a successful cloud computing business. It is not glamorous or exciting but it is solid and durable work. If you bought shares in it 30 years ago, you will have a good pension basis now. And it will still be around when Facebook is just a bad memory.
what you’ve been reading
on the sail
The Maintenance Race on Works in Progress is a compelling account by Stewart Brand of the world’s first ever solo yacht race.
Algorithm and the blues
Interesting Kyle Chica New Yorker The Age of Algorithmic Anxiety article explores the hidden pressures of surveillance capitalism.
Finish the picture
Instagram Is Dead is a blog post by talented photographer Umm Malik about how Meta destroyed a platform he valued.


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IoT (Internet of Things) is a buzzword that has been around for a few years and is growing in popularity as we slowly connect everything to the net. An enormous amount of data is being collected already, and this is going to the next level through IoT sensors.
While there are many problems with IoT sensor security that still need to be solved, the data that is being supplied by these devices, if useful and used correctly, has the power to disrupt traditional risk management. This article will discuss some proactive uses of IoT for risk management and why IoT will be invaluable in the finance and insurance fields.
The growth of IoT as a technology is unbelievable. IoT use cases are being seen in nearly every business sector, from connected technologies to cloud computing and digital data. Pharma is using IoT for material tracking and machine monitoring. Oil producers are using IoT for safe extraction and delivery. The travel industry is connecting aircraft to regulate seat temperatures and other IoT devices to make travel seamless.
Cannabis producers are using IoT devices for monitoring their plants from seed to store to stay compliant with their local regulations. Any industry can find benefits from IoT devices. And for finance and insurance, this spread of devices can be used for our own needs.
Read the full article here.


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LONDON— Nissan Motor Co. Wednesday said it had secured planning permission to expand its plant in the northeast English town of Sunderland as part of a billion-pound investment in the U.K.
The go-ahead for the expansion highlights how foreign-owned but British-based companies are investing heavily in a resurgent British auto industry.
The expansion at the Sunderland plant, already the biggest car production site in the U.K., is earmarked for production of a new car for the Japanese auto maker's Infiniti premium brand.
Infiniti said it may make more cars in Sunderland as it expands its lineup, in an attempt to grow its market share in Europe by competing more directly with rivals like BMW AG BMW 1.64 % and Volkwagen's Audi AG NSU -0.18 % unit. Infiniti is planning to launch around five or six additional premium models by 2020.
"There will be other investment decisions to make" which could involve the Sunderland plant, said Fintan Knight, in charge of the Infiniti brand in Europe.
The Japanese auto maker is just one of many foreign-based auto manufacturers in the U.K. reacting to buoyant global demand for pricey cars and sport-utility vehicles by revitalizing their brands through multibillion-dollar investments in new models and U.K. production.
Bentley Motor Cars, now owned by Germany's Volkswagen AG, Indian-owned Jaguar Land Rover and BMW's Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and Mini are all pouring money into the U.K.
The investment has led to an increase in U.K. vehicle output. Car production rose 7% in July from the same month the year before, according to latest data from the U.K. Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Production for the first seven months of the year was up 1.9% to 893,263 units.
"Sunderland is much cheaper than our other plants because of the volume of cars it makes and the lower labor costs," said John Martin, Nissan's senior vice president for manufacturing in Europe. "Several of our other plants bid for the new Infiniti which was originally allocated to a contract manufacturer but Sunderland won the contract," Mr. Martin said.
Nissan expects to make more than 520,000 cars at Sunderland this year, beating its last year's record when it became the first U.K. plant ever to make over half a million cars.
As a result the market for new cars has surged over the last 18 months and in August the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders raised its full year forecast predicting sales will reach 2.22 million units in this year, 8.4% more than in 2012.
The approval from Sunderland City Council is for an additional 25,000 square meters (270,000 square feet), equivalent to a 10% expansion of the site, which will be used to enlarge its body and paint shops, as well as trim, chassis and press facilities.
Since the end of 2010, when the Japanese auto maker started production of its small SUV Juke, the company has invested more than £1 billion ($1.56 billion) in the Sunderland plant and increased head count by more than 1,000 to 6,000.
The latest expansion comes within this planned investment and the plant will be used for production of the new Nissan Note hatchback later this summer, a new version of the Qashqai SUV and Infiniti's Q30 compact car in 2015.


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While in Utah, the investment paid off as a local store specializing in skate and snowboard clothing called Blindside became interested in carrying their product, and the branches began to grow on the tree. The Forest Lab’s original 15 designs were featured at Blindside, and in the first month alone became the top selling brand sold in the store.The Forest Lab clothing takes everyday images and creates a “mashup” that reflects designs that anyone can relate to. Ideas come from all avenues, from movies,childhood stories, Jack Vettriano paintings, to the Los Angeles Lakers, just toname a few.
But not all self quantification efforts are successful. Schull student, Sneha Khullar, began reluctantly tracking several measures as a class assignment. In her final presentation to the class in December, she explained that she enjoyed using a pedometer to track her footsteps and an app called RescueTime, which showed she is most productive on Fridays now that she given up partying.
Players start representing their country soon after they get back from their club season, usually early in June. All events are run through the FIVB and streamed HD for free on youtube (blessed). There is a league that runs every summer called Nations League (formerly called world league) where the teams jet around the world playing each other in various locales.
Both suit makers have been manufacturing on these shores for more than a century, and outfitting presidents at least as far back as Dwight Eisenhower. Though all manufacturers, especially those in the textile industry, have felt the pressure of lower cost overseas competition, manufacturing has been a bright spot in the tepid economic recovery. Economists, in fact, were surprised by a strong uptick in manufacturing in June..
SubscriptionsGo to the Subscriptions Centre to manage your:My ProfileA massive explosion at a Mexican resort coupled with violence linked to gang wars and drug cartels have cast the country in a negative light, but it isn’t stopping Canadians from booking holidays there. The number of travellers to Mexico from Canada is up about 10 per cent this year, industry experts say.The explosion at the luxury resort prompted phone calls to travel agents, but few are cancelling their plans, said Daryl McWilliams, a vice president with Sunwing, one of Canada’s largest vacation tour companies.McWilliams said his office has received hundreds of calls from customers who have booked trips to the Playa del Carmen area. Most, he said were looking for information, but none were asking to cancel their trips.Read moreHave your travel plans changed in light of this incident? Are you concerned?Internet freedom: Should government have the ability to shut down the internet?The Egyptian government shut down access to the internet and the country’s cellphone data network early Friday, according to media reports.


