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Earlier this month, government gave the green light to a two-year extension of plug-in van and truck grants that it says will support the purchase of tens of thousands of electric vans and trucks.
At the same time, it announced plans to recategorise the eligibility criteria for existing plug-in vehicle grants and continue to allow drivers holding standard car driving licences to drive electric vans up to 4.25 tonnes.
Transport Minister Trudy Harrison says with nearly 5% of the UK’s CO2 emissions currently coming from vans, the extension until 2024/25 is essential to support the government’s climate change and air quality commitments.
She said: “We are backing a generation of green growth for our thriving fleet sector. As demand for electric vehicles continues to grow at speed, this extension to our grant scheme will allow tens of thousands more vans to be purchased, transporting goods in a way which is kinder to our environment.
“This will support our vital, ongoing work to clean up our air in towns and cities right across the country.”
Electric vans are becoming more popular, with the number of available models continuing to rise, and the government announcement has received widespread support from within the commercial vehicle industry.
Last year, the UK had the highest number of plug-in electric vans sold in Europe and there were about four times as many grant applications compared to 2020.
SMMT figures show that battery electric van uptake soared by 142.3% in 2021, although this equates to a relatively modest 12,759 zero emission vans and a total market share of 3.6%.
With petrol and diesel vans facing the same end of sale date as passenger cars in 2030, this shows just how far the light commercial vehicle BEV market needs to grow to repeat the shift taking place in the passenger car market, where BEVs account for one in nine registrations, compared to one in 28 in the van market.
Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said: “Extending the plug-in van grant is welcome as it will encourage more operators to make the switch to electric vehicles over the next three years.
“While the van market saw record electric uptake last year, it remains some distance behind cars, with battery electric vans making up just 3.6% of new registrations.
“The speed of uptake must be increased, therefore, which requires attractive incentives and significant investment in EV charge points especially those that meet the specific needs of commercial vehicles in every region of the UK.”
Existing plug-in grants have supported the purchase of more than 26,000 electric vans and heavy goods vehicles across the UK since the programme launched in 2012.
More than 30 models of electric vans and trucks now qualify for such schemes.
Toby Poston, Director of Corporate Affairs at BVRLA, which represents companies engaged in vehicle rental, leasing and fleet management, said the extension on the grant will enable van operators to plan their fleet upgrades with greater confidence.
“This good news comes at the perfect time for the fleet industry as it struggles with rising operating costs and global shortage of electric vans,” he said. “The electric van market continues to lag behind the electric car market and next year was not the time to remove this vital grant.
“As the funds available to support the transition to zero emission diminish, we support the Government’s pragmatic steps to focus on sectors that need the most help in the build up to the 2030 phase-out.”
Ginny Buckley, Founder and CEO of electrifying.com, said that at a time when fuel prices are at an all-time high, it is great to see the Government providing the support to businesses to make the switch to electric.
She said: “Not only will this be more economical in the long term, it will also help to drive down emissions on our roads.
“From the food in our supermarkets to the online orders delivered straight to our doorsteps, it is vital that these journeys are made in a green and environmentally-friendly way.”
Eligibility criteria for existing plug-in vehicle grants will be recategorised from Spring, with a focus on heavier vehicles.
From 1 April 2022, the threshold to claim the small truck grant of up to £16,000 will be increased from 3.5 tonnes to 4.25 tonnes. Vans up to 4.25 tonnes will be able to claim the large van grant of up to £5,000.
The government believes the move will direct support where it is most needed, qualifying heavier and more costly trucks up to 12 tonnes for higher grant funding.
Denise Beedell, Public Policy Manager at Logistics UK, said: “Although the amount of individual grants payable per van over 3.5 tonnes has reduced, this reclassification within the grant thresholds means that operators purchasing alternatively fuelled vans up to 4.25 tonnes will now be eligible for up to one thousand plug-in van grants per year, instead of only 25 plug-in truck grants.”
The government also announced it will continue to allow drivers holding standard car driving licences to drive electric vans at a higher weight limit, up to 4.25 tonnes – compared to a 3.5 tonne limit for diesel vans.
This change, first announced four years ago, takes into account the additional weight of an electric vehicle battery.
The move is also seen as a vital measure to support the decarbonisation of van fleets and is designed to give commercial vehicle operators confidence in investing in zero emission technology.
Hawes said: “The confirmation of the continuation of the current licensing regulations will make it easier to recruit drivers for the heaviest electric vans.”
Measures such as the extension of the plug-in grant scheme and grant criteria that safely enables more drivers to use electric vans that encourage operators to make the switch over the coming years should be welcomed.
The post Industry’s view on two-year extension to Plug-in Van Grant scheme appeared first on SMMT.


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Sears Holdings Corp. posted a rare quarterly profit after the U.S. tax overhaul helped the ailing retailer .
alerted investors to the expected windfall last month, saying profit
would be $140 million to $240 million. Sears also cut its long-term debt
to $3.2 billion, down $1 billion from a year earlier.
The results have helped bring some optimism to investors,
even as the chain’s sales continue to plummet. Its same-store sales -- a
closely watched measure -- declined almost 16 percent last quarter, a
sign the company didn’t benefit from a generally positive holiday
season.. . . more

domain: news


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You might not have realized that sprites are real, but this new photo taken at the Paranal Observatory in Chile proves otherwise -- sort of.
After years of negotiation, the 12 countries behind the Trans-Pacific Partnership have finally signed off on a trade deal worth almost half the world's GDP. So how did we get here? And what exactly have we walked into?
The Very Large Telescope in Chile provides what may be our best look ever at a stunningly beautiful nebula that defies its namesake.
Data from the Very Large Telescope in Chile suggests that it would be more appropriate to call the Eagle Nebula's famous gas formation the "Pillars of Destruction."
The Sphere instrument on the VLT in Chile peers with all its might into the blackness around a binary star system and returns a surprise for astronomers.
A device known as "Sphere," attached to the Very Large Telescope in Chile, has achieved first light using three novel methods to peek into the brightness.
Astrophotographer Stéphane Guisard has created a gorgeous timelapse of the galactic centre using images from the Paranal Observatory in Chile.
At the Entel Summit in Chile, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak expresses his fascination with Microsoft's new machine, as well as the future of tech and Google Glasses.
Global police agency says sweep in Europe and South America was in response to cyberattacks on government Web sites in Colombia and Chile.
Web giant's resource page aims to help people share information about friends and loved ones who might be affected by the massive quake.


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Last Updated on Monday, 23 November 2015, 12:19 by GxMedia
At least 30 small businesses that are borrowing from Institute of Private Enterprise Development Limited (IPED) are to receive assistance to showcase their goods and services at next week’s Business Expo 2015.
However, the micro-financing institution says only those up-to-date with their loan repayments and have businesses that create jobs will benefit from the ‘small piece’ to help them participate in the trade fair to be held from November 27-29, 2015 at the Sophia Exhibition Complex.
“The assistance provided will cover the cost of booth rental along with a cash contribution to cover part of the out of pocket expenses being incurred by the business owner to participate in the exhibition.
“The businesses being supported will be drawn from our existing customer database and must be up to date with their loan payments and have a business that contributes to job creation, be innovative and have growth potential,” said IPED in a statement.
All of the businesses supported will be within one block in the Annex at the exhibition complex, and IPED urges visitors to support these micro and small entrepreneurs.
IPED is listed as a not for profit entity that has been serving micro and small business entrepreneurs for 30 years.
IPED is helping people to help themselves. IPED is currently financing and supporting over 4,000
businesses country wide from our 13 service points/branches with a loan portfolio of GYD$2.6B. These
businesses provide employment to over 10,000 persons.


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Ernst & Young Announces Semifinalists for 2013
Entrepreneur Of The Year® Awards in Orange County
IRVINE, Calif., April 4, 2013 – Ernst & Young LLP today announced the 27 semifinalists for its 2013 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® Awards in Orange County. The awards program recognizes high-growth entrepreneurs who demonstrate excellence and extraordinary success in such areas as innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. These business leaders were selected from more than 75 nominations by a panel of independent judges. Award winners will be announced at a special gala on June 6, 2013, at the St. Regis Resort in Dana Point.
The semifinalists are: Continue reading


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MANASQUAN — The Manasquan Holy Trinity Lutheran Church will hold its 30th annual Nearly New Clothing Sale on Thursday, Sept. 28 from 2 to 8 p.m. and Friday, Sept. 29 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the church located at 6 Osborn Ave.
Planned, organized and run by members of the church’s Social Ministry Committee, they focus on providing the community with necessities such as donating school supplies to local students and making Thanksgiving dinner ingredient bags for families in need.
Each year, the group accepts donated women’s, men’s and children’s clothing, offers a jewelry boutique room consisting of costume pieces, name-brand purses, specialty items and a bake sale with homemade desserts baked by committee members.
The clothing items start as low as $1 a piece and up to $5 for coats. On Saturday, the second day of the sale, attendees can fill a full bag with clothing for just $10. Free t-shirts are also available while supplies last and are limited to five per person.
This is an excerpt of the print article. For more on this story, read The Coast Star—on newsstands Thursday or online in our e-Edition.
Subscribe today! If you're not already an annual subscriber to The Coast Star, get your subscription today! For just $38 per year, you will receive local mail delivery weekly, with pages and pages of local news and online access to our e-edition on Starnewsgroup.com.


