text:
Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) has also made always made it clear that it intends to place its bet on two major avenues: heavy investment in forward-looking mobility solutions like smart cities and connected cars and profitable line of trucks and SUVs.
However, the company had not made this official until recently when it announced that it would be doing away with the traditional hatchbacks and sedans for the North American market.
Jim Hackett, the CEO of Ford said during the company’s quarterly earnings call said the company will be focusing on the SUV-like Active trim and the Mustang in North America. This, according to the company, will be undertaken in the near future after completing the current product cycle.
The company’s new initiative will effectively do away with the Fiesta and Fusion ranges and the new Focus is expected on the market in 2019n and chances are that it will be sourced from a factory in China. Additionally, the current Focus sedans and the Taurus are expected to expire sometime this year.
However, Ford needs to keep an eye on is fuel averages. The CEO indicated that the 2020 Bronco SUV, which will have similar components like the 2019 Ranger pickup, will have a hybrid version. After its launch, the Bronco will compete with the likes of Toyota 4Runner and Jeep Wrangler. Jeep built the 2018 Wrangler with a 48-volt mild hybrid system. It is however not clear if the Bronco will be built with the same system or will have a plug-in hybrid format. Hybrid versions of Mustang, Explorer, Escape, and F-150 have been announced in the past.
With Ford moving away from the loss-making sedan business, the company will be in a better position to try investing in new technologies. It has already made a lot of investment in its mobility services since the start of this year. Additionally, it has fully invested in the “smart city” concept.
In the first quarter financial result, the company reported $1.7 billion in net income, which represents a 9% increase from what it reported last year. The mobility section however reported $102 million in losses for during the quarter. The loss was attributed to a one-time $58 million investment.


text:
TikTok has scored its largest fine to date
This is the published version of Forbes daily newsletteryou can sign up to get Forbes Daily in your inbox here.
It’s not just Taylor Swift’s blockbuster tour that’s breaking records. Some box office predictions for the opening weekend of Taylor Swift: Tour for the Agesthe film adaptation of the concert, has grossed $100 million, according to A.J Delivery time a report.
This would make it Highest-grossing musical film of all time At the local box office. The film won’t hit theaters until October 13, but it has already sold $65 million in advance tickets, putting it in the top four. Other top-grossing concert films include: Justin Bieber Never say no And Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of both worlds party.
California sued Exxon Mobil, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and BP, accusing the companies of Lying about the climate impacts of their business practices And demanding serious financial damages. “California taxpayers should not foot the bill for billions of dollars in damage — wildfires wiping out entire communities, toxic smoke clogging our air, deadly heat waves, and record droughts drying up our wells,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement. statement.
Business + Finance
Shares suffered their worst day since August after big technology losses after Adobe beat expectations in its quarterly earnings but forecast current-quarter sales in line with analysts’ expectations. The stock is showing a decline despite beating expectations “All AI bets are capped high.” Oanda analyst Edward Moya explained.
Grocery delivery startup Instacart dramatically raised the scope of its IPO on Friday, giving the company the implication… Its value ranges between $9.3 billion and $9.9 billion. The higher estimate came hours after the largest IPO in nearly two years, British chip designer ARM, delivered an exciting first trading session.
Former Wells Fargo CEO Cary Tolstedt was sentenced to three years in prison for fraud Covering up a large-scale fake accounts scandal at the bank, and avoid imprisonment for up to 16 months because she does not pose a danger to society. Wells Fargo has paid nearly $5 billion to settle multiple claims over its fake accounts scandal, according to Bloomberg.
Technology + innovation
Generative AI is fueling financial fraud, which may eventually happen Rendering state-of-the-art fraud prevention measures obsolete, such as voice authentication and even “live verifications” designed to match the image in real time to the recorded image. In 2022, consumers reported losing $8.8 billion to fraud, up more than 40% from 2021, the US Federal Trade Commission reports.
TikTok’s main regulatory body in the European Union fined the social media company $370 million over its handling of children’s data. The largest fine the company has faced to date. The Irish Data Protection Commission found that TikTok violated several parts of Europe’s landmark privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation, in 2020, including articles related to the processing of young users’ data and so-called “dark patterns” or design decisions. That trick or manipulate users into taking certain actions in the app.
Money + politics
President Joe Biden spoke in solidarity with the striking United Auto Workers union in remarks from the White House on Friday, Flirt with your main work circle Which he sometimes criticized. “The bottom line is that auto workers helped create the middle class in America,” he said. “They deserve a contract that keeps them and the middle class.”
MORE: UAW President Sean Fine took issue with some of President Biden’s statements, particularly that “negotiations broke down.” Fine insisted that leadership at the companies and the UAW “are working hard at the negotiating table.” While largely enjoying the unambiguous support of unions, Biden has been treated with suspicion by the UAW Because of his outspoken support for electric cars, which the union fears will lead to fewer jobs.
Sports + entertainment
Drew Barrymore has backed away from plans to bring back her talk show amid a writers’ union strike that has lasted for several months Criticisms and sit-ins outside the studio. Barrymore said last Friday that she took responsibility for resuming production because “there are other people’s jobs at stake,” which echoed other talk show hosts who are still rerunning their shows during the strike, such as Real Time with Bill Maher.
Daily cover story
Musk’s electronic truck is about to arrive. But will anyone buy the “funny” car?
Top line Elon Musk’s powerful electric version of his pickup truck, the Cybertruck, is expected to go on sale in the coming weeks.
Tesla didn’t say how many people paid $100 to reserve one, though fans guess more than 1.5 million people have done so since its unveiling in November 2019. It’s not certain how well it will sell, but one thing is: Environmentalists hate that.
The fickle billionaire’s push into pickup trucks has less to do with environmental charity and more to do with the bottom line: work-oriented vehicles are the way to go. The largest and most profitable segment of the American automobile market. Americans bought about two million pickup trucks last year, selling for an average of $59,000.
The large amount of energy, aluminum and extracted materials needed to build the Cybertruck seems to go against Musk’s long-standing principles of climate conservation. While extracted battery materials eliminate exhaust emissions, their extraction does so Environmental damage and human costs.
Advocates have objected for decades to the auto industry’s shift from smaller cars to larger, more profitable pickups and SUVs, which have less stringent government fuel economy requirements.
Nick Molden, CEO and founder of Emissions Analytics, an independent automotive research firm based in the UK, said the Cybertruck could potentially cut its carbon emissions by about 50% over its lifetime, assuming the buyer replaces a similar-sized petrol truck. The owner uses it less frequently than a gasoline truck, “and that would undermine the climate benefit because the manufacturing emissions of making a Cybertruck would be extinguished over so few miles,” he said.
Tesla’s fan base may be enthusiastic, but overall consumer interest in the Cybertruck suggests it faces headwinds. They have received the lowest level of interest among consumers interested in purchasing electric pickup trucks, according to a Cox Automotive survey conducted in August. The Ford F-150 Lightning topped the poll, followed by the Dodge Ram EV, Chevrolet’s Silverado electric vehicle, and the Rivian pickup truck.
why does it matter “The Cybertruck is the first addition to Tesla’s lineup since the debut of the best-selling Model Y crossover in early 2020,” he says. Forbes Senior Editor Alan Unsman. “How well it will sell remains a mystery, especially since the company has not yet released basic details, including even its price.”
more $3 billion Monster Truck project to electrify commercial vehicles
Facts and comments
Planet Fitness, one of the largest gym chains in the US, has seen its stock price fall after the board He suddenly ousted the company’s CEO, Chris Rondeau:
15%: Planet Fitness’s stock price fell in early trading Friday, its lowest level since August 2020
18.4 million: Number of Planet Fitness members worldwide, in 2,472 locations
Nearly 30: The number of years Rondo has worked at Planet Fitness, working his way up from the front desk at the gym’s first location
Strategy and success
At any point in the hiring process, it’s hard to hear this scary phrase: “You’re overqualified.” Here are five common reasons you might hear this from a potential employer, including not being able to meet your salary requirements, thinking you’re too short-term focused or unable to adapt, or they simply don’t know how to turn you down.
S&P Global Ratings downgraded the shoe store chain’s credit rating on Friday. News follows Which retailer shares fell After it announced a decline in sales and profits and lowered its expectations for this year?
a. Shoe carnival
B. New balance
C. Foot Locker
Check your answer.
Via the newsroom
- Get a weekly summary of the most important headlines and exclusive news in the field of cybersecurity, online privacy and surveillance with our newsletter. Eavesdropping. Click here to register.
Thanks for reading! Follow us on Twitter Get accurate updates on the latest business and financial news throughout the day.
(Tags for translation) TikTok

domain: news


text:
Wilson Therapeutics Appoints Chair
This article was originally published in Scrip
Wilson Therapeutics AB., a privately held pharmaceutical company, has appointed Andrew Kay chair of its board of directors. Hugh Rienoff, the company's previous chair, will continue to advise the company as a consultant. Kay is currently advisor and chair to various biotech companies and most recently was CEO of Algeta, a publicly traded oncology company acquired by Bayer. He was previously global head of marketing and sales at Novartis, vice-president of marketing US at Zeneca and also held commercial positions in Europe with AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Sandoz and Boots.


text:
Well, that was fast! Just a few years ago, the fancy home theater was a must-have.
Every high-end Parade home had one, complete with a huge projection screen, plush seating with cupholders and dramatic mood lighting.
Now, it seems, the home theater is already a bygone fad, like poodle perms and "Flashdance" legwarmers.
We still like our home entertainment and electronics. But with flat-screen TVs all over the house and gadgets that move with us from room to room, we're more likely to want a charging station for our devices than a whole room outfitted for viewing.
The decline of the recently red-hot media room emerged from a survey by the National Association of Home Builders (www.nahb.org). Today's homebuyers are practical and value-oriented, according to an article analyzing the data, by Steve Kerch (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/kiss-these-10-once-popular-home-features-goodbye.html)
Other once-popular features that are now on the wane include:
1. Outdoor kitchens and outdoor fireplaces
3. Two-story family rooms
4. Two-story foyers.
5. Master-planned developments.
6. Luxury master bathrooms
7. Formal living rooms
8. Whirlpool tubs
What about you? Which of these home features do you already have? Do you enjoy them? Would you buy or build them again?


