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Apple announced Thursday that it will be hosting its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) from June 3 through June 7 in San Jose, California. Apple is known to host a keynote for developers on the first day of the show, in which the company reveals its latest software and occasionally new hardware.
Meaning, Apple is expected to unveil iOS 13 for iPhone and iPad, in addition to the latest versions of the software for Apple Watch, Apple TV and macOS for Macs.
During last year’s WWDC, Apple chose to stick to software and didn’t announce new hardware. On the other hand, in 2017 Apple used the opening keynote to reveal updates to the iMac, MacBook and MacBook Pro. It even announced the HomePod and a 10.5-inch iPad Pro.
Apple has confirmed its March 25 event, where it’s expected to introduce new services such as streaming video and subscription news. Though it’s still unknown if the company will announce any hardware at the event, it’s quite possible we may see some, including AirPower, AirPods 2, the rumored 10.2-inch iPad and the high-end Mac Pro — on June 3.


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Fats, carbohydrates and proteins are almost always in the news, whether it is tips on how much to consume, or about the latest health trend or fad around them. However, of the three, proteins are the most talked about food group; with good reason, of course. They help build muscles, repair tissue post workouts, balance fluids, boost immunity, create hormones and enzymes. In short, at least 10,000 different proteins make you what you are and keep you that way. Increasingly, more people are turning away from traditional animal proteins and opting for plant-based alternatives. In fact, the Journal of the American Heart Association did a study in 2019 that revealed that plantbased diets are associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, and that’s just one of the many reasons why plant protein intake has been on a steady rise.
Why it’s trending
“This rise of plant protein trend may be attributed to the social and digital influencers and animal activists propagating to eat more plant-based proteins,” says Dr Anjali Hooda, MBBS, MD and director, Delhi-based Livenutrifit and Center for Obesity and Longevity, adding, “There is a sudden high demand because people are realising that plants are more beneficial not only to the body but also for the environment and help reduce one’s carbon footprint. People are more conscious about what they eat and put into their bodies and if it is equally good for the environment, the better it is.” But is it just a fad? “Plant protein is not just a fad but we always recommend it be complimented with pea protein. Peas have high quality protein, are among the richest sources of iron and have proved to aid weight loss, muscle growth and heart health,” says Dr Priyanka Rohatgi, head nutritionist, Apollo Hospitals Group.
The need for It
“After conducting in-depth research, we found that a large number of vegetarians in India struggled to find sufficient variety in their daily diet that fits their taste profile as well as provides the essential protein and vitamins required to meet their nutritional needs. As a result, meals can get monotonous,” says Siddharth Ramasubramanian, founder and CEO of Vegolution, a Bengaluru-based a food venture offering tasty and nutritious plant protein. “Plant-based protein is hypo-allergen and good nutritionally for all those who are lactose intolerant,” adds Dr Rohatgi.
Where to get plant-based proteins
There are some commonly used plant-based food options available in the market. “Beans, lentils, tofu, soya, peas, edamame, nuts, broccoli soy, tofu, tempeh and whole grains are high in protein,” says Ramasubramanian. If you don’t like eating veggies, there are other ways to ingest it too. “Plant protein can also be taken as a supplement in powder form, like brown rice protein powder, hemp seed powder or pea powder,” says Dr Hooda.
Plant vs animal protein
According to Dr Rohatgi, plant protein has the richness of fibres that animal protein lacks, while animal protein has essential amino acids that plant protein does not felicitate. “Globally, there is not much debate anymore and it has been ascertained that a diet which mostly includes the right plant-based foods leads to better long-term health and a more sustainable environment,” says Ramasubramanian. Dr Hooda adds that plant protein is easily available and you don’t require a lot of space to grow it. However, there are a few cons. “A negative aspect of a plant-based diet is that it may not meet the body’s need of vitamins and minerals,” explains Dr Rohatgi.
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“The mobile industry in sub-Saharan Africa continues to scale rapidly, reaching 367 million subscribers in mid-2015. Migration to higher speed networks and smartphones continues apace, with mobile broadband connections set to increase from just over 20% of the connection base today to almost 60% by 2020.” So reads the GSMA’s report; The Mobile Economy Sub-Saharan Africa 2015.
The rapid growth of the mobile industry is mainly attributed to the growing middle-class population in Africa. The middle class also demand more of the smartphones and less of the feature phones, while also demanding faster Internet connectivity. This development has seen an upsurge in demand for smartphones, something that has led to device makers like Samsung, Tecno, Infinix, Wiko, Obi and Xiaomi increasingly pay attention to the African market. Although most what these devices makers sell most in this market are entry-level and mid-level smartphones that do not break the said market’s wallets.
It has now emerged that India’s leading and home-grown device maker Micromax wants a piece of the growing African electronics consumer market. The company’s top executive announced they will be entering the African market including others in West Asia, and CIS countries come April 1, 2016.
Outside India, Micromax has a significant presence in Nepal, Russia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The company expects to grow their global operations by 50-80% in revenue by the 2016-17 fiscal year. Currently, phones sold outside India makes up 15-20% of the company’s total annual revenue which averages at about 36 million. The company sells about one million phones per month in overseas markets, a quarter of which are smartphones.
The company first entered the Russian market in January 2014 and planned to enter more European countries subsequently. However, that plan was stalled because it was hit by some major management challenges and growing competition in its home market back in India. Samsung has since relegated it to position 2 device maker in India.
Micromax has since worked on the management challenges; it re-hired some old staff, and now says it is ready to expand further into the European, West Asia and African markets.


