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CES is pretty much like the E3 of technology, it’s also one of if not the biggest technology showcase in the world; where massive companies like Nvidia, AMD, and Intel all taking center stage to announce and formally release new products. Whilst it’s certainly a great place to advertise new tech, the Consumer Technology Association has ultimately decided to take CES 2021 online due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic.
Usually taking place in January in Las Vegas and attracting tens of thousands of people, now CES will be a completely digital online show next year. There’ll be keynotes and conferences that provide “a front-row seat for groundbreaking announcements and insights from the world’s tech leaders completely online.” There will also be product showcases as well as digital meetings and networking.
Obviously one of the best things about ES was being able to get hands-on with new tech that are months, or maybe even years, away from officially launching. But a completely digital showcase won’t allow for that kind of hands-on experience, there will be “dynamic product showcases” and “live demos”, but it remains to be seen how this will affect consumers and journalists who want to test the technology themselves.
It’s also unclear whether this will be one long stream of the entire show, or whether it will be spread out across various standalone streams much like the current Summer Games Fest.
It could work, it might not, but CES wants to continue with the event whilst “prioritizing health and safety,” which is a good thing at least. Luckily it looks like this will only be a one-time thing, as they have announced that they will be returning to Las Vegas for the next showcase in 2022.
What do you think? Are you excited for CES 2021? How will this affect all the companies involved who want to show off their new tech?


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NEW YORK, Jan. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The economic crisis has lead many investors, business people and consumers to invest their money in gold and precious metals. Many smart and savvy entrepreneurs are currently buying and selling jewelry for a living or to make extra income. Gold prices are trading at an "all-time" high meaning the gold buying and gold selling business is extremely lucrative at the moment.
www.USGoldBuyersAcademy.com was developed by US Gold Buyers – the leading precious metals buyer which has been featured in CNN, ABC's "Good Morning America", "Dateline" & "Nightline", NBC and an acclaimed article in The Wall Street Journal. US Gold Buyers Academy has a self-proving system that will teach you how to make money reselling scrap gold, silver and platinum.
"www.USGoldBuyers.com created a unique business program called US Gold Buyers Academy, which gives regular folks, entrepreneurs and self-employers an opportunity to purchase precious metals and resell to us for a profit," explains Project Manager Alan Silverman. "Our professional staff will guide and teach entrepreneurs how to locate, test and determine the value of precious metals. They will also get the opportunity to lock in rates for a sense of security and peace of mind," adds Mr. Silverman. "We train individuals on how to host their own gold parties at home, office or fundraisers and earn money by reselling gold."
The success story of www.USGoldBuyersAcademy.com is that it offers individuals an opportunity to purchase precious metals and resell them to a reputable precious metal refinery. With over 13 years of experience compiled in a program, the Academy guarantees that anybody who invests a day in reading the book and viewing the DVD will be making money the next day. www.USGoldBuyers.com offers FREE Overnight/Insured shipping to quickly and safely ship your items. They will evaluate/test the items and contact the seller regarding their payout offer within 24 hours. This program has turned driven individuals into bona fide precious metals dealers. By working closely with its customers to build their business, the success of the training program will be directly linked to the success of each individual. "We have a vested interest in making you successful as we want to purchase the precious metals from you," reveals Alan Silverman.
CONTACT: Alan Silverman, +1-877-977-GOLD (4653), email@example.com
SOURCE US Gold Buyers Academy

domain: news


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On Tuesday (November 15), the government announced that nine special Vostro accounts have been opened with two Indian banks after permission from the RBI to facilitate trade in rupee in the wake of sanctions on Russia by the US and European countries.
A Vostro account is an account that a domestic bank holds for a foreign bank in the domestic bank’s currency — which, in the case of India, is the rupee. The RBI allowed nine such accounts, including IndusInd Bank and Uco Bank.
In the case of trade with Russia, payments in rupee for the export and import of goods will go to these Vostro accounts. The owners and beneficiaries of this money will be the exporters and importers in both the countries. The banks will keep the record of money transferred.
Two kinds of accounts, Vostro and Nostro, are often mentioned together. Both Vostro and Nostro are technically the same type of account, with the difference being who opens the account and where.
So, if an Indian bank like the SBI wants to open an account in the United States, it will get in touch with a bank in the US, which will open a Nostro account and accept payments for SBI in dollars.
The account opened by the Indian bank in the US will be a Nostro account for the Indian bank, while for the US bank, the account will be considered a Vostro account.
Literally, Nostro means ‘ours’ and Vostro means ‘yours’ in Latin. Therefore, the accounts opened by IndusInd and UCO are Vostro, and the ones opened by Russia’s Sberbank and VTB Bank are Nostro accounts.
On July 11, the RBI put in place a mechanism to settle international trade in rupees “in order to promote growth of global trade with emphasis on exports from India and to support the increasing interest of the global trading community in the rupee”.
The central bank’s move has come in the wake of increasing pressure on the Indian currency in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and sanctions by the US and the EU.
According to the central bank, AD (authorised dealer) banks in India have been permitted to open rupee Vostro accounts. Accordingly, for settlement of trade transactions with any country, an AD bank in India may open special rupee Vostro accounts of correspondent banks of the partner trading country.


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As Tehama County moves through Stage 2 of the reopening process, public testing for COVID-19 continues through the county’s Public Health Department. The current testing site is at Corning Union High School, 643 Blackburn Ave., C Wing Room 10, and will be there today, tomorrow, and May 26-29.
The public testing is available by appointment through the Tehama County Public Health Department and is free of charge for those with or without medical insurance. Testing, by LHI.Care and OPTUM Serve, is by nasal swab and results are available directly to the patient within 48-72 hours.
To make an appointment go online to https://lhi.care/covidtesting, or for those without Internet access, call 1-888-634-1123.
With testing underway and the county moving through Stage 2 reopening at an accelerated pace, neither of these actions allows the county to move into Stage 3 without state approval. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who issued a stay-at-home executive order on March 19 in response to the growing coronavirus pandemic, said this week areas of the state may be allowed to move into Stage 3 in June.
For Tehama County the reopening means businesses such as destination retail, including shopping malls and swap meets, can open their doors with modifications, as well as dine-in restaurants after submitting business reopening plans to the county and receiving approval of those plans.
Curb-side retail, manufacturers, logistics, childcare for those outside of the essential workforce, office-based businesses, car washes, pet grooming, landscape gardening, outdoor museums, and open galleries are also allowed to reopen with modifications as part of Phase 2.
Not included on the list is personal services, such as nail salons, tattoo parlors, gyms and fitness studios, entertainment venues with limited capacities, such as movie theaters, gaming, gambling and arcade venues, pro sports, zoos, libraries, community centers, nightclubs, theme parks, limited-capacity religious services, and more, according to state reports.
There are no reports of schools in Tehama County reopening at this time, nor an announced timeframe as to when they will be allowed to reopen, according to the county’s Public Health Department.
The reopening of higher education facilities is not included in Stage 2, according to state guidelines.
California officials continue to ask anyone who is feeling ill to stay at home, as well as vulnerable persons, and for individuals to wear a face mask when in public, continue social distancing, wash hands regularly, use hand sanitizer, cover coughs and sneezes, limit gatherings to 10 people or less and to not travel unless necessary.
A full list of California counties to receive Stage 2 reopening approval is available at www.cdph.ca.gov.


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President of Nintendo Shuntaro Furukawa recently stated that the company plans to make more 3DS franchises available on the Switch in order to increase the appeal of the Lite, which is the console’s new handheld-only model.
This is good news for those who prefer home consoles instead of handhelds.
It’s unlikely that the Lite would receive any exclusive games that wouldn’t also be on the original Switch model. This means that for some games that started on home consoles but have found their place in the handheld market in recent years, they could receive their first home console title after a long wait.
Some franchises have seen so many releases on handheld that it’s been years or even decades since they last appeared on a home console.
Here are five Nintendo-published series that last appeared on the 3DS and would return to their roots on a home console if they someday appear on the Switch.
Kid Icarus was once considered a dead franchise. The first game, simply titled Kid Icarus, appeared on the NES home console in 1986. It did not sell particularly well compared to other games at the time, though it gained somewhat of a cult following.
Perhaps Nintendo imagined that Kid Icarus would do better in the handheld market, so the next game in the series, Of Myth and Monsters, released on the Game Boy in 1991. After that, it took 21 years before the next game in the series released (Kid Icarus: Uprising on the 3DS in 2012), proving that the series was not actually dead.
With this confirmation that Nintendo is willing to bring back dormant franchises and the popularity of Pit in Super Smash Bros., it is very plausible that the next title could be released on the Switch. It would be interesting to see if it would return to traditional platforming gameplay or if it would instead take full advantage of the console’s hardware as a 3D shooter like Uprising.
A new Kid Icarus game would be the first to appear on a home console since the debut of the series in 1986.


