text:
UKRAINE WAR: CEI-BOIS AND EOS – SCHOCK IN THE WOOD PRODUCT VALUE CHAIN TO BE EXPECTED
The European timber industry is watching with great concern Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the correlated economic and financial implications. European sanctions against trading with Russia and Belarus are expected to produce a shock in the wood product value chain. The war in Ukraine is already impacting transport and supply chains in several countries.
Following a meeting of the main trade bodies for the timber industry – CEI-Bois (the European Confederation of Woodworking Industries) and EOS (the European Organisation of the Sawmill Industry) – it was recognised that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine poses a real threat to peace and security in Europe while direct consequences on the timber business should be expected. At the same time, the European timber industry understands the decisions on a trade ban between Europe and Belarus as informed by the Council Regulation (EU) 2022/355 which introduces a ban on all wood products from Belarus in response to the ongoing war in Ukraine. The industry foresees that similar measures will be applied to Russian wood products.
Members also supported the decision taken by PEFC to classify Belarus and Russian products as “conflict timber” and therefore ineligible for accredited certification. Similarly, the European Timber Industry welcomes that wood and forest products from Russia and Belarus cannot be used in FSC products or be sold as FSC certified anywhere in the world as long as the armed conflict continues.
The trade ban will cause serious consequences for European market supply. According to official statistics, slightly less than 10% of the sawn softwood consumed in Europe in 2021 originated from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. In the hardwood sector, oak goods originating from Ukraine made up a significant quantity. Shortages are therefore expected.
CEI Bois and EOS are now working closely with the EU institutions and national European Governments to identify sustainable and efficient mitigating measures that could increase self-reliance, help reduce critical shortages, increase harvesting rate, ensure security of logs supply and seek to mobilise existing wood resources to fill the supply gap created by these necessary trade sanctions.
The wood product trade ban will negatively impact several critical industrial supply chains eg. food and medicine which are logistically based on wooden pallets. Many wood-based construction materials, such as birch plywood and sawn timber, will be very hard hit, which in turn could hamper the EU’s Green Deal push to decarbonise the built environment.
In addition, a disproportionate number of European lorry drivers are Ukrainian, and they have now returned to defend their country exacerbating an already existing shortage of drivers due to the Covid pandemic. This adds on a number of imbalances and other challenges which are already negatively affecting the international logistics.
Commenting Silvia Melegari, Secretary General of CEI-Bois and EOS said: “Beyond the human tragedy that this conflict is causing, the European Timber Industry will be negatively affected by a shortage of wood products. Although companies are already working in order to cope with the current situation, it is undeniable that our sector will need immediate interventions by national governments and European institutions on how to prevent a critical logs shortage. The European wood industry hopes for a rapid and peaceful resolution to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.”
Media Enquiries: firstname.lastname@example.org ; email@example.com
CEI-Bois, the European Confederation of Woodworking Industries represents 20 European and National organisations from 14 countries and is the body backing the interests of the whole industrial European wood sector: more than 180.000 companies generating an annual turnover of 152 billion euros and employing 1 million workers in the EU.
EOS, the European Organisation of the Sawmill Industry represents the interests of the European sawmilling sector on European and International level. Through its member federations and associated members, EOS represents some 35,000 sawmills in 12 countries across Europe manufacturing sawn boards, timber frames, glulam, decking, flooring, joinery, fencing and several other wood products.


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Brian O’Kelley’s departure as CEO of AppNexus surprised few in the industry who know him.
His sharp opinions and independent mindset made him an ad tech provocateur and a fearless leader.
But that same personality seemed incompatible with taking a subservient role to Xandr CEO Brian Lesser within the AT&T mega-corporation.
After all, this is the same executive that managed to get fired from Right Media before Yahoo even closed the acquisition back in 2007 over disputes about product direction. After leaving Right Media, he immediately founded AppNexus in order to continue on his vision of what programmatic should be.
O’Kelley, who likes to state his true opinion no matter the cost, has burned bridges with some coworkers, but they nevertheless respected the business he created.
Those who had worked or partnered with O’Kelley painted him as a genius in product and strategy – even if that meant bulldozing the path to execute that strategy and micromanaging employees on the way to his goal.
“He’s always been the product visionary for the company and the driving force for it’s strategy, so losing that is a big blow. Customers and the market are probably really wondering whether AppNexus will be the same,” said Beeswax CEO Ari Paparo, who worked with O’Kelley as a former SVP of product at AppNexus.
O’Kelley also created a strong culture at AppNexus, including one that supported the causes of female leadership and women in tech.
Despite AppNexus’ reported $1.6 billion deal price, some ad tech execs surmised O’Kelley may be leaving in disappointment.
Acquisition was never his goal. In his years of interviews with AdExchanger, O’Kelley repeatedly stated that he didn’t want to get acquired. He wanted AppNexus to go public, allowing it to preserve its independence. Although the company filed paperwork to go public, the sorry state of the ad tech public markets prevented AppNexus from moving further down that path.
“Brian built a tremendous company that absolutely reflected his vision of how programmatic could and should work,” said Jeffrey Hirsch, CMO at PubMatic. “I can only imagine that the size of what he created ended up limiting his ability to innovate ad hoc and, as such, he likely has things he feels he left uncompleted.”
The same people who predicted his exit doubt he’ll leave ad tech for good. “Brian will undoubtedly land on his feet,” one DSP exec said.
O’Kelley still has a big stake in ad tech, having invested in more than a dozen ad tech companies over the years. Most recently, he invested in the seed round of blockchain startup Amino Payments.
“Clearly his internal vision of what can be done drives him, and I imagine we will see more from him accordingly,” Hirsch said.
In the meantime, O’Kelley may be making time for some R&R. His Twitter account, normally filled with thoughts about ad tech and business, has taken a lighter turn in recent weeks. On Sept. 30, he shared a recommendation for “Though I Get Home,” a short story collection by YZ Chin.
“I generally do not like short stories, but this collection rocks,” he tweeted.

domain: news


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Deputies: Woman steals from Wal-Mart as payback for car burglaries
Published: Thursday, September 30, 2010 at 2:22 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, September 30, 2010 at 2:23 p.m.
OCALA - A sheriff's deputy arrested a woman who said she had been stealing from her employer - a Wal-Mart store - for the past two to three weeks because her car had been burglarized several times in the parking lot and nothing was done about it.
Camarie Hazen was arrested Wednesday and charged with grand theft, according to the Marion County Sheriff's Office.
A deputy went to the Wal-Mart at 9570 S.W. State Road 200 and talked with an employee who told him he saw Hazen place two cell phones in a grocery bag and take them to a break room without paying for them.
Hazen told the deputy she took the phones, along with a Mountain Dew, and that she has been taking stuff from the store during the past two or three weeks. Hazen told the deputy she took the items because her vehicle had been burglarized several times in the store parking lot and she believed nothing was been done about the items missing from her car.
She also said she had taken a purse that had numerous personal hygiene items, which could be found in her car.
Hazen was arrested and transported to the Marion County Jail.
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.


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A UK hotel has come up with a way to fend off all the thumbs-down that are clotting up its online reviews: rather than upping the thread count on their sheets or, say, introducing a vacuum cleaner to the dining room a bit more frequently, they’re promising to charge customers £100 for bad reviews.
The hotel – Broadway Hotel, Blackpool – must be raking it in, given that out of 255 reviews on TripAdvisor, 146 of them rate the place as bottom-of-the-barrel “terrible”.
One of the hotel’s bad reviews comes from Tony and Jan Jenkinson.
The Whitehaven couple spent one night in the hotel where, other reviewers say, the cutlery is “filthy”, the breakfast “disgusting”, the beds are on a “strange slant”, and the bathroom door doesn’t always shut when you’re on the loo.
Well, the Broadway Hotel now believes that it’s time for the Jenkinsons to pay up for having the audacity to not enjoy their stay.
After leaving a bad review in which they called the hotel a “rotten stinking hovel”, the couple were greeted with a £100 “fine” on their credit card statement, according to the BBC.
It’s not like the couple hadn’t been warned that it would happen – it was there in teensy tiny type on the booking document that Jan couldn’t read, since she wasn’t wearing her reading glasses.
After all, the hotel’s policy is to charge for bad reviews.
Its typographically itty-bitty policy starts out reasonably enough:
Despite the fact that repeat customers and couples love our hotel, your friends and family may not.
… but goes on to eensie-weensily inform customers that being honest about their accommodations in online reviews has nasty consequences:
For every bad review left on any website, the group organiser will be charged a maximum £100 per review.
The BBC reports that the matter’s being investigated by Trading Standards, which handles consumer protection in the UK.
John Greenbank, north trading standards area manager, told the BBC that Broadway Hotel has come up with a “novel” way to prevent bad reviews:
I have worked for trading standards for many years and have never seen anything like this.
The hotel management clearly thinks they have come up with a novel way to prevent bad reviews. However, we believe this could be deemed an unfair trading practice.
That’s actually giving the hotel more credit for originality than it deserves.
This shtick is not novel at all. In fact, California passed a bill in September that protects customers from getting penalized by companies after writing bad reviews.
The so-called Yelp Bill was passed in order to protect consumers against non-disparagement clauses that businesses sneak into consumer contracts and which forbid customers from leaving negative reviews on sites like Yelp or TripAdvisor.
Such non-disparagement contracts threaten fines or legal action that work against the sharing of honest customer experiences, Yelp said at the time.
Businesses that have pulled this trick include a swanky New York hotel that was telling wedding couples that it would deduct $500 from their deposit for any guest who groused about it online.
The Jenkinsons are trying to get a refund from their credit card company.
Councillor John McCreesh, cabinet member for trading standards, told the BBC that businesses should worry more about giving good service, less about trying to muzzle unhappy customers:
Customers need to be free to be honest about the service they're getting.
Other customers depend upon it. Hotel owners should focus on getting their service right rather than shutting down aggrieved customers with threats and fines.
People should have the right to vent their disappointment if a hotel stay did not meet their expectations and should not be prevented from having their say.


