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Otoklix secures US$10 million Series A funding from Alpha JWC Ventures and AC Ventures
JAKARTA. Otoklix, an O2O (online-to-offline) automotive startup from Indonesia, recently secured Series A funding of US$10 million or around IDR140 billion from Alpha JWC Ventures, AC Ventures, Surge and a number of other investors.
Martin Suryohusodo, one of the founders and CEO of Otoklix, said that the funding will support Otoklix's mission to transform after-sales service for automotive products. The reason is that after-sales service for automotive products is considered less transparent.
"We believe that transparency and trust are the biggest problems in the automotive after-sales sector," said Suryohusodo in an official statement received by idnfinancials.com.
Through Otoklix, said Suryohusodo, vehicle owners will receive comprehensive recommendations regarding the nearest easily accessible repair shop. Meanwhile, the workshop owner will be assisted with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology to Supply-Chain Management (CM), which is provided by Otoklix.
Jeffrey Joe, Co-Founder and General Partner of Alpha JWC Ventures, said that the car service industry is currently growing quite rapidly. The industry is estimated to have doubled compared to annual car sales of US$21 billion.
"Sophisticated technology, supported by Martin's experience and a strong team in this field makes Otoklix's business more promising, and attractive to investors," said Joe.
For information, Otoklix was founded in 2019 and is currently a partner for more than 1,900 active workshops. (KR/LM)


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Apr 12, 2009
In "Africa Wax" war, Dutch take on China
Apr 12, 2009
PARIS, April 12, 2009 (AFP) - A new trade war is unrolling across Africa: a battle between Chinese textile-makers and a colonial-era company from The Netherlands, original maker of the eye-catching "Dutch Wax" fabrics often known as "Africa Wax."
Photo: (AFP/File/Francois Guillot)
Little known at home or anywhere else in Europe, the house of Vlisco is one of Africa's most-known brands, suppliers since 1846 of the bright cloths stamped with extravagant designs that are a hallmark of the continent.
But China's deepening foray into Africa has upset the makers of "Guaranteed Dutch Wax," who say workaholic Chinese are copying their designs as soon as they hit ports to dump cheaper low-quality lookalikes on African marketplaces.
"For the price of a yard of Vlisco, you can buy eight to 10 copies," Ed Hessing, the company's sales manager, told AFP. "The competition from China is a threat."
"We must defend ourselves against dirt-cheap Chinese copies. We aim to become the top high-end fashion brand of Africa."
Striving to become a luxury brand in impoverished Africa in times of economic turbulence might sound outlandish but is exactly what the old established Dutch firm is up to.
For the first time in 160 years, the company this week threw its collection of fabrics onto a Paris catwalk for a crowd of several hundred people in the hopes of grabbing the spotlight in the world's fashion capital.
"We want to create a buzz around our fabrics," said Hessing, who says the original Dutch cloth is far hardier than the imitation roller-printed version. The real thing lasts 15 years and is colour-fast, he said.
Inspired by Indonesia's batik method of dying cloth, a Dutch merchant family called the Van Vissingens industrialised the method in Europe in the 19th century. By the late 1800s they were supplying the bulk of the Indonesian market as well as selling in West African ports where Dutch freighters set anchor.
Popular from the start in fabric-loving Africa, the Dutch-made cloth continues to come bearing a stamp saying "Vlisco Guaranteed Dutch Wax," an imprint that often features proudly in finished garments -- just as Westerners like to flaunt logos such as D&G or Nike.
"Through the ages African women have really appreciated Dutch designs, even over the African designs on the market," said Annette Schmidt, curator of an exhibition on African wax at the Dutch National Ethnology Museum.
Vlisco, which describes itself as the biggest textile company in The Netherlands, has a dozen-odd designers among its staff of 500 -- but not a single artist is African.
"We don't try to make our designs African," the firm's creative director Henk Bremer said. "But there seems to be a click with Dutch design, I think it is because West Africans like innovation and novelty."
At the Paris show, the company paraded its own designs cut in its latest collection of fabrics as well as outfits by three young African stylists, winners each of a 5,000-euro Vlisco fashion prize.
"Africa is evolving, Africa is modernising," Bremer said. "They use our designs as their inspiration."
Patterns might incorporate mobile phones, computers, modern kitchens and rollerskates.
"I saw the rollerskate design on women in villages in Mali who I'm sure had never seen a real one, but I guess they saw the humour," Schmidt said.
"All popular designs are named and have a specific meaning" said Bremer, adding that most often the fabrics were given names by local saleswomen.
Thus a design featuring human eyes is "the eyes of my rival" and one of a recurring bedroom suite known as "come to my bedroom on your sandals."
With these decades of knowhow behind it, and a 100-million-euro turnover last year, Vlisco is fighting back to entrench its foothold in Africa.
To maintain its edge, staff are turning out new collections of fabrics every three months now, giving competitors less time to copy.
And the company is moving away from street-market booths selling bolts of fabric to instead offer ready-to-wear lines in "flagship" boutiques opened last year in Benin and Togo and this month in Ivory Coast.
New stores are planned for Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo in late 2009, with one in Paris in 2010, Hessing said.
"We want to reach the African diaspora in Europe now," he said.by Claire Rosemberg
Copyright © 2022 AFP. All rights reserved. All information displayed in this section (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the contents of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presses.

domain: news


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REVEALED: The Triad's Healthiest Employers
Trump qualifies support for Senate deal to fund health subsidies
Pinnacle's Terry Turner: There's no mourning the BNC brand
Artificial intelligence takes the tedium out of auditing
Triad Christian school to kick off $5.25 million construction project
Developer: Atlantic Coast Pipeline could lure 2 manufacturers to eastern N.C.
First look inside the Kimpton Tryon Park hotel in uptown Charlotte (PHOTOS)
Home of the Day: Craftsman Details - Fantastic Location
Hanesbrands acquires Georgia apparel firm for $60M
Duke Energy denies seeking control of state’s new bidding for solar projects
Are Amazon, e-commerce and Macy’s One Day Sales killing Black Friday?
Pop-up art gallery coming to downtown Greensboro
Displaced downtown Greensboro office to expand at new location
Triad company launches new premium sock line for outdoorsy execs
Study: N.C. gained more than 70,000 immigrants from 2010 to 2016
REVEALED: The Triad's Healthiest Employers of 2017
Roy Carroll announces plans for urban Bee Safe facilities
Bitter differences over NAFTA break into the open
Alphabet to build futuristic city in Toronto
Google Maps pulls calorie-counting feature after criticism
Kimbal Musk wants to feed America, Silicon Valley-style
New braking system key to 145 jobs at Morganton Continental plant (PHOTOS)
Meet the 'father of the ThinkPad' laptop
N.C.'s power targets from swine, poultry waste delayed — again
EXCLUSIVE: Downtown Greensboro office building to be converted into 'cool' apartments
How Wise Man Brewing's $20K solar installation will power it forward
Forbes: These Carolinians among the 400 richest in the U.S.
Wall Street's dismissal of bitcoin becoming harder
North Carolina scores 11th for tax competitiveness
Triad chamber names new president, CEO
People on the Move - 2017-10-17
Fresh Market's turnaround efforts are floundering, and Publix is partly to blame
Groundbreaking for Courtyard by Marriott in downtown Winston-Salem set for next month
California Treasurer: Why is Tim Sloan still the CEO of Wells Fargo?
LimeBike raises $50M, valuation goes from zero to $225M in 9 months
How big is the risk of another Black Monday equities crash?
Opponents continue to fight Atlantic Coast Pipeline after fed approval
Five Triad companies among world's largest
Amazon's portfolio of tech hubs hints at top U.S. contenders for HQ2
Inmar acquires marketing analytics company
Why this Triad furniture firm needed 3 more warehouse buildings
Triad golf course owner sells pool, tennis facilities to membership
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In a new WalletHub survey, Boston came in last on a list of the finest cities in the United States for vegans and vegetarians, scoring 85 out of 100.
“Approximately 15.2 million adults in the United States are vegan or vegetarian. Unfortunately, it’s not the most convenient way of life to live because finding meatless options in restaurants and shops can be difficult. That is beginning to change, as more and more establishments, including some of the country’s most well-known fast-food franchises, have begun to offer vegetarian or vegan meals,” according to the website.
WalletHub evaluated 100 of the largest U.S. cities across 16 characteristics of vegan and vegetarian friendliness to determine the locations with the greatest and cheapest plant-based options. The cost of groceries for vegetarians, the share of restaurants selling meatless options, and the number of salad shops per population were all considered in each city.
However, the state capital did not fare well in these rankings, owing to the high cost of food. Massachusetts was ranked 85th overall, with 97th in affordability, 40th in diversity, accessibility, and quality, and 23rd in vegetarian lifestyle.
Portland, Oregon, Orlando, Florida, Los Angeles, California, San Francisco, California, Boise, Idaho, Austin, Texas, Seattle, Washington, Lexington-Fayette, Kentucky, Oakland, California, and San Diego, California are the top 10 cities on the list, starting with number one.
While Boston is at the bottom of the list, there are still 15 cities ahead of it.
San Bernardino, California, North Las Vegas, Nevada, Greensboro, North Carolina, Henderson, Nevada, Chula Vista, California, Hialeah, Florida, San Jose, California, Durham, North Carolina, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Anchorage, Alaska, according to WalletHub, have the worst vegan and vegetarian options.


