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As you may have heard, Facebook plans to become a public limited company (plc) and float on the stockmarket. It hopes that this will raise around the sum of $5 billion USD (this is only about half what most people thought it would try to raise) in finance for the business, a colossal amount!
Thanks to the flotation it is estimated that around 30% (roughly 1,000 people) of the companies employees will become millionaires! That said, Mark Zuckerberg is reducing his annual salary to just $1 as of January next year. Why? Because he will have shares estimated at the value of around $100 billion!
Anyway, due to Facebook wanting to become a plc, it needed to release more detailed financial data than it ever had before, into the public domain. This means that we now know much more about this previously rather secretive internet giant, than ever before!
Thanks to its choice to become a plc, we now know that Facebook makes 85% of its income from advertising. Furthermore we know that last year it made almost $4 billion USD! Out of this, it turned an impressive 25% into profit, bringing it in $1 billion (supposedly exactly) in net profit.
It is now possible to value to company as a whole, and it is thought to be worth $100 billion USD. To compare that to other industry giants, Amazon is valued around the same amount, eBay is values at about half that figure, and Google is thought to be worth double that.
Facebook will still be owned and controlled largely by Mark Zuckerberg. He currently owns 28.4% of Facebook and has a majority in terms of voting rights with over 50% of votes. Basically Zuckerberg owns Facebook still, and he seems to want to stay in the driving seat for a while yet!
We now also know that Facebook have around 845 million active users around the world, of whom, around 450 million visit the site very regularly – that is a crazy amount!
Facebook would be worth nothing without its users. Some people say that its users are not Facebook’s customers, but in fact the networks products. If people get bored or move on, the site will die.
If you were buying shares in an internet based business, Google would probably be a much safer bet than Facebook, as its future looks much more certain. Facebook may pay massive dividends to investors in the future, or it may go into decline and cost investors a collective $5 billion!
Friends Reunited was once great, now it stands in Facebook’s massive shadow, as does Myspace, Bebo, Foursquare and many other social media sites. All these sites how now been superseded by Facebook, the question is, will Google Plus or something else dwarf Facebook? Personally I believe that in 10 years, there will be something bigger, but we will just have to wait and see 🙂


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After the partnership between Sonae Indústria and Arauco, the new brand was presented to the market in May 2017. A year later, the overview is extremely positive.
Born as the result of the joint venture between two leader companies of the sector, Sonae Indústria and Arauco, Sonae Arauco celebrates its first year as a new brand. According to Rui Correia, CEO of Sonae Arauco, "the long-term vision remains focused on excellence to develop new decorative proposals, new finishes and other innovative solutions."
After a year full of success, despite great challenges, Sonae Arauco remains committed to its customers and partners. Throughout this year, the company achieved solid results and made investments to improve the sustainability of the business, by strengthening the focus on customer and quality of the service, as well as improving its industrial assets.
Sonae Arauco continues to focus on developing better products and improving the competitiveness of its industrial units and, therefore, answering to customers' demands. Rui Correia believes that "the consistency of the company and the brand will generate a renewed trust among customers".
With more than 21 commercial and industrial units, around 3.000 employees and products reaching more than 75 countries, Sonae Arauco is one of the main players in the sector, presenting a range of bold, innovative and sustainable solutions.

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We’re proud to announce the winners of our Global Awards 2018, designed to recognise members that really stand out from the crowd on the international stage.
Award for International Service Provider
WINNER: Anglia Translations Ltd
For over two years Anglia Translations have been working with a Cambridge based company and helped them translate their website into nine languages. Their client has seen a 60 per cent growth in the last year. Export sales now account for 90 per cent of their total sales and they are exporting to 47 countries. Plus, they have opened sales offices in Germany and the US.
Award for Achievement in New Markets
WINNER: Yours Clothing Ltd
Fashion retailer for women’s plus size clothing, Yours Clothing have shipped to the UK, US and Australia for a number of years. In 2017 they identified Germany as a new market. They now have on average 800 new customers per week using their German website with revenue jumping by £158k per week. They are now planning to open a number of stores across Germany.
Award for Overall Growth in Exports
WINNER: Linx Printing Technologies Ltd
As a leading player in both the continuous inkjet and laser marking industries, Linx holds a large and growing worldwide market share and in 2017 they grew their market share across most regions with clear annual growth drivers underpinning double digit growth. Linx manufacture continuous ink jet, laser and thermal printers, coding onto boxes, trays, sleeves and plastic packaging materials.
New Exporter of the Year
WINNER: Finsen Technologies Ltd
Since launching their UVC disinfection technologies to the international marketplace in June 2016, Finsen have successfully sold products to 14 markets across Europe, Middle East, USA and Australia.
Winners were announced at the Global Leaders Lunch which took place at Downing College, Cambridge on Friday 1 June.


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JEFF PRESTRIDGE: Investigation over past four months leads to passport boss's appointment...with the police
Arrested: Richard Howard was confronted by Jeff Prestridge
Four months ago this newspaper started probing into the business practices of British Passport Services, a copycat website charging consumers a premium for appointments to get a passport in a hurry.
We didn't like what we discovered. Copycat websites we have investigated over the past 18 months include the now defunct taxreturngateway that charged fees of up to £1,000 for the mere processing of a tax return.
On Thursday, National Trading Standards confirmed it had arrested five individuals alleged to be behind the British Passport Services website, releasing them on bail pending further enquiries.
The resulting cheers from our offices could be heard throughout London.
Following more than 500 complaints from consumers, enforcement officers from the eCrime team at National Trading Standards raided four locations in London and the Home Counties, seizing an array of computers, tablets, phones and customer records.
Afterwards, Mike Andrews, national co-ordinator of the eCrime unit, told The Mail on Sunday: 'We felt it imperative to act to prevent alleged criminals from duping any more people into giving away their money.'
Lord Harris, chair of National Trading Standards, added his thoughts: 'These arrests send a strong signal that we will not sit back and see consumers deceived.'
One of the five arrested was Richard Howard, director of UK Services & Support Limited, through which the copycat website is operated. Howard, 28, has been the alleged 'brains' behind British Passport Services, running it from his office in Wimbledon, South-West London.
Of course, no charges have yet been laid at Howard's door and those of his four colleagues. And frustratingly, as I pen this, the site is still up on the internet.
But suffice to say, our investigations into Howard's operations over the past four months, aided by the wonderful people at consumer law forum LegalBeagles (Julian Siddle and Sharon Coleman), have triggered many complaints against him from users of the site.
Howard's response to our articles has been to ridicule me on his website with a series of cheap shots about my academic prowess and intelligence.
We reported how many visitors to the website wanting to book an emergency appointment at an official Passport Office centre backtracked after realising they were using an unofficial service and refused to pay.
After being given an unsuitable appointment date, some who paid got their money back from their credit card provider using consumer law.
We reported that dissatisfied users of the site would get demands for £117.60 – the basic cost of his service.
Then they would get an array of extra charges if they failed to pay up – £10 for every payment reminder letter sent, £5 per email and 50p per text. In some cases, bills ratcheted up to more than £700 with complainants venting anger (using 'abusive language') over their growing bills being fined £10.
Those who did not pay up at this stage were then served with a county court claim – some of the claims stating defendants should be investigated for 'criminal fraud' after legitimately getting back their payment via their card provider.
Data obtained by LegalBeagles under the Freedom of Information Act shows that between the middle of November last year and the end of March, there were more than 800 claims.
Many recipients paid up fearing their credit record would be impaired. But in recent weeks a string of people who have defended the claims in court have had them overturned.
Justice must now be allowed to take its course.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I don't watch much TV these days. Long hours and all that.
But I did have the misfortune last Tuesday evening to get home and over dinner catch a snatch of BBC fly-on-the wall documentary: 'The Bank – A Matter Of Life And Debt'.
The programme, first of a three-part series, homed in on a NatWest branch in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.
And it all left a rather unpleasant taste as I watched counter staff attempt to persuade customers to sit down with bank colleagues so they could be sold mediocre financial products, and people being encouraged to upgrade their account to one that levies fees.
It didn't show NatWest in particularly good light, or some of its customers, and begs two questions: First, why is the BBC commissioning such garbage? And second, should I really renew my TV licence?
We deserve better from the BBC and NatWest, both taxpayer-funded monoliths.
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Volkwagen in China's NEV Market: Challenges & Changes
How does VW perform in China’s New Energy Vehicle (NEV) market?
In 2021, Volkswagen’s new energy vehicle “ID series” did not meet the Board’s expectations. It reached an annual sales volume of roughly 70,000 cars, lower than the target 80,000. The pioneer in this industry, Tesla, performed far better – reaching a significant volume of 936,000 shipped units. Besides that, the competition did not just come from Tesla. Local new energy automakers such as BYD, NIO, and Xpeng all delivered outstanding sales outcomes of 594,000, 91,000 and 98,000 units respectively.
Together these players pose a new threat to VW’s overall automobile market share, especially considering that the Chinese government has spared no efforts to push the consumption of NEV under the carbon neutrality goal. VW is lagging behind in the NEV trend in China. The company concluded one of underlying reasons is that VW simply has not properly understood Chinese consumers in terms of their needs and wants in the changing trend.
What do Chinese customers want?
Opinions exist that the so-so sales of VW’s ID family is due to “being not smart enough”. Take the OTA (Over-the-Air Technology) as an example: This is the software ecosystem that automakers include in vehicles to enable easier bug fixes, new feature introduction and interface updates - like an iPhone or a laptop. Tesla pioneers in this area. VW also announced its OTA application in early 2020, but their customers still have to go to the dealership to get a software update to activate the OTA update capability – apparently less smart than its counterparts.
European markets demonstrate exactly the opposite: VW’s ID family performed better than Tesla since “being smart” may not be the most pressing selling point for European car buyers. They pay most attention to traditional functions such as acceleration, comfort, and handling. However, for Chinese consumers, smart features are a “must-have”. Chinese consumers put more emphasis on human-machine interaction, assisted-driving and related high-tech concepts instead of pure electrification. That is why some customers find that VW’s ID model is "like Nokia not having an app store" or just “a traditional car installed with a battery”, according to online comments.
What’s next for VW? – A Strategy Shift
What’s next for Volkswagen? The answer revolves around localization and the company’s “second home market strategy”. As Ralf Brandstaetter (CEO) states, “In the past, our approach was to develop in Germany and localize in China. But this approach will be changed significantly by setting up more local resources for R&D, especially for software, to be faster, to be more independent in China.”
Volkswagen has been driving several new initiatives in the EV industry recently:
- Acquisition of 26.5% stake in EV battery maker Guoxuan, which has a ~5% of the Lithium Iron Phosphate battery market in China (May 2020).
- Takeover of the majority stake in JAC Joint Venture: VW now controls 75% of Volkswagen (Anhui) Automotive and plans to establish an e-mobility hub (Dec 2020).
- Inauguration of R&D center in Hefei for e-mobility: The first vehicle is expected to roll off the Anhui production line in 2023 (Dec 2020).
- Construction of wholly-owned battery factory in Anhui: Its initial annual capacity will be 150,000 to 180,000 high-voltage battery systems for Anhui’s all EVs (Sep 2021).
It remains to be seen if these investments and the focus on localization will enable VW to win back its Chinese customers. Brands also from other industries should take note and apply these learnings to their own China business.
If you want to read an in-depth article on one of Volkswagen's strongest Chinese EV competitors, check out our Executive Briefing on BYD.


