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The American Pacific Group, a private equity firm based in the San Francisco Bay Area, recently made a huge investment in local startups Gym Launch and Prestige Labs.
The exact terms of the investment were not disclosed, but it is likely that APG’s contribution resulted in a significant amount of capital for both companies.
The company is working to help people get after their goals, whether that’s losing weight, gaining muscle or something else entirely. And instead of just selling workout equipment, it’s also working on a digital platform that can give you personalized training and workout recommendations.
For Prestige Labs, American Pacific’s investment is a huge win. . The company says it will use its new funding to add staff and expand its product line.
“This is an exciting moment in our Company’s history,” said Alex Hormozi, founder of Gym Launch and Prestige Labs.
Alex Hormozi Reacts
“We are proud to have built a company that makes such a big impact on gym owners and their communities. We feel like we have just scratched the surface of the value we can provide, and the time is right to bring on a partner who can help us accelerate our growth.
American Pacific Group has demonstrated they have the experience and resources to help us foundationally transform the gym industry as a whole and become the company we envision.”
Alex Hormozi’s net worth and gym launches market valuation has increased by a huge amount because of this investment.
“Gym Launch has excelled in providing its clients comprehensive, value-added training resulting in outstanding value and return on investment for its clients,” said Fraser Preston, founder, and Managing Partner at APG.
“We are impressed with what Prestige Labs has achieved in the last few years with its high-quality line of supplements. We look forward to working with the team to continue the strong growth trajectory of Gym Launch and Prestige Labs.”
American Pacific Group (APG) is a private equity group that has $450 million of capital available to invest in the United States.
APG invests in medium-sized companies with enterprise values typically ranging from $50 million to $500 million, regardless of industry or geography. APG’s goal is long-term, sustainable growth, and value creation.


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SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) — California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris has announced preliminary settlements that resolve allegations that LG, Hitachi, Panasonic, Toshiba and Samsung fixed prices on Cathode Ray Tubes in televisions and TV monitors from 1995 to 2007 in order to raise prices worldwide.
Harris’ office believes the alleged price fixing scheme caused damage to California consumers and government entities because they bought what turned out to be overpriced televisions and computers.
“LG, Hitachi, Panasonic, Toshiba and Samsung deliberately targeted the U.S. market to raise prices for televisions and computers worldwide,” Harris said. “These settlements bring justice and relief to California consumers and end the malicious practice of price-fixing by these companies.”
The companies will pay $4.95 million to resolve the allegations of overcharging. The settlement requires that they pay back those affected by their alleged illegal profits. It also provides injunctive relief, forcing each company to develop compliance training and reporting to better follow laws and regulations.
California consumers or sole proprietorships that purchased at least one television or computer between 1995 and 2007 can apply for funding, with a minimum guarantee of $25.

domain: news


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WASHINGTON (DTN) -- Oil futures nearest delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange and Intercontinental Exchange Brent crude softened early Friday following this week's downward revisions to global oil demand projections from all major foresting agencies, while a strengthening U.S. Dollar Index in reaction to a hotter-than-expected inflation print for September further pressured the oil complex.
The greenback's strength also comes ahead of more economic data releases in the United States, including retail sales for September and the consumer sentiment index for early October. Both data points will be closely watched by markets to gauge the U.S. economy's performance against a backdrop of surging inflation and aggressive rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.
Retail sales, which are not adjusted for inflation unlike many other government reports, have mostly risen in recent months amid higher prices for nearly all consumer items. Retail sales grew 0.3% in August from the month before, a reversal after July's 0.4% drop, which largely reflected falling gasoline prices. Median consensus calls for September retail sales to have gained 0.2% from August, with the purchase of core goods, excluding gasoline and vehicles, to have risen at a faster clip of 0.4%.
Thursday's consumer price index report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics confirmed market fears that inflation in the U.S. economy is becoming more entrenched, broadening into the services sector that generally comprise about 80% of economic output. Core CPI, excluding volatile food and gasoline prices, surged to 6.6% in September -- the highest reading since 1982. Typically, services components of the CPI have a strong tailwind that will require more aggressive rate hikes and recession-like step-down in consumer demand to cool that part of the economy.
Following the data's release, Fed's Funds Rate futures priced in a 96.6% chance for the central bank to raise interest rates by another 75 basis points during their Nov. 1-2 meeting, which would be the fourth consecutive rate increase of this magnitude.
Near 7:30 a.m. EDT, the U.S. Dollar Index resumed its trend higher against a basket of foreign currencies to trade 0.55% higher at 112.870. NYMEX November West Texas Intermediate futures fell below $88 barrel (bbl), down $1.40, and ICE December Brent futures dropped $1.35 to $93.20 bbl. NYMEX November ULSD futures retreated 10 cents to $3.9935 gallon -- after climbing to 3 1/2-month high settlement on the spot continuous chart on Thursday. November RBOB futures dropped 7 cents to $2.6330 gallon.
Underlying losses in the oil complex this week are downward revisions to global oil demand projections from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Paris-based International Energy Agency. IEA projects global oil demand will contract by 340,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the current fourth quarter, pressing year-over-year consumption growth to 1.9 million bpd in 2022 and to 1.7 million bpd next year.
The relentless deterioration of the economy and higher prices sparked by an OPEC+ decision to cut production are slowing world oil demand and could be the tipping point for a global economy already on the brink of recession, said IEA. Similar sentiment was echoed in OPEC's Monthly Oil Market Report released earlier this week showing global oil demand to expand by 2.64 million bpd or 2.7% in 2022, down 460,000 bpd from the previous forecast.
"The world economy has entered into a time of heightened uncertainty and rising challenges, amid ongoing high inflation levels, monetary tightening by major central banks, high sovereign debt levels in many regions as well as ongoing supply issues," said OPEC.
Liubov Georges can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org


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Amin, though he did have P&G experience on Pantene decades ago, was at risk of adding to that storyline when he took over e.l.f. in 2014. And by 2018, it looked like that might happen. E.l.f. missed on sales and earnings numbers because, as Amin admitted, it didn’t have an answer for the impact that influencer-backed brands like those from the Kardashian clan were having on cosmetics.
But Amin then quickly engineered a turnaround, focusing on fundamentals, ramping up product development of the value-priced e.l.f. (Eyes Lips Face) and hiking spending on digital marketing. That turnaround was already well underway by last year, and the pandemic has only helped turn e.l.f. from a something of an industry oddity into a success model.
“We’ve had this incredible ability to take the best of beauty and make it accessible,” Amin says. E.l.f. customers tend to be younger and more diverse than other beauty customers. And they kept buying cosmetics, thanks in part to government stimulus, he says. “We could see a change, just as they got a few more bucks in their pockets.”
E.l.f.’s time has come
Value has been one key factor behind e.l.f.’s recent success, says Jefferies & Co. analyst Stephanie Wissink, and it helped that the company’s key external retailers and its own e-commerce operation weren’t hurt meaningfully by pandemic lockdowns. But the roots of success go much deeper, she says, and recent scanner data suggest the success is continuing.
She also credits a marketing approach, led by beauty veteran and Chief Marketing Officer Kory Marchisotto, that focuses on accessibility and self-expression when those things are particularly important.
The company began outperforming its beauty peers early last year, Wissink says. “They caught lightning in a bottle with a couple of product launches that were taken up by some very influential influencers, and I think really put the brand back on the map in terms of consumer mind share, and validated the brand.”
Then came the pandemic and unrest over racial injustice, both of which actually played into e.l.f.’s strengths, she says.
“The immediate response from almost all the beauty companies when COVID hit was that they pulled back on all their innovation and just played it safe,” Wissink says. “E.l.f. isn’t set up that way. They don’t have a play-it-safe option. Their normal mode of operation is innovate, innovate, innovate. So they just kept on innovating. They just kept powering through both on content and products. Those moments are when I think you gain a tremendous amount of mindshare.”
Its e-commerce roots also have made e.l.f. quick to try anything in digital marketing, Amin says. The brand was doing influencer marketing in the middle of last decade before many marketers had heard of it. And it launched the beauty industry’s first big hit on TikTok last year, with an EyesLipsFace hashtag challenge that still ranks as the most viral in U.S. TikTok history with more than 6 billion views and 4.5 million user generated videos. The brand followed up in April with an EyesLipsFace Magic Act campaign spawning another 2 billion views.
E.l.f. also has over 5.5 million Instagram followers, so despite the success on TikTok, Amin isn’t worried what happens there with a possible sale or government shutdown.
“As great a success as we’ve had on TikTok, we’re also strong on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, even Amazon,” Amin says. “We hope that resolves. But we’ll test on Instagram Reels. We’re constantly looking at emerging platforms for consumers and will be led by where they’re spending their time.”
It's a mentality that has e.l.f. punching well above its weight in marketing, Wissink says. “It’s a company doing $300 million in revenue, spending 10 percent of revenue on marketing. Most beauty companies spend 35 percent of sales on marketing and are four to five times the size of e.l.f., and they’re not getting the same level of visibility. They are definitely taking that $30 million and getting more than $30 million of value out of it.”
The viral effect and all those user-generated TikTok videos play a big role in making that happen, Wissink believes.
“E.l.f.’s stock has been a little choppy of late over fear that TikTok will be banned,” she says. But she also believes the company’s history of trying other platforms will help, no matter what.
Uncertainty and opportunity
Despite the uncertainty of further stimulus, Amin sees plenty of new opportunities now, too.
The company didn’t try to buy its way out of beauty’s mega-influencer and direct-to-consumer onslaught like some bigger incumbents. But it did in February acquire Well People, a skincare brand with “clean” ingredients certified by the Environmental Working Group. While a big competitor recently put out a release about creating one EWG-certified product after years of work, Amin says, e.l.f. acquired 40 such products “in one fell swoop” with Well People.
Next is a new lifestyle brand e.l.f. will launch next year with Alicia Keys, details of which the two sides are keeping under wraps for now. But it’s billed as an “entry-level prestige” brand to be sold direct-to-consumer via as yet unnamed retailers.
That Keys, with her 15 Grammys, 92 million social media followers and New York Times bestselling biography, would choose e.l.f. was in itself remarkable.
“She’s been pursued by every major house in our space,” Amin says. What proved decisive, he believes, is a confluence of values and culture between Keys and the company.
“As successful as she is, she’s been very open about the struggles she had growing up with her own skin and the insecurities that created,” he says. “Part of her messaging is that she’s often hated the exclusionary nature of beauty, this aspect of unattainable aspirational standards. Her meaning is much deeper. It’s really about her inner beauty.
E.l.f.’s accessibility focus—“the best in beauty for every eye lip and face” as Amin puts it, goes back to its early days selling $1 products strictly online and today selling what he says is the industry’s best-selling and best-performing pore-less putty primer for $8, vs. $52 for a comparable Silk Canvas product from Unilever’s Tatcha.
Diversity pays dividends
Keys was also swayed by e.l.f.’s digs and its diversity, says Amin, born in Kenya of Indian descent. “When she came out to Oakland, she loved the fact that we’re an Oakland-based company,” Amin says. “She liked the fact that we look different in every single way. We’re in this old cigar warehouse build in the early 1900s. And the diversity of our team. Seventy-five percent of our team is female. Over 60 percent are millennial or Gen Z. Almost 50 percent are diverse. So there’s this core connection on values.”
Like other e.l.f. products, the new entry with Keys will sell online and through retailers. But e-commerce, which has set e.l.f. apart from its inception in 2004, runs the show.
While many beauty-celebrity collaborations aren’t obvious fits, the e.l.f.-Keys connection absolutely is, Wissink says. “I think this came out of a conversation, not a deal. I think it came out of an alignment of vision.”
It’s also an important strategic move for e.l.f. as the pandemic has only accelerated trends toward skincare over cosmetics and toward women using cosmetics as a form of self-expression rather than a way to validate themselves in the eyes of others, Wissink says. That e.l.f.’s branding and marketing in social media focus heavily on self-expression only helps, she says.
Besides likely swaying Keys, the brand’s history of diversity—in its employment, board membership and leadership—also helped when racial justice became a huge issue in the summer, she says.
“Consumers were calling on companies to step forward and talk about their internal diversity and inclusion,” Wissink says. “And e.l.f. has for years talked about the diversity of their employee base. There has been evidence of diversity before this moment, but when the moment hit, they were able to stand on this authenticity and say ‘we’re not making these changes because of the moment.’”
Ahead of its time
Elfcosmetics.com has been well ahead of its time in other ways, for example, by having the top beauty e-commerce site with 30 million annual visitors, Amin says.
Launched in 2004, e.l.f. was really a prototype for the wave of direct-to-consumer beauty startups that would begin flooding the market a decade later. Testing products on Elfcosmetics.com before moving them into outside retail has been standard practice at e.l.f. for years, as is using first-party data and reviews from the site to drive marketing and assortment decisions for offline retail.
That didn’t immediately set well years ago with Walmart VP of Beauty Merchandising Jody Pinson, as Amin describes it. She called him one day to say: “You guys are crazy,” as he recalls, explaining that of the 25 percent of products e.l.f. planned to remove from Walmart shelves, many were among the chain’s top-performing beauty items. Amin recalls explaining to Pinson that e.l.f.’s model was to harness customer data from its site to change retail assortments, and that it works. “That was the only time I got a call from her,” he says. “Once they saw their comps, they went, ‘OK, we get it.’”
First-party customer data also helps drive integration of product development, manufacturing and marketing far greater than anything Amin ever saw in his earlier CPG days. Even the best product-development processes at those prior companies took a couple of years. But everything happens simultaneously at e.l.f., he says, cutting development time dramatically. “I’m in a product review every two weeks,” he says. “We can go from initial idea to selling online as fast as 13 weeks.”


