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JIM WATERS worked the handle of a bronze wine opener and uncorked a bottle of 2006 cabernet sauvignon he planned to release for sale in a few months.
The winemaker smiled while pouring the liquid into a glass. When the wine settled, it had the color of a polished ruby and emitted an aroma of black currant berries. He swirled the dry wine, took a sip, swished it around like mouthwash and described vanilla and oak flavors that swooned and lingered on the palate.
“You can always taste what passion people put into it,” said Mr. Waters, 44, co-owner of Waters Crest Winery, which is in Unit 6 of a strip mall at the corner of Route 48 and Cox Lane in Suffolk County. “It’s so expressive of what’s happened.”
Mr. Waters said that he had always been interested in wine and began making it as a hobby when he was about 24. That was when his mother-in-law, Lena Minelli of Shirley, bought a winemaking kit for her son. Seeing an opportunity for a friendly gibe, Mr. Waters recalled asking, “Why didn’t you buy me one?”
As Mr. Waters recounted the story, the winery’s front door opened. Mr. Waters’s wife and the winery’s co-owner, Linda, 44, a regional air traffic controller, came into the room and leaned against a stone counter top. The door shut out the sound of car tires hissing on the road, wet from a storm that had passed.Continue reading the main story
“I was talking about how your mom bought me the first kit,” Mr. Waters said.
Ms. Waters, who grew up on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, offered Ms. Minelli’s friendly retort to her husband’s interest in wine: “She said: ‘You’re Irish. You don’t make wine. You’re not Italian.’ ”
Mr. Waters ended up owning two winemaking kits — one that Ms. Minelli later bought him as a gift and the other one that her own son had never used. Mr. Waters set up the kits in the garage of his home in Manorville, sharing the wine and even entering contests. Years later, 9/11 prompted Mr. Waters, a former Manorville volunteer fireman, to turn his hobby into a full-time job that brought him closer to his wife and their daughters, Michelle, 15, and Lauren, 12.
After the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 2001, Mr. Waters said he did a lot of thinking on the ride home one day after working as a volunteer at ground zero.
“I think the point came when we came out of the Midtown Tunnel and looked back and you couldn’t see anything,” Mr. Waters said. “I realized that life is very, very short and tenuous, I decided I just wanted to chase my passion.”
Mr. Waters had already been struggling with a sense of detachment from his family. In addition to being a volunteer firefighter, he also was a regional truck manager for Budget Truck Rental, driving 40,000 to 50,000 miles a year on business trips.
“That was something that sat in my mind for a couple of years,” he said. In October 2005, he decided to focus on Waters Crest full time. Before that, he had been balancing winemaking with his other work.
“It’s really grass-rooted us as a family, and I really can be there,” Mr. Waters said. “I’m Waters Crest, and I’m Dad. That’s it.”
Most Long Island wineries produce boutique wines because of their relatively small production, said Steve Bate, executive director of the Long Island Wine Council. The largest makes more than 20,000 cases annually, he said. Most make fewer than 10,000 cases, while Waters Crest makes about 1,000 cases a year.
The region is known for very light, sandy soils and a moderate climate influenced by Long Island Sound and the Atlantic. About 20 varieties of grapes are grown in the region, including cabernet franc, chardonnay, gewürztraminer and merlot. There are about 3,000 acres of vineyards on Long Island, according to the wine council, and 43 bonded wineries, says the New York Wine and Grape Foundation.
On a recent visit to the Waters Crest Winery, the scent of fermenting grapes wafted from the production room, a reminder of work that still had to be done. Mr. Waters and an employee used a pump to circulate the wine from the bottom of a 2,000-gallon steel tank to the top. The process moistened the layer at the top to maintain quality and avoid bacteria.
Later, the wine was pumped into a press to remove the sediment. The wine was then pumped into other containers to begin aging. Wine tourists from nearby bed-and-breakfasts came in small groups to witness the work.
Mr. Waters says he works about 16 hours a day during the fall.
“The fall is definitely the busiest time out here,” Mr. Bate said. “The tasting rooms are busy in the front, and the cellars are busy in the back.”
The busy time also offers something else to winemakers, said Jim Trezise, president of the wine and grape foundation. Fall is when they see what the crop is like and get to meet more wine tourists.
“It’s the climax of the year,” Mr. Trezise said. “Fall is what it’s all about.”
Mr. Waters does not own a vineyard. Rather, he is a négociant, a winemaker who forms agreements with various Long Island producers and helps to manage certain sections to his specifications. This year, his grapes came from five local farms, where he inspected and picked them by hand.
Most grapes are machine harvested, but for premium wines, which require tasting and visual inspection of the grapes, growers prefer handpicking. “It gives you the ultimate precision in terms of quality,” said Mr. Trezise.
In the tasting room, Mr. Waters tried another wine. Some Bordeaux-style French oak wine barrels were visible through a window to the production room. They contained red wine from last year.
“Wine should offer a different direction each time,” Mr. Waters said, dipping his nose into a glass containing a sample of a dry 2007 rosé. The wine released aromas of kiwi, strawberry and mango, with a touch of peach. Another sniff revealed a toastiness from the cabernet franc blended into the chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon.
The phone to the tasting room rang. Mr. Waters answered it in a crisp, businesslike manner. Then he became relaxed and leaned on the counter. It was his daughter Michelle calling.Continue reading the main story


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One of the real product success stories of late is Google’s Chromecast. The original Chromecast was one of the best selling streaming devices available and its follow up device seems to be doing equally as well. Not to mention, the success of Chromecast led the company to release an offshoot product specifically designed for audio, the aptly named Chromecast Audio. Of course, the one commonality between the devices is their use of Cast technology to send video or audio data to another device.
Well, with such an increasingly level of adoption for the various Chromecast devices, one would expect that there would be a rich variety of Chromecast apps available and there is. However, in spite of the rich variety of apps which offer Cast functionality and the wide level of adoption, developers have not had a decent way to understand the reach of their apps. That does now looked to have changed though, as Google today confirmed the availability of tools to measure exactly this.
Google has today confirmed that developers will now be able to get analytical information directly from the Google Cast Developer Console. For anyone who uses Google Analytics for website usage monitoring, the overall process for the Cast developers seems to be much the same. Analytic pages now include information on how many devices have used the app, the number of sessions used for the app, average playback time per session and more. Offering Cast app developers a far more detailed level of understanding on how their apps are doing. Not to mention, the information on offer can be further broken down by factors like country. So again, developers can get a better understanding of how their Cast apps are doing in specific territories as well. Google has confirmed that the new Cast analytics are now live and for those interested in checking out their app details, can do so by heading to the Developer Console and once signed in, heading to the ‘Application’ table, From there, a new ‘Statistics’ column will be visible and showing a ‘View’ link which will bring up the new analytics data. You can see an example of how the new information looks in the image below.

