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Yahoo, Investors Face Off Today
Yahoo's annual meeting takes place amid the fallout of a failed takeover bid by Microsoft, a failed proxy fight for control of the company by Carl Icahn, and plenty of shareholders wondering why they should be happy about missing out on a rich payday.
Yahoo Board Gains Legg Mason's Support
A major institutional investor opted to throw its backing behind the existing Yahoo board of directors, rather than an alternative slate promoted by activist investor Carl Icahn.
Bill Gates Departs Microsoft
The world's wealthiest and most iconic tech geek will devote his years to a massive philanthropic effort aimed at eradicating childhood diseases.
Ballmer: We Can Do A Lot With $50 Billion
The game of will they/won't they acquire Yahoo continues, as Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer bragged to the media about having money to play with means a deal with Yahoo isn't a necessity.
Amazon, New York In Tax Spat
Amazon.com launched its response to New York's attempt to force it to collect state sales taxes by filing a lawsuit.
Yahoo Juggles Its Options With Microsoft
The board of directors faces a ticking clock at Yahoo, as a week has passed since Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer promised Yahoo they needed to make a decision on Microsoft's takeover bid in 3 weeks.
Feds Flatten 3Com Purchase By Bain, Huawei
National security concerns looked like an insurmountable obstacle, causing Bain Capital and China's Huawei Technologies to back off a $2.2 billion bid for 3Com.
Browser Market Seeing Netscape Depart
Microsoft turned Internet browsing from an application license driven economy to one supported by advertising and deals with search engines for default placement.
Chambers: Slow Spending Hurting Tech Sector
Cisco CEO John Chambers gave the market a cold bath with his assessment of the economy, and its impact on technology spending for 2008. Now it's Cisco taking a dip.
eBay Rises On Outperform Rating
Bear Stearns analyst Robert Peck thinks the online marketplace will step up in its Wall Street performance this year.
Startup Plans WiFi Where Google Failed
Plans for free wireless access for San Francisco could come to fruition if a startup called Meraki can do what Google and EarthLink could not: satisfy the local bureaucracy.
Chris Sacca Dumps Google For Investing Career
The main person spearheading Google's WiFi efforts will jump from the Googleplex at the end of December.
Google To Bid On Wireless Spectrum
Speculation on Google's intent upon participating in the FCC's 700MHz wireless auction next year reached its terminus when the company confirmed it will bid for the spectrum.
Apple Freed From Option Backdating Lawsuit
Apple received an early holiday present as its request for dismissal of a suit against CEO Steve Jobs and other company executives earned a California judge's approval.
Digg This: Wall Street Journal Adds Buttons
Only one website's buttons appear on Wall Street Journal stories, inviting readers to share articles, and those buttons belong to Digg.
ValueClick Flat On Q3 Profit
The Federal Trade Commission has been looking into ValueClick's lead generation model, which likely contributed to weakness in that part of the business.
Oracle Waves $6.66B At BEA
Web middleware provider BEA has an all-cash offer on the table from Oracle for $6.66 billion, an acquisition that would put Oracle against IBM for the application server market.
DivX: Yahoo's Possible YouTube Killer?
The video tools company DivX will shift away from promoting Google's toolbar to Yahoo's in early November, as part of a new two-year deal.
Google: Deal Not Privacy Motivator
Google has faced intense and sometimes bitter scrutiny over its proposed acquisition of ad network , but Google's forthcoming privacy standard proposal doesn't stem from that deal.
JAVA Becomes Sun's Face On Wall Street
Sun Microsystems plans to retire its SUNW ticker symbol in favor of JAVA, in order to better represent what the company focuses on these days.
Answers.com Smacked By Google Algorithm
The company recently made a $100 million purchase of the domain name Dictionary.com and the firm that owned it. Answers is about to learn the wisdom of that investment.
Google, Microsoft Reveal Quarterly Earnings
The competitors presented different results to their investors this week, with Google missing earnings by 3 cents while Microsoft closed its fiscal year with a 7 percent increase in profit.
Apple iPhone Battery Program Draws Ire
The positive press and big financial boost from the sale of as many as 500,000 iPhones may be tempered by the harsh reality of Apple's policies.
Bad News For PayPal: Google Checkout
Google's alternative payment system has been gaining on eBay's PayPal by gaining greater adoption than the streamlined PayPal Express service.
Internet Ad Revenue Neared $5B For Quarter
The first quarter of 2007 saw online ad spending reach $4.9 billion, 26 percent more than the same period last year.
ValueClick Probe Could Thwart Yahoo Deal
The Federal Trade Commission has been investigating the business practices of online marketing services firm ValueClick, which could scuttle any potential for a possible purchase by Yahoo.
Google Will Buy Small, Won't Split
Investors looking for a stock split from Google will have to keep on waiting, as CEO Eric Schmidt let reporters in on the company's new tagline - "Search, Ads and Apps."
ACS Offer Increased Amid Testy Discussion
Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) chairman and founder Darwin Deason has boosted the bid to $6.1 billion for the company, but the board of directors has proved reluctant to run with his offer.
The Balance: Work PCs, Non-Work Tasks
Corporate masters want to keep their staff tethered to the computer for as long as possible, even going so far as to bring in a variety of perks to retain them in the office. Doing real life tasks on a work machine can bring an unenlightened response from the bosse
Online Travel: Expedia Soars, Travelocity Sells
A $4.5 billion deal will take Travelocity's parent company Sabre Holdings private; Expedia should show strong growth as their advertising efforts hook in their audience.
The Internet Teams Against YouTube
Online video and Big Media content will merge with potent brand name advertisers as two YouTube foes will take on Google's video sharing site with a competitive offering.
Cisco WebEx Buy Could Quickly Crater
A router intensive application like WebEx video conferencing may drive more sales of Cisco's signature networking hardware, but a newcomer to the field of broadcasting content online may lessen the need for brand new routers around the Web.
Google Gets Earth Patent Suit Tossed
Accusations of patent infringement by Virginia-based Skyline Software Systems Inc ran aground when a US District Court judge issued a summary judgment in favor of Google.
Jerry Yang Gives Stanford $75 Million
The gift from Stanford graduate and Yahoo co-founder Yang and his wife Akiko Yamazaki will help create an environmental studies center at the university.
IAC Earnings Clipped By Coupons
Ask.com's parent company InterActiveCorp reported a big 98 percent drop in fourth quarter as they wrote down their Entertainment book coupon operation; the Search & Media Group performed well for IAC, enjoying a nice revenue gain.
Google Beats Estimates, May Have Hit Ceiling
The search advertising company enjoyed another fine quarter financially, but after hours movement in the stock could indicate the fun ride for investors is gliding to a halt.
eBay Nets A Fourth Quarter Winner
Net income of $346.5 million easily moved past analyst expectations for the fourth quarter of 2006, and the online marketplace also recorded 29 percent year over year revenue growth to $1.72 billion.
Yahoo Net Income Falls As Panama Lands
The $269 million Yahoo realized in fourth quarter 2006 net income, for earnings of 19 cents per share, fell short of the year over year period in 2005.
Yahoo Finance Gets Personal
Eager to recoup losses in their financial advertising business, Yahoo has launched a new Personal Finance site with useful services for visitors, and spots to place premium ad content.
Apple Nemesis Resigns From DOJ
Prominent US Attorney Kevin Ryan abruptly resigned his position, in the middle of investigations into the stock option practices of Apple and other tech companies in Silicon Valley.
Job Hunters Pound The Job Search Pavement
Visits to job boards have increased significantly as the New Year gets under way, as holiday credit card bills likely made a lot of folks start thinking they need to make some more cash in 2007.
Apple Enjoys A Perfect Moment
Forget all the stock option questions and lawsuits and feds skulking in unmarked vans around Apple HQ. During the keynote address delivered by CEO Steve Jobs at the Macworld Expo, all of those worries stubbed out their cigarettes and trundled off to a corner of Silicon Valley while the Apple faithful finally got their wish for a cellphone designed by the iPod and Mac maker.
Adobe, VeriSign Dishing Out Content
A content distribution network created by a new partnership between Adobe and VeriSign will deliver rich media content at a high level of quality.
Cisco Buys IronPort For Email Security
Cisco is taking the malware battle to the gateway to thwart spam and spyware threats by acquiring IronPort Systems, which makes messaging security appliances.
Feds Looking At Two Ex-Apple Execs
Stock-based employee compensation in the form of options was issued to Apple executives in a manner contrary to lawful practices, and Apple had to restate $84 million in earnings as a result.
Apple Cored Over Fake Documents
An investigation into inappropriate option granting practices at Apple Computer has yielded evidence of falsified documents, crafted to provide maximum profits to their recipients.
Video Battle Claims Two Revver Founders
In a market where YouTube represents the dominant force in sharing videos online, Revver has found a need to shake up its leadership by shaking out two of its founders.
eBay Fails In China
The online marketplace proved unable to overcome fierce competition in China, where rival Taobao has held on to its role as China's leading auction site while eBay will have to settle for a minority stake in Tom Online.
The Kids Are Alright To Fox, Yahoo
Online traffic to the web properties operated by News Corp's Fox Interactive Media and by Yahoo benefited from substantial traffic originating from university locations.
Holiday Online Spending Tops $17 Billion
2006 non-travel holiday spending on the Internet increased by 24 percent through November 1 to December 12 over the same 42-day period in 2005.
Yahoo, IBM Target Google Mini
The entry-level search software product developed by IBM and branded by Yahoo offers enterprise search for free, while making a thinly-veiled threat toward Google's low-end appliance market.
Red Hat Yawns At Oracle, Microsoft
Oracle's entry into the Linux support market and the Novell-Microsoft partnership have not fazed the Red Hat leadership.
Online Ad Spending Outrunning Offline
The New Year should show a trend in spending for online advertising that will have those dollars exceed those expended on offline ads at seven times the offline pace.
Digg Paces Social Media For Two Years
The wildly popular site for uploading and voting news stories up or down has come a long way from its techie-oriented roots, but the challenge to monetize those visits persists.
Yahoo Shares Down The Day After Reorg
A 57-cent drop to 26.86 proved the response investors had to Yahoo's reorganization announcement twenty-four hours later.
Microsoft Touches Up Expression Tool
Expression Studio represents Microsoft's entry into a graphic design market dominated by Adobe's Photoshop, where many potential users live on Apple's Mac OS platform.
Court Hammers Realtors In DOJ Case
The National Association of Realtors experienced a setback in their attempts to have a case dismissed where the Department of Justice has accused the NAR of blocking Internet-based brokers from accessing MLS databases.
A Yahoo Battle And A Google War
We saw a couple of unusual events today. Google shuttered a service where Yahoo was simply doing a better job drawing an audience; then it was revealed how Google would attack Yahoo's strength in brand advertising.
Microsoft Touts MSN Shopping Traffic
The long Thanksgiving weekend yielded plenty of visitors to MSN Shopping, as Microsoft credited better selection and tighter integration with the new Windows Live Search.
Spam Should Elicit Stronger Response In 2007
With one email security firm claiming that nine out of ten arriving messages are spam, 2007 could be the breakout year for antispam solutions.
Dell Breaks Forecasts But Pleases Customers
Preliminary results for Dell's third quarter have the company exceeding analyst results, but investigations into Dell financial practices have kept the mood from being too celebratory in Round Rock.
Google Breaks 500 Dollar Mark
Shares of the search advertising company eclipsed the $500 barrier in trading, finishing the day at 509.65 and placing Google third behind Microsoft and Cisco in terms of market cap.
Universal Gambles On MySpace Infringement Case
A lawsuit from Universal Music Group claims the MySpace social networking site is a "vast virtual warehouse" of copyright infringement, and want News Corp's online superstar to fork over $150,000 for each violation identified on the site.
New Media Gather Takes Old Media Cash
Boston-based social media website Gather.com picked up a $10 million infusion of cash from Hearst and McGraw-Hill, both very traditional media firms, to aid its partnership and international expansion plans.
Craigslist Off The Hook Over Housing Ads
The US District Court in Chicago has dismissed a lawsuit against the popular online classifieds site, where it was claimed discriminatory housing ads posted by Craigslist users were the responsibility of the website.
Europe Ready To Smack Microsoft Again
Minimal progress on providing the European Commission with all the documents necessary to permit third party developers to create software that can interoperate with Windows has Microsoft on the verge of being fined heavily.
Online Retailers Seeing Holiday Traffic Boost Now
Internet research firm Hitwise noted a 6.2 percent increase in traffic to websites in its US Retail 100 index, for the week ending November 11th.
Furr Pelted - Adobe CFO Resigns
Executive VP and chief financial officer Randy Furr abruptly resigned from software maker Adobe, even though Adobe ruled out any issues related to his job performance or the company's financial statements.
Cisco Hits It Out Of The Park
Not only did the networking company go yard with its financials, Cisco also plans to sponsor the new stadium for the Oakland Athletics, to be called Cisco Field.
Novell Gets Patent Payoff From Microsoft
Much was made of the Microsoft and Novell collaboration deal being about boosting the interoperability of Windows and Linux, but make no mistake, this arrangement has been all about the patents.
Verizon Ready To YouTube Its Customers
A potential deal between telco firm Verizon and the Google-owned video sharing site YouTube could bring user-contributed video zaniness to people carrying advanced Verizon mobiles as well as delivering them to on-demand TV customers.
Google Sees Papers As Next Step For Ads
Google wants to give an advertiser the option to have ads appear online, on radio, in video, probably on TV soon, and in newsprint. Should they succeed, Google will be a one-stop shop for marketers everywhere.
Google, Ask Rise In Market
Everyone knows about Google's high-flying stock price and equally dominant search share, but Ask parent IAC/Interactive has been upwardly mobile as well.
Pronto Ventures Into Comparison Shopping
IAC/Interactive has stepped up its promotion of the Pronto.com comparison shopping engine by launching a Merchant Solutions Center.
Oracle Pushes Against Red Hat Support
