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Earlier this week rumors surfaced that Nuance Communications is up for sale. Apple is reportedly a huge customer of Nuance, using the firm's voice recognition software to help power Siri. So, if Nuance really is up for sale, should Apple be the ones who close the deal?
When voice services first started showing up a lot of people questioned their value. People considered them to be gimmicks. But I think people have largely started to accept the value that voice recognition brings to the table. It's quite handy to just ask your phone to tell you the weather forecast, or call home, or even send a brief email or text message when driving. It would be almost pointless (at least today) to dictate large amounts of text using Siri, or Google Now, or any other competing service, but for simple tasks I am a huge fan of these services.
To be clear, Apple doesn't rely on Nuance alone. They've got their own voice recognition group running in Cambridge and they recently acquired Novauris, a pioneer in the field. Apple has also built a lot of their own back-end intelligence, including the sequential inference that makes Siri contextually aware. Although Apple hasn't spoken publicly about the current extent of their relationship with Nuance, it's not unreasonable to assume it's still one piece of a highly complex Siri system that is admired by Apple fans.
Google doesn't use Nuance at all. Instead they hired Nuance co-founder Mike Cohen, among others, to build them their own system Given how important voice activated features are becoming, I think Nuance is an interesting asset that somebody else might buy if Apple doesn't. Samsung has reportedly had meetings with them, and they're definitely large enough to do a $6 billion or larger deal.
Is there a risk that Samsung could buy Nuance and then shut Apple out? I don't think it's a big risk but it is one that exists, and it's worth protecting yourself from that risk if you use Nuance to power the world's most admired digital assistant (that's you, Apple).
If we look at Apple's history they like to own the big pieces of the puzzle. They went out and created their own maps because maps are important. They bought a chip company so they could fully control the processors in iOS devices. They recently bought Beats to gain access to a better streaming music service.
It's possible Apple's own efforts on speech recognition are reaching maturity and any dependencies on Nuance will start to fade. There's been some speculation that this, and the maturity of speech recognition in general, could be threatening Nuance's value, leading them to explore acquisition options now that they wouldn't have in the past.
Interestingly, activist investor Carl Icahn — who stalked AAPL in the past — owns 19% of Nuance, and two of his firm's representatives are board members. So he logically had a hand in deciding to explore bids. Icahn might love the idea of selling Nuance to Apple, another firm he holds a sizeable position in.
Apple is still improving Siri. They've already announced streaming voice recognition, Shazam song identification, HomeKit integration, and "Hey, Siri!" for iOS 8. There's still room for on-device voice parsing, however, as well as natural language and context co-processing like Google's doing on the Moto X, and more.
Paying a few billion to acquire Nuance seems like a no-brainer to me. Not only would Apple be able to guarantee full control of voice technology in its current products, like Google does, but it would reap the benefits as the world moves further into wearable computing devices, which will naturally take advantage of voice activated features.
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Former sell side analyst, out-of-box thinker, consultant, entrepreneur. Interests: Wife & kids, tech, NLP, fitness, travel, investing, 4HWW.
It would make sense if they did. Sent from the iMore App
Why? The Siri engine is the brains behind it all. There are several voice recognition options out there.
I think you would really need to look at the percentage of Nuance features that Apple is using currently to be able to determine if this would actually be a good buy for Apple. They may not care because they may not actually be using a large subset of what Nuance has to offer. You are right in saying that they like to own the large piece. Has the piece that they currently own and use outpaced what they are getting from Nuance? Also, not sure how much hand holding they want to be doing with Icahn right now...
Of course, they have some of the best voice technologies in the world and if they want to prevent becoming even more reliant on Samsung for some of their core technologies that's integral in the way that Siri works, they better outbid Samsung or else have part of their destiny as an interactive platform in the hands of a competitor. Sent from the iMore App
The way I see Cortana going now, I think MSFT wll grab it
Carl Icahn may benefit from this sale but this will be all about bolstering its voice services on its platform for years to come, as well as preventing its competitors, i.e. microsoft, samsung, google, from getting the upper-hand in what is such an important medium going forward and into the future, in being able to communicate with electronic devices. They would be stupid in not bidding for Nuance, who in all intents and purposes, has the best voice technologies out there and is the progenitor of this space. Sent from the iMore App
Absolutely, Apple needs to jump on that ASAP.
If, as Rene has speculated, licensing fees (and not technical ability) is what has prevented Apple from on-board voice processing, then they needed to do this years ago. Sent from the iMore App
Nuance is heavily invested in the medical field. Apple seems to want a piece of this in a big way. So it seems like a good idea to an outsider. But who knows what Apple already has cooking.
Their market cap is $6.15 B; they have to pay more though.
I think this deal makes more sense than the Beats deal. And, I'm not knocking the Beat's deal, at all. I just think this one makes for a definite better internal fit.
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Kim Kardashian and her immediate family of four take center stage on day 16 of the 2017 Kardashian-Jenner Christmas card reveal.
As seen in a photo she posted on Instagram and on her app on Saturday, she and husband Kanye West stand in between their 4-year-old daughter North West and 2-year-old son Saint West amid a white background. Kim is wearing a white sleeveless top and light ripped blue jeans, while Kanye sports a white T-shirt and lighter jeans. North is dressed in a light denim jacket, white top and matching jeans while Saint remains shirtless in a pair of medium blue jeans.
The Keeping Up With the Kardashians family has been revealing parts of their 2017 Christmas card one day at a time like a holiday advent calendar. Kim and her husband and kids have been featured in previous puzzle-like reveals over the past couple of weeks, although this marks the first time Kanye's face has been shown.
The Kardashian-Jenner family has released a Christmas card almost every year since the late '80s. Their most recent one was in 2015 and it only featured North and Kourtney Kardashian's children Mason Disick, now 8, Penelope Disick, 5, and Reign Disick, 3. Kim was heavily pregnant with Saint at the time.
The Kardashians and Jenners posed for their 2017 Christmas card last month at a Los Angeles studio.
Fans are excited to see the final 2017 Kardashian Christmas card product and also hope for some surprises along the way—such as possible baby bumps or other types of pregnancy reveals; E! News had learned in September that Kim's sister Khloe Kardashian is expecting her first child with boyfriend Tristan Thompson. Also that month, reports said their sister Kylie Jenner is pregnant and expecting her first child with boyfriend Travis Scott.
Neither sister nor members of their family have confirmed the reported pregnancies. In a 2017 Kardashian Christmas card reveal pic posted earlier this week, Khloe is featured but does not appear to have a baby bump.
Watch Keeping Up With the Kardashians Sundays at 9/8c on E!

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LPA Design, the manufacturer of PocketWizard products has announced a new update to its ControlTL firmware for both Nikon and Canon versions of its MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 radios.
Firmware version 3.700 for Nikon includes compatibility with the recently released D810, D610, D4S and other Nikon cameras. Additionally, firmware version 6.700 for Canon now provides TTL compatibility with the Canon 1D X, 6D and 650D as well as other recently released Canon cameras.
The MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 are now fully compatible with the following recently released Canon and Nikon DSLRs:
- EOS 70D
- EOS 1D X
- EOS 6D
- EOS 700D
- EOS 650D
- EOS 1200D
- EOS 100D
Any current owner of the ControlTL system can easily install this version via USB and update for free using the PocketWizard Utility. PocketWizard Utility version 1.54 or later is required before installing this update.


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The Rx Express from Miami to Canada, via Savannah, is a way for seniors to thumb their noses at the U.S. pharmaceutical companies.
Savannah Morning News
All aboard the drug train.
A privately chartered train toting senior citizens from Florida to Canada to buy drugs will chug through Savannah next month to protest skyrocketing U.S. drug prices. Area residents are invited to sign up now for the few remaining seats.
The goal of the “Rx Express,” paid for and organized by a California-based consumer advocacy group, is to demonstrate the huge price disparity between prescription meds in the United States versus those in Canada.
A three-month supply of the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor, for example, costs $214 in the United States and $162 in Canada, because of the Canadian government’s price controls, The Associated Press reports.
Crossing the border to buy such U.S.-made drugs isn’t illegal, said Jerry Flanagan, health care director for The Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights, the group organizing the Miami-Toronto trip.
While importation is banned, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allows people to buy up to three months of drugs for personal use with a U.S. prescription.
The FDA opposes prescription large-scale drug importation because it says it cannot guarantee the drugs are safe.
“The most expensive medication is the one that doesn’t work or, even worse, can cause harm,” said Andrea McKeever, assistant professor in the school of pharmacy at South University in Savannah, echoing the American Pharmacy Association’s position.
But buying drugs over the Internet is more of a safety risk than traveling to Canada to purchase the meds, said Savannah pharmacist John McKinnon at Lo-Cost Pharmacy.
“The Internet is where the big concern is because no one can police that,” McKinnon said.
Seniors shouldn’t have to travel to get their drugs from Canada – where the drugs cost 30 to 60 percent less than in the United States, Flanagan said. That’s why the foundation wants the government to put price controls on drugs to reduce their cost.
Such price controls would be disastrous, McKinnon said, if it caused pharmaceuticals to cut back on research and development.
But Flanagan counters that price controls will mean pharmaceuticals will have to cut back on advertising – not necessarily research.
“Where most of our consumer dollars is going is to finance the marketing of the newest blockbuster drugs,” Flanagan said. “Companies spend two to three times more on advertising and marketing their drugs than on research.”
Limited seats are available on the protest train trip to Canada to purchase lower-priced prescription drugs. Riders will be chosen after a brief phone interview.
The train will pick up Savannah passengers at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 11.
To reserve a seat, call The Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights at (877) 791-2225 or send e-mail to [email protected]
For more information, visit http://www.consumerwatchdog.org.
Rx Express riders must bring valid prescriptions from their U.S. doctors. The foundation covers the majority of the trip’s costs.
Other ways to find cheaper prescription drugs include buying generic drugs, enrolling in the Medicare prescription drug benefit program or taking advantage of patience-assistance programs. For more information, visit http://www.needymeds.com and http://www.rxassist.org


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The Ministry of Consumer Affairs is developing new regulations for face masks to make sure they provide adequate protection against coronavirus.
The procedure has already been initiated and the text has been sent to public consultation to change the labelling, packaging and advertising requirements of these products, to make sure that the public is aware of the characteristics and purpose of these products.
Consumers need to know exactly how many times face masks can be washed before they lose effectiveness and what materials should be used, according to Consumo.
The use of inscriptions, signs, anagrams, drawings or indications that may mislead consumers about the type of mask they’re buying will be banned.
The use of interchangeable filters will also be regulated, because they are usually marketed separately from sanitary masks and are not currently regulated.
Non-compliance with labelling, packaging and advertising rules for face masks will be considered an infraction and result in sanctions, according to Consumo.
Hygienic face masks have become popular amongst people who are asymptomatic which has led to a boom in products on the market, but many of them don't comply with the minimum requirements for facial protection.
In recent days several health centres have banned people from accessing their facilities if they’re wearing fabric masks.