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Review: Sony Ericsson W580i
In addition to the usual tour and feature demonstrations, this video explains how to get shake control working in the Walkman player.
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Our on-the-scene report from the CTIA trade show in Orlando. New phones from Sony Ericsson, Kyocera, Helio, HTC, Alcatel, Motorola and Pantech.
Sep 7, 2022
Apple has revealed the iPhone 14 series, with new features, improved specs, and new size options. In place of a Mini option, the iPhone 14 will come in the same 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch screen size options as the Pro models.
TCL has put out a few folding-screen concepts in the past year, and now they have a new one to show off at CES. It's a little more polished and functional than previous concepts, but it's also definitely not market-ready.
Sep 1, 2022
JBL's new Tour PRO 2 true wireless earbuds feature "the world's first smart charging case". The case has a 1.45-inch touch screen that lets users easily and intuitively control features like ANC and ambient sound that would normally require opening a dedicated app on your phone or remembering a complex set of touch gestures.
May 24, 2021
Anker today announced the Nano II series compact fast chargers. Available in 30, 45, or 65-watt versions, these tiny chargers use chips made of GaN (Gallium Nitride) material instead of silicon.


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Atari's Bushnell gets into VR
Atari founder Nolan Bushnell has put his weight behind a startup that will offer business uses for virtual reality.
Bushnell's Modal VR touts itself as providing the hardware and software for "industrial-grade" virtual reality applications. This means the company will develop and sell VR systems used for things like military and law enforcement training, urban planning tools, real estate tours, and museum exhibits.
The company also wants to get into the consumer end in a roundabout way, developing VR arcade games, eSports venues, and "themed entertainment" exhibits for theme parks.
Bushnell made his fortune in many of these same markets some four decades ago with Atari. The company's cabinet games helped to create the arcade market in the early 1980s, and Bushnell hopes that by using larger spaces and more powerful hardware, his new venture can once again build a market for games outside of the home console/PC niche. ®


