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Flipkart, one of India’s leading e-commerce websites, has announced another sale, the Big Saving Days sale. Sales will begin in the country from September 18th and will last until September 20th. As with other sales, customers receive attractive offers and offers on a wide range of products. In addition, there will be bank offers that make the deals even more attractive.
The e-commerce giant also allows users to pre-book anything they want to buy during the sale. The pre-reservation of the product can only be made for Re. Flipkart and SBI worked together on this sale and SBI cardholders are getting additional discounts.
Before the sale, Flipkart has not yet published details of the upcoming sale on its website. This means that we don’t know which products are getting a significant discount and which are not. However, we can take some pointers from the previous Big Saving Days sale.
During the previous sale, Flipkart offered some attractive discounts on popular smartphones like the Apple iPhone XR, iPhone SE (2020), Oppo Reno 2, OnePlus 7T, and more. The e-commerce giant also offered attractive offers for smart speakers and smart TV ranges. That being said, some laptops, bluetooth headphones, and more were offered at discounted prices.
Flipkart announced that customers who purchase cell phones and tablets will be able to avail of free EMI plans during the upcoming Big Saving Days sale. There will also be cardless credit and exchange offers to attract more customers.
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New Zealand's third-biggest Powerball Lotto prize is up for grabs, and New Zealanders have spent the day buying tickets and talking about what they'd do with the $32 million.
One-and-a-half million tickets are expected to be part of Saturday's draw, but if the prize isn't claimed it will jackpot to next Wednesday.
If tonight's draw is won by a single ticket-holder it will be the third biggest win in New Zealand Lotto history.
- The Lotto number that's being drawn twice as much as it should
- Revealed: The luckiest Lotto Powerball number
The money jackpotted after Wednesday night's $28 million Powerball wasn't struck.
"It's still too early to say how many tickets have been sold but we are expecting around about 1.5 million tickets in the draw tonight," Lotto's corporate communications manager Kirsten Robinson told Newshub.
New Zealand's biggest Powerball Lotto win was $44 million in 2016 - the lucky ticket was bought from Dairy Flat Foodmart.
Kirangaeet Singh says his winning store has been busier than usual for the past two weeks.
"We are hoping to sell another big one, a few people they come from Auckland city especially to buy the ticket," Singh told Newshub.
The second biggest prize was $33 million from a ticket sold at a Ponsonby store in 2013.
Lotto New Zealand says it will know around 8:30pm if the prize money has been won.
"Most people are pretty quick to check their tickets especially for these really big jackpots but some people have a bit of a routine, like to sit on their ticket for a little while keeping that dream alive," said Robinson.
One lucky New Zealander could be just one row of numbers away from a dream becoming their new reality.


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Although Chinese snack foods are almost unheard of outside of the country, some native dishes from southeast China's Shaxian county have made a big splash domestically with the opening of several "Shaxian snack bars" in major cities。
Eleven years ago, Lin Kaiming and his wife traveled from Shaxian, located in Fujian province, to the city of Zhanjiang in southern Guangdong province to open their first Shaxian snack bar. Although they had to work nearly 20 hours a day in the beginning, their returns were satisfactory。
Liu's success is just one example of the 60,000 Shaxian natives who have opened snack bars in China, as well as in the U.S., Japan, Germany, Australia and Singapore。
"The Shaxian snack bars produce an annual turnover of more than 5 billion yuan and a net income of more than 700 million yuan," said Huang Songfu, president of the Shaxian Snacks Guild。
The local government in Shaxian has made efforts to help the snack food industry flourish。
"To increase the employment rate and incomes for local residents, the Shaxian government has always played an active role in promoting Shaxian snacks," said Zheng Xingjing, director of the Shaxian Snack Bureau. Zheng said the bureau, established in 1997, is the first and perhaps only one of its kind in the entire country。
Guan said he intends to boost the industry to a new level by starting a listed company to act as a "carrier" for Shaxian snacks, a goal that Huang said can be realized by incorporating large private snack food chains, as well as processing and supply companies。
"Shaxian snacks bear the dreams of all of Shaxian's people," said Le Rongguang, deputy magistrate of Shaxian county. "We have spared no efforts to foster the industry's growth."


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November 26, 2014
|Duncan Mac Naughton
Walmart chief merchandising officer Duncan Mac Naughton is leaving the company, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
The article, which cited "people familiar with the matter," gave no reason for Mac Naughton's planned departure, which was expected to be announced just days before Black Friday.
Aldi Inc. has announced that it is promoting Jason Hart to chief executive officer, effective April 1.
Frank Scorpiniti, who resigned last month as chief executive officer of Rexall Pharma Plus, is now CEO of the Earth Fare natural food grocery chain, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Dollar Tree Inc. reported on Thursday a 9.9% rise in gross profit in its third quarter on its strongest quarterly sales growth since 2011.
Family Dollar Stores Inc. on Wednesday delayed a vote by shareholders on the company’s proposed $8.5 billion merger with Dollar Tree Stores Inc. The vote is now scheduled for December 23.
Target Corp. posted third quarter earnings Wednesday that beat estimates on U.S. sales, which grew faster than expected, and showed improvement at the retailer’s Canadian stores.
Sam’s Club on Monday unveiled Black Friday savings for members buying a variety of items, either in-club or online.
Target Corp. is introducing new medical services, including primary care, to four clinics in Southern California as part of a model being tested in collaboration with Kaiser Permanente, a health care provider.
More Retail News Breaks >>
David Heist, director of industry affairs and customer relations at Bayer Consumer Care, has announced his retirement.
Veteran Energizer Holdings Inc. executive Lou Martire plans to retire next year after more than four decades at the company.
Actavis PLC is acquiring Allergan Inc. in a transaction valued at about $66 billion. The combination will create one of the top-10 global pharmaceutical companies by sales revenue, with combined annual pro forma revenues of more than $23 billion anticipated in 2015.
Veteran consumer packaged goods executive Patrick Spear has taken the reins as president of the Global Market Development Center (GMDC).
Procter & Gamble Co. (P&G) is spinning off its Duracell business, the latest brand to be jettisoned by the world’s largest consumer products business as it concentrates on its most important markets and brands.
Avanti Press Inc. is refreshing its lineup for the fourth quarter with 22 new greeting cards.
Efficient Collaborative Retail Marketing (ECRM), which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, has revamped its website, www.ecrm.marketgate.com, to offer a fresh look, better navigation and improved functionality.
More Supplier News Breaks >>


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Baltimore County police are investigating whether two sweet-toothed teenagers arrested in the theft of cookies from a Towson, Md., bakery are the same sticky fingers who lifted 24 pounds of cookies from the same place days earlier.
Two 16-year-olds from Towson were caught by police at about 1:45 a.m. Monday after they were spotted by a security officer at the Towson Town Center jumping over the counter at the Great Cookie company, police spokeswoman Elise Armacost said Wednesday. The young men and a third suspect fled, but police could only catch the two teens.
The arrests came just 48 hours after two people were caught on camera jumping over the same counter at the cookie store and making off with 24 pounds of cookies — 12 pounds of chocolate chip and 12 pounds of snickerdoodles.
“It’s a quirky crime,” Ms. Armacost said. “But it is a crime, and we’re looking for whoever stole the cookies.”
The first robbery happened at about the same hour Saturday night, but the store’s employees did not realize the theft had occurred until a surveillance tape was reviewed.
In the case of the two teens, Ms. Armacost said it “looks like they did steal some cookies, but it does not appear as though there were as many cookies taken in the [Saturday] incident.”
Ms. Armacost said police don’t think the young men are the same suspects, but “obviously we’re looking to see if there’s some connection.”
“It’s funny,” he said of the second robbery. “They could have taken anything from any store in the mall. Snickerdoodles were all they took.”
The bakery offers a range of cookies and brownies, but its claim to fame is the snickerdoodles; a three-pound tin sells for nearly $60 on the company’s website.
“We’re an institution,” he added.
If there’s anything left over, it’s sold the following morning, and Mr. Fruman said the hundreds of cookies stolen earlier this week were actually destined for a charitable donation.
“We hit different shelters here and there,” he said, adding that the robbery would not set the store back on its mission.View Entire Story
© Copyright 2013 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.
Meredith Somers is a Metro reporter for The Washington Times. She can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org.
By John Solomon
How the government's punishing of the exposure of official wrongdoing can linger for years
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
A collection of reader guest articles, thoughts and opinions by Communities writers and breaking news and information.
A mother of three and a passionate conservative, Shirley Husar changes the game.
This column will cover anything that has anything remotely to do with the game of baseball, from the game itself to mid-summer trades to offseason moves.
Eye on Europe, the Middle East and Africa
Benghazi: The anatomy of a scandal
Vietnam Memorial adds four names
Cinco de Mayo on the Mall
NRA kicks off annual convention


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An Android threat campaign using fraudulent reading and education apps to infect devices with a Trojan horse and steal Facebook credentials has recently been discovered.
According to a report by cybersecurity firm Zimperium, the campaign has been active since 2018 and primarily targeting Vietnamese readers. The Trojan, which they named "Schoolyard Bully," has been found in various applications that were downloaded from the Google Play Store and third-party app stores.
These apps pretend to be educational applications with a wide range of books and topics for users to allegedly read. However, the apps' true goal is to steal information, such as:
- Name on Facebook profile
- Facebook ID
- Facebook email/phone number
- Facebook password
- Device name
- Device API
- Device RAM
According to Zimperium, the threat campaign has victimized at least 300,000 users across 71 countries. However, the exact number of countries could be underreported because the applications are still being found in third-party app stores.
Zimperium pointed out the significant effect of the campaign:
Facebook reaches nearly 2.96 billion monthly users and continues to be the number one social media platform. As attackers leverage the Schoolyard Bully Trojan to gain unauthorized access to credentials, they have far more success accessing financial accounts. Nearly 64% of individuals use the same password that was exposed in a previous breach. With the percentage of users recycling passwords, it is no surprise the Schoolyard Bully Trojan has been active for years.
To protect your device from potentially malicious applications, always check an app's reviews. Make sure as well that your antivirus software is updated. Finally, carefully assess the permissions requested by apps. If an app is asking for a permission that is irrelevant to the program's function, it could be malicious.


