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|By PR Newswire||
|February 24, 2014 12:54 PM EST||
NEW YORK, Feb. 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue:
Innovation in Beverage Packaging 2013 - All Channel Report
An overview of beverage packaging innovation in the context of the global markets for soft drinks, dairy drinks, beer, cider, wine, spirits and flavored alcoholic beverages. It is divided into 11 sections covering an Executive summary, a Key Mega Trends in Beverage and Packaging Markets, Key Trends in the Global Beverage Market, Key Trends in the Global Packaging Market, Overview of Innovations in Packaging, Innovations in Glass Packaging, Innovations in Rigid Packaging, Innovations in Flexible Packaging, Innovation in Paper and Board Packaging, Innovation in Metal Packaging, and Innovation in Labelling.
Introduction and Landscape
Why was the report written?
This report provides an overview of packaging innovation in the context of the global market for beverage products (soft drinks, dairy drinks, beer, cider, wine, spirits, and flavored alcoholic beverages). This will give product manufacturers, packaging converters, and other suppliers to the industry an overview of the current key innovations in beverage packaging, as well as an indication of where the future of the packaged beverage market is heading.
What is the current market landscape and what is changing?
Beverage markets continue to become more competitive and sophisticated as manufacturers and marketers increasingly look to develop products to satisfy regional preferences, rather than adopting a 'one size fits all' approach. The industry is also addressing the specific needs of identified target segments based on a range of criteria including age, gender, lifestyle and purchasing power. Packaging innovation is required to meet the various and changing needs of all sections of the supply chain - from the manufacturer through to consumer - within an increasingly demanding regulatory environment.
What are the key drivers behind recent market changes?
2012 and 2013 have seen an increased breakdown in pre-conceptions of the packaging formats for certain drinks, with producers starting to adopt the 'alternative packaging format' prototypes that were initially launched years prior. Where bottles used to be glass or plastic, these could now be made from board or rigid metal. Cartons are shaped to be user friendly and easier to pour. Visual enhancements, including different finishes and inks provide the extra shelf appeal needed to attract attention. An increasing focus on the consumer has been evident, with producers actively seeking consumer input regarding more suitable shapes, sizes, and packaging designs.
What makes this report unique and essential to read?
This is an essential read for anyone involved in beverage packaging, NPD and consumer insights
Key Features and Benefits
An overview of the Key Trends affecting the Beverage and Beverage Packaging Markets overall.
An overview of the global beverage market, by category and region
An assessment of packaging demand at a global and regional level within each of the core beverage categories (soft, beer, cider, wine, spirits, FABs, dairy)
An overview of the Key Innovation Drivers
Highlighting innovation for each major beverage packaging material and type including new beverage packaging technologies, developments and products over the last two years
1 Executive Summary
2 Key Mega Trends in Beverage and Packaging Markets
2.1 Market drivers - Economic, Demographic, and Consumer Trends
2.1.1 Economic Trends
2.1.2 Demographic Trends
2.1.3 Consumer Trends
3 Key Trends in the Global Beverage Market
3.1 Global consumption by category and region
3.1.1 Soft Drinks
3.1.7 Dairy Drinks
4 Key Trends in the Global Packaging Market
4.1 Global Trends by Category
4.1.1 Soft Drinks
4.1.7 Dairy Drinks
4.2 Global Trends by Pack Format
4.2.1 Metal Packaging
4.2.2 Plastic Packaging
4.2.3 Glass Packaging
4.2.4 Board Packaging
5 Overview of Innovations in Packaging
5.1 Innovation Drivers
5.1.1 Consumer Demands
5.1.2 Cost Reduction
5.1.3 Logistics Efficiency
6 Innovations in Glass Packaging
6.1 Consumer Demands
6.2 Cost Reduction
7 Innovations in Rigid Plastic Packaging
7.1 Consumer Demands
7.2 Cost Reduction
8 Innovations in Flexible Packaging
8.1 Consumer Demands
8.2 Cost Reduction
8.3 Logistics Efficiency
9 Innovations in Paper and Board Packaging
9.1 Consumer Demands
9.3 Cost Reduction
9.4 Logistics Efficiency
10 Innovation in Metal Packaging
10.1 Consumer Demands
10.2 Cost Reduction
11 Innovation in Labeling
11.1 Consumer Demands
12.1 Country Coverage and Regional Groupings
13 Methodology and Product Definitions
List of Tables
Table 1: Country Coverage
List of Figures
Figure 1: Heineken Cube
Figure 2: Innovative new label graphics increase shelf-appeal of beverage bottle
Figure 3: Metallized paper labeling increase shelf appeal
Figure 4: Lightweight tapered beer bottle
Figure 5: Lightweight glass bottle reduces carbon emissions
Figure 6: Peroni lightweight glass
Figure 7: Premium packaging for a vodka bottle
Figure 8: Sunny D square bottle
Figure 9: DeepGrip® bottle
Figure 10: Easy Wine Glass
Figure 11: Easy Wine Glass
Figure 12: Dual chambered juice bottle
Figure 13: Stacked Wine
Figure 14: Innovative single-serve beverage packaging, by Gepack
Figure 15: Fakeer Energy Drink
Figure 16: Lightweight PET bottle weighs 7.95g
Figure 17: Lightweight Containers KeyKeg
Figure 18: PET Engineering Bottles
Figure 19: Carlsberg, Heineken Silva and Byron beer lightweight bottles
Figure 20: PET bottle for Vodka is light in weight and it saves upon transportation cost
Figure 21: Econo-Lok miniTM closure for carbonated drinks is light in weight
Figure 22: Coca-Cola PlantBottle
Figure 23: Lightweight milk bottle is 100% recyclable
Figure 24: Heineken Plastic Keg replace metal version
Figure 25: Grower's Cup®
Figure 26: Dispensing Pouch for on-the-go consumption of beverages
Figure 27: Brew-in-bag for coffee for on-the-go consumption
Figure 28: Pouch-up©
Figure 29: AquaFlexCan
Figure 30: Gilles Louvet manufactures wine in flexible pouch
Figure 31: HCM 320
Figure 32: Eco-friendly pouch which has less carbon emissions
Figure 33: Transparent beverage pouch has low environmental impact
Figure 34: Bombay Sapphire travel retail pack
Figure 35: SIG Combibloc Combidome
Figure 36: Vernissage wine
Figure 37: combiblocXSlim cartons
Figure 38: New packaging design for Milk is easy-to-open, easy-to-pour and easy-to-store
Figure 39: Eco-friendly carton with less carbon footprints
Figure 40: Chuchkey flat top can
Figure 41: Antarctica Sub Zero, Tropical and Classic with thermochromic ink technology.
Figure 42: Thermo chromic ink technology implemented in beverage can
Figure 43: 'Glow in the dark' Rexam can and the Black Jack brand
Figure 44: Innovative new design for beverage can increase shelf appeal
Figure 45: Premium beer can with a full aperture end to enhance consumer experience
Figure 46: Oskar Blues pint can
Figure 47: Magic Straw can
Figure 48: Molson Coors vented can
Figure 49: ORG Packaging light weight can
Figure 50: Lightweight aluminum can uses 10% less raw material and is 100% recyclable
Figure 51: Beverage can made of 90% recyclable content
Figure 52: Premium beer can with a full aperture end to enhance consumer experience
Figure 53: New Aqua proof labeling
To order this report: Innovation in Beverage Packaging 2013 - All Channel Report
Contact Clare: [email protected]
Intl: +1 339-368-6001
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BANGOR, Maine - April 12 - Over 150 worker rights advocates from the United States, Canada, Europe, China, Haiti, Central America, and Mexico gathered for the first international SweatFree Communities conference, April 7-9, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Participants included advocates for sweatshop-free public and religious procurement, unions, garment workers, sweatshop-free garment producers, and youth groups. The Resource Center of the Americas hosted the conference.
“The conference brought together a significant cross-section of anti-sweatshop leaders in the United States and allies from around the world, and helped create unity and cohesion in the movement,” said Bjorn Claeson, Executive Director of SweatFree Communities.
On the heels of historic new sweatshop-free purchasing laws in San Francisco, Madison, and Milwaukee, and an unprecedented agreement among nine Catholic school boards in Ontario to pool resources for monitoring and inspecting factory suppliers of school uniforms, conference participants discussed a new collaborative effort proposed by Maine’s Governor John Baldacci to use state government procurement as a catalyst for justice for sweatshop workers.
“The Governor’s Coalition for Sweatfree Procurement and Worker Rights, as proposed by Governor Baldacci, can create a hundred billion dollar market for products and services made in humane conditions,” said Liana Foxvog, National Organizer with SweatFree Communities. “Such a market could rival even Wal-Mart in sheer economic clout and change apparel and other industries dominated by sweatshops.”
The SweatFree Communities conference included workshops on organizing and coalition building, participatory budgeting, new forms of worker organizing in sweatshops in China and the United States, independent monitoring, and cutting-edge initiatives to promote sweatfree and fair trade products. A youth organizing conference track was designed by youth to learn how to organize for sweatfree schools. Kimi Lee of the Los Angeles Garment Worker Center and Yannick Etienne of Batay Ouvriye, a worker rights organization in Haiti, were among the featured speakers.
Sweatfree purchasing policies, including a milestone San Francisco city ordinance that just went into effect, require government vendors and their subcontractors to abide by fair labor standards when supplying goods such as law enforcement uniforms and other apparel. The states of California, Illinois, Maine, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania have passed anti-sweatshop legislation, as well as dozens of cities including Los Angeles, Madison, Milwaukee, and Olympia.
SweatFree Communities supports and coordinates campaigns for public and religious institutions to adopt sweatfree procurement policies that end public support for sweatshops and generate significant market demand for products made in humane conditions by workers who are paid living wages.

