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First redesigned iPad and M2 iPad Pro deliveries arrive to customers across Australia and New Zealand
Apple has officially released the redesigned entry-level iPad and new M2 iPad Pro to customers across Australia and New Zealand, with deliveries beginning now in the two countries, where it is Wednesday, October 25 ahead of the rest of the world due to the international time difference.
There are no official Apple Stores in New Zealand, but customers in Australia will now be able to begin collecting their reserved iPad orders from the countries’ retail locations, alongside the all-new Magic Keyboard Folio for the entry-level iPad.
Deliveries and in-store availability for the redesigned iPad and M2 iPad Pro will continue over the next 24 hours as more countries enter Wednesday, October 25.
Apple’s redesigned entry-level iPad features a large 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display, the Apple A14 Bionic chip, a new landscape camera, USB-C, support for the new Magic Keyboard Folio, and more with a starting price of $449 (US).
Powered by the M2 chip, Apple’s new iPad Pro has been met with mixed reviews, offering a significant performance boost but relatively minor upgrades over the previous M1 model.
The new iPad Pro features an 8-core CPU — up to 15 percent faster than the M1 chip in the previous iPad Pro — with advancements in both performance and efficiency cores, and a 10-core GPU, delivering up to 35 percent faster graphics performance.
Follow @TheApplePost on Twitter for the latest coverage and analysis on all things Apple. Read the day’s latest stories and stay on top of the latest Apple news, iPhone leaks and Mac rumors with the theapplepost.com app – available from the App Store.


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Air-conditioner and commercial refrigeration firm Blue Star on Tuesday reported a decline of 16.09 per cent in its consolidated net profit to Rs 76.84 crore for the first quarter ended June 30.
The company had posted a net profit of Rs 91.58 crore in the April-June quarter a year ago, Blue Star said in a BSE filing.
However, its total income rose 5.68 per cent to Rs 1,597.11 crore during the quarter, as against Rs 1,511.17 crore in the same quarter previous fiscal.
"Results of Q1FY19 included a profit of Rs 15.18 crores on the sale of property, considered as an exceptional item," the company said.
Its total expenses was Rs 1,489.15 crore, compared to Rs 1,399.34 crore, up 6.41 per cent.
Blue Star's revenue from electro-mechanical projects and commercial air conditioning systems increased marginally to Rs 623.94 crore, from Rs 619.36 crore.
While, revenue from unitary products was at Rs 906.89 crore, as against Rs 830.76 crore, up 9.16 per cent.
Shares of Blue Star Ltd on Tuesday settled at Rs 713.40 apiece on the BSE, down 1.53 per cent from previous close.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Editorial - Don't be a victim of 'cramming' scam
Better start looking over your phone bills more carefully; you could be a victim of "cramming."
This fairly new type of scam happens when a third party vendor puts unauthorized charges onto a customer's long-distance phone bills.
It's been happening in Minnesota for some time and last week prompted action from Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson. She filed a lawsuit against a Pennsylvania-based company - Cheap2Dial - that placed charges of more than $15 per month for long distance calling minutes on the phone bills of unsuspecting Minnesota residents without their authorization.
"Cramming works because most people don't realize that their phone bill can be used like a credit card," said Swanson in a news release announcing the lawsuit. "Because phone bills are long and hard to read, people don't always catch unauthorized charges."
Minnesota isn't alone. Swanson noted that cramming complaints are on the rise nationwide. The Federal Trade Commission recently called cramming "a significant area of recent consumer complaint," and the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) recently said, "It's a problem that's on the increase right now."
The FCC received 6,714 cramming complaints in 2009, up from 1,761 in 2005. Cramming scams were common in the 1990s but eventually receded following a wave of federal and state crackdowns.
Consumer watchdog groups say cramming is on the uptick again because of several factors - the hard-to-read nature of consumer phone bills; the rise of so-called "billing aggregators" that facilitate the posting of charges; and phone companies themselves, which make money by allowing third parties to put charges on customers' phone bills.
The lawsuit against Cheap2Dial alleges that the company placed charges of more than $15 for "dial around" long distance calling minutes on the phone bills of Minnesota residents without their authorization. "Dial around" long distance calling minutes are similar to using a calling card to make long distance calls, minus the actual calling card.
Of the 2,567 Minnesota customers who Cheap2Dial billed since 2008, only nine people (0.35 percent) actually used the company's services to make a long distance call, according to Swanson.
To help consumers avoid becoming the victims of cramming, Swanson offered this advice:
Scrutinize your phone bill. Review your phone bill each month for unauthorized charges as carefully as you would look over your bank or credit card statement. "Crammed" charges are often buried many pages into the bill. Charges may appear under innocent-looking headings like "member fee," "voicemail," "service charge," "other fees," "calling plan," or "web hosting."
Say "no" to seemingly free giveaways. Some crammers use prize drawings, contests, or free giveaways to dupe people into unknowingly signing up for their services. So-called "free offers" almost always have strings attached. Read the fine print before signing up for anything - even if it is touted as "free."
Ask your phone company to block third party charges. Some phone companies allow you to block all charges from third parties. Ask your phone company if it honors such requests. If so, third party charge blocking may help you avoid getting "crammed."
If you find unauthorized charges on your phone bill, promptly contact both your phone company and the third party vendor to dispute the charges, ask that all future charges stop, and ask for a refund of past charges. Under Minnesota law, your local "landline" phone company is not supposed to put third party charges on your phone bill unless the third party vendor has obtained your express authorization to allow the charges. If you notify your phone company that an unauthorized charge from a third party was included on your bill, the phone company must remove the charge and credit your account for any amounts you paid for the unauthorized charges in the last six months, unless the third party that put the charges on your phone bill can produce within 14 days evidence that you authorized the charges.
Don't let cramming companies line their pockets at your expense. Be vigilant, tell others about the scam, especially the more vulnerable victims, and check your phone bill for any wrong numbers.
Echo Press editorials are the position of the newspaper's editorial board, which includes Jody Hanson, publisher; Al Edenloff, editor; and news reporter, Celeste Beam.


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November 8, 2017 · FLEMING | NOLEN | JEZ, L.L.P.
Three members of Congress recently sent a letter (PDF) to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb, M.D. expressing deep concerns over the FDA’s inaction on Essure. The FDA allowed this dangerous product to remain on the market on the condition that its manufacturer, Bayer, conduct a post-market safety study a year and a half ago. However, it…
September 19, 2017 · FLEMING | NOLEN | JEZ, L.L.P.
Bayer announced on Monday, September 18 that they will no longer sell Essure, their permanent form of birth control, in Europe. While the pharmaceutical company claims that this decision is purely based on commercial reasons, the European Union had already suspended sales of this product three months ago in response to concerns over its safety. Medical experts have linked Essure…


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Another former franchisee of ice cream and hot dog chain Wendys Supa Sundaes has come forward, claiming mistreatment at the hands of the fast food chain.
It comes a week after Ian O’Neill, a former Tasmanian state trainer for the company, shared the heartbreaking tale of how the dream of owning a fast food business led to losing his job, and later divorce and suicide.
As SmartCompany recently reported, 116 Wendys stores have either collapsed or been taken over by management over the past eight years. By late last year, Victorian stores were being advertised with an asking price as low as $59,000.
Along with O’Neill, former NSW franchisee Trevor Banks previously received a letter stating his contract with the chain would not be renewed, while another former franchisee, Peter Coventry, had the locks on his two Alice Springs stores changed during a dispute with the company.
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Rupinder Singh, who became the Wendys franchisee in the south east Perth suburb of Armadale from 2008 to 2012, is the latest former franchisee to come forward.
As with other former franchisees, Singh claims his experiences with Wendys were initially positive, but quickly soured.
SmartCompany understands by March 2011, Singh was becoming concerned that his lease at the Armadale Shopping City shopping complex, which he sublet through Wendys, was set to expire that December.
The fast food chain eventually stopped responding to Singh’s calls on the matter and allegedly took no action on the matter until January 2012.
At that point, Singh says he was asked to agree to a five-year lease at significantly higher rent, along with a $120,000 fitout of the store. He claims he was placed under a significant amount of pressure to sign the deal and was blocked from directly renegotiating his lease with the shopping centre owners.
When he refused to sign, Singh claims Wendys repossessed all his stock, fittings and equipment without paying him any compensation.
Singh told SmartCompany the experience left a bad taste in his mouth.
“I wouldn’t recommend anyone get involved in the business,” Singh says.
Wendys is currently advertising the 25 square metre Armadale store as being up for sale on its website, with an official asking price of $120,000. It was one of 116 appearing on a list of stores that either failed or were repossessed by the company.
A spokesperson for Wendys told SmartCompany the accusations predate the company’s sale to Global Food Retail Group in September 2014.
“The matters raised are historical allegations which pre-date the current owners of the business. Wendys does not comment on the conduct of former board members or employees of the company,” the spokesperson says.
“Should there be any allegation or implication that the current Wendys management has acted in an improper manner towards Wendys franchisees, by reference to allegations levelled at the previous management of the company or at all, such allegations or implications would be untrue and would cause financial loss to Wendys and the franchisees.
“For legal reasons, Wendys is unable to make further comment on these matters.”


