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Copyright © 2015
Development delays have brought the unconfirmed Microsoft 'Pink' project to the brink of failure, according to ChannelWeb. The codename is said to represent a smartphone that is being developed in conjunction with Verizon to compete against devices such as the iPhone. Unnamed sources suggest the project originally aimed to integrate technology from Windows Mobile 7. Delays with Mobile 7 have allegedly put more workload on Pink developers to find alternative technology.
In Brief: A rumor suggests Apple may be ready to release Mac OS X 10.5.7 as early as Friday. A California teen claims to have sent and received over 300,000 text messages on an iPhone in one month, while AdWhirl now serves over 200 million advertisements from App Store titles. seyDoggy has released a new Ultimate Theme for RapidWeaver, TW002 r4. Laserface Jones has won the uDevGames 2008 competition, while Pogo Stylus has announced the $500 Art Challenge for creations produced on the iPhone. CalDigit is offering discounts on its HDPro RAID storage systems, along with a price reduction for VR mini pre-orders. Meanwhile, TechForEducators has added Steve Wozniak to its board of advisors.
Apple is virtually guaranteed to open up the iPhone to more US carriers within the next two years, say analysts with Citigroup. Richard Gardner and other members of Citi's research firm note that while the exclusive arrangement with AT&T has been beneficial for Apple, there are a number of reasons to believe the company will move to support other carriers, namely Verizon. Apple is in a position to force telcos to bend to demands, for instance, including generous data plans, a lack of co-branding and an absence of revenue sharing at the App Store.
David Wiener Ventures has, as part of its David Weiner Collection, introduced on Wednesday the Art.Suono. The iPod speaker dock and its transmitter are made of machined aircraft-grade aluminum and feature carbon fiber accents as well as fine detailing and finishes that gives it an industrial look. The transmitter can also accommodate a computer source, CD player, satellite radio or any other MP3 player via its auxiliary input jack. It uses 2.4GHz wireless technology to then send the signal to compatible wireless speakers, while also utilizing the Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum technique for a strong, drop-out-free connection that aims to maintain signal quality.
Despite European Union members approving a reform to EU telecoms rules, the European Parliament has ordered a revision to the proposed legislation, as it believes it restricts Internet users' rights to challenge accusations of piracy, a report says on Wednesday. The state governments and lawmakers will have two months starting in September to reach a new deal or the draft reform will not pass through to become law.
Despite announcing back in December that it would stop suing individual file sharers and use ISP monitoring instead, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is still filing such lawsuits, says a Tuesday TechDirt article. Not only is it going against what it said before, but RIAA lawyers are claiming the Association never made such a statement in a letter to Congress.
The SmartQ7 Mobile Internet Device (MID) was recently unveiled and is due to go on sale in the near future in China. Sporting a 7-inch, 800x480 resolution touchscreen display, the device is meant to bring the Internet to users' laps along with other entertainment features that include digital music and video playback. The Linux-based device relies solely on a Wi-Fi connection to connect to the Internet.
(Update with official info) T-Mobile will officially put Google's Android 1.5 on G1 smartphones early next week, the company said today. In spite of having already pushed the update early to some users, T-Mobile USA hopes to have the update begin in earnest before the end of next week. The rollout will take place in phases to manage the load and will let every phone get the update by the end of May.
The Escapers has released a public beta of Flux 2, an upcoming CSS-based web design tool. The upgrade boasts faster and more accurate rendering, and improved import of existing sites. It also offers more advanced CSS and XHTML features within its interface, and third-party plug-in support. A rewritten codebase should allow for easier and more frequent upgrades.
The all-encompassing News Corp. media company founded by Rupert Murdoch is said to be "looking at hardware" to bring the latest news and entertainment content from its many assets to users, according to a Wednesday report that is citing knowledgeable sources. Such a device would deliver content in a "user-friendly way," and though no specifics have been given to the Daily Beast about the device, Murdoch himself commented on the possibility of such a gadget last month.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday became the unusual source for a study which shows that cellphone-only homes now outnumber landline-only homes for the first time. About 20.2 percent of homes use only a handheld for calls in later 2008 versus 17.4 percent that only use a landline phone. The shift is credited mostly to a steep drop in the number of those relying only on hardwired connections, which fell from 34.4 percent in 2005. In contrast, cell-exclusive homes jumped from just 7.3 percent over the same time span.
iPresentee has released its sixth set of motion themes for Apple's Keynote software, simply titled Keynote Motion Themes 6.0. The five themes in v6.0 are Old Film, Flourish Glow, Atomic Motion, Intramolecular and TV Noise. Each theme has between 15 to 26 master slide layouts, moving background graphics sized at 1024x768, and coordinated fonts, colors, bullets and picture frames.
Boris FX has released a free EPS Extrusion Filter for Boris Continuum Complete 6 AE customers. The filter can be used to import and extrude Adobe Illustrator layered vector logos and graphics in Adobe After Effects. Users can take advantage of full integration with AE's 3D camera and lighting systems, with the same 3D material presets and free-form deformation properties found in other Boris filters.
Apple has been granted 11 new patents from the US Patent and Trademark Office, all covering minor and/or existing technologies. These include the Mac OS X Dashboard, the design of the second-generation iPod nano, and an instant messaging-based file-sharing system. The Dashboard patent is dubbed User interface element with auxiliary function and was originally filed for in March 2006.
TopGun ($2) is a flight combat game that puts players in the cockpit of either a F-22 Raptor or a B-2 Spirt Stealth Bomber. The game includes 10 different levels that span across varying environments including an ocean, a desert and a city. The game features some of the original tracks form the movie including the hit "Danger Zone" and includes several medals and achievements to be won.
Possibly launching the device as a response to the Kindle DZ, Sony today quietly slipped out the Danielle Steel Limited Edition of its second-generation Reader. The e-paper device comes in red with a matching cover that features the author's logo; it also comes with a store code to download Bungalow 2, Echoes and Sisters from Sony's e-book store. A message from Steel herself is also included.
Intego has expanded the functionality of program logs in a VirusBarrier X5 10.5.8 update. The Mac anti-virus software, which also handles iPhone and iPod touch scans, has additionally received improvements in malware detection and Word/Excel macro virus analysis, though extended log functions are the primary focus. Logs now record starts and stops for real-time scanning, virus definition updates and canceled archive scans.
Phoenix Technologies on Wednesday announced users can now download its Phoenix Freeze security solution for notebooks and netbooks, which uses Bluetooth technology to gauge the proximity of a user to a portable computer. Freeze pairs a Bluetooth-enabled cellphone with the notebook and locks the computer when the phone reaches a certain distance to prevent anyone else from accessing its files. When users come back into a pre-set range, the notebook will unlock again.
North Carolina's House of Representatives today said it has sent a controversial bill that would have restricted municipal broadband to a study committee. The move effectively shelves the bill for at least a year and comes after those opposing it put pressure on the House to reevaluate the measure, which would have banned cities from taking advantage of any Obama administration broadband stimulus money while still letting private carriers take advantage of the funds themselves. It would have also in many cases made it difficult for such services to continue.
A new web app by the name of Dusty Tunes has launched, allowing users to upload iTunes listings from a computer to a dedicated personal webpage. Once sent, Dusty Tunes organizes the XML data into a list, and provides links that can be used to share music with friends from blogs, forums, websites and Facebook. In turn, the app can be used to browse other users’ collections and listen to samples of their music.
Three new Samsung handsets are coming to wireless provider T-Mobile, according to a source that managed to snap and post these images. The source also corroborates an earlier report that had Samsung's first Android-powered device, the i7500, releasing at T-Mobile in the fall, or early in November to be more specific. The other three new handsets include the Gravity 2, an unnamed Blast replacement and another nameless handset. All are said to support 3G voice and data networks, with little other information known about the devices.
Taiwanese phone specialist HTC is collaborating with carrier T-Mobile on an Android-based netbook, a TMOToday source claims. Little is known about the computer, except that it should feature built-in 3G reception for T-Mobile's broadband network, and ship sometime before the end of the year. Such a timeframe could suggest a launch no later than early October, timed to coincide with the frequent influx of school computer sales.
Featured deals from DealNN include hard drives, printers, cameras and more. First up is the re-designed SanDisk 8GB Cruzer USB flash drive for $24.99. That's $15 off the list price of $39.99 and includes FREE shipping. The newly re-designed SanDisk Cruzer USB flash drive features a retractable USB port and is backed by a lifetime limited warranty from SanDisk.
NetMine 1.1 ($30) is designed to intercept network traffic from every application, and can help protect computers from viruses, malware, Trojans, ping floods, port scans, privacy intrusion and simple unauthorized program activity. The software acts as a two-way firewall meaning it can help prevent malicious access to a computer from both internal and external network sources. The update has added several new notifications and a new set of rules for default applications. [Download - 3.1MB]
Independent developer Simone Bevilacqua has launched a Mac version of the 2D action and exploration game BOH. Players must travel through trap-filled corridors, solving puzzles and defeating enemies in an attempt to find and conquer the Evil Masters. The game contains 25 missions divided into five levels of difficulty, plus a series of bonuses and power-ups scattered throughout the battlefield.
Mobile software developer Bsquare has potentially spoiled Dell's release plans by saying it was porting Adobe's Flash Lite animation plugin for Dell netbooks running Google's Android platform. The company specifically references the Inspiron Mini 9 and suggests that the 8.9-inch portable is the likely main target for the OS. Whether Flash Lite would appear in-browser, or when Bsquare expects the port to ship on a production netbook, isn't mentioned.
GenAudio has released AstoundStereo 2.0. The program processes stereo audio from any applications running on a user's Mac, aiming to produce a significantly wider stereo image. It begins running whenever the computer is turned on, and uses an intensity slider to adjust the amount of stereo expansion.
Stone Design has released an update to its higher-end Twitter client, Twittelator Pro 2.2. The newest version offers offline tweeting features, with the automatic queuing and sending of tweets and the ability to auto-save and restore any number of drafts. Users now have the option to disable landscape mode when tweeting, and to double-tap the shrink button to undo shortening. With the automatic send function, any unsent messages will be automatically delivered when a connection is restored or the app is restarted.
Sprint has started training its non-retail staff for the Palm Pre but has maintained such high secrecy that it's firing those in stores for discussing the device, according to a leak from inside the company. Those in its Business Unit have not only been in training for the past two weeks, according to preThinking, but have been able to use the Pre at home for their own testing purposes. However, "at least three" retail staffers have been fired for talking about the phone despite many of its details being publicly (if sometimes unofficially) available.
Apple has tweaked the developer iPhone 3.0 camera software to produce better images, claim two different sources. iPhones.ru notes that it conducted a series of tests 30 times over, comparing photos of scenes shot using both the iPhone 3.0 and 2.2.1 camera apps. The clarity and overall quality of the v3.0 photos is better, the site suggests.
Amazon as promised announced the Kindle DX, its extra-large version of its e-book reader. The device centers on a 9.7-inch, 824x1200 E Ink display that both provides a larger view of newspapers and other articles but is pitched as particularly well-suited for periodicals, textbooks and other large documents: a built-in accelerometer lets it tilt on its side to view charts and other information better-suited to a landscape view. Native PDF support is equally new and lets owners view many documents without having to convert them through Amazon's e-mail service.
Panasonic on Wednesday officially confirmed the price for its second Micro Four Thirds digital camera, the Lumix GH1. The official price of nearly $1,500 for a bundled kit includes a 14-140mm, f4.0-5.8 lens and matches the unofficial pricing from electronics retailers J&R, revealed just yesterday. Panasonic adds that the camera will ship early in June.
A dedicated Santa Barbara, California Apple Store will open this Saturday, Apple has announced. The shop is located at 928 State Street near the Paseo Nuevo Shopping Center, and will host a grand opening event at 10AM. Regular store hours are scheduled for 10AM to 9PM between Monday and Saturday, and 11AM to 7PM on Sunday.
Efforts to solidify very high-speed, short-range wireless gained steam today with the creation of the WiGig Alliance (site active soon). The organization is meant to produce a common standard for sending data over a 60GHz link and to streamline developing computers, handheld devices and home theater equipment that can use the wireless link. The ultra wideband technology is fast enough to run about 10 times as quickly as an 802.11n connection -- effectively, 1Gbps -- and has the headroom to not just stream HD video but also to allow for previously impossible features like fast wireless displays and syncing entirely over the wireless connection.
With its tiny keyboard, the iPhone might not seem like the best platform for building a database. But FileMaker says it has found a way to exploit the iPhone's interface, multi-touch gestures and Wi-Fi capabilities to make Bento for the iPhone as useful as its desktop counterpart. The result is an app that has many, but not all of the capabilities of its full-sized sibling.
Bell on Wednesday became the first Canadian carrier to say it would offer the Palm Pre. The phone is identical to the American version and has the same 3.1-inch multi-touch display, 3-megapixel camera, 3G over EVDO Revision A, GPS and Wi-Fi as the model destined for Sprint. No mention has been made as to whether the phone will include any special apps or other unique features for the carrier.
The most popular search engine in China, Baidu, is mulling sharing its ad revenue from the music search service it offers or otherwise compensating record labels. This comes after competitor Google began offering a licensed music download search earlier this year in the market. For years, Baidu drew flak for copyright infringement and linking websites that offer downloads of pirated songs, but the practice did attract a record number of users.
Virgin Media on Wednesday began an Ashford, UK trial of what it says is the fastest cable-based Internet service on Earth. Using a high-end implementation of the DOCSIS 3 cable modem standard, the carrier says it's offering 200Mbps downloads to 100 testers; the speed is faster than 160Mbps Japanese service and twice as fast as the 101Mbps Optimum Online service in the US. The bandwidth is said sustainably high enough that Virgin is testing streaming 3D and HD video online.
Dell this morning said it had added a WiMAX choice for three of its higher-end home notebooks. The Studio 15, Studio 17 and Studio XPS 16 will all have a $60 or less upgrade that offers 4G speeds on either the Clearwire or Sprint 4G networks in Atlanta, Baltimore and Portland. In peak conditions, this lets the portables connect at up to 13Mbps downstream and 3Mbps upstream. Typical speeds are still faster than 3G with downloads between 2Mbps and 4Mbps.
LaCie early today rolled out network-attached storage (NAS) versions of two of its most familiar external hard drives. The single-disk d2 Network and dual-disk Big Disk Network both get gigabit Ethernet connections that let them share their storage on a local network. They're officially compatible with Mac OS X Leopard's Time Machine backups and have built-in servers to work independently of computers, including their own BitTorrent managers, media streaming through DLNA- and UPnP-compatible devices, and iTunes hosting.
Nokia today stepped out of its usual schedule to update its entry business smartphones with the E52. The handset replaces the E51 and has the familiar, extra-slim candybar design but much longer talk time: where the E51 officially managed 4.4 hours, the E52 can run for up to 8 hours of calls on GSM and a still-long 6 hours on 3G. It also gets an upgrade to a 3.2-megapixel camera and GPS while adding the e-mail UI and Ovi service access from the E75.
GEAR4 has introduced the CDM-100, a CD micro system with dock for the iPod and FM/AM radio. The CDM-100 mixes a top-loading CD player, a universal dock for the iPod and a clock with an alarm and sleep mode. The built-in AM/FM radio provides 30 programmable preset stations, and 5 preset EQ settings such as flat, classic, rock, pop and jazz. The device also offers a line-in port for use with other music players, and a remote control.
Now AAPL Stock: 95.01 ( + 0.99 )
Swift benchmarking suite goes open-source
Following the release of new betas for all its platforms, Apple on Monday also made a suite of 75 tools for benchmarking Swift-developed coding projects, including libraries for benchmarking functions, a utility for comparing the resulting metrics, and a driver for running them. The company says it is asking the community for help in developing additional benchmarks, as well as further "helper" libraries and overall code review for better stability and performance. Apple plans to include benchmark pull requests in Swift's new continuous integration system as well. http://bit.ly/1W8u0EU
Instagram now supporting multiple accounts
As reported earlier, Instagram is now rolling out support for multiple accounts (up to five) in version 7.1.5 of its iOS app. The feature has been one of the main attractions of third-party Instagram clients, but it is unclear if users must seek out an "add account" preference in the app; additionally, some users are reporting that the ability to add accounts has not yet been added. The company says notifications "depend on when you last logged in, and the number of devices that are logged into that account," suggesting not all notifications across accounts will appear when logged into a given one. http://bit.ly/1moh95p
Pictures of Galaxy S7, Edge leaked
New images have been leaked of Samsung's new Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. The images of the Galaxy S7 are very similar to a draft leaked earlier this year, with a curved back reminiscent of the iPhone 3G with the normal Samsung camera hump in the upper center of the phone. The picture of the Galaxy S7 Edge as leaked is running a benchmark application showing modest improvements over the S6 line, if accurate. Both models are expected to be formally announced in a February 21 press event hosted by Samsung. http://bit.ly/20Gf07X
Bambooti wooden skins for MacBooks
Bambooti has introduced premium wooden skins for Apple laptops that allow users to customize any design or logo directly on the case. Each Bambooti skin is handcrafted from sustainably managed forests, and are hand sanded and spray-finished to create an ultra smooth exterior. Bambooti's wooden skins start at $65 on the fully-funded Kickstarter which includes a custom design or logo of the user's choice that will be engraved on the product. http://kck.st/1PhE6Sb
Apple Music in Taiwan, now up to 113 countries
Apple Music has now added its 113th country, Taiwan, to its expanding list of areas where it offers its paid subscription service. The price in the country will start at NT$150 (about $4.50 US) for an individual subscription, and that now includes (as it does in the rest of the world) the formerly free-but-ad-supported iTunes Radio feature, which as in other countries will be customized somewhat to offer channels of locally-popular music styles. Apple Music is now available in 16 countries and regions -- including China, India, Russia, and Japan -- where Spotify has not yet arrived.
Invisible wall mount for iPad Pro, mini
Computing hardware mounting company Wall-Smart has announced the availability the new "invisible" wall mount, with models for the iPad Pro, iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 4 -- all with no bezel. The invisible mount includes ÂPower Over Ethernet to USB, which allows charging while in-wall, and is available for both drywall and solid surfaces such as solid wood panels or partition walls. Prices vary widely by iPad model, and required mounting hardware. http://bit.ly/1SE5jCO
Kingston buys IronKey secure USB tech
Kingston Digital today announced it has acquired the USB technology and assets of IronKey from Imation. In addition to Kingston's acquisition, encryption services leader DataLocker has purchased the IronKey Enterprise Management Services platform which provides centralized management to encrypted USB drives. Kingston and DataLocker claim that there will be no interruption in service provided, or available products as a result of the consolidations. http://bit.ly/1QQk9SZ