Larry Ellison announced his company would offer Linux support at a cheaper price than Red Hat does. It could be a ploy to make Red Hat an easier takeover target.
YouTube Obeys The Law
When faced with a legal request for information about a filmmaker who uploaded an amateur 12-minute video based on a leaked script for the Paramount film "Twin Towers," YouTube handed over the data.
IBM To Amazon - Pay Up
Five patents held by IBM have been central to discussions between the company and online retailer Amazon.com, but reticence on the part of Amazon to pay a licensing fee to IBM has led the two parties to court.
Google Propelled By Quality In Q3 2006
Revenue and earnings leaped for Google in its financial third quarter as the company continued to reap billions from its online advertising business.
Never Argue With The Data
The Search, Aggregation and Syndication sector covered by firm Outsell Inc include Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft; Outsell predicts they will be part of the total information industry's growth to $458 billion annually by 2009.
Yahoo Shells Out For Two Firms
Facebook is not in Yahoo's M&A; plans at the moment, as they instead make deals with two companies and focus on strengthening their advertising efforts.
MTV Answers Quizilla With Purchase
Viacom continued its broadening of online appeal to younger Internet users as its MTV Networks division picked up Quizilla, a top-five destination for female teens.
McAfee Replaces Top Two Execs
The antivirus software maker fired president Kevin Weiss while CEO George Samenuk stepped down from the post he had held since January 2001.
Google Picks Up YouTube
The video sharing site YouTube finished a busy day of deals with content providers with the announcement that it, too, had closed a big deal in being acquired by Google for $1.65 billion.
Watchers Await Google, Yahoo Deals
Billion dollar acquisitions rumored to be percolating at Yahoo and Google have not yet delivered on their promised fruition.
Jobs Apologizes But Apple Probes Continue
An internal investigation at Apple revealed backdating of stock grants happened between 1997 and 2002, and CEO Steve Jobs knew of but did not benefit from those options.
Dunn, Others Charged Over HP Spying
Ex-chairman Patricia Dunn and four other people face indictments in California due to their roles in a spying scandal that affected board members and journalists.
Holiday Marketers Should Enjoy Big Numbers
's Performics division expects 53 percent growth for online sales in the fourth quarter of 2006, and budgeting and marketing costs for Internet retailers should increase as well.
The Economist - Yahoo Stuck In Second
In an industry where an overnight sensation can change one aspect of the online world, and just as quickly be surpassed by the next great thing, Yahoo and its CEO, Terry Semel, have been called out for running to stand still.
PayPal Settles Over Protection Programs
The payment processing division of eBay will pay $5.2 million to settle investigations by 28 states into PayPal's customer protection programs.
AMD Knocked Back In Intel Suit
A federal judge has ruled that AMD's antitrust lawsuit must be pursued outside the United States, as some arguments made by AMD against Intel only pertain to Intel's activities internationally.
Gartner Says Yahoo Is OK
Weakness in the financial and automotive advertising markets led Yahoo to announce it will hit the lower end of its third quarter forecast.
Dell Announces Hiring Plan Amidst Probe
The computer manufacturer scored some public relations points by announcing it will add 500 engineering jobs to its Central Texas product development group.
H-P CEO May Testify Before Congress
The broadening scandal enveloping the board at H-P has also snared the company's CEO, Mark Hurd, and he may travel to Washington DC to discuss the situation.
Yahoo, Hype, And A Billion For Facebook
College and high school networking site Facebook has been rumored to be in acquisition talks with a handful of companies, with the latest rumor calling for Yahoo to plunk down $1 billion for the company.
Yahoo Falls On Weak 3Q Forecast
The company's chief financial officer told attendees at a Goldman Sachs conference that sales for automotive and financial advertising has fallen, and that will impact Yahoo's third quarter numbers.
Warner Music, YouTube Partner On Videos
The agreement between the popular video sharing site YouTube and major music label Warner will be hailed as a victory for consumer-generated content proponents.
Acer Places Yahoo! On PCs
The Taipei-based PC maker ranks fourth globally in personal computer sales, and has reached a deal that will place Yahoo products and services on their machines.
Video On Demand: $13B By 2010
The global market for video on demand services could expand to as much as $13 billion by 2010, as several delivery systems drive its growth.
Dell SEC Woes Escalate
News of serious problems has broken out of Dell's Round Rock headquarters, as the company disclosed it would delay its 10-Q filing with the SEC.
Amazon Raises The Curtain On Unbox
The online retailer launched its video service at Unbox.com with content from an array of movie studio and cable channel content creators.
Viacom Drops With Freston Ouster
CEO Tom Freston appears to have failed to meet Sumner Redstone's Internet vision for Viacom, resulting in Freston's departure from the company.
Sun May Give Away The Blades
The high-tech version of Gillette's marketing strategy of giving away the razors and selling the refills could be implemented at Sun Microsystems if CEO Jonathan Schwartz's plans for "Project Mercury" take hold.
Easy Money Plus Brand Equals Phish
Millions of emails circulate the Internet and land in people's inboxes, promising easy money for minimal effort; the latest uses eBay's name to offer this.
Intel May Cut 10,000 Jobs
After reporting some disappointing numbers in its most recent quarterly earnings announcement, Intel CEO Paul Otellini vowed that the company would find ways to improve.
Verizon, BellSouth Yield To FCC Pressure
Both telecom companies rescinded fees they had planned to charge customers just as federally-mandated USF collections were being eliminated.
Is Apple Grooming Schmidt For CEO?
Google's CEO has joined the board of directors for Apple, and the move has many wringing their hands in anticipation of what that could mean; we think there is another meaning no one has considered yet.
Yahoo Drops Mortgage Rates Into Search
The field of real estate has been attracting the attention of startups and major names alike on the Internet, with Yahoo embracing it from within its search engine results.
Google Applies Itself To Communication
The search advertising company took another step toward being the Microsoft competitor many expect it to become.
Creative Patent Harvests Apple Cash
Apple incurred some extra expense this week, as they and Creative Technologies settled their litigation over a Creative patent for $100 million.
Startup 2.0: Buy Kiko On eBay
If the Yoosi auction on eBay did not appeal to your inner entrepreneur, maybe Kiko, an online calendar with some high-powered competition, will stoke your competitive fire.
Facebook Pastes In Ads From Microsoft
The deal between the two companies parallels an arrangement between MySpace and Google as powerful Internet players make their mark on social networking.
Vista Discount On The Holiday Horizon
In order to ease the pain of lost holiday sales due to the delayed release of the Microsoft Vista operating system, Microsoft may provide some advance upgrade discounts during the busy shopping season.
Microsoft Sweetens The Buyback Pot
As the ongoing $30 billion stock repurchase prepares to close, Microsoft has decided to tack on another $16.2 billion in an effort to appease some of its big institutional investors.
Dell Reveals Earning Drop, SEC Review
Dell experienced a 51 percent plunge in its second quarter earnings, and also disclosed the Securities and Exchange Commission has requested information from the company.
H-P Continues Resurgence
CEO and president Mark Hurd's strategies are paying off, as Hewlett-Packard bounced higher on news of a stellar third quarter.
Sony Getting Burned By Dell Flameouts
Lithium-ion batteries made by Sony and used in Dell notebook computers have been blamed for the recall of 4.1 million batteries from Dell customers; this could be the start of bigger problems for Sony.
Dell Warms Up To Battery Recall
Over four million notebook batteries will be recalled by Dell in the wake of a handful of reports of these batteries heating to the point where the machine catches fire.
Microsoft To Xbox Fans: Make Your Game
User-generated content, like text and photos on blogs to videos dropped on YouTube, has driven a number of sites to heavy traffic and popularity; Microsoft will try to ride the lightning by enabling gamers to create games for the Xbox 360.
Stock Options Fallout Hits Tech
Former Brocade executives pick up indictments, Juniper plans to restate earnings and faces a dellisting, and Google disclosed it will pare back option grants in favor of cash.
Viacom Harnesses Atom For $200M
Atom Entertainment and its four gaming and video sites join MTV Networks as Viacom continues to expand its Internet presence.
Nokia Rings Up Loudeye Buy
The global leader in mobile handsets has its eye on the mobile music market, an arena fraught with high prices and no consistency between mobile network service providers.
Online Retailers See Dollars In Email
Holiday promotions like free shipping and pricing deals won't figure in the plans of many retailers, who will spend their marketing dollars on email, SEM, and SEO.
Google Wants Its MTV
Google and Viacom's MTV Networks have a deal in place to distribute three programs across the Internet by syndicating them throughout its network.
AOL Summons The Turk
Yesteryear's online service provider has decided to take the chance its future profitability can be found with online ad revenue and thousands of job cuts.
E-Commerce Spending Heads To $170 Billion
comScore Networks predicts non-travel e-commerce spending will reach $102 billion for 2006; if so, it will be the first time non-travel spending breaks the $100 billion mark.
Web 2.0 Startup On eBay
Be the proud owner of your very own web-based, Ajax-powered portal, with bidding beginning at just one cent on eBay for Yoosi.com.
AOL Readies New Video Site
The company has integrated its Truveo video search purchase with the new video portal, and also gave some front page space to "community videos" uploaded by visitors to the site.
Old Media Profiting From Google, Yahoo
Online news portals from prominent Internet names have been increasing the amounts they pay to the news gathering organizations whose content fills their sites.
Microsoft Chasing The World
The company dominates the global operating system and productivity application markets with Windows and Office, respectively, but their strategy has broadened to the point where the company is a follower in several markets.
Sun Begins A Slow Rise
The company suffered a net loss of 13 cents per share due to a number of factors in Sun Microsystems' fourth quarter of 2006, but revenue increased and one analyst firm raised its target price while reiterating a "buy" rating for the stock.
Amazon.com Trading Growth For Profits
Net income for the second quarter fell by $30 million compared to the online retailer's year-over-year figures as Amazon reported $22 million, or five cents earnings per diluted share.
AMD Graphs ATI $5.4B Deal
The $5.4 billion merger brings the semiconductor company a graphics powerhouse as it prepares to escalate the competition with Intel, particularly in the mobile computing arena.
Online Media Mergers Should Continue
Merger and acquisition transactions tracked by The Jordan, Edmiston Group investment bank (JEGI) showed boosts in the number and value of deals year over year for the first half of 2006; they look forward to seeing "several noteworthy deal closings" across the sectors they track over the rest of the year.
Google Has The Cash
The joyride continues for the search advertising company, as it reported a 77 percent increase in revenue for the year-over-year second quarter of 2006.
eBay To Buyback Stock, Increase Fees
During the quarterly financial webcast by eBay, CEO Meg Whitman disclosed that eBay has a lot of faith in its future - $2 billion worth of faith.
Yahoo Profits Down, Stock Follows
Not only did the company experience a drop in sales and earnings, the planned upgrade to its search advertising system has been pushed back to the first quarter of 2007.
Email Returns To Power
Technology giants like Cisco and IBM believe the key to effective marketing can be found in the eyes of the target audience, literally, and have enlisted a software company called Eyetools to help.
YouTube Serving 100M Videos Per Day
While the 100 million videos being delivered each day to visitors is an impressive number, the 65,000 videos being uploaded per day may be the more important figure.
Quality Change Has Google Clients Grumbling
Google recently decided to increase the minimum bids for keywords for AdWords clients whose landing pages do not provide a quality experience, in Google's opinion.
Options May Make Monster Restate Earnings
The ever-growing stock-based employee compensation issues that have caught up companies like Apple are being experienced by online job-site Monster.com, as the company has begun an internal investigation into the practice.
EU Preps Antitrust Fines For Microsoft
The $634 million Microsoft forked over to the European Union over antitrust violations has turned out not to be the last one it will pay in the EU over its business practices.
Freescale Announces MRAM
Magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) is the next-generation in computer memory, and Freescale sees MRAM as one that can replace many of the memory technologies in use today.
Google Ads Run The Show
The dominant search advertising company can help a business to profitability, but its take on click fraud has been dismaying to some.
AOL May Give Away Its Services
Free AOL email and access to the services it still has behind the subscription wall would be monetized by advertising instead of paid monthly memberships.
Click Fraud Costs Advertisers $800M
The numbers are in from research firm Outsell, Inc, and they are not pretty; neither are the accusations that the companies who profit the most from it do the least to stop it.
Microsoft Battered By Legal Decisions
In Europe and South Korea, legal powers have pushed back at the world's biggest technology company, with decisions that challenge the way it does business.
Qualcomm Sued Over Korean Business
Texas Instruments and Broadcom filed an antitrust action against another semiconductor maker, Qualcomm, and alleged the company has abused its position as market leader in South Korea.
Apple Bitten By Options Issues
An internal investigation into the issuance of stock options at Apple Computer has uncovered irregularities related to certain grants made between 1997 and 2001, including one to CEO Steve Jobs that was canceled.
Symantec, IRS In Billion Dollar Battle
The Internal Revenue Service hit Symantec with a massive tax bill in April due to alleged underreporting of the value of transfers of intellectual property to subsidiaries in Ireland.
Internet Continues Its TV Beatdown
Kicking and screaming, the forces of broadcast media are being dragged into a future where cooperation instead of cease-and-desist letters becomes the way TV networks handle relationships with websites.
GBuy Prepares To Cash In
Google's much-rumored payment system has moved closer to a debut, after months of speculation about the service and its potential impact on eBay's PayPal service.
Microsoft Dialing Up Voice Strategy
Unified communications will be at the heart of Microsoft's efforts to maintain its Office dominance and drive demand for its server products.
Novell, Sun Move On Job Cuts
While a pair of changes atop Novell's corporate structure boosted the share price by more than nine percent, Sun Microsystem's tepid start to slashing jobs saw its shares drop slightly in trading.
