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British Columbia to go fully electric by 2040
The government of British Columbia, Canada, announced new regulations to ensure that all new vehicles sold in the province will have to be fully-electric by 2040. The regulation will be phased in starting in 2025.
Initially, the Zero-Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) Act will take hold in 2025, with the requirement that 10 per cent of all light-duty vehicles must be electric. This initially small number will then be ramped up to 30 per cent in 2030, before the 2040 deadline of 100 per cent of vehicles sold being emission-free.
In 2018 the EV proportion of Canadian vehicle sales made up about 2.2%. In that year, the BC government announced its electric vehicle target. Now the British Columbia government is releasing a year-by-year framework aimed at helping vehicle manufacturers and sellers meet the target of becoming fully electric within 20 years. B.C. Energy Minister Bruce Ralston. “British Columbians are eager to get behind the wheel of an electric vehicle, help reduce air pollution and save on fuel costs, but price and availability can be barriers.”
Merran Smith, executive director of Clean Energy Canada, added that the ZEV Act was “developed in consultation with the auto industry, local governments and environmental groups,” in which the slow ramp-up is accomodating automobile manufacturers and sellers, who will have time to unload any internal combustion vehicles, as well as go through several rounds of stock before having to upgrade their model stock. Emissions from transport make up about 40% of British Columbia’s total emissions.
The process will be organized by a new ZEV advisory council, which is to be made up of industry workers, environmental groups, First Nations, infrastructure providers and other third-party participants. Should the effects pick up more quickly than expected, it is possible that the twenty-year timeline may be accelerated, at the same time, this is likely to cause protest from the automobile factions that have to undergo costly electrification changes in their lineup.


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Chloé Zhao’s Marvel Cinematic Universe debut flick Eternals is just a few days away from official release. The movie is much anticipated across the world and in India the craze is multiplied. There are many reasons. The movie brings Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Gemma Chan, Kit Harington, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani to the MCU.
So while we speak, the Marvel heads have now opened gates for the advance bookings of Eternals for India. Read on to know everything you should about the same.
The advance booking of Marvel Studios’ much awaited Diwali entertainer Eternals has opened across the country. Fans have been waiting for the big ticket Marvel biggie since months and they can now book their tickets across the country.
Official Announcement Link:
Advance bookings for Imax and Imax 3D are now open More shows to open tomorrow! 🎟
Marvel Studios presents “Eternals,” the 25th movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and an all-new adventure introducing 10 Super Heroes never seen before on screen, releasing this Diwali 5th November in 6 languages – English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.
Tell us how excited are you for Chloé Zhao’s Eternals in the comments section below. Stay tuned to Koimoi for more.

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Samsung announced the two phones Galaxy J4 and Galaxy J6 in the past may note that the South Korean company decided after the launch of the latter in India under a different name which is a Galaxy On6. However, it seems that Samsung intends to issue a copy of the plasma of the Galaxy J6 soon, at least according to the developers in the forum XDA Developers.
In fact, we enable these developers to find the files of the operating system of this phone which carries the code name J6PLTE, a code name which means in detail the Galaxy J6 Plus LTE. And the information that has been monitored in the files of the operating system that this phone will work its way to most of the republics of the former Soviet Serbia.
The information obtained also reveal that the phone +Galaxy J6 will have a processor Snapdragon 450 unlike phone Galaxy J6 that came with the Processor Exynos 7870 Octa. Of course, there is a possibility to cancel the phone in the end, but we have become accustomed to seeing Samsung launch a large proportion of smart phones, streaming, the best example of this +Galaxy A6 +Galaxy A8.
The post Samsung working on phone +Galaxy J6, and with the Processor Snapdragon 450 appeared first on electronic.


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Automated facilities help keep up production as consumption rises.
As the number of dairy farmers declines in Japan, so-called gigafarms that churn out more than 10,000 tons of milk a year are stepping up production to meet consumers’ growing appetite for dairy products.
A giant dairy farm about 90 minutes from Obihiro on the northern island of Hokkaido is a case in point. It has 1,600 head of adult cows and calves in 14 barns, far above the 85 head kept at a conventional dairy farm.
The Nishikamikano farm employs automation for milking and health monitoring. Milking is done in a long shed where cows wait for staffers to disinfect their teats and attach suction equipment. Once the milking is done, the suction terminals detach, allowing the cows to return to their barns.
Japan had 16 such giant farms in fiscal 2017, industry data shows — barely a blip against the 15,700 dairy-farming households. But they are crucial in propping up the country’s milk production.
Japan’s dairy farms, just like the rest of Japan, are facing labor shortages, even with workers recruited from overseas. As the farms’ scale increases, automation has become crucial, creating business chances for equipment makers.
In July, a Hokkaido dairy farm installed four milking robots made by Netherlands-based Lely as part of a capacity expansion. The new machines, which are electric rather than pneumatic, cut the time needed to latch on to cows’ teats by about 30%, to roughly 25 seconds.
Dairy farms «have relied on foreign workers, but hiring competition is fierce,» said Hideto Nanbuya, president of equipment distributor Cornes AG, which supplies robots for such tasks as milking and feeding.
The ranks of Japan’s dairy farms have decreased roughly 60% over the past two decades, shrinking milk output by around 10% in a decade. But milk consumption rose for a fourth consecutive year in fiscal 2018.
This fiscal year, the volume of milk produced is projected to rise for the first time in four years, according to the Japan Dairy Association, and the government has set a production target of 7.5 million tons in fiscal 2025, up 3% from fiscal 2018.


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What to do if you do not have time to pre-order the iPhone 6s in Rossii review
On the night of Thursday to Friday in Russia officially started selling the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. Many had already managed to place your pre-orders from mobile operators and Resellers (smartphones enough at all), but not everybody managed to do it: someone does not call back to confirm the reservation, others did not want to go at night to shop for a smartphone (which is logical), the reasons are different.
In this case, come to the aid of not only dealers offering the device at prices below official, but Apple’s online store. Last night it opened its doors for everyone to purchase the new iPhone, which will help you choose accessories and even deliver smartphone for free. But how much do you have to wait for the coveted device?
Only 1-3 working days. Yes, this time Apple seems to have prepared and have available for almost all versions of iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus to promptly deliver smartphones to customers.
The exception is high-end model to 128GB: for example, the iPhone 6s in the color “rose gold” will have to wait about a week, and iPhone 6s Plus in the same execution — as much as 3-4 weeks. Other versions are available for ordering and purchase can even add gift wrapping.
For comparison, last year iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus was just don’t get it: smartphones have had to wait several weeks, and even in November it was all I could grab “six” in the “Connected”. The queue then were space.
Probably because of the price: the official price of iPhone 6s in the Russian online store starts from 56 990 rubles, and the iPhone 6s Plus — 65 990 rubles.


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Economic Crisis in Argentina Provides Opportunity for Bitcoin ATM Providers
In step with cryptocurrency ATM carriers Athena Bitcoin and the Odyssey organization, via the end of 2018, Argentina could have up to 30 Bitcoin ATMs. Reuters posted an article on October 4, 2018, bringing up that those cryptocurrency ATM companies are keen to tap into the South American market and take benefit of the cutting-edge Argentinian monetary crisis and to make bigger their market percentage.
Monetary crisis gives increase opportunity
Closing month in September 2018, Athena Bitcoin launched the first Bitcoin ATM in Argentina in a Buenos Aires purchasing centre. Athena Bitcoin is however no longer the most effective cryptocurrency ATM provider eager to increase in Argentina. Odyssey institution intends to also undergo a large roll out in the South American by means of putting in a hundred and fifty ATMs in Argentina by way of early next year. 80 percent of Odyssey organization’s hooked up Bitcoin ATMs will also be operational inside the first few months of the yr.
“Today, the cryptocurrency ATMs inside the international are growing exponentially,” stated Dante Galeazzi, an Argentinian operations manager for Athena Bitcoin. “In Argentina, there have been no industrial ATMs, and the concept become to be the primary to capture the marketplace,” Galeazzi brought that, while Athena Bitcoin has 12 Bitcoin ATMs in Columbia, the Argentine financial crisis, was an notable possibility for the corporation to make bigger and roll out cryptocurrency ATMs within the region.
Alas, in relation to the Argentinian Peso, it has misplaced over 50 percent of its unique value against the United States greenback in 2018. Even as there is often a bad sentiment toward forex devaluations, it, however, may have advantageous ramifications for the cryptocurrency enterprise. Within the case of Argentina, the Peso devaluation led to a spike and increase in Bitcoin transactions. As the peso became too risky and hard as a medium of change and storage of cost, Bitcoin became a better guard and opportunity.
Cryptocurrency ATM carriers Expands providing
In relation to cryptocurrency ATM vendors, Athena Bitcoin can only support Bitcoin. They, however, intend to enlarge their offering to encompass other cryptocurrencies like Litecoin, Ethereum, and Bitcoin coins. A substantial disadvantage with Athena Bitcoin’s ATMs is that it handiest lets in customers to buy and promote cryptocurrencies, unlike Odyssey institution ATMs which can also go through traditional banking transactions.
On the grounds that Odyssey group’s ATMs permits clients to deposit, withdraw, and transfer cash among extraordinary money owed, it has a numerous number of features. Octagon, a business enterprise owned by Odyssey group could be answerable for processing the ATM transaction in Argentina. They wish to have approximately 1.6 hundred Bitcoin ATMs for Odyssey in Argentina by means of 2019.
Athena Bitcoin and Odyssey group also plan to increase throughout the South American vicinity. Athena Bitcoin is in particular eager on increasing to Chile, Brazil, and Mexico.


