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First, Pokemon Korea will host Pokemon Festa Nov. 4 through 12. During this event, Pokemon Go players throughout South Korea will be able to find more Pokemon than normal. In addition, from Nov. 10 through 12, players in Seoul will be able to encounter the legendary Pokemon Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres and Lugia in Raid battles at gyms around the city, except for those near Lotte World Mall.
Instead of encountering legendary Pokemon, players near Lotte World Mall will have the chance to encounter Mr. Mime and Unown.
Next, Niantic announced that the game’s next Safari Zone event will take place in Japan’s Tottori prefecture at the Tottori Sand Dunes. From Nov. 24 through 26, event attendees will be able to capture “a wide variety of Pokemon, including some rarely seen throughout the country.”
These events follow a series of Safari Zone events that took place at Unibail-Rodamco shopping centers throughout Europe over the past few months. Niantic said these events attracted more than 20,000 players to the shopping centers, and that over 6 million Pokemon were captured at the centers during the events. In addition, players captured 59 million Pokemon in the “surrounding area” while these Safari Zone events were taking place.
Pokemon Go is available to download for free on the iTunes App Store and Google Play. The game has been downloaded more than 750 million times, and it has driven more than 500 million visits to sponsored locations, such as Starbucks restaurants.
Niantic recently partnered with Wieden+Kennedy London to launch an advertising campaign for Pokemon Go. As part of this campaign, billboards containing gameplay stats appeared in London, Tokyo and New York, and some of these billboards were turned into in-game PokeStops.


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German steelmakers Thyssenkrupp and Stahl-Holding Saar, the parent company of Dillinger and Saarstahl, have increased their shipments to secure raw material supplies due to critically low water levels on waterways caused by the heatwave in western Germany, the companies told S&P Global Platts.
“Because the barges can only load about half of the usual tonnages, more barges than normal are required to meet the demand,” said a spokeswoman for Stahl-Holding Saar.
The mills usually receive iron ore and coking coal from the port of Rotterdam, which is then shipped on waterways down the Rhine.
Dillinger and Saarstahl are based in Saarland state, southwest Germany, where levels are lower than further north in the Rhine-Ruhr region where Thyssenkrupp is based.
“We had to increase the frequency of cargoes. What we lose on freight space, we need to compensate,” a spokesman for Thyssenkrupp said, adding that the steelmaker is using additional logistics suppliers.
Thyssenkrupp also uses water from the Rhine to cool its Dusiburg works.
The water level stood at 2,06 m Friday morning at Duisburg, according to the German Waterways & Shipping Office. The office also said there has to be at least 30 centimetre clearance under the keel, meaning barges have to be lighter than usual at the moment.
Thyssenkrupp said waterways around the Rotterdam region would not be heavily affected but the further south, the lower the water levels.
According to a notice published over the week, the German Federal Institute for Hydrology expects low water levels to continue next week.
Source: PlattsPrevious Next
Huge Opportunities For Investment in Maritime Sector: Nitin Gadkari
India Tanker Shipping & Trade Summit 2019

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The lobbying effort around HB 7097, a bill in Connecticut that would enable Tesla to sell its vehicles directly to consumers without having to go through third-party dealerships, has intensified this week.
Tesla has now promised the state 10 stores by next year if the bill passes, while on the other hand, the dealerships warn of losing 10% of their 14,000 jobs in Connecticut. expand full story
Tesla’s long ongoing state-by-state battle to sell its electric cars directly to consumers without having to go through third-party dealers just received a significant setback. In Missouri, where Tesla already managed to get a dealer license and has been selling its vehicles online and through stores in St-Louis and Kansas City, a judge rejected the company’s license renewal after the Missouri Auto Dealers Association (MADA) sued the revenue department, which first issued Tesla’s license in 2015.
In consequence, the automaker will lose its right to sell cars in the state tomorrow as its current license expires.
Previously, Tesla mainly had to worry about states where laws are currently preventing them from getting dealership licenses, like Michigan or Texas, but now it looks like Tesla’s direct to consumer business model is not safe even where it already had a license. expand full story
For most of the world, it’s simply difficult to imagine that in some states in the US, Tesla is not allowed to sell its vehicles directly to customers because of laws banning automakers from operating dealerships – even automakers that have never been part of the third-party franchise dealership model before.
But I think this video of Don Hall, president of the Virginia Automobile Dealers Association (VADA), will help people understand what Tesla is up against in those states. A video of Hall addressing the members of his dealership association following Tesla’s request for a dealership license is a great example of the mentality of the car dealership when it comes to their monopoly on selling vehicles. expand full story
The automaker built a $3 million store in Salt Lake City last year, but the full-fledged store was demoted to a gallery/service center two weeks before opening due to the Utah attorney general’s office ruling that it was against the state’s direct sales law following complaints from the local dealership association.
Now that the case is before the court, in order to counter the automaker’s argument that they are not good at selling electric vehicles, dealerships are saying that they could sell Tesla’s vehicles simply because “they have four wheels”. expand full story
Now we learn that the DMC ruled against Tesla obtaining a second dealership license last week, which results in the automaker’s latest store in Charlotte having to operate as a ‘gallery’. expand full story
During a convention held in Dallas last week, Texas state GOP delegates endorsed new Tesla-backed language in the party platform to allow direct sales of vehicles in the state. About 90 percent of the more than 8,000 delegates supported the new proposal.
This new support is likely to be a big help for Tesla’s next effort to push new legislation in order to sell its cars through company-owned stores in Texas – something the company has been trying to do since 2013.
Tesla had a booth at the convention and discussed its situation in the state with thousands of delegates.
Under the current state’s laws governing car sales, as an automaker, Tesla cannot sell its vehicles to consumers and is required to go through third-party dealerships – something the company refused to do as per its business model. expand full story
The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) is currently holding a hearing to decide whether or not to allow Tesla to get a second dealership license to operate in the state without having to go through a third-party franchise dealerships.
Tesla currently operates a store and service center in Charlotte and a service center in Raleigh. The automaker is now trying to get a second sales license since having won a legislative battle that successfully stopped a bill from outright banning direct car sales in the state back in 2013. expand full story
While the bill SB3, a new legislation to allow electric automakers to sell directly to consumers in Connecticut, appeared to have died during the weekend after bill sponsor Bob Duff said that his caucus was divided on the issue and that he didn’t have the votes:
“I think the car dealers and others have been very effective in lobbying in their favor. We’ll come back again and try in another year.”
Now in a last-ditch effort as the legislative deadline approaches on Wednesday night, Tesla offered the state a new distribution center with 150 jobs to sweeten the deal. expand full story
For the second year in a row, Tesla tried to pass a bill sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk in Connecticut, to allow the sale of electric vehicles directly to consumers without having to go through the franchise dealerships model. Last week, the bill SB3 was in consideration and awaiting a vote in the state Senate, but it is now officially dead following an impressive lobbying campaign led by GM and the local dealership association.
The electric automaker is currently entrenched in several battles over its business model of selling directly to consumers without a third-party dealership. While it is not an issue in most of its markets, Tesla is not allowed or under restrictions to sell its cars in several states including Arizona, Michigan, Texas, Connecticut, Utah and West Virginia. expand full story
Tesla is currently facing strong opposition from the dealership lobby in Connecticut over a new legislation that would allow the automaker to sell directly to consumers in the state. The bill SB3 is currently in consideration and awaiting a vote in the state Senate. It would enable Tesla to open up to 3 stores in the state.
This week Tesla published the results of a survey showing strong support for its direct sales business model in the state, but the Connecticut Automotive Retailers Association is challenging the relevance of the survey. expand full story
According to a new report from the Wall Street Journal (paywall), Tesla’s legal team has been preparing for a challenge of direct sales law before the federal court instead of the state by state battles that the company has been fighting for years now.
Due to its business model of selling directly to consumers without a third-party dealership, Tesla is currently not allowed or under restrictions to sell its cars in several states including Arizona, Michigan, Texas, Connecticut, Utah and West Virginia. expand full story
A bill proposed by Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff to allow electric vehicle makers in Connecticut to bypass direct sales laws and sell directly to consumers, also called the “Tesla bill”, has been “overwhelmingly endorsed” by the transportation committee on Monday. The legislation will now be moving to the state senate for a vote. expand full story
After a small win in Indiana, where a state Senate committee decided to table for further review a bill that would have prohibited Tesla to sell its cars directly to consumers and forced them to go through third-party auto dealerships, the automaker is readying to challenge the states of Utah and Connecticut over similar direct sale laws.
Connecticut Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff introduced a bill that would allow electric car manufacturers to sell their vehicles directly to Connecticut consumers. The bill would represent a compromise similar to agreements Tesla has in other states like New Jersey or New York, where the automaker is limited to a certain number of stores, in the case of Connecticut, it would be three stores across the state. expand full story


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Since its inception in 1932, Lego, the humble plastic bricks, have been a mainstay in children’s toy collections right around the world. Their success is undoubtedly because this privately-owned Danish company is always reinventing its toys, keeping up with modern interests and trends.
Earlier this year, Lego was applauded for the inclusion of a mini-figure depicting a boy in a wheel chair as part of its Fun in the Park Lego set. For the millions of children worldwide that have a disability, it gave them the opportunity to see themselves reflected in a positive light through a toy, perhaps for the first time.
In 2012, Lego Friends was launched, with female mini-figures and themed sets with mostly pink and purple bricks that targeted girls. While these have been immensely popular, if your daughter wasn’t interested in playing beauty parlours or fashion designing, they were quite limiting in their scope.
Now, Lego has announced that it will launch 11 female DC Super Hero characters: Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Supergirl, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Bumblebee, Flash, Eclipso, Lena Luther, Lashina and Mad Harriet.
Hitting the stores globally in January 2017, these superhero toys will give kids a strong female lead character for make believe games. As Lego said in a statement:
“The aim of DC Super Hero Girls is to provide children with a relatable world filled with aspirational characters, immersive stories and action-packed missions that inspire girls… to be smart, courageous and empowered… to be an everyday super hero.”
It’s great to see that Lego is recognising that girls need to be given the opportunity to see themselves in a variety of roles through toys – not only princesses and traditional roles – but as whatever they are individually interested in.
The DC Super Heroes will be based around a high school storyline, and promise to provide hours of creative building as well as role-play fun.
“We are thrilled to bring to life the combination of teamwork, fun and action-packed missions found in this DC Super Hero universe on our LEGO mini-doll platform,” said Jill Wilfert, vice president of licensing and entertainment for the LEGO Group.
The new characters are sure to be a hit with boys too as they complement the existing range of DC Super Heroes, which include Batman, Robin and Superman.
As the Danish would say: leg godt… or play well!
To find out more about the new Lego range, visit: Lego DC Super Heroes online.