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Sony has presented the line of games that it will be adding to the game catalog of PlayStation Plus for the month of August, which will be accessible to Extra and Premium level subscribers of the service. As confirmed not too long ago, Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami, and Yakuza Kiwami 2 will be added on August 16, with more games in the series coming later this year.
On top of that, as leaked earlier this week, Ubisoft’s open-world tactical shooter Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands is also joining the service’s catalog on the same day. Subscribers can also look forward to the multiplayer horror title Dead by Daylight, the adventure title Bugsnax, and the post-apocalyptic first-person shooter Metro Exodus. Trials of Mana, UNO, Monopoly Madness, and Monopoly Plus are also included in the lineup.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like Sony will be adding any legacy titles to the PlayStation Plus premium tier library this month. As for the Essential tier, it also added a strong lineup of games earlier this month.


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Classic games like “Sonic,” “Altered Beast,” “Phantasy Star II,” “Kid Chameleon” and “Comix Zone are coming right to our smartphones.
Sega has announced that starting June 22, the new Sega Forever service will allow smart phone users to play the games — for free!
They’ll also get online leader boards, be able to save their progress to clouds, and they’ll be able to play while offline.
More games will be added every two weeks. And Business Insider reports that there will be ads, but users can pay a $1.99 fee for an ad-free version.
More in the video announcement above.


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This is potentially huge.
Millions of inventions pass quietly through the U.S. patent office.
One out of Texas did too -- until energy insiders read what sounded like the end of the internal combustion engine.
An startup called EEStor promised technology that could allow a motorist to plug in a car for five minutes and drive 500 miles roundtrip without gas.
Some future plug-in hybrids would require drivers to charge their cars in a wall outlet overnight and promise only 50 miles of gasoline-free commute. And today's popular hybrids still depend on fossil fuels.
Toronto's ZENN Motor has licensed EEStor's invention. An official says it could make traditional engines unnecessary.
Skeptics fear the claims stretch the bounds of existing technology to the point of alchemy.
From the Associated Press via WTOL-TV
Texas start-up builds car battery replacement
A small Texas company has filed a patent for a new kind of battery that could supercharge the market for electric cars.
EEStor’s new US patent application refers to “technologies for replacement of electrochemical batteries” and a battery due later this year will appear in electric cars from Canadian car firm, Zenn Motor.
According to the company, a motorist will only have to plug in the car for five minutes in order to generate enough juice for a 500-mille trip, a claim that has garnered much scorn.
EEStor's secret ingredient is a chemical compound called barium titanate which is sandwiched between thousands of wafer-thin metal sheets. Charged particles stick to the metal sheets and move quickly across the proprietary material....
From ComputerActiveTexas Startup Says It Has Batteries Beat
Full AP story from the Sydney Morning Herald


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Better Buy: Roku vs. Magnite
The pandemic has accelerated the development of all sorts of business trends and technology. Two of them are digital advertising and connected TV (CTV).
Laying at the intersection of digital ads and CTV are Roku (NASDAQ: ROKU) and Magnite (NASDAQ: MGNI). Neither stock did particularly well the first half of 2020, but both have been reinvigorated the last few months. The stocks are sporting positive year-to-date gains as of this writing, but one stands out as the better buy right now.
Image source: Getty Images.


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Sony Makes Money At Everything - But Video Games
...its PlayStation 3 (PS3) videogame console continued to lag Nintendo Co Ltd's hot-selling Wii, and the game division fell deep into the red as it was forced to sell the PS3 at a loss.
Sony raised its forecast for operating profit to 450 billion yen ($3.9 billion) for the year to March 2008 from 440 billion, compared with a consensus of 431.5 billion yen in a poll of 21 analysts by Reuters Estimates.
If Sony charges enough to recover their costs, no one buys it. If they cut prices, they lose even more money on increased sales. Maybe they could kidnap Master Chief, or pay EA Sports to make the cheerleaders in Madden Football look like humans to finally get their killer app. Nothing else seems to work.


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Premier Wen: Government confident in dealing with inflation
[ 2007-11-13 17:22 ]
Premier Wen Jiabao says the government is confident it can deal with inflation, and new measures to stabilize prices are on the way. Premier Wen made the remarks during a visit to low-income households in Beijing.
This is one of the low-income households Wen Jiabao visited in Beijing's Dongcheng District.
It's the third family he visited. Two elderly people live in this traditional courtyard deep inside Beijing's old city area.
After these visits, Wen Jiabao went to the local community center for a discussion session with representatives of low-income families. He listened to their thoughts on the recent consumer price rises.
Wen Jiabao said there were several reasons for this year's inflation. The global rise of oil prices has had a knock-on effect on consumer goods. Rising international food prices have also caused domestic prices to rise. And there supplies of domestic products are unbalanced. Currently, most industrial products' prices remain stable, but food prices have risen. Wen Jiabao said this year's grain harvest has hit a record high, and that should ease the situation to some extent.
Wen Jiabao says governments at various levels have taken measures to deal with inflation.
They include improving production and ensuring adequate supplies. The State Council has issued policies to improve the production of pork, oil and dairy products. Another measure is to improve transportation of materials, coordination and storage. And a third is to buy foreign products to ease the domestic shortages.
Wen Jiabao has also called on local governments to ensure the daily needs of low-income households. Premier Wen says the government can overcome the current situation and stabilize the market and prices.


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Slovenia: The First Cryptocurrency Payments Shopping Mall Is Now Open. Slovenia is definitely an atypical country dedicated to becoming the leading technology initiative as the world’s first decentralized cryptocurrency country marketplace with a shopping mall of 24 stores who accept only Cryptocurrency Payments.
Everything starts In March 2018, by a strong signal when a Slovenia city name Kranj has installed a giant circular monument with a giant bitcoin logo near the city center, making it the first official monument dedicated blockchain currency worldwide.
However, the Slovenia nation now is moving forward in their adventure for domination of the technology marketplace, by open the main shopping center where for all commercial must run by cryptocurrency payments in the stores and it’s now open to the public, as a pilot experimental project.
The City Ljubljana, located in Slovenia’s capital of Ljubljana, is now known as The Bitcoin City or ” TBC” renamed by a public over warming for technology. The Slovenian people is an enthusiasm population, who carry the pride to become the pioneer community who authorized and delivered city let to 24 retails store to deserve a population of one hundred fifty people to use cryptocurrencies legally and openly free Cryptocurrency Payments method.
Around the mall complex, they already have a business ecosystem of 500 online shop facilities, in the same area creating jobs, opening warehouses, transportation, logistics, and shipping financial avenues that boosting the economy in short-term. On top of that, you can find other growing longterm services and product emerging include mobile electronics payment, ATM, Cryptocurrency banks as well as restaurants, Slovenian Cryptocurrency TV channel “24 Ur” who all run only by Cryptocurrency transaction payments.
Despite the city reputation name as The Bitcoin City, this community has not offered any exclusive relationship right to bitcoin it’s an open market for Cryptocurrency brands to compete for obtaining their market share pie in this big futurist Cryptocurrency booming economy in the largest European technology fan base community.
The shopping Mall is also strategic at the same time symbolic history for an old place opened in the 1950s for the first time, now than being renamed as the Blagovno Transport Center, or BTC – Ljubljana the postmodern cryptocurrency shopping AKA “The Bitcoin City” everything looks like Slovenia offering the new renaissance for the world, where ambitious thinkers, innovators, scientists, visionary place was chosen to launch a new era of economic revolution.
Earlier this year, the shopping center co-developed a challenging and ambitious project to connect the past with the future by offering startup companies in Slovenia an optimistic deal, reinvented how people doing business in this region by offering them free spot ATM Cryptocurrency Payments spot.
Since this complex and this city became the new Eldorado for such startup businesses, and companies as Eligma, Alipay positioning them in the region accepted financial transactions in cryptocurrencies through a mobile app.
The rest is history; tech business, developers, online shop business, retail stores, restaurants, car rental, and taxi services, moving there. Rapidly as wildfire 500 small operators seized the opportunity and startup business, relocated them in Ljubljana city now known as TBC stand for The Bitcoin City.
Today Slovenia made history by being the first country in the world who, openly allows a free Cryptocurrency Payments emerge in his economy, with the full approval the country government. The Bitcoin City is the new economic territory and much more
and greater than only a Cryptocurrency Payments shopping center surrendering with 500 small businesses that operated with Cryptocurrency transactions only.
The goals of Slovenia is to become the first creative cryptocurrencies retail hub in the world, to set up “The Bitcoin City” as the Cryptocurrency financial capital of the world for free blockchain trade where people controlling their power of money, but not the corporations.
This project made Slovenia becomes the silicon valley of Europe, strongly supported the country and the entire Government, in particular, Prime Minister Miro Cerar and the secretary of state Tadej Slapnik both already visited the Cryptocurrency Payments Shopping Center early this month, to shopping, talk to the tech community, and the population.
Both of them had a coffee talk conference and using their cryptocurrency debit card to pay the bill before living, they made an appearance at the startup blockchain convention last May 28th. Slovenia offering warranty that you nowhere else, if you are an enthusiasm to invest in cryptocurrency, who knows Slovenia is probably a place that you should pay a close attention to definitely something valuable is happening there.


