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Russia’s new automotive boom is served by a decidedly different network than in 2008, with more local production, increasing use of domestic ports, and growing sales beyond St Petersburg and Moscow. Anthony Coia reports.
With 2012 new vehicle sales likely to finish 7-10% higher than 2011 – at around 3m units – Russia has been one of the only European markets to grow as the recession in the eurozone and Southern Europe deepens. But even as Russia looks set to equal or surpass its previous peak of new vehicle sales back in 2008, the market’s production and distribution network is oriented very differently.
Russian industrial policy, including Decree 166, has encouraged local vehicle manufacturing and a reduction in imports as a percentage of the total volume. Even Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organisation in August 2012, although technically designed to reduce import barriers, is not likely to reverse this trend towards Russian production, particularly with the recent introduction of a recycling fee for imported cars and trucks.
Partly as a result, there is also a continuing shift among importers to use Russian ports rather than foreign ports, which can reduce the transport distances and costs to dealerships. In particular, there has been growth at the terminals at Ust-Luga, Yug-2 and Novaya Gavan, while carmakers have also turned more to the Fishery Port and Petrolesport terminals in St Petersburg. Although these ports tend to require short-sea shipping from hubs in Western Europe, the growth has largely come at the expense of Finnish, Polish or other Baltic ports outside Russia. Manufacturers have also expressed interest in using ports in southern Russia, although there is still a lack of infrastructure and shipping services.
Meanwhile, the share of new vehicle sales in Russia’s ‘regions’ – the majority of the country outside of Moscow and St Petersburg – increased from 51% in 2010 to 57% in 2012, with particular growth in the Urals, Siberia, and southern regions. At Toyota Motor Russia, for example, the fastest growth has been in Siberia, where it grew by 153% last year compared to 2011, and in the central regions, where it showed more than 150% growth during the same period, according to Olga Valieva, senior manager, vehicle logistics. Such expansion has created more opportunities for regional hubs and for rail transport.
The shift to Russian production
The proportion of locally produced new foreign brand cars has risen steadily in Russia, including from 54% in 2011 to 58% in 2012. The increase should continue in the next two or three years as carmakers ramp up production to meet the targets of Decree 166, which include building 300,000-350,000 units per year in Russia.
While imports have grown along with Russian sales increases, their proportion of sales compared to Russian production has fallen for most carmakers. Relative to Russia’s last sales peak in 2008, for example, when sales were also around 3m units, imports in 2012 are set to be about 500,000 units lower at around 1m units. Carmakers such as Volkswagen and Citroën note a decreasing proportion of imports, as do vehicle logistics carriers serving such carmakers, including Rolf SCS and Major Auto Trans. Rolf SCS chief executive Alexander Larin says he does not expect imports to grow from the current levels of 23% of the company’s transport volumes.
A lower import ratio appears to be a fait accompli even though Russia’s WTO membership ostensibly means lower import tariffs. Duties were lowered last August from 30% to 25% for passenger cars and reduced even more for light commercial vehicles. Import duties will decline gradually to 15% during the next five years.
In September, however, Russia implemented a scrapping fee that is almost equivalent in size to the duty reduction, which is likely to prevent any shift in trade balance. “This environmental tax for scrapping vehicles at the end of their lives is essentially leverage against the WTO,” says Tomasz Lis, head of Russia and CIS for Höegh Autoliners. “Consequently, we are seeing a gradual shift from imports to localised production.”
Inland distribution networks
This shift to local manufacturing, together with sales growth outside Moscow and St Petersburg, is impacting the Russian distribution network, including more terminals and rail transport. According to chief executive officer Alexander Zhuravlev, Major Auto Trans has seen growth in volumes and services in the areas of plant distribution, rail transport for distances greater than 2,000km, and the development of compounds. It recently built a second vehicle compound in Togliatti, southwest Russia.
Rolf ’s Larin points out that the growth of local production will push logistics operators to develop services within the country, whether inland terminals, PDI or transport. For example, Rolf SCS has launched its own trucking fleet in the Far East. In Naberezhnye Chelny, Siberia, Rolf increased its fleet from 19 to 46 units. Major Auto Trans’ Zhuravlev also says that to improve efficiency, the company needs to extend its service geography to include more loading and unloading points.
Citroën is among the OEMs expanding its regional presence within Russia. The French OEM, part of the PSA Group, relies on its logistics supplier Gefco (in which Russian Railways is currently acquiring a majority stake from PSA), which has its own fleet of 150 trucks. According to Katia Makarytcheva, head of logistics for Citroën, the OEM uses four compounds in Russia, two of which are located in the Moscow region, and one of which is accessible by rail. It also uses Petrolesport in St Petersburg, which it started using in early 2012 following quality issues at the Fishery Port terminal. The fourth compound is at PSA’s plant in Kaluga.
Approximately 35% of Citroën’s vehicles are domestically produced, which has enabled it to achieve a significant logistics cost reduction. The Kaluga factory is expected to produce at full capacity by the end of 2013, which should hold down the carmaker’s import ratio. Like other OEMs, Citroën is expecting its fastest growth in Russia’s regions in the east and south. Currently, 45% of Citroën’s sales are outside of St Petersburg, a proportion expected to rise to 60% as early as 2013. Ukraine also has a strong potential as Citroën’s sales had increased by 70% in the first nine months of 2012.
The rise of Russian rail
After seeing its transport volumes increase by 50% to 248,000 vehicles in 2012, Rolf SCS expects an increase of 20% to 300,000 vehicles in 2013, according to Larin. Besides sales growth, new customers are driving the increase, including OEMs such as Volvo, UAZ and Chery.
Larin notes that growing volume has also led to a doubling of rail volume, while various OEMs in the country report using the mode more. Citroën’s Makarytcheva says railway transport could be competitive with truck transport, especially in the spring and summer when some roads are closed to trucks and weight limitations restrict heavy goods vehicles.
Generally, however, rail transport times are longer, and the cost is typically cheaper than truck only for domestic production, according to Makarytcheva. “Since we will be launching full production of the Citroën C4 in July 2013, we are currently testing the feasibility of rail transport,” she explains.
Toyota delivers 75% of its vehicles to dealers in Russia by truck and 25% by rail, according to Valieva. The OEM uses rail transport for delivery from Ust-Luga port and its hub to distant regional dealers in the Urals and Siberia. In April 2012, it began to transport its Camry model by rail. “Our trend toward increasing the percentage of rail began in 2010, when it was 5-6%,” she says. “In 2011, it was 12% and last year was 25%. Rail usage has enabled Toyota to reduce its damage ratio compared to truck deliveries.”
Volkswagen Group Russia has also begun domestic transport via rail, although mainly for import volumes. Zdenek Dresler, head of group service, says the benefits include more stable capacity and delivery terms, better transport quality and cost efficiency. However, nearly 99% of Volkswagen production out of its domestic production – which accounts for 60% of Russian volume – is sent by truck.
Toyota’s Valieva points out that the disadvantage to rail is that there is not a standard rail wagon for all models in Russia, while there are also problems with infrastructure development. “We need rail connection enhancements in order to remove cargo overflows, as well as new wagon construction, reasonable timelines for vehicle delivery, and lower tariffs,” explains Valieva.
Moving direct to dealers
Ford Sollers, a joint venture between Ford and Sollers, distributes vehicles from plants in St Petersburg and in Elabuga, Tatarstan, to 120 dealerships. Sollers also has a plant in the Far East at Vladivostok. According to Natalia Petrenko, vehicle logistics strategy and network planning director, the ratio of local production to imports is 85:15.
Ford Sollers sends most of its vehicles from the Elabuga plant by direct delivery. “The plant’s location enables us to utilise the return trucks from the Urals and Siberia back to the central and northwest regions, which is in line with our cost and lead-time objectives,” says Petrenko.
Approximately 90% of its domestic vehicles are dispatched from the plants directly to dealerships on trucks. The remainder are transferred to a compound and merged with the import flows from the Fishery Port terminal in St Petersburg. From here, shipments are sent by rail to remote regional locations.
Petrenko says Ford Sollers has dramatically reduced transport damages in its Russian distribution. “We deliver 98% of our vehicles damage-free – an improvement of four times, and with a considerable average transport distance per vehicle within Russia of 1,540 kilometres,” explains Petrenko.
A more Russian-flavoured port network
Although the trend in Russia is for an increasing proportion of domestic production, the import volume remains substantial, with the shipping, terminal and connecting distribution links continuing to change and mature.
Among the ro-ro carriers serving Russia is Höegh Autoliners, which calls at St Petersburg and Ust-Luga with volumes that are transhipped through the port of Tyne, near Newcastle in the UK, and the German port of Bremerhaven. For short-sea transport legs, Höegh uses its subsidiary, Euro Marine Logistics (EML), a joint venture with Mitsui. “We do not call at Russian ports directly by deep-sea vessel due to the smaller import volumes, which makes it cheaper and more reliable to use short-sea vessels,” says Höegh’s Tomasz Lis.
Lis points out that as volumes grow, the port of St Petersburg remains limited in its development possibilities because it is surrounded by the city. Although most import vehicles currently enter Russia through St Petersburg, Ust-Luga’s Yug-2 and Novaya Gavan terminals are gaining significance. Novaya Gavan, run by Russian Transport Lines, is the newer of the two and has been operational for about one year. Thanks to space, as well as easier navigation in winter compared to St Petersburg, Lis believes that Ust-Luga will increase its share of vehicles entering northwest Russia.
Konstantin Sokolov, general manager at the Commercial Sea Port of Ust-Luga, which runs the Yug-2 terminal, says the terminal can store more than 18,200 units, allowing for consolidated storage for many OEMs. A further 500,000 square metres of space is under development, while there is also a customs post at the port.
Besides the main Russian ports, Höegh calls at the port of Paldiski, Estonia, via Bremerhaven, for mainly high-and-heavy equipment imports to Russia. It also calls directly at Klaipeda, Lithuania, with vehicles destined mainly for Belarus, as well as picking up high-and-heavy equipment for export. In southern Russia, Höegh calls the Ukrainian port of Illychevsk via transhipment at the Greek port of Piraeus.
Changing import flows
Toyota remains one of the largest vehicle importers in Russia, having not joined other OEMs in signing Decree 166. Valieva says that while Toyota is also increasing Russian production, the OEM expects imports to climb with its growth. She does not expect a dramatic decrease in the import ratio in the near future.
Toyota uses the Swedish and Belgian ports of Malmö and Zeebrugge as hubs to collect European production along with vehicles from Japan, Turkey, Thailand, and South Africa, which are then sent by short sea to Ust-Luga and St Petersburg. Whereas Toyota used to use Polish, Finnish and Ukrainian ports, it stopped using foreign ports in 2011 to save costs and lead-time. “We restarted using St Petersburg port in addition to Ust-Luga – to which we switched from Illychevsk – in January 2012 and began using Vladivostok in June 2012,” she explains.
Along with the ports of Ust-Luga, St Petersburg and Vladivostock, Toyota has a hub at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Russia’s factory in St Petersburg. “From these four hubs, we deliver vehicles directly to the dealerships and we plan to engage the same approach for our upcoming hubs,” says Valieva. “Direct delivery from ports enabled us to reduce the lead-time by four to five days compared to transit through the Moscow compound.”
Valieva says Toyota is looking for one more port hub in southern Russia in anticipation of increased imports from its Turkish plant in 2013. The carmaker will also open another hub in the Moscow region, which will receive the Sollersproduced Toyota Prado from its plant in Vladivostok.
Toyota has run into infrastructure constraints already in the Far East, explains Valieva. “Zarubino is overflowing and has no development potential. Vladivostok port is located in the centre of town, so space is limited. Nakhodka port was viable, but it is now being used for coal.”
Toyota is also looking for vehicle storage and handling, especially for Black Sea ports, and rail delivery from the Far East region.
Citroën uses the ports of St Petersburg and Illychevsk for imports, although it is currently looking for a southern Russian port in the Black Sea to reduce its transport costs. “Currently, we transport all vehicles from Illychevsk to Moscow by road for customs clearance. We want a port at which we can clear customs and then ship directly to the dealerships as we do at St Petersburg,” explains Makarytcheva.
Along with production in Kaluga and Nizhny Novgorod, Volkswagen distributes vehicles from the port of St Petersburg and a rail terminal in the Moscow region. For imports, it receives 60% of its vehicles by sea, 35% by rail and 5% by truck. “We have increased our sea imports to Russia from 40% to 60% of the total import volume,” says Dresler. “Consequently, we reduced road imports, thus saving costs and taking advantage of higher port efficiency.”
In contrast to vehicle imports, exports from Russia are small, with key destinations being the CIS countries. Lis estimates it will take a few years before Russia exports any significant shipments to non-CIS markets. However, Ust- Luga’s Sokolov expects that local production could eventually lead to significant export growth.
Providers look to multimodal and inland terminals
Some providers in Russia have also been able to capitalise on the change in Russia’s flows from foreign to domestic ports. While major Major Auto Trans has lost volume at the foreign ports from which it provides transport to Moscow – including Gdansk in Poland, Kotka in Finland and Paldiski – to vehicle compounds in the Moscow region, its volumes have increased at northwest Russian ports, says Zhuravlev.
Rolf SCS actually had its fastest growth last year in its port operations, with volumes up by 83% to 128,500 vehicles. Growth has been fastest at the company’s 7,000-car capacity Petrolesport terminal, where Toyota, PSA and Volvo were among the customers to start using the terminal, some having switched from Finnish ports.
Rolf ’s recent joint venture with NYK Line should expand operations for ro-ro operations at Petrolesport and at the port of Zarubino in the Far East. Far East port volumes increased by 50% last year for Japanese brands, according to Larin.
In total, Rolf ’s terminal operations, including handling and processing, increased by nearly 25% in 2012 to 120,200 units, helped by its ownership of customs-authorised Elite Trans in St Petersburg. Last year, the company also expanded its Lobnya terminal, near Moscow, from 6,400 to 7,500 spaces, which Rolf plans to expand further to 9,000 spaces by the end of 2012.
The growth of Russia’s domestic vehicle production, along with the expansion of services at domestic ports and vehicle compounds, makes up a large part of the difference between the Russian automotive industry of today compared to the boom before the last crisis. While foreign brands continue to grow strongly, the push by the government for manufacturers to produce and handle vehicles locally is having a significant impact. While carmakers, including Toyota, Volkswagen and PSA will still require a range of import routes, the successful providers in Russia are increasingly those able to offer multimodal services and terminals across the continental breadth of the country.


