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Necessity may be the mother of invention, but it has many fathers: ideas, money and collaboration, to name a few.
Would-be inventors may be able to find some of those things at Inventor-Con, a series of seminars Oct. 6 at the Lexington Public Library's Central Library. The event is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is recommended.
This is the 10th annual Inventor-Con sponsored by the Central Kentucky Inventors Council, a non-profit organization that helps people with ideas for inventions bring them to market.
What began as a small regional conference now attracts inventors, entrepreneurs and service providers from across the country.
"We try to cover a lot of different areas, because there are so many pieces to the invention process," said Don Skaggs, the council's president.
The featured speaker is Stephen Key, author of the book One Simple Idea, who began his career as an inventor by helping develop popular 1980s toys such as LazerTag and Teddy Ruxpin.
The conference will have about 30 exhibit booths and eight breakout sessions. Other speakers include patent attorney Jim Francis of the Lexington firm Fowler Bell; Gordon Garrett of the Kentucky Small Business Development Council; and Doug Clarke, owner of Lexington maker's space Kre8now.
Nick Such, a technology entrepreneur who works with the incubator space Awesome Inc., will discuss learning to write computer code. Ben Van Den Broeck of ArtLab KY will talk about using 3D printing to make prototypes. And the owners of the youth engineering education center Newton's Attic will have a session for young inventors.
Skaggs said one of the most valuable things about the conference is that inventors get to meet and share their experiences with other inventors. Last year, the Inventor-Con attracted about 200 people.
"Inventors need to be around other people," he said. "They don't often succeed in isolation."
The Central Kentucky Inventors Council was organized in 1996 as a networking and assistance organization for inventors and entrepreneurs. It is now one of the largest of more than 100 such organizations nationwide, and the only one in Kentucky.
The council has about 100 members. Membership is open to anyone, and the $40 annual dues entitle members to attend monthly meetings to discuss their inventions and get feedback from fellow inventors, who sign non-disclosure agreements.
"It's sort of a brainstorming session on steroids," Skaggs said. "Sometimes it can keep people from spending a lot of time and money going in the wrong direction."
The council has a young inventors' group in cooperation with the state's Student Technology Leadership Program.
Skaggs said advances in technology have opened many new avenues for inventions, including iPhone applications and software development, and made the process more approachable.
Inventions aren't always gadgets. Some of the most successful ones are simple, problem-solving ideas in areas where the inventor has knowledge and expertise. Sometimes, the finished product turns out to be much different than the original idea.
"It runs the gamut — everything from medical products to simple garden tools," Skaggs said. One example: a council member with a background in the lawn care equipment industry invented a simple, commercially successful device for cleaning the underside of a lawn mower.
Some people have ideas for inventions they want to produce and market themselves; but most want to license their ideas to others.
"A lot of people have ideas for inventions," Skaggs said. "But most of those people never act on them."


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Burberry Group PLC (BRBY.L)
Oct 21 The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Friday:
PARIS Britain's Burberry and U.S. firm Coach > are not in active merger talks, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday, in reaction to a report that suggested the two fashion companies were considering a tie-up.
PARIS, Oct 21 Britain's Burberry and U.S. firm Coach > are not in active merger talks, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday, in reaction to a report that suggested the two fashion companies were considering a tie-up.
LONDON, Oct 19 Britain's top share index fell on Wednesday, with shares in plumbing and home improvement retailer Travis Perkins rocked by a profit warning.
Oct 19 The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
* Pearson extends losses (ADVISORY- Follow European and UK stock markets in real time on the Reuters Live Markets blog on Eikon, see cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets)
MILAN/LONDON, Oct 18 European shares bounced back on Tuesday, with mining stocks and banks leading the way, while Burberry slumped following its earnings update.
* Shares fall 9 percent, retreating from 14-month highs (Adds further CFO comments, updates shares)
LONDON, Oct 18 Live coverage of European markets now available on cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets
LONDON, Oct 18 British stocks climbed on Tuesday, rebounding from a fall in the previous session as rising mining companies helped outweigh a sharp drop in Burberry's shares.

domain: news


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Join other South African casino players in the scariest month of them all, playing NetEnt brand new slot game, The Wolf’s Bane. The Swedish online casino software provider rolled out its sinister new title to partner casinos this week, much to the delight of its fans.
Halloween is traditionally the spookiest month on the calendar, and NetEnt has made sure to welcome in the festival with a bang. The Wolf’s Bane is set in a destroyed 18th century village. The eerie atmosphere is enhanced by a red full moon that shines down on the 5 reels and 10 pay lines. Set on the reels are haunting images, including what NetEnt delightfully describes as “nightmarish nurses, creepy clairvoyants, ghastly gravediggers and scary soldiers.” It is clear from NetEnt’s press release about the new slot game that its team took great joy in creating this scary new title!
The Wolf’s Bane slot is filled to the brim with not only great graphics and a terrifying theme, but also many ways for players to win big. This is done through the addition of wild substitutions that stand in to create winning combinations, as well as free spins and a bonus pick-and-click feature.
The Director of Games at NetEnt, Bryan Upton, explained more about the new slot game:
“The Wolf’s Bane is a beautifully designed slot that will make your hair stand on end,” he said “It’s launch has been timed to coincide with Halloween but it’s a game with a classic theme that we expect to have great longevity and wide appeal thank to its proven game mechanics.”
Although Halloween is a holiday that was originally only celebrated in most North American and European countries on October 31st, its popularity has grown in South Africa over the last decade. The holiday spirit has definitely caught on over the last few years, and with it comes many ways for South Africans to celebrate. From Halloween parties to great promotions at South African online casinos, there is always a way to mark the spookiest holiday of the year.


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Celebrated fashion designer L'Wren Scott, the girlfriend of Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger, was found dead from an apparent suicide in her Manhattan apartment on Monday, police said.
Scott, a former model whose slim-fitting dresses were favourites among Hollywood's A-list stars such as Nicole Kidman, Amy Adams and Penelope Cruz, was found hanging from a scarf.
"We are investigating it as a suicide," said New York police Detective Kelly Ort.
Police said they had preliminary information that Scott was 49, although that had not been confirmed by her family.
Jagger, 70, said through a spokesperson that he was "completely shocked and devastated." Scott's family issued a statement asking for privacy.
The glamorous pair had been dating since 2001 and were often seen at celebrity events, with the 6'3" tall, raven-haired Scott towering over her rock-star boyfriend.
Death follows 2 other fashion suicides
The news of Scott's death stunned friends, clients and fellow designers. Kidman, a friend of 25 years, was "heartbroken and in shock right now and unable to say anything," her spokeswoman said.
Her death followed the untimely deaths of two giants in fashion who succumbed to suicide: British designer Alexander McQueen, who had suffered from depression, died in London in February 2010 at the age of 40; his close friend, British fashion editor Isabella Blow, died in 2007 at the age of 48.
'L'Wren was a total perfectionist, someone who absolutely embodied everything her marvellous clothes stood for.' - Anna Wintour, Vogue magazine editor
Scott became one of New York's most famous designers over the last decade, with a sensibility that catered to women's desire to feel powerful and sleek.
"L'Wren was a total perfectionist, someone who absolutely embodied everything her marvellous clothes stood for: strength of character combined with a confident and powerful style," long-time Vogue magazine editor Anna Wintour wrote on Vogue.com.
It was unclear if Scott had shown any signs in her work or personal life that foreshadowed her death.
Rolling Stones show cancelled
The Rolling Stones have cancelled their planned concert in the Australian city of Perth after the death of Scott, the longtime girlfriend of frontman Jagger, the band's promoters said on Tuesday.
The band had been due to kick off the six concert Australia and New Zealand leg of their world tour on Wednesday, but Frontier Touring said the concert would not be going ahead.
"No further information is available at this time, ticket holders are asked to hold on to their tickets until a further update is available," Frontier Touring said on its Facebook page.
Jagger and bandmates Ronnie Wood, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts landed in Perth on Monday in their private jet, emblazoned with the famous tongue and lips logo. A spokeswoman for the Perth Airport said the aircraft remained on the tarmac.
Jagger's daughter, Georgia May Jagger, cancelled a planned appearance at Australia's Melbourne Fashion Festival this week, according to local design house Camilla, who she was scheduled to model for.
Cause of death expected Tuesday
New York police said a woman was found "unconscious and unresponsive" in an apartment building in the upscale Chelsea neighbourhood. Fire officials, who responded to a cardiac arrest call, said the woman was dead when they arrived.
Julie Bolcer, of the city's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, said the office had not received the body nor begun work to determine the manner of death.
"Given the timing, that individual will probably be examined tomorrow and if everything is straightforward, the cause and manner of death would be available by tomorrow," she said.
Foul play was not suspected, police said.
A single bouquet of yellow daffodils was placed in front of the glass-fronted, high-rise building where Scott lived. Police cordoned off its entrance as a swarm of media gathered across the street.
Musician and fashion friends of the couple took to Twitter to express their grief.
"Devastated to have lost my friend," tweeted rocker Bryan Adams, who has photographed Scott. "Rest in peace my dear I'm gonna miss you. Condolences to all that were close to her."
Devastated to have lost my friend L'wren. @lwrenscott Rest in peace my dear I'm gonna miss you. Condolences to all that were close to her.— Bryan Adams (@bryanadams) March 17, 2014
Jagger's first wife, Bianca, said she was "heartbroken to learn of the loss of the lovely and talented L'Wren Scott. My thoughts and prayers are with her family."
American fashion designer Marc Jacobs said: "You'll forever be missed."
Fashion career started in modelling
Scott, born Luann Bambrough, was raised in Utah by adoptive parents. She started her career as a model in Paris before becoming a stylist and designer.
Her love of fashion began when she made her own clothes as a teenager, according to her website. As a model in Paris, Scott became more interested in making clothes than modelling them.
After moving to Los Angeles, she worked as a stylist and designed privately before creating her own collection.
"She pushed aside interest in what was happening in fashion trends and on the runways, and designed for women, to give them confidence with their bodies in looks that were so beautiful," said Eric Wilson, the fashion news director at InStyle magazine.
Her styling background proved important to who she was as a designer and she was constantly shopping for the women she dressed.
"That experience gave her an incredible amount of ammunition when she started designing her own clothes. She knew what worked best for all body types," Wilson said.
She cancelled a planned show for her fashion label at London Fashion Week last month.
The last collection that she showed, in September 2013, was inspired by Japanese culture and featured embroidery and sleek lines: white below-the-knee dresses belted at the waist; red, black and white skirts, shorts and jackets; a bold yellow dress and pants.
Scott collaborated with many in the fashion and beauty industry, including Lancome for her first makeup collection, and designed Italian-made shoes, handbags and eyewear, and a small holiday collection for Banana Republic last year.


