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Niagara-on-the-Lake’s longstanding Niagara Motors GMC dealership celebrated its 75th anniversary in true car-lover fashion on Saturday – with a car show and a barbecue fundraiser for Red Roof Retreat.
A wide variety of vehicles filled the lot, this time not for sale. Instead there were hot rods, souped-up drag racers, stylish old Chevys and vintage military vehicles.
Dave Dick, longtime owner of Niagara Motors, said it’s hard to imagine it’s been that long.
“I tell you something, when I started in this business, I can't believe how fast time travels. I mean it's just like that I was just a young guy here greasing cars as a 12-year-old, right? And now I'm 68 years old. Where'd the time go?”
He ended up taking over the dealership from his father David Sr. when he was about 30, he said.
He said the dealership has sold “tens of thousands” of cars over the years.
He recalls when there were three dealerships in Virgil and while the others “kind of went away,” his store has lasted, still bringing in a lot of business, locally and elsewhere.
A lot of people come from the city to buy a truck in the country, he said.
“We're truck central — we're kind of in the country, we're a country-type atmosphere. So people come from all over to buy trucks from Niagara Motors because we have the truck expertise.”
Over the years the dealership, like most businesses, has had to grow and adapt. And the changes keep coming. Now, Dick says the next phase will be electric vehicles.
“The technology in this industry changes so fast. Wow, I mean you gotta keep training and buy new equipment, and now with electrification you have to invest in all kinds of infrastructure,”
He was surprised how many people showed up Saturday as people ate burgers and hotdogs and browsed the vehicles.
“Beyond what I expected. I didn't think this many people would come,” he said, adding the dealership limited the number of cars in the show to try to keep the crowd smaller.
“People have been locked in with COVID. We'd have 1,000 cars lined up here if we didn't cap it, because people want to get out with their show cars.”
He was proud to donate proceeds of the barbecue to Red Roof.
“Those guys do unbelievable work. They make my job look easy.”
Terry McMillan, president of the Niagara Military Vehicle Association, was there with some collector's items.
“We've got a 1985 U.S. Army field ambulance, and a 1944 GMC, CCKW from World War II. And they're both extremely rare trucks,” he said.
He said it was the first NOTL car show they’ve been at for two years, as shows have only been allowed since pandemic gathering restrictions were lifted. Normally the association kicks off the year with a fundraiser of its own.
The club also lost several vehicles to a large fire on Townline Road last winter.
“The only reason we have these here is because we ran into the building while it was on fire and drove them out. Or we would have lost them. So, we got 80 per cent of our collection out before the building was burnt down to the ground.”
He said the club lost “three or four jeeps, four trailers, an army tow truck, World War Two Dodge weapons carrier and Vietnam era Mutt.”
“And then we lost all our tools, spare parts, motors, spare motors and all that too.”
The vehicles were all insured, McMillan said, but they aren’t replaceable.
“Once they're gone they're gone. So it was a labour of love that we ran in and got them and got them out. And we were lucky.”
One of the vehicles still had soot on it from the fire, he said.
He recalled not being able to see through the smoke when driving the vehicles out.
“It was a rough one for us, but at the time of the fire we got in. The first vehicle I drove out was a World War Two halftrack, and I couldn't even see the starter, I had to feel for the starter button. And then I couldn't even see where I was going,” McMillan said.
“I told the owner … either I'm going out the exit or I'm going through a wall. It doesn't matter because it's an armoured vehicle. But luckily it was lined up and I could get it out. That was a rough day for us. It set us back quite a bit. So we're just slowly getting our stuff together now and getting the vehicles out into the public again.”


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"After the first treatment, I felt like that gaping wound was starting to heal up. It was like closing up and it wasn't sore anymore."
Once a club drug, Ketamine is increasingly used as an off-label treatment for depression and PTSD. A clutch of clinics have sprung up in Los Angeles, but with treatment not covered by insurance and few ways to profit from its development, companies are studying its effects and looking to the next big psychedelic drug. Reporter Keerthi Vendantam has the story.
TikTok will soon force personalized ads on its users.
U.S. SEC sues California trader for social media fraud scheme.
Millions more Californians became eligible for vaccines today.
HydraFacial preps for IPO.
Electric-vehicle startups promise record-setting revenue growth.
Super League acquires Mobcrush streaming.
Clubhouse adds first head of marketing, accelerator program for creators.
People are stealing art and turning it into NFTs.
GM-backed Cruise acquires self-driving startup Voyage.
The growing body of evidence that ketamine — once known as club drug "special k" — can be used to treat mental health disorders has sprouted clinics in Los Angeles. Read more>>
The pandemic economy helped boost online shopping by an extra $183 billion since March 2020. That's a 20% growth over last year, roughly the size of the 2020 holiday shopping season when buyers spent $188.2 billion online. Read more>>
Relativity Space's contract to launch a payload into orbit in 2023 could help set up the Long Beach-based startup long-term with the department. Read more>>
The line between tech and entertainment companies has never been thinner. Top Hollywood players are becoming software behemoths, major tech firms are tripling down on their content investments and a number of startups are finding new ways to blend the two worlds. From the very heart of this convergence between tech, media and entertainment in Los Angeles, we're launching "Intersect," a first-of-its-kind summit, held live virtually on Wednesday, April 28.

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Insects are vital for farming as pollinators of crops and as predators of pests but livestock farmers are now looking more and more at insects as a source of feed. There growing interest and research on farming insects to provide a source of protein for both animals and humans. Farmed insects may offer a more efficient and sustainable source of protein in poultry and aquaculture diets than do soy-bean meal and fish meal. Insects may also offer a lower cost protein alternative with a good amino acid profile, fish feed can contain up to 40% insect content, and chicken feed up to 30%.
Farmed insect products for animal feed can potentially reduce the share of human-grade grains (soy, corn) and fish meal in compound feeds, so liberating more of these grains for direct human consumption. The market for farmed insects is growing rapidly, according to the IPIFF (International Platform for Insects as Food and Feed) a body which represents insect producers, insect production is expected to grow at a rate of 20% p.a.
Insect species of interest to the animal feed sector include crickets; maggots; meal worms and black soldier flies. The black soldier fly is of particular interest because it stops eating before it becomes an adult, so it is very efficient at storing nutrients. Black soldier flies also eat a very wide range of diets, can convert (food) waste streams and they grow very fast. This is the reason why the species is often the preferred choice of insect for companies to work with.
Environmental concerns are also driving demand as insects are seen as an efficient way of producing protein animal feeds without competing with human food sources. There is a growing number of insect farming start-ups for both animal feed and human consumption. For example Protix from the Netherlands has been producing feed ingredients from black soldier flies since 2009. Ynsect in France, produces premium feed ingredients for aquaculture and pet nutrition by farming mealworms.
Interest in insects as animal feed is particularly strong within Europe. According to the EU Commission the EU produces only 29% of what it consumes in products with a protein content of 30 to 50%. This has a considerable impact on the economics of poultry and pig production as well as aquaculture. There is growing pressure from both retailers and policy makers to reduce Europe’s reliance on imported soya meal. In November 2018 Adriana Cassilis Vice President of the International Platform for Insects as Food and Feed (IPIFF) stated that insects are ‘new’ sources of protein and are needed to close the feed gap. Today, the aquaculture feed market consumes approximately 50% of European animal feed made from insects and this is expected to rise to 75% by 2030.
However before insects can start to replace some of the 30 million MT per year of soya meal currently imported into the EU regulations need to change. The EU has established regulations for the use of insects in animal feed and has allowed insects to be fed to fish since 2017 and it is expected that insects will be approved for feeding to poultry and pigs in the near future. According to the IPIFF roughly 1,000 tonnes of insect protein have been commercialised by European insect producers in total, since the authorisation of insect proteins for use in aqua feed. In some countries outside the EU insect producers can obtain organic certification however this is not yet the case within the EU due to the absence of EU organic standards for insect products for food or feed.
EU regulations are currently holding the insect feed sector back, but market forces and environmental pressures are building for the necessary changes to take the market forward in the future.