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An agency head told me how he was on a call between the European head of marketing for a US brand and that brand’s board of directors. The chairman asked the marketing honcho, “How is the European market?” The marketer answered, “There isn’t one.” Awkward silence. “That is, there is no European market. There is a French market. A German market. A British one. And so on. I can tell you about those.”
In no other sphere of marketing are these national differences magnified more than in social media. Social media is, by its nature, participatory and thus takes on the form, tone, and color of its users. Social media in Germany is German social media. In France, French social media.
Then brands enter the picture. That social media strategy hatched in Dallas or Dublin, with a sum earmarked for translations, will not cut it.
Three reasons cookie-cutter strategies will fail in Europe:
Europeans as a broad group are less likely to engage with brands on social media than, say, in the United States or metro Hong Kong.
Europeans’ usage differ significantly country to country; Italians usage is not comparable to German usage.
Each market boasts strong local players that excel at the intricacies of their market’s social media usage.
Pundits’ take that Facebook has “solved” mobile advertising after its home run last week hid a bigger, behind-the-scenes story:
We’re finally seeing branding and direct response marketing merge in a meaningful and measurable way; Facebook is just one place where it’s happening most demonstrably.
Here’s important context: Facebook’s quarterly earnings beat projections last Thursday, driven by the 62% of its ad revenue that comes from mobile. Also note that Facebook’s only ad revenue from mobile is its in-feed ads (or native ads, or whatever you want to call them).
The in-feed ad is Facebook’s holy grail. If they can manage to position ads in users’ mobile feeds so that these ads: a) perform well, and b) don’t kill engagement with Facebook, then they can print money against their 1 billion-plus monthly active users.
Facebook knows they’ll need advertisers’ and their agencies’ help to achieve this. That’s why I want to draw your attention to a slightly less publicized study that came out of Facebook and two partners the week prior to its quarterly earnings announcement.
Working with the social ad platform Adaptly and Refinery29 (one of a new set of savvy content-driven eCommerce outlets), Facebook showed that social advertising that merges branding and direct response outperforms direct response ads alone, by a margin of about 70%.
At the root of human behavior is the impulse for connection. History is our witness: As times change, certain trends emerge that anchor shared experiences, around which people collectively rally. Today, with social media acting as a platform for ubiquitous connections, diverse consumers build solidarity around digital experiences. Beyond simply looking for deals and discounts, individuals who “friend,” “follow,” and “like” brands seek closer brand relationships.
However, while consumers around the world want to be part of a brand community, some cultures are more enthusiastic than others. Forrester's Consumer Technographics® data shows that Latin American online adults are more passionate about engaging with brands for affective reasons than their European and Japanese counterparts:
This variation roughly parallels Hofstede’s dimensions of culture, which suggests that the differences are partially a reflection of cultural nuances: Those populations that are most motivated to share in the brand community are all-around collectivist rather than individualist.
I’ll be curious to hear if there is a business strategy update, but I don’t think we’ll have more insights on what “unbundling the big blue app” really means. I think one possible option is that social data and contextual identity will be the layer on top of Facebook’s new social conglomerate.
I personally will be looking more specifically for an update on mobile app installs. There's no doubt that Facebook has disrupted the app marketing space by becoming a key player in app discovery — which is the key driver behind its mobile ad revenues.
A growing and significant part of this business comes from direct marketers looking to drive app installs, primarily from gaming and other businesses that are increasingly dependent on mobile, such as travel and retail companies. These players know the lifetime value of their apps and have calculated how much they can spend to drive each app download and still have a positive return on investment (ROI). But marketers in more-traditional businesses or who are pursuing other marketing goals should pay close attention to the unique attributes of their mobile social users and optimize their social strategies to engage them.
Messaging apps have the potential either to become digital platforms or to significantly enhance the power of current platforms because they so clearly deliver the three things that determine digital platform power: frequent interactions, emotional connection, and convenience. WeChat is for example already morphing into a digital platform offering, thanks to the deep pockets of its parent company, the Chinese Internet giant Tencent.
While today’s opportunities are limited by consumers’ reluctance to engage with brands on such intimate channels and by immature marketing tools, it is definitely time for marketers to experiment and to anticipate the next steps.
Indeed, you’ve surely heard of the second-largest acquisition in tech history, Facebook’s purchase of WhatsApp for $19 billion. However, you may not have heard of KakaoTalk, Kik, Line, Secret, Snapchat, Tango, Viber, or Whisper.
These messaging apps are the new face of social in a mobile context.
Contrary to social media that are generally public broadcast mechanisms that facilitate one-to-many communications, a messaging app is a typically private, one-to-one or one-to-few communication and media tool optimized for mobile. Such smartphone apps can access your address book, bypassing the need to rebuild your social graph on a new service. As Evan Spiegel, the CEO of Snapchat, puts it, “We no longer capture the real world and recreate it online – we simply live and communicate at the same time.”
I became a LinkedIn member when it first arrived on the scene as an exclusive social network for business professionals. I recall all the buzz that was spreading throughout Silicon Valley about LinkedIn, and that one needed a special “invite” to become a member. Looking back, I remember how honored I felt to be “linkedin” by a fellow colleague — I was officially in the club! Over the years, I have watched the social network evolve into an effective recruitment platform (disclaimer: I got my analyst job thanks to a Forrester recruiter who found me on LinkedIn), then to a content publishing platform after it added Slideshare, a newsfeed and its popular influencer program.
Today, LinkedIn is attracting a plethora of B2B and B2C brands that are trying to build a presence in front of 300 million professionals. There are currently more than 3 million company pages on LinkedIn. All of this brand activity begs the question: What engagement rates are brands getting on LinkedIn? We looked at the top 50 global brands and their member interactions across a variety of social networks. We found that LinkedIn’s engagement rate was lower than other social networks that also have professional members:
Why does LinkedIn’s engagement rate lag behind the others? Members simply do not go to LinkedIn to interact with brands after they have purchased a brand’s product. Marketers understand this — only 5% use LinkedIn for a social relationship objective (e.g. drive customer loyalty, provide customer service).
Ever since Facebook CFO David Ebersman admitted last October that young teens were visiting the site slightly less frequently, most have accepted as fact that young people are fleeing Facebook en masse. Ivy League researchers have forecast that the service will be all but dead by 2017; President Obama recently claimed that young people “don’t use Facebook anymore”; and when comScore recently reported that fewer college students were using Facebook, media outlets ran stories on the “social platforms college kids now prefer.”
But if you take a closer look at the data it tells a very different story. Sure, many data sources show that Facebook’s usage among young people has declined slightly — but the drops are small, and the huge majority of this audience still uses the site. For instance, that comScore report only found a three-percentage-point drop in college-aged adults’ Facebook usage and reported that 89% of this audience still used Facebook — far more than used any other social site.
To investigate teens’ social behaviors further, we recently asked 4,517 US online youth (aged 12 to 17) not just whether they use social sites like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Tumblr — but if they use those sites “about once a day,” “at least a few times each day,” or even if they were on any of the sites “all the time.”
In her recent report, my colleague Reineke Reitsma revealed that European consumers interact with a diverse suite of social networking sites, with Facebook and YouTube leading in terms of consumer engagement. Pinterest, however, is an outlier: European consumers demonstrate minimal interaction with Pinterest compared with both other social media sites and their US peers. According to Forrester’s Consumer Technographics® data, 18% of US online adults regularly visit the website but only 2% of European online adults across the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain visit Pinterest once a month or more:
By now, you've surely heard of the second-largest acquisition in tech history, with Facebook acquiring WhatsApp for $19 billion.
However, you may be less familiar with other messaging apps like LINE, KakaoTalk, KIK, Nimbuzz, SnapChat, Vibes, Whisper, and many others.
If you think messaging apps are just a free way to communicate, you’re missing their potential: They are Mobile’s Trojan horse, as explained by my colleague Julie Ask here.
Messaging apps are mushrooming.They illustrate perfectly the age of the customer, which Forrester defines as a new business era where your customers are now empowered through social, mobile, and other technologies giving them the power to disrupt your business. Why? Because they are mastering the four key market imperatives Forrester has identified as critical to differentiate in the age of the customer:
■ Transforming the customer experience over SMS and other messaging tools. Messaging apps offer differentiated and seamless experiences over SMS and other mobile communication tools. For example, they offer advanced group messaging functionalities, multimedia features, constant innovation, and ability to opt-in or follow brands at consumers’ convenience. They are now morphing into marketing platforms redefining social media.
The advertising industry mega-trend of the last decade — ad dollars shifting from offline to online media — is continuing in this decade, as well. This is because more and more users are becoming "addicted" to the Internet. According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, “The Web at 25 in the U.S.,” it has become harder for consumers to give up the Internet than TV. Fifty-three percent of Internet users say the Internet would be very hard to give up, up from 38% in 2006. Only 35% of adults say their television would be very hard to give up, down from 44% in 2006.
The mega-trend of the decade is the shift of ad dollars from desktop/laptop to mobile devices. Based on Forrester estimates, US mobile ad spend was just 6% of total US online ad spending in 2011. The share of US mobile ad spending in the total US online ad spending is expected to reach 44% by 2019. All three components of mobile advertising — display, search, and social — will witness increases in their spend levels.
Mobile display. There is an increasing shift of ad spending from mobile Web to in-app display ads. This is because apps capture most of the smartphone usage. According to a recent study by Flurry, apps capture 86% of usage, whereas only 14% of US mobile consumer’s time is spent on mobile Web. In-app advertisements and mobile video will drive the growth of mobile display ad spending.


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Many people are drawn to the fragrance of handmade soaps and related products, but the aromatic booth at Saturday Market for Barbara’s Soaps has also offended some nostrils. The governing board of the market is expected to make a decision this week (Sept. 2) about new guidelines for scented products. Owner Barbara Hascall retired from teaching at South Eugene High School a few years ago and has grown her business through the market. She enjoys a loyal customer base, but acknowledges the complaints about the wafting aromas from her 50 kinds of all-natural soaps, shampoos and lotions. “I think there’re some underlying side issues,” she says. “Fragrance intolerance is like gluten-free, lactose intolerant, etc. — a bandwagon, a fad to be part of — that is so Eugene.”
Kim Still, manager of market promotions and advertising at the market, says a policy adjustment by the Standards Committee would not cause any booth to get “booted” from the market. “It will make a guideline that she and any other producer of scented products will be required to follow in order to sell their product. At that point it will be her choice whether to adjust her products or her display to meet the guidelines or not.” Meanwhile, Hascall and her husband are busy expanding her new website, barbarasoaps.com, and selling her eco-friendly products on etsy.com.
BRING’s Garden of Earthly Delights will host the area’s largest garage sale between 11 am and 4 pm Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 5-6. BRING Education and Outreach Manager Brett Jacobs organized the sale at the suggestion of former executive director Julie Daniel. Sale proceeds will go to fund the nonprofit’s increased education and outreach efforts, including a new series of workshops at the center that launches Sept. 19 with a mosaic tile class. BRING is located at 4446 Franklin Blvd. in Glenwood.
Wise Turtle Acupuncture of Springfield is moving three blocks to 500 Main Street this week. The new location is on the top floor of the Emerald Art Center. The business will participate in the Springfield Second Friday Art Walk Sept. 11. Wise Turtle’s neighbors in the building include the Cascade Spiritual Center and the Springfield Holistic Health Center.
The Master Recycler training course begins Sept. 8 and includes 35 hours of classroom instruction: nine consecutive Tuesday evening classes, a Saturday compost demonstration and two Saturday multi-site field trips to area solid waste and recycling sites. The course is free for those who volunteer 30 hours in the following year to educate and assist others in the community. Enrollment is limited. Call 682-2059.
The seventh annual Eugene Pearl District Block Party will be from 4 to 7 pm Thursday, Sept. 10, downtown along Pearl Street. The free event attracts thousands of people and a raffle this year will be a fundraiser for Ophelia’s Place — A Community for Girls. The event features free food, drinks and a variety of activities provided by each participating business. One of the organizers is Sean Vierra, a massage therapist who is the owner of The Pearl Day Spa. Call 683-3377, ext. 104 for more information.


