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Microsoft E3 2015 round-up: Halo 5, Rise of The Tomb Raider and more
The news included announcements on Halo 5: Guardians, Lara Croft's next adventure Rise of the Tomb Raider and a new game in the ultra-violent Gears of War franchise.
Microsoft also unveiled a new "Elite" wireless controller for the console, and delighted gamers by announcing Xbox 360 games would now be playable on the machine, with an initial list of 100 titles crossing the boundary to next-gen "this holiday".
WIRED was on hand to watch the announcement live. Here are the key announcements from the show:
Hololens And Virtual Reality
Earlier in June Microsoft announced a partnership with Oculus Rift, in which it will bundle its Xbox One controller with each Oculus headset. At E3 Microsoft went further by announcing a partnership with Valve to make sure its HTC Vive VR headset works natively on Windows 10.
Microsoft also showed off a new live demo of its Hololens augmented reality headset running Minecraft. The astonishing-looking demo showed a scaled-down version of Minecraft running on a table-top, projected as if a physical object. It looks exactly like a giant, extremely complex Lego set, letting players peer around the model in real time, manipulate it with their hands and even peer "into" houses and caverns by physically moving closer or further from the model.
Though it remains unclear to what extent the demo reflects the reality of wearing Hololens -- or when the headset will be released -- it was a hugely impressive demo that electrified the audience in attendance. More details will follow at Minecon on 4 July, Microsoft said.
In perhaps the best-received announcement of the press conference, Xbox chief Phil Spencer said that an initial roster of 100 Xbox 360 games would now be playable on Xbox One via download, starting "immediately" for some users on the Xbox Preview programme, with the full update coming "this holiday".
You'll be able to play online with players on Xbox 360 and use the Xbox One features like game streaming and the Xbox One controller. Developers will not have to touch their code to make the games run -- it appears that Microsoft has simply solved whatever technical issues stopped the feature being available at launch (or perhaps has experienced a change of heart amidst lower-than-hoped hardware sales).
Xbox Elite Wireless Controller
Microsoft announced that a new wireless gamepad featuring customisable controls, additional weights and balancing features and triggers with enhanced precision will be available at the end of 2015. "Get pro-level precision with the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller, featuring an arsenal of swappable components, Hair Trigger Locks, and limitless customisation," the company said. "Choose from a variety of thumbsticks, D-pads, and paddles for a tailored feel that provides game-changing accuracy and speed."
Halo 5: Guardians
Bonnie Ross of 343 Industries said the game was the first in the series "built from the ground up" for Xbox One. Josh Holmes, also from 343, said it was a "giant leap" for Halo and the most ambitious single player campaign in the series' history. The game will be playable at the conference and WIRED.co.uk will publish its extensive hands-on impressions as soon as we've taken a look.
Rise of the Tomb Raider
In a world gameplay premiere, Microsoft unveiled a full look at the Xbox One exclusive Rise of the Tomb Raider. The game features the blend of exploration and combat players of 2013's Tomb Raider reboot will expect, but set in a freezing, treacherous mountain range. The demo saw Lara Croft being thrown around on her climbing rig like a rag doll, with the help of Jonah, her companion and sole returning cast member from the reboot, smashing through ice caves, making impossible leaps onto cliffs and running on falling boulders like Legolas, before finding herself lost in a forest and forced to turn her hand again to crafting, hunting and... archaeology to survive. It's fair to say Lara is going to have a rough old time in this game.
The first gameplay video from the upcoming, until-now unannounced but widely-expected Gears of War sequel was a departure for the series, featuring a classic male military character running through a set of tunnels and caverns with a female companion. The game, though, is still incredibly violent and brutal, and is a long way from release, not coming until "Holiday 2016". There is also an "Ultimate Edition" of the original game coming in August, ironically perhaps considering Microsoft also announced Xbox 360 backwards compatibility at the same show.
Rare Replay and Sea of Thieves
A classic games collection featuring 30 titles like Perfect Dark and Banjo Kazooie will give gamers the chance to wallow in their nostalgia, but it was Rare's new multiplayer pirating title Sea of Thieves that impressed WIRED.co.uk most. The game gives players the chance to form crews, explore the oceans and fight other pirates in a blend of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and MMORPG mechanics.
Microsoft's first new exclusive game revealed at the conference was ReCore from Armature Studios. Introduced with a non-gameplay trailer, the title will feature a female protagonist in a wasteland environment, fighting enemies with the help of robot companions. Little is known about the game as of yet, but it will be released in Spring 2016, Microsoft said.
Forza Motorsport 6
The next game in Microsoft's extremely detailed and accurate racing series will correct many of the previous installment's perceived flaws, including expanding the track line-up to 26 locations, adding night races and weather back into the game, and enhancing the graphical fidelity of races even further.
Unveiled at the conference with an actual Ford GT lifting up from the show floor to the rafters, the game will be released 15 September 2015.
Dark Souls 3
The beloved ultra-difficult combat series gets a new entry with Dark Souls 3, coming in Spring 2016. No real details about the game were announced at Microsoft's show but more details will be coming elsewhere at E3.
Tom Clancy's The Division will be previewed with an exclusive beta on Xbox One at the end of 2015.
"Gigantic", a new team-based multiplayer game for Xbox One and Windows 10. "Gigantic is a visually-stunning evolution in team action gaming, where freedom of movement, play-style choice, and towering Guardians makes 5x5 competition more accessible and fun than ever."
Xbox Game Preview is a new programme that allows gamers early access in a manner familiar to PC (or more accurately Steam) gamers, before the titles are finished. The system will give players the option to download a free preview too, so you won't have to leap in blind. Elite: Dangerous and Shelter are among the games being launched with the programme, with the former available immediately.
Both Rainbow Six: Vegasand Rainbow Six: Vegas 2will be free to anyone who buys*Rainbow 6: Siege,*presumably by download using the Xbox 360 backwards compatibility system.
Interesting new ID@Xbox indie games announced at the show include Ashen and Tacoma.
EA announced Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 for Xbox One coming in Spring 2015.


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Volkswagen announced Monday it plans to build a major plant for electric vehicle batteries in Canada.
The European automaker said the Volkswagen Group and its battery company PowerCo will establish its first overseas “gigafactory” for battery cell manufacturing in St. Thomas, in southwestern Ontario. The start of production is planned for 2027.
The company signed an agreement last year with the Canadian government to work to identify suitable sites for such a facility in Canada. It also had committed to investigate ways for Canada to contribute to Volkswagen’s battery supply chains, including raw materials and assembly.
The province of Ontario set the stage last month for the announcement, introducing and quickly passing a law adjusting the municipal boundaries for a 1,500-acre “mega site” in southwestern Ontario.
Ford electric vehicle owners to get access to Tesla Supercharger network starting next spring
Toyota Kirloskar commences third shift at Bidadi plant to enhance production, cut waiting period
The province’s Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli said at the time that the piece of land had straddled two municipalities, but that it was being fit into one to eliminate bureaucratic challenges of dealing with two municipalities.
Canada has seen at least 10 major electric vehicle-related commitments totaling more than $16 billion Canadian (US$12 billion) in the past two years as federal and provincial governments work to attract investments in the sector.

domain: news


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The San Francisco Media Company announced its decision Tuesday to cease publishing the San Francisco Bay Guardian, citing economic hardships.
San Francisco’s animal control agency is relying on donated newspapers to solve pooping puppies problem.
Clarity Media Group said Friday the San Francisco newspaper is being sold to a consortium led by Black Press Group, a British Columbia-based company that publishes more than 170 newspapers in North America.
Both the San Jose Mercury News and the San Francisco Chronicle were ranked in the top 25 U.S. newspapers by average weekday and Sunday circulation from October 2010 through March.
Google Inc. is undercutting rival Apple Inc. with an online payment system that lets publishers keep more of the fees charged for reading their digital editions.
Apple has announced that if publishers want to sell digital newspapers and magazines for the iPhone and iPad, they must give customers the option of paying through its iTunes store.
Bill Keller, the Executive Editor of the New York Times, on the future of newspapers and journalism.


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PayPal announces acquisition of mobile-wallet maker, while Google unveils another mobile-payments service, in the growing fight for a piece of the smartphone payments market.
Mobile World Congress 2015
Jack Ma, co-founder of the Chinese e-commerce giant, is "very interested" in a deal between his Alipay and the new Apple Pay service. He's also bothered that in Chinese movies, the hero always dies.
The mobile payments space got competitive quickly and Samsung and Paypal are teaming up to take on Apple.
With Google's mix-and-match Project Ara handsets, the time is ripe for wacky add-ons to truly customize your phone.
The e-retail giant plans to become the middleman between customers and companies that offer subscription-based payments, according to Reuters.
The carrier-backed mobile payments initiative announces closure after Google acquired its technology.
PayPal is set to change the way Australians make credit card payments, with a new system that does away with bulky terminals.
The company's processing of about 500 payments from 2009 to 2013 included ones tied to weapons of mass destruction, as well as related to Iran, Sudan and Cuba.
Online auction giant could shed 10 percent of its workforce as it readies separation from its payments unit.
The Internet giant could be hoping to take another stab at going head-to-head with Apple, Amazon, PayPal, Square and a slew of other tech giants looking to grab a slice of the payments pie.


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We get our first glimpse of two new LEGO Harry Potter sets thanks to Amazon (Spain), as they posted product listings earlier today, these will join the lineup coming Summer 2021.
As we’ve seen recently there will be a host of Golden LEGO Harry Potter Minifigures to collect throughout each set to celebrate the 20th anniversary of LEGO Harry Potter!
We also have LEGO Chocolate Frog Cards to collect again found within the sets. As we get get closer to Summer we should start seeing more official details surrounding these sets and what else is on the way!
LEGO Harry Potter: Hogsmeade Village Visit (76388)
LEGO Harry Potter: Hogwarts Chamber of Secrets (76389)
Let us know your thoughts, in the comments below, on these two new set reveals and whether you’ll grab them once released?