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For well over a year, Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ:SIRI) has been pushing the idea that the idle radios out on the road will provide a significant growth opportunity for the company. To address this market, the company is offering a 90-day free trial to the buyer of any used car with an OEM-installed radio sold by a participating dealer. The number of dealers in the program has grown rapidly, from 103 at the end of the first quarter of 2011 to more than 9000 as of the last conference call.
Management has discussed this opportunity by focusing attention on the number of vehicles on the road that have OEM-installed radios and how this number will be growing over the next decade. On the recent call, CEO James Meyer discussed the opportunity without disclosing too many details about the success:
SIRIUS XM entered the first quarter of 2013 with nearly 52 million satellite equipped vehicles in operation, up from 42 million a year earlier. This means our satellite radios are installed in approximately 22% of all registered vehicles on the road. Since our new car penetration rate is about two thirds the trend of growing vehicles in operation will just keep going for many years to come. By the end of 2017, we should have around 100 million satellite equipped vehicles on the road and in 10 years time we should see about 150 million. Within a few years, we expect more used cars to be sold with satellite radio than new cars. These stats highlight our easily addressable market opportunity and provide the corner stone of our growth. Last year we exceeded our goal of more than 1 million self-pay additions from the used car channel and this year we plan to hit an ambitious target of more than 1.5 million self-pay additions from used cars.
Subsequently, CFO David Frear stated:
Aftermarket original owner and subsequent owner where year-over-year growth was consistent with our expectations that we will add more than 1.5 million new subscribers from the subsequent owner market this year.
These statements appeared different from past statements, including the fourth quarter conference call where Meyer referred to the 1 million and 1.5 million as "gross additions." Is there a difference? And, how should investors think of these figures?
Each quarter Sirius XM presents a table that shows subscriber activity. It starts with "Beginning subscribers" and then adds the "Gross subscriber additions" that took place during the period and subtracts the "Deactivated subscribers" that took place during the period, resulting in the "Ending subscribers" and the "Net additions" for the period. Unfortunately, the figures do not capture all the activity that took place during the quarter.
The Gross additions include:
- New OEM "Paid promotional subscribers",
- Conversions of new OEM unpaid trials to Self-pay subscribers
- Conversions from free trials to Self-pay subscribers acquired through the 9000 dealers in the used car program, and
- Other activations or re-activations of self-pay subscriptions.
The Deactivated subscribers include the Paid promotional subscribers that chose not to convert to self-pay subscribers (represented by [1 - the conversion rate] ) and the Self-pay subscribers that cancel (the Self-pay monthly churn rate).
What the company does not officially report is a portion of the unpaid trial activity. This includes both the unpaid trials that certain OEM's provide with the purchase of a new vehicle, as well as those 90-day used car trials provided by the 9000 participating used car dealers. If these unpaid trials do not convert to a Self-pay subscriber, they do not get included as Deactivated subscribers or Gross subscriber additions. These trials only get included in the Gross subscriber additions if they convert to a self-pay subscriber, at which time they are also included in the Self-pay subscriber totals.
When guidance was issued earlier this year, a point was made to have investors and analysts focus on self-pay subscribers. The change in language on the most recent conference call where the "more than 1 million gross additions" for 2012 and the "1.5 million gross additions" for 2013 to "self-pay additions" may be part of this change in focus. Regardless, the terms appear to be used interchangeably by Sirius XM when referring to the used car program.
So, where will these 1.5 million self-pay subscribers for 2013 originate? A portion will be conversions of the free trials offered through the 9000 dealers in used car program. Others will come from buyers of used cars that recognize that they have a Sirius or XM satellite radio in their car and find their own way to Sirius XM and sign up for the service. At the Piper Jaffrey conference earlier this year, Frear made the following observation:
...figure that there are 50 million cars sold every year, 35 used 15 new, all right.
Now, we are never really going to know how many of the used cars turning over in a year have a satellite radio in them because we just won't get that sales data. We do get the production data from the automakers. We get all the sales data. So for new car production we know exactly what's selling? But the used car market, 30% of it is private transaction, I sold a car to you, right and that doesn't get reported to us, and then there is a lot that are sold through independent dealers, we are trying to capture as much information as we can.
So in gathering that information we have deals with the automakers for their certified pre-owned programs. But that's probably only about 5% of the used cars that sell in a given year.
In addition to the 30% of private used car transactions, we also know that Sirius XM will not be signing up every used car dealer in the country. That indicates that there could be a significant number of used car activations that will be dependent on potential subscribers finding their own way to Sirius XM.
There are several pieces of used car program data that remain unknown to investors:
- The number of 90-day trials offered through the participating dealers
- What percentage of these used car trials convert to Self-pay subscribers
- The level of discounting and ARPU for the used car transactions.
Frear gave a partial explanation about the reluctance to disclose the information as far back as the 2011 third quarter conference call:
Reactivations is actually an incredibly broad category of things. I think when most people talk about it that they tend to think of it as subsequent owners of a radio, primarily a vehicle, and developing confidence in those statistics is going to take a little time. We know for sure whenever a radio turns off and turns back on. What is a little more difficult to tease out of the information is who owns it? Is it an existing subscriber who's reactivating a few days after a trial ends or after -- maybe they get disconnected for non-pay, or is it a subsequent owner of a vehicle? That we frequently find with the timing of information sent to us by some of the automotive partners is that you can often have a radio that's still on for a car that's been sold. The new car buyer -- the used car buyer gets it. And they're actually calling us to "activate" their radio before we've been informed that the car has actually changed hands. So again, I think the short story is that over time, that as we can get confidence in the measurement of the numbers, we'll probably talk more to you about subsequent owners. But reactivations at this point is just sort of a pretty steady consistent contributor to all the underlying metrics you're looking at.
And, on the subject of the conversion percentage, Meyer made the following comment:
Regarding used car conversion, as Mel mentioned, we're pleased with the conversion so far that we've seen on certified preowned vehicles. It's not as high as new cars. It's, in fact, it tracks in the mid- to high 30s right now. I think it's too early to say what the long-term trend of conversion is going to be in used cars, because like many -- if you remember, in a new car conversion, it takes a while to figure the cadence, the proper cadence, and the proper offer strategy and a proper follow-up to optimize that number. And used cars, that we're still relatively new at it. I don't believe at all it'll ever be as good as new cars, but I do believe that it will be very, very strong and a good contributor for our growth for many years.
Apparently management still does not have "confidence in the numbers."
Number of Satellite Radio Equipped Vehicles
The growth in the number of satellite radio equipped vehicles on the road is, in many ways, a mixed blessing. While the number on the road grew by 10 million from 42 million to 52 million, the number of paid subscribers during that period (calendar 2012) grew by 2,007,512. Since those 10 million additions generated 2 million paying subscribers (promotional and self-pay), the addition of the other 8 million vehicles to that pool represents 8 million subscribers that chose not to pay for the service.
During the conference calls, one of the numbers that investors should consider is the total number of trials. This figure includes both the paid promotional subscribers and the unpaid, or free, trials. It is an important number as it represents the source of most of the company's future self-pay subscribers. On the most recent call, Frear stated:
Total subscribers now stand at 24.4 million. Self-pay subscribers are up 9.2% from first quarter '12 and our trial final amount stands at 6.2 million.
We know that the number of "Paid promotional subscribers" was 4,478,566 at the end of the first quarter of 2013 and can derive that the unpaid trials stood at 1.7 million. Also known is that the current total number of trials is up 0.1 million from the 6.1 million at the end of 2012 and up 0.5 million from the 5.7 million total number of trials at the end of the first quarter of 2012.
Since the number of paid promotional trials at the end of 2012 was 4,330,062, the number of unpaid trials was 1.8 million at the end of 2012. This indicates that the number of unpaid trials actually declined by 0.1 million in the most recent quarter.
At the end of the first quarter of 2012, the paid promotional trials stood at 4,089,330. Since the growth in total trials was 0.5 million over the past year, the unpaid trials only grew by 0.1 million.
The sequential decline of 0.1 million in the number of unpaid trials occurred at the same time that the number of dealers participating in the program increased by 1,000. The small increase of 0.1 million in the number of unpaid trials over the past year occurred at the same time that the number of dealers participating in the program doubled from 4,640 to more than 9000. And, since the unpaid trials tied to new car sales should have been growing, the overall lack of growth is surprising.
There is no doubt that the number of used car subscribers, especially self-pay subscribers, has become increasingly important to Sirius XM. The disclosure that last year more than 1 million subscribers originated from this opportunity and that it is expected to grow to about 1.5 million in 2013 would support this position. And, as management has pointed out, the cost of the radio has already been expensed, so in that respect, it is a more profitable subscriber. On the other hand, it is also possible that the increase in customer service and billing expense per month per subscriber is attributable to the used car effort being a more difficult sale.
Meyer alluded to this difficulty when he noted the lower conversion rate for certified pre-owned vehicles and his comment that he did not believe "it'll ever be as good as new cars." Considering that certified pre-owned vehicles tend to be newer and more expensive models, expanding the program to less expensive and older used cars would suggest that the conversion percentage would be lower than the "mid- to high 30's." If that's the case, how much benefit will the used car program provide?
It is difficult to assess the eventual impact, mostly because many of the key metrics have not been disclosed. There has been no data provided on the number of trials that originated from the 9000 dealers in the program, the percentage of those trials that convert, whether they require more incentives to convert, the ARPU from these subscribers, and whether or not the churn rate differs from that of new car subscribers.
As Meyer stated:
By the end of 2017, we should have around 100 million satellite equipped vehicles on the road and in 10 years time we should see about 150 million. Within a few years, we expect more used cars to be sold with satellite radio than new cars. These stats highlight our easily addressable market opportunity and provide the corner stone of our growth.
I believe that the used car opportunity will provide the cornerstone of growth at Sirius XM, especially as the growth in new car sales slows down. Unfortunately, I see little evidence to suggest that it is an easily addressable market opportunity. And before getting too carried away by the 1 million self-pay additions in 2012 or the 1.5 million in 2013 from the used car opportunity, remember that these were not called net additions and there will be a growing pool subject to cancellations from the self-pay monthly churn.
52 million satellite equipped vehicles are on the road today. There will be 100 million by 2017 and 150 million in 10 years. The numbers have a nice ring. However, they also represent a lot of idle radios in the cars of folks that won't pay for radio.
Disclosure: I am long SIRI. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Additional disclosure: In addition to my long positions, I have January 2014 $3.50 covered calls written against many of my long positions in Sirius XM. I also trade blocks of Sirius XM on a regular basis.


