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Athletic leader New Balance will deploy Aptos cloud-based applications across its retail footprint in North America and Europe in a quest to modernize and elevate the customer experience. The technology will provide expanded fulfillment options, optimized merchandise availability and seamless interactions across channels, according to a press release.
New Balance employs more than 8,000 associates around the globe, and in addition to its manufacturing operations in the U.S. and U.K., it has more than 130 owned retail stores.
The Aptos technology will touch nearly every aspect of New Balance’s retail operations — from how the company engages with shoppers to how orders are captured and fulfilled to inventory management.
New Balance will also adopt Aptos ONE, a microservices-based SaaS platform.
“For more than 100 years, New Balance has been a brand and business in motion — we were born to move,” Stephanie Smith, VP of retail, North America, at New Balance, said in the release. “The same energy and passion that we invest in our products, people and communities can be found in our commitment to offering modern, differentiated and highly satisfying customer experiences.”
“In Aptos, we see a global technology partner that is investing in the future of retail,” Ravi Shankavaram, New Balance CIO, said in the release. “By harnessing the power of SaaS and microservices and tapping into proven-at-scale and functionally rich solutions, we are excited to move forward on our retail and omni innovation journey with Aptos and a unique shopping experience.”
This article originally appeared in Retail Customer Experience.


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It has been revealed that a pantomime starring Jim Davidson was forced to change an item of sexy fancy dress after being told it was breaking the Geneva Convention.
The Pavilion Theatre in Glasgow put on Robin Hood over the festive season, which featured a character in a naughty nurse fancy dress costume.
However, it had red crosses on the hat and tunic and a representative from the British Red Cross was soon in touch to say the production was breaking the law by portraying the organisation in a non-neutral manner.
Producers quickly had to alter the outfits so they displayed a green cross in order to avoid prosecution under the Geneva Conventions Act 1957.
A spokesperson for the Red Cross said: "We do have a very serious obligation to protect the Red Cross emblem."
Indeed, the majority of the costumes available for people who want to dress up as nurses actually feature white crosses on a red background - but it may be worth watching out for in the future!

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Conor McGregor’s much awaited return is this weekend at UFC 246 but Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone stole the show with his dark cowboy outfit that made him look like the Undertaker at Wednesday’s press conference:
Cerrone’s unique outfit was created by Toronto based clothing designer Hussein Dalla AKA DALLLA.
DALLA said his focus is on establishing a strong presence, “I want to keep things very refined but still have that “wow” factor. Contemporary but with a punch. Over the years of working with Cowboy we’ve definitely created a signature persona for him. This time we plan to stick to our roots, just with a more elegant tone.”
The McGregor-Cerrone is set to kick off this weekend and you can check out our in-depth breakdowns of the fight below.


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Fire in the marketplace
The phrase in the headline is a standard cliché that is used in Turkish newspaper headlines, if you can still use it. Media, business circles and even market insiders may be too afraid to put it in a headline at the moment, but it is the undisputed truth in the Turkish economy these days. And the president’s inflammatory remarks are only adding fuel to the fire.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan may be obsessed with the interest rates, but the Turkish public has one real psychological definition of an economic crisis: the increase of the U.S. dollar. When interest rates go up, very few understand its effects in the grocery store but when the dollar goes up, everyone feels the heat.
So here is one big prediction coming from a real political and economics insider. And I write that boldly.
In a short time, $1 will equal 1 euro.
Last week, during a very interesting political consultants’ conference in Istanbul, PR executives and marketing managers were quietly whispering how hard it had become to get payments from their customers. The backbone or the Turkish economy, SMEs (KOBI) are struggling to make ends meet these days. Checks are bouncing; middlemen are emerging to lend money at higher rates than normal.
Nobody dares to report it, but rapid bankruptcies are seen in cities like Antalya and Gaziantep. They are important hubs of trade and tourism and normally should be immune to currency crises as they do business in either the dollar or euro. But unfortunately, they have very little opportunity to survive until the elections.
Credit card debt has reached such a critical point that there are about 3.9 million citizens with card debt they will never be able to pay. About half a million small business have shut down in the past decade, as they were not able to survive the brutal rise of shopping malls. There are already subprime lenders in the housing market that hound for unpaid mortgages.
Under Erdoğan, the Turkish government has embarked on massive infrastructure projects, creating a huge debt balloon for the construction sector. All big companies are working with numerous subcontractors that use very low paid workers and are getting huge commissions. Now, even the big companies are in a crunch to get paid. High-rise residences and office buildings in Istanbul are ghost skyscrapers soon to be hosting another wave of Iraqi or Syrian refugees.
So it will not be a big surprise if Turkey all of a sudden allows the U.S. to use the İncirlik airbase in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). It will not be a big surprise if Turkey accepts some of the conditions of the coalition and may even say yes to a Syria under President Bashar al-Assad. If your money is tight, you will have to dance with the ones that have it, even if it hurts your principles, and even if it takes a short time.
But above all of this debate, there is one place that Erdoğan should be really careful about: Kapalıçarşı (the Grand Bazaar).
Last week when the dollar was killing the entire market, the open currency and jewelry market in Istanbul’s historic bazaar was furious over the president’s remarks. “I cannot eat gold or silver,” one merchant said. “We do not care about his interest rate madness. People are closing their shops in the malls without even making one sale. How are we going to get food?”
This is not a street vendor speaking. Not even a small shop owner. These are guys that trade currencies in the open market and they hold the pulse of all businesses that need international currency. So when the Grand Bazaar starts to hurt, one should be afraid. Very afraid. Otherwise get ready to witness Tehran 1979.


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Viktor Lazzeri (left) and Stefan Barbieri
A familiar face for the Barbieri family is joining the team as Business Development Manager.
Viktor Lazzeri started at Barbieri in 2011, initially working as Supply Chain Manager. Later he took the role of the VP of Product and Innovation and also managed the operations of Barbieri North America Inc. until year 2019.
With immediate effect Viktor is now back in his new role with the focus of expanding Barbieri’s international business into new markets, applications, and industries. Viktor is familiar with the color measurement technology of Barbieri as already involved during development of the top of the line Spectro LFP qb and its textile edition.
“I am excited about this opportunity to explore new potentials for Barbieri and its technology” states Viktor, who will manage growth areas, trends and new and existing partnerships.
Company CEO Stefan Barbieri: “Viktor is the right guy in bringing our highly sophisticated and innovative technology into new strategic markets. His proven competences and knowledge are an important asset in our company’s growth plans.”
Welcome back Viktor!
More information on Barbieri technology: https://www.barbierielectronic.com/


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WASHINGTON—The notorious hair straightening products company, Brazilian Blowout, has received its first official warning from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has stated that the products are ‘adulterated’ and mis-branded.
The company has until Sept. 12 to comply with the FDA’s directives, otherwise the products could be taken off U.S. shelves and further injunctions could be filed against the company.
FDA WARNS BRAZILIAN BLOWOUT TO STOP MISLEADING CONSUMERS
The FDA is asking Brazilian Blowout to reduce the level of formaldehyde from its products and change its misleading labels and advertising, which state that the products are formaldehyde-free.
The FDA conducted their own sample analysis of the product, and found dangerously high levels of the liquid form of formaldehyde, ranging from 8.7-10.4 percent. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires an occupational hazard alert at levels higher than 0.1 percent.
Dangers of Formaldehyde
Formaldehyde, commonly found in a number of “Brazilian style” keratin-based hair straighteners, is extremely dangerous and a known carcinogen. The FDA reports that salon workers and consumers have already reported a number of injuries to the FDA, including eye disorders, nervous system disorders, respiratory tract problems, chest pain, vomiting and rash.
Labeled As No Formaldehyde Or Formaldehyde Free
Michael Roosevelt, acting director in the FDA’s Office of Compliance states in the letter to the company, “Brazilian Blowout is an adulterated cosmetic because it bears or contains a deleterious substance that may render it injurious to users under the conditions of use prescribed in your labeling.” He continues, “Brazilian Blowout contains the liquid form of formaldehyde, methylene glycol; however, the product label declares that the product contains ‘No Formaldehyde’ or is ‘Formaldehyde Free.’ This declaration renders your product misbranded because it is a false and misleading statement.”
The National Healthy Nail And Beauty Salon Alliance
Since the beginning of the controversy almost one year ago, the National Healthy Nail and Beauty Salon Alliance (Alliance) has called on the FDA to take swift action with a national recall.
“We thank the FDA for issuing this highly anticipated warning. Stylists need to know about the dangers of using this toxic product on a day to day basis,” said Women’s Voices for the Earth’s executive director Erin Switalski, on behalf of the Alliance.
“Brazilian Blowout can no longer lie to the public about their contents and continue to claim their product to be safe. Brazilian Blowout has until Sept. 12 to make this right, or else the FDA can and should serve an injunction against the company for willfully endangering public safety,” said Miriam Yeung, executive director of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum.
Banned In Australia, Canada, Ireland, France & Germany
Brazilian Blowout and similar products have been banned in Australia, Canada, Ireland, France and Germany, U.S. OSHA has issued a national hazard alert, and the cosmetics industry’s own safety review board came out with an opinion critiquing the safety of hair straighteners using formaldehyde. This year the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released its long-awaited report on formaldehyde, confirming the EPA’s determination that formaldehyde causes cancer in humans. Yet, manufacturers have done little to address these concerns.
Broken Regulatory System
“If consumers have been wondering why they’ve still been able to get Brazilian Blowouts despite so much troubling news, the answer is because our regulatory system is broken,” says Anuja Mendiratta, a representative of the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative. “Laws that are supposed to protect consumers and workers simply aren’t enough. Even when a product has clearly been shown to poison people, the FDA has little authority to take immediate meaningful action in the case of cosmetics.”
The National Healthy Nail and Beauty Salon Alliance has demanded that the FDA immediately recall Brazilian Blowout and similar products. However, the FDA can only issue a “voluntary recall,” meaning that the government cannot mandate the removal of dangerous products from the market. These lax regulations are under scrutiny, and are being rectified in the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2011, which is currently being debated in Congress. The new law would set safety standards for chemicals used in personal care and salon products before they reach the marketplace, and phase out toxic ingredients such as formaldehyde found in the Brazilian Blowout.
More About The AllianceThe National Healthy Nail and Beauty Salon Alliance (Alliance) works to increase the health, safety, and rights of salon workers by reducing their toxic chemical exposure through engaging in strategic movement building, policy advocacy and media efforts nationwide. The Alliance is a joint project of the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, and Women’s Voices for the Earth. www.nailsalonalliance.org
Please follow us on Twitter at: https://Twitter.com/HairBoutique. I look forward to meeting new people from all walks of Twitter and learning from their Tweets.


