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From natural disasters to political upheaval, retailers with global operations now need to expect the unexpected. And one of the best preparedness plans is expanding visibility into multiple links of the supply chain to enable more agility and flexibility.
To guard against disruption, some retailers hold safety stock or excess raw materials. But amassing inputs or inventory puts them at risk for markdowns or lost investments if merchandise goes out of style or materials deteriorate before they can be used for production.
“We need to realize that inputs and finished goods are all inventory, so if we’re holding onto raw material and components, somebody’s paid for them already,” said Gary Barraco, senior director of product marketing for supply chain software firm E2open.
In a discussion with Sourcing Journal president Edward Hertzman, Barraco explained how visibility throughout the supply chain is the solution to achieving more efficiency. This involves being able to see what inventory and materials multiple tiers of suppliers are holding, allowing companies to avoid overstocks while also preventing go-to-market delays for time-sensitive launches.
Removing silos between brands and supplier partners is also essential in reacting to and navigating challenges. “If we’re looking at a situation where we need to shift our sourcing…we need to know where to go next and we need to collaborate well with our suppliers,” Barraco said.
Watch the video to learn about the savings impact of efficiency, how technology can solve fashion’s raw material management problem and why visibility can help retailers avoid disappointing customers.


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Live in New York City? Want to buy an iPhone? Don't try ordering one from AT&T's Web site: The wireless carrier, at least for now, won't sell New Yorkers a new phone online, citing "increased fraudulent activity."
But residents of Manhattan and the city's other four boroughs can buy an iPhone directly from AT&T (T) stores. And the city's five Apple (AAPL) stores will sell you one, too.
So what gives?


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London: Fat but fit “while rejecting the idea of a new study of the effect of high fitness against early death have found that obese men are less.
Normal weight men, regardless of their fitness level, aerobic fitness in the highest quarter of obese individuals are at lower risk of death compared.
The study by researchers at the University of Umea in Sweden between aerobic fitness and in life after death, as well as obesity affected examine these results to an average of 29 years for average men 1317713 followed.
The risk of early death than normal weight individuals was higher in obese individuals fit.
Aerobic fitness of the participants until they had to stop due to fatigue cycle tested by asking them.
The top level of aerobic fitness for men, compared with those in the lowest level of death was 48 percent lower risk.
Suicide and alcohol and drug abuse related deaths were observed.
Shock of a strong association between low aerobic fitness and mortality authors.
Aerobic fitness is a strong genetic control, given that these organizations could be affected.
High aerobic fitness at the beneficial effects of increased obesity, and those with extreme obesity had no significant effect at all.


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Home shopping channels offer US-NK summit tour program
Global attention on the summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore has prompted home shopping channels here to plan tour packages featuring venues of the historic meeting.
According to GS Shop, Thursday, the home shopping company’s travel merchandisers are trying to block-group air tickets to Singapore, which is a condition before releasing a tour program.
This means reserving airline seats but not paying for them immediately, which is usually done by travel agents for group tourists.
Securing a bloc of seats is the key task before establishing the tour package, a GS Shop official said. “When we succeed in blocking air tickets to Singapore, airing such a tour package would be a matter of time,” she said.
Though GS Shop is yet to fix tour schedules, tour programs will likely include visits to Sentosa Island and the Capella Hotel, the summit’s location; the St. Regis Singapore Hotel, where Kim stayed, and the Shangri-La Hotel, where Trump stayed.
Also included could be the land- mark Marina Bay Sands Hotel, which Kim visited before the summit, and several other sites of interest in Singapore.
“Singapore has not been our favorite tour program so far, while most of our products are travel packages to Europe or Southeast Asia,” the official said. “After the U.S.-North Korea summit, interest in Singapore is increasing among domestic consumers, which gives us a good chance to begin tour programs featuring the key places of the summit.”
Rival Lotte Home Shopping has aired a Singapore tour program twice this year and plans to broadcast the program again, while Hyundai Home Shopping is also preparing to initiate tour programs to Singapore. Domestic home shopping firms have been selling tour programs in line with trending TV shows.
Tour packages to Quebec became popular after the TV drama “Guardian: The Lonely and Great God” hit its stride. Travel reality shows “Grandpas Over Flowers,” “Sisters Over Flowers” and “Youth Over Flowers” have led home shopping firms to establish European tour products, while TV shows on Southeast Asian travel are also popular.
U.S. President Donald Trump strolls with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa Island in Singapore, Tuesday.


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Forget the iPhone: BlackBerry frenzy grips Indonesia
Thousands of Indonesians jammed into a glitzy shopping mall Friday to get hold of the first BlackBerry Bold 9790s being sold worldwide.
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JAKARTA, INDONESIA—Thousands of Indonesians jammed into a glitzy shopping mall Friday to get hold of the first BlackBerry Bold 9790s being sold worldwide.
Fearing a riot, hundreds of police were deployed outside, tying up traffic in the heart of the capital for hours.
With a 50 per cent discount on the $540 phone for the first 1,000 buyers, lines started forming in front of Pacific Place mall on Thursday night. By daybreak, impatient shoppers started rattling the gates.
And when rumours spread that the new smartphones — commonly known as Bellagio — had already sold out, the crowd of 3,000 went crazy. Several people fainted in the crush.
Indonesia, a nation of 240 million people, has experienced a come-from-nowhere tech frenzy in recent years.
With 6 million users, BlackBerry dominates the smartphone market.
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Bangalore-based Arzooo.com, a reverse auction based commerce platform, has raised Rs 1.5 crores in a seed round of funding from Omphalos Ventures India. With the current funds, the company plans to further develop their technology, and expand its operations to the top-ten Indian cities by March 2019.
Founded by two former Flipkart employees, Khushnud Khan and Rishi Raj, Arzooo.com virtually exploded into India’s e-commerce ecosphere in July 2017, with their reverse auction model that gives high value buyers the lowest price on their chosen product, beating prices elsewhere online, in real time. Since their launch, the company has served more than 2,000 customers with an average ticket size of Rs 22,000 on high value branded goods, and a monthly run rate of Rs 7 million.
With Arzooo’s technology, customers are no longer bound to buy a product at the price listed on a popular e-commerce site, nor do they need to browse through various sites to find or compare for the best price. All customers need to do is, decide on a product and just go to Arzooo.com enter the model id and demand the best price. Subsequently, top suppliers bid and compete for the order beating prices elsewhere online. The algorithm at Arzooo takes the lowest of the reverse bid prices and offers it to the customer, thus saving valuable time and money.
Commenting on the announcement, Sagar Ramteke, Partner – Omphalos Ventures India LLP stated, “The Arzooo team has a deep understanding of India’s consumer market for high value goods and has a grand vision of expanding this segment in the country. They are making good inroads with their unique business model. To have an e-commerce disruption coming from India is very exciting and empowering. We, at Omphalos Ventures, are proud of our association with such a game changing concept and team.”
Speaking on the occasion, Khushnud Khan, Founder & CEO, Arzooo.com said, “With this funding round, we plan to leverage deep tech and build algorithms that help us predict discounts in real time and reduce retailers’ efforts to put in best prices through current systems.We are also expanding our operations to Hyderabad, and other South Indian cities will follow soon. The plan includes expansion of services to the top 10 Indian cities by the end of the current financial year. Our goal is to take this service to top 50 Indian cities across categories in the next three years.”


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Victorian trade delegation heads to Middle East
At least 75 food and agribusinesses will join the State Government in Victoria's largest trade mission to the Middle East this weekend.
The tour will take in countries such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
It follows similar large-scale trade delegations to China and India.
The Government says the tour will allow dairy, grain and meat companies to expand export opportunities to the region.
Tourism Minister Louise Asher says the Middle East is increasingly important to Victoria's economy.
"The size of this delegation is the biggest ever to leave Victoria and go to the Middle East," she said.
"We have 170 companies and 250 individuals travelling with the three ministers and I think that's a great response by businesses who recognise there are significant economic opportunities in the Middle East."