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General Motors is launching a pair of experiential marketing programs this year for its core Chevrolet brand that extends its corporate "May the Best Car Win" mantra into a multi-market, test-drive program that lets consumers drive both Chevy vehicles and the vehicles Chevy competes with.
One of the programs leverages GM's presence at some 30 auto shows around the country, while the other is something completely new in the category: a permanent or semi-permanent, minimally branded, brick-and-mortar facility to be called "Test Drive Studio."
The latter, which will begin in four markets this spring, has been batted around GM for a while, per Steve Tihanyi, general director for marketing services, alliances and branded entertainment at the company. "It's a concept I discussed 10 years ago; now we are making it come to life," he says, adding that the facilities location will be based on ZIP code targets for Chevy products. It will be run on a pilot basis in Miami, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Chicago. If successful, the studio program will be expanded, he says.
The studios will feature Chevy's "heart of the market" products for "modern families," per Tihanyi: Malibu, Traverse, and Equinox, plus competitors in each of the segments in which the Chevy vehicles compete.
"It's a non-threatening environment," says Tihanyi. "It's not pressure -filled; you can drive all the right competitive products against the [vehicles]. If you take Malibu as an example, we will also have vehicles like Camry, Accord, Ford Fusion, or Taurus, so you get a really good cluster of vehicles to experience at your own pace."
The studios, which will be either in industrial zones or high-traffic retail areas -- Tihanyi says GM is still working on locations -- will likely have a laid-back, perhaps "industrial-hip," feel, with WiFi, and a café/lounge. "Ultimately, we want it to be customer friendly; we want them to feel good about being there. The last thing we want is people hovering over you. It will not look like a dealership and will not be branded Chevrolet," he says.
Tihanyi says that to market the program, Chevrolet will do an extensive digital play in the four markets, tracking people as they are shopping, "So, hypothetically, if you are on Edmunds.com and shopping a Camry, we are going to offer up an opportunity to come to the Test Drive Studio in that market to compare everything you have in your shopping set right now. Our feeling is you may have not had the Malibu in your consideration set, but if you try it, you will."
The company is also launching a competitive test-drive program that coincides with auto shows in 30 markets around the country. "What we are trying to do is leverage the period of the auto show to create this experience. One thing we know about auto shows is a lot of people who come will be in market in zero to 12 months," he says.


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In-game advertising platform Anzu has announced its launch into the India market, exclusively represented in APAC by mobile advertising platform AdColony and with key launch partner WCC2, India’s popular cricket game.
With Anzu, brands now can access in-game inventory and target gamers in India programmatically, in a way that’s optimised for brand safety and that delivers on viewability and brand recall.
Anzu’s in-game advertising inventory is seamlessly integrated into their gaming environment, ensuring an uninterrupted experience for the gamer while enhancing the impact of the ad. Brands also benefit from a more targeted measurement on their spend, through Anzu's integrated partnerships with leading ad-tech vendors Nielsen, Moat, Comscore and Kantar, to provide ad viewability, brand lift measurement, audience verification, data enrichment and fraud detection.
Coinciding with the launch is Anzu’s latest integration with key partner, WCC2, India’s popular cricket gaming app with over 140 million downloads.
Other noteworthy games integrated with Anzu’s platform include MPL, TrackMania, Final Kick, Real Basketball and many more, allowing brands to reach a wide audience across multiple demographics.
Amit Rathi, Country Manager, AdColony, South Asia, said, “At AdColony, our mission is to connect brands with consumers across the full spectrum of gaming and e-sports, ranging from hyper-casual mobile gamers and streamers, to console gamers and e-sports fans. This exclusive deal with Anzu will give more brands the confidence to engage with gamers in India, and connect their media strategy across the entire range of gaming environments.”
Itamar Benedy, CEO and Co-Founder at Anzu, added, “We’re thrilled to partner with AdColony and launch our offerings in the Indian market. In the sub-continent, brands are recognising that gaming is no longer a demographic or even a channel, but a cultural layer that sits across how we socialise, play and engage with brands. Ambitious brands that have an appetite for creating ground-breaking campaigns, will now be able to connect with a wider audience and deliver powerful, impactful creatives through this partnership. We’re excited to see this transform the way brands and consumers interact.”


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One week from today, Port Kembla will change dramatically when its towering 200m chimney stack is demolished. For a suburb that's already had several transformations, we ask locals what their vision is.
From its strong maritime history to the era when it was a thriving retail hub, on to its period as a sleazy strip for prostitutes and now to its artistic renaissance, Port Kembla's Wentworth Street is a fascinating place.
Almost everyone knows at least one of Port Kembla's many personalities.
But what is the future for Wollongong's industrial southern suburb?
Its steelworks sprawls jagged and grey, smoke billowing intermittently while huge flames lick the sky.
Then there are its beautiful beaches with their emerald and blue water that create a stunning juxtaposition.
The main street displays colourful art panels created by local artists keen to beautify the steep strip.
And presiding over all these contrasts since 1965 is the Port Kembla chimney stack, an impossibly large beacon that can be seen from Kiama in the south to Stanwell Park in the north.
Justin Huntsdale and Nick Rheinberger visited Wentworth Street to talk to locals about what their vision is for the suburb's next transformation as the stack is readied to be demolished.
There are people who want to save the chimney, those who don't think it fits with Port Kembla's artistic future, and then there are small business owners who want to see it turn into a boutique retail strip.
The one consistent theme is that everyone has a strong opinion.


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com to promote Carbonite
Online Backup," said Ivana Flodr, Director of eCommerce Marketing at Carbonite
Members of the Board of Directors c/o David Friend, Chairman and CEO Carbonite
Mission Study for the proposed commercial port of Bastia on the site Carbonite
, following the prefectural no2013-123-0002 dated May 3, 2013.
Of the total offering, Carbonite
sold 6,303,973 shares and the selling shareholders sold the remaining 883,527 shares.
, our data center is mission critical to the service we deliver for our customers," said Keith Cooper, president of Carbonite
SYNNEX was chosen as a Carbonite
distributor due to its strength in the SMB technology market and cloud solutions.
We've thought for a while that Carbonite
Server backup is the industry leader in speed, and the third party tests confirm that Carbonite
Server backup led the pack.
com, leaving Carbonite
as one of the last-standing large independent online backup services.
Increases Home Bandwidth Capabilities As a result of the increase in upload bandwidth, new Carbonite
Home users can now achieve the same upload speed as Carbonite
com/business/ technology/articles/2008/05/01/backups_are_a_breeze_online/ with a TechLab video featuring Carbonite
available as well.
The Company's evolution to small business technology, coupled with the rapid growth of the past seven years has made Carbonite
stand out among others in the industry.
TDS Telecom Releases Backup Online Service, Powered by Carbonite
In conjunction with this announcement, Carbonite
will host a conference call on Wednesday, October 30, 2013 at 5:00 p.
and WinZip Computing today announced a one-year contract under which Carbonite
Online Backup service will be offered to WinZip's customer base.
New Survey from Carbonite
Finds Downtime and Losses After a Disaster Can Cripple a Business


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The 2016 World Economic Forum (WEF) India Economic Summit has started in which city of India?
The 2016 World Economic Forum (WEF) India Economic Summit has been inaugurated by Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi on October 6, 2016. The theme of the summit is “Fostering an Inclusive India through Digital Transformation’. The 2-day summit will focus on issues like digital transformation and regional economic integration. At least 600 participants from a little over 30 countries will take part.


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Game Digital shares plunge as ‘challenging’ market hits sales
23 December 2015
- From the section Business
Shares in video games Game Digital have plunged by more than a third after it said “challenging” conditions in the UK market would hit profits.
Game said there had been a faster-than-expected decline in sales of older games formats, while the switch to the newer Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles had been slower than expected.
It now expects underlying earnings of £30m for the half-year to 23 January.
That compares with earnings of £43m reported a year earlier.
Shares in Game Digital fell 70.75p, or 34%, to 135p.
“The trading conditions in the UK video games market have been challenging,” said Martyn Gibbs, the company’s chief executive.
“The switch over from the older gaming formats to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One software has impacted profitability across the UK market.
“The extent of the impact of this switch over has only become apparent in December which has been compounded by lower year-on-year High Street and shopping centre footfall.”
In the 21 weeks to 19 December, Game said that total revenues fell 6.7% to £466.8m, with UK revenues down 11.4% from a year earlier to £353.5m.
UK sales of products related to the Xbox One and PlayStation rose by £19m to £114.6m.
However, Game added this had been “more than offset by the unexpectedly steep decline in Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 content sales” which more than halved, dropping by £30.8m to £23.4m.
The retailer also said sales had been “disappointing” since the start of the school Christmas holidays.
This post was written by FSB News


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Welcome to our weekly round-up of all the latest news and research from the world of search marketing and beyond. This week, we’ve got a bumper crop of stories from the search and marketing industry, including the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative’s acquisition of an AI-powered search engine, new ad-targeting features on YouTube, the most popular emoji on Instagram, and the news that mobile search and YouTube are leading growth in Alphabet’s fourth quarter earnings. Also, you’ll never guess who one of Google’s most prolific advertisers is – it’s Google. Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative acquires AI-powered search engine, Meta The Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, the $45 billion philanthropic organisation founded by Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, has made its first acquisition – of a search engine. Meta is an search tool which uses artificial intelligence to make connections between scientific research, making it easier for researchers to search through and link together more than 26 million scientific papers. The Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative intends to make Meta, which was previously partly subscription-based, free for everyone to use after spending a few months enhancing the product. “But wait!” I hear you cry. “Didn’t Search Engine Watch already run a story recently about a scientific search engine powered by AI?” You’re absolutely right, astute reader – as Adam Stetzer reported earlier this month, Semantic Scholar is an AI-powered search engine for scientific research which is already free to use. While there’s no reason why the world can’t have more than one AI-powered science search engine, it will be interesting to see…
Article Source: Six most interesting search marketing news stories of the week
S K Routray is a computer science graduate and Co founder at Gracioustech.com. He worked as a Online Marketing lead at many MNC Companies. He has passion for writing on SEO techniques, Social Media Marketing and digital marketing techniques. If he wasn’t an online marketer, he'd take his love for food and become a great chef cum hotel entrepreneur. Join NAS Writers team to write for NAS.


