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ECE alum's app provides instant translation of foreign languages
ECE alum Ryan Rogowski (BSEE '11) made news again last week as the company he co-founded, Waygo, announced it had rolled out an app for the Android and told an audience at the Global Mobile Internet Conference (GMIC) that he eventually sees the app adding languages and working in the Google Glass Environment.
Rogowski co-founded Waygo, an app that allows users to hover their mobile devices over Chinese or Japanese words (with more lanaguages to come) and have their English translation instantly appear over them. Rogowski also earned a bachelor's degree in Spanish and linguistics, and credits his time at Illinois for giving him the foundation to launch and build his successful business so quickly.
“One of the things that you have to be able to do as an entrepreneur is learn quickly and teach yourself very real skills on the go,” Rogowski said. “Aside from the technical background, Illinois taught me how to figure something out and be able to take actionable steps right away.”
He was a part of the first sponsored trip of the campus’ Technology Entrepreneur Center to Silicon Valley. There he met the likes of Max Levchin, the Illinois computer science alum who helped develop PayPal and Yelp. Rogowski said that trip helped foster his entrepreneurship ideas.
The genesis for the Waygo app started while still at Illinois when Rogowski and fellow student Chun Ming Chin built a basic prototype through a character recognition (OCR) algorithm, which could be used on a web camera connected to the PC.
“We prototyped the algorithms and then connected the camera driver to the web cam,” Rogowski said. “You could point that camera at Chinese characters and it would do dictionary look-ups. We both had studied signal processing, but we were learning about OCR on our own.”
Despite not knowing Chinese, Rogowski used a work visa to move to Beijing following graduation and help build games for the iPhone in an environment where there were no English speakers. He took a six-week summer course in the language prior to making the move and eventually passed the HSK (Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi) Chinese Proficiency Test.
Rogowski continued to occasionally work with Chin on the prototype, but after a year in China, decided to take all his efforts into making the translation app a reality.
“It was in Beijing that I felt the ‘aha’ moment,” Rogowski said. “I realized this could be a very real product that could solve a real need. I came to the realization that I really like challenging engineering problems. The Waygo project is also at the intersection of culture and language that I’m very interested in.”
He moved to Rhode Island, where the project got some early funding from Betaspring, and connected with the two people that would join him as Waygo’s co-founders, Huan-Yu Wu and Kevin Clark.
In the summer of 2011, the team completed the basic prototype of the Chinese OCR and discovered how to do take the previous work on the PC and apply it to the iPhone. They continued to make progress while doing website development on the side. In the spring of 2012, the algorithm pieces fell into place and after some clean up, they pushed it out on the app store.
“We were starting to see some user growth, but it wasn’t a full product yet,” Rogowski said. “Although it was just the beta version, we wanted to see if it worked in the real world and get some instant feedback.”
The next break came when the team met Dave McClure of 500 Startups Accelerator.
“He saw the app and the potential for the market, invited us to join this accelerator and invested some money in the company so we could focus 100 percent of our efforts again on Waygo,” Rogowski recalled.
The team joined the 500 accelerator during the fall and winter of 2012-13 and moved its operation to Silicon Valley. They were able to get insight into the travel industry, whose clients would benefit from Waygo, and how to more effectively market the product.
Once they had grown their users enough, they decided to search for angel investors and raised over $900,000 through such sources as Angel Vest from Shanghai and Golden Gate Ventures based in Singapore. The funding enabled Waygo to increase staff by hiring a language processing expert and a director of marketing and growth.
Over the last 12 months, Waygo has not only emerged as a viable product, but has also expanded its reach and received some impressive notoriety. They won the best start-up award at the 2013 Echelon competition in Singapore and claimed the top prize in the Entertainment and Content Technologies category at this year’s South-by-Southwest (SXSW) Accelerator competition, which was announced in March.
Earlier this year, Waygo added Japanese as a supported language and plans to not only add more in the near future (focusing primarily on Asian languages), but translate those languages from English.
Rogowski is of course proud of the recent addition of Android to go along with iOS as a supported platform because “it’s very hard to support both in such an algorithm-intensive application.”
Waygo continues to be the only instant visual translation service for Asian characters on the marketplace and its users have made over one million translations since its launch. The team has had a lot of positive feedback; including one response from a customer that said it was exciting all they could experience on a backpacking trip to western China because of a tool like Waygo.
“As an early entrepreneur, you go through so many days where you wonder if what you’re doing will make it or if people will like it,” Rogowski said. “I wanted to build something that would make a difference to humanity and break down language barriers to enable people to see more of the world. We’re so happy we have helped change so many experiences for the better through Waygo.”


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More CEOs plan to hire than fire in 2010: survey
By Ben Hirschler
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Business confidence is bouncing back after the sharpest drop in economic activity since World War Two, prompting more industry leaders to start hiring again, a survey showed on Wednesday.
Job creation plans, however, remain small-scale and largely concentrated in emerging markets, where the economic recovery has been strongest and wages are lower.
Growth hopes in the developed world remain markedly more subdued, the study found.
A PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) survey of 1,200 chief executives in 52 countries found 39 percent of industry bosses aimed to increase headcount in 2010, while 25 percent planned more job cuts, down from nearly half who slashed jobs last year.
"Last year we clearly were in a crisis mode," said Dennis Nally, global chairman of the consultancy group.
"CEOs are much more optimistic today, although there is a fair amount of caution as well, and the concerns depend on where you sit. If you are a CEO in a developing country you are feeling much more upbeat than CEOs in the developed world."
The survey was released on the opening day of the World Economic Forum, where 2,500 of the world's business and political elite are meeting in the wake of the economic crisis.
Markets have been buoyed by $5 trillion of cheap money, designed to float the global economy off the rocks, but as governments and central banks prepare exit strategies many business leaders see only a slow recovery. Continued...

domain: news


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In addition to the in-store presence, Cartzfresh have also launched its own mobile application that will be available for users on both Androids and iOS…reports Asian Lite News
Cartzfresh, a budding online portal for Cut, Chopped, Peeled, ready-to cook and Ready to Eat range of vegetables and fruits, is all set to expand its operations by partnering with renowned hypermarts – Tata’s Star Bazaar and Hiranandani’s Haiko. With a vision to reach out to a larger target audience and upscale its business operations, Cartzfresh’s upcoming partnership will be growth catalyst for the brand’s long-term growth.
Sharing his thoughts on the new collaboration, Digvijay Pandey, Founder and CEO of Cartzfresh.com said, “During the unprecedented pandemic, digitization and technological advances changed the way consumers bought or consumed even basic necessities and essentials. Cartzfresh was incepted keeping in mind the tremendous potential the segment provides and we have witnessed a 3X growth since we began our journey in March 2020.”
Digvijay further added, “Our partnership with Tata’s Star Bazaar and Hiranandani’s Haiko, is a great move for us. We are optimistic that the collaboration will accentuate our brand presence and drive more footfall for the brand. The partnership is aligned with our long-term vision for the brand and we expect an additional 4X revenue growth in the coming financial year.”
In addition to the in-store presence, Cartzfresh have also launched its own mobile application that will be available for users on both Androids and iOS. The user-friendly interface will help consumers buy fresh cut vegetables and fruits from the comfort of their homes, with no additional cost.
Cartzfresh.com was founded in an effort to meet urban clients’ demands in trying times. So far, the brand has catered to over Number of Consumers and witnessing a 2X MoM growth. With its unique offerings and ideology, Cartzfresh is trying to bridge the gap between vegetable farmers and customers with minimum contact and maximum output. Cartzfresh aspires to be the most trusted brand of fruits and vegetables in India along with being a strong support system to vegetable farmers and consumers with direct forms to fresh model.
Currently, the company has established a strong presence in few areas of Mumbai: Mira-Bhayander, Borivali, Kandivali, Malad, Goregaon, Jogeshwari, Andheri, VileParle, Santacruz, Khar, Bandra and Thane. With constant innovation, dedication and hard work, Cartzfresh aims to expand its services far and wide in Mumbai in the near future.


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Built for longtime Outerlimits Offshore Powerboats customer Anthony Rosciti, who lives near the company’s headquarters in Bristol, R.I., and has owned seven of its V-bottom models, a new SL 50 sportboat dubbed Silver Bullet hit the water earlier this week for its first brief sea trial. The open-cockpit 50-footer is powered by the twin dual-calibration Mercury Racing 1350/1100 engines, and it reached 129 mph in 1,100-hp mode, according to Outerlimits sales manager Dan Kleitz.
In its first test session earlier this week, this new Outerlimits SL 50 reportedly reached 129 mph (click image to enlarge).
“The boat was set up to run in 1350 mode and was over-propped—and we had five guys in it,” he said. “We were only able to get 6,000 rpm out of the engines and it still ran 129 mph. With the right setup for 1100 mode, it would easily run 130-plus mph.”
Dressed in house by Outerlimits with its Silver Bullet, the 50-footer features an all-Alcantara interior from Kutting Edge Interiors of O’Fallon, Mo. In addition to a pair of Garmin GPS units, custom carpet and a half-cabin, the boat boasts Outerlimits’ newly designed bolsters, a Bluave Marine Audio stereo system from Waves and Wheels and an underwater LED lighting system.
According to Kleitz, the build took six months, which is an uncommonly short timeframe for an Outerlimits project.
Check out the slideshow above for a closer look at the new Silver Bullet Outerlimits SL 50 sportboat.
“I think people are going to love the silver,” said Kleitz. “It’s a really cool look that will never go out of style.”
Editor’s note: Looking for gallery of running images of the Outerlimits SL 50 Silver Bullet model on speedonthewater.com next week.