H-P And Sun Sharpen Their Axes
Headcount at both companies will take a tumble as both computer manufacturers plan to address the bottom line by eliminating jobs.
Microsoft Exec Mysteriously Departs
Marketing vice-president Martin Taylor has left the company in an abrupt manner, only a day after the debut of Windows Live Messenger, which he had a role in promoting.
Apple, Hollywood Talk Movie Downloads
The proposed price points for downloadable movies from iTunes has become a sticking point instead, with Apple CEO Steve Jobs and studio bosses divided on how much to charge per movie.
House Approves New Telecom Legislation
The intense lobbying efforts by telecom and cable companies on Capitol Hill have paid off, as the House passed a bill that favored those industries.
Intel Dipped To Three-Year Low
Increased competition from bitter rival Advanced Micro Designs and Microsoft's delay in shipping the new Vista operating system have not helped Intel's stock price.
Dell Taps Google As Hardware Reseller
The search appliances Google markets for enterprise use will come from Dell instead of being built by Google out of parts from assorted vendors.
Google Figures Out A Spreadsheet
Another component of the fabled Google Office Suite becomes available for a controlled beta test at around noon Eastern Time today.
Adobe, Microsoft Collide Over PDF
Microsoft's plans to finally include a feature in Office that will permit saving items in Portable Document Format have been derailed by threats of a lawsuit from Adobe.
Sun Drops On Job Cuts News
The workforce slashing that Wall Street has been begging for at Sun Microsystems will claim 4,000 to 5,000 jobs, but investors wanted to see the axe fall on even more employees.
Ballmer Says No To $100B Buyback
Microsoft has plans for its cash pile, namely research & development and the occasional acquisition, but any additional stock repurchasing it performs will be far less than what some institutional investors have demanded.
Ballmer To Meet Analysts, Big Investors
Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer will make an unprecedented trip to New York and Boston to meet with industry analysts and institutional investors to hear their views on the company.
AMD Spending $2.5B To Expand
The processor company plans to meet growing demand for its chips by investing $2.5 billion in its operations in Germany.
Yahoo The Winner In eBay Deal
Yahoo and eBay announced a multi-year partnership to the general applause of Wall Street, but the deal may be more one-sided than it appears.
Open Source Impacting RDBMS Market
Companies like Oracle, IBM, and Microsoft still dominate over 85 percent of the relational database management systems market, but open source versions of RDBMS products have been growing in adoption and capability.
Software Piracy Costs Industry $34 Billion
The Business Software Alliance (BSA) reported that the worldwide level of software piracy remained the same in 2005 as in 2004, but companies lost $1.6 billion more than the previous year.
Online Shopping Going Up 20 Percent
A study by Forrester Research and Shop.org predicts 2006 online retail sales will reach $211.4 billion, only three years after those sales topped $100 billion.
Microsoft Makes Play For Emerging Markets
The company announced a number of partnerships for its FlexGo technology aimed at establishing Microsoft in countries with emerging economies.
Dell Adding AMD To Server Line
The days of Dell Computer being an Intel-only shop have ended, as the global PC titan has agreed to place AMD Dual Core Opteron processors in some of its servers.
Intel Execs Have A Rough Day
Unhappy shareholders directed barbs at Intel's leadership during its annual stockholders' meeting, and called for more action to boost a lackluster stock performance.
HP Rolls To Big Profits
Hewlett-Packard's strategy under CEO Mark Hurd has earned the company a nice jump in net income and an increase in market share at the expense of rival Dell.
Three Short Tales Of Linux
A Dow Jones Newswires reporter took a shot at switching from Windows to Linux on a Sony Vaio machine, and found he could do some things much better than others.
Chip Competition Leads Scientist To Fraud
A respected Chinese scientist has been accused of pilfering a Motorola design and passing it off as his own creation, in an attempt to satisfy demanding observers in Beijing.
Online Ads Reach The Crossroads
As three prominent Internet companies fight harder for the paid search dollar, the brand advertising market faces a new threat, and it comes from the advertisers themselves.
Nintendo Laughs Through E3
While Sony and Microsoft have spent the beginning of the Electronic Entertainment Expo attempting to outdo each other in the eyes of observers, Nintendo steadily focused on what it has to offer to the gaming world.
Microsoft Confident At E3
When Sony announced pricing for its PlayStation 3 game console at the Electronics Entertainment Expo, Microsoft's execs in the Home and Entertainment division found reason to celebrate as well.
Sony Announces PS3 Pricing
Like Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony plans to release a pair of PlayStation 3 consoles, the main difference being the hard drive that will be embedded in the machine.
EA Stumbles On The Way To E3
The top videogame company in the world saw annual revenue drop 6 percent ahead of the Electronics Entertainment Expo showcase.
Dell Not Talking About Dell Stock
Founder Michael Dell wanted to extol the high points of Dell Computer during his talk at a conference, but one attendee derailed him with criticism of the company's flat stock price.
Adobe Crumbles On Weak Forecast
Investors knocked down shares of Adobe by more than eight percent after the software company said its second quarter numbers would hover toward the low end of its projections.
IAC Profits Drop, But Ask Is On Fire
Though not unexpected, profits at IAC/InterActiveCorp fell by nearly a third when it reported net income of $47.2 million. Revenue for the quarter topped $1.55 billion, 36 percent over the year-over-year quarter.
Oracle Goes Back to School
The higher education market has called upon Oracle for the technology needs of faculty and students on campuses in and outside the US.
Wave Of Microsoft Trades Hammers Nasdaq
Trading volume of Microsoft surged over 591 million the day after the company announced its third quarter results, and investors pushed the stock price to a 52-week low.
Intel Needs To Crunch Some Chips
Competition from Advanced Micro Designs, customers waiting for newer chips, and generally slower demand in the most recent fiscal quarter bashed Intel's profits by 38 percent; a reorganization has been planned.
Schwartz To Try Raising Sun
Now that long-time CEO Scott McNealy has finally yielded the big chair to Jonathan Schwartz, opinions are decidedly mixed on the company's future.
CNET Down On Stock Expense
Stock-based compensation expenses hit a number of financial reports for the first time this quarter; CNET Networks watched net income drop from $2.3 million to $1.1 million.
Kumar, Richards Plead Guilty In Fraud Case
Sanjay Kumar, former CEO of Computer Associates, and his former head of sales Stephen Richards both switched their not guilty pleas to guilty ahead of a May 8th trial.
Toyota, Fox Make A Break For Mobile
A deal rumored to be worth about $10 million will hook up Toyota's advertising of a new subcompact sedan with Fox's series "Prison Break."
Uber Google: Net Income Up 60 Percent
A revenue surge of 79 percent boosted the search advertising company's first-quarter profits, and shares have traded at 447.30 in after hours trading, well over the close of 415.00.
eBay Punished On Earnings Drop
Despite a 35 percent year-over-year increase in revenue, eBay shares fell 2.02 in after hours trading due to decrease in net income of 3 percent.
Yahoo Online Ads Offset Paid Search Drop
The online portal company met analyst estimates of 11 cents earnings per share, but net income dropped from the same period in 2005.
AOL Spreading China News Online
Using content from the Shanghai Media Group, AOL will broadcast various shows on its Chinese-language portal to serve news, entertainment, business, and social interests.
Ice.com Freezes Online Fraud
No matter if a retailer sells jewelry or anything else online, someone somewhere has tried to beat the retailer out of legitimate business through fraud.
NetGuru Inc Ready To Delist
The engineering software and services company thinks it may be time to shut down its listing on Nasdaq and find a buyer or partner for the firm.
AMD Profits Up, Shares Pummeled
Intel may soon enjoy a measure of revenge in the wake of AMD's gains on the leading chipmaker in the server market. AMD posted a solid first quarter,...
Oodle On Express Lane With Washington Post
This week, the classified aggregator site Oodle will have its services available through the Washington Post Express Web site.
Cuban Thinks About Selling IceRocket
Think Partnership will acquire the blog search engine IceRocket from billionaire NBA owner Mark Cuban.
Omniture Files For IPO, Goes Quiet
The web company submitted form S-1 to the Securities and Exchange Commission in early April announcing their intent to go public.
MIVA Clicks Away In Ad Market
The company has pay-per-click and pay-per-call products, and the online advertising industry has swollen to a multi-billion dollar industry; MIVA wants to be a part of that but may need to be acquired to have a future.
IRS Gets Go-Ahead For PayPal Request
The Internal Revenue Service began the process for obtaining information from eBay-owned PayPal on certain money transfers outside the US.
ClickTracks Gets Big Sales, Gartner Coverage
The web company announced a record sales quarter and the addition of the company to coverage by Gartner in its MarketScope for Web .
Oracle Takes Portal Software For $220M
Oracle announced it will acquire Portal Systems, Inc, a global provider of billing and revenue management solutions for the communications and media industry.
Salesforce.com Paying $15M For Sendia
The CRM company wants to extend its applications to mobile platforms, and the Sendia acquisition will help with Salesforce's launch of AppExchange Mobile.
Ericsson Not Interested In Juniper
Carl-Henric Svanberg, CEO of telecom hardware maker Ericsson, said his company has no interest in acquiring Juniper Networks.
Time Warner Cable Thinking TV Ad Auction
Once Time Warner spins off its Cable division, the cable company may offer advertising spots placed within on-demand programming through an auction process.
Wal-Mart Faces Critics Over Banking Request
The world's biggest retailer has applied to open a bank solely to permit it to do its own electronic payment processing, but opponents believe Wal-Mart would eventually branch into broader financial services.
Microsoft Progressing Against China Piracy
The top three personal computer makers in China now ship with a pre-installed legal copy of Windows installed, instead of an empty hard drive just waiting for pirated software to be loaded.
Red Hat Doffs Checkbook For JBoss
The deal could be worth as much as $420 million for JBoss provided they achieve "certain future performance metrics."
AOL Paying $2.65B To Settle Class-Action
A shareholder suit over the ill-fated AOL-Time Warner merger ends with a massive settlement of claims that AOL inflated ad revenue between 1998 and 2002.
Disney To Post Television Shows Online
Hits series from ABC Television and the Disney Channel will be available online the day after broadcast.
News Corp Partners On Net Safety Ads
Seeking to allay concerned parents and skittish advertisers, MySpace parent News Corp has joined with The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and the Advertising Council to distribute public service ads about online safety.
Redmond Now Published By 1105 Media
101communications, conference organizer and publisher of Redmond and other tech magazines, wrapped up a six-month search for a suitor by agreeing to be acquired by private-equity backed 1105 Media.
Trend Micro To Continue Scanning Hotmail
Microsoft has agreed to extend Trend Micro's contract with MSN and permit it to continue providing antivirus scanning and cleaning for Hotmail's 230 million email accounts.
News Corp Serves Poison Pill To Voters
Shareholders in Rupert Murdoch's media powerhouse have won the right to vote on poison pill provisions as part of a settlement of claims against the firm.
Stock Spams Generally Profitable
An analysis presented by a pair of researchers at the CanSecWest Security Conference claimed spammers could profit from "pump and dump" scams perpetrated with the help of their bulk-mailed touting messages.
VIDEOGAMES: Microsoft Buys Molyneux
UK-based Lionhead Studios, headed by videogame legend Peter Molyneux ("Black & White", "Fable") has been purchased by Microsoft Game Studios.
TI Tied To NEC, Matsushita On Handsets
Texas Instruments will link with Japan's top two cellphone makers on a joint venture to lower production costs and build handset chips in Japan.
The Reorg Of The Vodafone
Global cellphone sales giant Vodafone announced a reorganization of its structure, and shifted several executives around the corner offices. Vodafone (VOD) disclosed in a statement the changes in its organizational structure and new appointments to take effect on May 1st.
Google Earth Gets Video, Not Google Video
Discovery Communications will provide streaming video to users of Google Earth for popular destinations, historic sites and natural wonders.
Autodesk And The Toxik Avenger
The design software company has bet big on Toxik 2007, its collaborative digital compositing software for feature film production.
MIVA CEO, President Out Of The Firm
The continued poor financial performance of the online advertising firm has led to the company's top leadership departing the company.
Yahoo Mimics Google In Scandinavia
A Scandinavian test of a new search advertising algorithm could be the improvement Yahoo CFO Sue Decker hinted at during the company's earnings conference call last quarter.
Microsoft Rings Up Massive Mobile Order
The US Census Bureau has ordered 500,000 devices equipped with the Windows Mobile operating system for census takers to use in 2010.
Cringely Got Windows On Apple Right
Oh look, Robert X. Cringely's list of predictions for 2006 made in January noted Apple's Intel-based Macs were close to officially running Windows XP.
McClatchy Papers Borrow Internet Strategy
The company purchased Knight Ridder with a combined deal of cash, stock, and debt assumption worth $6.5 billion, and they look like they plan to make some of that back by taking a Google-like approach to the web.
Apple Puts The Dual Boot In Nasdaq
2,359.78 was the figure on the Nasdaq board at the closing bell today, topping yesterday's close by a 14.39 margin.
SEMICONDUCTORS: In The Chips Today
Big names finished up but a trio of brands took a beating from downgrades in ratings issued by Credit Suisse.
CNET Takes Webshots At Facebook
Need a .edu address to sign up...check; social calendar and photo sharing, check...; obligatory use of hip phrase like "hook up" on the site's main page, check...
Viacom Updating MTV Hispanic Network
The former MTV Espanol becomes bilingual MTV TR3S, pronounced tres, and should launch in the fourth quarter of 2006.
Tech-Heavy Nasdaq Hits 5-Year High
The Nasdaq index closed at $2,345.36, exceeding the February 16, 2001 closing price of $2,425.38; Google rose above $400 amid rumors of a forthcoming music download service from the search advertising company.
SERVICES: Computer Sciences Seeks A Buyer
The provider of outsourced information technology and professional services is on the block, with Goldman Sachs handling the sale.
Alcatel, Lucent Merge For $13.4 Billion
The French communications hardware maker Alcatel will mercifully end Lucent Technologies unfulfilled expectations and position the company to better face Cisco in the marketplace.
is an iEntry, Inc. ® publication
All Rights Reserved.