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IDE CONCLUDES A SUCCESSFUL IDWI 2019
The Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) today wrapped up International Diamond Week 2019, declaring that this was the largest and most successful of the events to date. The trade show took place on the huge IDE trading floor, the largest diamond trading hall in the world.
IDWI 2019 attracted over 350 foreign buyers from more than 30 countries, one-third of whom were new to IDE. Over 150 Israeli companies exhibited polished diamonds, with dozens of additional companies offering high-end diamond jewelry in a dedicated section. Traffic throughout the three day event was extremely lively.
Special events drew particular interest. The opening ceremony on January 28 featured speeches by Minister of the Economy Eli Cohen, who pledged continued government cooperation with the diamond industry, and IDE President Yoram Dvash, who thanked participants for their support and wished them a fruitful exhibition.
Diamond expert and publisher Martin Rapaport delivered an absorbing talk on the trading floor about how to make money from selling diamonds, stressing the importance of segmentation and niche marketing.
During the event IDE also dedicated a Diamond Auction Center, adjacent to the successful International Tender Center opened two years ago. The new facility will host international live diamond auctions, with the first one scheduled to take place in April. After hour social events included a lively dinner reception with live entertainment and dancing, as well as a free beer Happy Hour at the close of the show.
IDWI Chairman Ezra Boaron said that he was thrilled by the amount of participants and the level of traffic on the trading floor. “Our many months of efforts have certainly paid off. We can declare IDWI 2019 a major success, but we won’t rest on our laurels. We’re already working on making IDWI 2020 even more exciting. Save the date 02.02.20,” he said.


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Smart irrigation controllers, technologies used to decrease landscape water applications, are catching on in Florida. Incentivized by governmental agencies and water utilities in an effort to reduce public-supply water demand and conserve water resources, the controllers are becoming more popular with homeowners in this high water-use state.
A new study evaluated homeowners' satisfaction with evapotranspiration (ET)-based and soil moisture sensor (SMS)-based smart technologies, and recommends strategies to promote consumers' use of the controllers.
Maria C. Morera, corresponding author of the study (HortTechnology, August 2015), said that most research on smart controllers for urban landscapes has focused mainly on the technology's performance. "To successfully promote smart irrigation controllers, feedback from end-users is critical," she explained. Morera and colleagues surveyed homeowners who were part of a pilot project conducted in Orange County, Florida.
The researchers said the survey results point to four main findings. "First, a majority of survey participants with smart irrigation technology were generally satisfied with their controllers and planned to continue using them. A second finding is that a significantly greater number of survey participants with SMS controllers experienced challenges, dissatisfaction, and scored lower on tests designed to gauge familiarity with the workings of their devices than did survey participants with ET controllers."
Survey results also showed that a five-minute tutorial provided to some homeowners did not seem to be sufficient to increase their knowledge of the devices, or their comfort levels in operating them. The authors said this was likely because the tutorial was too brief. "Familiarity with the installation and functioning of the devices increased the likelihood that homeowners would continue using them," they added.
According to the report, the features homeowners liked most were the controllers' capacity for saving them money and irrigating efficiently.
The authors said that promotion efforts emphasizing the economic benefits of smart irrigation controllers - along with disseminating best management practices to homeowners and contractors - may most effectively encourage initial and long-term adoption of the water saving technologies.


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Designed to take tailgating to a new level, the PlayMaker’s Club will provide a high-end college football experience inside a three-story, climate-controlled structure built from repurposed shipping containers.
Charlotte, NC (PRWEB) October 30, 2013
Since 2009, Boxman Studios has worked with global brands to create some of the most iconic structures imaginable out of shipping containers. The IMG College PlayMaker’s Club is no exception. The three-story, climate-controlled hospitality structure is made from nine shipping containers and is scheduled to make its debut at the Florida-Georgia college football game in Jacksonville, Florida on November 2, 2013. It will also be on-site in Pasadena, California for the Rose Bowl on January 1, 2014, and the BCS Championship Game January 6, 2014.
The PlayMaker’s Club features modern furniture, multiple bars, on-site web streaming, high-definition LED TVs throughout, and a 20’ Jumbotron screen. “It’s more than upscale hospitality,” said Kelli Hilliard, senior vice president of a new IMG College division called Events, Entertainment, and Development which is introducing the new offering. “It’s unique to what’s out there, especially in the college space. It’s completely experiential for the client that’s looking for music, entertainment, celebrities, and a ticket to the game.”
Taking mobility into account, the PlayMaker’s Club has been certified to withstand hurricane winds in the Gulf, seismic earthquakes on the West coast, and snow loads in the Midwest. A pass to the PlayMaker’s Club runs $500 for the Florida-Georgia game. Packages that include a ticket to the game along with a PlayMaker’s Club pass range from $850 to $1,500 apiece. IMG College also has packages for the Rose Bowl and BCS Championship game. Amenities include private restrooms, premium catered buffet, a private pre-game concert, celebrity appearances, wifi and cell phone charging stations, shuttle service to and from the stadium, among other exclusive features. Click here to order tickets.
Boxman Studios was tasked with design, development, logistics, and storage of the massive structure which can be assembled in 30-hours and sits on a 5400 square foot footprint. Capacity for PlayMaker’s Club is 250 guests in the climate-controlled section, and 350 total guests including the courtyard areas and upper deck.
About Boxman Studios
Founded in 2009, Boxman Studios offers design, development, and deployment services of customized shipping containers, modifying them for a range of markets and applications around the world. Contact: David Campbell - dcampbell(at)boxmanstudios(dot)com - 704-333-3733 or Don Smyle - dsmyle(at)boxmanstudios(dot)com - 704-333-3733.


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Half of adults risk credit card bill shocks because they don't know what interest rate they're on
Almost half of people who own a credit card are running the risk of being shocked at their bills as they do not know what interest rate they are on, a new study has claimed.
The Moneywise Consumer Opinion Survey of 20,000 people found that 46.5 per cent of credit card holders had no idea of the rate on their card.
Given that interest rates vary from the advertised rate, with the best rates generally given to those with the best credit records, being unaware of the rate can mean unknown added costs for those who do not pay off their bills on time.
Unaware: Half of us don't know what interest rates there are on our credit cards.
Credit cards typically carry interest rates of around 18.9 per cent Representative APR, and providers have to give the best advertised rate to 51 per cent of successful applicants under EU law.
Customers don't tend to pay interest on their cards if they pay off the entirety of their bill on time, but will be hit with interest charges if they do not clear this debt.
Reasons for taking out cards varied, according to the survey, but getting the lowest rates is not a huge priority among customers, with only 14.4 per cent of people saying they chose their card because of the low interest.
One in ten respondents chose their card because of the brand, while 13.6 per cent were attracted by the balance transfer offers that would enable them to shift their debt onto a card with a decent interest-free period.
The main reason for getting a credit card was the rewards on offer. This follows the growth of supermarket and retailer-branded credit cards which offer shoppers vouchers and cashback in exchange for spending.
The survey found the most popular rewards cards include American Express's British Airways card, which gives holders 3,000 Avios points if they spend £500 in the first three months, and Tesco Bank's Clubcard card, which gives customers one Clubcard point for every £4 spent.
But with some retailer-branded cards carrying higher interest rates than conventional credit cards, it is even more important to pay off your bills on time, or take advantage of zero interest periods.
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Polk County Sheriff’s Office detectives are asking for the public’s help in a Retail Theft investigation.
At approximately 5:53 a.m., on Sunday, June 17, 2012, a retail theft occurred at the Circle K located at 2425 W. Memorial Blvd., Lakeland.
The suspect is described as a white male, approximately 20-30 years of age, wearing a white shirt and blue and white plaid shorts entered the store and took alcohol and candy. The suspect left the store after being confronted by the clerk.
A second subject involved is described as a black male, approximately 17-20 years of age wearing a red shirt, black pants, and a baseball cap. This subject distracted the clerk while the first suspect stole the items. It is undetermined at this time what the relationship is between the two subjects.
Anyone with information about this investigation is urged to contact Detective Douglas at 863-577-1600 or 863.298.6200.


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MIAMI — The push by retailers to offer and promote private-label brands remains strong as Navarro Discount Pharmacies unveiled its own private-label brand of Hispanic products across a range of categories, including beauty, over the counter, food, body and baby.
The new Vida Mia ("my life") line will feature bilingual packaging. It is being launched under Magellan Distribution Solutions, a wholesale and export company that is a wholly owned subsidiary of Navarro.
The new private-label products, launching in late summer 2011, will fully roll out to all 28 store locations and three additional stores that are slated to open within the next three to six months. To support the launch, Navarro has developed a campaign that includes in-store product sampling and coupon offers.
In addition to the store rollout, the Vida Mia brand also will be made available on a wholesale basis and online via e-commerce in about four to six months. Navarro has stated that it will offer the Vida Mia label as a licensing and manufacturing program to other retailers around the country who have a strong Hispanic customer base.
The product categories include:
Mi Casa (home) — household and kitchen items, coffee cups and paper goods;
Mi Cuerpo (body) — soap, shampoo and lotions;
Mi Salud (health) — OTC items and equipment;
Mi Bebe (baby) — diapers and baby items;
Mi Belleza (beauty) — cosmetics and beauty accessories; and
Mi Sabor (taste) — coffee, plantain chips, cookies, rice, sugar and other foods.