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In May, Samsung unveiled the new ISOCELL Bright GW1 sensor with up to 64MP resolution. Soon after, some rumors appeared that Samsung's upcoming Galaxy A70s smartphone might be the first smartphone to be equipped with this new 64MP camera camera.
Today, a latest leak from the famous Ice Universe leaker has revealed that in addition to the Galaxy A-series smartphones, a growing Redmi phone also has a 64MP camera.
Specifically, the source said Samsung will hold an event to introduce 64MP sensors to the international market through a mysterious Galaxy A series and a Redmi phone exclusively for the Chinese market. However, it is not clear which device will be the first smartphone with a 64Mp camera.
It is known that the ISOCELL Bright GW1 64MP sensor produces 16MP images in low light conditions thanks to Samsung's EI Tetracell technology. The sensor also supports HDR real-time up to 100db. Smartphones using this sensor will allow users to record 1080p slow-motion video and support Super PD PDAF focusing technology. Mass production of 64MP cameras is expected to begin in the second half of 2019. Therefore, smartphones with this sensor are likely to be released in the market later this year.
In addition, Galaxy A70s is a rumored product that will own a 64MP camera. Samsung Galaxy A70s will be released later this year. Because it is an upgraded version of Galaxy A70, it is likely that this phone has the same hardware as Galaxy A80 with the biggest difference from 64MP camera. Samsung is believed to be working on the Galaxy A90 and the phone is also expected to use the new ISOCELL GW1 camera sensor. Wait and watch it!
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Please like the page Sforum.vn Follow the following link: https://www.facebook.com/SforumTech.
Or visit the website Sforum.vn to instantly read extremely hot technology news.


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Interview to Luis Carabajal, Manager of Operations of the firmMexico | 13/08/2009
(Mexico, exclusive Yogonet.com).- Luis Carabajal, Manager of Operations of Bemex-Metronia, assisted to ELA 2009, where he commented about the new products of the firm, remarked its post-sales service in Mexico and assured that, with just 18 months of presence in that market, the firm has already installed more than 2,000 machines.
Interview to Patrick Magendans, ELAUT’s International Sales Manager Gaming DivisionMexico | 13/08/2009
(Mexico, exclusive Yogonet.com).- Within ELA 2009, Yogonet.com talked with Patrick Magendans, International Sales Manager Gaming Division of Elaut, who commented about the presentation of its Dice Roulette product, a project in which they have been working for two years.
Miguel Ángel Puyol, Head of BrabingoMexico | 12/08/2009
(Mexico, exclusive Yogonet.com).- Miguel Ángel Puyol, head of Brabingo, commented to Yogonet.com about the presentation of a new machine in ELA 2009: Evolution Black Jack. “The product has had a fantastic success; it exceded all our expectations,” he said.
Interview to Raúl Bouchot, PokerPro Director of SalesMexico | 12/08/2009
(Mexico, exclusive Yogonet.com).- Raúl Bouchot, reciently appointed as PokerPro Director of Sales, granted an exclusive interview to Yogonet.com within recent ELA 2009 to comment the products presented in the event, the feedback of the public and the markets that the firm aims to target, besides Mexico.
Interview to Sam Arnold, company’s Managing DirectorMexico | 11/08/2009
(Mexico, Exclusive Yogonet.com).- Sam Arnold, ISMS’ Managing Director comments in this interview how important was the recent second edition of Mexican ELA trade show for the company, and also underlines how its products are an initial option for new small operators that cannot afford buying bright new equipment.
Interview to Sebastián Salat, VP and Managing Director of the companyMexico | 11/08/2009
(Mexico, exclusive Yogonet.com).- Sebastián Salat, International President of WMS, was interviewed in exclusive by Yogonet.com during the latest edition of ELA. He talked about the recent arrival of the firm in the Mexican market and the big perspectives this moves generates.
Alejandra Burato, Belatra’s Manager of Sales and Marketing for Latin AmericaMexico | 10/08/2009
(Mexico, exclusive Yogonet.com).- Alejandra Burato, Manager of Sales and Marketing for Latin America of Belatra, talked in exclusive to Yogonet.com on the products presented in the latest edition of ELA and showed the satisfaction of the company with the Mexican market.
Interview to Carlos Henguel, Director of Sales and Operations of Bally MexicoMexico | 05/08/2009
(Mexico, exclusive Yogonet.com).- Bally presented its products in the latest edition of ELA, that took place July 23 and 24 in Mexico City. Carlos Henguel, Director of Sales and Operations of the firm, granted an exclusive interview to Yogonet.com and, on top of presenting the products that the firm exhibited, he commented the importance of the Mexican market for the company.
Interview with Jens Einhaus, AGI Sales Director
“Everybody is waiting the legislation that will allow Class III in Mexico. All the big players will be there.”Mexico | 04/08/2009
(Mexico, exclusive Yogonet.com).- Jens Einhaus, AGI Sales Director, gave an interview to Yogonet.com within ELA event 2009, recently held in Mexico City, where the firm presented its latest products. There, he spoke about the novelties of the company and commented on the feedback received from the show’s visitors, the characteristics of the Mexican market and future shows.
Interview to federal representative Armando García MéndezMexico | 03/08/2009
(Mexico, exclusive Yogonet.com).- In an interview held during recent ELA event 2009, the Federal Representative Armando García Méndez summarized the online gaming bill that is currently being treated in the Congress, and which expects to be approved this year.


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Mark your calendar for Mediaweek, October 29-30 in New York City. We’ll unpack the biggest shifts shaping the future of media—from tv to retail media to tech—and how marketers can prep to stay ahead. Register with early-bird rates before sale ends!
The chief executive of Leaf Group, Sean Moriarty, stepped down from the role after nine years last week as the media company faces financial headwinds and pressure from its ownership group, Graham Holdings Company, to reverse its commercial struggles, according to people familiar with the matter.
A spokesperson for Graham Holdings Company, Pinkie Mayfield, confirmed the departure.
Moriarty will be replaced on an interim basis by Timothy J. O’Shaughnessy, the president and CEO of Graham Holdings Company and the husband of Laura Graham O’Shaughnessy, the granddaughter of Katharine Graham, the former publisher of The Washington Post.
Moriarty has served as CEO of Leaf Group since 2014, where he played an instrumental role in reinventing the media company once known as Demand Media.
Fortunes reversed since thriving during the pandemic
After rebranding in 2016, Leaf Group embraced a commercial model that blended commerce from its art marketplaces, Society6...


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OnePlus is now rolling out OxygenOS 22.214.171.124 for the older OnePlus 7 and 7T series devices. The new update is carrying the December 2021 security patch alongside an essential fix for a bug.
However, it is important to note that the update is based on Android 11, not the Android 12 build. OnePlus has previously rolled out the update based on Android 12 to other devices. Anyways, the update is a Christmas gift from the company to its customers. It includes several key features, including the latest security patch before the year’s end. On top of that, the OxygenOS 126.96.36.199 is also carrying a fix for a WhatsApp issue. The issue was preventing selected devices from sending and receiving media through WhatsApp.
OnePlus revealed that OxygenOS 188.8.131.52 will arrive gradually to all the devices. In other words, you might not receive the update instantly, you will have to wait for it. The original posts also state that using VPN to download the global build may not work. Since the rollout is not based on regions; it will be rolled out to a limited number of devices randomly.
Also Read: LG Gearing Up To Release UltraGear Gaming Laptop.
OxygenOS 184.108.40.206 Changelog for OnePlus 7/7 Pro and OnePlus 7T/7T Pro
Here is the changelog for the update:
- Fixed the issue that WhatsApp cannot send and receive media files
- Updated Android Security Patch to 2021.12
- Improved system stability
What’s more, some of the OnePlus users have shared screenshots of the OxygenOS 220.127.116.11 OTA file. From the screenshots, it appears that the update is around 80-90MB in size. Moreover, you can check the Oxygen Updater from the Play Store to sideload the OTA .zip file.
Also Read: NVIDIA Has Introduced GeForce RTX 2050, MX570, and MX550 Laptop GPUs.


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CHICO — Butte Humane Society will host pet photos with Santa 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Nov. 17 at Nantucket Home, 603 Broadway.
Portraits will be taken by Jocey Shannon Photography.
No appointment is needed and no fee will be due at the events. Sittings will be first-come, first-served.
Pets must be secured on leash or in carriers. Families are also welcome to join their pets with Santa. No outside photography will be allowed.
Each client will be provided with a link to an online gallery, where a variety of prints and custom gift items may be ordered. The photographer will donate 80 percent of proceeds to Butte Humane Society.
Donations to BHS will also be accepted.
There will be a bin of pet accessories to dress up pets for their pictures. More accessories are needed and may be dropped off at Butte Humane Society administrative office, 2580 Fair St.
For information, www.buttehumane.org.