domain: news


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A study on the relationship between vitamin D and alzheimer concluded that a lack of this vitamin increases the risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia.
The study conducted by the University of Exeter ( EU ) with the collaboration of various American universities and funded by the Alzheimer’s Association studied for six years to nearly 2,000 adults over 65 years without mobility problems, no symptoms of dementia or cardiovascular problems.
The results have been published by the prestigious journal Neurology are available here , concluding that adults who had moderate deficiency of vitamin D had a 53% greater chance of developing any type of dementia and 69% to be affected by the alzheimer, while those who had a severe deficiency of vitamin D saw increased risk of developing dementia by 125% and 122% alzheimer.
The study authors believe that now need to investigate whether a diet rich in vitamin D can delay or even prevent the onset of any kind of dementia and Alzheime’s.
Vitamin D can be obtained from three main sources : Sunlight, food (such as oily fish, egg yolks and dairy products) and using nutritional supplements and were known its benefits for bones and teeth as well as the muscular system click and find medicare in palm springs myth. Now we have one more excuse not fail to include products with vitamin D in our diet.


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Bobby Kotick, Chief Executive Officer of Activision Blizzard, said, "Our record performance in 2016 further strengthened our position as the world's leading standalone interactive entertainment company. For the quarter and the year, we delivered our highest revenues, non-GAAP redefined operating margins and earnings per share, well surpassing our own expectations."
Kotick added, "The launch of Blizzard's Overwatch® created a major new franchise, while King's mobile advertising tests are very promising as the basis for meaningful new revenue streams. We accelerated our efforts in esports and consumer products, enabling more ways to celebrate and connect to our communities. Thanks to the strength of our established franchises and the vitality of our new initiatives, we are well positioned for growth in the years ahead."
- Activision Blizzard had 447 million Monthly Active Users (MAUs)A in the quarter.
- Blizzard had its highest annual MAUsA in 2016 at 36 million, up 37% from 2015 and up 87% since 2014. Additionally, Blizzard achieved record fourth-quarter MAUsA of 41 million. Overwatch became Blizzard's fastest game ever to reach over 25 million players globally. The title broke the previous launch year record for unit sales set by Diablo® III in 2012 and received 55 "Game of the Year" awards. World of Warcraft® MAUsA grew 10% in 2016 and over 20% year-over-year in the fourth quarter on the back of the successful third-quarter launch of the expansion, Legion™. Also, Hearthstone® had its highest annual MAUsA in 2016, growing more than 20%, in part due to the fourth-quarter expansion, Mean Streets of Gadgetzan™.
- In 2016, consumers spent approximately 43 billion hours playing and watching Activision Blizzard content, on par with Netflix and over one-and-a-half times Snapchat.
- Blizzard's fourth-quarter play time surpassed the previous record set in the third quarter. Overwatch had its second and third seasonal events, Halloween Terror and Winter Wonderland, each one driving new records for engagement with the game. World of Warcraft saw an increase in total play time for the quarter, surpassing the Q3 expansion launch quarter and all non-launch quarters in the last four years.
- In November, Blizzard held its 10th BlizzCon® with over 25 thousand attendees, over 10 million people around the world tuning in to the event and a record number of pay-per-view tickets sold through DirecTV. Blizzard also announced the formation of the Overwatch League™ at BlizzCon.
- Blizzard had record levels of quarterly and full-year in-game revenues, driven by World of Warcraft in-game content and continued strength of Overwatch customization items.


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The local Pathfinders group in Swift Current is going to be selling those classic girl guide cookies once again this spring.
Volunteer Leader with the Pathfinders, Jessica Giesbrecht, said they treats can be found on April 1 at Pharmasave and Canadian Tire.
"A fan favourite, and so nostalgic – this spring we are selling the classic sandwich cookies which are the chocolate and vanilla ones," she said. "Each box comes with one row of chocolate and one row of vanilla."
Boxes will be going for $6 each, but folks who are wanting to stock up can purchase 12 boxes for $72.
After their April 1 sale, cookies can be bought by finding the Swift Current Girl Guides on Facebook or emailing email@example.com.
Giesbrecht added that since restarting the Girl Guides program in 2019, the organization has seen tremendous growth and interest, but they need help.
"We're growing, which is amazing," she said. "But with that, we need more guiders; we need to open up a new guide unit [for the 9, 10, and 11-year-olds], because we just have so many girls that want to do that particular program."
Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer and helping with the local girl guides group is encouraged to reach out.


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Automotive brands accounted for 16 of Interbrand's most valuable brands list for 2018 though Apple, Google, and Amazon were the top three.
Toyota (US$53,404m) and Mercedes-Benz ($48,601m) placed seventh and eighth. Apple and Google held the top positions for the sixth consecutive year.
Apple's brand value grew 16% to $214,480m, and Google's by 10% to $155,506m. Amazon achieved 56% growth and was the third brand to achieve a $100bn dollar brand valuation ($100,764m), as well as the top performer among 28 brands with double-digit percentage growth.
Following Microsoft at #4 ($92,715m), were Coca-Cola ($66,341m), Samsung ($59,890m), while Toyota and Mercedes were ahead of Facebook ($45,168m) and McDonald's ($43,417m).
This year, the list features two new entrants and three re-entrants. Spotify joined at #92 ($5,176m), and Subaru at #100 ($4,214m) for the first time.
Chanel re-entered at #23 ($20,005m, last on in 2009). Hennessy also returned at #98 ($4,722, last on in 2009), and Nintendo at #99 ($4,696m, last on in 2014).
"A decade after the global financial crisis, the brands that are growing fastest are those that intuitively understand their customers and make brave iconic moves that delight and deliver in new ways," said Charles Trevail, global chief executive officer of Interbrand.
Christian Purser, CEO, Interbrand London, added: "Leading brands are more customer obsessed than ever, bringing the voice of the customer into every aspect of their business, making bold moves and taking calculated risks based on customer understanding. The fastest growing brands across the last five years of the study are typically the most relevant to people's lives and the most responsive to their changing needs."
The five top growing brands included Amazon (56% growth) 2017 new entrant Netflix (45%), Gucci (30%), 2017 new entrant Salesforce.com (23%), and Louis Vuitton (23%). After five years as the top growing brand, Facebook declined 6%.
More than half of the best global brands came from five sectors: automotive (16), technology (13), financial services (12), luxury (9), and fast moving consumer goods (9).
Luxury was the new top growing sector in percentage terms (42%), replacing retail, which continued impressive growth at second (36%). Electronics was third (20%), sporting goods fourth (13%) and financial services (10%) fifth.


