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In a fresh investment round, Xpressbees, an Indian logistics startup that works with many e-commerce companies in the nation, has more than tripled its valuation to $1.2 billion. The Pune-based startup announced on Wednesday that it had raised $300 million in a Series F funding round from Blackstone, TPG, and ChrysCapital, with $100 million in primary funding and $200 million in secondary funding (to give Alibaba a partial exit and a full exit to one unnamed Chinese investor). The fresh capital brings the total amount raised by the company to $575.8 million.
Xpressbees is the second firm based in Pune to achieve unicorn status this week. ElasticRun, a commerce firm, announced in a filing on Monday that it had raised $1.5 billion in funding. More than 1,000 customers use Xpressbees to transport their products across the country, including financial and e-commerce behemoth Paytm, social commerce startup Meesho, eyeglasses supplier Lenskart, phone maker Xiaomi, online pharmacy NetMeds, and online marketplace Snapdeal. It operates in over 3,000 cities and towns, processing over 3 million orders per day.
Due to the rise of e-commerce and social-commerce businesses without their own logistics networks, 3PL (integrated supply chain services) e-commerce delivery players have acquired significant traction in the last four years. As more people in India’s rural and semi-urban areas continue to shop online, these logistics companies are likely to gain market share as they provide the “most effective last mile delivery to pin codes in rural and semi-urban areas,” according to a report published last year by Bernstein analysts.
“We’re thrilled to have Blackstone Expansion, TPG Growth, and ChrysCapital join us on our growth path.”We feel that their enormous network and operational knowledge will further fuel our efforts in seeking more possibilities and will assist grow our presence,” Xpressbees founder and CEO Amitava Saha said in a statement.
The startup, which expects to grow by 70% this fiscal year, intends to use the new cash to expand into a “full-service logistics” firm. Xpressbees is in competition with a number of companies, including Delhivery, which filed for a $1 billion IPO in November. FedEx, SoftBank, and Tiger Global are among the investors in Delhivery. In a statement, Mukesh Mehta, Senior Managing Director at Blackstone Private Equity, stated, “Xpressbees is playing a vital role in India’s expanding ecommerce sector, which is still at an early stage and has a huge runway of development.”


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William Vance has cast both pearls and swine before the public and come away smiling.
Vance is chairman of Lincolnshire-based Vance Publishing Corp., a 50-year-old family firm that produces magazines you probably never have heard of. But they may be essential to a Jacques La Rake, owner of your local hair salon; Tiffany Carat, owner of the jewelry store on Main Street; or Mr. Brown Jeans, your uncle, the dour hog farmer.
Pork `88, Modern Salon, Modern Jeweler, The Packer, Drover`s Journal, Home Center and Wood & Wood Products are among slick industry publications that helped Vance Publications generate $38 million in sales last year, and profits for the 50th consecutive year: Privately held, it won`t disclose the amount.
Vance oversees 320 full-time employees and prides himself on finding editors ``who know a particular industry and what makes its people tick.``
Instead of perusing Atlantic or People, try Pork `88 (circulation 78,000, $20 annually). It certainly is a (brief) respite after a night of pondering U.S. foreign policy in Central America, the psychological impulses behind love triangles or holes in the ozone layer.
January`s issue opens with news that although a few years ago packers paid top prices for hogs weighing 200 to 230 pounds, the big sellers now are as hefty as 250 pounds. It is a transformation somehow forgotten in the Dan Rather-George Bush interview.
Color photos, all of pigs and some intimate, dominate an article on
``spotting problems before they affect your bottom line.`` For example:
``Tail biting and ear chewing are sure signs of stress`` but then again might signal a diet deficiency.
One learns that pigs are the only domestic animals that can be sunburned just like human beings, that one can get a free ``pork producer blanket`` made of soft, furlike velour if buying a certain swine feed and that farmers now can buy the Swine Estron, a ``hand-held electronic ovulation detector that helps provide an accurate, objective method of timing breeding.``
Then there is Modern Jeweler (36,000, $24), which Vance bought in 1982, jazzing it up considerably, and which is read by retailers.
The January issue informs them that an owner`s hold on store security is perhaps tenuous. It reveals results of a 50-question contest on security involving 344 owners. Forty-one percent missed nine or more questions. That, a security expert says, is awful: ``Just missing a couple of these questions could wipe out an entire store.``
There are tales of incipient trends, such as lavishly decorated watch dials, and of the likelihood that certain recent fashions will persist, such as brides turning from traditional solitaire diamond engagment rings to ones with two or more diamonds.
There are tips on beating postholiday buying blues by ``creating the impression`` a store has new merchandise when it really doesn`t; a profile of a successful maker of 14-karat gold jewelry and charms who is exclusive manufacturer for Playboy Enterprises, the National Football League, Major League Baseball, the U.S. Olympic Committee, the Muppets, Garfield the Cat and Snoopy; and word that the anonymous recent buyer of the largest D-flawless diamond ever sold at auction ($6.4 million) may have been a businessman celebrating his exit from the stock market before the Oct. 19 crash.
The January Modern Salon (144,000, $20) reminds one that hairstylists are different from hog farmers and jewelers. Early on, a New York City stylist discloses that his favorite scenes in the film ``Fatal Attraction`` were those that show off the hair of actress Anne Archer.
``The color and shape are fantastic,`` he exults. ``She proves that a brunet can be exciting.
``Just about every head of hair in that movie was unbelievable,`` the stylist says. ``Glenn Close had that wonderful antagonistic variation of color and curl, and Michael Douglas had that dated dull style that fit his character perfectly.`` All this somehow was forgotten in the Siskel-Ebert review.
The issue includes photos of lushly designed salons (the best-looking new salon, it declares, just happens to be in low-chic Minneapolis) and much advice on boosting profits. One ad for the Removatron electronic hair-removal process ensures fiscal delight: ``We`re not talking about a $10 chin wax,`` it says. Stick with Removatron, charge $35 an hour, and you purportedly can clear $25,000 the first year.
The Packer (16,000, $40) is a weekly newspaper for the fresh-produce industry, a Wall Street Journal for the romaine lettuce crowd, whose latest issue discourses on the ``pistol-hot broccoli market.``
Drover`s Journal (61,000, $20) is a twice-a-month paper geared to cattle ranchers and focusing on marketing management.
Home Center (39,000, $25) is aimed at retailers of do-it-yourself home products, while another monthly, Wood & Wood Products (47,000, $30), is for makers of furniture and other wood products and is strong on the encroachment of competition from Taiwan, Mexico and other nations.
Vance, 40, has no interest in turning out mass-circulation, general-interest fare:
``We prefer narrowly defined industries and subjects. The downside risks are not that high. To do a big consumer publication, you have to know about things like newsstand sales, something beyond our expertise.``
His ingredients for success-money, someone who knows a market well and a good business sense-are not complex. Neither is his newest endeavor.
It`s Supermarket Floral. Finally, Americans involved in the sale of carnations and other blossoms amid the long aisles of toilet bowl cleanser, cold cereal and frozen pizza have their own monthly magazine! (400
Knightsbridge Pkwy., Lincolnshire, Ill., 60069)

domain: news


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South Korea’s cosmetic industry has seen increasing success over the past couple of years, reaching mainstream appeal in the West. Its swift rise to mainstream popularity is unparalleled. In the past five years alone, South Korean beauty exports have grown from $1 billion in 2012 to $2.64 billion in 2017, according to the Korea Customs Service.
K-Beauty entered the US market in 2011 when Sephora began carrying South Korean skincare brand Dr. Jart+. Since then, Korean beauty products have become coveted in Western markets, prized for their scientific innovation, unusual ingredients, and Instagrammable packaging. E-commerce platforms such as Peach & Lily and Soko Glam were trailblazers, introducing a wide range of products to the American market. This led to large-scale adoption by brick-and-mortar retailers like Sephora, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Target, who now have a selection of K-Beauty on offer.
While the K-Beauty wave has appeared to be everlasting, there are signs that J-Beauty is poised to make a return as the go-to authority in the cosmetics industry. Jing Daily reported that Korean beauty conglomerate AmorePacific, the 14th-largest cosmetics company in the world with 33 brands under its umbrella, reported a 76% reduction in net profit in the final quarter of 2017, due in part to a drop in the Chinese market.
A 2018 report by L2 on beauty in China found that the digital visibility and sales of J-Beauty brands were increasing at a faster rate than K-Beauty brands in 2017. In addition, China and South Korea’s crumbling relationship has caused a decrease in the number of Chinese visitors to South Korea, dipping to 4 million last year, down from 8 million the year before. In the same year, Japan saw a 15% increase in Chinese visitor numbers, reaching 7.35 million in 2017.
Skincare is deeply rooted in all Asian cultures, but each country has a unique approach. The distinct rituals and ingredients of each culture stretch back centuries. As neighbors with a shared history, Korea and Japan have a number of similarities in their approach to skincare that starts with a focus on local ingredients and practices that are ingrained in daily life, following ancient wisdom and rituals. In both cultures, a pale complexion is the ultimate symbol of beauty. Women actively avoid sun exposure and always apply SPF, contributing to their smooth and fair complexions. Hydration is also essential. Both beauty philosophies focus on moisture as the foundation of beautiful skin, developing advanced technologies and innovations for hydration.
Despite these similarities, it is interesting to look at where J-Beauty and K-Beauty diverge to better understand the recent shifts in the marketplace.
- Focused on rapid innovation
- Zany ingredients
- Boundary-pushing products
- Complex, multi-step routines
- Trend-driven fast beauty
- A “slow” beauty approach
- Future-facing science
- Time-tested products
- Simple rituals
- Refinement and longevity
THE EXPERTS’ PERSPECTIVE
“In comparison to Korean beauty, which is known for its fun packaging and of-the-moment formulas and colors, J-Beauty is centered around quality manufacturing, understated opulence, and groundbreaking science and technology,” explains Frances Grant, Senior Vice President of marketing for Shiseido Cosmetics America.
“We believe that K-Beauty is about the marketing. We believe Japanese products [are] about the quality, in the long term the quality will always override the surface marketing.” — Masanori Kobayashi, Managing Director of Decorté
Anna Marie Solowij, former beauty director at British Vogue and co-founder of Beauty Mart, an influential niche retailer that stocks Japanese and K-Beauty brands, says: “The South Korean government invested in their cosmetics category, encouraging growth via R&D and new business. Simultaneously, Japan had been experiencing an economic downturn, meaning consumers traded down and spent less on premium goods, so the cosmetics industry in Japan slowed while Korea’s raced ahead.”
“In recent years, Japanese beauty has been pushed out of the spotlight by the never-ending stream of new textures, formats, and packaging concepts that have come from the hyperactive Korean beauty industry,” said Vivienne Rudd, Mintel’s Director of Global Innovation and Insight, Beauty and Personal Care. “But we’re now starting to see [from Japan] a confident and expressive form of beauty that blends technical expertise and traditional ingredients.”
Millie Kendal, a brand consultant and co-founder of Beauty Mart who also worked for Shu Uemura, doesn’t agree with that blanket statement, but she does anticipate a major shift in the industry. It is one she believes will restore Japanese beauty to its rightful position as leader of the pack. “With K-Beauty, you can get good quality, great (fun) packaging and reasonable prices, which opens up a beauty trend to a younger market and is incredibly Instagrammable. My theory, however is that we will see a return to the expert; the make-up artist, the journalist, the stylist … They are all being asked once again for their expert opinion and their tastes and use of product is based on performance and not gimmick.”
For more insight into The Rise of J-Beauty, look at the BeautyMatter trend report.
Photo: Trung Thanh via Unsplash