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Drivers could soon pay to park on the street
DRIVERS could soon be paying to park on the street in popular areas around Nailsea, Clevedon and Portishead.
As part of its efforts to plug a �47million funding gap, North Somerset Council is looking to introduce more parking charges across the district.
This could include on-street charges along Clevedon’s seafront, as well as in Hill Road and Old Street in Clevedon, around Nailsea’s town centre and Portishead’s town centre.
At a meeting of the authority’s Strategic Planning and Economic Policy and Scrutiny Panel on October 11, it was revealed parking charges could raise �1.3million.
The panel supported, in principle, the introduction of on-street parking charges, subject to a review of rates.
On-street charging could raise about �700,000, with rates for Clevedon seafront recommended to be set at �1.20 for an hour and 60p for 30 minutes, 8am-6pm every day.
For other areas the rates have been recommended at 50p for an hour and 30p for 30 minutes.
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The earliest this could be implemented would be April 2013.
To deter drivers from simply parking on double yellow lines to avoid paying, the panel also recommended North Somerset Council applies to take on civil parking enforcement (CPE) powers from the police.
This would see a council employee enforcing double yellow lines plus the use of bus lanes and high occupancy vehicle lanes. CPE could raise up to �80,000.
North Somerset Council is also looking to introduce charges at the car parks it owns in Clevedon at Great Western Road; in Nailsea at Clevedon Road, the Link Road and at Nailsea and Backwell railway station; and in Portishead at Esplanade, Nore Road and Roath Road. This could potentially generate about �380,000 for the unitary authority.
This idea has already prompted strong objections from business owners and town leaders in Nailsea.
In a speech to panel members, Nailsea Town Council chairman Rod Lees said: “Any proposal to introduce parking charges in Nailsea represents a commercially high-risk proposition, especially during a recession.”
Councillor Lees, who believes free parking is a strong selling point for Nailsea, also said, because the town does not have a shortage of parking, shoppers would end up using the Tesco car park and the one in Stock Way South, therefore reducing the income predicted for the council sites.
During the meeting, it was decided the panel would recommend the inclusion of the Nailsea and Backwell station car park in the charging scheme.
The panel also decided to support, in principle the extension of off-street charging, while taking into account exceptional circumstances in relation to Nailsea.


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Billionaire Carl Icahn won the bidding war for Pep Boys, striking a deal to buy the auto parts and repair chain for about $1 billion.
The deal with Icahn Enterprises L.P., the activist investor’s publicly traded company, comes a day after the other party in the fight, Japanese tire maker Bridgestone Corp., said it wouldn’t counter Mr. Icahn’s latest bid. On Wednesday, Pep Boys—whose full company name is Pep Boys - Manny Moe & Jack—said it had pulled the plug on its pending merger deal with Bridgestone and that Mr. Icahn’s firm paid Bridgestone a $39.5 million deal-termination fee on Pep Boys’ behalf. The deal, for $18.50 a share, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2016. Shares of Pep Boys declined 2.9% to $18.39.
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Dallas, TX – Jan. 11, 2016 – Freeman, the leading global provider of brand experiences, has partnered with the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) to produce PCMA Convening Leaders 2016, taking place Jan. 10-13, 2016 at the Vancouver Convention Center in Vancouver, Canada.
Freeman partnered with PCMA to provide experience design expertise and support the theme ‘Cultivate Creative Moments’ during the 2016 Convening Leaders conference. Freeman and PCMA collaborated to not only provide attendees with a high-quality learning and networking experience, but encourage meeting planners and suppliers to create their own event experience by offering alternative formats to learn, network and uncover more possibilities throughout every minute of the conference.
“We used a design thinking approach to capitalize on past intelligence to improve the quality while increasing operating efficiencies,” said Christie Greenleaf, CEM, senior vice president of sales and industry relations at Freeman. “This included conducting a debrief of previous efforts, identifying opportunities for improvement, engaging stakeholders to formulate their vision and establishing a plan to build on previous success.”
Freeman’s design thinking approach is represented at the show through the learning lounge that caters to multiple learning styles, an interactive general session where attendees can experience Freeman’s second screen technology, FXP | touch, and through a backstage experience where general session attendees can enjoy the rarely seen production process.
“We believe in taking risks,” said Kelly Peacy, CAE, CMP, senior vice president at PCMA. “We test new event trends and promising practices to inspire other event professionals. Many of the ideas become future best practices. And even when our risks don’t work out as expected, there are valuable learning experiences for us, our attendees and our partners. Our goal is to continue to facilitate innovation and creativity in the events industry.”


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Athletes have long been go-to ambassadors for many fashion brands, with top players across football, basketball, tennis and other sports regularly appearing in campaigns and sitting front row for design houses and luxury brands.
Over the last few years as interest in Formula 1 racing has skyrocketed across the globe, fashion brands have increasingly leveraged this mass interest by looking to F1 drivers to be ambassadors and F1 teams for multiyear partnerships. According to ESPN, F1’s 2022 season was its most-watched, up 28 percent year-over-year to an average of 1.2 million viewers per race.
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Some of today’s biggest fashion brands are spearheading this new category in sports ambassadorships, such as Tommy Hilfiger, Boss, Tumi, Puma, Reiss and others, which have embarked on long-term partnerships with F1 teams including McLaren Racing and Mercedes-AMG Petronas, and F1 drivers like Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Lando Norris and others.
“It has such a growing, global audience — it’s huge,” says Christos Angelides, chief executive office of Reiss, which has been the official travel wear partner of McLaren Racing since May. “Fashion plays out all across the world, so it’s quite natural that the two go together. In addition, Formula 1 does have some fashion ambassadors such as Lewis Hamilton. So I think us in the fashion world have been watching it with interest and feel that now is a good time as any to associate ourselves with high performance, high quality and a highly innovative industry that has some similarities to what we do.”
While fashion brands already have a lengthy roster of athlete ambassadors, many are now looking to F1 drivers for their widespread and unique appeal. F1 is seen as more of a luxury sport, but the drivers have helped democratize it with their down-to-earth, relatable demeanors that have come across through their social media platforms and Netflix’s popular docuseries “Formula 1: Drive to Survive.”
“The drivers are really big celebrities. They’re icons — they’re like musicians and actors,” says Martijn Hagman, CEO of Tommy Hilfiger global and PVH Europe, which has had a long-term partnership with Hamilton and is newly working with Russell. “You’ll start to see brands engage a lot more directly with the drivers than we have seen in the past and then start to build on collaborations like you’ve seen from us with Lewis and are now starting to do with George Russell. That’s the big evolution that you will start to see in the coming years.”
Tommy Hilfiger was one of the first designers to jump on the F1 hype, establishing his partnership with Hamilton back in 2018. Hilfiger and Hamilton have worked on several collections and runway shows together and most recently teamed on the brand’s collaboration with Awake NY for the Mercedes F1 team.
Hamilton’s star power — he has 34 million followers on Instagram alone — has always extended beyond the race track thanks to his highly watched style, which made him a key ambassador for Hilfiger.
“What’s truly unique about Lewis is his creative talent,” Hagman continues. “If you look back at the collaborations and how we developed the capsule collections together with him, he really had a strong opinion and a really good opinion on how the collection should look. He really drove the creativity of that capsule and it was quite unique. It’s not something you immediately expect, but in that sense, he’s so multitalented.”
Aside from Hamilton and Russell, many of the other top F1 drivers have also been signed by brands as ambassadors. As part of Tumi’s partnership with McLaren Racing, the travel brand tapped Norris as an ambassador and the face of several of its campaigns. In January, Lululemon named Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu, China’s first F1 driver, as an ambassador. Last month, Boss furthered its partnership with Aston Martin by appointing its driver Fernando Alonso as an ambassador.
“For us, he’s a perfect match,” says Nadia Kokni, senior vice president of global marketing at Hugo Boss, about the brand signing Alonso. “He’s a class act and he’s determined in his pursuit of really wanting to win and live on his own boss terms. He’s just an inspiration. The inspiring, positive energy that he has — he’s sustained that for over 20 years now. That’s something that really resonates for us and our consumer.”
While Boss went with a long-standing F1 driver, Tumi looked to a relative newcomer in Norris, choosing the McLaren racer because of his humble nature and because of how he embodies the brand’s on-the-go ethos.
“He really is that muse customer when we think about those individuals that are pursuing their passions at a very high level,” says Tumi creative director Victor Sanz. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a designer, a race car driver or a parent. It’s like we all have that drive to become the very best and for us, that was something that we saw in him.”
Norris’ Tumi ambassadorship is part of the travel brand’s larger partnership with McLaren Racing. The label has created several capsule collections with the racing team since 2021.
Other brands have focused on these types of overall partnerships with F1 teams rather than working with individual drivers, such as Puma, which unveiled its exclusive partnership with Formula 1 as a whole in May during the Miami Grand Prix. The partnership is an extension of the brand’s work with teams like Mercedes, Ferrari and Alfa Romeo, and now makes Puma the official supplier at F1 races and allows it to produce F1 branded merchandise.
“It’s making our positioning the leading sports brand in the world of motorsports,” says Thomas Josnik, global director of motorsport at Puma. “That’s one of the opportunities. Another opportunity is driving innovation forward and integrating this into our products. Then, this entire culture of Formula 1 which has attracted a different audience with celebrities — other sports and entertainment celebrities — and bringing those two worlds together.”
Formula 1 attracts a wide range of viewers, and has only been growing among younger demographics and women. According to ESPN’s data from the 2022 season, viewers aged 18 to 34 increased viewership by 43 percent, while viewers aged 25 to 34 increased 46 percent. Female viewership increased by 34 percent, with women making up roughly 352,000 viewers a race.
“[Norris] reaches such a broad audience — these aficionados of racing, that’s a very fluid kind of audience — but then also this younger demographic that’s really resonated [with the sport],” says Jill Krizelman, Tumi’s senior vice president of global marketing and e-commerce, of the driver, who has 6.5 million Instagram followers. “To bring the brand to that broad demographic and be able to expose the brand to his audience is a great benefit to us.”
With several more upcoming races this year — including the highly anticipated Las Vegas Grand Prix taking place in November — fashion brands plan to continue their respective partnerships and grow them as they see more opportunities within Formula 1.
“You have these athletes that are truly the best of the best,” Krizelman says. “They’re really becoming icons. Similar to what you see in sports — that convergence of athleticism and fashion coming together — we’re seeing that here.”
Launch Gallery: Formula 1 Drivers Are Fashion Brands’ New Go-to Ambassadors
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- Cody Simpson Launches Eco-Friendly Fashion Brand ‘Prince Neptune’
- These Plus-Size Clothing Stores & Brands Are Editor-Approved
- Kate Moss goes naked to announce new wellness brand, Cosmoss


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The top 100 ranking of North American injection molders appears in this week's Plastics News, with combined sales of $313.5 billion for fiscal year 2022.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the consumer price index for 2022 rose 6.5 percent. The top five resins from our ranking saw average material costs go up 11.5 percent. So, by the numbers, these figures reveal a challenging year for molders. And yet our top 100 gained $1.4 billion in sales. That's a 4.9 percent gain.
In terms of average sales per company, those numbers are up, $313 million vs. $302 million over the 2021 average.
Six acquisitions are noted, including the biggest gain of 567 percent, when No. 49, Creative Liquid Coatings Inc., acquired the assets of CK Technologies from Cascade Engineering Inc. last year.
Expansions seem to be the hot topic for this current year, 2023. Check out our industry coverage.


