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There’s some interesting reading from The Department for Transport http://www.dft.gov.uk about THINK! it’s latest road safety campaign. It reminds all of us of some top tips to help children be seen when out and about on the roads, particularly important as the days get shorter and we head into Winter…
According to the DfT, Britain’s roads are among the safest in the world and the number of children killed has fallen by 82% in the last 20 years. However, the fact remains that 81 children still died on our roads last year.
At Neil Hudgell Law, we’re behind any measure to do more to cut this toll. So here are THINK!’s top tips for making sure children are visible:
Wear brightly coloured or fluorescent clothing which shows up well in daylight and at dusk.
If you’re out and about when it’s dark, wear reflective gear to make sure you can be seen in car headlights. Reflective vests, sashes or wristbands work well. Remember, fluorescent clothing doesn’t work after dark.
Use accessories – even small items such as clip-on reflectors, fluorescent arm bands and stickers on your school bag are a great way to improve your visibility.
If you like to cycle, remember that it’s the law to have clean and working lights at night (white at the front and red at the back) as well as a rear reflector.
Being bright isn’t the only way to stay safer. If you’re out at night, choose routes and crossing places that are well lit and remember to always use the Green Cross Code.
The THINK! Tales of the Road website has interactive games and exercises explaining the importance of being visible on the road. Children can visit: http://talesoftheroad.direct.gov.uk/be-bright.php.


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Boden chief executive Julian Granville has said he is gloomy about prospects for the UK retail market, despite reporting strong growth.
He warned that the chancellor’s plans for tax rises and deep cuts in public spending would dent consumers’ disposable income.
Boden this week reported a 16% rise in pre-tax profits to £28.7m in the year to December 31, 2009, but Granville said: “I’m pretty pessimistic about short to medium-term prospects for the UK economy. The combination of spending cuts, the rise in VAT and other taxes and the inevitable rise in interest rates will combine to reduce disposable income in our target market and that of most retailers in the UK.”
However, Granville said he was confident that Boden would prove resilient to any further dip in the UK economy.
He said if Boden can “produce a product that is differentiated by the mass market by being unable to get it elsewhere” then the market will be even better for the retailer.
Boden sales surged 20.1% to £201.9m for the year, representing a 10.8% rise at constant exchange rates. Current trading has held up, with sales increasing 15% to June 30, with the UK market “strong”.
Granville said Boden had tentative plans to expand its online and catalogue business into a couple of northern European markets over the next year or two.

domain: news


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Ride-hailing company Lyft is expanding its presence in San Antonio with the opening of a new driver support center and a partnership with Hertz.
The new center at 8610 Broadway St. will host trainings, dispense supplies and help with driver needs. It will also serve as Lyft’s headquarters in San Antonio, housing the company’s local marketing and operations employees.
Lyft is also partnering with Hertz to launch a Express Drive program at 8770 Crownhill Blvd. near San Antonio International Airport. Lyft drivers will be able to rent cars from the facility and Lyft will handle the insurance, said Janet Peavy, Lyft’s San Antonio marketing manager.
“Now drivers don’t even need to own their own car to access our platform,” she said during an announcement at the new center Thursday.
The cost starts at $209 per week, but Lyft drivers can earn rewards by driving more and “some or all” of the costs could be covered by those rewards, according to the company’s website.
Support centers and similar programs in other cities have proven to be popular, Peavy said. In San Antonio, the program could appeal to the military community, she added. Some young recruits may not be able to afford a car and people in between tours of duty would have the flexibility of renting cars from the facility, she said.
email@example.com | Twitter: @madisoniszler


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Three new businesses have opened at the Oasis Health Club. Following on from the Orwell Street club’s £300,000 refurbishment started in December, entrepreneurs have found the ideal home for their new ventures.
Grimsby Institute graduate, Lauren Amy Wright, who is a member of the fitness club said she “jumped” at the chance to start her new boutique business Law Amour.
She has an eye for fashion, as well as detail and sourced a fabulous range of formal and casual wear and soon will have gym outfits for sale. The Bardot tops are eye-catching and there is a wide range of jeans.
Lauren said: “It looks so much brighter than it was before.”
She told how her late-grandmother Joan Wilson, who passed away two years ago, was at the forefront of her mind when she created the stunning angel wings decoration and the ever-lasting pink rose which has pride of place in the boutique. Its walls are decorated with feathers to remind her of her nanna, as when a white feather floats near, it is a symbol of a loved one looking over you.
She thanked her mum and dad, Gill and Lee Wright for helping get her started in her business venture.
There are six stylists in ......@hair studio, hence the six dots at the start of the name of the studio.
Payge Blythe, Jonathon Marc Mendes, Cheryl Marshall, Scott Smith, Livvy Allott and Georgie Sleeman have nearly 80 years of hairdressing experience between them.
Payge said: “We are all a good team and we have a lot of customers who are regular visitors. We have a good mix of ages. People come for the atmosphere.
“We work like a family and we are joined like a family like the rest of Oasis.”
The team provide all colour services, blow dry cuts and wedding and prom packages.
Jonathon recalled his service to well-known faces Sophie Powles, Melinda Messenger and Linda Robson.
Bookings can be made on 01472 349597 and the studio is open 9am to 7pm.
Oasis general manager, Tracey Mills welcomed the new businesses and said they augmented the major refurbishment to the gym club, which has 1,700 members. There is also a new steam room.
Tracey said Sonnie’s barbers will be opening soon to enhance the services at the gym which started in 1990.
Tracey said: “It is such a friendly atmosphere. with a wide range of members from 16 years to over 80.
“They are all getting results.”
She said experts can provide individual fitness packages and eating plans and she demonstrated the science behind exercise.
The gym’s cafe, serving a range of foods and coffees, is open to non-members too.
Elegance Beauty Lounge
For Laura Hirst, Elegance Beauty Lounge is the second beauty salon she has opened since starting her profession 16 years ago.
She has added the new salon to Sheer Radiance Beauty on Fieldhouse Road, Humberston.
The experienced therapist who began at the renowned Ragdale Hall at Melton Mowbray is now providing a range of services including pregnancy massage, facials and body treatments and wraps.
Laura can also do LVL lashes which lifts them and gives new life to them by making them darker.
She also gives manicures and pedicures.
“My first salon has been really successful so I thought it was time to have another. I have clients in their 80s as well as young customers and the more mature,” she said.
She is assisted by Jade Brewitt and Karen Seward-Williams.
They specialise in Elemis products and Scentered products.
Laura said: “I have worked with Elemis since I started and I love the brand which provides excellent results.”
In conjunction with the salon is a new service providing medical aesthetics with the expert hands of Mandy Newton and Dr Sanjay Duhan. They provide Botox treatments and fillers and facial regeneration.
Dermaroller treatments are given to help those suffering from acne as it helps stimulate collagen and improves blood supply.


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The company, which had planned to operate its first flight from Stockholm Arlanda to London Gatwick on October 3rd, says that the start date is now uncertain.
FlyMe said in a press release on Monday that earlier estimates of passenger volumes were now uncertain.
“The events in London are terrible and could potentially have an effect on people’s travel,” said FlyMe managing director Fredrik Skanselid.
“For a small start-up company like FlyMe it is extremely important to have as much up-to-date information as possible, before we start new routes. At the moment we consider that our previous calculations of this market could change,” he said.
The company’s statement also said that passengers who have already booked trips to London would be contacted by FlyMe.


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Police are warning shoplifters that they’ll continue to work with retailers and their security staff in the ongoing fight against thefts from shops.
This comes as 25-year-old Guisborough man Callum Jack Hunter was sentenced to a 12-week prison sentence for thefts from a shop in the town.
Hunter was arrested on 6th December and questioned in connection with theft of coffee on 29th November and 1st December, as well as the theft of electrical equipment on the second date.
He was charged and appeared at court the following day where the custodial sentence was handed to him.
East Cleveland Neighbourhoods Inspector Neil Deluce said: “Retail crime affects stores, their staff and ultimately the honest majority of customers since the cost of stolen items is often passed on.
“Those who believe they can help themselves to whatever they like from shops should be warned that we’ll continue to work with retailers and our local authority partners to tackle this crime, doing all we can to bring offenders before the courts where a custodial sentence is a real possibility.”


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After unusually strong second and third quarters, the desktop graphics card market saw exceptional growth in shipments in the fourth quarter of last year, according to a new report by Jon Peddie Research. The market research firm says unit shipments increased by a staggering 50.3% between Q4 2006 and Q4 2007, and a still-impressive 23% sequentially between Q3 and Q4 2007. The overall value of the desktop graphics card market also increased 46.3% year-over-year, but lower average selling prices actually led to a sequential decrease of 0.6%.
Looking at market share, JPR's numbers suggest that AMD actually lost a fair amount of ground to Nvidia in Q4 despite the arrival of its Radeon HD 3800 series. Nvidia reportedly expanded its slice of the desktop graphics card market from 64% in the third quarter to 71%, leaving AMD with less than a third of all shipments. The report JPR sent us doesn't include any speculation on the cause of Nvidia's gains, but we'd be willing to bet the late October launch of the popular GeForce 8800 GT had something to do with it.
|Report: Comcast will abandon Time Warner acquisition||59|
|Friday Night Shortbread||71|
|Acer's Switch 10 is a svelte, Atom-powered convertible||19|
|Hardware makers want to standardize the stylus||46|
|Deal of the week: The M500 960GB for $290, Battlefield Hardline for $36, and lots more||23|
|Thermaltake's Pacific radiators come in all the sizes||12|
|Modders can now charge for their work on Steam Workshop||265|
|Samsung's new 840 EVO fix starts trickling out||26|
|Arkham Knight requires at least 2GB of graphics memory||116|


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Wireless chargers are starting to make inroads into the consumers' psyche but still hasn't grasped enough of the market to become the next big thing. But that could very well be changing soon, especially with one of the US' largest automobile manufacturers pushing to include it in some of next year's models.
app that OnStar offers for Android smartphones before. The app called RemoteLink has been updated to support a new navigation feature that some drivers will find very appealing. The app allows the user to search for a destination on the smartphone and then send it directly to the vehicle.
Wired has the scoop straight from Neeraj Choubey, GM of Dell's tablet division, that there will be "a family of tablets" which will "scale up to a variety of sizes." So it seems the Mini5 will not be alone.