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Wisconsin SBDC celebrates #SBDCDay and helping clients through pandemic
In 2020, the Wisconsin Small Business Development (SBDC) Network at the University of Wisconsin-Superior helped clients impacted by COVID-19 receive $4.1 million in federal aid and $168,000 in state aid. Overall, the center served 728 clients, resulting in $5.3 million in capital investment, 16 new businesses, 905 jobs supported, and 1,100 business education participants.
For these reasons, SBDC Day will take on extra significance in 2021. The fifth annual celebration of the collective impact and success of Small Business Development Centers across the nation is March 17.
“The resiliency of businesses to navigate everything that occurred in 2020 is something that many of us will never forget,” said Andy Donahue, Director of the SBDC at UW-Superior. “We are proud to work with such fantastic resource partners and community stakeholders to support entrepreneurs in Northwest Wisconsin. A lot of work remains to assist businesses in navigating back to pre-pandemic levels, but can be done based on the partnerships within our communities.”
Working collaboratively with the Wisconsin district office of U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was key in helping businesses understand how to apply for federal CARES Act loans -- Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Economic Injury Disaster Loans and EIDL Advance. The same held true at the state level for the popular We’re All In grants from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), plus other financial measures and safety guidance.
Overall last year, the SBDC served 7,870 clients, resulting in $107.5 million in capital investment, 256 new businesses and 26,275 jobs supported. For COVID-19 relief, the network helped clients receive $21.1 million in federal aid and $7.7 million in state aid.
“Because our 13 centers were positioned to be accessible to anyone anywhere, we served as a go-to source for assistance in a disaster when conditions were changing by the day,” said Bon Wikenheiser, state director. “Shoring up small businesses was and still is critical to our state and local economies. The resilience and creativity of Wisconsin’s business owners should be a source of pride as we continue to live with an adjusted reality.”
Small businesses, partners and advocates are invited to use the hashtag #SBDCDay in social media posts leading up to and especially on March 17.
To celebrate SBDC Day locally, the SBDC at UW-Superior will host a virtual Conversations with the Small Business Development Center event from 11 a.m. to noon via Zoom. The virtual event will celebrate the local and regional partnerships that have assisted in supporting regional entrepreneurs and organizations. City of Superior Mayor, Jim Paine will be issuing a proclamation naming March 17, 2021 “National Small Business Development Center Day” in the City of Superior.
With nearly 1,000 locations across the country, SBDCs provide entrepreneurs with the resources to succeed and measurable economic results. In 2020, SBDCs helped generate 20,374 businesses starts, 91,767 jobs, $7 billion in sales growth and $6 billion in capital investment.
“It’s not surprising to learn that 95 percent of SBDC clients recommend SBDC services,” said Charles “Tee” Rowe, America’s SBDC President & CEO.
To learn more about #SBDCDay, visit www.AmericasSBDC.org/SBDCDay.


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Huawei Announces the Introductory Date of Mate 502022-08-23         Follow @huaweinewos Tweet to @huaweinewos
The long-awaited Huawei Mate 50 has announced the date of its introduction. According to the statement, the Mate 50 series will be introduced on September 6 and we will see a lot of things that we do not know clearly. Huawei announced the date of September 6 in the information it shared on Weibo.
The phone, which has been expected for about 2 years, is finally ready to meet its users. As far as we know, there will be no Leica cameras. The new camera setup on the Mate 50 flagship will be used in the lenses of the company called Xmage.
As you know, the operating system will be HarmonyOS. Soon we will learn all the details of the Mate 50 series together.


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Alan Ohnsman reports for Forbes that Toyota has launched a venture capital climate fund.
- Toyota Ventures now has more than $500 million available to invest in clean energy startups.
- In addition to their venture fund, Toyota is investing billions of dollars each year into clean energy R&D.
- Toyota’s actions show that the private sector is best equipped to lead in emissions reduction efforts
Read the full article here.


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By Lisa Johnston
New products on display at the American International Toy Fair, held in N
Toronto – Rocco Melchione has been appointed president/CEO of the Paradigm, MartinLogan and Anthem brands.
He replaces Tim Valters, who held the position for more than four years.
The parent of the three brands is ShoreView Industries, which owns 100 percent of MartinLogan and more than half of Paradigm Electronics, which includes the Paradigm and Anthem brands. The remaining percentage of Paradigm Electronics is owned by one of the founding partners, Scott Bagby.
Despite the change, the company said it would keep specialty audio retailing “front and center.”
Melchione has more than 20 years’ experience at the senior executive level in global manufacturing and sales, the company said. His experience includes global supply-chain management, process improvement and quality practices,
He also had a leadership role in the expansion of a global division of Panasonic and helped integrate Baldwin Piano into Gibson Guitar Corp. as a Gibson subsidiary, the company added.
Senior management teams for all three brands have begun to report directly to Melchione.
This TWICE webinar, hosted by senior editor Alan Wolf, will take a look at what may be the hottest CE products at retail that will be sold during the all-important fourth quarter. Top technologies, market strategies and industry trends will be discussed with industry analysts and executives.


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The Most Expensive U.S. Real Estate Sales For 2021
A drop in luxury housing inventory and increased buyer demand drove the high-end real estate market to record prices in 2021, with several sales in the United States eclipsing the $100-million mark. As the pandemic continued, the ultra-wealthy sought second (and third) homes to add to their portfolios and were willing to spend a fortune to make their residences more comfortable for extended periods.
Oceanfront estates in Malibu, Palm Beach and the Hamptons claimed most of the highest sales last year, but a condominium tower in New York also ranked among the most expensive. Home buyers weren’t simply paying for glamorous locations and vast amounts of square footage. Among the luxurious amenities included in these mega-purchases were a retinal scanner for master bedroom access and a funicular that leads to the beach.
As always, billionaires were among the most acquisitive when it came to trophy homes—with Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai elbowing Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison out of the top dozen. Ellison’s purchase of a Palm Beach mansion for $80 million fell just short of the biggest sales last year, based on available public records and published reports.
Meanwhile, December saw the close of a $200-million purchase of a 340,000-acre Montana spread by media tycoon Rupert Murdoch. The seller was Matador Cattle Co., a subsidiary of Koch Industries, headed by billionaire Charles Koch. That property is not included in this tally because it is technically a commercial concern and the closing price cannot be confirmed.
Outside the U.S, luxury properties in Australia and Hong Kong made up some of the priciest transactions in the world, despite both countries experiencing extended lockdown conditions. Hong Kong’s biggest sale played out in the exclusive Peak neighborhood, where an unnamed buyer purchased two units at the Mount Nicholson development for about HKD 1.2 billion (or $150 million). At AUD 60 million (or about US $42.5 million), the reported sale of the Boyd Penthouse atop the ANZ building in Sydney’s Financial District was Australia’s highest transaction of 2021.
And the momentum in the luxury real estate market shows no sign of slowing down in 2022. Earlier this week, billionaire hedge fund manager Daniel Och reportedly flipped his penthouse in 220 Central Park South in Manhattan for nearly $190 million—about double what he paid for it in 2019. That price already eclipses the highest sale of 2021.
Here are the most expensive and noteworthy luxury homes sold in America last year.


