text:
Like many contractors, Holland, Mich.-based Genzink Plumbing has had to adapt over the years to remain competitive under increasingly turbulent economic conditions.
The contractor's 5,500-sq.-ft. showroom continues to cater to customers building homes with anywhere from 1½ to 3½ bathrooms on up, but with the residential market shrinking nationwide, Rick Genzink concedes his business has had to be a bit more progressive.
“We're just trying to be creative to find the work, to go after it and make it work for ourselves,” he said.
Being creative has meant taking on more commercial plumbing jobs and doing more remodeling and service work, according to Genzink. It also meant seeking out non-traditional customers wherever the contractor can find them.
“We are builder-contractor driven and I think a lot of that changed,” Genzink said. “Contractors are our main focus and they're our biggest customers, but now we're looking for other sources to sell our wares. Because of the marketplace, that has shifted a lot.”
To that end, Genzink teamed up with Grand Rapids, Mich.-based contractor Bazzani Associates, which has specialized solely in sustainable building since 1983.
Conservation catches on
Genzink noted that there currently is only a niche market in Michigan for plumbing products that conserve water, but he said that is gradually changing.
“We are on the shores of Lake Michigan here, so water is not a huge issue,” he said. “But some people think, from a maintenance or operation standpoint, that green is important. It's a buzzword and I think it's certainly a great thing that's slowly catching on.”
Genzink and Bazzani jointly are working on two projects that will include water conserving features and plumbing products. One is a multi-unit student-housing complex in Allendale, Mich., and the other is a nearly $2 million house along Lake Michigan.
“We find that (water conservation) is certainly economically viable in large commercial buildings that have multiple tenants,” said Bazzani Associates principal owner Guy Bazzani. “We just think it's a wise way to go, whether we're in Michigan or not. Obviously, it's much more critical in drought-prone regions of the country, but in Michigan we think that it's sort of a ‘why waste it’ concept.”
Genzink said the products that are most popular with his environmentally conscious consumers include the Eco-Flush dual flush system, which gives users the choice of 1.1-gpf or 1.6-gpf.
Bazzani said the dual-flush toilets manufactured by Coroma also are in demand.
“We find the low-flush toilets by Coroma are probably about the best that we've seen,” he said.
While Genzink Plumbing has expanded its focus in recent years to include commercial and “green” projects, its primary customer base continues to be new homebuyers recommended by builders.
“Our average customers are the people with three to 3½ bathrooms, and that's probably where a lot of that market has shrunk in our neighborhood today,” Genzink said. “There's been a lot of retraction as far as that goes. Those were the people who we went to all day. They were building (homes) one after the other.”
Genzink added that declining sales have forced his business to make reductions to its staff and elsewhere. The contractor has lowered inventory at its 16,000-sq.ft. warehouse and even made small changes, such as no longer providing doughnuts each day for workers, as a means of cutting costs.
“To be honest, sales are down, so we've had to make the necessary cutbacks as well,” Genzink said. “That means just cutting costs wherever we can and putting different things in place to make sure that we're not doing the same things today as we were doing yesterday. We're watching our moves a whole lot closer, that's for sure.”
Despite these adjustments, what hasn't changed is the contractor's approach to customer service, according to Genzink.
He said his business's showroom sets the contractor apart from the competition, which Genzink wryly calls “two men and a pipe wrench.”
“Those guys can get a truck, tools and a license — or they can borrow a license — and they can be in business,” he said. “What makes our business unique is we have a showroom. That allows for people to come in, to select a product, and we can — from start to finish — be there to hold their hand to make sure things get done the way they want.”
The showroom has more than 20 suites containing several working product displays. Among the manufacturers on display in the Kohler-registered showroom are American Standard, Delta Faucet, Brizo, Newport Brass and Hansgrohe. Other manufacturers include Blanco, Toto and Fusion Bath Design.
The only new product line the contractor has added recently is from Torrance, Calif.-based Santec, but Genzink is hoping that might change when the 2008 Kitchen/Bath Industry Show & Conference comes to nearby Chicago this year.
“We consistently look for more and new lines,” he said. “The K/BIS show is coming up here in April, so we're excited about that as well.”
While not willing to divulge any product lines he recently has dropped, Genzink did say his business has a process for determining which lines it no longer will carry.
Lines are reviewed
“The lines that we do drop are high-maintenance lines, meaning that, from an installation standpoint, we have a lot of call-backs,” he said. “We have a matrix that we go through when we decide on a company and we kind of review that on an ongoing basis.”
In addition to performance, manufacturers must meet stringent criteria when it comes to availability, shipping and delivery in order to make it onto the showroom floor, Genzink said. In order to meet customers' expectations, he said manufacturers must be able to supply products and repair parts in a timely fashion.
Genzink also places an emphasis on a product's value to the customer.
“If you're going to spend $800 for a faucet, the value better be there. Certainly, the uniqueness of the faucet has to be there too because a lot of times people don't hesitate to spend the money as long as they see the value is there.”
Helping customers select the right product for the right price is just one step in a multi-phase process that Genzink Plumbing goes through with its clients. The contractor's staff of 35 includes 28 installers and three showroom people. Throughout the year, representatives from different manufacturers and wholesalers also come to the showroom to provide training for Genzink's workers.
Genzink and his staff starts by asking customers several questions that help them to prioritize the plumbing fixtures they will select. Genzink said it helps to begin with the bathroom that is of least priority to the customer and go from there.
“A lot of times that's tucked into the lower level someplace and that simply allows us to get going,” he said.
Genzink said he recently spent more than two hours working with a couple and their builder to determine the best fixtures for the couple's five-bathroom house.
“We do say, ‘This is a process. You're kicking the tires today. Tomorrow, you'll get the pricing and then from there you will be able to prioritize what you liked about each room because it will be broken down accordingly,’” Genzink said.
“We believe the process is a whole lot smoother when the plumber is asking the homeowner all the related plumbing questions and then it gets relayed to our plumber out in the field from our showroom person.”
Sometimes, the process will take even longer depending on the size of the home, according to Genzink. The contractor currently has 10 jobs involving homes in the $1 million to $3 million range.
“With those types of people, you have to hold their hand a little more,” he said. “You have to be responsive. When they ask a question, you have to be there for an answer or willing to look it up and get back to them.
“A $1 million to $3 million house in California is nothing, but a $1 million to $3 million house in the greater Holland area is pretty significant.”
Such homes normally have anywhere from seven to 12 bathrooms, Genzink said, and each bathroom has a different function. Larger homes often have an entertainment area and require more plumbing products, such as bar and veggie sinks, he said.
Regardless of a project's size, however, the customer service process remains consistent, Genzink said.
“To us, it's about customer service,” he said. “It's about the relationships that we've built and continue to build. When somebody comes through the showroom, we want them to know right away we're working for them.”


text:
BERLIN -- Daimler's China sales will stay strong next year, Hubertus Troska, the automaker's China chief, said, adding he was confident that Mercedes-Benz could grow its share of the country's electric-vehicle market given little competition in the premium part of the sector.
The brand's car sales in China jumped 12 percent last year to a record 774,000 despite the pandemic, and growth of more than 8 percent has been registered this year so far, Troska told journalists.
"Everything speaks for the fact that China will be a super market next year as well," Troska said.
Troska said Daimler's market share of EV sales is still small in China, where it competes with numerous Chinese EV makers such as Xpeng, Li Auto and Nio as well as U.S. EV giant Tesla.
However, most Chinese companies sell in the price range of 35,000 euros ($39,270) or less, Troska said, prices that are below Daimler's range.
With the number of Daimler EV models for sale in the country set to grow from one to five next year, Daimler will be able to better establish itself in the higher-priced premium part of the segment, he said.
Still, demand for cars that burn fossil fuels is likely to last for some time in China, Troska said, pointing to the large swathes of the country outside urban centers where charging infrastructure could be harder to come by.
"It's a huge country, so in my view there will still be internal combustion engine cars in China for some time," Troska said.
Daimler has said that all new vehicle platforms from 2025 will be electric, with a view to producing all-electric only by 2030 where market conditions allow.
China, which is the world's largest car market and is responsible for a third of Daimler's revenues, has so far refrained from following Europe in setting dates for bans on production of fossil-fuel emitting cars.

domain: news


text:
Universal Serial Bus (USB) is becoming true to its name by providing universal access to monitors, this time for Linux.more »
Chip giant Intel was handed a record fine of 1.06 billion Euro ($1.45 billion) for allegedly abusing its leading position in the CPU market.more »
The embedded Linux specialist MontaVista software promises more flexibility through processor-specific distributions in version 6 of the in-house Linux variant.more »
Recall that AMD published the basic system information for the chip sets R600 and R700 last year. To follow up this info, we now have the first info and code for the OpenGl Acceleration.more »
Dell now provides its 10" Mini 10 netbook with Ubuntu in the U.S. and Canada, with the rest of the world to follow shortly.more »
The new e-book reader from Amazon now has a 9.7" E-Ink display at 1200 x 824 pixels, weighs in at about 19 ounces and is only 0.38" thick.more »
With a new, powerful chip generation, ATI is challenging Nvidia at the low end.more »
Nvidia's proprietary graphic driver 180.29 can, under certain conditions, turn your Fujitsu Celsius H270 notebook into a brick.more »
New release comes with better semantic search and improvements to Kontact.
Annual code quality report shows FOSS is more secure at all project size levels.
The Raspberry Pi Foundation has announced an even smaller version of the tiny computer that will fit into a DIMM slot.
A new class of problems lets a malicious app pre-configure an invisible privilege update.
New Hack language adds static typing and other conveniences.
New crypto policy system will offer easier configuration and more uniform security.
Ubuntu founder denounces insecurity in proprietary, close-source software blobs.
Vulnerability affects many Linux web servers
The Bavarian capital shuns Microsoft, Google, and other alternatives to implement an open source groupware solution.
Phone vendor partnerships bring Mark Shuttleworth's dream of Ubuntu on a phone a step closer to reality.