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Vila Real de Santo António will open its Christmas village in Marquês de Pombal square on December 4, bringing the “magic of Christmas spirit” to the heart of the town.
Doors will open at 5.45pm with a special concert, followed by the arrival of Santa at 6.30pm.
The village will be open every day between 10am and 7pm, with no entry charges.
There will be workshops on offer, musical and dancing performances, handicraft and cooking demonstrations and a Christmas fair boasting dozens of stalls as well as carousels, trampolines and bouncy castles.
VRSA is also organising other festive initiatives throughout the borough, while Christmas lights have already been set up along the town’s main shopping streets – Rua Téofilo Braga and Rua 5 de Outubro – as well as at local roundabouts.
Another highlight of the season is the town’s massive nativity scene, which attracts thousands to the eastern Algarve town every year. It can be visited from December 5 at the António Aleixo cultural centre and boasts over 4,000 figures set within nearly 20 tons of material.
Christmas trees created by kindergarten pupils will also be on show throughout the town’s historic centre, while Cacela Velha nearby will be hosting its traditional ‘Mercadinho de Natal’ on December 13.


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Microsoft's board will soon choose the company's next CEO and some say the two front runners are Ford CEO Alan Mulally and Satya Nadella, who leads Microsoft's Cloud and Enterprise group, reports Bloomberg's Dina Bass and Carol Hymowitz.
A lot of people think Mulally could really good for the company, especially since he was the mastermind behind Steve Ballmer's big reorg last summer, named "One Microsoft."
Nadella has been rising fast, too, from the division that ran Office, to the division that ran Bing, to the one that's running cloud computing and tools for software developers.
But CEO headhunter Adam Charlson believes that Microsoft will most likely pick former Nokia CEO Steven Elop. Adam Charlson is a vice president for executive recruiting firm DHR International.
Although Charlson is not involved with Microsoft's CEO search, he has worked with Microsoft in the past, finding an executive to run Microsoft's American sales organization a few years ago, he said.
Interestingly, the Microsoft board had previously named COO Kevin Turner to follow Ballmer, Charlson said. "I know in Microsoft's case Turner was put in the succession plan to succeed Ballmer," Charlson told Business Insider.
And Turner is still considered a contender but the problem with selecting him is that there are "public questions if Steve Ballmer's strategy will bring results," he said. As Ballmer's right-hand man, if Ballmer's strategy is "flawed," then is Kevin Turner the right person to lead the company in a new direction?
As for Mulally, he "would be a bold decision by the board of directors," but he isn't exactly qualified "to be a tech CEO" and "run Microsoft," says Charlson. "There’s a way to force positive change and there's a way to shock the system where it could possibly break. Getting a CEO of a car company ... would abandon the roots of what made company successful," he says. It's better for Microsoft to get a CEO that "speaks the language" of Microsoft.
Given that both Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer are involved in the search for the new CEO, Charlson thinks these are the obvious criteria that they will want:
- someone who understands Microsoft's culture.
- someone who understands the tech world, particularly enterprise software (Microsoft's bread and butter).
- someone with the experience of running a publicly traded company
- someone who understands mobile, the strategy where Microsoft has staked its future by building its own PCs and buying Nokia's device business for $7 billion.
There's really only one person that has all of these qualities, Charlson says: Elop.
Before leaving Microsoft to become Nokia's CEO, Elop was the head of Microsoft's Business Division, responsible for Microsoft's cash-cow Office business.
"Microsoft plans to become more of a mobile company. If they are going to abandon that strategy after buying Nokia for $7 billion, that's highly doubtful. And if they are going to go with a mobile, Elop is the obvious choice," Charlson said.


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The US Senate is going to move forward with a sweeping new bill after Senator Joe Manchin finally accepted to include investments to curb climate change. The new bill is going to include the long-awaited electric vehicle tax credit reform that is going to give back access to the tax credit to Tesla GM vehicles, along with other changes.
Last year, the US House of Representatives passed the $1.9 trillion “Build Back Better” legislation, but it has been stuck in the divided Senate ever since.
The bill is interesting to the EV community because it includes a long-needed reform to the federal tax credit for electric vehicles.
Even though it is technically a small part of the overall bill, it is a point of contention.
The main goal of the reform, and the one most people agree on, is the need to eliminate the tax credit cap after automakers hit 200,000 EVs sold, since it is putting automakers that were early in pushing electric vehicles at a disadvantage. It also happens that those automakers are American automakers, like Tesla and GM, while many foreign automakers still have access to the credit.
Joe Manchin, a Democrat and senior United States senator from West Virginia, has been holding his vote, which is the deciding vote since the democrat needs every single one of their votes in the Senate to pass anything.
The senator, who comes from a very conservative state, has proven to be difficult to deal when it comes to initiatives that deal with climate change, but in a reversal today, he announced that he accepted a new version of the bill, now called ‘Inflation Reduction Act of 2022’.
We pulled the information from the bill and confirmed all the changes to the EV federal tax credit in the new version:
- Federal tax credit for EVs maintained at $7,500
- Eliminates tax credit cap after automakers hit 200,000 EVs sold, making GM and Tesla once again eligible
- The language in the bill indicates that the tax credit would be implemented at the point of sale instead of on taxes.
- In order to get the full credit, the electric vehicle needs to be assembled in North America, the majority of battery components need to come from North America, and contain a certain percentage of minerals from countries with free trade agreements with the US.
- A new federal tax credit of $4,000 for used EVs
- Zero-emission vans, SUVs, and trucks with MSRPs up to $80,000 qualify
- Electric sedans priced up to $55,000 MSRP qualify
- The full EV tax credit will be available to individuals reporting adjusted gross incomes of $150,000 or less, $300,000 for joint filers
This would enable Tesla and GM to get access back to the credit – though in Tesla’s case, it would only apply to some versions of the Model 3 due to the new $55,000 price limit.
The new limit on gross income has also been greatly reduced.
However, the bill is not law yet, but with Manchin now being on board, it should be able to move through the legislative process after over a year of negotiation.
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LG has sent out invitations to its press event on August 7th in New York City. Android blogs are expecting the launch of an Optimus G2 smartphone because of the invitation's large G and 2 in the text. LG's Optimus G Pro, released earlier this year, has a 13-megapixel camera, and 5.5-inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel display. We'll be on hand at the event next month to see what LG has in store.
Read more about the LG invite at Android Central.
|Chicago Alley by tko|
from Down the alleyway
|Callan-5680 by vbuhay|
from What Child's Dream May Come
|Widget by Wilfried HKG|
|Oxbow Bend by stickpointed|
from Landscape - Colour #2


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Want to join the conversation?
$XLNX's new product sales increased 11% in 2Q16 with increases from its 7 Series, Zynq-7000 family, and its 20-nm UltraScale family, which exceeded $15MM in quarterly sales. Zynq adoption continues to be strong across a broad base of end markets including automotive, wireless, industrial and consumer applications.
$NFLX a monster move, going up. Expect making some money on Monday.
$AMD down more than 6% even after posting above consensus third quarter results.
$MCD stock rose more than 2% after it posted better than expected 3Q16 results, driven by global same-store sales growth. Meanwhile, earnings and revenue were lower than last year, hurt by refranchising efforts.