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Topic: Will Grayson
Top galleries, list articles, quizzes
It's Children’s Book Week 2011 and to celebrate 500,000 young readers across the US had a chance to vote for their favorite books. Here are the titles, authors, and illustrators that this year's record-breaking number of kid voters chose to honor as 2011 Children's Choice Awards winners.
Gay characters are finding acceptance in literature for young adults.
What's selling best in independent bookstores across America.


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PlayStation boss Jim Ryan has insisted he doesn’t hate old games while responding to controversial comments he made in 2017, and explained the PS5’s lack of support for PlayStation’s entire back catalogue of games.
Speaking in the latest Axios Gaming newsletter, Ryan was asked about a 2017 interview with Time in which he recalled seeing different versions of Gran Turismo running side-by-side on PSone, PS2, PS3 and PS4.
“The PS1 and the PS2 games, they looked ancient, like why would anybody play this?” he said at the time.
This quote is often brought up when Sony’s commitment to older games hits the headlines. It was used, for example, to explain Sony’s controversial decision to close the PS3, PSP and Vita digital stores this summer – a decision the company walked back after a backlash.
Discussing that infamous 2017 quote with Axios Gaming, Ryan said he gets “frustrated” whenever it’s brought up.
“It goes with the territory, but I get a little bit frustrated at still being hit over the head with this one,” he said.
“The point I was trying to make – obviously not very well – was just how great the PS4 version looked and how far the series had evolved. I certainly wasn’t trying to be disrespectful to our heritage.”
Ryan then pointed to PS5 pack-in launch title Astro’s Playroom as evidence of Sony’s commitment to its past.
Despite this, Sony’s support for its older games on PS5 differs to the strategy employed by console rivals Microsoft and Nintendo. Xbox Series X and S run games from all prior Xbox generations, whereas the PS5 only supports PS4 games natively, leaving paid subscription service PlayStation Now to run some PS2 and PS3 games.
“What is important to recognise when considering this question about designing a new platform, is that time, engineering resource, and money are all finite, and that important trade-offs have to be made in terms of what’s included, and what’s not,” Ryan told Axios Gaming, explaining Sony’s strategy.
Does Sony plan to officially enable compatibility with PSone games in any way? No comment.
Sony, Ryan said, likes the franchise remake and new entry model, pointing to the PS4 remake of Ratchet & Clank PS2, and this week’s release of a brand new Ratchet & Clank on PS5.
“We believe this approach keeps our IP fresh and contemporary,” Ryan said.
It sounds like Ryan has learned from the fallout from the 2017 Time interview: “I guess my big learning from all of this is that when Kazunori Yamauchi unveils the next Gran Turismo side by side with its history, that I will keep my mouth shut.”


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JAKARTA (TheInsiderStories) – Bank Indonesia reported foreign exchange reserves at February amounted to US$130.4 billion, slightly lower than the position in January 2020 of $131.7 billion. The foreign exchange reserves are equivalent to financing 7.7 months of imports or 7.4 months of imports and payments of government foreign debt, and are above the international adequacy standard of around 3 months of imports.
The policymaker assesses that forex reserves are able to support the resilience of the external sector and maintain macroeconomic and financial system stability. The decline in foreign exchange reserves in February was partly influenced by the payment of government foreign debt.
Today, the central bank will announces the consumer survey report for February and the next day a retail survey report for January. Last month the consumer 121.7 or down 3.7 percent versus December 2019 amounting to 126.4 and the retail survey at fourth quarter of 2019 slightly accelerating to 1.5 percent from 1.4 percent in the third quarter of 2019.
Globally, after worldwide Purchasing Manager Index surveys showed the world economy contracting at the steepest rate since 2009 as the coronavirus disrupted supply chains and hit sectors, markets will be watching keenly for remedial policy action from central banks and governments, either via fiscal or monetary stimulus.
The recent Federal Reserves rate cut will see eyes turn to the European Central Bank’ policy meeting next week. More limited policy maneuver in Europe than the United States (US), but we expect an enhancement of liquidity provision, a 10-basis point deposit facility rate cut and a modest increase in the monthly pace of net asset purchases to be announced. There is a risk, however, that the Governing Council may struggle to agree on such a comprehensive package of measures.
Europe also sees some key data out of Germany, which will add insight into the health of the eurozone’s largest industrial sector at the start of the year, while in the United Kingdom, the government sets out its post-Brexit spending and tax plans in its Spring Budget.
In the US, consumer confidence data are the pick of the bunch, highlighting the degree to which the coronavirus has affected households’ willingness to spend. Inflation numbers are also updated, and should show price pressures easing.
Then in Asia, investors will seek to gauge the potential of production recovery in mainland China by assessing the speed to which firms restart work. Data highlights include Taiwan’ trade statistics, industrial output in India and Malaysia, inflation figures in mainland China and India, plus Japan’s machinery orders.
In Indonesia, the country announces six people has been affected by COVID-19 and from 23 suspected in 25 provinces across the nation. Globally, more than 107,000 people have been infected and 3,600 have died.
In Italy, the number of cases jumped 25 percent in a 24-hour period to 7,375, while deaths climbed 57 percent to 366. It was the largest daily increase for both readings since the contagion came to light on Feb. 21.
The Australian Government is expected to release fiscal stimulus worth A$10 billion ($6.62 billion) to protect the economy from the effects of the coronavirus. Australian finance minister Josh Frydenberg, said that the virus has a significant impact on tourism, education, agriculture and manufacturing. Governments around the world have pledged more than $54 billion budget supporrt to fight the effects of the virus.
On Friday, Indonesian Rupiah weakened 0.48 percent to 14,243 per US Dollar and the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) closed down 2.48 percent to 5,498.54. The analysts rated, the outflow of funds in rupiah-denominated bonds continued in the past week amid the spread of COVID-19.
For today they believed the market is still worried by the World Health Organization warning that coronavirus has the potential to become a pandemic. In fact, Moody’s warned that the outbreak would trigger a global recession in the first half of 2020.
With all various data, the observers viewed the local currency move in the range 14,110 – 14,320 compared to Greenback. While, the stock index between 5,473 to 5,552.
Stocks to be watch for today are PT Astra International Tbk (IDX: ASII), PT Kalbe Farma Tbk (IDX: KLBF), PT Bank Central Asia Tbk (IDX: BBCA), PT Bank Tabungan Negara Tbk (IDX: BBTN), PT Indofood Sukses Makmur Tbk (IDX: INDF), PT Bank Mandiri Tbk (IDX: BMRI), PT Waskita Karya Tbk (IDX: WSKT), PT Astra Agro Lestari (IDX: AALI), and PT London Sumatra Indonesia Plantation Tbk (IDX: LSIP).
May you have a profitable Week!
Written by Linda Silaen and TIS Intelligence Team, Please Read Our Insight to Get More information about Indonesia


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Newton Aycliffe, September 8, 2014 – Hitachi Rail Europe Ltd. today announced that it is working with over 30 UK-based suppliers to build trains for the first phase of train delivery for the Government’s Intercity Express Programme.
Of those parts, systems and operations that Hitachi Rail Europe could have sourced from the UK for the new trains, 72% have indeed been purchased from UK-based businesses.
This includes lighting from Manchester-based BMAC, fire testing systems from Exova, located in Warrington, anti-roll bars from Littlehampton-based Ferrabyrne, and wheelsets from Lucchini UK, located in Manchester.
The confirmation comes as the rolling stock provider published a map highlighting the locations of its various manufacturers across the UK. It shows that the company’s supply chain is drawn from many different regions, including four businesses from the North West, three businesses from the North East, and three from Yorkshire and the Humber.
Today’s announcement cements the company’s commitment to supporting UK businesses and developing the rail supply chain. Following the announcement earlier this year that Hitachi Rail would be moving its global HQ to London, this is another sign of its confidence in the growing UK rail sector.
Jamie Foster, Procurement Director at Hitachi Rail Europe, said: “We are delighted to be working with so many suppliers from across the UK in building our new Class 800 series trains for the Intercity Express Programme. Given the high requirements for quality and reliability in our trains, we were keen to work with companies that share our values in this regard. As the first three pre-series trains are now being manufactured in our factory, I cannot emphasise enough the high quality and quantity of services our suppliers have provided on the project thus far. We hope to continue working closely with each of them across the rest of the manufacturing and delivery schedule.”
Chris Fawdry, Managing Director of Lucchini UK, said: “The IEP contract is fundamental to Lucchini UK. It confirms our place at the forefront of high speed wheelset technology and manufacture and is a recognition of the excellent service that we maintained when we supplied to Hitachi all the new wheelsets for the Javelin trains that are so successful on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link between St Pancras and the South Coast, a level of service that we continue to provide now for the maintenance of those same wheelsets and gearboxes.”


