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NEW YORK — Parsons The New School for Design will soon be completely integrated into the Greenwich Village campus.
The School of Fashion, which has been located in both Greenwich Village and Midtown, will exit its Seventh Avenue and 40th Street facility in early 2014. The plan is to move many of the Parsons facilities into the new University Center, a sprawling 350,000-square-foot building currently under construction at 65 Fifth Avenue, at the corner of 14th Street. The cost of the University Center is roughly $350 million, according to a spokeswoman.
The building, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, is being created to serve as a hub for The New School community and is intended to integrate many of the various divisions and disciplines. It will feature 200,000 square feet of academic space on the first seven floors, and 150,000 square feet for a 600-bed dormitory on the remaining nine floors. The academic space will accommodate specialized design studios, interdisciplinary classrooms, resource centers, an auditorium with 18 hydraulic lifts that can seat up to 800 people, a jazz lounge, library, dining facilities and student gathering spaces.
The space will be used for all The New School divisions, which besides Parsons consists of the Eugene Lang College, The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, Mannes College The New School for Music, The New School for Drama, The New School for Public Engagement and The New School for Social Research. Parsons makes up 50 percent of The New School’s student body.
“With this new building, we’re able to achieve something we’ve been wanting to do long before I got here, which is actually bring Parsons as a school together,” said Joel Towers, executive dean of Parsons. “We’re globally recognized in fashion, but [Parsons] is also a leader in other areas of design, from architecture to interior design to communication design and photography….with the move downtown we’ll be able to bring all the design students together.”
The opening of the University Center, slated for January, will integrate the School of Fashion into the university’s Greenwich Village location. Fifth Avenue and 13th Street will become the campus crossroads, with Parsons’ Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at 66 Fifth Avenue, the new University Center at 65 Fifth Avenue and a building at 25 East 13th Street housing Parsons’ varied programs.
Simon Collins, dean of the School of Fashion at Parsons, pointed out that it was time for a more modern building, since it has been operating at 40th Street and Seventh Avenue (the David M. Schwartz Fashion Education building at 560 Seventh Avenue) since 1979. Parsons has just begun contacting brokers and is exploring a possible sale or lease of the building, said a spokeswoman.
“Our curriculum and the way we teach have evolved enormously since then. We’ll finally have a building that reflects that evolution and gives us the opportunity to evolve further and interact with other schools within Parsons,” said Collins. Historically, Parsons’ fashion students traveled back and forth between the Garment District and Greenwich Village classes. They generally spent their first year in Greenwich Village taking classes, but then moved to Midtown in subsequent years for most of their classes, except for history and theory classes, which they took in the Village, said Collins. “Now they’ll be literally side by side with their colleagues in communication, photography, etc.,” he said. Parsons’ students in such disciplines as architectural design, communication design, photography, product design and interior design have always been based in the Village.
The center will meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, Gold standards, making it one of the greenest buildings in New York and one of the greenest academic institutions in the country. The dorms are expected to open in September.
Collins noted that Parsons has always acted as hub or a social space for the fashion and design industry, and he expects to be able to host meetings, lectures and fashion shows in the new building. “This will afford us a much better quality resource to provide for the various design industries,” he said. He also believes that being all together downtown in the Village will allow cross-disciplinary learning. For example, Parsons’ architecture or product design students will now be able to try their hands at a fashion design course. A redesigned curriculum, which will roll out to freshmen this fall, will enable more flexibility for students to choose their course of study. For the first time, Parsons is allowing students to have minors, not only in another discipline at the design school, but among other programs at The New School. For example, a fashion design student could minor in another area of design, psychology or a foreign language.
“The curriculum is very, very demanding, so they tend to be working, or working,” said Collins. “As we evolve the curriculum, we hope they have more time to interact with the city and their fellow students. With fellow students across the street, or in the next room, it’s a lot easier.”
For instance, he explained, fashion students work with photography students at the end of the semester to shoot their looks and this will be a lot easier with them nearby. The fashion design students can also work more closely with the communications students who design the Web sites.
Narciso Rodriguez, a graduate of Parsons, said there’s something special about that Seventh Avenue and 40th Street building, but he’s excited about the new center.
“When I was in school, the industry was much smaller and concentrated in that area. The fabric we bought was right there on 40th Street. The building on 14th Street and Fifth Avenue is such a great new phase in the school’s life. I work on 16th Street, so it’ll be nice to have the students closer to me. But I’ll always have a soft spot for that [Seventh Avenue] building. It’s such a unique, special place.”
@tradesy is turning the concept of a showroom upside down with its new space in Santa Monica. Here, the company plans to hold events, art exhibits and a showcase rare fashion pieces like this Louis Vuitton boxing set. Get all the details on Tradesy’s first showroom on WWD.com. #wwdnews
Spotted last night at the @erdem x @hm launch event: Kate Bosworth, Rashida Jones, Kirsten Dunst and Selma Blair. The party, which took place in LA, also marked the opening of their pop-up shop. “I was interested in creating a collection that wasn’t in any way disposable. It was about pieces you’d create and keep forever, things that have a permanence to it,” designer Erdem Moralioglu said. #wwdeye (📷: Katie Jones)
Renee Zellweger in yellow in 2001 and again in 2017. Chosen as one of the 12 @pantone Leading Spring Colors (and dubbed “Meadowlark”), it only makes sense that the bright hue stands the test of time and is making a resurgence this season, seen already on stars like @blakelively and @gigihadid. (📷: Donato Sardello & @rexfeatures) #wwdfashion #tbt
Dior’s 70th anniversary celebration continues with a new exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. “Christian Dior,” which is scheduled to run through March 18, takes a look at the founders tenure from 1947 to 1057 and feature 40 designs. Pictured here is an evening gown from the Ailée, fall 1948-49 haute couture collection. #wwdfashion (📷: Brian Boyle)
As one of the most recognizable models in the world, Christy Turlington Burns has an insider’s view of the fashion industry and the allegations of sexual harassment swirling around it. “I can say that harassment and mistreatment have always been widely known and tolerated in the industry. The industry is surrounded by predators who thrive on the constant rejection and loneliness so many of us have experiences at some point in our careers,” Turlington told WWD, along with her suggestions for how the modeling world should protect younger women and men. Read more on WWD.com. Link in bio. (📷: Tony Palmieri) #wwdnews
@asics America has tapped a new brand ambassador: famed DJ/record producer @steveaoki. This initiative is intended to set the tone for the new brand identity and philosophy and will include partnerships with influencers and in-store and off-line activations that will continue into next year. This is Asics’ most significant marketing effort in two decades, and is expected to attract younger consumers to the brand. #wwdfashion
24-year-old Jean Prounis is redefining the rules of jewelry. Formerly a studio assistant to Jemima Kirke and a design apprentice at Ghuran, she focuses on handcrafted subtleties and ancient goldsmithing techniques. “There was a really sterile feel in the environment and I wanted to have jewelry with character that shapes how you wear it everyday,” Prounis said. Each piece is hand made in New York, either by Prounis or three other jewelers in the district. #wwdfashion
“These collections continue to build on that vision, empowering differently abled adults to express themselves through fashion,” said @tommyhilfiger of his line of adaptive apparel, which launches today. The line consists of 37 men’s and 34 women’s styles based upon the pieces from the spring Tommy Hilfiger sportswear collection. #wwdnews


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'A different kind of animal': A profile of Ola Kaellenius
Production is expected to begin in 2019.
003 gets a turbocharged V8 in place of Valkyrie's naturally aspirated V12.
Or maybe it's more like a train, with a Leader Pod and Robo Pods.
Performance-focused AR could turn every track into a video game set to 'Easy.'
Report says Chrysler would only sell family haulers come 2020.
Lucid "will demonstrate the full potential of the electric connected vehicle."
Securing cobalt from mines that don't exploit workers or employ children is key.
Look underneath and you can tell this is no Ford.
It includes more than $103,600,000 from the city itself.
It would 'coordinate' efforts at Audi, Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini.
But what if the N.Y. Auto Show favorite does get made? What would it be like?
But charging infrastructure is a big problem there.
Never-ending R8 rumors take a 1,000-hp turn.
The first member of the EQ sub-brand is revealed.

domain: news


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Waltonchain is definitely a coin that has failed to prove its worthiness, although it has really interesting fundamentals that involve blockchain, integration of RFID chips with their further incorporation with the Internet of Things. Apparently, this team has failed to deliver on their promises as WTC has been doing nothing but decreasing in value for the last two years, leaving all investors with holes in their pockets.
Bart Davison November 12, 2019 Reply
What is even going on!! WTC is up almost 2x from last week. This market is exploding with potential right now. I've been telling people to get in before this market lifts off and here's bitcoin pulling a major move out of nowhere. It really goes to show you the volatility of crypto and the big bucks you can make in it. This is the best opportunity any of us have to make huge amounts of cash in the next 5 years.
Jamal April 2, 2019 Reply
Walton chain is still better than all of its comeptitors. They have one of the cheapest methods for RFID tracking and this is what's really important to companies using them. They are already huge in China and already have many business partnerships. This coin is a sleeping bull and is ready to make a big move again.
Joe March 18, 2019 Reply
WTC brings back memories. This was THE pump coin of 2017. Reminded me of ANTshares. This coin still has loads of potential, but it really has competition against VET. WTC needs to step up their ad campaigns because we may get left behind by bigger projects like VeChain. Walton chain uses top of the line RFID chips that are easily placed on products. These products can literally be anything they're flexible and don't cost much to implement. Once WTC gets more companies onboard they will be unstoppable!
Zamfir March 4, 2019 Reply
A good coin in long-term, the price is really gone up from the acceptable levels for the purchase, but it is worth monitoring, and, of course, to buy in case of a good drawdown. Interest in Walton is now heightened on the news background; the team scored the nomination Outstanding Blockchain Company at the first blockchain summit in Southeast Asia.
Oleg January 22, 2019 Reply
Any child chain creation needs to expend WaltonCoins (WTC). As the Walton ecosystem continues to grow, an increasing number of businesses will be joining the ecosystem, as a result of which they will expend a growing amount of WTC to create all kinds of child chains. Thus, the demands for WTC will r...