text:
This week Intel announced that it would soon launch a new line of chips that combine an Intel CPU with AMD graphics. But that could just be the beginning of the company’s new approach to graphics.
Intel has been improving its integrated graphics technology for years, and you can now hook up multiple 4K displays and/or play some modern games on a PC with Intel HD graphics. But serious gamers and video or graphic professionals tend to opt for machines that also have discrete graphics cards from NVIDIA or AMD.
Now the company has hired Raja Koduri to be Intel’s new chief architect for a new “Core and Visual Computing Group.”
Koduri used to be head up AMD’s GPU unit… and by used to, I mean up until yesterday. That’s when Koduri announced that he was leaving AMD. A day later, Intel announced that he was joining that company.
Intel says Koduri’s new group will help the company expand into new territories, including “high-end discrete graphics solutions for a broad range of computing segments,” as well as “edge computing solutions,” which AnandTech interprets to mean IoT devices.
The focus on high-end graphics solutions is probably more intriguing for PC enthusiasts, since it means Intel could be prepping solutions that will compete with the latest desktop and mobile graphics solutions from NVIDIA and AMD for folks that need more powerful graphics for gaming, video production, virtual reality, 3D rendering, or cryptocurrency mining, among other things.
Intel had a five year old bug that affected the Z buffer cache in all their integrated graphics products where objects that went off the actively rendered area would reappear and often get in the player’s line of sight. For example, Sonic Adventure 2 HD’s first level had a trolley stuck right in front of the third person camera, making it very hard to finish. This issue was only recently fixed in Skylake after years upon years of countless requests and complaints to fix this issue that made many games off putting or even unplayable. This is also to say nothing of Intel’s i740 and Larrabee discrete GPU projects that were failures. As such, unless Intel rebuilds their graphics group from the ground up, I see nothing but failure written all over this.
Username checks out.
Wow. I did not see that coming
Brad, you missed an important point with this announcement. Linux often struggles with bleeding edge hardware (especially video hardware). You often have a choice of a buggy reverse engineered driver, an unknown closed source driver, or nothing. Intel has been pretty good with Linux support. This might be good news for the Linux community.
Comments are closed.


text:
HYDERABAD: The Pollution Control Board (PCB) started a first-of-its-king digital waste collection centre in Kompally on Wednesday. The PCB has partnered up with Brand store, a private waste collection company. Officials said the collection centre would be accessible via a mobile application named “UZED” that would be available on Playstore.
The waste would be picked up from the user’s doorstep, thereby making small households stakeholders in waste management. Users can even get monetary payments for the e-waste they give up.
The service would be available to both private citizens and scrap collectors in the informal sector.
An official told Express: “According to EPTRI’s report from 2017, 75 per cent of e-waste generated in the city is from households, not bulk consumers of electronic goods such as public and private institutions, manufacturers or IT companies. Hence, this is a move to enable citizens.”
According to the PCB, out of the total 30,000 tonnes of e-waste generated in 2018, only around 3,850 tonnes were recycled in a scientific manner. This was possible because the State had only two recycling units and 10 dismantling units where recycling can be done scientifically. Officials admit that very little e-waste finds its way into these centres.
“There are a lot of informal stakeholders such as scrap collectors who are going a very good job in collecting waste. However, most of that waste gets dismantled in an unscientific manner. But now we will be able to monitor this collection centre and see if the e-waste is indeed being sent to State recycling units” said the official.The official added that more collection drives would be taken up in the twin cities area very soon.
A startup that connects e-waste producers
Recykal, a city-based startup, has set up a market place for e-waste producers. Abhishek, its founder, said their aggregator platform would connect e-waste producers and recyclers from all over the country. The firm is a partner of the newly-inaugurated collection centre in Kompally. “There are many small recyclers in the country, but they do not get proper supply. Their demands can be met through this platform.”


text:
US inflation surged in April from a year earlier as the economic recovery picked up. Consumer prices jumped 4.2% in the 12 months through to April, up from 2.6% in March and marking the biggest increase since September 2008.
The report from the US Labor Department comes amid fears that rising consumer prices could push up interest rates. Some analysts said that the figures could be rising because of temporary factors like supply bottlenecks.
Inflation, which measures the rate at which the prices for goods and services increase, was pushed up by higher prices for cars and food in April.
Prices of second-hand cars increased by 10% in comparison with March – the biggest monthly increase since records began. The Labor Department said that accounted for more than one-third of the overall jump.
The “core price index”, which strips out food and energy costs that can be more volatile, increased 3% in April from the year before.
Off the back of the report, US stocks slid. Losses seen around the world on Tuesday extended into Wednesday amid investor concerns that higher inflation could lead the US central bank to raise interest rates more quickly than had been expected.
At the closing bell, the Dow stood at 33,587 after falling 2.0%. The S&P 500 fell 2.14% to 4,063, while the tech-focussed Nasdaq index fell 2.7% to 13,031.
In March, US President Joe Biden signed a $1.9tn (£1.4tn) economic relief bill that saw the government send $1,400 cheques to most Americans, and last month he set out plans for more government spending on jobs, education and social care.
It has led to a build-up of savings which is now being spent as the economy reopens, driving prices higher.
Inflation is breaching the Federal Reserve’s target of 2% and this has raised fears it might need to raise interest rates to cool things down.
Seema Shah, chief strategist at the investment firm Principal Global Investors, says the figures marked a “big miss”.
“US CPI inflation has come in meaningfully higher than expected and will further stoke concerns that the Fed has misread the inflation story,” she said.
“Markets were already expecting a rise in inflation – the big question is how sticky that inflation is. That has not been answered today, nor will it be answered for several months.”
Other central banks have also played down fears of inflation.
The Fed, for example, has insisted that increases would be temporary before levelling out as the economy reopens following Covid-19 restrictions.
Prices for airline fares, for example, were up 9.6% from April 2020 as as rules around travel ease in the US.
The Fed’s Vice Chair, Richard Clarida, said on Wednesday that he was “surprised” by the jump during a National Association for Business Economics conference.
But he added: “We’ve been saying for some time that reopening the economy would put some upward pressure on the price level.
“We have pent-up demand in the economy. It may take some time for supply to rise to the level of demand,” he said.
Kathy Bostjancic, of Oxford Economics, shared a similar view: “In the coming months, ongoing base effects, price increases stemming from the reopening of the economy and some pass-through of higher prices from supply chain bottlenecks should prompt higher inflation.”
“However, we believe part of the acceleration in inflation will be transitory, and we share the Fed’s view that this isn’t the start of an upward inflationary spiral,” she said, predicting the price increases would cool down next year.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Finance World staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)


text:
"Modi government is leaving no stone unturned in this fight against COVID-19, ensuring minimum disruption in people's lives while planning for a strong and stable India in days ahead," he tweeted.
Modi government is leaving no stone unturned in this fight against COVID-19, ensuring minimum disruption in people’… https://t.co/e1ypusW9kY— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) 1587112859000
RBI’s decision to extend 25000cr credit facility to NABARD will greatly help our farmers, 15,000cr to SIDBI will p… https://t.co/oqoNYbkGPM— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) 1587115118000
Shah said the Rs 10,000 crore to National Housing Bank (NHB) and liquidity measures for banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) will help too.
"Steps taken by RBI today, to boost Indian economy, further reinforce PM Narendra Modi's vision," he said.
The RBI on Friday further eased bad-loan rules, froze dividend payment by lenders and pushed banks to lend more by cutting the reverse repo rate by 25 basis points, as it unveiled a second set of measures to support the economy hit hard by a coronavirus-led slowdown.
In his second televised address since the nationwide lockdown began from March 25, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das pledged to boost liquidity and expand bank credit.
- Front Page
- Pure Politics
- Concor Suitors Seek Clarity Over Shareholder Rights
Potential suitors for Container Corporation of India (Concor) have sought clarity over shareholder rights after the sale of a partial stake in the logistics major by the government.E-auction for RCap Later this Month; Base Bid at ₹5,231 Cr
Lenders of Reliance Capital will hold an e-auction later this month for Anil Ambani’s insolvent financial services company to identify the highest bidder, two people aware of the development told ET.Premium Models Drive Car, TV, Smartphone Sales in Diwali Season
Indian consumers have purchased more premium cars, smartphones, televisions and appliances than ever before during the week leading up to Diwali this year.
Read More News on
Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.
ETPrime stories of the day
5 mins read
3 mins read
3 mins read


text:
Attleboro Falls, MA (PRWEB) August 06, 2011
With both factory expansion and new equipment, Distron Corporation of Attleboro Falls, MA has, according to company president Robert Donovan, “Totally overhauled our capability to provide Electromechanical Assembly on a higher level.”
Electromechanical assembly is an industrial manufacturing process for the electronic assemblies found in a vast majority of today’s devices. Distron Corporation regularly provides electromechanical assembly for a number of components including cable and harness assembly fan trays, chasses, power panel assemblies, enclosures, and medical devices.
As Distron’s President Robert Donovan explains, with a growing need for reliable electromechanical assembly in Massachusetts and beyond, Distron quickly realized that increased throughput and enhanced capabilities were absolutely essential to “meet the growing demand from customers in the cleantech, medical, LED lighting industries, and beyond.”
As both Donovan and Don Petry, Vice President of Sales and Marketing explain, recent additions and improvements at Distron Corporation are not limited to quality control and the physical capacity of Distron’s facility. In fact, the electromechanical assembler has made another $1 million investment in new equipment and substantially increased floor space. This includes state-of-the-art assembly equipment that will help Distron provide faster and more efficient electromechanical assembly for a growing list of customers from various industries around the country. Petry continues, “In addition, our placement capacity has doubled and we will be making a push for more electromechanical work.”
As Petry explains, “To put it simply, we’ve improved on everything from assembly capability and lead times to quality control. This is more than just expansion – it’s Distron Corporation completely overhauled and better prepared to meet the needs of customers now and in the future.”
About Distron Corporation
Distron Corporation, located in Attleboro Falls, MA is a New England based provider of electromechanical assemblies with over 36 years of experience and a specialty in servicing small to medium size companies. Electromechanical assembly services from Distron frequently supply the necessary components for industries including the cleantech, electronics, and medical industries, as well as the Military. For more information on electromechanical assembly at Distron, please contact Distron at 508.695.8786, visit http://www.distron.com, or email sales(at)distron(dot)com