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Trials fusion owners for the Xbox 360/One will get a free update early next year the includes both online multi-player and teams. These features are slightly different for the …
New York Comic Con has come and gone and we got our hands on a new release and some upcoming games, including a newly announced title. Three Xbox Live Arcade games were on display at the Microsoft booth. There was the recent Robot Entertainment release Orcs Must Die, a welcomed multiplayer demo of Trials Evolution and the newly announced Fusion: Genesis, the first game coming from Starfire Studios. Though our time at the event was limited, we also did get to see the guys from Demiurge Studios and play some more Shoot Many Robots.
Trials HD developer Red Lynx has released a somewhat spooky (it is almost Halloween afterall) video showcasing some of the secrets hidden within it’s XBLA title. Alot of the secrets will be new to many and the video notes there are more still to find. It ends with the chilling revelation that there are Squirrels hidden in the darkest corners of the game. Frightening indeed. Click below to see the video for yourself.


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Amid the buzz surrounding Class 8 heavy-duty trucks, let’s remember that an electrified Class 8 solution is still in development. The two most common types of electric trucks being produced are all-battery electric and hydrogen-electric. Battery-powered electric truck examples include the Fuso eCanter, a Class 4 truck with a range of up to 100 miles, a 15,995 lb. GVWR and a payload capacity of roughly 9,380 lbs., which is in production now. Hydrogen-electric vehicles, on the other hand, are powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, which combines compressed hydrogen gas and air to produce electricity that then powers the truck’s electric motor while releasing only water vapor into the atmosphere.
Kenworth has developed a prototype truck, dubbed Zero Emission Cargo Transport (ZECT) that runs on hydrogen fuel cells and touts a 150-mile range. Functionally, the ZECT is nearly identical to a conventional diesel-powered Kenworth T680—minus the engine under the hood and with a modified four-speed Eaton transmission rather than the standard 18-speed. The truck is set for duty running between the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif.
When developing ZECT, Kenworth considered both all-battery electric and hydrogen power solutions. Brian Lindgren, Kenworth’s manager of research and development, explained why they went with the fuel cell.
“We think that battery electric has some challenges,” he said. “One is that batteries are heavy and expensive, and so we’re trying to limit how much battery you have on board. Also, batteries have to recharge. So either you recharge them for a long time or you charge them at a very high power rate.
“The higher power rate chargers today are about 100 kw/h, and if you were going to have the same range as the hydrogen truck, then you would probably need 600 to 800 kw/h for the same range. If you’ve got 800 you need to charge, and you’re charging at 100 kw/h, then that’s going to be eight hours.”
Another question: Can the power grid support that kind of power rate from all these charging trucks?
“For example,” Lindgren said, “we looked at how many trucks run short-haul in Southern California—roughly 60,000—and if you were to convert them all to electric you would need to increase the capacity of the electric grid by about 50%.”
Stephan Olsen, Kenworth’s director of product planning, noted that while Kenworth felt hydrogen-electric was the best solution for this truck, both all-battery electric and hydrogen-electric trucks will play a role in trucking’s electrified future.
“We don’t think that there’s going to be one single energy solution that will be the silver bullet,” he said. “They all have pros and cons.”
As with so much in the world of trucking, your choice between all-battery electric and hydrogen-electric—not to mention other alternative fuels such as compressed natural gas (CNG)—comes down to application.
“Think about duty cycles of trucks,” Olsen began, “if you take an inner-city beverage delivery truck that only travels 30 to 50 miles per day, then hydrogen probably isn’t the solution for that, but pure electric is because you don’t have much range requirement so you can rely simply on the batteries.
“But if that truck is going further,” he continued, “needs that extra range and you don’t want to be encumbered by the battery weight, then that’s where a natural gas range extender or a hybrid range extender would make sense. We’re going to need a variety of technologies in the future.”
Additionally, Lindgren notes that the hydrogen-electric truck is “strictly a regional-haul solution” right now, as the lack of hydrogen fueling infrastructure means the truck’s range limits its ability to tackle long-haul routes.