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Ammo supplies are tight
It’s a drought of a different variety, and as a result, customers are clamoring to grab every box of gun ammunition they can get their hands on; wherever they can find it.
“And it doesn’t seem to be getting any better,” said Rick Morton, owner of Hubbard’s Pawn Shop. The pawn shop is one of the main retailers of ammunition in the local area, along with big players like Gebo’s, Walmart and Big 5 Sporting Goods.
However, retailers across the country, big and small, are facing the same situation — a massive shortage on gun ammunition.
“The warehouses are just empty . . . and manufacturers just can’t catch up,” said Morton.
Since January, rounds of ammunition have become increasingly difficult to come across. The cause? An intensely high customer demand, fueled by the fear of federal or state gun restrictions following the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary in early December.
Talks of gun bans and ammunition restrictions sent gun owners into panic and into their local gun shops.
Gun and ammunition sales spiked as Americans rushed to beef up their home arsenals.
“A lot of people are stocking up ammo supplies . . . and people are buying guns that have never owned one before,” said Morton.
On top of that, Morton explained that the number of people taking concealed handgun courses has greatly risen; which in some cases requires a good chunk of training rounds.
As a result, the political frenzy has depleted resources, and manufacturers, like Winchester and Remington, are frantic in their efforts to quench the demand.
In a hypothetical scenario, Morton explained that if everybody were to stop buying bullets for a while, it would still take months for manufacturers to replenish the supply to the number it once was.
Even the ordering process is different for retailers. In the past, retailers could order cases of any caliber they wanted just with a simple click of a computer mouse. However, currently it’s more of a “take it or leave it” type of situation.
“Wholesalers will call you up and tell you what they got,” said Morton. “You get what you can get.”
However, what retailers are getting is just a fraction of the demand, as wholesalers may offer a few 50-round boxes of 9mm or .223-caliber, if even that.
At a local retailer, a line of more than 20 gun owners will wait for more than an hour as employees unload their weekly inventory truck.
Whatever few cases are shipped are quickly rationed like a bread line during the Great Depression. Many go home empty handed because their caliber wasn’t shipped that week.
“What used to take three months to sell now flies right off the shelf,” said Morton.
And even if a wholesaler is able to get his hands on a substantial and caliber-diverse ammunition supply, price increases are adding on to the strain of the arms race.
“The shortage is starting to get better, but the price for ammo is increasing,” said Lt. Deion Guerra of the Plainview Police Department.
Guerra explained what used to cost $7-$14 a box can now cost up to $40-$50 a box.
However, some calibers are still hard to find.
“Some places have 9mm on nine-month back orders, and don’t even ask about getting .223 for the ARs,” said Guerra.
But, despite the squeeze the shortage is having on local law enforcement, departments are still prepared, as they have made it a habit to bulk up ammo through the years.
“Right now we are in good shape,” said Guerra. “We try to build up our reserves, because you never know.”
Where the shortage is taking a toll for departments is in their training sessions, which include monthly SWAT training and yearly qualifications.
Guerra added that firing instructor training could easily take up 1,500 rounds per course for an officer.
For years, the Hale County Sheriff’s Department has been able to save rounds by using paint balls or “simunition” in their training regimen. The department also loads its own ammunition for qualification drills that the sheriff’s office requires officers to do at least three times a year.
“We go through about 10,500 training rounds a year as a department,” said Chief Deputy David Pool.
But for the sheriff’s department, components to reload ammunition are also becoming scarce.
“It’s hard to find the powder and the primers,” said Pool.
On top of that, the department still uses factory ammunition for officers on duty.
“In terms of quality, it’s more consistent, more reliable and dependable,” said Pool.
Pool explained that the department is currently solid with ammunition reserves, but if the trend does not let up, the department may consider dropping one of its required qualifying tests.
Ammunition supplies are expected to improve, but when is the big question.
Morton explained that a shortage had occurred once before in 2008, right around the time President Barak Obama was first elected into office. The trend, however, lasted about two to three months.
Even though Congress recently shot down several gun control measures, the trend of grabbing all the ammo you can continues as rumors of U.N. restrictions have gun owners afraid and on edge.
“Hopefully things will turn around, but we are not seeing anything yet,” said Morton.
Until then, manufacturers will still be hard at work trying to meet the demand of military contracts, and the needs of law enforcement and the general public.


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On Monday, FloSports, a popular website for niche sports, officially announced a new addition to its portfolio: FloSlam, a pro wrestling website that also includes a subscription video streaming service. While the journalistic coverage of pro wrestling and the name of the site were known to be coming thanks to the company's want ad soliciting an editor for the website, the streaming service was a detail that had been kept private for months.
At launch, FloSlam subscriptions include access to live events from the World Wrestling Network family of promotions (Evolve, Shine, and Full Impact Pro), as well as its back catalog as it is uploaded over the next few months. The first event, from Shine, a women's wrestling promotion, airs Friday, November 4, with the first shows from Evolve, WWN's showpiece promotion, coming November 12 and 13.
Oh, and one more thing: WWE invested venture capital in FloSports, but apparently has no decision making power and was not aware this was coming. Coincidentally, WWE had been looking to add a new, more expensive tier to its WWE Network service that would include independent wrestling events.
All of a sudden, it's a very different world for independent wrestling promoters.
"FloSports made us an absolutely tremendous offer," WWN Vice President of Talent Relations Gabe Sapolsky told Motherboard. "After researching the company, we're very excited about what FloSports has to offer, the potential for growth with the company, and their promotion of FloSlam, the way that they're willing to get behind the WWN family with it. So it [was] the obvious next 'best move' for the WWN family."
WWNLive, the company's pay-per-view streaming service that had been used to distribute its shows, will still exist, but only for events from third party promotions and video on demand titles that customers had already purchased.
For Sapolsky, not having to be concerned with both the event itself as well as the logistics of streaming is a welcome change that is "definitely a weight off our shoulders." It's also part of a bigger change that lets the company move more freely towards a more modern business model. "We also recognized that the future was in subscription services," he said. "If other promotions want to try to a la carte model, it still does business, so it's not like it's a dead model. But if you're going to do this consistently, [as] the backbone of your business, it is about subscriptions at this point. This deal really allows us to seamlessly move into [having a] subscription service, without it being a huge risk for us."
If WWN had jumped headfirst into launching its own subscription service, it would, in Sapolsky's words, "have had to increase our viewership a great deal" to equal internet pay-per-view revenues. "Maybe we would have had 10,000 subscribers, maybe we would have had 1,000. But we're not faced with that pressure right now," he added. Sapolsky is confident that the FloSports machine will provide the promotion that WWN wouldn't be able to get on its own.
Reception from wrestling fans has been mixed so far, largely due to launching with just WWN and the price, which is the same as the other Flo services. Month to month subscriptions are $20, while FloPro, which gets you access to all of Flo's streaming services, is a $150 annual lump sum.
If you already get all of Evolve's shows, which start at $10, it's a push at worst. The question is if it's too much for new fans who are just used to paying WWE $9.99 a month, at least right now.
The announcement also impacts other growing players in the wrestling subscription space. Adam Lash of Powerbomb TV, which has yet to launch, offers a different approach. "It's a truly independent service that aims to give independent promotions and wrestlers from around the world a platform to build their names and generate revenue," Lash told Motherboard. "We're truly, 100 percent independent, all of us involved have been a part of indie wrestling for years and years, and most importantly we care about independent wrestling and it's long term health and growth."
FloSlam's launch could also throw a monkey wrench into the booming business of independent wrestling-themed channels on PivotShare, which makes it easy to launch your own subscription video on demand service (but no live streaming) with a Roku Channel. While most are run by independent promotions themselves, one, Highspots Wrestling Network, features a mix of content from numerous sources, both produced in-house and licensed. An extension of their previous web-based Highspots.tv service, the first wrestling-based subscription streaming platform, which ran for seven years. It's the closest thing to a direct competitor to FloSlam… except for one key thing. Due to PivotShare's limitations, it doesn't offer live streaming, though Highspots also does live internet pay-per-view on its own website.
"I don't know if they're a competitor or not," Highspots founder Michael Bochicchio told Motherboard, referring to FloSlam. "I will tell you that it's very difficult for people within our industry, and I think I'm one of the bigger players within it, to do what Flo is asking anybody to do, which is deliver live content. A lot have people have tried it, [and] delivering live content is a big challenge."
It's not a secret that, for a long time, internet pay-per-view was a dirty word in wrestling due to technical issues that a number of companies had. According to Bochicchio, the source of the most hiccups is one that doesn't apply to FloSports' other genres. "It's very difficult to get a dedicated internet line at the type of venues, that professional wrestling [promotions], at least on the independent level, run." Why? They tend to only have one hardwired connection, and usually, it's occupied by their point of sale devices. "So when someone goes and buys a beer, or some nachos, or whatever, you see a dip in the speed of the internet, and that affects the stream. So when people see dips [in quality], that's why they occur."
The future looks brighter than it's been in a long time for non-WWE wrestling companies. There's more quality talent than ever, WWE is acknowledging the independent scene more and more, and now, there are more options for monetizing their content. The question is just what it will take to get the average fan who just knows about WWE Network to buy it.


