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National Police Commander Luis Arias said to reporters that the illegal drug, produced with coca leaves grown in South America's Andean region, was found in a warehouse in the suburb of Asuncion, Fernando de la Mora. It was being prepared to be shipped out disguised in a load of organic sugar, he announced.
25 Tons of Cocaine Worth Over $3 Billion Seized in Germany
"We are talking about more than 3,400 kilos of cocaine," Arias said. "This was the culmination of an investigation by the anti-narcotics police, working with prosecutors, that took almost a month."
"The merchandise was in a container to be transferred to a safe port for export abroad; we do not know where," he added. "The warehouse was being rented and listed as a sugar deposit."
The bust exceeded the previous record in Paraguay when 2,900 kilograms of cocaine were seized in October 2020 in the private port of Villeta, just 40 kilometers from Asuncion. In that case, the cargo was being hidden in bags of charcoal.
Paraguay is one of the main producers of marijuana in the region. It is considered a transit country for cocaine produced in various Andean countries for European and other markets.


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Actress Selma Blair, who just gave birth six weeks ago, said she is ready to get back to working out and claims her body is “a mess of Jell-O”. We think she looks gorgeous!
Selma, 39, welcomed her first child, Arthur Saint, just six weeks ago and said she hasn’t lost a pound yet.
Blair told E! Online, “I’m relying on beautiful clothes to mask what is happening to my body. And no, I haven’t lost any baby weight yet. I’m only six weeks after birth, [but] now I’m at the point where I can exercise, so I will. I will start Pilates again and Bodyline, and I have a trainer.”
Selma said she is also considering designing a clothing line for new mothers.
“It’s the next thing I want to do,” Selma revealed, “It’s that difficult time between giving birth and getting back into your pre-pregnancy clothes. I am finding nothing fits me any more. Plus, I don’t have any time to go out shopping for clothes.”
Check out these recent photos of new-mom Selma Blair. We think she looks great!
Click thumbnails for larger pictures

domain: news


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The retailer announced 4 promotional campaigns covering approx. 1650 essential commodities. The first promotional campaign started on June 2, 2023, and will end on June 11
Dubai-based retailer 'Union Coop' recently announced a promotional campaign for June 2023 to reduce the prices of several essential food and non-food products.
The promotion started at the beginning of June and will continue until the end of it, with discounts of up to 70% on wide range of selected items. This is in line with its strategic goals and ongoing commitment to launch community initiatives aimed at making consumers happy, meeting their requirements, and providing them with high-quality products at competitive prices.
The June campaigns will be available in all branches of the cooperative, as well as on their website and smart online store (application). The selected discounted products will be promoted in its regular magazines and through advertising and media channels affiliated with the cooperative, so that all members of the community can benefit from them. The cooperative also plans to continue its campaign of locked prices for the most consumed goods and materials, such as vegetables, rice, sugar, oil, which will continue until next September.
The first promotional campaign started on June 2, 2023, and will end on June 11, focusing on fast-moving goods by consumers, as well as travel needs, electronics, and other food and non-food items that are of interest to consumers. In addition to the discount campaigns that will be launched in conjunction with the Eid al-Adha holiday. The Cooperative prioritizes the consumer and seeks to meet their requirements by launching discount campaigns in all its branches and centers spread across Dubai throughout the year. This is part of a carefully planned marketing strategy to delight consumers and provide them with a wide range of purchasing options at competitive prices.
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.


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The much loved US brand Kiehl’s may be still relatively new to New Zealand, but it has a colourful history packed with beauty goodness and innovation that dates back to 1851. It’s such a New York institution that on November 12 they celebrate Kiehl’s Day, and we’re going to be doing the same this year with an almighty song and dance at the Kiehl’s counter at Smith & Caughey’s Queen St which is well worth a visit. As a little background, Kiehl’s Day was proclaimed by NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2003 and a pear tree was planted at the same location that was dubbed “Pear Tree Corner” come centuries earlier. Bloomberg saw this as a way of honouring the community and marking the northeast corner of the intersection once more as Pear Tree Corner. Way back in 1647 the governor of New Amsterdam (later proclaimed New York) Peter Stuyvesant had planted a pear tree on his farm, and this very location would later form the intersection of 13th St and 3rd Ave – home of Kiehl’s flagship store. For 220 amazing years the tree survived sprouting fruit, blossoming flowers while also providing shade for Kiehl’s customers. The beloved tree was declared the oldest living thing in NYC in 1862 and bore fruit until its demise five years later when it was struck by a wagon. If you’re heading to New York I strongly recommend a trip to see the pear tree and to visit the beautiful Kiehl’s store – the staff there are incredible and you’ll be spoilt for choice when it comes to snapping up some goodies to take home.
But back to the Auckland Kiehl’s Day, which will see a hell of a celebration taking place as well as appearances on counter by Kiehl’s celebrity endorsers as part of the global Kiehl’s ‘Shop for a Cause’initiative. Maintaining the long standing tradition of supporting community charities, money raised on Kiehl’s Day through the sale of Kiehl’s products will go towards local charity Garden to Table – a programme educating children in schools about growing and harvesting their own produce. 100 per cent of net profit achieved on Kiehl’s Day will go straight to the charity, so put November 12 in your diary now – like you need any excuse to buy more Kiehl’s! Tweet


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You May Have Received An Email Last Night Saying Facebook Owes You $10 (FB)
Updated 12:59 pm, Sunday, February 3, 2013
Many Facebook users received an email notice last night about a pending settlement in a class action lawsuit against the company.
This is the same email that went out to some Facebook users last week, but we wanted to mention it again in case there was any confusion.
The suit says Facebook used users' photos and other information without their permission to display sponsored stories, a form of advertising in your News Feed. That's a big no-no, according to the suit.
Here's an excerpt of the email some Facebook users got last night:
The Action claims that Facebook unlawfully used the names, profile pictures, photographs, likenesses, and identities of Facebook users in the United States to advertise or sell products and services through Sponsored Stories without obtaining those users' consent. Facebook denies any wrongdoing and any liability whatsoever. No court or other entity has made any judgment or other determination of any liability.
If you got the email, it's likely your profile information was used in sponsored story.
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So here's what you can do to get your payday. Go to the Facebook settlement page and fill out a claim form. If the suit is successful, you can get as much as $10, which is enough to buy you a Starbucks latte and half a muffin.
Filling out the form is no guarantee you'll see the cash. The entire settlement is for $20 million, and if too many people file a claim, all that money will go to charity instead. Don't get greedy.


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Major security alert for Microsoft Internet Explorer http://www.obsessable.com/news/2008/12/16/major-security-alert-for-microsoft-internet-explorer/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/16/AR2008121601022.html http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/16/1319217… Read more
The Shuttle X27, which we reported on last week, is small physically. Turns out, so is the price.
Shuttle let us know Thursday that the miniscule desktop will start at $189--sans monitor, and peripherals, like all Shuttle PCs. It will be available in mid-September.
Now, $189 isn't the cheapest PC Shuttle makes. But that's the lowest price we've seen thus far in the emerging Nettop category, or small desktop PCs bearing Intel's low-power Atom processor.
As if Shuttle PCs weren't small enough already.
The small-form-factor PC maker is set to release an even smaller desktop, its X27 mini-desktop with Intel's Atom processor in mid-September, the company told CNET News.
The X27 falls into the Nettop category, a small desktop with Intel's low-power chip. Shuttle says it's so low-power that even when running full speed, the noise level only reaches 23 decibels. Plus, it promises the computer uses just 23 watts of power in idle mode, and 36 watts while in use.
Shuttle says it saves space too, measuring approximately 10 inches … Read more
It's likely that more than a few would-be Mac buyers who decided that for whatever reason they couldn't part with Windows ended up with a VAIO. All PC manufacturers place an importance on design, of course, but no two more than Apple and Sony. Both companies recently put out updates to their all-in-one and small-form-factor systems. Let's take a look at how they compare.


