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Fashion is not the same as it was two years ago.
As people adopted masks, eschewed workwear in favour of loungewear, and abandoned suits and ties, COVID-19 has transformed many Canadian women’s wardrobes, often for the better – meaning more comfortable and also experimental.
That’s the case for Sarah O’Rourke. O’Rourke’s closet has gone through several changes – or “eras” as she calls them – throughout her lifetime. During high school, O’Rourke opted for ripped jeans and flannels to fit her ‘alternative rock’ style, before turning to “hipster fashion” when she entered university, and then to slacks, blouses, and blazers when she entered the work force.
“I often joke that I live and breathe fashion,” O’Rourke says, who is currently pursuing a master’s in business and sustainability at the University of Waterloo, explaining that her love for fashion shaped nearly everything she has done for the last seven years – including both her degrees.
However, working a standard 9-to-5 job didn’t give O’Rourke many opportunities to express this love. So, when the pandemic left her without much to do in the evenings, O’Rourke decided to fill them by creating content on Instagram. She hit her stride when she focused her content on body confidence and mid-size fashion.
“I wanted to dress to the nines all the time so I could take my video content, take my photos, and then have something to post,” O’Rourke explains. She muses that her content creation likely led to her buying more clothing – and thus spending more money – but also allowed her to be more experimental with what she wore.
Change in Canadians’ shopping habits were noticeable over the last two years. Marketing research and consulting firm Trendex North America reported that Canadian apparel sales fell 23.6 per cent in 2020 due to the pandemic. Sales rebounded 16.2 per cent in 2021 and are expected to rise 14.8 per cent this year and 5 per cent in 2023.
Many Canadian women have reworked their wardrobes in the wake of the pandemic to include clothes that emphasize comfort, make them feel confident, and often – like in the case of Mahera Islam, an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto – are full of colour.
Before the pandemic, Islam gravitated toward loose and dark clothing, partly due to the modesty and comfort they offered, and partly to be invisible. The desire to be less visible, Islam says, stemmed from internalizing her parents’ idea of modesty and societal fatphobia.
“Over the pandemic I’ve shed those ideas,” Islam says. “Not that I still don’t prioritize comfort and modesty because those are things that are important to me, but I am not as afraid to be visible.”
As a result, Islam is working to incorporate more colour into her wardrobe – including her hijabs – and also experimenting with styles and items of clothing she previously didn’t feel comfortable wearing.
“Before, I would not be seen dead in pink outside, but now I like wearing … any sort of bright colours,” she explains. “I’ve also started to get into [maxi] dresses, which is something that I wasn’t super confident about wearing before because of my height but [I’ve realized] they are modest and comfortable and also look nice.”
Islam’s experimenting isn’t limited to clothes; she has also begun to pair jewellery with her outfits, especially rings, which wasn’t interested in before.
Like Islam, Erin Chan, who co-founded housing rental platform Rhenti, has also begun to incorporate more colour into her wardrobe as well as more comfortable clothing, especially athleisure.
“I bought 10 of the same athleisure shirt styles and cycle through them on my workdays,” Chan says. “I haven’t put on a pair of heels in over two years!”
Writer and editor Lindsay Vermeulen, on the other hand, has given up entirely on underwire bras, opting for either bralettes or nothing at all, and refuses to wear clothes that chafe, are too tight, or feel rough on her skin.
Comfortable clothes don’t always entail loungewear, sweats, or athleisure but rather clothes that make women feel at ease. Being comfortable and dressing up are not mutually exclusive.
“I now look for any opportunity to display my fashion sense which makes me feel more like myself and regain a sense of stylistic individuality,” says Kormal Minhas, who works for the federal government. “Being indoors for that long pushed me to redefine my fashion identity. I donated so many clothes that just didn’t feel like me and tried to start fresh.”
While Minhas compromised by wearing clothes that didn’t make her feel good in the past, a fresh start means that she doesn’t do that any longer.
Both Islam and Minhas say that neither the amount of money they spend on clothing, nor the amount of clothing they own has increased drastically.
However, Islam, Minhas and O’Rourke all say that they are more particular about the quality of what they buy rather than its cost, opting to spend more money for things that will last longer – out of a desire to be both economical and sustainable.
That’s also driven some to thrift more, reduce their consumption of fast fashion, and be selective about the trends they try – if they haven’t eschewed them entirely, like Vermuelen.
“I’m finding I don’t care that much [about fashion trends],” she says. “I’d rather choose options that feel like ‘me.’”
Activewear brands 2023: Best workout clothes for women
Lucky in Love, Leader in Women’s Golf & Tennis Clothing, Partners With Pickleball Champion Simone Jardim | Regional Sports
Why I love women’s clothes | Times2


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Everyone knows the current stock market roller-coaster is more digital hallucination than real economy rebound. Wall Street seems confused about the severity of COVID-19 even as thousands of Main Street businesses fail. The Federal Reserve has supplied markets trillions of dollars of liquidity, while the Treasury has mailed millions of Americans checks to tide them over. Amateur investors, bored at home, are pouring their savings into the latest chimera.
The world is full of risk, but we refuse to act like it. Coronavirus cases are rising again. More than 20 million Americans are unemployed. Government relief programs will begin petering out by August. If America Inc. wants to make it through winter, it needs to take a hard look at business fundamentals.
Human beings, and Americans in particular, tend to ignore systemic risk. Imagine it’s the year 1925 and you are negotiating to buy a company. You are presented with the firm’s five-year historical performance including revenue growth, margins, and cash flow, as well as a tidy estimate of the present value of future cash flows—all a solid basis for generating a credible valuation. Would you have responded to the data by saying, “This is all well and good, but what if an unpredicted catastrophic event occurs such as a second world war? Won’t that knock your company off-kilter?”
For a time, the convulsions of the midcentury led to a more conservative stock market. Between the two World Wars and the subsequent Cold War (and its perpetual nuclear shadow), exogenous risk became a feature of business life around the world (e.g., Soviet honey traps or importing Cuban cigars to the US in 1960). For Western multinationals, political risks such as expropriation also rose to the forefront in evaluating portfolios and investments.
But in the 1990s, valuation got lazy. Amnesia and naïveté set in as the more risk-conscious Greatest Generation retired while the post-Cold War “peace dividend” presented rosy scenarios for globalization, especially with China and then India joining the global economy. Investors were numbed into over-confidence by the rapid recovery from the late ’90s dot-com bubble and 9/11 terrorist attacks, followed by injections of massive liquidity that side-stepped the worst of the Great Recession. A narrow approach to valuation took hold that focused on market demand and competition to the exclusion of other variables. Wars, pandemics, climate change, and other macro shocks were ironed away by the chronocentrism of living in the moment and the assumption that vulnerabilities—such as Greek debt or Libya’s civil war—could be ring-fenced.
Softbank’s $100 billion Vision Fund embodies these cornucopian ventures in its ambition to reshape civilization through technology and “capital dominance” but without a commensurate appreciation of complexity and risk. But gargantuan investments in Uber, WeWork, and other companies that required enormous cash flows only to lose billions every quarter shouldn’t have been justified even in the most Panglossian world, let alone amid a global recession. Bottom line: “Shit happens” can no longer be reconciled to a footnote in a prospectus.
If and when the Fed begins to taper, plenty of firms will once again resemble the junk the coronavirus exposed them for.”
Already, however, we can behold the shit flying towards the fan. The Fed’s “whatever it takes” corporate bond purchases are injecting epic volumes of liquidity into markets, lending artificial buoyancy to equities as investors flock to risk rather than away from it. If and when the Fed begins to taper its expansive credit facilities and unwind what could be a $10 trillion balance sheet, plenty of firms will once again resemble the junk the coronavirus exposed them for.
Uncertainty is everywhere, and forces are colliding in unpredictable ways. Consider how just as the coronavirus lockdown was ending and the retail and hospitality sectors were meant to thrive again, curfews began in dozens of cities due to mass protests stemming from the death of George Floyd. We cannot escape these complex chain reactions—especially with looming volatility related to climate change, the US-China confrontation, and the upcoming presidential election.
If today’s entrepreneurs genuinely want to build anti-fragile companies, they should have airtight answers to questions such as these.
Are you an essential service such as healthcare, food, or education that can deliver to customers physically or digitally across a range of disruptive scenarios? E-commerce and logistics firms such as Amazon, equipment manufacturer 3M, online education companies like Coursera, remote healthcare providers such as Teledoc, and plant-based nutrition companies such as Impossible Foods have been clear winners out of the COVID-19 chaos. They and others such as Google, Facebook, Netflix, and TikTok have also reinforced their credentials by hiring rather than firing workers, serving as platforms for knowledge exchange, or offering “freemium” products and services.
Even if your firm fell to zero revenue and required government support, did you manage your cost basis and service in a way that you maintained loyal customers and kept up relations with suppliers? Some hospitality companies, for example, have opened their doors to frontline healthcare workers for free, and Hyatt Hotels has even offered complimentary rooms for healthcare personnel on their off days or to be used for post-pandemic holidays.
Have you pivoted your business model to take advantage of present circumstances and take off as the market recovers? Much like Ford Motor Co. retrofitted its assembly lines to produce bombers during World War II, fashion brands ranging from niche Ministry of Supply to luxury giant Hermes have added high-grade and stylish face masks to their offerings. Looking ahead, think sanitized mobility, especially for the elderly, vertical farming to diminish exposure to food supply chains, and so forth.
In times of great upheaval, forward-thinking management with diversified access to capital is the foundation of successful corporations. Too many firms, however, still fall in the opposite category. They are waiting passively for the light at the end of the tunnel and hoping things return to how they were before. They are turning away “expensive” capital even if it could help them retain their positioning in the industry. American companies, in particular, haven’t anticipated that post-COVID regulations may revive a post-war model of regulated capitalism in which stakeholders matter as much as shareholders.
Some investors have woken up. Pension funds are pushing for ESG metrics to be included in valuations so that exposure to climate change and clean supply chain regulations are factored into equity analysis. We need to do the same for catastrophic risks, such as a prolonged pandemic, cascading environmental crises, or another world war. This will lead to firm valuations being generated with a healthy degree of caution, exerting pressure on management to make genuine efforts at resilience—a virtuous circle. Post-coronavirus, valuations do not have to settle at structurally lower levels. Rather, a robust stock market should be predicated on a rational economy: one that anticipates and reflects the values of a post-pandemic society.
Dr. Parag Khanna is founder and managing partner of FutureMap and author of numerous books including Connectography and The Future Is Asian. Karan Khemka is an investor and director in education companies globally. He previously founded the Asian operations of the strategic consultancy The Parthenon Group (now EY-Parthenon).

