text:
The Korean giant also owns Annick Goutal, the French fine fragrance brand, and has made huge strides in building its international business across Europe, the US and Australia to become the world’s 12th largest cosmetic company.
AmorePacific has acquired a minority stake in Rationale, the cult Australian skincare company.
Founded in 1992, the company specialises in personalised solutions through its Essential Six Collections.
Rationale products are sold through 15 flagship stores, online at rationale.com and more than 50 clinics operated by dermatologists and cosmetic surgeons nationwide.
AmorePacific will adopt an advisory role and acquire voting rights on Rationale’s board of directors with plans to expand the brand internationally to South Korea, the US, the UK and Hong Kong over the next five years.


text:
South Korea April department store sales hit a three-month peak
In April, South Korean department store sales edged up at the fastest tempo for three months, according to the final government data issued on Monday. It’s because warmer weather as well as more holidays in that month opened customers’ wallets.
In April, combined sales at department stores run by Lotte Shopping, Hyundai Department Store and Shinsegae Co went up 4.3% from the previous year, as the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy states.
It definitely accelerated from a 0.3% soar in March and appeared to be the best performance since January’s 9% leap.
An extra public holiday in mid-April due to the parliamentary election greatly assisted to drive sales, already backed up by warmer-than-usual weather.
Sales of well known foreign brands edged up the most among department store goods, leaping 8.6% on-year in April because last month the average daily high temperature hit 20.3 degrees Celsius, which is 18.8 degrees higher than last April.

domain: news


text:
Good morning. It's Tuesday, August 14, 2012, and this is your first early morning digital briefing. If you would like to read this or any other Cynopsis editions online, click here .
The Huffington Post Media Group's live streaming news network, HuffPost Live, has officially arrived. Accessible on multiple devices, HuffPost Live wants to be a social video platform that fosters a continuous, global conversation, according to Arianna Huffington. "The news is no longer about a few people telling everyone else what happened -- it's about everyone telling everyone what's happening right now. And now. And now... This shift from presentation to participation is what fuels HuffPost Live," she said in a statement. "On HuffPost, 70% of all comments are responses to other comments," added Roy Sekoff, President and Co-Creator of HuffPost Live and Founding Editor of the Huffington Post. "We decided to double down on engagement and make those conversations the focus of HuffPost Live." To that end, HuffPost Live will allow users to comment on and discuss what's airing in real-time right next to the video feed. The programming will be produced out of studios in New York and Los Angeles, with a satellite studio operating out of Washington, D.C. The plan is to live stream 12 hours of programming every weekday, with highlights and clips available on-demand during the night and the weekends.
First Lady Michelle Obama will step into the temporarily role of Guest Editor for NBCUniversal's women-focused digital property, iVillage. The first to do so, the First Lady will serve in this role for the duration of the week of August 20. Her editorial theme is pegged as "Rev Up Your Back-to-School Routine," for which she has worked with iVillage editors to produce content that will appear across the property's Food, Parenting, and Health channels. The First Lady will also be interviewed by iVillage's Chief Correspondent, Kelly Wallace; the interview is scheduled to run as a multipart video series throughout next week. This also marks the launch of a new Guest Editor series that iVillage is launching across its network. The property will announce future participants in the coming weeks.
Latest numbers regarding NBC's coverage of the now most recent Summer Olympics: The number of devices authenticated by NBC during the two-week event hit roughly 10 million. In addition, NBC says 13.6 million hours of video was live streamed by pay-TV subscribers. The numbers were first reported by AllThingsD. Additionally, in news that probably isn't too surprising, Alan Wurtzel, President/Research and Media Development for NBCUniversal said late last week that the company's decision to make the programming available on multiple devices led to a significant increase in viewership among kids and teens. "Among all demographic groups, it was kids and teens that showed double digit gains in their viewing over Beijing," he said in the video announcement.
Continuing on the Olympics theme: BBC is also reporting strong digital numbers for its coverage of the London Games. The British broadcaster revealed that it received 106 million requests (62 million for live streams, 8 million for on-demand, and 35 million for clips) for BBC Olympic video content across all online platforms through Saturday, August 11. This is more than double what the company had seen for any previous events, including the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the Beijing Games. On mobile, BBC received 9.2 million total visitors from the UK and 12 million requests for video content. In addition, BBC said that over a 24-hour period on the busiest Olympic days, total traffic to BBC.co.uk exceeded that of the broadcaster's coverage of the 2010 World Cup matches. Moreover, the BBC Sport website averaged 9.5 million global visitors and reached 55 million global visitors in total through August 11.
AdVantage Networks (ADVN), a provider of digital advertising technology, has secured a patent for its AdVantage Monetization Platform (AMP). Issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office, patent number 8,234,275 recognizes new "methods and systems for searching, selecting, and displaying content."” ADVN says the technology covered by this patent enables AMP to place targeted ads in existing ad spaces "or in benign locations" on the screen, without obstructing the user experience.
Connected TV software provider Capablue is partnering with audio watermarking technology provider Intrasonics to build second-screen solutions for broadcasters. Capablue will integrate Intrasonics' technology into its Connected platform, which will allow broadcasters to offer interactive products like social TV apps and games for smartphones and tablets that can be synced with the show airing on TV. The two companies will be demonstrating the integrated second-screen offering at IBC in Amsterdam.
Twitter has bought Clutch.io, a start-up that enables mobile developers to perform A/B testing on their apps for iOS devices. In a blog post announcing the acquisition, Clutch.io Co-Founders Eric Florenzano and Eric Maguire said they are joining Twitter's growth and international team, and plan to focus their "efforts on Twitter's product at a large scale." Yesterday was their first day. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Clutch.io's A/B testing service allows developers to show different variations of their app to users, and then measure the effectiveness of each variation, according to the start-up's website.
Now that it is officially a subsidiary of Google, Motorola Mobility plans to slash a fifth of its work force and a third of its 94 offices across the globe, all in a bid to reinvent the fledgling manufacturer and make it profitable again, according to The New York Times. Dennis Woodside, Motorola Mobility's CEO, told The Times that the company is also intent on cutting the number of devices it manufactures from the 27 it produced last year. A new think-tank, titled as Advanced Technology and Projects, has also been set up to brainstorm new innovative ideas for future Motorola Mobility products.
A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM WESTDOC
A new survey of media planners conducted by the Digital Place-based Advertising Association (DPAA) finds that 40.1% of those surveyed plan on tapping their digital and online budgets in order to fund their digital place-based ad campaigns. This is an increase of 75% over the 22.9% who indicated the same in DPAA's survey last year. Outdoor and television budgets remained as the top two monetary sources for digital place-based media plans, with 64.2% and 40.7% percent of respondents citing these categories, respectively. When asked to project spending for 2013, 94.3% of respondents said they would include digital place-based media in their plans, compared to 86.3% who said so during the 2011 survey. This year's study was conducted online from May 1 to May 29 among 1,761 media professionals who work at full-service and media service agencies from around the country.
A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM CABLEFAX
The US State Department's Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs and mtvU have named the recipients of this year's Fulbright-mtvU Fellowships, an academic exchange program that was established in 2007 to promote "the power of music as a global force for mutual understanding." The four winners were chosen through a multifaceted selection process, beginning with field and discipline reviews by US and foreign academic leaders, after which mtvU and musical artists like Foster the People, J.Cole, B.o.B., and Diplo nominated the most qualified candidates. The final selections were made by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. The four winners will conduct research abroad in India, Bangladesh, Kosovo, and Botswana for one academic year, with each focusing on an aspect of international musical culture. Their experiences will be documented via video reports, blogs, and podcasts, which will be available online on the program's website. Those interested for next year, mtvU has opened up applications as well.
A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE
Later - Sahil
Sahil Patel, Associate Editor for Cynopsis Digital
Denise O'Connor: Group Publisher, Media Entertainment
Diane K Schwartz: Senior Vice President, Media Communications Group
Cynopsis Ad Sales: Mike Farina | VP Sales & Marketing | 203-218-6480
Classifieds Sales: Trish Pihonak | Director of Operations & Content | 888-702-3858
To subscribe to any Cynopsis edition(s) click here.
To unsubscribe from this edition, click here.
Cynopsis CLASSIFIEDS - For More classifieds, visit the Cynopsis.com classifieds page here.
JOB OPENING: VP, DIGITAL SALES & MKTG/AMC/NYC: Acct mgmnt of digital dist & licensing across all AMCN nets.Central contact for all AMCN digital partners, accountable for digital revenue. Submit res http://tinyurl.com/dx2n7s8 (8/21)
JOB OPENING: DIR COMM/Discovery/MD: dvlps comm strategy & oversees PR/program publicity/Public Affairs outreach for ID and Military Channel; 8+yrs hands on media exp http://careers.discovery.com/ #6337 (8/21)
JOB OPENING: DAYTIME TALK PRODUCER/New York: Producer needed immediately for nationally syndicated daytime talk show. MUST have prior conflict booking experience. Resume: firstname.lastname@example.org (8/21)
JOB OPENING: BROADCAST DESIGNER/MLB Network Promos/NJ: Design/animate/edit promos/gfx pckgs. Strong tech. execution & 5 yrs exp w/After Effects, Cinema 4D, Final Cut Pro, etc. Send resume/link to reel to email@example.com (8/18)
JOB OPENING: ACCT EXEC. AD SALES/NY: Growing multimedia sports co. seeks experienced TV ad sales rep. Excellent compensation/benefits pkg. Agency relationships and ratings exp. a+. Send resume Attn: Rose to firstname.lastname@example.org (8/18)
JOB OPENING: DIR AD SALES RSRCH/Ovation/NYC: Proactive, detail-oriented, creative, team player. 7+ yrs exp. with cable or BC sales team req'd. Strategic & hands on w/ Nielsen, MRI, Mendelsohn etc. HumanResources@ovationtv.com (8/18)
JOB OPENING: EXEC ASST, PRESIDENT/SYFY, NBCUNIVERSAL/NYC: Looking for a talented Executive Assistant to support the Pres of Syfy. Must have 2 years of admin exp as well as a min 1 year working in TV. www.nbcunicareers.com (6201BR) (8/18)
JOB OPENING: DIR, CONSUMER RESEARCH/Showtime Networks/NYC: Resp. for acq, trking and forecasting of consumer info in support of corp. directives. 8+ yrs of primary and second rsch exp in media a must. Apply at www.sho.com #12180BR (8/18)
JOB OPENING: DIR. PROG & SCHEDULING/Nat Geo TV/DC: Prog/Schdling expert will create Chl's prime/daytime/fringe/late-night strategy. Strg schdl/nielsen exp analysis/strategy. 3-5 yr Cbl TV, Strg Excel/PP, Mgt. http://bit.ly/OY8Ebg. (8/17)
JOB OPENING: DEV/PRODUCTION MGR/DC: Non-fic theatrical product, giant screen films & documentaries. Highly creative & orgnzd & great comm skills. 3D film prod exp a plus. Apply: www.nationalgeographic.com ID 5273. EOE. (8/17)
JOB OPENING: DIGITAL AE/A+E Networks/NY: Sell A+E Network's suite of dig advertising opportunities within assigned territory to agencies/clients. Apply: http://www.aenetworks.com/careers (8/17)
JOB OPENING: MGR NAT'L PARTNERSHIPS/HOME TEAM SPORTS SALES/FOX/CHI: Prspt/Sell/Dev multi-platform sponsorships w/Mdwt clients & properties to drive revenue. 5 yrs Ad Sales exp/Sports prog/Stnd Pres skills/Syst/PP. http://bit.ly/MCEYOR (8/17)
JOB OPENING: Established NYC prod co is expanding its reality development dept. Seek several DEV EXECS with rolodex, proven track record selling shows, finding characters and writing. email@example.com (8/16)
JOB OPENING: VP, PROGRAM STRATEGY/Viacom. 10+ yrs exp. in TV prog/sched; Min 2 yrs @ Sr. Dir level and above; Min 5 yrs exp managing a team. Prog research bckgd desired. B.A req. EOE/M/F/D/AAP apply www.viacomcareers.com (8/16)
JOB OPENING: Hd BUS AFFAIRS/NY: Solid BA bkgrd in TV and Digital Prod. Draft, negotiate, review agreements. Standards & Practices/copyright. JD+3yrs industry exp, network & cable. Resume/credits to EMPLOYMENTPRODUCTION@gmail.com (8/16)
JOB OPENING: VP/DIR, DISTRIBUTION/JIM HENSON CO/LA: Oversee sales TV, DVD & dig platforms for current & catalog series for Western Europe. firstname.lastname@example.org (8/16)
JOB OPENING: FREELANCE FCPX EDITOR/Uncommon Content/NYC: Experienced and creative FCP X editor with background in creative services, promo and short-form. Please send resume and link to reel to: UCPjobs@gmail.com (8/16)
JOB OPENING: ACCT EXEC/OUTDOOR CHANNEL/CHICAGO: Dvlp, sell, implmt on-air/online media plns; new biz, mng accts, meet sls gls; 5 yrs media sls ind exp, 4yr deg reqd. Apply @ outdoorchannel.com/employment; EEO/M/F/D/V (8/16)
JOB OPENING: WRITER/PRODUCER/Pac-12/SF: Resp for producing creative content for on/off-air marketing platforms incl promos, szle clips, launch campngs, shoot scripts, image campngs http://hire.jobvite.com/j/?aj=oBbBWfw3&s=General (8/15)
JOB OPENING: DIR, STRATEGIC INSIGHTS, MKTG RSRCH/GSN/LA: primary rsrch leader, aud engagement specialist, multi-platform expe, Nielsen sys knwldg, mktg or agency background a +; 5+ yrs.media exp; email@example.com (8/15)
JOB OPENING: DIR, RESEARCH/GSN/LA: Strong Nielsen system knwldg, responsible for tracking, forecasting and competitive analysis, all digital rsrch, multi-platform exp a +, ; 5+ yrs.media exp; Apply: firstname.lastname@example.org (8/15)
JOB OPENING: EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR RESEARCH/OUTDOOR CHANNEL/LA,CA: Head of resch funct; provd anlytcs; make recomndtns to top mgmt; degree & 7-10 yrs resch exp in TV ind reqd; apply at www.outdoorchannel.com/Employment EOE,M/F/D/V (8/15)
INTERNSHIPS - These positions are for credit only - nobody gets paid here. These ads are always posted for free, and students work for school credit only. For more information on the specs for posting an Internship ad, email Trish at email@example.com.
FALL INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: INTERN /DiGa Vision/NYC: Busy production company looking for interns for current series in production & post. Must be enthusiastic, have a positive attitude and eager to learn. firstname.lastname@example.org (8/21)
FALL INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS POSTING/NYC: Crown Media Family Networks needs interns in our Corporate Communications department. Interns will get exposure in media outreach/placement, press kits & marketing. email@example.com (8/21)
FALL INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: RESEARCH POSTING/LA: Crown Media Family Networks needs an intern in our Research department. Interns will get exposure in analyzing network trends, focus groups, and Nielsen ratings. firstname.lastname@example.org (8/21)
FALL INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: INTERNS /Pink Sneakers Productions/Orlando: A one-stop, all-inclusive prod co creating entertaining, high-quality prgrmng. Jarthur@pinksneakers.net (8/16)
FALL INTERNSHIP FOR CREDIT ONLY: FanBridge/NYC: Online fan marketing & management platform for music, sports, entertainment & brands seeks interns interested in biz dev/marketing/social media. Justin@FanBridge.com (8/16)
SITUATION WANTED ADS, POSTED BY THOSE LOOKING TO BE HIRED... There is no charge for placing your Situation Wanted ad... for more information contact Trish Pihonak at email@example.com.
SITUATION WANTED: SUPERFINE WRITER. Concepts/content. Digital, video, print, integrated. Broadcast, innovation, beauty, foodie, wellness. I hear brand voices. firstname.lastname@example.org (8/21)
SITUATION WANTED: RESEARCHER/EXEC ASST/LOS ANGELES AREA: 16+ yrs exp + key player in Primetime TV as researcher, proofreader, copy-editor, writer, exec asst. Exc. etiquette. email@example.com (8/18)
SITUATION WANTED: SENIOR PRODUCER/FIELD DIRECTOR (NYC): Experienced long-form, short-form and studio producer proficient in booking, writing, directing, talent producing, and post. TVPro225@gmail.com (8/18)
SITUATION WANTED: PRODUCER/WRITER/RESEARCHER: for TV/webcomedy and variety series and specials at the network level. NY-based and looking for new opportunities. Visit http://about.me/markselby for more info. Contact firstname.lastname@example.org (8/18)
SITUATION WANTED: RESEARCHER/EXEC ASST/LOS ANGELES AREA: 16+ yrs exp +key player in Primetime TV as researcher, proofreader, copy-editor, writer, exec asst. Exc. etiquette. email@example.com (8/16)
E-mail Trish@cynopsis.com or call Trish Pihonak at 888.702.3858 for rates and specs for Job Openings.
Are you looking for a job? Post your Situation Wanted Ad here -- Email Trish@cynopsis.com for specs.
Copyright Cynopsis 2012
All outgoing e-mails are scanned and sent out virus free. Copyright Cynopsis 2012


