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Sunset Overdrive was the first-ever open world game by Insomniac Games. While the game is very different from the upcoming Spiderman PS4 but, the studio has noted that the Xbox One exclusive has helped with the upcoming Spiderman PS4.
In a recent interview, creative director Bryan Intihar talked about the game, the inspiration behind it and how the Xbox One exclusive, Sunset Overdrive, helped Insomniac Games develop the upcoming Spiderman PS4 and specifically the New York City.
He added that one of the reviews for Sunset Overdrive noted that it would be interesting to Insomniac Games’ take on the Spiderman franchise which he showed to Sony Interactive Entertainment when they were talking about Spiderman PS4.
Let’s say that we took it to the letter, in fact when we were still discussing with Sony I showed them that article saying ” you see, we have to do it …”[laughs] In any case, totally yes, he gave us a great hand.
Furthermore, he noted that Sunset Overdrive was the first game developed by Insomniac that was open-world and this helped the team a lot while developing an open-world New York City for Spiderman PS4.
Sunset had an extremely complex geometry, and certainly that is a further element that we took from there, but also the movement system, the particular fluidity in the rhythm … they are all things we took and channeled into an experience sewed around Spider-Man,so the answer to your question is a 100% yes.
Sinister Six has been confirmed for the upcoming Spiderman game and were also showcased at E3 2018 Sony presentation. However, Insomniac Games didn’t just pick characters from the comics and put them in the Spiderman PS4.
According to the developers, each character has been chosen very carefully for the upcoming Spiderman game.
We chose the characters we wanted to work with very carefully, and we feel like each of them has an important role in the story and we’ve brought them in for specific reasons to help drive the narrative.
Spiderman PS4 is an open-world action adventure game in development at Insomniac Games and is scheduled to launch on September 7, 2018, exclusively for PlayStation 4.


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China’s top furniture brand CAMERICH announced a partnership with Changsha Xiyayun to build a green-home.
The ELAN sofa from China’s top furniture brand CAMERICH won the Most Stylistic Sofa of ELLE DECORATION’s Best of the Year awards.
CAMERICH has brought 1KM-HIGH Urban-Rural Habitat, a conceptual design developed with Tsinghua University and architectural firm ZAO/standardarchitecture, to Milan International Furniture Fair, to envision the possibilities of future human habitats.
China’s top furniture brand CAMERICH has brought new products to the 35th China International Furniture Fair (CIFF) in Guangzhou.
At the awards ceremony of China International Film Festival London 2014, the brand video Design for Desire from China’s top furniture brand CAMERICH was awarded the Grand Jury Prize for Cinematography.
Walking into the Central Park Guadalajara, you will immediately feel its inherent energetic atmosphere under the cover of external serenity, which was brought by China’s top furniture brand CAMERICH.

domain: news


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Global mobile-TV revenues will exceed $6.6bn (£3.3bn) per year by 2012, as the potential market for the service grows tenfold. According to Juniper Research, mobile broadcast TV services will be available to 120 million mobile users in 40 countries by the next decade.
However, there are a few technological hurdles to overcome in the meantime — such as handset and spectrum availability, and the level of investment.
Report author Dr Windsor Holden said: "It will take a good five years after services are rolled out for networks to start recouping their investment, but the market is there."
Juniper's stance appears almost unrealistically optimistic, considering the slow start mobile broadcast TV has had in the UK. The only real commitment so far has come from Virgin Mobile, which launched a mobile-television service back in 2006. However, in July this year, Virgin announced it would be pulling the plug on the service, after only reportedly signing up around 10,000 subscribers.
Holden acknowledges Virgin's service had its drawbacks but said mobile TV is already popular in other countries.
Holden said: "Virgin made a lot of mistakes. The service only had four channels. It only launched on one handset. The quality of the service wasn't great. If you compare this with 3 Italia, which launched a mobile broadcast TV service 16 months ago with more handsets, a differential pricing policy and bundling with other services, it's managed to sign up half a million subscribers in less than 12 months."
Holden predicted that the traditional early adopters in the Far East, such as Japan and Korea, would probably be the most lucrative markets for the service, although he admitted that even by the next decade revenues will be a drop in the ocean compared to global TV spend as a whole.
"Revenues will be comparable to an organisation like BSkyB on its own," Holden said.


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Are you one of those guys who can’t just wait for new ultrabooks to hit the market, or the next update of the Apple Macs? Looks like you are in for a little disappointment. The truth is that the next-gen Intel Ivy Bridge chip has been delayed.
Citing sources at first-tier notebook vendors that are having trouble digesting their Sandy Bridge notebook inventories due to the weak global economy, Digitimes said that volume shipment of Ivy Bridge won’t happen until after June.
A small volume of Ivy Bridge processors will ship on schedule in April, though.
The PC replacement cycle is not expected to begin in earnest until September when Microsoft launches Windows 8. Also the first three quarters, prior to the launch of Windows 8, will be a “dark period” for the notebook industry.
Intel CEO Paul Otellini said during its earnings conference call on January 19, we’ll launch Ivy Bridge, our first 22-nanometer product, in early spring. Ivy Bridge will improve on the graphics performance of Sandy Bridge by more than 70 percent.
The industry will bring more than 70 new Ultrabook designs to market this year. And when Windows 8 launches, we’ll be ready with both PCs and tablets.
Later in the call, Chief Financial Officer Stacy Smith said we have a very fast ramp of Ivy Bridge, strong demand.
New Intel chips typically don’t go into production until a few months after the official technology announcement. So we can’t be sure if what we hear is true or not. Stay tuned to know more on that.


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October 12 2016
DEER VALLEY RESORT; PARK CITY, UTAH (October 2016) – The 27th annual Navajo Rug Show and Sale is slated to take place at Deer Valley Resort's Snow Park Lodge, November 11-13, 2016. The largest event of its kind in the country provides attendees the opportunity to experience Navajo culture through demonstrations of weaving, singing and other traditions; and to help support Navajo elders by purchasing their hand-woven rugs and hand-crafted jewelry.
The Adopt-A-Native-Elder Program sponsors the event that started with just a few rugs 27 years ago and has grown to the multi-day celebration it is today. The “Weaving Ancient Designs” theme for the 2016 show will feature Navajo rugs and Native pottery. Many of the elder’s designs reflect the beauty of Mother Earth and the desert sands and soil from which the pottery is produced. The ancient designs tell the story of the weavers’ clans including The Eagle, Hummingbird and Butterfly clans. The weavers also use mountains, clouds and flowers to reflect the beauty of the land and its teachings. Over the years the weavers have found many pottery shards of ancestral cultures while tending their sheep and have chosen to incorporate those designs into their rugs.
Program founder, Linda Myers, started the Rug Show as a way to help the elders support themselves by selling their crafts and to raise awareness for the elders' needs. "The Rug Show offers guests a unique opportunity to learn more about the Navajo way of life and to meet more than 30 elders and their families who will travel from their native homeland to Park City,” said Myers. “From its humble beginnings of a handful of rugs at the Kimball Art Center, the Rug Show has evolved to feature more than 700 rugs and all proceeds from the rug sales go directly to the weaver."
Adopt-A-Native-Elder assists more than 500 Navajo elders living traditionally in remote areas of the Navajo Reservation in Southern Utah and Northern Arizona. Volunteers deliver food, clothing, medical supplies and other necessities twice a year to support the elders and to build a bridge of hope between cultures.
On Friday, November 11, the event opens to the public with a preview fundraiser from 6 to 10 pm at Deer Valley’s Snow Park Lodge. This preview allows guests to view the complete selection of rugs available at the show and to purchase rugs at a 10 percent discount. A live auction featuring the rugs, trips and special gift packages will take place between 8 and 9 p.m. Tickets are $30 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under. They can be purchased at the door or with a credit card by calling 801-474-0535.
The Rug Show and Sale continues Saturday, November 12, and Sunday, November 13, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is $5 and/or $5 worth of donated canned goods, per day. On Saturday, a Navajo Children's Princess Pageant will take place at 10 a.m., a weaving demonstration at 1 p.m., Navajo Grandma Idol contest at 3 p.m. and the Navajo Grandpa Idol singing contest at 4 p.m. On Sunday, there will be a Navajo Veterans ceremony at 10 a.m., a weaving demonstration at 1 p.m., and a closing Pow Wow at 3 p.m.
Food and clothing collected during the show and all funds generated from the sale of rugs and jewelry go directly to the elders. The Rug Show is supported by grants from the Utah Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Summit County Restaurant Tax.
For more information on the Annual Navajo Rug Show, please visit the Adopt-A-Native-Elder website at anelder.org or call 801-474-0535, or visit the resort's website at deervalley.com or contact Sr. Communications Manager for Deer Valley, Emily Summers at 800-424-DEER (3337) or 435-645-6522. To follow resort happenings on social media, search #DeerValleyMoment
Deer Valley Resort revolutionized the ski industry by providing the first-class service one would receive at a five-star hotel. The resort offers 21 chairlifts, 101 ski runs, six bowls, 12 restaurants, 300 annual inches of powder, three elegant day lodges, 2,026 acres of alpine skiing, hundreds of luxury accommodations and a renowned Ski School and Children’s Center.
(This information will not be shared)


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The $150 Key Ingredient Recipe Tablet has a heat-resistant case and text-to-speech tech for a decidedly tidy connected cooking experience.
Spotify wants to hook you up with more than just catchy beats. For that to work for the masses, the company must know what you'll like before you do -- even if it's not music.
IBM's Watson isn't just serious about crunching numbers, it's also serious about crunching food.
Whether you're celebrating Hanukkah, Christmas or another winter holiday, food will certainly play a central role in your gathering. For home cooks who have already exhausted resources like the Food Network and Epicurious, CNET's Kara Tsuboi serves up alternative recipe websites in this Tech Minute.
This IFTTT recipe will connect the National Weather Service's RSS feed to your Philips Hue bulbs when a storm, flood, or other weather event happens in your area.
Here's a fast way to find the right recipe when you're using Google's search engine.
While its subscriber growth was impressive, the company posted a loss. CNET digs into the numbers and explains why T-Mobile is still feeling upbeat.
With version 2.0 of the popular iOS app, iPad users can now create and manage their if/thens. Plus: push notifications!
A new trailer for the upcoming Lego video game, which will span all four "Jurassic Park" movies, gives us a look at raptors duelling dinosaurs.
General-purpose multitools are so dull. Why not get yourself a multitool designed to help you through the zombie-laden End of Days?