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The mini Sony Xperia Z1S has been involved in yet another leak, this time in the US, adding fuel to the fire that it will be arriving soon.
Apparent the smaller version of the Sony Xperia Z1 has recently passed through the FCC in America, although this time it’s got a new code name, Amami.
According to the leaked FCC filing the Xpiera Z1S Mini is expected to roll out with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, rather than the newest Android 4.4 KitKat operating system.
Tiny power house
Other rumours point towards the Xperia Z1S being different to the likes of the Galaxy S4 Mini and One Mini, as it’s hotly tipped to inherit the same processing power from its bigger brother.
That would mean the Xperia Z1S would pack a punchy 2.2GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM and an Adreno 330 GPU, plus it should also carry the same 20.7MP camera.
Of course the main difference between the two handsets is the screen size, with the Xperia Z1S tipped to pack a 4.3-inch display, rather than the 5-inch offering on the flagship phone.
Sony could well take the covers off the Xperia Z1S Mini at CES 2014, and TechRadar will be reporting live from the event to bring you all the latest news.
- What’s the Xperia Z1 like?


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Silicon Labs reports record 2013 revenues [Austin American-Statesman :: ]
(Austin American-Statesman (TX) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jan. 29--Austin's Silicon Laboratories Inc. reported record 2013 revenues on Wednesday, although the company's fourth-quarter revenues dipped from the previous year.
The chipmaker reported $146.2 million in fourth-quarter revenues, down from $152.5 million the previous year. But revenue for fiscal 2013 was a record $580.1 million, up from $563.3 million in 2012.
CEO Tyson Tuttle said the company's microcontroller and wireless products delivered record revenues in the quarter.
"Revenue for 2013 was a record for the company, and we believe we are entering 2014 well positioned in growth markets such as the 'Internet of Things,' smart energy and Internet infrastructure," Tuttle said.
The "Internet of Things" is a chip industry term for the trend of connecting many more non-computing devices -- including home automation systems, automobiles and industrial equipment -- to the Internet for remote monitoring and control.
Silicon Labs reported a profit of $10.6 million, or 25 cents a share, on revenue of $146.2 million for the quarter ended Dec. 28. That compared with a profit of $18.7 million, or 45 cents a share, on revenue of $152.5 million for the same quarter last year.
Still, those fourth-quarter revenues beat analysts' expectations of $142.9 million and the company's stock jumped. Silicon Labs' shares ended the day up 7.25 percent, or $3.21, to $46.16.
Tuttle said the fourth-quarter dip in revenues was due to lingering revenues in 2012 from the company's cell phone-related chip business, which it sold to NXP Semiconductors for $285 million.
Silicon Labs is seeing strength in the TV market -- where it supplies advanced tuner chips for digital TVs to companies like LG and Samsung -- as well as the Internet of Things, where the company's microcontroller, wireless and sensor products have gained traction.
"I'm quite optimistic about the markets that we're in, that we're going to be able to continue to grow," Tuttle said. "Now that we don't have exposure to the PC and handset markets, I think that lends a degree of stability and more consistent growth to the company. So I think the positioning is really good."
The company employs about 1,100 people worldwide, with just over half of them in Austin.
Chip companies shares go in opposite directions
Austin tech companies Freescale Semiconductor and Cirrus Logic saw their stock prices go in opposite directions on Wednesday, a day after each company released quarterly earnings reports.
Freescale saw its stock shoot up after its quarterly revenue and earnings per share topped analysts projects and the company showed indications of expanding its market share.
Freescale -- which employs about 5,000 workers in Austin -- saw its stock jump 14.7 percent on Wednesday, ending the day up $2.25 per share to $17.55
Meanwhile, Cirrus Logic's stock on Wednesday closed down 7.8 percent, or $1.46, at 17.28. The chipmaker's revenue of $218.9 million for the just-ended quarter beat analysts' expectations, but the company's guidance for its current quarter projected revenue of between $130 million and $150 million. That was well below analysts' expectations. Cirrus Logic has about 680 employees worldwide, with close to 600 of those in Austin.
(c)2014 Austin American-Statesman, Texas
Visit Austin American-Statesman, Texas at www.statesman.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]


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By Supantha Mukherjee, Martin Coulter and Sheila Dang
(Reuters) -After 17 years with an iconic blue chicken that came to symbolize the broadcasting of solutions to the area, billionaire Elon Musk renamed Twitter as X and unveiled a brand fresh logo, marking a highlight on constructing an "the full lot app."
On Monday, a stylized white X on a unlit background became the fresh logo on Twitter's web residing, even though the blue chicken became once restful considered on the mobile app.
Since taking on Twitter in October, Musk has said he envisions an app that can presumably provide a fluctuate of products and companies to customers previous social media, much like to find-to-to find funds, an thought that mirrors the broadly well-liked WeChat app in China.
The transformation is more merely a mode for Musk to manufacture his imprint on the corporate, said Tom Morton, world chief map officer at ad agency R/GA. "Twitter's changing title and logo has nothing to complete with user, advertiser, or market concerns. It is a image that Twitter is Elon Musk's non-public property.
"He conquered the fortress, now he's flying his beget flag."
The fresh logo garnered blended reactions from customers and sparked confusion about what tweets would now be known as, whereas marketing and branding consultants said the rebrand risked throwing away years of Twitter's title recognition.
"Handiest a few brands dangle change into verbs or considered themselves referred to in world data outlets as in most cases as Twitter has," said Matt Rhodes, map lead at inventive agency Rental 337, which has labored with British telecom company Sky.
"Something else that makes it tougher for folk to search out, or prefer to start the app on their cluttered mobile phone monitors dangers harming utilization," he said.
Fernando Machado, who beforehand held chief marketing officer roles at Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI), Restaurant Brands World (NYSE:QSR) and Burger King, said rebrands on the full seize time to sink in, even though "as a Twitter user, I confess that I omit the puny chicken already."
"For my piece, I dangle the fresh come feels a bit cool and impersonal," he said.
Outdoor Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco on Monday, police stopped improvement workers from taking away the Twitter signal, in a scene witnessed by a Reuters reporter. On one facet of the constructing, most productive the blue chicken and the letters "er" were left.
"#GoodbyeTwitter" became once trending on the platform on Monday with reference to the extinct logo as some customers criticized the fresh one.
Musk tweeted on Saturday that "soon we are in a position to repeat adieu to the Twitter designate and, step by step, your complete birds".
In response to a tweet asking what's going to tweets be known as below X, Musk spoke back "x's".
Musk has faded the letter X time and all some other time right through his companies. He co-founded x.com as a web based bank in 1999 which later remodeled into PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL). He sold the domain support from PayPal in 2017, announcing it had "sentimental value".
The domain x.com now redirects to Twitter.
Linda Yaccarino, the fashioned selling chief at NBCUniversal who began as Twitter CEO on June 5, suggested workers in a memo on Monday that X "will go even extra to transform the area metropolis sq.."
The corporate will work on fresh parts in audio, video, messaging, funds and banking, in step with the memo, which became once considered by Reuters.
The platform will face challenges to reinvent its alternate.
Since Musk's takeover, the corporate has faced tumultuous times with layoffs, a consuming topple in advertisers and the meteoric upward push of Threads, Meta's response to Twitter.
The billionaire's choice to rebrand Twitter as X shall be difficult legally: X is broadly faded and cited in trademarks, and companies including Meta and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) already dangle intellectual property rights to the an identical letter.
The rebrand indicates Musk has given up on any plans "to revive Twitter as a highly efficient stand-by myself social community and merely considers the $44 billion spent on the community a sunk designate," said Niklas Myhr, a professor of marketing at Chapman College.
"The ultimate few months were tumultuous at Twitter, and I make no longer think a brand fresh designate goes to resolve the full lot," Drew Benvie, CEO of social media consultancy Battenhall, said.
"Here's less about reinventing Twitter, and more about constructing a designate spherical Elon Musk's empire, including SpaceX, the put the X branding indubitably connects a puny bit more closely."


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HELSINKI (Reuters) - Norway’s Opera Software overtook Apple’s iPhone browser in May as the most popular mobile browser in the world, Web analytics firm StatCounter said on Tuesday.
Of all Internet pages that were downloaded to mobile devices globally in May, 24.6 percent were downloaded through Opera’s browser and 22.3 percent via iPhone, StatCounter said.
The top spot has see-sawed this year.
“Opera began the year in the number one slot but iPhone overtook it in February,” Aodhan Cullen, chief executive of StatCounter, said in a statement. “It will be fascinating to watch how this battle plays out over the year.”
Opera sells its browser to many cellphone makers and operators, and consumers can directly download it for free, while the Apple browser’s ranking reflects only iPhone users surfing the Internet.
Nokia, the world’s top cellphone maker, retained third place in mobile browsers with 17.9 percent of the market, StatCounter said.
StatCounter said its research data is based on four billion pages loaded per month.
Reporting by Tarmo Virki; Editing by Gary Hill
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


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Super Bowl 2015 is the 49th “super bowl” to be played in America. While everyone is very excited to see the iconic and historic Super Bowl 49 unfold in Arizona this year, there is something really exciting taking place this year. For the past 48 Super Bowls the press has been there to cover every moment, this year those moments will be unveiled in a special way.
At a location in Glendale, Arizona known as the “Gallery Glendale” you will be able to see these special Super Bowl moments. The general public is welcome to attend the opening event on January 9th 2015 at Gallery Glendale. The feature is called “Super Moments, Superstars, Super Game — An Associated Press Photo Exhibit.”
This exhibit will display some of the most iconic images from the very first Super Bowl, all of the way up to Super Bowl 48. This is a special exhibit because it’s not every day you can see a collection of famous Super Bowl images all in one spot. The collection is actually featured from the Associated Press—since they have been there since the very first game. It’ll be incredible to see a story through pictures from the same media company over the last 49 years.
Not only will it show how the Super Bowl has changed, it will also show how football has remained a timeless pastime of the American people. If you’d like to check out the “Super Moments, Superstars, Super Game — An Associated Press Photo Exhibit,” then make sure you head over to 9380 W. Westgate Blvd. in Glendale, Arizona.
The exhibit will be open throughout January on Fridays and Saturdays from 6PM to 9PM. It’ll also be open on Pro Bowl Sunday and of course on Super Bowl Sunday! No matter what team you’re rooting for at the 2015 Super Bowl, this is exhibit is a must see. After all, it’s the Super Bowl is a historic event that will hopefully continue for 49+ more years!