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Discount shoe store Shoe Zone becomes latest retailer to float with £100m debut on London stock market
Discount shoe chain Shoe Zone has announced it is to float on the London Stock Exchange in a move that will value the business at around £100million.
The Leicester-based firm, which was founded by brothers Michael and Christopher Smith in 1980, runs 554 stores in the UK and Ireland and employs 4,100 staff.
The sons of one of the founders, chief executive Anthony Smith and chief operating officer Charles Smith are expected to pocket between £40million and £50million each from the sale of shares in the listing.
Listing: Shoe Zone's announcement that it will list on the London Stock Exchange follows a week after a similar announcement from Card Factory
It is the latest in a string of flotations in the retail sector in recent months, indicating growing confidence in the industry.
Other retailers to have floated have included Pets at Home and discount store Poundland.
Last week private equity-backed Card Factory announced it was looking to tap into the appetite for stock market floats.
British greeting cards retailer, which is majority owned by private
equity firm Charterhouse Capital Partners, said it expected to raise
£90million in an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange in May.
Both Card Factory and Shoe Zone hope to replicate the launch success of other companies that have recently floated, including, online fashion retailer Boohoo.com and AO.com - although some of the internet-oriented players have seen their shares flounder amid a wider tech sell-off.
Shoe Zone sells over 20 million pairs of shoes a year, with average prices in its stores below £10 in 2013.
It posted pre-tax profits of £9.3million in the year to October 5, a 66 per cent increase on the previous 12 months on revenues of £193.9million.
Shoe Zone added current DFS chairman Ian Filby will join the board as non-executive chairman.
Before becoming chairman of the furniture retailer Filby worked in various senior roles at high street pharmacist Alliance Boots during a 30 year career.
Shoe Zone plans to float on London's AIM market, home to junior firms.
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domain: news