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An Alternative To Li-Ion Batteries: KPIT Introduces Sodium-Ion Batteries
KPIT Technologies, a Pune-based software integration company focused on the automotive and mobility ecosystem, has launched sodium-ion battery technology aimed at reducing import dependence on nuclear battery materials.
Ravi Pandit, co-founder and chairman of KPIT, said the new technology is expected to reduce the cost of electric vehicle batteries by 25-30% compared to existing lithium-ion batteries.
As lithium-ion batteries drive the global transition to electric vehicles, countries including India are vying for advantage through localization of supply chains. Currently, 70% of India’s cell imports come from neighboring countries, creating risks given geopolitical tensions.
It is projected that the Indian Li-ion battery market will grow from 4 GWh in 2022 to 120 GWh by 2030, which will require cell manufacturers to scale up and innovate rapidly the market’s 53% a result, KPIT claims that India will be less dependent on imports of core battery materials.
KPIT joins a group of small, sustainability-focused organizations around the world that have developed sodium-ion batteries. This battery technology has multiple use cases in automotive and mobility, especially electric two- and three-wheelers and commercial vehicles. It is used in stationary applications such as UPS backup and grid storage, as well as in the marine and defense sectors.
According to KPIT, sodium-ion battery technology offers a longer lifespan with 80% capacity retention over 3000 to 6000 cycles and capability compared to lithium-ion batteries.
As KPIT continues its development work on sodium-ion batteries, it is also considering partnering with battery manufacturers to produce batteries using its proprietary technology.
Pandit added in a statement that as the electric mobility ecosystem matures, there is a focus on introducing alternative battery technologies and localizing the storage value chain. The company’s sodium-ion battery technology, based solely on the Earth’s rich raw materials, is further evidence of KPIT’s commitment to sustainable mobility in its ecosystem.
He said lithium availability was a global concern. In the case of oil, availability is concentrated in just a few countries, and the same may be true of lithium, where supplies are concentrated in countries such as China and Bolivia. The concern was to ensure that electric cars did not end up in the same situation.
Lithium-ion batteries have dominated vehicle electrification for the past decade, but the recent surge in demand for electric vehicles has put a strain on the battery supply chain. Therefore, diversification into new battery technologies such as sodium-ion batteries is important.
India aims to electrify 30% of its fleet by 2030, according to an EY report. The domestic electric vehicle market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 49% from 2022 to 2030, reaching annual sales of 10 million units by 2030. Achievement Achieving this goal will require addressing challenges such as the high cost of electric vehicle batteries, dependence on imports for key battery raw materials, and lack of Indian cell technology.
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TOKYO — Avon Products Inc. said Monday it plans to sell its 74.7 percent stake in its Japanese subsidiary to an affiliate of TPG Capital for 7.3 billion yen, or $89.9 million at current exchange.
The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter. As part of the deal, TPG Capital will launch a tender offer in Japan for all outstanding shares of Avon Japan, which is publicly traded on the Osaka Securities Exchange, at the mutually agreed upon price of 74 yen, or 91 cents, per share.
Avon said it wants to focus on direct-selling markets with “high growth potential.” The company said its sales in Japan account for less than 2 percent of Avon’s total turnover and the transaction would have no material impact on its financial results. Avon Japan will be accounted for as a discontinued operation as of the fourth quarter of this year, the cosmetics company said.
“While Japan is an important consumer market, our analysis indicates that we would need to commit significant additional investment in order to generate profitable growth in the near to intermediate term,” stated Andrea Jung, Avon’s chairman and chief executive officer.
Avon said more than half of its sales in Japan are generated by direct mail, an anomaly according to the firm. Also, the company noted that a large portion of its sales were for products it created exclusively for the market.
Avon said it has agreed to grant TPG rights to its local Japan formulas and products as well as that of some other Avon products for use in Japan and, subject to “certain restrictions,” outside Japan. TPG will also have the rights to use the Avon name in Japan for an unspecified period of time.


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The founder and boss of Amazon, Jeff Bezos has seen his wealth increase by $6.4 billion.
This is as a result of the rise in demand for online shopping amidst the coronavirus pandemic, the outbreak sent the company’s share price to a new high.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Jeff Bezos now has a fortune of $138 billion, reinforcing his existing position as the world’s richest man.
Amazon has significantly benefited from surging internet shopping by people compelled to stay at home during the COVID-19 outbreak.
The firm has increased its workforce as it has recently recruited thousands of workers to cope with the surge in demand.
Are the employees safe from the coronavirus pandemic?
Amazon has, however, also been criticised by employees in the United States, US, over workplace protection against the coronavirus pandemic.
Nonetheless, Amazon is said to be building its own COVID-19 test lab for its employees.
Mr. Bezos owns an 11% stake in Amazon and on Tuesday, April 14, 2020, the firm’s shares rose by 5.3%.
The family behind retail giant in the US, Wal-Mart, which owns Asda in the UK, has also gained wealth during the lockdown.
The Waltons saw their net worth rise 5% this year to $169bn, making them the world’s richest family, according to Bloomberg.
With millions now working from home, online meeting site Zoom has seen founder Eric Yuan’s fortune more than double to $7.4 billion.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index also stated that the world’s 500 richest people have lost $553 billion so far this year.
Investors in the global oil and gas industries have seen sharp drops in net worth as crude prices plunged on reduced global demand and a row – now resolved – about oil production between Saudi Arabia and Russia.
All five Africans on the world’s 500 richest people list, saw a reduction in their wealth.
Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote ranked 98 with $13.8 billion, his wealth was decreased by $1.66 billion.
South Africa’s Nicky Oppenheimer ranked 277 with $6 billion, losing $1.35 billion, while Johann Rupert, ranked 301 with $5.64 billion, losing $1.74billion.
Brothers from Egypt Nassef Sawiris and Naguib Sawiris also lost some fortune. Nassef ranked 328 with $5.31 billion, losing $1.52 billion while Naguib ranked 435 with $4.39 billion, losing $798 million.


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City Tax Revenue from Vehicle Purchases Exceeds 200 Billion Yuan
City revenues on taxes coming from vehicle purchases has already exceed more than 6 billion yuan showing a growth if 28 percent compared to 2012. The revenues coming from vehicle sales keep the city in third place among Chinese cities based on growth for the fourth consecutive year. 400,000 vehicles were sold last year in which 333,900 of these purchases came from individuals buyers.
The amount was higher compared to last year especially during the fourth quarter were rapid growth in vehicle sales were seen which experts say was attributed by discounts that were given that attracted buyers. Last year also saw an increase in freight vehicle sales as more than 19,000 freight vehicles were sold in 2012 generating 200 million yuan in tax revenue. Furthermore Shenzhen Mayor Xi Qin stated the city will not be restricting car purchase for now and even if the city has the second largest number of vehicles compared to any city in China and is suffering from heavy traffic congestion.
He said that the city will resort to economic means in regulating traffic problems instead of administrative means. Furthermore the city will be speeding up the construction of Metro projects and will rush to finish the 24 incomplete roads before the year ends.
Restrictions on car purchases have been proven effective in several cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Guiyang.


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AANA Forms Alliance with PwC's CMO Advisory; Forsman & Bodenfors Goes to Singapore
In this weekly segment, ExchangeWire sums up key industry updates on ad tech from around the Asia-Pacific region – and in this edition: AANA Forms Alliance with PwC's CMO Advisory; Forsman & Bodenfors Goes to Singapore; Majority of Australians Read News Online; New Appointments at IAB AU & SG; and Consulting Firm Buys Chinese Marketing Agency.
AANA Forms Alliance with PwC's CMO Advisory
The Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) says it has brought in PwC's CMO Advisory to share its knowledge and expertise on key industry issues.
To start off, the two organisations would work on updating the media contract template, which was introduced in 2016.
AANA said it has been gathering feedback from the industry to further improve the template's relevance and effectiveness. These would be reviewed to facilitate the update.
AANA CEO John Broome said: "Our UK counterparts at ISBA also worked with PwC on developing their recent framework and guidance notes. We will be tapping into that experience to ensure we can fast-track our processes and deliver the relevant best-practice advice from the UK to our members here."
PwC Australia CMO Mike McGrath said the organisations would have "shared accountability" in coming up with the revised media contract template, with the goal to further strengthen partnerships between advertisers and agencies.
Forsman & Bodenfors Goes to Singapore
The Swedish ad agency has opened an office in Singapore to bolster its client support in the region.
Forsman & Bodenfors (F&B) said the local operations would commence in August 2018 and marks its first site outside its domestic market.
The agency's client director since 2003, Susanna Fagring, would assume the role of Singapore managing director and move from Sweden to the city-state, along with "a small team".
Fagring said the company's "size and nature of work" in Asia-Pacific has been growing, making it a "natural step" to set up an office in Singapore to strengthen the agency's relations with existing clients, as well as future customers.
Founded in 1986, F&B's current clientele in Asia-Pacific includes SK-II.
Majority of Australians Read News Online
Almost 15.7 million Australians aged 14 and above, or 78%, now get their news fix online every month.
Amongst news websites, news.com.au was the most popular, clocking some 5.9 million local visitors on average over a four-week period, according to data from Roy Morgan Research. Sydney Morning Herald was second-most popular, with 5.3 million visitors, while the ABC News website recorded a little over five million over the same period.
Reading preferences, though, differed between generations. Just two of the top five news sites amongst Pre-Boomers, born before 1946, made the same list for Generation Z, born between 1991 and 2005. The latter group stood out with its preference for Daily Mail and Buzzfeed, noted Roy Morgan.
News.com.au was the most popular for Pre-Boomers, accounting for 20.9% visits in the four-week period, while Sydney Morning Herald's website was most popular amongst Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1960.
New Appointments at IAB AU & SG
The Australian and Singapore chapters of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) both have announced new appointments, including a changing of guard following an executive election.
IAB Australia said Libby Minogue had assumed the newly created role of deputy chair, which was established to "add depth" to the board and manage increased "council activity and output". Minogue's day job sees her as executive general manager of media and content at REA Group.
News Corp Australia's digital revenue director, Cameron King, also has been appointed board chairperson following the departure of Nicole Sheffield, who resigned from the news network in February.
King would serve until the end of News Corp's tenure as IAB Australia's chair in September. He said he would focus on key issues that impacted IAB members, including measurement, standards, and transparency.
Meanwhile, IAB Singapore has welcomed a new board after wrapping up its 2018 elections.
Responsible for driving investment in digital advertising, the new members would work alongside the local bureau's CEO and Southeast Asia ambassador, Miranda Dimopoulos.
Current chair and CEO of APD Singapore, Tobias Wilson, will be stepping down from the board after four years including two as CEO. He said he is moving on to focus on his work at APD, as well as his family.
IAB's new Singapore board members include Google's Asia-Pacific managing director of agency business Joanna Flint, TripAdvisor's Asia-Pacific vice president Cindy Tan, and LinkedIn's Asia-Pacific China head of online sales Ashutosh Gupta.
Dimopoulos noted that almost all of its new board members hold regional roles in their organisation, indicating Singapore's standing as a regional business hub.
The local bureau will elect its new chair and vice chair early next month.
Consulting Firm Buys Chinese Marketing Agency
Accenture has announced plans to acquire Shanghai-based digital marketing agency, HO Communication, in a bid to beef up its footprint in China.
The Chinese agency, which also runs offices in Beijing, Chengdu, and Nanjing, provides a range of marketing services including content creation and creative design.
HO Communications CEO Lamy Zhang said: "The state of the traditional marketing and advertising industry is changing. Clients want campaigns, but they also want advice on strategy and assistance on delivery. We see this as the future for the industry and want to be part of creating and shaping that future."
Adding that China was the world's largest digital consumer market, Accenture's Greater China chairman Wei Zhu said HO Communication would boost its ability to meet its clients growing digital demands.
The consulting firm did not reveal financial details involved in the acquisition.
Ad TechAdvertiserAgencyAPACAudienceAustraliaChinaDigital MarketingSingapore


