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The partnerships come on the heels of a successful launch campaign for SodaStream and bubly earlier this year.
The Garden is now the growing brand’s strategic and creative agency of record, while Edelman will take on the role of public relations and influencer marketing agency of record.
SodaStream invited both agencies to join its roster full time following a trial engagement earlier this year to launch the collaboration between SodaStream and bubly. The resulting integrated campaign featuring Canadian singer Michael Buble drove impressive results for the brand, quickly becoming the most successful flavours in the category.
“We look for partners who think creatively and help us drive innovation in our category,” says Kyle Millar, head of marketing for SodaStream Canada. “After working with The Garden and Edelman this year, it couldn’t be clearer that they’re the right partners to add to our marketing and communications bench. Together, we’re excited to keep tapping into the love for our brand and take it to the next level.”
The brand has already revealed plans for another major campaign later this fall to launch PepsiCo™ for SodaStream flavours in Canada. The new syrups include five of the classic PepsiCo flavours – Pepsi™, Diet Pepsi™, Pepsi™ Zero Sugar, 7Up™, and 7Up™ Zero. The PepsiCo for SodaStream flavours will hit shelves this October at more than 5,000 grocery, drug, mass and convenience retailers across Canada, and at SodaStream.ca.
“SodaStream is just the kind of purpose-driven brand we love to work with at Edelman,” says Jennifer Meehan, head of the Brand Practice at Edelman Canada. “After the success of our first campaign, we know we’ve only scratched the surface of what we can do together. Our whole team is ready to do more of what we do best – drive earned results and fan loyalty through our creative work and thoughtful influencer partnerships.”
“Kyle and his team are a passionate group of marketers who’ve shown a genuine commitment to doing breakthrough work,” adds Shane Ogilvie, co-founder and chief creative officer at The Garden. “We had a blast working with them on the bubly Drops launch this spring and we’re honoured that they want to make this a long-term partnership. We’re excited to help build even stronger, emotionally-driven connections between Canadians and SodaStream across all their brand touchpoints.”
Edelman Canada and The Garden join OMD, which handles media strategy and buying for SodaStream, and Praxis, which handles the brand’s social media community management.
SodaStream, part of PepsiCo, is the world’s leading sparkling water brand by volume. SodaStream enables consumers to enjoy endless good bubbles at home, without hassle, and help save the planet. SodaStream bubbles are better for the consumer – healthy, easy to make, light to carry – helping consumers replace thousands of single use plastic bottles with one reusable SodaStream bottle. To learn more about SodaStream visit www.SodaStream.com and follow SodaStreamCanada on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
About The Garden
The Garden is one of Canada’s top independent creative agencies driven by the belief that brands should start focusing less on the impressions they buy and more on the impression they make. Through a highly strategic and holistic approach to creative problem solving and design, The Garden is committed to helping companies build more emotionally connected relationships with their customers – because every brand deserves to be loved.
Edelman is a leading global communications firm that partners with many of the world’s largest and emerging businesses and organizations, helping them evolve, promote and protect their brands and reputations. Among its many honours, the firm was awarded a Cannes Lion in 2019, named a top three Strategy Magazine PR Agency of the Year for three consecutive years and “Best Place to work” for eight consecutive years by Glassdoor. Edelman owns specialty firms Edelman Intelligence (research) and United Entertainment Group (entertainment, sports, lifestyle).


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Amazon wants to see more consumers using their voices to control their TVs this holiday season.
This week, it announced a new $35 product, the Fire TV Blaster, which acts as a universal remote of sorts, by enabling TVs that don't have voice access to respond to Alexa. It will be available Dec. 11.
The advantages of voice versus clicking are substantial, says Amazon vice-president Sandeep Gupta, who stopped by the Los Angeles USA TODAY bureau for a Talking Tech audio interview.
Voice is a more "flexible," experience and completes the task with less bother, he says. For example, say the viewer wanted to watch "Stranger Things" on Netflix.
Old way: Turn on the TV, use the remote to go to the input for streaming, open the Netflix app, search for "Stranger Things," then click play.
Amazon's way: "Alexa, play 'Stranger Things.'"
"We can do it all in one single command," says Gupta. "The same thing that took us five other steps to do."
But how does Alexa know episode to bring you to? "Stranger Things" has three seasons of content.
Gupta says if you've never seen the show before, it will start you at episode 1, or if you have viewed, take you to the next episode in the series to watch.
AI as friend: Can a robot with AI or your voice assistant help you feel less lonely?
Gearing up: The 5 best Amazon Black Friday deals you can get right now
Amazon's popular Fire TV streaming products (the No. 2 and No. 3 best-selling products in last year's Black Friday holiday promotions) can currently be paired with an Amazon Echo speaker to bring in voice controls on smart TVs with voice functionality.
For those who don't have them, in comes the Blaster. Amazon notes that you'll need an Echo and Fire TV streaming player, all three, to work as advertised. Echo and Fire TV streamers started at around $25 in last year's holiday promos.
The Blaster uses Infrared (IR) to control TVs, soundbars, satellite and cable boxes.
For those who already have an Echo and Fire TV, the Blaster will add hands-free voice control to what you could already fo with the Alexa voice remote.
Amazon released the $119 Fire TV Cube in 2018, which offers many similar features, but has the addition of a built-in speaker.
Consumers can pick up the Blaster for a third of the price, sans the speaker and advanced home theater tools.
Popular voice Alexa commands for TV:
—Turn on and off the TV.
—Raise the volume
—Go back, go forward.
—Show me 4K movies
You can request comedies, dramas, or movies by naming the actor.
The feature it can't do, one consumers would easily crave, is "Alexa, skip the commercials."
"No," says Gupta, flatly.

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Beaver Supermarket, the oldest and last independent supermarket in Beaver County, has marked its 75th anniversary this year by providing an unusual array of services for its most vulnerable customers.
During the Covid-19 epidemic, the store began delivering groceries to the homebound who could no longer shop by themselves and had no one else to whom to turn. The personal deliveries made sure these at-risk individuals
received proper nutrition in the effort to stay healthy. Most of them were older, and had no computer skills for making online orders, so they did the next best thing – phone it in.
And to address public worries about shortages, Beaver Supermarket regularly used its social media platforms to pass along updates from wholesalers, educate about what was available in supply, and generally encourage customers not to panic.
“We’re all about staying local and helping people,” said Mark Ondrusek, who has owned the Supermarket for more than three decades. “The flexibility and trusting relationships set us apart from larger competitors.”
Ondrusek and his management team go out of their way to “do a little bit for everybody,” he says. Over the years, Beaver Supermarket quietly has helped do little things that support
the police, fire and other first responders, schools, sports teams, and a host of non-profit organizations in the Beaver Area. Curbside pickups are a staple of delivery alternatives, with orders available the same day if placed before noon.
Many of Beaver Supermarket’s managers have 20 to 25 years of experience with the store, “unheard of in this business,” he says. Overall, the store employs 45 people.
The core of the business remains stocking a wide variety of outstanding meats as well as produce and dairy foods and dry goods, among others – having the inventory of larger grocery store in a smaller, friendlier atmosphere, Ondrusek says, always at great prices.
The building is located in the center of Beaver’s heavily traveled, historic Third Street business district. Its weekly specials are heavily promoted on Beaver Supermarket’s website (https://beaversupermarket.net) and daily deals on its Facebook page which has 5,000 followers. The Facebook page also reflects Ondrusek’s personal passions, fishing and hunting, which he freely shares with the public.
The original Beaver Supermarket was founded by Abe Farkas circa 1946 as Beaver and all of America were building new lives in the aftermath of World War II. Having a larger, full-service business was a key to a better, healthier lifestyle for the community, even as old hitching posts for horses were still standing at the curb in front of the building. Farkas operated it successfully for several decades before Willie Camp purchased it and renamed the business “Value King.” Ondrusek and Dr. Corrado Baglio acquired the property in 1989 and undertook a year-long renovation.
“I’ve always wanted to own my own supermarket,” says Ondrusek, who grew up in the business. Beginning at age seven, he tagged along with his father Mike, grandfather and uncles who all owned or worked in Beaver County grocery stores and were immersed in the field. “I’ve never had another job. All of my customers have my contact information and know how to get ahold of me. It’s in my DNA. It’s personal.”