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More info on Automotive Technician Program at SDCE
Automotive Technician Program at SDCE - BingNews Search results
Falls building to become home for Hudson's auto tech program
The Hudson City School District will temporarily use a location in a nearby community for its auto tech program.
Temple: Auto dealer steps up to help school district’s automotive technology program
Don Ringler Automotive Group, Toyota Motors, and Workforce Solutions stepped up this week to provide students in the Temple ISD’ The automotive group says it’s a challenge to find skilled and ...
Roambee's Real-Time Demand Signal Is Transforming Interstate Batteries' Fulfilment Logistics; Wins SDCE's Top Supply Chain Project Award
Roambee's real-time demand-signal solution for Interstate Batteries has earned the Top Supply Chain Project Award 2021 from Supply & Demand Chain Executive (SDCE). The ~$1.5B Interstate Batteries, the ...
Lightning Technician Program: Expediting the Fight
The 56th Fighter Wing and 56th Maintenance Group are accelerating change through the Lightning Technician Program. The program’s goal is to reassign all maintenance tasks for the F-35 Lightning II ...
Ivy Tech Automotive Technology Center opens in Indianapolis
Cinnaire joined Ivy Tech Community College, PNC Community Partners Inc., Indianapolis Redevelopment CDE and community leaders this week to celebrate the opening of the Ivy Tech Automotive ...
LINCOLN TECH'S SPECIALIZED FOOD INDUSTRY TECHNICIAN PROGRAM SEES 97% GRADUATE PLACEMENT RATE
Parsippany, NJ, (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lincoln Educational Services Corporation (NASDAQ: LINC), marking 75 years in 2021 as a national leader in specialized technical training, has announced that the ...
Ivy Tech opens new automotive center in Indianapolis
Ivy Tech’s new automotive center opened Wednesday, bringing with it a new state-of-the-art facility. The center features nine labs and sixteen classrooms. It is a ...
Ivy Tech opens new automotive tech center in west side’s International Marketplace District
The center boasts 16 classrooms, nine labs, offices and state of the art facilities. It will give students hands-on and cognitive skills training needed to be an automotive technician.
Morrie’s Volkswagen of La Crosse donates iPads to Western’s Automotive Tech program
Morrie’s Volkswagen in La Crosse is donating 10 iPads to students in Western’s Automotive Technician program to help bridge that gap. Almost everything is digital these days in the car ...
Actify Automotive Program Management (APM) Suite Now Generally Available, Debuts at PowerPlex 21
Actify, the leading provider of visualization and program management solutions for the automotive supply chain, announces the general availability of its cloud-based Actify Automotive Program ...
NMCC auto tech program to begin fall with improved equipment
Courtesy of NMCC PRESQUE ISLE — Northern Maine Community College’s automotive technology program will begin the fall 2021 semester with a significant upgrade to their lab equipment.
Garage Gurus® Extends Deadline to Apply for 2021 Automotive Technician Scholarship Program
Applications for the program are currently available on the Garage Gurus website for the opportunity to receive one of 12 $2,500 Garage Gurus Automotive Technician Scholarships for the 2021-2022 ...


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Nike show why the biggest brands don’t have to scramble for World Cup limelight
It’s hard to believe, but in less than a week the World Cup will be over.
It has given us shocks, memories and drama, and the best moments will be forever enshrined in videos, articles and – to a certain extent – in social media posts.
As is often the case with big events these days, brand activity is now scrutinised, often to a large degree: the performances of the biggest brands are hardly as important as those of the biggest teams, but they are certainly in a spotlight.
Often, that has to do with the non-sponsor brands who are aiming to tap into the interest. All might be fair in love and war, but at the World Cup there are strict guidelines to be adhered to and watching brands fumble around to try and create a popular ad campaign without mentioning some very obvious key words is all part of the fun.
But one such non-sponsor, Nike, has been conspicuous by its low-key approach to this World Cup. And yet you can certainly argue it’s paying off for them.
Impatience is a virtue. @KMbappe
— Nike Football (@nikefootball) July 6, 2018
As there’s only a week to go, and the tournament is really starting to hot up there are certainly more posts from the Nike accounts, but throughout the tournament the brand’s social media activity has been very minimal indeed.
The official Nike Twitter account has not posted a public-facing tweet since 10th June – an image of Rafael Nadal celebrating his French Open win. Anyone who’s been paying attention will know that it’s not overly unusual for the big Nike accounts to do that. The Nike UK Twitter account has not tweeted since June 26th, when they posted an image of a pair of new Air Jordan trainers.
Nike Football, for example, may have started to ramp up its output now, with nine public-facing tweets already in the month of July: an average of one a day. But that’s only on the back of 17 tweets since February 8th.
There are reams of customer service tweets hidden in the replies section of course, and as usual the main account is saved for the bits that really matter. Though perhaps the lack of activity on the UK facing account is the only one that really is a missed opportunity: England are playing in beautifully elegant Nike kits and the country in the midst of a World Cup fever pandemic, even if Scotland and Wales fall within the UK, too.
— Nike Football (@nikefootball) July 7, 2018
It’s clear that Nike sees its social media presence – certainly on Twitter anyway – as a chance to interact with customers rather than promote its brand, but the high engagement numbers tell you that they could probably do more than they’re currently doing.
Instagram Stories is the more active platform for Nike’s World Cup related social media output: a different story available for a selected group of the biggest-name Nike players taking part in the tournament, with Mbappe and Kane taking centre stage there again.
With three of the four teams still left in the competition playing in Nike kits, it’s clearly a great opportunity for the brand to get involved. What’s interesting is how they approach the other team, Belgium.
The Red Devils play in Adidas kits, but with Kevin de Bruyne and Eden Hazard wearing Nike boots the brand have to market them. In the case of De Bruyne, how they’ve done it is quite interesting.
Taking an image of the Manchester City man celebrating (what looks to me like) a Premier League goal against Tottenham earlier in the season, they’ve changed the Nike kit worn by the English champions to include the red of Belgium, and the distinctive sleeves the newest Nike kits are known for. Cheeky, but certainly on-brand.
Trust your instincts. @DeBruyneKev
— Nike Football (@nikefootball) July 2, 2018
It’ll be interesting just how much Nike put into promoting their teams and players on social media for the rest of this World Cup. As it gets closer to the final, it’s now obvious that Nike will have either a player or a whole team’s kit to promote come the final whistle on Sunday evening.
And as World Cup fever spreads, despite warnings before the tournament about low take-up from brands because of problems with the host nation, Nike aren’t part of the scramble to crowbar themselves into the limelight as much as possible – but you can bet the results will still be massive.
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The ECB are a massive hit on YouTube – Digital Sport spoke to Social Media Manager Steven Dent for a wide ranging interview on what makes them so successful.
At this year’s Ryder Cup, some of the technological stats are just as impressive as Europe’s landslide win.


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Canada's economy grew 0.3 per cent in November, a tad better than market expectations and the strongest pace in more than half a year thanks in part to a pickup in activity by resource firms.
Gross domestic product grew from a muted 0.1 per cent in October, Statistics Canada said Thursday. The monthly rise -- the best since April -- was largely due to the goods side of the economy, which increased 0.6 per cent on the back of activity in the areas of manufacturing and mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction.
As well, the output of service industries rose 0.1 per cent, with gains coming from wholesale and retail trade, the agency said .
“After many months of floundering growth, the Canadian economy sparked back to life in November,” Emanuella Enenajor, an economist at CIBC World Markets, said in a research note.
“Overall, an upbeat report suggesting that economic activity picked up from its fall doldrums, although still lagging potential output growth.”
According to a Reuters survey of economists, the median forecast was for a 0.2 per cent rise, though some analysts did predict an increase of at least 0.3 per cent.
"Today's print suggests that the economy is on track for a 1 per cent quarterly annualized rate of growth in Q4. This is broadly in line with both our estimate, as well as the most recent forecast from the Bank of Canada," said Mazen Issa, Canada macro strategist at TD Securities.
However, Issa said in a note that TD differs from the central bank in that it expects a more gradual reacceleration in growth over 2013.
"With growth not likely to rise above potential until the second half of 2013, economic slack will persist through the year ahead helping to keep inflation pressures subdued and keeping the Bank of Canada on the sidelines," he wrote.
Earlier this month, the Bank of Canada cut its growth outlook and highlighted the need to delay a possible rate hike from its current 1.0 per cent.
The Canadian growth data follows a downtrodden picture of the U.S. economy. Data on Wednesday showed the American economy unexpectedly shrank in the fourth quarter, for its weakest showing since it emerged from recession in 2009.


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The giant confirms it the release date of its 820 chipset, a debut that will permit computer makers to finally come out with PCs that take advantage of speedier memory.
The chipmaking giant has finished testing its 820 chipset, code-named Camino, and will unveil the delayed product on the first day of Comdex, the weeklong computer extravaganza in Las Vegas, according to Intel spokesman Dan Francisco.
The 820 will come with a 133-MHz system bus, faster than most Intel chipsets and able for the first time to let processors "speak" to Rambus-style memory chips. Chipsets serve as a communications conduit for the PC.
As reported last week, several major PC makers, including IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Micron, and Dell Computer are expected to release business and/or consumer desktops containing high-speed memory chips based on a speedy Rambus design.
Rambus has been one of Silicon Valley's most talked-about companies, thanks in part to Intel's endorsement. Rambus memory promises to be faster than the current standard, called SDRAM, but costs more and has been bogged down by delays, glitches, and marketing snafus.
A recent surprise delay in the release of the 820 chipset, for instance, resulted in destroyed motherboards and embarrassment for companies like HP and Dell, which were already touting Rambus systems. Motherboard is an industry term for a computer's main circuit board.
Accordingly, many companies taking a cautious approach. Some manufacturers will release new Pentium IIIs containing the 820 chipset but will fill the systems up with standard SDRAM. Performance is not as good with this solution, Intel executives and others have said.
Rambus computers will contain a motherboard with only two memory slots, with a maximum memory capacity of 512MB. Earlier, Rambus/820 motherboards contained three memory slots, which caused technical problems.
The lack of a third memory slot will dent some of the capabilities of these machines, according to Shawn Willett, an analyst with the Aberdeen Group. With a third slot, system designers or IT managers can tweak memory configurations to optimize specific types of performance.
IBM is expected to release a Rambus-based PC for around $1,300 and a workstation with Rambus memory and the 820 chipset for close to $2,000, according to sources close to the company.