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Wargroove, developer Chucklefish’s Advance-Wars-inspired turn-based strategy game, is getting a sequel, and it’s coming to PC and Switch at some currently unspecified future time.
The original Wargroove released back in 2019, giving starved Advance Wars fans a solidly entertaining, gorgeously presented slab of turn-based strategy action – featuring a few new tactical twists, such as unit synergies – with a splash of Fire Emblem fantasy thrown in.
A free (and sizeable) co-op-focused expansion, Double Trouble, launched in 2020, and now, a little over three years later, Chucklefish has revealed a follow-up is on the way.
Wargroove 2 is being developed by Robotality – the studio behind decently enjoyable turn-based strategy titles Pathway and Halfway – on behalf of Chucklefish, and promises an entirely new (and pleasingly piratical) adventure spanning three interwoven campaign arcs.
It’ll feature new Commanders, five new unit types, a new tiered Groove system, plus co-op and competitive multiplayer modes for up to four players locally and online. There’s also a new rogue-like Conquest mode, plus “new and improved map” campaign and cutscene editors.
There’s no hint of a release date for Wargroove 2 just yet, but it’ll be available via Steam and Switch when it eventually arrives.


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THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has assured protection and security of mangoes produced in the island province of Guimaras, and enforced quality standards of the product when exported to other areas.
DTI Assistant Secretary Blesila Lantayona said she will immediately ask the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to fast track the issuance of Geographic Indication (GI) Certification to the Guimaras mangoes in order to enforce standards to be set on the only mango produced in the Philippines in a weevil-free or pests-free province.
Speaking at the opening rites on Monday, October 10, of the three-day program on DTI services “Negosyo, Konsumer at Iba Pa” in Iloilo City, Lantayona assured that lawyer Lennie Raz of IPO will look into the issuance of GI.
The DTI official said the GI will feature specific product markings issued by IPO.
Similarly, DTI had already awarded a certificate of recognition to the mango growers of Guimaras for their efforts in producing and promoting the fruit as a major export commodity to other countries.
Lantayona assured that she will look over the practices of unscrupulous traders and sellers especially in Metro Manila in selling mangoes produced in other areas such as Zambales and Pangasinan as a product of Guimaras by pasting fake stickers on the fruit.
The DTI official said the mislabeling and misrepresenting of products produced in a specific area is illegal and punishable by law.
Mislabeling the other products as produced in Guimaras is detrimental to the economy of the island province and affects the tourism and socioeconomic potentials of Guimaras.


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Big Media a Tough Sell to Jittery Investors
By GERALDINE FABRIKANT and RICHARD SIKLOS
Published: November 3, 2005
The media moguls are busier than ever. In the last few months, Rupert Murdoch, the News Corporation chairman, has announced a series of Web deals including the purchase of Myspace.com, a social networking site. Time Warner is in talks to sell a stake in a suddenly hot AOL.
Walt Disney, meanwhile, agreed to shake up its business model and distribute some of its television shows on the latest Apple iPod. Viacom is splitting itself in two. And Comcast announced a deal with Time Warner and other cable operators yesterday to add Sprint cellular service to its range of video, voice and high-speed Internet services.
While much of this activity is simply undoing some mistakes of the past, it is also meant to show that America's giant media companies are defending their turf and are well positioned to conquer the new digital era.
Media stocks bumped up yesterday on the prospects of financial moves at companies like Time Warner and Knight Ridder. In general, though, Wall Street is still not buying the new story.
Media stocks have been stuck in a malaise that has only deepened of late. Since Aug. 2, the share prices of News Corporation, Viacom, Comcast and Cablevision have fallen 6 to 17 percent in a period when the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index lost 2.4 percent. Many other media stocks, including those of newspaper companies, have followed a similar trajectory.
What investors cannot figure out is just how technological changes will affect audience behavior and how the growing competition from online media, including Google and Yahoo, as well as ad-skipping devices like TiVo and other digital video recorders, will affect traditional media companies.
Beyond those concerns, they worry that with slower advertising growth, the profitability of media properties like television and radio stations could be affected. And even if the ad market were to become robust again, just how many of those dollars might flow to the Internet and away from traditional media is an open question.
''New technologies have always ended up giving content more advantages than disadvantages,'' Richard D. Parsons, the chairman and chief executive of Time Warner, said yesterday. ''I think they will again this time, but it's not clear to the market yet.''
Indeed, Time Warner is an exception to the market trend, up about 5 percent since the beginning of August. But analysts said that was not so much because of the company's improving financial prospects as it was a reaction to attacks from the investor Carl C. Icahn and the news yesterday that the company will try to mollify Mr. Icahn and other investors by increasing a share buyback to $12.5 billion, from the $5 billion previously announced. Yesterday, Time Warner's stock rose 1.9 percent, closing at $17.90.
''There is a buyers' strike,'' said Dennis Leibowitz, general partner at Act II Partners, a media hedge fund. ''People are afraid to touch the old media. No matter how cheap they have gotten, people are fleeing. The environment is scaring them, and they can't figure it out.''
The frustration is palpable. On Tuesday, the largest shareholder in Knight Ridder, the nation's second-largest newspaper chain, demanded that the company put itself up for sale after a string of strategic and financial moves by its management failed to stem a slide in its stock over the last four months.
At the News Corporation annual meeting two weeks ago, Mr. Murdoch acknowledged repeatedly that the company's stock had taken a beating. ''It pains us as it pains you,'' he said. ''We are living in -- certainly as far as media goes -- a bear market. You can't ignore that.''
In the meantime, shares of Google and Apple have soared as investors championed them as businesses positioned for digital riches. So why are investors ambivalent about big media's forays online?
In part, the legacy of overpriced deals -- many driven by an earlier rush into digital media -- has saddled companies with billions of dollars of debt. After an acquisition binge that depleted earnings in the 1990's and into 2000, media companies like Time Warner have finally cut their debt levels.
Richard Bilotti, a media analyst at Morgan Stanley, said that investors worry that companies could again be wasting their money on ill-advised acquisitions.
''Many of the deals of the last 10 years,'' he said, ''were made with two principal assumptions: advertising growth would remain reasonably far ahead of nominal gross domestic product, and that size could be used to extract cost advantages. Those didn't particularly prove right.''
Some executives complain that the current wave of buying is likely to lead to some of the same mistakes made during the initial Internet frenzy of the 1990's.
Last week at an advertising industry conference, Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of WPP, the giant advertising group, accused Mr. Murdoch of ''willy-nilly'' buying of Internet companies and said that most of the companies were being run by 50- to 60-year-old executives who have trouble ''getting it.''
What is odd about the investor reluctance is that earnings at the major media companies are relatively strong and executives, including Mr. Murdoch, have track records of breaking into new markets.
The News Corporation reported record operating income in the fiscal year ended June 30 -- its third consecutive year of double-digit growth in revenue and operating income.


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Direct Ferries has appointed Tealeaf to track customer experience on its website.
Using the Tealeaf’s customer experience management technology will enable the ferry ticket retailer to view the website journey of any of the two million visitors it receives every month.
It will highlight where customers abandon transactions and where improvements are needed.
Direct Ferries is planning to use the information to call any customers who have dropped out of making a transaction at the checkout stage.
The company receives 90% of its revenue through the site.
Direct Ferries IT director Anthony Ritchie said using Tealeaf would enable it to pinpoint exactly what the customer experience is with an immediate return on investment in terms of using the technology.