text:
- ticket title
- Dev Patel seems to have found his new partner in sexy Nargis Fakhri
- Sprinklr, brainchild of Indian American entrepreneur Ragy Thomas, surpasses $1 billion valuation
- Risa Realty to showcase prime real estate properties in India at shows in Virginia, New Jersey
- In high-tech Karnataka Kannada language to be the instrument of teaching in schools
- NYPD police officer racially abuses, threatens Uber driver of South Asian origin
Decent features for a low-priced phone.
By Dileep Thekkethil
BENGALURU: Indian smartphone manufacturer Lava launched the company’s ultra-cheap smartphone; Iris 414 at Rs. 4,049 ($64) via its official website.
This new Lava Iris device is powered by a 1Gzh processor coupled with 512 MB RAM. It has a 4-inch TFT touchscreen display with a resolution of 480x800p. The device has an inbuilt storage capacity of 4GB which can be expanded up to 32GB using microSD card.
This new Lava smartphone is just 10.4mm thick and weighs 110gram.
Coming to the camera department of the new Iris 414, it has a 3.2 MP autofocus rear camera with digital zoom and LED flash and a VGA selfie camera. This low-cost smartphone features all general connectivity options such as Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth and USB.
The handset is backed up by a 1,400 mAh battery that boast of 12 hours of talk time on 2G network. The new Lava Iris 414 runs on KitKat OS out-of-the-box.
Iris 414 joins the slew of low-cost smartphones under Rs. 5000 price range, which is one of the booming smartphone segments in India. Also, according to statistics this segment has a greater growth potential as more first-time users prefer to own a low-cost smartphone in the country.
Warning: require_once(/homepages/30/d221447157/htdocs/GIN_NEW/wp-content/themes/news-maxx-1.0.1/footer.php): failed to open stream: Permission denied in /homepages/30/d221447157/htdocs/GIN_NEW/wp-includes/template.php on line 684
Fatal error: require_once(): Failed opening required '/homepages/30/d221447157/htdocs/GIN_NEW/wp-content/themes/news-maxx-1.0.1/footer.php' (include_path='.:/usr/lib/php5.6') in /homepages/30/d221447157/htdocs/GIN_NEW/wp-includes/template.php on line 684


text:
26.01.2023The year 2023 is here at last, and we are looking forward to the greatest and most international industry meeting of the processing and packaging sector.
22.01.2023From packaging world stars and newcomers to roving reporters, food rescuers and the co-packer scene, to unique women and the movers and shakers of today and tomorrow: Visitors can look forward to many exciting specials at interpack.
15.12.2022This year’s Food Africa and pacprocess MEA in Cairo from 5 to 7 December 2022 drew to a close with high international attendance, strong growth rates and an avid interest taken by the food and packaging industries.
01.12.2022Lost in the exhibition halls? Not at interpack. In order to help our visitors find everything they are looking for, the fully booked interpack 2023 features a concept for the halls that is based on clear focal points for each industry.
25.11.2022Great expectations for Food Africa and pacprocess MEA: In December, the interpack alliance is bringing the food industry and packaging sector together again in Egypt.
28.09.2022What if wasted food could serve to protect other food? This is the question that a new SAVE FOOD research project has set out to answer.
06.09.2022Search, find and be found: The exhibitor and product database for interpack 2023 is now available. Here, visitors can get an overview of the unique range of products on site. The exhibitor profile where exhibiting companies can present their businesses in detail is at the heart of the database.
18.07.2022The Middle East and Africa (MEA), and especially Egypt as a hub for the entire region, is an attractive market for the international packaging and related process industries. pacprocess MEA and Food Africa are the perfect platform.
17.02.2022interpack is back! After six years and a forced absence during the pandemic, the world's biggest trade fair for the packaging industry and related process industries is up and running again.
16.12.2021FoodAfrica Cairo is an ideal complement to pacprocess Middle East Africa
25.11.2021The advisory committee for interpack 2023 has elected Markus Rustler, President and CEO of Theegarten-Pactec GmbH & Co. KG, to be President and thus Chairman of the committee in its constituent meeting.
18.08.2021The registration window for the next interpack, which will be held from 4 to 10 May 2023 at the Düsseldorf trade fair centre, was set to open this year in autumn.
16.03.2021Interested companies from the packaging industry and the associated processing industry can register for interpack 2023 online at www.interpack.com right now. The trade fair will take place from 04 to 10 May 2023 at the Düsseldorf Trade Fair Centre.
20.01.2021The next interpack will take place from 04 to 10 May 2023 at the Düsseldorf Trade Fair Centre. Messe Düsseldorf set this date in agreement with its partners and committees.
03.12.2020In agreement with its partners in associations and the industry, and with the trade fair advisory committee, Messe Düsseldorf has decided to cancel both interpack and components 2021, scheduled to take place from 25 February to 3 March, due to the restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
24.11.2020The trade fairs interplastica, International Trade Fair for Plastics and Rubber, and upakovka, No. 1 Trade Fair in Russia for Processing and Packaging, scheduled for 26-29 January 2021 at the AO Expocentre exhibition centre in Krasnaya Presnya in Moscow, have been cancelled and will take place on their next regular dates, 25-28 January 2022.
10.11.2020Messe Düsseldorf agreed on a way to hold interpack from 25 February to 3 March 2021 with its industry and trade association partners, as well as the trade fair advisory board. The same applies to the in parallel trade fair components.
09.09.2020Messe Düsseldorf is postponing the leading international trade fair interpack. It will now take place from 25 February to 3 March 2021.
13.03.2020Messe Düsseldorf is postponing the leading international trade fair interpack. It will now take place from 25 February to 3 March 2021.
30.01.2020The leading processing and packaging machinery exhibition in Asia – swop – took place in halls N1-N5 at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre from November 25-28, 2019 for the third time.
28.01.2020The first pacprocess Middle East Africa, which took place at the Egypt International Exhibition Center in Cairo from 9 to 11 December 2019, was impressive from the start.
22.01.2020interpack 2020 is fully booked, meaning that around 3,000 exhibitors from approximately 60 countries will present their solutions at the most significant event for the packaging and associated processing industries from 7 to 13 May 2020.
14.11.2019interpack 2020 is fully booked, meaning that around 3,000 exhibitors from approximately 60 countries will present their solutions at the most significant event for the packaging and associated processing industries from 7 to 13 May 2020.
14.05.2019Egyptian President H.E. Abdel Fattah Al Sisi will sponsor the first pacprocess MEA, which will take place from 9 to 11 December 2019 at the Egypt International Exhibition Centre in Cairo, in parallel with Food Africa, and will be organised by Messe Düsseldorf, IFP Egypt and Konzept.


text:
Retail inflation rose to 5.52% in March, mainly on account of higher food prices, government data showed on Monday. The consumer price index (CPI) based retail inflation stood at 5.03% in February.
The rate of price rise in the food basket accelerated to 4.94% in March, as against 3.87% in the preceding month, as per data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO). Inflation in 'fuel and light' category was 4.50% during the month vis-a-vis 3.53% in February.
It was at 4.61% in rural areas and 6.52% in urban areas.
Earlier this month, the Reserve Bank of India had projected the retail inflation at 5% in the January-March quarter of 2020-21 and 5.2% in the first two quarters of the current fiscal.
After breaching the upper tolerance threshold of 6% for six consecutive months (June-November 2020), CPI inflation fell in December 2020 and eased further in January 2021 to 4.1% on the back of a sharp correction in vegetable prices and softening of cereal prices.
However, it rebounded to 5% in February, driven primarily by base effects.
The Reserve Bank, which mainly factors in the retail inflation while arriving at its monetary policy, has been asked to keep CPI inflation at 4% with a margin of 2% on either side.
The central bank retained the key lending rate (repo) in its last monetary policy citing inflationary concerns.
Meanwhile, according to the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), India's industrial production contracted by 3.6% in February, official data showed. Manufacturing sector output declined by 3.7% in February 2021.
Mining output slipped 5.5%, while power generation grew by 0.1% in February. The IIP had grown by 5.2% in February 2020.
During April-February, IIP contracted by 11.3% compared to one% growth in the corresponding period of 2019-20.
Industrial production has been hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic since March last year when it contracted by 18.7%.