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NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) — Satellite broadcaster SiriusXM announced a profitable year for 2020, with revenue of $8.04 billion, up by 3% year-over-year from 2019.
While revenue was up, net profits were down substantially for 2020, with SiriusXM reporting that full year net income totaled $131 million, down from $914 million for the full year in 2019. SiriusXM attributed the loss of net income to a $976 million non-cash impairment charge associated with its music streaming service Pandora.
Full year net income, excluding the effect of the impairment, was approximately $1.11 billion, or $0.25 per diluted common share. Adjusted EBITDA grew to $2.58 billion in 2020, an increase of approximately 6% from $2.43 billion in 2019.
“SiriusXM turned in strong operating and financial results in 2020: we grew SiriusXM self-pay subscribers, revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow despite the pandemic. Our new car penetration reached approximately 80% in the fourth quarter and is set to rise above 80% this year, and the incorporation of 360L, our next generation in-car entertainment platform, is accelerating,” said Jennifer Witz, Chief Executive Officer of SiriusXM.
During 2020, SiriusXM added 909,000 net new self-pay subscribers, closing in on almost 30.9 Million paying users of the service. Self-pay monthly churn for the full year was 1.7%, a slight improvement over 2019, and marking the fourth consecutive year of improving self-pay churn.
However, total SiriusXM subscriber base of 34.7 million at the end of 2020 was down approximately 1% from the 34.9 million who subscribed to the service at the end of 2019. SiriusXM attributed the decline to lower auto sales, a decrease in vehicle shipments by automakers offering paid trial subscriptions, and a reduction in trial lengths at certain automakers.
For SiriusXM’s Pandora digital streaming platform, the streamer saw both declining ad revenue and monthly active users in 2020. Full year ad revenue at Pandora, which includes off-platform advertisements, declined by 1% over the year to $1.18 billion for 2020.
Monthly Active Users (MAUs) at Pandora totaled 58.9 million at the end of 2020, down from 63.5 million at the end of 2019. Total ad supported listener hours were 12.50 billion in 2020, down from 13.44 billion in 2019.
Gross Profit fell by 8% year-over-year, while subscriber revenue decreased by 2% during the same period.
“The tremendous reach of SiriusXM’s platforms, the company’s unique business model, and the quality of its people attracted me to join the company last fall as CFO. All of these attributes have been affirmed in the past three months since I came on board, and it has been a pleasure to partner with Jennifer as she made the transition to CEO,” said Sean Sullivan, Chief Financial Officer of SiriusXM. Mr. Sullivan became CFO of SiriusXM on October 26, 2020.
“SiriusXM returned approximately $1.81 billion to stockholders in 2020, including $1.57 billion of share repurchases and $237 million of dividends. As previously announced, we increased the regular quarterly dividend by 10% in November for the fourth consecutive year. During the fourth quarter, we opportunistically accelerated the pace of common stock repurchases to $680 million and closed on our acquisition of Stitcher. At the end of the fourth quarter, SiriusXM’s debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio was 3.3x, and we have tremendous liquidity to continue investing in the business and returning capital to stockholders,” added Sullivan.


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Free bikes. Uganda is giving all motorcycle owners a free electric motorcycle. They just need to trade in their ICE bike. Investors will foot most of the bill and be given exclusive rights to operate charging and battery swap stations in the country. The bikes are valued at around $1,350 and should save owners around 50% on operating costs.
Hydration Station. A new water purification system addresses people's growing concerns with microplastic in our drinking water. A new design by a South Korean firm uses a covalent triazene framework, similar to technology used to remove dye from water, to remove 99.9% of plastic from water within 10 seconds. An additional layer to the design uses sunlight to remove over 98% of volatile organic compounds- which in my house, we call germs.
Final Arrangements. New York has become the 6th state in the US to legalize natural organic reduction, AKA human composting. The process involves being placed in a reusable vessel with plant material that allows naturally occurring microbes to quickly break down a body in a month or so. The result is about 36 bags of rich soil that can be safely used like any nutrient-dense gardening dirt.


text: An anonymous reader writes "OpenBeam USA is a Kickstarted company that builds open source aluminum construction systems (think high-quality erector sets). One of the main uses for the systems is building 3D printers, and creator Terence Tam is heavily involved in the 3D-printing community. He's now put up a blog post about some disturbing patents filed by MakerBot. In particular, he notes a patent for auto-leveling on a 3D printer. Not only is this an important upcoming technology for 3D printers, the restriction of which would be a huge blow to progress, it seems the patent was filed just a few short weeks after Steve Graber posted a video demonstrating such auto-leveling. There had also been a Kickstarter campaign for similar tech a few months earlier. Tam gives this warning: 'Considering the Stratasys — Afinia lawsuit, and the fact that Makerbot is now a subsidiary of Stratasys, it's not a stretch to imagine Makerbot coming after other open source 3D manufacturers that threaten their sales. After all, nobody acquires a patent warchest just to invite their competitors to sit around the campfire to sing Kumbaya. It is therefore vitally important that community developed improvements do not fall under Makerbot's (or any other company's) patent portfolio to be used at a later date to clobber the little guys.'"


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UPDATED: Sept 28, 2019
Health officials are warning pet parents to stay clear of pig ear dog treats, saying to avoid buying or feeding them. Plus, they’re urging retailers to stop selling these products. This comes in the midst of a multi-state outbreak of salmonella in humans.
Back on July 3, 2019, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and State partners released a notice about their investigation into a suspected link between pig ear treats and human cases of salmonellosis.
They’ve since released several updates. Now, they’re reporting even more illnesses spanning across US states.
People Affected By The Outbreak
The CDC is now reporting 143 cases of human infection with Salmonella.
- Of 110 ill people with available information, 33 (30%) have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.
- 26 illnesses (20%) are among children younger than 5 years.
A List Of States
This outbreak is spreading across the United States, now spanning 35 states. Infections were reported in:
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- South Carolina
Reported illnesses started on dates ranging from June 10, 2015 to July 30, 2019.
Must-Know Info From The CDC
“Health and regulatory officials from Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and FDA collected pig ears from ill people’s homes, retail locations where ill people reported buying the products or from suppliers and distributors to those locations. Testing identified Salmonella in over 90 samples, with many different strains.”
“Some of the tested pig ears were imported from Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia. Some product labels indicated that the pig ears were irradiated; this process should kill Salmonella. Salmonella identified in products labeled as irradiated indicate they may not have been irradiated or there was another issue that led to Salmonella contamination.”
Salmonella can affect both human and animals.
Humans: People with salmonella infection can experience diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps. Most people symptoms 12 to 72 hours after being exposed to the bacteria. The infection usually lasts for 4-7 days and most people recover without treatment. However, for some people, diarrhea may be so severe that they need to be hospitalized. Young children, the elderly, pregnant women, and people with weakened immune systems are more likely to have a severe illness.
If you suspect you may have salmonella, contact your doctor immediately. According to the CDC:
“If antibiotics are needed, infections related to this outbreak may be difficult to treat with some commonly recommended antibiotics, and may require a different antibiotic choice.”
Animals: Additionally, if your pooch experiences similar symptoms then you are urged to call your vet immediately.
Tips For Pet Parents
- Do not feed any pig ear to your dog.
- If you have pig ear dog treats in your home, throw them away in a safe container so no pets or other animals can get them.
- Always wash your hands with soap and water before and after handling pet meals and treats. This includes pig ears.
- Clean items in your home that may have come into contact with contaminated pig ears — like floors.
- Did you know animals can actually shed the bacteria? That’s why it’s important to pick up and dispose of your dog’s poop in your yard and public parks where people or other animals may become exposed.
- Children younger than 5 should not touch or eat dog food or treats, according to health officials.
Watch Out For Pig Ear Recalls
Right now, all retailers are being urged not to sell any pig ear pet treats. However, several companies have actually issued recalls for pig ear products because they might be contaminated with Salmonella.
- On July 3, 2019, Pet Supplies Plus recalled bulk pig ears stocked in open bins because they might be contaminated with Salmonella.
- On July 26, 2019, Lennox Intl Inc recalled pig ears because they might be contaminated with Salmonella.
- A few days later, on July 30, 2019, Lennox Intl Inc expanded their recall for pig ears because they might be contaminated with Salmonella.
- On August 16, Dog Goods USA LLC recalled external icon bulk and packaged Chef Toby Pig Ears.
- On September 3, 2019, Dog Goods USA LLC recalled external icon all 30-packs of Berkley & Jensen brand pig ears sold at BJ’s Wholesale Club stores.
- On September 20th, 2019, TDBBS of Richmond, VA, recalled a limited distribution of 2 pig ear pet treat products sold via Amazon.com.
This is an ongoing investigation. FDA officials encourage consumers to report complaints about pet food products electronically through the Safety Reporting Portal.