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- Western Union is reportedly planning to acquire MoneyGram – a deal that could have a noticeable impact on Ripple.
- Western Union has made an official takeover bid, according to a Bloomberg report.
- MoneyGram is yet to make a decision.
Western Union is reportedly planning to acquire MoneyGram – a deal that can have a noticeable impact on Ripple. According to a Bloomberg report, anonymous sources “familiar with the matter” said that Western Union had made an official takeover bid. MoneyGram is yet to make a decision.
In 2019, MoneyGram partnered with Ripple to leverage its XRP-powered cross-border payment product, On-Demand Liquidity, to process a part of its remittances. Ripple owns around 10% of MoneyGram’s common stock after investing $50-million in the payments giant last year.
Currently, Western Union is exploring XRP’s potential to power cross-border transactions. However, it isn’t very positive about the prospect. In June 2019, CEO Hikmet Ersek had said that the company’s early trials with XRP showed that using crypto was five times more expensive than relying on Western Union’s in-house system. This outlook, however, appears to be changing. In April, researchers at Credit Suisse reported that Western Union continues “testing and considering the use of Ripple (XRP) for cross-border [payments]” even though the company was “initially less bullish” on the technology.
Western Union and MoneyGram are two of the largest money-transfer companies in the US. MoneyGram has a market value of about $164 million and Western Union has a market value of approximately $8.5 billion per Bloomberg.


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Social media platform Snapchat has filed for an IPO:
“Snap claims 158 million daily users and said over 2.5 billion Snaps are created every day. However, the young company warned that its popularity could plateau, hurting its business. It noted that user growth was “relatively flat” in the end of the third quarter. Snap blamed the decline in user growth on performance issues linked to new products and updates.“
If you are relying solely on “older” social media networks, such as Twitter or Facebook, you may be missing out. Newer services, such as Instagram and Snapchat, are huge and very popular with Millennials and even younger consumers.
Resources for Walmart Suppliers


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July 31, 2014
Trillium CNG promised plenty of fuel for trucks belonging to Champion Brands, which owns the property where the $2 million station will become operational in October.
July 18, 2014
The Model 3 will go on sale in 2017 for about $40,000, said Tesla spokesman Simon Sproule, although the price could change as the vehicle gets closer to market.
July 1, 2014
Minnesota becomes the first state in the nation to mandate a 10 percent minimum blend of biodiesel in diesel fuel sold at the pump.
July 1, 2014
The Motiv electric Powertrain Control System (ePCS) is a single product suite that can electrify any truck or bus chassis with a variety of commercially-available battery packs and motors.
May 14, 2014
Experts to predict the gasoline price tipping point that will drive green car sales, Tuesday, May 20.
May 9, 2014
The 40 trucks will replace 40 diesel trucks currently in use, and are expected to start making store deliveries in the Portland metropolitan area by the end of 2014.
May 8, 2014
Each Penske facility will receive $75,000 in grants to provide maintenance services on trucks with engines that run on natural gas.
April 16, 2014
El Milagro operates approximately 80 vehicles at its locations in Illinois, Georgia and Texas. Its 55-vehicle Chicago fleet has operated on propane autogas since 1998.
March 6, 2014
It will be 20 percent more aerodynamic than the company’s current trucks.
October 23, 2013
Truck OEMs seeking revocation of EPA rule allowing Navistar to sell non-EPA compliant engines.
October 21, 2013
U.S. Department of Energy picks Li's group following auction.
September 24, 2013
Special section on renewable energy includes focus on electric car owners.


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Partnering with Greenpeace and GreenSeas Trust, the IET set two very different challenges, looking at reusable packaging in supermarkets and tackling the trillions of cigarette butts currently in our waters. For the first challenge, Team NanoMalaysia made up of PhD students Ivan Ling (27), Pauline Phoon Bao Lee (28), Tan Chin Joo (28) and Ong Chong Cheen (27) developed a new approach to food packaging called PICAS block, which provides an alternative for packing dried, loose food products. Using carrageenan and starch to create dissolvable food blocks, the team hopes to significantly reduce the amount of plastic waste from supermarkets.
“We’re extremely honoured to be chosen as the winner for this prestigious award,” said NanoMalaysia project leader, Ivan Ling, who works at the University of Southampton Malaysia. “We never thought a small team like ours would have the chance to travel to the UK – it’s very exciting. We plan to develop the PICAS block further and hope to have it commercialised in the near future.”
The second Save our Seas challenge saw Team Baywatchers from Oxfordshire develop a crab-like robot concept, KRABB-E, designed to collect cigarette-butts from UK beaches. Made up of Helena Livesey (25), Jonathon Witty (24), George Fulton (23), and Alexander Morgan (25), the team hopes KRABB-E could help clean up the trillions of cigarettes that are estimated to currently be in our waters.
“We wanted to enter as we thought the challenge could have a real positive and global impact and we’re delighted to have won!” said Baywatchers team member Helena Livesey, a mechanical design engineer at the UK Atomic Energy Authority. “We were quite surprised but glad all of our hard work has paid off.
“Engineering and technology is so vital to help tackle environmental change – we can use it to fix problems that we’ve already caused – like with the use of KRABB-E – but also to monitor and inform new technologies, helping to change behaviours and how we interact with our environment.”


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Luxury shopping site Net-a-porter.com is launching a new social network for fashion fans in the know.
‘The Net Set’ is an app that aims to reunite the fashion and shopping communities online, including consumers, stars, style leaders, curators, designers and brands. It will give users the chance to share their style, their loves and their inspirations, as well as shop online.
Built for the iPhone, iPad and the Apple Watch, it is the group’s first attempt to blend social media and shopping.
The app features a live feed of the luxury fashion items and content trending across the globe and lets users upload and share items and images that define their style, as well as creating personal “love lists”.
Each user creates their own profile but can also join “Style Tribes”, a set of user-curated clubs that group themed content, products and brands around personal tastes, such as Monochrome, Double Denim and Rock Chic. Brands will also be able to post content, comment on and ‘love’ products, join tribes and admire other users and labels.
One of the main features is “the Style Council”, an invitation-only group of style experts and icons that will be on hand to help users in real time, as though they were shopping together.
The app will also provide global overnight delivery of over 350 fashion collections to 170 countries, plus same-day delivery in Manhattan, London and Hong Kong.
“The rise of social media and style blogs has shown that women around the world are inspired by each other’s style and their closets,” says Natalie Massenet, Founder and Executive Chairman of the group. “The Net Set is to mobile in 2015 what net-a-porter.com was to desktop in 2000.”
The Net Set will be available across iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch and will launch initially with an invite code from May 13, 2015.


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The Legal Landscape of Cannabis in New Jersey
New Jersey made history on February 22, 2021, by legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, becoming the 14th state to do so in the US. The new law allows adults over 21 years of age to possess up to six ounces of cannabis legally. But what does this mean for the cannabis industry in New Jersey, and more specifically, what does this mean for marijuana delivery? Wish to learn more about the topic discussed in this article? cannabis delivery In new York Https://yelorx.com, packed with extra and worthwhile details to enhance your study.
Opportunities and Challenges for Cannabis Retail in NJ
The legalization of marijuana in New Jersey presents a significant opportunity for entrepreneurs and those involved in the cannabis industry, especially when it comes to marijuana delivery. Ultimately, marijuana delivery services will help keep the demand for cannabis high but also drive sales growth, reduce wait times, and enhance the customer experience. However, legalization also comes with significant regulatory changes and challenges. For example, the regulatory framework around taxation, licensing, and delivery itself may be different between the medical and recreational markets.
The Benefits of Marijuana Delivery in NJ
The benefits of marijuana delivery could transform the industry and make it more accessible to consumers. The convenience and practicality of marijuana delivery services allow businesses to serve specific demographics, such as the elderly, differently abled, and physically impaired customers. The on-demand marijuana delivery model also holds significant promise in terms of consumer demand, and with the current COVID-19 pandemic keeping more people at home. It’s safe to say this model may grow in popularity in the coming years. Other benefits include reducing wait times, expanding the customer base, and tapping into new markets.
Challenges to Marijuana Delivery in NJ and How to Overcome Them
While the benefits of marijuana delivery services are evident, several challenges hinder their implementation. Regulatory and safety concerns such as license approvals, destination tracking, and age verification are among them. Additionally, marijuana delivery services remain the target of organized crime syndicates. However, these challenges present significant opportunities to enhance the safety and reliability of marijuana delivery services. Adequate measures such as strict background checks and verifying the delivery driver’s identity can counter the risks and challenges associated with marijuana delivery services. By ensuring that marijuana delivery businesses comply with state regulations and laws, New Jersey can strengthen its marijuana license issuing and delivery frameworks while promoting public safety.
The Future of Marijuana Delivery in NJ
The legalization of marijuana in New Jersey has opened up numerous opportunities for businesses in the cannabis industry. Marijuana delivery services will become an essential part of the cannabis retail landscape in New Jersey. With the right safety measures and reliability protocols, marijuana delivery services have a bright future in New Jersey. It’s worth noting that municipalities can opt-out of legalization, so not all of New Jersey might get the chance to try out delivery and other recreational cannabis experiences immediately. Learn more about the subject by visiting this carefully selected external resource. View study, discover valuable insights and new perspectives on the topic covered in the article.
Overall, it’s clear that marijuana delivery services are crucial to enabling the growing cannabis industry in a post-COVID-19 world. Not only is marijuana delivery expected to improve customer satisfaction in an already booming market, but it’s also expected to generate more jobs, create vertical integration opportunities for cannabis businesses, and increase consumer access to legal marijuana products. The legalization of marijuana and regulations surrounding it will undoubtedly present new challenges, but these challenges will encourage businesses to come up with innovative solutions to ensure efficient, safe, and profitable marijuana delivery services in New Jersey.
Gain more insight into the subject by exploring the related links we’ve provided:


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£1 billion of investment for Chesterfield over the next 10 years
We regularly hear about new investment in Chesterfield; whether this is Markham Vale, Peak Resorts, Chesterfield Waterside or by one of our expanding local businesses. But recently, at the Celebrate Chesterfield event it was calculated that the total amount of money being invested in the town over the next 10 years is actually £1 billion. There was an audible intake of breath in the room, when that level of investment was announced, proving once again that Chesterfield is punching well and truly above its weight.
This investment will bring lots of homes, leisure facilities, restaurants and businesses, etc to Chesterfield which, importantly, will create jobs, 1000s of them in fact. With jobs comes more spending power in our local economy- Everyone in our town will benefit. The future for Chesterfield is very exciting, however we must not lose sight of what we have now. It is important to support the businesses that are already within the town and help them continue to thrive so they will be around to reap the benefits of the £1 billion of future investment.
The annual Chesterfield Retail Awards organised by Destination Chesterfield, are a great example of how we strive to celebrate and support businesses in Chesterfield. I am delighted to see that so many people have got behind the awards once again and nominated their favourite retailers. We’ll be announcing the winners of the Chesterfield Retail Awards in June.
However, it is my view that every one of Chesterfield’s retailers should be commended. By way of example we heard at the Celebrate event that plans for the former Co-op building are in the pipeline and I, like everyone else, look forward to seeing an important building brought back into use.
Whether or not you nominated a business for the Retail Awards my plea to you, to keep Chesterfield thriving now, is for you to Shop Local. Independent retailers in the town centre, along Chatsworth Road and Whittington Moor have everything you could ever need. You name it - fruit and vegetables from the market, gifts, clothing, furniture, jewellery, we really do have it all. Our town’s mix of retailers – independents alongside high street chains, are what sets us apart from other high streets. We have variety that others are lacking and this is the reason why people travel from the Peak District, Buxton, Dronfield, South Sheffield and even Leicestershire to shop here. But let’s make sure we support our independent retailers. Chesterfield can enjoy its modern awakening now, not in ten years’ time.


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As the anticipation grows, so does the number of people flocking to South Florida for Miami Carnival.
Last year, the festival was canceled due to the pandemic and officials are expecting double the amount of visitors at this year’s carnival.
Officials tell NBC 6 they are expecting at least 20,000 people and say those people are bringing in much-needed business to South Florida.
“Because it’s not all about the beads, the feathers and having a great time on the road. Miami Carnival is a huge economic impact to South Florida,” said John Beckford, who is the Marketing Director with the Miami Broward Carnival Committee.
Get South Florida local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC South Florida newsletters.
Along with the Caribbean cultural impact, Miami Carnival brings thousands of tourists to South Florida during Columbus Day Weekend.
This means South Florida hotels and car rental companies will get plenty of business.
“Between Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties, all the hotels are booked out, you can’t get a car to rent anywhere in South Florida ... There are heads in beds and all that tourism tax. From the tax, they are paid when you rent a car or you're staying at a hotel, (it) goes right back into the local economy,” explained Beckford.
The Greater Miami Convention and Tourism Bureau surveyed visitors who attended Miami Carnival in 2019. They found that 65% said they booked a hotel or motel, 53% rented a car, and 43% visit local restaurants and shops.
The cancelation, and the pandemic in general, has crippled small business owners.
“What happens is your small businesses have the opportunity to be vendors," said Vice President of Multicultural Tourism, Connie Kinnard, with GMCVB.
Local tourism officials say the festivities will bring thousands of new potential customers for small business owners.
“From an economic standpoint the dollars that are spent, help our community but more importantly help our small businesses and so that's a great piece," Kinnard explained.
Because of South Florida’s rich Caribbean culture, it’s a magnet for international visitors to come and stay for the weekend.
Beckord says “Just about every island is represented of course," at Miami Carnival.
“The fact that Miami Dade is a cultural destination. There are not many places that you can position a Caribbean Carnival other than Miami," Kinnard said.


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A triple distinction of SYSTEMS SUNLIGHT in Greek Exports Awards 201629/11/2016
SYSTEMS SUNLIGHT, member of the Olympia Group, owned by Panos Germanos, was nomitated with three awards in this year’s “Greek Exports Awards” held on Friday, November 25, in the presence of senior government officials and members of the Greek business community.
The company awarded with the gold prize in the category “Top Industrial Company”, the gold prize in the category “Top Innovation Company” and the silver as the “Top Exports Company”. It’s the second consecutive year the company is awarded for its export strategy and achievements.
SYSTEMS SUNLIGHT managed between 2014 and 2015 to further increase by more than 29% its production capacity, creating 130 new jobs within 2016 and establishing the factory in Xanthi as the second largest of its kind in Europe. The company’s export orientation is shown by the fact that 98% of industrial production is exported to 450 foreign customers in more than 100 countries and 5 continents.
The CEO of SYSTEMS SUNLIGHT Mr. Vasilli Billis, who received on behalf of the company’s the prize said: “This was one of the best years for our company. The second consecutive distinction in the Greek Exports Awards, where we were nominated with 3 awards, is a proof that we have chosen the correct strategy with a clear emphasis on exports.
In difficult times for our country we continue to develop our plant in Xanthi, which is now the second largest factory of its kind in Europe, and we offer more employment opportunities to the local community. Entering foreign markets requires great effort, flexibility and persistence. In SUNLIGHT, we continue to invest in our extrovert orientation and seek new opportunities to grow in even more markets”.


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ePHOTOzine brings you a daily round up of all the latest photography news including camera news, exhibitions, events, special offers, industry news, digital photography news, announcements and launches.
Serif has today released its professional image editing app for the Mac, Affinity Photo.
- 9 Jul 2015
Globally respected analogue brand of Harman technology plays part in exhibition to mark International Year of Astronomy.
- 9 Jan 2009
Sony debuts first ever photo frames with HD video playback.
- 1 Sep 2010
Brancolini Grimaldi Gallery is attending Paris Photo 2012.
- 7 Nov 2012
Photographers may want to check where their stock photos are used after an image of a couple who fully support same-sex relationships find their image on anti-gay marriage posters.
- 8 May 2015
We've teamed up with Photocrowd on their latest photography competition to give away 10 prize bundles to those who capture the best shots of 'Amusing Animals'.
- 27 Jan 2016
A digital exhibit that gives people access to iconic views and treasures found in St. Paul's Cathedral can now be viewed from the comfort of your home.
- 2 Mar 2016
Thumbs Up have announced the release of the eStarling 2.0 Wi-Fi.
- 15 Oct 2007


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PACKAGING IN A CHANGING WORLD: THE ESSENTIAL
PLATFORM FOR LEADERS AND INNOVATORS
The Sustainable Packaging Summit has created a different kind of event, with a mission to bring together leaders and thinkers from within and outside industry to focus on the dilemmas and barriers on our pathway to sustainable transformation. Building on the momentum of the community that has formed around the Summit, the 2023 edition returns with a wider scope, multiple streams, more attendees – and bigger ambitions.
Taking place in Amsterdam on 14-15 November 2023, the Sustainable Packaging Summit will sharpen the focus on the demands and pain points revealed during last year’s ground-breaking series of discussions in Lisbon. Addressing key objectives we must come together to meet, the summit again provides the platform for value chain leaders to frankly discuss strategic roadblocks and identify opportunities to align business, regulation and society around a circular, net zero packaging ecosystem.
KEY TOPICS ON THIS YEAR'S AGENDA
This year’s program builds and expands on last year’s game-changing concept. In addition to the original focus on high-level panels in which key stakeholders discuss our strategic challenges, the multi-stage Amsterdam agenda includes a new Innovation Horizon stream, which will explore key technological opportunities, R&D strategies and feature pitches from the most exciting start-ups disrupting the sustainable packaging space. The Summit will introduce greater variety in formats, with core panels discussions interspersed with keynotes that set the agenda and workshops breaking down critical questions for interactive discussion.
Key topics on this year’s agenda:
- Critical review of sustainability goals and progress
- Net Zero strategies
- Regulation and its implications for our strategies: PPWR and the UN Treaty on Plastic (with live updates from Nairobi)
- Intercontinental dialogue on circular economy, learning from each other and harmonization
- EPR & unlocking investment
- Innovation Horizon: keys to a successful R&D strategy
- Start-up pitches
- Sustainable substrates: renewables, future plastics and infinite materials
- Digital transformation: driving sustainability by bringing together the connected factory and the digital consumer
- Scaling up reuse and refill models
- Chemical recycling & mass balance
- Hear directly from the key value chain platforms and associations
Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam, Netherlands


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Upgrading to a new smartphone has never been simpler with changes coming to the Verizon Edge program. Beginning May 31, Verizon Edge customers can upgrade at any time after their prior Edge device is paid in full.
More and more customers are choosing the benefits and the savings available from Verizon Edge. Qualified customers still pay nothing toward the Edge device at time of purchase, and the amount financed under Edge is spread across 24 months, interest free. Verizon Edge customers can also receive a monthly line access discount on the MORE Everything plans - $25 less on the monthly line access for on plans with 6GB and higher, $15 less on plans with 4GB and lower.
“The value of Verizon Edge, including lower monthly line access, is quickly making it the option of choice,” said Nancy Clark, senior vice president – Marketing and Sales Operations, Verizon. “More than 50 percent of Verizon Wireless customers now choose the simple and flexible Verizon Edge payment program when activating or upgrading smartphones.”
Monthly device payments offer customers access to the latest technology on the nation’s largest and most reliable 4G LTE network. For example, the Samsung Galaxy S6 with HD Voice and video calling ($599.99 full retail) is only $24.99 a month. The LG Lancet ($120 full retail) is only $5 a month. Customers can upgrade at any time once the device is paid off. And once the device is paid off, customers can do with it as they choose. They can recycle their old device for an account credit, donate it to Hopeline to help stop domestic violence, or give it to a friend or family member to activate.
Verizon Edge is available for postpaid smartphones, basic phones, tablets and the latest devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S7.