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Update: AlBaik's first Abu Dhabi store opening "very soon"
Spicy nugs are the best kind of hugs…
Unless you’ve been hiding under a Kentuckian mega bucket for the past year, you’re unlikely to have missed the hype hurricane that has accompanied Saudi fried chicken brand, AlBaik making landfall in the UAE.
This year, we were the first to break the news that the much-queued for, oft-Gram-spammed, regional GOAT of broiled-chicken would be making its way to Abu Dhabi. And now we have a few more bread crumbs of detail about the capital debut…
It’s set to open at the city’s Al Wahda Mall — already home to 350 diverse retail brands, with more on the way soon — and we now know it’s going to be an absolute whopper.
Talking about just how big this Abu Dhabi location will be, Mr. Navaneeth Sudhakaran the general manager of al Wahda Mall, said: “This will be the largest branch of Albaik in the UAE, with 9,500 square feet of space dedicated to the capital fast food joint.”
Now that is a very spicy nugget of news.
And the Al Wadha store’s size also might have other benefits, “the layout of the restaurant is designed to be able to handle lengthy queues smoothly” Sudhakaran added.
When will the first AlBaik open in Abu Dhabi..?
We still don’t have an exact confirmed date, but a recent post on the UAE ‘wing’ of the brand’s Instagram presence seems to suggest the launch is imminent. Further fervor was elicited from the account’s replies to those enquiring about the opening date, stating that the drop date was coming “very soon”.
View this post on Instagram
Does AlBaik hold up to the hype..?
Taste is always going to be a subjective thing, we’ve tried it — we loved it, particularly those juicy spicy nugs after a smothering dunk in the garlic dip — but of course there are plenty of people that are not on board this particular hype train.
But if we were to take an average, to invoke the wisdom of crowds to take a barometer reading of the objective deliciousness — we’d point to those signature snaking crowds that appear wherever an AlBaik lays its hat.
Images: What’s On Archive/Instagram


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The evaluation of our pilot project shows that most of the 20 women who underwent ZIWEP training in 2019 have benefited from it. Most women have joined Zuri as sales agents for the hair-care products and one woman, f.i., has done considerably well with sales of around 15,000 KShs in just two months.
Zuri has noticed an increased awareness among the women about the importance of having savings. 80% of the women we interviewed, from our initial intake, mentioned that, as a result of the training they received from us, they have been able to plan better and save their money.
While conducting our impact questionnaire at the end of 2019, 30% of the participants we interviewed stated they have opened new businesses following the training they received from Zuri.
We have also noticed an increase in self-confidence and esteem among the women we have trained. The otherwise shy and timid women are now more confident and boosted as a result of completing ZIWEP.
One sales agent, who was surviving on 200 KSh. a day before completing the ZIWEP training, is earning nearly 15,000 KSh. a month from selling products!
One of the women from our program was so pleased with receiving a certificate that she booked a photographer and hired a gown to take pictures to hang in her house. She was proud of her achievement and wanted to set an example for her 3 young children that they too can achieve their goals despite any obstacles that they may face in life!


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WASHINGTON — The US trade deficit narrowed sharply in December because exports rose while oil imports plummeted. The smaller trade gap means the economy almost surely grew in the October-December quarter — an improvement from the government’s estimate last week that it shrank in the final months of 2012.
The trade deficit fell nearly 21 percent in December from November to $38.6 billion, the Commerce Department said Friday. That’s the smallest in nearly three years.
Exports rose 2.1 percent to $186.4 billion. Exports of oil and other petroleum products rose to the highest level on record. Overseas shipments of agriculture goods and aircraft also increased.
Imports shrank 2.7 percent to $224.9 billion. Oil imports plunged to 223 billion barrels, the fewest since February 1997.
A narrower trade gap boosts growth because it means US companies earned more from overseas sales while consumers and businesses spent less on foreign products.


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2015 will be a very busy year for Fiat as the Italian manufacturer will introduce two new models to its lineup. The first model will be a new crossover based on the popular Fiat 500. Dubbed Fiat 500X, the new subcompact crossover will hit the dealerships in early 2015 and will share the platform with the recently introduced 2015 Jeep Renegade.
The second addition to Fiat’s lineup will be a two-seat roadster that will share platform with the new Mazda MX-5 Miata. The new model will arrive at North American dealerships in the second half of 2015.
Regarding the current models, the Fiat 500 and 500, these are expected to remain unchanged in the coming years. The Fiat 500 will receive small changes in the next five years, while production will be moved from Mexico to Europe in 2015.
The bigger 500L will also receive some minor improvements at the interior, but according to our sources no major styling or platform changes are expected.


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Legislators are looking for a way to
pump up transportation funding and that could mean higher prices at the gas
The Vermont transportation budget
currently has a $35 million shortfall. If it's not filled, the state will lose
out on $40 million in matching federal grants.
Gas tax revenues are falling as
drivers travel fewer miles in more fuel efficient vehicles.
Rep. Pat Brennan, R-Colchester, is
chair of the Transportation Committee. Brennan says the plan now on the table
would reduce the cent per gallon tax, but add a 4 percent sales tax on the
total purchase, so as gas prices rise, so do tax revenues.
"We're going to continue the
discussion, we may-- it's not cast in stone-- we're going to be looking at
maybe decreasing that proposal, increasing that proposal, we're looking at
other revenues," Brennan said.
Brennan says consumers would end up
paying about 8 or 9 cents more per gallon if the plan became law.
Fuel distributors testified that the
change would hurt their business, especially for those along the New Hampshire


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Still top of mind: AT&T's deal to acquire T-Mobile. Chris Spera, a BYTE editor who sat in for InformationWeek's Fritz Nelson on this episode, added to our discussion about Sprint's recent objections to the merger.
AT&T, of course, has responded by saying the merger will improve service. At least we all agree on one thing: AT&T needs to improve its service.
But how will T-Mobile customers fare? While T-Mobile and AT&T both are GSM providers, they serve customers on different bands. Spera told us he heard ROM upgrades are in the works for some T-Mobile phones. We'll see.
And is it true Apple won't have the iPhone 5 till mid- or late September? Say it ain't so! Yet, according to some reports out of Japan, Apple hasn't ordered key parts yet, leading to speculation that the iPhone 5 won't be ready till the fall, in time for the 2011 holiday season, but still a disappointment for the rabid customer base.
Another disappointment we discuss on this week’s segment of BYTE Mobile Radio: RIM's PlayBook will likely ship in a couple of weeks without native support for BlackBerry email and contacts. We discuss how Web browser access or tethering might fix this issue, and it isn't pretty.
As Craig notes, RIM has yet to ship its SDK for the PlayBook, and without the SDK, developers can't write native apps. Enterprises will be watching, says Craig, whose day job includes rolling out mobile devices at large companies.
Also in the news this week is Amazon's Appstore for Android and Apple's suit against Amazon for using the term "app store." I'm willing to give Amazon's store a fair shake, but our guest, Chris, thinks Amazon's offering is hapless.
We discuss some rumors, too, including one that has Microsoft delivering a Zune tablet later this year. Possible? Windows 8 is shipping to hardware makers afterall ...
For the latest mobile news and views, listen to BYTE Mobile Radio here and at www.ginasmith.com every Thursday. When BYTE.COM launches later this spring, the program will migrate to the new site. Please email me at [email protected] with story ideas.
For TechWeb, InformationWeek, and the upcoming BYTE.com, I'm Gina Smith.
Follow Gina at @ginasmith888.