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Feeling the heat of inflation
Today, expenses are rising faster than the income. Increasing fuel prices and a slow economy are weighing heavily on consumers. More than half say their expenses have increased by 40 per cent or more and six out of ten strongly agree that they are saving less than they did last year. As expected, lower income consumers are feeling the inflationary pressure the most. To survive, they are cutting down on non-essentials and some are even curbing on the essentials too. Surprisingly, upper income households are impacted more strongly than the middle class. They are feeling the pinch on their lifestyle as they try to sustain a status they’ve become accustomed to. As middle income consumers have always needed to balance budgets, they are adapting better than other income segments. They carefully consider essentials versus luxuries, which is a practice typical for these households.
Curbing extra expenses
To offset the pressure of inflation, consumers generally tend to minimise the spending on luxury products, but they can’t cut into day-to-day necessities of living. The rise in inflation has shown people buying in bulk, shopping once in a month. During inflationary times, consumers generally buy larger packs for consumer products, which is a once-in-a-month purchase rather than seasonal sales in order to economise. Indian consumers have always been value conscious, and the inflationary environment increases this tendency among Indian consumers. Consumers are more inclined towards deals and better value and switch stores and brands accordingly.
As per the survey done by Nielsen, “compared to those who preferred larger pack sizes for better value, less than a quarter (23 per cent) of respondents think that purchasing smaller packs with lower unit price would help them save their household expenses. Indian consumers also see an advantage in shopping at value retailers (41 per cent) and at locations closer to their homes and offices (40 per cent).”
FMCG sector not affected
Speaking over the rising inflation and consumers’ reaction, Raj Hosahalli, Executive Director, Nielsen, says, “During inflation, most consumers are cutting down spending on non-essentials such as eating out, holidays and entertainment. The good news for the FMCG sector is that grocery sales are not impacted.”
Adding further, he said, “The FMCG sector is banking on ‘impulse’ buying, which continued to show an uptrend. Indian consumers have always been value conscious, so the FMCG sector will have to redraw marketing and pricing strategies in both rural and urban areas to sustain consumer interest.”
As consumers cut back on spending, reducing food expenditures is not the first imperative. Rather, spending on clothing, utility expenses, eating out and out-of-home entertainment and vacations/holidays are the areas that get slashed first when budgets are impacted. In fact, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sales may actually benefit in inflationary times. As budgets get reallocated, consumption on day-to-day grocery products actually increases.
Right strategy: Down size or price increase?
With high inflation making consumers think twice before spending, food and beverages majors are turning to measures such as reducing pack sizes and introducing very low priced items in order to keep sales counter busy in India. But the price rise or downsizing on products should be carefully managed so that volumes do not get impacted. Speaking over PepsiCo’s strategy, Samudra Bhattacharya, Sales Head, PepsiCo India, says, “Despite hiking prices, the company is confident that steps like launching products specifically for bottom of pyramid consumers as well as for the premium-end segment will help us strike a balance between volumes and value.”
Explaining the strategy further, he said that there are revenue drivers and there are volume drivers, but deciding with tactic works best is dependent on the price sensitivity of the category. Three strategies should be considered:
• Passing the Buck – consistently cut costs by either downsizing or else increasing price to drive revenue.
• Making Money – introduce premium packs or small packs with a higher cost per serving to drive revenue.
• Share Play – offer appealing value packs and promotions to drive volume. “PepsiCo has taken a set of measures to combat inflationary pressure both on cost site and consumers while looking to manage volume,” says Bhattacharya. In the recent past, the company has taken price rise both in beverages and food portfolio and at the same time downsized some of the packets. The company has introduced a host of products at ` 10 price point in the beverages category and launched 350 ml PET bottles at ` 20 across India. It also introduced value packs like the 1.2 litre family pack for consumers seeking good bargains.
Friedbert Klefenz, President, Bosh Packaging Technology, says, “The trend or demand for small packaging is coming from not only Indian manufacturers but it is the trend in the international market as well. In most of the metro and sub-metro cities, the family size is shrinking; youngsters have started living out of their family for study or job, so brands need small portions or small packs to cater to the needs of these consumers.” Due to food inflation, all the manufacturers in the food and beverages category are looking to cut down their packaging cost. “Cost cutting on packaging can be of two types – first is cost cutting on packaging material and the second is on packaging equipment installation. Traditionally, a large number of brands are cutting down costs over packaging materials as it is directly pulling out money from their pockets. But, nowadays, we see a rising tendency where brands are focusing over spending one-time money in installation of good and energy efficient packaging equipments,” Klefenz adds. In an inflationary environment, brand needs to ensure that revenues keep flowing. Launching more products targeted at the bottom of pyramid (BOP) consumers and adding the focus on distribution and availability of these products can help increase the reach to consumers. But, at the same time, brands need to equally focus on premium products to drive value sales.
The winning way!
At the end, the fact is that current inflation levels has not impacted grocery spend, so a right strategy towards reaching consumers would help brands create consumption.
Know your brand – where it is on the price deal response grid. Implement right strategy for right product category; if it’s non-essential or impulse product category, then downsizing or price increase or premiumisation would work. Essential product categories depend more on value pack and promotions, so the promotional offers and better deals will lead to the winning way.


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- Spotify will soon let you block R. Kelly Monday 6:01 PM
- New Click to Pray app lets you pray with Pope Francis Monday 5:30 PM
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- Trump posts altered pics on social media to make fingers look longer, report Monday 3:20 PM
- Twitch user banned after telling woman to ‘kill yourself’ during stream Monday 3:06 PM
- Facebook introduces ‘Community Actions’ tool to petition the government Monday 2:04 PM
- Sarah Sanders, NRA deliver truly misguided MLK tributes today Monday 12:58 PM
- MAGA teen who confronted Native elder says he ‘respects all races’ Monday 12:57 PM
- Popular YouTube channel in danger of disappearing because of copyright claims Monday 12:24 PM
- The Krassensteins’ Reddit AMA gets trolled off the internet Monday 12:08 PM
- No, Trump didn’t break open the Pizzagate scandal in 2011 Monday 11:23 AM
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- Ja Rule thinks he was also a victim of Fyre Fest Monday 10:21 AM
- YouTube beef between RiceGum and H3H3 gets ugly—and personal Monday 10:02 AM
- ‘Fox & Friends’ accidentally airs obituary graphic for Ruth Bader Ginsburg Monday 9:40 AM
New voice commands for Amazon Echo let you order Domino’s pizza during the Super Bowl
Alexa will do everything but tip for you.
There’s no better excuse to buy a pizza than the Super Bowl and if you’re the proud(ish) owner of an Amazon Echo, getting a pie will be as simple as saying the words.
Domino’s and Amazon have teamed up to add ordering functionality to Amazon’s dainty little digital personal assistant. The feature, available through voice-controlled AI Alexa on the Amazon Echo, will allow hungry football fans to place an order and track the progress of their pizza.
The process for ordering isn’t quite as simple as just shouting out the toppings you want and waiting for them to arrive; customers will have to go into the Amazon Alexa app and enable the “Domino’s skill” so they can link their account to their Domino’s “Pizza Profile.”
Tracking an order just requires the phone number associated with the order, which theoretically could be exploited to see if other people have orders they’re waiting to arrive, like a pizza-obsessed NSA.
The Echo is the eighth platform Domino’s has extended its ordering capabilities to, according to the company. In 2014 the company launched an app for 3D pizza orders, followed shortly by its own voice-activated app for placing an order. Domino’s has also offered the ability to order pizza via emoji.
AJ Dellinger is a seasoned technology writer whose work has appeared in Digital Trends, International Business Times, and Newsweek. In 2018, he joined Gizmodo as the nights and weekend editor.


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Author: Not mentioned
Posted December 12th,2016
President-elect Donald Trump will meet with a number of CEOs from America’s largest tech companies next week and the media is getting excited about who’s invited.
Wonder Why Anyone Would Trump has issued invitations to several top executives of major US tech companies, according to media reports. As the topic of the meeting, which is scheduled to happen in Trump Tower in Manhattan next week, remains undisclosed, the media are talking about who is invited. According to one report, sources close to the situation have already confirmed Alphabet CEO Larry Page, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg as attendees. They are likely to be joined by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins, IBM CEO Ginni Rometty, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, and Oracle CEO Safra Catz. This list is likely not full, because many invitations went out late this week, according to Recode. Interestingly, even some of the Trump’s critics, like Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos, were invited and are likely to attend. Amazon owns the Washington Post, a media outlet that was quite aggressive towards Trump during the campaign. Bezos’s presence at the meeting could make things interesting. © REUTERS/ MARIANA BAZO Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Talks Tech, AI and Health Research at APEC Summit Those left off the invite list include Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield and Dropbox CEO Drew Houston. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky were invited but are now out of the country, which might be an excuse not to attend, according to media. Unlike Bezos, Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman, who compared Trump to Hitler and Mussolini and called him a «dishonest demagogue,» will not be present at the meeting. Interestingly, CEO and inventor of Twitter Jack Dorsey reportedly was not invited, though Twitter seems to be Trump’s favourite method of mass communication. His direct comments via Twitter, previously seen as dangerous, now appear to have been a credit to his campaign, especially given the almost complete media support for for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton by the mainstream media. While the exact topic of the meeting is undisclosed, the media speculate that Trump is going to try to convince tech companies to return their manufacturing operations to the United States, and that the tech giants will ask for tax breaks. It could be that the meeting will be the first step in what is almost certain to be a long, difficult battle to bring the hands-on work of some of America’s most successful and innovative industries back home. © FLICKR/ BRIAN KLUG Claim That US Election Could Be Hacked Just a ‘Headline-Grabbing Media Invention’ Earlier in November, Trump organized a somewhat similar meeting that gathered major US media figures. While the attendees were under the impression that the media’s access to Trump was to be discussed, instead they «got an earful from Trump.» This has been denied by Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s senior adviser who ran his presidential campaign. «No, that’s not true at all. I sat right to his left. He did not explode in anger,» she said. «He’s the president-elect. He won… winning solves a lot of problems. Winning makes a lot of statements.» Other media figures criticized those who attended the meeting for violating basic tenets of journalism.


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Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is looking to roll-out a network of urban consolidation centres as part of its plans to tackle air quality. It plans to create shared-user freight hubs, both outside the city boundaries and within central Manchester. These would be used to consolidate goods for last-mile deliveries by low, or ultra-low-emission vehicles, cycle courier or foot. A policy will be put in place to encourage use of consolidation centres for freight and waste collections. This will include […]
Wincanton has extended its relationship with B&Q, in a deal that sees it handling inbound container logistics as well as planning deliveries across the DIY chain’s national network. The operator, which has managed B&Q’s horticulture distribution for several years, became its sole UK ports-to-distribution centre provider earlier this year. It will handle 15,000 containers a year for B&Q as a result, and by moving a quarter by rail, estimates a CO2 saving of 3,400 tonnes year. Wincanton has also since […]
Switching from diesel to natural gas will produce a 10% saving in CO2 emissions for a heavy truck running on motorways, according to trials carried out by IVECO at Millbrook.
Revolve Technologies has developed a novel way to use printed circuit boards (PCB) to make a fuel cell, which it showcased at last week’s Cenex-LCV event at Millbrook Proving Ground.