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The former owner of two Subway franchises in Sydney has been penalised $65,000 after underpaying a former employee by $16,345.
The employee working at outlets at Artarmon and Stanmore was paid just $14-$14.50 an hour, between October 2014 and April 2016.
That’s well below the minimum rate of $18.
The Chinese national worker was also entitled to a casual loading payment and penalty rates of up to $52.22 on public holidays.
The Fair Work Ombudsman also found the worker hadn’t been granted a special clothing allowance, and the employers had failed to meet record-keeping and pay slip requirements.
Danmin Zhang, who formerly operated the outlets was penalised $9,255 by the Fair Work Ombudsman, with the company she owns with her husband, G & Z United, penalised an additional $56,183.
The Fair Work Ombudsman investigation came after the worker – who was pack-paid in 2017 – lodged a request for assistance.
The Fair Work Ombudsman also emphasised that Zhang is no longer involved with the two Subway restaurants.
“It is unlawful for employers to pay their employees low, flat rates that undercut minimum Award wage rates. This franchisee paid their worker a flat rate that was $4 below the lawful rate, and now faces paying a $65,000 penalty from the Court,” Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker said today.
“The penalty should send a message to fast food businesses that compliance in the workplace is not an option – it’s the law. Every worker in Australia has the same workplace rights and we encourage anyone with concerns to contact the Fair Work Ombudsman.”
It comes just days after fashion startup, Her Fashion Box was fined $329,113 after underpaying staff by illegally classifying them as interns.
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StartMeApp will continue to be the leading mobile ad network throughout the Latin American and U.S. Hispanic markets, while leveraging our new presence in London to continue our global expansion ...
London & Buenos Aires (PRWEB) January 21, 2013
StartMeApp (http://www.StartMeApp.com), the leading mobile ad network in Latin America and an emerging mobile advertising innovator worldwide, today announced a re-organization of the company structure that will include the shift of its global headquarters to London during Q1-2013.
An independent, privately owned mobile advertising network, StartMeApp’s ad-serving technology connects its mobile advertising network with all principle ad networks, ad exchanges and content publishers worldwide. Serving mobile ads in 40 countries across four continents and delivering nearly 10 billion ad impressions on a monthly basis during 2012, StartMeApp projects monthly ad impressions will increase to 30 billion monthly in early 2013.
“StartMeApp is very pleased to announce this important milestone in our ongoing growth and expansion in the global mobile advertising marketplace,” said Alejandro Campos Carlés, Co-Managing Director and Founder of StartMeApp. “StartMeApp will continue to be the leading mobile ad network throughout the Latin American and U.S. Hispanic markets, while leveraging our new presence in London to continue our global expansion and triple our ad-serving capabilities in early-2013, reaching more mobile consumers in more countries on behalf of our growing portfolio of advertiser clients.”
Since its launch in 2011, StartMeApp has delivered thousands of effective brand campaigns for clients that include well-known global brands, such as Audi, Air France, Fox, Peugeot, Adidas, Allianz, Microsoft and others. Consistently the leading mobile ad network in Latin America in volume of sales and monthly ad impressions, StartMeApp continues its steady expansion of operations throughout the region, helping media owners, publishers and networks, brands and creative agencies to navigate the maze of mobile markets and ad networks across the region’s 27 countries, complex demographics, multiple platforms, mobile carriers and handheld devices.
As part of StartMeApp’s global restructuring, the mobile ad network’s Latin America regional headquarters, along with the ad network’s regional sales and operations teams and its global R&D unit, will remain in Buenos Aires. StartMeApp’s European and other worldwide sales and operations efforts will be coordinated through the new global headquarters in London.
StartMeApp is connected to all leading buy-side mobile ad networks and exchanges worldwide and all major global sell-side providers of rich-media apps and mobile content, including carrier on portal audience, mobile web sites, WAP sites as well as applications traffic.
Mobile advertisers benefit from StartMeApp’s high-frequency ad-serving engine, which relies on sophisticated targeting of content and mobile traffic worldwide, reaching mobile consumers instantaneously anywhere in the world through any combination of multiple targeting parameters that include location, device, carrier, operating system, ISP and more.
StartMeApp’s access to all major mobile ad networks and exchanges worldwide lets publishers effectively maximize their content inventory, meeting ARPU targets, maximizing ROI and obtaining the highest available yields in customer acquisition, content downloads and app installs.
To learn more about StartMeApp and the mobile advertising opportunities available to its clients in Latin America, the U.S. Hispanic market and worldwide, visit http://www.StartMeApp.com.
StartMeApp is Latin America's leader in global mobile advertising, serving mobile ads in 40 countries across four continents and delivering nearly 10 billion ad impressions on a monthly basis and thousands of effective brand campaigns for clients. An independent, privately owned mobile advertising network, StartMeApp owns and operates its own ad-serving platform, as well as StartMeApp Networks, the premier wholesale multi-platform marketplace for mobile apps in Latin America and the U.S. Hispanic market. Visit StartMeApp online at http://StartMeApp.com, find us on LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/company/startmeapp) or follow us on Twitter @StartMeApp.


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America’s highest court won’t hear Apple’s complaint about Qualcomm’s patents, but is this the last we’ll hear of it?
Apple and Qualcomm may have reached corporate detent in 2019, but they’ve continued legal wrangling over the patents at the core of the dispute for years. Apple’s latest attempt to keep the dispute active has failed: Earlier this week, the United States Supreme Court denied Apple’s request to be heard on the matter. That would seem to drive a stake through this legal vampire’s heart, at least until Apple and Qualcomm’s current licensing arrangement runs its course.
Originally, Qualcomm wanted to spike Apple’s sales of most of its mobile devices. That never happened, obviously. But the news of Apple’s latest failure should come as little surprise to those keeping an eye on the proceedings. The 2019 settlement allowed a case to go before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Since then, Apple has presented an unblemished losing streak. Apple lost its USPTO trial and appeal, and took the matter to Federal Circuit Court, where it also lost.
Apple had hoped the Supreme Court would consider its appeal on the basis that Qualcomm may weaponize the patents when the current license expires. In May, the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), under the Biden administration, filed an opposition to Apple’s request. The Supreme Court took their advice and denied Apple’s request. The highest federal court’s refusal should stop this particular line of legal effort at least until the current license expires — 2025 or 2027, depending on whether the two parties choose to extend it.
Apple’s march toward vendor-independence
Apple’s continued wrestling with Qualcomm reflects the company’s efforts to control its own stack from the chip on up. Apple says the customer benefits from this tight control through Apple’s complete end-to-end control over hardware and software performance, reliability, efficiency and security.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating, it is said, and on that Apple has delivered in spades, based on performance benchmarks of the newest devices. But there are other practical reasons for the consumer tech behemoth to want to cut out anyone who wants in to the company’s vast supply chain.
To that end, Apple continues to make efforts, despite the Qualcomm patent setback. Apple acquired the bulk of Intel’s 5G smartphone modem business in 2019. And rumors have persisted since then that Apple is going to introduce its own smartphone modem solution. To date Apple has not. The latest rumors indicate 2023 as the most likely timeframe. But given Apple’s increasing System on a Chip (SoC) development cadence, it seems only a question of time before Apple silicon is handling radio duties inside Apple devices too.
Elsewhere in Apple’s product line, the company’s multi-year Macintosh metamorphosis from Intel-based microprocessors to Apple’s M1 and M2 SoCs is more or less complete. And the more Apple controls what hardware it uses to makes it devices, the harder it can squeeze its supply chain to maintain its famous gross margins, even as economic unrest and continued supply chain woes affect businesses globally.
While Apple seeks to control its hardware designs more completely than ever, it also wants to see its software running on more devices. Devices with four wheels, anyway: Last month, at its annual developers conference, Apple introduced a new version of CarPlay that revamps your dash with custom instrumentation and coloration (vendor-permitting, of course). Apple says that a number of prestige and mainstream auto makers will be introducing new vehicles to support the capability.
The new CarPlay is an uncustomary play for Apple, however. The company infamously keeps its cards close its vest until it’s ready to play its hand. Apple rarely, if ever, announces a product in advance of delivering it by more than a few weeks. This time, Apple said, cars supporting the feature won’t even be announced until the end of 2023. And given the nearly glacial automotive manufacturing cycle, it’s still a very open question of when we’ll see ever this new CarPlay on the road.
With any luck, we’ll have written the Apple/Qualcomm saga’s dénouement by then.


