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(5:30 p.m. EST) -- We love that new ship smell -- and the cruise ship class of 2012 is giving off quite an intriguing perfume.
The surprising star of the 17-ship class is American Cruise Lines' (ACL) Queen of the Mississippi, a 150-passenger vintage-style "steamboat," propelled by a 26-ton, 28-foot-wide paddlewheel. ACL's owners hope the new ship -- done up with gingerbread trim, glass chandeliers and rocking chairs -- can get the Mississippi River cruise industry back on track. In August, QOM will begin ferrying passengers on heartland routes between New Orleans and Saint Paul, traversing the Mississippi, Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, Cumberland and Arkansas rivers.
Switch continents, and you'll see Europe-based river cruise lines continuing their torrid expansion. More than half of the year's new-builds -- including six from Viking River Cruises -- will be based on European tributaries.
Among the mega-ship new-builds debuting in 2012 are several familiar faces: Oceania's second O-class ship, Riviera; Carnival's third Dream-class vessel, Breeze; and Celebrity's fifth and final Solstice-class offering, Reflection.
But not all sisters look or act alike.
Carnival Breeze has a new designer and a slew of new attractions offering burgers, burritos, booze and George Lopez. The changes come by way of the line's $500 million FunShip 2.0 initiative, a program that also calls for the retrofitting of older ships with the aforementioned amenities. Tweaks are also in store for Celebrity Reflection, which will feature a suite complex not found on its four older sisters. Meanwhile, Riviera will be nearly an exact replica of its sibling, Marina. "It's hard to improve on perfection," Oceania's confident founder, Frank del Rio, has been oft-quoted as saying.
So which is the most perfect ship of 2012? Check out a slideshow of the industry's newest additions, and let us know in the comments.
--by Dan Askin, News Editor


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MTV today announced it will relaunch the reality action series "Fear Factor." Rapper and actor Ludacris will host the new installment "custom-created for a generation that is increasingly empowered, while also more anxious than ever." Ludacris will also serve as executive producer as part of an extensive partnership with the network.
YouTube has been working on ways to respond to a major ad boycott over ad placement alongside objectionable videos. One of the changes will be bad news for musicians and other creators at the beginning of their careers.
One of the year's biggest nights in country music, the ACM awards not only offer fans a chance to catch some outstanding live performances from their favorite artists, but also give the artists a chance to experience a massive post-performance sales bump. Here we look at several of the artists lucky enough to see a spike in the consumption of their music.
Shares of Google fell 4.5% Friday, continuing a multi-day downward trend. At one point Friday, the stock was down almost 9%. The drop came as a growing number of major advertisers boycotted Google and YouTube, after it was revealed their ads have appeared alongside videos promoting terrorism and offensive content.

domain: news


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The American International Automobile Dealers Association (AIADA) released September sales figures for the international nameplate auto industry. Brands sold by America’s 9,600 international nameplate franchises accounted for more than half, 55.7 percent, of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. in September.
AutoData Corp. reported that the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) for September soared to 18.57 million units-the highest since July 2015-versus 17.72 million units a year ago, and just 16.14 million units last month.
Unadjusted for business days, sales of all brands were up 6.1 percent from last September, marking the first rise in month-over-month sales for the year. Sales were still down 1.8 percent year-to-date. Industrywide, 1.52 million vehicles were sold in September compared to 1.48 million sold in August and 1.44 million units sold in September 2017.
“September’s sales exceeded even some of the industry’s most optimistic expectations,” said AIADA President Cody Lusk. “A combination of post-hurricane vehicle replacement and excellent incentives kept dealerships busy last month. We have every reason to feel positive heading into the final quarter of 2017.”
International brands outperformed their domestic counterparts in September with sales up 7.6 percent from a year ago and down just 0.4 for the year-to-date. Brands like Honda (up 7.4 percent from last September), Toyota (up 16.9 percent), and Volkswagen (up 33.2 percent) lead the charge. Most sales improvements were driven by light trucks, which rose 12.4 percent as a segment from last September, while cars continued to lag, down 3.3 percent from a year ago.
International auto sales in the U.S. totaled 848,906 in September, up from 822,952 vehicles in August and 828,772 vehicles in July. Asian brands occupied 46.5 percent of the September auto market, up slightly from 46.3 percent in August. Overall, Asian nameplate dealers sold 708,049 vehicles in September, a seven percent improvement from September 2016.
European brands sold 140,857 vehicles in September, up from 136,128 vehicles in August and 126,157 vehicles in July. European brands held 9.2 percent of the September U.S. auto market, the same as August 2017 and up from 8.9 percent in September 2016. Overall sales for these brands were up a remarkable 10.6 percent from last September.


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2020 Harley-Davidson Softail Standard Certified by CARB
Harley-Davidson appears set to add another cruiser model to its lineup, with the addition of a new Softail Standard. This development comes to us thanks to an updated executive order from the California Air Resources Board which certifies a 1746cc 2020 Harley-Davidson Softail Standard, along with a Stage 1 upgrade.
We last saw a FXST Softail Standard in Harley’s 2007 lineup (pictured above), then powered by the 1584cc Twin Cam 96B engine. The new 2020 version will use the same Milwaukee-Eight 107 engine powering the non-“S” model Softails like the Street Bob and Softail Slim. The new FXST will get the modern Softail chassis, though if it follows with the previous Softail, expect a similar 21-inch wire-spoke front wheel.
A Softail Standard will be the second “Standard” model released in recent years, following the Electra Glide Standard announced nearly a year ago. Like the Electra Glide Standard, we expect the Softail Standard to be billed as a stripped-down, back-to-basics model, ripe for customization, putting it at the low end of the Softail pricing scale near the $14,599 Street Bob.
We’ll have to wait for the official announcement from Harley-Davidson for official pricing and details, possibly in a couple of weeks at Daytona Bike Week.
More by Dennis Chung


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Thomson Airways has teamed up with Starbucks to offer passengers new drink and snack options while travelling on long haul flights.
Carl Gissing, Thomson Airways’ director for customer experience, said the union was brought about following feedback from customers and would show the company’s commitment to customer satisfaction.
He said the launch of the new options alongside the introduction of the 787 Dreamliner showed Thomson wants customers to be “satsified on every level”.
The Starbucks Via ® Colombia coffee range will be available on board alongside a new selection of snacks.
Meanwhile, the airline has also joined forces with home and body cosmetic company Rituals to provide a pamper packs for Premium Club passengers. The pack includes socks, a sleep mask, tooth brush, toothpaste and a moisturiser and lip balm.
Gissing said: “We understand how tiring long haul flights can be for many of our customers, and are always looking at ways to enhance the service we provide to ensure passengers get to and from their destination as comfortably and refreshed as possible.
“The UK is a nation of coffee lovers and therefore we have teamed up with Starbucks, the experts in coffee brewing, to provide customers with the perfect mid-flight pick me up.”
He said it was an “exciting time”, with redesigned menus also on offer this summer.
“We also hope customers will enjoy indulging themselves on our redesigned menus this summer,” he said. “It offers a selection of hot food and treats to feast upon and help pass the hours.”
Ian Cranna, vice president of marketing and category for Starbucks UK, said: “Were always looking for ways to serve out customers in new places, and now we’re proud to extend our parternships with Thomson Airways.”
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For decades, the Kennedys have been the most documented family in America, inspiring a spectrum of books, from histories to biographies to photo compilations, that play up the elements of mystery, scandal, romance and conspiracy that surround them. Leading up to the 40th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, numerous network and cable TV specials and commemorative events are likely to spur interest in the tribute books arriving this fall. But despite lasting public fascination with the family, booksellers say that overall demand for Kennedy books is decreasing gradually.
Publishers still have high hopes, though, and not without reason. There have already been two major Kennedy-related bestsellers this year, both of which have about 300,000 copies in print. Historian Robert Dallek's benchmark biography An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917—1963 (Little, Brown, May) offers major revelations about Kennedy's health and political machinations based on new access to family papers, while Edward Klein explores their macabre fates in The Kennedy Curse (St. Martin's, July).
This fall, booksellers expect strong sales from two books that offer fresh angles on JFK, both of which have print runs that top 100,000 copies. Remembering Jack: Intimate and Unseen Photographs of the Kennedys (Bulfinch, Oct.) by JFK's personal photographer, Jacques Lowe, features unpublished photos from the '50s as well as iconic images of the young president. From Love Field: A Remembrance (Rugged Land, Nov.), is based on a recently rediscovered eyewitness account of the assassination by Nellie Connally, who was riding in the front seat of the limo when JFK and her husband, the late governor of Texas, John Connally, were shot.
Other new titles include Four Days in November: The Original Coverage of the John F. Kennedy Assassination by the New York Times staff (St. Martin's, Nov.) and We'll Never Be Young Again (Tallfellow, Nov.), an account of JFK's final week by Chuck Fries and Irv Wilson combined with reflections by both famous and ordinary people. President Kennedy Has Been Shot by Newseum (an interactive news museum) with Cathy Trost and Susan Bennett (Sourcebooks, Nov.), offers journalists' accounts plus an audio CD featuring original news broadcasts and government communications on the day of the assassination.
Edward Ash-Milby, biography and memoir buyer for Barnes & Noble, predicted that many Kennedy bios and histories would be strong through the December holiday season, including Thomas Maier's The Kennedys: America's Emerald Kings (Basic, Oct.), a multigenerational portrait that explores the family's Irish Catholic immigrant heritage. He also cited a number of pictorials that he expects to do well, such as John Fitzgerald Kennedy: A Life in Pictures (Phaidon Press, Oct.). "Overall, it's the books that have substance that last," he said. "The more salacious sell at first, but they die off quickly."
Around the country, booksellers are regarding the anniversary with different expectations. Barbara Meade, one of the owners of Washington, D.C.'s Politics and Prose, has many customers with some sort of personal connection with the Kennedy administration or who are old enough to remember JFK. The store is featuring 10 Kennedy titles—a big buy for them. "We're anticipating selling those and reordering more as Christmas season comes," Meade said.
In Boston, the epicenter of Kennedy observance, Tim Huggins, owner of Newtonville Books in Newton, Mass., said he'll stock as many titles as possible. At nearby Wellesley Booksmith, manager Rich Nunes said that the anniversary as well as a loyal cadre of buyers would spur sales: "There are Kennedy fanatics who will read almost anything." He wondered, though, if so many titles might make a book's pub date more important than its content. "The 10th book I see might be the best book," he said. "But by then I'm all Kennedied out."
Away from the East Coast, booksellers have lower expectations. Steve Shapiro at Rainy Day Books in Fairway, Kans., said that there has been a downturn in Kennedy interest over the years. The store ordered a variety of titles but in limited numbers. "I think the saturation is such that you end up returning books," he said. With the exception of titles about Jacqueline Kennedy, he noted, virtually no one under the age of 30 buys Kennedy books.
Virginia Duffy, a buyer at Page One in Albuquerque, N.Mex., said adult trade sales have been very slow so far. "I think people are tired of Kennedy books," she said. "None of the new titles have sold." Sales do perk up, however, when a Kennedy story appears on TV, which means the slump may reverse as the anniversary approaches.
Though regional variations and an aging demographic certainly are having an impact on the niche, there's a more pressing problem. While Jay Dantry of Jay's Bookstall in Pittsburgh, Pa., has found that Caroline Kennedy's A Patriots Handbook (Hyperion, May) was a popular graduation gift last spring, sales of other Kennedy titles have been flat. "They're scraping the bottom of the barrel at this point," he surmised. "I mean, there's not much left to tell."