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Jugnoo, an Indian online aggregator for autorickshaw rides and hyper local delivery platform has announced it securing $10 million from its existing investor Paytm.
Founded in 2014 by Samar Singla and Chinmay Aggarwal, Jugnoo is a Chandigarh based on-demand logistics startup and autorickshaw aggregator. It has three sectors of services with their respective apps. The startup targets hyperlocal delivery, food delivery and auto booking segments through Jugnoo Fatafat, Jugnoo Meals and Jugnoo respectively. Till date, it functions in 22 cities across India and is expected to set its foot in Chennai very soon.
This investment is the second for the Alibaba-backed Paytm in Jugnoo after having invested $5 million in the earlier funding round this June. With the recent funding, the Paytm’s stake in the startup has gone up by about 20%. “This investment from Paytm was recently concluded. For the next round, which could be closed in the coming weeks, SoftBanks has held talks with the autorickshaw aggregator,” said a source.
Samar Singla, Founder and CEO of Jugnoo said, “We are entering new cities every three days, while we are planning to enter major metros in the coming months. We are doing 15,000 transactions per day currently and our aim is to take that to 1,00,000 by February next year.”
Jugnoo claims to be doing over 15,000 transactions per day currently and is aiming to reach around 1,00,000 by February 2016. Sources suggest that the company is in talks with Japan’s SoftBank for a bigger round of funding. The funding amount has not been finalized yet.


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Lady Gaga may spend tens of thousands of dollars on custom designer costumes, but the superstar is a fan of inexpensive knock-offs as well.
The 25-year-old singer recently revealed that she bought counterfeit designer clothing while in Japan last month.
“In Tokyo, they have all these stores that have fake Chanel and Versace,” she said. “And I’m an Italian from New York, so I still buy it. This jacket is a fake.”
While talking to a group of fans in the US last week, Gaga advised them to shop at thrift stores and create their own custom look rather than drop a fortune on expensive garb.
Ironically, she vowed last June to wear nothing but Versace for two months as she was having a "love affair" with Donatella's designs.


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Reduced technology spending by big companies around the globe led Cisco Systems, the world’s largest maker of networking equipment, to miss analyst expectations as it reported fourth quarter and annual results.
Shares in the bellwether tech group fell more than 8 per cent in after-hours trading.
Sales were $10.8bn for the quarter, a record for the company and a 27 per cent increase from the same period a year earlier.
But analysts had expected sales of $10.9bn, and viewed the results as further evidence that the global economic recovery was slowing down.
“We are seeing a large number of mixed signals in both the market and from our customers’ expectations,” said John Chambers, chief executive.
“We think the words ‘unusual uncertainty’ are an accurate description of what is occurring.”
Lower than expected sales from Cisco indicate that enterprise spending is contracting after surprisingly brisk growth this year.
Cisco’s results follow disappointing figures from IBM and Texas Instruments last month.
Cisco reports results a month later than most other technology companies, and as a result is considered a bellwether for the industry and the broader economy.
Wednesday’s results are the first that cover the entire month of July, and are likely to send a chill through Wall Street. Mr Chambers said that Cisco and its customers, which include most of the world’s governments and largest companies, remain cautious about the pace of the global economic recovery.
“The Federal Reserve’s comments yesterday that the pace and output of the recovery has slowed in recent months, and that the recovery is likely to be more modest in the near term than had been anticipated just a few months ago, are comments that most of our large customers that I have talked with recently would agree with,” Mr Chambers said.
This is the third straight quarter of growth for Cisco after revenue fell for four consecutive quarters during the recession.
Net income rose 79 per cent from $1.1bn to $1.9bn in the quarter, and net income for the full fiscal year was up 27 per cent to $7.8bn.
The company, based in San Jose, California, is growing fast thanks to international demand from businesses handling record volumes of internet and video traffic.
“Whether the global economy continues to show mixed signals or not, the strength of our financial model and profit generation serves us well,” said Mr Chambers.
But Cisco warned that there are “some challenges that are contributing to an unusual amount of conservatism and even caution” as it looks ahead. In spite of these concerns, Mr Chambers still predicted revenue growth of 18 per cent next quarter.


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San Francisco-based Qardio received FDA 510(k) clearance recently for its connected blood pressure monitor, called QardioArm. The device will be available for $99 next week on Qardio's website an in select stores.
Qardio, which debuted its blood pressure and heart rate monitor at CES, aims to not only be accurate, but also beautiful, so that it fits into the user’s daily life. According to Qardio, the device doesn’t look like a blood pressure monitor, which means users can carry it around in their purse or pocket without drawing attention to it. In fact, developers tried to make it look more like a notebook so that it looks like other items that potential users would carry around in their bag.
QardioArm connects via Bluetooth to a companion app where the information can be shared with family members or doctors. The device's battery lasts one year.
In February, Qardio started an Indiegogo campaign for the device. The company raised $146,339, which was $46,000 over its goal.
The company is also developing another device, called QardioCore that measures a user's ECG, heart rate, Heart Rate Variability, levels of physical activity, and variations in body temperature. In the Indiegogo description, Qardio said the new device was just a few months behind QardioArm.
Two other companies have been working on making visually-appealing blood pressure monitors. Within six months of each other, in the first half of 2011, iHealth and Withings received FDA 510(k) clearance for their connected blood pressure cuffs.
In a Withings press release at the time, the company wrote that its product offers a “modern way to measure and record blood pressure readings in the personal and professional arenas” because the company “combined advanced technology and sophisticated design to create a medical device that is visually attractive”.


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Businesses in Virginia have begun an advertising campaign aimed at getting more women into the trucking industry.
In the face of the “truck driver shortage,” groups Virginia Western and CDS Tractor Trailer training have teamed up in Roanoke, Virginia and are advertising specifically to women using an 18-wheeler with an advertisement reading “women in truck driving.”
“We’ve seen a huge uptick in the number of women who have come into our program,” said Crystal Kennedy of CDS Tractor Trailer training. “We’re up to about 10 percent of our student population being women… We need to challenge some of the stereotypes coming out in today’s industry.”
The female-aimed advertisement seems to be working locally, and many of women who have begun training to be a truck driver because of the moving billboard say that they had never pictured themselves as a trucker prior to seeing the advertisement, reported WDBJ 7 News.
“My favorite thing is knowing I can handle something that big on the road, and be able to transport the merchandise people needs these days,” said driver-in-training Faye Clark.


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23 April 2009 - London, UK: Already-struggling rural businesses will continue to suffer under plans to exclude over a quarter of the UK from the fibre-optic broadband roll-out, according to Top 10 Broadband.
The communications minister Lord Carter yesterday confirmed that there would be “no economic case” for building a fibre-optic broadband network in up to 30% of the country. The locations which would be excluded are rural areas which are already beset by broadband coverage problems.
Rural businesses are among those hardest hit by the slump in consumer spending. According to the Federation of Small Businesses, one in three small firms in rural areas is concerned over their prospects of survival over the next six months.
Jessica McArdle, marketing manager of Top 10 Broadband, said: “The government is restricting the growth of small rural businesses by failing to improve broadband coverage in more remote areas; it’s a scandal that so much of the country will be left out of the fibre-optic broadband roll-out.”
City dwellers can already enjoy speeds of up to 50Mb. Under Lord Carter’s proposals, the government would plug the gaps in rural areas with mobile broadband. However, currently 3G mobile broadband networks can only provide maximum speeds of up to 4.5Mb in rural areas.
Ms McArdle added: “The broadband for all plan was intended to solve the nation’s broadband coverage problems. Instead it will actually widen Britain’s digital divide and make us a nation of next-generation broadband have and have-nots.”
Notes to Editors:
Top 10 Broadband is the UK's most popular dedicated broadband
The website offers a range of comparison tools, allowing users to make
quick and easy broadband buying decisions.
Top 10 Broadband is run by Formula, a leading web design and marketing
For more information please email firstname.lastname@example.org or call Jessica McArdle on 020 3170 8042.
Top 10 Broadband homepage: http://www.top10-broadband.co.uk/
Falls in retail sales sharpen again:
This press release was distributed by ResponseSource Press Release Wire on behalf of Formula in the following categories: Consumer Technology, Personal Finance, Business & Finance, Computing & Telecoms, for more information visit https://pressreleasewire.responsesource.com/about.