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On January 14th 2020, Microsoft will stop supporting Windows 7.
The software will still run and activate, but Microsoft will stop security updates. All companies still using Windows 7 software will do so at increased risk. There is concern among the IT community is that companies opting to remain on Windows 7 will become prime targets for malware and viruses.
In many ways, staying on Windows 7 creates unnecessary risk, exposing your company’s data and resources. But the transition to Windows 10 can be tricky, if not properly planned. Businesses will have to decide between upgrading their existing computers with new software or switching to a completely new system.
What Should I Do?
According to Microsoft, in order “to take advantage of the latest hardware capabilities, we recommend moving to a new PC with Windows 10. As an alternative, compatible Windows 7 PCs can be upgraded by purchasing and installing a full version of the software.”
The reason Microsoft encourages businesses to update to Windows 10 on a new device is that older computers may not be compatible with new software and/or may experience reduced feature availability. If it’s possible to stay on old hardware without reducing feature availability, then this may be a good option. Otherwise, you’ll want to replace everything.
It’s worth noting that Internet Explorer follows the support lifecycle of whatever Windows operating system it is installed on. Therefore, it will be discontinued, too. If you’re using Internet Explorer, make sure to look into alternative browsers.
Although it will likely be a costly upgrade older systems, in the long run, it makes the most sense to upgrade completely. One way to look at the issue is to see it as an opportunity to improve your business, gain access to lighter, faster, and more powerful computers, and to upgrade to an operating system designed to help you be more efficient and safe.


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- Special Sections
- Public Notices
Over the past 38 years in the retail industry, the significance of the day after Christmas has changed for George Ramsden.
The general manager of J.C. Penney in Elizabethtown said trends now indicate the day after Christmas is no longer for returns.
If you currently subscribe or have subscribed in the past to the The News Enterprise, then simply find your account number on your mailing label and enter it below.
Click the question mark below to see where your account ID appears on your mailing label.


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Consumers More Likely to Trust Social Content Over Advertising
A company named Olapic a leading content platform, released the results of a global study this week exploring the impact of user-generated photos on consumer trust and brand engagement. Results show that of those surveyed worldwide, consumers are seven times more likely to trust social media photos featuring “real people” than traditional advertising, findings that may have critical implications for brands looking to heighten trust and overall engagement among consumers.
The report was named “Consumer Trust: Keeping it Real” which details the results of the survey of more than 4,500 active social media users between ages 16 and 49 in the US and Europe (the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Sweden), indicates that trust has a tremendous impact on click-through rates and sales. In fact, more than half (56 percent) of respondents say they would be more likely to click on an ad with a consumer-generated image than a stock photo — and the same percentage said they’re more inclined to buy the product. Meanwhile, almost 80 percent of mobile users admitted they’re likely to block ads they find irrelevant or irritating.
The report’s findings also show that in the US in particular, user-generated photos play an instrumental role across the customer journey. Sixty-five percent of surveyed Americans are interested in looking at social media photos while ‘pre-shopping’—when consumers begin browsing products—and another 70 percent of Americans express they’re more inclined to make a purchase after seeing a relatable consumer post online. Another 27 percent of US respondents confirmed they seek inspiration from user-generated content (UGC) online prior to making a purchase. US respondents also showed a particular fondness for brand engagement on social media as 54 percent admit they’ve posted content using a brand’s hashtag to share news of their latest purchase with friends.
The consumer appetite for authenticity has an important impact on everyday interaction with brands, with 45 percent of respondents seeking inspiration from UGC once a day or more, and 71 percent at least 2-3 times a week. Overall, 49 percent of respondents are more likely to buy a product across verticals when endorsed by a real person, and nearly a quarter say they have bought a product after seeing it featured in UGC.
About the research
The research was carried out by market research specialists Censuswide across the UK, US, France, Spain, Germany and Sweden. An online survey of 15 questions was completed by a total of 4,578 active social media users (individuals who use social media at least once a week) between the ages of 16 and 49. The report explores how the use of social media and the consumption of consumer-generated images impact consumers’ trust in brands.


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China’s new-vehicle market rebounded for the second straight month in July after Shanghai, the country’s largest city, came out of a two-month lockdown and the central government halved sales taxes on gasoline cars at the beginning of June.
New-vehicle wholesale deliveries industrywide surged 30 percent year on year to nearly 2.42 million last month after advancing 24 percent in June, according to data the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers released on Thursday.
As in June, the market bounce came as a result of robust demand for new light vehicles, which jumped 40 percent to exceed 2.17 million in July.
By contrast, demand for new commercial vehicles such as buses and trucks remained weak due to a slowing national economy and the absence of tax incentives, with volume slumping 22 percent to some 246,000.
In the first seven months, new-vehicle sales industrywide dipped 2 percent to 14.48 million. Light-vehicle sales rose 8.3 percent to 12.53 million while commercial-vehicle shipments fell 39 percent to below 1.95 million during the 7-month period.
Electrified-vehicle sales continue to surge, rising 120 percent to approach 593,000 last month.
July shipments of full-electric vehicles spiked 110 percent to around 457,000 while sales of plug-in hybrids soared 170 percent to some 135,000.
Electrified-vehicle sales industrywide have rallied 120 percent to top 3.19 million this year through July, with EV deliveries jumping 100 percent to 2.52 million and plug-in hybrid volume rising 170 percent to 674,000.


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Dell's Active Infrastructure Play Puts Cisco, HP In Crosshairs5:42 PM EST Thu. Oct. 18, 2012
|Dell Active System 800|
Dell on Thursday expanded its converged infrastructure offering with the introduction of its new Active Infrastructure family, which combines the company's server, storage, networking and management technology into a single solution.
The Active Infrastructure family is part of a new move by Dell to take advantage of the fact that its various hardware offerings are based on non-proprietary technology, giving it the ability to offer a level of flexibility and scalability that competitors such as Hewlett-Packard and Cisco do not, said Marius Haas, president of Dell's Enterprise Solutions Group.
"Dell is the only player in the market today bringing these things together. ... We want to make sure that when customers buy solutions today, they can scale it up and scale it down tomorrow," Haas said.
That kind of flexibility requires a company to own all the technology required to build a solution, Haas said. Dell can do it thanks to its scalable Compellent storage technology, its market-leading EqualLogic iSCSI storage offering, its dense server technology and both Dell and Force10 networking technology, he said.
Together, it makes for a unique opportunity for customers, Haas said. "Scalable, modular components that bring best-in-breed technology in an integrated solution," he said.
Dell's new Active Infrastructure converged infrastructure offering, which Dell expects to start shipping in the U.S. by late November of this year, will be available in two versions, said Dario Zamarian, vice president and general manager for Dell networking.
One of them will be pre-integrated systems, which will be fully engineered, assembled and tested by Dell and implemented using Dell's enterprise deployment services, similar to the fully-configured Vblock solutions from VCE, the joint venture company owned by Dell rivals EMC and Cisco.
The other will be what Dell calls Active System Architectures, which are customizable blueprints for building converged infrastructure similar to the FlexPod architecture from NetApp and Cisco, or EMC's VSPEX architecture.
On top of the hardware is a new software offering, the Active System Manager, which lets users manage common infrastructure administrative tasks.
NEXT: Building Complete Infrastructures With Dell
The Active Infrastructure offerings from Dell will be more flexible than both Cisco's UCS architecture, which requires customers to use storage from other vendors, and HP's Matrix, which are more complex and costly, Dell's Zamarian said.
"We believe we are bringing to market a solution that is flexible and cost-efficient," he said.
Don Ferguson, CTO of Dell Software, said Dell's enterprise strategy going forward also includes the integration of the company's software capabilities to ensure all the different components of a customer solution are interconnected.
For instance, Ferguson cited Dell's AppAssure software, which provides application-aware data protection in VMware, Microsoft Hyper-V, Windows Server and Microsoft SharePoint environments.
AppAssure sees the relationship between the various operating environments, applications and storage tiers so that data can be accessed as it is streamed from a recovery site instead of having to be completely downloaded first, he said.
And, with software from Dell's acquisition of Quest, customers get a complete ID and access management solution with a single pane of glass that allows provisioning of policies across an entire infrastructure, Ferguson said.
PUBLISHED OCT. 18, 2012


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Homestuck creator Andrew Hussie wants to know: Would you date Pac-Man if you had the chance?
What if you could go to high school with Pac-Man? What if you could date him? If you think that’s cool, you’re in luck: thanks to an enterprising game developer and Andrew Hussie, the genius behind Homestuck, you could wind up holding hands with some of your favorite video game characters—including everyone’s favorite cheese wedge.
Yesterday at San Diego Comic-Con, ecstatic fans of Homestuck, the world’s most insanely complicated and insanely popular webcomic, learned that its creator, Andrew Hussie, is branching out. The Japanese game developer Namco Bandai has announced that Hussie is creating a high school dating sim just for them, using characters from across their wide selection of games.
What’s a dating sim? It’s a super-popular form of video and Web game where the goal is to date the character of your choice. Hussie plans to work with a division of Namco Bandai, which has done video game adaptations of a wide variety of popular gaming, sci-fi, and anime, and put its characters in a fictional world where they’re all high school students. But don’t let the game’s happy blue-and-pink promo image fool you. Given Hussie’s penchant for sadistic twists, this could be a classic sim with lots of unexpected shocking moments and darker subplots.
Namco Bandai didn’t announce the characters that Hussie would be working with, but the roster of stories that could be available for the dating sim include everything from Pac-Man to Naruto. Fans have been running with the Pac-Man theme—even though we don’t know any game details, Tumblr fans are crossing over Hussie’s Homestuck characters with the bright-yellow chompmonster we all know and love:
GIF via jadeslick
“There is no creator with more of a vibrant originality right now than Andrew Hussie,” the project’s editor in chief, Rob Pereyda, said in a statement yesterday. “We are beyond excited to see where he takes these characters and the unique relationships that will literally unfold between them.”
Is there nothing Hussie can’t do? Last year he sailed through one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns in history, raising $2.5 million for a Homestuck adventure game. Oh, and there was that time PBS compared his 5,000-page interactive masterwork to Ulysses.
Homestucks may be disappointed that the webcomic’s epic ensemble cast will be missing from the datable characters in Namco High’s lineup. But if there’s anything we’ve learned about Andrew Hussie, it’s that he knows how to tell a great story.
And there’s no doubt Hussie willl deliver a good game. He’s conquered webcomics, adventure games, and interactive video games. The real question is: Where will Hussie spread his talents next?
Photo via ShiftyLook
Aja Romano is a geek culture reporter and fandom expert. Their reporting at the Daily Dot covered everything from Harry Potter and anime to Tumblr and Gamergate. Romano joined Vox as a staff reporter in 2016.