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W hotel approved, setbacks for new 404 Kitchen and restaurant space at Crescent Music Row
Developers of W hotel planned for the Gulch release updated renderings, must still address sidewalk issues raised by MDHA design review committee
- The W hotel project would include 345 hotel rooms, two restaurants, a rooftop bar and a coffee shop.
- Plans also call for a pool deck and bar, live music venue, meeting and retail space.
- Larger windows are bright sought for The 404 Kitchen planned for Watermark's space.
- A 6,000 square foot restaurant is planned for space at Crescent Music Row.
A revised concept plan for the W hotel on the drawing board for the Gulch won approval from a city agency's design review committee Tuesday after tweaks by the developers.
Nashville-based Corner Partnership and Magellan Development of Chicago got five of six modifications they had sought, but still must address concerns including about an outdoor dining patio planned as part of the project encroaching into the public sidewalk.
Tuesday's appearance came after the Metro Development and Housing Agency's design review committee last month had deferred a decision on the modifications sought and requested more details related to outdoor terraces and other elements of the project.
Under the latest design, the project that's planned for the 1.29-acre Griffin Plaza site on 12th Avenue South between Laurel and Pine streets would have 345 hotel rooms, two restaurants, a rooftop bar and a coffee shop. It would also include a 10,000 square foot pool deck and bar, a live music venue, 13,000 square feet of meeting space and 3,000 square feet of retail space, according to documents submitted to the MDHA committee.
"We're just trying to be in the spirit of what this place is about," Eddie Abeyta, a principal and design architect with Dallas-based HKS, said of the design at Tuesday's meeting.
Decision deferred on new 404 Kitchen
In other business Tuesday, the design review committee requested a detailed site plan in deferring a vote on a request for enlargement of the front windows to bring in more light to the Gulch building at 507 12th Ave. S. where The 404 Kitchen will to replace Watermark restaurant. Watermark plans to relocate to the new Bridgestone Tower.
The address of that building will also be changed to 404 12th Ave. S.
Modification disapproved for restaurant at Crescent Music Row
Also on Tuesday, the design review committee cited concerns about seating encroaching into the sidewalk or public right-of-way in disapproving modifications requested to the Crescent Music Row apartment building at 1221 Division St.
A 6,000 square foot restaurant with a kitchen is planned for the targeted space.
Reach Getahn Ward at firstname.lastname@example.org or 615-726-5968 and on Twitter @getahn.


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From 2020, European car manufacturers have to cut carbon dioxide emissions of new cars and vans by one third, according to an EU proposal.
The average emissions from new cars will have to be no more than 95g of CO2 per kilometre, representing a cut of more than 40g of what vehicles are allowed to emit today. It is also a 35g/km reduction from the 2015 target, if the proposed new regulations are accepted by the member states. With cost to charge electric cars going down, it’s no wonder electrification of personal transport is already happening.
Emissions for new vans will have to be cut from today’s level 181.4g/km to 147g per kilometre or less in 2020. It is also a further reduction from an interim target of 175g for 2017.
According to estimates of the EU, the 2020 proposal would also help consumers to save around €340 on fuel costs in the first year, and around €3500 over an car’s average lifetime of 13 years. The European Union also calculated that the reduced CO2 emissions will save a total of €30 billion a year in fuel costs across Europe, increasing EU’s GDP by €12 billion a year. It would help saving about 160m tonnes of imported oil and create new jobs in new greener technologies.
The proposal still needs to be accepted by EU member states and the European parliament before they will become continent wide law. Experts expect the process to be difficult as the car industry keeps lobbying politicians to soften the CO2 targets.
CARS 21, a pressure group consisting of car manufacturers trade unions and Chief Executive Officers, recently proposed a report to the European Commission suggesting to change the way carbon dioxide emissions are measured. The proposal, asking to take factors such as driver behaviour and international infrastructure into account, would effectively water down CO2 targets.
The car industry argues that strict carbon dioxide targets would incur high costs in research and development, making European car manufacturers less competitive compared to international automotive manufacturers.
Connie Hedegaard, climate chief of the European commission, dismissed the car lobby’s claims pointing out that car manufacturers brought forward the same protests before the 2015 targets were set in stone. Yet, car brands have almost achieved the 2015 goal before the official deadline.
“Look back at all the terrible things that [they said] would happen, then go and see what the manufacturers are doing – this is where the innovation curve took off,” Hedegaard said.
According to EU figures, the average emissions of cars in 2011 were 135.7g/km. It is still 5g/km above the 2015 target but numerous individual countries have already managed the 130g per kilometre. The stricter 2020 targets will have the same effect, the climate chief argued. “What we are proposing is a fair and balanced regulation” and the goals are “ambitious but achievable.”


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PlayStation 5 (PS5) has become a super-hit throughout the world, and Sony has faced some major supply issues with the popular gaming console. To recall, the PS5 series was launched in multiple variants. There was a vanilla PS5 with a UHD disc drive and a PS5 Digital Edition. The Digital Edition was priced at Rs 39,990, and the PS5 with a disc drive was priced at Rs 49,990.
The PS5 Digital Edition was also supposed to launch with the disc variant of the gaming console on February 2, 2021. However, due to supply issues, Sony said that it is delaying the launch of the PS5 Digital Edition in India and will be only availing the PS5 with a disc drive for the time being.
Now Sony has confirmed the pre-order date for the PS5 Digital Edition in India. Read ahead to find out when you can pre-order the popular gaming console.
PS5 Digital Edition Pre-Order Date
PS5 Digital Edition will go on pre-order sale from May 17 at 12 PM. It will be exclusively selling from the Sony Center’s website - ShopAtSC.com. It will be only selling on Sony Center’s website until at least June 2021.
At the same time, the PS5 with a disc drive will also be available to be purchased from the Sony Center’s website. This comes at a time when Sony had expressed to the analysts that there will be huge supply issues with the PS5 console in India until next year.
Based on that, we don’t expect the gaming console to be available for more than a few hours or days on the website, given it will only be limited stock. If you are a PS5 fan, you can buy either of the consoles from Sony Center online on May 17 at 12 PM.
The gaming consoles are also available to be purchased on EMIs, and the website of Sony Center says that it will provide free deliveries to its customers. You can make online payments for the console via debit or credit cards as well as UPI and more.
It will be the first time that the PS5 console will come on sale at the Sony Center online since its launch on February 2, 2021.


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Look hard enough and you might find the shape of a heron or some other woodland creature in this gnarled, weathered wood spied recently by contributing photographer Michael Kaynard of Charleston at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. In Good News, read about the Heirloom Plant event taking place this weekend at the attraction.
Articles by: Michael Kaynard
With February being more balmy than usual, it wasn’t surprising for contributing photographer Michael Kaynard to find turtles lapping up the sun during a recent photo shoot at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. We’re probably in for a cold snap or two still, but with pollen bombs going off from area trees, the signs of spring are, ahem, in the air.
When contributing photographer Michael Kaynard sent along this close-up shot of the hood of an Ford F-250 truck, we immediately knew it would be a featured photo in Charleston Currents. The photo, taken on a recent trip to Fernandina Beach, Fla. (see Mystery Photo), evokes feelings of quality craftsmanship and classic styling. Thanks, Michael!
This one may be tough, but if you live in Charleston, you may recognize this photo by contributing photographer Michael Kaynard as being on the peninsula. Send your best guess to: email@example.com — and make sure to include the name of the town in which you live.
Contributing photographer Michael Kaynard has been hoofing it around the peninsula in recent days finding lots of pretty and neat holiday wreathes on local doors.
You’ll see a lot of greenery, but every now and then you’ll find something a little different — a cast bird wrapped in holiday finery or pieces of copper bent into the shape of a wreath. In addition to driving around and looking at lights this holiday season, take a look at the ingenuity that people put into the wreathes on their doors.
We thought we’d offer you a look through his lens in this photo essay.
You can almost hear this white shrimp screaming “Oh, noooo” as it is about to become lunch for this egret that was fishing this week along the tidal banks of the Ashley River in downtown Charleston. It’s been a good year for shrimp if you haven’t yet tasted this season’s delicacies. Photo by Michael Kaynard, Kaynard Photography.
By Michael Kaynard, contributing photographer | One of the most important things about my being a photographer has been when people enjoy my work, and seeing the happiness it brings. The money has never been as important.
Now that my selling days are quickly coming to a close, I received one of the nicest compliments about my work.
Find out why photos like this caused a customer to make contributing photographer Michael Kaynard’s Thanksgiving holiday extra special. See his My Turn commentary in the latest issue
You might have walked along this brick sidewalk in downtown Charleston as contributing photographer Michael Kaynard did on one of his recent photo shoots. But where is it? Send your best guess to: firstname.lastname@example.org — and make sure to include the name of the town in which you live.
Halloween is here the corner, as illustrated through these pumpkins on Laurens Street in Charleston. Be safe tonight – and don’t shoot any scary clowns! Halloween tips. (Photo by Michael Kaynard, Kaynard Photography.)


