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The opioid settlement framework has the potential to revolutionize the role of cannabis in mainstream health care. As the opioid crisis continues to devastate communities across the United States, a $50 billion settlement has been approved, holding pharmaceutical and health insurance companies accountable for their involvement. However, this framework could have much broader implications, including the integration of cannabis into big-box pharmacies and its inclusion in conventional health care plans. With increasing evidence supporting the therapeutic value of medical cannabis and public opinion leaning towards legalization, this settlement could pave the way for a new revenue stream and improved accessibility to cannabis as a pain management tool. Furthermore, it could lead to regulatory changes, expanded research and development, and public education campaigns to promote a more informed and accepting environment for cannabis integration.
I. Cannabis and Opioid Crisis Correlation
The opioid crisis in the United States has had devastating effects on communities nationwide, leading to a $50 billion opioid settlement framework that holds pharmaceutical and health insurance companies accountable for their involvement in the epidemic. One positive outcome of this crisis is the growing recognition of the potential correlation between medical cannabis availability and a decrease in opioid-related deaths and overdoses. Research has shown that states that have legalized medical cannabis as an alternative pain relief option have seen positive outcomes in addressing opioid abuse. As a result, the opioid settlement framework provides an opportunity to consider cannabis as a potential tool for pain management in mainstream healthcare.
II. Regulatory Changes and Legalization
The opioid settlement framework is still in the process of being adjudicated and consists of three main categories: substantial multi-billion dollar reparations, rehabilitation coverage, and devising alternative diversion plans. These regulatory changes could also pave the way for further alterations in the cannabis industry.
Public opinion and support for cannabis legalization have been steadily increasing, with 68% of US adults favoring the legalization of marijuana. The opioid settlement framework could potentially encourage more states to legalize medical and/or recreational cannabis. This legal precedent may also support legislative advocacy for cannabis as a safer alternative to opioids for pain management.
Several states have already passed laws, such as the Compassionate Care Act, that allow for the legal use of cannabis for medical purposes. These laws provide legal protections and accessibility to individuals who suffer from specific medical conditions that can be alleviated by cannabis. Importantly, these laws typically protect employees participating in state-sanctioned cannabis programs from termination. It is unlikely that this aspect of the legislation will change.
III. Cannabis in Big Box Pharmacies
The financial implications of the opioid settlement framework have prompted pharmaceutical companies to explore diversifying their product lines, including entering the medical cannabis market and potentially becoming major suppliers. This transition is already underway, particularly evident in major pharmacy chains that have reported nearly $1 billion in retail sales from CBD products.
Once federal legalization occurs, these companies may choose to add medical cannabis items to their inventories, creating new revenue streams. This shift could greatly impact the distribution of cannabis and increase accessibility to the general public. However, consumers may also face challenges, such as high taxation rates in certain states, which can place a financial burden on cannabis consumers.
IV. Mainstream Health Plans to the Rescue
The opioid settlement framework has sparked discussions about incorporating cannabis into conventional health care plans. With growing evidence supporting the therapeutic benefits of medical cannabis, health insurance companies are beginning to include coverage for cannabis-based treatments targeting specific conditions with well-established efficacy. This integration has the potential to lower patients’ expenses, making medical cannabis a recognized and viable option for medical treatment.
V. Research and Development
The allocation of funds from the opioid settlement to combat addiction and support treatment centers may indirectly benefit cannabis research. With increased financial resources available, scientists and researchers can conduct more comprehensive studies on the medical applications, safety, and efficacy of cannabis. This research can provide a stronger basis for integrating cannabis into mainstream health care plans and reducing out-of-pocket expenses for consumers.
VI. Public Perceptions and Education
One of the major challenges in integrating cannabis into mainstream health care is addressing public skepticism and misinformation. Pharmaceutical companies, in light of the opioid settlement framework, may take the initiative to launch public education campaigns that inform the population about the medical benefits and risks of cannabis. This proactive effort can create a more informed and accepting environment for including cannabis in mainstream health plans and big pharma.
The $50 billion opioid settlement framework represents a significant step towards addressing the opioid crisis in the United States. Beyond its immediate impact, this settlement has the potential to shape the distribution of cannabis in pharmacy chains and its integration into conventional health care plans. As awareness of the therapeutic value of medical cannabis continues to grow, it is crucial to make decisions based on robust evidence to ensure its safe and effective integration into mainstream health care.
- U.S Justice Department: Global Resolution of Criminal and Civil Investigations with Opioid Manufacturer. US Department of Justice. News Release. October 21, 2020.
- Balu A, Mishra D, Marcu J, Balu G. Medical Cannabis Certification Is Associated With Decreased Opiate Use in Patients With Chronic Pain: A Retrospective Cohort Study in Delaware. Cureus. 2021 Dec 7;13(12):e20240. doi: 10.7759/cureus.20240. PMID: 35004055; PMCID: PMC8730800.
- Jones J. Marijuana Views Linked to Ideology, Religiosity, Age. Gallup. November 15, 2022.
- Wiley JL, Gourdet CK, Thomas BF. Cannabidiol: Science, Marketing, and Legal Perspectives. Research Triangle Park (NC): RTI Press; 2020 Apr.
- Dentons: Cannabis Client Alert Week of July 7th 2023: Federal Government Considers Additional Cannabis Reforms for Veterans. Dentons. July 7, 2023.
- Shulman H, Sewpersaud V, Thirlwell C. Evolving Global Perspectives of Pharmacists: Dispensing Medical Cannabis. Cannabis Cannabinoid Res. 2022 Apr;7(2):126-134. doi: 10.1089/can.2020.0144. Epub 2021 Apr 16. PMID: 33998897; PMCID: PMC9070745.


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Updated: August 25, 2020 12:01 PM
Created: August 25, 2020 10:14 AM
A New York man has been charged with aiding in the filing of fraudulent sales tax returns in Minnesota and providing sales suppression devices.
The Minnesota Department of Revenue said Tuesday that the Ramsey County Attorney's Office charged Hailong Li, of New Hyde Park, N.Y., with two felony counts of aiding in the filing of false or fraudulent sales tax returns and one felony count of manufacturing and providing sales suppression devices.
The department said it's the first time someone is being charged under Minnesota's 2017 sales suppression devices law.
According to a criminal complaint, Li is accused of helping Shogun restaurant in Burnsville and Osaka restaurant in Duluth use sales suppression software known as "Happy World" to modify their sales records and reduce the amount of sales tax they owed.
The complaint states that Li told investigators he was involved with the development of the software but denied providing it to anyone. However, computer forensic evidence showed he was fully aware of how the software was being used in Minnesota.
"The 2017 sales suppression devices law gave the department a new tool to combat tax fraud by stopping it at the source — the people responsible for the development and distribution of sales suppression software," said Revenue Commissioner Cynthia Bauerly. "Shutting down this illegal software helps level the playing field for Minnesota businesses who pay their fair share of taxes and expect other businesses to do so as well. We are grateful for the assistance of our colleagues at the NYC Department of Finance in this case."
Each felony charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a $10,000 fine or both.
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With retail investors less inclined to put money into savings accounts due to low interest rates, banks have raised bulk deposit rates to ramp up their deposit base.
However, bankers believe net interest margins will not be affected, as a likely increase in credit demand after October will ensure these resources are allocated.
“Bulk deposits rates are a little higher, as seen in the rates offered for certificates of deposit (CDs) in the recent past. As on date, our deposit base through CDs stands at Rs 12,000 crore and we do have enough credit demand to allocate the freshly-raised money,” said R N Pradeep, chairman and managing director of Corporation Bank. He added retail deposits were also encouraging for the bank. Bulk deposits are usually higher than Rs 1 crore. Banks raise bulk deposits through CDs from institutions and retail depositors.
“We have raised the retail bulk deposit rate for Rs 5 crore and above deposits by 50 basis points to 7.5 per cent, effective from Monday, to ramp up our deposit base,” said a top official of Karnataka Bank. The CD portfolio of Karnataka Bank stands at Rs 500 crore, less than two per cent of the total deposits. “We don’t see any impact on our net interest margin as credit offtake has already shown signs of growth,” he added.
Banks like Corporation Bank, Bank of Baroda and State Bank of India raised around Rs 5,025 crore on Friday through CDs. Interest rates for three-month CDs have been ruling in the range of 7.04-7.19 per cent of late.
Canara Bank Executive Director H S Upendra Kamath said though the bank had a CD portfolio of Rs 34,000 crore as of June, it paid 6-6.5 per cent interest to raise this amount, as compared to the current seven per cent-plus rate. He added that most CDs were coming for redemption and the bank had no plans to raise fresh money through CDs as of now.
However, some banks are refraining themselves from raising bulk deposits due to tepid credit demand.
“Why should we raise money when credit offtake is not enough to absorb this money,” said a top official of Vijaya Bank. He added deposit accretion would take some time as the effective rate of return on most saving instruments was negative.