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Covering the immersive Out-of-Home entertainment scene for VRFocus, in his latest Virtual Arena column, industry specialist Kevin Williams reports on the amusement industry’s latest trade extravaganza in London, and the new VR platforms revealed to invited trade buyers, with his exclusive coverage revealing these new category of systems for readers.
The amusement trade represents the pay-to-play sector and started the new decade off underlining how much virtual reality (VR) has influenced innovation in this business. The UK saw one of the largest exhibitions for the sector this month, and VR was front-and-centre. The Entertainment, Attractions and Gaming (EAG) International Expo 2020 – held in London at the beginning of the year for amusement trade professionals – has become a hotbed to demonstrate the latest VR applications in the European Enterprise entertainment sector.
The various categories of deployment in this market were on display. First was “Standalone VR Arcade” – these are VR systems applied along lines that conform to the needs for amusement deployment in leisure entertainment venues but also applying various levels of “self-service” VR deployment, looking to remove the need for an attendant to run these systems from the mix.
Many of these systems are represented by distributors, companies that place and service the hardware with venue operators for the manufacturer. On the Harry Levy Amusement booth, the VRsenal developed ‘Beat Saber Arcade’ system was presented, an upright kiosk with retractable HTC Vive headset and controllers, configured to as a standalone system running the popular music rhythm VR experience. The machine has become a popular platform with already some 100-units deployed in the Western market.
Taking on a more familiar amusement approach, UNIS presented on the Instance Automatics booth their ‘Ultra Moto VR’ – a two-player arcade-style ride-on motorcycle racing videogame, with its own motion platform. Players are able to experience the action on the big screen or immersed using the 3Glasses VR headset. The platform marketed to operators as “easy to manage” – offering a familiar package to the VR entertainment medium in amusement.
Also, on the Harry Levy Amusement booth, was another top-selling VR product, LAI Games has seen great success with its ‘Virtual Rabbids: The Big Ride’ – with hundreds of sales of this two-seat motion ride platform already achieved. Developed in partnership with D-BOX and with content from Ubisoft, the VR ride-experience runs on HTC Vive. At the London show a new compact version of the platform was on display, (for cruise ships and smaller venues), also incorporating three new ride experiences, including a new interactive ride, with scoring elements.
The division of the Japanese amusement developer, operator and manufacturer, Bandai Namco Amusement represented the latest entry into this genre with a new two-seat VR motion ride platform from Triotech. Launching their new ‘Storm’, the company has integrated many of the popular elements seen with other systems, using the HTC Vive Pro headset incorporating Ultraleap, to track the riders’ hands. This offering an interactive game element to the roller-coaster ride experience.
Moving on from the standalone amusement deployment, also on show at EAG’20 was the “VR Enclosure” platforms that offer multiple-player VR experiences within an enclosure than as just individual machines. The market leader in this genre is HOLGATE, who came to the London show with its over 500-unit selling ‘HOLGATE Arena’. The latest version of the tethered platform offering a four-player plethora of different co-operative VR experiences, including titles licensed from Angry Birds, World of Tanks and other properties – running on the VR high-end Valve Index headset.
The VR Enclosure approach can also be deployed for the larger game experiences – such as with “Arena-Scale VR” – using backpack PC’s to allow free-roaming for multiple players co-operating in immersive shooting and escape game experiences. EAG exhibitor VEX Solutions presented ‘VEX Adventure’ that takes the Arena-Scale system and places into a flexible platform for both LBE and enclosure deployment. The company showing its system at the show as a complete turnkey solution, with player registration tablets, the onboarding infrastructure – HP backpack PC’s and HTC Vive Pro headsets (incorporating Ultraleap units), and force-feedback weapons.
A glimpse of the future of this application was seen at EAG with the latest example in “Arena-Scale VR – Standalone”, these platforms negate the need for a backpack PC and employed the all-in-one Standalone VR headsets, (a far-reaching feature on the emergence of this new aspect of the VR scene will be published soon in VRFocus). At EAG’20, the exhibitor Hero Zone demonstrated its version of this approach, with a four-player platform, employing Oculus Quest headsets, modified with the Modicap soundkit and battery extension. The pop-up enclosure running the new title ‘Dead Ahead’ – for some co-operative zombie blasting. The first installation of this platform is going live in February.
The final aspect of the diverse Out-of-Home entertainment deployment of this technology is the category of “Large VR Attractions” – turning VR tech into dedicated attractions for theme parks and LBE venues. One of the major developers in this field is Holovis, working on several attractions, but at EAG they revealed plans to develop smaller-scale applications that can suit amusement and FEC (Family Entertainment Center) deployment – offering big experiences in a small package.
Displayed for the first time, Holovis revealed their first title with ‘The Descent’, developed in partnership with D-BOX – the company created an intense alien blaster which uses the physicality of a special-effects mine-cage, descending virtually into the bowls of the Earth, battling waves of aliens on the way down. The system borrowing heavily from all the physical effects deployed in larger attractions, Holovis hoping to open a new sphere of the market with “Mid-Scale VR Attractions”, seeing their first orders at the show.
Along with the new hardware on display EAG 2020 held a seminar to present the opportunity of what immersive entertainment platforms offer the operators in this sector (ranging from seaside, leisure, amusement and FEC venues). Held in partnership with the show organizers, and industry consultancy KWP, the session brought together presenters from key executives in the field, including MeetSpace, operator of the Zero Latency arena in Wembley, the co-founder of HOLOGATE, SPREE Interactive, famous for its arena-scale family VR entertainment, and operating developer IMMOTION – who have championed a radical approach on getting “bums-on-seats” with the deployment of VR entertainment into the leisure sector. While later in the seminar the aspects of deploying VR in eSports experiences saw presentations from Virtuix and others.
This gives a snapshot of what proved a fascinating and intense three-day convention, with many orders made for the latest VR hardware. This will hopefully mean that even more of the general public will be able to get their first taste of VR entertainment at one of the many hundred entertainment venues in the UK and across Europe.
The London show will be followed by a plethora of trade events to start the year, including events in Japan and North America. But also, interest in Enterprise VR will see launches of the latest eSports and even Edutainment deployments. Watch this space for our next coverage.
Source: Read Full Article


text: Apple Issues Recall for iPhone 5 Batteries Early iPhone 5s 'may suddenly experience shorter battery life' By Neal Colgrass, Newser Staff Posted Aug 25, 2014 4:05 PM CDT 18 comments Comments Students at Hartselle High School in Hartselle, Ala., use personal technology devices like cell phones and tablets for social media and academics. (AP Photo/The Decatur Daily, Gary Cosby Jr.) (Newser) – Buy an early iPhone 5 with a crappy battery? Apple has launched a battery recall on any 5's bought between September 2012 and January 2013, Forbes reports. How you know it's bad: The device "may suddenly experience shorter battery life or need to be charged more frequently," says Apple. See if your iPhone is eligible by visiting the replacement program's website and entering your serial number, which is on the phone under Settings > General > About. But if the phone is damaged in a way that impedes battery replacement, you have to fix that first, PC Magazine reports. The program will run until next March or two years after your purchase date, whichever gives you longer coverage, reports Ars Technica.


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Who: Metrolinx and Leo Burnett Canada, with PHD Canada for media.
What: “Transit change. It’s happening,” a new awareness campaign acknowledging that the transit agency serving the GTA and Hamilton area is going through a bit of an “awkward phase” as it attempts to complete a series of ambitious projects.
When & Where: The campaign broke last week and runs through May. It includes cinema advertising, digital video, radio and print, all driving to a dedicated website, Metrolinx.com/itshappening.
Why: Metrolinx is in the midst of a series of ambitious projects with a stated objective of doubling transit’s share of travel, tripling trains, light rail lines and bus rapid transit and quadrupling GO Rail service.
It’s also undergoing something of a brand resurgence under chief marketing officer Mark Childs, who joined nearly two years ago after spending much of his career in consumer goods marketing with brands including Samsung, Campbell Company of Canada and Kellogg’s.
“It was really about bringing our portfolio of brands to life,” says Childs of the agency’s general marketing approach. “We are approaching marketing and advertising in a way that is very much business and goal oriented, and it’s something the team here has embraced”
At the same time, the new campaign also acknowledges consumer frustration with the progress of some Metrolinx projects. The government agency was in the news last week after it was announced that construction on one of its major projects, Toronto’s Eglinton Crosstown LRT, now won’t be complete until “well into” 2022—this after what one Toronto city councillor described as nine years of “construction hell” that has led to more than 100 businesses closing along the Eglinton Avenue corridor.
How: The creative strategy uses that awkward teenage phase—braces, voices breaking, the first blooming of facial hair—as an analogy for Metrolinx’s growing pains as it works to create a better transit system for the GTA.
“Metrolinx is building a world-class transit system for a better region. But before that happens, it means going through…a phase,” says the opening of the 60-second anchor spot, which goes on to acknowledge the “pretty big gap” between where the transit agency is now and where it hopes to be.
The campaign also includes a series of 15-second ads that acknowledge the slow pace of construction and the mess it has created by disrupting traffic flow, and asking the public to envision the final product as a reward for their patience.
And we quote: “Everyone embraced the [creative] idea because it was so unexpected, and that has been part of the journey that we’ve been on—which is to create work that stands out and is unexpected in the transit space.” —Mark Childs, chief marketing officer, Metrolinx.