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Dear EarthTalk: Why on earth would cans and other food storage containers contain toxic BPA that can make us sick? Is there any way to avoid it?
– Melinda Billings, Hixson, TN
If you like the occasional can of tomato soup or diced pears, chances are you’re walking around with trace amounts of bisphenol A (BPA) in your bloodstream. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 90 percent of us are walking around with trace amounts of this toxic synthetic chemical—commonly used as a constituent component in the epoxy resins lining the inside of cans, boxes and other food storage containers to prevent corrosion and breakages—in our bloodstreams.
One of a class of so-called “hormone disrupting” or “endocrine mimicking” chemicals, BPA fools the body into thinking it’s the naturally occurring hormone estrogen. The result can be negative effects on brain development, metabolism and the reproductive system. BPA exposure has also been linked to cancer, heart disease and other serious health disorders.
“Evidence suggests the developing fetus and young child are most at risk, but adolescents also appear uniquely vulnerable,” reports the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a leading non-profit research and advocacy group. Of course, the harm isn’t limited to children and teens; adults can suffer the ill effects of a lifetime of bio-accumulated BPA coursing through their veins as well.
According to EWG, we can cut down on the amount of BPA we ingest by steering clear of canned and processed foods and replacing them with fresh, frozen and dried options. Get your tomato soup from the hot prepared foods section of your local natural foods market or, better yet, make it yourself from scratch from organic ingredients. And instead of buying diced pears in a can, buy a real pear and dice it up yourself.
“For those who cannot avoid foods in BPA-lined cans, rinsing the food in water may help lower the level of BPA in the food,” reports EWG, adding that rinsing cuts back on other unhealthy additives—such as sodium on beans or sweet syrup on fruit—as well. EWG also warns never to heat up food directly in a can: “Transfer it to a stainless-steel pot or pan for stovetop cooking, or microwave in glass – not plastic.”
If you’re not sure whether your favorite foods are at risk of containing BPA, you can search EWG’s Food Scores database to find out, and also to look for safer alternatives that don’t contain hormone disruptors.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned BPA in baby bottles, sippy cups and infant formula packaging, but the vast majority of us are still at risk. Environmental and health advocates are calling on the agency to ban BPA outright from any packaging materials that come into contact with foods, drinks or water, but so far officials don’t seem inclined to take the now ubiquitous chemical off the market completely. In 2014 and again in 2016, Democrats in Congress floated legislation that would have banned BPA and other potentially dangerous food additives in all food storage containers, but neither bill ever made it out of committee.
Without any help from the government, then, it’s up to us to wean ourselves off of BPA by making smart choices about what we buy and what we eat.


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We heard that Burnout developer Criterion Games was looking into bringing Burnout Paradise to Xbox One via backward compatibility last year, though since then we have not gotten any updates regarding how this process is going. However, the developer has now broken the silence and confirmed that the process is still ongoing, but they have nothing further to announce at this time.
They provided the update on their Twitter account recently, saying “Patience, Paradise fans! This work is continuing and we hope to have more BC news soon.” Of course, many of the comments below the tweet are fans begging for a remaster or maybe even a brand new Burnout game, but that’s to be expected.
It’s been a long time since Burnout Paradise originally launched for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, with the game’s release happening in 2008. It was a fantastic game that provided an awesome world to race and cause havoc through, and fans have unsurprisingly been craving a follow-up ever since.
While Criterion Games has provided additional support for several games of the past few years, the last game they developed solely was Need for Speed: Most Wanted.
- This article was updated on:February 27th, 2018


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After getting trashed recently by a London fashion critic, the Canadiens bleu-blanc-rouge jersey has finally got some well-deserved respect.
ESPN.com recently ranked every NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL team based on their uniform designs as part of its Uni Watch Power Rankings. There are 122 teams in total and the Canadiens came in at No. 1.
This comes after a London fashion critic recently ripped the Habs’ bleu-blanc-rouge jersey after Nicola Roberts of the English-Irish pop group Girls Aloud wore a Habs sweater (and little else) at an event to launch her new TV show Styled To Rock.
“The singer stepped out to the special bash at London’s trendy Soho Hotel wearing what appeared to be just an oversized baggy sports top for ice hockey team the Montreal Canadiens in place of a dress,” the London Daily Mail wrote.
The paper added: “She is known for her kooky style, pushing boundaries with her choices. But it seemed a step too far tonight for the pop star as she tried a bit hard to be different.
“Nicola matched the garish red top with white heels and gold jewellery, while she wore her hair down and wavy.”
ESPN.com had much kinder words for the Habs jersey: “Proud standard-bearers for a league, a sport, a nation and now for the uni-verse as well, the Habs have it all: an iconic logo, two distinct but equally classic uni designs (it’s odd that the wraparound chest stripe only appears on the home jersey, but the road design works fine without it), and an ideal balance of red, white and blue. This isn’t just a perfect hockey uniform set – it’s a perfect uniform set, period. Unlike the old-school classics in the other sports (Yankees, Celtics, Raiders), it has some major visual pizzazz. Puts the biscuit in the basket, and then some.”
Following the Canadiens in the top five on the ESPN.com list were the Chicago Bears, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs and Boston Bruins. You can see the complete ESPN.com list by clicking here.
You can read more about the London fashion critic ripping the Habs jersey by clicking here.
(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)


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Online service NexCura is sold
Seattle company provides answers to medical queries
Published 10:00 pm, Monday, November 7, 2005
The Thomson Corp. has acquired Seattle-based NexCura Inc. for an unspecified amount to strengthen its presence in the growing field of electronic medical information.
Started in 1998, NexCura accepts online medical questions from a person and uses technology and information from an editorial board of doctors to analyze that individual's condition.
It provides information for 30 different conditions, including cancer, cardiology and respiratory care. After NexCura receives the questions, it offers personalized medical analysis, possible treatments and questions to ask a physician.
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The online service is free, but NexCura earns money by matching the submitted information with medical companies looking for clinical trial patients or product customers, said Peter Hoover, its chief executive.
The Oct. 31 cash acquisition, which was announced Monday, came about because NexCura needed corporate backing and resources to grow in the coming five years, Hoover said.
He added it has relied partly on $4 million in venture capital raised in 2002.
"We were looking for a partner who could significantly extend our reach, financially and in terms of market resources and products," he said.
The acquisition enables New Jersey-based Thomson Healthcare to have a larger presence in the field, said Kevin King, its president and chief executive.
NexCura estimates that it serves about 750,000 people each year in such areas as oncology and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.
King said that number could be double or triple that amount because this online market is growing fast.
"We were very interested in that," he said. "It's a market expansion for us."
One upshot of the acquisition is that Thomson is letting NexCura remain in Seattle, said Hoover, adding that no layoffs at the 20-person company are planned.
"We're actually looking to hire people," he said.
With the Thomson acquisition, Hoover hopes to expand NexCura's medical information base to cover depression and more cardiovascular areas.
From its founding until last month, NexCura was a private company. It was once known as CancerFacts.com.
Hoover would only say that its revenue, as a private company, has grown more than 30 percent each year and that it achieved profitability in the third quarter.
He expects this year to be a profitable one for the company.
About 15 businesses had talked with NexCura about acquiring it, according to Hoover, who said NexCura approached Thomson about an agreement.
NexCura's board and shareholders supported the Thomson acquisition largely because of its resources, size and stability.
Thomson Corp., the parent company of Thomson Healthcare, is a global information provider and employs about 40,000 people worldwide.
In 2004, it reported revenue of $8.1 billion.
"Just raising cash didn't solve all of our problems," Hoover said.


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|Bid||42.95 x 0|
|Ask||43.05 x 0|
|Day's Range||42.80 - 43.20|
|52 Week Range||35.60 - 46.90|
|PE Ratio (TTM)||12.38|
|Earnings Date||Aug 7, 2018|
|Forward Dividend & Yield||2.22 (5.24%)|
|1y Target Est||46.61|
Xinyi Glass Holdings, Hysan Development, and China Merchants Port Holdings are three of the best paying dividend stocks for creating diversified portfolio income. Dividends can be underrated but they formRead More...
Dividend-paying companies such as Xtep International Holdings and Hysan Development can help grow your portfolio income through their sizeable dividend payouts. Great dividend payers create a safe bet to increaseRead More...
Feb 28 (Reuters) - Hysan Development Co Ltd: * FY REPORTED PROFIT HK$3,636 MILLION VERSUS HK$1,218 MILLION * FY TURNOVER HK$3,548 MILLION VERSUS HK$3,535 MLN * BOARD TO DECLARE A SECOND INTERIM DIVIDEND ...
Hysan Development Company Limited (SEHK:14) trades with a trailing P/E of 44.4x, which is higher than the industry average of 9.1x. While 14 might seem like a stock to avoidRead More...
The scrapped sale of The Excelsior hotel in Causeway Bay may have been a “reality check” in a heated Hong Kong property market, according to Irene Lee, chairman of Hysan Development Co.
Oct.10 -- Hysan Development is celebrating its 20th anniversary as the leading landlord in Hong Kong's Causeway Bay neighborhood by brining back the city's iconic Yum Sing Bar. Executive Chairman Irene Lee joined Bloomberg's Stephen Engle for an exclusive interview at the pop up bar in Lee Garden One to discuss how the neighborhood has evolved and how she intends to adapt her properties to continue to thrive in the future. (Courtesy graphic added to video.)
Oct.04 -- Hysan Development is bringing Hong Kong's iconic nightspot Yum Sing Bar back to life to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their first marquee retail complex in Causeway Bay. Executive Chairman Irene Lee joined Bloomberg Television's Chief North Asia Correspondent Stephen Engle for an exclusive interview to discuss how Hysan will adopt its retail and property strategy to ensure continued success over the next 20 years.