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In what's sure to be a hit with hardware nerds, AnandTech has run a suite of benchmarks on 27 different devices. The line-up is dominated by Android, but also includes the iPhone 3GS (both on 4.1 and 4.2.1), iPhone 4, iPad, Blackberry Torch, and the WP7-powered HTC Surround. The results? Broadly speaking, Android comes out looking damn good. As for the dual cores - well, as you'd expect, they performed even better.
Google has announced a new subscription service called One Pass, which will allow publishers to create a centralised system for "user authentication, payment processing and administration".
One Pass will take a 10% cut of the cash collected, with 90% going straight to the publishers. This will be a welcome alternative to Apple's draconian model which takes a significant 30% of each transaction. However, Google will also be providing publishers with the names and email addresses of subscribers, something which Apple has refused to do.
Super Bowl XLV is going down this Sunday, and while most people can't wait to see the Steelers face off against the Packers, Android fans have another reason to be excited: Motorola plans to air a commercial for the world's first Honeycomb tablet during the big game.
However, for those of us who simply can't wait any longer, Motorola's released 15 seconds of the ad - check it out:
As you can see, Motorola has decided to take yet another jab at Apple and the iPad's lack of customizability - not exactly the most innovative approach, but so long as it piques the public's interest, it should suffice.
According to Don Kellogg from the Nielsen Company, 31% of all mobile phone users in the U.S. own some type of a smartphone. More interestingly, it appears that the race for market share in the U.S. by the leading smartphone platforms - Android, iOS and BlackBerry - is in a dead heat.
We have already learnt from analysts at Canalys that shipments of Android-based smartphones globally commanded a 32.9% share of the market, followed by devices running Nokia's Symbian OS at 30.6%, Apple's iPhone OS at 16%, and RIM's BlackBerry OS at 14.4%.
Although, the Android Market has exploded recently, it is no secret that apps on the iOS platform consistently look and perform better. With revenues from mobile apps set to triple this year, Google is going on a mass hiring spree to find developers to create quality apps for the Android Market, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Google, like Apple, takes a 30% cut for every app sold in the Market. However, with paid app sales failing to live up to expectations, Google is hoping to increase its revenue stream by improving the overall quality of the apps available in the Market.
It appears that Motorola's ad campaign for the XOOM is underway, with the following ad released today by ShareMoto. As in the previous, and I would say much more successful Tablet Evolution ad, Apple plays a big part, being compared to the Big Brother from 1984. Motorola then flies some [impressive] specs around and... that's it. No pictures of the XOOM - nothing. If this is indeed their Super Bowl ad they are planning to air during the game this Sunday, I will be very disappointed.
As Android's market share continues to grow, it is inevitable that it will become a target for viruses and other malware. Indeed Steve Chang, the chairman of Trend Micro, a provider of security software, cautioned that Android is far more susceptible to malware attacks than iOS.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Chang claimed that Android's open source infrastructure allowed hackers to better understand the underlying architecture and source code.
verizon-iphone-4The big question on everyone's mind (well, at least ours) today is: How will the iPhone coming to Verizon next month change the smartphone landscape? At this point, it's anyone's guess, but Android's unabashed domination on the US's largest wireless carrier will certainly be challenged in the coming months. However, there are significant forces at work that won't exactly help the iPhone with its Verizon debut - namely, Verizon and Android.
Motorola is expected to launch its XOOM tablet in February 2011 and, according to DigiTimes, they have placed an order for about 700,000 to 800,000 units. If there is greater demand, DigiTimes expects the order to reach up to one million units by the end of the first quarter of 2011.
Interestingly, DigiTimes also claims that Motorola and Samsung are being given special treatment by Google, while competitors, such as LG and HTC, are being left behind.


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Apple has started getting weird with its iOS updates lately. First the company released iOS 6.0.2, which is only supported by the iPhone 5 and the iPad Mini, and today Apple has released iOS 6.1.1 only for the iPhone 4S.
Pod2g previously spoke on the iOS 6.1.1 update matter, saying that Apple did not patch any of the Evasi0n Jailbreak exploits in the update, could Apple be getting more lenient with Jailbreaking?
Good news for iPhone 4S users planning to update to iOS 6.1.1, planetbeing took to Twitter saying that the evad3rs team will be releasing an update to the Evasi0n Jailbreak tool, supporting the iOS 6.1.1 firmware to be Jailbroken.
Apple released 6.1.1 for the 4S only today. The JB still works fine. We will release an updated evasi0n that recognizes it as supported.
— planetbeing (@planetbeing) February 11, 2013
Users who aren’t having any problems with iOS 6.1 should avoid this update, as it is possible iOS 6.1.1 could cause some Cydia Tweaks and Packages not to work.
For more updates you can follow iOSVlog on Twitter, Like on Facebook, or Add us to your circles on Google+


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Toyota is recalling 7.43 million vehicles globally, including in the US, Japan and Europe, over a faulty power-window switch that may stop working in more than a dozen models produced between 2005 and 2010.
The Japanese car giant - which has an engine making factory in Deeside - said today that the switch on the driver’s side did not have grease applied evenly during production, causing friction in the switch and sometimes smoke.
No crashes or injuries have been reported in connection with the problem.
In North America, the models being recalled are the Yaris, Corolla, Matrix, Camry, RAV4, Highlander, Tundra, Sequoia and Scion models xB and xD. Recalled in Japan are the Vitz, Belta, Ractis, Ist, Auris and Corolla Lumimon, and in Europe the Yaris, Corolla, Auris, Camry and Rav-4.
China, Australia, other Asian nations and the Middle East are also affected.


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Pune based IT Company Destek Infosolutions Pvt Ltd has raised an amount of 2 Million in seed funding round for one of its platforms, LegalNextt - An Extensi...
The combined effect of sections 143 and 143A would mean that, not only the Drawee can impress and urge upon the trial court to expect a speedy trial, but also to grant an interim compensation of 20 per cent of amount of cheque as a partial recovery.
The CAIT claims that the acquisition will give Walmart incentives to block a section of the market to certain seller’s thereby reducing competition in the market.
The CCI’s decision, while clearing the OPs, contains some views that have important consequences on common investors.
A tax notice is uncomfortable, but in most cases manageable and is certainly not a reason to panic.
Compliance with the provisions of the GDPR may prove to be both expensive and cumbersome for businesses considering their limited resources.
Like every developing industry there were some more holes which needed to be plugged in the taxing framework for which the industry had made a number of representations and had hoped that this Budget would have cleared the mist around those looming questions.
The flavour of 2017 was more of a wait and watch policy owing to wide-ranging regulatory uncertainty and impact of demonetisation.
The development, experts say, marks a crucial juncture in the winding-down narrative of the ‘controversial’ homestay and hotel aggregator.
Jurvetson sits on the board of both Tesla Inc. and Space Exploration Technologies Corp., and is a close friend of Musk.
When contacted by ET, a Jasper Infotech spokesperson said the company would initiate strict legal action against Quickdel Logistics.
The lawsuit concerns the medical files of a woman who was raped in India by her Uber driver in December, 2014.
Senior advocate Indira Jaising contended that companies did not carry out background checks on their drivers, making the commuters vulnerable and there should be a proper mechanism to regulate the companies.
Alleging that the aggregators are disrupting the market by putting in huge sums of foreign investor money, the company said it has filed four different complaints with the CCI.
Rai, owner of QuickDel that owns and operates GoJavas, says Jasper & promoters Bahl, Bansal violated non-compete pacts.
Omni Labs, which provides clients digital platforms for data visualisation and analytics, had set up a US entity in 2015.


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General Motors has informed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) about recalling 7,601 police patrol vehicles due to problems relating to transmission.
The affected vehicles were built in Australia and imported to North America, and include the 2011-13 Chevrolet Caprice PPV.
According to the automaker, the vehicle’s display panel may show the wrong gear.
GM is going to send a service kit to dealers to fix the problem.
Source: Detroit Free Press


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Amol Sarva, founder and ousted CEO of Knotel, has become more outspoken about his regrets with his company’s recent dealings with Newmark, who recently purchased the flexible office firm.
In February, it was announced that Newmark would take over Knotel and provide $20 million in debtor-in-possession so the flexible office company can go through bankruptcy proceedings.
However, Sarva’s appearance on YouTube web series The Business of Business revealed that he believes the company’s collapse was primarily caused by nepotism and the “dog-eat-dog” nature of the industry. He added that it was his own poor decisions that led the company to be in someone else’s hands.
According to Sarva, Newmark CEO Barry Gosin approached Knotel operators saying they wanted to support the company. Knotel was then introduced to investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald, whose founder and chairman Howard Lutnick is also the chairman of Newmark.
Late last year, Sarva claimed Knotel’s venture lender TriplePoint Capital had sold its debt, although a refinancing plan was in the works. He then learned that it was Newmark who had purchased the debt.
After this, Sarva says he was told that the company was in default and on the cusp of being foreclosed on.
“[They said] you’re going to have to shut down your whole business, or we can lend you another $20 million now on the condition that you bankrupt the company, run an auction for it and let us buy it,’” said Sarva. “It was just like, consummate Wall Street.”