text:
Eugene, OR (PRWEB) August 22, 2004
PSC, Inc., a global provider of data-capture products, today announced that Jack Farrell, a mobile and wireless industry veteran, has joined the company as president and CEO. The announcement was made by Michael Klein, president of private equity firm Littlejohn & Co. LLC, PSCÂs owner.
We view the addition of Jack Farrell as one of the most strategic appointments in PSCÂs history,Â said Klein. ÂIn addition to his industry experience, he is a natural leader with a successful track record in helping organizations meet their full potential. Jack solidifies our strong senior management team and provides the leadership and depth to execute our customer focused growth strategy.Â
Farrell will focus on positioning PSC as a premium provider of data-capture solutions to key customers and business partners. ÂOur mission is to be the industry leader in customer focus, service and support by providing innovative product solutions that maximize the profitability of target customers,Â Farrell said. ÂPSC has an excellent team and I look forward to working with them to build on the momentum generated over the past year. The foundation established by this group in fixed and handheld scanning and the emergence of mobile and wireless affords the organization an outstanding opportunity to grow the existing markets and evaluate new unserved segments.Â
Most recently, Farrell served as CEO for Axian Broadband in Columbus, OH, a leading provider of residential fulfillment services to the cable television industry. Previously, he was a vice president and general manager of Scientific Atlanta, president of LXE, the wireless product group for EMS Technologies in Atlanta, and COO and senior vice president of sales and marketing for Atlanta-based OKI Telecom after his 17-year tenure with GE.
About PSC, Inc.
PSC, Inc. is a global provider of data-capture products. Wired or wireless, it serves multiple industries including the retail, manufacturing and distribution sectors. PSC offers a broad array of products and services including retail automation, automated data collection and mobile/wireless. This summer PSC is celebrating its 30th anniversary. The company birthed a new era when its scanner rang up a 10-pack of WrigleyÂs Juicy Fruit gum on June 26, 1974.
PSC has a presence in more than 100 countries. PSCÂs headquarters and major manufacturing facility is located in Eugene, OR, while sales and service offices are located throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia. For more information visit http://www.psc.com or call 1-800-695-5700.
# # #


text:
Emerson has launched what it claims is the industry’s first controller designed for automation versatility and industrial internet of things-enabled operations.
Emerson DeltaV PK Controller simplifies capital projects and prepares organisations for the operational benefits of IIoT, says the company.
Emerson says the DeltaV PK Controller makes the advanced automation of its DeltaV distributed control system available to fast-growth industries traditionally less reliant on large-scale automation.
Continue reading Emerson launches ‘industry’s first’ controller designed for automation versatility and IIoT operations
Aerotech has released its HEX RC, a 6-axis motion controller which it says is ideal for controlling robotic systems like hexapods.
The HEX RC is 4U rack-mountable and compatible with the Automation 3200 (A3200) motion platform.
Continue reading Aerotech releases multi-axis robotic controller
Industrial and internet of things hardware manufacturer Logic Supply has launched the MC850 small form factor, GPU-capable computer, featuring Intel Kaby Lake processing.
The industrial PC offers compatibility with the latest generation 10-Series Nvidia graphics cards, and an integrated power supply.
Logic Supply says its MC850 Series is ideal for high-end image processing applications like machine vision, virtual reality, fog computing, edge devices, industrial IoT and interactive digital signage.
Continue reading Logic Supply launches GPU-capable, small industrial PC for image processing
B&R’s Automation PC 910 is now optionally available with an Intel Xeon processor to make it more powerful, says the company.
The new microarchitecture provides a “50 per cent increase in performance” compared to the previous high-performance Core i processors, adds B&R, which was recently acquired by industrial giant ABB.
This level of performance allows effective handling of all applications that require fast analysis of large amounts of data, such as machine vision, data preparation for cloud applications and data mining for collection and analysis of quality data.
Continue reading B&R gives its industrial PC more power with Intel Xeon processor
The global market for industrial computers is being driven by rising adoption of the internet of things and is expected to grow to almost $9 billion, according to a new report by Transparency Market Research.
The global industrial PC market features several players aggressively targeting technological innovation through research and development activities.
The competitive rivalry among these companies is expected to remain high over the forecast period.
Continue reading Global industrial PC market to reach $9 billion by 2025
On the left is an assembly engine manual that GE’s mechanics used to consult. Now they use Glass Enterprise Edition on the right. Picture: Google X
About four years ago, when Google first showed off its Glass product – a pair of hi-tech spectacles capable of running augmented reality apps – it was met with some scepticism, incredulity even.
Few people thought it would take off, as interesting as the idea was. Maybe people generally couldn’t see themselves walking around wearing glasses which could be seen as intrusive.
Theoretically, Google Glass could display images on pretty much everything and everyone you looked at while wearing them – and would people in your eyeline appreciate that?
Continue reading You could be seeing things that aren’t there: Google Glass finds new home in old industries
German industrial giant Bosch is building a massive semiconductor production plant which would represent the single largest investment in the company’s 130-year history.
The high-tech facility, to be located in Dresden, would employ around 700 staff working on 300-millimeter semiconductor chips which Bosch says has growing applications in the automotive market, smart cities and on the industrial internet, all strong markets for Bosch.
The construction of the high-tech factory is to be completed by the end of 2019, says Bosch, and production is expected to begin at the end of 2021 after a start-up phase. Overall, the investment volume for the site is estimated to be around $1.1 billion.
Continue reading Bosch to build gigantic semiconductor production plant in Germany
Qualcomm says it is currently shipping more than 1 million chips per day for the internet of things.
The company made the announcement at its IoT industry analyst workshop.
The company says its production momentum reflects Qualcomm’s “unique ability to invent and deliver the technologies needed for the IoT, and to meet challenging customer requirements for interoperability, connectivity, compute and security”.
Continue reading Qualcomm says it’s producing 1 million chips a day for IoT applications
Nvidia is working with Paccar, a truck manufacturer, on developing solutions for autonomous vehicles.
The collaboration was shared by Nvidia founder and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang during his keynote at the Bosch Connected World conference in Berlin.
Separately, he provided details of Nvidia’s partnership with Bosch, the world’s largest automotive supplier, on self-driving car technology.
“This is probably the largest single mass of a product that we’ve helped make,” said Huang, addressing a crowd of more than 2,000 executives, developers and others attending the event.
Continue reading Nvidia developing self-driving technology with truckmaker Paccar
Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang on stage at Bosch event
One of the world’s largest automotive suppliers, Bosch, provided a massive stage today for Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang to showcase its new artificial intelligence platform for self-driving cars.
Speaking in the heart of Berlin to several thousand attendees at Bosch Connected World — an annual conference dedicated to the Internet of Things — Huang detailed how deep learning is fueling an AI revolution in the auto industry.
The small AI car supercomputer was unveiled last week in the opening keynote address by Bosch CEO Dr Volkmar Denner, who focused on how his company, which had €73 billion in revenue last year, is pushing deeper into the areas of sensors, software and services.
Continue reading Nvidia and Bosch launch artificially intelligent self-driving car computer
Company says its IoT platform for manufacturing, industrial, retail will be made possible by Nvidia’s artificially intelligent-powered Jetson
Nvidia has unveiled the Nvidia Jetson TX2, a credit card-sized platform that it says delivers AI computing at the edge – opening the door to “powerfully intelligent” factory robots, commercial drones and smart cameras for AI cities.
Jetson TX2 offers twice the performance of its predecessor, or it can run at more than twice the power efficiency, while drawing less than 7.5 watts of power. This allows Jetson TX2 to run larger, deeper neural networks on edge devices.
The result: smarter devices with higher accuracy and faster response times for tasks like image classification, navigation and speech recognition.
Continue reading Nvidia launches new board for robotics development
Exclusive interview with JC Ramirez, director of engineering, ADL Embedded Solutions
If there’s one problem most companies would be happy to have is the one related to having too many orders to deal with.
This is the situation ADL Embedded Solutions finds itself in, according to JC Ramirez, the company’s director of engineering and product manager.
In an exclusive interview with
Robotics and Automation News, Ramirez says the company is experiencing “serious growing pains”, especially in Germany, where there is “too much work” going on.
ADL has generally been highly regarded and known as a “board company”, specialising in supplying technology for military and defence applications.
But the company has been going higher, into the upper levels of integration with its products in the past few years.
Continue reading Growing pains at ADL as it launches ‘industry’s smallest’ Intel-based embedded PC
One of the challenges in robotics development is the fact that the computer processing required is just massive, often too much for a complex machine to handle onboard without packing very large pieces of hardware.
One way around it has been to connect the robots up to cloud computing systems which run such things as neural networks and can remotely process data – but this is inefficient and slow.
Even if takes a few seconds to process massive quantities of data, those seconds are just too much time wasted for a machine such, for example, an autonomous car on the move – these things need to be instantaneous.
Continue reading Tiny chip capable of running deep neural networks could accelerate robotics development
ADL Embedded Solutions has launched its ultra-compact ADLEPC-1500 Embedded PC, which the company claims is “the industry’s smallest Intel-based embedded device ever released”.
At 3.4” x 3.2”, the ADLEPC-1500 is a “full-feature embedded PC” targeted at unmanned, industrial controls, robotics, traffic management and surveillance market, says the company.
ADL adds that the device’s wide voltage and temperature range make it “ideal” for a variety of applications and environments.
Continue reading ADL launches what it claims is ‘industry’s smallest Intel-based embedded device ever’
Advantech, which claims to be one of the world’s leading suppliers of industrial computers and “intelligent systems”, has joined the LoRa Alliance.
The LoRa Alliance is open, non-profit association which provides a forum for its 400 members to develop standards for internet of things technologies.
Advantech says it will provide the LoRa gateway and sensor node devices based on the
M2.com open standard for Industry 4.0 and Smart City applications. Continue reading Industrial internet: Advantech joins LoRa Alliance