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|| Print ||
|Wednesday, December 04, 2013|
USA Today: Avoiding brick-and-mortar stores, holiday shoppers set a new Cyber Monday sales record lured by deals on Amazon.com, eBay.com and other websites.
"Things are off to a really good start," said Scot Wingo, CEO of ChannelAdvisor, which helps merchants sell more through online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay and other web channels including Google. "Cyber Monday numbers were really impressive."
Cyber Monday sales rose 16% to a record $2.29 billion, according to Adobe Systems, which tracks activity on roughly 2,000 U.S. retail websites. IBM's Digital Analytics Benchmark, which tracks transactions from about 800 retail sites, put the sales increase at almost 21% compared to a year earlier.
Friday, July 10, 2015
BY LINDA BAKER
Market of Choice is on a tear. In 2012 the 35-year-old Eugene-based grocery chain opened a central kitchen/distribution center in its hometown. The market opened its third Portland store in the Cedar Mill neighborhood this year; another outpost in Bend broke ground in March. A fourth Portland location is slated for the inner southeast “LOCA” development, a mixed-use project featuring condos and retail. Revenues in 2014 were $175 million, a double-digit increase over 2013. CEO Rick Wright discusses growth, market trends and how he keeps new “foodie” grocery clerks happy.
Thursday, July 09, 2015
The sweltering weather didn't keep the crowds away. Although the numbers were down slightly from last year, the Oregon Food Bank raised $850,636 to fight hunger. About 80,000 people attended despite temperatures in the upper 90s.
Monday, July 13, 2015
BY KIM MOORE
Revenues in Oregon's private, for profit sector maintained solid growth as the economy continued to rebound.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Pushing the extreme.
Monday, July 13, 2015
BY KIM MOORE
A conversation with Greg Lambert, president of Mid Oregon Personnel Services.
Wednesday, June 03, 2015
As part of our green workplaces story, Oregon Business checked out a community service project undertaken by Portland Youth Builders, a nonprofit alternative high school. In partnership with Whole Foods, PYB built garden boxes for a Home Forward housing site. Home Forward is a government agency that provides housing for low income residents and people with disabilities.
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Oregon's roads are crumbling, and revenues from state and local gas taxes are not sufficient to pay for improvements. We asked readers if the private sector should help fund transportation maintenance and repairs. Research partner CFM Strategic Communications conducted the poll of 366 readers in February.
"I feel private enterprises are capable of operating at a higher efficiency than state government."
"This has been used in Oregon since the mid-1800s. It is not a new financing method. This form of financing may help Oregon close its infrastructure deficit by leveraging funds."
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One of the many reasons why businesses fail is due to the lack of attention to analytics. Sure, you can go on running your business, but mastering the science of analytics will translate into a business advantage. But what exactly are analytics and why are they so important?
Court experience helps legal firm anticipate potential problems for clients and prevent expensive litigation.
When Garmin AT needed to consolidate operations for its 550 employees, it scanned its entire corporate map for possible sites.
Professional and Continuing Education (PACE) and the College of Business at Oregon State University is offering “Business Analytics for Competitive Advantage”, a two-day intensive workshop.
34 spots for food, 17 places to sip, and 7 sites to choose a brew beckon visitors.
A look back at the shifting sands of Portland’s growth and development.


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Lloyds banking boss Alison Brittain has been appointed chief executive of Whitbread, to succeed Andy Harrison when he retires next year.
Harrison announced his decision to retire from the company last month, following five years in the role during which time Whitbread has risen in value from £2.5b to £9.7b. He will step down at the end of the current financial year, ending February 2016.
Brittain, who is currently group director, retail division Lloyds Banking Group, will join Whitbread in January 2016. Her past experience includes senior roles at Santander and Barclays, and Brittain is also a non-executive director of Marks and Spencer Group.
Commenting on the appointment, Whitbread chairman Richard Baker said: "We ran an extensive search and selection process and Alison was the standout candidate from a very strong field.
"Alison has vast experience in successfully managing multi-site operations with leading brands. She has a natural ability to inspire and motivate large customer-facing teams to deliver great service and her strong personal belief in the importance of putting the customer at the heart of the business makes her a perfect fit with our culture and values.
"Alison also has proven experience in delivering digital online and mobile technology, business to business marketing, and managing significant property portfolios."
Brittain added: "I am absolutely delighted to have been chosen to lead Whitbread. I am impressed by its success and its strong, well-loved brands. Its belief in focussing on customers and team members is something that is very close to my heart and I am committed to supporting and developing this even further in the future."
Latest video from The Caterer


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Also read Enterprise Mobility Asia News Weekly
Also read Field Mobility News Weekly
Also read Mobile Commerce News Weekly
Also read Mobile Health News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly
According to a new study from Pike Research, global investments in smart city infrastructures will reach $108 billion by 2020. Read Original Content.
Market research firm MarketsandMarkets expects cloud computing and smartphones to fuel a healthy 26.1 percent compound annual growth rate for the global M2M market, reaching close to $86 billion by 2017. Read Original Content.
According to ABI Research, the application enablement platform and connected device platform for the M2M market will grow to $3.85 billion by 2017. Read Original Content.
ILS Technology provides ready-to-use cloud based platforms to implement and manage M2M (machine to machine) and embedded wireless devices that connect to SAP. ILS Technology simplifies deployments and offers unparalleled security to protect company and customer data and to ensure regulatory compliance. This newsletter is sponsored in part by ILS Technology.
During a keynote at MobileCon in San Diego this week, Sanjay Poonen, president of technology and innovation products at SAP, highlighted his company's plans to use M2M and the cloud as opportunities for app development and new entrants in the mobile commerce space. Read Original Content.
TechNavio's analysts forecast the Global M2M Wireless Network Services market to grow at a compound annual rate of 29.4 percent over the period 2011-2015. One of the key factors contributing to this market growth is the increasing number of mobile devices and better network coverage. Read Original Content.
German operator group Deutsche Telekom has partnered with US SIM card solution provider Digi, which specialises in supplying industrial-grade M2M solutions. Read Original Content.
Option, a global leader in wireless connectivity, security and experience, today announces CloudGate, a secure and reliable 3G M2M gateway that brings new levels of flexibility and ease of deployment for M2M solutions in the US market. Read Original Content.
TechNavio's analysts forecast the Global Smart Grid Home Area Network market to grow at a compound annual rate of 17.05 percent over the period 2011-2015. One of the key factors contributing to this market growth is the integration of various technologies into the power grid. Read Original Content.
Founded in 1979, DSI is a global provider of Enterprise Mobility Solutions®, helping companies worldwide increase productivity and profitability regardless of data source, device type, operating system or network connectivity. DSI serves clients globally through its offices in Australia, Canada, China, France, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States. This newsletter is sponsored in part by DSI.
According to a report by Pike Research, global investment in four key areas – traffic management systems, public transportation systems, vehicle-to-vehicle systems and smart charging for plug-in electric vehicles – is expected to reach $13.1billion between 2011 and 2017. Indeed annual spending is expected to surge from $770 million in 2011 to $3 billion in 2017. Read Original Content.
Research firm Pike Research expects smart appliance sales to show greater increases after 2015. The firm expects worldwide sales of smart appliances to climb rapidly for the remainder of the decade, reaching just under 45 million units per year in 2020. Read Original Content.
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Last year, Mariah Carey launched Mariah’s Cookies, a virtual bakery concept that allows fans to order the sweet treats from third-party delivery apps like Grubhub, Postmates and UberEats. The cookies are now making their return for the 2021 holiday season.
The Mariah’s Cookies Holiday Hits Trio, a special-edition box filled with holiday flavors, is now available for a limited time. “We forgot to leave cookies out for Santa last year and were terrified we’d wind up on the naughty list,” jokes Mariah in a statement. “So we FaceTimed him over the summer to ensure we got his top 3 flavors.”
Those flavors, according to the Queen of Christmas, are Gingerbread, Cinnamon Sugar and Chocolate Raspberry Truffle. In addition to the special-edition boxes of those cookies, the entire line of flavors is available, from Chocolate Chunk and Heath Bar to Spiced Oatmeal Raisin and White Chocolate Cranberry.
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.