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Background: Tanzania has made significant progress in organizing and licensing gold dealers, but there remain opportunities for bad actors to smuggle gold into the country's supply chains. Investors want to purchase conflict-free gold in Tanzania, but have no way of determining the provenance of the gold parcels. AfroPavo Analytics was approached to find a solution that would offer greater transparency and an audit trail for the provenance of the parcels of gold to the buyers.
Solution: AfroPavo Analytics proposed the use of blockchain technology to track the supply chain of gold from artisanal miners to processing plants, elution plants and eventually to dealers. By digitizing the supply chain and adding geo-location, timestamps, and other key details at each point, the solution would create an immutable record of the gold's origin, authenticity and movement. This would not only ensure that the gold is conflict-free, but also promote the African gold market to compete against foreign markets. The solution also included the use of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) to create an audit trail of gold jewellery in the market that can be tracked from the origin to the owner.
Results: The proposed solution would bring transparency to the gold supply chain, enabling investors to confirm the provenance of the gold parcels they purchase. It would also provide a proof of concept for the use of blockchain to authenticate conflict-free gold parcels in the supply chain to the buyers. The project aims to create an audit trail of gold jewellery in the market that can be tracked from the origin to the owner through NFTs, promoting the African gold market to compete against foreign markets.


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ABTA has today launched a campaign to stop holiday sickness scams.
And it warns holidaymakers if they make a false claim they will face consequences including a possible fine.
The political and consumer “Stop Sickness Scams”, calls on the government to crack down on fake holiday sickness claims that have left travel companies vulnerable.
A letter signed by ABTA Members presented to the new Justice Secretary, David Lidington MP, kick-starts the campaign. It requests a meeting with Mr Lidington to call for the loophole in the law to be addressed, limiting holiday sickness claims to a fixed amount.
Next week ABTA will also ask travel industry businesses and members of the public to email their MPs about this issue.
An advertising campaign will directly target people considering making a claim and an on-line hub is being set up on abta.com/stopsicknessscams.
ABTA is asking members to support the campaign on social media by sharing materials and using #StopSicknessScams to counteract the highly misleading advertising of unscrupulous Claims Management Companies, which are spending heavily on social and mainstream media ahead of the summer season.
Campaign supporters include destination partners and ABTA members, including Thomas Cook, TUI, Monarch and Jet2 Holidays.
The campaign is leading with a number of calls to action aimed at the travelling public. These are to:
Report touts in resorts to your hotel manager and/or tour operator.
Warn other holidaymakers if you see touts about and let your friends and family know about the problem.
If you are cold-called and encouraged to make a fake holiday sickness claim, report the company to the Claims Management Regulator. Find out more here: https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-claims-company
If you are aware of a fake holiday sickness claim, report it to Action Fraud
If you believe you have experienced food poisoning as a result of eating in your hotel, contact your hotel or tour operator immediately in resort. Claims companies will take a hefty slice of any compensation awarded.
If you aren’t satisfied with the response you get from your travel company, you can pursue your case through ABTA’s independent Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme or through the small claims court.
Mark Tanzer ABTA Chief Executive said: “I strongly urge everyone in the industry to get behind our “Stop Sickness Scams” campaign. The public need to know the truth behind the highly misleading marketing tactics used by unscrupulous Claims Management companies whose activities are causing so much damage. Share our social media messaging, our videos and the information on abta.com/stopsicknessscams.”


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Blog: Coke executive bounces back
Olly Wehring | 11 December 2006
Coca-Cola Co. showed last week that “honest mistakes” might not always stick for good in the world of business.
On Friday, the world’s largest drinks group confirmed the long-rumoured appointment of Muhtar Kent as president and chief operating officer.
Kent’s promotion to the number two position at Coke is a notable coup for the executive, who was forced to resign in 1997 from Coke bottler Coca-Cola Amatil following an investigation into the trading of shares in the Australia-based company.
Kent eventually left the company to take a job at Efes Beverage Group, only to return to the Coke fold last year to oversee Coke’s business in North Asia, Eurasia and the Middle East – and then to head Coca-Cola International.
Coke chairman and CEO Neville Isdell is widely seen as the man behind Kent’s return and subsequent promotions. The Irishman has worked with Kent for over 20 years and believes his experience at dealing with Coke’s bottlers – the heart of the soft drinks giant’s business – is critical in revitalising its operations in key international markets.
On Friday, Isdell spoke of Kent’s “integrity” and insisted the share trading allegations had been “thoroughly investigated”. Kent’s actions were the result of an “honest mistake”, Isdell said, who spoke glowingly of the record of Coke’s international businesses under Kent.
However, some analysts were less fulsome with their praise. One analyst said Kent is “a logical choice” given his experience of the Coke system, but said he views the move “positive but unenthusiastically”.
Meanwhile, the head of a New York-based investment firm claimed he was “astonished” by the appointment. “Does Coke have such a poor management bench that it has to pick someone who has this black mark on his record?” he told a US newspaper.
Nevertheless, a fitting example of Isdell’s faith in Kent was his decision last year to ask him to mediate in talks between the company and Coca-Cola FEMSA over the price of concentrate used to make Coke products.
Kent will need his reputed powers of pragmatism and persuasion to convince industry watchers that he is the right man for a tough job.
Today is SABMiller's final day. Some time this evening, Brussel's time, the second-biggest brewer in the world will be subsumed into the biggest, creating a beer behemoth of unprecedented proportions....
No, this is not PepsiCo's new ad slogan for its Mountain Dew brand....
Major wine players flocked to China ready for online giant Alibaba's 9.9 Global Wine and Spirits Festival, which took place on 9 September....
In May, Heineken's CEO, Jean-François van Boxmeer, called Vietnam the "poster child" for international beer thanks to strong demographics and growing demand....
- Will Coca-Cola Co’s Dunkin’ Donuts move pay off?
- Five ways small brands can beat big players
- Alcohol brands and the 'better-for-you' trend
- Heineken's Q3 2016 results - Preview
- Ten ways to successfully target older consumers
- Diageo weathers Thailand alcohol ban
- Heineken's YTD performance by region - Focus
- SWA's David Frost to leave for foreign office role
- Stock Spirits appointments provoke investor unrest
- Diageo unveils new Bundaberg Rum packaging
- Global gin insights - market forecasts, product innovation and consumer trends
- Global Wine Market 2016-2020
- Global Scotch whisky insights - market forecasts, product innovation and consumer trends
- Global rum insights - market forecasts, product innovation and consumer trends
- Global RTD insights - market forecasts, product innovation and consumer trends


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Eden Classic goes into top gear with first-ever cycling jersey
A limited-edition cycling jersey is launched today (January 20) for the third year of the Eden Classic, the Eden’s Project’s big bike ride.
This will be the first time that the mass-participation cycle has had its own specially-designed jersey, a mark of the growing popularity of the event set this year for Sunday May 7.
Eden managing director Gordon Seabright said today: “The Eden Classic is growing in popularity every year and the launch of our striking new jersey is another exciting milestone for this great event.”
Nearly 800 cyclists signed up for last year’s sportive, with riders taking on one of three routes, a short but challenging 35 miles, a middle distance of 62 miles and an epic 100-miler for experienced riders.
All routes start and finish at the home of the famous Rainforest and Mediterranean Biomes and take in some of Cornwall’s finest countryside and coast.
Entrants get exclusive access to ride though the centre of Eden (usually closed to traffic) before reaching the start point opposite the Rainforest Biome. Once riders cross the timing mat at the start, all face a muscle-stretching climb out of the site and up the hairpin bends before continuing their ride down to the coast.
The Eden Classic is also renowned for the quality of its food and drink stations. Every rider taking part can descend on the iconic Lost Gardens of Heligan for the first station, where there are some healthy dishes and drinks to help them refuel.
Eden will be open free of charge over the weekend to friends and family of all those taking part in the sportive.
The new cycling jerseys cost £40 plus postage and packing and are available through the Eden shop at www.edenproject.com/shop/Eden-Classic-Jersey-22566.aspx
To take part in the Eden Classic, go to www.edenproject.com/edenclassic.