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Trying to easily explain what semiconductor-related businesses actually do can be a very difficult task, even for well-known companies like Intel, AMD and Nvidia. However, when the company involved doesn’t build chips or design specific products, but instead creates a framework of standard instructions and semiconductor architectures (commonly referred to as IP, or intellectual property) that other companies license from them to generate their own chip designs—as is the case with Cambridge UK-based Arm—well, things get challenging.
The truth is, Arm and its critical set of processor designs (CPU, GPU and AI-focused NPU), as well as the Arm instruction sets powering them, are incredibly influential and their impact impressively far-reaching. In fact, at its recent virtual press event to launch its ninth generation (v9) chip design architectures, the company made the seemingly unbelievable claim that at some point this decade, 100% of the world’s data will be processed at some point along its virtual lifecycle—either at an endpoint device like a PC or smartphone, along a data network or in the cloud—by an Arm-based chip, and no one really batted an eye. The company’s reach and influence may not be well-known or understood, but it really is that pervasive.
As a result, news of the company’s latest v9 architectures is the kind of thing that’s going to have a profound impact on our increasingly digital and connected world. However, it’s also something that’s realistically going to be primarily behind the scenes, but it will make its presence felt slowly and surely over a long period of time. In fact, major generational changes to Arm’s designs have slowed to a once-a-decade type pace—not completely unlike the pace (and impact) of wireless cellular standards like 5G. And just as 5G has offered the promise of profound changes that aren’t all occurring at once but are expected to come to life over the next decade, so too will the impact of Arm’s v9 be extensive—but its pace and range of impact will take multiple years to be fully felt.
To be clear, Arm continues to innovate individual components of its IP, such as specific CPU and GPU designs for various classes of devices at regular annual cadences. The underlying architectural capabilities Arm has announced for v9, however, will be evolving over time. This includes things like its Confidential Compute Architecture (CCA), significant enhancements to instructions for processing AI and ML (machine learning)-based workloads, and the ability to combine Lego block-like chunks of processing technologies more easily for increasingly specialized applications through Arm’s Total Compute design methodology.
What’s particularly interesting about the new additions that Arm is bringing to v9 is that they reflect the important big picture developments currently influencing major tech industry trends. Topics such as hardware-based security, AI and ML acceleration across multiple different types of chips, and customized silicon are top of mind not only at major tech companies, but the widening range of companies increasingly influenced by tech, including automotive, consumer white goods, manufacturing and much, much more. In essence, with its v9 architecture, Arm is providing a roadmap for its partners to achieve these goals.
And quite a range of partners it is. In the past year, in particular, Arm-powered chips from the company’s licensees have made a huge and very visible impact on the tech marketplace. Apple, for example, made a huge splash by converting its Mac line to Arm-based processors with its new M1 chip—this after more than a decade of Arm-powered A series CPUs for the iPhone and iPad. In the cloud computing world, Amazon’s Graviton line of custom ARM-based processors have started taking on a huge range of workloads for the leading public cloud provider. In between, there have been 100 billion other Arm-powered chips over the past five years, and the company expects another 300 billion to ship during the next decade of v9-based architectures.
One particularly important addition to v9 is a significantly expanded range of security and data privacy-driven options. Given the incredible amounts of personal and sensitive corporate data that’s becoming available online, there’s been a widespread recognition of the limitations and complexity of current data and computing security solutions. As part of the previously mentioned Confidential Compute Architecture integrated into v9, Arm is building several different hardware-based enhancements that are designed to make the process of securing data easier and more robust, while at the same time offering new methods of doing processing on data that remains encrypted and/or isolated from other parts of the system.
The newly introduced concept of Realms, for example, offers a whole new hardware-based security model that brings the idea of zero trust to a brand-new level, shielding data from the local operating system and providing degrees of separation between software components that wasn’t possible before. Of course, some software is going to have to be adjusted or portions rewritten to take advantage of this new architecture, but the potential security enhancements of Realms are enormous. At the same time, the technology offers a number of new options that will take several years to fully leverage, so some of the most important benefits are still years away.
Arm is also integrating hardware enhancements that can help prevent some of the most exploited types of limitations, such as various types of memory leaks. In addition, the new Memory Tagging Extensions, or MTE, can also help against threats such as Spectre and Meltdown, which were big news just a few years back and continue to spawn new variants that are big concerns today.
Not all the benefits of Arm’s v9 vision will be achieved right away, although some of the first CPUs based on Arm v9 architectures are expected to ship before the end of this year, likely from big smartphone-focused semiconductor companies like MediaTek. Over time, though, the impact of the new developments will spread far and wide. As with Hollywood actor Kevin Bacon, who is famously known for his six degrees of separation, Arm is connected with essentially every major tech company and even many related industries by likely only three or at most four degrees. (This is a big part of the reason, of course, that Nvidia is so interested in acquiring Arm—a process that continues to develop.)
For those deeply embedded in or closely watching critical tech trends, the announcement of next generation chip architectures from Arm has long and far-reaching implications. Making sense of all the details and understanding the timing of when all these changes become real is a big task, but it seems clear that with its latest v9 architectures, Arm has once again set itself up as an essential tech industry influencer for many years to come.
Disclosure: TECHnalysis Research is a tech industry market research and consulting firm and, like all companies in that field, works with many technology vendors as clients, some of whom may be listed in this article.


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Royal Mail, the U.K.’s government-owned postal service, will include a series of stamps for 2013 showcasing British “Automotive Legends” this year.
The stamps will be available starting in August, the first of which were just announced featuring the Jaguar E-Type. Serving as inspiration for the brand’s new F-Type, the E-Type left production in 1974 and would be the last convertible two-seat sports car the brand would build for almost four decades.
In its final generation, which ran from 1971-1974, the car came with a 5.3-liter V12 engine as either a convertible or a 2+2 coupe. Both the E- and F-Type, Jaguar vehicle line director Ian Hoban said, are “white space cars” filling a gap otherwise unoccupied.
That, along with its success, helped the E-Type to become an icon in automotive history, something Jaguar can only hope for with its new roadster.
Discuss this story at Luxury4Play.com


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WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- Boston Scientific BSX, +0.31% reported first-quarter enarings of 23 cents per share on sales of $1.082 billion, up from an adjusted profit of 14 cents earned on sales of $807 million in the year-ago period. Excluding the effects of currency, the medical-products manufacturer's sales increased 27 percent from the 2003 quarter. The latest quarter's profit came in a penny ahead of Wall Street's consensus forecast. Boston Scientific's quarterly operating income reached $264 million, up from an adjusted $175 million in the year-ago quarter. The company also said net U.S. sales of its Taxus stent system totaled $93 million in the first 13 selling days of the second quarter, as opposed to $98 million for the entire first quarter. Shares of Boston Scientific loses 20 cents to end Monday's trading at $43.40.
Boston Scientific's Q1 EPS a penny ahead; sales up 34%