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AmazonFresh has been available for some time now, providing millions of products the same day or the next day delivery service. But for now, the system is only carried out in several large U.S. cities and international cities and its cost is not low: Amazon earns an additional $ 15 AmazonFresh charge each month for Prime members, and charge an extra $ 10 if orders are less than $ 50.
Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods, the food company's original retail store and distribution center will help further expand the AmazonFresh system. Conversely, by expanding the size of Amazon's food distribution allows shipping locations closer to customers and lower delivery costs, helping to reduce AmazonFresh monthly fees and minimum order quotas.
2. Amazon Prime fee is expected to increase
In 2014, Amazon raised the Prime membership fee from 20 US dollars to 99 US dollars. Since then, Amazon has significantly expanded its Prime product line, one-day delivery services and invested billions of dollars to develop Prime Video and other digital content services.
As of now, the Prime system has attracted millions of consumers. In 2018, there is a high probability that Prime contributions will exceed 99 U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, Prime Contributions in Germany ($ 58) and Japan ($ 34) are likely to rise as well.
3. Amazon begins to take Latin American markets seriously
Amazon management has noticed that the past international expansion was too limited to the current chance. This seems to explain why Amazon is still a small player in some of the major Latin American markets and does not even exist in some countries.
Now, Amazon is gradually adjusting its international expansion strategy. Last year in March, Amazon Prime system launched in Mexico. It is reported that Amazon plans to open a large warehouse near Mexico City. In October last year, Amazon Brazil Station allowed third-party sellers to sell electronic products. In 2018, Amazon will seek a bigger move to seize market share in Latin America. It is hard to imagine that Amazon will allow MercadoLibre to dominate the Latin American market with a population of more than 600 million and GDP of more than 5 trillion U.S. dollars.
4. India and Advertising became Major Growth Engine for Amazon
After billions of dollars were invested in local warehousing and logistics in India, Amazon quickly became an important player in India's thriving e-commerce market. Amazon India's total sales rise 67% in the third quarter of last year, making it a key contributor to 29% of total Amazon Q3 growth and will make even greater contribution to Amazon's business growth in the future.
Amazon advertising business has also become an important Amazon growth engine. Thanks to the popularity of Amazon's App and the large amount of customer data that Amazon can use to target ads. Among the company's "other businesses" reports, ads were the largest revenue contributors with an annual growth rate of 58%. In the third quarter of last year, advertising revenue reached 1.1 billion U.S. dollars. In 2018, advertising revenue exceeded 6 billion US dollars does not seem to be a problem.
5. Clearing sellers
In the United States and other markets, Amazon has expanded the number of third-party sellers at an alarming rate. Shoppers are able to enjoy more product choices and lower prices as sellers compete. While Amazon gets more revenue through commissions, order delivery and advertising. However, as the Amazon market expands, quality control becomes more challenging. Searching for hot items often results in a series of identical listings comes from different sellers, and reports of counterfeit merchandise sales and other unethical behavior have increased significantly in the last two years.
Amazon attaches great importance to customer experience must increase market supervision 2018, stop harsh sellers open shop, to avoid the emergence of a large number of the same listing damaging the consumers shopping experience.
6、Amazon is likely to acquire physical retailers again
At present, Amazon is working to build Prime Whole Foods customer reward program, and use Whole Foods' infrastructure for food distribution. Once these things are done, Amazon is likely to find another entity retailer for acquisition.
7、AWS usher in more large enterprise customers
Many large enterprises, such as GE and Capital One announced that they plan to close large data centers, and some of the workload transferred to Amazon AWS. In addition, AWS handles the cloud infrastructure needs of Internet / cloud companies such as Netflix, Workday, Zendesk and Boxes. With the price of AWS declining, its huge set of features continue to grow. November AWS re: Invent conference brings dozens of new products, including hot products alternative competitors. At the conference, Amazon announced a cooperation agreement with Disney, Expedia and Turner. By 2018, there may be more big businesses choosing to use AWS cloud services.


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Following the Labatt contest open to all volunteers got involved on the evening of December 31st, 2016, we are pleased to announce that the winner of the contest if from Operation Nez rouge Beauce-Etchemins, and it is Mr. Jacques Jolin.
The grand prize included:
- Round-trip flight and accommodation for 2 people in St.Louis, Missouri
- Tickets for a professional baseball game
- Guided tour, dinner and gift card at Budweiser Brewery
- Prepaid credit card worth $500 CDN
Congratulations to Mr. Jolin!


text: Altman Z-Score, Current: 2.57 Altman Z-Score, 2009: 2.57 Ruby Tuesday ( RT) is the least risky of the group, with a Z-Score of 2.57 for the last 12 months, flat from the previous year. But the casual restaurant chain remains on shaky ground. In its recent quarterly report, Ruby Tuesday posted a decline in year-over-year revenues, booking a 1.2% drop in sales to $313.5 million, missing expectations by just under $1 million. The softening was primarily driven by the shuttering of 16 company-owned restaurants in its fiscal-fourth quarter compared with the year-earlier period. The all-important metric of same-store sales, also known as comps, which measure sales at well-established stores open at least one year, grew just 0.3% at Ruby Tuesday-owned restaurants last quarter, while franchised locations saw same-store sales drop 0.5%. Even so, Ruby Tuesday's profits grew by healthy percentages and earnings of $21 million, or 33 cents per share, easily beat Wall Street's expectations. The casual restaurant chain also forecast disappointing fiscal 2011 earnings per share in a range of 76 cents to 86 cents, and cautioned that its operating margins would be down for the year as it invests more money into a higher-quality menu and new product offerings.