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Maumee, Ohio – Spicer high-performance chromoly axle shafts – optimized for use with larger tires – have been introduced by Dana Holding Corporation (NYSE: DAN). The new Spicer® chromoly axle shafts are manufactured using SAE-4340 nickel chromoly steel for maximum strength and durability and are heat treated to ensure optimal hardness throughout.
Jeep recently announced big news that the Jeep brand recorded sales of more than 1 million units across the globe in 2014, setting a new all-time record for the third consecutive year. Sales of 1,017,019 Jeep vehicles bettered the brand’s 2013 record of 731,565 by 39 percent.
CYPRESS, CA – On the heels of a successful introduction last September, Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. is nearly doubling the size offerings for the Open Country R/T. Designed for light trucks and outdoor adventure vehicles, the Open Country R/T is built rugged for any terrain. It offers the perfect blend of excellent off-road traction, durable construction, and aggressive styling, with less on-road noise and a longer-lasting tread.
GREENVILLE, SC – On the heels of one of the most successful desert racing seasons in recent memory, BFGoodrich Tires is highlighting its championship race tire products and a strong contingency program for the winner of the 2015 King of the Hammers held February 6 in Johnson Valley, Calif.
Once again this year, BFGoodrich Tires will offer racers a $5000 contingency award for the winner of the King of the Hammers race if running on its product. Additionally, the company will offer a $2500 award for the winner of the Smittybilt Every Man Challenge if on BFGoodrich products
Fab Fours universal Roof Rack is the perfect addition for your vehicle. It’s available in three sizes: 48, 60, 72 inches in length, fitting everything from trucks to SUVs. The rack provides tie-downs and can accommodate (4) 2×2 Square LED Lights, (2) 50“ light bars for the front and (2) 50“ light bars for the back. Modular design allows mounting wherever necessary. The rack features integrated zip-tie holes for wiring. It comes available powder coated matte black or bare steel.
The BlueRibbon Coalition (BRC) would like to announce the continuation of its search for an Executive Director to lead the organization, which champions responsible use of public lands and land access for outdoor recreation nation-wide. We welcome all qualifying applicants.
The Executive Director is hired by the BRC Board of Directors and serves as a full time, salaried BRC employee to execute the business of the BlueRibbon Coalition, excepting for those functions reserved for the Board in its by-laws.
The Executive Director will be responsible to manage BRC staff, to develop and execute a plan to achieve the coalition’s goals, and to properly present the “public face” of BRC through various communication formats, including social and print media, oral and written presentations and other forms of outreach.
The Omix-ADA Jeep Wrangler JK Sport featured at the 2014 SEMA Show raised $85,000 to benefit SEMA Cares charities through the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The Wrangler was purchased using funds from Omix-ADA’s 2013 SEMA Cares donation and then customized through a collaboration with the Alex Xydias Center for Automotive Arts. The upfitted, dirt-ready Jeep features $30,000 in aftermarket parts and accessories. As part of the build, a team of students from the school modified the standard four-door JK Sport at the SEMA Garage in Diamond Bar, California, using parts from several donor companies.
January 9, 2015, Auburn Hills, Mich. – When doors open at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) 2015 in Detroit, a trio of customized vehicles will showcase how Mopar is ready to help owners personalize their rides. Two of the vehicles are Mopar-equipped Jeep Renegades vehicles and the other is a Dodge Challenger T/A Concept, which will be on display from January 12–25 at the Cobo Center in Detroit.
ARROYO GRANDE, California – Stream music wirelessly to your race intercom with the new WM1, Wireless Music Interface from Rugged Radios. Never before has streaming music to your intercom been so easy and affordable.
The clear and powerful WM1 provides a true Bluetooth certified connection from your audio device to your intercom.
SAN DIEGO – Jan. 6, 2015 – WD-40 Company and PowerNation are teaming up to give away a custom-built, one-of-a-kind off-road vehicle to one lucky winner in the WD-40 Specialist Xtreme Machine Giveaway.


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The newest iteration of Apple’s signature iPhone and several other products were formally revealed to the world at a special event held last September 7th at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, CA – and market watchers were surprised to learn that they’ll be offered at the same price as the products launched last year.
The decision regarding product pricing flies in the face of analysts’ forecasts that Apple would jack prices up by as much as 15% to offset the increased cost of several product components.
Standard pricing for the iPhone 14 has been set at $799, while the deluxe iPhone Pro Max is priced at $1,099. While base prices in North America have not changed since the launch of the iPhone’s previous iteration, it is expected that prices will be higher for basic models elsewhere in the world, as well as for upgraded editions.
At the same time, the Apple Watch Series 8 – the newest edition of the Apple Watch – has been priced at around $399. The more technologically advanced Watch Ultra, on the other hand, will retail at $799 per unit.
People Still Love Apple
But while iPhones are still selling better than most of their Android-driven competitors, exorbitant inflation rates have curbed consumers’ tech lust, so to speak, hence a recent decline in smartphone sales across the globe.
However, Apple’s decision to keep iPhone prices down at the same level as they were last year is not without potential repercussions. The company may undermine its profits if inflation drives up the cost of production, though the company can easily afford to cover the additional costs. In the first half of this year, Apple has already earned $44 billion in profits.
Likewise, the company could also boost its bottom line if more customers opt to buy the more expensive Pro and Pro Max iPhones instead of merely upgrading their existing mobile devices. This is expected to deliver a greater profit margin than less expensive models. Apple also expects that more people will be willing to pay up to $300 more for deluxe editions of the latest iPhone.
Although Apple products are among the most expensive in the mobile telecommunications sector, consumers are still buying new models or upgrading from previous versions. As of June 30th, the company has already sold approximately 106 million iPhones, 8% more than the figure registered at the same time last year.


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The Chinese e-commerce giant raises its initial stock price today, putting it on course for the largest initial stock offering in history.
The company that claims to be “the largest online and mobile commerce company in the world” may be about to claim the record for the highest-value initial stock offering in history.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., which has been pitching its shares to investors for the past week in advance of a planned initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, today raised its projection of the initial price of its shares. The company, which generates the vast majority of its revenue from its operations in China, now says it expects its shares will be offered initially at between $66 and $68, up from its previous estimate of $60 to $66, according to a filing today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Alibaba has said it expects 368 million of its shares will be sold in the IPO. At $66 per share that would net the company and its shareholders $24.3 billion; at $68 the take would be just over $25 billion.
Even at the lower price, the IPO would exceed the record for world’s largest IPO, the $22.1 billion raised by Agricultural Bank of China in 2010. It would easily surpass the largest U.S. technology stock market debut in which Facebook Inc. raised $16 billion in 2012.
The increased offering price was predicted in various media accounts, which quoted sources as saying big investors were signing up in large numbers to buy Alibaba’s stock during the company’s presentations around the U.S., which began last week. Alibaba has not commented, as it is in a mandated quiet period ahead of its IPO.
Alibaba makes most of its money from its two big online marketplaces in China, Taobao and Tmall, where more than 8 million mostly small Chinese companies sold in the company’s most recent fiscal year to 279 million consumers. The total value of goods sold on the Alibaba marketplaces in the three-month period ended June 30 exceeded that of Amazon.com Inc. and eBay Inc. combined, by Internet Retailer estimates.
The company is also highly profitable, booking more than $2 billion in net income for its most recent fiscal quarter, although about half of that profit came from an upward revaluation of certain assets. Alibaba is more like eBay than Amazon in that it does not own merchandise itself, instead acting as a selling platform for other merchants. And, as eBay owns PayPal, Alibaba created a similar online payment service called Alipay, which is now operated by a separate subsidiary that is not included in the current IPO.
If the IPO goes as planned, Alibaba will have plenty of money to invest. The company plans to sell 123 million shares, which would bring in over $8 billion at the $66 per-share price. Alibaba has not offered details on how it will spend its money, but says in its SEC filings that it does not plan to repatriate the proceeds of the IPO to China. Alibaba, which operates out of corporate headquarters in Hangzhou, China, and Hong Kong, is legally registered in the Cayman Islands.
Upon landing today in Hong Kong to meet investors there, Alibaba founder and executive chairman Jack Ma offered a brief glimpse of what he has in mind: “After our IPO in the United States we will vigorously expand in Europe and the United States. Meanwhile, we will not give up on Asia.”
Alibaba already has made several investments in the United States. Alibaba participated last year in a $170 million funding round for e-retailer Fanatics Inc., No. 42 in the 2014 Internet Retailer Top 500, and in June launched an online marketplace called 11Main.com that features the wares of independent shopkeepers in the U.S. It’s also invested in mobile game developer Kabam and the mobile ride-sharing app Lyft. To coordinate its investments in U.S. technology firms, the Chinese company last fall opened an office in Silicon Valley.
Including shares to be sold by shareholders, Alibaba says 368 million shares will be offered in the IPO. Besides the 123 million to be sold by the company, the next-largest block will be offered by Yahoo Inc., a long-time investor in Alibaba, which plans to sell 121.7 million of its shares, which should bring in at least $8 billion. That would Yahoo’s stake in Alibaba from 22.4% to 16.3%.
The largest shareholder in Alibaba is Japanese technology conglomerate Softbank, which owns 34.1% of the company, and is not selling any of its shares in the IPO.
The IPO will confirm Ma, who founded Alibaba in 1999 in his Hangzhou apartment with 17 friends, as one of the world’s richest men. He plans to sell 12.75 million, a stake likely to bring in around $850 million. After the IPO, he will still own 7.8% of Alibaba, a position likely to be worth about $13 billion.
Alibaba shares are likely to start trading within a week. The company will trade under the symbol BABA.
By Don Davis Editor in Chief
September 15, 2014, 5:33 PM


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Mikado Kyowa Seed, leading seed company from International Cooperative Group Limagrain takes on this challenge and teams-up with Chiba University Department of Agriculture.
Plant factories are production systems that allow the production of vegetables in a close environment, allowing nature preservation, high productivity in any location close to a consumer. Today Japan is on the leading edge for this innovative technology with 200 farms already supplying Kanto & Kansai consumers with fresh clean vegetables.
On June 22nd MKS & Chiba University signed an agreement where MKS will use Chiba University plant factory as a location to breed innovative lettuces. MKS donated 500,000 JPY to the university.
Partnering with Chiba University, MKS will be able to offer Japanese and world market innovative varieties. These varieties will have specific aptitudes fitting grower and consumer needs, including health benefits for example.
For more information:
Mikado Kyowa Seed Co., Ltd.