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Today, Samsung announced a new LTE modem that will be included in the company's next generation of chipsets. The modems will support download speeds of up to 1.2 gigabits per second.
It is quite rare when a company will accidentally show off a new handset ahead of its release window, but it looks like Samsung might have done just that with a new image that was posted to Twitter.
Samsung has begun the mass production of its first IoT-oriented Exynos chip. The Exynos i T200 includes several security features, multiple processors clocked at 320MHz, and Wi-Fi connectivity.
The most leaked smartphone in recent history is finally here, and it has already shown itself to be a big hit with the masses. Let's see what's hot, and what's not with Samsung's latest.
Ever wonder why Samsung's chips are only found in Samsung devices? According to the South Korean government, it's because Qualcomm has been pressuring Samsung and barring it from competing.
Samsung has just unveiled the Exynos 9 Series 8895 system-on-a-chip. This 10nm chip is the SoC that will power the upcoming Galaxy S8 flagship and it comes with some very powerful features.
Despite hints that variants of Samsung's next flagship smartphone would pack the Exynos 8895, a new SoC part of a new Exynos 9 series could instead be featured, according to a tweet from the company.
Samsung Electronics will purchase Harman International Industries for $8 billion in a deal set to clear in mid-2017. Harman is best known for connective automotive technologies and audio brands.
Samsung has confirmed today that it has started mass-producing 10nm chips, to be used in upcoming devices like the Galaxy S8. Samsung is also rumored to be manufacturing Qualcomm's Snapdragon 830.
Samsung will be building Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon 830 chips, with the South Korean giant expected to utilize the SoC in its own Galaxy S8 flagship. This follows established historical trends.
Back in April, Samsung rolled out Marshmallow to the version of its Galaxy S5 with a Snapdragon processor in India - but Android 6.0.1 is finally available for those devices with an Exynos chip too.
According to a new report, Samsung managed to snatch another of TSMC's big clients. The South Korean company will build Qualcomm's upcoming high-end processors, the Snapdragon 820.
Back in May I had the chance to review the Samsung Galaxy S5, and as expected the Snapdragon-equipped phone performed fantastically. Today we'll take a look at the cheaper Exynos-based variant.
ARM has unveiled Cortex-A17 processor with support for big.LITTLE technology for use in mid-range mobile devices with a performance update of 60 percent over the current Cortex-A9 based devices.
An executive from ARM, attending the ARM Technology Symposia in Korea, has confirmed that Samsung will be launching a smartphone powered by 64-bit version of their Exynos processor early next year
More 'confirmed' information on the Galaxy S IV seems to be arriving on the scene. Among other things there's a rumored shipping date, outstanding specs, and wireless charging capability. Maybe.
At CES 2013 in Las Vegas, Samsung has unveiled a brand new mobile chipset called the Exynos 5 Octa, which combines four Cortex-A15 cores with four Cortex-A7s for supreme battery life and performance
US buyers of the Galaxy S III may be denied its new quad-core Exynos 4 Quad processor, as a Samsung executive is quoted as saying that US versions will be sold with Qualcomm Snapdragon chips instead.
A week before Samsung launches its Galaxy S III, key specs appear in a benchmarking app, pointing to a 1.4GHz dual-core processor, 12MP camera and impressive performance for the new Android handset.
As the latest report claims that Samsung's Galaxy S III will have a ceramic back and 4.8" display, we take a look at what we can expect from the mighty new Android, and when it's expected to arrive.
Want to know exactly what is inside your smartphone? Look no further than this massive 7-part guide that goes over all of it. Today's section goes over smartphone processors and the system-on-a-chip