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|By Marketwired .||
|February 14, 2014 07:00 AM EST||
MEDINA, MN -- (Marketwired) -- 02/14/14 -- Indian Motorcycle®, America's first motorcycle company, today announced it will wrap up its cross-country Progressive® International Motorcycle Show tour this weekend in Seattle with a full schedule of events for motorcycle enthusiasts, families and military personnel. The festivities kick-off today at the Washington State Convention Center starting at 3 p.m. With riding season fast approaching, bikers and Indian Motorcycle fans are encouraged to explore the iconic new 2014 lineup of new Indian Chiefs -- the industry's most talked about new models in decades. The weekend's events include a number of programs highlighting Indian Motorcycle's steadfast support and appreciation for members of the U.S. Armed Forces.
"The Seattle area is home to a strong military presence and a strong community of avid bikers, so we are pleased to wrap up this season's tour talking with riders about the new 2014 Indian Chiefs," said Polaris Industries Vice President of Motorcycles Steve Menneto. "The customer reviews of the 2014 Indian Chief models are in, and we couldn't be happier with the results. Riders looking to purchase a bike this season owe it to themselves to take a test ride and experience the awesome power and legendary feel of the industry's most admired new bikes."
Experience Indian Motorcycles - Past and Present
Show attendees will want to stop by and explore the 2014 Indian Chief models including the Indian Chief Classic, the Indian Chief Vintage and the Indian Chieftain. Indian Motorcycle exhibit will also include a collection of rare, historically significant motorcycles including a 1948 Vintage Indian Chief and a 1935 Indian Chief originally featured on HISTORY® Channel's 'American Pickers' series.
Free Saturday Admission for Seattle's U.S. Military Personnel
Saturday only, Indian Motorcycle is proud to offer free admission to the Progressive International Motorcycle Show to U.S. Armed Forces personnel and their families. All attendees with a valid military ID will be admitted to Saturday's events courtesy of Indian Motorcycle by presenting their credentials at the VIP Service Center. Military attendees are encouraged to visit the Indian Motorcycle exhibit to receive a limited-edition Indian Motorcycle gift.
"Honoring Heroes" Program Offers a $1,000 Military Incentive on the 2014 Indian Chief Lineup
In recognition of the dedication of our Armed Forces personnel, Indian Motorcycle is proud to offer members of the U.S. Military a $1,000 incentive on the purchase of any of the three exciting new 2014 Indian Chief models. Stop by the Indian Motorcycle exhibit this weekend or visit www.indianmotorcycle.com to learn more about the "Honoring Heroes" incentive program and Indian Motorcycle's long-standing support of the military and our U.S. Armed Forces.
Explore the 2014 Lineup of Indian Motorcycle Apparel and Accessories
Selections from the new 2014 Indian Motorcycle apparel line will be available for purchase, including casual wear, hats and other personal accessories. Fully accessorized bikes will also be on display highlighting the array of accessories for the 2014 Chiefs.
ABOUT INDIAN MOTORCYCLE®
Indian Motorcycle, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Polaris Industries Inc. (NYSE: PII), is America's first motorcycle company. Founded in 1901, Indian Motorcycle has won the hearts of motorcyclists around the world and earned distinction as one of America's most legendary and iconic brands through unrivaled racing dominance, engineering prowess and countless innovations and industry firsts. Today that heritage and passion is reignited under new brand stewardship. To learn more, please visit www.indianmotorcycle.com.
ABOUT POLARIS® INDUSTRIES
Polaris is a recognized leader in the powersports industry with annual 2013 sales of $3.8 billion. Polaris designs, engineers, manufactures and markets innovative, high quality off-road vehicles, including all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and the Polaris RANGER® and RZR® side-by-side vehicles, snowmobiles, motorcycles and on-road electric/hybrid powered vehicles.
Polaris is among the global sales leaders for both snowmobiles and off-road vehicles and has established a presence in the heavyweight cruiser and touring motorcycle market with the Victory and Indian Motorcycle brands. Additionally, Polaris continues to invest in the global on-road small electric/hybrid powered vehicle industry with Global Electric Motorcars (GEM), Goupil Industrie SA, Aixam Mega S.A.S., and internally developed vehicles. Polaris enhances the riding experience with a complete line of Polaris Engineered parts, accessories and apparel and Klim branded apparel.
Polaris Industries Inc. trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "PII", and the Company is included in the S&P Mid-Cap 400 stock price index.
Information about the complete line of Polaris products, apparel and vehicle accessories are available from authorized Polaris dealers or anytime at www.polaris.com.
The cloud era has reached the stage where it is no longer a question of whether a company should migrate, but when. Enterprises have embraced the outsourcing of where their various applications are stored and who manages them, saving significant investment along the way. Plus, the cloud has become a defining competitive edge. Companies that fail to successfully adapt risk failure. The media, of course, continues to extol the virtues of the cloud, including how easy it is to get there. Migrating...
May. 31, 2016 09:45 PM EDT Reads: 903
SYS-CON Events announced today that Super Micro Computer, Inc., a global leader in Embedded and IoT solutions, will exhibit at SYS-CON's 18th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 7-9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Supermicro (NASDAQ: SMCI), the leading innovator in high-performance, high-efficiency server technology, is a premier provider of advanced server Building Block Solutions® for Data Center, Cloud Computing, Enterprise IT, Hadoop/Big Data, HPC and ...
May. 31, 2016 09:15 PM EDT Reads: 1,017
Cloud computing delivers on-demand resources that provide businesses with flexibility and cost-savings. The challenge in moving workloads to the cloud has been the cost and complexity of ensuring the initial and ongoing security and regulatory (PCI, HIPAA, FFIEC) compliance across private and public clouds. Manual security compliance is slow, prone to human error, and represents over 50% of the cost of managing cloud applications. Determining how to automate cloud security compliance is critical...
May. 31, 2016 09:00 PM EDT Reads: 2,083
18th Cloud Expo, taking place June 7-9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY, will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading industry players in the world. Cloud computing is now being embraced by a majority of enterprises of all sizes. Yesterday's debate about public vs. private has transformed into the reality of hybrid cloud: a recent survey shows that 74% of enterprises have a hybrid cloud strategy. Meanwhile, 94% of enterprises are using some...
May. 31, 2016 09:00 PM EDT Reads: 3,334
How will your company move to the cloud while ensuring a solid security posture? Organizations from small to large are increasingly adopting cloud solutions to deliver essential business services at a much lower cost. According to cyber security experts, the frequency and severity of cyber-attacks are on the rise, causing alarm to businesses and customers across a variety of industries. To defend against exploits like these, a company must adopt a comprehensive security defense strategy that is ...
May. 31, 2016 08:45 PM EDT Reads: 989
@DevOpsSummit taking place June 7-9, 2016 at Javits Center, New York City, and Nov 1-3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, is co-located with the 18th International @CloudExpo and will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading industry players in the world.
May. 31, 2016 08:45 PM EDT Reads: 3,258
SYS-CON Events announced today that Catchpoint Systems, Inc., a provider of innovative web and infrastructure monitoring solutions, has been named “Silver Sponsor” of SYS-CON's DevOps Summit at 18th Cloud Expo New York, which will take place June 7-9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Catchpoint is a leading Digital Performance Analytics company that provides unparalleled insight into customer-critical services to help consistently deliver an amazing customer experience. Designed...
May. 31, 2016 08:30 PM EDT Reads: 2,230
SYS-CON Events announced today that MangoApps will exhibit at SYS-CON's 18th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 7-9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. MangoApps provides modern company intranets and team collaboration software, allowing workers to stay connected and productive from anywhere in the world and from any device. For more information, please visit https://www.mangoapps.com/.
May. 31, 2016 08:30 PM EDT Reads: 1,246
SYS-CON Events announced today that EastBanc Technologies will exhibit at SYS-CON's 18th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 7-9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. EastBanc Technologies has been working at the frontier of technology since 1999. Today, the firm provides full-lifecycle software development delivering flexible technology solutions that seamlessly integrate with existing systems – whether on premise or cloud. EastBanc Technologies partners with p...
May. 31, 2016 08:00 PM EDT Reads: 2,509
SYS-CON Events announced today that IBM Cloud Data Services has been named “Bronze Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 18th Cloud Expo, which will take place on June 7-9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. IBM Cloud Data Services offers a portfolio of integrated, best-of-breed cloud data services for developers focused on mobile computing and analytics use cases.
May. 31, 2016 07:15 PM EDT Reads: 1,807
The Internet of Things (IoT) is growing rapidly by extending current technologies, products and networks. By 2020, Cisco estimates there will be 50 billion connected devices. Gartner has forecast revenues of over $300 billion, just to IoT suppliers. Now is the time to figure out how you’ll make money – not just create innovative products. With hundreds of new products and companies jumping into the IoT fray every month, there’s no shortage of innovation. Despite this, McKinsey/VisionMobile data...
May. 31, 2016 07:15 PM EDT Reads: 1,913
We’ve been doing it for years, decades for some. How many websites have you created accounts on? Your bank, your credit card companies, social media sites, hotels and travel sites, online shopping sites, and that’s just the start. We do it often without even thinking about it, quickly entering our personal information, our data, in a plethora of systems. Sometimes we’re not even aware of the information we are providing. It could be very personal information (think of the security questions you ...
May. 31, 2016 06:45 PM EDT Reads: 1,168
In today's enterprise, digital transformation represents organizational change even more so than technology change, as customer preferences and behavior drive end-to-end transformation across lines of business as well as IT. To capitalize on the ubiquitous disruption driving this transformation, companies must be able to innovate at an increasingly rapid pace. Traditional approaches for driving innovation are now woefully inadequate for keeping up with the breadth of disruption and change facin...
May. 31, 2016 05:45 PM EDT Reads: 1,793
As machines are increasingly connected to the internet, it’s becoming easier to discover the numerous ways Industrial IoT (IIoT) is helping to shape the business world. This is exactly why we have decided to take a closer look at this pervasive movement and to examine the desire to connect more things! Now if you need a refresher on IIoT and how it is changing the world, take a moment and listen to Greg Gorbach with ARC Advisory Group. Gorbach believes, "IIoT will significantly change the worl...
May. 31, 2016 05:00 PM EDT Reads: 2,152
WebRTC is bringing significant change to the communications landscape that will bridge the worlds of web and telephony, making the Internet the new standard for communications. Cloud9 took the road less traveled and used WebRTC to create a downloadable enterprise-grade communications platform that is changing the communication dynamic in the financial sector. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Leo Papadopoulos, CTO of Cloud9, will discuss the importance of WebRTC and how it enables companies to fo...
May. 31, 2016 04:45 PM EDT Reads: 2,667


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Ford's (NYSE:F) reinvention of its Lincoln luxury brand hasn't yet showed the conviction of General Motors' (NYSE:GM) all-out push to elevate Cadillac to the global top tier of luxury cars. But it's making some progress: After a difficult launch, the new MKZ sedan is getting some market traction -- and now Ford is gearing up to launch Act Two of Lincoln's renaissance, the MKC shown above.
But where is Ford going with Lincoln, and why? In this video, Fool contributor John Rosevear looks at the (very good) hard-headed business reasons why Ford should turn Lincoln into a thriving luxury brand -- and at whether Ford's moves so far are putting Lincoln on the right course for global success.
Fool contributor John Rosevear owns shares of Ford and General Motors. You can connect with him on Twitter at @jrosevear. The Motley Fool recommends Ford and General Motors. The Motley Fool owns shares of Ford. 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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Cohesity puts training at centre of expanded partner program
- 03 October, 2018 13:00
Theo Hourmouzis (Cohesity)
Storage and back-up vendor Cohesity has launched an expansion of its channel partner program in an effort to provide more comprehensive training to service providers.
The US-headquartered vendor previously only offered a one-size-fits-all training program to partners regardless of their roles.
However, following the rapid expansion of its customer base and global reach, the firm will now offer services providers extensive training that is tailored to their specific roles.
The company, which claims to work entirely with channel partners, has also launched as part of the program a new third-party-hosted lab for providers’ technical staff to receive free experience and training with the Cohesity platform.
In addition, Cohesity will now offer channel partners more sales tools, "aggressive" marketing initiatives, and "lucrative" financial incentives for partners working with big clients.
In particular, partners which work to address the issues of heavily siloed data storage within organisations will be eligible to receive additional margin dollars, according to Cohesity.
Founded in California in 2013, Cohesity recently cemented its presence in Asia Pacific by bringing on board Theo Hourmouzis as ANZ managing director. The vendor works with local distributor Arrow ECS across the region.
“An estimated US$60 billion is spent annually by private and public sector organisations around the world to address secondary data and application challenges using separate point solutions,” Hourmouzis said.
“The problem is that this creates data silos. Our newly expanded partner program will assist our regional partners to eliminate these silos and deliver additional value through robust services and technical excellence.”
Meanwhile, the new program has expanded its benefits for cloud and managed services providers, although Cohesity was unable to provide further specific details into these new offerings.
It has also expanded partnerships with technology vendors including Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Microsoft, and VMware, further expanding go-to-market solutions for partners.