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This year’s Fetish Con will take place from August 9th to 12th in St. Petersburg, Florida. The fetish fair is sponsored by the clip portal Clips4Sale. The venue is the Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront Hotel.
For the 18th time industry representatives from the fetish field will meet at Fetish Con in St. Petersburg in August. The B2B fair has become a mandatory event for film production companies and manufacturers specialising partly or entirely in products and services in the fetish and BDSM sector.
A spokesman for the fair says: »Our 18th year has seen an explosion of interest in the show, and we’ve worked hard to pack the schedule with more events, such as our Kinky Classes, and activities for both industry members and general attendees over the entire weekend.«
The Hilton is completely reserved for visitors of Fetish Con for the duration of the fair and is already fully booked. According to the trade fair, however, alternative accommodation options are available. In addition, the sponsor of the event has set up a shuttle service to the trade fair.
But not only the hotel rooms have become scarce. Also the booths of the Fetish Con are already sold out. A spokesperson for the fair said: »We’re thrilled that Fetish Con continues to be so well received by the city and the local community. So much so, that we have been offered a new three-year contract, and we’re excited to announce that St. Petersburg and the Hilton will be our home through our 20th Anniversary in 2020, and up until at least 2021. It’s an exciting time, as the trade show is gearing up to kick off in just a couple weeks and the buzz online has everyone excited about our action-packed schedule of events!«
If you want to know more, go to FetishCon.com.


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Clio Entertainment, the original and definitive international awards program celebrating creativity in marketing the entertainment business, today announced the addition of Live Entertainment as an entry type in the 2019 awards program.
The new entry type will honor the best in marketing and advertising for ticketed events in front of live audiences-including, but not limited to: theatre, performing arts, concerts and festivals. It will also include entries promoting a live entertainment organization or venue.
“There are few experiences as rewarding as attending a live performance- being in the audience to see a Broadway show or a symphony concert is like nothing else in the world,” said Nicole Purcell, President, Clio. “We are excited to have this new platform to honor the marketers that channel their


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Grayhill welcomes Westrep CA as new representative in Southern California
June 13, 2017 11:41 AM
Grayhill is pleased to announce our new representative in Southern California, Westrep CA.
Founded in 1964 by two industry veterans, Westrep is highly regarded for its Semiconductor and Passive sales performance and engineering expertise.
With a team of Field Sales Engineers, a dedicated Distribution Sales Manager and Inside Sales support, Westrep is currently covering three regional territories, Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego including Baja California.
For more information, click here
to view their website. Customers within above regions please feel free to reach out to contacts below:
Grayhill, Inc. designs and manufacturers intuitive human interface solutions that make life simpler, safer and more efficient. Standard products include optical and hall-effect encoders, discrete and hall effect joysticks, rotary switches, keypads, and pushbuttons; all with finely tuned haptics. Grayhill specializes in creating ergonomic panels and product shells that integrate various interface technologies, including displays, our components, and gesture recognizing multi-touch technology. With headquarters in La Grange, Illinois, and multiple state-of-the-art facilities around the world, Grayhill’s team has the full engineering, product development and manufacturing expertise to deliver both standard and customized products quickly and cost-effectively. To learn more about Grayhill’s products and capabilities, visit www.grayhill.com or email email@example.com.


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The US-based microblogging platform Twitter will begin testing advertising in Fleets, its competitor to the “stories” features on platforms like Snapchat and Instagram that let users post disappearing updates.
The social media company previously said it set a goal of doubling its annual revenue by 2023 from last year’s levels and the current move is one way Twitter is working to monetize users and create new income streams.
Twitter’s ad revenue grew 32 percent year over year in the first quarter to $899 million with total ad engagement increasing 11 percent over the same period. The company is making a broad effort to build more features at a faster clip as it seeks to grow to 315 million daily active users by the end of 2023.
The social media platform rolled out Fleets to all users in November. The posts show up at the top of users’ apps above their feed and allow users to post text, reactions to tweets, and photos or videos.
Fleet ads will be the first on Twitter that appears full screen on phones. Brands can add a “swipe-up” option that would direct a user to the company’s website or other web destination for users to learn more about the product or service being advertised.
The new offering is part of Twitter’s aim to catch up to larger social media platforms like Facebook and Snap, which have long offered a “Stories” posts feature that disappears after 24 hours and is monetized with ads.
The test ads will be visible for a limited group of people in the US on iOS and Android. The American fast-food restaurant chain Wendy’s is participating in the pilot, along with nine other advertisers in the consumer packaged goods, tech, dining and retail spaces, the company said.
Twitter said as it experiments, it will seek to understand how the ads perform for customers not just on Fleets ads but also for future iterations of full-screen formats on the platform.


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Yesterday, I got the news that after 17 years at Burberry, Christopher Bailey is set to leave the iconic British fashion house in the end of March 2018 making way for a new vision in the brand’s creative strategy.
A digitalized shopping experience at Burberry’s Regent Street store in London.
46- year-old Bailey joined Burberry in 2001 and became CEO and chief creative officer in May 2014. He led the company through successful years, especially when the brand focused a lot on social media. Like other fashion houses, Burberry has endured a difficult period in recent years and in July 2017, Bailey was succeeded as CEO by Marco Gobbetti in July this year who brings a new vision to the brand.
«Burberry has undergone an incredible transformation since 2001 and Christopher has been instrumental to the company’s success in that period,» said Gobbetti in the official statement. «We have a clear vision for the next chapter to accelerate the growth and success of the Burberry brand and I am excited about the opportunity ahead for our teams, our partners and our shareholders.»
«It has been the great privilege of my working life to be at Burberry, working alongside and learning from such an extraordinary group of people over the last 17 years,» said Bailey. «I am excited to pursue new creative projects but remain fully committed to the future success of this magnificent brand and to ensuring a smooth transition.»
An iconic piece and a must-have for every closet:
The Kensington Long cotton-gabardine trench coat
Rumors are that Phoebe Philo, who worked alongside Gobbetti so successfully at Céline (Gobbetti was CEO at the French luxury brand before), could be a potential candidate to succeed Bailey. Burberry shares fell 1.46 percent on the news of the designer’s departure in London trading.
Burberry F/W 2017 show
Photos: Courtesy of Burberry


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Twitter and other social networks have begun lighting up with a new fan campaign that aims to get the attention of Sony, hoping to force them to improve their PlayStation Network experience. #BetterPSN has surged over the last few hours, with fans upset about recent outages, as well as long-standing issues with PSN.
Searching on Twitter will find hundreds, if not thousands of users calling for various changes to be made to PSN. Some of these people just want a more stable experience, with less unplanned outages. Others are asking for features that they feel are necessary to improve the PlayStation online experience.
A #BetterPSN website has been created to track the campaign, linking to the top grievances that fans have. These include giving people the ability to set their own online or offline status, enhancing the user profile page, improving the trophy syncing feature, and increasing the size of the cloud game save storage.
Tweets include “Store that actually loads, better organization for library/download history, two-step verification.” “Last night I wanted to play @CallofDuty AW but PSN was down & no players were online.” “U need to add a down loads list of games we have purchased, like the PS3 did. I’m not sure why this is absent.” Among many, many others.
Most users though seem to just want a better service in general, with multiple issues causing outrage at the fact that the once free service is now a part of the PlayStation Plus membership. Gamers want an online network that won’t go down often, and has the social features necessary to connect with other players. If this campaign can convince Sony to make some changes it will be pretty interesting to see how it turns out.


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The market research firm Kantar has released the latest sales figures for the three months ending January 2016. The latest numbers don't bring any good news for the folks at Microsoft as their offering continues to decline. Until now, Europe has been a good market for Windows Phone, showing some improvements, but the latest quarter results doesn't show a good picture -- it's declining even in Europe.
Compared to the same quarter in January 2015, Windows Phone has declined by 3.3 percent in five major European markets, including Italy, Great Britain, Spain, Germany and France. It may be due to the popularity of the Chinese brand Huawei -- the company has seen a decent growth in the European market over the past few months, growing to 14 percent share for the January 2016 quarter.
“In the EU5, Huawei remained the second strongest brand in the Android ecosystem, growing to 14% in the three months ending January 2016, up from 5% in the same period in 2014,” said Dominic Sunnebo, business unit director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Europe. “In Great Britain and France, Huawei doubled its share over the past year, and climbed to number four in the brand ranking, while remaining number two in Italy, Spain and Germany.”
In the US, the company has a 2.6 percent market share, declining from 4.3 percent in the same quarter last year. Even in China, which is one of the biggest smartphone markets in the world, the Windows Phone just have a meagre 0.9 percent share. It's possible as China is not only one of the biggest, but one of the most competitive markets as well with a handful of local smartphone brands shipping with Android as its operating system. Overall, Android has seen an increase in their sales figures in almost all major markets including China, US and Europe.
As for Apple, they also have something to be happy about as they are slowly growing in the Chinese market, capturing 25 percent of the smartphone sales in the country.
Microsoft has to seriously consider about doing something to boost the sales of Windows Phone handsets, and it's not just about launching more and more handsets with the same specifications and slightly different outlook. There are several things which have to be taken care of such as the app gap and the number of key manufacturers opting for the handsets.
You can check out the complete numbers at Kantar's website.