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WOLFVILLE – The Acadia Students’ Union Christmas Craft Expo is a tradition almost as dear to some as Christmas itself, and it’s coming up again at the university.
The event is in its forty-fourth year and will be held again this year at the Acadia Arena from Nov. 16 to 18. It features a variety of vendors selling Christmas-themed goods.
The event is a favourite for many people in the Annapolis Valley who attend in search of that perfect gift to get someone for Christmas.
“This event... provides a great opportunity for students and the community to come together at a very festive time. I am very excited about the Craft Expo and this year’s event promises to be better than ever,” said ASU president George Philp.
The union is the event’s main sponsor and raises funds through it that go toward subsidizing the services and initiatives it provides to Acadia Students.
According to its release, this year’s event “promises to be fun-filled, exciting, and bustling with hundreds of gift ideas, just in time for Christmas,”
“Much planning and preparation has gone into this year’s Expo,” said Philp.
This year’s event will run Nov. 16 from noon to 9 p.m., Nov. 17 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. – with two-for-one admission after 5 p.m. – and Nov. 18 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more information on the Craft Expo, please contact the ASU Craft Expo office at (902) 679-7177.


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A survey in their last trimester of pregnancy conducted by Milton found that 82.6% of women said that their birth plan had changed due to Covid-19, and 83% are concerned about the risks of contracting the virus whilst at the hospital.
Reported changes to birthing plans are as follows:
- 71.9% cited their family support/birthing partner had changed
- 67.4% said access to antenatal classes had changed
- 36.5% said their access to midwives and doctors had changed
- 17.8% reported that the type of planned birth had changed
- 11.6 % cited the location had changed.
- 5.6% said their medication/pain relief plans had changed
87.3 % of pregnant women were also worried about not being able to have family members with them during the birth and 68% were concerned about not having access to a doctor in case of an emergency.
Cleaning was also high on the agenda with all respondents reporting that they have been cleaning their home (77%), shopping bags (64%), food packaging (62%), fruit and vegetables (60%)and toys (49%) more than they normally would.
Milton has been trusted by hospitals for over 70 years and is the go-to brand for sterilising baby products. The latest WHO guidelines suggest hygiene products from Milton protect against Covid-19 but more concentrated dilutions must be used:
Using protective gloves, mix 2 caps (30mL) of fluid with 1 litre of cold water and to make the solution from tablets, place two tablets in 1 litre of cold water. This solution leaves surfaces germ free after a minimum of 15 minutes.
For baby/childrens’ accessories, wash in warm soapy water first and submerge into the solution, leave for 15 minutes, rinses items and renew the solution after each use, ensuring you are wearing protective gloves.
For home surfaces, use protective gloves, wash everything in clean soapy water first, prepare solution, wipe surfaces, wait 15 minutes and rinse with clean water.
Christine Chevalier, Marketing and Sales Manager at Milton, comments: “Pregnancy and birth are normally a time of high emotion, our survey has shown that the Coronavirus pandemic has raised anxiety levels in pregnant women to unprecedented proportions. Add in changes in birthing plans and not allowing birthing partners in the maternity wards, it is no wonder mums to be are feeling the strain. Milton’s range of hygiene products have been used in clinical environments and most are effective in preventing the spread of Coronavirus. We hope this provides some reassurance for new parents.”
Milton products are available nationwide and can be found in Boots, Sainsbury’s Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Ocado, Waitrose and Amazon, and many independent retailers, online stores and pharmacies.


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The Central Government had asked the central bank to extend the restructuring of debt scheme beyond 31st March 2020, the Reserve Bank of India has extended the onetime restructuring of MSME loans to 31st December 2020.
RBI said, The MSME sector is very important given that the MSME sector plays an integral role in the growth of the Indian economy, contributing over 28 percent of the GDP, more than 40 per cent of exports and has created employment for about 11 crore people.
RBI in its statement said, “Considering the importance of MSMEs in the Indian economy and for creating an enabling environment for the sector in its efforts towards formalisation, a one-time restructuring of loans to MSMEs that were in default but ‘standard’ as on January 1, 2019, was permitted without an asset classification downgrade. The restructuring of the borrower account was to be implemented by March 31, 2020.”
Further it added, “As the process of formalisation of the MSME sector has a positive impact on financial stability and this process is still underway, it has been decided to extend the benefit of one-time restructuring without an asset classification downgrade to standard accounts of GST registered MSMEs that were in default as on January 1, 2020. The restructuring under the scheme has to be implemented latest by December 31, 2020.” Detailed guidelines for the restructuring scheme of MSME loans are awaited and soon to be released


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NEW DELHI: It has been a month since Delhiites were informed about the ban on plastic bags. However, when the ban on the use of plastic carry bags came into effect on Friday, not everybody fell in line. Quite a few visitors at the trade fair could be seen using plastic bags, even as they claimed to be aware of the ban.
One of the visitors at the Rajasthan pavilion, Meenakshi, was sitting outside the stall holding a white polythene bag containing stuffed toys and clothes. "I am aware of the ban; the talk has been on for a month now. I had no option as I was offered a polythene bag to carry the goods I had bought," said the 19-year-old student. When asked if she had brought a cloth bag, the answer was "no".
Though some were casual about the ban, a change was discernible at the fair with many bringing along cloth bags. Even the ones carrying plastic bags supported the ban. "I'm aware of the ban, but people continue to use poly bags. As I did not carry a cloth bag, I had to accept a plastic bag from the shopkeeper," said Usha Kumari.
Officials at Indian Trade Promotion Organisation said they have put in place all measures to facilitate implementation of the ban. "The premises and the fair have been a plastic-free zone for the last three years. We have also provided badges and passes to the enforcement agencies, so that they can check the use of plastic bags in the fair. Also, 20 booths have been given to NGOs for providing alternatives to plastic bags," said P C Sharma, general manager, ITPO.
"We have received complaints about the use of polythene bags, but we cannot enforce the ban ourselves. We have made it easier


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SA firms improve position
Fin24 - Jan 30th 2012, 11:04
Cape Town – South Africa's major retailers have risen in the rankings of the 250 global companies. Shoprite Holdings [JSE:SHP] still leads the local choir at No 92. This can be seen in Deloitte’s latest annual global retail report, Global Powers of Retailing 2012: Switching Channels.
The research is based on sales in 2010, a period during which emerging market retailers struggled to grow their sales. In order to compare sales across the globe, the figures are presented in US dollars. According to its international ranking, there would indeed appear to be a Checkers around every corner. The Shoprite group is the largest retailer in Africa and the Middle East and was previously 95th on the global list. In 2010 sales were worth around $10bn.
Massmart Holdings [JSE:MSM] is the second largest in Africa and 126th on the global ranking, with sales of $7.6bn. Pick n Pay Stores [JSE:PIK] is not far behind at No 133, with $7.1bn in sales. It is the third largest on the continent. Spar Group [JSE:SPP] sales amounted to $4.7bn, making it the fourth largest in Africa and No 179 globally.
Steinhoff International Holdings [JSE:SHF], which made acquisitions in Europe just as the European credit crisis began, appeared on the global list for the first time at No 218. Group sales totalled $3.7bn.
Woolworths Holdings [JSE:WHL] improved from No 248 to 222, with sales worth $3.6bn. Metcash, which underwent restructuring lost its position on the list.
The strongest compound annual sales growth in the region was achieved in Africa and the Middle East during the past five years with growth of 15.4%, said Rodger George, Deloitte’s consumer business leader. Latin America came second with growth of 14.8%, but all the other regions grew less than 7.6%.
Checkers brings world-class retail to Constantia with new flagship store
27/11/2019 - 13:01
Checkers has opened the doors to its state-of-the-art 2 330 m² flagship supermarket at the Constantia Emporium as the retailer continues to take innovation to new heights.
Woolworths carves out market share in SA
27/11/2019 - 10:11
In Australia, David Jones's sales declined 2.1%, with the company saying a store refurbishment contributed to the decline.
Exclusive leases must fall: Commission cracks whip on Shoprite, Pick n pay, Spar, Woolies
26/11/2019 - 09:57
The Competition Commission Inquiry into Grocery Retail, published on Monday, called for an end to the exclusive leases negotiated by national retail chains in all shopping malls across the country in a bid to open up access to markets for smaller players.
Pick n Pay shares five of its Black Friday deals
25/11/2019 - 10:10
Pick n Pay has released five of its nationwide in-store Black Friday deals as a teaser of what customers can expect this Friday.
Pick n Pay moves to make healthier eating more accessible
22/11/2019 - 11:20
South Africa has been named one of the unhealthiest countries in the world1. Complicating this is the fact that healthy eating is often seen as expensive or complicated. Pick n Pay will now help customers make more informed choices in a major healthy eating drive to make healthier eating cheaper, easier, and more accessible.