text:
CCAI, Citi Indonesia sign business deal
The Jakarta Post
Coca-Cola Amatil Indonesia (CCAI) has signed a cash management and trade finance agreement with Citi Indonesia, the Indonesian branch of US-based Citibank.
Citi Indonesia’s director of treasury and trade solutions, Vincent C. Soegianto, said in Jakarta on Tuesday that under the deal, the bank would provide host-to-host connectivity with open account cash management to speed up the billing process between CCAI and its suppliers, as well as help manage employee wages, tax, corporate credit cards and utility payments.
Citi would also provide the supplier with a finance program, which will increase CCAI cash flow and extend the payment deadline between CCAI and its suppliers, he said, adding that CCAI’s suppliers would also receive better interest rates when dealing with CCAI.
“The deal will increase the Treasury and Trade Solutions' (TTS) revenue by 10 percent and the bank targets that TTS will contribute 30 percent to the bank's total revenue,” Vincent told reporters.
He added that Citi Indonesia had some 30 customers of the cash management and trade finance program.
Meanwhile, CCAI finance and governance director Thomas Praming expected that the deal would support business growth for both parties.
CCAI has managed the Coca-Cola brand in Indonesia since 1992, operating eight plants and employing 10,000 workers. (ami)
- Japan to offer e-visa to tourists starting April 2020
- Meikarta graft case: KPK searches residence of Lippo Group CEO James Riady
- For the sake of integrity
- IMF chief postpones Middle East trip with Saudi stop
- Indonesia’s competitiveness improves, but still well below Singapore, Malaysia
- Movie star Chow Yun-fat to give entire fortune to charity
- Here are 10 of the most populated cities in the world
- Arsonist sentenced to 24 years for Texas mosque burning
- Fan Bingbing spotted for first time in months, outside Beijing airport
- Lippo Group executive arrested in Meikarta bribery case


text:
On April 25th, EuroSIMA's Mountain Division hosted its second annual Snow Ball in Livigno, Italy to raise money for the EuroSIMA Environmental Fund and recognize the companies and individuals that had the biggest impact on the European industry during the season. The drinks were flowing, mystery porridge was being served up, and people were dropping in to the slide that doubled as an entrance to the bar.
The event, which coincides with the European Snowboarding Industry Forum, featured three awards; the ispo Product Innovation of the Year, the SOURCE Breakthrough Brand of the Year and the EuroSIMA Lifetime Achievement Award. Corinne "Coco" Tache-Berther of 7sky magazine was on the mic to make the presentations, and the winners are…
ispo Product Innovation of the Year – Burton Mini-Shred Collection
This award is selected by an independent jury for the most innovative product line of the year and its impact on the sport. Burton's Ivar Fougstedt accepted the award for the company’s work to make snowboarding more accessible for the smallest of riders and the future of the sport.
SOURCE Breakthrough Brand of the Year – Zimtstern
Think of this as a mix between most improved and most likely to succeed. European retailers select the brand that has made the biggest strides over the last year. The Zimtstern crew made the trip in force from Switzerland to reap their rewards. For more info, check out www.zimtstern.com.
EuroSIMA Lifetime Achievement Award – Drew Stevenson
Last, but certainly not least, TTR co-founder Drew Stevenson was recognized for his efforts in launching the contest series that has come to dominate the professional and amateur circuit. Stevenson stepped down as CEO of TTR in January to pursue future ventures. We look forward to seeing what he's got up his sleeve next.
All proceeds from the event went to help the environment, so everyone made a healthy effort at polluting themselves. Transworld Business’ Mike Lewis and Vans’ Jared Bevens enjoying some Italian libations.


text:
GDPR has caused a major shift in the way the business world works. Although the legislation comes from the EU, it has affected data protection worldwide; large companies in the US spent $7.8 billion preparing for the regulations, compared to just $1.1 billion spent by big UK businesses.
This took a lot of work, and few businesses felt they were prepared for it; fewer than 15% said they were ready for GDPR just months before it came into effect. However, while it has undoubtedly caused issues in some cases, it may well have been a boon for FinTech firms, who are enjoying a competitive advantage at the moment.
If you work in a FinTech business, you might disagree; after all, complying with GDPR doesn’t feel particularly advantageous. However, there are a number of factors that put smaller companies in this sector in a much better position compared to other industries. Here’s how GDPR could be giving you a competitive advantage:
It’s cheaper for FinTech firms to adapt
One thing we have seen with some certainty is that it’s significantly cheaper for smaller businesses to comply with GDPR. This is beneficial for FinTech firms, which tend to be smaller than in other industries. Globally, 95% of companies in this industry have less than 150 employees, with 33% consisting of just one employee.
This makes it much easier for FinTech businesses to afford the cost of compliance. In addition, FinTech as a sector has less compliance work to complete on average. One survey found financial services to have the third-cheapest average compliance cost of any industry, beaten only by media, and industrial goods and services.
Data security is baked into FinTech
The nature of FinTech means data security has to be front and center for firms; after all, the data they collect is mainly financial in nature, so any breach could be disastrous. The industry as a whole is much more aware of security issues.
Even before GDPR came into effect, UK financial firms employed more than 11,500 staff to tackle financial crime. This isn’t to say that the FinTech industry is immune to data breaches, but the sector is, as a whole, more informed about the risks and therefore further along in the process of keeping data secure.
Banks have been hit
Despite working in similar sectors, banks are some of the biggest competition for FinTech firms. However, the banking industry has been one of the worst hit by the need to comply with GDPR, the cost of which is an eye-watering average of £66 million (around $88 million) per organization.
In turn, data breaches have led to an erosion of trust in open banking, with 49% of professionals believing consumer relations have been damaged as a result. While banks are suffering, FinTech firms are much more able to absorb the (lower) costs of GDPR compliance and benefit from the dip in competition.


text:
Retailing giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc., continuing its drive into eastern Pennsylvania, plans to open a Hazleton store late next year.
The Bentonville, Ark.-based discount retailer said it will begin construction this spring of a 125,000-square-foot store at Laurel Mall on Airport Road. It is scheduled for completion in the fall.
Wal-Mart has annual sales of more than $55 billion and almost 2,000 stores nationally.
Over the past two years it has pushed its way into eastern Pennsylvania, announcing plans for stores around the Philadelphia area, as well as local outlets in Lower Nazareth Township, Whitehall Township, Mahoning Township and Richland Township.


text:
Identity theft in the UK is rising at an alarming rate. A study has shown that “60,000 cases of impersonation related to criminal activity have been reported in the 9 months to date of this year, a huge increase of around 35% from the same period last year.”
The hardest hit areas are London and Birmingham.
Britons are understandably worried about being affected by identity theft but it doesn’t appear that they realize what they can do to protect themselves. A recent study showed that more than 80% of Britons are concerned about becoming victims of the crime, but a fifth of them continue to do their internet banking from public computers.
Even more surprising, however, is the fact that 80% of businesses admitted to not having a secure way of destroying sensitive legal documents. That’s taking a huge risk with personal information!
The National Identity Fraud Prevention Week has been launched by the Metropolitan Police in the UK in an effort to help raise awareness about the seriousness of the crime. Hopefully, this will help Britons realize how risky some of their choices are while informing them on how to protect themselves.