text:
Banks are urged to thoroughly review and ease credit requirements and reduce interest rates to provide timely support to businesses, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
|Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. Photos: Nhat Bac
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh made the call at a meeting with the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (VinaSME) on July 6.
At the meeting, Vu Van Than, chairman of VinaSME, said SMEs had experienced a decline in revenues and job opportunities due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the global situation.
"The unfavorable economic environment has resulted in fewer orders, difficulties in production, and high costs of raw materials and fuel," Than said.
He suggested that the Government and relevant ministries create a favorable environment for businesses to access credit, further reduce interest rates, and consider establishing funds that use credit leverage to finance their operations.
SMEs currently account for 97% of all businesses in the country. A recent survey of 10,000 businesses found that 59% cited order-related issues as their biggest difficulty, 51% faced challenges in accessing capital, and the rest encountered obstacles in administrative procedures.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stressed that the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) should pursue a more accommodative monetary policy in addition to the measures already implemented by the government and ministries, such as tax cuts, debt deferral, and fee adjustments.
"This includes increasing money supply and credit availability, reducing interest rates, and easing credit conditions to support production and business activities," he said.
The Prime Minister also stressed the need for businesses and banks to foster better communication, share responsibilities, and address challenges together.
|Overview of the meeting.
"Banks should try to understand the perspective of businesses and vice versa," Chinh said, urging localities to work with banks and businesses to solve problems in specific sectors and projects.
According to the State Bank of Vietnam, credit growth at the end of June was a modest 3.6%, only about one-third of this year's 14-15% target. After four rounds of adjustments in the State Bank's policy rates, commercial banks reduced deposit rates by an average of 0.7%, while lending rates fell by 1% year-on-year.
In terms of preferential credit packages, the Prime Minister recommended that the banking sector focus on promoting a credit package worth VND120 trillion (US$5.06 billion) for social housing projects, along with an additional VND10 trillion (US$422.5 million) for enterprises in the timber and forest products industry.
The Government plans to assess available funds and explore supportive solutions for human resource training, with a priority on developing mechanisms to enable small and medium-sized enterprises to venture into new areas such as innovation, digital transformation, and the promotion of green, circular, and sharing economy models, Chinh said.
The Prime Minister has tasked the SBV with studying and implementing credit packages to stimulate consumer demand. The Ministry of Planning and Investment will review regulations for allocating infrastructure investment projects to SMEs.
To address the lack of orders, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has been tasked with intensifying trade promotion efforts; promoting the effectiveness of existing free trade agreements (FTAs); initiating negotiations for new FTAs; diversifying markets, products, and supply chains; and improving the quality of basic products.