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DEARBORN, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Lisa Drake, Ford COO of North America, will discuss the company’s North America business with lead auto analyst Joe Spak during the RBC Industrials Conference on Monday, Sept. 14, at 10:40 a.m. EDT.
The session will cover topics such as Ford’s North America cost structure, the company’s plans to capitalize on vehicle connectivity, and quality and launch improvements.
Participants can view the session at this webcast link. Additional information is available at shareholder.ford.com.
About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is a global company based in Dearborn, Michigan. The company designs, manufactures, markets and services a full line of Ford cars, trucks, SUVs, electrified vehicles and Lincoln luxury vehicles, provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company and is pursuing leadership positions in electrification; mobility solutions, including self-driving services; and connected services. Ford employs approximately 188,000 people worldwide. For more information regarding Ford, its products and Ford Motor Credit Company, please visit corporate.ford.com.
Lynn Antipas Tyson
800.555.5259 or 313.845.8540
Ford Media Center


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Sales Rebound, and Job Growth May FollowBy and
In a telling indication that business is strong, a greater percentage of U.S. companies is exceeding sales forecasts than at any time in the past four years, helping drive the biggest stock market rally since 1936.
Caterpillar (CAT) and United Parcel Service (UPS), whose construction equipment and delivery businesses make them barometers for the economy, are among the 71 percent of Standard & Poor's 500-stock index companies whose revenue topped analyst estimates last quarter, the largest proportion since at least 2006, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Sales beat projections by an average of 2.2 percent, the most in two years, the data show.
While earnings gains can result from cost-cutting (companies fired as many as 8.75 million workers from January 2008 through February 2010), the sales momentum is a sign that basic business demand is strengthening and may be a prelude to increased hiring that would buttress the recovery. "Sales tend to be highly correlated to economic activity," says Greg Woodard, a strategist at Manning & Napier in Fairport, N.Y., which manages about $36 billion. "We're starting to see the very early signs of hiring."
Total revenue for S&P 500 companies may rise 7.5 percent this year, the most since 2007, to an all-time high of $1,017.44 a share, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales fell 13 percent from September 2008 to March 2009.
Caterpillar, the world's largest maker of earth-moving equipment, said it added about 19,000 jobs last year, including 7,500 positions, a 15 percent increase, in the U.S. The company, based in Peoria, Ill., beat analysts' projections for fourth-quarter sales by 11 percent, the biggest margin in almost three years. The shares gained 64 percent last year and reached an all-time high of $100.61 on Feb. 8.
"You're definitely going to see an increase in hiring in almost every industry this year," says Eric Green, a money manager at Penn Capital Management in Philadelphia, which oversees $5.6 billion. "As demand goes up, you need to have employees working."
At Google (GOOG), executives are preparing for the biggest year in employee growth in the company's history. The owner of the world's most popular search engine, which plans to hire at least 6,000 people this year, posted revenue that beat forecasts by 5.1 percent on Jan. 21, Bloomberg data show.
The stronger results helped the S&P 500 hit 1,324 on Feb. 8, a 31-month high. It has surged 96 percent since March 2009, the biggest advance for a comparable period since 1936, according to Howard Silverblatt, an index analyst for S&P. David Bianco, chief U.S. equity strategist at Bank of America (BAC), predicts the index will hit 1,400 by the end of the year. On Jan. 31 he wrote: "Better-than-expected sales growth means earnings growth is being driven not by cost-cutting but by improving demand."
The bottom line: Sales growth is a sign the economy is reviving and may encourage companies to hire, strengthening the recovery.


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Upscale swimwear and lingerie retailer Eres is quietly exiting its U.S. stores. The brand, which is owned by Chanel, will vacate its 900-square-foot store at 621 Madison Ave., between East 58th and East 59th streets, in mid-September.
Earlier this year, Eres shuttered a SoHo outpost. Two additional boutiques, in Palm Beach and Beverly Hills, will also be closed between August and October. The Madison Avenue shop will be closed when Eres' lease expires.
Jeffrey Roseman, the Newmark Knight Frank Retail broker who represents the retail space in the SL Green Realty Corp.-owned building, said a new tenant is already in negotiations for Eres' old space. The deal is expected to close by the end of the month.
“It's amazing, but Madison is back,” said Mr. Roseman. “The minute we put it on the market we got an offer.”
The potential retail tenant sells high-end men's accessories and apparel. Asking rent for the space is near $850 a square foot, according to Mr. Roseman. The property, called the Revlon Building, also houses luxury tenants such as Stuart Weitzman, Swarovski and Wolford.
“We're confident of replacing Eres with another high-end boutique that's in keeping with character of neighborhood,” said Larry Swiger, senior vice president at SL Green.
By abandoning its independent retail business, Eres hopes to capitalize on its department store offerings.
“We want to focus on our existing wholesale business and opening franchised shop-in-shop concepts in department stores,” said Celine Kaplan, an Eres spokeswoman, adding that such a strategy is currently being tested in Europe and has been successful. The brand currently sells at Barneys New York and Saks Fifth Avenue.
The news of Eres closing its U.S. stores was first reported by Women's Wear Daily.


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A new Analytical Report reveals that iPhone owners Trade-in their iPhones more than 3X Android Smartphone owners do
Today a new analytical report that looked at how users dispose of their old smartphones. Surveys show that iPhone owners and Android owners handle their old phones very differently when they buy a new one. The report posted by CIRP included the following six processing methods:
- Gift to Relatives and/or Friends
The results showed that a total of 50% of iPhone users chose to trade in or sell their old phone, while 23% chose to keep the old phone and 13% chose to give it to a relative or friend. Only 14% of Android users chose to trade in their smartphone, as the chart below proves out.
Another survey detail revealed that 15% of new iPhone buyers are Android switchers. According to the analysis of their researchers, it may be because the low trade-in value of Android phones makes this option less attractive. Also, there may be some users switching from Android to iPhone who want to keep a familiar backup device in case they fail to bring all their contacts, photos or notes to their new iOS device.
For details about Apple's Trade-In program, visit Apple's website here.


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A research by the University of Oviedo analyzes the eating habits of Spaniards
February 07, 2014
The work of the researchers from the group of Sociology of Food confirms that we eat outside and that the economic crisis has changed the buying habits of everyday diet.
How well do we Spaniards eat? What has been the impact of the economic crisis in our eating habits? What are some of the reasons that make us go on a diet? These are some of the questions answered by the studye titled Hábitos alimentarios de los españoles, conducted by the research group on Sociology of Food of the University of Oviedo. The study, sponsored by CAPSA, has just been published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment.
The survey conducted to more than 1,500 people throughout the country reveals that Spaniards have a diet rich in fresh produce, which makes us need to buy food very frequently and prefer doing our shopping in local shops. Consumers tend to show a greater degree of trust for this type of commerce than they do towards larger companies. The attachment to local products and the proximity of this type of shops tip the scales in favor of buying food in your neighborhood commerces.
The economic crisis has left its mark in food habits. The research conducted by the team led by Professor Cecilia Díaz confirms that we now eat outside less frequently and the that those who do so due to their jobs during the week are mainly men. Eating outside retains a clearly social and leisure component and 3 out of 5 people surveyed confirm that they still eat outside during the weekends. Working and study hours force a sizable portion of the population to have lunch at their workplace during the week, and in this group, the number of people who cook their food at home and then bring it to their workplace has increased, especially among students.
One of the key difference between Spain and the rest of Europe is the schedule. The amount of time alloted to food is greater than in other countries due to the working hours and the social component linked to lunch and dinner. The researchers point out that a change in the schedule from 9 to 5, the most common working hours in other countries, would modify the "nature of main meal that lunch has, transforming both the composition and the social aspect that food has for Spaniards". The increase of single-person homes has also contributed to this social aspect.
Living on a diet, aesthetics or health
The research conducted by the Department of Sociology of the University of Oviedo shows that 1 out of 4 Spaniards is on a diet and more than half of them wants to lose weight, while around 30% do it for medical reasons. Diabetes, cholestorl and hypertension are the main illnesses that lead patients to embark on a healthier diet.
The experts warn that pressure to slim down "may lead to a medicalization of nutrition" that lays the ground for miracle cures, specially if they are backed by specialists in the field of healthcare.
In general terms, the majority of the population admits to avoid certain foods that they deem unhealthy. This is the case of candies, pre-cooked food, sugary drinks and butter. Nevertheless, this limitation is not applied to bread, potatoes or milk.
Food crises, such as the Mad Cow Disease or the Cucumber Crisis have taken their toll on cosumers' trust. Nevertheless, scientists, health authorities and consumer associations maintain a high degree of credibility among the population when facing a possible food crisis.
In terms of gender, the research proves that women are the ones in charge of cooking in Spanish homes: a 77.8% of women against a 22.2% of men. Among men, university students between the age of 30 and 40 are the ones that most commonly cook at home. This data backs the claim that proposes that it is women who are more involved in following a healthy diet.
- Cecilia Díaz Méndez
- Isabel García Espejo
- Rodolfo Gutiérrez Palacios
- Amparo Novo Vázquez


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Learn the secrets of startup success with tips on gaining early traction and centering your business around the idea of Give First.
Kirstin Hunter, managing director of Techstars Tech Central Sydney powered by the NSW Government, has a few questions for founders who want to join her program.
Find out what Matt Kozlov, managing director of three Techstars programs, is looking for in a founder.
The Techstars Advancing Cities Fund Deployment Report details key data, founder facts, and post-graduation information on the heels of our announcement that 50% of the fund has been deployed.
Founders interested in meeting mentors and gaining expertise in business development, product-market fit, and raising capital should apply to the The Techstars Industries of the Future Accelerator program by Nov. 29.