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On Sept. 7, El Salvador became the first country in the world to accept Bitcoin (BTC -0.76%) as legal tender. Even though the rollout has been far from ideal, major food outlets in the country, such as Starbucks, Pizza Hut, and McDonald's, have all began accepting the digital currency as payment.
Bitcoin is up nearly 60% since the beginning of the year, and the latest move should appease skeptics who claim it cannot be used in everyday transactions because it's too volatile. So, could Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, one day, replace fiat money?
Currency economics in three minutes
There are reasons why countries worldwide moved off the silver and gold standards, and adopted fiat currencies. For example, if the U.S. dollar was backed by gold, it would've been impossible for the Department of Treasury and the IRS to issue stimulus money in trillions of dollars over a period of few months without first mining abundant amounts of the commodity. And that would've led to a chronic depression instead of a quick recovery.
Fiat currencies, on the other hand, could be issued by governments for varying amounts and lengths of time leading to varying levels of inflation. This, of course, is mostly negative on the economy, but not entirely.
Countries going to war, for example, can repeatedly print money for their military budgets thus wiping out their citizens' savings but ultimately securing enough funding to save the motherland. Unfortunately, fiscal mismanagement can also lead governments to print excessive amounts of money to pay off debt. Venezuela and Zimbabwe are examples of such fiscal misadventures. Eventually, such governments are prevented from raising taxes from fear of an economic collapse, bring about revolutions or civil war.
What's more, even during peaceful times, inflation targets, which nearly all governments have, will cause a chronic loss of savings in the long term, especially when interest rates are near rock-bottom levels. The loss of the purchasing power of the U.S. dollar only accelerated after President Nixon took it off the gold standard in 1971, with a cumulative loss of 84.4% from then to 2020.
Due to their scarcity, silver and gold-backed paper currencies have minimal inflation levels and, by definition, prevent hyperinflation. But a little-known fact is that market forces can actually sway them to hyperdeflation, sometimes in ridiculous ways.
Take the following case study. In 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Silver Purchase Act to revitalize the silver industry in the aftermath of the Great Depression, calling for the continued purchase of silver until its supplies hit one-third of the Treasury's gold reserves. The price of silver quickly doubled from around $0.24 per ounce to $0.58 per ounce within a year. It was a purely domestic policy but it had the unintended consequence of devastating the economy of the then Republic of China, which used a silver standard.
Of all places, Uncle Sam's insatiable appetite for silver whipped up a frenzy in Shanghai. Bankers melted down silver-based Chinese yuan coins en mass and shipped silver bars abroad to America for purchase. It was far more profitable to smuggle the yuan to the U.S. Treasury than to lend it out to businesses and entrepreneurs for interest. Meanwhile, the silver-backed yuan appreciated sharply against the U.S. dollar, severely diminishing the competitiveness of Chinese exports.
In the end, the price of goods within China fell sharply, but not as fast as how GDP plunged -- leading to a seemingly impossible combination of stag-deflation. The Chinese government threw in the towel after repeatedly begging President Roosevelt to stop to no avail, and moved to a fiat system the next year, which would also collapse a decade later due to hyperinflation.
So, in the end, both types of currency systems have significant drawbacks.
The rise of digital money
Bitcoins and other cryptos with hard limits in supply are quickly becoming a prototype that could potentially combine the best of both worlds. This is particularly true for Bitcoin, which has a limited supply of 21 million -- with an estimated 34% already lost forever due to people losing their private keys. This scarcity, combined with a record flow of money into peer-to-peer cash payment systems, has led its price increase to far outpace that of inflationary pressure on fiat currencies. In addition, the beauty of cryptocurrencies is that their protocols are live and are subject to change. In a move similar to Keynesian economics, governments or market participants could temporarily modify crypto protocols to allow the issuance of new coins for stimulus, and then repurchase them when the economy has recovered. I
What's more, the lack of need for physical storage and ease of transport across international borders has caused Bitcoin to have far more investment value than gold and silver. As a result, individuals can use the coin as a solid means to an end for their financial goals, such as saving for retirement or establishing an emergency fund. To an extent, this "growth is king" approach has made individuals less reliant on the need for fiat social spending.
Innovations in the sector are also rapidly improving the technology. For example, Luna (LUNC 11.07%) and Reserve Rights (RSR) are two dual-token platforms where consumers make purchases using their stablecoins (Terra USD and RSV). At the same time, investors absorb the volatility through owning LUNA and RSR tokens. Through buy and sell swapping the investment tokens for TUSD or RSR, investors can maintain their exchange rate to the U.S. dollar while earning "commissions" for their efforts.
Lastly, while exciting, it's important to note that central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are really just a digitized version of fiat. Even if there was one day a digital U.S. dollar, it would still hold true to its inflationary nature as the Federal Reserve that controls it could issue infinite amounts.
Hence, the main flaw of Bitcoin and decentralized digital money is its linking of geographical risks as a true global currency. In the same way that the U.S. delivered the finishing blow to the Republic of China's silver standard in 1934 with its domestic Silver Purchase Act, U.S. Bitcoin users and those in other parts of the world have all too often been hit hard by regulatory crackdowns in China and South Korea unrelated to their everyday transactions with the coin. And there are many other examples where this has gone wrong. But overall, the cryptocurrency cyberspace is rapidly evolving, and while government adoption is possible, it's safe to say that it'd take at least a decade to gain traction. But now's nevertheless the golden age of investing in this promising sector.


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Even with renewed consumer interest in fresh eating spurred by the pandemic – particularly the uptick in fresh fruit and vegetable consumption – more than a quarter of US Gen Zs say eating enough vegetables feels like a chore, while three in 10 consumers in this age group say it is hard for them to make vegetables taste good, reports Mintel.
“Gen Z is not seeing the need for vegetables and is reporting lower usage of all segments of the category. Veg brands should reconsider their messaging to help Gen Zs understand the importance of veg in their lives,” notes Melanie Zanoza Bartelme, a global food analyst at Mintel.
A main reason for this lack of enthusiasm around vegetable consumption could be that vegetable brands simply aren’t targeting this generation, or if they are, traditional marketing methods don’t reach this younger audience who are more likely to respond to influencer marketing and social media platforms such as TikTok, according to Zanoza Bartelme.
“Vegetable brands may be taking for granted that all consumers understand how to create a healthy diet, but this message may not be resonating with Gen Zs. This generation is drawn to plant-based diets, but they may not understand why fiber-rich whole vegetables should be part of their overall eating,” she said.
Zanoza Bartelme explained that while more than four in five consumers aged 16-24 say they have consumed a meat-free product in the past six months, that behavior doesn’t necessarily translate to consumption of actual vegetables.
“There seems to be a disconnect between ‘plant-based’ and ‘vegetable-rich,’ and vegetable brands should do more to help Gen Zs see the need for vegetables in a way that will resonate with them,” she said.
How to speak to Gen Z
Unsurprisingly, the Gen Z generation is extremely active on social media and many use these platforms to discover and vet new products and services, according to Mintel research. In the UK, for instance, more than three-quarters of Gen Zs think brands can improve their image by partnering with the right social media personalities.
“Vegetable brands can take advantage of this belief in the power of social media to reach Gen Zs where they are. TikTok is one option with great potential. Wherever the source, brands can partner with influencers who are passionate about vegetables and task them with helping Gen Z see veggies as a necessary and cool part of their diet,” said Zanoza Bartelme.
Convenience, taste, and fun
In terms of actual messaging, Zanoza Bartelme notes how Gen Z is more likely to care about and prioritize ethical issues from climate change to workers’ rights, and want brands to hold those same values. According to Mintel, more than two-thirds of Canadian Gen Zs care if brands/companies represent their personal values.
One brand doing this well, notes Zanoza Bartelme is Tattooed Chef, which in addition to its packaged vegetable products, on its website discusses its farm-to-table, sustainably grown products and features on-trend flavors and formats such as Mexican street corn and tahini-accented Buddha bowls.
“But the brand also taps into ease of use, saying “we spend the time so you don’t have to,” she said.
Convenience, taste, and fun, and offerings that mimic foodservice and restaurant dishes is another effective way to reach Gen Z consumers and encourage vegetable consumption, added Zanoza Bartelme.


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Two weeks ago, TechCrunch.com posted a write up from Benjamin Wayne, CEO of Fliqz.com, on how to use video SEO to get on the top of Google searches.
One key point that Wayne points out in his opening paragraphs is that, “Forrester Research found that videos were 53 times more likely than traditional web pages to receive an organic first-page ranking.”
The piece goes on the describe how to fully utilize your YouTube video for SEO by submitting your video to Google via a video sitemap, how video rankings and their connection to title tags and how video SEO is a winning strategy for the future.
Read the entire article at TechCrunch.com right now. To find out how we can help you use the powerful tool of video production Chicago, call or email us today!Video Production Chicago


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UK inflation has risen at its fastest pace in nearly 30 years.
Latest figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show that inflation rose by 5.4% in December 2021.
The increase has been attributed to rise in food, non-alcoholic drinks, fashion, fuel and energy costs, which is putting pressure on household finances.
It is the first ONS assessment of the cost of living since chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Autumn Budget, where he predicted inflation will average more than 4% in 2022.
Mr Sunak told MPs in the House of Commons that he had written to the governor of the Bank of England to reaffirm a remit “to achieve low and stable inflation”.
“People should be reassured they have a strong track record in doing so,” said Mr Sunak. “I understand people are concerned about global inflation – but they have a government here at home ready and willing to act.”
Here’s all you need to know about inflation.
What is inflation?
Inflation is a word used by economists to describe the sustained rise in prices of goods and services within a country over a set period of time.
Inflation rates vary all the time in response to external factors such as the price of oil, which has risen of late as lockdown restrictions ease under the government’s roadmap.
The ONS releases regular updates on the UK’s inflation rate, which has been brought into focus since the Covid pandemic hit, for people to assess living costs and make changes.
As inflation rates increase so does the cost of living, meaning the value of currency decreases.
Why is inflation going up?
Latest ONS figures show the UK inflation rate increased by 5.4% in the 12 months to December 2021 - up from 5.1% in November 2021.
There has been an increase in prices to food, non-alcoholic drinks, household costs, as well as second hand cars, among other everyday items over the past few months, say the ONS.
Why is UK inflation rates on the up?
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: "We know how challenging rising inflation can be for families and households which is why we're spending £4.2bn to support living standards and provide targeted measures for the most vulnerable over the winter months.
"With a resurgence of the virus, the most important thing we can do to safeguard the economic recovery is for everyone to get boosted now."
Labour's shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, Pat McFadden, said: "These figures are a stark illustration of the cost-of-living crisis facing families this Christmas.
"Instead of taking action, the government are looking the other way, blaming 'global problems' while they trap us in a high-tax, low-growth cycle."
What happens when inflation rises?
The inflation rate is forever changing.
When the inflation rate goes up, goods and services cost more and the money in consumers’ pockets doesn’t stretch as far, resulting in an increase in the cost of living generally.
This is seen as a good thing, to a degree, by some economists who think a moderate rate of inflation encourages people to spend what they have today rather than see its value decrease.
The theory is based on people’s temptation to buy today outweighing the thought of seeing your money diminish in value over time as inflation rises and the cost of a cup of coffee increases.
It all contributes towards a healthy economy where people are spending money to create more demand for goods and services, and in-turn maintaining supply chains and employment.
The Bank of England expects UK inflation to be in excess of 5%, above its 2% target, before the rate gradually levels out over 2022 and 2023.
A message from the editor:
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PolyU Tech Salon 2021 Webinar
“How is FashTECH disrupting the industry landscape?”
Organised by PolyU and Institute for Entrepreneurship. HKRITA is a strategic partner of the event.
The webinar features PolyU experts who will share about the University’s “FashTech” focuses and explore the journey of related research with industries.


