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Electronic Arts has released a trailer for the single-player campaign of Battlefield 1.
An accompanying press release confirms that the storyline presentation of Battlefield 1 differs in key ways when compared to previous installments in the series. To begin with, the campaign follows four distinct characters rather than a single soldier. This takes players across various locations during the World War to fill multiple roles such as a fighter pilot, an armor crewman, a rebel fighter, and a message-runner.
Additionally, the design of past Battlefield campaigns have mostly linked together corridors to promote close-quarter combat. This is in stark contrast to the signature large-scale multiplayer module of the franchise. With Battlefield 1, DICE is looking to make that a thing of the past.
The new single-player campaign “will more accurately reflect Battlefield’s open sandboxes,” highlights lead designer Danny Berlin. Players should expect a meaningful taste of the multiplayer mayhem through the storyline. This means more options and freedom to approach objectives, larger settings, and even more explosions.
This is the first time that we’re getting a good look at the campaign mode. Prior to this, both DICE and EA have focused primarily on the multiplayer portion. Earlier this month, the game wrapped up its multiplayer open beta which registered the largest participants in any beta held by EA in history.
In the wake of the trailer, some users are reporting that Battlefield 1 is now available for pre-loading on Xbox One. This has allowed them to discover that the game weighs in at 43 GB on Microsoft’s console. It’s likely to feature a similar file-size on PlayStation 4 as well. However, the PC version could require more space.
Battlefield 1 releases on October 21 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. You can start playing the game as early as October 13 by registering as an EA or Origin Access member.


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It’s no secret that the NFT market has been heating up over the past few months. With the success of projects like Jack Butcher’s Checks, it’s clear that NFTs are here to stay. However, the recent Super Bowl event may have thrown a wrench into the NFT market’s momentum. Jack […]
The entire world was waiting in anticipation for the DigiDaigaku Dragons Super Bowl ad, which set the Limit Break team back a whopping $6.5 million. And what did we get in return? A big ol’ QR code that led us straight to Gabe Leydon’s Twitter page. You read that right, […]
With the recent announcement of a new set of custom avatars for the Super Bowl, created in partnership with the NFL, Reddit is once again showing its commitment to providing a unique and engaging user experience for its millions of active users. The custom avatars, available in Kansas City and […]
We can help with design, smart contract audits, consultation and more.

domain: news


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Here's what will happen to Flash Player on Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari between now and the end of 2020.
adobe - News, Features, and Slideshows
This may be the last time that Adobe will be releasing new versions of its products all at once, according to Adobe digital media product marketing manager, Michael Stoddart.
Adobe's move to Creative Cloud offers a chance to overhaul its software in exciting ways – but it could leave the company damaged if customers aren't won over.
Every good general knows that even the biggest army is useless if you can't get it on the battlefield.


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There’s not much better use of mobile devices while travelling than searching for information on things to do. According to a Q4 2012 study from Google and Nielsen, US smartphone users averaged 2.20 actions after conducting a mobile travel search, trailing only the beauty and automotive industries among all categories […]Read more ›
Post Tagged with: "Nielsen"
New Delhi: The lower court in New York has been hearing procedural arguments on jurisdiction, particularly whether the US or India is the appropriate forum for the case that NDTV has filed against Nielsen and Kantar. The lower court in NY felt that India would be a more convenient forum […]Read more ›
For viewers who can’t wait to talk about the latest episode of their favorite TV show, social networks are not displacing the water cooler as much as providing a digital analogue, reports eMarketer. According to a September 2012 survey of US internet users conducted by Nielsen for the Cable & […]Read more ›
Which web and mobile properties found the largest audiences in 2012? According to Nielsen, Americans on the web were most inclined to search, socialize, shop, browse or, of course, look things up on Wikipedia. The two US sites that averaged the greatest number of monthly unique visitors were web giants […]Read more ›


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Max S. Haberman
What would Republicans do differently if elected in November? Really, nothing.
They would want to renew the Bush tax cuts—that is, cutting taxes for the wealthiest of Americans.
This right off the bat doesn’t make sense, since businesses will hire based on their current needs for work, not on how much money they have. According to PolitiFact, corporations are sitting on nearly $2 trillion, and while some of that is being used for general upkeep, the rest of it does not seem to be invested in as much as we’d like.
In the unfortunate world of stocks and dividends, a company works to ensure that they look the best, which does not involve investing, since that cuts profits in the short term. Since there is no market for anything when employment is low, there is little point in investing.
Why start a business if no one can afford your products, and why hire more workers if you’re just going to end up producing more than what consumers want?
To afford new products, consumers need jobs, and to get a job, there has to be the demand for new products. It is an endless cycle.
We could try spending more than we need, but spending money like that is what got us into this mess in the first place. We have to look to the other side, start hiring.
Recently, there was a bill in Congress that would have helped Veterans get jobs. If someone has a job, they are able to afford “luxuries” such as a good home, decent food, and maybe a coffee maker. They could even get internet, a television, and time for a hobby.
If spending more in these markets were to increase, there would be more of a need to hire, so there would be more jobs available, and a wonderful new cycle would commence.
Despite its potential, the bill was voted down. The argument was that the spending of the bill, at $1 billion over five years, was far too much.
That amount is less than 0.1% the cost of Obama’s policies during his term, and about 0.0143% of Bush’s.
To be fair, Bush was in office twice as long as Obama, so in an absolute comparison, the Veteran’s bill is 0.0286% of Bush’s spending. That is less than three-thousandths the spending.
Yes, this bill will cost money, but a comparatively miniscule amount. It seems that most Republicans in Congress want to create new jobs, but not spend any money while doing so. It seems as if the means to achieve their goal would be to hire people, but not to pay them anything.
I guess that once a soldier gives years of their lives, fights for our nation, and experiences the calamities of war, they are worth nothing to us, and can live, jobless, on the streets.
The very definition of conservatism is the belief in keeping everything the same, or better yet, to return to a simpler time.
They do not want change; they just want to go back to the days of the Gilded Age: an apparently more glorious time where most Americans were out of work half the year, unable to afford decent food and shelter, and were dominated by tycoons whose only concern was how they could squeeze more money out of them.
Conservatives want to deregulate and repeal even the weakest of laws, such as the Affordable Health Care Act, since being healthy is apparently a privilege, not a right.
The right to afford the basics, under Conservative rule, is a privilege given only to the millionaire and billionaire few.


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A game-changing yoke rebooted
Honeycomb Aeronautical entered the flight simulation scene with a bang in 2019 when it launched the highly acclaimed Alpha Flight Controls (see Issue 122). The company broke new ground, paving the way with a yoke that was unrivalled in terms of build quality and realism. Since then, Honeycomb has released the Bravo Throttle Quadrant, with the Charlie Rudder Pedals due to be released later this year. It has now launched a new and improved version of the inaugural yoke called the Alpha Flight Controls XPC. Like the previous iteration, it is PC- and Mac-compatible but also adds Xbox Series X|S support.
So when Honeycomb’s CEO, Nicki Repenning, approached us with the exciting news that the development of the upgraded Alpha XPC yoke was complete, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to find out more.


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Toyota Tundra Tackles Texas
As you'd expect, Texas is America's largest market for full-sized pickup trucks. While pickup truck sales fell 14 percent nationally over the past four years, Bloomberg reports that they rose 5.2 percent in the Lone Star State. GM, Ford and Dodge aren't exactly celebrating, though. In 2007, Toyota's piece of that pie grew 79 percent, while the so-called domestics' slice dropped by five percent. Even worse, Dallas Ford dealer Sam Pack says a lot of those Tundra sales are conquest sales, "coming from traditionally Ford, Chevrolet and Dodge" buyers. While the raw numbers still favor The Big 2.8, Tundra's share of the Texas market rose from 4.7 to 8.4 percent last year. To git 'er done, Toyota put $6.4k worth of incentives on the hood, putting the Texas-built Tundra in the middle of the pack (Ford $6.6k, Chrysler $6.47k and GM $6k). As the pickup truck market shrinks even more in 2008, you can bet Toyota will continue its slow but steady incursion into the domestics' last redoubt. And watch those profit margins shrink.
More by Frank Williams


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The new Atari VCS console will use AMD’s new Ryzen Embedded R1000 SoC.
Never mind the PlayStation 5, today’s biggest console news relates to the Atari VCS. Well, maybe not, but it is interesting to discover that Atari’s new console will use AMD’s just announced Ryzen Embedded R1000 SoC.
According to the chip’s product description, the R1000 “provides dual core, quad-threaded performance, as well as the ability to run fanless, low power solutions for 4K displays.” Atari say the chip will give the VCS a simpler, more effective power architecture and thermal solution.
In a press statement, Michael Arzt, COO of Atari Connected Devices, added:
“With the AMD Ryzen Embedded R1000 powering the Atari VCS, we can support the 4K 60fps HDR content that users expect from a modern, secure gaming and entertainment system. AMD’s new Ryzen Embedded SoC will also help protect the VCS’ environment and content as we support an unprecedented open-access model that allows Atari’s highly-creative community to install any other operating system side by side with the Atari OS.”
The Atari VCS is a Linux-based gaming and media streaming device set for release by the end of 2019. Development of the console was partly financed by $3 million dollars raised from 11,000 backers on crowd-funding site, IndieGoGo. Very little is known about the console, or its game library, other than it will include a digital store front, and access to the Atari Vault, a collection of over 100 classic games similar to the Atari Flashback Classics collection.
We’re still dubious about the console’s chance of success, but we can’t lie, it does look the part, which is more than can be said for the Capcom Home Arcade.


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Labor Day weekend is upon us. Which means…”GarlicFest” in southern Vermont! And it’s going to be a BEAUTIFUL fall-like weekend to walk around the festival, sample amazing food/drinks, listen to bands, and shop for unique gifts from local vendors and artists!
One of my new items that will be available for purchase:
(“The Stave” – designed from a Saxons River Distillery barrel stave)
(Last year’s booth. C3 once again this year, near the stage! Items do sell out, so please come early if you are looking for something specific. There will be new inventory both Saturday and Sunday.)
Check out lovegarlic.com for more info about the festival! “The annual Southern Vermont Garlic and Herb Festival, now in its 21st year, will take place at Camelot Village September 3-4. The two-day event was attended by nearly 15,000 people last year and has been named one of Vermont’s “Top Ten Events of the Year,” selected as a “Top Event” by Yankee Magazine’s Best of New England, and recently considered as one of the Top 10 Garlic Festivals in the world.”