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Samsung Electronics Co. ranked No. 2 in this year's reputation ranking among global information technology firms carried out by the Boston-based Reputation Institute, industry sources in Seoul said Sunday.
The South Korean tech giant got a score of 78.5 in the latest evaluation, trailing only global graphic processor manufacturer Nvidia Corp. that received 80.3 in the 2018 US Technology RepTrak list that checks the most reputable tech companies in the world. It beat such big names as Intel, Google, Microsoft and Apple.
Samsung, moreover, has the distinction of consistently being in the top five in the past few years, while the rankings of many of its rivals have tended to fluctuate from year to year.
RI, the world's leading provider of reputation intelligence, compiles its ranking based on such factors as transparent communications, corporate innovation and transparent governance, work environment, leadership and popular support for products. It surveyed some 23,000 people to compile this year's findings.
The latest report showed Samsung as being the only company in the top 10 that does not have its headquarters in the United States, with Japan's Epson Corp., the world's largest manufacturer of computer printers, coming in at 18th place.
Besides Nvidia and Samsung, Garmin, a leading global positioning system technology company, made the top three, with Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Intel, Google, Texas Instruments, Adobe, Salesforce.com and Hewlett-Packard in the top 10.
Samsung placed first in the 2015 report but slid to second in the following years and dropped to fifth in 2017 in the aftermath of the Galaxy Note 7 battery fire debacle of the previous year, before shooting up three slots.
In contrast, major IT firms, such as IBM and Microsoft, finished in 17th and 24th places, respectively, this year, while Samsung's main competitor in the smartphone business, Apple Inc., stood at 38th place.
RI said Samsung was able to make a comeback because it swiftly apologized for the Note 7 incident to win over market trust. It said that while the company did not lead in terms of corporate governance, it scored high across the board, with the company getting high marks in transparent communications and quality of products and services.
The latest reading, meanwhile, contrasts with the negative perception held by South Koreans toward Samsung, where it trailed other big companies, such as Hyundai Motor, SK, LG, Lotte and POSCO in a similar poll released earlier in the year.
"Samsung has traditionally been better received abroad, while in South Korea people tend to think of it as a family-run company connected to all the bad images that brings up among people," an observer said. (Yonhap)


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Sadia, one of Brazil’s major meat processing companies, is currently building a megacomplex for pork processing, poultry slaughtering and feed production in the state of Mato Grosso.
Total investments of the plant in the city of
As for now, two poultry slaughtering line and a logistics centre have already started producing.
In total, the Sadia complex will be able to process 25,000 pigs and 2.5 million head of poultry.
Sadia already owns a complex in Varzeo Grande, in the South of Mato Grosso.


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The company will be launching stores in Thiruvananthapuram, Kannur, Salem, Coimbatore, Trichy, Mangalore, Mysore, Jaipur, Bhopal and Indore in different models
Bethliving, a home decor company offering steel and stainless steel furniture with modern designs and utmost functionality, will be launching 24 stores in different Indian cities in FY-22 as part of its expansion plan. The company currently has 32 stores spread across Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nādu, AP, Telangana and Gujarat. During the current year it plans to expand more into Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka and enter new markets like, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
The home decor company will be opening company-owned stores in Kannur, Salem and Thiruvananthapuram. In the first Quarter of FY2022. It will enter Mangalore, Mysore and Coimbatore in FICOO (Franchise Invested Company Operated) model. Bethliving will be opening three stores in Jaipur, Bhopal and Indore under the FICOO master franchise model. Rest of the towns will be covered by its direct store or franchisee stores.
Talking about the expansion plans, Bethliving Marketing Director, Mr Toby Thomas, said, “We are aiming to scale our business 11x in the next three years. The store launches planned for this year are the part of our vision to emerge as an INR 250 crore company in five years. We are confident that the D2C hybrid model – a combination of brand stores and FICOO will drive volumes and are well-poised for growth.”
The company aims to deliver modern alternatives for home decor with their holistic approach. It addresses all the pain points ranging from flame risk to water sensitivity, poor pest resistance, eco-friendliness and durability that concern customers while purchasing furniture. Bethliving has successfully integrated digitally-enabled design and manufacturing into its business model.


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Original author: Zen, PANews
Recently, the veteran arcade game company Atari released its financial report for the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2023. The company incurred a net loss of 9.5 million euros in the 2023 fiscal year. It terminated its license agreement with ATRI token and launched a new Web3 ecosystem plan called "Atari X" to integrate and operate Atari Web3. Atari stated that despite adverse conditions in the blockchain market, its Web3 revenue decreased by only 900,000 euros compared to the previous fiscal year, surpassing expectations. Atari will continue to execute its Web3 strategy roadmap and plans to launch the Atari Club, a Web3 technology center, while expanding further partnerships in blockchain and Web3.
Atari now positions its gaming, licensing, hardware, and Web3 activities as the company's four major business lines. However, its Web3 revenue composition is still relatively singular, mainly from the sales of NFTs and other digital assets.
ATRI token project comes to an end
In fact, Atari was one of the earliest traditional gaming companies to venture into the cryptocurrency industry and adopt blockchain technology. As early as 2018, the Atari Group licensed the brand to Infinity Networks, Ltd ("INL") with the aim of creating the Atari token and a decentralized platform to provide various forms of digital entertainment, from video games to movies and music. However, due to slow progress, Atari ultimately terminated its agreement with INL and turned to collaborate with ICICB Group in Gibraltar. In early 2020, Atari announced its plan to launch the ATRI token and the Pong token named after its classic game Pong.
ATRI was publicly launched on Bitcoin.com exchange in early November 2020, during which there were issues with order processing, funds not being credited, and withdrawal delays of up to 16 hours. By the time participants in the public sale received their tokens, the price of ATRI had already been halved. At that time, Atari stated that the mission of the Atari token was to bring decentralization and universality to the video game and interactive entertainment industry. ATRI was intended to be used for various aspects of video games and interactive entertainment, and it was announced that the online multiplayer game Karma the Game of Destiny would use ATRI as an in-game currency for purchases and transactions.
The initial token sale was filled with issues, which caused strong dissatisfaction among investors. Due to concerns about the lack of sufficient control and say in the management of ATRI tokens, Atari announced in April 2022 that it would terminate all agreements with ICICB Group and its subsidiaries. The Atari Chain and ATRI token, which were previously created in collaboration with ICICB Group, as well as their related websites, would no longer be licensed, and ICICB would no longer have any authority to represent Atari or its subsidiaries in any way. Atari took a snapshot of the ATRI token holdings, and token holders would need to present their ATRI tokens in the future to participate in the exchange for the "upcoming tokens."
Troubles with the new token project
The termination of the partnership signaled the failure of ATRI tokens, but Atari remained enthusiastic about the future of its blockchain-related plans. After parting ways with the former partner, Atari declared that it would create, distribute, and independently manage a new proprietary token with a focus on gaming, community, and utilities. In May 2022, Atari launched Atari X, a project that integrates Atari's blockchain interests into a unified operation under the responsibility of Atari. In response to the development needs of We 3, Atari has been continuously establishing strategic partnerships with companies in the cryptocurrency field, including The Sandbox, Nifty Labs, Co:Create, etc., all of which play a certain role in the handling of their respective tokens.
However, the plan couldn't keep up with the changes, and the new token ultimately failed to materialize.
Recently, Atari issued a token update announcement, stating that their original plan to launch a new proprietary utility token has been forced to be modified due to changes and developments in the regulatory and legal environment related to cryptocurrencies. They stated that they will not launch a new Atari token. As the main development partner of Atari, Nifty Labs has facilitated the snapshot and claiming of ATRI tokens, actively participated in the development of the Atari 50th anniversary NFT series, and was once the main developer driving the Atari new token project. They have explored its practicality, governance, and token economics together. Now, the new token plan has "stillbirth," and Nifty Labs has been forced to stop their collaboration on the new token project.
As for compensation, Atari stated that they will provide a fixed amount of third-party SAND tokens for claim to each eligible ATRI holder determined in the snapshot on April 18, 2022. However, due to the limited quantity of SAND tokens, this compensation will not be one-to-one, and the ratio between SAND tokens and ATRI tokens will be determined based on the total number of claims. The claims program will start on September 1, 2023, and run for two weeks. Atari also stated that ATRI holders can continue to freely trade their ATRI tokens, and they have no plans to sell the 259 million ATRI tokens owned by the team before December 16, 2022 (equivalent to approximately 180,000 USD at the time of writing). Data shows that ATRI's circulating market value surpassed $200 million in April 2021, but as of the time of writing, its circulating market value is only about $980,000, and the token price has reached a historical low, with a drop of about 20% in the past week.
Continuing Atari X and Reviving Atari Club
Despite repeated failures, Atari is not willing to give up on its Web3 strategy. After abandoning their obsession with tokens, they still firmly believe that blockchain will continue to develop as an important part of their business, and see it as a new way to interact and collaborate with brand partners, players, and fans. Among them, Atari X, launched in May last year, is currently their core project in the Web3 business. They seem to realize that Web3 games are the most effective way to engage with their brand and build a community.
Atari will be the first company to use the Co:Create platform to create tokens for Web3 games, and with the launch of the Co:Create platform, Atari can use Web3 to expand its ecosystem and promote deeper community engagement. Co:Create completed a $25 million seed funding round in May last year, with support from A16z crypto, VaynerFund, Packy McCormick's Not Boring Capital, Amy Wu, and the team behind RTFKT and Tessera (formerly fractional.art).
Co:Create's technology provides building modules for token rewards and utility, as well as ongoing support to help projects create token plans that meet the expectations of the community. With Co:Create, anyone can deploy EVM-compatible smart contracts through a no-code dashboard, and launch tokens on the testnet using just a web browser and a connected wallet. The contracts are fully owned by the project, and the platform is free to use. In addition, Co:Create will add new features to its platform, including token reward and utility contract extensions, role-based contract permissions, and other developer tools.
Atari X's next major plan is to "reintroduce" the Atari Club, which was first launched by the company in the 1980s, and the new Club will become the center of the Atari X community. It combines nostalgia, gaming, and underlying Web3 technology, bringing together passionate players from different generations in a common ecosystem, and offering exclusive rewards, merchandise, and experiences.
According to the annual report, Atari has conducted a review and forecasting of liquidity risk for all its gaming, hardware, licensing, and Web3 activities. Without any external funding, its liquidity can support Atari's planned activities for the next year. As for Atari's Web3 strategy, it currently only involves continuing to develop Atari's Web3 ecosystem under Atari X, and establishing partnerships and collaborations with leading blockchain and Web3 partners, without disclosing any plans to develop Web3 game projects.
As one of the early traditional gaming companies to participate in the Web3 industry, Atari, which seeks innovation and development, needs to bring out something substantial.