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Tetris, also known as The Best Game Ever, will be making its way to 3DS, PC, PS4, PS Vita, and Xbox One this fall in Tetris Ultimate. Ubisoft has announced that this latest iteration will feature six modes, including a Challenge mode for solo players and seven modes for 1-4 players, such as Sprint, a race to clear 40 lines as quickly as possible; Battle Ultimate, a last-man-standing mode that will feature power-ups; and Ultra, where the goal is to score as many points as possible in three minutes. Worldwide leaderboards will also be supported.
Tetris Ultimate will launch this fall in stores for 3DS and online for PC, PS4, PS Vita, and Xbox One.
Official Site: TetrisUltimate.com


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Walmart, the giant US retailer, often negotiates exclusive price cuts on products that smaller retailers can’t match. Just like last year, it has set its sights on the all new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
According to a report published tonight by CNET, Walmart is set to trim $20 off both of Apple’s new super sized iPhones. That drops the iPhone 6 down to $179 and the iPhone 6 Plus down to $279. Both prices require a two-year commitment with AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint. Also, beginning on Friday, September 12th, Walmart will begin accepting preorders for the iPhone 6. Anyone who preorders through Walmart will also get a free $15 e-gift card. Sam’s Club members will be able to save an additional $2 on both models, which brings their total discount down to $22.
Based on all the information we’ve seen thus far, these price drops only apply to the 16GB iPhone 6 models and only the 4.7-inch variant will be available for preorder. As of right now, the only other noteworthy iPhone 6 deal that we’ve seen is from Radio Shack who is offering a free $50 iTunes gift card with purchases through September 27th.
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Although it was not known which new technology products Acer would bring to Berlin, where the IFA is taking place, the manufacturer put a cryptic message in its Twitter account days ago: “concepts make up ideas, and ideas make up beauty”, inviting to your conference at the event, with a picture of a Big Bang, with a laptop in the background, claiming the “genesis of creativity”. What is certain is that Acer was expected to announce its first notebooks based on Intel's tenth generation of processors, mentioned on the company's own website. And who knows, new notebooks from the Predator line.
Jason Chen, CEO of Acer, has taken the stage to confirm new products for the Christmas lineup for laptops, whether for the consumer, entertainment and business segments. The company has thus introduced a new alignment of Chromebooks with Google Assistant support, among them the Acer Chromebook Enterprise, as indeed Dell had previously announced on its computers.
The Swift 5 notebook has also been confirmed, with the manufacturer continuing to offer the slimmest and lightest notebook after Swift 7, Swift 1 and Swift 3. It has 990 grams, under 4mm bezels and promises a autonomy longer than 10 hours. The small notebook has been simplistic in design, but it is meant to be powerful, with a 10th generation Intel i7 processor (joining Intel's Project Athena) and an NVidia MX250 graphics card. It is also equipped with Wi-Fi 6, ready for the next generation of wireless connections. You will be able to use voice to interact with the computer through Cortana.
Aimed at creators, many who use their smartphones to record videos vertically. That's why Acer introduced the C250i projector for sharing Full HD images wirelessly from videos that have been recorded vertically. The projector is simultaneously a smart audio speaker. In practice, the system detects any angle of the videos, and thanks to its “twisted” shape, it can project to the ceiling, a wall or any other surface by simply placing the device in its position, which the image adapts to.
After introducing the ConceptD line in New York, Acer now introduces ConceptD 3, designed for YouTube video creators and graphic designers. It has a ninth generation Intel Core i7 processor, and a GTX 1650 graphics. The new ConceptD 5 has been “refreshed” with the new RTX 2060 graphics cards.


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5 top digital manufacturing companies to work for this year
Growth in the digital manufacturing space has led to an increase in recruitment – here’s some of the top companies to work for this year.
Following a period of instability caused by the pandemic, many markets – such as digital manufacturing – are busier than ever. From the increased demand for software that makes remote working possible to the rise in Industry 4.0, many companies in the space are finding themselves in a incredibly strong position.
Not only does 2022 look to be an exciting time for companies in the space, but the growth being experienced by them brings an increase in recruitment. With this in mind and based on the conversations my team and I are having with digital manufacturing professionals, I’ve put together five of my top technology companies to work for and a selection of their achievements in the last year:
Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Centric Software provide retailers, fashion brands and manufacturers with the digital transformation tools to accelerate their business. 2021 was a big year for Centric, with the company acquiring the end-to-end retail planning solution provider, Armonica Retail, in November.
They also celebrated 500 PLM projects and announced the release of their latest PLM solution, Centric 8 PLM Version 7.3 in July, alongside partnering with multiple fashion and lifestyle brands including Wilton Bradley and Sela.
A strong 2021 plus consistently good Glassdoor reviews (citing a dynamic company culture and a great team) make Centric Software a popular choice with candidates.
2021 was full of new launches and acquisitions for Hexagon, a global leader in digital reality solutions, combining sensor, software and autonomous technologies. In September, the company acquired Jovix software and services business from Atlas RFID Solutions and in January this year acquired Minnovare, a leading provider of drilling technology that improves the speed, cost and accuracy of underground drilling.
This comes as the company expanded its sustainability agenda to help protect coastal blue carbon ecosystems in December alongside launching HxGN MineMeasure, a tailored solution combining blast design software, high-precision drilling, blast movement monitoring, fragmentation analysis and enterprise analytics in September. With corporate social responsibility being something that candidates are increasingly aware of, this emphasis on sustainability for the future is likely to add another layer to their candidate attraction proposition.
A subsidiary of Hexagon, Romax Technology is known for its “world-leading” solutions for electro-mechanical drivetrain design and simulation. Last year, the company released the complete Romax Software Suite which saw new features across the simulation portfolio, with a particular focus on enabling customers to work in more collaborative ways.
2021 also saw Romax collaborate with VI-grade to bring powertrain and vehicle NVH engineers closer together, in addition to a partnership with Dontyne Systems to help bring the worlds of gear design and manufacturing closer together.
Cutting edge technologies are always attractive to candidates looking to join a market leading company, and that combined with Romax’s strong benefits package makes them a popular choice.
Winner of the Construction Computing Awards 2021 – Symetri spent last year partnering with many big names in the space. The company announced partnerships with Applied Software which brought 360 Sync into the Symetri portfolio in August, and Oculo to help offer customers greater project visibility in September.
And together with Unity, Symetri launched Sovelia Visualizer – a technology solution for users to view their design data in real-time 3D and Augmented or Virtual Reality (AR/VR) with full access to the model’s properties and other information added in the design phase.
If being an award-winning organisation wasn’t enough to tempt candidates to join them, Symetri also boast a customer-focused attitude with passionate employees, according to Glassdoor reviews.
Last year was an exciting year for Technia in terms of partnerships and acquisitions – it renewed its partnership with Walraven in November and just last month, acquired Claytex Services Limited, a UK and US leader in advanced simulation with more than 20 years of experience in sectors such as energy, process and utility.
And when Glassdoor reviews mention excellent management, a close-knit team, and exciting technologies it’s easy to see why candidates often want to work for Technia.
With a market so full of innovation, it was hard to narrow it down to my top picks. So here are some honourable mentions to keep your eye on this year:
FMC Digital Manufacturing is a team of individuals who are delivering the key sales, technical and leadership talent for digital transformation companies around the world.
We have an excellent track record of introducing the most forward-thinking industry 4.0 professionals with companies like the above, who are looking to drive changes and revolutionise the traditional industrial sectors.
If you’re interested in learning more about the opportunities we’re currently working on or would like to find out how FMC can support your recruitment needs this year, contact me at email@example.com or call me on +44 (0) 1522 812 461.