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Dog Tag Challenge
For this month (January 2013), DICE has announced a new dog tag challenge for players to partake in.
It's nothing all complicated and all platforms (PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360) will unlock the dog tag once the goal is reached.
This challenge encourages players to become a team player. By that, I mean players must do team support actions to unlock the dog tag. Actions include:
- Savior kills
- Squad Attack Orders
- Squad Defend Orders
Actions that are earned count for the challenge, regardless of map and game mode.
Players from all platforms must get 10,000,000,000 (aka "10 Billion") of those actions to unlock this dog tag (known as "Party Pooper"):
The dog tag challenge starts January 25 and ends January 29.
Battlefield Premium Competition
Top 5 players from each platform will earn a reward (probably a lithograph) from DICE.
The competition starts January 25 and ends January 27.
Now the only thing that I can't talk about in this news post is the Battlefield Premium-exclusive trailer for January. It should come soon as there's only 8 days left in January.
See you on the "Battlefield"! (Quote copyright of DICE, 2013.)
Read more >
Based on feedback for the Battlefield Hardline Beta last June as well as from the Community Test Environment, Visceral, namely GM Steve Papoutsis has …
Earlier today, DICE LA announced that the second phase of testing for Battlefield 4: Final Stand on the Community Test Environment will begin today, O…Read more >
Read more >
The fabled Battlefield 4 Premium Edition is finally being released for PC on October 21st, 2014 (interesting the day that was originally set to be the…


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This feature will be in video form, with a quick interview of the brewer talking about one particular beer, about the style, the name, and the taste and anything else they want to add.
High Gravity Brewing Co.'s Desiree Knott tells us about the beer of the week, 'Sinister Milk Stout' a stout that they are pouring out of their nitrogen tap. It comes in at 5% ABV. Available at Pippin's Taproom at High Gravity, 6808 S Memorial Dr Ste 144.
High Gravity Brewing Company has also started Pandemonium a new membership program that will feature barrel-aged beers.
Memberships will cost $225 each and will not exceed 150 members. The memberships will be sold until it sells out or July 15. The membership includes three 500ml bottles from their barrel-aged program with an option to purchase any leftovers.
A four-pack from four public releases (there will be a total of 8 public releases) for a total of 16 500ml bottles and a members-only party for all the releases which will include admission for a member and guest. Members will also receive exclusive glassware for each of the releases.
This is the first time that High Gravity has focused on barrel-aged beers. High Gravity Fermentation Supplies sells beer and wine making and other supplies, they also have a winery and a taproom called Pippin's Taproom at High Gravity.
Their first barrel-aged offering will be a Saison aged in a chardonnay barrel with hibiscus added it is scheduled to be released next February.
For membership information check their site at Pippin's taproom
Past beers of the week:


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Robert Baptiste, who tweets from his pseudonym account on Twitter ‘Elliot Alderson’, had flagged concerns, saying profile data of users with information on their gender, date of birth, marital status and other details were available publicly along with email IDs of some users.
Reacting to the allegations, Koo co-founder and CEO Aprameya Radhakrishna said the profile data in question was “voluntarily” disclosed on the platform, and it can’t be termed a ‘data leak’.
“On email IDs, yes it was visible and we have fixed it today. In the regional market (social media), no one logs in via email. And log-in through mobile number is default. Email option was asked by corporates and we enabled it around three months ago, but it was about 4% of the total user base,” he said. Radhakrishna added that phone numbers are protected and not available for anyone to see.
Asked about links with a Chinese investor, he said Shunwei Capital, the venture capital arm of Xiaomi, didn’t participate in Koo’s fund-raise last week when it got a little over $4 million. Bombinate Technologies is the parent firm which houses Koo and Vokal (a Quoralike platform).
“Shunwei had invested in Vokal and they are being bought out. It was intentional. We have top Indian entrepreneurs investing in our firm, buying out Shunwei stake. It was already in process (before the user surge in the last two days),” he said.
These entrepreneurs include names like Ashish Hemrajani of BookMyShow, Nikhil Kamath of Zerodha, and Sujeet Kumar of Udaan. Koo’s parent firm investors like 3one4 Capital, Accel Partners and Blume Ventures are also buying out parts of Shunwei’s single-digit stake in the company. “It is a clear indication that the company is getting more and more Indian money in,” Koo said in a separate statement.


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The online tech site Engadget recently discovered and reported on an online consumer survey where people were being asked if they would be willing to pay for a subscription to watch videos on ABC.com. It seems the Disney-owned network is at least mulling the idea of paid online video.
The survey indicated that the hypothetical paid service would have more content and fewer commercials than the free service available to anyone on ABC.com. Importantly, it proposed to offer lots of past ABC shows no longer airing, as well as more episodes of current shows. Also, new episodes would be available immediately after airing, rather than the next day.
The network played down the significance of the survey on paid Internet videos. “In order to better understand our audience as the digital marketplace evolves, we constantly conduct research on a variety of subjects to garner useful insights. We are always interested in learning more about how consumers think about content windowing, subscription options and new digital delivery methods, which may or may not ever come to pass,” ABC said in a statement.


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13:50 11th Apr, 2016
Blackberry To Launch Affordable Android Smartphones | TechTree.com
Blackberry To Launch Affordable Android Smartphones
Company to unveil two new android smartphones by December 2016.
In an attempt to revive the chances of survival in the smartphone market, Blackberry CEO John Chen announced the launch of two new android smartphones by the end of this
year. The company had released its first ever android smartphone, Blackberry Priv last year which failed to garner expected sales.
In an interview with The National, Mr Chen admitted that the Priv “was too high-end a product", with its target market of enterprise customers put off by the handset’s $700 price tag.
“The fact that we came out with a high end phone (as our first Android device) was probably not as wise as it should have been," Mr Chen said during a visit to Abu Dhabi.“A lot of enterprise customers have said to us, ‘I want to buy your phone but $700 is a little too steep for me. I’m more interested in a $400 device’."
Mr Chen said that BlackBerry’s handset division had shown some signs of improvement during the last quarter, with losses halving compared with the previous quarter, but said
that the company would exit the segment if it could not achieve profitability.
After the debacle of Blackberry Priv, which was obscenely overpriced, miserably failed to create ripples in the market as people opted for less expensive android phones.
Blackberry plans to release its new series of phones at a much cheaper rate than Priv with the iconic QWERTY keypad.
This time around Blackberry seems to be keen on not limiting their product to just business corporates alone although the company still prides in its commitment to security.
Coutresy: The National
- DRIFE Begins Operations in Namma Bengaluru
- Sevenaire launches ‘NEPTUNE’ – 24W Portable Speaker with RGB LED Lights
- Inbase launches ‘Urban Q1 Pro’ TWS Earbuds with Smart Touch control in India
- Airtel announces Rs 6000 cashback on purchase of smartphones from leading brands
- 78% of Indians are saving to spend during the festive season and 72% will splurge on gadgets & electronics
- 5 Tips For Buying A TV This Festive Season
- Facebook launches its largest creator education program in India
- 5 educational tech toys for young and aspiring engineers
- Mid-range smartphones emerge as customer favourites this festive season, reveals Amazon survey
- COLORFUL Launches Onebot M24A1 AIO PC for Professionals


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Just as we wind down from the Lilly Pulitzer for Target frenzy, the retail world has another designer collaboration for you to get psyched about. According to WWD, Kohl’s DesigNation has chosen Thakoon Panichgul as its next collaborator but don’t get too juiced yet – the limited edition collection isn’t due to hit shelves until the fall.
Priced at under $200, the range will include dresses and separates inspired by his travels to London. “London is a city I have always loved the energy of. The culture is distinctly familiar but also very international,” Panichgul said. “The idea was to bring a certain energy intrinsic to London style to the Thakoon vernacular for Kohl’s.”
It only just stopped being unbearably cold in the northeast, but we can’t help but be a little psyched for fall now that we’ve got this news. We will definitely be watching closely to see what Kohl’s and Thakoon have in store for what will likely be an epic pairing this fall.
Kohl’s has found itself in the news lately with Wisconsin Governor and 2016 presidential hopeful Scott Walker dropping the brand name to buttress his “every man” image, proudly proclaiming that his shirts and sweaters are from the retailer. Can we expect to see his wife, Tonette Walker in pieces from Thakoon’s collection on the campaign trail this fall? That is, if Thakoon’s high fashion affiliation and the collection’s London roots aren’t a bit too high class for her humble tastes…


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Indonesian presidential candidate, Joko Widodo, has announced his intention to allow foreigners to buy apartments in Indonesia in an attempt to raise tax revenues.
Foreigners are currently banned from directly buying Indonesian property, which has lead to illegal transactions. Allowing foreign sales will see the Indonesian Government impose a 'luxury tax' on future sales.
Foreign investors would be able to purchase apartments for AUD$225,000 (2.5 million rupiah) in Jakarta, other main cities and in Bali.
According to The Australian Financial Review, this could spur investor demand as buyers take advantage of the low prices in a luxury market.
Anton Sitorus, Head of Research at the Indonesian unit of JLL, told The Australian Financial Review that the attractive property market would see investors purchasing multiple apartments in Indonesia while in Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia they could only afford one.