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Retailer also promotes Scott Arnold to Executive Vice President of Customer Care and Brand Extensions.
AutoNation, America’s largest automotive retailer, has announced the resignation of William “Bill” Berman as President and Chief Operating Officer effective May 15, 2017. Bill will continue to serve as an employee of the company in an advisory capacity through June 30, 2017. Mike Jackson, AutoNation’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (pictured above), will assume all operating responsibilities as AutoNation begins the selection process for a new President and Chief Operating Officer.
Mike Jackson, stated, “I thank Bill for his 20 years of service and leadership at AutoNation. We wish Bill all the best in his future endeavours.”
AutoNation also announced the promotion of Senior Vice President, Scott Arnold to Executive Vice President of Customer Care and Brand Extensions which include, AutoNation Collision Centers, AutoNation USA Service Now, AutoNation Precision Parts and AutoNation Auto Gear.
“Scott has been with AutoNation for over 15 years, and has served in many retail operation roles. He has been instrumental in developing our brand extensions, and under his leadership, we have seen solid growth in our Customer Care business, as well as growth in our Precision Parts initiative and our AutoNation branded collision centres,” said Mike Jackson.


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The new Pagani is already a smash-hit success! A little over two weeks ago a C9 prototype was pictured in bits on the German Autobahn after a high speed accident. But it seems the firm's engineers have managed to pick up the pieces and put the supercars test programme back on track.
A development mule for the Zonda-successor was first spotted around a year ago, but it's come a long way since then - and these are the clearest shots yet of the car set to blow the supercar establishment wide open.
The outrageous bodywork and wedge-like silhouette can now be seen clearly. A redesigned rear diffuser featuring twin instead of quad exhausts, a brand new air intake behind the clear engine cover and a bluff front nose section mark this car out from the Zonda.
But the mid-engined layout and long, aerodynamic rear deck remain. And sitting behind the driver's head will be a Mercedes-sourced 6.0-litre twin-turbo V12 producing around 700bhp and 1000Nm of torque. That should be enough to rocket the C9 from 0-62mph in less than three seconds and on to a top speed in excess of 220mph.
According to Horacio Pagani, the founder of Pagani Automobili S.p.A the C9 will be "a brand-new car from concept, weight distribution, materials and dynamics." Pagani also confirmed that the newcomer will sit on a lightweight but stiff carbon-titanium chassis, wear carbon-ceramic brakes and feature no less than 3,770 new parts compared to the outgoing Zonda.
Production of the C9 is scheduled to begin in late 2010, with a price tag of around £800,000. Expect a world debut at the Paris Motor Show in October.


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Tag Archives: game
Wed, May 22, 2013 | 00:05 BST
Xbox One doesn’t even have a release date yet and already GAME and ShopTp are taking pre-orders.
Wed, May 08, 2013 | 16:02 BST
UK retailer GAME has revealed it will try to lessen the impact of the upcoming release drought over the summer with in-store events and other promotions.
Tue, May 07, 2013 | 15:20 BST
GAME has paid off paid private investment firm OpCapita and its backers £3.2 million in interest and “monitoring fees” toward the £103 million it owes the firm after brokered a deal to get the retailer out of administration. The figure was paid towards the balance in four months and the remaining balance will have 7.5% interest rate attached. GAME boss Martyn Gibbs told The Guardian the chain is expected to make £20 million in profit for the period ending July 31, and it plans to open 18 new stores during that time. Thanks, MCV.
Tue, Apr 23, 2013 | 13:22 BST
High-street retailer GAME has become the first retailer in Europe to sell Nintendo’s eShop codes online and in stores. The retailer is selling a number of Wii U and 3DS titles through its website, with six Wii U titles ranging from Singstar at £32.99 to Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge and New Super Mario Bros. U for £41.99.
Fri, Apr 19, 2013 | 15:24 BST
GAME has announced a partnerships with Nintendo in which eShop codes will be sold through the retailer online and in-store starting today. The agreement will allow GAME to be the exclusive retailer to sell the codes, which will be issued via till receipt for in-store purchases or email when purchased online. Once activated, codes can be entered into the Nintendo eShop through 3DS or Wii U. For customers in the UK, GAME is also offering an extra 25% trade-in value on selected game trade-ins against Nintendo eShop purchases in store.
Wed, Feb 27, 2013 | 12:16 GMT
Mon, Feb 11, 2013 | 11:28 GMT
Michael Pachter has placed the UK games retail sector as ‘a joke’, in relation to companies pricing games lower than the competition in bid to claim the high street.
Wed, Feb 06, 2013 | 17:31 GMT
Fri, Jan 25, 2013 | 14:14 GMT
The high street is in disarray right now with Blockbuster, HMV and Game experiencing turbulent times. VG247′s Dave Cook visits his home city’s remaining indie game stores and asks why they’ve survived.
Thu, Jan 17, 2013 | 19:59 GMT
Mon, Jan 14, 2013 | 16:02 GMT
Not had enough of traversing lush jungles and eliminating an island’s entire animal population? If not, it seems Ubisoft have plenty more Far Cry for players to enjoy. An Ultimate Far Cry collection has been spotted online, starting rumours that the trilogy will soon be available as a single retail package.
Fri, Jan 04, 2013 | 15:58 GMT
GAME has announced a number of store lock-ins in which customers can play various pre-release titles in-store after-hours.
Mon, Nov 12, 2012 | 10:16 GMT
Game is on track to make £20 million in pre-tax earnings for the current financial year, CEO Martyn Gibbs has revealed. Gibbs has also thrown his support behind OpCapita, the group that bought Game when its future hung in the balance last year. The group has just seen the collapse of electronics chain Comet, but Gibbs is still confident in OpCapita’s ability to keep the game retailer afloat.
Tue, Sep 25, 2012 | 12:46 BST
FIFA 13 launches on Friday across the UK, and retailer Game is offering a trade-in deal that can net you the game for just 99p.
Thu, Sep 20, 2012 | 11:47 BST
PS3 Super Slim could be yours for half the price if you trade in your old PS3 slim or Xbox 360 at Game. The retailer has revealed its trade-in deals ahead of the Super Slim’s launch on Friday, September 28th.
Tue, Sep 18, 2012 | 08:12 BST
Wii U is still waiting on official Nintendo pricing for the UK, but retailer Game has jumped the gun and is now pre-selling a Wii U premium bundle with Zombi U thrown in for £349.99. The retailer has other bundles listed too.
Fri, Sep 14, 2012 | 11:16 BST
Gamestation – the UK high street retail chain – is to be no more, following the announcement that parent company Game will be rebranding all stores to fall in line with its brand.
Fri, Sep 07, 2012 | 17:46 BST
GAME group CEO Martyn Gibbs has said the company is researching the possibility of combining the GAME and Gamestation brands, or possibly doing away with one altogether.
Wed, Aug 22, 2012 | 17:08 BST
Tue, Jul 24, 2012 | 08:18 BST
GAME is offering UK consumers a chance to trade in their bog-standard 3DS consoles for a shiny new 3DS XL for just £79.99. If you haven’t got an old one to give away, the retailer is asking £174.99 and has the blue, red and silver models. The 3DS XL launches on July 28 and the trade-in offer is valid through August 9. Pat seems pretty pleased with the new hardware revision so you may wish to consider this tempting offer at length.


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Last month, proprietors of electronic music community We Are the Music Makers successfully organized and funded a Kickstarter campaign to distribute digital copies of Aphex Twin’s unreleased 1994 album, Caustic Window. Richard James, aka Aphex Twin, had recorded the album back in the ’90s with the intent to release it under the Caustic Window alias (he has a lot of those), though it never happened. And until recently, only four people (supposedly) had a test pressing of the album on vinyl. The rarity of the album — and the built-up demand from years of being electronic music’s best-kept secret — led to an eventual sum of $67,424 being raised via the Kickstarter campaign.
An ultra-rare copy of that test pressing was put up for sale on eBay after the Kickstarter campaign, with the proceeds to be donated to charity. The auction closed after 110 bids at a maximum of $46,300, making this one insanely valuable record. We Are the Music Makers are voting on which charity will receive the proceeds.
Listen to Caustic Window below.
Jeff Terich is the founder and editor of Treble. He's been writing about music for 20 years and has been published at American Songwriter, Bandcamp Daily, Reverb, Spin, Stereogum, uDiscoverMusic, VinylMePlease and some others that he's forgetting right now. He's still not tired of it.