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United Airlines Puts Jet Lag to Rest with Timeshifter App Partnership
“We want to do everything we can to help improve the experience of traveling across time zones, whether it’s a business trip to Tel Aviv or a vacation to Tahiti, our customers should arrive feeling fresh and ready to hit the ground running,” said Vice President of Loyalty and President of MileagePlus, Luc Bondar. “Timeshifter takes all the guesswork out of avoiding jet lag and instead uses science and algorithms to design a customized, step-by-step trip across time zones. I was a believer the first time I used the app and I think our customers will love it too.”
Timeshifter was developed by top researchers in sleep and circadian neuroscience and is aimed at customers crossing three or more time zones. The app uses an algorithm to customize plans for customers based on a number of factors including normal sleep pattern, flight details and individual preferences, creating a personalized jet lag alleviation plan. Each plan includes:
- Instructions for when travelers should prioritize exposure to bright light or avoid it.
- A sleep and napping schedule based on his or her own sleep preferences.
- A plan to optimize caffeine intake for alertness and sleep.
- Optional timing for taking melatonin, should travelers choose to do so.
MileagePlus members will receive a free jet lag plan for a flight plan of their choosing in addition to the complimentary trial Timeshifter offers customers for a total of two free flight plans. MileagePlus Premier 1K members will be able to sign up for complimentary annual subscriptions for unlimited access to jet lag plans when they travel. Individual plans for the app retail at $9.99 for a round trip plan and yearly memberships are $24.99.
United’s partnership with Timeshifter is an additional step in improving the travel experience for MileagePlus members. Earlier this year, United announced that MileagePlus miles no longer expire and partnered with CLEAR to provide members with free or deeply discounted memberships to help make travel easier and more predictable.
United flies some of the longest routes in the world, including the two longest flights operated by a U.S. carrier with non-stop service between Houston and Sydney and between San Francisco and Singapore. In December, United will become the only airline to fly direct from North America to Cape Town, South Africa with the start of brand-new service from New York/Newark. United flies 320 routes to 120 international destinations from the U.S.
Every customer. Every flight. Every day.
In 2019, United is focusing more than ever on its commitment to its customers, looking at every aspect of its business to ensure that the carrier keeps customers’ best interests at the heart of its service. In addition to today’s announcement, this year United:
- Announced that MileagePlus award miles will never expire
- Gave Economy customers a choice of complimentary snacks on domestic flights
- Made DIRECTV free for every customer on more than 200 aircraft
- Released a new version of the award-winning, most downloaded app in the airline industry
- Launched a new tool called ConnectionSaver, dedicated to improving the experience for customers with connecting flights
- Partnered with CLEAR on free or discounted memberships for MileagePlus members
- Announced PlusPoints, new upgrade benefits for MileagePlus Premier members
- And introduced products in its amenity kits made exclusively for the airline by luxury skincare line Sunday Riley
United’s shared purpose is “Connecting People. Uniting the World.” We are more focused than ever on our commitment to customers through a series of innovations and improvements designed to help build a great experience: Every customer. Every flight. Every day. Together, United and United Express operate approximately 4,900 flights a day to 358 airports across five continents. In 2018, United and United Express operated more than 1.7 million flights carrying more than 158 million customers. United is proud to have the world’s most comprehensive route network, including U.S. mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. United operates 788 mainline aircraft and the airline’s United Express partners operate 560 regional aircraft. United is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides service to 195 countries via 26 member airlines. For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter and Instagram or connect on Facebook. The common stock of United’s parent, United Airlines Holdings, Inc., is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol “UAL”.
SOURCE United Airlines
For further information: United Airlines Worldwide Media Relations, +1-872-825-8640, email@example.com


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By : Ben Berkley
Source : The Hustle
Hot dogs are having a moment. So much so that The Wall Street Journal declared franks “the ‘it’ restaurant order” of the summer.
America’s favorite meat tubes require no introduction — US consumers already buy 900m+ pounds of them annually, per the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council.
Perhaps an etiquette brush-up is required? The NHDSC has a guide for that. (Apparently standard hot dogs should need no more than five bites?)


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One Company, Two Hyper-Partisan Political Media Sites
Facebook’s the primary news gateway for a lot of Americans. And while most people on it know it's a haven for fake news, we may be getting gamed by those sites more than we realize.
For example, a recent BuzzFeed investigation found a Florida connection to one of the most prolific fake news generators. America News LLC, based in a modest ranch-style home in Miami-Dade County, owns at least four websites.
Two of the sites are ultra-liberal, while the other two are super conservative, said Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute for Media Studies.
“The news they create looks incredibly similar, and all of it is fake,” she said.
And what’s surprising is that they all are hyper-partisan using stories that are nearly identical – albeit with a few select word choice changes. For example, a recent story on Kellyanne Conway, one of President Donald Trump's top advisors, featured nearly identical headlines, sentences and quotes while they portrayed left and right ideologies.
“We expected them to pick one (political side) or the other and put all their eggs in that basket,” McBride said.
An interesting aspect of these media sites, McBride said, is that they are using social media as the primary source of sharing the fake news. McBride said the company’s conservative Facebook page – The Patriot Review – has more than 5 million fans. Its ideological opposite – Liberal Daily – includes a following of about 2 million on Facebook.
“They get a huge amount of audience and then they sell advertising against that audience through ad networks,” she said. “They don’t have an ad department that goes out and sells advertising. They sign up for a distributed ad network. But because they can amass so much audience, they can make a lot of money without much overhead. I bet there are three or four people writing all of these articles.”


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It’s not easy being an artist in Seattle. Similar to food business owners, makers operate within extremely tight profit margins, and “according to a study by Seattle’s Office of Economic Development, warehouse and other small commercial building vacancies are at an all-time low, under 2 percent” (KUOW).Continue readingMore Tag
On May 30, 2019 the Washington Women’s Business Center hosted their fourth-annual Celebrating Dreams, a night elevating female entrepreneurship presented by Verity Credit Union. Every year Celebrating Dreams empowers women to follow their entrepreneurial dreams while providing a platform to local entrepreneurs to showcase their businesses to new audiences and connect with mentors, community partners, resources and leaders in the field.Continue readingMore Tag
For Tina Narron, increasing the diversity of business owners is one of the biggest needs we face in the Seattle business community.
This is why she is an advocate for Business Impact NW, and even more specifically the Washington Women’s Business Center (WWBC).
The WWBC, one of the programs offered by Business Impact NW, provides free business training and workshops in an effort to increase the number of women-owned businesses and encourage profitability of those businesses.Continue readingMore Tag
Monday, March 4, 2019 – 13:27 Jackie Bayne, Office of Equal Opportunity, 360-705-7084 OLYMPIA – A unique partnership between the Washington State Department of Transportation, Sound Transit and Washington state-based […]Continue readingMore Tag
We at Business Impact NW, Veteran’s Business Outreach Center, and the Washington Women’s Business Center had a spectacular time arranging and hosting Food Biz Day. In collaboration with our generous […]Continue readingMore Tag


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According to The Good Surgeon Guide, the independent cosmetic surgery review website, Botox and other facial dermal fillers top the list of most requested non-surgical procedures. Cosmetic medical professionals, who have contributed to the survey, confirm that many patients ask for non-surgical slimming treatments and anti-aging reduction procedures to other parts of the body where traditional major invasive surgery was once the only choice. The survey records non-surgical body sculpting as the third most requested procedure so far this year.
It is not just non-surgical procedures that are on the increase. According to the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), there has been a 26% increase in surgical procedures carried out between 2008 and 2012, bringing the total number in the UK to 43,172 in 2012. During this period, brow lifts jumped 80%, eyelid surgery rose 33% and face/neck lifts increased 24%.
Mintel maintains the increase comes on the back of increased accessibility to procedures. The trend is all the more significant against the backdrop of the economic downturn and signals factors at play other than cost. Mintel cites the boost to self-esteem as being the key incentive in the decision to go under the knife.
Yet, horror stories about the possible side effects of having Botox and fillers, such as the familiar “frozen” look sported by many celebrities, have led consumers to turn to skin care for anti-aging results. Kantar Worldpanel 2012 data shows that 34% of women in the Big 5 European countries are using a facial moisturizer with anti-aging properties. This trend is strongest among French and Spanish women and weakest among those in the UK. Age is a determining factor in the use of anti-aging skin care, with nearly 75% of European women over 45 using anti-aging moisturizers.
According to Datamonitor, the anti-aging segment is one of the fastest growing within the skin care category due to aging populations across Western and Eastern Europe. Only a few exceptions are experiencing moderate or negative growth due to the current economic conditions.
Between 2011 and 2012, Germany dropped back 1.1%; Spain, 2.1% and Greece, 4.5%. However, the outlook to 2017 is largely positive, with anti-aging sales in Hungary expected to grow 12% CAGR and Russia 8% CAGR.
“Anti-aging products are gaining in popularity as women want to stay younger looking for longer and are willing to pay for products they believe work,” explained Stuart Cameron, associate researcher for Datamonitor. “The Baby Boom generation, increasing life expectancy around the world and consumers looking for prevention as well as cures are all factors resulting in the anti-aging market seeing strong growth.”
In 2012, Mintel recorded a 30% increase in anti-aging facial skin care launches, compared to a 23% increase for total facial skin care.
“This year, communication in anti-aging facial skin care has become increasingly scientific,” remarked Christopher Lindsley, skin care expert, Mintel. “Consumers are becoming more interested in a customized approach to anti-aging which is a key trend this year, with launches jumping from only two in 2012 to 30 in 2013. This number is projected to increase further.”
Mintel has noted that product communication is based around items that can be used in conjunction to offer an individual regimen for consumers, such as French Filorga’s Professional Skin Perfusion sub-range. Another example is Sepai’s Tune It, which offers targeted solutions to counteract all possible causes of aging, including genetic, metabolic, lifestyle and environmental.
“Anti-aging product launches claiming to be clinically tested have seen big increases in recent years and while growth is expected to continue another related angle has emerged in 2013,” explained Lindsley.
“Links to aesthetic medicine have increased with a growing number of launches offering an alternative to or ancillary products to aesthetic procedures. When considering skin care brands including mention of links to aesthetic procedures, launches in 2013 are already twice that seen in all of 2012.”
He cited Laboratoires Filorga Interventional, Cellcosmet and Gatineau Renew 7, which have all helped increase launches by 67% so far in 2013 and further launches expected this year.
Buzz Around Anti-Aging
Brands with a more scientific or clinical approach often rely on established ingredients such as peptides. Synthesized peptides are said to be able to switch on collagen and elastin production and even inhibit nerve messages to muscles, as a kind of topical Botox.
Other technologies are used to support popular trends, such as products offering optical benefits to even skin tone. Mintel is projecting an increase of 50% in brand launches communicating a soft-focus effect. This is often supported with established ingredients like micas and powder polymers, but new ingredients are also reaching the market. BeautyLab’s Black Diamond range is one example, with its products using rare black diamond particles that are designed to settle in wrinkles and subtly illuminate a blue glow that lessens the appearance of wrinkles and discoloration.
Communication around biology and cellular activity is also common in anti-aging facial skin care launches. The latest buzz ingredient is mannose, a sugar monomer, whose job it is to reinforce the moisture barrier to help prevent water loss. It is used in a number of L’Oréal brands this year and looks set to increase in use across the sector.
L’Oréal has also raised the bar with its breakthrough compound glycanactif, a glycan-based ingredient used in Yves Saint Laurent’s Forever Light Creator Skintone Corrector Serum. Controversially, the best results occurred in women under 45, which could lead to a big push to target younger women before their skin shows signs of aging.
Skin care companies are becoming much bolder in their anti-aging claims, reflecting a growing demand from consumers who want to stay and look younger for longer and are therefore willing to pay for the products they believe work.
Headington, Oxford UK
Tel: +44 1865 764918
Imogen Matthews is a respected consultant, journalist and researcher focusing on trends in the beauty industry. She regularly contributes to many of the world’s foremost beauty trade titles. Every year in April, she publishes The Premium Market Report, focusing on trends in the UK premium beauty markets.


