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This is basically a good news alert because all the rumors about Sony’s PS5 are somewhat true. Gamers enjoyed the PS4 Pro so much that they have been waiting eagerly for the PS5 Pro. According to the sources, the PS5 Pro release date should be between late 2024 and early 2024.
|PS5 Pro Release Date
|Not yet announced
|PS5 Pro Trailer
|Released on Jun 12, 2020
|PS5 Pro Price
|Around $499 or £449
The mid-generation upgrade will indeed be a welcomed feature to its users. Keep reading this article to learn more about the game. We will provide detailed information regarding the PS5 Pro Release Date, its Pro version, the console generation, and much more.
PS5 Pro Release Date
Concerning the PS5 Pro release date, Sony has announced that the release date of the PlayStation 5 Pro will be a few months after that of the PS5 Slim version. Since Sony has an impressive track record of offering lots of improvements, you have so much to look forward to.
Despite the fact that it appears unlikely given the current stock shortages affecting the standard PS5 device, the PS5 Pro release date could still be released next year. However, Sony has yet to decide which month and date will be perfect for the anticipated release.
PS5 Pro Features
When it comes to the PS5 Pro features, people have high hopes and expectations for the new console. Sony has made one of its best versions, hence, increasing its users’ curiosity. According to the most recent rumors, Sony intends to release a PS5 model with a separate external disc drive as the PlayStation 5’s fourth generation. The PS5 Pro already seems like an amazing invention, given the pattern PlayStation established with the PS4 Pro.
The developers did an excellent job with the PS4, and this technological breakthrough paved the way for the PS5. It was ideal for fans wanting a little more performance from their favorite PlayStation 4 games; it gave those interested in virtual reality a stronger conviction to adopt PSVR early on and demonstrated the potential for 4K and HDR-infused experiences.
It’s no surprise that Microsoft released its mid-generation hardware refresh, the Xbox One X, with a similar bump in performance, frame rate, and resolution. The features of the PS5 Pro have improved a lot. CPUs and GPUs are constantly improving in quality and decreasing in price; TV and sound system quality is improving; and virtual reality and augmented reality headsets are becoming more affordable.
PS5 Pro Price
Of course, PlayStation fans must be curious about the cost of the newly improved PS5 Pro console. Well, the PlayStation 5’s base retail price is around $499 or £449 and is yet to be reduced. The final price of the next-generation PS5 Pro is yet to be decided. The game’s price might be reduced, and Sony games will most likely release their price list towards the end of this year or at the beginning of 2024.
PS5 Pro Controller
As the gaming industry is changing and evolving rapidly, it has become so important that everything needs to be perfect and tailored to your style of play. The controller works best with the PS5 Pro version of the official Dual Sense Edge. It is capable of giving the most authentic PS5 experience. It is the backbone and finest option for remote play at higher resolutions.
PS5 Pro Specifications
Here, we will be discussing how capable the games Sony makes are, and check out the PS5 Pro specifications. The new PS5 Pro has been incorporated with drastic improvements, which include the following:
The Frame Rate and Resolution
When the PlayStation 5 was announced, Sony raised our expectations by boasting about 8k gaming. According to Sony, the new technology provides display visuals in 8K at 60 FPS.
The recent official announcement indicates that the Navi 3 graphics, which use AMD’s RDNA 3 GPU cores, February find their way into a PS5 Pro console. We expect the graphic cards to be released anytime soon. The GPUs are manufactured using a 5nm process, increasing the gaming experience’s power and efficiency. We’ll have to wait and see how the cards perform, and we hope Sony is keeping an eye on things.
Regarding storage, there is nothing to worry about. Gaming is expected to go smoothly as the PlayStation 5 already has a speedy SSD. It allows games to load faster with the original PlayStation. Gamers already take full advantage of the PlayStation 5’s insanely fast SSD. It is yet to be confirmed officially but we are hoping that the PS5 Pro will have a faster SSD and more significant storage space than the PS5’s 800 GB.
PS5 Pro Design
People have already requested the design team to introduce a PS5 Slim to shrink PlayStation’s real estate beneath your television set. Currently, the PS4 Pro is more prominent than the base PlayStation 4. It resembles a three-tiered layer cake that is made of PlayStation 4 Slims. If PlayStation wants to strive for 8K features and other improvements, it February have to sacrifice size.
Due to an impressive track record, a lot of people have come to expect a lot from Sony, and the PS5 Pro is not an exception. However, until it is released, all we can do to wait. Let’s keep our fingers crossed as we wait to see what will be the final design of the new PS5 Pro.
PS5 Pro Rumors
The rumors about the new Pro are that cumulative sales will exceed 37 million units by the end of the financial year 2022, which will be a significant time for the developers. The recent comments of Sony CEO Hideaki Nishino have sparked new PlayStation 5 Pro rumors. While many are speculating that next year will be the year that the PS5 Pro model gets released, some believe that a PS5 Slim console will be available this year.
PS5 Pro Trailer
The PS5 Pro trailer has gained a lot of traction online among gamers. The combination of black, blue, and white colors already seems appealing to the fans. People are excited about its specifications, which include a PlayStation 5 digital version with a dual-sense wireless controller and a charging station, an HD Camera, and a 3D wireless headset with media control. Overall, the trailer is fantastic, and it has piqued the interest of its viewers globally.
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ 1: When is the PS5 Pro going to be released?
Answer: According to sources, the release date has not been officially verified but speculations strongly insinuate that the PS5 Pro could be released before 2024.
FAQ 2: Will there be a PS5 pro or PS6?
Answer: According to Hideaki Nishino, Sony’s Senior Vice President, the PS5 Pro could be released at the end of the 2024 financial year.
We have come to the end of all the information we have on the PS5 Pro Release Date. We know you are excited and waiting for the new PS5 Pro, so we promise to provide more updates as soon as more announcements are made. For now, remember to share this article with your friends. For more updates related to your favorite games, keep visiting omggamer.com where we post news and the latest updates on consoles, upcoming games, gaming builds, and much more.