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|By RealWire News Distribution||
|February 12, 2014 07:19 PM EST||
Leading retail intelligence technology group Cogenta (www.cogenta.com) has launched the first global multi-currency pricing intelligence tool for retailers, manufacturers, brand managers and researchers. The latest addition to the acclaimed Retail Insight range can convert retail pricing analyses from any number of currencies back into one currency for easy comparison. By this means international brands and retail outlets gain real-time competitive advantage by using one global centralised system that analyses international retail prices and therein sets price points in individual countries. This ensures that users can move with regional price fluctuations rapidly therein making time critical price calculations based on the very latest international market trend data. Previously, data from different sources had to be consolidated and compared separately; a slow, costly and unproductive process resulting in out of date analysis.
The new multi-currency application uses published spot rates with the ability for users to add additional factors, such as their bank's fee and other related charges, to give a comprehensive real- time view of pricing. The user simply picks the currency they want to work in and all the price related fields. They also have the ability to revert back to the original currency at any stage. Any changes are instantly reflected in the reports and download features. Currency rates are checked with an online service each day so they're always current. Other additional factors can be added into the conversion too such as percentage uplifts by territory.
Users of the new platform also benefit as their competitors do not have this unique analytical insight into the retail markets they operate in. Thus, the global pricing analysis delivered by the multi-currency version of Retail Insight transforms their ability to compete internationally and significantly reduces the cost and time associated with managing multiple providers and processes.
Cogenta developed the Retail Insight application by using the latest high-performance, open-source search systems. These include: Elastic Search, Mongo DB and Rabbit MQ. The use of such innovative search technologies is a critical factor in out-pacing traditional pricing technologies which often fail to deliver the same levels of data processing speed.
According to Cogenta's CEO Adrian Hobbs, "This is the first tool to truly recognise the needs of international retail and brand managers for a centralised system that can adjust in real-time for any given currency, language or territory. Until now, the process have involved entirely piecemeal research and purely retrospective adjustments. With the multi-currency version of Retail Insight, users gain a level of in-depth market awareness that previously did not exist.
"The system has been eagerly awaited, so its launch will open a number of major new channels for us, with leading international brands operating across multiple countries along with retail group analysts and market research firms."
About Cogenta: (www.cogenta.com)
Cogenta is the pioneer and the market leader in the provision of retail and pricing intelligence to UK's top and most trusted high street and online retailers. Its competitive intelligence service (NetPrice) equips UK's operating retailers with the business intelligence to help them to optimize stock and pricing decisions and therein maximize profits every day.
Cogenta provides unrivalled level of data accuracy and tracks price, stock, delivery information and promotional activity surrounding retail products in a wide range of categories.
They also publish consumer shopping applications that help consumers to make the best pricing decisions. Cogenta tracks consumer shopping behaviour and enables brands and retailers to communicate and target new audiences via mobile.
Big Data, cloud, analytics, contextual information, wearable tech, sensors, mobility, and WebRTC: together, these advances have created a perfect storm of technologies that are disrupting and transforming classic communications models and ecosystems. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Erik Perotti, Senior Manager of New Ventures on Plantronics’ Innovation team, provided an overview of this technological shift, including associated business and consumer communications impacts, and opportunities it ...
Jul. 27, 2016 11:35 AM EDT
SYS-CON Events announced today that 910Telecom will exhibit at the 19th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Housed in the classic Denver Gas & Electric Building, 910 15th St., 910Telecom is a carrier-neutral telecom hotel located in the heart of Denver. Adjacent to CenturyLink, AT&T, and Denver Main, 910Telecom offers connectivity to all major carriers, Internet service providers, Internet backbones and ...
Jul. 27, 2016 11:00 AM EDT Reads: 686
SYS-CON Events announced today that LeaseWeb USA, a cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) provider, will exhibit at the 19th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. LeaseWeb is one of the world's largest hosting brands. The company helps customers define, develop and deploy IT infrastructure tailored to their exact business needs, by combining various kinds cloud solutions.
Jul. 27, 2016 10:30 AM EDT Reads: 1,215
Manufacturers are embracing the Industrial Internet the same way consumers are leveraging Fitbits – to improve overall health and wellness. Both can provide consistent measurement, visibility, and suggest performance improvements customized to help reach goals. Fitbit users can view real-time data and make adjustments to increase their activity. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Mark Bernardo Professional Services Leader, Americas, at GE Digital, discussed how leveraging the Industrial Internet a...
Jul. 27, 2016 09:45 AM EDT Reads: 438
The cloud market growth today is largely in public clouds. While there is a lot of spend in IT departments in virtualization, these aren’t yet translating into a true “cloud” experience within the enterprise. What is stopping the growth of the “private cloud” market? In his general session at 18th Cloud Expo, Nara Rajagopalan, CEO of Accelerite, explored the challenges in deploying, managing, and getting adoption for a private cloud within an enterprise. What are the key differences between wh...
Jul. 27, 2016 09:30 AM EDT Reads: 2,062
SYS-CON Events announced today that Venafi, the Immune System for the Internet™ and the leading provider of Next Generation Trust Protection, will exhibit at @DevOpsSummit at 19th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Venafi is the Immune System for the Internet™ that protects the foundation of all cybersecurity – cryptographic keys and digital certificates – so they can’t be misused by bad guys in attacks...
Jul. 27, 2016 09:15 AM EDT Reads: 1,356
The best-practices for building IoT applications with Go Code that attendees can use to build their own IoT applications. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Indraneel Mitra, Senior Solutions Architect & Technology Evangelist at Cognizant, provided valuable information and resources for both novice and experienced developers on how to get started with IoT and Golang in a day. He also provided information on how to use Intel Arduino Kit, Go Robotics API and AWS IoT stack to build an application tha...
Jul. 27, 2016 09:15 AM EDT Reads: 1,149
Amazon has gradually rolled out parts of its IoT offerings in the last year, but these are just the tip of the iceberg. In addition to optimizing their back-end AWS offerings, Amazon is laying the ground work to be a major force in IoT – especially in the connected home and office. Amazon is extending its reach by building on its dominant Cloud IoT platform, its Dash Button strategy, recently announced Replenishment Services, the Echo/Alexa voice recognition control platform, the 6-7 strategic...
Jul. 27, 2016 09:00 AM EDT Reads: 454
IoT generates lots of temporal data. But how do you unlock its value? You need to discover patterns that are repeatable in vast quantities of data, understand their meaning, and implement scalable monitoring across multiple data streams in order to monetize the discoveries and insights. Motif discovery and deep learning platforms are emerging to visualize sensor data, to search for patterns and to build application that can monitor real time streams efficiently. In his session at @ThingsExpo, ...
Jul. 27, 2016 08:45 AM EDT Reads: 1,065
For basic one-to-one voice or video calling solutions, WebRTC has proven to be a very powerful technology. Although WebRTC’s core functionality is to provide secure, real-time p2p media streaming, leveraging native platform features and server-side components brings up new communication capabilities for web and native mobile applications, allowing for advanced multi-user use cases such as video broadcasting, conferencing, and media recording.
Jul. 27, 2016 08:45 AM EDT Reads: 929
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) and Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) have entered into a definitive agreement under which Verizon will acquire Yahoo's operating business for approximately $4.83 billion in cash, subject to customary closing adjustments. Yahoo informs, connects and entertains a global audience of more than 1 billion monthly active users** -- including 600 million monthly active mobile users*** through its search, communications and digital content products. Yahoo also co...
Jul. 27, 2016 08:00 AM EDT Reads: 599
There will be new vendors providing applications, middleware, and connected devices to support the thriving IoT ecosystem. This essentially means that electronic device manufacturers will also be in the software business. Many will be new to building embedded software or robust software. This creates an increased importance on software quality, particularly within the Industrial Internet of Things where business-critical applications are becoming dependent on products controlled by software. Qua...
Jul. 27, 2016 06:30 AM EDT Reads: 1,482
In addition to all the benefits, IoT is also bringing new kind of customer experience challenges - cars that unlock themselves, thermostats turning houses into saunas and baby video monitors broadcasting over the internet. This list can only increase because while IoT services should be intuitive and simple to use, the delivery ecosystem is a myriad of potential problems as IoT explodes complexity. So finding a performance issue is like finding the proverbial needle in the haystack.
Jul. 27, 2016 04:45 AM EDT Reads: 2,280
Machine Learning helps make complex systems more efficient. By applying advanced Machine Learning techniques such as Cognitive Fingerprinting, wind project operators can utilize these tools to learn from collected data, detect regular patterns, and optimize their own operations. In his session at 18th Cloud Expo, Stuart Gillen, Director of Business Development at SparkCognition, discussed how research has demonstrated the value of Machine Learning in delivering next generation analytics to imp...
Jul. 27, 2016 04:30 AM EDT Reads: 2,510
Large scale deployments present unique planning challenges, system commissioning hurdles between IT and OT and demand careful system hand-off orchestration. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Jeff Smith, Senior Director and a founding member of Incenergy, will discuss some of the key tactics to ensure delivery success based on his experience of the last two years deploying Industrial IoT systems across four continents.
Jul. 27, 2016 04:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,569
The 19th International Cloud Expo has announced that its Call for Papers is open. Cloud Expo, to be held November 1-3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, brings together Cloud Computing, Big Data, Internet of Things, DevOps, Digital Transformation, Microservices and WebRTC to one location. With cloud computing driving a higher percentage of enterprise IT budgets every year, it becomes increasingly important to plant your flag in this fast-expanding business opportuni...
Jul. 27, 2016 02:15 AM EDT Reads: 2,611
The Internet of Things will challenge the status quo of how IT and development organizations operate. Or will it? Certainly the fog layer of IoT requires special insights about data ontology, security and transactional integrity. But the developmental challenges are the same: People, Process and Platform. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Craig Sproule, CEO of Metavine, demonstrated how to move beyond today's coding paradigm and shared the must-have mindsets for removing complexity from the develo...
Jul. 27, 2016 02:15 AM EDT Reads: 1,479
Basho Technologies has announced the latest release of Basho Riak TS, version 1.3. Riak TS is an enterprise-grade NoSQL database optimized for Internet of Things (IoT). The open source version enables developers to download the software for free and use it in production as well as make contributions to the code and develop applications around Riak TS. Enhancements to Riak TS make it quick, easy and cost-effective to spin up an instance to test new ideas and build IoT applications. In addition to...
Jul. 27, 2016 12:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,951
IoT is rapidly changing the way enterprises are using data to improve business decision-making. In order to derive business value, organizations must unlock insights from the data gathered and then act on these. In their session at @ThingsExpo, Eric Hoffman, Vice President at EastBanc Technologies, and Peter Shashkin, Head of Development Department at EastBanc Technologies, discussed how one organization leveraged IoT, cloud technology and data analysis to improve customer experiences and effi...
Jul. 26, 2016 11:00 PM EDT Reads: 2,024
Internet of @ThingsExpo, taking place November 1-3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, is co-located with the 19th International Cloud Expo and will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading industry players in the world and ThingsExpo Silicon Valley Call for Papers is now open.
Jul. 26, 2016 11:00 PM EDT Reads: 2,626