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Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) introduced strict rules for gaining the explicit consent of users when companies collect and process users' personal data. But most of the online forms that websites are using to gain that consent fail to meet the rules, according to a new study.
As GDPR took effect in May 2018, websites began displaying so-called 'cookie banners' where visitors can accept cookies or go into a settings page to adjust them.
Along with GDPR, websites have increasingly adopted outsourced consent-management platforms (CMPs) to handle compliance with cookie consent and third-party tracking.
SEE: IT pro's guide to GDPR compliance (free PDF)
But a new study by researchers at MIT CSAIL, Denmark's Aarhus University, and University College London, has found only 11.8% of the most popular CMPs used on UK websites meet the minimal requirements under GDPR and Europe's eDirective regulations regarding cookies and consent.
Additionally, the researchers believe website cookie consent forms are flying under the radar of European data-protection authorities (DPA), who aren't paying attention to enforcement.
The researchers argue that European DPAs should be using the type of automated tools the researchers developed for large-scale analysis of GDPR compliance.
The researchers scraped numerous consent forms from CMPs implemented on the top 10,000 most popular websites in the UK and checked whether they comply with European law. As mentioned, not many CMP templates did, but it's up to regulators to ensure these forms and their providers do conform.
"Enforcement in this area is sorely lacking. Data-protection authorities should make use of automated tools like the one we have designed to expedite discovery and enforcement," the researchers argue.
"Designers might help here to design tools for regulators, rather than just for users or for websites. Regulators should also work further upstream and consider placing requirements on the vendors of CMPs to only allow compliant designs to be placed on the market."
The researchers' scraper was used to determine whether a consent form met GDPR and eDirective requirements. The rules say consent must be explicit. So, for example, users must click a button rather than just hop straight through to the website; all aspects of consent must be equally easy to reject as to accept; and pre-ticked boxes are not allowed.
Of the 10,000 websites scraped that used a CMP form, the researchers found that implicit consent is present on a third of websites.
The researchers also found that CMPs make rejecting all tracking – which includes cookies and other techniques like browser and device fingerprinting that Firefox-maker Mozilla is trying to block by default – "substantially more difficult than accepting it".
Microsoft and Apple are also trying to tackle third-party tracking in their respective Edge and Safari browsers.
Just over half of websites in the survey don't even offer a 'reject all' button and only 12.6% of sites have a 'reject all' button that is just as easy to access as the 'accept all' button, for example, by placing both options on the same page.
"Furthermore, when users went to amend specific consent settings rather than accept everything, they are often faced with pre-ticked boxes of the type specifically forbidden by the GDPR," the researchers wrote.
SEE: Data privacy: Germans dish out one of the biggest GDPR fines yet over lax call centres
On top of all this, the researchers – and users too – have no idea whether toggling on or off a specific category of tracking actually produces the intended result for the user. The median number of third-party trackers that data is shared with on sites is a whopping 315 vendors.
The end result of hiding the 'reject all' option is that people overwhelmingly choose to 'accept all'.
"The results of our empirical survey of CMPs today illustrates the extent to which illegal practices prevail, with vendors of CMPs turning a blind eye to – or worse, incentivizing – clearly illegal configurations of their systems," the researchers conclude.
More on privacy and GDPR


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For the past week, Premier Ford has noted the important role Ontario’s businesses play in helping the government to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and praised the creativity and community spirit of those businesses that have stepped up with support.
Today’s press conference was an urgent call to Ontario business, particularly the manufacturing sector, to step up and help with the manufacture of essential supplies including ventilators, masks, gowns and other protective items, and offered funding to help businesses transition towards this effort.
The province has launched an online portal called Ontario Together (www.ontario.ca/ontariotogether) where businesses can submit proposals to the government as to how they can help procure much needed supplies more quickly. These proposals will be triaged based on sector and identified need.
For more information business can go to www.ontario.ca/ontariotogether.
Behind this web portal, public servants will triage industry proposals at Supply Chain Ontario. Industries that need grants to take up a new activity in the interests of the greater public good will be referred internally to the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.
Businesses should clearly outline in their proposals where they need support for retooling if they are seeking a grant. The government will also be looking for companies to identify regulatory barriers. Business can also identify gaps they see and offer solutions to help address them.
This single portal is the government’s way to offer businesses one clear, simple way to get their ideas in. The government is listening intently and looking not only for ideas to accelerate or modify production and to knock down barriers but also for advice from international companies that have initiated best practices elsewhere. The government is ready to perform a match-making role to connect domestic suppliers to assemble, package or transport products.
This is a multi-ministry effort, including Ministry of Government and Consumer Services, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, as well as others. It is multi-sectoral, involving not only manufacturing but life sciences and others. It seeks to push past the usual silos and processes of government to streamline and focus on outcomes that matter in the very short term.
It is likely that this initiative will have imperfections as public servants and political leadership alike learn as they go, but speaks to the government’s desire to move rapidly where it can and to work actively with the private sector in confronting the spread of the novel coronavirus.


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Chinese smartphone maker Lenovo is working on another device for its Z5 series, dubbed the Lenovo Z5s. The device was spotted earlier on TENAA with the model number L78071 and it has now been confirmed by the company that the device is the Lenovo Z5s.
The Lenovo Z5s will be part of the Lenovo Z5 series that consists of the Lenovo Z5 and Lenovo Z5 Pro that were launched earlier this month. As per reports, the Lenovo Z5s will be the first smartphone to be powered by the Snapdragon 8150 SoC.
The Lenovo Z5s has been certified by TENAA, 3C and MIIT in China and it is expected to be launched in the coming weeks. When a user on Weibo joked that the device looks similar to the P20 Pro and should be called as P20 Pro, Chang Chen, Vice President of Lenovo Mobile Business Group replied that “simply call it Lenovo Z5s, not Lenovo P20 Pro”, confirming the name of the device.
In addition to the name, we also know some of the specifications of the device as the TENAA listing had also revealed some specifications. The Lenovo Z5s is expected to feature a vertically aligned triple camera set up at the back, a 6.3-inch display with a waterdrop notch and a 3,210mAh battery. Its dimensions are 156.7 x 74.5 x 7.8 mm.
The Lenovo Z5s looks similar to the Huawei P20 Pro in terms of design. The rear camera placement and the Lenovo logo at the back are very similar to what we saw on the Huawei P20 Pro. The addition of a fingerprint sensor gives it a slightly different look.
The main highlight of the device is reported to be the Snapdragon 8150 SoC. If this report is true, the Lenovo Z5s will probably be the first smartphone to be powered by the latest SoC from Qualcomm. We will know more about the device in the coming weeks.


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Samsung emojis have always looked different from those other phone manufactures use, and the trend will seemingly continue in 2018. The new line of emojis for 2018 are to come pre-loaded on Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S9 models and eventually make way to older Galaxy phones part of Samsung Experience 9.0.
Unicode Consortium is a non-profit organization that creates the emoji symbols we all use on our phones and tablets. The organization recently introduced a new set of symbols of which will appear on Samsung Experience 9.0, sort of. Because manufacturers are allowed to tweak the emoji to differentiate themselves, Samsung has completely redesigned all nine of the totally new emojis to match their style. Thankfully, the meaning of them can still be swallowed. Some of these include Unicode Consortium’s new face icons starstruck, vomiting, exploding, and silence.
Samsung’s Galaxy S8 smartphones will be among the first to retrieve the new emojis, as part of the first Android 8.0 Oreo build that’s rolling out now. Other Galaxy owners will have to sit tight and hope that at least Samsung Experience 9.0 makes its way over soon. Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ buyers will have nothing to worry about, because the set will be pre-loaded on these devices. We’ll keep you up to date on the update’s progress here. Check out the image above for some of the visual changes.


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|A corner of Citimart supermarket in HCM City. Nearly 30 Citimart supermarkets nationwide will be remained AeonCitimart. — Photo phocanh.vn
HA NOI (VNS) — Giant Vietnamese retailer Citimart announced business co-operation with Japan's Aeon Group in HCM City late last week.
Nearly 30 Citimart supermarkets nationwide would be renamed AeonCitimart, Citimart's marketing manager Lam Kien Dat said, adding that his group would not sell its shares to the Aeon Group.
Dat said that the Aeon Group would transfer their technology and experience to Citimart to develop a network of retailers across the country.
In the first phase, about 500 food and consumer products with the brand name Top Value would be sold at Citimart supermarkets.
Dat said that the two sides aimed to set up 500 large and small supermarkets nationwide by 2025, in which the Aeon Group would have about 10,000 products. — VNS


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High consumption of ‘trans- fat’, which can be found in abundance in fast food, has been linked to 10% poorer memory performance in a new study which studied 1,000 people without heart disease, and presented at the American Heart Association’s most recent annual meeting.
The scientists found that the higher a men’s consumption of trans-fat, the lower their memory performance. The memory test consisted of showing 104 cards, each with a word in it, to people in the study. They had to say whether each word was new or one they had seen before. Results showed that subjects recalled one word less for each extra gram of trans-fat they consumed each day.
Foods that commonly include trans-fat are: frozen pizza, snack foods, fast foods, baked goods, and margarine.