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According to the company’s website, Betr exists to allow players total immersion into the sports and events they are watching.
“Microbetting introduces instant gratification to sports betting, enabling you to bet on every moment of every live sporting event for the first time,” reads a line on the front page.
Despite the “micro” branding, however, Levy said that the intention to grow into traditional legal sports betting was always on his and Paul’s minds. That would give sports bettors the ultimate one-stop shop for their gambling ventures.
"We deliberately launched with only microbetting to one, launch as soon as possible… and to two, establish ourselves as the company, product, and brand synonymous not just with instant gratification betting, which we believe will be the future of this industry, but to also be synonymous with doing things differently and being the first direct-to-consumer operator in the category to actually differentiate its product experience in an industry dominated by commoditized product experiences," said Levy, who is also Betr’s CEO.
Betr is already live in Ohio, which launched its sports betting market on January 1, is soon joining Massachusetts, which opened retail sports betting outlets on January 31 and online sportsbooks on March 10, and was recently approved in Virginia. The Ohio launch marked the quickest turnaround time that a company has taken to go from a newly-formed business to becoming a licensed sports betting outlet.


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Australia’s richest man, Westfield founder Frank Lowy, has had his first real taste of the global economic slowdown after being forced to slash $3 billion of the value of Westfield’s shopping centre portfolio.
Westfield, which owns 119 malls in US, Britain, Australia and Asia, has held up better than a lot of other property trusts during the downturn, but collapsing consumer spending around the world has forced the company to adjust the value of its $50 billion portfolio.
Analysts also expect Westfield may be forced to trim its dividends as the economy slows further this year.
Westfield’s shares have fallen sharply over the last two days, dropping from $12.21 to $11.45 this morning.
That fall has knocked almost $135 million of the value of the Lowy family’s stake in the company. It’s shareholding is worth just over $2 billion.
You can help us (and help yourself)
Small and medium businesses and startups have never needed credible, independent journalism and information more than now.
That’s our job at SmartCompany: to keep you informed with the news, interviews and analysis you need to manage your way through this unprecedented crisis.
Now, there’s a way you can help us keep doing this: by becoming a SmartCompany supporter.
Even a small contribution will help us to keep doing the journalism that keeps Australia’s entrepreneurs informed.


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08-06The SCO Secretariat held a commendation meeting for the SCO Public Welfare Long March in Beijing on August 5. Vladimir Norov, Secretary-General of the SCO, presented Outstanding Contribution Award to Yiling Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Yiling Pharmaceutical) in recognition of its outstanding contribution to the prevention and control of the epidemic in the SCO members.
07-29In fact, air freight is actually a form of logistics, which means that the air freight person entrusts a company with air freight qualification to transport the goods to the designated place and hand it over to the designated consignee.
07-15Up to 90% OFF Sale! The affordable fashion shopping site -- Newchic Summer Sale 2020 is coming! Buy 2 get 1 free, free shipping snap up and join their lucky draw activity to win free shipping coupon for a whole year! Newchic Summer Sale 2020 kicked off Monday, 6th July, and will run until Monday, 27th July, ending at 9 a.m UTC. Besides, you can earn up to 50% commissions by participating in their
06-23Recently, a major event in the domain name circle has occurred in Arab Capital Group: it has invested heavily in the acquisition of the fine domain name www.acfx.com, which has not yet been activated.
06-10Breaking news coverage across television networks showing recent brutal responses by U.S. law enforcement agencies against mainly peaceful demonstrators was just one of the reasons that Canadian television news anchor and documentary expert, Elissa Lansdell, felt it right to speak out last week. Elissa, a veteran interviewer of Hollywood and musical legends, also has a special passion for politics
06-10Neonatal asphyxia is one of the leading causes of neonatal death, cerebral palsy and dysnoesia. The promotion of the neonatal asphyxia resuscitation technique is of great significance to the decrease of the neonatal death rate and the improvement of the population quality. During the past 10 years’ work as a midwife, Zhang Baiyi once won the first prize in the Nanjing Neonatal Asphyxia Resuscitati
04-20Between 1990 and 2016, thousands of terrorist attacks shook the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwestern China, killing large numbers of innocent people and hundreds of police officers. Horrific stabbings and bombings rocked the land once known as a commercial hub on China's ancient Silk Road.
03-18Abstract: Yinrrytung, a popular cosmetics brand born in Paris, takes "make up in French style" as its brand concept. Integrating top research and development technology and the most cutting-edge fashion essence, Yinrrytung has made itself a fashionable color trend pioneer. The brand is devoted to makeup-and-skincare combination, maximizing the features of romance, confidence, sexiness, attractiven


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Mapagogo is pleased to announce the launch of its community website, Mapagogo.com. Designed for ease of use and convenience of search, the new website combines best of breed mapping and visualization functions for location-based data, bringing hyper-local search to a whole new level. Furthermore, the density of location data per square kilometer is unparalleled, when compared to data sets from Yelp, Yellow Pages, and even Google.
“Mapagogo is a community-driven site where users can search, save, share, or even create their own points of interest.”, says James Chang, president of the Markham-based technology firm. “The best part is that all data created by both users and business can be syndicated by any partner sites using the innovative Mapagogo plug-in. End are the days where you have to update multiple search directories and listings. Update on Mapagogo, and it syndicates to the rest of the internet.”
Mr. Chang explains that the current launch of Mapagogo is just the first phase of the mapping site, which has plan to create the ultimate platform for other organizations to display their location-based data in tourism, real estate, and urban planning.


text:
With its shady green canopy and centuries-old medicinal lore, the Chinese long ago bestowed the name "tree of heaven" on ...
(Photos by Steven Lane/The Columbian)
December 22, 2012
Jean Ferguson picks out a new raincoat for her Westie, Gracie, at the Hazel Dell PetSmart on Saturday. Ferguson and other shoppers visited local pet stores this weekend to buy Christmas gifts for their pets.


text:
In many countries around the world, the convenience of plastic shopping bags can turn into a big environmental headache. In Kenya, millions of disposable bags are still used every month. Local entrepreneurs are sensing an opportunity.
Tiny plastic particles from car tires and even clothing fabrics could be responsible for up to 30 percent of the plastic polluting our oceans, according to a new IUCN report. Is there anything we can do?
Hundreds of thousands of tiny strands of plastic lint are released into wastewater each time you run a load of synthetics. Many of these microplastics end up in the oceans - and their full effects are still not known.
Police, journalists and onlookers were scattered around the damaged Christmas market the day after the terrorist attack. DW's Ben Knight joined them.
© 2018 Deutsche Welle |
Legal notice |
| Mobile version


text:
Bytemobile releases results of Mobile Analytics Report
Bytemobile publishes a Mobile Analytics Report, and its latest one this month reveals some information that should not come as too much of a surprise. Mobile TV watching is spiking continuously upwards. But some things have changed in the past year, and carriers and networks need to be prepared for the coming years.
While in the past 240p was pretty much the norm for most mobile TV watching, the trend is now squarely in the 360p and 480p range. And this is only the medium average; higher resolution and HD are certainly options now on current devices. Because the resolution is higher, carriers are transmitting double and triple the data they moved just a year or two ago.
Several factors tie into this, and one of the most specific is screen size. Considering how mobile phone screens are getting larger, it only makes sense that consumers want to see higher quality content. Something that looked great on a small screen a few years ago now may look grainy and stilted on a larger device.
The report states that 17 percent of laptop users consume some video content daily, while on the iPhone it’s 11 percent and Android 7 percent. When you stop to consider the multiple millions of phones out in the wild, this adds up to a lot of content. Video on phones in particular has also gotten easier to use. There are so many apps that almost any user now has the ability to quickly pull up a video clip.
The report goes on to state that an average viewing session for most mobile users is over a minute during peak and daytime hours. After hours and off peak, that amount doubles, heading over two minutes per clip viewing. How much do mobile viewers, on average, consume in a single sitting? Bytemobile says at least 10 minutes in a single session. So if you crunch the numbers, most viewers are watching 10 to 20 minutes of video in a single session. This is quite a substantial amount and almost in line with a half-hour television program.
Networks are struggling to keep up. Many have come up with new data throttling plans, unfortunately perhaps signaling the passing of all-you-can-consume flat-rate options. Part of the strategy is faster networks, because a two-minute clip can be moved in seconds as opposed to a minute or two. The trend will only continue to rise, as more and more mobile tablets are sold, and consumers demand higher quality. The report shows that higher resolution video is most definitely on the rise, with no signs of slowing down.
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By Tom Butts
By Tom Butts