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Predominantly confined to commercial use, diesel-powered zero-turn radius (ZTR) mowers have represented about 5% of the total ZTR market in each of the past five years. But that could change when the Environmental Protection Agency’s final Tier 4 emissions standard (Tier 4F) for 25 to 74 hp diesel engines takes effect in 2013. The standard requires emissions of particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) be reduced by a further 90%.
Whereas previous emissions reduction solutions were focused on the engine alone, the technology required to achieve Tier 4F standards in NOx and PM impacts the entire machine, from air intake to post-exhaust. Recent conversations Power Products Marketing had with four engine suppliers, seven original equipment manufacturers, enlightened retailers and industry observers indicate the already relatively high price of diesel-powered equipment in the 25 to 74 hp category is sure to be exacerbated by the Tier 4F standard and will force manufacturers to redesign and retool their product lines at a cost so severe it will undoubtedly result in even higher end prices for the consumer.
So what are suppliers doing/going to do to prepare their 25 to 74 hp diesel-powered mowers and compact tractors for Tier 4F? Can engine suppliers offer a competitively priced powerplant? Will OEMs continue to carry a selection of diesel products despite skyrocketing costs? How do dealers plan to handle what may be a drastic change in the market? How will consumers respond?
The conversations PPM had with engine suppliers, OEMs, industry observers and retailers at the close of 2011 suggest the forthcoming Tier 4F standard could be a real game-changer for the market, but also revealed confusing testimony regarding the current state of preparation for the standard’s implementation.
A surprising number of OEM representatives charged with working alongside engine suppliers said they still have no concrete knowledge of what their engine supplier plans to offer, and most said they will make a decision on the future of their diesel-powered line-up once they are presented with final options from their suppliers.
Engine suppliers PPM talked with all said they are working on their Tier 4F compliant engine offerings but declined to go into specifics regarding their powerplant(s). Those suppliers that have shown prototypes were equally reticent to discuss the communications they have been having with OEM customers.
But design implementation between OEM and engine supplier is in fact already underway, according to our industry observers, who said they believe OEMs with current diesel models to sell don’t want consumers focused on the future and thus won’t reveal their product plans for Tier 4F.
This may explain the lack of subject knowledge retailers displayed in communications with PPM. Incredibly, more than half of the 115 retailers surveyed had little to no knowledge of Tier 4F requirements as pertaining to the 25 to 74hp turf equipment market.
As mentioned earlier, PPM’s conversations with OEMs revealed that many of the brands, as of the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011, they were still undecided as to the fate of their diesel-powered 25 to 74 hp offerings in 2013. Most of those PPM talked with said they would make a decision on the future of their diesel-powered line-up once they are presented with options from their engine suppliers. The most important considerations, the OEMs said, concern engine cost, size and output.
A couple of the OEMs surveyed have produced websites to help explain the Tier 4 issue to customers, but much of those marketing materials tend to explain the current Tier 4 interim standards rather than what can be expected for Tier 4F and and what the company is doing to prepare for that standard.
It is important to note that the EPA regulates the transition from one tier to the next at the engine manufacturer level. As previous tier engines (and equipment containing those engines) are depleted from the supply chain, the new tier product will be released. All turf equipment manufacturers will have to transition to Tier 4F compliant product, but each equipment manufacturer’s launch date of the new tier will depend on conversion schedules and the use of a voluntary “Transition Program for Equipment Manufacturers” (TPEM) – aka engine “flex” credits.
It comes as no surprise that engine suppliers are staying largely mum about their R&D processes and business strategies in relation to Tier 4F. However, according to what PPM learned in its research, it is somewhat surprising that engine suppliers have also largely declined to keep customer OEMs informed.
A representative example can be found in an answer to the question, ‘What are you doing to meet the upcoming Tier 4F standards for your engines?’
“The exact engineering and design specifications have not yet been finalized at this time,” a representative of one significant diesel engine supplier told PPM in late 2011.
Of the companies PPM talked with, only three have shown at least one prototype engine within the 25 to 74 hp range, giving the industry a miniscule peek at the technology they hope to use in attaining Tier 4F compliance.
While retailers are often thought to be the most educated source to help consumers understand current regulations and those that may be on the horizon, PPM’s survey of 115 dealers found an incredible 42% of the dealer representatives could not recall the Tier 4F issue while 38% said they had some knowledge of Tier 4F.
The remaining 20% of dealers surveyed deflected Tier 4-related communications to the OEM.
Intrigued by the apparent lack of communication between engine suppliers and OEMs, PPM talked with a longtime diesel industry observer unaffiliated with any one company for his view of the Tier 4F issue as it pertains to the turf market.
“I’m sure all of the engine suppliers know what they are doing for Tier 4 Final,” the diesel industry specialist told PPM. “It’s too late in the game to still be wondering what they’re going to do. They are all global companies and they understand what it takes. However, we’re still in the Tier 4 Interim stage, and so they have engines to sell and don’t want to get people too focused on what’s ahead. Plus, these engines are going to be more expensive and nobody wants to be the first to share that bad news.
“What most of the manufacturers have done is told their customers that the Tier 4 pathway they’ve chosen is basically going to allow it to be a drop-in solution from Tier 4 Interim.
“So I think the engine manufacturers have a pretty good idea and I think the OEMs probably have a pretty good idea (of what they plan to do). I think it’s the people who buy the machines that don’t know what’s coming.
“(Consumers) may have heard machines are going to be more expensive, but I think there is going to be a lot of sticker shock. You can warn people and warn people, but it doesn’t do much until they actually see the price. And, at that point, I think it’s going to cause a lot of jaws to drop. It’s inevitable.”
Guido Ebert has served as a powersports industry press representative, speaker, analyst and consultant for businesses in the U.S., Europe and Asia. A former editor at two trade publications serving the U.S. powersports industry, he now serves as a consultant working with Power Products Marketing, a market research firm that provides detailed market share data and research services to the global power equipment industry. Power Products Marketing is at 7525 Mitchell Road, Suite 203, Minneapolis, MN 55344. Phone: (952) 893-6870.


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Lexus revealed pricing for its 2012 model lineup this morning, and while there were a few modest increases, it's surprising to see that the luxury manufacturer held the line on many of its vehicles.
Read This Article
In January, Toyota announced that it would release 19 new or refreshed models for the 2013 model year, and nine of those are to be from its luxury division, Lexus, including the all-new RX SUV, which was leaked and written about here.
In 1998, Toyota ceased exporting the high performance Supra to North America.
Toyota has released pricing details on its luxury brand Lexus' ES 350 and ES 300h hybrid.


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Fresh of off yesterday’s Land Rover debut, LEGO has yet another brick-built vehicle racing onto the scene. This time, the company is following up its Forza 4 collaboration with a new additions to the Speed Champions lineup. Today LEGO has unveiled the 1974 Porsche 911 Turbo 3.0, a 180-piece build packing plenty of authentic detail and an exclusive new minifigure. Hit the jump for all the details.
LEGO’s new Speed Champions set recreates an old classic
Over the past few years, the Speed Champions series has managed to recreate a wide range of classic rides or recent sports cars. Today that brick-built garage is getting a bit larger, as LEGO has just unveiled the new 1974 Porsche 911 set.
Stacking up to 180 pieces, the new Porsche fits right into the scale of other LEGO car recreations. It measures over five inches long and manages to squeeze plenty of authentic details into the minifigure-centric build. Taking on a sleek white paint job, the model car features the ride’s iconic whale tail spoiler, notable headlight design and more. There’s also a removable windshield, rubber racing tires and a driver’s seat interior. And to complete the racing vibe, LEGO has included several orange cones for added play.
With this being the first time that the 1974-variant of Porsche 911 is making a LEGO appearance, we’re also getting an all-new exclusive minifigure. Limited to this Speed Champion set’s release, the build includes a classic driver to go alongside the 45-year old sports car. Unlike many of the City wave of sets, this theme still features minifigures with yellow skin tones rather than the more true-to-life tan. That’s especially fitting here, as it helps the Porsche 911 feel like the set is right out of 1974.
LEGO 1974 Porsche 911 arrives later this year
LEGO’s latest 1974 Porsche 911 Turbo 3.0 joins the continually-growing list of kits slated for a debut later this year. It’ll launch with a retail price of $14.99 and will be officially available come August 1st. Odds are it will not be a LEGO Shop exclusive, and will be hitting store shelves at retailers like Amazon, Walmart and the like.
I’m always impressed by just how much detail the set designers manage to incorporate into the Speed Champions releases. It’s the same this time around, as the build nicely captures the real-world inspiration And that’s in spite of a comparatively low part count.
The white colorway looks great and as always with this line of kits, the parts per dollar ratio is pretty fantastic. At a little over $0.08 per brick, that’s better than the typical average and makes this set notable in yet another aspect.
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AMD is receiving plenty of praise for keeping the starting prices of the Radeon RX 7900 graphics cards under $1,000. But it turns out the products won’t compete against Nvidia’s flagship gaming GPU, the RTX 4090, which goes for $1,699.
Instead, the Radeon RX 7900 graphics cards are designed to compete against Nvidia’s lower-priced RTX 4080 16GB model, which goes on sale next week starting at $1,199.
“This card is designed to go up against the 4080,” AMD marketing chief Frank Azor said in an interview with PC World.
The topic was brought up when Azor was asked why AMD refrained from offering benchmarks comparing the Radeon RX 7900 XTX and XT models against Nvidia’s products, such as the RTX 4090, during the company’s unveiling of the GPUs.
“We don’t have benchmark numbers on the 4080 yet,” he said. “I think we’ll see those in a few weeks here. So that’s the primary reason as to why you didn’t see any Nvidia comparisons. Plus, we’re not in the business of giving [Nvidia] free marketing and advertising.”
Hence, consumers should tamp down their expectations for the Radeon RX 7900 XTX if they thought the product had the power to rival Nvidia’s top-tier GPU. “Let’s be realistic. It’s a $999 card, it’s not a 4090 competitor, which costs 60% more,” Azor added. “This is a 4080 competitor. Let’s be really crystal clear the class that we’re talking about.”
However, Azor said the Radeon RX 7900 XTX still represents an enticing buy for consumers looking for a high-end GPU. “You’re going to compete against a 4080 and be hundreds of dollars less expensive. I mean that’s a winning value proposition,” he said.
The Radeon RX 7900 XTX and 7900 XT are slated to launch on Dec. 13 for $999 and $899, respectively. Stay tuned for our reviews. In the meantime, Nvidia has already canceled its lower-cost RTX 4080 12GB model, which was slated to arrive for $899, citing the product’s confusing name with the RTX 4080 16GB version.