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Nissan and Sunwoda to jointly study battery development
Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and Chinese company Sunwoda Electric Vehicle Battery Co., Ltd. will begin studying joint development of next-generation vehicle batteries for Nissan’s e-POWER vehicles.
The two companies will also discuss the development of an efficient production system to ensure stable supply capacity for jointly developed batteries. Nissan and Sunwoda aim to conclude a final agreement by the end of this year, based on the specific content and conditions of the study.
Nissan is expanding its global lineup of electric cars and e-POWER models. The company’s e-POWER technology consists of an electric motor that delivers power directly to the wheels, and an onboard gasoline engine that generates electricity for the motor. So far, the technology has only been available in Japan and lately Thailand. Nissan said it will expand the award-winning 100% electric motor-driven e-POWER technology globally into the B- and C-segments. Nissan expects to sell more than 1 million electrified vehicles annually by the end of fiscal year 2023.
Following recent plans to restructure and realign its global alliance with French automaker Renault, Nissan will primarily concentrate on markets in Asia, namely China and Japan, as well as North America. This focus is part of the reasoning behind looking into an alliance with Sunwoda. Nissan emphasises Sunwoda’s established global track record in the development of lithium-ion batteries, mainly used in consumer electronics and automotive batteries. Nissan said it is confident that Sunwoda’s deep-rooted technological expertise will contribute to Nissan’s e-POWER strategy.
Further discussions by the companies will focus on combining Nissan’s expertise in electric vehicles and battery technology with Sunwoda’s next-generation battery development capabilities and production capacity, with an eye to strengthening competitiveness in the Chinese market and globally. The companies are also considering the joint establishment of a secure supply structure geared toward future global business opportunities.
To learn more about e-POWER, click here.


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Return of the Rainbow Logo
Another theory in the Apple blogosphere relates to Apple’s classic rainbow logo, which first debuted in 1977 but was phased out in the late 90s. Last month, a tipster suggested that Apple could bring back the rainbow logo this year — possibly on a physical product like a Mac or iPhone.
There have been some other hints that the rainbow logo could make a triumphant return this year. On the other hand, it’s worth noting that the colors in the By Innovation Only logo and the colors in Apple’s classic rainbow logo don’t match up. That could suggest that they aren’t all that related.
Popular YouTube user MKBHD also pointed out that the logo sort of matches the colors of the first iMac (a device from the same era as the rainbow Apple logo). Whether that teases an iMac redesign or not is up for debate.


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All stories relating to Indigo Books & Music
After months of speculation, Barnes & Noble announced yesterday it will no longer manufacture or sell its Nook tablets, instead focusing on a “partnership model” to produce content for other e-reading devices.
Like B&N, Indigo Books & Music is embracing its technology partners. As part of its continued evolution from bookseller to general merchandiser, the retail chain announced that, in the coming year, it will open 40 onsite Apple shops within its stores, selling iPads, iPods, and other products.
At its annual shareholders meeting on Tuesday, Indigo CEO Heather Reisman revealed the next steps in the company’s plan to become the “world’s first creatives department store.” Larger stores will be redesigned to accommodate several smaller boutiques focused on house categories, including kids’ toys and clothing, health, technology, and office supplies.
Book sales still account for 78 per cent of Indigo’s overall revenue (down 10 per cent from five years ago), with 20 per cent of that amount attributed to ebook sales.
Reisman also spoke of a possible international expansion, but says an acquisition of B&N is currently not part of the plan.
The Toronto Public Library announced on Wednesday that library users now have the option of purchasing books via its website. Through the new Retail Affiliate Program, customers will see a “buy now” option when they search for a book. The button links them to the Indigo Books & Music website if there is a copy available.
A portion of sales made via the TPL website will support the library’s special collections and services. Going forward, the program will be expanded to include additional retailers.
The Ottawa Public Library has an affiliate plan in the works that would allow users to purchase ebooks through their website. Endorsed by the library board in February, an agreement with publishers and booksellers is still being negotiated.
The TPL’s “buy now” option is currently only available for books in print format.
In a press release, the retailer attributes the decline to the absence of any hit books and the growing switch to digital reading.
Indigo and Chapters superstores posted a 5.0 per cent decrease, while Coles and IndigoSpirit stores were down 5.2 per cent. Online sales were up 3.6 per cent.
Indigo still managed to generate higher gross profits compared to last year because of a “shift to higher margin gift and lifestyle products, lower sales discounts, fewer markdowns, and shipping more products through the Company’s distribution centres.”
In the press release, Indigo CEO Heather Reisman says, “We are pleased that our results reflect our efforts to dramatically improve margins and significantly expand our product mix in key categories and online to drive sales growth. We’ve made great strides during the quarter to accelerate our transformation while reinforcing our position as Canada’s preferred destination for gift giving.”
It’s common now to flip or click through style, home, and design publications and see books used as everything from accent pieces to the materials for DIY decorating projects. So it makes sense that, at Random House of Canada, the company’s three paperback imprints – Anchor Canada, Vintage Canada, and Emblem Editions (the paperback division of McClelland & Stewart) – are joining together to publish the Books Are Beautiful series, a project that taps into the burgeoning interest in books as markers of personal taste and as home accessories for the style savvy.
Books Are Beautiful is a celebration of the physical book as objet d’art, says Sharon Klein, deputy director of publicity at Random House of Canada. More specifically, it’s a limited-edition reissue of 30 backlist titles from across the three imprints. Vintage Canada publisher Marion Garner says the series roster – which includes M&S authors such as Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, and Anne Michaels alongside Kazuro Ishiguro, Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy, Peter Carey, and others – represents the “backbone” of Random House of Canada’s paperback publishing program.
Each title in the series has been given a text-only, single-colour cover treatment, with matching spines and sprayed edges. Alone, the books are bricks of solid colour. Together, they look something like a Pantone sample book.
The series is based on a similar program launched last year by Vintage U.K. in honour of its 21st anniversary. Unlike the Brits, who worked with a pencil-crayon-box colour palette, Scott Richardson, vice-president and creative director at Random House of Canada, assigned colours in an almost indiscriminate manner.
“I arbitrarily chose 30 colours that I thought if you string them together makes this wonderful effect,” he says. On a second pass, Richardson made sure his choices fit the tone and content of each novel. For example, Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time went from bright yellow to deep plummy blue – “a darker, hopefully mood[ier] colour” – to reflect the nocturnal reference in the book’s title.
On the cover, Richardson emphasized author’s name over title, highlighting the publisher’s long affiliation with the “cream of Canadian and international writing.” To maintain a unified look, he used the same typeface (Adobe Caslon) throughout, and kept cover copy at a standard length.
“It was a real challenge,” Richardson says. “Normally, every imprint has their own style and their own editorial/marketing take on how they treat things like back-cover copy.” He even ditched colophons, instead listing all three imprint names on the spine (subtle text shading identifies a title’s originating imprint).
With the minimalist aesthetic, a retail price of $16.95 per book, and a print run of 5,000 copies for each title, Random House of Canada is clearly angling for consumers who prize bold design and collectors’ items – a market that Indigo Books & Music has also tried to capture in rebranding itself as a lifestyle boutique. Naturally, it followed that the publishing house would name Indigo the exclusive retailer of the series throughout the holiday season (the books can also be purchased through Random House of Canada’s website).
“Indigo is merchandising its stores now by blending products and displaying them more in an aesthetic sense,” Garner says. “We thought this would be a good match.”
“Indigo is a huge component,” agrees Klein, who has been working with the retailer on marketing the series. (Indigo would not comment on its marketing plans.) Klein has also reached out to a range of Canadian style, home, and decor publications, in addition to traditional book media. “I’m trying to get outside the box and think different,” she says. She’s even pitched the series as an ideal backdrop for the morning talk show Canada A.M.
It’s this kind of inventive thinking that Garner suggests will give paperback publishers a leg up in a competitive category. “It’s just getting harder … to bring some of those books to the front of the store if you’re not getting helped by Canada Reads, or a movie tie-in, or even … a new book in the market that’s flying off the shelves,” she says. Books Are Beautiful is a way to “reimagine and re-present backlist in a way that people haven’t seen before.”
The World’s Biggest Bookstore will soon shrink to nothing.
According to the Toronto website Yonge Street, the lease on the iconic downtown bookstore, currently held by Indigo Books and Music, runs out at the end of 2013 and will not be renewed. The 64,000-square-foot former bowling alley has been owned by the Cole family, of Coles Books, since 1980. The family is looking for a single tenant to take over the space, located in a prime area near Yonge and Dundas Square.
In 2010, Torontoist ran a brief history recounting the discount bookstore’s opening day on Nov. 5, 1980:
When asked, shortly before World’s Biggest opened, about the future of bookselling, [Jack] Cole sounded optimistic. He bragged that his low-cost, highly commercialized approach to selling had helped publishers and played a part in creating an audience that supported a far larger number of independents than when he entered the business in the 1930s. Predictions during the 1950s that television would kill books never came to pass. Visions of a “wired city” world where computers ruled didn’t faze him: “Books will provide the basis of information to be programmed.”
As many in Canadian publishing’s inner circle primped and primed themselves for the Scotiabank Giller Prize gala, important industry news of another sort broke with the announcement Tuesday evening of Indigo’s decision to sell its majority stake in Kobo, the e-reading company it spun off less than two years ago, to Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten.
Indigo is expected to realize between $140 and $150 million from the sale, but it raises questions about what the chain’s future will look like without a significant investment in e-reading (not to mention whether the deal will be allowed to go forward under the Department of Canadian Heritage’s foreign-ownership rules).
In a Q&A published today in Canadian Business magazine, Indigo CEO Heather Reisman addresses some of those questions, telling staff writer Jordan Timm that the sale represents “a stupendous return on our investment” in Kobo, especially in a market that is becoming increasingly competitive:
Over the next year, this business [Kobo] will need in excess of $100 million to take it to where this industry is going, and we just cannot play in that league for that amount of capital. That’s first, but it’s also a question of speed. How quickly can you grow this business in order to establish your leadership position? What Rakuten brings is tremendous reach with their huge customer network.
Reisman was, understandably, less specific about how Indigo will use the influx of capital from the sale, but she did say a new acquisition for Indigo is “very possible”:
We must and will fundamentally transform Indigo. The idea of a book retailer as it existed up until the last two years – that option no longer exists. We did two things two years ago: we made the decision to commit to Kobo, and we also made the decision to fully transform Indigo into a whole new kind of retailer and e-tailer, and we are on that track right now. And there’s no doubt that some of that money will be used in that transformation process, both digitally and physically.
In related news, Indigo’s most recent financial results, released at the same time as the Rakuten announcement, show a relatively flat quarter, with sales up 1.7 per cent to $218.5 million. Revenues at Indigo and Chapters superstores were down 4.3 per cent, while revenues at small-format stores were down 2.9 per cent. By contrast, Kobo sales were up 219 per cent to $40.9 million, though the division operated at a net loss of $10.8 million.
Kobo announced Tuesday it has entered into a definite agreement under which it will be acquired by the Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten. The deal is expected to close in early 2012.
According to a press release, Rakuten intends to “acquire 100 per cent of total issued and outstanding shares of Kobo for US$315 million in cash.” As part of the agreement, the e-reading platform will continue as a stand-alone operation, maintaining its Toronto headquarters and employees under the leadership of Kobo CEO Michael Serbinis.
In the press release, Serbinis said:
“From a business and cultural perspective this is a perfect match….We share a common vision of creating a content experience that is both global and social. Rakuten is already one of the world’s largest e-commerce platforms, while Kobo is the most social e-book service on the market and one of the world’s largest e-book stores with over 2.5 million titles. This transaction will greatly strengthen our position in our current markets and allow us to diversify quickly into other countries and e-commerce categories.”
Kobo was founded in 2009 by Indigo Books & Music before it was spun off into a separate company 10 months later, with Indigo remaining as the majority shareholder. Indigo will receive approximately $140 million to $150 million in the Rakuten deal. In a separate press release, Indigo CEO and chair of Kobo Heather Reisman said:
“Notwithstanding the sale, Indigo will maintain a very strong relationship with Kobo, supporting the products and the services both in-store and online…. The success of Kobo confirms that Indigo is a great brand and a strong platform on which we can continue to innovate and grow.”
Indigo, Chapters, and Coles stores across Canada will open at 8 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 24, to accommodate readers who want to be the first to get their hands on the new Steve Jobs biography, written by Walter Isaacson and published by Simon & Schuster. The 656-page Steve Jobs, which lists for $36.99, will be available in-store for $25.
The reduced in-store price makes the hardcover book comparable to Indigo’s online price of $24.41. Amazon is selling pre-orders for $23.19, and in the U.S., Barnes & Noble is selling the book online for $17.88. Pre-orders for the e-book version are available for the Kindle ($20.72), Nook (U.S. $16.99), and through Apple’s iBookstore ($17.99), but there isn’t a listing for it yet in the Kobo bookstore.
Isaacson is scheduled to appear Sunday night on 60 Minutes, where he’ll play a portion of an audio tape of Jobs talking about his biological father. In this preview clip, Isaacson, who conducted more than 40 interviews with the Apple CEO, discusses Jobs’ refusal to be operated on after he was diagnosed for a second time with cancer. This revelation and others already leaked from the book, such as Jobs’ “intense battle with Google,” may convince a few more people to set their alarms early for Monday morning.
UPDATE: As of Oct. 24, Steve Jobs is now available on Kobo for $17.99.
Indigo Books & Music is reporting a 1.1 per cent decrease in net revenue for its first quarter, which ended July 1.
Revenue for the quarter was $202 million, down $2 million from last year, which Indigo attributes to lower print books sales. Indigo also reports its digital operations grew 170 per cent, thanks in part to the June launch of the Kobo Touch eReader.
While the net loss attributable to Indigo shareholders for the quarter was $18, million compared to $5 million last year, in the press release, Indigo CEO Heather Reisman said, “The results were expected as we invest both in the growth of our digital business and in preparing to launch our proprietary gift and lifestyle business in the fall of this year.”
Indigo’s new product mix will focus more on giftware, toys, and other lifestyle products, reducing the shelf space dedicated to books. Indigo said it has created a $3.2 million inventory provision for its annual summer clearance sale as it “intends to discount more aggressively to clear a larger amount of product than in prior years.”
In July, Q&Q reported that the chain will also be introducing a new returns policy that will evaluate a book’s sales after 45 days, a significant reduction from the industry standard of 90 days.
Indigo Books & Music is asking publishers to send books directly to individual store locations for 10 weeks this fall while the company updates its distribution centre.
Indigo wrote to its vendors to explain that it is asking for the temporary measure in order to ensure a good supply of books in stores for the holiday season while it changes and updates its distribution centre. Indigo opened an online facility last year, has invested in the physical infrastructure, and it is adding a new software system, which will begin to be used in 2012. During this time, it expects that 85 per cent of its stock will be received directly from sources.
“We will reduce or even remove the store-specific minimum order thresholds to ensure that we are outputting orders on a timely basis,” the letter promised, “and hope that you will not consolidate orders for more than one week to avoid stocking out at the store level.”
Earlier this month, Q&Q reported on Indigo’s new returns policy. The current industry standard allows publishers to refuse returns on orders less than 90 days old, but starting this fall, Indigo will be evaluating sales after 45 days. According to Publishers Weekly, the letter from Indigo told publishers to start expecting more returns:
We will be aiming over the coming weeks to return stock from our [distribution centre] of titles for which there is no longer active store demand, or for which we have high inventory levels relative to our requirements through [the] holiday.