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Strike over soybean prices in Indonesia
Indonesian makers of the popular soybean snacks, tempe and fried tofu, have been on strike this week. They are protesting over the high price of soybeans.
Indonesia does not produce enough soybeans to meet local demand, so manufacturers have to import the product.
But the weaknesses of the local currency, which has fallen nearly 18% against the US dollar since May, means the beans have become too expensive.
Our Indonesia correspondent Karishma Vaswani reports from Jakarta.
11 Sep 2013
- From the section Business


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Posts Tagged ‘start-ups’
Small retailers at risk of getting crushed by Internet giants like Amazon turn to a Canadian start-up
by macleans.ca - Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Fans say a takeover will destroy the hip urban start-up. Others say it’s already dead.
by Rosemary Westwood - Wednesday, January 16, 2013
How a growing number of tiny Canadian-based start-ups are making the leap into big foreign markets
by Erica Alini - Wednesday, October 5, 2011


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NIS has released Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance’s animated intro, set to a song called “Kill Real,” sung by one of the game’s Japanese cast members.
Check out the intro above.
Disgaea 5 is coming to the US in the fall, exclusively to PlayStation 4. NIS has confirmed that it has no plans to bring the game to Vita, as bringing it to the handheld would require too many downgrades to be made.
For more on the Disgaea series, check out Gaming Trend’s review of Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited.


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Securities brokers should be the most direct beneficiaries of the tax revision because of the lift in retail market turnover and participation, Credit Suisse analysts Chung Hsu (許忠維) and Michelle Chou (周盈秀) said in a note.
Thu, Jun 27, 2013 - Page 13 News List
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Junior League to hold 32nd annual ‘Stocked Market’ virtually
ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) - The Junior League of Roanoke Valley is keeping its holiday tradition alive – but this year the 32nd annual Stocked Market will take place virtually.
Since its inception, this yearly craft market has raised more than $3.2 million for grants, scholarships and volunteer efforts.
To participate this year, you can purchase a $50 box full of the Stocked Market committee’s favorite vendors' items, a souvenir ornament, and coupons from shops.
“In lieu of holding our beloved Stocked Market shopping event to kick off the holiday season, we kind of came up with some other fun ways for shoppers to still feel like they were getting a bit of the holiday spirit," said Stocked Market Co-Chair Lindsay Tate.
There will only be 100 boxes available and they go on sale November 13.
You can also purchase raffle tickets for a grand prize featuring more than $500-worth of vendors' products and gift cards.
To purchase items or learn more, click here.
Copyright 2020 WDBJ. All rights reserved.


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Fiat Chrysler should change its name, investor says
Should Fiat Chrysler Automobiles be called Jeep/Ram instead?
That's one piece of an investor's multi-part prescription, including spinning off Fiat to focus on North America, to boost the value of the Italian-American automaker.
But Adam Wyden's suggestions don't stop there. Wyden, of New York-based ADW Capital Management, says FCA should merge with Ford or General Motors, reflecting a long-stated pitch for industry consolidation by former FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne, who died this summer.
The suggestions came in a letter this week to the FCA board, which also recommended a spin-off of Alfa Romeo and Maserati and said FCA could expand its investor pool by issuing its financials using U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
Unlike in years past, though, such suggestions don't reflect a sense that FCA needs to hitch its fortunes to another automaker to survive. Rather, they highlight assumptions about the profit potential of two of FCA's designated global brands — Jeep and Ram — and the company's strong financial performance in recent years.
For the record, FCA CEO Mike Manley tamped down merger talk last month when he said, during a conference call, that the company aims to "deliver our commitments as an independent" once it completes a $7 billion sale of Magneti Marelli in 2019.
In the letter first reported on by Bloomberg, Wyden said FCA is undervalued compared to its Detroit Three rivals. The Bloomberg report noted that "ADW manages $150 million and Fiat is its biggest investment" but that ADW, although a longtime investor, is not "among Fiat’s top 100 shareholders."
"Today, the company is stronger than it has ever been," according to Wyden's letter. "We believe that FCA is the best positioned (automaker) in the world. While the company has had its fair share of challenges to overcome in the past, the story today is entirely different and must be valued accordingly."
The math of a GM/FCA merger would be "jaw dropping," the letter said, noting that Marchionne had once predicted that an automaker merger would lead to more than $5 billion in cost savings every year over four years.
In a call with the Free Press Thursday, Wyden emphasized the potential benefits of consolidation with Ford or GM.
"Fiat is the best positioned of all three of these guys," Wyden said. "The case for industry consolidation is to improve the economics of the industry."
Marchionne had suggested a potential merger with GM, but was rebuffed.
The ADW letter noted that FCA's European operations should be attractive for an automaker such as PSA Groupe, the parent of Peugeot, which purchased the Opel and Vauxhall brands from GM last year for $2.2 billion.
Although the Fiat brand holds "sentimental and historical importance" for the company, the letter noted, FCA's European operations are "structurally" lower margin than its operations in North America, which saw pretax profit up 51 percent in the third quarter compared to a year ago.
Given the history of the Fiat brand, it's unclear if the company would ever consider such an idea, but Jon Gabrielsen, a market analyst and auto adviser, offered another reason why dropping Europe might not work for FCA:
“While FCA makes almost all their profits in only (the U.S. and Canada) and break-even or bleed everywhere else, I am left with a sense of: 'And then what?' when contemplating ... them cutting off everything else. Because, I am not convinced that they can remotely cut overhead fixed costs enough to be long-term viable if all they have left is U.S./Canada while no longer having the global scale and market coverage of the most global automakers, Toyota and Hyundai/Kia.”
Contact Eric D. Lawrence: firstname.lastname@example.org. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence.


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Maui Wowi franchisees are teaming up to bring their popular products to fans attending events for the Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star Game, being held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, July 15, 2014 at Target Field.
The unique opportunity allows longtime franchisee and director of regional support Mary Bigler to serve fans on Saturday, July 12 at the Target All-Star Concert going on at TCF Bank Stadium on the University of Minnesota Campus. Additionally, newcomer franchisee Ross Harried, who has grown his business quickly over the last year, will have a Maui Wowi location to serve customers at the T-Mobile All-Star FanFest held July 11–15 at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
“Ross, myself, and our staff members are ready to hit it out of the park,” Bigler says. “The weather is looking great and we are fully stocked and excited to welcome the fans. We know we will wow them offering Minnesota’s favorite smoothie that will satisfy their taste buds.”
Bigler and Harried have become working partners, helping each other in achieving their individual business goals. Leveraging their established contracts with the venues hosting the MLB All-Star events, the two of them hope to stand out in the crowd of vendors. They will be supplying fans with the brand’s blended fruit smoothies.
Fans attending the All-Star Concert, featuring Imagine Dragons, can stop by any one of the two Maui Wowi tiki carts that will be located on the stadium concourse. Harried will be serving at the All-Star FanFest all five days and blending up the Aloha spirit to the crowds in the Minneapolis Convention Center.


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Even though humans have been farming for thousands of years, there’s always a new trick to learn or a new technology to try. In modern times, these tricks often come attached to small flying aircraft, a fact evidenced by the continued and growing presence of drones at agricultural expositions. Successful drone use might lead to better yields in the future, with an emphasis on the future: while the FAA just proposed new drone rules, it’ll likely be 18 months to two years before they come into effect. That’s 18 months until farmers can fly drones in a legally unambiguous way.
Here’s what drones promise: cheap aerial photography, with regular and infrared cameras, combined with programs that stitch together and analyze the photos, to give farmers information that was previously unattainable or too costly. In 2013, a vineyard in California used drone photography to find a section of vines that was ripening sooner than expected, prompting an earlier harvest of that area. Last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture looked into acquiring and testing a drone for farming purposes.
Drones can do more for farming than just photographing crops. Sugar alternative giant Stevia considered flying drones with lights over its crops at night to spur extra growth. And a student contest in Maryland last summer considered drone designs to protect corn from insect predators, including a design that landed on corn stalks and picked grubs off of it with mechanical arms.
The FAA’s proposed rules offer some promise for drone farmhands, and some limitations. As proposed, the rules require pilots to fly only within their line of sight, which limits how far drones can travel. A restriction on night flying would prevent anyone flying light-shining drones over crops after dark. Limitations on autonomy or pre-programmed flights also undermine using drones in a labor-saving way. Until the official rules come out, companies that want to test their crop-scanning drones either have to apply for a specific exemption from the FAA, pose as hobbyists, or operate in a legal gray area.
In the millennia-long history of farming, two years isn’t terribly long to wait. But in the fast-moving world of flying technology, waiting for the new FAA rules can feel like watching grass grow.