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The United States Air Force has a coffee problem. Since 2016 the military branch has spent a mind-boggling $326,785 on only a handful of broken coffee cups.
Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson finds the expenditure unacceptable and she sent a letter to Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) in which she said it “is simply irresponsible” to continue spending $1,280 whenever a single mug breaks.
The “special mugs” were created to reheat liquids aboard refueling tankers in flight. Unfortunately, they are not built for durability.
“Unfortunately, when dropped, the handle breaks easily, leading to the expenditure of several thousand dollars to replace the cups as replacement parts are not available,” Air Force Tech. Sgt. James Hodgman told Fox News.
Air Force Times reports that the handles are made of cheap plastic which can’t be re-ordered without accepting delivery of an entirely new cup.
A single squadron spent $50,000 on the coffee cups “over the past three years” Hodgman told Fox News.
The cost to 3-D print a replacement handle? About “fifty cents each” according to Wilson.
Hopefully those 3-D printed handled go into production soon. Since 2016 U.S. have been paying a hefty cost for pilots to drink coffee and reheat liquids.
“While I appreciate that the Air Force is working to find innovations that would help save taxpayer dollars, it remains unclear why it cannot find a cheaper alternative to a $1,280 cup,” Wilson added.
Sen. Grassley has questioned why the Air Force needs such expensive cups to simply heat up a cup of coffee in flight.
At a cost between $1,220 and $1,280, something needs to change.
What's Your Reaction?
James Kosur is the former Editor-In-Chief and co-founder of Hill Reporter. He recently served as an editor for Business Insider and various other publications. James and his partners sold Hill Reporter to a new owner in July 2019.


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Apple Inc. "conspired to raise the retail price of e-books," a federal judge ruled Wednesday as a civil lawsuit brought by the Justice Department reached its conclusion.
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Latest news from Porsche North America can be found using link below.
Porsche News: https://newsroom.porsche.com/en.html
Latest club news:
Silver Sage Region chosen as Porsche Club of America Region of the Year for 2020. Lindsey and Ken Robinson and Linda and Mark Prusynski accepted the award at the 2021 Porsche Parade event.


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Unlocking the future of IoT: Five key areas to watch
We don't need a crystal ball to predict another year of growth for the Internet of Things (IoT). More illuminating by far are signs that IoT is becoming more practical. Here are a few trends that make me hopeful that we're now entering a time when IoT deployments will be increasingly effective, as well as more widespread.
1) In-depth defence
Criminals are always looking for new avenues into corporate networks. With consumer devices like IoT wearables and smart coffee pots making their way into the workplace, many enterprises now understand the need for more than DDoS Protection.
Even so, we will inevitably see more IoT systems being targeted by hackers this year as vulnerability scans against IoT devices continue to skyrocket. Organisations will have to rethink their security policies in light of these evolving threats. In practical terms, this will mean that enterprises must look at including security solutions from day one of their product lifecycle.
2) Low-power wide-area (LPWA) coverage
IoT wireless networks are evolving to help meet the needs of a wide variety of connected devices important to a multi network strategy. LTE-M, a LowPower Wide-Area (LPWA) 3GPP standard technology on licensed managed spectrum, is outpacing rival LPWA offerings to deliver a flexible range of capabilities for the next generation of IoT devices.
LTE-M balances bandwidth and coverage for a wider range of IoT applications than other LPWA technologies, while also supporting devices that are lower in cost and more energy efficient. Leading carriers around the world are now launching LTE-M services to rapidly deliver global coverage. This will help bring true mobility and increased penetration in buildings and underground, allow better security, carrier-grade capabilities, and economies of scale.
With the debut of the AT-T LTE-M network, which launches in the US in 2Q 2017 and Mexico by the end of the year, a wide range of new IoT services will soon be supported. These will range from smarter cities to alarm and security monitoring to new and improved wearables and form factors. Additionally, LTE-M is being supported by a variety of other wireless operators which will bring truly global support to this low power, standards-based, technology.
3) Government - regulatory change
Regulatory agencies across the region are taking different approaches to IoT with some taking a light touch and others less so. Key issues that are emerging include licensing, security and privacy. The complexity of IOT demands coordination between telecom authorities, data protection agencies, and others.
4) Vertical enterprise - consumer solutions
As IoT expands into more areas of business, the line between business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) solutions is blurring. In effect, many enterprise and industrial IoT solutions are becoming B2B2C as business end-users, such as fleet managers, are called on to engage with IoT devices that also connect to business systems.
Nor is it a stretch to imagine a company equipping its staff with wearables that integrate data through business gateways to improve the efficiency of its services and the safety of its people. We are seeing more sophisticated and experience-driven vertical solutions superseding generic IoT applications.
AT-T, for example, is focusing on fleet solutions, asset management, smart cities and healthcare, while also continuing to develop its connected car leadership, now in collaboration with more than 22 global automotive brands. At the same time, a new generation of professional services is arising to help businesses in various sectors accelerate their adoption of IoT and explore new, more practical possibilities. For example, enterprises are now finding ways to avoid and manage equipment downtime by predicting asset health, thereby improving return on investment.
5) Data Tsunami - artificial intelligence and machine learning
While the possibilities that IoT offers are endless, the challenge here is clear: how do we find ways to collate and analyse the tsunami of performance data and information that IoT is already generating, let alone prepare for what's coming down the pipe?
This is where big data analytics and machine learning are coming into their own. Machine learning is an application of artificial intelligence (AI) that seeks to give machines the ability to use data to figure out what rules to follow. This helps us avoid an obvious danger of IoT: malfunctions in connected cars, medical devices or industrial equipment due to slow or inaccurate data analysis. Machine learning is even more powerful when we combine it with software-defined networking.
With AI, software-driven networks become even more reliable, resilient and secure – far surpassing traditional networks that rely on specialised hardware. AT-T's connected car program was among the first network services to be virtualised in its push to make 75% of its network software-driven by 2020.
With machine learning on AT-T's global software-defined architecture, the most demanding IoT-enabling technologies such as autonomous vehicles services become practicable. Technology is evolving rapidly and Internet of Things will only continue to digitise elements of the physical world and change how we live our lives and do business. We've only seen the tip of the iceberg for what‘s possible. Are you ready?


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New features will be introduced for Android phone users, Google revealed in a new blogpost
Tech giant Google has revealed the new features coming in Android phones through a blog post. Also, the stable version of Android 14 is also expected to arrive in October. Android users can now add widgets to Google Assistant. Not only this, the company is including more AI features in it. Let us know about the complete news.
Many interesting features are coming for Android phone users. These updates or should we say new features can bring a big change in the user experience. Tech giant Google has revealed the new features coming in Android phones through a blog post. Also, the stable version of Android 14 is also expected to arrive in October. Come, let us know about them.
Android users will soon be able to digitize passes like gym or library cards with barcodes or QR codes. For this, you just have to upload the nearby image. Users will be able to store it in the digital version in their Google Wallet.
The company is introducing support for Zoom and Webex in Android Auto. This means users can start or join conference calls via audio, meaning they can now access the meeting schedule right from their car display. Active calls can be managed through Android Auto. In this, you will also get features like muting the microphone and ending the call.
Android users can now add widgets to Google Assistant. Not only this, the company is including more AI features in it. The 'Assistant at a Glance' widget uses AI to provide users with more information right on their home screen. In this, you will get more accurate weather information, travel updates, and information about upcoming events.
Image question-answer facility is going to be available in the Lookout app. In this, detailed information about visual content will be available with the help of AI. After opening the image, users can use text or voice commands to ask questions. This will give more information about what is in the image.
The notification flash feature is extremely useful. Especially for those people who cannot hear or see the notifications in the crowd. It is also useful for disabled people. To turn on/off this feature, you have to toggle the phone's Settings > Display > Flash Notification > Camera Flash / Screen Flash. There is also a facility to choose the color for the screen flash and can also see its preview.
The lock screen customization feature is also among the features coming in Android 14. In lock screen customization, as the name suggests, you will get the facility to customize your lock screen. Also, the way the clock appears on the lock screen is also going to change. As far as the availability of this feature is concerned, it is likely to be released with the Android 14 stable version.
The Magic Compose feature is already available for Messages beta. The Magic Compose feature is expected to come with a stable version. Magic Compose in Messages app will help you compose your text messages in different ways. This feature can also come on Gboard at any time. This is being seen by Google as encouraging more and more users to use RCS and Google Messages.
Google demonstrated app pairing at Google I/O23 during the Pixel Fold announcement. It is coming to Android 14 by the end of this year. App Pair will let you use apps in pairs, in split screen. Although you may not find this feature of much use for smartphones, it can be useful for tablet users.
A new UI feature has been added in the recent Android 14 beta update, which shows you a nice animated pill that appears when you put the device to charge.
Additionally, Google is expanding language support in its app with 11 new languages including Japanese, Korean, and Chinese. This takes the total number of supported languages to 34. All these features are expected to come on Android phones soon.