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After running into the owners of a Colorado Brewery this weekend, I stumbled on a battle going on in the state between, as the Brewers see it, liquor stores and grocery stores. Really, it is a battle between liquor stores and consumers. While it is predictable that liquor stores would try and block legislation that would allow any other store to carry beer I was extremely surprised to find that many craft brewers are adamantly taking the side of liquor stores and actively lobbying Colorado legislators to keep beer off grocery store shelves.
It is a very sad thing when businesses ask government to shield them from competition. It is even more depressing to see small businesses, which survive by their flexibility and loyal customer base, exhibit such anti-competitive and anti-consumer behavior.
The situation: In the state of Colorado, grocery stores and convenience stores are allowed to sell beer, but only if it is under 3.2% ABV which is lower than the average brew. They argue that they should be allowed to compete with liquor stores and serve their consumers better by lifting the percentage barrier on beer.
The arguments: Grocery stores, faced with increasing food prices and falling profits demand the ability to offer their consumers the products they want—including full-strength beer. Independent liquor stores as well as *some* craft brewers claim that grocery stores will carry only the top selling brands of beer and that changing the law will put independent and small liquor stores out of business resulting in reduced availability of craft beers.
The liquor store-craft brew argument is pure bunk. And it isn’t even a new argument. It’s the same old Wal-Mart myth repackaged in a beer cask. The oft heard claim is that a large store (like a Wal-Mart) moves into an area squeezing out smaller Mom-and-Pop competition. The truth is that any business moving into a new market will increase competition within the market. As in the case of Wal-Mart, if grocery stores enter the malt beverage market some independent stores probably will go out of business—but don’t blame the grocery stores. Blame the liquor stores for being uncompetitive; for not finding some way (either product variety, more convenience hours or location, better advertising) meet the demands of consumers—they should go out of business if they can’t provide what consumers want. The question then is, will craft brewers go out of business as a result of all this change? The answer is the same for the liquor stores: not if they are good craft brewers.
While the brewers that I spoke with touted the importance of the craft brew movement in Colorado (no argument here) and the variety that exists in the state (again- that’s a fact) he didn’t seem to want to listen to the argument that grocery stores selling beer might open a whole new market for distribution. In fact, he downright admitted that “maybe” and “might” isn’t comforting when the system they currently have “works right now”.
So, there you have it, small businesses preserving the status quo. These brewers, who already have distribution contracts set in place with these small liquor stores, simply don’t want to think about how they could work to convince grocers to carry their beers or incense their fans to demand stores carry their brand, and liquor stores don’t want to have to think about how to carve a niche in a market where competition can enter freely.
In fact, the respective arguments of liquor stores and craft brewers are self-defeating when put together. If grocery stores will refuse to carry craft beer (as the brewers believe) and the liquor stores will lose customers to grocery store beer…liquor stores can devote more inventory to the craft beers that consumers obviously want and keep making a profit. As Philadelphia beer reporter “Joe Sixpack” said “If supermarkets squeeze out craft beer, it’ll only create alternative specialty beer retailers. Look at gourmet cheese. You can’t buy it at the Acme, but you still find it easily, in specialty shops, farmer markets and upscale places like Whole Foods.”
When I brought up the fact that Whole Foods grocery stores carry many craft beers and are often right next to liquor stores, the craft brewer I spoke with had to admit that Whole Foods was the exception to his vision of generic grocery store selection. But if selection in CO grocery stores really would be that bad, it would simply create more opportunity for stores like Whole Foods that recognize the demand for craft beers.


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A new era has dawned in South Africa where digitalisation is rapidly transforming the trucking industry, and it is a business imperative to start embracing this concept as soon as possible – or fleet owners will not be able to compete in the near future.
This was one of the key messages that was delivered at the fourth annual TruckX and FleetX conference and expo, which concluded yesterday at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in Midrand. More than 1 400 visitors attended the two-day event hosted by Ctrack by Inseego and Standard Bank, which is seen as the premier place for the transport, logistics, materials handling and fleet industries. Topics that were discussed included trends in the commercial fleet industry, the benefits of clean fuel to the transport industry, and the importance of truck safety compliance.
Speaking at Day 1, TruckX, Executive Head of IoT Solutions at Vodacom SA, Tony Smallwood, stressed that digitalisation will undoubtedly happen across all industries soon.
“Competitiveness will have a direct correlation to digitalisation, and traditional industries will need to transform to compete in 2020. Data, platforms and innovation will disrupt your norm. The Uber, AirBNB and Kindle of your industry will happen, and you need to be in a position to either be the change agent or be ready to adapt,” he said.
The transformation is already being evidenced in the next-generation supply chains. Based on the materials handling, logistics and supply chain association MHI’s annual industry report, the next-generation supply chain is defined as digital, on-demand and Always-On. 80% of executives polled for this report said that the digital supply chain will be the predominant global supply chain model within five years, while 16% stressed that it is already digital.
“Today, trucks have already become a mobile node in the Internet of Things, with trucking companies and drivers benefiting from IoT logistics data that’s now available to them from mobile devices in the cab. Drivers can use linked devices to help them do their jobs faster and safer. Think mobile apps for task management, training on the go, and trend reporting to business intelligence dashboards,” said Morne Janse van Rensburg, CEO of VSc Solutions, who presented on Day 1.
“The cost of hardware and connectivity has dropped significantly in recent years, while cloud processing has become affordable and accessible to all sizes of businesses. All this is driving IoT and opens up the possibility of connecting just about anything,” he added.
Hein Jordt, MD of Ctrack South Africa, agrees that the fast development in technology is increasingly changing the way fleet owners do business. “There are global evolutionary concepts out there that are quickly transforming the logistics and trucking industry.
“The implication of the Internet of Things is that telematics is able to perform at a whole new level. Among this is automating business process for improved quality and lower costs, applying analytics to the entire logistics value chain, and optimising how systems, assets and people integrate to work together. Now more than ever, fleet owners should embrace the advancements in telematics technology in order to be fully prepared when the wave of digitalisation fully hits,” he concludes.
[Picture: Morne Janse van Rensburg and Grant Marshbank of VSc Solutions discussing the future of telematics at TruckX 2017.]


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4th of July is almost here and if you’re looking for new sunglasses, you don’t want to miss these deals on Ray-Bans on Amazon! Right now, you can snag huge discounts on Ray-Ban designer sunglasses — some for more than $75 off!
The eyewear brand launched in the 1930s and has become a summer staple accessory for influencers and celebrities alike. Having a pair of Ray-Ban sunnies in the mix is key for a stylish summer season and right now, you can even pick up a pair of Ray-Ban’s Meteor Sunglasses for $112. Bonus: Amazon Prime wardrobe shoppers can try select shades for free for seven days to make sure they’re the right fit.
You might not get a lightning deal, but Amazon shoppers can still find plenty of discounts across categories in the wake of the Prime Day shopping event. We’re still seeing major deals, markdowns and discounts on electronics including Amazon products like Echo Dot, Amazon Fire Tablet, Fire TV Stick, Fire HD, Amazon Kindle and other Amazon devices, laptop deals including the ipad, macbook pro, iphone and apple watch and wireless earbuds, home decor,women’s clothing, kitchen appliances including on an Instant Pot, items for the home like a robot vacuum, bluetooth speaker or smart tvcamping gear, workout shorts, travel gear, designer handbags, designer sunglasses, outdoor furniture, spring jackets, athleisure, designer dresses, sandals, sneakers, boots, activewear, designer backpacks, swimwear, underwear, bras, men’s clothing, shoes, jewelry, loungewear, trendy tie dye items, kids/baby gear, watches, luggage, fitness trackers, toys and more.
Plus, you can now shop small businesses on Amazon. Downloading the Amazon app will bring the deals directly to your smartphone. If you’re an Amazon Prime member, be sure to sign into your account for access to free two-day shipping on select items. And if you’re not a member, sign up for an Amazon Prime Membership 30-day free trial so you can join in on some of the biggest discounts outside of holiday shopping on Black Friday and Cyber Monday from the retail giant.
More: Check out ET’s list of Amazon’s Best Deals for Summer
Shop ET Style’s Picks from Amazon’s Best Deals on Ray-Ban Sunglasses:
Source: Read Full Article


