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Latest data from Kantar shows consumers are making the most of reduced COVID restrictions, allowing for a more personalised in-store smartphone purchasing experience, although in-store shopping experiences are something many people are finding challenging in Australia due to ongoing COVID lockdowns that either continue or have ended but could start up again at any time.
The global telecom software and services market in 2019 grew about 1% to US$66.9 billion, with Nokia again ranked as the top service provider by market share with approximatelly US$4. billion, according to the rankings by research firm Analysys Mason in its latest annual report.
Ride-share company Uber has overtaken the taxi industry in the battle for marketshare, with a greater proportion of Australians now using Uber compared with taxis, according to newly published research.
With interactive mobile gaming something Aussies enjoy, iPads are the top way to work and play, while Androids suffer market share losses not just from iPads but Windows 2-in-1s opening doors to consumer preferences.
Gartner's "preliminary" data shows the worldwide PC market grew for the first time in six years, at 1.4%, while in APAC, PC shipments showed only a 0.1% increase from the second quarter of 2017, but it's not yet a recovery.
If you work or visit the Sydney CBD, the best flagship smartphone stores are battling it out to give you the best experience in the hope of gaining you as a new customer
In the three months ending May 2017, iOS performance proved strong in the US, Australia, and Japan, with Android making strong gains in the UK, Germany, and France, with little year-on-year movement in China.
As sales of PCs decline for 11 straight quarters, with Gartner stats showing a further 4.2% decline in Q2 2017, and IDC a 3.3% decline in the same period, Mac marketshare is up.
Kantar Worldpanel Comtech’s latest OS marketshare stats have arrived, revealing gains for iOS in most markets except China and Japan, where iOS fell, with a big gain for Android in China but a big loss in the US.
The PC — desktop, notebook, all-in-one — market has been declining for years, cannibalised by the uptake of the smartphone as a primary computing and Internet access device. But it is not all bad news for some makers who have seen growth in the hybrid form-factor segment.
Android has grown in most markets with "increased demand for lower-cost" devics, while iPhone SE sales are "strong" in the UK.
iOS market share dipped significantly in China and Japan, while holding its own with slight growth in the US, according to a new global report. Meanwhile, Android market share continued to grow in most markets except the US where it showed a slight decline.
While Android’s share of the market remains high, Apple’s iPhone SE has joined the top 10 list in the US, Britain, France and China.
In what should come as no surprise to anyone, some US iPhone buyers in August were waiting for new 6s models to arrive in September.
Although 12% lower than at the same time last year, Samsung sold 99 million smartphones in Q1 2015, eclipsing Apple’s 61.2 million in the same timeframe.
Kantar’s latest Worldpanel ComTech smartphone stats show big iPhone sales in China, with a rise in European marketshare and a slight dip in the US.
The latest Kantar Worldpanel ComTech stats have arrived, showing growth for iOS in many markets, while Android’s share in the US has fallen for the first time since September 2013.
Kantar’s latest smartphone sales data, over 3 months to Sept 2014, shows 73.9% share for Android in Europe, 15.4% for Apple and Windows Phone at 9.2%, with high demand for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
It’s all over the news: Mac sales growth is leaving PC makers panting, while Mac sales are outselling iPads in the ‘fiscal fourth quarter’, but is this any surprise?
I am of the opinion after trying other search engines that Google is by far the easiest to use.This may[…]
And your point is? I wrote this piece in April last year: https://itwire.com/open-sau...
Dud Swans? Wasn’t Swan one of your colleagues once?
If the Government and State Governments were fair dinkum they would be using existing legislation to protect children on line.In[…]
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Atkins Nutritionals gets through bankruptcy, restructures business model
When the announcement was made by Atkins Nutritionals, Inc. on August 1, 2005 that they were filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, much of the media and "experts" in the field of health and nutrition erupted into some sort of orgasmic state of euphoria as if they had just taken down the greatest enemy on the face of the planet. And in their eyes, they had.
The namesake company for the greatest and most popular diet program to ever be introduced to the world had fallen on tough times. The very company that had ignited the whole "low-carb craze" by introducing hundreds of products to help people on their low-carb lifestyle learned an invaluable lesson in economics -- when you saturate the market with products the consumer rejects, then you cannot expect to remain a thriving and profitable business.
More than anything, that is what the bankruptcy was REALLY about. It was ONE company that made some bad business decisions that costs them hundreds of millions of dollars in debt. Nothing more, nothing less.
And yet we still have stories like this one from The Associated Press today which declare that Atkins Nutritionals endured the bankruptcy, but is now backing away from the very low-carb lifestyle that was the life's work of Dr. Robert C. Atkins.
Say what? That's wishful thinking from the AP and they know it! Why would Atkins Nutritionals stop helping people who are livin' la vida low-carb continue to lose weight and keep it off? The fact is that they are not.
Although a quick perusal of the Atkins.com web site displays a fresh new look that looks like there is less content than before, it is still an excellent informational source for people wanting to learn more about this healthy lifestyle. Check out this page with LOADS of info about low-carb living.
Instead of backing away from low-carb, as the AP suggests in their article, what Atkins Nutritionals has done is scale back their product line to the best of the best -- The Atkins Advantage bars, the Morning Start bars, the Atkins shakes, and the Endulge chocolate bars. This product line is the cream of the crop for Atkins Nutritionals, Inc. as other companies have stepped forward to provide quality versions of many of the former products Atkins used to carry. These other companies are making products that are sometimes better. A LOT better.
Nevertheless, the remaining line of products offered by Atkins Nutritionals are STILL low-carb, high-fiber, and high-protein, just as they have been for nearly a decade since they were first introduced.
Atkins Nutritionals, Inc. still has debt, but will only have to repay about a third of what they owed when they began bankruptcy proceedings five months ago. While there are a lot fewer people employed by Atkins Nutritionals, Inc. now, I am confident that they are poised to continue providing the low-carb consumer with products to assist them as they lose and maintain their weight -- the Atkins way, which is livin' la vida low-carb!
My personal thoughts about what happened with Atkins Nutritionals is that they got greedy and put all of their eggs in the Wal-mart basket. I'm sure the bigwig executives at Atkins Nutritionals two years ago were chomping at the bit to pump out truckloads of their products to Wally-world so they could bring in the big bucks while they virtually ignored the faithful mom & pop low-carb shops who were the backbone of their early success. And where'd that get them? Bankruptcy. Negative press. The laughing stock of the media and health professionals.
So now what's going to happen to them in 2006? Can Atkins Nutritionals, Inc. emerge stronger out of this experience? I think they can. But they need to remember who and what they stand for. Dr. Atkins was a man before his time, a true visionary. He knew his life's work was important enough to invest many hours of time and energy into helping people achieve lasting weight loss. He obviously found great joy during his life in helping people reach this breakthrough moment in their lives, as his widow Veronica Atkins recently revealed in an interview about her late husband.
My weight loss success is owed almost entirely to that tireless dedication from Dr. Atkins himself and I regret that I never got to meet the man behind the miracle diet that saved my life. But I can confidently say that the spirit of Dr. Atkins lives on inside of me today as I continue to talk about those things that he once woke up excited about on a daily basis. It drove who he was then and now it drives who I am today. I will not stop talking about how the low-carb lifestyle has changed me and neither should you if you are a dedicated follower of this amazing way of eating.
While the press will continue to describe the low-carb lifestyle as eating "foods like meat and eggs over bread and fruit," we know the truth is that livin' la vida low-carb is so much more than that. It's a healthy way of life for the millions of us who could not imagine eating any other way. Whether Atkins Nutritionals, Inc. is here tomorrow or not, low-carb will continue to roar on!

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The West Virginia Supreme Court has affirmed a jury verdict of nearly $17 million for a woman who was injured when Walmart staffers tried to detain a shoplifter.
The court rejected the retail giant’s appeal on Thursday.READ MORE: Pittsburgh Weather: Cold Temperatures Today, Snow Expected Overnight
A lawyer for Diane Ankrom, 53, said employees were trying to detain a shoplifter last year when he ran into Ankrom’s shopping cart, which was carrying her granddaughter. Ankrom fell to the ground with the cart falling on top of her.READ MORE: 18-Year-Old Accused Of Sending Inappropriate Photos On Snapchat To Teenage Girl In Custody
Ankrom’s lawyers said she has had multiple surgeries and has been admitted to the hospital more than 20 times.MORE NEWS: Know The Score: November 26, 2021
(Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


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In a move surprising many, Matt Maloney walks away after disagreement over direction of the company with CEO of Just Eat Takeaway.com.
The Groupon co-founder names Kayne Grau the new chief at the Chicago-based data analytics and artificial intelligence company.
Civis Analytics, backed by a former Google CEO, raises money to beef up sales and marketing and double down on government business.
More than 300 people showed up in the South Loop. Here's who took home the hardware.
The Chicago tech company, recently valued at $1.5 billion, will test the public markets.
One of Chicago's most active VCs is doubling down on crypto with one of the largest funds raised here. "There's potentially a generational opportunity."
He and executive John Morris are hoping to rekindle the magic of software maker Cleversafe.
With its Neustar purchase, the Chicago credit-reporting firm aims to diversify into the fast-growing arenas of digital marketing and fraud mitigation in e-commerce.
Fast-growing software firm Copado becomes the 12th venture-backed private company in Chicago this year to reach “unicorn” status.
Much of the research activity is in Urbana-Champaign, a Brookings study notes. The city's best hope rests in its big-company assets.
A new institute also involves Chicago State and UIC.
The national lab in Lemont is about to install a system that will help the U.S. in the worldwide race to build the next supercomputer.
The university has $75 million to renovate an Evanston facility that will provide lab space close to campus for researchers.
Customers give Klover real-time access to their banking transactions in exchange for interest-free loans. Marketers pay to advertise to them.
Hologram will triple its headcount to more than 200. Tiger Global led the investment.
The fast-growing company plans to double headcount. It's another nine-figure financing by a Chicago tech company this year.
The price tag for the company led by Sam Yagan was revealed in a securities filing.
3D printing company Fast Radius will be valued at $1.4 billion and Kin Insurance at $1 billion.
The new money puts the Chicago tech company’s valuation at nearly $1.45 billion.
Second-quarter funding dipped from the first three months of the year—but the numbers are still remarkable.
The Chicago-based company plans to acquire Openpath Security.
The telecom provider is buying assets from Wow, adding about 78,000 residential and business customers here.
Bain doubles down, pushing the company’s valuation to more than $1 billion.
San Diego-based Flock Freight plans to hire up to 150 people for the office in the next year.
G2's customer base grew by 50 percent as more sales went virtual during the pandemic.