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Cedar Falls, Iowa – Business Testimonial
Jam City leaders now showcase the Cedar Falls, Iowa studio as proof that you don’t need to be on the Coast or in Austin to make globally popular software and games.
“Top talent drives our industry,” said Josh Yguado, Jam City’s co-founder and president. “To be honest, it can be easy to overlook talent that’s not in your backyard. That’s not a mistake we’re making, so we’re hiring the best and brightest where we find them, and Iowa is one area whose talent—and technological infrastructure—we’re not ignoring.”
Jam City’s mobile gaming titles include Panda Pop, Juice Jam, Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff, Family Guy: Another Freakin’ Mobile Game, Marvel Avengers Academy and megahit Cookie Jam. People play Jam City games more than 30,000 times a minute in every part of the world.
Where are you looking and why? Knowing this unlocks the potential of content and advertising design. And that’s the focus of iTracking Research Inc.!
In 2012, iTR co-owners Mike Whitson, chief research scientist, and Bill Harwood, director of research, began conducting advertising and user-experience research at the Center for Business Growth and Innovation (CBGI), a business incubator at the University of Northern Iowa. Using behavioral neuroscience and technology to conduct their research, the company gathers data to provide marketing agencies, web designers and PR firms the information needed to ensure a successful product or media launch. iTR clients include start-ups to Fortune 100s.
A potential client has clicked on your website and you only have a handful of seconds to capture his attention. How are you any different than dozens of other companies out there?
Time’s up. Does this tale have a happy ending? It does when Pixel Labs is on your side!
“Our business is built on a digital infrastructure,” said Zach Everman, Pixel Labs’ CEO and creative director. We working with more than 70 clients across the country.” Everman added.
“Eight TB of data that we are able to sync remotely is something I never even considered being part of our workflow when we started” exclaimed Everman.
“But now it plays an integral part in producing media for clients across the country. The high-speed communication network in Cedar Falls is solid, extremely reliable. It’s a privilege to have that type of connection,” said Everman.
There are literally thousands of companies that promise to help you build your online traffic. So how do you know if that dog can hunt? Red Lab Technologies is the Alpha Dog of the Internet!!!
After getting its start at the Center for Business Growth and Innovation, a business incubator at the University of Northern Iowa, Red Lab now operates out of Mill Race co-working collaboration space in downtown Cedar Falls. It’s here that fellow entrepreneurs and businesspeople can network, generate new ideas, learn from one another and build their businesses.
“Entrepreneurs are a lot more accessible to you in the Cedar Valley, and they are very giving of their time,” said CEO/Owner Greg Jass.


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Mother Nature apparently knew what she was doing when she doused Sierra foothill vineyards with an unusual amount of spring rain, then briefly fired things up in July before returning to mild temperatures.
The wine grape harvest started after Labor Day and in some areas will continue into next month.
"I've never seen weather like this and I've been growing for over 30 years," said Paul Bush, who with his wife, Maggie, owns Madrona Vineyards, in Camino, Calif. "I think it's going to be one of those vintages where you get more complexity."
Complexity is a good thing coming out of a 750 milliliter bottle, even if it isn't until 2008 that any reds from this year are uncorked.
"I would say right now, based on what I am seeing with winery customers, I would be looking forward to the 2006 red wines. They may be a step or two above what has come out the last two or three years," said Ron Mansfield, grower for Gold Bud Farms in Placerville, Calif. His company sells grapes from their
150 acres in El Dorado County to wineries in the foothills, as well as vintners in Sonoma and Napa counties.
He is most impressed with the color of the Syrah grapes.
Tonnage and quality in El Dorado and Nevada counties is surpassing last year, according to officials.
A mantra of "good sugar, good acid levels, good color" is echoing from winemakers throughout the foothills. El Dorado County, off U.S. 50, is the more established region. It has
2,165 acres of wine grapes. Nevada County, off Interstate 80, has 122 acres of grapes.
Agriculture is big business for Reno's neighbors. Agriculture's impact on El Dorado County's economy last year totaled $434 million, according to the 2005 Agricultural Crop & Livestock Report. Fifteen percent of that was from wine grapes, which is the fastest growing segment of the county's agriculture business.
Last year's harvest brought in 4,650 tons of wine grapes with a value of $4.94 million, according to the El Dorado Winery Association. Tonnage for this year is projected to be higher in both regions compared to 2005.
"The crop is larger and better looking than last year," said Phil Starr, owner and winemaker for Sierra Starr Winery in Grass Valley, Calif. "I tried different pruning techniques this last year because we traditionally run smaller yields."
Down the road in Nevada City, Ginny Hilsman, owner of Double Oak Winery, didn't start harvesting her grapes until the end of September. Grapes started to be plucked just after Labor Day in El Dorado County.
"The crop is larger than last year and is an above average yield," Hilsman said. "The spring rains this year were well timed "" not at bloom, giving a healthy start to the fruit."
Despite Napa and Sonoma wineries complaining about a grape glut, the foothills doesn't have that problem.
"Small wineries usually don't feel the glut. It doesn't seem like there are lots of grapes on the vine that people haven't sold," Bush said.
Greg Boeger, vineyard master at Boeger Winery in Placerville, Calif., concurred with Bush's assessment, adding, "The glut is not affecting El Dorado County mainly because most of the wineries here buy local grapes and sell them locally."
He is thrilled with his Barbera haul, especially since it's one of his major varietals out of the 30 he grows. The tonnage is up by 30 percent. "I don't know why. The vines look better this year," Boeger said. "I think the quality might even be a little better. The sugar was not in excess and the acid dropped better. Normally Barbera has high acid and it's a struggle to get it down."