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PM’s advisor on commerce, Abdul Razzak Dawood, has revealed that Pakistan will begin exporting mobile phones in January. Initially, two Chinese companies will export mobile phones, the Commerce Advisor said. Both Chinese companies have set up assembly lines in the country, he added. Furthermore, Samsung was offered two times to open a factory in Pakistan, but refused.
Additionally, after seeing Chinese mobile phone factories established, Samsung approached the government seeking incentives for setting up a factory there. Lucky Cement Group, however, signed an agreement with Samsung Gulf Electronics a few weeks ago to manufacture Samsung smartphones in Pakistan.


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Starbucks is going to lend its staff in the UK money to buy houses
House prices are soaring in the UK right now and are expected to rise by 6% this year
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz speaks during the company's annual shareholder's meeting in Seattle, Washington March 18, 2015.
Starbucks is getting into the loans business.
The coffee chain is going to start lending its staff in the UK interest-free sums to help them put down a deposit to pay for a house, the Financial Times reports.
The report doesn't give details on how much Starbucks will lend but the loans will be over a 12-month period.
Starbucks is introducing the loan scheme after polling employees on their biggest issues. Housing came out on top and Kris Engskov, the president of Starbucks in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, told the FT: "That is no surprise. People are working in cities and not being able to afford housing close to where they work."
House prices are soaring in the UK right now and are expected to rise by 6% this year.
Starbucks is also getting on board with the new National Living Wage, introduced by George Osborne in the June budget.
The coffee chain will raise the pay for all its baristas to the new £7.20 an hour level in November from the current £6.77. Starbucks supervisors will also get a pay rise.
That's above and beyond the new legislation, which only requires over 25s to be paid the new National Living Wage and says nothing about a pay rise for those already earning above it.
Plenty of retailers and food and drink chains have complained about the cost of the Living Wage to them, including Whitbread, which operates rival coffee chain Costa.
Starbucks could be trying to make amends for its tax record in the UK. The coffee chain was one of several large US companies criticised for not paying enough tax in Britain (it has since reviewed its tax structure).


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Infinity Ward have released the first-ever Community Update for Modern Warfare detailing what’s coming soon to the game, including a 3v3 Gunfight mode, more loadouts, fixes for serious glitches, and more.
On January 5, Infinity Ward Art Director Joel Emslie admitted that they were looking into new and improved avenues of communication between the developers and players.
Just a few days later, on January 10, IW acted on that promise with the release of their first Community Update for Modern Warfare, highlighting some of the new playlists and features coming to the game.
In addition, they’ve also launched an official Trello page that features all of the issues currently plaguing the game, and how far the developers are in the process of finding and implementing fixes for them.
A full breakdown of this January 10 Community Update can be found below, including all upcoming new content, known issues being worked on, and a set schedule for when players can expect communication.
What’s coming next in Modern Warfare?
One of the first things that Infinity Ward will be adding is a 3v3 version of Gunfight. The base variant of the mode, of course, is 2v2, and now that the 1v1 version was recently added in the January 7 playlist update, fans can expect the 3v3 to come soon.
Speaking of Gunfight, the fan-favorite Gunfight Tournament will be brought back soon after its beta version was briefly made available in November. IW will add the tournaments back once they’ve “squashed a few bugs and added in new rewards.”
Players who are not content with having just five loadouts in multiplayer are in for good news as additional loadouts are coming soon. There will also be more 2XP, 2X Weapon XP, and 2X Tier promo events held in-game.
“That’s just a taste of things we’re working on, so keep an eye out for these and more in future updates,” Infinity Ward wrote.
Known issues being investigated in Modern Warfare
No one can deny that Modern Warfare has had its share of bugs, glitches, and exploits since being released on October 25.
The developers marked a few of the issues they’re currently investigating and looking to fix, so players should expect to see them patched in the upcoming updates:
- Lighting flickering on various maps
- Mission collision on containers on Cargo
- Platinum skins not unlocking properly
- Out of map exploits in Ground War
- Platinum and Damascus camos glare while ADS
Weekly communication schedule
In order to improve the consistency of their communication with players, Infinity Ward released a weekly schedule for when fans can expect announcements and new information.
- Tuesday – a playlist update will be released mixing up the game modes available in multiplayer
- Thursdays – new developer diary entry and/or behind the scenes blog
- Fridays – new Community Update, much like this January 10 one, in which IW will detail exactly what’s being worked on and where the game is headed.
This is all, of course, in addition to patch notes that will be released every time a new update or patch is rolled out.


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What is Spoofing? Definition, Types, Prevention
IoT adoption in the enterprise is up from 2017, according to Dresner's 2018 IoT Intelligence Market Study. Released last week, the report stated that 32% of enterprises are investing in IoT and 48% are planning to in 2019.
“Although current usage remains at lower levels, we see a slight warming toward IoT adoption up from 2017,” Jim Ericson, VP and research director at Dresner Advisory Services said. “We expect that overall adoption will grow as more widely applicable use cases and services for IoT become apparent.”
The importance of IoT Intelligence
Dresner stated that the majority of IoT investments will focus on data analytics rather than infrastructure or data supply chains. IoT Intelligence incorporates artificial intelligence into IoT applications to find insights in data.
“While the market is still in an early stage, we believe that IoT Intelligence, the means to understand and leverage IoT data, will continue to expand," Howard Dresner, founder and chief research officer at Dresner Advisory Services said. This is a result of organisations maturing in their "collection and leverage of sensor level data,” he added.
IoT early adopters lead the way
Dresner also concluded that early adopters of IoT lead their industries in advanced and predictive analytics. According to the data, IoT early adopters become more familiar with emerging technologies in order to scale across analytics platforms.
In addition to this, IoT early adopters differ most in the prioritisation of analytics. The data found that early advocates tend to focus on dashboards, reporting, advanced visualisation, data mining, and IoT use cases that provide data streams integral to analytics.
CIOs warn that IoT could become a “major burden”
Last week, Dynatrace revealed that the exponential complexity of IoT could damage a company's performance. The software intelligence firm has released a report outlining the major concerns of CIOs when it comes to implementing IoT.
Dresner found that manufacturers see IoT as the most critical component in achieving their overall goals. Despite this, Dynatrace revealed that 74% of CIOs worry that IoT performance will directly impact business operations and damage revenues.
Looking to innovate with IoT? Take a look at this year's Top 10 IoT Influencers for inspiration


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By Hamish Johnston in Beijing
“90% of new products are targeted at the richest 10% of the world’s population” – that’s my take-home message from a fascinating presentation by Surya Raghu at the Fall Meeting of the Chinese Physical Society here in Beijing. An engineer by training, Raghu founded US-based Advanced Fluidics in 2001 after a career in academia.
Raghu was speaking to a group of Chinese students about how to embark on a career as an entrepreneur. Student-age is the best time to acquire the mindset of an entrepreneur, says Raghu and he emphasized the concept of “inclusive knowledge transfer”. This a way of ensuring that products developed at universities benefit even the most disadvantaged in the world.
But please don’t think that this is all about charity – Raghu also pointed out that this 90% is a huge market where lots of money can be made. He also points out that products and services developed for this market can sometimes be better than those aimed at richer folks. Once example he gave is healthcare, where some medical tests designed for use in developing countries are much more price efficient than those aimed at richer markets.
And Raghu doesn’t just talk about inclusive knowledge transfer. He is co-founder of ET Cube International, which focuses on advising people in developing countries on how to commercialize intellectual property and improve their entrepreneurial skills.
If you are wondering what sort of products Raghu has developed, his first success was a special nozzle for windscreen wiper fluid. It cleverly turns what’s normally a problem – flow instability – into a way of spraying fluid evenly across a windscreen. So the next time you clean your windscreen, you may be using his invention.
• For more on physics in China, check out our brand new Physics World Special Report: China.


