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|By Business Wire||
|January 7, 2013 03:01 AM EST||
With its selection of streaming entertainment growing daily, Roku® Inc. today announced it has surpassed 700 channels on the Roku platform, offering consumers more made-for-TV entertainment than any other streaming device. The company also streamed one billion hours of entertainment in 2012. And with new channels launching this quarter, consumers will have even more entertainment options from the best brands and services in streaming video, music and casual games to choose from – including Amazon Cloud Player, Big Fish, Blockbuster On Demand, FOX NOW, iHeartRadio, PBS, Spotify and VEVO. In other news today, Roku also announced “TWC TV Launching on Roku” and “Roku Adds New Roku Ready Partners for 2013.”
“When we launched the first Roku player in 2008, it was the very first device to stream Netflix to the TV and offered just that one channel. Today, the content universe is vastly different with many content producers and owners embracing delivery over the Internet and recognizing the broad appeal and strength of the Roku platform,” said Steve Shannon, general manager of content and services, Roku. “We’re excited to say we have more entertainment choices on Roku today – 700 channels – and more importantly, we have the best brands in streaming entertainment.”
New channels on Roku span video, music and casual games including:
- Blockbuster On Demand –With thousands of movies and new releases to rent, Blockbuster On Demand boasts a catalog filled with HD titles – including hand-selected movies with the highest ratings from Rotten Tomatoes®. New release rentals will be available for as low as $3.99, and Roku customers will be able to elect to receive special promotions for even greater deals. Expected to be available in the U.S. this quarter.
- Dailymotion – Bringing more than 30 million videos, 10,000 premium content providers and unique content for free, Dailymotion features a wide array of genres and original material from comedy to sports, music and more. Expected to be available in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Republic of Ireland this quarter.
- DISHWorld – The exclusive International TV content partner to Roku recently launched three new East Asian languages – Cantonese, Filipino, and Vietnamese. DISHWorld expands on the service of its parent company DISH, the leader of international programming for more than a decade. TV packages start as low as $14.99/month. DISHWorld also delivers programming in Arabic, Bangla, Brazilian, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu. Available now in the U.S.
- Flingo – More than 70 new channels, including brands like TMZ, A&E, History Channel, Lifetime, Transworld, Warren Miller, Fitness Magazine, and CollegeHumor. Select channels are available now. New channels will launch every month.
- FOX NOW – Features all-new full-length episodes of hit FOX shows like NEW GIRL, FAMILY GUY, GLEE and BONES as well as bonus features and content including behind-the-scenes interviews, episode descriptions and more. Expected to be available this quarter to customers in the U.S. who subscribe to a participating TV provider.
- PBS – Hundreds of videos from PBS stations, including episodes from new primetime programs as well as the PBS archives, with new national and local content updated daily. Programming includes AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, FRONTLINE, MASTERPIECE, NATURE, NOVA, SECRETS OF THE DEAD, as well as local favorites. Expected to be available in the U.S. this quarter.
- PBS KIDS – More than 1,000 videos from PBS KIDS television series including CURIOUS GEORGE, THE CAT IN THE HAT KNOWS A LOT ABOUT THAT!, DANIEL TIGER'S NEIGHBORHOOD, DINOSAUR TRAIN, SUPER WHY!, WILD KRATTS and SESAME STREET. Expected to be available in the U.S. this quarter.
- Syfy – Brings exclusive access to all episodes of the digital series RIESE: KINGDOM OF FALLING and NUCLEAR FAMILY. Additionally, webisodes, clips and behind-the-scenes videos from popular shows including WAREHOUSE 13, BEING HUMAN and FACE OFF are available for screening. Available now in the U.S.
- VEVO – Features more than 50,000 HD music videos, exclusives premieres, select live performances and original music programming from more than 11,000 artists. Available now in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Republic of Ireland.
New Music and Audio
- Amazon Cloud Player – Amazon’s music service lets customers access their music collection, including any music purchased from Amazon’s library of more than 22 million audio tracks, on their TVs. Available now in the U.S.
- iHeartRadio – Clear Channel’s all-in-one digital radio service provides access to more than 1,500 radio stations and allows users to create commercial-free custom stations inspired by a favorite artist or song. With iHeartRadio, listeners can browse radio stations by music genre and location. Expected to be available in the U.S. this quarter.
- Spotify – Available with a premium Spotify subscription, the award-winning digital music service provides instant access to more than 20 million songs, top tracks and albums, and the ability to listen to and manage playlists. Available now in the U.S., U.K. and Republic of Ireland.
New Casual Games; Available Exclusively for Roku 2 XS and the Roku Streaming Stick
- Big Fish Unlimited – Features a growing catalog of games – 150 today with new games added every week – from every casual genre, including Hidden Object, Puzzle Adventure, Match 3, Time Management, and more. Expected to be available in the U.S. this quarter.
- Danger Derby – This race track driving game features three game modes – Arcade, Challenge, and Mirror – and can be played by one or two players. Available now in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Republic of Ireland.
- Family Solitaire – The most relaxing and easy-to-play version of Solitaire available on TV today, Family Solitaire is based on the Klondike Solitaire rules, probably the best-known and most played Solitaire in the world today. Available now in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Republic of Ireland.
To view all channels currently available on the Roku platform, visit www.roku.com/channels.
The award-winning Roku streaming players and the Roku Streaming Stick are renowned for their ease of use, selection of content and affordability. Roku players start at $49.99 and the Roku Streaming Stick is $99.99. Both can be purchased from Roku.com as well as from major retailers. The Roku Streaming Stick is also bundled with some products including the 3M Streaming Projector and select Smart TVs from Roku Ready® partners.
About Roku Inc.
Roku is a leading streaming platform for delivering video, music and casual games to the TV. Roku launched the first player to stream Netflix to the TV in 2008, and today streams more than 700 entertainment channels to millions of devices. Roku streaming players and the Roku Streaming Stick can be purchased from Roku and major retailers in the U.S. Roku players are also available in Canada, the U.K. and Republic of Ireland. Roku was founded by Anthony Wood, inventor of the DVR. The company is headquartered in Saratoga, Calif. For more information, visit www.roku.com.
Roku and Roku Ready are registered trademarks and the Roku Streaming Stick is a trademark of Roku, Inc. in the U.S. and in other countries.
SYS-CON Events announced today that WHOA.com, an ISO 27001 Certified secure cloud computing company, participated as “Bronze Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 16th International Cloud Expo® New York, which took place June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. WHOA.com is a leader in next-generation, ISO 27001 Certified secure cloud solutions. WHOA.com offers a comprehensive portfolio of best-in-class cloud services for business including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Secure Cloud Desktop, Cloud Storage, Disaster Recovery, Integrated Applications and Security.
Jul. 6, 2015 02:45 PM EDT Reads: 812
The Internet of Things is not only adding billions of sensors and billions of terabytes to the Internet. It is also forcing a fundamental change in the way we envision Information Technology. For the first time, more data is being created by devices at the edge of the Internet rather than from centralized systems. What does this mean for today's IT professional? In this Power Panel at @ThingsExpo, moderated by Conference Chair Roger Strukhoff, panelists addressed this very serious issue of profound change in the industry.
Jul. 6, 2015 02:15 PM EDT Reads: 1,826
SYS-CON Events announced today that Intelligent Systems Services will exhibit at the 17th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Established in 1994, Intelligent Systems Services Inc. is located near Washington, DC, with representatives and partners nationwide. ISS’s well-established track record is based on the continuous pursuit of excellence in designing, implementing and supporting nationwide clients’ mission-critical systems. ISS has completed many successful projects in Healthcare, Commercial, Manu...
Jul. 6, 2015 02:15 PM EDT Reads: 971
With major technology companies and startups seriously embracing IoT strategies, now is the perfect time to attend @ThingsExpo in Silicon Valley. Learn what is going on, contribute to the discussions, and ensure that your enterprise is as "IoT-Ready" as it can be! Internet of @ThingsExpo, taking place Nov 3-5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, is co-located with 17th Cloud Expo and will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading industry players in the world. The Internet of Things (IoT) is the most profound change in personal an...
Jul. 6, 2015 02:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,231
SYS-CON Events announced today that kintone has been named “Bronze Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 17th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. kintone promotes cloud-based workgroup productivity, transparency and profitability with a seamless collaboration space, build your own business application (BYOA) platform, and workflow automation system.
Jul. 6, 2015 01:45 PM EDT Reads: 2,101
Discussions about cloud computing are evolving into discussions about enterprise IT in general. As enterprises increasingly migrate toward their own unique clouds, new issues such as the use of containers and microservices emerge to keep things interesting. In this Power Panel at 16th Cloud Expo, moderated by Conference Chair Roger Strukhoff, panelists addressed the state of cloud computing today, and what enterprise IT professionals need to know about how the latest topics and trends affect their organization.
Jul. 6, 2015 01:15 PM EDT Reads: 1,799
SYS-CON Events announced today that SoftLayer, an IBM company, has been named “Gold Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 17th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place November 3–5, 2015 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. SoftLayer operates a global cloud infrastructure platform built for Internet scale. With a global footprint of data centers and network points of presence, SoftLayer provides infrastructure as a service to leading-edge customers ranging from Web startups to global enterprises. SoftLayer’s modular architecture, full-featured API, and sophisticated automation pro...
Jul. 6, 2015 01:15 PM EDT Reads: 2,188
17th Cloud Expo, taking place Nov 3-5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading industry players in the world. Cloud computing is now being embraced by a majority of enterprises of all sizes. Yesterday's debate about public vs. private has transformed into the reality of hybrid cloud: a recent survey shows that 74% of enterprises have a hybrid cloud strategy. Meanwhile, 94% of enterprises are using some form of XaaS – software, platform, and infrastructure as a service.
Jul. 6, 2015 01:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,703
The enterprise market will drive IoT device adoption over the next five years. In his session at @ThingsExpo, John Greenough, an analyst at BI Intelligence, division of Business Insider, analyzed how companies will adopt IoT products and the associated cost of adopting those products. John Greenough is the lead analyst covering the Internet of Things for BI Intelligence- Business Insider’s paid research service. Numerous IoT companies have cited his analysis of the IoT. Prior to joining BI Intelligence, he worked analyzing bank technology for Corporate Insight and The Clearing House Payment...
Jul. 6, 2015 01:00 PM EDT Reads: 777
SYS-CON Events announced today that CommVault has been named “Bronze Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 17th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. A singular vision – a belief in a better way to address current and future data management needs – guides CommVault in the development of Singular Information Management® solutions for high-performance data protection, universal availability and simplified management of data on complex storage networks. CommVault's exclusive single-platform architecture gives companies unp...
Jul. 6, 2015 12:15 PM EDT Reads: 2,074
"ciqada is a combined platform of hardware modules and server products that lets people take their existing devices or new devices and lets them be accessible over the Internet for their users," noted Geoff Engelstein of ciqada, a division of Mars International, in this SYS-CON.tv interview at @ThingsExpo, held June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York City.
Jul. 6, 2015 11:45 AM EDT Reads: 636
Buzzword alert: Microservices and IoT at a DevOps conference? What could possibly go wrong? In this Power Panel at DevOps Summit, moderated by Jason Bloomberg, the leading expert on architecting agility for the enterprise and president of Intellyx, panelists peeled away the buzz and discuss the important architectural principles behind implementing IoT solutions for the enterprise. As remote IoT devices and sensors become increasingly intelligent, they become part of our distributed cloud environment, and we must architect and code accordingly. At the very least, you'll have no problem fillin...
Jul. 6, 2015 11:45 AM EDT Reads: 2,573
The 17th International Cloud Expo has announced that its Call for Papers is open. 17th International Cloud Expo, to be held November 3-5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, brings together Cloud Computing, APM, APIs, Microservices, Security, Big Data, Internet of Things, DevOps and WebRTC to one location. With cloud computing driving a higher percentage of enterprise IT budgets every year, it becomes increasingly important to plant your flag in this fast-expanding business opportunity. Submit your speaking proposal today!
Jul. 6, 2015 11:30 AM EDT Reads: 1,701
The 5th International DevOps Summit, co-located with 17th International Cloud Expo – being held November 3-5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA – announces that its Call for Papers is open. Born out of proven success in agile development, cloud computing, and process automation, DevOps is a macro trend you cannot afford to miss. From showcase success stories from early adopters and web-scale businesses, DevOps is expanding to organizations of all sizes, including the world's largest enterprises – and delivering real results. Among the proven benefits, DevOps is corr...
Jul. 6, 2015 11:15 AM EDT Reads: 1,734
Internet of Things (IoT) will be a hybrid ecosystem of diverse devices and sensors collaborating with operational and enterprise systems to create the next big application. In their session at @ThingsExpo, Bramh Gupta, founder and CEO of robomq.io, and Fred Yatzeck, principal architect leading product development at robomq.io, discussed how choosing the right middleware and integration strategy from the get-go will enable IoT solution developers to adapt and grow with the industry, while at the same time reduce Time to Market (TTM) by using plug and play capabilities offered by a robust IoT ...
Jul. 6, 2015 11:00 AM EDT Reads: 2,528
SYS-CON Events announced today that Secure Infrastructure & Services will exhibit at SYS-CON's 17th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Secure Infrastructure & Services (SIAS) is a managed services provider of cloud computing solutions for the IBM Power Systems market. The company helps mid-market firms built on IBM hardware platforms to deploy new levels of reliable and cost-effective computing and high availability solutions, leveraging the cloud and the benefits of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS...
Jul. 6, 2015 10:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,816
Today air travel is a minefield of delays, hassles and customer disappointment. Airlines struggle to revitalize the experience. GE and M2Mi will demonstrate practical examples of how IoT solutions are helping airlines bring back personalization, reduce trip time and improve reliability. In their session at @ThingsExpo, Shyam Varan Nath, Principal Architect with GE, and Dr. Sarah Cooper, M2Mi’s VP Business Development and Engineering, will explore the IoT cloud-based platform technologies driving this change including privacy controls, data transparency and integration of real time context wi...
Jul. 6, 2015 09:45 AM EDT Reads: 1,787
The basic integration architecture, as defined by ESBs, hasn’t changed for more than a decade. Most cloud integration providers still rely on an ESB architecture and their proprietary connectors. As a result, enterprise integration projects suffer from constraints of availability and reliability of these connectors that are not re-usable across other integration vendors. However, the rapid adoption of APIs and almost ubiquitous availability of APIs amongst most SaaS and Cloud applications are rapidly redefining traditional integration approaches and their reliance on proprietary connectors. ...
Jul. 6, 2015 09:45 AM EDT Reads: 1,454
SYS-CON Events announced today that Dyn, the worldwide leader in Internet Performance, will exhibit at SYS-CON's 17th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on November 3-5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Dyn is a cloud-based Internet Performance company. Dyn helps companies monitor, control, and optimize online infrastructure for an exceptional end-user experience. Through a world-class network and unrivaled, objective intelligence into Internet conditions, Dyn ensures traffic gets delivered faster, safer, and more reliably than ever.
Jul. 6, 2015 09:15 AM EDT Reads: 2,128
Explosive growth in connected devices. Enormous amounts of data for collection and analysis. Critical use of data for split-second decision making and actionable information. All three are factors in making the Internet of Things a reality. Yet, any one factor would have an IT organization pondering its infrastructure strategy. How should your organization enhance its IT framework to enable an Internet of Things implementation? In his session at @ThingsExpo, James Kirkland, Red Hat's Chief Architect for the Internet of Things and Intelligent Systems, described how to revolutionize your archit...
Jul. 6, 2015 09:15 AM EDT Reads: 1,759