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Between crisis and new opportunities: Covid-19 has disrupted the world's social and economic for many months now. The consequences of the pandemic are affecting the trade show business as well. Many trade shows were postponed, some will not take place at all. "As long as get-togethers in person are possible only to a very limited extent, we have to define virtual formats, which can bridge this time of social distancing," Olaf Schmidt, Vice President Textiles and Textile Technologies at Messe Frankfurt, said in April. How is it possible to stay in contact with each other despite the ban on major events? How can the different business sectors get through these difficult times better? Digital solutions help. In Germany, digitalisation has been slow. But the Corona pandemic shows us what the world could look like in the future: business calls instead of business trips, working from home instead of travelling, agility instead of stiffness. The time is ripe to rethink and find new approaches to the way we work.
Online and onsite
The virtual summer editions of some trade shows, which have united the different industries, have shown what these new approaches could look - live and in colour, but safe while being at home. Texworld USA, Apparel Sourcing USA and Home Textiles Sourcing Expo offered an online platform from 21st to 23rd July 2020. Talks, presentations and seminars allowed participants to connect and provided them with information about current industry issues. An artificially intelligent programme helped online visitors find suppliers of interest and put them in contact with them. Gartex India is keeping interested parties up to date with webinars about sustainability in the clothing and textile industry until its comeback in December.
The summer edition of Neonyt, the global hub for fashion, sustainability and innovation, also went digital this year. From 13th to 17th July 2020, Neonyt's social media channels and those of international conference format Fashionsustain turned into a platform for the exchange of information, with live interviews, panel discussions and statements. At "Neonyt on Air", experts discussed business, lifestyle and digitalisation issues and proved once again that lockdowns not necessarily have to stop networking within the fashion industry. Industry masterminds have explained how digital tools can help to transform fashion in the coming years: "Digitalisation will become as common place in the fashion industry as sustainability," The Brand Show Circular founder and CEO Saydou Bangoura said during a panel discussion at Neonyt on Air. The Brand Show Circular is a B2B marketing and order platform focused on sustainable fashion. Exhibitors and buyers can meet in the digital world and do business independently from time and place. Wholesale and data exchange platform JOOR has the same goal. JOOR connects 8,600 brands with 2,600 buyers. Together with Premium Group, JOOR created virtual showroom JOOR Passport, which was presented at Neonyt on Air. "In the face of continued business disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw a great need to bring technology to revolutionize the market and to reimagine the trade show and fashion week model," said JOOR CEO Kristin Savilia. Neonyt’s cooperation with The Brand Show Circular and JOOR gives exhibitors the opportunity to use all digital services the B2B platforms offer and helps them bridge the time without onsite events until things go back to normal. Online trading sites allow visitors to place orders with exhibitors all year round. This concept replaces manual on-site orders, which cost money and time and leave more time to exchange information. Messe Frankfurt’s Nextrade is a successful example – the digital B2B marketplace for Home and Living consumer goods has been online since October 2019. “The many positive reactions and registrations by suppliers show that we have our finger on the pulse of time,” says Philipp Ferger, general director of nmedia and head of Tendence and Nordstil. With Nextrade, Messe Frankfurt has expanded the offer of Ambiente and Tendence. Both retailers and buyers profit.
New digital concepts launched by trade shows as well as new approaches taken by the industry show what the future could look like – it could be flexible, digital and dynamic. Virtual trade show concepts are a good alternative when personal encounters are not possible, but they will not be able to replace on-site events. “Fashion thrives from personalities, presentation and image and inspiration. Digital formats can be a plus, but not a substitute,” says Thimo Schwenzfeuer, Show Director of Neonyt. The industry’s desire to meet in person is great. The digital formats launched by trade shows can offer many possibilities. Phygital trade shows, meaning trade shows that are both physical and digital, complement the traditional trade show concept.
Whether it is the planning, the organisation or the follow-up of trade shows, technical means also make the on-site trade show experience more enjoyable. In the run-up to an event, digital tools help exhibitors and organisers to plan their trade show presence. Online configurations can help exhibitors to improve their stand presentation to the point of being exactly what they have in mind. In addition, match-making tools helping visitors to find suppliers of interest even before the event begins, prove to be a real advantage. The website offers an alignment of interests – exhibitors provide information about their products and target groups on the programme and visitors specify their interests. In a next step, the tool puts the parties into contact.
Which parts of trade shows and exhibitions are the best attended? Which trade show participants are interested in which products and services? Cameras and heat maps are used to analyse the influx of visitors. Exhibitors can use the resulting information to make their trade show presence even more effective, organisers can place stands in the best possible place. It also makes the managing of purely pragmatic aspects like technical building systems, security or cleaning easier. When the number of visitors to the toilets reaches a high number, the cleaning staff is automatically informed.
Flyers, leaflets and posters – that was yesterday. Today, digital wayfinding systems help visitors to find their way around the exhibition centre. Displays or apps provide visitors with specific information, which prevents them from getting lost in an information overload while searching for a specific stand. Long queues, missed appointments or stressed trade show visitors are a thing of the past.
Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) prove to be an asset for an overall trade show experience. VR is an artificial reality created by hardware and software. “Virtual Reality was originally considered as a possible competitor to the trade show as a communication medium,” says Dr Peter Neven, general director of the exhibition and trade show committee of Deutsche Wirtschaft e.V. “It has now become clear that trade shows will continue to be an important tool for personal encounters between companies and their target groups in the future. The popularity of trade shows remains high,” Mr Neven continued. VR glasses can add to the trade show experience. How can I use the chosen material in my collection? Does the fabric fit my design? Visitors no longer have to imagine what products look like, they can now actually see them through a pair of VR glasses. By means of AR, an expanded form of reality, visitors can use apps to get additional information about products or take part in digital tours and lectures. At gaming trade shows the use of this kind of software is already common practice.
3D printing, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence – technology has even more chances and possibilities in place to turn the simple attendance at a trade show into a true trade show experience. It is not only about digitalising old processes, but also about creating new ones. Trade shows not only have to present modern products and innovations, they need to be living examples. The trade shows of the future will be phygital – digital tools will complement physical events. As the digital editions of trade shows have shown, meeting and exchanging information in person onsite remain to be crucial. Digital offers add to physical events but cannot replace them. It is time to mould the trade show of the future.
#Digitalisation #Neonyt #Fashionsustain #Gartex Texprocess India #Texworld USA #Apparel Sourcing USA #Home Textiles Sourcing Expo #The Brand Show Circular #Joor #Nextrade #Virtual #Phygital #Virtual Reality #Augmented Reality
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Foto: Lucrezia Carnelos