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Poland’s economic growth quickened to the fastest pace in two years as record-low borrowing costs revived investment and consumer spending.
Gross domestic product jumped 3.3 percent from a year earlier last quarter, compared with 2.7 percent in the previous three months, according to a preliminary estimate published today by the Central Statistical Office in Warsaw. That exceeded the 3.1 percent median estimate of 27 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. GDP rose 1.1 percent from the previous quarter.
Poland is set to outperform the European Union’s largest post-communist members this year and in 2015, according to a spring forecast by the European Commission. Borrowing costs have been kept at a record low since July and policy makers have pledged to keep the key rate unchanged until at least the end of the third quarter to bolster consumer demand and investment.
“The economy is getting increasingly driven by corporate investments and private consumption, ” Adam Antoniak, an economist at Bank Pekao SA in Warsaw, said by phone before the release. “What’s important is that exports remain strong.”
Fixed investment accelerated to 6.1 percent from a year earlier in the first three months and may peak at 9 percent in the final quarter of this year, according to monthly internal forecasts by the central bank cited by policy maker Andrzej Kazmierczak in a May 9 interview.
Private consumption probably quickened to 2.8 percent on improved labor-market conditions and higher wages, he said. The unemployment rate fell to 13.5 percent in March from 14.3 percent a year earlier, while inflation-adjusted wages increased 3.4 percent, the most since 2008.
As Poles began to spend more, the retail business of the nation’s biggest oil refiner, PKN Orlen SA, reported a record 234 million zloty ($76.6 million) of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in the first quarter. Sales at gas stations grew 6 percent after a 5 percent drop during the year-earlier period.
Corporate and household borrowing both jumped at the fastest pace in 18 months in April, gaining 6.4 percent and 5.8 percent from a year earlier, the central bank said yesterday.