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Shipments of Taiwan’s four major motherboard manufacturers declined in 2022
Thanks to the COVID-19 epidemic and the cryptocurrency market, PC components such as graphics cards were hot for a long time from 2020 to 2022, allowing manufacturers to reap huge profits. As one of the important components of PCs, the motherboard did not get many extra dividends during the same period, and the market has turned weak since the beginning of 2022.
According to DigiTimes, some board practitioners said that the shipments of the four major Taiwanese motherboard manufacturers collapsed in 2022, a decrease of more than 10 million units compared to 2021. Due to the fierce decline, some manufacturers expect that there is not much room for the rise, and the market should reach the bottom. The main goal of ASUS, Gigabyte, and ASRock in 2023 is to stop the decline, while MSI is relatively optimistic and expects to ship volume will increase.
ASRock, which has performed well in the server market in recent years, has shipped 4 million and 4.3 million units in 2018 and 2019 respectively and maintained a level of about 6 million units in 2020 and 2021. However, in 2022, it was directly cut in half, falling to 2.7 million units.
Looking forward to 2023, Asus’s forecast is quite conservative, and it is believed that there will be a slight downward adjustment, and Gigabyte is expected to be flat. ASRock expects a slight increase. In contrast, MSI’s target is more positive and optimistic, and it is expected that there will be a 15% rebound.


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Publishedduration1 day ago
image copyrightMinistry of Trade and Industry
Singapore and the UK signed a free trade deal in the Southeast Asian city-state on Thursday.
The deal will cover a trade relationship worth more than $22bn (£17bn).
The agreement largely mirrors an existing deal between Singapore and the European Union (EU).
It is part of a broader set of trade negotiations for the UK, as it tries to replicate trade pacts which will cease when the EU transition period ends.
Britain’s secretary of state of international trade, Liz Truss, and Singapore’s trade minister, Chan Chun Sing, signed the deal at a ceremony in Singapore.
The deal comes as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the European Union’s chief executive gave themselves until the end of the weekend to seal a new trade pact, following a three-hour dinner that left the two sides “far apart”.
What does the deal do?
The agreement removes tariffs and gives both countries access to each other’s markets in services.
It will also cut non-tariff barriers for electronics, cars and vehicle parts, pharmaceutical products, medical devices and renewable energy generation.
Duties will be eliminated by November 2024, the same timeline as the pact between the EU and Singapore.
“Beyond the significant benefits to our respective businesses, the (deal) is a strong statement against protectionism and nativism,” said Mr Chan.
He added that it will be “crucial in ensuring a strong and resilient post-pandemic recovery for the world”.
media captionA deal with the EU can’t come “at any price,” says Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove
The deal will be important for Singapore, which counts Britain among its top trading partners for goods and services globally, and its top investment destination in Europe.
The agreement is also the UK’s first with a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
The 10-country bloc is home to 650 million people and, prior to the pandemic, was a key growth region.
Although Singapore is a small country, it’s a key financial and trading hub which serves as a regional headquarters for many multinationals operating in Southeast Asia.
Prawn dumplings and spicy anchovies are just some of the food products Singapore will be able to sell more of to the UK – and in return Singaporean companies will get a chance to bid for more government projects there.
But while both sides are keen to tout this deal as a success – it is effectively a rollover of the EU Singapore free trade agreement.
And it’s not massively significant in terms of size and scale: Singapore accounts for just a fraction of the UK’s total exports.
But what the deal lacks in size, it might make up in symbolism.
The two countries have always had strong historical links.


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A new patent from Apple has been discovered, but this one doesn’t hint at wild or exciting new features for unannounced products. Instead, this one reveals a practical solution to one of the biggest problems of the MacBook’s keyboard: the tendency for crumbs and dust to build up under the keys, making them difficult or impossible to be pressed.
When Apple debuted its new MacBook in 2015, it was the company’s first laptop to feature a new keyboard with butterfly switches and keys with a very shallow travel distance. While this helped keep the laptop as thin as possible, the problem over time became that once debris like food crumbs or dust buildup did get under the keys, there was nowhere for it to go and no space for the key mechanism to be pressed.
It turns out that Apple filed a patent back in September 2016 — made public this week — that details several possible solutions for this issue. Among these are membranes under each key that either seal off the gaps under the key around the mechanical components, or use tiny perforations that would allow air to be pushed out with every key press and in turn keep debris away.
There’s few other details beyond these basic descriptions, and no solid indication these keyboard designs will be featured in any upcoming MacBook models. But it’s still a positive sign that Apple has been looking into the keyboard issue and may have a solution at some point.


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By Oludele Taiwo
Ecotutu, a startup accelerating off-grid solutions, has launched a 20-metric tonne solar-powered cold chain infrastructure in the Mile 12 Market, Lagos in order to reduce food loss and tackle the nation’s post-harvest losses. Founder and Chief Executive of Ecotutu, Babajide Oluwase, while speaking at the launch, said Ecotutu’s investment in tackling post-harvest losses in the fruits and vegetable value chain is critical to Nigeria’s future, stating that the startup is also providing jobs for women and youths employed at each cold room facility deployed.
He disclosed that Ecotutu plans to deploy the same technology across major markets in the country within the next 18 to 20 months to ensure that perishable produce are properly preserved with their quality retained. According to him, “The launch of our solar-powered cold room at the heart of the market is the beginning of a lot of interest that Ecotutu is looking to do within the Mile 12 Market. We provide cold storage services and logistics for farmers, traders and aggregators and ensure that they get the value of their fresh produce and prevent the bulk of it going to waste as is the case today”, he said.
“For every Ecotutu cold room storage facility we set up, we employ two persons. And we are targeting women and youths. We also train them in our data management tech for the food we store”, he said. Lagos Commissioner for Agriculture, Abisola Olusanya, said the launch of the cold room in the Mile 12 Market by Ecotutu was phenomenal and future-thinking, noting that markets were the last point in the food systems and should not be taken for granted. She said the country’s post-harvest losses remained high owing to inappropriate cold storage solutions, adding that the state government was seeking partnerships to tackle the problem.
The Chairman of the Mile 12 Market, Shehu Jubril, while appreciating the firm for choosing the market for the launch of the cold storage facility, said that the association would continue to support the initiative. He added that it would help reduce post-harvest loss in the market as traders can now properly store their perishables under the right temperature. The Public Affairs Officer at the United States Consulate appreciated the founder of Ecotutu, who is a 2022 Mandela Washington Fellow, for giving back to society by ensuring that farmers and traders can preserve their perishable produce. The Deputy Consul-General of The Netherlands Consulate, Lagos, Leonie Van der Stijl, said, “We are pleased to see Ecotutu launching this initiative. Ecotutu is one of the beneficiaries of an incubation programme we have sponsored in The Netherlands – Orange Corners helped to develop the business case and it is so good to see it blossom and launched to ensure that we reduce postharvest loss”, he added.


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With Axel Johnson's significant presence in the food sector, we particularly aim to contribute to a positive development within the food system. Therefore, we initiated FoodBridge in 2022, which is an initiative within Axel Johnson aimed at accelerating the transition to a more sustainable food system.
With Axel Johnson's significant presence in the food sector, we aim to contribute specifically to a positive development within the food system. Therefore, we launched FoodBridge in 2022 as an initiative within Axel Johnson, with the goal of accelerating the transition towards a more sustainable food system.
FoodBridge has a unique network within Axel Johnson's companies, providing opportunities to connect, collaborate, and initiate exciting projects and partnerships. Another important aspect of FoodBridge is early-stage investments in foodtech start-ups with the potential to create positive change. Since start, FoodBridge has made two investments in Petgood and Improvin', and they countinue to engage with interesting companies and entrepreneurs every day.
In 2023, FoodBridge released a report summarizing the foodtech market, trends, and future insights.
Sofie Borg, Project Manager, FoodBridge


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Many people, particularly older folks, proudly declare they avoid using the Web to manage various accounts tied to their personal and financial data—including everything from utilities and mobile phones to retirement benefits and online banking services. The reasoning behind this strategy is as simple as it is alluring: What’s not put online can’t be hacked. But increasingly, adherents to this mantra are finding out the hard way that if you don’t plant your flag online, fraudsters and identity thieves may do it for you.
While most types of customer accounts these days can be managed online, the process of tying one’s account number to a specific email address and/or mobile device typically involves supplying personal data that can easily be found or purchased online, such as Social Security numbers, birthdays and addresses. Failing to set up a corresponding online account to manage one’s services can provide a powerful gateway for fraudsters.
Many people naively believe that if they never set up their bank or retirement accounts for online access then cyber thieves can’t get access either. But one expert said she recently had a client who had almost a quarter of a million dollars taken from his bank account precisely because he declined to link his bank account to an online identity.
It’s a good idea for people with older relatives—or clients—to help those individuals ensure they have set up online identities for their various accounts—even if those relatives never intend to access any of the accounts online. Helping those relatives place a security freeze on their credit files with the four major credit bureaus (and with another, little known bureau that many mobile providers rely upon for credit checks) can go a long way toward preventing new account fraud. This process is doubly important for parents and relatives who have just lost a loved one, because criminals like to scan obituaries for targets.
For the full story, including more suggestions for preventing identity theft, visit Krebs on Security.