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According to a 2021 survey of 1,000 shoppers, 67% said they had experienced self-service counter failures at commercial establishments. Booth bugs are so popular that they’ve even spawned dozens of TikTok memes and videos, for example.
“We are in 2022. One would expect that experience self assessment it was perfect. We’re not there,” said Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analysis Laboratory at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, who studied the service.
Customers aren’t the only ones disappointed with their experience. self assessment. Stores also have challenges in this regard.
Machines are expensive to install, often break down, and can lead customers to buy fewer products. Stores are also subject to greater losses and more theft at automated teller machines than at traditional, manned checkouts.
Despite the headaches, self-care is growing.
In 2020, 29% of food retail transactions were processed self assessmentThat’s up from 23% a year ago, according to the latest data from the IMF Food Industry Association.
Here a question arises. why is this often problematic and unpopular technology dominating retail?
clients doing the work
The introduction of self-service machines in 1986 was part of a long history of stores shifting work from paid employees to unpaid customers, a practice that dates back to Piggly Wiggly, the first self-service supermarket, in the early 1900s.
Instead of clerks behind the counter picking up items for customers, Piggly Wiggly allowed shoppers to walk the aisles, pick items off the shelves, and pay at the cash register. In exchange for more work, the model promised lower prices.
Oh self assessment, however, was primarily designed to reduce store labor costs. The system reduced cash costs by up to 66%, according to the Miami Herald in 1988.
The first modern self-service system, patented by the Florida company CheckRobot and installed in several Kroger stores, would be almost unrecognizable to shoppers today.
Customers scanned their items and placed them on the conveyor belt. An employee on the other side of the conveyor belt was picking up groceries. Customers would then take them to a central cashier area to pay.
The technology was heralded as a “supermarket revolution”. Shoppers are “becoming their own clerks as automated checkouts cut long trolley lines and reduce grocery staffing costs,” the Los Angeles Times said in 1987.
But self assessment He did not make a revolution in the supermarket. Many customers refused to work harder for benefits that were not entirely clear.
It took Walmart a decade to test the service. It wasn’t until the early 2000s that the trend spread more widely to supermarkets looking to cut costs during the 2001 recession and facing stiff competition from burgeoning superstores and warehouse clubs.
“The logic was based on economics, not customer-centric,” Charlebois said. “Initially, customers hated them,” he pointed out.
A 2003 Nielsen survey found that 52% of shoppers rated self-service channels as “good,” while 16% rated them as “disappointing.” 32% of buyers rated them as “great”.
The mixed reaction has led some US grocery chains, including Costco, Albertsons and others, to pull out the self-service machines they installed in the mid-2000s.
“Self-checkout lines become clogged as customers must wait for store employees to help with barcodes, coupons, payments and other transactional issues,” the Big Y supermarket chain pointed out in 2011 when you took out your machines.
The change to: self assessment it also created unintended consequences for stores.
Retailers have discovered that self-service stations are not self-contained and require regular maintenance and supervision, said Christopher Andrews, a sociologist at Drew University and author of “The Overburdened Consumer; “
While self-service counters eliminated some of the problems for traditional cashiers, they still needed to be staffed and created a need for higher-paying IT jobs, he explained.
Oh self assessmentAndrews added, “doesn’t deliver on what it promises.” The biggest headache for storekeepers is more losses due to error or theft than traditional cashiers.
“If you had a retail store where 50% of transactions were self-service, losses would be 77% higher than average,” said Adrian Beck, a professor emeritus at the University of Leicester in the UK who studies retail losses.
Customers make honest mistakes and intentionally steal from self-service machines.
Some products have multiple barcodes or barcodes that do not scan correctly. Products, including fruit and meat, usually have to be weighed and manually entered into the system using a code. Customers may enter the wrong code by accident. In other cases, shoppers won’t hear the “beep” that confirms the item has been scanned correctly.
“Consumers aren’t very good at trust scanning. Why should they be? They’re not trained,” Beck said.
Other customers take advantage of lax window controls and develop burglary techniques. Common tactics include not scanning the product, substituting a cheaper product (banana) for a more expensive one (steak), scanning fake barcodes attached to wristbands, or scanning everything correctly and walking away without paying.
Stores have tried to limit losses by beefing up self-service security features, such as adding weight sensors. But the added anti-theft measures also lead to more frustrating “unexpected items in the bag area” errors that require store clerks to intervene.
“There’s a delicate balance between security and customer convenience,” Beck said.
Self-service is here to stay
Despite its many shortcomings self assessment for customers and shopkeepers, the trend is only growing in the US.
Walmart, Kroger and Dollar General are opening exclusive self-service stores. Costco and Albertsons brought it back self assessment after removing it years ago. Amazon took the concept a step further with cashierless Amazon Go stores. It may be too late for stores to turn their backs on this service.
Today’s stores cater to shoppers who realize that self assessment it is faster than traditional cashiers, although there is little evidence to support this. But because customers are doing the work instead of waiting in line, the experience can feel like it’s moving faster.
Shopkeepers have also seen how competitors are setting up self assessment and decided they didn’t want to lose.
“This is an arms race. If other people do it, you look like an idiot if you don’t,” said David D’Arezzo, former CEO of Dollar General, Wegmans and other retailers. “Once you get it out of the bag, it’s very hard not to offer more.”
Another factor that accelerated the spread of self-service was Covid-19.
During the pandemic, many customers have opted for the service to avoid close contact with cashiers and packers. And challenges in hiring and retaining employees have forced stores to rely more on machines to attract customers.
This content was originally created in English.


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With the impact of the coronavirus still ricocheting throughout the economy, it can be difficult to envision retail one day returning to normal. And yet, somehow it will—and much of it will look virtually indistinguishable from the pre-crisis reality. But certain changes in consumer behavior will be lasting.
eMarketer principal analyst Mark Dolliver and junior analyst Blake Droesch discuss whether people will have an appetite for the upcoming video streaming services, the future of online grocers, if the pandemic has eased the techlash, examples of companies building goodwill, whether it's OK to always wear pajamas when working from home, and more.
US marketers allocated more than $7 billion in digital ad spending to YouTube last year, eMarketer estimates, up 15.1% over 2018 spending levels. That resulted in more than $3.4 billion in net ad revenues for the video-sharing giant, with most of the remainder going to content creators.
The coronavirus pandemic and its effects on the economy have upended media plans. eMarketer forecasting analyst Eric Haggstrom joins host Nicole Perrin to talk about research on what advertisers are doing to respond and which channels are getting hit hardest, as well as what current developments might mean for our next US digital ad spending forecast.
According to our estimates, which were finalized prior to the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent cancellation of major sports programming, US TV ad sales were expected to climb 2.0% this year to $72.00 billion, a significant bump from 2019’s 2.5% year-over-year decline to $70.59 billion.
Latin America and the Caribbean account for 2.2% of confirmed cornavirus cases worldwide (roughly 17,000 people as of March 31 Johns Hopkins University data updated hourly), but businesses and consumers have already started feeling the impact of the virus as governments attempt to contain the pandemic and mitigate potential economic downturns. Here's what you need to know.
eMarketer is pleased to moderate a Tech-Talk Webinar featuring Max Knight, vice president of analytics services at Amobee. He will share pre-campaign preparation in the age of COVID-19.
eMarketer principal analysts Andrew Lipsman and Nicole Perrin discuss what consumers expect, and don't expect, from advertisements during the pandemic and provide some examples. They then talk about the Amazon and Instacart protest implications, the United Nation's call to creatives and how bad the retail store closures picture could look this year.
For the first time, we are breaking out direct-to-consumer (D2C) ecommerce sales. We define D2C companies as digitally native brands that started as independent online retailers selling directly to consumers. Our estimates exclude travel and event tickets, payments (such as bill pay, taxes or money transfers), food or drink services, gambling and other vice good sales.
Mobile ad spending in the US was up 23.0% last year, we estimate, reaching $87.30 billion. That translated to just under two-thirds of all digital ad spending in the country.
Start your day with info you can trust and data you can use.


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Cuomo signals support for minimum wage, millionaires tax in NY budget
Budget talks continue today. The fiscal plan is due April 1, but legislators want to wrap it up by this weekend so they can take a scheduled vacation for religious holidays.
The current agreement on the minimum wage (though not yet made official in printed legislation) would boost the rate from $7.25 an hour to $9 an hour. It's a 25 percent increase that would tentatively occur in stages over the next three years.
Cuomo also wants to keep alive higher tax rates on million-dollar-plus incomes, which could impact people who report business income (such as an S-corp or LLC) on personal income tax returns.
In return, business lobbies are pushing for tax breaks. In particular, they want Cuomo to back off his desire to sustain higher tax rates on utilities (costs that are then directly passed on to consumers and businesses).
"We're talking about the minimum wage and what is the right phase-in. It will have an economic impact on some business groups, and can we help business groups with that economic impact?" Cuomo said to reporters Tuesday. "So, there are significant issues that are being discussed."
"We have legitimate differences," Cuomo added. "I'm in no rush to get it done, frankly. We're way, way early. I want to do as many good things as we can."
Adam reports breaking news and covers health care, manufacturing, government and sports business.
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Real Media and Japan’s Dentsu Inc have announced an expansion of their search engine marketing (SEM) partnership through a new holding company, which would be called Dentsu 24/7 Search Holdings. The new company will establish new operations within other strategically important advertising markets throughout the Asia Pacific region, including China, India, Korea, Thailand, and Taiwan. These new operating units will be the preferred SEM service providers for Dentsu and 24/7 Real Media affiliates within each region.
Under the terms of the agreement, Dentsu and 24/7 Real Media will each provide initial capital of $5 million, which will be used to fund operations in the identified expansion countries. 24/7 Real Media will license its industry-leading Decide DNA technology, again rated highest among SEM platforms by Jupiter Research to each operating subsidiary. Initial management of the new venture will be fully supported by K.K. 24-7 Search, the existing Tokyo-based joint venture of Dentsu and 24/7 Real Media.
“We are very pleased to expand our strong relationship with 24/7 Real Media,” said Ryuichi Mori, Director of Dentsu, adding, “Over the past 14 months, 24/7 Real Media has proven to be a trusted, reliable partner, and the decide DNA technology has proven itself to be the right solution for the Asia-Pacific region.”
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, nearly $1.0 billion would be spent in 2006 through online advertising in the five countries initially identified for expansion by Dentsu and 24/7 Real Media. While Korea and China currently benefit from the majority of this expenditure, less mature markets such as India are expected to rapidly develop as broadband access continues to proliferate. In the aggregate, China, India, Korea, Thailand and Taiwan are forecast to realize compound annual growth of greater than 20 per cent over the next four years as online spend more than doubles to $2.0 billion in 2010.
“The establishment of this new joint venture is a testament to the strength of the relationship between Dentsu and 24/7 Real Media,” said Jae Woo Chung, President of 24/7 Real Media Asia. He further said, “We view India as a very important future advertising market. Dentsu already has several affiliate offices in the country like Dentsu Communications (Bangalore), Dentsu Marcom (New Delhi) and Dentsu Creative Impact (New Delhi) in India.”