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By The Associated Pres
TOKYO – Toyota’s president emerged from seclusion Friday to apologize and address criticism that the automaker mishandled a crisis over sticking gas pedals. Yet he stopped short of ordering a recall for the company’s iconic Prius hybrid for braking problems.
Akio Toyoda, appointed to the top job at Toyota Motor Corp. last June, promised to beef up quality control, saying, “We are facing a crisis.”
Toyoda, grandson of the company’s founder, said he personally would head a special committee to review checks within the company, go over consumer complaints and listen to outside experts to come up with a fix.
“I apologize from the bottom of my heart for all the concern that we have given to so many customers,” said Toyoda, speaking at his first news conference since the Jan. 21 global recall of 4.5 million vehicles.
Toyota’s failure to stem its widening safety crisis has stunned consumers and experts who’d come to expect only streamlined efficiency from a company at the pinnacle of the global auto industry.
“Toyota needs to be more assertive in terms of providing consumers comfort that the immediate problem is being addressed … and that it can deal with these crises,” said Sherman Abe, a business professor at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo.
Toyoda told the hastily called news conference that the company had not decided what to do about problems in the braking system of the Prius gas-electric hybrid. The high-mileage, low-pollution car is a leader in its field and a symbol of Toyota technology
Toyoda and Shinichi Sasaki, who oversees quality control, offered no new explanations for the braking problem.
Prius drivers in Japan and the U.S. have complained of a short delay before the brakes kick in – a flaw Toyota says can be fixed with a software programming change.
The lag occurs as the car is switching between brakes for the gas engine and the electric motor – a process that is key to the hybrid’s increased mileage.
Toyota spokesman Mike Michels said Friday the company continues to weigh options on how to handle repair of the problem, and it is communicating with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Among the options are a service campaign in which Toyota would notify owners to bring their cars in for repairs, or a full-fledged safety recall. Michels said he could not say when Toyota would make a decision.
The automaker said it fixed the programming glitch in Prius models that went on sale since last month, but has done nothing on 270,000 Prius cars sold last year in Japan and the U.S.
The lack of action has raised questions about whether there is a bigger problem.
Sasaki denied any cover up.
“We have nothing to hide. We have just been investigating,” he said.
Sasaki said complaints were climbing by the day. The company was checking into them, one by one, and test-driving customer’s cars that had developed problems, he said.
But he appeared to view the problem as minor, occurring only at slow speeds.
“We don’t see it as critical because if you push on it a bit, then the car will stop,” he said of the brake pedal.
In the past, the world’s No. 1 automaker has move quickly to address problems and the handling of its most recent problems has experts puzzled.
“There’s a sharp contrast with previous times in terms of handling these kinds of situations,” said Koji Endo, managing director of Advanced Research Japan. “I really don’t know why – if it was the change in management or if the PR office was responsible or what.”
Some experts speculated a degree of arrogance or corporate insularity may have clouded the company’s judgment this time around.
“Toyota is the top of the totem pole,” said Kenneth Grossberg, a marketing professor at Waseda University in Tokyo. “They don’t have to learn from anyone else.”


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An eagerness to try new food experiences, confidence in the safety of certified packaged foods, and a willingness to pay more for quality, healthy items make Mainland China an enticing market for food exporters worldwide.Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) Economist Poon Cheuk-hong – in his Overview of Mainland China’s Food Market presentation delivered at the recent HKTDC Food Expo – said an HKTDC Research survey of mainland consumers found that 78% of consumers liked to try different packaged foods to experience various global flavours. The same survey also found that 78% of consumers did not stockpile packaged food for the sake of saving money; freshness and trying different brands were their priorities.
As an example of the rising power of mainland consumers in the global food market, Mr Poon said a seafood craze had gripped the country, with imports playing a leading role.The quantity of seafood imports to the mainland rose 6.6% in 2018 but the value climbed 31% to US$14.9 billion. The main exporting countries were Seafood imports from Russia, ASEAN members, Australia and Ecuador increased significantly.Mr Poon said the mainland government actively encouraged food imports as this would increase competition and boost the quality of domestic products. The massive China International Import Expo was a good example of this, he said. The next expo takes place in Shanghai from 5 to 10 November at which the HKTDC will organise a food and beverage exhibition space [https://hkmb.hktdc.com/en/1X04WRUX/event/China-International-Import-Expo-Shanghai] for Hong Kong exporters.The Food Expo halls showed many exporters have already received the message that mainland consumers regard the world as their oyster when it comes to food. Exhibitors from across the globe flocked to the expo, recognising that a plugged-in, cosmopolitan Hong Kong is still an effective gateway to the mainland market. And they offered an extraordinary range of consumables: aged beef from Poland, powdered guacamole (avocado sauce) from Mexico, sake and milk from Japan – the list is endless.
Mr Poon said rising consumer confidence, a desire for healthy foods, a consumption upgrade and a rise in e-commerce have all boosted the food market in the mainland.An HKTDC Research survey of mainland consumers found 70% of respondents agreed that consumer confidence in domestic food brands had returned over the past two years. Just 8% disagreed.Food-safety certification had improved confidence, Mr Poon said, with 87% of respondents saying they would be more at ease trying new brands with certification. Confidence was also returning to the key baby-formula market, as a recent Nielsen study showed that domestic formula accounted for 43.7% of the market in 2018, up from 40.7% in 2017. Sales growth had increased to 21.1% in 2018 from 14.5% in 2017. Mr Poon also pointed out that improvements in technology, better machines, more efficient cold chains, stable quality and stronger domestic brands are all leading to mainland consumers having a wider choice of quality food.
Mr Poon said the mainland government has implemented a national nutrition plan, running from 2017 to 2030, in an effort to promote healthy eating, aiming to limit obesity, cut intake of excess salt, oil and sugar and expand the healthy foods industries.Mainland consumers are willing to pay more for packaged food if the items are nutritious and healthy, organic and natural, have quality ingredients, a strong brand reputation and they can be sure of the place of origin, the survey found.The vast bulk of survey respondents also said they were paying more attention to detailed information on food packaging, such as the ingredients listed.The market for functional drinks – including sports, energy and probiotic drinks – was also growing strongly, he said.
Online sales are beginning to dominate food retailing. Supermarkets remain in favour – 91% of respondents in the HKTDC survey use them to shop for meal ingredients and instant meals, 87% for snacks and 88% for dairy – but online channels are catching up quickly, with 59% of respondents now using them for meal shopping, 63% for snacks and 39% for dairy products. Convenience stores and high-end supermarkets trail online food shopping in all categories except dairy (41% in each case).Cherry-picking an example, Mr Poon said the value of total fruit imports jumped 34.5% in 2018 to US$8.42 billion, with cherries being a hot fruit item in many households, driven by a social media trend which turned them into popular Lunar New Year snacks. At the same time, improving logistics allowed for fresh-fruit deliveries even to second-tier cities.


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June 25, 2015 - Regulatory Updates
The UK is fast becoming one of the main world’s centres for the FinTech revolution. Recognising the importance of the sector for the country, the UK Government, along with the Financial Regulators, FCA and PRA, are working with FinTech firms in order to bring increased competition and financial innovation to the regulated financial services markets. The FCA has launched ‘Project Innovate’ with the sole aim of working with firms in this new space and to ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of this exciting new sector.
June 15, 2015 - Regulatory Updates
Carney’s speech will have a significant impact on financial companies and marks a new era of even higher level of regulatory responsibilities for all market players
June 1, 2015 - Regulatory Updates
In 2014 cyber security attacks on government establishments and private businesses made headlines. Given the kind of technology that hackers have access to, it is highly unlikely that the frequency of these attacks will see a downward trend.


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On Thursday at New York Comic Con, there weren't a great many panels and announcements made by Marvel and DC, opening up the floor somewhat to the rest of the comics industry to have a little room to breathe that they won't be likely to get on Friday and Saturday.
ComiXology hit Thursday hard, making not one but two pretty major announcements: First, the comics publisher has added a "Pre-Order" feature to their site.
"Pre-ordering kicked off earlier this week with Marvel's launch of Marvel NOW! and the release of Uncanny Avengers #1, to give Marvel fans the ability to make sure they didn't miss the first issue," said ComiXology. "Since Marvel's Uncanny Avengers #1 debut, comiXology has rolled out the ability to pre-order to a wider slate of titles and is eyeing offering all new comic books and graphic novels for pre-order in the future."
A silent roll-out earlier in the week likely explains why some readers reported the book going on sale early, and then later suggested that their purchase had been converted to a pre-order.
The digital publishing leader also announced the roll-out of ComiXology Submit, a program by which small publishers and self-publishers can submit their materials to ComiXology and reap the benefits of ComiXology's wide distribution and accessibility on most portable e-reader devices.
“When we started ComiXology it was with a handful of comics from deals done directly with creators and very small publishers,” said co-founder and CEO David Steinberger. “We are happy today, with the announcement of ComiXology Submit, that we now have a turnkey system to service this incredibly vital part of the marketplace. ComiXology Submit, helps keep the promise to our customers of having the best and most diverse comic books and graphic novels available worldwide.”
Currently, ComiXology Submit is still in limited beta, but potential new users can submit their contact information to be informed when the program goes wider.
Barnes & Noble is at New York Comic-Con, too, with their new Nook HD devices the focus of their conversations. While those units aren't at the Javits Center yet, word is they'll debut at NYCC by the time the weekend is through.
Meanwhile, a 200-page ebook that collects the first issue from each of the Before Watchmen titles will be included for free with any Nook Tablet bought at the show. The collection will go on sale on all Nooks next week.


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Ford To Privately Show 2015 Mustang Next Week Ahead Of December Debut0
According to a report from Reuters, Ford has invited a small group of automotive writers to its headquarters in Dearborn for a sneak peek at its all-new 2015 Mustang next week. The (lucky) journalists, who are believed to include media from outside the United States — pointing to the global availability of the vehicle, will not be allowed to take photos or discuss the vehicle after the event until its official debut in December. However, it has become nearly the norm for embargoes to be broken, so it’s very possible that photos and details of the all-new pony car will leak ahead of its official reveal.
The new Stang is expected to go on sale next summer — and Ford is hoping that the vehicle will generate a significant amount of buzz ahead of that time. Notably, the original Mustang was introduced on April 17, 1964 at the New York World’s Fair to immense national fanfare, being featured on the covers of both Time and Newsweek magazines.
The original model was purchased by more than half a million customers in 1965 during its first full year on the market. Meanwhile, Ford recently announced that it has produced the one millionth Mustang at its Flat Rock Assembly Plant in Flat Rock, Michigan.
The Motrolix Take
Hey Ford — we’d love an invite to the sneak peak event.