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The Central Bank of Myanmar has required local banks to upgrade the card payment technology, as a step toward integrating the payment system with the ASEAN region.
Daw Than Than Swe, the director general of the Central Bank, told the Myanmar Times that all the payment cards issued by local banks will have to be upgraded to EMV standard, as a measure to strengthen security.
Currently, Myanmar banks are issuing debit and credit cards which are classified as non-EMV chip cards. Therefore, these cards will be switched to the EMV standard which offers more protection, and all local banks will finish phasing out the old cards by 2020, she explained.
According to information from JPMorgan Chase, EMV chip technology is becoming the global standard for credit card and debit card payments. Named after its original developers (Europay, MasterCard and Visa), this technology features payment instruments such as smart cards and mobile phones with embedded microprocessor chips which store and protect cardholder data. This standard, also commonly known as “chip and PIN” or “chip and signature”, have more sophisticated encryption and is primarily designed to prevent fraudulent transactions. EMV cards are also harder to clone.
In order to implement this nationwide upgrade, Myanmar Payment Union (MPU), which was established together by 23 local private banks, signed a deal on February 7 with Unionpay International (UPI).
“These chip cards which are currently issued by local banks are highly secure as well. But the EMV-standard cards are internationally recognised as the safest. Hence, we would need to change our cards so as to follow the international standard,” the director general said.
“We need to make sure our cardholders are protected with better security measures and to get ready to be part of ASEAN,” she said, adding that 2020 is the deadline for the transition to be completed.
In the ASEAN region, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam have implemented the EMV payment system, and are also using the Asian Payment Network (APN) system. The APN is set to become a common standard for ASEAN members, said Mr Yan Wen Hui, general manager of UPI Southeast Asia.
Among all the 10 ASEAN member states, UnionPay cards have also been widely accepted. The people in Myanmar, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand use UnionPay cards frequently in domestic consumption as well as when travelling overseas.
“Myanmar will also be joining the ASEAN’s own network, the Asian Payment Network, in the future,” said Daw Than Than Swe.
The APN was an initiative launched in 2006 by ASEAN member countries, namely Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, in coordination with their respective central banks. The initiative was organised as a private sector response-and-dialogue partner to the then-ASEAN Pay Steering Committee, a body comprised of representatives from central banks in ASEAN. The APN and the committee were tasked to establish common standards and formulate a framework for efficient and reliable cross-border payment services across the region.
The APN brings together payment operators from the four ASEAN members, with the Philippines and Vietnam subsequently joining. Some other non-ASEAN Asian electronic payment operators have also taken part. The initiative has established standards for cross-border automated teller machine (ATM) cash withdrawals, balance inquiry and funds transfers.
A working paper published by the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) in 2013 argues in favour of a more regionalised payment system for the ASEAN, which was expected to benefit from the significant growth in the Asia-Pacific payments market. Growth in economic activity in individual countries would increase the overall size, scale, and scope of payment transactions. Enabling the scale and scope of payments to fulfil its potential would require national payment and transaction systems to be regionally integrated.
Standardising and improving the card payment systems is one of the steps paving way for Myanmar to join the game.
An official from a local private bank, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Myanmar Times that, among all the cards issued by the banking sector, only the cards which are MPU-issued are non-EMV cards, and have to be replaced.
That view is shared by the Central Bank.
“Those cards which are not issued by the MPU already have the EMV system. What the Central Banking is essentially saying is that the MPU-issued cards should be changed,” said U Zay Yar Aung, an official from the CB Bank department of cards and machine maintenance.
Another official from Kanbawza Bank (KBZ) also said, “Most cards issued by the banks these days include the EMV technology system. That is why I don’t think a lot of cards have to be replaced.”
Apart from MPU-issued cards, Master cards and Visa cards issued by Myanmar banks, there are also jointly-issued cards such as MPU-Master, MPU-Visa, MPU-UPI, and MPU-JCB cards.
The UPI has agreed to provide technical assistance and technology service to MPU for the EMV upgrade. MPU started issuing cards in 2012 and, at present, there are a total of 2.8 million MPU cards issued by the 23 local private banks.
Adopting EMV cards is another sign that Myanmar is keen to connect with the global financial system. Last March, the AYA Bank became the first lender to offer bank cards with a stamp from global payment network provider JCB. The bank started issuing debit and credit cards with a joint stamp from Japan’s JCB and MPU, meaning it can be used in Myanmar and across a JCB network spanning some 31 million merchants in 190 countries and territories.
Why did the Central Bank set a deadline for the technology transition? This is probably a measure to avoid following in the footsteps of America’s slow embrace of the smart cards.
A few years back, American card companies and banks were very reluctant to do what had been done elsewhere — start issuing the upgraded payment cards. But without the government’s command, the card industry has been locked in a dilemma labelled by The Economist as a “chicken-and-egg situation”: stores had no reason to install EMV-card readers while financial institutions had been reluctant to issue those cards; and banks had refused to embrace them while they were not accepted in stores.
With the instruction from the Central Bank, the payments industry in Myanmar is set to embrace the technology very soon.
Source: Myanmar Times


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22 Apr BMW iX1 electric crossover coming to South Africa – Everything we know
The BMW iX1 electric crossover is confirmed for a South African introduction, and it’s already listed on the company’s local website.
However, there is so little information available about this vehicle that BMW South Africa said they would like to tell us when it’s launching, but they themselves are not sure.
There are no formal press releases that tell us what the iX1 will offer, and only spy shots and fan renders that show us what it might look like.
It’s so fresh that in BMW’s recent 352-page report on what it was up to in 2021, the term “iX1” was mentioned exactly once.
BMW South Africa did say that its electric releases for this year will encompass the i4 M50, iX3, and i7 – so it’s likely the iX1 will only be seen on our roads come 2023.
As such, we delved into the world of online speculation to see what’s available on the new electric crossover, and this is what we found.
Everything we know
The BMW iX1 is based on the brand’s entry-level SUV/crossover, the X1.
Keeping in line with its petrol-powered siblings, the iX1 will be more affordable than the larger iX3 – the latter of which is going on sale in South Africa later this year at R1,290,000.
According to BMWBlog, the iX1 will be the replacement for the longstanding i3 electric hatchback.
It is expected the iX1 will initially be available in a front-wheel-drive configuration with under 150kW of power, as well as in all-wheel-drive guise with around 186kW.
Although similar to the new 7 Series, there is a possibility that the battery-powered iX1 will be the flagship of the next-generation X1 line-up rather than a standalone model.
BMW then forecasts the driving range of its new electric crossover to be between 413-438km at an energy consumption rating of 17.3-18.4kWh/100km.
The battery pack is therefore estimated to have a capacity between 74-80kWh – which is very close to that of the iX3.
In terms of charging, the iX1 is built on a 400-volt battery system and is expected to support the same charging speeds as the existing line-up of electrified BMWs, going up to 200kW, writes TopElectricSUV.
At these speeds, the iX3 gains over 100km of range for every 10 minutes of charge, which is probably what the iX1 is will be capable of, too.
The below infographic shows BMW’s plans for electrification over the next few years.
Spy shots by Motor1 in early 2022 show the iX1 in heavy camouflage, with only the windshield, wing mirrors, and wheels fully exposed.
Unfortunately, these are the best photos that have surfaced thus far.
The car in question closely matches the silhouette of the standard X1 and it has “electric test vehicle” emblazoned on the door, making it a reasonable assumption that what we’re looking at is, in fact, the iX1.
Compared to the X1, the battery-powered model seems to have unique front and rear bumpers, a steeper rear window, and a grille with a large black sensor in the middle – which is usually a sign of advanced driver-assist systems.
However, there is no unobstructed view of the iX1 in all its glory, and the below render by SRK Designs we think is the best depiction of what it might look like.
“Starting at the end of the year, the new iX1 will be our fully electric offer to customers in the high-volume premium compact segment,” said BMW CEO Oliver Zipse in March.
The EV will be built at the Regensburg facility in Germany, with the first models expected to roll off the line in November.
BMW iX1 Spy Shots
Article sourced from Albert Du Toit: https://briefly.co.za/cars-tech/125315-bmws-flagship-x7-german-carmakers-flagship-suv-emerges-styling-tech-2022/


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Wi-Fi Alliance® has introduced three new enhancements to security of Wi-Fi, namely WPA3, Enhanced Open and Easy Connect.
In today‘s increasingly connected world, the need for Wi-Fi hotspots and wireless business connectivity has skyrocketed as cable operators look for ways to deliver value-added services like video, voice and high speed Wireless Internet access. With a wireless network in everyone‘s mobile device, cable providers are constantly in search of the most innovative, scalable and cost-effective products to keep up with the growing demand for connectivity.
Over the past year, we’ve been working closely with our channel partners to understand how to make it easier for them to sell and close deals faster. That lead us to completely re-engineer our partner portal to focus on speed, agility, and responsiveness, and today I’m proud to announce the result of that effort: our new Mojo Force platform. I firmly believe this platform is going to set a new standard for the relationship between vendors and the channel.


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XPO Logistics Inc., which acquired Ann Arbor-based Con-way Inc. in 2015, said it cut approximately 160 positions in its less-than-truckload (LTL) business. The cuts affected administrative, management and back office jobs, according to a report in crainsdetroit.com.
In addition, it eliminated 30 positions in other parts of the company.
XPO purchased Con-way last September for $3 billion. The company estimated that it expected to reduce annual costs by more than $20 million against a targeted operating profit improvement of $170 million to $210 million over two years.
“Our plan for LTL is very much on track for our near-term and long-term goals,” said Tony Brooks, president of LTL for XPO Logistics. “We plan to double the number of strategic account managers over the next few months. Our focus is on growing LTL by expanding our service capabilities and cross-selling LTL to XPO’s full customer base.”
In another move, the CEO of XPO said he is inclined to halt the sale of a long-distance truckload business after offers for the unit were insufficient.
“I’m leaning toward keeping rather than selling it, but no final decision has been made,” said Bradley Jacobs, CEO of XPO.
Greenwich, Conn-based XPO may decide it can reap more profit from the unit by using the parent company’s brokerage business to fill trailers that otherwise would run empty, Jacobs said. Offers haven’t been good enough to sell, he said.
“I’m not sure in this market that we’ll get the price that we need,” Jacobs said, declining to say when a decision would be reached. If XPO decides to keep the business, the company will invest in the operation for the long term and not just hold it to sell later, he said.
Jacobs said in November that XPO had received “serious interest” from potential buyers of the unit. The long-distance trucking industry is splintered among many companies with little pricing power.
The truckload unit is profitable and has annual earnings before interest, depreciation and amortization — a profit measure known as Ebitda — of $100 million, Jacobs said. About 35 percent of its business comes from cross-border trucking with Mexico.


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Now that’s fulfilment as company secures £11m Lloyds investment
An e-commerce fulfilment business that has grown exponentially since being founded by two Cambridge graduates has clinched £11 million in private equity investment.
James and James Fulfilment, which has since moved its UK headquarters to the Northampton area, secured the backing from mid-market private equity investor LDC, part of Lloyds Banking Group, to further enhance its market-leading, software-enabled e-fulfilment proposition.
In the last three years the company’s revenue has grown by 50 per cent per annum to £17.4m and it now employs more than 100 people worldwide.
LDC is partnering with the firm’s management team – led by founder and CEO James Hyde, COO Neil Sant and CFO Simon Lisser – to invest in a larger UK fulfilment centre, continue to develop the technology proposition and expand client service and commercial functions.
Hyde said: “We created the business to challenge the industry and create technology-led solutions that are fit for today’s rapidly-evolving online retail market.
“The logistics industry has generally been behind in its adoption of technology, but the demand for more modern systems is greater than ever.
“Over the last few years, we’ve been on a strong growth trajectory and are investing more than ever in our in-house fulfilment platform. With LDC’s experience in the tech space and confidence in our business plan, they will be a great partner to help us deliver even more value to even more brands and retailers.”
James and James provides online order fulfilment to e-retailers, storing products, packing and shipping orders, and handling any returns. This enables clients to increase order volumes, enhance customer experience, and improve stock and inventory management.
The business supports its clients from its operating bases in the UK, US and New Zealand.
Through its award-winning cloud-based software technology platform, ControlPort, James and James’s clients can fulfil orders from multiple channels and countries in one place and also provide live order tracking.
The idea for the business was hatched in 2010 when Hyde and Strachan couldn’t find the right order fulfilment service for an eCommerce business they worked for. Faced with messy warehouses running on out-dated systems, they decided to build their own service proposition.
In 2016 it moved its HQ and UK fulfilment centre from Cambridge to Northampton, on the Brackmills Industrial Estate, to exploit better links to national communications hubs and international airports.