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InternatIonal Business leader of the Year
Sponsored by Scottish Development International
1 (7) IAN LIVINGSTON (46), chief executive, BT Group
After two years in the post Livingston is really making his mark moving the telecoms giant firmly back into the black with a £1bn-plus profit and averting major strike action after agreeing a pay deal.
Livingston has cut 35,000 jobs over the past two years, got BT's Global Services division back on track and has launched premium sports channels on its BT Vision television service as he compensates for falling domestic line revenue.
We predict: More international growth for BT, which already has contracts with many global corporate giants.
2 (6) ADAM CROZIER (46), chief executive, ITV
Having taken on the job in April he set about an internal review to find out what needed fixing. A five-year plan to repair the broadcaster sets out some radical changes with plans to dabble in subscription television. A revamp of the online presence and a "multi-million" injection into programme creation have also been promised.
We predict: Crozier has a lot to prove but at least he has a clear roadmap of where he wants ITV to go.
3 (8) DONALD MACLEOD (62), chairman, president and chief executive officer, National Semiconductor Corporation Stornoway-born Macleod became chairman of the US maker of chips that control power in electronic devices this year confirming him as one of Scotland's most successful international business figures. He had good news for shareholders in the summer when he announced a profit of $79.2m for the quarter to May and reported increased demand for analogue products from cell phone and industrial goods makers. That was good news for its chip-making and design plant in Greenock which Macleod visited last November.
He has come a long way since joining California-based National Semiconductor in 1978 after previously working for KPMG. He retains strong links with his home country through his membership of the International Advisory Board of Scottish Enterprise and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.
We predict: Another demanding year ahead for Macleod in the hot seat but he appears to thrive on it.
4 (New) IAN GRABINER (51), chief executive, Arcadia Group Plc
As chief operating officer of Arcadia Group, which includes fashion chains Topshop, Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins, Wallis, Evans and Burton, Grabiner played a central role as Sir Philip Green's right-hand man in the merger of the group with high street giant BHS in 2009.
The merger followed on from BHS posting a loss of £56.3m on a turnover of £1.2bn in the 74 weeks to August 2009, with the cost of the restructuring resulting in a one-off charge of £10.1m for the group.
Grabiner has worked with Green for the past 20 years and as well as also holding the post of CEO of the combined group he also heads up Sir Philip's property, procurement, IT and finance division.
In August 2010, Sir Philip accepted an advisory role with the coalition government tasked with identifying waste in Whitehall's £700bn annual spending budget, and Grabiner will also be taking a more active role politically as a result. The pair are currently working on the spending review and are due to report back to the government with their findings before this month's review.
We predict: Grabiner will continue to play an active role advising the coalition government, given his procurement expertise.
5 (10) CRAWFORD BEVERIDGE (64), non executive chairman, Autodesk Inc
The former chief executive of Scottish Enterprise pulled no punches in his frank independent review of Scottish Government budget options in the wake of the economic downturn. Beveridge said up to 60,000 public sector jobs could be axed and no public services should be spared the prospect of cuts, even free personal healthcare, concessionary travel and eye tests. He said all areas should be subject to scrutiny including the NHS and plans to make all prescriptions free. His report also suggested looking at changing the status of Scottish Water, possibly to a public interest company.
We predict: Beveridge will be in demand as a non-executive director though probably reluctant to take on much more. He is already chairman of 2D and 3D design, engineering, and entertainment software business Autodesk and is well connected.
International Contribution Award
6 (NEW) DEREK BLACKWOOD (55), president, productions facilities, Middle East, Africa, North America and Caspian, John Wood Group Plc
Houston-based Blackwood is one of the GlobalScot network's most active members. He helped found the network after building up links with the Scottish Development International team in Houston. One of his contributions is coaching and mentoring Scots businesses on the differences between doing business abroad versus doing business in the UK and providing companies with information that will help them to become established and operational more quickly and effectively.
There are also benefits for Blackwood and John Wood Group from the connection with GlobalScot - he does business with other members of the network, which has proved mutually beneficial.
We predict: Blackwood will be busier than ever with his wide-ranging responsibilities.
7 (New) HUGH GRANT, chairman, president and chief executive officer, Monsanto Company
Grant, who heads the largest seed producer in the world, was named 2010 Chief Executive of the Year by the readers of US-based Chief Executive magazine. Past winners have included Bill Gates, Jack Welch and Michael Dell. Bausch & Lomb chairman Fred Hassan said Grant "personifies courage, which is what Monsanto needed to persevere in the face of a lot of opposition." However, not everything went his way. He has had to cut the price of genetically modified seeds because the market place has been so competitive and, as a result, pare back his plan to boost earnings twofold in the next five years.
Grant, who is a molecular biologist and agricultural zoologist, joined Monsanto in 1981 and has held his current role at the St Louis-based company since 2003 - he was chief operating officer before that. Under Grant and his team the enterprise has doubled in size.
We predict: After his U-turn on profit growth Grant will be under pressure from shareholders to deliver.
8 (11) DAVID REID (64), chairman, Tesco
Tesco was dealt a blow earlier in the year following the announcement Sir Terry Leahy was retiring as the retailer's chief executive in March 2011 after 13 years at the helm. Reid led the succession plan which saw Philip Clarke nominated as Leahy's successor, and the coming year will see him preparing the new chief executive and newly appointed nonexecutive directors for the Tesco board. Tesco now has its eye on expanding its Tesco Express style stores through franchising, which has been piloted in South Korea and is soon to be rolled out in China, where the retailer also plans to open 40 million sq ft of retail space within five years - more than its entire UK estate built up over 90 years.
We predict: Tesco will continue to dominate in food retail and has the financial might to exploit overseas expansion opportunities.
9 (New) JAMES SMITH (59), chairman, Shell UK Ltd
Smith made two high profile appearances in Scotland during the past 12 months - sharing a stage with Alex Salmond when the First Minister announced the plans for the Scottish International Low Carbon Investment Conference which was held last month, and in Aberdeen presenting oil and gas industry veteran Sir Ian Wood of John Wood Group with the Energy Institute's Cadman Memorial Medal for outstanding service to the petroleum industry.
Smith, who was worried about global warming even when he was studying physics at Aberdeen University in 1974, is the oil and gas giant's leading advocate of taking action to protect the environment and has an impressive grasp of the subject, speaking without notes in Edinburgh. He believes Scotland has particular skills in new areas of technology including large-scale process engineering for technologies such as carbon capture and storage, biosciences for advanced biofuels and IT for a wide range of efficiency measures.
We predict: More environmental campaigning from birdwatching enthusiast Smith who will be watching developments in Scotland with close interest.
10 (4) DUNCAN BANNATYNE (61), chairman, The Bannatyne Group
Another successful year in the Dragons' Den for Bannatyne whose fortunes keep shining. His Bannatyne Fitness chain of 60 spas and health clubs produced an eight per cent increase in profits to £8.7m as more people tried to keep fit. Bannatyne claims more people are cancelling their holidays and using health clubs more.
He has also been expanding his hotel business with the acquisition of Charlton House in Somerset from administrators during the year. He now has four hotels with the others in Hastings, Darlington and Durham.
Amazingly Bannatyne also found time to write his fourth book, suitably called How To Be Smart With Your Time.
We predict: More bargain buys likely from the astute Scotsman.
11 (3) GUY CRAWFORD (58), chief executive officer, Jumeirah Group
A move into Egypt to manage a luxury resort on the Red Sea, ventures into Shanghai and an iPad wine list at one of its New York restaurants were just some of the moves Crawford presided over. A representative network was also established in India suggesting the country will be the next which Jumeirah expands into.
He also found time to give one-to-one sessions to Scottish food and drink businesses keen to supply the company at an event in his hometown of Forres.
We predict: Crawford is passionate about helping out Scottish businesses and with the ever-expanding Jumeirah the opportunities he can help to access could be very lucrative.
12 (9) ANDY MOONEY (55), chairman, Disney Consumer Products Worldwide, The Walt Disney Company
It was a busy year for Whitburn-born Mooney whose portfolio now also includes Captain America, Iron Man and Thor following Disney's acquisition of Marvel last year. Toy Story 3 also provided him with some great opportunities. Over 3.5 million units of Toy Story merchandise had been sold before the eagerly-awaited film was even released.
Mooney says DCP is primed for significant growth through the remainder of 2010 and into 2011 with retail sales expected to reach $2.4bn this year .
We predict: More success for Mooney who remains on top of his game. His biggest challenge will be staying in tune with a very young audience.
13 (13) BRIAN McBRIDE (55), UK managing director, Amazon
Taking on the supermarkets by launching an online grocery - selling everything from a whole lamb to tea bags - was a bold move. Starting up an office supplies line further cemented Amazon's role as online retail's queen bee while McBride has watched www.javari.co.uk make decent inroads into the fashion sector.
We predict: Amazon's position means any new venture has a very decent chance of success but McBride may want to tweak the recent launches before starting anything else.
14 (2) CHARLES ALLEN (53), chairman, Global Radio
As if the day job wasn't challenging enough Allen had an ill-conceived stint at running EMI's music business this year. But after just three months at the debt-laden company the executive chairman role was made redundant although he continued to act as an advisor to the firm.
While Global Radio is the largest commercial operator in the UK with more than 18 million listeners a week, it has not been immune from economic pressures. A reorganisation of the Heart and Smooth networks led to more than 250 job losses.
We predict: Allen may have to grow a clone to keep up with his portfolio of board level roles which includes Endemol, Virgin Media, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Tesco, and the organising committee of the 2012 Olympics.
15 (5) RICHARD EMANUEL (42), chairman, ITS Investments
Emanuel has kept a fairly low profile since selling Renfrewshire-based Total Repair Solutions for £6.25m to Oxford technology support group Regenersis. The Monacobased millionaire - who made £2.3m from the deal - emerged in December to say he believed the sale had been positive for Scottish employment, preserving the 600 jobs at the firm.
We predict: The Glasgow-born tycoon, who made his first fortune from selling most of DX Communications to BT Cellnet for £42m in 1999, will continue concentrating on his investment in online accounting software company Twinfield and Dutch-based Dexom Holdings which is the largest retailer of mobile phones and computers in the Netherlands.


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Techne Summit Cairo’23 preparations have officially been set in motion! And we’re glad & excited to announce our community partnership together.
Techne Summit Cairo is set to take place on March 11 & 12 and we’re excited to connect & network with more than 20,000 attendees coming from all around the world.
This year’s event is extended to be TWO DAYS to give you the chance of joining more activities and rich content. We have 10 different tracks that you can check them from the event brochure and more details about the event.
Don’t miss out on meeting, learning, and getting all the insights from these experts. Hurry up and use this exclusive discount code (TSCAIROCP23) for a 20% off your tickets on the current price through this link!
Looking forward to see you in the Summit


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Laser manufacturer has record £27m year
Laser manufacturer Rofin UK has achieved record turnover in what it calls an “excellent” year.
The Hull-based company returned revenues of £26.7m in the year to September 2016, up from £23.1m, as European business took off, offsetting a slight decline in Asian trading.
Pre-tax profits also rose to a record high, coming in at £5.5m for the year.
The company, a subsidiary of Rofin-Sinar Technologies Europe S.L, was set up in 1998 to develop and extend Rofin’s carbon dioxide laser product range.
The year saw a major change for the company, which moved from rented premises to an owned, purpose built facility of more than 800,000 sq ft. It cost £800,000 to build in 2016.
Adjacent land has also been acquired for further development.
After year end, Michigan-based Rofin-Sinar Inc, the US parent company of the manufacturer, was acquired by Coherent Inc, for $942m, when it delisted from Nasdaq.
Rofin-Sinar employs 134 people, and its highest-paid director raked in just over £189,000 last year, nearly £90,000 more than the year before.


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By Julia Lundstrom, CFP® | The Traders Wire
2020 and 2021 were both great years for the gaming industry. We saw immense growth in sales, usage rates, and revenue across all boards. During those years, the gaming industry generated $155 billion in revenue.
It’s estimated that by 2025, the industry will generate more than $260 billion in revenue. That said, some of the largest companies in the world are looking for ways to get involved in this revenue stream. Tech giants such as Google, Meta, and Apple, have all made plans to enter the video game industry one way or another.
This optimism has met recent tailwinds as sales slid in the second quarter of the year. Over the past three months, Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo have all posted disappointing results in their respective gaming businesses.
The numbers reflect a broader contraction in consumer spending on video games. This was expected considering that the boom of video games was caused by the pandemic. As we return to the real world, it’s understandable that people would have had less times for video games.
Challenge: Attacks on User Data
Web application attacks within the gaming sector have only grown by 167% from Q1 2021 to Q1 2022, according to new research from Akamai.
With companies continuing to migrate their operations to the cloud, there are significant security gaps that are left wide open for attacks by hackers.
With the microtransaction market continuously growing to reach over 100 billion by 2026, a massive target is placed on their backs.
Challenge: Console Shortages
A major factor that hampers the performance in the game manufacturing world is the continued scamble for console hardware. With supply chain shortages being the story of the year of 2021.
With the lockdown in the world’s most crucial manufacturing hub, Shanghai, there’s not much they can do about it.
Opportunity: Immersive Gaming
If there’s one good thing that came out of this, it’s that technical innovations have only moved forward for the future. Oculus, for one, is working extremely hard to improve the quality of their virtual reality headsets before they release it.
As far as immersion goes, video games are way ahead of the entire entertainment economy. Further experimentation is being done with controls, adding voices, and touchscreens to have a better gaming experience.