text:
Starting a business is no easy feat, particularly when it’s a cryptocurrency venture. Meet these Chinese Australian entrepreneurs who have launched businesses in the nascent sector while navigating its tricky regulatory and volatile waters.
- People from Asian backgrounds are typically bolder when it comes to nascent asset classes, says one cryptocurrency entrepreneur
- There are many investors who may be crypto-rich but cash-poor because until they sell, they haven’t realised their gains, says a cryptocurrency investor
- ASIC’s MoneySmart website warns investing in virtual currencies and initial coin offerings is highly speculative
The first time Ting Wang traded bitcoin was by accident.
He was playing the video game Runescape in 2015 and to trade in-game items, the leading cryptocurrency needed to be used as the medium.
He sold 10 bitcoins valued at A$300 each.
“Obviously it’s a mistake in hindsight. We all make those kinds of mistakes. Back then bitcoin was never something that was on my investment horizon,” says Mr Wang.
Fast forward a couple of years, Mr Wang not only invested in the cryptocurrency and other alternative digital assets known as “altcoins”, but he’s also made a fortune creating a local exchange platform for investors to access the nascent market.
“I can definitely retire now. I’m quite comfortable. I don’t have any financial pressure right now,” says the Chinese-born Australian.
With a background in taxation, law and fintech, Mr Wang, 32, was quick to realise high growth in the space.
“We saw some arbitrage opportunities between Australia, China and the US. Sometimes there might be a 10 per cent price gap just between the Australian and US exchange.
“That’s what gave us a lot of early success and then we built Coinstash from there.”
From an April crowdfund that raised $2.8 million for the company, Mr Wang says the plan for Coinstash now is to allow Australians to spend, earn interest on, and borrow against their digital coins, pending regulatory approval.
A surging bitcoin price ($77,600 at the time of this writing) and increasing institutional adoption have helped drive innovation in the space.
It has made a lot of people rich too.
Recently, Mr Ting’s Brisbane-based company, of which he owns a 42 per cent stake, was recently valued at $20 million.
Another capital raise pencilled in for next year is expected to push Mr Wang into the ultra-net-worth individuals’ group for people with assets of $30 million or more.
I’m not the type of person who is very fussed by lifestyle. A private jet would be nice but that would be used for business purposes.
Though Mr Wang and others may be classified as crypto rich, it’s not easy to get early access to cash.
“Just because you are worth X amount, you’re worth multimillion dollars on paper, even just on bitcoin or through a company, it’s not as easy as cashing it in and start spending,” he says.
Mr Wang says he will need to wait for a liquidity event where his company becomes publicly listed or is bought by a bigger player before shareholders, himself included, get rewarded in dollar terms.
“I think it’s going to take a number of years before we reach that stage,” he says.
Targeting the rich in Australia
Another prominent Chinese-Australian in the cryptocurrency space is Jeff Yew.
The 27-year-old resigned as the Australian head of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance in April to launch his own start-up Monochrome Asset Management for wealthy and institutional investors.
Many of Monochrome’s clients are family offices and self-managed super fund investors who might be looking to add digital assets like bitcoin or ethereum on their balance sheets.
Asian investors currently make up 30 per cent of inquiries for Monochrome, according to Mr Yew, even though they haven’t launched into the Asian Australian market.
Australia has a big and wealthy Asian population. Asians are typically bolder when it comes to nascent asset classes.
The Malaysian-born entrepreneur says the bitcoin-wealthy community are sensitive to disclosing their net worth.
“Building a company like Monochrome, a regulated financial service in this industry, specialising in a niche asset like bitcoin is not a cheap effort. That’s why not many people do it,” he says.
Mr Yew, who comes from a family of architects and once practised as one himself, was an early believer in bitcoin as a store of value, having first heard about it on Reddit on April 4, 2013, after the financial crisis in Cyprus.
“The government basically confiscated people’s saving to bail themselves out. To me, it doesn’t sound fair. You work hard all your life, you saved up all this money. What gives the government the right to come in and confiscate all your assets?” he asks.
“People started to propose bitcoin as an alternative in the comments and that’s how I stumbled across that post.”
Mr Yew says he has more than 30 per cent, but less than 60 per cent of this personal wealth allocated in the digital currency, equal to “a conservative allocation in the bitcoin world”.
I see bitcoin as digital property. I'm the mega landlord of digital assets. I don’t trade my land. I plan to monetise them in the form of lending or leasing.
He says more and more people are warming to bitcoin being part of their investment portfolios.
“Everyone wants it, but no one wants to be seen to have it.”
Derek Rose, a cryptocurrency reporter based in Sydney who lost $9 million worth of cryptocurrency in a 2018 Christmas crash, says nobody wants to be seen if they’ve lost money either.
“It’s not something that people really want to be known for,” he says.
How risky is investing in cryptocurrencies?
Every so often, investors who have been swept up by the bitcoin boom and lose their life savings share their heart-wrenching accounts of their experience as a warning to others.
In August, one anonymous Reddit user said he put all his life savings into a type of trade called leverage futures – betting that bitcoin’s value would continue to rise.
“I started future trades and managed to turn the 1.7 BTCs into 2.1 BTCs, the classic beginner luck,” he wrote.
When it unexpectedly fell, he says he couldn’t look at himself in the mirror.
“I completely messed up guys, my life savings are gone for good, I have learned a devastating hard lesson,” he added.
To prove his story, he posted screenshots of his future trade being slowly liquidated as bitcoin fell rather than rose in value.
The federal government’s Moneysmart website lists risks associated with cryptocurrencies, warning investors could lose “a lot of money” if they buy into an ICO or cryptocurrency without doing research first.
The financial regulator has also warned Australian traders to be cautious when trading through unlicensed entities to invest in other financial products such as crypto futures and options.
Stephen Diehl, a United Kingdom-based software engineer who researches bitcoin, says the assets do not produce any economic value.
“It is a pure speculative activity of people gambling on the random movements of prices and the only output is simply shuffling around in a company at insane cost,” he previously tweeted.
He added that bitcoin remains a “pyramid-shaped investment scheme” that requires “greater fool” investors for the investment to succeed.
The crypto-rich, cash-poor
Jemma Xu was a traditional banker before she turned her attention to the digital asset space.
The Australian crypto investor and venture capitalist, based between Sydney and Beijing, describes herself as a regular investor who may have even lost money.
After an unprecedented boom in 2017, the price of bitcoin fell 65 per cent in one month at the beginning of 2018.
“If I held on, I would have had a lot more wealth, basically,” says Ms Xu.
Since the 2018 crash, Ms Xu says she considers any collapse of 50 – 80 per cent in the price of bitcoin to be temporary and believes in the fundamentals of the digital asset.
“Will it be a store of value in 20 to 30 years' time? I don’t know. There might be a better thing that comes along. But, at the moment, I’m yet to see that better thing,” she says.
Unless she needs the cash, Ms Xu says she considers herself to be a “holder”, or holding on for dear life, crypto-speak for investors who vow never to sell their cryptocurrencies.
Ms Xu says there are plenty of crypto wealthy Australians in the community, not just Asians.
“If they haven’t realised their gains, they can’t live luxuriously. Maybe that’s why most people live very normal lives. Some might even be cash-poor because they have it tied up and they’re not willing to sell,” she says.
When they do cash out, the ATO warned investors earlier this year, they have data-matching capabilities to ensure taxpayers aren’t hiding cryptocurrencies and avoiding their tax obligation.
Until then, Ms Xu says there are plenty of investors who have a long-term belief in digital assets such as bitcoin.
“They’re not going to want to sell anytime soon.”
DISCLAIMER: This article is not an advice or technical analysis of investments. Research carefully and consider the opinions of financial experts before choosing the type of investment.


text:
California’s AB-174 for electronic registration of commercial and fleet vehicles goes into effect January 1st, 2022. In this article, we provide the basics on this legislative change as a customer update.
Wheels Donlen attended Fleet Forward in Santa Clara November 9th – 11th where our Senior Product Manager, Sara Sweeney, participated in the session entitled, “Fleet Vehicles and ESG: More than Electrification” and our Head of Product Management, Dan Belknap to moderate the session entitled, “Driving in a World of Distractions, Impairment and Rage”.
This section will be reserved for third-party industry-related articles and data links we feel are important, relevant or helpful. To make it easier for you, we have aggregated these articles below. Happy reading!
745,000 Vehicles Stolen to Date in 2022 Highlights: -Over 745,000 vehicles have been stolen in the first three quarters of 2022, with more than 250,000 of those being reported to law enforcement since the end of June, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB). This is a 24% increase from the same time period in 2019. -Vehicle theft is the highest it’s been since 2008. -If the trend continues, total vehicles stolen in 2022 could pass 1 million and surpass pre-pandemic highs by more than 100,000 stolen vehicles. -The holiday season has historically been a time of increased auto thefts
Not Ready to Go Full EV? Some Car Companies Bet Bigger on Hybrids” Highlights -EVs have been in the spotlight much of this year, but hybrids are also having a very popular moment. -Hybrids are lasting an average of just 12 days at dealerships before being sold, compared to 16 days for EVs and 23 days for ICE vehicles, according to Edmunds.com
-S&P Global predicts there will be a copper shortage of between 1.6 million and 9.9 million tonnes of copper in 2035. -If supply can’t keep up with demand, demand destruction is likely. In that scenario, electric vehicles and copper wires might not meet the levels needed to hit net-zero targets.
-Even though EV sales and production have had a massive increase in the last few years, ICE vehicles aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, in fact, they’re expected to continue dominating the market for decades to come. -The EPA believes that vehicle engine downsizing will continue, with over 50% of 2019-MY gas vehicles equipped with four cylinders or fewer. -Heavy-duty vehicles has been relying on diesel compression ignition (CI) engines for a long time, which is inherently more efficient than comparable spark ignition (SI) engines, but there’s also new technology options that improve the fuel efficiency of CI engines by over 20%. -Hydrogen ICE vehicles with hydrogen from renewable sources could potentially approach zero WTW GHG emissions.


text:
After distributing a “meaningful amount” back to the investors in its debut fund, Canadian fintech investor Luge Capital is racing toward a final close on C$100 million ($74.3 million) for its sophomore vehicle.
The firm has held a first close at C$71 million for Fund II and plans to raise the rest over the next few months, its founders told Venture Capital Journal.
Many of the investors in Fund I, which closed on C$85 million in 2019, have come back for the sophomore fund, including BDC Capital, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Desjardins, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Industrial Alliance Financial Group and Sun Life. Other LPs include iA Financial Group and the Business Development Bank of Canada, according to fund data from affiliate title Buyouts.
Luge’s newest vehicle plans to build on the success of its first fund with slightly larger check sizes and an expanded appetite for earlier and later rounds in Canadian and US fintech start-ups.
“Our primary focus is seed and Series A, but we’re opportunistically going to be looking at pre-seed and a little bit of Series B as well,” said co-founder and general partner Karim Gillani. “[The average check size] is going to be between $500,000 and $5 million, with a sweet spot between $3 million and $5 million. The idea here is we’d like to make slightly bigger bets earlier on when we invest in these companies, take a little bit bigger ownership and partner with these founders and companies for a long time.”
Luge also plans to expand its investment thesis to include vertical fintech platforms and fintech start-ups addressing ESG issues.
“You can call it a broader scope, but really we’re just seeing that there are more opportunities within [a variety of] sectors for fintech than ever before,” said Luge co-founder and general partner David Nault. “Also, the intersection of ESG and fintech, vertical fintech inside a bunch of different industries, it’s just an opportunity that we see as a fund to continue to expand into.”
Luge’s debut fund invested in 21 companies and has already distributed a “meaningful amount” of capital back to its LPs thanks to its sale of financial data aggregation platform Flinks to the National Bank of Canada just three years after its initial investment, Gillani said. The bank paid C$73 million cash for Flinks in September 2021, according to a report by S&P Global.
Gillani declined to reveal specifics about Fund I’s returns.
In terms of dealmaking, Gillani expects Fund II to invest in 20 to 25 companies, about the same number as the debut fund. “We feel like it’s diversified enough for us to have a good mix in the portfolio, but also concentrated enough where if we have some of these companies do exceedingly well the returns on those investments will be meaningful,” he noted.
Gillani and Nault founded Montreal-based Luge in 2018 after lengthy careers in fintech. Prior to Luge, Gillani served as a director of corporate development and investments at PayPal, while Nault worked at multiple early fintech start-ups before joining Montreal-based tech investor Inovia Capital. Gillani says that he and Nault’s experience is invaluable as they invest in “the next generation of fintech founders.”
“David and I come from the fintech world as former operators so we spend the time with founders to help them think through their business strategy and help them deliver on the ambition and creativity that they have to build the next big fintech business.”
As for the firm’s name, Luge pays homage to its location and the journey entrepreneurs embark on when starting a company.
“We look at entrepreneurs like Olympic athletes,” Nault said. “There are very few places on the podium for the winners, and the high performers are the ones that we want to back. We’re also up in the Great White North and it’s a winter sport so it felt right.”
Luge racing “mimics the journey of a founder so well,” Gillani added. “When you’re on a luge you go through twists and turns, zigs and zags, and you have to be a little bit crazy to do it, just like a founder has to be a little bit crazy to jump in and start a business.”