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Harriet Sherwood in Ramallah
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 29 June 2010 11.08 BST
Israeli factories based in settlements on the West Bank have been forced to cut back production as a growing Palestinian boycott movement begins to take effect.
The boycott, endorsed by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, was given further momentum this week when a campaign to clear supermarket shelves of produce originating in settlements was rolled out in Ramallah.
“The objective is to ensure the Palestinian market is free of Israeli settlement produce by the end of this year,” the Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad, said at the launch of the Store to Store campaign at the Alameen supermarket.
A team of volunteers will inspect 66,000 stores across the West Bank in the coming weeks, awarding certificates and window stickers to those free of settlement produce.
After a period of grace, shopkeepers retaining such produce in their stores could be liable to a fine of more than £9,000 or up to five years in prison under a law already passed but not yet enforced by the Palestinian legislative council.
“This is the daily expression of rejection of the occupation,” Fayyad said. “It will help ensure that the Palestinian economy is self-sufficient. There will not be a store in Palestine which cannot carry our stickers.”
The pro-boycott campaigners are careful to draw a distinction between produce from West Bank settlements, which are illegal under international law, and produce originating from within Israel. The latter will continue to be sold in Palestinian shops.
The campaign has been attacked by Israeli politicians, businesses and commentators. “The Palestinians are opposing economic peace and are taking steps that in the end hurt themselves,” the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, said last month.
The West Bank market is worth around $200m (£133m) a year to Israeli businesses. But some settlement factories sell about 30% of their output to the Palestinian market, and the boycott is already having an impact on them.
Seventeen factories in Mishor Adumim, a large industrial estate between East Jerusalem and Jericho, have reportedly closed since the boycott campaign began. Some settlement factories are reported to be considering moving back into Israel.
Others in the Barkan industrial zone, near the settlement of Ariel, have reduced production, according to David Ha’ivri of the Shomron regional council, a pro-settler organisation in the northern West Bank. “Many of the factories are seeking alternative markets,” he said.
A factory producing aluminium window frames, which used to sell 30% of its output to the Palestinian market, had cut the hours of its 160 employees rather than lay people off, he said.
More than half the 5,000-6,000 employees in the Barkan zone are Palestinian, employed under Israeli labour legislation and entitled to the Israeli minimum wage of around $1,000 a month – considerably more than the average wage in the West Bank economy.
“[The boycott] is an unwise act by the Palestinian Authority,” said Ha’ivri. “The damage caused will be felt by both sides. They’re cutting off the branch they’re sitting on.”
The Palestinian Authority has established a $50m fund to provide alternative employment and grants in an effort to both discourage Palestinians from working in the settlements and foster the West Bank economy.
According to the Manufacturers Association of Israel, some 22,000 Palestinians are employed by settlement businesses – in construction, agriculture, manufacturing and service industries.
It is holding an extraordinary meeting this week to ascertain the impact of the boycott and consider what action to take.
Dan Catarivas of the association said firms were more concerned about the withdrawal of Palestinian labour than the boycott of goods, although the impact was uneven.
“These Israeli firms will have to find new workers – either Israelis or foreigners. But at the end of the day the Israeli companies will find other options, and the Palestinian workers will be left without jobs.”
He said the Israeli government had offered incentives to firms to establish factories in the West Bank, and it was possible that some of them may now seek compensation for their losses.
The Palestinian Authority said it was pleased with the level of support for the boycott, put in a recent survey at around 85%. Fayyad said it was “empowering the people” to resist the Israeli occupation without resorting to violence. “People feel national pride that they can participate in this campaign,” a spokesman said.
The boycott is part of a wider attempt to foster non-violent resistance against Israel’s occupation, including largely peaceful demonstrations against the separation barrier.
Internationally, the boycott is gaining momentum. European Union guidelines urge supermarkets to clearly mark the origin of produce on labels to allow consumers to distinguish between Palestinian, Israeli and settlement produce.
The Alameen supermarket owner, Erekat Ribhi Shukar, insisted Palestinian produce was competitive in terms of quality and price with settlement goods. “We should support Palestinian producers to help our economy,” he said beneath a sign declaring “My conscience is clear – my store is clean of settlement produce”.
At the rear of the store, two young women shoppers examining a chiller cabinet containing Palestinian and Israeli dairy products but no settlement goods said they backed the campaign. “We want products that benefit our economy, not harm it,” said one.


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American Banknote Welcomes Wright
American Banknote Corporation, parent of the ABnote Group, located in Fort Lee, N.J., announced Timothy Wright has joined the company as vice president of product marketing. In this position, Wright will direct ABnote’s global efforts to package existing regional solutions for resale within the group, and also direct new product initiatives through technology partnerships and alliances.
Throughout his 20-plus year career, Wright has achieved a strong track record of piloting explosive sales growth in vendors of payment cards, smart cards and payment card security. Prior to joining ABnote, he served as vice president of sales at Los Angeles-based Innovative Card Technologies and vice president of banking and retail at Gemalto, headquartered in Amsterdam. In addition, Wright has held positions at De La Rue Protection, Dulles, Va., Dainippon Ink & Chemicals, Fort Lee, N.J., and the International Department at Takachiho Technica, Tokyo.
With a history beginning in 1795, American Banknote is a global supplier of secure documents, services and systems.
For more information, visit www.abnote.com or call (201) 592-3400.


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In response to the government announcing the introduction of Plan B to address the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid, Chris Fletcher, Policy Director at Greater Manchester Chamber, said: “This move is not wholly unexpected if you have been following the news over the last week or so. Even so the announcement of new restrictions, part of the government’s Plan B will be a cause of concern for many business owners.
“We have seen over the last few months good growth across many sectors in GM – reflected in our Quarterly Economic Surveys, but there is strong capacity for these latest measure to put the brakes on this. Added uncertainty over what lies ahead will increase and cause some businesses to revisit their business plans which were just getting back on track after the last 18 months.
“It is obviously important that public health measures come first and whilst these are not and are a long way off full lockdown measures, they will still cause some disruption to business with staff having to work from home again and a huge knock-on effect for hospitality and retail businesses some of which are still struggling, and who now have to prepare for vaccine passports and extra costs.
“As we have done throughout the pandemic, we will continue to work with and support our members and ensure that any further measures affecting businesses are fully taken into account by government and appropriate support is made available.”
For more information on the new rules, click here.


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Eco-friendly cars are key to resolving the fine dust problemIt’s been over a month since the government held a ministerial meeting and announced a special plan against fine dust, but the controversy is still ongoing. We need to stop blaming and seek clues for solution together.
According to the current Korean laws, cars powered by electricity, solar energy, hydrogen fuel cell and natural gas are considered environmentally friendly. There are no natural gas and solar-powered models that can be used for passenger vehicles in Korea yet. In Europe, not only electric, hydrogen and natural gas-fueled vehicles but also LPG and bioenergy-powered cars have been classified as alternate fuel vehicle, and various assistant measures for development and distribution are in place. In the United States, Japan, Australia and Hong Kong, LPG is imposed a lower tax rate than other fuels to allow citizens to use it more economically. It is quite different from how Korean government only considered increasing tax on diesel in response to the fine dust associated with diesel-fueled vehicles.
Currently, electric, hydrogen-fueled and LPG vehicles are mentioned as the most likely alternatives to diesel cars. However, there are many obstacles for their distribution and wider usage. First, we need to establish charging infrastructure for electric and hydrogen vehicles. There are only 333 electric car charging stations and 10 hydrogen car charging stations in Korea. Car prices are not so affordable yet. Even the price of the more affordable Tesla model is not very competitive.
The government should come up with more realistic solutions to resolve the fine dust problem. In addition to establishing electric car charging infrastructure, the authorities need to consider stronger measures to encourage people to drive environmentally friendly cars. When LPG cars are encouraged worldwide, Korea should reconsider unnecessary regulations. LPG cars can be a realistic alternative. Korea already has world-class LPG automobile technology. Expanding domestic demand will also help Korea’s competition in the growing global LPG vehicle market.
Similarly, investment in wider distribution of electric and hydrogen-fueled cars would be a foundation for Korea’s entry into the global environmentally friendly vehicles market.
Most importantly, all these measures need to be promoted and implemented quickly and effectively. The government has been busy inarticulately defending itself from public outrage. Hopefully, the government would act more swiftly and smartly.
*Professor of automotive engineering at Daelim University College


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China will trial its digital yuan with a mega food retailer, U.S. bills are seriously threatening online privacy and an a16z alum is launching a venture firm focused on distributed tech. Here’s the story:
China wants to trial its digital yuan with online food seller Meituan-Dianping as well as another two Tencent-backed companies. The Beijing-based company has held talks with the research wing at the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) over trialling the digital yuan on its platform, according to sources speaking to Bloomberg. The exact details of the collaboration are not yet known. Listed in Hong Kong, Meituan-Dianping’s 400 million active users make it one of the largest food delivery platforms in the world.
Opposition politicians and dissidents in Russia are using bitcoin to fund their activities against President Vladimir Putin. “Our opponents understand they can’t cut us off from sources of funding because [if they try] at least a part of the donations will go into crypto,” Leonid Volkov, who manages political operations for Alexei Navalny, Putin’s most prominent opponent, said. “Last time our accounts got frozen, we saw an uptick in bitcoin donations.” The candidate has raised more than 600 bitcoin since 2016, and other non-governmental organizations and advocacy groups have followed suit.
Industry reactions made to the BitLicense have been overwhelmingly positive, said Linda Lacewell, superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services. Lacewell, who took office last year, has created a conditional license allowing companies to partner with existing licensed entities to legally operate in New York, enabled self-certification of virtual currencies and has issued guidance on coin listings for licensed platforms.
Multiple bills that threaten encryption are moving through the U.S. Senate and could pose a threat to technology that protects users’ privacy. The…


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Articles about ASUS ZenFone 8 Mini
05 May 2021Technology
After ZenFone 8 Pro, ASUS ZenFone 8 Mini has also bagged the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification with model number ASUS_I006D.
04 May 2021Technology
ASUS is all prepared to launch its ZenFone 8 series of smartphones globally on May 12. The line-up is expected to include the ZenFone 8, 8 Pro, and 8 Mini models.
03 May 2021Technology
ASUS is gearing up to launch the 8 series of smartphones on May 12. In the latest development, Dealntech has revealed the RAM, storage, and battery details of the flagship 8 Mini (or 8 Flip) model.
16 Apr 2021Technology
Taiwanese tech giant ASUS is gearing up to launch its ZenFone 8 series, including the 8 Mini model later this year.