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Cryptocurrencies have been touted as a fantastic financial investment over the earlier number of decades, and are swiftly getting mainstream.
So considerably, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has granted in-principle approval to quite a few providers that deal with cryptocurrencies, which includes Paxos, Sygnum, Coinhako, and most recently, Hodlnaut and Digital Treasures Center (DTC).
Amongst the couple of firms that have been granted this coveted approval to function, a person of them stands out — and not for the factors you assume.
DTC does not provide substantial fascination fees on its investments. In actuality, it does not present desire prices at all. Instead, it focuses on some thing few companies have finished so considerably — advertising crypto as a payment strategy.
Why crypto payments?
El Lee, the founder of DTC, was initially exposed to cryptocurrency all over seven decades in the past, whilst functioning at Onchain Custodian.
But even as he helped many others devote in cryptocurrencies, he was struck by the concern ‘what is the upcoming stage for crypto?’
The truth of the matter is that you discover it very challenging to use crypto any where else other than buying NFTs, so the use case is restricted. You cannot seriously invest in authentic stuff unless any individual permits that.
Going on from a electronic custodian place, I wanted to begin up a new payments firm to tackle this sector which is the utilization utility of cryptocurrency.
– El Lee, founder of Electronic Treasures Center (DTC)
As these types of, he went on to go away Onchain Custodian to set up DTC, a crypto payments startup that encourages vendors and consumers to fork out with cryptocurrency.
Enhancing the payments place
For El, he noticed two main challenges with the payments area that crypto would quickly deal with: substantial transaction costs, and long payment settlement instances.
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have a minimal transaction payment, and value personal savings from these small charges will be relished by corporations and even handed down to customers.
To place factors in perspective, the transaction price for a bitcoin payment is close to US$1.6, when credit rating card transactions can cost up to 3 for every cent of the transaction amount. For businesses that have big volumes of transactions by credit card, this sum can be fairly considerable.
Furthermore, credit history card payments can take a extended time to achieve retailers, provided the extensive time for SWIFT transactions to be cleared. With cryptocurrencies employing blockchain technological innovation, merchants are ready to obtain their payments in minutes.
Having said that, creating a new company is never ever quick, and El confronted his very own established of challenges when creating DTC. For one particular, new companies typically do not have the reputation of more mature corporations, and as a payments corporation, DTC faced some scepticism.
There are a large amount of firms [out there] and the essential matter is what DTC is definitely bringing to the current market. The problem for DTC is that it is a nascent company. How do we really establish to other parties that we are truly worth the time operating with?
– El Lee, founder of Electronic Treasures Middle (DTC)
Also, DTC was seeking to enter a market previously saturated with a lot of gamers.
“There are so many players out there. Why would both your suppliers and vehicle channels want to function with us? We had to convince all stakeholders that they experienced advantages coming into this match together,” he included.
Positioning DTC in Southeast Asia’s crypto hub
As Singapore positions itself as the crypto hub of Southeast Asia, El has major ideas ahead for DTC.
“More than 15 for every cent of Singaporeans owns some cryptocurrency belongings, and this is only set to improve. Cryptocurrency payments are possible, and monetary establishments are currently partnering with us,” he shared.
DTC by now lets retailers to receive payments in stablecoins, and El thinks that as these stablecoins boost their own digital infrastructure, a lot more persons will obtain in and cryptocurrency will as a result boost in reputation.
El is assured that with MAS at the helm, Singapore is on the right path. DTC’s position in this transformation will be to assure that the financial hub can work seamlessly.
If you look at the enterprise of DTC, we’re essentially facilitating the seamless processing of fiat and crypto. — which is the bridge we’re developing. We are the bridge for crypto to fiat, and we are building payments by way of our own platforms for everybody else
– El Lee, founder of Electronic Treasures Center (DTC)
To that stop, DTC is previously hunting at regional expansion, significantly in marketplaces like Dubai, Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia, just to identify a number of.
DTC is also currently working on product design and style and enhancements — rolling out additional updates, and improving solution payments stream. Their consumer interface will also be updated to let retailers to see all settlements in a single dashboard.
As the cryptocurrency revolution sweeps globally, the world is adapting to accepting new types of money — first gold, then paper, and now Bitcoins. Whilst this transformation gains momentum, our technologies ought to also adapt with it, and that is what DTC is doing for Singapore.
Showcased Impression Credit rating: Electronic Treasures Center


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BIRMINGHAM, MI, August 4, 2017 – Celebrate one of Michigan’s sweetest harvests with games, special kids crafts, demonstrations and old-fashioned corn shelling at the Birmingham Farmers Market Corn Festival on Sunday, August 13 from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Enjoy fresh prepared corn dishes including roasted corn, kettle popcorn, corn bread and other homemade recipes. The day’s top seller will be fresh roasted Michigan sweet corn.
For Immediate Release
Date: March 6, 2017
Contact: Tricia Phelps, firstname.lastname@example.org (877)373-5940
Download a PDF Version of this Media Release here.
Taste the Local Difference® Hires New Local Food Staff Covering Michigan
TRAVERSE CITY – Taste the Local Difference®, Michigan’s local-food marketing agency, has hired four new staff members representing communities around the state.
In fulfilling its mission to help sell more locally grown and produced food in Michigan, TLD has added three local food coordinators in Northeast Michigan, Southeast Michigan, and the Upper Peninsula.


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April 21, 2012
Australian Court Upholds Internet Piracy Ruling
Brett Smith for RedOrbit.com
An Australian federal court ruling has provided cover for internet service providers (ISP) hoping to avoid being held responsible for copyright violations committed by their customers.In the first such case to reach any country´s highest court, a group of Australian and international entertainment studios, including Disney and Warner Bros, alleged that the Australian ISP iiNet allowed for the copyright infringement on their properties through illegal downloads by BitTorrent programs.
This week´s ruling backs up a 2010 decision on the case by a lower Australian court that found iiNet did not directly authorize the downloading of pirated materials.
A group of 34 entertainment industry companies called the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) appealed the decision on the basis it set a precedent that would cost them billions of dollars in lost revenue.
Australia´s High Court unanimously struck down that appeal on Friday.
"The High Court held that the respondent, an internet service provider (ISP), had not authorized the infringement by its customers of the appellants' copyright in commercially released films and television programs," the court stated.
"Rather, the extent of iiNet's power to prevent its customers from infringing... copyright was limited to an indirect power to terminate its contractual relationship with its customers."
AFACT managing director Neil Gane said the decisions represent the government´s antiquated copyright policies that are being flaunted to the detriment of his organization´s members.
"Both judgments in this case recognize that copyright law is no longer equipped to deal with the rate of technological change we have seen since the law of authorization was last tested," he told the AFP news agency.
iiNet chief executive Michael Malone suggested that the best way for the film industry to protect copyright was to provide their products in a widely accessible and more immediate manner citing strong evidence that content partnerships between ISPs and copyright holders was the best way to solve the problem of content piracy.
"Increasing the availability of licensed digital content is the best, most practical approach to meet consumer demand and protect copyright," Malone told AFP's Martin Parry.
"We have consistently said we are eager to work with the studios to make their very desirable material legitimately available to a waiting customer base and that offer remains the same today."
Malone could be referring to the success of iTunes, which is responsible for millions of dollars worth of music sales. At the very least, Malone´s suggestion would cost the parties involved far less money than battling piracy through litigation or lobbying for legislation. It is believed that litigating this case alone has cost over $12 million in legal fees.
Copyright holders were undoubtedly rooting for the Australian court to set a precedent that might aid them in their battle against illegal downloading. iiNet was potentially facing financial damages for providing the means to acquire hundreds of thousands of pirated movies and shows. The illegal download activity of iiNet subscribers was tracked by AFACT investigators in preparation for this law suit.
Gane said that the film and television industry was pursuing other means for battling copyright infringement, including targeting the software developers behind BitTorrent technology.


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Competition watchdog gives Apple 60 days to end ‘anti-competitive’ restrictions in Egypt
Competition watchdog gives Apple 60 days to end ‘anti-competitive’ restrictions in Egypt: The Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) has given global tech giant Apple 60 days to end restrictions on parallel imports by its authorized resellers. As we noted yesterday, the authority alleges that Apple is violating the Competition Act by barring its regional distributors from selling to its Egyptian distributors has limited “intra-brand competition,” which the ECA takes as seriously as competition among rival companies. The ECA will take legal action against Apple and its regional agent ABM if the practice isn’t wound-down by then, Masrawy reports, citing a statement from the Official Gazette.
Apple is not the first high-profile international company the ECA has gone after: Uber and Careem have been on the receiving end this year of sharp warnings against a (so-far unconfirmed) merger the authority has claimed would harm competition.


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Gustav Voigts shopping centre in Namibia’s capital city of Windhoek is to undergo a multi-million-dollar phased refurbishment starting this year. “This investment is due partly to the growing demand for upscale inner-city shopping, driven by the professionals in the surrounding offices, banks and government buildings,” says Carel Fourie, newly appointed CEO of Oryx Properties, the owner of the centre.
The three-level complex, built in the 1970s and located beneath the four-star Avani Hotel and Casino, was the country’s very first mall. It is home to established brands such as Mr Price, Totalsports, Queenspark, Donna Claire and Pep as well as a Checkers supermarket and local brands like Nakara, Wecke & Voigts and Safariland. “With the redevelopment, Gustav Voigts will be able to improve on its tenant mix by providing multinational retailers with optimal retail space,” says Fourie.
Oryx Properties – the only Namibian property company listed on the Namibian Stock Exchange – has appointed Stauch + Partners as the architect and principal lead on the project. Andy Chase, architect at Stauch + Partners, says, “We want to create a fantastic new look for Gustav Voigts and enhance shoppers’ experience, while ensuring that the centre remains an iconic landmark in the CBD.”
The first phase of the development will include the construction of a new roof to let in more natural light, the extension of shopfronts and the replacement of balustrades. All public toilets will be renovated, new escalators will be installed and two additional parking decks will be added. The entrance on Independence Avenue will get a brand-new façade.
Despite a financially disappointing 2016, the city of Windhoek is seeing a revival of its Central Business District (CBD). Retail events and street festivals are drawing people into the CBD after hours, creating a wonderful atmosphere in a previously quiet place.
“Namibia has one of the most stable economies in southern Africa due to a strong institutional framework, a good fiscal and monetary decision-making policy, and an innovative and relentless private sector,” says Fourie.