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The International Tourism and Investment Conference (ITIC) will hold its Global Tourism Investment Summit next week in partnership with World Travel Market London.
Called ‘Invest, Finance & Restart’, the summit will take place on November 1-2 at ExCeL London (pictured), and will connect investors with owners or developers of untapped tourism projects.
The first day (November 1) will feature insights about the restart of the global tourism industry and will take place in the venue’s Platinum Suite.
Those who cannot attend WTM London in person will be able to follow the event live through a virtual platform.
The following day (November 2), will see B2B meetings between project owners or developers and the ITIC team in the Deal Room in ExCeL’s South Gallery Room 12.
Ibrahim Ayoub, ITIC’s group chief executive, said: “The Invest, Finance & Restart Summit will pave the way for the transformational paradigm shift that is occurring as tourism will increasingly have to integrate the environmental, health, social inclusion and good governance issues in the future.”
Dr Taleb Rifai, ITIC chairman, added: “The pandemic has disrupted the world economy, but tourism is a resilient sector. Sure signs are emerging to demonstrate that the sector continues its resilience and is bouncing back and, indeed, has always bounced back from past crises. “
He said ITIC and its Invest Tourism division supports new hotels, resorts and infrastructure that are sustainable, community-based developments.
Simon Press, WTM London Exhibition Director, commented: “WTM London is thrilled to be hosting the ITIC-led initiative on ‘Invest, Finance & Restart’, which aims to put new travel entrepreneurs in contact with investors, to help make their dreams a reality and to help put the tourism sector well on the road to recovery.”
Those taking part include Jamaican tourism minister Edmund Bartlett; Ian Liddell-Grainger MP, acting chairman, of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association; Elena Kountoura, MEP; Julia Simpson, chief executive of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC); and Christopher Rodrigues, chairman of the Maritime & Coastguard Agency.


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Our first-quarter NetPlus-ITR Advisor newsletter for NetPlus members highlighted that leading economic indicators for 2017 are bright. NetPlus distributor and supplier members are benefiting from this economic growth; in the first quarter, purchases were up 8 percent.
This positive message was reaffirmed last month at the Industrial Supply Association’s annual convention, during which Institute for Trends Research principal Dr. Alan Beaulieu gave his annual economic update to attendees. His message: 2016 was a good year, despite the uncertainty, and 2017 looks even better.
Industrial production is moving up. Manufacturing production is increasing, with strong durable goods production into 2018. And despite a slowing in nondurable goods, he expects that category to improve, as well.
Global leading indicators, defense spending, foreign direct investment and oil prices are all going up – all very good signs for the health of the economy over the next year.
Construction markets are also healthy, with housing starts expected to be stronger in the second half of 2017. They are currently at an eight-year high. Non-residential construction is also looking bright, with dollars spent at a record high so far this year. Beaulieu expects a 7.7% growth rate for the year.
This economic growth is not a “Trump bounce,” he said. The positive signs started before the election. And that’s a good thing. It means that the growth is not subject to politics and is sustainable into 2018.
We’re still on track for a mild recession in 2019, Beaulieu said, but if distributors and manufacturers plan for the slowdown and implement management practices to maintain their bottom lines, the slowdown will have little effect.
We’ll continue to keep our members apprised of emerging economic and other industry trends via our blog and via the quarterly newsletter from ITR, available only to NetPlus members. Learn more about other NetPlus distributor and supplier benefits.