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The outbreak of pandemic COVID-19 has killed at least 540,000 people globally till now and has affected more than 8.5 million. The cases are increasing at a high pace and Brazil has become the second country with the highest number of cases after USA.
WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesushas recently mentioned that the COVID-19pandemic is now entering into a new and dangerous phase of all and it is because of the rate at which the cases are increasing globally. He said:
“The world is in a new and dangerous phase. Many people are understandably fed up with being at home. Countries are understandably eager to open up their societies and economies but the virus is still spreading fast, it’s still deadly and most people are still susceptible.
“The pandemic is accelerating. More than 150,000 new cases of COVID-19 were reported to WHO yesterday – the most in a single day so far,”
According to his statements though governments are opening things in different phases after the lockdown they must understand that the coronavirus outbreak still pose a major threat. People are definitely getting tired of the lockdowns because of individuals’ economic conditionsbut people also have to consider that the risk has also increased.
Now as the risk has increased, they have to take care of themselves and their loved ones and these are some of things they should take care of:
Standard Recommendations to Avoid Exposure to Coronavirus:
- Maintain basic hand and respiratory hygiene
- Follow social distancing rules
- Avoid attending large social events
- Avoid close contact with people showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing
Things to Do On a Daily Basis:
- Sleep for at least 7-8 hours a day because having enough rest is very important.
- Keep yourself hydrated.Try to drink warm water only. Also, you can have fresh fruit juices, coconut water or milk.
- Eat healthy to maintain a good balance of fiber, carbohydrates and vitamins and other nutrients in your body.
- Make an exercise routine. Consider at least 30 minutes daily exercise.
- Avoid or limit the consumption of alcohol &cigarette smoking.
- Take care of your mental health. Stay connected socially.
- Do what you love. Engage in your hobbies. Try to learn something new.
- Watch COVID-19 news only on a regular interval just to stay updated.
- Don’t skip your medicines if you have any ongoing health condition such as diabetes, low or high blood pressure etc.
- Seek psychosocial support if you are feeling extreme stress. Worry or fear for a several days in a row can negatively impact your health.
Best Foods to Stay Healthy & boost Your Immunity:
You can include all different types of foods in your daily diet such as whole grains, nuts, oils, fruits,vegetables etc. Also,you should increase intake of immunity boosters such as Turmeric, Ginger, Garlic & Mint Leaves.
Here is a small list of different types of foods you can include in your diet
Grains & Nuts
Vegetables & Fruits
- Sweet Limes
Meat & Seafood
Food Safety habits to follow:
- Wash fruits & vegetables with clean water
- Keep food at safe temperatures
- Separate raw & cooked food
- Cook thoroughly (especially meats)
Following the aforementioned best practices, you can lower the risk of gettingaffected through coronavirus. Stay healthy. Stay Updated. Keep reading our blog.


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It may be time to set off on an unplanned European vacation. Hot Hotels said it would acquire ReallyLateBooking, and Wednesday’s deal between the two Europe-focused companies is the latest in a flurry of activity around mobile apps that offer last-minute hotel reservations.
Hotel Tonight raised $45 million in funding earlier this month, and Groupon followed by announcing that it had acquired Blink. Hot Hotels’ move to snap up ReallyLateBooking seems an attempt to keep pace, and it strongly indicates that the fight for last-minute reservation dominance in the coming months will be a Continental affair.
“This acquisition will make Hot Hotels the undisputed leader of last-minute mobile hotel booking in Europe,” said Chief Executive Officer Conor O’Connor in a press release. Still, that was Groupon’s motivation in grabbing Blink, which also focuses on Europe. Hotel Tonight, meanwhile, has said it will spend a good portion of its enhanced war chest on extending its reach in Europe, where it already does 20 percent to 25 percent of its business.
While they pitch primarily to travelers, Hot Hotels, Blink, and Hotel Tonight will have to win over the hotels. Last-minute-reservation apps are disrupting an industry that sees both potential and danger in the shift, as Bloomberg Businessweek explained earlier this month:
“The hotel industry is torn over this last-minute booking trend. On the one hand, mobile booking is likely to make up a significant proportion of business, and last-minute deals also help rent out rooms that would otherwise sit empty. But the move to mobile also probably means that a greater proportion of sales will be filtered through an intermediary that will take a cut. The hotel industry will pay $7.5 billion in commissions (PDF) to businesses helping sell hotel rooms in 2015, up from $3.8 billion in 2010, according to a report done last year by the American Hotel & Lodging Association and Smith Travel Research. These dues are going largely to travel-tech companies.”
On the other hand, the recent activity might offer hotels some relief: Consolidation probably means that several viable companies will be competing for their favors.


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Ten years on from the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement, Australia is entering another round of negotiations towards the new and controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership. In this Free Trade Scorecard series, we review Australian trade policy over the years and where we stand today on the brink of a number of significant new trade deals.
Amid the Abbott government’s push to conclude bilateral trade agreements with Japan, South Korea and China, you’d be forgiven for having missed the larger trade negotiations Australia is party to. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is being negotiated by 12 countries: Chile, New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei, the United States, Malaysia, Peru, Vietnam, Canada, Mexico, Japan – and Australia.
Simultaneously, Australia is in talks on a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) along with the 10 members of ASEAN, Japan, China, South Korea, India and New Zealand.
For many, this is all to the good. More than two-thirds of Australia’s trade is with the Asia Pacific and, with all of these forums and suitors, the fears of being shut out of Asian markets seem so early ‘90s. But Australia would be naïve to ignore the more serious edge to what it is involved in here.
The key fact about TPP and RCEP is that each excludes one of the world’s two largest economies. China is not party to the TPP talks. The US isn’t part of RCEP negotiations. This is a pretty clear sign that it’s all not just about free trade and goodwill. It’s about TPP versus RCEP, as trade agendas become a major vehicle in the growing strategic competition between Washington and Beijing.
For flint-eyed trade economists, the non-trade aspects of TPP versus RCEP are obvious. Apart from Japan, none of the parties to the TPP negotiations are significant trading partners of the US; and six of its 12 parties already have trade agreements with the US.
On the RCEP side, trade economists point to the remarkably low utilisation rate of existing trade agreements among Asia Pacific countries – meaning that very few companies actually make use of the profusion of preferential trade agreements that span the region.
Why are nations pursuing both agreements?
If the economic advantages are unlikely to be significant, why are countries spending so much diplomatic coin in pursuing TPP and RCEP? A closer look at the negotiating strategies of the main parties – the US and China – and the broader geopolitical dynamics in the region suggests that TPP and RCEP are part of a high-stakes contest between Washington and Beijing over the regional rules of the road.
The main dilemma of America’s Asia policy for the past 15 years has been how to integrate the rapidly rising powers in the region – and China in particular – into the established rules for how the Asia Pacific works. Washington was not alone in this. A host of countries in the western Pacific, including Australia, wanted to be able to benefit from the dynamism of the Chinese economy, but worried that China’s rise would disrupt a stable and prosperous regional order.
The answer was a strategy that can be called co-optive socialisation. This was the belief that by welcoming rising powers into regional institutions and being willing to shift representational and decision-making structures to accommodate their interests, while demonstrating the material benefits they received from existing arrangements, this would convert outsiders into supporters of the prevailing order. Or as former US deputy secretary of state Robert Zoellick put it, “responsible stakeholders”.
By about 2010, there was a growing realisation in Washington, Canberra and other capitals that this strategy hadn’t really worked. As China threw its weight around in the South and East China Seas, policymakers began to realise that perhaps socialisation was working in reverse: having joined all the region’s organisations, Beijing was using them to deflect pressure from its more assertive policy.
Over the same 15 years, China’s main dilemma has been how to preserve those elements of the existing rules that are to its ongoing benefit, while changing those it believes are a risk to its stability and prosperity, or are an affront to its sense of its rightful status in the world. Its initial answer was reverse socialisation – joining institutions, accepting a greater say and using its weight to block or undermine those aspects it disagrees with.
But China too realised the limits of this strategy in around 2010. Reverse socialisation just wasn’t delivering the changes Beijing wants at a rate commensurate with the growth of its economic stature and sense of status.
TPP vs RCEP: a regional test of strength
Enter TPP versus RCEP – each representing the new phase in Sino-American order rivalry in Asia. Washington’s strategy behind TPP might be called coercive socialisation: a belief that non-compliance should be met with a re-investment in the original rules, along with imposing clear costs on those that don’t comply with them.
Everyone from US president Barack Obama down champions the TPP as a “high quality” trade agreement, because it includes measures targeting “behind the border” trade protection. These include highly politically contentious issues such as intellectual property rights, government procurement, investor-state dispute resolution, and labour and environmental standards.
TPP advocates argue that the winners in the new global economy, in which manufacturing and services are widely distributed and must flow seamlessly to capture economic gains, will be countries that are first to conclude “gold standard” trade agreements like the TPP.
Through the TPP, the US is stating clearly its insistence on what it believes to be the foundation rules and values of Asia Pacific prosperity. But it’s tying these to clear benefits: balanced and steady economic growth, a dynamic and integrated trade and investment system, and a stable and secure region underpinned by an American security guarantee.
It is a tough-love message: getting into the TPP will be a hard grind, but staying out of it will bring real costs. And by offering accession to all regional comers, including China, the US is making entry conditional on socialisation, rather than vice versa.
China’s response has been to back RCEP as part of its new strategy of gravitational re-engineering: relying on the size, dynamism and momentum of one’s own economy or example to attract swing players to one’s own alternative institutions or side in an existing institution or negotiation.
For Beijing, RCEP is a defensive measure against the TPP. It is calculating that the lure of the size and dynamism of the Chinese economy will convince the region to opt for a more “Asianist” grouping, rather than the TPP’s Pacific model, which threatens to divide Asia’s economic regionalism. The ambitions of RCEP are much lower: while covering trade, services and intellectual property, the terms are much less politically demanding of the negotiating parties.
The stakes are high for both the US and China. If Washington has set TPP’s ambitions so high that it is unable to close the deal, it will represent a major setback to Obama’s “rebalancing” strategy in Asia.
The key country is Japan. Without Tokyo, TPP becomes much less convincing and the costs of staying outside much less worrisome for Beijing. But if the US lowers the bar for Japan, it loses a major chance to advance its coercive socialisation agenda.
If Beijing pushes too hard for a compromise deal on RCEP, the lure of TPP will remain for other Asian economies. The nightmare for China would be to be the last major economy to join TPP – and therefore subject to all the tender mercies of US trade negotiators.
This article draws on research prepared for the 2014 Workshop “Ten Years since the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement: Where to for Australia’s Trade Policy?” Sponsored by the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, UNSW Australia.