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Pugs Are Taking Over This Coffee Shop for One Day Only
On May 21, Esquire Coffee Shop in Guildford in Surrey will open their doors to pugs. The Guildford Pug Meet Up group teamed up with the coffee shop to organize a day of coffee and pugs.
The café will serve free “puppucinos” to any dog that shows up, while human admirers can bask in the glory of caffeine and countless pugs. Both dogs and humans are encouraged to come dressed in their Sunday best.
The pug café will open for one day only on May 21, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Unfortunately only those with advanced bookings will be allowed in — and appointments for the day are already filled up.
Cross your fingers that they will choose to expand to a second day — or perhaps even forever? Keep an eye on their Facebook event page for more information.
For those who are unable to secure a coveted booking on pop-up pug day, there are a few other options for coffee-drinking animal lovers around the world. There’s a full-time dog café in Los Angeles, a sheep café in Seoul, and even a penguin café in Tokyo.


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Americans are borrowing more than ever for new and pre-owned cars, and 30- and 60-day delinquency rates increased in the 2nd quarter, according to the vehicle arm of among the country’s biggest credit bureaus.
The overall balance of all outstanding automobile loans reached $1.027 trillion in between April 1 and June 30, the 2nd successive quarter that it went beyond the $1-trillion mark, notes Experian Automotive.
More consumers likewise are relying on leases, which represented 31.44% of all new vehicle and truck deals in the second quarter, up from 26.9% a previous year.
Both 30- and 60-day loan delinquencies increased, however the combined subprime and deep-subprime share of new and pre-owned automobile loans and leases lowered from 23.3% in the 2nd quarter of 2015 to 22.8% in 2nd quarter of 2016.
“Yes, subprime and deep-subprime loans are growing, but the entire market is growing from a volume perspective across all rick tiers,” stated Melinda Zabritski, Experian senior director of vehicle financing. “In fact, the subprime loans have actually dropped as a portion of the overall market. That, integrated with just a minor uptick in delinquencies, explains that the sky is not falling.”
However the developing leverage that is supporting the industry’s near-record sales remains cause for issue.
The average new auto loan was $29,880, up 4.8% from the 2nd quarter of 2015, and about $4,000 less than the average new automobile market price.
The typical month-to-month payment on those loans was $499, increased from $483 a year previously. A growing portion of those loans are for a longer term, in some cases as long seven years.
During previous month, Fitch Ratings issued a report that discovered that among subprime and deep subprime borrowers (those with a FICO rating of less than 600) the percentage that are 60 days or more behind on payments reached 4.59% in July, a 17% boost from a year previously.
While the significant automakers have stated their captive finance arms like Ford Credit and GM Financial, have stagnated strongly into subprime financing, Ford executives did acknowledge in July that rising delinquencies were one of several factors causing them to warn that business would be harder in the 2nd half of 2016.
In a quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Ford addressed in the very first half of this year it enabled $449 million for credit losses, a 34% boost from the first half of 2015.
General Motors reported in a comparable filing that it reserved $864 million for credit losses in that very same duration of 2016, up 14% from a year previously.
The boost in leasing could have repercussions in the next 2 to five years. As more of those rented automobiles are returned it will tend to depress the cost at which they sell at auctions.
That indicates people wishing to sell a 5- or 6-year old car to buy a brand-new one, will get less cash for their trade-in, implying they will need to borrow more, think about renting, or thinking about an utilized automobile.
” One of the most significant patterns we see is the shift to used vehicles by clients with outstanding credit,” Zabritski said. “As new car rates continue to increase, savvy consumers are searching for ways to control expenses. That seems to be pushing more consumers towards used vehicles.”


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Who’s getting money?
Greenpoint’s HowGood, an iOS and Android app that rates foods based on a number of attributes, such as sustainability and social impact, has raised a $2 million seed round, backed by FirstMark Ventures and Highline Capital, according to Crain’s.
Downtown Brooklyn’s Bandwagon was accepted into Hawaii’s Energy Excelerator. The company “will receive $75K in largely non-dilutive investment,” according to a press release, as well as technical assistance. Bandwagon is one of 17 companies to have been accepted into the program.
Who’s making moves?
Final Frontier Design has secured a contract with Houston-based Waypoint 2 Space to provide space suits designed for activities outside the vehicle, according to a press release. The Texas company makes simulations of space-based activities, either to prepare people for commercial space travel or to give them something like a space travel experience while still here on Earth. Final Frontier itself recently created its own terrestrial space experience, which we covered here.
Alex Blumberg, formerly of NPR’s Planet Money, is starting a company to make high-quality podcasts. His cofounder is another Brooklynite named Matt Lieber. They haven’t revealed much about the actual company yet, but they are documenting the process of building it on a podcast that Blumberg is producing, called StartUp. Episode 4 just came out.
Bitbanger Labs has been shipping out its Pixelstick to Kickstarter backers, according to a Facebook post. The Pixelstick is a lightpainting device that also happens to be one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns in Brooklyn tech history. The startup has been publishing tutorials on how to use the device and releasing packs of readymade images that users can paint onto scenes with their device.


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ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. — Messick’s has set a new record of donations collected, reaching a total of $41,942.37 during their recent Christmas Light Show display in Elizabethtown Pa. The Christmas Light Show was open to the public for 28 nights in December and brought in over 3,942 cars throughout the event. All of the donations collected are distributed to local charities including Paxton Street Ministries, Water Street Rescue Mission, Mennonite Disaster Service, and Elizabethtown Community Cupboard.
This is the 4th year that Messick’s has put on the Christmas Light Show and with this year's donations included, they have reached a total of $120,657.72 raised and donated to local charities.
Messick’s Christmas light show featured a new massive snow blowing machine, two flame throwers and over 100,000 lights covering the store, light poles, and dozens of Kubota tractors, excavators, skid steer loaders and RTV’s that move to holiday music broadcasted to an FM radio station for viewers to enjoy from the warmth of their cars. Messick’s would like to thank everyone who attended the event and the volunteers that helped make the event possible this year.
Check out these videos of the event:
About Messick's Farm Equipment
Messick’s is a retailer providing a complete sales and service experience for brands like New Holland, Case IH, Kubota, and over 200 more companies. The dealership has locations in Abbottstown, Bendersville, Carlisle, Elizabethtown and Halifax, Pa.


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In commemoration of Earth Day, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) publicly acknowledged those companies listed on the exchange that have integrated sustainable practices into their business models, promoting sustainability with their actions, in their business dealings, and with their stakeholders. BBVA was one of the companies the American stock exchange singled out for their significant Earth-friendly efforts, like BBVA’s ‘Pledge 2025’.
The companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange are some of the biggest in the world, and as such they must also take on a large share of the responsibility for the planet and the communities that inhabit it. Earth Day, observed on April 22, was the perfect excuse for the launching of an index of companies that best promote sustainability during the year. BBVA is one of them, a position earned by the bank’s efforts to stop climate change and fight on behalf of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. To this end, under the auspices of its ‘Pledge 2025,’ the bank has committed to raising €1 billion in sustainable financing between 2018 and 2025.
During the first year of the initiative, BBVA secured €11.8 million in sustainable finance, of which €8.13 million qualified as green financing (certified green loans), green corporate financing, funding of green projects, green bonds, and retail ecological solutions. In addition, BBVA has concurrently developed specific environmental and social due diligence standards covering sectors that have a potential significant environmental impact (mining, energy, infrastructure, and agribusiness).
The New York Stock Exchange sustainability index includes companies like Nokia, Novartis, Blackberry, BP, Philips, Coca-Cola, Royal Caribbean, Fiat Chrysler, Univeler, Visa, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and HSBC.
“We are proud that BBVA is part of our great network of global companies that have worked throughout the year to nurture programs that promote our efforts for global sustainability,” as commended by the New York Stock Exchange.