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A United States Supreme Court ruling that sent a challenge to a Colorado use tax law back to federal court has sparked hope among proponents of e-fairness — and state revenue departments. The March 3 ruling was in regard to a Direct Marketing Association challenge of a Colorado use tax law, which asks remote sellers to report Colorado sales to the state for use tax enforcement. While the case, Direct Marketing Association v. Brohl, was sent back to Colorado on what is being termed in media reports as a technical ruling, it is a concurring decision by Justice Anthony Kennedy that has become the headline.
In his opinion, Justice Kennedy wrote that it was time to reconsider the 1992 Quill vs. North Dakota Supreme Court decision, which opponents of e-fairness usually cite when arguing that states have no right to require remote sellers to collect and remit sales tax unless those sellers have a physical presence in the state.
“Given these changes in technology and consumer sophistication, it is unwise to delay any longer a reconsideration of the Court’s holding in Quill,” Kennedy wrote. “A case questionable even when decided, Quill now harms States to a degree far greater than could have been anticipated earlier.”
Kennedy noted that the Internet has created “far-reaching systemic and structural changes in the economy,” and even if an online business does not have a physical presence in a state, the Internet has “brought the average American closer to most major retailers. A connection to a shopper’s favorite store is a click away — regardless of how close or far the nearest store front is.”
Though the Direct Marketing case was not the right one in which to consider the issue, Kennedy said that the “legal system should find an appropriate case for this Court to re-examine” the issue of remote sales tax collection.


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Should Google let businesses know their human-sounding robot is calling?
Google has its robot work cut out for it.
Janell Goplen automatically hangs up the phone when she receives automated calls to her Clearwater restaurant in Newport, Oregon.
In the summer, Google will begin testing its controversial new plan to have the Google Assistant smartphone app make human-sounding calls for restaurant reservations and hair-cut appointments. If Goplen were to get the call and she sensed that it was robotic, "I'd hang up," she says. "Google would have to let me know this was a Google reservation."
In a demo this week, the technology called Duplex wowed the crowd at Google's annual I/O conference with recordings of actual conversations between a bot and the person taking the reservation. The Google Assistant making the calls sounded eerily human, complete with "umms" and "ands" and appropriate follow-ups.
But what Google didn't do in the demo is to tell the person on the other end that he or she was speaking to a robot. And when pressed for clarification Wednesday about whether it would do so in the tests, Google declined to answer, sending USA TODAY to the corporate blog, where it said "transparency" was important to the company. The blog didn't specify how Google would inform people that a robot was making the calls.
And that omission has overshadowed one of the most innovative consumer tech releases of the year, one that promises to save people the hassle of picking up the phone and going through the steps of asking for a time to come in.
In the aftermath of the demo, many questions arose that Google was not willing to answer. Consumers bitterly complain about robocalls, which are rising despite regulatory vows to stop them. Doesn't Duplex promise to usher in even more of them, albeit ones that can work for you?
Consumers are also increasingly aware of how much data tech companies collect, and how that can be used for scams or worse, say to attempt to sway election results. Is it OK for a robot to lie even if it's making one human's life easier? And doesn't this open the door to malevolent uses of the technology?
And is Google's software strong enough to handle the transaction?
Google's technology is "a massive Christmas present to robocallers," said Alex Quilici, the CEO of the app YouMail, which promises to cut down on robocalls.
Everywhere there is technology for good, there's technology for bad, he notes, and if Google could figure out how to do it, so could rogues. "Who needs a call center anymore, if you can use technology to call millions of people at a low cost, without human involvement?" he asks.
Google's success in getting its software to mimic the cadence of human speech immediately set off concerns about whether Google crossed a line if it fooled people into believing they're talking with a human. Critics assailed it for paying little heed to these pitfalls, especially given what tech companies know about how their platforms were exploited by political operatives during the 2016 election.
"This is straight up, deliberate, deception. Not okay," wrote University of North Carolina associate professor Zeynep Tufekci, a frequent critic of social media, on Twitter. "As digital technologies become better at doing human things, the focus has to be on how to protect humans, how to delineate humans and machines, and how to create reliable signals of each—see 2016."
Then there are the practical hurdles, which Google seems far more ready to embrace.
"When people call us, we ask them where they want to sit, inside, outside or upstairs," says Goplen. "We ask if they mind climbing the stairs. We ask if it's a special occasion, if they know where our parking lot is."
Jordan Belt, who works at Ziggy's Hair L.A., a Los Angeles area hair salon, says callers to her establishment are asked a lot of questions too, about hair color and style of cut wanted. "Could the computer handle the questions?" she asks.
Google says Duplex "is capable of carrying out sophisticated conversations and it completes the majority of its tasks fully autonomously, without human involvement." But when faced with a difficult conversation that the bot can't handle, Google says it will then default to a human operator.
Lauren Weinstein, a Los Angeles-based technology consultant, says the system can work if Google is upfront about it. "Humans in general don't mind talking to machines so long as they know that they're doing so," Weinstein says. "I anticipate significant negative reactions by many persons who ultimately discover that they've been essentially conned into thinking they're talking to a human, when they actually were not."
Google pushes back that robocalls are used to sell a product and rely on callers picking up the phone and agreeing to buy something, as opposed to bots doing something on behalf of the consumer, say making reservations and checking holiday hours. One Google executive told a Bloomberg reporter it could introduce itself as "the Google Assistant" calling for a client.
But Weinstein worries about the technology getting into the wrong hands and being used to make "hundreds" of fake appointments, just to mess with the business, call law enforcement with "false police reports," and the like.
Google says Duplex will be tested only in the United States, in a handful of locations, but wouldn't specify where they would be. Due to state laws regarding recorded conversations, Bret Kinsella, the publisher of the Voicebot.ai website, expects Google to be restricted from testing it in 12 states,
California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington State all have "all party" consent laws that restrict the recording of phone conversations and require permission be granted first, he notes.
But Kinsella expects even if businesses are initially opposed to Duplex, they'll come around. "If they start to lose business because they're not accepting Google reservations, it would be in their interest to start taking them."
Madeleine Eller is ready. As a consumer, "I want to talk on the phone as little as possible. I don't want to be put on hold, or go over the details of the order. I just want to click a button," she says.
She also runs Tulsa-area restaurants. So even though she thinks the idea of robot reservations is "weird," she understands. "It will probably bring in more business," she says.
Follow USA TODAY's Jefferson Graham on Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, listen to the daily Talking Tech podcast on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher and read the weekly Talking Tech newsletter.


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Resellers who rely on the installation and support of software as a major revenue stream should be thinking about switching to another way to achieve profit targets, according to a report from market intelligence research firm Input.
The report, called The Impact of the Internet on Software Support, concludes that increasing Internet usage offers software product vendors a cost-effective support delivery channel, bypassing the existing third-party model.
Andrew Milroy, author of the report, said: "The cost effectiveness of using the Internet will make it a more popular means of delivering software support. This will precipitate a reduction in call volume and a reduced need for support partners."
The Internet is enabling vendors to reduce reliance on overstretched call centres and third parties who do not have their own commitment. The report also found that an increasing number of users are expecting to find software delivered and supported over the Internet. "Users are willing to pay for support delivered over the Internet," says Milroy, which means that vendors can provide it themselves and keep that revenue rather than passing it to third parties.
Resellers not prepared for the shift of emphasis will experience a sudden drop in revenue. Input's research indicates that by 1998 nearly half of all users will consider the availability of support services on the Internet as a product choice factor.
Infrastructure provider says international sales now make up 51 per cent of its revenue
Suzanne Chappell of TMS plans sailing venture after selling Oxfordshire-based TMS to acquisitive Chess
Withdrawal of credit insurance by some providers a 'reflection' of current challenge facing IT sector, according to MD Steve Soper
SMART's UK managing director joins Lenovo to boost SMB business


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Marston's said it wants to develop a portfolio of well-established premium beer brands to complement its core range, led by Marston's Pedigree, and promised to continue brewing at Refresh's Wychwood Brewery in Witney, Oxfordshire.
Managing director Alistair Darby said: "We plan to develop Refresh's excellent brands as part of our strategy to meet growing consumer demand for premium ales with strong provenance and heritage. We look forward to repeating the success of the Jennings and Ringwood brands with the Refresh portfolio."
Refresh chief executive Rupert Thompson said: "Refresh has achieved a great deal in the eight years since it was founded. It is now the number three supplier of premium bottled ales to supermarkets and Hobgoblin is one of the fastest-growing premium ales in the UK. The next stage in the business's development was likely to involve a link-up with a larger partner or an acquisition.
"Marston's has shown a real commitment to building an exciting range of quality premium ales. I am confident that Marston's will provide a great home for Refresh, allowing its brands and people to develop further."
Refresh is the trading arm of Ryland Thompson – Marston's has bought the company and its subsidiaries.


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Going out this weekend and need to find a sitter to watch the kids? Well these days more and more boys are getting into the baby-sitting business. 3 On your Side consumer reporter Jim Donovan finds they’re signing up for kid duty after realizing they can earn big bucks.
3 On Your Side Consumer Reporter Jim Donovan has advice for fans seeking the best seats.
In this week’s Angie’s List report, Jim Donovan has some things you need to know before you choose an auto body shop.
3 On Your Side Consumer Reporter Jim Donovan finds there’s lots of confusion over which vehicles are actually considered unsafe.
By Jim Donovan PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — How many times have you just wanted to speak to a real customer service person on the phone, but instead you get a computerized voice asking for account numbers […]
3 On Your Side: After Series Of Hacking Incidents, Some Consumers Nervous About Shopping At Impacted Stores
In a new poll 3 On Your Side’s Jim Donovan finds that some consumers are nervous about shopping at impacted stores.
When it comes to booking Thanksgiving airfares, travelers don’t get too much flexibility around the Thursday holiday. The days with the highest fares are the days the most people want to travel – the Wednesday before, and the Sunday after.
It’s been a rocky few weeks for the stock market, and Wednesday was no different, U.S. stocks ended a wild day mostly lower. Stocks took a dive at the start of the opening bell, the Dow plummeted as much as 460 points in afternoon trading, ending the day down 173 points.
It’s the picture perfect way to purchase everything from clothes to light bulbs. 3 on Your Side Consumer Reporter Jim Donovan shows you the latest way to buy exactly what you want, in a snap.
3 On Your Side Consumer Reporter Jim Donovan has advice so that you can trim the amount of money you spend to use your money.
3 On Your Side Consumer Reporter Jim Donovan warns, before you cash-in you need to know the risks.
Each year the Social Security Administration lists thousands of people as dead who are actually very much alive! 3 On Your Side Consumer Reporter Jim Donovan finds it all has to do with erroneous entries in what is known as the Death Master File.
Sears Holdings Corp. said Friday that a data breach at its Kmart stores that started last month may have compromised some customers’ credit and debit cards.
3 On Your Side consumer reporter Jim Donovan takes a look at the numbers.
Do you plan on spending more around the holidays this year? Early estimates from retailers forecast the biggest increase in holiday sales since 2011.