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What: Reprise Media, a unit of Mediabrands Audience Platform, specialized in the field of digital marketing is creating a new unit in Miami to service Latin American and U.S. Hispanic clients.
Why it matters: The move reflects the increasing need of clients for performance oriented digital marketing services.
IPG Mediabrands just opened a new unit in Miami called Reprise Media. The new specialty agency will provide digital marketing solutions, search engine marketing (SEM), social media marketing (SMM), search engine optimization (SEO) and digital production services for Latin American and U.S. Hispanic clients. Reprise Media Miami is the sixth office launched In Latin America offering this specialty service. It started in Santiago, Chile in 2011 and over the past few months has expanded into Argentina, Colombia and Uruguay. Clients include Microsoft, MasterCard, Bupa, Newell Rubermaid and Sony Picture, among others.
The Reprise Media Miami team notes that the main focus will be on performance platforms oriented digital marketing and creative digital activities. Digital media buying will be continued to be done by IPG agencies Mediabrands, UM, Initiative and BPN.
The new Miami based unit will be led by Osvaldo Pavez who adds this role to his current position of Digital Director, UM Latam. “Miami has become the capital of Latin American businesses, and as a result clients are demanding specialized, solid teams to handle their media investment in the city. That’s why we decided to launch a pan-regional operation for Reprise Media here, equipped of a strong team of savvy professionals with vast international experience in the digital area who can meet all clients’ needs and further expand our offer in the market,” said Osvaldo Pavez.
Pablo Rodriguez, President, World Markets LATAM for IPG Mediabrands, said, “The launch of Reprise Media in Miami will enhance the solid expansion of our specialized services across Latin America; particularly in Miami, the pan-regionalization of our services, has shown a dramatic growth in recent times.”


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Industrial technology and equipment multinational Bosch has acquired the remaining 50% stake in Johannesburg-based industrial technology company Hytec.
The company had acquired 50% of the Hytec shares in 2014.
Hytec has about 40 branches in South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, Botswana, Ghana and Kenya and its roughly 770 employees generated sales of about €86-million in 2017.
The sub-Saharan Africa hydraulic and automatic solutions specialist company has now become a wholly owned Bosch Rexroth subsidiary.
With its new subsidiary, Bosch Rexroth hopes to further expand this business. Hytec has a well-established marketing network in sub-Saharan Africa, and its associates were well familiarised with what local customers want, Bosch Rexroth MD Rolf Najork said.
“Together with Hytec, we can take better advantage of the market opportunities in the African growth industries. The region is characterised by a lot of end-user business, such as servicing and spare parts for users of machinery.”
“Africa has a lot of potential as a strategic market of the future. In the years ahead, we want to significantly increase our sales in Africa. Considerable opportunities are offered by the heavy investments being made in infrastructure projects in areas such as construction and power generation,” Bosch management board member Uwe Raschke added.
Hytec will continue to market the products of other manufacturers. Its portfolio includes roughly 30 brands. It will also continue to do business as Hytec, since this is a strong, well-known brand in Southern Africa. The same applies to the Hytec subsidiaries TECTRA, HAW, HFT, HYSA, Hytec Engineering and HSA.
“Combining high-level regional marketing knowledge with Bosch Rexroth’s product expertise and technological prowess will be a significant boost to our business on the continent,” added Najork.
Within the next ten years, it is expected that 187-million Africans – equivalent to half the US population – will live in cities. This means growing demand for drive and control solutions for industrial machinery and mobile machinery, such as construction vehicles.
“Bosch Rexroth and Hytec are serving the African market in areas such as power engineering. In one major project, the two companies renewed the entire hydraulic equipment of the Roseires Dam, in Sudan. At 1 800 MW, the output of this dam on the Blue Nile is comparable with that of a nuclear power station.”
“The complete acquisition of Hytec gives us a welcome opportunity to extend this successful collaboration and to grow further in Africa,” says Bosch Rexroth South Africa GM Tillmann Olsen. The companies have worked together for 50 years.
In May, Bosch Rexroth and Hytec will move into new joint premises in Johannesburg. The premises will include new marketing and administration offices, as well as an assembly line, a service centre, and a training centre for courses in hydraulics and automation technology.
Bosch Group has systematically expanded its presence on the continent and is present in ten African countries. Its focus is on affordable solutions and services for local requirements. These include training programmes for tradespeople in Kenya, for example, or automechanics in Nigeria.
Bosch has been present in Africa since 1906. All four Bosch business sectors – Mobility Solutions, Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods and Energy and Building Technology – are active there. There are two manufacturing sites in South Africa, in Brits and Midrand.


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MILAN — Furla’s “magic moment,” a definition favored by chief executive officer Eraldo Poletto, shows no signs of slowing.
Leveraging growth in all its main markets, the Italian accessories company saw revenues rise 30 percent to 151. 5 million euros, or $177.2 million at average exchange rate, in the six months ended June 30, compared with the same period last year. The company did not provide earnings figures.
For the first time, Poletto decided to reveal first half financial results for Furla, which is privately owned by the Furlanetto family. Asked if this was a sign of a new path for the company, such as a pending initial public offering, Poletto told WWD that it is a way “to train us to think and operate as a public company, so that, if one day shareholders will want to go public, the company is prepared.” He stressed that, at the moment, “no steps have been taken” to enter the stock market. Nor did Poletto hint at potential investors, as Furla’s expansion continues to be self-financed.
The executive credited the team’s “hard work,” Furla’s supply chain, stores, marketing and communication for the performance. He acknowledged “a slowdown in luxury. We go against stream, and there are opportunities in the premium luxury segment.” He said the company looks at the luxury segment for its positive elements — “creativity, store environment, customer service” — but aims at a lower price that elicits “surprise, in light of the all around quality.”
The Bologna, Italy-based firm opened 39 stores in the first half, primarily in Europe, followed by Asia-Pacific, the U.S. and Japan, bringing the number of total units to 437.
Furla opened a boutique in Singapore last month, and has just unveiled a flagship on New York’s Fifth Avenue and in Tokyo’s Ginza. A unit near Rome’s Spanish Steps will open in November, followed by a banner in Hong Kong in December, one in Shanghai in the first quarter of 2016, and a unit in London in the first half of next year.
Poletto admitted he is “obsessed” with “the magical number” of like-for-like sales, which also showed gains in the first half, rising 22 percent and accounting for 65 percent of total revenues.
In the first half, exports represented 80 percent of total sales, led by Japan, the company’s largest market, which accounts for 25 percent of total revenues. Sales in Japan rose 19 percent in the period. “In Japan, we doubled sales from 2010 to 2014,” said Poletto, noting that Furla first entered the market 25 years ago. He pointed to the innovative facade of the Ginza store, with “30,000 small tiles that move with the wind,” similar to the Mandalay Bay unit in Singapore.
In the first six months, sales in the Asia-Pacific region climbed 71 percent; Europe gained 29 percent, while Italy was up 18 percent. Sales in the U.S. increased 28 percent and accounted for 9 percent of the total. Poletto characterized the Fifth Avenue opening as “a crucial step in such a prestigious address that allows us to be located near top players, raising our image and positioning.” The executive said the U.S. “is a strategic priority,” lamenting the loss of the previous location. “We did not choose to leave and we were away from New York for two years, but it’s not banal to find the right location.”
The Manhattan flagship is an evolution of the Milan store concept, inspired by Furla’s headquarters in an 18th-century villa outside Bologna. Main elements include rosewood and Italian travertine marble, iridescent glass and brass finishings.
Furla has created a limited-edition Fifth Avenue collection of bags, small leather goods and accessories with prints inspired by New York, from its skyline to its graffiti, exclusively available at the new store.
Just as several retailers are reining in the number of store openings, Poletto said Furla’s retail strategy has been set in motion over the last several years, with the goal to be present in significant cities throughout the world but never aiming for “huge” stores. “We have not accelerated this expansion,” said Poletto, defining it as “cautiously aggressive” overbalanced markets. “This is a great opportunity given us by the times.”
The brand is available in 100 countries and is carried by more than 1,100 multibrand stores.
Travel retail sales also showed an increase in the first half, climbing 69 percent.
As reported, for full-year 2014, sales totaled 262 million euros, or $348.4 million at average exchange, up 13 percent compared with 2013.
Poletto said he expects “future growth, fueled by both the consolidated success of existing lines as well as by the new categories that we are implementing with the same determination and acumen.” Furla has been developing men’s accessories and a footwear division.


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It’s perhaps the biggest indication yet that sustainability has gone mainstream. Adidas has announced that in 2021 it will start selling Futurecraft Loop – a brand new high performance trainer for the new ‘circular economy’.
When a consumer believes their trainer has come to the end of its wearable cycle, they’ll simply send it back to be recycled into a new pair of Futurecraft Loops.
The concept has a way to go yet. Recycled materials will only be able to constitute 10% of the next generation Loop shoe – but it’s a huge step forward although not without significant challenges:
Engineering challenges: Average trainers are made of 12 distinct materials but to be recyclable they ideally need to be made from a single material – a tricky feat without compromising on all-important style and performance.
Pricing challenges: How will Adidas price up a shoe that they’ll effectively sell to a customer again and again? One thing up for consideration is a subscription model.
Fulfilment challenges: Speedy, easy, green fulfilment is going to be vital to the success of this concept. At the moment the idea is that shoes will be sold with a return box and label with a free v 1.5 shoe sent out to the consumer to wear while they wait for their new Loop shoe.
Style challenges: Made without bleach the new shoes will naturally discolour over time – how will Adidas make that covetable to consumers used to loving the bling of new trainers?
What’s clear is that Adidas is open to embracing each of these challenges head on, to turn this vision into a reality with Paul Guadio, Global Creative Director stating: ‘These are not concept cars. These are statements of intent. This is where we are going.’
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Postal results, reforms, and returns
Posts around the world are seeking reform, but how can they drive improved results in the short term?