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Feeling a little bored up there in first-class? Major Australian airline Qantas will now be utilizing the help of the Samsung Gear VR with an accompanied Galaxy Note 4 to see their first-class customers further enjoy their experience.
It will be first tested through LA to Sydney and Melbourne to LA flights, said to be completed through the use of Airbus A380s and Boeing 747s. 12 Gear VR headsets will be used in the beginning test period, set as four for the outbound flight, four for the inbound flight and two for each of the first-class passenger lounges located in Sydney and Melbourne.
The Gear VR device will be connected to a Qantas app on the Note 4, allowing passengers to get a 360-degree look into the Qantas first-class lounge in LAX, runway-side videos of the aircraft taking off and setting down and a virtual reality boat ride on a Northern Territory river - set as a cross promotion with Tourism NT.
With the gaming organization known as Team Solo Mid (TSM) picking up a North American CS:GO squad, they have publicly claimed to now be supporting the highest paid CS:GO players on the planet - later being bested by Team Ninjas in Pyjamas (NiP), with their CEO Per Lilliefelth claiming an even better salary for his squad.
I'm sure you're wondering exactly what the figure is here - it's $3,000 US per month, per player. Nothing celebrity status that's sure - but pretty amazing given they are playing video games for employment. But wait, there's more. This $3,000 doesn't cover any of the in-game sticker sales alongside any prize money that the players may win at international tournaments, which can include total prize pools of up to $250,000.
Different from other gaming organizations, TSM have promised to take no cut of prize money or sticker sales, meaning that if these players see themselves added into a 'legends sticker pack' they could see up to $400,000 spread between the five-man squad.
Apple has taken the top spot in the Chinese smartphone market. China has the largest population in the world, and dwarfs most of the nearest countries, with the exception of India. India isn't nearly as developed, or experiencing the massive growth rate China is, so the China market holds tremendous strategic potential for Apple.
Xiaomi and Huawei are entrenched competitors that are slowly eating away market share, particularly from Samsung. Apple seems to have deflected their rising market share with popular new smartphones. Apple also has the notable accomplishment of unseating their bitter rival Samsung from the top spot. The new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have been big contributors to Apple's rise in the market with a 70% sales increase in Q4'14.
Apple's rise in China comes in spite of the fact their phones cost nearly double that of the competition. Apple devices are coveted in China, even resulting in large smuggling rings that bring them in to avoid taxes.
Small drones being flown by recreational hobbyists can be hijacked using malware, as a security expert found a backdoor in the Parrot AR drone. The AR quadcopter helicopter drone can be controlled by a smartphone, tablet, NVIDIA Shield and similar devices, but can be hijacked with the Maldrone malware.
Security specialist Rahul Sasi was able to infect the drone and could interfere with its navigation features. Once compromised, he could issue a kill command, or fly the drone under his command - opening the odor to potential invasion of privacy cases, or stealing an onboard camera/video recorder.
"In this we would show infecting a drone with Maldrone and expecting a reverse tcp connection from drone," according to researchers. "Once connection is established we can interact with the software as well as drivers/sensors of the drone directly. There is an existing AR drone piloting program. Our backdoors kills the autopilot and takes control. The backdoor is persistent across resets."
The FTC has ordered mobile phone provider TracFone to pay a hefty $40 million fine for throttling data for users with 'unlimited' data plans. This fine has wide-ranging implications for the mobile industry overall, as several carriers, such as AT&T and Verizon, still have users with unlimited data plans. Neither company currently offers new unlimited subscriptions, but they still have to honor their plans that are grandfathered in from past agreements.
In addition to the fine, the FTC has ordered TracFone to provide refunds to customers who experienced data throttling. TracFone not only throttled speeds when customers reached two to three gigabytes of used data, but they were also shutting off customers who reached between four and five gigabytes.
The FTC issued a blunt assessment of the situation. "The issue here is simple: When you promise consumers 'unlimited,' that means unlimited," said Jessica Rich, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection.
Mobile gamers are spending a lot of time playing their favorite games, with more than two hours played per day in 2014, according to The NPD Group. The latest figures note a dramatic 57 percent increase, as consumers are even more comfortable using their smartphones and tablets.
Not surprisingly, kids are helping drive revenue, with kids from 2 up to 12 years of age spending the most amount of time gaming over other activities, according to the report.
"Continued mobile growth will stem from existing customers paying more to play, especially in the free-to-play portion of the market," said Liam Callahan, industry analyst at The NPD Group, in a statement. "A positive sign of consumer behavior trending this way is the fact that more than twice the number of app gamers reported making an in-game purchase than they did when we conducted this study two years ago."
Intel is refreshing their datacenter SSD line with new models that deliver faster write performance than their predecessors. The Intel DC S3710 Series provides 25% more write performance, topping out at 45,000 random write IOPS for the 1.2TB model. The DC S3710 SSDs come in capacities of 200, 400, 800, and 1.2TB. Random read performance weighs in at 85,000 IOPS, and sequential read weighs in at 550MB/s. Sequential writes vary by capacity points, reaching a top speed of 520MB/s. The DC S3710 is geared for high-performance computing, high data rate analytics, operational databases, and large-scale virtualization.
The Intel DC S3610 Series addresses the exploding mid-level performance tier, while offering faster random write speed with an economical price point. The DC S3610 comes in wide range of capacities, with 200, 400, 480, 800GB, and 1.2TB models in the 2.5" form factor. Random read tops out at 84,000 IOPS, and varying write performance (based upon capacity) reaches up to 28,000 IOPS. Sequential read comes in at 550MB/s, and sequential write performance reaches 520MB/s (depending upon capacity). The DC S3610 series also offers capacities of 200, 400, and 800GB in the incredibly small 1.8" form factor, but performance specifications for the 1.8" haven't been released as of yet.
In a order to easily organize and store photos in your account, Microsoft has added an Albums feature for their OneDrive service - claimed by some as a move to compete with popular competitors including Dropbox and Google's storage options.
Released this Wednesday through a company blog post, this addition will feature capabilities mirroring Dropbox's Carousel photo gallery app and Google Drive's built-in albums feature. Available through the iOS app now, the company has stated they will add Android and Windows phone support "soon".
It's also claimed that next month will see an addition of automatic photo import features for Windows 7 and 8 users, as already seen with Android, iOS and Windows Phone versions as of last July. This new feature will see a camera imports folder added, becoming the location for all automatic imports from both PC's and mobile devices - changing it from the current "All photo's" folder.
Complete with a 13-inch screen squeezed into a bezel that generally houses 11-inch offerings, Dell's new XPS 13 2015 is packed full of tech goodies including the new Broadwell U CPU, 4GB of RAM, a tiny 2.99lb weight rating and a 1366 x 768 resolution touch-screen.
Being initially released to the market at a tiny price of $800, some are claiming this model to be a MacBook Air killer. Touted by many at CES to be part of their 'best of' categories, with the vibrant screen, strong audio and configuration options helping describe why it's such a winner. Bear in mind that the touchscreen isn't part of the $800 base-model, however it's a great inclusion if you're that way inclined.
Comparing this to Apple's MacBook Air, you're looking at a starting price of $999 for 128GB of PCI-e based flash storage, an Intel i5 dual-core and 4GB of RAM. With the specifications sitting fairly close, you can't argue with a $199 saving on Dell's product.
In a bid to win back over the Chinese market, Motorola has returned with their new smartphone offering - the Moto X.
Said to set themselves apart from the rest of the crowd by providing advanced customization, Motorola are hoping that giving users the ability to change the back panels on their devices will win over a large amount of consumers. Marking two years out of the Chinese scene, Motorola's new Moto X smartphone comes packed with a 4.7" AMOLED screen displaying at 720p, a Dual-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor running at 1.7GHz, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, a 2200 mAh battery and Android 4.4.2 Kitkat as standard.
Although not the highest-rated smartphone component wise, we've seen that high-end expensive phones don't really fare too well in the Chinese market - which is constantly being dominated by domestic brand offerings.
Listed for a start-price of 3,000 Yuan ($480 US), we'll be very interested to see how it performs.


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Nintendo has kicked off a legal battle against the owner of multiple websites that sells game copiers.
The websites are owned by NXPGAME which sells game copiers that allow users to crack, download, play and distribute copies of Nintendo DS and DSi video games. Nintendo has tried of several occasions to get NXPGAME to stop selling the game copiers, with the owner once agreeing to shut down the operation, only to move address and start the operation off once more.
"Using game copiers to play unauthorized downloaded games is illegal and it’s wrong," said Jodi Daugherty, Nintendo of America’s senior director of Anti-Piracy. "Piracy is especially harmful to smaller developers. When their creative works are stolen and copied illegally, some companies find it difficult to survive economically."
Now, I don't condone piracy in any way, shape or form. If you want a game, pay for it. Unlike a CD or DVD which can scratch and be damaged, there's no legitimate reason for anyone to copy a game. That said, this action does seem to me to amount to Nintendo doing little more than spitting into the wind. Game copiers for Nintendo cartridges are readily available (and no, I'm not going to tell you where to get them ...). Here's a clue as to just how widespread the problem is:
Since 2009, Nintendo has supported almost 1,500 legal actions (including customs seizures, law-enforcement actions and civil proceedings) in more than 20 countries that have resulted in the confiscation of more than 422,000 video game copiers.
And despite this, copiers still flood the market.
It seems to me that the only way that Nintendo is going to put a stop to this game copying epidemic is to change the cartridge format, beefing up the copy protection. Sure, that's likely to be broken at some point, but it'll slow things down a bit.