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The executive commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Mr. Sunday Dare, has dared Nigerian telecommunications operators to wake up and provide efficient customer experience to their subscribers in order to ensure borderless connectivity.
Speaking at the fourth quarter Industry Consumer Advisory Forum (ICAF) meeting which held in Lagos yesterday, Dare noted “that the challenge before us now is to ensure that we proactively remove all impediments to technology adoption, that we identify lCT pain points even before they occur, and that we address them before they become an issue,” he said.
He stated that from trying to deploy basic telecom services throughout Nigeria just a few years ago, the industry is now talking about achieving the penetration of superfast 4G/LTE networks nationwide.
“From getting basic voice telephony into the hinterlands just a few years ago, we are now talking about using artificial intelligence and machine learning to design and deploy services.
“We are now talking about data harvesting, cloud processing, and exploitation of data across borders. We are talking of borderless connectivity which is changing the method of service delivery across all sectors of human endeavor.
“In this new era, customer service SLAs (Service Level Agreements) mean little if we cannot achieve the attitudinal and behavioural loyalty which ensures that consumers are confident to embrace technology to tap into the life-changing opportunities,” he said.
In her welcome address, director, Consumer Affairs Bureau, NCC, Mrs. Felicia Mrs. Felicia Onwuegbuchulam, said ICAF’s deliberations and advisory on a number of consumer related issues in the past contributed to formidable changes for the betterment of the consumer.
“Today consumers who were previously unable to access unused data upon expiry of their data plan, can now do so within given timelines, since June 2018. Complaints have also reduced on the issue of forceful/automatic renewal of data services and activation/subscription to data and value added services without prior consent since May 2018,” she said.
Onwuegbuchulam, however, urged the telecom operators to invest more in retaining and serving their customer in order to remain relevant.
“Creating exceptional customer experience (CX) will tackle these concerns and lead to a general increase in average revenue per user (ARPU), given that the demand from customers for multi-play services such as broadband, mobile wallets, data and content-can actually boost revenues if customers can be retained,” she said.
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The securities of Westfield Group (ASX: WDC) and Westfield Retail Trust (ASX: WRT) will both be suspended from quotation on the Australian Stock Exchange at close of business this afternoon after the pair gained all necessary approvals to proceed with their $70 billion restructure.
As of tomorrow (Wednesday, June 25) two new entities will trade on the exchange in their place on a deferred settlement basis (normal trading is expected to commence on 3 July 2014). Westfield Corporation Limited, which will own and operate all of the Group’s international assets, will trade under ticker code (ASX: WFD). Meanwhile, Scentre Group, which will own and operate all Australian and New Zealand assets, will trade under ticker code (ASX: SCG).
As part of the deal, Westfield Group shareholders will own 100% of Westfield Corporation and 48.6% of Scentre Group. Westfield Retail Trust security-holders will own the remaining 51.4% of Scentre Group.
Further, all Westfield Group shareholders will receive 1,000 shares in the new Westfield Corporation as well as 1,246 shares in Scentre Group for every 1,000 securities held. Meanwhile, for every 1,000 Westfield Retail Trust securities held, the security-holder will receive 918 shares in Scentre Group as well as a cash payment of roughly $285.
Investors will likely breathe a sigh of relief once the restructure is complete as it has been the subject of much controversy since it was proposed on December 4 last year. Westfield Group’s shares are trading 2c or 0.2% lower today, while Westfield Retail Trust has jumped 4.5c or 1.4%.
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A local marijuana advocate is urging the Alberta government to keep pot out of liquor stores once the stuff becomes legal.
Keith Fagin, Director of Calgary 420, said marijuana should be sold separately in something like a dispensary.
“We would like to see it not sold in liquor stores, it’s not the same as liquor,” Fagin said. “It’s not the same intoxicant, it’s completely different.”
He states while alcohol typically reduces a person inhibition, that’s not necessarily the case with cannabis.
It will be up to each province to determine things like legal age and where recreational marijuana will be sold.
Fagin also points out that some of the fears surrounding legalization are largely unfounded. He brought up the example of Colorado. When the state legalized recreational use in 2014, there were concerns that impaired driving would increase and use by teens would rise. Fagin said it’s been just the opposite and Colorado discovered the biggest increase in use has been among seniors.


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TAXI New York; Doug Jaeger
by Apr 28, 2009, 3:30 PM
TAXI New York has hired Doug Jaeger as innovation director. Jaeger was most recently founder and creative director of thehappycorp global. Prior to opening thehappycorp global, Jaeger was a group creative director at TBWA New York where he launched the agency's digital creative practice.


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Over a year ago, I filed comments at the International Trade Commission (International Trade Commission). Those comments explained why it went against the public interest to exclude Qualcomm’s competitors products from the U.S. market based on Qualcomm’s patent infringement allegations.
Last week, the International Trade Commission administrative law judge in charge of the case agreed.
What’s At Stake?
About 18 months ago, Qualcomm asked the International Trade Commission to ban the importation of Apple iPhones using non-Qualcomm baseband chips. This was done as part of Qualcomm’s larger strategy of using patent lawsuits to help maintain its effective monopoly on baseband chips.
That monopoly—along with practices like violating their Standard-Essential Patent. A patent that a participant in standards development process declares to be essential to the practice of the standard. commitments, “no license, no chips”, and charging use-based licensing fees—has allowed Qualcomm to raise the prices handset makers have to pay them (and thus the prices consumers pay for handsets) and to harm the success of competitors in the baseband chipset market.
In addition, even if the International Trade Commission ultimately determines that an An order issued by the U.S. ITC as a result of a 337 action, excluding from entry into the United States goods found to infringe a U.S. patent. would be inappropriate, Apple will still have paid 18 months of lawyer’s fees. For an International Trade Commission case of this size, that’s likely to be more than $10 million—and that’s money Apple won’t get back.
Qualcomm’s On Notice
The judge’s reasoning isn’t available yet, but a summary (the Notice of Final Initial Determination) is. And in that summary, Judge Pender says he’s determined that the public interest weighs Qualcomm’s request to ban iPhone imports. Until we see Judge Pender’s detailed reasoning (likely some time in the next few weeks), we won’t know for sure why he made this recommendation, but there are a few possibilities I can think of.
Excluding iPhones Will Result In Unavailability Of Phones
At its core, this is a simple question of economics. iPhones represent a significant proportion of U.S. smartphone sales. If those phones are unavailable, would consumers be able to replace them with other comparable phones?
I suspect that Judge Pender (correctly) believes the answer is no. If 20% of the U.S. smartphone market[1. While Apple has approximately 40% of the U.S. smartphone market, estimates are that 50% of the iPhone 7, 8, and X generation of phones contain Intel processors. The more recent XS phones only use Intel processors.] disappears, the remaining vendors won’t be able to replace that portion of the market overnight. That would result in phones becoming harder to obtain and likely result in price increases due to the reduced supply.
Smartphones Have Health and Safety Impacts
One of the factors the International Trade Commission is required to look at are the impacts of exclusion on public health, safety, and wellness. Smartphones have significant impacts. Smartphones provide the only voice telephony (including 911 services) for a majority of Americans, and the only Internet access for a significant portion of Americans.[2. Smartphones are also increasingly being used for connected health services, ranging from tracking health data to telemedicine.] Disruptions in access to smartphones would create real public safety concerns.
Qualcomm’s Anti-Competitive Use Of Patents To Maintain Its Monopoly
This is the big issue, and the one that I expect Judge Pender’s determination will devote the most time to analyzing. Ultimately, Qualcomm’s International Trade Commission lawsuit is part of a larger strategy directed to using its patent portfolio to maintain its monopoly power in the baseband chipset market.
As Qualcomm’s monopoly has been challenged over the past few years, culminating in significant purchases of competitors’ products by Qualcomm’s customers, Qualcomm has stepped up its campaign to lock its customers in. This has taken a variety of forms, described in detail in the FTC’s lawsuit against Qualcomm. But in this case, Qualcomm is threatening any of their customers who consider buying products from a competitor with lawsuits regarding the products that use their competitor’s products. That’s an anti-competitive tactic designed to maintain Qualcomm’s monopoly, the sort of anti-competitive tactic that led to the FTC’s lawsuit against Qualcomm.
And ultimately, I expect that these tactics are also a significant portion of why Judge Pender has recommended against Qualcomm’s request for an An order issued by the U.S. ITC as a result of a 337 action, excluding from entry into the United States goods found to infringe a U.S. patent..