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October 19, 2016 by Tycho de Feijter
Baojun has released the first official images of the Baojun 510, a compact SUV for China that will be positioned below the Baojun 560. And where the latter looks good but boring, the 510 looks mad. Just look at the bonnet line running from the headlights to the window frame. Brilliant, and very daring.


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The stock has been doing worse and worse since the company released earnings. Initial reaction to the release sent the stock down 2.5%. Then it was 5%, then 6% ... and now it's down over 8%.
Microsoft's Windows business is finally feeling the effect of the collapse of the PC industry, and the failure of Windows 8 to slow the iPad.
The Windows division's operating income was down 55% on a year-over-year basis, which dragged down the company's EPS. It also took a $900 million charge on the Surface RT, its iPad-wannabe tablet.
Microsoft's enterprise businesses remain strong, but that's not enough to keep investors happy.


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In response to a NY Times article about how some traffickers were using Instagram as part of the illicit animal trade, Instagram has added a content advisory screen that pops up to warn users any time they search for hashtags "associated with harmful behavior to animals."
Articles from Fast Company
A newly leaked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) memo claims the company may be spying on the US on behalf of the Chinese government. For its part, DJI claims the allegations are 'profoundly wrong.'
Kodak's new Facebook Messenger chatbot is trying to bring back the 'Kodak Moment' by digging up your old social media photos and trying to sell you prints and custom coffee mugs.
National Geographic and Airbnb have teamed up to give two people the eclipse experience of a lifetime: viewing the whole thing from a private jet.
Instagram's infamous algorithm is 'keeping an eye on you,' tracking your activity and honing your personal 'Explore' tab until you're totally hooked.
|Abstract bokeh by Minas_Eye|
from Your City - Bokeh in the City (Rerun)
|Green Tree Frog by BruceRH|
|Custom Red Roadster by Mitchmeister|
from Car Shows 2018