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Ralph Lauren launches sustainable cotton dyeing method
The textile industry is a glutton. Annually it consumes about 93 billion cubic metres of water. The majority of the water used for dyeing fibres ends up polluting the groundwater. Treating this wastewater is not just a costly affair but also a lengthy one. Finding alternative models is something the fashion industry is working hard on. For example, the Ralph Lauren Company, which has just presented «Color on Demand». With this innovation, the fashion label aims to reuse all the water used in its dyeing processes and initiate the world's first scalable cotton dyeing system. The goal is to reduce not only water and energy consumption, but also the use of chemicals.
For the first time ever, it’s now possible to dye textiles at any stage of production and not just at the beginning. This reduces lead times and gives fashion labels more flexibility when it comes to making colour decisions and responding to customer needs. In turn, this reduces surplus stock and shelf warmers.
To put its money where its mouth is, the Ralph Lauren Company is involving four companies – each of which is the best in its field. In a first step, the label is improving the pretreatment of cotton textiles with the sustainable materials company Dow. In combination with existing dyeing machines, the optimised pretreatment solution Ecofast Pure reduces the use of chemicals by 85 per cent and water consumption by up to 40 per cent. In addition, the company aims to reduce its CO₂ emissions by 60 per cent. The first products are to be launched as early as this year. By 2025, the fashion label strives to produce more than 80 per cent of its cotton creations sustainably with the help of «Color on Demand».


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CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) - Another successful "Toys for Tots" campaign has wrapped-up this year here at 22News.
This year's donation drive was a huge success, thanks to all of you who donated.
Since November 26th, we have been collecting new, unwrapped toys from you, that will go to some less fortunate children here in our community this holiday season.
22News has partnered with the AAA Pioneer Valley and Sleepy's to support the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots campaign. Members of the Marine Corps loaded the thousands of toys onto trucks, early Wednesday morning. These toys will be distributed in the next two weeks to children across western Massachusetts.
22News would like to thank you for making this year's drive extremely successful, as well as making this holiday brighter for thousands of deserving children.


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There may be hope this Small Business Saturday if local businesses implement the right strategy, products (a singular focus), and customer service.
Local bookstores are reportedly “booming,” according to a CBS News column published on Nov. 23, 2018, Black Friday.
The success can be traced to a singular focus – books – specialization, and customer service in local communities.
Also on Friday, a report from newser.com announced a Toys R Us resurrection, with pop-up shops just in time for the holiday season. Even Geoffrey, the chain’s giraffe mascot, is making a comeback, after calling it quits earlier this year.
I’m confident Toys R Us, and other retailers on the brink of collapse, can still survive in this market.
Nostalgia can only take the store so far. It will take a narrowing of the products and services, hopefully shedding Babys R Us and other spin-off stores.
But for many brands, going back to the basics is a great place to start.
Follow Eric on Twitter @ericzimmett for continuing coverage
Disney this week announced the name of its new streaming service, said to be a direct competitor to Netflix.
I’ve been listening to The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding via Audible. Great read…or listen.
A section that really caught my attention was on naming a company, particularly when entering a new category.
According to the 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, if Disney wanted to compete with Netflix, it should have gone with a completely new name.
Instead, they went with Disney+ (Disney Plus).
This was a mistep for a couple reasons. For one, the Disney brand means a lot more to people than movies, so having a Disney Plus doesn’t really signify what the product is.
And secondly, Plus is common word, one used in recent startups like Google Plus (shut down in 2018); as well as Nike Plus; and most notably with Hulu Plus (which Hulu later dropped), another streaming service, owned by none other than The Walt Disney Company, along with 21st Century Fox (acquired by Disney), Comcast and AT&T.
Lunch with Kim Kulchycki at BevMo!; Jay Hauser of Facebook; and Eric Zimmett.
Tesla added some geek art to its “patent wall” according to an @TeslaMotors Tweet on Thursday.
The Tweet comes on the heels of an announcement by CEO, and real-life Iron Man, Elon Musk that Tesla would let other manufacturers infringe on its patents in an effort to accelerate innovation in the electric-car sector.
The image is in reference to the intro screen of Zero Wing, which featured a broken-English phrase “All Your Base Are Belong to Us.” The phrase has since become an Internet meme.


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Swiss cultivated meat start-up raises $2.2m; aims for 2022 product launch26 Mar 2021
This month, Swiss cell-cultured meat start-up Mirai Foods announced it raised US$2.2 million in a second seed round, bringing the total seed financing raised in 2021 to $4.5m.
Backers included German Family Office FRIBA Investment, Swiss advanced nutrition and biotech venture capital firm Skyviews Life Science, and the food company, Paulig, which invested through its venture arm, PINC.
The Zürich, Switzerland-headquartered start-up said it would use the money to accelerate its product development by recruiting new team members, improving in-house lab capabilities, and building a pilot production plant.
“With the additional investment, we are in an excellent position to strengthen the team and speed up our research,” said Christoph Mayr, co-founder and CEO of MIRAI. “This investment is critical for our mission to provide delicious, high quality cultivated meat at a fair price. Our partners not only share our mission but also have great strategic and operational capabilities.”
Specifically catering to European tastes
Mirai will initially focus on producing minced beef – aiming to launch its first product at the end of 2022 – before expanding into other “textures and species”. The start-up plans to cover the entire value chain itself, from R&D and production, to marketing and distribution, and is looking to specifically target European consumers.
“Europeans have a very high standard in terms of food quality, taste, and healthiness of their food,” Mayr told The Ingredients Network. “Also, Europeans don't like to eat anything that is genetically modified. [Our] meat is non-GMO and is optimized for taste and texture. It also has a healthier nutritional profile than traditional meat. This is a core focus of our whole company and reflected in everything we do.”
The start-up describes its products as ‘real meat without the downsides of industrial meat production’. Its production process is antibiotic-free and it can cultivate meat cells that have less saturated fat than conventionally-produced meat.
“We are […] are laser-focused on producing meat with a healthier nutritional profile than traditional meat, and we also have achieved significant milestones in record time, such as a tasting event with real cultivated meat only six months after our lab was up and running,” Mayr said. “This combination of product positioning and execution makes us unique in the marketplace.”
Cultivated meat already on the menu
To date, Singapore is the only region in the world where regulators have approved a cell-cultured meat product from a food safety perspective.
In December last year, food regulators in the Southeast Asian city-state gave the green light to US company Eat Just to sell its product, GOOD Meat Cultured Chicken. Eat Just announced the product would be first served in the 1880 restaurant as a part of a trio of sample dishes for around $23.
Reacting to the SFA’s approval, Asia Pacific managing director of the Good Food Institute (GFI), Elaine Siu, said: “The race to divorce meat production from industrial animal agriculture is underway and nations that follow Singapore’s lead will be able to reap the benefits as the entire world shifts to this new and better way of making meat.”
Stefan Catsicas, managing partner at Skyviews Life Science, which invested in Mirai, said that, going forward, cultivated meat would be a key contributor of a sustainable global food system.
“At the interface between food science and tissue engineering, Mirai is one of the leading next generation companies and we are delighted to be part of their journey,” he added.
Plant-based fish and seafood launches around the world
12 Dec 2022
From pea protein-based prawns to microalgae-based tuna alternatives, plant-based alternatives to fish and seafood are on the rise around the world.Read more
Editors’ choice: Our roundup of the most innovative sweets, snacks and bakery products
9 Dec 2022
The sweets, snacks, and bakery categories are an exciting area, full of fresh and innovative products which are constantly adding meaningful value to the sector.Read more
Functional food in Japan centres on health and proving claims
8 Dec 2022
The latest Japanese functional food and drink trends put health and product efficacy firmly on the production agenda for new releases.Read more
Editor’s choice: Our roundup of the latest women’s health products around the world
2 Dec 2022
From botanicals to combat menopause symptoms to a hydration powder for mothers-to-be, here is our roundup of the most innovative new product launches within women’s health.Read more
Nestlé becomes latest brand to launch vegan version of foie gras
1 Dec 2022
Foie gras, a traditional staple of Christmas dinner across France and other European countries, has long been a controversial delicacy. Now, Nestlé has become the latest company to create a cruelty-free vegan version under its Garden Gourmet brand.Read more
Nestlé launches plant-based egg in Latin America
29 Nov 2022
Nestlé has launched a powdered plant-based protein under its Mahler brand that consumers can add to egg dishes such as omelettes, allowing them to make dishes that are cheaper but still nutritious, it says.Read more
enduracarb®: A science-backed trehalose ingredient for athletic endurance
24 Nov 2022
enduracarb® is a science-backed, slow-acting carbohydrate that can power athletes’ performance. Produced using a high-purity production process, it is suitable for a wide variety of applications.Read more
FDA in ‘critical milestone’ for cell-cultured meat in US
18 Nov 2022
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has completed its first pre-market consultation of a cell-cultured chicken product made by UPSIDE Foods, a development that has been hailed a “critical and inspiring milestone in the history of cultivated meat”...Read more
Plant-based brand launches beet jerky
17 Nov 2022
Theo’s Plant-Based has launched beet Jerky, a vegetable-based beef jerky alternative, made with organic beetroot and spices that taps into a cleaner, sustainable food system preferred by consumers.Read more
Redefining brand value: Empower consumers to be resourceful and creative in the face of rising costs [Interview]
16 Nov 2022
With inflation, greater instability, and supply chain disruptions as a global backdrop of 2022, consumers are increasing looking for value, products with functional benefits, and convenience for the coming year, says Innova Market Insights.Read more