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New handheld video cameras in the popular Flip line acquired by Cisco in March last year will hit Australia in early November, the company announced this week.
Cisco is set to launch three new Flip pocket camcorders at the end of the month - an 8GB and a 4GB Flip Ultra HD and an 8GB Flip Mino HD. All three will come with image stabilisation and updated FlipShare editing software.
This year, BenQ plans to break into the Australian camcorder market with a range of affordable, self-branded digital video cameras. Each model in the BenQ camcorder range features Full HD video recording (1080x1920p), plus unique features such as dua...
Avaya had barely announced its new portable video device on Wednesday when just about everybody started calling it the Flare Tablet.
The video surveillance industry is undergoing a sea change as older analog systems give way to IP-based systems.
In a move that will legally bring more American TV shows and films to the Internet in China, Ku6 Media, an operator of one of the country's largest video hosting sites, has signed content deals with Sony Pictures Television and a major Hollywood stud...
Aiptek has introduced the i2, a pocket-sized twin lens camcorder that can record 3D video, at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin.
Panasonic used the broiling, hectic setting of the U.S. Open tennis tourney in New York Wednesday to showcase the capabilities of its first handheld consumer-grade 3D camcorder. On a day so hot and humid that one athlete, Victoria Azarenka, collapsed...
Forget about Avatar in 3D -- thanks to software maker Roxio, now your home movies can feature grandma, the kids, and all your friends in eye-popping 3D. Roxio announced Tuesday the latest versions of its all-in-one media software suite, Creator 2011...
The imminent arrival of Samsung's Android-powered Galaxy slate, which may debut as early as next month, signals that interesting times are ahead for video-chat users. Businesses and other early-adopters hoping to conduct face-to-face meetings via sma...
With the economy expected to pick up in the Asia Pacific, the video conferencing market is likely to benefit as more companies invest in video conferencing solutions.
Cisco Systems revenue and profit both grew significantly in the company's fiscal fourth quarter that ended in July, the company announced on Wednesday.
Oh, that Microsoft. She's such a tease.
Panasonic unveiled a slew of new Lumix cameras just last week, but the company wasn't quite done with its winter camera and camcorder announcements.
Panasonic unveiled its first two consumer camcorders capable of recording video in 3D on Wednesday.
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JetBlue Airways Corp. scratched out a $1 million profit in the fourth quarter as costs rose twice as fast as revenue and Hurricane Sandy washed away some ticket sales.
The company broke even on a per-share basis. A year earlier, the airline earned $23 million, or 8 cents per share.
Revenue rose 4 percent to $1.19 billion from $1.15 billion a year ago.
The carrier fell short of Wall Street expectations on both counts and shares slid 4 percent before the opening bell. Analysts were looking for a profit of 2 cents per share and revenue of $1.20 billion, according to a poll by FactSet.
JetBlue, the nation’s sixth-biggest airline by passenger-carrying capacity, said Hurricane Sandy cost $45 million in lost revenue as it was forced to cancel flights and travel slowed even after the East Coast storm passed.
JetBlue’s costs rose 8 percent, an increase of $87 million. The two biggest items, jet fuel and labor expenses, increased 6 percent and 9 percent, respectively.
Yet JetBlue’s average fare during the fourth quarter was $155.17 each way, nearly unchanged from $155.60 a year earlier.
JetBlue said it expects to expand passenger-carrying capacity by 5.5 percent in the first quarter and 7.5 percent for all of 2013. Airlines have been controlling capacity to avoid too many empty seats and prevent ticket prices from falling.
Shares of JetBlue Airways Corp., based in New York, fell 25 cents to $5.98.
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Panera Bread is hopping on the cage-free egg bandwagon. The chain announced that it will use 100 percent cage-free eggs by 2020.
This will apply to shell eggs, hardboiled and liquid egg whites and eggs used in pastries, souffles and dressings. The company is now using 21 percent cage-free eggs, a 3 percent improvement from 2014.
Panera’s move will affect its nearly 2,000 Panera Bread and St. Louis Bread Co. stores in the U.S.
Panera “is demonstrating that social responsibility goes hand-in-hand with being a successful national restaurant brand,” a senior food policy director for the Human Society said in a statement.
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VOL. 122 | NO. 214 | Friday, November 9, 2007
COGIC, Area Hotels LLC Break Ground on Hilton
The Church of God in Christ and hotel development company Area Hotels LLC broke ground Thursday on a Hilton Garden Inn at the southwest corner of Second Street and Linden Avenue near the site of the Chisca Hotel.
Mundelein, Ill.-based Area Hotels, which develops Hilton family-branded hotels, plans to begin construction around the start of the year, said vice president Dick Haberstich. Work on the hotel is expected to wrap in a year or sooner, he added.
The $14 million Hilton will have about 120 rooms, Haberstich said. Amenities will include a full restaurant, three conference rooms totaling about 2,100 square feet, and two boardrooms totaling about 725 square feet.
"It's not quite a typical Hilton Garden Inn," Haberstich said. "The exterior had to be modified to be more acceptable to the Center City Commission."
The groundbreaking comes in the midst of COGIC's 100th annual convocation in Memphis, where the denomination also is headquartered. COGIC held its first convocation in the city in 1907, when founder Charles Harrison Mason built a congregation after being expelled from the Baptist church over doctrinal differences.
The denomination once was headquartered at the eight-story, historic Chisca hotel, which was built in 1913 at 272 S. Main St.
Area Hotels was founded about 10 years ago and also currently is building a hotel in Northwest Arkansas, Haberstich said.
A COGIC representative did not immediately return a phone call.
Four Foreclosures Filed Against Mark Matthews Dev.
Trustmark National Bank has filed four first-run foreclosure notices against Mark Matthews Development LLC, which appear in today's issue of The Daily News starting on Page 32.
Trustmark has appointed Jeffrey D. Germany with Morton & Germany PLLC as the substitute trustee for the properties, which are scheduled for sale Dec. 5 at noon outside the Adams Avenue entrance of the Shelby County Courthouse.
The properties scheduled for sale are two lots in St. Andrews Place Planned Development, which have addresses of 10003 and 9977 Chariden Drive; six vacant lots in Tulip Creek Subdivision; and one lot in Rolling Hills Farms Subdivision.
Mark Matthews Development took out one loan in May 2006, one in October 2006 and two in December. The total amount of all four mortgages in default is $937,800.
No lienholders are named on the properties.
For more information on the troubles facing the Matthews brothers' companies, see the Oct. 29 issue of The Daily News.
Retailers Report Sluggish October Sales
The outlook for the holiday shopping season grew bleaker Thursday after retailers announced disappointing October sales results due to consumers' ongoing worries about housing and higher energy prices.
The downbeat news came from all sectors including mall-based apparel stores such as Limited Brands Inc. and department stores such as Macy's Inc.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, posted sales below expectations despite its aggressive discounting heading into the holidays.
Warehouse club operators including Costco Wholesale Corp. and BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. were among the few standouts, a sign that consumers are searching for lower prices.
"Overall, the sales trend continues to slow," said Ken Perkins, president of RetailMetrics LLC, a research company in Swampscott, Mass. "I think the consumer is certainly feeling the (economic) pressure heading into the holidays."
Milder than normal weather also hurt sales, wiping out consumers' appetite for winter wear.
With Dec. 25 about seven weeks away, the retail industry is struggling with consumers' eroding confidence and a weakening sales trend amid mounting problems in the economy. Throughout the year, shoppers have been faced with higher gas and food bills and depreciating value of their homes. Tighter credit also has become an issue in recent months. And while last week's move by the Federal Reserve to cut a key interest rate by a quarter-point will make it cheaper to borrow money, economists say it might be too late to help boost holiday spending.
Amid such challenges, many stores including Wal-Mart and Toys "R" Us Inc. aim to jump start the season early this year by offering door busters and big discounts starting last weekend in a season that is expected to show the slowest growth since 2002. But shoppers don't seem to be in a hurry to buy.
One big problem is that there seems to be little buzz about must-have items. In the toy business, retailers and manufacturers already bruised by a series of highly publicized recalls this summer suffered another blow Wednesday when millions of units of a toy called Aqua Dots were taken off shelves; scientists found they contain a chemical that converts into a powerful "date rape" drug when ingested.
Sept. 11 Traveling Memorial Stops in Memphis
A traveling exhibit focusing on a Sept. 11 memorial at the site of the World Trade Center in New York will make a stop in Memphis this weekend.
The exhibit will be in Memphis Saturday and Sunday at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, 3030 Poplar Ave., from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days.
The exhibit was in Little Rock, Ark., Wednesday where uniformed firefighters and police officers signed a steel beam that will be used in the construction of the memorial.
School children and onlookers attended an outdoor ceremony honoring the one-day stop of the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum's mobile exhibit. Afterward, people filed through a line to sign the 37-foot beam with permanent markers.
More than $300 million has been raised privately and more than $250 million is committed by the federal government to build the eight-acre memorial. It will set two waterfall-filled pools just above the twin towers' footprints, surrounded by a glade of oak and sweetgum trees. Visitors will descend underground to a Sept. 11 museum.
Construction on the memorial and museum began last year. The memorial is expected to be complete in 2009 and the museum by 2010. The memorial and museum will share the former World Trade Center site with the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower, which is under construction.
Public Library Wins National Award
The Memphis Public Library & Information Center is among five library systems in the nation that recently were selected as a recipient of a 2007 National Medal for Museum and Library Service.
Presented by the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services, it is the nation's highest honor for museums and libraries. Five museums and five library systems have been selected for the honor, which comes with a $10,000 award and attendance at a special ceremony in Washington. The date for the ceremony has not yet been set.
The Memphis Public Library & Information Center includes the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library at 3030 Poplar Ave. and 18 branch libraries throughout the city and Shelby County. Mobile services include InfoBus, JobLINC and Training Wheels, a resource for child care centers.
Habitat to Commemorate Construction of 300th Home
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis is on the verge of completing its 300th home built since 1983. To help celebrate the milestone, Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International, will be in Memphis Tuesday and Wednesday as the chapter dedicates the home.
Memphis Habitat's fall campaign has been dubbed "300 Homes, 300 Families, 300 Reasons to Celebrate."
Several events are planned during the time Reckford will be in Memphis. A press conference marking the dedication of the 300th home, where the keys will be given to the home's owner, Twana Coleman, will be held Tuesday.
A gala will be held that evening at the Hilton Memphis for Habitat staff, sponsors, volunteers and homeowners to celebrate the milestone.
The two-day celebration will conclude Wednesday with a breakfast roundtable. Memphis-area social service providers, housing providers, developers and financial institutions will conduct an open forum on how Habitat can partner with other organizations to help combat affordable housing issues and poverty in Memphis.


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El Cajon Local Business
Local business in El Cajon, CA
16 hrs ago | via PR-inside.com
The company develops and markets technology-based bioscience products that offer non-toxic solutions to a number of global health challenges, including Staph and Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae /NDM-1+. Pure's technology platform is based on patented stabilized ionic silver, and products contain silver dihydrogen citrate, or SDC. Comment?
Wednesday Jan 21 | via Patch.com
Most cities in San Diego County received grades of D or F today from the American Lung Association in its "State of Tobacco Control 2015" report. El Cajon and Solana Beach were the only local cities to receive higher grades. Comment?
Monday Jan 19 | via CSP
This edition of the Open & Shut digest of new convenience store openings, sales, acquisitions and store closings features listings for the month of December 2014. The unscientifically gathered roundup is by no means complete, but serves as a monthly "snapshot" of newly opened or closed U.S. convenience stores, gas station, truckstops and travel centers not previously reported in CSP Daily News. Comment?
Friday Jan 16 | via ThomasNet
Munich, Germany Geyer Electronics, a leading global manufacturer of quality oscillating crystals and oscillators since 1964 announced today the expansion of its marketing and sales operations in North America with offices and warehousing in El Cajon, California. Jurgen Reichmann, Managing Director of the parent firm, issued the expansion announcement and added that several managerial appointments have been made, headed by Howard Longin, Sales Director of Geyer Electronics-America. Comment?
Copyright © 2015 Topix LLC


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Podcasts, Pure-Play Streaming And Other Digital Music Forms Increase Audio Consumption, And Not At Radio’s Expense.
The following was by Inside Radio last week.
According to Nielsen’s Q1 2017 Total Audience Report, the reach of digital radio has increased among both Millennials and consumers 35+ since 2012, but the weekly reach of AM/FM among Millennials remains 93%.
That is among the valuable talking points in Nielsen’s newly released report “Millennials on Millennials: Digital Music and Digital Communication.” Its missive is to help brands and marketers better understand the “differentiated behaviors of this extensive and impactful generation, whose influence is steadily growing.”
Nielsen points out that Millennials—now the second-largest generation in the U.S.—have disposable incomes that “are starting to wield their spending prowess—and that prowess often begins with digital engagement,” particularly on mobile devices.
“In many ways, Millennials’ digital engagement is the jumping-off point for many of their consumer behaviors,” Nielsen says in the report. “In turn, each digital channel represents a key engagement point for brands, marketers and advertisers.”
A glance at “engagement” stats shows Millennials are spending about the same amount of time listening to traditional radio as they were a year ago—even with a wealth of new media fighting for engagement time. In an average week, according to the fourth-quarter Nielsen Total Audience report, 18-24-year-olds spend 10 hours, 14 minutes each week listening to the radio, which is about an hour less than 25-34-year-olds do (11:17).
At the same time, Nielsen’s 2016 Year-End Music report noted that total audio streams spiked 76.4% last year, as Americans listened to almost 252 total streams. Much of that comes from Millennials, as almost 60% say they use two or more apps to stream music, compared with just under 40% of consumers 35 and older. Consumers 35 and older are also more likely than Millennials to remain loyal to a single app or streaming service.
Podcasts make up another significant opportunity for marketers to engage with young Americans, Nielsen notes, as 37% of Millennials report listening to podcasts at least once each week. In addition, 13% say they listen every day, which is significantly higher than the 5% of consumers 35 and older who listen daily.
Nielsen concludes amid the stats that “the reality of today’s media scenario is that the addition of new offerings has actually inspired increased consumption.” According to its Q1 2017 Comparable Metrics Report, radio reaches more people 18-34 than any other medium. “The data speaks to the immense connection young consumers have with media in general, and their desire to increase their consumption of quality content rather than forcing themselves to reduce consumption across one medium to feed a need with another.”