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ESKUTE, a fast-growing e-bike company, has taken a major step in its international expansion strategy with a major debut at the National Cycling Show in Birmingham, UK.
This is the company’s first offline show showcasing five of its top-performing bikes, including the Wayfarer E-City-Bikethe Neptune E-MTB and its improved ” Pro” version, as well as that Polluno E-City-Bike and the ” Pro” Mid-engine version.
“We see this year as a particularly good time to bring more exposure to our bikes as more people seek new and cleaner ways to get around. We hope that through this show, we will introduce more customers to our brand and products can,” said Alan, the CEO of ESKUTE.
Eskute x die National Cycling Show
Billing itself as an “immersive retail experience,” the National Cycling Show allowed consumers to try and buy everything from bikes to accessories. During the show, 30,000 visitors had the opportunity to try out the best of ESKUTE’s e-bikes and two local ESKUTE partners who have been instrumental in the company’s UK expansion: Marcus Pollard, owner of an electric bike shop (E-Teck) in Wigan, UK, and Peter McLeodone of the founders of UK ESKUTE Facebook fan club.
Marcus said it was very meaningful and exciting to be on this show with ESKUTE, especially the charity raffle part where one lucky entrant, Keith Denton, won an Eskute 2022 Neptune and the winner is. “Such great news! What a wonderful Father’s Day surprise.
said the winner. 100% of all raffle sales will go to Rainbow Trust donated to support children and their families with illnesses.
“We’re excited to meet all of our customers and we truly believe that the more consumers see and feel our products, the more they will want to integrate it into their lives as a high-quality form of transportation. We are also planning to attend the Frankfurt Bicycle Fair in July and will soon be opening a flagship store in Germany. These exhibitions and the growth of the stores help us to offer our customers more opportunities to view and test the e-bike directly,” added Alan.
Eskute will attend the fair EUROBIKE Frankfurt am Main from 13th to 17th July 2022, a leading and international bicycle trade fair. Eskute’s booth at the show is booth F10 D01a in Hall 10.
For more information about ESKUTE, visit their website: https://eskute.de/
For detailed inquiries, please contact UK Customer Service: firstname.lastname@example.org
Original content by: Eskute, transmitted by news aktuell

domain: news


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The SIM card registration self-service application has been released by the National Communication Authority (NCA) to facilitate the exercise for those who are yet to re-register their SIM cards.
The App is intended for subscribers who have done Stage 1 of their SIM card re-registration to complete Stage 2.
The decision to introduce the App was announced by Minister of Communications and Digitalization, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful.
In announcing an extension of the deadline in re-registering SIM cards on Sunday, July 31 she said “The SIM Registration App will be available for download on both android and IOS this week barring any unforeseen circumstances.
“Each registration via the app will be subject to a 5 cedi surcharge.”
The App, called GH SIM SELF REG, is currently available for download on the Google Play Store.
It provides another means for telecom subscribers to complete their SIM card re-registration using the Ghana card.
The NCA, in a statement, said subscribers who prefer to physically go to their service provider’s registration points to complete Stage 2 can still do so.
The benefits of the Application include providing convenience for subscribers as they can register in the comfort of their homes, offices or other convenient locations.
The App will be available on the Apple Store soon, the NCA noted in a statement.
The NCA urged subscribers to reach out to its Operational Support Centre via toll-free number 0800-110-622 or the Authority’s handles on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn or the NCA’s website, www.nca.org.gh for any enquiries or for more information about the App.


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Dollar General coming to Hortonville
Anchor tenant of new strip mall
By Scott Bellile
Dollar General is coming to Hortonville’s future strip mall, a company spokesperson confirmed Thursday, Sept. 27.
“I’m excited to tell you that Dollar General is currently under construction on a new location at 314 E. Main Street in Hortonville, Wisconsin,” Angela Petkovic said in an email to the New London Press Star. “At this time, a grand opening is slated for spring 2019, but understand that construction progress may alter this date.”
Petkovic shared insight on how Dollar General chose Hortonville.
“The company looks for places where we can offer customers an easy and convenient shopping choice,” Petkovic stated. “We know convenience is a major factor in our customers’ shopping decisions as we generally serve customers within a three to five mile radius, or 10 minute drive. We also take demographic trends, competitive factors, traffic patterns and community concerns into consideration.”
Hortonville’s Dollar General will employ six to 10 workers, Petkovic said. People can apply for jobs by visiting Dollar General’s website.
The new East Village at Steinert Plaza, located on the east side of Hortonville, will contain seven storefronts.
Dollar General will occupy about 7,275 square feet of space. The other storefronts will each average 1,230 square feet.
Besides Dollar General, a “national financial services company” plans to open a business there, Consolidated Construction Co. Inc. of Appleton announced last week. That company has not yet been revealed.


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Lenovo’s vice president Chang Cheng has teased a new phone on Weibo, a Chinese social networking website. The phone features a very thin bezel surrounding its display.
From the top of the screen, it’s clear the company didn’t put the front facing camera in its a typical location.
The sketch of the upcoming smartphone points to the Lenovo Z5 featuring a 95 percent screen-to-body ratio. Cheng also claims the Z5 features four technology breakthroughs and includes 18 patented technologies.
One of them likely includes how the manufacturer plans to fit a selfie shooter in the phone. Anyway you look at it, a 95 percent screen to body ratio is quite impressive.
The Essential Phone features a screen-to-body ratio of 84.9 percent. Meanwhile, Vivo’s concept phone, the Apex, features a 98 percent screen-to-body ratio. The handset does this by hiding the front facing camera within the phone.
It’ll be interesting to see how Lenovo managed to develop a device with a 95 percent screen-to-body ratio. Vivo’s device is still a concept, so if Lenovo manages to release the handset before Xiaomi, it would end up being the smartphone with the largest screen-to-body ratio on the market.