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“We believe RONA, through its Noble Trade’s network, has all the qualities and resources necessary to continue to grow our business,” Alvin Stein, Best-MAR’s owner and president, said in a statement.
RONA operates a network of more than 670 franchised, affiliated and corporate stores of various sizes and formats and has more than 14 million square feet of retail space. The RONA store network generates nearly $5 billion (Canadian) in annual retail sales. RONA's 26,000-plus employees work under its family of banners across Canada.
Best-MAR was founded in July 1994 and has a staff of 45 people. Best-MAR generates close to $20 million (Canadian) in sales.
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To kick off the summer, Heineken USA released six special-edition bottles inspired by the popular global destinations New York, London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Rio and Shanghai.
The May 2016 issue of Beverage Industry includes a cover story on HEINEKEN USA, as well as articles about sports and protein drinks, CPG markets, and consumer trends. Check it out today!
Copyright ©2016. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.
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Apple is cutting creation of iPhones by 10 percent in the initial three months of 2017, as indicated by a report published on Friday in the Japanese business paper the Nikkei Asian Review.
It would be the second year consecutively in which the tech giant downsized production of its lead item, the report said. The paper construct its examination in light of numbers from Apple’s providers. The cuts would incorporate production of the latest iPhone models, the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.
While the Nikkei refered to hailing request all in all as a reason for cuts to production of numerous iPhone models, it said deficiencies in camera sensors are constraining the quantity of iPhone 7 Plus models Apple can deliver. That is in spite of appeal and love for the extensive, photography-driven cellphones.


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The mobile data market has been approaching saturation in major industrialized nations. Mobile data consumption has increased steadily over the past several years, but consumers have found new ways to avoid paying extra for services they don’t need or use — and intense competition among mobile carriers has allowed consumers to switch from fixed-data to unlimited plans and pay less in the process.
Operators increasingly have been turning to targeted data-driven services in order to drive higher data usage and find new monetization strategies. Parks Associates recently released the industry report Mobile Data Services: Business Model Assessment, which includes an analysis of the top five data-driven services in the U.S. market.
1. Social Media and Chat
The most commonly used type of mobile application is social media, according to Parks Associates’ data.
More than 80 percent of U.S. smartphone owners under the age of 25 use social media and chat apps such as Facebook and Snapchat on their phones, the firm’s research suggests.
Providers in emerging markets have been using social media to drive mobile data adoption and, in some cases, bring people online for the first time. In more mature markets, MSPs have used zero-rated (free of charge) access to social media as a means to attract subscribers.
Livestreaming, embedded video content, and voice and video chat have become part of the social media and messaging experience. Eighty-two percent of Twitter users watch video content, and 90 percent of Twitter video views take place on a mobile screen, according to recent research.
Video calling and voice chat can drive heavier adoption of data while reducing reliance on legacy networks. Almost half of U.S. broadband households regularly used video calling and chat apps in 2015, and that usage will increase as messaging services such as Facebook Messenger gain increased adoption.
2. Streaming Video
Video content accounted for roughly 50 percent of mobile data traffic in 2016, and its portion is expected to grow to 75 percent of mobile data traffic by 2021, according to Ericsson.
YouTube, the most popular over-the-top service globally, has more than 1.5 billion logged-in users visiting its site per month, which equates to about 20 percent of the world’s population.
Consumption of streaming video content via smartphone has a strong correlation with size of a user’s data plan. Among U.S. broadband households, the percentage of those consuming streaming video doubles between those with a 1-GB or smaller data plan and those with a 10-GB or greater data plan.
Unlimited data plans are highly effective in promoting adoption of streaming OTT services. Mobile service providers have been taking advantage of this trend by offering unlimited data and video subscription bundles, such as AT&T’s DirecTV bundle.
3. Streaming Music
Streaming music is more popular than streaming video, but it is not as data-intensive. Even music streamed at a high quality (320 kbps) uses less data than low-quality video.
Streaming music is effective at driving data plan adoption in regions where 3G and 4G technologies have become dominant but where the mobile market has not reached maturity. While streaming music will not drive as much revenue as video, it has less impact on networks and network quality, and it represents less of a risk to operators’ quality of service.
Consumers in the U.S. spend an average of four hours per day listening to music, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. Digital revenues made up 78 percent of the total music industry in 2016, with streaming music generating the majority of revenue in the United States and some other countries.
4. Mobile Gaming
More than half of U.S. smartphone owners in broadband households play mobile games, Parks Associates’ data suggests, and mobile gamers spend an average of five hours per week doing so.
Gaming is not a new phenomenon, but has become a dominant application for mobile devices. Revenue models for mobile games typically include in-app purchases and advertising.
Mobile service providers traditionally have benefited from the popularity of mobile gaming by offering paid downloads from their own app stores, but the popularity of OS-bundled app stores such as Google Play and Apple’s App Store largely killed that model in developed markets.
Instead, mobile service providers have turned to newer models, such as partnerships with the makers of popular games and game store subscriptions with carrier billing.
5. Cellular-Connected Devices and the IoT
Over the last several years, an increasing number and variety of non-smartphone products have begun to connect to mobile networks for fast and ubiquitous Internet access.
Those products — including tablets, e-readers, smartwatches, cameras and cars — require their own data plans, which may be sold either individually or as a part of a shared data bucket.
Adoption of connected car data plans, for example, is relatively low at present but growing sharply — both in terms of direct-to-consumer data plans and partnerships with automakers and connected car managed service providers. When self-driving cars hit the market, car data plans will become commonplace.
Although the mobile data market is nearing saturation, MSPs still have opportunities for revenue growth and consumer loyalty. By integrated the top data-driven services with their offerings, MSPs can offer differentiated data-intensive applications or partner with top application developers to drive revenue and improve customer satisfaction.


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The latest in insights, acquisitions, certification, mobile fraud, remixing and email from the Watch City, the 'Couve, the Inland Empire State, the City of Trees and the City that Knows How.
Brainshark Flooring Sales Accelerator
Brainshark announced new capabilities for its Sales Accelerator Platform, which, officials claim, taps into “how sales reps’ knowledge and behavior affect sales outcomes,” giving managers a greater understanding into the sales process.
The analytics platform combines role-based dashboards, charts and reports, all generated and accessible within Salesforce, with information such as:
- How sales content is being used
- Which content is best to use and when
- Which accounts are engaged, unengaged or neglected
- Which reps are high performers, and which content factors into their success
Joe Gustafson, CEO of Waltham, Mass.-based Brainshark, boasts Sales Accelerator allows managers “to be a fly on the wall, while sales teams have access to insights about engagement … helping them refine strategies and ultimately boost revenues.”
Standing Out in the G2 Crowd
According to company officials, the rankings are scored based on a combination of calculated market presence and at least ten user reviews with each software platform categorized as “a Leader, High Performer, Contender or Niche.”
The report listed Yesware and ToutApp as Leaders and SalesLoft and Cirrus Insight as High Performers.
DiscoverOrg’s hiProfile Buy
The sales intelligence firm, based in Austin, Texas, was where he cut his marketing, research and compliance teeth from 2001 through 2006. “Today is an exciting day as this acquisition allows us to expand our global presence,” he said.
The acquisition will combine iProfile’s global professional contact and sales intelligence database with DiscoverOrg’s proprietary sales intelligence and analytics.
Arun Prakash, partner at Virgo Capital, iProfile’s former majority owner, said he looks forward to seeing how the iProfile team contributes to the company's success.
Cybersecurity Pros Put to the Test
Calling all Cybersecurity professionals: Sharpen your number 2 pencils and put away your calculators. ISACA – the Information Systems Audit and Control Association – is ready to certify you.
The CSX Practitioner (CSXP) certification is now available following a recent joint study conducted by ISACA and RSA Conference with findings that “nearly 7 in 10 respondents require cybersecurity job candidates to hold a certification.” Candidates are tested on skills in a virtual setting “using real-world cyber security scenarios. ”
Cyber training and certifications currently available are:
- Cybersecurity Fundamentals Certificate
- CSX Practitioner
- Certified Information Security Manager
ISACA will eventually offer certifications for CSX Specialist and CSX Expert, too.
According to Christos Dimitriadis, international president of Rolling Meadows, Ill.-based ISACA, “This credential is a clear indicator to employers that an individual has the skills to help protect and defend their organization.”
Study hard — there definitely will be a test.
The Mobile Fraud-cast
If you have an Android device you’re more likely to, according to data released this week from fraud detection provider, Kount.
After analyzing more than 100 million transactions from thousands of merchants from 2011 to 2015, officials claim mobile fraud is higher on Android devices than on iOS.
According to Kount’s data:
- In 2011, fraud on iOS devices was greater than Android devices by 45 percent
- In 2012, the gap closed to 9 percent
- In 2013, the fraud rate on Android devices was higher than on iOS by 17 percent, which grew to 44 percent in 2014 and it remains at 44 percent for the first six months in 2015.
Either the folks at iPhone are doing something right, or the ones working with Android are doing something wrong.
On the other hand, company officials also claim mobile fraud during that same time has gone up overall by 81 percent, while non-mobile transactions dropped by 50 percent between 2011 to 2014. They suggest this is mostly because mobile transactions on the whole are on the rise.
According to Don Bush, VP of Marketing at Kount, headquartered in Boise, Idaho “It’s imperative that retailers — and everyone in the retail and financial sectors – understand the myriad risks with mobile transactions and take the necessary steps to put mobile-specific fraud protection in place.”
Re-Channeling Social Media
Have your livechats lost their luster?
Is your Facebook following lying fallow?
Are your tweets trite?
The good folks at San Francisco’s GoodData have just the infographic to perk up your prose and mash up your media.
According to company officials, “80 percent of pinners have purchased something due to an item they've seen on Pinterest.”
They recommend doubling or even tripling up your social strategy. Their philosophy is: “Don’t let your social media mix get stuck on repeat.”