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“While it doesn’t seem like one extra shopping day can have a measurable impact on the bottom line, we know that it really can be the difference maker in terms of holiday sales."
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) October 09, 2014
The American Christmas Tree Association, (ACTA), is reporting its members are seeing significant growth in the sale of Christmas trees compared to same time sales last year.
“Many retailers set up their stores Christmas displays much earlier this year in anticipation of the extra day of Christmas shopping in 2014,” said Jami Warner, Executive Director of ACTA.
“While it doesn’t seem like one extra shopping day can have a measurable impact on the bottom line, we know that it really can be the difference maker in terms of holiday sales,” added Warner.
Last month, the National Retail Federation reported that more than 20 percent of American’s had already begun Christmas shopping. And by Halloween, that number will swell to 40 percent.
According to a survey conducted by Nielsen at the end of last year’s Christmas season, more than 94 million American households, or 79 percent of all households, displayed a Christmas tree in their home.
This represents a slight increase overall in the number of households displaying a Christmas tree in 2013 year compared to the prior year. Of those trees, 80 percent were artificial Christmas trees and 20 percent were real Christmas trees.
The Nielsen survey also showed a 1.5 percent increase from 2012 in the number of real trees displayed and a one-half percent increase in the display of artificial trees.
About The American Christmas Tree Association (ACTA):The American Christmas Tree Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping consumers enjoy their Christmas trees by providing factual information about the Christmas tree industry.


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The IoT market is expected to grow to 75 billion connected devices by 2025, according to Statista, and much of that growth will taking place in Asia-Pacific, according to industry analysts.
There are currently 23.2 billion connected IoT devices, which is expected to grow to 30 billion by 2020. The value of the IoT sector is forecast to hit $1.1 trillion globally by 2025, according to the crystal ball gazers.
With the European and North American markets being somewhat saturated with connected devices of every shape and size -- the average UK consumer had 3.5 connected devices in 2017 -- much of this growth will likely happen in Asia-Pacific. The five major IoT sectors -- consumer, construction, healthcare providers, telecommunications and insurance -- are all expected to grow in the Asia-Pacific market by more than 10% by 2022, with the consumer space leading the way with a 22.4% five-year Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR), according to research house IDC.
IoT is making our homes smart, but there's still a long way to go, especially in Asia, where IoT penetration is low amongst consumers. (Image: Thomas Kolnowski, Unsplash)
When we think of the technology industry in Asia-Pacific, we typically think of the large and high-profile markets of China, India, Japan and South Korea. However, Boon Wee Phua, engineering director at TechnipFMC in Singapore, told TechX365 recently that other countries hold great potential for IoT growth, including "Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines, which are not as well-connected from an IoT standpoint just yet, but have a huge young population ever-hungry for more information."
Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world (after China, India and the US), yet under half of its population is online. The country has 266 million residents, but only around 120 million are online and the IoT sector is very immature, according to Statista's estimates, so there is plenty of opportunity for growth. About 60% of Indonesia's adult population uses a smartphone, according to HootSuite, but only 2% have a device for streaming content to a TV set, and only 1% have a wearable tech device, such as a fitness tracker.
Indeed, Boon Wee Phua noted, "Just imagine if we can connect everyone up in Asia!" Arguably, this has already happened in many Western countries, but in less developed nations such as the Philippines, Thailand or Myanmar, improving digital connectivity could help impact society by improving job prospects and helping to tackle poverty, ensuring more open elections and even reducing government corruption. It could also encourage local technology innovation in areas such as AI, IoT and blockchain, so enabling such countries to break free from the technological and cultural stranglehold of the West.
Similarly, AI in Asia has taken a huge step forward in the past year. TechX365 reported recently that China's AI startups have overtaken the US's in terms of venture capital raised in 2017. This will boost the Chinese tech industry to new heights and provide new confidence for country's government as it looks to make China the world's leading AI hub by 2030. In an article for AI Business, emerging trends analyst Mike Ghasemi said that Asia-Pacific's AI sector is "estimated at around US$450 million in 2017 and is expected to grow at CAGR of 46.9% by 2022," which is greater than the global AI 2018-2022 CAGR of 45% -- so clearly lots of opportunities for AI in Asia Pacific, both in the consumer market and in industry. (See China's AI Startups Raised Almost $5B in 2017, Overtaking US Competitors.)
As many others have repeated during the past few years, digital transformation is everyone's responsibility; in the words of Boon Wee Phua, it is a "continuous journey for everyone, regardless of job function." In Asia -- a vastly different industrial market than the likes of the US or Europe -- digital transformation still has a long way to go, and most of that growth will take place in emerging markets. But it's up to everyone, not just the developers or the techies: for a company, a region, a country or an entire continent to "go digital," everyone needs to play their part.