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THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
May 13, 2022 at 16:02 JST
Company representatives distribute earnings reports on May 12 at the Tokyo Stock Exchange press club. (Kyosuke Yamamoto)
The weaker yen has helped listed companies post record net profits for the fiscal year that ended in March, but those sky-high earnings are not expected to trickle down to employees or consumers.
Many major companies have been hesitant about raising their employees’ salaries in light of the rising costs for imports, including ingredients, parts and fuel.
According to SMBC Nikko Securities Inc., 1,323 companies listed on what was then the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange are expected to post a combined 33.5 trillion yen ($260 billion) in net profits, an increase of 35.6 percent over the previous fiscal year.
The study used actual profit figures announced by 577 companies as of May 11 as well as estimates of companies that will soon announce their earnings reports.
The previous record for net profits was about 30 trillion yen set in the fiscal year that ended in March 2018, before the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The weaker yen helped major exporters and companies with overseas operations.
The surge in prices for petroleum and other natural resources following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine also lifted the earnings of trading companies.
Net profits for companies in the transport equipment sector, including automobiles, soared by 47.2 percent over the previous fiscal year, while electric equipment manufacturers recorded an increase of 24.9 percent.
But the rising prices for imported petroleum and natural gas pushed down the net profits of electric power and gas companies by about 70 percent.
Companies in the retailing and restaurant sectors are also struggling because domestic consumption has remained stagnant.
However, overall, the robust earnings are expected to continue in the current fiscal year.
The forecasts of companies that have already announced their earnings for fiscal 2021 indicate that sales will rise 7.9 percent year on year, operating profits will jump 11.8 percent increase, and net profits will increase 5.7 percent, according to SMBC Nikko Securities.
Ordinary consumers will probably not enjoy much of the benefits.
Labor ministry statistics released on May 9 showed that wages in real terms in March decreased by 0.2 percent year on year, marking the third straight month of declines.
In the recent “shunto” spring labor negotiations, management has been hesitant to comply with labor unions’ requests for wage hikes that match the recent increase in consumer prices.
Rengo (Japanese Trade Union Confederation) said the spring offensive negotiations have led to only a 2.1-percent wage increase as of May 6.
“Compared to corporate earnings, the rate of wage increases is low, probably because companies are not confident about continuing to gain stable profits in the future,” said Taro Saito, head of NLI Research Institute’s economic research department.
Employees of small businesses who account for about 70 percent of all workers in Japan received only a 2.02-percent wage increase in the latest spring offensive.
(This article was compiled from reports by Kyosuke Yamamoto, Keiichi Kitagawa and Jumpei Miura.)
Visit this page for the latest news on Japan’s battle with the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
The Asahi Shimbun aims “to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls” through its Gender Equality Declaration.
Let’s explore the Japanese capital from the viewpoint of wheelchair users and people with disabilities with Barry Joshua Grisdale.


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TRENDING ON ONEINDIA
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Portable lasers key to next-generation sensors
Scientists at Northwestern University have developed a custom-made, compact laser diode by integrating multiple wavelength emitters into a single device.
Capable of emitting broadband wavelengths on demand, the device is smaller than a penny and works at room temperature.
"We can access any frequency in the laser's range on demand at room temperature, which is ideal for sensing applications," said lead researcher Professor Manijeh Razeghi.
It can also emit light at frequencies within +/- 30 percent of the laser central frequency, which has never before been demonstrated in a single-laser diode.
Nearly all chemicals, including explosives, industrials and pollutants, strongly absorb light in the mid-infrared wavelength region, which is often called the "fingerprint region" for chemicals.
But lasers that work within this range have limitations. Larger, optically pumped lasers are too complex to use out in the field, and compact, lightweight diode laser sources have a limited spectral range.
Now, the new laser device can make detecting chemicals easier.
The findings were published online in the journal Optics Express journal.


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The anti-virus industry has a dirty little secret: Its products are often not very good at stopping viruses.
Consumers and businesses spend billions of dollars every year on anti-virus software. But these programs rarely, if ever, block freshly minted computer viruses, experts say, because the virus creators move too quickly. That is prompting startups and other companies to get creative about new approaches to computer security.
“The bad guys are always trying to be a step ahead,” said Matthew D. Howard, a venture capitalist at Norwest Venture Partners who previously set up the security strategy at Cisco Systems. “And it doesn’t take a lot to be a step ahead.”
Computer viruses used to be the domain of digital mischief-makers. But in the mid-2000s, when criminals discovered that malicious software could be profitable, the number of new viruses began to grow exponentially.
In 2000, there were fewer than 1 million new strains of malware, most of them the work of amateurs. By 2010, there were 49 million new strains, according to AV-Test, a German research institute that tests anti-virus products.
The anti-virus industry has grown as well, but experts say it is falling behind. By the time its products are able to block new viruses, it is often too late. The bad guys have had their fun, siphoning out a company’s trade secrets, erasing data or emptying a consumer’s bank account.
A new study by Imperva, a data security firm in Redwood City, Calif., and students from the Technion — Israel Institute of Technology is the latest confirmation of this. Researchers collected and analyzed 82 new computer viruses and put them up against more than 40 anti-virus products, made by top companies like Microsoft, Symantec, McAfee and Kaspersky Lab. They found that the initial detection rate was less than 5 percent.
On average, it took almost a month for anti-virus products to update their detection mechanisms and spot the new viruses. And two of the products with the best detection rates — Avast and Emsisoft — are available free.