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In a business landscape characterized by fluctuating consumer demands, Nestlé SA has shown that it can tap into long-lasting trends to come out on top. Boasting a brand value of $22.4 billion, an 8 percent uptick from the previous $20.8 billion, Nestlé maintains its status as the world’s most valuable food brand according to Brand Finance’s Food & Drink 2023 report.
“As an iconic global brand, Nestlé continues to raise the bar, setting new benchmarks for the industry and inspiring trust among consumers worldwide,” Savio D’Souza, valuation director for Brand Finance, said in the report. “With a rich heritage and a portfolio of trusted brands, Nestlé has built a legacy of success and an unmatched global reputation.”
While the company has been widely criticized for its unethical labor and other business practices, some of Nestlé’s resilience can be attributed to its strategic projects and key acquisitions but also to its forward-thinking approach to plant-based products.
Nestlé’s diverse portfolio: from coffee to vegan chocolate chips
Nestlé’s brand strength is in its wide product array. In the coffee segment, the company’s Nespresso brand experienced a 208 percent value increase, reaching a valuation of $2.9 billion. The acquisition of Seattle’s Best Coffee and a lucrative partnership with Starbucks have been instrumental in this.
An equally noteworthy move this year is Nestlé’s venture into dairy-free chocolate under its Toll House brand. In April, the company launched two new plant-based chocolate chip morsel varieties: Semi-Sweet Plant-Based and Dark Chocolate Plant-Based.
“As the founder of the chocolate chip morsel more than 80 years ago, Nestlé Toll House remains committed to creating great tasting products that meet the needs of consumer’s evolving lifestyles,” Chandra Kumar, President, Bakery Sweets at Nestlé USA, said in a statement previously sent to VegNews.
“With the launch of our new plant-based morsels, even more people will be able to enjoy the iconic Nestlé Toll House chocolate chip cookie no matter their dietary preferences or restrictions,” Kumar said.
The reasoning to launch the new Toll House morsels? Nestlé wanted to fill a void identified by a 2021 Mintel report that found 48 percent of consumers want products with a “plant based” label.
And these are the moves that keep the multinational company at the top of the game, according to the new Brand Finance report. “Nestlé’s ability to meet evolving consumer preferences, stay ahead of trends, and effectively launch new products has been a driving force behind its continued brand value growth,” D’Souza said in the report.
Plant-based ventures into vegan eggs, milk, and foie gras
Nestlé’s push into plant-based products extends further. Through its European brand Garden Gourmet, Nestlé offers a variety of plant-based meats. Last year, it launched “Voie Gras,” a vegan foie gras substitute, that it developed with ingredients such as miso paste, sea salt, and truffle oil.
Nestlé’s home country of Switzerland imports approximately 200 metric tons of traditional foie gras annually, despite its production being illegal in the country. Voie Gras aims to meet this demand more ethically.
In 2021, Garden Gourmet also introduced vEGGie, a liquid vegan egg. This was followed by the test launch of a powdered vegan egg under the Malher brand in Latin America.
That same year, Nestlé launched the Kit Kat V, a vegan version of its classic chocolate bar that it had been developing in England for two years. This vegan chocolate bar has since expanded to 15 countries—which excludes the United States as Kit Kat’s distribution here is under The Hershey Company.
Nestlé has also explored new technologies to keep it ahead of the pack. Last year, it revealed its work with California-based Perfect Day to develop dairy products made without cows using the California company’s precision fermentation technology. This exploration of animal-free dairy proteins resulted in a limited launch of an original and chocolate milk under the Cowabunga brand.
This partnership underscores Nestlé’s commitment to broadening its plant-based offerings beyond the vegan chocolate and meat alternatives, adding another layer of strategic planning to its brand.
Top brand competitors embrace plant-based
Brand Finance’s top brands report named Nestle as #1 and Chinese dairy brand Yili as #2. Coming into the #4 spot is French company Danone, which clocked in a 13.8 percent brand value increase during the reporting period.
While this brand has traditionally been known for its dairy products like yogurt, over the past several years, Danone has also worked to diversify its portfolio with plant-based alternatives.
Brooklyn Beckham, Silk
This year, Danone has invested in compelling advertising campaigns for its dairy-free Silk brand. Most notably, it took on the famous “Got Milk?” campaigns with its own spin by recruiting the children of the celebrities who appeared in those ads for its own “Next Milk” advertisements, speaking to the generational shift from dairy to plant-based milks.