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London's most famous toy shop's plan to enthrall children with a Christmas themed live penguin and reindeer event has incurred the wrath of animal welfare campaigners.
Hamleys on London's Regent Street had advertised an in-store event featuring live penguin and reindeer as a Christmas treat for youngsters.
Outraged animal welfare experts branded the stunt irresponsible and said the world-famous company was treating the animals as 'living toys'.
Hundreds of animal lovers - many of whom joined a Facebook Group lambasting the store - bombarded the shop with protest emails, saying it was appalling that the creatures would be used as 'entertainment' in such a hot and busy environment.
Hamleys subsequently removed the advert for the event from their website, but a spokesperson said it was still going ahead.
UPDATE TO THIS STORY HERE
What do you think about this story?
Would you take your children to see live animals in-store?
Or are Hamleys wrong to do this?


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Interpublic’s 303 MullenLowe has unveiled a new specialist earned media agency putting PR, social media, branded entertainment and technology at the heart of brand-building solutions for clients.
Up and running in Sydney, CREATURE launches with a core team of PR, social, content and tech specialists, while retaining access to the parent-agency’s wider talent-pool, drawing in creative, design, production and media buying abilities as and when needed.
Existing 303 MullenLowe clients will continue to benefit from PR skills and services as part of integrated teams, with the launch of CREATURE enabling a core group of PR, social and content specialists to focus on earned media centric approaches to brand-led communications.
Drawing on a heritage of work for 303 MullenLowe clients including Audi, eBay and TK Maxx, CREATURE launches with ongoing work for clients Harley-Davidson and Royal Lifesaving, with new clients to be announced shortly.
Lee Robson, managing director of CREATURE, said: “The birth of CREATURE is the realisation of a huge opportunity to harness our wealth of PR, social, content and tech specialisms around our earned media-centric approach to driving an unfair share of attention.
“We’d like to say a big thanks to those clients we’ll be continuing to work with under the new CREATURE identity and welcome to any future ones out there looking for access to the full spectrum of earned media expertise to help those precious marketing dollars go further.”
CHE Proximity has announced the appointment of Jonny Berger as managing partner, moving within the Clemenger Group to join CHEP from Clemenger BBDO Melbourne. With almost 20 years of experience, Berger joins the executive team in Sydney leading the Samsung account. Justin Hind, CEO at CHE Proximity said, “Jonny is a key senior addition to […]
Older Australians turned to social media apps and other forms of digital communication like never before during COVID-19, new research from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) shows. The study found that 41 per cent of Australians aged 75 and were using social media in June of 2020, up from 18 per cent in […]
This World Earth Day (April 22nd 2021), Vitasoy, a pioneer of soy milk, has declared its mission to ‘Grow a Better World’ via Leo Burnett Australia. The new brand platform invites people to drink plant-milk as a more sustainable option for the planet. The brand idea reflects the significant trend toward plant-based foods and beverages […]
Samsung Ads Australia has confirmed the appointment of three new key members of its expanding Sydney-based team, including Laura Wall [pictured] ex-Shopper Media Group, Luke Fox ex-BBC Global News, and Sharon Miranda ex-News Corp. This announcement follows the appointment of Alex Spurzem as General manager in July 2020. Samsung Ads Australia began its soft launch […]
Publicis’ Starcom has been appointed by Tourism Tasmania to manage its media account, encompassing strategy, planning, buying and digital media. Starcom has been tasked with connecting people with the island state both culturally and emotionally, focusing both on domestic travellers and planning for the returning international traveller. Emma Terry, chief marketing officer, Tourism Tasmania said: […]
Pinterest and Shopify have announced the expansion of their partnership to 27 additional countries. The partnership will provide more than 1.7 million Shopify merchants around the world with an easy way to bring their products to Pinterest and turn them into shoppable Product Pins to be discoverable across the platform. With the evolution of the […]
As our Changing The Ratio breakfast events draw closer, B&T is excited to be sharing conversations with some of the changemakers in our industry. B&T sat down with two of the Think HQ team, founder and managing director Jen Sharpe (pictured right) and social media coordinator Sarah Said (pictured left) to talk about why diversity is better for […]
Zenith Australia has announced the promotion of Sarah Heitkamp to the new role of head of strategy and planning – Sydney. Heitkamp moves from her current position as Sydney strategy director effective immediately, reporting to Zenith Sydney Managing Director, Jonny Cordony. Heitkamp returned to Zenith Australia at the beginning of last year after a two-year […]
There’s no doubt the retail sector has been through a massive transformation in the last 12 months and with Australian consumers shopping online more than ever there’s a wealth of data to be learned, that will benefit retailers and marketers. The BigCommerce 2021 State of Ecommerce ANZ Report leverages the data of the Top 100 […]
If there's EVER a function where you need to get the overhead projector or Powerpoint to work it's Women Leading Tech!
Klarna has announced the launch of CO2 insights for all shopping purchases as part of its one per cent pledge, involving the donation of $10 million to initiatives supporting planet health. The new feature aims to democratise access to unbiased climate impact information for consumers at no cost or judgement, as a first step to […]


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HTC as spoken more specifically about the plans in regard to Android 3.0 for Flyer tablet and Honeycomb will be offered as soon as it becomes available.HTC Flyer is a seven-inch tablet that includes a stylus for taking notes, drawing and annotating documents……….
According to HTC’s official Twitter account HTC confirmed that they will be waiting for Android 3.0 Honeycomb source code to be released before updating their upcoming HTC Flyer 7-inch tablet to the first Android OS meant for tablets. The Flyer in it’s current form runs on Android 2.4 Gingerbread OS with HTC Sense UI customizations over it.In the message HTC doesn’t say when the update will come but that isn’t really all their fault. Earlier this week Google announced they would be holding off the release of the official source code for Android 3.0 Honeycomb OS for an unspecified amount of time.Google has stated they did not feel the operating system was completed thus they needed more time to finish it. Android OS is an open source operating system, so Google will have to release the source code for Android 3.0 at some point.The HTC Flyer is expected to launch in Q2 2011 and boasts of a 1.5GHz single core processor (when other tablet developers are aiming for dual core processors), 1GB RAM, 32GB flash storage expandable via microSD card, aluminium unibody construction, 7-inch display with 1024 x 600 resolution, 5MP rear camera, 1.3MP front facing camera and 4000mAh battery.The HTC Flyer is expected to be launched by HTC shortly through two official sources. Best Buy will exclusively offer the Wi-Fi only version of the tablet in the US and Sprint will carry a 4G WiMAX equipped version of the tablet but under the name HTC EVO View 4G in the US too. Pricing hasn’t been announced officially by either of those two retailers or HTC at this time.


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After just a week’s ‘taster’ of the new Peugeot 407, fleet managers are already racing to place their orders.
Peugeot has also received pre-orders for the new 407 SW which had its official UK unveiling at the motor show. This model goes on sale in the autumn.
Tony Brady, fleet & travel manager at the IT services company Steria Limited, is already a fan of the new 407. Tony says: "We are really impressed with the 407’s stylish appearance and levels of driver comfort, which, coupled with Peugeot’s highly economical and reliable HDi engines, offer our staff excellent driveability as well as a safe driving experience. We are sure that the 407 will do well on our fleet."
Steve Harris, fleet and leasing director at Peugeot says: "The fleet drive away from the motor show was a huge success and the number of orders and positive feedback is the best we could expect with any new model launch. We expect the 407 to be extremely popular with our fleet customers because of its style, economy and price over the coming months and years."
This is a 17-year+ news article, from our Peugeot archive, which dates back to the year 2000.
If in doubt check with your local Peugeot dealer as car prices and technical data will have changed since 2004.
Although our car news is published in good faith, we cannot guarantee it to be error free or complete or up-to-date.
Peugeot 407 Images may not be UK specification cars. Colours and exterior and/or interior elements may differ from actual models.
The car news and images remain the copyright of the rights holder and may not be used without their consent.


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Cornett, residents to meet tonight First step taken to clean up center
Oklahoma City Councilman Jack Cornett said Wednesday's meeting of 10 merchants was the first step in combatting the deterioration of Airline Shopping Center, SW 29 and Independence.
But one businessman said many of the problems can be solved by the shopping center owner.
Cornett, Ward 3, scheduled the afternoon meeting after receiving a petition from 12 residents who are calling for a cleanup of the area.
He will meet with residents of the area at 7:30 tonight at 3116 S Stultz.
Residents say the business and apartment complex district along SW 29 Place behind the shopping center between Portland and Independence should be declared "a nuisance area."
They have complained about overflowing Dumpsters, discarded mattresses, graffiti, glass in the street and an influx of prostitutes.
"If we work together, I think we can make some big improvements," Cornett told the group gathered at Wilks Restaurant. "It's a start, and that's what we need to do: get started."
He believes 90 percent of the problems can be taken care of through stepped-up enforcement of city codes. Several workers were sent into the area two weeks ago by code enforcement officials.
But the councilman asked for a voluntary cleanup effort on the part of the businessmen. He said their efforts would serve as an example that would prompt others to help.
OTASCO manager Delbert Bouse said the adult bookstores and topless dancing bars in the shopping center are causing most of the problems.
"All that's going to draw is scum."
He said the owner is attorney Charles A. Shadid. Shadid could not be reached for comment.
"We all pay a little extra rent for it to be cleaned up," said another businessman.
After the meeting, Bouse said city officials, in essence, asked the merchants to keep the center clean.
Bouse said the shopping center used to be one of the best in town.
Since he began work there seven years ago, it has been going downhill, he said.
As he talked in the restaurant, he pointed out the window to a woman in shorts and a tube-top who had been walking up and down the shopping center. "There's one of our streetwalkers."
Cornett said he was propositioned three times while distributing leaflets asking merchants to attend the meeting. BIOG: NAME:
Archive ID: 83754


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About GNL Systems
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- Microsoft may have foldable Surface that runs Android apps in works - CNET June 24, 2019 Sean Keane
- US reportedly mulls requiring domestic 5G equipment to be made outside China - CNET June 24, 2019 Sean Keane
- Creandum closes $300M fund for early-stage investments out of Europe June 24, 2019 Ingrid Lunden
- Carrefour sale shifts the balance of power in China’s new retail battle June 24, 2019 Jon Russell