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Rumours of a high-horsepower BMW X8 M surfaced before we even spotted a camo-wrapped prototype. Eventually we caught a standard X8 prototype in public, followed in the spring of 2021 by a potential X8 M hybrid sighting. However, this is our video of what could be BMW's "Project Rockstar" in action, and it looks crazy fast for its size.
The video comes from CarSpyMedia, which recently caught BMW testing its forthcoming flagship SUV at the Nürburgring. This particular prototype wears marks on the windows and doors identifying it as a hybrid, and as such, there's a strong possibility this is actually the X8 M. Further evidence comes from the hidden tailpipes which are almost certainly the stacked design we've seen before. The brakes look rather large behind the big wheels as well.
Gallery: BMW X8 PHEV spy photos from the Nurburgring
And then there's the speed for which this big three-row SUV carves the track. Two prototypes are actually seen in this video, and they both appear to ignore the laws of physics completely. The X8 stays remarkably flat through corners and under braking, and not because it's going slow. Tire scrub is evident as the SUV passes the camera, and we occasionally hear just a hint of V8 rumble from the exhaust.
If we are indeed seeing X8 M prototypes in action, previous reports claim a twin-turbocharged 4.4-litre V8 will work in conjunction with a single electric motor adding 200 bhp (149 kilowatts) to the mix. All total, the X8 M could wield a combined 750 bhp, making it the most powerful production BMW to ever come from Munich. On the flip side, being a massive hybrid SUV, it would also likely be the heaviest Bimmer of all time. And it will almost certainly be the most expensive. Such is life when you're living large.
We haven't heard much with regards to a possible debut date, but from the looks of things, BMW is still deep in testing. As of now, we're expecting this to be a 2023 model with a complete reveal sometime later in 2022.


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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has injected $210 million into the inter-bank foreign exchange(forex) market in continuation of its efforts to sustain liquidity.
The apex bank offered $100 million to authorized dealers in the wholesale segment of the market. The Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) segment received $55 million while the sum of $55 million was also apportioned to invisibles such as tuition fees, medical payments and Basic Travel Allowance (BTA)
A statement from the Bank’s Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, confirmed the figures and reiterated CBN’s capacity to continue to sustain the foreign exchange intervention.
Okorafor urged banks to continue to honour requests from customers with genuine needs, noting that CBN will continue to sustain liquidity in the foreign exchange market.
Meanwhile, the nation’s currency continued on to maintain its stability in the market, exchanging at an average of N362/$1 in the BDC segment of the market on Wednesday.


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Swedish Internet service provider Bahnhof says it will do everything in its power to prevent copyright holders from threatening its subscribers. The provider is responding to a recent case in which a competing ISP was ordered to expose alleged BitTorrent pirates, reportedly without any thorough evidence.
Opera has become the first major browser to add a free VPN client to its web browser. The VPN offers AES-256 encryption and allows users to browse the Internet privately. In addition, the free VPN also helps to circumvent website blockades, a feature many torrent users will appreciate.
The UK government has published its conclusions following a consultation into punishments for online copyright infringement offenses. At the earliest opportunity Parliament will be asked to increase custodial sentences up to a maximum of 10 years while ensuring that unwitting pirates are protected.
Kim Dotcom is warning users of Mega, the cloud storage company he founded in 2013, to back up their files. According to the entrepreneur, Mega is now under the control of Bill Liu, a New Zealand-based Chinese national that is currently fifth on China's most-wanted criminal list.
As streaming services such as Netflix and Spotify gain even greater traction, so does the centralization of online content that consumers no longer own. According to Pirate Bay founder Peter Sunde this business model holds subscribers to ransom, with the threat of content being suddenly taken away now a constant…
New research from Carnegie Mellon University shows that UK pirate site blocks increase people's interest in VPN services. However, the blocks also decrease the overall numbers of visits to pirate sites, while boosting the use of legal services such as BBC's iPlayer and Netflix.
Azure, the cloud computing platform created by Microsoft, has become the first service of its type to gain certification from anti-piracy group Federation Against Copyright Theft. The accreditation means that Microsoft has implemented many physical and digital processes designed to thwart online pirates.
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings says that the recent crackdown on VPN and proxy users hasn't hurt the company's results. The VPN blockade only affects a small but vocal minority, according to Hastings, and there are no signs that hordes of subscribers are abandoning ship.


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Texas winters have become shorter and warmer in the last fifteen years. Warmer Texas Winters Bad for Honey Bees here is why.
You would think that the warmer the winter the better for Honey bees. They would be able to get out and forage earlier.
Not so in West Central Texas. Most of our early forage for bees will not be in bloom.
The first to bloom around here is the wild plum tree, with warmer winters this plant will not get the chill hours needed to bloom. Along with other fruit trees chill hours are needed to produce blooms.
Honey Bees come out at 50 degrees to forage, no blooms means no nectar to gather. This means the Honey Bees must use their stored food to feed themselves and their young.
On Dec. 25 2017 the Press Hearld reported on this same topic. Read the full report.
Warmer Texas Winters Bad for Honey Bees.
Commercial beekeepers have lost 44% of their colonies during the 2016 - 2017 season. Losses are many fold from Honey Bees diseases and parasites to massive pesticides, fungicides and habitat losses.
Now, we can add warmer winters to the mix that has already taken it's toll on our pollinators. Reports out of South-Central Texas are claiming that honeybees are becoming active in January.
When Honey Bees forage for carbs and cannot find them Honey Bees will eat their stores wearing their bodies out and dying faster, according to Texas A&M Agrilife extension publication.
Everything is pointing to a warmer than normal winter. We are not having long periods of cold weather.
Currently within the beekeeping industry we will not be able to keep up with demand.
Many my think that having enough Honey Bees is important, that thought will change when the shelves are empty.


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Milan-based polymath Marcelo Burlon presents a look at his forthcoming Spring/Summer 2014 collection by way of a brand new lookbook and stylish video. Marked by the Italian designer’s signature audacious and intricate motifs, the new range sees Burlon’s graphic tees joined by lightweight outerwear, shorts, bags and more. Marcelo Burlon’s Spring/Summer 2014 collection will be available at select stockists in the months ahead. In the meantime, be sure to check out the lookbook’s accompanying video.
- Food delivery upstart Deliveroo adds another $98M to its latest round, now at $480M
- Apple pushes HomePod release to early 2018
- Walmart plans to pilot test the new Tesla Semi
- Carhartt WIP’s Fall/Winter 2017 Abandons Gimmicks for Wearable Gear
- Stream Miguel’s New Album Single, "Pineapple Skies"
- adidas Originals EQT Support ADV in Core Black/Sub Green for Black Friday
- This is Tesla’s big new all-electric truck – the Tesla Semi
- Here’s what it’s like to sit in the new Tesla Semi
- The Tesla Semi tackles this classic truck safety problem using tech
- Kid Cudi’s Next Album Will Be Entirely Produced by Kanye West


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Talbot Restaurant Week
Talbot County welcomes the spring season with its annual Talbot Restaurant Week celebration that will run from Monday, March 19th through Sunday, 25th. Now in its ninth year, this week-long event showcases the local dining establishments that grace the towns and communities of Talbot County and offers food lovers the opportunity to try new restaurants or revisit favorites. Throughout the week, participating restaurants will treat guests to special prices and menus. Two-course lunches will be available for $20.18, while three-course dinners are priced at $35.18.
Date & Time
Mar 19, 2018 through Mar 25, 2018
Two-course lunches will be available for $20.18, while three-course dinners are priced at $35.18


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We are proud to announce that we have started work for a company called VOSS on a system for automatic prediction of claims for manufactured auto parts.
The system uses models based on artificial intelligence to predict the probability of a manufacturing defect in a specific batch of manufactured parts. It will enable VOSS to provide quick and advanced warning of potential problems with their products. This will increase control over the quality of shipped goods, preventing defective products from being shipped. As a result, complaint costs will be reduced, the company’s image will be improved and customer satisfaction will increase.