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Federal agents are investigating whether a Virginia Beach company manufactured equipment in a foreign country and then sold it to the Department of Defense as if it had been made in the United States, The Virginian-Pilot has learned.
If the allegation is true, London Bridge Trading – which acknowledges manufacturing partnerships with factories in Mexico and Peru – could be in violation of a federal law that requires the Defense Department to buy only clothing, fabrics and other textiles made in the United States. The company, which stresses on its website it is "Berry Amendment compliant," primarily markets itself to the DOD, law enforcement and other military and paramilitary forces.
The Berry Amendment requires the Defense Department to buy food and clothing that is entirely of U.S. origin.
In response to questions last week, London Bridge Trading's founder and chairman released a statement.
"We have always taken our compliance obligations under the Berry Amendment seriously and we are fully cooperating with the authorities in this matter," said Doug McDougal, stressing the quality of the products his business has produced the past 30 years.
Officials with Homeland Security Investigations, the agency leading the probe, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia declined to comment.
Homeland Security agents served a search warrant April 27 at London Bridge Trading's Virginia Beach headquarters, at 585 London Bridge Road. At the time, government officials declined to comment on the nature of that investigation.
London Bridge Trading primarily manufactures "tactical nylon products," including holsters, backpacks and body armor.
According to a company fact sheet posted on its website after The Pilot started asking questions, McDougal started the business in 1985 after working as a professor at Eastern Virginia Medical School. He turned his interest in buying and selling military artifacts at trade shows into a business manufacturing military equipment.
The fact sheet said the business, which employs more than 250 people, is run by McDougal's son-in-law, David Bohannon.
Marketing materials repeatedly stress London Bridge Trading's ties to the U.S. military and that its products are made in the United States.
"We are 100% made in America and always will be," reads an answer to one of the frequently asked questions posted on the company's website.
The website and marketing materials also stress the company is compliant with the Berry Amendment, a law passed in 1941 to promote the purchase of certain U.S. goods.
But while the fact sheet says London Bridge Trading runs manufacturing facilities in Virginia Beach and El Paso, Texas, and is involved in a "joint manufacturing venture" in Cranston, R.I., it also references "manufacturing partners in Mexico and Peru."
The fact sheet said products "manufactured outside of the United States" represent less than 10 percent of the company's revenue.
"We are committed to creating jobs in the United States using U.S. made materials. That was Dr. McDougal's mission on day 1 and remains our mission today," the fact sheet said.
It is unclear what equipment is made domestically and what is made overseas.
The fact sheet references four brands targeted toward different customer bases: LBT, LBX Tactical, LBX Combatives and All-Pro Tactical.
The LBX brands were launched in 2011 for the company to sell directly to individual customers through its website. All-Pro Tactical, a brand of sport bags, will be launched this summer and geared toward athletes.
The fact sheet also said the company sells a variety of equipment to foreign militaries and police departments, including some in Great Britain, Canada, Jordan, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Sweden.
Scott Daugherty, 757-446-2343, firstname.lastname@example.org


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Official potato chips and pizza
The York Revolution baseball team made a big announcement on Thursday.
Both companies will have their food products available at the still-under-construction Sovereign Bank Stadium during this inaugural season.
Oh, and there's more. (Of course there's more!)
In addition, Martin’s delivery trucks will feature the York Revolution logo.
And Pizza Hut will team up with the Revolution to offer a collector’s series of baseball card sets.
The first set of cards will be available the Revolution’s home game on June 10, while the second and third sets will be available at the six York-area Pizza Hut locations in July and August.
Also, as Revolution officials described if: Each Revolution home game will feature a special “K-Man” promotion. When a pre-selected visiting batter strikes out, all fans in attendance can redeem their ticket stubs for FREE breadsticks at York and Lancaster Pizza Hut locations.
Free breadsticks! And you thought this baseball thing didn't get any better...


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Google beats Apple to the punch: Building the world’s first made-in-America smartphone
- By Luke Stangel
Google-owned Motorola is working on a new smartphone that is made up of the things you’d expect: It’s lighter, thinner and faster than its predecessors, with cool new sensors capable of knowing if it’s traveling in a car, or accidentally dialing someone from your pocket. However, the differentiator that’s getting the most buzz is its manufacturing—the phone will be assembled entirely in the U.S.
Motorola's manufacturing partner, Flextronics, will build the phones out of a 500,000 square foot manufacturing facility near Fort Worth, Texas, using chips from Taiwan and OLED screens from South Korea. The phones could ship as soon as October, and is one of several new devices the company is working on.
Motorola was once a dominant player in the feature phone space, but saw its market share evaporate with the advent of smartphones. Google bought the company in 2011 for $12.5 billion.
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New recall for nearly million bikes built in last 15 years
Trek is recalling nearly a million bikes built in the last 15 years.
The recall focuses on a very small piece on the front wheel, a tiny level that could cause an accident. The recall comes after one rider was paralyzed in such an accident.
The nearly 40--year-old company is the No. 1 seller of bikes in the U.S. and at Bike World stores in the Des Moines metro.
"They're fantastic bikes. They make a great product. Midwestern company, they're out of Wisconsin, and we've been selling them for years and years, decades," said Bif Ridgway of Bike World.
The recall is for bikes with disc brakes built anytime between 1999 and 2015.
"What could happen is if the skewer is not installed properly, it can actually be opened in the wrong direction, so far that it would actually interfere with the disc brake, causing the wheel to stop spinning," said Ridgway.
If your front wheel locks up while you are riding, you will likely flip over.
"If you're clipped in and your front tire locks up, you're in trouble," said rider Sandy Kelderman of West Des Moines.
If you are going fast, an over-the-handlebar accident could cause serious injuries.
If you have a Trek bike, you should check to see if it is included in the recall, before you hit the trails again. Take it to your nearest Trek retailer for a quick and easy fix.
"It's a very simple fix, most of the time we'll be able to do it as you wait," said Ridgway.
The new parts are paid for by Trek so there is no cost to you. Bike World stores said they expect to have the news parts in stock by Friday.