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Black Friday: How the Shopping Day Got Its Name
As Thanksgiving approaches, you might be gearing up to stuff yourself with turkey and dressing, spend some time with the family and watch a little football. Then again, if you're a die-hard bargain shopper, turkey is the farthest thing from your mind. That's because you're too busy making a plan of attack for Black Friday – the biggest shopping day of the year.
Each year, on the Friday after Thanksgiving, consumers flock to Walmart, Best Buy, Toys R Us and other stores in hopes of scoring the best shopping deals of the year. The most fanatical Black Friday extremists skip Thanksgiving dinner altogether and camp out in parking lots for days or even weeks. Frays and brawls break out in stores as strangers fight over the last marked down Elsa doll or deeply discounted Samsung HDTV, with police officers called in for crowd control. Appallingly, a worker at a big store was even trampled to death one Black Friday as throngs of shoppers pushed their way into the store when the doors opened. (See 5 Pitfalls of Shopping on Black Friday.)
As crazy as it all sounds, millions of shoppers across the U.S. participate in this strange ritual every year. In fact, during the 2014 Black Friday weekend (Thursday to Sunday), U.S. consumers spent a whopping $50.9 billion, according to the National Retail Federation.
So what's the story behind this enchanted shopping day and how did it become known as Black Friday?The Surprising Origins of Black Friday
The concept of retailers throwing post–Turkey Day sales started long before the day was actually coined Black Friday. In an effort to kick off the holiday shopping season with a bang and attract hordes of shoppers, stores have promoted major deals the day after Thanksgiving for decades. Although many people mistakenly believe the name Black Friday is simply an accounting reference – as in retailers are moving from in the red to in the black by boosting profits – this is not how the name was born.
The term was actually coined by overworked Philadelphia police officers. In the 1950s, crowds of shoppers and visitors flooded the City of Brotherly Love the day after Thanksgiving. Not only did Philadelphia stores tout major sales and the unveiling of holiday decorations on this special day, but the city also hosted the Army/Navy football game on Saturday of the same weekend. As a result, traffic cops were required to work 12-hour shifts to deal with the throngs of drivers and pedestrians, and they were not allowed to take the day off. Over time, the annoyed officers started to refer to this dreaded workday as Black Friday.
The term quickly gained popularity and spread to store clerks who used Black Friday to describe the long lines and general chaos they had to deal with in the department stores. In 1961, concerned that the negative-sounding name would deter shoppers from coming into the city, store owners and city officials pushed to change the name to Big Friday. To their dismay, the more positive sounding term never caught on with consumers. Before long, Philly retailers decided to embrace the name Black Friday, even plastering the catchphrase on newspaper ads and other sales promotions.The Phrase Goes National
The term Black Friday remained Philadelphia's little inside joke for a few decades. Although it spread to a few nearby cities, such as Trenton, New Jersey, the phrase stayed relatively close to home for quite a few years. It wasn't until the 1980s that people outside of Philly started using the term. Finally, in the mid-1990s, Black Friday swept the nation and started to appear in retail ads and promotions across the United States.The Evolution of Black Friday
Somewhere along the way, Black Friday made the giant leap from congested streets and crowded stores to fevered shoppers fist-fighting over parking spaces and pepper-spraying each other as they tussle over the last Tickle Me Elmo. When did Black Friday become the frenzied, over-the-top shopping event it is today?
That would be in the 2000s, when Black Friday was officially designated the biggest shopping day of the year. Until then, that title had gone to the Saturday before Christmas. Yet as more and more retailers started touting can't miss post-Thanksgiving sales and the Black Friday discounts grew deeper and deeper, American consumers could no longer resist the pull of this magical shopping day.
Today, Black Friday is becoming an increasingly lengthy event. Following the lead of several other retailers, Walmart decided to make Black Friday a five-day affair in 2014. That same year, Best Buy offered Black Friday deals both on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, and Target offered an "early access sale on November 10 and a presale the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.The Bottom Line
Contrary to popular belief, the term Black Friday does not refer to a surge in retail sales, moving retailers into the black. In actuality, the phrase was coined by overburdened police officers. Today, Black Friday continues to evolve as retailers are offering bigger, better and longer sales. (In fact, some stores are actually starting to use the term Black Week.) Yet as more consumers are choosing to skip the mayhem at the brick and mortar stores and shop online instead, Cyber Monday is quickly catching up to Black Friday. (For more, see Is Cyber Monday the New Black Friday?)


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Could a drug's price ever be too low? That’s what some market-watchers are asking in the Netherlands, where AbbVie is discounting Humira as much as 89%.
The De Groene Amsterdammer dug into the procurement process for Humira biosimilars after they launched in Europe last year and turned up aggressive discounts that have effectively held off biosimilar rivals. And some of those would-be competitors have pulled back from the market because of those discounts, the newspaper reports.
At least 70% of Dutch patients remain on Humira, according to the publication. And no wonder: AbbVie struck a discount of up to 89% in one case to retain business for its original biologic.
Those discounts could be a red flag for Humira's sales outside the U.S. this year, Bernstein analyst Ronny Gal figures. His team had expected ex-U.S. Humira sales to fall 35% this year, “but if that report is indicative of the broader environment, cuts may be much deeper," he wrote in a note Monday.
And at least one expert warns the drugmaker could raise prices if the other biosimilar makers call it quits. After all, AbbVie would have renewed pricing power without those competitors.
"This is a form of ruthlessness that we really only know from the American market," Arnold Vulto, honorary professor of hospital pharmacy at Erasmus MC, told De Groene Amsterdammer, according to a translation. He called it a form of "market poisoning" and said AbbVie could charge high prices again with a renewed monopoly.
Now, the Netherlands’ competition authority is looking into the procurement process, the publication reports.
In the Netherlands, hospitals join together to increase purchasing power and secure discounts on drugs such as Humira. Each group individually negotiates with pharma companies. In one case, a hospital group disbanded over a disagreement on Humira biosimilars, the publication reports.
An AbbVie representative declined to respond to the article’s “claims and speculations,” the publication reports.
Even AbbVie executives themselves have said the competition is fiercer than they expected after biosimilars launched in October. The company lowered its ex-U.S. sales estimates for the drug in 2019 after one quarter of European competition.
Meanwhile, the company has the key U.S. market to itself until 2023 under patent agreements inked with various biosimilar makers. The U.S. made up most of Humira’s nearly $20 billion in global sales last year. As U.S. biosimilar launch dates near, AbbVie hopes new immunology launches Skyrizi and upadacitinib can pick up steam. One Humira biosimilar maker, Boehringer Ingelheim, has chose to hold out and fight its patent arguments in court rather than settle.
And AbbVie can take solace in the fact it’s not the only company to have upset market watchers in the Netherlands. Previously, Dutch health minister Bruno Bruins accused Novartis of exploiting an orphan designation on Lutathera to overprice the drug, which treats certain neuroendocrine tumors. Novartis responded that it "carefully considered" the price and that the price is similar to other drugs for the patients.