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Samsung just announced the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ smartphones with new dual aperture camera, Super slo-mo and several features at its Unpacked 2018 event at the MWC 2018. The company has already revealed the price of the phone in US, UK and Europe markets and has also started taking pre-orders in several markets. It has also started pre-booking for the phones in India from Samsung Shop.
How to pre-book
- Head to Samsung Online Shop and select Galaxy S9 or Galaxy S9+
- Click Pre-book Now button and Enter name, mobile number, email id, model number and color of the device you need
- Pay Rs. 2,000/- as advance payment & receive pre-book coupon.
- You will receive email & SMS with prices on launch day
- Apply your pre-book coupon at checkout to adjust Rs. 2,000/- from your final payable amount.
Samsung is yet to announce the final price of the smartphone in India, which is expected to be announced at the launch event sometime in the first week of March. Flipkart said that it will reveal pre-order details soon.


text: March 19, 2017 Leave a comment Audio ads hit Google Home without warning By Francis Navarro, Komando.com Google Voice-controlled virtual assistant speakers like the Amazon Echo and the Google Home are fast becoming common fixtures in the average American home.What with their assortment of talents ranging from musical DJ-ing and smart home management to their capability to act as cloud-powered think-tanks, these talking-slash-eavesdropping smart appliances are paving the way for the no-screen computer explosion. We have talked about the ever-listening nature of these gadgets before and how, by the virtue of how they operate, they can be privacy nightmares.This new "feature" of the Google Home, however, rubbed users the wrong way.On Thursday morning, along with the weather, traffic and news updates they typically blurt out, Google Homes all over started mentioning casually that "Disney's live-action 'Beauty and the Beast' opens today."Google Home owner Bryson Meunier posted a Twitter video of the virtual assistant's Disney movie plug. The promotional audio in question comes right after the usual "My Day" updates.New Beauty & the Beast promo is one way Google could monetize Home. cc: @gsterling @dannysullivan pic.twitter.com/9UlukSocrO— brysonmeunier (@brysonmeunier) March 16, 2017“In this version of the story, Belle is the inventor instead of Maurice," the Google Home continued. "That rings truer if you ask me. For some more movie fun, ask me something about Belle." Meunier did not really "ask something about Belle" so the virtual assistant continued on with its regular news updates from NPR.Other Google Home owners took notice of the sly audio ad insertion and aired their complaints online."Google is slipping adverts into users' daily summaries on Google Home. Just a phenomenally dumb and irritating move," this Twitter user posted.Google is slipping adverts into users' daily summaries on Google Home. Just a phenomenally dumb and irritating move https://t.co/GjF0TqF5X8— James Vincent (@jjvincent) March 16, 2017A Reddit user wrote "I'm not a fan of ads on this device. I don't believe I've done any searching for the film either, so I think it's not due to perceived interest. Has anyone else heard similar ads?"Thankfully, a few hours after the video spread online, Google stopped the "Beauty and the Beast" audio snippet altogether. The tech giant, however, denied that the added audio was an ad.Late Thursday, Google released a statement:"This wasn’t intended to be an ad. What’s circulating online was a part of our My Day feature, where after providing helpful information about your day, we sometimes call out timely content. We’re continuing to experiment with new ways to surface unique content for users and we could have done better in this case."Planned advertisement or not, this demonstrates how these virtual assistants can be increasingly monetized in the future. The Google Home may have been the first to be called out for it but Amazon was also reported to be testing ad placements on the Echo.Judging by the harsh feedback, we hope these companies will reconsider.We want our virtual assistants to be prompt and concise robot servants and not moonlighting salesmen.Do you think this added virtual assistant "feature" is more of an intrusive function rather than an informational one? Drop us a comment!More must-read articles:Is this website really CNN? This scam is fooling thousands of consumersSupport for this Windows version is overPopular gaming controller recalled due to fire hazard Please share this information with everyone. Just click on any of these social media buttons. General Interest New Technology Security & Privacy Google Home BREAKING NEWS, TIPS, AND MORE LIKED WHAT YOU READ? GET MORE IN YOUR INBOX FREE. Stay up-to-date the easy way. SIGN ME UP! Previous Happening Now U.S. on "red alert" for hacking attacks Next Happening Now Microsoft reveals most common grammar errors - No. 2 is upsetting! Related Articles Worst Amazon Alexa features you should avoid Amazon Echo hears everything you say Amazon Echo vs. Google Home in a virtual standoff Amazon Echo vs. Google Home - Which virtual assistant is better?


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Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s Instagram has launched “Hyperlapse,” an application to create what it calls “high-quality time lapse videos”.
The app uses image stabilization technology integrated by the Instagram team at Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) into the app. This technology is most likely the result of Instagram’s acquisition of Luma, a company that once made a video capture app with image stabilization and sharing features, in August 2013. Luma was the first company to be acquired by Instagram.
“Traditionally, time lapse videos depend on holding your phone or camera still while you film. Hyperlapse from Instagram features built-in stabilization technology that lets you create moving, handheld time lapses that result in a cinematic look, quality and feel—a feat that has previously only been possible with expensive equipment,” Instagram explained.
According to the Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) unit, people will not need an Instagram account to use the app as it goes straight to camera mode when opened. However, people will need an Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) device to use the “Hyperlapse” app because it is only available for iOS 7.0 and later versions at the moment.
Instagram said that once inside the app, users only need to tap once to capture and then tap again to end the capture. After a video is captured, users will have the option of choosing from 1x to 12x speeds. After saving, “you can share your video on Instagram easily from there,” the team wrote.
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) shareholders includes Philippe Laffont’s Coateu Management which reported about 5.87 million shares in the company by the end of the first half of 2014.


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Ending a years-long skirmish over complying with short-term rental regulations, Airbnb and New York City reached a settlement that requires Airbnb to provide the city with host information, including names, physical addresses, phone numbers and emails. If hosts don’t consent to the data transfer, they would be barred from listing their properties on the platform.
That Airbnb consented to such a settlement in one of its biggest global markets may have implications for other cities.
With some exceptions, such as for private and shared-room listings and properties that were listed for fewer than four nights in the previous quarter, New York hosts would be subject to paying state sales and use tax, New York City hotel occupancy taxes, and city and state nightly room fees.
“This information will only be provided for hosts who have consented — but hosts who do not consent will not be able to list their home as a short-term rental,” Airbnb stated.
The settlement of Airbnb’s lawsuit against the city, which was filed in the Southern District of federal court in New York in 2018, gives Airbnb protections in case businesses such as Expedia’s Vrbo or Booking.com manage to reach a better deal.
However, the settlement requires the city to consider an amended ordinance within the next 120 days on these issues that would apply to all other short-term rental platforms, as well.
The settlement, which was reached Friday, is subject to the New York City Council passing an ordinance approving the terms, and would not go into effect until 180 days after such action. It is likely therefore that the new rules and host-information transfers wouldn’t begin until 2021.
The deal is not retroactive so Airbnb would not need to provide the city with host and listing information prior to implementation.
The settlement and release of claims, which is embedded below, do not appear to ease New York’s tight restrictions on short-term rentals. The New York State Multiple Dwelling Law restricts certain short-term rentals for stays of fewer than 30 days unless the host is present. That effectively bars super hosts and corporations with multiple dwellings unless they have hotel licenses.
Airbnb co-founder Nate Blecharczyk informed hosts in an online message and email about the company’s reasoning behind the deal. Airbnb will conduct a webinar June 29 to answer hosts’ questions.
“First, compared to the City’s original ordinance, the exceptions and confidentiality provisions that will be included in the amended ordinance and the City’s related commitments will help safeguard the personal information of many hosts citywide, who would not otherwise have received those protections,” Blecharczyk said.
For example, host information won’t be subject to the Freedom of Information Law, which requires public records disclosures, the parties said.
The Airbnb co-founder said he hopes that the settlement and host-information transfers would reassure the city and state “that short-term rentals can be effectively regulated without blunt prohibitions.”
“Now more than ever, regular New Yorkers should have the ability to occasionally share their home, activity that we believe should not be confused with illegal hotels,” Blecharczyk said. “By sharing all relevant data, we hope to make this very clear to all those concerned.”
The problem, though, is that short-term rentals have become a flashpoint because many do indeed serve as quasi-hotels, disrupting communities, and contributing to shortages of affordable housing.
Airbnb has been increasingly making deals with cities, such as Boston, for example, to provide such host information to local authorities in a bid to make peace with regulators.
In other Airbnb news:
- Reuters reported that Airbnb struck a partnership with Sao Paulo, Brazil to revive tourism there once the coronavirus pandemic subsides.
- As Skift reported Friday, women employees at Airbnb in China sent a letter to management about a high-ranking executive in China who’s allegedly been talking about his scorecard of China and San Francisco female employees’ physical appearances.
- Airbnb co-founder and CEO said Thursday that his board, which includes “four white men, three white women, one black man and one Asian man, according to CNN, should be more diversified, and that Airbnb “could have done so much more” on diversity issues.
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Cam Jordan, Walmart Team Up for 2015 Defeat Hunger Bowl
This January, Louisianans will have the opportunity to join New Orleans Saints Defensive End Cam Jordan and help those affected by hunger in the state. On January 8th, Cam Jordan, along with Walmart and the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank, will team up to launch the second annual Defeat Hunger Bowl in an effort to both collect food and raise awareness for those struggling with hunger in our area.
Non-perishable food items will be accepted at donation boxes placed inside 87 Walmart locations throughout Louisiana, with all donations benefitting local Feeding America food banks. While all non-perishable food items will be accepted, donors will also have access to quick and easy pre-packaged $5 food donation bags, available for purchase at all participating locations.
“No one should have to go days on end, or even a single day for that matter, without eating a decent meal. Unfortunately that is the reality for thousands of people right here in Louisiana,” said New Orleans Saints Defensive End, Cam Jordan. “I want to encourage everyone to join me in donating food all month long at Walmart; even one item can make a difference in someone’s life.”
“We truly appreciate Walmart and Cam Jordan teaming up with us in the fight against hunger in Louisiana. This effort continues to raise awareness about the issue of hunger as we transition from the holiday season, a time when people consistently keep those less fortunate in mind, and into the tough winter months that continue to be a challenge for seniors, children and the working poor,” said Mike Manning, President and CEO of the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank.
Additional corporate partners involved in presenting the Defeat Hunger Bowl include Kraft, Mondelez, and Campbell’s.
For more information about the Defeat Hunger Bowl and a list of participating Walmart locations, visit www.facebook.com/defeathungerbowl.
About the Defeat Hunger Bowl
The third annual Defeat Hunger Bowl looks to “defeat hunger” nationally by teaming up with football stars for a month-long food drive. Green Bay Packers tight end Andrew Quarless, New Orleans Saints defensive end Cam Jordan, Jacksonville Jaguars running back Denard Robinson and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Mike Glennon, along with Walmart, Feeding America affiliates, Kraft, Campbell’s and Mondelez encourage everyone to visit a local Walmart stores during the month of January and “play” in the Defeat Hunger Bowl by placing non-perishable food items in the donation bins. For a list of participating locations, visit: https://www.facebook.com/DefeatHungerBowl/notes