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There’s nothing more tiresome than hearing a guy soliloquize about his “crazy ex,” which makes the actor/comedian’s recent praise of his famous exes all the more attractive.
The deal comes at a time when dollar stores are growing and investing in beauty.
The finalists, chosen from more than 570 applications, work across the jewelry, accessories and ready-to-wear categories and represent 13 countries in the MENA region.
From Chanel to Christian Dior, the next 8 days of shows promise to be filled with famous faces turning up to watch the fall 2020 collections come down the runway.
The K-pop group wore glam-goth Rick Owens.
Guests swapped shoe-related disaster stories at the “Christian Louboutin, L’Exhibitionniste” cocktail on Monday.
The health crisis is expected to have at least a 0.3 percent negative impact on Italy’s gross domestic product in 2020.
From Marine Serre to Dior and Chanel at the end of the week, Corey Tenold is capturing all of the best hair and makeup, up-close details, and more moments you won’t see elsewhere. Scroll through his latest coverage here, and come back for his daily updates.
The Michael Winterbottom film looks at how cheap global labor props up a key segment of the fashion industry. On Monday night, celebrities attended a screening at Cinepolis Chelsea.
The fun fashion brands offering frilly frocks for teenagers hosted a party during Milan Fashion Week.
The department store chain said it did better in some categories, including ladies apparel and cosmetics, than in others.
After wearing a Carolina Herrera floral shirtdress to visit kindergarteners Tuesday morning, she chose a shocking pink dress from the designer house for the state dinner.
Leopoldstadt, which opened last week at Wyndham’s Theater in London, is his most personal work ever, using a slow excavation of his own Jewish history to create an epic family saga.
Cara Delevingne and Ashley Benson took turns cuddling Mighty, Orlando Bloom’s puppy, at the Boss show on Sunday.
Strengthing online offering is one way for the brand to offset the weak performance in Greater China due to protests and virus outbreaks.


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There is nothing better than a nice cold ice cream on a hot day. It’s even better if that ice cream is helping fund cancer research. Graeter’s is make supporting the organization “The Cure Starts Now” easy and tasty with their Cones for the Cure.
The Cure Starts Now is trying to find a cure for cancer by focusing on pediatric brain cancer. From September 8th to the 18th, Graeter’s will be giving away free scoops of Elena’s Blue Berry pie two times during the campaign period to help raise awareness for the research. The ice cream flavor was created to honor Elena Desserich who was the inspiration behind the Cones for the Cure movement.
At participating locations in Cincinnati, Dayton, Cleveland, Chicago, Columbus, Indianapolis, Lexington, Louisville, and Pittsburg, everyone will have the chance to donate $1 or $5. Also, Graeter’s is offering a $20 savings booklet to anyone who chooses to donate $5 or more.
Another part of the campaign is a social media photo contest. Everyone who posts a selfie with their ice cream will be entered to win the title of “Ulitmate Graeter’s Fan” and a Graeter’s Ultimate party pack. Be sure to use the hashtag #conesforthecure! The top 5 photos will be selected by WLWT and 96 Rock by 9/19/16 for final voting by followers of “Cones for the Cure” Facebook site. The picture with the most “likes” wins. The winner will be announced on 10/1/16 on the Cones for the Cure Facebook page.
Last year 50,000 people participated in the campaign raising almost $100,000 dollars. To date, the campaign has raised over $320,000 for The Cure Starts Now. This awesome organization has funded over $6.7 million dollars of cancer research.
“It may be the very best way to make a difference while treating yourself to the best ice cream around” – Graeter


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Toys ‘R’ Us paid $200 million for the right to be the exclusive distributor of toys, games and baby products on Amazon.com – but is now trying to recover that money, alleging Amazon violated terms of the agreement.
Instead of exclusivity, Toys ‘R’ Us faced growing competition within Amazon from rival retailers, according to a lawsuit filed yesterday in New Jersey Superior Court. As of March 2004, retailers other than Toys ‘R’ Us were selling 4,000 products in the toy, games and baby categories on Amazon’s site, the suit contends.
In addition, countless other products in the categories that were supposed to be exclusive to Toys ‘R’ Us were being sold by third parties through links on Amazon’s site, the suit said.
Toys ‘R’ Us is seeking either unspecified damages or the invalidation of the agreement and the return of the $200 million it has paid Amazon since the 10-year deal was signed on August 9, 2000.
In a statement, Amazon said the allegations are without merit.
“We believe we can have multiple sellers in the toy category, increase selection and offer products that Toys ‘R’ Us doesn’t have,” the Seattle-based company said.
Toys ‘R’ Us also is asking for a restraining order to prevent Amazon from rolling out a new technology – called one-to-one graphical interface – that the retailer said will further breach the agreement by allowing a wider array of merchants to offer products for sale on the Web site.
The brawl with Amazon comes as Toys ‘R’ Us continues to struggle in the face of increased competition from Wal-Mart and other discount stores, which are wooing customers with lower prices.
Toys ‘R’ Us has tried to differentiate itself from the discounters by striking deals with toy manufacturers, which agree to sell certain products only in Toys ‘R’ Us stores.
Last week, Toys ‘R’ Us reported that its first-quarter losses had widened to $28 million from $26 million in the same period a year ago. Sales at stores open at least a year fell 5.6 percent in the quarter.
Amazon, meanwhile, has continued to broaden its reach by adding new product categories like apparel and jewelry.
Toys ‘R’ Us said Amazon benefited from its alliance with the retailer, which controlled inventories, identified hot new products and sourced them through its own relationships with manufacturers.


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SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) is a type of application delivery model for cloud-based applications and services. It is based on the “pay-as-you-go” philosophy, meaning that customers pay for the services they use and don’t have to purchase or install any applications or equipment upfront. June Butcher is the founder and CEO of a SaaS-focused VC firm, ButcherTech Ventures, which recently announced an investment round of $125M for SaaS startups.
The Benefits of SaaS for Startups
SaaS is quickly becoming the go-to solution for many tech startups as it requires minimal upfront investment and can be scaled to suit quickly changing needs of customers. As customers’ expectations toward service delivery continue to evolve, SaaS is seen to become even more important in the coming months and years.
June Butcher’s Vision
June Butcher is an experienced entrepreneur, investor and venture capitalist. She has a deep understanding of the SaaS industry and the technologies used to deliver application services on cloud. She has an ambitious vision for SaaS to become a more mainstream enterprise technology, and this latest investment round is a testament to her efforts.
The Impact of ButcherTech Ventures
ButcherTech Ventures’ latest investment round for SaaS startups is expected to be a game changer for the industry. By investing in young and innovative startups, the company is helping to drive innovation in the SaaS sector. It is looking to define the future of SaaS and its potential to provide customers with better service and more utility.
1. The Growth of the SaaS Market
The SaaS market is expected to grow to a whopping $280 billion by 2021, according to Gartner. This growth is mainly due to the demand for faster, more efficient delivery of software applications. As companies continue to embrace digital transformation, SaaS applications are proving to be the go-to solution for businesses seeking faster implementation and scalability.
2. What Sets ButcherTech Ventures Apart
ButcherTech Ventures is a VC firm that invests exclusively in SaaS startups. The company focuses on early-stage and growth-stage companies that are looking to make an impact in the SaaS sector. June Butcher’s hands-on approach to investments ensures that she takes the time to get to know the team and the company behind each of its portfolio companies.
3. ButcherTech Ventures’ Investment Strategy
ButcherTech Ventures’ investment strategy revolves around identifying and investing in new and innovative SaaS startups. To achieve this, the company leverages a team of experienced industry professionals and employs best-in-class due diligence practices. The team also looks at the potential impact of each startup’s technology, products, and services to determine whether they could be industry game changers.
4. What’s Next After the $125M Round?
The $125M investment round from ButcherTech Ventures is expected to be a major boost for the SaaS sector. After the injection of additional capital, the company is looking to continue to make investments and build strategic partnerships with some of the most promising startups in the industry.
5. The Future of SaaS
The future of SaaS looks bright, with significant growth projected in the coming years. It is expected that more investment and innovation in the sector will bring new levels of convenience and efficiency to customers. Companies that are embracing a SaaS model are expected to gain a competitive advantage by being able to offer better services and faster implementation times.
The $125M investment round from ButcherTech Ventures is a huge affirmation of June Butcher’s vision for SaaS. It will certainly go a long way in helping to propel the industry forward and usher in a new era of cloud-based service delivery. It is expected to spur innovation and open up opportunities for new and existing startups looking to break into the SaaS sector.
1. What is SaaS (Software-as-a-Service)?
Answer: SaaS is a type of application delivery model for cloud-based applications and services. It is based on the “pay-as-you-go” philosophy, meaning that customers pay for the services they use and don’t have to purchase or install any applications or equipment upfront.
2. Who is June Butcher?
Answer: June Butcher is the founder and CEO of ButcherTech Ventures, a VC firm specializing in investing in SaaS startups. She is an experienced entrepreneur and investor with a deep understanding of the SaaS industry and the technologies used to deliver application services on the cloud.
3. How much money did ButcherTech Ventures recently invest in SaaS startups?
Answer: ButcherTech Ventures recently announced a $125M investment round for SaaS startups.
4. What is capchase 280m 125m?
Answer: Capchase is a service that provides capital for emerging businesses that want to purchase software and services on subscription-term contracts. It recently announced an injection of $280M in funding from SaaS-focused venture capitalist firm, ButcherTech Ventures.
5. What impact will ButcherTech Ventures’ $125M investment round have in the SaaS sector?
Answer: ButcherTech Ventures’ $125M investment round is expected to be a game changer for the SaaS industry. It is looking to define the future of SaaS and its potential to provide customers with better service and more utility. It is expected to spur innovation and open up opportunities for new and existing startups looking to break into the SaaS sector.