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His mum, the Duchess of Cambridge, has long been known as a style icon, but now it looks like young Prince George is about to steal her crown...
According to Asda, the royal youngster is behind a big increase in sales, as parents rush to copy his signature look in the 'back-to-school' shopping period.
Any royal family fan could tell you that Prince George is always seen out and about in a pair of shorts. The reason? It's an aristocratic tradition to dress little boys in shorts.
And it looks like parents across the UK are keen to copy his royal style – at least according to supermarket chain Asda, who cite Prince George as the likely influencer behind a recent spike in children's shorts sales.
'Parents want their children to dress well and increasingly we're seeing a trend for copying the look of so-called celebrity or high profile kids when it comes to clothes,' a George at Asda spokesperson said in a release.
'The weather hasn't been great this summer and is not expected to get hotter in the coming weeks; therefore we are attributing the rise in sales of shorts to the influence of Prince George!'
A style king in the making.
BUY HERE: Chino Shorts, George at Asda (£5):
BUY HERE: Twill Shorts, John Lewis (£9)
BUY HERE: Chino Shorts, Amazon (£9.99)
[h/t OK! Magazine]


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Qatar Automobiles Company Launches Fourth Generation Mitsubishi Outlander
Qatar Automobiles Company (QAC), the authorised general distributor of Mitsubishi Motors in Qatar, launched the fourth generation of the much-anticipated Outlander flagship SUV in a special ceremony at their showroom on Salwa Road.
The launching ceremony was led by QAC General Manager Frank Zauner, General Sales Manager Haitham Ebef and Marketing Manager Karim Monier, with media representatives, social media influencers and guests.
This premium quality seven-seater Outlander received a complete design overhaul and features rugged performance that is perfect for today’s dynamic environment as well as innovative technology, which can enhance the driving experience in more ways than one! Additionally, this safety-centric model comes equipped with a host of advanced features that ensure occupants remain safe at all times.
The Outlander is an SUV that’s been around for nearly two decades and has grown in popularity year after year. Since 2001, Mitsubishi Motors sold over 2.6 million units of the Outlander series globally.
Zauner said they are thrilled to launch the fourth generation of the new Outlander in Qatar, distinguished with upgraded design and features. The vehicle adopts the philosophy of Mitsubishi Motors to cope with current demands while reflecting QAC’s unwavering commitment to present the best and latest models of the brand in Qatar.
We will continue to meet our customers’ expectations and enhance our leading position in the market, and we stay confident that the new Outlander will gain the trust and admiration of customers in various categories.
Yutaka Yano, President at Mitsubishi Motors Middle East and Africa, said that the all-new Outlander is a game changer for Mitsubishi Motors, with its strong product appeal and the prospect of completely reshaping customers’ opinion about not only this specific model but the entire brand.
In the Middle East, customers are looking for more than just a car, and want a vehicle that has all bases covered – from utility and versatility to features and packages, and exterior design/interior styling.
The new Outlander, according to Yano, will continue attracting new customers through these improved product attributes which include enhanced ‘drivability’, better fuel economy, among others.
For more information about the all-new Mitsubishi Outlander, visit mitsubishi-motors.qa.
Check out Marhaba’s FREE e-Guides for everything you need to know about Qatar.


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Many companies have postponed their plans to digitize their supply chain, not believing in quick results that would cover the value of the investment. Others believe that it is possible to continue operating without the use of industry 4.0 technology solutions. However, while many of these companies delay digitizing their supply chain, they miss out on the opportunity to grow in an increasingly global and competitive market.
In order to fully digitize, Puma has joined the research service Zero100. A company made up of some of the industry's top leaders, its goal common goal is to reduce carbon emissions from the supply chain by fully digitizing it.
With this step, the German sportswear multinational is seeking to move forward in line with the sustainable goals it has set as part of its "Forever Better" sustainability strategy, which includes significant reductions in its carbon emissions.
Both companies are working together to accelerate the textile industry's decarbonization progress toward more resilient, responsive, and responsible supply chains. When it comes to shared supply chains, Puma believes that greater collaboration is needed in the sector if carbon emissions are to be drastically reduced and global climate targets are to be met.
Puma’s Carbon Goals
Last year, Puma was well on track to meet the climate targets it set itself, announcing that it had reduced its carbon emissions by -88 percent and those from its supply chain by -12 percent between 2017 and 2021 while maintaining strong business growth over the same period.
Recognizing that it’s just one company in a large industry, Puma forms part of the long and opaque supply chains that make up the textile sector and have established it as the second most polluting industry. It needs to work with its counterparts to improve carbon emissions in its shared supply chains.
Anne-Laure Descours, Head of Group Procurement, also called for the need for collaboration between industry players, reaffirming that fighting climate change while trying to make our supply chain more agile and responsive to changing consumer needs is not something that any one company can achieve on its own. By joining forces with like-minded companies, we can amplify and accelerate our combined positive impact and deliver on our mission to be even better.
Puma’s Sustainability Efforts
The sportswear company has ambitious targets in six impact categories: transparency, emissions, water and chemicals, waste, materials, and workers' rights. PUMA leads the BoF Sustainability Index ranking with 49 points out of 100, followed by Kering and Levi Strauss. These results corroborate the company's Forever Better initiative, a commitment to reduce its impact on the environment.
Within the product category, the challenge is to source basic materials from more sustainable sources. This is why, in terms of clothing, the goal has been set to have 90% of materials of sustainable origin, while in accessories this figure must be at least 50%.
In parallel, Puma has committed to increase the use of recycled polyester for clothing and accessories to 75%, with the experience that by 2020 100% of the cotton used will be sustainably sourced. Puma’s products mainly consist of polyester, cotton, and leather. By 2021, 99% of its leather obtained either a gold, silver, or bronze medal rating by the Leather Working Group. It has committed to sourcing 100% Better Cotton Initative cotton by 2025, and in 2021, it achieved 99%.
Zero100 is committed to supporting supply chain transformation that enables both business success and the long-term protection of vital resources. Achieving more equitable and agile innovative supply chains is a challenge that, when met, will have a positive impact on a global scale.
Zero100 provides a community-based education and research platform. Its learning programs, events, content, and connections help members accelerate progress on critical initiatives and increase the credibility of their supply chain while allowing them to consult their own research and analysis.


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Continuing its build-out of a complete ecosystem of open-sourced IoT developer tools, that are now fully-compatible with Google Android Things, MATRIX Labs introduced of MATRIX Voice, a Raspberry Pi-based or stand-alone dev board that allows makers and advanced industrial hardware developers to create voice-control apps within minutes, at attractive unit economics.
“While other companies continue to talk about future possibilities, making bold announcements about their plans, MATRIX Labs is creating the future today with the development of a far-reaching, versatile, and language/hardware agnostic platform that’s revolutionizing the way developers create apps for the IoT,” MATRIX Labs Co-founder and CEO Rodolfo Saccoman asserted today. “MATRIX Voice is our latest addition to the MATRIX Labs toolbox and, like our MATRIX Creator dev board, MATRIX OS, App Store, it’s poised to accelerate the creation of next-generation voice-control apps faster and more cost-effectively than ever before.”
Measuring 3.14-inches in diameter, the new MATRIX Voice dev board features voice recognition integration with Google Voice and Amazon Alexa. It offers a radial array of 7 MEMS microphones connected to a Xilinx Spartan6 FPGA and 64 Mbit SDRAM, which, when combined provides developers with the opportunity to integrate custom voice and other hardware-accelerated machine learning algorithms right onto the silicon. Voice also includes 64 GPIO pins (40 pins for Raspberry Pi, 16 GPIOs, 2 i2c, and power pins) for device-to-device connection. Other features include far-field voice capture, beamforming, acoustic source localization, noise suppression, de-reverberation and acoustic echo cancellation, and more. MATRIX Voice launched at 8:30am ET on Indiegogo on February 21th, 2017 for an early-bird price of just $45.00; ships in May 2017. A stand-alone 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled 32 bits microcontroller version of MATRIX Voice will also be available; satisfying the demand of mass commercialization of voice solutions for the industrial IoT.
“While developers eagerly await the launch of Android Things and Google’s other recently-announced Pi-based developer tools, we welcome them to first experience our MATRIX ecosystem, which has been demonstrated, beta tested, and utilized now for over a year by thousands of developers across the globe,” continued Saccoman. “We’re confident that between our Creator, OS, App Store, and very soon our MATRIX Voice, developers will come to learn that, despite our tight-knit team of only 35 people, we’ve developed something quite brilliant – that’s available right now!”
The MATRIX Creator Raspberry Pi-based dev board, which launched in July 2016 as “one of the most promising pieces of hardware” (Make: Magazine), is jam-packed with over 20 components, sensors, and device-to-device connectivity / communication, thus allowing for fast and affordable development of functional hardware devices such as drones, robots, DIY Amazon Alexa speakers, and much more. The MATRIX Creator has been shipped to individuals and makerspaces in over 50 countries, and institutions such as the second largest global aerospace company by revenue; a global leader in consumer electronics; incubators for car manufacturers; and Yale University’s Center for Engineering Innovation and Design under Deputy Dean Vincent Wilczynski, just to name a few.
“Our MATRIX ecosystem provides both DIY and enterprise developers with the hardware, software, and marketplace to bring to life whatever exists in their imagination, and then publish it for public consumption,” concluded Saccoman. “No longer is IoT app development reserved for those with months of time, millions of dollars, and years of education – today, with our currently-available MATRIX ecosystem, IoT app development and product creation is now just as simple and affordable for both institutions and individuals, alike, as building a website with platforms like Squarespace or WordPress.”