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- Is Jio Fibernet 5g?
- How did Jio develop 5g?
- When 5g will launch in India?
- Which companies can build 5g?
- Is the iPhone 12 real?
- What speed is 5g?
- Is there 5g in USA?
- Is India 5g ready?
- Is Jio WiFi unlimited?
- Who invented 5g?
- Which countries have 5g?
- Should I buy a 5g phone in 2020 in India?
- Who will launch 5g first in India?
- Which Jio fiber plan is best?
- Who will bring 5g in India?
- When Jio will launch 5g?
- Which country has 7g network?
- Is 5g launched in any country?
Is Jio Fibernet 5g?
Our wireless hardware is already 4G+ and can be upgraded to 5G,” he said.
According to the Reliance, Jio Fiber’s Preview service generated interest from 15 million people in 1,600 towns.
Ambani said “Jio Fiber will enable 2.4 mill SMBs with high-speed data connectivity.”.
How did Jio develop 5g?
Jio, however, began with a 4G network back in 2016. Unlike 2G networks, 4G networks are based on computers, making it easier to upgrade a network from 4G to 5G than from 2G. This is why Jio keeps repeating that its network is 5G ready, and can be upgraded whenever required.
When 5g will launch in India?
5G networks were once expected to be launched in India by late 2020 or early 2021, but it’s now highly unlikely that this could happen before mid-2021.
Which companies can build 5g?
Nokia is currently shipping 5G infrastructure solutions that span our infrastructure definition and claim that they have landed over 40 5G contracts that include AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile in the U.S., all three South Korean operators, China Mobile, SoftBank and Docomo in Japan, and Vodafone Italy among a handful of …
Is the iPhone 12 real?
At a rumored 5.4 inches, the 2020 iPhone 12 will be the smallest iPhone Apple has released since the 4.7-inch iPhone SE. At 6.7 inches, the 2020 iPhone 12 Pro will be Apple’s largest iPhone to date, topping the 6.5-inch iPhone 11 Pro Max. The two 6.1-inch models will be similar in size to the existing iPhone 11.
What speed is 5g?
5G is around 10 times faster than 4G. It will work at average speeds of 150-200Mbps, and peak speeds will reach above 1Gbps. This means you’ll be able to download a full HD film in around 3 minutes (compared to over 15 minutes on 4G).
Is there 5g in USA?
5G rollout in the US 5G is said to have download speeds 100 times faster than 4G. Carriers including AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile began deploying it in 2019. Verizon’s Vestberg said last year that half the U.S. will have access to 5G by the end of 2020. The U.S. government was behind the launch as well.
Is India 5g ready?
While commercial rollout of 5G in India is not expected until sometime in 2020, the three largest Indian carriers have been busy conducting trials and implementing 5G-ready equipment. Below is a quick look at some of the things each carrier is doing to ready itself for the future of connectivity.
Is Jio WiFi unlimited?
Here are some of the key features of Jio Plans for Wifi PostPaid. Unlimited Data plan, at only Rs. 199 per month. No daily Data limit (25 GB per month).
Who invented 5g?
Q: Who invented 5G? A: No one company or person owns 5G, but there are several companies within the mobile ecosystem that are contributing to bringing 5G to life. Qualcomm has played a major role in inventing the many foundational technologies that drive the industry forward and make up 5G, the next wireless standard.
Which countries have 5g?
Availability of 5G by country Australia. Canada. China. Finland. Germany. Greece. Hong Kong. India.More items…
Should I buy a 5g phone in 2020 in India?
The answer is no. It does not make any sense to buy a 5G phone in India right now, especially if the 5G version of these phones cost more than the 4G versions – for example, the iQoo 3 4G version costs ₹36,990 whereas the 5G version costs ₹44,990.
Who will launch 5g first in India?
“Jio has created a complete 5G solution from scratch, that will enable us to launch a world-class 5G service in India, using 100 per cent home grown technologies and solutions,” Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani said at the 43rd Reliance AGM meeting.
Which Jio fiber plan is best?
JioFiber Platinum broadband plan: Price and benefits Under the Platinum plan, JioFiber provides customers with up to 7,500GB of data at speeds of up to 1Gbps, at Rs 3,999 per month. Just like all other plans, it also comes with unlimited voice calls. And it comes with a complimentary subscription to 12 OTT apps.
Who will bring 5g in India?
Mukesh D AmbaniMukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries has announced that it is going to enter the 5G segment in India. This was announced by the RIL’s chairman and managing director Mukesh D Ambani at the 43rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) today.
When Jio will launch 5g?
2021Jio 5G will premiere for consumers in 2021, and will be sourced to other nations as well, noted Ambani while adding that the company would use 100 per cent local technologies and solutions.
Which country has 7g network?
Which countries have 4g network?RankCountry/TerritoryPenetration1South Korea97.49%2Japan94.70%3Norway92.16%4Hong Kong90.34%
Is 5g launched in any country?
The first country to adopt 5G on a large scale was South Korea, in April 2019. … When South Korea launched its 5G network, all carriers used Samsung, Ericsson, and Nokia base stations and equipment, except for LG U Plus, who also used Huawei equipment.


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Sweet! Foothills Creamery teams up with Calgary Flames to create playoff ice cream
A Calgary company is celebrating the Flames' playoff run with the introduction of a new ice cream flavour in the team's honour.
Foothills Creamery is selling a new frozen treat inspired by the company's Cinnamalt Swirl soft serve, which has been sold at the Scotiabank Saddledome for decades.
"The Cinnamalt Swirl is a staple at the Scotiabank Saddledome with fans of all ages lining up every event,” said Ziad Mehio, VP of food services with the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation, in a news release.
The new flavour is a hard ice cream version of the game-day delicacy, and is called C of Red Cinnamalt Swirl.
The sweet treat can be found in the freezer section of Calgary Co-op grocery stores.
"We are thrilled to be partnering with the Calgary Flames to make the perfect pairing of hockey and ice cream accessible to Calgarians in their homes," said Foothills Creamery CEO Bill McKenzie.
Foothills Creamery has been in business since 1969 and making ice cream for nearly 40 of those years.
Currently, the company has more than 80 flavours of ice cream, sorbet, sherbet and soft serve at 500+ independent ice cream shops throughout Western Canada. In addition, eight ice cream flavours are also available in 1.4L containers at grocery retailers across Western Canada.


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General Electric Co.’s (GE) finance unit, which is already planning to spend $15 billion over the next six years to bolster its legacy insurance portfolio, may have to add to that sum in future years, analysts said.
Long-term care obligations still weigh on the Boston-based industrial conglomerate’s balance sheet, even though GE largely exited its insurance business more than a decade ago, under former CEO Jeff Immelt. The potential costs come as current CEO John Flannery plans to sell $20 billion of assets sales and as reports of a spinoff of the transportation unit give investors a reason to see upside potential in the stock.
GE is scheduled to report first-quarter financial results on April 20. Shareholders, however, will see the first installment of GE Capital’s $15 billion “contribution” to shore up GE North American Life and Health insurance portfolio’s statutory reserves during the first quarter.
Top Insurance Stocks For 2018: TransEnterix, Inc.(TRXC)
- [By Lee Jackson]
Ahuge 10% owner of TransEnterix Inc. (NYSE: TRXC) camein and bought more shares last week. SOFAR SpA added3,722,685 more shares of the medical device companys stock at a reported $1.40 apiece. The total for the trade was posted at $5,226,650.
- [By Lisa Levin]
Transenterix Inc (NASDAQ: TRXC) was down, falling around 38 percent to $0.681. TransEnterix reported the pricing of $24.9 million public offering of common stock and warrant.
- [By Jim Robertson]
On Friday, four out of ten of the worst performing small cap stocks had double digit losses due to announcing public stock offerings:
Medical device stock Transenterix Inc (NYSEMKT: TRXC) sank 40.37% after announcing a $24.9 million offeringand the pricing of its public offering of units, each consisting of one share of the Companys common stock, one Series A warrant to purchase one share of common stock and one Series B warrant to purchase 0.75 shares of common stock at a price of $1.00 per unit:
Top Insurance Stocks For 2018: Home Depot, Inc. (HD)
- [By Adam Levy]
The company announced a succession plan for current CEO Robert Niblock, who will remain CEO until the board finds a suitable replacement. After years of underperforming its potential, as indicated by the rampant success of The Home Depot (NYSE:HD), Lowe’s under a new CEO will have a big task at hand to ramp up sales and profit margin.
- [By ]
TD Ameritrade is part of a beta program for Apple’s business chat feature, which also includes companies like Home Depot (HD) and Marriott International (MAR) .
- [By WWW.THESTREET.COM]
Now, while Home Depot (HD) didn’t take off on these figures, Whirlpool (WHR) jumped more than four points. My take? Home Depot becomes a stock to put on your radar screen as we bounce around Dow 20,000. I am partial to Masco (MAS) , the kitchen and bath company, too, off these numbers.
Top Insurance Stocks For 2018: PriceSmart, Inc.(PSMT)
- [By Monica Gerson]
PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ: PSMT) is projected to post its quarterly earnings at $0.88 per share on revenue of $775.12 million.
Ruby Tuesday, Inc. (NYSE: RT) is expected to post its quarterly earnings at $0.05 per share on revenue of $284.14 million.
- [By Ethan Ryder]
PriceSmart (NASDAQ: PSMT) is one of 12 publicly-traded companies in the “Variety stores” industry, but how does it compare to its rivals? We will compare PriceSmart to similar companies based on the strength of its dividends, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability and valuation.
- [By Monica Gerson]
Wall Street expects PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ: PSMT) to post its quarterly earnings at $0.88 per share on revenue of $775.12 million. PriceSmart shares rose 0.01 percent to $82.84 in after-hours trading.
- [By Peter Graham]
A long term performance chart shows Costco Wholesale Corporation outperforming Wal-Mart Stores, Inc (NYSE: WMT) which owns direct competitor Sams Club and small cap Latin America and the Caribbean membership shopping warehouse club PriceSmart, Inc (NASDAQ: PSMT):
- [By Demitrios Kalogeropoulos]
As for individual stocks, PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) and Ryerson (NYSE:RYI)attracted heavy investor interest in the wake of their quarterly earnings reports.