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Want to join the conversation?
$EA 1Q16 Q&A: Gee of BofA asked about OpEx and OpEx growth. Andrew answered that OpEx guidance at the start of the year hasn’t changed. Have built into OpEx R&D investment in both console and mobile products. That’s the reason of slight uptick. OpEx in 1Q16 was driven primarily by RSU exercises and tax expenses associated with those.
I haven’t seen a drop in banks like this in a long time. Looks like $WFC is still facing pressures from its sales practices scandal..!!
Helping President-elect's America first focus, $WMT set to create 10,000 retail jobs in the US in 2017.
Looks like Trump has his eyes on the $MON and Bayer merger next. He had a meeting with the CEOs and apparently got job promises from them.


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You are here, so it means you are a participant of CUET 2023 and now you are looking to download your CUET Admit Card to take part in the 2023rd entrance test. Alright, here we have combined all the information related to CUET admit card along with other relevant information. So keep reading this post till the end to get the most out of it.
Table of Contents
This year, the National Testing Agency (NTA) is conducting Common University Entrance Test which is known as CUET on 21st May 2023. And it’s expected that the CUET admit card 2023 will be available in the first or second week of May 2023. Candidates can download their admit card/ hall ticket from CUET Samarth’s official website.
CUET Admit Card 2023
As per the official notification, the CUET Admit Card for the 2023 entrance test will be available on CUET (UG) portal at the appropriate time. As of now, the online registration process will end on 30th March 2023. And the announcement of the city of the examination will be done on 30th April 2023. So, it is expected that the CUET 2023 admit card will be available for students in the 1st or 2nd week of May 2023.
For any query related to CUET (UG) – 2023 admit card, you may contact the official authorities at 011- 40759000 / 011 – 69227700 or e-mail at [email protected]. Or visit the official websites www.nta.ac.in and cuet.samarth.ac.in.
Our team at CareerLand. will try their best to share the direct link to download CUET 2023 admit card. So, keep in touch!
CUET 2023 Notification Regarding Extended Registration Date
The online registration process for Common University Entrance Test [CUET (UG) – 2023] has started since 09 February 2023. Recently on the 11th of March 2023, the official website released a notification regarding online registration’s last date extension. The last date for CUET (UG) 2023 has been extended because multiple Universities / Institutions / Autonomous Colleges / Organizations are joining the CUET (UG) – 2023 and students will have more joining options this year.
Here are the latest updated dates:
|Last date for submission of |
online Application Form
|30 March 2023 (Up to 09:50 P.M.)|
|Last date for payment of fees online||30 March 2023 (Up to 11:50 P.M.)|
|Correction in particulars of |
online Application Form
|01 April to 03 April 2023|
|Announcement of the City of Examination||30 April 2023|
|Official CUET Website||cuet.samarth.ac.in|
CUET Admit Card 2023 Overview
|Exam Organizer||National Testing Agency (NTA)|
|Exam Name||CUET (Common University Entrance Test)|
|Purpose||For Undergraduate Courses Admission|
|Application Registration Starting Date||9th February 2023|
|CUET 2023 Exam Date||21st May 2023|
|CUET Admit Card Release Date||May 2023|
This year, lakhs are eligible candidates have applied for CUET (UG) to secure their seats for undergraduate courses in reputed universities across India.
To participate in CUET 2023, it’s really important for applicants to download their admit card from CUET UG’s official website. Although the CUET admit card release date is not announced by the official website, candidates are encouraged to keep checking this post or the official website for the latest notification related to CUET 2023 admit card release.
Steps To Download CUET (UG) Admit Card 2023?
There are a few simple steps that you can follow to download the CUET Admit Card to take part in CUET 2023. Here are those steps:
- All the applicants should visit the official website which is cuet.samarth.ac.in.
- Under the “Public Notice” section, click on CUET (UG) 2023 admit card link.
- Fill in the asked details/credentials and click on submit button.
- Your CUET 2023 admit card will be on the computer screen that you can download and take a printout.
Note: In case of any problem while downloading the CUET Admit Card, it’s suggested to contact the official authorities by visiting the official website.


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Pawn shop owner/operator arrested after 10-month police investigation
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Over 1,000 stolen items were seized by Metro Police from a Middle Tennessee pawn shop on Tuesday.
A 10-month investigation led Metro Police to carry out search warrants simultaneously at four Music City Pawn locations – three in Davidson County and one in Franklin.
“Whenever these businesses take in products that compromise stolen, primarily by shoplifters and boosters, they find an outlet such as Music City Pawn where they can turn around and sell it,” Metro Police Lt. Michael Warren with the Property Crimes Division said. “Most pawnshops will scrutinize something that comes into their store that’s brand new and boxed. We found out through our investigations over 10 months that Music City Pawn does not do that kind of diligence when it comes to the product walking into their stores.”
Metro Police said the investigation began when a local Home Depot reached out about a lot of their products being sold online without their authorization.
Police said they worked with at least seven retailers including Home Depot, Kroger, Publix, Lowes, Walgreens, CVS and Target.
“We know a lot of this is moved through their eBay store and to the tune of well over six figures, nearly touching seven figures so it’s a very substantial crime. It’s not a small crime,” Warren said. “It’s a conduit for thieves to be able to upload stolen stuff for whatever they need it for. Whether they’re purchasing drugs, trying to find whatever fix they needed.”
Warren said an analysis from one retailer on items stolen from them and seen on Music City Pawn’s eBay page last year was about $700,000.
“That’s what the boosters that we talk to, that we interview, they say we know Music City Pawn is an easy way,” Warren said. “A lot of stuff doesn’t get scrutinized.”
On Tuesday police said they seized about 1,500 to 2,000 items from all four Music City Pawn locations. They seized large items like full-size generators. Other stolen items sold at the pawn shop include electronics like rechargeable batteries, and Rumba vacuum cleaners stolen from major retailers.
“They’re the ones that suffer on the corporate side of this,” Warren said. “We, as citizens, suffer every day when we watch the cost of all of the items we buy go up because of the loss suffered through these types of thefts.”
The primary owner of the business, Damon Holland, 52, was arrested on Tuesday and is charged with three counts of money laundering in Williamson County and one count of organized retail crime in Davidson County.
Police also arrested John Barker, 38, a primary booster they said sold over 4,000 new or boxed items at Music City Pawn over the last couple years.
“The biggest message, especially for pawn shops, is Davidson County is not going to tolerate you operating in an illegal capacity,” Warren said. “We want you to operate the way your license allows; the way the pawn broker act says you can do business. It is not this way, and we will not tolerate it.”
Investigators said some stolen items were sold at the pawn shop for 15 to 20 cents on the dollar.
It’s an ongoing investigation and police said there could be pending charges against other Music City Pawn employees.
“Prices today are high enough without Nashvillians having to pay more because of stealing from retailers,” Metro Police Chief John Drake said. “Today’s investigation, which involves the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars in merchandise, is attempting to greatly reduce the market for stolen goods.”
Officers on Tuesday morning simultaneously entered all three Nashville Music City Pawn locations at 2638 Nolensville Pike, 3041 Dickerson Pike, and 3930 Lebanon Pike and are in the process of seizing merchandise that appears to be new/stolen.
Police said Holland conducted business from the Franklin location. Franklin Police Department officers assisted in the investigation. Holland is charged with three counts of money laundering in Williamson County and one count of organized retail crime in Davidson County. Barker is charged with three counts of theft in Davidson County.
Copyright 2022 WSMV. All rights reserved.


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Connecticut AD plant plans upgrade to tackle packaging crisis
Connecticut-based Quantum Biopower announced that its anaerobic digestion (AD) facility in Southington is expecting an upgrade to handle an unexpected rise in packaged food waste.
The company is planning to upgrade the plant with a 25,000 square foot building alongside machinery.
According to the release, the Planning and Zoning Commission has given the company unanimous approval regarding the building upgrade as well as the sorting technology.
The sorting machine will separate the organic material from the packaging and also removes recyclables such as aluminium.
George Andrews, Jr. represented Quantum Biopower before the commission, explaining that the company had expected approximately 70% of the food waste to be scraps and unpackaged food waste.
Instead, the firm has received the same percentage of packaged food.
“It’s created a bit of difficulty with regards to processing. It takes a lot of time and the materials need to be segregated out by hand … A lot of hand labor goes into it,” said Andrews, who is the vice-president of Loureiro Engineering, the company that is handling the upgrade’s development.