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Design is a series of creative choices. It’s editing and adding, it’s a dialogue, it’s a collaborative effort,” says Marc Jacobs.
It’s a late Thursday afternoon in May, and Jacobs is talking about his creative ideation process with around 90 beauty editors, who sit captivated in little gilt chairs in a room where the black-and-white geometrically patterned marble floors bear a striking resemblance to the designer’s spring collection. They’re gathered here for the unveiling of Jacobs’ color cosmetics collection, a 120-stock- keeping-unit line which Sephora has developed and will sell exclusively in its stores beginning August 9. “Of course, me, I’m in a director role,” Jacobs goes on, “saying, ‘that works or doesn’t work,’ ‘I like that’ or ‘I don’t like that’ or ‘maybe we can tweak this into that.’ It’s about putting things together. It’s an evolutionary process.”
The editors have just seen the line in its entirety—supershiny black compacts with slightly rounded edges and mirrors inspired by the idea of an infinity pool; nail lacquers in colors ranging from moody to vivid, all named by Jacobs himself; and elliptical blushes stamped to look like faille, a favorite fabric of the designer. Lip glosses in two different finishes reflect his love of texture, Blacquer eye liner his penchant for the blackest black imaginable and unisex products with quirky monikers like Makeout lip balm are a nod to his love of humor. “I wanted to do makeup because I love the entire ritual of getting dressed,” Jacobs continues, who today is wearing a pristine white shirt, black cotton trousers, white leather Adidas sneakers and black-and-white striped socks. “When we create a fashion show, we think of a spirit, a mood. We choose colors, textures, fabrics. We think about the set, the spirit of a girl and we even try to send out a new message. We couldn’t do that without thinking about the hair and the makeup. The whole is equal to the sum of its parts.”
Jacobs isn’t the only designer with makeup on his mind. Alber Elbaz, Michael Kors, Matthew Williamson, Pierre Hardy—each has affixed his name to cosmetics projects that are launching this year, joining the likes of Tom Ford, Burberry and Dolce & Gabbana, all relatively recent entrants to the category. Meanwhile, shoe designer Christian Louboutin signed a joint venture with industry veteran Robin Burns’ Batallure Beauty to enter cosmetics and is reportedly readying a launch for later this year, while P&G is said to be working on a Gucci line to launch in 2014 and Lancôme is collaborating with Jason Wu, the designer who shot to fame after First Lady Michelle Obama wore his gowns to both inaugurations.
“It’s baaaaack,” says John Demsey with a laugh, when asked about the designer cosmetics category. A group president at the Estée Lauder Cos. Inc. who oversaw the launch of Ford’s line, Demsey is a virtual walking encyclopedia of the modern-day beauty industry. “The last time we saw such an iteration of designer cosmetics was in the Seventies, when you go back to the years of Halston and DVF. From that, we went into the designer as megabrand, which translated itself more into fragrance than the experiential aspects of the cosmetics business,” Demsey says. “Then we went into a strong celebrity dynamic for the last 10 to 15 years, where the aspirational nature of the business was either celebrity or based on authenticity, which begat the growing of the makeup-artist brands,” he continues. “The knowledge of the makeup artists became aspirational, because they know what makes you look best.”
While the makeup-artist brands haven’t lost their cachet, and collectively are the largest-selling group of brands in prestige cosmetics (led by MAC, which Demsey also oversees), it is the designer brands which are outperforming the overall category at the moment, according to The NPD Group. Established French brands like Chanel, Dior and YSL are driving sales, but more recent entries like Giorgio Armani Beauty and Tom Ford are showing strong gains too. “We’ve seen that while it’s been difficult for a designer to break in, those who have become entrenched have become color authorities,” says Karen Grant, vice president and global beauty industry analyst of NPD. Noting that designer brands represent about 12 percent of prestige color cosmetics sales, Grant says designer brands gained 14 percent in the face category versus an overall market gain of 6 percent in 2012, and 14 percent in the lip category versus an overall gain of 10 percent. “Throughout the market, we continue to see them leading the way and they are also helping to push the premium end of the marketplace,” she says.
Still, as Grant notes, for every hopeful entry into the market, the landscape is littered with those who didn’t make it. Ralph Lauren, Diane von Furstenberg, Anna Sui, Versace and Calvin Klein have all tried to crack the color code in the past, some numerous times, most with scant success, particularly in North America.
The hurdles for a designer to establish a viable presence in the cosmetics department are as high today as they’ve been in the past, point out market experts. “Beauty is a natural extension of a designer’s creativity,” says Luigi Feola, vice president of the luxury pillar of P&G Prestige, who oversees Dolce & Gabbana The Make Up. “The challenge is to link the creative vision with the high level and pace of innovation required. It takes a great deal of investment to make this a reality. You have to get the in-store experience perfect, with the right real estate, packaging, etc., to not only bring customers in to shop, but to leave them with an exceptional experience that they’ve come to expect from a luxury brand.”
“It is very complex and expensive, and you need to be prepared to invest for the long run,” agrees Louis Desazars, the chief executive officer of Nars, which launched a limited-edition collection with cult footwear designer Pierre Hardy this spring. “Space in department stores is very scarce and it’s difficult to survive for the long term if you don’t have a real point of difference. The problem with lots of brands that we’ve seen come and go is that they didn’t have a point of difference versus what exists today.”
EXCLUSIVE: @tomford is opening its first-ever beauty store. The boutique, which opens November 20 in London’s Covent Gardens, was designed with the over the top glam Ford is known for. Read the full story on WWD.com, link in bio. #wwdbeauty #wwdnews (📷: Simon Wagner) #TomFordBeauty
New York-based DJ @harleyvnewton threw a party to celebrate the holiday collection of her dress and pajama line @hvn at the Ladurée Beverly Hills. It Girls @katebosworth, @rashidajones and more joined in on the fun, which included cocktails, croque monsieur sandwiches and a photo booth. #wwdfashion (📷: Owen Kolasinski/BFA.com)
For the holidays, @Burberry partnered with 20-year-old artist @blondeymccoy on a series of three outdoor murals in downtown Manhattan. The murals are McCoy’s interpretation of a Christmas eve party, the idea of charity and the spirit of family. His third mural, pictured here, is the most personal. The image depicts McCoy’s grandparents and father in London’s Trafalgar Square in the Seventies. “My work often features lots of sentimental objects.” #wwdeye
For spring 2018, designers applied bold colors and cartoonish motifs on everything from sneakers and belts to key chains. See all the top men’s accessories trends on WWD.com. #wwdtrends (📷: George Chinsee; Prop Styling by @rnasti; Market Editor: @luiscampuzano)
The @dior-sponsored @guggenheim international gala pre-party has a history of drawing cool-girl musical acts to serenade the crowd –– and last night was no exception. @haimtheband performed songs both new and old, and lured a star-studded audience with the likes of Rebecca Hall, Kate Mara, Mamoudou Athie and more. #wwdeye (📷: @lexieblacklock)
In a partnership between the @metopera and the @englishnationalopera, “Marnie” was born. The opera, with costumes sponsored by @mrporterlive, is an adaptation of the 1961 thriller by Winston Graham. Arianne Phillips, who created the costumes, is no rookie: She’s styled Madonna for her tours and created costumes for a myriad of films in the past. Read WWD’s interview with Phillips, where she talks about her inspiration for the opera’s costumes on WWD.com #wwdfashion
@barneysnyc took a different approach to their holiday windows this year. Instead of Christmas decor, Barneys tapped @thehaasbrothers to tell a story of positivity, gratitude and inclusivity via heartwarming silliness and humor. “It’s about kids and it’s about coming together and being family and loving each other,” said Simon Haas. #wwdfashion (📷: @joshuascottphoto)
Beauty influencer @kandeejohnson makes her foray into hair care with a collaboration with @ogx_beauty — making it the first time that OGX has teamed up for a product creation. The collab includes shampoos and conditioners in three scents. At 39 and a mom, Johnson is a different profile than the emerging social media stars, but is considered one of the pioneers of the digital beauty influencer world. Read WWD’s interview with her on wwd.com, including the strangest beauty product she’s ever tried #wwdbeauty


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VégéBon’s plant-based chicken nuggets are divided into two types; ovo-vegan and vegan, with 5 flavors to choose from. The main ingredient of plant-based chicken nuggets is soy protein. This not only prevents animals from being persecuted by narrow living space, growth hormones and antibiotics but also greatly reduce carbon emissionAll these factors are crucial to environmental sustainability. That’s why VégéBon is committed to developing plant-based meat. Plant-based meat is a new international trend, and has been embraced by celebrities such as Bill Gates, Leonardo DiCapio, Li Ka-shing, and Andy Lau. In addition, according to California Daily’s report on July 28,2011, the Berkeley City Council in California, USA, has announced plans to reduce its supply of animal food products by 50% by 2024 and replace them with plant-based food products.
Plant-based Chicken nuggets raised NT 850,000from crowdfunding.
Until 23:59 of August 9th, 2021, VégéBon’s plant-based chicken nuggets raised a total of 850,000 NTD . This amount was 1420% more than originally expected. VégéBon wanted to spread the kindness and gave back 100 kg plant-based chicken nuggets and 10% of the total amount of funds (8% platform handling fee deducted) to the Catholic Delan Association established by the private Delan Children's Center. VégéBon expresses their appreciation for the public’s support and will keep on the effort in research of finer products.
In response to the pandemic, the giveback to the Delan Children’s Center, 20kg of plant-based chicken nuggets, have been sent in advance on June 24 and July 27, 2021. In addition, a NTD 50,000 donation has also been given to the Delan Children’s Center. The remaining 80 kilograms of chicken nuggets and NTD 28,000 will be sent out soon. The children in Delan Children’s Center who had tried plant-based chicken nuggets said, "It’s been a long time since I last ate chicken nuggets. It is delicious", "The crispy chicken nuggets smell pretty good.", and "The chicken nuggets are delicious and fresh." .


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I don't know how we gained so many LGBTQ+ friends and relatives, but we did and love them so I went to support the San Jose Pride event this morning.
In the San Francisco version, protestors blocked the parade for an hour because of corporate involvement, but here in Silicon Valley, we loved seeing the big brands support the movement:
The Amazon people were wearing glamazon Ts:
I could post 20 more, but I didn't see Apple or Facebook. Maybe I missed them?


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The fashion house Balenciaga has created a super-realistic mannequin of the Georgian model, which will be placed in stores worldwide. Ani Gavva is a 24-year-old Georgian model who has twice participated in a show of the brand.
The mannequin is identical to the shape and size of her body. Balenciaga started creating super-realistic mannequins in 2019.
The collections created by Georgian designer Demna Gvasalia had become a major success for the fashion house in recent years when it launched oversize models and street style.