text:
DICE are enjoying their parent company’s new approach to intellectual properties and creative ideas, saying that the focus on quality is definitely the right direction.
The Electronic Arts we know today sure is a far cry from the “evil EA” of yore. Last year, they put out two new IPs in Mirror’s Edge and Dead Space. And even in the midst of a catastrophic economic meltdown worldwide, CEO John Riccitiello has continually asserted that he believes “there is no inherent conflict between great creativity and achieving strong profitability.”
That philosophy isn’t just high talk from the mouth of a CEO – it seems that it’s really being felt at the ground zero of game development, the studios themselves. “On a daily basis you can definitely feel the sheer interest in making good new IPs, good games, quality; that DICE is recognised for being DICE the studio and not just part of a big company,” DICE creative director Lars Gustavsson told Eurogamer.
Putting an emphasis on quality over sheer profitability might seem like a shaky proposition in today’s economy, but DICE agrees with Riccitiello that this is the way to go. “[Look at] Dead Space and everything,” Gustavsson said. “It’s definitely the right direction and I’m happy to see that people recognize it.”
Contrary to the common wisdom that a small group of creative individuals can’t flourish in a mega-corporation, Gustavsson says that DICE has benefited greatly from the resources that only a huge company like EA can provide. Case in point: the company’s “creative director class” that takes place four times a year. “”I get to sit down and discuss all of these things with, you know, 20 other creative directors from different studios, and that’s an enormous possibility for us as a small studio, since it’s hard to find a design class to be honest!” he said.
So, has EA really changed? Well, not entirely, Gustavsson thinks, but it’s getting there. “I think that the EA you see today – and I hear that from basically everyone on the outside – is a different EA, and yes, change doesn’t come overnight, but I think we’re starting to see the fruit of this process,” he said. Hopefully that fruit contains another Mirror’s Edge.


text:
A digest of the top business technology news stories from the past week, beginning with the news that Profitero has raised US$8m in financing and plans to double it workforce.
Profitero raises US$8m in financing from Polaris Ventures
Dublin-based e-commerce intelligence player Profitero has raised US$8m in financing from top US venture capital firm Polaris Ventures, enabling it to double its workforce to 80 people and expand in North America.
The company’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform provides brands and retailers with e-commerce intelligence and valuable online insights. It counts Staples, Sam’s Club, Waitrose and Acodo among its 50-plus global customer base from which it monitors over 220m prices in real-time.
“The Profitero vision is to become the Nielsen of the online world for global retailers and brands,” said Irfan Salim, who has been appointed to the board of Profitero. Salim’s was formerly CEO of MarkMonitor (also Polaris-backed), which was acquired by Thomson Reuters in 2012.
Twitter makes further mobile ad purchase with Namo Media
Advertising hosting company Namo Media announced via its blog that it has been purchased by Twitter and will now begin integrating its software with Twitter’s advertising platform, known as MoPub.
Namo Media has successfully integrated advertising ‘natively’ to webpages such as SportsFeed and provides templates for other businesses to implement custom ad formats.
“Combining our technology with MoPub will offer our current and future customers a more powerful platform to generate revenue, all while preserving an amazing user experience,” the blog post states.
Meanwhile, in another blog post, Kevin Weil, Twitter’s VP of product, said: “In our conversations with the Namo Media team, it became clear we share a vision for how native advertising can improve the state of mobile app monetisation for marketers, app publishers, and users.”
Twitter considering buying either Spotify or Pandora
Just weeks after it emerged that Twitter’s plans to acquire SoundCloud fell through, it is believed the social media player is also interested in acquiring music-streaming platforms Spotify and Pandora.
Twitter is believed to have backed out of talks to buy SoundCloud with speculation pointing at SoundCloud’s lack of licensing agreements to stream music as the main reason. Both Spotify and Pandora –worth US$4bn and US$5b, respectively – have those licensing agreements in place.
According to the Financial Times Twitter has yet to hold talks with either Spotify or Pandora but speculates that a prospective deal would be largely based on Twitter’s highly prized equity and similar in structure to Facebook’s acquisitions of WhatsApp and Oculus.
Gaming industry tax breaks due soon, says Sweeney of Games Ireland
At the Games Ireland Gathering 2014 (GIG) on 29 May, gaming industry representatives from Ireland and abroad gathered to discuss the ins and outs of the business. Hosted by Games Ireland, one of the largest bodies representing the Irish gaming industry, one of the major talking points of the event looked at Ireland’s potential to follow other European countries and introduce a tax break for indigenous gaming companies.
Games Ireland CEO David Sweeney confirmed that discussions with the Government have reached an advanced stage, which could lead to a tax break introduced quite soon – a move that could revolutionise how a rather self-reliant industry can match our larger European neighbours.
He went on to say that, since the UK’s introduction of a tax break, the Irish Government is once again looking to follow suit and had called Games Ireland and other representatives within the industry together to hash out the details of a proposal.
Twitter homepage image by Gil C via Shutterstock
Twitter is a Silicon Republic Featured Employer, comprising top tech companies that are hiring now
Stay informed: get daily updates on the latest happenings in technology directly to your inbox


text:
Companies that have access to a holistic view of customer data achieve better customer service and efficiency, improved loyalty, and more repeat business from their established customers, according to a study by Aberdeen Group and VeraCentra.
Even in a tough economy, high-performing, "Best-in-Class" companies achieved a 91% customer retention rate and increased their net client value (NCV) 6%, while "Industry Average" and "Laggard" companies registered declines in NCV of 2% and 9%, respectively, the study found.
Best-in-Class companies also achieved significantly higher customer satisfaction levels than Laggard companies (88% vs. 32%) while spending less than half the time searching for customer data, according to the study titled Providing a 360° View of the Customer: Better Service—Higher Sales.
Below, other findings from the study.
Customer service and sales are the two dominant factors that drive the need for better customer data: 42% of companies cite improving the customer experience and 32% cite the demand for higher levels of services by customers—better, more efficient delivery of products and services.
Common Characteristics of Best-in-Class Companies
Among five key structural categories—process, organization, knowledge, technology, and performance—Best-in-Class companies share some common characteristics:
- 80% capture customer history and make it visible to all customer-facing staff.
- 77% have a single or primary point of contact in their company for each customer.
- 52% have a technology-based common view of the customer.
- 72% monitor customer satisfaction on a regular basis.


text:
Putting a brave face on predictions for the harvest the Bordeaux wine bureau (CIVB) is comparing 2008 to 1988 – ‘a drier than usual year’.
The French wine sector has sent an open letter to the government, demanding it do more to protect the industry against the threat of the anti-alcohol lobby.
Celebrated US wine critic Robert Parker arrived in Paris last week to hear charges for alleged defamation in a second case brought against him by his former assistant, it has…
The bi-annual supermarket wine sales have started this week across France, with bargains on top Bordeaux and Burgundy wines, mainly from the 2005 and 2006 vintages.
The 2008 harvest in Bordeaux started today with Chateau Carbonnieux in Pessac Leognan bringing in the first Sauvignon Blanc grapes, ten days later than last year.
French scientists have developed a technique that detects fake wines using similar methods to those used in the fine art world.
A fatal fungus that attacks vines is becoming increasingly prevalent across the wine regions of Bordeaux, Gascony and the Charente, it has emerged.
While climate change has thus far had a positive impact on Bordeaux, JANE ANSON asks what producers are doing – if anything – to address the underlying issue of their
Not content with owning four estates, including a St-Emilion premier grand cru classé, Hubert de Boüard also consults at properties across Bordeaux and around the world, and is president of…
Bordeaux’s ultra-traditional, most high profile body has appointed its first female head. What took them so long, asks JANE ANSON
Chateau Margaux has released its initial tranche at €240, a drop of 27% on last year’s price. Chateau Latour has released today (11 June) at the same price.
The characterful native grapes of this vast region are flying the flag for southwest France at home and abroad. Jane Anson introduces them
The Castel Group, France’s largest wine producer, is starting wine production in Ethiopia.
Chateau Latour director Frederic Engerer has invested in his own wine property in the Rhone Valley.
Pomerol’s Vieux Chateau Certan broke the 2007 price trend yesterday, releasing at 40% under its 2006 price, much to the relief of merchants in Bordeaux and overseas.
French students and young people are continuing to turn away from wine, according to a study released last week by American academic Dr Liz Thatch.
The Bordeaux 2007 en primeur campaign is looking increasingly moribund as prices are released with little or no change on 2006.
Paul Haeberlin, Michelin three-star restaurateur at Auberge de l’Ill in Alsace and Legionnaire of Honour, died this week at his home in Illhaeusern, France. He was 84.
A court case that has been outstanding against Chateau Giscours since 1998 is finally due to reach the Bordeaux courts.
Jean-Francois Quenin, owner of Chateau de Pressac, is to be the new President of the Conseil des Vins de Saint Emilion, as Hubert de Bouard finally steps down.
Castel, France’s largest wine company, has bought Bordeaux wine merchant Oenoalliance.
The first prominent red wine properties have begun to release their prices for Bordeaux 2007s – days after Robert Parker released his scores for the vintage.
Bordeaux winemakers should turn up the pressure against the anti-alcohol menace in France, says an alcohol industry lobbyist.
Wine magnate Bernard Magrez has outraged a group of journalists by offering each of them a Cartier wristwatch worth €1,650 (£1,322/$2,641).
The first few Bordeaux chateaux have released their 2007 prices at nearly the same level as 2006.
The owner of Chateau Cantenac Brown has received preliminary permission to turn part of the chateau into a luxury hotel.
Top Bordeaux chateaux are looking at E-Provenance, a new method of tracking wine through the distribution and storage chain.
A group of high profile Bordeaux producers are calling attention to a shortage of Semillon which may impede production in the future.
Chinese buyers are in Bordeaux this month sourcing wine to drink during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The long-standing president of the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, Patrick Maroteaux, has announced he will be stepping down from the post in June 2008.


text:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking at a Public meeting a few days ago while promoting his vision of a cashless society mentioned about a beggar using a Swipe machine. Modi admitted that he was not sure about the authenticity of the story but then it turns out that the video was made by a tech company to promote digitalisation.
Numero Graphics Solution Private Limited, a Hyderabad-based data processing, and visualization company made this video in November 2013 and was posted on YouTube on 16th January 2014. In fact, this is much earlier to Demonetization. In fact, it is before Modi assumed office.
The company makes several such creative videos to promote technology and the company admitted that they have given the beggar that swipe machine to shoot for the video. The company revealed that the video was shot on a mobile phone. They started recording when the signal turned red at one of the junctions in Hyderabad, and it was over before it turned green.


text:
For small businesses looking to make it big, brand building is all important.
There are plenty of ways firms can look to market themselves and generate leads, but public relations is one of the best.
If business owners can establish contacts within the press and gain some favourable coverage, it can make a world of difference.
Positive reports in the local, regional or even national media can direct consumers towards the company in question.
And overnight, the firm may have a new army of customers eager to test their products and services.
But as a recent survey indicated, all too few small firms are making the most of PR opportunities.
It is not because they are unaware of the benefits, but because they lack the knowledge and experience to tap into this potential goldmine.
In a Mynewsdesk poll, 88 per cent of company bosses admitted they were failing to engage effectively with the media.
Another 75 per cent said they were not even sure who to engage with.
“SMBs have the right intentions, but they’re not getting the most from their investment,” claimed Peter Ingman, chief executive of Mynewsdesk.
He said companies need to focus on getting the basics right, in order to broaden their horizons and boost their bottom line.
Posted by the Secret Businessman


text:
Bowling alley buildout slowly moving ahead, indicative of broader Windsor business success
April 11, 2013
Windsor's Business Development Manager Stacy Johnson works to attract new and prospective businesses for the town every day. Even when having lunch on her day off, she has been known to dole out business cards to prospective restaurants she thinks would be a good fit for the community.
She embraces the always-connected mentality associated with her job. After all, she knows it's the connectedness that can ultimately lure the area's next big enterprise to within town limits.
And to a large extent, it seems to be working.
It's no secret Windsor has seen a jump in construction, population and sales tax during the past several years when many communities across the nation struggled. When construction plateaued across the nation and development stagnated, Windsor continued to see home construction and business growth. With an economy beginning to rebound nationally, the town is poised to welcome a host of new businesses and eventual revenue streams, further defining the community as one of the gems in the state, Johnson said.
"The good news is there's activity and interest in every section of Windsor — north, east, west and south," she said. "At every interchange, there's something going on. There's churning going on."
Brunswick bowling alley — a community-defining feature
Recommended Stories For You
Perhaps the most highly anticipated project Windsor has seen in years is the $15 million Brunswick Zone XL family fun center slated to go up at the northeast intersection of Fairgrounds Avenue and Crossroads Boulevard. Touted as a regional attraction, the development stands to rake in revenue and kickstart development at the southwestern edge of Windsor, near the Budweiser Events Center.
Part of a broader development that will stretch into Loveland, Windsor's portion of the project includes the luxurious 49,000-square-foot bowling alley slated to include laser tag, video games and restaurants.
"That's a regional draw," Johnson said, adding that it will be more of a meeting place for people than just a bowling alley. "That's why it's such a huge draw for us from a standpoint of not only retail to serve that part of Windsor but also a regional draw that will serve multiple jurisdictions, multiple municipalities as well as maybe even multiple states."
With a location on the outskirts of town, sales tax generation and subsequent draw into the community could be enormous, Johnson said.
That's why the town board in October authorized $642,000 in infrastructure incentives to attract the developer — Summit Companies. Those improvements included water, sewer and roads. Town officials expect the money to be recovered within three years if development goes as planned.
It is expected to be a first-of-its-kind facility for northern Colorado — and it's only the start.
A 7-11 convenience store and gas station also is expected to go up in the same area, all of which will help capture what Johnson called business "leakage" on the Larimer side of Windsor. The improvements also open the door for three additional spaces of future retail development — all of which the town as a whole will reap benefits from, including a potentially enormous amounts of sales tax.
"We're trying to work with them as quickly as we can," Johnson said, adding that rumblings of specific site plans and build-out information could come forward in the next few weeks. Ground-breaking is slightly behind schedule, but she said it will be fast-tracked with the 7-11 expected to open in the fall and bowling alley potentially opening by spring of 2014.
"It's been kind of a longer process than we anticipated," she said. "It's still coming and we know that. That corner is going to be hopping pretty soon, we hope."
Indicative of bigger things
During the March 25 Windsor Town Board work session, Johnson updated the board on the status of land use and prospective industries eying Windsor. Through February, there were 10 prospect requests — groups or companies looking to move into town. That's up slightly from February, 2012, which had eight. The year ultimately saw 90 requests for information, some of which continue to be in closed-door discussions about potential moves.
Energy — including oil and gas — and professional/technical services accounted for a combined 37 percent of prospects, the report indicates. An additional 27 percent of the town's prospects did not identify their industry when seeking information. What all of that means, Johnson said, is the town continues to be in a lucrative position in attracting jobs, revenue and additional growth.
With such an interest among companies moving to Windsor, the town is seeing a strain on available property, especially in the industrial and manufacturing sectors. Most groups, Johnson said, are searching for spaces between 5,000-10,000 square feet, which the town has in short supply.
"I see this trend continuing, at least for the next couple of years," she said, adding that Windsor is uniquely situated and does have space to see further construction and industrial development — what she called flex space. "There's not a lot of that around here, so we're going to see a lot more development."
From that development in the industrial or manufacturing sector ultimately comes a need for more homes. And as Johnson pointed out, retail typically follows rooftops meaning subsequent sales tax revenue from new businesses stands to continue strengthening the town as an influential business hub long into the future.
"We're just kind of really lucky, and my goal is to keep us as diversified as possible," Johnson said. "I think that's why northern Colorado has fared so well as a whole."


text:
The shoplifting scare that wasn't
Reports that shoplifting is on the rise may be exaggerated, but the perception is having lasting effects on retail, and criminal justice reform.
Ali Velshi, MSNBC anchor and economics correspondent, joins us.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


text:
What will the bank of the future look like? — from weforum.org by Taavet Hinrikus (formerly…as Skype’s first employee, Taavet helped build a company that has changed hundreds of millions of lives…so he knows how to ride these “waves.”)
Lionel Barber, the editor of the FT, summed it up at Davos: “Nobody wants to be in banking, everyone wants to be in FinTech”. FinTech — or financial technology — has reached the mainstream, but what does this mean for the banks?
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is taking hold in banking. The rise of FinTech came about over the last five years primarily as the result of five key developments:
- Loss of trust in the global financial crisis of 2008
- Higher expecations
- Rise of the Millennials
- The rise of the mobile Internet
- Regulation that truly looks after the rights of the consumer
Looking ahead to ten years’ time, the picture changes even more dramatically: 20% of consumers anticipate they will trust technology providers with all their financial service across the board from credit cards to mortgages.


text:
For the 12th time, the "Premium Brand" Foundation has announced the winners of its survey concerning the reputation of individuals and brands. Netia was also among those being honoured this year. The company was granted the "Premium Brand" title.
Premium Brand is the only project in the Polish market that examines brand reputation as a key element of competitive advantage. Winners and leaders receive the Premium Brand Award. This is granted on the basis of the results of a nationwide survey of consumer opinions and reviews.
The survey was conducted among people familiar with the given brand. Assessment concerned trust in the brand, loyalty towards the brand, the media atmosphere that accompanies it, social commitment and the overall image of the company as an employer. The survey conducted involved 10,000 Polish consumers aged 15 or over. More than 200 companies were surveyed in 20 categories of products and services.
The results were presented during a gala on April 27 this year at the Sabat Theatre. The award was received by Netia’s PR Manager Karol Wieczorek.
This is a very important award for us. The surveying of a large number of repeat customers for many years is an interesting point of reference. The good results are evidence that we do our job well. We aim to listen to our customers, be very close to them and react to what they say to us – said Karol Wieczorek.
Among this year's other Premium Brand laureates, apart from Netia, were such brands as Beckers, Elektrix, Cisowianka, Ochnik, Oknoplast, RTV Euro AGD and Żywiec Zdrój. Jurek Owsiak was awarded the title of the Person of Great Reputation.
The "Premium Brand" Foundation is the organizer of the project. The survey involving the Ariadna nationwide panel is conducted by the Maison&Partners agency based on a methodology developed by Warsaw University’s Professor Dominika Maison, a market and social survey expert.