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A heady cocktail of unusual weather, floods and diseases put a squeeze on prawn supplies last year, leading to higher wholesale prices for many species.
The floods have abated, but buyers hoping for calmer waters this year are likely to be disappointed as potential new trade tariffs and greater demand from Asia promise to keep supply tight and prices high.
Eighty-five percent of prawns eaten globally - and 50% of those eaten in the UK - are warmwater prawns farmed mainly in Vietnam and Thailand. The former was hit by disease in 2011, resulting in the loss of more than 81,000ha of black tiger shrimps - 5% of its total prawn production.
Farmers used antibiotics to combat the problem, and high levels of the antibiotic enrofloxacin were subsequently detected in prawns exported to Japan, damaging Vietnam’s reputation and spurring buyers to seek alternative sources.
Thailand would be an obvious alternative - its prawn industry has started to recover from the floods last year - but it currently faces a World Bank review of its status as a “developing nation”, under which it is eligible for tariff reductions on its exports. If it loses that status, EU buyers - and, ultimately, consumers - will have to pay a lot more for Thai prawns.
The problems in Vietnam and Thailand have already caused warmwater prawn prices to rise by 5% year-on-year, to £3.12/kg.
There are also problems closer to home with coldwater prawns, with West Greenland stocks declining because of an increase in cod - one of prawns’ key natural predators - leading prices to soar 50% to £3.35/kg over the past 12 months.
If global demand for prawns stays high, particularly as emerging economies in Asia increasingly compete for warm-water prawns with Europe - and if Thailand does not manage to dodge a bullet on its World Bank review - suppliers and consumers will face yet another year of high prices.
Markets were braced for sharp price rises in cotton last week after the Indian government announced a ban on exports to counter potential local shortages. Despite these fears, cotton prices actually fell and are currently down nearly 7% month-on-month and almost 50% down year-on-year.
Prices fell partly because the Australian government announced it would make up shortfalls created by India’s ban by increasing its own plantings and exports.
Elsewhere, prices of Arabica coffee continued to fall as Brazil is expected to produce a record coffee crop of 52.3 million 60kg bags in 2012. At £2,670/t, Arabica is now nearly 15% cheaper than it was a month ago and 27% cheaper than this time last year.


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Gail Chiasson, North American Editor
Rich Ventura, director of sales – vertical solutions, at NEC Display Solutions of America, one of many speakers at Digital Signage Expo, taking place next week in Las Vegas, will focus his presentation on Display Technology – Your Now and Future Window to Digital Signage.
The North American market for LED video is expected to nearly double by 2016, after an estimated 52,500 units were sold in 2011, according to the Q4, 2011, iSuppli Worldwide Signage and Professional Displays Market Tracker. In his presentation Wednesday, March 7, from 12:15 to 12:45 p.m., Ventura will discuss what is leading to this significant increase.
Among other topics Ventura will address during his presentation are:
- Will LED display technology overtake standard LCD displays?
- Where is touch screen technology heading?
- Why are video walls becoming more prevalent?
- What new technologies are on the horizon?
- Are projectors still an option for digital signage?
Headquartered in Itasca, Ill., NEC Display Solutions of America, Inc., is a leading designer and provider of innovative desktop LCD monitors, commercial- and professional-grade large-screen LCD displays, a diverse line of multimedia and digital cinema projectors, and integrated display solutions.


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Top weekly news from the mobile & tech industry selected by Neomobile
Mobile Devices Boost Online Engagement in Germany
Germany’s mobile revolution is gathering pace. More than 25 million residents access the internet every day with a mobile device, according to a study commissioned by the mobile division of the Bundesverband Digitale Wirtschaft (BVDW), in cooperation with Google and TNS Infratest.
PCs—including desktops, laptops and netbooks—remained the most commonly used devices for going online; as in Q1 2013, 77% of a representative sample of the population ages 16 and older used a PC to access the web.
But the percentage using smartphones and tablets had climbed steeply in recent years. Half of all respondents had a smartphone in early 2014, and one in five had a tablet—up from 40% and 15%, respectively, a year earlier.
In fact, those polled in Q1 2014 had, on average, 2.4 web-enabled devices. Fully 14% had a tablet and a smartphone as well as a PC.
A large majority (87%) of smartphone users said they enjoyed accessing the web with their phones. This opinion was more widespread among women (91%) than among men (82%). But men were more likely to say that owning a smartphone led them to spend more time online—60%, compared with 48% of women. Among students of both genders, 83% said they went online more than they had earlier, thanks to their smartphones.
Mobile Devices to Play a Support Role for Millennial World Cup Fans in the UK
TV will be the medium of choice for UK consumers following the action, even among the most digitally connected and especially mobile millennial cohort. May 2014 polling by youth consumer insight firm Voxburner found that 86% of UK millennial internet users planned to follow the World Cup frequently—either regularly or all the time—via the TV set. This is unsurprising given the big screen’s suitability for the consumption of sports video content, as well as the fact that the majority of kickoff times are scheduled to be screened during primetime in the UK.
But despite the many advantages offered by TV and TV scheduling, a sizable proportion of this user group will utilize mobile phones to keep track of the action—almost half said they would use them regularly or all the time. Tablet use will be slightly lower, though still used by 32%.
Twitter Buys Mobile Native Ad Startup Namo Media For Around $50M
Twitter has made another acquisition to build the social network’s ad tech business — specifically in the area of native ads. It has acquired Namo Media, a specialist in “native ad” content that integrates with the site where the ads are being viewed, with a focus on mobile ads. Twitter is not commenting on the price, but I have heard from reliable sources that it is around $50 million.
Namo Media is closing down its standalone operation and integrating into the Twitter-owned MoPub platform, the startup wrote in a blog post announcing the news. There are around eight people working for the startup now and from what I understand most will be joining Twitter.
The idea of seamless ads fits in with how Twitter has been trying to ramp up its own advertising business both on desktop and mobile versions — eschewing banners and ads in the margins in favour of tweets, and more recently cards, that appear in a user’s Twitter stream in the form of Promoted Tweets and Promoted Accounts.


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We look back at 20 years of success,” said Frank Hessler, CEO of Schlafender Hase. “Thanks to the hard work of the whole team, we are not just growing old, we seem to be getting better with age. Last year was the company’s best."
FRANKFURT, Germany (PRWEB) April 30, 2021
Schlafender Hase, the global leader in intelligent, automated text and graphic proofreading software for sensitive, high-volume packaging and labeling requirements, celebrates its 20th birthday on May 1. The Frankfurt-based company will mark the occasion with special offers.
“We look back at 20 years of success,” said Frank Hessler, CEO of Schlafender Hase. “Thanks to the hard work of the whole team, we are not just growing old, we seem to be getting better with age. Last year was the company’s best. With new product features and improved support and training, we look forward to continuing our success story.”
As an expression of its commitment to growth the company has added members to both its sales and development teams. Last year the company introduced TVT Connect, an Application Programming Interface (API) that makes it possible to connect the company’s flagship proofreading software TVT®, the Text Verification Tool®, and all of its functionalities to any information management system, either web-based or online. Later this year, the company is scheduled to introduce its new TVT Barcode module. The TVT Barcode module will enable users to identify, detect and decode all barcodes relevant to users in the highly regulated pharma and medical devices industry.
For more information about Schlafender Hase or TVT and to register for the special anniversary offers, please contact us.
About Schlafender Hase
Since Schlafender Hase® introduced TVT®, the Text Verification Tool, this software has taken the lead in providing intelligent, automated text and graphic proofreading solutions for the most highly regulated industries. Schlafender Hase’s clients include the world’s leading pharmaceutical and medical device companies. TVT is also used by other industries where increased productivity and error-free labeling and packaging are essential, for example, pre-media, consumer packaged goods (CPG) and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG). The company recently introduced TVT Connect, a platform which makes it possible to easily connect TVT with any information management system. Schlafender Hase is proud to be known for product quality, service excellence and customer success. The year 2021 marks the 20th anniversary of the company’s founding in 2001. Schlafender Hase is headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, with a North American division in Cambridge, Massachusetts.


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Silver futures advanced for a third straight session amid signs of tightening supply as demand rises.
The U.S. Mint, Royal Canadian Mint, Perth Mint, Austrian Mint and British Royal Mint are placing limits on silver-coin sales, pointing to “considerable tightness” in the market, the Silver Institute said in a report Tuesday. Lead times have been stretched from immediate delivery to three to four weeks in some cases, an “unusual occurrence,” the group said. Gold futures also rose.
“Demand has been huge” for silver, said Peter Thomas, a senior vice president at Zaner Group LLC, a metals broker in Chicago, “We’re selling as much product as we’re getting in. I’ve been almost four months behind now” on deliveries, he said… read more


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Japanese companies form alliance to accelerate smart factories
Freddie Roberts for Internet of Business: The Flexible Factory Partner Alliance has been set up in response to changing patterns in the global labor market and pressure on manufacturers to adopt new technologies to improve productivity, according to the partners.
Labor shortages and a reduced number of skilled workers, due to falling birthrates and an aging population, mean that product development cycles have shortened in recent years. People over the age of 65 already make up a quarter of Japans population, and this could reach 40 percent by 2060. As such, manufacturers are looking to deploy industrial IoT technology in their factories to compensate for a smaller workforce.
The group of seven includes technology vendors Omron, Sanritz Automation, NEC, Fujitsu, Murata Machinery, and two research institutes in the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR) and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT). These organizations will be chaired by Professor Andreas Dengel of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI)).
In particular, the alliance is concerned with the adoption of wireless communications technology for machine operation. It asserts that, while there has been a trend of manufacturing facilities deploying wireless communications on a trial basis, and subsequently fully implementing wireless systems based on these trials, little attention has been paid to one major issue. In short, in factories where wireless systems coexist, instability is often caused by interference between wireless systems. This can disrupt equipment in operation on the factory floor.
In a bid to address the problem, the Alliance claims it has been conducting trials of wireless communications and evaluating wireless environments in factories. The organizations involved have proposed one coordination control technology to enable stability in wireless communications, suggesting it would work by controlling independent wireless systems for each piece of equipment, with specific use cases in actual manufacturing facilities in mind. Full Article:
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Movietickets.com is suing AMC Entertainment for breach of contract in a Florida circuit court, the online ticket seller said Wednesday.
AMC is one of Movietickets.com's founding shareholders and retains in an equity stake in the company. However, AMC recently announced that it has signed a multi-year agreement with Movietickets.com's rival Fandango to sell tickets to its theaters.
Movietickets.com claims that pact is in violation of its joint venture agreement with AMC. Under that agreement, the theater chain was supposed to sell its tickets exclusively to Movietickets.com.
Movietickets.com claims that AMC breached its contract after the ticket seller refused the theater chain's demands for greater control of the company.
The suit is joined by other founding shareholders National Amusements and Hollywood Media Corp.
"Not content with the percentage of MovieTickets.com it previously negotiated for, AMC has intentionally sought to destroy MovieTickets.com's present opportunity to maximize its value by achieving competitive dominance in the marketplace," the suit reads.
Spokesmen for both companies declined to comment.
Although AMC was contractually obligated to provide tickets to Movietickets.com, its agreement was amended after AMC merged with Loews in 2005. Fandango had provided tickets to Lowes prior to the merger, but a deal was in place to shift those roughly 2,000 screens to Movietickets.com when the agreement expired in September 2011, according to an individual with knowledge of the litigation.
Prior to that time, Movietickets.com was selling tickets to some 3,000 screens in the AMC network — screens that will now be serviced by Fandango.
Movietickets.com said that it had tried to resolve the dispute among the founding shareholders, but AMC nevertheless disabled its ticketing inventory.
In addition, the suit alleges that AMC used its insider status to thwart a $150 million to $160 million offer from Comcast to purchase MovieTickets.com and impeded a possible merger with Fandango.
The ticket seller is seeking unspecified damages and a possible injunction. It clams breach of contract and common law duties of good faith, fair dealing and violations of Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.