text:
|By Kevin Benedict||
|February 13, 2014 09:00 AM EST||
Also read Enterprise Mobility Asia News Weekly
Also read Field Mobility News Weekly
Also read M2M News Weekly
Also read Mobile Cyber Security News Weekly
Also read Mobile Health News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly
Looking for an enterprise mobility solution? Read the Mobile Solution Directory Here!
India’s e-commerce business grew by 80 percent in 2013, according to Flipkart, one of the country’s leading e-commerce firms. Read Original Content
MasterCard and Weve have now come together in a partnership that is designed to help the mobile payments market to clean itself up. This new mobile payments partnership is a joint venture comprising of the three largest mobile operators in the United Kingdom: O2, Vodafone UK, and EE. Read Original Content
Consumers already have a clear understanding of what they want, according to SAP's latest global study with Loudhouse Consultancy, an independent research agency based in London. More than one third (32 percent) of mobile users around the globe indicated they have purchased products using their devices in the last year. Read Original Content
The True Cost of Mobility - Companies are under tremendous pressure to develop and deploy mobile apps for their business systems, yet the traditional approach to mobile app development typically costs $250K+ and takes 6+ months for a single app. Today IT professionals are exploring platforms that radically reduce costs and time-to-market for their mobile initiatives, especially around complex applications such as SAP, Oracle, or custom applications. Download the whitepaper - https://www.capriza.com/resources/whitepapers/?resource=true-cost-of-enterprise-mobility&adgroup=MES
According to eMarketer, mobile commerce or mCommerce constitutes $41.68 billion of the total $262.3 billion of ecommerce sales for 2013 or an increase of 68.2 percent from 2012 and accounts for 16 percent of total ecommerce sales. Read Original Content
Major Canadian bank, CIBC, has now partnered with a second largest wireless carrier in the country in order to broaden the availability of its mobile payments services to its customers who have NFC technology enabled smartphones. Read Original Content
Read Original Content
Germany and Palo Alto-based m-commerce platform Shopgate has made its first acquisition: The Creathor Ventures and Northcap-backed company has acquired Magento developer MagCorp. Read Original Content
Mobile penetration in the retail merchant channel is rapidly growing, according to a study conducted by LexisNexis and Javelin Strategy & Research. The survey found nearly one in 10 merchants accepted mobile payments in 2013, which represents an increase of 50 percent per year since 2011. Read Original Content
Despite Turkey’s economic struggles, good news is rolling in from its tech ecosystem. Pozitron, the mobile commerce technology company founded in 2000 by Fatih Isbecer, was acquired yesterday for $100 million, by Monitise, a leading UK-based mobile payment solutions company. Read Original Content
Starbucks is experiencing a shift in leadership as it begins to focus more heavily on e-commerce and mobile payments. The company’s Chief Financial Officer has been moved to the position of Chief Operating Officer. This move will allow Howard Schultz, Starbucks’ Chief Executive, to focus on the expansion of the company’s mobile and e-commerce efforts. Read Original Content
Two years ago analysts at the Yankee Group estimated that by the year 2017, the total economic output of the m-commerce industry on an international scale would hit $2.9 trillion, but this month it was revealed this figure has been revised upwards to $3.1 trillion because of unprecedented levels of growth registered in the interim. Read Original Content
Four out of ten smartphone owners have bought something direct from their mobile phone spending an average of £199 each in 2013. Over half of shoppers had used their mobile device in stores, with 54 percent comparing prices online, 41 percent taking photos for future reference, according to Cheil Worldwide. Read Original Content
Mobile commerce continues to be the bright spot for eBay as both Marketplaces and PayPal achieved record mobile results in 2013, each exceeding $20 billion in mobile volume. Total mobile commerce volume grew 88 percent with eBay reaching $22 billion and PayPal hitting $27 billion in 2013. Read Original Content
The iOS version of the Amazon app is now giving customers the opportunity to take advantage of Flow and augmented reality to help shoppers to be able to shop even faster and easier by scanning items in real life so that they will be able to instantly buy them from their own mobile commerce shelves. Read Original Content
OpenTable, an online restaurant reservation service, has launched a new pilot program focused on mobile payments. The pilot program is meant to test the viability of using mobile payments as a way to allow consumers to pay for their meals quickly while dining out. Read Original Content
Recent Articles by Kevin Benedict
Kevin Benedict Interviews Digital Transformation Expert: Jitin Agarwal on Managing Digital Assets and Code Halos
Mobile Expert Interview: Mayank Mehta
Mobile Technology, Roman Roads and Legionaries - Director's Cut
My Themes in 2014 are Real-Time, Speed and Insight
Mobile Expert Interviews: Feedhenry's CEO Cathal McGloin
Bracing for Change with Enterprise Mobility
Webinars of Note (Recorded)
Rapidly extend any enterprise application to mobile devices without coding, APIs, or integration.
Whitepapers of Note
Don't Get SMACked - How Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud are Reshaping the Enterprise
Making BYOD Work for Your Organization
Managing BYOD and Legacy Systems
The Secret to Enterprise Mobile Application Adoption
Solving The Mobile Developer Scarcity Problem
The True Cost of Mobility
A strange thing is happening along the way to the Internet of Things, namely far too many devices to work with and manage. It has become clear that we'll need much higher efficiency user experiences that can allow us to more easily and scalably work with the thousands of devices that will soon be in each of our lives. Enter the conversational interface revolution, combining bots we can literally talk with, gesture to, and even direct with our thoughts, with embedded artificial intelligence, wh...
Sep. 30, 2016 09:00 PM EDT Reads: 4,040
Adobe is changing the world though digital experiences. Adobe helps customers develop and deliver high-impact experiences that differentiate brands, build loyalty, and drive revenue across every screen, including smartphones, computers, tablets and TVs. Adobe content solutions are used daily by millions of companies worldwide-from publishers and broadcasters, to enterprises, marketing agencies and household-name brands. Building on its established design leadership, Adobe enables customers not o...
Sep. 30, 2016 08:45 PM EDT Reads: 456
Why do your mobile transformations need to happen today? Mobile is the strategy that enterprise transformation centers on to drive customer engagement. In his general session at @ThingsExpo, Roger Woods, Director, Mobile Product & Strategy – Adobe Marketing Cloud, covered key IoT and mobile trends that are forcing mobile transformation, key components of a solid mobile strategy and explored how brands are effectively driving mobile change throughout the enterprise.
Sep. 30, 2016 08:30 PM EDT Reads: 445
In this strange new world where more and more power is drawn from business technology, companies are effectively straddling two paths on the road to innovation and transformation into digital enterprises. The first path is the heritage trail – with “legacy” technology forming the background. Here, extant technologies are transformed by core IT teams to provide more API-driven approaches. Legacy systems can restrict companies that are transitioning into digital enterprises. To truly become a lea...
Sep. 30, 2016 08:15 PM EDT Reads: 741
What are the new priorities for the connected business? First: businesses need to think differently about the types of connections they will need to make – these span well beyond the traditional app to app into more modern forms of integration including SaaS integrations, mobile integrations, APIs, device integration and Big Data integration. It’s important these are unified together vs. doing them all piecemeal. Second, these types of connections need to be simple to design, adapt and configure...
Sep. 30, 2016 07:30 PM EDT Reads: 554
24Notion is full-service global creative digital marketing, technology and lifestyle agency that combines strategic ideas with customized tactical execution. With a broad understand of the art of traditional marketing, new media, communications and social influence, 24Notion uniquely understands how to connect your brand strategy with the right consumer. 24Notion ranked #12 on Corporate Social Responsibility - Book of List.
Sep. 30, 2016 07:15 PM EDT Reads: 448
Just over a week ago I received a long and loud sustained applause for a presentation I delivered at this year’s Cloud Expo in Santa Clara. I was extremely pleased with the turnout and had some very good conversations with many of the attendees. Over the next few days I had many more meaningful conversations and was not only happy with the results but also learned a few new things. Here is everything I learned in those three days distilled into three short points.
Sep. 30, 2016 07:15 PM EDT Reads: 5,406
What happens when the different parts of a vehicle become smarter than the vehicle itself? As we move toward the era of smart everything, hundreds of entities in a vehicle that communicate with each other, the vehicle and external systems create a need for identity orchestration so that all entities work as a conglomerate. Much like an orchestra without a conductor, without the ability to secure, control, and connect the link between a vehicle’s head unit, devices, and systems and to manage the ...
Sep. 30, 2016 07:15 PM EDT Reads: 462
The Jevons Paradox suggests that when technological advances increase efficiency of a resource, it results in an overall increase in consumption. Writing on the increased use of coal as a result of technological improvements, 19th-century economist William Stanley Jevons found that these improvements led to the development of new ways to utilize coal. In his session at 19th Cloud Expo, Mark Thiele, Chief Strategy Officer for Apcera, will compare the Jevons Paradox to modern-day enterprise IT, e...
Sep. 30, 2016 07:00 PM EDT Reads: 2,454
Major trends and emerging technologies – from virtual reality and IoT, to Big Data and algorithms – are helping organizations innovate in the digital era. However, to create real business value, IT must think beyond the ‘what’ of digital transformation to the ‘how’ to harness emerging trends, innovation and disruption. Architecture is the key that underpins and ties all these efforts together. In the digital age, it’s important to invest in architecture, extend the enterprise footprint to the cl...
Sep. 30, 2016 06:45 PM EDT Reads: 745
SYS-CON Events announced today that Commvault, a global leader in enterprise data protection and information management, has been named “Bronze Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 19th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Commvault is a leading provider of data protection and information management solutions, helping companies worldwide activate their data to drive more value and business insight and to transform moder...
Sep. 30, 2016 06:30 PM EDT Reads: 2,907
What does it look like when you have access to cloud infrastructure and platform under the same roof? Let’s talk about the different layers of Technology as a Service: who cares, what runs where, and how does it all fit together. In his session at 18th Cloud Expo, Phil Jackson, Lead Technology Evangelist at SoftLayer, an IBM company, spoke about the picture being painted by IBM Cloud and how the tools being crafted can help fill the gaps in your IT infrastructure.
Sep. 30, 2016 06:15 PM EDT Reads: 3,152
SYS-CON Events has announced today that Roger Strukhoff has been named conference chair of Cloud Expo and @ThingsExpo 2016 Silicon Valley. The 19th Cloud Expo and 6th @ThingsExpo will take place on November 1-3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. "The Internet of Things brings trillions of dollars of opportunity to developers and enterprise IT, no matter how you measure it," stated Roger Strukhoff. "More importantly, it leverages the power of devices and the Interne...
Sep. 30, 2016 06:15 PM EDT Reads: 3,535
Digital innovation is the next big wave of business transformation based on digital technologies of which IoT and Big Data are key components, For example: Business boundary innovation is a challenge to excavate third-party business value using IoT and BigData, like Nest Business structure innovation may propose re-building business structure from scratch, as Uber does in the taxicab industry The social model innovation is also a big challenge to the new social architecture with the design fr...
Sep. 30, 2016 05:45 PM EDT Reads: 1,378
Data is an unusual currency; it is not restricted by the same transactional limitations as money or people. In fact, the more that you leverage your data across multiple business use cases, the more valuable it becomes to the organization. And the same can be said about the organization’s analytics. In his session at 19th Cloud Expo, Bill Schmarzo, CTO for the Big Data Practice at EMC, will introduce a methodology for capturing, enriching and sharing data (and analytics) across the organizati...
Sep. 30, 2016 04:30 PM EDT Reads: 1,832
DevOps at Cloud Expo, taking place Nov 1-3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, is co-located with 19th Cloud Expo and will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading industry players in the world. The widespread success of cloud computing is driving the DevOps revolution in enterprise IT. Now as never before, development teams must communicate and collaborate in a dynamic, 24/7/365 environment. There is no time to wait for long dev...
Sep. 30, 2016 04:00 PM EDT Reads: 3,594
IoT offers a value of almost $4 trillion to the manufacturing industry through platforms that can improve margins, optimize operations & drive high performance work teams. By using IoT technologies as a foundation, manufacturing customers are integrating worker safety with manufacturing systems, driving deep collaboration and utilizing analytics to exponentially increased per-unit margins. However, as Benoit Lheureux, the VP for Research at Gartner points out, “IoT project implementers often ...
Sep. 30, 2016 03:45 PM EDT Reads: 3,670
Businesses are struggling to manage the information flow and interactions between all of these new devices and things jumping on their network, and the apps and IT systems they control. The data businesses gather is only helpful if they can do something with it. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Chris Witeck, Principal Technology Strategist at Citrix, will discuss how different the impact of IoT will be for large businesses, expanding how IoT will allow large organizations to make their legacy ap...
Sep. 30, 2016 03:00 PM EDT Reads: 610
Video experiences should be unique and exciting! But that doesn’t mean you need to patch all the pieces yourself. Users demand rich and engaging experiences and new ways to connect with you. But creating robust video applications at scale can be complicated, time-consuming and expensive. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Zohar Babin, Vice President of Platform, Ecosystem and Community at Kaltura, will discuss how VPaaS enables you to move fast, creating scalable video experiences that reach your ...
Sep. 30, 2016 03:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,264
In his keynote at 18th Cloud Expo, Andrew Keys, Co-Founder of ConsenSys Enterprise, provided an overview of the evolution of the Internet and the Database and the future of their combination – the Blockchain. Andrew Keys is Co-Founder of ConsenSys Enterprise. He comes to ConsenSys Enterprise with capital markets, technology and entrepreneurial experience. Previously, he worked for UBS investment bank in equities analysis. Later, he was responsible for the creation and distribution of life sett...
Sep. 30, 2016 03:00 PM EDT Reads: 3,686