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Eve is a Finnish company that has been developing a high-end hybrid device powered by Windows 10, based on feedback from a dedicated community. Developed under the code-name "Project Pyramid Flipper", the device was officially revealed as 'Eve V' last month. After releasing new information about it a few days ago, the company has now officially released the full specification list of the hybrid device.
Based on the latest feedback, the Eve V boasts the following features:
- CPU: Intel Core m3/i5/i7
- RAM: 8GB/16GB LPDDR3
- Storage: 128/256/512 GB
- Connectivity: 802.11ac 2x2 MU-MIMO, Bluetooth 4.2
- Ports: 2xUSB 3.1 Gen 1, 1xUSB 3.1 Gen 1 USB-C, 1xThunderbolt 3 USB-C, 1x3.5mm audio, 1xMicroSDXC reader
- Display: 12.3-inch IGZO LCD, 2736x1824 resolution, 1:1400 contrast ratio, 450 nits brightness, anit-reflective coating
- Battery: 48Wh
- Sensors: Fingerprint, Hall, Gravity, Light, Gyroscope, GPS
- Audio: Quad speakers 1W each, dedicated headphone jack audio amplifier by TI, 2 noise cancelling microphones
- Cameras: 2MP front, 5MP back
- Stylus: N-trig, Surface-compatible, 1024 pressure levels
- Keyboard: Pogo-Pin and wireless keyboard with backlight and latest glass clickpad by Synaptics
Additionally, the company has also posted a photo of what you can expect the Eve V's wireless keyboard to look like:
Eve claims that the keyboard is "precise, noiseless and ergonomic", and is designed to feel premium and sturdy. With that being said, the company is currently considering offering customers an upgraded keyboard made from premium Alacantra fabric that is approximately seven times more durable than the standard microfiber used in other peripherals, such as the Surface Type Cover. However, this will add to the cost of the device.
In order to view the Eve V as a competitor to Microsoft's premium line of Surface devices, Eve has posted a comparison between the specifications, which you can view below:
The Eve V globally launches on Indiegogo on November 21, with 500 units initially available for purchase and a shipping date of "early 2017". While the company hasn't officially announced the pricing details as of yet, it previously hinted that the base model will cost less than €1000 (~$1100) and that the "ultimate model" will be priced at €2000 (~$2200) inclusive of taxes. You can read about the hybrid device's specifications in detail over here.


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CCN is expanding. Are you our next full-time West Coast USA reporter? Send us your CV and examples here.
Users of Coinbase Wallet will now be able to send and receive Ethereum Classic.
In a blog post, the Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange indicated that the support was extended not only to Ethereum Classic but also to over 100,000 ERC20 tokens in the Ethereum blockchain. Portfolio users will, however, have to wait a couple of days before they can make transactions.
"The Wallet app should be updated in the coming days, after which you can view, send and receive ETCs on your wallet," wrote Coinbase in an online ad.
This happens three months after the cryptocurrency exchange listed the altcoin on its trading platform.
Tomorrow at 5:00 pm PT, Coinbase Consumer customers will be able to purchase, sell, store and use Ethereum Classic (ETC) at https://t.co/pl8Hu0qDiW and via the mobile app. pic.twitter.com/Qd7KgYpE0y
– Coinbase (@coinbase) August 15, 2018
At the time, Coinbase said that the listing was fulfilling the promise of adding more assets to its trading platform for its global customer base. From the Ethereum Classic list, other cryptocurrencies that have been added to the Coinbase trading platform include Basic Attention Token (BAT), which was listed at the beginning of this month.
BAT and 0x
As reported by CCN after the listing, Coinbase allowed trading in BAT in most jurisdictions except New York.
"Once sufficient liquidity has been established, trading on the BAT / USDC order portfolio will commence. […] BAT trading will be accessible to users in most jurisdictions, but will initially not be available to New York state residents, "announced Coinbase at the time.
At the time when the cryptocurrency exchange in the United States also revealed that BAT would not be available on mobile apps and on Coinbase.com.
Another cryptocurrency that Coinbase has recently listed is 0x and, unlike the BAT case, the currency was immediately available for the iOS and Android apps and on Coinbase.com. But just as in the case of BAT, the state of New York has been excluded from the list of permitted jurisdictions. In the United Kingdom, where Coinbase activated sterling deposits and withdrawals in August, residents also lost immediate availability of 0x.
"Starting today, Coinbase supports ZRX on Coinbase.com and Coinbase's Android and iOS apps, so Coinbase customers can now buy, sell, send, receive or store ZRX …". The vice president of Coinbase and the general manager of Coinbase Consumer, Dan Romero, announced that CCN has reported. "ZRX will be available to customers in most jurisdictions, but will initially not be available to residents in the United Kingdom or New York."
Being based in the United States, Coinbase is highly regulated and the listing of a token on the exchange is taken as an indication that the US Securities and Exchange Commission does not consider such security an asset. Other cryptographic resources that could soon be listed on Coinbase, in speculative terms, include Cardano, Stellar and Zcash.
Cardano, Zcash, Stellar Surge before the insertion of Coinbase; XLM on 27% https://t.co/zqAxY1mdVw
– CCN (@CryptoCoinsNews) November 12, 2018
Shutterstock foreground image.
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Farm management and precision agriculture tools and apps have been popping up like mushrooms and disappearing just as quickly for almost twenty years. While it's a business model that suits the Silicon Valley venture capitalist, it has potentially hindered the widespread adoption of precision agriculture.
Proagrica business development director Mark Pawsey said a significant handbrake on the adoption of precision agriculture across Australia had been the sheer number of niche tools available, many of which lack the scale or stability to offer long-term solutions.
We haven't had a marketplace for digital agriculture. We have had a lot of small vendors and small pockets of activity that are disconnected. There isn't a lot of money in agriculture - you need scale to survive.- Mark Pawsey
"We haven't had a marketplace for digital agriculture. We have had a lot of small vendors and small pockets of activity that are disconnected. There isn't a lot of money in agriculture - you need scale to survive," he said.
"We have let the technology lead the innovation, we need to go back to basics and ask what the farmer wants, what the service industry needs to support the farmer, what does the supply chain need to function more efficiently and present agriculture to Asia and other international markets in terms of traceability and quality control point of view."
Mr Pawsey began his journey with precision agriculture in 2001, managing Queensland Cotton's SkyAg business which provided agronomic bench-marking of cotton through a company called SST Software.
Following Queensland Cotton's divestment of its agronomic business unit, Mr Pawsey went on to front SST Australia, providing services to a number of agribusinesses and companies, a business model which is ramping up since its sale to global data giant Proagrica last year.
Proagrica continue to offer the latest generation of SST's software suite, Sirrus, Summit and FarmRite as well as its underpinning geospatial service platform AgX.
While many platforms have come and gone over the past 20 years, Mr Pawsey said a key factor in SST's success was that it concentrated on building a long lasting, standardised infrastructure to its platform.
He said that allowed all data that was entered to be stored spatially, whether that was a yield map, a spray application or the crop variety.
"SST took the approach that we needed to build an infrastructure so that we could build the right products for market," he said.
"Everyone was working on point to point tools, but we were listening to the market who said they needed consistency, synchronisation and standardisation so they could run a business.
"The approach we took was that it needed to be spatial. We believe agriculture is inherently spatial and if you try to deal with it any other way you are going to shortcut the farmer in the longer term.
"I think that has played itself out to be true, all the new technology coming through is spatial, we were ahead of our time. It cost us a lot until we got it into a usable form, which has evolved into the AgX platform, but now it represents what the industry wants and needs - interoperability, standardisation and synchronisation."
Time for precision
Mr Pawsey said he was now seeing a significant uptake in precision agriculture adoption.
"We are starting to see farmers and agronomists look at the data and understand what it means to them, particularly around the concept of zonal management, that a field is not just a field, it is a cluster of management zones, and get some confidence in managing that," he said.
"We've had variable rate for almost twenty years, and are now seeing some confidence from the farmer and the agronomist that the approach can work, but the focus has to be on return on investment and usability."
Mr Pawsey said the convergence of cloud technology and automated data sharing was driving uptake.
"No one wants to grapple with file formats, it is counterproductive," he said.
"We are at the point where machinery data can flow in and be useful without much management input, we are finally on the frontier of usability and efficiency."
Mr Pawsey said precision agriculture did not need to be complicated.
"Proagrica is building a cloud transform application programming interface (API) that knows whether a file is John Deere or Ag Leader, and can transform it against the field boundary to automatically deliver it back to the user as a map.
"For the user, just being able to look at a yield map and extract the information from that is valuable, it's that simple."
Mr Pawsey said Proagrica acquiring SST was an exciting step forward.
"Now not only are we an agronomic data company, we are also a supply chain company, managing transactions between retailers and manufacturers," he said.
"We are now starting to connect agronomy to enterprise and supply chain and I think that is where it gets exciting. Advice doesn't always have to be about more yield, it could be about running the farm more efficiently, making sure product is available and arrives on time."