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Effective immediately, GEAR AID will now have McNett Tactical products in its line of Adventure Tools. Specifically, the use of the “McNett Tactical” name will be discontinued. This rebrand will also introduce new packaging for Camo Form, Op Drops, Microfiber Towels, Gruntline and Sleep Mask.
What’s more, many items previously known as McNett Tactical products can now be found under the GEAR AID Adventure Tools collection. These products have started shipping to customers in new packaging that aligns with the current GEAR AID style and aesthetics. “By focusing on a single brand, we hope to increase awareness and improve the sale of our multifunctional products across the country and overseas,” says Sean Fields, VP Brand.
Customers will soon recognize GEAR AID branding on Camo Form, Op Drops, Microfiber Towels, Gruntline, and Sleep Mask packaging. “This has been a big project for our team. However, it is exciting to tell our customers a cohesive brand story with relevant packaging that speaks to a wider audience,” says Clark Campbell, GEAR AID president.
This transition of bringing McNett Tactical under GEAR AID marks the final stage of a multi-year rebranding campaign.


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Mail Online— The 35-year-old retired alpine ski racer sported a baggy white T-shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers to pick up odds and ends - including Charmin 'Ultra Soft' toilet paper
Hollywood Life—Kendall Jenner Looks Effortlessly Beautiful In Black Babydoll Dress While In NYC Ahead Of Met Gala. After walking the runway for Michael Kors’ new collection for NYFW, Kendall Jenner stepped out for dinner in a chic babydoll dress.
Mail Online—Lindsey Vonn proudly reps beau Diego Osorio's Lobos 1707 tequila with hoodie on loved up NYC outing. The 36-year-old former champion alpine ski racer donned a bleached Lobos 1707 hoodie on a recent loved up stroll in New York City with the founder of the luxury tequila company.
POLITICO—Lindsey Graham, one-man PR shop for the Afghan resistance. There are no indications that the Biden administration is prepared to help, but the GOP senator isn't alone in his party.


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The fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada has resulted in desperate calls by medical professionals about a critical shortage of personal protective equipment (PPEs) - a situation about to be exacerbated by the world’s largest manufacturer sharply restricting exports.
Canadian officials said they were notified on March 31 that China - which makes about 50% of the world’s face masks, medical goggles, protective gloves and other items - is now restricting exports of PPEs to those made by Chinese manufacturers that have proper certification by the national medical products registry. All such exports, according to the Chinese press release, will be checked at export customs in China to see if the proper paperwork is present.
“Today, the global pandemic continues to show signs of accelerating in its spreading trend,” said the statement from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. “Based on the foundation of solidifying [China’s] own outbreak response, an orderly development of medical goods exports is an important part of deepening the global cooperative effort to deal with this public health crisis together.”
The export certification requirements extend to COVID-19 mainstays like ventilators and infrared thermometers and is active as of April 1.
Experts say that the move likely came as a response to news this week that countries like the Netherlands have recalled 600,000 defective masks made in China. Canada received a donation of supplies, including 30,000 masks and 10,000 goggles, from China on March 28, and officials have said the goods will be tested by Canadian health authorities on the necessary standards.
Nonetheless, the additional red tape, the required inspections at the point of export in China and - most importantly - the limited number of manufactures who have the Chinese national registry certification will all factor in to grind Chinese export of PPEs to Canada to a halt, one trade official working on the procurement process said.
“The first thing that jumped in my head was, was this an April Fool’s joke?” said Omar Allam, founder and CEO of trade consultancy Allam Advisory Group, who has been helping Ottawa secure PPE import procurements from Asian markets. “But then, the realization sets in that it really isn’t, and it is disappointing because there has been calls from the G20, the World Bank and the WHO, and these new restrictions on medical supply exports could not have come at a worse time.”
One of the main problem, Allam said, is that most of the Chinese manufacturers now approved for export are state-owned-enterprises (SOEs) whose capacity is limited and whose manufacturing processes are outdated. As such, he said it is very hard to imagine the currently approved exporters can come close to satisfying global demand.
In addition, despite Beijing’s efforts in recent years to streamline western and Chinese medical goods manufacturing standards, it still takes about a year for a non-certified manufacturer to receive Chinese government certification - and that was before the COVID-19 crisis.
And even with Ottawa’s recent initiatives to kickstart Canadian PPE production, Allam said the reality is that the ramp-up does not cover the shortfall created by a shortage of Chinese imports.
“In spite of the herculean effort to increase domestic production, more imports are needed to meet the Canadian shortage of supply,” he said. “PPE demands across the provinces and territories are getting serious; lives are on the line.”
Allam said he understands that Beijing’s move likely carries some brand-protection elements; after the news of the Dutch recall, Chinese authorities are likely keen to boost quality-assurance efforts of its PPE exports to avoid further missteps.
But he added that - as the restrictions are currently - many qualified manufacturers in China cannot get their products to the West where the pandemic is now intensifying. Even alternative sources like Southeast Asia depend on Chinese parts for their PPE production, and the hold-up in China’s exports will ripple through the entire global supply chain.
The current malaise in Ottawa-Beijing relations stemming largely from the Meng Wanzhou case doesn’t help, Allam added.
“There’s a lack of trust in the Canada-China relationship,” he said, adding that he hopes Beijing will reconsider and loosen the export restrictions after the two sides have a more transparent conversation about PPE supply line realities in both markets. “… You can hide behind quality control, but let’s put the cards on the table to see what can and can’t be done in terms of matching supply an demand.”


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Technically, only the first two are different as the Galaxy Note 10+ 5G is simply a 5G version of the Galaxy Note 10+. In other words, you're not getting anything other than the 5G support with the 5G version.
Of course, for many this immediately raised the question as to why there's no 5G version of the standard Galaxy Note 10? After all, it is not only smaller for those who don't want a phone with a massive 6.8-inch display, but more importantly, it is also cheaper and therefore likely to be accessible to more people.
Well, there is actually a Galaxy Note 10 5G model and it was technically announced alongside the others. The difference is Samsung did not spend too much time focusing on it because it doesn't plan to make the Galaxy Note 10 5G readily available on a global scale.
In fact, the Galaxy Note 10 5G is only set to launch in one country, Samsung's home country, South Korea.
Interestingly, in spite of it only becoming available in South Korea, Samsung did opt to showcase the standard Galaxy Note 10 5G with U.S. pricing so we have a good idea of how much it would cost, if Samsung wanted to sell it to you in the U.S.
The Galaxy Note 10 5G is priced at $1,049 making it just $100 more than the standard 4G version that is launching in the U.S. This marks a fairly notably price difference compared to the Galaxy Note 10+ 5G and its $1,299 price tag and especially considering those opting for the 5G version are paying a $200 premium on the 5G version compared to the non-5G option.
Interestingly, at $1,049 the 5G version of the Galaxy Note 10 is actually cheaper than the non-5G Galaxy Note 10+ (priced at $1,099). This may or may not be one of the reasons why Samsung has opted to not make the standard 5G phone available outside of South Korea as it looks to ensure the Plus version gets the attention Samsung wants it to.
If nothing else, the Galaxy S10e did teach us is that people are okay with getting less (even at the premium smartphone level) if they also happen to pay less as well – although the Galaxy S10e did not sell as many units as the Galaxy S10 or the Galaxy S10+ did, it still sold plenty.
While it seems logical to try to avoid one phone from cannibalizing the sales of another, and especially considering this is the first time a Galaxy Note phone has arrived in more than one size at the same time, there's likely to be other reasons involved in the decision-making process for Samsung. For one thing, Samsung probably doesn't feel much of a need to release two 5G versions of the same phone in the U.S. when the US market has yet to really establish a decent level of accessible 5G coverage.
Another reason might be Samsung still hopes you might opt for its other available 5G phone, the Galaxy S10 5G. Although that's not likely to be a better option for those in the market for a smaller phone as it is closer in size to the Galaxy Note 10+ than it is the smaller Galaxy Note 10.


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One of the most eye-catching cars that debuted at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show comes from an completely unknown automaker.
The Aspark Owl, which hails from Japan, is a carbon fiber hypercar that its makers claim can get to 62 mph in under two seconds, which would make it the fastest accelerating car in the world. It outputs 1,000 horsepower and what makes it even more impressive is that it’s a pure electric car, Autoguide.com reports.
With a wild design that’s even more intense than the Mercedes-AMG Project One that also debuted at the show, it looks fast, but there’s not much information available about its powertrain or performance.
The car has apparently been under development since 2014 and has all the supercar basics covered: carbon fiber everywhere, gullwing doors, a massive rear wing, and exotic magnesium wheels.