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Nvidia is partnering with chip designer ARM. At the International Supercomputing Conference, Nvidia presented this partnership as a new path for the industry to achieve highly energy-efficient, AI-enabled exascale supercomputers.
Nvidia says it will make its entire lineup of AI and HPC software available to the ARM ecosystem by the end of this year. The company reports that after completing stack optimization, it will support all major CPU architectures, including x86, Power, and Arm. According to the CEO of Nvidia, Jensen Huang, supporting the ARM’s CPU architecture is very important, given the open architecture and its energy efficiency.
Huang describes that achieving exascale supercomputing “will significantly push the frontier of human knowledge.” He argues that supercomputers are essential for scientific discovery, but that power requirements will limit all supercomputers once traditional compute scaling ends. According to Huang, the combination of Nvidia’s Cuda and ARM’s energy-efficient architecture will give the entire hpc community a big boost.
In the most recent edition of the Top500 list, 156 is a supercomputer based on the ARM architecture. It concerns Astra, an HPE supercomputer used by the American Sandia National Laboratories; this one has been on the list since November 2018. In the HPL benchmark used for the Top500 list, the system achieved a performance of 1758 teraflops and a peak of 2209 teraflops.


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When Walmart and Amazon workers go viral
Hello from The Goods twice weekly newsletter! On Tuesdays, internet culture reporter Rebecca Jennings uses this space to keep you updated on what’s going on in the world of TikTok. Is there anything you want to see more of? Less of? Different to? E-mail email@example.com, and Subscribe to The Goods newsletter here.
There’s a TikTok that’s been with me since I saw it in early fall. It is a Walmart employee named Shana who uses the shop microphone to announce all the racist and sexist behavior that she has observed during her working hours and calls her employees by name. It ended with, “I fucking stopped.”
Shana later updated the nearly 35 million people who saw her video, saying that her speech was actually aired throughout the Lubbock, Texas store (there is video evidence) and that she met tons of people as she left the store was applause. A few people told her they would never shop at Walmart again.
It’s the only thing I could think of when reporter Michael Waters broke the news this week that the company is now trying to turn 500 of its employees into social media influencers promoting Walmart’s unmatched size. The program is called Spotlight and is only open to salaried employees, not hourly workers, which means the vast majority of the 2.2 million workers are ineligible. Popular contributions are rewarded with cash bonuses.
Retail workers from mega-chains like Sephora, Chipotle, and Starbucks have gone viral since the app’s existence on TikTok, and for the most part, companies have tried to shut it down. A Panera employee was fired for her video “revealing” how mac and cheese were made. A Chik-Fil-A staff member was released on menu hacks for her viral video. Even if the content is undeniably harmless – or positive! – Big brands have resisted the idea that their image is out of their control. Just ask the Sherwin Williams retail worker who was reportedly fired for simply sharing videos about mixing paint.
The only salvation for Walmart’s rather ethically dubious influencer program is that it doesn’t really seem to work: the two Walmart influencers Waters interviewed in its story have roughly 1,500 and 300 Instagram followers, respectively. Other brands that have tried to star their workers didn’t really succeed until they chose TikToker, which had already built a huge fan base, such as the Dunkin ‘Donuts Crew Ambassadors program . (Look at Amazon’s ridiculous Twitter army of warehouse workers who flooded the website with pro-Amazon sentiments in 2019.)
But as the golden rule of authenticity on social media suggests, the videos that travel the farthest are the ones that portray employees’ actual experiences. One of the first videos I saw when I opened the app this week showed a woman working silently and quickly in what appeared to be an Amazon fulfillment center.
Her captions asked viewers to shop on site instead, arguing that the company’s coronavirus security measures were “a joke”, that productivity monitoring was “inhuman” and that they were spying on and taking revenge on workers who try to hide themselves to merge trade union organizations. In other videos, she said she got two yeast infections in two months from fear of going to the bathroom and lowering her productivity, and that the company had minimized the increasing injuries to warehouse workers, especially during the main holiday season . “Please support companies that care about the health and well-being of their employees,” she wrote.
It’s clear why brands like Walmart are trying to take more responsibility for employees’ social media content: they want to offset the impact of such videos that centralize the experiences of the lowest-ranking employees rather than enhancing a company’s image .
The problem, of course, is that this is sponsored content and nobody wants to see that. Hearing from Target employees tells you about the brand’s alleged practice of letting people steal from them until the total amount of goods stolen equals one grand theft. This is a lot more interesting than having a Walmart employee showing you their favorite funko pop dolls. And as long as TikTok is a platform driven by algorithmic popularity, the messy videos – those where employees reveal secrets, stop on camera, or expose union oppression – will be the ones we’re most likely to see.
If Walmart manages to get a large enough stake in TikTok, it can all be controversial, and the platform could be reduced to an infinite scroll of creepy cheering greeters forced to read from a company’s PR-approved script. Until then, retailers of the world: Keep your cameras on.
TikTok on the news
- Oh look, another TikTok inspired Facebook app!
- The crowdsourced musical Ratatouille will be inducted into the IRL on January 1st, when production company Seaview hosts the digital event in aid of the Actors Fund. It is unclear how the dozen of artists who contributed music, choreography, graphic design, costumes, and even puppet shows to the musical existing on TikTok will be credited or compensated.
- Atlanta is now home to two all black TikTok creator mansions and is becoming America’s new influencer capital.
- TikTok stars are joining venture capital firms and investing in startups because they are part of the generation that grew up with Shark Tank.
- This is a really honest account of how standup comics thrive on TikTok, even knowing their content is a little bit hacky – because it works!
- Welcome to SelenaTok, the place to find out about Selena’s life and music before watching the new Netflix series.
- Don’t file your teeth to make them look more even or do nothing else on this list of TikTok’s Worst Health Trends of the Year.
One last thing
Hardly anyone in college turns on their cameras during Zoom lectures, but these students surprised their professor by showing their faces at once. Spoiler: The professor cried and so did I.
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As part of its 2030 plan, Better Cotton, the top cotton sustainability project in the world, has verified four new Impact Targets that address soil health, women's empowerment, pesticide use, and sustainable livelihoods.
Better Cotton's goal is to support cotton communities in their efforts to flourish while simultaneously preserving and regenerating the environment. For millions of farm employees, the Impact Targets, a component of Better Cotton's 2030 Strategy, will "help drive environmental and social improvements."
In its most recent Synthesis Report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a warning that every degree of global warming causes climate threats to rapidly increase.
IPCC Chair, Hoesung Lee, said that mainstreaming effective and equitable climate action will not only reduce losses and damages for nature and people, it will also provide wider benefits.
Cotton production annually exceeds 22 million tonnes, making it one of the most significant renewable resources in the world. The growth of the industry has the potential to increase equality and sustainability while lowering poverty.
The following are the four impact targets: Increasing the income of the two million cotton workers in a sustainable way; Ensuring that all Better Cotton farmers have enhanced the condition of their soil; Reaching one million women in the cotton industry with programs and services that advance equality; and reducing the use and risk of synthetic pesticides applied by Better Cotton farmers by at least 50%.
Alan McClay, CEO of Better Cotton, added that their new Impact Targets would allow them to continue taking measurable actions to support more sustainably produced cotton. They can ensure that cotton farmers and farm workers are prepared to address their environmental impact, future-proof their businesses, and adjust to the often unanticipated effects of global warming by moving further toward regenerative and climate-smart agriculture.Better Cotton is still educating an expanding global population about more environmentally friendly farming methods. Beyond merely cotton output, the Impact Targets will benefit local farming communities' landscapes, supply systems, and ultimately consumers.
A report that is issued every week covers price statistics and objective analysis of the market trends on various textile value chains
A crisp report that is issued every month covers analysis of the price and market trends on various textile value chains
A weekly report covering market and price information on the entire chain of polyester along with online access to daily polyester chain prices.
One-time reports that are issued annually cover the demand and supply trends in individual products including polyester, nylon, acrylic, viscose, and cotton.
One-time reports that are issued annually cover the demand and supply trends in the individual country's natural and manmade fiber/filament industries.
Countries Served Worldwide