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Three countries are reporting positive news on motorcycle sales or registrations.
In different reports, manufacturing associations from England, Vietnam and India all show increases in two-wheel sales.
In England, total new motorcycle registrations were up 6 percent in January compared to January 2006. Scooter sales were up even more, at 12 percent. Specific motorcycle segments that were up the most included adventure sport (up 46 percent) and supersport (18). On the other hand, the custom (down 16 percent) and sport touring (20 percent) segments showed declines.
In India, the two-wheeler market grew by 12.5 percent from April 2006 through February 2007 compared to the previous year period, according to the Society of Indian Automobile manufacturers. Motorcycle sales grew at an even faster rate, at 14.4 percent. Scooters were up nearly 3 percent.
In Vietnam, four motorcycle joint ventures — Honda Vietnam, Yamaha Vietnam, Suzuki Vietnam and SYM — reported a sales increase of 29 percent for January and 28 percent for February compared to the previous year periods, according to an online report at english.vietnamnet.vn.


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The tense situation that exists in that trade war between the United States and China has had Huawei as its first victim, but there are those who think that China could respond by forbidding Chinese companies from manufacturing Apple’s iPhone in retaliation , for example. The CEO of Huawei already said that he himself would be the first to protest against these reprisals.
That threat seems serious, but one of the people in charge of Foxconn, main responsible for the production of the iPhones, has indicated in Bloomberg that if necessary they could take out of China all the production that is directed to supply the US demand, and that they have enough capacity to manufacture all the iPhone that are going to be sold in the United States to avoid the tariff increase expected for the end of June.
Foxconn prepared, Apple does not move that tab at the moment
A senior manager of the company called Young Liu revealed that “25% of our production capacity is outside of China and we can help Apple respond to its needs in the US market.”
According to this director, Apple has not given instructions in this regard to Foxconn, but could do so in light of how the rules of the game have changed between the two countries: tariffs for imports of electronic devices could grow up to 25% by the end of July, and that would raise changes in the prices of products such as mobile phones and tablets that are imported from China and arrive in the United States.
According to Bloomberg analysts, companies such as Apple could move this increase in taxes to users, who would see an increase in prices that could be between 9 and 16% and that would lower the demand between 10 and 40% according to those estimates.
The impact of the commercial war would therefore be remarkable not only for the companies but for the users : not only for not being able to access certain devices, but because the price of many of them could rise before all these difficulties.
Meanwhile, Foxconn continues to be one of Apple’s strongest partners, and much of its revenue is due to that collaboration . The company has been preparing the start-up of a production plant in Wisconsin for a while – in exchange for tax incentives, of course – that could become operational by the end of 2020 and that would initially provide work for more than 2,000 people in that region.


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Packaged foods maker Nestle India said in a BSE filing late Tuesday that all its plants have got permissions to resume operations, and that manufacturing at the plants has begun at scaled down levels to maintain social distancing norms.
Last month, the India unit of the Swiss packaged foods maker had announced scaling down or suspension of production across some of its plants with the exception of essential products, with the government announcing a national lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Manufacturing or suspension of operations at various locations is dependent on the directions of the central and state governments and authorities.
Nestle makes instant snack Maggi noodles, Nescafe coffee and KitKat chocolate. Makers of foods products, though classified has essentials, had been facing the dual challenge of lockdown enforcements and acute labour shortage because of migration and fear of the Covid-19 over the past one month.


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The terms "machine learning" and "artificial intelligence" (AI) conjure up feelings that are equal parts fear and fascination. Until recently, the prospect of a piece of software making human-like decisions resided safely in the far-fetched expectations of 1960s-era computer scientists or the plot lines of science fiction novels. Today, however, after decades of unmet expectations, we finally have AI systems that are beginning to influence our lives in tangible ways. Voice recognition systems like Amazon's Echo and Apple's Siri, and once-unimaginable fantasies like self-driving cars, are on the market for consumers, with more exciting life-like systems to come. We have also seen a few early signs of robotic autonomy that makes us feel uneasy, like the Russian robot that learned how to escape the lab!
New details about Bixby, the Samsung Galaxy S8's AI assistant, have emerged ahead of the phone's unveiling next month. The virtual helper will support up to eight languages at launch, including English, Korean and Chinese, according to SamMobile. That pushes it out in front of Google Assistant, which supports English and German on the Pixel phone, as well as Hindi, Japanese and Portuguese through the controversial Allo messaging app. However, both trail some way behind Apple's Siri, which supports over 20 different languages. The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session A man looks at an exhibit entitled'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Electrification Guru Dr. Wolfgang Ziebart talks about the electric Jaguar I-PACE concept SUV before it was unveiled before the Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, California, U.S The Jaguar I-PACE Concept car is the start of a new era for Jaguar.
Apple was the first to introduce a digital assistant when it acquired Siri and baked it into the OS. The makers of Siri went on to create Viv, a realisation of their original vision for Siri. Viv was acquired by Samsung this year. Despite the initial head start with Siri, Apple lost ground over the subsequent years by being very secretive about its research. As Apple employees were not allowed to publish research, the best talent was not attracted to the company.
When it comes to the future of artificial intelligence, the ultimate battle between man and machine may come to mind -- but that's really the stuff of science fiction. AI actually has a presence in our daily lives on a much more useful and less apocalyptic level. Think personal assistant devices and apps like Alexa, Cortana and Siri, web search predictions, movie suggestions on Netflix and self-driving cars. The term "artificial intelligence" was coined back in 1956. It describes a machine's ability to perform intelligent behavior such as decision-making or speech recognition.
Intel is taking a new direction in chip development as it looks to the future of artificial intelligence, with the company betting the technology will pervade applications and web services. The company on Thursday said it is developing new chips that will handle AI workloads, which will increasingly be a part of its chip future. For now, the AI chips will be released as specialized primary chips or co-processors in computers and separate from the major product lines. But over time, Intel could adapt and integrate the AI features into its mainstream server, IoT, and perhaps even PC chips. The AI features could be useful in servers, drones, robots, and autonomous cars.


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Now, it’s Zombie Lane’s turn to go iOS and it has already crossed this milestone. Digital Chocolate, the developer of one of the widely popular Facebook games, Millionaire City, has recently raised the curtain and brought Zombie Lane in the iWorld. Zombie Lane is the 2nd most popular game of Digital Chocolate and so there was a growing demand for the iPhone version of this Zombie game.
The Facebook page of this game shows a whopping “2,500,000 monthly active users”. But this will not be a web-based game unlike Facebook. Rather you have to download the Game app on your iPhone or iPad. The look and feel is nearly same to its Facebook version though. But if you are worried about getting help from your Facebook friends, then there is an option “Facebook Connect”.
So, you can enjoy Facebook access, reveal your Zombie self to other and do all the staffs that you used to do in Facebook. Isn’t it great?
- None Found