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“I probably will never see my daughter,” Patricia Winter said, noting Melissa's hectic schedule.
They talked on the phone yesterday morning.
Winter, a founder and former executive director of the San Diego Science Alliance, told her daughter she thought Michelle Obama's tan and black outfit at Sunday's Lincoln Memorial event was striking. She wondered why the media, seemingly obsessed with Michelle Obama's clothing, had not made it an issue.
Melissa confided that they purposely didn't announce the designer's name until late Sunday night so that her clothing wouldn't dominate the news.
The designer was Narciso Rodriguez, who created the much-critiqued red and black dress Michelle Obama wore on election night.
Diane Bell's column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Fax items to (619) 260-5009; call (619) 293-1518; or e-mail to


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Seattle-based Loudeye, a developer of back-end digital music technology, said today that a deal has fallen through to create an already delayed custom digital music service for a North American retailer. Loudeye didn't say which retailler, but Internet message boards were buzzing that the customer was Target stores. Loudeye and the retailer have terminated their contract.
Loudeye also said it would consolidate its digital media store service at its European headquarters in the United Kingdom, but it would continue to operate its digital media content services in Seattle. Europe is generating all of Loudeye's revenue for its digital media store services, and those services make up 80 percent of the company's total fourth quarter revenue.
I've asked Loudeye to comment on Seattle-specific reductions in headcount, but it doesn't look like the company is saying much beyond its press release.
These moves, in addition to Loudeye's previously announced exit of its Overpeer content protection business, will save the company $2.5 million a quarter, the company said.
Loudeye also said its fourth quarter revenue would be $8.8 million, up from $5.5 million for the year-ago period, and that it would have a net loss. The company plans to release more detailed financial results for the quarter and for 2005 on February 23.


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In three days from now, Apple will kick off the WWDC, its annual conference for developers. It's a week-long event from the company and it will start on June 4. However, unlike previous years when Apple has launched some new Mac hardware at this event, this time the company will be solely focussing on the iPhone and Mac software. The latest information comes courtesy Bloomberg, which notes that the star of the WWDC will be iOS 12, and not any new iPhone or new MacBook.
The fresh reports on WWDC note that Apple will include some new features in the iOS 12, which will be delivered to the compatible iPhones in September or October, that will be part of what the company calls Digital Health monitoring. In a way, the basic idea would be similar to the digital detoxification features that Google showed as part of the Android P earlier in May at Google IO. The Digital Health monitoring in the iOS 12 will allow iPhone and iPad user to monitor how much time they are spending in front of the screen, and doing what so that they can better utilise their time.
At the WWDC 2018, Apple will also announce updates to the Mac software, which powers MacBooks, by bringing several new features that will integrate Mac computers more tightly with the iPhone and the iPad.
In addition to the new features in its software, Apple is also likely to showcase advances in the AI it has made by giving a glimpse of improved virtual assistant Siri. The company will also demonstrate a few new features related to augmented reality, virtual reality and contact-less access through buildings using NFC technology in the iPhone.
For Apple WWDC is an event where it tells app developers about the software it is working on, so that they can then build new features, new services and new apps in advance. Apple releases the beta versions of the iOS -- on this occasion it will be iOS 12 -- and the Mac OS at WWDC. This gives developers around two to three months to prepare before this software reaches consumers.
Earlier there were rumours that Apple would also announce new hardware along with software updates at the WWDC. The talk was that Apple would unveil a new iPhone SE aka iPhone SE 2, a new Macbook Air, possibly with "retina display" at the WWDC 2018. Now reports note that even though these new products are real and in development, they will be launched later in the year and not at the WWDC. As far as the iPhone SE 2 is concerned, it is possible that Apple may launch that phone in September along with the regular iPhone that will be the iPhone 9 and the iPhone 9 Plus.


text: Two convenience-store chains yesterday dismissed demands by hawkers to ban promotional discounts on newspapers and magazines. Circle K and 7-Eleven said their schemes offering discounts of between 50 cents and $2 on newspapers and magazines would stop at the end of the month. But the hawkers' alliance, which met last night to work out pressure tactics, said this was not enough and the chains should promise in future to respect the prices of publications. The alliance represents about 5,000 newspaper hawkers. But a Circle K spokeswoman said the promise was impossible to make. 'We don't know what will happen in future. If and when we decide to introduce a similar promotion again, it will be made as a business decision.' A 7-Eleven statement said the company was operating under fair competition and offering customer service. Under the three-month scheme, which started in October, selected phone service customers of Pacific Century CyberWorks can present bills or membership cards at 7-Eleven stores and receive a $1 discount on a magazine and 50 cents on a newspaper. Circle K has been offering a $5 discount coupon - a $1 discount on a newspaper and $4 for two magazines - for every $100 customers add to their Octopus cards in its stores. Wong Chin-pang, an alliance representative, said last night that newspaper hawkers would team up to prevent any unfair competition. He also said they would appeal to newspapers and wholesalers to punish those selling papers at a lower price or offering special gifts.


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Massenet, who founded Net-A-Porter in 2000, resigned as executive chairman of the company in September 2015 ahead of the completion of its merger with Italian group Yoox to form Yoox Net-A-Porter Group.
Analysts said at the time the resignation of Massenet, a highly regarded figure in the fashion world and chairman of the British Fashion Council, was a blow for the new group.
Massenet will work alongside London-based Farfetch’s chief executive, founder and executive co-chairman Jose Neves.
“She will have a particular focus on growing the global brand and strengthening its partnerships with the fashion industry,” the statement said.
Launched in 2008, Farfetch generated $800 million in gross sales in 2016. It partners directly with 750 designers and boutiques in 40 countries and sells to more than 1 million customers in 190 countries.


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Minecraft ends 2012 with 5M served
At this point, it’s safe to call Minecraft a legitimate phenomenon – especially the Xbox 360 Edition, where it’s one of the best-selling games in XBLA history and spent the months since its early May release smashing records like crazy. Keeping with that tradition, 4J and Mojang Studios announced that the little game that could finished the year by hitting a staggering milestone: It passed five million sales Monday. Not bad for a game that released just a little over a third of the way into the year.
That achievement caps off an already impressive year for Minecraft: The world-building adventure game sold two million copies within its first month of release on XBLA (and at one point was averaging close to 20,000 sales a day), and a special Halloween-themed DLC skin pack raised over $500K for charity in just two weeks. The game also made history by knocking Call of Duty from the top of the Xbox LIVE Activity Charts, a first for an XBLA title. More recently, the game sold 453K copies on Christmas Day alone (although that was across all platforms, not just XBLA). To say Minecraft has been popular is a bit of an understatement; to say it’s been a huge boost to the visibility of Xbox’s digital platform even moreso.
Minecraft, originally released for PC in 2009, unleashed its highly-anticipated Xbox version in May to rave reviews (including our own, though not all our staffers agreed) and, obviously, smashing sales success. The game is currently available on XBLA for 1600 MSP, with numerous add-ons available at varying price points.


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Former Apple design chief Joni Ive has left the iPhone maker exhausted and tired in the wake of CEO Tim Cook’s many structural changes, a book-based article on Apple’s turnaround claims as ‘Yesterday’ becomes part of Ive’s announcement of departure own design team.
Jony Ive left Apple in 2019, after nearly three decades of working with the tech giant on many of its flagship products. The departure was a shocking departure, but it was inevitable due to the change of culture in the company.
at The New York Times An article based on Tripp Mickle’s book After Steve: How Apple Became a Trillion Dollar Company and Lost Its Soul, I resigned after years of frustration, seeing the company go from a design-focused entity to a more utilitarian one.
The account begins by emphasizing the relationship between Eve and former CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs, detailing the creation of the iconic iMac. With Eve’s presence sometimes seen as Jobs’ relief, the two were known to work closely together, with Jobs frequently visiting the company’s design studio.
With the introduction of Cook and the death of Jobs, Eve’s experience at the company changed greatly. Cook appears to have shown less interest in design than Jobs, with fewer studio visits while building the Apple Watch.
During the changes in focus on the Apple Watch from fashion to fitness, Ive reportedly contacted Cook about his feeling of fatigue and his intent to take a step back from work. Also arguing with colleagues about promotion and managing hundreds of employees rather than the smaller design team of 20 people drained me a lot.
Fear of Eve’s departure affecting the stock price prompted Cook to reduce Eve’s responsibilities and make him Head of Design. At the time, very few people at Apple were apparently aware of Eve’s frustration and fatigue.
It’s also clear that the changes resulted in me working differently, going from almost daily product reviews to sometimes not judging designs at all for a few weeks.
To celebrate the iPhone’s 10th anniversary, Ive called the software designers to do a product review at the San Francisco social club, The Battery. After failing to apologize for arriving nearly three hours late, I checked the literature and provided feedback, but I didn’t make any final decisions in that time.
While Eve was apparently absent, Cook continued to turn the company in a new direction, including appointing former Boeing CFO James Bell as company director to replace marketer Mickey Drexler. I wasn’t in favor of the change, commenting to a colleague “He’s another one of those accountants.”
Cook’s enabling of financial management to have a greater say also infuriated Eve, who has moved to scrutinize outside contractors.
In Eve’s decision to leave, the article talks about an evening in June 2019 where Eve gathered his design teams at a theater for a special screening of “Yesterday”. The film’s choice was apt, because it was “a two-hour exploration of the eternal struggle between art and commerce,” as the article states.
After the movie, Eve told his bands, “Art needs the right space and support to grow. When you’re really big, that’s especially important.”
A day later, the design teams were asked to scan their calendars to meet with Eve, who told them that with the new building completed, his time at the company was over. She praised the team and urged them to maintain Apple’s identity, as well as reassuring them that he would continue to work as a consultant through his design firm LoveFrom.
Since Eve left, receiving a CEO-worthy exit package worth over $100 million, it seems the design at Apple has fallen behind on features and performance. The designers said Ive’s lack of presence has resulted in more collaborations with engineering colleagues than before, but at the same time they face greater cost pressures on their work.
Read on AppleInsider