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The rates will climb 4.9% and are formulated by the carrier as a 6.9% boost in standard list rates with a 2% reduction in fuel surcharges. Rates for US-inbound from a number of countries will also go into effect on January 7. In order to provide a consolidated set of US import rates, those customers importing freight into the country will pay US dollar rates. The hope is they will be able to avoid the uncertainties associated with fluctuations in currency rates.
Stay tuned since FedEx Ground rates and surcharges will also be increased for 2008, although percentages have not yet been announced. To keep current on the rates, visit www.fedex.com/us/rates2008.
In commenting on the rate increases T. Michael Glenn, FedEx executive vice president, Market Development and Corporate Communications, said, "FedEx continues to provide market leading express services. These rate adjustments will allow FedEx to continue making the necessary investments in our business so we can continue to give our customers a superior shipping experience."
Overall FedEx Corp. has been enjoying good revenues. Its most recent quarterly report showed revenues of $9.20 billion, up 8.0% from last year’s $8.55 billion. Net income, as well, was up 4% from last year’s $475 million, at $494 million.


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Fortera's new concrete process will reduce CO2 waste for Mighty Buildings' 3D-printed housingRead more...
The effect it would have on Amazon, pharmaceuticals and other companies in the space
Some of the biggest tech companies have been staking their claims in the healthcare space in the last few years. Companies like Google and Apple have been investing for a while, while newer companies like Uber have also begun dipping their toes in the water as well.
Now it's Amazon's turn. Earlier this week, it was reported by CNBC that the company is looking to enter a new space: pharmaceuticals.
So far, the report, which said that Amazon is hiring a business lead for the space, as well as other recruits from the pharmacy industry, has not been confirmed. However, if it is true, then it would be a potential game changer for Amazon and for the pharmaceutical space more broadly.
Such a move would potentially give Amazon an even bigger advantage over its competitors, and possibly make the pharmaceutical industry more transparent.
A game changer for Amazon
Taking this step could have a seismic impact in a few different ways, one of which is on Amazon's business.
The company, which recently announced that sales in the first quarter were $35.7 billion, with net income of $724 million, is currently the biggest online retailer, by far, with more than half of all online sales in 2016. Nobody can come close to touching it.
Getting into pharmaceuticals would only expand its dominance in e-commerce. There are more than 4 billion prescriptions ordered last year. Globally, the pharma market is expected to reach $1.12 trillion by 2022, according to data from market research firm Evaluate Pharma. If Amazon could grab even a percentage of that, it would be a goldmine.
Investors I spoke to in the healthcare space see this as a potential game changer for Amazon.
"There are some unique characteristics of the pharmaceutical business with which Amazon has little experience, so I expect a steep learning curve, and they may not see great success out of the gate," said David Wu, General Partner at Maveron.
"At the same time, no one is better than Amazon at leveraging scale to sell commodity products with little brand differentiation direct to consumers, so I think they could dominate the category in the long term."
“It’s an eminently logical extension of Amazon’s quest to supply all atoms to the human race: if you sell cars, computers, and condoms, why not also drugs? Authenticating prescriptions is trivial. What would excite me as an Amazon shareholder is that Amazon’s customers would be disclosing unprecedented levels of intimate medical detail to everyone's favorite, almighty online retailer," said Patrick Chung, founding partner of Xfund.
To Stephen Kraus, Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, healthcare is "the natural next place" for Amazon to go.
"I just think it makes sense. Amazon, as far as I can see, owns the shopping experience. They are trying to own your consumer wallet in many ways. The things you used to go to the mall or the hardware store or the bookstore to get, they want to be the one-stop-shop on the Internet to provide those goods. And they do it in a very consumer friendly way, through an amazing technology experience," he said.
"They have been thoughtfully and systematically taking over consumer purchase behavior and the wallet, but one thing has been missing: healthcare. It's 20 percent of GDP. They were missing exposure to a fifth of the economy."
It seems likely that pharma might just be the first step that Amazon will be taking in the healthcare space.
The effect on pharma
The other major effect will be on the pharma space. Paul Willard, General Partner at Subtraction Capital, expects to see Amazon bring more transparency to the market.
"As a consumer it would be great to see Amazon bring the price transparency and competition that they have brought to so many opaque markets into the pharmaceutical space. It would be yet another great example of tech finally moving into health, and boy does our country's health delivery system need it," he said.
"The ACA got the ball rolling on tech attacking these very large, highly-defended markets. In a sense, Amazon entering the fight would be a continued progression of that arc. The battle to fix America's broken health delivery systems and business models would add another important front."
Kraus had a different take. While he does believe that Amazon will be able to drive prices down on generic drugs, much like other retailers, such as Walmart, have done with pharma, and which Amazon has been able to do in other verticals, he told me that he doesn't think the same can be said patent protected drugs, with novel therapeutics, where there's no competition.
"I don’t think Amazon will be able to make a dent in drugs with novel therapeutics, like for rare diseases. Things change when there's public outrage over them charging $100,000 a pill, but I'm not sure Amazon will be able to do anything there, since they are patented and there isn't a corollary in the market," said Kraus.
One thing it could do is set up a transparent pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) to negotiate with the pharmaceutical companies. If Amazon were to go that route, though, Kraus doesn't believe that happen for around 10 years, so he believes that any effect that Amazon would have on drug prices wouldn't be felt for a while.
Finally, there's one more group that will be rocked by this: the numerous other companies currently operating in the pharma delivery space right now. The effect is most likely to be negative.
There's PillPack, an online pharmacy that has raised over $117 million; Zipdrug, which promises to deliver prescriptions in under an hour, and has raised $2.6 million; ScriptDash, which has raised $6 million; and Nurx, an on-demand birth control delivery company that prescribes contraceptives through its app, which has raised $5.42 million.
Kraus believes that Amazon expanding into this new space would have a devastating effect on these smaller companies.
"Amazon has been very aggressive in other industries. They have a tremendous amount of cash, power and strength. They're aggressive when it comes to pricing, and for an entrepreneur or investor in one of those companies, it will be similar to Uber and Lyft. There will be pricing wars and when you get into a pricing battle with a more well armed competitor, it's losing battle for you," said Kraus.
The best hope, he said, is for the other companies to be acquired by Amazon.
Not everyone agrees with that, though. Adam Levy, CEO of PopRx, a Canadian mobile pharmacy application, believes that Amazon's move would be beneficial to his company and to the space in general.
Amazon entering the the pharmaceutical space "would be wonderful," he told me. Rather than looking at the company has a potential competitor, Levy sees Amazon's move a validation of his company's core philosophy.
"If Amazon joined our market, it would be great competition for us and validate that what we have been saying for years: that people don't go to Shoppers Drug Mart or big chains because they love the service. They go for the convenience. Our approach is to destroy them on convenience by offering relationships and personalized service through mobile and online technology," he said.
"I think we can all learn from Amazon in this space and if they wanted to work with us on this, it would be a great opportunity to show the incumbents how to do it better really."
"We’re a company driven by our mission to improve patient care, and we hope Amazon can contribute to this mission too. One area where Amazon can really help our industry is increasing drug price transparency," Mattieu Gamache-Asselin, Co-founder and CEO at ScriptDash, told me.
"It’s a hot topic issue at the moment, and they are well positioned to impact today’s opaque system. It’s a >$400B industry today, and there’s a lot of room for innovative companies to make their mark. We’re excited to see what comes next from Amazon."
The future of health tech
Ultimately, what this news really might mean is that the big tech companies are finally ready to take the plunge into the digital health space.
Many companies have dabbled over the years. Many of Google's so-called "moonshot projects," for example, have had to do with health and well being. That includes a smart contact lens for monitoring diabetes, as well as something called Baseline Study, which will involve the collecting of genetic and molecular information from a group of people.
It also bought Lift Labs, the creators of an electronic device that improves the quality of life for those with Parkinson’s and essential tremor, in September of last year.
The company's biggest, and most ambitious, health-related project is Calico, company that was founded by Google just about a year ago, and whose was to take on the aging process. The focus was said to be on health and well-being, particularly when it comes to aging and diseases associated with that process.
Apple has launched some health initiatives, including its Health app, as well as CareKit, an open-source software development framework for medical-care app. Apple has also been talking to the FDA for years about developing medical devices, including an app that would help diagnose Parkinson’s disease.
One surprising entry into health has been Uber, which recently hired an outreach team to work with healthcare providers. The company has implemented two pilot programs, including one with Circulation, to help non-emergency medical patients get to their appointments on time, and UberCentral, a service to get patients to and from hospital appointments.
However, none of these companies have made health a top priority. At least not yet.
In 2016, there was $4.2 billion put into digital health companies, in 296 deals. If companies like Google, Apple, Facebook and Uber were to get serious, Kraus believes that would drive the space further up.
"There's been a lot of money poured into digital health, but there haven't been a tremendous amount of exits. It's still early days, and the tipping point will come when the big guys, like Amazon, Google and Facebook decide they want to get in. They have tremendous resources to spend, and they will increase the amount of M&A in healthtech," he said.
"Those tech companies have had dibbles and dabbles, and dipped their toe in water, but have never made a big play in healthtech."
VatorNews reached out to Amazon for comment, but the company could not be reached at this time.
(Image source: thesleuthjournal.com)
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Related Companies, Investors, and Entrepreneurs
Joined Vator on
In 1911, Henry Phipps founded Bessemer Securities to reinvest the proceeds of his sale of Carnegie Steel for the benefit of his descendents. The start-up investment operations were spun out into Bessemer Venture Partners, which now operates out of seven offices around the globe.
Joined Vator on
Subtraction Capital is an opportunistic venture fund that works hard to support great entrepreneurs. We believe that we have an eye for spotting valuable companies early in their lifecycle, but we also invest in mid and late stage companies that have proven track records and more established teams.