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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights General Motors, Ford, Stellantis, Honda and Tesla
ZacksJan. 3, 2023, 05:51 AM
For Immediate ReleaseChicago, IL – January 3, 2023 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: General Motors GM, Ford F, Stellantis STLA, Honda HMC and Tesla TSLA.Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:Looking Back at the Top Auto Stories of 2022It has been nothing short of a roller-coaster ride for the auto industry in 2022. From historically low levels of inventory and record high prices of vehicles to the transformative Climate Bill and e-mobility acceleration, there were stories that made the biggest ripples in the auto industry. As 2022 draws to a close, let's take a much-deserved flashback into the most impactful stories and trends of the auto sector that grabbed headlines this year.Russia-Ukraine War Throws the Industry into Disarray: After a rocky 2020 amid coronavirus woes, semiconductor supply deficit rattled the auto market in 2021. Just when industry watchdogs and auto giants were predicting the chip deficit to gradually start easing out from mid-2022, the geopolitical conflict between Russia and Ukraine triggered the second round of global microchip shortage.The war created ripple effects in the automotive supply chain and exacerbated the chip deficit as raw materials got difficult to come by. Most auto biggies like General Motors, Ford, Stellantis and Honda among others suspended operations/business in Russia. Apart from gasoline getting expensive, the war also led to a spike in commodity prices, adding to automakers’ woes.Historically Low Inventory Levels, Record High Cars Prices: While the demand for cars remained strong, parts shortage (a byproduct of COVID-19 that got worsened by the Russia-Ukraine war) choked supplies and low stockpiles impacted sales. And it was not just microchip shortage that disrupted the supply chain, other parts and components also ran into short supply.All this adversely impacted inventory levels, especially in the first half of the year when new vehicle inventory in the United States was mostly running below 1 million units. While it started improving in the back half of the year, it’s still way below the pre-pandemic levels.Meanwhile, amid the demand-supply mismatch, car prices went off the roof. The average selling price of new vehicles hit a record high of $48,681 last month, beating the previous record high of $48,301 in August. Vehicle Affordability Concerns Amid Hawkish Fed: To rein in the stubborn inflation, Fed became ultra-aggressive, cranking up borrowing rates repeatedly in 2022. Increasing costs of vehicle financing are making monthly payments less affordable for less-affluent and subprime consumers. With borrowing getting expensive and threats of a recession looming large, consumers are gradually starting to get apprehensive about buying cars at a heavy premium.As a result, the demand for vehicles has already begun to cool off. Resultantly, vehicle sales forecasts are getting slashed and automakers’ pressing concern is now shifting from inventory challenges to rising interest rates, which may erode demand with recessionary risks lurking around the corner.The Landmark Climate Bill Supercharges EV Revolution: In August, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) — the boldest climate legislation in U.S. history. The bill seeks to transform the U.S. auto industry with incentives that would induce automakers to accelerate the production of electric vehicles (EVs). To encourage the adoption of EVs, the IRA included a $7,500 tax credit till 2032 on the purchase of a new EV.Importantly, the tax credit will be sans the 200,000-car cap. What’s worth noting here is that the new bill has provisions for tax credits only for vehicles manufactured in North America and meet the raw material sourcing requirements.The sweeping climate bill looks like surefire legislation to fast-track the EV industry.Notable EV Rollouts and Massive Battery Investments: Thanks to increasing customer enthusiasm about EVs, automakers rolled out several new models this year. Some of the more notable ones include Ford’s F-150 Lightning Pro and General Motors’ Cadillac Lyric. And as auto giants are fast changing their gears to electric, they are also actively ensuring that the future models don’t get held up amid a shortfall of batteries.To that end, the year 2022 saw major investments related to EV battery production. For instance, Honda and LG Energy Solutions announced their plans to invest $4.4 billion to build a new battery production plant in the United States.Stellantis also joined forces with LG Energy to invest $4.1 billion to build an EV battery plant in Ontario. STLA also inked a deal with Samsung SDI to invest more than $2.5 billion to build a JV battery facility in Indiana. Hyundai broke ground on a $5.5 billion U.S. EV battery facility in October.F Abandons While GM Goes Aggressive on Driverless Car Dreams: While electric dreams gathered steam, the self-driving car revolution seems to be stuck in the low lane. In a telling sign that autonomous vehicle (AV) technology is more complicated than once thought to be, Ford-Volkswagen backed AV startup, Argo AI, shut down amid mounting losses.Meanwhile, Tesla is also under federal investigation for its self-driving tech. While these developments make a self-driving future look more of a distant dream, General Motors continued to make progress on its driverless tech ambitions. GM expanded its ownership stake in self-driving car subsidiary Cruise. The U.S. legacy automaker acquired SoftBank Vision Fund 1's stake in Cruise for $2.1 billion.The Two Mega Acquisitions of the Year: Leading truck engine maker Cummins acquired Meritor in a deal valued at $3.7 billion. The buyout of Meritor positions Cummins as a leading provider of integrated powertrain solutions across internal combustion and electric power applications. The acquisition adds products to Cummins’ components business, offering attractive growth opportunities across the firm’s range of power solutions and applications. Auto equipment provider Tenneco got acquired by Apollo Funds, an affiliate of Apollo Global, for a whopping $7 billion, including debts. EV SPACs Burning Cash: It seemed that the EV SPAC party of the last two years entered the hangover phase in 2022. Many EV startups generating no meaningful sales are now facing a liquidity crunch. Amid surging inflation and the global supply chain crisis, many firms, including Canoo, Lordstown Motors and Faraday Future, face survival concerns unless they manage to raise additional capital. Fresh funds are getting more difficult and costlier to come by. With the market meltdown and depressed stock prices, smaller startups fear equity dilution.Carvana’s Drastic Crash: Once a Wall Street darling, used vehicle e-retailer Carvana grabbed headlines for all the wrong reasons, with its shares sinking to fresh lows multiple times this year. Shares have tanked 98% year to date, with growing concerns about the company going out of business. Massive layoffs, executives forgoing salaries and rising bankruptcy concerns made several analysts downgrade their ratings on the stock, warning that the company might run out of cash by the end of next year as chances of a potential cash infusion seem less likely.Musk’s Twitter Obsession Makes Way for TSLA’s Worst Year on Record: The world’s EV leader Tesla is headed for its worst month, quarter and full year ever. And while there might be a number of reasons behind that, Musk’s acquisition of Twitter has supposedly played the most consequential role in Tesla’s stock plunge of around 65% year to date. TSLA has lost more than 45% since Musk’s Twitter takeover.The company faced investors’ backlash as they felt Musk would be spread too thin across all his responsibilities and lose focus on Tesla.While Musk is known to juggle several ventures at once, the Twitter acquisition is his most immense undertaking yet. It also doesn’t help that Musk sold nearly $40 billion Tesla shares this year. The billionaire CEO has warned the public consistently about a potential “hard landing” caused by the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy.So far this month, Tesla has tanked 37%, and quarter to date, its shares have plummeted 54%. To put it in perspective, shares of Tesla had not dropped more than 25% and 38% in a single month and quarter, respectively. So, December 2022 and the fourth quarter of 2022 will mark Tesla’s worst monthly and quarterly share price performance.TSLA currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here.Why Haven’t You Looked at Zacks' Top Stocks?Our 5 best-performing strategies have blown away the S&P's impressive +28.8% gain in 2021. Amazingly, they soared +40.3%, +48.2%, +67.6%, +94.4%, and +95.3%. Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation.See Stocks Free >>Media ContactZacks Investment Research800-767-3771 ext. firstname.lastname@example.org://www.zacks.comPast performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.Zacks Top 10 Stocks for 2023 In addition to the investment ideas discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 top picks for the entirety of 2023? From inception in 2012 through November, the Zacks Top 10 Stocks portfolio has tripled the market, gaining an impressive +884.5% versus the S&P 500’s +287.4%.Now our Director of Research is combing through 4,000 companies covered by the Zacks Rank to handpick the best 10 tickers to buy and hold. Don’t miss your chance to get in on these stocks when they’re released on January 3.Be First to New Top 10 Stocks >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Ford Motor Company (F): Free Stock Analysis Report Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (HMC): Free Stock Analysis Report General Motors Company (GM): Free Stock Analysis Report Tesla, Inc. (TSLA): Free Stock Analysis Report Stellantis N.V. (STLA): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research
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Watch a Lamborghini Huracan Performante Race a MIG-29K Fighter Jet
We’ve seen plenty of supercar battles on airstrips before, but this one’s a bit different from the rest. Posted to Twitter by user @Chopsyturvey, it’s an abbreviated 44-second clip that shows a head-to-head acceleration battle between a Lamborghini Huracan Performante and a MIG-29K fighter jet, combining horsepower and firepower into a single brief video.
Continue reading for the full story.
What’s in a Name? The Origin of the "Countach" Name Comes To Light
Lamborghini is known for naming its cars after famous bulls in history. The Miura, for example, is named after a Spanish fighting bull that was bred from the Miura Cattle Ranch Feruccio Lamborghini’s friend, Don Eduardo Miura. There’s also the Islero, which was named after a specific Miura bull that killed matador Manolete back in 1947. Then there’s the Murcielago, which is, quite arguably, the most famous bull in history, thanks in part to the myth that has grown from it surviving 28 sword strokes in a bullfight that took place all the way back in 1897. Of all the Lamborghinis that have made hit the road, only a handful carried names that weren’t connected to bulls. One of those models is the Lamborghini Countach, regarded as the first Lamborghini to break free from the automaker’s bull-naming tradition. So if the Countach’s name isn’t related to bulls or bullfighting, how did Lamborghini come up with the name? Well, we now have the answer, one brought to us by no less than the head of the Countach’s design team, Marcello Gandini.
One Man Rented a Lambo and Racked up $50k in Fines Over Just Four Hours
Dubai is known for a lot of things, but for enthusiasts like us, it’s all about exotic cars and excellent roads. However, there are some people who get carried away by this ‘high,’ and end up getting famous for the wrong reasons. Add this British bloke to the list, who racked up roughly $47,000 in fines within four hours while driving a rented Lamborghini Huracan. According to The National, the 25-year-old British tourist was snapped by speeding cameras 33 times in just over four hours!
2019 ARES Project Panther
Although it’s just a few years old, ARES Design is already creating a bit of a name for itself. Founded back in 2014 by Dany Bahar, former CEO at Lotus, the firm started out as a customization shop for high-end automobiles. Now, however, ARES Design is looking to break into the world of boutique supercar production, and Project Panther is its first effort to step up to the big leagues.
Continue reading to learn more about the ARES Project Panther.
The age of naturally-aspirated engines is slowly but surely nearing its end. Only a handful of supercar producers are seriously developing V-10 and V-12 beasts, with Ferrari and Lamborghini being at the forefront of that development. One of them only recently revealed the ultimate in terms of power, speed, composure, and dominance - the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ - the ultimate representation of everything Lamborghini stands for. We have seen glimpses of it stretching its V-12 over the Nurburgring more than once, with its last effort actually being the most incredible one. The Lamborghini Aventador SVJ has become the world’s fastest production car to ever visit the Nurburgring.
To achieve such an extraordinary goal, the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ received a number of exceptional improvements over the previous best Lambo - the Aventador S and the Aventador SV. I am listing must-know facts about the stunning Lamborghini Aventador SVJ.
The Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Will be the Last Lambo to Sport a Stand-Alone V-12
The Lamborghini Aventador SVJ is making history every time it makes the news. Hot on the heels of setting the fastest lap time of a production car at the Nurburgring, the Aventador SVJ has a new historical tie attached to its belt. The 760-horsepower Lambo will be the last ever Lamborghini to proudly use a naturally aspirated V-12 engine without any electric aids attached to it. All future Lamborghinis from this point, whether it’s using a V-12 or a V-10 engine, will be electrically assisted.
Lamborghini Aventador SVJ breaks Nurburgring record!
It’s been only 24 hours since Lamborghini released a short video of the upcoming Aventador SVJ on the Nurburgring, and the Italian firm announced that the supercar set a new lap record for production cars at the Nurburgring. The Aventador SVJ lapped the German track in 6:44.97 minutes, a full minute quicker than the previous record holder.
New video claims the Lambo Aventador SVJ was designed to have the best handling
Lamborghini has already confirmed that the most hardcore Aventador yet will wear an "SVJ" badge, and it’s releasing new teasers as the public debut is getting closer. Rumored to have set a new record for production cars at the Nurburgring, the Aventador SVJ is now shown racing on the German track with the catchphrase "designed to have the best handling."
Lamborghini restores Espada and Islero for their 50th anniversary celebrations
In a time when modern supercars are defined by how outlandish they can look, the Lamborghini Espada and Lamborghini Islero provide reminders that there once was a time when “sexy” didn’t always equate to having the most menacing-looking car in the business. The two Italian icons are still considered two of the finest Lamborghinis ever created, and as the two celebrate their golden jubilee, Lamborghini announced that it has successfully restored the Islero and the Espada that belong to the Lamborghini Museum.
Video: Lamborghini Teases Aventador SVJ Run at the Nürburgring
Earlier this month, we reported a rumor that the Lamborghini Aventador Superveloce Jota may have reset the lap record for production vehicles at the Nürburgring, besting the Porsche 911 GT2 RS] by 2 ticks with a time of 6 minutes, 45 seconds. Now, it looks as though Lambo is teasing an upcoming announcement with a quick 28-second video clip titled “Aventador SVJ meets the Nürburgring”.
The video doesn’t provide much in way of info, instead giving us quick clips of the upcoming go-faster bull rampaging its way around the infamous German racetrack. However, all indicators seem to point towards something big on the horizon.
For now, the Aventador SVJ has yet to make its official debut, but a new lap record at the Nürburgring is certainly one way to go about it. Once it does make its official entrance, expect the Lambo to come with some rather lofty performance specs, including nearly 800 horsepower courtesy of a mid-mounted 6.5-liter V-12 powerplant. Power is sent to all four wheels, with top speed rated at 217 mph. Sounds like the right stuff for tackling the Green Hell, no?
Do you think this latest Italian monster has what it takes to best ze Germans on their home turf?
2019 Lamborghini LB48H Hybrid Supercar
We’ve heard rumors and rumination about a possible hybrid Lambo more than once before. For example, back in September of 2017, the brand’s R&D boss dropped a few suggestions that it was considering creating just such a thing, and then of course there was the Terzo Millennio concept that debuted in November of 2017. Well, word has it an initial prototype is already done and finished, with rumors pointing to a private showing at a party in Italy in June of 2018, as tipped by TheSupercarBlog.com.
Apparently, it’s codenamed the LB48H, and it could very well preview a replacement for Lambo’s current flagship model, the mighty Aventador. So far, Lamborghini is keeping its cards close to the chest, but if such a vehicle were created, what would it look like, both above and below the skin? To find out, we put on our thinking hats and did a little speculative review. Read on for the details.
Continue reading to learn more about the Lamborghini LB48H Hybrid Supercar.
Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Rumored to be New Production ‘Ring Record Holder
The up-and-coming Lamborghini Aventador Superveloce Jota was already shaping up to be an absolute monster, rocking more power, less weight, and extra aero stick to result in one of the brand’s most potent track weapons. Now, however, it’s looking like this badass speed machine is aiming to put its talents towards securing a spot at the top of the Nurburgring record lap list.
Continue reading for the full story.
2018 Lamborghini Huracan Performante by Novitec
Only a few days ago, McLaren revealed that mad 600LT. Just then I wondered what it would be like to see a “baby” McLaren LT go against a “baby” Lamborghini Performante on the other side of the track. But then, Novitec (FYI - a German tuning company) and its Torado division revealed the Huracan Performante Novitec. It is like a Performante version of the Performante Lamborghini. Maybe an overkill, but Novitec did it so well, I don’t even care. I need to see the 600LT race against this now.
Lamborghini’s First Hybrid Supercar, the LB48H, Will Resemble the Terzo Millennio Concept
Lamborghini is in the process of cooking up a new one-off vehicle, codenamed the LB48H. The project is said to be far along in the development that a prototype was showcased at a private event in Italy a few weeks ago. The supercar is expected to carry a hybrid powertrain and will be launched sometime in 2020. If this car turns into what we think it is, this could be Lamborghini’s first venture into the world of hypercars.
Lamborghini Polo Storico restores the iconic Miura SVR
Lamborghini Polo Storico, the arm that handles Lambo’s classic models, has completed the restoration of one of the most famous Miura models ever built, the Miura SVR. Based on the Miura Jota, a prototype that was destroyed before it made into production, the SVR was showcased at Japan’s Nakayama Circuit before it was delivered to its owner.
Lamborghini is Skeptical About Battery-Powered Supercars
Lamborghini is considered one of the best supercar brands in the world, but don’t expect it to launch an all-electric supercar anytime soon. Lamborghini Chief Technical Officer Maurizio Reggiani doesn’t see that happening, in part because he thinks that all-electric supercars, or hypercars as we’ve come to know them, can’t match the pure performance abilities that supercars with traditional international combustion engines have.
Lamborghini’s Hollywood Cars Are Now On Display in Its Headquarters
Lamborghini may not have the same Hollywood roots as Ford or Aston Martin, but the Italian automaker has made its presence felt on the silver screen. Now, we get to see all of it in the same place at the same time. Head over to the company’s headquarters in Sant’Agata Bolognese, and take a trip to the Lamborghini Museum. That’s where you’ll find the exhibit, “Film Emotions — Lamborghini and the World of Cinema,” where you’ll see some of the most famous Lamborghinis that have been featured in Hollywood movies.
1967 Lamborghini Marzal concept will be driven in public for the first time since 1967
The Lamborghini Marzal, one of the most iconic concept cars ever built, will be driven for the first time in public after 51 years at the Monaco Grand Prix track this weekend. Unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in 1967, the Marzal was driven on the same Monte Carlo track by Prince Rainier III of Monaco the same year. It was the Marzal’s only public appearance in action until now. Restored to its original specifications, the concept car will be driven twice on the Monaco circuit on each of the three days of the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique.
Prepare to Spend Big if You Want to Own Pope Francis’ One-Off Lamborghini Huracan
Back in November 2017, Lamborghini decided to gift Pope Francis with his own one-off Lamborghini Huracan. The Pontiff graciously declined the gift, opting instead to donate it in the name of charity. Fast forward months later and the aforementioned one-off Huracan is now set to be auctioned off without a reserve price by RM Sotheby’s in Monaco on May 12.