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The city’s first coffee shop outside of the downtown area has opened.
Fortunate Cup Coffee Cafe debuted at 120 West Ave., earlier this month, and today, opened its drive-through window.
The cafe is located on the growing west side near the new YMCA. It is being operated by Doreen Kamen.
Kamen says the shop serves 16 varities of tea and many coffee flavors. A 20-ounce tea will cost you $1.95, she said, while coffee is $1.90.
The cafe also sells espresso-based drinks, blended beverages, salads, wraps and paninis. Breakfast paninis are served on Belgian waffles. There is also baked goods, bagels and Italian ice cream. It’s located one block north of Grand Avenue, and stays open from 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mon-Thurs., and 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.


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Play’n GO has today announced the acquisition of a Swedish B2B suppliers' licence, ensuring that the world’s leading gaming entertainment supplier will continue supplying its unmatched catalogue of games in Sweden.
While Play’n GO continue to expand globally, this licence renewal shows the company’s continued commitment to the European market, in this instance specifically to its founding country, Sweden.
Play’n GO’s popular catalogue of games includes the world’s most popular online slot game, Book of Dead, as well as 2023 smash hit Legion Gold and the ever-popular Reactoonz series among 300 premium titles in the portfolio.
The Swedish licence acquisition is the second of 2023 for the company, following the US iGaming state of Connecticut just weeks ago.
In 2022, the company entered a number of new regulated markets including the Canadian province of Ontario, alongside the US states of New Jersey, Michigan and West Virginia.
Magnus Olsson, Chief Commercial Officer for Play’n GO, said: "Sweden is Play’n GO’s home turf. We are most certainly a global company today, with both staff and customers all over the world, but we maintain our firm roots in Sweden to this day. It’s extra special for us to receive one of the first licences from the regulator Spelinspektionen. Of course, we will continue to supply the most exciting and safe casino gaming experience to Swedish players, as we have done for nearly 20 years. Our content today is used by operators in the Swedish market to excite and retain their players. with innovative cross-sell slots like Gerard’s Gambit on the horizon, I don't think the Swedish market has truly seen the full might of Play’n GO yet. We would like to thank Spelinspektionen for the swift granting of our licence so early in the process, allowing us to continue leading from the front in supplying the safest, most entertaining casino experience for players in our home market of Sweden.”
Play’n GO has one of the most impressive and comprehensive portfolios in the entire iGaming industry. As of 2021, Play’n GO are releasing a new video slot every week, which is almost unmatched. Their very first release took place on the 26th of September, 2012 - so it is needless to say that Play’n GO were one of the first providers in the online video slot industry.
Without any doubt, their two most popular video slots are Book of Dead and Reactoonz. With a maximum win of 5000X and 4570X respectively, the slots are of insignificant potential compared to many other games nowadays - but that does not stop people from still playing these games as if they were of religious value. Why, you might wonder? Well, with stellar production PNG managed to keep these slots interesting to people even years after their releases. Music, graphics and themes are almost flawless in both productions, which makes them as relevant as ever.
PNG have been adjusting to the environment of video slots the past two years, making more and more slots with a maximum win potential of over 20000X. So it is safe to say that PNG is up there with their competitors when it comes to providing the industry with video slots that can pay a life changing amount of money, even on lower bets.


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GRANDVILLE, Mich. -- Let's face it between work, school, kids and social events finding time to walk up and down the aisles of a grocery is difficult. To help save time SpartanNash is launching the new program Fast Lane, and it's available now at the Grandville Family Fare.
In 25 Michigan stores this year, Family Fare customers will have the option to order their groceries online and pick them up the same day.
“The launch of Fast Lane is part of SpartanNash’s commitment to providing our store guests with a personalized, convenient shopping experience that exceeds their expectations,” said Ted Adornato, SpartanNash executive vice president of retail operations. “Our click-and-collect program takes our company’s digital customer experience to a whole new level. The entire Fast Lane experience is tailored to fit the needs of our on-the-go store guests while providing quality products at an affordable price.”
An annual membership fee of $99 is available or customers can sign up for a monthly membership for $16.95 per month. Customers can also just make individual orders with a $9.95 pick up fee. Those with an annual or monthly membership do not have to pay the pickup fee.
To give customers a taste of this program the first three orders are fee free when customers use the code "FASTLANE."
For more information on the program visit familyfarefastlane.com.


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Zhongding Group becomes the first national technology innovation demonstration enterprise in Xuancheng
Release time: 2016-10-28 Click times: Times
Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced the 2016 national technology innovation demonstration enterprises list, a total of 69 enterprises nationwide. Zhongding Group was successfully shortlisted and became the first national technology innovation demonstration enterprise in Xuancheng.
国家技术创新示范企业由工信部和财政部联合认定，2011-2015年先后认定5批。 It is understood that the national technology innovation demonstration enterprises were jointly identified by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Finance, and five batches were identified in 2011-2015. 技术创新示范企业实行动态管理，每三年复核评价一次，围绕企业核心竞争能力、领先地位、创新能力、研发投入、行业带动作用、自主品牌等六大标准进行评选。 National technology innovation demonstration enterprises implement dynamic management and review and evaluation every three years. The evaluation is based on the six core criteria of the company's core competitiveness, leading position, innovation ability, R & D investment, industry driving force, and independent brand. As of now, Zhongding Group is the only company in Xuancheng to be shortlisted.
The finalist of the 2016 National Technology Innovation Demonstration Enterprise List is an affirmation of Zhongding Group's technological innovation achievements in recent years. 为同行业树立了技术创新的样板标杆。 By vigorously integrating global resources and speeding up industrial technology upgrades, Zhongding Group has set a model benchmark for technological innovation in the same industry.


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Quinoa – an ancient grain that has seen recent exposure in the superfoods arena – has long been a staple grain of South America. Packed with protein and essential amino acids, this nutrient-rich grain has recently not only received international attention for its superior nutritional credentials, but for being a great wheat-free alternative to gluten-heavy grains.
Flourishing in dry, harsh conditions, originating from the Peruvian Andes, you will probably be surprised to hear that quinoa in recent years has made itself at home in the West Midlands.
In 2006 two farmers from Shropshire also had their own eyes opened to the nutritional benefits of quinoa and saw the potential for growing this super grain on British soil.
Father and son, Stephen and Edward Jones founded The British Quinoa Company in 2011, harvesting their first commercial crop in 2013, bringing a modest 20 tonnes of quinoa to a thriving health foods market.
Although initially having to trial several varieties of quinoa to arrive at the perfect yield, the family duo moved onto growing a special variety ideal for the European climate. This resulted in big, high-quality grains, perfect for the UK’s slightly wetter, temperate weather conditions, very different from its original growing environment.
Come the 2014 harvest, Stephen and Edward were cultivating even more hectares, with their yield increasing to 80 tonnes. With an exclusive UK licence, the brothers in Shropshire are the only farmers in the UK that are registered to grow British Quinoa.
With an ever-growing demand for healthy grains, and an increasing market for homegrown ingredients, The British Quinoa Company look to expand their product range and this year will be harvesting a substantial 350 hectares.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE BRITISH QUINOA COMPANY
Words by Helen Upshall
Photo: The British Quinoa Company


text: Here are the latest market reports in Grand County. As you can see, it’s been a crazy 2021 so far! The sales volume has increased significantly since last year, along with increases in the average sales price at all price points. The sales volume of luxury homes has nearly tripled since this time last year! I expect these trends to continue and look forward to what the rest of 2021 holds for the real estate market.


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FC Barcelona has teamed up with TikTok, the world’s leading short-video platform, to launch the #BarcelonaChallenge in Singapore.
Providing a platform for local football fans to engage with their favourite FC Barcelona players, TikTok users can showcase their love for the team by participating in this engaging challenge.
Starting from now until 10 August, local TikTok fans are invited to participate in the #BarcelonaChallenge by uploading videos of themselves sporting the blaugrana (red and blue) colours or wearing a Barca jersey.
Five of the most creative videos will stand a chance to win official FC Barcelona jerseys.
“FC Barcelona has a massive fan base both globally and in Southeast Asia, and TikTok is thrilled to partner with the world-famous team to launch the #BarcelonaChallenge,” said Doreen Tan, User and Content Operations Manager, TikTok.
“TikTok has a strong international footprint that empowers creation and interaction, making it the ideal platform for sport teams to interact with their fans and engage with new audiences.”
To kick off the #BarcelonaChallenge, FC Barcelona have uploaded videos of their players wearing Barca’s jersey.
See post by Ousmane Dembele here.
TikTok is now available in over 150 markets, and in 75 languages, with a robust localization strategy to encourage users to create and interact with content relevant to local cultures and trends.