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Disney has revealed that they plan to discontinue popular toys-to-life game Disney Infinity as the company plan to pull out of the self-publishing console games business.
News was confirmed by the company during its Q2 financial results last night.
"Items affecting comparability during the quarter ended April 2, 2016 included a $147 million charge in connection with the discontinuation of our self-published console games business, principally Infinity (Infinity Charge)," the company said.
The move will also mean that Disney Infinity's developer Avalanche Software is to close as well, resulting in roughly 300 jobs lost
A statement from Disney was later provided to VentureBeat, confirming that it is to close Avalanche and change their approach to console gaming.
"After a thorough evaluation, we have modified our approach to console gaming and will transition exclusively to a licensing model.
"This shift in strategy means we will cease production of Disney Infinity, where the lack of growth in the toys-to-life market, coupled with high development costs, has created a challenging business model.
"This means that we will be shutting down Avalanche, our internal studio that developed the game.
"This was a difficult decision that we did not take lightly given the quality of Disney Infinity and its many passionate fans."
Disney still plan to release two more sets later this year, which will be the companies last.
"We have two final retail releases coming, including three new characters from Alice Through the Looking Glass later this month, and the Finding Dory Play Set launching in June." read a second statement from Disney.
The decision to close will also leave the toys-to-life genre dominated by Skylanders and LEGO Dimensions.


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The National Bank and 43 partner banks, including FUIB, have launched an all-Ukrainian information campaign to promote #Cashless payments.
The goal of the campaign is to inform Ukrainians about the benefits and convenience of cashless payments. As part of the campaign, the National Bank and its partners will talk about current opportunities for widespread use of cashless payments, including how to establish a bank account, types of payment cards, online banking, how to make payments and transfers through payment websites and marketplaces using bank details and a QR-code. In addition, they will explain how NFC technology works, how to tokenize a payment card and add it to a smartphone, "smart" watch or fitness bracelet, as well as remind the basic security rules for cashless payments.
"According to a survey conducted by the National Bank in 2020, 76% of Ukrainians have used a payment card in the last year, but only 21% have used online banking. A significant percentage of citizens, having received a salary, scholarship or pension on the card, withdraw money from it at an ATM and pay in cash," said Oleksiy Shaban, Deputy Chairman of the NBU.
He added that the elder population of Ukraine needs the most support in mastering cashless payments, especially in the regions, as this topic requires skills not only of financial but also of digital literacy.
"Therefore, we expect that young people will help the older generation to get acquainted with the nuances of non-cash payments and teach them to pay for utilities online and buy online," said Oleksiy Shaban.
Thus, the #Cashless campaign has not only an educational character, but also acquires social orientation.
FUIB's Chairman of the Board Serhiy Chernenko emphasized: “FUIB is constantly working to increase the number of cashless payments by the bank's clients, develops remote service channels - Internet banking and mobile application, so that they can quickly and efficiently receive most services, offers additional benefits of online service, teaches clients how to quickly, conveniently and profitably use the bank on a smartphone. Participation in the National Bank initiative helps to accelerate positive changes in society."
For educational purposes, the National Bank is also launching a special "Cashless" (landing) web page with detailed information about the campaign and cashless payments.
The #Cashless information campaign will run for three months in all regions of Ukraine with the support of International Finance Corporation (IFC) in partnership with Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and UK Good Governance Fund, Deposit Guarantee Fund and Cyberpolice.
The campaign is a continuation of information campaigns on security of cash payments #HryvniaAnatomy and on fraud counteraction #GoodbeyFraudster.
General partners of the #Cashless information campaign: Deposit Guarantee Fund for Individuals, PROSTIR, Mastercard, EMA, Cyberpolice, Portmone, Ipay, Kyivstar, Alfa-Bank, Eldorado, Foxtrot.
Information partners: FUIB, PrivatBank, Oschadbank, Ukreximbank, Raiffeisen Bank, Ukrgasbank, Ukrsibbank, OTP Bank, CREDIT AGRICOLE BANK, Universalbank, Kredobank, ProCredit Bank, Taskombank, Credit Dnipro Bank, A-Bank, Alliance Bank, Akordbank, MTB Bank, Idea Bank, Pravex Bank, Lviv Bank, Globus Bank, Sich Bank, Krystalbank, Industrialbank, RVS Bank, Radabank, Clearing House Bank, First Investment Bank, Poltava Bank, Forward Bank, Motor Bank, Ukrbudinvestbank, Grant Bank, Ukrainian Capital, 3/4 Bank, UNEX Bank, Asvio Bank, European Industrial Bank, Polikombank, Trust Capital Bank, Portal Bank, AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN UKRAINE, European Business Association, All-Ukrainian Association of Financial Companies, NovaPay, Ria Money Transfer, UAPAY, "VSAD "IT-Babusi" Public organization, Velmart, Velyka Kyshenya, COOP Ukraine, YASNO - supplier of electricity, gas and energy efficiency solutions.
- ПУМБ вітає переможців акції «Депозит відкривай – браслет з Азовсталі вигравай!»
- З переможцями до перемоги: «Ми однієї крові» оголошує про колаборацію з ФК «Шахтар»
- ПУМБ зібрав кошти на оснащення прифронтової лікарні
- Partner cashback offers of FUIB in January
- Завершення акції «Осіння пора з RIA»
- ПУМБ продовжив дію платіжних карток банку до кінця березня 2023 року
Отримати на e-mail
Перевірте e-mail Дякуємо за Вашу цікавість!


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: Ad Age has an uncharacteristically numbnutty story on blogs and marketing in the current issue (not online). After saying that there was a “controversy” with “hackles raised” and a “brouhaha” by Gawker’s sponsor blog for Nike’s Art of Speed — without ever saying who had what problems — it goes on to give marketers a list of Don’ts and Do’s for blogs, starting with this:
DON’T throw money at bloggers. These influencers will not respond to outright, traditional ad placements.
Horsecrap. Look at Blogads. Look at the room filled with bloggers eager to accept advertising at Bloggercon.
How could an advertising magazine suggest that advertisers shouldn’t advertise? It could be because the source of the chart is Edelman Worldwide, which is a PR company. PR guys sometimes don’t get advertising. The other source is Intelliseek and right now, I’m listening to a webinar from those folks right now and they’re arguing that “PR tactics work better than advertising.” I disagree. Advertising is a clear and straightforward relationship — somebody bought this space. PR is and always has been about influencing the influencers and it’s important for bloggers (as it should be for reporters!) to reveal that. I’ve long said that if I ran a newspaper, I’d create a flack-free day to eliminate all PR just for one day to force reporters to go out and talk to real people and real sources. Or if reporters talked to PR guys, they should reveal what comes from such spokesmen and spinners.
Steve Rubel — a PR guy who really gets it — and I talked about a lot of this last week at an enjoyable lunch.


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Healthy INSIDER podcast: reporters explore, debate Impact of FDA approval of CBD medicineHealthy INSIDER podcast: reporters explore, debate Impact of FDA approval of CBD medicine
In this podcast, reporters Todd Runestad and Josh Long review last week’s landmark event—FDA approval of Epidiolex, a CBD medicine to treat rare and severe forms of epilepsy—and debate the potential impact on the natural products industry.
June 29, 2018
In this podcast, Informa reporters Todd Runestad and Josh Long weigh in on FDA's recent approval of Epidiolex, a CBD medicine to treat seizures associated with two rare and severe forms of epilepsy.
Runestad—ingredients and supplements editor with New Hope Network—described the development as a "landmark move" and "quite earthshaking."
"This flies in the face of decades of political rhetoric, public policy and the legal standards underpinning cannabis prohibition," Runestad, a veteran journalist who has been writing on nutrition science since 1997, said.
Long—legal editor for Natural Products INSIDER—noted FDA has consistently asserted CBD can't be lawfully sold in dietary supplements.
He argued the risks of enforcement action from FDA have increased now that a CBD drug has been approved by FDA. He also maintained the sale of so-called hemp extracts doesn't insulate a company from FDA enforcement action.
"You can call it a hemp extract, but if FDA goes out there and tests and finds that the majority of your product consists of CBD, and the other cannabinoids are found in minute amounts, I think there could be a serious problem there," Long said.
Runestad, however, argued it's less risky now to be in the CBD space, and he suggested FDA's recent decision will serve to increase the already widespread consumer awareness of CBD.
Concluded the reporter: "I'm beginning to buy into the idea that cannabis is the biggest natural product in the history of natural products."
Click the play button to hear the podcast in its entirety.
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The year 2021 has been quite uncertain for everyone, especially the automobile industry. From major car brands like Mercedes and BMW facing chip shortage that may move into the next year, Tesla taking the next step towards a full self-driving system while being investigated by the NHTSA for complaints regarding its autopilot technology, to a subsidiary brand like Polestar signing $20 billion deal with SPAC Greg Guggenheim, there’s plenty going on after a quiet lockdown period.
And now, another automaking giant has pulled the curtain on a pretty big announcement.
The First of its Kind
Honda is all set and ready to release the new Integra which is going to be a 5-door fastback. If you are unaware of the significance of the Honda Integra then you should know that this model has been in the running from 1985 to 2006 – but, you might not recognize it with this name.
This Honda model was marketed under the name of Acura Integra in the North American region. Fans of this car model will surely be excited to see their favorite vehicle in a new and redefined look. Integra was the name and image for four generations of sports coupe, developed by the Japanese automobile manufacturer, Honda.
This vehicle will be considered the fifth generation of the Integra model and it has already made waves in China after being released exclusively under the name of Integra sedan. This model was developed by Guangqi Honda but the model that is set to release in 2022 is separate and to be sold under Acura branding. Now, Honda is overlooking some of the final matters, putting the release into motion for the first quarter of 2022.
Attention To Detail
The Acura representative has definitely set a high standard for the upcoming model. They stated that the new Integra model will lead the performance portfolio as a new compact premium entrant.
Acura brand officer Jon Ikeda also chimed in and stated that the new vehicle would provide the same vibe as the original one did. There aren’t many details out there but there is speculation that the new Integra model may be manufactured in Honda’s Marysville plant in Ohio.
Fans and speculators are excited to see Honda’s new take on the classic Integra. The original model has been greatly loved and appreciated and the company wasn’t ready to part from it just yet.
So, they are bringing back one of the most loved models 15 years later.