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THE HIDDEN FACTOR IN
TODAY’S REAL ESTATE MARKET
The Median price for homes in the greater Phoenix area is up a whopping 32% from 2020. Prognosticating the real estate market is a thankless job – but unlike the stock market some predictions are fairly safe to make.
What to know if you are a buyer:
Prices are going to continue to go up until supply increases significantly. The exact amount and rate of appreciation is what is unknown. The fact that they will continue to rise is predictable. If interest rates are low (they are, but won’t be forever) and prices are going to rise for the next year (they will) it makes sense to buy now. So our advice? If you are a buyer who can buy, buy now.
What to know if you are a seller:
Seasonally the market typically slows in the back half of the year once the spring buying season is over. Last year the pandemic extended the buying season as people could not flee the valley for vacations. This year we expect, as in years past, activity to gradually slow through the end of the year. However, as long as supply remains low, prices will increase – just not as rapidly as the first half of the year. To quote Tina Tamboer of the Cromford Report: “At its current rate of decline, the Greater Phoenix market is still projected to remain in a Seller Market for 16 months. That’s a target of October 2022 before prices stop rising. As the Seller Market weakens, appreciation rates will still be positive moving forward but there will be a little more supply to accommodate demand.”.
Hidden Market Factor: But there is a hidden market factor that sellers should be aware of that could affect them. The expiry of Governmental home retention programs. Tina further explains: “However this year there’s an event coming up that could alter that scenario, that is the end of forbearance for many homeowners. While the vast majority of forbearances have ended with homeowners staying in their home, anywhere from 16%-20% have resorted to selling their home one way or another according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. This could result in an increase in supply over the next few months, adding extra days of marketing time to your listing and possibly a few price reductions.” For sellers concerned about this, now may be the time to sell.
As always, we will continue to watch the numbers and keep our clients informed. Want an up-to-date forecast for the market whether buying or selling? We are here to help and inform. Contact us.
-Wendy And Russell Shaw


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Niels Weithe moves to Ceva Logistics as head of e-commerce
Ceva Logistics has appointed Niels Weithe as its global head of e-commerce. The newly-created role will ...
Arvato Healthcare is taking a targeted approach to further expanding its European network for healthcare services. Around 9,000sq metres of warehouse space, specially designed to meet the demands of the healthcare business, is being set up in the new multi-user warehouse in Gennep, the Netherlands. The logistics centre, which has a total area of 30,000sq metres, was originally opened in March 2016 to serve Arvato’s hi-tech and entertainment division. From this summer, Arvato Healthcare will carry out various services for its customers from the Gennep site, including the distribution of medical devices to destinations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
WestJet will 'disrupt' Canada with three 737Fs, but rivals aren't scared
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Carriers turn their gaze back to scrubbers as voyage results tumble
Maersk idles more ships while NOOs see a rebound in demand
The parcel empires strike back as smaller players take stock
Forwarding M&A round-up: plenty of action making smaller headlines
CMA CGM eyes car-carrier market boom as liners are ready to invest
DSV buys in Arizona to boost services and cross-border LatAm trade
Retailers warn of challenging orderbooks amid continued high inventory
Some ocean trades stabilising, but transatlantic rates still falling
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Video streaming service Netflix Inc., which is available in 130 countries, has gone live in Israel, too, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings announced yesterday, ending months of speculation.
- Netflix Is Coming to Israel – but Who's Going to Run It?
- The TV App ‘Created by ex-Mossad Guys’
- Israeli Startup Turns Video Ads Interactive
However, at this stage, the streaming service will be available only in English (and Arabic), and there is no subtitled content.
The company conducted market studies in Israel leading up to its global expansion, to examine if Israelis would pay for the entertainment content service. Company representatives also refused to sell Netflix productions’ broadcasting rights to local players HOT and Yes, so as not to undermine the platform’s success in Israel.
Netflix also considered a more expansive presence in Israel that would include local offices and content translation. One of the candidates to run such a branch was Yona Wiesenthal, the former vice president of content at Yes, but Netflix eventually decided to offer their service in Israel without a physical presence here.
The company’s services are expected to present a significant threat to local players that offer similar products, including HOT, Yes and recently Cellcom. The threat may remain minimal. however, as long as Hebrew is not supported by the platform.
Netflix in Israel includes most, but not all original productions. The popular “House of Cards” series, for example, is not offered in the service, most likely because the broadcasting rights to the show have already been sold to other sources.
The company is offering one free month and three subscriber packages, the cheapest at $7.99 a month (without HD), the priciest at $11.99 (allows four movies on four screens at once).


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Many liquor retailers across the state will be counting bottles tomorrow and the following days as they get ready for the new federal liquor excise tax, which goes into effect tomorrow.
Liquor store owners must determine how much product they have in stock on Jan. 1 and pay the additional excise tax by June 30. This is a one-time inventory, and tax will be paid by the liquor producers after Jan. 1.
To meet the government's requirements, Geoffrey W. Connor, president of Calvert Discount Liquors in Baltimore County, is calling in his 14 employees to tally the bottles at the 6,000-square-foot store on York Road.
"We're going to have a lot of unhappy campers here," he said about the prospects of his employees spending New Year's Day taking inventory. But Connors said it is necessary to get an accurate count.
Liquor stores have until Jan. 10 to determine how much liquor, beer and wine were on their floors on Jan. 1. Like Connor, many store owners have decided to count bottles tomorrow or early Wednesday morning.
Besides being closed tomorrow, Connor's store will also be closed on Wednesday as he and his staff raise the prices on thousands of bottles.
The imminent increase has prompted some consumers to stockpile alcohol at its current, lower prices, Connor and other retailers reported.
The excise tax increases were included in the November agreement between Congress and the Bush administration to reduce the federal deficit. The government also will begin taxing luxury cars, furs and other items tomorrow.
The new excise tax will boost the federal tax on a six-pack of beer in 12-ounce cans or bottles from 16 to 32 cents and on a 750-milliliter bottle of wine from 3 cents to 21 cents.
For liquor in 750- milliliter bottles, the tax will increase from 99 cents to $1.07 for a 40-proof liquor, from $1.98 to $2.14 for an 80-proof product and from $2.23 to $2.41 for a 90-proof liquor. ("Proof" is a term used to measure of strength for alcoholic products.)
However, the price increase faced by a consumer may be higher. The tax is levied by the producer, and the wholesaler and the retailer then apply their own markups, which are based on a percentage. The amount of the increase also depends on how much of the tax the producer, in being competitive, wants to pass on to the consumer.
As a result, the price of a six-pack of beer will go up 25 to 30 cents, and the price of a regular bottle of wine will go up 50 to 70 cents, Connor said. Wine could increase in price $1 to $2 a jug -- the most popular package -- depending on the brand, he said.
Liquor in 1.75-liter bottles could jump in price by $1 to $5 a bottle, depending on the brand, Connor said. The new prices, along with the wholesale and retail markups, will be in effect when Calvert Discount reopens on Thursday, he said.
The special inventory and the price changes are the finale of one of the busiest months he has ever had, Connor said. Besides the traditionally heavy business that accompanies the holidays, people have been stockpiling to avoid the price increase.
"We are seeing very large liquor orders," he said. "We expect to see a tremendous rush of business" in the final days of the month, he said last week.
Even before the last-minute rush, Connor said he handled one spectacularly large order. In early December an individual buyer bought 30 cases of whiskey, gin and vodka and 10 cases of vermouth for a total price of $2,410. "That's a lot of martinis," he said.
One of the largest discount liquor retailers in the mid-Atlantic region, Calvert normally has daily sales of about $5,000, Connor said. But in recent days, the volume has doubled, and he expects it to reach a new high today.
The last time excise taxes were increased was on Oct. 1, 1985. The day before, Calvert did $27,000 worth of business. Connor said he expects to match or exceed that today.
However, he does not plan to stay open until midnight, as allowed by Baltimore County law, to take advantage of last-minute shoppers. Instead, he will be closing at 10 p.m. in deference to his employees' New Year Eve plans. But that might change. "If it is terribly busy, we'll try to find someone to work, including myself," Connor said.
While business at the end of the year is great, he expects it to drop in January and February as a result of the tax increase and the ongoing change in alcoholic tastes, which are moving from liquors to wines.
"We perceive a very slow January and February for standard brands," Connor said. However, fine wines, which Calvert also stocks, traditionally do better in those months, he said.
For those stores that do not carry the specialty brands, "their future is increasingly glum," he said.
Michael D. Hyatt, president of Wells Discount Liquors, a large Baltimore discount operation, said sales in December have been "phenomenal" and are running 15 percent ahead of last December.


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Bobens Trading Company in New York is recalling hooded zip sweatshirts.
The girls "Old Skool" hoodies have draw strings that could end up getting tangled around a child's neck.
It poses a risk of strangulation.
The sweatshirts were sold at Burlington Coat Factory stores from November 2007 to September 2009.
Return them for a refund to Burlington or Bobens Trading Company.
For more information call 1-516-433-8490 or visit the website corporate.burglingtoncoatfactory.com.