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Globalization Hits Home
The story of Virginia Apparel Corp. is short and sad. Sid Mason
has told it so many times that he's condensed a lifetime dream into a
few clipped sentences. Mason, who had always wanted his own business,
bought a jeans plant in Rocky Mount in 1971 just as common work-pants
were turning into a popular fashion staple. His production quickly grew
from merely assembling jeans for clothing companies to buying fabrics,
creating patterns and producing private-label jeans, plus skirts and
shorts, for mail-order giants like Land's End and L.L. Bean.
How Global Trade and NAFTA Hit a Vital Virginia Business
• South of the Border, an Eager Work Force Waits for Jobs
• Hard-Working Mexican-Americans Flock to the Old Dominion
• Don't Blame NAFTA: Virginia Must Retrain
By Page Boinest Melton
But after 27 years, even as demand for Mason's products grew,
the company's margins were squeezed to nearly nothing by a flood of
cheaper-made clothing from foreign countries. The company that at one
time employed up to 600 people at plants in Rocky Mount, Ferrum and
Blackstone became a casualty of what Mason blames largely on trade
policies. Son Tim Mason let go the last 150 employees in late 1998.
The company's rise and fall marks Virginia's spot on a global
Darwinian dilemma. U.S. textile and apparel manufacturers see plenty of
demand for products. Yet, profit margins are tighter than ever thanks
to competition from foreign-made clothing which are produced at a
fraction of the U.S. cost. Only the fittest companies survive by
combining a U.S. presence with foreign production. "Some of our
customers kept encouraging us to go South to Mexico and we explored
it," says Mason. "But we figured if our people are going to lose their
jobs, let's let it be because the industry deserted us - not because we
Indeed, Mason and many others in Virginia's dying apparel industry are
running smack into a brick wall - the rising globalization of the
economy and the free trade policies that go along with it. The roaring
success of high technology may be masking the impact, but the effect of
free trade on U.S. companies is becoming a hot issue. Witness the riots
and demonstrations during World Trade Organization (WTO) meetings in
Seattle and Washington, DC, to bitter debates in Congress over
permanent trade status for China.
Globalization is no simple issue. Supporters say free trade
boosts U.S. exports of higher value-added products and services, and
allows producing countries to take care of themselves. Detractors paint
a stark picture where the biggest loser is the U.S. factory worker. A
longtime U.S. textile worker feeding a household on less than $10 an
hour loses his job to a Mexican or Caribbean earning far less - all so
that companies can compete with a flood of Asian imports. Critics blame
trade policies, like the 1994 implementation of the North American Free
Trade Agreement (NAFTA), for piling on the already stressed textile and
The jobs at stake have been mainstays in Virginia and other
Southern states for decades. Apparel work first shifted from Europe to
America in the 19th century and from New England to the South in the
early 1900s. Since the 1960s, it has been steadily moved from the
southern part of the U.S. even farther South, to Mexico and the
Caribbean. Its flight from the U.S. has only accelerated under NAFTA,
which eased tariffs between the United States, Canada and Mexico. The
Caribbean Basin Initiative means duty-free, quota-free goods can flow
between the United States and the Caribbean and, like NAFTA, employers
are likely to shift work to cheaper labor there.
Today, facing stiffer competition from Asian manufacturers,
major textile and apparel makers - many with Virginia operations - are
closing or downsizing U.S. plants. They are investing in their own
Mexican operations or joining competitors in funding "textile cities,"
industrial parks of textile and apparel production. Fabric and garment
pieces made in the United States are shipped to Mexico or the Caribbean
The tireless quest: ever lower production costs, some of it
captured through lower wages. Last year Virginia apparel workers, who
cut and sew fabric into finished products, made $8.31 an hour, or $310
a week, while textile workers, who weave threads and fabrics, made
$10.50 an hour, or $437 a week. That's compared with Mexico or the
Caribbean, where hourly wages may be less than a dollar. "It's not as
expensive to produce products outside of this country. We have so many
costs here and they're increasing," says Mason.
Opinions over trade policies are as varied as the treaties
themselves. Labor leaders say broader trade will cost even more jobs:
150,000 jobs estimated lost in textiles alone with permanent trade
status for China. Manufacturers believe U.S. companies always will have
a future producing specialty items, with the nearby U.S. market
counting on higher-end products that demand the expertise of skilled
American workers. Industry boosters believe domestic employment might
shift from production to staffing warehouses and managing supplies
traveling to and from foreign operations. And free-traders have a
message for those nostalgic for the textile and apparel industries: get
over it. "We have a tight labor market right now and we should be
employing people in the industries we are best at," said Aaron Schavey,
a Heritage Foundation trade policy analyst.
Apparel workers who lose their jobs can expect to get better
jobs paying one-third more, Schavey says, adding that nationally, close
to 90 percent of laid-off apparel and textile workers find new jobs.
"Protect the textile and apparel industry and you hurt the U.S.
economy," he says, suggesting that laid-off workers look for jobs in
growing industries like computers and technology.
That free trade message, however, doesn't fly in Virginia
communities hustling to recover from significant job losses in recent
years. The state's textile and apparel employment hit its peak 27 years
ago and has been dropping ever since: from 46,600 textile and 40,500
apparel jobs in 1973 to 27,900 textile and 12,900 apparel jobs in the
first quarter of 2000.
The roll call of lost jobs is concentrated in Southside although
it reaches into every corner of Virginia. Heaviest hit are cities such
as Danville and Martinsville but apparel job losses also have touched
the Northern Neck, Shenandoah Valley and Central Virginia. Virginia
remains the nation's fifth-largest textile employment state, probably
because capital-intensive plants represent more of a long-term
investment for textile companies.
As for the apparel industry, no other major Virginia industry
lost a larger portion of jobs than apparel's 61 percent employment
decline since 1973. Apparel companies, by contrast, are less
capital-intensive, less dependent on expensive technology and a lot
easier to move. Not so their workers. Retrained workers could find jobs
in other fields, but not necessarily in the same communities where they
live and have extensive personal ties. High-tech jobs are dribbling,
not flooding to Southside and many communities there don't have the
attributes high-tech companies look for.
When the jobs go, employees usually know where their positions
will end up, from Levi Strauss' decision last year to close its Warsaw
plant and shift production to foreign operations to Crest Uniform's
decision to close its Salem fabric-cutting plant while shifting some
production to Mexico. When Bassett-Walker scaled back its U.S.
production last year, closing plants in Chatham, Hillsville and Stuart,
there was more work for Mexico; likewise Burlington Industries, which
closed seven domestic plants including one in Hillsville, while
investing $300 million in new Mexican operations.
For some companies, 2000 marked the end of all U.S. production:
Cross Creek Apparel closed the last of its domestic sewing operations,
including a Hillsville plant, while Donnkenny clothing manufacturer
shut down U.S. manufacturing by closing plants in Floyd and
Independence, two years after closing Christiansburg and Lee County
operations. And the casualties are not limited to textile and apparel
production: AMF Reece says it will stop making industrial sewing
machines in the Richmond area this year and shift production to its
plant in the Czech Republic.
The closures and layoffs seem cruelest in what Virginia
Employment Commission economist Tim Kestner calls "company towns" -
places where textile or apparel plants are a major part of the
community's economy and image. Martinsville drew national attention
when Tultex Corp., battered by management and production problems that
went well beyond NAFTA, declared bankruptcy and plunged the community
into double-digit unemployment last December. With earlier closings at
DuPont, Pluma and Ashmore Sportswear plants, the Tultex layoffs drove
the area's total number of out-of-work textile and apparel employees to
more than 4,000.
Companies with capital-intensive operations - like the
118-year-old Dan River Inc., which invests heavily in high-tech
equipment and employee training - have been slower to move South. But
that could change as trade pressures favor lower-cost producers. Dan
River plans to close its nearly 500-employee Schoolfield plant next
year. In a joint venture with a Mexican partner, Grupo Industrial Zaga,
Dan River will shift 275 Schoolfield looms to a weaving plant north of
Mexico City. A second joint venture includes a Mexican apparel plant
that will make sportswear products to compete with Asian imports.
"We're doing what we need to do to remain competitive and to continue
to generate value to our shareholders," said Denise Laussade, Dan River
vice president for finance. The decision, marking Dan River's first
investment in Mexico, was a difficult one for the company but Dan River
hopes to find jobs for most if not all of the laid-off Schoolfield
workers, she says.
Despite the spate of bad news, VEC's Kestner believes there is
life still in the state's textile and apparel industries. The
industries may not be contributing as much to the state's economy as in
the past, he says, but it's important to look beyond the statistics.
While NAFTA has contributed to job losses, Kestner notes that
increasing exports to Canada have provided some balance. And even as
jobs were declining, plant productivity in textiles increased slightly,
largely because of advances in technology.
Industry insiders bristle at the suggestion that the apparel and
textile industries are dead. Instead, they say, companies are evolving
into leaner operations that count on foreign production but also need
easy access to the lucrative U.S. market. "It isn't the apparel
industry of your grandparents' times, but you will always have a viable
apparel industry in this country if for no other reason than it gives
you proximity to this market," says Jack Morgan, spokesman for the
Virginia-based American Apparel Manufacturers Association. Employment
numbers are grim, he agrees, but the shift in production is inevitable,
given recent free-trade policies.
Sid Mason's advice to an apparel maker today? "Find some other
product," he says, echoing what others say may help secure Virginia's
remaining textile and apparel operations. Products like sweatshirts and
sweatpants - staples of producers like Tultex - can be made anywhere in
the world. The future is in higher-end products that command more
skilled workers and can be shipped quickly to U.S. retailers.
Kestner agrees. "We have long since passed the
sock-manufacturing-mass-retail-type clothes." On the apparel side, the
future may favor higher-end clothing such as well-made dresses and
suits for men and women. In textiles, domestic production might excel
in weaves used in the computer industry, or in expensive rugs,
upholstery and other high-end fabrics. "We're looking for things we
think will be long-term, viable, competitive product lines," says Dan
River's Laussade. Dan River derives two-thirds of its business revenue
from home fashions, such as sheets and comforters - logical products
for the company because of the quick turnaround time demanded by U.S.
retailers. "We continue to seek out relationships with customers we
provide some certain niche product to."
No matter what the textile and apparel industries look like in
10 years, plenty of Virginians have seen enough to convince them that
it's time to move on. Much of Southside Virginia's identity seems
indelibly tied to the textile and apparel industries, but local leaders
looking for a broader image are stepping up efforts to attract new jobs
and prepare workers for different fields. "What we are trying to do is
diversify: If there is a downswing in one industry, we won't be as
affected as we have been in the past," says Jack Messer, executive
director of the Southside Economic Development Partnership. The
3-year-old partnership for the region stretching from Martinsville to
Halifax touts the area's workforce and low cost of living, while
targeting businesses ranging from call centers and Internet technology
to wood products, plastics production and food industry companies.
Franklin County got the wakeup call after Virginia Apparel
Corp., Pluma, Bassett-Walker and JPS Converter all closed local plants
inside of a year. Businesses and community groups created a consortium
to help residents deal with the practical and emotional toll of those
lost jobs. "You are emotionally moved when you hear what it means from
someone who has lost a job after being with a company 20-30 years, and
obstacles they have gone through," says Francie Cumby, who coordinates
the consortium's retraining and work force efforts with local colleges.
"The economy is changing and we wanted to help people displaced from
employment due to no fault of their own."
One of the consortium's success stories is Sharon Law, who says
NAFTA helped her make the move from a factory to the classroom. Law had
a textile job since she was old enough to work, but when Pluma went out
of business last year - one of a half-dozen textile companies she has
worked for in more than 30 years - she looked for a new career. Today
the 54-year-old mother of two has a 4.0 average and is working on a
computer programming degree.
Making the switch was a tough call, but Law decided she had had
enough job hopping. "Most of the jobs went overseas. When NAFTA passed,
they just went faster," she said. Law hopes to find work in her new
field when she graduates next year. She would like to work in Franklin
County, if county developers can find a company to provide the jobs.
"It was hard and I didn't know if I could do it," said Law of going
back to school at her age. "But I think I'll like an office
Broader trade policies - like many decisions made in Washington
- are enacted with a national and even global perspective in mind. Yet
the consequences of those votes are felt most keenly in states and
local communities. Textile and apparel manufacturers still in business
are transforming industrial-era manufacturing into high-tech, high-end
operations. The Old Dominion drew part of its wealth in the last
century from the textile and apparel industries. But today, it finds
itself under increasing pressure for more education, worker training
and aggressive economic development to secure a future for Sharon Law
and thousands of laid-off workers like her in Virginia's "company


text:
Lonnie Walker IV has been with Adidas for less than a month, but the San Antonio Spurs rookie is already making an impact with his sponsorship.
Reading Eagle reports that Walker teamed up with Eric Wise, category director of merchandising at Adidas Originals U.S., to give back to their hometown of Reading, Pennsylvania. Both attended Reading High School, and now they're hooking their hometown up with $30,000 worth of Adidas sneakers.
A total of 300 pairs of Adidas shoes including the Crazy BYW were sent to Reading's Blacktop Basketball League, an organization which provides athletes ranging from ages 7 to 15 with safe places to hone their skills.
"I'm sure the kids will be overwhelmed. I'm looking forward to seeing the reaction of the kids when they do receive them. To see the expressions will be priceless," said Blacktop Basketball League executive director Veronica Brown.