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The 2nd biggest handset maker in India, Intex Technologies, claimed that sales sank 30% in 2016–2017 post the disturbance caused on account of demonetization and due to the entrance of Reliance Jio Infocomm. “Fall in income was owing to unexpected entrance of Reliance Jio moving the industry from 3G/2G to 4G,” Intex claimed to the media in a regulatory conference. “The accessibility of new 4G smartphones models took some period. Demonetization also affected trades between November and March since our huge trades are in the rural sectors.”
Intex reported income of Rs 4,364.08 Crore in the fiscal concluded on March 2017 in comparison with Rs 6,233.42 Crore in 2016, while net profit dropped to Rs 127.3 Crore by17%. The firm attributed the profits reduction to new hires, inferior sales, and other operating cost. Income from other segments including mobiles will enhance this fiscal year on the rear of the digital services and user durables business, a spokesperson of Intex claimed to the media.
“The profit margin has elevated by around 18%. We were the initial local handset company to fully drain our 3G inventory while increasing our range of 4G-VoLTE handsets. We are now in discussions with various telecom companies to provide our series of affordable handsets that we think will draw 500 Million feature handset users,” he claimed. The spokesperson stated that the involvement of the consumer durables business of the company has grew from 24% to 36% in the last fiscal year and is anticipated to go almost 50%. Intex surpassed Micromax and Videocon in the business of LED TV to turn out to be the No. 1 brand in India with a 4% share of market, the spokesperson claimed, mentioning a report.
Other smartphone makers of India are expected to report a knock in their monetary performance in 2016–2017 owing to the unforeseen swap to 4G when they report their outcomes with the Registrar of Companies, claimed the industry experts. Indian smartphone makers also lost out to the violent investing by Chinese competitors, as per a market research company. Chinese companies controlled over 50% of the smartphone market in India as of September 2017, in comparison with 33% a year ago.


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Juan Valdez, the iconic Colombian coffee grower who is a brand for the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia, has been recast as slimmer, more youthful and eco-conscious. Hoping to cash in on the booming market for specialty coffees, federation officials say the new Juan Valdez was designed to embody values of environmentally-friendly cultivation and organic blends. Valdez now boasts his own line of premium and organic blends, on sale at Wal-Mart and other venues.
Is there there any truth to the greener Colombian coffee, or is Valdez's new hue just an opportunity for greenwashing? According to the Rainforest Alliance, an international conservation NGO, more than 170 coffee farms throughout Colombia that belong to the federation have been certified for their environmentally sustainable and socially responsible farming practices since 1999. The Rainforest Alliance along with the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN), a coalition of locally-based conservation groups, has devised and implemented a set of standards that protect wildlands, wildlife and the rights and welfare of workers, their families and communities. BogotaÌ-based SAN member FundacioÌn Certification empowers growers by giving them tools to help increase their income while conserving natural resources for future generations.


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Recent reports from the government revealed that almost 74% of that ATM machines used by nationalised banks are running an outdated software which make it an easier target for frauds in view of the reduced number of security features.
The Reserve Bank of India has already issued a circular to all the banks in India advising them to upgrade their ATM software.
Currently, these ATM machines are running on Windows XP which is outdated. RBI (Reserve Bank Of India) advised the banks in India to upgrade their software by June 2019, as Windows XP is no longer supported.
Speaking to Pune365, a senior officer (name withheld on request) of a leading nationalised bank said “our system is updated on a daily basis.
The bank transacts and handles crores and we can’t afford to ever compromise on the customer’s security of transactions.
Our ATM machines are spread all over the city and are monitored regularly by the main office. A special person is authorised to keep a close eye on each transaction from an individual account.
A bank will not compromise on the safety of the customer’s money. Initially, there were cases of debit card frauds and card cloning and several cases were registered. Post these concerns, the chip was introduced as a security feature.
Now, most cards have a unique chip which cannot be cloned. This has brought down the cases of fraud with respect to use at the ATM’s he added.
Reacting to this, Uditav Sinha, A Sales Specialist of ATM’s says, ATM machines work on various software, but the base software of the ATM machine is an operating system and the current one in use is Windows XP in most of the ATM machines.
Last year, RBI issued a circular advising banks to update their version of the ATM operating system, Despite that, many of the banks have probably not taken it seriously enough, as it means incurring a cost.
The ATM machines operating system is charged per license, Windows 10 is much costlier than Windows XP and hence the banks management have not yet updated the operating system. Windows versions needs an update after every interval and managing the cost for every update becomes difficult for the banks.
The safety of the machine is definitely compromised. It is relatively easier to hack the old operating system, as it doesn’t have many safety features. Many of the time we face an issue in the ATM while withdrawing cash, money stuck in ATM etc.
ATMs all over the city are out of service due to the expired versions of an operating system which can be repaired, but only on a temporary basis.
Recently the government has introduced an open source operating system like Linux for the banks and the government organisations. It works like an android and the latest version gets updated when the update is available and one doesn’t need to pay everytime they need an upgrade.
Reassuring citizens, Priyansh Agarwal, a Banker says, “Safety is not compromised and the software is updated every day.
With respect to the ATM, even if the operating system is outdated, there are many softwares which are installed to protect the ATM machines.
Each bank has various types of features to ensure that the ATM is protected.
Ankur Sharma, IT professional says, the cases of debit card fraud are rising constantly, despite the repeated warnings given by RBI asking banks to upgrade their software.
Hacking has become common now, and more so since everyone knows that these machines are running an expired version of their operating system.
In a recent circular issued by RBI, they have told the Banks to instal Anti-Skimming devices and whitelisting solutions in cash machines by March 2019. RBI further warned banks of strict action if they fail to install both these security features.
For the record, skimmers are devices which are attached to the card slot and this skimmer is programmed to read your card information, store and transfer the data to the fraudsters.
Once the banks install the anti-skimming device, the device will transmit a signal to the person monitoring the ATM and prevent the user from performing the transaction.
Sharma further added that “It is advisable for citizens to protect their transactions from frauds and apply for ATM email alert services for transactions. With this, a suspicious transaction can be reported to the bank.”
Renuka Hankare, web designer says, “Despite hearing of so many cases, how can banks afford to risk an individuals money. Though a person has the right to demand their money in case of a fraudulent transaction, the safety of the ATM machines and customers should not be compromised.
#All views expressed in this article are those of the individual respondents and Pune365 does not necessarily subscribe to them.
Latest posts by Ankita Malekar (see all)
- #MentalHealth: Talk, Treat And Recover - July 29, 2019
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Virtual Workforce And Virtual Assistants – An Emerging Workforce Trend
In a press release by Virtual Assistant Talent LLC, John Davern, Jr., MBA talks about how a large number of businesses, from small companies to multinational corporations, are now realizing the benefit online outsourcing in general.
The virtual assistant industry in particular, is seen as an emerging workforce market. The demand for virtual assistants expected to see a rise in demand based on the trends recently released in the Global Online Employment Report by Elance.
“The recent advancements in technology have allowed outsourcing – particularly online outsourcing – to be available to anyone.” John shared, “This has made outsourcing available to, not only big businesses, but to start-ups and small to medium enterprises – the ones that could really benefit from outsourcing.”
Virtual Workforce Management
The unconventional work structure and geographical distance can throw off managers and corporations who are used to a traditional workforce. The challenge for companies is for them to adapt and modify their management practices that would make the most of their virtual workforce, maximizing productivity, creativity and teamwork.
“The common obstacles in workforce management can be narrowed down to these 3 areas: Communication, Connectivity and Collaboration.” John stated, “But these can be easily resolved through the use of the right tools and resources.”
The virtual workforce has become such an important business trend, they were discussed by Davern at the in this year’s Executive Next Practice (ENP) forum , a forum that focuses on upcoming trends in business and leadership for mid level and large mid to large market C-level to functional leaders and trusted advisors. In his talk “Emerging Trends in Virtual Markets and Workforce Management” Davern shared best practices and expected obstacles on how to handle a virtual team.
Davern’s 18 year experience in human resource with companies like GE and The Home Depot and as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Virtual Assistant Talent, LLC, gave him a unique perspective of how traditional companies and a virtual workplace and co-exist and collaborate to create the best working teams possible.
The ENP forum features though leaders from 35 global companies including Disney, Taco Bell, Dex, World Vision, B of A, Turkish Airlines, and Experia where they collaborate and discuss the latest “Next Practices” leadership and business strategies.