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A California woman has filed a lawsuit against Apple, claiming that the company committed false advertising and unfair business practices by encouraging iPhone 3G users to download iOS 4. Wired reports that Bianca Wofford of San Diego is seeking class action status for the suit, and claims that the software upgrade made her iPhone unusable. “The true fact of the matter … is that the iOS 4 is a substantial ‘downgrade’ for earlier iPhone devices and renders many of them virtually useless iBricks,” the complaint reads. Apple admitted to less-than-optimal performance of iOS 4 on the iPhone 3G, calling it a “bug” to be fixed with the release of iOS 4.1.
The complaint also argues that Apple knew installation of iOS 4 on iPhone 3G units would degrade performance, and accuses Apple of releasing it for those handsets purposely to create an incentive for customers to upgrade to the iPhone 4. “Apple has falsely, intentionally and repeatedly represented to owners and consumers of the iPhone 3G that its new operating system for the device, iOS4, was of a nature, quality, and a significant upgrade for the functionality of all iPhone devices, when in fact, the installation and use of the iOS4 on iPhone 3G resulted in the opposite — a device with little more use than that of a paperweight,” the complaint argues. Wofford’s suit seeks damages and will require approval from a judge before class action status is granted.
A supposed Apple internal document outlining the company’s procedures for replacement of devices with dead or abnormal pixels has appeared online. According to the document, a screenshot of which was posted by the Boy Genius Report, it is Apple’s policy to replace any iPod or iPhone with one or more bad pixels—referred to in the document as “pixel anomalies”—and any iPad with three or more problematic pixels. The document also lists procedures for other screen sizes ranging from 11.6 inches to 30 inches, and notes that while employees may offer a replacement unit to customers whose devices have what is considered to be an “acceptable” number of anomalies, the replacement product may have just as many if not more while still remaining within Apple’s acceptable range; the customer will not receive a second replacement device under those circumstances.
Five months after the iPad’s launch in the country, Apple has finally begun offering new release titles on the Australian iBookstore. The Age reports that the store offers titles from a variety of publishers, including Macmillan, Hachette, HarperCollins, Hardie Grant, Murdoch Publishers and Wiley. Previously, Australian iBooks users only had access to out-of-copyright titles from the store; an Apple spokesperson said that new release titles on offer now number in the “thousands.” The report also notes that like in other countries, the iBookstore will compete the Amazon Kindle and Kobo apps already available for iOS. [via Macsimum News]
Apple has hired away a senior legal executive from Warner Music Group to join its iTunes team in Europe. Citing an internal WMG memo, Billboard reports that Elliott Peters, senior Vice President and head of digital legal affairs with Warner Music Group, is leaving the company next month to become Apple’s new corporate attorney director for iTunes Europe and Internet services. According to the report, Peters will be based in Luxembourg and will manage the European legal team for iTunes and MobileMe services. While at Warner, Peters worked on a number of corporate transactions before becoming the company’s first digital lawyer, and later helped build Warner’s Digital Legal Affairs team.
The U.S. International Trade Commission staff has issued a memo to ITC Judge Charles Bullock stating that Nokia shouldn’t be found liable of infringing upon Apple’s patents. “The evidence will not establish a violation” of Apple patent rights, the staff said in a pre-trial memo which was released yesterday. Apple is seeking to block imports of Nokia phones into the U.S. on the basis of patent infringement. Bloomberg reports that the memo also states that if Judge Bullock does find that there was a violation of Apple’s patents by Nokia, that he should recommend an order to block specific models of Nokia phones, as opposed to the company’s entire product line. Bullock is not required to follow the staff’s position, and is expected to release his findings on the matter in February; his ruling will be subject to review by a six-member commission.
Nokia first filed suit against Apple in October 2009, claiming that the iPhone infringes on several Nokia patents; Apple filed a countersuit claiming patent infringement in December. The lawsuits were followed by an ITC complaint from Nokia near the end of the year, alleging that Apple infringes on the Finnish company’s patents “in virtually all of its mobile phones, portable music players, and computers.”
The ITC launched an investigation into Nokia’s claims against Apple in late January; it announced a similar investigation into Apple’s claims against Nokia in February. In March, a federal judge in Delaware signed an order halting litigation between Nokia and Apple pending resolution of the companies’ respective claims with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC); Nokia then sued Apple again in May, alleging that the iPhone and iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G infringe on five of its patents.
Apple has informed its music distribution and label partners that it will be extending the length of preview clips offered on the iTunes Store from 30 seconds to 90 seconds. The blog Symphonic Distribution quotes Apple as saying, “We are pleased to let you know that we are preparing to increase the length of music previews from 30 seconds to 90 seconds on the iTunes Store in the United States. We believe that giving potential customers more time to listen to your music will lead to more purchases.” Mac Rumors has posted a copy of the iTunes Connect notice sent to label representatives, which explains that the 90 second previews will only apply to songs longer than 2 minutes and 30 seconds in length, and states that by continuing to offer their music on the iTunes Store, the labels are indicating acceptance of the new terms. Notably, this means that any label not wishing to participate will need to pull their music from the store; it currently unknown when Apple will begin its rollout of the longer previews for customers.
Apple is in conversations with mobile payments startup Boku about a potential acquisition or partnership, according to a new report. Citing people familiar with the talks, TechCrunch reports that both Apple and Google are in talks with Boku, which, through agreements with cellular carriers, lets customers purchase goods by typing in their phone number instead of using a credit card or PayPal account. The report claims that Boku President and CEO Mark Britto and co-founder Ron Hirson have held multiple meetings with executives from Apple’s iPhone division over the course of the past three weeks. Boku has reportedly been in high-level meetings with Google as well, specifically with Director of Engineering Michael Morrissey, who oversees development for Google Mobile Services for Android. It is unclear whether Google is exploring an outright acquisition, which Apple is said to be seeking; TechCrunch’s source indicates that Apple could end up paying as little as $250 million or as much as $450 million to purchase the company. Boku’s talks with both companies are said to be at an early stage.
Apple and Google previously engaged in talks with mobile advertising firm AdMob, with a last-minute bid from Google preventing Apple from purchasing the company and leading to Apple’s acquisition of Quattro Wireless, which later became the basis for the company’s iAds platform. Jobs later admitted that Apple attempted to purchase AdMob, and that Google came in and “snatched” the company from Apple; that situation may offer Apple added incentive to close a potential deal with Boku before Google has a chance to sign a partnership agreement with and/or purchase the company.
Apple has sent out an email to registered iOS developers letting them know that it is now accepting submissions for iOS 4.2 apps. According to the email, which was submitted to iLounge by a reader, the apps need to be built, tested, and compiled using the iOS 4.2 SDK GM seed and iOS 4.2 GM seed released yesterday before being submitted for review “so they can be ready when iOS 4.2 is available to iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch users.” In addition, a few small new changes have been discovered in the iOS 4.2 GM seed, including a change to the Multitasking bar that allows fast access to both Brightness and Volume controls, along with a new AirPlay button, which has changed from a dot with radiating waves to a box with a triangle pointing into it. In addition, the new MobileMe account setup in iOS 4.2 GM lets users log into MobileMe settings using an Apple ID, although the Apple ID logins don’t seem to work yet, according to Mac Rumors.
Our reader added that the overall speed of iOS 4.2 on iPad is much improved, and that audio streaming over AirPlay from iOS devices to Apple TV appears to still be unstable, with drop-outs surprisingly common - the issue appears to be network-related. Updates to the Apple TV and Remote applications appear to be necessary to enable AirPlay video and photo streaming, as iOS 4.2 devices currently do not have any obvious way to share videos or photos, and iPad users will also receive a number of new wallpaper options relative to iOS 3.2. Also noticeable is a color bug in PDF rendering. Finally, the iPad’s side switch continues to be a “mute” button under iOS 4.2 GM, but only mutes alert and keyboard sounds, not other audio, which is odd considering that the iPad has so few alerts.
Apple has released a pre-release version of the Gold Master of iOS 4.2 for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad to members of the iOS developer program. This likely represents the last developer-only release prior to the final public release of iOS 4.2. Although Apple has not yet announced a release date for iOS 4.2, public iOS releases have generally occurred within 1-2 weeks of the release of a Gold Master seed. It is currently unknown what specific changes have been made in this latest version, although Apple highlighted new features in iOS 4.2 during its September 1st event and some previews have been seen from prior beta releases. Apple’s iOS 4.2 GM seeds for the iPad, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G, second-, third- and fourth-generation iPod touch are available now to paid iPhone developers from the iOS Dev Center.
Apple paid a “7-figure settlement” to settle a trademark lawsuit related to its iAd mobile advertising platform, according to a new report. Cnet reports that Apple is cited as having paid the settlement to Innovate Media, a client of “intellectual asset management” firm Consor, in a news release briefly posted to Consor’s website. Innovate Media filed a lawsuit against Apple over its iAds trademark, which it had used since 2006, in May; in the release, Consor claimed that “the comprehensive confusion analysis and quantification of economic damages performed by Consor were instrumental to Innovate Media reaching a highly favorable settlement with Apple.” Following the discovery of the release, a Consor employee claimed that it was never posted, and later said that some of the information in the release “wasn’t accurate” without elaborating further. [via Mac Rumors]
Apple is currently investigating a rash of problems related to a number of remote + mic headphones made by Monster that are exhibiting “erratic behavior.” Citing an internal Apple source and screen shots of what is supposedly an Apple internal support document, the Boy Genius Report states that the problems affect the iPod, iPhone, and iPad users, and include random, non-intentional track control changes, such as pausing, skipping, and playback initiation. According to the Apple document, the troublesome Monster headphones “do not meet Apple’s technical specifications,” and “use conductive flanges, which can result in electrical shorts that cause an iPod or iPhone to pause and play erratically.” Listed in the document as offending models are the Jamz, Lil Jamz, Turbine Basic and Pro, and Heartbeats product lines.
Following a lawsuit and U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) complaint filed by Motorola Mobility against Apple last month, Apple has filed a pair of patent infringement lawsuits against Motorola and Motorola Mobility. The suits, which name the Motorola Droid, Droid 2, Droid X, Cliq, Cliq XT, BackFlip, Devour, and Charm as potentially infringing products, center around a handful of Apple patents related to multi-touch technology. According to Patently Apple, the suits specifically reference Apple patents covering an ellipse fitting for multi-touch surfaces, a multipoint touchscreen, an object-oriented system locator system, a touch screen device, method, and graphical user interface for determining commands by applying heuristics, a method and apparatus for displaying and accessing control and status information in a computer system, and support for custom user-interaction elements in a graphical, event-driven computer system. Apple is seeking a judgment that Motorola has directly infringed, induced infringement, and/or contributed to the infringement of one or more claims of the listed patents, a judgement blocking Motorola or its partners from further infringement, and damages.
According to a recent report by IDC, Apple has joined the ranks of the world’s five largest mobile phone vendors, surpassing Research in Motion (RIM) by 1.7 million units and bumping Sony Ericsson off the list for the first time since IDC began tracking mobile phone market share in 2004. The report indicates that the worldwide mobile phone market grew 14.6% in the third-quarter of 2010, representing the fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth with vendors shipping 340.5 million phones in total last quarter compared to 297.1 million units in the third quarter of 2009. The IDC report goes on to note that the smartphone category is growing rapidly and is at least partly responsible for driving the rapid expansion of mobile phone adoption worldwide.
Apple is the second smartphone-only vendor to place in the top five ranking. RIM has already spent three quarters on the IDC leaderboard and both companies posted the highest growth rates among the top five vendors this past quarter. The report attributes Apple’s record performance to the introduction of the iPhone 4 in 17 new countries last quarter, and notes that this performance came despite the July “Antennagate” controversy around reception problems.
Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC’s WorldWide Mobile Phone Tracker notes that “The entrance of Apple to the top 5 vendor ranking underscores the increased importance of smartphones to the overall market. Vendors that aren’t developing a strong portfolio of smartphones will be challenged to maintain and grow market share in the future.” IDC expects the worldwide mobile phone market to be driven primarily by smartphone growth over the next few years, expecting that market to grow 55% year over year. The full report is available from IDC’s web site.
Apple may be working on a new integrated micro-SIM card solution for a future iPhone model, according to a report from GigaOM. Citing sources inside European carriers, the report states that Apple has been working with SIM-card manufacturer Gemalto to create a SIM card that will be integrated directly into the iPhone and can be activated on any carrier. Customers could then simply buy the iPhone and use an App Store application to sign up for service with their carrier of choice instead of having to purchase a carrier-specific micro-SIM card separately. SIM cards have traditionally been tied to individual carriers, whereas an embedded SIM would accept activation from any carrier rather than containing hard-coded carrier information. Apple is already unique among phone manufacturers in requiring iPhone activation via iTunes and this could be leveraged to provide the same security and carrier activation features without requiring the need for a removable SIM, effectively allowing the integrated SIM chip to be programmed with carrier information during the activation process. Other advantages of removable SIM cards such as international roaming and transferring between devices could likely also be addressed through an on-device app or as part of the iTunes activation process. Neither Apple nor Gemalto have yet responded to any requests for comment.
Apple has removed the white iPhone 4 from the iPhone ordering page on its Online Store. This move follows a report late Tuesday that Apple would be delaying the iPhone 4 until Spring 2011, sparking additional rumours alleging that Apple may in fact have cancelled the white model of the iPhone 4 entirely. The reported Spring 2011 delay would have pushed the white iPhone 4 release very close to Apple’s typical early summer release dates for new iPhone models. Apple has provided no comment on this change and notably the white iPhone 4 still continues to appear in product descriptions and promotional images, as well as Apple’s iPhone 4 Specifications and iPhone 4 Gallery. [via Mac Rumors]
Business Insider is reporting that Apple will be hosting an event for select iOS developers in California next week. Citing industry sources, the report indicates that the event is scheduled to begin next Tuesday and run for three days, however there has been no public information released by Apple regarding such an event, and no details are available on who has been invited to attend or how big the event is expected to be. Business Insider speculates that the event will be a more intimate version of the iPhone Tech Talks that Apple hosted last year and is intended to provide some additional face time and hands-on development help with Apple engineers. The timing of the event suggests that it may be connected to Apple’s expected release of iOS 4.2 next month, although the company has not provided any new official details on iOS 4.2 since its September 1st Music Event.
With the end of Deutsche Telekom’s iPhone exclusivity in Germany, Apple has begun selling the iPhone directly from its Online Store in that country both contract-free and unlocked. This mirrors how Apple has been selling the iPhone in other countries such as Canada where multiple carrier options are available. German customers can now purchase the 8GB iPhone 3GS for €519, and the 16GB and 32GB iPhone 4 for €629 and 739€, respectively. Unlike some of the other countries, however, Apple will not be supplying micro-SIM cards for iPhones ordered directly from the Apple Online Store in Germany, instead directing customers to obtain a micro-SIM directly from their cellular provider of choice. Further, Vodafone and O2 have also now begun selling the iPhone directly in Germany alongside Deutsche Telekom, and Apple’s German web site now directs customers to all three of these carriers for contract iPhone purchases or micro-SIM cards.
Apple has extended its free personal engraving and signature gift wrapping services to online iPad purchases. Exclusive to the Apple Online Store, the personal engraving service allows buyers to add a personal laser-engraved message to the back of their iPad consisting of up to two lines of approximately 30 characters each. Users are prompted to add their engraving during the checkout process and can see a preview of what their message will look like on the back of the iPad. As with the iPod service, adding a personal engraving will increase shipping times slightly and engraved iPads are not eligible for Apple’s normal return policy. Apple is also offering its signature gift wrapping service for iPad purchases as well; for an extra $5 users can have the iPad delivered in a signature gift box along with a personalized greeting card and red ribbon. Buyers can also add a free gift message to the packing slip. Personal engraving and signature gift wrapping services are available only for orders from the Apple Online Store; these services may not be available in all countries where the iPad is sold.
Apple has released an update to its official Apple Store application, adding support for interacting with Apple Retail Stores and adding engraving and gift wrapping to online purchases. The Apple Store application allows users in the U.S. to purchase Apple products and accessories directly from their iOS device and read customer reviews. With version 1.1 users can now add free personal engraving for iPad and iPod purchases and choose gift wrapping for iPads, iPods select Mac notebooks and select Apple software and accessories. The new version also allows users to interact with Apple Retail Stores, including reserving certain products for pickup, making Genius Bar and One to One reservations and signing up for workshops and events. Users can choose to add Retail Store appointments directly to their calendar and request help while in an Apple Retail Store. The application uses Location Services to identify nearby Apple Retail Stores and offers users additional services when they are in a store. Notably the new Apple Store application also includes an option to reserve a white iPhone 4, however attempting to do so results in a note that Apple is “not currently taking reservations for this product” and offers users the opportunity to check their eligibility for an upgrade. The Apple Store application is currently only available in the U.S. and is a free download from the U.S. App Store.
Update: It appears the white iPhone 4 has been removed from the Apple Store app.
The first beta version of iOS 4.2 released last month changed the behaviour of the orientation lock switch to act as a mute switch instead, similar to the function of the switch on the iPhone. When this change was first revealed, many wondered if this was intentional behaviour on Apple’s part or simply a temporary change as a result of unifying iOS 4.2 on both the iPhone and iPad devices. 9to5Mac is now reporting that this is an intentional change on Apple’s part following an e-mail exchange between a reader and Steve Jobs. Not only did Jobs allegedly confirm that the switch is going to be used to mute the sound but also indicated that the switch function would not be configurable by the user. It is worth noting that the hardware switch on the iPad was originally advertised as a mute switch, and Apple only changed the function to an orientation lock in late March shortly before the initial release of the iPad. iOS 4.2 on the iPad is expected to include an orientation lock button in the multitasking dock widget that was introduced for the iPhone and iPod touch in iOS 4.0, a function that was not otherwise available on the iPad with iOS 3.2.