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Rep. Brynaert co-authored two bills that protect children: a ban on Bisphenol A in children’s food packaging, and a ban on formaldehyde in children’s hair and skin care products.
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Vodafone Idea’s enterprise arm Vi Business has launched Integrated IoT (internet of things) solutions for enterprises, the company said on Thursday.
The telecom company will offer end-to-end IoT solution comprising connectivity, hardware, network, application, analytics, security and support.
The offering is designed to simplify and accelerate the digital transformation journey for enterprises, it said.
The telco will adopt a consulting-led engagement approach for this and will help businesses identify their needs, design and develop the right IoT solution and implementation. The company will be providing IoT solutions across industries for smart infrastructure, smart mobility and smart utilities, on its 5G-ready network.
As part of the new business offering, IoT solutions for smart infrastructure will connect with assets like heterogeneous machines, energy systems and range of applications like ERP, factory applications for industries.
The smart mobility IoT solutions will offer automotive OEMs, logistics and associated industries with connected vehicle and fleet management solutions which is based on real-time vehicle and environmental parameters.
Under smart utility IoT solutions, Vi Business will allow utility companies and discoms to remotely monitor the performance of the transformers and other energy consuming machines or provide an integrated system of smart meters for improved customer experiences.
Commenting on the launch, Ravinder Takkar, MD & CEO, Vodafone Idea, said, “The launch of Vi integrated IoT solutions is a strategic step towards making Vi Business an IoT ecosystem integrator for Indian enterprises, and driving our transformation from a ‘Telco’ to ‘TechCo’”.
Abhijit Kishore, chief enterprise business officer, Vodafone Idea, said, “Vi Business will be the single point of contact for enterprises so that they can fully focus on accelerating their business with the assurance that the solutions are tailored as per their needs, managed professionally, and business outcomes are delivered”.


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There are less than six months to go now until the UK officially leaves the EU at 11pm on 29th March 2019.
While we still don’t have any clear indication of what the Brexit outcome will actually look like, there’s no doubt any change to the status quo is likely to cause disruption to this industry’s supply chains, and could potentially affect every single one of us to a greater or lesser degree.
The fact is that vast quantities of materials used in the UK window and door industry are imported from inside and outside the EU every day – whether that is hardware companies like Mila importing from the Far East or profile companies importing from Europe. Regardless of the intricacies of any deal, the UK customs infrastructure could very quickly be stretched beyond capacity if it suddenly had to carry out all the same checks on EU trade as it does on trade with the rest of the world, and that would just mean disruption and delays for everyone.
Mila and the wider Arran Isle group have been making our plans for Brexit almost since Article 50 was triggered, and we’ll be taking the same approach that we take every year around Chinese New Year to ensure that we have additional stock on our shelves to cope with it.
I’m becoming increasingly concerned though about the number of fabricators who remain convinced that it simply won’t affect them. Even if they don’t directly import or export anything themselves, they could still face costly stock shortages or delivery delays if their suppliers haven’t acted quickly enough to put in place contingency plans. In fact, I would urge them to start identifying high risk suppliers now and take any necessary action.
It’s all about ensuring continuity for your own business and in turn for your own customers. In fact, investing in a few weeks of additional stock for yourselves would ensure that you ultimately stay in control of your own Brexit – no matter what the outcome turns out to be.


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The latest news
Carolina Herrera holds first-ever fashion show outside New York in Rio de Janeiro
Carolina Herrera selected Rio as the first city outside of New York to host a fashion show for the brand. This decision was driven by the city's vibrant energy, infectious optimism, and "joie de vivre".
Retail report: The resale market’s current playing field
The pre-owned goods sector is poised for massive growth in the next five years. FashionNetwork.com looks at some of its key players.
Edward Enninful to exit British Vogue, taking on global advisory role
And another one bites the dust. Edward Enninful is to exit British Vogue the magazine has made known, making him the latest editor-in-chief of a Vogue in the past several years to exit their position.
Stella McCartney adds more new materials, makes first bag from banana plants
As interest in leather alternatives and other eco-friendly materials for accessories grows, Stella McCartney has launched its first-ever bag made from banana plants as part of its autumn 2023 collection.
ASOS, Fashion Minority Report launch incubator for ethnic minority-owned brands
ASOS and Fashion Minority Report (FMR) have joined forces to launch an inaugural incubator programme "to help bridge the gap between the industry and ethnic minority-owned brands – who continue to face barriers".
Farfetch names new Off-White CEO, New Guards chair as founders depart
Farfetch announced on Thursday that Cristiano Fagnani has been appointed to the role of CEO of Off-White, while remaining in charge of New Guard Group's Reebok business as CEO of NGG++.
Sources say LVMH chief Bernard Arnault to visit China in June
LVHM chief Bernard Arnault is set to visit China, two sources told Reuters on Thursday, as European luxury goods makers closely track the pace of recovery of the key market following three years of COVID disruptions.
Luxury circular club More launched as "savvier" way to own luxury
A timeshare for luxury goods? Sort of. It’s called More, and its model is based on co-ownership of personal luxury goods. It's positioned as “the world’s first Circular Luxury Club”.
Prada group names Francesca Secondari as Group General Counsel, Chief Legal Officer
The Prada group has announced it has appointed Francesca Secondari as Group General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer. In her role, she will be in charge of corporate legal affairs and compliance for the group.
LVMH’s Métiers d’Art division buys majority stake in Italian leather specialist Nuti Ivo
LVMH has recently acquired a majority stake in Italian leather specialist Nuti Ivo S.p.A, which has now become part of the world's number-one luxury group's Métiers d’Art division.
Appeal of quiet luxury trend confirmed by JOOR wholesale data
The quiet luxury trend has been making a big impact this year, despite some scepticism about its durability, but wholesale data appears to show it’s being backed by retail buyers.
YMC announces death of co-founder
YMC — the London-based independent retail brand whose initials stand for You Must Create — has announced the death of its co-founder Fraser Moss. The company said Moss died on 27 May.
Sneaker marketplace Laced raises new funding
Laced — the British sneaker marketplace — is aiming to make access to in-demand products fairer and has raised £10 million/€11.2 million to help it do that.
Physical stores boom, but don't neglect omnichannel says retail think tank
The members of the KPMG/Ipsos Retail Think Tank (RTT) have been looking at the retail market again and are questioning whether an online-only model is still viable.
UK consumers are festival-focused, fashion is key says eBay research
As festival season gets under way in the UK, new research shows that consumers are more focused on festivals this year than on holidays, and this is a key development for the fashion sector.
Cavalli kicks off summer collection tour with Selfridges show and pop-up
There are special collections and really special collections and the latest from Roberto Cavalli, that’s set to make waves at Selfridges, is undeniably one of the latter.


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Apple officially introduced its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature back in April this year and gave iPhone owners more control when it came to their data. Unfortunately, this step has caused a revenue dip for several social media companies, with a thorough investigation claiming that this decision created a loss of nearly $10 billion.
Amongst Many Social Media Companies, Facebook Criticized Apple’s App Tracking Transparency Using a Full-Sized Newspaper Ad
According to The Financial Times, social media companies like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Snap suffered revenue hits that amounted to $9.85 billion as a result of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature kicking in. Due to its massive size compared to other social media companies, Facebook reportedly lost the most money ‘in absolute terms’ where the figure could be around $8 billion, while Snap suffered the worst when it came to measuring the percentage of the company.
Since Snap does not have a desktop application and is only made for smartphones, it would make complete sense that they would be hurting from Apple’s decision. Adtech consultant Eric Seufert told The Financial Times that lots of social media platforms would have to rebuild from scratch as a result of ATT.
“Some of the platforms that were most impacted — but especially Facebook — have to rebuild their machinery from scratch as a result of ATT. My belief is that it takes at least one year to build new infrastructure. New tools and frameworks need to be developed from scratch and tested extensively before being deployed to a high number of users.”
For those that do not know how Apple’s App Tracking Transparency works, your iPhone will need to have iOS 14.5 or later to view it and when the feature is available, apps now have to ask users for permission to track their activity for targeted advertising. As you can tell by the aforementioned figures, a ton of users probably opted out of being tracked.
Meanwhile, the last quarter for Apple saw the California-based giant’s advertising revenue reach $18.3 billion, which was a difference of $700 million compared to the previous quarter. Also, assuming these social media companies do not change the way they track their users, Apple’s App Tracking Transparency could cost these giants a lot more money in the coming quarters.
News Source: The Financial Times


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DALLAS - As market momentum from 2015 spilled over into the first quarter 2016 for the DFW metropolitan area, commercial retail metrics are still firing on all cylinders, says Jason Vitorino, president, Vitorino Group.
The three key market indicators of occupancy, absorption and development are robust and expect to remain that way for the foreseeable future.
With fundamentals in check and a thriving economy led by strong employment and population growth, metro Dallas will continue to be a thriving marketplace and a safe haven for investor capital.
Record High Occupancy
DFW retail market ended 2015 with an impressive 93 percent occupancy achieving its highest occupancy rate in the last three decades. The continued occupancy increase is directly related to net absorption and largely attributable to positive population and employment growth in the Metroplex.
First quarter 2016 absorption totaled over 1.6 million sf, with half of that figure attributed to new deliveries.
With ascending occupancy and steady absorption, the development pipeline remains conservative and is not based on speculation.
In spite of 4 million sf of development forecasted to deliver within the next 12 months, 77 percent, or 3 million sf, is preleased. Thus, the retail market in Dallas remains constrained and balanced.
The vibrant Dallas economy continues to grow as a result of significant inward migration associated with a low cost of living and high employment opportunities.
The area’s population has grown by 11 percent in the last five years, and growth of 8 percent is projected over the next five years.
Furthermore, the population of metro Dallas is young and affluent.
Prepared for Growth
All the stars have aligned for the Metroplex to continue its impressive growth while maintaining strong real estate fundamentals. A lack of supply coupled with tremendous demand has produced a fundamentally sound Dallas retail market.
Overall market conditions will remain solid for many years to come. And even if history tends to repeat itself, we are just a third of the way through the current cycle before the next major market correction.