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The all-new fifth-generation Ford Mondeo has been revealed as a sleek executive saloon, exclusively for the Chinese market.
Following a series of leaked images last year which outed the car's final styling, Ford has officially revealed its reinvented Volkswagen Passat rival at its China Design Centre in Shanghai, presenting it as a showcase of Ford's new design language for the region.
The Mondeo has been on sale in China since 2002, nearly a decade after it launched in Europe. Reinventing the model was "a privilege and a challenge for our team," said head designer Maurizio Tocco.
"We wanted to respect and acknowledge the history which had come before us while elevating the customers’ experience to the next level," he continued. "The starting point of the design is always the customer and looking for innovative ways to incorporate what they need and want into the design."
The new Mondeo is the first model to be designed according to the new 'Progressive Energy in Strength' philosophy, which is said to blend elements of Ford's 'rich heritage' and 'icon designs' with the preferences of its Chinese buyers. The three defining characteristics of the new ethos are "commanding, agile and responsive".
Set to begin deliveries in China during the second quarter of 2022, the new four-door saloon will be produced in a joint venture between Ford and Chinese firm Changan in Chongqing. While European sales of the new Mondeo have been ruled out by Ford, suggestions are it could be sold in the US as a replacement for the Fusion, although details on where North American models would be sourced is yet to be confirmed by Ford.
The new Mondeo draws heavily on its recently launched Chinese-market sibling model, the Evos crossover, for design inspiration.
Key design elements include an octagonal-shaped grille, slim LED headlights connected by a light band within the leading edge of the bonnet, separate daytime running lights and an A-shaped graphic for the air duct within the lower part of the front bumper.


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Access to water is a growing issue across the world: worldwide consumption of water is growing twice as fast as the population, and according to the UN, in 2025, 2/3 of the world's population may be living under water-stressed conditions. Shampoos and shower gels use a considerable amount of water. Hence the advantage of finding a way to use every drop of water to the best.
This challenge was met by combining the best water distribution technologies with shampoo.
"This is an exemplary exclusive partnership, as based on the expectations of consumers, it uses cutting-edge technology to bring them down the road of sustainable development, while offering a totally new consumer experience", said Amin Abdulla and Luc Amgwerd, co-founders of Gjosa.
"Initial results offer great perspectives for an innovation that visibly reduces the water consumption in our daily hygiene practices. This breakthrough technology is perfectly in line with our commitments to sustainable innovation", said Laurent Attal, L'Oréal VP Research & Innovation.
Tested in the L'Oréal laboratories, prototypes of the new showerhead are at present tested in several hair salons in the world as in South Africa and in the USA before envisaging the deployment of this technology to the professional hair salon market.


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According to Bloomberg.com, the eight rating agencies currently covering Auto Trader Group plc (LON: AUTO) have indicated that the “Hold” rating is the best option for investors to take regarding the stock. There has been one recommendation to sell the stock of the company, two recommendations to buy the stock, five recommendations to buy the stock, and five recommendations to hold the stock made by various analysts. The consensus price objective for this stock over the next 12 months, as provided by analysts who have provided ratings on the stock in the preceding year, has been set at GBX 628.83 ($7.59).
Recent happenings have piqued the interest of several equity analysts who were previously unaware of the AUTO stock.
In a research note distributed on November 9, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered both their “buy” rating for Auto Trader Group and their target price for the company. The price objective was reduced from GBX 720 ($8.69) to GBX 700 ($8.45). In a research report released on November 3, Shore Capital recommended “hold” status for investors in Auto Trader Group shares. This recommendation was included in the report. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on the shares of Auto Trader Group and positioned them with a GBX 660 ($7.97) price target in research published on Wednesday, September 7. Barclays also set a price target for the shares of Auto Trader Group. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Auto Trader Group from GBX 596 ($7.19) to GBX 528 ($6.37) and rated the stock as “underweight” in a report that was distributed on Tuesday, October 18. Last but not least, in a report released on Friday, October 14, Citigroup reaffirmed its “neutral” rating on shares of Auto Trader Group and established a price objective of GBX 530 ($6.40) for the company’s stock.
When trading began on Wednesday, the price of a share of Auto Trader Group was established at GBX 518.20, which is equivalent to $6.25 in American currency. A debt-to-equity ratio comes in at 15.76, a quick ratio comes in at 1.50, a current ratio comes in at 1.61, and a quick ratio comes in at 1.50. The company’s current price-to-earnings ratio is 2,072.80, and the market value of the business is 4.83 billion pounds at the moment. Auto Trader Group has seen a low point over the past 52 weeks of 479.80 British pounds ($5.79) and a high point over the past 52 weeks of 749 British pounds ($9.04). The moving average price of the stock over the previous two hundred days is GBX 577.75, while the moving average price over the previous fifty days is GBX 547.24.
In addition, the corporation has recently announced a dividend, which will be paid out on the subsequent Friday, January 27. Shareholders registered to receive dividends as of January 5 will be eligible to receive a payment of GBX 2.80 ($0.03) as the dividend. This dividend will either be paid out or not on January 5, as that is the date that will be used to make the decision. If we express this as a percentage, we conclude that the dividend yield is 0.51%. There is a payout percentage of 32.80 percent for the Auto Trader Group.
The online marketplace for automobiles across the United Kingdom and Ireland is managed by Auto Trader Group plc, which is responsible for its operation. In addition to providing its customers with various insurance and loan financing options, the company also places display advertisements on its websites to benefit manufacturers and the advertising agencies that work on the manufacturers’ behalf. In addition, it offers advertising for vehicles sold privately by their owners.


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Vigon International enjoys the sweet smell of success
They may not be related by blood, but the nearly 70 employees at Vigon International are family.
And it is that sense of family that has allowed the East Stroudsburg-based manufacturer of flavors and fragrances to enjoy the sweet smell of success for 25 years.
The company’s success has not gone unnoticed: Vigon was honored as a recipient of the Governor’s ImPAct award for Small Business earlier this year. (Team Pennsylvania Foundation is a co-founder and co-sponsor of the Governor’s ImPAct Awards program.)
Company President Steve Somers attributes Vigon’s success to his employees. He purchased Vigon in 1998 at the age of 37, leaving a competitor that would become one of his company’s customers.
“There is really just one secret: finding great people,” Somers said. “If you find the right people, build out your team and coach and mentor them the right way, everything flows from there. Productivity, improved efficiencies, great ideas, new ways of doing things, product development, all come from having the right team in place.”
Somers also has high praise for Pennsylvania’s workforce.
“I’ve said this before in front of a bunch of our state representatives, but Pennsylvania has people with a great work ethic,” Somers said. “I’ve worked in New Jersey most of my professional career, and we struggled a little bit with that. People here want to come to work every day; they have a strong work ethic. That is something Pennsylvania should be proud of.”
Since he purchased Vigon, its workforce has increased by 600 percent and sales have grown from $6 million to $85 million in the United States and 40 countries around the world.
“We had a little slow start, at first, until we had our team built out,” Somers said. “We’re not Google, we’re not Apple, but we haven’t done too badly either.”
That is especially admirable in an industry that, according to Somers, has experienced some stagnant or decreased growth over the past few years – especially in 2008 when the Great Recession hit the nation’s economy.
“Our only stale year was 2008 and while everyone else’s (sales) had fallen, we were still okay,” Somers said. “There was a good bit of inventory reduction, which is understandable because a lot of people were afraid.”
During those turbulent times, Somers spent his working to reassure his employees that they would not be terminated and telling them that better days were still to come.
To allay his employees’ fears, Somers had a round red “Yipppeee!” button created that plays, when pressed, a voice that jubilantly says, “Yipppeee!” followed by the first several lines of the James Brown song, “I Feel Good.”
Somers added the thought of layoffs when the economy soured was never part of his long-term strategic approach to his company’s growth.
“This is my team, this is my family, so we’ll survive,” Somers said. “Just like any family, we can get through the rough times, as long as we work together and put our heads together and figure out ways to utilize our resources in a better way. I was knee deep in it and I knew that we would be fine. People were concerned because they heard other people were getting laid off, but I told our team to keep living their lives the way they always did.”
Somers equates what Vigon does to BASF, whose marketing campaign states: “We don’t make the products you buy, we make them better.”
While Vigon will most likely never be a household name, there are few consumers who haven’t tasted, smelled, or applied one of the flavors, fragrances, cosmetics, natural or synthetic ingredients or essential oils that can be found in many of the common household products that they buy.
“Heinz, Pepsi, Coke, Proctor and Gamble, Yankee candles, and L’Oréal cosmetics are a few of the customers who use our ingredients,” says Somers. “We don’t, for example, make Pepsi, but we make the ingredient that goes into Pepsi.”
The Governor’s ImPAct award isn’t the only accolade the company has recently received.
Vigon has been named to Inc. Magazine’s 5,000 fastest growing companies list for seven consecutive years and is a 2013 recipient of the Allentown-based newspaper The Morning Call’s Top Work Places. Vigon has also been recognized twice (2010-2011) as a Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania, a program co-founded and still co-sponsored by Team PA.
It’s easy to see why the small company excels and receives the recognition it so rightfully deserves. While Somers is quick to praise his “family”, it is the patriarch who firmly guides the company forward.
Dressed in jeans and a collared shirt, Somers, whose office is a corner cubicle in the administrative offices, is both affable and down-to-earth. During a tour of the company’s 105,000- square-foot facility, he seems more co-worker than boss, readily joking with his employees, who joke right back as if they are indeed siblings.
Being head of the Vigon family is the fulfillment of a dream for Somers.
“I always wanted to build and create something that was my own legacy,” Somers said. “I’m living my dream. I hope that people who come here are living the dream as well because, as far as making a difference and their careers are concerned, they own this as much as I do. So, when we are done, we can look back and say, ‘man, that was a blast.’ That is my goal.”
For more on Vigon, visit their website.