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CES 2022: BMW Unveils Vehicle That Can Change Color In Real-Time
The most anticipated event for technology enthusiasts is taking place right now in Los Angeles; we are obviously talking about CES 2022. But above all, it is the perfect opportunity for the German automotive group BMW to present its latest innovation called “BMW iX Flow”, a 4 × 4 that can change colors in real-time.
In collaboration with the company E Ink, a specialist in electronic ink, BMW has equipped its model with electrophoretic technology both inside and outside. This means that it will cause color changes by level thanks to an electric current.
To go into more detail, the entire BMW iX Flow has been covered with millions of microcapsules the size of a human hair and laser cut. They contain negative white pigments and positive black pigments connected by an electric current which will allow their activation and carry out color variations.
In addition, this innovation would have various qualities other than its aesthetics. It would be energy-efficient thanks to its autonomous operation, unlike the other electronic components of the vehicle.
But it would also have an impact on the duration of use of the vehicles if their color is adapted according to the weather conditions. For example, the driver can opt for white in hot weather and avoid general overheating of the vehicle and vice versa when trying to conserve heat.
At the moment, this is only a prototype from BMW that is not expected to go into service for several years. The automotive group shows originality and innovative ideas, but with such a technological advance, garage repairs are unlikely to have the same flavor…


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As the Canada-Europe free-trade deal comes into force, container-ship company Maersk Line is adding new service between Montreal and ports on the Mediterranean Sea in a bid to tap new flows of goods.
The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which will be provisionally implemented in September ahead of ratification by all member countries, eliminates European tariffs on key Canadian exports while phasing in free-market access on other products.
"Our service is a reflection of our confidence in Canada's position amongst the world's trading countries," Jack Mahoney, president of Maersk Line Canada, said in an interview. "We're looking at CETA as supporting that initiative. We do want want to make it even easier for Canada to reach the world."
Maersk Line's new weekly container ship out of Montreal launches Sept. 30 and complements the Denmark-based company's ports of call at four major Canadian ports: Vancouver, Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Halifax and an existing Montreal service. From Mediterranean ports in Italy, Spain and France, shippers can reach markets in the Middle East, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and other destinations.
Mr. Mahoney said Maersk, the world's largest container-ship company, has seen its Canadian volumes grow by 15 per cent this year amid strong global demand for domestic grain, meat, wood and other domestic products. The bilateral trade deal between Canada and the massive 28-member European region should spur even greater growth, he said.
The International Monetary Fund in July said Canada's 2017 economic growth, driven by "buoyant domestic demand," will be the strongest of the G7 countries. The domestic economy will expand by 2.5 per cent this year and by 1.9 per cent in 2018, the IMF said, lagging global-growth forecasts of 3.5 per cent and 3.6 per cent, respectively, but outpacing U.S. expansion.
The IMF's quarterly update also highlighted "stronger momentum" in rising domestic demand in France, Germany, Italy and Spain, and said growth in global trade and industrial output is topping 2015-16 rates.
Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd and other shipping lines carry cargo boxes that move by ship, truck and rail, known as intermodal containers. Most consumer goods and a range of industrial materials are moved in the containers. Recently, the containers have been used to move such agricultural crops as peas and lentils.
Container volumes are a closely watched economic indicator.
The number of intermodal container carloads moving on North American railways is up by almost 5 per cent this year, compared with the same period in 2016, according to the Association of American Railroads.
At B.C.'s Prince Rupert port, container export tonnage rose by 23 per cent in the first six months of the year, compared with the year-earlier period. Imports rose by 10 per cent, according to the Prince Rupert Port Authority. Import volumes at major North American ports is also strong, up an average of 7 per cent this year.
Fadi Chamoun, a stock analyst with Bank of Montreal, attributes the rise in container shipments to strong international trade, stabilizing retail inventories and robust consumer demand.
The global shipping business, which moves 90 per cent of the world's goods, has endured several years of falling rates and bankruptcies amid an oversupply of vessels and weak economic demand.
Mr. Mahoney said the current balance of available ships and economic growth is the healthiest since 2010, and consolidation has stabilized the industry while offering predictability to importers and exporters.
Parent company A.P. Moller-Maersk AS last week posted a $264-million (U.S.) loss in the second quarter, mainly due to charges over lower tanker values and lost contracts at its APM Terminals division. The container shipping wing, Maersk Line, swung to a $339-million profit as shipping rates rose by 22 per cent.


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College students are known for being perpetually broke, but that doesn’t mean that they have nothing worth stealing.
Students are often targets for identity theft, and while they’re not more likely to get their identities stolen than any other age group, they’re disproportionately unconcerned about the threat.
The FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network, which collects data about consumer complaints including identity theft, found 18% of the people who experienced identity theft in 2014 were between the ages of 20 to 29.
That added up to 37,568 complaints over the course of the year, which is roughly equivalent to what other age groups reported.
But compared to the average victim of identity theft, young people were three times less likely to discover the fraud themselves, Javelin Strategy & Research found. Twenty-two per cent of students only discovered their identity had been stolen after a debt collector contacted them, or they were denied credit.
Disturbingly, the people who are stealing their personal information are often friends, family, or acquaintances. Students were four times more likely to be the victim of “familiar fraud,” Javelin’s 2015 Identity Fraud Study notes.
Despite these alarming statistics, identity theft isn’t on many young people’s minds.
Sixty-four per cent of students told Javelin researchers that they were “not very concerned” about fraud — more than in any other age group.
Protecting yourself against potential fraud doesn’t have to be difficult — or expensive. Here are six free ways to prevent identity theft, and three simple habits that will help safeguard your personal information.
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For the 6th year in a row, the San Diego Ad Club brought Interactive Day to San Diego with record attendance. The event discussed anything and everything related to digital marketing and advertising and featured many prominent speakers and industry leaders from San Diego and Southern California.
The event kicked off with a great presentation by M.E.D.I.Advisory Group’s Jack Myers who discussed the importance of innovation across the marketing industry and how marketing companies should apply more innovation in planning their next big steps. Myers touched on the many facets of digital advertising and their impacts on the industry, including social media. Myers noted that social media is a “game changer” and changes the entire landscape of marketing.
Myers hypothesized that social media is leading the transformation of marketing, the likes of which haven’t been seen since the late 1800s. Myers asserts that the last time there was such a shift for marketers was when the Agrarian Age segued into the Industrial Age and consumers started pouring into crowded cities as opposed to living removed, rural lives. Marketers had to quickly learn how to market to this new, urban lifestyle. Today, the Industrial Age has been swapped for the Relationship Age and social media is leading the way by connecting consumers with brands.
Other key points that Myers touched on included:
- Small to mid-sized media agencies from smaller markets (including San Diego!) are leading the way in terms of innovation and bringing new ideas to the marketing atmosphere
- Mobile advertising is going to explode, including a rise in coupons distributed on mobile platforms
- Mobile and integration of GPS is going to continue to grow rapidly
- Online video is on its way to becoming huge
Check back soon to hear more great takeaways from San Diego Interactive Day!


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A mobile app in China mimicked the model for Uber, a tool that let’s users hire taxis, and turned it into a tool for hiring thugs and hitmen. The app, “Didi Da Ren” (“Didi Hit People”) was recently removed from Chinese app stores.
Reporters with Want China Times tested the app before it was removed. They posted a help wanted add, which cost them $0.32 to post, and soon received a response from a man who said he could put any person in the hospital for $32 to $80. He said the client could decide how badly he beat the victim.
The man, surnamed Lei, also allegedly said he had so many jobs through “Didi Da Ren” that he needed to book his hits two days in advance.
The app had been downloaded more than 40,000 times on China’s 360 app store, and 8,800 times on its Wandoujia app store, according to a blog post from computer security company Sophos.
The name of the app was a play on words. There’s a taxi-hailing app in China, “Didi Dache” (“Didi Hail a Cab”), that works like Uber. The thug-for-hire app just changed “Dache” to “Da Ren” to piggyback on its popularity.
The company that made Didi Da Ren, the Hunan Province-based Changsha Zhang Kong Information Technology Limited, allegedly got the idea from a recent comedy sketch from a Chinese online talk show. The sketch showed people getting bullied, then using a then-fictional mobile app called “Didi Da Ren” to hire strongmen to come to their rescue.
The head of the company, which calls itself “Joke” in English, told New York Times the whole thing was a joke. The man, Yuan, refused to give his full name.
Going by the actual text, design, and function of the app, however, it does not appear it was a joke.
According to Want China Times, to users are required to describe the type of person they’re looking for and how much they’re willing to pay. The app claims to offer services of gym coaches, retired soldiers, gangsters, and outlaws. While it sounds like a joke, its payment functions work, and its other functions allowed users to follow through on the services.
It adds that users did not need to meet the hired thugs in person, since once the job was finished, it allowed users to pay through an online payment service called Alipay.


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According to the Digitimes report, the Orange San Francisco-makers are planning to use Nvidia’s quad-core Tegra 3 processor in future devices, as well as the firm’s lower-spec dual-core Tegra 2 chipset. These devices, if previous ZTE release are anything to go by, will be aggressively priced against higher-end devices such as the mooted HTC One X smartphone – which could manage to woo potential customers.
“Facing competition from first-tier players such as Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics, Texas Instruments (TI) as well as Intel and AMD, Nvidia sees China-based players as potential clients for 2012 and has been making visits to these players,” the report states.
The report also mentions that Huawei will be making use of the Tegra 3 chip too, which we’ve also seen with the leaked Huawei Ascend D1 Q, which leads us to believe this report is accurate. Details of ZTE’s first quad-core devices are yet to hit the online blogosphere, though, although we’re expecting to hear more over the next couple of weeks.