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Chip is a hot commodity these days while. The global Chip shortage of computer chips has caused a lot of problems in the automotive industry. Some companies have been hurt more than others. According to Automotive News, Toyota is having a hard time because there aren’t enough chips. Nissan, on the other hand, is doing better than expected, which is a surprise.
In the last three months, Toyota’s operating profits fell by 21%, which made the company downgrade its worldwide sales and production forecasts. Toyota is the world’s largest automaker, and it’s known for being very profitable. Toyota’s global sales forecast for this fiscal year, which ends on March 31, is expected to fall to 8.25 million vehicles, down from 8.55 million. This is a big change from the previous estimate of 8.55 million.
Chip Shortage for Toyota and Nissan:
Nissan, on the other hand, is usually behind Toyota in many areas. The company’s operating profit doubled in the last quarter thanks to better cost controls and pricing power, as well as other things. Because of this, the automaker’s earnings for the year are looking better than they were before. According to Nissan’s most recent financial report, year-over-year retail sales around the world fell a little less than the rest of the industry.
If you look at Nissan’s global net revenue per vehicle in the third quarter of the fiscal year 2021, it went up by 13% compared to the same time last year.
Nissan has been able to keep incentives low because of low inventory levels in the car business. This has helped the company make more money. If you want to buy a car from the company, you won’t have a problem. But just like Toyota, Nissan thinks it will sell fewer cars and trucks this fiscal year, and that’s not good. The automaker now thinks it will make 3.8 million cars this year, down from its previous estimate of 4.4 million.
People at Nissan sent an email to say that the company has become more profitable
“For the last two years, we’ve been working on our Nissan NEXT plan to change how we do business, which would lead to better performance. We keep getting more market share, and each month, retail sales stay the same.” The automaker thinks that production will go up a little each month through the next three months “.
Although, we’ll keep cutting back on a few of our most important models. The availability of the Altima, Murano, Titan, Frontier, Kicks and Sentra should go up, which is good “The spokesperson said that.
Beyond what was said in the Automotive News story, Toyota didn’t say anything about production plans or how much money it expects to make in the future.
Chip shortage effects on Nissan, Toyota, Subaru, Ford, Volkswagen, and Hyundai:
These giants are all hurting because there aren’t enough computer chips in the world to make cars. As Nissan’s most recent financials show, some people have it a little better than others. This is bad news for everyone, but not everyone has it as bad as others.
COVID-19 has had a huge impact on how we live, from how we travel and how we learn to how people work. This pandemic has also had a big and bad effect on the auto industry, clogging up supply chains around the world and putting a huge strain on vehicle production. There are still a lot of problems with semiconductors two years after the coronavirus spread all over the world.
As a vice president of global automobile forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions, Sam Fiorani says that the chip shortage is still a big deal.
There are many important reasons for this. “This isn’t a problem that can be solved quickly.”Still, automakers of all sizes are having trouble getting semiconductors, small parts that are needed in even the most basic vehicles. The problem is getting worse.
The computer chips that power everything from driver assistance features to navigation systems to steering wheels are getting more powerful as cars get more and more complicated, and that’s only going to happen as cars get more and more complicated.
Toyota is still having problems with shortages that will hurt manufacturing. “Our teams are working diligently so that production can run as smoothly as possible. In North America, we expect about 25,000 to 30,000 cars to be sold in February, “The company told Roadshow. The good news is that Toyota doesn’t think these shortfalls will affect jobs.
Read more: Best Electric Vehicle One Can Buy in 2022
GM has the same problems
A few months ago, the company said that it couldn’t offer certain features on a number of models because it didn’t have enough chips. But things are getting better now. Because of the global shortage of semiconductors, “fortunately, at the moment we don’t have any North American production lines that are closed because of that.”
In Fairfax, Kansas, which makes the Chevy Malibu and Cadillac XT4, and Ramos Arizpe, Mexico, where the Chevy Blazer and Equinox SUVs are made. Second shifts have just started back up at these two plants.
The effects of this chip shortage on the world can be seen in many ways.
The chip shortage in 2021 led to a huge drop in the number of vehicles being made. LMC Automotive president Jeff Schuster says that Ford was hit the hardest and that they were hit early. “Ford was hit the hardest, and they were hit early.” This is because it had a lot of high-profile launches, like a new F-150. A figure from Schuster says that last year, the Blue Oval missed out on about 1.25 million cars.
But Ford wasn’t the only car company to make mistakes.
It took Volkswagen a little longer than planned to make 1.15 million cars, but GM and Toyota both missed their goal by about 1.1 million cars. Stellantis also missed the mark by about 1 million cars. But not all businesses were hit the same. I think that as a group, the Japanese and Korean Manufacturers were a little more protected. They live near China, where more and more chips are made.
The reason Chinese manufacturers felt less of an impact than their global competitors is that they had more time to adapt to the new rules.
Consumers, like automakers and medical device manufacturers, have fewer computer chips in stock now than they did in 2019. This means that in 2021, they’ll have less than 5 days’ worth of chips on hand. Because of this, things could get very bad very quickly.
People in the US could lose their jobs and their families’ lives if a COVID outbreak, catastrophic event, or political unrest shuts down a semiconductor plant in another country for even a few weeks for any reason, a report said. This is a risk not lost on car companies.
How did chip shortage happen?
People in the auto industry are some of the brightest and most knowledgeable people in any field. There are things they do every day that they have to think about for years and make sure they meet safety and fuel economy standards as well as the needs of the people who buy them.
When the semiconductor industry makes a mistake together, it’s a big surprise. People didn’t think this would grow into what it did, but car companies should have known about the risks.
Chips are now in almost everything we buy, Fiorani said. At the start of the pandemic, automakers cut their orders for semiconductors because they thought there would be a big drop in sales.
In addition, he said: “OEMs got out of line, and the chipmakers moved that factory space to make chips for iPhones and PlayStations and other things.” When car sales are hot again, chipmakers can’t keep up with the demand, because all of their space has been used up. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as turning the lights back on and getting back to work.
Another thing that Fiorani talked about was making money apart from chip shortage.
Older chips are needed by the automotive industry because they make less money for the semiconductor companies that make them. This is how it works: It takes a lot less processing power to run a few parking sensors than it does an iPhone 13 Pro.
Also, for safety, car companies use designs that have worked for years, chips that work in all temperatures, humidity levels, and other situations, and so on. Nvidia, Texas Instruments, TSMC, or any other chipmaker has been encouraged to make more advanced semiconductor materials at the expense of their customers, the people who buy their cars.
Read more: The global chip shortage explained
Solutions to the chip shortage problem
Still, there are a few ways to make sure there will be a steady supply of chips for cars in the years to come. In the US, we could make more of the things that foreign companies make. If both strategies are used, Schuster thinks they’ll be the best way to solve this problem, because chip demand isn’t going to stop growing. Gaming, smartphones, and the internet of things are going to use more and more semiconductors in the next few years, so they’ll need more and more of them.
Making chips at home is important, but it’s not a magic bullet.
There is a big problem with this, says Fiorani: “One of these plants can’t just show up on its own.” For a new facility to be built, it takes months or even years. It must be in a place with a lot of certain things. Because chip factories are so specific, it’s not really possible to turn an old building into a chip factory. Then there’s the price.
I’ve been told that the number I’ve been told is $10 billion, and that’s just to start, he said. This is a business that requires a lot of money, which is another obstacle.
One more option, though, is to form a group of people in the car industry who work with chips. Fiorani said this might be the best way to avoid future supply shortages, but he said that getting car companies to work together on a project this big is likely to be a big deal.
The prognosis: Be cautiously optimistic about chip shortage
If there’s any good news in all this, there’s still a lot of demand for cars and trucks. Companies can sell any cars and trucks they make. LMC Automotive thinks it will be a while before things get back to normal in a COVID-19 world.
This year, Schuster says the chip shortage should go away, but it could be a while before things get back to normal, which is what normal is in the COVID-19 world. Everything will start to come together in the second half of the year, says Fiorani. Hopefully, car production will return to pre-shortage levels.
There has been some investment in this field, and the government and industry are working together to make more chips that can be used in cars. “We just hope it’s enough to cover the losses.” As you can see, there is still a lot that isn’t clear right now, but hopefully, the worst of the semiconductor shortage in the auto industry is behind us now.


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Posterous, the email-based blogging platform, emphasizes simplicity and ease of use, yet it keeps adding new features. Unlike, say, Twitter, the company isn’t so dogmatic about simplicity that it forgoes functionality like media hosting and mobile clients. Of course, there are other differences between Posterous and Twitter: Posterous hasn’t experienced the same meteoric growth in usage and hasn’t fostered a developer community to fill in all its gaps.
In reality, said Posterous CEO Sachin Agarwal in an interview today, “We are on the WordPress* end of the spectrum, but people think we’re micro-blogging because we’re so simple.” As Posterous grows and becomes more full-featured, Agarwal and co-founder Garry Tan say they will never lose email posting as a core function, and will always try to build experiences that mimic and integrate with familiar interfaces. The company has some new features in the works: increased support for groups, premium accounts for businesses, proximity-based geoblogs, and a better bookmarklet to bring in outside content.
Groups. Posterous is increasingly used as a group communication tool, where users send messages to Posterous like they would a group email list or a Yahoo (s YHOO) Group. Other group members can sign up to receive all posts by email, so the blog itself is essentially a public or private archive. The difference is, the blog format is a good way to consume and search, and Posterous is much better than email at handling media. As compared to the new Facebook Groups, anyone can participate without even creating a Posterous account.
For example, the TED Conference’s Fellows program has 150-200 people communicating with each other through a Posterous group, Agarwal said. Today, 15 percent of Posterous sites are multi-contributor, but the company thinks that number will rise as it adds new tools like automatic group creation when you cc: Posterous on an email to multiple recipients.
Premium Accounts. To date, Posterous hasn’t made any money, but it plans to start pulling its weight. In the next few weeks, it will be beta-testing Google (s GOOG) AdSense revenue share with some of its celebrity users. (It won’t name names, but folks like Ashton Kutcher use Posterous to host their photos uploaded through Twitter clients.) Early next year, Posterous plans to roll out subscription accounts for small and medium business owners who want to use the service to manage their social media presences. Agarwal said many real estate agents already use the service today to syndicate content to their Twitter, Facebook and other online presences. This use case sounds kind of similar to tools like HootSuite.
Geoblogs. At Blog World Expo this past week, Posterous set up a group blog. Anyone who loaded up the Posterous iPhone (s aapl) app in the vicinity of the Mandalay Bay Convention Center was invited to contribute to a Posterous blog dedicated to the show. The company expects to use these pop-up proximity blogs around additional events, and for other purposes.
A Better Bookmarklet. This sounds a bit dangerous as far as plagiarism goes, but Posterous will be updating its bookmarklet tool so users can grab articles and videos by just selecting them and clicking. The idea is to make it even easier to add new content. Today, 50 percent of Posterous posts contain media other than text, and that portion is rising.
Posterous has just 4.4 million monthly visitors (7.1 including custom domains), according to Quantcast, compared to 30.9 million for rival Tumblr (44.2 including custom domains). It’s possible that’s an undercount of actual usage due to users who interact with the service over email, but unfortunately, Posterous doesn’t provide user or site numbers to make a more appropriate comparison. The company, which has 10 employees, has raised about $5 million in funding.
Automattic, maker of WordPress.com, is backed by True Ventures, a venture capital firm that is an investor in the parent company of this blog, Giga Omni Media. Om Malik, founder of Giga Omni Media, is also a venture partner at True.
Related content from GigaOM Pro (subscription req’d):