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Tencent has announced its Q2 2021 financials for the three months ended June 30th, 2021.
Total revenues for the period were up 20 percent year-on-year to $21 billion. Mobile games accounted for 30 per cent of overall revenues or $6.3 billion, a rise of 13 per cent.
Key titles cited for the revenue increase were attributed Honor of Kings (closing in on $10 billion in player spending) PUBG Mobile, Clash of Clans and Moonlight Blade Mobile. The Chinese-only version of PUBG Mobile, which is called Peacekeeper Elite, experienced a fall in sales during the quarter.
Tencent generated $5.4 billion in terms of profits, up 13 per cent. In terms of new content, Tencent pointed to the success of internal studio Tourdog's Alchemy Stars, which was the most downloaded tactical RPG in Japan during July.
Tencent's Lightspeed and Quantum Studios' forthcoming open world survival crafting game Undawn has also accumulated over 30 million Chinese pre-registrations.
Much too young
A key concern that remains for Tencent is the increasingly aggressive position of the government to Chinese technology companies in general and time spent playing in particular.
In this context, Tencent noted it had "sought to pioneer a healthy game playing environment". It has now banned in-game spending by players aged under 12 in Honor of Kings and Peacekeeper Elite, as well as the intention to roll out this restriction to all of its games in future.
In addition, under 16s can only play for one hour a day (two hours on holidays), which is harsher than the government mandated 1.5 and three-hour limits set.
Tencent said that 2.6 per cent of its revenue originates from players under the age of 16 and 0.3 per cent from under 12s. It will also be cracking down on children using adults' accounts.
Honor of Kings was rated the world's top grossing game in June 2021 with an estimated revenue of $265 million.
The company also recently announced various partnerships, including working with Konami to publish China-only Contra Returns globally, as well as Bandai Namco for the forthcoming release of Digimon: New Century.


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Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire Limited Editions Coming to Europe; Pre-Order Bonuses Revealed
After the success of Pokemon X & Y brought some newfound fire to the Pokemon series on 3DS, this year fans of the series are getting remakes of the third generation from the GBA with Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire – fans of the series in Europe have even more to look forward to with the announcement of special limited editions for each title.
Limited edition versions of Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire coming to Europe have been revealed by Nintendo, with each edition of the game coming for £39.99 on November 28th, 2014. The limited editions will be exclusively sold through retailer GAME, and will include a special Steelbook case bearing each of the iconic legendary characters, Kyogre and Groudon, along with a figurine of either character.
Nintendo also revealed the pre-order bonuses for the titles, as the figurines (mentioned above) will be available as incentives for the standard edition of the game at GAME, and retailer ShopTo will also be offering a Torchic keychain with pre-orders of either title.
Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire both release for 3DS in the US on November 21st, 2014, with the European release coming on November 28th, 2014.


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IBM has unveiled a range of super-fast, high-capacity tape drives â using a new open standard. Big Blue is the first to adopt LTO (Linear Tape-Open) Ultrium technology, developed by a consortium involving IBM and its bitter storage rivals, Seagate and Hewlett-Packard.
IBM said the main market was Unix, NT and mid-range alternatives. IBM's AS400 and RS6000, and various Unix flavours from HP and Sun were also supported, and Linux would be accommodated soon. The story is at Austrialian IT.
September 4, 2000


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AT&T to scrap sale of Warner Bros. video-game unit
AT&T Inc. has removed its Warner Bros. video-game business from the list of noncore assets up for sale, deciding it was too valuable to unload during its effort to pay down debt and streamline, according to people familiar with the situation.
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, the gaming unit that is home to titles like Harry Potter: Wizards Unite and Mortal Kombat 11, had attracted interest from several major companies and could have reaped $4 billion, as reported by CNBC in June. But AT&T balked given the business's growth potential, said the people, asking not to be identified because the information is private.
AT&T began working with LionTree Advisors earlier this year to explore a potential sale of the business, according to two of the people familiar with the matter. Microsoft Corp., Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., Electronic Arts Inc. and Activision Blizzard Inc. were among potential suitors for the asset, those people said. AT&T and Take-Two declined to comment; the other companies didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
The decision to abandon the sale, which could be subject to change, came amid a turnover in senior leadership at AT&T. In July, Chief Operating Officer John Stankey took over as chief executive officer after Randall Stephenson left that role, remaining chairman.
A few factors may have influenced AT&T's retreat from the sale process. Among them is the upcoming release of a potentially popular Harry Potter game that allows players to take on roles as different characters and explore the Hogwarts wizard academy. And as the Covid-19 pandemic has closed megaplexes, people are seeking out different sources of entertainment. New video-game releases are landing like blockbuster movies.
It's also possible that AT&T realised that selling the business could be more complicated than it expected, as analysts have pointed out. The amount of licensed content in the games would come with a set of long-term strings attached.
The Dallas-based phone giant acquired the video-game maker in its $85 billion purchase of Time Warner Inc. in 2018. That deal, and an earlier acquisition of DirecTV, ballooned AT&T's debt and the company has been looking to ways to cut costs and unload assets.
Under Stankey's control, businesses have been reported to be taking bids, including DirecTV, the declining satellite-TV service; Xandr, the digital-advertising unit; and Crunchyroll, the anime streaming service.
Stankey told investors in October, “We have no sacred cows -- we're always open to making portfolio moves.”
By Nabila Ahmed and Scott Moritz


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Audi will be making a significant change in regards to the process of selling electric vehicles as early as 2023. A company spokesperson has told Automotive News Europe the German luxury brand will adopt the agency sales model in a couple of years by selling EVs directly to customers rather than relying on its authorized dealer network.
That being said, the Four Rings aren’t cutting out the middleman entirely as dealers will still be involved, albeit to a significantly lesser extent. Dealerships will serve as intermediaries, and the Audi spokesperson says they’ll “remain the backbone” of how the company does business. Why the change? The firm’s representative says the adoption of the agency model comes as a response to the “rapidly changing” customer behavior.
In the initial phase, important markets such as Germany, Sweden, Italy, UK, Spain, Ireland, and Poland will be the first to implement the agency model, with other regions being considered for a later rollout. It’s not a novelty for the Volkswagen Group as the main brand VW has already taken a similar approach with the ID.3 hatchback and ID.4 SUV.
Outside of the VW Group, BMW uses the agency model in South Africa while Toyota and Honda are doing the same in New Zealand. Mercedes is working on a similar plan for several European markets to simplify and speed up the process of buying a car in the digital era.
Studies have shown implementing the agency sales model has the potential to slash costs related to distribution by up to 2% in the short term, with the percentage growing to 10% in the long term as per an analysis published by Roland Berger last month.
Tesla has been leading the way with its direct sales approach, making the process of buying a car less problematic and time-consuming. We wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s the beginning of the end for conventional dealerships, but it would seem some major changes are in order. The simple fact EVs require less maintenance than combustion cars means repair shops will have to reorganize and potentially downsize their businesses in the electric era.
Source: Automotive News Europe


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ANGI Homeservices (ANGI) has been mostly a disappointment since the company was created out of the 2017 merger between HomeAdvisor and Angie's List. Today, the stock is limping along following a disappointing second-quarter earnings report, and is trading at a post-merger low.
I recently took the opportunity to scoop up some shares at a discount. Here's why:
1. A short-term error drove the recent sell-off
ANGI Homeservices plunged following its most recent earnings report. The company missed analyst estimates and was forced to slash its full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance all the way from a range of $280 million to $300 million, to a range of $200 million to $230 million. The reason for the sell-off wasn't a fundamental flaw with the business model, but a fixable issue with its search engine marketing. Specifically, much of its traffic that usually comes from free searches on Alphabet's Google came from paid ads instead, costing the company significantly on the bottom line. Operating income fell by 51% in the quarter and adjusted EBITDA declined 23%.
Management is working to resolve the search engine marketing issues, and they could linger for the next quarter or two. But over the long run, this is just a hiccup on its growth path rather than a long-term concern.
In the second quarter, adjusted revenue increased 20% to $343.9 million, showing the overall business is still growing briskly. Before the second-quarter report, the stock was trading around $13, meaning shares would nearly double from its current level -- around $7 -- if it just recouped its losses since the August report.
2. The total addressable market is huge
ANGI Homeservices is the online leader in a massive market. The highly fragmented domestic home-improvement services market is estimated to be worth $400 billion. Similarly, online on-demand home services are growing particularly fast as more residents look to get needs like housecleaning and home repairs handled through an app or website. According to Technavio, a tech research firm, the global market for online, on-demand home services is expected to grow by a compound annual growth rate of 52% through 2022, adding an incremental $869 billion in revenue.
ANGI itself expects a long-term average annual revenue growth rate of 20% to 25%. The market for home services is highly fragmented and ANGI only has a single-digit share today. But the company should be able to take advantage of a natural tailwind as technology improves and more millennials become homeowners, since they are likely to be natural adopters of online home services from companies like ANGI.
3. The marketplace model is a proven winner
E-commerce has been popular with shoppers, but it hasn't always been easy for businesses. Direct online retail, for example, has proven to be a difficult way to make a profit as retail is already competitive and direct selling involves additional costs like shipping or processing returns.
However, the experience of companies like Amazon, eBay, and even Match Group -- the online dating company that's also majority-owned by IAC (IAC) along with ANGI Homeservices -- has shown that running an online marketplace is perhaps the best way to build an e-commerce business.
ANGI Homeservices derives revenue from both its marketplace and advertising, but the vast majority comes from its marketplace. In the second quarter, 80% of North American revenue come from its marketplace, primarily HomeAdvisor, and revenue from that segment jumped 27%.
Management is primarily concerned with driving revenue growth at this stage in the business' development, with more than half of revenue going to sales and marketing. As its customer base increases over time, however, it should develop an economic moat through network effects and switching costs, allowing it to become more profitable.
4. New acquisitions hold promise
Guided by IAC, the media conglomerate known for its mergers and acquisitions strategy, ANGI Homeservices has made several acquisitions after the merger between Angie's List and HomeAdvisor. The most promising of those appears to be Handy. In fact, IAC CEO Joey Levin even acknowledged that the attention ANGI Homeservices placed on integrating acquisitions like Handy distracted it from more basic issues like the search engine marketing described above.
Nonetheless, Handy and the on-demand services it specializes in hold significant potential for the company. In its most recent shareholder letter, management noted Handy's "growing momentum in pre-priced services," which it has since extended to HomeAdvisor.
Through the on-demand program, the company solves a key customer problem -- unfulfilled requests -- and leverages its own knowledge of the market to come up with the best price, and find service providers for customers. By controlling more of the transaction, the company should be able to add more value and charge higher commissions.
Taking all these drivers into account, investors have a chance to get a high-growth, low-priced stock with a profitable model that is seeing organic growth and leveraging the power of new acquisitions. Given its potential, ANGI looks mispriced. Now looks like a good time to take advantage of the sell-off.