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Even the greenest cannabis investors are familiar with Canopy Growth Corporation(NYSE:CGC) and its growing footprint of production facilities in Canada and beyond. What you might not realize, though, is that most budding canna-businesses in the U.S. can’t borrow enough money to build a doghouse. Innovative Industrial Properties Inc. (NYSE:IIPR) is essentially a landlord that specializes in leasing properties to state-licensed operators of U.S. medical marijuana facilities.
Canopy Growth is the world’s largest medical cannabis company and has fingers in several potentially lucrative pies, but Innovative Industrial Properties already pays its investors a quarterly dividend. Let’s stack them side by side to see which is the best pick at the moment.
The case for Canopy Growth Corporation
It’s hard to know what shape the global cannabis industry will take in the years ahead, but Canopy Growth Corporation has one important advantage that will help it play a major role. Earlier this month, Constellation Brands closed on its 5 billion Canadian dollar investment in Canopy Growth, which should give the company’s increasingly diverse operations plenty of chances to shine before cash on its balance sheet dwindles.
Canopy Growth also boasts multiyear supply agreements that require the company to supply Canadian provinces with at least 67,000 kilograms annually. To top it off, Canopy reported an industry-leading average selling price of CA$8.94 per gram during the three months ended June.
Basic arithmetic suggests we can expect Canadian supply agreements to add around CA$600 million in annual sales to the top line, but that may not be the case. During the three months ended June, Canopy reported total revenue of CA$26 million, 14% of which came from Germany’s extremely high-priced medical marijuana market. While high-margin international sales are a big plus for Canopy Growth now, an oncoming supply glut in the much larger Canadian market will probably take a heavy toll.
Canopy Growth boasts a whopping $14.1 billion market cap at recent prices that’s going to be hard to live up to. Investors are expecting sales to quickly soar far past any amount possible based on present supply agreements, and investors should…
Continue reading at THE MOTLEY FOOL


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Prescription for trouble / How flaw in FDA safety net may pose risk to public with generic drugs
UCSF liver specialist Philip Rosenthal saw no harm in putting two of his young transplant patients on a new generic drug designed to prevent their immune systems from rejecting their donated organs.
After all, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had certified the generic as equivalent to the brand name drug and, since it cost about 20 percent less, switching could save thousands of dollars per year.
But something went wrong: The 4-year-old boy and 6-year-old girl started having seizures that sent them into intensive care.
"I basically decided there must be something unusual with the (generic) drug," said Rosenthal, who immediately switched the kids' medications and reported his suspicions to the FDA in the fall of 1999.
As it turned out, there was good reason to be suspicious about this particular generic, which was recalled in July 2000.
Now, by following hints in the pharmaceutical trade press and scouring FDA files, The Chronicle has put together the first complete account of how a Fremont firm called SangStat Medical Corp. won FDA approval for a generic drug that the company knew was not always equivalent to the brand name.
The FDA has taken no legal action against SangStat. So far, no deaths have to the recalled generic. And the FDA emphasizes that this is a special case -- a complex drug for highly sensitive patients -- that should not undermine the presumption that generics can be safely exchanged for brand names in most instances.
But at a time when politicians are prescribing generics as the cure for soaring drug costs, the SangStat saga exposes a gap in the FDA's safety net that may put consumers at risk: Generic drugmakers have no explicit legal obligation to tell the government about studies showing the medicine may not be equivalent to the brand-name drug.
In this case, it all boiled down to withholding information about the difference between how the drug worked in chocolate milk and apple juice.
WHAT WENT WRONG?
A generic drug is a copy of some basic medicine that was once patent- protected, but eventually moved into the public domain. The SangStat case involved three different brand names, two rival manufacturers, but only one basic medicine -- cyclosporine, used for organ transplants.
From the 1960s to early '80s, roughly half of all transplants failed because the recipient's immune system treated the donated organ as an infection and rejected it.
So patients and physicians cheered -- and transplant success rates soared --
when the Swiss drug firm now called Novartis won FDA approval for cyclosporine in 1983. As is typical, Novartis gave its new chemical a brand name, Sandimmune, to build loyalty among patients and doctors.
Though it was a lifesaver, cyclosporine proved tricky to administer because its job was to keep the immune system on a tightrope. Doctors had to prescribe enough cyclosporine to keep the immune system from overreacting to the new organ. But ordering too big a dose might leave the patient prey to ordinary germs.
The drug had other drawbacks. For one thing, it tasted horrible. Novartis extracted cyclosporine from a Norwegian fungus and refined it into a liquid medicine. The liquid was so unpalatable that it was usually diluted in a sweetener. Sandimmune was generally mixed with chocolate milk -- a detail that would later haunt SangStat and the FDA.
But in the late '80s and early '90s, Sandimmune, a.k.a. cyclosporine, was saving lives and making money. With about 200,000 transplant recipients spending $7,000 to $12,000 a year on the drug -- and 50,000 new transplants occurring annually -- it was no wonder that cyclosporine earned the nickname "liquid gold."
That flash of gold caught the eye of Philippe Pouletty, the French transplant specialist who started SangStat in 1988. The Novartis patent on cyclosporine was set to expire in 1995. In 1994, Pouletty announced that SangStat would develop a generic rival to Sandimmune.
For a generic drug to be approved for the market under U.S. law, a drug developer must provide the FDA with a single study, performed on healthy volunteers, showing that dose for dose, the generic is absorbed into the bloodstream at the same rate and concentration as the brand-name drug it would compete with. This is called a bioequivalency study.
When SangStat began testing its experimental generic called SangCya (pronounced sang-see-ya) in human volunteers, SangStat diluted its mixture in chocolate milk -- the same sweetener used to wash down Novartis' Sandimmune.
But in 1995, as its cyclosporine patent was due to expire, Novartis pulled off a coup by winning FDA approval for a new and improved cyclosporine called Neoral, complicating SangStat's bid to get its generic on the market.
Neoral contained a patented improvement called microemulsion. The original cyclosporine, sold as Sandimmune, often had trouble percolating from the stomach into the bloodstream. Microemulsion broke down the drug's active ingredients so they could slip into the circulatory system.
Another change occurred around the time the FDA approved Neoral. Apple juice came into vogue as the sweetener to mask the foul taste of cyclosporine. Indeed, when the FDA approved Neoral for sale in 1995, the agency told patients to wash the medicine down with apple or orange juice -- not chocolate milk as was the case with Sandimmune.
Neoral was a hit. By 1997, it had captured better than 60 percent of the $1. 2 billion cyclosporine market and was on course to render Sandimmune commercially irrelevant.
This forced SangStat to change its target from Sandimmune to Neoral, and that posed a problem: SangStat had tested its generic with chocolate milk. Neoral was chased with apple juice. Did that matter?
In 1997, SangStat did a bioequivalency study to see whether SangCya was as effective as -- or equivalent to -- Neoral in apple juice. A copy of that study obtained by The Chronicle states "the two products are not bioequivalent. "
But SangStat did not give that negative apple juice study to the FDA until nearly three years later -- and then only when its hand was forced. Instead, SangStat gave the agency what the law required -- a study showing that SangCya was equivalent to Neoral -- at least when it was washed down with chocolate milk.
In November 1998, the FDA approved SangCya as a generic alternative to Neoral. The FDA has strict rules about generics. They must be given the same way as the brand name. So -- not knowing about SangStat's apple juice failure - - the FDA told doctors and patients that SangCya "should be diluted, preferably with orange or apple juice. . . . The combination of SangCya with milk can be unpalatable."
It was not until the spring of 2000 that events forced SangStat to disclose the apple juice data.
SangStat wanted Amgen, the Southern California biotech giant, to sell SangCya in Australia and Asia. Amgen asked SangStat for other studies it had done on SangCya. The request came to Elliott Grossbard, a Bay Area biotech veteran who had become SangStat's senior medical officer only a few weeks earlier.
In a recent interview, Grossbard said that when he found the apple juice study in the company's files, he insisted that the FDA be notified. Grossbard resigned from the company soon after the incident.
SangStat revealed the apple juice study to the FDA in June 2000, prompting discussions with the agency that led to the recall of SangCya.
But except for brief wire reports and a few trade press articles, the July 2000 recall went almost unnoticed. The Pink Sheet, an industry newsletter, followed up with an October report that quoted FDA generic drug official Dale Conner as saying that SangStat wasn't the first generic maker to withhold studies from the agency.
Conner suggested that FDA regulations should be changed to make clear that generic drugmakers must disclose studies showing problems with their proposed medicines.
Yet more than two years after the recall, FDA regulations have not changed. Conner told The Chronicle that the agency is still thinking about requiring generic drug developers to disclose negative studies -- as they are required to do in the United Kingdom, for instance -- but he could not say when that might happen.
"Had (Sangstat's negative study) been brought to our attention, it may well have changed our decision to approve (SangCya)," Conner said. "At the very least it would have raised lots of questions."
But The Chronicle has obtained an FDA e-mail, written on the eve of SangCya's approval, that suggests key agency officials were concerned that if Novartis' new Neoral drug prevented SangStat's generic from reaching the market, other brand-name manufacturers could be emboldened to try similar tactics to thwart their generic rivals.
"All this means there will be no generics for the foreseeable future," warned former FDA official Gordon Johnston. In an aside to Roger Williams, a former FDA official who heads U.S. Pharmacopeia, the private organization that sets quality standards for drugmakers, Johnston added: "This is a few hundred million dollars' decision."
That e-mail surfaced in court records arising from the federal lawsuit that Novartis filed against the FDA in 1999. That suit, in which Novartis claimed the agency bent its own rules in approving SangCya, is ongoing.
Using documents from that case, The Chronicle was able to fill in two words that FDA officials had initially blanked out when the newspaper demanded the agency's files on the recall. The missing words turned out to be "chocolate milk" -- a deletion that temporarily obscured the fact that the FDA had approved SangCya on the basis of a chocolate milk study, then told patients to take it in apple juice.
FDA spokesman Jason Brodsky said the deletion was a simple mistake, but Charles N. Davis, director of the Freedom of Information Center at the University of Missouri, said the blankouts appeared deliberate.
Asked how the FDA could review the generic based on a chocolate milk study, then tell patients to take it in apple juice, Brodsky said that before the SangCya recall, there was no reason to suspect any difference.
"Hindsight is 20-20," Brodsky said.
As for SangStat, company officials said most of the people who were with the company before or during the recall have left. "This is a completely different company," said interim chief executive Richard Murdock.
Murdock, a longtime SangStat board member, said directors were stunned to learn of the apple juice study in June 2000, and ordered an internal investigation.
Murdock said two teams of lawyers spent three months probing the incident, which occurred while Pouletty, the founder, was still the chief executive. But investigators were unable to determine exactly who knew about the study and why the FDA was not told. However, company spokesman Bill Martin said the firm apparently decided at the time that it "was not required by FDA regulations" to disclose the study.
After Grossbard's revelation, however, Murdock said the company's new management decided the negative study should be turned over to the FDA, even in the absence of an explicit requirement. And even though Murdock still maintains that SangCya is a good drug, SangStat recalled it after discussions with the FDA.
"We always want to take the high road," said Murdock.
Yet in an e-mail written just four months before the recall, SangStat executive R.J. Tesi told a company employee in the United Kingdom that the firm was willing to fund a study of how SangCya worked in children "with several caveats. The first is that the studies be done with chocolate milk."
The U.K. employee wrote back 10 days later to ask: "Out of curiosity, why this request?"
Tesi, currently SangStat's clinical and medical director, said he did not recall the correspondence, but said it probably referred to the European version of SangCya, which was approved under different rules.
Pouletty, who is working with French President Jacques Chirac to promote U. S.-style biotech startups, could not be reached by phone at the Paris office of the trade association he now heads. He refused comment when confronted by a reporter at a trade show.
Meanwhile, Rosenthal keeps the SangCya recall notice posted in his UCSF office, a symbolic reminder to the hospital administrators and insurance company executives who pressure doctors to substitute generics for brand names.
Usually this isn't a problem, he said, but with tricky drugs like cyclosporine more caution is needed. To this day it isn't known whether SangCya caused the seizures he observed, or whether they were precipitated by other causes.
Rosenthal has a theory about why SangCya worked better in chocolate milk than in apple juice. Cyclosporine is known to cling to fat. Perhaps the fat in the milk got the generic into the bloodstream better than fat-free apple juice,
Rosenthal was incredulous when a Chronicle reporter told him that SangStat may not have been legally obligated to disclose the apple juice study. Had SangCya been a brand-name drug instead of a generic, SangStat would have had to turn it over.
"I don't think it's a good idea for little kids to be subjected to drugs that are potentially known to be a problem," he said. "The rule should be that all available data needs to be made available (to the FDA) for generic drugs just like for brand names."