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Vident Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Burlington Stores, Inc. (NYSE:BURL) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $230,000.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Burlington Stores by 106.4% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 799,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,575,000 after purchasing an additional 412,380 shares in the last quarter. Old Mutual Global Investors UK Ltd. boosted its position in Burlington Stores by 582.2% during the second quarter. Old Mutual Global Investors UK Ltd. now owns 483,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,438,000 after acquiring an additional 412,262 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in Burlington Stores during the third quarter worth approximately $18,202,000. 1060 Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Burlington Stores during the second quarter worth approximately $27,597,000. Finally, Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC acquired a new stake in Burlington Stores during the third quarter worth approximately $2,644,000.
In related news, EVP Joyce Manning Magrini sold 2,400 shares of Burlington Stores stock in a transaction on Friday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.75, for a total transaction of $258,600.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 45,014 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,850,258.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Thomas Kingsbury sold 20,000 shares of Burlington Stores stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.29, for a total transaction of $1,845,800.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 87,701 shares of company stock worth $8,870,690. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.
Burlington Stores, Inc. (BURL) opened at $117.48 on Thursday. Burlington Stores, Inc. has a one year low of $79.07 and a one year high of $118.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of -11.71. The company has a market cap of $8,049.15, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.01, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.56.
Burlington Stores (NYSE:BURL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 21st. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.05. Burlington Stores had a net margin of 4.61% and a negative return on equity of 374.86%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. sell-side analysts forecast that Burlington Stores, Inc. will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current year.
Burlington Stores announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, August 24th that permits the company to buyback $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.
ILLEGAL ACTIVITY NOTICE: “Vident Investment Advisory LLC Acquires Shares of 2,408 Burlington Stores, Inc. (BURL)” was first posted by Sports Perspectives and is the property of of Sports Perspectives. If you are viewing this story on another site, it was illegally stolen and reposted in violation of international copyright and trademark legislation. The original version of this story can be viewed at https://sportsperspectives.com/2017/12/21/vident-investment-advisory-llc-acquires-shares-of-2408-burlington-stores-inc-burl.html.
Burlington Stores Company Profile
Burlington Stores, Inc is a retailer of branded apparel. As of January 28, 2017, the Company operated 592 retail stores, inclusive of an Internet store, in 45 states and Puerto Rico. Its product categories include coats, women, men, juniors, girls, boys, shoes, handbags and accessories, beauty and fragrance, home and toys.
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Qualcomm today announced that it will step into the gaming space with its own handheld gaming device and work with renowned gaming peripheral company Razer to build a device with Qualcomm’s new flagship mobile chip.
The Razer Snapdragon G3x Gen 1 Developer Kit is an Android OS-based handheld gaming device that runs all Android games and streams games from the cloud or console / PC. Keep in mind, however, that the Razer Snapdragon G3x is not a consumer product available for purchase, but a development kit that developers can request today. However, the consumer version may be released at a later date.
Qualcomm is focused on creating devices aimed at encouraging developers and manufacturers to expand the current foundation of mobile games. This is not surprising as the mobile game market has grown in popularity in recent years. This includes peripheral enhancements focused on mobile games such as Backbone One.
Razer Snapdragon G3x Gaming Platform-Hands-on Image
As the name implies, the device contains a Qualcomm G3x chip designed for gaming. The additional features included in the Razer Snapdragon G3x Gen1 Developer Kit are:
- Qualcomm Adreno GPU with the ability to run games at 144 frames per second
- 6.65 inch 120Hz OLED display with full HD + resolution
- Built-in 5MP, 1080p60 webcam with two microphones
- 4-way speaker
- Tactile feedback
- Active cooling
- Wi-Fi 6 and 6E support, and 5G millimeter wave and sub 6 support
- USB-C port.You can connect your handheld to an external display or use XR accessories
The announcement of such devices will take place at an interesting time for the entire handheld gaming market. In addition to the hybrid game console Nintendo Switch, companies such as Analogue and Panic have announced their own handheld game consoles, which will be released later next year. Valve aims to make PC games available on the go with Steam Deck, which will be released early next year.
For more information on Qualcomm and Razer’s new gaming handheld devices, see Hands-on Preview.
Taylor is IGN’s Associate Tech Editor. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster


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KOMPAS.com – Australia’s chief vet is on his way to Indonesia as the country grapples with an outbreak of lumpy skin disease, ABC Australia reported.
The viral disease is carried by biting insects like mosquitoes and causes skin lesions, fever, loss of appetite, decreased milk production, and can lead to death in cattle and buffalo.
“I'll be meeting with officials to discuss our cooperation with Indonesia on the lumpy skin disease outbreak in Riau province,” Chief Veterinary Officer Mark Schipp said in his Twitter account on Wednesday, March 23.
Schipp said protecting Australia from the disease was vital.
Also read: Pandemic Will End When Vaccine Inequity Ends: WHO Chief
“An outbreak here would have serious trade impacts across the live animal trade, for exporters of dairy products, genetic materials, hides, and some meat products in addition to animal welfare issues and significant production losses,” he said.
Biggest threat in decades, vet says
Indonesia-based veterinarian Ross Ainsworth said it would be “catastrophic” if the disease reached northern Australia.
He said the outbreak in Indonesia was the “most serious threat to the Australian cattle herd” he had witnessed in decades.
“This is transmitted by biting insects, so the biosecurity measures that have been effective for many other diseases, for generations, just aren't able to protect us from this,” he told ABC Rural.


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Have you ever wondered which countries are working on Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and where they stand in the process? Are they simply doing research or is there a pilot program in the works? Or maybe there is a digital currency live and in the wild being used by consumers and businesses alike?
Well, wonder no more. Three individuals, each affiliated with the Boston Consulting Group, have put together a CBDC tracking page to help sort through the fog of digital information and offer a one-stop location to keep track of CBDC projects.
Bihao Song, Senior IT Architect (Blockchain Chapter) at Boston Consulting Group, Kaj Burchardi, MD – Head of Platinion Netherlands part of The Boston Consulting, and Igor Mikhalev, Expert Principal at Boston Consulting Group (DigitalBCG), have created a website that is kind of cool.
Each country indicates the status of any CBDC affiliated project along with the name of the bank, tech utilized (ie flavor of blockchain), programmability, type of usage, and more.
While the US is in the midst of CBDC research, and Italy has canceled any plans, China is already piloting its digital yuan or DCEP. A few, like Venezuela’s much-maligned el Petro – have already launched. Regardless, this is a nice snapshot of the CBDC realm – if it is maintained.
The CBDC Tracker is available here.


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Uganda’s first official dairy exports to Algeria will start next month, the Dairy Development Authority (DDA) has revealed.
Uganda and Algeria signed the diary deal in March this year. Uganda is expected to export milk products worth up to USD 500 million to the North African country.
At the opening of the 16th African Dairy Conference in Kampala, Samson Akankiza, the DDA Executive director, stated that the supply, which is currently only for powdered milk, had to go through Algeria’s procurement procedures, which is now complete.
“Since on one side, it is the government buying, and on this side, it is the private companies selling, there was a need to go through the country’s procurement procedures, which all three of our major suppliers have completed,” he said.
According to Akankiza, there are three powder milk producers in Uganda including Amos Diaries, Brookside Diaries, and Pearl Diaries. He added that the first consignment contains 120,000 metric tons, which is part of the 1.4 billion liters for the quota’s supply as per the agreement.
Uganda currently produces 4 billion liters of milk annually, and the numbers are poised to increase. However, the sector has suffered setbacks due to a lack of a reliable market both domestically and outside the country’s borders. Uganda’s domestic milk consumption stands at 64 liters per capita annually, which is very low compared to the UN-recommended 200 per capita.
The 16th African Dairy Conference and Exhibition, which kicked off in Kampala, is set to highlight opportunities for dairy investment in Africa, with a focus on the host country. It also intends to strategize on the promotion of domestic milk consumption.
Peter Ngaruiya, the Executive Director of the Eastern and Southern African Dairy Association (ESADA) says that though optimal intraregional trade is still a challenge, the association has achieved in ensuring improved quality of dairy products in the region.
Ngaruiya mentions that the protectionist tendencies of most of the governments in the region, as a technical barrier to trade, are a major issue. He adds that the conference aims to handle such issues by engaging regional regulatory bodies to resolve the pending issues once and for all.
Uganda, without a doubt, is a force to reckon with when it comes to dairy, says Ngaruiya, stressing that the country has an advantage of low cost of production compared to its regional competitors. He adds that this factor, combined with technological improvement interventions, makes Uganda’s dairy sector profitable.
However, he is concerned with the low domestic consumption rates, which hinder profitability. Khadija Nakakande, the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) spokesperson, says the increasing milk production in the country is set to continue as the government increases support to the sector.
She urges Ugandans to embrace milk consumption as a way of supporting fellow Ugandans. “The government has so far injected over 70 billion shillings in the dairy sector through milk coolers, to improve storage, crossbreed animals for improved production, tractors to farm animal feeds. She adds that they have also supported the establishment of five value additional factories and two more are on the way, and this will total them to seven,” she said.


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Top executives may come on TV and talk about the recovery, but as has been the case throughout this rally, they're not putting their money where their mouth is.
The whole time, they've been steadily cashing out, selling their battered shares into the market.
The Pragmatic Capitalist takes a look at the latest:
In the last two weeks insiders sold over $335MM in stock vs listed insider purchases of just over $12MM. As has been the trend over the course of the last few weeks the list of insider selling has been long and the amounts have been staggering. The buy side, on the other hand, is represented by low rated, low priced stocks whose insiders rarely purchase over $500K.
One might think that with all of these “green shoots” the insiders at major U.S. corporations would begin buying up their own shares voraciously. Especially after a nice little run like we’ve seen lately. After all, with stocks still 35% off their highs and a full blown economic recovery (supposedly) on the horizon it would make nothing but sense than to buy your own shares, right?
This chart shows just how anemic daily insider buying has been, especially compared to last year
Disclosure: TD Ameritrade is a partner of Insider, Inc.'s business development team, which is separate from its editorial department. We may receive a commission if you open an account.