domain: news


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Yesterday saw PledgeMusic’s winding-up hearing in London, which had only been reported on (and thus made known to artists owed money by the stricken crowdfunding company) the day before. No surprise, then, that industry body UK Music is unhappy with the turn of events. Its deputy CEO Tom Kiehl wants the British government to step in, and published a letter sent yesterday to the parliamentary under secretary of state at the department for business, enterprise and industrial strategy with responsibility for consumer affairs, Kelly Tolhurst MP.
“Many musicians across the UK relied on crowdfunding website PledgeMusic to deliver payments from patrons, to pay for album recordings and other costs,” wrote Kiehl. “The winding up of this company represents an entirely unsatisfactory development for the many music fans and creators who have invested so much into projects through this scheme.”
Kiehl wants Tolhurst to refer PledgeMusic to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for an investigation into the collapse of the company, and he’s also keen to get another regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) involved.
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text: We are both proud and excited to announce that 1000 leading organizations from across the country are now benefiting from Greytip Online – our SaaS based HR and Payroll Software. We are the first Indian HR and Payroll Software Company to achieve this milestone and 100% year-on-year growth within just three years of operation. Our drive to make HR and payroll management more efficient for our customers has strengthened our position as the largest HR software company in the country. We are now serving customers in UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and other countries in Asia as well.Businesses across verticals like retail, IT, finance, manufacturing, healthcare, and more have chosen our software to make their HR management processes faster and easier. Our mature product, flexible structure, responsive customer support, advanced technology, and 100% focus on HR and payroll business are some of the attributes that make our software stand out among other similar solutions.Our software runs on the world’s best cloud infrastructure by Amazon and has been maintaining 99.95% uptime for over two years. We have recently made major feature improvements and have added new modules, such as Expense Claims, CEO Dashboard, Attendance, etc. These changes have been highly appreciated by our new and existing customers."Greytip has eased lot of manual work and helped to save a lot of our time…", says Prasanth Konoth, Marfic Software Solutions. "Earlier I had to spend 4-5 days to calculate salary but now by using Greytip it takes only 2-3 hours…" says Rupesh from Nivio Technologies.These are remarks from just some of our happy customers. We always strive to listen to our customers and make improvements in the product based on their feedback. Our genuine efforts are reflected in our top-notch help desk software and over 95% “good” or “excellent” ratings for our customer service.Our unique software has received several prestigious awards including Top 9 Tech Product Companies 2012 by Product Nation, Edge Award 2011, Nasscom Emerge Top 8 SaaS Apps 2011, Nasscom Emerge Top 5 2010, and Nasscom Products Emerge Showcase 2009.As we move forward in our journey to make HR processes simpler and faster for growing businesses, we would like to thank our clients for trusting and valuing our services, our partners for supporting us in every step of our endeavors, and our team for enabling this momentum of growth year after year.


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BBCARGO x BLUE WATER
BBCARGO delivers the first cargo bike to Blue Water Shipping.
Earlier this month the very first electric cargo bike left the production facility in Frederikshavn.
The bike was destined for Blue Water Shipping and will be used for transport for the company’s employees around Frederikshavn Harbor.
“At Blue Water, we are dedicated to continuously reducing the environmental impact and make a proactive effort to reduce energy and fuel consumption. The cargo bike is therefore another symbol that we want to increase our green footprint.
“At the same time, I was very impressed with the bike’s qualities and design based on sustainable material choices, and we also support Danish workplaces by choosing a bike from BBCARGO,” says Ole Bøgh Ulriksen, branch director of Blue Water Shipping in Frederikshavn and Aalborg.
Switching from a car or van to an electric cargo bike is not only a more sustainable decision – it is also an ideal opportunity to improve your brand value.
“BBCARGO is a wonderful way for businesses to get their brand out there, with the cargo box effectively a mobile advertisement,” says Uffe A. Olesen, CEO of BBCARGO.
“We’ve seen CO2 emissions cut by around 75 percent – a stat that really resonates with today’s consumer – and, for shorter journeys in busy cities, it’s often quicker than traveling by car or van. You also burn a few calories in the process! It really is a win-win-win.”


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Amazon solves a major problem for streaming video services, while Netflix makes excuses.
LG might be correct in hyping this as an "industry first," but we think free software upgrades should be an industry norm.
Some of the best and brightest indie gaming gems were on display at PAX 2015.
Avalanche's new game isn't the only Mad Max title coming to Steam today: All four movies did, too.
Don't be afraid to get rid of your cable. Streaming and download services will ensure that you don't miss any of your favorite shows or movies.
It might take some sleuthing to find out what's freezing up your computer, but these tips will help.
Want to send money to a friend in Canada or Sweden without leaving home? PayPal.me is your answer.
Nextbit wants to woo customers with a phone that never runs out of storage space.
Here's how bringing the Internet of Things into your home can help you keep danger at bay.
Witness: The PC version of Mad Max is all shiny and chrome, optimized to Gastown and back.
Lasers map the area to be cleaned, while Wi-Fi connectivity lets users control the robot from anywhere using a smartphone.
Editors of the English version of Wikipedia have blocked 381 user accounts for editing articles on the online encyclopedia despite being secretly paid to do so by various interests.
Security company G Data has identified more than 20 mobile phones that have malware installed despite being marketed as new, according to a research report.
Samsung showed off its latest foray into the smartwatch market today, announcing the new Gear S2 and Gear S2 Classic--smartwatches with circular screens that run its Tizen software platform.
Passwords are a bane of life on the Internet today, but one Turing Award winner has an algorithmic approach he thinks could make them not only easier to manage but also more secure.