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JLG Industries has appointed SkyTech as its distributor for the Volga Federal Distric, based in the south west of Russia.
“JLG is pleased to announce this distribution agreement with SkyTech,” commented Ian Hume, sales director JLG Middle East, Africa, Russia and India. “With SkyTech, JLG has partnered with a knowledgeable and strong distributor which offers a unique level of service in the region. Their appointment will be a significant improvement in fulfilling the need for access equipment in the region.”
Alexander Kuzmin, business managing partner at SkyTech, added, “We are happy to bring this global brand to Russia. We have ambitious plans for the region, driven through putting our customers first. The base of SkyTech’s relationship with its customers is founded on class-leading customer service throughout every touchpoint in our company.”


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TJX (NYSE:TJX) stock was on the rise Tuesday following the release of its earnings report for its fiscal second quarter of 2019.
During its fiscal second quarter of 2019, TJX reported earnings per share of $1.17. This is up from the company’s earnings per share of 85 cents reported in its fiscal second quarter of 2018. It was also good news for the company’s stock by coming in above Wall Street’s earnings per share estimate of $1.05 cents for the period.
The company also reported net income of $739.63 million during its fiscal second quarter of 2019. The department store chain’s net income from the same period of the year prior was $552.96 million.
TJX’s earnings report for its fiscal second quarter of the year also includes revenue of $9.33 billion. The is better than the $8.36 billion that was reported in its fiscal second quarter of the previous year. It was also a boon to TJX stock by beating out analysts’ revenue estimate of $9.00 billion for the quarter.
TJX also took time during its most recent earnings report to update its guidance for fiscal 2019. It is now expecting earnings per share for the year to range from $4.83 to $4.88. The company notes that 73 cents to 74 cents of this is a benefit from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Wall Street is looking for the company to report earnings per share of $4.86 for its current fiscal year.
TJX stock was up 4% as of Tuesday morning and is up 32% year-to-date.
As of this writing, William White did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.


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Lamborghini presented its Aventador S Roadster at the IAA
(International Automobile Exhibition) in Frankfurt, Germany. The Aventador S
Roadster combines sports car like performance of the Aventador S Coupe with the
joy of topless motoring. The unveil has made the Aventador S Roadster the only
mid engine V12 super sports.
The Aventador Roadster is powered by a naturally aspirated 6.5L V12
engine which puts out 740hp and goes from 0-100kmph in a mere 3.0 seconds. The
engine belts out 690Nm of torque at 5500rpm. Lamborghini's new Aventador S Roadster is
capable of touch speeds of 350kmph. The Italian brand will be offering the new
Aventador S Roadster in multiple colours and trims.
During roofless motoring, the window will minimise cabin noise and
airflow. The 'S' suffix in Aventador S Roadster
indicates the roadster's design and technological advancements.
Lamborghini has provided a four wheel drive technology with a new active
suspension, new four wheel steering system and a new EGO drive mode which
allows the driver to select and setup each criteria according to his or her
With the provision of four wheel steering, the new Aventador S
Roadster gets improved control and agility at lower speeds and is more stable
at higher ones. Combining this with Dynamic Steering (LDS) for better feedback
and sharper turn-in.
Specialty chemicals company Lanxess has reached an important step towards more sustainability in its plasticizer portfolio: The Polymer Additives (PLA) business unit now offers a more sustainable solu...
Uno Minda, a leading Tier 1 supplier of proprietary automotive solutions to original equipment manufacturers, has launched its new premium range of alloy wheels in the Indian aftermarket in collaborat...
Greaves Retail, India's leading fuel-agnostic mobility solutions provider and a unit of Greaves Cotton Limited, has announced the launch of its complete range of e-rickshaw batteries under the brand '...


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The Obama administration on Friday proposed a wide-ranging bill intended to provide Americans with more control over the personal information that companies collect about them and how that data can be used, fulfilling a promise the president had talked about for years.
But some privacy advocates immediately jumped on the proposed legislation, saying it failed to go far enough, particularly given the broad statements President Barack Obama had made on the issue. They said the bill would give too much leeway to companies and not enough power to consumers.
There are already a number of federal laws, like the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Video Privacy Protection Act, that limit how companies may use certain specific consumer records. The new proposed bill, the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights Act, is intended to fill in the gaps between those statutes — by issuing some baseline data-processing requirements for all types of companies.
"It applies common-sense protections to personal data collected online or offline, regardless of how data is shared," the Obama administration said in a statement on Friday, "and promotes responsible practices that can maximize the benefits of data analysis while taking important steps to minimize risks."
The proposal, at its core, calls on industries to develop their own codes of conduct on the handling of consumer information. It also charges the Federal Trade Commission with making sure those codes of conduct satisfy certain requirements — like providing consumers with clear notices about how their personal details will be collected, used and shared.
Companies that violate those requirements could be subject to enforcement actions by the commission or by state attorneys general.
The administration’s proposal, considered a discussion draft, would need a congressional sponsor before it could be officially introduced. Already, though, industry analysts said that the proposal, along with several other legislative efforts on commercial privacy, was unlikely to be enacted in a Republican Congress.
The White House effort comes during heightened public awareness about both government and commercial data-mining. And the proposal drew sharp reactions.
Some prominent legislators and privacy law scholars said the administration’s effort failed to endow citizens with direct and clear legal rights to control who collects their information and how they use it. And the bill, they say, largely puts companies in charge of defining their own criteria for fair and unfair use of consumers’ personal details.
"Instead of codes of conduct developed by industries that have historically been opposed to strong privacy measures, we need uniform and legally enforceable rules that companies must abide by and consumers can rely upon," Sen. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., who has been investigating consumer-profiling companies called data brokers, said in a statement on Friday.
Companies like Acxiom, a database marketer in Little Rock, Arkansas, for instance, help marketers target individual consumers by estimated household income, ZIP code, race, ethnicity, social network or interests like "smoking/tobacco" or "gaming-casino."
Experian Marketing Services, another marketing company, uses data-mining to stratify consumers into socio-economic clusters with names like "small town, shallow pockets" and "diapers and debit cards."
Armed with that kind of information, advertisers might, say, send smokers ads for the latest air filters. But in a report last year on data brokers, the Federal Trade Commission warned that such profiling could be also used in ways that could "adversely impact consumers." Third parties, regulators wrote, could potentially use brokers’ information on smokers to decide whether someone was "a poor credit or insurance risk, or an unsuitable candidate for employment or admission to a university."
The report called on Congress to enact legislation to protect this kind of volatile information by, among other things, requiring companies that serve consumers to obtain consent from individuals before collecting such sensitive details about them.
While the White House’s proposal does not explicitly require companies to obtain affirmative consent to collect health information, it does call on companies to give individuals reasonable means to control the use of their personal data — depending on the context and "in proportion to the privacy risk."
Microsoft heralded the draft bill as a welcome first step in improving consumer trust in how companies handled their information.
"The White House framework tackles issues that are crucial to build trust and foster innovation," Brendon Lynch, chief privacy officer of Microsoft, wrote in a blog post on Friday. "Not all will agree with every aspect of the proposal — some will say it goes too far, while others will say it doesn’t go far enough — but it’s a good place to start the conversation."
But some privacy advocates warned against the bill’s reliance on industry-developed codes of conduct. The process, they contended, would allow companies to define for themselves whether their data-use policies constituted privacy risks to consumers. They also said the bill offered companies loopholes that would help them avoid giving consumers meaningful control over their records and make it difficult for federal regulators to enforce the legislation.
"While it claims to provide rights to consumers, behind its flimsy policy curtain is a system that gives real control to the companies that now gather our information," said Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, a consumer advocacy group in Washington.
A few privacy law scholars said that the draft bill could undermine protections consumers already had. If enacted as currently written, for instance, it could pre-empt stronger laws in a few states that require companies to obtain consumers’ explicit consent before collecting unique biometric information like fingerprints or facial scans.
"It would override state statutes that give people more protection," said Alvaro M. Bedoya, executive director of the Center on Privacy and Technology at Georgetown University Law Center. "It would be a significant setback for privacy."
Natasha Singer, New York Times


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Starbucks Union Vote Sets Up a Watershed Moment for U.S. Labor
U.S. workers have authorized strikes in a wide swath of industries and quit jobs in record numbers but could soon pull off an even more audacious coup: Winning a unionization vote at one of the country’s signature non-union firms, Starbucks.
It really seems out of whack to me just how strongly Starbucks is fighting against 100 employees in 3 stores unionizing. Are they that worried of this spreading?
So far they’ve sent their founder and their North American president (separately) to speak to these employees, held many anti union presentations, doubled staff at these stores by bringing in other workers (one source says that bit is illegal) and asked to delay the vote.
“But Workers United’s NLRB election effort remains a gamble. While U.S. law promises employees the right to collectively bargain if a majority of their co-workers cast ballots in the affirmative, the law also gives companies wide latitude to campaign aggressively against unionization. Companies generally face only minimal penalties for engaging in illegal efforts to stymie the union or obstruct negotiations once a union is victorious.”Posted on 2021-11-09T07:15:53+0000


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To spread festive cheer amongst Cross Keys shoppers this winter, the centre will be welcoming guests leading up to Christmas from 11 am until 3 pm to create some star-themed magic memories this festive season.
Those doing their Christmas shopping in Salisbury will be invited to join in a free Christmas tree star-building workshop to create something special for the tree this year. The workshop will take place on Sunday 10th of December between 11 am and 3 pm for all to enjoy.
Shoppers are then invited back on Sunday, 17th of December, to create a star-themed photo frame to gift to their loved ones this Christmas. The free workshop will take place between 11 am and 3 pm again to ensure that all guests around the centre during the day can join in the festive fun.
Finally, the centre will host an online competition with the winner receiving a £50 gift voucher to Wildwood and a £50 voucher for Live Escape for the perfect evening out at Cross Keys Shopping Centre.
Christmas fun at Cross Keys can be enjoyed alongside the Christmas Markets that will fill the square outside the centre as this year’s theme in Salisbury is City of Stars.
The markets will showcase a fantastic range of traders offering their Christmas goodies adding vibrancy and winter spirit to the marketplace.
Head to the Cross Keys website to find out more information, or check out Facebook for details about the events: https://www.crosskeyssalisbury.co.uk/