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Canadians are ringing in the New Year with a measure of optimism.
The nation appears to believe 2022 will be better.
Despite major challenges faced in 2021, a new survey released Friday shows the vast majority of Canadians believe the new year will be a good one for themselves and their family members.
While almost half (47%) say 2021 was a bad year, 69% of Canadians expect 2022 to be good for them.
As millions greet the new year, the Maru Public Opinion poll also found we are in the mood for change, with most respondents saying they will make resolutions.
More than half (55%) of respondents say they will make some personal resolutions to do some specific things for themselves or others.
When it comes to the economy and personal finances, the outlook is not as positive among those polled.
Only half (51%) of Canadians believe their personal financial situation will be better in 2022 than it was in 2021.
Just under half (46%) of Canadians believe it will be a good year for the economy.
And not quite half (49%) believe it will be good for businesses.
Even with the rapidly spreading new Omicron variant, there is a positive view of where Canada is heading.
Half (52%) of Canadians believe vaccines and personal habits will enable the country to defeat the disruptions in 2022 and have a normalized life by the end of the coming year.
But there remains some signs of tension and division.
A vast majority (75%) are worried the unvaccinated population will keep the country in a continual cycle of the pandemic.
Six-in-ten Canadians disagree there are too many consequences in place for those who don’t want to be vaccinated.


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Microsoft has announced Project Natal – a motion-sensing controller designed to be used with the company’s Xbox 360 games console, at this week’s E3 conference being held in the US.
Unveiled at the E3 conference in Los Angeles, Microsoft revealed the first details of the much-rumoured controller. Motion-sensing game controllers have proved a hit with more casual games players, with Nintendo using motion-sensing devices for its Wii games console, including Wii Fit.
Sony’s Playstation 3 uses motion-sensing features in it’s Sixaxis controller, while Apple’s iPhone also uses this technology for some of it’s games and applications.
Initially named Project Natal, Microsoft’s controller takes the form of a camera that is placed in front of the player, and tracks their motion to recreate the action onscreen. Microsoft says that the player doesn’t hold a controller, instead using their entire body – such as arm and head movements – to interact with the game environment.
Microsoft enlisted the support of director Steven Spielberg to promote the Project Natal contoller, who spoke at the event of his wish to make entertainment more interactive and accessible to all. Spielberg stated ‘What Microsoft is doing is not about reinventing the wheel, it’s about no wheel at all’.
The device was showcased at E3 by the President of Lionhead Studios’ Peter Molyneux, creator of the popular Fable game series. The company produced a demo for the device in which users can interact with a character onscreen, communicating verbally and manipulating scenery in the virtual world using their movements. A demo called Paint Party was also shown, where the user created a painting on a blank canvas using hand movements and voice commands.
The promotional video Microsoft showed of the device suggests that it can be used for other applications aside from games, such as live video conferencing. Microsoft confirmed that the motion sensor will be compatible with all models of the Xbox 360, and is likely to be available in 2010.
‘Interactive media companies such as Microsoft, Nintendo and Apple are searching for ways to encourage more people to play games and interact with their devices,’ says Which? technology editor Matthew Bath. ‘Gesture-based interfaces and motion-detection are becoming more common, as more casual games players find these types of controls less off-putting than complex games console controllers. Expect lots more developments on this front as companies continue to try to woo more casual consumers into the world of digital interactive entertainment.’
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Apple iPad 2 3G data plans compared – find the best 3G plan for your iPad
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Richard Barrett of Ralph Lauren named 2015 Michael Page Retail Executive Award winner
Every year, we meet with the “best of the best” in Australia’s retail sector for the Michael Page Retail Executive Award – we hear about innovation, new initiatives and incredible forward-thinking that drives the sector. This year, as the applications rolled in, we were interested in noting the wider breadth of contenders from a greater variety of industry verticals. Over the last couple of years, we have had a lot of applicants from food and consumables but this year we saw an increase in applicants from fashion and apparel. The reason being that over the last few years, fashion businesses have been working on their strategy and the results are now coming to fruition.
With that in mind, we are pleased to announce Richard Barrett, Senior Director Retail Oceania Ralph Lauren as the winner of the Retail Executive Award for 2015.
Richard Barrett has held senior roles in department stores in both Australia and the United Kingdom. He was responsible for the refurbishment of the David Jones store in Bondi Junction during the construction of the Westfield Centre and has held senior roles at Harrods and WC Penfold. As Senior Director of Retail at Ralph Lauren Oceania, Mr Barrett has executed a number of successful initiatives, all underscored by a big-picture viewpoint and a strong sense of company vision.
The award is testament to Mr Barrett’s strategy for redefining the Ralph Lauren brand in the Australian market. Under his leadership, the iconic label has been repositioning into the luxury space and simultaneously increasing the brand footprint. This has been achieved by refocusing on areas such as supply chain, merchandising and staffing, implementing a sense of synergy between all areas of the business. His focus on end-to-end, customer-centric solutions, including service-led digital marketing and improved product training, has contributed to significant growth for Ralph Lauren in the local market.
This year sees further change in the Ralph Lauren ranks, with the launch of Women’s Polo in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
“I’m still in shock – it is an amazing award,” said Mr Barrett of his win. “It will be sensational to go away with a diverse group of people and see some of the iconic cities in the world. I’m looking forward to experiencing the service proposition of different retailers across the globe on the tour.”
We would like to offer Richard our personal congratulations and wish him the best when he joins the Westfield World Retail Tour, visiting Tokyo, London, Berlin, New York and Amsterdam in May this year.
An additional thank you to all applicants for this year’s award.


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Funky features on Tesla’s Cybertruck
With a bulletproof body and 500-mile battery-powered range, Tesla’s electric pickup isn’t like every other truck.
Pickups are becoming the new performance cars.
New models designed for off-roading and the street are being equipped with incredibly powerful engines, and the competition is about to get fierce.
Ram is launching the most powerful production pickup ever and there are even more potent electric models on the way next year. Here’s a look at what’s on sale and what’s to come in the horsepower wars among gas and electric trucks.
Ram 1500 TRX: 702 hp
It finally happened. Ram borrowed the 6.2-liter supercharged V8 that was originally launched in the 2015 Dodge Challenger and put it in a full-size, off-road pickup where it sends 702 hp and 650 lb-ft of torque to its 35-inch all-terrain tires.
Ford F-150 Raptor/Limited: 450 hp
Ford is allegedly working on a 750 horsepower off-road pickup of its own, but the current Raptor has a 450 hp 3.5-liter turbocharged V6 with 510 lb-ft of torque that’s also available in the luxurious F-150 Limited.
Ford F-Series Super Duty Tremor
The Tremor is the only truck with an engine named after a monster. The rock-crushing Tremor — available as an F-250 or F-350 — features Ford's new 'Godzilla' 7.3-liter V8 that's rated at 430 hp and 475 lb-ft of torque.
Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra 1500: 420 hp
The 6.2-liter V8 that powers GM’s light-duty pickups is related to the one used in the Corvette and Camaro and puts out a muscular 420 hp backed by 460 lb-ft of torque.
Tesla’s bizarre pickup will arrive late next year with three electric motors in it – one up front, two in the rear — that Motor Trend estimates will generate a combined 800 hp. Whatever the final number turns out to be, Tesla promises that the full-size truck will be able to accelerate to 60 mph in less than 2.9 seconds.
GMC HUMMER EV
HUMMER is coming back in a big way in late 2021 with its own three-motor model that will have 1,000 hp and extreme off-road capability to match.
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Employers and employees love how big our network is, and how easy it is to connect with employers and employees in their local area
(PRWEB) July 11, 2012
Kedna.com, a leading family-safe website that lets small businesses post free jobs in dozens of employment categories, announced today that it has grown into the country’s largest employment opportunity network.
As a result of the network expansion, people in 18,868 distinct areas across the country – including many smaller cities, town and neighbourhoods that are overlooked by other websites offering free classifieds – can now easily and conveniently connect with local employers online.
Kedna.com is the only website that allows business owners to post an unlimited number of job classifieds for 90 days in any category, such as accounting, public relations, customer service, real estate, restaurant jobs and dozens more, and then re-post them when they expire. In addition, Kedna.com allows businesses to publish Twitter accounts and YouTube videos within job ads, and easily share ads via Facebook, Google+ and Twitter.
“Employers and employees love how big our network is, and how easy it is to connect with employers and employees in their local area or anywhere across the country,” commented Jose Noriega, Vice President and General Manager of Kedna Classifieds. “And because we constantly add relevant content to our website that search engines like Google rapidly index, businesses find it very beneficial to post job ads on Kedna.com, and then link back to their website’s employment opportunity pages.”
According to the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project survey, the number of adults using online classified ads between 2005 and 2009 more than doubled, and on a daily basis nearly 10% of all Internet users visit websites that feature classified ads.
Individuals and business who want to benefit from Kedna.com’s expanded job classifieds network, and promote their employment opportunity at no charge to millions of people across the country, can visit Kedna.com now and get started. Registration is easy, quick and hassle-free.
Launched in the U.S. in 2006, Kedna Classifieds (formerly Best Way Classifieds) is a family-based company headquartered in Homestead, FL. Each month, Kedna.com attracts millions of unique visitors, who browse hundreds of thousands of classified ads. Currently, the website reaches 18,868 areas across the US – with more being added on a regular basis. Kedna.com’s mission is to deliver free ads and affordable online advertising, as well as provide online marketing services to help businesses improve their online accessibility. Learn more at http://www.Kedna.com.