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PowerShot G7X Mark III coming out soon
One little camera that I have been waiting to come out for a while now is the G7X Mark III. According to Nokishita, the release of the G7X Mark III is imminent.
We know very little about the G7X Mark III.
Prior rumors have suggested that this will contain a 1" sensor with DPAF, which would make this possibly Canon made.
Other than that, details are lacking.
We should start hearing credible leaks with regards to specifications and a more firm release date soon.
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UAE based multinational conglomerate Lulu Group is all set to invest $300 million in the retail, logistics ..
Walmart owned Flipkart has now formally closed all the operations of Jabong to shift its entire focus on fashion ..
s.Oliver Bodywear stands for perfect fit, elaborate designs, a unique style and high quality standards fully ..
The eminent lingerie brand hosted fashion show with international models who set the ramp on fire with their ..
“Back to basics” was the key concept for the 2020 edition of the Salon International de la Lingerie and the Interfilière ..
Swedish multinational clothing company Hennes & Mauritz AB is all set to launch their SS20 Conscious Exclusive ..
American swimsuit model Anna Katharina raised the temperatures high on Instagram by sharing a sultry snap ..
Online fashion retailer Myntra has announced that it has set a new record with the 11th edition of its flagship, ..
At a panel discussion with retail industry stalwarts during the 20th India Fashion Forum (IIF) held in Bengaluru, ..
According to the market research firm Nielsen’s maiden report, Indian men are buying more clothes online ..
According to the India Business of Fashion Report, India’s apparel market is anticipated to grow at nearly ..


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Last night, Facebook joined the exclusive club of US-based publicaly traded companies with a market cap of more than $1 trillion. Other notable names with this club’s membership are Apple, Microsoft, and Alphabet — making Facebook the youngest company to reach this mark.
Here’s a brief history of Facebook with significant milestones that helped it reach this mark:
- Mark Zuckerberg & co. launch TheFacebook on Harvard campus on February 4, 2004.
- Next year, it expands to more universities and changes its name to Facebook.
- In September 2006, it opens up accepting users older than 13 from any country with a valid email ID.
- In 2007, it first time starts making money by running ads. Today, it’s one of the largest players in the digital ad industry along with Google.
- Until now, Facebook has had several talks for acquisition with Yahoo, Microsoft, and Viacom with the value of the social network measured up to $1 billion.
- Later, Microsoft announces an ad partnership with Facebook, and also invests $240 million at an estimated valuation of $15 billion.
- Facebook acquires FriendFeed in 2009, which “inspired” the invention of the Like button. This inspired feature shit goes way back.
- Goldman invests $450 million in the company in 2011, making Zuckerberg & co. worth $50 billion.
- In the same year, Facebook Messenger goes mobile with iOS and Android apps.
- In 2012, Facebook goes public with a valuation of $104 billion. The same year it reaches the mark of 1 billion users across the globe.
- Just before the IPO, the company acquires Instagram for $1 billion.
- In 2014, the firm acquires Oculus, a maker of VR headsets, for $2 billion.
- The same year, the social network completes its biggest acquisition for $19 billion: WhatsApp.
- In 2015, the company launches potentially money-making products such as Instant articles and livestreaming. The latter was made available to everyone in 2017.
- In 2016, Facebook and AdBlocker get into a tussle over displaying ads on the blue site.
- In 2017, the company reaches a market valuation of $500 billion. Launches Watch video streaming service to take on YouTube.
- While Facebook breaches the 2 billion active user mark in 2017, it loses users in the US and Canada the next year.
- In 2018, Facebook Dating is announced, and it’s formally launched in 2019.
- The same year, the company announces Portal — a hardware device for video chatting.
- In 2020, the social network taps the shopping market with a new product.
- The next year, Facebook says it wants to explore audio market, with products ranging from real-time conversation rooms, podcasts, and voice clips.
- In June 2021, Facebook turns WhatsApp into a shopping hub.
Of course, this is only a brief history of Facebook’s money-making, product, and acquisition history. The company has been notorious for scandals threatening user data privacy such as Cambridge Analytica. And it also has a habit of sneakingly grabbing your data. All that has led to several anti-trust investigations against the company.
Sadly, as Facebook reached the $1 trillion market cap, a case looking into acquisitions of WhatsApp and Instagram was dismissed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Sigh, more money for Zukcerberg.
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GlaxoSmithKline is launching a major £12m marketing campaign for its Lucozade Energy brand with the activity tying up with its sponsorship of reality show Big Brother.
Lucozade Energy will become the first major grocery sponsor of the Channel 4 programme which is due to return to screens for its tenth year on June 4. Last year, the show was sponsored by Virgin Mobile and previously Carphone Warehouse’s Talk Talk brand.
M&C Saatchi has devised new creative and Big Brother TV idents as part of a wider integrated marketing campaign.
Plans also include a promotion that will give consumers the chance to win once in a lifetime physical challenges across the globe.
The marketing activity will aim to drive sales over the key summer sales period.
Jennifer Hall, Lucozade Energy senior brand manger, says: “Research shows that the Big Brother audience indexes highly with regards to their likelihood to purchase and consume energy drinks.”
The sponsorship deal will see the drink brand have a presence across all the main shows on Channel 4, E4 spin off shows Big Brother’s Big Mouth and Big Brother Little Brother, the main Big Brother site on Channel4.com, TV and PC VoD.


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Aliens: Colonial Marines is one of the high-profile titles that has a version in development for the new Wii U home console from Nintendo. One developer working on the game says that it will be surprising compared to the versions arriving on the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360.
Brian Burleson, who is a producer working on Aliens: Colonial Marines, has told Eurogamer that, “You’ll have to wait and see. Just trust me on that one.”
He also mentioned that the all-new Wii U tablet controller could be used in a variety of ways, adding that, “You can imagine some cool features, for sure. It’s not hard to imagine some cool features.”
Nintendo plans to reveal the full hardware specifications for the Wii U at the 2012 edition of E3 and presumably Aliens: Colonial Marines will be among the games used to show its graphical abilities.
The game was supposed to arrive during the fall launch season, but has been delayed to February 2013.


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|Bid||0.00 x 800|
|Ask||0.00 x 4000|
|Day's Range||48.30 - 48.95|
|52 Week Range||42.42 - 67.69|
|Beta (3Y Monthly)||1.22|
|PE Ratio (TTM)||11.33|
|Earnings Date||Sep 25, 2019 - Sep 30, 2019|
|Forward Dividend & Yield||2.00 (4.10%)|
|1y Target Est||55.88|
MIAMI, Sept. 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival Cruise Line expressed appreciation today to the Miami-Dade County Commission for approving a proposal for a complete renovation and major expansion of Cruise Terminal F at PortMiami that will be capable of supporting the operations of Carnival's new Excel class ship – clearing the way for the yet-to-be-named sister ship of Mardi Gras to be homeported in Miami when it is delivered in 2022. "With today's approval, we will move quickly on a plan to remodel and expand Terminal F so that it will accommodate the most innovative class of ship to join our fleet," said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. "Over the last several months, we have had very constructive discussions with PortMiami and Miami-Dade leaders about our plans for Miami and our goal to enhance and grow our capacity and operations in our hometown.
Holland America Line's 2021 Grand World Voyage Makes 47 Calls at More Than 20 Countries Over 128 Days
Grand South America & Antarctica Voyage in 2020 also open for booking; extended cruises deeply explore multiple continents on immersive journeys Early Booking Bonuses offer a host of exclusive perks and ...
OceanCompass™ innovation - now available on select Princess Cruises ships - recognized for inspiring transformative moments and reducing friction MIAMI , Sept. 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival Corporation ...
Carnival (CCL) doesn't possess the right combination of the two key ingredients for a likely earnings beat in its upcoming report. Get prepared with the key expectations.
Shares of Carnival Corp (NYSE: CCL) traded lower by 1.68% on Wednesday as oil prices slipped another 1.7% in the wake of Saturday’s attack on Saudi Arabia. On Wednesday, Benzinga Pro subscribers received two option alerts related to an unusually large Carnival option trade. At 8:52 a.m. ET, a trader bought 1,841 Carnival put options with a $47.50 strike price expiring on Oct. 18.
Holland America Line's 2019-2020 Maasdam Voyages Offer a Cultural Journey Around the South Pacific, Mexico and Australia
Global cruise lines have been on the frontline of worldwide discussions about the impact of travel on locals communities and the environment. Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corp., stressed at Skift Global Forum 2019 in New York City on Wednesday that cruise lines have a minor impact on increased tourism around the world despite the […]
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. , Sept. 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Princess Cruises has appointed Prag ( Pragnesh) Shah to the position of global head of experience & innovation operations, leading the continued activation ...
With outpouring of support from countless donors, company's partnership with Tropical Shipping delivers much-needed food and supplies directly to country's National Emergency Management Agency MIAMI , ...
Most of the cruise operators are bearing the brunt of high expenses for quite some time. Increase in oil prices will further elevate their expenses.
The company commits to five more years of working with UNESCO to enable historic and cultural preservation projects around the world and promote sustainable cultural tourism SEATTLE , Sept. 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ ...
SEATTLE , Sept. 16, 2019 /CNW/ -- National Family Day is just around the corner, and Holland America Line is offering a new Who's in Your Crew? From Sept. 16-26, 2019 , kids will sail free when on a 2020 Alaska, Europe and Canada & New England cruise. This means a family of four sailing on a seven-day Alaska cruise next summer can save up to $2,606 on a suite booking.
Shares of cruise ship operators slumped in midday trading Monday, amid concerns that the spike in crude oil prices could act as a drag on earnings. Carnival Corp.'s stock fell 2.6%, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. shares lost 1.3% and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. shares dropped 2.2%, all underperforming the S&P 500's 0.5% decline. Crude oil futures shot up 11.5% after the weekend attack on Saudi Aramco's Abqaig oil processing plant. Instinet analyst Harry Curtis said the impact on earnings for cruise operators depends on how long it takes to get full production at the oil processing plant up and running. He estimates a sustained 10% jump in oil prices could cut annual earnings for Carnival by 24 cents a share, Royal Caribbean by 17 cents a share and Norwegian by 9 cents a share. "If the production gap is filled within days rather than weeks or months, then we believe close-in weakness in the stocks...should be viewed as a buying opportunity, much like the temporary impact of hurricanes," Curtis wrote in a note to clients.
NYSE: CUK), the world's largest leisure travel company, today announced the appointment of Sandra Rowlett as vice president of the company's newly created Incident Analysis Group (IAG). Rowlett reports directly to Peter Anderson, the newly appointed chief ethics and compliance officer for Carnival Corporation, and is based at the company's headquarters in Miami. In this role leading IAG, Carnival Corporation's new internal investigations group, Rowlett will oversee a team of global investigators focused on analyzing select health, environment, safety and security (HESS) events within the company's nine cruise line brands.
Over the past 10 years Carnival Corporation & Plc (NYSE:CCL) has grown its dividend payouts from $0.40 to $2. With a...
NYSE: CUK), the world's largest leisure travel company, today announced the company's cruise brands are returning to The Bahamas and resuming regular guest sailings for the first time since Hurricane Dorian arrived earlier this month.
Fares from $89 Per Guest, Per Day to Mexico, Hawaii, the California Coast and More SANTA CLARITA, Calif. , Sept. 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- International premium cruise line Princess Cruises is offering ...