text:
India on track to quadruple mobile exports of Rs. 22,500 Crore in 2020-21, says DPIIT secretary
India’s mobile exports so far in the current financial year are worth around Rs 50,000 crore and are expected to quadruple from those of 2020-21, DPIIT Secretary Anurag told ANI. Jain. In pre-pandemic 2020-21 and in 2021-22, the overall mobile exports, according to him, were worth Rs 22,500 and Rs 45,000 respectively.
“If you saw, in the financial year 2020-21, our country’s mobile exports were Rs 22,500, and it increased to Rs 45,000 crore in 2021-22, which means it has directly doubled. So far this year, mobile exports have exceeded Rs 50,000 crore,” he added.
On Tuesday, the government approved incentives for two companies – Foxconn India and Padget Electronics – to manufacture mobile phones under the Production Linked Incentives (PLI) scheme. The incentives for the two companies were worth Rs 357.17 crore and Rs 58.29 crore respectively.
Under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the incentive payout proposals were reviewed by the Empowered Committee, consisting of NITI Aayog CEO Param Iyer, Industry and Trade Promotion Department Interior (DPIIT), Secretary Anurag Jain, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Secretary Alkesh Kumar Sharma, and other Empowered Committee members.
Under its AtmaNirbhar plan, the government had launched Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes in 14 sectors to make Indian manufacturers globally competitive, attract investment, increase exports, integrate India in the global supply chain and reduce dependence on imports.
“Foxconn India and Padget Electronics are success stories of India’s PLI program for the mobile manufacturing sector,” the DPIIT Secretary said.
Foxconn makes Apple’s iPhone and Padget makes Motorola mobile handsets.
Speaking about the LIP, the senior official said that 7,717 companies across 14 varied sectors have so far benefited from these flagship incentives. He said companies invest on their own terms and according to information. The proposed investment of these companies is around Rs 2.74 lakh crore.
Leave a Reply


text:
China Slashes Car Import Taxes
China said it will cut auto import tariffs to 15 percent from 25 percent, in a move that will likely be a boost to overseas carmakers.
The cuts, effective July 1, fulfill a promise from the Chinese President. Reuters reports the cuts will especially help luxury brands, like BMW, Tesla, Porsche and Audi. Import tariffs for car parts will also decrease to 6 percent from 10 percent.


text:
The Powerloom Development and Export Promotion Council (PDEXCIL) urged the state government not to increase the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates for textile products, as this would further affect the industry.
In a letter to Chief Minister MK Stalin, its chairman, MA Ramasamy, said that PDEXCIL meets the needs of the power loom industry including synthetic fabrics and man-made fibers (MMF). The GST council had proposed to correct the reverse tariff structure of 5% to 12% for fabrics and clothing. The letter said increasing the rate would discourage the entire value chain and affect many factors associated with it. The letter said earlier that there was no VAT on fabrics and that a 5% tax had been imposed after the introduction of the GST. The increase in the price of yarn, the price of fuel and packaging materials had caused difficulties for manufacturers and contractors who were facing losses. “This has resulted in lower wages, reduced product quality and lower consumption,” the letter said, adding that a further rate hike would worsen the survival situation of small fabric and clothing manufacturers.
The textile industry provided jobs for 17 million workers in the country, which was the country’s second largest employer. Raising taxes would affect millions of workers as manufacturers would be pressured to cut jobs. Most loom units operated on credit, and a further rate hike would affect weavers.
The letter said any rate hikes would discourage producers from diversifying their products and entering the business. Therefore, considering the above factors, Central and State government and GST board should reconsider their decision and find an alternative solution to solve the problem of reverse duty structure without any increase in taxes. , urged the letter.


text:
Coca Cola Enterprises has launched a new multi-million pound Diet Coke campaign, called ‘Regret Nothing’, which will include TV, print, social media and PR activity.
Caroline Cater, Operational Marketing Director at CCE, said: “The ‘Regret Nothing’ campaign is an exciting initiative that is set to motivate both existing and potential new shoppers into choosing Diet Coke, helping retailers to drive sales.”
The campaign aims to inspire women to indulge their impulsive side. It follows research by Diet Coke showing that the fear of embracing your impulsive side can lead to self-restraint and regret.
Cater concluded: “This new campaign is designed to engage shoppers on an emotional level. We will support retailers through the targeted in-store POS and the advertising campaign, to encourage consumers to embrace their impulses and deliver incremental sales.”


text:
The Deputy Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Nick Clegg MP, yesterday (April 10th) visited the UK manufacturing headquarters of Glen Dimplex Home Appliances as it was revealed the business is to receive a £3m Regional Growth Fund investment, the largest sum to be awarded to a North West business.
The Regional Growth Fund (RGF) is a £3.2 billion fund to help companies throughout England to create jobs between now and the mid-2020s. The RGF supports projects and programmes that are using private sector investment to create economic growth and sustainable employment.
Glen Dimplex Home Appliances (GDHA), the parent company of cooking appliance and refrigeration brands, Belling, Stoves, New World and Lec, is the last remaining manufacturer producing freestanding cookers, built-in ovens and hobs and range cookers in the UK and will use the funding to further expand its manufacturing facilities and increase its manufacturing capacity. It is expected the move will create approximately 300 new jobs in the North West over the next three years.
The Deputy Prime Minister toured the company’s 26-acre Merseyside base and manufacturing facility and met with the some of the company’s apprentices. GDHA runs a three year apprenticeship scheme in partnership with local colleges offering NVQ training in a variety of roles across the business.
Chief executive of GDHA Denver Hewlett said: “This investment is hugely important to our business. Many years ago we committed to returning the manufacture of as many of our products back to the UK as possible but that has required significant investment. This money will allow us to further expand our operations, create jobs for the local community and increase our export activity.”
The Deputy Prime Minister said: “The North West has seen major benefits from the Regional Growth fund already, and the £23 million investment I am announcing today is the latest important part in making sure the recovery is sustainable and balanced across the country.
“What Glen Dimplex Home Appliances has done here is a great success story. It is very rare to see a company that fully manufactures its products on one site from beginning to end. We’re delighted the Regional Growth Fund is going to allow them to move onto the next phase of development.”


text:
The WBAL TV 11 News I-Team is raising new questions about the campaign spending of former Maryland lieutenant governor and U.S. Senate candidate Michael Steele, as well as former Gov. Robert Ehrlich.
The FBI is currently investigating possible fraud because a former Steele campaign official claimed no work was performed for the payments made by the campaign to a company controlled by Steele's sister. Steele has denied the charge.
The questions the I-Team is raising center on more than $400,000 paid out from several Republican accounts in the closing weeks of the 2006 campaign.
During the campaign in which Ehrlich tried to hold on to his job as governor and as Steele tried to claim a U.S. Senate seat, both campaigns were spending big money.
According to campaign records, some of the biggest payments from their accounts went to the same firm -- a Prince George's County firm that went by the name Allied Berton, LLC.
The firm's Web site said it was in the business of trading commodities, such as minerals, metals, coffee and sugar. But the campaign payments it received, according to the candidates' accounting, were for a wide range of other activities, according to campaign filings.
Between Sept. 7, 2006, and Nov. 1, 2006, Ehrlich's campaign paid Allied Berton more than $229,000, which included expenses described as food and transportation, salaries, compensation and rent, I-Team lead investigative reporter Jayne Miller said.
The firm got one payment in the amount of more than $73,000 from the campaign account of Ehrlich's running mate, Kristen Cox. That expense was listed as media. A payment of $50,000 went to the firm from the state's Republican party. It listed the expense as vehicle rentals and volunteers, Miller reported.
Steele's Senate campaign made four payments to Allied Berton in October and November 2006 totaling more than $64,000. Each of those expenses was listed as political consulting, according to campaign filings.
"I would make of this being a little hinky," said Professor Don Norris, the director of the Institute for Policy Analysis at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.