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Tag Archives : Chevrolet Sail India
Indian Autos Blog reader Satyajeet Bhaskare sent in high resolution pictures of a lazily camouflaged Chevrolet Sail sedan exposing its interiors for the first time..
GM India was dormant in 2011. The company had no new launches to show. Sure, it presented the Beat Diesel/Electric/CNG and the Smartech engine but.
Zigwheels.com has posted spyshots of the Chevrolet Sail hatchback that could replace the Aveo U-VA next year. Earlier this year IndianAutosBlog.com was the first to.
Update - GM China has launched the Sail facelift with a new grille, bumpers, updated interior and parking sensors. India is expecting the Chevrolet Sail.
Sources tell Indian Autos Blog that General Motors India has deferred the launch of its next generation Aveo siblings (renamed Chevrolet Sonic recently) to 2012-13..
GM China recently launched the Chevrolet Sail sedan and hatchback in China recently. GM developed this car specifically for the developing markets like the China,.


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With phone waterproofing on the rise, thanks in part to companies like Sony and Samsung popularizing the practice, some have asked when other companies would join the fray. One such company is Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi, one of the largest phone companies in the world, and its founder, Lin Jun, had some interesting insight on the subject.
According to Jun during a recent press event, waterproofing his company’s phones has the potential to backfire, since any damage phones receive could compromise the water protection they have. Even when the damage is not nearly as significant as a cracked screen or broken camera module, that protection could fade.
More relevant to how Xiaomi conducts its business, Jun said making Xiaomi phones waterproof would incur high manufacturing costs. To further illustrate this point, Xiaomi would consider waterproofing its phones if customers are willing to pay 20 to 30 percent of the additional cost required to add the feature.
Keep in mind that Xiaomi’s business model revolves selling its phones at such relatively low prices, thanks to multiple factors like continuing to sell older devices, having a mostly online-only presence, a small portfolio, and being located near Chinese manufacturing plants. Xiaomi has spent several years balancing all factors, and anything that even slightly bumps costs could upset that balance.
Whether you agree with Jun’s answers, however, is a separate point. From the Samsung Galaxy S7, to the Sony Xperia Z5, to even the Apple iPhone 6S, more and more big-name phones are beginning to handle the rain better than others. Waterproofing is by no means a make-or-break phone feature, but its increased usage over the years might mean that more people are actively seeking such a feature for their phones.
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- Xiaomi mocked Apple for ditching phone charger, but guess what …
- Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro Review: Big in size, specs, and camera, but not in appeal


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ARM to Bake On-Die Security Into Next Gen Smartphone, Tablet, PC Cores
April 3, 2012 1:13 PM
comment(s) - last by
Hardware-enabled security will fight traditional Windows malware, growing mobile malware epidemic
Many were surprised when Intel Corp. (
), the world's largest chipmaker, scooped up
veteran security firm McAfee
in August 2010. While the fit of hardware company plus software vendor seemed an odd equation, it began to make sense when put in the context of growing interest in
hardware-based security solutions
Even as Intel has moved to put some of those designs on-die with technologies like Trusted Execution, one of the chipmaker's top rivals -- architecture and intellectual property (IP) core licenser ARM Holdings plc (
) -- has announced a brand new hardware security initiative of its own.
ARM already has baked a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) solution dubbed "ARM TrustZone" into every one of its ARM Cortex A-Series cores, such as those found in Apple, Inc.'s (
) iPhone or the Samsung Electronics Comp., Ltd. (
) Galaxy Nexus. The key now is to enable the hardware capabilities with supported software and operating system solutions.
To that end ARM is pairing with Giesecke & Devrient, makers of a custom heavily sandboxed, remotely manageable TEE operating system dubbed "
". As an alternative to iOS or Android, companies could flash employee handsets with Mobicore, which is now being accelerated and enabled directly by hardware, thanks to the new partnership.
Mobicore is a new highly secured, highly manageable mobile operating system, which runs on ARM's latest processors. [Image Source: Gi-De]
ARM has also paired with Gemalto NV (
), another security-oriented service provider. Gemalto will aim to enable secure transactions for "traditional" mobile operating systems, such as Android. Using the TEE hardware, Gemalto can deliver encrypted key validated movie or TV show rentals to a smartphone, tablet, or ARM laptop.
and making it easier to establish secure wireless data connections, ARM's new security muscle is helping make its smartphones and tablets safer for IT businesses. It will also open new capabilities for ARM as it races to
challenge Intel in the personal computer space
later this year.
ARM describes the new effort writing:
Devices with a TEE will provide consumers with more secure, user-friendly experiences that simplify and speed up how they interact with their digital world. This will enable them to use their smart, connected devices more frequently to access an increasing range of applications and services in a secure way. This includes mobile payment, enterprise productivity and mobile banking applications, as well as online commerce and premium content services.
Warren East, CEO of ARM stated, "The integration of the hardware, software and services necessary for system-wide security has been slow. I am confident that this new joint venture will accelerate the adoption of a common security standard, enabling a vibrant ecosystem of secure service providers to emerge. This will be of significant step in terms of improved consumer trust in secure transactions on connected devices."
The three companies (Gi-De, Gemalto, and ARM Holdings) will operate a joint venture together, to develop new kinds of ARM core security solutions.
Giesecke & Devrient
This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
key to security
4/4/2012 9:50:08 AM
to get security you must absolutely take absolute control over what programs are allowed to be installed, and you must limit transient programs i.e. executable documents to their 'sand box'
the real trouble you have is when the customer wants to move an executable document to another area in the system -- where it might gain privilege that would allow unauthorized software to be executed or installed.
at the end of the day this means curtailment of much of what is common practice today. If you want to run your program on someone else' computer that will only be allowed under severe restrictions: you can enhance the presentation but no access to the host computer system. no snooping. no updates. no installs.
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AMD today launched the AMD Embedded R-Series accelerated processing unit (APU) platform. Designed for mid- to high-end graphics-intensive applications such as digital signage, casino gaming, point-of-sale systems and kiosks, as well as parallel-processing-intensive applications spanning medical imaging and security/surveillance, the AMD Embedded R-Series APU combines the new “Piledriver” CPU architecture, an evolution of the “Bulldozer” architecture, with discrete-class, DirectX® 11-capable AMD Radeon™ HD 7000 Seriesgraphics in a heterogeneous multicore embedded processing platform.
“AMD pioneered the embedded APU to offer our customers a high-performance, power-efficient, small form-factor embedded processor,” said Buddy Broeker, director, AMD Embedded Solutions. “With the AMD Embedded R-Series, we are taking our APU technology to the next level. By leveraging its seamlessly integrated heterogeneous system architecture, developers can tap into a high-performance and efficient parallel processing engine to accelerate their graphics- and compute-intensive applications, all while using industry-standard libraries such as OpenCL™ and DirectCompute.”
The AMD Embedded R-Series APU integrates dedicated resources that enable exceptional performance with shared resources to help reduce power consumption and die space. Because of its scalability, the new APU provides developers with the flexibility to leverage the same board design and software stack for a variety of applications. And with its discrete-class graphics integrated into the processor, applications that previously required a separate graphics processor or card now can be delivered on a wide range of form factors. Developers working with the AMD Embedded R-Series APU can implement remote management, client virtualization and security capabilities to help reduce deployment costs and increase security and reliability of their AMD R-Series based platform through AMD DAS 1.0 featuring DASH 1.1, AMD Virtualization and Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2 support.
“In VDC’s opinion, the AMD Embedded R-Series APU capitalizes on a number of trends around hardware integration and software development. It combines a CPU and GPU in a heterogeneous multicore platform and provides software migration through tools like OpenCL™,” said Jonathan Hastings, analyst with VDC Research Group. “This product provides a new platform for developers building graphics-intensive embedded applications that require HD video or realistic and interactive 3D effects, as well as compute-intensive applications that can benefit from high-performance parallel processing.”
Multimedia enhancements available for the AMD Embedded R-Series APU include:
For applications that benefit from multiple displays, such as casino gaming or video walls in digital signage, the AMD Embedded R-Series APU supports connection to four independent displays, which can be utilized to display four independent video feeds or a single video feed distributed across a four-panel display. By adding a discrete AMD Radeon™ Embedded graphics card to the system, the number of independent displays can increase up to 101.
“AMD’s embedded technologies are an important part of our strategy in developing a broad range of powerful solutions across a variety of industries including infotainment, medical imaging and more,” said, Dirk Finstel, CTO of Kontron. “We are excited about taking full advantage of the more powerful AMD Embedded R-Series APUs in our designs.”
Edward Price, managing director of Advantech-Innocore said, “The AMD Embedded R-Series platform delivers a good combination of high-performance integrated 3D graphics, relatively low power consumption, and a full x16 PCIe graphics slot for high end, flexible graphics solutions along with the essential product lifecycle required for our industry sector. A good price/performance combination is key for us in order to offer leading edge technology to the casino gaming market. Advantech-Innocore is convinced that the graphics performance of the new AMD Embedded R-Series APU will provide an exciting solution for many of our customers.”