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With 85 screen additions in a single financial year, Inox claims this to be an industry record; taking the overall total to 574 screens
Multiplex chain operator Inox Leisure reported revenue growth of 48 percent year-on-year to Rs 478.8 crore in Q4FY19, led by healthy growth across all business segments.
According to a Yes Securities report, Inox's growth is on the back of strong content-driven footfall, highest-ever occupancy, increased conversion rate for its F&B business and a continued streak of strong revenue growth in advertising.
Strong content attracted audiences to the theatres, enabling 43 percent YoY growth in footfall, to 1.8 crore patrons and highest historic occupancy of 31 percent in Q4.
Net Box Office Collection (NBOC) revenue grew 50 percent YoY to Rs 280 crore. The growth was largely driven by strong collection from movies such as URI, Gully Boy, Simmba, Total Dhamaal and Kesari.
In the fourth quarter of FY19, the top five movies contributed 48 percent to the total gross box office collection (GBOC) as compared to 53 percent in Q4 FY18. Content mix in FY19 was 67-69 percent Hindi, 13-15 percent English and rest was regional language.
The movie pipeline for the next fiscal looks robust, with strong start from Avengers Endgame crossing Rs 300-crore revenue mark.
Talking to Moneycontrol, Alok Tandon, chief executive officer, Inox Leisure, said, “There is an all new content-driven ecosystem which is coming up. Besides a new genre of content, there is also a new class of performers and directors, adding significantly to the ecosystem and catering to the needs of new-age cinema lovers. We have big releases in the form of Bharat, Mental Hai Kya, Brahmastra coming up in the Hindi category, to name a few.”
With 85 screen additions in a single financial year, Inox claims this to be an industry record; taking the overall total to 574 screens.
Tandon said this equates to about one screen every four days. For the fourth quarter, he said, "We have added 28 screens with properties being launched in Jaipur, Jamnagar, Chennai and two in Bhubaneshwar. We added four new INSIGNIA screens at our existing properties in Mumbai.”
His outlook for FY20 is to add another 80 screens. “We have already added nine screens in two properties, taking our tally to 141 multiplexes and 583 screens in 67 cities. We have more than 850 screens lined up, for which we already have signed the documents,” he added.
The company has 8-9 percent premium category screens, including MX4D, Insignia & Onyx Diner, and will maintain the same composition of 10:90 premium: non premium category in FY20.
Tandon also talked about other growth segments like F&B and advertising.
“Along with revenue growth of 48 percent in Q4FY19, our EBITDA grew by 122 percent from Rs 44 crore in Q4FY18 to Rs 97 crore in Q4FY19, and our profits have risen by 992 percent to Rs 44 crore on a YoY basis. Our spends per head grew 9 percent in the same period to Rs 73 which indicates a growth liking for our F&B (food and beverage) offerings.”
He also claimed that the company had the best-ever quarterly advertising revenue at Rs 43 crore, having achieved growth of 29 percent over Q4FY18.
For Inox, this was the eighth consecutive quarter where its advertising revenues grew, said Tandon. “Our occupancy has grown as well from 26 percent to 28 percent, which is also a very healthy sign,” he added.
PVR, another player in the exhibition space, reported its fourth quarter results last week and posted healthy growth during the said period.
For PVR too, growth came on the back of strong box office performance. Other factors included reduction in goods and services tax (GST) (for tickets priced below Rs 100 from 18 percent to 12 percent) and acquisition of SPI Cinemas, India’s leading cinema exhibitor to strengthen its presence.Ajay Bijli, chairman and managing director, PVR Ltd, after announcing the results, had said PVR has crossed the landmark of 750 screens and served almost 100 million patrons, a feat which places the company among top 10 cinema chains globally in terms of admits.


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Conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. is venturing into the logistics and distribution business with an initial investment of P2 billion on strong demand in the country.
Metro Pacific president Jose Ma. Lim said in a press briefing the company would acquire the assets of Pasig City-based, mid-sized corporate logistics provider Basic Logistics Corp.
Lim said the company would later form a new company, Metro Pacific Movers Inc., in joint venture with the shareholders of Basic Logistics, to provide logistics, shipping, freight forwarding and e-commerce services.
Lim said Metro Pacific would initially hold a 76-percent interest in MPMI, while the owners of Basic Logistics would hold 24 percent and continue to manage the business.
The deal is expected to be completed next week.
Metro Pacific is in talks with a foreign investor that will come in as a minority investor in MPMI. The entry of the foreign investor could reduce Metro Pacific’s stake in MPMI to 51 percent.
The company, a unit of Hong Kong-based Frist Pacific Co. Ltd. of Indonesia tycoon Anthoni Salim, has also committed to invest P5 billion in the business over a five-year period.
Metro Pacific chairman Manuel Pangilinan said the potential for the logistics business was significant in the Philippines considering that the geography required a good infrastructure.
“We are looking at Basic Logistics as our core investment. In a way it will be an education journey for us to learn about the intricacies of the logistics and distribution business because it is a fairly complex business,” Pangilinan said.
Pangilinan said the group’s venture into logistics business would provide synergies to the company’s existing businesses in terms of the warehousing requirements of Manila Electric Co. and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.
Meanwhile, Metro Pacific said net income in the first three months of the year grew eight percent to P2.6 billion, while consolidated revenues climbed 24 percent to P10.6 billion.
Lim attributed the positive first-quarter performance to strong traffic growth of its tollroad business, strong earnings contrition from Meralco and the growth of its hospital group.
Lim said the earnings would have been stronger if the delayed tariff rate adjustments of its water, tollway and rail businesses were implemented.
“More positively, I expect continued strong volume growth for the rest of the year and our initial move into the logistics sector, an obvious adjunct to our infrastructure businesses, offers strong growth potential but minimal regulatory engagement,” Lim said.


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While many seniors have planned ahead for retirement living, some older adults may have been hard hit by the recession and lost some of their nest egg. Fortunately, there are some ways that individuals can rebuild what was lost and still enjoy senior living, according to Fox 5 Vegas.
One way that older adults can support themselves is by applying for or staying in a job. These don't have to be stressful, long-hour careers - even a part time position at a retail outlet or customer service desk can help bring in around $960 per month if the salary is $12 an hour, according to the news source.
Seniors may also want to consider transitioning to a retirement home or an independent living facility. This will allow older adults to downsize the home that they occupied with their family, which is likely now too big.
Older adults who are moving to a new living space are likely going to be getting rid of some possessions. Instead of throwing items away, U.S. News and World Report recommends that seniors sell their possessions by holding a garage sale or using online websites like eBay.


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The FDA is warning consumers to avoid using dietary supplements containing cesium salts due to potentially significant safety risks.
The FDA is warning consumers to avoid using dietary supplements containing cesium salts due to potential safety risks, according to an agency-issued alert.
Although there are few dietary supplements with this ingredient currently on the market, the agency noted that consumers should be aware of the risks and avoid purchasing such products. Cesium salts, such as cesium chloride, are sometimes promoted as alternative treatments for cancer, despite no evidence supporting their use.
The warning comes after an FDA review identified multiple clinical case reports and non-clinical studies that demonstrate significant safety concerns associated with cesium salts. A comprehensive review of the CFSAN Adverse Event Reporting System database showed safety risks including potentially fatal cardiac arrhythmias, hypokalemia, seizures, syncope, and death.
The agency previously issued a warning to health care professionals in July 2018 about the use of cesium salts in compounding drugs, citing serious adverse events.
Health care professionals should not recommend dietary supplements containing cesium salts to their patients. If any patients experience an adverse event while taking a dietary supplement containing cesium salts, the health care professional should report the adverse event to the FDA through the Safety Reporting Portal.


text: Bira 91, a craft beer brand backed by Sequoia Capital India, has become India’s first net-zero brewery. The Mysuru brewery is leading to significant cost savings in manufacturing efficiency, with energy costs declining by 40-50%. Bira 91 raised $70m from a funding round led by Japanese beer company Kirin Holdings, and another $10m from MUFG Bank over the past five months. The company aims to become India’s first net-zero beer company by 2025. Plans include shifting to clean energy and reduction in energy consumption and water usage.


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Economic Update, April 2, 2012
Provided by Marie Richarz, Prospect Mortgage
Pending home sales, a forward-looking indicator based on signed contracts, fell 0.5% in February after a 2% increase in January. On a year-over-year basis, pending home sales are up 9.2%.
Retail sales fell 0.5% for the week ending March 24, according to the ICSC-Goldman Sachs index. On a year-over-year basis, retailers saw sales increase 2.7%.
The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city housing price index — on a non-seasonally adjusted basis — fell 0.8% in January after a 1.1% decrease in December. On a year-over-year basis, prices fell 3.8% compared with January 2011.
Orders for durable goods — items expected to last three or more years — rose $4.5 billion or 2.2% to $211.8 billion in February. This follows a revised 3.6% decrease in January. Excluding volatile transportation-related goods, orders posted a monthly increase of 1.6%.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted composite index of mortgage applications for the week ending March 23 fell 2.7%. Refinancing applications decreased 4.6%. Purchase volume rose 3.3%.
The Commerce Department announced that gross domestic product — the total output of goods and services produced in the U.S. — increased at an annual rate of 3% in the fourth quarter of 2011. This follows a 1.8% pace of growth in the third quarter of 2011. On a year-over-year basis, the economy expanded 1.6%.
The Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for March’s final reading rose to 76.2 from 75.3 in February. On a year-over-year basis, consumer sentiment is up 12.9%.
Initial claims for unemployment benefits for the week ending March 24 fell by 5,000 to 359,000. Continuing claims for the week ending March 17 fell by 41,000 to 3.34 million.
Upcoming on the economic calendar are reports on construction spending on April 2 and factory orders on April 3.