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Condor Hospitality Trust Announces Sale of Non-Core Legacy Hotel (3/28/17)
BETHESDA, Md., March 28, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Condor Hospitality Trust, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDOR), a hotel-focused real estate investment trust (REIT) headquartered and incorporated in the state of Maryland, today announced the closing on the sale of a legacy hotel asset, the 79-room Comfort Inn located at 1740 New Butler Road, New Castle, PA 16101 for $2.5 million. The net proceeds from the sale will be used to repay outstanding debt on the Company’s new $90 million secured credit facility.
“With this closing, we have sold our first legacy hotel asset of 2017 after disposing of 25 non-core hotels in 2016,” said Bill Blackham, Condor’s Chief Executive Officer. “We will continue our capital recycling initiative throughout 2017 and anticipate selling six additional legacy hotels in the first half of the year. We currently have signed contracts to sell three additional legacy hotels though there can be no guarantee that these transactions will close. Proceeds from these expected dispositions will likely be used to repay existing debt, thus increasing flexibility on our balance sheet to pursue the acquisition of additional high-quality, premium-branded select-service hotels,” Mr. Blackham continued.
About Condor Hospitality Trust, Inc.
Condor Hospitality Trust, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDOR), is a self-administered real estate investment trust incorporated in the state of Maryland that specializes in the investment and ownership of upper midscale and upscale, premium-branded select-service, extended stay and limited-service hotels. The company currently owns 21 hotels in 11 states. Condor’s hotels are franchised by a number of the industry’s most well-regarded brand families including Hilton, Marriott/Starwood, InterContinental Hotels Group, Choice, and Wyndham. For more information or to make a hotel reservation, visit www.condorhospitality.com. http://globenewswire.com/news-release/2017/03/28/945852/0/en/Condor-Hospitality-Trust-Announces-Sale-of-Non-Core-Legacy-Hotel.html


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The rapid rise of blockchain technology has fostered a significant demand for specialists in the field worldwide. Yet, it is Europe that stands out as the epicenter of blockchain-related job opportunities. With a commanding 67.8% of the total global blockchain jobs, Europe far outpaces other regions in the blockchain job market. But what makes Europe […]
Blockchain development continues strongly around the world Much has happened in the crypto space over the past three years. Including serious bitcoin price falls (notably during 2022), easing of crypto expectations, greater understanding of crypto from governments, continuing crypto fraud stories, exchange negligence, and lack of consumer regulation continue to be a brake on the […]
The price of bitcoin has surged back from its 2022 lows of $14k and is now steady at around $23k – despite recent setbacks – but does that mean cryptocurrency can stand alone from the banking industry? Far from it! The demise of Silicon Valley Bank rapidly followed by the implosion of Credit Suisse sent […]
How can I trade Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in Italy?
Italy has high scores for important ranking categories such as the numbers of Bitcoin nodes and ATMs, along with a high number of Blockchain-related enterprises. Crypto ownership as a percentage of the population is only average to low, as is the number of crypto transactions. What’s really needed to boost Italy’s crypto credentials is a clearer and more progressive strategy toward crypto as a whole, and this is what marks the higher-ranking countries apart.
ICOs and Blockchain startups in Italy.
Initial Coin Offerings ICOs have had an uncertain run in Italy due mostly to the definition and understanding of cryptocurrency overall which varies across leading financial authorities and legal institutions, and the price volatility of such crypto-tokens when offered as ICOs.
Thanks to this lack of direction, Initial Coin Offerings need a degree of interpretation and case-by-case assessment – all due to the definitions mentioned above and aspects such as ‘Is the ICO of a financial nature in itself or an offer of financial products?’ It seems likely that ICOs will become a part of the mainstream financial communities and have to provide a prospectus.
Because of this Italy has had a relatively slow start to its number of ICO start-ups, compared to other leading economies in Europe. However, this is beginning to change, and venture capital investment is growing rapidly with a high number of blockchain-related start-up companies offering services from security, business management, finance, and more. With so much pent-up activity many predict the Italian start-up company environment may experience a boom in 2022 with increased funding available.
Bitcoin and the Italian financial community
Italian banks have not been overwhelming in their support of cryptocurrency to date, but the Central Bank of Italy has made optimistic and positive noises about the benefits of combining traditional and DLT-based financial platforms with the view that there are distinct savings and advantages to be had. CBDCs it stated, offer a store of value, therefore, being an asset with “unique characteristics,” free of credit and liquidity risks. While countrywide, there is no uniformity of position on cryptocurrency, that doesn’t make Italy unique by any means.
Italian bitcoin mining
Italy isn’t one of the world’s mining hotspots, but the activity has experienced something of a renaissance in northern Italy, thanks to a number of Alpine hydroelectricity schemes providing the energy needed. What is termed ‘sustainable’ mining is performed in the turbine rooms of a number of formerly disused hydroelectricity utilities which have become active again. As with Iceland, a top-five mining country, concerns over the use of energy for mining are always part of the debate. Tax on mining is the same as for any commercial enterprise, as Italy still lacks a purpose-designed framework for cryptocurrency. Italian tax authorities currently apply the existing income tax and reporting rules to crypto mining activity.
Crypto regulation in Italy
At the moment, Italy is finalizing new anti-money laundering rules, aligning them with the EU’s fifth AML Directive. In this, it has a specific requirement for virtual asset services providers (VASPs) from other EU countries to have a registered and permanent presence in Italy before they can qualify as approved. Nevertheless, in 2019, a regulation on transactions using an Electronic and Distributed Database (DLT) was approved, making Italy the first nation to implement the legal regulation of blockchain technologies.
Italy has been at the heart of an ongoing central bank digital currency exercise (the digital euro), analyzing the pros and cons of such a concept with the Bank of Italy publishing a report on its findings in 2021, subtitled “Markets, infrastructures, payment systems”. The report discussed how a digital currency could support a central bank in performing its functions based on the integration of both a traditional and DLT-based platform, enjoying the benefits of two complementary solutions. The findings of euro-area National Central Banks and the ECB concluded that such an integrated system as the one above could potentially provide a practical way forward for meeting both regulatory and retail users’ needs.
The wider banking sector as a whole has been slow to offer services to facilitate the growing crypto demand. At a higher level, there is still much debate over how exactly to classify cryptocurrency, with many leading institutions from law courts to financial regulatory bodies each having their own interpretations to bring to the party. This is something that doesn’t help strategy overall. That said, there are a growing number of Italian banks willing to undertake crypto services for their customers with the latest, and one of the largest, Banca Generali, now planning to allow customers to buy, sell and store Bitcoin in partnership with Conio, a specialized Fintech organization. Firmer AML laws and a crypto classification everyone can agree upon look to be on the way. There is also a burgeoning blockchain enterprise community that will surely push Italy up the rankings as crypto prices rise and more VASPs are registered.
Crypto Facilitation - Banks3
Crypto Services - VASPS2
Crypto Pensions / Investment Industry2
Business Community and Enterprise Funding2
Taxes in Italy
What tax do I pay on Bitcoin trading in Italy?
Currently, there is no direct taxation policy for crypto gains, but gains made from speculative trading to make a profit will be subject to standard income tax reporting requirements. However, increasingly over the last year, Italy looks set to firm up its crypto regulations and treatment of digital assets – which means that the tax on trading crypto is to be raised considerably from 2023 onwards. Portugal threatened such increases too, sometime in 2022, but the proposals were put by the country’s opposition party and eventually voted down. Italy looks more determined though, and its proposed 2023 budget plans look to effect a 26% levy on capital gains from digital assets for profits larger than 2,000 euros ($2,062.3). Digital coins and tokens so far have been treated as foreign currency by Italy’s tax authorities, which effected a lower level of taxation.
In a well-known ruling, tax authorities reached the conclusion that cryptocurrencies are akin to foreign currency and the proceeds arising from speculative exchanges of cryptocurrency are subject to the standard rules applicable to income arising from trades of foreign fiat currencies. This is a 26% substitutive tax for Italian resident individuals and non-commercial organizations, and prevailing corporate income tax established entities.
Crypto tax generates much debate in Italy, some saying that it requires a different tax approach due to its volatility and potential complexity in being exchanged into traditional currency. However, tax is payable is on the gain at the time of the sale (over costs of purchase) and Italian residents are exempt where their profit is under €51,0002 and where their profits don’t stem from business activities (there is some wriggle room, however, according to whether the trade is deemed to be a foreign currency trade). That said, the 26% is still pretty reasonable in comparison with some high-tax states in Europe.
Businesses that use or trade cryptocurrency are subject to prevailing corporate income tax, and companies are required to register their crypto operations including information on accounts, amounts, and transactions.
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This is not financial advice. Coincub is an independent publisher and comparison service. Its articles, interactive tools and other content are provided to you for free, as self-help tools and for informational purposes only. This space changes rapidly and evolving, so please make sure to do your own research. Although we do our best to provide you the best information, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or applicability of any information on this site or in regard to your individual circumstances.