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A joint effort of Cellum and Mobile Payments Today, this infographic offers a comprehensive look at how mobile payment technologies are likely to change consumers’ lives in the next few years.
A video demonstrating Cellum’s mobile ticketing solution for both purchasing and presenting tickets on a smart device.
Patrons love using mobile payments to purchase tickets, and A38 finds it important to keep up with new customer demands.
As the MasterCard Mobile wallet app reaches the milestone of 100k downloads in Hungary, Cellum plans to enter further markets.
Humanitarian organizations use Cellum’s technology to raise funds in face of natural disaster.
An article by Cellum CEO Dr. János Kóka looks at the global state of the mobile payments industry and where it is likely headed.


text:
J.C. Penney staged a runway show in Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall on Tuesday night. The megastore is trying to brand itself as a fashionable and affordable place to shop with new lines from Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Charlotte Ronson and Cindy Crawford, among others.-
Models strutted the runway in Olsenboye, the latest venture from Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. While it doesn't compare to the sleek and chic designs of The Row, the pieces are young, fun and wearable. Those Olsen girls are smart businesswomen - they now have a stake in almost every price market, from designer to contemporary (Elizabeth & James) to budget.
Cindy Crawford's home line and daffodils filled the venue, which gave the place a seasonal feeling, and she announced that she is developing a jewelry line called One Kiss for Penney. Also in attendance were Charlotte Ronson, Nicole Miller, Michele Bohbot and Marty Staff. They all have exclusive lines for the store.
With some of J.C. Penney's private labels passing the billion dollar mark in sales, and Ralph Lauren's American Living, which launched two years ago, on its way to that point, the company is extremely confident in these new lines. With fashion icons like the Olsens at the helm of these projects, they have a reason to be.
Alice Tully Hall was packed for the event. Other guests included Fashion Week fixture Melissa George, Georgina Sparks Michelle Trachtenberg, Dabney Mercer and Tinsley Mortimer, excitedly promoting High Society (less than a week away!)
Melissa George, Cindy Crawford
Michelle Trachtenberg, Charlotte Ronson
Tinsley Mortimer, Dabney Mercer, Nicole Miller
Michele Bohbot and Greidys Gil, Carlos Santos
Rosci Diaz, a look from the Olsenboye runway
[All photos by Steve Eichner for WWD]


text:
And there is a lot the industries can learn from each other, according to Roger Trew, European development advisor for the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering.
"The pharmaceutical and food industries are increasingly finding themselves subject to many of the same pressures and issues affecting the way they manufacture their products," he said, adding that this is particularly apparent in their requirement for hygienic processing equipment.
Common processes such as aseptic filling, sanitisation, sterilisation, isolator technology, containment and cleaning in place (CIP) are coupled with tight regulations on validation and traceability - such as the 21 CFR Part 11 regulations on electronic process data recording in the US - that affect both industries, notes Trew.
The adoption of more sophisticated automation technologies in both sectors provides an opportunity for greater exchange of ideas and expertise. Recent research by the ARC Advisory Group points to the pharmaceutical and food sectors as being growth areas for automation technology, as companies seek to upgrade their systems to take advantage of modern control techniques.
The two sectors are expected to be the star performers at a time when the total automation market has been limping along at less than 1 per cent in 2000-2001. Overall, ARC expects this to improve to around 3.4 per cent a year through to 2006.
Automation is being driven by cost pressures on pharmaceutical manufacturers and packers, as generics gain further ground and the well-established trend towards global production and distribution continues. Automation systems can help by reducing manpower and human error and by making production and packaging operations faster and more flexible.
"Rather than spending time and money in developing new systems from scratch, does it not make good economic sense for companies in both sectors to share best practice ideas about the best ways in which this new technology can be employed to the greatest effect?" asks Trew.
This point is supported by Stuart Bryan, marketing manager of Hosokawa Micron, a supplier of processing equipment to both the pharmaceutical and food industries, including hygienic filling equipment.
"In our experience, the pharmaceutical industry is often two or three years ahead in terms of the technology and production techniques it employs," he said. "Having a cross-industry forum for the exchange of ideas would help aid the transfer of this technology between the two sectors. Equally, it could also help the pharmaceutical industry to find simpler ways of doing things."
The ISPE has started the ball rolling on collaboration by entering discussions with the European Hygienic Engineering & Design Group (EHEDG), the European body responsible for setting guidelines for processing equipment used by the food industry.
The aim is to bring together representatives from research and technology organisations, equipment manufacturers, client companies and governments from throughout the two sectors to discuss the common issues faced by the industries.


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Mashable: Zynga Buys Social Web Browser Flock
Rounding out a list of eight acquisitions in the past seven months, Zynga has purchased “social web browser” Flock…
With the purchase, Zynga hopes to further the spread of its social media games.
Those games include FarmVille, Mafia Wars and CityVille. All run on Facebook and other services and are free to sign up for. Zynga says it has over 215 million people active users each month. That figure is more likely the number of user identities than real people but it’s an impressive total all the same.
Zynga has 1,300 employees, so is no tiddler. The company’s not missing many tricks, either. It made deals last year in India, Japan and China. Zynga’s pre-paid game cards are on sale at nearly 13,000 games and general stores throughout America. American Express card holders can use their rewards points to buy virtual goods on Zynga games.
It reads like a business school case study. Wikipedia has this not-uncritical account of how the company has grown.
You can get an idea of how to play the CityVille game from this article on Silicon Alley Insider. The article also shows where Zynga gets much of its money from. To me, it looks like legalised pyramid selling.
Facebook makes money, too. Players can use Facebook Credits to buy virtual goods on Zynga games and others. Facebook normally keeps 30% of that income (the same as Apple keeps for sales of iPad & iPhone Apps).
There were rumours last year of a falling-out over this, with Zynga creating an independent, direct portal. The two sides have since kissed and made up, publicly at least, and have plighted their troth for the next five years. Since Zynga is the biggest app on Facebook, there was probably a discount agreed.
Making use of Zynga
Online games are not likely to be of direct relevance to the corporate computing sector, except possibly in the training department. They will, though, possibly be of interest to marketers. At the least, there will be sponsorship and product placement opportunities. Mashable (again) details some of these as found on Zynga.
According to eMarketer, social gaming will grow rapidly this year in the USA, as it probably will elsewhere. Plenty of scope there for adventurous advertising departments.