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This article strikes me as another slow drumbeat on an issue that has to be both frustrating and impossible to own for Google. The headline: “Some Web Firms Say They Track Behavior Without Explicit Consent” implies ulterior motives and wrongdoing. In fact, it’s standard operating procedure for companies who run ad networks, and has been for a very long time. However, now that the guv’mint is involved, SOP is no longer AOK. The lede:
Several Internet and broadband companies have acknowledged using targeted-advertising technology without explicitly informing customers, according to letters released yesterday by the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
And Google, the leading online advertiser, stated that it has begun using Internet tracking technology that enables it to more precisely follow Web-surfing behavior across affiliated sites.
Or, put another way, Google bought DoubleClick, and DoubleClick uses tracking cookies. Yawn, right? Except….the rest of the world is catching on to the Database of Intentions, and the dialog as to what it means is just getting under way. The heat is being turned up, slowly but surely, and Google has to be careful to not be seen as the water in a boiling frog syndrome.
Here are the documents from the House Committee investigating online data practices.


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Walmart's CEO says the chain will open up its parking lots for coronavirus testing stations
- Walmart will allow parts of its parking lots to be turned into coronavirus testing stations, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said at a White House press conference on Friday.
- As the supply of testing equipment increases, the chain will open up more space to allow for drive-thru testing stations to be built.
- The US has lagged behind other nations in per capita testing for the virus.
- This comes just after President Donald Trump declared a state of national emergency.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Walmart will be turning part of its parking lots into coronavirus testing stations.
At a White House press conference on Friday, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon spoke about the urgency of creating testing stations.
"When we got the call yesterday from the White House, we were eager to do our part to help serve the country," McMillon said. "And given what we are facing that is certainly important to do. We should all be doing that."
The US lags behind other countries in its per capita testing for the virus. This has triggered concerns that inaccurate reporting woefully underestimates the actual number of coronavirus cases in the country.
"We have been asked to make portions of our parking lot available in select locations in the beginning, and scaling over time as the supply increases, so that people can experience the drive-thru experience that the president described. We'll stay involved and do everything we can from a supply-chain point of view to be of assistance," McMillon said.
Walmart did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
- I spent $2,000 for 7 nights in a 179-square-foot room on one of the world's largest cruise ships. Take a look inside my cabin.
- One of the world's only 5-star airlines seems to be considering asking business-class passengers to bring their own cutlery
- Vodafone Idea FPO allotment – How to check allotment, GMP and more
- India leads in GenAI adoption, investment trends likely to rise in coming years: Report
- Reliance Jio emerges as World's largest mobile operator in data traffic, surpassing China mobile
- Satellite monitoring shows large expansion in 27% identified glacial lakes in Himalayas: ISRO
- Vodafone Idea shares jump nearly 8%
- Indians can now get multiple entry Schengen visa with longer validity as EU eases norms


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In Portugal, a typical visit to the GP could go something like this: "Turn your head and cough. Good. By the way, have you heard about the great introductory rate for the new Barclaycard?"
It may seem an odd juxtaposition but a routine check-up at the family doctor, or a trip to get that cavity filled by the dentist, is now increasingly accompanied by a pitch for Barclays bank.
The practice is due to the use of so-called "independent salesforces" - professionals such as nurses, accountants and lawyers who are contracted by companies to flog their products in exchange for a commission. It is an accepted and regulated, if idiosyncratic, practice in the Iberian country. And for Barclays, these citizen salesmen are a critical part of its aggressive expansion plans, both here and globally.
When Frits Seegers decamped from Citigroup to join Barclays in July, with the lofty title of chief executive of global retail and commercial banking, his mandate was clear: reinvigorate the bank's pedestrian retail business. The drivers of the group's growth in recent years have been Barclays Capital, the investment banking unit, and the wealth management business Barclays Global Investors. The retail side has been less impressive.
In its most recent results, Barclays did reach its long-stated goal of generating half of group profits abroad, but that was due more to the underperformance of Barclaycard in the UK than its brilliance overseas.
Even so, the group's global ambitions are one reason why it is seen as takeover fodder. Last week, Spain's BBVA and Bank of America were both tipped as possible buyers of the company. Merrill Lynch analyst Edward Najarian said in a note that the American giant, which has stated its intention to look abroad for its next phase of expansion, could pay as much as £60bn to get its hands on Barclays and the British bank's sprawling international network. Barclays dismissed the speculation.
In order to generate the desired level of profit from its foreign operations, and sustain them, Mr Seegers is leading a drive to squeeze extra value out of the company's geographic footprint by cross-selling more products and ramping up organic growth.
Portugal is at the forefront of this push. Later this month Barclays will open its 100th Portu- guese branch, in Porto, the country's grey, windswept second city. That is double the number of offices it had in Portugal two years ago. Country manager Rui Semedo aims to double that figure again within the next 12 months. Barclays has earmarked €25m (£17m) to fund this growth. "The message from Frits has been, 'You have my support'," said Mr Semedo. "We want to be a major player here."
The Portuguese strategy grants autonomy to local managers to open branches and hire staff. The reliance on the independent salesforces means that new branches reach break-even within one year, claimed Mr Semedo, rather than the industry average of two and a half years. The tactics may be used as a template for expansion elsewhere, namely Italy, where the bank plans to open 50 branches within the next 12 months.
The success of such strategies will be a test case for Mr Seegers; Barclays heralded his appointment earlier this year as the panacea for its retail business.
But some in the City, who have heard that song before, are sceptical. Mark Thomas, banking analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, said: "They have had four changes of the retail UK management in the past seven years, and each time its been the best thing since sliced bread, the start of a new vision, the dawn of new growth of the branch network."Reuse content


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NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 22 – An ongoing Christmas festive season customer reward programme by Tusker Mattresses, has raised the use of mobile payment solution Safaricom’s Lipa na M-PESA at Tuskys stores countrywide.
The use of Lipa Na M-PESA at Tuskys tills has in less than a week shot from an average daily application rate of 17 percent million to 22 percent of daily sales collection.
A sales assessment by the firm now confirms that Lipa na M-PESA daily sales have reached the Sh27million mark and still growing.
Tusker Mattresses Group CEO, Dan Githua, said the use of mobile payment solutions had traditionally represented just about 17 percent of overall sales with debit and credit cards registering 15 percent and cash still strong at more than 60 percent of the daily sales.
He said retailers are keen to support cash-lite options, which provide better-operating efficiencies by reducing the cost of cash holding including insurance premiums, cash in transit costs among other overheads.
“With more than 150,000 transactions at the tills per day, the use of Lipa na M-PESA, in the past week, has been growing significantly, as the preferred payment solution edging out plastic cards by a good margin,” Githua said, adding that, “Cash is still king but all indicators are that the adoption of mobile payment options is poised to be a game changer in the local retail market and could soon hit the 25 percent mark.”
This festive season, Tuskys is predicting a 30 percent festive season sales growth attributed to growing consumer confidence and renewed marketing energy from leading brand
The campaign unveiled in conjunction with Safaricom Limited, the Coca-Cola Company among 54 other leading suppliers to the firm will feature a more Sh50 million customer rewards basket with 38 vehicles to be won across the Tusker Mattresses network in Kenya.


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Donald Trump’s America has the highest trade tariffs in the developed world by a wide margin. These barriers are becoming an economic way of life with each passing month.
Deutsche Bank says the trade-weighted average has risen to 4.2pc. This is double levels in Europe, Canada and Japan, and slightly higher than in China.
If he goes ahead with 25pc tariffs on the entire gamut of Chinese goods in June, the US will vault past Turkey and India. It will acquire a South American profile. This is fitting for the Caudillo del Norte since no US president has quite so resembled Juan Peron.
Mr Trump is for now delaying tariffs on European and Japanese cars under a “Section 232” national security clause....
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Supermarkets selling groceries online have agreed to give customers better price information, following action by the Office for Fair Trading (OFT).
Asda, Ocado, Sainsbury, Tesco and Waitrose will provide clearer information about online pricing after the OFT received complaints from customers that prices charged for groceries on delivery were different from those advertised on the Web sites.
The supermarkets — with the exception of Ocado — use guide prices on their Web sites to show how much goods cost in-store on the day the order is placed.
But in most cases — again apart from Ocado — the actual prices customers pay will be the in-store prices on the day when goods are assembled for delivery, which may be different.
The OFT said the websites did not make it sufficiently clear that the prices shown were guide prices — or make it clear what relation they had to the actual prices customers would be charged.
It said Asda, Ocado, Sainsbury, Tesco and Waitrose have now agreed to provide "greater transparency" about their online shopping schemes. This will include upfront information about their guide price policies and how the online shopping process works, and making sure special offer prices quoted online are treated as firm prices for orders that are to be delivered in the offer period.
The OFT said customers grocery shopping online should check prices at the time of delivery against the guide prices quoted at the time of ordering. OFT chief executive John Fingleton said in a statement: "We welcome the supermarkets' improvements to the information available to customers buying groceries online. Customers have a right to clear and transparent information upfront when making their buying decisions."
Ocado operates a warehouse system specifically for its shopping service designed to facilitate their online grocery service. It sells goods at a fixed price, except for goods sold by weight, and has agreed to provide clearer information to customers about prices for these goods.


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Demographics Of Online Purchasers By Product Category, June 2014 [TABLE]
Still, seniors lag behind younger generations in buying online. A June 2014 Harris Interactive survey found online consumers 68 and older significantly less likely than younger people to have made such purchases in multiple product categories. The conspicuous exception was prescription medications.
Seniors are also laggards in using digital tools to research possible purchases in stores. Even among those who go online, a below-average proportion uses the internet for this purpose. In a December 2013 survey of US internet users by Prosper Insights & Analytics, this was true across sectors ranging from apparel to furniture to electronics. Inevitably, medicines/vitamins/supplements was one of the few categories where seniors exceeded the average for total adults. Read the rest at eMarketer.