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While the I-T department defended its ongoing probe saying that the investigation has entered the "fifth layer", the court shot back saying, "We are not concerned about layers but results"
New Delhi: The Supreme Court today expressed displeasure over the tardy pace of probe by the Income Tax (I-T) department into the tax evasion cases linked to second generation (2G) spectrum allocation case, saying it wanted "results".
A bench of justices GS Singhvi and AK Ganguly directed the department to file a detailed report on action taken by it during the last three years when it got a complaint in this regard and began tapping corporate lobbyist Niira Radia's telephone, reports PTI.
"The I-T department must be quicker. This is not a normal case of tax evasion. It (probe) should have been done fast. These are not ordinary cases to be handled in ordinary way," the bench said.
The department, however, defended its ongoing probe saying that the investigation has entered the "fifth layer" and the approach towards the case has not been tardy.
The court, however, was not satisfied and said, "We are not concerned about layers but results."
The bench allowed the I-T department to approach the special judge trying the 2G case to interrogate company officials who are in judicial custody for their alleged role in the scam.
The bench also agreed to hear a plea by petitioner, the Centre for Public Interest Litigation, for appointment of two independent persons to assist the court in monitoring the probe by various government agencies in the scam. The CPIL had made the plea alleging that "big players are being let off".
The court also assured the petitioners, CPIL and others, that all the persons involved in the scam will be brought to justice irrespective of their wealth, position and power.
"You (petitioner) rest assured that no person, irrespective of their chair and wealth, could get immunity in any way," the bench said, adding "investigation in the case has made some progress which would not have been possible in normal circumstances."
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), meanwhile, contended that no person would be let off as investigation is still going on against Reliance and Tatas for their involvement in the scam.
The investigating agency also submitted that it will file fresh status report on the ongoing investigation in 2G scam after the summer vacation.
The court after hearing all sides posted the matter for further hearing on 13th May, when it would delve into the plea for appointment of independent person to assist the court in monitoring the probe.
The high rate of price rise of food items was one of the reasons for inflationary pressure in the last fiscal. However, the government had exuded confidence that food inflation would moderate in the months to come on account of the record crop of wheat and pulses during the 2010-11 crop year
New Delhi: Food inflation fell to 8.53% for the week ended 23rd April from 8.76% in the previous week, on the back of fall in prices of pulses, reversing the upward trend seen in the previous fortnight, reports PTI.
The latest numbers are likely to come as a relief to the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), especially at a time when the central bank’s monetary policy for the fiscal, released earlier this week, was almost exclusively focused on fighting price rise.
Food inflation stood at 20.91% during the corresponding week last year.
During the week under review, wholesale prices of pulses declined by 7.39% on a year-on-year basis. However, all other commodities witnessed a rise in prices.
Cereals became dearer by 4.42% year-on-year, with rice and wheat becoming more expensive by 2.08% and 0.06%, respectively.
Vegetables prices were overall up by 3.44%.
Potatoes became dearer by 0.27% on an annual basis and onions were up by 16.09%.
Fruits and protein-based items continued to be more costly.
Fruits became dearer by 32.69% year-on-year, while milk was up by 5.16% and eggs, meat and fish by 5.13%.
The rate of price rise of non-food primary articles was 27.84%.
Fibres became more expensive by 85.58% year-on-year, while fuel and power was up by 13.53% and petrol by 21.81%.
The high rate of price rise of food items was one of the reasons for inflationary pressure in the last fiscal. However, the government had exuded confidence that food inflation would moderate in the months to come on account of the record crop of wheat and pulses during the 2010-11 crop year (July-June).
Headline inflation was 8.98% in March and has been above the 8% mark since January 2010.
In its monetary policy report released earlier this week, the RBI said inflationary pressure would remain a concern during the first fiscal, with core inflation (which does not take into account the rise in food prices) heating up on account of spiralling oil and commodity prices in the international market.
The RBI said inflation would remain at an average of 9% during the first half of 2011-12, before falling to around 6% by March 2012.
The sector has witnessed two years of healthy growth, but inflation, higher interest rates and rising prices of fuel may muddy the waters for the automobile industry
The start of the fiscal year has traditionally been a weak period for the Indian automobile industry. According to a report released by PINC Research today, most of the major auto manufacturers have reported a moderate growth in sales volumes.
In the commercial vehicles category, buyers tend to pick up their vehicles in March to avail of tax benefits. Ashok Leyland was the worst performer in this category, with its sales dropping by 14.7% on a year-on-year (Y-o-Y) basis to 5,543 units in April 2011. Tata Motors managed 18.7% Y-o-Y growth and sold 39,928 units in April. According to the report, Ashok Leyland has said that the elections in Tamil Nadu, a major market for the manufacturer, has caused the drop in sales.
However, the two-wheeler segment reported healthy sales, with market leader Hero Honda reporting all-time high dispatches. On a Y-o-Y basis, Hero Honda clocked a healthy 39.1% growth—it sold 5,17,099 units in April 2011, compared to the 3,71,652 units that it had sold in the same month last year. Bajaj Auto reported a decent 16.7% growth to 3,22,235 units, mainly helped by the clearance of its export backlog. Suzuki has managed to register the highest Y-o-Y growth rate (41.40%), but that was because of a low base (it sold 20,771 units in April 2010).
Among passenger vehicle manufacturers, Honda was the worst hit (43.8% Y-o-Y drop in sales to 2,012 units). Despite the international problems of vehicle recalls that Toyota has been facing, it managed to sell 9,681 units in April this year, compared to 6,003 units that it sold in April 2010, translating into a healthy 61.30% growth. New entrants seem to have found acceptance in the market—Volkswagen sold 7,000 units in April, a 370.10% Y-o-Y growth, albeit on a low base (1,489 units in April last year). But the biggest shocker has been the performance of market leader Maruti Suzuki (4.4% growth) and Hyundai (0.1%). PINC says that Maruti’s poor performance is due to a “sharp drop in dispatches in the compact car segment.” This would mean that Maruti might have to go back to the drawing board and rework its product mix. Tata Motors managed to inch along at a 3.8% growth and sold 24,455 units in April 2011. One reason for this sluggish performance from Tata Motors in this category is surely due to the subdued sales of its much-hyped Nano. The company had set itself a monthly sales figure of 15,000 Nano cars in 2011. But the car’s sales crossed the 10,000 mark only in April, after months of poor performance. On an overall basis, according to the report, dispatch figures for the month grew by 12.4% Y-o-Y in the passenger vehicles segment.
Three-wheeler sales continue to chug along—market leader Bajaj Auto sold 45,074 units (20.7% up) in April 2011, but Mahindra & Mahindra is snapping at its heels, with 44.7% growth (although on a low base, it had sold only 3,048 units in April 2010). TVS Motor is still in the race, clocking 43.4% growth—it sold 3,561 units in April this year.
As the report states, after two years of rapid growth, the auto sector might see a period of moderation. But the deadly troika of inflation, rising fuel rates and a higher interest rate regime might muddy the waters for the industry.


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As Toyota prepares to reveal its 2016 Prius ahead of schedule next month, spy shots of Hyundai’s attempt to compete with it have been revealed.
The camouflaged car appears more like a Prius than does our image of a concept above, which is shown in lieu of copyrighted images at Rawvehicle.
A report by Rawvehicle says a remarkable up-to 38 miles all-electric range from a lithium-ion polymer battery may be in the offing, presumably by a plug-in hybrid version.
If right, that would contest the 2015 Chevy Volt’s electric range, at least in theory.
The Hyundai “Prius fighter” – as it’s been called in the absence www.rawvehicle.com of an official name – is reportedly being developed on the 2017 Elantra’s platform, but will be a dedicated hybrid model based around a 1.8-liter engine.
Interior styling will likely borrow from family members including the Elantra and Sonata.
The production-ready Hyundai hybrid may be shown at a major auto show in 2016 and released late 2016 as a 2017 model.
Photos can be seen at Rawvehicle here and here.


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Progress in business climate laudable, but further improvement needed
The relationship between Japan and Bangladesh is a trusted and time-tested one. Bangladesh became Japan's biggest recipient of the Official Development Assistance in 2020. Since the Covid-19 pandemic started more than a year ago, there has been a lot of talks and anticipation about Japanese businesses moving base to Bangladesh. In a series of high-profile interviews, The Daily Star tries to understand the increasing interest of Japanese investors in Bangladesh, its growth prospects, barriers to growth, ground realities, and on how to attract more Japanese investment. As part of a series, today, we are running the interview of Yuji Ando, country representative of the Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro) in Bangladesh.
DS: Japan is one of the largest and most developed economies in the world. What can Bangladesh learn from Japan's growth trajectory?
Yuji Ando (YA): Japan has realised economic growth by developing industrial sectors through diversifying and upgrading industrial structures. We had started from textile sectors when we started industrialisation in Meiji Era more than 100 years ago.
After World War II, the Japanese government had a policy to industrialise by starting from light engineering sectors to two-wheelers sectors and backward linkage industries. I think Bangladesh is coming to the same way steadily.
Japanese companies have led this industrialisation, and they always focus on improving the operation in the field.
The government is also trying to listen to the private sector to support the industries. Improvement of the business environment, regulatory reform and support schemes (including subsidies) are continuously taken by the government. An interactive discussion and actual initiatives bring the appropriate environment for economic growth.
Nobody denies that Bangladesh has huge potential for growth, and many companies are showing interests in this country. The next five years are really important for Bangladesh, and the government should prepare for graduation from the grouping of the least-developed country (LDC) by introducing digitalisation and a better investment climate.
DS: How would you assess Japan's role in developing our economy?
YA: Japan is the best development partner for Bangladesh. We can collaborate to develop infrastructure, including through the public private partnership (PPP) initiative. Also, I believe Japanese companies can contribute to the improvement of the life of Bangladeshi people by providing the best consumer goods made by Japanese companies.
If the market volume of the two-wheelers reaches a good number, like 10 lakh per year, from five lakh per year, component suppliers may come to this country. This will help develop the backward linkage industry in this country. It is also essential to create huge employment and educate high-skilled human resources in Bangladesh through investment. I believe that Japanese companies will be able to take important roles in developing the country's economy.
DS: Many Japanese companies are shifting from China to other countries, especially to Vietnam. Is there any possibility that they will shift to Bangladesh?
YA: I don't think Japanese companies are shifting from China, but they are trying to diversify the supply chain to other countries.
According to a Jetro survey of 876 respondents in 2020, some 36.6 per cent of the Japanese companies in China are going to expand their business in the next one to two years. Some 55.6 per cent of the companies said that they would keep the current business operation. On the other hand, 6.7 per cent will reduce the business scales, and only 1 per cent said they might relocate to another country or withdraw from China.
China has huge markets, and many Japanese companies will tend to expand business operation for domestic markets. But, the labour-intensive sector (the number of respondents was 28), like RMG, has a lower ratio of expansion (14.3 per cent), and 25 per cent said they might reduce the operation volume or relocate to a third country.
I think that Bangladesh has competitive labour resource and the possibility to receive new orders or investment shifting from China. However, we could have seen this trend before the Covid-19 pandemic because of the wage hike in China.
DS: What are the steps Japan or Jetro is taking to motivate Japanese investors to come to Bangladesh with their investment?
YA: As an official trade and investment promotion agency of the Japanese government, we facilitate Japanese investment through various supports. As a first contact point for Japanese companies, we provide different supports to Japanese companies, like providing regulatory information, market information, and business-matching opportunities.
Also, we work with the Bangladesh government to improve the business environment. We always focus on how to support existing Japanese companies in Bangladesh to operate their business activities smoothly.
DS: What are the potential sectors that can draw Japanese investment?
YA: For Japanese investors, there are many potential sectors in Bangladesh.
Infrastructure development and the energy sector (including public-private partnership projects and energy-saving projects) are areas of interest because this country is going to graduate from the LDC group, and society is stepping to the next level.
For the huge population, consumer goods industries and the two-wheelers industry are potential sectors. Especially, the backward industry of automobile has huge potential in this country if the market size reaches enough number, like the Asean countries. We believe two-wheeler and their components' industries will be the key to diversifying and upgrading industries in Bangladesh.
The ICT sector is spotlighted by Japanese companies. In Japan, Bangladesh is becoming one of the major countries for IT outsourcing and good human resources. For the higher cost of outsourcing in other countries, like China and Vietnam, Bangladesh is very competitive as an off-shore development destination.
DS: As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Independence, how significant has the contribution of Japanese companies been in this journey?
YA: We have been one of the closest friends of each other, and Japanese companies have contributed to the development of this country even from the East Pakistan period. Chattogram is the first place for Japanese companies to start businesses, and it has been an important place for us. As everyone knows, we are developing Matabari port, and it will bring drastic changes to this country in terms of both infrastructure and connectivity.
Japanese companies have always been with Bangladesh, and we have seen a lot of growth together. We will celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relationship the next year, and we believe we can deepen our economic relationship by welcoming more investment from Japan.
DS: How has Jetro facilitated investment and trade relations among Bangladeshi and Japanese entrepreneurs?
YA: Since our inception in 1973, we have contributed to the development of the business relationship between the two friendly countries. It is coincident that we have started our operation just after Bangabandhu's visit to Japan.
Through the historic visit to Japan by the Father of the Nation, we have deepened an excellent economic relationship.
The Jetro has always tried to bridge both countries through investment facilitation. We have arranged business delegation programmes from Japan to see the business opportunities and environment in Bangladesh.
Through the delegation programmes, several Japanese companies have decided to invest in the EPZs and other areas. We have invited Bangladeshi business leaders to Japan to make business-matching events. We are confident that many Bangladesh companies have started businesses thanks to our invitation programme.
As a future initiative, we hope to initiate the discussion for a free trade agreement (FTA) between Japan and Bangladesh to facilitate more business opportunities after the LDC graduation in collaboration with the Japan-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry. We believe riding on the FTA, both countries can go to the next level of economic relationship.
DS: Are you happy with the current investment climate in Bangladesh? Which are the areas Bangladesh needs to improve further for making the investment climate more investor-friendly?
YA: I would appreciate the government for taking the initiatives to improve the business environment even amid the Covid-19 pandemic. But we think that there are a lot of challenges in doing business and drastic improvement is needed.
The first challenge is foreign exchange policy. We are facing challenges when we do business here. Trade transaction is limited in LC (letters of credit) settlement, but terms and conditions for opening LC are quite complicated in comparison to other countries. Businesses are requested to submit unique documents by banks which are not requested in other countries. LC opening should be simplified.
Moreover, telegraphic transfer (TT) is the standard way of transaction in other ASEAN countries, but in Bangladesh, TT is not available for imports. Very ironically, in South Asia, Bangladesh and Pakistan are the only countries that cannot transfer remittance.
I think that Bangladesh should enter the supply chain in Asean or South Asia regions to have more manufacturing industries. In this connection, the transaction system should be internationalised by introducing a TT settlement facility.
The procurement of fund in Bangladesh is another challenge. Foreign companies face difficulties in procuring fund in Bangladesh, and the only way is to inject capital from the parent company. Under the circumstances, business expansion is hard to make. In this connection, working capital loan from the parent company should be more relaxed.
The second aspect is tax policies. We do not see consistency in tax policy and transparency in the tax administration. Especially, we would expect further policies to promote domestic industries and differentiate from trading.
As the last point, we would request the government to digitalise the administrative procedures to ensure transparency and predictability in paperwork. We need this digitalisation in custom clearance because we have a lot of hassles at the import stage.