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Coca-Cola Co has raised its full-year profit forecast, indicating that higher prices and demand for its sodas across the globe were helping it counter a profit squeeze from supply chain disruptions.
The beverage giant's shares rose 3% in premarket trading as it also beat estimates for third-quarter revenue and profit.
Coca-Cola's revenue surged 16% to $10.04 billion in the quarter, as the reopening of public venues such as theaters, stadiums and restaurants across the world led to a rebound in demand for its soft drinks.
Unit case volumes, a key indicator of demand, were up 6% in the reported quarter, with Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America markets being their major drivers.
The average value of products sold also rose 6%, after Coca-Cola raised prices to counter some of the impact from surging commodity and freight costs created by clogged shipping ports, a labour shortage and the pandemic.
Other companies, including PepsiCo and consumer goods giants Unilever and Procter & Gamble, have warned that they would have to increase prices again to counter persistent supply-chain bottlenecks.
PepsiCo, which raised prices recently, said this month it would likely implement more hikes again early next year to overcome everything from a shortage of Gatorade bottles to a lack of truck drivers.
'Not Immune To Inflation'
"While Coke is not immune to inflation, and could see more of it next year, improvements in its operations and new product innovation should help offset at least some of the impact from rising costs," Edward Jones analyst John Boylan said.
Coca-Cola expects its annual adjusted earnings per share to rise 15% to 17%, compared with a prior forecast of a 13% to 15% increase.
On an adjusted basis, the company earned 65 cents per share in the third quarter, beating analysts' estimates of 58 cents, according to IBES data from Refintiv.
The beverage giant recently announced its first planned commercialisation of technologies to convert second-generation biomass to plant-based monoethylene glycol (bMEG), in association with Changchun Meihe Science & Technology and UPM.


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Ford Motor Company [NYSE:F] on Friday announced that the first examples of its new GT supercar had been completed and would be on their way to customers before the year is out.
It turns out that the very first example is bound for Ford Chairman Bill Ford Jr. And the second car off the line is headed for Ford CEO Mark Fields.
The information was confirmed to The Detroit News by Ford but the automaker wasn’t willing to reveal what color the cars were finished in. A black example with orange stripes was shown in publicity shots.
Bill Ford Jr.
Production is being handled by Canadian motorsport and engineering outfit Multimatic, based in Markham, Ontario. The company is an expert in carbon fiber construction and has built a number of limited edition supercars including Aston Martin’s One-77 and Vulcan models.
Ford has confirmed that the GT will be in production for at least four years. The car will be produced at a rate of 250 cars per year for the first two years. It’s likely the same will be true for the remaining two years so in total there should be at least 1,000 cars up for grabs. More than 6,000 people applied in an initial round of applications for the first 500 cars—this despite a starting price in the mid-$400,000s.
Of course, that figure could turn out to be a bargain, especially given the present mania in collector cars. The new GT already has racing credentials, having won the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans in the GTE Pro class—50 years after the GT40 won overall at Le Mans. And it’s also an impressive design, though we still don’t have any performance numbers to report on.
New Ford GT, 2015 Detroit Auto Show
It has all the typical supercar cues: a mid-mounted engine, rear-wheel drive, and a sleek, aerodynamic body. But instead of the typical V-8 engine found in most American performance cars, including the previous model, the new GT is packing a twin-turbo V-6 engine pegged at more than 600 horsepower. The transmission, meanwhile, is a 7-speed dual-clutch transaxle.
There’s also advanced construction. The passenger cell is carbon fiber, the body panels too—and the front and rear subframes are aluminum. The GT is also fitted with active aero features like a deployable rear spoiler. Stopping power comes from carbon ceramic discs.
As for the driver and passenger, the GT’s canopy is small, so interior space is at a premium. That’s on purpose, Ford says, as it keeps the frontal area small and the lines sleek. The doors swing upward, and the seats are built right into the body. Don’t worry, the pedals and steering wheel are adjustable.The instrument cluster is digital and configurable for multiple driving environments including Track and Vmax modes. And finally, an F1-style steering wheel integrates all necessary driver controls, creating a stalk-less steering column that allows uncluttered access to the transmission paddle-shift controls.


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Two Binghamton Area Weis Markets to Close
WBNG reports that there will be two less Binghamton Weis Markers in which to shop later this summer.
The stores closing are the Main Street, Binghamton location and the Harry L. Drive, Johnson City location. The two stores have a combined 79 full and part time employees who will be offered jobs at other Weis stores in the area.
In a statement issued on behalf of Weis Markets, Dennis Curtin, Director of Public Relations stated: “We have already informed our store’s associates about this decision and have told them we will be offering them employment in one of our other stores in the region. We are committed to our remaining stores in Broome County and will continue to invest in our stores in the region as evidenced by the upcoming remodel of our Front Street store in Binghamton. We would like to thank our loyal customers and look forward to serving them at one of our many other locations in the area.”


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The activity will take place on Cartoon Network and cartoonnetwork.co.uk and follows on from activity earlier this year in Easter.
Turner Media Innovations has created a new live action TV spot and bespoke microsite for the campaign. The 40-second web driver focuses on Baku Sky Raiders, the first Bakugan to jump in the air when activated.
The microsite will allow kids to learn about the new Bakugan, including Sky Raiders, Mobile Assault and Drago Collossus and compete in challenges to win prizes. The campaign starts on October 19th and runs for three weeks.
Stuart Picton, UK marketing manager, Spin Master Toys, commented: "We are confident this campaign will help drive sales by engaging new kids with Bakugan and the exciting new innovation in the range.
"Bakugan is now in its 4th year in the UK and continues to exceed our expectations with record sales."
Louise Birt, senior sponsorship and promotions executive at Turner Media Innovations added: "Following on from the Bakugan Battle Gear campaign earlier this year, we’re thrilled to partner with Spin Master again in order to take Bakugan to new heights."


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The summer of discontent -- well, that's what it seems to be from the perspective of the not-so-new web darlings -- might be coming to an end, but months (perhaps years) of misery awaits these erstwhile rocket ships. The news reports of late have reserved particular vitriol for Groupon (s GRPN), the company that has seen its market valuation decline almost 82 percent since its went public.
Om Malik has some good points in this article in which he looks at companies like Groupon that hold themselves out a technology companies, but whose business model and valuation (and value proposition) are not really in line with true tech companies. It is important for investors and the companies themselves to understand this the distinction between a technology company and a company that provides not technology products/services using the web or social networks as their sales pipeline. Otherwise one or both can have a rude awakening when their results (in terms of growth, development, and valuation) do no meet expectations.


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Samuel Brace on whether PlayStation VR will kill Xbox…
Both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One have been on the market for almost two years now and they are doing exceptionally well. With both consoles outpacing their last generation counterparts — Ps3 and Xbox 360 — console gaming is looking pretty darn good right now. One of these two consoles however is doing far better than the other. PlayStation is killing the game, and with the impending arrival of VR into our lives could this help them to land the coup de grace to win this race once and for all?
PlayStation has opened quite the gap between itself and its arch rival, already outselling the likes of GameCube, the original Xbox, while fast approaching the figures of the Nintendo 64 — an impressive feat so early in its life cycle. Xbox One is doing great, there’s no doubt about that, but it is being beaten and being beaten hard. Microsoft did themselves no favours of course when releasing their product to the world, handing the advantage right over to Sony by putting out a confusing message as to what they wanted their console to be, but since that time they have rectified things very well. Under the leadership of Phil Spencer things have improved, image wise they are now in a place that they should have been when the console dropped. They have put their fans at the forefront of seemingly everything they are doing, listening to their wants and desires by implementing sought after features such as backwards compatibility; something Ps4 does not have.
Things are unequivocally going in the right direction for Xbox but the damage has been done and it’s been done by a console that has been cruising in 3rd gear. Ps4 hasn’t been able to implement features like backwards compatibility, as of now they haven’t listened to their fans and given them things like the ability to change their PSN names. And when it comes down to what really matters, the reason while we are all here — the games — Ps4 has been plodding along in that department too. There is no arguing the fact that so far Xbox has had the bigger exclusives — at least on paper — but somehow Sony and PlayStation are still slaying all that is around them, pushing asinine amounts of hardware even without the games that typically sell consoles. Why this is the case is hard to say but what isn’t nebulous, what is obvious beyond all else, is that Xbox have to act and they have to act now.
Xbox One has managed to assemble quite the line up of exclusives coming into this holiday season. With games like Halo 5, the Gears collection, Tomb Raider and Forza, they are in a place that PlayStation simply are not. They have titles that typically should be able to move hardware, without even considering bundles that might include third party games like Fallout 4. So now is most certainly the time to grab the proverbial bull by the proverbial horns and start hacking away at that gap. It is imperative that Xbox win perhaps two of the last three months of the year, perhaps even all three. As of writing this we have learned that the Microsoft console has claimed victory over the month of October, a great start but this has to continue otherwise they are going to be in trouble. If they can’t gain some ground now, if they can’t win these months when all is in their favour, when can they? If we do arrive at 2016 with this situation not presenting itself, then what does that say about this current console war? Perhaps it may already be over, and with a certain new feature on the horizon, perhaps it could be over for good.
If PlayStation are vanquishing their competitors without such a line up, without the marquee titles that Xbox can boast in 2015, what will happen when PlayStation VR rolls around? VR is a divisive subject, a tech that many have a deep-seated antipathy towards, but one that also has many championing its impending arrival as a true game changer. The success of VR — whether it be Sony’s product or Oculus or whoever — depends on a lot of things, there are a lot of factors at play that will determine its fate one way or the other. But if PlayStation VR is even remotely successful then it will be just another reason to buy PlayStation and not Xbox.
The difference between Ps VR and the Oculus Rift can be found in every hardware manufacturer’s favourite word: exclusivity. PlayStation VR, as its name implies, only works with Sony’s console, it is a product designed for the PlayStation 4. Oculus isn’t the same. The Rift is a product owned by Facebook that works across platforms, mainly for high end PC’s but also compatible with Xbox by way of streaming. Any success the Oculus Rift may have will therefore inevitably be split amongst benefactors. PlayStation’s product however will not share this problem. Even if VR isn’t insanely popular, say if the games aren’t quite there, the world’s imagination isn’t quite captured; PlayStation having exclusivity with their own product will be just another check towards Sony when deciding which console to buy. Say however, if VR takes off like a rocket, if PlayStation provide its vast user base with a plethora of great games to play with their new toy, we could be dealing with a very different animal, and it could be game changing.
Imagine a near future when all anyone wants to play is VR and where the best line up of games for this new way of life can be found on PlayStation. What does this mean for Xbox? If VR headsets are being ripped off the shelves by ravenous console gamers, with Sony’s 30 million plus consoles already placed snugly in homes around the world, how can Xbox One ever hope to gain any traction? How can they hope to compete at all? If VR becomes the success that many believe it will be — not all but many — what will be the incentive for the undecided to go with Xbox? If all your friends won’t stop going on about the joys of Ps VR, what are you going to do? I’ll tell you what you’re going to do, you’re going to head on down to your nearest retailer and pick yourself up a VR headset, and it’s going to be PlayStation’s — the (potential) Xbox killer.
There are a lot of ‘what if’s’ and ‘imagine a world where’ in all of this, I know that. What actually happens with VR will remain to be seen. But whether it’s a small amount of success that VR finds or a world breaking titan, if Sony do things right, if they provide the games that people want to play, they will be the ones smiling when all is said and done. Sure Xbox can benefit, especially if they someday decide to make Oculus a peripheral to their latest console, but will it be too late by then? The gap is already vast; can they afford to let it get wider still? Can they actually do anything about it? Gamer’s minds seem — by and large — to be already made up. The many have decided that PlayStation will be their home during this generation. Will VR be the product that settles things once and for all? We will have to wait and see. Interesting times lie ahead, for that there is no doubt. Until those times arrive however, Xbox better win 2015’s remaining two months. That is if they’ll have any chance at all.