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Leipzig/Halle Airport saw its freight volumes grow for the thirteenth year in succession to more than 1.1 million tonnes, driven largely by express traffic from DHL Express – which bases its European hub at the airport – alongside Aerologic (the joint venture airline of DHL and Lufthansa), AirBridgeCargo and charter traffic. The volume of air freight at Europe’s fifth-largest cargo hub, rose to 1.14 million tonnes in 2017, an increase of 8.2 per cent over the previous year.
A new absolute monthly record in the company’s history was set in December when the figure rose to more than 105,768 tonnes.
“Air freight volumes at Leipzig/Halle Airport grew by more than eight per cent and reached a figure of more than 1.1 million tonnes; this was the strongest growth at any of Germany’s cargo airports,” said Johannes Jähn, the Board spokesman at Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG and managing director of Leipzig/Halle Airport. “The growth is being particularly spurred on by the express freight business – but freight and special charter services are also developing in an above-average manner,” he added.
The airport also saw aircraft movements increase by 8.3 per cent to 69,815 take-offs and landings while passenger numbers rose 7.9 per cent to 2.7 million.


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StyleNet, the Franklin-based e-commerce platform for hair salons in North America, hopes to reach profitability "any day," said CEO Michael Reader, with dry humor born of years in the trenches.
StyleNet, the lead offering of Niche Media Inc., projects reaching annual revenue of $1.2 million by Dec. 31, Reader said during a recent interview. Projected 2011 revenue is $2.5 million, he said.
The company, which signed its first StyleNet customer in March 2007, has 15 full-time employees and a half-dozen contract staff. All-in, roughly $1 million has been invested in the company since inception, and principals are not yet taking full salaries, Reader said.
StyleNet has more than 2,400 customers, having added an average 140 accounts per month for at least the past nine months, compared with an average 40 new customers per month in 2009, said Reader. The firm lacks customers in only two U.S. states: New Hampshire and Maine, he said.
There are about 300,000 hair salons in the U.S., employing perhaps 1.5 million professionals, said Reader. Competitors for the market include Santa Rosa, Calif.-based SalonBuilder (Elaborative Technologies), Reader noted. Brief online research shows salon site services as diverse as ClientWave in Bath, England, and myriad software houses offering templates for salons. "Our biggest competitor is GoDaddy and Intuit and the nephew who says, 'I know how to be build a site'," said Reader. StyleNet is actively preparing for launch of new features, he added.
StyleNet currently plans to rely on organic growth, rather than pursue dilutive outside investment, says Reader. A relationship with GreenBank has enabled StyleNet to extend its runway more than once, and StyleNet may soon use an accounts-receivable factor for cash, Reader noted.
StyleNet has for several years cultivated a collaborative marketing relationship with SalonCentric, the Clearwater, Fla.-based marketing division of L'Oreal USA. Other growth factors: In 2009, StyleNet hired Heather Smith, previously a regional sales manager with a SalonCentric
predecessor company, as StyleNet's president. Next, there's a year-old marketing and distribution pact with San Diego-ased Western Sky Marketing and a recently inked alliance with beauty sector-oriented Milano Software of Richmond Hill, Ontario, are major factors in StyleNet growth, said Reader.
|Smith & Weems
Western Sky founder John Weems serves full-time as StyleNet's EVP-business development. Weems has skin in the game at StyleNet, said Reader. The option of combining StyleNet and Western Sky is one of several options actively discussed internally, Reader acknowledged.
In an earlier incarnation, Weems spent 20 years running MEG Toys, which he co-founded and later sold. Prior to that, Weems was a SVP safeguarding Mattel Inc.'s interests during a variety of toy, movie and television productions, including "Masters of the Universe," with actor Dolph Lundgren.
In 2005, Reader co-founded NicheMedia as a digital marketing consultancy, and within 18 months focused on software-as-a-service for the hair salon industry. StyleNet's co-founder is John Cherry, the long-time Nashville entrepreneur who co-founded both Carden & Cherry Advertising and 1220 Exhibits. Cherry created "Ernest P. Worrell," the character played by the late Jim Varney in ads, films and children's television. Cherry is EVP-Administration at StyleNet.
Prior to launching Niche Media, serial entrepreneur Reader, now 44, founded and built Bellwether Group, which owned Meetings.com, which Reader exited through a sale to Conferon (now Experient), completed in 2003. Earlier, Reader spent nearly eight years as national sales manager for Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Resort Center in Nashville. Reader and family reside in Franklin.
NicheMedia's StyleNet has 3,000 square feet of offices at 512 Autumn Springs Court in Franklin. The company recently signed a five-year lease, Reader said. •


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Jumio, the specialist provider of AI-powered end-to-end identity verification and eKYC solutions, has elevated its offering with the launch of a new video-based verification solution for financial institutions and other regulated businesses.
This solution is specifically catered for banks, fintechs, cryptocurrency exchanges, digital wallets and other regulated businesses looking to pivot from branch-based onboarding to an omnichannel strategy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The safe onboarding of customers comes at a crucial time, as the efficiency of the customer journey takes on heightened importance as firms seek to ensure engagement through the pandemic.
Dean Hickman-Smith, Jumio’s chief revenue officer commented: “Cybercriminals are innovative and trained to exploit loopholes. By using stolen real identities, purchased from the dark web, they’re often able to fool traditional forms of online identification.
“With video-based KYC, businesses can reduce their cost of operations by as much as 90% by eliminating field agent travel, reducing paper costs and streamlining the recording, transmitting and archiving processes.”
Jumio Video Verification seeks to allow financial institutions to safely and securely onboard remote customers online with two-way video-based verification while ensuring KYC/AML compliance through an audit trail and qualified preservation of all recorded interviews.
Martin Ferreiro Subi, head of product strategy and transformation at Ebury, providers of foreign exchange, payment, lending and cash management solutions added: “Jumio Video Verification facilitates our remote onboarding process in one of our core markets. It allows us to verify the identity of our customers online by securely capturing pictures of an ID document and a selfie while recording the entire process. Our customers are delighted that it only takes a few minutes.”
Expert Analysis: This launch and video verification can boost financial institutions as they are being tasked with the challenge of uniting compliance, fraud detection, digital security and the customer experience.