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Starting Monday, St. Catharines residents can get a free tree or purchase rain barrels for their home.
St. Catharines residents can soon sign up to buy a rain barrel or receive a free tree for their property.
Starting at 8:00 a.m. on Monday, online orders are open for the City's annual Rain Barrel Sale and Free Tree Giveaway.
Trees are limited to one per household and can be picked up on May 28th at the Seymour-Hannah Sports and Entertainment Centre parking lot.
The City says this year, it will give away Pagoda Dogwood, Tamarack, Kentucky Coffee Tree and Freeman’s Maple.
You can reserve a tree here.
As well, residents can purchase up to two rain barrels for their home.
Barrels are $55 each and must be picked up between 8:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on May 28th.
Pre-registration is required for both events, as supplies are limited.
You can order a barrel here.


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On September 18, 2015 CEO Georgia Quinn and iDisclose were featured on Inc. Radio. To listen to the interview click here…http://www.ernlive.com/show/inc-radio/15335
On September 14, 2015 our CEO Georgia Quinn participated in a panel discussion on crowdfunding as a form capital raising for entrepreneurs for the Financial Policy Council in NYC.
On September 10, 2015 our CEO Georgia Quinn co-hosted, with LendTech Angels, LendLab NYC, a workshop for startups entering the marketplace lending space. Read the article here… http://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2015/09/74226-lendtech-angels-hosts-first-successful-lendlab-for-fintech-entrepreneurs/


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Pandora Posts Surprise Third-Quarter Profit
The online music service doubled its quarterly revenue and recorded slight profit in the latest period.
NEW YORK - Pandora Media on Tuesday reported improved third-quarter financials and posted a surprise profit.
The online music service provider reported a slight quarterly profit of $638,000, compared with a $1.8 million loss in the year-ago period. Wall Street observers had forecast a loss.
Revenue rose 99 percent to $75 million, doubling last year's $37.7 million.
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Crime, law and justice, and police blotter near Dunmore, PA or anywhere in the US.
Recent Crime News
Friday | via Daily Mail
A tale that will move you to tears: A wife with terminal cancer, her best friend who agreed to become a surrogate, and the baby who was born four months after her mother died How mass theft of Apple products at New York Target stores discovered during a traffic stop could be linked to compromised credit card data of 40 million customers Rapist ... (more) Comment?
Tuesday Dec 10 | via The Times-Tribune
A New York man will spend more than 11 years in prison for escaping a federal halfway house and robbing a Dunmore bank 10 days later. Comment?
Friday Dec 6 | via The Times-Tribune
In omnibus pretrial motions filed this week in Lackawanna County Court, attorneys for Jason Dominick and Neil Pal argued their trials should be severed, although for different reasons. Comment?


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LolaLiza will soon be present in multi-brand shops throughout Europe. Retailers will now be able to order directly from the Belgian brand.
No agent needed
LolaLiza is reinventing itself: last year, the Belgian clothing retailer launched a new slogan and a new branding, while the company also moved to a new headquarters in the heart of Brussels. Now the brand is moving into international wholesale.
Thanks to a partnership with the Fashion Cloud platform, retailers from any location can order online and without intermediaries. Four days later, the collections could already be on the shelves, says the Belgian fast-fashion player.
A multi-channel strategy
“We are very proud of how far we have come in four years. Various aspects of our operations have been rethought and reworked, including our logistics, our design process, our sourcing, our shops, etc. The 2022 results are the best proof of this,” said CEO Joachim Rubin, who has led the Belgian family business since 2018.
Rubin is pursuing a multi-channel strategy and strongly believes in a synergy between e-commerce and physical retail. Thus, in 2022, the company partnered with Zalando and Wehkamp, among others. In addition, LolaLiza now has 91 directly operated shops in Belgium, Luxembourg and France. With the move to wholesale, the brand intends to move up a gear in its transformation.
“The economic forecasts for the year 2023 are not rosy, but we are confident in our future. LolaLiza has organised itself in a flexible and efficient way, and we now need to build on our omnichannel approach. We are accelerating our online development and exploring new markets with the ‘Wholesale 2.0.’ approach,” said the CEO.


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Aurora Cannabis lost over 40% between November 8 and November 18 announcing less than impressive September quarter results. The tepid quarterly results of peer companies such as Canopy Growth and Cronos Group led to massive erosion of shareholder wealth in the first half of this month.
ACB stock fell 16% last Monday extending losses to six trading sessions. It then recovered and gained 40% in the next three days before falling about 8% on Friday.
Shares of Cronos, Canopy, and Hexo fell 27%, 34%, and 32%, respectively, between November 8 and 18. While Cronos stock has gained 14%, Canopy and Hexo are up 31% and 45%, respectively, since then.
So, does this recovery indicate that the cannabis companies have bottomed out? If not, then what is driving shares higher?
Cantor upgrades Aurora Cannabis, MKM still cautious
According to multiple reports from The Fly, analysts are still split on the outlook for Aurora Cannabis. Shortly after ACB’s earnings results, Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Pablo Zuanic upgraded Aurora Cannabis stock to “Overweight” from “Neutral” and increased its price target from $5.1 to $5.85.
Zuani states that the worst is over for Aurora Cannabis, and though there might be some concerns in the December quarter, he is bullish on the company’s performance in CY 2020.
However, analyst Bill Kirk from MKM Partners is cautious about the cannabis heavyweight. According to Kirk, the cannabis industry is still grappling from higher illegal sales and lower margins. The analyst expects cannabis companies will find it challenging to achieve profitability in the near term.
Aurora Cannabis stock still trading 70% below record highs
Aurora stock is currently trading at $4.14 at writing, which is still 70% below its record high of $14. This gives us an idea of the sell-off and mayhem witnessed in the cannabis sector in the last year.
The fundamental issues will continue to impact Aurora and peers at least in the short term. As cannabis is a highly regularized industry, the rollout of retail stores has been slow. Coupled with the cannibalization from the illegal market, this has resulted in massive inventory pile-ups for companies.
In the September quarter, Aurora’s Canadian consumer cannabis fell 33% year over year, which was offset by growth in its domestic medical sales and international revenue.
Despite the concerns over rising inventory, Aurora increased cannabis production by 43% in the fiscal first quarter of 2020 (year ending in June).
During the earnings call, company CEO Cam Battley stated, “We expected to see growth plateau in the market in Q1 2020, and in fact, as we reported today, our consumer market revenues declined as a result of changes in customer preferences and particularly challenges in retail and provincial distributors.”
He added, “I want to emphasize that we view these as short-term headwinds, and despite them, Aurora has continued to maintain our position as the leading producer and supplier of high-quality medical and consumer cannabis products.”
What’s next for Aurora and investors?
The huge capital expenditure investment over the last year has resulted in a lower cost of sales. Aurora Cannabis managed to cut the production cost of cannabis by 25% to $0.85, resulting in gross margins of 58%.
The addressable market for cannabis players is huge and companies continue to invest heavily to increase production capacities.
The industry is still at a nascent stage of growth and will consolidate as the market expands and larger players come in. Aurora Cannabis stock has gained momentum in the last week and might move higher as investor optimism rises with the launch of Cannabis 2.0 by the end of CY 2019.
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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Pharmaceutical company Cephalon Inc. CEPH said Tuesday that it and its Cima Labs subsidiary have filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. WPI, -1.39% and its Watson Laboratories subsidiary for infringement of patents that cover methods of use for its Fentora pain medication. According to the company, the patents in question do not expire until 2019. Watson recently filed an application to get Food and Drug Administration approval for a generic version of the drug.
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|A saleswoman displays a gold bar for the Year of the Snake in Yiwu, Zhejiang province. Luxury goods makers incorporate snake motifs into their products to win more Chinese buyers. (China Daily/Zhang Jiancheng)|
The growing importance of the Chinese market is prompting international luxury brands to incorporate Chinese elements into their designs.
Snake motifs are popular this year because 2013 is the Year of the Snake, according to the Chinese zodiac.
Many luxury brands have incorporated snake shapes into their latest collections, including jewelry, watches and vehicles.
Vacheron Constantin, a Swiss manufacturer of prestige watches, launched its Legend of the Chinese Zodiac 12 collection in January. A watch with a snake surrounded by leaves is on the dial, the first watch in the limited-edition collection of 12 timepieces.
Qeelin, the Hong Kong-based jewelry brand owned by PPR Group, has said its latest collection, Lucky 12, is also inspirited by the Chinese zodiac. Special items for the Year of the Snake include rings and necklaces made with gold and diamonds. The snake-year specials are priced at about 10,000 yuan ($1,600).
Mercedes-Benz (China) Ltd, the German luxury automaker, started selling the 2013 New Year Edition of its smart cars marked with a snake-shaped logo, designed by a Chinese jewelry designer Wan Baobao, on Jan 18.
The New Year Edition consists of only 666 smart cars costing 128,888 yuan each.
Chinese consumers are now the largest luxury consumption group in the world.
In 2012, Chinese consumers bought 25 percent of the world's luxury products, with the overseas luxury consumption maintaining a 31 percent rise, according to Bain & Co, a consultancy company based in the United States.
"Chinese consumption supports the world's luxury market, especially the high-end watches, and that is why international brands are paying more attention to Chinese elements," said Zhou Ting, director of the Fortune Character Research Center.
International luxury brands have already seen the benefits of using Chinese elements, she added.
Last year - the Year of the Dragon in China - Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd, the luxury British car producer, launched a dragon edition of the Rolls-Royce Phantom. The limited-edition cars were sold out within two months.
Some brands, which already have collections featuring snake motifs, promoted these collections to Chinese consumers who want mascots for the Lunar New Year.
Italian jewelry brand Bulgari has taken previous collections featuring snakes and displayed them prominently in its Beijing stores, such as its 2010 collection of jewelry and watches named Serpenti, meaning "snake" in Italian. The brand has used snakes in its products since the 1940s and snakes have been a major symbol for the brand ever since its first watch featuring snakes became popular.
The snake is a popular animal to be invoked in jewelry because of its various shapes, some designers said.
"As opposed to previous years, king cobras are popular this year, for their distinctive shape with strong visual impact," said Zhao Shuai, chief designer of Hong Kong Kaifu Jewelry International Group Co Ltd.
Zhao said the push by international brands to appeal to the Chinese market could be of benefit to local luxury houses.
"Led by the international luxury brands, it is possible for Chinese designers to work out better designs," Zhao said, "After all, Chinese designers know more about Chinese culture."