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Amicas boasts first Centera-based PACSThe proliferation of digital data is driving the need for storage--on-site, off-site, online, and off-line. Regulations imposed as a result of the Health Insurance Portability and
Amicas boasts first Centera-based PACS
The proliferation of digital data is driving the need for storage--on-site, off-site, online, and off-line. Regulations imposed as a result of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) will prompt the need for more secure storage modes. Satisfying that need will cost money, time, and staff. Storage giant EMC might ease the pain, at least a bit. The company has released a new platform called Centera that company execs believe will attract customers from the medical imaging community, among others.
What sets Centera apart from other storage technologies, such as area networks (designed for a transactional environment) and network-addressed storage (designed for a collaborative environment) is Centera's dedication to fixed content--"unchanging data objects with long-term value," said Joe Tucci, CEO and president of EMC. Medical images are a prime example of fixed content, he said, because changes typically are not made to an image after it becomes part of the patient's medical record.
Centera takes advantage of this fixed status when archiving data. By running a 128-bit algorithm on the zeros and ones that create a digital file, Centera produces a unique "content-ticket" that acts as a document identifier and verification mechanism. Jim Rothnie, senior vice president and chief technology officer of EMC, cites major benefits of this new way of dealing with information as data immutability, archiving, and manageability.
Data immutability provides proof that stored data have not changed before their retrieval. This is achieved by rerunning the algorithm and comparing content addresses, Rothnie said. In regard to archiving, once a piece of information is stored, Centera recognizes it and refuses to allocate more space to the same data if another user attempts to store it again. That saves storage space. Manageability is enhanced because Centera stores data as though it were using containers, Rothnie said, rather than location.
"Data goes in, a claim check comes out," he said. "It's like valet parking."
According to Rothnie, the data inside Centera is not in the form of a "volume" (as in storage area networks) or files (as in network-addressed storage). Rather, it is in the form of a binary large object. As is the case with DICOM, Centera attaches descriptive metadata to the object, such as the patient name and data format. Centera does not yet support direct querying of metadata, Rothnie said, but the company plans to release an upgrade by the end of the year that allows this function.
EMC estimates that the fixed content market will be worth about $3 billion in 2003 and $10 billion in 2005. Centera is EMC's means for obtaining a piece of that pie. Since its formal introduction April 29, several companies in various industries have announced support for the new technology. Among them is PACS developer Amicas. The company has already incorporated Centera into its Web-based PACS, and will be installing the first system in May at Newton Wellesley Hospital, a 249-bed acute care facility in Boston. Existing Amicas users can also upgrade to Centera.
"As far as our customers are concerned, the Centera software is an automatic part of the next upgrade," said Hamid Tabatabaie, CEO of Amicas. "There is no charge, no hassle. Centera supports DICOM, and the software is shipping with the capability of storing DICOM or JPEG 2000. But customers will need to choose to buy the Centera storage hardware to use the Centera software."
Centera uses a new type of architecture: redundant array of independent nodes (RAIN). Each node is about the size of a pizza box and sports a Pentium processor with 640 GB of memory. Each Centera cabinet can support 32 nodes, which store 10 TB of data objects. The data in Centera are mirrored across nodes. Adding capacity is as simple as plugging in a new node or a new cabinet. Up to 16 cabinets can be networked to form a cluster. Up to seven clusters can be connected, providing 1 petabyte (the equivalent of 1024 TB) of mirrored storage. Centera also supports geographic separation of elements of data in a system, which allows for disaster recovery.
"What we get is reliability, self-manageability, and hyperscalability," Rothnie said. "Next year we will have a terabyte processor and the new technology will participate with the old. As far as cost effectiveness, for the systems shipping today, a 16-node system costs $100,000--about 2¢ per megabyte--including hardware and software."
Although it is currently the sole source for Centera hardware, EMC hopes other vendors will begin developing hardware to support the company's storage platform, acquired when EMC purchased Belgian firm FilePool in 2001. Part of EMC's market strategy is to become a middleware company, rather than a pure hardware provider.
"We are passing along savings to the customer," Rothnie said. "We show prices separately for hardware and software, and we will welcome other suppliers building the hardware. We built the hardware first because there was none readily available. It was a time-to-market question. But we will earn our money with revolutionary software."
The cost benefits that go with Centera could entice customers to sign up. A community hospital conducting about 100,000 studies per year would spend only about $40,000 using a Centera/Amicas solution, according to Tabatabaie. A traditional PACS approach would cost much more, he said.
"The cost of tape drives and staff alone would exceed $40,000," Tabatabaie said. "It's a price-point issue--our customers have been waiting for something less expensive than disk and better than tape."
Centera could provide a major boost to PACS, according to Tabatabaie, because it provides customers with data authenticity, high availability, and cost-effectiveness. Plus, it eliminates the need for customers to be storage administrators.
"A PACS administrator has to continually map new drives, add storage, and figure out how to move files around to accommodate new systems," Tabatabaie said. "That is a pain. You typically experience downtime when mounting new drives and when migrating data. The Amicas application and its handshaking with the Centera environment eliminate that."
Other PACS vendors have also stepped forward as EMC partners--Agfa, Kodak, and Merge Technologies. Aside from Amicas, however, no other vendor is currently shipping Centera-enabled PACS. And, of course, not all PACS vendors are leaping on the EMC bandwagon.
Stentor, which received $20 million in second-round funding from EMC, has not switched its iVault storage over to Centera--at least not yet.
"Basically, although we can't comment specifically on the blueprints for future products, we are encouraged that EMC is reducing its price point with Centera to be more consistent with the medical imaging industry," said Mark Reis, marketing communications manager for Stentor. "As our industry evolves, lower cost storage for large medical imaging data sets is going to be greatly needed."
InSite One, which uses an ASP model for storage, doesn't plan to switch to Centera anytime soon. According to CEO Dave Cook, the company can provide storage at less than half the cost of implementing Centera.
"We have a similar architecture, and we can provide it a lot less expensively, although we're not getting into the whole universe of fixed content like EMC," Cook said.
InSite One will continue to market its storage service as a standalone and through partners like Philips and Agfa. The mode of delivery will depend on what customers want, Cook said. For example, a customer can buy an Agfa system with InSite One storage or an Agfa system with a Centera backend. But Cook believes that the advantage for customers lies in purchasing a service rather than a product.
"You can't win in storage--you're going to run out of space, or buy too much, or the storage technology will become obsolete," he said. "If you go with Centera, you're putting all your eggs in that architecture."


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Microsoft has confirmed that its Surface RT tablet will launch in eight different countries, including the UK, on October 26th. Pocket-Lint is reporting that UK prices will start at £399, with the Touch Cover costing £99.99 and the Type cover costing £109.99. Going by the US pricing, we can assume that the £399 price tag applies to the 32GB version of the Surface RT tablet. US pricing has been announced as follows:
A 32GB version priced at US$499, a 32GB version bundled with a black Touch Cover priced at US$599, and a 64GB version bundled with a black Touch Cover priced at US$699.
The Touch Covers will be available in five different colours – black, white, magenta, cyan and red. As well as the UK and US, Surface products will also be available in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong.
We’ll let you know as soon as we’ve had any UK pricing and availability through.


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India has imposed duties on imports of solar equipment from China and Malaysia lasting two years. The aim is to kick-start a domestic industry that’s failed to take off in the face of ever-cheaper imports of solar cells and modules. China accounted for 89 percent of imports in the last financial year. The protectionist move risks setting back India’s climate change commitments by slowing the buildup of renewable energy capacity, even as prices for solar power in the world’s second-most pop [...]
DENVER – Colorado companies including Western Union, New Belgium Brewing and several ski resorts have joined hundreds of U.S. mayors, governors and chief executives, all promising to make good on the nation’s commitment to reach climate goals set in Paris.
A letter – including signatures from such high-profile brands as Apple, Google, Microsoft, Nestle, Target and Wrangler – was released Monday.
Rebecca Cantwell, director of the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Associatio [...]