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A new firmware version 1.10.1 was released yesterday Oct 24, 2017 which improves the image joining accuracy and still image quality (by modifying the compression ratio).. Go get it: https://theta360.com/en/support/download/firmware/v/
But for those who love taking videos, Ricoh Theta V with 4K video and spatial sound features will make them happy campers, especially performing artists who want to record their performance with spatial sound like this Youtube post: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d7xDSENKu8
Ricoh even makes a...
Under the latest firmware (version 1.00.2), EV can only be adjusted for taking still images, not for video. Here is the screen shot of the Android phone app that controls the Theta V in video shooting mode.
Click on the image to view the 360 degree version
For those who are familiar with Theta S and Theta SC, I imagine the first question that comes to mind when Ricoh launched the new Theta V last month would be what are the improvements? So, let us jump directly and talk about the improvements...
The recently launched Ricoh Theta V 360 degree camera has landed on our Singapore shore!
Please watch this space for the upcoming review. Here is the unboxing video.
Approx. 10cm - infinity (from front of lens)...


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Xiaomi reported a 13.6 percent increase in first quarter revenue on Wednesday, beating estimates as the Chinese smartphone maker sold more phones and benefited from the sale of its higher-priced 5G models. The company managed to boost sales despite the influence of Coronavirus, which eroded supply chains and reduced overall demand for smartphones.
Releasing its first quarter earnings, the company said, “Our production in mainland China has resumed to a great extent and smartphone demand has picked up.” Xiaomi’s Optimism is the opposite of rivals Apple And Samsung electronics, Who warned both of them of a difficult year.
Sales rose to CNY 49.7 billion (about Rs 53,000 crore) in the first quarter of 2020 from CNY 43.76 billion (about Rs 47,000 crore), to CNY 47.86 billion (about Rs 50,000 crore) in the same period last year. Is beating The company attributed the jump to its released prices. 5G Phone in China, as well as overseas sales are increasing.
Profits fell by almost a third as Xiaomi’s investment in other companies declined. The company gets most of its revenue from selling mobile handsets, but also makes money by selling online advertisements and other types of consumer hardware.
Xiaomi has faced intense competition in China over the past few years from a major domestic rival Huawei. In addition, the domestic smartphone market in China is shrinking and overseas development has been focused to compensate for this Xiaomi and other smaller Chinese rivals. Market research firm Canalys said that Xiaomi’s shipments to Chinese consumers fell by more than a year in the first quarter, with 18 percent decline in smartphone sales in the country.
In March, the company said it was seeing signs of an improvement in sales in China after weeks of growing taut Coronavirus the outbreak.
© Thomson Reuters 2020


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Amazon is adding new support options for its hosted computing services, a move that could make them more attractive for running business applications.
Amazon introduced two premium support options on Thursday for users of its EC2, S3 and SQS services. Both options guarantee subscribers a response within an hour, allow them to open an unlimited number of support incidents and provide diagnostic tools to help identify the sources of problems. They also provide an online tool where customers can view all of their open and resolved cases.
The more expensive Gold plan includes support at any time of day, 365 days a year, including live telephone support. Gold subscribers pay US$400 a month or a sliding-fee scale based on usage, whichever is greater. The Silver plan costs US$100 a month or $0.10 per dollar of monthly service usage, whichever is greater.
Amazon Web Services are hosted computing services that customers pay for based on usage, so they don't have to invest a potentially large sum to buy and manage their own hardware and software. EC2, or the Elastic Compute Cloud, offers remote computing power, while S3, or the Simple Storage Service, lets customers store and retrieve essentially any amount of data online. SQS, or the Simple Queue Service, is a developer tool for storing messages sent between computers.
When the services first launched, customer support consisted of an online forum that Amazon staff took turns monitoring in part-time shifts, according to a blog post announcing the new support programs. Later, dedicated workers monitored the site. But some customers are using the services for critical applications and have asked for more direct and discreet ways to seek help when issues come up, Amazon said, so it decided to offer the new plans.
Amazon also launched a new Web page that displays the health of each of the services. It lists the current status and will include historical data for 35 days, although for now the data goes back only to April 14. If a service has a problem, users can report an issue and find information on the site about the status of the problem.
The new support options should help to address complaints that customers had during two recent service outages. During the first in particular, some users were upset at the lack of information from Amazon about the cause of the problem and when it might be fixed. Some suggested in the forum that Amazon create a Web page where customers could visit to find out about service problems.
While some businesses already depend on Amazon Web Services, others may be wary about their reliability. Phil Shih, an analyst with Tier 1 Research, a division of The 451 Group, said recently that he doesn't recommend companies use AWS for anything but internal projects that can absorb downtime. However, he expects Amazon will improve the services so that in the future, he may recommend that companies use them for more critical applications.


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One of the most undervalued facts of 4G is that E in 4G LTE stands for evolution. Not all 4G devices are the same, though if you compare the network speed on these devices, you will find a surprising fact. Huawei phones are among the slowest available stateside compared to the other LTE enabled devices, with iPhones are underperforming despite of their huge price tag. Network performance depends heavily on the capabilities and and prioritization of the network, though older smartphones and budget-oriented models are less likely to feature Cat16, or gigabit-class, LTE.
According to the Opensignal's Mobile Network Experience report, published Monday OnePlus phones allows you to experience the fastest LTE speeds on US mobile networks among the gigabit-class smartphones. The average speed of OnePlus phones was 35.7 Mbps, while Samsung placed second at 33.9 Mbps, followed by LG in third, at 33.1 Mbps. Razer, Sony, and Google phones averaged around 31 Mbps, while Apple was in seventh at 25.4 Mbps, among models capable of LTE Cat16. Huawei was last, in eleventh, at 22.4 Mbps.
For mid-range smartphones - defined by Opensignal as LTE Cat5 (300 Mbps) to LTE Cat15 (750 Mbps)-the winner was HTC at 31.8 Mbps, with Google in second at 29.1 Mbps, and Samsung in third at 27.5 Mbps. Apple ranked twelfth, at 19.5 Mbps. Huawei followed at 18.5 Mbps. For low-tier smartphones-LTE Cat4 (150 Mbps) or lower-Apple was dead last in 15th, at 12.0 Mbps.
Apple's long-lived support for iPhone models is likely working against them in these statistics, as 2013's iPhone 5S-still supported in iOS 12-enables users to hold on to their phones for far longer than is practicable with Android. Using an iPhone 5S in 2019 is not likely to be the most pleasant experience, granted, though it should still be head and shoulders above using any of the Android phones on ZDNet's Top 10 smartphones of 2013. Huawei's underperformance isn't necessarily related to their hardware. It is most likely because these phones are not sold by any major US carrier so there is less incentive for vendors and US carriers to optimize their network to support Huawei smartphones.
Xiaomi owns one the cheapest 5G phone yet in the Redmi 10x series, starting just from $224 in China. But the company is already looking ahead for future projects in terms of connectivity technology. Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun told the news agency Xihuan News that they have already started to invest in the preliminary research on 6G technology. The executive didn't reveal much detail about the research plans, but probably, they'd be joining the likes of Huawei and Samsung in confirming work on 6G.
It looks like the Chinese company isn't stopping at mobile technologies, as Jun says Xiamoi is already started to conduct research on satellite internet and how they can integrate it in smartphones. Satellite internet is a key technology that can make internet accessible for people living in rural areas, where traditional mobile networks and fixed-line infrastructure failed to fulfill the desired range. Xiaomi offers several internet-based series in China, so increased internet penetration via satellite internet should ultimately benefit the company.
The executive also apparently stated that Xiamoi has cleared its 4G smartphones in China to make way for 5G technology. It is unclear that if this means Xiaomi is solely offering 5G phones in China, as the company just released the Redmi 10x 4G alongside the 5G series. And chipset manufacturers haven't revealed truly low-end 5G processors just yet, which means Xiaomi could likely still release 4G phones in the sub-$150 tier in China. Nevertheless, the firm's focus on 5G phones makes sense at home, as all the major networks in the country have switched to the new connectivity standard. But with the likes of India and several other markets yet to switch to 5G, 4G devices are still clearly important for the brand outside China.