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Chinese smartphone vendors, that have captured 49 per cent of the Indian mobile phone handset market in the first quarter of 2017, may soon wipe out Indian brands from the overall handset segment, a report has said.
The Chinese vendors have registered a 180 per cent (year-on-year) revenue growth in the first quarter of 2017, research firm CyberMedia Research (CMR) said.
CMR’s "India Quarterly Mobile Handset Market Review" report suggests that revenues of Rs 346,295 million was recorded by mobile handsets market in India in the first quarter (January-March), down eight% sequentially quarter-on-quarter.
South Korea’s Samsung and China’s Itel and Xiaomi were the top market players. While the market share of Samsung stands at 27%, Itel has 9% and Xiaomi 6%.
Samsung of South Korea, and the Chinese Itel and Xiaomi were the top market players with 27 per cent, nine per cent and six per cent market share, respectively, in terms of volume.
"In the smartphone arena, the Chinese brands have already kicked out domestic players from the top five list and in the near future, we will see Chinese players wiping out the Indian brands from the top five chart of overall mobile handset segment too," said Krishna Mukherjee, Telecom Analyst with CMR, in a statement.
The Indian mobile handset market with leading brands Micromax, Intex and Lava is expected to be around 65 million units in the second quarter (April-June), and the growth will come from replacement/upgrade market that would continue to benefit the Chinese brands.
"As this would be the last quarter before GST is implemented (on July 1), a lot of push by way of schemes and offers from various handset makers is expected during the quarter," the report added.
Meanwhile, Apple’s ‘Make in India’ iPhoneSE will change the market dynamics. It will compete with Chinese players like Vivo and Oppo, which have been strong in the Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000 price range.


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Chicago, IL, Aug. 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — via NEWMEDIAWIRE — CannaTrac® Technology, Inc., the leading cashless payment solution for the cannabis industry, today announced that it has garnered media coverage in HEMP Mag.
“Our team is honored to be included in HEMP Mag’s article on the National Credit Union Association’s newly issued guidance regarding providing of banking services to businesses in the hemp industry,” said Thomas Gavin IV, Vice Chairman and CEO of CannaTrac®. “We are proud to be recognized for providing the cashless payment solution that is needed to support this growing industry.”
In the article titled The End of Hemp’s Federal Banking Problem is in Sight, published on August 20, 2019, the article speaks on the recent advancements made by the National Credit Union Association (NCUA), which prompts a new era for the reemergence of hemp in the United States. The NCUA announced on August 19, 2019, that it was issuing guidance to its member institutions on providing banking services to businesses in the hemp industry. The guidance provided by the NCUA also serves as a template for providing banking services to companies operating in state-legal marijuana markets.
The article goes on to highlight Gavin’s take on the advancement and why he believes progress for hemp producers will translate into support for bills pending in Congress to protect financial institutions that do business with legal marijuana companies. Gavin said, “By allowing credit unions to open their doors to hemp and CBD businesses, the federal government is facilitating the industry’s path to the overall goal, acceptance for the entire legal cannabis industry.”
For more information about CannaTrac®, visit https://www.cannatrac.com/.
ABOUT CANNATRAC®CannaTrac® is dedicated to bringing safety to the cannabis industry by serving as the industry’s leading cashless mobile payment system solution. CannaTrac® created the CannaCard® and the CannaCard App™ to provide consumers and retailers with a convenient way to benefit from increased safety and convenience through cashless purchases within the legal cannabis industry. Shop.Pay.Earn Rewards™ with the CannaCard®. To learn more about CannaCard® or register as a merchant, please visit https://cannatrac.com/


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Wednesday, September 1, 2010
'Kiosk Trends May Surprise'
Link to August 17 Digital Screenmedia Association post, "Kiosk trends may surprise, confound industry, report finds".
Excerpt: For starters, self-check in at airlines has met its technological match, and it’s called the smart phone. Kiosks will remain a strong force in the sector, but many consumers eventually will switch to getting to their plane with the help of their phone.
“Airport check-in (via kiosk) is a very mature market sector. You will see incremental increases and updates of products. Smart phones will change the long-term dynamics,” Mendelsohn said.
Here’s how: Travelers will download a barcode to their smart phone when they conduct pre- check-in thru the Web before going to the airport. With the barcode loaded, the traveler will go to the airport and head straight to the security stop, bypassing the airline’s check-in kiosk to pick up a paper boarding pass. A device at the security stop will read the barcode displayed on the smart phone, and the traveler is good to go.
Mendelsohn says several major carriers, including American, Delta and United, have begun offering this smart phone application at select airports.


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Price ranges had been soaring rapid, products and solutions were in brief offer and the Omicron variant put a chill on the state at the start of the calendar year. Through it all, American shoppers saved paying out.
Retail sales rose 3.8 per cent in January from the prior thirty day period, the Commerce Section claimed on Wednesday, a more rapidly-than-predicted rebound from a sharp decrease in December and yet another signal of the economy’s resilience, even as shops shortened their hrs or closed as a surge in Covid-19 bacterial infections led to common staffing shortages. Wednesday’s profits facts echoed a report that showed selecting was more powerful than predicted past month, with businesses incorporating 467,000 employment.
Other aspects had been at enjoy, way too, most notably rapidly-soaring costs. The retail gross sales facts was not modified to account for inflation, and that could proceed to boost the revenue figures for months to come, economists claimed. But the overall takeaway was even now that buyer investing held up final thirty day period.
“We are observing a robust bounce to get started the yr, suggesting positive momentum for now, in spite of elevated prices,” claimed Rubeela Farooqi, the chief U.S. economist at Significant Frequency Economics.
Purchaser spending accounts for the bulk of economic exercise in the United States, and the report arrived at a important time for the overall economy, as the Federal Reserve shifts its target to battling inflation from supporting development. The central lender is anticipated to raise desire premiums as shortly as next month, and climbing borrowing costs could dampen expending by consumers and enterprises.
Other things could also control expending. An enlargement of the little one tax credit score — by which the govt deposited as substantially as $300 for each kid into qualifying Americans’ financial institution accounts each and every month — ended at the start out of the calendar year, and though buyers have not been deterred by inflation yet, there have been symptoms it is starting to dress in them down. A person evaluate of customer sentiment released this month — the College of Michigan’s Index of Customer Sentiment — confirmed the minimum favorable long-time period economic outlook in a ten years.
“I feel it is a matter of time just before there is pushback in conditions of people stepping again, and which is something we require to determine into our estimates,” Ms. Farooqi said.
Some of January’s leap in product sales likely had to do with a person-off variables like a restocking of cabinets that had emptied out previous calendar year, claimed Beth Ann Bovino, the chief U.S. economist at S&P World. With more available to obtain, paying out increased, she said.
An additional was that folks use present cards in January immediately after obtaining them as Xmas offers. Sales of reward cards really do not present up in the data until they have been utilized, she reported.
“If they get it on Dec. 25, they almost certainly just take it out in January when they’re accomplished with their festivities,” Ms. Bovino reported, noting that customers may possibly be extra forgiving of greater price ranges when “they are acquiring with other people’s revenue.”
Moreover, investing designs have turn into less predictable throughout the pandemic, complicating endeavours to predict what will take place upcoming. Just before the pandemic, vacation searching would press retail income increased in December, and a slowdown in expending would be reflected in January. This year’s acquire followed a fall in December that on Wednesday was revised to 2.5 percent.
Nevertheless, Ms. Bovino observed that “people had been continue to spending” in January, and the obtaining was wide-dependent: Profits at auto dealers rose 5.7 percent around the past month, whilst e-commerce gross sales rose 14.5 per cent. Paying at electronics and appliances stores rose 1.9 p.c, and product sales at clothes and basic products stores, these types of as department suppliers, were being greater as nicely.
The result of the most current coronavirus wave was apparent in some sectors. Spending at eating places, bars and gas stations fell about 1 % as folks stayed home. But total, income in January rose significantly more rapidly than the 2 percent obtain economists experienced envisioned.
Shoppers had been paying even as they confronted fast-soaring selling prices and limited supplies of new cars, appliances and a lot much more. Consumer selling prices in January increased .6 per cent from the prior month, the government claimed very last week, and 7.5 p.c from 12 months previously. Offer-chain woes coupled with robust buyer demand from customers pushed charges bigger by all of last calendar year.
Quite a few purchaser solutions businesses have reported lately that income have held up even as they have enhanced prices to offset increased labor and transportation fees. Procter & Gamble, the maker of Crest toothpaste and Tide detergent, explained final thirty day period that cost improves helped drive income 6 % bigger from a 12 months earlier, to $21 billion in the a few months that finished Dec. 31.
Kraft Heinz described on Wednesday that it lifted price ranges 3.8 percent from a 12 months before in the a few months that ended in December. Its gross sales slipped in the quarter but were more powerful than analysts experienced anticipated, many thanks mostly to the selling price boosts.
Ms. Farooqi said more optimistic economic readings in the coming months could direct economists to elevate their forecasts for financial expansion this calendar year, mainly because “consumer paying has driven this recovery.”
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg anticipate gross domestic product — the broadest measure of the nation’s output of items and companies — to mature 3.7 per cent in 2022, a slowdown from growth of 5.7 per cent in 2021.
“Our base situation was that purchaser investing would sluggish coming into 2022 as fiscal steps expired and financial savings diminished,” Ms. Farooqi mentioned. “But the employment facts that arrived out confirmed optimistic momentum in employment advancement, which has implications for profits advancement, which has implications for shelling out.”
Feb. 16, 2022
An before model of this posting misstated the increase in paying at electronics and appliances stores in January. Profits rose 1.9 percent from the prior month, not 4.6 p.c.