text:
Lippupiste partners with Helsinki Olympic Stadium
CTS Eventim-owned Lippupiste has signed a five-year ticketing and marketing agreement with Finland’s largest venue, the Helsinki Olympic Stadium.
The deal makes Lippupiste one of the main partners of the 36,000-capacity Olympic Stadium, which is due to re-open later this year following renovation works.
“We are in the process of creating a new type of event culture in Finland in which consumers come not only to attend a concert or watch a game but to enjoy a comprehensive experience,” says Lippupiste MD Ari Palhamo.
“The renovated Olympic Stadium will be a place for meetings throughout the year, and we are extremely glad about this cooperation. Together, we will have many opportunities to serve the public and offer new types of experiences.”
“We are in the process of creating a new type of event culture in Finland”
Ari Kuokkanen, MD of the Olympic Stadium adds that Lippupiste is “playing an important role as a service provider and partner for the new era” of the stadium.
Speaking to IQ for the International Ticketing Yearbook 2019, Lippupiste sales director Mari Hatakka commented on the potential in Finland for offering full-service partnerships to venues, due to “diminishing funds in the public cultural sector”.
Lippupiste is the leading ticketing provider in Finland, followed by Ticketmaster Finland and local brand Tiketti, selling around 18,000 tickets per year.
Last year, the company signed a ten-year ticketing rights deal with the 13,500-seat Tampere Deck Arena, due to be completed in late 2021. Fellow Helsinki venues Hartwall Arena (15,500-cap.) and the future Garden Helsinki (16,000-cap.) are serviced by Live Nation-owned Ticketmaster Finland.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
Ticketmaster partners with Garden Helsinki arena
Ticketmaster Finland has announced an exclusive partnership with events arena Garden Helsinki.
Currently under city planning, Garden Helsinki will be completed in stages from 2020 to 2023. The arena will host sporting, music and cultural events, with a capacity of 16,000 seats and 120 boxes.
The partnership sees Ticketmaster become the official ticketing partner of the arena. In addition to providing ticketing services, the company will offer other services including creative marketing and access to ticketing technology.
“The live experience no longer begins when the fans sit down in their seats but from the moment they purchase their ticket,” says Timo Everi, chairman of the Garden Helsinki board. “With their market leading position in Finland and internationally, Ticketmaster is easily the best partner to fulfil our ambitions and help us to grow our business.”
Ticketmaster Finland managing director Jakob Lund says his team is “honoured to be a part of the Garden Helsinki project.”
“The live experience no longer begins when the fans sit down in their seats but from the moment they purchase their ticket”
“We have the world-class technology and experience required for a venue of this stature, and the marketing reach needed to fill it,” comments Lund. “With the live industry booming like never before, this is truly an exciting time for fans, clients and our team alike.
In 2016, the 15,500-capacity Hartwall arena in Helsinki – Finland’s largest venue – partnered with Ticketmaster Finland, ending a previous deal with CTS Eventim’s Lippupiste.
According to the International Ticketing Yearbook 2018 (ITY), Lippupiste had 53% of the market in 2016 prior to the Hartwell-Ticketmaster partnership, as opposed to Ticketmaster Finland’s 36%.
Lippupiste sales director of culture and live entertainment, Mari Hatakka, told ITY that “the fight over future venues is going to be tough – these are pretty much must-win cases for ticketing operators.”
Other future venues include Tampere Central Deck and Arena (11,000-cap.), which is set to open in 2021 and Helsinki’s Olympic Stadium (36,000-cap.), which will re-open later this year.


text:
VANCOUVER — Yannick Craigwell doesn’t need to guess how large the Canadian appetite will be for edible pot once it’s legal. He already knows — it’s huge.
The Vancouver entrepreneur whips up marijuana-infused cookies, brownies and fudge that he sells online through his company Treats and Treats.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
“Once it becomes legal, I think the only thing that’s going to change is you’re going to get the people who were raised to think … ‘Weed is bad, it’s the devil’s lettuce,’ and they’re going to be open to trying,” he said.
“It’s not really anything to be afraid of, but we are stigmatized by the laws that we have on the books.”
Businesses across Canada are cooking up weed-laced goodies to prepare for their legalization next year. Companies are betting on a big market and hope to avoid some of the pitfalls seen in U.S. jurisdictions when edibles were legalized.
The only legal marijuana on Oct. 17 will be fresh or dried bud, oil, plants and seeds. The federal government has promised to develop regulations to support the sale of edibles and concentrates within a year and will launch consultations later in 2018 and 2019.


text:
New Delhi, Mar 15 (EFE).- American e-commerce and tech giant Amazon on Tuesday accused India’s Reliance conglomerate of fraud after the latter took over some assets of the Future Group, a retail firm whose ownership has become the subject of a complex legal dispute between the two companies.
The US-based firm’s reaction comes weeks after Reliance, owned by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, took over hundreds of retail stores run by the Future Group.
“It has now come to light that FRL (Future Retail Ltd) and its promoters have been trying to remove the substratum of the dispute by purportedly transferring and alienating FRL’s retail assets, comprising the retail stores, in favour” of Ambani’s group, Amazon said in advertisements published in several Indian newspapers.
“These actions have been done in a clandestine manner by playing a fraud” on Indian courts, said the company, owned by US entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, warning that these actions would be “liable for civil and criminal consequences under the law.”
The battle between Amazon and Reliance over the retailer has reached the Supreme Court of India, after a mediation process in the Singapore International Arbitration Centre
The US company has maintained in Indian courts that its acquisition of 49 percent of Future Coupons, a subsidiary of Future Group, for about $200 million was subject to Future Coupons having a veto over the sale of Future Retail to a list of entities, including Reliance.
In August 2020, Reliance had signed an agreement to take over the retail and logistics business of the Future Group for about $3.4 billion, triggering a legal battle that has continued since then, even though all three parties recently agreed to negotiate for a solution.
The Future Group defines itself the pioneer of modern retail networks in the country of 1.35 billion inhabitants, owing to its wholesale business, logistics division and more than 1,700 stores in over 400 cities across India.
But in a letter to the Indian National Securities Market Commission on Wednesday, the conglomerate acknowledged that it has lost almost 850 stores in a matter of weeks, as Reliance took over many of the stores due to Future’s inability to pay its growing debts.
In late February, amid repeated non-payments by Future, the Ambani-owned firmed decided to take control of the facilities to run its own stores. EFE


text:
Brian Bicknell is carfully watching the shifting landscapes of hospitality around the world, hoping to gauge the strength of Mahi's markets.
Of 12 awarded medals, the te Pa range picked up two golds, nine silvers and one bronze, across the full range of their portfolio. They were also awarded the New Zealand wine of the year for their 2018 te Pa Sauvignon Blanc.
For the company which has only been in the US market for three years, the acknowledgment is hard to place a price on.
“The main reason we entered the competition, was because the wines are judged by sommeliers,” says winemaker Sam Bennett. “Getting our wines in front of the right people, the ones that go back to the restaurants having seen the wines means they may think about adding them to their lists. The somms are the interface to the consumer on a day to day basis which is really important.”
While it can often be difficult to gauge the effect of winning a medal at a wine competition, Bennett says within two weeks of another top announcement from Decanter in June, the entire production of one of their wines - the 2017 barrel fermented te Pa Sauvignon Blanc Oke - was snapped up by one US distributor.
Interest in the other medal winning varieties has been on-going he says.
The Sommelier’s Choice Awards had a judging panel of 21 top sommeliers, on-premise wine buyers and wine directors at US restaurants, hotels and resorts, bars and clubs. All the wines were judged according to criteria such as how well they paired with food items, in addition to their overall versatility.
The top gold medal te Pa wine scored 93 points – the top equal Sauvignon Blanc in the competition. (The other was Bird in Hand Sauvignon Blanc 2018, from Australia).
Two points behind on 91 points was the te Pa Reserve Collection St Leonard’s Chardonnay, 2017.
Gaining silver medals, were the te Pa barrel fermented Sauvignon Blanc Oke, the te Pa Reserve Collection Hillside Sauvignon, the Pinot Noir, Koha Sauvignon Blanc, Koha Pinot Noir, te Pa Pinot Gris, Koha Pinot Gris, te Pa Chardonnay and te Pa Noble Sauvignon Blanc. The te Pa Rosé was awarded a bronze.
Bennett says it was a surprise to see the entire range taking out medals.
“To be that consistent is nice, because being stylistically consistence is as important as perceived quality in the wine competition environment.”
te Pa is a family owned wine company with two main estate vineyards – 200 hectares in the Wairau Bar area and another 100ha in the Awatere Valley, with several smaller parcels around the Marlborough region. Plans are to develop a further 70 – 100 ha later this year.
Having only started in 2011, the company is now exporting to eight international markets, under three different labels; te Pa, Koha and Pa Road. In late 2018, te Pa released its Reserve Collection range of single vineyard, hand-picked wines, and this year they will also release a single vineyard Sauvignon from the Wairau Bar, under the Seaside label, adding to the Collection’s Hillside Sauvignon from the Awatere.
“These will be very different stylistically and will show the different characteristics of each vineyard,” Bennett says.
te Pa was not the only New Zealand winery to be recognised in the awards, although it was by far the most awarded. Whitehaven’s 2018 Sauvignon Blanc was awarded a gold medal, with Pencarrow, Decibel, Tiki Estate and Duck Hunter, being awarded silver medals.
From the Sommelier’s Choice Awards a Top 100 list has been released. te Pa 2018 Sauvignon Blanc was placed at number 11, and the Reserve Collection St Leonard’s Chardonnay was 27. Whitehaven’s Sauvignon Blanc was ranked 38.


text:
How it works
Help & support
Subject: Food, Drink
Health, Diets, etc.
Subscribe to your search as RSS
Strong branded growth in a volatile market
Feb 22, 2017 08:00 GMT
Arla delivered a solid business performance throughout 2016 and made a strong start to ...
International business takes the Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre to new heights
Feb 18, 2017 09:48 GMT
The Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre breaks visit and sales records for the third c...
Löfbergs first with new climate-smart hybrid
Feb 14, 2017 16:00 GMT
It is strong as an elephant, quiet as a mouse, and it reduces carbon emissions with up ...
Year-End Report for Duni AB (publ) 1 January – 31 December 2016
Feb 10, 2017 09:21 GMT
Growth within Table Top business area
Lower sales of salmon in Europe
Feb 03, 2017 05:00 GMT
The value of Norwegian salmon exports continues to grow. Sales in January were NOK 1,1...
Invitation to telephone conference concerning Duni year-end report 1 January – 31 December 2016
Feb 01, 2017 09:12 GMT
Year-end report for Duni AB will be disclosed to the media for publication at 7.45 AM C...
3rd record year in a row for Norwegian whitefish exports
Feb 01, 2017 01:12 GMT
Norway exported cod, saithe, haddock and other whitefish worth NOK 13.8 billion in 2016...
Arla turns up investments to boost profitability
Jan 31, 2017 08:00 GMT
In 2017 Arla expects to invest 335 million euro in its production sites around the worl...
Tanita offers life transforming health monitoring tools to combat rising obesity among adults and children
Jan 30, 2017 14:10 GMT
With obesity rates in UAE and elsewhere soaring, one of the world’s game-changing healt...
New Job Opening at Absolut: ”Billion Dollar Nose” and Master Sensory Designer
Jan 25, 2017 13:59 GMT
Some job descriptions are more unique than others and this is certainly true for the ne...