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Posted on Aug 04, 2011 by Sergio Ulloa
Results from a survey released this week by Swiss Re, one of the world's leading reinsurance companies, has revealed that China's upcoming generation of workers aged 20 to 40 years old are keen to purchase insurance in large numbers as the awareness of risk, and a need to supplement social security, continues to rise in the world's second largest economy.
Between April and May 2011, Swiss Re
conducted a large scale international survey to identify and examine what changes had occurred in consumer risk attitudes since the group's first study was held during the global financial crisis in 2009. Swiss Re expanded the scope considerably this year, polling some 13,800 consumers aged 20 to 40 (Generation X and Y) across 11 major markets in the Asia Pacific region. Once the data was collected, individual country scores were then compiled using an in-house metric, the Swiss Re Consumer Appetite for Risk Index (CAFRI), which tabulates an overall level of risk appetite for a specific population by consolidating their risk attitudes in relation to four key factors: health, finance, career and lifestyle. The CAFRI ranges from 0 to 100, the higher the index value, the more willing consumers are to take risks. A score of 50 equates to risk neutrality.
With a final CAFRI score of 38.4, China remains a savings-based society, but one that is certainly open to more insurance business. China ranks eighth overall in the Swiss Re's CAFRI table below Hong Kong (in second), Singapore (fourth), and Taiwan (sixth). Across the 4 key disciplines, Chinese consumers indicated that they were more willing to take on risk with lifestyle and career expense (ranking second and third of 11), but less willing with finance and healthcare related risk (eighth and tenth respectively).
While Chinese respondents claimed to be more financially prepared on average than their peers in the Asia Pacific
, over a third of those surveyed worried about a lack of adequate social security, and half were wary of future medical expenses. Around 72 percent of respondents said they were planning to buy life and health insurance products in the next 12 months, amongst the highest ratios of prospective customers in the Asia-Pacific region. Those surveyed claimed their biggest reasons for purchasing an insurance policy would be to support their family, and the fear of being unable to pay for long-term medical expenses out-of-pocket in the event of a serious illness or injury. According to the survey, those aged between 20 and 40 on the Chinese mainland have in fact become more risk averse as the national economy has grown, with the country total CAFRI value dropping from 2009 to 2011.
"Over the past two years, the 20 to 40 year olds in some main cities in China have become less willing to take risks on all these four aspects: health, finance, career and lifestyle. This across-the-board growing conservatism may be fueled by the increasing need to supplement social security measures or 'safety nets' which allow people to fall back on in case of emergencies," Xing Li, Swiss Re Economist, wrote in the country report.
After acknowledging the significant demand for greater coverage, Swiss Re's research further revealed some interesting trends regarding how Chinese consumers would choose to evaluate and then purchase insurance. According to the study, Chinese respondents ranked the most important criteria for choosing their respective insurance company as followed: products offered matching consumer needs (first at 34 percent), good reputation (32 percent), efficient claims process (31 percent), financial soundness (31 percent) and pricing transparency (30 percent). Xing remarked that this balanced list of priorities from the respondents demonstrated the sophistication of the Chinese marketplace as well as the pluralistic solutions available to insurers who wish to prosper there: "Insurers must demonstrate the benefits of insurance and their strong value propositions in order to meet the specific needs of consumers, who put emphasis on a wide range of selection criteria," said Xing.
The survey showed that for these younger Chinese respondents, the internet has become the preferred source for acquiring necessary financial news and information, with over a two-thirds of the vote, followed then by family, friends and colleagues. Social media websites have proven particularly popular in China, with over 41 percent of respondents admitting to using them as a source, more than double the rate of the next country listed, Taiwan at 17 percent.
When it comes to actually making the transaction however, traditional agents have remained the favorite channel for buying life and health insurance (59 percent). The proportion of people in China who claimed to purchase their insurance policies through banks, known as bancassurance, is also the highest in the Asia Pacific region, at 51 percent confirmed. The data reveals however that the number of consumers going through these conventional distribution channels is gradually declining and insurers should look to innovative new sales and marketing technologies to attract the next generation of customer.
"For the insurance industry, 20- to 40-year-olds are not only the future buyers of insurance, they also represent tremendous business opportunities now," Xing concluded.
The Chinese insurance industry has experienced rapid growth within the past decade and still has much to look forward to
due to favorable economic conditions and an under-penetrated market. The country's current insurance penetration rate (as a percentage of GDP) is only around 3.8 percent and is expected to increase by 18 percent within the next five years. This new consumer data corresponds with Swiss Re's sigma report issued earlier this year, which projected China to become the second biggest insurance market within a decade. If insurers, both local and international, can effectively match the insurance demands of the Chinese people, cover against holes in the social safety net
, and further encourage people to invest their considerable savings back into the market, they all can share in this prosperity.
Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd was established in 1863 and is present in more than 20 countries. Swiss Re provides reinsurance products and financial service solutions. It offers various reinsurance products covering property, casualty, life, health and special lines - such as agricultural, aviation, space, engineering, HMO reinsurance, marine, nuclear energy, and special risks.