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Barcelona, Spain – TrafficHunt, a global online ad network, will participate at The European Summit 2017 as a Gold Sponsor. The event will take place in Sitges, Barcelona, Spain, on 4-7 March 2017.
Being the leading networking Conference & Expo, The European Summit unites digital marketing players and talented individuals from different countries to share experience, open new opportunities for business development and announce the latest industry’s innovations. Website owners, marketing professionals, traffic traders, software providers, content producers, creators and lots of other specialists take part in the 4-day Conference program.
TrafficHunt is a regular attendee at The European Summit. This year’s attendance is the key of importance both for the company and its existing and potential partners. TrafficHunt will focus on presenting the latest innovations implemented in its advertising platform. They are related to advanced traffic targeting, campaign optimization and security. The European Summit 2017 is a great occasion to present these exclusive innovations to public.
TrafficHunt team welcomes all comers to meet at The European Summit 2017. Please do not hesitate to book a meeting with TrafficHunt representatives at the company’s Booth #10. Contact email@example.com for more information.


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Despite the longest streak of increases in the national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline since summer - including a 4-cent jump in just the past week - Americans are still paying less at the pump than they were last year at this time, according to AAA.
As of Monday, the average price for a gallon of regular gas was $3.35, 6 cents more than a month earlier amid a series of price increases during the past 11 consecutive days. That's the longest since a 21-day streak between late July and mid-August in 2012. Still, the first 28 days of 2013 have seen an overall 6-cent increase compared with 14 cents during the first 28 days of last year, AAA stated. The most dramatic increases have occurred in the central U.S., with nine states seeing price increases between a dime and 17 cents a gallon in just the past week, including Illinois, Idaho, North Dakota, Colorado, Utah, Oklahoma, Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska.
While last year's price increases resulted partly from tensions with Iran, this year's have been affected by an improving economy and regional refinery issues in Illinois, New Mexico, Texas, California and Washington, AAA stated. Such challenges may not be going away anytime soon, as New York-based oil company Hess announced this week that it would shut down its Port Reading, N.J., refinery by the end of next month, likely forcing prices up in the Northeast.
The Steve's Friendly BP Gas Station at the Friendly Center says "BP" on the sign. However, it's one of the few locally-owned gas stations in town.
The owner has worked there for 40 years. He says the rise and fall of gas prices bothers him just as much.
"It's very aggravating. There is no reason why gas should change prices four or five times in a week," Steve McKoin said.
McKoin pays for the gas as you pump it. BP charges him their going-rate for the day, and he has to adjust his prices based on BP's selling price. He earns about three cents a gallon.
Credit card companies usually charge a three-percent fee for every purchase. At times, he's not making any money. Sometimes, he loses money.
"At midnight, my price changes. If it goes up tonight, then I'll have to move the price the next day. What's in the ground does not belong to me," McKoin said.
A recent USA Today article blames the price increases on issues at refineries. Some are shutting down or reducing their production. With prices this high, if your car runs on premium gas, you might consider a cheaper grade. However, mechanics at Holland Auto Care Center say that's a bad idea.
"If you use it too much, at some point, you will cause excess cylinder wear, which therefore will lead to engine damage and possible replacement," Technician James Tyson said.
Once or twice won't hurt, but if you hear your engine start to rattle, it's probably because you put in the cheaper blend of gas.
The mechanic also told WFMY News 2 using premium blends of gas in cars that don't require it probably isn't worth it. Yes, you do get a bit of a performance boost. But, premium blends burn faster. So, you'll have to fill up more often.


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Automotive manufacturers are currently on a quest to secure supply chains to avoid any future embarrassments relating to absent materials or missing components. If the last few years have taught the industry anything, it’s that it is always better not to get caught with your pants down. So we’re now seeing most of the major players trying to lock down raw materials necessary for battery production as they pitch upward in value in anticipation of numerous firms transitioning to all-electric vehicles.
Cobalt has been of particular interest to automakers and General Motors recently entered into a formal agreement to purchase the chemical element from the Anglo-Swiss commodities trader Glencore Plc.
We continue our 1990s-then-2000s series today, following up the last post that featured compact American two-doors from 1998. By the late 2000s, the Escort, Neon, and Cavalier were all dead. In their place were the Focus, Caliber, and Cobalt, and not all of those had a two-door variant. That means we focus on four-doors today. Let’s go.
While General Motors may have developed an alarming rod knock during the middle 2000s, culminating in Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009, The General’s Pontiac Division was shooting rods through the hood by 2007 or so. Oh, sure, the Solstice gave us all hope for the marque that gave us so many great machines over the decades, but few felt optimistic about Pontiac by the time the G5 hit showrooms for the 2007 model year. Here’s one of those first-year G5s, a Performance Red GT Coupe found in a Denver-area yard over the weekend.
The Democratic Republic of Congo has declared cobalt a “strategic” substance, nearly tripling the royalty rate miners will have to pay on it. According to a governmental decree, miners will now pay 10 percent in royalties to extract the element.
While we’ve previously warned of the likelihood of a global supply shortage elevating the price of batteries, it seems this will occur only after the Congo taxes the crap out of it. This is the second time cobalt has seen a royalty hike since June, when the region increased the previous 2 percent royalty to 3.5 percent.
Besides the looming prospect of a reversal in the falling price of EV batteries, a spike in the price of cobalt is already ruffling some feathers.
While electric vehicles get better every year, they remain beholden to battery technology. This results in a few inherent shortcomings – the most noteworthy being limited range and extended downtime while charging. While this has helped throw a wet blanket EV adoption, it isn’t the technology’s only fault. Modern car batteries are also dependent on relatively rare metals that are both morally contentious and prohibitively expensive to procure.
Cobalt, mined almost exclusively in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and often by children, is likely the worst offender. Prices skyrocketed after EV manufacturing went mainstream, and analysts have long predicted a shortage that could severely impact the long-term popularity of zero-emission vehicles. Fortunately, a new way to build batteries may be on the horizon, though this particular application could create as many issues as it solves – since it involves removing an element that’s paramount to a battery’s long-term stability.
As we hurl ourselves into the the glistening, unknown future, we are continuously confronted with new obstacles. While we’re good at coming up with solutions to new problems, there are plenty of important questions left hanging in the air as technology pushes us onward. Why do we keep working longer hours as more things become automated? How to we ensure that sentient machines do not decide to kill us? Why are there still so many people that use the speaker function on their phones in public places?
In the automotive realm, autonomous driving and battery technology are the golden geese of progress right now. While driving aids are becoming ever-more impressive, truly self-driving cars are a little further out than most manufacturers would like to admit. Meanwhile, electric automobiles are already here and tangible as hell. You could have one tomorrow if you wanted.
The issues associated with autonomous vehicles are beyond complex. In addition to deciding how to develop the technology effectively, a myriad of questions exist as to the legal ramifications of its implementation and how its very existence could change society. Electric cars are more straightforward, and the problems they face are predominantly logistics oriented. But they’re about to face a monumental hurdle in a few years.
Electric cars have been praised as the future savior of mankind for quite some time now, but only in the last few years have mainstream automakers promised to drive headlong into EV production. Governments around the globe encourage the transition. The reality of battery production isn’t so clear-cut, however. Unless you make your daily commute in a Mack truck, odds are good that swapping to a sparkly new four-door with a lithium-ion battery isn’t going to be better for the environment.
Currently, it takes substantially more energy to produce an electric car than a conventional internal-combustion model. EVs sourcing their energy from fossil fuel-burning power plants aren’t much better for the environment than something that runs off pump gas. In addition to that, defunct batteries have to be recycled or they become environmental hazards — and no one has quite figured out the best way to do that yet.
There’s also the issue of sourcing the materials for those batteries. EV cells need scarce precious metals like nickel and cobalt. Those materials take a lot of energy to harvest and have, unfortunately, led to an increase in child labor rates in Africa.
One thing about visiting wrecking yards in the Upper Midwest is that I know I’ll see interesting late-model General Motors cars.
I couldn’t find the elusive junkyard Saturn Ion Redline during my trip to Wisconsin in August, but I did find its Chevrolet cousin: a Chevrolet Cobalt SS, spotted in a Green Bay self-service yard.
Two sources have told Reuters that the government will levy a $900 million fine on General Motors for its failure to recall and subsequent attempts to cover-up of faulty ignition switches linked to at least 124 deaths.
Criminal charges will be filed against GM for its role in hiding the defect from regulators, but will defer prosecution while the automaker complies with its penalty. The agreement is expected to be announced Thursday.
The massive fine is smaller than the $1.2 billion Toyota paid in March 2014 for its role in concealing that its cars could accelerate suddenly.
TTAC commentator Anomaly149 writes:
Sajeev, here’s one for you:
I have a CVT-equipped 2004 Saturn Ion Quad Coupe with ~140,000 miles. While you can write a book on the things that are weird with the car (key won’t release from cylinder sometimes unless you push this button inside the steering column, sometimes the neutral safety switch actuator machine-guns when stopped at a stoplight, it eats front sway links like it’s a contest, etc.), so far it’s been reliable and efficient.
A Captiva audience?
Aside from the car-less world of cruise/train travel, my post- CCS Design vacations involve seeing an American on the road only to feel their styling and (more importantly) proportioning are sleeker and prettier. Douchey perhaps, but it’s my benign contribution to American Exceptionalism.
Are your children about to start college? Maybe it’s their senior year in high school? Looking for a cheap vehicle and don’t mind if it’s been recalled to death by its automaker? Then a vehicle caught up in the General Motors recall parade might be the one, as prices have fallen hard as of late.
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- Tassos Unlike Tim, I don't use this space as a wastebasket for ANYTHING BUT a proper used car.If you seriously need a car AND you are as destitute as Tim's finds imply, HERE IS A PROPER ONE FOR YOUR NEEDS:You can probably get it for only $4k, WITH Leather, Factory Navigation, plenty of room and a V6.https://www.cars.com/research/toyota-camry-2005/I even considered getting it myself as an extra reliable car.
- Jeff Of all the EV trucks I like the Rivian the best but I am still years away if ever from buying an EV.
- Kwik_Shift I definitely like the looks of the newest 300s over the Chargers.
- SCE to AUX "Should car companies shack up with tech giants in order to produce legible infotainment systems and the like? Or should they go it alone?"Great question(s).The River Rouge days are gone, where Ford produced whole cars out of raw materials entering the plant at the other end. Nearly everything is outsourced these days - sometimes well, sometimes disastrously.But the problem with infotainment systems is that they are integrated with the car's operation. VW has delayed entire products for issues with infotainment.For me, the question boils down to a contractual arrangement - who owns and maintains the code forever? Since more and more of the car's function is tied to the infotainment system, I'd argue that the car mfr needs to own it - especially the larger ones.Do mfrs really want to share intellectual property with Huawei just to fast-track some code they've managed themselves in the past?
- Kwi65728132 I always did like the styling of the 300C and it was on my short list for a new (to me) rear wheel drive, naturally aspirated V8 luxury sedan but I found a Hyundai Equus that was better optioned than any 300C I could find and for several grand less.