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Number sold through September: 31,871
Difference from 2012: 1.3% Recall? What recall? The Camry has put some serious mileage between itself and its troubled past and remains the most popular car in the U.S. Its sales are nearly identical to the Chevy Silverado and exceed those of the Dodge Ram. For yet another year, it's going to be the best-selling non-pickup vehicle in the U.S. Is it the combine 30 miles per gallon? The pindrop-quiet interior? The Bluetooth connection or the Entune App Suite entertainment and information center? Maybe its the fact that it's tied with the soon-to-be-departed Dodge Avenger for the title of Most American-made midsize. A full 75% of its parts are made in the U.S., with the folks on the line in Georgetown, Ky., handling the assembly. Toyota's been churning out the Camry here since 1998 and, unlike its counterparts making the Avenger, doesn't plan to stop any time soon. -- Written by Jason Notte in Portland, Ore. >To contact the writer of this article, click here: Jason Notte. >To follow the writer on Twitter, go to http://twitter.com/notteham. >To submit a news tip, send an email to: firstname.lastname@example.org.


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GO4YU Receives Prestigious PC Press TOP 50 Recognition
GO4YU, a company operating as a subsidiary of Telekom Srbija, is the winner of the prestigious PC Press TOP 50 award – the best online things, in the Digital link 2019 category, for the development and expansion of ties with the diaspora.
At the official ceremony held in Belgrade City Hall, the Sales and Marketing Director Petar Puaca received the award on behalf of GO4YU.
- We provide a legal and simple broadcast of more than 250 channels from the ex-YU region to our people throughout the world, as well as phone calls to their loved ones and families in the homeland for all our expatriates, at the most affordable rates. We mainly operate outside the Serbian borders, however, we are very glad to see that the value of the services that we provide to our people is recognized in our country as well – Puaca said.
The PC Press Top 50 recognitions have been awarded by this magazine’s editorial to the best things on the domestic Internet for more than two decades. For the twenty-third time in a row, this event has gathered the most significant and the best on the Internet, including websites, social networks, and mobile applications.


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Friday, 21 March 2014 14:54
SYDNEY -- Altium today announced a third-party developer partnership with electronic parts search engine developer Octopart. The move will allow Altium Designer users to compare parts across different manufacturers and distributors.
Octopart aggregates and normalizes component data from a number of sources for component search, selection and supply chain needs. Given the amount of lifecycle cost for a new product tied to decisions made during the design phase -- 70 to 80%, Altium says -- having access to such data will reduce end-product cost.
As a first result of the joint activities with Octopart, every Altium Designer user on a current license will get access to a new extension, providing immediate access to electronic components from more than 200 distributors. Every Altium Designer user will be able to search the catalog of component suppliers and distributors from Octopart from inside Altium Designer’s schematic editor, early in the design development process, Altium said.
"We're excited to find in Altium a partner that shares our vision of opening up electronic part data to the world," said Sam Wurzel, CEO of Octopart. "Finding parts is half the battle in the design process. This is a natural fit and we can't wait to empower design engineers building the next generation of hardware."


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Amazon’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) Prime Day 2017 broke the e-commerce company’s single-day sales record for the second year in a row. Amazon said overall sales grew 60 percent from a year earlier. Amazon also reported that more than 50 percent more Prime members made a purchase on Prime Day this year than the previous year.
Amazon’s Prime Day is an exclusive sale for Prime members. Amazon created the sales holiday in 2015 to mark its 20th anniversary. Amazon’s Prime Day is a straightforward move by the company to both push more memberships and increase sales.
Prime Day began at 9 p.m. ET on Monday and wrapped up on Tuesday at 2:59 a.m. ET. The sale appeared to go more smoothly than in previous years. Amazon noted that many small businesses and entrepreneurs were able to sell more goods through the Prime Day sale. Prime Day expanded into China, India, and Mexico this year.
The company reported that more new members joined Prime on Prime Day 2017 than on any other day in Amazon history. A Prime membership costs $99 a year and provides perks such as free two-day shipping on many items as well as music and video streaming. Prime now includes an estimated 85 million US customers, up from 63 million last June.
The best-selling product on Prime Day 2017 was the Echo Dot smart speaker, home speakers powered by Amazon’s Alexa intelligent voice system. The original Echo was discounted 50 percent to $89.99, while the Dot dropped by $15, bringing it to $34.99. The Amazon Fire TV Edition of the Element 55-inch 4K Ultra HD smart LED TV was reported to be “the best-selling TV deal in Amazon history.”
Amazon also reported record sales of Fire tablets and Kindle devices. Outside of Amazon-owned devices, the most popular items sold in the U.S. were the Instant Pot pressure cooker, the TP-Link Wi-Fi Smart Plug, the Sony Playstation 4, and 23andMe DNA tests.
Amazon has yet to disclose specific sales figures from Prime Day. Prime Day global sales are estimated at $2.5 billion to $2.9 billion, including sales from third-party vendors. Amazon typically gives additional data on Prime Day after the release of its quarterly results.