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Metro Bank, the first full service bank to enter the U.K. retail banking market in over a century, opened its first branch in London today, offering free dog treats and running its operations on Temenos' T24.
The startup bank is a bit unusual. Its motto is, "Love Your Bank At Last." Its founder, Vernon W. Hill, is an American banker who founded Commerce Bank and prior to that, owned a chain of Burger Kings. He is bringing some of the services Commerce is known for, such as machines that convert coins to dollars for free, to the new U.K. bank.
Metro Bank "pledges to deliver the ultimate customer experience through exceptional service delivery," according to a press release from Temenos. Branches will be open 361 days of the year and will be backed up by a 24/7 London based call center, online banking and quick account opening services with the promise to issue a debit and credit card in 15 minutes.
“Today marks the start of a British banking revolution," said Hill in the press release. "T24 gives us a competitive advantage by delivering functionality we need to support our UK business model on a single software platform, which keeps costs low and delivers a single customer view that allows us to deliver superior service to our clients. We want to build fans not customers."
The bank deployed the Temenos T24 Model Bank platform within nine months. Temenos, in partnership with NIU, is supplying T24 as an externally hosted and managed service, minimizing initial capital investment.


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Customer engagement and media are the two areas seeing the biggest traction right now at DigitasLBi, according to its APAC regional CEO Annette Male.
Speaking to Campaign Asia-Pacific, Male, who took over the CEO role from Roy Capon in June last year, said the agency’s digital core has helped it make significant strides into CRM and performance media.
“In APAC, media has become one of our biggest growth services,” she said. “Last year, we saw about 20 percent growth just on the media side.
“Our biggest traction at the moment is customer engagement and CRM, together with our data offering, as brands are trying to build one-to-one relationships with their consumers and driving more value for them.”
Male said the ability to produce creative media work that is underpinned by robust data is top of mind for budget-conscious brands in 2017.
“Clients are very focused on budgets, and demonstrating value and ROI,” she said. “They are having to go to their boards and stakeholders to demonstrate where the marketing budget is being spent, and if you can do it through work that delivers on performance media or CRM or personalisation, it makes it a lot easier.”
Male said a contributing factor to DigitasLBi’s APAC growth has been the exclusive partnerships brokered—both at agency and Publicis network-level with the likes of Tencent and ComScore, which has meant the group “getting data that no-one else is getting”.
In addition, getting clarity on Publicis’ positioning since the restructure has helped DigitasLBi and its sister agencies work out their own strategies.
“Over the last 12 months and even more recently, everyone is clear on the brands, positioning, and how to work together,” Male said. “There are still questions. If I was a client I would be asking them, and I appreciate how complex it might feel from a client perspective. Our job is to make sure it feels simple.”
To that end, Male says the “blended solution” DigitasLBi can offer clients, together with the other Publicis agencies, is being well received. DigitasLBi is already working closely with others for UOB, Shangri-La, Unilever and others.
“You just have to prove yourself through the team, and through making sure all the operational stuff is really smooth, because clients just want things to run effectively.”


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Nate Wells joins Naughty Dog to work on The Last Of Us
Irrational's former art director Nate Wells has revealed where he is working now.
Wells has joined Uncharted developer Naughty Dog to work on their new survival PS3 title The Last Of Us.
He announced the news on Twitter saying, "In this fall, and this is hard, In this fall, I'm taking my talents to South Beach..wait..I mean #naughtydog and #thelastofus...can't wait."
Sony's Shuhei Yoshida revealed that The Last Of Us is due out some time in 2013.
- New Assassin's Creed: Unity patch is a bit on the large side
- Wonder what Zombie mode looks like for Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare? Here's a trailer
- Xbox 360 Titanfall players getting a massive update next week
- Ubisoft pulls the Assassin's Creed: Unity Season Pass, offering free DLC and games to apologize for the problems with the game
- Dark Souls migration over to Steam delayed into next month now
- Sony to give partial refunds to PS Vita early adopters over misleading launch advertising
- And here's the goodies that Games With Gold will get you in December
- Nival announces beta access and a massive gun for pre-ordering Blitzkrieg 3
- Evolve developers promise that all map DLC will be free


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At a nearby GNC location, by Bryant Park, live models posed as mannequins in the storefront window. As part of its "From Cute to Catwalk" live window takeover, Muscle Milk's seemingly plastic women posed while brand ambassadors handed out free samples to the public.
The brand then armed 20 key influencers with a Muscle Milk Fashion Week survival pack. It consisted of a Nike sports bag with Muscle Milk Light, Muscle Milk branded lip gloss, a $100 Nike gift card and a Muscle Milk shirt.
All of these efforts were aimed at keeping busy models, designers, celebrities and members of the media fueled during Fashion Week, via CytoSport Inc.'s ready-to-drink protein-enhanced beverage. Samples were handed out at five key locations, including salon venues, the IMG Fashion Lounge and the Lu Biscuit Cafe.
The campaign is part of the brand's commitment to the promotion of a healthy image and active lifestyle. "Promotional items allow us to relay our messages to targeted consumer groups. For example, at New York Fashion Week our shirts read, 'Ready to Wear, Ready to Drink,' speaking about our Muscle Milk Ready-to-Drink Nutritional Shake, which is perfect for on-the-go fashionistas," says Shane McCassy, lifestyle marketing manager for CytoSport.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Muscle Milk Flexes During Fashion Week
During Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in early September, passersby in New York were asked to pose in front a circus mirror. (You know, the kind that makes you look skinny.) Two brand ambassadors for 100-calorie Muscle Milk beverages then challenged people to make the altered image a reality by trying their product.


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And those few bad apples who do commit fraud are no excuse to kick the unemployed and the poor when they are engaged in a mighty battle to get themselves and their families back on their feet. So shame on this Congress for fighting dirty during working people’s hour of struggle. Polls show Americans haven’t approved much of Congress lately. But there is a way to gain favor. If this Congress wants to make cuts, why not look at the Pentagon, notorious for waste? Or check out the Department of Agriculture, which made about $28 million in inappropriate farm assistance payments, according to a compilation of government waste reported in Business Insider. Or perhaps lawmakers could start with themselves? Rep. Jackie Speier, D-California, tried to shame her colleagues into cutting less from the food stamp program (called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP). Speaking of representatives who would vote to take food from America’s tables, she said, “Some of these same members travel to foreign countries under the guise of official business. They dine at lavish restaurants, eating steak, vodka and even caviar.” Speier talked about 20 members of Congress who traveled to Ireland and got a daily food allowance of $166. The average amount a family member gets on food stamps is less than $4 a day.
Food stamp cuts a cruel proposal
If youre not ready for them though, you can still help save the environment by sticking to the old ones. From local food to edible packaging, at least one method is sure to appeal to you. Eat Local Whether youre buying fruit, vegetables, beef, fish, or dairy, shopping at your local farmers market can help reduce the food carbon footprint. Products at the supermarket often have high food miles since they travel from across the country or from other countries altogether. Local products dont travel as much and thus have a smaller footprint. Some argue that transportation is only a small part of greenhouse gas emissions in the food industry, and theyre right! Transportation makes up only about 4-6% of the food industrys emissions. Dont forget that production, processing, and packaging work requires much more energy. Buying local probably means that youre buying non-processed, whole foods. That reduces the carbon footprint and is good for your health! Eat Less Meat and Dairy What does eating cows, goats, and sheep have to do with saving the environment? Livestock farms produce a large amount of greenhouse gas emissions, either through the methane produced by the animals or through the production of crops used to feed these animals. Dairy also requires milk, which comes from these animals. Try the eco-friendly trend of cutting back on meat and enjoy a Meatless Monday or two with vegetarian recipes . The Environment Working Groups Meat Eaters Guide says that if all Americans (thats about 313.9 million of them) opted out on meat just once a week, it would be equivalent to taking 7.6 million cars off the road.
At Food-Filled Farm Aid, Music Isn’t Only Focus
September 21, 2013 (AP) By MARY ESCH Associated Press Farm Aid is more than a family of musicians banding together to help the small farmer. It’s also a family meal. A key component of Farm Aid concerts this year’s is taking place Saturday in Saratoga Springs is the food, which comes through Farm Aid’s Homegrown Concessions. It was started six years ago to create new markets for family farmers. Vendors, which include local food-service outlets, as well as national brands such as Chipotle and Amy’s Organic, must meet Farm Aid’s criteria for sourcing the ingredients in their food, from organic flour in the panini to free-ranging, antibiotic-free hogs on the barbecue grill. Even the cotton candy has a family farm origin, made from maple syrup produced in the Catskills. “Farm Aid’s mission is about family farmers, and economic opportunity for family farmers is a really big priority of ours,” said Glenda Yoder, associate director of Farm Aid. “We also support good farming practices and rewarding farmers for those practices. So our Homegrown criteria call for food that is sourced from family farms that meet an ecological standard, and that returns a fair price to the farmer.” Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Dave Matthews and John Mellencamp lead the star-studded lineup this year, along with Jack Johnson, Carlene Carter, Toad the Wet Sprocket and about 10 other artists. The annual concert is the chief moneymaker for the Farm Aid organization Nelson co-founded in 1985 and leads as president. The beneficiaries of the organization’s year-round efforts are always featured prominently at the shows, with a Homegrown Village providing concert-goers a chance to meet local farmers, learn agrarian skills, and eat food from vendors who meet strict criteria set by Farm Aid. “We talk about saving the family farmer, but the fact is, it’s the family farmer who will save us all,” Nelson said at a media event before the gates opened at noon Saturday.