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Research in the field of closed-circuit television (CCTV) shows that more than 200 000 new cameras are being installed in South Africa every month. Of these, the rate of cameras being monitored offsite is increasing at 500 percent per year. The CCTV industry is growing at a rapid rate, and this growth spurs competition, further aggravated by a low barrier to entry.
There are few regulatory or accreditation requirements in this field and the market is heavily biased toward widely-known hardware brands, therefore the same products are used across the sector, and by all suppliers.
The increase in competition in the CCTV sector begs the question of how installers can differentiate themselves in a saturated market. Rael Jaffe, general manager at Wholesale Monitoring Services (WMS), believes the answer lies in offering auxiliary or bolt-on options to customers. “CCTV installers’ core competencies are excellent sales and relationship keeping, and installing and maintaining equipment of a high quality. We feel that offering offsite monitoring via a rental option can add value to your customers and help bring ongoing monthly revenue to your business.”
All South African consumers have preferred suppliers with whom solid and often long-term relationships are maintained. “We want to empower our partners to offer these additional benefits to their new and existing client base,” Jaffe explains.
The trend in the market is to move away from manpower towards technology. “Human beings are simply not designed to stay awake all night patrolling a perimeter or stare at monitors onsite,” says Jaffe. “We believe that threat detection should be undertaken by the system, while the human element plays its role in effective access control and response services.”
Offsite CCTV monitoring is currently offered by companies who target the end-user, with a handful of companies attempting to educate the market about the many advantages of effective offsite monitoring services – often with poor results.
“Offsite monitoring is simply putting the video of interest (VOI) in front of a competent person in real time. We have found that the best way to achieve this is by using machine-learning software which self-learns any environment and prioritises VOI to a control room,” says Jaffe. “Our video analytics software is completely hardware agnostic so our partners can continue selling their preferred hardware brands and we simply bolt onto it.”
Of the benefits offered by WMS, the rental option is a game changer. Instead of a significant once-off installation fee, often out of reach for smaller clients, installers can offer a rental option as the ideal solution to clients without an available lump sum, who will likely be far more agreeable to a monthly fee.
Experts in their field, installers understand that ensuring a high standard of quality on installation work and building positive relationships is key. Partnering with WMS enables the installer’s customer to reduce their spending on security guarding and save money while home owners and business owners feel secure with an affordable monitoring solution at a fraction of the price.
The South African offsite monitoring market can only grow once trusted installers offer and support a solution which actually works. WMS combines technology with specialised monitoring systems at the forefront of modern-day safety advancements so that installers can offer their clients an effective, progressive CCTV package.
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A new batch of Valve Index kits will be available on Monday
Valve has been building up the hype surrounding Half-Life: Alyx as the game’s March 23rd launch draws near. (Have we mentioned that the Half-Life series is currently free to play?) The game comes free with the Valve Index. However, there seem to be more people who want to play Half-Life: Alyx on the Index than Valve can support. The company, in a statement made to UploadVR, stated that the Coronovirus has negatively impacted the Index production schedule. As a result, the VR kit has been sold out for awhile now without any indication of when it will be back in stock other than “coming soon.”
That state of affairs changed on Tuesday when Steam Database reported that Indexes (Indices?) would be available for purchase on Monday the 9th. Yesterday, Engadget was able to get confirmation from Valve that a new batch of its VR kits will be up for sale next Monday. The sale will go live at 1PM eastern time, and Valve expects the entire stock to sell out in less than a day. The kits will be available on a first-come-first-serve basis, so mark your calendar if you’d like to purchase one of the them.


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Harlequin Cufflinks - Sales
These are certainly trendy, echoing the checked patterning which has been such a success on high fashion runways in recent shows. These cufflinks contain a checkerboard pattern of red and blue enamel squares, and the slightly pink coloring of the red squares looks god next to the richness of the blue. The oval design of these cufflinks enhances their elegance, creating a tapered look which is completely chic. These are the sort of cufflinks which you can wear to work in the day but can also wear out to dinner at the fanciest restaurants, for a creative hint of color.
A higher court in Stuttgart is due to rule on whether the suit against Porsche SE should be suspended to await the outcome of the Braunschweig trial, since the two cases are similar. Porsche SE, the holding company of the Porsche and Piech families, owns about 52 percent of voting rights in VW. It is being sued by investors for a total of 865 million euros ($1 billion) in the two courts. Porsche SE sees all of the suits as unfounded and in some cases without legal basis. Like VW’s management board, the board of Porsche SE had no knowledge of any cheating on diesel emissions tests before the matter became public in a “notice of violation” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Sept. 18, 2015, the company says.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S, producer prices unexpectedly fell in August, recording their first drop in 1-1/2 years, as declines in the prices of food and a range of trade services offset an increase in the cost of energy products, Despite the surprise weakness in producer prices reported by the Labor Department on Wednesday, overall inflation is steadily rising, driven by a tightening labor market and robust economy, The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates later this month for the third time this harlequin cufflinks year..
“Inflation pressures should intensify in coming quarters,” said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania. “The unemployment rate is low, GDP growth is above trend, wage growth is accelerating .. and fiscal policy is supportive for the economy.”. The producer price index for final demand slipped 0.1 percent last month after being unchanged in July. August’s fall in the PPI was the first since February 2017. That further lowered the annual increase in the PPI to 2.8 percent from 3.3 percent in July.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the PPI increasing 0.2 percent in August and advancing 3.2 percent year-on-year, A key gauge of underlying producer price pressures harlequin cufflinks that excludes food, energy and trade services edged up 0.1 percent last month, The so-called core PPI gained 0.3 percent in July, In the 12 months through August, the core PPI increased 2.9 percent after rising 2.8 percent in July, The dollar was trading lower against a basket of currencies, while U.S, Treasury prices rose, Stocks on Wall Street were mixed..
The correlation between producer and consumer prices has weakened after the government revamped the PPI basket and changed the methodology several years ago. The Fed’s preferred inflation measure, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index excluding food and energy, increased 2.0 percent in July, hitting the U.S. central bank’s 2 percent target for the third time this year. Government data on Thursday is expected to show consumer prices rising 0.3 percent in August after gaining 0.2 percent in July, according to a Reuters survey of economists.
There has so far been no widespread price increases from the Trump administration’s import tariffs on lumber, washing machines, solar panels, steel and aluminum, as well as a range of Chinese goods, But with the trade war between the United States and China escalating, economists believe this will change and harlequin cufflinks expect the import duties to boost inflation in the coming months, Recent manufacturing surveys continue to show increases in raw material prices amid growing strains on the supply chain..
Wholesale food prices fell 0.6 percent in August, pulled down by sharp declines in the costs of eggs and fresh fruits and melons. Food prices, which dipped 0.1 percent in July, have now decreased for three straight months. Wholesale energy prices rose 0.4 percent in August, with gasoline prices surging 0.6 percent after slipping 0.1 percent in the prior month. Energy prices fell 0.5 percent in July. Overall, the cost of wholesale goods was unchanged in August after edging up 0.1 percent in July. Prices for iron and steel scrap fell 5.6 percent last month, the biggest drop since October 2017. Nonferrous scrap prices decreased 8.7 percent, the largest decline since January 2009.
The cost of services slipped 0.1 percent last month, led by a 0.9 percent decline in the index for trade services, which measures changes in margins received by wholesalers and retailers, Services dipped 0.1 percent in July, Over 80 percent of the drop in the cost of services last month was attributed to margins for machines and equipment wholesaling, which fell 1.7 percent, “Declining margins at machinery and equipment firms suggest producers may be struggling to pass on rising input costs related to recent tariffs,” said Sarah House, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities in Charlotte, North harlequin cufflinks Carolina..