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To help EU consumers cut their energy bills and carbon footprint, a new version of the widely-recognised EU energy label will be applicable in all shops and online retailers from March 2021. The new labels will initially apply to four product categories – fridges and freezers, dishwashers, washing machines, and television sets (as well as other external monitors). New labels for light bulbs and lamps with fixed light sources will follow in September, and for other products labels will be available in the coming years.
The EU energy labels’ use have been widely recognised for more than 25 years in household products, such as light bulbs, television sets and/or washing machines helping consumers make informed choices.
Since 2014, during 5-year efforts, the Commission initiated a range of changes to the Union’s energy policy to face the challenge of global energy transformations. Having helped to negotiate the Paris Agreement in December 2015, many of the subsequent policy changes have been aimed at enabling the EU to deliver on its Paris Agreement commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and more broadly on accelerating the clean energy transition.
In particular, the “clean energy for all Europeans” package established a new rulebook for EU energy policy, which includes new binding-2030 targets for energy efficiency and renewables and requires each EU country to establish its own integrated national energy and climate plan for 2021-2030, outlining how it intends to fulfill its contributions to the EU-wide effort.
According to the Eurobarometer-2019 survey, about 93 percent of consumers confirmed that they recognised the energy-saving label and 79 percent confirmed that it had influenced their product buying decisions. Together with harmonised minimum performance requirements, so-called “ecodesign”, the EU energy labeling rules are estimated to cut consumer expenditure by tens of billions of euros every year, whilst generating multiple other benefits for the environment and for manufacturers and retailers.
Note: The main survey’s points were the following: – EU energy policy is to moving away from fossil fuels, decreasing consumption and lowering energy prices; – the member states shall focus on ensuring access to secure, clean and affordable energy; – further states’ cooperation is essential to ensure a secure energy supply; – access to clean and affordable energy requires substantial in research and technology; – the EU energy labeling can influence consumers’ preferences; and – the EU should prioritise clean and more affordable energy in the future. Reference: https://ec.europa.eu/energy/data-analysis/eurobarometer-energy_en?redir=1
The new categories for the rescaled label were agreed after a rigorous and fully transparent consultation process, with the close involvement of stakeholders and the EU member states at all stages, scrutiny by the Council and the European Parliament and with sufficient involvement of producers and notice provided to manufacturers. As required by the framework regulation, other product groups will be “rescaled” in the coming years: i.e. including tumble dryers, local space heaters, air conditioners, cooking appliances, ventilation units, professional refrigeration cabinets, space and water heaters, and solid fuel boilers.
The switch to the rescaled labels coincides with the entry into force of two horizontal (“omnibus”) regulations recently adopted to correct or clarify a range of issues identified in the concerned energy labeling and ecodesign regulations as originally adopted in 2019.
Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, acknowledged that the original energy label has been very successful, saving an average household in Europe several hundred euros per year and motivating companies to invest into research and development. Until the end of February 2021, over 90 percent of products were labeled either A+, A++ or A+++ signs.
She added that the new system would make it easier and clearer for consumers, while ensuring that businesses would continue to innovate and offer even more efficient products. At the same time, the energy labels will help the states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
With more and more products achieving ratings as A+, A++ or A+++ products, according to the current scale, the most important change is to return to a simpler A-G scale. This scale is stricter and designed so that very few products are initially able to achieve the “A” rating, leaving space for more efficient products to be included in the future. The most energy efficient products currently on the market will typically now be labeled as “B”, “C” or “D”.
A number of new elements will be included on the labels, including a QR link to an EU-wide database, which will allow consumers to find more details about the product. A number of ecodesign rules are also coming into force this March: notably on reparability and the need for manufacturers to keep spare parts available for a number of years after products are no longer on the market (see more below).
As well as rescaling the products’ energy efficiency, the layout of the new label is different, with clearer and more modern icons. Like the previous labels, the rescaled labels show more than just the energy efficiency class. For a washing machine, for example, they show at a glance the number of water liters per cycle, the duration of a cycle, and the energy consumption, as measured for a standardised program.
Further significant change is the introduction of a QR code on the top right of the new labels. By scanning the QR-code, consumers can find additional information about the product model, such as data relating to the dimensions, specific features or test results depending on the appliance.
All appliances on the EU market have to be registered in a new EU-wide database: European Product Registry for Energy Labels, EPREL, which will further facilitate the comparison of similar products.
Note: Commission Regulation 2021/341 of 23 February 2021on “Ecodesign requirements for servers and data storage products, electric motors and variable speed drives, refrigerating appliances, light sources and separate control gears, electronic displays, household dishwashers, household washing machines and household washer-dryers and refrigerating appliances with a direct sales function” can be seen in:
New ecodesign rules
In addition to the new energy labeling rules, there are corresponding new regulations on ecodesign that take effect n March 2021. These rules relate specifically to the updated minimum efficiency requirements and reinforce consumer rights to repair products and support the circular economy.
Manufacturers or importers will now be obliged to make a range of essential parts (motors and motor brushes, pumps, shock absorbers and springs, washing drums, etc.) available to professional repairers for at least 7-10 years after the last unit of a model has been placed on the EU market.
For end-users, i.e. consumers who are not professional repairers, but like to repair things themselves, manufacturers must make certain spare parts available for several years after a product is taken off the market; the maximum delivery time for all these pieces is 15 working days after ordering.
More information on the issue in the following Commission’s websites: –Questions & answers; – Energy label and ecodesign webpage; – Energy labeling omnibus regulation; – Ecodesign omnibus regulation; – Video and photos on EU energy label


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According to a study by Business Performance Innovation (BPI) Network , many companies are unprepared for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Yet the study results also indicate that most executives at those companies realize that the future of their business depends on it.
The report, The Impact of Connectedness on Competitiveness, was developed by the BPI Network in partnership with the CMO Council , the IoT Institute , and The Nerdery.
The results make it clear that a majority of corporate executives are beginning to understand the importance of IoT connectedness. A hearty 52% of executives at large enterprises—and 41% of executives at all companies—expect IIoT to have a significant or major impact on their industry within three years. Some 55% of all executives say IIoT is gaining adoption within their industries, including both pilots and larger-scale adoption.
The study also suggests that large-scale integrators and other channel partners will be among the biggest IIoT beneficiaries over the next several years. They will likely play a significant role in planning and implementation at many companies due to major internal gaps in the technical skills and management know-how needed to deploy and integrate IoT into operations and new products.


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Kwik Save is to go into administration at midday with the loss of 1,100 jobs and 90 stores after a High Court judge approved a partial rescue plan. The Times. Daily Telegraph. The Independent. Financial Times. The Guardian
The remaining 56 supermarkets will be rebranded FreshXpress and trade in a new company backed by the Irish entrepreneur Brendan Murtagh, founder of Kingspan, the specialist UK-listed construction company. He backed a previous attempt to rescue Kwik Save.
KPMG, which has been advising the company on a restructuring, is to be appointed administrator.
In May Kwik Save announced the closure of 81 of its 273 stores.
Kwik Save has struggled since it was sold to private investors in February last year by Somerfield, the store group that was taken private by Barclays Capital, Apax and Robert Tchenguiz in 2005. In May it announced the closure of 81 of its 273 stores and it is thought that some of the stores closed by the administrator could revert to Somerfield.
It is understood that Somerfield’s owners are exposed to lease liabilities of up to £10m related to Kwik Save .


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Today, your mission is:
Pay for the person in line behind you at the drive-thru.
An act of kindness at a Starbucks drive-thru in Florida inspired an 11-hour chain of paying-it-forward.
A woman drove up and paid for her own iced coffee at 7 a.m. Wednesday at a St. Petersburg store, and also asked to pay for a caramel macchiato for the driver behind her, who then did the same for the next customer.
After a few people continued the chain, the employees started keeping a tally on a piece of paper by the window.
By 1:30 p.m., 260 people had paid it forward, according to the Tampa Bay Times, ordering their own drinks and paying for one for the stranger behind them. After people ordered their drinks and drove up to the window, barista Vu Nguyen explained that the drink had already been paid for and asked if they’d…
View original post 92 more words