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As a producer and retailer of hand-sewn women’s fashions, Sofia Verna has always enjoyed piecing together diverse colours and natural fabrics. This month, her Toronto store is closing after 43 years, partly because a trusted employee robbed her blind for six of those years – and she failed to put together the pieces.
At one point, Verna had nine Ms. Emma Designs stores. (The outgoing Verna, whose maiden name was Peel, was often called Emma, after the dashing superspy played by Diana Rigg on the 1960s British TV show The Avengers.) Verna hired and trained teams of seamstresses, often immigrants and refugees, to produce colourful one-of-a kind scarves, dresses and coats for women seeking affordable chic. But everything changed in 1998 when her husband developed health problems, and the couple decided to spend their winters in Italy.
To run things while she was away, Verna appointed a longtime staff member (let’s call her Morticia) who had joined as a salesperson and later became a partner in some Ms. Emma stores. All seemed well at first, but soon, the company developed cash-flow problems. Then suppliers started complaining they hadn’t been paid. Verna now believes Morticia was diverting the missing cash to herself.
“When I was here, things were under control,” Verna says. She admits that once she left, her attention was focused on design and production, not controls. Morticia had always been “very good, willing and available,” says Verna. “I trusted her.”
The trouble seems to have begun with stores owned by Verna issuing cheques to pay offexpenses at the stores in which Morticia had an interest. Verna didn’t notice, and neither did her accountant in his year-end reviews. (To be fair, few reviews or even audits are intended to detect internal fraud.)
The offences continued. Suppliers’ names were crossed offexpense cheques, and other people’s names inserted. The bank didn’t notice. Payroll taxes went unfiled. Then the cheque kiting began – writing excessive cheques on an underfunded account, and then temporarily topping up that account (so those cheques can clear) with an NSF cheque from an account at another bank.
“It didn’t make sense,” Verna recalls. The stores that had been clearing more than $1 million each, with high margins, were suddenly struggling. But she blamed the 1998-99 economic slowdown, so she didn’t ask many questions as her fortunes ebbed. “It just went bad. We closed the stores one by one.”
Verna started developing suspicions around 2001, but the problems continued until 2004, when Morticia walked away from the stores. Taking charge again, Verna found $32,000 worth of crooked cheques that she showed the police. Charges were laid, a trial was held, and Verna “won.” The company received repayment of $15,000, half the contested amount.
Ms. Emma also launched a civil trial to expose more of the fraudulent activity – mainly to assure the federal government, which was seeking $400,000 in unpaid payroll taxes, that the company had been a victim of fraud. The action dragged on for six years. Finally, Ms. Emma was awarded $750,000 (the judgment included her legal costs of $350,000). The amount of that award collected so far: niente.
Verna estimates internal fraud cost her a million dollars. What’s worse, she says, is that more than 20 good people lost their jobs as the business imploded. But she says there’s no point being bitter. She just wants other entrepreneurs to know how easily these things happen and how harmful they can become.
Verna admits she had a few warning signs. She sometimes wondered how Morticia managed to entertain so lavishly, or afford new furniture. (If asked, Morticia would use the No. 1 explanation in the fraudster handbook: “I just inherited some money.”) Verna also remembers Morticia saying she had trouble sleeping.
Why did she ignore all the signs? “At first, you don’t want to talk about it,” Verna says. “How do you accuse someone who’s been with you for a long time?” Her advice: “Pay your bills on time. Check your monthly bank statements. Stay on top of remittances to the government. Don’t expect banks to take any responsibility for letting cheques go through.” And keep an eye on employees who are too eager to help. “They may just be trying to ingratiate themselves. Watch people who are too good to be true.”
Reid Lester, a lawyer with the Toronto firm of Laishley Reed who specializes in fraud, says business owners should also insist on segregation of duties. The people empowered to sign cheques should never be the same people who approve monthly bank statements. “If you give them all kinds of authority,” he says, “yeah, people will steal from you.”
In addition, Lister advises:. Instil fraud awareness in your organization. One 2008 U.S. study estimated seven per cent of all corporate revenues are lost to fraud.. Require two signatures on each cheque.
. Never pre-sign a cheque.. Issue cheques in numbered sequence, and don’t let them get out of order.
. Invite a forensic accountant to visit your business and advise on appropriate controls for the size and nature of your company.
. Vet all new suppliers to make sure they’re real.
. Pre-screen employees and always check references. “If you don’t follow up on references, people will take advantage of you.”
Verna doesn’t blame the store’s closing on her financial difficulties. She says the rise of online retail and bargain-branded fashion chains has changed the shopping experience; young women no longer drop in just to see what’s new.
The good news is, she’s going digital, and will produce different products every month for Canadian consumers from her studio in Italy. “We’re just a click away,” says the unsinkable Ms. Emma (msemmadesigns. com).
Rick Spence is a writer, consultant and speaker specializing in entrepreneurship. His column appears weekly in the Financial Post. He can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org
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In addition to its five stock colours for consumers, you might soon see Tesla’s Model 3 in bright yellow. The all-electric sedan has been approved for use as a taxicab in New York City.
According to Autoblog, the Model 3 was recently added to the list of vehicles permitted by the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC).
It’s the first all-electric car officially approved for taxi use since the first electric carriages that drove alongside horse-drawn cabs in the 1890s. The Model 3 was one of some twenty cars added to the list.
In a response to Autoblog, the TLC said it didn’t know who submitted the request to approve the Tesla. The city issues Alternative Fuel Medallions, but up until now, the published rules have stated these are valid only for a vehicle that “is a hybrid electric vehicle or is powered by compressed natural gas that is manufactured by an original equipment manufacturer for the general commercial or consumer market.”
In addition, such a vehicle has to meet the same standard as other taxis, including minimum exterior size and interior volume, luggage capacity and air conditioning. Vehicles with internal combustion engines can’t make more than 295 horsepower, and the Tesla meets that restriction in all but the Model 3’s high-performance versions.
New York previously designated an official taxicab, which most cab owners were required to purchase. In 2011, the Nissan NV200 “Taxi of Tomorrow” was named the official vehicle, but it was a controversial decision since it pushed out the previous “greener” choice, the Ford Escape Hybrid.
Some believed the loss of the lucrative New York taxi market was the reason behind Ford’s decision to ditch the hybrid version – which had far fewer consumer sales – when the Escape was redesigned for 2013.
In 2018, the TLC dropped the NV200 purchase requirement and approved a list of 30 possible vehicles, such as the Toyota Camry.
To qualify as a taxi, the Model 3 – as with every other vehicle – will have to be equipped with a roof light, medallion and decals, an interior partition and cameras to photograph passengers, and be painted yellow. It will be allowed to remain in service for a maximum of seven years.
LISTEN: In this week’s episode, we talk about all the electrifying news coming out of the 2019 Los Angeles Auto Show with Postmedia Driving senior writer David Booth, including Ford’s bold Mustang Mach-e SUV. And, of course, we get Booth’s take on Tesla’s Cybertruck.


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The plant near Chennai has not announced any non-working days to slash production to align with slowing demand, contrary to the trend as other carmakers are trying to tone down production faced with dwindling demand. Several carmakers including market leader Maruti Suzuki and commercial vehicles manufacturer Ashok Leyland have cut production.
“Strong demand for Nissan Sunny and the Triber is pushing us towards finishing this year at over 15% production compared to last year. We have not announced any non-working days but for a few days for modifications at the plant ahead of launches. We are planning to have the plant running around Christmas, too, because demand has been tremendous,” the executive, who is aware of the production data told ET on condition of anonymity.
Orders from West Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Europe have contributed to business at the unit, the executive added. The Franco-Japanese alliance produced 182,000 cars in the previous financial year and targets to increase that 210,000 units this year.
The factory has followed a practice of observing holidays over the last ten days of each calendar year for maintenance, but this year it is contemplating some working days in the last leg due to sustained demand.
The factory manufactures nine product lines across three brands — Renault, Nissan and Datsun. There has also been some speculation the carmaker will bring the Renault Kwid electric to India.
In July, Nissan said it was cutting production capacity by a tenth and over 12,500 jobs as well, to sustain profits in the medium-term.
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Fittingly, at the international Frankfurt Book Fair, OverDrive announced a significant global expansion. Adding 300,000 titles to its catalog, the ebook provider now offers books to schools and libraries in over 50 countries and in 50 languages. OverDrive added titles from more than 100 publishers, including Faber & Faber, Simon & Schuster U.K., Penguin Random…
The recent news that Rakuten is acquiring OverDrive, as Gary Price reports on Infodocket, is, or is not, news. It's news if you didn't see this coming (shame on you!), but not news if you have been observing the industry of late. As I have noted on the Kitchen before, the environment is ripe for consolidation. We will see more of it in the months ahead. Sometimes consolidation is simply a matter of buying up market share, a tried and true strategy in mature markets, and sometimes there is a deeper component to it
Amazon, if you're reading this, we need to talk.
There's been a flurry of blogging, largely from the USA, around the recent announcement of your new service, Kindle Unlimited (not yet available in the UK). For $10 a year, Kindle users have unlimited access to 600 000 e-books and a couple of thousand e-audiobooks.
People have been asking "Why do we need libraries anymore?"
Some of the blogs have been looking at the possible impact on public libraries, with a couple taking the predictable line of "Hey! Why do we need expensive buildings
In a long-expected move, Amazon on July 18 announced the launch of Kindle Unlimited, a new subscription service that will give users unlimited access to a selection of 600,000 ebooks and more than 2,000 audiobooks on Amazon Kindle devices and any device with a Kindle app for $9.99 per month. Amazon is not first to market with an "all you can read" commercial ebook subscription platform-it follows last year's launch of Scribd and Oyster. But the online retailer's financial resources, marketing clout, and massive base of Kindle users will doubtless raise consumer awareness
Amazon has a 78% market share of Hachette Livre e-book titles in the UK and a 60% share in the US, an Investor Day presentation by Hachette Livre has revealed. The presentation, made public on the company's website and first reported by Publishers Marketplace, has shed fresh light into how hard the publisher must be being hit by its current row over terms with Amazon in the US, which has seen pre-ordering removed from selected Hachette Book Group titles. The presentation has also discussed a necessary "rebalancing" between the company's US and UK operations.
Barnes & Noble sent an email to their customers yesterday, announcing that they will be shutting down their downloadable audiobook section at the end of the month. No explanation has been given, but customers are advised to download their audiobooks one last time and back them up. B&N's audiobook section was supplied by OverDrive, and thanks to the DRM you'll need OD's Media Console app in order to download the files. You can find more information in the email below or in the FAQ on the B&N website.
More self-published ebooks are coming to a library near you, as self-publishing site Smashwords partners with Overdrive, the country's largest digital library distributor.
Digital self-publishing site Smashwords is making its ebooks available to more libraries through a partnership with Overdrive, the country's largest digital library distributor. Through the partnership, Overdrive library clients - the company works with about 28,000 libraries and schools worldwide - will be able to purchase about 200,000 ebooks by 88,000 Smashwords authors and lend them out to their patrons.
OverDrive announced today that eBooks from more than 20,000 schools and libraries in its U.S. network are available to be used with Amazon's Kindle FreeTime. OverDrive is the only supplier of eBooks to schools and libraries with support for Kindle devices.
Book Industry Study Group (BISG) and the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) have announced early details of the conference program for the upcoming IDPF Digital Book 2014.