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Here's What the NVIDIA-IBM Partnership Means
Earlier this month, NVIDIA and IBM announced a partnership that will put NVIDIA's Tesla line of GPUs into IBM's servers, as well as accelerate IBM's enterprise software using NVIDIA's hardware. With NVIDIA trying to expand beyond gaming graphics, and IBM trying to revive its slumping hardware business, this deal should benefit both companies. The loser in this deal is Intel , which sells its own line of accelerators.
What this deal means for NVIDIA
Graphics cards are very good at doing simple computational operations an enormous number of times. This is perfect for games, for example, because thousands of polygons need to be transformed and drawn to the screen very quickly. It's also good for a variety of other applications, such as scientific simulations. NVIDIA created the Tesla line of GPUs specifically for these types of applications.
The Tesla business has been growing fast, but NVIDIA still relies on gaming GPUs for much of its revenue and profit. This deal is a big step toward a more diversified NVIDIA, and it opens up new doors for the company's products. Until now, the Tesla line has been used strictly for supercomputing applications, but this deal puts the product to use in data centers, a potentially huge market for NVIDIA. With big data analysis growing increasingly important for companies, NVIDIA's products allow for a massive performance boost over traditional systems.
What this deal means for IBM
Last quarter, IBM's hardware business fell off a cliff. Sales of Power systems, which use IBM's own Power architecture, plummeted by 38% year over year, leading the company to miss revenue expectations by more than $1 billion. It's become clear that IBM needed to differentiate its hardware from the competition, and the deal with NVIDIA does that.
IBM's bread and butter are its software and services, and having its enterprise software accelerated by NVIDIA's hardware gives IBM a distinct advantage. This move makes it easier for companies to reap the benefits of GPU acceleration, and it gives them a reason to buy IBM's Power servers.
What this deal means for Intel
While NVIDIA's GPUs offer big performance gains over Intel's processors for many applications, Intel has its own line of accelerators that compete directly with NVIDIA's Tesla. The Xeon Phi line of coprocessors is Intel's answer to NVIDIA's Tesla.
Xeon Phi chips currently being sold are in the form of add-on cards, exactly like GPUs. But since these chips are based on the same x86 architecture as Intel's normal CPUs, they can theoretically be used as the main CPU in a system as well. This is significant, because it would allow a system to consist of a single Xeon Phi chip for both running the OS and accelerating applications. This is opposed to a system with an add-on accelerator in addition to a CPU.
Intel has confirmed that the next generation of Xeon Phi chips, due sometime in 2015, will have this property. This is a big step for Intel, and it will give it a significant edge in the high-performance computer market. The IBM deal is certainly a negative, as it presents a big competitor to Intel-based systems, but Intel should become very competitive in the market once 2015 rolls around.
The bottom line
NVIDIA benefits the most from this deal, as it creates a market for its Tesla line for enterprise applications. IBM needs to boost the attractiveness of its Power-based systems, and the addition of GPU acceleration does exactly that. But the game changes in 2015 when Intel releases the next iteration of the Xeon Phi, and I suspect that Intel will be able to grow its market share significantly at that time.
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The article Here's What the NVIDIA-IBM Partnership Means originally appeared on Fool.com.
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Wolfchase Galleria Mall to host job fair ahead of holiday rush
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Retailers at the Wolfchase Galleria Mall will be holding a job fair ahead of the seasonal rush.
The job fair will be held this Friday, October 19 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. inside the mall located at 2760 North Germantown Parkway.
The retailers are looking for fill full-time, part-time and seasonal positions.
Applicants should come dressed to impress and have multiple copies of their resume on hand. Interviews will be conducted on site.


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Daily NewsView All News
The Hudson Highland Group (NASD: HHGP) said it will restate its second-quarter results and record an expense of $3.6 million over its 2004 acquisition of JMT Financial Partners, a professional staffing and outsourcing firm. The company said it had classified earn-out payments as goodwill, however it will now record the payments as compensation expense. The restatement will reduce net income for the quarter by 14 cents per diluted share, the company said. And there are no further earn-out payments for JMT.


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The CEO of popular electronic cigarette maker, Juul Labs, apologized last week to parents whose young children use the company’s popular brand of electric cigarettes, or e-cigarettes.
“I’m sorry that their child is using the product. It’s not intended for them,” Kevin Burns told CNBC’s Carl Quintanilla. “I hope there was nothing that we did that made it appealing to them.”
E-cigarettes are now the nation’s most commonly used form of tobacco among teenagers in the U.S. A survey by the CDC found more than 2 million high school and middle school students used them in 2017.
In an attempt to decrease their attraction to young people the FDA considered banning fruit- and candy- flavored e-cigarettes in convenience stores and gas stations last fall. Juul voluntarily dropped sales of its flavored products in retail stores. The FDA did not follow through with the ban.
The company’s apology has not convinced everyone, however.
“This is one more example that Juul is more interested in repairing its image and expanding its sales than preventing youth use,” president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Matthew L. Myers, said in a statement.
“Juul is following the tobacco industry’s playbook to the letter: Addict kids, deny responsibility for doing so, run slick PR campaigns to fool policy makers and the public, and fight real solutions to the problem,” Myers added.


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Marijuasana founder Stacey Mulvey adds new online video series to her cannabis infused pop up yoga events.
That moment when you get your first bit of sunshine after a long, cold, dark winter.
On Tuesday a new report by the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) will show how and why marijuana legalization is working so far
Learn everything you need to know to grow top shelf cannabis at home.
The Keystone State will gather in Harrisburg on January 23, 2018 to speak with legislators about legalizing marijuana.
The bill would end federal marijuana prohibition by removing the drug from the DEA’s list of controlled substances.
Marijuana will be legal in nine states and the nation’s capital when Vermont law takes effect.
Dolores O'Riordan was found unresponsive with dozens of counterfeit fentanyl patches in the room.
Is there a better place to get stoned on planet earth than up a mountain?
Our next event is set for Wednesday 2/21 from 6-9 PM in Portland and is now listed on All Events in Portland. Check it out!…
Hemp seeds are the healthiest superfood available on our…
Should you keep your medical marijuana card if you live in California?
The cannabis market recovers after Sessions recent announcement.-Attorney General Jeff Sessions' Jan. 4 announcement…
RAD Expo is in Portland this week.RAD Expo is a business-only event that is 100% focused on the retail side of the…


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Plastic bag free zone planned
FURTHER discussions are expected between business leaders and councillors about making North Herts a plastic bag-free zone. District councillors met last week with retailers, town centre partnerships and the Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce to discuss th
FURTHER discussions are expected between business leaders and councillors about making North Herts a plastic bag-free zone.
District councillors met last week with retailers, town centre partnerships and the Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce to discuss the proposal but came away without a concrete agreement.
Yesterday (Wednesday) a council spokesman said: "There are still further discussions to be made."
The idea was first announced by council leader F John Smith last August and if the council were to adopt the introduction of a voluntary plastic bag ban it would see North Herts join over 70 other towns and villages which have already committed themselves to similar initiatives.
Instead it was decided that businesses would put their weight behind a commercial waste recycling initiative which they see as just as, if not more, important.
"Local business representatives agree that there is much more retailers and consumers could do to reduce North Hertfordshire's carbon footprint," the council spokesman said.
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The council will also consider how to make reusable bags available for smaller retailers and will "provide targeted support for local businesses and voluntary organisations who would like to launch their own local schemes".
Councillor Lynda Needham, the portfolio holder for waste and recycling, said: "Whilst reducing the use of plastic bags and making better use of reusable bags helps, local businesses rightly pointed to the much bigger environmental benefit that might be secured if recycling commercial waste produced by businesses could be introduced.


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Full speed ahead for Colorado health insurance expansion
Jobs and the Economy
Confidence among U.S. consumers declined in June to the lowest level this year as Americans grew more pessimistic about prospects for the economy.
The area's unemployment rate rose to a seasonally adjusted 9.4 percent in May, up from 9.2 percent in both April of this year and May of last year, according to figures released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The bankruptcy of Abound Solar, the solar panel maker with facilities in Longmont, Loveland and Fort Collins, will cost taxpayers $40 million to $60 million, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.