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Development studio New World Interactive has released a new gameplay video of its upcoming shooter game Insurgency: Sandstorm. The game releases in September.
It is the first time that the studio shows raw gameplay footage that also includes the game's minimalistic user interface and doesn't feature streaming overlays.
Although the video is still a compilation of selected shots, it provides an in-depth look at some of the gameplay mechanics and shows the direction the studio wants to take with the sequel to the popular 2014 shooter game Insurgency.
In addition to the new video, the studio has announced that it will start accepting pre-orders for the game. Those who pre-order will gain access to several beta testing events.
The first beta test will take place between August 9, 2018, and August 13, 2018. The studio hopes to gather valuable user feedback during these events.
During the first beta test players will be able to try out three maps from the final release build. Each is a complex maze of brutal interiors, deadly sniping lanes, and wide-open battlefields.
The four game modes: Firefight, Push, Checkpoint, and Skirmish each change the accessible part of the map, drastically altering the available strategies.
Insurgency: Sandstorm releases in September for PC and next year for Xbox One and PlayStation 4.


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Great Hotels Organisation (GHO) www.ghorg.com , a luxury sales and marketing alliance, has announced the launch of a new promotion aimed at the meeting and incentive market, offering added value and exclusive benefits to the MICE buyer.
“Great Events, … May 5, 2009
Great Hotels Organisation (GHO), a London-based luxury sales and marketing alliance, has announced two new appointments within its sales team.
Ms. Lyn McBain has been appointed as global director of sales and marketing. Based at the company’s headquarters … April 27, 2009
G-rez, the independently-owned GDS and Internet service provider by Great Hotels Organisation has confirmed predictions that the economic downturn will drive an increase of direct to consumer hotel bookings.
The trend of direct web bookings for hotels … April 14, 2009
Hoteliers are increasingly looking for alternative marketing methods to boost sales during the economic downturn, according to London-based sales and marketing company, Great Hotels Organisation. During this period of financial uncertainty, hoteliers … April 6, 2009


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INDIANAPOLIS—Lone Star Distribution, a supplier of sports nutrition and supplements for health and fitness centers across the U.S., has signed a 25,600-sq.-ft. Lease at 8217 Zionsville Road in Indianapolis, Ind.
Jones Lang LaSalle's Chip Barnes, senior vice president, and Matt Dickerson, senior vice president, represented the tenant; Brian Seitz, a senior vice president, also with the firm, assisted the landlord, Prologis, in the transaction.
Lone Star Distribution is expanding and plans to use its new space at 8217 Zionsville Road to serve the Midwest market.
Located within easy access to I-465 and I-65, 8217 Zionsville Road totals 140,800 sq. ft. and includes 20- to 26-ft. ceiling heights.


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June 27, 2014
Contact: Ben Klein, National Consumers League, email@example.com, (202) 835-3323
Washington, DC — In a victory for consumer and individual privacy, the US Supreme Court ruled this week that police must obtain a warrant before searching a suspect’s phone. The Justices said that a cellphone holds the “most personal and intimate details of someone’s life and its contents are under the jurisdiction of the Fourth Amendment’s privacy protections.” The following statement can be attributed to National Consumers League, Executive Director Sally Greenberg:
The National Consumers League is gratified by the Supreme Court’s unanimous vote to reiterate that cell phones hold extensive personal information and therefore a search warrant is needed before information from the phone can be obtained. American citizens have a right to privacy. This ruling protects all of us against unfettered invasion of individual privacy. We applaud the decision of the Court – it’s good for citizens and good for consumers.
About the National Consumers League
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Its mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.


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Check out the recent news articles about Great Lakes in Hindu & ET….
“Kotler’s focus on Asia-specific strategies “
Hyderabad , July 6 After inspiring marketing professionals for generations, global marketing guru Dr Philip Kotler, 75, has kicked off fresh research with an objective of evolving new marketing strategies suited for Asian needs. Asia has arrived. And hence, the customers in the economies in this region, particularly China and India, deserve marketing strategies that reflected native cultures and people’s buying habits. Realising this, Dr Kotler has felt the need for a new marketing strategy that would help marketing professionals working in the region understand how people thought and bought. This was very important as the region would emerge as a dominant economic force in the next two decades, Mr S. Sriram, Executive Director of the Great Lakes Institute of Management, said, speaking on the objective of Dr Kotler’s study. “Almost all of marketing theories are based on Western experiences. What worked for marketing managers in the West need not work in the East. People in the East shop completely differently. We need to evolve specific strategies for the specific needs of the Asian countries,” he said. The Chennai-based institute would act as a platform for the US marketing expert to carry out the research. A group of students from the institute would assist Dr Kotler in carrying out the research. He would arrive on July 16 and address the Chennai and Bangalore seminars on the following two days. Dr Kotler, whose book `Marketing Management’ is considered to be the bible of marketing, authored a number of books that dealt with marketing, social marketing, marketing for tourism, hospitality, and non-profit organisations, attracting investments and marketing sins.
“For this B-school, Chinese is a must”..
NEW DELHI: Corporates in India may not yet have fully woken up to the potential of the Chinese markets. But the Great Lakes Institute of Management in Chennai, founded by BV Balachandran, distinguished professor of accounting, information and management at Kellogg School of Management, definitely sees China as a big business destination. In fact, as part of the one-year full-time post graduate management programme, Great Lakes has made the Chinese language a compulsory subject in the curriculum.
“It’s not yet a course with credits, but learning the Chinese language, various cultural aspects and details about business environment and the government procedure are compulsory for all the students, and they will not be awarded diplomas if they don’t complete this course,” Mr Balachandran told ET.
The independent course in Chinese language is taught to students from term one right through term eight. The B-school has hired faculty specifically for this. “We are positioning Great Lakes among the best business schools in the entire Asia-Pacific region and hence the focus on China is a logical step,” Mr Balachandran said.


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An Acquisition in Apparel
Published: August 9, 1996
WYOMISSING, Pa., Aug. 8— The VF Corporation said this week that it had bought Bulwark Protective Apparel, a maker of flame-retardant clothing, for $20 million in cash and notes. Bulwark, of Edmonton, Alberta, makes industrial apparel. VF, based here, is a big American producer of denim jeans.