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Lemoyne, PA, December 13, 2021 – As part of its ongoing commitment to sharing perspectives from knowledgeable and respected industry voices, the Professional Audio Manufacturers Alliance (PAMA) is extending an invitation to the audio community to join its December 17 membership meeting with Dr. Chris Kuehl, co-founder and managing director of Armada Corporate Intelligence, as the featured guest.
Back by popular demand, Dr. Kuehl provided a forecast for economic recovery post-COVID, thoughts on the long-term effect of work-from-home policies, and the impact of the pandemic on various manufacturing sectors at PAMA’s December 2020 membership meeting. In the upcoming meeting, Dr. Kuehl will discuss the reality that many issues such as supply chain breakdowns, inflation and labor shortages have lingered, plus new challenges such as higher interest rates, more geopolitical issues and the impact of governmental activity.
“The perspectives Dr. Kuehl shared with our membership last December were insightful and fascinating,” states PAMA Board of Directors chair Chris Regan. “We are eager to hear his analysis of 2021 and his predictions for 2022 as the manufacturing community faces another year of uncertainty.”
The free event will be held online at 2 PM EST, December 17, 2021. Registration is required to attend. Registration is available here and is also linked from the PAMA events page: pamalliance.org/events.
Video archives of past PAMA membership meetings can be found on the event page. Also available on the site are videos of PAMA’s student career opportunities series of online sessions.
Learn more about PAMA’s advocacy for audio excellence at pamalliance.org
Photo file 1: Chris-Kuehl.jpg
Photo caption 1: The audio community is invited to join PAMA’s December 17 membership meeting where Dr. Chris Kuehl, co-founder and managing director of Armada Corporate Intelligence, will be the featured guest. Dr. Kuehl will provide insights into the impact of the ongoing pandemic on manufacturing
Founded in 2003, the Professional Audio Manufacturers Alliance (PAMA) is the collective voice and forum for the leading manufacturers of professional audio products and the people who use them. PAMA member companies conduct business worldwide in support of high-quality audio across a wide range of industries – pursuing the state of the art in technology and practice to enable audio professionals to elevate their craft and delight listeners and audiences every day. PAMA’s mission is to promote awareness and appreciation of high-quality professional audio through market leadership, communication and education. Our core customers are pro-audio professionals around the world with an interest in promoting high-quality audio. Learn more at www.pamalliance.org.


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Yes, it’s easy to mock General Motors – Government Motors – even now, nearly eight years removed from bankruptcy. The stain of failure is hard to clean.
But isn’t it time to cut GM a little slack? The GM of 2017 is most definitely not the GM of 2009, whose bankruptcy filing reported US$82.29 billion in assets and US$172.81 billion in debt. Ugh. What a tangled mess that GM was. Lousy cars, terrible marketing, pathetic quality, dull styling, no plan for Cadillac, a technology laggard, incompetent management…
This GM, the 2017 version, is hard to ignore for 10 million reasons – the number of GM vehicles sold worldwide last year. Revenue? In 2016, US$166 billion? Profit: US$9.4 billion and a profit margin of 7.5 per cent worldwide. All that while pushing back US$4.9 billion to shareholders through buybacks and dividends.
GM remains an easy target for lazy comedy chasing cheap laughs. But there’s nothing funny about GM quality. Consumers Report recommends 12 GM models and Buick is a top-three brand. The Chevrolet Bolt EV is on its way to dealers and profit-spinning new crossovers are coming, among them the Chevrolet Equinox and Traverse and the GMC Terrain. They join the new GMC Acadia, Buick Envision and Cadillac XT5. GM launched 13 new models in 2016. The product plan calls for 18 more this year.
How did investors treat the good news? Shares tanked more than five per cent. Investors don’t like the cyclical nature of auto stocks and border tax concerns are a worry now a protectionist-in-chief Tweets from the White House.
No love for GM yet, even though Cadillac retail sales were up nearly 46 per cent for the year. GM remains tarnished, despite efforts to transform into something much more than a pickup and SUV company:
- The Maven mobility brand is up and running and growing. Maven is teaching GM how to become a transportation service provider, not just a car company;
- Maven’s Express Drive program for Lyft drivers has about 5,000 vehicles, with 100 Bolt EVs planned for California;
- Cruise Automation is GM autonomous driving initiative, now testing more than 40 autonomous Bolt EVs on public roads in three cities;
- OnStar has nearly 12 million connected vehicles on the road globally.
GM, folks, is a solid company, one with a vision for sustainable growth. There is no “fake news” in the latest results, no “alternative facts.” GM is just a solid business.
Yet GM’s stock is up a measly 6.0 per cent since its post-bankruptcy IPO (initial public offering), while the S&P 500 is up a whopping 95 per cent. If you bought an exchange traded S&P fund, you’ve doubled your money in the time GM delivered chump change. Is there a fix for this?
GM CEO Mary Barra said “yes” while talking to analysts and investors. But that doesn’t mean there’s a quick fix to juice shares.
Instead, she said GM will buckle up and knuckle down. The hard work will produce real results.
“We believe and we’ve got a track record of demonstrating performance and meeting our commitments for three years now. We’re going to continue to do that with our outlook for 2017. We’ve identified how we can continue to make this business better,” she said.
That means focusing on the basics of make good, reliable vehicles that people want while building a future transportation services business. Connectivity is part of that, with OnStar the centerpiece. Electrification, too; the Bolt EV leadings the charge there.
GM also knows that autonomous vehicles – and related services – are in its future, beyond the basic business of building and selling cars, trucks and SUVs.
“And I think we’re well positioned,” said Barra. And that’s what we’re working hard on every day, because I think that will change the dialogue and change the calculus of how this company is valued.”


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HeyImBee, one of the most popular female Twitch streamers, recently posted on her Instagram account that she was feeling bored. In the post, she invited her subscribers to chat with her. This news has left many of her fans concerned about the future of her Twitch channel and what it could mean for the content she produces.
Signs of Burnout?
HeyImBee has been streaming on Twitch for several years now, and it's not uncommon for content creators to experience burnout after a while. Streaming for hours on end, interacting with fans, and creating new content can take a toll on even the most dedicated creators. Many fans are speculating that HeyImBee's recent post could be a sign that she's experiencing burnout and needs a break.
There are a few possible outcomes that could follow HeyImBee's post. The first is that she takes a break from streaming to recharge and come back stronger than ever. This is a common practice among content creators, and it's often necessary to prevent burnout from becoming a permanent issue.
Another possibility is that HeyImBee changes up her content or streaming schedule to keep things fresh and exciting. Many Twitch streamers have found success by mixing up their content, trying out new games, or streaming at different times of the day.
Finally, there's a chance that HeyImBee's post was just a passing feeling, and she'll continue to create content as usual. Regardless of what happens, it's clear that HeyImBee's fans will continue to support her and eagerly await her return to Twitch.
In conclusion, HeyImBee's recent post on Instagram has left many of her fans concerned about the future of her Twitch channel. While there are a few possible outcomes, it's clear that HeyImBee's fans will continue to support her regardless of what happens. We wish HeyImBee all the best, and we look forward to seeing what she has in store for us in the future.


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Theft of physical assets or stock was the most frequent (27%) type of fraud reported.
The report is based on interviews of 800 senior executives worldwide, including 60 from the country.
The percentage of domestic businesses affected by fraud has fallen from last year’s 84%, she said, adding, “but our experience suggests that while concern for fraud may be falling, fraud is not”.
Domestic companies lose on an average 1.2% revenue due to frauds, significantly higher than global average of 0.9%, the report said, suggesting that companies continue to develop strong and well-organised internal controls.
Moreover, 22% of local firms weakened their internal controls frequently as a result of budget constraints, one of the highest figures of any country.
This article originally appeared on rediff


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Winemaker Pauline Lhote Calls the Harvest Mood in Napa Valley ‘Celebratory’ and Fruit Quality ‘Excellent’ Despite Water Challenges this Growing Season
Sparkling wine maker Chandon California officially and ceremoniously announced the start of Napa Valley’s wine harvest on August 4th, with Head Winemaker Pauline Lhote calling one of the first picks of the 2021 season. Grapes for California’s sparkling wines are often harvested earlier than those of still wines, and Chandon began harvesting grapes around 2:00am, bringing in almost 32 tons of Chardonnay from its Yountville estate vineyard. Kicking off Napa Valley’s first harvest season post-quarantine, the Chandon team gathered together for the winery’s traditional first pick celebration as Pauline led a sparkling toast to “all we have been through together this past year and a happy, safe and successful harvest.”
One of the biggest challenges for Napa Valley grape growers and wineries this year was water. As part of a larger drought pattern emerging statewide, different regions within Napa County received between 60% and 70% less rainfall than is average this rainy season. Asked how weather conditions will impact this year’s wine quality, “In spite of the lack of rain and a few significant heat spikes, I am feeling incredibly optimistic about the quality of 2021 and excited to see some gorgeous, flavorful fruit with excellent acidity ready to come in,” said Pauline.
But these results didn’t come without some creative adjustments from Pauline, her all-female winemaking team, and Chandon’s veteran growers. Meticulous water management and a new approach to irrigation was needed this year, including increased irrigation earlier in the growing season to compensate for a dry winter and a high volume, less frequent irrigation program to compensate for low reservoir levels and conserve water as the season progressed.
…I am feeling incredibly optimistic about the quality of 2021 and excited to see some gorgeous, flavorful fruit with excellent acidity ready to come in,” said Pauline.
Also, given early spring cluster thinning to account for California’s dry winter, the yield in Napa Valley is down somewhat from previous years. But Pauline says, “What we lost in quantity in 2021 we’ll make up for with exceptional quality and flavor concentration. Every year is different in the vineyards, and just like our colleagues at Chandon’s six wineries around the globe, we know that delicious sparkling wine is not just a matter of growing conditions and harvest, but also a matter of experience and expertise during assemblage.”
Also, according to Pauline, “We are extremely fortunate that wine grapes use comparatively little water in the world of California agriculture, and that Chandon is able to farm for quality, not quantity.” Pauline and her team will also carefully manage picking schedules over the next four to six weeks, ensuring grapes are harvested at night and hit the press still cool and in prime condition. Once there, the grapes will be slow-pressed and sorted into separate tanks – each batched and handled according to its own texture, flavor, and character.
As one of the first sparkling wineries in the U.S. – and the first French-owned sparkling wine house in Napa – Chandon has had almost 50 years to perfect the pick and learn to gauge Napa Valley’s fruit quality. The verdict, according to Pauline, who is celebrating her 16th harvest at Chandon this year, “I’m confident that the 2021 vintage will produce wines of excellent, high quality. The Pinot Noir we’re bringing in has beautiful fruitful aromas, great flavors, and good acid, and the Chardonnays are exuding balance, with generous aromas and fantastic flavor development.” As far as the downside to an early start to this year’s sparkling wine production, says Pauline, “You have less time to sleep!”
Soon after Pauline popped the cork on a bottle of Chandon Yountville Vintage Brut she reflected on last year and the harvest ahead. “The magic of winemaking is capturing a place or a moment in time in a bottle. I think the 2021 vintage will taste that much better because of everything we’ve been through together this year.”