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Adult Industry News
Thu, Oct 31 2013 04:30pm PDT
Penthouse Entertainment will commemorate the 3rd anniversary of the passing of the company’s founder, Bob Guccione, with an altar at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Viewings will be available this Saturday, the Day of the Dead, from noon until midnight.
Thu, Oct 31 2013 03:45pm PDT
For the third month in a row, more Americans visited Yahoo's websites than Google's, according to comScore Inc.'s Internet traffic data for September.
Thu, Oct 31 2013 03:30pm PDT
Owen Wilson is developing an hour-long Reagan-era porn drama for the Starz network.
Thu, Oct 31 2013 02:30pm PDT
SexToyDistributing.com has launched a Saved Cart feature, the site’s latest upgrade and improvement.
Thu, Oct 31 2013 01:30pm PDT
DreamZone Entertainment and The Screaming O have inked an exclusive deal to sell the latter’s Paco’s Taco stroker alongside one of the studio’s feature films at adult retailers.
Thu, Oct 31 2013 12:30pm PDT
Reign Productions has announced the release of “Reign Over Me,” a new vignette-feature directed by and starring the studio’s owner, Tasha Reign.
Thu, Oct 31 2013 12:15pm PDT
SK Intertainment — the celebrity nudity network behind Mr. Skin and Mr. Man — has announced that it has finalized an agreement to manage the online business operations and marketing of pioneering online multimedia outlet Naked News.
Thu, Oct 31 2013 11:30am PDT
Adult actress Lexi Love has secured a supporting role in Penn Jillette and Adam Rifkin’s crowdfunded film project, “Director’s Cut” by raising $5,100 online to support the duo’s FundAnything campaign.
Thu, Oct 31 2013 10:30am PDT
Doc Johnson has made its way into the hearts of sex toy aficionados, comic book collectors and movie fans alike with its Super Hung Heroes range.
Thu, Oct 31 2013 10:15am PDT
Veteran director David “Pussyman” Christopher has decided to return behind the camera for Devil’s Film’s “Fornication 101,” slated to release Nov. 18.


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This morning in Cupertino, Tim Cook took the first part of Apple’s media event dubbed “Let’s Talk iPhone” to announce very impressive retail store figures. With over 100,000 visitors at the company’s store in Asia in just its opening weekend shows the strong worldwide demand for Mac products.
Apple’s Hong Kong store sold more macs on opening day than any other store in the world. There are currently six stores in China and 357 stores in 11 different countries. Cook eluded to bringing more stores online in the coming months.


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In the age of the super-swift smartphone, and post-Galaxy S4, Apple is clawing at anything to try and get a bigger slice of the phone market. Apple recently launched a “Why iPhone” page, hoping to sway consumers.
Now, this kind of marketing is all fine, except consumers know about the iPhone, and those that love it, love it.
Apple’s problem isn’t convincing its true followers. Rather, Apple needs to convince the growing number of 20, 30, 40, and 50-somethings that are seeking smartphones that can do more.
Sure, an iPhone looks nice, but with its supersized screen, the Galaxy Note II is perfect for a consumer looking for a bigger screen (that’s my mother-in-law, FYI). Likewise, with its set of feature-rich options, the Galaxy S4 will likely blow away Apple’s best on the market device.
Someone please tell Apple that consumers aren’t switching in droves to Android because of their cheap prices. Consumers are switching because of the available options, running on a stable operating system, with a ton of apps.
Admittedly, I’m sure Apple’s “next big thing” will more closely match Samsung’s (look who’ll be copying whom), so we should expect a richer iPhone. However, don’t expect a larger screen, because that’s not Apple’s thing.


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Canonical points finger of blame at Intel for a shonky set of drivers incorporated into the Linux kernel
Gartner box-counters see sales fall by eight per cent in 2015
Microsoft demonstrates the 'power of free' as users stick with their old machines rather than splashing the cash on a new one
Is there actually a plan behind Microsoft's Windows 10 licensing or are they just making it up as they go along?
Technology giants defeat intellectual property holding company over Ethernet patents
Car manufacturer saves millions by providing training to all of its staff virtually and going paperless in the process
Chip veteran Jason Chen will take over from the company's founder Stan Shih
Acer's offering is small enough, but is it perfectly formed?
Sixty per cent of Pegatron's revenues to be in second half of 2013, says CFO
The former Acer CEO talks about a possible acquisition of BlackBerry and riding out a tough PC market
Chinese PC maker bucks trend of decline in PC sales
Mini-laptop craze lasted barely five years. Tablets to blame?
Surface RT ain't all that, but what does that mean for the future of Windows 8's ambitious ecosystem?
And Windows 8 ain't gonna increase sales by much either, adds Acer president Jim Wong
Google threat to cut-off Acer over Aliyun phone for China
PCs, smartphones, tablets and other devices with new Metro user interface to be released same day
Join Tech Talk for lively debate and discussion around the top stories and issues around the UK IT industry this week
The company expects to save £18.3m annually
Chrome OS notebooks from Samsung and Acer will ship on 15 June
UK market is weak as a result of austerity measures
Consumer PC market grows with mobile units especially strong in UK
Central and Eastern Europe markets flagging despite mini notebook success in western Europe
Commission publishes extracts from a number of emails that show how the chip maker sought to squeeze rival AMD out of the market
But European market still declining fast - down 10 per cent year on year


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US mobile carrier T-Mobile has put up a registration page for the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, the photo above was posted on the page, and you can register your interest for the handset.
The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge will be made official on Sunday the 1st of March at Mobile World Congress, along with the new Galaxy S6, and the T-Mobile website says to come back on the 1st of March for more details.
This would suggest that Samsung are intending to launch the new Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge smartphones as soon as possible after their official unveiling on the 1st of March.
We had previously heard that the Galaxy S6 would launch in March and that the Galaxy S6 Edge would launch in April, although now it looks like both handsets will launch next month.
As soon as we get some more details on the exact launch date of the new Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge and Galaxy S6 smartphones, we will let you guys know. You can register for more details about the handset with T-Mobile at the link below.
Latest Geeky Gadgets Deals
Disclosure: Some of our articles include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, Geeky Gadgets may earn an affiliate commission. Learn about our Disclosure Policy.


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Amsterdam might no longer be the place to be if you want to smoke some weed in public. The city that we have known as the place where things like prostitution and smoking weed were possible without any legal problems is changing.
The sale of cannabis has never been entirely legal, but there has been a longstanding policy of tolerance allowing licensed coffeeshops to sell a restricted quantity of cannabis to the public while keeping minors and hard drugs out of the establishments. The shops are not allowed to have more than 500 grams in the building and where the cannabis that is being sold is supposed to come from has always been a hypocritical mystery, as the Dutch are allowed to cultivate only up to five marijuana plants each for their personal use.
There has been much criticism of the so called “backdoor policy” and some cities have suggested that the government could regulate the growing of cannabis to get this part of the business out of the criminal sector. But the government so far has not wanted to change anything in their policy, until now.
The government has decided to ban tourists from the so called “coffeeshops”, places where you could previously buy your beloved herb. The new rule will be a nationwide rule and will be applied from May 1, 2012 in the southern provinces of The Netherlands and the rest of the country will follow on January 1, 2013.
The South of the Netherlands shares borders with both Germany and Belgium and tourists from those countries have been flooding to the major cities in these parts of the country on a daily basis looking for their smoke.
The new rules states that only residents of the Netherlands can register for the so called “weed pass” in order to be able to buy weed in the local coffeeshop. Every coffeeshop is allowed to give out 2000 registrations, but as almost nobody had registered for such a pass yet in the city of Maastricht, a city that is close to both Germany and Belgium. Only one café, called ‘Easy Going’, opened its doors and immediately refused the first foreign visitors that wanted to enter the establishment.
The foreigners that had been refused decided to go to the local police station to officially report a case of discrimination. After these first few visitors had been refused the owner of the establishment decided to open his doors to whomever without even checking any ID’s.
The local authorities gave the owner an official warning but when he repeated the same thing the next day, they ordered him to close his establishment for a month. Of course his actions were a protest against the new rule and he will fight the case in court by getting a judge to prove that the new laws are discriminating against foreigners and this is not the way to go for the country.
“Let them close my café down, than at least I can take this case to court”
said Marc Josemans, the owner of the café.
“Realism should win from these strange current hypocrite political decisions.”
Josemans was very pleased with the support he received from local society as he is the first coffeeshop owner in the Netherlands to receive an official warning. Later in the week a café owner in the city of Tilburg also received an official warning for having foreign customers in his establishment.
On 20th of April, the international day for the celebration of cannabis, in various cities in the Netherlands people used this day to protest against the new law and also on the Tuesday about 200 smokers paraded through the city of Maastricht to show their anger and their sympathy for the coffeeshop owners.
Many people in the Netherlands believe that when coffeeshops are no longer as accessible for foreigners (also for Dutch residents that do not like to be registered as smokers) street dealing will take over. Although the government thinks that this will not be the case and if it is, that they will manage to deal with it, street dealers have already been spotted in the cities in the South on the first day the new law went in effect.
At this moment tourists can still buy their beloved White Widow or OG Kush in one of the many coffee shops in Amsterdam, but of course everybody is very concerned that this new law will come into effect in their city as well, starting from the 1st of January 2013.
While Maastricht has a population of about 121,050 people, Amsterdam holds about 783,364 inhabitants and has about 140 coffeeshops in the city centre alone and is receiving more than 4.63 million international visitors annually. When city press officer, Tahira Liman, was asked what would happen if also in Amsterdam this new law would go in effect she answered that the city fears that a big portion of the people that normally would visit a coffeeshop to buy their cannabis, will try to get it through street dealers.
Amsterdam has held a survey amongst about 1200 coffeeshop customers before June last year and it turned out that 30% of the visitors would register for a weed pass, 25% would start growing their own cannabis and more than 25% would start buying from local illegal dealers. It is clear that many local smokers are just not willing to register themselves as smokers of cannabis and refuse to cooperate with the new rules.
In the mean time the Dutch government has fallen apart and new elections will be held in September. Is this going to make a difference or might it be that the new law will not go through for the rest of the country? Justice Minister Ivo Opstelten thinks it will not make a difference.
“The next Cabinet can always roll back everything, but they will continue prudent policies,”
“I think this is smart policy, so I am not worried about that.”
Belgium smokers have reacted in their own fun way to the new laws by setting up a facebook page that calls for a “beer pass”, which will ban Dutch citizens from buying Belgium beer.
Well it seems that also Snoop Dogg, who is a frequent visitor of the Amsterdam coffee shops, will have to take no for an answer – for now. Sorry Dogg.
Written in cooperation with Royal Queen Seeds.