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By Richard Lenti
Heralded as “one of the most important lifesaving actions” the Food and Drug Administration could take, the federal agency announced it no longer considers partially hydrogenated oil safe and will require the food industry to gradually phase out artificial trans fats.
It’s a move that could eventually lead to strict curbs or a prohibition on artificial trans fat in processed food, which by some estimates could prevent 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths each year.
“While consumption of potentially harmful artificial trans fat has declined over the last two decades in the United States, current intake remains a significant public health concern,” said FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg. “The FDA’s action is an important step toward protecting more Americans from the potential dangers of trans fat.”
Trans fats are widely considered the worst kind for your heart. Like saturated fat, they raise LDL, or “bad” cholesterol, which promotes heart disease. But unlike saturated fat, trans fats also lowers levels of HDL, the “good” cholesterol that protects against heart disease.
Trans fat may also promote heart disease in other ways, such as by damaging the lining of blood vessels.
The fats are created when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil to make it more solid, which is why they are also known as partially hydrogenated oils. They are used both in processed food and in restaurants, often to improve the texture, shelf life or flavor of foods.
But scientists say there are no health benefits to trans fats.
In 2006, the adoption of mandatory trans fat labeling forced many manufacturers to reformulate their products. As result, trans fat intake by American consumers declined from 4.6 grams per day in 2003 to about 1 gram per day in 2012.
At the time of its peak use, Harvard epidemiologists estimated that trans fat was responsible for between up to 228,000 coronary heart disease events per year, causing upwards of 50,000 deaths annually.
However, trans fat can still be found in some processed foods, such as certain desserts, microwave popcorn products, frozen pizzas, margarines and coffee creamers.
“Artificial trans fat is a uniquely powerful promoter of heart disease,” said Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).
“Not only is artificial trans fat not safe, it’s not remotely necessary. Many companies, large and small, have switched to healthier oils over the past decade. I hope that those restaurants and food manufacturers that still use this harmful ingredient see the writing on the wall and promptly replace it.”
The FDA hasn’t set a timeline for the phase-out, but says it will collect comments for two months from the food industry, health professionals, and the public before determining how long it will take. Depending how easy it is to find a substitute, different foods may have different timelines.
If the FDA finalizes its preliminary determination that they are no longer safe, trans fats would be considered “food additives” and could not be used in food unless authorized by regulation.
The phase out would not affect trans fat that naturally occurs in small amounts in certain meat and dairy products.
“One of the FDA’s core regulatory functions is ensuring that food, including all substances added to food, is safe,” said Michael Taylor, FDA’s deputy commissioner for foods. “We want to do it in a way that doesn’t unduly disrupt markets.”
Though he applauds the FDA for “letting science, and not politics, shape its proposed policy,” Jacobson encouraged the agency to move quickly, noting it’s been nine years since the CSPI first petitioned the FDA to ban trans fats.
“Six months or a year should be more than enough time, especially considering that companies have had a decade to figure out what to do.”
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After petrol prices, higher interest rates set to biteSeptember 16th, 2011 - 7:23 pm ICT by IANS
Mumbai, Sep 16 (IANS) India’s central bank Friday hiked key rates by 25 basis points in the 12th such exercise since January 2010 to tame stubborn inflation, setting the stage for auto, housing and commercial loans to become dearer once again.
Opting to address the problem of high inflation over slackening factory output and overall growth, the repurchase rate, or the interest the central bank levies on short-term borrowing by commercial banks, has been raised to 8.25 percent from 8 percent.
Automatically, the reverse repurchase rate, or interest on short-term lending, gets hiked to 7.25 percent from 7 percent, since the central bank felt inflation levels remain well above its comfort zone.
Both these measures keep a check on the money supply in the system by making it more attractive for commercial banks to park their funds with the Reserve Bank in the form of government securities, rather than lending it for commercial purposes.
In a similar exercise last month, the two policy rates were hiked by 50 basis points.
The rate hikes were effected by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Duvvuri Subbarao during the mid-quarter review of the apex bank’s monetary policy for this fiscal here Friday, amid high inflation rate that is nudging double-digit levels once again.
“The monetary tightening effected so far by the Reserve Bank has helped in containing inflation and anchoring inflationary expectations, though both remain at levels beyond the Reserve Bank’s comfort zone,” said the central bank.
“A premature change in the policy stance could harden inflationary expectations, thereby diluting the impact of past policy actions. It is, therefore, imperative to persist with the current anti-inflationary stance.”
Latest data showed annual inflation rate for August, based on the wholesale price index, inching closer towards double digits at 9.78 percent, while the country’s food inflation still remained at elevated levels.
As expected, industry lobbies were peeved with the rate hike.
“Even as RBI justifies this rate hike of dampening inflationary expectations, it is difficult to fathom that this will be achieved when a cumulative rate hike of 325 basis points since March 2010 could not achieve this objective,” said Rajiv Kumar, secretary general of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
Commercial banks are now widely expected to pass on the interest rate burden to their customers that could made consumer and corporate loans dearer, even while raising the interest outgo on existing loans, along with a possible longer tenure for repayment.
The growth of India’s gross domestic product (GDP) had decelerated to 7.7 percent in the first quarter of 2011-12 from 7.8 percent in the previous quarter and 8.8 percent in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) President B. Muthuraman said the aggressive monetary tightening measures were “forcing the economy into a sluggish growth phase.”
“Action needs to be taken by the government to encourage implementation of projects and ease supply side bottlenecks. This will not only step up the growth momentum but also ease inflationary pressure,” added Muthuraman.
Reacting to the monetary policy update, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the hike effected by the central bank was in tune with the stance it has taken in a bid to bring down prices and inflationary expectations.
“We are hopeful that measures taken would take us back to a more comfortable inflation situation earlier rather than later,” Mukherjee said, and hoped overall economic growth — which had retarded to 7.7 percent in the first quarter of this fiscal — would pick up in the second half of this fiscal.
The central bank, however, did not mince words in criticising the government for its fiscal management due mainly to decline in revenue receipts, pressures from unproductive expenditure and high subsidies on fuels and fertilisers.
“Fiscal deficit at 55.4 percent of the budget estimates in the first four months of the current fiscal was significantly higher than that of 42.5 percent during the corresponding period last year,” the central bank said.
“Going forward, the stance will be influenced by signs of downward movement in inflation trajectory, to which the moderation in demand is expected to contribute, and the implications of global developments.”
- Inflation-focussed RBI hikes rates again, may hold off another revision - Oct 25, 2011
- Loans set to pinch more as central bank hikes interest rates (Roundup) - Jul 26, 2011
- Indian central bank hikes policy rates again to curb inflation - Mar 17, 2011
- Economists divided on impact of rate hikes on India's growth - Sep 20, 2011
- Policy rates up again as Indian central bank acts on inflation (Roundup) - Mar 17, 2011
- India's central bank cuts rates to push growth (Lead) - Apr 17, 2012
- India's central bank hikes rates sharply to tame inflation (Lead) - Jul 26, 2011
- India's Reserve Bank hikes key rates to tame inflation (Lead) - Jan 25, 2011
- Industry hails RBI intent not to hike rates further - Oct 25, 2011
- Rate hikes not curbing inflation, only hampering growth: Industry - Sep 16, 2011
- Rate hike will bring down inflation to 6 percent: Pranab - Jul 26, 2011
- India's central bank hikes rates again to fix inflation (Lead) - Nov 02, 2010
- Inflation prompts India's central bank to hike rates again - Jul 26, 2011
- India's central bank halts rate hikes on lower inflation (Lead) - Dec 16, 2011
- With inflation easing, India's central bank halts rate hikes (Roundup) - Dec 16, 2011
Tags: annual inflation rate, apex bank, bank levies, bank of india, basis points, commercial banks, commercial loans, double digits, government securities, inflationary expectations, mid quarter, money supply, petrol prices, policy actions, policy stance, rbi governor, reserve bank of india, s central, subbarao, wholesale price index


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|Photo by: Faixal via Pixabay|
Entrepreneurs and farmers in Malaysia may soon use special apps and the Internet of Things in crops fertigation, which is the process of injecting fertilizers or chemicals into the irrigation system, as reported by Malaysian Newspaper, The Borneo Post.
According to the daily, Malaysia’s Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said that farmers may soon just use a smartphone to manage the fertilizer they put in their crops. Aside from that, farmers may also boost their crop production and save costs because of the data readings that they see on their phone.
The Deputy Chief Minister said, “If we want to boost our food production and compete with other countries, we must equip our modern farming community with technologies.” He added that these kinds of technologies are the ones that boost crop production to help them make a profit out of their crops. He also hopes that by applying technology, it will encourage more people to also consider a profession in agriculture.
Ugga is also the Minister of Modern Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development, and has participated in the inspection of the newly installed system of fertigation in Rampangi, Malaysia. On his visit to the site, he shared that he wants to ensure that their IoT system will work at the Sustainable Food Production Centre because it will be their model as to how modern precision agriculture or farming should be.


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BQool Adds Support for Amazon EU Marketplaces
Amazon selling tools provider BQool has added support for the Amazon EU marketplaces in the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy.
Peter Kuo, Business Relationship Manager at BQool, said "You can expect 2015 to be a breakout year. Supporting Amazon EU for all three suites is a big step for us. Since all three products are often used in conjunction, this greatly increases the effectiveness of our services."
BQool's Review Central now offers $25 and $50 plans for managing 250 and 500 listings respectively. Sellers also have the option to subscribe annually, which has a 10% discount.


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Lagardère Travel Retail has agreed to purchase Hojeij Branded Foods (HBF) for $330 million in cash. The French company says HBF will be combined with Paradies Lagardère, its North American division. Both HBF and Paradies Lagardère are based in Atlanta.
The management team of HBF will remain at the helm of the company.
Lagardère says the combined company will be a $1.1 billion player in North America, ranking third among food and beverage and retail concessionaires. The two companies have a combined presence in about 110 airports in North America.
The deal is subject to regulatory and other approvals. The transaction is expected to be finalized during the fourth quarter of 2018.
The move comes three years after Lagardère Travel Retail purchased Paradies for $530 million, resulting in the formation of Paradies Lagardère, the French firm’s North American division, with offices in both Atlanta and Toronto. Paradies Lagardère has been moving aggressively into food and beverage concessions in recent years, and the HBF purchase will further enhance its position in that sector.
“This acquisition will accelerate our growth and enable us to achieve our goal of becoming one of the largest and best airport restaurant operators in North America,” says Gregg Paradies, president and CEO of Paradies Lagardère. He says the company is “delighted to join forces with HBF, an industry leader that shares our same commitment to quality, first-class customer service, and a family culture.”
Regynald G. Washington, CEO of HBF, adds: “Combining the forces of HBF and Paradies Lagardère is a natural fit as both companies are recognized for operational expertise, top-notch guest service and a strong commitment to employees.”
HBF, founded in 1996 by Wassim and Kathy Hojeij, operates more than 124 bars and restaurants in 38 airports across the US and Canada. According to Lagardère Travel Retail HBF generated total sales of $225 million in 2017 and also benefits from a sound portfolio of awarded contracts (opened in 2018 and some to open in 2019).
In 2017, HBF purchased Vino Volo, the largest airport wine bar chain in the U.S. and Canada. All together, the HBF portfolio includes more than
40 brand relationships and proprietary concepts ranging from full service to fast casual and quick serve, including illy Caffè, LongHorn Steakhouse, ChickFil-A, P.F. Chang’s, Pei Wei and Cat Cora. HBF operates in several of the largest North American airports – including Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW), Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), Orlando International Airport (MCO), Salt Lake City International Airport (SLT) and San Francisco International Airport (SFO) – with an average contract maturity of over seven years. Vino Volo’s footprint includes operations in 33 airports in the US and Canada.
Lagardère says the purchase will enable its travel retail division to enter a new phase of its growth strategy by reinforcing its presence in North America, which it says is “a strategic and highly resilient market driven by traffic growth and the addition of new retail space in airports.” It also notes a strengthened position within food and beverage and the ability to seize growth opportunities through the critical mass attained across all market segments in North America.
“This acquisition strongly reinforces the presence of Lagardère Travel Retail in the foodservice industry and is in line with our strategy to grow in the three segments of travel retail: duty free and fashion, travel essentials and food service,” says Dag Rasmussen, chairman and CEO of Lagardère Travel Retail. “It allows us to expand our concession portfolio and to develop relationships with our brand partners and suppliers. We are very pleased to welcome HBF into our group. Together, we will aim to create a regional leader and break new ground.”