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It appears that Niantic, the San Francisco-based developer of mega-popular augmented reality game Pokémon Go, is ramping up the game's global rollout.
After the game's initial launch in Australia, New Zealand and the U.S. on July 6, global launch was halted due to overwhelming demand. This week, the game started trickling into the larger European markets, starting with Germany on Wednesday and the UK on Thursday.
On Friday, Niantic announced the game is now also available in Italy, Portugal and Spain.
Trainer-hopefuls in those countries can get Pokémon Go for both iPhone and Android in their respective App/Play stores.
People spend more time on it than on Facebook and Snapchat.
Even though it's on the market for less than ten days, Pokémon Go is already hugely successful, blasting through milestones as if they were nothing. Measured by daily active users, it's the biggest mobile game ever in the U.S. and people spend more time on it than on Facebook and Snapchat.
If you can't wait for the game to launch in your country, there's a couple of tricks you can do to start playing now.
On Android, you can directly download and install the game's APK file from here(opens in a new tab). Be careful when installing APK packages on Android directly, though; bypassing Google's Play store can be dangerous and the file could be infested with malware.
On the iPhone, you'll have to log out of your Apple ID, and then set your region to one of the regions where the game is available. You'll have to create a new Apple ID to be able to download the game from Apple's App Store.
Have in mind that using any of these methods is not officially supported by Niantic. Even if you manage to install it, the game might behave erratically, and you might get banned from playing.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.


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WASHINGTON — The booming taxi service Uber denied paying bloggers for favorable coverage after a post at RedState brought allegations of such activity to light on Friday. The company acknowledged giving favored bloggers free promotional codes.
"We have not paid bloggers," said Andrew Noyes, a spokesperson for Uber, in an email to BuzzFeed. "We've distributed new rider promo codes widely to all sorts of audiences including bloggers, atcommunity events, etc. We have advertising relationships as well. We have never stipulated that credits = endorsements."
RedState's Erick Erickson published a post on Friday based around an email I had sent to him following up on a tip I received about a possible pay-for-play scheme involving him, some other conservative writers, and Uber, the popular taxi service application which has been struggling with the Washington, D.C. taxi commission for over a year. (BuzzFeed asked the question in a private email, and would not have published the allegation without more evidence, had Erickson not chosen to air it himself.)
"I know I have some pretty stupid critics out there, but this may be the stupidest thing I've ever been accused of," Erickson wrote. "See this email from Rosie Gray at BuzzFeed. Bless her heart, she's having track down people and ask them if they are getting paid to say awesome stuff about Uber."
"But as I told Rosie, no I've never gotten a penny from Uber directly or indirectly," Erickson said. "Hell, I never even used the Uber promo code I tweeted out for people to use. I use Uber in Washington, New York, Atlanta, and even used them in Chicago on a recent trip. Uber is routinely attacked by taxi monopolies and regulators who hate creative capitalist endeavors. Of course I'm going to say nice things about such an awesome service."
In an email to me, Erickson reiterated what he said in the blog post, saying "I've never gotten a penny from Uber and neither has Eagle. I just use the service in DC, Atlanta, Chicago, NYC, etc and it is awesome."
Uber, whose libertarian founder Travis Kalanick sees the company as a model for disrupting government-created inefficiencies, has made efforts to reach out to the conservative movement recently, including a bloggers' lunch held with the Heritage Foundation last year, an official there confirmed.
"We see no record that he or his company have given us a single penny," Heritage spokesman Michael Gonzalez said. "We're still looking but I really don't think they have."
RedState has been the site of undisclosed paid content in the past, including pieces financed by the Malaysian government, and has taken part in a PR campaign in which some bloggers were paid by a proxy group for the Ukrainian government.


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Lithia Motors Inc.'s purchase of DCH Auto Group Ltd. will have major implications on the buy-sell market going forward.
It could spark more activity, perhaps prompting bigger dealership groups to buy other large groups in the next year or two, brokers say.
The deal appears to disprove the theory that larger dealership groups need to be broken up and sold piecemeal because of barriers to acquiring them. Yet the Lithia-DCH case is unusual because of the very limited overlap in the two groups' brand mix.
Lithia, of Medford, Ore., will pay about $340 million in cash and another $22.5 million in Lithia stock to acquire DCH, of South Amboy, N.J. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter. The merged company is expected to have annual revenues of $7 billion.
Brokers say this may be the largest single U.S. dealership acquisition ever.
Ranking buy-sell deals by size isn't easy. Some purchase prices are inflated by including real estate, which others exclude, and data is unavailable for some roll-up deals done in the 1990s when groups were preparing to go public.
But Lithia-DCH at least rivals Sonic Automotive Inc.'s 1999 purchase of FirstAmerica Automotive Inc. and its 29 dealerships. Sonic paid about $232 million in stock but also assumed about $175 million in FirstAmerica's debt.
"For Lithia, which has been a West and Midwest company and secondary market consolidator, to branch out and buy this big $2 billion operator with stores in metro markets is really quite a statement," said Brodie Cobb, executive chairman of Presidio Group, a San Francisco dealership broker and advisory firm.
He added, "When you start to see M&A in a certain sector and see these larger transactions, you tend to see repetition."
DCH was not on the auction block and did not seek competing bids, said DCH President George Liang. In part, that was because the two groups already knew each other and the chemistry was right.
For several years, executives from the two groups have met periodically to share best practices. The meetings were casual but productive, the companies' executives say.
"We started to like each other, feel comfortable and challenge each other with the exchange of ideas," Liang told Automotive News.
At the time, there was no talk of merging, and DCH was not for sale. But in January, when executives from the two sides met at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention in New Orleans, the idea of joining forces started to take form.
"The more we talked," Liang said, the more "it made perfect sense."
Lithia, the smallest of the six public new-car retailers as measured by new retail units, has annual revenue of about $4 billion. AutoNation Inc. of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the country's largest dealership group, had revenue of $17.5 billion in 2013.
Lithia has long wanted to buy dealerships east of the Mississippi River. Lithia currently has 101 stores in smaller markets in 12 states, mainly in the Northwest. DCH has 14 dealerships in Southern California and 13 in New York and New Jersey, all in larger metropolitan markets.
Lithia's ability to snap up a group as large as DCH sends a message to potential sellers, brokers said.
"It may prompt owners of other large dealership groups, who don't have a succession plan, to think: 'Maybe I can do a transaction similar to this,'" said Alan Haig, president of Haig Partners in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. "We will see more sales of groups in 2014 and beyond than we've seen in years because buyers are confident, they have access to capital, and many owners are near retirement age and the businesses are too big to pass on to successors."
Indeed, Liang said DCH wanted to sell in part because its private shareholders, who have grown older, wanted some "liquidity options." DCH is owned by families in the United States and Hong Kong.
Difficult to do
The number of sellers coming to market has been increasing weekly, said Erin Kerrigan, founder of brokerage firm Kerrigan Advisors in Irvine, Calif.
"I expect both big and small deal activity will continue to grow over the next 12 months," Kerrigan wrote in an e-mail. "That said, very large deals, such as the DCH transaction, are still difficult to get done due to the limitations of framework agreements and the small number of approvable buyers capable of completing a transaction of this size."
Framework agreements between automakers and their franchised dealers outline the terms and conditions for a number of issues. Automakers can block some dealership acquisitions under those agreements, say, if the proposed buyer would acquire too many stores of a given brand or have too large a share of the brand's national sales.
Lithia was an ideal buyer of DCH because there was so little overlap in the two groups' brands. Import brands, including Honda and Toyota but excluding luxury brands such as Lexus and BMW, make up 80 percent of DCH's sales but only 38 percent of Lithia's. Detroit 3 brands make up 51 percent of Lithia's sales but only 2 percent of DCH's.
Amy Wilson contributed to this report.
Kerrigan Advisors is honored to work with auto retailers throughout the US to enhance the value of their enterprise. Learn more about our services below:
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Investment firm Greylock has named Josh McFarland as its newest investment partner.
The selection ends an eight year courting process Greylock had engaged in to bring Twitter s current vice president of product on board.
However, McFarland doesn t start work for a while as he s currently working on transitioning things at Twitter, but is expected to officially become an investor at the end of Q1 2017.McFarland brings with him quite a bit of experience both in the operations and product space, having worked for multiple startups, Google, and even becoming an entrepreneur-in-residence at Greylock.
In fact, it was here when he and Mark Ayzenshtat launched TellApart, a ad technology company which was acquired by Twitter in 2015.
In the nearly two years since, he has ascended from being a senior director of product to its vice president.His departure would be another notch in Twitter s growing list of executive departures.
Twitter recently acquired app maker Yes to bring on new product lead Keith Coleman who replaces Kevin Weil.