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A shopper leaves an Urban Outfitters store in New York.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Check out the companies heading after :
Shares of Urban Outfitters ran more than 15% during extended trading after the retailer reported a loss of revenue in the top and bottom line in the third quarter. The company had revenue of $ 56 per share on revenue of $ 987 million, falling below 57 percent EPS and $ 1
Sales of the same store in the company increased by 3%, topping the 2.8% increase expected by analysts. Free People's same-store sales increased 9%, while Anthropologie's increased 4%. Analysts had expected an increase of 4.8% and 2.0%, respectively, according to Consinitive consensus estimates. The company's name brand had a flat growth in the same store, but the expected increase of 2.4%.
Amarin shares dropped 4% after news that Oppenheimer analyst Leland Gershell downgraded the biopharmaceutical company to underperform a $ 7 price target. The analyst cited the company's shrinking likelihood as an M&A target along with underlying sales growth and high sales costs, according to StreetInsider.com. Amarin's shares closed at $ 22.73 on Tuesday, up about 67% the year before.
Endo International shares popped up 4% clockwise following the company's announcement that the Food and Drug Administration approved its cellulite treatment for review. The target date for the license application date is July 6, 2020. Endo's shares are down about 39% so far this year.
New York Mortgage Trust shares fell nearly 3% after the real estate investment license announced a new public offer of $ 25 million of the common stock. Morgan Stanley will sign the offer. The company said it plans to use the funds for general business purposes. The shares are up about 6% so far this year.


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New Study Finds That Legal States Have Lower Rates of Cannabis-Impaired Driving
by Chane Leigh
Jay Z’s cannabis brand Monogram launched an ad campaign that addresses some of the nation’s contradicting laws in states where cannabis is prohibited. Holyoke Community College is offering scholarships to its cannabis training courses, and Mexico is one step closer to cannabis legalization which puts the country in a position to become one of the leading markets in the international cannabis sector.
Mexico just got one step closer to cannabis legalization
And a Massachusetts university is offering scholarships for cannabis training
This is Lo with Veriheal keeping you up to date with the latest in cannabis news
Jay Z’s new cannabis brand, Monogram, recently launched an ad campaign to address some of the nation’s most absurd but still functioning laws in states where cannabis is prohibited.
These ads were rolled out on billboards and online stating things such as:
“You can marry your first cousin in more states than you can buy recreational weed”
“There’s a state in America where cannibalism is technically legal but cannabis isn’t”
“If you use a flamethrower to light a joint, you can be arrested in 17 states. But not for the flamethrower”
And our favorite: “The War on Drugs worked, if systemic racism was the goal”
Jay Z said in a statement, “I created this campaign to amplify the voices of those who have been penalized for the very same thing that venture capitalists are now prospering from with the emerging legal cannabis market,”
“Far too often we forget that these are real people whose everyday lives and futures have been affected by this outdated legislature.”
This is a poignant yet brilliant campaign that highlights the hypocrisy and contradiction of cannabis laws in America.
Next in news,
The program runs the end of this month for 2 days and costs $595
but eligible students can have the costs waived.
The scholarship is primarily aimed at students from areas that have been negatively impacted by the War on Drugs.
Students who complete the program will be eligible to register for one of the college’s cannabis industry career tracks which include: culinary assistant, extraction technician, and patient services associate.
And in a growing industry, there’s no better time than now to learn these types of skills
To learn more an apply, please visit the university website.
And last but not least
Mexico’s Lower House of Congress approved a draft bill this week that would decriminalize cannabis
This brings the country a step closer to creating one of the world’s largest cannabis markets.
The bill would create the Mexican Institute for the Regulation and Control of Cannabis, which will oversee issuing business licenses
And would allow adults 18 years the ability to grow, carry or consume cannabis
Mexico’s President Lopez Obrador firmly believes that decriminalizing cannabis and other narcotics could help combat the country’s cartel issues
Stay tuned to see what’s next for Mexico
So, go ahead and like this video and give us a follow at Veriheal to stay up to date with the latest in cannabis news. Thanks for watching!
Smoking cigarettes can impact one’s oral health by putting them at a higher risk of developing the likes of cancer, gum problems, tooth decay, and complications after oral surgery, according to the Better Health Channel. Does smoking cannabis pose the same risks? Unfortunately, it seems that oral health is put at risk regardless of what…
Cannabis is being increasingly chosen as an alternative to pharmaceutical medication, specifically those like opioids that are intended to reduce pain. Cannabis has been shown to effectively block pain, and recent research confirms that it reduces the need for opiate pain killers among cancer patients. These patients arguably have the most to gain from cannabis,…
Cannabis prohibition started back in the early 1900s in America. States in the east were among the first in the nation to support prohibition. Lawmakers of the time limited public access to cannabis for strictly medical use back in 1914. By 1927—a decade before cannabis was outlawed federally—the state of New York had outlawed cannabis…
Have you ever experienced that dreaded “cotton mouth” after smoking a joint? If so, you are not alone. Cannabis, depending on the chosen strain, may reduce saliva gland production. Because of this, the body produces less saliva and the mouth becomes drier than the Sahara Desert! But does this mean that cannabis dehydrates you? This…
Some folks absolutely love moon rocks and others want nothing to do with them. I’m not talking about rocks from our moon—I’m talking about cannabis moon rocks. These mega-balls of THC have started trending in recent years, but many members of the cannabis community still don’t know what they are or what they’re designed for….
Germany began crafting legalization legislation, Rob Dyrdek and DJ Diplo launched a line of cannabis-infused seltzers, and Oregon passed the first-ever synthetic…


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Chinese group Dorsett Hotels & Resorts opens the first of a £500m string of hotels in London
The Chinese company Dorsett Hotels & Resorts will officially open its first London hotel tomorrow, aiming to benefit from the rising number of Chinese tourists visiting the nearby Westfield shopping centre.
The 317-room Dorsett Shepherd’s Bush in West London is the first hotel in the capital to be opened by the group, which is headed by Chinese businesswoman Winnie Chiu.
The company is already in talks to open more hotels across London – with likely locations including the City, Docklands, Elephant and Castle and Wandsworth – and there are plans to open 10 in the next four to five years.
Prime location: Shepherd’s Bush is close to Westfield
The company has earmarked £500million for its London expansion plans. Chiu is believed to be eyeing other cities including Manchester.
The Dorsett Shepherd’s Bush has been open during the summer in a ‘soft launch’ phase.
Due to its proximity to the Shepherd’s Bush Empire music venue, the hotel has played host to celebrity guests including Kylie Minogue, Taylor Swift and singer Sam Smith.
Dorsett, which is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange and is owned by Chiu’s father’s firm Far East Consortium International, has invested £52million on the former cinema site in Shepherd’s Bush. It has also bought the adjacent site, a former Walkabout pub.
The group has signed up to be the hotel partner of children’s playzone concept KidZania, which opens in Westfield next year.
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CorrBoard is celebrating after it won the Sustainable Innovation category at the Paper Industry Gold Awards.
Applauding individuals, businesses and projects from across the paper-based industries, representatives from CorrBoard joined invited guests, and 11 other shortlisted business within the category, during a ceremony at the House of Lords Terrace. Showcasing its sustainability credentials, alongside its constant focus towards eliminating waste and pollution in pursuit of a true circular economy, CorrBoard’s efforts were recognised and rewarded in front of its peers.
Rob Burgin, Managing Director, comments, “We were up against best-in-class businesses from across our industry, and while we put huge efforts into our sustainability strategy, we were very aware that we were up against 11 other companies in our category! Taking this trophy back to our team and celebrating with all our colleagues at CorrBoard is a wonderful feeling. This recognition is a huge well done to everyone involved.”


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Fingerprint Door Lock
Keypad Door Lock
Hotel Door Lock
Glass Door Lock
Hotel Plus (HOTELEX Shanghai Phase II) held in Shanghai New International Expo Center at the end of April 25-27.
YGS was invited to participate in the exhibition and will be unveiled at the E5E42 booth.Sincerely welcome your arrival.