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Yuengling wants 'Philly Special' trademark for its beer
D.G. Yuengling & Son, Inc. recently filed a trademark application for "Philly Special" and is considering applying the phrase to one of its beers. It is the sixth company or person to seek the trademark since the Super Bowl.
Move over, Bud Light. There's a new brewery hopping on the Eagles bandwagon.
Actually, it's the oldest in the country.
D.G. Yuengling & Son Inc. recently filed a trademark application for "Philly Special." The company is considering applying the phrase to one of its existing beers — such as Yuengling Lager — in the Philadelphia region, or perhaps using it for a new beer altogether.
"The past few weeks have been so exciting for Philadelphia fans everywhere," Yuengling's marketing director, Tyler Simpson, said in a statement. "We thought there might be something fun we could do for loyal Yuengling drinkers in the Philadelphia region."
The Pottsville-based brewery is now the sixth company or person to file a "Philly Special" trademark application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office since the Eagles debuted the gadget play during the Super Bowl.
The other applicants are seeking exclusive rights to use the phrase for clothing and sandwiches, the Inquirer and Daily News reported Monday.
"We're still exploring options and would love to hear what the fans think a Philly Special could be," Simpson said. "We want to have fun with it and may have our Philadelphia fans vote for their favorite idea."
Simpson said Thursday that the options were "wide open." The company might use the name for a special pack of new beer, or slap it on brands like Lager, Light Lager, Black & Tan, or "other things," he said.
"This Philly Special idea would be for our loyal Yuengling and Philadelphia fans," Simpson said, noting that the company's logo and packaging has always included an eagle.
Founded in 1829, D.G. Yuengling & Son is America's oldest brewery and the fourth-largest U.S. beer-maker.
Reconnecting with Philadelphia drinkers might not be such a bad idea.
Richard "Dick" Yuengling backed Donald Trump for president and even hosted his son Eric in October 2016. Smart move in Schuylkill County, where Yuengling is located. Trump took 70 percent of the vote there.


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For the iPhone 5S, Pawprints Can Be Fingerprints Too
The iPhone 5S fingerprint sensor has been both praised and criticized by techies, but one thing that people weren't anticipating was how Apple's latest smartphone applies to their pets. A video posted on TechCrunch shows that even a cat's paw can unlock the device.
Darrell Etherington, a writer for the tech news website, said that one of his colleagues, Natasha Lomas, came up with the idea. "I had the phone to review, she had a cat, and said that it was something we could try," he told ABC News.
The cat's pawprint was not masquerading as Etherington's. Instead, the cat (whose name is kept secret by TechCrunch employees) had its own profile set up on the iPhone 5S. "The registration process took a little bit longer than it would a human's fingerprint."
In addition to a longer registration process, the cat also encountered more authentication errors trying to unlock the iPhone even with a user profile already set up.
"It seemed like there wasn't as much tolerance, like if the paw were at a different angle than when the cat first registered," said Etherington. Eventually, the cat's paw was able to unlock the phone reliably.
Apple declined to comment, or purr, when reached by ABC News.
Etherington has also used other non-finger parts of his body to unlock the phone.
"I've tried with the underside of my forearm and the heel of my palm, so long as it has a recognizable pattern," he said. "It has to be alive, but really it's any type of exposed skin."


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T-Mobile's New REVVL Lineup Includes a 5G Phone for $400
T-Mobile today introduced three new models in its own-branded REVVL series: the REVVL 4, REVVL 4+, and REVVL 5G. The REVVL 5G will sell for $400 — or $200 with a new line of service — making it the most affordable 5G phone in the US to date. All three phones run Android 10 and have a fingerprint sensor.
- REVVL 5G: Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765 chip and a 4,500 mAh battery. Key specs include 6.53-inch full-HD display, 6 GB RAM, 128 GB storage, and triple rear cameras. The main camera has a 48 megapixel sensor, joined by an 8-megapixel wide camera and 5 megapixel macro camera. A 16 megapixel front camera sits behind a corner hole-punch in the display.
- REVVL 4+: Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 chip and a 4,000 mAh battery. Key specs include 6.52-inch HD display, 4 GB RAM, and 64 GB storage. The main camera has a 16 megapixel sensor. A 16-megapixel front camera is located in a display notch. It will sell for $192.
- REVVL 4: Powered by a MediaTek Helio A22 chip and a 3,500 mAh battery. Key specs include 6.22-inch full-HD display, 2 GB RAM, 32 GB storage, 13 megapixel main camera, and 5 megapixel front camera. It runs $120.
After "soft-launching" with the Plex phone last year, TCL is now previewing its first widely-available lineup of own-brand phones: the 10 series, all of which offer premium features for under $500. TCL officially announced very few details of the three phones, but shared more with Phone Scoop in a hands-on session.
Jun 18, 2020
Regulatory filings for a new phone from TCL bear the name "REVVL 4+" and describe a phone supporting all of the network bands unique to the T-Mobile/Sprint network. Since 2017, T-Mobile has offered a series of white-label phones under its own "T-Mobile REVVL" brand.
Jun 30, 2021
T-Mobile's new REVVL V+ 5G will offer 5G for just $200 on both T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile this July. The T-Mobile-branded REVVL V+ 5G follows the REVVL 5G, which broke new ground by offering 5G for just $400 when it launched a little less than a year ago.
Jun 28, 2021
TCL today revealed the US launch details for its new 20 series of phones: the TCL 20 Pro 5G, 20S, and 20 SE. The 20 Pro 5G is an affordable flagship phone with 5G for $500.
Jun 15, 2021
OnePlus today released several key specs and launch plans for its new Nord N200 5G phone. In the US, the phone will be available from T-Mobile for $216, Metro for $230, as well as unlocked for $240.
6.2" display HD+ resolution
MediaTek Helio A22 processor 2 GB RAM
3,500 mAh battery
Memory Card Slot, Headphone Jack (3.5mm), Fingerprint Reader
6.5" display HD+ resolution
Snapdragon 665 processor 4 GB RAM
4,000 mAh battery
Memory Card Slot, Headphone Jack (3.5mm), NFC, Fingerprint Reader


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Streaming live video and engaging people via social media are excellent marketing strategies. But for the cosmetic practices that use them, these marketing approaches are also risky.
Very risky, according to Alex Thiersch, an attorney and partner at ByrdAdatto, and director of the American Med Spa Association, in Chicago.
“We’re seeing these incredible advances in marketing, particularly through live video streaming,” Mr. Thiersch says. “Doctors are using Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and all those things and getting these huge followings. But there are risks associated with that when it comes to patient privacy advertising and making true statements.”
Essentially, he says, technology is moving faster than the laws governing it, and doctors might not know when they’re crossing the line.
“These are things that even five years ago, we would have never imagined. It’s as if we’re trying to keep everybody on the road, even if the road itself hasn’t really been defined,” he says.


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Yelp (NYSE: YELP ) is about to add a new asset to its portfolio. The company announced that is has inked an agreement to acquire SeatMe, which Yelp describes as "an exciting tech start-up that has developed a web and app-based solution to enable online reservations for restaurants and nightlife locations." The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
In the press release heralding the news, Yelp waxed enthusiastic about the potential synergies of the acquisition. It said that "we can further enhance the consumer experience by extending the convenience of easy, online reservations directly through Yelp to thousands of currently unserved businesses."