text:
I recently received a crowdfunding email that really brought home to me the reason why I’m so pleased to be involved in the 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain report. It was asking me to invest in a start-up company that is planning to expand, but what caught my eye was that the business had grown from a one-man start-up working from home to a team of 19.
This sort of grass-roots job creation is going to be essential to the UK’s recovery. The giants of the economy – the supermarkets, utilities companies and mobile phone operators – may give us a solid foundation, but as a respected market commentator once said, "Elephants don’t gallop".
The 1,000 companies we are highlighting in this book all have a lot more than 19 staff, but most of them will have started out as very small ventures. Take my own company, Octopus Investments – three of us came up with the idea in 2000, and now there are 250 of us.
The really encouraging thing is that there are thousands of small businesses, such as the one from my crowdfunding email, coming up behind us. You just have to think of the stories we hear these days about a neighbour who’s turned an eBay habit into a thriving business, or the teenagers developing apps and games worth millions in their bedrooms.
Of course, the internet and other new technologies are making businesses like this possible. But what’s really firing them up is the entrepreneurial spirit that is taking hold in Britain, which we at Octopus are lucky enough to see first hand. We have invested in companies like Zoopla, a property website that has helped transform the way Britons buy houses, and SwiftKey, a keyboard app which was set up by two friends who beavered away in their flats. Swiftkey now has 100 staff working on an app that will be on 100 million phones by the end of this year.
According to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, small and medium-sized companies already account for about 60 per cent of the country’s private sector workforce. And the 1,000 companies you can read about in this report are proof that this proportion can only get bigger.
Inspiring a new generation of businesses
The UK is riding a fresh wave of entrepreneurialism and is on the road to economic recovery. By Guy Myles, Co-founder and Managing Director, Octopus Investments
Please, sir. Is it too late to change the name of this book? This isn’t a serious suggestion, obviously. But I think it is good to make clear that the 1,000 companies we’re focusing on are already inspiring Britain – it’s not something we’re hoping will happen soon. These businesses are one of the main reasons the country is finally emerging from recession.
Octopus Investments, which I helped found in 2000, is on the list, and I’m incredibly pleased that anyone would think we might help inspire the country. I hope it’s true. What I know for sure, though, is that the country has been enjoying a new surge in entrepreneurialism for quite some time. The positive GDP figures for recent quarters are only just beginning to catch up with the evidence of recovery we’ve been seeing at Octopus for four or five years now.
Whether you put this down to the opportunities created by technology, a hunger for change created by the financial crisis or something as superficial as the Dragons’ Den factor, there is a palpable increase in the sense that people can turn ideas into successful businesses.
On a day-to-day basis, we see this is in the sheer numbers of entrepreneurs coming to us with business plans. It’s currently running at a rate of about 250 a month, more than ever before. Inevitably, we’ll only invest in a handful of these, but coming across so many ideas gives you a real sense of the entrepreneurial spirit behind initiatives such as Tech City in East London, where more than 1,300 new businesses have started up. There are also university innovation centres, not to mention workspaces and spare rooms up and down the land.
When disruption is a good thing
Octopus tends to start investing in businesses when they have moved beyond their initial start-up phase. While still described as early-stage companies, they will be up and running and looking to expand or move into new markets. They may already have started generating cash, and the management team will have proved itself and we’ll be confident that their ideas can succeed. We often say that what we’re looking for is businesses with the potential to ‘disrupt’ their markets – in other words, they can cause a stir and transform the landscape for their customers.
Another encouraging sign we’ve noticed is the ecosystem of support forming around new businesses and the increasing number of ways for investors to share in the growth opportunity. At one level there’s the crowdfunding phenomenon, with ordinary people investing small amounts. At the other end of the spectrum, you have the Government encouraging investment with the tax incentives available through Venture Capital Trusts, the Enterprise Investment Scheme and ISAs, which can now hold shares in AIM-listed companies.
Then there is a wide range of grants available for start-ups and a thriving community of angel investors and incubator programmes. And on top of all that, there are sources of specialist finance filling gaps left by the banks, while AIM is constantly gaining prominence as a market for raising new finance, either through new share offers or IPOs.
Looking to the future
Most of the 1,000 companies listed in this report will have already benefited from one or more of these funding sources. From a personal point of view, it’s brilliant to see more than a dozen businesses that we have invested in at Octopus, either through our Ventures team or as part of a fundraising on AIM, on the list. What’s more, I’d be willing to bet that if this report is compiled again in a few years’ time, there will be even more of our portfolio companies represented. Naturally, we’ll claim this as proof of our ability to spot great businesses. But really it will be a sign of today’s favourable environment for new businesses and the enormous energy and spirit that is inspiring companies such as Metrasens and YPlan.
If the powerful magnets in MRI scanners attract metal objects to them, there’s a risk of injury to patients or damage to the equipment. So Metrasens has developed a new safety system called Ferroguard that helps keep unwanted metal out of MRI rooms. The company also produces full-body scanners for prisons and security checkpoints. Metrasens manufactures its products in Britain and exports 80 per cent of its output.
The Ventures team at Octopus has helped Metrasens break into global markets, including the US, where it has established a key distribution partnership.
* Metrasens is not on the 1,000 companies list.
Region: West Midlands
Sector: Healthcare, Security
YPlan is a smartphone app that allows users to find and buy last-minute tickets for concerts, plays, films and other events. Unlike other services, YPlan can sell tickets just an hour or two before the event, so it’s great for venues with unsold tickets, as well as anyone planning a spontaneous night out.
YPlan took off after actor Stephen Fry tweeted about it, saying it was "A seriously good app… free and damned smart". It’s already on a fifth of the smartphones in London, with a New York version due soon.
* YPlan is not on the 1,000 companies list.
Region: Greater London


text:
The way we experience fragrance is changing. Young consumers have different expectations and want more than a nice scent in an attractive bottle. So how do we relate to fragrance and how can packagers ensure engagement with the new generation? Investigating this topic was Quadpack’s brief to the students at the ELISAVA University School of Design and Engineering in Barcelona, Spain.
There is no surer way of putting a smile on a child’s face than a circus performance. When that child is disadvantaged through health or circumstance, it’s a way of forgetting day-to-day struggles for some much-needed fun. So when Circus Starr announced its plans to go to Stoke-on-Trent, Quadpack Foundation saw the perfect opportunity to lend a helping hand.
Quadpack Industries has signed up to the United Nations Global Compact, the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative. The move is in line with the company’s CSR strategy and offers a set of agreed guidelines to ensure responsible governance, while helping to shape a better world.
Quadpack is proud to announce its corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy, as it approaches its 15th anniversary. Since its foundation in 2003, it has seen a steady year-on-year growth, transforming into a thriving, global organisation. Now, with over 250 employees on four continents and an annual turnover approaching €100 million, it seeks to formally outline its commitment to responsible governance through a far-reaching CSR programme.
Quadpack Foundation works to make the world a cleaner, fairer, more beautiful place to live. Throughout 2017, Quadpack's charitable arm supported a number of social and environmental projects in Europe.
It's quicker than sea and cheaper than air freight. Rail transportation is now becoming a viable option for the beauty packaging sector, offering a host of benefits to cosmetics companies. To trial the service, Quadpack's Supply Chain team has just successfully completed its first shipment via rail, on an inaugural journey along the old Silk Route.
Quadpack Group has made a major investment at its Manufacturing Division in Torrelló, Spain, as part of its long-term environmental commitment. The installation of a €400,000 bespoke regenerative thermal oxidiser (RTO) ensures its facilities exceed environmental regulations now and in the future. The state-of-the-art equipment processes emissions from the Technotraf factory's spray coating line.
Spanish NGO La Fundació Antigua Caixa Sabadell 1859 has formally reopened the Can Deu forest in Catalonia, Spain, as part of a massive regeneration project co-supported by the Quadpack Foundation. The project is the first act to be sponsored by the new foundation, which was formed on 8th April by international packaging manufacturer and provider Quadpack Group.
Quadpack Group is publishing its environmental report this month, following an extensive internal review conducted with service partner Lavola. The report contains a study of the company's environmental impact, along with a summary of action points to minimize it.
O Cosmedics is a niche line of skin care from Australia that has been developed within the principles of cosmedical skin care, skin solutions on the threshold of medicine. For the benefit of The McGrath Foundation, O Cosmedics' Antioxidant Hydra-Mist – a powerful liquid moisturiser made for instant and mobile hydration – has been repackaged by Quadpack in a bright pink Apollo mist spray bottle.
Technotraf Wood Packaging, part of Quadpack Group's Manufacturing Division, has been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). With its existing PEFC certification, it is now on the Chain of Custody of two of the world's largest forest management programmes.


text:
Filippo Berio appoints Leeds agency
Olive oil brand Filippo Berio has awarded its UK PR and social media account to a Leeds agency.
Aubergine will manage its press office, organise media and influencer trips and support its in-house social media operation. The agency will also help launch its latest sustainability report.
“What attracted us to Aubergine was the experience of its founders and the fact that, being a boutique agency, they will work directly on our brand,” explained Lisa Mullins, Marketing Manager, Filippo Berio.
“Verity [Clarke] and Emma [Gardner] both come from a journalism background which means that their approach is very journalist-led. It's already clear to us how much they value the brand and how hard they will work to get us results - we’re very excited to see what the future holds.”
Clarke, Aubergine’s co-founder and director recently visited its site in Italy to learn more about the brand:
“Filippo Berio olive oil is a household name, so to win this as a boutique agency is big news for us.
“I absolutely loved getting under the skin of the brand in beautiful Tuscany - it was a delight to get to know the wonderful marketing team and learn about how their products are made. It was also very insightful to get a behind the scenes look of their incredible sustainability drive. We’ll be revealing more about this to the media very soon.”