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Posted: Apr 28, 2020 / 04:24 PM EDT/ Updated: Apr 28, 2020 / 05:14 PM EDT
Small businesses suddenly searching for new ways to survive, it’s a familiar story around town.
To help in the fight, Consumers Energy developed the COVID-19 small business survival kit.
“The government has come out with great programming, but once a business, or a nonprofit logs on to those websites it can become overwhelming very quickly. So this tool kit really helps businesses, and nonprofits walk step by step through all the different things they can do to get through this trying time,” said Community Affairs Manager at Consumers Energy, Mindy Bradishorta.
The kit helps with checklist tasks such as, calling landlords, and banks to manage expenses, and pay bills.


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Cambridge University has put out a study on cryptocurrency that provides information on exchanges, wallets and mining. Cambridge University has put out a comprehensive 114-page study on cryptocurrencies that digs deep into empirical data of the digital currency world as it appears across the globe. Key highlights of the study include the number of users
EXMO, the cryptocurrency market keeps integrating heavily modern and promising cryptocurrencies to the platform. This time, it is about two requesting at the market cryptocurrencies, namely Monero (XMR) and Tether (USDT). The operations to add and withdraw the means are available in the ‘Wallet’ section. Monero Currently, Monero (XMR) is one of the most hasty-growing
A group of hackers installed cryptocurrency mining malware on 9000 computers over two years. A group of hackers installed cryptocurrency mining malware on 9000 computers over two years, antivirus company Kaspersky Lab claims. In new research reported by Russia Today, the provider said it had unearthed two Russian hacker groups which were hijacking machines to
Bitbay has announced that it will enter the Indian cryptocurrency markets, with the company’s Indian exchange expected to be operational before the end of August. Bitbay is Poland’s largest exchange by trade volume, and is set to become the first international bitcoin exchange operating within India’s cryptocurrency markets. Also Read: Panel Recommends Indian Government Take Immediate
Everyone remembers the global WannaCry ransomware attack. During that incident, thousands of computers and servers around the world were impacted. The developers of this malware also collected a fair amount of bitcoins from their actions. It now appears all of the money collected has been converted to Monero. After all, Bitcoin lacks privacy and anonymity
This week we reported on the takedown of the two largest darknet markets on the deep web — Alphabay, and Hansa. Now reports further reveal how global law enforcement seized the alleged Alphabay administrator, Alexandre Cazes, as well as the internal investigation of the Hansa marketplace which collected data on more than 50,000 cryptocurrency transactions.
Cryptocurrency may be classified as the most innovative trend in the modern day finance-world. It’s basically the creation of digital assets that can act as a medium of exchange. The cryptocurrencies source codes are made available in common ledgers, but the core protocol is encrypted, to secure the transactions. Bitcoin is obviously the most popular


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Kaspersky Lab has spotted malware for the Android mobile operating system employing the TOR anonymity network, a development previously only seen on Windows.
Rooting your Android phone and flashing it with a new ROM -- a different version of the OS -- is usually accompanied by dire warnings from the manufacturer and occasionally even the supplier of the ROM image that it can make your phone less secure. N...
Advanced Micro Devices has optimized a version of Android for tablets and PCs containing its chips, and will sell it on new PCs through retail stores in Europe.
The long wait for a 64-bit version of Android on smartphones is coming to a close, with Intel on Monday showing a version of the OS running on a handset.
Blackphone, the Swiss start-up that's launching a smartphone with encrypted communications, is planning a series of devices around the same idea, one of the company's co-founders said on Monday.
In a bid to go after the low-end smartphone segment, Nokia is using Android with its own user interface and Microsoft services on the X, X+ and XL devices.
Orange is hoping its latest branded smartphone, the Gova, will help make its LTE networks more popular.
The source code for an Android mobile banking Trojan app was released on an underground forum, making it possible for a larger number of cybercriminals to launch attacks using this kind of malware in the future.
Dutch telecom operator KPN has struck a deal with encrypted communications provider Silent Circle to start offering its Dutch, German and Belgian customers encrypted phone calls and text messages.
Cloudant has announced open source, native Sync software libraries for Android and iOS, making it easier for developers to build offline access in their mobile applications.
ZTE plans to unveil a range of "high-performance smartphones" in Barcelona next week, including the Grand Memo II LTE with a 6-inch screen.
Hewlett-Packard wants to make wireless printing of documents from Android mobile devices as easy as tapping one button.
LG Electronics has introduced the third generation of its low-end L series, with three new smartphones that all run Android 4.4 or KitKat.
LG Electronics has launched the G Pro 2, another option for people who want smartphones with supersized screens. To succeed, the device will have to outcompete products like the Galaxy Note 3 from Samsung, and there isn't much to tell the two apart w...
LG Electronics' G Pro 2 has a bigger screen than its predecessor, but improved video and camera features are what the company hopes will make the device stick out from the competition.
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Samsung SM-W700 12″ Windows 10 tablet undergoes testing in India
You may have heard that Samsung is working on an 18.4-inch foldable tablet which will reportedly break cover between the end of this year and the beginning of 2016. Before then, the Korean tech outfit is going to release a more feasible device in the tablet segment according to the information we have on hand.
A SM-W700 device (not pictured) was discovered to have being shipped into India by Samsung for research and development. According to the imports document, a total of 10 units of the tablet were included in the freight, each unit costing 30,383 Indian rupees or about $457.
The document revealed the SM-W700 is sporting a 12-inch display. The “W” in SM-W700 denotes Windows operating system. A little search of the keyword on Google revealed that the SM-W700 is rumored to be powered by 4GB of RAM, a 13 nm Intel Core M chipset and Quad HD resolution.


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Google co-founder Sergey Brin released a short letter, defending some of the audacious, expensive projects he oversees. Recode reports.
"They're gobbling up everything they can learn about you and trying to monetize it. We think that's wrong," Tim Cook says.
Two drones enter the arena. Last one flying wins.


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Last year Amazon Services UK generated a £48 million profit and paid a measly £7.4 million in tax, which pissed off a lot of people. Those people are going to be furious this year, because the company was handed a tax bill of £4.6 million - despite profits rising to £80 million. That said it's only having to pay £1.7 million, with £2.9 million being deferred until a later date.
Apparently this lower bill was down to Amazon offering its staff more share-based payments. A spokesman told BBC News that staff have received an average of £1,000 worth of shares each year for the past five years. According to the Guardian Amazon's rapidly rising share price meant staff received, on average, £3,000 worth of shares last year.
Tax law says that companies are required to deduct the best value of shares provided to employees, and due to Amazon's increasing value that means those shares account for a significant deducation. Especially when you consider Amazon Services UK has around 27,000 employees.
An Amazon spokesperson said the company paid all the tax it was required to "in the UK and every country where we operate", emphasising that "corporation tax is based on profits, not revenues, and our profits have remained low given retail is a highly competitive, low-margin business and our continued heavy investment."
Even though profits increased by £32 million. Ok then.
This bill only accounts for Amazon UK Services, which manages the warehouse and logisitics operations. Amazon proper will have a different bill from HMRC, but we have no indication what it might be. Amazon hasn't revealed how much UK tax it paid last year, though documents from the US suggest it generated $11.3 billion (£8.69 billion) in revenue here. It's also worth remembering that retail sales go through a different company, which is based in Luxembourg. [BBC News | The Guardian]


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JDSU Says: 'Go Teem'
JDSU has made several similar moves lately, including the sale of its cable-TV business to Emcore Corp. (Nasdaq: EMKR), the transfer of some facilities to contract manufacturer Fabrinet Co. Ltd., and some job cuts. At the same time, the company has been adding new pieces, most notably test-equipment firm (See Trimming Continues at JDSU, JDSU Cuts Continue, Fabrinet Acquiring JDSU China Facility, JDSU Acquires Photonic Power, and JDSU Buys Into Testy Market.)
The moves, including the Teem sale, are all part of "[CEO] Kevin Kennedy's general transitional strategy to bring the company back to cash profitability," a spokeswoman says.
The volume of deals has led to an accounting headache. JDSU's earnings call was postponed yesterday, as officials said they need extra time to audit the one-time charges racked up during the company's fourth quarter (see JDSU Delays Q4 Report).
Of separate interest is the fact that Teem Photonics is still alive, as the company hasn't been heard from much since raising €10 million in 2003 (see Teem Turns €10M Trick).
Teem still makes the erbium-doped waveguide amplifiers that were its claim to fame in 2000, when the company raised $31 million (see Teem Raises Component Steam). The company has also joined the fiber-to-the-home party with a line of passive splitters.
But the JDSU deal "represents an additional direction for Teem," says Jay Liebowitz, Teem's executive vice president. Q-switched lasers, which deliver a high-energy pulse lasting less than a nanosecond, are useful in industrial and biomedical circles, although Liebowitz wouldn't say which markets Teem intends to pursue.
Patents related to the Q-switched microlasers will remain with JDSU and will be licensed exclusively to Teem. JDSU also has agreed to supply Teem with some of the components necessary to build the devices.
— Craig Matsumoto, Senior Editor, Light Reading