text:
SmarTech Analysis has published a new report on the state of metal 3D printing service bureaus dubbed “The Market for Metal Additive Manufacturing Services: 2020-2029.” The report illustrates the current picture of the metal additive manufacturing (AM) service market and projects the future revenue opportunities that will emerge by relying on a robust set of quantitative data. Though the report provides a comprehensive look at the industry, it is being framed as particularly valuable given the major disruptions that the COVID-19 outbreak has had on the global supply chain.
Nearly all products are made in a centralized manner, with individual components made in one set of factories and shipped to others to be assembled. As nations have shut down their borders in order to limit the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus, starting with China, the globalized economy was quickly disrupted. 94 percent Fortune 1000 companies were reported as seeing their supply chains impacted in response to the pandemic, just as it was reaching its peak impact in China.


text:
WA to establish container deposit scheme
Western Australia will be establishing its own container deposit scheme, offering 10c per plastic drink container returned for recycling.
The refund will be issued through ‘reverse vending machines’ which collect used bottles. Collection depots will also be set up at parks, beaches and other public spaces across the state. It is expected the scheme will begin mid-2018.
Premier of WA, Colin Barnett, said community desire for a container deposit scheme was strong.
“With a 10 cent refund available, there is a greater incentive to recycle as everyone can benefit from doing the right thing,” Barnett said.
WA Environment Minister, Albert Jacob, said the scheme will allow sporting groups and charity to collect bottles from events to raise money.
“I have been persuaded by the success of schemes in other States and Territories,” Jacob said.
“South Australia records higher recycling rates than any other State and significantly less beverage container litter and WA has the highest percentage of drinks containers in our litter. I believe a scheme will make a big difference in this State,” he stated.
South Australia has been running its container deposit scheme since 1977. The Northern Territory introduced a container deposit scheme in 2012. New South Wales announced in May 2016 it would be establishing a container deposit scheme.
Western Australia has indicated a smaller scheme could be introduced into WA in 2018.
New season apples sold at Woolworths nationally from February 2017 will have no wax added to them.
Coles has hit a major milestone, opening its 800th Australian supermarket.
The Dunedin Cadbury factory in New Zealand is set for closure after a suitable bidder could not be f...
Australians are collectively wasting $9.6 billion on food each year according to new research releas...
The expansion of Italian food giant Ferro into growing hazelnuts in south-western New South Wales is...
The NSW Food Authority has decided to no longer conceal the identity of the grower linked to the rec...
Woolworths has launched a new competition for young aspiring athletes to win financial support from ...
AND the winner is … Woolworths has announced its Supplier of the Year Awards, see who won.


text:
February 19, 2024 - 9:29 am
The Las Vegas luxury home market got off to a strong start in 2023 by securing the second highest number of sales in history to begin the year, culminating in a $19 million sale at the Summit Club in Summerlin to close January.
The 102 sales of luxury homes and condos of $1 million and higher during January is second only to the 122 in January 2022, according to Forrest Barbee, corporate broker with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services. There were 86 luxury sales in January 2021 and 76 in January 2023, the next two highest months in history.
Insight Tech Holdings NV LLC acquired The Summit Club home from Chambord Revocable Trust with Michael L. and M’Lissa M. Gravelle listed as trustees. It was a cash deal with Avi Dan-Goor of Douglas Elliman of Nevada representing the buyer from Asia. Ivan Sher, owner of IS Luxury, represented the sellers.
Built in 2020 and renovated in 2021, the home on Stardust Drive measures 7,908 square feet and sits on 1.37 acres.
It has four bedrooms and 4½ baths and a pool.
Sher said that when people pull into the driveway and face the house they’re looking at unobstructed views of the Strip. It’s an ultra modern design that he called stunning.
Dan-Goor said it has some of the best Strip views he’s ever seen from a living room.
“I can see what an international buyer would be attracted to,” Dan-Goor said. “From the living room, it’s like a Las Vegas postcard. It’s a complete wow factor as you walk in the door.”
The second highest single-family home sale in January was for $8.45 million for a two-story home in MacDonald Highlands in Henderson. The Tranquil Rim Court home sits on 0.3 acres and measures 7,373 square feet. It has five bedrooms, five full baths, two partial baths and a six-car garage. It was built in 2022 and renovated in 2023.
Hart2Vegas LLC of York, Pennsylvania was the buyer while 501 Byrne LTD were the sellers in a cash deal.
Kristen Routh-Silberman of Douglas Elliman of Nevada represented the buyer and seller.
The home has a movie theater, bar, game room, office, wine cellar and elevator. It has an entertainer’s kitchen, walk-in pantry and island with bar seating.
There’s a casita with a living room. The backyard has two covered patios, two outdoor kitchens with dining and living areas. The pool has a waterfall, and there’s a spa.
The No. 3 sale in the month was for $7.3 million for a two- story home on Quintessa Circle in Southern Highlands that sits on 0.94 acres.
Built in 2002, the home measures 11,364 square feet with five bedrooms, nine full baths, three partial baths and a seven-car garage.
Chris and Sheela Rangen bought the home in a cash deal from Alynne Catron.
Samuel Coleman with IS Luxury was the listing agent while John Sullivan with Huntington &Ellis was the buyer’s agent.
The Tuscan-designed home has an indoor basketball court, basement game room, wine cellar and a third-story lookout tower with Strip views.
Quintessa Circle is triple gated and there’s only a handful of homes, and the home backs up to the golf course, Coleman said.
“It’s a home on one of the best streets in Southern Highlands, and it’s in a rare community where homes don’t come up often,” Coleman said. “This home was featured in the Vegas Dream Home special built by Christopher Homes.”
A two-story home on Sun Glow Lane in The Ridges in Summerlin sold for $5.76 million. Built in 2012, it measures 6,252 square feet with four bedrooms, five bedrooms and a four-car garage.
Gavin Ernstone, broker/owner of Simply Vegas represented the buyer and seller in a cash deal. The buyers were Marc and Kathleen Lewison. Keith and Fiona May were the sellers.
The home has unobstructed views of mountains, golf course and Strip are available from every angle, according to the listing.
The primary suite on the main level has a luxurious bath with an enormous steam shower, soaking tub and two fantastic walk-in closets, Ernstone said. There is radiant underfloor heating.
The downstairs secondary bedroom suite doubles as a guest casita while the upstairs has a vast game room/loft area as well as two additional bedrooms. The home has a pool.
The No. 5 home sale of the month was for $5.75 million at Painted Feather Way in The Ridges in Summerlin.
The two-story home built in 2007 sits on 0.59 acres and measures 9,249 square feet. It has six bedrooms, seven baths and a five-car garage.
Situated on Bear’s Best Golf Course in The Ridges, the home has handcrafted stone flooring and staircases, Baccarat chandeliers and custom wood inlays in the ceilings. There’s Scavolini custom cabinets from Italy, Wolf appliances including an espresso maker, steam oven, warming drawer, three ovens and a range, Sub Zero dual refrigerators, four freezer drawers and four produce drawers.
As part of a kitchen remodel, the home has a custom wine room. There’s also a theater room, office and glass room used as a playroom.
The primary bedroom suite has a balcony with a fireplace and views of the city, golf course, mountains and Strip.
Lorie Borges with Huntington &Ellis was the listing agent and buyer’s agent. Albert and Teresa Chapman purchased the home in a cash deal from the Kevin Elder Revocable Trust.
There was one other home sale for more than $5 million in January at Reflection Shores Lane in Lake Las Vegas.
The one-story home built in 2022 sold for $5.13 million and measures 4,850 square feet with three bedrooms, five baths and a four-car garage. It sits on a half-acre and has a pool.
Gene Northup of Las Vegas Sotheby’s International Realty was the listing agent and buyer’s agent. Joseph and Wanda Jandrisch were the buyers in a cash sale while the JEK Trust was the seller.
The home sits in The Estates at Reflection Bay and has views of the Reflection Bay Golf Course, mountains and the lake. It has floor-to-ceiling windows and pocketed doors to enhance the connection between indoor and outdoor spaces. The listing says that upon entering the foyer, “a grand great room that seamlessly flows into the kitchen and formal dining room offering panoramic views and flooding the space with natural light.”
Luxury market update
Coleman said higher interest rates have not affected luxury as much as they did in 2022 but it’s “a bit of a challenge” when it comes to inventory. Homes between $1 million and $3 million are seeing the most activity while the $3 million to $6 million category is “starving” for inventory. The category of $6 million to $15 million is getting more competitive with new construction coming to the market.
“I think we’re going to see a lot of record-breaking sales in the first quarter going into the second quarter as the bigger homes get completed,” Coleman said.
Sher called it a great January and barring any political or global dynamics, Las Vegas is well-positioned with growth and development and remains optimistic about the rest of 2024.
Dan-Goor said the luxury market is holding strong and strengthening and is seeing more showings. It doesn’t mean prices are going up, but he expects more transactions. A record stock market helps, he added.
“I expect more buyers to pull the trigger instead of shopping around,” Dan-Goor said. “At the end of the day, they still want value.”


text:
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison will visit Indonesia on Friday (31/08). (Reuters Photo/David Gray)
New Australian PM to Visit Indonesia, Finalize Economic Partnership Agreement
AUGUST 30, 2018
Jakarta. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison will visit Indonesia on Friday (31/08), where he and President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo are expected to announce the completion of an economic partnership agreement, after years of negotiations.
In his first overseas trip since taking office just a week ago, Morrison said he seeks to strengthen bilateral relations.
"I want to make clear the importance of our bilateral relations, and my government's commitment to strengthen our economic and defense cooperation," he said, as quoted in a statement issued by the Australian embassy in Jakarta.
Negotiations over the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership (IA-CEPA) started in 2010 and were stalled for several years until ties between the two countries improved under Jokowi and former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
According to Edi Yusup, Foreign Ministry's director for East Asia and the Pacific, the CEPA includes free trade pacts in goods and services, and covers education, investment rules and intellectual property.
Details of the agreement remain confidential until it is officially finalized, he added.
In 2017, Indonesia-Australia bilateral trade was worth around $8.5 billion, with a deficit of nearly $3.5 billion on Indonesia's side.
Jokowi and Morrison are also set to sign deals on cooperation in transportation, creative economy and cyber technology.
Additional reporting by Reuters.