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Continuing the Bowery neighborhood's evolution into a retail destination, high-end French apparel brand APC is planning to open a location at 49 Bond St., between Bowery and Lafayette streets. It will be its fourth in the city. The store, which will have 1,500 square feet on the ground floor and 750 square feet in the basement, is slated to open at the end of July.
APC's entry into the area comes at a time when the Bowery is quickly developing as a retail alternative to SoHo, where Prada recently agreed to pay over $1,000 per square foot to renew the lease for its store on Broadway and Spring Street. Rents on Bond Street, which one broker described as the new Prince Street, are estimated to be around $100 a square foot, while those on the Bowery, billed by some as the new Broadway, are ranging between $250 a square foot and $300 a square foot.
APC chose the Bond Street storefront because the retailer liked the neighborhood, and also because of it's a good distance from the company's outpost on Mercer Street, near Prince Street, according to a spokeswoman.
She noted that the Bond Street space is relatively close to SoHo, but far away enough that it will still gain new clientele for the brand.
Stuart Smolar of Andrews Building Corp., which CoStar Group Inc. lists as the leasing company for the building, did not return calls requesting comment.


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"JR" has a big, dumb grin on his face as he meanders around the room. A Bluetooth speaker strapped to his back blasts out the first few lines of the Pharrell Williams song "Happy" before a British woman's voice interrupts to ask Alexa to add a tub of margarine .
"Sure," Alexa says, "adding margarine to your shopping list." JR makes a note of it. Later, the same speaker mishears the voice of an American man asking what time it is in Hartford. JR makes a note of that, too.
JR is short for "junior rover," and he's a custom-built robot (no, not ) designed to automate Amazon's quality assurance tests for . As his preplotted path brings him to a stop right in front of me, steel pistons slowly hoist the third-party Alexa speaker he's testing to a new height, and the platter it's sitting on rotates to a slightly different angle. Ever dutiful, JR begins another lap around the test chamber.
"It takes 7 hours per pass," says Ryan Fallini, a senior manager for Amazon (and "senior rover," as one of his colleagues jokingly puts it). "We normally do a few -- they don't typically pass on the first try."
This is Lab126, located about an hour southeast of San Francisco in Sunnyvale, California. Neighbor to a NASA testing facility just across the street, this is where Amazon puts its own moonshots to the test -- namely, the Echo lineup of Alexa-enabled smart speakers, but also the growing number of.
These days, there are so many of those devices that the Lab126 staff saw need to custom-build a test bot just to keep up with the workload. Call it the good kind of problem, perhaps -- or call it a signal that Amazon's efforts to spread Alexa far and wide are working as planned.
"Our one and only mission is to be very focused with developers," says Pete Thompson, VP of the Alexa Voice Service (AVS) team that calls Lab126 home. "It really goes to the vision that we have here at Amazon which is 'Alexa everywhere.'"
It's a lofty goal, but Amazon has every intention of hitting it, and it sees that sort of robust developer outreach as a pivotal part of the strategy.
"We've reached an important point where other companies and developers are accelerating adoption of Alexa," Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos noted. The AVS mission: grease the skids, and make that sort of outside adoption as appealing as possible.
"Partnering beyond smart speakers is going to be paramount to establishing market share," says Blake Kozak, a market analyst for IHS Markit. He also notes that Amazon's lead by that metric is slimmer than you might expect. In 2017, he says, there were roughly 25 million devices sold that either work with Alexa or feature built-in Alexa controls of their own. With Google Assistant, that number is 20 million -- and Kozak notes the wide array of products already on the market that run on some form of Android, which might give Google a potential means of catching up.
Kozak also notes that as gadgets continue to trend towards working with everything, devices with a specific virtual assistant built in could ultimately serve as the sort of "exclusives" needed to give one platform an edge over the other.
That push for partnerships is where people like Chris Hagler, director of engineering for Amazon's Echo products, come in. Hagler was a part of the team that built the original Echo -- today, he's working at Lab126 to provide outside developers with the tools needed to build Echoes of their own.
"Everything my team designs, builds and tests is available to the AVS community," he says, listing the numerous hardware and software advancements that make Alexa tick on a whiteboard. "While I'm developing products for the marketplace, I'm also seeding AVS with new technology."
Amazon packages that technology into a series of hardware kits -- plug-and-play systems that pack Amazon's far-field voice recognition technology into compact designs that can be incorporated into a variety of different devices and form factors. Developers and outside manufacturers can license one of those kits to add Alexa into their product with relative ease.
"We offer them this portfolio with different costs and performance points," explains Priya Abani, director of the Alexa Voice Service. "These kits are pretested, prequalified, and preoptimized by us. It's a time-to-market advantage at a fixed price for people who don't know how to add voice to their products on their own."
Thompson holds up the puck-shapedfrom Anker -- basically a store-brand -- as an example.
"From the first meeting we had to their first shipment was seven months," he says. "You don't have to be an expert in voice, or AI, or machine learning. You can focus on your great product."
Anker, which now offers a number of Alexa-compatible smart home gadgets under the Eufy brand, just seems happy to be on the bandwagon.
"Alexa isn't just a service we can leverage into our products, it's a shared vision and a path forward to help make the smart home and smart life more accessible to more consumers," an Anker spokesperson tells me.
That strategy of ginning up developer enthusiasm and saturating the market with third-party Alexa gadgets has helped diversify Alexa's appeal. Shop around, and you'll find manufacturers packing her into everything fromand to , and even large appliances like . Thompson points out that there were 10 Alexa-enabled devices consumers could buy at the end of 2016. Now, that number is up over a hundred.
Google's been working to gain ground here, too. Most notable among its upcoming partner gadgets:that debuted earlier this year at CES.
"Google is an ecosystem company," says Chris Turkstra, who oversees Google's development of third-party relationships for the Google Assistant. "We know what it takes to make software that runs on billions of devices."
In, Google CEO Sundar Pichai claimed that the company had added 200 device partners for Google Assistant in the past four months, and noted that Google now partners with all major manufacturers of connected home devices.
For now, the search giant still lags far behind Amazon in terms of quantity and variety of third-party devices, but Turkstra points to the same ocean of Android-based gadgets on the market that Kozak noted, and also points out Google's larger-than-usual presence at CES this year, and at other trade shows like Mobile World Congress.
The message? Google is "in it to win," Turkstra says. Game on, Alexa.
Alexa, what's next?
The AVS team tells us that there are plenty of new Alexa devices in the pipeline, though it wouldn't make any specific comments about the product roadmap. Some are likely rough ideas and prototypes that will never see the light of day. But Alexa is always getting smarter, Thompson says -- a common refrain from Amazon, and an important part of its pitch to outside developers.
In other words, expect the steady stream of new Alexa features to continue.
The latest innovation: Alexa Skills Blueprints, which are essentially just fill-in-the-blank templates designed to let anyone cobble together a custom Alexa skill of their own. More than 20 templates are already available, ranging from customizable interactive voice adventures to houseguest-friendly FAQ skills that'll let Alexa tell folks where you keep the towels.
All of them are private, closed skills that will only work on the Echo devices associated with your Amazon account. Anyone can create one within minutes, Amazon says, no coding experience necessary.
"It's a fun way to let our customers customize Alexa," Amazon spokeswoman Natalie Hereth tells me. After my visit to Lab126, I wonder if it might be more than that. With users now able to personalize Alexa's know-how for themselves and for their families, anyone can take ownership of the Alexa experience and mold it as they see fit -- developers and customers alike.
In the end, that's an awful lot of people taking Amazon's plucky voice assistant to an awful lot of new places -- "Alexa everywhere," if you will.