text:
Siebel Systems Inc. will eliminate more than 1,100 jobs, about 15 percent of its workforce, this quarter as it scales down its business in the wake of falling earnings and revenues, company officials said Wednesday.
Siebel reported revenues of $405.6 million in the second quarter, ended June 30, down from $560.2 million in the same period a year ago. License revenues tumbled from $286.8 million in last years second quarter to $170.1 million this year.
Siebels net income also fell year-to-year from $76.6 million to $29.8 million, well below analysts consensus estimates. The San Mateo, Calif.-based customer relationship management software developer has seen revenues and earnings fall from year-ago levels for four straight quarters now.
Siebel chairman and CEO Tom Siebel said the IT spending environment in the second quarter was tougher than the first quarter. He said that the first half of the year fell way below the companys expectations and that the situation would likely get worse before it got better in the second half of the year.
“The fact is, the market did not turn up, and it doesnt look like its going to turn up in the short term,” said Siebel during a conference call with analysts Wednesday afternoon.
“The market is very, very weak. The economy globally is very, very weak.”
In response, the company will cut employee headcount and close facilities this quarter, which will require it to take a $225 million charge against earnings.
About 40 to 45 percent of employee reductions will come from sales and marketing, with an additional 25 percent from the companys services business, and the rest coming from research and development and general administration.
In all, Siebel is expected to reduce headcount to 6,000 from 7,164 at the end of June. About 70 percent of those cuts will be in North America, officials said. The company shed 148 jobs during the second quarter.
Siebel said the company should have made the cuts after last years second quarter but thought that the economy would rebound. Siebel said the economic recovery forecast by Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan doesnt seem to apply to his customers.
“As much as Id like to think were immune to this, were not,” he said.
While Siebel said both high-end and mid-market deals were affected, the problem seems particularly acute at the high end. The company closed just three deals of $5 million or more in the quarter after closing 12 such deals in the first quarter. It still managed to close 51 deals of more than $1 million, down from 53 last quarter.
Still, Siebel said optimistically his company gained market share in the quarter and continued to dismiss competitive threats from other vendors.
“The competitive dynamics in CRM really are not that significant,” he said.
“Were extremely well-positioned to take advantage of the market opportunities that are out there,” continued Siebel, noting that CRM remained a top spending priority at most companies, and that the market remained largely untapped.
“Were growing faster than the rest of the market and faster than our competitors.”
Siebel added 60 new customers in the quarter, which accounted for 57 percent of the companys revenue. Company officials also said that about 60 customers were live on Siebel 7, the latest version of the companys product, which became available last November. An additional 700 out of the companys 3,500 customers are currently in the process of upgrading to Siebel 7, officials said.


text:
Dish Network is one of two leading satellite television providers in the United States, and it’s also an internet service provider ever since it first launched its DishNET offering. Starting today, however, Dish is thrusting itself into an entirely new category: smartphone repair. No, that’s no typo, Dish on Tuesday morning announced the immediate availability of “Smart Phone Repair,” an on-site handset repair service that will send a technician to your home to fix your broken smartphone.
It seems like an odd move at first, but it’s actually quite smart and I’ll explain why. More →


text:
Microsoft has a new Windows 10 feature in the works — one that’ll tie your license and product key information to your Microsoft account. In theory, this could make swapping hardware or reinstalling the OS simpler.
Fifteen months after Superfish, Lenovo still hasn’t learned its lesson. The company’s latest hardware is still shipping with critical security flaws, and the company is still trying to protect itself by claiming it only affects its consumer product lines, not business or enterprise.
With E3 2016 just a week away, there are rumors that Microsoft will unveil a major new push to bring PC and Xbox gamers together. If that’s going to work, the company needs to make some significant changes.
Google may bring Android to the Raspberry Pi 3, vastly expanding the range and capability of the diminutive device. The latest version of the RBP is significantly more powerful than earlier products — within range of a lower-end smartphone.
Microsoft is rolling out the most significant set of hardware changes that it’s made to Windows in almost a decade. Most of these will only impact system builders, but there’s increased RAM requirements, support for larger screens, and mandatory support for the secure computing TPM 2.0 standard.
Microsoft’s recent changes to the GWX.exe application changed how you opt-out of a Windows 10 installation and surprised a number of users who found themselves waking up to a brand-new OS rather than the product they intended to keep.
Subscribe Today to get the latest ExtremeTech news delivered right to your inbox.


text:
According to a report, the Pinnacle Foods Group announced its CEO is leaving the company and the board has appointed a former executive at snack food company Mars Inc. in his place.
Robert Gamgort, 46 , who worked most recently as North American President for Mars will assume the new role immediately.
He replaces Jeffrey Ansell, 50 who is leaving Pinnacle to pursue other interests, according to the company.
The New Jersey-based food company also said that Roger Deromedi, who serves as chairman of the company's board of directors, will become non-executive chairman.
Pinnacle Foods is a portfolio company of investment firm The Blackstone Group. Shares of Blackstone rose 36 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $9.09 in late trading Monday.


text:
Twitter continues to bumble its way through the digital marketing landscape with its latest performance report showing an increase of 17% in Q3 users. This
At Return, we believe that a cohesive media strategy is integral to driving a positive return on investment for our clients.
Not got a Christmas strategy in place for your business? Don’t worry; it’s easy to get caught up in all the chaos of Black Friday,
Black Friday sales not gone to plan? Don’t worry, it’s more common than you might expect; even big-name brands can fall victim to a Black
Since Google launched in 1998, the company has been working endlessly to improve the relevancy and accuracy of their results. We have seen many game
Although we love our brands and products dearly, it’s fair to say that some are sexier than others. Some brands are fantastic, but their products
The new year is approaching us at an alarming speed, no doubt bringing with it a plethora of digital trends for us to sink our


text:
According to a new survey commissioned by the Can Manufacturers institute, cans are stocked in 98 percent of US households, with 24 cans in the average pantry. Most popuar are canned vegetables, present in 79 percent of households, followed by beans at 74 percent, broths, cooking stocks and condensed cooking soups at 71 percent, fruits at 67 percent and meats and seafood at 54 percent. Canned corn was the most popular single item. The survey found the average household uses five cans per week.
Report Abusive Comment


text:
After old schools BMW 3-Series when the day of announcement it was 25 years ago. This 2014 BMW M3 was appeared on four different generations and evolved from a 2.3 liter inline-four cylinder engine with 200 HP to an impressive V8 hitting 420 HP. 2014 BMW M3 maybe not the best sport cars out there, but it have the most needed functions as sport cars such as extraordinary look, great performance, the best class handling, and a luxurious interior. The brand new 2014 BMW M3 concept was continuity from 2013 models which the sports car’s history will move on to its next chapter as BMW will be set to reveal the new generation M3.
From trio of Transportation Design students at the Politecnico di Milano in italy, Jaime Cervantes, Andrea Coccia, and Chetan Rajput has bring their maserati concept to the internet which fit to wear the maserati crown. Based on GranTurismo, they designed a future vehicle which would look like in 2020 with a throwback to the Maserati Ghibli produced in the late sixties/early seventies. Maserati GT Garbin they named this 2020 maserati concept. Maserati GT Garbin look like is anything but retro with some unique and modern interpretations. There all the Maserati GT Garbin introducing car concept.
2012 Subaru Impreza was release the first debut at New York 2011 Auto Show with despite initial fears the design of the new small car. 2012 Subaru Impreza is also 30 percent more fuel efficient than the model it replaces, making the new 2012 range the most fuel efficient all-wheel drive car on the market. 2012 Subaru Impreza is the roomiest Impreza ever, as well as being lighter and quicker than its predecessor. Like 2013 Chevrolet Malibu Show Off at New York Auto Show, subaru impreza give their full concept in this auto show.
Awesome design show of a mans car, truly gentleman car its a landrover range range rover RS300 with limited edition type was tuned by British based tuner, Project Kahn. The landrover range company was released the new range rover with the limited edition RS300 Afzal Kahn. The landrover range tune based on the landrover range rover SUV. Come with Cosworth technology, a 10 piece body kit, and a pretty impressive interior update are equipped on this latest 2011 landrover. Completed by dark blue exterior color which strengthen the mans passions.
Whatever Murcielago is not the future of Lamborghini anymore, but it certainly doesn’t mean that we’ve seen the last of this highly popular supercar. Lamborghini Murcielago can be sure tuned by tuning companies like Wheelsandmore which are still around. This 2011 Lamborghini Murcielago LP720-4 Final Edition is pretty sick projects in the past have outdone themselves yet again with their new program for the Murcielago LP670-4 SV. Lamborghini Murcielago Final Edition is a project is called the Murcielago Final Edition, a nice homage to the recently discontinued Lamborghini supercar.
Related Auto Show & Car Showoff for 2014 2 door coupes at AutoCarShowOff.com
From trio of Transportation Design students at the Politecnico di Milano in italy, Jaime Cervantes, Andrea Coccia, and Chetan Rajput has bring their maserati concept to the internet which fit to wear the maserati crown. Based on GranTurismo, they designed a future vehicle which would look like in 2020 with a throwback to the Maserati [...]
Xplore has coming with the latest family pieces, the Jeep Xplore Grand Cherokee from the Xplore FJ Cruiser at SEMA and Xplore Wrangler in Moab. Some people said this Jeep Xplore Grand Cherokee is a Trail Rated car. The official spesification of this Jeep Xplore Grand Cherokee is not yet published but the past Xplore [...]
Mercedes Benz E-Class Cabriolet is one of the famous cars that most people choice to become their ride. With this Mercedes Benz E-Class they can smoke even the most powerful of exotics in the world with it. But Brabus, a german based tuning company has cooked up to have to pick your jaws up off [...]
Awesome design show of a mans car, truly gentleman car its a landrover range range rover RS300 with limited edition type was tuned by British based tuner, Project Kahn. The landrover range company was released the new range rover with the limited edition RS300 Afzal Kahn. The landrover range tune based on the landrover range [...]
If you have off-road market, then the name of Jeep Wrangler Rock Raider River Raider Off Road may come to mind and this company has a new full service outside. We recently spoke with Kenny Hauk Hauk project and talked with him about the various models that the company developed for its customers. He mentioned [...]
The brand new 2013 Nissan GTR was get its new engine which powered 560 Horse Power. As like oldest one, this 2013 Nissan GTR gets better and better every year and will no exception fot this one. As we know the first version of GTR was launched in 2007 at the Tokyo Motor Show delivered [...]
From the exclusive blockbuster movies at hollywood and have appeared in a growing number of them that involve superheroes, from the Batman Dark Knight Rises a Lamborghini Aventador become a new Batmobile. The supercar hollywood movies has strated from Iron Man that trend when Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr., was seen riding the [...]
Today without being noticed by many people in the world, Suzuki was design a concept of their new mid-size sedan, Suzuki Kizashi EcoCharge they named it. The Suzuki Kizashi EcoCharge was adapted eco green concept which will be a future technologies. Suzuki Kizashi EcoCharge was featured in Suzuki’s first-ever Super Bowl ad, a modified version [...]
Behind Audi completely new ideology behind this electric R8 and the normal gasoline version, they serious about bringing this Audi R8 E-Tron to the market. And after the E-tron Detroit Show car, Audi has brought us the e-tron technology platform based on the 2013 Audi R8 E-Tron. The supercar form of R8 was made an [...]
As topspeed said, Autocar a British Magazine this 2012 Toyota FT86 will bring back the name of Celica to the Europe and Japanese markets. This 2012 Toyota FT86 coming as Scion at USA which bring new experience for impressive sport cars. Like Toyota said 86 is likely to be retained in its name somewhere, however, [...]