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Today, president Obama proposed a new piece of legislation that would order all hacked companies to disclose their breach publicly within 30 days of the companies knowledge.
The president’s new piece of legislation is being informally referred to as the national data breach notification standard. “Right now, every state has a different law,” Obama said, introducing the Personal Data Notification and Protection Act before the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in Washington, D.C. “It’s confusing for consumers and companies, and costly to comply with this patchwork of laws.”
The current law that mandates state data breach laws is California’s landmark SB 1386, which was put in place back in 2003 near the time data breaches started to be publicized. According to EFF legislative analyst, Mark M. Jaycox, what comes of Obama’s proposed standard must be on par with California’s current enacted law.
“California’s law is simple and gives a very clear standard for notification,” Jaycox told Threatpost. “If any person’s information is leaked, the company has a reasonably quick time period to inform. It stands out for its clarity and simplicity.”
At the time of this article, three states including Alabama, New Mexico and South Dakota have no laws regarding data breach disclosures, meaning companies incorporated in those states are not forced to disclose breach or hack attacks. Leaving possibly affected customers at risk if not properly handled.
In Obama’s meeting, he said the national legislation would be working towards closing current legislative loopholes hindering law enforcements ability to take action against hackers selling Americans personal payment card information online overseas. Obama also said he is scheduled to meet with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to help put proper security measures in place to help the private sector defend against cyber attacks.
“This is a direct threat to the economy and the security of American families. We’ve got to stop it,” Obama said, referring to the amass of severe hacks that penetrated companies in 2014, including Target, Home Depot and the devastating Sony Hack. “If we are going to be connected, we need to be protected. We shouldn’t forfeit our privacy when we’re going online to do our business.”
Alongside Obama’s proposed national data breach disclosure standard, he also mentioned a pending piece of legislation called the Student Digital Privacy Act, which aims to protect the personal information of school children that learn in classrooms with modern technology such as computers and tablets. As schools move towards digital textbooks and online classrooms, the proposed legislation aims to stop large corporations from mining and abusing the information of children using digital tools in the classroom.
“We’ve seen instances where companies are collecting student data for commercial purposes for targeted advertising,” Obama said. “Parents have legitimate concerns about those practices. [The legislation] ensures that data collected from students in the classroom is used for education, to teach children, not to market to our children.”
The past two years have been about the countless privacy violations and barrage of data collection on the people, this year may be aimed at the corporations aiding marketers and others that abuse personal information.
Photo via Wikipedia [Public Domain]


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Public health officials have given Blue Bell the OK to resume the production and sale of ice cream manufactured at its Alabama plant.
Jim McVay, director of health promotion and chronic disease at the Alabama Department of Public Health, said Wednesday that Blue Bell can resume full production at its facility in Sylacauga, Alabama.
He said product testing and trial runs have shown no indications of the listeria contamination that caused illnesses in four states, including three deaths in Kansas, and a crippling recall in April.
Blue Bell tweeted the happy news:
The Brenham, Texas-based company underwent an extensive cleaning and decontamination process at its four plants following the recall.
Blue Bell confirmed to NBC 5 Wednesday that they are producing ice cream at the facility and that the product is being added to inventory. At this time, the company did not have a date for when they would return their products to market and they have not finalized their distribution plan.
Blue Bell did hint that more information about the ice cream's return:
A spokesperson with the Texas Department of State Health Services said they have not been notified of any plan to start production in Texas and Blue Bell announced no timetable for when production would resume at plants in Texas and Oklahoma.
The latest news from around North Texas.
A spokesperson for Kroger Stores tells NBC 5 that North Texas retailers typically received their Blue Bell products from the creamery's Oklahoma and Brenham plants, not its Alabama plant, and it's unclear how much product the ice cream maker will produce immediately.
Kroger will supply its higher-volume stores first but is hopeful that Blue Bell will have enough to product to stock all of its North Texas stores.
"That's good news that Blue Bell is producing in Alabama, and we'd be excited to welcome Blue Bell back to our Kroger stores in North Texas, but we really don't have a definite date from Blue Bell. As soon as we know, we'll be making room," said Gary Huddleston, with Kroger Public Affairs.
NBC 5's Bianca Castro and Kevin Cokely contributed to this report.