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Posts tagged Lexus
Lexus has always been a brand with a focus on quality of life. As a luxury-car brand, its very existence is based on improving customer driving experiences (for proof, test-drive the 2016 Lexus IS), and through its involvement in special occurrences like the annual Lexus Gran Fondo gourmet cycling event and the CFDA + LEXUS FASHION* INITIATIVE for sustainable design, it continues to promote a better world for all. The company is continuing this trend with a new season of “It Got Better” on its L/Studio digital content network. Check out the first episode above!
Lexus pointed the spotlight at two brand-new luxury vehicles at the Big Apple’s big car show, and they quickly became the talk of the day. The Lexus 500 coupe and its 500h hybrid counterpart were on display among the 21 Lexus models at the 2016 New York International Auto Show. Talk about a sight for sore eyes!
Luxury-car shoppers and brand fans know that Lexus vehicles are an excellent combination of longevity and sophisticated style, so this next bit of news should come as no surprise. Kelley Blue Book has just announced the winners of its 2016 Brand Image Awards, and Lexus has taken top honors in its categories.
The Men’s College Basketball Tournament is about to begin again. Each year, sports fans flock to Yahoo Sports to create their brackets and fuel their enthusiasm for the big b-ball tourney. As a presenting sponsor of the Yahoo Sports Tourney Pick’em this year, luxury automaker Lexus is getting into the spirit of the season. The company will run special display, video and native advertising, a new game featuring the stunning Lexus GS F and a unique opportunity to win an amazing prize.
At this point, no one should question the impeccable engineering of the luxury vehicles built by Lexus. They’ve been delighting drivers for well over a decade, and they’ve been outshining other models in industry analyses left and right. So it should come as little surprise that Lexus came out on top of J.D. Power’s latest study — the brand won the last four, after all.


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Sales jumped 22 per cent to hit £422.3 million. Like-for-like takings were up 5.6 per cent during the 12-month period, which saw it open 38 stores.
The group, which runs 295 stores across the country, added that operating profits also hit a record, growing by 130 per cent to £14.6m.
Founder and chief executive Chris Edwards said the performance marked a “record financial year” for the chain. In May, US buyout group TPG took a majority stake in the business for £150m.
Edwards also said the firm is to invest in a new 500,000 square foot warehouse, as well as replace its IT ordering systems, and he expects next year to bring “development and consolidation”.
Larger rival Poundland, which owns around 500 stores, recently saw its £55m takeover of 99p Stores provisionally cleared by regulators.


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While Williamson and the Jordan Brand both announced the collaboration this week, details are sparse and due to further emerge soon.
License Global will share the news of the Naruto x Jordan collaboration when new details emerge.
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So far, the only official places that people in the US can purchase new Surface tablets from Microsoft is by going to one of the company's retail stores or ordering it online on the Microsoft Store website. Now a new rumor claims that the Windows RT version of the Surface will become much more widely available.
Paul Thurrott, in a post on his Winsupersite.com page, claims, via unnamed sources, that Microsoft had planned in the past to start selling the Surface with Windows RT beyond its own Microsoft Stores in early 2013. However, he now claims Microsoft, " ... has apparently decided to ramp up the speed and make it happen before the holiday selling season is over." There's already been reports that Verizon Wireless stores will begin to sell the Surface tablet, with demo displays already in place in some locations.
Thurrott also claims that Surface sales, even with its limited distribution in the US, are " ... actually selling very well ... ". Indeed, he claims that Surface sales are "one of the few bright spots" currently in Microsoft's product lineup. Thurrott previously claimed that Windows 8 sales have so far been "well below Microsoft’s internal projections." For its part, Microsoft has said it sold 40 million Windows 8 licenses in its first month and that the upgrade rates for Windows 8 are surpassing those for Windows 7.
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Media supply chain management company SDVI has appointed Tom Evans as general manager of its EMEA business.
According to the company, the newly created role reflects the increase in demand for Cloud-based supply chains in EMEA and is part of its long-term initiative to support significant industry transformation and growth across the region.
Evans has previously worked for the likes of A+E Networks, the BBC, BT, Cognizant, Disney, NBCUniversal, Sky and Telstra.
“Over the past two decades, Tom has helped some of the media industry’s biggest names —nationals and multinationals throughout Europe, Australasia, and the US — to embrace new technologies and business models that drive greater efficiency and profitability,” said SDVI CEO Lawrence Kaplan. “Tom is highly adept at finding unique solutions to complex operational and technology problems — experience that makes him a great fit for SDVI, particularly as we step up our commitment throughout Europe.”
“Recent and ongoing SDVI Rally deployments in EMEA demonstrate a readiness and an appetite for media supply chain modernisation,” added Evans. “It’s an exciting time to be bringing next-generation media supply chain management to the region, and the Rally platform addresses the many challenges and opportunities facing EMEA media organisations in today’s competitive marketplace.”


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- Why use Innovation Place
- Funds for r&d
- About us
- PNO services
Lazio Region announced the start of the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) 2014-2020. It is composed of 45 Actions, 38 of which will be launched by December 2015.
Is it possible to increase the sustainability of industrial processes while maintaining or increasing the competitiveness of enterprises?
The BIO-MIMETIC Project partners will show you how this is possible during the final conference and workshop dedicated to SMEs organised with the sponsorship of Unindustria Latina. (June 25, 2015 Via Montesanto, 9 Latina – Italy).
James Cogan from PNO Consultants has been invited to present on the topic ‘Creating new market for biobased products through public procurement’ at the Roundtable ‘Removing barriers within the internal market for the Bioeconomy. The meeting is organized by MEP Lambert van Nistelrooij (PPE) with the support of the newly established European BioEconomy Alliance (EBA), and will be held in Brussels at the European Parliament on the 20th April 2015.
The BIO-MIMETIC project is generating a new class of novel bio-derived polymers for application in household products via extraction of natural compounds from renewable resources. BIO-MIMETIC is now in the third year of activities, several results have obtained: Lignin has been extracted from a range of plant sources, enzymes transforming lignin for use in consumer products have been expressed and computer simulations aimed to study lignin derivatives in solution have been carried out. To know further details please follow us at NanotechItaly 2014!
Industrial Biotechnology (IB) has been identified as one of the key enabling technologies which can drive European competitiveness in the coming decades and help develop a more sustainable and resource-efficient Europe. However, major hurdles hamper the full exploitation of IB. These include access to feedstock and financing, low public awareness of the benefits of IB products, a lack of incentives and various technological constraints.
The European Commission highlighted the importance of research and innovation (R&I) investments and reforms for economic recovery in the European Union, and made proposals to help EU Member States maximise the impact of their budgets at a time when many countries still face spending constraints.
LightJumps European project coordinated by PNO, is conducting a survey to identify barriers and needs of European companies/organizations operating in the Photonics sector. Give us your help to strengthen the Photonics sector in Europe!
BIO-TIC is proud to announce the public launch of three “bio-Roadmaps” focusing on the market potential, R&D priorities and non-technological hurdles of IB innovation in Europe.
The EU Industrial Structure Report 2013 analyses the performance of EU industrial and service sectors in terms of productivity and its underlying drivers, the resultant changes to industrial and export specialization, comparative advantages at EU and national level, and the position of the EU in increasingly global value chains. This edition also looks at the impact of the crisis and the difficult recovery on long-term structural trends.


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Google has a plan for Android Auto that would make it much more robust than a version of Android that simply projects smartphone apps onto a car's infotainment display, it's claimed. According to Reuters, which cited unnamed sources, Google is now developing a version of Android that would be built directly into partner cars. This version of Android is considered a "major step up" from Android Auto but will apparently still be considered a form of Android Auto, a platform designed by Google specifically for automobiles.
The current Android Auto version requires a smartphone to be plugged into a compatible car with a built-in screen to access streaming music, maps and other apps, but this is said to change once Android M gets released. The idea is that instead of using a smartphone and its connection for in-car services, the car itself would connect directly to the web using Google‘s software. That’s certainly a feasible scenario as we’re now starting to see cars with integrated LTE and Wi-Fi radios; next month’s Consumer Electronics Show is sure to highlight these. That connection would use Android Auto software to power the in-dash experience.
"It provides a much stronger foothold for Google to really be part of the vehicle rather than being an add-on," Thilo Koslowski, vice president and Automotive Practice Leader of industry research firm Gartner, told Reuters. He said he was unaware of Google's latest plans.
For Google, the shift would mean that its software would be powered inside the car, and presumably updated, for as long as a consumer owned that car. That could help lock users into Google's Android ecosystem. As Reuters points out, Google could also potentially access data collected by vehicles, including GPS data, where users drive, how much fuel they use and where they stop for gas. That could potentially improve Google services, especially Maps, but might also raise privacy concerns.
If successful, Android would become the standard system powering a car's entertainment and navigation features, solidifying Google's position in a new market where it is competing with arch-rival Apple Inc. Google could also potentially access the valuable trove of data collected by a vehicle.
Direct integration into cars ensures that drivers will use Google's services every time they turn on the ignition, without having to plug in the phone. It could allow Google to make more use of a car's camera, sensors, fuel gauge, and Internet connections that come with some newer car models. Analysts said Google's plan could face various technical and business challenges, including convincing automakers to integrate its services so tightly into their vehicles.
So, if your phone should die, your car will still be able to stream music, send texts, read emails, load maps, etc. Google could also get something in return by accessing your GPS location, where you travel, and where you go for gas, and then it can use that data for advertising purposes.
Another reason why Google could be interested in doing this is to somehow tie the data it gets on car components with its advertising business model and this could be a little tricky. Will car makers allow Google to stick in its tentacles and to get access to GPS location and detailed driver behavior, such as its whereabouts, where he travels and at what gas stations does he stop? I guess it all depends on how well Google builds its product and what are they trying to achieve with it.