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October 17, 2023
Simpro, a business management software for trade service businesses, held its first user conference, Simprosium, in Australia and New Zealand under the theme "Turn Chaos into Clarity." The event attracted over 700 attendees, including customers, industry experts and partners, aiming to showcase the latest platform features and foster a community. Key announcements included launching the Simpro Certification Program, new security enhancements, Stripe payment integration, business intelligence reporting, ClockShark time tracking integration and digital form improvements, all geared toward reducing administrative tasks and meeting digital-savvy customer needs. The event featured insights on inflation, staff retention, and leveraging data for company innovation, emphasizing the importance of business intelligence tools. Simpro's API capabilities were lauded for unifying processes and streamlining operations. The event's success prompted plans for similar conferences in the US and UK markets in 2024, demonstrating Simpro's commitment to building a collaborative customer-centric ecosystem for innovation in the trade service sector.


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The game was set to be a free-to-play version of the original Titanfall
The two companies are working on another Titanfall game, and a Star Wars title.
Respawn's lead writer promises a single player campaign and science meeting magic.
It is being worked on, though; just expect it a little later.
EA trims its release schedule a bit and renews its contract with Respawn for more Titanfall action, but Need for Speed will be missing 2014.
The first map pack is intended to temporarily placate those who have devoured all the current content.
Microsoft plays a game with its new console's sales numbers, while Titanfall becomes March 2014's best-selling game.
As always, Geoff Keighley's Final Hours series brings some interesting and enlightening tidbits of information to light.
The Expedition pack will be with us next month.
Amusingly, it supports more players than Titanfall does.
Certain territories have been slipping out early copies of Titanfall on Xbox 360, but no-one can play it yet.
After some complaints over mismatched teams, Respawn is experimenting with new ways to group up players in its flagship shooter.
Respawn isn't banning Titanfall cheaters. Oh no. It's giving them what they deserve.
Looking to get ahead in Titanfall? Here's a few tips from us and Respawn Entertainment.
Those who were having trouble getting in to Respawn's new shooter yesterday should now be good to go.
Respawn Entertainment's community manager on why the company avoided on-disc DLC.
Respawn Entertainment's first game brings man and machine together. Is Titanfall good enough to save the Xbox One?
Launch isn't the end for Titanfall. Respawn is attempting to tweak the game for increased graphical performance.
Are classic arcade games better with a Titan? Now you can find out for yourself.
Respawn has outlined the post-release support plans for its highly anticipated new shooter.
As the countdown to release continues, further details emerge.
Surprise! Microsoft claims Twitch streaming will be up and running in time for what it hopes will be the next big multiplayer hit.
Can Titanfall get its claws into a hardened shooter cynic like Pete? After ten matches, he has an answer.
A bit of community sleuthing on the new Titanfall beta has revealed a little more of what the full game is likely to offer.
Eurogamer's Chris Donlan reports live from the fro-- FFTUNK
Even more so than its predecessor, the Xbox One is a console that looks set to evolve gradually over time.
Respawn's stompy mech shooter launches its beta on February 14.
Respawn's matches have a particular flow to them. Here's how it breaks down.
This is a "next-gen" game, right?
So how will you get in? Respawn's still being coy.


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Chilled foods: Latest news and analysis articles
General Mills last week lowered its already weak forecast for its annual sales due to lower-tha-expected sales in US yogurt and soup. Unsurp...
A veteran of attending the annual Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco, just-food's US columnist Victor Martino reflects on the changes s...
Announcing's Nestle 2016 results today (16 February) newly-installed CEO Mark Schneider revealed growth at the Swiss food giant came in belo...
Co-manufacturing is a common way of doing business in the US food sector but the practice is less prevalent in Europe. In his debut column f...
Paul Kelly, director of Irish food body Food Drink Industry Ireland, spoke with Ben Cooper about the challenges the sector faces in the wake of the UK’s decision to leave the EU.
Operating one of India's largest food companies is no simple task, Suresh Narayanan, the chairman and managing director of Nestle India, tells just-food in an exclusive interview at his business' headquarters, near New Delhi. The company faces an array of challenges in the market – from the recent Maggi recall, to intensifying competition, to issues like obesity and diabetes. Narayanan shares how the Switzerland-based food giant is responding in the country.
UK-based party food manufacturer Frank Dale Foods has called a creditors' meeting for tomorrow (28 February) to appoint a liquidator in a bid to find a new owner and save jobs.
The leaders of four central European countries are to meet to discuss concerns over the quality of branded food products sold in the region.
US group Hormel Foods today (23 February) lowered its forecast for its annual earnings per share due to the outlook for its turkey business.
There were two major acquisitions announced in the US this week, with France's Bonduelle moving to buy produce supplier Ready Pac Foods and Canada-based meat processor snapping up meat-free player Lightlife Foods. Staying in the US, companies including Tyson Foods, General Mills and Mondelez International gave an update on their strategies for growth at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York investment conference in Florida. Elsewhere, Ireland's Glanbia announced plans to spin-off its domestic dairy business.
China’s state council, the country’s cabinet, has issued a five-year plan to improve food safety and risk management across the country.
European consumer goods giant Unilever has announced it is launching a review of its operations in order to "accelerate" the value it can give to its shareholders.
Although risks of trade friction have increased with Donald Trump's election as US President, a research note from investment bank Credit Suisse sees an all-out trade war between the country and China as unlikely.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May has shed some light on what she wants from the country's negotiations to leave the EU and its post-Brexit future - and the food sector has given her speech a cautious welcome.
- US food next wave on display at Winter Fancy Food
- How General Mills plans to grow - CAGNY
- CAGNY analysis: Danone's growth strategy
- Comment: Meal kits in US - don't believe the hype
- Interview: A2 Milk Co. chair firm's rapid rise
- Unilever launches operational review
- Bonduelle to buy US produce group Ready Pac Foods
- Glanbia focuses on nutrition with Irish dairy spin
- Maple Leaf buys US plant-based group Lightlife
- Nestle launches global sugar target


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We are happy to announce that Yext has won Business Intelligence Group's 2016 BIG Award for Business for Case Study of the Year, which highlights our partnership with BAYADA Home Health Care. This diverse industry awards program offers companies, their products, their people, and their tactics a chance to be globally recognized by panels of business veterans and leaders.
For BAYADA Home Health Care, search queries have always involved local intent. Providing in-home care to thousands of individuals across the country, BAYADA looks to drive demand for home health care services and recruit caregivers through its online marketing tactics. With nearly half of BAYADA's referrals coming through organic search and social media, it became essential to clean up its location data and ensure all digital marketing strategies revolve around mobile optimization. BAYADA turned to Yext to help innovate its local engagement strategy.
"The reality is that our business is constantly changing — phone numbers or types of services being updated, et cetera. There was lots of outdated info out there," says Richard Ortiz, Senior Associate, Business Analytics at BAYADA. "Once we switched over to Yext, we were able to easily consolidate that. All of the updates happen automatically such we can rest assured our presence is always accurate and optimized, and that is just fantastic."
Shortly after launching with Yext's Listings and Pages products, BAYADA saw a cleaner and more accurate digital presence. In just one month, BAYADA had over 4,000 visits to its site from Google My Business searches, and its' local Pages saw a 600% increase in views. Yext ultimately helped BAYADA clean up its content, reconcile duplicate data, and publish corrections and updates for its 267 locations.
"Coming from an SEO agency background, I have found that the Yext team really knows their stuff, from high-level industry developments to the tiniest details of a search engine algorithm update," says Ortiz. "Yext's people are always eager to discuss and explore new developments and opportunities — they're a true partner. It's great to have someone on our side whom we can trust on such a basic level — it's like having an extension of our own team."
You can read the full story of BAYADA's work with Yext in Yext's Customer Showcase.