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PayPal Considers New Options For Acquiring Cryptocurrency Storage Platform As Negotiations With BitGo Fail.
According to Fortune, the payments giant has resumed its search for possible custody services to buy. According to the sources of the publication, the companies could not agree on the terms..
BitGo CEO Mike Belshe did not comment clearly on this, saying that negotiations are underway with all potential buyers, but the company will not agree to small offers..
Currently, the custodian service supports over 300 digital assets and stores cryptocurrency for more than $ 16 billion.
So far, PayPal is supplying cryptocurrency for its new service through the Paxos brokerage solution..
PayPal could not agree with BitGo to buy a crypto custody service
text: Ivan Malichenko, photo: Getty Images


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The winner of the TVS Ntorq 125 Call of Design Season 2 is Aayush Bijalwan from School of Design, UPES (Dehradun). The youngster was awarded top honours for his rendition of the SuperNortq, based on this season’s comic book theme, ‘Rise of the Ntorqians’. Bijalwan won the keys to a brand new, TVS Ntorq 125 as well as a cash prize amounting to Rs 30,000. Details are attached.
The TVS Ntorq 125 Call of Design is a contest that allows budding designers to showcase their skills. The event takes off from where Season 1 ended, with this year’s theme revolving around the comic book theme ‘Rise of Ntorqians’. Participants were required to create 2D renditions and sketches of their SuperNtorq. They were judged on the basis of adherence to the comic book theme, innovation, concept and resonance with a Super Machine. In addition, their designs had to resonate with TVS’ Racing heritage and accomplishments. The event began in August 2020 and witnessed over 600 registrations, including those from 35 design institutes.


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The Washington Post
Following a TikTok video touting products from Mielle Organics, the brand’s products, primarily made for Black women, have been running out of stock and in some cases increased in price as a result of a growing number of purchases by White women. “My journey with Mielle started from a place of creating the product I was not finding in the marketplace,” said Mielle founder and CEO Monique Rodriguez in a statement. “We remain forever committed to developing quality, efficacious products that address the need states for our customers’ hair types!”
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Tag Archives: Fashion Design
“It has been the experience of a lifetime to work with Catherine Middleton to create her wedding dress, and I have enjoyed every moment of it.” – Sarah Burton, Creative Director of Alexander McQueen and designer of the princess’s gown.
The American rapper, record producer, and constant attention-getter, Kanye West, is looking to become a… fashion student?! West is reported to have applied for his Masters Degree in fashion design at the London university Central St. Martins College – the alma mater of other fashion bigwigs, such as Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, Zac Posen, and the recently-fired John Galliano. On March 2nd, West flew to London to meet for an interview with Professor Louise Wilson, the head of the fashion dept. at the university, in hopes of attaining a position at the school. This isn’t West’s first experience in the fashion world. In 2008, he interned for Louis Vuitton, before launching his first shoe line for the French label during Paris Fashion Week in January 2009. He also interned for Fendi in Rome, following his 2009 VMA incident with Taylor Swift. West attempted to release his own clothing line, Pastelle (Past Tell Museum), but it was never released. He has also worked with Nike to release another shoe, Air Yeezys. The rapper has been interviewed by the school board, and they are now deciding if he will receive a slot at the university. Let’s hope if he gets in, he won’t live up to his debut album’s title… The College Dropout.


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RightScale offering a multi-cloud management solution has announced that it now officially supports Windows Azure Infrastructure Services, which was released earlier this week. In January 2011 cloudcomputing.info already reported about RightScales plans to support Azure VMs. With the added support for Windows Azure Infrastructure Services, Rightscale now supports Amazon Web Services, Datapipe, Google Cloud Platform, HP Cloud, IDCF Yahoo! Japan, Logic Works, Rackspace, Softlayer and Windows Azure and the CloudStack, Eucalyptus and Openstack Private Cloud solutions.
RightScale now offers a Dashboard and API to manage all the supported cloud platforms from one management console. The product is offered in several editions from a free version to an Enterprise edition.


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The SAPI plates have been manufactured with XTEK’s proprietary patented XTclave™ process.
The XTclave technology makes it possible to manufacture lighter, stronger and stiffer composite articles more efficiently such as the SAPI plates which are 30% lighter.
Validates XTEK’s in-house developed technology
XTEK’s managing director Philippe Odouard said: “This purchase order represents a significant milestone in XTEK’s strategy to commercialise its proprietary product portfolio.
“We now have received purchase orders from key customers in Europe and Australia for our XTclave made SAPI plates, which provides strong validation of the advantages of our in-house developed technology.
“XTEK remains focused on the commercialisation and production of its ballistic products.”
Lightweight high-end ballistic armour
This is first order from the ADF for XTEK’s latest high-end ballistic armour which has been produced in-house using the company’s XTclave technology.
A key reason for ADF’s purchase was the significant reduction in weight compared to other products that offered similar protection levels.
Milestone for XTEK’s commercialisation strategy
The purchase order represents a significant milestone for XTEK’s commercialisation strategy for the XTclave technology.
Discussions and product testing continues with several potential clients globally who have expressed interest in the XTclave technology.
Furthermore, XTEK continues to make progress with the development of its commercial-scale manufacturing and production capabilities.
READ: XTEK reaffirms fiscal 2018 revenue guidance while broker forecasts new products to drive strong growth
XTEK recently reaffirmed its revenue guidance for fiscal 2018.
The developer and manufacturer of protection, military and surveillance products continues to win new contracts in realising mid-range revenue guidance of about $14 million.
Management is forecasting revenues to be in a range between $11 million and $18 million.


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MADRID – A Spanish court has ruled that Amazon must compensate self-employed couriers who used their own vehicles for deliveries, a move welcomed by a labour union that has criticised worker conditions in the “gig economy”.
The Madrid labour court said in Thursday’s ruling the tech giant would have to pay Social Security contributions for the 2,166 people it hired under the guise of external contractors within the now-defunct “Amazon Flex” scheme and recognise them as regular staff during the periods they made deliveries.
It did not provide the total to be paid.
Amazon scrapped the Flex programme in Spain last year, after a 2020 Supreme Court ruling forced companies to hire freelance couriers as staff and the government introduced a pioneering law to the same effect in 2021.
“Amazon is a company that is not only a logistics and transport operator, but also a courier and messenger service provider,” the judge said.
The company has repeatedly argued that it is not in the transportation business. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling, which is subject to appeal.
According to the court, Amazon made all decisions related to the service – including schedules, geographic distribution and remuneration – and used an app to direct and coordinate the couriers, who “lacked their own and autonomous business organisation”.
“This ruling is one of dozens that ratify that the gig-economy model used by digital platforms is a massive fraud,” Ruben Ranz, a spokesperson for trade union UGT, told Reuters on Friday.
“We’re happy with the result and especially happy that this Amazon Flex model no longer exists,” Ranz added.


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The Illinois shutdown has been a financial burden to businesses in dowtown Geneseo.
Governor JB Pritzker is lifting some restrictions next week.
In the meantime, the Geneseo Chamber of Commerce is getting creative to help keep those businesses afloat.
On Saturday, they’re hosting a loop cruise on State Street.
People will drive downtown and be able to order curbside or carryout.
One art gallery owner says, he hopes the community will support downtown.
The loop cruise is Saturday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.


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All the hard “Work” that Rihanna has put into her career, from musician, actress, entrepreneur, non-profit founder, beauty mogul, and fashion designer has lead her to end up on Forbes’ annual list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women for 2019. Who took the number 1 spot? None other than the Fenty mogul, Rihanna. The “Only Girl in The World” singer recently became the world’s richest female musician with a net worth of $600 million, beating Madonna ($570 million) and Beyonce ($400 million), reported by The Guardian. According to ELLE, the 31 year old musician owes most of her wealth to her “partnership with luxury good company, LVMH, with whom she launched her Fenty Beauty cosmetics line with in 2017.” Forbes states, “Fenty Beauty generated approximately $570 million in revenue last year” and by partnering up with LVMH to launch the Fenty clothing line, “Rihanna will become the first black woman to run a major fashion house in Paris.”
In regards to her clothing line venture, Rihanna told the New York Times, “I want to be as disruptive as possible…the brand is not traditional.” LVMH’s chairman, Bernard Arnault states he realized through his partnership with Fenty Beauty, “he discovered a true entrepreneur, a real C.E.O. and a terrific leader” through Rihanna. When LVMH offered to partner up with Rihanna on creating her own fashion house, the nine time winning Grammy Singer stated, “to me it was a no-brainer because LVMH is a machine…Bernard Arnault was so enthusiastic; he trusted me and my vision,” reports Elle.
“I love the process of figuring out what the new idea is going to be, where we going next” states Rihanna. “That’s the unique thing about this brand, I get to do something new every time…we don’t really decide who the Fenty woman is, we just do what I love to and what I love to wear, which I love to explore.” The clothing line launched on May 22 and will be based in Paris.
Image Source AP Images