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‘It’s not right’: Babies and toddlers targeted by food marketing
Innocent toddler eyes are the targets of smart marketing decisions. Photo: Getty
Australian children are subjected to savvy marketing in supermarkets before they can even read, new research has found.
Research by Monash and Deakin universities’ experts published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health found tots and parents are subjected by ‘aggressive’ marketing on food packaging in the baby and toddler aisle at supermarkets.
After analysing hundreds of baby and toddler food packages from Australia’s two biggest supermarkets, they found nine out of 10 featured promotional techniques that targeted children, lead author and Monash University research fellow Alex Chung told TND .
These included packages being decorated with graphics, bright colours, cartoons, and branded or licensed characters such as Peppa Pig and Bluey.
“In this age group of food that we’re talking about, the children are very young, and they’re impressionable,” Chung said.
“And it’s not right that the food industry is targeting these children with marketing when the food industry’s motives are, really, to sell food and … make profits.”
“Food marketing can … influence what children want to eat, and what children ask their parents to buy for them. And children’s dietary behaviours are established from a really young age.”
Misleading food health claims
Parents make the final purchasing decision, and may be more able to resist the draw of a cute cartoon, but researchers found food packaging is targeting their weak spot: Concerns for their children’s health.
All the baby and toddler food products analysed featured one or more appeals to health or nutrition – many of which were misleading.
These included images of healthy ingredients, promotion of features such as iron, fibre or organic origins, and claims highlighting the absence of unhealthy ingredients such as sugar, salt, additives, and preservatives.
But researchers said these claims are used despite other research finding baby and toddler foods often fail to meet nutritional recommendations, and commonly contain added sugar in the form of cane sugar, fruit purees, and fruit concentrates.
Accurate health information can be found on the ingredient list and nutrition information panel on the back, bottom or sides of food packaging, but Chung said parents often don’t look past the positive claims on the front.
And while some items’ packaging, such as squeeze pouches and pureed food claimed to benefit child development by encouraging self-feeding, experts have expressed concerns that these products could lead to feeding difficulties and encourage a preference for sweet foods.
Popular cartoons are used to spruik food to children. Photo: TND/ABC/Getty
“In this young age, children ideally would be learning how to eat with a spoon and chew food that has lumpy textures,” Chung said.
“But if they’re relying on squeeze pouches, which are really heavily promoted as an option for parents, then children could be missing out on opportunities to develop eating behaviours.”
Calls for government action
Chung said the findings are evidence that the government needs to step in regarding the marketing of baby and toddler food, as the industry is not regulating itself properly.
“The ideal packaging would have nothing that specifically targets children, and it would include information that is honest, and not misleading,” she said.
“We do have a problem in Australia. For example, one in four Australian children experience [being] overweight and obesity … around one-third of their total dietary intake comes from unhealthy food.”
“Across the board, we could have better standards for how foods for children are promoted, and…the main objective of any of these standards is to ensure that children’s health is put first; children’s health is the priority.”


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New ownership of Sound Leisure
Sound Leisure, has confirmed that it has acquired the 50 per cent of the shares previously held by the family of co-founder Eddie Moss, giving it a 100 per cent shareholding of the company.
Alan Black and Eddie Moss established Sound Leisure in 1978 and built the business up to become a key supplier of jukeboxes in the UK, to the consumer and retail trade. Eddie Moss died in 2014, but before his death he had passed on his shares to his son, Kevin.
“Eddie and my father had a wonderful partnership and friendship and both families remain extremely close,” said Chris Black, managing director. “However, with Kevin having lived abroad for the last 20 years and my brother, Michael, my wife Cath and myself involved in the day to day running of the company, alongside dad – it made sense to bring the remaining shares back into our family.
Sound Leisure remains the world’s oldest single ownership jukebox manufacturer, celebrating 40 years in the trade next year. In 2016, it signed a deal with the world’s largest digital jukebox manufacturer, TouchTunes, in an effort to revitalise the supply of digital Jukeboxes to the UK pub retail sector.


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A Dallas retail concept is saying "so long" to Houston. According to a release, Forty Five Ten will close its pop-up boutique in the River Oaks District upon the conclusion of its lease this fall.
The closure is part of a series of changes being executed that include a consolidation of Forty Five Ten's presence to its flagship store in downtown Dallas.
That includes the closure of the Forty Five Ten For Home store on McKinney Avenue, which will close on July 31. Now through its last day of business, For Home will host a massive So Long Sale with merchandise up to 75 percent off. Sale will include furniture, home accessories, rugs, lighting, display fixtures, and decorative pieces. Maybe worth a field trip?
This follows the company's May announcement that the T Room at Forty Five Ten, its longtime ladies-who-lunch eatery on McKinney Avenue, will close on June 30. McKinney Ave nay, downtown Dallas yay.
Basically, Headington Companies is tidying things up. That includes the Tenoversix boutique transitioning from its location in the lobby of The Joule downtown Dallas hotel into Forty Five Ten on Main in fall 2018.
President and chief creative officer Kristen Cole says they're making a push for downtown.
"I'm excited for customers to see our take on new assortments in design and objects that reinforce art as a guiding hand in how we collaborate and curate," she says. "Our downtown flagship is a long-term investment for both Forty Five Ten and Headington Companies, so refocusing our efforts, our products and our people there is a very necessary and equally exciting step for the sister brands. We are big believers in the growth of downtown and are happy to be rooted in its future."
Interior updates to the Main Street flagship location, as well as to the Highland Park Village store are on track for completion this fall.
And Forty Five Ten remains focused on the construction and design of its new flagship store in New York City's Hudson Yards, which opens Spring 2019, an Aspen location in Fall 2018, as well as an ecommerce launch.


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ATLANTA — RaceTrac Petroleum Inc. is building a new convenience store in downtown Atlanta, part of The Mix, a new off-campus student housing development for Georgia State University (GSU).
The 26-story building, designed by South City Partners and managed by Alpha Management Partners, is scheduled to open in August.
Take a peek at what the RaceTrac c-store will look like …
This RaceTrac location is the first nontraditional brick-and-mortar store within a mixed-use development in a dense, urban area. “This is a unique venture for us, and we’re excited to serve the guests of Georgia State University and the surrounding areas,” RaceTrac Chief Marketing Officer Melanie Isbill said in a statement provided to CSP Daily News.
Rendering of The Mix courtesy of Alpha Management Partners
The RaceTrac store is located across the street from University Commons, a 4.2-acre development of four apartment buildings ranging from eight to 15 stories, housing approximately 2,000 GSU students. Several other GSU-run and privately run student housing developments are located nearby, as is GSU's main campus, according to a report by Atlanta Tomorrow’s News Today.
Meanwhile, RaceTrac broke ground on a convenience store in Murfreesboro, Tenn., marking its entry into the Middle Tennessee market, where it plans to open 50 stores by 2023, including locations in Murfreesboro, Clarksville, Hendersonville, Gallatin, Smyrna and Spring Hill.
RaceTrac leadership, local officials, community partners and the general public attended the April 23 ceremony. The location is slated to open in fall 2019.
- RaceTrac is No. 16 in the Top 40 update to CSP’s 2018 Top 202 ranking of c-store chains by number of retail outlets.
Based in Atlanta, family-owned RaceTrac has been serving customers since 1934 and now operates more than 500 c-stores in Georgia, Florida, Louisiana and Texas.


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Items tagged with 'Market 32'
Back in November Reuters reported that that the Golub Corp was in "advanced talks" about a potential sale of the Price Chopper/Market 32 supermarkets to Albertsons, the huge chain of chain based out west. And now this week the supermarket trade publications are reporting the deal is off.
From Food Trade News:
During the past six months, multiple financial sources told us that interest in the approximately 135-stores chain was far from robust with Albertsons emerging as perhaps the only bidder to acquire the whole company (reportedly minus real estate) for about $1 billion. ...
However, we were told that, just before 2016 ended, Albertsons elected not to pursue the Price Chopper purchase, opting instead to prioritize its effort to take the company public, something it first announced 18 months ago.
And from Supermarket News:
Price Chopper engaged the advisors last year as it sought additional capital investment for the purpose of funding the ongoing transformation of its stores from the Price Chopper banner to the Market 32 concept it introduced in 2014. Price Chopper has said that initiative would cost about $300 million over five years to convert roughly half of its 135 stores.
Sources told SN this week it was likely that Price Chopper would continue to seek avenues for new investment but that a strategic acquisition was unlikely with Albertsons off the table.
Both articles are interesting not just in the alleged specifics about the situation surrounding Price Chopper, but also how the big picture is about the sloshing motion of huge pools of capital. In some sense, Price Chopper -- a billion dollar company -- is just a cork in a vast ocean of money. (Alas, aren't we all.)
The Golub Corp never acknowledged the rumored deal back in November -- Neil Golub called the reports "nonsense articles coming from halfway across the country." And the company no-commented it again today. [Biz Review]
One of the big local news stories this week is the Reuters report that the parent company of Price Chopper is in "advanced talks" for a billion-dollar sale of the supermarket chain to Albertson's, a huge chain of chains headquartered out west.
The Reuters story is based on unnamed sources, and the central players are no-commenting it. (Neil Golub was a little more pointed in not addressing the story.) But the idea that the Golub Corp has been exploring some sort of sale or deal for Price Chopper/Market32 has popped up recently, most notably in a report in the trade journal Supermarket News this past August. And it fits with the overarching trend of consolidation withing the supermarket industry.
So, if a Price Chopper sale is in the works -- and that's still if -- it would be one of the biggest Capital Region news stories in recent years. Here are a few reasons why...
The Golub Corporation -- the privately-held parent company of Price Chopper/Market 32 based in Schenectady -- announced Wednesday that it has a new CEO. And notably, the person is not a Golub.
Scott Grimmett, who had been the company chief operating officer (he was the first non-Golub to hold that role), is succeeding Jerry Golub in the CEO role. Grimmett (that's him on the right) joined the Golub Corp in 2012 after working for Safeway for 37 years. He's been part of the company succession plan since he was hired, according to a press release.
Press release blurbage:
"This is an exciting time for our company," said Neil Golub, chairman of the board. "While international conglomerates and Wall St. continue to consolidate our industry, we are investing in our future as a strong, American-owned, family-built regional chain. The design work that we invested in Market Bistro (circa 2010-2014), coupled with the brand-defining innovation that has given rise to our first few Market 32 concept stores has not only laid the groundwork for our continued growth, but also fueled the acceleration of our plans to modernize our stores under the Market 32 banner. "
Jerry Golub is now vice chair of the company's board and will be leading a committee focused on accelerating the switch from the Price Chopper brand to Market 32, according to the press release.
We've enlisted Daniel B. to survey Capital Region donuts -- and pick his favorites -- for a short series called The Best Dozen.
Donuts don't have to come from a standalone bakery. You can also find them in your local neighborhood grocery store.
The ones at Price Chopper's Market Bistro in Latham make an impression because the store's donut rack includes a variety of signature square donuts in addition to the classics. To the eye the signature donuts are reminiscent of the more famous specimens found at shops such as NYC's Doughnut Plant and elsewhere.
But are the Market Bistro donuts any good? And which ones are worthy to pack into your dozen? Well, there's only one way to find out.
I'm the CEO of a supermarket chain that just announced it's changing its name -- ask me anything.
OK, that's not exactly how Golub Corp CEO Jerry Golub introduced himself on Facebook Friday afternoon. But the huge FB thread -- more than 500 comments -- took on an AMA-style feel with Golub fielding questions and comments about Price Chopper's impending name change and modernization campaign.
This response from Golub, to a question about the company upgrading its stores in urban areas, caught our eye and we thought it'd be interesting bit to people around the city of Albany (emphasis added):
Jerry Golub: We will also be updating our smaller and urban stores. The first will be our Delaware and Madison Avenue stores beginning early next year although they won't be getting the complete Market 32 identity right away. We want to introduce the complete Market 32 concept in the larger stores and then apply it to the smaller stores.
Update: We checked with a Price Chopper rep about the updates planned, and specific details aren't ready to be released yet. But the planned updates were described as part of the chain's overall modernization effort.
A few other exchanges that caught our eye...
Everybody eats. And (pretty much) everyone shops for food.
So the news that Price Chopper is changing its name to Market 32 prompted a lot of reactions, even more so because the company is a local institution.
For a while on Tuesday our Twitter feed was jammed with people commenting, criticizing, cracking jokes about the change. It was the topic of the day at the virtual water cooler.
Here's a quick collection of a bunch of those tweets.
Price Chopper's parent company announced Tuesday morning that it's rebranding as "Market 32," part of larger campaign to modernize its stores. The "32" is reference to the chain being founded in 1932.
The company says the new stores will have "expanded food service options, an enhanced product mix and a re-emphasis on customer service."
From a press release:
"Market 32 represents the next leap forward for our company. We have evolved from the Public Service Market to Central Market to Price Chopper by responding to customers' changing needs over time and Market 32 is the next natural progression for us," said Neil Golub, Price Chopper's executive chairman of the board. "Early learnings gleaned from our Market Bistro concept store have put our next generation in an excellent position to make this move today." ...
"Market 32 combines what we are hearing from our customers and what we are learning at Market Bistro with some of the best thinking in the retail industry, and will focus on delivering a distinctively different shopping experience to our customers. Our stores will meet customers' needs today and for decades to come. Most importantly, though, we will continue to offer great value for great food and service," said Jerel Golub, Price Chopper's president and CEO.
That the Golub Corp, PC's parent company, is looking to up its game chain-wide isn't surprising. The supermarket industry is famously competitive and intense.