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The Stadium of Light, home to English soccer side Sunderland AFC, will become a fully cashless venue ahead of the 2021-2022 season.
Sunderland AFC has partnered with Bleep (UK) PLC and Global Payments to deliver new EPOS (electronic point of sale) and card payments solutions at the venue where contactless card payments will be introduced, providing supporters with a simple and efficient purchase process when buying food, drinks and merchandise inside the stadium.
Ahead of a return to full capacity, the new developments will reduce queueing times and congestion at concourse kiosks, increase the speed of service and improve hygiene, allowing fans to miss less of the action whilst ensuring they have peace of mind at the point of sale.
SAFC is also developing a new MatchDay ordering app, which will allow fans to order food and drinks through their mobile devices from the comfort of their seats, or even on their way to the stadium.
Further information relating to the MatchDay ordering app will be released in due course.
Other recent technological enhancements at the SoL will also allow supporters to enjoy a fully connected experience, with stadium WiFi enabling fans to enjoy a free and stable connection inside the main bowl.
Supporters are advised that cash will no longer be accepted inside the Stadium of Light, however, fans will still be able to purchase match programmes outside the venue using cash.
The Stadium of Light will be cashless from Friday 30 July, as SAFC welcome Hull City to Wearside in their final pre-season friendly ahead of the 2021-22 campaign.


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Optimism is also buoyed by the higher adoption of digital payments during the festive season sales in October and November, industry executives.
The biggest benefit for UPI is that it needs only a payment address, thereby removing the need for the full account number and the IFS code.
According to latest data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), UPI which showed a slower growth last month, has sprung back to double digit growth.
India is building public infrastructure such as Unified Payments Interface and Aadhaar that allows for an interoperable mobile payments system to evolve.
While smartphone-based transactions showed strong growth, traditional card payments also grew at 8% month-on-month.
Industry observers say digital payments are also directly linked to the consumption patterns of customers and there is a seasonality involved in the transaction numbers.
The bank will also offer a cashback of Rs 250 to customers depositing Rs 25,000 in the payment bank.
All major forms of digital payments, Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) along with mobile wallets and plastic cards, have seen a reduction in transaction numbers.
UPI has shown a 9.5% drop while that of Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) hosted by National Payments Corporation of India has shown a 12.5% fall.
"India is now at the cusp of a massive digital revolution. A shift to digital platform has huge benefits to the common man," Jaitley said.
Besides, UltraCash will now be issuing Yes Bank branded digital wallets to the consumers to aid quicker, seamless and friction-free payments.
Snapdeal to add new features like product selfies, enhanced order-tracking to improve user experience
After redesigning the website 10 days ago, Snapdeal is adding new features aimed at improving the user experience further.


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DMA insight: Consumer attitudes to privacy
19 Apr 2018
Data and privacy are the hottest topics in the marketing industry. Recent revelations about Cambridge Analytica and Facebook has amplified consumer awareness into these key issues.
But what do consumers think about information sharing, data exchange and trust? While short-term views may have changed in recent weeks, research collected over a five-year period suggests that long-term consumer sentiment remains unaffected. Consumers are less concerned about their data than ever, despite multiple data breach and privacy-related stories hitting the headlines over the last half a decade.
With the GDPR fast approaching, bringing with it new laws covering how businesses collect, store and use consumer data, the DMA and Acxiom asked a group of consumers for their opinions on the data they share and the companies that collect it.
Keep reading as we reveal:
- How public attitudes to privacy have changed from 2012 to today
- Why people share their data - and the incentives that make them more likely to do it
- The five keys to gaining your customers’ trust
Understanding how to speak to consumers has never been more crucial, and the DMA is here to offer insight, help, training and advice.
Scroll down to learn more.


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NEW YORK – MedGenome said last week that it has acquired Indian diagnostics company Prognosis Laboratories for an undisclosed amount.
The acquisition will allow MedGenome to expand its market presence and product portfolio, the company's India CEO Vedam Ramprasad said in a statement. Prognosis Laboratories, based in Delhi, offers a variety of services, including molecular diagnostics, clinical pathology, hematology, microbiology, serology, immunoassays, and histopathology.
"The state-of-the-art facility of Prognosis Laboratory and our expertise in genomics and personalized medicine will help us reach a larger audience and further augment MedGenome's diagnostic portfolio to accelerate the next phase of growth," Ramprasad said.
MedGenome currently has a College of American Pathologists-accredited genetic testing laboratory in India and a high-throughput next-generation sequencing laboratory in Foster City, California. Last August, the company raised $50 million in an investment round to expand its geographic reach and product offerings. In 2021, the company received $16.5 million from International Finance Corporation to increase access to COVID-19 testing in India.
Last month, MedGenome announced that it would distribute ChromaCode's PCR platform in India and the Middle East.


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Browse our video gallery below to discover more about the latest Ford Technologies and how they can benefit you. The South Korean technology company Samsung has introduced the Samsung Galaxy Ace style a new smartphone. Special-training video games, regulated by the gadget, happen to be created for individuals with absolutely no earlier connection with utilizing computer systems.
You need to monitor competitors and the needs and wants of customers and focus on innovative uses of new technology in order to go above and beyond these demands. News Corporation just stopped investing in MySpace at a crucial time,” they said. Due many technology advancement in this digital world new product is been developed to enhance our lifestyle in a better manner.
All of the articles included in this issue are available individually on our website, through the Ericsson Technology Insights app and on SlideShare. And this car carries such impressive technology that it sets the bar for other automakers to reach. The push marks another step toward infusing nearly all of Google’s products with some semblance of artificial intelligence — the concept of writing software that enables computers to gradually learn to think more like humans.
Our personal engagement with customers, resellers and technology partners drives the development and deployment of surveillance and security solutions with meaningful innovation. More recently, industry trends around AI commoditisation and applications, combined with the maturity of Python 3, have helped bring new communities into the Python fold.
Many of Google’s products are also vying against similar offerings from other tech conglomerates like Amazon and Microsoft. Staying ahead with the latest technology does not just mean getting the latest Blu-Ray DVD machine or the new iPhone. The electronic likeness is created using body measurements that individual consumers have registered and asked to be stored on the retailer’s central computer.