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verb (used with object), dec·i·mat·ed, dec·i·mat·ing.
LEARN THE SPANISH WORDS FOR THESE COMMON ANIMALS!
Origin of decimate
historical usage of decimate
OTHER WORDS FROM decimatedec·i·ma·tion, noundec·i·ma·tor, noun
Example sentences from the Web for decimate
“Afterland,” by Lauren BeukesAfter a pandemic nearly decimates the world’s male population, a mother and son go on the run in a hot-wired car, fleeing a government that wants to imprison them and a relative set on exploiting them.
While the coronavirus has decimated the aviation industry, it may also serve to drown out media scrutiny of the Max’s return, said Spud Hilton, a former travel editor at the San Francisco Chronicle.The Boeing 737 Max faces an even tougher hurdle now: passenger fear|kdunn6|November 19, 2020|Fortune
That business ground to a halt in the second quarter, as the pandemic decimated its biggest clients, travel and tourism companies.Shares in Google’s parent soar 6% on ad sales rebound|Verne Kopytoff|October 29, 2020|Fortune
In its most recent quarter, despite a pandemic that decimated most clothing sales, revenue rose 2% year-over-year as consumers have continued to snap up its pricey wares.Lululemon announces expanded size range and sustainable fabrics in new good citizenship push|Phil Wahba|October 28, 2020|Fortune
The travel industry has been decimated by the pandemic, as governments worldwide implement strict lockdown measures to prevent contagion.An all-you-can-fly pass? One airline says the model meets the demands of COVID-era travel|eamonbarrett|October 27, 2020|Fortune
Bentivolio noted that “at the end, [the British] did make it but they were decimated.”
Hell, it worked for Tokyo in the 20th—after that city was decimated by Allied bombers, it was basically one big slum.
The earth has been decimated by climate change, stranding what remains of humanity on a train.
“I am a little surprised they did not think the networks were decimated in 2012,” he said.
“A lot of their networks are decimated at this point,” one U.S. intelligence official said.
All kinds of calamities overspread the earth and decimated the race,--war, pestilence, and famine.Beacon Lights of History, Volume IV|John Lord
He introduced into that assembly, decimated during the civil wars, three hundred knights.History of Julius Caesar Vol. 1 of 2|Napoleon III, Emperor of the French, 1808-1873.
The Cardinal-Archbishop of Lyons had to enlist laymen to fill the gaps in his decimated clergy.Vanished Halls and Cathedrals of France|George Warton Edwards
Though hardy and long-lived, they are uncleanly in their habits and often decimated by small-pox and Siberian plague.
Another company was decimated, and fortunately the colonel was among the casualties.John Brown|Captain R. W. Campbell


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It’s no secret that credit card companies are shelling out big bucks and aggressively forming partnerships and deals to start cashing in on the mobile and digital payments innovations currently taking place. American Express, which recently debuted its own digital payments product Serve, has been particularly aggressive on the partnerships front, striking recent deals with both Foursquare and Facebook. Mastercard has bet on NFC with a partnership with Google for Google Wallet and bought online payments gateway DataCash for $520 million last fall. And Visa has made a number of major moves in the mobile and digital payments space of late; including making an investment (and taking on an advisory role) in disruptive startup Square, buying virtual goods payments platform PlaySpan for $190 million, and acquiring mobile payments company Fundamo for $110 million. We sat down with Visa’s Global Head of Mobile Product Bill Gajda and the company’s Head of Global Product Strategy, Innovation and eCommerce Jennifer Schulz to discuss how the financial company is planning to compete in both mobile and digital payments.
There are three prongs to Visa’s mobile payments strategy. One of these is NFC, and focuses on payments using a mobile phone at a physical store. For background, NFC (near field communications) enables people to make transactions, exchange digital content and connect electronic devices with a simple touch. As we’ve seen with Google Wallet, Android phones such as the Nexus S are being built with NFC chips, making your cell phone a mobile wallet. Visa recently joined the ISIS network, a NFC mobile payment network that is a joint venture formed by AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon. ISIS will soon launch in a number of markets, including Utah and Texas.
Good case how an existing firm defend itself on new turfs.


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Apple announced Lockdown Mode in its major operating systems, featuring groundbreaking security protection for users targeted by spyware.
Whether your testing device is an iPhone, Apple Watch, Mac, or something else, the third developer beta of its operating system is available.
A new security feature in beta testing could soon replace the pesky CAPTCHA with a more secure PAT, or Private Access Token.
Apple’s latest desktop operating system will greatly enhance your Mac. Here are the top 5 new features coming to macOS Ventura.
After the end of the WWDC keynote Monday, Apple seeded macOS 13 Ventura Developer Beta 1. Registered developers can begin testing the new OS.
During the WWDC 2022 keynote, Apple unveiled macOS Ventura. Ventura offers better app management and integration with other Apple devices.


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BRITISH supermarkets are set to shift focus to UK suppliers following Spain’s vegetable shortage.
SPECSAVERS is collecting food donations for the Costa del Sol food bank Bancosol. Food can be donated at Specsavers branches in Marbella and Fuengirola.
TWO Scottish sisters had their dream holiday to Malaga cut short after their toddlers were poisoned by a hotel's undercooked food. Victoria Deans, 27, and...
VEGETABLE producers in Spain have criticised the British press over its coverage of the salad shortage.
SPAIN has banned a brand of blue tipple from calling itself ‘wine’. Traded as Gik, the blend of red and white wine comes from grapes...
Two people were arrested after more than 445 kilos of cocaine was found inside a freight container which was on its way from Brazil...
Scientists gathered dietary information for 401 70 year olds
The shock findings were made by the Estudio Enalia, which concluded that the high levels were provoked by overconsumption of animal and processed products
Lidl is one of the world’s fastest expanding supermarkets
Very few are eating their five-a-day fruit and veg
The study, published in the European Heart Journal, followed 15,000 heart disease sufferers across 39 countries
The project has now seen 100 allotments created


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How Corbett Keeling is helping UK bosses navigate a busy M&A market – and fulfil their dreams
Like all markets, mergers and acquisitions will have its good days and bad days. And, depending on what side of the deal you are on, that could mean one of two things: there is an abundance of sellers – meaning prices will fall – or there is an abundance of buyers – meaning the price will go up. Usually, someone wins and someone loses.
According to Emma Keeling, Chief Operating Officer at Corbett Keeling, an independent firm with a strong focus on selling UK privately-owned companies, what we are seeing now is highly unusual.
“The M&A market we have right now has probably only happened a couple of times over the past 30 years. There are plenty of both sellers and buyers which is cancelling out any advantage the other side may have, but it is making for an extremely busy time.”
Corbett Keeling has been going for 30 years, initially set up by Jim Keeling, whose father and grandfather worked in the same industry. They have an industry-high figure of a 90% deal completion rate with 45% average uplift in sale value. They are well placed to talk about the current M&A climate.
Emma explained the reason why there is so much money around for deals at the moment. “The period leading into the pandemic was relatively quiet in the M&A world, then the pandemic hit, Private Equity firms hesitated, both here and abroad, and held money they would have otherwise spent, looking to see how things would pan out.
“Business owners spent their time trying to navigate the fluctuations in their specific sectors as lockdowns came and went, supply chains got blocked and rules on what we could and couldn’t do changed.
“As we came out of the pandemic, the Private Equity firms had a war chest that was unusually full with investors actively looking to spend money and business owners thinking about selling.”
In 2021 Globalscope, a global group which Corbett Keeling is part of, was involved in selling companies to the tune of more than $8 billion across 226 transactions. That is more than an average of four deals every week and Emma does not see that high rate of sales stopping any time soon.
A recent survey Corbett Keeling conducted of leading Private Equity firms in the UK found that they had billions still to spend. What has made this the perfect storm is that many business owners, having got through the pandemic, have had enough of struggling through and do not want to have to deal with another crisis so are looking to sell, while others have brought forward retirement plans by up to ten years due to the interest – and the price they can now get for their business.
Their appetite to have to negotiate another global disaster, or deal with more supply chain issues – whether that is because of a ship stuck in the Suez Canal or a pandemic, has gone.
Emma added: “At Corbett Keeling, we will only take on a handful of deals each year. This is not because the work is not there, but because we offer a bespoke service. We will sit with you to understand what it is you need and when you need it by.
“There are plenty of issues that we have seen that you may not even have thought about – staff, infrastructure, handover period, introductions, earnouts – the list goes on. But a buyer will want everything sorted before they part with their money and we make sure every single “i” is dotted and every “t” crossed.
“Business owners have realised they are not mortal, have been through the pandemic and they have started to think ‘do I want to go through this again’. If they were thinking of selling in three to five years, they have brought that process forward so they can make the most of life.”
Corbett Keeling, which will deal with businesses worth £10m – £200m has found that there is no particular sector that is hotter than any other at the moment, they are all seeing a huge uptick in businesses for sale. Private Equity companies, both within the UK and abroad, have billions to spend, as have big trade buyers.
Brexit may have worked in favour of sellers as buyers from abroad want to have a business that is based in Britain and Corbett Keeling is seeing increased interest from Europe and North America.
Harry Knight, Corporate Finance Director, at Corbett Keeling, said: “The cost of living is, without a doubt, rising and, with interest rates going up, you would think this would dampen the market. But we are not seeing a slow down as yet, quite the opposite but who knows how long this will last for if inflation continues to rise.”
While the market is hot, it is tempting for business owners to try to find a buyer, but Emma urges caution. “Often, a seller will have worked for years building up their business, will have staff and clients who have become friends, and selling can fracture these relationships if not handled properly. Whenever you decide to sell, please make sure that you tread carefully and take expert advice.”
“What has made this the perfect storm is that MANY business owners, having got through the pandemic, have either had enough of struggling through and do not want to have to deal with another crisis so are looking to sell, while others have brought forward retirement plans by up to ten years due to the interest – and the price they can now get for their business.”
Emma Keeling is COO to Corbett Keeling Corporate Finance – www.corbettkeeling.com.


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Uniqlo to open third New York City store
New York City — Japanese apparel retailer Uniqlo said Thursday it will open its third New York City location.
The new store, on 34th Street, set to open this fall, following the opening of the chain’s largest flagship location on Fifth Avenue earlier in the fall. Both stores will join the current Uniqlo location in Manhattan’s Soho district.
Parent company Fast Retailing said it is targeting about $59.5 billion in sales and approximately $11.9 billion in profits by 2020. To meet these targets Fast Retailing said it plans to continue to open Uniqlo stores in major U.S. cities.
Gap announces new $500 million credit facility
San Francisco — Gap has entered into a new $500 million revolving credit facility with a syndicate of banks led by BofA Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan and Citigroup Global Markets. The new financing matures in 2016 and replaces the company’s existing $500 million revolving credit facility. As part of the same financing agreement, the company also entered into a $400 million five-year term loan.
We believe this is an opportune time to optimize our capital structure by taking advantage of the favorable market conditions,” said Sabrina Simmons, CFO at Gap. “Today’s announcement points to our financial strength and underscores our commitment to driving long-term shareholder value.”
Harris Poll ranks Target as Value Retail Brand of the Year
New York City — A poll released Thursday by Harris Interactive named Target Corp. as its Value Retail Brand of the Year.
According to the 2011 Harris Poll EquiTrend Study, Target has the strongest consumer brand equity among retail brands. Overall, awards are given in each of 46 different categories.
This is the second consecutive year Target has led the way in the Value Retail category, with the gap between runner-up Wal-Mart increasing.
“In difficult economic times, consumers look for value,” said Jeni Lee Chapman, executive VP of brand and communications consulting at Harris Interactive. “Target is seen as a retailer with strong brand equity especially when compared to its competition. As consumers consolidate where they choose to spend their paychecks, those retailers with the highest brand equity are going to obtain greater share of that spending.”
In the cosmetics category, Sephora and Rimmel ranked second and third.