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There’s nothing better than seeing Mayor Bill de Blasio being shamed by the very people who live in his city. Take a look at what happened when he urged New Yorkers not to eat at Chick-fil-A anymore.
Last week, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio urged New Yorkers not to eat at Chick fil-A.
The liberal mayor argued that the owners of the popular chicken chain are “anti-LGBT,” calling for a boycott in New York.
It appears, however, that the mayor’s words have backfired.
— Joni Hannigan (@JoniHannigan) May 5, 2016
Read more: Fox News


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Official: Iran to increase exports by $10bn
EghtesadOnline: Deputy Minister of Industries, Mines and Trade Reza Rahmani the value of Iran’s export of goods to other countries will increase by $10 billion in the current Iranian year as compared with the previous year.
“The volume of Iran’s export of goods to other countries will increase as its value will be increased by $10 billion,” Rahmani said on the sidelines of a ceremony to honor the industrialists, miners, and superior guilds of Zanjan province on Thursday.
In March 2015, President Hassan Rouhani underscored that economic growth, including increased non-oil exports and creation of new jobs, will be high on the agenda of his government, according to IRNA.
President Rouhani set sustainable prosperity, growing non-oil exports and generating new job opportunities as three goals of his administration in the new Iranian year.
He said his government will focus on these three goals, specially creation of jobs for the younger generation.
He said encouraged by public support he is determined to take new steps to enhance the country’s non-oil exports and create new employment opportunities.


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Wikipedia has blocked editing rights from some computers at the US House of Representative.
Deleted Facebook friends and old CVs believed to be del...
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Criminal charges have been filed in the US against six people in what authorities say was a global cyber-crime ring.
Facebook's quarterly profit has more than doubled amid big gains in ad revenues and a jump in users.
Global sales of tablet computers edged higher in the second quarter, in the slowest growth since 2009.
A Red Hood Story Pack will be a GameStop-exclusive pre-order bonus for Batman: Arkham Knight.
A New York student has invented a dress that becomes more translucent the more the wearer shares on social media.
Trade Me doesn't play by kids' rules, putting slides, picnic rooms and a caravan in the middle of its offices.
The US Air Force is launching new satellites to track those of other countries and counter possible threats to American spacecraft.
The cloud-based accounting software company Xero has just concluded its annual meeting, focused on the US market.
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The Ekka might be cancelled this year but one of the most popular parts of the Royal Queensland show will go on.
9News has all the details about which showbags are the most sought after and where you can buy them online or in stores.
Twenty of the most popular bags are available now from IGA supermarkets across Queensland.
"This year the Ekka wasn't able to go ahead but we've been lucky enough to secure thousands of showbags across IGA stores for sale," spokesperson David Kindt, from the Mount Cotton store, said.
"We've got all sorts … Hot Wheels, Peppa Pig, as well as all the confectionary favourites."
Mr Kindt said the deal with Bensons, the company behind the showbags, was aligned with the company's philosophy of giving back to the community.
"Obviously there's a surplus of bags ready and looking for a home (and it's) school holidays this week so we thought why not get on board and give the kids something to get excited about," he said.
The prices remain the same as what you'd get from the showbag tent – between $5 and $30. But not all of the bags are available in stores.
If your local IGA is already sold out and you're hoping to get your hands on a showbag, head to showbags.com.au.


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Volvo introduced their Flybrid KERS system nearly three years ago but the company has released some new details about the fuel saving technology.
Currently undergoing testing in Sweden and the United Kingdom, the flywheel-based hybrid system can deliver an 80 bhp (59 kW) performance boost and fuel savings of up to 25 percent.
The system is currently being tested on an S60 prototype which has a five-cylinder T5 engine that develops 254 bhp (189 kW). Under braking, the kinetic energy is captured and used to spin a 6kg (13.2 lb) carbon fiber flywheel at up to 60,000 revolutions per minute. When the accelerator is pressed, the energy from the flywheel is transferred to the rear wheels via a specially designed transmission.
According to Derek Crabb, Volvo's Vice President Powertrain Engineering, "The flywheel's stored energy is sufficient to power the car for short periods. This has a major impact on fuel consumption. Our calculations indicate that it will be possible to turn off the combustion engine about half the time when driving according to the official New European Driving Cycle."
Besides saving fuel, the system enables the prototype to accelerate from 0-100 km/h about 1.5 seconds faster than the conventional model. The setup also gives the car a part-time four wheel drive system which helps to improve traction and stability under acceleration.


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The Attorney General’s Office has reached a settlement with five companies it says were collaborating to hike prices on some popular electronic products.
Chris Koster’s office worked with counterparts in seven states and the U.S. Justice Department to file a suit in August 2010 against seven companies. He says two years of investigation went into that suit that lead to the settlement that so far totals over $500 million dollars.
The settlement has been filed in federal court in San Francisco and must be approved by the court. Litigation continues with two companies, Display Co., Ltd., AU Optronics Corporation.
The companies who have agreed to settle the suit are Chimei Innolux Corp., Chi Mei Optoelectronics USA, Inc., Chi Mei Optoelectronics Japan Co., Ltd, HannStar Display Corporation, Hitachi, Ltd., Hitachi Displays, Ltd., Hitachi Electronic Devices, USA, Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Samsung Electronics America, Inc., Samsung Semiconductor, Inc., Sharp Corporation, and Sharp Electronics Corporation.
Products that use LCD screens include computer monitors, notebook computers and televisions.
Consumers from Missouri and the seven other states that filed suit who bought products from those companies between January 1, 1999 and December 31, 2006 can file a claim to the settlement money. Those who would like to be notified when that process begins are urged to e-mail the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, or write to it at P.O. Box 899, Jefferson City, Missouri, 65102 to provide an address. More information on how to file a claim will be available at the Attorney General’s website.
Koster says, “Now I recognize that a lot of people have lost their reciepts or never kept those reciepts, and we’re trying to work out a system with the court that recognizes that serial numbers and model numbers are going to have to suffice.”
No distribution will occur until the court approves the settlement and litigation is completed against the remaining two companies.


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ABUJA – The National Agency of Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) on Friday impressed participants in the 9th Abuja International Trade fair with its two locally made tricycles.
The passenger and cargo three-wheeled vehicles, displayed at NASENI pavilion, were among the Nigerian made products showcased by the agency and its subsidiary.
Mr Bolarinwa Gabriel, Head, Technical Business Development, National Engineering Design Development Institute (NEDDI), Nnewi, Anambra, said the products were designed by the agency, a subsidiary of NASENI.
Gabriel told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that all the parts of the motorised tricycles except the standard parts, such as light, tyre and engine, were fabricated at NEDDI in Nnewi.
According to him, the technology used in fabricating the three-wheeled vehicle is same as the one used for motorcycles.
He said the tricycles, which are stronger and more durable than imported ones, also have executive chairs and seat belts for the safety of passengers. [eap_ad_1] According to him the tricycles are made of fibre instead of tarpaulin.
He said other features of the passenger vehicle include reverse and four-speed gears, while the cargo tricycle has five-speed, reverse and auxiliary gears.
He further explained that the passenger tricycle is an improvement on the one manufactured by the agency and brought for display in 2013.
Gabriel, who said the agency came to the fair to showcase the three wheeled vehicles and other invented products, called on investors to take advantage of the show and invest in the innovation. (NAN)