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Triangle companies that rely on venture capital feasted on more than $112.2 million in new funding in the second quarter, the most since the fourth quarter of 2008, according to a new survey.
The dozen companies that raised venture capital in the quarter are the most in three years, according to a report released today by the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association, based on data compiled by Thomson Reuters. The latest quarterly data were supplemented by The News & Observer.
The second-quarter venture capital haul was 77 percent more than the amount raised in the first quarter and 10 percent more than a year ago.
"I think it is really a sign the markets are opening up," said Laura Hoke, a partner in PWC's Raleigh office.
Still, looking at that 2009 comparison in isolation overstates how well local companies are faring in the venture capital sweepstakes. Last year was the Triangle's worst for venture capital financing since 2004.
Dozens of young Triangle companies that are technology-rich but cash-poor rely on funding supplied by venture capitalists to conduct crucial research and development and expand their operations. The venture capitalists receive a stake in the business in exchange for their investment.
The Triangle's upswing followed the national trend. The amount of venture capital invested nationwide rose 34 percent in the second quarter compared with the first quarter.
Hoke anticipates that the local venture capital market will remain relatively strong going forward as long as the stock market remains healthy.
"If we see another slowdown in the public market, we would expect a similar decline" in the venture capital market, she said.
Clay Thorp, a general partner at Durham-based venture capital firm Hatteras Venture Partners, said much will depend on how successful the venture firms themselves are in raising new rounds of capital.
The amount of money raised by venture capital firms nationwide in the second quarter declined 49 percent compared to the first quarter, according to Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association. The $1.9 billion raised in the latest quarter was the least since 2003.
The institutional investors that venture firms rely on have allocated less money to the venture sector as their stock portfolios took a beating, Thorp said.
Compounding the problem is that the returns that the venture capital industry has delivered over the past decade have been disappointing.
Four Triangle companies raised more than $15 million in the second quarter, led by TearScience, a Morrisville medical device business, which landed $44.5 million. Also in the $15-million-plus club:
Chapel Hill's Cempra Pharmaceuticals, a drug development company, $20.5 million.
Consert, a Raleigh company that is developing "smart grid" technology, $17.7 million.
Overture Networks, a Morrisville maker of high-speed networking equipment, $17.2 million.
"The market for raising venture capital is always difficult," said Overture co-founder and CEO Jeff Reedy, whose company has raised about $60 million in venture capital money to date. "It was probably more difficult" this time around.
"I just think that the investors were looking to reduce the risk as much as possible," he said. "Conversely, they set the criteria for who they would invest in at a higher bar."
Reedy's advice to fellow entrepreneurs who are planning to raise money: Network early and often with potential investors.
"Investors are making a commitment to you," he said. "They want to get to know you as much as possible before they make that investment."
Overture started the year with about 100 employees and has added 20 more workers since then because of the company's recent infusion of cash. The company expects to add another 30 staffers by year's end.
email@example.com or 919-829-4877


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It was a busy lot at the annual Ritchie Bros. equipment auction, held Feb 15-19 in Orlando. Some 10,700 pieces of equipment sold for a total value of $172 million, with a record 9,850 bidders from 79 countries registered.
Ritchie Bros. also used the occasion to announce it had acquired the Dutch online equipment listing website Mascus for $26.6 million in cash. The online listing service is expected to increase the auctioneer's presence in Europe, and is “another step in Ritchie Bros.’ strategy as the world’s leading multichannel equipment disposition and asset management company,” said Richie Bros. CEO Ravi Saligram in a press statement.
At the annual auction in Orlando, bidders lined up to kick the tires of thousands of pieces of heavy equipment. The most aggressive bidding was seen in the crane category, with more than 120 cranes sold. A 2013,160-ton Tadano ATF130G-5 all-terrain crane set the year’s record with a sale price of $870,000.
Despite the bustling auction hall, a growing share of transactions came from bidders sitting offsite at their computers. Of the $172 million worth of equipment that changed hands at the auction, $64 million, or roughly 38%, was purchased by online bidders. Ritchie Bros. has offered online sales since 2002, with $1.9 billion of equipment sold online in 2015 alone.
“Because our February Orlando auction is such an event, we actually see a larger percentage than average of purchases from onsite bidders,” says Terry Dolan, president of Ritchie Bros.’ U.S. and Latin America division. But are deal-hunting online bidders having an effect on prices? ”More bidders generally equals stronger pricing, so the more bidding options you can provide the better,” Dolan told ENR. “Most buyers still visit the site, or send someone in their place, to inspect the items they are interested in before bidding online—especially when they’re buying high-value items,” he adds.
While the show drew a great deal of interest from nearly 10,000 bidders, average machine valuation declined slightly compared to prices set at last year's auction. The average valuation at the 2016 show was approximately $16,075 per lot, down from 2015’s $17,048 per lot. But Dolan does not see this a major indicator. “The makeup of every auction is different—from equipment type to make, model, hours of usage, etc.—so the average value-per-lot is not strictly indicative of pricing trends,” he says. “For last week’s Orlando auction we saw consistent and solid pricing through most asset classes, with particularly strong results for low-hour, late-model, well-maintained equipment.”
International bidders have been a part of Ritchie Bros. auctions for many years, but a strong dollar may have kept some away this year. The 2015 auction saw 27% of equipment sold to buyers from outside the United States, while in 2016 that percentage shrank to 23%.
There have been concerns in the industry that Tier 4 emissions controls would reduce the aftermarket value of U.S. equipment in traditional secondary markets, but Dolan isn’t seeing a direct effect yet. “So far, Tier 4 has not had a noticeable effect on auction prices. We have not seen any curtailment of bidding because of tighter emissions controls from countries outside of North America and Europe,” he says. “However, we have seen an increased demand from these countries for non-current equipment models.” Ritchie Bros. set up a separate lot at the Port of Tampa for non-EPA-compliant equipment that was being targeted to international bidders, a trend that may continue as older machines move through the system.


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German website Motorrad has published a photograph of what appears to be a BMW bagger powered by a large Boxer engine has been spotted undergoing tests on public roads. The engine is believed to be based on the prototype “R18” engine that BMW showcased in December in the one-off “Departed” concept by Japanese builder Custom Works Zon (pictured above).
Having grown up around motocross, and with a couple of years on the road on two wheels some 13-plus years ago, throwing my leg back over a motorcycle this past summer was anything but starting from scratch (thankfully). Sure, I was a little rusty to say the least, but the essence of riding isn’t something easily forgotten. After a few quick jaunts, I was back in the swing of things. Though the mechanics and principles remain the same, the new motorcycle market for more novice riders is a completely different beast than it was the last time I was on two wheels. A veritable boom of larger, and frankly more appropriate “starter bikes” is well underway in the form of the 300cc class. These more approachable and rookie friendly rides aren’t like the undersized and underpowered 125s and 250s that have been around for decades, which is a fantastic thing – a serious win for new riders who are on the taller side. Throwing my 6’1 frame over a CBR 125, well, can you picture the bear riding a minibike in a Russian circus? You get the idea.
Every year Motorcycle.com gets invited to the press introductions for several new motorcycles – it’s the biggest perk of our job, and the reason all of us have stuck around as long as we have! The cycle goes like this: at the end of one year or the beginning of the next, manufacturers talk a big game about a new model launch, and/or the internet goes wild with social media rumors and opinions about a new bike. In turn we, the media, can’t wait to be the first to throw a leg over said bike to see what the fuss is about. Sometimes the motorcycle in question is a dud, other times it exceeds beyond our wildest dreams. Then you get the rare model that didn’t get much fanfare but turns out to be unexpectedly awesome.
Earlier this month, BMW and Japanese builder Custom Works Zon presented a rather industrial-looking retro-styled roadster at the 27th annual Mooneyes Show in Yokohama, Japan. The bike itself, christened the “Departed” by builders Yuichi Yoshizawa and Yoshikazu Ueda, was an interesting combination of vintage styling and modern production, making use of a lot of milled aluminum, steel piping and sheet metal and drawing inspiration from the bikes ridden by racer and landspeed record holder Ernst Henne in the ’20s and ’30s.
The air had a brisk freshness about it. Pure mountain air with a hint of fall from the turning leaves. The kind of unsullied atmosphere that can only be found far from the pollution of civilization. The sun had begun its slow descent behind the surrounding red rock mesas, and the cottonwoods and aspens appeared to glow in the late daylight, contrasting beautifully with the red rock, blue skies and well-manicured grass of the Gateway Canyons Resort. The resort sits at 4,500 feet, in the juncture of five canyons, some of which had been carved out more than a billion years ago. This would be the proving ground for our evaluation of BMW’s latest mid-size GS offerings – the 2019 F 750 GS and F 850 GS.
BMW introduced a new addition to its scooter lineup in the new C400GT. It joins the C400X introduced last year as a second mid-sized scooter, slotting in below the C650GT, C650 Sport and the electric C Evolution. The 2019 BMW C400GT shares much with the C400X, but with more of a focus on comfort and touring.
Has it really been 10 years since the BMW S1000RR first debuted? The S1000RR has been one of our favorite literbikes for a decade now, but for the 2019 model year, it’s getting a complete makeover, with a new look and a brand new engine with variable valve timing claiming 205 hp.
The Model Year 2019 show season is fully underway, and so far, we’ve seen some exciting news. It began in Intermot with the unveiling of new models from Aprilia, Ducati, Indian, Kawasaki, KTM, Suzuki, and Triumph. Then the focus turned to Las Vegas, NV, and the AIMExpo where Motorcycle.com was on-hand to witness the unveiling of the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R and other offerings from the motorcycle industry as a whole.
Okay, right, we already had this discussion about whether a bike not powered by a rumbly big V-twin qualifies as a “Bagger” shortly before the K1600B blew everybody’s doors off in our Big Dam Tour last February. Instead of a big V-twin, this one’s got BMW’s 1649cc inline-Six, which not only out-torques all the big Twins – 106 lb-ft at 5200 rpm – it also demolishes them in the horsepower department: 132 hp at 8000 rpm is 57 more than the best-bagger runner-up’s 75. Yeah, but it lacks character, some say. Blow me, is the proper retort. Character schmaracter.
By now, hopefully you’ve already read our street installation of this two-part test. If not, STOP! Please do check it out because it outlines and dissects each and every bike in great detail, and it very well might answer a slew of questions you might have that aren’t addressed here, in the off-road portion of the shootout.