text:
BUSINESSES across Barrow affected by the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak are being urged to find out if they can access new financial assistance from the government.
Small businesses in receipt of business rate relief as well as those in the hospitality, retail and leisure sectors can apply for grants providing they meet a series of eligibility criteria.
It is hoped the first grant payments will be made from Monday, April 6 by a team of experts at Barrow Borough Council.
Councillor Ann Thomson, Barrow Borough Council leader, said people must apply for the funding if they believe their business is eligible.
“The borough council received an allocation of money from the government this week for businesses affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
“We know these are incredibly challenging times and we want to get this funding out to businesses in our area as quickly as we can.
“Our role is to make sure each applicant meets the eligibility criteria set by the government. Once this process is completed, we will make the grant payment without delay.”
There are two types of grant available from the government as part of a package of measures announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak last week.
Small businesses which already receive Small Business Rate Relief or Rural Rate Relief can apply for a one off grant of £10,000 to help with ongoing business costs.
Businesses operating in the hospitality, leisure or retail sector can apply for a one off cash grant of £25,000 if they have a rateable value of between £15,000 and £51,000.
Applications can be made online here: https://www.barrowbc.gov.uk/promotion-pages/coronavirus/apply-for-a-business-support-grant/ by downloading and completing the form and returning via email to firstname.lastname@example.org
Alternatively, forms can also be printed out, completed, and posted to: Business Support Grant, Barrow Borough Council, Town Hall, Duke Street, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, LA14 2LD.
The borough council has also suspended business rates paid by direct debits in April to allow time for government relief to be applied where applicable and for amended bills to be sent out.
For residents, a series of alternative payment options are now also in place in respect of council tax.
Cllr Thomson added: “This is an unprecedented situation for us all.
“But please rest assured our teams are working very hard behind the scenes so we can process applications as quickly and efficiently as possible.”


text:
When Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott stepped out in unison for their most recent date night, they were clearly in the same frame of mind.
Travis, 31, is doing two performances at the O2 Arena in London where the couple is now on a little trip.
On Saturday, Kylie, 24, and Stormi wore identical denim as they made their way to the opening night of his shows.
Little Stormi, age four, appeared to be having a joy as she sat with Kylie in their VIP section, posed for pictures with her mother, and enthusiastically raised her arms as she watched the rapper from Highest In The Room entertain the crowd on stage.
The family was captured backstage giving each other a beautiful family hug and flashing their matching sneakers.
In addition, Travis was showered with champagne after a successful show as Travis “raged” backstage at the O2 and kicked and pounded doors. James Harden and Kevin Durant, two prominent basketball players, could be seen taking part in the joyful occasion in the video footage posted on Kylie’s Instagram page.
After returning to their hotel, the family put Stormi and her younger brother to sleep peacefully while Kylie and Travis changed into new clothes and left for the second half of their night at Twenty Two in Mayfair.
The pair, who have been dating since 2017, came out wearing matching red and cream biker jackets, demonstrating how well they coordinated their outfits. Travis styled his with a pair of cream pants, while Kylie paired hers with a short denim skirt.
As she was recently seen enjoying a shopping trip to Harrods and dining at Nobu with Stormi and Travis, among other outings, Kylie’s time to London has undoubtedly been hectic.
The businesswoman in the cosmetics industry is getting ready to celebrate her 25th birthday on Wednesday, but after becoming a touch tipsy on Friday night, she could have already begun the festivities.
Birthday countdown, Kylie reminded her followers alongside images of her flaunting a large blue fur coat and stuffing her teeth into a plate of cakes.


text:
Time Out Group, the global media and leisure business that helps people explore and experience the best of the city, announces that Sumindi Peiris has joined the company as Chief Marketing Officer.
Reporting into Julio Bruno, CEO of Time Out Group plc, Sumindi will be integral in developing and building the global brand team, leading strategy and all marketing activity across the Group’s two business divisions, Time Out Media and Time Out Market. She will be based in the company’s New York City office.
Sumindi brings more than twenty years of international experience creating breakthrough marketing ecosystems, driving equity and building high performing teams. Most recently, she was Vice President Global Brand Marketing for Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts and Canopy. Prior to that, Sumindi was Vice President, Global Director Johnnie Walker Reserve in Singapore and also held senior brand management positions at Unilever and LVMH.
Time Out started as a magazine in London in 1968 to inspire and enable people to explore and enjoy the best of the city. Since then, Time Out editors have been writing about the best food, drink and cultural experiences. Today, a global team of local expert journalists is curating the best things to do in 327 cities in 58 countries across websites, magazines, social media and live events. Now this curation is brought to life at Time Out Market. The first Time Out Market opened in 2014 in Lisbon and with nearly four million visitors a year is now Portugal’s most popular attraction. In 2019, Time Out Markets opened in Miami, New York, Boston, Montréal and Chicago and new locations are also set to open in Dubai (2020), London-Waterloo (2021) and Prague (2023).
Sumindi Peiris, CMO of Time Out Group, commented: “I am thrilled to join the Time Out Group family during this transformative stage and as we take this iconic, global brand forward. My passion is building brands in the lifestyle arena and understanding how brands live within culture, where digital and social platforms play a critical part in creating brand narrative. Time Out is a brand that has inspired for over 50 years what people do in the world’s greatest cities and I am proud to join this incredibly talented and passionate team.”
Julio Bruno, CEO of Time Out Group plc, said: “We are excited to welcome Sumindi to Time Out Group. Our iconic brand started in 1968 and we continue to transform to make sure it stays as relevant, trusted and loved as it has always been. At the heart of everything we do is our curated content written by professional journalists to help people go out better, and now with Time Out Market we are part of what they do in cities around the world - we are dedicated to enriching lives with memorable experiences.”
“We brought a CMO on board at this important stage in our journey to further strengthen our leadership team and our global marketing team, bringing together the marketing functions and activities of our two business divisions - Media and Markets. Sumindi’s success in building strong brands and leading worldwide teams will be instrumental for the ongoing transformation and growth of Time Out Group.”


text:
According to the convenience retailer, the said bags will be filled with surplus food, which customers can purchase at a reduced price.
The ‘Surprise Bag’ is filled to the value of €12 minimum and sold at a discounted price, of €3.99 or €4.99 in select Centra stores.
Speaking about the new initiative Ian Allen, managing director, Centra, said, “Centra’s collaboration with Too Good To Go is a great solution for the conscious consumer, it’s practical, easy to use and offers great value.
"This food waste initiative adds to Centra’s existing sustainability efforts on food waste, energy efficiency and packaging. We are proud to be leading the way amongst other convenience retailers in Ireland, eliminating waste where we can, and continuing to deliver our sustainability efforts into the future”.
How To Purchase
The new trial has been introduced to a select number of Centra stores across Ireland, with more locations to be added over the coming months.
Speaking about the partnership, Sophie Trueman, managing director, Too Good To Go UK & Ireland, added, "Too Good To Go is all about reducing food waste and in doing so, enabling people to access quality food in a more affordable way, and in a way that does right by our planet too”.
Centra explained that customers can simply reserve their 'Surprise Bag' on the app, collect from their local store at a pre-set time to take home, and in doing so, save food from being wasted.
To avail of this new offering, consumers can simply download the free Too Good To Go app for further information.


text:
A Glimpse Inside 2013 Contenders Football: New Gallery Spies Latest Key Arrivals
While gridiron collectors across North America patiently await the arrival of Panini America’s 2013 Totally Certified Football and 2013 Select Football in the next three weeks, company officials are steadfastly keeping at least one eye focused on pre-release preparations for the juggernaut that follows those two: 2013 Contenders Football.
In the last few days, several key on-card additions have arrived back at Panini America HQ for packout, including pivotal Rookie Cards and variations from EJ Manuel, Montee Ball, Terrance Williams, Cordarrelle Patterson, Aaron Dobson, Manti Te’o and Robert Woods. What’s more, Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman autographed and returned a limited number of his 2012 Contenders Football RCs for inclusion in this year’s release.
As you’ll see in the gallery that follows, 2013 Contenders Football is packed with an impressive variety of variations and new autographed inserts that promise to keep one of collecting’s most storied brands atop collector wantlists once again.
Enjoy the previews and stay tuned to The Knight’s Lance for additional coverage of 2013 Contenders Football.