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|‘Too early’ to draw conclusions on Brexit and consumer credit|
|Wednesday, 24 August 2016|
The British Bankers’ Association has published its High Street Banking Statistics for July 2016, with consumer credit continuing to show annual growth of more than six percent and 168 million purchases on credit cards in the month after the EU referendum – higher than the previous month.
Joanna Elson OBE, chief executive of the Money Advice Trust, the charity that runs National Debtline, said: “It is too early to say how borrowing will ultimately be affected by the EU referendum – but in the shorter term, it is clear that the UK’s consumer credit surge shows no sign of abating.
“Most people will be able to handle this extra borrowing, but we are concerned that a minority of households risk being left further exposed to financial difficulty, if the economy does suffer in the longer term.
“Amid new economic uncertainty, it is now more important than ever that we are prepared for what could be a significant increase in personal debt problems in the years ahead.”
Earlier this month the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee identified “the high level of UK household indebtedness” as one “channel through which the [EU] referendum could increase risks to financial stability”.
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There has been a lot of buzz lately about the assertions of Robert Lustig, a researcher at UC San Francisco, and his team who claim that sugar should be treated and regulated as a toxin, the same way we regulate alcohol and tobacco. Both Time and the New York Times Magazine have run lengthy articles about the topic.
Lustig explains that sugar does more to harm us than simply causing us to gain weight. If consumed in very large amounts, it can lead to conditions like diabetes and hypertension. What is more, large amounts of sugar are associated with a condition called metabolic syndrome, in which the cells in the body ignore the presence of insulin. When we eat, particularly when we consume carbohydrates, the pancreas secretes insulin to control blood sugar. But when the cells are insulin resistant, the pancreas responds to carbohydrates by secreting more and more insulin. This can lead to pancreatic exhaustion and eventually diabetes. What is worrisome about metabolic syndrome is that it is sometimes present in slender people, and therefore may go unnoticed until long-term damage is done. There is also some research that suggests that too much sugar may even be linked to cancer, according to the Times article.
The science here is, for the most part, undeniable and rather frightening. But Lustig's alarmist reaction - suggesting that sugar, a food, should be viewed and regulated in the same light as toxic substances like tobacco - underscores a deeper dysfunction in the American relationship with food.
Of course we know that diets with less refined sugar are healthier for a number of reasons. However, the most serious health impacts of sugar occur when we eat too much of it. Eating a reasonable amount of sugar is not terribly likely to cause severe health problems. However, our nation's food chain has become industrialized to the point that, as consumers, we do not know where the food comes from. With packaged foods, we usually don't even know what many of the ingredients are. And even with whole foods like meat, dairy, and produce, we often do not know where or under what conditions the products are farmed. We have lost our collective food culture.
As a result, we are disconnected from the food we eat and we have few strong cultural traditions around food to fall back on. This is why so many of us eat meals in our cars, a practice not engaged in to the same extent in other parts of the world. As Americans, we are lost when it comes to knowing what is good for us to eat. So we are susceptible to the claims of those who may not have the most balanced or objective opinion. The Atkins craze, a diet whose validity was largely disproved, is an example of that.
Therefore, when a researcher claims that sugar is a toxin, the media and the public are immediately terrified. However, if we were more connected to the food we eat, we would not be launched into the throes of irrational fear for two reasons. First, if we were more connected to what we eat, we would by and large eat more healthfully because we would understand what our food is and where it comes from. As a result, we would naturally be inclined to eat sugar only in moderation. Next, a deeper understanding of the food we eat would allow for a culture around food, much like people enjoy in Italy or France. We would have a collective, tried and true social intelligence that would give us cues as to how much of a particular food is good to eat. We would be able to look to our parents and grandparents, see that they included sugar in their diets in moderation, and know to do the same thing.
In addition, a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the food we eat would cause most of us to largely avoid processed foods. If we understood all of those long words on the ingredient labels of most packaged foods, we wouldn't want to consume those products. As a result, we would be steering clear of the large amounts of high fructose corn syrup ingested by most Americans, thereby avoiding the consumption the high levels of sugar that lead to the health conditions that Lustig describes.
Diet fads come and go. One day eggs are too high in cholesterol, the next they are healthy and beneficial. One day carbs are good, the next day they're the devil. We don't need master lists of foods that are naughty and nice. Rather, we need greater transparency in our food chain, which will allow for a greater connection to the food we eat and an intelligent food culture. In turn, we will have a population that is more balanced in its food selection and correspondingly healthier.


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NEW YORK — Footwear players were largely positive on Cole Haan’s executive switch last week, and said the brand could benefit from a fresh direction.
Nike Inc. said on Dec. 15 that Dave McTague will take the CEO post at its Cole Haan brand, effective January, replacing Jim Seuss, who is leaving the brand.
“[Dave] has broad-based experience [and can] add value to the Cole Haan team,” said Lord & Taylor EVP of merchandising Liz Rodbell, who worked with McTague at Tommy Hilfiger. “He is going to fit in very well there because of his history.”
Prior to his most recent role as EVP of Partnered Brands at Liz Claiborne Inc., McTague worked for Converse (also owned by Nike) as president of apparel.
Some retailers said they expect McTague to shake things up at Cole Haan, which has been one of the weaker brands in Nike’s “other business” segment.
“Changes usually are for the better,” said Danny Wasserman, owner of New York-based Tip Top Shoes. “We’re looking for them to become more exclusive again and less promotional. Their strength is the fact that it’s a fashion line with an open stock at a better price point.”
Lord & Taylor has been growing its business with Cole Haan, according to Rodbell, who said McTague might focus on specific segments that are perfoming well.
“That whole Nike Air technology has been such an added value,” said Rodbell. “That’s probably the most exciting thing, and I would assume they are going to continue to build on that. That probably would be the angle that would continue to evolve.”
Kenny Rubenstein, GM at Rubenstein Brothers in New Orleans, said Cole Haan had been successful at fine-tuning its brand mix. “It’s not high-fashion per se,” he said. “It’s [for] a guy who likes a well-priced comfort shoe. That’s where I’ve refocused the brand, and it’s starting to grow now.”
Designer Alejandro Ingelmo, who joined the company as a consultant about a year ago, said fresh product initiatives are already in the works for the new year.
He added that while he had a strong relationship with Seuss — who brought him to the brand — he was optimistic that McTague would “bring a new perspective and a different take on the direction of the company. It’s moving forward just in the product alone, and the product speaks for itself.”
Seuss was traveling last week and could not be reached for comment.


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Nick Clifford made comments in the Sunday Telegraph on how charities are learning to run as businesses at MBS’ free of charge third sector conference Prometheus. Read the article >>
Karel Williams co-authored an article for the Guardian on ‘how to build a fairer city’. Read the article >>
The Sunday Telegraph’s Women in the Workplace section included details of our High-value Managers programme in an article about leadership and promotion.
Retail analyst Tarlok Teji spoke to the Evening Standard about the collapsed retail chain Phones 4U.


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New York (February 6, 2009)–NARM (National Association of Recording Merchandisers) has announced the second-annual national Record Store Day, April 18, 2009, for which planning has already begun.
“NARM is so pleased to be sponsoring Record Store Day 2009,” said President Jim Donio. “The extraordinarily successful debut of Record Store Day in 2008 served to perfectly underscore how vibrant and vital record stores are to communities and economies around the world. NARM hopes that its support will enable organizers to make next year’s event an even bigger and better celebration of independent music retailers’ passion and commitment to the music that enriches and inspires us all.”
April 2008 marked the first Record Store Day event to great success with over 300 stores participating, not only stateside, but overseas as well. Paul McCartney, Norah Jones, Henry Rollins, Shelby Lynne, Tech N9ne, Raheem DeVaughn and scores of other artists and music industry luminaries all offered votes of confidence to Record Store Day which spiked revenue for indie retailers. In addition, retailers hosted in-store appearances and performances by both top name and local artists, including Metallica, (who started it all with the announcement of the Record Store Day vinyl re-issue of some of their classic albums, along with an in-store signing session), Panic At The Disco, Dresden Dolls, Regina Spektor, Steve Earle, and Billy Bragg.
Paul McCartney noted, “There’s nothing as glamorous to me as a record store. When I recently played Amoeba in LA, I realized what fantastic memories such a collection of music brings back when you see it all in one place. This is why I’m more than happy to support Record Store Day and I hope that these kinds of stores will be there for us all for many years to come.”
Event organizers include the Music Monitor Network, the Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS), Alliance of Independent Music Stores (AIMS) and Newbury.
Record Store Day


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It is understood an unspecified number of people have reserved rooms at the Hilton Garden Inn at Fletton Quays even though the venue, that will boast a rooftop skybar overlooking the River Nene, is still months away from completion.
The 160-bedroom hotel was expected to be completed this spring but it is thought supply delays caused by the Covid-19 outbreak, rising fuel prices and the Ukrainian war have set work back.
It is now estimated that construction, which began in July 2020, should end in the autumn.
And bookings are currently being taken for stays from March 1 next year and beyond with the early prices for rooms ranging from £97 a night to £169.
The Hilton Garden Inn is also expected to become a focal point for many business and community events with a flexible conference and events offering that will able to cater for gatherings of 85 people or up to 200 people.
The opening of the hotel will also provide an employment boost for Peterborough creating at least 50 or 60 jobs.
When building work began, developers Propiteer stated: “We are excited to be bringing a world-famous brand like Hilton to Peterborough and are eager to get started on construction.”
Tom Hennessy, chief executive of economic development company Opportunity Peterborough, said: “This is a statement about the ambitions of the city.
“It brings a big brand name to Peterborough and gives the city a lift.
“It will be a jobs boost for the hospitality industry after a couple of tough years and a boost for Peterborough’s night-time economy.
“It will be attractive for companies that need somewhere for business visitors to stay and will be a fantastic venue for events, conferences and exhibitions.”


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Our tourism department is working its way slowly towards doing away with paper brochures. It recently joined hands with a mapping company start-up to create walking tours for tourists.
This product will be available on the website Wonobo.Com which will have details regarding route map, famous eateries, monuments and parks of 12 major cities - including Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Kolkata, Chennai and Delhi.
This, it hopes, will make it easy for tourists to walk or drive through the most-visited cities in India by providing tourism-related information at one place.
The site will soon cover 54 cities in the country and will be linked to the Incredible India website. It will be available on mobile phone as well.
Wonobo actually beat Google to launch street view maps for India. It also kind of has a catchy name; names with fewer syllables are easier to remember.
The site is predictably heavy and may need to sort some cosmetic issues. Tech blogger Srinivas Kulkarni has written a detailed review of this site and is quite interesting to read. You can do that here.