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Bewley's to close its landmark cafes
Lifestyle changes, escalating business costs and the smoking ban were among the reasons cited for yesterday's decision to close Bewley's Oriental Cafés before the end of the year.
The Campbell Bewley's Group said the historic outlets on Dublin's Grafton Street and Westmoreland Street had grown out-of-step with modern tastes despite a series of costly face-lifts in recent years.
"Over the past decade, rapid economic growth and increasingly sophisticated lifestyles have led to a proliferation of much smaller and more readily accessible cafés catering for time-pressed consumers. The "coffee- to-go" phenomenon has also grown at an exceptional rate.
"Given the modern consumer's preference for smaller, more intimate venues, the very large format and major operational costs of these cafés make them very difficult to run in modern times."
Not only the end of an era for Dubliners, the decision also marks the end of an era for Bewley's which began as a coffee and tea importation business in 1835.
The first Oriental Café opened in Georges Street in 1894, while the Grafton Street outlet opened in 1927, complete with its much-loved stained glass windows designed by Harry Clarke - a luxury that set the Bewley family back nearly £60,000 then.
From 12 in its heyday, the chain dwindled to just the two directly-owned cafés in Dublin and three franchised cafes elsewhere in Ireland: one at Dublin Airport and one each in the Waterstones book stores in Dublin and Belfast.
The group said it would "make every endeavour" to facilitate a developer who wished to retain a slimmed-down Bewley's café at either premises. However, no offers have yet been made.
The company stressed that it had commissioned a redesign of the premises earlier this year, but "it became clear in recent months that the total costs of this development would negate any potential increase in revenues as a café operation".
"Alternative viability options were explored which would enable Bewley's to maintain a café presence, such as a partnership with successful restaurant and/or licensed trade operators. Although this has not been totally ruled out, it is now considered unlikely."
Since 1996, the company has spent €12 million refurbishing and upgrading both establishments. But as both buildings are listed premises, renovations have proved problematic and costly.
The company also received a knock-back earlier this year when Dublin City Council refused it permission to erect outdoor seating in response to the smoking ban.
The company said it would now seek to dispose of its leasehold interest in Grafton Street and would develop its self-owned Westmoreland Street premises "in order to realise its full commercial potential."


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Top of most cashless Russian cities and regions. Cashless transactions in Russia in 4Q20
According to SberIndex lab and IT company Platform OFD estimates, in 4Q2020 the share of non-cash turnover in Russia reached 55.9%, up from 54.1% in 2020, or 4.9 pp more y-o-y (49.2%). This is an all-time high.
The trend towards deceleration in the rate of penetration of non-cash payments was reversed due to changes in consumer preferences during the pandemic. More than one-half of spending (53.1% in 4Q2020) is now done with cards, even in a traditionally “cash” category such as Corner Stores.
Users keep steering away from cash in general, even despite a significant increase in the paper currency in circulation (+RUB2.8 tn to RUB13.4 tn). Nevertheless, the share of non-cash payments slid in the Building and Household Goods category, probably due to people having more paper cash.
In 18 regions, the share of non-cash trade turnover in 4Q2020 exceeded 60%.
For the first time on record, a region was spotted where the share of non-cash turnover reached 70% in 4Q. It’s the Nenets Autonomous District. In the largest cities, the share of non-cash purchases traditionally beat the national metric and reached 56.7%. The leaders are Russia’s northern cities Petrozavodsk (65.9%), Severodvinsk (65.3%), and Syktyvkar (65.3%). In 3Q2020, only fourteen of the country’s largest cities saw the metric top 60%, while in 4Q the number of cities like that reached forty.
Here’s yet another consequence of the pandemic: in 4Q2020 the average order value grew again.


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A new image showing off Samsung phone GT-I9260, otherwise known as the Galaxy Premier popped up Friday.
The photo shows a sleek little white phone and is purportedly sourced from Taiwan's National Communications Commission (NCC), an agency like the U.S.'s Federal Communications Commission.
No specs accompanied the photo, though it does provide a more full-bodied image of the phone than another leak that surfaced earlier this week.
When and where this phone will land remains a mystery, though this new revelation points to a Taiwan release happening sooner rather than later.
According to @evleaks, which published the week's first Premier shot, the phone will have 1GB of RAM, a microSD slot for up to 32GB of extra storage, an LED flash and Samsung's TouchWiz user interface.
It should also run Android 4.1: Jelly Bean and host Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and DLNA.
What's more, users should find a 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 180 x 720 and an 8-megapixel camera.
The processor is pegged as a 1.5GBz dual-core chip, and the Premier will likely include Wi-Fi and 16GB of internal memory.
Depending on how Samsung prices the Premier, it could be one hot little number.


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If you are an electonics company and you don’t have an Android phone coming in the next few quarters, you might want to check yourself. It seems just about everyone is jumping on the Andorid bandwagon, including Dell. The WSJ has this one:
The Dell phone uses Google Inc.’s Android mobile-operating system, said the people briefed on the matter. The phone, like Apple Inc.’s iPhone, has a touch screen instead of a keypad as well as a tiny camera, these people said. Dell’s AT&T phone is similar to a device Dell showed in China in August, but has some different features, they said. The phone for AT&T’s network would be Dell’s first dive into the competitive U.S. cellphone market. Dell is also in discussions about offering the Android device on other U.S. carriers, said the people briefed on the plans.
While it is hard to get excited about the prospect of a Dell phone, those following the mobile phone industry have to see the Android platform as a big trend and something that Apple will have to contend with.
Gartner sees it passing the iPhone in the next two years, even as iPhone market share grows. While the OS is certainly less polished, the many different configurations and carrier agnosticism are certainly plusses. It is hard not to ask: Is Android the new Windows?
Perhaps it is time Apple starts talking with other carriers?
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A recent viral Facebook post claims that El Veril, the proposed location for Gran Canaria's Siam Park waterpark is a site of special scientific interest that must be protected. Here are the facts behind the claim.
Gran Canaria's Siam Park will be up-and-running in just two and a half years, with work to begin before the end of 2015.
Wind: 17.70 km/h
Cigarette prices in Gran Canaria are still amongst the cheapest in Europe and it is almost always cheaper to buy them in a supermarket than in the airport duty-free.
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If you have seen the impossibly-priced gold Apple Watch, but only managed to walk away with a regular black one, there is still hope yet. Thanks to video-maker Casey Neistat, there is now a video showing you exactly how to turn your Apple Watch gold.
You spray-paint it.
This video will make you cringe in fear as he wields a sharp knife, cutting the Apple Watch out of its box and giggling like crazy as he wears the finished product — an almost flawless gold Apple Watch with a black sports band, gleaming ostentatiously on his wrist.
Since the video’s release, it has gone viral, and has been covered by websites like Time, Mashable, and Gizmodo. But as an article on The Verge recently shared, the watch wasn’t even Neistat’s, but a friend’s. A very generous, open-minded friend.
Sam Sheffer, a social media manager with the Verge, wrote about how Neistat, a close friend, had asked him for permission to use his Apple Watch for a video, and that it was an idea that “he insisted that I’d love”. The moment he received the Apple Watch — on the same day as the rest of the people who had pre-ordered it — he took the subway down to Neistat’s house almost immediately.
“At this point, I knew what Casey’s plan was,” he wrote. “He was going to turn my $399 Space Gray Watch gold using spray paint, DIY style, and create a short video about it. It was genius.”
Neistat had also said to Sheffer in an email: “I want a gold [Apple Watch] but I can’t afford it, so I made one. It’s like putting a Mercedes-Benz star on the hood of a Hyundai.”
Now, Sheffer wears the viral watch proudly, and has even been asked if it was the gold one. So if you’re wondering about the success of this handyman job, don’t worry. I’m sure he’ll be able to do regular touch-ups.