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2016’s Top 10 Stories
Mergers and acquisitions, new formats and executive changes were at the center of many of the biggest stories of the year in the Southeast.
Several supermarket companies based in the region found new ownership, including Food Lion, The Fresh Market and Louisiana’s LeBlanc’s Food Stores. Others, like Southeastern Grocers, began rolling out new store concepts, and big players such as Publix and Ingles found new leaders at their helms.
Needless to say, competition has spurred changes for the Southeast’s grocery industry in 2016 and, of course, that competition shows no signs of letting up as supermarkets prepare to embark on a new year.
1. East Coast grocers combine to create mega food retail company
Ahold and Delhaize first announced in June 2015 that they intended to merge to become one of the world’s largest food retail groups. The deal was completed in July 2016, and the combined company—called Ahold Delhaize—operates 22 local brands in 11 countries and has a combined workforce of more than 375,000 associates.
Prior to the merger, Delhaize operated approximately 180 Hannaford stores in New England and 1,100 Food Lion stores, primarily in the Southeast. The majority of Ahold USA’s holdings are in the Northeast, with some stores in Virginia.
A combined 86 stores were sold to satisfy Federal Trade Commission requirements; buyers included Publix, New Albertson’s Inc. (part of Albertsons Cos.), Weis Markets, Supervalu, Big Y, Tops Markets and Saubel’s Markets.
The first combined results of the new company will be presented for the third quarter of 2016 on Nov. 17 (after press time).
2. Tennessee grocers can sell wine—finally
After a years-long process, licensed food stores in Tennessee were able to sell wine in their stores beginning July 1.
Steven C. Smith, president and CEO of Abingdon, Virginia-based Food City, said then, “For years, countless Tennesseans have sought the same opportunity afforded their Virginia and Georgia friends and neighbors to purchase wine from their local supermarket. For the past eight years, legislators and retailers across the state have worked diligently to bring their plea to fruition—and today, we celebrate that victory alongside our loyal customers.”
Smith helped spearhead the “Red White and Food” campaign launched by the Tennessee Grocers & Convenience Store Association more than seven years ago, in support of a series of bills to bring wine sales to food retail stores in the state.
The wine in food retail stores referendum passed in all of the 78 eligible locations where it appeared on the ballot in the November 2015 Tennessee elections.
3. Changes, and growth, for Publix
The first quarter of 2016 was packed with big news from Publix Super Markets.
It was announced in mid-January that Ed Crenshaw, longtime CEO of the Lakeland, Florida-based grocery chain, would retire at the end of April. Crenshaw, grandson of Publix founder George W. Jenkins, began his career with Publix in 1974 as a front-service clerk. He was named CEO in June 2008. Crenshaw remains on the company’s board of directors and became the board’s chairman on May 3.
Following Crenshaw’s exit as CEO, Todd Jones, president of Publix since 2008, added the chief executive title. Jones began working at Publix in 1980, when he was 15 years old, as a front-service clerk.
Shortly after that executive announcement, Publix on Feb. 2 said that it had signed two leases for stores in Virginia—its first foray into that state.
A 54,000-s.f. Bristol store is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2017 and a 49,000-s.f. Glen Allen store in 2018.
4. Revamps, new concepts for Southeastern Grocers
Southeastern Grocers, the Jacksonville, Florida-based parent company of Bi-Lo, Harveys and Winn-Dixie stores, is rethinking its stores and business, evidenced by the company’s 2016 extensive store remodel program.
Early in the year came a fresh new design for the Winn-Dixie chain when it unveiled its Bay Meadows Road store in Jacksonville. Winn-Dixie had closed the store in 2010 but had a long-term lease on it so, as the shopping center and area was experiencing revitalization, the company in October 2015 demolished the interior, with renovations beginning the following month.
The Baymeadows store marked the first complete interior reconstruction for Winn-Dixie. It emphasizes freshness, quality, value and the “sense of something cooking in the kitchen,” thanks to on-site food preparation, according to Ian McLeod, president and CEO of Southeastern Grocers.
Winn-Dixie debuted another “next-generation” unit in South Tampa in mid-October. The new Winn-Dixie at Hyde Park has been tailored specifically to the South Tampa community with a focus on quality food, personality and great value.
The Harveys banner made news in 2016, too.
In June, a new-concept Harveys opened in a former Winn-Dixie location in Jacksonville—the first Harveys store in the city. McLeod called it “a format for customers shopping on a budget.” The format boasts hundreds of popular products priced “Low and Staying Low,” a “$1 Zone,” a “Pick 5” program for fresh and frozen meats, and more.
Harveys also opened its first North Carolina store in 2016. The store debuted in July at a former Bi-Lo location in Charlotte and includes the features of the new-concept Harveys in Jacksonville.
5. Walmart closes 154 U.S. stores, buys Jet.com
Fifty-nine stores in the Southeast were among those shuttered by the Arkansas-based retail giant.
On Jan. 15, the company said it would close 269 stores globally, 154 of them in the U.S. The U.S. closings included 102 of the retailer’s smallest-format stores, Walmart Express, which it launched in 2011. Stores that closed in the Southeast included: Alabama—eight Walmart Express stores and one Supercenter (Fairfield); Florida—three Walmart Express; Georgia—seven Walmart Express; Louisiana—eight Walmart Express; Mississippi—six Walmart Express; North Carolina—16 Walmart Express and one Supercenter (Durham); South Carolina—two Walmart Express and one Supercenter (Winnsboro); Tennessee—four Walmart Express and one Neighborhood Market (Nashville); and West Virginia—one Supercenter (Kimball).
Walmart said at the time that it would focus instead on its Supercenters, Neighborhood Markets and growing its e-commerce business as well as expanding pickup services for customers. On the e-commerce front, Walmart closed on its purchase of Jet.com in August to help expand its customer reach and its capabilities in that arena.
6. Food Lion founder dies at 95
Mr. Ralph W. Ketner, the last of the trio of men who in 1957 founded Food Town, which became Food Lion, died May 29 at the age of 95.
The Shelby Report sat down with Mr. Ketner in North Carolina on March 7 for an interview. Less than two weeks later, it was revealed he had been hospitalized and given a colon cancer diagnosis. He then was in hospice until his passing. His funeral was held June 5 in Keppel Auditorium on the Catawba College campus in Salisbury, North Carolina, where there is a business school named for Mr. Ketner.
Mr. Ketner and his brother, Brown, along with their friend, Wilson Smith, wanted to start a grocery store in Salisbury but had no money. They called on friends and strangers from the phone book to invest $10 a share. All told, there were 125 original investors. An original share of Food Town stock eventually split 19,440 for 1. Each original investment created a million-dollar return during Mr. Ketner’s tenure. Not only did the Ketners and Smith succeed, but they also made millionaires of their friends and neighbors.
The company continued to expand across North Carolina and the U.S., becoming one of the fastest-growing supermarket chains in the country. In the 1970s, the grocery chain grew by 35 percent per year and would later be renamed Food Lion. The Belgian company Delhaize purchased stock in Food Lion during this time period, and that relationship continues today through Food Lion’s parent company—Ahold Delhaize.
7. The Fresh Market goes private
The Fresh Market, which went public in November 2010, became a private company again in 2016, following the March 14 announcement that the North Carolina-based specialty grocer would be acquired by an affiliate of Apollo Global Management for approximately $1.36 billion. Apollo said at the time that it has assisted companies like Sprouts Farmers Market, Smart & Final and Hostess Brands in undertaking “significant transformations…and we intend to bring that experience to bear at The Fresh Market.”
Those “transformations” got under way later in the year as the grocer, which operates nearly 200 stores in 27 states, began rolling out a new look. The refresh that includes an enhanced shopping experience features a new logo and reimagines the market as a destination where guests can find an increased selection of local products, health-conscious items and new categories, including everyday grocery classics, according to The Fresh Market.
The makeover was first revealed at three North Carolina stores on Oct. 26. Following this initial Triad launch, the grocer was expected to roll out refreshed stores across the country, with 13 more locations scheduled for Nov. 30 (after press time) in the Charlotte and Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina, markets, and continuing in waves through early 2018.
8. LeBlanc’s stores become Rouses
Two family-owned Louisiana grocery chains came together as one this year when Rouses and LeBlanc’s merged. LeBlanc’s Food Stores’ nine Louisiana locations, including its five units operating under the Frais Marché banner, officially became Rouses Markets on Nov. 8, giving Rouses a total of 54 stores across Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. LeBlanc’s associates have joined the Rouses family of employees.
Rouses also opened its first Baton Rouge store in 2016, on Aug. 24. The store is located on Village Market in the Long Farm Village Development at the intersection of Antioch Road and Airline Highway.
The opening of the Baton Rouge store could not have come at a better time for Rouses and the community. In fact, the store opened early to meet the needs of its neighbors following the devastating summer floods in Louisiana.
Just days before the Baton Rouge grand opening, Rouses’ Denham Springs store was destroyed by the flood waters, which began coming into the store on Aug. 13 and quickly rose to about five feet, according to managing partner Donny Rouse. He told The Shelby Report then that inventory loss totaled about $1.5 million and there was another $4 million in building and asset damage. Store restoration began Aug. 16 and was expected to take eight to 12 weeks; the store had not reopened at the time of this report in early November.
Other supermarkets also took a hit in the August floods. Southeastern Grocers, for instance, reported that several of its Winn-Dixie stores sustained damage.
9. Lanning promoted to Ingles CEO
Jim Lanning, longtime leader and 30-year company veteran, was promoted to CEO of Asheville, North Carolina-based Ingles Markets Inc. in March.
Robert P. Ingles II, who had served as the chief executive, retains the board chairman title, which he has held since 2004, and continues his day-to-day operations role in the executive leadership of the grocery chain.
Lanning joined Ingles as a student in 1975 and has served as president of the company since 2003.
Ingles Markets operates more than 200 supermarkets in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
10. Larry Higdon wins top IGA award
Larry Higdon, president of Ira Higdon Grocery Co. in Cairo, Georgia, was among three recipients of IGA’s J. Frank Grimes Award during IGA WorldWide in February. The award, IGA’s highest honor, is given to those who exhibit the principles, passion and charisma of IGA’s founder, J. Frank Grimes, and who have provided outstanding service to IGA.
Higdon is the third generation of his family to operate Ira Higdon Grocery Co., a family-owned wholesale business serving Georgia, Florida and Alabama. After graduating from Emory College and serving as a fighter pilot through two tours of Vietnam, he joined the family business, spending more than 40 years growing it into a successful IGA Licensed Distribution Company.
“I would like to say that I’m proud to receive this award,” said Higdon at the event. “…I don’t think we’d still be around if we hadn’t joined IGA in 1966. We’re proud to be a member.”
*Editor’s note: The regional Year in Reviews appear in the December print editions of The Shelby Report. Go here for a look ahead at 2017.


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Taiwanese-based multinational, Getac, has launched a new app to coincide with its new products.
The OEMConfig app continues to expand on the company's dedication to the Android system and comes after the announcement in January of a new product line of rugged tablets.
Designed for those working in the public safety, utilities, energy, transport and logistics, manufacturing, automotive, and defence sectors, the versatile 10-inch ZX10 will now be compatible with a new OEMConfig app. In addition, the app will be compatible with the existing ZX70 model.
The app is made for Getac customers already using Android Enterprise Recommended (AER) Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) systems to oversee multiple devices. It will allow users to configure and update all their Getac Android devices simultaneously with their existing EMM system.
It will also enable users to control their settings such as device display, physical button configurations, touch screen set up, and general system settings across a range of devices at once. Furthermore, Firmware over-the-air processes also allow for automatic security updates across all devices.
Getac Technology Corporation president, Rick Hwang, says that because customers are starting to further investigate the benefits of Android-based rugged solutions, the company is broadening its Android ecosystem to assist them in meeting their business goals more efficiently.
“The launch of our new ZX10 Android tablet has given customers greater choice when picking devices that best suit their needs. Now, OEMConfig takes it one step further, offering a fast and convenient way to manage all Getac Andoid devices via existing EMM systems,” he explains.
Getac released its first fully-rugged laptop in the middle of 2020 and has since continued to grow its range of user-focused tablets. They are all designed to be used in industries that require frequent on-the-go access or where work is done in an environment seen as impractical for the use of most digital devices.
“As Android continues to gain popularity, a growing number of organisations are looking for rugged Android solutions that enable them to enjoy the versatility it has to offer, even when working in harsh and/or challenging environments,” Hwang says.
The B360 laptop, released in June 2020, is designed to provide mobility, power, brightness and reliability in difficult working conditions. It is IP66 rated to protect against dust ingress, high-pressure water jets, and spillages. It also has 5G capabilities.
The company's new devices include a range of innovative features to optimise operational efficiency, better field communication, and the ability to withstand the elements. These features include dual hot-swappable batteries that allow for reliable operation with no need to stop working and a LumiBond sunlight-readable display with rain and glove touch capabilities that facilitates a consistent workflow.
The operating system will also be utilising Android 11 OS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 Mobile Platform, and Adreno™ 512 GPU, a combination that will deliver efficiency in a wide range of on-the-job situations.
The 8MP front camera and 16MP rear camera permit high-quality photo/video capture, while dual integrated microphones filter out loud background noise for better audio quality.
The new tablet also has MIL-STD-810H and IP66 certification meaning that it can withstand drops of up to six feet, shocks, rain, vibration, dust, and liquid spillages. The operating temperature range of -29C to 63C (-20F~145F) also ensures long term durability and usage in any season.
The new ZX10 tablet will be released in March, and the OEMConfig app is available from the Play Store now.


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Companies brace for European privacy rules
U.S. companies are largely unprepared for what's about to hit them when sweeping new EU data laws take effect next year. The regulation — the General Data Protection Regulation (or GDPR) — is intended to give users more control of how their personal data is used and streamline data processes across the EU. Companies that fail to comply with the complex law will face steep fines of up to 4% of their global annual revenue.
Why it matters: Europe has by far taken the most aggressive regulatory stance on protecting consumer privacy and will in many ways be a litmus test for regulating the currency of the data economy. It impacts a huge number of businesses from advertisers to e-commerce platforms whose data flows through EU countries. That means everyone from Google to your neighbor who sells shoes on eBay could be affected.
Compliance challenge: Firms in all sectors are dealing with more data than ever before, so managing it requires more resources. Experts tell Axios that complying with the law is a daunting and expensive task for many companies. Niche legal firms are cropping up to help companies deal with it.
"People aren't fully ready for managing this," said Hilary Wadell, general counsel and chief of data governance at TrustArc. "A lot of organizations are still trying to wrap their arms around appropriate data governance and to understand the types of data they have and how it is used." According a recent TrustArc survey, 61% of organizations haven't even begun implementation.
Tech watch: Companies in all sectors will have to comply, but tech companies in particular will have steep climbs. "Were going to see innovative things from Google and Facebook in terms of how they deal with it," says David Downing, EVP at ASG technologies. On its Q2 earnings call, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg told investors that when they look at regulatory issues, including GDPR, they make sure those regulators understand how Facebook contributes to economic growth in their countries.
The EU perspective: Wojciech Wiewlorowski, Assistant Supervisor for the European Data Protection Supervisor in Brussels, stressed that the regulation won't slow down innovation or the flow of data. Rather, it's a necessary step to deal with the explosion of the data economy in a "civilized" way — similar to how society had to impose rules on automobile traffic.
"The road code [was] created in order to facilitate the way that we transport things and transport people," he said on a call discussing the GDPR implementation. "But, of course, in some ways it limits the way that we try to invent solutions. This is the kind of price we pay for a civilized way for the flow of personal data in the world."