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Why this is important to Wisconsin businesses: A government focus on expanding digital infrastructure and digital empowerment of citizens creates opportunities for Wisconsin companies.
Digital India, a program launched by the government of India in 2015, is transforming India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. The program is centered on three key areas: creation of digital infrastructure, delivery of governance and services on demand, and digital empowerment of citizens.
Currently, India’s digital economy generates about $200 billion of economic value annually—8 percent of India’s gross value added in 2017–18—largely from existing digital ecosystems comprising information technology and business process management, digital communication services (including telecom), e-commerce, domestic electronics manufacturing, digital payments and direct subsidy transfers.
A report from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, in partnership with McKinsey, states: “By 2025, India could create a digital economy of $800 billion to $1 trillion (value equivalent to 18% to 23% of the country’s nominal GDP). The existing digital ecosystem could contribute up to $500 billion of economic value, but the potential economic value for India could be as much as double that amount—almost $1 trillion—if digital technologies are used to unlock productivity, savings and efficiency across more diverse sectors such as agriculture, education, energy, financial services, government services, health care, logistics, manufacturing, trade and transportation.”
According to the McKinsey report, the potential for fivefold increase in economic value from India’s digital transformation by 2025 would create a rapidly growing market for a host of digital services, platforms, applications, content and solutions.
While the Indian government is moving forward to use technology to improve governance, Indian companies are using it to transform their businesses. The government is focusing on developing physical infrastructure, as well as software and security infrastructure, to ensure the success of its vision of providing infrastructure as a utility to every citizen.
The Digital India initiative has created plentiful opportunities for companies in information and communications technology and digital connectivity. Digital India aims to increase the reach of digital infrastructure through an extensive broadband and mobile network to enable electronic delivery of government services directly to citizens. Some of the industry sectors that have received a massive boost from Digital India are digital payments, online retail/ecommerce, new software solutions and automation.
According to a study by ASSOCHAM and PWC India, within four years, digital payments will more than double (from $64.8 billion to $135.2 billion), growing at a compound annualized growth rate (CAGR) of more than 20%.
The $43 billion e-commerce industry is seeing a massive boost due to digitization. Leveraging social media, AI-driven tools, chatbots, immersive media and the digital payments ecosystem, this segment has changed buyer behavior beyond recognition. Even remote locations in rural India have become a part of the e-commerce industry.
Other opportunities include multilingual software solutions. 95% of Indians communicate in local languages. India has about 800 languages, but only a few multilingual software solutions. Massive growth of smart phones and data consumption also offers huge opportunities.
This market represents an attractive opportunity for Wisconsin businesses, startups and platform-based innovators that will be investing in emerging technologies (for example, artificial intelligence, blockchain, drones and robotics) customized to India’s needs.


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Hytrol Conveyor, Inc., headquartered in Jonesboro, will expand their product line in Fort Smith, adding 100 manufacturing jobs to the area.
Hytrol designs and supplies customers with conveyor systems, helpful for companies who move heavy material. Hytrol’s main customers are Amazon, UPS and FedEx.
Hytrol plans to invest $3.3 million into the local facility. a 312,000 square foot production space.
Earlier this year, the company moved their parcel line to Fort Smith and that brought in 250 jobs. The company now employs 350 Fort Smith residents with a starting pay at $16 an hour.
Hytrol will use the Create Rebate and training funds from the state to help with their expansion. The training funds from the state will help Hytrol offset costs related to training their workforce.
Create Rebate gives companies a rebate for each full-time employee added to their payroll. The amount a company receives for each rebate is 3.9% of the taxable wages of each new employee they add to their payroll.
Michael Pakko, chief economist and state economic forecaster at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Arkansas Economic Development Institute, said disruptions in the supply chain caused by COVID-19 led to manufacturing jobs coming back to the U.S.
Mike Preston, secretary of commerce, said the state has benefited from companies returning.
Preston said Arkansas’s location makes it attractive for manufacturers.
Preston also credited Arkansas’ workforce as a reason for manufacturers choosing Arkansas.
Pakko said time will tell whether manufacturing jobs stay in the states or if they are outsourced again once the pandemic is over.
See the full article from South West Times Record here.