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The Internet generation doesn't actually know much about how it works.
It's not just your imagination: most American teenagers are online or on their smartphones every day, and many are almost continually connected.
Pinterest is not a social network but a "catalog of ideas" to help people discover and try new things in their lives, founder and chief executive Ben Silbermann says.
Facebook remains the most popular social media site, by far, with 71 percent of online adults using the platform, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center that involves researchers from the University of Michigan ...
Having some form of anonymity online offers many people a kind of freedom. Whether it's used for exposing corruption or just experimenting socially online it provides a way for the content (but not its author) to be seen.
Powered lower limb prosthetics hold promise for improving the mobility of amputees, but errors in the technology may also cause some users to stumble or fall. New research examines exactly what happens when these technologies ...
HBO's "Game of Thrones" has the dubious honor of being popular with both pirates and viewers.
China is now home to 632 million Internet users, a government agency said Monday, although use of social networks has dropped amid a crackdown.
Facebook on Wednesday vowed to ease its "real names" policy that prompted drag queen performers to quit the social network and sparked wider protests in the gay community and beyond.
A study of 30 major world economies reveals how worldwide internet use continues to expand to more than three billion users, but it also demonstrates also how this growth is being driven by mobile phones and social media, ...


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The three key themes this year, according to Frances Karamouzis, VP and Distinguished Analyst at Gartner, were “optimize for resilience, operations, or trust,” “scale vertical solutions and product delivery,” and “pioneer with new kinds of engagements, to accelerate reactions or opportunity.”
In light of all the difficulties that enterprises are currently facing, she asserted that “uncertainty may be an opportunity” and advised top IT leaders to “make innovation necessary.”
This is the whole list.
SYSTEM DIGITAL IMMUNE CIOs should develop a “digital immune system” to maximize resilience. According to her, 76% of digital teams are in charge of generating income, thus they must make sure that things like reliability and scalability are met. She provided instances of how Banco Itau automated its incident resolution system and how American Airlines managed to boost operational resilience and scalability while dealing with complexity growth.
CONSTRUCTED OBSERVABILITY She advised concentrating on applied observability across the entire stack, starting with raw data, adding analytics, and progressing to data-driven decisions, in order to optimize operations. In Texas, Tesla offers insurance based on demonstrable behavior rather than predictions. Similarly, Klaveness Ship Management was able to lower operating expense costs by using a dashboard and keeping track of a variety of underlying measurements. She pointed out that this trend is about clarity rather than creativity.
TRISM AI Karamouzis discussed the necessity of AI Trust, Risk, and Security Management in order to increase trust in AI (TRiSM). According to a Gartner survey, 41% of firms had dealt with a security or privacy incident involving AI.
She pointed out that because to concerns with trust, explainability, or ethics, only half of AI models are ever put into use (security and privacy issues). Therefore, she asserted, it was crucial to include these difficulties in the construction of models.
PLATFORMS FOR INDUSTRY CLOUD Businesses want to shift the conversation about the cloud away from technology and onto its commercial benefits, she added. Moving to industrial cloud platforms, which mix software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and infrastructure elements to enable enterprises to build special applications aimed at a particular industry, will be necessary to scale vertically. By 2027, more than 50% of businesses will employ industry cloud platforms, according to Gartner.
She cited Intermountain Healthcare as an example, which is developing a healthcare platform, and Goldman Sachs as an example, which has teamed up with AWS to develop a “Financial Cloud for Data.”
CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING Karamouzis advised firms to concentrate on platform engineering in order to grow deliveries. She claimed that because of complicated architectures, hybrid infrastructure, and a lack of expertise, developers frequently find it difficult to adapt quickly to business needs. According to her, enterprises should concentrate on developing reusability for expedited deployment with a shared set of reusable components and a self-service development portal in order to reduce friction in the process. By 2026, according to Gartner’s forecast, 75% of software engineering firms will create specialized platform engineering teams that will also incorporate developer self-service portals.
Examples include a platform created by Adidas to standardize common activities and one created by Politet (the Norwegian Police Service) for quick product innovation.
REALIZATION OF WIRELESS VALUE She asserted that in order to grow everywhere, it is necessary to monitor a variety of devices, from end-user computing to digital product labeling. Organizations will need to support a range of network technologies, from office wireless networks to LTE and 5G to RFID, because no one network technology can address all of these use cases. By 2025, 60% of businesses would be utilizing five or more wireless technologies concurrently, according to Gartner.
According to her, CIOs must get ready for their network to provide more information and develop into a direct source of corporate value. It’s about extending endpoints for value as well as connectivity, she claimed.
She cited the Israeli retailer Shufersal as one example, which uses low-energy tracking to tag fruit from the farm to the shop, and the speciality chemical business Albemarle, which is deploying connectivity via a private LTE and 5G network.
SUPERAPPS Karamouzis discussed “superapps,” which merge apps, platforms, and ecosystems into a single application and permit third parties to construct “mini-apps” on top of them, to pioneer engagement. The end result is a seamless digital experience packaged into a single product, much like the Chinese apps WeChat and AliPay. Although there are now 15 superapps with more than 2.6 billion active users, she claimed that there is still room for more developers to create similar programs.
Examples are Tata Neu in India, which provides a tailored shopping experience with everything from plane tickets to health checkups, and PayPay in Japan, which has 50 million customers for its integrated payment ecosystem.
AI THAT ADAPTS According to Karamouzis, the majority of models that are used in business today suffer with changing settings, insufficient training, and generalized outputs. She discussed the necessity for adaptable systems that use real-time feedback to continuously retrain models based on fresh data and updated goals in order to pioneer the acceleration of AI. According to her, businesses who use adaptive AI will be able to operationalize AI models 25% more quickly than their competitors.
She cited the US Army as one example, which is utilizing AI-driven combat training to cut learning time in half, and the UK startup Luffy, which focuses on a responsive edge solution for temperature regulation for the creation of hybrid materials.
METAVERSE She recommended that businesses think about developing Metaverse applications to seize potential. Today, she claimed, this mostly involves developing an innovative reputation. Nevertheless, businesses are utilizing the metaverse for a range of purposes, including as customer support, brand influence, events, and retail locations. According to Gartner, by 2027, more than 40% of major corporations would utilize Web3, augmented reality, the cloud, and digital twins in metaverse-based projects targeted at boosting sales. According to Karamouzis, businesses should make an immediate investment in technology that advances this.
She cited JP Morgan Chase as an example, which created Decentraland, the first metaverse bank, as well as Siemens, which collaborated with Nvidia to create a “industrial metaverse” based on digital twins and IoT with the goal of reducing design costs.
SUSPENSION TECHNOLOGY Technology focused on sustainability connects everything. She emphasized that we must take into account the effects of all the technologies we use. Environmental and social responsibility is now the third most important concern, behind profitability and revenues, according to a recent Gartner survey of CEOs.
In line with the opening address, she asserted that sustainable technology provides a “2 for 1” by having the potential to increase both profitability and sustainability.
Examples include DeliverFund, which is utilizing technology to combat trafficking, and Stora Echo, which focuses on AI partnerships for sustainability.
CIOs must, in general, “meet the moment and create the difference,” according to Karamouzis. Since you can’t do all of these things at once, she advises business leaders to select a few focused initiatives that are extremely critical to their operations, arrange them on a calendar and overlay trends on it, and then plan out a roadmap for what to invest in and when. She gave an illustration of a possible road map for this.
She noted that this is not a “one size fits all” discussion and that Gartner doesn’t anticipate its clients investing in all ten trends at once.
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A California college student has been arrested for allegedly trying to steal the personal information of about 30,000 people through a false phishing email from eBay.
Ali Shekafroush, 20, a student at Riverside Community College, was arrested on Tuesday, according to anti-virus firm Sophos.
The arrest was the result of a 14-month investigation by the department's high-tech task force,according to Sophos.
Media reports have claimed that Shekafroush sent emails claiming to be from eBay that would then use social engineering tactics to redirect users to another website. That site would then attempt to get users to turn over personal information.
"It's not just online banks who suffer from criminals sending phishing emails designed to fool the public into thinking it's a legitimate communication. PayPal and eBay are among the most popular targets," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "Computer users need to become more savvy when it comes to protecting themselves from phishing and other types of attack via email."