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Thursday, August 08, 2013 13:54 IST
Deshmukh, the creator of Porn Toon Savita Bhabhi has roped in Bollywood actress Rozlyn Khan to star in his latest online comics. Rozlyn Khan was in news for RGV'S leading lady in his yet to be announced film
According to Deshmukh, Rozlyn khan becomes the first Bollywood star to have her own web-comic. Deshmukh has signed an agreement with Rozlyn Khan to license out her name and likeness in the exchange of
The idea behind this online comic is to build the online persona of Rozlyn into brand and icon, other than revenue potential of online. Infact deshmukh is looking at the merchandising opportunities and licensing out the
comic character itself for offline and other media exposure.
This site has a welcome poster of Rozlyn cartoon which resembles the same way Rozlyn Khan posed for Chennai super king in IPL season and dedicated it to MS Dhoni and the story revolve around a girl Sania who
comes to Mumbai with the dream of making big in fashion industry.
`I am surprise to see the rising response from boys. With this comic strip I can be fantasized by millions and I don't land up doing actual skin show. In my case it is my caricature that shall be involved in it and not me
personally... so boys don't worry just meri chitrakala dekho.... ha ha...boys will be boys, ` says Rozlyn Khan.
However the Savita Bhabi cartoon was banned in India in 2008 by the government. lets see how lucky Rozlyn khan venture would be or will Rozlyn Comics meet the same fate savita bhabhi did??
- Wednesday, March 21, 2018 Tiger Shroff learnt different forms of martial arts and weaponry for Baaghi 2
|Tiger Shroff who has carved a place for himself owing to his action avatar has always been a martial arts expert took to new...|
- Wednesday, March 21, 2018 Daas Dev Gets A Wider Release! Now In Cinemas on 20th April
|Shringar Films has been roped in to handle the PAN India distribution mandate of the film...|
- Wednesday, March 21, 2018 'Theher Ja' from 'October': Immerse into this soulful love song of the season
|After impressing the audience with a superb trailer, the makers of 'October' have released a beautiful and soulful song from the film...|
- Wednesday, March 21, 2018 Abhishek-Taapsee-Vicky's first look from Manmarziyaan revealed!
|The first look of the star cast of Anurag Kashyap's 'Manmarziyaan' - Abhishek Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Vicky...|


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Technicolour, one of the main suppliers set to provide Youview with the most affordable Set Top Box (STB) solution, have pulled out of the deal, according to industry insiders. Cisco and Humax are still slated to develop boxes but at a much higher price point. Huawei, Pace, Manhattan and Vestel have all submitted ‘expressions of interest’ back in August 2010 but have not committed which leaves the project with a shortage of suppliers.
YouView, now being headed by Alan Sugar, is a joint IPTV venture between some of the UK’s biggest names in TV and broadband, including the BBC, ITV, BT, Channel 4, Talk Talk Group, Arqiva, and Five. But the open project has been set back to a 2012 launch and been harshly critisised by the likes of Sky and Virgin.
According to the specifications (229 pages) released only a few weeks ago, all YouView boxes will ship with at least 320GB of hard drive storage, and offer a minimum of two USB connections alongside the Ethernet port. However, while Wi-Fi must be supported, this can be via an optional dongle.Add a comment
In a fresh report, digital media research company Futurescape reveals how Facebook and Twitter are now power brokers for the global television industry... their ability to create new business opportunities and engage viewers, boosting advertising and pay-TV revenue, gives them a significant and increasing influence over all aspects of television.The key findings come in the second edition of the Futurescape report, Social TV. Facebook and Twitter are now power brokers in global TV, through creating new business opportunities for the television industry.
The Connected TV Summit starts next Wednesday and will provide the most
important update of the year for what the key stakeholders in this new
market – CE manufacturers, Pay TV operators, broadcasters and online
content owners – are thinking. We predict that from the CE industry,
major themes are going to be more cooperation with traditional platform
operators, who can harness connected TVs to introduce multi-room TV with
minimal expense, and the advent of multi-screen Connected TV, where CE
vendors look to make their connected TV services available on tablets
that can sync with the main connected TV.
Multi-screen Connected TV is a natural evolution given that leading Pay TV operators want to create a unified and integrated multi-screen offer that covers all screens in their homes. It also increases pressure on any Pay TV operators who are not moving quickly towards a multi-screen offering.
For the Pay TV world, this is the year of the big fight back. Nobody really expected major content aggregators, with millions of subscribers, to let someone else serenade their customers with interesting premium content additions, niche long-tail offers that appeal to important minority consumer groups, enjoyable apps and enhanced content discovery without offering an alternative. Now they are.
Putting unified multi-screen TV services aside, which are an important way to dampen the temptations of Connected TV anyway, and focusing on the main television set, the plan seems to be to open up the walled garden to at least some complementary OTT content, provide great new User Interfaces with neat apps of their own, and make it much easier to find content and communicate with friends in relation to that content (social TV). Next-generation TV platforms, based on completely new middleware/software or at least new UIs, are already rolling out.
GabCast.TV announced today that it has released an alpha version of its innovative online platform and is now broadcasting free interactive shows inviting the public to join the community. GabCast.TV is the brainchild of TV powerhouse Fred Silverman and interactive guru and producer Paul Wagner. They have created an unprecedented, live technology platform that transforms video chats into live shows.
The advent of GabCast.TV signals the further democratization of content and creates a movement bringing the audience and content closer together. The result is an unparalleled interactive broadcast experience infused with significantly higher levels of engagement with viewers.
Unlike the plethora of online video predecessors, GabCast.TV is the first to bring like-minded people together utilizing thematic live channels and offering engagement tools where anyone can do a solo show, two-person show, multi-person show, or desktop sharing - with a live classroom in development - all with unparalleled interactivity. All it takes is a webcam.
The GabCast.TV founding members consist of an experienced, successful and renowned team, including Fred Silverman, Chairman and co-founder of GabCast.TV, who was the former President/CEO of NBC, and the only executive in history to run programming at all three major television networks (CBS, ABC, and NBC).Add a comment
MPP Global Solutions have been selected by Vision+Media to develop a payment module to integrate with YouView and other IPTV platforms for a new initiative.
MPP, the leading provider of Payment Services and eCommerce Solutions to the Media and Entertainment Industries are to integrate their eCommerce payment services into various IPTV platforms but with focus on the YouView platform to process payment transactions for on-demand services between consumers and content providers utilising the platform.
IPTV platforms such as YouView enable internet services to be delivered to television sets. Consumers are able to browse the internet, watch video-on-demand and catch-up TV and interact with smart-phone type ‘apps’ all from their TV.
MPP Global Solutions are well placed to integrate with the YouView platform, with a client list including BSkyB, for whom they provide the full online payment and packaging platform to monetise their complete library of digital content. With over 11 years of experience in the field of eCommerce payment solutions, MPP have a wealth of expertise in the monetisation of digital content and the effective processing of payment transactions and content entitlement. MPP have also recently been recognised as the Best eCommerce Tech Company at a leading Industry Awards ceremony.Add a comment
MegaPhone Labs, a market leader in phone-to-screen interaction, today unveiled its signature DialPlay TV offering, a real time, cloud-based on-screen television interactivity solution. With DialPlay TV, content creators, broadcasters, advertisers and even operators can instantly enhance TV programming with real-time interactivity, connecting both the viewers to their television content and each other.
Already deployed in more than one hundred million US homes, DialPlay TV is in use nationally on The Weather Channel, NBC 4 New York and many others.DialPlay TV takes interactive and social TV to the next level. Programmers now have the ability to not only add interactive overlays into their shows -- but can now add an "inlay" of interactivity that is an element in the programming itself. From polling to gaming or anything in between -- DialPlay TV's inherently social applications can help drive the content of programs allowing host(s) to interact in real-time with viewers and vice versa.
From a viewer's perspective, the only requirement is a phone -- a smartphone or even a landline. By dialing into a toll free number or accessing interactivity control via a web browser, a viewer is instantly connected to a live, interactive participatory experience, along with thousands of other viewers. To date, MegaPhone Labs' customers have seen an average of a 75 percent retention rate and as high as a 38 percent response rate from participants, powerful results for programmers and advertisers seeking deeper audience engagement and loyalty.
“The Weather Channel has a powerful brand presence on every platform, and we’re always looking for opportunities to use new technologies to create innovative content and advertising experiences that delight our audience and advertisers alike,” said Ann Brown, senior vice president, client solutions for The Weather Channel Companies. “This is an interesting technology that allows us, in a turnkey fashion, to unite those experiences in real time – using something as simple as a telephone. We’re the first national cable network to use this technology in real time, live on the air, and it offers another example of The Weather Channel pioneering cross-platform integration.”Add a comment
PlayJam, the world's largest TV games network, has partnered with Relentless Software, the developers behind Sony’s BAFTA award-winning game franchise Buzz!™, to bring social games to Connected TV.
Relentless Software is the latest game developer to partner with PlayJam to access the fast growing Connected TV space via its Aggregated Games Portal – an editorially-led causal-gaming destination that brings hundreds of renowned titles via a fun, interactive user interface.
PlayJam’s Portal is powered by Phoenix - its proprietary social engagement and monetization platform that drives customer loyalty through a number of features such as cross-network tournaments, leader-boards, mass participation gaming, virtual currencies and CRM.
Rovi said Monday that it has reached an agreement with Sony Electronics to sell and deliver ads via connected Bravia TVs in the U.S. through the Rovi Advertising Service, which is part of Rovi Cloud Services.
The announcement follows on the recent launch of Rovi Smart TV Field Trial, an initiative created to explore new and emerging advertising opportunities on television and other devices connected to the Internet. The announcement expands upon the Smart TV Field Trial initiative, and broadens the reach beyond the 30+ million homes that Rovi Advertising Network reaches today. Rovi Smart TV advertising provides the ability for advertisers to increase awareness of their products and services by creatively engaging consumers in an environment where they can interact with content and information.
“Smart TV advertising takes consumers beyond sitting and viewing advertising on a TV screen to actively choosing to learn more about products and services that the consumer is interested in,” said Jeff Siegel, SVP of Advertising at Rovi. “With the addition of Sony BRAVIA TV to our Advertising Network, we are working with Sony to offer advertisers more creative capabilities to connect with the consumer.”
Add a comment
Rovi Advertising Service, delivered through Rovi Cloud Services, enables consumer electronics manufacturers to incorporate advertising on their devices and monetize their offerings to create recurring revenue streams. By using Rovi Advertising Services, CE manufacturers become a part of Rovi Advertising Network, making it easier for brands to place advertising on their devices.
Samsung Electronics has announced operator based billing for its mobile and TV application store Samsung Apps which will alllow users to buy apps easily in just 2 clicks and the price will be charged in the phone bill or deducted from the prepaid SIM card.
The price can be charged right on a phone bill or be deducted from a SIM card balance. The addition of these new methods provides further convenience and ease of payment, meaning customers no longer have to enter sensitive information such as credit card details.
The new billing features will see phased roll out in European countries that include Germany, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Ukraine and Asian countries like Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and India from 28th April 2011.
Kang-Hyun Kwon, Senior Vice President of Media Solution Center, Samsung Electronics, said
At Samsung Apps we’re committed to doing all we can to provide our customers with an enhanced user experience. The new payment method offers flexibility, choice and ultimately a simpler purchase journey.
Samsung has also announced new promotion called ‘Buy Hot Apps, Get Cool Gadgets!’ where they offer a chance for customers to win prizes. This offer is available for Samsung apps customers with Samsung Wave smartphones from 17th May to 20th June 2011. Customers who purchases apps from Samsung Apps would be entered into the contest automatically to win exciting prizes. Winners would be announced on 27th June 2011 at Samsungapps.com.Add a comment
Today E-ZONE unveiled its iPad app MyTVBuddy claiming it takes Social TV to the next level of exploration, interaction, engagement and participation. by letting users check in to TV programs, watch videos, post messages on Facebook, share Twitter messages, participate in conversations and see where other users are located. MyTVBuddy kicks off with a special launch edition of Eurovision 2011.
MyTVBuddy comes with a solution for turning TV viewing into a social experience by using mobile devices such as the iPad. According to a recent study from Yahoo, nearly 90 percent of people watching television are using a mobile device at the same time. Be it Twitter, Facebook, email or instant messaging, they are doing more than just watching.
Special Launch Edition: Eurovision 2011
The first event that will be covered on MyTVBuddy is the Eurovision Song Contest which will take place on 10, 12 and 14th May. With over 120 million television viewers, Eurovision confirms it's status as Europe’s favorite TVshow. MyTVBuddy will bring the Eurovision experience closer to the fans with an integrated feature set. First, the fans are the jury since they can rate every performance. The result of the user votes is aggregated in the‘Ranking’ section and can be compared with the official ranking after the show. Secondly, Eurovision fans will find all relevant and necessary information about the artists at their fingertips including picture galleries, video channels and the latest news updates.Add a comment