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(Brussels, 21 May 2015) FoodDrinkEurope welcomes the report published yesterday by the European Commission on mandatory origin labelling for unprocessed foods, single ingredient products and ingredients that represent more than 50% of a food. The Commission also published its report on mandatory country of origin labelling for milk and milk products and types of meat other than beef, swine sheep, goat and poultry.
Both reports, which are based on the evidence provided by external independent studies, conclude that voluntary origin labelling is the suitable option to respond to consumer interests for origin labelling while avoiding the severe impact that mandatory rules would have.
The reports show that introducing mandatory origin labelling for these food categories would bring many operational challenges for industry, in particular SMEs. These changes would require radical adaptations in the food chain, and would result in considerable additional costs for companies and public authorities, negatively impacting on the internal market, competitiveness and trade. These costs would ultimately be passed on to the consumer while it is still unclear whether consumers are willing to pay for this additional information.
On the contrary, voluntary origin labelling “maintains selling prices at current levels and still allows consumers to choose products with specific origins if they want to, while it does not affect the competitiveness of food business operators and does not impact internal market and international trade .”
FoodDrinkEurope welcomes this conclusion and notes that food business operators are already providing origin information on a voluntarily basis where a consumer demand exists and where feasible. We therefore ask the European Parliament and the Council to take the findings of these reports into account in view of future discussions on the feasibility of origin labelling for these food categories.
 Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council regarding the mandatory indication of the country of origin or place of provenance for unprocessed foods, single ingredient products and ingredients that represent more than 50% of a food.


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The Cayman 27 Newsletter has been temporarily suspended. We are working to resume this service in the near future. You can also get the latest Cayman 27 updates on your mobile device by downloading our app from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store for Android devices.
Ship decline hurting business
Friday, 6 July 2012 7:54 pm
Cruise ship arrivals drop to the lowest they’ve been in more than 10 years. Cayman 27′s Tammi Sulliman shows us how that’s hurting business in George Town.


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Apple’s Siri is certainly the hot property these days, and it is at its best when in the hands of hackers who create tools like SiriProxy. Offering a way of making Siri interact with pretty much anything on a network, SiriProxy has opened doors left and right, and now app developers are getting in on the action.
FastPdfKit, an app now available on the App Store, claims to be the first to offer Siri integration using SiriProxy. More accurately, FastPdfKit’s developer, MobFarm, is the first to spend the time to create the commands required to interact with its app, but we’ll let them off with their bold claim just this once.
The result is the ability to ask Siri to complete in-app tasks, such as paging forward or searching for text. The app even has a party trick, with Siri on an iPhone 4S being able to control the FastPdfKit app on an iPad…
MobFarm has put together a video to show off FastPdfKit and its interaction with Siri, along with a plea for Apple to open the whole thing up officially.
In order to make this work, a user would need to have SiriProxy running on a server on the network, which isn’t something that can be easily done by the non-technical user.
In few words: a proxy server (SiriProxy) intercepts the siri commands sent to Apple (we are in the middle), a plugin add some new commands to the list of accepted ones by Siri, takes the answers and open a tunnel with a chat server. The chat server sends immediately the command to the iOS app that is logged as user. The application listen for messages and if receives something parses the content and react accordingly.
This isn’t the first time Siri has been used in interesting ways, with one iPhone owner already having Siri lock, unlock, and start a car.
It’s a bold new world out there, and it’s all controlled by Siri!


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Chinese auto sales increased at the quickest rate this year in June, putting the country on course to top the US as the world’s largest auto market, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing figures released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Sales rose 36.5% year-on-year in June to 1.4 million units, the fourth month in a row that volumes have topped 1.1 million units. Meanwhile, US car and light truck sales dropped 28% year-on-year to 860,000. New car and truck sales in China are expected to top 11 million units in 2009 – up 17.3% on the previous year – with US sales likely to come in at just 9.69 million units. The jump in Chinese auto sales is attributed in a large part to government subsidies and tax breaks on the purchase of smaller vehicles. The 38% increase in first-half sales posted by General Motors was largely due to the strong performance of its joint venture that manufactures small commercial vehicles. However, demand for luxury car brands is also improving with BMW seeing sales growth of 46% in June.
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The New York Yankees, Amazon Prime Video, and the YES Network have struck a deal to live stream 21 New York Yankees games this regular season on Prime Video at no additional cost to Prime members. The first is scheduled for April 17.
Prime members in the Yankees home-team footprint in New York state, Connecticut, northeast Pennsylvania, and north and central New Jersey will have access to the games. They will be simulcasts of games produced by YES for airing on PIX11 and other over-the-air partners for Yankees telecasts.
The companies said Yankees games on Prime Video will feature Amazon X-Ray technology, which allows fans streaming on Android, iOS mobile, and Fire TV to access live in-game stats, team and player details, and real-time play-by-play information as they watch.
“Fans are consuming content in a variety of different ways, and we believe our unique partnership with Amazon represents an exciting development in the realm of live sports,” said Hal Steinbrenner, CEO, Yankee Global Enterprises. “We are committed to exploring new ideas and delivering an array of top-quality viewing options, as well as accompanying new innovations.”
Marie Donoghue, Vice President of Global Sports Video at Amazon said the company wants “to give Prime members access to the broadest selection of content across the broadest number of devices.”
And Jon Litner, CEO, YES Network, said that, “As consumption habits among Yankees fans continue to evolve, we’re embracing new and innovative technologies to enhance the viewer experience.”
Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy.


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Exclusive: DOE official warns of solar supply chain risks
Relying on Asia for imports could pose a risk to U.S. solar growth, a top Department of Energy official told Axios in an interview.
Why it matters: The department is shedding light on where it believes there is risk in the solar supply chain (China) — and where there isn't — ahead of aggressive oversight from House Republicans.
What they’re saying: “There are certainly supply chain risks that come from having manufacturing concentrated in China and Southeast Asia,” DOE Solar Energy Technologies Office director Becca Jones-Albertus told Axios.
- “We certainly want a more diverse geographic footprint and we would really like to have more of that here at home.”
The big picture: Chinese parts are getting riskier for U.S. solar firms.
- The Commerce Department recently found that some of the largest solar module suppliers — all operating in China — are illegally dodging U.S. anti-dumping tariffs by routing shipments through other Asian countries.
- GOP lawmakers also urged Customs and Border Protection last month not to allow solar-related imports from companies in China over human rights concerns.
Yes, but: Jones-Albertus said solar has one big advantage over other low-carbon products: There's no shortage of the minerals it needs.
- Raw materials for making solar technology — like quartz — are found in abundance domestically, and around the world, so solar may not face the kinds of resource shortage problems befuddling batteries.
- She said the problems arrive in “those intermediate supply chain steps” where quartz is made into polysilicon for panels — another space China dominates today.
- "Supply of that raw material of quartz is not going to limit our ability to deploy solar technology," Jones-Albertus said, "but as that technology gets refined and you come into these intermediate supply chain steps, that’s where we don’t currently have U.S. manufacturing capacity."
The big picture: Jones-Albertus pitched the Inflation Reduction Act — which was packed with solar manufacturing incentives — as a solution to weaning off Asia.
- The Solar Energy Industries Association predicts the U.S. will have significant ingot, wafer and cell manufacturing in three-to-five years, partially because of IRA incentives.
- Large solar part plants have been announced across the country since the IRA passed. And Jones-Albertus expects more to come.
- “I think this is a really exciting time because the Inflation Reduction Act actually provides the incentives needed to grow that whole supply chain here,” she said.