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FAIRFIELD, Conn. — Swim ‘N Surf of Fairfield is ready to take the plunge to expand and diversify its product line, thanks to a micro-enterprise assistance grant from the Fairfield Department of Community & Economic Development.
The grant will allow Swim ‘N Surf to add a new collection of activewear to the store, which has been a fixture in downtown Fairfield since 2006. It sells swim-related apparel and accessories to competitive swim programs as well as the general public.
Owners Kathryn Kirton and Kelly Kegan-McGee, childhood friends from Westchester County, N.Y., have over 20 years of experience in the retail industry, primarily in merchandising, advertising and sales. They combine that expertise with their love of swimming and fashion.
“Kelly and I are extremely grateful for these funds, which will allow us to grow our business and better serve our expanding customer base,” Kirton said.
The shop carries top-of- the-line swim products, including brands such as Alo, Vimmia, Sundry, Trina Turk, Splendid, LSpace, Roxy, O'Neill, Billabong, Speedo and Nike. Swim ‘N Surf caters to swimmers of all ages, genders, and skill levels with its wide range of product offerings.
To meet the year-round needs of both the fitness-oriented and fashion-conscious consumer, the store recently launched its “SWEAT x Swim ‘N Surf,”a new curated collection of activewear that will appeal to those looking to go straight from their workout to the street in style.
“We’re delighted to help, and always excited to see businesses continue to prosper and grow in Fairfield,” said Mark Barnhart, director of the town's Department of Community & Economic Development. “Small businesses such as Swim ‘N Surf have long been the backbone of our economy, and the Micro-Enterprise Program has been a very useful tool in our small business development strategy."
The Micro-Enterprise Assistance Program is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. It provides entrepreneurs with training, technical assistance, and startup capital to create and sustain viable and productive small businesses in Fairfield. For more information on the program, contact the Department of Community & Economic Development at 203-256-3120.
Swim ‘N Surf, located at 43 Unquowa Road, is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. through 5 p.m. For more information, click here .
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12:22, 23 SEP 2022
Aberdeen's Trinity Centre officially hits the market with Edinburgh agents inviting offers
Offers are now being invited for the Union Street shopping centre which houses Primark, HMV and other big name brands.
Poundland poised to open new Aberdeen shop this weekend with 'amazing value' promised
The new branch on Union Street next to the Trinity Centre entrance will replace the brand's previous outlet on the Granite Mile and offer a wider range of products while employing 22 workers.
Aberdeen Trinity Centre Poundland set to open 'in next two months' as retailer slashes prices
Poundland's Trinity Centre will finally open its doors this summer, with the retailer confirming that the location was on track to open between August and September.
Aberdeen Trinity Centre to open 'wonderful' rooftop garden this month
The garden project has been in the works for a while now. In partnership with Green & Bee, Aberdeen Inspired, Aberdeen City Council, 1st corporate security and Ewan from team Trinity
Popular Aberdeen shopping centre announces support for Union Street pedestrianisation
The Trinity Centre on Union Street has put its weight behind Aberdeen Inspired’s campaign for pedestrianisation, saying it could bring about a “generational change.”
Colourful umbrellas hung from roof of Aberdeen Trinity Centre to raise awareness of neurodiversity
The neurodiversity Umbrella Project is an uplifting visual representation of all the different minds we have here in the UK, and a colourful installation of umbrellas can be found in the Trinity Centre
Nine reasons you should never visit Aberdeen
Things to do in Aberdeen
After reading this, you will never want to set foot in the Granite City.


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Microsoft has apologised for an email sent to Xbox gamers, which some perceived as racist.
You need to read this if you have a PlayStation account.
Hello games has addressed various issues on both the PC and PlayStation 4 versions of No Man’s Sky.
Pokemon GO cheaters have had their accounts permanently terminated.
Protect your email address by removing it from your Windows 10 login.
Check out the most cringe-worthy corporate email of all time.
This is why all of those spam emails claim to be from Nigeria.


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The CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment says the level of demand for the PS5 is very considerable, and the console is being launched amid the Covid-19 pandemic that's been boosting gaming companies’ revenues.
CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment Jim Ryan has said the Japanese tech company pre-sold as many PS5 consoles in the first 12 hours in the United States as in the first 12 weeks for its predecessor PlayStation 4 device.
“The demand as expressed by the level of pre-order has been has been very, very considerable,” Ryan said.
Sony, which went on to sell more than 100 million PS4 units, aims to persuade its user base to upgrade to its new device to play titles like “Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales” with enhanced graphics, sound and feedback via a new controller.
READ MORE: Sony plans to launch PS5 on time
The launch comes in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic that has boosted gaming companies’ revenues but also disrupted retail networks, games development and manufacturing supply chains around the world.
“It may well be that not everybody who wants to buy a PS5 on launch day will be able to find one,” said Ryan, adding the company is “working as hard as we ever can” to ensure supply for the year-end shopping season.
20 years ago today PlayStation 2 launched in North America. Favorite PS2 game? pic.twitter.com/v35xsbN5n0— Sony (@Sony) October 26, 2020
Sony has built a network of in-house studios producing exclusive titles, including "Ghost of Tsushima" from Sucker Punch Productions, to fend off rivals including Microsoft's MSFT.O Xbox and new entrants.
Sony’s will continue to grow its studio capability organically Ryan said, adding that “where we can bolster our in-house capability with selective M&A that might be possible.”
Analysts question how far the expansion in gaming driven by stuck-at-home consumers will continue longer term, with Ryan saying it will be up to Sony to drive that engagement.
“We’re definitely looking upwards and thinking that we can do better than we thought we could,” Ryan said.
READ MORE: Microsoft announces launch date for Xbox


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October 28, 2014
InfinityQS Expands International Presence with the Launch of European Headquarters
Enterprise quality and Manufacturing Intelligence experts seize opportunity to help drive technology innovation and promote continued manufacturing excellence across Europe
Düsseldorf, Germany, EMS Summit, Booth 13 – 27th October 2014 – InfinityQS International, Inc., a global authority on real-time quality and Manufacturing Intelligence, today announced the launch of its new European headquarters near London. With 25 years of experience serving the world’s leading manufacturers, such as Mondelēz, COTY and Boston Scientific, InfinityQS experienced a compelling demand to have a local presence in Europe. Led by general manager for EMEA Martyn Gill, the new office will give InfinityQS the opportunity to help drive technology innovation across the aerospace, automotive, packaging, food and beverage and life sciences industries in Europe.
“There is already a strong tradition for manufacturing excellence in Europe, but the InfinityQS software platform offers a new level of manufacturing intelligence that helps organisations gain visibility into their operations,” said Martyn Gill. “This insight can then be leveraged to make strategic decisions within their facility, or throughout their supply chains, for smarter, leaner operations.”
To mark its European launch, Douglas Fair, vice president of technical services for InfinityQS will present at the European Manufacturing Strategies (EMS) Summit in Düsseldorf on 29th October. Fair’s presentation, Manufacturing Intelligence: A Case Study for Transforming Operational Effectiveness, will include a real life example of how InfinityQS helped a company turn its lowest performing plant around in under six months; eliminating customer complaints and reducing defect levels by 83%. The plant was transformed from being ranked at the bottom to becoming the corporate standard.
Douglas Fair said, “Speaking at EMS provides a terrific platform for reaching out to the key players in European manufacturing to introduce InfinityQS and communicate how implementing a centralised view of quality control data can play a transformative role in their businesses.”
Douglas Fair will be speaking on Wednesday 29th October at 11:35 a.m. in Stream 2.
Notes to editors
InfinityQS ProFicient manufacturing quality software provides companies with real-time visibility across the enterprise and into the supply chain. ProFicient is powered by a centralised statistical process control analysis engine that monitors, analyses and reports on data from disparate sources to create a complete, real-time view on manufacturing operations.
The EMS Summit is an event for senior manufacturing professionals to investigate new production and operational process methodologies and implementations in manufacturing. It is held in Düsseldorf, Germany, from the 27th - 29th October 2014.
During the EMS Summit, blocks of time will be allotted to schedule one-to-one meetings with Douglas Fair and Martyn Gill. To learn what is new in the InfinityQS ProFicient software and how it can help, please arrange a one-to-one meeting by contacting Beccy Follett: email@example.com
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Stocks should rally if the U.S. and China agree to new negotiations and a ceasefire in the trade war, but the economic impact of tariffs will continue.Market Insiderread more
More than 300 companies are talking to government officials in Washington about how detrimental the trade war is.Marketsread more
Powell stresses the central bank's independence in a speech that comes amid continuous pressure from the White House to cut interest rates.The Fedread more
In a text message, Grisham confirmed to CNBC that she will still be working for the first lady even as she takes on her new roles.Politicsread more
Acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner John Sanders is resigning amid the furor over the Trump administration's treatment of migrant children.Politicsread more
NBC is taking the office back from Netflix as it seeks to bolster its own streaming service launching in 2020.Technologyread more
Wayfair employees plan to walk out tomorrow, after no action was taken in response to their opposition to the company supplying border detention camps with beds for children.Retailread more
Micron beat analyst estimates on earnings and revenue for its fiscal third quarter of 2019.Technologyread more
Omarosa Manigault Newman, who had been a senior advisor to President Donald Trump before her firing, was sued for allegedly failing to file required financial disclosures.Politicsread more
San Francisco on Tuesday became the first city in the country to ban e-cigarettes after city officials voted in favor of an ordinance that prohibits the sale of any...Health and Scienceread more
See which stocks are posting big moves after the bell on June 25.Market Insiderread more
General Motors and tire manufacturer Michelin are in a new partnership on a prototype of a radical new type of wheel designed to replace the conventional pneumatic tires and wheels that automakers have relied on for more than a century.
Airless wheels have been a dream for tire manufacturers and automakers alike and offer a number of potential advantages, officials from GM and Michelin noted during a news conference in Montreal. The French company has been working on a concept, dubbed the tweel, for several years and is finally looking at producing it for the mass market under the brand name Uptis, GM and Michelin officials said Tuesday.
"This moves us to the next level of development," said Steve Kiefer, GM's global purchasing chief. He said it's targeted for production by 2024.
The question is, of course, whether the technology will work. GM will still have to confirm that before it locks down final production plans. Competitors, including Bridgestone-Firestone, are also working on airless tires.
In GM and Michelin's current prototype, Uptis looks like a skeletal form of a conventional tire. There are three individual components, starting with an outer layer made of a mix of rubber and synthetic compounds. It features the same sort of tread pattern as a conventional tire. But there are no sidewalls. Instead, the latest prototype uses high-strength composite spokes that are mated to an aluminum hub, which mounts to a car's axle, just like a conventional tire.
The Uptis cannot be inflated. It also can't go flat or experience a blowout, something GM and Michelin believe can improve highway safety. Kiefer noted that industry data shows about 1 in 5 tires will undergo a loss of air pressure at some point each year. Improper inflation is often a cause of crashes and was blamed for hundreds of deaths involving Ford Explorers and Firestone tires two decades ago.
Though most major tire manufacturers have been working on airless technology, their efforts have gone slowly, at least until now. The challenge has been to come up with a design that can match the behavior of conventional tires in terms of performance, handling, energy efficiency and cost.
Eric Vinesse, Michelin's head of research and development, said the Uptis will be just as fuel efficient as a conventional tire. Other benefits the companies tout include a lower cost and longer lifespan than conventional tires.
Michelin , which has done extensive virtual testing of the Uptis, has recently begun to run it on real vehicles. GM is testing it on a fleet of Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles.
Disclosure: Paul Eisenstein is a freelancer for CNBC. His travel and accommodations to the Movin'On Summit in Montreal, where the press briefing was held were paid for by Michelin.