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Every new apple variety hopes to be the next Honeycrisp.
“Honeycrisp continues to dominate the marketplace and has become a staple in many households,” says Chuck Yow, director of sales for BelleHarvest Sales, Inc., BB #:104436 of Belding, MI.
“It’s the fastest growing variety and dollar-driver in the category,” Yow says. “Another fan favorite is the SweeTango, which kicks off the apple season early on and delivers a boost to the produce department. Gala continues to be a top selling mainstay variety on a sheer volume basis.”
Lindsay Huber, international marketing specialist for the Washington Apple Commission BB #:160338, says, “The varieties that are ‘winning’ would be Honeycrisp and proprietary/club varieties, which are in small volumes with production controlled by a limited number of growers.”
“For California, Gala and Fujis are doing well,” observes Todd Sanders, CEO of the California Apple Commission BB #:153589. “Granny Smiths are still popular, due to California growing a solid green apple, but the volume has decreased as some growers have shifted to less labor-intensive crops.”
Diane Smith, executive director for the Michigan Apple Committee, BB #:157755 says Honeycrisp continues to do well.
“In 2020, the Honeycrisp variety increased by nearly 16 percent in both sales dollars and units sold from 2019, according to data from Nielsen. Gala and Fuji are also popular varieties grown in Michigan, and EverCrisp is increasing in popularity as well.”
There is also interest in other, more exotic varieties. Riggan points to two, proprietary to Chelan and with red flesh: LucyGlo and Lucy Rose. Although he says they’ve generated plenty of excitement, they will only be availability in limited quantities in the fall.
This is an excerpt from the Apple Spotlight in the July/August 2021 issue of Produce Blueprints Magazine. Click here to read the whole issue.


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Teva Pharmaceutical Industries has entered two agreements to divest the remaining stake in its specialist global women’s health business for $1.38bn.
Under a definitive agreement, CVC Capital Partners Fund VI will purchase a portfolio of products within Teva’s global women’s health business across contraception, fertility, menopause and osteoporosis for $703m in cash.
The company has entered another definitive agreement with Foundation Consumer Healthcare to sell its Plan B One-Step and value brands of emergency contraception, Take Action, Aftera, and Next Choice One Dose for $675m in cash.
Proceeds from the current divestiture, combined with proceeds from the recently announced sale of the company’s Paragard, total $2.48bn and will be used by the firm to proceed with its repayment of term loan debt.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries interim CEO Dr Yitzhak Peterburg said: “With these initial divestitures we have exceeded expectations, leveraging the tremendous value we have built within Teva’s specialist business.
“Teva is extremely pleased to enter these agreements with CVC Capital Partners and Foundation Consumer Healthcare, which progress our ability to repay term loan debt while also providing a clear path forward for these important products to continue to be available to women throughout the world.”
With the sale of the global women’s health products in addition to the Oncology and Pain business in Europe, Teva Pharmaceutical intends to strengthen its global strategic focus on central nervous system (CNS) and respiratory products.
Subject to customary conditions, the transactions are expected to be completed before the end of this year.


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Weber’s spices up sales with surge into Upstate markets
For generations, Weber’s mustard has been a mainstay in Western New York restaurants, supermarkets and homes.
But with the pool of local buyers only so deep, company officials are looking down the New York State Thruway as a way to expand the customer base.
The parent company, Heintz & Weber Co. Inc., is targeting Rochester and Syracuse as growth markets. Just like chicken wings and beef on weck, Weber’s horseradish mustard may be one of Buffalo’s most recognizable food products.
“We aren’t trying to be a national brand, but we can be a strong, regional one,” said Steve Desmond, Heintz & Weber president.
Heintz & Weber will invest up to $40,000 to create a larger market share in Rochester and Syracuse, with Syracuse getting more of the attention.
It’s a big investment for a company whose revenues last year were $845,000. Desmond said he is putting one-half of the profits into the ad campaign.
“If we don’t do it now, we could be in real trouble in five years,” he said.
The expansion coincides with plans by Amherst-based Tops Markets LLC to grow its presence in Syracuse. Weber’s is sold at Tops Friendly Markets, Wegmans Food Markets and smaller, independent supermarkets and grocery stores.
Desmond said the Central New York marketing effort may lead the way for Weber’s to break into Albany.
The company plans to roll out a radio spot soon. It also will offer free samples at the Taste of Syracuse, a two-day event that attracts about 180,000 people.
“I think our last radio ad ran sometime in the 1940s,” Desmond said.
Weber’s will be the official mustard served at Darien Lake Theme Park this summer, which attracts more than 1 million visitors a year. Darien Lake draws from both the Buffalo and Rochester markets.
James Fink covers real estate, commercial development and government
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Scale Computing Takes Midmarket Hyper-Converged Attack To VMworld; CEO Says New VM Latency Benchmark Is Legacy App 'Game Changer'
Scale Computing – which has built a robust business attacking VMware's licensing model with its hyper-converged virtualization appliance – used VMworld 2017 to showcase its latest breakthrough: a new virtual machine benchmark that delivers what it is calling unprecedented legacy application performance.
The Indianapolis-based Scale is showcasing the performance breakthrough in the heart of its primary competitor's biggest annual event. Specifically, Scale is demonstrating the first hyper-converged solution to include non-volatile memory with NVMe Express on its HC3 appliance.
That combination has allowed the company to push the technology envelope delivering what it called I/O latencies as low as 20 microseconds for a guest virtual machine.
Scale Computing CEO Jeff Ready said the breakthrough is resonating with customers who are suddenly seeing unprecedented performance of what they thought were applications that would have to be completely re-architected for the cloud era.
Instead, those customers can now take advantage of Scale Computing's HyperCore Direct stack to completely transform their business. "This is a huge legacy application game changer," said Ready in an interview with CRN. "This is massive in terms of what it means for legacy applications. All those companies that have been nursing legacy applications no longer have to rearchitect those solutions."
Traditional all-flash storage run with a latency of two to four milliseconds in comparison of .02 milliseconds with the Scale solution, said Ready. "This is 100 times faster," he said. "What our software innovation has done has exposed just how big a game changer NVMe is."
In the case of a defense contractor that tested the HyperCore solution on a legacy application, the Scale solution reduced the time it took that application to run a report from eight hours to a mind boggling four minutes, said Ready. The customer initially thought the Scale solution was "broken," said Ready. "Literally, the customer assumed it didn't work. When you go from eight hours to a few minutes, you are talking about kicking the can down the road a long way."
Another example: a Windows 7 virtual machine was getting one tenth of a millisecond of latency with 2.5 Gbytes per second of throughput, said Ready. "My joke is that is probably the fastest Windows 7 has ever run," he said. "We picked Windows 7 intentionally because it has been ridiculed for its performance. We are showing its performance smoking!"
Ready said the NVMe low latency is just one more example of how the company is beating bigger competitors in the midmarket with enterprise class performance at a small-to-medium business (SMB) price tag. "We may be the David in the David-Goliath story, but we have some great technology we are putting to good use," he said. "This is awesome."
Ready said the Scale Computing offering is in sharp contrast to enterprise upgrades from other vendors that simply do not deliver the performance customers were expecting. "So often we see customers buy the latest hardware to run old apps and they are consistently disappointed," he said. "Our software stack changes that."
In the coming months, Scale Computing will be working with its 300 partners to implement the NVMe breakthrough on legacy applications via its HyperCore-Direct stack. "We are going to be looking at helping our partners fine tune the back end storage to optimize HyperCore Direct for the breadth and depth of the legacy applications out there from Windows 7 to SAP," he said.
The Scale breakthrough has even attracted the attention of Intel. Frank Ober, an Intel technology solutions architect, said in a press release that the Scale offering based on the Intel Optane P4800X solid state drive approaches the "10µs or lower bare metal latency" for classic virtualization.
Michael Goldstein, CEO of LAN Infotech, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., solution provider, said he is anxious to look at the Scale Computing offering in the wake of the legacy application virtualization performance breakthrough.
"We're always looking for the fastest performing solution that brings enterprise performance to our customers at SMB prices," he said. "If Intel is wowed by Scale's applications performance it's a big, big deal. Good for Scale for pushing the technology envelope. This kind of performance is unbelievable if you really start to think about it."
The performance breakthrough comes after Scale earlier this year rolled out its first multi-tier channel program as part of a massive midmarket offensive. Scale has prospered by helping small- and midsized business customers avoid VMware licensing fees. Scale shipped 1,600 appliances in 2016, saving customers what it estimates is about $32 million in VMware licensing costs.
Howard Marks, a highly respected storage guru and chief scientist at DeepStorage, LLC, an independent storage testing lab, praised Scale for getting out of the NVMe gate faster than competitors with performance that bests even highly touted NVMe network and fabric startups. "Companies like E8 (Storage) and Excelero are delivering that performance but without the data services," he said.
Marks said he sees Scale NVMe offering to appeal to midmarket customers with aggressive entry level pricing. "Scale is out early and at their price point not at enterprise price points," he said."This brings the performance of NVMe to their set of customers and price points. To do NVMe from anybody else would be a substantially bigger investment."
Marks expects the Scale solution to take its toll on VMware in the midmarket. "I don't see it as a threat to VMware in the core data center, but it is a huge threat to VMware in the remote office, branch office SME (small medium enterprise) space," he said. "It is biting around the edges rather than attacking VMware at the heart of their market."