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Blue Cross, Allina unveil plan to be sold on exchange
What will the health plans sold on Minnesota’s state-run insurance exchange look like?
We won’t know the full menu of products until the exchange officially launches in October. But Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota on Tuesday offered some details about one product — BluePrint — that it plans to pitch both businesses and individuals this fall.
Eagan-based Blue Cross, the state’s largest insurer, partnered with Allina Health to create BluePrint, which aims to differentiate itself by tailoring services to individual members’ needs.
Like many products expected to pop up on health exchanges round the country, BluePrint is a so-called “narrow network” plan, which means members can only visit health providers that are part of a defined network of providers. In this case, that includes Minneapolis-based Allina’s hospitals and clinics as well as a doctors at a group of 52 independently-owned physician practices, most of whom are specialists.
The narrow network approach helps insurers keep premiums down. Blue Cross isn’t revealing the price tag for BluePrint, which will be classified as “silver” on the exchange (bronze is the lowest-cost category and platinum is the highest. Gold is second-highest).
It will be priced between 3 percent and 10 percent lower than a typical open access plan, said Garrett Black, senior vice president of health management for Blue Cross. (Open access plans allow consumers to visit a wider array of health providers, and are the sort of plans that most Twin Cities consumers with employer coverage are used to.)
Blue Cross developed BluePrint with Allina physicians’ input, and it’s betting the product will stand out by offering personalized services to members.
Katharine Grayson covers med tech, clean tech, technology, health care and venture capital.
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The market declined 2.5 per cent in the opening trade but the recovery in the initial hour, which was followed by rangebound trade, helped the benchmark indices settle with a 1.5 per cent loss in the previous session. Global markets were also under pressure after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell in his speech at Jackson Hole reiterated that the rate hikes to bring inflation to 2 per cent target are going to continue at the cost of pain to consumers and businesses. The rising oil prices also weighed on sentiment.
The BSE Sensex tanked 861 points to 57,973, while the Nifty50 fell 246 points to 17,313.
Stocks to Watch
The company said the Board of Directors has made an allotment of 50,000 non-convertible debentures having a face value of Rs 10,000 each, through private placement. The tenure of instrument is 24 months from the date of allotment and the coupon rate is 10.35 per cent per annum.
The company received board approval for the appointment of Venkatesh Viswanathan as a Group Chief Financial Officer and key managerial personnel. His appointment is effective from August 30, 2022, and the company also designated him as Chief Investor Relations Officer. However, Amit Kumar Gupta has stepped down as Chief Financial Officer.
L&T Technology Services
The engineering services company firm has bagged a multi-million-dollar deal from BMW Group for the European premier car maker’s hybrid vehicles. As part of the 5-year deal, it will provide high-end engineering services for the company’s suite of infotainment consoles targeted for its family of hybrid vehicles.
The debt-ridden telecom operator’s 5G services launch will depend on several factors such as use cases, customer demand, competitive dynamics etc. Vi Managing Director and CEO Ravinder Takker said that the promoters of the company have invested Rs 4,940 crore and the company is in active discussion with investors for fund raise.
The drug maker said it has received a tentative approval from the USFDA to market Dasatinib tablets, used to treat certain types of cancer, in America in strengths of 20 mg, 50 mg, 70 mg, 80 mg, 100 mg, and 140 mg. The product is a generic version of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company’s Sprycel tablets.
BC Power Controls
The company has received board approval for the issuance of 1.1 crore equity shares, on a preferential basis, to the promoter group category at a price of Rs 5.65 per share. The total fundraising was Rs 6.21 crore.
Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences
The company has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake (51 percent) in SPANV Medisearch Lifesciences, Nagpur. SPANV is running a multi-speciality hospital – Kingsway Hospitals, having over 300+ beds. Existing promoters and shareholders will continue to hold the balance 49 percent stake. Post-acquisition, the hospital will be renamed ‘KIMS Kingsway Hospitals’.
Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund sold 1.52 lakh equity shares or 0.07 per cent stake in the cement company on August 26. With this, it reduced its stake in the said company to 3.12 per cent, down from 3.2 per cent earlier.
Star Housing Finance
The Coronation Castles Pvt Ltd has offloaded a 0.07 per cent stake in the company via open market transactions on August 26. With this, its stake reduced to 0.06 per cent, from 0.13 per cent earlier.
The views and investment tips by experts in this News18.com report are their own and not those of the website or its management. Users are advised to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
Read all the Latest Business News and Breaking News here


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U.S. consumer sentiment plunged in March as the global coronavirus pandemic weighed on the outlook for the economy, a widely followed monthly survey showed on Friday.
The University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index fell more than expected to a reading of 89.1 this month, the lowest level since October 2016, from a final reading of 101 in February. It was the largest monthly drop in the index since October 2008, during the height of the financial crisis.
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(Reporting By Dan Burns Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)


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Despite all the odds of the plummeting market and less activity in the smartphone industry, Sony doesn’t give up. Last year, the Japanese tech giant revealed a new smartphone, symbolically named Sony Xperia 1. Now, the new smartphone, Sony Xperia 3 is rumored to come out in a while, and according to new leak, new specs came out indicating that the device may sport high-end features.
Sony has been having a hard time keeping up with Huawei, Samsung and Apple’s iPhone. While it would usually come out with decent specs and performances, it still couldn’t come close to the mentioned flagship phones. However, it seems that Sony stepped up its game, featuring a device with specs that we haven’t seen before, at least in a smartphone.
PhoneArena reveals, new specs on the potential Sony Xperia 3 have surfaced. The report suggests that the smartphone will ship with the Snapdragon 865 chipset, which doesn’t surprise us given Qualcomm’s revelation of this powerful chipset earlier. That way, it’s possible that the other smartphones may also run with the same chipset. What raises a lot of eyebrows is that it potentially suggests that the new generation of smartphones may sport 12GB of RAM.
Although PhoneArena obtained this information, it was originally sourced from Geekbench benchmark, shared by Sumahoinfo. Additionally, the phone’s name hasn’t been revealed, which also causes confusion over what Sony Xperia 1’s name could actually be. Instead, the phone is just codenamed by its model number, which only shows us that the device is manufactured by Sony.
Given that benchmarks usually don’t always turn out making it to the final product, and with Sony Xperia being so hugely rumored lately, it’s best to take this information with reserve. It’s also worth mentioning that the model number looks more sophisticated compared to Sony’s other models that were benchmarked, despite the model number being noticeably by Sony.
The specs on Sony Xperia 3 show us that it’s likely going to be the flagship device which would then succeed onto the last year’s Sony Xperia 1. However, if the rumors are anywhere near correct, we’re going to learn more about this device in February, when the major smartphone event takes place.
As mentioned above, it’s still unclear whether the name of the device will be Xperia 3. Perhaps, the company wants to opt with a different approach, like 1.1 or other names, or may even choose between Xperia 2 or 3 to show that it’s not just an improvement over a previous phone but an entirely new unit. All in all, the company has had weird naming conventions recently.
There are a few other leaks concerning Sony Xperia 3. Last month’s images of the phone’s front and rare surface boasting a new design, fingerprint sensor in the screen and more. However, turns out that those photos featured Sony Xperia 1 in a review article. It’s interesting however, that earlier this year, another Geekbench benchmark was spotted featuring that this device may come with six cameras on the rear and two on the front, suggesting this phone may bring a revolution in photography. The leaks also hinted at a QHD screen resolution.
What do you think about Sony’s potential phone? Let us know in the comments


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We are pleased to announce the release of PowerSefer version 2.4.0 available now for all Android devices.
New in this version:
- Bug fixes
- Stability Improvements
- Support for seforim with multiple mafarshim (including Shekalim Tzuras haDaf)
The update will be released for iPhone and iPad soon!
Download the new version of PowerSefer for Android Smartphones here!
Download the new version of PowerSefer for Android Tablets here!
View the entire list of Seforim available on PowerSefer here.