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MDC and Stagwell report negative first-quarter organic growth
Following back-to-back first-quarter earnings calls this morning by MDC Partners and The Stagwell Group, MDC became only the second publicly traded agency holding company, after Omnicom Group, not to report positive worldwide organic growth in the first quarter of 2021.
MDC reported net revenue of $270.7 million, a decline of 1.4% from a year ago, and an organic net revenue decline of 2.1%. The company also posted an organic revenue decline of 6.9%, which continues “to narrow the year-over-year revenue decline amidst the pandemic recovery,” according to a statement by MDC.
While MDC has published selected information about net revenue in the past, it expanded its net revenue information this quarter, a person close to the company told Ad Age. MDC's net revenue excludes billable expenses charged to a client.
Mark Penn, CEO of MDC Partners (and president and managing partner of Stagwell), also reiterated his point from a few months ago that the holding company is on track to deliver 7-9% organic revenue growth for the year.
Stagwell posted net revenue of $158.1 million, an increase of 4.8%, with an organic decline of 1.3% after factoring out acquisitions. Stagwell's net revenue excludes third-party direct costs. Stagwell reported a 6.9% organic revenue decline for revenue including third-party direct costs. Stagwell attributed the decline “almost entirely” to a decline in its digital content segment that includes its global travel marketing brand, Ink, according to a statement by Stagwell.
Given Stagwell's political business and the fact that 2021 is a non-election year, Stagwell also offered financial performance adjusting for acquisitions and the election cycle, incorporating a comparison of results for its Communications, Public Affairs, and Advocacy segment in first-quarter 2021 vs. first-quarter 2019, a political off-cycle year. On that basis, Stagwell reported 5.4% net revenue growth.
The two companies, which announced they agreed on terms for a merger in December, are also nearly one step closer to the deal’s completion.
“As you have seen, we filed several amendments to our S-4 (proxy statement/prospectus) as we’ve been working through the comment period with the SEC,” Irwin Simon, lead independent director for MDC’s board of directors, said during the earnings call. "We are hopeful that we are close to the end of that process and will be able to file our [official] proxy statement/prospectus in the coming days. I know it's taken a little time to get there, but patience is often rewarded and we're confident that this will be the case.”
A proxy statement/prospectus is the filing that MDC shareholders will receive in preparation for a shareholder vote. In late April MDC filed a preliminary proxy statement/prospectus that mentioned shareholders would vote virtually on June 22, which is still the expected date; the deal is anticipated to close on or around June 30, shortly after completing necessary transaction steps, a spokeswoman confirmed.
Penn expressed his confidence of the merger further increasing the company’s competitiveness against the larger holding companies in the industry.
“There are four big players who get $60 billion, that haven't been challenged at scale for decades,” he said. “As we build this combination and expand out into the global marketplace so that we compete on technology, creativity and have full global coverage, we'll be able to reach up and win those larger contracts away from those companies.”
MDC’s stock jumped following MDC’s earnings announcement, reaching a multi-year high of $5. Shares closed today at $4.92, up 8.9%, showing shareholder confidence in the deal being completed.


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The Rs 600 broadband plan offers data access at 2Mbps, after exceeding the allocated 300GB quota for usage up to 40Mbps capacity.
Amidst coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent surge in the demand for the high-speed internet, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has extended the availability of its Rs 600 broadband plan for three months. The plan, originally launched as ‘Bharat Fiber 300 GB CUL CS346’ in Odisha circle was scheduled to be available only till July 27 but now will be valid until October 27. The website of the BSNL Bharat Fiber website has confirmed the extension of Rs 600 broadband plan package. The broadband plan offers 300GB of high-speed data with speed up to 40Mbps along with the benefit of unlimited voice calling.
The Rs 600 broadband plan offers data access at 2Mbps, after exceeding the allocated 300GB quota for usage up to 40Mbps capacity. The service is available for downloading broadband deals in the Odisha region alongside the Rs 599 and Rs 699 usable data.
BSNL Bharat Fiber customers can semi-annually take advantage of the Rs 600 broadband plan at Rs 3,600 or Rs 7,200 annually. However, at Rs 14,400 or triennially at Rs 21,600 it can also be opted on biennially. The operator also provides additional coverage to customers picking up their monthly, biennial, and triennial options for one month, three months, and four months, respectively.
BSNL expanded the six paisa cashback deal earlier this week for its customers on the landline, broadband and Bharat Fiber. The deal was valid until 31 July, but it can now be used up until 31 August.
BSNL, in the recent past, has extended the service availability of other broadband plans as well. Earlier, BSNL had extended the availability of the Rs 777 broadband plan. The telecom had also extended its Rs 499 broadband plan that was launched in promotional circles.


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Facebook launches 'Messenger Rooms' so you can stay connected during quarantine
Facebook has announced the launch of 'Messenger Rooms', a new way people can interact while at home via video chat.
The company says it is aimed to help keep people connected in the era of social distancing.
"We’re rolling out a new product called Messenger Rooms, the first video chat designed with social interactions in mind," says Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO.
Some features include immersive backgrounds, artificial intelligence-powered filters and augmented reality filters.
Users will also be able to have up to 50 people in a room for an unlimited amount of time. A Facebook account or the Facebook messenger app is not needed to join in on a chat.
The owner of the room will also be able to control privacy settings like who sees the room and if new guests can join.
Facebook also plans bring this feature to Instagram Direct, WhatsApp and Portal.
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Samsung Display is reportedly in the early stages of deploying a new manufacturing plant for OLED panels. The company’s new factory will be aimed at large-screen devices and should serve one of Samsung Display’s wealthiest clients — Apple.
Samsung Display hasn’t decided on a budget for its new Gen 8.5 OLED production line yet. But according to industry reports, the company will reveal its spending plan within the year and start ordering factory equipment next year. (via The Elec).
The Gen 8.5 OLED factory could start off with a production capacity of 15,000 substrates per month.
Samsung Display to manufacture OLED for Apple iPads and iMacs
The purpose behind this investment is to secure Apple as an OLED client. Industry watchers suspect that Apple may want to switch to OLED panels for more product categories, including future iMacs.
Samsung Display’s new factory will aim to supply Apple with large OLED panels for both iPads and iMacs. The initial manufacturing capacity is reportedly 15,000 sheets per month.
However, the report also mentions that Samsung Display could double its production capacity to 30,000 sheets per month if Apple decides to adopt OLED more widely.
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New Delhi: K Raheja Corp’s hospitality company Chalet Hotels has signed agreements with US headquartered Marriott Hotels for over 1,500 keys in luxury and upper-upscale hotels segment in India. Marriott manages a broad portfolio of hotels in India, including Chalet’s properties.
“We have signed five contracts with Marriott. Some are new contracts for the same property and some are contracts for new hotels,” said Sanjay Sethi, managing director of Chalet Hotels.
The agreements are for a new 170-room Westin hotel in Hyderabad, which is expected to be commissioned by middle of next year; a renewal of contract for an existing Westin hotel for 15 years; a new 150-room Westin hotel which is to come up in Mumbai’s Powai area in 2022-23; brand revamp of Chalet’s Renaissance hotel in Mumbai to Westin Mumbai Powai Lake; and a new contract for Chalet’s Lakeside Marriott Executive Apartments for 15 years.
“These partnerships are for over 1,500 rooms in tier-1 cities in the luxury and upper-upscale segment. We will be spending a significant amount of capex — about Rs 1,300 crore — on these and other partnerships till 2023, including investments in our two upcoming office towers in Powai and Bengaluru,” said Sethi, who is also the CEO.
Chalet expects to complete brand revamp of the Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre Hotel to a Westin by middle of next year.
“That hotel has been Renaissance for 20 years. We were due to renovate it anyway and we thought the location and size commands a more premium brand. So we thought of rebranding it two notches up to the Westin brand to improve yields,” said Sethi.
“Hybrid companies are going asset-light because their balance sheets are stressed. Our fouryear horizon talks of a 50 per cent growth in revenue and doubling our Ebitda margin.”
Source: Economic Times


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The Canadian-aerospace and rail manufacturer Bombardier will sell its operations in Belfast, Northern Ireland in a pre-emptive move ahead of Brexit.
The company’s committed to finding a buyer that can improve productivity and competitiveness. The plant supplies parts to Bombardier and Airbus, producing engine casings, fuselages, and wings.
With over 3,600 workers, Bombardier is Northern Ireland’s biggest employers. The company already shed 490 jobs in November 2018, which was part of an effort to increase productivity and the value proposition of the manufacturing centre. The current levels of employment are half of what they were in 2002. What is currently at stake is not only Bombardier’s direct employees but also a supply chain in Northern Ireland that includes many small and medium-sized companies.
One of the buyers rumoured to have expressed an interest is the US-based aerostructures manufacturer Spirit AeroSystems, which has a UK base in Prestwick, Scotland and recently acquired Belgium’s Asco Industries.
The Montreal-based Bombardier has 68,000 employees in 28 countries. It is now gradually leaving commercial aviation, having sold an important line of production to Airbus.


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Volkswagen America CEO Jonathan Browning revealed to the Automotive Press Association that, "There's a great opportunity for us for a midsize SUV in the US."
"If you could give it to me tomorrow, I would take it tomorrow," Browning said.
While a new medium SUV would undoubtedly find a home in the US, it would almost certainly be designed as a global vehicle to be sold throughout Europe and other markets.
Late last year, Volkswagen Group design director Walter de'Silva admitted the brand was looking to expand its SUV range with new models in different segments, potentially including a sub-compact SUV positioned beneath the Tiguan.
The next-generation Tiguan, expected in 2015, is believed to answer criticisms the current car has received for a lack of space. Two variants are believed to be on the table; one with improved space, and one based on the Cross Coupe Concept from the 2011 Tokyo motor show aimed at a younger audience .
With VW Australia currently offering both the compact Tiguan (from $28,490) and the full-size Touareg (from $62,990) the price gap is significant, particularly for those with families. This suggests a Volkswagen medium SUV competitor would be closer in size to the Mazda CX-5 and Honda CR-V but at a premium approaching that of the even the larger and hugely popular Ford Territory starting at $39,990.