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- It’s still early days for ChatGPT and generative AI, but businesses can already use the technology for brainstorming, creating mockups for new ideas, debugging systems, and more.
- NFX estimates 450 startups and several new funds for generative AI, indicating a hot market and high hopes for growth.
- Do you work in the Tech industry? Get business insights on the latest tech innovations, market trends, and your competitors with data-driven research.
Generative AI leads the charge in AI’s second wave as the newest venture capital darling. Startups are back to high valuations despite economic uncertainty, and improvements in technology are poised to transform how content and creative teams function across industries.
Chat GPT’s public release, in particular, sparked an explosion in generative AI adoption and an even larger conversation around the ethics and ramifications of tech. And, after having reached a million users at lightning speed, faster than many other breakthrough apps of the past five years, ChatGPT is poised to continue driving generative AI growth in 2023.
Here, we unpack what you need to know about ChatGPT and the rise of generative AI.
ChatGPT and generative AI explained
Generative AI is artificial intelligence that creates content from simple prompts and context. The technology requires user prompts—a short string of words or phrases, for instance—to produce everything from text and code, to music and 3D objects.
Generative AI models simulate how we think by relying on algorithms that “learn” with each use. They start with millions of labeled pictures, text, or other media, and gradually identify patterns that allow them to understand and create content independently.
Chat GPT, which stands for generative pretrained transformer, is an AI model built by OpenAI. Users provide prompts, questions, or requests, after which Chat GPT will provide an answer in well-structured responses in varying tones or formats (i.e. code, poetry, or first-person narrative).
ChatGPT market stats
Founded in 2015 as a nonprofit, OpenAI accelerated the release of new models following its shift into a capped-profit company in 2019, which let it raise more capital. Its biggest backer soon became Microsoft, which has invested over $10 billion since March 2019, including credits for computing power via Azure. Microsoft will reportedly invest another $10 billion, valuing OpenAI at $29 billion.
ChatGPT quickly gained 1 million users in five days, following its release on November 30, 2022 as a proof of concept. Its most recent update, GPT-4, is a large multimodal AI model that surpasses its predecessor’s capabilities, and is also more likely to produce factual responses. In fact, OpenAI claims that the model passed a simulated bar exam, scoring around the top 10% of test takers, compared with GPT-3.5, which scored in the bottom 10%.
ChatGPT trends and use cases
Generative AI is triggering disruption in businesses in nearly every sector. In the next three to five years, Insider Intelligence analysts predict that many jobs will adapt to revolve around prompting and supervising AI rather than producing creative.
In the creator economy, many brands are experimenting with ChatGPT to develop creative briefs, text, video thumbnails, and images. The technology is incapable of generating original ideas because it crowdsources and synthesizes information that has already been published online, so, still, a human touch is essential to create innovative work.
In the financial services space, are testing ChatGPT’s impact with process automation, fraud defense, and even product development. Generative AI can produce synthetic data to augment the limited but real datasets, enabling it to better anticipate risks and identify suspicious activity.
OpenAI is the best-known generative AI company, but it’s not the only one. The industry has two types of players: those that provide AI infrastructure, including cloud computing and core engines, and those that adapt models for specific purposes through applications.
Google and Microsoft both have leading search engines, cloud services, and productivity tools—and both are all in on AI. Startups, on the other hand, such as Anthropic, Stability AI, Midjourney, AI21 Labs, and Cohere have built some of the more advanced models. A battle looms.
- Google Bard
- DeepMind Sparrow
- Meta BlenderBot
- Amazon Web Services
- Microsoft Bing
- Baidu Ernie
Whats next for ChatGPT and generative AI?
Chat Gpt is a potential game-changer for fast movers and a potential risk for those that fail to prepare. By understanding the most promising use cases and preparing for generative AI’s rise, businesses can gain a competitive edge and ensure they are delivering the best possible experience for their customers.
This analysis is part of Insider Intelligence’s ChatGPT and Generative AI report, which contains more insights and data to help guide your business strategies. To preview the full report, click here.


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Tablet Security and Parental Control software by Kaspersky
Source: Kaspersky Eugene Kaspersky, co-founder of Kaspersky Lab, says that he is convinced that malware will develop in the same way on mobile devices as it has done on standard PCs: he anticipates a massive increase in malware in the near future. According to its recent data, the company uncovered more mobile malware in December 2011 than over the entire 2004-2010 period.
Kaspersky said he believes that users will eventually need to protect mobile devices such as phones and tablets in the same way as they protect their existing PCs. In mid-February, Kaspersky Lab presented "Kaspersky ONE", a package for home users that includes software for Windows, Mac OS X and various smartphone operating systems. Tablet Security for Android tablets was released during this year's Mobile World Congress event and is now available via the Android Market. It includes a virus monitor, a feature that protects users from phishing sites, and functionality for locating a lost device and deleting the data that is stored on it.
Kaspersky also introduced beta versions of Parental Control apps for Android and iOS. The Android app is designed to prevent children from accessing inappropriate web sites, and with it, parents can also restrict the apps that their children have access to. Under iOS, Kaspersky Parental Control offers a custom browser – and a detailed instructions of how parents can restrict their children's access to other apps using built-in iOS options. The Android app is already available, while the iOS version is due to follow in March. During beta testing, both versions are available to download free of charge.


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- Prachi Singh |
Perry Ellis International, Inc. has entered into a license agreement with Rosega S.A. to design and distribute men’s dress shirts under the Manhattan trademark in Argentina. The company said that the collection will be distributed in department and specialty stores with a product launch planned in the fall 2018.
"We are excited to welcome Rosega to the Manhattan family. Rosega is a leading retailer and distributor of fashion apparel, making the partnership an ideal collaboration. Working with Rosega will leverage the equity of this lifestyle brand to further our Latin American reach,” said Oscar Feldenkreis, CEO and President of Perry Ellis International, in a press release.
“Rosega is extremely proud and excited to enter this partnership with the Manhattan brand. As an iconic and well regarded brand, we are confident it will continue to grow as a mens’ fashion leader in Argentina,” added Carlos Fabian Legnini, owner and founder of Rosega, S.A.
Picture:Perry Ellis International website


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CHARLESTON, W.Va. – You may need to jingle all the way to the mall, shopping center or online, as quickly as possible.
This is the last weekend before Christmas. That means everyone from your mom to your uncle to your long lost cousin three times removed will be trying to get the best deals possible.
Lisa McCracken, the marketing director at the Town Center Mall in Charleston, is predicting big crowds. “This is it! Game on,” said McCracken.
Whether you do your shopping at a mall, a big box store or a locally owned business, Bridget Lambert with the West Virginia Retailer’s Association said there’s still plenty of gifts to fill those stockings.
“Shopping has been very brisk this season and there are still a lot of deals to be had,” she stressed.
There are added bonuses to shopping late like longer hours, free shipping and last minute bargains.
It may seem like Christmas has come on a little fast this year, and in fact, it has. It’s the way the calendar just happened to fall.
“It’s a result of this shortened shopping season that we’ve had in 2013,” explained Lambert. “We had one less week to shop between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day this year and I think it’s put a little bit of pressure on consumers and retailers alike.”
McCracken said a lot of people will be making up for it this weekend and the weather will play a big part. Good news is we’re not expecting even one snowflake to fall.
“We are going to get a lot of rain, which for a shopping center that’s indoors, that’s good business for us,” McCracken said.
While some consider the whole shopping process a pain, McCracken has a suggestion to make it more merry.
“Bring the family. Bring your best girlfriend. Bring your best guy. Make a event out of it,” McCracken said.
And, oh, don’t forget your wallet.