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(NEW YORK) -- Danger on the roads is not just a concern for humans anymore.
As the summer driving season heats up, more and more pet owners are pulling their pooches back inside their vehicles, strapping them in and loading them up to make sure nothing bad happens to those furry creatures known as "man's best friend."
Heightened concerns about distracted driving, such as texting and talking on your smartphone, have led to a surge in the sales of doggie seat belts, harnesses and other similar devices.
Wall Street Journal columnist and ABC News Good Morning America contributor Wendy Bounds wrote about the new trend in her latest column, and now she's offering even more tips.
Here are Bounds' recommendations for the top products to use to protect your pooch while on-the-go.
- Pet Ramp - Cost/where to buy: Solvit Products; $25-50.
- Booster Seat - Cost/where to buy: Solvit Products; $100-150.
- Back Seat Barrier - Cost/where to buy: Kurgo Products; $40.
- Tru-Fit Smart Harness - Cost/where to buy: Kurgo Products; $23.
- Wander Hammock Car Seat Protector - Cost/where to buy: Frontgate ; $65.
- Pet Crate With Wheels - Cost/where to buy: Pet Gear Inc. and various online retailers; $50-$200.
Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio


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We all know CD sales are declining as people turn to the internet for their music needs, but it's always nice to have the hard numbers to back that up. Nielsen SoundScan's report for 2007 U.S. music shows that download purchases rose by about a half, while CD sales dropped by about a tenth, and consumers continued to move away from album bundling even as they purchased more units of music:
Overall album sales (including digital): Down 15 percent to 500.5 million albums
Single track downloads: Up 45 percent to 844 million tracks
Album downloads: Up 53 percent to 50 million albums
Overall music sales (all formats): Up 14 percent to 1.37 billion units sold
The digital increases were promising, especially considering that most online song purchases in 2007 could only be played back on certain devices an using certain software due to DRM restrictions. If DRM is finally doomed (when it comes to music downloads anyway), we expect these numbers to increase much more in 2008.


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Mazda boosts availability of Mazda6 corporate demonstrators to meet demand
The move, made in response to high fleet demand for the new model, means there are now a total of 225 Mazda6 vehicles on the manufacturer's corporate demonstrator fleet, up from the total of 75 vehicles originally planned.
The boost in corporate demonstrators also enables fleet managers and company car drivers to test drive the model for longer, with the brand offering of up to seven days if required by the customer.
Additionally, the brand's franchise dealer network have been given the opportunity to increase the number of Mazda6 models on their own demonstrator fleets with vehicles being loaned to local businesses.
The announcement comes in the same week that the Mazda6 won “Best Upper Medium” Car Award at the Fleet World 2013 Honours, praised as 'an extremely fine business car' with clever SKYACTIV technology.
Mazda is anticipating that up to two-thirds of total Mazda6 sales will be company cars and head of fleet Steve Tomlinson said: ‘The all-new Mazda6 is the most important fleet model in the Mazda range. The reception that the car received on the fleet tour and subsequently since its official launch in January has been fantastic.
‘As well as already making multiple unit sales to existing corporate customers, we are opening new accounts with organisations that we are speaking to for the first time.’
He added: ‘By expanding the demonstrator fleet we are able to give fleet managers and company car drivers more time with cars and make them available to more people to experience the model's unique characteristics.’
Tomlinson also said that the increase in demonstrators is expected to drive company car drivers at a local level into the dealer network, adding: ‘We also believe that the Mazda6 will be in high demand from small businesses, which is why we have given our dealer network the opportunity to expand their own demonstrator fleets.
‘We are making more Mazda6 demonstrators available to our dealers because the model has such strong appeal right across the entire corporate sector.’
He also commented on the fleet-wide perception that manufacturers supply cars on long lead times, saying: ‘We have a plentiful supply of Mazda6 models available. We are able to almost immediately supply cars to fleets and certainly ahead of the delivery times being quoted by many other manufacturers.’


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Jennifer Aniston poses for a photograph.
Hollywood star Jennifer Aniston thinks that getting a good amount of "rest" has helped her to stay healthy and vibrant.
"I drink a lot of water, move my body daily, try to eat whole, fresh foods, and get as much sleep as I can. That last part is challenging for me, but it's so important. I feel it when I don't get enough rest," the Hollywood star told CR Fashion Book, reports aceshowbiz.com. "In addition to all of that, I try to be really mindful about what I let into my head-space. Our world is really going through some challenges, and I know we all care a lot, but sometimes I think it's imperative that we turn off the noise."
Earlier this year, Aniston described sleep as "beautiful". The actress has struggled with insomnia for years, and she's now grown to appreciate the value of sleeping well.
She told InStyle: "Sleep is extraordinary. It's beautiful. But, boy, did I take it for granted when we were young."
"When you're younger, you kind of take it for granted. You think, 'I can survive on three to five hours of sleep and I feel great,' and then, all of a sudden, it just starts not to feel great and your performance isn't as up to par as it should be," she added.
Aniston also acknowledged that a lack of sleep can lead to other health problems.
The actress, who is best known for playing Rachel Green in the TV sitcom "Friends", said: "All of your body is getting all the work done that it put itself through during the day. You realise a lack of sleep leads to all sorts of health issues."
Indo-Asian News Service
Food Network star Ina Garten was amused by Witherspoon’s goals and noted that it sounded a bit too rigorous.
The “Friends” star and fitness fan unveiled her daily eating habits and efforts to stay on track with her healthy lifestyle.
According to director Michael Lembeck, the Kickboxer star had made both Aniston and Cox uncomfortable during filming.
Inflation and high interest rates across the UK plus people abandoning pets they bought during the Covid-19 pandemic has caused a surge in strays and stretched the ARC to its financial limits.
Hair products often contain ingredients that easily evaporate, so users may inhale some of these chemicals, potentially posing health risks.
The 'Red' actress insisted she has no desire to turn back time and she's always happy to celebrate the age she is.


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By Mikal E. Belicove|For entrepreneur.com|December 22, 2011
Two U.S. senators fired off a letter to the Federal Trade Commission this week calling for an investigation into what they allege as bias by Google in favor of its own products and services in search results.
Senators Herb Kohl (D., Wis.) and Mike Lee (R., Utah), both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, claim that by consistently pushing search results related to sites and services it owns over those owned and operated by others, Google is “undermining free and fair competition among ecommerce websites.”
In the five-page letter (PDF) to FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz, Kohl and Lee question whether Google — which currently owns approximately 65 percent of the search market here in the U.S., according to the latest figures available from comScore — may be acting in an anti-competitive manner with respect to antitrust laws and the FTC Act.
Among the search engine results cited by the pair as ranking higher are those related to products and services delivered by Google Travel, Google Finance, Google News, Google Maps, Google Product Search, Google Flight Search and YouTube. The senators question whether Google can be an unbiased general, or “horizontall,” search engine while owning such Web-based businesses from which it derives substantial advertising revenues.
In the letter, the senators cite one of Google’s top executives admitting in a 2007 subcommittee hearing that the company did indeed…
Continue Reading: Lawmakers Seek FTC Scrutiny of Google’s Search Results


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The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. HAIN is worth giving a shot right now as its sound fundamentals and growth efforts look impressive. Further, the Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock boasts a Growth Score of B.
Notably, shares of the Lake Success, NY-based company have gained 15.2% in the past six months compared with the industry’s growth of 3.1%. Meanwhile, the Consumer Staples sector has seen a decline of 0.6% during the same period.
That said, let’s delve into the factors that make Hain Celestial a promising bet.
Transformational Plan on Track
The company is progressing well with its transformation strategy for the United States, which is aimed at simplifying its portfolio, solidifying key capacities, enhancing margins, reviving top-line growth, and improving cash flows and ROIC.
It is on track to simplify its business to focus on areas with higher growth potential such as core packaged-foods business. In doing so, the company has divested loss-making brands worth almost $750 million — including Hain Pure Protein, SunSpire, Arrowhead Mills, Tilda, a significant chunk of assets related to the Plainville Farms business, and WestSoy tofu, seitan and tempeh businesses.
Project Terra: Key Growth Driver
Hain Celestial remains on track with Project Terra, which is aimed at cutting costs and complexity alongside aiding sales growth. In this regard, the company intends to optimize plants, co-packers and procurement along with rationalizing product portfolio.
Such well chalked out efforts are expected to generate worldwide cost savings worth $350 million in fiscal 2020. These savings will then be reinvested in brand development and household penetration.
Hain Celestial has been actively pursuing acquisitions to expand base in regions such as India, the Middle East and China. Some of its notable buyouts include Clarks UK, Hartley's, Gale's Robertson's, Frank Cooper's, Sun-Pat and Ella's Kitchen Group.
All said, we believe that the company’s endeavors will help it keep its solid show on.
3 Other Stocks to Consider
Tate & Lyle PLC TATYY has a long-term earnings growth rate of 1.8%. It currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Post Holdings POST has a long-term earnings growth rate of 7%. It flaunts a Zacks Rank #1.
Campbell Soup Company CPB has a long-term earnings growth rate of 6% and a Zacks Rank #2.