text:
It might sound exactly like a parody from satirical website The Onion, but Apple could actually, no joke, be designing a MacBook without a keyboard.
In a new patent made public this week, the firm outlined how a keyboard could be replaced with 'a force-sensitive input structure for an electronic device' with 'zero travel: in other words, a surface without keys that move when you press them, but instead 'a customisable, clean, flat surface that reacts to where you press.'
The patent implies that instead of a keyboard, users will not have to interact with any physical keys, but instead type onto a surface similar to a mouse trackpad, which uses sensors beneath the pad to accurately determine where a user is pressing.
This would allow MacBook users to create their own customised keyboard layouts as they see fit, as it would be dotted with tiny 'micro-perforations' that would be lit from below to allow the different 'keys' to show user-designed characters.
Users could potentially make keyboards that featured emojis – or 'glyphs' as the patent describes – numerical keyboards, keyboards in other alphabets, or, well, anything they wanted.
The placement of keys, trackpads and other input areas could also be fully customised by the user – the potential configurations would be virtually endless.
Without the need for physical keys, Apple could make its thinnest and lightest ever MacBook.
The device maker seems to be intent on soon breaking out of the convention when it comes to user input hardware: in February it filed a patent for 'multi-touch surfaces with touch-free proximity sensors' which could allow users to interact with their computers using gestures, without physically touching the surface.
Although it's unknown when Apple could be including the new feature in its MacBooks, it's proof that clunky keyboards and other input methods that we have been using since computers first appeared could soon be a thing of the past.


text:
The "long-term strategic alliance" between General Motors and Lyft is starting to bear fruit as The Wall Street Journal is reporting the two companies will begin testing a fleet of autonomous Chevrolet Bolt models within a year.
Citing an unnamed Lyft executive, the paper is reporting the companies will conduct a pilot program in an undisclosed city. A lot of details still have to be worked out but it appears Lyft users in the selected city will be given the option of being picked up by an autonomous car. If the user agrees, the Bolt will automatically to drive to their location, picked them up, and then take them to their destination. Once the trip is completed, the Bolt will drive away to be recharged or to pick up another passenger.
The process sounds relatively simple but regulatory hurdles remain. As a result, the cars will still require a driver but they will only be on hand to intervene if something goes wrong. This is only temporary as the ultimate goal is to create a fully autonomous taxi that doesn't require a driver.
The partnership between GM and Lyft gives the ride-sharing service a huge advantage over Uber which isn't expected to start using autonomous vehicles until later this decade.


text:
Much has been made of the Retina display in the new iPad that’s double the resolution of the earlier iPad 2. Flipboard is one of the first apps to take specific advantage of the higher res.
Flipboard says its new edition is specifically designed for the iPad’s Retina display, resulting in sharper, more saturated images in the magazines the company features. The improvements also extend to typography that Flipboard says is now “more comfortable to read” and closer to the visual feel of a print magazine.
"As people read more and more of their daily news, check social networks and browse photos from friends on their iPad, Apple's Retina display brings an entirely new level of enjoyment to that part of our lives," said Evan Doll, co-founder of Flipboard.
In addition to the Retina display, Apple’s latest iPad sports a faster processor and voice dictation software.


text:
Leeds collections firm to write off £414m of customer debt over 'historic failings'
Debt purchase and collections company Motormile Finance UK has agreed to provide redress to more than 500,000 customers
2 November 2016
John Lewis credit card-holders struggle to resolve payment issues after website outage
Customers say they are still battling to get through to the retailer as problems enter their third week
27 October 2016
1,000s warned to check their insurance after Enterprise Insurance goes bust
Thousands of Enterprise Insurance customers will start to receive automatic compensation for defunct motor policies
26 October 2016
Most UK businesses don't properly understand rules on 'unfair terms' – know your rights
The majority of businesses in the UK don't understand rules around 'unfair terms' in relation to consumer rights law
25 October 2016
Compensation to be made compulsory for train delays of over 15 minutes
The DfT has unveiled its 'Delay Repay 15' scheme that'll pay compensation for delays of more than 15 minutes
13 October 2016
Online retailer Very apologises and issues refunds following confusion over cancelled PS4 console orders
More than 1,000 Very customers who paid for PS4 consoles have been left disappointed after their orders didn't turn up
4 October 2016
You CAN claim a refund from your credit card company for Hotpoint tumble dryers, Ombudsman rules
A faulty Hotpoint tumble dryer owner refused a refund by his credit card firm Nationwide has had the decision overturned
4 October 2016
Monarch granted last-minute ATOL licence extension
Airline Monarch has extended its ATOL licence after securing
30 September 2016
Monarch worries? Your rights if the worst happens
Social media has been rife with rumours about the airline Monarch's financial health - your rights explained
27 September 2016
Customers of payday loan firm CFO Lending to receive £34m in redress for 'unfair practices'
Payday loan firm CFO Lending will pay more than £34m of redress to 97,000 customers after treating them unfairly
19 September 2016
25 May 2022
10 big tips to cut motoring costs
Including MSE's new car insurance tool
Top savings rates for a decade
1.5% easy access, 2.68% fixed
Reclaim lost cash for FREE
Up to £50 billion's waiting to be found
Energy price cap predicted to rise 42%
Should you fix?
£25 M&S beauty bag with £30 spend
Can you boost state pension by £1,000s?
Amazon £10 off £30 for some
Plus another 33 Amazon tricks
Read the full email
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Morrisons becomes the fourth major retailer to hike meal deal prices this year - here's how it compares24 May 2022Morrisons has increased the cost of its meal deal by 50p from £3 to £3.50, making it the fourth major retailer to up prices this year. Here's how it compares.
24 May 2022NS&I will increase its Premium Bond prize fund rate, which is equivalent to a yearly interest rate, from 1% to 1.4% from 1 June. The odds of each £1 Premium Bond number winning a prize will also increase from 34,500 to one to 24,500 to one.
24 May 2022We've the latest on the testing and self-isolation rules for travellers visiting popular destinations abroad, plus full refund and insurance rights for overseas and UK travel.
Mis-sold an Amigo loan? Redress could soon be on its way after High Court approves complaints scheme23 May 2022A compensation plan put forward by Amigo Loans to return at least £112 million to borrowers it wrongly mis-sold high-interest loans to has today (23 May) been approved by the High Court. The move is a significant win for borrowers and follows a previous proposal that was rejected by the Court.
23 May 2022Children's toy subscription service Whirli has gone into administration. The collapse affects around 10,500 customers. Here's what it means for your refund and return rights.
26 May 2022With the announcement of the Government's energy cost of living plans due out at lunchtime. I thought I'd speedily bash out a note down of what (from memory) I'd asked the Chancellor for when we spoke on Monday - and the other general suggestions I've been making.
24 May 2022Press the rewind button and go way back to April 2015... Possibly on the telly in the corner of your living room, I was on-air at the time urging savers as usual to use their new tax-free cash ISA allowance – because 'money was nicer in an ISA'. But things changed in 2016.
6 May 2022I set up MoneySavingExpert.com nearly 20 years ago – when arguably the modern web was still in its infancy. With an abundance of self-belief (something I had too much of then, as I realise now) I decided not to read any books, or follow prevailing wisdom on how a site should operate – and just do it my way.
26 April 2022It's hard to believe the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute (MMHPI) charity is now six years old. As the chair of trustees, each year I write the foreword to its annual report – and today the 2021/22 report is out, so I thought I'd blog my formal chair's foreword here.
Clever ways to calculate your finances


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Sonic Drive-In is ramping up its product pipeline with a new Culinary Innovation Center, a state-of-the-art test kitchen under construction in the
Gold Star Chili, the flavor of Cincinnati, introduced a new menu item for Cincinnati chili lovers on the go: the munchable, crunchable GOrito.
For Austin resident and bicycle fanatic James McIntire life is all about moving fast, having fun, and living healthy.
Yumz Gourmet Frozen Yogurt, a self-serve franchise, announced the addition of Greek
Domino's Pizza continues to show it is a player in the chicken business with its launch of the new Specialty Chicken, th
Dickey’s Barbecue wants to join your Easter family tradition.
Rita’s Italian Ice, an Italian Ice concept with over 600 stores announced the debut of its newest flavor, STARBURST Oran
When fast-casual concept PDQ first opened its doors in the fall of 2011 with a new approach to the chicken category, owners Bob Basham and Nick Rea
Fazoli’s formed an agreement with Ferrero U.S.A Inc., makers of Nutella hazelnut spread.