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WASHINGTON — Discounters and specialty retailers, anticipating a boost in consumer spending driven by one-time tax rebate checks, added jobs to payrolls in June, while department stores and apparel and textile manufacturers continued to cut back, the Labor Department reported today.
General merchandise stores, a category that includes discounters like Wal-Mart, bucked the national trend of weakening employment, posting a gain of 8,900 jobs in June to employ 2.936 million, while apparel and accessories stores added 900 jobs to payrolls last month, bringing the total number of positions to 1.49 million.
"I think that all anyone really wants in life is to have people understand us for who we actually are, despite everything," says Ruth Negga. The actress talks "Preachers" season 2 and more on WWD.com. #wwdeye (📷: Dan Doperalski)
"That's something that resonates with me too because I'm so locked into a number. If I go over that number it completely ruins my day so it's nice to get detached from the number on the scale." - Chelsea Handler on Kelly LeVeque's book "Body Love." #wwdeye (📷: John Salangsang)


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Spanish Company Cocedero Invests €500,000 in Octopus Line
Spanish seafood company Cocedero announced this week that they are investing €500,000 in their octopus line. The investment involves the acquisition of various machinery, which the company says will allow them to not only grow their line of business, but improve the quality of the range.
According to Cocedero, the decision to invest in their octopus line is due to the recent increase in demand for Octopus, both within Spain and abroad.
"Its growing consumption results in an urgent need to improve production in order to produce more...
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Tokyo – Los Angeles-based clothing label Band of Outsiders has opened its first store, but rather than opening in its home town, it chose Tokyo. While the Band of Outsiders aesthetic is classic American prep with a Los Angeles downtown twist, the store interiors are based in the future rather than the present.
Central to the store is a large steel structure nicknamed The Monster, which has 28 arms that support every fixture in the shop, including the fitting rooms, the mannequins, display cases and the till. The arms can rotate, so the fixtures are never truly fixed, giving the store layout endless possibilities.
‘The best part of The Monster is that it’s like it’s alive,’ says the brand. ‘The arms all move around concentric tracks, which means we can change the store layout whenever we feel like it.’
Brands are taking a more flexible approach to visual merchandising, creating minimalist, functional structures that can be re-assembled easily. For more, read our Flexi Simplicity design direction.