text:
Friday, 13 May 2011
Canon today announces the launch of five new projector models in its ultra-portable LV series.
Toshiba announced its new Satellite P745 entertainment notebook series as well as its high-performance TECRA R840 business notebooks.
M1 today announces the deployment of SEA's first commercial LTE network, which is scheduled for island-wide completion in the first quarter of 2012.
Samsung and partner Nouvoyance have said that they'd show a 10.1-inch, 2560 x 1600-resolution LCD designed for tablet use.
Google's Android Market gets a revamp right after Google I/O, featuring a design change to both the mobile and desktop versions, and adding paid apps support to more countries.
Thursday, 12 May 2011
Panasonic announces a new addition of interchangeable lens system camera for LUMIX G Micro System - the DMC-G3. Featuring a 16.0-megapixel sensor and 1920 x 1080 full HD video recording capability, it achieves further by downsizing in both size and weight.
NAVTEQ is supplying NAVTEQ map and location data for the Olympus TOUGH TG-810 compact digital camera, currently available in Singapore.
On the last day of Google I/O 2011, the company reveals no plans for a Chrome OS tablet, leaving it strictly for the notebook form factor.
Dell announces Venue, an Android-based smartphone, designed to deliver the ultimate experience for people looking to enjoy more multimedia content on-the-go.
TUL Corporation introduces the 2nd generation of the Vortex Edition: the PCS+ HD6770 Vortex II Edition.


text:
Gaming Population Expansion is something Satoru Iwata has talked about a lot in the past few years (even within Nintendo), so much, in fact, that he was often worried the audience was going to be fed up with that notion. His goal was obviously to have people aware of that very notion even without having to tell them about it, especially within the company.
That being said, Iwata is still wondering whether people within Nintendo know what is needed in order to expand the gaming population. Indeed, doing the same thing as during the Wii and the DS era certainly didn’t work on the Wii U: Wii Sports Club, Wii Fit U or other “sequels” to Wii games didn’t perform nearly as well as their Wii counterparts, mainly because they are way too similar to them. Therefore, Iwata firmly believes that Nintendo needs to redefine its definition of video games: it’s something they did with Nintendogs (where you nurture a god), Brain Training (where you train your brain), Wii Sports (where you play sports with a motion controller). But they now need to go even further.
One thing Satoru Iwata is displeased with is the amount of people within the company who still firmly believe Nintendo can and should only make video games. That’s why he announced QoL during the investor meeting in January 2014: it’s part of a revised definition of entertainement for the company. Unfortunately, this announcement almost backfired when people outside the company started to believe that Nintendo was about to abandon the video game business altogether.
It is a fact that Nintendo is mainly known for its video games and consoles, even though during its 125 years of existence, it has made a significant number of products that arent video games related at all… in fact, those didn’t even exist when the company was created. Of course, Nintendo is proud of the fact that nowadays, Mario is still one of the icon of video games, recognised by millions of people all around the world, but the history of the company clearly shows that Nintendo isn’t, hasn’t, and shouldn’t be simply a video game company.
The reason why Iwata believes people within the company should not believe Nintendo can only make video games, or that the way video games are made should not be changed, is that it creates a high mental wall that is hard to overcome when trying to come up with brand new gaming experiences. Being bound to traditional ideas isn’t ideal, as thinking outside the box is pretty much a requirement in order to be successful.
Satoru Iwata then explains than when making video games, developpers have to make sure players keep on playing voluntarily, instead of simply giving up: the know-how acquired in doing so is one of the reason Health was chosen as the first aspect of Nintendo’s Quality of Life platform. The fact is, health is a very important thing for many people, who want to preserve it as much as possible.
But more often than not, people give up rather quickly (let it be about a diet or doing some sport regularly), which is why Nintendo is going to use its know-how, acquired by developping games, in order to find some solutions and make sure people interested in their health do not give up trying to improve it. There must be feedback and rewards in order to keep people interested and engaged, so that they continue taking care of their health willingly. This is why Iwata thinks people from within the company should not believe Nintendo can and should only make video games: all that know-how would mean absolutely nothing if they did not believe it was part of their job.
In other words, in order to keep on expanding the gaming population, Nintendo should not have a narrow view of what it must do in order to achieve that goal.
Source : Nintendo


text:
A new PlayStation State of Play has been announced!
In a post on PlayStation.Blog, Senior Director at SIE Content Communications Sid Shuman revealed that a new State of Play would be aired this Thursday.
The focus on this state of play will largely be on Deathloop, the upcoming time-bending action game. This segment will take up nine minutes of the presentation.
For the remainder of the 30-minute State of Play, PlayStation will be mainly focusing on indie and third-party games. Shuman specifically noted that “this showcase will not include updates on the next God of War, Horizon Forbidden West or the next generation of PlayStation VR.”


text:
Smite update 11.01 patch notes for PS4 and Xbox One is now available for players. According to the official Smite 11.01 patch notes, the new update contains fixes for issues related to the stuttering/lag, game crashing, server performance, and more. In addition, the latest Smite patch 11.01 also comes with the stability and performance improvements.
Previously, a big 5.24 update was released with new changes and improvements. Unfortunately, since the last patch, many players were experiencing a number of issues when trying to play the game. Today’s Smite 11.01 is expected to fix all these issues. Check out more details below.
Smite Update 11.01 Patch Notes
- Added fixes for framerate drop and freezing issues.
- Smite 11.01 for PS4 has fixed some glitches introduced with the last build.
- Added performance and stability improvements.
- Gameplay improvements added with Smite patch 11.01.
- Added other minor fixes and changes with Smite 11.01.
Smite update 11.01 for PS4 and XBox One is now available for download.


text:
Musk bought Twitter for 44 billion dollars in October 2022
American entrepreneur Elon Musk announced on Wednesday that the Twitter app will soon have voice and video call feature. With this, the users of the platform will be able to contact people anywhere without getting or giving the phone number.
"Soon your handle will have voice and video calls to anyone on this platform, so you can talk to people anywhere in the world without giving out your phone number," Musk tweeted.
CEO of microblogging platform Twitter and businessman Elon Musk himself tweeted about it. Musk tweeted about new features on the platform including incoming calls and encrypted messaging.
Notably, Musk bought Twitter for 44 billion dollars in October 2022. Twitter was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. After this, Musk changed his policy on the social media platform, due to which he was surrounded by many controvers


text:
FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried Gave Away His Flawed Decision-Making Philosophy Months Ago. A Behavioral Economist Explains.
In March 2022, FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried revealed his dangerous outlook that could have served as a foreboding sign for the devastation to come.
Bitcoin Continues Downward Spiral, Plunges Below $200
Times just got even tougher for the fledgling cryptocash.
Where to Stash That Cryptocash? This Man Put It Under His Skin.
Martijn Wismeijer keeps his Bitcoin handy -- right between his thumb and index finger.
PayPal Embraces Bitcoin Payments, Partners With BitPay, Coinbase and GoCoin
PayPal is officially warming up to the cryptocurrency, though it is proceeding gradually and with caution.
How a Teenage Entrepreneur Built a Startup on Bitcoin Riches
What happened when 15-year-old Erik Finman invested a $1,000 gift from his grandma in Bitcoin. Hint: Big money. New business.
BitPay Raises Record $30 Million in Series A Funding, Biggest in Bitcoin Industry Yet
The Atlanta Bitcoin payments pioneer closes a record-breaking funding round from billionaire Richard Branson, Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang, PayPal's Peter Thiel, Index Ventures and other all-star investors.
The Winklevoss Twins Score Virgin Galactic Tickets to Space, Paying With Bitcoin
The Winklevii boys' small step toward outer space is a giant leap into mainstream for the digital currency.
Japan Considers Taxing Bitcoin, Canadian Exchange Folds Following Hack
There's never a dull moment in the Bitcoin realm. Here's a quick rundown of the latest twists in the digital currency's rollercoaster drama.
6 Bitcoin Basics for Beginners
Everything you need to know about the virtual currency everyone's talking about.
Bitcoin Advocate Andreessen: 'Mt. Gox Had to Die'
Outspoken cryptocurrency defender says the shady exchange's collapse was predictable and doesn't pose a significant threat to Bitcoin.


text:
The most historic hotel in St. Pete’s is having a high-end shopping experience to match its luxury status. Vinoy Resort announced this week that luxury beach lifestyle boutique Sunni Spencer will open in the reimagined lobby this December as part of the resort’s comprehensive renovation.
This will be the Tampa-based boutique’s newest location, and the carefully curated store will sell stylish resort-inspired apparel, accessories and swimwear for women, men and children. The boutique will showcase contemporary brands such as Cult Gaia, LoveShackFancy, James Perse and Stoney Clover Lane, along with exclusive Poolside Bags custom-made for The Vinoy. Private shopping will be available for those looking for a more personalized experience.
“Sunni has an incredible eye for elegance, and her brand embodies our positioning as a beacon of luxury hospitality in downtown St. Petersburg,” said Vanessa Williams, General Manager of The Vinoy. “As we prepare to unveil the resort’s total transformation, Sunni Spencer plays an important role in providing our guests and the St. Pete community with personalized experiences that honor The Vinoy’s glamorous legacy.”
A former senior buyer at Bergdorf Goodman, Sunni Spencer debuted her first boutique in New York City in 2017 and currently has a brick-and-mortar store in Tampa’s Hyde Park Village.
“My brand is inspired by my travels around the world and expresses the carefree feeling of a luxury vacation no matter where you are,” says Spencer. “With the opening of my latest location in the lobby of The Vinoy, I am curating an exquisite shopping experience that captures the true essence of luxury travel.”
Sunni Spencer will be open from Monday to Saturday from 10.00 to 18.00 and Sunday from 11.00 to 18.00.