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Tesla shares fell into bear territory on Thursday, down more than 20% in 2022 – losing sight of the magical $1 trillion market valuation – as disappointed investors marked down the electric-vehicle pioneer’s stock.
Tesla fans were eager to hear about ramp ups at the Texas-headquartered company’s new Austin and Berlin plants and timelines for previously promised models – notably the Cybertruck and a much-touted entry-level car, dubbed the Model 2.
Instead, CEO Elon Musk spent an hour making fresh promises about robotaxis (“the most important source of profitability for Tesla”) and a humanoid the company unveiled in August which “has the potential to be more significant than the vehicle business over time”:
“We’re not currently working on that $25,000 car. We at some point will. We have enough on our plate right now, too much on our plates, frankly. So at some point there will be, but I think that’s sort of a question that it’s just sort of the wrong question.”
MINING.COM is not averse to asking sort of a question that’s just sort of the wrong question, and so compiled a list of articles that may explain why Tesla is not working on a SGMW Wuling Hongguang MINI-slayer:
Following the original announcement of a world-conquering mass market Tesla at the company’s Battery Day in September 2020, we argued that perhaps the lithium in Nevada is not sufficient to electrify 300 million cars, that mine rehabilitation may involve more than “putting the chunk of dirt back where it was” and cobalt is more than the “stable part of a bookshelf”:
In February last year, we tried to show that TSLA may be overvalued against its peers, because even if you assign a value of zero to the internal combustion engine cars of its closest competitor Volkswagen (including cars such as Bugatti and Bentley), investors love the batteries in a Model 3 three times more than the batteries in an ID.3 – and that was at a time when Tesla was still more than $200 billion off its peak:
A year ago MINING.COM also calculated how much lithium, nickel, cobalt, rare earth, graphite, copper, manganese and aluminum Tesla will need to reach its stated goal of producing 20 million cars per year. In short, Tesla would have to own vast swathes of Chile’s copper fields, buy up most of the Congo’s cobalt operations, convince Indonesia to hand over all its nickel, procure 23 times Madagascar’s graphite mining, and break China’s rare earth monopoly. One exception is lithium, it has more than it needs in a 100-mile radius from Gigafactory 1:
Tesla still dominates the electric car industry in terms of sales volumes with the Model 3 the top-selling vehicle in all markets (except China, where it sits at number 2 behind a sub-$5,000 microcar), battery power deployed and battery metal use (except cobalt), but it’s uninspiring product roadmap and big-spending rivals may see these charts change substantially in 2022:
MINING.COM’s ranking of the Top 20 EVs of 2021 and the battery metals used in them shows Tesla and its competitors struggling with rising costs as lithium, cobalt and nickel prices surge:


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Bibit, a digital investment platform based in masstamilan Indonesia, has recently raised $65 million in a Series B funding round led by Sequoia India. The funds will be used to expand Bibit’s product offerings and further develop its technology platform.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at Bibit and its recent funding round, as well as the potential implications of this investment for the future of digital investment platforms in Indonesia and beyond.
Bibit was founded in 2019 by Sigit Kouwagam and Kevin Sanjaya, with the goal of making investing accessible to more people in Indonesia. The company offers a user-friendly platform that allows users to myvuhub invest in mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and other financial products.
The company has already experienced significant growth since its launch, with over 3 million registered users and more than $330 million in assets under management. Bibit’s success has been driven by its focus on making investing simple and accessible for everyone, regardless of their level of financial literacy.
The Series B Funding Round
Bibit’s recent $65 million Series B funding teachertn round was led by Sequoia India, with participation from existing investors, including Prosus Ventures and Tencent. The funds will be used to expand Bibit’s product offerings, including the launch of new investment products and the development of additional features for its platform.
The investment from Sequoia India is significant, as it is one of the most well-respected venture capital firms in the world. Sequoia has a long history of successful investments in technology companies, including Apple, Google, and Airbnb.
The investment also highlights the growing interest in digital investment platforms in Indonesia and Southeast Asia more broadly. As more people in the region begin to take an interest in investing, there is a growing need for platforms that are accessible and easy to use.
The Implications for Digital Investment Platforms in Indonesia
Bibit’s success and recent funding round highlight the potential for digital investment platforms in Indonesia and the wider region. With a large and growing middle class, as well as a young and tech-savvy population, there is significant potential for these platforms to disrupt traditional investment channels.
Digital investment platforms like Bibit offer a pagalsongs number of advantages over traditional investment channels. For one, they are often more accessible and affordable, allowing people to start investing with smaller amounts of money. They also offer greater flexibility, with users able to manage their investments from anywhere at any time.
Perhaps most importantly, digital investment platforms like Bibit are often more user-friendly, making it easier for people with limited financial literacy to start investing. This is particularly important in a market like Indonesia, where financial literacy rates are relatively low.
The Future of Digital Investment Platforms
As more people in Indonesia and Southeast Asia begin to take an interest in investing, we can expect to see continued growth in digital investment platforms like Bibit. However, there are also a number of challenges that these platforms will need to address in order to succeed.
One of the biggest challenges is building trust among users. Many people in Indonesia and other emerging markets are wary of investing, particularly in financial products that they don’t fully understand. Digital investment platforms will need to work hard to build trust and educate users about the benefits of investing.
Another challenge is regulatory yareel compliance. As these platforms grow in popularity, they will come under increasing scrutiny from regulators. Platforms will need to ensure that they are operating in compliance with local laws and regulations, which can be complex and varied.
Despite these challenges, the future looks bright for digital investment platforms in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. With a large and growing market, as well as increasing interest in investing among younger generations, these platforms have the potential to revolutionize the way people in the region invest their money.


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Vox adds to festive cheer
Connectivity provider Vox is dropping the retail rates of its Fat Pipe Home DSL to below R1 per Gb, effective today (17 November).
“Our data prices are falling, just in time for some festive cheer,” says Simon Butler, executive head of Carrier and Connectivity at Vox.
The price decrease will apply for all new online sales, across its Fat Pipe DSL product range, on top of which, a payment holiday will be applied for all subscriptions bought online before 1 January 2017.
“The first subscription fees for qualifying customers will only be due in February 2017,” adds Butler.
Vox has indicated that existing Fat Pipe customers can look forward to additional data, for the same price as they are currently paying, effectively bringing their per Gb price below R1 as well.
“Not everyone has access to fibre, but the message we are getting loud and clear is that people want more data, for a better price,” says Butler. “This price drop makes getting online cheaper than it has ever been before and we´re excited about playing a part in the move to drive down the cost of data.”


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The latest software update to the ‘Movies & TV’ app – rolling out now to insiders – adds support for 4K Ultra HD, allowing you to “purchase and rent UHD videos” on Windows 10 and Xbox One S, according to a report by MSPoweruser.
4K content in Microsoft’s video store
Just a few days ago, Google added 125 movies in 4K UHD to the Google Play store. It appears that Microsoft will follow suit very soon by adding 4K content to its “Movies & TV” (née Xbox Video) storefront.
Microsoft has not made any official announcement yet but the latest update (version 10.16112.1015) that is rolling out to owners who participate in Microsoft’s “insider” program reveals the company’s plans. The update is expected to roll out to all users in the “coming weeks”.
- ”You can now purchase and rent UHD videos inside the Movies & TV app,” Microsoft wrote in the update notes, adding that “when there is a UHD version of a video in our catalogue, you’ll be prompted to purchase or rent the UHD version by default.”
Unfortunately, details are sparse. It is not clear how many or which movies or TV shows will be available in 4K quality. The software update applies to Windows 10 and Xbox One. Of the two Xbox One models, only the Xbox One S supports 4K output, and Windows 10 machines do not necessarily have the HDCP 2.2 and other encryption means to output movies in 4K resolution.
We must await the official word from Microsoft to be sure.
Below is the changelog for the software update that insiders are seeing:
Movies & TV software update 10.16112.1015
It’s now easier to sync video you’ve purchased in the Movies & TV app across your devices with the introduction of your video cloud collection.
When there is a UHD version of a video in our catalogue, you’ll be prompted to purchase or rent the UHD version by default.
You can now purchase and rent UHD videos inside the Movies & TV app.
On Xbox One consoles, you can see how much of a movie you’ve already watched from your Homepage.


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Barry is CEO of Deluxe, a Trusted Business Technology™ company helping businesses pay, get paid, grow & operate more efficiently. NYSE: DLX
When I think about owners of small and medium-sized businesses today, I see problem solvers. Business owners are being challenged to come up with solutions for problems that have never before existed in our economy. They're writing the playbook because there isn't a playbook for a pandemic. It's a test many have embraced, yet one that's all the more challenging as consumer habits and behaviors are rapidly evolving.
Our company has worked with thousands of small businesses to pivot by connecting them to products and services that address the ever-changing needs of their customers. One of the most remarkable and widespread shifts we've observed is the adoption of contactless payment systems. This financial technology had already gained momentum in major cities around the world and in the U.S. but quickly became a mandatory offering for many consumers this year.
Recently, Visa's Back to Business study revealed timely insights from small businesses and consumers around the globe. Within the U.S., the study — conducted during the second half of June before Covid-19 cases began to spike for a second time — found a stunning 82% of small and medium-sized business (SMB) owners were confident in the future of their business. The study also found 60% of SMBs had pivoted their businesses since the start of the pandemic, and 20% had implemented alternative payment solutions.
But here's where contactless payment systems come into play in a major way. According to the study, 54% of consumers would switch retailers to one that provided contactless payment systems. In particular, millennials were much more likely to do so than older generations. The report also noted that because of the pandemic, 70% of U.S. consumers have changed how they pay for merchandise, such as shopping online only, using cash less often and using contactless payments where available.
Just think about that for a moment. Putting aside the quality and costs of goods and services, U.S. consumers are actively switching where they do business based on the availability of contactless payment systems. Something so simple as the method by which businesses accept payments is having a major impact on who comes through their digital or physical front door.
The technology involved in contactless payments and information is varied. It takes on many forms, including mobile wallets, mobile applications, bar codes, QR codes, NFC cards and so much more. Think about the times now when you visit a restaurant or outdoor eating space: Chances are you are using your phone to access a QR code. Domino's, Starbucks and other retailers have reported sizable portions of revenue generated from digital sales and mobile apps, and this trend has been increasing rapidly due to Covid-19. From entry to purchase, mobile and contactless payments have become a norm.
Like many, I fully believed contactless was well on its way to becoming the standard in the U.S. before the pandemic hit, having led a pilot in San Francisco with BART and Jack in the Box restaurants over a decade ago. So I was not surprised when the New York metro system smashed its projections for contactless when it was introduced in May 2019. Within three days of implementation, it reported 18,000 taps, blowing away the target of 7,000 during the first week. Within 69 days, the millionth tap milestone was passed. Three months in, the New York metro system reported 22,000 taps per weekday.
However, in the business-to-business economy, checks remain relevant. Businesses are still reliant upon checks (rather than cash) to make payments and track their budget. There are no viable, scaled alternatives for many use cases, such as restaurants receiving provisions at the back door, general contractors paying subcontractors and so many more. This is an important distinction as many mistakenly confuse consumer and business use cases.
The contactless payments future has arrived much sooner than expected, but also at a time when every benefit it delivers is incrementally more valuable. Contactless payments methods can be faster than swiping a card, are convenient because they live on consumers' devices and stand to make life just a little more streamlined for SMB owners. Although the playbook for surviving a pandemic as a business owner is being written in real-time, it's nice to know there's at least one surefire play nearly any business can run with confidence.