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May 11, 2022 St. Paul, MN — Kindeva Drug Delivery (Kindeva) and Breath of Life International (BOL Pharma or BOL) have agreed to the use of low GWP propellants in multiple inhaled cannabinoid products. Kindeva will develop novel formulations of BOL Pharma’s cannabinoid-based drug products delivered by Kindeva’s pressurized metered-dose inhaler (pMDI) technology using the next generation of low GWP propellants. Subject to all required regulatory approvals, the products under development are targeted to treat chronic neuropathic pain. If successful, this early-stage activity could lead to the long-term commercial supply of regulated inhaled cannabinoid products using low GWP propellants, leveraging Kindeva’s commercial manufacturing capabilities and BOL’s accumulated know-how and innovation in the field of medical cannabis.
Kindeva, a global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), has a historical legacy of solving complex drug delivery challenges in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and life sciences sectors. The company has over 60 years of development-driven innovation across multiple drug delivery technologies, including inhalation, transdermal, and microneedles. In inhalation, Kindeva’s list of novel achievements includes the invention of the world’s first pMDI and the world’s first CFC-free pMDI. Leading the way in the use of a new generation of low GWP propellants offers yet another example of Kindeva’s leadership in sustainability in the inhalation market.
“We are excited to share our expertise in formulating pMDIs using low GWP propellants with BOL Pharma,” said Aaron Mann, CEO of Kindeva Drug Delivery. “This is a partnership between two highly innovative and growing companies. BOL Pharma is an acknowledged leader in medical cannabis, and I’m excited that Kindeva can support its progress in this space and help bring its products to market in a sustainable way. Kindeva’s recently announced low GWP pMDI manufacturing expansions enable us to be a strategic partner to BOL Pharma throughout the development lifecycle. Most importantly, the successful development of these products could ultimately offer patients a new, valuable, and sustainable tool for treating truly debilitating conditions.”
“We are excited to form a partnership with Kindeva Drug Delivery, formerly 3M Drug Delivery Systems, a recognized global leader in the development of complex drugs, to develop a best-in-class low GWP inhaler,” said Kfir Avraham, CEO of BOL Pharma. “Entering into this sustainable inhaler space aligns perfectly with BOL Pharma. Cannabinoids are a naturally derived API so it makes sense for us to seek out a propellant that will have minimal impact on our planet whilst resulting in the effective delivery of API to the lung.”
This announcement highlights the growing opportunity for inhaled drug delivery to expand into adjacent therapy areas and indications in a sustainable way. In recent years, Kindeva has been actively identifying and progressing new development opportunities in inhalation that go beyond asthma and COPD. “The BOL partnership demonstrates how broad and effective inhaled drug delivery can be,” Mann said. “Applications for inhaled therapies go beyond respiratory diseases. In this case, we’re looking at the systemic delivery of drugs via the lungs to help patients with chronic neuropathic pain conditions.”
The products are being developed for multiple markets worldwide, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union. “With Kindeva as our partner, BOL Pharma is committed to testing this best-in-class inhaler utilizing a low GWP propellant in clinical trials, to establish the safety and efficacy in chronic neuropathic pain, in consultation with the FDA and EMA,” said Natalia Ashtamker, MD, Head of Global Clinical Development at BOL Pharma.
About Kindeva Drug Delivery
Kindeva is a global contract development manufacturing organization focused on drug-device combination products. Kindeva develops and manufactures products across a broad range of complex drug-delivery formats, including autoinjectors, inhalers, transdermal patches, and microneedles. Its service offering spans early-stage feasibility through commercial scale drug product fill-finish, container closure system manufacturing, and drug-device product assembly. Kindeva serves a global client base in the commercial and health security markets from its nine manufacturing and research and development facilities located in the U.S. and U.K. For more information, please visit www.kindevadd.com.
About BOL Pharma
BOL Pharma is a vertically integrated company in the medical cannabis and cannabinoid-based pharmaceutical industries with operations spanning the value chain from cultivation through production and extraction, formulation and product development, and product research and testing. BOL Pharma is one of the first licensed medical cannabis cultivators in Israel and has been at the forefront of the Israeli medical cannabis industry since 2008. BOL Pharma’s commitment to research and development and well-established partnerships with key universities, medical centers, and corporations is rooted in its culture of innovation. BOL Pharma is currently the only company in Israel accredited by the Ministry of Health of Israel (“Ministry of Health”) with both Israeli Medical Cannabis Good Agricultural Practices (“IMC-GAP”) certification for propagation and cultivation, Good Manufacturing Practices (“IMC-GMP”) certification for manufacturing of cannabis finished products, and EU-GMP for API manufacturing. These certifications authorize us to have our medical cannabis and cannabinoid-based APIs sold in pharmacies in Israel and the global markets. For more information, visit www.Bolpharma.com.


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Hand milking into buckets, feeding out cut grass and delivering fresh milk by bicycle, to the doors of every home in town.
No we haven’t rewound the clock 100 years. This is dairying, ‘Nepalese-style’.
Amrit Basdola, 21, is at the start of a year-long work exchange on a dairy farm in south east South Australia.
He is amazed by the efficiency on display, with just two people responsible for milking a 650-strong herd.
But Amrit’s surprise is not nearly as pronounced as that of the Australian workers’ when they hear of his dairy outfit in Nepal.
“In our country we have to set up the buckets for hand milking,” he says
“We don’t graze, we just chop the grass by the hand and bring it to the cow.
“Most of the time they are in the shed.”
Amrit and his father run between 20 and 30 cows, with the assistance of three other workers.
The 21-year-old says his is a fairly large and prosperous operation.
By selling milk directly to consumers, literally to their front doors, Amrit says his family makes “good money”.
One litre of milk in Nepal is worth about $1 Australian, which Amrit says could buy a few kilograms of apples in his hometown.
“It’s a lot,” he says.
Dairy farmer Charles Wallis has been importing eager workers like Amrit from “exotic countries” for years.
Although they probably end up costing more than a local workers, Mr Wallis says it is difficult to entice South Australians into the industry.
“It’s not that we can’t get workers here, we certainly can … but it’s not always easy to get those good people,” Mr Wallis says.
Despite a lack of experience in some departments, Amrit has already earned his place as one of ‘those good people’.
In fact, his hand-milking skills come in very handy.
“When the other employees knew that he’d been milking cows by hand they were quite happy,” Mr Wallis says.
“They thought he could strip the whole herd once a month and look for mastitis, so they didn’t have to do it.”
Young Amrit will continue working in Australia for at least a year, before heading home to apply the lessons he’s learned on his family’s dairy.
“I think I can make it a little bit large and I can obtain lots of milk from the cows because [I’ve learned about] the grass-growing over here,” he says.
But some of the technology, like new ‘robotic arms’ that milk cows independently of humans, are still too much for Amrit to get his head around.
“We just milk by hand and they are talking about robots,” he says.
“The machinery things over there [in Nepal] is quite expensive because it’s all exported from different countries.
“Most of the farms are smaller so they don’t think to buy the expensive machines for milking.”