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Bitcoin s 100 percent price rally over the previous eight weeks is close to reckoning according to florian grummes of midas touch consulting. What will be the price of bitcoin btc in 2023.
Adam back a cryptographer and crypto pioneer predicted the value of bitcoin to soar to 3 00 000 per bitcoin in the next five years.
Bitcoin price will go up or down. There are several major factors that can cause the price to go up or down such as. In his newsletter the investment strategist said that the btc usd exchange rate expects to go through a lengthy correction. The price of bitcoin btc after 5 years from today will be around 29 302 3464.
However he says the ascent is bound to be a bumpy one. Anthony pompalino s bitcoin price prediction 225 000 in a letter to investors in october 2020 well renowned bitcoiner and morgan creek digital assets co founder anthony pompalino has outlined why he thinks bitcoin could reach 225 000 by the end of 2021. At this point bitcoin was one of the most talked about things in the media.
Bitcoin s price is defined by the last trade conducted on a specific exchange. He noted that despite the euphoria that led its prices up by more than 400 percent from its mid march nadir the pair still got into a heavily overbought situation. Media hype fud.
The 2017 bitcoin rush until 2021 bitcoin s value reached its highest point in january 2017 when it hit 19 498 63. Everyone you knew mothers grandparents school teachers and doctors were all asking how high will bitcoin go. Will the price of bitcoin btc fall or decrease or drop in future.
After the almost 75 decline in 2018 bitcoin will approach the record high of about 20 000 this year in our view. He believes that hyperbitcoinization can lead to bitcoin reaching 10 million. The algorithm suggests may cost 18 968 in july 2022 but the price will go up to 30 575 in october.
The technical analysis using the algorithm says that the price of bitcoin btc will decrease or fall or drop in long term. Yet 2024 can get back the cryptocurrency s price back to the top. Price goes up when buying pressure increases and goes down when selling pressure increases.
If returns are amplified on the way up they will be amplified on the way down as well. Since the market lows spy is up 200 while bitcoin is up 1 300. From mid february to mid march of 2020 bitcoin crashed more than 60 from 10 500 to 4 000.
In 2023 the price might suffer from strong fluctuations resulting in btc price decrease the value of the main cryptocurrency can probably vary from 13 530 to 26 136.


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Bringing what it calls the first multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game for mobile consoles to Android, Gameloft today released Heroes of Order and Chaos to the Play Store.
The game, a spinoff of the original Order and Chaos, takes place in a "unique fantasy setting" where players will join a battle that's been raging for centuries. It pits teams of three or five players against each other in one of two maps (depending on your party size), combining non-stop arena combat with RPG elements.
Following yesterday's price drop at GameStop, it looks like the Nexus 7 is slashing prices everywhere. Staples, Sam's Club, Office Depot, Wal-Mart, and a few other places all list the tablet at $199 (or a rough foreign equivalent). What's a little more rare is the 32GB Nexus 7 going up for sale in a few locations, though it's unclear how approved that is. Sam's Club has it up for order here, and PC Advisor is reporting that at least one user was able to buy the slate from PC World by asking for it, though it wasn't on display.
We've been following the 32GB Nexus 7 meticulously over the past few weeks, and we're pretty sure it's going to be announced soon, possibly alongside a 3G variant of Google's hit 7" tablet. Of course, one of the most significant aspects of the 32GB N7's story is that it's expected to ring in at a $249 price-point, with the 16GB variant dropping down to $199.
We saw some proof of that earlier today at certain Office Depot locations, but now we have one more drop in the bucket – the 16GB Nexus 7 has gotten a price slash on GameStop's website, down to – you guessed it – $199.
For the uninitiated, 2Checkout is a web-based storefront service that allows users to both create an online checkout system for their products as well as handle merchant services like credit card payments. If you've ever tried to set up your own shop, you know how difficult it can be to get all the moving parts together. Now, 2Checkout is making it even easier with the release of its mobile app that will allow sellers to track sales, issue refunds, and even contact customers.
Lenovo, the company best known for making some pretty sweet laptops and violating the seventh commandment, has released the IdeaTab A2109 at Best Buy. This 9" slate packs a 1.2GHz Tegra 3 processor, a 1280x800 display, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. At $300, this tablet is just barely more expensive than the comparable 16GB Nexus 7. For your extra $50 you not only get a bigger screen, but a rear facing camera and HDMI output.
Perhaps the most popular (and complete) free repair manual in existence, iFixit, launched an official app for Android recently, bringing detailed step-by-step repair instructions and (of course) the saucy teardown images we've come to know and love from the service's online counterpart to your Android devices.
For those who don't know, iFixit provides users with incredibly detailed repair guides for a huge variety of things from laptops to mobile devices, game consoles, and even cars, including great imagery and nice explanations for why hardware is the way it is.
Sprint customers now have one more self-service option when managing their account online. A couple of days earlier than its official launch, the carrier has begun allowing users to change their phone number online, thereby avoiding the $15 fee charged when switching numbers via phone or in-store.
Inside Sprint Now indicates that while this feature is being labeled a "benefit," it may actually be a cost-cutting maneuver, executed in an attempt to reduce the number of calls to customer care, thereby saving some money.
Just as expected, HTC's Evo 4G LTE has finally landed at Sprint, both online and in stores. After the latest Evo's extended stay at US Customs, the device has arrived just in time for release, perfectly timed for early celebration of the original Evo 4G's release a mere two years ago.
In case you've somehow forgotten about the Evo 4G LTE's specs, here's why this is a device to be excited about (for a more complete look at the device, check out our full review):
4.7" Super IPS LCD2 display at 720x1280 (~312ppi)
16GB on-board storage, expandable via microSD
8MP camera (with LED flash), 1.3MP front-shooter
Android 4.0.3 ICS
Dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon processor
Built in NFC
Ample 2000mAh battery
Whether you're a veteran of the Sprint's Evo line, or just want to upgrade to a slick, powerful device, the Evo 4G LTE is a great option.
Minecraft, the wildly popular online creativity toy, has also had a pocket version of itself in development for a while. Up until now, though, you could only really mine. As of today, though, Mojang, the company behind the game, has released version 0.3.0 that finally includes (and you may want to sit down for this one) crafting!
Up until this point, you've been able to scavenge around for materials, but if you wanted to do anything with them, you're stuck.
If there's one thing Android lovers can unite around, it's that we have the best community around. When CyanogenMod put out the call back in February asking for donations to get some new servers, the community responded enthusiastically. Now, the most popular third-party ROM developer is announcing that the servers are online and capable of building CM9 in nine minutes. Whoa.
This is where the magic happens.
The team says there's still some work to be done before these babies are cranking, but once they've set up schedulers to automate the builds, the new servers will be able to put together bleeding edge ROMs for your device faster than you can say "Holy crap, that was really friggin' fast."
For those who are curious (and aren't we all?) those are three Dell R610s in the photo of the CM servers above.