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AEC Companies Embrace Virtual Reality
May 3, 2023
By: Andrew G. Roe
AEC Solutions: Gaming technology finds practical use in construction projects.
Virtual reality (VR) and other reality immersion tools are proving to be more than just novelty items on AEC projects as design and construction companies find value in developing technology . A growing number of building designers are using virtual reality and related techniques to develop and refine their designs. Construction contractors are finding technology increasingly useful in planning and organizing jobs. Additionally, designers and builders use the tools to interact with owners and other project participants.
Early adopters faced challenges implementing the technology, with large datasets clogging computing resources and bulky, connected VR headsets limiting mobility. But as the technology has matured, VR systems have become easier to use and more palatable to companies debating investments in technology.
Although definitions vary by camp, virtual reality in the AEC world can be described as simulating reality with digital data in an immersive way, such as with mobile devices, VR headsets, hand controllers, and other tools. Augmented Reality (AR) augments digital data with physical data and images from cameras, laser scanners and other sources, essentially bringing virtual objects into the real world. Extended Reality (XR) is an umbrella term for an array of immersive and interactive technologies that includes Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Mixed Reality (MR), which is the continuum between the virtual and physical worlds.
Entrepreneur Kane Group, with offices in Northern Ireland and the UK, encountered some of the early challenges of VR adoption and also had spectacular success on a complex project. When Kane was hired to install myriad mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) systems five stories underground as part of a hotel expansion project, the company recognized the need for an innovative approach. . The Claridge’s Hotel project in London extended downward, adding floors below ground instead of the top of the historic building due to an existing MEP plant at roof level. Kane had to design, prefabricate and install over 10,000 meters of piping and numerous MEP components in a tight underground workspace with limited access.
The expansion of Claridge’s Hotel in London required the installation of complex MEP systems five levels below ground. Image source: Kane Group.
“We realized that to deliver on this project, we had to be on top of the tech world,” said Gary Cowan, head of digital construction at Kane. The team obtained a point cloud study of the workspace, developed a 3D Revit model of the constructed basement, then exported the model to Navisworks for colorization before accessing the project via VR. The team used Prospect by IrisVR to develop and navigate a 1:1 representation of the design, Cowan said. “It allowed us to review models from the inside, rather than using traditional methods of viewing things on a screen,” he noted.
Kane’s VR implementation ran into some challenges, first convincing company management that the technology was worth it, and not just for gaming, Cowan said. After gaining management approval, the company purchased high-end PCs, VR headsets and other equipment, then conducted intense training, involving a wide range of employees, some with IT experience. limited. Kane built a dedicated virtual reality room at the company’s London offices, as well as a second room at Claridge’s project site.
Once operational, the VR technology was widely accepted by the project team, according to Cowan. Senior executives marveled at how they could interactively view a design and annotate it. Production staff at multiple sites found new ways to design collaboratively. “It changed our whole workflow,” Cowan said.
The Kane Group used VR/XR technology to facilitate the design, fabrication and installation of MEP systems in a confined workspace. Image source: Kane Group.
Based on the success of the Claridge’s project, completed in 2019, Kane has implemented virtual reality as standard practice on all projects, according to Cowan. With the company focusing on high-end housing work, the benefits quickly become apparent to project participants, as issues such as piping conflicts and design errors are digitally identified before they reach the ground. “It’s a totally different experience than looking at cartoons,” Cowan noted. “You see the light bulbs going on over people’s heads.”
Building designers also find value in VR/XR technology, often in the early stages of projects. At LEO A DALY, an American planning, architecture, engineering and interior design firm, VR technology gained traction during the pandemic, when staff were working remotely and looking for ways to collaborate more easily. .
“We started collaborating digitally,” said Ryan D. Martin, vice president and chief design officer at LEO A DALY. “Instead of pinning the work to our studio, we did it virtually.” Martin and his colleagues used The Wild platform to organize VR design charettes with clients and have “jam sessions”. “Being able to grab everyone’s attention was a game-changer,” he said.
Leo A Daly designers hold VR “jam sessions” to collaborate on designs. Image source: LEO A DALY.
LAD’s early experiences with virtual reality were mixed, but the company saw enough benefits to continue down the path. On the Hotel del Coronado project in Coronado, California, the company used virtual reality to design a series of renovations and new buildings throughout the property and share information with company management and customers in an immersive way. While the hardware was “a bit clunky”, early virtual reality was effective at communicating designs, according to Martin. “We got people to see the project inside and out and show off multiple iterations of designs.”
On a more recent Renaissance Hotel project in Washington, DC, the company worked with contractor HITT to use virtual reality for interactive design reviews before construction. The team developed a virtual model room where project stakeholders could see what the rooms would look like after construction and provide feedback at key milestones. Martin believes the process has reduced post-build feedback by 10-15%, compared to traditional design processes.
Using virtual reality can also save time, energy and costs in several ways, Martin added. People can review designs remotely, reducing errors and rework. Travel costs can be significantly reduced. An internal study estimated that for an eight-month project, travel costs and lost productivity could exceed $100,000 without the use of virtual reality.
According to technology developers, the growth of VR/XR in the AEC field is closely linked to the constant quests for efficiency by designers and manufacturers. “We believe the construction industry has the best alignment of value on the effort it takes to adopt XR,” said Gabe Paez, product manager for Autodesk’s XR offerings and former CEO of The Wild. He sees XR solving some of the age-old problems with design reviews, collaboration, and communication that often challenge AEC professionals in the early stages of projects.
Autodesk’s presence in VR/XR was largely propelled by its acquisition of The Wild in 2022. The Wild previously acquired IrisVR in 2021. For now, The Wild and Prospect are maintained as separate products, with The Wild being more designer-oriented and Prospect more focused on coordinating workflows.
As a specific example of XR application, Paez cites the interior design of retail facilities. With traditional workflows often relying heavily on physically prototyping spaces prior to construction, he sees significant opportunities to save time and money by conducting design reviews with XR. “[Owners and AEC professionals] seek speed of iteration to evaluate ideas and test them,” he noted.
The energy sector also has high potential to reap profits with expensive and complex projects, sometimes in dangerous working environments, according to Paez. Coordinating items such as piping and electrical work in congested areas can be difficult to do on site, and XR can provide another approach. “You can have multiple people working together in a way that’s not even possible in the physical world,” he said.
While AEC has at times lagged manufacturing and other industries in adopting technologies such as XR, that could change, said Eric DeRosche, director of industry infrastructure and strategy. commercial from Autodesk. “If you look at the amount of research and technology investment dollars spent in the construction industry, it’s been a laggard,” he said. “But it catches up quickly. You are now beginning to see this transformation within the AEC accelerating tremendously.
The digital transformation of AEC has already impacted workflows, for example by shifting development from paper plans to more digital methods, based on 3D models. If VR/XR continues to provide benefits to AEC companies, the design and construction processes may still evolve in the years to come. Instead of relying on paper or CAD drawings, project participants can increasingly wear helmets and other gear to interactively experiment and shape designs.


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After taking suo moto cognizance of consumer complaints regarding recent fire incidents involving electric two-wheelers, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) issued notices to four to five electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers.
PTI quoted CCPA Chief Commissioner Nidhi Khare as saying, "We have asked them to provide reasons for a series of fire incidents in EVs and why the regulator should not take action against them." Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport And Highways, recently stated that the ministry had issued show cause notices to two-wheeler EV manufacturers involved in the fire incidents. According to Khare's most recent statement on the subject, the other relevant ministries are also looking into the matter. The rising number of EV fires has raised questions about whether the sold products passed the standard testing manuals, as some incidents resulted in fatalities, according to the regulator's chief.