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There’s a lot of “greenwashing” in today’s marketplace. Some brands claim to be eco-friendly in their marketing but don’t back it up with measurable actions. To authentically stand behind sustainability commitments, you must take a hard look at your own supply chain footprint, formalize a strategy and invest time and resources to see it through. This is especially important as consumers today are armed with information through the web and can quickly spot a brand that doesn’t walk its talk.
Mars Inc is a great example of a company that’s putting in the work to tackle sustainability. As one of the largest privately owned businesses on the planet, it has committed $1 billion to becoming “Sustainable in a Generation.”
The investment will fund target-based greenhouse gas reductions, economic development and female empowerment initiatives. The company is also investing in health and environmental research, which helps build a better world and address environmental issues.
Why are they investing so much money in sustainability? “Mars has been in business for four generations and intends to be for the next four generations,” Grant Reid, Mars’ CEO, declared in 2017.
The owner of Snickers and M&Ms is especially focused on climate change. Mars is joining the global conversation by reducing emissions in accordance with the science based 2°C warming target set by the Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change (IPCC). The chocolate company is also working towards the Sustainable Development Goals. By aligning with global standards, Mars is authenticating its efforts and gaining guidance. Such business practices lend valuable lessons to entrepreneurs and executives looking to build a sustainable business.
Here are top lessons from Mars Inc on how to run a sustainable business:
Measure your footprint:
As Peter Drucker said, “You can’t manage what you can’t measure.” Before you dive into sustainability improvements, it’s important to get benchmark where you are. Look at the hard numbers. Identify the areas that need the most attention.
In 2015, an audit showed that Mars’ had a footprint of 33 million tons of CO2 equivalent per year. That’s more than double the annual total of Costa Rica for that year. After analyzing the data, Mars found that as much as 80% of its emissions originate from “agriculture and land use change.”
By measuring and monitoring climate impacts, Mars is able to pinpoint where to start and where it wants to go in terms of sustainability.


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SmileDirectClub, a company that sells teeth straightening kits directly to consumers, has sued NBC News and reporter Vicky Nguyen for $2.8 billion over a story that suggested the product may cause oral health problems.
Filed on May 18th in a state court in Nashville, where SmileDirectClub is based, the complaint accuses NBC of intentionally misleading its viewers about the company and its products and cited more than 40 allegedly defamatory statements. According to the lawsuit, the company’s value fell by $950 million following the airing of Nguyen’s report on NBC’s “Nightly News with Lester Holt.”
SmileDirectClub, the largest at-home dental alignment company, promises to leave patients smiling.
But an @NBCNews investigation found that some customers have reported painful problems, which the company says are caused by misuse.@VickyNguyen has more on @NBCNightlyNews. pic.twitter.com/a6cCB5yL4b
— NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (@NBCNightlyNews) February 13, 2020
“NBC misled its viewers and readers about the safety of the treatment that patients receive when using SDC’s platform, the involvement of licensed dentists and orthodontists in the treatment of patients when using SDC’s platform, and the benefits that patients receive when they are treated using SDC’s platform,” the complaint reads.
A 14-time Emmy award-winning investigative journalist, Nguyen interviewed multiple consumers who said they experienced migraines and jaw-joint problems as a result of SmileDirectClub’s at-home teeth straightening kit, including one patient who said that the aligners “moved his teeth so fast that it caused some of them to detach from the bone.”
“NBC must be held accountable for its abuse of power and betrayal of trust,” reads the complaint. “Viewers and readers across the country turn to the media for the information they need to make decisions about their health and well-being.”
Nguyen’s story was published one month after nine members of Congress sent a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission calling for an investigation into SmileDirectClub’s practices to “ensure that it is not misleading consumers or causing patients harm.” Of the nine signatories, five are dentists, three are medical doctors, and one is a pharmacist.
In a statement shared with The Hill, NBC called the claim “meritless” and said it stood by its reporting.


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Transportation costs—typically a fraction of a finished product’s price—are emerging as another supply-chain hurdle, overwhelming some companies already paying more for raw materials and labor.
The fabric and crafts retailer Jo-Ann Stores LLC said it has spent 10 times more than its historical cost in some cases to move products from one point to another.
“Sometimes the ocean freight now is actually more expensive than the cost of the product,” Chief Executive Officer Wade Miquelon said in a recent interview. The company hasn’t raised any base prices and is hoping the extra supply-chain expenses are temporary. “I think they probably are, but does transient mean six months or 24 months?” he said.


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|Buying gold vs selling gold|
On the one hand we have shortages of gold available to buy with major shortages in the availability of gold for sale according to veteran Bill Haynes. Buyers are currently already outpacing sellers by a 50 to 1 ratio. He recently reported on King World News, “last week we sold more gold and silver than we normally sell in a whole month. On Friday alone it was astounding because we sold as much physical bullion as we would normally sell in an entire week. There is a great deal of big money coming into the market on this decline.”
One ounce gold bars are the biggest seller. And don’t forget the silver market. The US mint is having a hard time keeping up with the demand for silver eagles and silver maple leafs which are already seeing delayed delivery. The premium on gold and silver products is at a premium.
Yet on the other hand we see the ‘price of gold’ going down contrary to the value of gold. In point of fact it is being driven down with a vengeance by JPMorgan et al. GATA's Chris Powell stated many years ago."There are no markets anymore, only interventions." And we can see this now quite blatantly in today’s market. Only recently high frequency traders got stuck in to the gold. This gold cartel raid of shorting precious metals hit an all time high (or should it be low) recently with massive selling. Over five hundred tones of paper gold were recently sold by the gold cartel in one hit to drive the price down.
Faith in the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency is dropping as countries divest themselves of the currency. Some countries are now trading directly (Australia and China for example) and the BRIC group of countries, Brazil India, Russia and china are heading towards a reserve currency of their own. As the world’s gold is slowly but inexonerably moving from west to east the US banks are becoming more and more desperate in their frantic efforts to bolster confidence in the dollar. Screwing confidence in gold is one way of doing it. Even if it costs more money, but hey who cares, they can always print some more.
But through all this quagmire of who is selling what to whom and for how much, the value of gold and the real gold price remains the same. Buy gold vs sell gold does not change. Gold is a solid precious metal and an ounce of gold will still buy you a jolly good suit.


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There was relieved tone in Deliveroo boss Will Shu’s presentation to analysts and investors this morning, on the release of the courier company’s half-year results.
Little wonder. Yesterday, stock exchange filings revealed Delivery Hero had built a 5.1% stake in Deliveroo, sending its share price to the highest point since its frankly disastrous £7.6bn IPO back in March.
And today, despite posting a large loss for the first half of the year (a pre-tax loss of £104.8m, albeit an improvement on £128.4m a year ago) the company had grown ahead of expectations with demand resilient despite Covid restrictions easing. Revenues have shot up, and gross transaction value has more than doubled in the UK.
“After a disastrous start to life as a public company led some wags to denote takeaways platform Deliveroo ‘Flopperoo’,” says AJ Bell financial analyst Danni Hewson, “the company appears to be flipping things around and clawing back a little credibility.”
While it’s saved some face, and “kick-started its rehabilitation” as Hewson says, Deliveroo is still under pressure. In particular from the on-demand rapid grocery players like Getir, Gorillas, Dija, Weezy, Zapp and Fancy.
For one, grocery is increasingly important to Deliveroo’s future, with a whole section of this morning’s presentation dedicated to it. And it’s made great strides. Grocery is contributing 7% of Deliveroo’s gross transactional volume globally.
In some ways, partnering with stores is a huge advantage. The model is “much more scalable” Shu explained. Thanks to partnerships with major retailers like Waitrose, Co-op, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Aldi – which take, with independents, the total number of grocery stores on the platform to 4,600 – buying groceries on Deliveroo is a reality for 70% of the British population, up from 36% at the end of Q1 2020.
The ultra-fast players by comparison are limited to dense population centres, only beginning to extend out of London.
But boy are they fast.
“Deliveroo is tied to its retail partners and their traditional methods to pick and fulfil orders,” says Chris Elliott, head of market insights at Edge by Ascential. “Consumer demands are now driven by speed and ultra-rapid delivery firms are raising the bar on the current expectations set by leading grocery chains, as well as existing intermediaries like Deliveroo.”
Shu – who admitted today to trying most of the rapid delivery apps in London – is certainly not blind to this. “On the inventory management side, having a dark store with high levels of precision is critical to preventing issues like stock outs. And because you’re in a dark store the pick and pack is more streamlined and faster,” he said, “From a consumer perspective the proposition is really good.”
Furthermore, the supermarkets Deliveroo depends upon are beginning to make their own moves into ultra-fast. Carrefour which has been rolling out Deliveroo delivery from stores across Europe over the last year, last month announced it had acquired a stake in Cajoo, a 15-minute grocery delivery service that had only been founded in February.
So what does Deliveroo do about it? There are strong indications it won’t be nothing.
Setting out how to boost grocery unit margins, Deliveroo will work on “improving selection and inventory management” it said today. Something tricky to do when fulfilling from a supermarket.
Clues too in Deliveroo’s hiring this week of former Amazon exec Devesh Mishra as chief product and technology officer. At Amazon, Mishra was supply chain VP, managing “one of the largest inventory pools in e-commerce globally”.
The biggest signal Deliveroo could be planning its own dark stores though, is simply Shu’s evident enthusiasm for the model. Compared with Ocado boss Tim Steiner, who has repeatedly dismissed the threat of Getir et al, Shu was practically gushing about the model today. It “makes a lot of sense” he said, adding that “any time I see something that is potentially good for a consumer that a different business model is producing, I’m going to look at it very closely.”
Not too long ago, delivery within 35 minutes seemed ridiculously fast. But the definition of quick and convenient has now changed. By the sounds of it, Shu’s Deliveroo is looking to change along with it.


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PartnerMatrix, the online gambling systems provider’s affiliate marketing solution of EveryMatrix, has noticed that 81 percent of marketers in the US sector have switched to affiliate marketing strategies.
The software provider carried out a detailed review of the most influential igaming affiliate networks, releasing its Top Affiliates Networks Report 2021.
It reported that the average cost per acquisition (CPA) for igaming affiliates ranges from $50-$100 among its main findings, while the search interest for affiliate marketing has increased by over 200 percent since 2015.
Healthy rate of expansion
These statistics are a strong indicator, according to PartnerMatrix, that the igaming room is expanding at a ‘healthy’ rate, thereby creating new opportunities within the sector for affiliates.
This is in addition to a ‘high return on investment’ within the igaming industry, the software provider noted.
Levon Nikoghosyan, PartnerMatrix CEO explained: “When operators are looking for business opportunities, they have to focus on networks and media to promote their platforms.
“The new tech we have at our disposal allows operators to find media and affiliates based on their regions of interest, business model, expectations, and this report aims to show a glimpse of the market and help them find relevant partners who are already vetted by our team.”
Two new alliances with Affiliate Guard Dog and AffPapa affiliate media networks were secured by PartnerMatrix in August 2020.
Through the arrangement, PartnerMatrix worked to improve user interaction, content reach for affiliate audiences and develop a ‘trustworthy business environment’ alongside both businesses.