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What’s New in Vehicle Manufacturing? 3 Top Trends
Technological advances in the automotive industry over the past few years have led to disruptions in vehicle manufacturing. Many of these automotive technology advances were created in response to the fuel efficiency standards former President Barack Obama established in 2012. This has led to automotive manufacturers having to retool their traditional processes to adapt to disruptions. Technology trends disrupting the automotive sector today include 3-D printing, electric vehicles, and radio frequency identification (RFID). Learn more about each and how automakers are using them today as they advance toward the future of vehicle manufacturing.
3-D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, has the potential to significantly reduce the time and costs involved in manufacturing new vehicles. As the cost to purchase and implement 3-D printers on manufacturing floors steadily decreases, vehicle manufacturers may increasingly adopt this tech. Industry insiders expect 3-D printing to simplify vehicle manufacturing in some of the following ways:
- Prototyping — With 3-D printing, vehicle manufacturers can more easily develop and visualize prototypes. Also, they require less time to develop prototypes and alterations.
- Manufacturing — Automakers can use 3-D printing to manufacture vehicle parts more quickly and easily, cutting down on vehicle production time. Additionally, the technology allows for quicker spare parts production for vehicles already on the market.
- Tooling — Manufacturers can also use 3-D printing to develop the specialized tools they need for vehicle production, thereby making the tools more readily available for future proprietary use.
3-D printing isn’t the only technology taking hold in the vehicle manufacturing landscape.
In a bid to achieve the aforementioned fuel efficiency standards, many automotive industry insiders have turned to electric vehicle production — at least in some capacity. At present, Tesla appears to be the established leader in this field, having developed most of the technology other automotive company leaders have adopted. However, Tesla executives are struggling to keep up with demand due to difficulties in ramping up the production line. This has provided an opening that other companies are taking advantage of: BMW recently announced its electric car series, and Volvo is developing its Polestar brand of electric cars.
But they’ve got a bit of competition. In fact, while Tesla leaders and others are increasing production, the Ford Escape is the top-selling vehicle in the United States, putting Tesla’s Model 3 in 70th place. Producing approximately 1,100 Escapes per day has rounded out to over a million vehicles produced since January of this year.
While vehicle manufacturers are making the move to electric, albeit slowly, still another tech trend is shaping the industry.
Although auto manufacturers are struggling with production, radio frequency identification (RFID) offers safety through transparency and the ability to track various vehicle components in production. This is especially important during vehicle customization when manufacturers must add particular components into specific vehicles so they comply with state or country vehicle regulatory requirements. RFID allows manufacturers to verify correct vehicle component installations, cutting down on post-production vehicle inspection time.
As technology continues advancing, further automotive industry disruption is likely inevitable. Savvy manufacturers will do their market research, learning which of these tools will be best applicable to their production lines — and offer the best return on investment.


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Jack Bouroudjian reminds us earnings starts this week. Could this play into the possible rate hike at the Fed meeting in December?
Market Update: Headline Risk
Jack Bouroudjian discusses risk affecting the market from Facebook and Twitter, and looks ahead to this week’s FOMC meeting.
Market Update: Inflation & Headlines
After the Consumer Price Index numbers and Producer Price Index numbers last week, Jack Bouroudjian says we need to pay…


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The Shopping Patterns of Working Women
CLEVELAND -- Grocery shopping decisions are on the minds of working women at the same time as they are busy trying to juggle their job responsibilities during the day, according to new research.
WorkPlace Impact, a Cleveland-based marketing company that targets consumers directly at work, recently surveyed 1,340 American working female consumers and found that 84.4 percent of those polled said they regularly or occasionally add items to their grocery shopping lists at work.
Working women also make frequent trips to grocery stores on personal time that bumps up right against the workday. According to the survey, nearly half of working females (49 percent) make trips to the supermarket between Monday and Friday, while 46 percent reported that they regularly purchase groceries on their way to or from the office, or during a lunch break.
“We’re finding an increasing blending of work and personal lives among working consumers," said Tara L. Peters, director of marketing for WorkPlace Impact, who noted little surprise "to learn that working women are so frequently making grocery shopping decisions during the workday.”
Accordingly, WorkPlace Impact advises that consumer packaged goods retailers and suppliers seeking to boost connections with working women should target their promotional outreach closest to the time and place these shoppers are making purchasing decisions -– at work.
The survey's findings are gathered in WorkPlace Impact's From Planning to Purchase: The Shopping Patterns of Working Women report, which is available via a request to [email protected].


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Barnes & Noble has put itself on the block.
The nation’s biggest bookstore chain — whose stores are struggling even as its chairman battles billionaire investor Ron Burkle over corporate governance — said it will explore strategic alternatives, including a possible sale.
Confirming months of investor speculation, Chairman Len Riggio said he might “participate in an investment group that buys the company.” Riggio and his family already control 37 percent of the company’s shares.
The news sent the stock– which had fallen 33 percent this year as business at the company’s stores has continued to weaken — soaring as much as 25 percent, to $16.05 a share in after-hours trading.
A sale could pit Riggio, a Bronx native who began building the chain after acquiring Barnes & Noble in 1971, against Burkle, a Los Angeles retail tycoon who last month sued to remove a poison pill while threatening to shake up the company’s board.
Last month, a Delaware judge pledged to deliver a swift verdict on whether to remove the poison pill, allowing Burkle to buy more voting shares ahead of the company’s annual meeting set for Sept. 30. If the judge rules in Burkle’s favor, Riggio’s move will make Burkle’s plan more costly.
A spokesman for Burkle didn’t respond to a request for comment yesterday. A Barnes & Noble spokeswoman declined to comment beyond a written statement from the company.
Testifying in a Delaware court last month, Burkle told the judge he had considered trying to acquire Barnes & Noble for as much as $25 a share but dropped the idea because Riggio’s clout would have made it “a waste of time.”
Burkle’s interest in the book chain has mystified many industry insiders, as the struggling retailer’s stores continue to falter while the company is falling behind in the fast-growing digital-books business.
But the savvy investor believes Barnes & Noble has a brand with a strong pull on consumers, in addition to enjoying dominance over publishers, according to people close to the situation.
His relationship with Riggio soured last year, when Burkle began amassing a nearly 20 percent stake and asked permission to raise it to 37 percent.
Riggio told a judge last month he “was completely unhappy” with Burkle’s involvement in the company.
“I didn’t think highly of his judgement,” Riggio testified.
Meanwhile, Burkle has blasted Riggio for selling a college bookstore chain last year to Barnes & Noble for $600 million — a deal that he said enriched Riggio and his wife at the expense of shareholders, who have been saddled with a bad investment.
Barnes & Noble said it selected Lazard as financial adviser and Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP as legal adviser.


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If you’re not getting a good night’s sleep, your laptop, smartphone or tablet are to blame, according to a study from the National Sleep Foundation (NSF). The survey found that 95 percent of those polled use devices with bright screens in the hour before bed, while 60 percent of them say that they have sleep-related problems such as snoring or still feeling tired in the morning.
“Unfortunately, cell phones and computers, which make our lives more productive and enjoyable, may be abused to the point that they contribute to getting less sleep at night, leaving millions of Americans functioning poorly the next day,” said Russell Rosenberg, Vice Chairman of the NSF.
The NSF poll found Americans report very active technology use in the hour before trying to sleep, whether it’s using a laptop, smartphone or tablet. “Artificial light exposure between dusk and the time we go to bed at night suppresses release of the sleep-promoting hormone melatonin, enhances alertness and shifts circadian rhythms to a later hour — making it more difficult to fall asleep,” said Charles Czeisler, Ph.D., MD, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
“This study reveals that light-emitting screens are in heavy use within the pivotal hour before sleep. Invasion of such alerting technologies into the bedroom may contribute to the high proportion of respondents who reported that they routinely get less sleep than they need,” Czeisler added.
Six in ten of those surveyed said they use their laptops or computers at least a few nights per week in the hour before they go sleep. Over half of those polled also said they surf the Internet every night or almost every night within the hour before sleep. This, according to experts, may have consequences for physical health, with about three quarters of those over 30 saying that sleepiness affects their work too.
Are our gadgets really messing with our sleep? If the upcoming wave of tablets (like the iPad–15 million sold) are anything to go by, sleep is the only time when people will actually get time away from their electronics. For example, a study found that 20 percent of a user’s time with an iPad is spent in bed.
“While these technologies are commonplace, it is clear that we have a lot more to learn about the appropriate use and design of this technology to complement good sleep habits,” said David Cloud, CEO of the NSF.
Do you use your gadgets in the hour before you go to sleep? Does this affect your sleeping patterns? Sound off in the comments.
Follow Daniel Ionescu and Today @ PCWorld on Twitter Gadgets Ruining Your Sleep, Study Finds


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Curating the true potential of gaming and esports.
Something different for your inbox. No distractions, no bs. Told as it is, as an unfiltered, irrelevant beer talk with friends. Give it a go, it’s free.
Published: 10/Jul/2018 18:10 Updated: 26/Jul/2018 12:06by DG Goldstein
The upcoming release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 has generated a substantial amount of hype throughout the gaming world, especially surrounding the ‘Blackout’ Battle Royale mode.
While a collection of other Battle Royale titles have been known to support lobbies of 100 players each, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 may be taking a different route with their spin on the popular genre.
A Reddit user by the name of jerm500 posted an image of the supposed ‘Blackout’ lobby, which appears to show that the mode will hold 60 players, compared to the typical 100 in Fortnite, PUBG, and other games.
Some community members have voiced concern with the prospect of the mode potentially ‘only’ containing a total of 60 players, yet nothing has been confirmed by Treyarch at this time.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is scheduled to release worldwide on Friday, October 12th.
We will continue to provide more information on this story as it is made available.