text:
PSA Peugeot Citroen offices have been raided by anti-fraud investigators as part of ongoing investigations on pollutants in the car industry.
The firm said its vehicles are emissions compliant.
Meanwhile, UK government testing has found no evidence of car manufacturers apart from the VW group fitting devices to cheat emissions testing.
However, the UK said real world emissions were higher than lab testing conditions for all manufacturers.
Authorities and car manufacturers have been on the alert in the wake of the Volkswagen emissions scandal, which emerged in late September.
Volkswagen (VW) admitted its diesel-engine cars had been fitted with computer software designed to flatter emissions data during tests, and on Thursday said it had reached a US deal to offer "substantial compensation" and car buy-backs.
Peugeot said on Thursday it had been "the subject of a visit and a seizure by France's General Directorate for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF)".
"PSA Group confirms compliance of its vehicles in pollutant emissions in all countries where it operates", it said in a statement.
"Confident in its technologies, PSA Group is fully cooperating with the authorities" the firm added.
In January competitor Renault was subject to police raids on its factories.
Meanwhile, the UK government said its vehicles testing programme had uncovered "no evidence of car manufacturers, apart from the VW Group, fitting devices to defeat the approved emissions test programme."
It said tests had been carried out on 56 different vehicle types in Germany and 37 different vehicle types in the UK over a period of six months.
The Department for Transport said it had "tested a representative selection of the UK's top selling diesel vehicles".
It said for all of the manufacturers tested, nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions were higher in real world conditions and on the test track than they were under laboratory conditions, with "results varying significantly between different makes and models."
For example, testing of nitrogen oxide emissions for car models such as the Honda CRV, the Volvo V40, Mercedes E250, Peugeot 208 and Range Rover Sport found they exceeded the Euro 5 limit of 180mg per kilometre in real world conditions.


text:
As part of the re-branding, Certol introduced a new company logo, and a new look for all of its marketing pieces, including this newsletter. Even the tradeshow booths got an upgrade to help increase presence at the shows.
The overall goal of the rebranding is to increase Certol name recognition amongst industry users, and to bring a more coherent feel across the divisions. “Increasing our visibility and the consistency of our branding is a huge but important task for us,” said Ed Cassinis. “We want to become the trusted name in infection control and retail cleaning solutions.”
Visit our new website at http://www.Certol.com/


text:
Germany's JAB Holding, the investment vehicle of the Reimann family, has acquired Keurig Green Mountain, the company best known for its K-Cup coffee. The Vermont-headquartered brewing systems and coffee pods maker is being bought and taken private for about $13.9bn.
The £9.3bn (€12.8bn) deal which closed at a premium of 80% will see Keurig's shareholders receive $92 per share in cash from JAB and two minority investors, Mondelez International and BDT Capital Partners. While the former is an American food and beverage conglomerate, the latter is a merchant bank. Coca-Cola, Keurig's largest shareholder with a 17.4% stake, will receive $2.4bn.
Bart Becht, chairman at JAB, said: "[this deal] represents a major step forward in the creation of our global coffee platform. It is a fantastic company that uniquely brings together premium coffee brands and new beverage dispensing technologies."
The deal comes at a time when coffee pods used in creating high-end or "specialty coffee" have revolutionised the coffee market and now, along with artisanal drip brew, accounts for more than 50% of the US coffee market. The pods are the ones that are used in Keurig's coffee machines.
Weak Keurig Sales
The deal comes at a time when Keurig has been struggling to grow its sales after having sold more than 20 million of its personalised brewing machines across the US. Last month, it stated that its annual net sales declined 4% on a year-on-year basis to $4.52bn.
Single-serve pods and various brewing machines constitute 95% of Keurig's sales. Since the beginning of the year, and prior to the announcement of the deal, its shares had plummeted 61%. However, after the new development, it jumped about 72% to close at $88.89 a share on 7 December.
Competition to Nestle
Including the current deal, JAB Holding has spent close to $30bn in the past three years in acquiring beverage companies from instant coffee in Europe to coffee chains in the US. The present move marks the German company's biggest challenge yet to Nestlé's leadership in the consumer coffee market and will take on the Swiss company's high-margin Nespresso brand directly by tapping Keurig's single-serve brewing machines.
In an effort to increase its coffee market share against Nestle, JAB has been aggressively pursuing M&A opportunities for the past three years. It had always lacked an established pod machine to sell. This deal now fills the gap.


text:
Adam Pye joined the family firm nearly 30 years ago, learning the trade from porter to auctioneer. John Pye & Sons is now an online operation which has seen huge growth. RICHARD TRESIDDER reports
Nottingham runs through the Pye family like a stick of rock. The family of auctioneers are highly successful, starting out at the city’s Cattle Market and more recently making the transition to become exclusively an online operation.
An autobiography by founder John Pye , An Auction of Laughs, published in 2014, ought to be a bestseller. He tells the history of the business through dozens of belly laugh tales, a rags to riches story of a generous and successful Nottingham family.
Words on the back cover sum up the Pyes. “I would like to thank you all for buying this book which is helping such a wonderful cause, the British Red Cross.”
I was first introduced to John and his wife, Ann, at a mutual friend's. A teetotal, he soon had us in fits of laughter telling stories of his career such as the man on Huntingdon Street selling a George IV four poster bed with his dead father in it, barely cold.
Today, John and Ann are still involved in the business 50 years on. Son Adam, who took the brave initiative to turn the business into an online auction house, is managing director. Pye’s turned over £13.4m according to the last filed accounts, up 35 percent on 2016, holding 805 auctions and 242,000 registered bidders.
Adam joined the firm, then on Meadow Lane, back in 1990 straight from school, learning the ropes as a general porter.
Pye’s moved from its roots in January 1995 to the site of the former Shipstone’s Brewery on Radford Road in New Basford.
“John, my father, fell in love with the offices, all that Cuban mahogany,” says Adam. Meadow Lane was sold to pay for the new site and for the next few years auctions, about one a week, were held in a 15,000 sq ft sale room.
In 2002, John stepped back from the business to become chairman, leaving it to be run by Adam and his mother, an experienced bailiff.
The demand to attend auctions became the impetus for change. Adam recalls that the sale room was just not big enough, a male-dominated environment, jostling for space.
“On some days it was an intimidating environment, typical traders, not many ladies or families in the sale room,” says Adam.
“We decided to put a TV in a room and lend out a couple of laptops. All they had to do was bid on the laptops connected to a hole in the wall and TV the auctioneer could see.”
Laptop bidding grew in demand with more bidders outside the salesroom than in it. With wifi, people were able to bid from their cars or the comfort of Pye’s coffee area.
“More and more bids were coming in on the auctioneer’s screen,” says Adam. “All of a sudden, for three weeks in a row, I was auctioning to no one in the auction room.”
Thus, the germ of an idea for an online auction house began life. The next step, says Adam, was to create a wifi network for bidders. “That’s how the online took off, making me redundant.”
The rules stayed the same: buyer beware, sold as seen.
What really changed the business was when a client, a major supermarket, consigned two 40 foot lorries of returned non perishable goods for sale.
“One went into an online facility and another went into a traditional auction,” says Adam. “It was repeated over 12 weeks. We sold more than £1 million of stock over that period. When we studied the results, there were many more people bidding online and the recovery rate was 28 percent higher than the live auction. It changed the business overnight.”
A new business model was born. “We wrote to our customers saying we were abandoning live auctions and that sales were all going online.”
This was around 2003/4 and the business grew exponentially. Fifteen years on, Pye operates from 22 facilities, holding five auctions a day.
“In a week, we are selling anywhere between 35,000 and 40,000 lots. Excluding property, we are selling about £1 million on the hammer every week compared with £15,000 to £20,000 at the time of the move to online,” says Adam.
Pye’s are discreet about naming the organisation for whom they are conducting sales but there are more than 200, says Adam, including John Lewis and Sofology.
The second milestone in recent years came eight years ago as the company embarked on its expansion programme, rolling out locations across the country.
It was sparked by winning Government contracts which called for strategic locations across the UK. Pye’s quickly expanded in only six months from one to eight locations
Pye won a series of Government or agency contracts such as HM Revenue and Customs and the DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency). For example, goods may be seized for the non-payment of VAT.
On behalf of the the police, it sells vehicles seized as the proceeds of crime or because they are uninsured. In the year to the end of July 2017, it sold nearly 25,500 seized vehicles.
The Bond Street premises in central London, near the Ritz Hotel, sells exclusive watches such as Cartier and Rolex, one selling recently for about £26,000. Gemologists are on hand to value diamonds, rubies and sapphires.
A third significant phase in the expansion was the acquisition of a 316,000 sq ft building to become Europe’s biggest general auction facility on a 13 acre site, a size approaching six football pitches, in Port Talbot, South Wales.
Pye’s have opened a company in the US and most recently, held its first auction in the United Arab Emirates.
Now into its second half century, expect more announcements from Adam Pye.