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WELCOME TO The capital REPORT
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Feature market insights and perspectives from top C-Level executives, elite technology influencers and thought leaders from your company here. This signature initiative has garnered immense support...
Nymbus | March 31, 2020
Florida-based digital and core banking solution provider Nymbus has launched a new programme to help financial institutions faster process the loans US government is entrusting them to distribute to small businesses as part of its coronavirus relief package. As part of the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Recovery (CARES) Act, US president Donald Trump has set aside $349 billion for Small Business Administration (SBA) ‘Paycheck Protection’ loans. These are designed to...
Pana | February 24, 2022
Pana, a Latino-focused neobank, has announced joining Visa’s Fintech Fast Track program. It has joined intending to speed up integrating with Visa, a world leader in digital payments. Pana with Visa can easily leverage the capabilities, reach, and security measures that VisaNet offers. VisaNet is the company’s global payment network, which will further issue Fast Track to Pana to address key pain points of Hispanics in the USA for managing banking services.
Visa | February 06, 2020
Astra, an automation platform, recently revealed that it had joined payments giant Visa’s US-based Fintech Fast Track Program. Astra has a mobile app that assists US customers in improving their cash flow and helps them save time using established rules that automatically transfer funds between accounts. By joining Visa’s fast track program, Astra will be able to further expand its business operations, which are focused on financial automation. The Fintech firm has developed the auto...
GoTab | April 04, 2022
GoTab, a restaurant commerce platform, announced its partnership with Mastercard to transform the digital payment experience. The venture is for hospitality venues across the U.S. through the implementation of Click to Pay – a payment solution. This solution will boost the payment track by eliminating the need to enter card details manually and create an easy checkout process.
Click to Pay offers customers more convenient and secure guest checkout experience devices. Masterc...
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Digital TV News: Bell Aliant
Bell Fibe TV to be available OTT in early 2017
Sep 6, 2016 – Bell Canada has announced that by the end of Q1 2017, Fibe TV customers will no longer be required to sign up for Fibe Internet service to access Canada's fastest-growing television service.
News categories: Bell, Wade Oosterman, Canada, Digital TV, IPTV, Streaming
Bell Fibe TV launches 4K Whole Home PVR in Canada
Jan 18, 2016 – Bell Canada has announced that Fibe TV customers in Toronto, Montréal, Ottawa and Québec City can now purchase Bell's new 4K Whole Home PVR. The Fibe TV 4K Whole Home PVR is the smallest available on the market, has the largest recording capacity and is HDR-ready.
News categories: Bell Canada, Rizwan Jamal, Apps, Canada, Digital TV, DVR, Gateway, IPTV, Set Top Box, Smart Home
Bell adds Netflix app to Fibe and FibreOP TV receivers
Dec 14, 2015 – Bell has announced that Bell Fibe TV and Bell Aliant FibreOP TV subscribers can now access their Netflix accounts directly from their existing TV receivers. All Fibe TV receivers have been automatically upgraded to enable quick access to the video streaming service.
News categories: Bell, Netflix, Rizwan Jamal, Apps, Canada, Digital TV, IPTV, Set Top Box, Streaming
Canada's CraveTV available through four more TV providers
Mar 18, 2015 – Bell Media has announced that four additional television service providers are now carrying its television streaming service, CraveTV: Hay Communications, Mitchell Seaforth Cable TV, Tuckersmith Communications, and Wightman Telecom.
News categories: Bell Media, CraveTV, Cable TV, Canada, Digital TV, Set Top Box
BCE adds 42,190 TV subscribers in 4Q 2014
Feb 5, 2015 – BCE (TSX, NYSE: BCE) has reported BCE and Bell Q4 and 2014 results. In Q4 2014, BCE (Bell Canada and Bell Aliant) added 42,190 TV subscribers. At the end of 2014, BCE served a total of 2,642,608 TV subscribers.
News categories: BCE, Bell Aliant, Canada, IPTV, Results, Satellite, Subscribers
Bell Media introduces CraveTV in Canada
Dec 3, 2014 – Bell Media has introduced Canada to CraveTV™, the company's subscription on-demand video streaming service launching on Thursday, Dec. 11. Costing $4/Month, CraveTV brings simplicity, ubiquity, accessibility, and premium content to Canadian TV lovers.
News categories: Bell Media, CraveTV, Kevin Crull, Domenic Vivolo, Mike Cosentino, Cable TV, Canada, Digital TV, TV Everywhere
TELUS, Bell Canada, and Bell Aliant sign up to 'Project Latte' streaming
Nov 5, 2014 – Bell Media has announced that it has reached distribution deals with TELUS, Bell Canada, and Bell Aliant to deliver its video streaming service, code-named 'Project Latte'. 'Project Latte' is to open to every TV provider in Canada.
News categories: Bell Media, TELUS, Bell Canada, Bell Aliant, Kevin Crull, David Fuller, Wade Oosterman, Canada, Digital TV, IPTV, Satellite, Streaming
Pace preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2013
Mar 4, 2014 – Pace (LSE: PIC) has announced its results for the year ended 31 December 2013. STB and Media Server revenues were up 8.4% to $1,979.6m in 2013, driven by demand for Media Servers in H1 2013 in North America and a number of new deployments in H2 2013.
News categories: Pace plc, Gateway, Middleware, Results, Set Top Box, Worldwide
Bell Wireline adds 122,000 TV subscribers in 2013
Feb 6, 2014 – BCE (TSX, NYSE: BCE) has reported Q4 results. Bell Fibe TV added 60,301 net new customers, up 25.0% compared to 48,234 in Q4 2012. Bell Satellite TV losses were 24,112 in the quarter.
News categories: BCE Inc, Canada, IPTV, Mobile, Results, Satellite, Subscribers
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- Globecast powers distribution of 2022 World Cup for New World TV
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- Netgem to initiate sale of activities other than TV streaming
- Synamedia delivers low latency World Cup streaming for Cellcom
- NEXTGEN TV broadcasting begins in Boston
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- Global online video subscriptions to reach 1.7bn in 2023


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By Robby Gupta, head of US operations, TechJini.
This digital age belongs to the consumer, and in this age of the consumer, it’s imperative that businesses are consumer-centric. All services and products must revolve around the customer instead of the organization providing or delivering them. Digitization can enable this by unifying data sources and connecting processes. However, when it comes to industries such as healthcare, which deal with sensitive data, there is an evident challenge of data security.
Blockchain, a technology which rose from the hype of cryptocurrency, can address this challenge with its ability to provide secure path for data transactions. Applications of blockchain in healthcare are more real than ever before, today, owing to the changed mindset of the industry leaders and evolution of the blockchain technology itself.


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MyECheck Inc., the Folsom-based developer and licenser of electronic check services, announced Friday that it has signed an agreement to acquire Seergate Ltd., developer of an electronic payment software platform for banks.
The local firm said it will acquire 100 percent of Seergate’s stock in exchange for a minimum $3 million in shares of MyECheck common stock.
The Seergate system will be integrated with the MyECheck payment systems.
Seergate, founded in 2007, is an Israeli corporation with offices in Atlanta. The company raised several million dollars from investors to develop a payment platform targeting small business, electronic commerce and personal money movement; it has been implemented with banks in the United States. The platform can manage various financial services, including mobile payments/transfers, automated billing and refund transactions.
Officials expect the pending acquisition to close in about six weeks, subject to certain closing conditions and the integration of technology systems.
MyECheck customers include corporations, retailers, governments, payment processors and financial institutions. Revenue is from transaction fees collected for data processing, check authorization and fraud-mitigation services, as well as software and licensing fees.
Call The Bee’s Mark Glover, (916) 321-1184.


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Technology Briefing | Internet: Microsoft Files SPAM Lawsuits
Published: June 11, 2004
Microsoft said yesterday that it had filed eight lawsuits against spammers, saying that they had deceived consumers and used false information to hide their tracks. The lawsuits are the latest salvo in the company's war to eradicate unsolicited e-mail, which has clogged countless in-boxes on personal computers running the Windows operating system. Microsoft has said it will try to eradicate spam through technology, legislation and lawsuits. Microsoft filed its first major lawsuit against spammers last July and says it is pursuing more than 80 such lawsuits around the world. Of those, 51 were brought in the United States.


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March 13, 2013 |
NEW DELHI: Turmeric prices moved down by 1.02 per cent to Rs 6,964 per quintal in futures trade on Wednesday as speculators reduced their positions on falling demand at prevailing higher levels in the spot market. At the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange , turmeric for delivery in May declined by Rs 72, or 1.02 per cent, to Rs 6,964 per quintal, with an open interest of 11,645 lots. Similarly, the spice for delivery in April traded lower by Rs 36, or 0.52 per cent, to Rs...
November 28, 2007 |
MUMBAI: All agri-commodities were trading low on Tuesday, and total volumes clocked were Rs 1,414 crore on NCDEX. Of this the maximum trading was seen in chana, guarseed, soyabean, soya oil, pepper, keera, rape-mustard seed and turmeric. Only turmeric saw price rising marginally. Chana turnover was Rs 108 crore and the price moved from Rs 2,297 on Monday to Rs 2,285. Guarseed clocked a turnover on NCDEX of Rs 155 crore. The price moved from Rs 1,650 per quintal to Rs...
May 30, 2003 |
NEW DELHI: Prices of turmeric strengthened on the local spices market on Friday due to holding of stock by the stockists as well as farmers coupled with reports of likely fall in output in southern regions. However, Cardamom small lacked worthwhile buying support and declined. Traders said tight stocks position in view of holding of stocks by stockists amidst negligible arrivals from producing centres mainly caused the rise in turmeric prices. Turmeric quoted higher at Rs 3500-4700 against...
May 13, 2007 |
MUMBAI: Turmeric saw a movement of 3.6% during the week on NCDEX with a sudden spurt of speculative buying, on expectation of increased demand in the latter half of the year. The price of turmeric has largely been depressed due to good production this season. Demand has also been lower both on domestic and export front. However, earlier last week, traders began to hoard turmeric anticipating higher demand later during the year, leading to the current rise in price.
December 14, 2007 |
MUMBAI: Turmeric prices have risen by Rs 400 per quintal over the past month on demand and holding by stockists. Indications of low crop this year have also pushed up futures prices on NCDEX. The commodity is currently trading at Rs 2,425-2,500 per quintal in Nizamabad while at Duggirala, turmeric loose is trading at Rs 2,250-Rs 2,350 per quintal. NCDEX December contract has moved up by over Rs 300 per quintal over the past month and the contract closed up 2.2% at...