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Trade Me Insurance (trademeinsurance.co.nz) promises to provide New Zealand consumers with peace of mind around their home, contents, and car insurance, but without the painful process. It is a comprehensive, online insurance offer where people can get a quote, buy insurance, make a claim and manage their policy.
Trade Me chief executive officer Jon Macdonald, said Trade Me Insurance was an easy, simple, good value, and trusted new way for New Zealanders to buy insurance. “We’ve built a streamlined online insurance experience that is as useful and intuitive as possible, with a focus on the buyer. We’re also making sure that members of the Trade Me community get a particularly good deal so they’ll enjoy a 15 per cent discount on premiums from day one.”
TOWER Limited CEO, David Hancock, said Trade Me Insurance was an important new initiative. “Today’s launch is a real milestone for us. We’re focused on meeting changing customer expectations around insurance online, and investing heavily in the development of digital infrastructure. What’s most exciting about Trade Me Insurance is that it offers general insurance customers an end-to-end digital solution from quote to claim, and gives customers greater flexibility and choice.”
Macdonald said the new offering had been tailor-made with TOWER. “Trade Me Insurance has been built from scratch. It combines our knowledge of building useful online experiences with TOWER’s financial strength and 140 years of insurance experience. Everything’s new – the products, the website, the pricing and the customer service.”
He said TOWER was a natural fit. “They’re smart, and easy to deal with. And most importantly for this venture, consumers will have confidence that Trade Me Insurance is backed by a well-respected local insurer doing some interesting things online.”
Hancock said TOWER’s alliance with a much-loved brand like Trade Me strengthened the insurer’s partner network across NZ.
Trade Me Insurance is led by Conor Sligo and Tim von Dadelszen, the GMs of Trade Me’s current LifeDirect insurance comparison website.
Macdonald said Trade Me Insurance was part of Trade Me’s selective forays into financial services. “This seemed like a natural extension for us into an area where we could do something to change things up. We’ve made some investments in financial services already, having acquired LifeDirect in 2013 and buying a stake in peer-to-peer lender Harmoney in January this year.”


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Biden Will Need to Repair a Global Economic Order Trump Damaged
“If Donald Trump has illustrated anything as president, it’s that the postwar global economic order is more fragile than anyone thought. Think of America’s trading relationships and rank in the world as a painstakingly assembled collection of delicate pottery that for generations has been a source of civic pride and envy from the neighbors. Trump and his deputies have been the raucous gang of teenagers barging their way through, leaving a trail of chipped and smashed artifacts. President-elect Joe Biden is the genial grandfather leading a new team brought in to mend what they can. The questions now are: How much will they save? And how creative will they get in the reconstruction?”
U.K. Economy’s Record Rebound Still Leaves it Far Behind Others
“The U.K. economy expanded the most on record in the third quarter, a rebound that still leaves Britain’s recovery trailing behind the world’s major industrialized nations. Output surged 15.5% in the three months through September, according to data released Thursday, but the economy was still almost 10% smaller than before the pandemic. New virus restrictions could push it back into recession — a threat that’s already forced the Bank of England and U.K. Treasury to launch another round of stimulus.”
China and 14 Asian Nations to Sign World’s Biggest Free-Trade Deal
“Fifteen Asia-Pacific nations including China aim to clinch the world’s largest free-trade agreement this weekend, the culmination of Beijing’s decade-long quest for greater economic integration with a region that encompasses nearly a third of the global gross domestic product. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which includes countries stretching from Japan to Australia and New Zealand, aims to reduce tariffs, strengthen supply chains with common rules of origin, and codify new e-commerce rules. Its passage may disadvantage some U.S. companies and other multinationals outside the zone, particularly after President Donald Trump withdrew from talks on a separate Asia-Pacific trade deal formerly known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership.”
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The Lexus LFA seems to be one of Britain's most lived supercars. The Japanese missile has been around since later-2010, but despite being less than a decade old, it has already achieved legendary status.
More LFA news:
Only 500 LFAs were ever produced, 20 a month, making it extremely rare. Of those 500, only two or four (depending on who you ask) made it to UK shores, and every one of those is corporately owned meaning that seeing one is hugely unlikely. Lexus UK occasionally brings its Lapis Lazuli blue model out to play at events like Goodwood, but besides that, seeing an LFA on British roads is about as likely as seeing an X-Wing on UK roads. All of that is strange, given that every European-bound LFA was sold though a dealer in London.
The buying process was a complex operation, too. The LFA cost £343,000 new, and that's before any options were added, but even the richest of the rich couldn't just buy an LFA. Lexus personally vetted every single applicant for the car, and made buyers sign a contract insisting that the manufacturer got first refusal on the car if owners want to sell. In the US you couldn't even buy the car for two years, with Lexus insisting on a lease programme to foil speculators and flippers.
So why are we telling you all of this? Well, once in a blue moon an LFA comes up for sale on the second-hand market.
That recent blood moon must've turned blue, because it turns out you can now buy your very own LFA, free from contracts and vetting processes – and it's basically new.
An example of the 552 bhp V10 supercar – the 479th built – will be sold at the upcoming RMSotheby's auction at Monterey on August 25 and is expected to fetch between £290,000 and £345,000 – surprisingly not too far off the list price for the car. The LFA for sale has just 120 miles on the clock, too.
It is finished in Whitest White, with an interior trim of black with red accents. Complete with the car is the original owner’s manual and luggage set.
If you want to help the UK's meagre LFA population grow, you could always buy the car and ship it over as well. Even factoring in the shipping cost, this almost-new LFA represents something of a bargain.


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Located in Elmsford at 320 Saw Mill River Rd. (Route 9A), the new ShopRite will open on Sunday, March 26, and hold a grand opening celebration beginning at 9 a.m. that will include a ceremonial ribbon cutting.
The full-service supermarket will feature an in-store space called "Fresh to Table," which will provide to-go food options and ingredients for those who only have time to make one stop.
The space will offer meals that are ready-to-cook, ready-to-heat, and ready-to-eat, in addition to also including a digital component that will let shoppers pre-order meals online.
Other features that will be offered by the new supermarket include:
- A meat department with trained butchers;
- A from-scratch fresh bake shop;
- A seafood department with fresh daily deliveries;
- A produce department;
- A floral department;
- Online shopping with both in-store pickup and home delivery options.
ShopRite President Steve Savas said that he can't wait for the supermarket to finally open its doors.
"We are proud to open our new store in Elmsford and look forward to serving the community and providing ShopRite value, variety, and quality," Savas said.
In addition to serving shoppers, the supermarket is also looking to fill around 200 positions. Those interested can apply to these positions by clicking here.
The plaza where the new ShopRite is located is also home to a Taco Bell and Kentucky Fried Chicken location, which reopened in March 2023 after a year of intense renovations.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Briarcliff and receive free news updates.


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Software that takes over dangerous and offcourse drones will come to market next month.
— Delivered by Feed43 service
Apple have revealed their top app of the year, one that promises to transform your photos into art, all for free.
A drone with a â€œyou break, we fix for freeâ€ warranty goes on sale in Australia today.
Selfie drones open avenues for amazing film sequences that might otherwise be impossible or would cost a fortune.
Impressive but is it for you? Microsoft’s tiny dual screen foldable Android phone Surface Duo 2 is among the most unusual devices in 2021 https://bit.ly/3B4UmlQ #Microsoft #android #windowsphone #technology
.@RoyceWilsonAU reviews Far Cry 6 – a Caribbean cornucopia of gunfire, explosions & chaos https://bit.ly/3nbwHey #FarCry6 #games
Conquering the kitchen - Appliances from fridges to BBQs are shipping with Wi-Fi and companion apps, writes @GQuattromani https://bit.ly/3pmOGS6 #connected #Traeger #Kenwood #Delonghi
Windows 11: A new dawn. I look at two new Windows 11 devices - Microsoft Surface Go 3 & Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 Carbon laptop https://bit.ly/3vx1Tsr #Microsoft #Windows11 #SurfaceGo3 #Lenovo
Post pandemic work is a new world, says Cisco at its media and analyst briefing day. It says working practices have changed forever https://bit.ly/3ncZSOc #Cisco #covid #hybridwork