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Are Electric Car Batteries Bad For The Environment – Based on the latest data, the tool allows users to compare vehicles in many different scenarios, based on the vehicle segment, where the battery is manufactured and in which country the vehicle is driven. The tool also allows users to compare cars driven in 2020 and 2030, when the EU network will be cleaner.
According to the tool, even in the worst case, an electric car powered by batteries made in China in Poland emits 22% less carbon dioxide than diesel and 28% less than gasoline. At best, a battery electric car built and driven in Sweden costs 80 percent less than diesel and 81 percent less than gasoline.
Are Electric Car Batteries Bad For The Environment
Lucien Mathieu, T&E transport and electric vehicles analyst: “This tool dispels the myth that driving an electric car in Europe can be worse for the climate than an equivalent diesel or petrol car. This is not true. Latest data According to research , electric cars in the European Union average three almost twice.
Is It True That A Tesla Creates More Pollution Than A Conventional Car? No!
“Electric cars will cut CO2 emissions by a factor of four by 2030 as the EU grid increasingly relies on renewables. If European governments are serious about decarbonising during the recovery from the crisis, they need to accelerate the transition to electric cars.
The tool’s findings echo a new study that finds electric cars can reduce carbon dioxide emissions, even if the electricity used to drive them comes from fossil fuel production. The study found that the production of electric vehicles produces more carbon than internal combustion engines, but the profits from electric vehicles give electric vehicles a life-cycle advantage, which is found in countries that have adopted carbon-free electricity generation. A percentage is up to 70%.
Electric cars are increasingly seen as a solution and are being promoted by the European Union, as cars account for a large proportion of global greenhouse gas emissions. However, it has been argued that electric vehicles perform better, and sometimes worse, than gasoline and diesel vehicles when considering the cradle-to-grave scenario, including the electricity that powers them.
Now, an independent study by academics from the Universities of Nijmegen, Exeter and Cambridge has analyzed current and future emissions trading involving electric vehicles and domestic heat pumps in 59 regions of the world. The authors found that “current and future life cycle emissions of electric vehicles and heat pumps are, on average, lower than those of new gasoline vehicles and fossil fuel boilers – not only globally, but also in most countries [59 countries 53]”.
Electric Car: Should You Buy An Electric Car? Comparison With Other Fuel Cars, Pros And Cons
A journal dedicated to the carbon intensity of current electricity generation. It concluded that currently, except for many coal-dependent countries such as Poland, electric vehicles and heat pumps require less emissions than fossil fuel-based alternatives. T&E’s analysis shows that solar is cleaner in Poland because it is based on the most recent data. On the other hand, the study published in the journal Nature was published more than a year ago – before the European Green Deal and before the most authoritative evidence of a two- to three-fold improvement in battery cleanliness.
“While future electrification may not be compatible with rapid decarbonisation of the electricity grid, it could reduce emissions in all regions of the world,” the report said, citing continued use of renewable electricity sources from Sweden. The council allows electric vehicles to reduce CO2 emissions by around 70% compared to petrol and diesel vehicles.
The study’s lead author, Florian Knobloch of the University of Nijmegen, told the Guardian: “The idea that electric cars or heat pumps increase emissions is a myth. We have seen a lot of false information. Here is a definitive study that dispels these myths. .
One area that scores lower than conventional cars is in production, where it currently costs 30% more than petrol cars (relative to the global electric average). As a result, the authors warn, there may be a short-term increase in emissions in the interval between EV production and enjoying the overall benefits of lower emissions over their lifetime. The number of electric cars registered in Germany is not exploding, but that could soon change Photo: Julian Stratenschunte/dpa/picture alliance
Electric Car Battery Life, Cost Of Replacement, Recycling & Leasing
Sales have grown significantly since the German government began offering large subsidies for the purchase of all-electric vehicles. However, electric vehicles make up only about 1.2% of the country’s registered car stock, which is about 48 million vehicles.
A big reason for this, apart from high prices and charging infrastructure, is significant skepticism about the environmental friendliness of electric vehicles.
“To me, the CO2 balance sheet is a farce. You can’t save the environment or the climate with electric cars, especially Germany’s electric mix,” wrote one reader in the online comments section of a major daily newspaper last week. .
“Criticism of electric cars is usually reinforced by two points. One is that the batteries are too energy-intensive and the other is that the electric part is still powered by fossil fuels,” says Hinrich Helms, an expert on alternative drive systems. The Heidelberg Institute for Energy Research (ifeu).
Why Electric Cars Are Only As Clean As Their Power Supply
In addition to his own modeling of the environmental balance of electric vehicles, he also evaluates other institutions’ research on the subject.
There is consensus in the research field regarding climate ratings for most electric vehicles. Considering the major factors that play a role in production and operation, today’s electric vehicles have environmental advantages over diesel or gasoline engines. The same applies to recycling the final battery and charging the car using the current German electric mix.
Overall, environmental preference has increased in recent years, now between 20 percent and 30 percent, Helms said. Just a decade ago, similar studies compared electric cars with diesel cars.
But in 2010 Germany’s share of green electricity was around 16%. By June this year, it had risen to 48%. Therefore, despite the simultaneous increase in the efficiency of internal combustion engines, the leader of electric cars is growing year by year.
What Is The Environmental Impact Of A Battery?
Even among experts, the carbon footprint of electric vehicles is often debated. Last week there was a fierce conflict.
In an open letter to the European Union, internal combustion engine experts say CO2 emissions from charging electric vehicles are being underestimated by at least a factor of two due to newly discovered calculation errors.
The letter also calls for cars with internal combustion engines to be used in the future – but with biofuels or synthetic fuels. Other scientists who were not part of the internal combustion engine fan club were quick to respond.
The letter was called, among other things, “disgraceful” and a “lobbying letter disguised as science” in an attempt to save piston engines.
Your Guide To Ev Batteries: Premature Death, Range Loss And Preservation
The alleged miscalculation was indeed a conscious decision and was the methodological standard for many years.
However, now is a strange time for such a heated debate among researchers. Many big names in the automotive industry – and not just Volkswagen – have already set their sights on electric vehicles.
If you absolutely need a car, Helms also believes that electric cars are the best environmental solution. “In general, it is better to avoid driving as much as possible and use bicycles or public transport,” he said
We are at least on the right track when it comes to producing electricity from renewable sources, and today’s electric cars are very efficient at using it. However, in the complete car manufacturing process, there are more problems.
Study Calls For Reduction In Car Ownership, Battery Size And Vehicle Dependency To Limit Environmental Impact Of Surging Lithium Demand
“Because sooner or later renewable energy sources will have to be used in the extraction, transportation and processing of raw materials, as well as in further production processes to achieve emission-free mobility throughout the production cycle,” says Helms. “Bringing this complex value chain under one roof is a big challenge.”
Another challenge in Germany is the new supply chain law, which makes German manufacturers partly responsible for the human rights and environmental protection of their suppliers.
NordLink is one of the largest submarine cables in the world. It is connected to the electricity grids of Norway and Germany and tests have been successfully completed. It will supply around 3.6 million households with green electricity.
Does An Electric Vehicle Emit Less Than A Petrol Or Diesel?
Wind and solar farms do not always produce enough electricity in all weather conditions. Germany’s energy transition depends on storing energy from renewable sources – and batteries come to the rescue. By 2027, pure electric vehicles will be cheaper than fossil fuel vehicles in Europe. According to the latest BloombergNEF survey. BNEF expects electric sedans (segments C and D) and cars to be as affordable as gasoline cars from 2026 and small cars (segment B) in 2027. Why? The battery is cheap, new
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The American Film Market is currently underway (it’ll end on Wednesday, November 13) in Santa Monica, California, and VideoAge has a report fresh from the market floor.
As usual, there were varied opinions as to whether the date of the market is too close to MIPCOM (which concluded just four weeks before AFM started). Some saw the close proximity as a plus, with the AFM providing an opportunity to follow up on negotiations started at MIPCOM. Some said that buyers attending AFM — mostly hailing from companies’ film divisions rather than their TV divisions — were different enough from those who attend MIPCOM to make it worth a special trip to Santa Monica in November.
This year’s market proved that the DVD business is on its way out, replaced almost entirely by streaming. Coincidentally, on opening day of the market, Blockbuster Video announced that it would close its remaining home video stores in the U.S. and be replaced by a Blockbuster @Home streaming service.
Here are some numbers from this year’s event:
8,000- The number of participants that American Film Market oranizers said have attended the event in 2013.
357 – The number of exhibitors that attended AFM 2013 (same as last year), hailing from 33 countries.
779- The number of buying companies that have attended AFM 2013, a three percent increase and an uptick in overall buyers (1,624).
30-plus – The number of sessions included in the AFM Conference Series and Producers Forum. These sessions have featured over 100 industry thought leaders sharing their expertise.
405 – The number of films screened at AFM 2013, including 321 market premieres and 75 world premieres from 51 countries.
16- The number of exhibitors who came from Hong Kong (justifying the fourth annual Hong Kong Day, held the second day of the market).
3 – The number of new hotels that are being opened in Santa Monica by 2016. This fact will likely alleviate any major price gouging by the Loews Hotel, site of the AFM.
** Note: In 2014, MIPCOM will end October 16, thus shorting the gap with the start of AFM, with just three weeks between them.


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In an interview on the Engadget Show yesterday Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak speculated the white iPhone 4 will be coming very soon, stating his belief manufacturing problems had been resolved and Apple would begin shipments in the near future.
Woz specifically mentioned camera issues with some of the DIY conversion kits recently circulated using leaked parts from component suppliers -- something he personally experimented with himself. He went on to explain that photos taken with modded parts looked like they were "taken through cellophone" due to light leaking through the painted glass, and that he thinks Apple decided against shipping because they couldn't find a way to fix the problem.
We told you last week that Apple started using a new painting process to help with the issues plaguing the white iPhone, which lined up with reports that the white iPhone had shown up in Best Buy and Vodafone's ordering system, so Steve's statements don't seem so far off.
Do you think we could finally be seeing the mystical white iPhone 4 soon, or is it still just a pipe dream? Sound off in the comments below!
UPDATE: We altered the language slightly -- seems Woz is basing his comments on rumors just like the rest of us. No special Apple co-founder info involved.


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“China’s trade policies and practices in several specific areas cause particular concern for the United States,” said Mr Kirk in his year-end report to Congress.
“China’s regulatory authorities at times seem to pursue anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations and impose duties for the purpose of striking back at trading partners that have exercised their WTO rights in a way that displeases China,” said the report.
A range of policies raised “increasing concerns that China has not yet fully embraced the key WTO principles of market access, non-discrimination and transparency. China’s incomplete adoption of the rule of law has exacerbated this situation.”
The report accused Chinese officials of running rough-shod over foreign firms, forcing them to give up trade secrets in clear violation of WTO rules.
The harsh language will infuriate Beijing at a time when tensions are already high over maritime disputes on the Pacific Rim, where the US is increasingly embroiled as the region’s guarantor. Washington’s so-called “Asian Pivot” is viewed with deep mistrust by China’s Politburo as the start of an encirclement strategy.
The trade frictions are in stark contrast with growing US support for a sweeping trans-Atlantic trade deal with Europe, aimed at eliminating tariffs. It would be the most ambitious deal of its kind ever attempted.
Talks are expected to begin in early 2013 as the US warms to the theme on hopes that Europe will lift curbs on US farm goods and genetically modified crops — though France and Spain are certain to fight hard to defend their farmers.
The US has filed fifteen cases against China at the WTO, the most recent alleging unfair duties on US vehicles and car parts. Washington won a panel dispute over steel duties in September. China in turn has a clutch of cases claiming illegal use of anti-dumping measures by the US.
The US trade report marks a switch away from griping about China’s currency — less clearly undervalued after years of wage inflation — towards a closer focus on disguised protectionism.
It targeted a wide range of alleged abuses, including subsidies, attempts to keep out foreign imports and companies, and failure to enforce intellectual property rights.
Washington said restraints on exports of rare earth metals, tungsten, molybdenum, and other raw materials, as well as manipulation of export rebates, were leading to “tremendous disruption” worldwide.
The report said the root problem is the “heavy state role in the economy” and the top-down structure of industial planning, though it noted “positive signs”. Beijing’s Development Research Centre has issued a clarion call for reform, warning that China will be left behind in the “middle income trap” unless it ditches its obsolete growth model and embraces the free market.
For all the complaints, China has become America’s biggest export market, worth $131bn in 2011. Its current account surplus has fallen from 10pc of GDP five years ago to 2.6pc this year.Source: The Telegraph “US lambasts China for breaches of trade rules”
- Does China Belong in the WTO? (nationalinterest.org)
- Can the WTO Handle All These Disputes? (worldtradelaw.typepad.com)
- WTO: China discriminates against foreign card companies (chinadailymail.com)
- Chinese WTO suit strikes back at U.S. duties (chinadailymail.com)
Categories: Trade & Investment


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With Apple making a big stride with its new iPhone X, problems had to hit the tech giant.
Several reports published prior to the launch event already warned of extreme supply shortages, but it turns out things might be much worse than what we initially feared. Pre-orders for the Anniversary edition device start on October 27 while the phone launches on November 3, but if you haven’t pre-ordered the device you might face a severe delay.
With a $999 price tag, here's what Twitter thought of the new iPhone X
If you think you can casually wander into an Apple store and come out with an iPhone X like you would have done with previous versions, you’re in for a surprise. KGI Securities Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, in a latest report warned users that Apple expects to ship even fewer iPhone X smartphones than they initially thought.
"Due to supply constraints, we expect market demand won't be fully met before 1H18," Kuo wrote in his report sent to MacRumors.
Another reason Apple is launching the iPhone X late is in order to protect sales for the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, which will be available on September 22.
iPhone fans shouldn’t be that surprised as with every innovation the demand for the iPhone increases and inevitably crosses its expected supply.
Apple unveils $999 iPhone X to mark 10th anniversary
With Apple using new OLED displays, which are manufactured by Samsung, some things are just not in their hands. Apple is looking for alternate supply routes for the OLED display to help ramp up production — but that certainly won't have an effect in the short run.
The iPhone X certainly is living up to its expectations in terms of being a state of the art smartphone, but such hindrances will affect the positive vibe around Apple.
This article originally appeared on Mashable.