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NEW YORK, May 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- How are enterprises measuring the revenue impact of their social media marketing and sales programs today? This is the question that New York-based social intelligence software company tracx and Susan Etlinger of Altimeter Group will address in a new webinar. Aimed at enterprise marketers and sales leaders, listeners will learn the latest trends in enterprise social media measurement as well as gain practical tips to drive more revenue and sales through social channels.
Consumer buying behavior is fundamentally changing. The explosive use of social media and growth in use of mobile devices and tablets are playing a significant role. Enterprises must adapt their own business processes as a result, and not just in marketing, but across other departments including customer support, public relations, customer insights, product management functions, and even sales. Social media is a game changer for the whole enterprise.
Many companies have a corporate Facebook page, Twitter account, or blog. But it takes more than that for companies to gain strategic business value from the most important social conversations happening about their brand, product, competitors and industry. It also requires changing their business processes to be that much more effective as a result.
Yet many enterprises have still been somewhat slow to adopt social holistically. At the core of this gap is the hotly debated topic of social media measurement and the real Return on Investment (ROI) it's driving for enterprises. Is social media able to truly move the needle in terms of revenue and company growth?
Enterprises are overwhelmed managing dozens of social media channels and thousands or more mentions every day. They are challenged with finding the 'needles in the social haystack' that warrant a response. In this very noisy space, it's hard to know what questions to ask and what results to expect. Most companies are not utilizing social to its full potential to actually proactively find people in an active buying phase, doing active product research, or expressing intent to make a new purchase. But that's about to change.
In this informative webinar, tracx executive vice president, Geoff Farris will be joined by industry analyst Susan Etlinger from Altimeter Group to discuss how enterprises are measuring the ROI and revenue impact of social.
Webinar Title: Enterprise Social Media: Money Pit or Revenue Golden Ticket
Date: Wednesday, May 29th
Time: 10:30am-11:30am PT/1:30pm-2:30pm ET
About the Speakers
Industry Analyst, Altimeter Group
Susan Etlinger is an industry analyst at Altimeter Group, where she works with global companies to develop both social media listening and measurement strategies that support their business objectives. Susan has a diverse background in marketing and strategic planning within both corporations and agencies. She's a frequent speaker on social media and analytics and has been extensively quoted in outlets including Fast Company, BBC, New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Find her on Twitter at @setlinger and at her blog, Thought Experiments, at susanetlinger.com.
Executive Vice President, tracx
Geoff Farris is on the executive leadership at social intelligence software pioneer, tracx, where he works with global companies to help them leverage innovative enterprise social media to not only drive deeper business value from social, but also revenue. Geoff's broad experience across business development and sales spans both companies large and small. He's a frequent speaker on social media and analytics at industry events. Find him on Twitter at @gfarris.
Tracx is a 360-degree social media management and analytics software platform delivering unified social intelligence that allows enterprises to manage, share and extract actionable insights, threats and opportunities from the social web – in real time. More information about tracx is available at: www.tracx.com. Follow us on Twitter @tracx and visit our blog.
Erin Collopy, tracx


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enter around both nations’ legitimate desires to protect some current l
ow-skilled jobs, or at least to allow an easier transition to new jobs and industries.
US administration’s economic policy has rightly focused on the need to retain jobs for working-class people in the US. And, Ch
ina’s companies that export to the US also largely now employ less-skilled working-class people. However, neither the
US nor China can expect to keep, much less get back, low-wage, low-skilled manufacturing jobs.
Many people have the impression that Chinese goods are dominant in US markets. That is true only in a few highly compe
titive, low-profit sectors. According to US Commerce Department data, China has more than 50 percent of the US
market in such items as umbrellas, toys, prepared feathers, footwear, straw products, and bedding.
also visible in the quarterly financial results, including an accelerated transition to innovation-based growth.
According to Wind Info, sectors like communication, non-banking financials and co
mputers topped the earnings growth of all sectors of the A-share market in the first quarter.
“The communication sector registered a 310-percent growth in profits in
the first quarter, bolstered by the acceleration of 5G infrastructure construction and the rec
overy of industry giant ZTE Corp,” said Wang Yi, chief strategist at Shenzhen-based Great Wall Securities.
In the future, as large-scale commercial uses of 5G are poised to take
place, profitability of related companies will continue to see improvements, he said.
Listed companies have also stepped up innovation capabilities. In 2018, Sh
enzhen-listed companies increased their aggregate research and dev
elopment expenditure by 22.3 percent, with 11.4 percent of them having R&D expenditure in excess of 10 percent o
“Products that just scratch the surface, like simple tours of famous universities, have fallen out of favor with the market,” Zhang says.
Language training, NASA’s space camp, computer programming, homes
tays, wild animal care and desert and museum experiences are among the most popular options.
“Certain volunteering and public-welfare routes have seen a particularly fast increase in bookings,” Zhang says.
During the recent winter vacation in February, study-t
rip bookings surged by 80 percent compared with the same period of last year.
Domestic trips cost roughly 4,500 yuan ($663) per capita on ave
rage, while expenditures hit 21,000 yuan for outbound experiences, the agency reports.
Parents from Shanghai, Beijing and Guangdong province’s Guangz
hou and Shenzhen are the most willing to spend, according to Ctrip’s data.


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A new breed of pricey tax refund loans is cropping up this tax season.
Refund anticipation loans, which cover a consumer's expected tax refund until it arrives, used to be offered by banks until regulators cracked down on them. Now tax preparers and non-bank lenders like payday loan and cash advance businesses are getting in on the act, offering similarly expensive products, according to a report from the National Consumer Law Center and Consumer Federation of America.
"While we are glad to see the disappearance of bank RALs (refund anticipation loans), consumers should avoid the other traps still out there," said Chi Chi Wu, staff attorney at NCLC.
Among the products NCLC recommends watching out for: Liberty Tax Service is offering tax-time loans to customers in 26 states with loans in at least one state reportedly carrying a $49.90 fee, plus an undisclosed amount of interest. An interest rate of 36 percent, which is typical for this kind of loan, would leave a borrower owing about $80 for a 15-day loan of $2,000. Liberty Tax Service did not return a request for comment on its product and pricing.
Jackson Hewitt is offering tax-time credit lines ranging from $200 to $1,000, which come with a 35 percent interest rate, a $6.25 monthly fee and a fee of 3 percent or $10 every time the credit line is accessed, according to its website. A customer who takes out a $500 credit line for one month could therefore end up paying more than $30 in fees and interest. Jackson Hewitt did not respond to a request for comment.
Other companies pay customers a portion of their expected refund immediately and then take the full amount for themselves when it arrives. They often advertise this as "buying" a taxpayer's refund, but the NCLC said it is essentially a RAL since customers are still handing over some of their expected refund to get the money earlier.
AIT Financial Group, for example, launched a product this year that pays $600 to someone expecting a refund of $700 to $725 and will pay $1,250 for a $1,500 to $1,600 refund.
AIT spokesman Nathan Adams said there is a lot of demand for these products -- which typically get the money to customers within 48 hours -- and that they plan to get rid of their pricing structure in the future and instead let customers negotiate their own desired prices.
The NCLC also found that some shady tax preparers are even offering tax refund loans to lure taxpayers into their offices, but have no intention of lending them the money. Instead, they try to convince them to sign up -- and pay -- for tax preparation services.
While short-term loans may seem like the only option for consumers in a financial bind, most people receive refunds from the IRS in less than three weeks if they file electronically and have the money deposited directly into their account. So it's usually not worth the money to slightly expedite the process, said Wu.


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Unidentified lady in America lost her iPhone a few days ago, claiming that it dropped on the street on her way home.
The lady claims that the phone was in the back of her pocket and that she has no idea what caused it to be lost on that particular day in Washington, DC.
After a month, she decided to use “find my iPhone” to trace down where the phone went missing, only to discover it was in Africa.
According to her, her misplaced phone was discovered at a phone store in Ghana’s Accra’s Tiptoe lane at circle.
Watch the video below