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Syngenta’s rootworm trait, Agrisure Duracade, is one step closer to full commercialization after receiving import approval from China Monday morning.
However, the trait is still awaiting approval from the European Union (EU), which will limit the company’s ability to widen Duracade’s marketing area for now.
“Our plan is to steward the grain in a similar fashion as we have in the past,” Syngenta communications representative Shane Dailey told DTN. There is no update on a timeline for EU approval, he added.
Agrisure Duracade grain has been strictly stewarded since its limited commercial release in 2014, in order to keep it out of the commercial grain stream. Growers can only buy it from a handful of seed companies and are required to sign agreements to route it to approved feedlots, feed mills or ethanol plants or to feed it on farm.
While this “grain-use marketing” program will continue in 2018, Syngenta says it is working to expand Duracade’s footprint in the meantime, according to a company news release.
“With this approval, we are working to identify additional accepting locations, offering even more opportunities to market Agrisure Duracade grain,” David Hollinrake, president of Syngenta Seeds, stated in the release. “Moving forward, growers can expect expanded access to the full depth and breadth of our genetic portfolio with more choice and exciting new hybrids that offer elite genetics plus the latest in corn rootworm control technology,” he added.
Currently, Agrisure Duracade hybrids are available through Golden Harvest and NK seed sellers as well as distributors of Catalyst, Innotech and Phoenix brand seed, and a number of independent seed company licensees, the release noted.
Duracade contains eCry3.1Ab, a Bt protein targeting the western corn rootworm. It is only sold as a pyramided rootworm product, which means the hybrids always contain another rootworm Bt protein (mCry3A). The western corn rootworm has been a challenge to growers because of its ability to develop some level of resistance to every Bt protein on the market, including the Duracade protein eCry3.1Ab.
Agrisure Duracade has been deregulated in the U.S. since 2013, but the trait faced an uphill battle to full commercialization without import approvals from the key markets of China and the EU.
Nonetheless, Syngenta chose to a limited commercial launch with strict stewardship agreements in 2014. That decision came after the company faced a major legal battle over its decision to fully commercialize another trait, Agrisure Viptera, in 2011 before Chinese import approvals were obtained.
China began rejecting grain with the Viptera trait in 2013, and the company now faces a series of lawsuits from farmers who said they were unable to sell their grain as a result.
You can find the Syngenta news release on China’s recent import approval of Duracade here: http://bit.ly/….
You can find a description of the stewardship agreements Duracade growers sign with Syngenta here: http://bit.ly/….
Emily Unglesbee can be reached at email@example.com
Follow Emily Unglesbee on Twitter @Emily_Unglesbee


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With the recent issues that have been occurring with Sony and their PlayStation Network making the much anticipated Sony NGP. In a recent article at Andriasang however the company has been reported to have said the portable device is still on course for its release this year.
Sony’s schedule keeping hasn’t exactly been up to its best lately, but with the company’s statement about the Next Generation Portable release being made and the statement in regards to the full restoration of the PSN which they also made at their financial briefing, things may be about to change.
The release of the NGP has always been expected for the end of the year but there has never been a specific date mentioned. Jack Tretton, PlayStation US boss claimed there may be a delay due to the earthquake in Japan, but those statements were retracted.
Whether we will see the Sony NGP this year or not won’t be confirmed until the end of the year comes and goes. In the meantime we can see over the next week whether the company will stay true to their word about the PSN restoration. Check out the article full article at Andriasang for more details.
Do you think Sony will stay true to their statements?
*Identifying Monetised Links - outgoing links that we monetise are marked with an '*' symbol.


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Japanese Gaming Company Nexon Buys $100 Million Bitcoin
Popular Japanese video game publisher, Nexon, announced on Wednesday it purchased about $100 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) as part of its treasury reserve. This is quite bullish for the Asian crypto market, as major companies in the continents are likely to follow suit.
Nexon Allocates Less Than 2% in Bitcoin
As Reuters reported, the gaming company purchased the Bitcoin at the average price of $58,000 USD per coin. Nexon’s Bitcoin reserve represents less than two percent of its cash reserve.
Following the words of Nexon CEO, Owen Mahoney, the company’s decision to buy Bitcoin comes amid their desire for a better hedging asset, not as investment speculation. This is the same reason that drove major companies like MicroStrategy to Bitcoin.
Our purchase of bitcoin reflects a disciplined strategy for protecting shareholder value and for maintaining the purchasing power of our cash asset. […] We believe bitcoin offers long-term stability and liquidity while maintaining the value of our cash for future investments.Mahoney commented.Advertisement
Nexon is a publicly traded company and a pioneer in the world of interactive entertainment software development. Its decision to allocate part of its cash reserve in Bitcoin is a milestone for the Asian crypto market, as many industry players believe it will cause some other companies in the Japanese and Asian countries to consider buying Bitcoin, as seen with Tesla.
Recent Corporate Bitcoin Investors
The Japanese gaming company now counts as the latest company to allocate part of its cash reserve to the leading cryptocurrency. Many companies have invested in Bitcoin this year in an effort to hedge against inflation. Some of these companies include Meitu, MicroStrategy, Purpose Bitcoin ETF AUM, Aker ASA, Square, Tesla, and so on.


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The kids’s clothes part at Uniqlo in China has gained an surprising new clientele: grownup girls.
Within the newest viral problem to comb Chinese language social media, girls pose for dressing-room selfies in youngsters’s T-shirts from the Japanese vogue large. The development has ignited heated debate about whether or not it promotes physique shaming, with specialists elevating considerations that it reinforces the nation’s unhealthy requirements of magnificence.
“This can be a harmful development, not simply when it comes to a drive for thinness and the stress this places on girls and ladies, but additionally when it comes to the overt sexualization of ladies,” stated Tina Rochelle, an affiliate professor in social and behavioral sciences on the Metropolis College of Hong Kong who researches the affect of gender and tradition on well being. She stated that the small garments are prone to be tighter and extra kind becoming on a girl’s physique.
On Weibo, a microblogging platform, the place the hashtag “Grownup tries on Uniqlo youngsters’s clothes” has been considered 680 million instances, criticism is cut up between those that object to the unrealistic magnificence requirements the problem promotes and those that categorical the extra sensible concern that ladies are stretching out the garments and rendering them unsaleable.
One person referred to as it “one other method of exhibiting off the ‘white, younger, skinny’ aesthetic,” referring to a phrase generally used to explain the nation’s dominant magnificence commonplace. The individual added: “It emphasizes unhealthy physique shaming and must be firmly resisted.”
One other commentator wrote: “Though I’m envious of these girls’s figures, they need to purchase the garments after attempting them! The garments are all stretched out, how can youngsters put on them!”
Uniqlo didn’t reply to emails on Thursday searching for remark.
The problem has been labeled the newest iteration of “BM model,” a sort of vogue just lately popularized by the cult Italian model Brandy Melville, which is youthful, informal and, above all, skinny (its shops carry just one dimension: further small).
For the reason that model opened its first Chinese language retailer in Shanghai in 2019, it has change into an aspirational image for younger girls determined to squeeze into its garments. An unofficial sizing chart circulated on Weibo confirmed how a lot girls at varied heights would want to weigh to suit — a 5-foot-3 lady would want to weigh 95 kilos.
Brandy Melville didn’t instantly reply to an e mail searching for remark.
Jia Tan, an assistant professor in cultural research from the Chinese language College of Hong Kong, stated that the attire trade is a outstanding driver of what’s thought-about “commonplace” sizing. The identical sizes are normally smaller in Asia than they’re within the West, she stated, and “commonplace” sizes exclude a major a part of the inhabitants.
“I feel we have to first query the large social stress on girls, and why the attire industries can have a lot energy in standardizing how we glance, earlier than we level our fingers on these grownup girls who exhibit in youngsters’s sizes,” Professor Tan stated in an e mail.
Comparable on-line challenges have gone viral on Chinese language social media earlier than. In 2016, girls — and a few males — posed with their waists behind a vertical sheet of A4 paper to point out they have been “paper skinny.”
That problem was so widespread that celebrities took half and Chinese language state media lined it, prompting one feminist campaigner, Zheng Churan, to jot down in a riposte, “I like my fats waist” on a bit of paper held horizontally over her waist.
In 2015, for the “stomach button problem,” folks reached one arm behind their again and round their waist to the touch their bellybutton — ostensibly to brag about how skinny they have been.
There appears to be some rising consciousness of physique positivity in China. Just a few months in the past, a retailer confronted a backlash for labeling bigger girls’s clothes sizes as “rotten,” prompting it to apologize.
However Dr. Rochelle, the Metropolis College of Hong Kong professor, famous that whereas there was an rising willingness amongst girls to name out physique shaming and share their experiences of it on-line, there have been little indicators that society at massive was altering.
“It doesn’t appear to have hit house over right here that fat-shaming and publicly discussing a girl’s weight can have a serious impression on an individual’s well-being,” she stated.