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Milwaukee, WI – Wisconsin manufacturers bring products to the world, and nine companies Thursday received the prestigious 2006 Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year Award for manufacturing excellence.
Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year Award Winners
Grand Award Winners Category
Pierce Manufacturing, Inc., Appleton Mega (1000+ employees)
Linetec, Wausau Large (300-999 employees)
OEM Fabricators, Inc., Woodville Medium (50-299 employees)
Accuweb, Inc., Madison Small (1-49 employees)
Special Award Winners
Astronautics Corporation of America, Milwaukee “High-Tech R&D”
Bell Laboratories, Inc., Madison “Building a Better Mousetrap”
Brady Corporation, Milwaukee “Corporate Excellence”
Giddings & Lewis Machine Tools, LLC, Fond du Lac “Commitment of Employees & Community”
Wisconsin Plating Works of Racine, Inc., Racine “Employee and Environmental Stewardship”
“The Manufacturer of the Year Awards program celebrates the stories of Wisconsin’s manufacturing companies,” said Tim Christen, CEO of Virchow Krause. “Manufacturers are the backbone of the Wisconsin economy, and when manufacturing is strong and growing, services, retail, construction and other industries will have strong paths as well. They bring Wisconsin products to the world.”
“We are proud to honor these manufacturers as they forge ahead setting the pace for economic development, growth and prosperity,” said James S. Haney, president of Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce. “Wisconsin manufacturers are recognized around the world for their innovations, cutting-edge technological advances, and uncompromising commitment to customer satisfaction.”
“Wisconsin manufacturers are responsible for creating jobs and keeping our local economies strong,” said Tod Linstroth, senior partner in the Business Practice Group at Michael Best & Friedrich LLP. “Their commitment to sound technological advances, customers and employees will foster new opportunities for our families and our futures.”
The annual competition is co-sponsored by Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, a preeminent Midwest-based law firm; Virchow, Krause & Company, LLP, the nation’s 15th largest accounting and consulting firm; and Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the state’s largest business association.
Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year Grand Award winners are recognized for overall outstanding achievement and categorized based on the number of employees. Nominated companies are evaluated in areas such as financial growth or consistency, technological advances, product development, environmental solutions, operational excellence/continuous improvement, commitment to employees, and effective research and development.
Special Awards are presented to companies for achieving excellence in any one area. Categories are determined by the judges based on information provided in nomination forms. Forty manufacturers were nominated for this year’s awards.
An independent panel of judges, including leaders in business, government, education and the business media, evaluated the nominations. The MOTY awards were presented Thursday at a black-tie banquet at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee.


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Today has been a good day as far as Apple-related news and rumors are concerned. First of all, Apple officially confirmed that it will hold a media event on September 9th, at the Flint Center for the Performing Arts in Cupertino, California. Unfortunately, the invites are only confirming the date, without revealing what will the company actually show to the world – “9.9.2104 Wish We Could Say More”.
Unfortunately for those who are expecting for both iPhone 6 models (with 4.7 and 5.5-inch display), and probably the iWatch, to be officially unveiled on the 9th of September, a new rumor out of China is claiming that the Cupertino based company will actually launch only the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and the 8GB iPhone 5S. Nothing is being disclosed about the iWatch, but despite a recent rumor claiming otherwise, we wouldn’t hold our breath to see it in action next month.
And because bad rumors always come in pairs, we’ve discovered another one (originating from Spain) which gives strength to the idea that this year’s iPhones will be more expensive. And boy, if this one is correct, we’ll really have to pay a premium for that 5.5-inch beast. Join us after the break for more.
According to MovilZona, sources inside Telefonica (a Spain based carrier) have disclosed that, even though Telefonica is still negotiating with Apple, it looks like the 4.7 inch iPhone 6 will be priced at 750 Euros, while the 5.5-inch model will carry the premium price-tag of 950 Euros. At the moment, the 16GB iPhone 5S is priced at 699 Euros, the 32GB model would set you back 799 Euros, while for the 64GB you’d have to shell out 899 Euros.
For those of you in the US, if these prices are going to be final, it would translate to around $750 and $950 respectively. Don’t make the mistake of converting Euros to US Dollars, as this is not how things go in the IT world (while the 16 GB iPhone 5S costs 699 EU in Europe, in the US Apple store, the same smartphone is priced at $650).
A rumor from earlier this year was claiming that the 32GB iPhone 6 will have the same price tag as the 16GB iPhone 5S, at least in China.
That’s it for now, we’ll keep looking for other rumors and leaks in our quest to find out more about Apple’s upcoming devices. In the meantime, taking into consideration what we know so far about the two iPhone 6 models, do you think that the aforementioned price tags are fair? Let us know in the comments section and remember: the prices are allegedly still being negotiated so things might change until the new iPhones will hit store shelves (although not by a whole lot).


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Google Play Music, a rival option to streaming services like Spotify and Rdio, is now available for iOS, six months after launching on the web and Android-based devices.
Google has updated its Gmail iOS app with improvements aimed at simplifying user-interface navigation and enhancing message viewing and composition on iPads.
BlackBerry's Messenger app is now available for the iPad and iPod Touch and will work over Wi-Fi connections on those devices, the company announced Thursday.
Facebook is hoping to gain a stronger foothold in the competitive mobile messaging space with an updated version of its Messenger app, which now lets people message each other even if they aren't Facebook friends.
If you're using Twitter on the new iPhone 5S you might start seeing different ads than someone accessing the site with the older iPhone 4.
Unity has finally added integrated support for developing 2D games with the availability of version 4.3 of its toolset.
Netflix, YouTube traffic on the rise, while peer-to-peer file sharing nears extinction, Sandvine finds
In a testament to the rise of on-demand entertainment, Netflix and YouTube now consume just over half of all downstream traffic in North America, while peer-to-peer file-sharing services continue to plummet, according to a new study.
Getting smartphone operating Tizen off the ground has proven more difficult than its backers first thought. Operator Orange no longer wants to predict when the first phones will arrive, and Samsung Electronics is also mum on its progress.
Adobe Systems has added mobile features to its Marketing Cloud, allowing companies to better target smartphones with the help of geolocation and app analytics.
Although Instagram users do not commonly turn to the site to find out what's happening in the world, CEO Kevin Systrom hopes that will change.
Some new details have emerged about Jelly, the mysterious startup from Twitter co-founder Biz Stone: The company's app is "very close" to launching, and will be available for free on iOS and Android-based devices, Stone recently said.
Google has added new features to its search app on iOS, like updated reminders and hands-free search, designed to proactively deliver information to people at certain moments.
Consumers are getting more aware that they can be tracked while they walk around stores but plenty still feel uncomfortable about it, according to a new survey.
Mobile developers will be able to track usage of their Android and iOS applications, as well as experiment with interface improvements, with two free services from Amazon.
It's official: Instagram now has ads, and the first one appeared Friday courtesy of fashion designer Michael Kors.
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BSH Denies Dishwasher Recall Will Cost It More Than $900 Million
Sep 9, 2013
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German appliance maker BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeraete refuted a magazine article that said its voluntary recall of five million dishwashers would cost the company more than $900 million, according to Reuters.
BSH announced the recall on Aug. 30, 2013. An article last week in German magazine Focus put the price tag for the recall at EUR 700 million euros, or about US$925 million.
A BSH spokesman quoted by Reuters said the figure reported by Focus "lacks any foundation." BSH has not, however, said how much it does expect the voluntary recall--which it has termed a Safety Action--to cost the company.
The recall affects certain dishwasher models manufactured between 1999 and 2005. BSH said the affected dishwashers may overheat and rarely pose a risk of fire due to a fault in an electronic component in the control panel.
Affected brands include:
Details about the affected models are on website that BSH put up specifically to provide consumers with information. The site is at:
"BSH offers consumers affected by this safety action repair free of charge in all countries," the company said in a statement.
BSH said: "As a precautionary measure the company recommends consumers with an affected dishwasher to only use the appliance under supervision, i.e. when someone is home to supervise its use, until the repair has been undertaken."
The Reuters report said that problems with the dishwashers have been known to some extent for several years but, according to BSH, the assumption was that the dishwasher problems were a result of problems with local electrical grids.
Back to Breaking News


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"The initial AMD Sempron processors will be designed for Socket A platform. It will be using a core that is found in the current AMD Athlon XP CPU family. AMD plans to replace AMD Athlon XP processors with AMD Sempron chips in the third quarter of 2004.... so say goodbye to the XP line and hello to Sempron."
SUNNYVALE, CALIF. -June 7, 2004- AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced that it
will introduce a new brand of PC processors to be named AMD SempronTM. The
AMD Sempron processor family is expected to redefine everyday computing for
today's value-conscious buyers of desktop and notebook PCs.
AMD Sempron processors are being developed to meet the evolving day-to-day
needs of home and business PC users. Basic computing is no longer just
about email, Web browsing or word processing. Today it's also about
downloading and playing music, or sending pictures to family and friends.
This full-featured product line is designed to deliver best-in-class
performance for the growing segment of PC users who want more from their
"AMD is changing the name of the game for everyday computing. We have
responded to evolving customer needs with a compelling solution that
delivers the performance needed for today's applications," said Marty
Seyer, vice president and general manager, Microprocessor Business Unit,
AMD. "The AMD Sempron brand is expected to carry on our tradition to always
strive to provide our customers more value."
More details about AMD's new mobile and desktop processors will be
forthcoming in the second half of 2004. Shipments of the AMD Sempron and
Mobile AMD Sempron processors are scheduled to begin during the second half
AMD AthlonTM 64 processors will continue to be offered for outstanding
32-bit performance, capability for tomorrow's 64-bit applications, and
Enhanced Virus Protection in conjunction with the upcoming Windows(r) XP
Service Pack 2. Likewise, AMD Athlon XP processors for desktop PCs and
Mobile AMD Athlon XP-M processors will continue to be offered for those
customers seeking advanced functionality and performance for mainstream
home and office computing.
AMD (NYSE:AMD) designs and produces innovative microprocessors, Flash
memory devices and low-power processor solutions for the computer,
communications and consumer electronics industries. AMD is dedicated to
delivering standards-based, customer-focused solutions for technology
users, ranging from enterprises and governments to individual consumers.
For more information visit http://www.amd.com.