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|By Business Wire||
|March 12, 2014 10:23 AM EDT||
It is no surprise that businesses are being transformed by new technologies, especially those that bring more intelligence and mobility to their operations and products. Some companies – known as “Innovation Accelerators”– are driving this transformation by pursuing IT-enabled business innovation as a core strategy throughout their organization, according to the results of the “Business Transformation and the CIO Role” survey announced today by Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT), the world’s leading provider of open source solutions.
The survey of 420 global business leaders, commissioned by Red Hat through Harvard Business Review Analytic Services, found that these Innovation Accelerators (32 percent of survey respondents) are anticipating significant change over the next three years, particularly in how they engage with and learn about customers, as well as in their business models, products and services, and end user processes.
Specifically, Innovation Accelerators are more than twice as likely to invest in the creation of new applications compared to peers in companies where innovation is not a priority (72 percent vs. 34 percent). They are also more likely to focus on revenue generating opportunities with new customer experience strategies (71 percent), business model innovation (69 percent) and service innovation (68 percent). By contrast, companies for which innovation is not a priority will focus more internally on the automation of business processes (70 percent).
The way organizations engage with and understand their customers leads the list of areas that will be changed the most by IT-enabled innovation, with 55 percent of all survey respondents saying it will be changed significantly and 20 percent saying it will be completely transformed (rating it a 10 on a scale of 1-10). Respondents also believe IT-enabled innovation will change the way employees do their work (48 percent say it will be significantly changed; 15 percent say it will be completely transformed); the company’s products/services (46 percent say it will be significantly changed; 11 percent project it will be completely transformed); and business models (42 percent expect it will be significantly changed; 13 percent say it will be completely transformed). For Innovation Accelerators, the numbers are significantly higher: 70 percent say their approach to customer engagement and insight will be significantly changed, and 33 percent indicate it will be completely transformed.
These changes translate to a number of specific projects that respondents expect to engage in over the next three years. More than half of survey respondents are planning to automate business processes (67 percent); execute customer experience strategies (66 percent); create new applications (60 percent); and innovate their services (57 percent) and business models (56 percent).
Additional survey findings include:
- Business intelligence/analytics and mobile technologies and apps lead the list of technologies that survey respondents expect to drive business innovation over the next three years, at 66 percent and 53 percent, respectively. These are followed by process automation (44 percent), collaboration tools (29 percent), cloud computing (28 percent) and social media (24 percent).
- C-level leadership plays a significant role in driving technology-driven business innovation. According to survey respondents, CIOs lead this type of innovation in 41 percent of organizations (25 percent alone and an additional 16 percent in tandem with another executive), CEOs lead technology-driven business innovation in 16 percent of organizations, and other C-level executives account for 16 percent. In approximately one-fifth of organization (18 percent), a senior cross-functional committee or innovation board leads IT-driven business innovation.
- According to survey results, Innovation Accelerator organizations value this cross-functional collaboration, with nearly half (48 percent) reporting that IT and the business typically engage together to identify innovation opportunities.
- While CIOs have a mandate to help drive this innovation, daily responsibilities of running IT and limited resources may be hindering their ability to do this. According to survey respondents, while 57 percent believe the CIO should drive innovation and strategy, only 12 percent say their CIO actually does that. Survey results indicate that CIOs at Innovation Accelerator companies perform more strategic roles, developing and refining business strategy (26 percent), driving business innovation (30 percent), and identifying opportunities for competitive differentiation (26 percent).
“It is clear from survey results that every organization should strive to become an Innovation Accelerator,” said Lee Congdon, CIO, Red Hat. “These companies have moved from a ‘keep the lights on’ strategy to one where they are driving strategic initiatives like customer experience and service innovation. It is clear to me that the role of the CIO is changing as a result too, now playing an essential role in IT-driven business innovation.”
See the results of the Business Transformation and the CIO Role survey in an infographic, available at http://enterprisersproject.com/hbr-infographic, or download Harvard Business Review Analytic Services report, available at http://enterprisersproject.com/hbr-report.
Methodology and Demographics
Harvard Business Review Analytic Services conducted an online survey on behalf of Red Hat to examine business transformation and the role of the CIO, followed by 12 phone interviews with 12 hand-selected survey participants. The survey polled 420 individuals in executive management or board-level positions in companies with 500 or more employees. Forty-five percent (45 percent) of respondents were from organizations of 10,000 or more employees. Respondents represented major sectors, including technology, financial, manufacturing, healthcare, and government. Respondents were from North America (40 percent), Asia (24 percent), and Europe (23 percent). Thirteen percent (13 percent) were from the rest of the world.
Connect with Red Hat
- Learn more about Red Hat
- Get more Red Hat news or subscribe to the Red Hat news RSS feed
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About Red Hat, Inc.
Red Hat is the world's leading provider of open source software solutions, using a community-powered approach to reliable and high-performing cloud, Linux, middleware, storage and virtualization technologies. Red Hat also offers award-winning support, training, and consulting services. As the connective hub in a global network of enterprises, partners, and open source communities, Red Hat helps create relevant, innovative technologies that liberate resources for growth and prepare customers for the future of IT. Learn more at http://www.redhat.com.
Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including: risks related to delays or reductions in information technology spending; the effects of industry consolidation; the ability of the Company to compete effectively; the integration of acquisitions and the ability to market successfully acquired technologies and products; uncertainty and adverse results in litigation and related settlements; the inability to adequately protect Company intellectual property and the potential for infringement or breach of license claims of or relating to third party intellectual property; the ability to deliver and stimulate demand for new products and technological innovations on a timely basis; risks related to data and information security vulnerabilities; ineffective management of, and control over, the Company's growth and international operations; fluctuations in exchange rates; and changes in and a dependence on key personnel, as well as other factors contained in our most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (copies of which may be accessed through the Securities and Exchange Commission's website at http://www.sec.gov), including those found therein under the captions "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations". In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic and political conditions, governmental and public policy changes and the impact of natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.
Red Hat and the Shadowman logo are trademarks of Red Hat, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
Everyone knows that truly innovative companies learn as they go along, pushing boundaries in response to market changes and demands. What's more of a mystery is how to balance innovation on a fresh platform built from scratch with the legacy tech stack, product suite and customers that continue to serve as the business' foundation. In his General Session at 19th Cloud Expo, Michael Chambliss, Head of Engineering at ReadyTalk, will discuss why and how ReadyTalk diverted from healthy revenue an...
Oct. 23, 2016 03:30 AM EDT Reads: 2,941
SYS-CON Events announced today that Streamlyzer will exhibit at the 19th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Streamlyzer is a powerful analytics for video streaming service that enables video streaming providers to monitor and analyze QoE (Quality-of-Experience) from end-user devices in real time.
Oct. 23, 2016 02:30 AM EDT Reads: 938
You have great SaaS business app ideas. You want to turn your idea quickly into a functional and engaging proof of concept. You need to be able to modify it to meet customers' needs, and you need to deliver a complete and secure SaaS application. How could you achieve all the above and yet avoid unforeseen IT requirements that add unnecessary cost and complexity? You also want your app to be responsive in any device at any time. In his session at 19th Cloud Expo, Mark Allen, General Manager of...
Oct. 23, 2016 02:30 AM EDT Reads: 839
SYS-CON Media announced today that @WebRTCSummit Blog, the largest WebRTC resource in the world, has been launched. @WebRTCSummit Blog offers top articles, news stories, and blog posts from the world's well-known experts and guarantees better exposure for its authors than any other publication. @WebRTCSummit Blog can be bookmarked ▸ Here @WebRTCSummit conference site can be bookmarked ▸ Here
Oct. 23, 2016 02:30 AM EDT Reads: 9,642
In past @ThingsExpo presentations, Joseph di Paolantonio has explored how various Internet of Things (IoT) and data management and analytics (DMA) solution spaces will come together as sensor analytics ecosystems. This year, in his session at @ThingsExpo, Joseph di Paolantonio from DataArchon, will be adding the numerous Transportation areas, from autonomous vehicles to “Uber for containers.” While IoT data in any one area of Transportation will have a huge impact in that area, combining sensor...
Oct. 23, 2016 02:15 AM EDT Reads: 579
Almost everyone sees the potential of Internet of Things but how can businesses truly unlock that potential. The key will be in the ability to discover business insight in the midst of an ocean of Big Data generated from billions of embedded devices via Systems of Discover. Businesses will also need to ensure that they can sustain that insight by leveraging the cloud for global reach, scale and elasticity.
Oct. 23, 2016 02:00 AM EDT Reads: 10,957
The security needs of IoT environments require a strong, proven approach to maintain security, trust and privacy in their ecosystem. Assurance and protection of device identity, secure data encryption and authentication are the key security challenges organizations are trying to address when integrating IoT devices. This holds true for IoT applications in a wide range of industries, for example, healthcare, consumer devices, and manufacturing. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Lancen LaChance, vic...
Oct. 23, 2016 01:30 AM EDT Reads: 3,653
Cloud based infrastructure deployment is becoming more and more appealing to customers, from Fortune 500 companies to SMEs due to its pay-as-you-go model. Enterprise storage vendors are able to reach out to these customers by integrating in cloud based deployments; this needs adaptability and interoperability of the products confirming to cloud standards such as OpenStack, CloudStack, or Azure. As compared to off the shelf commodity storage, enterprise storages by its reliability, high-availabil...
Oct. 23, 2016 01:30 AM EDT Reads: 1,030
In the next forty months – just over three years – businesses will undergo extraordinary changes. The exponential growth of digitization and machine learning will see a step function change in how businesses create value, satisfy customers, and outperform their competition. In the next forty months companies will take the actions that will see them get to the next level of the game called Capitalism. Or they won’t – game over. The winners of today and tomorrow think differently, follow different...
Oct. 23, 2016 01:15 AM EDT Reads: 882
The IoT industry is now at a crossroads, between the fast-paced innovation of technologies and the pending mass adoption by global enterprises. The complexity of combining rapidly evolving technologies and the need to establish practices for market acceleration pose a strong challenge to global enterprises as well as IoT vendors. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Clark Smith, senior product manager for Numerex, will discuss how Numerex, as an experienced, established IoT provider, has embraced a ...
Oct. 23, 2016 01:15 AM EDT Reads: 989
SYS-CON Events announced today that Super Micro Computer, Inc., a global leader in Embedded and IoT solutions, will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 7-9, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Supermicro (NASDAQ: SMCI), the leading innovator in high-performance, high-efficiency server technology, is a premier provider of advanced server Building Block Solutions® for Data Center, Cloud Computing, Enterprise IT, Hadoop/Big Data, HPC and ...
Oct. 23, 2016 12:45 AM EDT Reads: 3,533
The Internet of Things (IoT), in all its myriad manifestations, has great potential. Much of that potential comes from the evolving data management and analytic (DMA) technologies and processes that allow us to gain insight from all of the IoT data that can be generated and gathered. This potential may never be met as those data sets are tied to specific industry verticals and single markets, with no clear way to use IoT data and sensor analytics to fulfill the hype being given the IoT today.
Oct. 23, 2016 12:15 AM EDT Reads: 2,439
Web Real-Time Communication APIs have quickly revolutionized what browsers are capable of. In addition to video and audio streams, we can now bi-directionally send arbitrary data over WebRTC's PeerConnection Data Channels. With the advent of Progressive Web Apps and new hardware APIs such as WebBluetooh and WebUSB, we can finally enable users to stitch together the Internet of Things directly from their browsers while communicating privately and securely in a decentralized way.
Oct. 23, 2016 12:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,824
Donna Yasay, President of HomeGrid Forum, today discussed with a panel of technology peers how certification programs are at the forefront of interoperability, and the answer for vendors looking to keep up with today's growing industry for smart home innovation. "To ensure multi-vendor interoperability, accredited industry certification programs should be used for every product to provide credibility and quality assurance for retail and carrier based customers looking to add ever increasing num...
Oct. 23, 2016 12:00 AM EDT Reads: 439
The Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF), sponsor of the IoTivity open source project, and AllSeen Alliance, which provides the AllJoyn® open source IoT framework, today announced that the two organizations’ boards have approved a merger under the OCF name and bylaws. This merger will advance interoperability between connected devices from both groups, enabling the full operating potential of IoT and representing a significant step towards a connected ecosystem.
Oct. 23, 2016 12:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,191
Manufacturers are embracing the Industrial Internet the same way consumers are leveraging Fitbits – to improve overall health and wellness. Both can provide consistent measurement, visibility, and suggest performance improvements customized to help reach goals. Fitbit users can view real-time data and make adjustments to increase their activity. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Mark Bernardo Professional Services Leader, Americas, at GE Digital, discussed how leveraging the Industrial Internet a...
Oct. 22, 2016 11:45 PM EDT Reads: 4,465
More and more brands have jumped on the IoT bandwagon. We have an excess of wearables – activity trackers, smartwatches, smart glasses and sneakers, and more that track seemingly endless datapoints. However, most consumers have no idea what “IoT” means. Creating more wearables that track data shouldn't be the aim of brands; delivering meaningful, tangible relevance to their users should be. We're in a period in which the IoT pendulum is still swinging. Initially, it swung toward "smart for smar...
Oct. 22, 2016 11:45 PM EDT Reads: 714
SYS-CON Events announced today that LeaseWeb USA, a cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) provider, will exhibit at the 19th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. LeaseWeb is one of the world's largest hosting brands. The company helps customers define, develop and deploy IT infrastructure tailored to their exact business needs, by combining various kinds cloud solutions.
Oct. 22, 2016 11:30 PM EDT Reads: 3,802
A completely new computing platform is on the horizon. They’re called Microservers by some, ARM Servers by others, and sometimes even ARM-based Servers. No matter what you call them, Microservers will have a huge impact on the data center and on server computing in general. Although few people are familiar with Microservers today, their impact will be felt very soon. This is a new category of computing platform that is available today and is predicted to have triple-digit growth rates for some ...
Oct. 22, 2016 11:00 PM EDT Reads: 33,945
November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Penta Security is a leading vendor for data security solutions, including its encryption solution, D’Amo. By using FPE technology, D’Amo allows for the implementation of encryption technology to sensitive data fields without modification to schema in the database environment. With businesses having their data become increasingly more complicated in their mission-critical applications (such as ERP, CRM, HRM), continued ...
Oct. 22, 2016 10:30 PM EDT Reads: 923