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The current model for mobile operators is not working: two-year strict contracts, poor online experiences and highly inconsistent in-store customer interaction models are not going to keep mobile customers coming back for more. Today’s customers are empowered to make quick decisions based on the level of service they’re getting – and they expect a lot. If their service expectations aren’t being met, they will look to the next provider and take their business elsewhere, and the strict parameters set by mobile operators to lock their business in isn’t going to work for much longer.
Tokyo (Reuters) -Sony Corp , widely regarded as a key supplier of image sensors for Apple Inc's iPhones, said on Friday it was bracing for a slowdown in the premium smartphone market after sales of its sensors fell in the third quarter.
San Francisco (Reuters) - In reporting better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter earnings on Thursday, Microsoft Corp. CEO Satya Nadella touted his company's success in the cloud.
"Businesses everywhere are using the Microsoft Cloud as their digital platform to drive their ambitious transformation agendas," he said.
HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) - China's smartphone boom may be over, as even Apple Inc grapples with a slowing economy and investor darling Xiaomi Inc struggles to stand out amid intense competition in low-margin handsets.
On Tuesday, Apple reported the slowest-ever increase in iPhone shipments as the Chinese market weakened. That slowdown in the world's second-largest economy is threatening to hamstring consumption across the country.
SEOUL (Reuters) - Tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd warned on Thursday of possible weaker earnings this year due to softer sales of gadgets such as smartphones, a trend that is also hurting rival Apple Inc and major chipmakers.
The South Korean firm's warning came a day after Apple shares fell more than 6.5 percent, the biggest percentage drop in two years, as the iPhone maker forecast its first quarterly sales drop in 13 years.
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Swedish mobile gear maker Ericsson said it is ready to cut more costs if needed after lower expenses, patent fees and a sales recovery in China helped it meet forecasts for quarterly operating profit on Wednesday.
Ericsson's focus on lifting profits by paring costs comes as demand in its biggest markets shifts to upgrades of existing capacity rather than building new, next-generation networks.
(Reuters) - Qualcomm Inc forecast current-quarter profit below analysts' expectations as demand weakens for its chips used in mobile devices in a slowing market.
The company, whose customers include Apple Inc, said it expected its mobile chip shipments to fall by 16-25 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier.
Qualcomm also expects 3G and 4G device shipments to decline by 4-14 percent, hurting its licensing revenue.
(Reuters) - Sprint Corp, the No. 4 U.S. wireless carrier, on Tuesday posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss and raised its earnings outlook, helped by a cost-cutting drive and a boost in subscribers, sending its stock up as much as 22 percent.
Sprint shares soared to a session high of $3.08 before receding to $3.01 in the afternoon, still up more than 19 percent on the day. Those gains nearly erased the 21 percent fall in the stock in 2016 through its close on Monday.
(Reuters) - AT&T Inc, the No. 2 U.S. wireless carrier, said fourth-quarter revenue grew less than expected as it added fewer mainstream wireless customers than a year ago due to stiffer competition from rivals.
The company's stock fell about 2 percent.
AT&T had 526,000 net new postpaid customers, down 38.4 percent from 854,000 a year earlier. For its prepaid service, the company had 469,000 net new customers, it said on Tuesday.
(Reuters) - Verizon Communications Inc on Thursday reported higher-than-expected revenue for the fourth quarter as heavy promotions helped it counter aggressive offers and discounts from rivals and win new users.
Shares of the No. 1 U.S. wireless phone service provider, whose profit edged past analysts' estimates, rose 2.7 percent to $45.63 in morning trading.


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| Apr 4, 2014
| 5:33 AM
They toured the site — 27 aces of prime waterfront property wedged between ritzy Harbor East and trendy Fell's Point in Baltimore City.
They met with the developer, who reviewed his $1 billion project of offices, retail, residential and hotel....
| Apr 3, 2014
| 6:08 PM
A Pikesville developer will present plans to the city next week to build one of Baltimore's tallest buildings on the site of the former McCormick & Co. spice factory at the Inner Harbor, transforming the skyline with a luxury apartment tower.
| Apr 2, 2014
| 5:24 AM
On a crisp spring morning, chef David Thomas stands in the kitchen of his Parkville cafe, Herb & Soul, prepping for a busy day of cooking.
Plastic tubs overflow with fresh kale, while shelves hold spices that will impart flavor to the chef's Old Bay...
| Mar 28, 2014
| 3:43 PM
Environmental regulators gave a key approval to Harbor Point developers Thursday, but said they need to review more data before work that would open a currently-closed toxic waste site can start.
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Maryland...
| Mar 26, 2014
| 3:44 PM
The number of jobs in downtown Baltimore topped pre-recession levels for the first time last year, according to an annual report to be released Thursday.
Downtown employment rose to about 122,000 in 2013, up 8 percent from 2012 and 7 percent since 2007,...
| Mar 25, 2014
| 9:07 AM
Drinking makes you smarter -- at least, that's the case at Harbor East's The Tavern Room.
In name and style, this newly opened front division of Fleet Street Kitchen portrays a laid-back sense of refinement that's a nod to both classic American...
| Mar 15, 2014
| 9:30 AM
Thank you for publishing Lola J. Massey's letter to the editor in Thursday's Sun ("Many share blame for Lexington Market's woes," March 13).
Ms. Massey said it all and said it very well.
Please do the citizens of Maryland who would like to use the...
| Mar 12, 2014
| 8:29 PM
The developer of the Harbor Point project will pay the city $400,000 in fees stemming from increased traffic under an agreement approved Wednesday by Baltimore's spending board.
Under a second agreement, the city will accept responsibility for...
| Mar 12, 2014
| 10:00 AM
At some point after it opened in the fall of 2012, Harbor East's Fleet Street Kitchen realized its necktie was pulled a bit too tight. The stylish farm-to-table restaurant with the four-course tasting menu had earned a flattering reputation for its food,...
| Mar 10, 2014
| 1:32 PM
Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics will open its first Baltimore store early this summer at Harbor East.
The retailer bills itself as offering "ethical" skin care, hair care and bath and body products.
It will open its fourth Maryland store at 1001...
| Mar 6, 2014
| 4:32 PM
Tax giant KPMG LLP has acquired Cynergy Systems Inc., a Baltimore-based company that builds and designs software and mobile applications, for an undisclosed sum.
Through the acquisition, KPMG sought to add more services for companies looking to use...


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DMG Media Ireland has launched a €1 million advertising fund for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) hit by the fall-out from the Covid-19 pandemic. The fund, ‘DMG Media Shop Ireland’, is the largest private-sector support to small firms and it will provide 200 small businesses with an advertising package worth €5,000 each.
It is targeted at companies that are still operating and those who are hoping to open safely once restrictions are eased. The ads will run across the group’s titles, including the Irish Daily Mail, Irish Mail on Sunday, Extra.ie, Evoke, RollerCoaster.ie, MailOnline and RollerCoaster.ie, which reach over 3.3m Irish adults every month.
The ads will reach up to 500,000 potential customers through tailored campaigns.
Paul Henderson (pictured), CEO, DMG Media Ireland, said it is a challenging time for all businesses. “Now more than ever we all need to give our support for small local (family) businesses who are the backbone of our economy and the beating heart of our communities,” he added. The initiative is supported by IBEC’s Small Firms Association (SFA).
- For more Covid-19 marketing and media related stories, just click on https://marketing.ie/2020


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Vitafoods Europe was held two weeks ago in Geneva, specifically in Palexpo. Although the results of the fairs of ingredients of the nutraceutical industry are always seen in the medium and long term, we can consider this trade show as very positive for Monteloeder.
Monteloeder has coined the concept of “Digital Nutraceutical”, which combines food & nutrition supplements with digital technology, resulting in a complete, personalized health solution.
Monteloeder is once again present in this edition of Vitafoods Europe, The global nutraceutical event, on May 15th – 17th. Do not miss this event that will take place at the Palexpo, Geneva, Switzerland.
We are pleased to announce that Monteloeder has been nominated as Finalist in the “Editor’s Award for Innovation” for the Nutraingredients Awards in Vitafoods Europe, held in Geneva on May 15-17. Over 20,000 attendees are expected to visit the meeting, making it one of the largest in Europe.
Besides exhibiting, we will provide a presentation for the award entitled: “Digital Nutraceutics, the Paradigm Shift: Metabolaid; a Case Study.” Here, we will explain Monteloeder’s digitalization approach in the nutraceutical sector. Monteloeder is quickly becoming a reference in digital health, with products that are currently available combining supplementation and digitization, such as Nutroxsun and more recently Metabolaid. Specifically, Metabolaid will be presented in the meeting, which is an ingredient that has been clinically proven to help consumers lose weight by helping them control their appetite.
The winners of the awards will be announced on May 16th, during the Awards Dinner.
We thank Vitafoods Europe for our candidacy to the Award. Hope to see you there!
The last day January 22nd, an agreement was signed for the clinical trial of the MetabolAid H2020 project, an SME instrument between Monteloeder and the Universidad Católica de Murcia (UCAM).
Yesterday, Monteloeder presented at a press conference at the University Miguel Hernandez in Elche, the distinction granted by the European Commission (project EU_H2020) for the launching and marketing MetabolAid, an ingredient that provides the solution for Metabolic Syndrome.
Monteloeder would like to thank Mr. Marco Cecchetto (Project Adviser European Commission); Magnífico Mr. D. Jesús Tadeo Pastor (Rector of the UMH); Mr. Manuel Jordá (Vice-rector for Investigation and Innovation of the UMH); and Sr. Vicente Micol (Vice-rector for International Relations of the UMH) for assisting to the press conference.
In addition, the owner of a business Monteloeder, Sr. Ignacio Cartagena and Arturo Lizón Ph.D. (CEO of Monteloeder), as representatives of the company.
Moreover, we would like to thank the media support because we had a massive participation of the mass media, which picked the story up:
-Diario Información: Un freno natural contra la obesidad
OVERVIEW OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE
We are pleased to announce that Monteloeder has been nominated as Finalist in the “Future of Nutrition Award” of the Food Ingredients Europe Meeting. Food Ingredients (FI) is one of the most important food & beverage innovation meetings in the world, with over 1800 exhibitors and an estimated 26,000 attendees. Some of the most renown companies of the sector that will assist include Danone, Heinz, Kraft Foods, and Pepsico, among others.
Our New Product Development Manager, Dr. Jonathan Jones, will be representing Monteloeder for the Award, with a presentation entitled “Digitization of functional foods/ beverages with an impact on consumer’s health and wellbeing.” Dr. Jones will explain to the judges Monteloeder´s digitization approach in the nutraceutical sector, and its implications in food and beverages. Monteloeder is quickly becoming a reference in digital health, with products that are currently available combining supplementation and digitization, such as Nutroxsun and more recently Metabolaid. It is the latter product of which Dr. Jones will present and explain to the judges of the Award, which is an ingredient that has been clinically proven to help consumers lose weight by helping them control their appetite.
The winners of the awards will be announced on November 28th, during the Awards Ceremony at 18:00. If any assistant or visitor wishes to contact him for a meeting, please send him an email at firstname.lastname@example.org. He will be more than happy to give you more information!
We thank FI Europe for our candidacy to the Award, and wish all the best for Dr. Jones.