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No need for out-of-state cherries this year. Michigan farmers say the local crop will be ready for the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City this weekend.
They say the lack of rain might make the fruit a bit smaller than usual but it shouldn't matter for all the eating, tasting and pit-spitting contests.
The warm spring weather has this year's fruit ripening slightly earlier than normal.
Sweet cherries sometimes must be imported from Washington State for the annual event.
The festival usually offers sweet cherries to visitors. But promoters say it's a celebration of both sweet and tart varieties.


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There was a time when Carmanah Technologies or its CEO Art Aylesworth won every business award going, when the most striking feature of every annual report was a bar graph showing precipitously climbing sales, and when the only fly in the ointment was some muttering in the wings from analysts about an unimpressive return on investment.
The muttering grew as the small profits turned, in 2006, to small, then, in 2007, big losses.
But happy days are here again for the producer of solar-powered lighting: 2007 saw new people gradually fill the key leadership positions at the firm: the new team bit the bullet declaring one-time losses in the 2007 annual report and before the ink had dried had produced results for the first quarter of 2008 showing the first profit in six quarters.
It was just $83,000, but a big improvement on the $469,000-loss suffered in the first quarter of 2007. Better yet, said new CEO Ted Lattimore, it put Carmanah on target for a “transition year” of modest but positive earnings, and lay the foundation for increasingly brighter performances in subsequent years.
Lattimore had retired two years before joining Carmanah in October, after turning around a Romanian mobile phone company for its Montreal owner. Prior to that he worked for Bell. His arrival at Carmanah completed a new triumvirate whose other members are chief operating officer Philippe Favreau (who had held similar responsibilities for worldwide operations of Schneider Electric and Kodak) and Roland Sartorius, the chief financial officer, who had most recently been COO at Infosat Communications.
Lattimore says he was happily retired in Vancouver when informally asked about taking over Carmanah.
“I had been approached before a few times but nothing appealed very much,” he told the BE. What made Carmanah standout? “Here was a company with the potential to do something pretty big in the area of alternative energy. The company had all kinds of young people with passion for doing something different.”
It looked like a company at a classic transitional phase in its young life, from a gangling an awkward adolescent with all kinds of energy to a mature and well-organized operation that met the expectations of its shareholders.
“A company with sales over $50 million (which Carmanah surpassed in 2006) is very different from one that is under that. A company with more than 200 employees is very different from one that has only 50. And a company that sells a multitude of products is very different from one that offers just a few.”
But the company had a large market potential, an excellent product line and a reputation just as good.
To achieve a turnaround, says Lattimore, “It needed real organizational skill.”
The first thing he set about organizing was a process to develop the turnaround strategy and the first priority was making sure everyone was onside. “There are many ways a company can follow at this stage in its development that will all work,” he says. “What’s important is that everyone agrees on which way.” So Lattimore surveyed his staff, his board and his customers.
What stood out from his staff survey was “their desire for change. That was very impressive.”
Lattimore brainstormed for five days with 12 managers, six newcomers and six old hands, to produce a draft strategy, ran it by the board, took two days to produce a final version which the board viewed and approved.
The new model Carmanah was more focused and more prioritized. The old Carmanah had taken up too much of its management’s time solving problems as they came up. “We would throw management against the issue until the next issue came up,” without an eye to the item’s importance. There were 12 product categories or “verticals” – undifferentiated in importance. A good metaphor, says Lattimore, would be to divide up General Motors into divisions, with one for seats and another for car bodies; such an arrangement would be disastrous overe the long term.
The new model has two categories: strategic and tactical. The tactical category comprises illuminated signage and solar panel distribution. The strategic covers solar paneled beacons and solar power production. Each provides about half the company’s sales but the strategic items are those which Carmanah’s team identifies as holding the company’s future: where the greatest market potential exists for already developed products.
As for the tactical areas: “If we get some real entrepreneurs in there who can make them grow, that’s great.” But if they don’t, top management won’t be devoting huge gobs of its time there. “Now we are spending 80 per cent of our time on strategic areas and 20 per cent on the tactical.”
Another way the new model is bringing focus is in product lines. A few years back Carmanah acquired Soltek Powersource, a small Victoria firm. In January it sold the home power division of that firm back to Soltek’s developer, David Egles. “We were never going to make money on this,” says Lattimore. “It needed an entrepreneur” who would devote unlimited energy to the project to make it grow.
Carmanah also had a part of its street sign business developing custom designs for customers: another money loser. Now it provides off-the-shelf solutions.
In its growth spurt earlier in the decade, the company built up an inventory of $20 million, The company has written off much of that that was obsolete and sold much it.
As a result of these changes, and an overall attention to cost reduction, Carmanah expects to break even in 2008 with roughly the same sales as in 2007 but with expenses much reduced. So far, so good. Over the first quarter, costs are down 10 per cent.
Moreover, the company is already implementing the part of the strategy that calls for partnerships that are truly complementary. It has just announced a deal with Ruud Lighting of Wisconsin for a new product that combines the American firm’s outstandingly bright BetaLED line of lights with Carmanah’s EverGEN solar power engine. Ruud will market the product.
“To take a company with so much potential and make it grow is inspiring to all of us,” says Lattimore. “We’re pleased with where we’ve taken it so far.”


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It looks like ThinkGeek and Ion Audio were holding out on us when we visited the companies' booth at CES earlier this year. In addition to the three new devices already announced for the iCade lineup (that allows you to use various controls for iOS games across Bluetooth), there's now another one, strangely called the 8-bitty. The 8-bitty is an NES-style (though four buttons, instead of only two) block controller that's completely wireless: Just pair it up with your iOS device and have at it.
Section: iPhone / iPod touch / iPad, iPad, iDevice Accessories Just as promised by ION Audio, ThinkGeek has announced their special edition of the iCADE complete with retro graphics. Functionally, it’s the same as ION Audio’s recent... Read Post
ThinkGeek's iCade 8-Bitty wireless gaming controller is pretty adorable, though limited. It has a retro feel, eliciting nostalgia for Super Nintendo, and hooks up easily with both iOS and Android devices. The games, however, are lim... Read Post
Ion Audio's original iPad iCade started life as a ThinkGeek April Fool's joke but has since become one of the most well supported iOS game controller accessories. The company behind the iPad gaming accessory has now announced that t... Read Post


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Bonduelle releases limited edition turkey Bistro bowl
This is one Thanksgiving-themed meal that won’t have you making post-holiday diet plans.
The salad, in Bonduelle Fresh Americas’ Bistro line, is under 250 calories and has nine grams of protein, according to a news release. It is available through January.
Ingredients include smoked turkey breast, feta cheese, dried cranberries, arugula and baby greens, a pomegranate-orange vinaigrette and topped with a cornbread crumble.
“The holidays are certainly a time to indulge, but we believe that indulgence can be balanced with healthier choices throughout the months ahead,” Priscila Stanton, vice president of marketing for Bonduelle Fresh Americas.
Americans consume an average of 4,500 calories during Thanksgiving dinner, according to the Calorie Control Council, Stanton said in the release.
“Our chef crafted a delicious, satisfying option, packed with fresh veggies, to give consumers something healthier to enjoy, but still allow them to delight in the flavors of the season,” she said in the release.
The company introduced its first limited edition Bistro bowls in 2016. Past releases have included Pumpkin Spice, Roasted Corn with Pulled Pork & BBQ Drizzle, and Roasted Beets & Baby Greens.


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After a decade of candlelit dinners and bottles of wine, the Little Italy staple Woodlot has closed for good.
The restaurant, opened by Robyn Donio and David Haman in 2010, has shuttered its doors at 293 Palmerston Ave. permanently.
It's unclear exactly why the destination for Canadian comfort foods is no more — Woodlot's owners did not respond for comment — though what is known is who's replaced them: Harry's Charbroiled.
A year after closing their own shop in Parkdale, the beloved burger joint has since moved into the Palmerston space.
This new Harry's looks a lot different than the greasy Parkdale spoon opened by the Petropoulos brothers in 1968.
First off, there's no dine-in service at this location. Just like its pop-up at Bar Raval, which was doling out Plain Janes during lockdown, this most recent Grant van Gamaren iteration is only doing pick-up and delivery for its chorizo burgers and merch.
It's also not clear if Harry's will stick around on Palmerston for long.
"We have not decided if this is a permanent move or just a temporary COVID move," said a spokesperson for the restaurant.
Harry's is open daily from noon to 9 p.m. The brand will also be driving its new food truck around (until it starts snowing, anyway) and is offering private catering.
by Tanya Mok via blogTO