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VCN – To continue to prevent and combat the acute respiratory syndrome caused by the new strain of corona virus (nCoV) while ensuring timely customs clearance at borders, the General Department of Customs has asked provincial and municipal customs departments to direct their customs branches on the implementation.
|Experts claim coronavirus plagues economic growth|
|MoIT seeks solutions to reduce nCoV"s impact on import-export activities|
|Enterprises take opportunities from Corona epidemic|
|All provincial and municipal customs units are taking nCoV epidemic prevention measures.|
Regarding imported masks, the General Department of Customs said under Decree No. 69/2018/ND-CP dated May 15, 2018, medical masks are not among goods banned from exports, suspended from exports or required to submit licenses issued by authorities for exports. Therefore, customs departments should direct customs branches to do customs procedures under the law.
However, while checking information on the customs declaration, customs workers must guide customs declarants to declare the unit price as “unit” in accordance with the List of Vietnamese imports and exports issued together with Circular No. 65/2017/TT-BTC dated June 27, 2017 of the Ministry of Finance. For inconsistent declarations, customs declarants will be guided for conversion to ensure consistent declarations.
In the request sent to provincial and municipal Customs Departments, the General Department of Customs said that on February 5, 2020, the Government Office issued Official Letter No. 808 / VPCP-KTTH informing on the Prime Minister's directions on imports, exports and transport of goods across borders. Accordingly, the import, export and transport of goods across borders continues to comply with regulations; the provincial and municipal Customs Departments must direct Customs branches to carry out customs procedures according to regulations.
In particular, the units were told to coordinate with authorities at the border gates to closely monitor vehicles and drivers of vehicles carrying goods (without passengers) in Customs operation areas to prevent the epidemic spreading.
Customs Departments of the northern border provinces (Lang Son, Quang Ninh, Cao Bang, Ha Giang, Lao Cai and Dien Bien) have set up working groups to support the export, import of goods while preventing the epidemic and act as a focal point for providing and exchanging information with the General Department of Customs. Each working group is headed by a department leader.
|Import and Export turnover with China drops sharply due to coronavirus epidemic and Tet holiday|
In addition, the General Department of Customs also set up a working group to address related issues.
By N. Linh/ Huyen Trang


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Perhaps our adoption of cloud is now only limited by our imaginations. With the emerging so-called "Internet of Things," there are ever-abundant clouds of data being emitted from the devices and appliances that surround us.
(2 days ago)
MARKET share is a prime motivation behind computing giants' cloud offerings, and students are a prime market.
(1 month and 16 days ago)
Dell has given its cloud strategy a shake-up by discontinuing its Infrastructure-as-a-Service public cloud "in favour of best-in-class partner offerings" through its IaaS Cloud Partner Programme. It says in a blogpost that solely focusing on partners to provide public clouds in Europe will allow it to speed up its cloud business across the continent while lowering costs. It...
(2 days ago)
Microsoft will boost its Azure cloud offering in Japan, adding two domestic data centers to speed response times and improve reliability in the face of natural disasters. The software giant said Thursday that it would add cloud-based hosting services in two regions, one near Tokyo and one in the Kansai region further south. Redundancy is a priority in earthquake-prone Japan,...
(1 day ago)
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is looking to expand its security offerings with hosted intrusion protection appliances and more extensive encryption features, as it looks to increase the level of protection users can get in its cloud.For Amazon, proving its cloud computing platform can offer the same level of security as traditional hardware and software has been an ongoing...
(30 days ago)
Cloud service providers have previously drawn ire from environmentalists for not being transparent when it comes to the energy efficiency of their data centres. However, a new report from the University of Melbourne in Australia says that the real sustainability threat comes not from the growing demand for data centers to house cloud-ready infrastructure, but from the...
(1 month and 10 days ago)
Google announced a "patent pledge" in which it will donate 10 patents related to MapReduce to protect the emerging cloud and big data industry from lawsuits.
(1 month and 26 days ago)
CHICAGO — Fast food and expanding waistlines are not just an American health concern. Even as McDonald’s, Yum Brands and Domino’s Pizza work to placate anti-obesity advocates at home, they’re taking high-calorie offerings to other parts of the globe and hooking a new generation in emerging markets. Their target customers, ...
(1 month and 15 days ago)
We all know that the PC industry is in dire straits at the moment, which has naturally led to speculation that Microsoft could also soon find itself in big trouble. But while Microsoft’s struggles to establish itself in the mobile consumer device market are well-documented, the company still has an ace up its sleeve in the form of enterprise cloud services. Barron’s points...
(2 days ago)
The cloud is forcing enterprises and vendors alike to reconsider what business they are in. And for many enterprises, the growth of private cloud capabilities puts them only a step away from becoming cloud solutions providers themselves.
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More Games news »


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Round Up - SABMiller's Full-Year Results 2012-13
In May, the UK's SABMiller released its results for the year to the end of March. Here's a round-up of just-drinks' coverage of the company's performance.
SABMiller has delivered a strong set of full-year results but problems loom, such as pressure on Miller Lite in the US loom, an analyst has warned.
SABMiller will likely go ahead with three building projects in Africa this year, while expansion in Nigeria is to come under review “quite soon”, the company's new CEO has said.
SABMiller has posted a fall in full-year profits, but hailed a strong performance as sales grew in almost all regions.
Earlier today, SABMiller released a full-year trading update, reporting a 7% rise in organic group sales. Here just-drinks take a more detailed look at sales performance by region:
SABMiller has said that its latest fiscal full-year performed in line with expectations, as sales delivered a year-on-year increase of 7% in value terms.
- Comment - Diageo Spins the Guinness Wheel... Again
- Diageo's Labels Give Industry Something to Digest
- Comment - 'Craft' and the Danger of 'Romance Copy'
- Is A-B InBev/SABMiller 'Mega-Merger' Off?
- Pernod takes positives from China Cognac bounce
- Craft is an 'abused' term - Pernod Ricard exec
- Diageo lines up UK innovations push
- SPI Group 'disappointed' over Stolichnaya ruling
- Edrington names European Travel Retail head
- Kraft Foods agrees Heinz merger
- Global rum insights - market forecasts, product innovation and consumer trends research
- Global non-Scotch whiskies insights - market forecasts, product innovation and consumer trends research
- Champagne: Less Than Bubbly
- Beer Market Insights Africa 2014
- ALDI 2015: Radically transforming Anglo Saxon grocery markets


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Washington, DC, September 1, 2020 -- The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Commerce today released a report outlining the Trump Administration’s plan to address the threat posed by increased foreign imports to American producers of seasonal and perishable fruits and vegetables.
The plan follows public hearings held in August where more than 60 witnesses testified, in addition to over 300 written submissions.
“President Trump recognizes the challenges faced by American farmers and is committed to promoting and securing fair trade and a level playing field for all American producers. Secretary Perdue, Secretary Ross, and I are fully engaged in this effort. We would like to thank all of the elected officials, agricultural leaders, and dozens of farmers who participated in these hearings and helped make this plan a priority,” said U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
Based on information collected from these hearings, the agencies commit to the following actions to support America’s seasonal and perishable fruit and vegetable producers:
Plan to Support American Producers of Seasonal and Perishable Fruits and Vegetables
- USTR will request the International Trade Commission to initiate a Section 201 global safeguard investigation into the extent to which increased imports of blueberries have caused serious injury to domestic blueberry growers.
- USTR will pursue senior-level government-to-government discussions with Mexico over the next 90 days to address U.S. industry concerns regarding U.S. imports of Mexican strawberries, bell peppers, and other seasonal and perishable products.
- USTR will work with domestic producers to commence an investigation by the International Trade Commission to monitor and investigate imports of strawberries and bell peppers, which could enable an expedited Section 201 global safeguard investigation later this year.
- The Department of Commerce will:
- establish an outreach program to connect with Southeastern and other growers of seasonal and perishable fruits and vegetables, to enhance understanding of applicable trade remedy laws and processes; and
- establish a formal channel for stakeholders to provide information related to unfair subsidies for foreign producers and exporters of seasonal and perishable fruits and vegetables, including those in Mexico – building on ongoing efforts to partner with U.S. industry to identify such subsidies.
- The Department of Agriculture will:
- increase targeted outreach to producers of seasonal and perishable fruits and vegetables to maximize the use of existing Department of Agriculture programs; and
- develop a market promotion strategy for domestically produced produce; and
- initiate conversations with relevant federal partners to better understand the extent to which imports of seasonal and perishable products are utilized to enable criminal activity.
- USTR, the Department of Commerce, and the Department of Agriculture will establish an interagency working group to monitor seasonal and perishable fruit and vegetable products, coordinate as appropriate regarding future investigations and trade actions, and provide technical assistance to Members of Congress in developing legislation on this issue.
This plan does not foreclose additional actions and investigations by the Trump Administration to support producers of seasonal and perishable fruits and vegetables. The Administration is dedicated to supporting America’s hardworking farmers across the country and recognizes the importance of preserving and enhancing a diverse and homegrown food supply.
The full report is available at the following link: Report on Seasonal and Perishable Products in U.S. Commerce (PDF, 13 KB).
To read the full transcript of the virtual hearing held on August 13, 2020, view the full transcript of the August 13, 2020 virtual hearing (PDF, 526 KB).
To read the full transcript of the virtual hearing held on August 20, 2020, view the full transcript of the August 20, 2020 virtual hearing (PDF, 485 KB).
To view all submitted comments to the public docket, you may view the following link: Virtual Hearings Regarding Trade Distorting Policies That May Be Affecting Seasonal and Perishable Products in U.S. Commerce.
USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.