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Britain's leading luxury car manufacturers Bentley and Rolls-Royce rev up record profits
Britain’s leading luxury car manufacturers Bentley and Rolls-Royce both achieved record profits last year as demand for classic car marques continues to grow.
Bentley, which accounts for one in every four luxury cars sold around the world, saw sales jump a fifth to £1.4 billion to the year ending December 31, 2013. Profits rocketed from £108 million to £181 million as it sold a record 10,120 cars.
Touch of class: A Rolls-Royce on display at this year's Bangkok International Motor Show
It is a remarkable performance for the company, which recorded a pre-tax loss of £293 million on a £591 million turnover just three years ago.
Since buying Bentley in 1998, owner Volkswagen has invested more than £1 billion in improving production at its manufacturing plant in Crewe, Cheshire.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, owned by Germany’s BMW, sold a record 3,630 cars last year, all handmade to order at Goodwood, West Sussex. A spokesman said: ‘There is an appetite around the world for quality, luxury and Britishness.’
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by Apparel Resources News-Desk
26-April-2019 | 2 mins read
Mexico and Canada, the NAFTA countries, have failed to see any positive turnaround in their respective apparel export to the USA during Jan.-Feb. ’19 period. Import by the USA from these countries was down by 9.37 per cent and valued at US $ 589 million against US $ 649.92 million in the same period of prior year.
The decline noted from Mexico was 10.28 per cent as export plunged to US $ 498.62 million in the first two months this year as compared to US $ 555.62 million in the corresponding period last year.
On the other hand, Canada too fell 4.11 per cent and clocked US $ 90.41 million as compared to US $ 94.29 million in the same period of 2018. The fall in exports from Mexico and Canada was witnessed despite the close proximity of these countries with the USA.
On contrary to this, the USA surged in its worldwide import by 5.12 per cent which signals towards the rising demand in the US apparel market. Amidst this rising demand in the US, downturning export of Mexico and Canada is a worry as NAFTA agreement is still alive but is not helping these countries to gain a good chunk in the US apparel market.
However, US President Donald Trump has been fiercely critical of NAFTA and has even proposed USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement) which has not yet been approved by US congress.
It’s worth recalling that the USA and Mexico had renegotiated trade deal between them last year (Canada is yet to confirm its addition to it) which was supposed to benefit latter in apparel production and shipment to USA but that did not happen.
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Xtreme Sports discontinued or will it get a new lease of life with a upgrade? By the way, there is not a single new 150cc motorcycle that Hero has shipped in the last month of April…
Hero, it appears, has planned a top down approach in the premium segment in India. After trying various motorcycles in the 150cc segment they have not tasted success. They have had Hunk, Xtreme, Achiever, Impulse, Xtreme Sports etc, but none of them gave Hero the desired numbers.
Xtreme Sports Discontinued?
As it appears today, Hero, the country’s largest selling motorcycle manufacturer, does not have a single 150cc motorcycle. This means that both the Achiever and Xtreme Sports have been stopped.
Hero has prioritised its new 200s over the existing 150ccs. The ABS ruling, which makes Anti-Lock Braking System mandatory on motorcycles over 125cc, was enforced on 1st April 2019. It limits production of non-ABS motorcycles and this is what has led to the discontinuation of both the 150ccs in Hero’s arsenal. While for the Achiever it may just be the end of the road but we are unsure about the Xtreme Sports.
Hero last wholesaled 11 units of the 150cc Xtreme in March. In the last three months, these are the only motorcycles that would have reached dealerships, according to the official SIAM sales data (rest of the months dispatches were zero). Achiever also achieved zero sales in the month of April 2019.
Hero has been pretty vocal about their plans after launching as many as three new motorcycles in the 200cc space earlier this month. They say that they will be very aggressive in the premium segment which means that we may get to see new models in the 150cc segment as well, in the months to come.


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AFWL Partners With Sustainable Fashion Week NY – September 11-16
Partnering with Africa Fashion Week London, Sustainable Fashion Week NY promises a 6-day event that will showcase collections each night from emerging and established sustainable designers and vintage collectors. The platform will also host a virtual product lounge, speakers and an a visual exhibition on what is sustainable fashion and why it is the future of fashion.
Five African and African-inspired designers will showcase their sustainable brands plus a special feature on the indigenous textile production in Nigeria. Each brand is unique in its approach to ethical clothing production.
The virtual show will run on YouTube from 11-16th September with African Fashion Week London’s showcase being on 15th September .
Visit Sustainable Fashion Week for more information and designer line-up. Subscribe to AFWL Youtube channel to watch Sustainable Fashion Week NY live .
Who are Sustainable Fashion Week NYRick Davy has successfully run Fashion Week Brooklyn for over 14 years as a product of Davy’s BK Style Foundation. BK Style Foundation is a nonprofit that focuses on building fashion entrepreneurship in the low income community.
Bridgett Artise is the owner, author and designer of Born Again Vintage which has pioneered Upcycled Fashion into the fashion world since early 2000s. She created one of the first sustainable classes at Fashion Institute of Technology NY and has been dubbed Vintage Expert by NY Times


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Before Quibi’s April 6 launch, the company anticipated netting more than 7 million paying subscribers in its first year of operation. But according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, it’s on track to net fewer than 2 million in that timeframe.
The WSJ’s piece chronicles early disagreements between Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg and CEO Meg Whitman, as well as ongoing stress about the company’s disappointing launch, which looks to be setting Quibi up for a dismal first year. It also offers up a picture of Quibi’s performance thus far using figures from analytics firm Sensor Tower.
Per the firm, Quibi’s daily downloads peaked at 379,000 on launch day. By the first week of June, it had dropped to fewer than 20,000 downloads per day. As of June 7, Quibi had been downloaded 3.8 million times, and around 1.5 million of those downloads converted to signups, WSJ reports. However, it’s worth noting that a number of those signups probably aren’t paying $4.99 (with ads) or $7.99 (no ads) per month; Quibi offered a 90-day free trial prelaunch, so we won’t get a true picture of its subscriber base until that trial expires in July.
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A company spokesperson told WSJ that according to its internal data, the app has been downloaded 5 million times.
Part of Quibi’s subscriber problems could be the seemingly lackluster performance of its Disney+/Verizon-esque deal with T-Mobile. Struck in October 2019, the agreement gave cellphone customers who signed up for T-Mobile’s family plan a free, one-year subscription to Quibi–which means it was likely a significant blow when COVID-19 forced T-Mobile to shutter the vast majority of physical locations where people would have bought new phones and signed up for carriage plans. Quibi expected this partnership alone to generate around 500,000 subscribers, but “that didn’t go as planned,” per WSJ. It’s unclear how many subscribers T-Mobile has actually generated thus far.
Advertisers reportedly ask Quibi to renegotiate multimillion-dollar deals
So, what are underwhelming subscriber numbers doing to Quibi? For one, they (and the coronavirus that might have contributed to them) are putting the company in a position where it needs to significantly and quickly reduce costs. Earlier this month, executives took an indefinite 10% pay cut. Separately, Quibi intends to shrink its first-year content and marketing budgets by $300 million total, sources told the Journal.
The company has already been spending less than budgeted on content because of widespread production shutdowns, and less on advertising because it reduced marketing in light of George Floyd’s death and the subsequent protests, it told WSJ.
Another consequence of underperformance, though, is the discontent of advertisers. Major marketers like PepsiCo, Taco Bell, Anheuser-Busch InBev, and Walmart, who reportedly made multimillion-dollar ad commitments prelaunch, are now trying to renegotiate those commitments because of low viewership and the economic toll of coronavirus, sources told the Journal.
As all of this happens, Quibi is still burning through money. The company itself estimates that by the third quarter of this year, it’ll have spent $1 billion of the $1.75 billion it raised. It anticipates having to ask investors for at least $200 million more in the second half of next year.


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Andy Jassy, CEO, Amazon Web Services, said, “Small and medium-sized businesses are often the engine and the lifeblood of economies and I think it’s true in India as well. And we are very passionate about trying to enable acceleration of SMBs in fueling innovation and the economy in India and so building on what we did last year. I am excited to announce the $250 million Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund where we’re going to help inspire more SMBs, to be able to build brand new businesses.”
Jassy will also take over as Amazon Inc CEO later this year.
Amit Agarwal, Global SVP & Country Head, Amazon India, mentioned that the fund is targeting at empowering the best ideas and attracting visionary entrepreneurs. The fund is going to focus on three big fields- SMB digitization,
innovations to empower farmer productivity and reach and healthtech to provide quality healthcare.
During Covid-19 last year, Amazon had announced an initiative – Local shops on Amazon, which has been adopted by more than 50,000 retailers in 450 cities across India. “We are committing to bring 1 billion local shops online on Amazon by 2025,” he said.
The company will launch a dedicated storefront which customers can access in regional languages and also encourage the participation of these local stores in onsite sale events.
He added that realising that the initiative needs to reach every region of India and therefore, the company is launching another initiative called Spotlight Northeast. This is in partnership with the government and is aimed to boost the local economy, create jobs and towards empowerment of women across the northeast states.
Speaking more on the initiative, Jitendra Singh, Minister for State (IC) for Development of North Eastern Region, mentioned that the program is aimed to bring e-commerce benefits to 50,000 weavers, artisans, a majority from the tribal communities, and local small businesses including offline neighbourhood stores across the region by 2025.
“Additionally, we’ll bring 5000 graphs, Geographical Indication (GI) products and other local products on its India marketplace. This will boost export of exclusive commodities of the region for example – honey, spices like Mizo Chilli, tea, etc. I hope that the outcome of this initiative will help in boosting the local industry and also improve the standing of the Northeast region and for all of us here in the world,” Singh said.
Amazon will also launch a dedicated North East storefront to showcase unique GI products and hidden gems like Chakshesang shawls from Nagaland, Muga Silk from Assam, different types of weaves like Moirang Phee from Manipur.
Amazon is partnering with government organizations including TRIFED and NEHHDC to engage, skill and digitally enable artisan and weaver communities across the region.