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Macao’s annual international trade and economic event – The 16th Macao International Trade and Investment Fair – will be held at The Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel from 20 to 23 October 2011.
Macao International Trade and Investment Fair is currently the only exhibition event in Macao accredited by The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI). Last year, 318 trade and economic delegations from more than 60 countries and regions participated in MIF. Serving as a regional co-operation platform for Macao by maintaining close ties with the Chinese Mainland, particularly the Pan-Pearl River Delta Region, Portuguese-speaking countries, the European Union and the rest of the world, MIF aims to promote interactive trade and investment activities, in order to foster the integration of funds, resources, markets and technologies and taking further steps to advance entrepreneurial co-operation in numerous areas, through the display of trade and investment opportunities, forums and conferences, business matching, and buyers meetings.
This year, MIF will maintain the theme: “Co-operation – Key to Business Opportunities”. Taking advantage of Macao’s multi-cultural characteristics and her role as a regional business service platform, MIF will further promote trade and economic co-operation for the enterprises in Macao and the Mainland and their counterparts in the Portuguese-speaking countries, with the aim of developing Macao into a platform for trade and economic co-operation as well as cultural exchanges between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries.


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PORTLAND, Ore. — Hotel operators in Portland are beginning to see guest cancellations due to concerns over the coronavirus.
The Society Hotel in Northwest Portland reported 29 guests have called to cancel reservations within the past three days.
“We have seen a significant increase in cancellations for the entire month of March, and into April,” said Tiffany Jackson, assistant general manager at the Society Hotel.
Other hotel operators in Portland, speaking on the condition of anonymity, admit they’ve also seen a noticeable uptick in guest cancellations.
An international travel conference at the Oregon Convention Center scheduled for March 24-27 has been postponed until late summer. The Go West Summit was expected to bring more than 800 attendees to Portland.
“Never before in the history of Go West Summit have we rescheduled, but the health and security of our attendees dictated this decision,” wrote Mary Motsenbocker, Go West Summit president on the event website.
Organizers of other conferences and conventions scheduled for Portland, including a specialty coffee expo, are taking precautions and monitoring the situation closely.
Travel Portland reminded guests that the city is open for business and travel is not restricted.
“Based on conversations with our venue and hotel partners, hospitality facilities have put enhanced cleaning and public hygiene measures, such as additional hand sanitizer stations and prioritization of high-touch areas into place,” explained Megan Conway of Travel Portland.
Travel Portland and the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association said it is too early to determine the full impact of recent cancellations on the lodging industry. Room reservation data is still being collected from local hotel operators and won’t be available for several weeks.
The tourism industry in Oregon generates $3.6 billion annually and employs 115,000 people, according to the U.S. Travel Association.
Tourism dollars declined steeply from 2007 to 2009, down nearly 10 percent but the industry fully recovered by 2012 and has since expanded greatly.
Tourism in Oregon, including local spending, contributes to about 4% of Oregon’s overall economy.