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NEW YORK, March 29, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
FinancialBuzz.com News Commentary
Data published in a research report by Grand View Research, Inc., projects that the global medical cannabis market will reach a value of USD 55.8 billion by 2025. The projection takes into consideration the continuous successful legalization campaigns in the United States and a more open approach towards cannabis products around the world. In 2016, states - Arkansas, Florida, North Dakota, Ohio, and Pennsylvania legalized cannabis products for medical purposes, such as chemotherapies and pain management. CURE Pharmaceutical Holding Corp. (OTC: CURR), Earth Science Tech Inc. (OTC: ETST), General Cannabis (OTC: CANN), General Cannabis (OTC: CANN), OWC Pharmaceutical Research Corporation (OTC: OWCP), Cannabis Sativa Inc. (OTC: CBDS).
The research indicates that there is an increasing interest amongst academic researchers and healthcare providers regarding the therapeutic potential of cannabis products. Some of the potential therapeutic values are suppression of vomiting & nausea, pain relief and appetite stimulation. In addition, cannabis is effective in providing relief to the patient suffering from HIV/AIDS, glaucoma, cancer and multiple sclerosis. In the year 2015, chronic pain was the largest application segment in this market.
CURE Pharmaceutical Holding Corp. (OTCQB: CURR) is a drug delivery technology company serving the pharmaceutical, biotech, veterinarian, medical foods markets, cannabinoid molecules and new chemical entities (NCEs).
Earlier today, CURE Pharmaceutical Holding Corp. announced a distribution and license agreement with Long Beach, Calif-based, Redbarn Pet Products, LLC ("Redbarn"), for the development of various oral thin film veterinary products. The demand for US animal health products is more than $12 billion per year.
"This agreement is important for CURE as it marks the first distribution and licensing agreement we have executed since we received our method of use for animal products. We are grateful and excited to be working with such a high quality partner and look forward to a long-standing relationship with Redbarn," said Rob Davidson, CEO of CURE Pharmaceutical. "Further, it demonstrates the versatility of our CureFilm™ technology, allowing it to easily be applied to both human and animal consumption, as well as both OTC and Rx formulation. We anticipate multiple additional deals to be announced in the short term, and look forward to sharing these milestones with our stockholders."
As part of the agreement, CURE will formulate, develop and manufacture a variety of pet products, including multi-vitamins; flea, tick, heartworm, weight control, joint care, dental, shin health, digestive health, behavioral relief, anal glad and antifungal; hip and joint; allergies, pain and anti-nausea products to be sold over-the-counter. CURE will also provide Redbarn with products for dogs and cats specifically distributed through veterinary offices, including anti-inflammatory, pain relief, itch relief, allergies, anti-nausea, blood pressure or fluid retention, epilepsy and seizure control; heart, antibiotics and steroids. All of these products will utilize the company's proprietary formulation and manufacturing capabilities and its patented CureFilm™ technology.
Earth Science Tech Inc. (OTC: ETST), an innovative biotech company focused on industrial hemp and cannabinoid research and development, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices, and its two subsidiaries: Earth Science Pharmaceutical and Cannabis Therapeutics, announced the projected timeline for the delivery of its MSN-2 medical device, the negotiation of a strategic partnership with Connexions Commerciales Internationales CT Inc., and the beginning of negotiations with partners in Africa and Japan. ETST is focused on researching and developing innovative Hemp extracts and to make them accessible Worldwide. ETST plans to be the premier supplier of the highest quality and purity of High Grade Hemp CBD Oil. ETST's primary goal is to advance different High Quality Hemp extracts with a broad profile of Cannabinoids and additional natural molecules found in Industrial Hemp and to identify their distinct properties.
General Cannabis (OTCQB: CANN), the comprehensive resource for the highest quality service providers available to the regulated Cannabis Industry, announced today that its security division, Iron Protection Group (IPG), the premier provider of protection services for the regulated cannabis industry, will begin offering its services in California. By opening an office in Sacramento, IPG will serve the largest regulated cannabis market in the world, now that the state voted to legalize the recreational use of marijuana for adults last November. "The demand for security services in California is skyrocketing," said Hunter Garth, Managing Director of IPG. "As a known security leader in Colorado, we are now seeing a dramatic rise in security and transportation requests from companies throughout the state. By opening our first office in the state capital, we plan to fulfill a vital component of the regulated cannabis industry in this substantial market."
OWC Pharmaceutical Research Corporation (OTCQB: OWCP), through its wholly-owned subsidiary, One World Cannabis Ltd., conducts medical research and clinical trials to develop cannabis-based pharmaceuticals and treatments for conditions including multiple myeloma, psoriasis, fibromyalgia, PTSD, and migraines. The company announced the highly promising results of its topical cream efficacy tests following months of study and scientific analysis. Chairman and CEO, Mr. Mordechai Bignitz, has directed OWC's scientific team to submit an operating plan within 60 to 90 days to conduct double-blind efficacy tests of our cannabinoid-based topical cream on other skin disorders and conditions. Dr. Yehuda Baruch, the Company's Chief Science Officer and Director of Research and Regulatory Affairs, commented, "As a practicing physician and a scientist who has been treating patients with cannabis for medical purposes for more than two decades, I am truly excited by our success to date and, more importantly, I am thrilled to be part of a professional scientific study on humans that should actually validate what I have believed and experienced for years - Cannabis helps treat a multitude of health conditions."
Cannabis Sativa Inc. (OTCQB: CBDS) develops and promotes natural cannabis products. The Company is engaged in the research, development and licensing of natural cannabis products, including cannabis formulas, edibles, topicals, strains, recipes and delivery systems. The Company plans to develop, produce and market products through joint ventures with companies licensed under state regulations applicable to cannabis businesses. It holds the license for a medicinal cannabis strain called NZT, a cannabis lozenge delivery methodology, and a cannabis trauma cream formula. The Company is also developing a third strain of cannabis plant named CT22. The Company also conducts its operations through its subsidiary; Wild Earth Naturals Inc. Wild Earth is an herbal skin care products formulation and marketing company that plans to target the natural healthcare products market in the United States and abroad. It offers Go Deep, Go Deep EXTRA, Face Garden, Body Garden and Lip Garden.
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In the last two decades, China has been in constant development. Now the Chinese intend to use this experience to develop the African continent. In fact, Chinese investments in Africa are breaking records.
Africa could become what the Asian giant was until recently: a place where everything is produced for the entire world, Irene Yuan Sun argues in her new book The Next Factory of the World: How Chinese Investment is Reshaping Africa. According to political analyst Dmitry Kosyrev, this process has already begun and everything is moving in this direction.
The Russian Council for International Affairs has indicated that since 2009, China has been Africa’s main trading partner. As a result, their trade reached US $ 220 billion in 2014. Although the index has fallen to $180 billion, China continues to lead trade in Africa.
The same is true of Chinese investments in Africa that reached US $100 billion in 2017, the analyst said.
These are substantial values compared to Europe, where Chinese investments amounted to $35 billion in 2016. It should be noted that in Europe there has also been a significant increase in investment since 2010, but not as bulky as on the African continent.
In addition, Beijing is leading in “aid” in Africa. Some 240,000 African specialists are expected to receive training in the coming years. Kosyrev has linked the data on the continent’s development to the Chinese economy, which will entail transferring significant parts of Chinese factories to the African continent.
The Asian giant does not make investments that are not beneficial to itself, so they all have tangible results in Africa, Kosyrev emphasized.
All these goods were destined for the African market, as well as for the markets of China and other countries. In addition, Beijing is investing heavily in the construction and development of infrastructure, which is also very profitable, Kosyrev explained.
For example, under the China-Africa development fund alone, in 2017, 11,000 trucks, 300,000 air conditioners, 540,000 refrigerators, 390,000 televisions and 1.6 million tons of cement were manufactured.
The expert also revealed what sets China apart from Europeans, who tried to do something similar in Africa, but failed. In the case of the Europeans, their greed and desire to change the mentality of the local inhabitants were the causes of their failure on the colonized continent, he clarified.
“The settlers had the ideology of ‘developing savages’ to the level of the West’s incomparable values…African communities did not become Westerners and did not develop as expected.”
However, China does not try to change anyone and is guided by the principle of mutual benefit. Even Chinese media have emphasized the principle of not meddling in the internal affairs of other countries. According to the analyst, the Chinese know what to do in these countries regardless of who is in charge.
How might China gain world leadership through Africa?
“China does not teach others how to live…The Chinese know what to do in these countries, and this is is the case all over the world,” said Kosyrev.
This is how the doors to China’s world leadership are opening up, says the expert. After all, examining China’s true objectives on the African continent, Kosyrev concluded: “If Africa manufactures many sophisticated products, it trains engineers and technicians, as well as doctors and scientists, and all thanks to China, then who will have moral leadership in tomorrow’s world?”


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Bike repair a passion for Selma manPublished 8:11pm Thursday, July 18, 2013
Since age eight, Joe Chapman Jr. has been repairing bicycles. Joe’s Bike’s Shop, a business that began with Chapman’s uncle, has become somewhat of a landmark on J.L. Chestnut Avenue, across from Calhoun’s Foods. With its faded red lettering reading “Joe’s Bicycle Repair,” it’s hard to miss the small shop — and Chapman, who sits outside and waves to cars as they pass by.
Now 72, Chapman said fixing bikes has become more than just a trade, but a way of life.
“I do it for a living, and I do it for a hobby,” Chapman said while sitting outside his small store, unphased by the fierce summer heat. “This building, it’s been a family-owned operation for many years. My uncle owned it and he taught me this trade.”
Graduating from R.B. Hudson High School in 1959, Chapman formed a deep interest in bicycle repair and auto mechanics. Traveling as far as New York City, Chapman said he’s “seen it all” when it comes to bicycle repair.
“Once you got a talent, a trade, a skill and you know what you’re doing — can’t nobody touch you,” he said. “If I repair something, I look through it thoroughly and make sure it’s safe — and you can bet your bottom dollar it’s going to be a good job.”
On average, Chapman said he repairs up to 12 bikes a day. Meeting and talking with people, he said, is his favorite part about the job.
“I meet a lot of people, a lot of good people doing this,” Chapman said with a smile. “I don’t meet any strangers.”
And although he’s been in the bike repair business for several decades, Chapman has been employed elsewhere. From 1971 to 1985, Chapman was known around Selma for his taxi business, “Joe’s Taxis.”
As one of the only taxi drivers in the area, Chapman said he got to know many people and hear a lot of stories.
“I used to haul the Southern Railway fellas, taking them to Montgomery and Birmingham,” Chapman recalled fondly. “Anywhere a train was running and they needed a taxi, Joe’s Taxi was right there.”
Still, Chapman said he would repair bicycles on the side. Returning to Joe’s Bike Shop later in his life “just made sense,” he said — especially after his wife, Brenda, passed away in 2003.
“With my children looking out for me, I’m doing pretty good,” Chapman said, and added that he’s had people travel as far as Uniontown, Maplesville and Demopolis to have their bicycle repaired at Joe’s Bike Shop. “At my age now, all I want to do is the right thing and please my customer.”
Making sure his customers receive the best quality service is paramount, Chapman said, especially when running a small business.
“I’ve gathered in business that the customer is always right, even when they’re wrong as two left shoes,” he said laughing. “But that’s just the way it goes, I guess.”
As for what lies ahead, Chapman said he plans to stay at Joe’s Bike’s Shop, spending his days repairing bicycles and waving to those who drive by.
“Sometimes people will say, ‘Joe, why don’t you just give up this trade?’ I just tell them I’ve been doing it too long,” Chapman said. “I take pride in what I do. I’m not quite ready to close up shop right now, so I’ll be out here.”