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Evonik Industries’ Catalysts Business Line has recently agreed with US based BioAmber Inc. on a long term cooperation for the development and manufacturing of catalysts for making BDO (1,4- butanediol), THF (tetrahydrofurane) and GBL (gamma – butyrolactone) from bio-based succinic acid. BDO, THF and GBL are large volume industrial chemicals used in a wide range of applications including polymers, paints, adhesives and solvents. The global market for these products currently made from petrochemicals is $4 billion.
BioAmber is a leading manufacturer of bio-succinic acid from renewable feedstock. Bio-succinic acid is a platform chemical that can be used to make a number of products currently made from petrochemicals. The company licensed BDO hydrogenation catalyst technology from DuPont in 2010, which has been further developed with partners Evonik and the Center for Applied Catalysis at Seton Hall University (South Orange NJ / USA) to improve the technology. In parallel, BioAmber and Evonik have started to develop a new generation of BDO catalysts.
BioAmber operates the world’s only dedicated production plant for bio-succinic acid in Pomacle, France with a 350,000 liter commercial scale fermenter. The company, together with Mitsui & Co., has broken ground in Sarnia, Canada on a 17,000 metric ton bio-succinic acid plant that will be operational in late 2013, with plans to expand capacity to 34,000 metric tons of succinic acid, and a 23,000 metric tons BDO plant in late 2014. BioAmber has plans to build additional succinic acid and BDO plants with Mitsui & Co. “Through our collaboration with Evonik, we have secured the expertise and capabilities we need to rapidly bring competitive BDO and THF technology to market,” said Jean-Francois Huc, BioAmber CEO. “We are fortunate to have a partner of Evonik’s caliber who can both optimize and manufacture our immediate catalyst needs and also develop with us a new generation of catalysts,” Huc added.
“Chemicals from renewable feedstock for our daily life products become increasingly important as replacements for crude oil based products”, explains Dr. Wilfried Eul, Senior Vice President and Head of Evonik’s Catalysts Business Line. “The manufacturing of renewable chemicals very often entails biotechnological steps and catalytic conversion steps. Catalysts are not off-the-rack products; they need to be specially tailored to every individual synthesis reaction and process condition. Evonik is proud to innovate together with BioAmber as a leading company in the bio-based succinic acid field, supporting our growth strategy based on resource efficiency” comments Eul.


text: A big Christmas market will open today in the Oktyabrskaya Square in Minsk. The holiday trade this year will be presented in a new format. At the main Christmas tree, glass pavilions have been installed in the form of honeycombs. There you can buy Christmas toys, as well as pastries and hot drinks. One more New Year fair will open at the Town Hall at the weekend for the first time. The place will become the venue of New Year's presentations.


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In a new press release, Square Enix has confirmed that the Marvel’s Avengers expansion Black Panther – War for Wakanda would be releasing on August 17th. It will be a free update for all players and adds two new villains, a new environment, new solo and multiplayer Drop Zone and Threat Sector missions and, of course, Black Panther as a playable hero.
On top of this, the Birnin Zana Outpost will be added as well. To detail everything one should know about the expansion, there will be a new War Table stream on August 16th at 10 AM PDT. Overall, it seems that the single-player campaign length – from the base game to the upcoming expansion – will total over 25 hours.
This is especially relevant for those jumping in during the all-access weekend, which starts today and ends on August 1st. Available for PS4, PS5, PC and Google Stadia, it allows for playing the entire game with a 400 percent bonus to XP earned. The game will also be discounted by 40 percent, allowing new users to continue their progress from the free trial. A similar opportunity will be coming to Xbox platforms in the “coming months.”


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The food and beverage sector is always evolving to meet the challenge of a changing marketplace, and in its recent Global Food Trends report, real estate professional services firm JLL highlights five trends that landlords and restaurateurs should track this year.
> People value experiences. The trend is from collecting objects to collecting experiences. Per JLL, U.S. spending around experiences has increased 70 percent over the last 30 years. The trend is even more pronounced with younger consumers, with 80 percent of millennials choosing spending money on experiences or events over buying an object, says Harris Inc. Market Research. Eating and entertainment neatly fit into this trend.
> The “farm to table” supply chain is changing. People are more apt to actively consume locally for a number of reasons, including seeking authenticity, curiosity, interest in sustainable consumption, and supporting local small businesses. JLL sees more suppliers selling directly to the public and restaurants growing more of their own ingredients.
> The rise in socially conscious eating. People are becoming more aware of the negative impact on people, society, and the planet stemming from consumption. About one-third of food is wasted, translating to more than 1 billion metric tons of food wasted worldwide. Consumers are migrating toward brands with more socially conscious messaging. Two-thirds want brands to help them make a difference in the world, according to the Ipsos Global Trends Survey.
> Social media is turning eating out into personal branding. JLL calls the trend “youniverse,” and defines it as a “desire to be seen and served as unique.” Eating has become a major form of self-expression, rivaling even fashion, according to JLL. Food-centric terms such as “gourmet,” “Michelin,” “street food” and “vegan” are more than just buzzwords – they help define a lifestyle.
> Technology continues to drive convenience. JLL points to meal delivery growing 25 percent over the last three years and forecast to grow another 14 percent by 2020, as one example of technology meeting convenience. Beyond just delivery, the mobile revolution has introduced new ways to order and pay for meals as well.
“We expect these consumer-centric food trends to become even more mainstream as operators seek to incorporate them into their offerings,” JLL Executive Vice President of Retail Advisory Services Lew Kornberg says in a statement. “In the coming years expect big data, which is currently underdeveloped in the food and beverage industry compared to traditional retailing, to become a critical part of operators’ investments.”


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Thursday 13 October 2016
Somerset ‘grass-fed livestock’ enthusiast hosts goose walk
Goose producers from all over the UK met at the West Country farm of Oliver White near Ilminster for the annual farm walk of British Goose Producers.
One of the newer members, Oliver White is rearing around 400 geese for Christmas at Greenway Farm, Dowlish Ford, as part of an enterprise based on grass-fed livestock sold through the internet.
A fourth generation farmer, Oliver founded the website Farm2Fork in 2010 born from a dream to produce meat exactly as nature intended and he started with 57 geese on just five acres.
He moved in 2014 to Greenway Farm, a Somerset County Council 125-acre holding where he was awarded the tenancy in competition with 65 other applicants and where he produces an increasing range of grass-fed livestock.
At the farm walk he told more than 30 visitors that the geese reared for Christmas are a key part of the enterprise because they attract local consumers to the farm.
Through the year he sells beef and lamb from Poll Dorset sheep – all reared totally on grass which, he said, had health advantages in providing higher levels of certain vitamins, beneficial fatty acids and dietary protein.
He is currently completing a Nuffield Scholarship on the ‘environmental, welfare and health benefits’ of meat and dairy products raised on pasture that has taken him to the United States and Australia to study the opportunities for grass-fed farming.
After the morning farm walk and a hog roast lunch, BGP chairman John Franklin led a discussion on aspects of goose production and Richard Griffiths, chief executive of the British Poultry Federation, spoke about the benefits of insurance scheme that covers the cost of a clean-up after any outbreak of avian influenza.
Roger Ranson, PR consultant to BGP, spoke about the marketing support given to members including on-going liaison with the print and online media, the goose website, social media and publications including the new 2016 Members’ Handbook and Recipe Leaflet. With more interest from restaurants in putting goose on the menu, it was felt there was a need to provide some helpful advice on cooking goose. Chefs are often not familiar with cooking goose and may serve it under-done – so the BGP is to provide a guide aimed at this sector of the market.
Our thanks go to Oliver White and his family for hosting such a splendid day, providing a new insight into grass-fed livestock and serving a tasty lunch.
View some of the pictures from the event below:


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| Feb 21, 2013
| 10:54 AM
"Empanada for a Dream"
As debates about the escalating murder rate in Chicago continue to rage on, Juan Francisco Villa's solo, "Empanada for a Dream," offers a portrait simultaneously timely and a time capsule of life in a neighborhood ravaged by drugs...
| Sep 12, 2012
| 8:18 AM
Soon to be listed among the Big Macs and McFlurrys on every McDonald’s menu board and drive-through across the country: calorie counts.
As diners increasingly demand more healthful dietary options and nutritional disclosures, the world’s...
| Sep 17, 2012
| 9:15 AM
Fervent fans of the McDonald’s McRib will have to wait past October and November, when the cult favorite usually emerges, until late December, according to a leaked memo.
The sauce-slathered pork sandwich was originally set to be launched from Oct....
| Feb 4, 2013
| 10:55 AM
Fast-food giants McDonald’s and Pizza Hut are thinking small after the Super Bowl, with new menu offerings that take after the small plates, tapas and portion-controlled craze.
McDonald’s this week is adding seafood for the first time to its...
| Oct 22, 2012
| 10:05 AM
Are McDonald’s fries made of plastic? Indestructible? Hardly, according to a new video from the Golden Arches.
As part of an ongoing transparency initiative from the chain’s Canadian outpost, the company shows viewers exactly how the...
| Oct 19, 2012
| 9:45 AM
McDonald’s Corp. underperformed yet again, reporting profit levels Friday below what Wall Street had anticipated along with sliding sales this month.
Net income was down 3.5% to $1.45 billion, or $1.43 a share, in the third quarter ended Sept. 30....
| Dec 24, 2012
| 10:11 AM
Burger King Worldwide is making its second foray into France, attempting to endear its Whopper sandwich to a country known for its foie gras, fine wines and general culinary excellence.
The chain opened a branch Saturday at the Marseille airport --...
| Feb 5, 2013
| 6:00 AM
Early bird today gets the pancakes. A stack of them. For free from IHOP.
And it's all in the name of charity. The restaurant chain is trying to encourage diners taking advantage of the complimentary meal to donate $3 million to the Children’s...
| Dec 20, 2012
| 6:32 PM
First, it was the silverware.
For more than six years, Moe's Southwest Grill has been selling its burritos at Annapolis' historic City Dock, the waterfront store among the few "fast-casual" restaurant chains to successfully set up shop despite the...
| Mar 8, 2013
| 9:22 AM
Sales at McDonald’s restaurants slipped 1.5% last month, but not because of global economic difficulties or fast-casual competition.
The fast food behemoth attributed the slide to the difficulty of comparing February’s performance against...
| Jun 10, 2013
| 7:40 AM
For the first time in months, a key sales figure at McDonald’s rose in May as the world’s largest burger chain tried to stay ahead of competitors by sprucing up its menu.
Same-store sales were up 2.6% last month, beating out Wall Street&...