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BANGKOK/JAKARTA (Reuters) - Southeast Asian governments are banding together to take on global tech giants on issues including "fake news" and taxation, marking a new stage in the region's approach to the internet's explosive growth. The stakes are high both for the governments, which are counting on the digital economy to drive growth and innovation amid domestic political tensions, and the companies, which view Southeast Asia's social-media-loving population of 641 million as a key growth market. The new initiatives, which have not previously been reported, include an effort by Indonesia to join forces with Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines in demanding action from Google, Facebook and other companies on content regulation and tax policy.
U.S. stock futures rise after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin confirms that trade talks between the U.S. and China would resume the week of Oct. 7; Nike reports earnings; Boeing to pay crash victims' families $144,500 each; Facebook buys CTRL-labs.
Facebook has agreed to acquire CTRL-labs, a US start-up that is developing technology to let people control electronic devices with their brains. , Facebook’s head of virtual reality and augmented reality, said the acquisition was part of a bid to build “more natural, intuitive ways to interact with devices and technology”. “The vision for this work is a wristband that lets people control their devices as a natural extension of movement,” he said.
Facebook Inc. said late Monday it agreed to buy a startup that would let people control computers with their brains – a long-stated goal by Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg.
(Bloomberg) -- Facebook Inc.’s Sheryl Sandberg said social media companies are investing money and stepping up cooperation to blunt violent extremists on their sites, an effort likely to be aided by revamping a tech industry counter-terror group.The Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT), begun in 2017 by Facebook, Microsoft Corp., Twitter Inc. and Google’s YouTube, said Monday it will hire an executive director and staff with the aim of increasing cooperation among its companies and with government agencies in the battle against terrorism and violence on the platforms. The organization, funded by industry contributions, has up to this point been run by a rotating chair drawn from one of the four founding companies.Group members met Monday with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at the United Nations General Assembly to discuss steps taken since the Christchurch Call to Action -- a pledge to limit violence after fatal mosque shootings in the country in March were live-streamed on Facebook and the video was re-shared across several sites.“Today we will report progress against that call, outline where more work is needed and commit to continuing with our collaboration,” Ardern said at an appearance with Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer.Through the GIFCT, tech companies have collaborated on tools to prevent and respond to terrorist and violent extremist content, and funded counter-terrorism research. Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft’s LinkedIn and Facebook’s WhatsApp have joined the effort, the group said in a blog post.Sandberg said Facebook’s announced move to rebuild many of its features to highlight user privacy, for example making it easier to send encrypted messages, must be balanced by the need to prevent extremist attacks.“And so our challenge is to provide the technology that’s very important for consumer privacy, for consumer safety, for the privacy of people’s messages, but still work with law enforcement,” Sandberg said. “One of the things that helps us is that because we have multiple platforms, some encrypted like WhatsApp, some that are not like Facebook and Instagram, we are often able to find people on one and then take them down off of the encrypted platforms.”Last week, representatives from Facebook, Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Twitter testified before Congress about their efforts to remove violent content. On Friday, multiple outlets reported that videos of the Christchurch attack could still be found on Facebook.Responding to those reports, Sandberg said, “we have tried as hard as possible to get things down. We will continue to look for every instance to get it down. That’s why we’re making massive investments.”(Updates with comments from Sandberg in the seventh paragraph)To contact the reporter on this story: Kiley Roache in New York at firstname.lastname@example.orgTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at email@example.com, Andrew Pollack, Vlad SavovFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
The building, which is located close to some of the Puget Sound region's most well-known tech employers, will be renamed.
A global working group set up by Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Microsoft to remove extremist content will become an independent watchdog working "to respond quicker and work more collaboratively to prevent" attacks like Christchurch, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday. Ardern has pushed for stronger action since New Zealand's worst peacetime mass shooting in March, when a gunman attacked Muslims attending Friday prayers in Christchurch. "In the same way that we respond to natural emergencies like fires and floods, we need to be prepared and ready to respond to a crisis like the one we experienced," Ardern told reporters on the sidelines of the annual United Nations gathering of world leaders.
Facebook Inc said on Monday it bought New York-based CTRL-labs, a start-up that is exploring ways for people to communicate with computers using brain signals, in a deal that CNBC said was valued at $1 billion. Facebook Vice President of AR/VR Andrew Bosworth announced the deal in a Facebook post. CTRL-labs will join Facebook Reality Labs team, Bosworth said, without giving any financial details.
Facebook Vice President of AR/VR Andrew Bosworth announced the deal in a Facebook post. CTRL-labs will join Facebook Reality Labs team, Bosworth said, without giving any financial details. Facebook said it intends to use the neural interface technology of CTRL-labs in developing a wristband that connects to other devices intuitively.
Roku shares have plummeted roughly 30% since September 17 after Wall Street and investors fled the stock after Comcast (CMCSA) and Facebook (FB) made headlines in the streaming TV device market. So is now the time to buy Roku stock?
(Bloomberg) -- Facebook Inc. agreed to acquire CTRL-Labs, a technology startup that is building software to let people control a digital avatar using only their thoughts. The world’s largest social network is paying between $500 million and $1 billion, according to people familiar with the deal.The closely held four-year-old startup, which has dozens of employees and has raised tens of millions in venture capital, uses a bracelet to measure neuron activity in a subject’s arm to determine movement that person is thinking about, even if they aren’t physically moving. That neuron activity is then translated into movement on a digital screen. Facebook declined to comment on the price of the acquisition.Technology like CTRL-Labs’s may someday be a crucial part of products like augmented reality glasses, where a user might want to control a computer without the need for buttons or a keyboard. “Your hands could be in your pocket, behind you,” explained Thomas Reardon, chief executive officer of CTRL-Labs, at an industry conference last December. “It’s the intention [to move], not the movement” itself that controls the avatar, he said.Facebook has been pushing deeper into augmented reality technology, including the development of a hands-free pair of AR glasses. In 2017, it announced a “brain-computer interface” that could someday let people turn their thoughts into actual text on a screen by monitoring signals in the brain. The CTRL-Labs technology is attempting to solve a similar problem.“The wristband will decode those [neural] signals and translate them into a digital signal your device can understand,” wrote Andrew Bosworth, Facebook’s head of AR and virtual reality, in a post announcing the deal. “It captures your intention so you can share a photo with a friend using an imperceptible movement or just by, well, intending to.”The purchase comes at a challenging time for Facebook, which is under two separate U.S. antitrust investigations. The inquiries mean any acquisition the company makes will be under intense scrutiny from regulators as they question whether Facebook is already too big and powerful.“CTRL-Labs and Facebook are not competitors. Facebook does not currently have or make this technology,” a Facebook spokeswoman said of the deal announced on Monday, adding that the company will work with regulators to secure any needed approvals. “CTRL-Labs’s technology is an innovative input that Facebook hopes will be used to significantly improve the upcoming Facebook AR/VR experiences a few years down the road to fundamentally improve the user experience.”New York-based CTRL-Labs has raised $67 million, according to Crunchbase, and has a high-profile list of investors, including Spark Capital, Google’s GV, Amazon.com Inc.’s Alexa Fund, and Founders Fund. CTRL-Labs employees will join Facebook’s Reality Labs team, which works on AR and VR products.To contact the reporter on this story: Kurt Wagner in San Francisco at firstname.lastname@example.orgTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at email@example.com, Andrew PollackFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
Check out these 3 tech stocks for growth investors to buy in September as stocks rest near their highs that we found using our Zacks Stock Screener...
Jason Kelley, IBM’s general manager of blockchain services, says his company is ready to help Facebook further its blockchain and digital currency plans.
Facebook says it has shut several pages for serving up questionable pro-Trump memes after a story about how the propaganda that was ubiquitous across the internet in 2016 had recently begun popping up all over social media.
Facebook said late Monday it's planning to acquire CTRL-labs, a startup that makes a wristband to decode neuron signals to allow control of computing devices. Andrew Bosworth, Facebook vice president of augmented reality and virtual reality disclosed the plans in a blog post.
I've recently been writing about how 5G offers a rare opportunity to create unprecedented wealth.We've seen how 5G is what we call a "keystone" technology -- one so critical that it drives all other technologies.We've talked about how it will enable the next Industrial Revolution, only the fourth in history. And we've seen the massive fortunes made in the first three … and how even bigger fortunes are possible from this next great breakthrough technology.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsHere's why it's such a big deal:5G will allow for up to 1,000 times more data to flow through it at any given time -- and at MUCH FASTER speeds -- than 4G.Let me put that into mind-blowing perspective for you.Imagine that the amount of data able to flow through the current 4G infrastructure is represented by an ordinary garden hose. Remember, this is the technology we're currently using -- the one that allows us to surf Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), make instant purchases on Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), and stream movies on Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX).If the amount of data 4G can handle was represented by a garden hose, then 5G would be bigger than the widest tunnel in the history of the world -- the monstrous 76-foot-wide Yerba Buena Island Tunnel in San Francisco … and there'd be 7 feet left to spare!That's absolutely incredible, isn't it?It's an insane amount a data -- and a revolutionary leap in technology.That's why the prestigious industry research giant Strategy Analytics calls 5G "a transformative event for society … the implications are profound."And TechRadar says, "5G will be far more life-changing than you think."In short, THIS is the technology that we've been waiting for … the one at the center of the next generation of mind-blowing advances.Like every keystone technology that came before it, 5G will be the rocket fuel that launches us into the future as it unlocks countless new technologies and ushers in the next great industrial revolution.It's the keystone technology that will finally enable the big breakthroughs on the cusp of becoming a reality. The Internet of Things (IoT)… artificial intelligence … driverless cars … and virtual and augmented reality will realize their full potential.Take, for instance, the Internet of Things, which is already estimated to be worth $19 trillion.This is the breakthrough technology that enables physical devices to "talk" to each other and operate with increased efficiency … making everything from smart cars to smart appliances to entire smart cities and grids possible.Basically, if it's electric, the IoT will make it smarter, faster, and/or more efficient.Which is why NBC News said "the Internet of Things will change everything."Now, thanks to the advent of 5G technology, companies are going to spend a massive $5 TRILLION on the Internet of Things in the next few years. In the coming months, the IoT will explode into mass adoption. Our daily lives will be forever changed.Cities will soon monitor the structural health of every building, bridge, water main, and road, preventing major breakdowns in infrastructure. Knowing in real time how structurally safe an overpass is or that a gas line is leaking not only saves a ton of money but lives, too.Cars will talk directly to the roads and each other.Power grids will direct electricity only to where it's needed, allowing for massive savings on the city and consumer levels.San Diego, for example, estimates that it should save taxpayers $1.9 million a year by simply installing "smart" streetlights. Cities like Barcelona, New York, Miami, Copenhagen, and many others are all heavily investing in building the smart cities of the future.But the benefits will also be felt way outside the city limits, too.Farmers will be able to monitor natural conditions like humidity, air temperature, and soil quality in real time, which will allow for better water usage and pinpoint the best time to harvest crops for the highest yield, leading to less waste and more profit.It will help prevent the deaths of 420,000 people who die every year due to foodborne illnesses. IBM's Internet of Things platform is allowing for more transparency across the entire supply chain, leading to an unprecedented awareness of food quality and safety.5G partnered with the IoT will make every industry more efficient … and stop epidemics in their tracks. It's Here5G isn't a technology that may or may not happen.It's happening right now in front of our very eyes, and it's going to create an unprecedented amount of wealth. For early investors, it presents the kind of wealth-building opportunity that could turn a modest one-time investment into an absolute fortune over time.The world's billionaire investors like Bill Gates and Ray Dalio are beginning to invest millions of dollars in 5G. Companies like Facebook, Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), and Amazon are also secretly making massive investments in the new technology.We may never get another chance like this … to get in at the very start of a massive "keystone-level" technological shift. It's the kind of moneymaking opportunity that could turn a tiny initial stake into a fortune that could last for decades.Matthew McCall left Wall Street to actually help investors -- by getting them into the world's biggest, most revolutionary trends BEFORE anyone else. The power of being "first" gave Matt's readers the chance to bank +2,438% in Stamps.com (STMP), +1,523% in Ulta Beauty (ULTA) and +1,044% in Tesla (TSLA), just to name a few. Click here to see what Matt has up his sleeve now. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 8 Dividend Stocks to Buy for a Recession * 10 Companies Making Their CEOs Rich * The 7 Best S&P 500 Stocks of 2019 So Far The post 5G Stocks: The Single Greatest Investment for the New Tech Revolution appeared first on InvestorPlace.
Facebook (FB) has bought only two startups so far in 2019. In contrast, it acquired four startups in the first half of 2018 and six startups in 2018.
Facebook’s Libra currency won’t be dollar denominated, but it will be dollar dominated, with the U.S. dollar and U.S. regulators set to play a big role in the digital currency.
What investors should expect from Nike's (NKE) Q1 fiscal 2020 financial results. Why Adidas (ADDYY) and Lululemon (LULU) stock have crushed Nike recently. And will Nike's e-commerce expansion help the sportswear giant post its strongest growth in years...
Republican Senator Josh Hawley suggested that Facebook (FB) sell WhatsApp last week. Here's what that move would cost—and why Zuckerberg said no.
Sep.23 -- Facebook has agreed to buy CTRL-Labs, a start-up that’s working on software that lets people control computers with their minds. Bloomberg’s Kurt Wagner reports on “Bloomberg Daybreak: Asia.”


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Carvana, the used car vending machine company, files plans to come to Jacksonville, several renovations are coming up at Jacksonville’s malls, plus several other noteworthy projects in this week’s Building Up Jax.
Put in coin, receive car
According to a few sources, plans have been submitted for a Carvana car vending machine tower at 6951 Lenoir Ave. E.
Here’s how the service works: customers shop for a used car on carvana.com, at which point the car is shipped to Carvana’s location. The car is loaded inside of a giant “vending machine” tower for the customer to come pick it up. When the customer arrives, they’re given a 3-inch “coin” to insert into the “vending machine”, at which point their car is unloaded. A video is taken of the entire experience and given to the customer as a memento.
Given its location, the tower would likely be visible from I-95 near the Butler Blvd. exit. It would join a corridor mostly filled by hotels, along with a Cracker Barrel location.
Loft, Buckle, and Dick’s Sporting Goods at the St. Johns Town Center will all undergo renovations, according to Jax Daily Record. Buckle and Loft will have extensive changes, while Dick’s will just remodel their athletic shoe department.
Additionally, Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works at The Avenues will undergo remodels.
Another Gramercy Woods tenant
Connecticut-based SS&C Technologies will move its Jacksonville operations to Gramercy Woods, according to Jax Daily Record.
As we noted last week, Gramercy Woods is the new name for the former Bank of America office park at Southside Blvd. near The Avenues. Aetna will move to Gramercy Woods once its current lease expires next year.
A few notes
- Topgolf on Brightman Blvd. next to the St. Johns Town Center will open in October, according to Jacksonville Business Journal.
- Pizza chain Papa Murphy’s is planning aggressive expansion in the Jacksonville area, according to Jacksonville Business Journal. The chain wants to grow from its current eight locations to 30 or more in the area.
- A third future Wawa location has been revealed – this one at the corner of Blanding Blvd. and Filmore St. in Orange Park – via Jax Daily Record.
- Construction has begun, and permits have been issued for renovations, at the former Wild Wing Café that was severely damaged by a fire.
- Plans have been submitted for TownePlace Suites, an extended-stay hotel concept from Marriott, to construct a 5-story hotel at 13741 Beach Blvd., according to Jacksonville Business Journal.
As always, if you have any questions about development in Jacksonville, contact us at email@example.com or on Twitter using hashtag #bujax. We’ll get it answered!


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During a GDC showcase yesterday, publisher CI Games uploaded a new technical showcase trailer for its upcoming action RPG Lords of the Fallen. Not to be confused with the original from 2014, Lords of the Fallen is the lengthy sequel, due out later this year on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. As it stands, it will be one of the first games on the market to take full advantage of Unreal Engine 5’s unique features.
While there isn’t much gameplay here, the graphics on display look pretty impressive. An interesting feature in Lords of the Fallen will be his character creator. With the help of Hexworks, a small studio founded in 2020, CI Games was able to incorporate 3D scans of real people to take its character creator to ever greater heights. With this technology and the built-in features of UE5, players will get closer to the replica than ever before.
At the same time, we received some additional information on how this sequel will go beyond the original. The game world is more connected than before and will be about five times larger than in the first game. UE5 also allows players to switch between two different worlds without long waits, keeping them engaged in the action for a long time.
A lot of this is just a bunch of platitudes, but it seems like it Lords of the Fallen will be a big leap over its predecessor. The game will be released sometime later this year and is wishlistable on all platforms.