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NEW YORK – U.S. consumer sentiment rose unexpectedly in early November as a rebound in sickly U.S. stocks helped Americans shrug off mounting job cuts and deteriorating economic conditions since Sept. 11, market sources said on Friday.
The University of Michigan's preliminary November consumer sentiment index rose to 83.5 from 82.7 in October. That stood in sharp contrast to analysts' forecasts for a fall to 78.7 and a steep drop in the Conference Board's October consumer confidence index.
Economists and policymakers closely watch consumer confidence, mostly on a downward trend since late last year, for its link to consumer spending, which underpins about two-thirds of U.S. economic activity.
The current conditions index, which gauges Americans' views on their present financial situation, rose to 94.9 in November from 94.0 in October. And the expectations index, which tracks consumers' attitudes about the coming year, edged up to 76.2 in November from 75.5 in October.
The preliminary consumer sentiment survey is based on telephone interviews with 250 Americans across the country on personal finances, business conditions and buying conditions. The survey is updated later in the month. The survey, conducted since 1946, is released directly to subscribers.


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Xplore Technologies Corp. reported Monday that it brought in record high revenue in the past year.
Austin-to-Austin acquisition deal worth an estimated $16 million.
EyeQ Inc., the developer of monitoring software for retail stores, has completed a $1.2 million seed funding.
Xplore Technologies Corp. plans to sell 2 million shares of its common stock at an offering price of $6 apiece.
Xplore Technologies stock saw small gains in early trading Friday as the Austin-based manufacturer of rugged tablet computers reported record revenue and income in the third quarter.
Former Dell Inc. executive Travis Dusek is one of four industry professionals who have joined Austin-based Xplore Technologies Inc.
Xplore executives declined to disclose the name of the buyer but they announced the deal as the largest buy for its new Bobcat tablets.
Xplore Technologies Corp. has received $2.3 million in orders for its impact-resistant tablets from a natural gas provider in the Southeast.
Xplore Technologies Corp. posted Wednesday a fiscal 2014 loss of $1.7 million, or 21 cents per share, on revenue of $35.5 million compared with a profit of $306,000, or 8 cents per share, on revenue of $30.4 million last year.
After more than three decades of operations, semiconductor designer Minco Technology Labs Inc. is shifting gears to boost profits by expanding into testing services.
The technology industry is fast moving and mercurial. As such, projections for its future vary as much as the number of pundits asked.
A New York research firm has ranked Xplore Technologies Corp. as the No. 3 tablet maker.
Xplore Technologies Corp. reported Monday a 41 percent decline in revenue during the first quarter 2014.


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Jean Paul Gaultier is returning to ready-to-wear fashion, six years after stopping designing ready-to-wear clothes to focus on haute couture, the house announced on Wednesday.
The “enfant terrible” of French fashion bowed out after five decades in the business with a last haute couture show in Paris 16 months ago.
The house still bears his name and is owned by Barcelona-based Puig, and will work with rotating teams of young collaborators for new collections.
The first collection – which reinterprets its signature striped sailor tops – will be available online this weekend.
It arrives just in time for LGBTQ Pride festival season, the house said.
American model Bella Hadid is featured in the collections campaign, sporting the new “unisex, inclusive” collection “that breathes sea air,” the house said.
The creative team “relaunched” Gaultier’s ready-to-wear lines, he added.
Nicola Lecourt Mansion created a black mesh body, strassed with stripes, while Spanish stylist Palomo Spain designed a floral corset.
And the German house Ottolinger reworked the sailor’s shirt in a bodycon jumpsuit with distorted zebra stripes.
The conical bra made famous by Madonna has been reinterpreted by London-based Brazilian punk jewelry designer Alan Crocetti. Frenchman Marvin M’Toumo is in charge of “shellfish and crustacean” accessories.
The haute couture shows, also with guest stylists, will resume in Paris in July, a spokesperson for the house told AFP.
The first guest designer of Gaultier’s couture collection is the Japanese Chitose Abe, from the Sacai brand.
The podium was supposed to have taken place last July, but was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
© 2021 AFP


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Dr. Cannell discusses two recent studies which found that low vitamin D status is associated with an increased risk for kidney stones.
Tag Archives: kidney stones
Researchers out of the University of California, San Diego, have found that increasing levels of vitamin D don’t increase kidney stone risk.
Researchers strive to find out whether kidney stone formers should be supplementing with vitamin D.
Dr Cannell reviews a study which investigates vitamin D supplementation in patients who are kidney stone formers. The results are quite astonishing.
Dr Cannell reviews a recently published study which takes a closer look at vitamin D’s role in urine calcium in those who have kidney stones.
Dr Cannell discusses some interesting questions as well as new research on vitamin D.