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Verizon internal documentation has confirmed the launch of two new prepaid plans being designed for smartphone users which will be officially launched next Friday February 1st. Both new plans replace the previous $80 smartphone plan which began life last year and was recently expanded to allow previously activated devices along with the iPhone 4 and 4S.
The previous $80 smartphone plan will be grandfathered for current customers on the first while the $60 and $70 plans will be tiered based on the amount of monthly data access per month, with the first plan being allotted 500MB per month and the second plan being allotted 2GB per month. As an additional option to avoid more expensive per MB overage rates, Verizon is also offering an additional 1GB of data as an add-on for an extra $20. The overage rates for the new plans outside of the overage data package are as follows:
- $0.25/min voice
With Verizon being pressured by MVNOs in terms of pricing, the smartphone plan realignments are necessary for it to remain competitive against other offerings such as StraightTalk and Page Plus, though in terms of service offered for both price points, Page Plus beats Verizon’s new offerings in terms of data allowance per month at the same $70 rate (5GB vs 2GB) while StraightTalk beats it in terms of monthly rate pricing ($45). However, with both plans still allowing previously activated smartphones and StraightTalk offering the Verizon iPhone 5, Verizon may be wise to open up the smartphone to its own prepaid service if it wishes to remain competitive.


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For inXile, the new project has also outpaced the Ouya as the fastest project to reach $US 1 million dollars in funding. Just hours after its launch, the Kickstarter campaign met its $US 900,000 goal and the funding has kept growing with 29 days left to go for the campaign.
Torment: Tides of Numenera is a single-player isometric role-playing game that harkens back to the old days of PC role-playing games. It’s also a sequel to the critically acclaimed Planescape: Torment created by Black Isle Studios in the late 1990s.
“Our heads are still spinning at the incredible response we have had from today’s support of our Kickstarter campaign,” Brian Fargo, chief executive of inXile entertainment, wrote on its KickStarter page.
“This wasn’t our style and we couldn’t generate interest in the classical narrative type of RPG that we all grew up making and playing,” Mr. Fargo wrote. “Thank you for backing our vision once again and we will not let you down. We will continue to communicate and and make sure we solicit input such that the game is hitting all the right notes.”
Planescape: Torment was released on retro video game website Good Old Games as their number two most wanted game. Interest in seeing a continuation of the series has been immense and now fans can watch the game develop through updates posted to Kickstarter.
“I believe such focus on a powerful story is what has set this project apart from others of its kin,” one commenter on the KickStarter page wrote. “You have a gem here. Create something beautiful and powerful with our money; we can’t wait.”
In an interview with video game website Polygon, creative lead of the project Colin McComb said he has been humbled by the support of the KickStarter supporters and fans of the series.
“I knew there was demand for this game, but I am overwhelmed by the support,” Mr. McComb wrote in the interview with Polygon. “I hoped it would hit fast, but I had no idea it would be as big as it is.
“I’m trying to put this in ways that don’t sound like pregenerated phrases, but right now I’m kind of in shock and truly humbled by the reaction of our fans.”
However, other video game developers have also showed their support for the inXile’s new Kickstarter.
Among the seven backers who pledged more than $10,000 dollars to the project is Markus “Notch” Persson who developed Minecraft.
In a quick email correspondence with Polygon, Mr. Persson had this to say about backing the game, “Mostly because awesome.”
As well, Razer chief executive Min-Liang Tan has also pledged $10,000 to the project.
More information on Torment : Tides of Numenera can be found on the official website for the game. They company will also be providing regular updates to their KickStarter page as they begin to ramp up development.


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As Ford is planning to launch its F-150 Lightning soon, they have also come up with an interesting plan for charging stations. Ford will have charge angles, who will be employed only to repair the charging stations whenever needed. Finding reliable charging stations is difficult, considering that there are limited locations with charging stations.
Palmer told the outlet, All they’ll do all day long is go and check them to see where they fail and why. There are a lot of plugs out there, but some of them are old and they don’t have the quality or reliability we want. Over 99.5 percent of customers go into a charger and get a charge. We’re pleased about that. But a number less than that get a charge the first time they charge.”
While competitors have been working on different charging stations options. Like Volkswagen working on premium charging station experience. Ford is working on fixing problems so that they can hunt down the stations which have problems. The main aspect of charging stations currently is high quality and reliability. The so-called Charge Angles will be working on the very same. Their job would be first to find the problem and find solutions for the issue.
A shift towards electric vehicles
As the company is shifting towards electric vehicles. This year they have been pushing the promotion for Ford F-150 Lightning as it will be competing with top EV players. Additionally, recently Rivian launches its first electric pickup truck, which already gave the company an advantage.
Furthermore, it is known that Ford’s Mustang Mach-E is known to charge is other EV stations. High time for the company to focus on charging stations, as more EV models will be launching by next year. The company announced that they are planning to have the charge angels to be on road by 2021. The company has charging stations in the US in alliance with Electrify America and ChargePoint.
Ford has DC fast charging in many locations which can charge the car for 54 miles with 10 minutes charge. The charging stations have always been known to be quick. However, the issues with them are known to be posted on online platforms. In March, Ford is known to have stopped selling home charging stations. It was because some stopped working. They said that it isn’t linked with safety. As F-150 Lightning is coming up, it is essential that the company is working on such minor incidents.


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Following increasing protest and attacks of South African companies in Nigeria, MTN Nigeria has closed down all of its shops and retail outlets in the country.
MTN conveyed the information to all of its customer in the country via s text message on Wednesday afternoon.
The text reads, “Yello! Our shops are unavailable today. You can reach us on Twitter- @MTN180, MTNonline.com/Livechat, chat on MyMTN App. For Call Center dial 180. Thank you.”
The telecommunication company had on Tuesday condemned the xenophobic attack in South Africa and also told its staff to stay away from work until further notice.
Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria, Ferdi Moolman said, “MTN Nigeria strongly condemns hate, prejudice and xenophobia and reiterate our unequivocal condemnation of all violence.
“We seek to connect people, bring people together and provide a platform for everyone’s voice to be heard.
“We are against all forms of bigotry and discrimination; they should have no place in society.
“Everyone has the right to a world where their rights and freedoms are respected – the right to live and earn a living, freely, safely and protected by the law.”


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Jony Ive, Apple’s head of design, took some time out of his busy schedule to make an appearance at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit in San Francisco recently, and spoke about the Apple design process, and opened up about some specific choices made regarding the iPhone 6.
The New York Times profiled Tim Cook’s leadership over the weekend, and there were a few quotes from design lead Jony Ive thrown in. But now the publication has published the entirety of what Ive, who rarely speaks in public, had to say about Apple, Cook, and how things have changed in the wake of the late Jobs’ death.
Times reporter John Arlidge recently sat down with Jony Ive at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California. In a privileged conversation, Arlidge talked with Apple’s head of design in one of the first in-depth interviews granted by the quiet and humble executive.
Jony Ive vanishes from Apple’s Executive Profiles webpage, prompting departure rumors [Update: He's back]
The USA Today has also published an interview with Apple’s design chief Jony Ive and software chief Craig Federighi. The two, along with CEO Tim Cook had earlier given an interview to Bloomberg Businessweek.
Late last year, Apple made a much talked about change to its management, firing iOS chief Scott Forstall, and distributing his responsibilities amongst Eddy Cue, Craig Federighi and Jony Ive. Apple said that these changes would “encourage even more collaboration between the Company’s world-class hardware, software and services teams.”
Harmut Esslinger is one of the people who shaped our lives in so many ways, but many of us—I certainly didn’t—probably don’t know his name. While today Jony Ive is “showcased” as part of Apple, in the past, the brilliant minds behind the designs that made Apple “Apple” weren’t so well known. Design site designboom received a copy of Harmut Esslinger’s new book Design Forward and shared some pictures of early Apple products that, you can see, influenced a lot of what would come later.


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European Companies Can Now Export Duty-Free to VietnamAugust 5th, 2020 by Christian Faust - Posted in English
EU trade in goods with Vietnam amounted to 45.5 billion euros in 2019. This makes the country the EU’s second largest trading partner in the Association of SouthEast Asian Nations, coming in just after Singapore.
EU Free Trade Agreement with Vietnam
European companies can now export many goods duty-free to Vietnam thanks to the EU Free Trade Agreement with Vietnam that came into force on 1 August 2020. Naturally, this new free trade agreement with the EU will open up new potential for reciprocal for trade. What this means for EU companies is the opening up of an exciting SouthEast Asian market in an affordable and accessible way like never before.
Vietnam is already an important production country of electrical appliances and textiles for the European market, while their main selling market is for machinery, aircraft, vehicles and pharmaceuticals. This easing of duty charges will no doubt bring a much needed boost to both Vietnamese and European markets in the post pandemic economy.
All customs duties on EU export goods such as medicines, chemicals or machinery have been eliminated. In the coming years, further easing will follow. The ultimate aim is for 99% of goods exchange between Vietnam and the EU to be completely duty-free.
Coffee, rice, seafood and even furniture are also often sold to Europe from this region, so European consumers can look forward to greater saving and further variety of choice from products that they already know and love.
Expansion Opportunity for EU Companies
Likewise, Vietnam with its 95 million strong inhabitants now represents an intriguing new market with high catch-up potential for savvy European companies interested in expansion into SouthEast Asia.
“The agreement has significant economic potential,” said Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan.
This EU Free Trade Agreement makes Vietnam the largest EU trading partner in South East Asia, truly representing an opportunity not to be missed.
As always, FaustTranslations.com is on hand to provide reliable translation services for any companies already operating in the Vietnamese market, as well as, any business ready to grab this new opportunity for SouthEast Asian growth. From marketing transcreation and localization to industry specific technical translations in any field: technology, economics, law, marketing, e-commerce, the list is endless! We can be your language partner, helping you connect with this fresh new market!
Cảm ơn bạn!