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|Day's Range||195.00 - 195.00|
Alphabet’s Waymo One plans to start using driverless cars for its autonomous taxis. The service is available to a small group of customers in Phoenix.
Futures: The stock market rally has made impressive gains, but can the indexes hit all-time highs? Atlassian and Intuitive Surgical were key earnings movers late.
Microsoft stock has moved somewhat sideways over the last three months as it cools off after a stellar first half of 2019. This means that the tech giant's upcoming quarterly earnings results will likely be the next catalyst for MSFT shares...
Paul Gryglewicz, Senior Partner at Global Governance Advisors By Oliver Estreich Fast-growing companies can be surprised when their shareholder base switches from insiders and a few loyal investors to a diversified base that thinks about corporate governance much differently. The result is an onus on companies to carefully identify shareholder vote guidelines and identify any […]
With earnings due in late October, Google stock has climbed nine out of the last 11 trading days. Google stock has risen well above its 50-day moving average, and has neared a buy point.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- The New Yorker and the Atlantic have never been known for their business coverage, so when both magazines published long articles about Amazon.com Inc. in their current issues it signaled that something is in the air. That something is antitrust.More precisely, what’s in the air is the question of what the government should do to rein in the tremendous power of the big four tech companies: Facebook Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Apple Inc. and Amazon.Once the province of think tanks and law reviews, this topic has become such a public concern that 48 of the 50 state attorneys general are conducting antitrust investigations, presidential hopefuls are calling for tech giants to be broken up, and general interest magazines like, well, the New Yorker and the Atlantic are asking whether the companies abuse their market power. In this particular case, the magazines are asking it about Amazon.The Atlantic article is by Franklin Foer, who has long raised concerns about Big Tech. Five years ago, for instance, he wrote a cover story for the New Republic titled “Amazon Must Be Stopped.” It focused on Amazon’s dominance over the book business.This time around, he is writing about the unbridled ambition of Amazon’s founder and chief executive officer Jeff Bezos. (The new article is “Jeff Bezos’s Master Plan.”) “Bezos’s ventures are by now so large and varied that it is difficult to truly comprehend the nature of his empire, much less the end point of his ambitions,” Foer writes. He then goes through a list. Bezos wants to conquer space with his company Blue Origin. Bezos’s ownership of the Washington Post makes him a significant media and political figure. Bezos’s brainchild, Amazon, “is the most awe-inspiring creation in the history of American business.” And so on.He also points out that while critics fear Amazon’s monopoly power, the company is loved by consumers. “A 2018 poll sponsored by Georgetown University and the Knight Foundation found that Amazon engendered greater confidence than virtually any other American institution,” he writes. I have no doubt that this is true; Amazon’s obsession with customer service instills tremendous loyalty among consumers. It’s no accident that over 100 million people now pay the company $119 a year to be Amazon Prime members. That loyalty is also one reason taking antitrust actions against Amazon would be much more difficult than going after Facebook or Google. I’ll get to some other reasons shortly.Charles Duhigg’s New Yorker article “Is Amazon Unstoppable?” is both smarter about Amazon and more pointed about its power. Duhigg captures its relentless culture, comparing it to a flywheel that never stops. He described Bezos’s efforts to ensure that Amazon never loses the feel of a scrappy startup. The phrase that came to mind as I was reading Duhigg’s article was Andy Grove’s famous dictum: “Only the paranoid survive.”Duhigg is also interested in what Amazon’s critics have to say. Amazon pays no U.S. taxes. Amazon’s work culture makes it nearly impossible for women who want children to have long careers there. Amazon’s warehouse workers are sometimes fired after being injured on the job. Amazon looks the other way when counterfeit goods are sold on its site. (In the article, Amazon’s representatives deny these allegations.)Then there’s the fact that Amazon both serves as a platform for companies wanting to sell things and sells things itself. In other words, it competes with the same companies it enables. According to Duhigg, Amazon has been known to track items that do well, and then make its own version of the same item — which it then sells at a discounted price. (Amazon denies this, too.) Margrethe Vestager, the European Union’s commissioner for competition, told Duhigg that the practice “deserves much more scrutiny.”The story’s killer anecdote, at least as it concerns antitrust, is about Birkenstock USA LP’s experience with Amazon. Although Birkenstock sold millions of dollars of shoes using the Amazon platform, it was constantly hearing customer complaints that the shoes were defective. Why? Because, according to Birkenstock, Amazon allowed counterfeits to be sold on the site. Not only would Amazon not take down the counterfeit goods, but it also wouldn’t even tell Birkenstock who was selling them.Amazon also had stocked a year’s worth of Birkenstock inventory, which terrified the company. “What if Amazon decides to start selling the shoes for 99 cents, or to give them away with Prime membership, or do a buy-one-get-one-free,” wondered Birkenstock’s chief executive officer, David Kahan. “We were powerless.”Kahan’s complaints went nowhere. So he pulled Birkenstocks off Amazon. What did Amazon do? It solicited Birkenstock retailers, offering to buy shoes directly from them. Today, if you search for Birkenstocks on Amazon you’ll be deluged with choices even though the company itself refuses to do business with Amazon. I found a pair of Arizona oiled leather sandals — listed on Birkenstock's website for $135 — marked down to $60 on Amazon. Is it the real thing, or is it a counterfeit?The hard question: What do you do about this kind of behavior? On one extreme is the Democratic presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren, who believes the most appropriate solution is to break up Amazon. At the other end of the spectrum, there are still plenty of antitrust economists who believe that if a $135 sandal is being sold for $60, that’s good for consumers. They argue that the government should just stay out of the way.I’m a proponent of breaking up Facebook, mainly because I believe if you force it to disgorge two of its prized platforms, Instagram and WhatsApp, you’ll instantly create serious competitors. That could help raise the bar on privacy, data usage and other concerns. But I’m not sure that would work with Amazon.For instance, if Amazon had to separate its highly profitable cloud service, Amazon Web Services, from its retail business the power dynamic between Amazon and the companies that use its platform would remain.What’s more, it’s harder to make a classic antitrust case against Amazon than it is against Facebook and Google. According to the research firm EMarketer Inc., Amazon is expected to account for 37.7% of all online commerce in 2019. By contrast, Google controls 89% of the search market.Still, for too many retailers, Amazon has the power to control their destiny, for good or ill. As the antitrust activist Lina Khan wrote in her now-famous 2017 article in the Yale Law Journal: “History suggests that allowing a single actor to set the terms of the marketplace, largely unchecked, can pose serious hazards.” I take that assessment to mean that government intervention at Amazon is needed.To my mind, the simplest and most sensible solution is from the economist Hal Singer: Don’t allow platform companies to favor their own products over competitors’ products. Singer calls this a “nondiscrimination regime,” and models it after the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act, which prevents cable distributors from favoring their own content over content from competitors. In that scenario, a company that felt it was being discriminated against by Amazon could bring a complaint to federal regulators just as cable stations can do now. This regime has worked well for the TV industry. It could work for Amazon, too.Secondly, the government should hold Amazon accountable for counterfeits. Counterfeiting is against the law, and although Amazon told Duhigg that it spends “hundreds of millions of dollars” on anti-counterfeiting efforts it’s no secret that many deceptively labeled goods are still sold on the site. (See, for instance, this recent Wall Street Journal story.) Companies like Birkenstock have a right to expect that a platform selling its products will rigorously police counterfeits — and will identify counterfeiters so manufacturers of authentic goods can take legal action.These are solvable problems. They don’t require extreme measures. What they do require is a government with the will to transform Amazon’s platform from what it is now, a vehicle that squelches competition, to one that lets competition flower.(Corrects paragraphs 12 and 13 to accurately reflect pricing disparities between sandals sold on Birkenstock's website and those sold on Amazon.)To contact the author of this story: Joe Nocera at firstname.lastname@example.orgTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Timothy L. O'Brien at email@example.comThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Joe Nocera is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering business. He has written business columns for Esquire, GQ and the New York Times, and is the former editorial director of Fortune. His latest project is the Bloomberg-Wondery podcast "The Shrink Next Door."For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
This year’s poster child for the stock market’s love of cloud-based enterprise software has to be Zoom Video Communications. Led by a management team sprinkled with Cisco alums, including CEO and founder Eric Yuan and CFO Kelly Steckelberg, Zoom has taken on (CSCO)’ (ticker: CSCO) WebEx, (MSFT)’s (MSFT) Skype, (GOOGL)’s (GOOGL) Google Hangouts, privately held BlueJeans, and a host of other rivals. At the peak, just north of $107, Zoom shares were trading at more than 50 times anticipated revenue for this fiscal year.
Three companies were fined a total of $107,200 for reasons including not following the crane manufacturer's procedures for dismantling the structure.
Signs of hope for a Brexit deal and U.S.-China trade war updates. Some disappointing U.S. manufacturing and retail data. Q3 earnings results from the likes of Netflix. And why Google parent Alphabet is a Zack Ranks 1 (Strong Buy) stock. - Free Lunch
France wants the EU to set up a special supervisory body for big tech companies after Google has refused to pay publishes for article extracts.
Elizabeth Warren's campaign plans to limit donations from big tech firms. The presidential candidate has discussed breaking up Facebook, Google, and Amazon.
Facebook cleared a buy point in early July but have pulled back. Is the FANG stock a good buy? Here's what Facebook earnings and chart say.
With Airbnb on the road to going public in 2020, the company has positioned itself as much different that loss-generating Uber, and those big-Google-spending online travel companies, Booking Holdings and Expedia Group. But new reporting on Airbnb's first quarter of 2019 performance at the least means Airbnb will have some explaining to do on that […]
TikTok is poaching Facebook's (FB) employees, according to a CNBC report. As a result, the rivalry between the two social media businesses continues to escalate.
The company is adding merchants and growing its lead among digital wallet providers, Morgan Stanley’s James Faucette wrote in advance of its third-quarter earnings report.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Fury is the prevailing feeling of 2019. People are angry much of the time about so many things. Sometimes, though, I wonder whether the anger is misdirected.Often, the targets are companies. There’s pressure on retailers like Walmart Inc. to restrict gun sales. There’s anger at Facebook Inc. for running a misleading political ad from President Donald Trump’s campaign. Some people are furious at oil companies for not doing more to slow climate change, and at Uber Technologies Inc. for taking advantage of drivers or worsening traffic-clogged cities.I get it. Actions of powerful companies or their failures to act can have a profound impact. They are legitimate targets for popular pressure, and companies can’t simply sell potentially harmful products or run their businesses in destructive ways and ignore the consequences.But this rage is not only about those individual companies. It’s also redirected fury about inaction by policy makers.People are mad about government inaction on gun violence, but policy makers are paralyzed and anger gets channeled at Walmart. People are mad about nonsensical political speech rules, failures to make laws on personal data privacy or corporate tax avoidance, but few Americans believe Congress or regulators will do anything. Instead, people are left to vent at companies.Have we gotten to the point where U.S. elected officials are so impotent that the only recourse is to hope profit-minded companies do the right thing — and then get angry when we believe they don’t? There are policies that companies can improve on their own, including employee pay and sexual harassment prevention. There is also a need for clarity from elected officials — either on their own or in concert with big companies. Rules about political ads are one such example. I don’t want politicians to be able to mislead voters on Facebook, but the company is not solely responsible for the half-truth political attack ads that run on its services. Laws and tough regulation are a better approach than always relying on the wisdom of individual internet companies or television networks to make the tough calls.Gun policy, corporate tax avoidance, labor laws and protecting elections from cyberattacks are also matters policy makers are best placed to tackle. My Bloomberg Opinion colleague Matt Levine wrote about the oddity of members of Congress being angry at failures by the Federal Trade Commission to restrict Facebook’s data collection practices when Congress could impose those restrictions by passing a law.I don’t want policy paralysis to absolve companies of responsibility for doing bad things or preventing harm. And companies are not innocent here, either. They fight against laws and regulation, which effectively gives themselves more responsibility — and they sometimes use government inaction to justify their own.Facebook for years fought to exclude itself from rules that mandate disclosures of who is behind political ads on other media such as broadcast television. And Amazon.com Inc.’s history includes advocating for a national sales tax law — which it knew was unlikely to happen — while it employed aggressive tactics to avoid charging sales tax in many U.S. states. (Amazon gave up fighting state sales taxes around 2012.) Facebook, Google and Amazon are now advocating for federal laws that sometimes feel like self-serving attempts to muzzle state or local rules they don’t like or to pass the buck on controversial company policies. When California recently did act to pass a law that could force Uber and other companies to treat contract workers as employees, Uber vowed to fight it and made a technical legal argument that a law tailor-made for Uber doesn’t apply to the company. Those tactics aside, it is hard to thread the needle between saying companies like Facebook and Amazon are way too powerful and also relying solely on them to always make hard policy decisions. That’s why we have elections and a government.A version of this column originally appeared in Bloomberg’s Fully Charged technology newsletter. You can sign up here.To contact the author of this story: Shira Ovide at firstname.lastname@example.orgTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Niemi at email@example.comThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Shira Ovide is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering technology. She previously was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
Snap has grown revenue and its userbase as larger rivals Alphabet's Google and Facebook Inc , which dominate the global digital advertising market, face regulatory scrutiny over their market control. Both Google and Facebook already offer dynamic ads. Dynamic ad platforms pick items from advertisers' product catalogs and target them automatically to people with relevant interests, removing the need to manually advertise each product individually.
A number of large developers are reportedly turning away from the smart-home gadgets made by Google-owned Nest as the company exerts more control over the business unit.
(Bloomberg) -- Catalan independence activists looking for information on how to take part in the next protest against Spain can rely on a handy, two-day old app for details on when and where to go. The only catch: the app doesn’t work on iPhones.That’s caused iPhone-wielding campaigners to ask why they’re being left out of the loop. Democratic Tsunami, the group organizing the protests, and which created the app, says it’s simply about security.The reason is that Apple’s “App Store” has restrictive policies on such applications and it has already “censored” similar mechanisms for demonstrations in Hong Kong, Democratic Tsunami said in a statement published Wednesday on social media and instant messaging platforms.The app was released on Tuesday, the day after a Spanish Supreme Court ruling sentenced nine separatist leaders to a combined 100 years in prison, sparking the street protests that have led to three days of rioting on the streets of Barcelona.Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska has said his department would investigate who is behind Tsunami Democratic, which has mobilized big demonstrations including a major protest at Barcelona airport. Police have made 96 arrests.Android users are made to download the app through a link, without having to go to the Google app store. But downloading the app is only the first step. Once a user has it, a QR code is required to access it and the only way to get the code is from somebody who already has it -- a strategy the activists say will help limit who has access to the information.The app was made public on Tuesday and by Wednesday afternoon it had 150,000 downloads, according to the statement from Democratic Tsunami.Apple’s press office in Madrid didn’t immediately respond to emails and phone calls seeking a company response.To contact the reporter on this story: Rodrigo Orihuela in Madrid at firstname.lastname@example.orgTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Charles Penty at email@example.com, Giles TurnerFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.