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China is Australia’s number one trading partner, with two-way flow of goods and services exceeding $150 billion last year. Australia and China came to a Free Trade .
November 19, 2014
The Third Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China has a tradition of bold reforms..
January 07, 2014


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The D-Link AI-based DCS-8331KT smart DIY security bundle is a home monitoring solution that allows the user to automate and control devices throughout their home, regardless of where they are.
Electricians who install or service intelligent lighting should familiarise themselves with Power over Ethernet (PoE), according to IDEAL Networks.
KNX is the first and only smart home and smart building standard that meets the highest security requirements in cyber security worldwide.
The PSA LIFESAVER SILHOUETTE smoke alarm is designed to be small, unobtrusive and aesthetically pleasing.
The property allows visitors to control the lighting, speakers, fans, curtains and television with the sound of their own voice.
Intelligent homes technology pioneer Quantify Technology has signed an agreement with ASI Electrics for the distribution of its products in Victoria.
Intelligent Home Technology Centre and Quantify Technology have signed a distribution agreement that will see Quantify's smart home technology products sold via Intelligent Home's display suite.
Computer scientists from the University of Massachusetts Amherst have developed a tool to automatically estimate rooftops' potential to generate solar energy.
The REACT 2 energy storage solution from ABB includes a high-voltage Li-ion battery with a long life and a storage capacity of up to 12 kWh.
Quantify Technology's simple, modern and futureproof smart home solution is heading to the US market.
Early adopters of smart home technologies have reported they reinforce gender stereotypes and could pose security threats to women, according to a study.
Quantify Technology has partnered with Curtin University of Technology to install its products in a living lab in Fremantle, Western Australia.
Leading Australian and international Internet of Things (IoT) experts will descend on Sydney for Australia's largest IoT conference and exhibition, IoT Impact.
Vertiv, formerly Emerson Network Power, has partnered with Queensland-based electrical services provider HazElec and Sydney-based IT infrastructure provider Powerfirm.
A Washington University professor is working to help smart homes become smarter and more efficient with artificial intelligence (AI).


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BOWIE, Md. (Feb. 26, 2014) — "Tire Industry: Why Do Customers Choose You?" is the title of the webinar presented by the Tire Industry Association and LogMyCalls at 2 p.m. EST Wednesday, March 5.
Conducting the webinar will be McKay Allen, inbound marketing manager for LogMyCalls, TIA said. It will unveil new research about why and how customers make decisions about where to buy tires.
Specific topics to be covered by the webinar include:
• Why customers buy from your competition;
• Where tire businesses fall short in attracting business;
• How to spot marketing and sales holes; and
• Data and analytics from tire retailers across North America.
The webinar is free to TIA members and prospective members. To register, go to the webinar's website.
Do you give any credence to news reports trying to link cancer in youth soccer players to crumb rubber used in artificial turf?
|Yes. Where there’s smoke there’s fire.||
|No. There’s no proof to make the claim.||
|I’m undecided and think there needs to be an independent study.||
|Total votes: 136|


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At the Home Depot in Redding, the bright orange shelves carry a wide selection of light bulbs. Compact fluorescent (CFL), halogen and light-emitting diode (LED) light bulbs — the energy-efficient choices — dominate the aisle, but some incandescent light bulbs still linger.
On Jan. 1, the 100-watt incandescent light bulb will start to be phased out in California. By the beginning of 2012, they will be gone from store shelves.
Three years ago, the federal Energy Independence and Security Act was enacted to phase out the incandescent light bulb by 2014. Australia, Ireland and Cuba have banned the bulb while many other countries are phasing them out.
California is starting its phaseout a year early because of state regulations to reduce energy consumption. Specialty lights that use less than 40 watts and more than 150 watts such as appliance lamps and three-way bulbs are exempt, but will later be required to use less energy.
"People are not educated on the simplicity of the fluorescent and incandescent," said James Hudson, the master electrical specialist at Home Depot. "It's the biggest issue. I'll start giving them a class, and they'll be like, ‘Whoa! I did not know all this.'"
Fluorescent light bulbs contain mercury. When the light comes on, the mercury becomes a vapor and lights the bulb. This may take 30 seconds to a minute, the reason why CFLs can be slow to emit light.
When LEDs are switched on, electrons inside the bulb release energy that translates into light. They do not contain mercury and use up to 50 percent less energy than CFLs.
Halogens are incandescent bulbs where a gas such as iodine or bromine interacts with a tungsten filament wire, resulting in light. They are up to 20 percent more efficient than a regular incandescent bulb.
Incandescent bulbs have an inert gas such as argon or nitrogen that interacts with the metal filament wire. The temperature rises inside the bulb until it glows, therefore producing more heat than light. Because of the heat factor, more energy is being used.
With fluorescents now dominating the alternative light bulb market, some consumers are concerned about the mercury. "It's very minute in the big schemes of things, but it's still a concern," Hudson said.
Because of the mercury content, fluorescent lights must be recycled. Mercury is a strong neurotoxin and puts pregnant women and children at the greatest risk. A CFL bulb contains about 5 milligrams of mercury, hardly enough to cover the top of a ballpoint pen. But when millions of CFLs end up in landfills, this becomes an environmental health concern.
"The biggest complaint with customers I have is how to dispose of a fluorescent light bulb," Hudson said. Local hazardous waste centers and some hardware stores accept CFLs and recycle them.
As the new bulbs enter the market, the term "lumen" becomes more pertinent to consumers. A lumen is a measurement of light output while a watt measures power. Currently on all light bulb packages, lumens will be used in comparison to wattage to help customers replace incandescent bulbs with comparable energy-efficient counterparts.
As the 100-watt incandescent bulb fades, the energy-efficient 72-watt bulb will be the highest replacement with a range of 1,490-2,600 lumens and a minimum life of 1,000 hours.
"The consumer will still be able to use the product and have the same results to light an office, a desk lamp, a hallway. A 72- watt light bulb will still provide the same service as the old 100-watt bulb," said Adam Gottlieb, a spokesman for the California Energy Commission. "Consumers really need to know they won't see any difference. The difference they'll see is a more energy-efficient bulb."
If you replace 10 60-watt incandescent bulbs with 10 14-watt CFLs, for example, you can save $34 in energy bills in a year.
Companies such as Philips have manufactured incandescent bulbs with 30 percent improved energy efficiency mandated by law and will remain on the market during the phaseout.
"I'm all about energy efficiency. I want to be off the grid," said David Winneker of Redding, who works at a heating and air-conditioning company.
When he bought his house two years ago, he immediately disposed of the incandescent bulbs and spent $200 in replacing them with fluorescent lights. "I probably got all my money back in one year," he said.
Although he uses CFLs, Winneker's been eyeing LED bulbs for some time. "I would like the LEDs," he said, "but I don't want to spend $70 on each bulb."
Hudson said he sees other customers in the same predicament with wanting a mercury-less, energy-efficient light bulb. "People are getting to want the prices to come down," he said. "In technology, we try to make things quicker and cheaper. With production and better technology, the LED will be on top."
If you break a CFL
1. Open windows for air ventilation.
2. Stay away from broken bulb for 15 minutes.
3. Carefully pick up the pieces with heavy paper such as an index card and place them into a plastic bag or container. Wear disposable gloves and a mask.
4. Do not sweep or vacuum. Turn off fans, heaters and air-conditioning units to limit particle circulation.
5. Seal and label bag or container as mercury.
6. California prohibits mercury being thrown in the trash, so take the securely tightened bag to nearest hazardous waste facility.
Source: Environmental Protection Agency.
Where to recycle CFLs
Shasta County Household Hazardous Waste Collection Program
City of Redding Household Hazardous Waste Collection Facility
Other hardware retailers
Call stores for recycling information before bringing in bulbs.
Need Help? Call us at 1-877-710-6185.
Monday-Friday: 6am-6pm / Saturday & Sunday: 7am-10am


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Qualcomm has unveiled the its next generation of Snapdragon 800 tier mobile processors, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 805. As per Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 805 processor is under sampling and can be expected to be available in devices by the first half of 2014.
The new Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 chipset features a Krait 450 quad-core CPU, which the company claims is the first mobile CPU to run at speeds of up to 2.5GHz per core. The Snapdragon 805 also features the Adreno 420 GPU, which according to Qualcomm delivers 40 percent more graphics processing power than the GPU on the Snapdragon 800.
Further, the new Snapdragon 805 offers Ultra HD support (including display, from games to UI), along with 4K video recording as well as playback capabilities, and support for a Gpixel/s throughput camera with its dual camera Image Signal Processors (ISPs). Qualcomm says the Snapdragon 805 also supports Hollywood Quality Video (HQV) for video post processing, and has hardware 4K HEVC (H.265) decoding for extremely low-power HD video playback.
Qualcomm also integrated the 28nm Gobi MDM9x25 modem, supporting LTE carrier aggregation and 150Mbps LTE 4. Partners can choose the new 20nm Gobi MDM9x35 as well, promising up to 300Mbps LTE-A download speeds. The Snapdragon 805 also features the Qualcomm VIVE 802.11ac module, which enables wireless 4K video streaming.
Commenting on the announcement, Murthy Renduchintala, executive vice president, Qualcomm Technologies Inc., and co-president, QCT said, "Using a smartphone or tablet powered by Snapdragon 805 processor is like having an Ultra HD home theatre in your pocket, with 4K video, imaging and graphics, all built for mobile. We're delivering the mobile industry's first truly end-to-end Ultra HD solution, and coupled with our industry leading Gobi LTE modems and RF transceivers, streaming and watching content at 4K resolution will finally be possible."