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More shots of the BlackBerry 10 N-Series (X10) handset have leaked, offering another clear look at the device's build and Qwerty keyboard, ahead of its rumoured unveiling at RIM's press event this month.
An Instagram user posted the photos of a prototype build of the BlackBerry X10, signified by the engravings underneath the keyboard, loaded on Verizon Wireless stateside. This is sure to make the Qwerty-lovers drool.
RIM is also set to unveil the BlackBerry L-Series at the launch event, featuring a full-touch screen for those who would rather go the non-Qwerty route. We got a promising hands-on of a prototype version of the L-Series in early December and a camera test this month.
Prospective carriers to host the handsets have leaked worldwide in recent months, with Vodafone in the UK, T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T in the US, and Virgin Mobile in Canada possibly hosting at least some of the six devices RIM plans to roll out.
RIM's BlackBerry 10 global launch on 30 January will consist of press events in cities worldwide, including New York, Toronto, London, Paris, Johannesburg and Dubai. Pocket-lint will be providing live coverage as the news happens.
Readers: are you going with a QWERTY or non-QWERTY BlackBerry 10 handset?


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Bally Introduces Washington State-Exclusive Cabinets, Debuts Video Technology
Bally Technologies reinforced its longtime commitment to customers in Washington state by announcing that it is expanding its game cabinet product offering for that market to include the cutting-edge new Pro Series™ cabinets, as well as the ALPHA Elite® V32, Digital Tower Series and Reel Image™, the industry’s only video cabinet that plays just like a spinning-reel game. Designed exclusively for the Washington market, Reel Image features breakthrough innovation by incorporating powerful imaging technology that makes a video slot look and perform just like a spinning-reel game. “We were the first gaming manufacturer to provide product to Washington 11 years ago, and this market is very important to Bally from both a business as well as relationship perspective,” said Gavin Isaacs, Bally’s chief operating officer. “That’s why we are bringing our newest game platforms to our Washington customers, often before we take them anywhere else, and working with Washington casino operators to help them upgrade their floors with these cutting-edge cabinet designs.”
Also, Bally has gone live with the first installation of its new Bally TV™ in-room television service at the Miccosukee Resort & Gaming in suburban Miami. From the comfort of each resort guest’s hotel room via the in-room TV, Bally TV enables casinos to deliver customized marketing messages, cross-promote casino and resort amenities and events, and provide access and interface to player’s club account information and features. The innovation also enables operators to offer guests a number of customer-service options not currently available on in-room TV programming. Bally TV is a collaborative innovation from Bally Technologies and InfoValue®, a company regarded as a pioneer and expert in IPTV. For more information, visit www.ballytech.com.
IGT Announces Senior Leadership Changes, International Product Installations
International Game Technology announced that Rich Schneider, senior vice president of network systems, has left to seek an opportunity outside the company. A search for his replacement is underway. “Rich has accomplished a great deal over the past seven years since joining IGT,” said Eric Tom, IGT’s chief operating officer. “We thank Rich for his many contributions to the company and to our customers.” Schneider joined IGT in 2003 when the company acquired Acres Gaming Inc., where he served as president and chief operating officer and other management positions from 1997 to 2003. IGT also announced today that Chris Satchell, CTO, has expanded his responsibilities to include the leadership of research and development.
Vincent L. Sadusky
IGT also announced that its board of directors elected Vincent L. Sadusky to serve as a director for the company effective immediately. Sadusky is president and chief executive officer of LIN TV Corp., a local multimedia company headquartered in Providence, R.I. “We are pleased to have Vince join our board and look forward to his contributions,” said Patti Hart, IGT’s president and CEO. “He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in the media industry and adds a new and important dimension to our board.
IGT’s sbX™ Casino Management System has been installed at Grand Casino Helsinki in Finland and Casino di Venezia in Italy. With its 13th installation worldwide, sbX continues to gain momentum. “sbX provides operators with a library of games of more than 100 international game releases and includes multi-denomination and multi-percentage capabilities,” said Ali Civile, sales director for IGT Europe. “Because new game releases are continuously sent to the customer and several games can be downloaded simultaneously into one cabinet, operators can keep their floor fresh at all times.”
Also, IGT has installed its M-P Series® game Roulette Evolution® at Grand Casino Basel in Switzerland. The installation includes 28 player stations connected to an automated roulette wheel. The striking M-P Series Roulette Evolution set-up includes slant top multi-player units, automated roulette wheel, 53-inch, high definition central display, and digital cameras. For more information, visit www.igt.com.
AGEM Renews Title Sponsorship of Annual Golf Classic
The recently completed 12th annual AGEM/AGA Golf Classic presented by JCM Global raised $100,000 to benefit the National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG). Now, the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers (AGEM) has renewed its title sponsorship of the event. AGEM will donate $50,000 each year for the next two years. To date, the event has raised nearly $850,000 for the NCRG in its 12-year history. Organizers soon will launch a new “Drive for $1 Million” campaign with the goal of bringing the overall fundraising total for the tournament to $1 million. The NCRG is the only national non-profit organization dedicated to funding research on gambling disorders and increasing awareness about responsible gaming. For more information, visit www.agem.org.
JCM Global’s iVISION™ Enters Puerto Rico
JCM Global’s award-winning iVIZION™ is coming to the Caribbean with its first placements in Puerto Rico. iVIZION will soon be installed at three Hilton Corp. properties: the El San Juan Hotel & Casino in Carolina, the El Conquistador Resort & Golden Door Spa in Fajardo and The Conrad Condado Plaza Hotel & Casino in San Juan. iVIZION will be installed on each 365 slots at the El San Juan, 197 at the El Conquistador and more than 400 at the Conrad Condado. For more information, visit www.jcmglobal.com.
TCSJOHNHUXLEY Chosen to Supply Delaware Park
TCSJOHNHUXLEY is delighted to announce that they have been chosen to supply all the gaming tables at the newly approved Delaware Park, as well as Chipper Champ 2 chip sorting machines, Saturn Roulette wheels and the latest e-FX 29” Insignia number displays. The finished look is slick and contemporary as well as highly functional as all tables feature TCSJOHNHUXLEY’s integrated electrics, which allow table electronics to be hidden discretely away with minimum cabling. Director of Table Games Susan Ciboldi stated: “We are excited to be working with the TCSJOHNHUXLEY team on our rollout of table game products for our customers into the Delaware market. We have chosen TCSJOHNHUXLEY based on their product quality and history.” For more information, visit www.tcsjohnhuxley.com.
GSA Welcomes European Casino Association as Affiliate Member
GSA is proud to announce that the European Casino Association (ECA) has joined GSA as an affiliate member. The non-profit ECA represents the interests of more than 1,000 casinos and 83,000 employees in 23 countries across Europe with the main objective of addressing and promoting casino-related issues to European operators and EU and national policy makers and stakeholders. “Because the ECA represents more than 1,000 casino operations, their input will be very valuable in shaping the future of the gaming industry,” said GSA President Peter DeRaedt. “This industry affiliation will create value, facilitate innovation and efficiencies for the gaming industry.” For more information, visit www.gamingstandards.com.
Shuffle Master Promotes Lopez to COO
Shuffle Master has announced the appointment of David Lopez to the role of chief operating officer and corporate officer. Lopez will be responsible for operational leadership, with Shuffle Master’s various foreign subsidiaries reporting directly to him along with executives responsible for sales, marketing, R&D and operations. He most recently served as executive vice president of Shuffle Master. “When you look at the impressive lineup of innovative products and services that Shuffle Master is poised to deliver over the next several years, it makes for a very promising future,” Lopez said. For more information, visit www.shufflemaster.com.
EASITRAX Soft Count Installed at Fire Rock Navajo Casino
Fire Rock Navajo Casino is operating with MEI CASHFLOW SC bill validators, which are equipped with EASITRAX Soft Count across its entire slot floor. “We have been able to drop our whole floor in less than five hours instead of the multiple drops it took before we fully implemented the system, freeing up the majority of our drop team members and technicians time,” said Paul Hamm, slot manager. “MEI is committed to creating products that provide value to the operators” said Eric Fisher, MEI vice president, Americas. “This was demonstrated through the development of EASITRAX Soft Count and will continue with future product enhancements,” For more information, visit www.meigroup.com.
GLI Expands Development Team
Gaming Laboratories International is expanding its Supplier Development Team, increasing its focus on suppliers in the Eastern United States in the process. Leading the effort is David Elmore, GLI’s newest supplier development representative. Elmore will be based in the company’s headquarters in Lakewood, N.J., and will service clients up and down the eastern seaboard. While new to the development team, Elmore has been with GLI since 2007 as a technical compliance engineer, where he worked extensively with Atlantic Lottery Corp., Loto-Quebec and New Brunswick Gaming in VLT/ testing and verification. For more information, visit www.gaminglabs.com.
AGS Appoints Miodunski, Launches New Website
American Gaming Systems (AGS) announced it has appointed gaming industry veteran Robert L. Miodunski as its chairman, interim president and chief executive officer. Miodunski, who guided one of the most remarkable corporate turnarounds in the gaming industry as CEO of Alliance Gaming Corp., was lured out of retirement by San Francisco-based Alpine Investors, which has stated its intent to make AGS a more influential player in the gaming equipment market. Miodunski retired as CEO of Alliance Gaming in September 2004.
Also, AGS has launched a new version of its website that includes new useful tools. Clients can sign up as a member, giving them access to product information. The problem reporting and password recovery tools have been made live, and a dynamic news and a careers section has been added. For more information, visit www.ags-llc.com.
SPIELO Signs Agreement to Distribute VGTs in Illinois
SPIELO Manufacturing ULC has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with American Gaming & Electronics, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wells-Gardner Electronics Corp., to distribute SPIELO’s prodiGi Vu™ Video Gaming Terminal (VGT) and game content to licensed operators in the new Illinois VGT market. This distribution agreement replaces the nonbinding letter of intent announced in November 2009. For more information, visit www.spielo.com.
FutureLogic Expands Support Across Asia-Pacific Region
FutureLogic announced today that it has expanded its customer service and technical support team across the Asia-Pacific region with the appointment of Technical Sales Manager Barry Cook and Office Administrator Candy Tong. A gaming industry veteran for over 30 years, Cook will provide technical sales support and expertise on behalf of FutureLogic to OEMs and casinos across the Asia-Pacific region. Tong, a Macau citizen, will head sales operations and logistics activities for FutureLogic Asia, headquartered in Macau. For more information, visit www.futurelogic-inc.com.
Incredible Technologies Adds Nicastro to Casino Game Sales Force
John Nicastro II
Incredible Technologies (IT) announced that John Nicastro II has been named regional sales manager for the company’s casino gaming division. Nicastro brings 15 years of sales and product development experience to IT, specializing in market analysis and product rollout strategies on the manufacturer, supplier and developer sides of the industry. Nicastro will serve as the sales lead for the company’s Magic Touch® collection in the Midwest, as well as various offshore and Caribbean market opportunities. For more information, visit www.itcasinogames.com.
Gary Platt Ships to North Carolina, California, Pennsylvania
Gary Platt Manufacturing shipped 1227 Gazelle style seats to Harrah’s Cherokee West Casino in Cherokee, N.C. The new seating features Cashmere ebony upholstery on the seats and custom Designtex Prism Brass fabric on the outside backs. Gary Platt Manufacturing also shipped 400 Sierra Style chairs to Rincon Casino in Valley Center, Calif. The chairs are upholstered in Saucy Anise and have a custom gold vein understructure. Parx Casino in Bensalem, Pa., received 415 of Gary Platt’s new designer chairs through their distributor GPI. The Truckee style chair was designed especially for Parx Casino. For more information, visit www.garyplatt.com.
AGI Argentina Expands Sales and Service Support into Uruguay
AGI Argentina S.A., the wholly owned subsidiary of Austrian Gaming Industries GmbH, has further expanded its local team in order to provide excellent service and support offerings for customers in both Argentina and Uruguay. Newly appointed Technical Manager Javier Battistin will, together with sales manager Laureano Bonorino, be a top qualified contact for AGI’s regional customers and partners. Battistin has been working as a technician in the gaming industry for eight years, with his last position being as a technical manager at Bingo Adrogue. He now brings his vast experience and skills into the rapidly expanding AGI Argentina. For more information, visit www.austrian-gaming.com.