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WATCH: Taster of Inverness is a huge hit with MasterChef finalist Sarah Rankin
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A new initiative to showcase leading food and drinks producers in and around Inverness welcomed foodies to the Highland capital this week.
Organised by Visit Inverness Loch Ness (VILN), Taster of Inverness brought together creative writers and social media specialists from all over the UK.
Speakers included MasterChef finalist Sarah Rankin, who was 'thrilled' to be a part of the new event.
She said: "I was absolutely blown away by the amount of local producers that turned up to promote what amazing produce they have and I think its really important for us as a community to shout about these businesses.
"It's great that food tourism is finally being seen as a huge potential market, obviously Inverness and Loch Ness doesn't need to promote themselves as a tourist destination, but when people come here they want the whole experience and food tourism is a huge part of that.
"I think what makes the local Highland produce special is that it's very much based on landscape and place. Everyone has come from their native area and I think that part of it is what makes it so special and local.
"The Taster of Inverness event has been really exciting for a foodie person like me to see what's out there, what ingredients we can use and it was an absolutely great day."
Other profound foodies also attended the event, like food author Ghillie Basan, Scotland Food and Drink’s Fiona Richmond, and local food and drink content creators Haim and Awa.
Bad Girl Bakery was one of the many well known Inverness-based food businesses that went along. The bakery has built a reputation on its phenomenal cakes as well as its glowing review from celebrity Nigella Lawson.
Bakery owner Jeni Iannetta said: "We joined the event because we are huge supporters of the many local food industries in the Highlands, so when we were asked to be involved we were really delighted.
"I'm proud of the quality of stuff we produce. We spend a lot of time developing new recipes and making things, but in terms of standing out in this event, I think we are just so privileged to be here.
"There have been so many amazing local producers, so we are just delighted to be amongst some great company."


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CFO Andrew Peeler steps up to become CEO of Yodel
UK independent parcel carrier, Yodel, has appointed Andrew Peeler as its new chief executive officer, with immediate effect.
Andrew, who joined the company in September as chief financial officer, has previously held several senior executive and board positions in Europe, America and Australia at international blue chip companies including Unilever, Cadbury Schweppes, Premier Foods and Bupa.
He has broad commercial and financial experience and has been pivotal in both expanding and turning big businesses around.
He joined Yodel from the fastest growing Bupa unit in ANZ, and prior to that was involved in the turnaround of one of Bupa’s largest businesses. Earlier in his career, he played a key role in a successful transformation acquisition for Cadbury Schweppes in the USA and the financial recovery of Premier Foods.
Andrew will take over from Mike Cooper, who leaves Yodel at the end of the month to become chief executive of Eurostar.
Executive chairman, Dick Stead, commented: “Over the past two years, Mike has put client and customer insight at the heart of Yodel. Under his leadership, Yodel has seen improved service levels and greater customer satisfaction, with the Institute of Customer Services' UK Customer Satisfaction Index rating Yodel the second most improved company in 2017.
“I am very pleased to announce that Andrew has accepted the challenge and look forward to him driving the business forward. He has demonstrated rigour and focus and provided clear direction. He is passionate about investing in people to build a successful future and with his extensive experience, he is ideally placed to step up to the CEO role.”
Andrew Peeler added: “The last four months have been an exciting introduction to Yodel and the opportunities that lie ahead. I am delighted to take on the CEO role and particularly to work with such an experienced leadership team. We look forward to completing the business transformation and firmly establishing Yodel as the retailers’ carrier of choice.”
The announcement follows a successful Christmas peak for Yodel, which saw a 20% improvement in its TrustPilot rating and an average customer satisfaction score of 82% during its busiest period.


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TVs to Shoes: This Time Consumers Face Pain of Trump Tariffs
Just in time for Christmas shopping season!
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s trade war with China, until now mainly an abstraction for American consumers, is about to hit home.
Beginning Sunday, the U.S. government will begin collecting 15% tariffs on $112 billion in Chinese imports — items ranging from smartwatches and TVs to shoes, diapers, sporting goods and meat and dairy products. For the first time since Trump launched his trade war, American households face price increases because many U.S. companies say they’ll be forced to pass on to customers the higher prices they’ll pay on Chinese imports.
For more than a year, the world’s two largest economies have been locked in a high-stakes duel marked by Trump’s escalating import taxes on Chinese goods and Beijing’s retaliatory tariffs.


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Edmonton handcrafted guitar business sees boom despite pandemic
New orders should be finished in 2023, says owner
An Edmonton man has found success building handcrafted guitars with a waitlist that has actually grown during the pandemic.
Dion James built his first guitar around fifteen years ago. He was 23 at the time and living in Saskatchewan.
He and a friend were tinkering with an old guitar made of plywood. Logging on to a dial-up connection, James did an Ask Jeeves search for guitar building and found a class two hours away.
He has come a long way since then, going professional around six years ago, but he still has that first guitar.
"If my house burned down, I'd grab my child and my partner and then my guitar."
James has honed his craft and turned it into a sought-after business with customers — both individuals and dealers — located around the world.
Each steel-string acoustic guitar takes him around 250 hours to make — slower than some others in the craft, he says — and starts at $10,000 each. He builds between 8 and 10 a year.
The pandemic has slowed down the process, however. James shares a workshop with two others so he's shortened his work week from five or six days a week to only three in order to maintain distance. Some supplies like certain hardware pieces are also on back order.
But that doesn't mean sales have dropped off — in fact, they've grown.
"It's obviously a strange time — and I recognize my privilege within this time — but for my business, I've experienced a bit of a boom in orders."
A new order now would take about two years to complete. But that timeline may actually make the handcrafted guitars more attainable for some, James said.
"Price isn't as big a barrier as I imagined when I started to get to that price," he said.
While he has dealers and collectors as clients, James said middle-class buyers will also put down a direct deposit and save up while in the queue.
James said one of the reasons people are drawn to his business is that in a world of anonymous mass production, guitar craft workers form a personal bond.
"I think people are attracted to something that they have had made with someone they know or have had a relationship with," he said, adding that many customers come back more than once.
Another reason is the quality of sound.
"The guitars we're building as handmakers are more like concert instruments, like that of cellos and violin players in the orchestra. They're more delicate and because they're more delicate … they produce more sound and more complex sound."
Guitars are a lightly-built instrument, James said, and the goal is to find the balance between that delicateness and long-term durability as they control air movement and produce sound.
Factory-built guitars are also not as customized as the ones guitar makers can produce with their ability to tailor neck shape, widths and other.design aspects.
"They're not built to a mass [specification], they're one offs," James said. "Each guitar sounds much better than you would get out of a factory."
James said the business of handmade guitars is on an upward trajectory as more and more people become aware of it. He said while there are business-minded folks in the industry, more common are people in it for the love of the craft.
For him, the autonomy and chance to hone a skill to mastery has made the work "more satisfying with each passing year."
"It's the best life I could have imagined."
With files from Axel Tardieu