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LONDON — Luxury brands Asprey and Garrard have new owners.
The New York-based private equity firm Sciens Capital Management LLC and the Connecticut-based hedge fund Plainfield Asset Management LLC have acquired, together with the brands’ management, 100 percent of the business.
The new company will be called Asprey International.
The sale confirms a WWD report on March 15 that an outright sale of the Asprey and Garrard brands was in the works, and that potential buyers included private equity investment firms with retail experience.
WWD also reported that A&G Group’s shareholders of reference, Lawrence Stroll and Silas Chou, Edgar Bronfman Jr., Morgan Stanley Capital and the Luxembourg-based TAG Group, were possibly no longer involved.
“We are encouraged to have reached an agreement with Sciens Capital Management and Plainfield Asset Management for the acquisition of Asprey and Garrard,” said Gianluca Brozzetti, chief executive of Asprey and Garrard.
“We have completed the expensive first phase of our project and we look forward to future development,” he added.
The price of the transaction was not disclosed, although an A&G spokeswoman confirmed the new buyers did not assume any debt. The new shareholders are set to pump in $80 million to $100 million to fund the group’s expansion.
But this follows what The Financial Times reported Saturday was close to a $500 million loss by the former shareholders on their investment in the ambitious venture. The plan was to turn A&G Group, particularly Asprey, into a global luxury brand rivaling Tiffany, Cartier or Louis Vuitton. A massive flagship was built on Fifth Avenue at a cost of up to $25 million, and Asprey’s product range was expanded to include a full collection of women’s and men’s ready-to-wear as well as its core products of jewelry, leather goods, china and glass.
But the Asprey and Garrard brands never matched the ambitious sales targets set by the owners and management, and investors repeatedly had to seek additional financing over the last five years.
The new owners said in a joint statement that sales for both brands for the year ending March 2006 are expected to reach $54 million, compared with $51 million in the previous fiscal year.
The statement said growth came from all retail channels, despite the negative impact of the terrorist attacks on London last summer.
Asprey’s sales were up 15 percent compared with the previous year, while Garrard’s were up 51 percent, due, the statement said, to an ever-expanding retail network.
By the end of this month, Asprey will have 15 points of sale and Garrard 24. The new outlets are located in major international cities such as Moscow, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Osaka, and Hong Kong.
John Rigas, chairman and chief executive of Sciens Capital Management said the company’s intention was to “assist and support” management in expanding the brands worldwide and restoring them to their historical position of prominence.
Max Holmes, founder and chief investment officer of Plainfield Asset Management, said his company was excited about the growth prospects of Asprey and Garrard worldwide.
As reported, A&G Group, the brands’ parent company, had been working with Deloitte and Citigroup since last summer to find an investor for Asprey and Garrard. At the time, the company was looking for an additional $50 million investment.
During the long search for investors — and subsequent negotiation process — the company repeatedly denied that Asprey, Garrard and their associated companies had gone into receivership.
Stroll and Silas Chou said in a statement Sunday: “This is the right next step to take advantage of the long-term potential of Asprey and Garrard. Over the past several years, the A&G team has put in place a solid foundation by properly repositioning the brands and commencing an international retail expansion. While the investment did not perform up to our expectations, it was relatively small compared to our overall portfolio and Sportswear Holdings’ day-to-day attention remains focused on our core apparel and textile investments. “
As reported Friday, the Asprey store located at 723 Fifth Avenue in New York will close before September. Asprey is understood to be moving to a smaller site on Madison Avenue. As early as last summer, Stroll conceded to WWD that the mammoth Asprey store on Fifth Avenue was larger than the business required.


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Nene Leakes is making major moves in her career! She has a reoccurring role on Glee and will be on NBCs new show The New Normal. She's an author of Never Make the Same Mistake Twice and of course we all know she was on Celebrity Apprentice! She announced today she will be creating a fashion line!
Nene signed with global brand licensing agency 'Beanstalk' to help her transition to her fashion line. Beanstalk announced that they intend to “leverage NeNe’s position in pop culture to offer consumers fashion-forward, affordable apparel and accessories, designed to empower women to walk into a room and ‘own it’ -- like NeNe herself.”
Kudos to Nene!! She is taking advantage of her fame and making herself a household name in Hollywood and in the fashion scene! You go girl!!


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LITHIUM PRICE EVOLUTION WEBINAR: Three key points for lithium futures contract
Experts from the battery value chain shared their understanding and insights into lithium price evolution and the new lithium futures contract during a Fastmarkets’ webinar on Tuesday May 25.
CME Group in the United States launched a cash-settled lithium futures contract on May 3. The contract is settled against Fastmarkets’ assessment of the lithium hydroxide monohydrate, 56.5% LiOH.H2O min, battery grade, spot price, cif China, Japan & Korea.
Here are three key points the webinar audience learnt about the new lithium futures contract.
Why should the value chain use the lithium futures contract?
Like any other futures contracts in the commodity market, the lithium futures contract gives participants in the battery value chain a very standardized instrument to lock their purchase or sales price, and to minimize their risks amid price volatility, according to the panelists.
Such hedging mechanisms work as long as the formula price used by companies in the supply chain has a good correlation with Fastmarkets’ lithium hydroxide price, Gregor Spilker, director of metals/energy research and product development at CME Group, told the audience.
“In China, we have seen a preference for formula prices for different lithium chemicals or even raw materials,” Joyce Zhang, commodity broker at Freight Investor Services (FIS), said. In the lithium physical market, she added, there is an increasing correlation between long-term contract prices and Fastmarkets’ lithium price assessments.
“[As a producer, if you are] using a formula or floating pricing element tied to industrial pricing, maybe you want clarity of price in the next quarter or the next six months so you want to lock your revenue and protect yourself from the price decrease,” she noted.
“Now you can achieve this by selling forward futures against your production. Lithium negotiation are complex and take time to execute, or you sit on semi-finished lithium or you have inventory [because] the purchaser has not finished testing the materials,” she added. “You can trade on futures to protect yourself from the weakening of spot prices. You can use it to lock in prices for the future as they are today.”
Such lithium hedging instruments also help to cut investors’ and financiers’ exposure to price risks during the long investment and construction timetable of a lithium project, according to the panelists.
“If you are banks or investors in the value chain, you need to think about getting involved [in such a futures contract] to protect the investment you have, or at least to hedge [some of them], or to encourage your target companies to be involved to protect the cash flow for the project financing to certain extent,” Kevin Smith, managing director of Traxys North America LLC, said.
Smith acknowledged that the lithium supply chain has endured a degree of volatility in price development over the past few months.
Fastmarkets’ assessment of the lithium hydroxide monohydrate, 56.5% LiOH.H2O min, battery grade, spot price, cif China, Japan & Korea was $12.50-14.00 per kg on May 27. This was up by 47.22% since mid-February. Prior to a period of stabilization between mid-September 2020 and mid-February 2021, the price had dropped by 16.28% since the start of 2020.
“We firmly believe that liquidity [will increase and] people on the value chain will get more involved [in the futures market] to manage their portfolio and price risks,” Smith added.
How do brokers, exchanges establish forward curve prices?
Brokers provide their clients with forward curve prices, which are derived from physical deals, firm bids and offers, panelists told the audience.
“We factor in the physical sales that we facilitate, and that also include bids and offers that we receive in our negotiations,” Martim Facada, a battery raw materials broker with SCB Group, said, adding that such a curve is produced on a daily basis.
“Forward curve is the price you can achieve today for the future,” he said.
CME also publishes settlement prices for forward months, Spilker told the audience.
“We get submissions from brokers and we get firm trade data,” he said. “The last element we look at is offers and bids on screen. All those will be taken into account to set up the CME settlement prices.”
The lithium contract on the CME has 12 forward months to trade, according to Spilker, who also told the audience that, depending on clients’ interests, CME was able to extend the forward curve for lithium contract as it did for the cobalt contract.
The CME cobalt futures contract currently has a forward curve until December 2022.
“With the market evolving, with more adoption of formula price or index-linked pricing, market participants can definitely learn more about the correlation of the spot price, the futures forward curve and the index to decide their hedging strategy and proportion with their physical market exposures,” Zhang said.
Will there be a big trader presence in lithium physical, futures market?
While lithium is still on the way to becoming fully commoditized, lithium futures are likely to accelerate this process with traders becoming increasingly involved in both the futures and physical markets, according to panelists.
“Lithium has a lot of characteristics similar to traditional commodities,” Smith said, although he also pointed out that currently lithium also faces some factors, such as a short shelf life, that would prevent traders trading openly, freely and more liquidly.
Smith told the audience that this was why Traxys had been more involved in providing structured finance solutions to producers, consumers and those in the middle of the lithium value chain. In that context, it intended to manage risks in combination with companies in the value chain.
He also encouraged the audience to think about lithium futures and how to use them in risk management.
“We have all seen the forecasts for growth of the electric vehicle sector, and [we] know how much capital is needed to build gigafactories, and to track that huge amount of money there must be a risk management tool, and there must be liquidity to manage that,” Smith said.
“[Lithium futures] is a great development and it will accelerate the market toward maturity. We hope the market will evolve and become more mature and liquid. Moving forward, there will be a more commercialized scenario and a more traditional trading market for lithium,” he added.
“Lithium is chemical,” Facada said, “but that doesn’t mean it is not tradeable.”
[A quote was erroneously attributed to SCB Group’s Facada in the 15th paragraph when this report was originally published. This has been corrected.]