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Alliance Formed To Provide Voice Messaging Coast To Coast
Our editorial transparency tool uses blockchain technology to permanently log all changes made to official releases after publication.
More of our content is being permanently logged via blockchain technology starting [10.23.2020].
June 12, 1996
NYNEX CONTACT: Sharon Beadle,
Alliance Formed To Provide Voice Messaging Coast To Coast
-- Alliance's Directory Could Include Over 7 Million Users --
SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- Imagine sending a voice message to 10 business
associates in 10 different locations around the country -- recording that
message only once -- and knowing they'll get your message even though
they're on different voice mail systems. Thanks to a joint venture
announced today by Ameritech, Bell Atlantic, NYNEX and Pacific Bell
Information Services, all of this will soon be a reality.
The joint venture, called The Messaging Alliance, L. P., will enable the
companies to link their voice messaging services, currently used by over 4
million customers across the nation. Through The Messaging Alliance's
directory service, voice mail customers will have the ability to send
messages from one mailbox to another. To address a message, all they'll
need to know is the recipient's phone number. The enhancement is
significant for the voice mail market, which totals 45 to 50 million
In addition, The Messaging Alliance signed a memorandum of
understanding with Stentor, the alliance of Canada's major telephone
companies, which will provide The Messaging Alliance's first international
gateway. This means that voice messages can be exchanged between the
United States and Canada -- expanding the potential directory listing by
an additional 3 million subscribers.
Voice mail customers, both businesses and consumers, who subscribe to
this new service will be able to send messages directly from one mailbox
to another, faster and cheaper than the traditional way of sending
messages -- even if they use different voice mail systems and providers.
For example, it will take only one phone call for: a national sales
manager to communicate new pricing information to every sales
representative; a financial firm to notify all of its customers of new
rates; or a new parent to let each family member know about the birth of a
Once service agreements are final, The Messaging Alliance plans to begin
offering service to the four alliance participants in the fourth quarter
of this year and to expand service to include other voice messaging
providers nationwide in 1997.
The voice messaging providers will determine specific pricing for their
business and residential customers. Long-distance charges will apply on
messages sent across LATA boundaries and will be paid to the sender's long
The Messaging Alliance also will offer a fax mailbox-to-fax mailbox
directory service to the companies who offer fax mailboxes.
"The Messaging Alliance represents a solid solution for local phone
companies and service bureaus to interconnect their millions of users --
both public and private -- through new, dynamic open-standards messaging
capabilities," said Terry Mulready, chief executive officer of Pacific Bell
Information Services, and chair of the Alliance's Management Committee.
"What sets this apart from other previous announcements of the global
messaging concept is that we will start with a potential directory of
seven million business and residential users who will be able to exchange
"This is a very real, very exciting first step in creating a true global
system that will make it easy for businesses and consumers everywhere to
exchange voice and fax messages at any time of day or night," said Thomas
Reiman, president of product management at Ameritech.
The Messaging Alliance is planning to deploy a directory service on an
IBM platform that provides open system and network connectivity. ITU-T
X.400 and X.500 will be the backbone technologies; AMIS-Analog and
AMIS-Digital interfaces will allow addressing and routing of voice mail
and fax messages from one system to another regardless of what system they
were created on. The Messaging Alliance will add internet mail protocol
(SMTP/MIME) support this year.
The platform has been tested successfully with the exchange of messages
between voice mail systems manufactured by Boston Technology, Centigram,
Digital Sound, Octel and Unisys. Many of these systems are used by
alliance members to provide voice mail to their business and residential
"We're eliminating barriers to sending messages between different voice
mail systems, by making voice messages as seamless as telephone calls,"
said Mark Kutner, Bell Atlantic Small Business Services president and vice
chair of the Alliances management committee. "Small businesses can use
this service to communicate easily and efficiently with their associates,
suppliers and industry peers across the country. College alumni a
ssociations will be able to communicate with their chapter presidents
across the country and local governments can get in touch with volunteer
groups about upcoming community events."
"In addition to the small business market, we see high-growth potential
in the consumer market," said NYNEX Vice President, Core Marketing Amy
McIntosh. "Consumers will find this service affordable, convenient and
easy to use."
"Our involvement with The Messaging Alliance is in line with our
commitment to provide U.S. and Canadian-based companies with operations in
North America complete, cross-border, seamless telecommunications
solutions," says Carol Stephenson, president and chief executive officer,
Stentor Resource Centre, Inc.
"This is only one of a number of cross-border services we will offer that
allow our customers to more effectively manage their North American
NYNEX is a global communications and media company that provides
a full range of services in the northeastern United States and
high-growth markets around the world, including the United Kingdom,
Thailand, Gibraltar, Greece, Indonesia, the Philippines, Poland,
Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
The Corporation is a leader in the telecommunications, wireless communications,
cable television, directory publishing
and entertainment and information services.
FAX copies of recent NYNEX news releases are available free of charge, 24
a day. Call 1-800-331-1214 and an automated system will provide


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Baby food, diapers, and canned items are some of the items highest in demand as the Community Christmas Fundraiser hosted by Vista Radio and the St. Vincent de Paul Society runs tomorrow (Wednesday) and Thursday.
It takes place from the Country 97 FM and 94.3 the Goat studios at 2977 Ferry Avenue.
Last year’s event saw PG residents raised over 40 thousand dollars to assist with the non-profit’s holiday food hampers they hand out to families in need.
Bernie Goold with St. Vincent de Paul told MyPGNow.com times are tough for all corners of the population.
“Poverty just isn’t a weekend or a week-long, it’s now 365 days a year,”
“People on a fixed income now have to start dropping things from their lists because they can’t afford them. And you know, for many of them, their money doesn’t stretch until the end of the month.”
She added they hand out roughly 50 food hampers a month to seniors – a 50% increase when compared to last year.
“We are privileged to do it. They built this community and they had very small homes when starting out.”
Food prices to climb between dive and seven percent in 2023
As of October, food prices had risen by more than ten percent over the previous 12 months.
The Canada Food Prices report said vegetable prices are expected to see the highest increases, between six and eight percent.
However, it mentioned we should see a decline in food inflation by the end of next year.


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Microsoft has confirmed its shock purchase of Skype today, buying the voice and video calling service for over £5billion – a move that could see it integrated with Xbox Live or Windows Phone.
The deal – which was reported earlier today by the Wall Street Journal and other sources – sees the US computer giant hand over $8.5billion (£5.1billion) for the European voice-over-IP firm. That makes it Microsoft’s biggest ever buy in its 36 year history.
The move has come as a shock to many in the tech industry – it was known that Skype was looking to find a buyer, but all the speculation had revolved around a purchase by either Facebook or Google .
However, with internet voice and video services rapidly becoming a big deal – with Google Voice a major competitor, and Apple’s nascent FaceTime also trying to get in on the act – buying Skype gives Microsoft a major foothold in the market.
Skype – which lets users make free voice and video calls over the internet to other Skype users, as well as relatively cheap paid calls to phones – currently has over 650million users worldwide, including almost 9 million paying customers.
The move makes sense for Microsoft in a number of ways. Some speculation has suggested they could be looking to integrate the service into their Xbox Live online gaming platform. Indeed, with many gamers using Xbox Live as a way of staying in touch with distant friends, you could argue that Xbox Live’s biggest competitor wasn’t PlayStation Network (remember that?) but Skype itself.
And Microsoft could also be eyeing the possibility of integrating Skype into its Windows Phone platform, which could give a major boost to the mobile OS, which is still struggling to gain traction despite a huge marketing push.
The deal wouldn’t necessarily rule out further integration between Skype and Facebook, which had been anticipated by many – Microsoft owns a significant stake in Facebook, so if anything it could encourage collaboration between the firms. Tying together your Facebook contacts with Skype calls, the Windows Phone platform and Xbox Live could create a truly powerful suite of services that would prove very compelling to many everyday users.
Luxembourg and Estonia-based Skype was originally bought by eBay in 2005, before the auction firm decided it had made a bit of a mistake. Late in 2009, eBay completed the sale of 70% of the company to a consortium of investment firms in a deal that valued the firm at $2.75billion. While eBay still makes good cash out of the deal – enough to turn an overall profit on the adventure – the fact that it’s been sold for $8.5billion just eighteen months later suggests there might be a few people at eBay today looking awkwardly at the floor and hoping nobody tries talking to them.