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The spending limit for contactless card payments will jump to £45 on April 1, under emergency measures to reduce cash handling amid the coronavirus outbreak.
From next month, consumers will begin to see an increasing number of retailers accepting contactless card payments up to the new £45 limit.
The decision to raise the limit was taken following consultation between the retail sector and the finance and payments industry and follows similar increases in several other European countries, including Greece and Malta, over the past week.
It comes after a number of retailers - including pubs and supermarkets - last week urged customers to consider contactless payments to reduce cash handling.
Stephen Jones, chief executive of UK Finance, said: "The payments industry has been working closely with retailers to be able to increase the contactless payment limit to help customers with their shopping at this critical time for the country.
"This will give more people the choice to opt for the speed and convenience of purchasing goods using their contactless card, helping to cut queues at the checkout.
"The industry continues to work closely with the government and regulators to support customers impacted by Covid-19 and ensure that they can pay in a way that suits them."
Jeni Mundy, at Visa, said : "Consumers are looking to use contactless as they shop for the things they need, so we applaud the swift action taken by the UK payments industry to increase the contactless payment limit.
"It’s an important step, one that can help protect individuals and facilitate fast, reliable and secure digital payments, and we stand ready to support the implementation with retailers and our clients. What’s more, consumers can rest assured that contactless cards experience among the lowest fraud rates of any payment type.”"
Mark Barnett, at Mastercard, added: "As we all collectively navigate the current unsettling and uncertain times, providing consumers and businesses with a choice in how they wish to pay and get paid, remains a constant for us.
"On this basis we fully support the increased contactless limit here in the UK and across Europe, cardholders and shopkeepers will soon be able to make and receive more of their purchases both quickly and securely, and without the need to enter a PIN."


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"U.S. retailers have long supported the adoption of a reliable and legally valid transatlantic data transfer mechanism that allows them to serve their customers in the EU while maintaining the highest data protection standards."NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay
WASHINGTON – EuroCommerce and the National Retail Federation today welcomed the announcement by the European Commission regarding the adoption of the adequacy decision for the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.
Christel Delberghe, Director General of EuroCommerce, which represents retailers and wholesalers in Europe, said: “The new EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework will provide EU citizens with adequate redress in the U.S. with the creation of the Data Protection Review Court. The new framework introduces EU-based concepts of necessity and proportionality which further strengthens protection of personal data of EU citizens in the U.S. This provides European retailers that process data in the U.S. with the necessary safeguards to be sure that the personal data is adequately protected.”
“U.S. retailers have long supported the adoption of a reliable and legally valid transatlantic data transfer mechanism that allows them to serve their customers in the EU while maintaining the highest data protection standards,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “The European Commission’s announcement today reflects years of hard work on the part of the EU and U.S. governments to re-establish a legally valid data privacy framework that provides safeguards for consumers’ personal data transferred to the U.S. that are equivalent to those in the EU.”
In April, EuroCommerce and NRF released a white paper on the Commission’s draft adequacy decision and urged institutions on both sides of the Atlantic to swiftly adopt and implement the framework. The analysis showed that the new framework would ensure legal certainty and provide a durable, long-term mechanism to overcome the legal challenges that had invalidated the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, the previous transatlantic data transfer framework.
NRF and EuroCommerce have worked collaboratively on EU data privacy and transatlantic data flows issues since 2016, holding annual joint meetings with EU officials with the goal of developing approaches to safeguard consumers’ data while fostering regulatory certainty for transatlantic retailers. The previous Privacy Shield was struck down by the Court of Justice of the European Union, the EU’s highest court, in its July 2020 ruling in the Schrems II case. That ruling came only four years after the Shield replaced an earlier U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Agreement on transatlantic data flows rejected by the same court in 2015 in the original Schrems decision.
Since 2020, standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission have served as an alternative for businesses transferring data between the U.S. and the EU. Nonetheless, conditions set by the court on their use and supplementary measures recommended by the European Data Protection Board have made it more challenging and less predictable for retailers to rely on the clauses after Schrems II.
EuroCommerce is the principal European organization representing the retail and wholesale sector. It embraces national associations in 27 countries and 5 million companies, including leading global players and many small businesses. Over a billion times a day, retailers and wholesalers distribute goods and provide an essential service to millions of business and individual customers. The sector generates one in seven jobs, offering a varied career to 26 million Europeans, many of them young people. It also supports millions of further jobs throughout the supply chain, from small local suppliers to international businesses. EuroCommerce is the recognized European social partner for the retail and wholesale sector.
The National Retail Federation passionately advocates for the people, brands, policies and ideas that help retail succeed. From its headquarters in Washington, D.C., NRF empowers the industry that powers the economy. Retail is the nation’s largest private-sector employer, contributing $3.9 trillion to annual GDP and supporting one in four U.S. jobs – 52 million working Americans. For over a century, NRF has been a voice for every retailer and every retail job, educating, inspiring and communicating the powerful impact retail has on local communities and global economies.


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Tata Group’s unit Titan Cо. is in early talks with banks аs it mulls selling its first ever local-currency bond fоr 30 billion rupees ($362 million), according tо people familiar with thе matter.
India’s biggest jewelery maker plans tо usе thе proceeds tо help finance its acquisition оf CaratLane Trading Pvt., said thе people, whо requested anonymity discussing а private matter. Other elements оf thе planned transaction аrе still under negotiation, they said, adding it mау conclude bу month’s end.
Thе bond would bе Titan’s first in rupees, according tо Bloomberg-compiled data.
Titan is in thе process оf raising its stake in CaratLane tо capitalize оn its big online retail presence. India’s M&A rules don’t typically allow thе usе оf bank loans fоr such transactions.
Titan didn’t immediately reply tо Bloomberg’s email аnd calls seeking comment.
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