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CEBU CITY – Metro Cebu is projected to benefit from the retail sector’s recovery being the largest metropolitan hub outside Metro Manila, as mall operators here brace for "revenge" shopping, a property consultancy firm said on Friday.
Colliers International said the expansion of its consumer base, supported by the projected growth in office and residential supply, should sustain retail buoyancy post-2022.
In the first quarter of 2022, vacancy across malls in Metro Cebu reached 6.4 percent, higher than the 2.6 percent recorded in 2018.
The business disruptions caused by Covid-19 have resulted in the closure of some shops at the various malls in the region.
Colliers estimated that about 60 percent of upcoming retailers in Cebu are likely to come from food and beverage (F&B) retailers followed by clothing and footwear at 17 percent.
This is similar to Metro Manila in the first quarter of 2022 where F&B accounted for 42 percent of new retailers followed by clothing at 17 percent.
“By the end of 2022, we see vacancy dropping to about 5.5 percent as we project retail space absorption to pick up amid limited new supply," Joey Bondoc, Colliers associate research director, said in a statement.
The consultancy firm believes that the enactment of stimulus measures such as the Foreign Investments Act and Retail Trade Liberalization should facilitate the entry of foreign retailers and contribute to greater retail space take-up beyond 2022.
Bondoc said major mall operators in Cebu should be proactive in tapping foreign retailers’ retail space demand.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) also further relaxed Covid-19 restrictions in areas under Alert Level 1 by allowing all establishments (indoor and outdoor) to operate at full capacity.
National and local developers also continue to build new malls in Cebu.
Colliers believes that improving consumer and business confidence will result in greater consumer traffic in malls.
A recently-released survey by the central bank noted that consumer confidence in the next 12 months surged to its highest level in more than four years. (PNA)


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Carlo Pazolini sceglie il designer inglese Lee Wood come Creative Director del brand.
Carlo Pazolini is one of the leader brand in “accessible luxury” market for shoes and accesories. The brand has more than 250 flagship in Russia, Italy, UK, U.S.A. and East Europe.
Carlo Pazolini is glad to announce the collaboration with Lee Wood, as creative director for the brand.
«Lee Wood innovative ideas reflect our vison of development for Carlo Pazolini products. His huge experience in fashion industry and his talent will improve, for sure, big opportunities of growth». says Arkady Reznik, CBO of Carlo Pazolini.
For Lee Wood, this partnership is challenging: «The aim is to earn more awareness and recognizable in EU market. It’s one of the biggest challenge I ever accepted, and I can’t wait to start working as Creative Directore for Carlo Pazolini».


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“NY food stamp recipients reportedly using benefits to ship food overseas”
“The paper says the practice of shipping food abroad to places like Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic has become so common that hundreds of barrels line the walls in grocery stores around the city to be used to send the food.
Supermarket workers tell the Post that customers usually get one of the barrels and then fill it up over time with groceries. The barrels are about $40 and then are usually filled with about $500 worth of food.
“Everybody does it,” a worker at an Associated Supermarket said. “They pay for it any way they can. A lot of people pay with EBT.”


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According to a new market report published by Credence Research “Virtual Reality Market (VR) (Consumer (Gaming, and Entertainment), and Enterprise & Public Sector (Retail and Marketing, Engineering and Design, Healthcare, Military, and Others (Education, etc) – Growth, Share, Opportunities, Competitive Analysis, and Forecast 2016 – 2023” the virtual reality market is expected to exceed US$ 30.0 Bn by 2023, witnessing a double digit compound annual growth rate during the forecast period.
Browse the full Virtual Reality Market – Growth, Share, Opportunities, Competitive Analysis, and Forecast 2016 – 2023 report at https://www.credenceresearch.com/report/virtual-reality-market
The virtual reality (VR) technology traces its roots to the latter half of the previous century. In spite of being around for decades, the technology did not receive the expected acceptance in the initial years. However, after all years of hype surrounding the latent potential of the technology, it is expected to become mainstream in the coming years. We expect VRs capability to improve during the forecast period 2016 – 2023 with further improvements in processors, screen resolutions, content development for specific formats.
The global virtual reality market is highly fragmented across different end-use segments, requiring manufacturers and technology developers to understand unique differences and requirements of each industry separately. The leading top 4 players in the global virtual reality market account for less than 45 percent of the global market revenue. Some of the leading players identified in the global virtual reality market include Oculus VR, Inc. (Facebook Inc., the U.S.), Sony Corporation (Japan), Samsung Electronics, Co. Ltd. (South Korea), Vuzix Corporation (the U.S.), Sensics, Inc. (the U.S.), Microsoft Corporation (the U.S.), EON Reality, Inc. (the U.S.), and Sixense Entertainment, Inc. (the U.S.) among others. The global virtual reality market also includes large number of niche players, which account for trivial market share individually. The global virtual reality market is supported by technology development and innovation. The competitive rivalry among current market players is comparatively high.
Growing demand for virtual reality-based wearable displays (ex – head mounted displays) in consumer applications
Declining price of hardware components
Proliferation of mobile devices and advancements in their computational capabilities
Hand tracking, head tracking, and eye tracking functionalities have become more commonplace in consumer VR devices
Emergence of VR app store
To know more insightful information, click here @ https://www.credenceresearch.com/report/virtual-reality-market
Credence Research inc


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Fire evacuates Macy's on big shopping day
A fire broke out at Macy’s flagship store Sunday at the height of the shopping season, with hundreds of customers having to be evacuated because of heavy smoke.
The fire started just after 4 p.m.in the escalator leading between the third and forth floors of the Herald Square store. The store’s classic wooden escalators were not involved in the fire, a spokeswoman said. The store has since reopened.
The Fire Department reported no injuries. The store would not comment on how the fire would impact sales, or if merchandise was damaged.


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NEW YORK (AP) ¿ Shares of Wyndham Worldwide Corp. gained Friday after the lodging company completed a $225 million sale of notes backed by its timeshare assets, which an analyst said may signal that the market for asset-backed securities is "coming back to life." Wyndham shares gained 26, or 2.3 percent, to $11.54 in afternoon trading. The stock has traded between $2.55 and $22.28 during the past 52 weeks. Late Thursday, the Parsippany, N.J.-based company said it completed a term securitization deal that involved issuing $225 million of investment grade asset-backed notes. The notes are backed by vacation ownership receivables originated by Wyndham subsidiaries. Friedman Billings Ramsey analyst C. Patrick Scholes, who noted that there was "strong demand" for the securitization, said the deal is a clear benefit for the company. The market for timeshare-backed securities has been essentially closed for the past year, which has cut off a key source of cash for new timeshare developments. "Of the companies we cover, (Wyndham) has the greatest need and urgency for a functioning securitization market as their timeshare business model has historically been dependent on the cash provided by securitizations," he said. He said the deal also signals that the market for asset-backed securities may be starting to rebound. Scholes maintained a "Market Perform" rating on the stock.
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DIRECTV and AT&T have Better Business Bureau grades of ‘A’ and ‘A+’ respectively despite a recent CBS News report suggesting the companies have been hit with thousands of complaints from consumers saying they have been overcharged for TV and Internet service.
The CBS News report says at least 4,000 customers have posted complaints saying they were forced to pay higher bills than advertised.
The customer disputes, CBS says, are largely stemming from promotional bundles that offer lower prices in the first two years, but then revert to normal rates. The subscribers quoted in the report say the prices actually were raised during the promotional period.
“I keep getting bills for $79.49 and my contract says I was only going to pay $24.99 for two years,” one customer said, according to CBS News.
Oddly, however, the CBS News report does not say where the 4,000 complaints have been filed, nor how it was able to arrive at that number. The report also does not indicate if the customers’ issues were resolved, or if their complaints were even legitimate in the first place.
But the Better Business Bureau, which carefully monitors consumer complaints and company responses, apparently has no issues with either DIRECTV or AT&T. The agency has given AT&T’s customer service effort a perfect score of A+ and DIRECTV a second-highest score of ‘A.’
The BBB notes that both companies have been the subject of thousands of complaints, but the high grades suggest they have been able to resolve any outstanding issues.
For what it’s worth, CBS asked AT&T for a comment on the ‘4,000 complaints’ and here’s what the telco said:
“Like other companies, we frequently introduce promotions to provide our customers with the best services and products at the best price. These special offers vary in terms of pricing and duration. If a customer signs up for one of these offers, we fully honor the terms through the promotion’s completion. Customers who enrolled in one of our promotional offers and believe they did not receive the full benefits should contact customer service.”
— Phillip Swann