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For 30 years, Phyllis Lambert has owned and operated a small jewelry store in Duncanville, but the run is coming to an end.
Revenue has fallen by roughly half, the COVID-19 threat remains high and mask requirements make her uneasy about security. And how to cope with all the uncertainty?
Her shop, Gold N Things, was shut down for five weeks during the spring, per government orders, and customer traffic never recovered fully. So now she’s holding a going-out-of-business sale and expects to close the store for good within a month.
“It’s the economy and the pandemic,” Lambert said. “I’m a luxury, not a necessity.”
Gold N Things will join over 130,000 other U.S. companies that have shut their doors since March. That includes an estimated 3,200 small businesses in Dallas-Fort Worth that closed permanently or temporarily, according to a report by the website Yelp.
Many experts fear the number of closures will soar, especially among smaller firms. That’s because the pandemic continues to spread, and federal relief for small business has been winding down while Congress debates next steps.
The U.S. has roughly 60 million small businesses, defined as having fewer than 500 employees. In Texas, over 2.6 million small firms employed nearly 4.7 million, almost 46% of the private workforce in 2015, according to federal reports.
Many small firms had financial risks before the pandemic, and it’s much worse now. An analysis by consulting firm McKinsey projected that 1.4 million to 2.1 million small businesses could close permanently because of it.
Smaller firms are most vulnerable. Among those with 20 employees or fewer, up to 40% could close, McKinsey said.
Lambert will turn 72 in September, and she wasn’t planning to retire. But with so many unknowns surrounding the business, she couldn’t risk the family savings.
“If no money’s coming, we’re not going to stay here,” she said about her and her husband. “How long are you going to keep floating the business?”
That’s the tough question, and for good reason. After the 2009 recession, it took an average of six years for small businesses to fully recover, McKinsey said.
Small business owners are usually playing with their own money. Depending on their age and company reserves, they may not see a profitable path out of the pandemic.
In Dallas County, 17% fewer small businesses were open July 27 compared with January, according to Opportunity Insights’ Economic Tracker. The decline in revenue was even deeper over the period — almost 20% lower for all small businesses and 51% lower for the leisure and hospitality industry.
Federal relief programs were designed to last a few months, under the assumption the recovery would be underway. But many companies elected to close or sell.
“They don’t see how they can survive the length of time it will take to get rid of the virus,” said Cristin Thomas, executive district director of small business and entrepreneur innovation at Dallas College.
But Thomas points to others that pivoted successfully. They moved into related areas and bulked up technology to reach customers in new ways.
Some are thriving now, including interior design firm Urbanology Designs. The North Richland Hills company has a full pipeline of business through the end of the year, thanks to a surge of remote workers fixing up homes.
“People are suddenly in a hurry to get things done and make their homes a priority,” said founder and owner Ginger Curtis. “We’ve had our biggest projects of all time during COVID.”
Revenue is running about 50% ahead of last year’s pace, she said. The firm has eight employees, including some recent hires, and primarily serves residential customers.
The economic shutdown in the spring gave Curtis and colleagues a chance to reassess the business. They beefed up contracts, refined messages on social media and recruited freelance talent that’s now working remotely.
Urbanology Designs also offers walk-through consultations — virtually.
Starting at $1,800 for three rooms and two hours of help, the packages have been “wildly popular,” she said. Customers as far away as Michigan and New Jersey use the service.
“The pandemic made us very aware of what we were capable of — things we never would have considered if not for COVID,” Curtis said.
Ultimate Ventures, an event-planning company in Dallas, has branched out. It created kits to help people navigate conference calls and remind them of favorite events, such as the canceled State Fair of Texas.
But its big business keeps getting pushed out. The company, which had 21 employees in February, furloughed about half by late March. It took out several loans from the government and hoped to bring back workers by July, said Laurie Sprouse, co-owner and president.
Canceled spring events were optimistically rebooked for October and November. When COVID-19 cases spiked after Memorial Day, those events were canceled and holiday events soon followed. It’s now aiming for dates in February and March.
“The goal posts just continue to move,” Sprouse said. “If we knew where the goal posts would be, we could plan to get there.”
She’s hoping for more government programs, including loans for hard-hit companies and liability protection so customers would consider holding live events again. The pandemic prompted the creation of a new trade association to lobby for help, and Sprouse is chairing the group from Texas.
The live events industry has over 30,000 businesses and 1 million workers in Texas, she said, and average revenue is down 80%. That’s forcing many hard calls.
“We’re looking at how much we’re willing to take out of our personal reserves and where we need to draw the line,” Sprouse said. “You just have to decide how deep you’re going to go.”


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OPINION: Congress has the power to ‘fix’ the lack of access to loan options, but their decision could leave Blacks permanently in the poor house
Why the 2019 Protecting Consumers from Debt Traps and Unreasonable Rates Act is not the answer to Black people's financial dilemmas.
I remember when I was in college in the late 1980s going into the early 1990s, my mom and brother would sometimes just have $25.00 a week to live on. My mom had a stable, good job working as a Registered Nurse, but as a single mother who found herself newly divorced with one kid in college and the other about to enter high school, she had to count her pennies.
Like many Black families, we had few options. There were no payday lenders or short-term loans back then. You could take a cash advance on your credit card, but that was not a great option. Typically, most people just borrowed money from family and friends or just simply found a way to get through until that next paycheck. Fast forward to 2019.
Black female heads of households, like the one I grew up in, now account for over 68 percent of Black households as opposed to 37 percent for white, non-Hispanic single female heads of household, according to the Center for American Progress. And that is where this discussion should begin, because like most things in America, race and gender play a huge role in who gets access to capital, to loans, to financing, credit cards and the like.
Just like with my own family, bills could easily get behind if a tire had to be replaced, if there was a medical emergency, or even if the car broke down. This is not uncommon for many Americans. For example, according to the Federal Reserve, 46 percent of Americans do not have enough money to cover an emergency expense of just $400.
As we head into the 2020 Election Cycle, candidates running for President on both sides are rightly focused on healthcare, the economy, jobs, and student loans. However, one key issue that is simply being ignored is one that impacts tens of millions of Americans daily—a solution for a short-term money infusion in the case of a medical emergency, a sick parent, shoes for my kids, or simply putting food on the table when funds are low.
The short answer is that there are currently many popular loan products where African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans are typically the customer base as they are more than twice as likely than white customers to use these products. Unfortunately, many of these loans carry APRs greater than 36 percent, which can be devastatingly difficult to pay back.
I know that there are some strong arguments being put forth about the cost of these products, and many of these criticisms are warranted. The types of credit people of color have access to are usually more expensive and less competitive, because it’s tougher for folks like us to get credit from a traditional bank. Yet, the challenge is where do women and people of color in the working class and working poor go for credit or cash when there is no “savings” to tap into and the banks have already said “no?”
Right now, the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee is debating the Protecting Consumers from Unreasonable Credit Rates Act of 2019, legislation that would eliminate the excessive rates and steep fees charged to consumers for payday loans but then impose an interest rate on all consumer loans at an Annual Percentage Rate (APR) of 36 percent.
This cap will have potentially negative repercussions on the Black community and especially on Black women and entrepreneurs. Here are some facts we should consider as the arguments being put forth by Rep. Maxine Waters, Senator Bernie Sanders, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and others take shape:
Over sixteen percent of African Americans do not have a bank account and therefore often rely on alternative forms of credit.
- African Americans need more credit to take advantage of economic opportunities, but they can’t get credit without being credit-worthy.
- Women are more likely than men to be “underbanked” and therefore to rely on consumer loan products that carry higher interest rates.
- African-Americans are twice as likely as other borrowers to use payday loans.
- In recent years, banks have closed branches, and the closures have taken place disproportionately in African American communities.
- While the average African American wealth level is $5,446, the average White American wealth is 11 to 16 times higher.
- Sixty-nine percent of Americans have almost no savings, and it is well documented that the average African American’s personal wealth is lower than that of the average White American. Without the availability of nontraditional options, people who are desperate to pay their bills and make ends meet are more likely to end up bouncing a check, bankruptcy, piling up debt on a credit card and paying only the monthly minimum.
- African American entrepreneurs are more likely than White entrepreneurs to rely on personal credit, rather than business credit, to raise the capital to launch their businesses.
- Once established, businesses often rely on infusions of credit to weather downturns and to cover unexpected expenses, and African American business owners—especially Black women who are business owners—are more likely to rely on personal credit, rather than business credit, to keep their operations afloat.
- Regrettably, African American business owners are two to three times more likely as business owners as a whole to report “lack of access to business loans/credit” or “lack of access to personal loans/credit” as a reason for their businesses’ closures.
People who are desperate to pay their bills and make ends meet are always going to gravitate toward less desirable options. There’s no reason this should continue to be the only options for people of color, and women who are single heads of households, sometimes working more than one job to make ends meet.
Yes, high interest rates on payday loans or credit cards are not an ideal solution, however we can’t take those tools away and replace them with nothing. A national rate cap on consumer loans would shock the marketplace and devastate people of color and minority business owners. This is why we need traditional options of savings accounts, liquidating investments and 401Ks available in a way that encourages economic parity and allows disenfranchised communities to make better, smarter choices for their present and futures.
Sophia A. Nelson is an award-winning journalist and author of the award winning book, “Black Woman Redefined: Dispelling Myths and Discovering Fulfillment in the Age of Michelle Obama.”
Commentary submissions in our Opinion section reflect the thoughts and views of writers, and are independent from theGrio newsroom. Pitches for editorials can be submitted to firstname.lastname@example.org.


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Our Diversity & Inclusion report is included in the 2019 Annual Report. Read
about our diversity initiatives around gender equality, Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Sep 20, 2017 ... according to the six 'capitals' (below). Australia Post's Annual Report. Steering Committee has guided the content of this integrated report. The.
key reasons why multi-channel retailer Gazman selected Australia Post as its parcel delivery partner. AUSTRALIA POST ANNUAL REPORT 2010–11 1 ...
Aug 25, 2016 ... Australia Post has the Australian Government as its ... the United Nations Global Compact, our annual report includes our financial, social.
The Australian Postal Corporation operating as Australia Post (also known as AusPost), is the .... According to the 2015–16 Annual Report, Australia Post:.
financial and other ancillary services. With almost 4,400 post offices around
Australia,. Australia Post oversees the country's largest retail network,
106 statutory reporting requirements. 113 Australia Post statistics. 119 index. iBC stamp gallery 2009–10. AustrAliA Post AnnuAl rePort 2009–10 | RepoRt of ...
Sep 25, 2015 ... Australia Post says it is a parcels company more than a letters ... Post will provide more details on its financial results in its annual report, which ...
Future Ready. Australia Post. Annual Report 2012. This is the second year
Australia Post has produced an. integrated annual report. It discusses our overall
Oct 17, 2011 ... 2011 Australia Post Progress Communication. Participant. Australian ... http:// auspost.com.au/about-us/annual-reports.html (English). Format.