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ByteDance revealed on Thursday that total gross merchandise volume (GMV) on its Douyin short video and livestreaming platform reached RMB 18.7 billion (USD 2.8 billion) between October 25 and November 11, during China’s Singles’ Day shopping festival. GMV on November 11 surpassed RMB 2 billion (USD 300 million).
More than 100 livestreaming studios reaped RMB 10 million (USD 1.5 million) in a single session while more than 1,383 studios collected RMB 1 million. The number of watchers for a single livestreaming session peaked at 4.28 million.
E-commerce giant Alibaba, which first coined the Singles’ Day promotion on November 11, generated RMB 498.2 billion (USD 74.1 billion) in its extended event from November 1 to November 11, while JD.com registered RMB 275.1 billion (USD 40.9 billion) in GMV over the same time frame.
While ByteDance’s performance is still dwarfed by the established players, it marks a great achievement for a company which is firstly famous for its content—news on Jinri Toutiao and short videos on Douyin—and a newcomer on Singles’ Day. The company first participated in 2019, creating a festival called Haowu Faxian Jie—which means ‘a good time to seek goods things’—but did not reveal any sales data. This year, ByteDance created a bonanza called Douyin Chongfen Jie—’a good time to treat and love your fans’—to persuade its users to shop while watching livestreaming.
Despite the success, ByteDance isn’t convinced on how to further develop the e-commerce segment.
Chinese media outlet Late Post reported on Thursday that the company plans to make e-commerce one of its priorities for next year, together with a search engine and longer videos. To avoid conflicts, it would combine its Dianshang Yinliu and Luban Dianshang units—which are in charge of advertisement and are directing users to third-party platforms such as Taobao or JD.com—with the newly established e-commerce department for Douyin.
When contacted by KrASIA on Friday, ByteDance emphasized that Dianshang Yinliu and Luban Dianshang both belong to the monetization department, which is now in close cooperation with the e-commerce unit that was set up in June, indicating that they still operate separately.
Late Post wrote that ByteDance will build a shopping feature on top of the Douyin app, a plan that the company did not want to confirm. Critics of the idea argue that the change might erode Douyin’s advantage of first connecting its content with fans and only later with goods. Late Post also reported that “Bob” Kang Zeyu, head of the e-commerce department, would prefer a standalone e-commerce site similar to Tmall.
ByteDance responded to KrASIA that the department has not started to build such a site.


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23 Aug 2012 Tradeshift – the proof of the e-invoicing pudding
The problem with start-ups is they’re start-ups. For large organizations, it’s a difficult choice to go with a relatively new business even if their business model stacks up, which makes securing new business doubly difficult. And it makes the early years of a start-up the most challenging. Investors and industry observers know this and slow growth and moderate sales figures are expected but even with a great proposition, world class marketing and favourable write-ups from bloggers and analysts, there comes a point when the business model needs proving. We need to taste the pudding. Which is why we’re delighted to see the latest announcement from Tradeshift.
The proof of the e-invoicing pudding
Today, they have announced that a leading global science-based enterprise has become one of the latest companies to select TRADESHIFT . Tradeshift, who now have a valid claim to be the fastest growing, global B2B network and certainly among the industry leader in supplier on-boarding, will be used to roll-out an all-inclusive e-invoicing solution to the company’s 36,000 global suppliers with an invoice volume of over 600,000 per year.
Christian Lanng, CEO and cofounder of TRADESHIFT commenting on this significant win said: “E-invoicing has always promised so much to large global enterprises but has consistently failed to deliver. Major deals like this show that our proposition really stands up. By turning the industry on its head, we make it so easy for suppliers to get on board that they sign-up in significant numbers. This is a win-win situation for buyer and supplier alike and has a bottom line impact with significant cost reduction caused by efficiencies and streamlined processes.
“Invoicing costs businesses of all sizes in terms of time and money. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Not only does TRADESHIFT make it more attractive for suppliers to use e-invoicing, the unique features in the platform make the entire process easier and faster for everyone involved.”
This is a substantial win for Tradeshift and goes a long way to proving their position as a serious e-invoicing player.
Pete Loughlin can be found on twitter @peteloughlin


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A cardboard box, sliced to pieces, taped together, fastened to a pair of work goggles, and capped off with an HTC Magic: this is what DIY augmented reality looks like, right now.
T-Mobile's followup to the G1 has gone through more than a few name changes, but it looks like we'll finally be seeing the American version—the T-Mobile myTouch 3G—this summer.
Not only does the T-Mobile G2/HTC Magic/Google Ion phone improve on original T-Mobile G1 in just about every way, it manages to do it while cutting down significantly on the size. The only thing it doesn't have going for it is a hardware keyboard.
HTC's second Android handset looks as though it's been subjected to its last delay, with a listing for a May 5th release on Vodaphone UK's website.
T-Mobile just sent out invitations for a big launch event happening in NYC on April 21. What might they be up to?
HTC and Vodafone sales representatives have revealed that the G2—Android-powered phone—HTC Magic's launch date has been pushed back from April to May 1st because of "last minute hardware changes."
That's what CEO Peter Chou told attendees of a tech conference in Taipei, signaling that, beyond the Magic, the company has a few more tricks up its sleeve in '09. But what?
HTC and Google are getting closer to perfection with the new Android G2, the HTC Magic. Nice finish, great form factor. Check out our video, including the obligatory comparison with Apple's iPhone, and hands-on impressions:


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Every single PS4 game will be released digitally, while only some will be released on disc.
The truth that physical releases are probably already in the minority on PS3 (when smaller PSN releases are factored in) is often forgotten, but still – this stark statement of intent from Sony is certainly significant.
I believe it's very important for the platform to have a wide variety of developers making things that are unique and creative,” Sony worldwide studios boss Shuhei Yoshida told The Guardian.
We're shifting our platform more and more to the digital side – PS4 will be similar to PS Vita in that every game will be available as a digital download, and some will also be available as a disc.
[Jonathan Blow's] The Witness will be a digital release and because of the flexibility of the digital distribution scheme, we can have more small games that might be free or available for a couple of dollars, or different services like free-to-play or subscription models.”
The real question is whether Sony will choose to make its digital releases competitive with retail. At the moment games tend to be sold at full RRP online, while the UK's retailers will discount this significantly – particularly online.
If this unbalance is addressed then it will be a further nail in the coffin for physical distribution.