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Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
Most people are familiar with this phrase, but what is its relevance in the world of data protection and how does this affect your customer experience.
Put simply, just because your job may give you access to other people’s personal information, that doesn’t mean you have the legal right to look at it, let alone share it. In fact, doing so without a valid reason or the knowledge of your employer is a criminal offence and could lead to prosecution by the Information Commissioner’s Office and a day in court.
Once made public your customer experience is likely to fall as trust amongst colleagues and customers will need to be restored. You just need to look at the headlines and its easy to see examples such as Uber this week.
With so much content available today its sometimes difficult to know where to get the facts. I tend to start with the regulators for advice, check out www.ico.org.uk for the facts. ICO are the UK’s independent authority set up to uphold information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy for individuals.
"Uber's announcement about a concealed data breach last October raises huge concerns around its data protection policies and ethics.


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The Moto Edge 30 Pro smartphone’s India and global launch timeline has been tipped, despite the lack of official confirmation. The official Moto Edge 30 Pro launch timeline seems to be leaked, but the exact launch date of the Motorola smartphone continues to be a mystery. To recall, the Motorola Edge 30 Pro smartphone’s official-looking design renders and specifications had surfaced online last week. Moreover, a report by MySmartPrice claim that the upcoming handset will be a rebranded version of the Edge X30.
Motorola brought the Moto Edge X30 into the Chinese market back last year. If the Moto Edge 30 Pro turns out to be the rebranded version of the Edge X30, the upcoming handset will come with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC. However, the Edge 30 will not be drawing inspiration from the Edge X30 for its outward appearance. Moreover, it is still unclear if the impending Motorola phone will retain the same specifications and features as the Moto Edge X30. In the meantime, details about the Moto Edge 30 Pro smartphone’s India and global launch dates have popped up online.
Moto Edge 30 Pro India & Global Launch Timeline
Renowned leaker Mukul Sharma has confirmed the Moto Edge 30 Pro phone’s official launch timeline to 91mobiles. According to Sharma, Motorola is gearing up to launch a new smartphone later this month. Regrettably, the tipster did not divulge the exact date. Nevertheless, the publication claims the Moto Edge 30 Pro is headed to the global and Indian market in the coming days. However, Sharma suggests that the phone will carry a different moniker in the country. The Lenovo-owned company has launched the phone with the Moto X30 moniker in China.
Gizchina News of the week
Other Leaked Details
More details about the Moto Edge 30 Pro could surface on the web in the coming weeks. To recall, the Moto X30 flagship phone went official in China back in December 2021. The Moto Edge 30 Pro is reportedly the same device. In other words, the Moto Edge 30 Pro smartphone’s specifications will be the same as the Moto X30, with some minor changes. Upfront, the upcoming phone will probably retain the X30’s 6.7-inch OLED display that offers FHD+ resolution. Aside from that, the screen delivers a 100 percent DCI-P3 color gamut, HDR10+, and a 144Hz refresh rate.
Furthermore, the phone will house an in-display fingerprint scanner. Under the hood, it packs a powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset. Also, it could ship with 12GB of RAM and offer 256GB UFS 3.1 storage. A robust 5,000mAh battery that supports 68W fast charging could power up the entire system. For optics, the Moto Edge 30 Pro is likely to come with three rear-mounted cameras. These include a 50MP main camera, a 5MP ultra-wide lens, and a 2MP sensor. Upfront, the phone could house a 60MP selfie camera. For connectivity options, it could offer NFC, Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 6E, and 5G.


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Recalls in our industry are nothing new, of course, and with new food safety regulations bringing new reporting requirements, petfood recalls seem to have increased within the past two years -- even though industry professionals know that's not the case. Rather, manufacturers have become more proactive and complied with the new regulations by reporting any incidence of Salmonella or another pathogen found in a facility, even if no products were contaminated (which is usually the case).
But, starting with the contamination situation involving chicken jerky treats from China earlier this year and now the multiple brands affected by the Salmonella infantis contamination at Diamond Pet Foods' Gaston, South Carolina, plant, I'm having flashbacks to 2007.
I'm not the only one. In his most recent column, Dr. David Dzanis questions whether the chicken jerky treat situation is the industry's "new melamine." His point is that because the number of pets and petfood companies affected is so large and the nature and timing of dogs' illnesses are so wide-ranging (among other factors), we still don't know the cause or source of the contamination several months after the first cases were reported. Just as in 2007, when it took months and, tragically, hundreds of pets became ill or even died, before the root cause was determined to be the intentional contamination with melamine by unscrupulous suppliers in China.
Similarly, Diamond has not yet been able to determine the root cause of the contamination at its plant, according to Laura Alvey of the US Food and Drug Administration (and reported on Food Safety News.) Fortunately, the recalls emanating from this case have not been quite as far-ranging, though the Salmonella infantis infections in humans has only raised the level of concern and attention.
Yet there are differences between the 2007 melamine recalls and now. For one, that situation caused many petfood manufacturers to improve their food safety programs, and as mentioned, new regulations have required even further measures. While costly, these changes also help control and contain contamination situations when they do happen, and companies are much better prepared to respond.
That includes how petfood companies deal with consumers in these situations. Most everyone in the industry is aware of the many blogs, websites and the like that sprung up all over the Internet in the wake of the 2007 recalls; many still exist, often spreading misinformation, unfortunately. But petfood companies have also stepped up their game in terms of communication and information sharing. I've been impressed with how Diamond and other brands affected by this most recent recall situation have promptly and thoroughly announced their recalls; Diamond's information has been especially thorough.
However, I do agree with Melody McKinnon's blog post below that these companies (and petfood brands not affected by the recalls) should take their online communications a step farther into social media. Just go on Twitter or Facebook and search for "pet food recalls" or "dog food recalls," and you'll see how much chatter, misinformation and even hysteria is taking place. (When the chicken jerky treat situation hit earlier this year, the Twittersphere was even conflating that with the pink slime news regarding ground meat for humans!)
Because that's another key difference between 2007 and now: Social media has just exploded over the past five years; and if you think your brand is not talked about -- positively or negatively -- in that world, you might have a brutal awakening at some point.
I believe the current recall and contamination situations could represent another crossroads for our industry in terms of how consumers view it and the industry's collective efforts to create the safest, highest-quality petfoods possible. A key factor in determining how the industry navigates this point will be whether petfood brands confront the reality of social media and engage its users (and your consumers) in the most proactive, factual and positive way possible.


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“Soda bottle”—the image you might first think of is a bottle of Coke. But the word “plant” probably conjures up far different thoughts, about trees, maybe a factory, or perhaps even your countertop flower pot, which you certainly wouldn’t drink a Coke out of. The Coca-Cola Company has just decided to combine all of these: its bottle-manufacturing plants will start using plants to make their plastic bottles.
When it comes to sustainable packaging, no one is ahead of the game than the Coca-Cola Company. The inventors of the first recyclable plastic bottle decades ago, Coca-Cola has built infrastructure to create recyclable packaging and ensure that it is collected, recycled, and reused. Earlier this year, the company opened the world’s largest bottle-to-bottle recycling plant, calculated to break down 100 million pounds of PET plastic into reusable material every year.
Coke’s new “PlantBottle™” is the newest sustainable packaging innovation, and the first bottle of its kind. The bottle plastic is a blend of petroleum-based material and 30 percent plant-based material. The plant-based material is made from sugarcane and molasses, which are by-products of sugar production, and it substitutes a key component in the production of PET plastic. The utilization of plant-derived plastics has two major benefits: using 30 percent plant-based plastics cuts carbon emissions by 25 percent, according to a study done by the Imperial College London; and when recycled, the plant-plastic does not contaminate traditional PET, making it ideal to add to the current recycling plan. Coke is also researching other plant-materials for the use of future bottle designs.
Coca-Cola North America plans on marketing the new bottles later this year, first with Dasani bottled water, and then in 2010 with vitamin water.
The Coca-Cola Company is the largest beverage distributor in the world, serving over 200 countries with 1.6 billion servings per day of its nearly 500 brands. The new sustainable bottle puts the company on track with its goal of eventually introducing a bottle made of completely recyclable and reusable material. Coca-Cola hopes that its leading-edge environmental innovations will help transform the marketplace and be able to tackle sustainability issues through the supply chain. All the fuss makes one wonder if it was worth ever moving on from the classic glass bottles.