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South Africa’s two rival fashion weeks were a celebration of African design as well as an indication of the growing corporate support for the country’s young designers.
At South Africa Fashion Week in Johannesburg, which was held earlier this month, one of its banner sponsors, the department store chain Woolworths, backed the Woolworths StyleBySA show, which featured eight local designers: Rich Mnisi, Thebe Magugu, AKJP, Maria McCloy, Sol-Sol, Selfi and Young & Lazy.
The designers showed modern streetwear to footwear and accessories inspired by the African continent; from the runway, the collaborative capsule collection was, in a first for SAFW, made available online immediately and what ensued was “a frenzy of online sales,” according to Charmaine Huet, Woolworths’ group director of marketing and sustainability.
Fast-tracking runway to retail has been a priority for the partnership of Woolworths and SAFW.
“As a passionately South African retailer we want to boost the visibility and viability of local designers,” Huet noted. “The quality of the work on show, and the response to it, is compelling proof of the incredible local talent the South African fashion industry has on offer.’’
After inventory of the StyleBySA capsule collection was exhausted via online sales, the collections became available in select Woolworths stores in Cape Town, Sandton, Midrand, Pretoria and Durban starting April 12.
Design competitions remain an important component of SAFW, which was marking its 20th anniversary, and are a valuable springboard for young designers. Said Lucilla Booyzen, founder and director of SAFW, “The aim of SA Fashion Week competitions is to assist talented designers with the potential for commercial growth to start making the transition from a developing creative to a sustainable business that can play a role in the Creative Fashion Industry, create jobs, wealth and contribute to the GDP of the country.”
The event hosts two significant competitions, the Lufthansa First Class competition, which highlights the “stars of tomorrow,” and the Scouting Menswear competition in conjunction with GQ South Africa.
Added Booyzen, “One of the most difficult challenges for a start-up designer today is the breakthrough to retail. A sure way for designers to fast-track their careers is through entering fashion competitions. They push young businesses into the media spotlight, which then leads to social media share of voice and in turn has an immediate effect on the growth of a young label.”
The winner of the Lufthansa First Class competition was Sheila Madge-Bakker, whose label Sheila Madge Designs “reconciles the concept of the avant-garde with wearability,” according to the judging panel. Her prize package includes a trip to Berlin Fashion Week in July as part of the SAFW Travel Seminar.
Garnering top prize at the Scouting Menswear competition was Conrad de Mill. “His collection was contemporary with a South African handwriting so to speak,” said Booyzen. “There was lots of detail and excellent workmanship.” Like Madge-Bakker, de Mill gets to go to Berlin with the SAFW Travel Seminar; in addition, he is guaranteed a spot at the SAFW fall 2018 shows which take place in October, and coverage from GQ South Africa.
As for established designers, Jacques Van der Watt’s collection for Black Coffee stood out for its blurred gender boundaries.
Meanwhile, the fall-winter Mercedes-Benz Cape Town Fashion Week, organized by African Fashion International, feted its 10th anniversary. Chairwoman Precious Moloi-Motsepe pointed to the reach of the fashion week across the African continent, with the likes of Rwanda’s Mille Collines, Mozambique’s Taibo Bacar, Senegal’s Adama Paris and Nigeria’s Ituen Basi joining leading South African designers such as Craig Port, Laduma Ngxokolo, David Tlale, Stefania Morland and Jenevieve Lyons, to name a few.
Among the highlights were Taibo Bacar, whose collection was a celebration of the Mozambican woman within a global context, showing sophisticated, structured garments in bright colors, bold designs and stripes.
Mille Collines, designed by Ines Cuatrecasas, showed breezy, fluid and flowing silhouettes topped with fabric head pieces, inspired by the Swahili culture of coastal Kenya and Tanzania, centered around Lamu, Mombasa and Zanzibar.
Laduma called his show “The Coronation of MaXhosa,” an homage to his Xhosa roots. Regal, opulent and extravagant, it featured his signature knits in dizzying prints, as well as quirky tracksuit pants and Xhosa ceremonial dress.
Continued Moloi-Motsepe, “What we are witnessing is an eagerness from the public and private sectors to promote the growth of African fashion, as seen from the sponsorships and partnerships this platform has attracted. Like me, they have come to understand the economic significance of a thriving fashion industry, which helps our designers and related industries become more sustainable and establish themselves across the continent and abroad.”


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As you may know, the United States Postal Service (USPS) will be scaling back its operations in a major way come next spring. Over the years, the internet has caused most of us to go “paperless” in virtually every aspect of our lives, which in turn has damaged the paper industry and also those in the business of shipping paper. USPS does not receive funding from tax dollars; instead, it is dependent on the revenues it generates from postage income. Not surprisingly, the USPS is hurting financially. In fact, it plans on closingover half of its mail processing centers to remain viable, which will certainly affect speed of delivery.
If you have tax problems or if you work in the tax relief industry, you know first hand how much mail the IRS sends through the USPS. In case you’re wondering, the IRS doesn’t ship for free. “The United States Postal Service bills the IRS on monthly basis via the Intergovernmental Payment and Collection (IPAC) for one-twelfth of the yearly postage estimate” (IRM 184.108.40.206).
Internal Revenue Manual 1.22.4 contains detailed guidance on postage accountability and reporting requirements for IRS personnel. Although one of the aims of this guidance is to reduce waste, it seems that much more could be done to reduce the IRS’ reliance on a mode of communication that is becoming more outdated and less reliable. It will be interesting to see how the changes at USPS will affect one of its largest customers, the IRS.


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A pair of Michael Jordan’s underwear has gone up for sale.
An American sports memorabilia website is auctioning the item and have started the bidding at $500.
The item formerly belonged to the legendary Chicago Bulls player and is being sold by a family member of John Michael Wozniak. He was Jordan’s former security guard.
The website said the “unusual item” shows signs of “definite use” and has “some loose threads evident at the seams.”
Lelands said the underwear was one of several items that Jordan gave to Wozniak. Apparently, he also received suits, ties, belts and jackets formerly worn by the basketball great.