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Buckle stock undecided after Q4 earnings report
- Buckle says its fourth-quarter profit topped Wall Street estimates.
- The retailer's revenue jumped 20% on a year-over-year basis.
- Buckle stock that trades at a PE multiple of 7.52 is down 15% YTD.
Follow Invezz on Telegram, Twitter, and Google News for instant updates >
Buckle Inc (NYSE: BKE) stock is up more than 1.0% on Friday after the apparel and accessories retailer said its fiscal fourth-quarter profit topped Wall Street estimates.
What Buckle Q4 earnings report tells us
- Net income printed at $83.9 million versus the year-ago figure of $65.6 million.
- On a per-share basis, the retailer earned $1.69 compared to $1.33 last year.
- At $380.9 million, sales were up 20% on a year-over-year basis.
- FactSet consensus was for $1.48 of EPS on $380.9 million in sales.
- Digital sales climbed by 10.5% as per the earnings press release.
- Comparable sales also jumped 20%, in line with expectations.
Buckle stock is down 15% year-to-date
The earnings report comes only weeks after Buckle named eight new vice presidents and 3 senior vice presidents. CEO Dennis H. Nelson said:
2021 was an incredible year of growth across all aspects of our business. Our ongoing success is the direct result of the talent, dedication, and hard work of each of our 8,000 teammates, including leaders we are recognizing today. Their leadership has been instrumental to our success and has our teams well-positioned for 2022 and beyond.
Late last year, Buckle raised its quarterly dividend by 6.1% and announced a special cash dividend of $5.65 a share. Buckle stock is down roughly 15% for the year.


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- Posted April 15, 2009 by
Watertown, New York
This iReport is part of an assignment:
Signs of the economic times
- Apple CEO Tim Cook's Admission, "I'm Gay", Is A Sad Commentary On Where the US Still Is As A Society
- "America is Spreading Peace and Prosperity Across the World", Says Obama. Really?
- The US is Still 'Number One' -- But in What?
- Corporations Should Be Made to "Pee in a Cup" to See If Their Workers Get Public Assistance
- Does Anyone Remember What a "Mom and Pop" Business Was? Reasons to Shop Local
Food Price Keep Going Up
I thought that food prices would go down when gas prices went down..guess not. Gas is going back up..and what about that cigarette tax. That's costing me $20 more a week! Ouch! Most would say, "Just quit!" But why should I have to quit? Higher food costs are hurting American families' recovery. Isn't that inflationary?
It seems the only thing not going up is dairy products. Maybe the farmers are producing too much.


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High-Tech CEO David Becker '75 Touts Wireless Online Banking on TV
July 16, 2001
July 16, 2001, Greencastle, Ind. - During an appearance on statewide television this past weekend, David B. Becker (DePauw 1975) told a story about his son Jason, who will be a sophomore at DePauw this fall, to illustrate how communication is changing. Becker, chief executive officer of First Internet Bank and a 1975 graduate of DePauw University, was the subject of the weekly CEO profile on Inside Indiana Business, a program that is seen on television stations throughout Indiana.
Becker says wireless devices such as personal digital assistants and cell phones can now communicate with his online bank. He recounted how his son was traveling on spring break a few months ago and had [DOWNLOAD VIDEO: "DePauw Connections" 367KB] [DOWNLOAD AUDIO: "DePauw Connections" 151KB] “the proverbial car breakdown problem on the way. I get a cell phone call that night, ‘Dad, I'm in the middle of Tennessee, I'm stuck, I can't pay for the bill, I don't have any money in my account, can you help me out?' The CEO continued, “my wife and I happened to be having dinner at a little neighborhood restaurant. I pulled the Palm (Pilot) out of my pocket, pulled up my account and transferred funds from my account to his while I'm sitting there eating dinner. He immediately walks back into the service station, swipes his debit card and it clears.”
Becker says First Internet Bank is making a serious push toward serving the wireless market, because the need and customer base are there. He says while about 60% of Americans have internet access, [DOWNLOAD AUDIO: "Great Extension" 78KB] “80% of consumers in the U.S. are packing cell phones. So for a lot of people who don't have a home computer, they can now access internet banking through other devices. So, it's just a great extension.”
Based in Indianapolis, First Internet Bank was launched in February 1999 as one of the first online banks with no brick-and-mortar presence. Today, First IB has more than $235 million in assets and a base of approximately 20,000 customers representing each of the fifty states and a number of foreign countries. [DOWNLOAD VIDEO: "Staggering Growth" 182KB] [DOWNLOAD AUDIO: "Staggering Growth" 73KB] “Growth has been staggering, way beyond our expectations,” Becker told Inside Indiana Business host Gerry Dick.
For a business that's fewer than three years old, the move toward wireless is a big transition, in an industry where change is constant. Becker is confident growing numbers of consumers will embrace both online banking, and the ability to do it in remote places free of wires. [DOWNLOAD VIDEO: "Change" 162KB] [DOWNLOAD AUDIO: "Change" 64KB] “If you go back and take a look, how many firms did not have fax machines 8, 9, 10 years ago; we had no ATMs fifteen to twenty years ago, now they're on virtually every street corner. So the consumer will catch up,” he said.
David Becker serves his alma mater as a member of the Board of Directors of the McDermond Center for Management and Entrepreneurship. He's also a member of the Governor's High Tech Task Force and a director of the Indiana Technology Partnership. Becker was recently selected as the winner of the regional 2001 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® award within the Financial Services category.
Becker says he enjoys the feedback he receives from customers around the world, who enjoy the convenience of visiting his “virtual bank”, 24 hours a day. [DOWNLOAD VIDEO: "Out the Window" 123KB] [DOWNLOAD AUDIO: "Out the Window" 53KB] “The traditional ‘bankers hours' that consumers have always worried about, they're out the window,” Becker says.Back


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Image Source: Entrepreneur Magazine
Hit me on twitter n Ima get witchya
You man steady hatin but he don't get the
Dawg only mad kuz he got 5 followers
It ain't my fault that u don't wanna
Sean Kingston featuring Sean Paul - Follow Me (Twitter Song)
It looks like Jack Dorsey is doubling down in his ownership stake in Twitter. The CEO in a recent Form 4 filing purchased over 574,000 shares bringing his total stake in Twitter to over 16 million shares.
CEO's buy shares of their stock usually for just one reason. CEO Jack Dorsey probably believes his company, Twitter, is being undervalued by the stock market and is doubling down to show the shorts of Twitter he's looking to improve Twitter for the long haul.
Twitter like its peers Facebook and Google make money from ads. Companies will buy ads from Twitter who promote the ads to Twitter users. As more people use the Twitter platform, the more lucrative the platform becomes for advertisers as they can reach a potentially larger audience.
The weird thing about Twitter, however, is while the number of users has grown by 7% in the U.S., the total revenues Twitter makes from advertising declined by 11% year over year according to its latest shareholder letter.
The decrease in revenues from the U.S. has been in part due to fears of Twitter not being a safe platform for its users. This fear is not unfounded and has prevented U.S. advertisers from engaging more meaningfully with Twitter.
I don't think this revenue decline is going to last much longer, though. That's because Dorsey is placing bets on live video streaming in three categories: sports, news, and entertainment.
Audiences should continue to engage with various content providers like Bloomberg for business news, Major League Baseball for sporting events and Conde Nast for both news and entertainment. Video content allows advertisers to roll out video ads within Periscope, Twitter's video platform, as well as Amplify which gives publishers real-time in-tweet video clips that are accompanied by pre-roll or post-roll advertisements to reach their target audiences.
Look for an increase in revenues domestically over the next three-quarters when compared to last year's quarterly results if Twitter can make headway in this area.
Another source of revenue generation is licensing data to businesses looking to scale brand awareness across the Twitter platform. Twitter made $74 million from data licensing last quarter and hoped to improve its fortunes in this area of the business as a future driver of revenue.
The other area where Twitter seems to be improving is in cost reduction. Costs are an important factor for Twitter developing meaningful user engagement with advertisers. Twitter's cost per engagement (CPE) managed to decline by 63% year over year. The reduction in costs is a sign of management getting their expenses in line with declines in revenues.
Look for a significant increase in Twitter's operating profit if Twitter's revenue can improve while slowing the rise in their advertising expenses.
One risk, however, would be a decline in user engagement if seasonal trends have any impact on social media user engagement. Another risk is if the expected revenues from data licensing are not as large as executives plan for. A third risk would be a decline in ad revenues would also force the company to ramp up its operating expenses to drive revenue growth in ads.
The bottom line here is that often, a CEO buying shares in the company they run is a positive signal to the market. Look further at the company SEC filings like their 10-Q to determine whether the risks in a stock like Twitter are worth the potential reward after their CEO expresses confidence in the business by buying shares.
Thanks for reading @ellofinance today. Have a great week ahead.


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Samsung recently pushed an update for Galaxy Note 10.1 bringing the OS version to Android 4.1.2. This version brings the exciting true multi-tasking/multi-window capabilities to Samsung’s Android devices. Galaxy Note 10.1 users will now be able to run upto 16 ‘select’ apps at the same time in multi-windows (same screen) – just the way you do it on your Linux system.
That doesn’t mean you can run any app in multiple windows mode. The selected apps can be run in three different modes – full screen, dual view and cascade view, reports Information Week.
The bad news is this framework is not open source. Information Week writes:
Samsung added a multiwindow app framework to its proprietary Android “TouchWiz” user interface, and tweaked a range of Android apps to support the framework. There currently are 18 multiwindow-enabled apps, including browser, email, contacts, calendar, alarm, calculator, YouTube, video player, office suite, and other frequently-used functions. Presumably, the will grow over time.
Image courtesy: DeviceGuru
As 7 and 10 inch are becoming standard, there seems to be enough screen real estate to run apps in multiple windows. Google has been pushing Android to it’s limits giving it an edge over competitors. Their Chrome OS received ‘multiple’ windows feature just a few months ago. Will Google introduce the multiple-window in Android? Is such a feature needed? If Android does get this support, will Android (with so many apps) be a better OS to run on touch-enabled netbooks than Windows 8.