text:
Tellabs Inc. last week inked a deal to absorb closely held cable-modem vendor Future Networks Inc. for $181 million, a move that essentially fleshes out Tellabs' voice-over-Internet protocol product portfolio and prepares it to become a stronger PacketCable and Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification player.
Tellabs said the purchase solidifies its position in the cable-data and IP-telephony markets. Specifically, the company said it now has what it needs to give cable operators a migration path from circuit-switched telephony to a voice-and-data play based on DOCSIS 1.1/PacketCable infrastructure.
The deal, which will send about 50 Future Networks employees to Tellabs, is expected to close next month, the company said.
In Alpharetta, Ga.-based Future Networks, Tellabs gets its hands on a line of DOCSIS 1.0-certified and EuroDOCSIS-based cable modems.
Future Networks has also submitted two models-the "110D" and "110E," which are based on the more advanced VoIP-enhanced DOCSIS 1.1 standard-to Cable Television Laboratories Inc. for certification testing. Those products are designed to integrate voice and data within the same box.
This won't mark the first time Tellabs has tried to add cable modems to its portfolio. In December 1997, the company revealed plans for a proprietary cable-modem card to accompany its line of residential cable-telephony gear. But those plans didn't get very far in terms of cable-operator deployments.
This time out, the more coveted item for Tellabs could be Future Networks' set of "Embedded Multi-Media Adapters," also known as Broadband Telecommunications Interface (BTI) devices. That gear is currently undergoing trials with undisclosed cable operators, the company said.
This deal "is all about the BTI," said Kinetic Strategies president and broadband analyst Michael Harris. Future Networks' BTI design, he added, completes the cable-IP puzzle for Tellabs and puts the company in on par with such rivals as ADC Telecommunications Inc.
"Now Tellabs has an actual end-to-end cable VoIP offering," Harris said.
The other piece of Tellabs' puzzle was put in place late last year, when the company struck an alliance with routing manufacturer Riverstone Networks Inc. In that deal, the companies agreed to marry Tellabs' "CABLESPAN 2300" universal telephony-distribution system and "MartisDXX" managed-access and transport network system with Riverstone's family of high-speed edge routers. The resulting product is a "carrier-class" cable-modem-termination-system called the "CABLESPAN 2700."
The 2700 is available at present and Tellabs has received orders for it, said J. Thomas Gruenwald, vice president and general manager of the company's access systems group. He declined to name those customers.
Competitively, it was important for Tellabs to snap up Future Networks because the world is gearing up for IP-and will make that move with or without Tellabs' help.
Tellabs' existing cable-telephony system, a circuit-switched product, currently handles more than 1.3 million lines in North America, South America, Asia and Europe, the company said. AT&T Broadband, United Pan-Europe Communications N.V. and RCN Corp. are among Tellabs' circuit-switched customers.
"Our DOCSIS-based products will be marketed globally," Gruenwald said. The company also will seek reseller agreements with its competitors, he noted.
Even though Future Networks brings Tellabs a host of DOCSIS modems, don't expect the company to enter the relatively low-margin retail side of the business.
"We'll sell cable modems to customers who buy our CMTS, as part of a whole solution," said Gruenwald, who added that Tellabs won't explore the retail realm "in a big way."
The smarter way to stay on top of the multichannel video marketplace. Sign up below.


text:
SEOUL, Jan 7 (Reuters) – Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) said on Friday its fourth-quarter operating profit likely jumped 52% on-year to its highest for the quarter in four years, helped by solid demand for server memory chips and higher margins in chip contract manufacturing.
The world's largest memory chip and smartphone maker estimated October-December profit at 13.8 trillion won ($11.5 billion), which would be tech giant's highest fourth-quarter operating profit since Q4 2017.
The result missed a Refinitiv SmartEstimate of 15.2 trillion won, which analysts attributed to items such as employees' bonuses, marketing costs for its mobile business, and ramp-up costs for new display panels being included in the quarter.
"It looks like a shock because it came out less than the consensus, but I don't think it's as bad as it looks. It seems they reflected various costs in the fourth quarter," said Park Sung-soon, analyst at Cape Investment & Securities.
"It's unclear as of now if there were any changes in expected chip shipments," Park added.
Revenue likely rose 23% from the same period a year earlier to 76 trillion won, the company said in a short preliminary earnings release, in line with market expectations.
Samsung is due to release detailed earnings on Jan. 27.
Although prices of memory chips dipped during the quarter, increased demand from server clients lifted Samsung's quarter-on-quarter shipments of both DRAM chips, widely used in data centres, and NAND flash memory chips, used for data storage in tech devices, analysts said.
Samsung shares rose 1.3% in morning trade.
Samsung Electronics' shares have climbed about 11% since early November in anticipation of memory chip prices dipping less than expected during the first half of this year then rebounding, boosted by new data centres and demand for videos, games, conferencing and other traffic-heavy services.
Samsung's logic chip business, which includes chip contract manufacturing that competes with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) , is also expected to post a jump in operating profit to above 1 trillion won in the December quarter due to more deliveries and higher prices, Hanwha Investment & Securities analyst Lee Soon-hak said.
Estimated smartphone shipments by Samsung's mobile business were about 67 million, near 69.3 million in the previous quarter, Counterpoint Research said, helped by easing component shortages, although marketing costs weighed.
The business was recently merged into a single Device Experience (DX) division along with TV and home appliances.
($1 = 1,204.0400 won)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Subscribe for our daily curated newsletter to receive the latest exclusive Reuters coverage delivered to your inbox.
Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers.
Build the strongest argument relying on authoritative content, attorney-editor expertise, and industry defining technology.
The most comprehensive solution to manage all your complex and ever-expanding tax and compliance needs.
The industry leader for online information for tax, accounting and finance professionals.
Access unmatched financial data, news and content in a highly-customised workflow experience on desktop, web and mobile.
Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts.
Screen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks.
All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays.
© 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved
Mobile Application Testing Solution Market 2022 Industry Expansion and Trends by 2026 – Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Infostretch Corporation, SAS Institute Inc., IBM Corporation, Cognizant Technology Solution Corp, Oracle Corporation, etc – Construction N – Construction News Portal
Construction News PortalNews World“The global Mobile Application Testing Solution market report delivers market sizes, growth, trends, market share, segmentation, competitive landscape, impact of domestic, sales


text:
When the first mobile licences were contemplated in the early 1990s, neither politicians nor prospective mobile operators themselves thought of the devices as anything other than toys for the wealthy. Government was happy to leave cellphones to the profit-seeking private sector, while keeping tight control over landline infrastructure. Contrary to everyone’s expectation, including that of the mobile operators, handset sales did not peak at a million or so rich people. They extended to every corner of society, and prepaid plans made cellphones affordable to almost everyone.
According to the International Telecommunication Union, there are 6.8bn mobile subscriptions in the world and 89% of all people in developing nations have access to a mobile telephone. Fewer people have access to clean drinking water and sanitation, the most basic of government-provided services.
This technology penetration has led to direct improvements in people’s lives, without government intervention. One famous case study published in 2007 by the journal Information Technologies and International Development documented the use of mobile phones by 187 of the poorest people from the fishing industry in Kerala state, southern India. Mobile phones enabled the industry to better match fishing boats to under-supplied markets, according to the paper written by Reuben Abraham, at the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad. Consumer prices declined, but more efficient transport and less wastage of highly perishable fresh fish led to lower costs, more stable prices and higher profits.
No politician would have said (or indeed did say) they were going to help make fishers more profitable by making prices go down. No bureaucrat could plan the innovation that made this happen. It all came from the people who had a specific domestic need and the entrepreneurs that supplied it. All the government did was get out of the way and permit it to happen.
Bureaucrats, get out of the way
Conversely, South Africa’s government liberally subsidised an effort to develop an electric vehicle called the Joule. The plan was not only to compete in the global market for such cars, but also to develop a lithium ion battery industry that would support it. The concept was sound; after all, battery technology is in dire need of a breakthrough. But it is not something that will happen just because government throws barrels of money at the problem. The product was late to market, uncompetitive, and failed. The putative battery factory never even got to the sod-turning ceremony.
Factors such as a healthy venture capital ecosystem with a high-risk appetite can stimulate entrepreneurship. An attractive environment for living and raising children is another. This is why the Silicon Cape initiative, a technology networking group in South Africa’s Western Cape province, founded by entrepreneurs Vinny Lingham and Justin Stanford, is showing some success: the region appeals to wealthy investors and aspiring entrepreneurs alike. But core to its success is that it is not government-led. No politician can afford to take a high degree of risk with enough public money to replicate Silicon Valley’s success. They would be hounded out of town after “wasting” money on failures like the Joule.
The view that entrepreneurship can be controlled, planned and stimulated is deeply mistaken. It wastes political energy and fiscal resources. Africa cannot afford grandiose plans by politicians to create the next Silicon Valley in every likely-looking hot spot. Just as in Silicon Valley, Africa can only rely on its people, their unique needs, the connections between them and private capital with a high-risk tolerance.
Entrepreneurship is not something that a smart bureaucrat with enough political will and deep pockets can create. Free people can, but only if bureaucrats get out of the way and stop punishing them for their business failures.
Ivo Vegter is a South African columnist writing on economics, politics, law and the environment. In 2011, he was a finalist for the prestigious international Bastiat Prize for Journalism, which recognises work that promotes a free society.
This article was first published by Good Governance Africa.


text:
NAIL art is back with a vengeance - and the hot new trend is talons that look like teeth.
Molar-shaped nails have been showcased online in an Instagram tutorial by bonkers Russian beauty salon Nail Sunny.
The salon, which regularly offers advice on how to create unusual looks, got very mixed reactions to the strange look.
fz206 tagged her friend and wrote: "Please don’t ever do this."
they_call_me_atsie added: "This is the worst nightmare I have ever encountered without even trying to dream...like why tho??"
This isn't the first time Nail Sunny has posted unusual nails online.
Previously the Moscow-based beauty salon posted a clip of one of its clients getting a woman's body painted onto her fingernails - complete with bra and pants.
It's also offered advice on 3D designs.
And one more offensive manicure showed a nail literally giving the finger...
most read in beauty
For more impractical nails - have you seen the crazy corkscrew nails on Instagram? They're a little bizarre, to say the least.
Or check out the nail artist who created a 3D model of pregnant Kylie Jenner on her finger.
And here's how you've probably been painting your nails all wrong.


text:
Not all companies are capable of becoming great, the competition in today’s world is too great. However, there is no doubt that Coinstox has a very big future ahead of it.
Coinstox is a decentralized crowdfunding platform that allows entrepreneurs to tokenize their startups, thereby obtaining startup capital for development. Investors can use Coinstox to seek out promising projects at the earliest stages and purchase their tokens.
Thanks to this universal model, the company has serious potential for expansion – the number of offices and employees is growing every day. Currently Coinstox has more than 20 team members and 3 offices, but that’s just the beginning.
Every day the number of supporters & users grows, and in a year it’s hard to predict the percentage by which the Coinstox staff will increase.
Because the company’s services are in demand in absolutely all countries and among all segments of the population, the strategic plan to become a global brand looks more than feasible.
Also, according to the company’s representatives, in the future Coinstox will open Co-working spaces to support on Coinstox funded start-ups and offer affortable offices, think tanks and retail spaces own customers
Maybe now the next Google or Apple is born right before our eyes, so be sure to follow Coinstox news on their site.
I’m a best-selling author and leading authority in the world of cryptocurrency. I have been involved in the crypto community since 2012 and have helped numerous startups and organizations on blockchain strategy. I am a regular contributor to Forbes and CoinDesk, and my work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Reuters, and other major media outlets. In addition to writing for publications, I am also a sought-after speaker on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology niches respectively.