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Robotics and COVID-19: Highlights from A3’s panel discussion with four top leaders
As the world continues to fight the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, robots and automation are playing a critical role in helping to safeguard people while helping make and deliver critical supplies to health care workers and to the public as they shelter in place. On April 8, the Association for Advancing Automation (A3) convened a live online panel with four industry leaders in the robotics industry:
- Mike Cicco, President and CEO, FANUC America
- Milton Guerry, President, SCHUNK USA
- Melonee Wise, CEO and Founder, Fetch Robotics
- Jürgen von Hollen, President, Universal Robots
The panel, moderated by Robert Huschka, the director of education strategies at A3, featured a wide-ranging conversation, covering topics such as the economic impact to automation, supply change disruptions, key business insights and crisis leadership. More than 900 attendees watch the discussion live, which was sponsored by Miller Resource Group. If you missed the webinar, you can sign up to watch the replay here. Here’s an edited summary of some of the key topics that were covered:
How are robotics making a difference in this crisis?
Mike Cicco: “I think this is bringing a big awareness to how much robots and automation are in our manufacturing companies certainly around the company and around the world. Every time you go to a grocery store and you are hoping that toilet paper is on the shelves or that Clorox wipes are there or that there’s food – cheese and beverages and things like that -- you should really stop to think about how robots and automation play a factor in helping those things get into those stores.”
Jürgen von Hollen: “First of all, I would say I'm actually quite proud of the industry itself because I think the amount of innovation we're seeing by leveraging technology such as to repurpose or retool production lines, quickly -- I mean really quickly -- to deal with the demands and the requirements out there, whether it's PPE (Personal Protection equipment), or testing kits, or whatever it might be, I think is phenomenal.”
Melonee Wise: “We’ve been able to help companies put teams back to work. One of the nice things about mobile robots is that they can help with social distancing. And if you look within a lot of the facilities, instead of people doing transfers between locations, the robots are doing that transfer. That’s been helping a lot.”
How much do you think industries will reexamine their supply chains as we move on after this crisis?
Milton Guerry: “As hard as it can be to do while we're getting some of the news that we're getting -- as companies, we have to position ourselves where we have to look to the other side. And I think we have to take a long look at the supply chain of our products. I think the most successful companies are going to really take a good look, and they're going to see where they want to put their investments. Obviously, there's going to be some snapback, because there's this pent up demand that's going to happen. But after that, the companies that we all trust to supply our goods and services will start taking a strong look at investments that will make a difference for them.”
Jürgen von Hollen: For the first time, we, our company, we've moved away from supply chain robustness or vitality to business continuity. I think it's much more about -- for us -- how do we ensure that we can get the product to the customer? So when the pandemic started in China, we were, of course, immediately impacted. We took steps to figure out how do we make sure that we create a supply chain that is, first of all, viable in this kind of crisis, which is changing almost every day. And you have to shift and move.”
Mike Cicco: “I think companies have been considering and actually doing onshoring for a long time. I think most companies have gone through these cycles in terms of a lot of offshoring concept of onshore and has come back. Certainly robots and automation have played a key role in that. It's been happening. So we're hearing a lot of that from our customers of just trying to figure out what to do next. The one thing that I'll say about this pandemic … is what I felt today is not what I felt yesterday or the week before.”
Amid lockdown orders, how are you keeping customers up and running?
Mike Cicco: I would say a lot of my calls and my time during the first couple weeks of this pandemic has been talking to end users – whether it’s through a system integrator or directly – to ensure them that we will be there to help make sure those robots are up and running. That has us playing a critical role in this pandemic.
Melonee Wise: “Because we are in the cloud, we’ve been able to continue to deploy systems without having people on site. Everyone is locked down right now and they need to get these critical systems. This is showing not only the value of automation but the value of cloud paired with automation. … We’ve been able to help them very easily remotely reconfigure this system. That’s one of the things we will see after this crisis. An interest in flexible automation, not just ridged repetitive automation.”
Automotive is getting hit hard amid the pandemic lockdowns. Are there other sectors faring better?
Mike Cicco: “A number of industries, like the pharmaceutical industry or the food, beverage, consumer products -- as you can imagine -- those places are running full tilt as fast as they can, making sure that all hands are on deck so they can produce and do the things that they need to do. Certainly automotive is getting a lot of headlines right now because many of the plants are shut down and not producing vehicles, but I think that many other industries are still running as best they can to comply with the government orders, and also still produce the things that they need for customers.”
Melonee Wise: “Anything that's doing essential business is taking off like a rocket ship, I think, -- but non-essential, it's slowing down for sure. Like clothing retailers are taking a pretty big hit. It turns out a lot of people don't need to buy pants. … But what we're seeing is a lot of new inbound around medical equipment, manufacturers, pharmaceuticals, certain types of consumer electronics. I guess people are buying laptops. A lot of things that are enabling this large shift to work-at-home. And then, one thing that has been very true for the mobile space, there is a huge amount of inbound around disinfection. So whether it's chemical disinfection or UV disinfection, we are probably fielding 10 or 20 leads a day on just how do we get people back to work in these facilities safe?
This crisis will end – eventually – even if we don’t know when. What will be the lasting effects? How do we prepare to be ready when it’s over?
Mike Cicco: “I think that eventually we're going to get past this, but I think this is going to be one of those things that's going to have a lasting impact. … I think the Great Recession that we went through in 2008-2009 had an effect on how we feel about things. But it wasn't lasting. It's not like we did a whole lot of things differently. There was just that was something that happened to our economy. This (pandemic) is going to have a lasting effect on terms of how we fundamentally behave.”
Jürgen von Hollen: “I think one of the things this pandemic has done has created a huge amount of awareness of the requirement for flexibility. I believe that we will come to a new normal. I do believe that -- even in our own businesses -- the definition of what is considered optimal-and-effective resource utilization will be different. If I look at myself 70-80% of my time, I don't think that's going to happen. I think we're going to be looking at trying to leverage the (video conferencing) tools that we have here today, just trying to be more efficient and effective. And I think that's going to transcend not just our businesses, but all businesses, I think people will think a lot more about those things.”
Melonee Wise: “We kind of see this as three phases. The first phase is obviously this lockdown. The second is the transition period. And then the third is obviously the new norm -- whatever the new normal is. And one of the things we're preparing for: We think that coming out of the transition and into the new normal, there's going to be a significant uptick in demand. And so we've been working with our customers -- and we're already starting to see this because some companies have a little bit more time to layout new technology projects. We're telling them to start focusing on that now so that they can get ready to go when the lockdown is done, and we're in the transition phase.”
This crisis is a test of leadership. How do you maintain focus and keep your teams working toward your goals?
Milton Guerry: “We will operate differently. Our customers will operate differently. That's the foundation of this thing. But we have to, as leaders, look to ways to keep our teams engaged and focused, keep them in the game, make sure they know that there is a bright future of robotics and automation. … And also there’s an understanding that this is a very tough time for them. Because obviously, this economic uncertainty drives a lot of fear. But combine that with the uncertainty of the virus and the health aspects, and certainly it's a much bigger thing for our employees.”
Jürgen von Hollen: “What we have today is something that's never happened before. And I think it's global, and it's fragmented. It is difficult. And I think as a leader, with whichever company it is, you’ve got to make some fundamental decisions relatively quickly with very little information because it is changing that quickly. So I think one of the things that you have to do is you have to come back to your strengths and your core principles and beliefs. At Universal Robots, we talk about empowering people and our staff. And I fundamentally believe, first of all, that the market is there. It'll come back.”


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Mar. 27, 2014 — The San Francisco Travel Association reported today that San Francisco welcomed 16.9 million visitors in 2013, an increase of 2.3 percent from 2012. These visitors spent $9.38 billion in 2013, up 5.1 percent from the previous year. The data was presented during the ninth annual Visitor Industry Outlook & Marketing Conference today at the Marines Memorial Club and Hotel.
“San Francisco’s visitor industry once again had record growth in 2013,” said Joe D'Alessandro, San Francisco Travel president and CEO. “Visitor spending reached the highest level ever last year.”
“The record-breaking amount of visitor spending and increased number of jobs that support the tourism industry are clear indications that San Francisco remains an international destination city,” said San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee. “We need to continue building our city’s future with our world-renowned innovative spirit, and support projects like the Moscone Center Expansion Project and the Warriors Pavilion that are essential to the future of San Francisco’s most important industry, tourism.”
The tourism industry generated $607 million in taxes for the City of San Francisco, up 8.1 percent from the previous year. The number of jobs supported by tourism rose 3.8 percent to 76,834 jobs in 2013, with an annual payroll of $2.31 billion, an increase of 5.7 percent.
In 2013, there was an average of 134,231 visitors in San Francisco each day. Visitor spending equated to $25.7 million daily (including spending related to meetings and conventions).
Since last year at this time, San Francisco Travel has booked 41 conventions at Moscone Center. These events will fill 945,000 hotel rooms between 2014 and 2028. Their attendees and exhibitors will spend $814 million
Since beginning a partnership with Booking.com, San Francisco Travel’s online hotel reservations have increased 99% year over year for October through March.
To keep San Francisco’s message in front of the leisure travelers, San Francisco Travel has completed a new campaign for spring titled “Never the same. Always San Francisco.” The messaging connects the spirit and iconic appeal of a visit to San Francisco, with the promise of a constantly-changing experience that comes from the new shows, events, attractions, shopping and dining adventures in this ever-evolving destination. Since the majority of visitors have been to San Francisco before, the new theme emphasizes the fact that every visit will hold something new while still providing the activities that people love. The campaign is supported by the following partners: The Asia Art Museum, the deYoung Museum, PIER 39, Big Bus Tours, Amtrak and American Express.
Dine About Town, the annual restaurant promotion developed by San Francisco Travel Association, is celebrating its 13th year in 2014. The program generates an estimated $3 million in additional revenue to the city’s restaurants. The second half of the 2014 program will take place June 1-15 with more than 100 restaurants participating.
San Francisco Travel is also embarking on several new marketing initiatives, including:
- A completely redesigned website in the works, due to debut in September.
- New research into San Francisco’s domestic and international visitors currently in progress.
- New direct marketing capabilities led by a to-be-named executive with database marketing expertise.
The San Francisco Travel Association is a private, not-for-profit organization that markets the city as a leisure, convention and business travel destination. With more than 1,500 partner businesses, San Francisco Travel is one of the largest membership-based tourism promotion agencies in the country.
The San Francisco Travel business offices are located at 201 Third St., Suite 900, San Francisco, CA 94103. In May 2014, the offices will move to One Front St., Suite 2900, San Francisco, CA 94111. Phone numbers and email addresses will remain the same.
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Note to editors: For news and story ideas, follow @SFMediaRelation on Twitter. Photos and press releases are available at http://www.sanfrancisco.travel/media/.