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A couple of months after the release of the final version of Android 12 the team of Motorola has finally communicated the list of its smartphones that in the coming months will be able to count on the update to this release of the Google mobile operating system.
The official list comes from Holland, in particular from Android Planet, and includes 29 phones, for which unfortunately there is no information regarding the possible release date.
Motorola users, however, will have the opportunity to know if their device is among those for which the release of Android 12 is scheduled.
Here are which Motorola smartphones the update to Android 12 will arrive on
This is the list of Motorola phones that should be upgraded to Android 12:
- Motorola Razr 5G
- Motorola Razr 2020
- Motorola Edge 20 Pro
- Motorola Edge 20
- Motorola Edge 20 Lite
- Motorola Edge 20 Fusion
- Motorola Edge (2021)
- Motorola Edge 5G YOUR
- Motorola Edge Plus
- Motorola One 5G Ace
- Motorola One 5G YOUR Ace
- Motorola Moto G200
- Motorola Moto G71
- Motorola Moto G51
- Motorola Moto G41
- Motorola Moto G31
- Motorola Moto G100
- Motorola Moto G60s
- Motorola Moto G60
- Motorola Moto G50
- Motorola Moto G40 Fusion
- Motorola Moto G30
- Motorola Moto G Power (2022)
- Motorola Moto G Pure
- Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G
- Motorola Moto G Pro (Business Edition)
- Motorola Edge (2021) (Business Edition)
- Motorola Edge 20 (Business Edition)
- Motorola Edge 20 Lite (Business Edition)
- Motorola Edge 20 Fusion (Business Edition)
According to this list, the manufacturer’s projects include an update to Android 12 for most of the models launched during 2021 while only a few last years will receive the update (such as Motorola Razr 5G and Moto G Pro Business Edition). . No model launched in 2019, however, is present in this list.
As for the timing, Motorola has announced in recent weeks that it plans to launch the release of Android 12 in February 2022. We’ll see.
Read also: Motorola’s best smartphones of the month


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Banksy sued an Italian company for making unauthorized merchandise.
A Banksy mural altered by Mr. Robbo. Photo by Bob Bob, via Wikimedia Commons.
Banksy made his name by flouting the law, but the secretive street artist recently took a company to court to stop them from flogging unauthorized Banksy merchandise. In late 2018, Pest Control, the company Banksy set up to authenticate his works and police his market, sued the organizers of the exhibition “A Visual Protest. The Art of Banksy” at the MUDEC in Milan.
Though works in the exhibition were authentic Banksy prints and original works, a bevy of unauthorized Banksy merchandise was also for sale at the show, such as journals, erasers, and postcards. Pest Control sued the exhibition organizers for trademark infringement.
Last month, a judge in Milan found in favor of Banksy, saying the unauthorized merchandising constituted trademark infringement. However, the judge disagreed with Pest Control’s attempt to stop the organizers from using Banksy’s work in promotional materials for the show, deeming it essential to informing the public.


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The share price of Naked Wines, an online wine retailer in the UK, accidentally fell like the green bottle in a nursery rhyme. The group took a a sober look of the blow that inflation will bring to consumer demand. And telling investors not to worry about the status of the line of credit — as Naked did last week — made them very nervous.
It seems Pratam Ravi was also worried. A non-executive director representing shareholder Punch Card Capital resigned without explanation after just three weeks.
Naked pioneered the online model for selling wine in the UK, becoming a legacy rival to Majestic. The Aim-listed company offered oenophiles deals on wine from unusual or sought-after vineyards.
But financial performance was poor. Rising inflation and slowing economic growth leave the business, whose shares are 90 percent below the peak of the pandemic, looking severely challenged.
Some stay-at-home consumers have weathered the pandemic, boosting Naked sales. Now the hangover. Substitution in the wine business is not difficult. A cheaper bottle of plonk is easily available for value conscious shoppers at Naked’s main markets in the US and UK.
In a statement, Naked cited a $60 million credit line that it says remains committed, but the line has conditions that could be tested during a severe downturn. The business will need all the advice founder and shareholder Rowan Gormley can provide.
The company trades at an enterprise value-to-earnings ratio of just over six, compared with an average of nearly nine for peers, according to S&P data. Naked’s modest rating rightly reflects shareholder nervousness.
The group has a record of disruption in the wine industry and a decent niche in the UK and US. It must now focus on profitability and financial sustainability. Naked will provide an update on the trade in mid-October. Living up to its name, it should show that it is wrapped warmly from the cold of an inflationary winter.
The Lex team is interested in hearing more from readers. Please let us know what you think of Naked Wines in the comments section below


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It’s been a little while, or certainly it seems that way, since Ferrari released something super exclusive based on their V12 models. The F60 America was nearly four years ago and there were 799 F12 Tdfs, which makes them positively common by the standards of limited run Maranello cars.
Here we have the first look at the cars – the Monza SP1 and SP2 – that will succeed the F60 America, and which of course can also trace their history back to the 575 Superamerica and 550 Barchetta. Autocar has picked up the images via an Instagram account dedicated to the pair of V12 roadsters, the cars shown at a customer event prior to an official debut at the Paris show.
In case you hadn’t guessed, the SP1 Monza is the single seat car, with a covered passenger side like a classic racing car, and the SP2 is the two-seater alternative. Both are based on the 812 Superfast, using that car’s stupendous 6.5-litre V12; however, with all carbon bodywork (or so we’re led to believe), expect the Monzas to be a little lighter than the SF, and therefore to make their 800hp feel even more potent…
In terms of design, both inside and out the Monzas are quite traditional. There’s one large swoop for the rear light, a pair of perfectly regular headlights and a body largely unadorned by aero add-ons (rear diffuser notwithstanding). The inside, too, takes classic inspiration, with a more conventional dashboard than seen in recent Ferraris. Dare it be said, they look fantastic from this grainy preview.
The ‘Ferrari Icona’ Instagram account suggests that 200 Monzas will be built, although it hasn’t been confirmed yet what the split will be between the single- and two-seater cars. No doubt most if not all are spoken for already, but there will be a chance to ogle the Monza SP1 and SP2 at the Paris Motor Show next month. Expect more like this from Ferrari, too; it’s said the late CEO Sergio Marchionne’s plan was to boost profits through both increased production and more limited-run specials…
The Italians have now officially revealed their latest creations and aren’t they simply gorgeous. That’s exactly what the folks at the private unveiling must have felt. Since, reports suggest that the cars are already sold out.
The Ferrari Monza SP1 and SP2 are part of a series of limited edition models called Icona. So, there are more cars in the works. While, Ferrari hasn’t announced the exact number of Monzas it plans to build, reports indicate that the number could be just under 500 units. We think, it would be a lot less considering the fact that the Monza is rumored to cost upwards £1 million. That said, the prices will be announced at the Paris Motor Show next month.
The Monza SP1 and SP2 are based on the 812 Superfast. A lot of carbon fiber has gone into the construction of these cars. As a result, the SP1 weighs 1500 kg, while the SP2 tips the scales at 1520 kg. In terms of design, the SP1 and SP2 have a low slung front end with a wide grille. The cars have unique headlamps and a strip of LED tail lights at the rear. Both cars ride on distinct 5-spoke alloy wheels. The SP1 Monoposto comes with a single-seat with a tonneau cover where the passenger seat would have been. It also has a single roll hoop. The SP2 Biposto has two seats with a carbon divider in between.
While the Barchetta look is striking to say the least, it also creates vortexes inside the cabin at speed. The solution is a patented Virtual Wind Shield which is incorporated into the fairing behind the instrument cluster. Powering the Monza SP1 and SP2 is Ferrari’s 6.5-liter, naturally aspirated V12 engine. It produces 800 hp @ 8500 rpm and 530 lb-ft of torque @ 7000 rpm. 0-62 mph comes up in 2.9 seconds and 124 mph comes up in 7.9 seconds. Every Monza will be shipped with custom-fitted racing overalls, jersey, helmet, gloves, scarf and driving shoes by luxury brands like Loro Piana and Berluti.
So, the Monza SP1 is an uncompromising single-seat road car. Lashings of carbon fiber keep the weight down, while the most powerful engine in the Maranello factory’s history contributes 809 horsepower and 530 lb-ft of torque. The 6.5-liter V12 is enough to propel the SP1 from 0-62 mph in 2.9 seconds, or 0-124 mph in 7.9 seconds. Top speed, Ferrari says, is over 186 mph.
If you want to share that experience with a friend, the Ferrari Monza SP2 is a two-seater. That involves doing away with the tonneau cover, while a second protective screen and second roll-bar are also added. Either way, you’re getting an extreme drive. Ferrari has developed a new “Virtual Wind Shield” that’s integrated into the fairing ahead of the instrument panel and the steering wheel. That directs the flow of air to avoid blasting the driver in the face, along with preserving aerodynamic flow.
If you like this article, then share your views in the comment below!