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Republicans are facing their first corporate tax rebellion since Donald Trump's election victory as opponents ranging from apparel makers and big retailers to the billionaire Koch brothers unite against a plan to penalize US importers.
The revolt comes as Republicans seek to spark economic growth with the biggest overhaul of the tax code in 30 years and signals Mr Trump could have to choose between promoting US-made products or crippling import-dependent businesses.
The cause of the uproar is a proposal to tax imports that is sending shockwaves through global supply chains, as Republicans in the House of Representatives champion it as part of a plan to encourage US companies to buy more American goods.
Senior lobbyists who sometimes struggle to get the attention of company leaders told the Financial Times they were receiving calls from chief executives with orders to fight the tax plan, which some importers say threatens to wipe out their profits.
"This is something that has really gone all the way up to the boardroom, which doesn't often happen in Washington," said Stephen Lamar, executive vice-president of the American Apparel and Footwear Association, who called the import tax an "existential" threat to his industry.
With 98 percent of clothes sold in the US made overseas, the National Retail Federation said the import tax could inflate the tax bills of some fashion chains to three to five times their pre-tax profits, jeopardising their solvency.
Koch Industries, a conglomerate run by the brothers Charles and whose products range from petroleum to paper towels, warned the plan would "distort" the market and raise the prices paid by consumers.
As businesses wake up to the significance of the import tax, which had been largely overlooked until this month, it has crushed post-election optimism that was founded on Republican vows to cut the corporate tax rate from 35 per cent to 20 or 15 per cent.
The House plan will provide the template for tax legislation to be negotiated next year with the president-elect, who has said fixing the tax code is a top priority. Mr Trump has not taken a position on the import tax.
Jennifer Safavian, executive vice-president at the Retail Industry Leaders Association, which represents big chains including Walmart, Target and Best Buy, said: "There are few if any other issues over the past decade that have raised the concern of the industry higher than this one."
Scot Ciccarelli, analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said the import tax, known by experts as a border tax adjustment, was by far the most significant part of the House tax plan and could wipe out the benefits of a reduced tax rate for some retailers.
The measure would affect US companies importing everything from oil products and car parts to smartphones and coffee, forcing them to choose between raising prices, accepting shrunken profits or revamping supply chains that stretch from Chinese factories to Brazilian farms.
Republican tax writers led by Kevin Brady, chairman of the Ways and Means committee, want to use the import tax to foster US manufacturing and deter inversion deals that US companies have used to move to low-tax jurisdictions. One lawmaker said critics were overreacting based on faulty assumptions about its impact.
Philip Ellender, a Koch Industries executive, said his company could benefit because it produces many goods in the US. But he warned: "The proposed border tax adjustment will distort the market, increase consumer prices and create an uneven playing field for companies and consumers alike. Our tax system should encourage, not destroy, free exchange and trade."
Kent Knutson, vice-president of government relations at Home Depot, a home improvement retailer that is the US's third biggest importer by ocean container volumes, said: "Everyone I'm talking to either doesn't understand border adjustability or they just plain don't like it.
"I sure hope when all the details come out it isn't more of the same with the government picking winners and losers. No one wants American consumers to end up the losers."
Retailers suggested it was unrealistic to imagine that businesses could reverse decades of outsourcing and buy the bulk of their inputs from the US any time soon.
David French, top lobbyist at the National Retail Federation, said: "Insourcing, where it is viable today, is maybe the preferred way of doing business. But the fact that so many goods in so many different areas come from outside the country suggests that it hasn't been economically viable."
The border tax adjustment would work by denying US companies their current ability to deduct import costs from their taxable income, meaning companies selling imported products would effectively be taxed on the full value of the sale rather than just the profit.
Export revenues, meanwhile, would be excluded from company tax bases, giving net exporters the equivalent of a subsidy that would make them big beneficiaries of the change.
Mr Brady, the chief tax writer in the House, told the FT: "We're working to deliver a globally competitive tax code built for growth that will encourage companies to invest in America and create jobs at home. Instead of focusing on one piece of our comprehensive plan, it's important for companies to consider all of the aspects of our blueprint including lower rates for corporations and a simpler international tax code."
Devin Nunes, a Republican member of the tax committee, said the import tax rebellion reflected how companies were looking at the results of static financial models that did not reflect "all the moving parts" of the tax plan.
"I don't think it's a problem at all. It's a new system. It's never been done like this," he said. "So people have lots of questions to be answered, but we're going to work through those."
Additional reporting by Patti Waldmeir in Chicago and Tim Bradshaw in San Francisco


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The indefinite closure of all McDonald’s restaurants in the UK and Ireland because of the coronavirus pandemic will see the food redirected across other parts of the food chain, farm leaders say.
McDonald’s is temporarily closing all 1,270 of its restaurants by the end of Monday (23 March) as fears over the coronavirus crisis escalate.
The fast food restaurant chain sources ingredients for its menu from more than 23,000 British and Irish farmers, spending more than £600m on its UK supply chain every year.
But the closure of all its restaurants will result in farmers having to redirect their produce to other markets, especially the retail sector which is short of meat and dairy products because of panic buying.
Neil Shand, a director at the National Beef Association (NBA), said: “From the NBA’s perspective, we are living in a country that is now on lockdown. We are less than 70% self-sufficient in beef and we have surplus created by some organisations, such as McDonald’s, not operating in their normal way.
“Any meat produced by farmers that is not going to be used for trade in McDonald’s will be redirected in the food chain to make sure everybody is catered for and used to keep the country fed.”
The British Poultry Council, a trade association which represents chicken farmers across the UK, said it was up to individual businesses supplying McDonald’s to comment on the situation.
But a spokesperson said: “We are doing everything we can to carry on producing food and feeding the nation in spite of all the challenges we are facing over the coronavirus.”
The Irish Farmers Association (IFA) said McDonald’s was an important buyer of Irish beef and its sudden closure was a “big blow” to the sector.
IFA president Tim Cullinan wrote to the European Commissioner for Agriculture last week pointing out that the commission needed to stand ready to support the EU beef market as it was likely to be affected by Covid-19.
“The Irish beef price is already well below the cost of production for farmers. They cannot sustain any further cuts,” he said.
“Unfortunately, it is reflective of what is happening across Europe where closures have had an impact on the food service sector. However, some of this has been mitigated by an increase in retail demand.”
Elsewhere, the chicken chain Nando’s has announced the closure of its 400 restaurants in the UK “until further notice”. Costa Coffee is also closing all of its stores.
McDonald’s food sourcing
- McDonald’s spends more than £600m on its UK supply chain each year.
- Uses 100% British and Irish beef, free-range eggs and organic milk from UK dairy farms.
- Uses whole cuts of British and Irish beef, sourced from more than 16,000 farms.
- In 2015 McDonald’s moved to using only 100% British potatoes in its fries.
- Has been using organic semi-skimmed milk from UK dairies in teas, coffees, milk bottles and porridge since 2007. Whole milk used in milkshakes and sundaes is sourced from UK farms.
- All eggs are from RSPCA Assured free-range egg farms.