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Amazon.com to pay $150,000 to settle suit challenging take-back of 1984
Attorney for the plaintiffs hopes digital media companies learn lessons from settlement
Computerworld - Amazon.com Inc. has agreed to pay $150,000 to settle a federal lawsuit brought by a Michigan high school student and an California academic whose electronic copies of George Orwell's novel, 1984 were deleted from their Kindle devices in mid-July.
Michael Aschenbrener, the attorney for student Justin Gawronski, 17, and Tony Bruguier, said the two men are donating the settlement monies to charity. "Neither will receive a flat cent," he said today in a telephone interview.
On July 16, Amazon had removed the novels 1984 and Animal Farm from its Kindle e-book store, as well as from users' digital lockers and Kindle e-book readers after learning that they had been placed in the store by a third party that didn't have the rights to the books.
The Amazon move ignited a firestorm of debate about customer rights with electronic books. Less than a week after removing the books from users' Kindle devices, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos issued a strong public apology, calling the company's handling of illegally sold copies of the e-books "stupid [and] thoughtless."
Aschenbrener said he believes Amazon learned a valuable lesson in the case, one that he hopes other digital media companies take note of.
"The lesson here is that media companies have to be careful about respecting users' rights," said the attorney Michael Aschenbrener of Kamber Edelson in Chicago. "Digital books are different than traditional books, but not that different."
For example, an owner of a traditional book would never consent to the sudden arrival of a bookseller at his door demanding the return of a book, he said. "If anything, other companies are hopefully not interested in going through the PR nightmare that Amazon did," the attorney said.
Aschenbrener, like others critical of Amazon's initial move, noted the irony of deleting "1984" from users' Kindles, since the novel depicts a totalitarian state loaded with civil rights repressions.
The vast majority of the $150,000 to be paid by Amazon.com will go to charities, as stipulated in the eight-page settlement filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Sept. 25. The case was described on Friday as "closed" in the online court records system known as PACER.
Gawronski, based in Michigan, could not be reached for comment, but had said before the settlement that he had taken notes along with "1984," but when the e-book was taken back by Amazon, the notes only pointed to locations where the text went missing, making the notes fairly useless. Amazon had paid Gawronski $30 prior to the settlement as compensation for the loss of the book.
Aschenbrener said Bruguier, an academic based in California, has chosen not to comment on the case.
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Dubai: For global retail, Dubai matters.
The city pulled in the second highest number of international brands (59) after Hong Kong (86) in 2017 and ahead of Taipei (52) and London (49), according to the latest rankings from CBRE, the property consultancy. In 2016, Dubai had attracted 38 new global brands into the marketplace.
And over the last two years, Dubai has been the top market in terms of international retailer presence, with a 62 per cent score. “We track 334 international brands and their global presence every year, and of these brands 62 per cent are now represented in Dubai through stand-alone stores,” said Natasha Patel, Head of Research at CBRE. “This also includes F&B operators.
Having a physical store network is critical to success. This is evident not only by the continued expansion of retailer store networks but also by the number of online-only brands that have expanded their networks to include physical stores as well.” - CBRE report
“We are still seeing significant interest among global names for a presence in Dubai, seeking out the most dominant locations.”
On the same score, Shanghai and London placed second and third, with 55.3 and 51.7 per cent, respectively, in terms of international retailer presence, while Abu Dhabi came in fourth with 51 per cent.
square metres of retail space to be added in Dubai in the next three years
Coffee and restaurant brands continue to dominate the new entrants, adding up to a quarter globally. It is also a trend quite apparent at mall developments in the UAE. In Dubai, malls and shopping destinations had been tweaking their tenant mix to raise the presence of F&B operators over the last five years, and a strategy which is now yielding the desired results.
For the immediate future, mall owners can take a lot of heart from the sustained interest global brands have for Dubai. This despite the quite obvious dip in retail sector sales over the last two years.
According to CBRE, the next three years will alone add more than 1.5 million square metres of new retail space in Dubai, which is an additional 50 per cent to the existing stock. Nakheel is all set to unveil The Pointe, its F&B dominated strip on the Palm, while community-themed shopping centres are due to open at Al Barari and The Springs.
Dubai retail space’s share of total future retail supply for UAE over same period
Dubai’s new retail space “amounts to roughly 70 per cent of the total future retail supply for the UAE over the same time period, and underlines the massive real estate market transformation that is occurring in the build up to Expo 2020,” the report adds.
And the new shopping and entertainment spaces are being created at a time when rents are coming under pressure and mall owners have had to make some adjustments to their lease terms. But despite all the short-term challenges, brick-and-mortar will still have a role to play … and a major one at that.
“Having a physical store network is critical to success,” the CBRE report adds. “This is evident not only by the continued expansion of retailer store networks but also by the number of online-only brands that have expanded their networks to include physical stores as well.
“Nonetheless, retailer caution has led to a slowdown in physical store expansion by new entrants, falling by 2.9 per cent like-for-like from 2016 activity. Retailers do not need as big of a store portfolio as they once did to access their consumer base."


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After passing through the FCC, Huawei’s P Smart has finally surfaced online revealing the design in its full glory. The device comes with a waterdrop notch and much like recent Huawei and Honor phones, it too will come in new gradient colors. Apart from the different color scheme, the looks of the P Smart is largely identical at first sight. Continue reading “Huawei P Smart with 6.2-inch Full HD+ display, Kirin 710, AI dual rear cameras, Android 9.0 Pie surfaces in press images”
Huawei seems to be on the verge of launching P Smart smartphone which passed through the FCC revealing few specifications. Considering the model name comes with ‘2019’ tag, it will be launching in 2019, meaning, Huawei is likely to launch the device in the United States. Continue reading “Huawei P Smart 2019 with waterdrop notch, dual rear cameras, 3200mAh battery passes through the FCC”
Huawei’s Honor brand introduced Enjoy 7S, a mid-range smartphone in China last week. Now Evan Blass of @evleaks has reported that the phone will be introduced outside China as Huawei P Smart.
Continue reading “Huawei P Smart with 5.65-inch full-screen display, dual rear cameras to be global version of Enjoy 7S”


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Adcom announced its first Android 4.4 KitKat smartphone in India, the Thunder A440+, priced at Rs. 3,499. The smartphone is yet to be listed on the company's website, but will be available in markets from Saturday.
The Adcom Thunder A440+ features a 4-inch WVGA (480x800 pixels) display and is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core processor (unspecified) alongside 512MB of RAM.
The budget smartphone sports a 3-megapixel rear camera, while it also houses a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera. The Thunder A440+ includes 4GB of inbuilt storage which is further expandable via microSD card (up to 32GB).
The Thunder A440+ is 8.8mm thin and weighs 135 grams. The handset packs an 1350mAh battery. The smartphone comes with 3G, GPRS/ EDGE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Micro-USB connectivity options. It will be available in Black, White, Pink, and Yellow colour variants.
"Adcom is pleased to announce its first Android KitKat 4.4 smartphone. With the launch of our newbie we have once again extended the bar of affordability with Thunder A440+ being the fiercest smartphone under the 5K Category. It boasts of all the advanced features, giving buyers a delightful experience," stated Sanjeev Bhatia, Director, Adcom.
Notably, the Adcom Thunder A440+ is the second entry-level smartphone from the company that comes with 3G connectivity. In July, Adcom launched the Thunder A430+ budget smartphone at Rs. 3,399. Some of the key features of the Thunder A430+ are Android 4.2 Jelly Bean; 4-inch WVGA 480x800 pixels; 1.2GHz dual-core processor; 512MB of RAM; 3.2-megapixel rear camera; 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera; 4GB of inbuilt storage; 32GB via microSD card, and 2000mAh battery. Apart from 3G connectivity, the smartphone comes with GPRS/ EDGE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and Micro-USB connectivity options.


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(Reuters) - Indonesian policies to force miners to process raw materials at home are misfiring, as disputes over the new rules disrupt plans to invest nearly $4 billion in copper smelters to cater for miners such as Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono imposed a controversial mining law on Jan 12, but the rules have left the mining sector in turmoil. As well as a ban on unprocessed ore shipments, a last-minute export tax on concentrates was also brought in.
Below are details on three planned Indonesian copper smelters:
Cost: $1.5 billion
Location: South Sulawesi
Capacity: 700,000 tonnes
Construction period: three years, or in 2017-2018
Has conditional sales purchase agreement with Freeport and Newmont. Indosmelt expects Freeport to supply about 70 percent of concentrate supplies, with Newmont contributing the remaining 30 per cent.
Planning an initial public offering by the end of 2015.
PT Nusantara Smelting Corp
Cost: $1.2 billion
Location: Gresik in East Java
Capacity: 850,000-950,000 tonnes
Construction period: four and a half years
Has conditional sales purchase agreement with Freeport, and Newmont, with Newmont to supply 50,000 tonnes. No volume agreement in place with Freeport.
Backed by an international trading company.
PT Indovasi Mineral
Cost: $1.1-$1.2 billion
Location: Gresik or Tuban
Capacity: 800,000-1 million tonnes
Construction period: three years, or in 2017
Has MoU with Freeport and Newmont. Newmont to supply 10-20 percent of concentrates, Freeport to supply 80-90 percent of concentrates.
Backed by an unnamed Indonesian tycoon.
(Compiled by Michael Taylor, Wilda Asmarini and Yayat Supriatna; Editing by Ed Davies)