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Software supply chain hacks escalated from mere rumours to making big headlines in the last couple of years. Recent incidents involving prominent organisations like Singapore Airlines, Singtel, Singapore’s National Trade Union Congress (NTUC), Microsoft, SolarWinds and Asus have highlighted the severity of the issue.
In Asia Pacific, more than 50% of companies have been negatively impacted by between two to five cybersecurity breaches in their supply chain. Despite the large number of attacks, only 38% of firms consider software supply chain risk a key priority.
The role of venture capital in fueling Southeast Asia’s startup and SME growth
By 2025, an alarming 45% of companies worldwide will experience attacks on their software supply chains, according to a recent Gartner report. In fact, another industry report has revealed a huge 742% increase in software supply chain attacks over the past three years. No one is immune.
An evolving epidemic
Software supply chain attacks come in multiple flavours, posing a significant challenge. Malicious actors continuously adapt, manifesting in different forms, such as code signing key theft, malware insertion into software products, and the incorporation of infected third-party software.
Even though attack techniques vary, their impact on the business attack does not. This impact can include loss of customer trust, reputation, revenue and/or leakage of confidential customer or corporate data. For example, the Singapore Airlines hack exposed 580,000 frequent flyer members, while SolarWinds’s malicious software infected tens of thousands of unsuspecting businesses and government agencies, including 425 of the US Fortune 500 companies, each of the top ten US telecommunication companies, and Microsoft itself.
Doctor’s prescriptions for protection
Similar to the approach taken during the COVID-19 pandemic, where multiple tools, treatments, and preventative measures were employed, organisations need to take a proactive and multi-layered approach to safeguard against software supply chain attacks and maintain customer trust.
Key prescriptions for protection include implementing robust security practices, conducting thorough risk assessments, establishing partnerships with trusted vendors, monitoring the supply chain for vulnerabilities, and ensuring regular software updates and patching.
A recommended solution involves adopting centralised and secure code signing management across the entire enterprise, regardless of where the software team is located, what programming language or platform the team uses or the type of software that the team develops (cloud-native, embedded device, mobile apps, etc.).
When one signs a piece of software, an assumption is made that the software being signed is free from bugs, malware and other vulnerabilities. But that hasn’t always been the case – SolarWinds’ software was signed with hidden malware and sold as legitimate software to more than 33,000 customers. Only later, it became the largest software supply chain attack in history.
To avoid signing in the blind, software threat detection must be integrated into an organisation’s security workflows. It needs to be easily accessible for a variety of different software teams developing a wide range of software application types and should not impact software team productivity (like slowing down CI/CD pipelines).
Additionally, security teams should have a single environment to work within to prescribe enterprise-wide security policies such as code signing process policy, policy for requiring deep binary scans for threats and vulnerabilities, and the creation of comprehensive Software Bill of Materials (SBOMs) to satisfy emerging regulatory requirements.
Finally, working with a single vendor providing both networking and security capabilities, offers advantages like reduced security gaps, improved network performance, ease of deployment, and effective integration and scalability.
In addition to organizations taking a proactive approach to protecting the software supply chain, the role of industry players and regulatory bodies is crucial.
One of the latest industry developments to prevent such attacks is DigiCert’s partnership with ReversingLabs, a leader in software supply chain security. This partnership enhances software security by combining advanced binary analysis and threat detection from ReversingLabs with DigiCert’s enterprise-grade secure code signing solution.
Such industry advancements, together with government initiatives like Cyber Security Agency Singapore’s supply chain guidelines, are key to combating this looming epidemic.
The article titled “Software supply chain attacks on the rise in APAC: Unmasking the looming epidemic and prescriptions for protection” was authored by Armando Dacal, Group Vice President, APJ for DigiCert
About the author
Armando Dacal is Group Vice President, APJ for DigiCert. In this role, Armando is responsible for driving DigiCert’s profile across APJ and contributing his insights to the cybersecurity industry throughout the region. Prior to joining DigiCert, Armando held several Asia Pacific leadership roles at Tanium and Palo Alto Networks.
Armando brings more than 22 years of experience in the cyber security space, leading high-performing customer- and partner-facing organisations for successful technology vendors. He has a strong track record of leading successful commercial and operational teams around the globe.
Prior to this, Armando held a number of senior leadership roles across cybersecurity vendors including Symantec, VeriSign, and Melbourne IT.
Armando holds a BA degree in International Economics from San Diego State University, he also serves to promote and foster American and Australian business relationships in his role as Governor for the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia.


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These days it seems that everyone has gone gaga for Lady Gaga and as of today we may be seeing more of her than ever before. It all started when USPS declared that it was throwing out the rule that only dead celebrities can appear on stamps. Gaga’s fans were excited to learn that the Lady was now eligible to be immortalized in the form of a stamp.
You may be asking why is an internet marketing company writing about Gaga stamps on its blog? Well my choice of topic is not as random as it seems. It all has to do with the fact that our lives are becoming increasingly digitized and more and more products and services are becoming obsolete. The Postal Service recognizes that more people are relying on email to communicate and that pretty soon mail will become extinct. It is taking this step because it hopes that by including modern celebrities on stamps they may become collector’s items as they once were.
Unfortunately, I doubt very much that stamps of the Jersey Shore gang or Justin Bieber are going to save snail mail let alone USPS as a whole. But for digital marketing companies this is actually a good thing. Now that it is obvious that mail is on the way out as the choice mode of communication email is the only sensible alternative. This means that email marketing will eventually become the standard method of communication with consumers.
Email marketing serves more purposes than solely sending a branded message to a target audience. If done right email newsletters (for instance) can do the following: they can drive traffic to landing pages or a company’s homepage, they can include links to social media pages encouraging consumer participation, they can even generate conversions by enabling recipients to navigate directly to a conversion page (like the e-commerce section of a site).
It is sad to see the USPS struggling especially considering that it provides many jobs. At the same time this transition makes sense and it is surprising that it hasn’t happened before now.


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Shoppers across Coventry and Warwickshire with vouches for Austin Reed stores are being urged to spend them as quickly as possible - or risk losing out.
The high street retailer is set to shut 120 stores by the end of June, which will result in the loss of more than 1,000 jobs nationwide.
With the suit chain set to vanish from the high street, consumer advice experts are urging shoppers to move fast.
Administrator AlixPartners said it would wind down the menswear retailer after it went into administration last month, as no viable offers had been received for the business.
Vouchers can be used before the stores shut, though.
That is good news for shoppers across the city and surrounding region, with the vouchers ONLY set to be accepted in stores.
Austin Reed boasts a Warwickshire store, in Stratford-upon-Avon, as well as two stores in Birmingham.
Consumer watchdog Which? says shoppers should spend their vouchers as quickly as possible.
Director of policy Alex Neill said: “Austin Reed has confirmed that gift vouchers can only be used in store.
"However, people should be aware that this situation could change, so our advice is to spend them as quickly as possible."
If a retailer goes into administration, it may legally refuse to accept gift vouchers.
Austin Reed's website is no longer accepting new orders, but any purchases already placed will be despatched.


text: Ojai Village Pharmacy back in the days is one of three business that have survive since the arcade. The new exhibit on the Ojai Arcade opened Thursday at the Ojai Valley Museum. “The Allure of Ojai´s Arcade, 1917 through 1977” at the Ojai Valley Museum will take visitors back to the beginning of the arcade when was the commercial center of town, with grocery and hardware stores, according to museum director Michele Pracy. These days the arcade is home to more of an amalgam of artists´ galleries, boutiques, restaurants and other high-end shops, she said. As a way to tell the story of the arcade, Pracy and the exhibitions committee of the museum decided to focus on three businesses that survived from before the arcade´s construction through the 1970s: the Ojai Village Pharmacy, Rains Department Store and Ojai Realty Co., which closed in 2009.


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Gartner ups 2012 chip forecast to 4% growth
March 15, 2012 // Jean-Pierre Joosting
Global semiconductor revenue is expected to increase by 4 percent to $316 billion in 2012, according to the latest forecast from market research firm Gartner Inc.
The revised forecast calls for higher annual growth than Gartner's previous forecast, issued last December. That forecast projected 2.2 percent growth for the year.
Worldwide semiconductor revenue is projected to total $316 billion in 2012, a 4 percent increase from 2011, according to Gartner, Inc. This outlook is up from Gartner's previous forecast in the fourth quarter of 2011 for 2.2 percent growth.
"The semiconductor industry is poised for a rebound starting in the second quarter of 2012," said Bryan Lewis, research vice president at Gartner, in a statement. "The inventory correction is expected to conclude this quarter, foundry utilization rates are bottoming, and the economic outlook is stabilizing."
In the memory sector, DRAM pricing is expected to improve beginning in the second quarter of 2012, Gartner said. The DRAM market will show a slight revenue increase in 2012—up about 1 percent from 2011—after declining 25 percent in 2011, Gartner said. DRAM prices declined about 50 percent in 2011, and Gartner analysts expect pricing to rebound in part due to the bankruptcy filing last month of Japan's Elpida Memory Inc.
NAND flash memory is expected to be one of the fastest-growing device types in 2012, with revenue forecast to grow 18 percent, Gartner said. Analysts attribute the NAND flash growth to a strong increase in mobile consumer devices and solid-state drives.
Media tablet unit production is forecast to increase 78 percent over 2011, and semiconductor revenue from media tablets will reach $9.5 billion in 2012, according to Garter's projections. Quad-core processors and higher-resolution displays will be mainstream for tablets in 2012, the firm predicted.
PC unit production is projected to increase 4.7 percent in 2012, with semiconductor revenue from PCs reaching $57.8 billion, according to Gartner. Mobile phone unit production is expected to grow 6.7 percent, with semiconductor revenue for mobile phones totaling $57.2 billion in 2012, Gartner said. The firm's analysts said that further innovation focused on location and context will require advances in sensing, processing, displays, connectivity and power efficiency.
"2012 should be a reasonably strong year for the semiconductor industry if the macroeconomic outlook stays in check," Lewis said. "Gartner's 2012 semiconductor forecast of 4 percent growth assumes the European debt issues stay contained, Iran/Israel tensions stay in check, and solid growth from China."
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This month, FTDI Chip is giving away six MCU development board packages complete with a dedicated compiler (including a full integrated development environment).
Worth Euro 315 each, the packages include a credit card sized Clicker 2 board for the FT90X 32-bit MCU supplied alongside a powerful dedicated compiler from MikroElektronika.
MORE INFO AND LAST MONTH' WINNERS...
December 15, 2011 | Texas instruments | 222901974
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