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HHS guidance builds on HIPAA privacy, security rules
The release comes on the heels of an proposed rule issued by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), also as required by the ARRA, regarding consumer notification by personal health records' (PHRs) vendors when a breach has occurred. "Protecting patient privacy is a top priority and this guidance specifies proactive steps organizations can take to limit the potential harm a breach can cause," said HHS Spokesman Nick Papas.
The HHS guidance provides steps entities can take to secure personal health information and establishes the trigger for when entities must notify that patient data has been compromised. This guidance is related to "breach notification" regulations, which will be issued by HHS and the FTC respectively.
The HHS regulations will apply to entities covered by HIPAA and the FTC regulation will apply to PHR vendors and certain others not covered by HIPAA.
The ARRA requires that these regulations be published within 180 days of enactment.
The guidance, developed through a joint effort by the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR), Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), can be read by visiting www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy.
HHS said the guidance must be updated annually but it can be updated and reissued this year, after public comment is considered and at the same time HHS's breach notification regulation is published.


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The UK’s Chemical Business Association (CBA) held its annual lunch, universally known as the ‘Floggers’ Lunch’ at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London on 26 April, marking the 100th anniversary of its establishment in 1923. It also saw the end of Kate Mingay’s tenure as the first female chair in the association’s history.
The UK speciality chemicals industry lost one of its leading lights on 17 December 2022, when Dr David Karsa passed away after suffering severe organ failure.
A chemist by training, David ran his consultancy, TensioMetrics, from his Stockport home for over 50 years while writing several well-regarded books on surfactants in the Sheffield Annual Surfactants Review and the Applied Surfactant Series. He also co-authored books on both surfactants and biocides.
The UK’s Chemical Business Association (CBA) has written to various government ministers, warning that “the supply chain situation in the UK is deteriorating” because of the continuing and deepening shortage of HGV drivers.
UK distributors hit by driver shortage The Chemical Business Association (CBA), which represents chemical distributors and logistics services providers in the UK, has again highlighted the chronic shortage of HGV drivers since Brexit. This, they said in a letter to the Secretaries of State for Transport and Business “has reached a critical point for the UK chemical supply chain”.


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PointsBet first to sign with BetMakers for US Horse Racing
- PointsBet USA becomes first wagering operator to partner with BetMakers in New Jersey
- Follows BetMakers' 10-year exclusive agreement to manage Fixed Odds in New Jersey
- PointsBet USA to bet Fixed Odds on Domestic and International horse racing
This deal follows the announcement on 10 June 2020 by BetMakers for "on-course" management of Fixed Odds on behalf of the New Jersey located Monmouth Park Racetrack ("Monmouth Park").
PointsBet is the first online bookmaker to sign up to the Global Racing Network which will allow it to conduct Fixed Odds betting on horse racing in the U.S market. The Company believes this deal is the first of its kind in the United States.
As announced on 5 February 2020, BetMakers, through BDNA, has secured an exclusive 10-year agreement with New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen Association and Darby Development LLC., the operator Monmouth, to deliver and manage Fixed Odds horse racing in New Jersey.
Today's announcement formalises commercial terms for PointsBet USA, under BDNA's agreement, to offer Fixed Odds betting in New Jersey.
Seth Young, Chief Innovation Officer PointsBet USA, said: "Securing an agreement with BetMakers is a major step in what we believe to be an important strategy for our U.S. plans. We understand horseracing and we intend to capitalise on this expertise as we roll out racing products into the U.S. market, starting in New Jersey."
Dennis Drazin, CEO Monmouth Park, commented: "As a business, Monmouth Park is foremost looking forward to revenue opportunities immediately presented by PointsBet USA signing as the first operator to offer Fixed Odds betting in New Jersey through our exclusive partnership with BetMakers. More broadly, through the BetMakers agreement, we see the Fixed Odds betting type as having great potential for horseracing to be a preferred wagering choice across the U.S, which can increase both the profile of Monmouth Park and horseracing in general."
New Jersey has been one of the pioneers for Fixed Odds sports betting in US, with latest sports betting annual turnover reported at more than $US4.5 billion. Legal Fixed Odds betting on horse racing has not been offered previously in the US market.
Under terms of the deal with PointsBet USA, BDNA will also provide its leading-edge wagering technologies for PointsBet's racing solution. This includes BetMakers' data and pricing solution through Global Betting Services, which allows PointsBet to offer U.S. customers a similar offering to its Australian customers.
Sam Swanell, CEO PointsBet, said: "We look forward to working with BetMakers for our entry into the U.S. horseracing market, which we believe is a big opportunity. BetMakers have been great product and technology services suppliers as well as being overall supporters of our Australian operation, and we see them as an important solution for our U.S. progression."
Todd Buckingham, CEO BetMakers, commented on the deal: "The deal with PointsBet completes an approved and regulated end-to-end supply chain model to launch Fixed Odds betting into the U.S. market for the first time. The stage is now set for first Fixed Odds bets to be taken on horseracing in the U.S. and there are two reasons we believe this can be successful. Firstly, we have seen that U.S. punters have shown an appetite for Fixed Odds on other sports through their $4.5 billion annual turnover in New Jersey, and secondly because we have seen the strong trend in Australia that has seen Fixed Odds betting become the dominant type of betting option preferred by punters. BetMakers sees PointsBet as a perfect partner to launch Fixed Odds in the U.S. We have a great working relationship with PointsBet and as one of the fastest growing wagering companies in the Australian market, we don't see any reason why this would be any different in the U.S."
Mr Buckingham added:
"To begin with, PointsBet USA will be able to offer Fixed Odds betting in New Jersey on all Monmouth Park race meetings across its season, which has just commenced. Under BetMakers' exclusive 10-year agreement to manage and distribute Fixed Odds in New Jersey, any other racing body or rights holder in the world that wishes to supply its content to BetMakers for distribution into this market can sign commercial agreements to monetise their existing product in a new market. BetMakers is currently working with rights holders and racing bodies from other jurisdictions, including Australia, that are looking to offer their own racing content to be available for Fixed Odds betting to New Jersey residents through licensed operators."
"We look forward to updating the market as new tracks sign up and new operators sign up to what we believe will be a significant market in New Jersey."
The Company is unable to provide guidance on the potential revenues under the Agreement, however, the Board of BetMakers considers the Agreement to be qualitatively material to the Company on the basis that the Agreement is in respect of the first wagering operator to sign on with BDNA to operate Fixed Odds in New Jersey.
To view the Material Terms, please visit:
About Betmakers Technology Group Ltd
Betmakers Technology Group Ltd (ASX:BET) (FRA:T07) is an ASX-listed holding company and a global provider of online wagering products and services to both wholesale and retail markets through its various wholly owned subsidiaries. The Company operates a retail wagering business, offering consumers wagering, fantasy tournament and content products and services.
Betmakers Technology Group Ltd


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Month: November 2019
Cryptocurrencies – the page in the economics book that people (should) read
Bitcoin may be a product of computer science, but it is a very human story ’ Larry Summers, American economist Some money history… Money in general is a human story, we might add, a tale that takes us from different stages through history, and using different technologies. Money, in general,Read More
Crypto Booking Firm Travala Partners with Travel Giant Booking.com
Travala, a service that allows its users to pay for hotel stays with cryptocurrency, will now let its customers reserve any hotel that is bookable through Booking.com. Travala announced in a press release on Nov. 25 that it has already integrated Booking’s accommodations to its platform.
MoneyGram, Wing launch mobile wallet service in Cambodia
Alex Holmes, chairman and chief executive officer, MoneyGram Money transfer company MoneyGram International has partnered with Wing (Cambodia) Limited Specialised Bank, to offer a service that will allow customers to receive funds directly into their mobile wallets. “With 80 per cent of our online transactions being made on a mobileRead More
Mystery Man Gets Berlin Shop to Drop BitPay, Accept Bitcoin Directly
An ice cream shop in Berlin’s trendy Friedrichshain district has revealed that a chat with an unknown “super nice” guy spurred them to spearhead Bitcoin adoption with the local crowd.
Grayscale Files to Become First SEC Reporting Crypto Fund
Grayscale Bitcoin Trust is trading higher by 3% after it filed Form 10 with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to become the first-ever crypto fund to report to the regulator. Major Development The crypto ecosystem has grown at a breakneck pace over the past few years, andRead More
The Dangers of 5G Technology And Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR)
Everybody welcome back to another episode of metaphysical life mastery. Today I want to talk to you about 5g technology and electromagnetic
Walkthrough RewardStream – Bitcoin Wallet Platform
This is a quick demo walkthrough of the rewards stream a user dashboard wallet and earn platform reward stream
CryptoTab Browser Earn free Bitcoins while surfing the web
Earn Bitcoins while using your browser! CryptoTab is the world’s first browser with built-in mining feature. It lets you earn cryptocurrency just by visiting sites, watching videos or chatting online. Try new CryptoTab Browser with improved mining algorithm, mine up…
BITCOIN BREAKING DOWN! Don’t Forget: One US Company Is Buying 8% Of All Bitcoin RIGHT NOW!
A single company only avaliable in the US, Square’s Cash App, is buying up 8% of the new supply of bitcoin every quarter. That same percentage will double to 16% in six months. Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AltcoinDailyio The halvening…
Bitcoin ATM, what are they and how to buy bitcoin [BTC] in them?
In its unceasing progress towards global adoption, the different options to buy bitcoin [BTC] and other cryptocurrencies increase, it is possible to buy bitcoin with a credit card, using paypal, through a bank transfer, purchases in person or from an exchange of cryptocurrencies. Today we are going to talk about another method to acquire these…