text:
The partially convertible rupee settled at 75.1640 per US dollar as against 75.10 at the previous close. The Indian currency which had opened marginally stronger versus the greenback at 75.03 moved in a band of 74.85-75.20 per USD in the course of the day’s trade.
The rupee has borne the brunt of investors’ flight to safe-haven assets amid the fresh risk to global growth posed by the new strain of the virus. The domestic currency has shed close to 1 per cent against the dollar since the ‘Omicron’ strain was detected on Friday.
Indian equity markets which had slumped last week have witnessed a substantial degree of outflows of foreign portfolio investment over the past few days, augmenting the rupee’s slide, dealers said.
The gloom continued for benchmark equity indices today, further spooking currency traders, dealers said.
The 30-share pack Sensex tanked 195.71 points or 0.34 per cent on Tuesday to close at 57,064.87. Its broader peer Nifty50 shed 70.75 points or 0.41 per cent to 16,983.20.
A rise in global crude oil prices further weakened the sentiment for the domestic currency and rekindled concerns about India’s trade deficit and inflation, given that the country is the world’s third-largest importer and consumer of the commodity.
After plunging around $10 per barrel, last week benchmark crude oil prices firmed up this week on speculation that major oil producers could reduce supply to counterbalance a potential decline in demand caused by global curbs on activity to curb the spread of the ‘Omicron’ virus.
“The dollar index strengthened today, oil prices rose and there are very serious concerns about global growth taking a hit because of Omicron,” a dealer with a state-owned bank said on condition of anonymity.
“The WHO (World Health Organisation) has called it a matter of grave concern and there is no doubt that there will be restrictions on travel etc. Even the RBI will not want to expend too much of its reserves when there is a fundamental global shift. We see 75.40/$1 as the next stop for the rupee,” he said.
Government bonds surrendered most early gains, with the yield on the 10-year benchmark 6.10 per cent 2031 bond settling one basis point lower from the previous close at 6.33 per cent.
Earlier in the day, bonds had notched up gains, with the 10-year yield falling to 6.31 per cent, as traders bet on the RBI prolonging monetary accommodation in the face of the fresh risk to growth. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
However, a report by Bloomberg saying that the Centre could overshoot its stated fiscal deficit target for the current financial year hurt sentiment and fuelled the fear of additional market borrowing, dealers said.
- Front Page
- Pure Politics
- Learn more about our print editionMore
- Byju’s New India CEO to Cut More Than 4,500 Jobs
Arjun Mohan, who took charge as the new chief executive of the India business at Byju’s last Wednesday, is set to unveil a series of changes at the financially troubled edtech firm, including cutting the headcount by a third or about 4,000-4,500 people to further tighten costs, people aware of the matter said.ADIA Looks to Put $600m into RIL’s Retail Business
After QIA, yet another oil-rich Gulf sovereign fund, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), is looking to buy an additional stake in Mukesh Ambani’s retail empire. ADIA is seeking to invest $600 million into the organised retailing business of Asia's richest person, people aware of the developments told ET, at valuations that significantly exceed those during an earlier concluded round three years ago.Bigger Ecommerce Sales Set to Light up Volumes
The upcoming festive season sales are expected to bring the steepest online discounts since Covid, up to 60% in certain categories, with several ecommerce majors indicating a push to expand volumes.
Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.Top Trending Stocks: Sensex Today Live, SBI Share Price, Axis Bank Share Price, HDFC Bank Share Price, Infosys Share Price, Wipro Share Price, NTPC Share Price


text:
Oprah Winfrey has another shock in store for the 300 fans she surprised earlier this week with tickets for an all-inclusive trip to Australia - she's not paying for the vacation.
The billionaire TV titan sent audience members into a frenzy on Monday when she announced she would be jetting all of them Down Under to celebrate her 25th and final season of the Oprah show.
All 300 members of the crowd will be flown over to Sydney in December for a free trip while Winfrey shoots several episodes of her talk show at the city's famed Opera House.
But Winfrey hasn't been as generous as fans think. The state of New South Wales and Australia's tourism department will be paying the staggering $2.7 million bill for the jaunt.
However, despite a backlash from taxpayers, the state's politicians insist the trip will lure a huge amount of tourists to their shores.
Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson says, "I think it's money well spent. This truly represents an amazing opportunity to showcase Australia, the warmth and hospitality of our people and the depth and breadth of everything our country has to offer visitors from around the world. Tourism Australia is finally getting it together. We as a nation will win as a result of this coup."


text:
ASR January - Best of Action Sports Shine
January 20, 2005
ASR January - Best of Action Sports Shine
Snow, events and philanthropy compliment 3-days of order writing
Laguna Beach, CA (January 17, 2005) – ASR brings out the best in the action sports industry every show and this ASR, January 14-16th in San Diego, took the best to the next level. From an increase in buying power, to events that exemplify the creativity of action sports, to the industry’s generosity giving back to SurfAid’s tsunami relief efforts, ASR buzzed with business energy.
“ASR January was an inspiring show,” said Kevin Flanagan, Show Director for ASR. “From the quality of our retailers, to the innovative new product, to the money raised for tsunami relief, this show produced positive vibes and results.”
The caliber of retailers at the show was evident in the strength of the buyer’s pen. Many successful specialty shops have opened new storefronts or expanded current stores in the last few years, representing bigger buying power per person on the floor. Exemplifying the strength of each pen, Dave Nash’s Sun Diego chain has grown by 33%, from 6 to 8 locations in the last year and his 4 buyers were hard at work over the 3-day show.
With over 31% of attending stores doing over 1 million in sales annually, orders were ready to be written and that was felt on the floor. “This was one of our best shows ever,” explains Jim Shubin, VP for Ezekiel. “People came in to get business done, our reps are booked.”
Snow at ASR
With many retailers asking for even more under one roof, the presence of snowboarding gear in the ASR mix proved useful. For the first time, Quiksilver brand had all of its product represented and was glad to have snow available. “Key accounts and media that we don’t usually have the chance to show snow to, were able to see it at ASR,” says Dave Rosenberger, VP of Quiksilver Snow.
Many key retailers jump started their snowboard product buying at January’s show. Jurgen Schultz owner of Encinitas’ K-5 Board Shop spent all 3 days at ASR and took a whole day to see snow. Duke Edukas of Surfside appreciated the diversification of the brands, “I’m always looking for more from the brands I carry and having more, like snow lines at the show, makes my job easier,” Edukas elaborated.
686 came to ASR to launch the company’s new sportswear line, but brought outerwear into the mix and picked up new specialty accounts in the process. Another benefit was found in the timing, “getting people in early saves turnaround time later and with outerwear that is especially important,” explains Mike West, owner of 686.
Action Sports Giving Back
ASR and industry associations SIMA, BRA and IASC worked to sell black ‘Band Together’ wristbands to support SurfAid International’s tsunami relief efforts in Indonesia.
“We are overwhelmed and appreciative of the support by ASR, SIMA, BRA and the manufacturers who got behind this effort,” says Mikke Pierson, board member of SurfAid. Many of the brands stepped up with big contributions buying hundreds of the $5 bands at a time and donating additional funds to the effort. The vintage surf auction started off with bidding on the autographed boards from surf’s biggest names that brought an additional $16,000+ to SurfAid’s tsunami relief work. The industry raised over $40,000 at ASR alone.
The public can join the action sports industry by banding together in support of SurfAid’s tsunami relief efforts by going to SurfAidInternational.org and ordering a wrist band. The wristbands will also be available for purchase at local boardsports specialty shops.
In breaks between doing business, attendees were treated to ground breaking events.
An unheard of line up of skate legends came together at ASR for NHS’ book signing of Built to Grind including Independent founders, Richard Novack, Fausto Vitello, and Eric Swenson and pros Danny Way, Steve Olson and Steve Alba. Also making the scene at ASR were team riders for various manufacturers like Tony Hawk, Sophia Mulanovich and Bob Burnquist who took turns at booths signing posters and boards. Nixon’s Shop T-Shirt Contest finished with, SBI shop employee, Jason Graham, walking away with a $10,000 Pratt art school scholarship.
ASR’s fashion show, set to rocking music and presented with attitude, highlighted the biggest trends for summer and fall. The stage is now set for the next ASR show March 8th and 9th in Huntington Beach where retailers and manufacturers will wrap up their substantial fall orders for the important back to school delivery. ASR returns to San Diego next September 9-11th.


text:
When LG revealed US pricing for its 2024 OLED TVs in late February, we noted that both the LG G4 and LG C4 had increased in prices. At the time, we estimated that it would be the same case in the UK. However, UK pricing on LG.com suggests that most 2024 models will be cheaper than we expected.
And to sweeten the deal, LG has also launched a sale that will run from today (April 3) to April 16, where you can get its new OLEDs not only at cheaper than expected prices, but also with a free soundbar.
One particular offer that caught our eye (that we’ve highlighted below) is for the 55-inch LG C4. Retailing at £1,899, it’s cheaper than the £2,099 launch price of its predecessor the LG C3, which was easily one of the best TVs of last year, and it also comes with a free LG US9CS soundbar.
Interestingly, we can also see confirmed pricing for the LG B4, which is one of our most anticipated OLED TVs of 2024, thanks to its new smaller 48-inch model, four HDMI 2.1 ports and Alpha 8 AI processor, which promise improver processing power and brightness akin to the LG C3.
Unfortunately, there’s no listing for the 48-inch B4 as of yet, but it’s nice to see that its other sizes, including the 55-, 65- and 77-inch, are roughly £200 cheaper than the C4 – an issue that initially held back the LG B3 last year.
Below we’ve listed all the UK prices for the LG B4, C4 and G4 that we can see on the site, although some models and sizes are missing. These are the prices for the TVs alone and not part of the LG sale:
- LG OLED55G4: £2,399
- LG OLED65G4: £3,299
- LG OLED77G4: £4,499
It’s worth noting that with the LG G4, there appear to be two models – the G46 and the G4S. The G4S appears to the model that comes with a stand included.
- LG OLED42C4: £1,399
- LG OLED48C4: £1,499
- LG OLED55C4: £1,899
- LG OLED65C4: £2,699
- LG OLED77C4: £3,799
- LG OLED55B4: £1,699
- LG OLED65B4: £2,500
- LG OLED77B4: £3,499
A price cut is a welcome sight
The real headline here is that even after this limited pre-order deal period ends, prices for the LG 2024 OLED TV range seem cheaper or at least similar to last year’s prices, especially after the price increase in the US.
Although we haven’t had a chance to fully test these TVs as of yet, from what we’ve seen in-person, we’re already impressed. The LG C4’s brightness boost is the real deal, with even better HDR highlights and a 144Hz refresh rate and the LG G4 is more than just its added brightness, with new stands included in the 55 and 65-inch models (subject to region availability) and the new Alpha 11 AI chip for even more improvements.
The LG C4 and G4 will also both support wireless, lossless Dolby Atmos sound with compatible LG soundbars and a new Dolby Vision Filmmaker Mode, which promises to combine all the best parts of picture settings – the vibrant punch of Dolby Vision HDR with the natural and most-accurate picture of Filmmaker Mode.
If these TVs are anything like their predecessors, the LG B3, LG C3 and LG G3, all of which were amongst the best OLED TVs of 2023, then they’re sure to be a success. We’ll have to wait until we’ve conducted our full tests for sure but in the meantime, it’s always refreshing to see savings where we didn’t think we’d get them.
You might also like…
The post LG’s 2024 OLED TVs finally get UK pricing, and you can pre-order them with a free soundbar now first appeared on www.techradar.com