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As global demand for touchscreen tablets spreads from established to emerging markets and from living rooms into the boardrooms of the corporate world, Apple Inc.'s iPad appears well positioned to maintain its lead into 2016, according to a new report from Forrester Research
For Apple's most ardent fans, a trip to The Company Store on the grounds of the company's sprawling headquarters in Cupertino is a right of passage.
On Sunday, the New York Times published the eulogy written by the Apple co-founder's sister, author Mona Simpson, which was delivered at her brother's memorial on October 16
Apple Inc closed its stores across the United States on Wednesday for several hours to commemorate co-founder Steve Jobs, who died on October 5
Expecting a giant leap forward, fans of Apple Inc. have had to settle for one small step
Tech firms making news this morning: Facebook Inc., Netflix Inc., Apple Inc., Google Inc., and Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.
For the first time since taking over from departed co-founder Steve Jobs as chief executive at Apple, Tim Cook will take centre stage at one of the Cupertino, California computer giant's famous product events next month to unveil the latest edition of the iPhone
By Dan Levy A surge in wealth from technology stock sales and initial public offerings is spilling into the Silicon Valley real estate market as newly rich workers bid up home values in suburban cities south of San Francisco. The median price of single-family houses sold in Palo Alto, home of Facebook Inc., climbed 20% […]
On Tuesday night, Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled his vision for a new Apple HQ in Cupertino to the city's council. The new 3.1 million square foot facility features a giant "spaceship" building to help house more than 12,000 employees for the world's largest technology company
Apple states emphatically it is not tracking the movements of iPhone users, offers 10 point Q&A in attempt to diffuse controversy
Let’s face it, most people use their iPads to browse the internet, check email, and play the occasional game. Why not tap into your iPad’s full potential?
These two market gurus might be good friends, but lately they don't see eye to eye on the U.S. economy
Musk pledged the company would not initiate lawsuits against anyone who ‘in good faith’ used Tesla’s technology, but approach that pledge carefully, say…
WestJet reported record profit thanks to higher fares and the successful rollout of a new regional carrier, but the airline could soon be battling new competition
The switch by Ford is a blow to BlackBerry CEO John Chen, who has pegged his turnaround efforts on prioritizing software services for corporations


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Capcom: Xbox One and PS4 development takes 8 to 10 times more work than the previous gen
Capcom reckons that with the new power that the Xbox One and PS4 have at their disposal game development will take a lot more effort.
With their new Panta Rhei game engine taking shape along with their first next-gen project Deep Down, Capcom are starting to get a good idea of how much work will be involved in developing for the PS4 and Xbox One and they reckon it will be eight to ten times more work, at least to begin with.
Capcom's Masaru Ijuin explained, “It's clear that heightened game quality leads to a rise in the number of man hours. The amount of work involved in making games for next-gen consoles is eight to ten times greater than what is required for the current generation of consoles.”
Deep Down is a free-to-play PS4 exclusive RPG that is due to go into open beta when the PS4 is released in Japan next month.
- Valve's Chet Faliszek has been confirmed as the first developer session for EGX Rezzed 2015
- One area from Zelda Wii U is as big as the entirety of Skyward Sword
- Telltale's new collaboration is with Mojang, on a Minecraft story game
- Franklin voice actor indicates GTA V story DLC is on the way
- Red Dead Redemption, LA Noire and Bully sequels will come when the time is right says Rockstar
- Telltale teases another collaboration with another game developer
- New Company Of Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault trailer recognizes the 70th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge
- New Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare trailer focuses on character customization
- Splash Damage's free-to-play shooter Dirty Bomb coming to Steam in the new year


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The 2014 Mercedes C-Class will be one of the key attractions at the North American International Auto Show and a new report is indicating it will be joined by the GLA45 AMG and the S600 Maybach.
The GLA 45 AMG was recently previewed by a concept at the 2013 Los Angeles Auto Show and is slated to have sporty styling, high-performance brakes and a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine with 360 HP (265 kW) and 450 Nm (331 lb-ft) of torque. The engine will be connected to a seven-speed AMG SPEEDSHIFT dual-clutch transmission and an AMG 4MATIC all-wheel drive system which should enable the model to accelerate from 0-100 km/h in less than five seconds.
The S600 Maybach, on the other hand, will reportedly be an extra-long wheelbase model that measures approximately 5.5 meters (18 feet) long. The model is also slated to have a 2+2 seating arrangement and a 5.5-liter V12 engine that develops 585 HP (430 kW).


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3d printing market reports
CONTEXT Expands Suite of Services and Reports to Cover 3D Printing Sectors
CONTEXT is an IT market analysis company, and they’ve recently announced the launch of a 3D Printing Advisory Service they say will serve “growing customer interest in this market segment.”…
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3D Printing jobs around the world.
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Stay up-to-date on all the latest news from the 3D printing industry and receive information and offers from third party vendors.


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TIFFIN, OH — Debuting during the 2019 Downtown Chocolate Walk, Simply Susan’s and Tiffin Candle Company have partnered to for a first-of-its-kind in Tiffin experience-based business at the store, 70 S. Washington St.
Wax Lab is an extension of Tiffin Candle Company’s offerings, allowing people to pour their own candles from a variety of scents and even create a custom label.
Prices start at $22, and appointments can be made in advance by contacting Simply Susan’s and walk-ins are welcome. The process to pour the candle takes about a half hour to 45 minutes and it takes about an hour to 90 minutes to cure, during which time people can explore the downtown or come back the next day to pick up their product. Wax Lab is to be available for events such as birthday and bachelorette parties.
“This is another great activity for people to check out in downtown Tiffin,” said Susan Wilkinson, owner of Simply Susan’s. “Come check it out and see all that there is going on here in downtown.”
Chelsea Bilger, owner of Tiffin Candle Company, said she’s excited for this next chapter of the business. Tiffin Candle Company has been in operation for about a year and has expanded to Fostoria, Findlay and Lakeside. “This has been such a fun experience, so I’m excited for Wax Lab to take off next.”
The Wax Lab will be on display during the chocolate walk, and officially opens for business Sunday, March 31. Plans include seasonal scents and incorporating with other events in downtown including Third Thursdays.
Tiffin Mayor Aaron Montz congratulated Bilger and Wilkinson. “It is great to see local businesses expanding and offering new, inventive ideas in our downtown,” he said.