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Light is preparing to launch its next visual novel Silverio Ragnarok, and today they released a new trailer.
The trailer showcases the opening cutscene, also providing a look at the cast of the game, which will be mostly familiar to fans of the Silverio series.
You can watch it below.
Silverio Ragnarok is the last game of the Silverio series, which debuted with Silverio Vendetta in 2014, followed by Silverio Trinity in 2016.
Following the closure of parent company Greenwood, fans feared for the continuation of the series, but Light managed to carry on and is going to release Silverio Ragnarok in Japan on April 24.
At the moment, we don’t know whether Silverio Ragnarok (or the Silverio series in General) will ever come west.


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Firms consider producing in America to mollify TrumpKorean electronics producers that rely heavily on exports to the United States are scrambling to avoid punitive protectionist measures from U.S. President-elect Donald J. Trump by building factories in America.
LG Electronics is considering putting a key manufacturing base in Tennessee and is set to finalize the plan around the middle of the year.
“If the U.S. offers favors to manufacturers operating inside its territory, exporters [who aren’t] have no choice but to take a hit,” said Jo Seong-jin, CEO and vice chairman of LG Electronics, in a press conference on the sidelines of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Jan. 7.
“We can’t sit still when we have such diverse products from washing machines to refrigerators, ovens and TVs, and we are contemplating to what extent we have to localize our products. We have 80 percent reached a conclusion and will decide in six months.”
LG Electronics, which sends one third of its exports to the North American market, churns out products for the United States from Korean and Mexican factories. Other manufacturing facilities outside of Korea are located in Brazil, Vietnam, China and Turkey.
Recently, LG has been competing against Whirlpool, Electrolux and Samsung in the premium white goods market in the U.S. It ranked second in the U.S. consumer white goods market after Whirlpool in terms of revenues scale in the third quarter last year.
Samsung Electronics is also considering building a new manufacturing base in the U.S.
“We are deliberating various possibilities [when it comes to U.S. factories],” said a Samsung spokesman. He added that the tech giant has a few candidates for locations and is in the middle of discussing them.
Samsung Electronics manufactured appliances for export to the United States in Mexico and they cross the border tax-free. Samsung began simultaneously mass producing TVs and displays at a plant in Tijuana on the West Coast of Mexico in 1996, whereas production of washing machines, air conditioners and refrigerators began in its Queretaro plant, established in 2003 near Mexico City.
Trump has threatened to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. Most companies operating mass production facilities in Mexico have been sending more than 70 percent of the production volume to the U.S.
On Jan. 5, the president-elect lashed out at Toyota Motor’s plan to produce cars in Mexico and export them to the United States without having to pay border taxes.
“Toyota Motor said will build a new plant in Baja, Mexico, to build Corolla cars for U.S.,” Trump said on his Twitter feed, taking aim at a foreign carmaker for the first time.
The Japanese automaker has been planning to build a factory in Guanajuato, not Baja. The Baja plant, which was established in 2002, produces Tacoma trucks. Trump tweeted: “No Way! Build plant in U.S. or pay big border tax.”
Regardless, Toyota President Akio Toyoda said in response in Tokyo that the automaker is not currently considering changes to its production.
“I don’t know yet exactly how, but, regardless of who becomes president, our business is about being good corporate citizens,” he said.
But some automakers are currying favor with the incoming president. Ford announced last week that it had scrapped plans to build a new $1.6 billion small-car factory in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, and will invest some of that money in a U.S. factory near Detroit instead, which will produce new electric and autonomous vehicles. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles on Sunday pledged to invest $1 billion to modernize two plants in the Midwest and create 2,000 jobs.
BY SEO JI-EUN [firstname.lastname@example.org]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)


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PHILIPSBURG–Contractors – working on any government or semi-government entity/agency emergency services, utility and/or telecommunication service projects – who may need to purchase materials at main hardware stores are required to write a letter informing the hardware supplier(s) that they are working on a government project.
Government or semi-government entities include National Recovery Program Bureau (NRPB), St. Maarten Housing Development Foundation (SMHDF), Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA), Port St. Maarten and St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC).
The name of the project should be clearly stated and the letter must be stamped and signed by the relevant government department, entity or agency. With the letter in hand, the hardware store will have enough proof that the contractor is allowed to purchase materials, the Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) said in a press statement.
Hardware stores will only be open for a limited period during the day. Therefore it is imperative that contractors ensure that they have the necessary proof to acquire their materials in a timely manner to continue to carry out their respective projects.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/govt-project-contractors-must-provide-letter-to-buy-materials


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Firefox 80: Mozilla has the current Version 80 of Firefox released. This can be set up as a standard PDF application and improves the accessibility tools.
Bose with new CEO: Lila Snyder will start as CEO of loudspeaker and headphone manufacturer Bose on September 1st. Snyder is the first woman to take a leadership position at Bose. She previously worked at Pitney Bowes and before that at McKinsey.
Unity wants to go public: The San Francisco-based company Unity – developer of the engine of the same name – wants to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The application was officially filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission SEC filed, Date and further details are not yet known.
New Rumors About Better Nintendo Switch: Speculations about an improved version of the Nintendo Switch have been roaming the networks for years. Now reports Bloombergthat a revised model should appear in 2021 that supports 4K graphics, among other things.
Gaming monitor: AOC has four curved displays presented for players. All use a 1500R curvature, have 165 Hz and support AMD’s Freesync. The two 24-inchers cost around 200 euros, the 27s just under 300 euros.
Ryzen notebook with Linux: Tuxedo has that Pulse 14 released, a light laptop with an eight-core Ryzen 7 4800H (35 watts). This can be equipped with up to 64 GByte dual-channel DDR4 and up to 2 TByte NVMe flash memory.
High-end PC power supply: Be Quiet has that Dark Power Pro 12 announced with 1,200 watts and 1,500 watts. It is fully digital and modular, has 80 Plus Titanium certification and uses a frameless Silent Wings fan.
Japan is finally exchanging old state IT: The coronavirus crisis has forced the Japanese government to take a serious look at upgrading its computer systems. That reports the Japan Times. Before the pandemic, the problems were just annoying, but now they are hampering economic recovery. To this end, the government added a Digital New Deal to its annual policy goals last month, although no details have yet been given about planned spending. “Japan is at least 20 years behind the world”economist Yukio Noguchi told the newspaper.


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Bacardi just bought Grey Goose for $2 billion so there is quite a market for beverage entrepreneurs. Is absinthe likely to be the new beverage buzz? Green, incredibly alcoholic and some say mind-altering – these are the qualities that led to absinthe being banned in France almost 100 years ago. But all that’s about to […]
Tag: "beverage business opportunities"
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Avast announces partnership with PMovil
February 2021 by Marc Jacob
Avast has announced a strategic partnership with PMovil, an industry leader in direct carrier billing and alternative payments in Latin America. The partnership means that Avast’s subscription-based solutions will be available via direct carrier billing for over 400 million customers of PMovil worldwide.
PMovil is a leading billing aggregator in the region which works with 34 carriers across Latin America. Through this partnership, PMovil will offer mobile subscribers across the region the option to pay for Avast’s subscription-based services securely and conveniently as part of their monthly phone bill or part of their existing prepaid balances. This method of payment will be available to Avast’s existing customers in the region, with the potential to also reach 400 million paid users across PMovil’s global network.
This partnership will enable Avast to further reach more customers currently underserved by debit or credit cards. With 76% of consumers in Latin America not having access to a debit/credit card and relying on offline payments, Avast has always embraced alternative payment options in the region. Direct carrier billing is a further method to make it more convenient to access Avast’s subscription services, also providing the option of breaking down the cost into more affordable monthly payments.
Direct carrier billing is quickly emerging as a leading alternative payment, especially in emerging markets, where many are unbanked. Direct carrier billing will allow customers to adopt a simple monthly subscription model as part of their existing, creating another convenient and secure way to access Avast’s premium and subscription products.


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VICTOR HARBOR – The past month has been tough for Tony Clark and Debbie Joy, who manage The Pork Pie Shop in Victor Harbor.
The English smallgoods business has been under scrutiny from SA Health and Primary Industries and Regions SA (PIRSA), the public and the media, after a Salmonella infection outbreak was pinpointed to egg wash used on pork pies and Ascot pies made at the shop.
Twelve people aged between 19 and 82 were affected by the outbreak, including four who were hospitalised.
Among those hospitalised was Debbie herself, so she understands how unpleasant the infection is.
The couple expressed their “deepest concerns and sympathy” to those who were affected by the “hideous” infection.
“We would like to thank the community mostly for the enormous amount of support they have shown,” Debbie said.
”It was soul-destroying when it happened.
“It has been overwhelming but encouraging as we wanted to walk away when this first developed.”
They said they first heard about the outbreak on the radio, which was a shock, but SA Health had since been nothing but supportive in their investigation.
An investigation to determine what had caused the infection originally found the pies were at fault, before further examination revealed the egg wash used on the pies had not been cooked properly.
“Out of 68 samples taken, only three points of interest were discovered: the egg glaze, the mug the egg glaze was in, and three unfilled pies,” Debbie said.
The couple closed the shop for a week as a chance to reflect, but doors are open again after they were given the all-clear.
“After working closely with both SA Health and PIRSA, we are producing a better pie than ever before,” Debbie said.
Although business has dropped off significantly since the outbreak, they still have the community’s support and hope to build their brand up again by continuing to provide quality goods.
“We didn’t really know how the public would accept us when we re-opened, but we were willing to try and to our surprise, our wholesale customers were eager to have our products back on their shelves ASAP,” Debbie said.
“We are re-opened and our serious pork pie lovers can now purchase our pies at any one of our 30 wholesale businesses across Adelaide.”
SA Health food and controlled drugs branch director Dr Fay Jenkins reminded people cooking with eggs to practice safe egg handling.
“About half of all Salmonella cases we see are linked to eggs, so it is important that everyone uses safe food handling techniques at all times when using them,” Dr Jenkins said.