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Summary of the Article
When you consider that Google AdWords received more than 200 updates last year, it’s easy to see why newcomers can find the platform daunting.
It’s been a few weeks since our last PPC news roundup, so here’s a bumper batch of news from paid search newshound Tom Kwei. We’ve got plenty of updates from Google and Bing, so grab the popcorn…
Google Launches AdWords App for Android (in Canada)
If you haven’t heard about Google AdWords’ new, free Android app, it might be because it’s only available in Canada.
first published: 2015-02-24 17:26:15


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Last Updated: Thursday, September 20, 2012, 00:46
The phone has 4.3 inch touchscreen scratch-resistant TFT with 1280x720 pixels.
Last Updated: Tuesday, September 18, 2012, 18:31
Sony Xperia Miro is available in two shades — Black and White with Silver Strip and is priced at approximately Rs 14,499.
Last Updated: Tuesday, September 11, 2012, 21:23
Sony has launched its latest version of Xperio Miro in India on Tuesday. The smartphone is up for pre-orders on online retail store Flipkart.
Last Updated: Wednesday, September 05, 2012, 09:13
Online shopping portal Flipkart has opened pre-orders for Xperia Tipo.
Last Updated: Wednesday, August 29, 2012, 23:41
Sony Corp on Wednesday unveiled upgraded version of its Android tablet, a thin and light device packed with original applications.
Last Updated: Wednesday, August 22, 2012, 09:54
The Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich based Xperia Ion is powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm processor
Last Updated: Friday, August 10, 2012, 13:05
The Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich based Xperia Ion is powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm processor.
Last Updated: Wednesday, August 08, 2012, 09:34
The update will be rolled out via the company's software update tool.
Last Updated: Thursday, July 19, 2012, 13:54
The estimated release date of the Sony Xperia neo L is fourth week of July.
Last Updated: Saturday, June 30, 2012, 12:34
Sony Xperia S users who were facing complaints against the device’s Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) upgrade can now breathe easy. Sony has decided to re-issue the ICS update for Sony Xperia S.
Last Updated: Friday, June 22, 2012, 15:00
Ice Cream Sandwich can be updated through the web, PC Companion or Bridge for Mac.
Last Updated: Saturday, June 02, 2012, 17:54
We at Zeebiz.com give you three reasons that you should keep in mind before going for Samsung Galaxy S3.
more videos >>


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Latest Crypterium (CRPT) News
Discover the latest news articles relating to Crypterium (CRPT) cryptocurrency for Australia and worldwide.
1 CRPT = $0.22 AUD 2.81%
Choise.com Token (CHO) Is Now Available for Trading on LBank Exchange
1 day ago by Bitcoin News
After Various Token Sale Rounds, MetaFi Platform Choise.com Will List CHO Token on Popular Exchanges
3 weeks ago by NEWSBTC
Choise.com Announces 3.5 Million CHO Token Sale Starting April 5
2 months ago by Usethebitcoin
Mooners and Shakers: Market pulls back as European Parliament votes for privacy-targeting crypto restrictions
2 months ago by Stockhead
CRPT Shows 750% Growth After Being Listed on Coinbase, Huobi and Crypto.com
3 months ago by Crypto.news
Mooners and Shakers: Bitcoin above US$44k amid renewed market positivity, or is it hopium?
3 months ago by Stockhead


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The broker channel keeps gaining market share – and UWM's Mat Ishbia says it's not done growing yet
While the “new normal” of the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way millions of people work and challenged businesses across the country, one industry expert says that the mortgage sector – particularly the broker channel – is still thriving.
“I think the industry’s going strong,” said Mat Ishbia, president and CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage. “Obviously a lot has changed quickly, from products to guidelines to a lot of different things on the servicing side – but I think the mortgage industry has done a great job holding up and helping the economy come out of this tough time faster. I think there’s a lot of sunshine at the end of this road.”
Ishbia said that UWM was able to adapt quickly to the new working conditions made necessary by COVID-19.
“It wasn’t much of a challenge. We have almost 900 technology team members here, to technology is our strength,” he said. “Letting our team members work from home, letting out clients do everything virtually – that’s kind of always how we’ve done business. Getting all of our team members to work from home is a transition that took about a day.”
Ishbia was also optimistic about the growth of the broker channel, which has been steadily gaining back market share in recent years.
“I think the broker channel is resurging because it’s the best place for a loan officer to work,” he said. “Brokers have access to multiple lenders with multiple products and multiple price points; retail originators don’t. That disparity has never been more apparent than today. If you’re working retail and their turn time is 15 days, you deal with it or you quit. A broker has access to multiple lenders. If my pricing is not good, you send it to Caliber Home Loans. If Caliber’s technology sucks, you don’t use them.
“Originators are fed up with dealing with a lender where you have no options – and the broker channel is so strong now because it gives them options,” he added. “If UWM is struggling in, say, 2027, you don’t have to use us that year. If you’re retail and your lender is having a tough year, you have to deal with it or quit.”
Ishbia said that part of the reason brokers are resurging is that large wholesale lenders are helping them even the odds.
“Historically, brokers couldn’t compete on technology and marketing,” he said. “Well, we’re helping them with those things – and if they do well with those things, there’s no chance they can’t beat a retail lender. We leveled the playing field from a technology and process perspective, and marketing.”
With the marketing and technology of wholesale lenders like UWM behind them, brokers can clearly demonstrate their advantages to the borrower, Ishbia said.
“If I can put them on an equal playing field and help people find out about them, of course you’re going to go to a broker,” he said. “The big retail lenders hope you don’t find out brokers, because brokers can give you a better deal. If we as a wholesale lender can level the playing field when it comes to marketing and technology, people are going to go with brokers.”
The numbers bear that out, Ishbia said.
“We did $108 billion (in loan volume) last year, and we’ll probably get close to $200 billion this year, even with COVID-19,” he said. “Everyone’s leaving the retail channel. A lot of mortgage publications don’t talk about it, but that’s what’s happening. Sixty to 100 businesses a month are leaving retail for the broker channel – and that’s just the ones that call us and saying, ‘Hey, we want to become a broker, can you help?’ And the other wholesale lenders are doing great, as well. If it’s best for the end user, it’s going to grow. That’s just a fact.”


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Bangkok an enduring street-food hub
Govt’s increasing focus on hygiene and waste management expected to enhance the unique characteristics of Thai cuisine
Street food has long been popular among foreign visitors and locals alike in many Asian cities, with Bangkok being one of theleading capitals endowed with such a powerful magnet.
Meanwhile, Singapore is seeking to register its hawker-centres as an intangible cultural heritage with Unesco, a move that has sparked regional controversy, especially with neighbouring Malaysia whose cuisine is quite similar to that of the island republic.
However, unlike Singapore’s hawker centres, the street-food scene in Bangkok and other big cities in Thailand is probably more diverse, with characteristics that are not found anywhere else.
These qualities have made Bangkok one of the world’s top street-food cities based on recent international tourist and related surveys.Jae Fai prepares her Michelin-star winning crabmeat omelette. Photo/The Nation
More recently, Jae Fai, a Bangkok street-food vendor, earned a Michelin star for her dish of omelette stuffed with crab meat, while the Tourism Authority of Thailand is launching a new campaign called “Amazing Thai Taste to the World” to boost the popularity of Mussaman curry. Other Thai foods better known outside the country include Tom Yum Koong and Phad Thai.
As for Jae Fai, Thai Airways International said it was looking at giving the famous street-food queen an opportunity to prepare a special menu for airline customers.
As one of the world’s top-10 tourist destinations, Thai food – be it on the streets or in street-side eateries – certainly plays a big role in attracting foreign visitors, in addition to natural tourist attractions, shopping etc.
According to the latest statistics from World Tourism Organisation (WTO), Thailand’s annual foreign tourist arrivals have topped 35 million, ranking it as the world’s 10th most popular destination in 2017. In Asia, China was the only country that registered more foreign tourist arrivals totalling 60 million.
In terms of tourism revenue, Thailand is ranked as the world’s fourth after the United States, Spain and France with total revenues of US$57.5 billion (Bt1.8 trillion) in 2017, according to WTO.
Singapore is seeking recognition for Unesco for its hawker centres. Photo/The Straits Times
Weerasak Kowsurat, the Tourism and Sports minister, said Thailand supports efforts to preserve all cultural heritage, including street food, but the country’s current focus is on hygiene as well as food waste management.
In terms of environmental responsibility, the minister said the authorities have for the first time imposed a ban on the use of plastic bags and styrofoam containers in public zoos and national marine parks around the country. The move has been welcomed by most local and foreign visitors.
Another example is the wider use of Pintou, a traditional metal tiffin carrier, among locals and foreign visitors in a bid to reduce dependence on plastic bags and other disposable food containers.
According to the minister, some provincial restaurants have also started offering straws made of bamboo or water lily, instead of plastic straws, which are environmentally harmful. Based on a recent survey of tourists, 97 per cent of respondents said they were willing to follow the initiatives to reform tourist-destination management with a focus on using tourism as a means to address income disparities in rural communities.
“We seem to agree that the head counts of foreign tourists or their expenditure are not the top priority. So, targets like 36 million visitors this year are no longer important, but it is more crucial to focus on the GSTC [global sustainable tourism council] index for further development.
“This mean we will pay more attention to fairness, safety standards, universal design or tourism for all, community benefits, not just the so-called community-based tourism notion. More specifically, we aim to attract more family groups, athletes, women, elderly, MICE [meetings, incentives, conference and exhibitions] travellers, trekkers, fishermen, bikers, health travellers, bird watchers etc. We want to introduce them to some less popular areas and towns,” he said.