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Elon Musk shares Snarky cartoons related to Twitter, and the Internet tries to decipher the meaning
In the midst of the Twitter takeover drama, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has shared a satirical cartoon of himself as the savior of a blue bird – the official mascot on Twitter.
On social media on Saturday, Mr. Musk shared, without any words, a cartoon of himself shooting a bird in the shape of the classic blue Twitter logo from a cage. According to the Daily Star, the cartoon was drawn by Chinese artist Devil Pepper in April.
– Elon Musk May 28, 2022
Mr. Musk’s post prompted many netizens to come up with different comments, with some trying to decipher the meaning behind the image. Shibetoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym of Dogecoin co-founder Billy Marcus, responded to the post. “Despite all my anger, I am still just a caged bird,” he said Wrote.
“Does this mean that you will restore suspended accounts??? right???” Requested else. “It can be understood in two ways, Elon Musk says goodbye to the idea of becoming the founder of Twitter or Elon Musk gives Twitter freedom without censorship and restrictions. So what is it?” Posted Third.
Read also | UN official still hopes Musk will “step up” to fight world hunger
Some social media users have also criticized the Tesla CEO for sharing the photo and removing the credit and signature from its creator. One user “Please give him credits – removing his signature isn’t cool” He said. Another encouraged Mr. Musk to “please use the site work”.
In the meantime, we’re reminded that Elon Musk’s latest tweet comes amid plenty of other questions about his Twitter takeover. Musk got a $44 billion bid for the site a while ago, however, the deal stalled last week after data about fake accounts surfaced on the microblogging site.
It was revealed that less than 5% of social media users consist of fake accounts or spam. Musk then tweeted that the Twitter deal was “temporarily on hold with pending account details that spam/fake accounts already account for less than 5% of users”. This recognition caused the company to lose about 11% of its value.
Read also | Elon Musk says there is no factory in India for Tesla to be allowed to sell and service imported cars
This was not the last development in the story as it was just two days ago Reuters It is reported that a Twitter investor is suing Elon Musk and the social media platform over handling of the billionaire’s $44 billion bid for the company. The case alleges that Mr. Musk violated California corporate laws in several ways. It also claims that many of Mr Musk’s tweets were “misleading” and constituted an attempt to manipulate the market for the Twitter posts.


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Blog: A wee dram of Harris Tweed anyone?
Leonie Barrie | 9 January 2015
The new Harris Tweed textile will permanently give off the smell of whisky
Anyone kicking off the New Year by taking a break from alcohol in January may be relieved - or revolted - to hear of a new development from textile technology experts at Heriot-Watt University in Scotland.
They've developed a new Harris Tweed fabric that will permanently give off the smell of whisky. The smart fabric has been developed for Diageo's Johnnie Walker Black Label and features microencapsulation technology.
The fabric is designed to reflect the colours of the whisky ingredients, and carries a unique scent - named Aqua Alba - designed to replicate aromas released from a glass of whisky such as peat-smoke, heather, wind-blasted wood and soft moss. Heriot-Watt's textile experts have helped to develop a process that allowed the scent to be layered into the fabric throughout the finishing process, so that it is permanently imbued in the tweed.
The year-long collaboration with Harris Tweed Hebrides (HTH) is designed to help Scottish textile companies develop their business, add value to their textiles and bring exciting new products to market.
Continuing our look at what lies ahead for the apparel industry and its supply chain in 2017, the panel of industry experts consulted by just-style last week tackled likely shifts in the sourcing land...
This week our focus turns to first thoughts from a panel of industry experts consulted by just-style on the challenges and opportunities likely to face the apparel supply chain in 2017, with prospects...
Welcome back after the holiday break, and from the team here at just-style I’d like to wish all our readers a happy and prosperous New Year....
The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and leading global professional services company Accenture are teaming up to help shape how the fashion industry integrates technology and consumer i...
Apparel sourcing is a complex process built on a mix of location, logistics, lead-time, price, compliance, risk and reliability. And it's in a constant state of flux as retailers, brands and manufactu...
- Apparel factory auditing is in the firing line
- How US border adjustment tax could affect apparel
- Trump and the apparel industry – Infographic
- "Buy American, Hire American" to guide Trump trade
- Ten retail trends to watch for in 2017
- Trump signs order to withdraw from TPP
- UK clothing factory workers paid half minimum wage
- Brands need to tackle Turkey factory refugee abuse
- Auditing "in need of reinvention" says new project
- Patagonia launching circular economy platform
- Outdoor performance apparel 2016: A broader perspective
- Southeast Asia strategic sourcing review – a focus on Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar
- Global apparel markets: product developments and innovations, October 2016
- Anti-odour clothing: fresh fashion for an active lifestyle
- Global market review of lingerie – forecasts to 2022


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Chester is set to welcome its first ever all vegan restaurant in the new year.
Hypha will be the city's first plant based and sustainable eatery and will offer small plates and cocktails.
It's the new venture from the team behind quirky dessert shop Wraps and Records on City Walls, and Hypha will be located in its place while Wraps and Records is put on hiatus for the moment to concentrate on the new restaurant.
The team – Nicholas Friar, Calum Adams and Ice Rattaphaet – who have all been involved in some of the city's most successful bars and restaurants, hope to launch the restaurant in the new year, but are launching a Kickstarter campaign to help raise £20,000 for a successful opening.
In return for their donations, contributors to the campaign will get exclusive pledges to Hypha, Nine Elephants restaurant on Northgate Street which is owned by Ice, and other special rewards for their help.
These range from complimentary drinks for smaller pledges to 20% off in Hypha or Nine Elephants for larger ones.
Also included are personal food and drink packages at people's homes - including multiple courses of Thai food from Nine Elephants, vegan food from Hypha -or cocktail masterclasses from The Bespoke Drinks Company which Calum runs.
He told CheshireLive the team is very excited about the opening.
"The bar will be an interactive space to drink and dine at and all ingredients used in the kitchen will be in the prime of the season, meaning the menu will change as and when produce is used up.
"Fermentation will be used to minimize waste and enhance depth of flavour and we will have traceability on all our ingredients; from the spirits behind the bar to the sustainable palm oil in the kitchen," he explained.
"It will have two entrances – one on the walls and one in Rufus Court; we have opened up the back to make a light and open environment. "
There will be soft launches of Hypha sometime in January, and the team hope to officially open in early 2019.


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Selling plants to consumers directly online through “ecommerce” is a new opportunity f
Funding is available through the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service for landowners to remov
The Salem, Ore., location follows Griffin’s opening of an Aurora, Colo., facility in early 20
Amazon has a history of shaking up shopping habits.
Selling plants to consumers directly online through “ecommerce” is a new opportunity for nursery growers.
Monrovia is hosting its fourth annual Handcrafted Expo at the company’s Dayton, Ore. nursery, while the Oregon nursery industry as a whole posted its second-best sales year on record in 2017.
Poisonous plants can harm your pets or livestock. Learn to recognize toxic weeds and their symptoms.
Though the Christmas tree checkoff was approved by a narrow margin of farmers, the USDA plans to hold another referendum next year.
Mexico’s 2009 tariffs had long lasting effects on the Oregon Christmas tree industry.
What's that smell? Skunk-like odor in the small seaside town of Carpinteria, California, comes from marijuana grows that some residents say are changing the community's feel
The operation began in 1952, stemming from an orchid hobby and a makeshift hothouse on the back of the family home.
The majority of stink bug sightings are from King, Pierce and Thurston counties.
A trend toward outdoor living has blossomed in landscape design, and is also health-related.


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Digital River World Payments to Provide European Payments Services for Skullcandy
Looks like Skul is going to be collecting some cash in Europe.
Digital River, Inc. , the revenue growth experts in global cloud commerce, announced that it signed a global payments agreement with Skullcandy, Inc. a high-growth performance lifestyle audio brand. Skullcandy is using the Digital River World Payments solution to build a localized European e-payments program. Based on the agreement, Digital River (DRIV) will provide locally-preferred payment options for Skullcandy’s online stores in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK.
“We considered many factors in our search for a global payments provider. For us, it came down to the importance and ease of working with a single provider,” said Brett Barlow, vice president of interactive at Skullcandy "As we expand our online stores into more European countries, we are relying on our Digital River World Payments solution to deliver a localized, easy-to-use payment experience for our customers.”
“We are excited to work with a vibrant brand like Skullcandy,” said Souheil Badran, senior vice president and general manager of Digital River World Payments. “Localizing the online payments experience is one of the most important steps businesses can take to build trust across their global base of customers. When well executed, a comprehensive payments program can turn site visitors into loyal customers and a cost center into a revenue stream.”
In a recent survey commissioned by Digital River (DRIV), a group of international senior decision makers from several high-tech markets identified some of their most significant global e-business challenges.
RJ... They have really spent a lot of effort on European (and other Worldwide) events this past 6 months or so. Theo's skateboarding tour and invested in a lot of music events for example. Makes sense to focus on web purchases abroad until their brick and mortar distribution catches up.
I would say that this is very positive in that it proves they are working on there international GROWTH here.


text: Edmunds.com's Phil Reed says that the hybrid premium for cars like the Prius are quickly being wiped out (or, at least, reduced) by incentives and reduced prices (remember when you couldn't even pay sticker for one? Those days are gone). This is something we obviously follow regularly, so that shouldn't be news to regular readers. But now we're got some video to go along with the information. And, as gas prices continue to go up, whatever premium buyers paid up front shrinks even quicker. (Sorry, there's a sponsor message before the ~4 minute video).