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March 13, 2023
There are several all-electric zero-turn lawn mowers on the market. However, most don’t carry a recognizable name brand. That’s all changed now that John Deere has introduced its Z370R ZTrak Electric Zero Turn Mower, a first for the ag equipment giant.
Spokespersons say it’s positioned to be the residential lawn mower of the future, providing cleaner, simplified mowing compared to traditional gas mowers. They contend this new mower maintains the quality and upholds the tradition of John Deere. Charge it without removing batteries with a standard outdoor extension cord and 110-volt grounded outlet. Large front and side frame rails increase durability, and it comes with a 42-inch Accel Deep mower deck to deliver superior cut quality at faster ground speeds.
Why are you reading about an electric lawnmower here? Because Deere appears to be making a statement. The company intends to be a player in new innovations, including electric machines. Visit johndeere.com.
Biological products are coming at you at a fast and furious pace. DPH Biologicals launches BellaTrove Companion Maxx ST biological fungicide for corn, soybeans and other crops. This multiple-action product derives from a proprietary strain of plant-stimulating rhizobacterium. Spokespersons say it stimulates natural defenses against pathogens. At the same time, it improves nutrient uptake and root health.
Mick Messman, president and CEO of DPH Biologicals, formerly director of global seed treatment for DuPont, says growers get a biological seed treatment in a formulation that wraps crop fertility, stress reduction and disease suppression into one easy-to-use package. Visit dphbio.com.
Bayer moves behind the scenes
Bayer announced three separate moves designed to position the company to better supply growers with crop protection and biological-based products in the future:
Bayer and Kimitec. These two companies entered into a strategic partnership, aligning Bayer’s global field-testing resources with Kimitec’s capabilities to make unique biological discoveries. Kimitec operates the Maavi Innovation Center, Europe’s largest biotechnological innovation hub. The goal is to accelerate Bayer’s pipeline of biological product candidates.
Bayer and M2i Group. Fruit and vegetable growers will be the first to benefit from the partnership between Bayer and the French company M2i Group. Bayer becomes the exclusive distributor for M2i products targeting lepidoptera pests. M2i specializes in pheromone production, and Bayer will integrate these products into digitally enabled solutions that include pest monitoring to better advise growers.
Bayer and Oerth Bio. A new collaboration between Bayer and Oerth Bio, a company Bayer helped start in 2019, is geared at developing the next generation of more sustainable crop protection products. Oerth Bio is the only company researching PROTAC, protein degradation technologies. Leaders of both companies believe this technology will result in precisely targeted, low application-rate products that can help overcome biological resistance.
Autonomy kit for Kubota M5 tractor
You can contact Sabanto Inc. and order an autonomy kit that retrofits onto your Kubota M5 tractor, turning it into an autonomous machine. This is the first offering of an autonomous system to customers by Sabanto in North America. Kits for other makes and models are expected to follow.
The company claims the secret is its software. It allows anyone to operate 60- to 90-hp tractors without drivers for multiple days of non-stop operation. Visit sabantoag.com.
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What if your hair could sing? Soniphy Hair, the latest innovation from L’Oréal Japan, is designed to translate the condition of your hair into an audio signal, a technology that will allow stylists, for example, to prove the effectiveness of a scalp-repairing treatment to their clients. FAB met up with the research team to find out more about this technological revolution that could help beauty professionals and their clients all over the world.
Soniphy Hair: How Does It Work?
There is not many ways of evaluating the health and condition of a person’s hair: by observing it under a microscope or by measuring the hair’s friction using special sensors or the K-Camera, this technology developed by Kérastase is a camera that will analyze hair health very accurately and reveal its dryness
Now there’s Soniphy Hair. All a stylist needs to do is move a dedicated sensor through a client’s hair to transform its health and condition into music. It’s a huge step forward for stylists, who will find it much easier to demonstrate the beneficial effects of their work to their clients… at the same time as treating them to a unique experience: hearing their own hair sing.
The Happy Encounter Between A Researcher & A Music Producer
The idea behind this tech first came about in 2015, following a meeting between a researcher at L’Oréal Japan and music producer Hiroaki IDEZ. “At his company EI Produce, he had already begun working on turning scientific and medical data into music. He wanted to help sick children to better understand how their body was reacting to their treatments,” L’Oréal Japan’s research team explained to FAB.
The idea of taking these techniques and using them to show the beneficial effects of haircare products on damaged hair came about by itself: “It didn’t take long for us to dream up using this technology to help show our clients that their hair was in much better condition after using a new haircare routine. We decided to look at things from a new angle and make use of a whole new sense: hearing.”
Turning Hair Friction Into Music
The first challenge to be overcome was working out what was the most important data to turn into sound. The analysis of the hair follicle’s surface was a natural choice. “The surface of a hair follicle is different to the root at the ends, especially for long hair. Working with this idea was the best place to start.”
After a year’s work, the final prototype was finished in October 2016. “We developed a mobile sensor that can measure the friction of a client’s hair in just four seconds. The health and condition of the hair, as well as the angle of the cuticle, has a big impact on its friction. From that point, EI Produce took on the job of transforming the data we collected into music. The final step was adapting our algorithms to make them a closer fit with the unique texture of Japanese hair!” L’Oréal Japan’s research team told FAB.
Patented in October 2016 and an award winner at the renowned International Federation of Societies of Cosmetics Chemists, Soniphy Hair allows “the creation of a unique melody for different hair conditions”, the team told FAB, proud of their innovation.
Proving The Effectiveness Of In-salon Treatments
Although the research team plan on continuing development of the Soniphy Hair technology in Japan, the rest of the world will have to wait a while before it’s rolled out commercially. “We are going to take the time to properly develop Soniphy Hair so that it’s easy to use in-salon. In the long term we aim to provide both a sensory and emotional result to help show our clients how effective our products are,” the team continued.
By helping clients to better understand the health and condition of their hair, this music could become a unique and precious tool for stylists who want to guarantee their clients’ satisfaction. “We’ve already tested the technology in a few salons in Japan and South Korea. The reactions have been amazing, particularly from our older clients. The younger ones who are well versed in the latest tech thought the demonstration was really impressive too. They even asked if the music was pre-recorded!” concluded the researchers, eager to finally unveil their work to the general public. So keep an eye out for this innovation in a salon near you!


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German auto parts giant Bosch has several different electrification programs.
The latest involves electrifying semitrailers to add regenerative braking on their axles. The company estimates that trucks will be able to save up to $10,000 per year through the system. Expand Expanding Close
Bosch today announced that its PowerTube 500 batteries would be coming to US bikes. As the name implies, these are 500Wh batteries that will be integrated into the down tubes of bikes by manufacturers. As Bosch is the leading supplier of high-end ebike powertrains, the news will likely signal a shift to a more integrated look for “bike shop” quality ebikes.
Bosch, one of the world’s largest automotive suppliers, has been exploring a plan to get into battery cell production in a big way to support the electrification of the industry.
The company announced today that it decided against the plan, but says that it still plans to “lead electromobility mass market from 2020” and it will focus on other electrical components. Expand Expanding Close
Bosch eBike Systems acquired COBI, a connected biking startup that enables cyclists to use their smartphones as an eBike control and display unit. The exact amount and terms have not yet been disclosed publicly.
COBI already offers many more services than the Bosch’s current eBike system which focuses mostly on drivetrain functionality. With COBI you can use services such as GPS navigation, music, phone, and fitness but also services such as Strava, Spotify, Apple Health and third-party Bluetooth fitness sensors, whereas with Bosch your display is really only a control panel for your bike. Cobi integrates both worlds and connects the rider….
Mercedes’ parent company, Daimler, announced today an important partnership with German auto supplier Bosch to develop self-driving technology aimed at the taxi and ridesharing industries.
The agreement includes the goal to reach level 4 and 5 autonomous driving systems “by the start of the next decade” – 2020-2021 – which is in line with each company’s previous timelines for autonomous driving. Expand Expanding Close
Today it announced that it completed and started testing, in partnership with Bosch, a new utility-scale energy storage facility again using used electric vehicle battery packs – but the scale is much more impressive. Expand Expanding Close
FF’s latest hire might be its most high-profile to date. Electrek learned that Faraday recently tipped Bosch engineering director and leading automated driving expert Jan Becker to lead the startup’s own effort in vehicle automation. Expand Expanding Close
During the company’s recent inauguration of its Renningen research campus, head of battery technology R&D Dr. Thorsten Ochs revealed more information about the company’s goals for Seeo’s solid-state battery. The Germany-based part maker is aiming for a 50 kWh pack to weight only 190 kg. Expand Expanding Close
Last month Bosch reported the acquisition of battery maker start-up Seeo , today the auto part and electronic giant released more details about its plan for battery production going forward. Bosch expects to bring to market Seeo’s solid-state battery cells within 5 years. Expand Expanding Close
The German electronic and auto parts giant Bosch will introduce a new thermal management system at the Frankfurt Motor Show, which runs from the 17th to 27th of September, that could increase electric vehicle (EV) range by up to 25%.
The system would be especially advantageous for electric vehicles operating in a cold climate. Expand Expanding Close
The electronics and auto parts giant Bosch announced the acquisition of Seeo Inc, a California-based startup with exclusive licensing rights to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s portfolio of patents for lithium polymer battery cells.