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INDIA: Approves FDI plans by Pavers and Brooks Brothers
The Indian government has approved foreign-direct investment proposals from British footwear firm Pavers England and US apparel retailer Brooks Brothers Group.
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approved Pavers and Brooks Brothers proposals for single brand retail trading at its meeting on 19 October.
Pavers will invest INR982.6m (US$18m), while Brooks Brothers will put equity of INR62.2m towards its joint venture with Reliance Brands, which was announced earlier this year.
The Indian government decided to allow 100% foreign direct ownership in single-brand retail in January.
And its plans to ease rules on foreign investment in retail came into effect in September, allowing overseas investors to to own 51% of multi-brand retail businesses.
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As the vaccine roll-out continues, and we look ahead to a post-pandemic environment, students are increasingly excited about getting back to school, and spending time among friends as part of the education process.
I mean, no one enjoyed online school. Not students, not parents- definitely not teachers.
Missing out on social interaction has had a major impact on everyone, but it could arguably be even more impactful for youngsters, who are still in the process of figuring out who they are, with those daily social engagements playing a big role in shaping their personality and perspective.
The return to IRL school also means new shopping behaviors, and this week, Snapchat has shared some new insight into how its users are planning for the coming school year, and how they’re shopping as a result.
Which could help in your campaign planning – here’s a look at the key notes.
First off, Snapchat says that the return to seeing people in real life will lead to a big uptick in fashion spend, with more than half of Snapchatters looking to buy new clothes in preparation.
That makes a lot of sense – you can’t just keep wearing your sweatpants when you’re heading out in public.
Well, I mean, you can, but there are obviously some considerations within that type of chic. It may communicate the personal insight that you’d want, in some cases at least.
Snapchat also notes that over a third of Snapchatters are also planning on buying tickets for travel, accessories for their cars, recreational and hobby-based equipment, and new tech devices and accessories in preparation for the next stage, which provides a range of extra marketing and outreach considerations.
In addition to this, Snap also notes that, with sports also making a return, that opens up another key fashion and accessory consideration.
As per Snap:
“Snapchatters start prepping for practices and shopping for the sports season a few weeks before the first practice. Shoes, sports apparel, and equipment are at the top of their shopping lists, and they’re taking Snapchat with them on their shopping journeys.”
Given its focus on more intimate friend connections, Snapchat often plays a key role in influencing people’s shopping decisions, and it’s worth considering how these elements may factor into your marketing plan, and connecting with students, in particular, this back to school season.
There are obviously a heap more considerations within this, but Snapchat’s notes serve as a good reminder of some of the key elements that are set to come into focus, which could help guide your planning.
You can check out Snapchat’s full back to school report here.
Pinterest Ends its Creator Rewards Program for Idea Pins
Pinterest has announced that it’s ending its Creator Rewards program, with the incentive offering set to shutter later this week.
Pinterest’s Creator Rewards scheme provided a means for creators to make money by creating themed Idea Pins, based on monthly prompts provided by Pinterest.
That enabled Pinterest to both encourage Idea Pin activity, and guide those Pins towards more engaging elements – but now, it’s moving on from the project.
As reported by The Information:
“After the program’s conclusion on Wednesday, [Pinterest] will pay a one-time bonus to creators in the program who participated in at least one reward goal in August, September or October, a Pinterest spokesperson said. The company declined to share how much it was giving away in bonuses or how many people were part of the creator rewards program.”
Various social platforms have offered similar incentive schemes, with varying levels of success, but for the most part, they’ve eventually become unsustainable. Which, in some ways, is expected. Direct payments from the platforms are ideally designed help to guide creators into other monetization avenues, and are not geared towards building reliance on those payments themselves.
Snapchat has experienced similar issues with its Spotlight program, which is also now more aligned to specific thematic targets, while TikTok’s still working on the best way to ensure its top stars continue to get paid.
It is worth noting that this is separate from Pinterest’s $500k Creator Fund, which is another program designed to encourage creators to keep posting to the app.
The Creator Fund is specifically aimed at supporting Creators and communities ‘that have been disproportionately underrepresented’, and that program will continue on at this stage.
Cracking the code of creator funding is complex, especially in content formats that don’t support insertion of ads, where you can directly attribute revenue based on views. No platform has got this 100% right as yet, but more options are evolving, which could provide more avenues for sustainable creator funding in future.
But evidently, Pinterest found that this one wasn’t it. The program will shutter on Wednesday this week.


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As you may or may not have heard, CES is coming up, and there will be plenty of big name vendors there. That includes MSI, who has recently announced their full 2009 lineup, which is chock-full of new goodies!
First up, their netbook announcements! Thanks to the success of the Wind U100, MSI is planning to release a U115 and U120 to compliment the previous model. The U115 sports the option of being the first netbook capable of simultaneously running an SSD and an HDD. The U120 will be the power user’s option, designed for being portable without sacrificing performance.
They’ll also be offering 16”, 19” and 22” versions of their new All-In-One Wind at CES. It’ll feature an Intel Atom processor, which will allow it to consume a fraction of the power that a 250W PC does. The All-In-One will also feature a nice 16:9 display.
Finally, the gaming notebooks will be expanded to include the (deep breath) GT725, GT727, GT627 and the GX420. Reportedly, the GT725 and GT727 are capable of breaking 10,000 3D Marks.
While unfortunately most of this information is pretty broad (thank you, press releases!) CES will provide us a great opportunity to check out these new toys and find out more about them. Who knows, with any luck we’ll be able to figure out exactly what’s under the hood and how much they’ll cost!
MSI has launched it's U1115 Hybrid netbook, which the company bills as the first notebook computer in the world capable of running both SSD and HDD drives at the same time. Combined with its 'ECO on' mode, MSI claims "the battery life of U115 Hybrid is super long." Sounds super duper.
The new netbook operates primarily with the SSD to run Windows, with the HDD being used for storage duties. With ECO on mode, the U115 Hybrid temporarily disconnects the HDD to help extend battery life, presumably offering the best of both worlds. Storage options come in 8GB/120GB (SSD/HDD) and 16GB/160GB configurations.
Outside of the hybrid drive configuation, MSI sticks closely to the standard netbook formula. Underneath the 10-inch hood sits a 1.6GHz Z530 Intel Atom processor, 1GB of DDR2-533 memory, 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth, a webcam, media card reader, and Windows XP Home.
It’s pretty clear MSI is serious about Netbooks and updates to the platform have been coming in pretty steadily since its introduction back in July, but they aren’t done yet. According to Liliputing MSI is adding two new models to its fleet, the U110 and U115. While the U110 is more of a traditional design, the U115 promises to change things up a bit. Instead of asking customers to choose between the speed & reliability of an SSD, and the large storage capacities offered by traditional hard drives, the U115 will feature a new “hybrid storage” system. This feature will allow MSI to store the operating system on an SSD, and will augment the storage a built in hard drive.
With this approach they are hoping to appeal to a broader audience who are looking for a dependable and responsive experience on the OS side, while still satisfying the digital packrats who need a bit of extra mobile storage. The SSD’s will come in 8,16, and 32 GB capacities. And the hard drives will range from 80 to a maximum of 160 GB, currently the maximum for Windows XP on netbooks. Both new models will feature the familiar 10 inch, 1024x600 pixel display, 802.11b/g/draft-n WiFi, Bluetooth, and a 4 in 1 card reader.
Notebook manufacturers might be finding it difficult to separate themselves from the competition in what has become an extremely crowded netbook market. It's gotten to the point where we can recite a netbook press release without having ever read it - Atom processor, solid-state drive (SSD) or hard drive, 1GB of RAM, Windows XP or Linux, and so forth. So how do you stand out from the crowd?
If you're MSI, you release a new BIOS that offers overclocking controls. With the v1.09 BIOS released this week, Wind owners can push their Wind netbook's Atom N270 processor in increments of 8 percent, 15 percent, and 24 percent over the stock speed. As is always the case with overclocking, you'll have to analyze the risk-to-reward ratio, and according to ElectricVagabond.com, the reward of a 24 percent overclock can equate to as much as a 30 percent increase in performance.
Anyone Wind owners plan on playing with the new BIOS? Hit the jump and give us your impression.
With all the hoopla surrounding Intel's Centrino 2 platform, it might be easy to forget that AMD is also a player in the mobile market. But who hasn't forgotten is MSI, who just released a pair of new gaming notebooks to the U.S. market with CPU support for AMD's Turion X2 Ultra dual-core mobile processors.
On the lighter end of the spec sheet, MSI's 15.4" GX630 utilizes Nvidia's MCP77 chipset with support for up to 4GB of DDR2-800 RAM. Gaming duties are handled by Nvidia's GeForce 9600M GT with a 512MB frame buffer, and two speakers tackle audio chores.
Depsite its Nvidia-centric name, the 17" GT735 runs on AMD's RX781+SB700 chipset, also with support for up to 4GB of DDR2-800 RAM. That also means an ATI based videocard, specifically the Mobility Radeon HD3850 along with 512MB of GDDR3. Audio gets an upgrade as well with four speakers plus a subwoofer.
Both notebooks boast a 320GB SATA hard drive, DVD burner (optional Blu-ray), 802.11b/g/n, webcam, an HDMI port, a 4-in-1 card reader, eSATA, and two (GX630) or three (GT735) USB 2.0 ports. But while the specs may seem standard fare, both machines will come with the option to overclock by way of a button, which MSI claims will increase the speed of the CPU by as much as 15 percent.
The new notebooks are available now from several online e-tailers, including Amazon.com, Buy.com, ZipZoomFly, and Mwave for between $1050 to $1115 (GX630) and $1230 to $1300 (GT735).
November's shaping up to be a busy month, and it has nothing to do with Thanksgiving. On the desktop front, Intel's Core i7 platform is rumored to launch on November 17th, and in the mobile sector, MSI looks to launch its Wind U120 with built-in 3.5G before December rolls around, according to DigiTimes.
The new netbook will feature the usual assortment of components - Atom N270 processor clocked at 1.6GHz, 1GB of RAM, 120GB hard drive, and Windows XP - tucked underneath your choice of a white or black shell and will run about $550. MSI has been working with Taiwan-based telco Vibo Telecom to implement 3.5G functionality in the U120 and will look to do the same with local telecom providers in Europe.
What you won't find on the new netbook is a touchscreen. Asus is rumored to be readying a touchscreen version of its Eee PC line, but MSI cites high costs as a prohibiting factor for its Wind. Bummer.
Asus may have led the charge into the netbook arena with its Eee PC lineup, but MSI's Wind has proved an extremely popular low-cost alternative in what continues to emerge as a prominent market. MSI sees the potential and will look to make a hard push in the coming months.
In an interview with Laptopmag.com, MSI's director of U.S. sales Andy Tung spoke openly about MSI's upcoming plans. Tung says the next generation Wind (U120) will focus on the business segment, not only in component selection but in appearance as well. To that end, the U120 will trade the U100's round corners for a "more square-like look," which Tung equates to a ThinkPad design. On the hardware front, the U120 will feature a 10-inch screen, HDD and SSD storage options, 3.5G connectivity, and Windows XP for a sub-$600 price tag.
Tung also indicated that MSI plans to bring its Wind Desktop to the U.S. market, which will go head-to-head against Asus' Eee Box. No time frame was given, but it's reasonable to expect it will come sooner rather than later, given MSI's aggressive push. Best Buy today announced it would start selling MSI's Wind U100 in its brick-and-mortar stores, a move that not only puts increased emphasis on North American sales, but will help the company with brand recognition as the netbook market continues to gain traction.
Yet another leaked slide has made its way to the web, this time showcasing a triumvirate of motherboards slated for a late 2008 release by top tier vendor MSI. The company has labeled its enthusiast offering as the Eclipse, and its performance board will carry the familiar Platinum nomenclature as the X58 Platinum. The third board, which doesn't yet have a name (X58 Diamond?), will target the "Über Overclocker" according to the slide.
The mystery board carries the most intrigue, and not because of its lack of name. While all three motherboards bring support for Nvidia's SLI and ATI's CrossFireX, the board without an identity shows support for quad-SLI or tri-SLI with PhysX support in full speed x16 PCI-E v2 slots (insert your own Crysis reference).
Microsoft has revised the cap on hard disk space in netbooks running Windows XP. Now netbooks can have up to 160GB hard drive space, which is double the 80GB space previously permitted. It is anticipated that this increase in storage size will boost netbook sales, though not as significantly as enhanced processing power might. MSI and Asustek have already released the 160GB variants of their Wind and Eee PC netbooks respectively. This move can also dampen the sales prospects of SSD-bearing netbooks, which have comparatively lesser storage space due to current SSD prices.
We admit it, sexy chipsets such as Nvidia’s nForce 790i SLI Ultra and Intel’s X48 get all the ink, but in reality, most of the world runs on plain-vanilla chipsets such as Intel’s new P45. And the truth is, you don’t necessarily give up performance or features when you choose a middle-of-the-road board; in fact, the affordable MSI Platinum has just about everything you’d want in a motherboard.