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- VERSACE SALES UP: Revenue at Gianni Versace SpA grew 7.7 percent in 2007 to 310.6 million euros, or $425.8 million at average rates of exchange, the company said Sunday. Cash on Versace's balance sheet totaled 4.4 million euros, or $6 million. The firm's plan to focus on business in Asia this year could make the region Versace's second largest market after Europe, replacing the U.S. Men's wear will also be given more attention. -LEJABY SOLD: The Warnaco Group said it inked a deal to sell its Lejaby business to Palmers Textil AG for $65 million. The transaction is for about $47 million in cash and $18 million in an "interest-free note" due in 2013. Warnaco stated that "terms of the transaction include a customary working capital adjustment and the provision of temporary transition services to Palmers Textil AG." Warnaco is looking to close the deal during the current first quarter.
- HAMPSHIRE GETS CREDIT: Apparel maker Hampshire Group Ltd. said that it received a five-year, $125 million senior secured revolving credit facility from a lending group led by HSBC, despite the difficult credit market. The facility replaces a $100 million credit line that would have expired last Friday. The increase has been issued so the company can execute its long-term growth strategy.
"You start one way as a baby, but why shouldn't you be able to choose your own path as opposed to culturally people telling you which way to go?" - Thom Browne at his men's spring 2018 show, where he celebrated gender fluidity. #pfw #wwdmens (📷: @delphineachard)
"I think that all anyone really wants in life is to have people understand us for who we actually are, despite everything," says Ruth Negga. The actress talks "Preachers" season 2 and more on WWD.com. #wwdeye (📷: Dan Doperalski)


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AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Localeur today announced it plans to expand into New York City next month in advance of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week. New York City represents the startup's fourth city in six months after launching Austin before South by Southwest, launching Houston before Free Press Music Fest and, most recently, launching San Francisco before Outside Lands Music and Arts Fest. The company plans to release a native iPhone app and double its city count in the coming months.
"With Austin, Houston and San Francisco, we have some of the nation's largest cities in our community, and New York City is one of the world's top destinations," said co-founder and CEO Joah Spearman. "From fashion bloggers and designers to entrepreneurs and foodies, we'll have locals of all types contributing to make sure Localeur shares the best of New York, allowing Millennial travelers to experience local."
Localeur has grown rapidly and attracted substantial buzz since being founded early in 2013 by Spearman and Chase White, the company's co-founder and president. The two met while working at Bazaarvoice, and realized a curated community sharing recommendations from locals would better serve travelers than review-driven sites.
New York residents slotted to contribute include Jace Lipstein, founder of popular lifestyle site Grungy Gentleman, Susan Morgan, of influential brand agency Team Epiphany, Whitney Pozgay, designer of women's wear brand WHIT, Luke McCann, a Brooklyn-based fashion designer and electronic music promoter, and Dre Hayes, co-founder of The Foundation, who is also an investor in Localeur among dozens of others.
"From the moment I first heard the concept from Chase and Joah to my recent travels to Europe, I've realized this is a product I absolutely need when I travel," said Hayes. "I continue to believe more and more in Localeur because this is a resource everyone wants when they visit new places."
After being named one of the top mobile apps of SXSW by Digital Trends, Localeur has continued to gain traction, launching Houston in late May before being named one of the top innovative startups in Austin by its Chamber of Commerce and SXSW Interactive in June.
"There aren't many startups in Austin, consumer or software, that have gained traction as quickly as Localeur," said Travis Devitt, an early investor in the company who has led public market investments in companies like Expedia and TripAdvisor. "I'm confident they will be a major player in both the travel and local industries which have recently produced some very successful publicly-traded companies in TripAdvisor and Yelp."
After being approached by Google in the spring, Localeur partnered with the tech giant to provide its local-savvy content to its popular Field Trip app alongside companies like Thrillist, Zagat and Eater.
"When I met Joah and Chase, I was immediately impressed with their strategy on how take on this massive space where so many others have failed," said Chris Shonk, the company's first angel investor and member of Central Texas Angel Network. "Not many startups can get this kind of momentum with under half a million dollars raised, so I'm even more excited about Localeur's future as they close an even more significant round of funding."
The local music discovery program will be fully introduced this fall and will help local musicians take their careers to the next level by tapping into Localeur's community of influencers in major cities. Brooklyn-based R&B duo denetia and sene and Austin-based rock duo The Wind + The Wave are the first two acts to be featured in the program with more acts from Localeur cities to come.
"We are really excited to work with Localeur, and have our music shared with their community of music tastemakers in cities like Austin and San Francisco," said denetia and sene. You can learn more about denetia and sene at http://www.denitiaandsene.com/.
"Our music is extremely important to us so Localeur's focus on authenticity is a perfect fit for what we're doing as musicians," said The Wind + The Wave. You can learn more about The Wind + The Wave at http://thewindandthewave.com/.
Localeur investors Terry Lickona, executive producer of Austin City Limits and producer of The Grammys program, and Mick Batsyke, known prominently as MICK, will advise Localeur on its music program with industry influencers such as Carter Adams, formerly of The Windish Agency who has worked with acts such as Theophilus London and Odd Future, and Lizzy Newton, who books talent for the South by Southwest Music Festival, will also advise the initiative.
Localeur believes its music program will help discover and launch successful careers for local musicians through a unique mix of awareness, influencer outreach and live music performances.
"From what we've already seen from Localeur in just six months, it's clear they have a great sense of local discovery and taste," said Batskye, formerly known as Mick Boogie. "Tech startups have advisers, but musicians seldom have that type of support, which I believe Localeur is in position to do for these emerging musicians."
Localeur is a curated community of local insiders who help travelers experience local by sharing recommendations on their favorite places to eat, drink and hang out. If it's not local, it's not on Localeur. www.localeur.com Follow Localeur on Twitter and Instagram @Localeur and at www.Facebook.com/Localeur


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Tessco Technologies (NASDAQ: TESS), a value-added technology distributor, manufacturer, and solutions provider to commercial and retail customers in the wireless infrastructure and mobile device accessories markets, announced the winners of its 2019 Innovation Awards, honoring companies in the wireless technology field who are pushing boundaries with cutting-edge new products and solutions.
The distributor's winning products for wireless infrastructure included:
* The WilsonPro 1000C, an enterprise-grade LTE signal booster with cloud monitoring capabilities;
* Comba’s CriticalPoint Antenna Monitoring System, an RFID equipped, real-time monitoring solution for Public Safety in-building networks;
* CommScope’s SnapTak PIM-Guard Adjustable Hangers, a cable mounting solution for simplified installation and PIM reductions;
* PCTEL’s Public Safety Network Testing Solution – P25 & Cellular, a versatile test platform designed to meet the strict requirements for Public Safety networks.
“Once again this year we received an astonishing number of impressive submissions to our Innovation Awards,” commented Charles Kriete, Tessco Sr. VP of Commercial Sales, Product Marketing, and Supply Chain. “It gets more difficult each year to select the winners, but we feel these products represent true innovation and have changed the landscape of their respective markets.”
In the awards' mobile device accessory category, the winning products were:
* OtterBox’s Otter + Pop collaboration with PopSockets, which combines the company's signature cases with an integrated PopGrip that collapses flat;
* PopSockets’ Swappable PopGrips, which make their popular products customizable;
* Samsung’s Galaxy Buds, the company's latest wireless earbuds.
“The technology, creativity, and versatility in the retail products we selected this year was especially impressive,” concluded Liz Robinson, Tessco Sr. VP of Retail Sales and Product Marketing. “Samsung continues to deliver cutting-edge audio with their Galaxy Buds and to see two of our industry’s biggest brands in OtterBox and PopSockets join forces to create a product to meet a need shows the possibilities when we identify mutually beneficial opportunities.”
Winners were recognized at Tessco’s annual National Sales Meeting on May 1.