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With higher land prices making single-family houses less affordable, Las Vegas builders are cramming sites with more units by putting up condos and townhouses.
Such homes typically sell for less money, but one builder getting in on the condo action is a luxury developer that doesn’t sell cheap.
Toll Brothers has revived the once-bankrupt Mira Villa complex in Summerlin and restarted its Fairway Hills project, also in Summerlin, which it shelved when the economy crashed.
The Pennsylvania-based builder bought the remaining 10 acres of vacant land at Mira Villa a year ago. It plans to open its sales office this month and finish its model units in about a year, said Toll group president Gary Mayo, who oversees Las Vegas operations.
Toll plans to build 103 condos at the half-finished project. According to its website, prices start in the $500,000 range.
Meanwhile, Toll built 30 units at Fairway Hills before the market tanked and now plans to build 99 more, Mayo said. Prices start at about $682,000.
By comparison, builders’ median sales price of attached homes in Clark County in June was $289,900, according to Home Builders Research.
Mayo sat down with the Las Vegas Review-Journal recently. The interview was edited for length and clarity.
Home Builders Research reported that the market’s share of condo and town house sales has jumped in the past year. I know there used to be a lot more of this construction in Las Vegas, but why do you think there is an uptick?
It’s just pure economics. As land prices continue to escalate as quickly as they are, land being one of the biggest components of the sales price of a new home, you’re starting to price certain segments out of the market if you build single-family houses. So the only way you can reduce that land cost is to increase the density of units.
This type of construction is a lot more common in other big cities, but there’s been very little in Las Vegas for the past several years.
You’re correct, but if you look back at ’05, ’06, there was a lot of attached product being built, again for the same reasons. Land prices forced the increase in density. And then, of course, during the downturn, there was not much, if any, built. There wasn’t the need for it.
Would you look to build another attached-home project?
Absolutely. We’re looking at some land deals right now where potentially we could build some housing priced below $400,000. So far it hasn’t played out, but we’re working on it.
Overall, what do you see as the strengths and weaknesses of the valley’s homebuilding market?
I think the biggest plus is the employment drivers aren’t limited to one industry, gaming. There’s a lot of different types of industry coming to Vegas that we didn’t have previously. The things that keep me up at night are the prices of land, labor and materials. If you combine those, it’s very difficult to keep pace with the sales momentum.
Is the construction labor shortage making it take longer to finish a project or pushing your costs up?
It’s pushed costs up. Luckily we’re able to raise prices more than costs are increasing, so from a financial aspect, we’re fine. It has added somewhere between 30 and 60 days to the time frame to complete a house. But it’s manageable. I can’t say that it’s easing, but I also don’t think that it’s getting any worse.
Contact Eli Segall at email@example.com or 702-383-0342. Follow @eli_segall on Twitter.


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As FITBENCH continues its impressive growth and further solidifies its position as a fitness industry innovator and leader, the company has tapped the expertise of 25+-year industry veteran Brian Weaver, who joins the team as vice president of sales.
Weaver spent 8 years as a member of the TRX sales team, holding multiple positions including regional sales manager, national sales manager, and, most recently, senior director of sales. He was responsible for overseeing commercial sales for key accounts, regional accounts, dealers, distributors and specialty retailers – both domestically and globally – with revenue targets of more than $20 million.
“Brian comes from one of the most innovative companies in the world, and we’ve modeled FITBENCH on much of what TRX has achieved,” said Tyler Danen, founder and CEO of FITBENCH. “We are thrilled to have him as we kick off a big year. He knows what it takes to bring a company from one product to many, establish strategic partnerships, and develop a rapidly growing team.”
At FITBENCH, Weaver leads North American sales, with a focus on the commercial segment, encompassing national and regional key accounts, franchises, the military, and non-profits, as well as managing the dealer-distributor network. With three direct reports, he also oversees marketing and sales operations.
“What attracted me to FITBENCH was the people, product, and opportunity to make an impact that not only changes the industry but also affects tens of thousands of people as the company expands,” he said. “Plus, FITBENCH wanted me for who I am and what I can bring. You don’t find that too often in business today.”
In addition to his sales experience, Weaver’s professional roles have included executive leadership coach, small business owner, general manager, manager, supervisor, and personal trainer. He has a proven track record in coaching sales teams and individuals to exceed revenue targets, as well as working with leadership team members on company strategy, operations, marketing, and sales.
Weaver graduated with a B.S. degree in human performance from San Jose State University in California, where he played Division 1 men’s soccer, serving as team captain his junior and senior years.
Founded in 2016, FITBENCH today has six premium models for commercial and home use. An all-in-one portable, adjustable workout station, the benches house accessories such as dumbbells, kettlebells, a slam ball, and FITBANDS to facilitate virtually unlimited exercises.
To date, FITBENCH has accrued six design and utility U.S. patents, with more pending worldwide. This versatile tool is found in 40 states and 35 countries, sold direct and through distributors and big box retailers to studios, health clubs, vertical markets, homes, and the U.S military.
FITBENCH is the original, all-in-one, space-saving workout bench. With safety and innovation at the forefront, every bench and accessory has been thoughtfully designed to maintain workout intensity and variety, while facilitating quick and efficient exercise transitions. These robust, organized, and portable benches deliver exceptional performance that drive participation at boutique studios, health clubs, and vertical market fitness facilities. At FITBENCH, culture is everything. We are the Benchmark of Fitness.


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The company has confirmed that the update can also be downloaded manually via the company's support website. Another way to update is by downloading the OTA files on a PC and transferring them to your handset. Xolo One users can also refer to our "How To" feature on downloading and installing the Android 5.0 Lollipop update.
The company has detailed some new Android 5.0 Lollipop features for the smartphone, including the Material Design UI.
Besides Material Design, Android 5.0 Lollipop features an improved notification system; Kill Switch and improved security; a new messenger said to be a simplified version of Hangouts; device sharing with Guest user mode; improved hardware keyboard accessory support, support for 15 new languages (including Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu); improved accessibility features (such as text contrast boost, colour inversion, and enhanced colour differentiation); improved audio, video, and camera capabilities, and improved Internet connectivity everywhere apart from more powerful Bluetooth low energy capabilities.
Xolo last year launched its One smartphone, priced at Rs. 6,599, and had claimed that the smartphone will receive an update to Android 5.0 Lollipop. Xolo's One smartphone, not part of the Android One program, was seen as a competitor to the other smartphones in Google's initiative that were pegged to receive Android 5.0 Lollipop update early.
Te Android One smartphones including Micromax Canvas A1, Karbonn Sparkle V, Spice Dream Uno launched in September last year were slated to be among first to get Android 5.0 Lollipop update; though there have been no announcements as yet.


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Walt Disney Co. reported an even more jarring slowdown in Disney+ growth than expected Wednesday in the final quarter of its fiscal year, and shares fell in after-hours trading.
reported 118.1 million subscribers to its core streaming service, up 2.1 million, or 1.8%, from the previous quarter, after subscribers grew 9.2% and 8.6% in the preceding quarters. Chief Executive Bob Chapek had warned in September of low single-digit growth, but the number was still much smaller than expected — analysts on average expected 125.3 million subscribers, according to FactSet.
Disney has struggled to produce streaming content at the cadence it hoped due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and executives said Wednesday that it will not reach its goal of fresh content every week from its major intellectual-property offerings until next summer. That will lead to bigger losses from the streaming division next year, which was previously targeted as the year when that line started moving up.
“The fourth quarter will likely be more indicative of what our slate could look like once we have tentpole content flowing steadily from all of our industry-leading creative engines,” Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy said in a conference call Wednesday, referring to Disney’s fiscal fourth quarter of 2022.
“We don’t anticipate that sub growth will necessarily be linear from quarter to quarter, so putting this all together and also taking into consideration the timing of our planned international launches in 2022, we expect Disney+ subscriber net adds in the second half of fiscal 2022 will be meaningfully higher than the first half of the year,” McCarthy added. “Additionally, we now expect that Disney+ will reach its peak year of losses in fiscal 2022 instead of in fiscal 2021, as better-than-expected revenue and lower content expenses due to production delays contributed to lower-than-expected losses in 2021.”
Executives were still positive about the long-term trends for Disney+ and the rest of the company’s streaming efforts, imploring investors to look at a wider horizon instead of quarter-to-quarter movements.
“As we celebrate the two-year anniversary of Disney+, we’re extremely pleased with the success of our streaming business, with 179 million total subscriptions across our DTC portfolio at the end of fiscal 2021 and 60% subscriber growth year-over-year for Disney+,” Chapek said in a statement announcing the results. “We continue to manage our DTC business for the long term, and are confident that our high-quality entertainment and expansion into additional markets worldwide will enable us to further grow our streaming platforms globally.”
The disappointing growth had an effect on Disney’s fiscal fourth-quarter financial results, which came in lower than analysts had expected. Disney reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $159 million, or 9 cents a share, compared with a loss of 39 cents a share in the year-ago quarter. After adjusting for restructuring costs, amortization and other effects, the company reported earnings of 37 cents a share, compared with an adjusted loss of 20 cents a share a year ago. Revenue improved to $18.53 billion from $14.71 billion a year ago.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected adjusted net income of 52 cents a share on revenue of $18.8 billion. Shares fell nearly 5% in after-hours trading Wednesday following the release of the results, after declining 0.3% to $174.53 in the regular session.
Disney breaks down its operations into two segments, “Media and Entertainment Distribution” and “Parks, Experiences and Products.” In the fourth quarter, the media business collected revenue of $13.08 billion in total, while analysts on average expected $13.4 billion.
The streaming segment, which also includes international products, hauled in $4.56 billion in revenue, roughly in line with analysts’ forecasts of $4.58 billion on average, though an operating loss of more than $600 million was much larger than expected. The company’s television networks provided sales of $6.7 billion, trailing analysts’ average estimate of $6.89 billion, while the film business reported revenue of $2.05 billion vs. expectations of $2.15 billion.
Disney’s theme parks and product sales segment reported $5.45 billion in revenue as attractions slowly reopened in the U.S. and abroad, a spike from $2.7 billion a year ago. The average analyst estimate was $5.45 billion.
Disney stock has struggled so far this year, falling 3.9% as the S&P 500 index
gained 26.2% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average
— which counts Disney as a component — has increased 18.7%.