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For months I've seen the free upgrade to Windows 10 box pop up on my computer. I'm running Windows 7 on my laptop that I've had for a few years, and skipping ahead to Windows 10 sounds kind of enticing. They say it's free, so what could be wrong with that? Well for some people it may make sense, for others like me it doesn't.
Here's another one! It seems like Ken and I are warning you of a new scam every week! Being aware and knowing how to handle it should you be a target will help you avoid a lot of headache and potential save you a lot of lots $$$. The latest scam is using the Microsoft name and will come over the phone.
Microsoft is set to shell out big bucks - a whopping $8.5 billion - to buy Skype Global, the NY Times is reporting.
According to the report, the deal will allow Microsoft to leverage Skype, which last year had 207 billion minutes of voice and video conversations, on platforms including Xbox 360, Kinect and Outlook.
"Skype is a phenomenal service that is loved by millions of people around the


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Reliance's Ambani Brothers team up on 4G Services RolloutAdded 3rd Apr 2013
Reliance Industries, which previously acquired 4G licenses and spectrum in 22 service areas, will pay 12 billion Indian rupees (US$219 million) to share intercity fiber-optic infrastructure built by Reliance Communications, which operates mobile telephony and broadband communications services in the country.
Relations between the brothers, Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, and Anil Ambani, chairman of Reliance Communications, have been bitter previously, leading Reliance Industries to scupper a proposed merger in 2008 of Reliance Communications with MTN Group in South Africa. The negotiations ran into legal threats from Reliance Industries, which claimed that it had the right of first refusal to any disposal of the controlling stake in Reliance Communications.
Reliance Industries acquired in 2010 a 95 percent stake in Infotel Broadband Services , which had won licenses for broadband wireless services in the country. The brothers had scrapped a month earlier an agreement not to compete in a number of businesses.
Under the deal announced Tuesday, Reliance Communications will provide Reliance Jio Infocomm, a unit of Reliance Industries, access to its 120,000 kilometer fiber-optic network. Reliance Communications will in turn have access to the fiber-optic network being laid out by Reliance Jio. The deal is described as the first step in cooperation between the two companies to optimize the utilization of their infrastructure.
The entry of Reliance Industries, a large private company in country, into the 4G market could shake up an industry that is already facing losses and is undercapitalized after huge tariff wars and rising government regulation, analysts said.
For a modern operating system with an vast range of capabilities, Windows 10 is an incredibly lean and mean operating system.
Pharmacists at some 7,800 CVS drugstores across the U.S. will soon be able to tap IBM's Watson cognitive computing system in the hopes of predicting customers' health problems before they arise.
Smartphone sales increased substantially in the second quarter of 2015, but the rate of growth continued to slow, fueling concerns that the market has started to become saturated, according to a study released today by Juniper Research.


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Shares of Applied Materials Inc. AMAT, +3.39% slumped 5.1% in after-hours trade Thursday, after the chip equipment maker's fiscal fourth-quarter sales came up a bit shy, although profit beat expectations. Earnings for the quarter ended Oct. 30 rose to $610 million, or 56 cents a share, from $336 million, or 28 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to 66 cents, above the FactSet consensus of 65 cents. Revenue rose to $3.297 billion from $2.368 billion, just below the FactSet consensus of $3.307 billion, as a 25% increase in the value of new orders to $3.03 billion missed expectations of $3.21 billion. For the fiscal first quarter, the company expects revenue of $3.20 billion to $3.34 billion, compared with the FactSet consensus of $3.14 billion, while the adjusted EPS outlook of 62 cents to 70 cents is above expectations of 59 cents. The stock has soared 65% year to date through Thursday's close, while the PHLX Semiconductor Index SOX, +2.30% has run up 31% and the S&P 500 SPX, +1.32% has gained 7%.
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Samsung's flagship Galaxy Nexus is finally making its way to Sprint.
Sprint's version of the phone, which is nearly identical to Verizon's own, was made official back in January. But it's only today that Sprint has gotten around to announcing a release date and price point: Available April 22nd, the device will run for $199 with a two-year contract.
Sprint is attempting to entice consumers by giving buyers $40 in Google Wallet cash. This is in addition to the $10 that Google already gives users. That's a lot of free money.
The biggest deal, of course, is that the Galaxy Nexus is Sprint's latest LTE phone. As discussed extensively previously, Sprint's in a bit of a bind, LTE-wise. Faced with a bona fide chicken-and-egg problem over its fledging (read: non-existent) LTE network, the company is essentially announcing devices with the promise that they will, one day, run with LTE speeds. Joining the LG Viper and HTC EVO 4G LTE, the Galaxy Nexus is set to be a part of a formidable LTE portfolio. Eventually.
The device drops on April 22nd, the same day as the Viper and a few weeks before the EVO 4G LTE's May 7th release date.


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Back To Article List
Rising Threat of Identity Theft
You Can Protect Yourself from the Rising Threat of Identity Theft
By BEN SCHAMISSO (Medill Reports Chicago*)
Identity theft topped the Federal Trade Commission's complaints list for the 12th year in a row in 2011 and victims struggle to clear their names. But there are steps you can take to prevent it or effectively deal with identity theft if it happens to you.
* May 22, 2012 | ©2001 - 2012 Medill Reports - Chicago, Northwestern University.
A publication of the Medill School.


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Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.
China’s economy has picked up speed, as the world’s second-largest economy continues to outpace international rivals – led by strong factory growth.
Chinese GDP grew by 6.5% per year in the last three months of 2020, new official figures show. That’s an acceleration on the previous quarter, when GDP rose by 4.9%, and better than economists expected.
Quarterly growth in October-December was clocked at 2.6%.
China’s factory base led the recovery. Industrial production rose by 7.3% in December compared with a year ago, as Chinese manufacturers were lifted by Beijing’s stimulus measures and a pick-up in global demand.
But… consumers were more cautious, with retail sales growing by 4.6% per year in December, down from 5%.
Overall, Chinese consumers remained reluctant to spend, as retail sales contracted 3.9% during 2020.
Today’s GDP report shows that China’s economy grew by 2.3% during 2020 as a whole, having contracted sharply early last year during the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan.
That’s the weakest since 1976, the final year of the decade-long Cultural Revolution. But it’s still ahead of, for example, Germany which shrank 5% last year.
China’s National Bureau of Statistics said the country had faced a “grave and complex environment both at home and abroad”, but that Beijing had taken “solid steps” to stabilize employment, finance, foreign trade, foreign investment, domestic investment and market expectations.
The national economy recovered steadily, employment and living standards were ensured forcefully, and the main goals and tasks of economic and social development were accomplished better than expectation.
Jeffrey Halley, senior Asia Pacific market analyst at OANDA,
Industrial Production rose by an impressive 7.30% as the rest of the world’s insatiable demand for Made in China showed no signs of slowing down. By contrast, domestic data still showed the caution that has been prevalent throughout the year.
Retail Sales for December rose 4.60% versus 5.50% expected, a cause for joy in any other country but China. That likely reflects the Covid-19 restrictions in parts of the country and the freezing weather that has sent energy prices soaring.
Unemployment, though, held steady at 5.20%, and this metric will leave Chinese authorities still in their comfort zone.
More reaction to follow….
Despite this recovery, European stock markets are expected to open lower — while Wall Street is closed for Martin Luther King day.
11am BST: Germany’s Bundesbank’s monthly economic report


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Top 10 healthcare issues for 2014
PwC announces its annual list of top issues facing the healthcare industry in 2014NEW YORK | January 16, 2014
Empowered consumers, rapid innovation and increasing competition are among PwC’s top health industry issues for 2014, the company announced last week during a webinar.
In order to identify the top 10 business issues facing the U.S. healthcare sector this year, PwC analyzed polling data collected from 1,000 consumers and interviews with healthcare industry experts in the fall of 2013.
[See also: 4 healthcare hot topics in 2014]
The top 10 issues are:
1. Companies rethink their roles in the new health economy
2. Corporate funds invade healthcare venture capital space
3. Employers explore private exchanges
4. Industry picks up the pace of price transparency
5. Social, mobile, analytics and cloud come together
6. Technology is the new workforce multiplier
7. Twenty-first century tools refresh clinical trials
8. Fail fast, frequently and frugally for true innovation
9. States pursue Medicaid managed long-term care
10. New rules combat counterfeit drugs
Consumers are a bigger influence than ever, the PwC said, pushing for price transparency and exercising choice, forcing healthcare companies to adapt.
This year, the PwC believes that consumers will begin to demand better customer service through integrated social, mobile analytics and cloud technologies. Currently, only 18 percent of companies are maximizing the use of smartphones apps to integrate patient data into clinician workflows and EHRs, and only 27 percent of physicians are encouraging patients to use mobile health applications, according to the report.
[See also: U.S. health spending to jump in 2014]
Ceci Connolly, managing director of the Health Research Institute, said during last week’s webinar that when it comes to price transparency for consumers, businesses are striking exclusive arrangements with providers for high-value care, and the federal government has opened its books on what hospitals bill for relatively common treatments.