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In the lead-up to the new year, you can contact us until 23rd December 2014.
Collections are only possible up to and including Tuesday, 16th December 2014.
Our Christmas holiday lasts from 24th December 2014 until 2nd January 2015.
From 5th January 2015, we'll be available again as usual.
On 6th January 2015, the Administration and Logistics departments of Motorservice International GmbH in Neuenstadt and Asperg will remain closed due to an additional public holiday.
THE ENTIRE TEAM AT MOTORSERVICE WISHES YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!
MS Motorservice International has decided once again not to send printed Christmas cards this year, and will instead be supporting a social initiative for disadvantaged children and young people.


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When Are Cruise Lines Liable for Crime On Shore?
The appeal of going on a cruise, for many passengers, is the opportunity to travel to a number of different ports and visit parts of the world that they might not otherwise have seen. Unfortunately, while cruise lines play up their various destinations as tropical paradises, the reality is that many of the countries and cities they visit have high rates of violent crimes, and passengers are sometimes the victims of these crimes.
Last year, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime released a ranking of the most dangerous countries based on homicide rates, and over half of the top ten countries—including Colombia, Jamaica, Venezuela, and Honduras—are also popular cruise stops. Knowing this, should cruise lines be liable for


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It was once said that online gaming cannot be effectively regulated. Since then, many jurisdictions around the world have shown this statement to be false. In fact, the introduction of legalized online gaming in European member states over the last decade or more as well as the recent expansion of legalized online gaming in several US States, have shown that online gaming technology provides operators with the ability to protect the interests of the customer more effectively than may be the case in the terrestrial industry. Having said that, the introduction of legalized online gaming has not been without its challenges. Different socio-economic, political and cultural landscapes have posed unique challenges to regulators around the world. During this webinar, we will look at how regulators in the UK, mainland Europe and the USA have responded to these challenges.
Moderated by André Wilsenach, Executive Director of the International Center for Gaming Regulation at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the panelists are:
- George Rover, Managing Partner, Princeton Global Strategies
- Birgitte Sand, Director, Danish Gambling Authority
- Sonia Wasowska, Senior Manager – Insight, UK Gambling Commission


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Color the Friday after Thanksgiving a different shade of black this year.
Traditionally, Black Friday has been the official kickoff of holiday shopping, when bargain-hungry consumers line up outside stores before dawn to take advantage of blowout deals.
This year, the one-day shopping event has morphed into Black Friday season. In response to a listless economy and penny-pinching shoppers, Black Friday-type sales began more than a month ago and are expected to stretch out into mid-December. During a period when retailers usually see about 20 percent of their annual sales, it’s no surprise that the pressure is on.
“Everything is starting earlier this year. The sales are earlier, the leaks (about sales) are happening sooner. The buzz words ‘Black Friday’ are being used sooner,” said Dan de Grandpre, editor-in-chief of dealnews.com, which tracks stores’ sales. “Some national chains have been having big doorbuster deals typical of Black Friday every week for the last month. And why shouldn’t they? It gets people to buy more stuff and buy it earlier. In this economy, retailers are trying to get everything they can.”
It looks like they’ll be getting more than the past two dismal years at least.
Holiday sales are expected to rise 2.3 percent to $447 billion, a big improvement from last year’s 0.4 percent increase and the devastating 3.9 percent holiday sales decline in 2008. Last year, 79 million Americans shopped on Black Friday and 195 million during the entire Black Friday weekend, spending an average of $343.31, according to the National Retail Federation.
Nationally, retail sales jumped by 1.2 percent in October, the strongest rise since March. In San Diego County, retail sales between July and November are 5 percent ahead of the same period last year, according to the San Diego Association of Governments.
With a hopeful economic forecast, retailers took the opportunity to entice consumers to dip into their holiday shopping funds early this year.
As many people rushed to stores to buy candy for Halloween, Sears used the occasion to begin “Black Friday Now” deals that are continuing through this month. Kmart launched a “Better than Black Friday” sale the first week of November and Walmart and BestBuy now have mini-Black Friday sales every Friday, with most of the same sales on their websites.
Betting that people will want to feast on deals as well as turkey, some retailers such as Sears and Old Navy will be open on Thanksgiving while Kohl’s and Target are among many merchants stepping up online deals that day.
This Black Friday promises to be more convenient for shoppers, with retailers offering deals anytime, anywhere their customers want through websites, smart phones and Facebook.
“More people will be getting their Black Friday deals online this year and taking advantage of the sales without fighting the crowds and long lines. Many of the same (in-store) sales are available on the Web version of the store,” de Grandpre said. “Black Friday is probably the best day of the year to score a great deal online.”
Do the early sales blitz and online specials mean the day after Thanksgiving will be a shopping yawner this year?
Not to worry, retail experts said. Although there may be a bit less foot traffic Friday because many people will be doing their deal-hunting online, shoppers are still expected to turn out in malls and big-box stores, partly for the bargains and partly for the tradition.
“Most retailers save a handful of very lucrative deals just for Black Friday, when people are more budget focused and more willing to get out of bed at 3 a.m. to go shopping,” said Ellen Davis, spokeswoman for the National Retail Federation.
But don’t count on the jaw-dropping Black Friday bargains of the past two years. And if there are some rock-bottom prices, stores could quickly run out of those items.
“Because of the recession, retailers have become smarter and are ordering much more conservatively now so they don’t have a huge inventory to clear out,” said Tod Marks, senior editor of Consumer Reports. “So if you see a good price, grab it because it may not be there later.”


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New FaceFirst biometric platform version boosts performance and eases deployment
FaceFirst has launched a new version of its biometric enterprise computer vision platform with improved face detection performance in challenging conditions, broader camera compatibility, simplified scalability and system and camera health monitoring.
The algorithm in new FaceFirst version 6.6 can now recognize four to seven and a half times more faces in conditions with extreme lighting, unusual camera angles, or large crowds, and performance is more reliable across different camera types, according to the announcement. The platform also now works with a range of existing camera infrastructures, including IP, USB, webcam, dome, bullet, and single or multi-sensory panoramic cameras.
“FaceFirst has always been a leader in public safety solutions,” says FaceFirst CEO Peter Trepp. “With these performance gains and simplified deployment, the improved platform opens up a variety of new applications and use cases for automated video analysis across industries.”
The company also launched a Two Minute Deployment installer earlier this year, which it says eases the remote setup of a central server with dozens of locations within minutes. This capability, according to FaceFirst, is particularly useful for customers such as retail, banking, and restaurant chains who need to deploy services across many sites.
Health monitoring capabilities introduced in version 6.6 include instant camera discovery, certification, and alerts when an issue is detected.
“FaceFirst is being used in highly trafficked areas like retail outlets, stadiums and transportation hubs,” adds FaceFirst VP of Product Roger Angarita. “It’s pretty common to have cameras shift position or focus over time, but now our customers and partners will know when cameras are not collecting the ideal visual data.”
In April, FaceFirst announced a partnership with the Loss Prevention Foundation to train retailers on biometric privacy and compliance.


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What if you could deliver a relatively good return on investment, without much risk, have relatively good liquidity and deliver a social impact? Sound far fetched? Not to Catherine (Cat) Berman, Co-founder of CNote, an investment vehicle for savers who want a good ROI.
Berman is a successful serial entrepreneur. “I love building scalable businesses that solve an underlying social issue,” she said. Her expertise includes microfinance, gender equality and economic empowerment. Berman also was a managing director at Charles Schwab and senior vice president at Astia ‒ a nonprofit that identifies and propels high-potential women-led companies with expertise and money.
Access to capital is crucial to start-up and growing companies. Undercapitalized companies have lower sales, lower profits and generate fewer jobs. There's no doubt about it women face more challenges raising money for their companies than their male counterparts. As a result they raise less capital for their companies, resulting in much smaller companies. Women have nearly caught up to men in terms of the number of businesses they own: owning 50% or more of 45% of all private companies, according to the National Women’s Business Council. But their average revenues are only $203,000 compared to $609,000 for male-owned businesses.
Interest in women entrepreneurs is growing among women. Women identify with the greater challenges that women face as business owners raising funding for their companies. As a result, women are becoming funders as:
Angel investing is a risky business so it isn’t for everyone. Reward-based investing, on platforms such as Indiegogo, Kickstarter and Plum Alley, is great if you want the product being offered.
“Women are sitting on $500 billion in uninvested assets,” Berman said. It got her thinking. Women are frustrated by the low interest rates they receive on their savings accounts and CDs. Was there a failsafe investment vehicle with a decent ROI and the ability to withdraw money when needed, thought Berman?
Yes, by combining long-established social investment options with new regulations.
For years the United States government, commercial banks, foundations and faith-based organizations have been getting a steady return by investing in Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI). The mission of CDFIs is to lend money to small businesses, such as women- and minority-owned businesses, that commercial banks deem risky. CDFIs support their borrowers with training and technical assistance to ensure their success, making them a long-established social investment option.
The newly enacted JOBS Act opened investing to a whole new audience. Prior to the JOBS Act, fundraising from the general public was the exclusive domain of larger companies that could afford to spend the millions of dollars it takes to become listed on stock exchanges, like the NYSE and NASDAQ. The JOBS Act enables companies to raise small amounts of money from you and me. Berman realized she could raise money from individual investors through the JOBS Act and invest the money in CDFIs that fund women- and minority-owned businesses.
To start, CNote is only offering accredited investors – wealthy people – the opportunity to invest. It can do this through Title II of the JOBS Act. Within a month after launching its crowdfunding campaign, CNote received $2 million in commitments. However, sometime next year, through Title IV of the JOBS Act, aka Reg A, CNote intends to offer mainstream investors the ability to invest.
Interestingly, Berman’s research found that, for investors, the most compelling aspect of CNote is that it offers a high-yield savings option – 3% to 5%. Savers can withdraw money on a quarterly or annual cycle. Investing in women- and minority-owned businesses was the icing on the cake for investors.
“CDFIs are one of the best kept secrets,” said Berman. Believe it or not, many business owners don’t know about this option. Lending criteria vary by CDFI but think: raising less than $500,000, Main Street, food and services companies, companies with some revenue, and the business owner represents an underserved segment.
CNote wants to help raise the profile of CDFIs. For now, Berman can’t say in which CDFIs CNote is investing. She will, so stay tuned.
For women business owners who want to find out if a CDFI will help them, here are a couple of suggestions:
- The Tory Burch Foundation, which has partnered with Bank of America to distribute money through several CDFIs.
- Opportunity Finance Network’s CDFI Locator.
Kiva is not a CDFI but provides small, no-interest loans. Yes, you read that right – no interest. In 2011, Oprah named it her 2010 Favorite Thing. President Clinton is a fan, too!
With more funding options than ever before, there’s never been a better time for women to become owners of their own businesses.