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Vietnam, RoK strengthen textile cooperation28/08/2023 48
The Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) and the Korea Federation of Textile Industries (KOFOTI) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen bilateral cooperation, KOFOTI announced on August 24.
The signing ceremony took place within the framework of the textile exhibition “Preview in Seoul 2023” held in Seoul from August 23-25.
Speaking at the ceremony, KOFOTI chairman Choi Byung-oh said that RoK and Vietnam have been reliable partners in textile production, processing, and export for the past 30 years.
With the MoU signing, the Korean side hopes that the strategic partnership in the textile and fashion industries of the two countries will be strengthened, especially on issues of sustainable development, digital transformation, and supply chains.
A KOFOTI official also said Vietnam's high economic growth rate and young people's interest in the Korean culture are constantly increasing, adding the MoU is expected to help Korean businesses penetrate deeply into the Vietnamese market.
VITAS President Vu Duc Giang also said that VITAS and KOFOIT will expand the exchanges of information and innovation technology, promote cooperation to take advantage of the free trade agreements, and attract investment.
Source: Nhân Dân


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It's now been two years since Pokémon Go launched on iOS, becoming immensely popular with players across iOS and Android in the months that followed its debut. Although the number of players in the game has lessened since then, Pokémon Go has remained consistently popular among its fans, and this week Sensor Tower reports that it's seen a "resurgence" this summer thanks to the long-awaited Pokémon trading update.
That update came this past June, allowing players to trade Pokémon with nearby friends -- a feature that took the company two years to implement because it "wanted to make sure" the mechanic was done right, according to Niantic software engineer Kiersten Koa.
Now, Sensor Tower says that Pokémon Go players have spent an average of $2.5 million per day in the game since the June 19 update. In the 60 days leading to the update, players worldwide were spending about $1.8 million per day in the app. This means that the trading update has increased Pokémon Go's daily revenue by $700,000 per day, representing a 39 percent increase.
Sensor Tower points out that this daily spending "hasn't been seen since its summer 2016 launch."
Niantic’s Pokémon GO has never stopped being popular, but it’s definitely had its share of peaks and valleys when it comes to player spending. Right now, it’s in the midst of a resurgence the likes of which hasn’t been seen since its summer 2016 launch, and the game’s most fevered spending has come in the wake of June’s big friends and trading update.
Next, Sensor Tower says it's looking to see how the change of seasons will affect the game, since its revenue tends to peak during the summer months as more players venture outside to play the game. Still, another major update is scheduled to arrive before the end of 2018, enabling a player-versus-player mode, which should again "propel player spending back to the levels seen at the game's launch."
Although not part of Nintendo's mobile gaming initiative with developer partners like DeNA and Cygames, Nintendo does have a stake in Pokémon Go's success since it owns part of The Pokémon Company. The next main Nintendo game to see a smartphone launch will be Dragalia Lost, which was just announced to have a debut on September 27.


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An economic axiom has prevailed that America would never again be able to compete for manufacturing jobs against rival countries with their rock-bottom labour costs. This Atlantic article talks about General Electric and their storied Kentucky ‘Appliance Park’. This manufacturing mecca from long ago is awakening as companies realize that their strategy to outsource everything to Asia is not as sound as once believed.
The key takeaway for me was that markets (including labour markets) have a remarkable ability to adapt. Not only do markets adapt, but human beings seem hardwired to repeatedly underestimate the ability of markets to adapt. Anything you can read to be reminded of markets ability to adapt is worth reading. Make time for this article.
Excerpt from the article:
What has happened? Just five years ago, not to mention 10 or 20 years ago, the unchallenged logic of the global economy was that you couldn’t manufacture much besides a fast-food hamburger in the United States. Now the CEO of America’s leading industrial manufacturing company says it’s not Appliance Park that’s obsolete—it’s offshoring that is.
Why does it suddenly make irresistible business sense to build not just dishwashers in Appliance Park, but dishwasher racks as well?


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Malaysian nutrition company Wellous Group Limited has inked an agreement with DHL Express to become use the global delivery provider's GoGreen Plus service as part of its commitment to reduce the carbon emissions of its international shipments by 10% on a yearly basis.
“Sustainability is the foundation of everything we do today to improve the well-being of our people, our communities and the environment in which we operate,” shares Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Wellous, Andy Tan.
"We are always looking for greener alternatives and investing in sustainability solutions is a priority for Wellous where through this strategic partnership, it can address the carbon footprint of the source and positively impact our value chain."
The collaboration will see the two companies explore cooperation in other climate neutral initiatives, communications, knowledge-sharing, and community engagement.
Launched in 2023, GoGreen Plus allows businesses to successfully reduce the environmental impact of their air freight supply chain through carbon sequestration, where emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are reduced by mixing conventional jet fuel with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).


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Topic: Vermont House of Representatives
Stir It Up!
Vermont wants Monsanto to label its GMOs
The Supreme Court protected agribusiness Monsanto's legal rights against a soybean farmer this week. But Vermont still wants to require Monsanto to label all of its genetically modified food products with GMOs labels.


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- Huawei Nova 3 and Huawei Nova 3i to launch in India on the 26th of July as an Amazon Exclusive
- Huawei Mate 20 Pro likely to launch with flexible OLED panel
- Huawei plans to amplify gaming performance of its smartphones
- Huawei TalkBand B5 with 1.11-inch AMOLED display and pop out Bluetooth announced
- Huawei Nova 3 goes official with quad cameras, 3D Qmoji and more
- Huawei's next flagship name confirmed; will feature Kirin 980 SoC
Huawei's e-brand Honor has just announced a new price reduction on one of its hugely demanded smartphone, the Honor 6X in India. The smartphone was launched at a price of Rs. 12,999 for the 32GB storage variant and Rs. 15,999 for the 64GB one.
However, with the new price cut, consumers can now purchase the device at Rs. 11,999 (for the 32GB one) and Rs 12,999 ( for the 64GB variant). The offer is valid from 6th June 2017 onwards exclusively on Amazon.in.
"The Honor 6X is one our best seller that has won many hearts due to its performance and dual camera capabilities, all at a very attractive price. The Honor 6X will now be available at a more attractive price for all Amazon India customers from 6th June onwards, making the Honor 6X an even more attractive proposition. This is the perfect time for all those who have been waiting to get their hands on the device," said Mr. Allen Wang, Director Product Center, Huawei India Consumer Business Group.
While the Honor 6X has experienced overwhelming customer response with the device, it could also be that the company is going ahead with this strategy to compete with brands like Xiaomi who has also been gaining a lot of popularity in the India market.
Having said that, if you are interested and want to know what Honor 6X is all about then here are some of the key features of this smartphone.
Design, Display, and RAM
The smartphone boasts of a full metal slim body (8.2mm thick) with 2.5D glass on the front and curved panel on the back. Further, the smartphone comes with a 5.5-inch full HD (1920x1080p) display.
The handset is powered by a HiSilicon Kirin 655 octa-core SoC which is coupled with Mali T830-MP2 GPU and 3GB of RAM.
The smartphone has a dual rear camera setup with one 12-megapixel Sony IMX386 sensor that supports PDAF and an additional 2-megapixel sensor that helps to provide depth-of-field or Bokeh effects with a combined wide aperture range of f/0.95 - f/16. At the front, Honor 6X bears an 8-megapixel front camera with a 77-degree wide-angle lens and 1.25-micron pixels.
Battery and Software
The smartphone is powered by a 3340mAh battery, and the company claims that it will deliver up to 600 hours of standby time and up to 11.5 hours of video playback. The battery also features fast charging support. The device runs on EMUI 4.1 OS based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
Additionally, the smartphone is localized for the Indian users with EMUI availability in 14 local languages (Hindi, Bengali, Telegu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Maithili and Nepali).
Honor 6X does come with a fingerprint sensor and offers connectivity options like 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth 4.1, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, GPS/ A-GPS, and hybrid dual-SIM. Sensors on board include an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, and a magnetometer.
The smartphone measures 150.9x72.6x8.2mm and weighs 162 grams. Honor 6X is available in Gold, Grey, and Silver color options.


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An insistence on a physical feedback screen and dual-network support has pushed the cost of making Research in Motion's BlackBerry Storm significantly above that of current-generation iPhones, hinting that Verizon may be paying more to rival AT&T in touchscreen phones.
The expenses result in a phone that, in some circumstances, actually costs more for its American carrier Verizon to sell than it does to produce. While the normal retail price is just short of $250, the online pricing puts the phone at $200.
As such, the phone may cost more to subsidize than its most direct challenger at AT&T, Apple's iPhone 3G. A teardown conducted by iSuppli in July revealed that the iPhone cost a more modest $174.33 just days after its launch — a figure that may have decreased over recent months as each individual part gets less expensive to build, and $28.56 less than the BlackBerry.
That difference is explained by RIM's decisions to include certain significantly more components, iSuppli says. Since Verizon wanted the BlackBerry to support both its own CDMA and EVDO networks as well as the GSM and HSDPA of its European partner Vodafone, RIM has had to include a Qualcomm processor that costs $34.82 by itself, or about 17.2 percent of the pure manufacturing price. Apple's phone needs only to connect to GSM and HSDPA and can use less expensive equipment to match.
In trying to address complaints that touchscreens lack physical feedback during button presses, RIM has also given the Storm a click-down screen that touches a button below. This requires a special capacitive touchscreen overlay from Synaptics that adds $15.50 to the phone's bottom line.
iSuppli bill of materials for the BlackBerry Storm.
And while the features add to the price, the cost difference doesn't equate to a one-for-one improvement. The BlackBerry's screen doesn't support the complex multi-touch of the iPhone and is actively limited by the need to push downwards to register most actions, where Apple's touch-only input is quicker and more complex.
"The Storm uses a simple physical button under the primary touch screen to serve to provide haptic feedback," iSuppli senior analyst Tina Teng says. "This allows one physical key press at a time, meaning there is no double-tapping capability with the Storm."
Wi-Fi is also absent from the smartphone.
Whether or not the pricier hardware dents the profits of Verizon as much as it does AT&T is still a matter of debate. Given the flexibility of carrier discounts, Verizon isn't automatically forced to pay more to put the BlackBerry Storm's price tag close enough to the iPhone to remain competitive.