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To people active in the Bitcoin world, certain things started making sense quite some time ago, while the rest of the world is still catching up. Blockchain technology – which powers the Bitcoin network – can be used for so much more than just financial services. A recent article details how the Reserve Bank of India acknowledges the potential of the blockchain, including protection against counterfeiting.
Reserve Bank of India Appreciates Blockchain Technology
Slowly but surely, the central banks of this world are coming together in showing their appreciation for the technology powering the Bitcoin network. Up until a few years ago, these same institutions were quite vocal in their opinion and Bitcoin and its technology, which, according to them, held no value for the future.
Fast forward to today and a group of major banks has joined one of the largest blockchain technology consortiums in the world. There are many opportunities to explore when it comes to the blockchain, as its implications extend far beyond the financial services ecosystem, or even Bitcoin itself.
Don’t be mistaken in thinking these banks will start flocking to Bitcoin all of a sudden, as that will not happen anytime soon. That being said, the public display of appreciation for blockchain technology by the Reserve Bank of India is a major step in the right direction for digital currency enthusiasts. Doing so paves the way for future collaboration between blockchain developers and traditional finance.
The Reserve Bank of India issued a statement on blockchain technology:
“With its potential to fight counterfeiting, the ‘blockchain’ is likely to bring about a major transformation in the functioning of financial markets, collateral identification (land records for instance) and payments system. As against this, the ‘blockchain’ technology is based on a shared, secured and public ledger system, which is not controlled by any single (‘central’) user and is maintained collectively by all the participants in the system based on a set of generally agreed and strictly applied rules.”
Even the Reserve Bank of India acknowledges that the current system of record maintenance heavily relies on trust and the controlling power of central authorities. Over the years, that trust has been damaged severely, and new solutions have to be found that can offer some more transparency, as well as scalability.
Unlocking The Potential of The Blockchain
For the time being, most financial institutions are looking for ways to create private blockchains and speed up their internal systems. Standardizing the use of blockchain technology will be a major feather in the cap for this disruptive concept, and is just the first step along the way of unlocking the full potential of the technology.
Regarding counterfeiting, blockchain technology can do a lot of good as well. Companies like Everledger want to bring a halt to diamond theft and counterfeiting by using the blockchain to identify these gems. Other areas plagued by counterfeiting that would stand to benefit from the blockchain are healthcare and retail in general.
Which area will be most prone to improvement due to blockchain technology, other than the financial industry? Let us know in the comments below!
Source: The Times of India
Images courtesy of Reserve Bank of India, Shutterstock


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The number of consumers switching energy suppliers in the first half of 2016 has increased by 30% compared to the previous year.
There were 3.8 million switches, up from roughly 2.8 million, according to Ofgem.
In the first half of this year, around 1.6 million consumers switched gas firms and 2.2 million switched electricity companies.
With more than 40 suppliers in the market, there is more choice than ever before however, around two thirds of domestic customers remain on expensive variable tariffs rather than fixed tariffs, which can often be cheaper, Ofgem states.
The regulator aims to introduce reforms to protect consumers using prepayment meters and increase competition.
Rachel Fletcher, Senior Partner at Ofgem, said: “Great deals are there for the taking. There are very competitive offers and many more suppliers to choose from and that’s why more consumers are switching.”


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Business | Edition 8 April 2023
Meta revealed Thread, a text-based chat app it’s promoting as a more “friendly” social media competitor to Twitter. Threads is linked to Instagram, one of Meta’s existing social networking sites, allowing its young user base to move easily between the two. With Twitter becoming increasingly unruly under the stewardship of Elon Musk, Threads could be a critical threat to the platform. About 10m people signed up for Threads in the first seven hours, according to Meta.
Apple’s The stock market valuation closed above $3trn for the first time. The company’s share price has risen nearly 50% this year, as investors are betting on disappointing growth in iPhone revenue. Tech stocks in general have rallied after last year’s run. The NASDAQ Composite has gained 32% since the start of 2023, its best first half of a year since 1983. A handful of companies are leading the rally, notably Nvidia, which makes chips for use in artificial intelligence. Its stock is up nearly 200% this year.
at Tesla the share price is also going up. The electric car maker delivered 466,000 vehicles between April and June, up 83% from the same three months last year and a company record, and produced 480,000. Confirming the incredible demand for electric vehicles BYD, Chinese rival Tesla sold 700,000 electric and plug-in hybrids in its latest quarter, the best ever for sales.
Alef Aeronautics, a startup backed by a VC investor in Tesla and Space X, he received an air certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration for his model A flying carthe first time such a vehicle was received US government permission to fly. Alef aims to start selling its fully electric car, which can take off and land directly as well as drive on roads, by the end of 2025.
A federal judge in America has temporarily barred government officials from talking to social media companies about removing content that comes under supervision. free speech (not including criminal or terrorist topics). The case, which was not finally settled, was brought by the states of Louisiana and Missouri. The judge, who was nominated by Donald Trump, said it was “telling” that the government was trying to scrub mostly conservative views from social platforms.
Pakistan KSE 100 The stock market recorded its biggest gain in 15 years, after the government received a $3bn short-term bailout from IMF. The agreement gives Pakistan breathing room as it tries to avoid debt repayment. Its foreign sources have dwindled, leaving some businesses unable to pay for imports.
China has lifted export curbs on gallium and germanium, materials used for manufacturing semiconductors. The decision was made on the grounds of national security but is seen as retaliation for Western sanctions on Chinese technology. The restrictions were announced shortly before Janet Yellen, the US treasury secretary, was to visit China for talks.
Pan Gongsheng was appointed as its new political leader China central bank, and is expected to take over the governor’s job soon. Mr. Pan, a former Harvard senior, has been deputy governor since 2012 and was responsible for managing the country’s large foreign currency reserves. Observers believe it is unlikely to change the bank’s cautious approach to economic stimulus, at least for now.
Australia the central bank left its benchmark interest rate at 4.1%, surprising some economists. The bank raised the cash rate in June and issued hawkish signals about further hikes. At this week’s meeting rate negotiators suggested they wanted to assess the impact of previous increases, but did not rule out more tightening in the future.
Saudi Arabia and Russia took additional steps to debase oil supply in hopes of raising prices. The Saudis are extending a cut of 1m barrels per day until the end of August and the Russians are making an additional “voluntary” reduction of 500,000 b/d. Prices did not rise much in response. Brent crude has been trading around $72 to $76 a barrel since early May.
In India Reliance Jio, part of the Reliance conglomerate run by Mukesh Ambani, the richest man in Asia, sent a basic phone connected to the Internet for 999 rupees ($12). The cheap “feature” tool will reduce the cost of a 4G phone for the 250m Indians who still use it 2Genabling them to tap into mobile payment services.
Model for travel
Travelers to Japan may never again have to worry about packing a business suit or cocktail dress. Japan Airlines has rolled out a new service where passengers can rent clothes from the airline before boarding through an app. The clothing sets cost up to ¥7,000 ($49). Unfortunately for larger shoppers, the clothes mostly only come in small, medium and large.


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Extremes are the new norm, at least in the restaurant business. How else to explain this week’s phenomena of clown countermeasures, straightjackets fitting the dress code and the stampede for a new sort of California gold strike?
It’s enough to make you run for the security of Grandma's house, or exactly what a restaurant in New York City is promising as a point of distinction.
Read on if you’re not sure what we mean. A detailed explanation follows, but don’t expect the week’s head-spinning developments to make much sense.
1. Clown capers bring Ronald McDonald the hook
It’s either a brilliant run-up to Halloween or the new benchmark against which all weirdness will now be measured. Either way, we’re beset by what appears to be a coordinated global clown attack.
In small towns and cities across two continents, people in pancaked makeup and oversized shoes are terrorizing the rank and file, including restaurant patrons. In Wagoner, Okla., a man dressed as a clown stood outside a McDonald’s and sang scary songs until the authorities were summoned. Thousands of miles away, in the United Kingdom, a 23-year-old described as a “killer clown” was photographed as he tried to scare away a McDonald’s drive-thru customers.
In Phoenix, a clown robbed a Domino’s.
In New York City, Australia and throughout the U.K., people in Bozo garb have been chased by the police and mobs of citizens after being spotted with knives and axes clutched in their oversized white-gloved mitts.
This, of course, poses a unique problem for McDonald’s, the Happy Place where the world’s best-known clown resides. This week the chain said it will try to be “thoughtful” about scheduling appearances for its red-haired, over-lipsticked Chief Fun Officer, Ronald McDonald.
“McDonald’s and franchisees in local markets are mindful of the current climate around clown sightings in communities,” the industry-leading chain said in a statement. “And as such are being thoughtful with respect to Ronald McDonald’s participation in community events for the time being.”
As a public service, we provide this list of tips on how to protect yourself from killer clowns.
2. This is the relief?
Cynics in San Francisco might feel they’re catching a seltzer blast from a different sort of clown. Word spread among restaurateurs there this week of a historical development: For the first time in 77 years, the state will increase the number of liquor licenses that are in circulation within the City by the Bay. A batch will be issued on Jan. 1 as the result of a little-noticed bill that was signed into law last month by Gov. Jerry Brown.
The move will provide an opportunity to secure a license for a mere $13,800—a fraction of the price for licenses already in circulation.
But there’s an asterisk to the good news: Only seven licenses will be issued.
3. Crazy by design
The extremists giving killer clowns a bad name might feel at home in restaurants experimenting with a new cutting-edge ambience: insanity by design.
At the new Dirty Habit restaurant in Washington, D.C., groups can opt for a 10-person padded room. A statue of a man in the fetal position is intended to unnerve patrons. Ditto for a signature drink, the Pleasantly Uncomfortable.
The restaurant, situated inside a hotel, was inspired in part by Bedlam, the infamous London insane asylum.
Dirty Habit, a twisted sister of the same-named but far more straight-laced restaurant in San Francisco, is not alone in borrowing some insane touches. Alcatraz ER in Japan was designed to suggest the psychiatric ward of the famed U.S. prison, with dishes that include penis (actually, a sausage served on lettuce) and intestines (a longer, curling sausage). Signature cocktails include the Brain Buster and Play With Yourself, which is served with vibrators.
4. Literally grandma’s cooking
A restaurant sometimes has to wait a fair period of time to be noticed, even if its kitchen staff is unmatched. Proof came this week with attention suddenly turning on Enoteca Maria in New York City’s least trendy borough, Staten Island, where locals know the restaurant because of its true home cooking.
Indeed, it has no permanent chef. The stove has been manned for 10 years by a parade of visiting talents, each an actual grandmother from some corner of the globe. Although the cooks might hail from Ethiopia or Poland, every one is called Nonna, or grandmother in Italian.
The intent, according to Enoteca Maria’s website, is to celebrate home cooking and traditional meals, whatever the source. Customers can now even take a class from the nonnas.
For a decade, few outside the borough might have noticed. But this week brought a flurry of attention from foodie-favored sites like Gothamist.com.
5. Fanaticism redefined
According to the prevailing wisdom, no restaurant chain draws as many visits from its super-heavy users as Taco Bell, hands down. This week, the brand revealed just how many people qualify for that hardcore status.
Half the population orders from a Taco Bell every month, revealed Greg Creed, the brand’s former president and the current CEO of parent company Yum Brands. And it’s not a one-and-done thing; they tend to come back every 11th day for more.
This year, he told CNBC’s Squawk Box audience, the chain will do $10 billion in sales within the U.S., and it’s just started expanding internationally.