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The organisers expect some 70,000 people to attend the fair which has over 200 exhibitors occupying 880 booths.
Organising committee chairman Datuk Mohd Khalid Harun said visitors have a chance to win the grand prize of two Round the World tickets by participating in the Buyers Contest.
Traditional dance performances from different countries such as Taiwan, Australia and Indonesia were featured yesterday.
Special appearances by Batman, Tweety Bird and Bugs Bunny characters were jointly organised by AirAsia, Tourism Queensland, Gold Coast Tourism and Western Australia Tourism.
Firefly Sdn Bhd managing director Eddy Leong said response from the public at this year’s fair was “80% higher than last year” with a very high percentage of sales for Langkawi and Koh Samui flights.
“It is only the first day and Firefly flights at RM5 to Langkawi is almost taken up whereas it is almost impossible to get seats for the holiday packages that come with zero fares,” he said.
As for Koh Samui, Leong said that it was more popular among couples and foreigners.
Firefly’s promotional fares for flights exclusively at Matta are RM5 for all destinations and RM0 with Firefly Holiday packages.
Source : STAR
[tags : malaysiahotelnews hotels malaysia resorts news travel tourism travel vmy2008]


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This event will take place on 14-17 next April. This exhibition will use seven halls of the Shanghai New International Expo Centre, possessing approximately the same scale of China Glass 2013.
According to preliminary survey by the organizer of the glass exhibition and the feedback from the exhibitors of China Glass 2013, leading glass companies from the world over and most of the regular exhibitors still enthuse greatly over the China Glass show and many of them already ordered their booths at China Glass 2014. Shortly after China Glass 2013, many Chinese glass companies have frequently enquired detailed information about China Glass 2014 through phones and E-mails, while potential exhibitors of other countries are expected to demand more exhibition space compared to China Glass 2013. Italy, German and America have already started with organizing their state exhibitors groups. The exhibition area of the Italian pavilion is hopefully no smaller than that of 2013 and will be up to 1700 sqm. In German, the relevant government department pays more attention to China Glass than ever before and trusts Messe Düsseldorf, a renowned fair and exhibition agency in the world, to organize their state exhibitors group. The American group will have famous glass companies from the US, as well as their partners from some other countries, and they are most likely to have the same area in 2014 compared to the 2013 event.
China Glass 2013, held in May in Beijing, attracted more than 860 companies, including 230 international companies, from 33 countries to demonstrate their preponderant products and technologies through this showcasing platform. The number of exhibiting countries crossed the figure of 30 for the first time, indicative of increasing international influence of the China Glass exhibition. The four-day fair attracted great visitor participation, and nearly 30,000 professional visitors from over 80 countries, including visiting groups of dozens or hundreds of members coming from India, Viet Nam and Korea, came to the show and aired satisfaction with this fruitful event.
Now, the development of China’s glass industry is faced with both opportunity and challenge. On the one hand, severe excess of flat glass productivity is exerting great pressure to the development of glass industry, and on the other hand with a slow turnaround of the global economy, and sound implementation of a series of policies by the Chinese Government for stable economic growth, a favorable momentum of steady economic recovery is initially emerging, which brings an opportunity to the development of glass industry. As a weather vane of China’s glass industrial development, the China Glass exhibition also faces coexistence of opportunity and challenge. In order to present a more successful international glass exposition to global glass communities, the Organizer is now taking effective countermeasures to actively respond to the difficulties in front of them, such as enriching activities during the exhibition, diversifying contents of the fair and exchanges, trying to control the rise of booth rent, taping potentialities while reducing expenditures so as to lower the expenses and maximize the benefits of the exhibitors even though the rent of exhibition halls and the costs in many other aspects are remarkably increased. We believe that thanks to joint efforts of the Organizer, as well as exhibitors and insiders of the glass sector, China Glass will continue to set up a good platform for the transform and upgrade, and structural readjustment of China’s glass industry, hence providing a favorable business opportunity for glass enterprises and companies all over the world to conduct trade talks, cooperation and technical exchanges.
China Glass 2014 is waiting for all glass-related enterprises, companies, manufacturers, institutions and agencies from the word over, who are welcome to visit www.chinaglass-expo.com to learn more information and preorder booths.


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The hotel industry is one of the sectors that has been most weakened by the pandemic. Fortunately, technologies exist that can transform the crisis into an opportunity and put affected businesses back on the path to growth. The collapse of international and cross-border tourism that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic has done some damage to […]
Unexpected events can have serious consequences on your business. The COVID-19 pandemic is one such example. Other potentially catastrophic events include fires, natural disasters, and extended IT system power outages . . . all of which can have major financial repercussions on your company. Protect yourself with a business continuity plan, and be ready for whatever comes your way!


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The Big Bowlo Rollout
This local brewery is shouting Sydney patrons a free beer when they head to their local bowlo for their first post-lockdown schooner.
Sydney startup beer company Bowlo Draught is celebrating Sydney's reopening. Specifically, Sydneysiders returning to the green at their local bowls club will be offered free beers at a range of bowlos around NSW. To encourage fully vaccinated patrons to have their first beer out at their local bowlo, the team is shouting the first 50 people to hit up selected bowlos with a free Bowlo Draught.
Bowlo Draught launched in April 2021 and has partnered with an array of NSW bowlos to offer schooners and tinnies inspired by a day on the green. On Monday, October 11, if you head to a heap of bowling clubs including Bondi Bowling Club, Harbour Bowling Club, South Coogee Bowling Club and Leichardt Bowling Club you can get a free beer courtesy of the local brewery to enjoy while you have a throw on the greens. Similarly, you can make the most of the deal at Bronte Bowling Club on Tuesday, October 12; Picnic Point Bowling Club on Wednesday, October 13; and Milton Ulladulla Bowling Club on Saturday, October 16.
"A lot of bowlos were already struggling to stay afloat, even before COVID reared its ugly head. With a total ban on bowls in NSW these past few months, as well as zero customers walking through the doors, it's been an especially tough time for the smaller, non-profit clubs," Bowlo Draught co-founder and Vice President of Bondi Bowling Club Matty Graham said.


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It’s not a bowl, but the Paris Optimist Club skatepark in Paris has received an upgrade to add an estimated 2,000 square feet.
Bev Brooker, a member of the skatepark committee, said the addition became a good idea the club could afford to easily implement without too much work.
“The first design looked wonderful on paper, but we realized later that if we add this one piece, it could nearly double the skatepark in size,” she said.
By adding another ramp to the park, skaters can make use of the asphalt pad.
Spectrum, the company that designed and built the park last year, also added height to a ramp at the back of the park, which allows skaters to get more reverse momentum.
“Spectrum said that if that piece at the back was higher, it would make the whole park faster,” Brooker said.
She said that adding to the ramp wasn’t originally part of the addition, but Spectrum, a British Columbia-based company, offered to do it while on site and save the cost of making another trip back to Paris.
Brooker estimated the changes add 2,000 square feet to the already 3,000 square foot park.
The response to the park has been so positive, with boarders often out there even in cold weather, Brooker said it was an easy decision to go ahead with the addition at a cost of $8,000.
“It’s been such a well-used park,” Brooker said. “It’s so popular with the boarders.”
The expansion is a good way to add value to the park while the Paris Optimist Club works on raising money for phase two of the park, a concrete bowl.
At an estimated cost of $350,000, Brooker says phase two is “more like a wish list now.”
“We want to have a lot of that money raised before building goes ahead,” she said.
The Paris Optimist Club would also have to talk the County of Brant about where behind Syl Apps Community Centre the second phase could be built.


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Despite the negative comments from the public about NFT, the CEO of Take-Two Interactive alluded to future integration of the technology.
Over the past few months NFT has continued to grow in popularity in the gaming industry as more and more companies learn about cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. Dozens of new video games are integrating NFT digital assets, even though the gaming community as a whole is having mixed reactions to the technology. Aware of this adverse stigma, Rockstar Games parent company Take-Two Interactive has stated that it still “believes there is an opportunity” for NFT integration in the future.
For NFTs, irreplaceable unique chains of code have become the latest batch of tradable digital assets to dominate the internet. Advertised as a new way to buy and sell exclusive collectibles using blockchain code, with the aim of making collectibles impossible to copy or counterfeit once sold to the custodian. support, this technology has exploded in recent times. However, the rise of NFT and the general acceptance of cryptocurrencies as a viable form of currency is extremely controversial, with popular gaming platform Itch.io even claiming NFT as a form of currency. form of fraud.
Despite that, in a recent interview with Nintendo Life, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick briefly mentioned the possibility of NFT being incorporated in upcoming game releases because of him. firmly believe that there will be an opportunity for NFT to match Take-Two services in the future.” Zelnick admits that he and the company are concerned about the rampant “speculation” that currently obscures the technology’s potential, but insists that “we believe in rarity, we believe in collectibles.” .”
While Zelnick thinks the NFT is essential to the collectible aspect of video games, Reddit’s Grand Theft Auto Online community disagrees with him. One BadDecisionSM user posted a screenshot of the Nintendo Life interview and captioned it “on behalf of 99% of GTA players. No, thanks.” Just looking at the top answers in BadDecisionSM’s post is enough to see that gamers are unanimously criticizing “Rockstar will make a big mistake if this turns out to be true” because NFT is just a ” fad” that “will eventually be completely worthless. ”
In short, Take-Two Interactive’s integration of NFT into their games is purely speculation at the moment because they only intend to support NFT, gamers can only wait for the announcements. new in the future to see exactly what the company is up to. However, the fact that Take-Two intends to include NFT in games is controversial enough and many gamers are loudly voicing their opinions to oppose those plans. The only question is whether Take-Two will listen and act according to the wishes of the gamers.
See also: Rebel Wolves, including the developers of Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3, have a new project