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Joel Warner's post about billboards announcing that Judgment Day is May 21 was originally published early last month. But with J-Day predicted for this Saturday, it's timelier than ever.
And thanks to one of our readers, we know what we'll be doing on May 20...
On Friday the 20th, I'm gonna go buy a Lamborghini, get a bunch food from Sam's and a new entertainment center from Best Buy. You can all come over to my house for a huge BBQ!!!
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CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES are remarkably adept at saying a lot that ultimately means nothing. One firm describes its products as "magical", and today we see a phone being dubbed "snazzy" by a mobile network.
Calling something magical or snazzy is one thing, but in its latest video Microsoft creates an odd image of someone or something giving birth to billions of mobile devices.
"The birthrate of mobile devices is five times the birthrate of humans", it says, causing us to wonder whether it has played the tablet and smartphone market so badly that it grows its hardware in test tubes.
"For every human that enters the world, five mobile devices are made. And that's just mobile."
Putting aside the fact that we knew this was about mobile, and it had mentioned mobile a couple of times already, we appreciate the clarification.
But what of the other devices in ours lives, Microsoft? How are they coming together to dominate people in what you are calling the Companion Web?
The companion web, we aren't capitalising the term again, is the internet that we carry with us, for example on our phones and tablets. Oh, and it's also Internet Explorer.
The companion web, says the video, opens up a doorway that we thought was already open, to things like games, books, sports, music and TV.
"This is more than second screen," says the somewhat strained video. "It's more than any number of companion devices. This is a revolution for the web, and it all starts with you."
Actually, it sounds like it started a few years ago, but we can't be sure. We're told what Bryan Saftler, senior product manager for Internet Explorer thinks. "We're going to keep spending time in front of our many screens, and the Companion Web emphasizes our ability to engage with the media we're consuming. This is just the beginning," he said in a blog post.
"The Companion Web represents an incredible evolution of the web to work with the way we use our devices. Stay tuned over the coming months for more exciting news about Companion Web experiences." µ
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Intel Corp., the world's leading manufacturer of microprocessors for personal computers, is putting down new roots in the Lehigh Valley.
The Santa Clara, Calif., manufacturer struck a deal to buy a chunk of Avago Technology that employs hundreds of high-tech workers in the Lehigh Valley, the companies announced late Wednesday.
Intel will pay Avago $650 million in cash for its Axxia Networking business in a deal that comes only months after Avago bought LSI Corp., which had a presence in the Lehigh Valley for nearly a decade.
"Intel plans to make offers to substantially all the employees of the LSI Axxia networking business," Intel spokeswoman Laura Anderson said in an email. "Intel does not currently have plans to change its footprint in the Allentown area."
The Axxia Networking business, which produces networking and infrastructure products for wireless networks, generated revenues of $113 million in 2013, according to Avago. It employs approximately 650 people, some of whom work at the former headquarters of Agere Systems, just off Route 22 in Hanover Township, Lehigh County. (LSI acquired Agere in 2006.)
"This acquisition puts us in a better position to provide a complete product portfolio for our customers and to continue to enable service providers to create networks that are more intelligent, efficient and cost-effective and to deploy new services faster," Intel Vice President Rose Schooler wrote in a message posted on the company's website.
She said Intel is gaining "a compelling product line and talented team" that it can apply to "the Internet of things" — an industry term referring to the inter-connectivity of everyday devices ranging from cars and appliances to heart implants.
News of the Axxia Networking deal — which has been approved by the boards of directors for Avago and Intel, and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year — comes several months after Avago announced it would be unloading some of its other LSI assets to Seagate Technology.
Seagate is paying $450 million for LSI's Accelerated Solutions Division and Flash Components Division.
Avago, which has dual headquarters in San Jose, Calif., and Singapore, completed its acquisition of LSI in May. LSI was headquartered in San Jose as well.
Axxia Networking's 650 employees are spread across several locations, including San Jose; Austin, Texas; and Bangalore, India. Roughly 200 are in the Lehigh Valley.
Anderson confirmed those employees will remain at Avago's Hanover Township building where, coincidentally, Intel already has a small satellite office stemming from an earlier acquisition.
That building, nicknamed the Emerald Palace, is a huge angular structure with a distinctive green glass exterior, designed to anchor the major international technology company that Agere briefly was. Today, it's nearly half empty, though Avago hopes to fill it with additional renters.
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Avago has tapped commercial real estate firm Colliers International to market the property. According to a recent ad on real estate website LoopNet, 250,000 square feet of 600,000 total square feet is available.
At one time, the Emerald Palace housed thousands of workers, many of them highly paid, white-collar professionals. But the number declined steadily over the years under cost-cutting measures by Agere and LSI.
By December, when Avago announced its planned acquisition of LSI, just more than 700 workers were left there. Additional job cuts have followed since then, though it's unclear how many.


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Small and medium-sized businesses reach record levelsData Insights 24 October 2013
The number of small and medium-sized businesses in the UK has reached record levels, according to new government figures.
There are now as many as 4.9 million businesses of this kind in the country, which collectively employ 14.4 million people and play an increasingly prominent role in the broader economy.
Indeed, they boast a combined turnover of £1.6 billion, which is mightily impressive considering the turnover for all UK businesses amounts to £3.3 billion.
The government observed that the new record for private sector businesses can be attributed to the 102,000 businesses over the last 12 months.
Reflecting on the figures, Business Secretary Vince Cable said that they should act as a reminder to those Brits who are currently deciding whether to launch their own firm.
The optimistic outlook has been reflected by Matt Hancock, the Minister of State for Business, Enterprise and Energy, who observed that the broader economy is on the road to recovery and this is having a welcome impact on the country’s business community.
“Britain is turning a corner with a record 4.9 million businesses now trading across the country. There are now around 400,000 more businesses than in 2010, an increase of 9 per cent,” Mr Hancock remarked.
“There is much more to do, not least to make it easier to employ people and create jobs, like with the new £2,000 Employment Allowance that from April will cut tax on jobs in every company, large and small,” he added.
The government, for its part, has introduced or is set to introduce a number of new measures as a means of stimulating activity among the UK’s small business community.
In April 2014, for instance, businesses will benefit from a £2,000 Employment Allowance discount off their National Insurance bill, which will, effectively, remove the tax on jobs for around 450,000 small firms.
The overarching ambition behind such moves is to help make the UK the best place to start a new business.


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Despite its growing influence on U.K. retailer Marks and Spencer’s social media following, Instagram is more an organic play than a paid-for one.
From shoppable posts to influencers, the social network is becoming central to the retailer’s social media marketing. But when it comes to Stories — the fastest-growing part of the social network — Marks and Spencer is still in test-and-learn mode, particularly when it comes to posts for its food business, said head of food content Emma Sleight. While some posts are either ads in Stories or boosted by paid support, the majority of those for Marks and Spencer’s food business are organic as it tries to understand what content chimes with its followers.
“We’ve increased our posting on Stories to at least three times per week for M&S Food, allowing us to maximize our organic reach beyond the main feed,” said Sleight. “We all know that the use of Instagram Stories is on the rise, which means brands have to respond in kind.”
Most of the Stories being shared focus on gamification and polls, said Sleight, with the aim being to “create meaningful engagement” as well as serving as a good test bed for various content ideas. A campaign for the retailer’s Percy Pigs candy range using Giphy last November gained 13.1 million views, for example. Indeed, the goal of stories for Marks and Spencer’s food marketers is to drive brand awareness on Instagram, not to nudge followers off-platform to convert into customers.
“We see Instagram Stories as a high-impact way of reaching our target audience and driving awareness of our innovation and product development,” said Sleight. “Anything that puts the customer at the heart of creative, like encouraging them to tap through gamification or stitching together customer-generated posts, sees a spike in engagements.”
The strategy for clothing, however, seems to be more focused on conversions. The Stories that promote specific products such as M&S Denim are driving users to purchase pages on its e-commerce site. The retailer was not able to share more information on the performance of its clothing brand on the social network.
The difference between the food and clothing parts of the retailer is evident across all of its Instagram activity.
Organic posts, which are posted publicly on the brand’s main timeline, feature lifestyle photos and videos with influencers intended to cement brand awareness on the social network. It posted over 210 different organic pieces of content across its main timeline and as stories in the last 30 days, according to an analysis conducted by analytics firm BrandTotal.
Sponsored posts, which are dark posts that are only viewable by users within the campaign’s target audience, have clear calls to action like “Buy Now” and “Shop Now.” These sponsored posts promote specific products like seasonal collections, include pricing and are conversion based ads.
Interestingly, all of the brand’s campaigns on Instagram, which covers the food, clothing and furniture parts of its business, are running all from its main account, which could become confusing to its audiences if they are not properly segmented.
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updated 02:35 pm EDT, Wed May 11, 2011
Sony says site shutdown due to maintenance
Sony has righted a Wednesday report that its US PlayStation website went down due to another hacker attack. According to Reuters, the company said the site outage was due to the installation of a new security measure. This caused the US PlayStation site inaccessible from select regions outside of the US.
"Media reports claiming that the US PlayStation.com site and blog were partially disrupted because of hackers are false," said Sony spokesperson Dan Race. "We installed a new security measure that has temporarily made the sites inaccessible to select regions outside of the US."
The PlayStation website in Japan is still down, and Sony is working on getting back online as soon as possible, Race said.
The site is separate from the PlayStation Network, which was attacked by hackers and has been offline since April 19.