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Last June, a routine check in the Paris flea market of Saint Ouen uncovered what at first seemed a classic case of casualwear counterfeiting: sweatshirts, jackets, and polos bearing the logos of such famous brands as Ralph Lauren, Eden Park, and Timberland.
But as customs officers pursued their investigation to Bourg-la Reine, a residential area in the city's southern suburbs, they were surprised to find five computer-driven sewing machines.
Authorities said the devices were together worth about US$50,000, a level of technology unusual for a case of this sort. The high-tech bust also suggested a new breed of thief - one who, rather than smuggle goods into the country, steals the digital logos and embroiders them on cut-rate fabric to sell domestically.
Even more troubling for the police and the textile industry: No one could determine whether the logos had been pilfered from the manufacturers or simply scanned into a computer from store-bought originals.
To help clothiers protect their wares, the customs agencies of France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Spain, and the Netherlands have joined forces in a project called Musyc (multimedia system for customs), a Net-based link between agents in each of the six countries that promises to speed up the process of distinguishing the originals from the fakes.
Nonetheless, the only real solution, says Musyc director Jean Louis Ferracci, "lies in the use of digital signatures and cryptography."


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Nokia is going into budget smartphones with their own Android phone codenamed Normandy. Reports say that Nokia is using an alternate version of the Android OS—much like Amazon’s Kindle Fire—for Normandy.
The actual phone itself was revealed by evleaks back in November and looks like Nokia’s Lumia line of handsets. Normandy’s Android variation will run the popular apps that can be ran on stock Android as well as variants of Cyangenmod. With the flexible nature of Android, it gives Nokia the ability to craft the OS to what they need for Normandy.
Also of note is that Nokia have been busy working on the Android handset as Microsoft is set to purchase their smartphone wing. This leaves the fate of Normandy up in the air as to whether it will be released before the ink is put to paper or if Microsoft will go ahead and releases it anyway.
Apparently employees working on the Normandy project received notice that the phone is aiming for a 2014 launch.
Popular Android OS Variant CyanogenMod Hits Google Play With Installer App
Ouya Plans To Go Through With Annual Console Updates, Next Ouya Scheduled For 2014 Release
The Android Alliance vs. Rockstar Bidco: The War To Settle The Score?


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1 Nov 2002
LCD Technology Crystallizes Success(HKTDC Electronics, Vol 06,2002)
Vol 6, 2002
LCD Technology Crystallizes Success
The Sky's The Limit
IDT Int'l Ltd
A SMALL company got off to a big start when it produced Hong Kong's first digital LCD alarm clock in 1977. Multi-award winning IDT Int'l Ltd has gone on to become a global force in the design, development and manufacture of consumer electronic products using innovative LCD and microprocessor technology. The listed company is also the owner of a major international consumer electronic brand, Oregon Scientific.
Today, Oregon Scientific's sophisticated products are distributed in 14 major markets. "Our brand accounts for 48% of the company's sales and reflects our reputation for style and elegance," says co-founder and executive director Shirley Chan. "Next year we're launching six new products designed by world-renowned designer Philip Stark."
The brand became a wholly-owned IDT subsidiary in 1997. "We opened our first concept store in Milan in 1999 and a second in Rome in 2000," says Chan. "We also developed our 'store-within-a-store' display concept to maintain a consistent brand image in department stores and duty-free outlets worldwide."
A network of overseas subsidiaries has helped the company position itself as a major international player. "Our strategy of product development and design and constantly strengthening our marketing and distribution channels helped raise turnover to HK$2.23bn (US$285m) in 2002, particularly in the US and Europe," Chan explains.
IDT's customers include Philips, Seiko, Sharp, Fujifilm and Packard Bell. The firm has also received numerous local and overseas awards recognizing its quality ODM products, adds Chan.
LCD consumer electronics is one of the largest of four major divisions of IDT's global business. Products include environmental monitoring devices, timepieces, and healthcare and sports items.
"We have become a world leader in the production of LCD weather products," enthuses Chan. Utilizing the latest technology, these products offer attractive features including wireless and remote barometers, pressure and humidity measures, moon phases and world time. Most are cable-free, desktop items for home or office.
The electronic learning products division emerged from the 1997 international craze for the LCD-based Tamagotchi toy. Now many large Japanese toy companies, such as Bandai, seek the company's expertise.
A new range of children's laptop models using animated characters such as Princess Cleo, the award-winning Zip the Robot and Special Agent Bravo has become the latest achievement. IDT also recently licensed "Barbie" and "Hot Wheels" for its Oregon Scientific range of electronic learning aids and toys.
Other divisions followed in the early 1990s."We wanted to diversify our product range and further expand internationally," explains Chan.
"We selected personal information products (PIP) and telecommunications and brought in specialist engineers from South Korea to increase our capabilities."
Both divisions have expanded rapidly. PIPs now include stylish PDAs, handheld PCs, organizers and language translators. "Most recently we introduced a new line of e-mail and Internet-related devices and digital imaging products," says Chan. "This includes the world's thinnest digital camera, just 6mm thick, which is listed in the 2001 Guinness Book of World Records."
The telecommunications division offers an extensive range of cordless phones with one of its best sellers a backlit model providing a view of the caller that can be seen from across the room.
This large product range requires a workforce of more than 8,000 employees at the company's one-million-square-metre production facilities in Xixian near Shenzhen on the Chinese mainland. It also has a 400-strong research and development team.
"We are well established in Europe and the US, so we are now looking to further expand in Asia, particularly the Chinese mainland," says Chan. "Brand development is very important - once you have a reputable brand, you can go anywhere."
WRITTEN BY SANDRA JENNER
IDT Int'l Ltd
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Alexander Wang has accused Philipp Plein of copying a show he did with H&M in 2014 in a video he posted on Instagram.
According to an article on WWD, Alexander Wang has accused Philipp Plein of copying a show he did for the Alexander Wang X H&M collection in 2014. Plein apparently copied the show’s aesthetics in his Plein Sport collection he showed in Milan last month.
Wang posted a video (below) of the two shows on Instagram with quotes, “can I copy your homework?” “Yeah just change it up a bit so it doesn’t look like you obviously copied.” “Ok.”
This isn’t the first time Plein has been accused of copying. Last month, he was sued by Perrin Paris for patent infringement. The French brand accused Plein of copying their Glove Clutch. According to the lawsuit, the bag Plein made was “the exact duplicate, same size, same design, same concept [as the Perrin clutch].” The brand also said that the only thing Plein did differently was put a skull on the bag.
In December, Dolce & Gabbana accused Plein of trying to steal their employees. The Italian luxury brand says two former employees, who now work for Plein, contacted several of their sales assistants. The sales assistants were allegedly offered a position at Plein’s new showroom in Milan.
Plein then posted a photo of a letter the brand sent him on Instagram saying, “just received a love letter from Dolce and Gabbana’s lawyer accusing me and my people that we would steal their employees. This is a free country and everybody can choose by themselves who they want to work for!!”
As for Wang accusing him of copying his show, Plein has not yet responded.
Both Wang and Plein have not responded to requests for comment.
So, what do you think? Did Philipp Plein copy Alexander Wang’s show? Let me know in the comments below. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to get new posts sent directly to your inbox and follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat.
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As many as a dozen thugs were captured on video smashing windows and stealing more than $10,000 worth of booze from Buster’s Liquors.
“I was warned about this just two days ago. There is a rash of stores that have been broken into – a rash of crime I guess you could say of these burglaries. They have stolen a significant amount of liquor from numerous retail liquor stores. Pretty confidently we’ll be banding together, and getting a reward put together to see that a lot of these individuals get arrested,” owner Josh Hammond told Local 24.What’s remarkable is that the smash-and-grab happened in the heart of Memphis — on South Highland.
Perhaps the thugs were celebrating the election of the city’s new progressive district attorney, Steve Mulroy? Mr. Mulroy wants to tackle bail reform and avoid cash bail when possible.
In other words, it probably won’t be the last time these thugs target law-abiding business owners in the Mid-South.