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These days, if entrepreneurs or small businesses want to set up an e-commerce site, there’s one name that’s top of mind: Shopify (NYSE:SHOP). But the company is so much more than a website designer: It allows merchants to cover all of their back-end needs (think: payments, shipping, analytics) all from a single interface.
Obviously, with e-commerce being as big a trend as it is, that’s meant big business for Shopify. It also helps explain why the growth stock has returned 3,400% for investors over the past five years.
But Motley Fool contributors Brian Stoffel and Brian Feroldi think there’s still a very long runway for growth at Shopify. In this Aug. 17 video, the two explain why Shopify remains a core holding for them both.
This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the “official” recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium advisory service. We’re motley! Questioning an investing thesis — even one of our own — helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer.
View more information: https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/08/24/why-shopify-is-still-just-getting-started/


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Who makes the best burger in New Orleans? Fans of well-made patties can find out as they enjoy an evening of good food and raise money to fight hunger at the Burger, Bourbon & Beer fundraiser for Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana. The festival of food and drink is Sunday, Aug. 18, from 4 to 7 p.m. at Generations Hall.
The event, sponsored by Glazer’s and Crescent Crown Distributing, is limited to 500 tickets. Attendees will sip specialty cocktails and sample slider-sized burgers from the 10 New Orleans area restaurants. Gelato desserts will be served by LaDivina Gelateria.
A panel of judges will decide who makes the best burger from among 10 restaurants: Barcadia Bar & Grill, Bayou Burger, Bourbon House, The Company Burger, Cowbell, Manning’s, Martin Wine Cellar, Phil's Grill, trūburger and Vitascope Hall. Attendees will select a "people's choice" award winner.
Three of these made Brett Anderson's list for a 2011 story: 5 new burger joints bring New Orleans closer to patty perfection. Others, such as Barcadia, are new on the restaurant/bar scene.
Tickets are $35 in advance and can be online at No-hunger.org or at the Second Harvest Food Bank, 700 Edwards Ave. If available, tickets at the door will be $45.
Second Harvest Food Bank serves approximately 263,000 people through 253 nonprofit and faith-based agencies across 23 south Louisiana parishes, according to a press release from the nonprofit. For more information, visit the website or call 504.734.1322. Follow the food bank on Twitter @2ndHarvestGNOA.


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For the last two decades, the Toyota Camry has been the reigning champion of passenger cars in the Unites States. But behind the scenes, the Toyota RAV4 had been steadily gaining speed in the race for most popular car and finally took the top spot in 2019. The Toyota RAV4 sold nearly 450,000 cars with it's slow and steady approach. In the end, the Toyota Camry didn't just lose its top spot, it came in with a measly 337,000 models sold, snatching eighth place.
In the months since California Governor Gavin Newsom announced by executive order that the state would phase out the sale of gasoline-powered cars by 2035, the world has changed.
In addition to our BIG DEAL panel on Phasing Out Gasoline later this month, we've got awesome webinars coming up on climate policy, installing solar, and electric cars. And they're all free!
If you follow Massachusetts climate policy, you’re probably not very happy with Governor Baker for his recent veto of the Climate Roadmap bill. Though we’re disappointed with his decision, we’re optimistic that lawmakers are ready to refile the legislation and override another veto if necessary.
State leaders in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, as well as Connecticut and Washington, D.C., recently signed an agreement to pursue a regional Transportation & Climate Initiative program. The goal of the policy is to reduce emissions from transportation, the sector that's responsible for over a third of climate-warming emissions in each state. Green Energy Consumers Alliance applauds the leadership of Governors Gina Raimondo and Charlie Baker for their commitment to rein in a growing source of carbon pollution and invest in clean transportation.
We’re big advocates for incentivizing electric vehicle (EV) drivers to charge their cars off-peak by offering them a lower retail price per kilowatt-hour (kWh). “Off-peak” periods refer to times when demand for electricity is low. At these times, wholesale electricity prices and emissions per unit of energy are lower as well. Shifting EV charging demand by setting a price signal — sometimes called a “time-varying rate” (TVR) or “time-of-use rate” (TOU) — is a win for everyone: EV drivers, non-EV drivers, the environment, and our electric grid. Right now, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) is considering whether and how to move forward on this issue — and we wanted to give you an update on progress made so far. (Fair warning: if ever there was a blogpost for the policy wonks, this is it!)
When we talk about the intersection of transportation and the environment, we’re often talking about greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide and methane, that trap heat in the atmosphere and warm our climate. However, the combustion of fossil fuels also releases co-pollutants – like nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and particulate matter – that form ozone and smog and make air unhealthy. Unlike greenhouse gases, which contribute to global climate change no matter where they’re released, co-pollutants have the biggest impact in the communities close to where they’re emitted.
A new report by Consumer Reports has found that the average electric vehicle (EV) driver saves between $6,000 and $10,000 in lifetime costs compared to a gas-powered car. Their analysis considered a survey of 10,000 EV drivers and a review of depreciation, financing, sale prices, and fuel costs to reach a remarkable conclusion: EVs, like those that are available through our Drive Green program, win out compared to the best-selling, top-rated, and most-efficient cars in their class.
In April 2020, while the economy shuttered and infection rates for COVID-19 in the US skyrocketed, pickup truck sales exceeded sedan sales for the first time. Passenger cars are the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, and more people than ever believe man-made climate change is happening. So how are biggest gas-guzzling cars taking over the industry?


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Business bankruptcies in the Sacramento region dropped 31 percent in the first half of 2012, falling below levels seen before the 2008 stock-market collapse.
And total bankruptcies, including personal filings, have declined 23 percent from the same period last year — enough to suggest the shakeout among consumers and business owners may be over.
Or not. There’s mixed opinion about what’s going on — and what’s coming.
“People have gone through the system and are back on their feet, have moved away or are doing something else,” said Dave Meegan, a local bankruptcy attorney. “Now work is picking up and some of the competition is gone. The people remaining have more work than before.”
Others are less certain.
Wayne Blackwelder, clerk at the Sacramento-based U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of California, cites several reasons why bankruptcy filings could increase again.
A court settlement of lender robo-signing issues could mean more foreclosures are coming, he said. And a slowly improving economy could provide creditors with something to go after, thus prompting businesses and individuals to seek bankruptcy protection.
More business filings could come because of changes in 2005 to the federal bankruptcy law. Among other provisions, those changes mandated that folks who file Chapter 7 liquidation can’t file again for eight years. There was a huge uptick in filings in 2005, raising speculation of an increase in 2013, Blackwelder said.
A wave of municipal bankruptcies also is expected, although none are likely in the Sacramento area. Stockton and Mammoth Lakes have filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection, San Bernardino is on the brink and Compton may follow.
As more file, others consider it because the stigma isn’t what it was when Orange County filed in 1994 or Vallejo in 2008, said Dale Ginter, a partner at Downey Brand LLP.
Among high-profile local bankruptcy cases so far in 2012: Developer Sotiris Kolokotronis filed for Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy in February, listing debts of $130 million after a three-year battle with an aggressive creditor.
And Riverpointe Park Apartments LLC, a 140-unit complex in Rancho Cordova, filed for Chapter 11 protection the same month, with debts of more than $8.5 million.
Other major local filers range from Conway Communications LLC to Doug Gray Construction & Drywall Inc., Boeger Land Co., California Equipment LLC, West Coast Real Estate & Mortgage Inc. and winemaker Rominger West LLC.
Restaurants are a volatile industry when times get tough, too. The Tahoe Joe’s Famous Steakhouse in Folsom closed in May. So did the Buggy Whip steak house on Fulton Avenue. Both parent companies filed bankruptcy.
The nationwide per-capita bankruptcy filing rate for the first half of 2012 was 4.08 per 1,000 population. California ranked 10th highest in the nation, with per-capita filings of 5.35, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute in Alexandria, Va.
Bankruptcy filings usually come in cycles, generally rising when the economy turns sour. Though the economy is improving, some folks remain poised on the brink.
Attorney Julia Gibbs has a client who hasn’t made a house payment in two years — and has heard nothing from the bank.
“I’ve told her to stay put. If she does get notice, she’ll get three months to do something,” Gibbs said.
While many consumers are still struggling with mortgages that could force them into bankruptcy, lenders are increasingly willing to settle, another bankruptcy attorney said.
“We have some (bankruptcies) on the back burner,” Sacramento lawyer Candy Dahl said. “We haven’t filed because we are seeing more ability to settle with banks. They want something instead of nothing.”
Further on the horizon, there’s talk at the national level of an overhaul of Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code — which allows for protection from creditors while a business reorganizes — because expanded use of secured credit, growth of distressed-debt markets and other issues have limited its effectiveness, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute.
The institute has established a commission to look into the matter, a process expected to take two years.
Chapter 11 works fairly well for large, publicly traded companies that need to reorganize, but not so well for smaller, privately owned businesses, said Ginter of Downey Brand. Big corporations like United Airlines can reorganize by giving stock to creditors, but private companies risk losing ownership.