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Funding is one of the biggest challenges that entrepreneurs face when launching their own company. And getting it is not easy. But now, Trust·u, a new SME-oriented financing model, aims to help recently created companies overcome this hurdle by offering loans to startups that are able to convince relatives and friends to support them.
BBVA has created the Global Patent Office (GPO), whose objective is to identify, during the Group's transformation process, the areas of innovative activity, in order to coordinate the efforts to protect BBVA’s intellectual property.
Seven Israeli startups took part in "Pitch Day" at the BBVA Innovation Center, where they presented the fintech proposals with which they seek to collaborate in the transformation of financial services, with the help of digital institutions like BBVA.
Drones, tractors with GPS and data transmission, driverless cars moving around factories…more and more products are reaching the supermarkets from agro-food companies with state-of-the-art technology.
At MoneyConf, the head of the venture capital fund Propel Venture Partners stressed “the importance of specialized firms, to avoid overfinancing and overestimating the value of companies”.
BBVA’s Global Head of Customer Solutions, Derek White, explained this morning that “It’s not longer about products, but about helping customers with their financial lives.” White participated in MoneyConf’s panel “Competition makes you smarter: Customer Centric banking,” where he exchanged ideas with Zopa CEO Jaidev Janardana and moderator Andrea Rexer, finance editor at Süddeutsche Zeitung.
Regulators, technology providers and experts analyzed the role of cloud computing in the development and consolidation of digital banking during the Latin American Regulators seminar organized by BBVA Bancomer and the IDB.
For two days, global experts will discuss the future of banking, fintech firms, blockchain, and mobile payments. BBVA’s Global Executive Chairman will give the closing presentation at the event.


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The overall global tablet market had a great quarter in the first three months of 2021—and Apple did the best of all. According to a new report by International Data Corporation (IDC), 39.9 million tablets were shipped around the world in Q1, representing a 55.2% jump in terms of year-on-year growth.
Of these, Apple shipped 12.7 million tablets, making up a 31.7% slice of the market. That means that approximately one out of every three tablets shipped in the quarter was an iPad. Provided the IDC figures are accurate, Apple even managed to outperform the already strong tablet growth market average, by showcasing a massive 64.3% year-on-year increase.
Ranking the Tablet Makers
According to Apple’s recently reported earnings, iPad sales soared by close to 79% to reach $ 7.80 billion during the quarter.
Anuroopa Nataraj, research analyst with IDC’s Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers, said that:
While vaccine rollouts and businesses returning to offices may slow down the work-from-home trend, we are still far from returning to ‘normal’ working conditions and hence the demand for tablets, especially detachables, is expected to continue for a while. However, as buyers increasingly turn towards competing products, such as thin and light notebooks for work or entertainment and Chromebooks for education, the future of tablets will remain under constant competition, leaving the heavy lifting to larger brands such as Apple, Samsung, Amazon, and Microsoft.
In second place with 20% of the market was Samsung, which reportedly shipped 8 million tablets in the quarter. Third place went to Lenovo, which shipped 3.8 million, while fourth place to Amazon, which shipped 3.5 million. The overall biggest growth over the three-month period was Amazon, which grew its tablet business by 143%.
No, This Doesn’t Reflect M1 iPad Pro
It’s worth noting that—for somewhat obvious reasons—Apple’s exciting new iPad Pro, the first iPad to boast Apple’s M1 Apple Silicon chip, doesn’t factor into these shipment figures. That new tablet was only unveiled this month at Apple’s Spring Loaded event. It is scheduled to arrive in the second half of May, with the first units probably shipping out to customers on or around May 21.
Given that Bloomberg has reported that some of the high-end iPad Pro units won’t ship to customers until sometime in July, after the end of Q2, we may well be waiting for as long as October before we get a sense of what the new iPad Pro means for Apple’s overall tablet sales.
With COVID (hopefully) less of a factor than ever by then, it will be interesting to see whether the pandemic “working-from-home” boost to tablet sales continues when things start getting back to normal.


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The Antigua & Barbuda Tourism Authority will launch its 2016 advertising campaign on April 20th, with the objective of maximising on the recent visitor growth and working more closely with the trade.
The new print and digital ad campaign will showcase Antigua and Barbuda under the themes of luxury, romance and fun/active.
The microsite will go live from next week.
This year’s campaign aims to generate bookings in the traditionally quieter summer months and for the following peak season.
Antigua looks to continue the momentum of positive visitor growth over the past year where June to December 2015 saw double digit growth.
The tourist board has doubled the budget for this advertising campaign compared to last year to meet these aims.
A number of operators contributed to the campaign including Virgin Holidays, BA Holidays, Kuoni, Hayes and Jarvis, ITC Luxury, Caribtours and Gold Medal as Antigua seeks to strengthen its partnership working with the trade, driving awareness and interest in the destination.
Both Virgin Atlantic and British Airways are also participating.
The new ads are the second phase of the “Our island life” campaign which started in November 2015; a 16-sheet poster campaign, which ran across high footfall, centrally-located London underground stations ahead of the key winter and January sales period.
The visuals for this set of ads were shot in association with Cocos Hotel and Jolly Beach.
Jean-Marc Flambert, vice president sales and marketing UK & Europe at the Antigua & Barbuda Tourism Authority commented: “Antigua and Barbuda is committed to increasing numbers and value of tourism to the island.
“Ahead of new hotel openings in the coming years, we need to grow the demand and awareness for the islands.
“We hope that this campaign will increase business for tour operators and travel agents selling Antigua and Barbuda.”