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London, UK (PRWEB) January 29, 2007
A new survey published today suggests that women are ditching the high street in favour of online retailing when purchasing technology.
The poll of 2000 female shoppers by mobile phone retailer Dial-a-Phone reveals that women opt to buy online to avoid patronizing male shop workers who bully them into purchasing products they didn't really want.
3 in 4 women believed they had been patronized by a male
member of staff when purchasing technology
1 in 4 women had been bullied into purchasing a technology product they didn't want
1 in 3 women believed they had purchased the wrong mobile phone from a high street store
3 out of 5 women vowed they would NEVER purchase a mobile phone from the high street again
The survey was commissioned after Dial-a-Phone noticed a surge in online sales to women in the run up to Christmas.
The second reason women cited for purchasing online is the 'cost saving'. With many sites offering free delivery there are no hidden costs, so saves time in their hectic lives with one in five women naming either time or cost as the main reason they shop online rather than the high street.
Top reasons for abandoning the high street: Top five online purchases:
1. Pushy sales staff 43% Mobile Phones & Technology 69%
2. Bad customer service 29% Music & DVD's 21%
3. Time constraints 15% Clothes 7%
4. Bad weather 8% Fragrances 3%
5. Cost 5% Make up 1%
Mobile phones and technology are the top online purchase for women, with 69% of women saying that they were more likely to look on the web. Other items included music and DVDs (21%), clothes (8%) and cosmetics (2%).
A spokesman at Dial-a-Phone, who conducted the study comments: "61% of Dial-a-Phone online customers are women; this is significant when you consider the overall UK market where 70% of all phones are bought by men. Our sales to women have increased by 100% since August and we are continuing to see an increase in the run up to Christmas.
"Shopping online should be hassle free and as women tend to bear the brunt of buying the majority of the gifts for the family its no wonder they're looking for an alternative to the high street. We offer free delivery on almost all of our phones and with our staff working throughout the holidays, we will ensure even the most last minute buy is delivered in time for Christmas day."
Dial-a-Phone has supplied mobile phones on monthly contract to 2.9 million customers, and since it launched in 2000 over 550,000 customers have connected from the website. Further information can be found at the Dialaphone Blog


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Georgia is a nexus of global payment processing and merchant acquiring activity. Some two-thirds of all U.S. purchase volume is processed there. That’s a lot of debit and credit card transactions. But what are those same companies doing to improve payments for the underbanked?
That combination of payments technology and financial inclusion concerns was the focus of a panel discussion last week at the second Fintech South conference in Atlanta. Representatives from PayGo Utilities, Incomm, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, and the Georgia Public Service Commission discussed how the tech underpinning Transaction Alley can be leveraged to promote financial inclusion. Here’s some recollections from the panel I moderated.
Taking the Prepaid Model to the Electric Bill
Stimulating the conversation was the prepaid payment option deployed by Georgia Power called CheckOut™, a solution developed by PayGo Utilities. Georgia Power’s need for the product coincided with the closure of customer service centers around the state where many consumers had made walk-in payments for their electric power and now needed a convenient way to pay that bill.
PayGo’s Jeff Weiser explained how CheckOut works:
- PayGo software integrates with the biller system, utilizing meter data, allowing for real-time consumption monitoring
- The software has an algorithm that anticipates usage, allowing customers to be notified as their prepaid account funding level gets low
- When it’s time to pay, the consumer shows a barcode representing her account number (can be on a printout or an app), which can be quickly scanned as cash is paid in at grocery and convenience store locations and have that payment quickly “top up” her utility account. Payment can be made via the utility’s existing payment channels or using the rails of Incomm’s VanillaDirect Pay.
Payment geeks will immediately note that the prepaid model plus a simple barcode tied to the consumer’s electric meter makes for a simple-to-deploy solution – a bit like buying airtime with a Brazilian boleto.
Usage patterns on the Georgia Power solution are interesting, offering advantages to both the consumer and the biller. Georgia Public Service Commissioner, Tim Echols, noted that subscribers who opt for the CheckOut solution have an average $31 balance and avoid tying up large sums of money. Text message, email, and voice reminders alert the user if the balance is running low. Traditional postpaid utility customers with arrearages break their “payment arrangement” with the utility over 80% of the time. To date, across the U.S., over 70% of prepay customers actually pay off their entire arrearage.
Prepaid as a Tool for Financial Inclusion
While PayGo Utilities is working with utility companies around the country, the need in the Southeast is particularly high because the region lags behind other parts of the country on many indicators of financial inclusion. According to Jessica Washington from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Retail Payments Risk Forum, the Southeast generally has higher rates of unbanked, 7.7 percent unbanked compared to a 6.5% national average. There is also a lower savings rate for emergencies and higher rates of people without access to mainstream credit.
From a policy perspective, Commissioner Echols spoke about the desire to promote more solutions like this because it leads to less stress and greater savings for the consumer. Certainly no one wants to worry about their utility bill payment (or spoiled groceries in the fridge), but users on this plan also tend to be more consumption aware and, on average, consume 10 percent less power.
CheckOut users pay a fee of $1.50 each time they load funds to their account. In exchange for the pay-as-you-go funding model, users avoid deposit and reconnection fees if the account is funded again within the next seven days.
I think there’s a reasonable argument to be made whether or not consumers should have to pay up to $6.00 a month or $72 per year (that’s four reloads a month) just to keep their electricity connected. Nevertheless, given that cash flow and funds availability are a constant juggling act for the poor, CheckOut provides value and meets the criteria for a relevant financial service as laid out by CFFSI’s Jennifer Tescher as articulated in a recent American Banker article:
“What financially vulnerable people need is access to high-quality products and experiences built to help them succeed …. They need real-time advice and guidance, tailored to their specific situation and immediately actionable.”
Incomm CFO, Scott Meyerhoff, described this as “inclusion through innovation.” He noted that there is both the need and the capability to improve “services and infrastructure” to enable greater financial inclusion. By this measure, financial inclusion is eminently within our reach. Faster, more efficient, and ultimately cheaper transactions should be the mantra for those providers focusing on the underbanked consumer segment.
What are the next steps? The Atlanta Fed is researching these and other payments technologies suitable for financial inclusion for a future publication. Then, we’ll be able to see if and how Atlanta’s Transaction Alley is contributing to these innovations.


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After slipping nearer to $20,000 Wednesday afternoon, Bitcoin rebounded when the Federal Reserve introduced a 75-basis-point rate of interest hike, the central financial institution’s easiest building up since 1994.
At one level instantly after the Fed’s announcement, bitcoin hit $20,378, then diminished losses. On the other hand, previous Wednesday, bitcoin slid to $20,133.
Bitcoin traded at $20,591 at 2:15 p.m. ET, down 6.91% for the day. At a press convention, Fed Chair Jerome Powell mentioned that he does no longer be expecting 75-basis-point hikes to be commonplace, including that the following building up in July may well be 50 or 75 foundation issues. AFter improving extra losses, Bitcoin traded at $21,848 by way of 3:30 p.m. ET.
Within the closing 5 days, the sector’s greatest cryptocurrency by way of marketplace cap has fallen more or less 29%, and 56% 12 months up to now.
Crypto lender Celsius halted withdrawals previous this week, mentioning “excessive marketplace stipulations,” and now the company has employed attorneys to assist it restructure its budget, the Wall Boulevard Magazine reported Wednesday.
In keeping with the Monetary Instances, Celsius’s shoppers have pulled greater than $2.5 billion in belongings this 12 months in spite of the crypto endure marketplace.
In the meantime, “Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary mentioned the crypto marketplace received’t hit backside until there’s a panic. “Within the crypto global, we’d like any person to visit 0,” O’Leary advised CoinDesk.