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As autonomous vehicles become more widely available, augmented reality (AR) will become more disruptive in the automotive sector, says GlobalData. The data and analytics company notes that, with the hype around the metaverse continuing to gain traction, AR-related technologies such as simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), facial recognition, and motion tracking will be vital for automotive companies developing metaverse-based use cases.
COVID-19 may present an opportunity for AR. Consumers are understandably wary of interacting with shared surfaces, so there could be more demand for systems that allow users to interact without making physical contact with controls. This could manifest as deeper smartphone integration for interacting with ride-hail services.
Autonomous technology can also act as a selling point, and with more autonomy comes the ability to integrate more instances of AR technology. In semi-autonomous vehicles, vehicle occupants, particularly the driver, have more time to devote to tasks other than driving the car. In these circumstances, drivers and passengers can interact with onboard entertainment systems through AR without being constantly aware of their surrounding environment. Bringing these technologies together in one vehicle would certainly help attract more customers.
AR headsets can reduce both the error rate and the amount of time spent quality checking components before they are put together. This reduces the likelihood of cars being recalled due to manufacturing errors and increases the amount of time a vehicle can be on the road before it requires repair.
Emilio Campa, the Thematic Analyst at GlobalData, says: ?The metaverse is a virtual world where users share experiences and interact in real-time within a simulated scenario, while AR is a technology that allows the user to see the real world overlaid with digital data. While the automotive sector is certainly making greater use of AR, adoption is slow and use cases limited.?
According to GlobalData?s latest report, ?Augmented Reality (AR) in Automotive ? Thematic Research?, level 4 autonomy (which describes vehicles that entirely drive themselves within set parameters) will be available in the mid-2020s, giving AR the opportunity to be more widely implemented in windscreen head-up displays (HUDs) for information and entertainment purposes. Level 5 autonomous vehicles?fully self-driving vehicles that can handle all driving tasks in all circumstances?will not be available until at least 2035. By the time these vehicles launch, even more, use cases for AR should have emerged.
AR is already in use in several specific areas of the automotive sector. For example, some car infotainment systems?the display monitor in cars that allows the driver to control air conditioning, radio, GPS, for instance?have integrated AR as part of an augmented GPS navigation system, displaying holographic arrows on a live image feed from the front of the car. AR headsets are also being used in maintenance and manufacturing to reduce training time and more efficiently and accurately perform quality control checks.
The automotive sector is not immune to the hype around the metaverse, which is likely to be based on AR-related technology, as some automotive companies have already begun exploring it. For example, BMW has partnered with Nvidia, and Hyundai has partnered with Unity, both with the intent of building virtually accessible 3D digital twins of their factories. This will allow employees to collaboratively assess modifications and adjustments to production lines in the early planning stages,? continues Campa.
WayRay has also developed a concept car, the Holograktor, tagged a ?metaverse on wheels? due to its heavy reliance on AR technology. It is a single electric motor ride-hailing car that can be driven remotely from an AR pod by a qualified driver via a 5G and satellite internet connection. This gives the car the feel of autonomy while avoiding the currently immature fully autonomous-driving systems. It also has car seats equipped with joysticks that can be used to play games on the windscreen?s AR HUDs and even comes preloaded with a Guitar Hero-Esque online karaoke game. The remote connection would require almost zero latency for the car to be driven safely on the roads. However, since 5G is due to be more globally available and car ownership among young people is falling, this may be what the future of auto looks like.
The global augmented reality (AR) market was worth nearly USD7 billion in 2020. The market is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 35% by 2030. AR is a technology that allows the user to see the real world overlaid with digital data. Unlike semi-autonomous or fully self-driving vehicles, the ability to see the outside world is a safety-critical issue in vehicles where a human is driving. AR can also enable the safer operation of vehicles through easily understandable head-up displays (HUDs). Moreover, it can ensure faster training of automotive staff and create more immersive entertainment experiences.


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The flexible office concept has been readily adopted by the new-age companies. Well-funded startups such as Byju's and Unacademy have been taking up space as they expand their teams and acquire new companies.
Recently, fashion retailer Myntra, too, has more than doubled its footprint by moving into a managed office space.
"Today, the biggest occupiers of managed offices are unicorns. Pre-pandemic, a bulk of the absorption of our spaces was led by MNCs, large enterprises, and offshore development centres, followed by startups," said Rishi Das, co-founder of IndiQube.
The firm expects 30% growth in deal closures from unicorns over the next six months.
According to industry experts, an increase in technology adoption, rise of fintech and edtech players, a booming funding landscape, and a rapid increase in hiring have all played a key role in driving growth.
The flexible office operators are also seeing multiple orders for 1,000 plus seats, compared to an average of 500 seats before the pandemic. Smartworks has leased around 1 million sq ft in existing and upcoming facilities and expects the number to double in the coming quarters, with demand from unicorns and established startups at an all-time high.
Harsh Binani, co-founder of Smartworks, said managed space helps companies to focus on their core work, increase employee productivity, cut costs, be more flexible, and make it easier to hire the best people by being in the right places in the right cities.
"They are all looking to have a single agency responsible for their office space and a solution that can cater to the hybrid work environment," said Kunal Walia, CEO and founder of Simpliwork Offices.
These startups are expected to occupy over 20 million sq ft of flexible office space over the next two years as they expand their operations.
"Startups including unicorns have shown preference for managed office spaces to be able to manage their growth strategies. We expect the demand for managed spaces to grow in the near future with developers taking on the role of managed spaces providers," said Viral Desai, executive director, transactions at Knight Frank India.
According to a recent PwC India report, the startup ecosystem has created as many as 14 unicorns in the first three months of 2022, and for the third consecutive quarter, they have received over $10 billion across 334 funding deals.


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The S.C. Ports Authority banks on profit-making strategy to finance infrastructure at Charleston and elsewhere.
Shippers better understand the value of automating shipment execution.
North America now accounts for half of ZIM’s container-shipping business.
Registration takes less than 1 minute.
The Memphis, Tenn.-based parcel carrier and logistics provider will use the proceeds to help finance its planned 4.4 billion euro purchase of Dutch delivery company TNT Express NV.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission is calling for carriers and shippers to work together to find a solution so exports are not left on the docks for lack of verified gross mass documentation come July 1.
The Swiss-based third-party logistics provider increased net profits 10.5 percent year-over-year to 169 million Swiss francs for the first quarter of 2016.


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Chinese tourists are visiting Schengen visa Countries and are avoiding the UK. As the UK is not part of the Schengen visa regime tourists have to apply separately for an UK visa to visit the UK. A Schengen visa allows entry to fifteen European Countries including France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
Carma Elliot, consul-general in Shanghai, said: "Most Chinese tourists want to go on a continental tour. We cannot currently capture that. But we are busily exploring the options... whether we could offer visas as part of a wider European tour."
There were concerns from businesses that the number of business visitors greatly outweighed the number of tourist visitors. According to Visit Britain in 2007 there were 750,000 Chinese visitors to France. This compares to the 150,000 Chinese visitors to the UK during the same period.
Alastair Morgan, UK Trade and Investment director for China, said: "We think there's a lot of future potential for tourism from China. But at the moment we have far more business visitors. We would like the UK to be performing better like France and Italy."
The latest official figures show a considerable decline in the numbers of people visiting the UK:
- 6.28 million people visited the UK in the first quarter of 2009. This is a fall of 13 percent compared to 2008.
- 7.19 million people visited the UK in the first quarter of 2008.
- Visits from South America, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Australasia were down 11pc.


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The US album race yet again creates a split-chart scenario, with Niall Horan’s “Heartbreak Weather” winning for sales but Lil Uzi Vert’s “Eternal Atake” retaining the overall consumption throne.
According to Hits Daily Double, the new Niall Horan album sold about 46K US copies this week. With units from track sales and streams included, the album generated 62K in first-week consumption.
The album sales figure is the week’s best, but the consumption figure trails those attained by the aforementioned “Eternal Atake” (247K), Bad Bunny’s “YHLQMDLG” (70K) and Lil Baby’s “My TUrn” (69K).
In addition to another strong week of streams on the initial set of tracks, “Eternal Atake” benefited from the release of a new, deluxe edition.
Due Sunday, Billboard’s specific numbers may differ from those reported by Hits, but the chart winners should be the same. “Heartbreak Weather” will lead for sales, and “Eternal Atake” will rule for units.