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Car finance drives consumers round the bend - 9 in 10 UK adults confused by car finance options
9 in 10 can't identify cheapest finance deal
Nearly half of car buyers can't identify the car finance they signed up for
1 in 4 car buyers have taken out a car finance option they didn't think they could afford
Latest report comes in wake of FCA's investigation into excessive motor finance costs
Car buyers could save themselves nearly £11,000 over the course of their lifetime by working out the best finance deal
Choosing the make or model of car you want to buy can be hard enough, but our latest research reveals that Brits are becoming increasingly confused when picking the best car finance option to fund their purchase.
Nearly half* (47%) of those who have recently bought a car with finance can't identify what type of car finance deal they actually signed up for.
In fact, our research estimates that the average car buyer could save up to £11,000** over the course of their lifetime just by working out the best finance deal.
However, when it comes to working out the best available option, many find it impossible to do so. We asked 2,000 UK consumers*** to pick out the cheapest deal from five common car finance options (listed below). The vast majority -- nine in 10 -- were unable to choose the lowest cost option.
The study also revealed that over two thirds of UK adults (68%) have accepted the first car finance deal offered to them at a dealership, without shopping around for a better deal. A further 48% of people taking out car finance at a dealership admitted to finding the whole process stressful.
These complex finance deals, baffling jargon, stressful dealership experiences and difficulties faced comparing prices are leaving Brits confused and paying more than they need to; with car buyers admitting they don't understand the language (19%), or the finance options explained to them (16%).
The study included a range of common options available to people looking to purchase a standard hatchback. These included hire purchase loans, PCP (Personal Contract Purchase) deals, and personal loans, with different rates, different deposit amounts, and time periods.
Choosing the best car finance deal for a 2017 Ford Focus priced at £12,000
[img loading="lazy" width="1024" height="447" src="https://blog.zopa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Car-finance-myths-blog-1-1024x447.png" alt="" class="wp-image-10330" srcset="https://blog.zopa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Car-finance-myths-blog-1-1024x447.png 1024w, https://blog.zopa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Car-finance-myths-blog-1-300x131.png 300w, https://blog.zopa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Car-finance-myths-blog-1-768x335.png 768w, https://blog.zopa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Car-finance-myths-blog-1.png 1031w" sizes="(max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px">
Finding the cheapest option isn't easy
Only one in 10 can identify cheapest option: The cheapest option for people looking to buy a car was Option 2 -- a hire purchase loan at 12% APR over 5 years with a deposit of £4,000 -- amounting to £14,530 at the end of the term. However only 10 per cent of UK adults correctly identified this option.
11% believe most expensive is the cheapest: In contrast, Option 4 -- a flat rate hire purchase loan at 12% over 4 years and a deposit of £1,000 -- was the most expensive at £17,280, although 11 per cent believed this to be the most affordable. This was much more expensive because it is a flat rate loan, which means people pay interest on the amount that they borrowed at the beginning of the loan and not on the money they still owe -- making the interest rate in this example nearly 23%. Many car finance providers or dealerships still use flat rate loans rather than APR to make loans appear cheaper than they are.
3 in 10 chose the third best option: Option 1 was a personal loan of £12,000 over 5 years at an APR of 10% -- not secured on the car, nor with an initial deposit
Option 3 -- a PCP loan at 11% APR over 4 years with a £1,500 deposit -- had the cheapest monthly cost at £190 per month but was the second most expensive at an overall cost of £15,285, including a balloon payment of £4,630. Car buyers using PCP and looking to own the car need to be mindful that they will pay a one-off lumpsum at the end of the finance deal.
Stress and confusion weighing on consumers
In March, the Financial Conduct Authority found that people using finance to buy a car may have been overcharged on their interest payments by £1,000 or more because of the way lenders pay commissions to motor dealers, with the FCA set to further investigate how commission works in the industry.
To complement its study, Zopa commissioned research amongst people who had bought a car with finance recently to get an understanding of the issues people face.
Most concerningly, it found that 26% of consumers had accepted a higher APR on a car finance deal than they thought they could afford, with the majority of those people (50%) using it to buy the car of their dreams. Another 26% of people had done so where they needed a car urgently.
Zopa research also found that 48% of people taking out car finance at a dealership found the whole process stressful. Wrapped into this is the fact that many dealerships still leave unnecessary hard marks on a car buyer's credit file before they've received a personalised quote -- impacting their credit score in a way that is likely to reduce the chance that they will get credit from other lenders.
Most worrying is that so few consumers are aware that the industry is doing this, with two in three people (69%) taking out car finance in the last five years having no idea whether they received a hard credit check when they first inquired about a car.
The future of car finance
Zopa says that while today over 90% of secured car finance is arranged at dealerships, and with the FCA set to rule on how commission works in the industry, customers do have alternative options which can help them avoid much of the stress, confusion, and uncertainty that's common in the market today.
For instance, car buyers can arrange their secured finance online before choosing their car. At Zopa, customers can be conditionally approved for hire purchase finance at a guaranteed interest rate, with no hard mark on their credit file until the point of application, and then choose a car whilst having the peace of mind that Zopa will background check the car and the dealer, and sort out the paperwork and money with the dealership.
Zopa offers hire purchase car finance directly to customers via its website, price comparison sites, through select brokers which have a good customer service rating and only via reputable dealers.
**Didier Baclin, Zopa's Chief Product Officer, commented: **"Buying a car is a major financial decision, yet it's so complex it's nearly impossible for people to work out the best finance option.
"In the wake of the FCA's report into the car finance market, Zopa wants to provide a better alternative for people looking to buy a car, doing away with the complex finance deals and baffling jargon. Our aim is to help create a fairer and more transparent car market so that people can take out car finance knowing what they're signing up for and whether its right for them."
"At Zopa, people looking for a hassle-free car buying experience can either go via our select broker partners or can sort out their finance online before going to a dealership, putting them in complete control of how they finance their next car."
*Car finance research carried out amongst 1,000 car finance customers between 19 July and 25 July 2019.
**Zopa analysis of The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) data. 7.9 million used cars were sold in 2018, around 3 times the 2.36 million new cars registered. This implies that each car has around four owners before it is scrapped at 14 years, with average length of ownership at 3.5 years. Using the average length of car ownership, from the age of 18 to 70 we estimate that a British adult would own 15 cars. In 2018, 26% of private cars were bought on finance (new and used), suggesting that UK adults will buy at least four cars on finance in their lifetime. Our research found a £2,750 gap between the most affordable car finance deal and the most expensive, for the same vehicle -- which works out at £11,000 over the course of an entire lifetime.
***Omnibus research carried out amongst 2,000 UK adults on 19 July 2019.
Choosing the best car finance deal for a 2017 Ford Focus priced at £12,000
[img loading="lazy" width="715" height="395" src="https://blog.zopa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Car-finance-myths-blog-2.png" alt="" class="wp-image-10331" srcset="https://blog.zopa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Car-finance-myths-blog-2.png 715w, https://blog.zopa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Car-finance-myths-blog-2-300x166.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 715px) 100vw, 715px">
Option 3 -- a PCP loan at 11% APR over 4 years with a £1,500 deposit -- had the cheapest monthly cost at £190 per month but was the second most expensive at an overall cost of £15,285, including a balloon payment of £4,630. This option fooled 10 per cent into thinking it was the best. Car buyers using PCP and looking to own the car need to be mindful that they will pay a one-off lump sum at the end of the finance deal.
Option 1 was a personal loan of £12,000 over 5 years at an APR of 10% -- and not secured on the car. It had no deposit which may have led 30 per cent of UK adults into thinking it was the best deal, despite being the third best option.
Option 5, meanwhile, was a PCP loan with a £3,000 trade-in at 14% APR over three years making it the second most affordable option, which 38 per cent of people selected as the top deal. The total cost of the finance included a balloon payment of £4,400 at the end of the term


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Arkansas AG warns of jury duty scam, local county clerk has tips
"Intimidation and impersonation are common practices for con artists."
By KTLO Staff
Attorney General Leslie Rutledge is warning Arkansans to be wary of con artists attempting to convince unsuspecting consumers that they have missed jury duty and are facing law enforcement action. Rutledge says The scammers often call consumers under the guise of representing a law enforcement agency or court official, claiming that the individual faces a fine or imprisonment for missing jury duty. Read more.


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A Super Nintendo-themed New Nintendo 3DS XL has appeared on Amazon’s U.S. website despite no official announcement from Nintendo so far.
First spied this morning by Wario64 on Twitter, the handheld is $199.99 and has a Nov. 27 launch date. Amazon is taking pre-orders.
Europe got an SNES-themed 3DS on Oct. 13 (announced Aug. 22 at GamesCom). That design was the same as the one launched last March in Japan. Of course, the console’s design in those two regions was different, so the North American version of the SNES 3DS XL isn’t the same.
SNES games have been available on the 3DS Virtual Console since March 2016, but only for the New Nintendo 3DS, not earlier models.
Here’s a closer look at the unit’s design.


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The sports-focused streaming service FuboTV is acquiring sports betting operator Vigtory, with plans to launch a sports betting app that will integrate with the streaming platform. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Vigtory, founded in 2019, hasn’t yet launched but has a deal with Casino Queen to go live in Iowa. Scott Butera, a former gaming executive at MGM Resorts International and commissioner of the Arena Football League, is co-CEO of Vigtory. The sports tech investment firm SeventySix Capital invested in Vigtory.
“The pandemic has certainly accelerated the pace of innovation and technology in sports,” Wayne Kimmel, founder of SeventySix Capital, told SportTechie. “This is a really unique transaction because of how quickly it happened. We funded [Vigtory] in December of 2019 and now we’re selling the company to a multi-billion dollar media company.”
FuboTV CEO David Gandler said in a statement: “We not only expect sports wagering to become a new line of business and source of revenue, but we also expect that it will increase user engagement on FuboTV resulting in higher ad monetization, better subscriber retention and reduced subscriber acquisition costs.”
FuboTV also plans to launch a free-to-play gaming app this summer, which is being built through its earlier acquisition of Balto. “Our free-to-play gaming experience, which will be available to all consumers, will build further scale to FuboTV, essentially acting as another lead generator for driving subscribers to our streaming video platform and, ultimately, our sportsbook,” Gandler added.


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Due to lackluster sales and huge evaluation losses on marketable securities, Nissan Motor Co. on Friday announced a downward revision of its unconsolidated business forecast for the 1997 business year.
Nissan’s sales forecast declined to 3.55 trillion yen from an earlier projection of 3.7 trillion yen, and its pretax profit forecast dropped to 57.7 billion yen from 100 billion yen. As a result, its projected net income declined to 16.5 billion yen from an earlier forecast of 55 billion yen, the firm said.
The automaker also reported 50.4 billion yen in evaluation losses on marketable securities as the Japanese stock markets plunged. With sluggish sales in North America and in the domestic market, Nissan also announced that its consolidated sales revenues are likely to drop 2.4 percent to 6.5 trillion yen from the 1996 business year, while its pretax profit will decrease as much as 82.2 percent to 25 billion yen from a year earlier.
In North America, its vehicle sales dropped between 130,000 and 140,000 units from the previous year, mainly due to the unpopularity of its passenger cars, the firm said.
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So finally Apple has reached its dreamed position officially Apple has beat Nokia to become the world’s top smartphone vendor. According to the report of Financial Times, Apple has officially beat Nokia by shipping more units shipments of their devices in the first quarter, where Apple has growing rapidly with large number of shipments, Financial Times writes in the report:
Shipments of Nokia smartphones declined by 34 per cent to 16.7m units, compared with the 20.3m iPhones shipped by Apple in its second quarter.
Apple was already the biggest smartphone maker by revenue and profits, but the April-June period marked the first time it had surpassed Nokia in volume.
From long time Apple is about to take over the market of smartphones from the biggest leaders Nokia and Research In Motion, Apple has surpassed the RIM sales in global market back in the third quarter of last year, and now this rapidly reaching the Nokia’s place by shipping more smartphones and claims to lead the market in past quarter of the year. Well Apple has face many times big competition from Android in last few years, but as we know there are lot of mobile vendors that ships Android with their devices and all of them has less than half sell of Apple.