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Online Realtor Homebytes.com, Richmond Agency Close Deal
ATLANTA–The Martin Agency continued riding the crest of a dot.com wave last week, winning the estimated $20 million account of Homebytes.com, an Internet real estate company.
Martin was chosen for the assignment after a review of several undisclosed East Coast shops.
The client offers homeowners an alternative to the traditional means of selling a house. Homebytes.com charges a flat fee for property owner services including a “For Sale” sign and multiple book and database listings. An additional stipend brings other amenities like comparable market analysis and all the necessary contract forms.
The Richmond, Va., start-up originally named the now defunct CadmusCom in Richmond its agency last May. At that time, annual billings were estimated at $3 million. Competitive Media Reporting cites no ad expenditures in 1999.
“The Martin Agency has the strategic, marketing and public relations muscle we need to help package and promote Homebytes.-com,” said David P. Clark, the company’s president and chief executive officer in a statement. “[Martin] has the experience and creativity to make our brand a household name.”
Clark did not return phone calls by press time.
“The concept is a winner,” said Kerry Feuerman, vice chairman and creative director at The Martin Agency. “Homebytes.com guides people through the home-selling process in a simple, organized manner. [It] gives consumers more power and more choices.”
Martin’s first work will appear this spring. Various media and public relations will be employed. Martin will also buy all media.
A Homebytes.com representative said last May the company would “realistically cut in half the 6 percent [agents’] commission” usually split between the two realtors of the buyer and seller of a property.
After a difficult first nine months of 1999, in which it lost the creative accounts of both Banc One and Wrangler, Martin has followed a strong fourth quarter with a fast start in 2000.
Since October, the Richmond agency has added four dot.com accounts worth $50-65 million in billings. The clients include online gamer Sandbox.com, automotive information site Carfax.com and retailer performancebike.com. K
Publish date: January 17, 2000 https://dev.adweek.com/brand-marketing/another-dotcom-joins-martin-34721/ © 2020 Adweek, LLC. - All Rights Reserved and NOT FOR REPRINT


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Roku and Google arguing, could result in YouTube TV removal from Rokus (Update)
- Roku’s ongoing negotiations with Google have now resulted in Roku users losing YouTube TV access.
- Roku says Google’s various requests to change the Roku platform to more heavily favor YouTube are “predatory, anti-competitive, and discriminatory.”
- The streaming service is now no longer listing YouTube TV on its Roku channel store.
Update: April 30, 2021 (9:20 AM ET): Roku and Google have failed to come to an agreement. As a result, YouTube TV is no longer available to download from the Roku channel store.
Original article: April 26, 2021 (10:54 AM ET): Roku is, by far, the market dominator when it comes to media streamers. Whether it’s a streaming stick, a set-top box, or even a full-blown television, Rokus are how millions of people consume media content.
Throughout its history, Roku has used that market dominance to earn more favorable contracts with streaming providers as well as fight to preserve the integrity of its platform. Unfortunately, those fights sometimes result in losses for the users. As a recent example, an HBO Max channel didn’t show up on Rokus until long after the service launched due to negotiation troubles between the two companies.
Now, it looks like Roku users could have YouTube TV troubles on the horizon. According to Axios, ongoing negotiations between Roku and Google are not going well. As a result, Roku is pre-emptively notifying users via email that the YouTube TV platform could vanish from Rokus in the near future.
This email notification is likely a negotiation tactic. Roku is demonstrating to Google that it has no problem removing YouTube TV from millions of Rokus. The company likely hopes Google will see this seriousness and back down.
Roku, Google, and YouTube TV: What’s happening?
According to Axios, Google is allegedly asking Roku to make various significant changes to better favor YouTube products. These include the following:
- Create a dedicated search results row for YouTube within the Roku smart TV interface
- Make YouTube search results more prominent
- Block search results from other streaming content providers while using YouTube on Rokus
- Favor YouTube Music results from voice commands made on the Roku remote while the YouTube app is open
- Require Roku to use certain chipsets and/or memory cards in future hardware
Roku calls these requests “predatory, anti-competitive, and discriminatory.”
Now, you might be wondering why YouTube TV is in the crosshairs when these requests involve multiple YouTube products. That’s because the YouTube TV contract Google and Roku have is up for renewal. Roku accuses Google of trying to manipulate this contract — and use its massive market dominance when it comes to YouTube — as a way to force Roku to change its platform to better favor Google.
As a result, Roku is threatening to drop YouTube TV altogether and simply letting the contract expire. This would, unfortunately, result in Roku users losing access to YouTube TV on their streamers, even if the channel is already installed. Of course, this would not affect their ability to use YouTube TV on other platforms.
We’ll update this article once we know the outcome of these negotiations.


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While the big shows are over for the year, Sony and developers are still turning up to try and make an impact, with London's EGX kicking off today, later in Manchester, Paris Games Week next month, one in spain and a series of more indie events.
At EGX, Sony will be showing off a bunch of indies for the Vita (no Freedom Wars though) and there will be a new announcement from OlliOlli maker Roll 7. You should get to play Minecraft on Vita and see PlayStation TV in action.
Other games on the list include Bigfest, recently announced Shu, Super Exploding Zoo, Oddworld and others. If anyone's at any of these events, let us know the vibe and any interest in Vita?


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Xiaomi Redmi Go gets spotted on Singaporean certification agency Info-Communications Media development Authority (IMDA). Also the same hardware was listed on the USA’s FFC and on Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), this is the first indication that the Chinese tycoon could launch an Android Go edition smartphone.
The IMDA listing pulls us up with information showing the phone bearing the model number M1903C3GG with marketing name ‘Redmi Go’. This is the first occasion that the device’s name has been spotted.
According to FFC Product page, this Xiaomi phone will have a 5.9″ display, 18:9 aspect ratio weighing in at around 150gm with dual sim support and Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity.
Also certain leaks points us to that the device will be bearing 1Gigs RAM and a single camera system both on the front and back with an entry level processor and is mainly targeted for Asian countries like India where budget offerings gain more popularity and is in much demand!
The reporter of the Singaporean listing cities the pricing to be under $100 and a date of somewhere around christmas.


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Surveys are beginning to show Americans are pretty unsure how their finances will hold up for the next four years given the general anxiety and angst among many consumers with the changes in the federal government.
A new poll by Experian found 51% of respondents believe their own personal finances will improve and 37% feel everyone’s general financial status will get better over the next four years. Among the 49% who do not feel this way, 21% feel their personal finances will get worse over the next four years.
Nevertheless, consumers in general plan to take action this year to boost income, cut expenses, and reduce credit card balances.
Read the Full Article at cardtrak.com >>>>


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- Q3 2023 results highlight a string of wins for Meta which has increased its net income to $11 billion.
- The firm reports that these days over three billion people use a Meta app everyday.
- With the exception of Reality Labs, Meta keeps growing and the likes of X’s Elon Musk should be worried about the impact that growth has.
Earlier this week Meta reported that it had grown revenue by 23 percent to $34 billion in the last quarter. In fact, there was little for Meta shareholders to complain about especially looking back at the money-sink that is the Metaverse.
The firm reported that daily active people was up seven percent, net income was up 164 percent compared to Q3 2022 and cost and expenses were down 7 percent to $20 billion. These gains have no doubt been helped along by the fact that Meta has fired a staggering amount of staffers since Q3 2022.
This was noted by chief financial officer at Meta, Susan Li who reported that in this most recent quarter, Meta’s headcount was down seven percent compared to the previous quarter.
Those who remain however are seemingly appreciated greatly by management.
“We had a good quarter for our community and business,” Meta founder and chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg told shareholders. “I’m proud of the work our teams have done to advance AI and mixed reality with the launch of Quest 3, Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, and our AI studio.”
Reading through the financial results it’s hard not to find a win for Meta. Reels has driven a 40 percent increase on the time spent on Instagram, Threads has 100 million monthly active users, and – as Zuck mentioned – the firm’s hardware business is flourishing as well.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk appears to think that he can do what Meta has spent the better part of two decades doing in less time. Comparing Meta to X formerly Twitter is incredibly tough because we only have morsels of information that Musk and his team choose to share with us. That in itself isn’t the most trustworthy source because as we’ve said before, no CEO, founder, or owner is going to declare to the world that things aren’t going well unless they absolutely have to.
For every solution Musk promises, Meta has a well-established product that can match or outmatch X. For payments there is MetaPay, something X doesn’t have at all, for calls and texts there is WhatsApp, for social interactions there is Facebook, Instagram and Threads. Then there’s also a steady stream of hardware coming out of the firm as well. Perhaps X can claim that it pays creators but we’ve seen payouts dropping substantially since the program was launched in June.
Then, when looking at user numbers, Meta has the advantage of being a stalwart in the social media market something Twitter always struggled with. As many as three billion people are using a Meta product every day. That is an incredible amount of users and Twitter was never coming close to that even before the divisive billionaire took over.
Over the last year, Musk has also pushed users away from Twitter/X. Whether he wants to admit it or not, Meta wouldn’t be celebrating 100 million users in five months if things at Twitter were more stable. It’s telling that Meta only launched the platform when public sentiment toward Twitter was at an all-time low, the firm could’ve launched a Twitter-like at any point, and the fact that it didn’t until this year should speak volumes.
While Musk posts to an echo chamber of fans who believe he can do no wrong, Meta is building an incredibly successful business that folks clearly want to use. Even the focus on the Metaverse has shifted to hardware with plans to put the virtual world where it always needed to be, mobile tech.
“We also started testing Horizon for phones, tablets, and PCs, which is going to be an important, key part of how to build the metaverse across devices. And we’ve had a couple of important milestones with avatars as well — both for our expressive avatars and the latest codec avatars that I showed off recently,” Zuckerberg said.
Of course, the Reality Labs section of Meta is still losing money but that has always been something of a gamble in our humble opinions. The idea of folks strapping VR headsets to their face for eight hours a day has always felt like Silicon Valley tech bro nonsense.
What isn’t nonsense is $11 billion in net income, and that’s tough not to be impressed by.


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StockX, the world’s leading online marketplace for sneakers, streetwear, and collectibles, is apparently in the process of announcing another round of layoffs. In June of this year, StockX went through a series of layoffs that impacted 8% of the total workforce. Another round of lay-offs this year, four months after the one that happened in June.
While the layoff decisions have been attributed to macroeconomic conditions that are affecting both StockX and the overall retail space, we can look back on several challenges the company has been facing throughout the year. A few months ago, Nike claimed that StockX was selling fake sneakers, which the marketplace has vigorously denied. While this conflict has yet to be resolved, it has definitely put a strain on StockX’s business operations. Around this same time period, StockX also announced new NFT products that are tied to physical pairs of sneakers, which was a radical step forward for the business. There have been several pieces of news throughout the year indicating that StockX plans to go public, the details of which are now unclear.
More collectibles marketplaces, for sneakers or other asset types, continue to launch every day. While StockX has been a market leader for several years, these recent layoffs may indicate potential struggles as a result of rising competitors. At the same time, these layoffs might make the organization more efficient and aligned with new goals. With so much happening at StockX, we will follow closely as the company moves forward.