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STATE COLLEGE, Pa (WTAJ) — Inventions and new products are something that carries high risk, and high reward for entrepreneurs.
But, the Happy Valley LaunchBox (HVLB) looks to take risk out of the equation… to help those with new ideas see if they can start their own business.
It seems to be working for one local entrepreneur.
Tamela Serensits walked into the HVLB over a year ago with an idea and she now has her own company and soon will launch her first product.
“This is a very exciting time… we’re on the cusp of launching our first product,” said Serensits, Founder & CEO of Argolytics LLC.
While she was working on final preparations for her company’s product launch, she reflected on when she first had the idea to start her own software company.
“It felt very uncertain at the beginning,” she said.
But soon, she realized she was not alone on an island in her entrepreneurial pursuit.
“The LaunchBox has helped introduce me to so many people that have been so helpful in the community as I started out the company,” Serensits said.
The assistance Serensits received from the HVLB did not cost a penny. Over a year ago, she started Agrolytics, and had a few contract workers, and recently an intern helping design her software. Her team then grew to six project workers.
“All of them from the Centre County area,” she said… adding, “It was really important to me to have people I could trust and have a personal relationship with. This is a very technical product, so it required a lot of communication and back and forth… so having the people locally to work with was a fantastic opportunity.”
An opportunity she used to create “Trendable” a product that allows businesses to assess the quality of items they’re manufacturing.
“Trendable is the first of this quality control type of software that was born on the cloud… so being this cloud-based software makes it more affordable and easier to access for small manufacturers,” Serensits said.
The program was designed especially for small and medium-sized businesses with data displays that are easy to understand. Serensits feels this is a niche-product that will do well once it’s on the market.
She knows there’s not always guaranteed success in starting your own company, but says at the HVLB, ideas are worth pursuing.
“If you have an idea, test the market. If you get great feedback… start moving forward,” Serensits said.
Want to know more about Serensits’ product that will soon launch? The video and story below have more details
“Why do companies need a product like Trendable?” WTAJ asked.
“While they’re manufacturing their product… whatever widget they’re making… they’re taking measurements along the way, and while they’re taking their measurements, they need to put them into some type of analytics program like Trendable, to let them know that they’re on track and meeting the specifications they need to meet,” Serensits said.
She added that since the software was born on “the cloud” it can be accessed on-the-go.
Another main component of the software’s design: simplicity.
“We tried to strip away all of the extras that a lot of what we could consider [our] competitors have… so that it’s very easy to use and doesn’t require a lot of training, which is important for small and medium sized manufacturers,” Serensits said.
She hopes her product is used by locals and all around the globe. Right now her company is looking to employ five-to-10 locals. Serensits says she hopes there are opportunities for expansion in the future.
She plans to launch her product Trendable by next month.


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Roads & Paving
Astec launches a rebrand to simplify the business
May 26, 2021 By Astec Industries, Inc.
Astec Industries, Inc. has launched a new modern look with a rebranding initiative to coincide with its business model. The rebrand, which includes a new logo, colour palette and website, comes while the organization streamlines its internal structure and operations to improve efficiency and drive growth.
The organization’s former brands, including Astec Inc., Astec do Brasil, Astec Australia, BMH Systems, Breaker Technology, Carlson Paving, Con-E-Co, Heatec, KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens, Osborn, Peterson, RexCon, Roadtec and Telsmith, will no longer operate as separate subsidiary companies and will all take on the ASTEC name. The unification is a significant part of the company’s OneASTEC business model including its ‘Simplify, Focus and Grow’ strategy.
“We made the decision to unify to make it easier for our dealers and customers to do business with us. By coming together as one organization, we can offer greater customer service and drive innovation,” said Barry Ruffalo, president and CEO of Astec Industries, Inc. “The rebrand enables us to build our strength together under one common name and purpose. We can better leverage our growth as one ASTEC team rather than individual brands.”
The logo represents the company’s purpose: ‘Built to Connect’ and vision to connect people, processes, and products. The new website (www.astecindustries.com) replaces the previous subsidiary websites. Dealers, customers, suppliers and consumers will be able to find information about the company, its product offerings and other resources in one location.
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The tour operators association welcomes new members as it prepares for the 34th Philippine Travel Mart, the largest travel fair in the country
10 August 2023–Lauding efforts by the country’s tour operators to improve tourism not just in popular destinations but in emerging ones, too, Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco expressed her gratitude toward the Philippine Tour Operators Association (Philtoa) for its “inclusive tourism development,” on the occasion of the group’s 4th General Membership Meeting (GMM) held in Crimson Hotel, Alabang, Muntinlupa City.
“We recognize that there are several emerging destinations across the country that, if given the right assistance, attention, development, and promotion, have the potential to become key destinations, as far as tourism is concerned. This is why I’m very grateful to Philtoa, because their focus has not been our world-famous destinations alone, but also in giving opportunities to emerging destinations,” said Frasco, the event’s keynote speaker. “This is reflective of true shared tourism governance, where the private sector mobilizes the industry to assist the government to ensure inclusive tourism development.”
As part of the celebration, Philtoa inducted into the group 10 new tour operators, one immigration services agency, and 15 hotel and resort properties, bringing its membership to over 500. These include: Big Golden Furby International Travel and Tours, Inc.; BNG Travel and Tours Services, Inc.; ETravel Zone; ETravelPH Events Management Services; Festive Travel and Tours Services; Godspeed Travel & Tours Corp.; Group Tours Specialists, Inc.; Jimwell Travel and Tours; Landsair Tours and Travel Corp., Mariaynah Travel and Tour; MFly Travel and Tours; RIOR Wanders Travel and Tours; Tobi’s Travel & Tour Services, Inc.; Travel Enterprise Corporation; Walk the Planet, Inc; Alpha Suites Makati; Ambassador in Paradise Resort Corporation; Best Western Plus Metro Clark; City Garden Grand Hotel; Discovery Samal; Holiday Suites; Red Hotel, Inc.; Richmonde Hotel Iloilo; Sol y Viento Mountain Hot Spring Resort, Inc.; Timberland Highlands Resort; and ACN Southern Immigration and Educational Services.
Philtoa president Fe Abling-Yu also announced the upcoming 34th Philippine Travel Mart, happening on September 1-3 at the SMX Convention Center Manila, Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City. . The largest annual travel fair will bring together nearly 200 exhibitors (occupying 300 booths) from all 17 regions of the Philippines, from hotels to resorts, travel agencies, tour operators, and tourism offices under one roof. The one-stop shop makes it easy for travel fair patrons to peruse vacation packages from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Visitors of the PTM will have the advantage of availing discounts and deals available only for on-the spot bookings.
Bacolod, the ‘super city’
The 4th GMM’s highlighted destination is Bacolod City, a growing “super city” that is inviting travelers both local and international to explore the City of Smiles’ latest tourism developments—from infrastructure to food, art, culture, and heritage, as well as meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) initiatives.
Guest of honor Mayor Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez gave guests a glimpse of Bacolod’s exciting offers, including the upcoming Bacolod Convention Center, which can accommodate up to 10,000 people for MICE events; the Bacolod Masskara Museum/Trade Center; Orange Project, the city’s biggest art gallery that combines education and entertainment ; and countless food destinations that serve delicacies such as inasal, kansi, napoleones, and piaya, among others.
Of course, Bacolod’s major tourist attraction is its Masskara Festival, which, this year, promises to be a huge three-week event, with each week focusing on a key aspect of the city’s tourism. During the first week, guests can look forward to “Masskara-lympics,” a whole lineup of sporting events; on the second week, food will be the highlight of “Masskara Namit,” with spirits in the spotlight, given that Bacolod is home of the Philippines’ largest rum product; and on the last week, get ready to party Mardi Gras-style at the Electric Masskara event.
With such tourism developments happening not just in Bacolod, but across the country post-pandemic, Chroma Hospitality Group vice president for sales and marketing Carmela Bocanegra enjoined her fellow Philtoa members to claim that “the time is now” to move forward and further strengthen the industry.
“Make 2023 the time of the great comeback,” Bocanegra said.
And as Philtoa makes its great comeback, Frasco also invited the association to continue to exhibit their love for the Philippines “by heralding the best of the best” of our destinations and helping them improve so we can showcase them to the world.
“To love the Philippines is to highlight our love of country, our pride of place, our love for each other, and is a reminder and a call to action,” said Frasco. “To love the Philippines… is to try to understand what we can do to introduce difficult but helpful solutions or programs that have never been done before, but are being implemented now in response to global tourism trends. To love the Philippines is to localize this love in your specific destinations.”
34th Philippine Travel Mart
“We are grateful for the strong partnerships with the Department of Tourism, Tourism Promotions Board, Philippine Airlines, BPI, and our media partners. The 34th Philippine Travel Mart is not only a showcase of our country’s incredible destinations but also a celebration of our industry’s resilience and strength as a major contributor to the country’s growth and progress,” said Fe Abling-Yu, President of the Philippine Tour Operators Association.
The 34th Philippine Travel Mart is happening on September 1 to 3, 2023, at the SMX Convention Center Manila, Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City. For more information, visit their website philtravelmart.com, or follow their Facebook and Instagram pages @Philtravelmart