text:
| Dec 15, 2013
| 5:00 AM
Being a woman, especially a woman of color, raises one's risk of cyber harassment — the intentional infliction of severe emotional distress through persistent online speech.
The University of Maryland studied online attacks occurring on an...
| Nov 14, 2013
| 8:25 PM
This article originally ran in print on March 7, 2012
At the time of his latest arrest, Jeremy Hammond was living on Chicago's South Side, about three dozen miles and an entire political spectrum away from the conservative DuPage County community...
| Jan 10, 2014
| 7:45 AM
Target Corp. on Friday said that last month's data breach affected up to 110 million customers and that the data theft was broader than originally thought.
The Minneapolis-based retailer said that as as many as 70 million customers' information, which...
| Dec 19, 2013
| 11:41 AM
The announcement by Target on Thursday that 40 million credit and debit card accounts may have been breached by cyber-crooks is just one in a string of notable consumer-data breaches in recent years.
The Minneapolis-based retailer said the unauthorized...
| Dec 19, 2013
| 7:04 AM
Target said Thursday that data on 40 million of its customers’ credit and debit card accounts may have been breached by cyber-crooks during the busy holiday season.
The Minneapolis retailer said the unauthorized access – which occurred...
| Dec 27, 2013
| 10:39 AM
Target Corp. said the cyber-crooks who hacked their way to approximately 40 million customer credit and debit card accounts during the holiday season accessed “strongly encrypted” PIN information.
Still, the retailer said Friday that it...
| Jan 14, 2014
| 3:24 PM
Officials, banks and consumers all want a piece of Target and Neiman Marcus, filing lawsuits and launching investigations against the two retailers after they reported data breaches.
A letter from Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Jay Rockefeller (D-W....
| Dec 20, 2013
| 2:20 PM
A day after Target confirmed a massive data breach, Chief Executive Gregg Steinhafel is trying to get customers back into stores during the busy pre-Christmas weekend by extending an offer for free credit monitoring and a 10% discount.
| Dec 23, 2013
| 12:42 PM
Target continues to suffer blow-back from the breach of up to 40 million customer credit and debit card accounts it disclosed last week, as consumer perception of the chain plunges and calls for an investigation intensify.
In a Sunday letter to the...
| Jan 21, 2014
| 5:31 AM
Authorities investigating the massive holiday-season hack into Target Corp.'s systems arrested two Mexicans trying to enter the U.S. in McAllen, Texas, with scores of fraudulent credit cards.
The arrests of Daniel Dominguez Guardiola and Mary Carmen...
| Sep 27, 2013
| 12:30 PM
Source: The Cleveland Clinic
Heart disease does not need to limit your ability to travel. Here are some key pointers to follow so that you can have a comfortable and heart-healthy vacation:
1. Talk with your doctor:


text:
Great Lakes Coca-Cola Teamsters fight for safety measures and hazard pay
Milwaukee, WI – A wave of worker activity has sprung up in the past two weeks as the slow government and employer response to COVID-19 has thrown millions of workers into dangerous working conditions. Workers have organized petitions, walkouts and sickouts at dozens of workplaces this week, demanding safe working conditions and hazard pay for essential workers during the pandemic.
In response to the wave of worker activity, many companies have begun to offer hazard pay, increased time-off benefits and new safety measures. Warehouse and distribution workers on the frontlines have been leading workplace actions and winning demands. Workers at Great Lakes Coca-Cola Distribution Inc., which operates in several Midwestern states, are fighting for better sick-time policies, hazard pay, assistance for childcare and other policies to keep workers safe.
Teamsters Local 344, which represents Great Lakes Coca-Cola workers in Wisconsin, says the company continues to discipline employees who call out due to COVID-19, and has not fulfilled information requests regarding safety measures the company is taking to protect employees.
Secretary-Treasurer Bill Carroll said the company has “yet to provide any useful response as to what measures they are taking to reduce the risk of our members getting or spreading infection.” Teamsters Local 727 in Illinois also blasted Great Lakes Coca-Cola, calling them a “greedy, anti-worker corporate bully,” saying the company “once again picked profit over people.”
Coca-Cola's leading competitor, Pepsico, is one of many companies that has provided an increase in pay and benefits to employees since the wave of worker activity began. Teamsters are asking Great Lakes Coca-Cola to match competitors who have provided up to a 20% hazard pay bonus and improved safety measures, but so far Great Lakes Coca-Cola has not done so. Instead of offering hazard pay, Great Lakes Coca-Cola proposed a weekly lump sum bonus of $100 if workers show up consistently and do not call in sick.
“This misguided policy would incentivize employees to come to work sick, which contradicts the recommendations put out by government and health authorities,” said Local 344 Business Agent Kevin Schwerdtfeger.
Teamsters are taking the fight beyond the warehouse and going public, asking supporters to call Great Lakes Coca-Cola management at 847-653-0784 and tell them to prioritize worker safety over profits.


text:
- Grocery e-commerce sales dropped 3.1% year-over-year in September, to $7.5 billion, primarily due to a decline in order frequency during the month, according to statistics released Tuesday by Brick Meets Click and Mercatus.
- Pickup rose by 1.1 percentage points in September to account for 48.4% of online grocery sales, while delivery’s portion slipped to 34.9% and the ship-to-home segment fell to a 16.7% share.
- The online grocery sector posted its lowest order rate since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last month, underscoring the challenges retailers face as they plot their digital strategies.
In a stark illustration of just how precipitously grocery e-commerce has fallen since online sales took off in early 2020, the average number of orders per monthly active user fell 8% in September compared with the same period in 2022, to 2.31, Brick Meets Click and Mercatus reported.
The figure is just 14% above the 2.03 orders per month recorded in August 2019, according to the research, which is based on a survey of 1,754 shoppers conducted on Sept. 28 and Sept. 29.
While pickup sales accounted for the biggest share of the online grocery market, that channel also posted the largest decline in average order value. The value of the average delivery order was flat, while the ship-to-home segment, which represents orders shipped by common carriers like UPS, dipped slightly. Overall, the average size of an online grocery order was down by 5% in September.
Online grocery sales were down year-over-year last month after posting a pickup-driven increase of 9% in August.
The research highlights a potentially alarming trend for grocers looking to run profitable online sales channels: The share of online customers who completed only one order last month came in at 37% — the highest percentage since before the pandemic began. Meanwhile, the proportion of online customers who placed at least three orders in September was down by nearly four percentage points.
On the other hand, the number of households that placed one or more online orders during the month was up 11% year-over-year. That pushed the total number of orders the industry saw during the month up by nearly 2%.
Notably, the base of monthly active users among mass retailers like Walmart grew 20% while the comparable figure for supermarkets was under 1%. In addition, mass retailers saw order frequency fall 4%, while supermarkets absorbed a drop of 13%.
Supermarkets saw the average size of the online orders they received remain steady even as mass retailers posted a 9% decline. Brick Meets Click and Mercatus pointed out, however, that mass merchants may well have experienced that drop because new online customers tend to spend markedly less than shoppers with more experience buying groceries via e-commerce.
Sylvain Perrier, president and CEO of Mercatus, suggested that traditional grocers take steps to differentiate themselves from mass retailers in the race to attract online shoppers, noting that bringing on new digital shoppers can be especially difficult.
“To compete more effectively, in addition to promoting more types of money-saving offers such as loyalty rewards, bundled deals, or other promotions, grocers can emphasize the quality, service, and convenience they offer that big-box retailers don’t,” Perrier said in a statement.


text:
One of the iOSphere's enduring myths is that one or another component or production screwup has repeatedly delayed most iPhones, including the iPhone 5S or 6 or whatever.
The latest iteration of this myth is that some screwup with the alleged Next iPhone's fingerprint sensor, itself another unconfirmed feature, delayed the phone's release, causing British mobile carrier Vodafone to upend its 4G network rollout and postpone it until the end of summer. As is often the case, there is less to this than meets the eye.
Also this week: expect flexible Gorilla Glass screens on the next iPhones; you'll know it's a cheap iPhone by its colors; and new fan art reveals what impressive new specs for the Next iPhone might look like if the Next iPhone looked like what a guy with Adobe Photoshop thinks it will look like.
You read it here second.
"Sources confirmed the delay to the iPhone 5S had been a factor in Vodafone's decision to delay 4G."
—Christopher Williams, The Telegraph, who manages to distill a mass of rumor, misstatement, misinformation and nonsense into a mere 18 words that rest on not a single fact.
iPhone 5S "delay" causes Vodafone to delay its 4G network
Britain's Vodafone has decided to delay the introduction of its 4G/LTE network—originally planned for June —because Apple has run into manufacturing delays and postponed the release of the iPhone 5S.
That's the theory anyway of a post at The Telegraph headlined "Vodafone delays 4G network until late summer for iPhone 5S" by Christopher Williams.
As is often the case with The Telegraph, the details are sketchy.
"The operator had originally planned to switch on superfast mobile broadband in cities in June, but said on Tuesday it would wait until August or September," Williams writes, in a posting whose confusing randomness seems to be the result of copying-and-pasting under deadline pressure to get something online in 15 minutes.
According to Williams, "The Silicon Valley giant [meaning Apple] had been expected to introduce an updated version, the iPhone 5S, that will work at the new frequencies in June, but it was reported last month it had been pushed back because of manufacturing delays." Yet he offers not a shred of evidence, not even a link to rumor sites, to support this assertion.
(Pocket-lint, another U.K. tech website, gives a more specific but no less confusing explanation for the iPhone 5S "delay": "a Vodafone-compatible iPhone was expected for this summer until rumours of fingerprint sensor issues allegedly stalled Apple's release." On its face, Pocket-lint is saying that the rumors stalled the release, but apparently intended to say that Apple delayed announcing the phone because it ran into some kind of problem with the phone's fingerprint sensor, yet another long-rumored feature.)
Sign up for Computerworld eNewsletters.