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jro-grafik - Fotolia
As business models radically morph to meet market demands, supply chain technology needs to change as well. That means 2020 supply chain trends are a time of tumult.
"All technologies are now up for review, as are all business verticals, because supply chains have broken their traditional molds," said Andrew Stevens, senior research director at Gartner. "For example, a food and beverage supply chain is no longer just a retail supply chain; it includes agritech for sourcing, transportation tech for distribution, and so on."
Even so, some technologies and strategies are unmistakably rising to the top of the list. Here are a few of the most notable 2020 supply chain trends.
1. Companies get more selective about data
Instead of trying to "boil the ocean," companies are culling data points that are relevant to a specific business query.
"One of the biggest trends in supply chain next year and beyond is 'data that matters,'" said Steve Pillsbury, principal at PwC.
One example is change data, which is any data depicting a deviation from standard routine machine data. By gathering and analyzing only the change data, leaders need fewer analytics resources and can get insight more quickly since less data needs to be transferred and analyzed.
"Companies are still overwhelmed with the data they have," Pillsbury said. "They have to figure out what data matters to which problem in order to find a solution."
But determining which data matters is complex, and leaders can overlook important factors. For one thing, finding important data that's currently missing can be as vital as distilling existing data. Another issue is myopic data, meaning too narrowly focused data, which can lead to completely or partially wrong outputs.
2. AI in the supply chain grows
More automation via AI is hot among supply chain trends for 2020.
The ongoing need to discover the internal and external "data that matters," alongside the increasing need to automate actions from algorithm outputs, should accelerate AI and advanced analytics adoption rates, said Abe Eshkenazi, CEO at the nonprofit Association for Supply Chain Management.
"We will witness a great shift to automated decision-making that leverages predictive and prescriptive analytics, including AI," Eshkenazi said.
3. Data use cases expand
Companies will also be able to use data beyond traditional applications and in expanded ways.
"Procurement data use cases will go beyond their typical reach," said Rubiés Enríquez, procurement excellence director at Cimpress, a mass customization manufacturer based in Dudalk, Ireland.
"One such expanded use case for procurement data will be for carbon footprint calculations and in return carbon emissions will become a new decision criteria for procurement," he said.
This broadening scope of data use cases in the supply chain is already beginning to change business processes by encouraging companies to go green.
4. Supply chain collaboration becomes more critical
An emerging supply chain trend for 2020 is an economical reimagining of the supply chain and the need to build highly collaborative ecosystems. However, establishing that degree of trust among supply chain stakeholders is no small task. Customer demands add even more complexity.
Buyer demands for supply chain transparency versus supply chain partner desire for data and IP protections is creating friction that is slowing down progress, Pillsbury said.
"There is wariness among supply chain members as they continue to struggle with trust issues and withhold key data," Pillsbury said. "The fear is over who gets to monetize the data: the supplier, the manufacturer or the customer."
Take, for example, changes in the container shipping industry twisted by sustainability demands and the resulting need for data sharing between uneasy partners.
"Consolidation and alliances in the shipping lines will require an intense amount of data consolidation and sharing in order to merge operations and support the interoperability of these networks," said Mike Wychocki, CEO of EagleRail Container Logistics, a producer of automated shipping container lifting and shuttling equipment, based in Chicago. "There will be fewer, more cooperative and more technically advanced partners in the container shipping and intermodal going forward, and their mutual success will revolve around the capture, analysis and sharing of key data points," Wychocki said.
5. Pressure for interoperability grows
These are all hefty issues when taken individually and even more so when collectively presented. The technologies needed to address supply chain trends of 2020 and beyond will need to work together rather than as standalones.
The top technologies for supply chain in 2019 were AI, advanced analytics, IoT, robotic process automation, autonomous things, digital supply chain twin, immersive experience and blockchain, according to a Gartner report on 2019 supply chain trends.
"Those technologies will continue to trend next year and beyond," said Stevens.
"But by 2023, at least 50% of those technologies will not be used in isolated standalones, but as supplements to legacy or existing solutions," Stevens said. "The ability to work together in a complementary manner will be essential."
The takeaway: If a technology doesn't play well with other technologies, leaders will be unlikely to purchase it or they'll phase it out if it's already in use.
6. Supply chains will include more tech
A few new technologies will be added to the supply chain arsenal mix this year, according to the same Gartner report.
"Edge computing, 5G, and convergence between IT and OT [operational tech] will be on the rise," Stevens said. "Dark warehouse, 3D printing, next-generation RFID, near-field communication and extended level integration technologies will also be added to the list of 2020 supply chain trends."
Although many of these technologies and their use cases are not yet mature, supply chains are changing, Stevens said.
"For example, companies are becoming more responsive to using blockchain to manage every aspect of a product's lifecycle," he said.
What is certain? Supply chain trends for 2020 will include profound change.


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Several states are currently investigating car shopping site TrueCar.com for possible violations of local laws.
Read This Article
Motor Trend's Ed Loh and Scott Burgess sit down with Ford's design chiefs to discuss past, current, and future designs.
Ford's new international Ranger is making waves today, as the Euro NCAP announced that the small truck just earned a 5-star crash rating, and an 89 percent overall rating, the highest ever for a truck.
Ford debuts the new 2015 Mustang at the iconic TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood, CA.


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By FWi staff
CEREAL exports totalling almost 500,000 tonnes were approved at yesterdays EU Cereals Management Committee meeting.
Brussels granted licences for 290,500 t of open-market wheat exports to third countries at a maximum refund of Ecu16.97/ t.
A bid to export an additional 44,000 t of wheat to Africa was authorised at a rate of Ecu28.93/ t. Also approved were 20,000 t of free-market oats exported at a refund rate of Ecu28.93/ t.
Germany bid successfully to export 44,015 t of rye. The volume is believed to account for the majority of German rye in intervention, according to the London-based Home Grown Cereals Authority.
Bids to export open market barley and Austrian intervention maize were rejected.
The French cereals office plans to add more than one million tonnes to its forecast of end-of-year cereal stocks. Officials blame export cuts and strong maize supplies according to reports from UK grain traders, BDR Agriculture.


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Many observers still believe that the controversial cyber currency is a fraud, and very few are certain of its origin, but despite the uncertainty, the use of Bitcoin continues to spread. Recognized retailers, such as Dell Inc. appear to be slowly warming to the digital currency, and recent reports indicate that some units of EBay and PayPal are currently involved in deliberations to accept payments with Bitcoin.
Calgary-based Cavirtex, which a provider of Bitcoin virtual currency exchange services is unconcerned about the controversy and VP of business development, Kyle Kemper is proud of the company’s decision to add six more Cavirtex Bitcoin Teller Machines to the Toronto landscape. The six new machines bring the total number in Toronto to 19, which the company says, is the highest concentration of Bitcoin machines on the planet.
The currency, which remains unregulated, was developed in 2009, but there is still a mystery surrounding the development. Much of the appeal lays in the fact that transactions can be processed with a greater degree of anonymity, and the fees are much lower. Users are now believed to be more in control of their money, and can function as their own bank. Skeptics, however, warn that the digital currency is also subject to volatility, and as with other forms of digital processing has attracted the criminal element.
The company has signed an agreement with Gateway Newsstands, which operates kiosks throughout Toronto’s subway system. Users can go any of the BTMs, and enter the number of their mobile phones, to receive a confirmation number which is then entered in the BTM. The code of the bitcoin wallet which is giver to all holders of Bitcoin accounts is scanned, or printed for non-account holders to scan. Buyers will then place the cash required for the purchase into the machine, where the system will process the transaction from a corresponding seller. The transaction, which can be up to maximum of $3000 worth of bitcoins, will be completed with minimal input and the buyer will be issued a confirmation and recorded into the purchaser account. All bitcoin users are able to view the transaction, which is recorded in a virtual ledger.
Kemper says that Cavirtex has processed more than $93 million in Bitcoin transactions, since the virtual currency exchange was created three years ago, and there are more than 40,000 registered users. He explains that Toronto may be seen as an excellent fit for Bitcoin Teller Machine, because it is seen as the financial capital of the country, however despite the apparent promising potential of the product launch which was held in the financial district, several countries have raised concerns about the security, and investors are warned that because it remains unregulated, very large swings in the value can be expected.
One Bitcoin is currently valued at approximately $600, and one the next moves, may be to provide Cavirtex virtual currency machines to dispense in exchange for bitcoins.


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Stay on Top of Enterprise Technology Trends
Get updates impacting your industry from our GigaOm Research Community
Both display and newspaper advertising have been taking it on the chin this year. And as the general economic condition becomes more uncertain by the day, the problems being faced on those fronts looks even more difficult. Earlier this week, Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO), claiming the mantle of the largest player in display advertising and as major link to newspapers’ online advertising, lifted the curtain on its long-awaited online ad sales and targeting delivery system, APT. As executives explained at a press conference heralding the platform, APT’s promise involves simplifying the buying and selling of display ads through more automation and by connecting all the sides of the ad deal — publishers, advertisers, agencies, networks and developers — on a single platform.
More after the jump.
APT (fka AMP, and before that, and APEX) is getting its start with members of the Yahoo Newspaper Consortium, the company’s online ad sales alliance representing 779 newspapers from 32 publishers. As part the APT beta test this summer, MediaNews Group’s The San Jose Mercury News and Hearst’s The San Francisco Chronicle were the first to try it, with the rest of the membership to be hooked up through the end of the year. APT will be made available to marketers, ad agencies, and ad networks at various points next year.
— Display game is Yahoo’s to lose: With APT, Yahoo is trying to do with display what Google (NSDQ: GOOG) has done with search ads, says UBS internet analyst Ben Schachter in a research note. Still, Google, Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT), AOL (NYSE: TWX) and others are said to be prepping their own APT-like platforms. In the end, Schachter sees room for only one or two main winners in this game, writing: “Due to Yahoo’s scale and leadership position in display advertising, it is Yahoo’s position to lose. The problem is, given Yahoo’s execution history, we are concerned that they could lose it. This will all come down to execution; if Yahoo executes, the market opportunity could be significant.” After the press conference, I spoke with EVP Hilary Schneider and Mike Walrath, SVP, Yahoo Advertiser Marketplace Group, and asked how Yahoo expects to win.
— APT is the precursor: Schneider: “APT is really about the transformation of the display marketplace. Longer term, we see the opportunity for a converged marketplace. So with the introduction of APT, we