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Benner on Tech: Private Markets Are Still King
People are Talking About…
A recent survey from Nasdaq Private Market suggests that most private companies -- even those with CFOs -- aren’t going public this year. The firm, which provides equity management services to startups, polled private companies and found that 75 percent were “unsure” or had “no intention” of going public soon.
About 63 percent of the respondents also said that they preferred to raise money through private markets, a reflection of the abundant funds available from private investors and the big valuations they’ve been willing to bestow on startups. Crowdfunding and angel investors were the next most popular source of funds, at 33 percent.
(I wrote a column this morning about the uncertain IPO market for tech startups. You can read it right here.)
Meerkat, the live streaming video app, is in talks to take money from Greylock, reports the Information.
Snapchat wants your March Madness clips, Bloomberg reports.
Uber drivers outnumber yellow cabs in New York City, the New York Post reports.
Upworthy’s cofounder Peter Koechley apologized for filling our social media accounts with horrible spam, reports Business Insider.
Fred Wilson says on-demand delivery is going to disrupt retail.
First they came for our apartments. Then they came for our cars. Now Bloomberg says the sharing economy is coming for our pets.
People and Personnel Moves
David Recordon, who has been an engineering director at Facebook since 2009, is now the White House information technology director, reports Yahoo News.
Alibaba will let you “pay with a selfie,” reports Fortune.
Amazon got permission from the Federal Aviation Administration to run experimental drone flights, reports USA Today. The company's same-day delivery service has come to Miami and Baltimore, Bloomberg reports. Cloud services provided by Amazon Web Services, Microsoft and Akamai are being used to circumvent China’s so-called Great Firewall, reports the Wall Street Journal. One such group, Great Fire, has come under serious DDoS attack ever since the Journal revealed how it opens up banned sites to Chinese users.
Google was scrutinized for anticompetitive tactics by the FTC in 2012, reports the Wall Street Journal. A staff report recommended that the commission sue. Marketing Land says that Google allegedly kept online retail competitors from surfacing too high in search results.
Twitter has given Bloomberg clues about the GOP presidential hopefuls’ influences, interests and social media savvy. The actress Ashley Judd is researching legal actions to combat gender-based violence on Twitter. She writes in an essay about what happened after she dared opine on a basketball game:
What happened to me is the devastating social norm experienced by millions of girls and women on the Internet. Online harassers use the slightest excuse (or no excuse at all) to dismember our personhood. My tweet was simply the convenient delivery system for a rage toward women that lurks perpetually.
Kaspersky Lab has close ties to Russian intelligence agencies, even though the security software maker’s customers include U.S. big box stores like Best Buy, reports Bloomberg.
The cybersecurity industry is “fragmenting along geopolitical lines,” Reuters reports.
HBO, Showtime, and Sony talked to broadband companies about putting their services in a lane separate from that of the public Internet in order to get around net neutrality rules, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Beware cable, because once dominant industries sometimes fall apart slowly at first and then all at once, according to this Asymco report.
Rovio, the maker of Angry Birds, is losing steam. The Wall Street Journal has the numbers.
Tech and media companies still don't see eye-to-eye, reports the Information.
Larry King, Master Tweeter.
Vine star, gone wild.
News and Notes
So-called PowerPoint karaoke is the latest safe-for-work stress reliever for stressed out techies, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Goodbye spontaneity. The Washington Post has a map of the ultimate road trip, as generated by an algorithm.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg View's editorial board or Bloomberg LP, its owners and investors.
To contact the editor on this story:
Timothy L. O'Brien at email@example.com


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Pune: The German auto and industry components maker Schaeffler opened its 10 million software development facility in Pune’s Baner, with 200 engineers by the end of the year, with the firm’s global chief technology officer, Uwe Wagner, saying that while its focus is in electric mobility, it will continue with solutions for conventional combustion engine vehicles till markets demand.
“The future of ICE (internal combustion engines) vehicles depend on the auto OEMs. We are seeing that there are fewer new generations of ICE vehicles, but we continue to have solutions for them, including bearings, shifting, as well as solutions to improve fuel efficiency, with Euro-VII standards expected to be challenging for trucks. We are focusing on R&D for ICE as well as EVs. The markets will eventually decide till the time we manufacture ICE solutions,” Wagner said, speaking to the press after the inauguration.
Schaeffler also has a manufacturing facility in Talegaon, on Pune’s outskirts. Wagner added that the Pune development facility will have software and electronics development as its core competencies, especially in its electric mobility business, and will be integrated with Schaeffler’s global R&D network in Germany, China, and elsewhere.
Wagner added that global economic pressures, despite forcing job cuts all over the world, have kept its business plans on target, and even accelerated them.
“Whatever market conditions there are, be it the war in Ukraine, or the global supply chain or talent crisis, will accelerate all transformation plans, not slow them down in any way. Plans for e-mobility will especially accelerate. The current situation has shown the need for the transformation to happen quickly. New requirements in that directions are coming in across regions, from the European Union to China,” he said.


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Multi-state cannabis operator MedMen said its current financial conditions raise doubts to whether the company can continue on.
According to an SEC filing, as of December 24, 2022, MedMen had cash and cash equivalents of $15.6 million and working capital deficit of $137.4 million. The company said it incurred net losses from continuing operations of $15.1 million for the six months ended December 24, 2022, compared to $8.2 million during the same period of 2021.
"The conditions described above raise substantial doubt with respect to the company’s ability to meet its obligations for at least one year from the issuance of these Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements, and therefore, to continue as a going concern," Medmen wrote. "The company plans to continue to fund its operations through the implementation and expansion of its cost savings plan, and various strategic actions..."
MedMen said its annual operating plan for fiscal year 2023 estimates it will be able to manage its ongoing operations, but warned its cash needs are significant and not achievable with the current cash flow from operations.
The company plans to reduce its projected cash requirements by delaying new store development, permanently or temporarily closing stores that are deemed to be performing below expectations, and/or implementing other restructuring activities.
In August 2022, MedMen completed the sale of its operations in the state of Florida at the final sales price of $67 million which comprised of $63 million in cash and $4 million in liabilities. The buyer made a cash payment of $40 million at closing, $11.5 million on September 15, 2023, and is required to make an additional installment payment of $11.5 million on or before March 15, 2023.


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News Articles for "Morning Trading"
Shares of Infoblox rose to their highest level on Friday since going public a little more than a year ago. The bounce came as the company's fiscal third-q...read more
Royalty Pharma disclosed Friday that a negligible number of Elan Corp. PLC shareholders have voted their shares in favor of its offer to buy the company. ...read more


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Namco Bandai posted improved profits for the three-month period ending June 30, thanks in part to increased worldwide game sales and revenues.
The company's content division -- which includes its video game business as well as network and video/music content -- saw revenues increase 8 percent from a year ago to 35.6 billion yen ($694.8 million).
Net sales for Namco Bandai as a whole were up 7.7 percent to 88.2 billion yen ($1.14 billion), with profits of 3.25 billion yen ($42.1 million) representing a turnaround from last year's first-quarter losses.
The company sold just over 3.3 million new retail game units on 27 distinct regional releases during the period, up from 3.15 million sales on 43 releases last year.
Those sales include 622,000 units of Nintendo 3DS software -- outpacing DS software sales of 614,000 during the period -- and 90,000 sales for the U.S. release of Ridge Racer 3DS
The rise of the 3DS -- and the lack of any new releases on the Wii for the quarter -- helped portable game sales rise to a 54 percent majority of the company's game sales during the period, a turnaround from a year ago when portable games made up only 31 percent of game sales.
Revenues from Namco Bandai amusement facilities were flat at 14.7 billion yen ($190.5 million), though same store sales in Japan were up 7.9 percent year-over-year. Namco now operates just 29 amusement facilities in the U.S., down from 41 a year ago and 88 in 2009. Japanese amusement locations are down to 217 from 223 a year ago and 293 in 2009.
Mobile Suit Gundam continues to be Namco Bandai's most popular property, representing 7.4 billion yen ($95.9 million) in sales for the quarter, followed by Masked Rider and the Power Rangers properties.


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As AOC once again finds itself at the top as the leading monitor brand, we chat with AOC’s Sales Manager Noemi Palo as she discusses the company’s success, the Philippine market, and what’s next with AOC.
Being at the top is just as rewarding as it is motivating, and Palo knows this best. The recent report from global market intelligence firm International Data Corporation (IDC) states AOC under the Multi Media Display (MMD) group maintains its dominance in Philippine market as the leading monitor brand for the fourth quarter of 2017.
“Being number one is a confirmation that we are doing good and working very hard; as much that it is a reminder for us to always continue being the best and stay at number 1,” said Palo.
AOC established a strong foundation in its market at the start of 2017 and it was continuously sustained as the second quarter ended, with the market share percentage in favor of AOC. During the third quarter of 2017, its total market share peaked up to 21.96 percent and stayed strong up to the end of the fourth quarter. AOC maintained its market leadership and closed the year strong. The data analysis of the whole year showed that AOC sold hundreds of thousands of units throughout 2017.
However, such significant achievements could sometimes be undermined by common misconceptions regarding the industry, and Palo sets the record straight on these.
“The most common misconception I have heard of is that the monitor business is a dying business—a sundown,” she said. “People think it is now a mobile world but this is not true to all sectors and applications (CAD, graphics, and gaming). For as long as people use computers, we need the monitors.”
Aside from that, other false beliefs render monitors obsolete.
“Another misconception is that monitor features do not play a role in corporate and government bids or projects. From how I see it, they do matter. Viewing size, resolution, speed, and connectivity? They do matter,” said Palo. “Last is that the small sizes like the 15.6” no longer have a market. Although our market has started to shift to the bigger sizes, there is still a big market for the 15.6” and 18.5” users.”
Regardless, AOC continue to debunk such ideas through continuously thriving in the industry. But how do they do it? First things first, they adapt.
“You need to be vigilant and adaptive to the changes—like in terms of the technical requirements in the monitor market. For instance, on the connectivity options, most people now are using more of the HDMI port, not just the VGA port,” said Palo.
Second, is to have a keen eye for details. “You also need to be attentive to some details, like the buying behavior of your customers so you provide and bring in the right quantity and type of products at a given period,” said Palo.
Carrying with them their success and motivation, AOC looks out at the Philippine market with positive points of view.
“The Philippine market is still a very good market for the monitor product category,” said Palo. “There is still a strong demand for both the private and government sectors for the brands that we carry.”
With that in mind, the company also aims to consistently succeed and stay driven by its achievements.
“AOC will continue its drive to be known and improve its share in the big size and gaming categories, without sacrificing or dropping our mark in the small sizes where we have been known since we started,” said Palo. “The market will be wowed with AOC’s incoming new models with up to date and best features.”