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EVgo, a network of public electric vehicle (EV) DC Fast charging stations, announced an agreement with Maven, General Motorsâ€™ car sharing brand, to construct a dedicated DC fast charging network available to Maven Gig Chevrolet Bolt EV drivers.
The BMW Group today celebrated the official opening of its autonomous driving campus in UnterschleiÃŸheim. Klaus FrÃ¶hlich, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Development and Research, and Bavarian state premier Markus SÃ¶der were present for the inauguration of a forward-looking development facility that showcases the BMW Groupâ€™s transformation into a tech company.
Using what is to date unique technology, the Volkswagen Group is currently testing autonomous parking at Hamburg Airport: based on a car park map the Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche vehicles navigate their way to a parking space on their own.
Hyundai-Kia America Technical Center, Inc., (HATCI) and Mojo Mobility, Inc., a wireless power technology company, have been awarded a funding grant from the U.S. Department of Energyâ€™s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Vehicle Technologies (VT) program to research and develop a system capable of fast charging an electric vehicle wirelessly.
Greenlots, a global provider of electric vehicle (EV) charging and grid management software, announced it was selected to provide its cloud-based network services for Thailandâ€™s leading state-owned utility, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT).
The carsharing portal HoppyGo has merged with the mobility services provider SmileCar from Czech transportation company Leo Express, thus allowing private car carsharing to be combined with bus and rail transport.
Nissan will show three electric vehicles at Auto China 2018, as part of a lineup that offers an exciting glimpse of the future and shows the companyâ€™s strength and depth in the highly competitive and growing Chinese market.
For the first time, autonomous vehicles can be accurately tested and
trained without using real roads.
The platform significantly reduces the cost and time involved in
developing these vehicles and provides a completely safe testing
Two major vehicle manufacturers have already adopted the technology and
are already carrying out more than 2 million miles of testing per month.
To enable the operation of most fully self-driving car prototypes, the
road network needs to be mapped in high resolution. When EastLink's
Mullum Mullum tunnel was closed for overnight maintenance recently,
Telstra's aerial drone captured a LIDAR map of the tunnel. This brings
the EastLink tunnel a step closer to being able to support safe trials
of fully self-driving cars.
A Coventry-based autonomous vehicle specialist will press go on the
official start of the UK Autodrive trials in Milton Keynes this week,
with self-driving pods taking to the pavements and streets of the town
over the next 12 months.


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Samsung and other members of the Apple supply chain have been asked by the Vietnam government to secure COVID-19 vaccines for workers at their factories, on top of vaccines being issued by the government.
Apple’s suppliers in Vietnam are dealing with an increase in coronavirus cases in the country. In a bid to thwart the uptick, the government is not only supplying vaccines, but also asking firms to secure their own supplies where possible.
The government asked Samsung and other foreign entities to find the vaccines, which can be administered to employees at factories, reports Bloomberg. Chief of the industrial park management board for the northern province of Bac Ninh, Bui Hoang Mai, said “The government is encouraging companies to find COVID-19 vaccines for their workers.”
The call for more vaccines occurs alongside requests by authorities for factories to set up on-site sleeping arrangements and other procedures, so that the factories can continue running. On Friday, it was reported one Apple-related factory had split its workforce over two shifts to avoid factory shutdowns.


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YAKIMA, Wash. — The U.S. hop and apple industries could benefit from Brexit, the United Kingdom’s effort to leave the European Union, a UK consul says.
Hops are Washington’s No. 1 agricultural export to Britain at about $46 million a year. A new bilateral trade agreement between the U.S. and UK could eliminate EU tariffs of 3.2-5.8% that UK hops importers now must pay, says Robin Twyman, UK consul for business and governmental affairs in Seattle.
With Brexit anticipated to happen on or before Oct. 31, Twyman is trying to raise awareness among Washington industries of the British and U.S. intention to negotiate a new bilateral free trade agreement.
A senior trade policy adviser at the British Consulate General in Los Angeles handles California, Oregon and Idaho.
“The special relationship that binds the UK and the U.S. is about shared security, values and prosperity. The UK and U.S. already enjoy bilateral trade worth $262 billion a year,” Twyman told the Capital Press.
The two countries also are each other’s single largest investors, with British companies employing over 1 million people in the U.S. and vice versa, he said.
“It’s not widely known, but the UK is the single largest foreign employer in Washington state. There are 191 UK-headquartered companies employing 19,000 people here,” he said.
One of them is UK hop merchant Charles Faram in Yakima, he said.
Twyman, 50, worked for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for more than two decades in European and African posts, including Switzerland and Zimbabwe.
In 2009, he became first secretary for trade policy at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C. He opened a UK Government Office in Seattle in 2013.
The UK is the fifth largest export destination for both the U.S. and Washington state with Washington exporting about $5 billion in goods and services annually to the UK, Twyman said. Of that, agriculture is a small amount with the leaders being hops at $46 million, apples at $6 million and cherries at $4 million, he said.
Washington apple exports to the UK were fairly strong at about 1 million, 40-pound boxes annually in the 1990s and early 2000s, said Kate Tynan, senior vice president of Northwest Horticultural Council in Yakima.
That has declined to about 100,000 boxes in recent years primarily due to the EU’s sanitary and phytosanitary barriers, she said.
Tariffs and transportation costs have also been factors. France and Italy are big apple producers and much closer to the UK.
Season-to-date as of May 15, a little over 79,000 boxes of Washington apples had been shipped to the EU, with 66,000 going to the UK, Tynan said.
NHC President Mark Powers and Fred Scarlett, vice president of export programs, met with Twyman in April. The meeting was positive, and Twyman’s outreach was appreciated, Tynan said.
“NHC has shared priorities with the Office of United States Trade Representative regarding a post-Brexit trade agreement. The NHC is seeking an immediate removal of the tariffs that would be levied on apples, pears and cherries,” she said.
Tariffs on apples likely could be reduced or eliminated, Twyman said.
He met May 15 with Hop Growers of America in Yakima and toured hop fields and facilities.
“We were very excited to have him come and of course the potential for lower tariffs only means good things,” said Jaki Brophy, Hop Growers of America spokeswoman.
In recent years, the UK has been the No. 1 export market for U.S. hops, followed by Brazil, Belgium and Luxembourg, China and Germany, she said.
Twyman said he was impressed by all the varieties of hops grown, the size of the industry and the number of international markets the industry has developed.
“I toured one farm that was half as big as the UK’s entire hop production,” he said.
People in the UK and U.S. are interested in post-Brexit trade, Twyman said. The British government received 600,000 comments from its citizens in a recent inquiry regarding post-Brexit trade with the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, he said.
The UK and U.S. both established trade working groups in July 2017 that have met five times to prioritize issues in a new trade agreement, he said.
“We want to hit the ground running once we leave the EU,” he said. “The U.S. and UK have relatively low tariffs but there are also technical barriers to trade. The U.S. has more than the UK. We would like to remove them reciprocally.”


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Name: Eric Molitor
Moving from: Amazon
Moving to: Curve
Former role: VP
New position: CTO
The global fintech Curve has appointed former Amazon and Improbable VP Eric Molitor as the firms new Chief Technology Officer to lead the fintech’s worldwide technology advances
Molitor, who is also the former VP of Engineering at the UK virtual technology specialist startup Improbable, will be responsible for Curve’s fast-growing financial super-app.
His role will involve accelerating technology advances at Curve and he brings a wealth of software engineering experience to the executive team. Molitor worked at Amazon for more than a decade and led its engineering departments and product and brand integrations.
Eric Molitor moves to Curve
The move to Curve is a dynamic one for Molitor, as the fintech company is a rapidly expanding financial super-app that combines all of customer debit and credit cards into one, easy-to-use smart card. The service enables users to spend from any of their accounts through one card, with one pin, as well as seamlessly moving and managing funds within the Curve app.
London-based Curve recently landed $95mn in investments during a Series C funding round, taking the total amount of investor capital in the company to over $175mn.
Curve is also live in 31 European countries, including the UK, Ireland, Germany, Poland, France, Italy, Portugal, Norway, and Sweden. Its highly anticipated US launch is scheduled for the end of 2021.
Speaking about his new appointment, Molitor said, “I am thrilled to join Curve at such an exciting time, not only in the business development but within the fintech and banking industry as a whole.
“Translating Curve’s mission to simplify and unify the way people spend, send, see and save money felt very natural to me. Curve is a stand-out firm in the industry, one with a strong purpose and vision, and I look forward to leading their tech advances into a new direction.”
Meanwhile, Shachar Bialick, Founder and CEO of Curve, added, “The appointment of Eric is a major milestone for our business. He brings a wealth of technology experience and we’re at a pivotal moment on our growth journey. While there is a lot about Eric’s background that impressed us, I was won over by his understanding of the culture engineers need to thrive and his knack for building organisations that free them to work their best.
He stated, “While at Amazon, he [Molitor] led a small team of engineers to deliver Prime internationally. Prime has had a monumental impact on Amazon’s business and he was only able to deliver it by taking small, measured steps without ever losing sight of the mission. I’m immensely proud Eric is joining us and his support will be instrumental in the next critical phase of our growth journey.”
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October 1, 2020 Update
Buncombe County officials continue to take proactive steps to keep our community safe and healthy during the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic.
The State of North Carolina will transition to Phase 3 of reopening beginning at 5 p.m. on October 2, 2020. Buncombe County and all of its municipalities will adopt Executive Order 169 with no additional local requirements. Phase 3 will last three weeks, and is currently scheduled to end on October 23. Local leaders and public health officials will continue to monitor trends in Buncombe County to ensure that the move to phase 3 does not push local trends in a negative direction.
Under Executive Order 169, current mask mandates and other precautions will remain in place, but new provisions will include:
- Large outdoor venues with seating greater than 10,000 may operate with 7% occupancy for spectators.
- Smaller outdoor entertainment venues, like arenas or amphitheaters, may operate outdoors at 30% of outdoor capacity, or 100 guests, whichever is less.
- Movie theaters and conference centers may open indoor spaces to 30% of capacity, or 100 guests, whichever is less.
- Bars may operate outdoors at 30% of outdoor capacity, or 100 guests, whichever is less.
- Amusement parks may open at 30% occupancy, outdoor attractions only.
- The limits on mass gatherings will remain at 25 people indoors and 50 people outdoors.
- The 11 p.m. curfew on alcohol sales for in-person consumption in locations such as restaurants and outdoor bars will be extended to October 23.
If you have any questions about this new order, please reach out to our Ready Team Monday-Friday between 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Call (828) 419-0095 or email email@example.com.
Download Buncombe County's Emergency Declaration In The Following Languages:


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The Fulla doll resembles Barbie, real-life women
Published 6:30 am, Sunday, January 14, 2007
MINNEAPOLIS - Glance at Fulla, and you feel sure she's Barbie's cousin.
The two dolls are the same height, with the same oval face and straight hair cascading down their backs. Even their plastic high heels are about the same size. But the similarities end there. Fulla doesn't own a bikini, for example, and certainly not the supersize chest to fill one.
Instead Fulla, created by a toy company based in the United Arab Emirates, wears an abaya — a long, black robe — that covers her body from head to toe. Her eyes are mocha, her skin caramel, her hair jet black.
The doll, which has been outselling Barbie in the Middle East since its launch in 2003, is the latest example of a new crop of dolls reflecting different races, values, religions and cultures. Fulla will appear at the 2007 Toy Fair in New York City in February. Other doll companies, such as American Girl and Dolls Like Me, also have introduced ethnic dolls, including African-American, Hispanic, American Indian and Asian options.
Named after a fragrant flower, the Fulla line includes a variety of dolls dressed in clothes that reflect different countries in the Middle East and Asia. But Fulla goes beyond the external fashion and beauty focus. She is a doctor and teacher who respects her parents and likes to read and play sports.
"The message that Fulla brings ... is promoting good virtues for little girls," said Basel Kanawati, chief technology officer for NewBoy, the company that created Fulla.
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Kanawati, who lives in Charlotte, N.C., said the doll fills a void for parents and girls who want a doll that looks like them and represents their values. The father of four daughters said he sees the pressures girls face. "They feel they need to imitate other people to be accepted into society. The message (of Fulla) is (that) you can be proud of yourself and function in society."
But is it fun?
Christine Williams, professor of sociology at the University of Texas at Austin, says that while adults fret over the potential hazards of their children playing with dolls that don't resemble them, kids generally just see dolls as toys.
"I think parents project an awful lot of power onto these objects, that may or may not have any true impact on what the child will do. The question of what children do with Barbies or their toys has always been up in the air."


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Transporting containers sit stacked at Qingdao Port after snow on February 14, 2019 in Qingdao, Shandong Province of China.
Visual China Bunch | Getty Images
China’s exports and imports declined in October, Reuters reported citing data from the power’s customs.
In dollar terms, exports fell 0.9% while imports fell 6.4% from a year ago in October, but bone-tired analysts’ forecasts.
Trade balance for October was $42.81 billion, compared to analyst forecasts of $40.83 billion.
Economists tallied by Reuters had expected October exports to fall 3.9% and imports to fall 8.9% from a year earlier.
China’s purports and exports fell more than expected with exports falling 3.2% in September from a year ago, while substances dropped 8.5% during the same period.
The Chinese economy — the second largest in the world — is growing at a slower traverse amid the protracted trade battle between Beijing and Washington.
On Thursday, China’s Commerce Ministry said that Beijing had agreed with Washington to raise existing trade tariffs between the two nations in phases.
Market participants had expected the two economic giants to sign a negotiation later this month, after both Washington and Beijing spoke of progress in talks late last week.
Though, Reuters reported on Wednesday that a meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping could be tabled until December — delaying a chance for the two leaders to sign an interim trade deal.
The world’s two largest economies must imposed tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of one another’s goods since the start of 2018, battering financial vends and souring business and consumer sentiment.
— CNBC’s Yen Nee Lee and Sam Meredith contributed to this report.


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PC outlook darkens as sales slump deepens in 1Q
SAN FRANCISCO - The ailing personal computer market is getting weaker, and it's starting to look as if it will never fully recover as a new generation of mobile devices reshapes the way people use technology.
The latest evidence of the PC's infirmity emerged Wednesday with the release of two somber reports showing unprecedented declines in sales of desktop and laptop machines during the first three months of the year.
As if that news wasn't troubling enough, it appears that a pivotal makeover of Microsoft's ubiquitous Windows operating system seems to have done more harm than good since the software was released last October.
"This is horrific news for PCs," said BGC Financial analyst Colin Gillis. "It's all about mobile computing now. We have definitely reached the tipping point."
First-quarter shipments of PCs fell 14 percent worldwide from the same time last year, according to International Data Corp. That's the deepest quarterly drop since the firm started tracking the industry in 1994. Another research firm, Gartner Inc., pegged the first-quarter decline at 11 percent.
The deviation stemmed in part from the firms' slightly different definitions of PCs.
No matter how things are parsed, the PC market is in the worst shape since IBM Corp. released a desktop machine in 1981. PC sales have now fallen from their year-ago levels in four consecutive quarters, a slide that has been accelerating even amid signs that the overall economy is getting healthier.
PCs are going out of style because they typically cost more than smartphones and tablets, and aren't as convenient to use. Most PCs sell for $500 to $1,500 while the initial out-of-pocket expense for a smartphone runs as low as $99 while an array of tablets sell for $200 to $300.
Apple's late CEO Steve Jobs, whose company propelled the mobile computing revolution with the 2007 release of the iPhone, declared that the world was entering a "post-PC era" shortly after the iPad came out three years ago.
In a June 2010 appearance at a technology conference, Jobs likened challenges facing the PC industry to what happened to trucks in the U.S. decades ago as a shift away from farming caused more people to move into cities where they wanted to drive cars instead. "I think PCs are going to be like trucks," Jobs predicted at the time. "Less people will need them."
The traditional PC still has a long way to go before it becomes obsolete.
Despite the dismaying start in the first quarter, more than 300 million PCs are still expected to be sold worldwide this year. Tablet computers, a category that was insignificant until the iPad came along, is catching up rapidly: Nearly 200 million of those deices could be sold this year. Meanwhile, worldwide smartphone sales could surpass 1 billion units this year, Gillis predicted.
PC sales could be undermined even more during the next few years with the release of "wearable computing" devices that connect to the Internet through voice-activated equipment attached to glasses and wristwatches.
The growing reliance on mobile devices is creating new opportunities and tensions throughout the technology industry. Internet companies such as Yahoo Inc. and Facebook Inc. that initially designed their digital services to be primarily consumed on PCs have been scrambling to tweak things so they work better on smartphones and tablets.
But the companies most threatened by the mobile upheaval are those that depend on PCs to make most of their money. This group includes technology heavyweights such as Windows maker Microsoft, PC makers Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc. and PC chip maker Intel Corp.
"It's time for these companies to make some critical decisions and ask themselves, `How are we going to turn this ship around?'" said technology industry analyst Patrick Moorhead.
Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer thought he had come up with a tonic last fall when his company released a radical new version of Windows last fall. Windows 8 has a completely new look that's similar to the design of the software running the most popular smartphones and tablet computers. The overhaul requires a relearning process, a leap that many consumers and corporate buyers aren't ready to take.
All signs so far point to Windows 8 being a flop.
"Unfortunately, it seems clear that the Windows 8 launch not only didn't provide a positive boost to the PC market, but appears to have slowed the market," IDC Vice President Bob O'Donnell said.
The newest version of Windows is designed to work well with touch-sensitive screens, but the displays add to the cost of a PC. Together, the changes and higher prices "have made PCs a less attractive alternative to dedicated tablets and other competitive devices," O'Donnell said.
In a statement, Microsoft described the PC market as "evolving and highly dynamic." Referring to a number that it has previously released, the company said it has sold more than 60 million copies of Windows 8 so far. That is "a strong start by any measure," Microsoft said. "Along with our partners we continue to bring even more innovation to market across tablets and PCs."
In its tally, IDC excludes tablets, even if they run PC-style software. It also excludes any device that has a detachable keyboard. With the release of Windows 8, PC makers have been reviving their experiments with tablet-laptop hybrids, some of which have detachable keyboards. Consumers are likely to have shifted some of their buying away from traditional laptops and toward these new devices, which means that the total sales decline of Windows-based devices might not be quite as drastic as IDC's numbers suggest.
Windows 8's poor sales start could amplify periodic calls for Microsoft to replace Ballmer, who replaced company co-founder Bill Gates as CEO nearly 13 years ago. "This puts a lot more pressure on Ballmer because Windows 8 is at the epicenter of all this," Moorhead said.
Microsoft, which is based in Redmond, Wash., will take questions from industry analysts April 18 when it's scheduled to release its latest quarterly results. Ballmer usually doesn't participate in those sessions.
Microsoft shares fell 55 cents, or nearly 2 percent, to $29.73 in extended trading, after the release of the sales reports.
Hewlett-Packard., the world's largest PC maker, saw a 24 percent drop in shipments in the first quarter compared with the same period a year ago. That was HP's steepest quarterly decline since the company bought rival PC maker Compaq a decade ago.
HP shares fell 60 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $21.72 in extended trading.
Meanwhile, the industry's No. 2, China's Lenovo Group, is benefiting from sales to first-time buyers in China and other developing countries. As a result, it held sales steady, alone among the world's top 5 PC makers, according to IDC's figures.
Dell Inc., the third-largest PC maker, suffered an 11 percent decline in the quarter. The bad news could be helpful to the Round Rock, Texas, company's attempts to sell itself for $24.4 billion to a group that includes CEO Michael Dell. Some shareholders believe the proposed sales price of $13.65 per share is too low, but Dell's board has argued it's a generous offer, given the deteriorating conditions in the PC industry - a point that may carry more weight now that the latest sales numbers are out.
Dell's stock dipped a penny in extended trading to $14.20.
Svensson reported from New York.