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A history of the LCB
After the 21st Amendment repealed Prohibition in late 1933, states needed to regulate making, transporting and selling liquor.
Pennsylvania Gov. Gifford Pinchot called a special assembly and gave the group three weeks to set up a liquor control board.
The cornerstone of the new system was a monopoly, with liquor sold in state stores. Pinchot didn't want to push liquor or create artificial demands.
"Whiskey will be sold by civil service employes with exactly the same amount of salesmanship as is displayed by an automatic postage stamp vending machine," Pinchot wrote in The Rotarian.
The plan was meant to provide millions from taxes and store profits for unemployment, senior citizens and school districts.
"Thus millions of dollars which otherwise would go into the pockets of whiskey dealers - and possibly into the pockets of politicians - will be diverted to the needs of society," he wrote.
- Erin Negley


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Winter Storm Warning:
Issued at: 6:08 PM CST on February 28, 2015, expires at: 12:00 PM CST on March 01, 2015
- ...Winter Storm Warning in effect until noon CST Sunday... The National Weather Service in Springfield has issued a Winter Storm Warning for snow and freezing drizzle...which is in effect until noon CST Sunday. The Winter Weather Advisory is no longer in effect.
- Timing and areas affected...portions of southwest and south central Missouri.
- Snow and sleet accumulations...5 to 7 inches.
- Ice accumulations...less than one tenth of an inch.
- Impacts...Road conditions will be dangerous through tonight. Precautionary/preparedness actions... A Winter Storm Warning means significant amounts of snow and ice are expected or occurring. Consider taking a winter storm kit along with you if you are traveling. This kit should include such items as tire chains...booster cables...a flashlight...shovel...blankets...extra clothing and anything else that would help you survive in case you become stranded.


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Sunscreens to be regulated under new laws
Under the new law, it will be mandatory for products to meet the Australian and New Zealand sunscreen standard.
On March 2, the Sunscreen (Product Safety Standard) Bill passed its third reading.
When the bill becomes law, sunscreens will be regulated under the Fair Trading Act and it will be mandatory for products to meet the Australian and New Zealand sunscreen standard. Companies that breach the requirements may face fines of up to $600,000. The bill will become law six months after it receives Royal Assent.
Consumer NZ chief executive Jon Duffy said this is good news for consumers.
“Until now the sunscreen standard has only been voluntary in New Zealand and it was possible to sell a sunscreen that hadn’t undergone any efficacy testing.”
Consumer NZ supported the bill but believes regulating sunscreens under the Fair Trading Act should only be an interim measure. The organisation wants sunscreens regulated as a therapeutic product (not a cosmetic), which would bring New Zealand in line with Australia.
Mr Duffy said complying with the standard isn’t enough.
“Sunscreens need to be tested regularly to ensure different batches provide the claimed protection, which the standard doesn’t require. Consumer has been testing sunscreens for many years and finds companies are sometimes relying on tests that are several years old to support their label claims.”


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CLEVELAND COUNTY – Following some overnight rainfall in the metro, quickly turned more intense in Cleveland County. Residents and business…
Tag Archives: intense
- Sandwich Suspension: 2-year-old girl punished by daycare over cheese sandwich
- 'Super' exercise helps mother lose 110 pounds, secret in 'core'
- Oklahoma part of major beef recall, see if your neighborhood grocery store made the list
- Woman's car payments hid her death for 6 years, body found mummified in backseat of car


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Sergio Marchionne thinks it's possible Ferrari has put together a "monster" of a Formula 1 car for 2018.
Or it could be garbage.
The Italian publication Autosprint says the 2017 F1 constructor championship runner-up is calling its new car 'Project 669,' and it will be launched by Ferrari on Feb. 22.
"I was in Maranello for the last few days, and the guys are busy, but they seem too relaxed," Fiat and Ferrari president Marchionne said at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. "I can only conclude that we have either made a real monster or garbage. We have done everything to have a superstrong car, but we will have to wait until Feb. 22 when we reveal it."
La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Ferrari veteran driver Kimi Raikkonen will have a new race engineer this year, as his regular Dave Greenwood returns to Britain. The newspaper says Raikkonen will be engineered by Carlo Santi, who was promoted from within the team.
Meanwhile, Marchionne did not deny rumors that he has bigger plans in F1 for Alfa Romeo, as the Italian brand becomes Sauber's title sponsor this year.
"We are sponsors, but it is a work in progress with Sauber. It will take time," he said.


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Muscat: In a step aimed at reaching out to customers across Oman, AXA Gulf – one of the largest and the leading non-life international insurer in the region – has announced the opening of its new kiosks and shop in Muscat.
The opening of the new kiosks clearly signifies AXA's intent to position their brand closer to their customers.
The new outlets — a kiosk at Al Meera Hypermarket in Azaiba, a shop in the newly opened Al Marsa Shopping mall at The Wave, Muscat and the completely revamped kiosk at the Muscat City Centre — will cater to retail insurance needs including home, motor, travel and healthcare insurance.
AXA's new kiosk at Al Meera will welcome customers from 10:00am to 10:00pm Saturday to Friday, from 10:00am to 8:00pm Saturday to Friday at The Wave, and from 10am to 10pm on from Saturday to Friday at the Muscat City Centre.
Leveraging the expertise
Jonathan Jane, Country Manager, AXA Insurance in Oman, said: "As part of our commitment towards the Sultanate of Oman, AXA Gulf continues to invest in various communities around the country for our customers. The opening of the new shop and kiosks is a testimony to that. As we continue to grow, we look towards leveraging the expertise of Omani nationals in our recruitment strategy. As risk awareness increases, so too will insurance penetration levels. Our shops will bring to the forefront AXA's retail offerings of motor, home and travel insurance at places most convenient to our customers."
He added: "In line with AXA's values, the opening of our shops and kiosks will make us more attentive, available and reliable. By implementing this multi-access strategy, we ensure our values are met and a seamless customer experience is achieved throughout the Sultanate of Oman."
"We value our customers and their needs, and ensure that they receive timely advice, assistance and care that they deserve at strategic locations. We are confident that the new kiosks, with their prime location and availability of the staff all through the week days and throughout the shopping hours, will effectively cater to all customers' insurance needs," he further added.
Eight outlets in Oman
AXA operates a total of eight outlets in Oman, including six in Muscat [Qurum City Centre, Muscat City Centre, Muscat Grand Mall, Al Meera, The Wave and Al Khuwair] and two in Sohar [Main Branch and Safeer Mall].


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DHL’s Resilience360 has released its first annual risk report, examining last year’s major supply chain challenges while identifying trends that will shape the risk landscape in 2019.
The report is based on risk and incident data, as well as on the experience and insights of in-house analysts.
Key supply chain disruptors in 2018 included uncertainties concerning trade flows, cyber security incidents, and climate change in combination with extreme weather conditions. Trade uncertainty increased due to disputes between the USA and other countries as well as the issue of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.
In terms of cyber security, there was a rising number of incidents involving supply chain and transport infrastructure in 2018; climate change presented a myriad of sever weather-related disruptions including wildfires, droughts and low water levels.
According to the report, Resilience360 recorded the most incidents in Germany and the UK. Cargo theft, industrial fires and explosions, and train accidents were highlighted at high-impact events. In Europe, civil unrest accounted 12.9 percent of the incidents, as the ‘yellow vests’ protests in France and Belgium disrupted highways, ports, border crossings and access roads.
In 2019, the report said that, in addition to ongoing global risks like international trade tensions, companies may also face additional costs and uncertainty due to raw material shortages, safety scares or tougher environmental regulations.
“Modern supply chains are vulnerable. Transportation delays, theft, natural disasters, inclement weather, cyber attacks and unexpected quality issues can disrupt cargo flows, creating short-term costs and delivery challenges,” explained Shehrina Kamal, director risk intelligence at Resilience360.