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For the first time ever, Apple revealed a list of all of the parts suppliers for its various products as part of its annual report that goes over how those suppliers handle their workers.
7 days: A week of Azure outages, Black Friday deals, a kernel change and "becoming Clippy"
The day I became Clippy
Your guide to every Lumia Windows Phone ever launched
From Xbox to Health, the story of the Microsoft Band
With 802.11n poised to become the mainstream Wi-Fi standard, chips suppliers are racing to lower their costs and offer affordable single-chip solutions at 90nm and below in order to get a head-start in the market,...
Wal-Mart, which already has year-round cell phone and ink cartridge recycling programs as well as computer recycling efforts, is now interested in expanding its focus on "environmental sustainability". At the "Take it Back" conference, the...
BT Group have announced that they are to demand a demonstration of cost savings from network equipment suppliers, or they are to refuse to pay in full for the equipment. This is a part of...


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Although mobile phone sales volume decreases, but place of every mobile phone soars with MLCC amount, use requirement plus the car fervent, sun of big plant of MLCC of the 2nd quarter leads report amalgamative battalion closes relatively the corresponding period soared last year 15.2% to sixty-eight billion six hundred and thirty-five million yen, amalgamative seek profits cruel add 60.4% to 9.595 billion yen, amalgamative net profit soars 26.7% to 7.151 billion yen.
Look into future, the sun leads report beforehand appraise this money year (in April 2019 – in March 2020) amalgamative battalion closes will year add 5.7% to 2, 90 billion yen, amalgamative seek profits will grow 7.8% to 38 billion yen, amalgamative net profit will year add 5.5% to 25 billion yen.
The place of field of village of factory of a MLCC that make was announced a few days ago newest money signs up for first quarter. 2019 the sale of 4-6 month relatively the corresponding period increased last year 3.5% incorporate to; of 357.5 billion yen business interest year add 29.9% to pure profit of; of 62.6 billion yen year add 20.1% to 46.8 billion yen.
Yesterday (5) day, village cropland announces in press release of the place that make, because electronic machine is high-powered,change, car electron is changed, in driving MLCC, long-term demand looks add, be opposite to answer accordingly demand, increase production MLCC, the place of field of village of Iwami of subsidiary of production of the MLCC below the banner that make restricts investment 5 billion yen (include the charge) that acquires land, besides the manufacturing facilities that increases spread existing workshop, also will begin construction in August 2019 build new factory building of a MLCC, this new plant predicts to will be in finishing in May 2020.


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It doesn’t get much more powerful than a Marvel superhero, and the company is capitalizing on that brand strength with a new strategy.
Lawless Entertainment and Dina Asia Pacific Company have struck a deal with Suzy’s Zoo, children’s illustrations from artist Suzy Spafford, and Teammate Hong Kong.
Splash Entertainment has carried out a number of key licensing, merchandising and DVD deals for its hit international animated series "Chloe’s Closet."
Nickelodeon has partnered with Australian live events company Showtime Attractions to manage and expand Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ licensed characters to Australia and New Zealand.
Disney Consumer Products and Marvel Entertainment have collaborated on several products to promote the upcoming film Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, released this Friday.
TV Tokyo has announced a licensing agreement, giving Chinese game platform Shenzhen iDreamSky Technology permission to create mobile games for China and other Asian territories.
The 45th anniversary season of “Sesame Street” will premiere September 15 on PBS Kids.
SmileyWorld has launched a new kids’ fashion line for Fall 2014, marking the brand’s first major release into the Chinese children’s apparel market.
Cartoon Network and the CN show “Looney Labs” are now part of the Fluxx card game roster.
Nerd Corps Entertainment has partnered with Cineplex to bring the children’s film Slugterra: Return of the Elementals to more than 50 theatres across Canada.
Game makers USAopoly, under license from Hasbro, and Nickelodeon will release two Monopoly Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles board games this fall.
Big Tent Entertainment has signed a long-term deal with HNJ jewelry to create jewelry featuring Domo.
King Features, worldwide licensor of Betty Boop and Popeye, has appointed Tycoon Group as its agent in Latin and Central America.
Saban’s Power Rangers are getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving, with a series of events that will culminate in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Sanrio and Art You Grew Up With have launched a Mr. Men Little Miss pop-up shop at Selfridges in the U.K.
C3 Entertainment is giving its support to a new nine-part mini-series detailing the history of The Three Stooges through the eyes of Moe Howard’s son.
C3 Entertainment is expanding the presence of The Three Stooges in Panini America's trading card sets.
American Greetings Properties has debuted a new direct-to-retail deal for Strawberry Shortcake children’s apparel, bedding and accessories.
Sanrio is bringing the Share a Hug with Hello Kitty! global “hugathon” to the U.S. to kick off celebrations for the character’s 40th anniversary.
The CBeebies preschool show “Woolly and Tig” has become the latest brand to join Digital Giving’s charity app “T-Shirt Booth.”
Knockout Licensing has appointed four new sub-agents for social media canine celebrity Boo–The World’s Cutest Dog.
©2014 ADVANSTAR COMMUNICATIONS INC. All rights reserved.


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The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the operations of manufacturers all across the world in almost every sector. This global crisis caused different production manufacturers to either completely shut down their operations. Or pivot to producing pandemic-specific goods such as face masks, personal protective equipment or other medical products or devices.
As the pandemic progresses, there are still many challenges and roadblocks that continue to limit manufacturers’ operations globally. However, there are several ways that manufacturers can accelerate and ramp up their global production without compromising safety. Read more


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WESTMINSTER, MA – Wachusett Brewing Company is releasing their newest beer, Pumpkan Ale. With the recent installment of the canning line this will be the third aluminum packaged product added to the portfolio. Pumpkan is a session amber ale with a 5.2% ABV and 20 IBUs.
The use of Two Row, Cara Crystal Wheat and Caramunich malts create a perfect balance to the pumpkin puree and Blonde Belgian Candi Sugar. The combination creates a deep orange color with the subtle spice flavors of cinnamon and nutmeg.
Pumpkan Ale will be released in the beginning of August along with the re-release of our signature Imperial Pumpkin Ale, brewed for the first time in August 2011. Pumpkan Ale will be available on shelves in 12 packs and selected draft locations, Imperial Pumpkin Ale in 22 oz. bottle series for the 2012 season. A release party will also be held at the brewery on August 9th located on 175 State Road East Westminster, MA.


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Channel Register: According to analysts at Morgan Stanley, smartphones will outsell feature phones by next year, and they'll overtake PCs the year after. Their latest Internet Trends report also includes the following tidbits:
- Online advertising is worth $50 billion a year in the US alone.
- 55 percent of mobile browsing comes from an iPhone, despite only having 15 percent of the market.
- iPhone users download the most applications per month--47.
- The US has 123 million 3G subscribers.