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Do IT More – Do IT Faster (and … Do IT Better!)
Retailers’ information technology (IT) function is the source of both hope and frustration for key decision makers. On the one hand, automation has enabled today’s retailers to achieve economies of scale and geographic reaches unimagined by their predecessors. On the other hand, IT is challenged to keep up with increased demands from both within and outside their organizations.
In a survey conducted by Retail Systems Research LLC (RSR) in May 2007, “Software-as-a-Service and the Need for Speed—Benchmark Study: July 2007,” 44% of all survey respondents expressed dissatisfaction with their company’s abilities to keep up with demands, and 70% of underperforming companies expressed dissatisfaction. And that dissatisfaction isn’t confined to underperformers; retail “winners” (those companies that outperform their competition) express concern that their legacy technologies will inhibit further growth. For example, in RSR’s report, “Finding the Integrated Multi-Channel Retailer: Benchmark Study 2008,” winners expressed concern that their legacy applications portfolios are so inflexible that changes required to enable cross-channel data visibility and functionality will come too slowly to meet increasing consumer demands for a consistent experience across all the channels.
The application of IT to business practices has the potential to create strategic value by turning technical advantage into long-term market dominance (for example, Wal-Mart’s use of technology in the extended supply chain). But even if companies don’t want to lead with IT-enabled innovation, they can certainly find themselves strategically disadvantaged by the failure of IT function to deliver efficiencies that enable them to focus on other, more strategic initiatives. At the same time, companies are continually challenged to “do more with less, and do it faster,” and this applies to IT, too. It is no surprise then that retailers have looked at many different approaches to reducing the backlog of pending application projects, from in-house proprietary development, to best-of-breed integration, ERP implementation, outsourcing and software-as-a-service delivery options.
To get to the bottom of what retail IT shops are “really” doing to position themselves to address the challenges that their retail businesses face, RSR launched a study in March called the “Future of Application Delivery in Retail.” Based on an analysis of survey responses, there is evidence that retailers are slowly but surely transforming their application portfolios to utilize more “best of breed” (BOB) solutions integrated with proprietary applications over middleware in order to gain some flexibility in their deployments and to lower integration costs. Whereas in a 2006 study, 44% of retailers indicated that they deployed a mix of proprietary and BOB solutions with point-to-point integrations, in 2008 only 27% make that claim. However, 34% are now using a middleware-integration layer compared to just 15% in the 2006 study.
Does it help? Perhaps. Even though all respondents said that they continue to be seriously challenged to deliver projects on time, within budget and with promised functionality, retail winners have a better track record. Forty-one percent of winners report that 50% to 75% of their projects get delivered on time vs. 26% for all other respondents (18% of winners and 15% of all others report that their projects are completed on time more than 75% of the time). When it comes to budget, 41% of winners indicate that more than 75% of their projects finish within budget, compared to only 26% for all others. In terms of promised functionality, only 41% of winners claim that projects delivered more than 75% of promised business functionality, and only 24% of all others make that assertion.
What does all of this boil down to? The results suggest that retailers continue to spend more, wait longer and get less from IT development projects than they want or expect. But more importantly, these results, which were offered up primarily by retailer ITers, reflect what business leaders have told us in virtually every survey that RSR conducts, and that is, that retailers are really concerned about their IT’s ability to keep up with the business.
What stands in the way? Aside from the “elephant in the room” issue of brittle legacy technology portfolios, winners cite conflicting demands from line-of-business executives that stretch IT resources, while others point to lack of strategic priorities from the business. This gets to the issue of proper IT governance. As recently “retired” AutoZone CIO Ken Brame said to RSR, “If you don’t have a good governance process, you’ll die! You’ll never survive as a CIO if you’re constantly saying ‘no’. You’ve got to have a governance process that says ‘no’.”
What’s the answer? Even while there’s more focus on BOB solutions and suites, the biggest opportunity is in achieving alignment of expectations and capabilities via the executive steering committee. That’s not new news, but it’s still surprisingly relevant.
Visit www.retailsystemsresearch.com for “The Future of Application Delivery in Retail—2008 Benchmark,” due this month.
OfficeMax 1Q sales fall on weak economy
NAPERVILLE, Ill. OfficeMax announced that for its first quarter ended March 29, total sales decreased 5.5% to $2.3 billion compared to the first quarter of 2007. Net income increased in the first quarter of 2008 to $63.3 million, or 81 cents per diluted share, from $58.5 million, or 76 cents per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2007.
OfficeMax Retail segment sales decreased 5.5% to $1.11 billion in the first quarter of 2008 compared to the first quarter of 2007, reflecting a same-store sales decrease of 8.7% partially offset by sales from new stores. Retail same-store sales for the first quarter of 2008 declined across all major product categories due to weaker U.S. consumer and small business spending and the negative impact of the Easter holiday occurring in the first quarter of 2008.
IKEA to open first U.S. manufacturing facility
DANVILLE, Va. IKEA, through its subsidiary Swedwood, announced that it will open its first U.S. furniture manufacturing facility on May 21 in Danville, Va. The 930,000 square-foot Swedwood factory will produce a variety of wood-based IKEA products, the company reported.
“We made excellent progress on construction last year and our installation of equipment and machinery has gone very smoothly,” said Bengt Danielsson, North American president of Swedwood. “Now our primary objective is to complete appropriate operational training for 175 coworkers as well as to ensure a seamless production and packaging process.”


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Competition watchdog slams Sydney Airport
The ACCC has criticised Sydney Airport for increasing its profits at the expense of customers by charging high rates for inferior service.
Source: Lateline Business | Duration: 26sec
WHITNEY FITZSIMMONS, PRESENTER: The competition watchdog has strongly criticised Sydney Airport in its annual report on airport performance.
The ACCC says Sydney Airport has increased its profits at the expense of customers by charging high rates for inferior service.
It's particularly concerned about the monopoly each of the airports it monitors has on car parking.
Shares in Map Group, whose main asset is Sydney Airport, fell more than 1 per cent.


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SHARES in Fiat Chrysler Automobiles tumbled in Milan and New York on Thursday after two US dealerships filed a lawsuit accusing the carmaker of inflating US car sales.
The suit, filed by dealers under the Illinois-based Napleton Automotive Group, charges that the incentive...


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“Recommend Federal Finance Ministry to relax the textile sector from heavy burden of taxes”, Senior Vice President of Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), put in a request to Mr. Rasheed-ud-din Rashid to the Federal Secretary of Commerce.
High production costs due to the towering tariffs of gas and power affected the exports of textile products, which are the key items which bring foreign exchange into the country and has 60 percent share in country's total export, said Mr. Rashid.
These high operational costs curb the competence of exporters in international market. Uneven power and gas supply to the export oriented industry and high tariffs elevate the manufacturing cost resulting into the unrest and discontentment in industry entrepreneurs, which may result in companies shifting operations to other countries like Bangladesh, he stated.
In order to safeguard the domestic export industry, some benchmarks should be set for the exports of indigenous products and raw materials, he opined.
Since past few years, Pakistan has been going through harsh situations under which it has been witnessing dearth of raw materials, which at one time it used to export. Now, the country has to import those products at higher prices, he lamented.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India


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We’ve had our eyes trained on Oculus Rift for some time now. The virtual reality headset has made a big splash in the gaming industry over the past few years, and its returned to CES this year with even more improvements.
Oculus has produced a new prototype for its CES showing dubbed ‘Crystal Cove’. It’s fitted a range of upgrades, including a sharp new OLED screen (previously LED) and kills the motion blur that’s affected older models. Also included are over 24 positional markers to track depth. CES attendees are getting the chance to experience the new prototype with multiplayer dogfighting shooter EVE: Valkyrie.
The OLED screen will deliver crisper images than the LED one used in older models. It also has lower latency, meaning controlling the world should be smoother.
Sadly we still don’t know much about a consumer model of the Oculus Rift. Despite these improvements and the encouraging reception surrounding them, the company is still hush-hush on a consumer model. With big names like Sony looking to rival the tech with its own devices, let’s hope we get concrete details in the near future.


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Frost & Sullivan, a global business consulting firm that provides market research and analysis across multiple industries, today announced that it has recognized Oro, Inc., with its 2017New Product Innovation Award.
Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents its innovation awards to companies that have developed new products using leading-edge technologies to solve real business challenges. This year’s award recognizes the value-added features and benefits of OroCommerce and the increased return on investment it provides to customers.
OroCommerce, which officially launched in January, 2017, was specifically built for B2B ecommerce, an industry that will reach $6.7 trillion in sales by 2020, according to Frost & Sullivan forecasts. OroCommerce was recently ranked by Frost & Sullivan as the No.1 ecommerce platform in terms of pure product strengths and capabilities, compared to other enterprise vendors such as SAP Hybris, Oracle, and IBM.
As part of their market research efforts, the analysts at Frost & Sullivan conducted extensive surveys and phone interviews with OroCommerce’s enterprise clients. According to their report, users reported that the OroCommerce platform offered rapid implementation and ease-of-use, leading to lower total cost of ownership and accelerated time to market. Between 60 and 80 percent of the OroCommerce features and capabilities come ready-to-use out of the box, with the rest custom-built according to each customer’s needs.
“A simplified deployment process is important to potential customers,” said Melody Siefken of the North America Digital Media team at Frost & Sullivan. “Our analysis found that a complicated process is a key restraint for organizations in adopting B2B platforms. In a nutshell, the platform must be scalable, configurable, and interoperable with different systems. OroCommerce provides the market with just that while further extending its reach through technology partnerships.”
OroCommerce was created by the Los Angeles-based business technology company Oro, Inc., which was founded by three former Magento executives. They include Yoav Kutner, Jary Carter, and Dima Soroka. Magento, which was founded in 2008, is the largest B2C ecommerce platform in the world and was sold to eBay for $180 million in 2011.
After Magento’s successful exit, Yoav and his team launched Oro, Inc., in response to the the rapid growth and large market opportunity offered by B2B ecommerce.
Note: Newscenter.io is a sister company to Rosebud Communications, which works with Oro, Inc.