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This week saw another slew of big brand updates in the Android Market, proving the power and worth of Google’s growing mobile ecosystem. Sony’s hoping to expand its subscription-based music streaming service to the mobile sector with the launch of an Android app, while Starbucks hopes to broaden the success of its mobile payments app with an Android version. Breakthrough app Lightbox is hoping to become a big brand of its own, with a photo-sharing app that keys into Android devices while maintaining an iOS-like aesthetic.
Kristen Nicole ›
Kristen Nicole spends most of her time (literally) writing for various online publications in the social media space.


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David Beckham is getting ready to release a new photo book that will chronicle his career as a soccer player. The retired athlete will be publishing the book with Headline Publishing Group.
The book will include images of Beckham’s career as an international soccer star, including his time with Manchester United, Spain’s Real Madrid, Los Angeles Galaxy and Pris St.-Germain.
“David Beckham is, without a doubt, the most universally recognized and popular sports person on the planet, and this gorgeous book will be a superb way for his millions of fans around the world to celebrate David’s remarkable achievements within football,” Headline Publishing Group said in a statement.
Beckham retired from soccer earlier this year, but has been keeping busy with his various endorsement deals, including a clothing line with H&M and his fragrance line.
The still untitled project will be released on October 31.


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Economic growth will be steady, inflation lower, and the unemployment rate will rise in 2008, according to predictions from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s Economic Outlook Symposium released yesterday. Real gross domestic product is seen rising 2.5% in 2007 and 2008, while inflation, as measured by the consumer price index, will rise 3.6% this year and 2.6% next, symposium participants predicted. They see inflation at 4.7% by year-end and 5.0% by the end of 2008. This suggests “that overall growth in the economy is somewhat below potential,” the Chicago Fed said.“Short-term interest rates are expected to rise 17 basis points in 2008, while long-term rates are predicted to increase 30 basis points over the same time period,” the Fed said. “The trade-weighted dollar is expected to edge lower in 2008.”
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Northampton County Court yesterday limited pickets at a Bethlehem Township truck delivery firm where Teamsters Local 773 started demonstrating March 30.
Judge Robert Freedberg signed a preliminary injunction prepared by attorneys Edward Feege and Larry Rappoport. Feege and Rappoport are counsel for Equipment Sales and Rental Co., 2120 Willow Park Road, and Scheall Driveaway System Inc., Lakewood, Colo.
A hearing on the injunction will be at 9 a.m. Friday.
According to the petition, Scheall delivers new and used trucks from manufacturers or other sellers to customers around the country. ESR, in turn, prepares the trucks dropped off by Scheall for delivery elsewhere.
The petition claims that although the Teamsters represent employees of neither company, local president Alphonso Albruzzi "demanded thatScheall recognize and bargain with" the union.
Union members "trespassed on ESR property," threatened employees with physical harm and vowed to keep Scheall from delivering trucks to the Bethlehem Township company or moving them after they have been prepared for delivery, the petition charges.
The court directed the Teamsters to place only five pickets, 10 feet apart, at each entrance to ESR, and barred them from setting up barricades blocking traffic either on foot or by vehicle.
It enjoined the union from "trespassing on ESR's property to obstruct ingress or egress" and from interfering either with employees or customers by "mass picketing, violence, intimidation or coercion."
When the union set up the picket lines, Abruzzi said the Teamsters objected to the fact a non-union truck delivery company was moving Mack Trucks to U.S. Postal Service locations on the East Coast. A Mack spokesman said it has no control over which contractors its customers use.


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Many gamers and investors likely believe Sony (NYSE:SNE) will kill off the PS Vita soon.
The handheld console has only sold 8.8 million units since launching in December 2011 -- considerably less than Nintendo's (NASDAQOTH:NTDOY) 3DS, which has sold 44 million units, or its predecessor, the PSP, which sold 80.8 million units. The PS Vita was also absent from all of Sony's major press conferences this year, which were dominated by news about the PS4.
Sony U.K. chief Fergal Gara recently told Eurogamer that the company didn't plan to kill off PS Vita, but gamers shouldn't expect mature titles like Uncharted or Killzone on the platform again. Instead, Gara stated that Sony was repositioning the PS Vita as a platform for indie titles and games for younger players. In particular, Gara highlighted the potential of new games like Minecraft and Lego Batman 3 to keep PS Vita's sales "trucking along."
While that may be a solid short-term strategy, I believe Sony will abandon handheld gaming altogether after the PS Vita is discontinued. Let's take a look at why that move could help Sony's other businesses grow.
Why the PS Vita failed
The PS Vita failed for three simple reasons -- pricing, features, and games. In 2012, the 3G version of the PS Vita launched in North America for $299, while the WiFi model cost $249. By comparison, Nintendo's 3DS initially launched for $249 in 2011, but only cost $170 by the time the PS Vita arrived.
Today, both the PS Vita and 3DS can be purchased with bundled games for around $200. However, the 3DS continues to win over gamers with its dual screen setup and stereoscopic 3D screen -- two key features that offset its lack of graphical horsepower in comparison to the PS Vita.
But Sony's worst mistake with the PS Vita was failing to secure new deals with Take-Two (NASDAQ:TTWO) and Capcom, which published four of the five best-selling PSP games -- GTA: Liberty City Stories, GTA: Vice City Stories, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, and Monster Hunter Freedom 3. Those four games sold nearly 23 million copies combined.
Take-Two and Capcom have not released any new GTA or Monster Hunter games for the PS Vita, and their absence is painfully obvious. The top five games for the PS Vita -- none of which were made by Take-Two or Capcom -- have sold fewer than 5 million copies combined.
Lastly, the rise of mobile games over the past four years has taken a bite out of handheld consoles. Research firm Gartner estimates that global revenue from mobile games will nearly double from $13.2 billion last year to $22 billion by 2015. At the same time, the value of the handheld market is expected to plunge from $18 billion to $12.4 billion.
Why the PS Vita doesn't fit into Sony's long-term strategy
Sony clearly believes that gaming in the future will revolve around a single game being played on multiple screens.
Remote Play allows PS3 and PS4 games to be streamed to a PSP, PS Vita, PS TV, and new Xperia Z devices. Cross Play allows certain games to be played on one platform, like the PS3, and resumed on another one, like the PS4. PS Now, Sony's beta-stage cloud gaming platform, streams older PlayStation games to the PS3, PS4, PS Vita, PS TV, and BRAVIA TVs.
PS Vita serves no real purpose within this ecosystem. It can be replaced by an Xperia Z phone connected to Dualshock controller, since Xperia devices can now locally stream PS4 games. Many of the games that Sony is promoting for the Vita, like Minecraft, are also available for Android devices. Xperia devices using Square Enix's Dive In can even play Final Fantasy titles soon.
Since Xperia devices can play mobile games, stream PS4 games, and will likely support PS Now in the near future, the next logical step is to allow Xperia devices to succeed the PS Vita. Sony's smartphones only account for 3% of the global smartphone market, but that's still a much bigger footprint than the PS Vita's niche of handheld gamers.
Eliminating the PS Vita will also allow Sony to promote Xperia devices and the PS4 together, which should boost the Xperia's brand's visibility while reducing marketing costs at the mobile division, which posted an operating loss last quarter.
A Foolish final word
In conclusion, I strongly believe the PS Vita will be Sony's last handheld. All of Sony's business strategies point to that inevitability, and it would make perfect sense to abandon the dying handheld market in favor of the growing smartphone one.
Leo Sun has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Take-Two Interactive. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