text:
First real world efficiency tests for the new Freightliner Cascadia Evolution sound promising
Freightliner has recently revealed the first details about the new Cascadia Evolution that will be introduced as a 2014 model. In a press conference held not long ago, the company declared that theirnew Cascadia Evolution will be able to offer up to a 7% fuel economy improvement compared with the current model.
To prove that they are talking serious about the performances of the new model the company had organized a series of real-world tests hosted at Freightliner’s manufacturing facility in Detroit.
Mr. Tim Tindall, director-engine & component sales for Detroit, was the host of the event and said that 40 new Cascadia Evolution models were handed in customers’ hands to be tested.
Ten of these tractors were equipped with DD13 engines and had day cab configurations, while the rest of 30 vehicles were fitted with the new DD15 engine and came with sleeper cabs.
Tindall said, “All of these trucks are equipped with the visibility package [which is part of Virtual Technician], so we can look at fuel consumption at anytime on any of these customer trucks. The program is aimed at showing that the truck does what we say it does and that the reliability is what we say it is.”
After the tests, Tindall revealed that the new Freightliner Cascadia Evolution scored a 6.7 % improvement in fuel economy compared to the original Cascadia.
The second step of this demonstration will be made in September, when 61 additional Cascadia Evolution trucks will be delivered for extra tests. The trucks will be fitted with both DD15 (35 units) and DD15 (26 units ) engines and 16 of the DD15 models will also get the new Detroit DT12 transmission.


text:
A restaurant in New Orleans is hoping to raise awareness of racial wealth differences in the country by charging white customers more.
SAARTJ is a pop-up restaurant in the Louisiana city run by local Nigerian chef Tunde Wey who will be charging white customers $18 (£13) extra for their meal.
Much like the cafe in Melbourne, Australia which charged a ‘man-tax’ due to the gender pay gap, SAARTJ is charging an increase to highlight the racial pay gap in New Orleans.
In 2013, a study found that the average household income of an African-American in the city was 54 per cent lower than that of a white person.
Customers have two price options to choose from. Either $12 (£8.66) or the suggested price of $30 (£21.66).
As Tunde explains the standard price is available to everyone, but only white customers will be asked to consider the suggested price.
SOURCE: Greg Evans
The Independent: Indy 100


text:
A rendering of the completed renovation for Woodland Mall. Courtesy PREIT
Woodland Mall is entering a new phase of redevelopment. The demolition of the old Sears buildings and the anchoring of a new upscale retailer are expected to lay the foundation for future tenants. In addition to enhancing the mall, owner PREIT plans to divert about 90 percent of crushed concrete toward recycling.
The demolition of the Sears and Sear Auto Center buildings will make way for the arrival of Von Maur, a high-end fashion retailer. Dan Pascale, vice president of development for PREIT, said anchoring Von Maur to the property was strategic to strengthening the mall as a whole.
“Prudent mall owners are constantly enhancing the mall and adding other segments to it, such as more retail, more restaurants, more grocery; you have to keep them all vibrant,” he said. “If you sit back and do nothing, customers are going to go somewhere else.”
Von Maur is expected to open at Woodland Mall in fall 2019. This will be its first location in West Michigan. There are currently 32 locations in 15 states.
Renovations will cost over $100 million. Lansing-based Clark Construction, which also helped renovate the mall in 1998, is the general contractor for this project. Farmington Hills-based JPRA Architects and civil engineer Spalding DeDecker, out of Rochester Hills, also were contracted for the renovation.
Once demolition is complete, the mall will have 313,000 square feet of gross leasable area. The mall plans to bill back approximately 290,000 square feet in a different configuration. The new configuration will allow the mall to anchor additional tenants.
“Because Sears’ building footprint was so big, we’re adding outparcels, as well,” Pascale said. “We’re very pleased with the amount of interest we’ve received. We got national retailers and restaurants interested.”
The current redevelopment is expected to have a domino effect on existing tenants at the mall. Pascale said in addition to adding shop space, the mall will relocate current tenants to accommodate the new layout. Renovations will affect approximately 25 percent of the mall’s existing 116 tenants, and about 40 new tenants are expected to arrive when the project ends.
To support sustainability, 20,000 tons of concrete — about 90 percent of the demolished buildings — will be crushed and recycled for use as building pads, parking lot base and site grading. Demolition began Oct. 19 and is expected to take a month to complete.
Construction crews also are recycling asphalt, which Pascale said will be used as sub-grade material to repave over 30 acres of parking lot surrounding the mall, not including the project area.
“The parking lot was in pretty rough shape,” he said. “We will have a brand new parking lot surface across the entire mall site.”
To further reduce the project’s carbon footprint, the crew will crush concrete on-site, minimizing truck traffic on the roadways. The mall also has taken steps to reduce noise by using a quieter cement crusher, reduce runoff with filters around the storm drains and reduce dust by keeping it wet to prevent spreading.


text:
Lahore: 3 vendors booked for overcharging
LAHORE: A monitoring team of the City District Government of Lahore on Sunday got registered cases against three shopkeepers for overcharging and selling substandard commodities in Sunday bazaars.
The team led by District Officer (Monitoring) Amin Akbar Chopra visited Sunday bazaars at Wahdat Colony, Moon Market and some other places and got registered cases against stall vendors Muhammad Nazir, Muhammad Asim and Rana Javaid.
The team also cancelled licenses of two stall vendors and issued warning to another five shopkeepers for violating the price lists issued by market committees.
It also compared prices with the last week`s price list and observed an increase in rates of seven out of 31 vegetables and four out of 24 available fruits.
The team directed officials of market committees to have a close liaison with wholesale markets to bring down prices of fruits/vegetables and other commodities.


text:
Small businesses or hobbyists who need prototypes of their can’t-miss projects might find 3-D printing as close as the nearest Staples office-supply store.
Staples has unveiled 3-D printing centers at two stores in New York and Los Angeles. If the center prove popular, the company might make 3-D printing as accessible as photocopying.
Each store features a 3D printing center that lets individuals and small businesses create personalized products and use 3D printing hardware. Customers can also bring in their own 3D print-ready files to have them printed. Staples and printer maker 3D Systems are partnering on the centers.
“3D printing offers enormous potential for small businesses, and by using Staples, they can print with the technology without having to invest in it,” said Damien Leigh, senior vice president of business services for Staples Inc. “The test with 3D Systems will help us learn about our customers’ needs for a local 3D printing service, and how Staples can help them make more happen for their business through 3D printing.”
The office-supply chain started selling 3-D printers at some stores last year.


text:
cooling off of prices in few weeks ahead.
A Barclays report said onion prices are reported to be softer in October, and "we continue to expect food prices to normalise somewhat in the coming months on the good monsoon and a large increase in sowing".
Commenting on the data, Ficci Secretary General A Didar Singh the food inflation has remained at high levels for an extended period and needs to be tackled by taking adequate measures from the supply and distribution side.
"Unless we do this, we face the risk of food inflation becoming a systemic problem," he said.
Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said the skewed inflation structure would further affect the prospects of economic growth revival. He said both government and the monetary authority need to focus on boosting the growth.
"The upcoming quarterly monetary policy review must not resort to interest rate tightening, as it would further push the prices up," he added.
SURESH KUMAR RAMANATHAN, REGIONAL HEAD OF FX AND RATES STRATEGY, CIMB, KUALA LUMPUR:
"Much of the inflation that rose in September is due to squeeze in liquidity and the fact rates were raised sharply higher. It's not surprising that the first impact was seen in food prices. The rise should taper off in coming months as liquidity improves in money markets."
SHAKTI SATAPATHY, FIXED INCOME STRATEGIST, AK CAPITAL, MUMBAI
"The data is almost in line with the upward inflationary expectation owing to higher food prices in general and onion prices in particular.
"Further marginal rebound in the manufacturing inflation and core indicates some inflationary pressure in coming months. Having said that, the sub factors within the manufacturing space are well within the comfort zone.
"Though a good monsoon is expected to improve the food prices in the coming quarters, the central bank would stick to its anti-inflationary stance on October policy meeting and might observe a trending down in the inflationary forces before offering any rate-supportive growth triggers."
ARVIND CHARI, FIXED INCOME FUND MANAGER, QUANTUM ASSET MANAGEMENT, MUMBAI"
"WPI print much higher than market expectation. Manufactured products and non-food primary has also shown increase, which could be the result of the large INR depreciation between May and August finally catching through in the numbers."
"But given the rebound in INR in September, we should see some cool off in the INR-linked commodities ahead."
"Food prices still remain high, especially the volatile prices of onions which are keeping the index elevated. The impact of the good monsoons is


text:
- Microsoft – It launched Windows Phone in 2010, and tablet-friendly Windows 8 this year. It is experienced in building developer communities. However, Windows Phone has so far only managed a paltry 3 percent platform market share.
- Amazon – A smartphone would be a natural extension of Amazon’s distribution empire, and its Kindle Fire tablet play. Amazon has 106 million unique visitors accessing its sites, many of them with credit cards on file.
- Samsung – Its dependency on Android may become a liability and push the South Korean manufacturer into the platform business. Samsung’s strength is its hardware sales prowess — Samsung shipped over 56 million smartphones in the third quarter of 2012.
Blackberry? Dead. Check out John Belushi and insert Blackberry for Niedermeyer.