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Piedmont Candy Co. receives $14.4 million investment
Published: Tuesday, December 3, 2013 at 11:18 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, December 3, 2013 at 11:18 a.m.
Piedmont Candy Co., makers of the famous Red Bird peppermint puffs, has entered a partnership with Charlotte investment firm Plexus Capital, which has invested $14.4 million to help the company grow to the next level.
Chris Reid, president of the Lexington-based candy company, said the goal is to expand the business by adding more employees and to invest in new equipment.
"In this day and time, if you want to be successful, you can't do it alone," Reid said. "My family has been running the business for the past 25 years, and we have taken it about as far as we can. Plexus has the horsepower in the finance arena to take the company to the next level."
In the parameters of the partnership, Plexus Capital invested $14.4 million, and the management reinvested 100 percent of sale proceeds into the deal to buy out inactive shareholders and provide capital for growth. On its website, Plexus Capital states its focus is on investments and partnerships with middle-market businesses that need capital for growth.
Plexus brings with it some pretty big names in the world of finance. Kel Landis, co-founder of Plexus Capital and former CEO of RBC Bank, is listed in the securities filing as one of the directors of Piedmont Candy Holdings. Douglas Haensel, managing partner of Haensel Capital Partners and past chief financial officer of Burt's Bees, is also listed as a director.
Reid said that the deal with Plexus will not affect the management or ownership of this 123-year-old business.
"We still own the company, and we will still be running it," Reid said. "The company is still strong. We have made more candy this year than we ever have."
The investment by Plexus will allow Piedmont Candy to double its staff over the next 12 months, Reid said. The company employes about 50 people and is looking to add 20 to 30 more positions immediately.
"We make over 50,000 pounds of candy a day," Reid said. "We've been running the machines 11 hours a day for five days a week. If we are going to sell more, we're going to have to run a new shift."
Edward F. Ebelein started Piedmont Candy Co. in 1890 when he acquired the equipment and brands of the old North Carolina Candy Co. and renamed it Piedmont Candy Co. Ebelein's sons, Edward Jr. and Robert, operated the plant with their mother after the death of Edward Ebelein Sr. in 1945. In 1987, Robert Ebelein retired and sold the company to the Reid family from Denton. Reid joined the family business on a full-time basis in 1993 after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
When the Reids purchased the business, the candy was cooked in 85-pound batches in large copper kettles, and sales were largely seasonal. In 1993, the business moved from a 8,000-square-foot building on Talbert Boulevard to a larger building on Market Street and have added to it twice. The owners invested in a new stainless steel "continuous cooking system," in 2001 that constantly measures the temperature of the candy and in new candy-wrapping machines for the puffs.
Piedmont Candy sells its famous products at The Candy Factory in Lexington. It can also be found in specialty catalogs, such as Vermont Country Store, and in specialty stores like the Mast General Store chain in the North Carolina mountains. In the private label business, the company sells and packages its product for Charlotte-based distributor Lance Inc. and Family Dollar. The company also sells the peppermint puffs to restaurants as well as banks, such as NewBridge, Wachovia and BB&T, who give them to customers.
Reid says that the new partnership with Plexus Capital will allow the company to broaden its reach in the industry.
"We are excited about the new partnership," Reid said. "They will surround us with the contacts we need to go forward. The goal of any business is to grow, and with their help that is what we will do."
Sharon Myers can be reached at 249-3981, ext, 228 or at email@example.com.


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TV star appeared at a fashion show as part of Paris fashion Week in their natural form.
Kim tries different types of nudity in public. This time on the show the fashion house Balenciaga star appeared with a “naked” face without any make-up, in addition to moisturizing lotion.
“Balenciaga. Without makeup today”, signed Kim a picture in Instagram, immediately got more than a million likes. 35-year-old mother of two children in this picture apart from the person exposed also a substantial part of the breast, which contributed to cut its trench.
By the way, in may of this year in an interview, Kim admitted that her husband Kanye West prefers to see her in this form – without makeup.


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Computer-aided engineering (CAE) simulation software and services company MSC Software Corp. (MSC) recently founded the MSC Nastran Excellence Award to recognize the engineering and design innovation of its users around the world.
MSC Nastran is a simulation tool used across nearly every kind of industry – from aerospace to medical technology. It is a widely used, trusted, and accurate Finite Element Analysis (FEA) platform for structural simulation. MSC Nastran has been the industry standard in aerospace since NASA’s Apollo missions, and is used to optimize the performance, lifespan and comfort of product designs across all industries.
The Award celebrates MSC Nastran users’ work in FEA simulation to optimize everything from planes, trains, automobiles, white goods, ships, to spacecraft and beyond. Lauding the most interesting and diverse projects using MSC Nastran, the award will provide global recognition to the engineers, designers and manufacturers employing the full potential of the tool, and up to $1,000 in Amazon vouchers or donation to charity of choice.
“MSC Nastran has fueled some of the greatest product innovations in the modern world over the past 50 years, from NASA’s foundational explorations into space, to supporting the mobility, engineering and medical tech today by predictively optimizing designs before prototyping. At MSC we want to celebrate excellence in FEA by shedding light on the incredible innovation happening today, and the many talented people around the world that are using MSC Nastran to design the future,” says Keith Hanna of MSC Software.
Submissions to the award must be made publicly available during the 12 months before nomination, and can include papers presented at conferences, articles appearing in journals and magazines, and other original work documented in a publicly-available form, such as a research thesis.
Projects should demonstrate quantifiable benefits such as quality or productivity improvements, environmental or economic cost reduction. They must push the boundaries of the MSC Nastran tool, with multi-physics applications encouraged. The full criteria and deadlines can be found on at www.mscsoftware.com/msc-nastran-excellence-award-2020.
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Filed Under: Product Design & Development, ALL INDUSTRY NEWS • PROFILES • COMMENTARIES


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Retail sales in the 17 countries that share the euro rose slightly in July, while a second estimate of activity in the three months to June indicated the currency area's return to growth was driven by both domestic demand and exports.
The European Union's statistics agency Wednesday said retail sales in the euro zone rose by 0.1% from June, but were down 1.3% from July 2012. That was a weaker outcome than economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal last week had expected.
In a separate release, Eurostat confirmed that gross domestic product in the second quarter was 0.3% higher than in the first. But it now estimates that output in second quarter of 2013 fell less sharply at 0.5% from the same period in 2012 than the 0.7% decline it had previously estimated.
Eurostat also lowered its estimates of the size of the year-on-year contraction in both the first quarter of this year and the final quarter of last year.
Eurostat's figures show the euro zone's return to growth in the three months to June after six quarters of contraction was broad based, with consumer, government and investment spending all higher, while exports also made a contribution.
Consumer spending rose by 0.2% from the first quarter, the first rise since the three months to September 2011, just before the currency area's longest postwar contraction began.
Gross fixed capital formation--which includes business and household investment--rose by 0.3% from the first quarter, the largest increase since the first quarter of 2011. Government spending was up 0.4% from the first quarter, an indication that the euro zone's commitment to austerity is easing.


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The Montreal-based retailer said Wednesday it expected to add 85 net new stores this fiscal year, including about 43 opened in the first half of the year. The rest would open in fiscal 2015.
Chief executive Larry Rossy said he continues to be surprised by the number of stores the company has been able to add.
“I would say that we’re good for 70 to 80 stores next year, but usually I’m more surprised on the positive side than on the negative side,” Rossy said during a conference call to discuss second-quarter results.
Dollarama beat analyst expectations as an acceleration of new store openings helped its second-quarter profit to surge 20 per cent to $59.8 million despite slightly lower margins caused by its expansion drive.
The discount retailer, which has 828 stores focused on items sold for between $1 and $3 apiece, earned 82 cents per share for the period ended Aug. 4, up from 66 cents per diluted share a year ago. Sales increased 16 per cent to $511.3 million.
Estimates compiled by Thomson Reuters called for
$503.7 million of revenue and
79 cents per share of net income.


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Poll: Do you plan to attend your state fair this summer?
- Not sure
- Undercover dairy video leads to animal abuse allegations
- Answering the call to bring dairy to food banks
- Research shows consumer demand for transparency on food
- Lack of farm bill leaves farmers to face uncertainty in 2014
- Ag markets moved mostly lower on Tuesday
- Shrinking feed costs push 2014 milk prices higher


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By Ryan Morrison For Mailonline
Published: 12:19 GMT, 5 January 2021 | Updated: 12:19 GMT, 5 January 2021
A new super-absorbent film could be used to turn sweat into electricity to power wearable electronic devices such as a smart watch, according to its developers.
Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) created the novel film that can evaporate sweat from the skin to keep people cool while exercising.Insurance Loans Mortgage Attorney Credit Lawyer
The team say the film, which could be included in fabrics or as a new shoe lining, can also power electronic devices by converting the moisture into energy.
To make this work they created a new wearable energy harvesting device with eight cells - each can produce about half a volt of energy after absorbing moisture.
This is currently enough to power an LED bulb - but the technology is only at the proof of concept stage and the team believe it can be extended to power fitness trackers, watches or other future wearable technology when it is fully developed.
The team developed a 3D printed shoe insole and lining that can absorb sweat and keep athletes cool while out running
As part of the initial testing the team also created a simple armpit patch that absorbs the sweat before it reaches clothes (middle images)
The new film was reported in the journal Nano Energy and early experiments involved a patch that could absorb underarm sweat and stop it reaching clothing.
'When water is evaporated from the skin surface, it lowers the skin temperature and we feel cooler,' explained team leader Tan Swee Ching.
'In our new invention, we created a novel film that is extremely effective in evaporating sweat from our skin and then absorbing the moisture from sweat.'Insurance Loans Mortgage Attorney Credit Lawyer
The main components of the novel thin film are two hygroscopic chemicals – cobalt chloride and ethanolamine, the team explained.
Besides being extremely moisture-absorbent, this film can rapidly release water when exposed to sunlight. It can