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Niti Aayog is exploring ways to make more Indian MNCs2 min read . Updated: 26 Nov 2018, 11:43 PM IST
The government is working to further improve the ease of doing business in India, says Niti Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar
New Delhi: Niti Aayog is exploring ways to encourage more domestic companies to be among the top multinational corporations in the world, the think-tank’s vice chairman Rajiv Kumar has said. The government is working to further improve the ease of doing business in the country, Kumar said, evean as Niti Aayog tries to figure out impediments for an Indian company in achieving global size.
The government think-tank has already held preliminary meetings with the industry bodies and top industrialists to identify the roadblocks that are hindering growth of Indian companies.
“We have noticed that China and some other emerging economies like Turkey, Argentina and Brazil, all of them have been able to establish companies, which are MNCs in their own right and have a significant share of the sectors in which they operate. You can see this is true of the companies like Alibaba, Temasek or Baidu, being able to compete with largest companies in the world," Kumar said.
In the latest Fortune 500 list of the world’s biggest corporations in terms of revenue released this year, only seven Indian companies made it to the ranking.
Indian Oil Corp. Ltd was ranked 137th, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd ranked 148th, Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd (ONGC) ranked 197th and State Bank of India (SBI) was given came in at 216.
US-based retail giant Walmart Inc. topped the global rankings, followed by State Grid Corporation of China, and China National Petroleum. The US continues to have the largest presence on the elite list with 132 firms, followed by China at 109.
“The Indian companies should also figure prominently in the list of top global MNCs," the Niti Aayog vice chairman said, adding this is not a tall order given the fact that India, in quick time, has been able to significantly improve in World Bank’s ease of doing business rankings.
According to Kumar, the future of any economy is often dependent on the strength and nature of their large corporations. He emphasised that India’s large and growing economy should give a strong base for our companies to improve scale and become global.
“So, given that positive factor, also that some of our entrepreneurs are also very capable in running companies abroad. We need to identify factors which are preventing them from becoming global players, and also to identify some of the drivers which have enabled companies in other countries to be able to do so," Kumar said.


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The company hopes lightening strikes a second time -- but this time, AT&T (T) is offering the lure of free wireless Internet access to cell-phone customers.
It also marks the first offering from AT&T Wireless Services, which was spun out by its parent company as a tracking stock in April. The service, called PocketNet, will be offered to customers who subscribe to any AT&T digital cell-phone pricing program.
The program, announced on Thursday, received a cautious welcome from analysts who said the lower pricing may well encourage users get beyond the "try me out" phase.
"But there are other obstacles to entry," noted Mark Lowenstein, an analyst covering the wireless industry for the Yankee Group.
For starters, there are competing cellular technologies out there, offering different coverage and bandwidth offerings. Faced with the choice of alphabet soup acronyms like CDMA, TDMA and GSM, users find it hard to decide which service is right for them.
What's more, coverage has not been accessible in all markets with all technologies -- a condition that will not change with Web-enabled phones. AT&T's service will only work in areas where wireless data networks have been installed.
Bandwidth will be a particular issue for Web phones as transmission rates will be limited to 19.2 kbps. This will handcuff the user experience with people opting to receive text-based versions of Web sites. Transmission rates will increase when 3G phones are released but they are not expected in the U.S. until after 2002.
The industry also needs to resolve the challenge presented by the small screens that predominate on Web-based phones. The phones with larger screens tend to be larger models, a clear negative in this age of mobility. Still, there is hope on the horizon: Smaller phones with PDA type features, larger screens, and graphical interfaces are due out later this year.
Many companies are working on overcoming all these obstacles. But this still nascent industry nonetheless has a way to go before it will be considered mainstream.
A spokesman for AT&T brushed aside all the negatives, saying people will still want these phones to get information."This will be the biggest reason for driving usage," said AT&T's Richard Blasi.
In this quickly evolving market, it is hard to judge what phone users will want in terms of Internet features. Shopping and news-related topics are already offered and companies are now testing online banking.
When the bandwidth increases with the release of 3G phones, streaming video and downloading music are also likely to gain popularity with mobile phone users.
Although it may take another two to three years before Web-enabled phones are really ready for prime time, analysts note this industry is moving faster than the wired Web ever did.


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Twin Peaks Restaurant is wrapping up a red-hot summer of big wins.
Over the summer and through the end of Q2, the ultimate sports lodge opened five new locations in Auburn Hills, Michigan; Beavercreek, Ohio; Kansas City, Missouri; Round Rock, Texas; and San Antonio, Texas. In addition, Twin Peaks has several more U.S. locations slated to open by the end of the year in Arizona, Indiana, Tennessee, and Texas, as well as three more locations in Mexico.
Twin Peaks also recently executed area development agreements with Music City Consulting to open eight franchise locations in North Carolina and executed another deal with JEB Food Group to open four more locations in the Louisville area. This sets the award-winning brand for even more growth in 2023 and beyond.
“We’re honored to receive this level of recognition, and I couldn’t be prouder of our team’s successes over the past several months,” Hummel says. “This summer, we were able to navigate inflation prices throughout the industry while continuing to find ways to provide our guests with value-driven and exciting reasons to visit Twin Peaks. We’re also very impressed with the work of our innovative culinary team who continue to look at consumer trends and elevate our scratch kitchen.”
Twin Peaks continued to build on its menu, launching new and original fan favorites from its in-house smokers with a Spicy Thai Rib appetizer, a Sweet n' Smoky Ribs entree, a variety of street tacos, Crispy Mini Beef Tacos, Street Corn Salad and Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cheesecake. Twin Peaks is also launching a variety of flatbreads in Q3 and will introduce a 14-ounce, hand-cut USDA-choice New York Strip Steak to its menu.
Finally, Twin Peaks headlined the summer with its annual Miss Twin Peaks International Contest at Texas Live! in Arlington, Texas. Twin Peaks Girls from around the world walked the runway and competed for the title of Miss Twin Peaks 2022. Grammy-award-winning artist Nelly performed a special live concert after the crowning for all attendees and contestants to celebrate. The expert judging panel included UFC fighter Kevin Holland and a lineup of local and national legends. In partnership with the competition, Twin Peaks teamed up with Ketel One to launch the Energized Ketel One Cherry Limeade cocktail.
News and information presented in this release has not been corroborated by WTWH Media LLC.


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TVS Motor Company registers 14% growth in June '11 sales
A quantum increase in exports supported by strong
domestic sales with robust contributions from all segments saw TVS Motor
Company witnessing an increase of 14% in overall sales. The company
recorded total sales of 182,456 units in June 2011 against 159,688 units
in the corresponding month of the previous year. The three wheeler
business also posted healthy growth.
The company's cumulative sales for the months of April to June 2011
grew by 16% with sales of 536,130 units against 463,840 units recorded in
the previous comparable period.
Total two wheeler sales grew by 14% with sales of 178,633 units in June
2011 in comparison with 156,685 units recorded in June 2010.
Scooter sales increased by 21% with sales of 44,281 units, compared to
36,742 units recorded in June 2010. Motorcycles grew by 5% accounting
for 69,859 units in June 2011 as against 66,452 units in June 2010.
Domestic two wheeler sales of the company reported a growth of 11% with
sales of 155,296 units in June 2011 against 139,905 units reported in
Exports grew by 48% recording total sales of 26,359 units in June 2011
as against 17,782 units in the same month of the previous year. The
company exported 23,337 units of two wheelers in June 2011 in comparison
with 16,780 units in June 2010, an increase of 39%.
In June 2011, the company sold 3,822 units of three wheelers as against
3,003 units in the comparable month of the previous year, a growth of
27%. Cumulative three wheeler sales for the months of April and June
2011 stood at 11,423 units.


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Forum Moderators: bill
Microsoft Reveals New Version Of Chinese Bing Search Engine [chinatechnews.com]
Harry Shum, Microsoft's global senior vice president in charge of the development of the company's global search engine, announced that a new version is now available for Bing Chinese search, Cn.bing.com.
The new version reportedly features a new dynamic front page, more concise web search pages, and more accurate results.


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Toshiba adds 3D and Wi-Fi to Camileo minicamcorder lineup, picks up where Flip let off
By David Carnoy
LAS VEGAS–The Flip may be dead but Toshiba’s Camileo line isn’t.
The company introduced two new mini digital camcorders at CES, one–the Z100–offers stereoscopic 3D recording, and the other–the Air10–has built-in WiFi that allows you to post videos on the fly to social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Read the whole story here.


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National Event Supply (NES), a division of D & K Imports, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, last week entered a strategic alliance with Locher Evers International, which will allow National Event Supply to start warehousing and distributing select products from the Locher Evers International warehouse in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
"Starting just after the Civic Holiday weekend in August 2012, National Event Supply will begin warehousing select NES blow-mold folding tables, NES wood folding tables, NES plastic folding chairs, and NES wedding-style resin folding chairs at Locher Evers' warehouse in Vancouver for distribution across western Canada," said Dennis Heathcote, co-president, National Event Supply.
"As time goes by, we hope to increase the number of products lines offered from our new location in Vancouver," Heathcote said.
Ron Gray, vice president, warehousing and operations, Locher Evers International, said, “We are excited that National Event Supply has chosen to warehouse some of their folding tables and folding chair product lines with us in Vancouver. We have been working with them for the past year in Toronto and are eager to continue to help them grow their business across Canada.”
National Event Supply also has signed a strategic sales agreement with A.E. Sales Group, Vancouver, to provide customer service to its customers across western and eastern Canada.
Tony Shelling, managing director, A.E. Sales, said, “We are excited that National Event Supply will be stocking products in Vancouver. We often have sales opportunities where customers are unable to wait for the products to be shipped from Toronto. Even though National Event Supply offers competitive pricing and shipping from Toronto, the warehouse in Vancouver will significantly improve our ability to provide great service and delivery times for our British Columbia and Alberta customers while dramatically reducing shipping costs.”