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Carl Cox has produced the fiftieth release for his label Intec Records. 'K'Pasa/Spoon' is also tribute to the late Mark Spoon.
Techno big gun Carl Cox set up Intec Records more than six years ago as an avenue for pushing lesser-known producers. Since then, the label has had several anthemic releases, notably Smith & Selway ('Move'), Tomaz & Filterheads ('Sunshine') and Renato Cohen ('Pontape'). More recently it has switched its attention to up-and-comers Sebastien Leger, Hiroki Esashika and Allan Banford.
Next month the label notches up its fiftieth release 'K'Pasa/Spoon'. Produced by Carl Cox, the 12" marks the first time the label boss has released original material on Intec. K'Pasa/Spoon' also doubles as Cox's personal tribute to the late Markus Löffel aka Mark Spoon (one half of Jam and Spoon), who passed away this past January.
"I always enjoyed Jam & Spoon music and the elements in my dedication are influenced by their productions. I thought it was a good time, to make an ode to them to say thank you for inspiring me over the years and I wanted to give them something back through my own music, " says Cox.
Intec has long been a champion of funky carnival techno and while acknowledging the dramatic shift away from the sound on dancefloors around the globe, Cox isn't planning on a change in the label's musical policy anytime soon.
"I know times have changed in the scene right now and music evolves and develops into new trends and fashions, but I will always stick by this sound, while I also look forward to moving forward onto the next 50 releases on Intec too," explains the label boss.
Carl Cox 'K'Pasa/Spoon' is released on Intec Records on September 4th, 2006.


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Small business are urging London councils to re-think their parking rules, saying they are being badly affected by new charges.
The Federation of Small Businesses has created a parking map to raise awareness of how parking charges are affecting the income of shops and businesses.
A spokesperson for the FSB said this campaign is to send a message to council's.
"This isn't to name and shame the councils who have higher parking tariffs.
"It's to push councils into better practice to help London businesses thrive.
"In a recent survey we found 75% of London businesses said parking was a major issue."
The Parking map is beingused to find out particular problems businesses are facing. It is hopedLondon Councils who represent the 33 boroughs will make changes to help smallto medium companies improve.
Click here to see the map.
More top news
Turning cloudy and windy but feeling mild at the weekend.
The Ukip leader also says his children his hid in a graveyard and were brought back by police.
Here's a borough-by-borough breakdown of the official figures.


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Brazilian industrial output posted its first annual increase in more than a year in October as a tax break on autos helped support a nascent recovery in the country's beleaguered manufacturing sector.
Output from Brazilian factories and mines expanded 2.3% in October from a year earlier, government statistics agency IBGE announced. Industrial production dropped 3.6% on a year-over-year basis in September, IBGE said, revised from a 3.8% drop.
October's figures were the first annual rise in industrial production since August 2011, when Brazil's central bank began a series of interest rate cuts aimed at protecting Latin America's largest economy from the effects of a global slowdown.
President Dilma Rousseff's government has supplemented those rate cuts with a series of stimulus measures, trade barriers and tax breaks, though the positive impact on Brazil's manufacturers, who struggle with high labour costs, exorbitant taxes and logistical bottlenecks, has been muted so far.
Brazil's economic recovery has been much slower than expected, with government data last Friday showing Brazil's GDP expanded just 0.6% in the third quarter, though industry, which dragged on growth in recent quarters, showed signs of a rebound.
Demand for durable goods such as domestic appliances and cars was a principal engine behind October’s rise in industrial production, IBGE said.
Automobile production, which makes up more than one-fifth of Brazil's manufacturing output, rose 12.8% from September, benefiting from the extension of tax breaks until the end of the year, according to the national automakers' association Anfavea.
October's figures suggest those measures are gradually taking more effect, aided by an over 12% drop in the value of Brazil's currency, the Real against the US dollar this year. A weaker currency makes the country's exports more competitive, helping support demand for manufactured goods.
Output of capital goods fell, however, shrinking a seasonally adjusted 0.6% and suggesting businesses still lack enough confidence to invest in new capacity.
Other leading indicators for the manufacturing industry, such as HSBC Brazil Manufacturing purchasing managers' survey, showed industry expanding at the fastest rate in nearly two years in November.
Industrial production in Brazil expanded 0.9% in October from September, reversing the previous month's 0.6% decline, which was revised on Tuesday from a previously reported 1% decline. Of the 27 industrial sectors surveyed by IBGE, 13 expanded in October from September, including automobiles, machinery and equipment, and mining and quarrying.


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Legendary fashion designer Alexander McQueen will be the featured artist this spring at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The exhibition will run May 4 through July 31, 2011. It will be preceded by the annual Costume Institute Gala Benefit on May 2. Honorary chairs for the gala are François-Henri Pinault, of Gucci Group, which owns the McQueen brand, and his wife, Salma Hayek. Co-chairs include Colin Firth, Stella McCartney and Anna Wintour.
The exhibition, titled “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty”, will celebrate McQueen’s early work from his Central Saint Martins postgraduate collection in 1992 to his work at Givenchy, and to his final runway show, which took place after his death this past February.
“Alexander McQueen was best known for his astonishing and extravagant runway presentations, which were given dramatic scenarios and narrative structures that suggested avant-garde installation and performance art,” Andrew Bolton, the Curator of The Costume Institute, said in a press statement. “His fashions were an outlet for his emotions, an expression of the deepest, often darkest, aspects of his imagination. He was a true romantic in the Byronic sense of the word–he channeled the sublime.”
Pieces will be borrowed from the McQueen London archive, the Givenchy archives in Paris and several personal collections.
McQueen’s collections easily blurred the line between fashion and art – we can’t think of a better way to pay homage to the late designer.
Watch the Alexander McQueen holographic fashion show.


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CJS Labasa shopping complex takes shape
04:36 Fri Dec 08, 2017
Taken from/By: FBC News
Report by: Rachael Nath
The Charan Jeath Singh Group’s Labasa Shopping Complex is expected to be completed in February next year.
Group Chair, Charan Jeath Singh says the development is aimed at bringing better services for residents in Labasa.
“That’s got a three level mall. A shopping complex on the ground floor. We’ve got a food court on the next level and two twin cinema on the third floor and that is about a five million dollar project.”
Singh says the group plans to open another supermarket in Nakasi next year.
« Back to Home« More Fiji News


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Leading consumer discounted deals and vouchers website DiscountVouchers.co.uk this week announced the acquisition of a new batch of codes and deals to allow consumers to save money on shoes, clothing and other items this summer. The website offers shoppers deals which can be used at more than 300 top retailers.
Anyone who wants to refresh their footwear situation ahead of the summer can enjoy the new range of DiscountVouchers.co.uk deals and new voucher codes which offer savings at high street favourite Office Shoes. Shoppers can enjoy bargains this week including up to 75% off in the Office online sale and also great summer Gladiator Sandals from just £25.
Ladies who need some new summer clothing this year can enjoy big savings thanks to the new range of discount codes launched this week through great value deals at leading high street store Dorothy Perkins. Women and girls are able to get their hands on floral print skirts from £22 and free delivery on all orders over £75.
For the men in the family this week the site has a great voucher available on DiscountVouchers.co.uk which can be used for the football World Cup this summer. The latest choice of discount vouchers offers a free £25 bet at Betfair for any new customers, terms and conditions apply.


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Is a shipbuilding duopoly good for the cruise industry?
In the modern facilities, the most technologically sophisticated cruise ships are being built.
Before the end of 2017, it looks like there will be a worldwide duopoly in the business of building cruise ships. Can this be good for cruise lines, their customers or travel agents?
It would come about if Italy's Fincantieri buys the French shipyard in Saint-Nazaire where Royal Caribbean International's Harmony of the Seas, and a string of other ships, have been built. (Fincantieri won't buy all of the Saint-Nazaire yard. The French government will hold onto a one-third stake.)
The yard is currently operating under the name STX France, but the STX parent company, based in Korea, has been trying to sell it to consolidate its way out of financial trouble.
A South Korean court recently approved Fincantieri as the approved bidder.
STX already sold its yard in Turku, Finland, to Germany's Meyer Werft, the other big name in cruise ship building. Together, Fincantieri and Meyer Werft would dominate cruise shipbuilding the way Boeing and Airbus control the world's output of commercial jetliners. (Fincantieri has built almost all of the recent Carnival Corp. brand vessels while Meyer Werft has delivered most of Norwegian Cruise Line's latest ships, among others).
The business of building jets and cruise ships is similar. Both are capital intensive businesses, with a need for specialized labor and a network of subcontractors. Both are subject to wicked swings in the business cycle that can leave them with either more work than they can handle or none at all.
Big cruise lines spend billions of dollars annually on new ships. Yet it is telling that there were no bidders other than Fincantieri for the French yard. It is a very specialized and risky business.
Does it matter to the cruise lines that there are only two suppliers left to do business with? It doesn't seem to matter much to the airlines, who haven't been cornered by the Airbus-Boeing duopoly. One difference may be that there are dozens of customers for the plane makers, but less than a dozen for cruise yards.
Fincantieri's yard in Trieste. Credit: Fincantieri
One well-informed source in the industry rated Fincantieri's takeover of STX France as "neutral to slightly negative" for cruise operators. The reduction in negotiating partners is a negative, while the stability of having the yard in the hands of a familiar, known entity somewhat offsets that.
There are some other players in the shipbuilding game. Genting Hong Kong bought several German yards, which will build the future ocean and river ships for Crystal Cruises, the line Genting acquired in 2015, and the Chinese government, which has partnered with Fincantieri to begin building ships in China.
Neither poses much of a current threat to the duopoly. So for the foreseeable future, if you want to build a big cruise ship, the choices are Meyer Werft or Fincantieri.
Let's hope it doesn't mean anything negative for the cruise lines or their travel partners.