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Aoife O’Driscoll, Powerscourt Estate; Alison Johnston, Kildare Village; Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland; and Jillian Wilson, Trinity College Dublin, in Beijing.
Tourism Ireland’s 2017 sales mission to China kicked off earlier this week with a delegation of 15 Irish tourism enterprises, including Kildare Village and Newbridge Silverware, in a bid to increase a share of this rapidly-growing tourism market.
China is described as bein the world’s largest outbound travel market – with 135 million people travelling overseas each year, spending about $261 billion.China is an important emerging travel market.
Over the week, the two Kildare delegations will meet and conclude deals with leading Chinese tour operators and travel agents, in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.
The delegation is also joined by the CEO of daa, to explore opportunities for direct flights from China to Ireland.


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(KDRTV)-President Uhuru Kenyatta has directed that National Government buy 500 hospital beds from local innovators to boost the potential to battle the coronavirus.
The two local innovators distinguished as Mungai Gathongo, 26, and Joseph Muhinja, 35, now have a reason to smile after uncovering a deal that National Government will purchase 500 of their beds
Read also: Little Known Kenyan University Allowed to Reopen During COVID-19 Pandemic
The two innovators who rely on locally assembled materials and who are based in Kiambu county have been given a month and a half to deliver the 500 beds under the supervision of president Uhuru.
Reports designate that the president sent the President`s delivery unit (PDU) to Githunguri to assess the viability of the beds; this was after the innovations stormed the social media
“I have been sent by His Excellency the President to congratulate the young innovators and to confirm the government’s commitment to support local innovations and products by providing a market for our own under the Buy-Kenya-Build-Kenya policy,” said PDU Secretary Andrew Wakahiu.
Mr. Wakahiu stated that the beds will also be evaluated by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) on the sustainability for the use of the beds in hospitals
According to PDU, the purchase in limelight is a boost to the battle against the coronavirus battle as the hospital will build the required bed capacity
KDRTV understands that many hospitals in various countries have run out of beds amid the surging novel coronavirus infections
On their side, the two innovators said that the government boost and purchase will boost their production capacity and they vowed to hire more youths to the government growing demand


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Debenhams has appointed Steven Cook as its new fashion and home managing director.
Cook joins from Canadian department store chain Holt Renfrew, where he was chief merchant for five years until his exit in 2016.
He will start his role in early January and will oversee the retailer’s buying, design and merchandising divisions for fashion and home.
Richard Cristofoli, previously Debenhams’ marketing director has been promoted to managing director of beauty, beauty services and marketing. Debenhams’ retail director, Ross Clemmow will also broaden his role as managing director for retail, digital, food and events.
Prior to his role at Selfridges-owned Holt Renfrew, Cook was divisional vice president and general manager, of apparel and accessories for Sears Canada.
CEO Sergio Bucher said: “Steven’s appointment comes following a comprehensive global search to find the right candidate to drive Debenhams’ product offer forward. Steven brings great credentials to the role and by organising under three business units, our managing directors will have more visibility and accountability for delivering the customer experience. I look forward to welcoming Steven to the business and working with him to deliver Debenhams Redesigned.”
In May 2017 Debenhams appointed Sally Hyndman as HR director and Angela Morrison as technology and supply chain director. International director, David Smith, who joined the business in February 2016 takes the title of managing director, international.
As exclusively revealed by Drapers in November Debenhams appointed BHS International’s brand director, Sara Bradley, as its new womenswear director.
Steven Cook: Career highlights
In his five-year stretch as chief merchant and senior vice president of buying and merchandising at Selfridges-owned luxury retailer Holt Renfrew, Cook oversaw product categories including men’s and women’s clothing, footwear, leather goods, fine jewellery and beauty.
He headed up the Canadian retailer’s 80-strong team as well as its fashion office, before his departure from the business in 2016.
Before joining Holt Renfrew in 2011, Cook worked in Toronto as Sears Canada’s divisional vice president and general manager of clothing and accessories.
He was charged with overseeing profitability at its retail, catalogue and ecommerce operations, while leading initiatives to attract more of its beauty and home customers to its clothing offering.
During his time at Sears, Cook negotiated exclusive launches with brands including Calvin Klein and Kate Spade & Company, then known as Liz Claiborne, as well as womenswear labels Jones New York and Ellen Tracy.
He has also held notable roles across brands and manufacturers including Calvin Klein, US eveningwear label Badgley Mischka, Canadian manufacturer Wing Son Garments – which produced knitwear for Polo Ralph Lauren, J Crew and Nike – and Montreal-based leather brand M0851.


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The Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) announced that it has extended $10 million worth of line of credit (LOC) to Seychelles. This is for healthcare and procurement of goods and projects.
It is the first tranche of the $50 million sanctioned by the Exim Bank to the country. With this agreement for $10 million, Exim Bank has extended two LOCs to Seychelles, taking the total value to $28 million.
Source- The Economic Times
Static/Current Takeaways Important for SBI PO/Clerk Exam 2018-
- Exim Bank Headquarters in: Mumbai, Founded in: 1982, CEO- Shri Yaduvendra Mathur.
- Seychelles Capital: Victoria, Currency: Seychellois rupee.


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CVS Caremark’s decision to phase-out the sale of tobacco products in its stores has been the topic of much conversation in the past week. The brand’s choice to ban the substance, to be completed by October 1st of this year, is part of a larger brand-focusing exercise, aligning CVS with its desired position as a healthcare service provider. So far, the laudable decision has been warmly received by the majority of the audience.
The success of the PR campaign can be attributed to the multimedia press release the brand distributed on the day of the announcement. The rich graphics, made up of video footage, infographics, and high-resolution images, worked with CVS’ statement in order to answer questions among media personnel and the public, and ensure quality reporting. It also made sharing the content easy due to social media’s love of visual content.
“Blogs need pictures. People on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram want pictures, too. CVS provided this multimedia news release with videos clips and downloadable, high-resolution infographics and photographs to support the stories.” – CVS Caremark CEO, Larry J. Merlo.
Although CVS understood the power of social media and how to influence it, the business fell a little flat in its own social media execution. The brand started well: it used Facebook and Twitter to interface with its audience on an individual basis, prompting the #CVSQuits hashtag to trend worldwide. In taking the time to address both the positive and negative reactions to its decision to ban tobacco, CVS managed to reinforce its stance as a concerned, caring healthcare provider – resulting in many of its consumers sharing their personal stories and experiences with tobacco. The amount of attention the multimedia campaign garnered, however, highlighted some of the ill-advised, crisis communication choices made by the social media department.
Not significant enough to cause a large backlash, but enough to undermine the integrity held in crafting individual messages and spark ire, the social media responses of the now dubbed “CVS AutoBot” were generic and lacked variation. From what was said, it’s clear that CVS was prepared for a backlash against its business decision, but it failed to think about how its methods of addressing the kickback would impact its business. Instead, CVS stepped away from using its human tone and repeatedly used the same rhetoric: a neatly-written, pre-packaged retort with all the personality of a sea-sponge.
In doing this, the PR messages felt false; the “we care” action of addressing everyone individually was at odds with the “we’re not listening” message content. Sadly, this resulted in those who didn’t understand the decision to ban tobacco being blinded by the “AutoBot” – disregarding CVS’ explanatory messages in favor of expressing their disgruntlement.
Though using social media flawlessly as a broadcast tool, CVS ultimately ignored the strength of social media as a way to build relationships and connect with audiences on a personal level. In essence, CVS relinquished its chance for effective and timely damage control amongst those who disagree with its choice to remove tobacco products.
Still, we’ll chalk it up to CVS receiving 17,000 interactions on the day of the announcement on Twitter alone – a few more than its usual 300 each week.


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Bringing new AI and robotics applications and products to market, or supporting existing ones, can be challenging for developers and enterprises.
The NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin 32GB production module — available now — is here to help accelerate AI and robotics deployments.
Nearly three dozen technology providers in the NVIDIA Partner Network worldwide are offering commercially available products powered by the new module, which provides up to a 6x performance leap over the previous generation.
With a wide range of offerings from Jetson partners, developers can build and deploy feature-packed Orin-powered systems sporting cameras, sensors, software and connectivity suited for edge AI, robotics, AIoT and embedded applications.
Production-ready systems with options for peripherals enable customers to tackle challenges in industries from manufacturing, retail and construction to agriculture, logistics, healthcare, smart cities, last-mile delivery and more.