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After waiting years for the new Thar to come out, we finally got a chance to drive it. On Independence Day, we became the first few people outside of Mahindra to drive it and we were beyond thrilled. It was a marked improvement over the car it replaced and needless to say, became an internet sensation overnight. Videos on YouTube were clocking a million views and Thar enthusiasts were watching them over and over again. The launch will only happen on October 2nd and already they have a lot of potential buyers queuing up. Here is why.
This is how a modern interpretation of the legendary Thar should be. The proportions are spot on. The new Thar is wider and looks more purposeful. The front bumper runs into thick fenders that are square shaped at the front and circular at the rear – a design element that harks back to the previous generations. Yes, the new Thar looks like a Wrangler, but if they both started out as modern versions of the old Civilian Jeep and decided to stay true to the original, they are bound to look similar, right? And at least here in India, you can get the Wrangler only as a long wheelbase five door model, so that makes the Thar a lot cooler in our books.
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September - October 2020


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The price of shares of electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla on the stock exchange on January 13 for the first time in the company’s history exceeded $ 500. Since the opening of trading, the share price has increased by 10%, at the time of writing the note, it is 525 dollars.
In less than a month, Tesla shares rose 20% – this happened against the background of the start of deliveries of Tesla 3 to buyers from China. These models are assembled at the company’s factory in Shanghai, which was opened only a year ago, the only one outside the United States.
Tesla’s total capitalization now exceeds $ 91 billion, which, according to Techcrunch, is more than the capitalization of Ford and General Motors combined.
Over the past eight months, the value of Tesla shares has tripled – at the end of May 2019 they cost $ 177 apiece, and in the summer and early autumn their price was around $ 250.


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Updated from 6:49 p.m. ET Wednesday
The hum of earnings continued this morning with telecom titan
phoning in lower first-quarter earnings in line with expectations this morning, as its weaker long-distance phone business offset higher data, Internet and international revenue.
The company said first-quarter earnings were $745 million, or 25 cents a share, compared with $1.2 billion, or 41 cents a share, in the year-ago period. According to analysts polled by
Thomson Financial/First Call
, 14 analysts lowered their expectations to 25 cents a share for the quarter.
Revenue for the quarter was $9.7 billion, up from $9.6 billion a year ago. Worldcom also reiterated its full-year 2001 revenue growth forecast of 12% to 15% and said it sees cash earnings of $1.25 to $1.35 a share for the year.
Earnings/revenue reports and previews
announced fiscal third-quarter earnings of $57.7 million, or 26 cents a share, compared with $56.1 million, or 26 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Figures came in line with analysts' consensus estimates.
Applied Biosystems had warned earlier this quarter of a modest softening of orders, prompting the stock to fall. Revenue totaled $439.8 million, up 19% from the year-ago period.
posted a wider-than-expected third-quarter loss amid higher expenses from research and development.
The seller of genetic information, which helped map the human genome, reported a loss of $29.1 million, or 48 cents a share, compared with a loss of $24.1 million, or 45 cents a share. Eleven analysts polled expected a loss of 57 cents a share. But revenue grew to $23.4 million from $11.1 million in the year-ago quarter. Research and development costs rose to $52.2 million from $43.5 million a year ago.
said first-quarter earnings rose 11.3%, meeting the Street's estimates, to $160.1 million, or 61 cents a share, compared with $143.9 million, or 55 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter.
The commercial finance firm, which is due to be acquired by manufacturing giant
, said revenue for the quarter was $616.3 million, compared with $587.3 million in the year-earlier period.
, the fifth-largest cable-television company, posted first-quarter earnings of $686.6 million, or $1.12 a share, down from $1.07 billion, or 41.74 a share, in the year-ago period.
Cox, which cited gains in selling advanced communications services, and said it had other gains on investments, said revenue was $947.9 million, up from $846.3 million last year.
said third-quarter earnings dipped 56% amid a difficult economic environment, and announced it will lay off 450 employees to cut costs.
The Boca Raton, Fla.-based company's earnings fell to $8.5 million, or 7 cents a share, from $13.4 million, or 14 cents a share, excluding items. Analysts' lowered expectations called for earnings per share of 7 cents, down from a previous estimate of 21 cents a share.
Sensormatic also said it expects the job cuts to save at least $35 million a year and that it expects fourth-quarter EPS of 22 cents to 27 cents. The company also forecast a 25% EPS growth in fiscal 2002.
unveiled its life-preserver plan, which includes closing its Webvan service in Atlanta, cutting up to 885 jobs and setting a reverse stock split.
The company, which is on the verge of being delisted from the
, also posted a narrower-than-expected first-quarter loss of 18 cents a share, compared with 17 cents a share in the year-ago quarter. Analysts on average expected a loss of 19 cents a share. Webvan also named Robert Swan as its new chief executive officer, replacing George T. Shaheen, who resigned as CEO and chairman on April 13, 2001. Swan was previously the company's chief financial officer.
posted first-quarter earnings that doubled, fueled by strong energy trading results and improved natural gas exploration and production.
The Tulsa, Okla.,-based company reported first-quarter earnings of $199.2 million, or 78 cents a share, compared with restated earnings of $99.7 million, or 31 cents a share, in the same period last year. Wall Street analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call expected 73 cents a share. Williams earlier this month raised its earnings target to a range of 65 to 75 cents a share.
Williams also raised its 2001 earnings forecast to $2.10 to $2.20 a share, citing the continued strength of energy markets.
After Wednesday's Close
Question-and-answer Web site
reported a 40-cent loss per share in the first quarter, compared to the expected loss of 52 cents a share. In the current quarter, the company announced that it will cut 75 employees, 15% of its total workforce, and will have to take a one-time charge of $2 million. It also said it expects revenue of $17 million in the second quarter and no longer expects year-over-year revenue growth for fiscal 2001.
Perhaps because of the economic slowdown, there's more time to play golf these days.
announced tonight that its first-quarter profit for this year is more than double that of last year, spurred by strong sales of metal drivers and golf balls. Earnings were reported at 47 cents a share, higher than the expectations of 44 cents a share, and well above the 17 cents a share reported in the same period last year. Net sales rose 32% to $261.4 million from the first quarter of 2000.
posted earnings of 19 cents a share, a couple of pennies above the consensus
Thomson Financial/First Call
estimate of 17 cents, but below earnings in the year-ago period by the same amount. Reported net sales were up a slight 7% from the same period last year.
Computer services company
Electronic Data Systems
reported a rise of 19% in first-quarter earnings on a year-over-year basis, meeting consensus expectations. EDS, the No. 2 computer services provider behind
, posted earnings of 56 cents a share and said in a statement that "EDS has seen no slowdown in our overall market."
Revenue rose by 9% to $5 billion in the year-over-year comparison. This marks the eighth consecutive quarter of double-digit earnings growth for the company.
, a network switch manufacturer, posted profits of 4 cents a share, in line with the lowered estimates it announced April 9.
The world's No. 1 oil services company,
, the company previously run by
Vice President Dick Cheney
, announced earnings for the first quarter of 2001 totaling 25 cents a share, above the consensus estimates of 22 cents a share. This is more than double the earnings in the year-ago period, which came in at only 11 cents.
Online real estate service center
beat earnings expectations for the last quarter, as reported this evening. The Web site reported earnings of 4 cents a share, while analysts expected the company to break even for the quarter. On top of that, the company raised its future guidance, now forecasting $500 million in revenue for the full year, as well as EPS of 53 cents, up from the previous guidance of 45 cents a share.
Another mixed bag due to the slowing economy was
, a service provider for Web sites and wireless companies. The company posted a narrower-than-expected loss of 2 cents a share, slightly higher than the 4-cent-a-share loss expected, but much lower than the positive 4 cents a share earned in the year-ago period.
came out with better-than-expected earnings tonight, posting earnings of 11 cents a share, above the consensus 9-cent estimate and the 4-cent EPS in the year-ago period. Seeming to ignore the downtrend in the general market, sales for the company rose by a strong 34%. Earlier in the month, PeopleSoft announced a partnership deal with
to provide software on Sun's hardware, in a move rivaling the teamup of competitor
announced earnings in line with expectations of 29 cents a share. While the company's revenue was up slightly from last year -- $713 million for the second quarter of 2001 vs. $649 million in the year-ago period -- the company did say that EPS will likely slip in the next quarter, coming in at 21 cents a share.
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said it has reached a cross-licensing pact for digital photography with Japanese cameramaker
, a move that could boost Kodak's transition to digital camera services. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
After Wednesday's Close
, producer of the Marlboro brand, announced after the close Wednesday that wholesale cigarette prices would rise by $7 per thousand cigarettes, effective Thursday. Other cigarettemakers are expected to follow suit.
announced Wednesday that it would delay the actual announcement of its quarterly earnings until Thursday morning, prior to the market open. Shares of the company fell a whopping 37% during Wednesday's regular trading day.
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Tech Movers page, which tracks the top-moving stocks of the day.


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Disney buys Maker Studios for $500 million
Walt Disney Company Chairman and CEO Bob Iger accepts the Milestone Award onstage during the 25th annual Producers Guild of America Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 19, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.
Fueled by a subscriber base of some 380 million people, Maker's content gets more than 5 billion views per month.
Disney may excel at producing big-budget blockbusters, but Maker Studios is producing what kids and teens increasingly want: short-form videos they can watch on their cellphones.
And since young people are flocking to YouTube productions, so are advertisers. Brad Adgate, a Senior Vice President of Research at Horizon Media says forecasters predict sales of $5.7 billion in online advertising this year.
Adgate says it is unclear whether Maker Studios will be expected to fall in line with the family-friendly Disney brand and focus on PG-rated content, or whether Disney is willing to spice things up a bit for the sake of the particular demographic, among whom, Maker's content reigns supreme: teenagers.