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Yesterday it was announced that StartEngine had entered into an agreement to purchase SeedInvest. Following a typical regulatory review, StartEngine will soon own substantially all of SeedInvest’s assets, including its database of registered investors. SeedInvest is currently owned by Circle, which purchased the company in 2019 when Circle was pursuing a different strategy. Circle is the issuer of a leading dollar-based stablecoin, USDC – a digital asset the company believes will be the future of payments and transfers.
CI reached out to StartEngine co-founder and CEO Howard Marks, who shared some additional details on the acquisition.
Marks said that SeedInvest was acquired for $24 million in a share transaction. As the transaction required a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, it was outlined in an 8-K that the total consideration for the purchase is 960,000 shares of StartEngine’s common stock, which is based on StartEngine’s ongoing Reg A+ offering price of $25 per share. StartEngine is currently seeking up to $46 million in a funding round at a valuation of $1.32 billion.
The SEC filing indicated the acquisition of SeedInvest is expected to close no later than the first quarter of 2023.
We asked Marks about the current SeedInvest team, and he said it was up to Circle to decide on the team and facilities (not too long ago, SeedInvest moved from New York City to Miami).
An interesting aspect of the transaction is the fact that StartEngine did not receive SeedInvest’s broker-dealer (StartEngine already has one) and that the ownership stake in Crowdcube is not part of the deal.
As was previously mentioned, the equity in Crowdcube may have indicated a move by StartEngine into the European market, and, at least for now, that is not the case. Marks added that there are no plans to work with Crowdcube – which is one of the largest platforms in Europe.
Marks did share his opinion on ECSPR [European Crowdfunding Service Provider Regulation], the new EU rules that enable pan-European crowdfunding, and he had this to say:
“I think ECSPR is a first big step to developing a European-wide standard and seeing successful crowdfunding platforms emerge. The European investor is eager to invest in early-stage companies the same way as we see it here. It takes time to build a marketplace, but there is no question it will be successful. We have not announced plans for a European presence. I do believe it is up to entrepreneurs over there to do it. Down the road, we can certainly entertain partnerships.”
Since we were on the topic of global expansion, we asked Marks if StartEngine had considered providing services in other markets like Asia and Latin America. Marks said they have no intent to pursue these markets as he is drawing on his experience in building companies, and one of the first rules is to stabilize your own market first before venturing abroad.
“It can become a distraction,” stated Marks. “We are hyper-focused on the US marketplace.”
With more than 70 FINRA-regulated funding portals and a number of broker-dealers pursuing the online capital formation sector, we asked Marks for his thoughts on the future of investment crowdfunding.
“I believe few will become broker-dealers because of the cost it entails. Not only the costs, but the time it takes to properly maintain the regulated entity,” Marks said. “I think consolidation is inevitable, and we intend on being the consolidator.”
Marks also shared his thoughts on institutional money moving into securities crowdfunding, and he said that VCs are very control-driven and they like to keep their deals for themselves and other club members.
“We are now seeing angels participate in some of our offerings. Equity crowdfunding is open and available to the general public with full transparency, such as publishing the yearly financials. Also, equity crowdfunding allows investors to freely sell their shares which is not the case when investing professionally or as an angel in a VC deal. The world is going to look a lot different once our marketplace grows further, giving entrepreneurs a solid option to sell shares to the public and stay in control.”


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After receiving a record number of donated goods last fiscal year, the Habitat for Humanity ReStores in Lee County were able to help offset the costs of building 65 affordable homes.
The ReStores accept gently used furniture, appliances and building materials from homeowners, contractors, and businesses. These items are later sold to the public at a discount rate and 100% of ReStore profits are used to build or rehab homes for local families in Lee and Hendry Counties.
With four locations in Lee County, the ReStore logged 18,846 donation drop-offs or pick-ups this year, an increase of 16% from 2017-2018.
“We make donating to the ReStore easy for our residents and partner businesses. Items can be dropped off at any of our four stores or a pick-up can be scheduled for larger items,” said Tammy Moran, vice president of ReStore Administration. “The more donated goods we receive, the more items we can sell to support Habitat’s mission of building decent and affordable homes.”
Through donations and volunteer labor, Habitat for Humanity of Lee and Hendry Counties built and sold a total of 65 homes to local families in fiscal year 2018-19. Families in need of a hand up partner with Habitat to build a place they can call home. Qualified Habitat homebuyers undergo a rigorous process of investing 300 hours of “sweat equity” and completing homeownership classes which include financial literacy and home maintenance.
“We know housing that is safe, healthy and affordable is foundational for families to thrive,” said Becky Lucas, CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Lee and Hendry Counties. “Our ReStores are instrumental in supporting our vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to live.”
There are four ReStore locations in Lee County: South Fort Myers at 16133 S. Tamiami Trail, Bonita Springs at 9080 Bonita Beach Rd., North Fort Myers at 31 Willis Road and a new store in Fort Myers at 15271 McGregor Blvd.


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JAPAN: McDonald's probably sourced mislabelled beef products
It is considered "highly likely" that US fastfood giant McDonald's was among the unsuspecting buyers of mislabelled beef products sold by Starzen. Japanese food industry experts said the problem could become exacerbated in coming weeks as more firms admit to malpractice. Late last week Starzen admitted relabelling cheap beef and pork products as premium cuts to gain premium prices. The fraud has been going on since summer 2000, so many of the country's major meat buyers are likely to have fallen victim over the last 18 months.
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Despite the UK’s growing preference for electronic payments, there remain pockets of the economy that are unable to process card transactions – a bizarre situation when you consider the UK’s widespread internet connectivity, the increasing importance of providing consumer convenience, and the fact that cards have been a mainstream payment method since the launch of the first credit card in 1966. Tradesmen, taxi drivers and market traders are among the businesses that continue to persevere with a cash-only model.
Whether unable or unwilling to process card payments, cash-only businesses are putting themselves at a significant disadvantage – simply put, cash is bad for business. While it may feel like a counter-intuitive idea, cash is not free to process. For example, it requires physical security measures for both storage and transport. In addition, dealing in cash means that customers remain anonymous using cards and other forms of electronic payment enables businesses to collect valuable data that can be used to launch personalised marketing campaigns.
Festivals are another example of an environment where cash is still king. Last year, UK Music and Visit Britain produced a Music Festivals map identifying that the UK’s more than 500 commercial music festivals attract 7.7m fans each year, generating ?864m for the economy. However, anyone visiting Glastonbury this summer will have been aware that they were unable to make purchases using their debit or credit cards at many of the site’s outlets, a situation even more pronounced at competing events. This benefits neither consumers or businesses trading at the festivals as a result attendees are forced into choosing between carrying large sums of cash, putting them at risk of theft, or regularly visiting on-site ATM machines, famous for their long queues.
As a result of these trends, it is important that cash-only businesses begin to make moves that will facilitate acceptance of card payments in the near-future. Many are resistant due to concerns about the charges or associated compliance obligations. However, there are now many entry-level solutions that allow smaller organisations to experiment with card payments before committing to a more professional solution. In addition, a good payment service provider will have the expertise in house to enable stress-free navigation of the regulatory standards associated with the processing of card payments.
Neglecting to accept cards puts businesses at a disadvantage both today and in the future. Talk to younger consumers and you will discover that they tend not to carry cash and that they will take their custom elsewhere if unable to use their preferred payment method. It is unsurprising that businesses accepting card payments sell more than their cash only counterparts, or that the addition of mobile enabled payments to traditionally cash-only business models, such as taxis, has inspired some real success stories.
Electronic payments for retail purchases have already overtaken cash in South Korea and Scandinavia, and data from The Payments Council, the body responsible for ensuring UK payments services work, suggest it is only a matter of time before the same happens in the UK. The organisation’s figures show cash accounted for 71 per cent of UK payments in 2003 but that by 2012 this had dropped to just 54 per cent. Future success depends on businesses being prepared for the continuation of this trend
Simon Black is CEO of Sage Pay.


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Apple CEO May Get a Raise
by , 9:15 AM EST, November 16th, 2007
Apple CEO Steve Jobs may be the driving force behind his company's success, but he only draws a US$1 salary each year. The Mac and iPod maker's annual report for fiscal 2007 hints that Mr. Jobs may finally be due a raise, according to CNET News.
The report Apple filed with the SEC Thursday afternoon stated "Because Mr. Jobs's continued leadership is critical to Apple, the Compensation Committee is considering additional compensation arrangements for him."
While that may include a bigger paycheck, it more likely means that the company is lining up some other perks to throw Mr. Jobs's way. In 2000, Apple dropped a $46 million Gulfstream V jet in his lap, and he already holds 5.5 million shares of the company's stock.
Apple isn't talking about what it has in store for Mr. Jobs, but odds are it's even better than a free iPhone.


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Makeup's downturn continues to hit one of the boom's great brands, Anastasia Beverly Hills. Fitch Ratings has downgraded the brand to CCC from B and downgraded its senior secured revolving credit facility and senior secured Term Loan B to CCC-/RR5 from B+/RR3. Notably, Fitch reported that Anastasia Beverly Hills' revenue may have peaked in 2017 at about $175 million, which could decline in the coming years to just $40 million. "These projections raise significant questions regarding the long-term health of the brand and the ability of management to successfully execute new product launches and expense management," Fitch reports.
The organization added, "Fitch recognizes that other factors have conspired to challenge ABH's recent results, including poor execution of a warehouse move in 2017 and 2018 and some recent weakness in the color cosmetics category, which could be temporary ... The rating also considers the company's narrow product and brand profile, and risk that continued beauty industry market share shifts could further weaken ABH's projected growth through new entrants and brand extensions from existing large players."
Previously (July 2019): Just last year Anastasia Beverly Hills received a minority investment from TPG Capital, which was rumored to value the company at about $3 billion. Now, Financial Times is reporting that the brand "has been downgraded by Fitch Ratings," citing "disappointing revenues and declining sales."
Anastasia Beverly Hills experienced a sales drop of 8% last year, with a 30% decline in revenue in Q1 2019, according to the report.
Fitch reportedly questioned the long-term health of the brand due to management being potentially unable to turn the brand around.
Anastasia Beverly Hills has been a perennial target of acquisition rumors as other independent brands such as Kylie Cosmetics, Glossier and IT Cosmetics have boomed and explored various growth options, including minority investments and strategic buyers.