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This 7 days, Gallup unveiled a poll exhibiting that 50 percent of American older people say they are worse off financially than they ended up a calendar year ago. That is the optimum share since 2009, through the economical disaster.
On Friday, we received the results of a different poll that appears to be to issue in accurately the opposite route. The University of Michigan client study finds sentiment has been inching upward in current months — granted, from historic lows — as inflation has moderated. According to that evaluate, consumers are more bullish than they’ve been in a 12 months.
So how are people truly sensation about where the economy’s headed? We thought we’d check out for ourselves.
When we talked a 12 months back, 28-yr-outdated Michael Huber of Rhode Island had a first rate position in cybersecurity.
“I was not doing so good — kind of living paycheck to paycheck. I experienced just gotten turned down for a home, a modest, 800-sq.-foot rental in the basement of a constructing,” he said.
He was generating about $80,000 and shelling out $400 to $500 a month on gasoline. Since then, he improved work, acquired a significant increase, bought a property and primarily will work from dwelling, so he’s investing much less on gas.
“It’s as shut to a 180 as you can consider,” Huber explained.
Matters have been rather excellent in building electrician Tony Libert’s personal financial state as well. He’s 60 and lives close to Madison, Wisconsin.
“We’re a college-government city, so we have obtained a great deal of get the job done in that location,” he reported. “I have gotten raises as rates have gone up.”
Meanwhile, the pandemic moratorium on pupil loan payments has been preserving 33-year-old Ashley Phillips extra than $1,000 a month. She operates a research lab in Durham, North Carolina.
“Things are in a whole lot additional protected location fiscally,” she said. “We were being capable to pay out off credit rating card personal debt, help save plenty of dollars to place a down payment on a house” — and they decided they could manage to have a baby.
But inflation has eaten into their financial cushion. “Maybe I’ll get the retail store brand name of butter, skip particular points just ’cause I can not stand the assumed of having to pay $4 for an avocado,” Phillips stated.
And with fascination prices so higher, Phillips reported buying a further automobile is off the desk appropriate now.
Significant rates have Libert nervous much too. He coaches youth hockey. “The charge of tools, the expense of ice time — all of that has gone up immensely. It’s been double-digit inflation in individuals areas. So it is influencing who can engage in.”
If there’s a single takeaway from all these interviews, it is that people today are cautiously optimistic about their personal economies, but thoroughly unsure about what the upcoming retains for the overall economy financial system.
There’s a large amount going on in the entire world. By means of it all, Market is below for you.
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On Thursday, the forensic financial research firm Hindenburg Research released a report accusing Jack Dorsey’s Block, formerly Square, of operating as a digital hub for fraud. The two-year investigation concluded that “Block has systematically taken advantage of the demographics it claims to be helping” and that the company has a “willingness to facilitate fraud against consumers and the government, avoid regulation, dress up predatory loans and fees as revolutionary technology, and mislead investors with inflated metrics.”
The report references several rap songs to demonstrate how popular they believed Cash App, the mobile payments service Block launched in 2013, has become for illicit transitions. Thanks to its focus on “frictionless technology,” the report accuses Block of letting fraud run rampant on its platform in order to grow its user base. In one example, the researchers note how shortly after then-President Trump announced expanded unemployment benefits during the pandemic, Dorsey tweeted that Cash App Users could get their payments “immediately” with “no bank account needed.” Immediately after dispersals started, states began flagging fraudulent transactions.
Last July, LA rapper Nuke Bizzle, real name Fontrell Antonio Baines, was sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to fraud. He was accused of filing more than $1 million in fraudulent unemployment claims with stolen identities. Twelve days before his arrest, he and Fat Wizza released a music video for “EDD,” which stands for Employment Development Department, the department in charge of distributing unemployment in California. He rhymes, “I done got rich off of EDD / Ain’t hit no more licks ’cause of EDD,” and “ten cards, that’s two hunnid’ large.” The Hindenburg investigation notes that Cash App was “the only payment provider mentioned” in Baines’ indictment.
The report also proposes that by not banning blacklisted users’ social security numbers, Cash App is complicit in allowing scammers to stay on the platform. To reinforce the point, they namecheck Teejayx6’s “Cashapp,” where he rhymes, “They banned my Cash App because I sent a thousand transactions…I just bought another phone and made a Cash App.” The video has over 500k views on YouTube. There’s another video entitled “TeeJayx6 2020 Fraud Bible Cashapp Method LIVE ( REALLY WORKS ),” where an apparent Teejayx6 fan shows himself committing fraudulent transactions.
An even more damning element of the Hindenburg report focuses on Block promoting Brooklyn rapper 22GZ’ “Cashapp” single, where he rhymes, “I pay them hitters through Cash App.” In the video, he holds up a phone showing the app, then makes a throat-slitting motion. Perhaps Jack Dorsey, who bought digital streaming provider Tidal in 2021, likens himself to a progressive giving 22GZ his artistic license. But for others, their amplification of a song solely devoted to using their app for murders crosses a line.
The report’s overall thesis isn’t just that Block was too easy for fraudsters but that Cash App was aware of these dynamics, in part from the so-called “scam rap” scene. So-called scam rap is rap’s most tenuous test for the line between art and reality. While it’s simple enough for artists with no proximity to the streets to depict themselves as gangsters or drug dealers with general boasts and threats, the permutations of scamming are still so hypogeal that the rappers who get the most specific in their lyrics may be putting a target on their back. The justice system is already eager to criminalize rap lyrics, and now it appears activist investors are using them to send a stock price sinking. Block shares reportedly plunged 19% after the report. In a statement, Block said it “reviewed the full report in the context of our own data and believe it’s designed to deceive and confuse investors.”


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Emptying company inventories may serve as a stopgap to satisfy shoppers' needs, but economists warn that without serious policy adjustments, shortages will only get worse. The problem they say is a dollar shortage.
A dearth of dollars in the country's government-controlled currency markets has been detrimental to bringing in imports as businesses struggled to meet heightened consumer demand after the government raised the ceiling of expectations via major spending outlays during last year's electoral season.
"Consumption has increased faster than production and the availability of foreign currency is insufficient to cover imports," says Ronald Balza, an economics professor at both the Central University of Venezuela and Andrés Bello Catholic University.
Fedecamaras, the country's main business group, says delays in receiving government-authorized foreign currency along with a drop of 40% in its supply has paralyzed businesses' ability to meet food demands.
Imports are central to feeding Venezuelans as domestic production has fallen because of the lack of incentives for private manufactures to produce goods that are price-controlled. This has been exacerbated by Chávez's nationalization of more than 1000 businesses and assets.
Shortages could present a huge political downside for the absent president. Unlike other economic problems, such as inflation or loss of purchasing power, scarcities are far more palpable for the average Venezuelan.
"You can always play with other economic variables…but not shortages," said Luis Vicente Leon, president of the polling firm Datanalisis. "Consumers know perfectly well what is going on when they go shopping and there is no food," he adds.
According to the Central Bank of Venezuela's monthly scarcity index, which is based on data from markets across the nation, shortages in December were at their highest level in four years.
In 2007, shortages reached record levels and are considered by analysts to be a major factor in President Chávez's Constitutional Reform Referendum defeat – his only electoral loss in his 14-year tenure.
"In the short term you can use a 'scapegoat' strategy, but it won't work permanently," Leon said of the government's decision to blame the private sector for food shortages. He explained that after a while, when products haven't reappeared, people will begin to blame someone new.


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Yamaha Motor Co has made a follow-up investment in Bay of Plenty agri-automation company Robotics Plus, bringing its total funding commitment to US$10 million (NZ14.6 million).
Robotics Plus announced that Yamaha, which formed a partnership agreement and made an investment of US$2 million in March 2018, announced the additional $US 8 million in November.
The funding will support the company’s growth plans, said Steve Saunders, co-founder and chairman of Robotics Plus, who is currently establishing a US subsidiary for the company.
“We are very pleased to have continued strengthening our partnership with Yamaha Motor and secured additional investment to support our vision to grow into a truly New Zealand, global business that will transform a number of industries,” said Saunders, who is well-known in BOP agri-tech and Maori business circles.
“This investment will allow us to take the company to the next level and attract and retain the world class talent we need,” said Saunders.
“To stay ahead of the opportunity we need to scale quickly, not just with our apple packers that are already in market, but also with our new UGV (Unmanned Ground Vehicle) platform technology and other projects under development.”
Making agriculture more sustainable
Hiro Saijo, chief executive of Yamaha Motor Ventures & Laboratory Silicon Valley, said the investment would help the Japanese company reach a goal to make agriculture more sustainable, healthy, and secure.
“To meet the significant and increasing agriculture demands of today and tomorrow, including agricultural labour shortage globally, we need to create sophisticated and precision robotics and automation technologies that will transform the agricultural industries.”
Robotics Plus will leverage Yamaha Motor’s experience, knowledge and technologies in outdoor vehicles, factory automation, robotics, design for manufacturing and manufacturing.
Recently appointed Robotics Plus chief executive Dr Matt Glenn said the two companies had developed a mutually beneficial commercial relationship.
“We can benefit from their specialist knowledge in precision automation, manufacturing and access to high quality components to help us develop our technologies,” he said. “Yamaha Motor can benefit from working with Robotics Plus as a world leading robotics and automation business focusing on the agricultural and horticultural markets.
Glenn said the New Zealand company had developed a highly skilled development team located close to orchards and other agricultural environments and could rapidly prototype new ideas, validate new components and integrate these into its robotic systems.
“This will also create new opportunities to develop technologies in other markets.”
This investment will allow us to take the company to the next level and attract and retain the world class talent we need.– Steve Saunders
In May, Robotics Plus’ robotic Āporo apple packers were the first in a suite of technologies to be commercially launched. The apple packer, which identifies and places apples in display trays, can safely handle up to 120 fruit per minute. It is being marketed by Global Pac Technologies, a joint venture formed by Jenkins Group (NZ/Australia) – whose local arm Jenkins Freshpac features as Westpac Tauranga Business Awards overall winner on this month’s cover – and Van Doren Sales (US). The apple packer is already operating in packhouses in New Zealand and the USA.
Other technologies under development to address major issues in the horticulture industry caused by labour shortages and increasing consumer demand for fresh fruit, include: an autonomous agricultural vehicle, robotic kiwifruit harvester, robotic pollinator, crop estimator, and a number of confidential projects.
Māori heritage plays role
Saunders says his Māori heritage has played a role in Robotics Plus’ development.
“We have a common desire to meet future challenges to feed the world in a sustainable way with smart automation and intelligent robotics. This partnership and going global is truly exciting. The institutional knowledge Yamaha Motor brings creates a fantastic opportunity to develop our great young talent out of
Dr Glenn said that solving the big agricultural issues of the future meant the need to support the horticultural and agricultural industries with innovative solutions that will enable them to do things differently.
“We have the ability to solve big global challenges like this from New Zealand, and the way we can achieve that faster is with the support of an international company like Yamaha Motor.”
Robotics Plus was well-positioned to deliver on its vision to be a world leader in robotics and automation technology for the food and fibre industries, he said.
“In addition to Yamaha Motor, we also have commercial partnerships with Global Pac Technologies, ISO Limited and Trimax,” said Dr Glenn.
Robotics Plus had also established valuable collaborative research relationships with the University of Waikato, the University of Auckland, Massey University and Plant & Food Research, and we are a founding partner of PlantTech, an industry-led research organisation based in the Western Bay of Plenty, he said.
“Our innovation and growth plans are well-supported by our private investors as well as New Zealand Government agencies, Callaghan Innovation, NZTE, MBIE, MPI and TPK.”
Yamaha now has a 15 per cent holding in Robotics Plus, according to the Companies Office. The balance of shares is held by Robotics Plus’s co-founders Steve Saunders and robotics PhD and chief technical office Dr Alistair Scarfe.