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Slutty Vegan: Changing the World with Heartwarming Vegan Food
Sex sells. This is what Pinky Cole learned while working as a television producer. She brought that mentality to her first restaurant, Slutty Vegan, which opened three years ago in Atlanta.
“What I learned from working on TV is to catch people and meet them where they are. You have to entertain people, give them something to talk about,” Cole said of the decision to give his brand a provocative nickname.
The vegan comfort food menu follows this pattern, as many of the more popular menu items have risky names, like Menage a Trois and Sloppy Toffee. But nothing in the concept is sexual.
“It’s just an engine to educate you and get you excited about the brand and make you ask questions, even if it evokes a feeling that makes you upset, frustrated, confused,” Cole said. “Now I can explain it to you correctly, and this is how I make people like it [the food]. “
Names like these make the vegan element a secondary thought when eating at Slutty Vegan, which Cole is aiming for. As one of the growing number of plant-based chains trying to grow nationwide, Cole was looking for a way to entice flexitarians and meat eaters with messy foods and interesting names.
With three locations open this year, 10 units next year, and a fundraising round soon to be announced, Slutty Vegan is bringing its heartwarming vegan food to cities across the country.
And what better place to test that than the South?
“It feels good to know that the person who eats ham shanks and pork ribs will be open to not only trying Slutty Vegan, but loving it,” Cole said. “It makes me feel good because I know that I am walking in my goal and that I am doing something right.”
Cole is part of a new generation of restaurant chefs speaking out on societal changes.
“If I had done this for money, I would never have talked about a lot of the things that happened in the last year, but I did it because, guess what, it’s bigger than me, “Cole said of speaking out during the Black Lives Matter protests and getting involved in elections and voting rights.
Other entrepreneurs will turn to neutrality for fear of isolating guests or financial partners, but Cole has attracted more fans (and press) by being herself and standing up for what she believes in as part of. the business platform.
“As a responsible business owner and representative of a class of people, it is my responsibility to be socially responsible and stand up for my people,” Cole said.
Slutty Vegan might be small today, but thanks to ghost kitchens and a partnership with Shake Shack, it has spread nationally and internationally. On two occasions in the past year, Slutty Vegan has teamed up with Shake Shack to design a plant-based burger for a day only in select locations.
The SluttyShack combined the new Shake Shack veggie patty with Cole’s ‘Slut Dust’ secret, lemon ginger kale, caramelized onions, vegan ranch and vegan mayonnaise on Slutty’s signature toasted Hawaiian bun. Vegan. It sold for $ 8.49 and was one of Shake Shack’s most popular collaborations to date.
Part of Cole’s expansion strategy is to help underserved communities and dwellers in food deserts find foods that are healthier, still heartwarming, and fun.
“[At Slutty Vegan] we show you a good time. We have music. We dance with you, ”she said. “And then the moment you get your food, psychologically, something went off in your mind that said, ‘Wow, I’ve never been to a place of business owned by black people, women, men. minorities who deliver this exemplary experience, who will provide the ultimate customer service, and I can be myself ”.
This strategy includes hiring people in these high unemployment areas and buying the buildings that Slutty Vegan is taking over to increase property values in the area. It’s a multi-pronged approach that Cole has worked with his team to perfect as they prepare for expansion over the next several years.
“It’s bigger than burgers and fries, it’s really about revolutionizing a movement and showing people that you can be in whatever industry you’re in, and that you can protest any and all. possible ways as long as you make changes, ”Cole said.
This is also the reason why Cole started the Pinky Cole Foundation.
“I wanted one to bridge the generational wealth gap and show people that you can be the East Baltimore girl with Jamaican roots and be whatever you want to be,” she said. “You can really stand up for what you believe in and not be afraid of the backlash people are going to give you.”


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Saint International Models Break Records in Fall 2016 Couture
In it's 16th year, Saint International is enjoying the sweet success of supplying haute couture runways and top fashion magazines with fresh Jamaican models. According to Deiwght Peters, CEO of Saint International, when the curtain closed on the Fall 2016-17 Couture Collections in Paris recently, Tami Williams and Kai Newman set a new record for Jamaican models, with the girls walking 12 of the best runways for the week.
Williams led the way as Chanel, Christian Dior, Armani Prive, Alberta Ferretti, Atelier Versace and Valentino enlisted the Jamaican beauty for their Summer 2016 international campaign. Newman took to the runways of Iris Van Herpen, Alexis Mabille, Viktor and Rolf, Ulyuana Sergeenko, and J Mendel. Naki Depass joined Williams and Newman at the couture in Paris, making an exclusive stomp on the runway of much buzzed-about brand Vetements, helmed by Demna Gvasalia, fashion's latest celebrated wunderkind after his appointment as chief designer/creative director for the legendary French fashion house, Balenciaga. According to Peters, the Vetements show was the most critically acclaimed show of the week and also the most keenly watched.


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FALLAIN Fitness is launching a new partnership with Business Fives. The Edinburgh-based lifestyle and fashion brand has teamed up with the corporate events company to supply five-a-side football kits across the UK.
Business Fives designs, hosts and runs charity football, golf and e-sports events for major UK corporate clients. In addition to team building, they donate a percentage of their revenue to charity.
Philip Tod, Managing Director of Fallain Fitness said:
“To date, the events Business Fives has hosted resulted in more than £325,000 being raised for charities. It’s amazing to affiliate ourselves with a business so keen to give back!
“Fallain Fitness will be the recommended supplier to all teams entering the Business Fives events for team wear. I believe being selected as their official partner is testament to our quality, and I’m looking forward to seeing this partnership grow.
“We look forward to working together with Business Fives on this exciting project.”
John McClarey, Managing Director of Business Fives, said:
“Business Fives is excited to be partnering up with a new and innovative brand in the market, we were really impressed with the quality of the Fallain products and looking forward to seeing our clients wearing the brand at our events.”
’Fallain’ which means ‘healthy’ in Gaelic, was launched in 2021 by Edinburgh siblings Philip and Andrea Tod. Identifying a gap in the crowded sportswear market, the pair launched their unique brand, with a distinctly Scottish flavour.
Recently, the brand ran a successful pop-up shop within Edinburgh’s flagship John Lewis and are now looking forward to a similar project in the department store’s Glasgow branch in December 2022.


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An Honor for Hanjin
Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction President Hong wins gold medal for technology innovation
Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Co. (President Hong Soon-ik) became one of the three recipients of the Order of Industrial Merit, Gold Tower, at the 42nd Trade Day ceremony that took place at COEX in southern Seoul Nov.30.
The citation noted that the company increased its sales this year by 52 percent from last year recording $560 million by exporting containers totaling 440,000 CGT. In 2004, the shipbuilder turned out 1.9 trillion won worth of ships with net profit amounting to 26.747 billion won, up 48 percent from year earlier. The shipyard focused on the development of shipbuilding technology and its new technology made possible for the company to use only one heavy crane instead of two in deckhouse loading, saving crane rental costs. The company also developed the air pad system enabling it to load more than 1,000 tons of large blocks on ships. The company also developed a special loading technique, shortening a dock period by five months thereby increasing annual revenue by 200 billion won. The shipyard also developed the DAM shipbuilding method to be able to build super-sized container ships larger than its dock capacities.
The company tried to expand its markets, away from a heavy reliance on German shipping firms for orders and cracked European market to open its ways to deal with ship owners in growing economic centers and China. The move paid off with the company opening marketing channels with AP Moller, one of the largest shipping firms in the world and COSCO, the largest state-owned shipping firm in China and clinched orders for large containers from them. The company secured a base for getting stable orders from these shipping firms for long-time to come.
The Hanjin shipyard clinched orders for eight container ships valued at $740 million and the company, in addition, won orders from Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines for four 6,500 TEU container ships valued at $420 million and has received orders for from NSC for four 5,100 TEU container ships valued at $320 million. The shipbuilder feels that the orders are efficient ones as raw material cost is high and exchange rate is low.
HHIC is known as the most competitive shipbuilding firm in the world in building 5,000-6,000 TEU container ships and it is the outcome of adapting the continual shipbuilding system and new method of building called "DAM Method."IRISL is one of the biggest shipping companies in the world, located in Iran and German NSC is a shipping company that has been growing rapidly. The company expects the orders from these two shipping companies would be a great help in expanding its marketing reach around the world.
HHIC is the history of Korean shipbuilding industry itself as it was established in Youngdo, Busan, in 1937, to build steel ships for the first time in the country. The shipyard led the Korean shipbuilding industry to top of the world as it continued to lead the industry as one of the first-class shipbuilders in the country.
The company has been regarded as one of the best in the industry in terms of technology, productivity and quality, honored as the best shipbuilder for 13 years in a row. The shipyard specializes in building middle-big containers, turning out more than 200 ships with its order books containing more than 50 ships valued at $340 million. The shipyard received orders for four 5,100 TEU container ships valued at $280 million from China Ocean Shipping Co., which is the biggest shipping company in China with a fleet of 600 ships. It was the first order from Chinese shipping company, which owed to its good reputation for building good quality ships and the shortest possible time. The company has also been engaged in building military hardware such as LPX, picket ships, landing ships, hovercraft, and submersibles, among others.
The company has block plants in Ulsan, Dadaepo and Masan. nw
Hong Soon-ik, president of Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Co.


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Google Android users have been watching for the modern version of the cellular running gadget to drop for some months, however they could sooner or later have a set launch date for Android O. thru Twitter, VentureBeat’s Evan Blass stated Saturday Android O is slated to pop out later this month.
whilst Google has but to verify a difficult release date for Android O, the information also strains up with previous hypothesis about the running system’s release date. remaining week, Android Police’s David Ruddock had a chain of tweets on Android O and its release details. Ruddock to start with said that Google might deliver a complete call for Android O on Aug. 21. On Twitter Friday, Ruddock also followed up with a slated Aug. 21 launch date for Android O.
Google has been further tight-lipped about the reputable call for Android O. however, rumors have widely stated that the working system can be named Oreo, which follows beyond Android names about candy or chocolates. Plus, there’s additional precedent for naming Android iterations after brand-name sweet. For 2013’s Android four.four KitKat, Google hammered out an settlement with KitKat discern employer Nestlé.
the search giant to start with introduced Android O at its Google I/O developers conference in advance this year. The replace will include a collection of recent updates for Google Android users, together with photograph-in-picture playback, improved overall performance and new emojis. in the interim, there’s been little confirmation on if the sun eclipse will tie into Google’s Android O release in any respect — most rumors have started and stopped on Oreos and the sun each being spherical — however hypothesis approximately Android O being named Oreo was additionally hinted at in a February 2017 tweet from Google govt Hiroshi Lockheimer