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China ship hears 'signal'; unclear if jet-related
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A woman ties a message card for passengers aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, at a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Saturday, April 5, 2014.
Photos: Island Images: September 2014
Photos: Farrington Remembers Skippa Diaz, Sept. 29
Photos: Ala Wai Dog Park Grand Opening, Sept. 28
More Photo Galleries »


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The procedure known as ‘social login’, whereby users can register on third-party websites or sign up to apps and services by directly using existing identity information from their preferred social network without having to create a new login account, is being increasingly encouraged by web platforms ranging from e-commerce sites to newsletter services.
With the exponential growth of m-commerce, the use of ‘social login’ is becoming increasing popular as a means of user authentication on new websites and for new apps and services. Of course, when a new user signs up, s/he may still be asked to supply extra hitherto unpublished or confidential information such as a bank account number. Mountain View-based Gigya, which creates specialised software for companies wishing to engage more closely with customers online, argues that enabling social login from the various social networks allows companies and organisations to reduce traffic costs while obtaining huge amounts of customer information and detailed user analysis through data mining. A recent Gigya report, which synthesises the data it has acquired on the social login phenomenon, reveals that Facebook has become the leading digital identity provider, helping to streamline Internet browsing at a time when confidentiality is becoming a key issue, although the popular social network was not originally designed to provide such functionality. The current surge in social logins, which makes registering for apps or paid-for services much easier, is also driving companies’ customer acquisition strategies.
Facebook the dominant social login tool
The Gigya report indicates that social login is now a central feature of today’s Internet traffic. Users who have already entered their details on Facebook, Google+ or other social networks no longer have to re-enter these details when logging in to a third-party site. Given its predominance among social networks, Facebook is best placed to help reduce the number of digital profiles and passwords which users – both individuals and companies – need to create. Facebook is the most used social network for registrations on many types of websites – e-commerce sites, blogs, educational platforms, and so on – boasting over 50% of social login preference compared with 30% for Google+ and 5% for Twitter. These ratios are pretty much the same when users use social login on their smartphones. However, authentication via Yahoo accounts has lost ground since the end of 2013, its total share of logins dipping 2% over this period.
Social login not yet a uniform worldwide phenomenon
The Gigya study goes some way to revealing the importance people in different countries place on privacy. In actual fact Facebook and Google+ are used proportionately less per head of population in wider Europe and the United States than in the developing countries, largely due to the lack of rival social networks in the developing world, which has allowed the giant US networks to corner the social media market. In a more subtle way, given the success of social networks inspired by Facebook in several of these countries – Renren in China, for example – the Gigya figures also reveal the superiority of Facebook and Google+ functionality over their local equivalents. In contrast with their ‘cloned’ versions, the two US giants have made great strides in enabling the social login approach, and in doing so have already gone way beyond the boundaries of what a social network was thought to be – for example forcing web page designers to make their login procedures uniform. The reason why e- and m-commerce sites are keen on identity authentication via Facebook also has a lot to do with the high-quality data they can obtain from it. In this era of Big Data the social login procedure allows them to collect ‘clean’ – i.e. very precise – data, which means they can target their customers much more accurately. Transaction costs can also be kept down with no adverse effect on the quality of the data obtained. Social login is of course not a brand-new means of increasing user engagement with a website or service: as long ago as 2011, according to a survey conducted by Portland, Oregon, US-based private technology company Janrain, fully 77% of all users preferred to use social login procedures.


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Amazon apologized for disputing a lawmaker’s claim that its workers urinate in bottles, admitting in a blog post on Friday that it was “incorrect” to deny the report. The online retailer said the problem affected drivers, not employees at its many warehouses across the United States.
Questions about whether Amazon workers working under strict weather conditions sometimes resort to urine in bottles raised in a 2018 book by, who infiltrated to briefly work in an Amazon warehouse to document the hardships of low-wage work in the UK.In his account, he came across what looked like a bottle of urine hidden on a shelf in warehouse, which he assumed was a worker’s solution. to the difficulty of squeezing bathroom breaks into the huge facility.
Until his apologies, Amazon had completely refuted these accounts. “You don’t really believe in the pee in the bottles thing, do you? If it were true, no one would work for us,” the company’s Amazon News account tweeted on March 24 in response to criticism. by Representative Mark Pocan that the online monster was not enlightened in its workplace practices simply because it was offering a minimum wage of $ 15 an hour.
Even though Amazon has denied the information, other reporters have documented workers at the company relying on bottles for relief. Last month, the Intercept disclosed internal Amazon documents berating workers for “public urination” and “public defecation,” while a worker said he received an email from management asking drivers to check their vans for “urine bottles” and report such “violations.”
At the same time, Amazon has battled a host of other allegations about workers’ working conditions, such as a New York state lawsuit alleging the companyfrom COVID-19. Investors are also pushing Amazon for the change, including CtW Investment Group, which represents the pension funds of around 5 million unionized workers.
“Very important symbol”
Amidst these challenges for Amazon, it was the reports of employees peeing into bottles that galvanized public attention and sympathy. Bloodworth told CBS MoneyWatch this month that his description of finding a bottle filled with what looked and smelled like urine was a “throwaway line” in a book about low-wage working conditions.
“It has become an iconic image because we are talking about the richest multinational in the world led by the richest man in the world, and yet you have a workforce which, in my own experience, was afraid to take bathroom breaks, ”Bloodworth told CBS MoneyWatch earlier this month. “It’s a pretty shocking thing in the 21st century.”
The issue has also caught the attention of investors. CtW Investment Group executive director Dieter Waizenegger told CBS MoneyWatch that its pension funds care about the working conditions of workers and the company wants to ensure these values are reflected in its investments. The investment group, which owns 900,000 Amazon shares and manages $ 250 billion in assets, reached out to Amazon to improve working conditions, such as improving health and safety protections.
“The pee in the bottles is basically a very important symbol, but it’s part of a much bigger picture,” Waizenegger said. “If you invest in your workers and give them good working conditions and a sense of dignity and respect, they will work harder for you.”
Amazon did not immediately return a request for comment.
The experience of a former worker
Although Amazon acknowledged that its drivers could occasionally resort to urine in bottles, it described a different situation in its warehouses.
“A typical Amazon fulfillment center has dozens of washrooms, and employees can walk away from their workstations at any time. If an employee at a fulfillment center has a different experience, we encourage them to talk to their manager and we work to fix it, ”the company said on Friday.
But former warehouse workers say it can be difficult to take a bathroom break, given their 15-minute breaks and the vast spaces they sometimes have to cross to reach one. Chris Smalls, a former deputy warehouse manager at Amazon who was fired in March 2020 after staging a walkout for lack of precautions to stop COVID-19 infections, said it was not easy to ” use the toilet.
Workers “get hunted down to the second,” Smalls told CBS MoneyWatch, adding that warehouse bathrooms are often a five to 10-minute walk from a worker’s station, making it difficult use of the toilet during a 15-minute break. If workers exceeded their break time, managers would draft them, Smalls said, which could eventually lead to a layoff.
As a supervisor, he said workers complained about not having enough time to use the toilet. “I would say, ‘You can use the bathroom,’ but I had to warn them of the repercussions of running out of time,” he said.
Once, Smalls added, human feces were found on a set of warehouse steps, which he said was due to a worker not being able to get to the bathroom on time.
Smalls said his recommendation would be for Amazon to stop tracking workers when they use the toilet. “This time should not be used against them at all,” he said. “It is a human right.”
All eyes on the Alabama warehouse
Amazon’s latest scrutiny of workplace practices comes as approximately 6,000 workers at a corporate warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, await the results of a, representing the largest labor force surge in the retailer’s history.
If the vote supports unionization, it could encourage more warehouse workers to unionize or demand better working conditions, experts say. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Stores Union, which led the union campaign in Bessemer, declined to comment as votes are currently being counted.
Amazon’s initial response last month to criticism of Representative Pocan, saying people wouldn’t work for the company if such stories were true, echoes logic other employers have historically used not to provide. safe and hygienic workplaces, said Professor Rebecca Givan, associate professor in the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers University.
“If the kids didn’t want to work in the mines, why would they take it? If people didn’t want to be sexually harassed, why were they working there? ”She said, summing up those views. “It’s insulting because it belittles workers who have bills and mouths to feed.”
Even if the union vote fails, Amazon will likely continue to come under scrutiny from customers and other stakeholders, experts say. A vote against unionization will also highlight the issues facing low-wage workers in an era of huge wealth creation for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and investors.
“A lot of workers, especially low-paid workers, don’t have a lot of options,” Givan said. “I don’t think we will be able to conclude that these workers do not want to be heard in the workplace, but that it is rather extremely difficult to organize” under the current law.


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Amazon is encouraging its customers to ask Alexa, “What are my deals?”
In an announcement posted Friday (Oct. 1), Amazon staff noted that buyers can shop the latest deals by asking its voice assistant that question.
Alexa can also help shoppers plan what to buy by answering questions and building a shopping list; recommend products by sharing customer recommendations and current deals; add items to a shopping cart and suggest items based on the shopper’s Amazon order history; and track orders and confirm delivery. The company offered 14 phrases to customers in the announcement to get the most out of shopping on Amazon.
Amazon has intended for Alexa to become the operating system for the connected economy, PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster wrote in a Sept. 20 opinion piece.
Since the introduction of Alexa in 2014, Amazon has embedded its voice-activated operating system into the growing number of devices that were or could be connected to the internet. (Indeed, Amazon reported Sept. 28 that customers have connected more than 200 million smart home devices to Alexa and are connecting millions of new devices each month.)
Seven years ago, Alexa 1.0 was about building the consumer’s trust using a humanized voice artificial intelligence (AI) application named Alexa and discovering the hands-free power of a simple, spoken command to master the mundane.
Over time, its voice AI operating system has the potential to move consumers and businesses closer to an always-on connected commerce ecosystem, by leveraging that trust and embedding payment and identity credentials into a growing portfolio of connected devices powering new use cases that define the consumer’s daily routine.
It’s something that will become far more important as more and more devices get deployed through the retail and commercial physical space, penetrated by super-fast 5G, Webster wrote.