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Selfridges have opened a new pop-up space in its London Foodhall that will showcase different food industry talent.
Over the rest of the year, the food vendors and chefs that will get the spotlight will change.
First up is Pabellón, a Venezuelan street food brand, who began their residency on March 12.
After three months of serving up two traditional dishes, the award-winning street food brand will make way for a new collaboration which will be announced closer to the date.
Calling it a series of ‘exciting foodie collaborations’, Selfridges’ head of food, Andrew Bird, adds: ‘The space has been designed to be a launch pad for new brands as well as a destination for the capital’s best street food and exciting chef collaborations.’
The Pop Up Kitchen at Selfridges will operate a takeaway service during standard opening hours to begin with, given lockdown rules.
It’s come at the perfect time as spring brings in warmer weather in which to enjoy food outdoors.
The first food residency has kept different dietary requirements in mind, as dishes on the menu can be made vegan or vegetarian and everything is gluten free, boding well for the future collaborations.
Everything comes served in ‘sustainable packaging’ too.
Selfridges' pop-up kitchen menu
Venezuelan rice bowl.
Beef – Slow cooked shredded Brisket, Black Beans, Plantains, Half Arepa, Pico de Gallo, Avocado.
Chicken- Slow cooked shredded Chicken, Black Beans, Plantains, Half Arepa, Pico de Gallo, Avocado.
Vegan – Black Beans, Plantains, Half Arepa, Pico de Gallo, Avocado.
Arepa and sweet potato tempura, £11.50
Handmade grilled corn bread with side of batter sweet potato fries.
Beef – Slow cooked shredded Brisket, Avocado, Cheddar Cheese, Plantains, Pico de Gallo.
Chicken – Slow cooked shredded Brisket, Avocado, Cheddar Cheese, Plantains, Pico de Gallo.
Veggie/Vegan – Black Beans, Avocado, Cheddar Cheese (optional), Plantains, Pico de Gallo.
Sweet potato tempura, £5
Hand cut sweet potatoes dipped in gluten-free batter, twice deep fried for extra crisp texture and season with smoked paprika.
Pabellón’s menu features two classic Venezuelan dishes: Arepa (a traditional corn bread with various filling options) and Pabellon (a rice bowl with a option of toppings and half arepa).
In 2019 and 2020 they won multiple British Street Food Awards – so we think this pop-up kitchen will be popular.
Do you have a story to share?
Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk


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Legal marijuana sales to approach $10 billion in 2017: Report
Legal recreational and medical marijuana sales are outpacing previous estimates and slated to top nearly $10 billion in 2017, cannabis industry analysts said in a new report. Retail marijuana sales are expected to reach $9.7 billion this year, up 33 percent from 2016, Arcview Market Research said in a midyear report released Wednesday. “Our data shows…
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IN SHARP contrast with preliminary forecasts made earlier this year, Meat & Livestock Australia now expects 2015 to set another record for national beef and veal exports.
Releasing its third quarterly update for 2015 beef industry projections this morning, MLA now anticipates total 2015 beef shipments to reach 1.32 million tonnes (shipped weight), up another 2.3pc on last year’s already record-high of 1.29MT.
Back in January (prior to the onset of further drought conditions and record high cattle prices this year), MLA’s forecast had 2015 exports at 1.05MT shipped weight, down 18.6pc on the year before.
That projection has been rapidly undermined by this year’s continued and worsening drought conditions across large parts of eastern Australia, plus “unprecedented global beef demand.”
Higher export volumes will in turn deliver reduced volumes of beef consumed in the domestic market, especially in the face of higher beef prices, MLA’s Q3 projection says. Under these circumstances, the strong cattle prices observed during the first half of the year are expected to continue.
Underpinning the adjustment in export outlook, MLA has also revised its expectations over adult cattle slaughter for 2015, suggesting it will now almost reach last year’s record turn-off. It now has total slaughter this year at 9.63 million head, down just 2.9m on last year’s record. Any slow-down is predicted to be most marked in the final quarter.
Another huge slaughter year will ultimately result in a much smaller national cattle herd over the coming years, MLA warns.
“Eastern states cattle slaughter for the first six months of 2015 has already surged to 3.8 million head, up 5pc on the same period last year, which ended with a record turn-off,” this morning’s projections says. Emphasising how high slaughter has been this year, the eastern states kill is up 20pc on the five-year average.
The flow-on effect from what will become the third consecutive year with more than nine million head exiting the system will be much tighter supplies, especially in 2017, when adult cattle slaughter is forecast to fall below seven million head for the first time since 1996.
Click the link below to view a short video of MLA economist Ben Thomas presenting the key findings from the Q3 Industry Projections
National cattle herd to decline
Considering that Australia’s combined cattle turn-off (live exports and cattle slaughter) will again exceed 36pc of the starting herd inventory in 2015 – something that had never happened before last year – and that female cattle slaughter has been higher year-on-year for 31 consecutive months, MLA says the national beef herd is expected to fall to 26.1 million head in 2016, down 11pc, or 3.2 million head, since the drought began in 2012.
“While the herd will become the lowest it has been since 1995, a slow rebuild is expected due to the producer need for cash-flow after three years of severe drought. Also, there will be strong processor and live export demand for what will be a much smaller pool of cattle, potentially enticing a greater level of turn-off than otherwise would have occurred,” MLA’s Q3 projections says.
The smaller pool of cattle will put the Australian beef industry in an interesting situation over the next five years, especially at the processing end, with only 6.9 million head of cattle expected to be slaughtered in 2017 (down 23pc from the 9 million head forecast in 2015), which will flow right through to lower volumes available for all consumers.
MLA says the strong cattle market is set to continue for the remainder of 2015 and, provided the current supply and demand situation holds true, 2016 is likely to again see a historically dear cattle market.
This is especially the case for breeding females, as the core breeding herd continues to dwindle with every week that passes by, with above average female cattle kills.
MLA manager of market information Ben Thomas said with beef exports now well on their way to exceeding last year’s record, this would make it the fourth year in a row that beef export volumes have exceeded the previous year’s totals.
“The factors contributing to this are the A$/US$ exchange rate, strong global beef prices, high Australian beef production and unrelenting demand from Australia’s traditional three top export markets,” he said.
Australia exports about three quarters of its beef to more than 100 countries around the world, but the top four destinations combined – the US, Japan, Korea, as well as the emergence of China, will make up about 80pc of Australia’s beef exports this year.
Mr Thomas said the number of cattle sold or live exported over the past two years had been so high that the national cattle herd was reducing to what is estimated to be a 20-year low, falling three million head from 2014.
“We’re going to see less cattle on the market during the next couple of years, and with female cattle slaughter going higher year-on-year for 31 consecutive months, this means the herd rebuild will be slow.
” Yet with such an intense international trading environment, the value of the cattle market is set to continue, provided the current supply and demand situation holds true,” Mr Thomas said.
Read the 2015 cattle industry projections Q3 update here.


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Kia has been working relentlessly to demonstrate that they can be competitively challenge the other more established car makers in around the world by providing creatively styled designs, robust performance and quite importantly economic value. The Sorento is one such success story which eventually spin off to the Sportage, which is smaller 4×4 version.
According to Peter Schreyer, the CDO (Chief Design Officer) of the company, the launch of the new Sorento is set to take everyone by surprise where a futuristic design will take centrestage. At the same time, neutralists will also like its performance and features. This is because the old body-on-frame structure in the previous models have all been taken out and a monocoque bodyshell incorporated. It now sits 7 passengers comfortably.
Lee Hyoung-Keun, the Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the International Business Division is upbeat about the prospects of the 2010 Sorento and how it will fare in the market saying that “With the new Sorento, we have created an all-new, seven-seater CUV that will soon be recognized as an ‘exciting all-rounder’ with a much broader customer appeal. Despite the current economic uncertainties, we are confident that 2010 Kia Sorento will significantly increase Kia’s share of the CUV market, achieving annual global sales of 140,000 units from 2010.”


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T-mobile is the No. 3 wireless carrier in the country and they are clearly looking for a way to boost their numbers. T-mobile recently announced that they will let their customers watch online video from Netflix, HBO for no additional charges. The videos however, are streaming at a lower 480p resolution. This option will currently fit into T-mobiles $50 monthly phone service plan for 1 GB of data. Effective Sunday, their entry- level service will equal 2 GB of data for $50 a month.
Most of phone user’s monthly data is being consumed by watching videos on platforms like Netflix and Hulu. Facebook revealed that 8 billion video views are happening everyday on social media and a large a mount of these views are coming from phones. T-mobile offering free streaming from these platforms could be revolutionary and it’s rivals could be jumping on this bandwagon very soon.
Sadly, the streaming services not part of this program are Youtube, Amazon Prime, broadcast network apps, Snapchat and Facebook. Since thee are such big players among the video streaming service, how well will this program actually work? It’s too early to tell right now and the proof will be in the numbers.
Users who want to watch their videos in higher resolution can turn on their WiFi network and watch their videos that way if they don’t want to use their data. Although, the creator of the project says that the 480p resolution is still good video watching quality and no one should be turned off by that. It’s hard to see any disadvantages to this new feature if you’re already a T-mobile customer!