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Updated: December 2, 2021 12:15:35 pm
Spotify’s much-awaited ‘Wrapped’ 2021 experience is out. This is a compilation of the top streamed songs, podcasts on the platform for each region, and of course globally. And yes, there’s an individualised playlist and ‘Wrapped 2021’ experience for each user which recounts how they used the platform, the music, and artists they listened to over the course of the year.
Wrapped 2021 is in its third edition for India users, and it is now available on the mobile app for all users. It should be noted that since Wrapped is already out on December 1, this won’t include data from music or podcasts you listen to this month.
The Wrapped experience is also getting more personalised and keeping with the theme that in 2021, a new normal had emerged. As always users will be able to share their Wrapped cards on social channels like Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook
“Wrapped of 2021 is a little away from the normal Wrapped, that’s why it is called Wrapped 2021, the new normal. That’s because in 2021 there is no one definition of normal. The look and feel of the campaigns this year are a little bit different as well. We’ve gone very, very vibrant with the colours as well,” Neha Ahuja, Head of Marketing at Spotify India said in a statement.
In terms of artists, Arijit Singh remains the most-streamed artist for India continuing the trend for 2020 as well. The most-streamed song of 2021 for India was ‘Raataan Lambiyan’ by Asees Kaur, Jubin Nautiyal, and Tanishk Bagchi. When it comes to podcasts, 50 per cent of the top 10 podcasts consumed are originals from Spotify.
Interestingly, the top podcasts in India were those by Indian creators. Spotify also revealed that Ahmedabad, Lucknow, and Jaipur feature among the top 10 cities that stream podcasts.
Globally, the most-streamed song was ‘drivers license’ by Olivia Rodrigo and the most streamed artist was ‘Bad Bunny’. Taylor Swift was number two on the list.
Here’s a look at all the features for Wrapped 2021:
Data Stories: Wrapped will continue with the Stories style format this year as well. Users will see new data stories which will express their year in audio from top artists to genres, podcasts, minutes listened, etc.
2021: The Movie: This year Wrapped will pair a user’s top songs with classic scenes from a movie that’s all about them.
Audio Aura: Wrapped Stories will also include an ‘Audio Aura’. Spotify says it has worked with an aura expert to visualise a user’s audio aura based on their top two music moods.
Playing Cards: This is an interactive data-based game that a user can play, and then share with friends. Spotify’s Wrapped will display several statements about a user’s listening choices this year, and they have to guess which are true and which are not.
Blend: The new Blend feature on Spotify lets users stream their blended playlist and share their results on social media. This is also being extended to Wrapped and users will be able to blend their 2021 playlist with that of another friend.
Exclusive video from artists, creators: Wrapped 2021 will also get some exclusive experiences for top fans. If you’ve been an ardent listener for any artist, Spotify will have a video from them thanking the fan. Spotify says more than 170 artists and creators have videos thanking fans for having them in their Wrapped.
These thank you videos will appear if fans have a song by one of the participating artists in their “Your Top Songs 2021” or “Your Artists Revealed” playlists.
Spotify Clips for Podcasts: Spotify is also rolling out Spotify Clips for Podcasts and fans will be able to view special thank you messages from some of their favourite podcast hosts by visiting a participating show’s page on the platform.
Here is how you can access your Wrapped 2021
Tap on the “Your 2021 Wrapped” banner on the home screen to access your Wrapped playlist.
If you do not see the same, type “Wrapped” in the search bar and you should be able to view the banner.
Click on the banner. You will then be directed to Spotify Wrapped “Story”. Here you will be able to view your custom list of 2021.
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China has surpassed Japan as the world's second largest economy and will, before long, overhaul the USA. But what does the world's toughest industrial machine do following total world domination? It's going to go shopping.
Like the early "tiger" economies, China's industrial miracle is based on high personal savings mobilised through a state-directed banking system into the factories, highways and ports that are the backbone of an export economy.
But the Asian tigers made up only slightly more than 1% of the global population. China is 20% of the world's population, and is simply too big to continue with the tiger model. In future, the market for "Made in China" goods won't be Americans filling the trunks of their Chevrolets at Wal-Mart; it will be the Chinese stocking up at a Vanguard supermarket in Guangdong and squeezing it into the boot of their shiny new BYD. After China's industrial revolution comes the consumer revolution.
On the 38th floor of a Hong Kong tower block, Frank Lai, chief financial officer of China Resources, sets out his vision. Vanguard is just one of the brands his company controls. The part-state-owned group is China's biggest supermarket operator with 2,300 stores and more than 150,000 workers. "Our ambition is for China Resources to be the largest retailer in China," he says.
Yet the Chinese supermarket business is still in its infancy. In Britain 63% of our grocery spending goes through the big five supermarket groups. In China it's just 7%, but Lai is confident it is heading the same way as Britain and America.
Tesco thinks so, too. This week Britain's biggest retailer said it is pushing ahead with a joint venture to develop as many as 80 shopping malls across China, each anchored by a hypermarket, adding up to a £5bn investment.
But Lai is serenely unperturbed by competition from the likes of Tesco, Carrefour and Wal-Mart. "The more successful a foreign company is, the less successful it is in China. When they are so successful at home they can't change their corporate culture to suit the Chinese shopper."
Perhaps he is referring to Carrefour, whose early expansion into China saw it open 182 hypermarkets. But in recent months it has begun to close some, especially in "second tier" cities, amid intense price competition.
Seeing off Carrefour or Tesco is just one of Lai's goals. Another is creating a beverage company on a scale that could eventually dwarf Diageo or even Coca-Cola.
The best-selling brand of beer on this planet is one you've probably never heard of. It's called Snow and last year China Resources brewed 3.1m kilolitres of the stuff, toppling Tsingtao as number one in the China market following a price war (it sells for 18p a bottle) that has crushed margins but sent volumes soaring.
It has also entered a deal with Japan's giant Kirin beverage company to develop non-alcoholic drinks for the China market, although one crucial fact dominates their partnership: China Resources is in control. Like virtually every other state-owned company that enters into a joint venture with a western or Japanese company, the Chinese partner controls at least 51% of the deal.
Only in one sector do western brands dominate and control: luxury goods. Hengdeli is another one of those Chinese companies you may never have heard of, yet it sells more watches and timepieces than any other retailer in the world. And 90% of them come from Switzerland.
In 2009 China, despite a reputation as the world's factory for fakes, overhauled the USA as the world's number one luxury watch market.
Hengdeli has 330 stores, mostly in mainland China but also in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and says it plans to have at least 1,000. It is the exclusive distributor for brands such as Rolex, and manager Werner Schuppisser cites one sale in mainland China last year in which a customer paid $4m for a Rolex: "It had a lot of stones [diamonds] on it."
Swiss watchmakers, keenly aware of the Chinese as their biggest customers, now produce designs exclusively for the Chinese market. Hong Kong, where sales tax is zero, has become "the shopping centre of the world for luxury goods", Schuppisser says.
Many are cash purchasers from the mainland. Stories abound in Hong Kong of mainlanders who come to the former colony with suitcases of cash. Some of it goes on consumer goods, but much of it heads into the city's frenzied property maket.
Critics warn of a Chinese property and consumer bubble that, when it pops, could herald the financial crisis, part two. Easy lending and ultra-low interest rates have sparked a construction boom that is producing ghost malls and estates in the style of Ireland – just 100 times bigger. "China has more than its fair share of failed shopping malls," says a recent note from independent brokerage and investment group CLSA Asia-Pacific.
At a meeting with one of China's top banking figures (he preferred to remain off the record), there is talk of crunch time for China's state-owned banks, although not for another year or two. They are financing vast infrastructure spending while nursing potentially huge non-performing loan books. Privately, he says he thought the Hong Kong property market was a bubble three years ago, but since then it has continued to grow at 15%-30% a year. The reason? Property buyers can still access new mortgages at just 0.9%. Income multiples stretch to as much as 18 times salary, a figure that would make even Northern Rock blanch. When inflation is running at 5%, and wage growth more than that, borrowing money is effectively free.
But at Neptune Investment Management, whose managing director Robin Geffen was instrumental in blocking a £25bn China deal by Britain's Prudential last year, they are remarkably sanguine about the outlook for the country. Chief economist James Dowey says China's private consumption share of GDP at 35.6% is abnormally low, even for an emerging market. Wages, at 48% of GDP, are far below the western average of two-thirds. What Dowey expects is a normalisation as China becomes much more like the west.
The Communist Party's latest five-year plan talks of a "Harmonious Society" spreading the tangible benefits of growth across the country and towards consumers. This week Premier Wen Jiabao announced that China's growth will decelerate to an average of 7% a year between between now and 2017, with spending directed away from the coastal export cities and industrial overcapacity, and into the lesser developed eastern part of the country.
Along the way the country will be buffeted by price inflation and wage disputes, Dowey warns. But out of it will emerge an economy where Made in China is not just sold abroad, but bought at home too. "We believe this is a compelling time to buy into the China story," he says.
Patrick Collinson was a guest of Neptune Investment Management in Hong Kong


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When the economy is bad, people spend less money.
There, saved you a trip. This isn’t a knock on Advertising Week – I think it’s a great concept (although I wish events were all in one location and educational tracks didn’t overlap), but James Carville said it best, “it’s the economy, stupid.” When people are getting hammered, they spend less money and buy less stuff. The response of the company making the stuff isn’t to advertise more – it’s to cut product price. Want to cut product price? Cut costs like advertising. It’s a vicious cycle.
Here’s the crummy news courtesy of AdWeek:
Ad spending, according to numbers from Jon Swallen, svp, research, Kantar Media North America, which did relatively well in 2010—up 5.1 percent in Q1, 5.4 percent in the Q2, 8.7 percent in Q3, and 7 percent in Q4—is seeing a real dip, with Q1 2011 down to 4.4 percent, and Q2, 2.8 percent. Additionally, spending increases for the top 100 advertisers has stalled. Interpublic market research unit MagnaGlobal estimated in June that U.S. ad spending will climb 4.8 percent next year, but that projection is due in part to the additional $3 billion expected to be spent on political advertising and Olympic-related marketing.
More importantly, in the U.S., where consumer spending still accounts for about 70 percent of the GDP, consumer confidence is plummeting along with the economy, and new census and government data is compounding the bad news. Last week, for instance, the Labor Department reported that in 2010 consumers earned and spent less for a second straight year. Is that a reaction to a nasty cyclical downturn or a more fundamental shift as the American middle class—the backbone of the economy—increasingly gets squeezed? The decline in middle-class consumers, says Vincent Létang, evp, director of global forecasting at MagnaGlobal, “has really accelerated and widened in the past three years. The golden age of modern advertising was built in the ’50s and ’60s with the rise in consumption and the growing middle class. Now we’re seeing its decline which is not at all good.”
Indeed, while financial observers debate whether the U.S. is headed for a double-dip recession, Americans already act as if it’s happened. “It’s a case of reality versus perception: There’s a real feeling that things are slowing down with increasing concern and worry about, ‘How do we [Americans] get out of this mess?’” says James Heekin, CEO, Grey Global Group. “That’s the No. 1 issue and no one has the answers.”
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text: Bureau Veritas has made two new acquisitions in Germany: UniCar Groupa company specializing in automotive inspection services, and European Compliance Laboratory (ECL), an electrical and electronic test laboratory. With the recent acquisition of PockrandtSince the beginning of the year, the Group has integrated three new companies in Germany, representing a total of 14 million euros in annual sales. Founded in 1979, with operational headquarters in Bremen, UniCar offers fleet quality control services throughout the supply chain. The company inspects new vehicles during transport between manufacturing plants, storage sites and port terminals. These services are aimed at automakers, logistics companies, vehicle rental companies and insurance companies. They are designed to check vehicle quality and reduce the risk of damage. The company employs over 150 people and is present in over 60 ports worldwide. In 2011, it generated sales of almost 8 million euros. Founded in 1987, European Compliance Laboratory (ECL) is a laboratory that used to be a branch of Tempton Groupa German human resources services company. Based in Nuremberg, ECL is a specialist in safety, reliability and electromagnetic compatibility testing of electrical and electronic products, and offers calibration services. Its services are mainly aimed at manufacturers of industrial and consumer electrical appliances, telecommunications equipment and medical devices, as well as automotive OEMs and suppliers. ECL employs 15 people and generated sales of 2 million euros in 2011.