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After months of beta updates, Google finally launched its Android 10 (formerly known as Android Q) on September 3 as the successor to last year’s Android Pie 9.0. As per the schedule, Google released the update to all Google Pixel devices right from first-gen to third-gen devices along with Essential PH. Xiaomi Redmi K20 Pro became the first device to be upgraded to Android 10 followed by OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro that is now upgradable to Android 10 based OxygenOS 10. In this extract, we are discussing a crucial query/question that users are asking i.e. When will Realme 5 Pro Android 10 Update rollout?
Realme 5 Pro was launched in the first week of September 2019 as company’s first-ever quad-camera smartphone in a budget range with Android 9.0 based ColorOS 6 onboard. It is upgradable to Android 10 based ColorOS.
Android 10 Features
Android 10 brings a plethora of features onboard ranging from gesture-based navigation to location & privacy controls and more. It has upgraded the UI along with support to foldable & 5G networks as well. You can read more about it here.
Realme 5 Pro Android 10
As per the roadmap that Realme released a few weeks ago, it will be rolling out Android 10 update to its Realme 5 Pro in Q1 of 2020 which is basically between January to March. Although the exact date isn’t available yet, I highly believe that it will be among the first devices to get Android 10 early next year followed by Realme X (Q1 2020) and Realme XT (Q1 2020) since Realme 3 Pro has already received its Android 10 upgrade recently.
Realme 5 Pro Specifications
Realme 5 Pro is the latest edition and brings a 6.3-inch IPS LCD display with 1080×2340 pixels resolution with Corning Gorilla Glass 3+ onboard. Launched in early September with Android 9.0 Pie-based ColorOS 6, Realme 5 Pro will soon get Android 10 update as well. It sports a Snapdragon 712 10nm octa-core processor backed with Adreno 616 GPU along with 4+64GB, 6+64GB, and 8+128GB storage solutions. The device marks on the onset of the first-ever quad-camera system on Realme devices with a triple 48+8+2+2MP sensors bundled with a 16MP selfie shooter.
The device has a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner and it is powered by 4,035 mAh Li-Po battery with VOOC 3.0 fast charging at 20W which is capable of charging the battery to 50% of its capacity in 30 minutes. The device is available in Crystal Blue and Crystal Green color variants and brings onboard some of the premium specifications tied with a budget price tag.


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Boost to retail sales is likely to be temporary - ITEM Club
Nida Ali, economic advisor to the EY ITEM Club, comments on today’s retail sales figures:
- Robust increase in retail sales was mainly due to a combination of one-off factors
- Prices eased considerably, reflecting lower global commodity prices and ongoing discounting by struggling retailers
- The fundamentals underpinning consumer spending are still unsupportive and the boost in retail sales is likely to be temporary
“The robust increase in retail sales was broadly in line with expectations and is mainly the result of a combination of one-off factors. It partly reflects a catch-up effect from exceptionally weak sales in April and the warm weather in May which boosted the sales of clothing and footwear. Survey data suggests that much of the increase in sales volumes was seen in the final week of May when the weather improved.
“Sales volumes were also supported by a considerable easing of prices. On one hand, this is encouraging as it reflects the impact of lower global commodity prices, but it also points to ongoing discounting by struggling retailers, which is an unsustainable strategy.
“Overall, the boost in retail sales is likely to be temporary. The fundamentals underpinning consumer spending are still unsupportive. Unemployment is elevated well above historical norms, with the gradual improvement in the labour market over the past few months now starting to wane. Although inflation has been easing at a rapid pace, with wage growth lagging behind the inflation rate, consumers continue to face declining real incomes. We do expect these conditions to improve gradually as the economy recovers but, for the moment, conditions remain tough.”


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Key cold-weather boating states saw boat sales drop across the board as cold weather persisted into early spring, with Michigan, New York and Ohio all posting sharp declines in late winter.
New Boat Sales
Statistical Surveys, a Michigan company that tracks new-boat registrations, provides monthly, quarterly and annual reports on boat sales from every state in the country.
Astronomically speaking, the spring season began last week, but in the recreational boating industry the spring selling season starts in February. This year, it did not start well.
The runabout category has struggled to bounce back post-recession, but the ski and high-performance market has performed well for the last couple of years. That’s according to Jack Ellis of Florida-based Info-Link, who says the segment has exceeded growth in 2003 in several markets. “Ski boats used to be about a 12,000-unit market at one…more
Closing a year marked by modest but steady growth, the recreational boating industry topped the 200,000 mark in sales for the second year in a row in 2013 and saw a gain of nearly 6 percent in its main powerboat segments.
Large fiberglass boat sales were up 20 percent in 2013 from the previous year, but not across the board.
History would suggest that a slowdown in pontoon sales trends is imminent, but the most recent data from Info-Link suggests that it won’t be happening anytime soon.
New-boat sales in December tracked largely with expectations, rising from about 120,000 units sold in 2012 to 140,000 units in 2013 on a 12-month rolling basis, a trend one industry analyst attributes in part to the rebounding housing market in Florida.
Like the stars on a professional sports team, two stalwart categories of aluminum boats and the largest segment of fiberglass boats delivered solidly higher sales in December that enabled the recreational boat industry to finish 2013 with a month of double-digit gains.
Industry leaders peer into their crystal ball and most see slow but steady growth
Where the weather was warm, boat sales remained bright, and even though it was October enough Americans were still buying that the industry reached double-digit percentage gains for the fourth month in a row.


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The Scottish business is opening its latest bar in Basingstoke, Hampshire. Watt tweeted a picture of the new bar and said: “We are scheduled to open 27 new location in 2022.” He also added a picture of the Basingstoke site and wrote: “Say hello to our latest location.”
The new site is located at Festival Place on Potters Walk, in the Hampshire town. Other new upcoming UK openings include Canterbury, Durham, Chester, Bristol Harbourside, Ipswich, Lincoln and Waterloo. It also has a number of international openings lined up, including in Las Vegas, Milan, Atlanta, Brisbane and Dublin.
Tie-up with Reds
BrewDog is opening a site on Friday 8 April in Hull, and is teaming up with Reds True Barbecue for its fourth venture. The Ellon operator said on its website: “We’re opening a brand new bar in Hull – located in the newly refurbished Princes Quay floating shopping centre, with a terrace looking out over the quay. This stunning location features our fourth Reds True BBQ x BrewDog food concept, 30 taps of awesome craft beer, a quayside balcony, and shuffleboards, just a stone’s throw from the water’s edge.”
Last month, Watt said a criminal prosecution is under way for fraud and malicious communication over an alleged campaign of online harassment directed against him. He said in The Guardian he has been subject to a two year-long “co-ordinated criminal campaign of online harassment, defamation, blackmail, significant fraud and malicious communications”.


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Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has offloaded the Missguided brand and its intellectual property to Chinese fast fashion giant Shein — just one year after it bought the online retailer.
As part of the deal, the Asian clothing behemoth will manage Missguided through Sumwon Studios, a joint venture it set up with the company’s founder, Nitin Passi, The Times reported.
Frasers Group will retain Missguided’s real estate and employees which have already been blended into the Sports Direct owners fashion division.
The retail powerhouse, which is now headed up by Ashley’s son-in-law Michael Murray, bought the online retailer last year for £20m after it fell into administration.
It formed part of a slew of similar acquisitions made by Frasers Group at the time, who has also acquired rival fast fashion sites I Saw It First and Missy Empire.
The company has also been building stakes in Boohoo and Asos. However, the sale of Missguided to Shein marks the Chinese brand’s first UK acquisition.
Murray told the outlet: “Retaining the combined Frasers fashion teams while rationalising our portfolio in this space to focus on fewer brands makes a lot of sense in the current climate.
“We are also excited about the discussions around further collaboration between Frasers Group and Shein.”
It comes as rumours swirl that Frasers Group is looking to snap up Topshop from Asos.
Over the weekend it emerged that the ailing online fashion retailer is exploring a sale of Topshop, less than three years after it acquired the high street brand from Philip Green’s collapsed Arcadia empire.
Notice of the sale could be announced as soon as Wednesday when the group publishes its delayed full-year results.
City A.M. has contacted Shein and Frasers Group for a comment.