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Village Council discusses the sale of energy credits
- Published: June 2, 2022
At its regular meeting on Monday, May 16, Village Council members deliberated over legislation that would allow Village Manager Josué Salmerón to sell Renewable Energy Credits, or RECs, and purchase more at a lower rate.
In a presentation to Council, Salmerón said that he would like to sell some of the RECs the Village acquired from the Blue Creek wind farm and purchase green e-RECs at a lower cost. He said that the wind RECs are going for $20–$30 and the Village could purchase replacement RECs for $3–$4. By Salmerón’s estimation, the Village could get up to $60,000 by selling RECs and spend about $10,000 to purchase replacements.
“This sale would net $50,000 that would be available for capital improvements in the electric enterprise,” Salmerón said. “With the uncertainty we are facing now in the energy markets, we could benefit from having additional cash reserves available to make such investments.”
According to previous News reporting, the first sale of RECs was in early 2020, a sale that, at the time, was estimated to raise about $163,000 in revenue. The sale of those RECs was a change in policy, as previous Councils chose to retain all of the credits the Village earned by purchasing renewable energy.
Council members were split over the decision to take a vote on a piece of legislation that would allow Salmerón to sell the Village’s RECs.
Council member Marianne MacQueen moved to table the matter, saying that the group needed more information to make a good decision.
“There are differing opinions on selling RECs and I think that it’s very complicated. I would like more opinions for Council to consider,” MacQueen said, suggesting organizations such as AMP and Power Clean Ohio.
That motion ultimately failed, with Council members Brian Housh and Kevin Stokes voting against tabling, Council members Carmen Brown and MacQueen voting to table and Council member Gavin DeVore-Leonard abstaining.
“I’m waiting to get a little more seasoned,” Devore-Leonard said.
When Housh opened the public hearing, Devore-Leonard asked several clarifying questions about RECs and why municipalities would sell them.
“We were committed to the green energy revolution,” Salmerón said, explaining that the Village had valuable RECs because it was an early purchaser of renewable energy.
Dovetailing off of Devore-Leonard, Stokes asked about the quality of a REC; Salmerón said that all RECs represent one megawatt of power, and that the price difference depends on the market in which they are generated. In other words, some RECs are cheaper because they are created in a market with different amounts of demand.
Council members also heard testimony from Public Works Director Johnnie Burns, who said he would like Council to direct any money from REC sales back into the energy portfolio.
“No, I do not want to sell the RECs,” Burns said. “If we are going to sell the RECs, I want Council’s commitment to put it back into the electric fund through capital improvements.”
MacQueen echoed Burns’ sentiments, saying, “The only reason I would support selling our RECs is if we put them into some kind of project that is clearly going to lower our greenhouse gas emissions.”
Part of the discussion focused on the ethics of selling RECs. MacQueen said she was not in favor of purchasing RECs in order to claim a “green” status. Stokes said that maintaining a certain number of RECs was good for the Village, despite the sale price.
“We are taking advantage of an opportunity to improve the number of RECs we have by trading some green RECs for some other green RECs,” he said. “I don’t think we’ve gotten to that ethical dilemma.”
Salmerón said that, in selling its RECs, the Village would be operating within the constraints of the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA.
“We would not be the first municipality to take advantage of this,” he said, referencing Oberlin, Ohio.
According to the EPA website, “RECs are the instrument that electricity consumers must use to substantiate renewable electricity use claims.” When municipalities purchase RECs, it means that they are purchasing credit for renewable energy usage; conversely, a municipality that generates green energy can only claim to use renewable energy if they own RECs.
In response to an assertion that the Village should make an economic decision rather than an ethical one, MacQueen said the reason the Village was purchasing green energy was because of the principle.
“There’s a reason that the lower cost RECs are lower—they’re less valuable. What does that mean? I don’t know,” she said. “If we are going to go to the extra expense of having contracts with green energy, then we need to all really understand what it means to sell the RECs and buy cheap RECs.”
Council members voted to amend the legislation to say that the funds generated from the sale of the RECs would be spent on local renewable energy projects.
After that vote, villagers John Hempfling and Rebecca Potter and Village Solicitor Breanne Parcels gave comments on parliamentary procedure, telling Devore-Leonard that he could move to table the conversation until Council could learn more about RECs. Devore-Leonard then asked that he be given some notice should a topic be more complex and require more research.
Because the amendment was passed, Brown made a motion to table the amended resolution.
The motion to table passed on a 3-2 vote, with Housh and Stokes voting no.
More coverage of Village Council’s May 16 meeting will appear in next week’s edition of the News.


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TRAVERSE CITY — There's a fast-moving new trend in the world of wedding cuisine and it's got wheels, literally. Foodies headed to the altar are bringing food trucks along for the ride.
It's the latest boom in an industry that rewards the trendy.
“It’s not really any different than a caterer coming in,” said Adam Kline, chef-owner of Charlevoix-based Pigs’ Eatin’ Ribs. “It’s hugely popular now. It’s one of those things that’s trending now. Just like craft beer has become popular, it’s like craft food.”
Amber and Scott O’Mara jumped on the truck and hired Traverse City's Roaming Harvest food truck for their September 2013 wedding reception at Brengman Brothers Crain Hill Vineyards.
“We checked out three caterers in the area and their prices were double — and their food wasn’t as good,” said Scott O’Mara, a financial adviser from Lansing.
The couple worked with chef/owner Simon Joseph to select a menu based on what was in season and wound up with upscale tacos, including veggie, cream and blackened whitefish options. Roaming Harvest also set up an appetizer bar with savory bites like tomato caprese and roasted beet hummus.
“It was more farm-to-table fresh stuff and made right there,” O'Mara said.
Wedding truck food can go from casual to elegant. Some bridal couples opt for picnic-style fare, including chicken, ribs and pulled pork with sides like baked beans, coleslaw and corn-on-the-cob. Others want the street food experience, from tacos and mac-and-cheese bites to sliders and wings.
Pigs Eatin' Ribs' most popular wedding dishes include beef brisket; ribs; roasted potatoes; grilled asparagus; arugula salad with apples, pecans and Gorgonzola; shaved tenderloin crostini with goat cheese and arugula; grilled chicken satay with Thai peanut dipping sauce, fruit plates, vegetable platters and artisan cheese platters.
Staff prepare much of the food ahead — “A lot of our meats take up to 14 hours to cook," Kline said — but finish everything onsite for an authentic food truck feel.
"When you have a buffet line, you go up, get your stuff and go sit down and eat. We make it fresh for you, per order, and people interact with each other in line," Kline said.
His truck can serve 300 guests in about 45 minutes.
Shana Warner and Jeff Andres hired a food truck to provide late-night snacks at their March 7 wedding reception at Crystal Mountain Resort's Crystal Center. About 225 guests noshed on pulled pork sandwiches, chopped brisket sandwiches with caramelized onion and smoked Gouda, and pulled pork and black bean tacos.
"People are drinking for seven hours," said Shana Warner, of Corunna, who skied down the slope to meet her groom. "You need something after this six o'clock dinner. That’s a long time to go without food."
Alex Tank and Emily Erwin decided to bring their wedding reception to food trucks rather than the other way around. The couple rented the bar and outdoor courtyard areas at The Little Fleet — home of several food trucks — for their June 2014 wedding reception.
"We wanted people to be able to mingle and move around. We didn’t want people to sit at the same table the whole time," said Erwin, a preschool teacher from Athens, Georgia.
Each of the trucks offered their regular menu. But Erwin made sure there were vegetarian, vegan, non-fat and gluten-free options for guests with special dietary needs. The couple also served Greek appetizers and desserts catered by Opa! and Underground Cheesecake, and a small wedding cake.
“We loved the informality of it, and it lends itself to a little more adventurous eating,” said Tank, who teaches an accelerated learning program at a technical college. "You end up trying things you wouldn’t try at a restaurant setting.”
The venue increasingly plays host to wedding receptions and rehearsal dinners, said co-owner Gary Jonas.
“A lot of people are taking The Little Fleet and having their parties here. Guests go to a truck with something that identifies them as being with the wedding party, like a ticket or a boutonniere, and the truck doesn’t charge them but keeps track of the total bill. Little Fleet bills the bride and groom, and then they pay the bar bill," Jonas said.
Costs for food truck catering vary, depending on the vendor, the menu and, in some cases, the number of guests. But it compares favorably to other forms of catering.
“I know people who have gotten married recently and had a catered buffet dinner,” Tank said. “Ours ended up being less than that, by a significant amount.”
But he said cost didn’t factor into the couple's decision.
"The main thing is we wanted to avoid the stuffiness of a lot of wedding receptions," he said.
Allison Beers and her Events North event management company has worked with only one food truck wedding so far. But Beers said the catering idea is becoming “the new trend.”
She suggests brides and grooms who want to go that route consider having more than one food truck, supplementing a single truck with catering, or having a food truck supply late-night snacks instead of the main meal.
“Instead of doing late-night pizzas brought in, a food truck is a great way to wrap up the night,” she said.


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Revolut announced that will give exclusive access to UK Metal premium customers. During the beta phase they will be able to add three external addresses and withdraw up to £500 a day and £1,000 a month. Revolut will review these limits in the future.
„If you’re a Metal paid plan customer, you’ll get exclusive beta access to this brand new feature. We’re starting with Bitcoin, but we’ll be adding more tokens and upgrades in the near future (…) If you’ve recently started buying crypto, or you’re more of a casual trader, you might not be familiar with withdrawals. This feature lets you take your crypto off one platform and transfer it elsewhere,” Revolut said in a blog post.
„Withdrawal on Revolut is as easy as 1, 2, 3. Just add an address (or choose one you’ve added previously), enter the amount, and hit withdraw!”
Revolut introduced two-factor authentication „when you’re adding an address to make sure you know exactly where you’re sending your crypto”.
The majority of Revolut crypto funds are held in cold storage (external drive) with some of the best custodians in the crypto game. „External hard drives used for cold storage are disconnected from any networks when crypto transactions aren’t happening, so they’re as resistant to hacking as possible,” Revolut explains.
Nik Storonsky, founder and CEO at Revolut, says: “Crypto withdrawals have been a heavily requested feature within Revolut’s crypto community and we’re delighted that we can begin the gradual process of rolling it out. Customers can lock down wherever they feel safest – whether it’s Revolut, into hot or cold storage, or to another exchange.”
Last month, Revolut added 11 new cryptocurrency tokens to the app, bringing the total number of coins available for customers to trade to 20.
„Suntem in top 3 european pentru adoptia platilor digitale in transportul public, dupa Marea Britanie si Polonia, si in top 10 mondial in penetrarea tehnologiei contactless in general.”
Afla aici rezultatele romanilor in adoptia platilor electronice.


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Honda Scraps 1,055 Vehicles Damaged in Thai Floods
Japanese automakers have ended 2011 worse for wear as the March 11 Japan earthquake as well as the rising yen exchange rate significantly damaged business. Unfortunately, Honda starts 2012 with new challenges.
October floods in Thailand have caused major losses to Honda’s plant in the central province of Ayutthaya. To reassure customers that no vehicles damaged in Thailand flooding will be sold, Honda has begun a scrapping process, destroying more than 1,000 cars over a month.
Executive VP of Honda Automobile Thailand Pitak Pruittisarikorn said, “While we were able to relocate many new cars that were awaiting shipment to a safe area, 1,055 vehicles that remained in the plant were finally damaged by the flood… We will not sell any of the damaged cars to customers, or sell or reuse any of the parts.”
Most vehicles destroyed are the Honda city sedan, and the Brio and Jazz hatchbacks. Unfortunately, production at the factory has yet to resume.
Many global supply chains were disrupted due to flooding and while water levels have receded, many areas require a major clean-up operation.
GALLERY: Honda Brio