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Due to the coronavirus pandemic, easyJet has grounded its entire fleet of aircraft.
It means all easyJet flights are cancelled until June, although the airline is yet to give an exact date of when it will start running flights again.
The airline is contacting all customers who booked flights between now and June to discuss their options.
Here are your options if you have a flight booked before June:
Getting a refund
Many travellers will want to get their cash back, to do this you must call easyJet customer service on 0330 365 5000
Unfortunately, easyJet has removed the refund option from its website, in a bid to get customers to either switch flights for a later date or take a credit voucher.
easyJet has warned people that they could be on hold for a while before getting to speak to someone in the call centre.
The airline issued the following advice on its Twitter page.
Alternatively, travellers can also switch their flight for a ticket between October, 25 2020 to February, 28 2021.
easyJet has waived its flight change fees until further notice, so it's free to change your flight dates and destinations.
An email sent out to customers, easyJet says: "And finally, flights from 25th October 2020 until 28th February 2021 are available at or below £29.99 per person – so if you do choose to switch onto one of these flights, you are unlikely to have to pay any fare difference.
"To give you more time to do this, these fares are now available to book until midnight on Tuesday March, 31 2020.We're currently waiving our flight change fee for new bookings too. Allowing you to take advantage of these great value fares with flexibility and peace of mind during this time."
Switch via the app
To switch your flights, simply visit the Manage Booking section on the easyJet app or at easyJet.com.
easyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren said: "I am extremely proud of the way in which people across easyJet have given their absolute best at such a challenging time, including so many crew who have volunteered to operate rescue flights to bring our customers home.
"We are working tirelessly to ensure that easyJet continues to be well positioned to overcome the challenges of coronavirus."


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NEW YORK, Dec. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — RFID Journal, the world’s leading media and events company covering radio frequency identification (RFID), today announced that it is accepting submissions for the 2014 RFID Journal Awards, which recognize companies and organizations that have distinguished themselves by their successful use of RFID or the introduction of a valuable new RFID product or service. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to be recognized in the RFID and technology communities. Last year’s winners included Boeing, Hanmi Pharmaceutical, Impinj, Infinite Biomedical Technologies, Auto-ID Center cofounder Kevin Ashton, and the City of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
RFID Journal‘s editors have selected an independent panel of judges to evaluate entries and choose this year’s winners. The 2014 RFID Journal Awards will be given in seven important categories:
Best NFC Deployment
A new category this year, this award will be given to the end-user company that has demonstrated the best use of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology for consumer or other applications.
Best RFID Implementation
This award will be given to the end-user company that has demonstrated the best use of RFID technology to improve its manufacturing, supply chain or retail operations. The winner will be the company that best demonstrates how RFID is delivering real value to shareholders.
Best Use of RFID to Enhance a Product or Service
This award will be given to the end-user company that has best used RFID to enhance an existing product or service. The winner will be the company that demonstrates how it is utilizing the technology to provide additional value to its customers.
Most Innovative Use of RFID
This award will be given to the end-user company with the most novel use of RFID. The winner will be the company that best demonstrates how it is using the technology in a new or unusual way to solve a business problem, deliver a return on investment to shareholders or improve customer service.
Best in Show
The winner of this award will be determined by a team of judges at LIVE! 2014, and will go to the company that exhibits the best new RFID product or service at the event.
Special Achievement Award
This award will be given to an individual who has contributed to the RFID industry. The winner could be an end-user, researcher, vendor, inventor, standards developer or other individual who has contributed to the entire industry’s advancement.
RFID Green Award
This award will be given to the end-user company that has demonstrated the best use of RFID technology to improve the environment, increase recycling or enhance sustainability.
“Each year, we have seen some incredible RFID projects, and have been able to recognize companies for their outstanding use of RFID or their outstanding RFID products,” said Mark Roberti, RFID Journal‘s founder and editor. “I know I speak for all of the judges when I say I can’t wait to read the 2014 submissions.”
Awards submissions are due no later than Jan. 31, 2014. There is no cost to submit an entry, and the winners will receive their awards at RFID Journal LIVE!, and be featured in RFID Journal‘s digital magazine.
To learn more about the RFID Journal Awards, please visit www.rfidjournalawards.com. For sponsorship information, please contact RFID Journal‘s sales directors, Alan McIntosh (amcintosh(at)rfidjournal(dot)com) or Matthew Singer (msinger(at)rfidjournal(dot)com). And for more information regarding LIVE! 2014, please visit www.rfidjournalevents.com/live.
About RFID Journal
RFID Journal is the leading source of news and information regarding radio frequency identification (RFID) and its many business applications. Business executives and implementers depend on RFID Journal for up-to-the-minute RFID news, in-depth case studies, best practices, strategic insights and information about vendor solutions. This has made RFID Journal the most relied-upon and respected RFID information resource, serving the largest audience of RFID decision makers worldwide—online and at face-to-face events. For more information, visit www.rfidjournal.com.
For more information, contact:
Director of Marketing
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Konami has confirmed that they have an exclusive licensing agreement with UEFA that will allow them to bring Euro 2016 to gamers. According to Erik Bladinieres, European Brand Director of Football for Konami Digital Entertainment B.V.:
We are extremely proud to be working with UEFA regarding EURO 2016. The PES series is famed for showing football at its very best and is created by a team that truly loves and understands it. We are committed to representing EURO 2016 moving forward in a way that truly reflects the status of this epic tournament. EURO 2016 is a stunning gathering of European talent and we are committed to producing the definitive representation of top-level football.
UEFA is pleased with the arrangement, as well. Guy-Laurent Epstein, Marketing Director at UEFA Events S.A. tells fans:
We are very happy to expand our successful collaboration with Konami Digital Entertainment B.V. to our national team competitions. Konami are a great licensing partner and have provided top quality video games for our club competitions since many years. We look forward to their newest extension of the PES series, created specifically for UEFA EURO 2016, further engaging with football fans in Europe and around the world.
The Euro 2016 license will not be part of Pro Evolution Soccer 2016
this fall; how exactly the license will be used is expected to be revealed sometime early next year.