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Google announced today that it will be rolling out new updates to its Search service in the coming weeks aimed at making it easier for users to find high-quality content.
The new ranking improvements will help reduce low-quality or unoriginal content that ranks high in search results.
Google says the update will specifically target content created primarily for search engine ranking, also known as “SEO-first,” rather than human-sourced content. The company's tests have shown that the update will improve the results users find when searching for content such as online educational materials, as well as arts and entertainment, shopping and technology content.
The new updates will help reduce the number of low-quality results from sites that have learned to game the system with SEO-optimized content to rank high in search results.
Google says that users should start seeing content that is actually useful rank more prominently in search results. The company plans to improve its systems and leverage these improvements over time.
"If you're looking for information about a new movie, you may have come across articles that aggregate reviews from other sites without adding their own beyond what's available elsewhere on the web," the company says in a post on her blog.
“This isn't very helpful if you're expecting to read something new. With this update, you'll see more results with unique information, so you're more likely to read something you've never seen before.”


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The 3D printing industry has been a beacon of manufacturing hope during the pandemic outbreak — thanks in large part to materials that have proven up to the task.
While some of the most widespread 3D printing efforts have been centered around personal protective equipment (PPE), one application that has been on a meteoric rise to the tune of millions of pieces produced has been nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs. These swabs are used in the uncomfortable up-the-nose test to determine whether an individual has COVID-19 — an all-important testing piece that was initially in far-too-short supply from traditional suppliers.
Resin-based 3D printing processes have proven up to the task of creating the thin, strong, flexible swabs needed for this testing. The swabs must be comfortable enough for patient cooperation, especially with so many test sites using self-testing — and they must be long enough to reach to the back of the nasal cavity, flexible enough to navigate the route back there, and strong enough to not snap inside a person’s head.
Ventilators too have required more parts to be developed and made to help those patients suffering some of the worst complications of this new virus. 3D printed diaphragms offer faster development and turnaround time to keep these life-saving devices operable. There’s a good amount of finesse that’s gone into these pandemic-response designs.
But it’s not just about the design: those qualities require a high-quality material to make such devices. And that’s where companies like Adaptive3D come into the conversation.
I spoke recently with Adaptive3D’s Dr. Walter Voit, CEO and Founder, and Kial Gramley, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, to catch up on the premium additive manufacturing polymer resin supplier’s creation of 3D printing elastomers for COVID-19 response.
Dallas-based Adaptive3D was founded in 2014, based on a technology Voit developed at the University of Texas, Dallas.
The company is now in a high-growth state of its lifecycle, Gramley noted, adding that Voit has been “focused on growing the company, developing the management team, taking the technology platform developed and commercializing it at scale.”
Adaptive3D saw its original funding from DARPA, and spent its first few years as an SBIR company. At the end of the SBIR lifecycle, Gramley said, the team “had spent a lot of time developing this technology platform and was ready to go to market and capitalize,” and during that time of building up toward commercialization was when he joined the team.
“We have a proprietary chemistry that imparts properties of softness and high strength,” Gramley continued. “We can take a common acrylate material for DLP, make it very tough, give it high strength, make it very flexible. Our materials are essentially elastomeric. We have two off-the-shelf materials to highlight in these efforts: Soft ToughRuber, which mimics silicone-like properties with a ShoreA of 28, and is a very soft, pleasurable feeling material designed for auto parts, wearable parts, and anatomical modeling. At Formnext, we introduced Elastic ToughRubber 90, a higher-durometer rubber. ETR has a ShoreA of 90 and is excellent for footwear, tough enclosures, for any type of part trying to mimic polyurethane or rubber, where ETA will excel with very high wear resistance, durability, strain, and elasticity.”
These properties are where Adaptive3D “really excels,” he said: “those elastomeric-type materials leveraging DLP printing technology.”
Such property capabilities have drawn attention from the likes of materials giant DSM, which has invested in Adaptive3D.
3D Printing For COVID-19 Response
Those material properties have been proving their worth lately, as Voit examined with Adaptive3D’s work toward pandemic response.
The team worked closely with UT Southwestern and a medical center in Parkland, he noted, as they examined pieces made traditionally using rubber and took them back to UT Dallas, “where we ran them through micro-CT scanners, got high-resolution models, and reverse-engineered that, showing functionality based on industry-standard designs.”
They then built their own parts and submitted them to the FDA for emergency use approval. Adaptive3D has also worked with UT Dallas to set up a test facility with Texas Instruments, and “built air handling systems that could do air handling tests.”
“We had components designed for LTV1200 ventilators that can be used for COVID or other patients where they’re in short supply. In three weeks, we built devices that function like standard devices that are in short supply,” Voit said.
For NP swabs, Adaptive3D has been working with the 3D printing community, including conversations with EnvisionTEC, Carbon, and Formlabs — all of which are 3D printing test swabs at scale. “We’re all in this together,” Voit said of these conversations.
“Our ETR material becomes important here. Published studies have shown that PU rubbers have the fewer false positives and false negatives compared to traditional swab materials, and we seek to demonstrate similar results with our materials. We’re working to rapidly build these out of functional rubbers, we’re among the only companies that can simultaneously develop stiff and strain capabilities,” Voit said. “Our technology lets us print in this golden zone on the stress/strain curve that medical device customers want for highly functional rubbers that are stretchy and tough. Elastic ToughRubber90 has low-temperature survivability down to -60C, which is great even at the lowest temperatures for shoes, and has tear strength about double that of some of the other competitive photoelastomers out on the market. It’s a highly tough material.”
For COVID-19 response, the company was able to rush through the ISO 10993-5, where they “passed with flying colors,” as well as NAMSA cytotoxicity tests for ToughRubber HT to use it for rapid pandemic response, Voit added.
For Adaptive3D, the pandemic has certainly been a disruption — but as with so many in the 3D printing industry, it is also a proof point of technological validity.
“We have interesting designs for swabs and other things,” Voit told me. “We are an emerging, high-growth company with strategic investors including Applied Materials, DSM, and Chemence, and are getting to know our customers. We are working not just to sell a material, but to develop and position materials for high-throughput additive manufacturing.”
For more detail on some of the Adaptive3D response to COVID-19, Voit also spoke at the Functional Elastomers for Additive Manufacturing webinar hosted by SME, discussing the development of a life-saving rubber diaphragm for ventilators:


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A new study by NordVPN revealed that more than one-third of Americans have smart speakers in their homes. The growing demand for IoT devices raises privacy and security concerns that many users still ignore. How much of your data are you willing to share with manufacturers and what can you do to protect your private life?
When Amazon introduced Echo back in 2014, it quickly became one of the best-selling gadgets in the world and paved the way for other smart speaker manufacturers. As years went by, Echo has evolved from a rather primitive device used to play music and answer simple questions to a complex AI designed to control smart home systems and assist you with daily tasks.
According to research by NordVPN, the usage of smart speakers varies from 15.4% in the Netherlands to 32.5% in the US, 33.4% in Canada, and 42.4% in the UK.
Smart speakers support a limited number of languages, and their popularity in many countries is still low. However, it’s just a matter of time until virtual assistants learn all major languages, significantly increasing their user base. In English-speaking countries, smart speakers have already become an important part of millions of households.
Since the launch of the first smart speakers, privacy concerns have been growing. Think about this: you’re bringing a device into your private space which is capable of listening to your conversations, collecting data about your habits, and building consumer profiles. That’s a lot of privacy to give up for the convenience of a smart speaker.
There are numerous reported cases of people mistakenly triggering virtual assistants. The devices then recorded things they weren’t supposed to and sent those conversations to third-party contractors working on improving voice recognition accuracy.
While tech companies claim they analyze only a small amount of anonymized recordings to improve their services, these recordings often contain enough information to identify users.
We can never be sure how our data is stored, who has access to it, and how secure it is. With a growing number of smart appliances in our homes, privacy and security concerns have to be addressed directly.
NordVPN’s survey suggests that 55.9% of users think that protecting their smart home devices is their responsibility. However, many still believe that somebody else has to take care of it: manufacturers, sellers, ISPs, or the government.
We can’t take for granted that manufacturers will protect our private data. There are standards they have to meet, but putting security solely in their hands is risky. If you use a weak password on your router, even the most advanced security features won’t protect you from hackers. Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility and every party has to do its job.
Smart speakers can be a great tool to make our everyday life a little easier, but we have to know the risks and learn how to protect ourselves.


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The Florida home of the Tampa Bay Rays becomes the first North American sports venue to go completely cash-free.
Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays are electing to go cash-free at Tropicana Field for the 2019 season. Well, cash-free except for Rays manager Kevin Cash. He can stay.
Per an article in Nation’s Restaurant News, the team worked with hospitality provider Levy and tech firm E15 to make Tropicana Field the first completely cash-free sports venue in North America, with all concessions, team stores, box office and other points of sale operating without a cash option.
In conjunction with E15, the Rays did extensive pilot testing last season, the NRN article noted. Not only did their efforts reduce the average transaction time by 50 percent, but they were also able to convert the wait time at the ballpark’s highest-volume stand from seven minutes to less than two minutes.
According to an article in the Tampa Bay Times, forms of payment that will be accepted include major credit cards, mobile payments such as Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, Rays gift cards and season-ticket holder Rays Cards. Fans without electronic forms of payment can exchange cash at all retail locations and through roaming gift-card vendors in $10 and $20 increments.


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Those darn phishing scams are pretty clever. Worse yet, they can strike anywhere – even at the bank…
Kiwibank took the unusual step today of providing details about an internet scam that targeted its customers and the steps it took to protect them — as well as temporarily shutting down its own internet banking portal.
Typically, banks are slow to go public with the details of internet fraud out of concern that publicity will undermine customer confidence.
But Kiwibank took less than 12 hours to go public with the details of the phishing scam that hit hundreds of its customers today and to reassure them of steps it had taken to boost their security. [Read the rest]


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Bloomberg, June 30, 2023 – The US new-car market is returning to pre-pandemic norms as supply-chain issues resolve, forcing carmakers to ramp up deals to sustain sales growth.
The annual pace of new-car sales likely rose to 15.6 million in June, from 13 million a year ago, according to the average forecast of seven market researchers. Cox Automotive raised its full-year forecast to 15 million, from 14.2 million in March, as deliveries to businesses and rental-car companies, which evaporated during pandemic scarcity, rebounded.
“Pent-up demand from individuals and business that couldn’t find product last year is now being unleashed,” Charlie Chesbrough, senior economist at Cox, said on a call with reporters this week. “Not only has supply returned to the market, but so has discounting.”


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GM ELECTRIC CAR STATEGY
GM committed to EV’s & alternative solutions to meet anticipated future consumer trends & regulations. Beat’s the market with the first mass market 200 miles $30k Chevrolet Bolt EV.
GM, Chevrolet’s parent company, sees itself as a leader in advanced battery technology, with three labs in the USA, Germany, and China. The USA lab is the largest battery systems lab for an automaker in America. GM is also the first US automaker to design and build drive trains and motors for electric vehicles. GM has produced more than 20 million battery cells for more than 73,000 GM plug-ins with a quality metrics of less than two problems per million battery cells produced.
General Motors markets its designed and manufactured vehicles under the following badges Chevrolet and Buick in USA, Canada, Mexico, and China, Holden in Australia and New Zealand, Vauxhall in the UK, and Opel in Europe. GM rebadges the Chevrolet Volt and Bolt under the Ampera name. In China, General Motors and its joint ventures will roll out more than ten new energy vehicles under the Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, and Baojun brands.
GM is also betting heavily on Hydrogen Fuel Cell technology. Looking ahead to 2020, in collaboration with Honda, the Company is developing next-gen hydrogen fuel cell systems and storage technologies.
GM is placing a huge focus on mobility by executing a plan to capitalize on the future of personal mobility using tools such as connectivity, ridesharing, car sharing and autonomous driving.
Expecting that by 2020 75% of all its global sales would be connected. GM’s OnStart platform is a market leader in the connectivity segment for the past 20 years, and the Company has a total of 500 connectivity patents. In China, all Cadillac, Buick, and Chevrolet models will be connected by 2020.
In January 2016, GM started its personal mobility brand called Maven, which combines and expands the company’s multiple car-sharing programs, including the EN-V 2.0 pilot program with Shanghai Jiao Tong University. GM recently announced a long-term strategic alliance with Lyft to create an integrated network of on-demand autonomous vehicles in the United States. GM will invest $500 million to help the company continue the rapid growth of its successful ridesharing service. GM acquired Cruise Automation in early 2016 to further accelerate GM’s development of autonomous vehicle technology.
GM sold Opel / Vauxhall in 2017 to the PSA Group.
GM EV SALES
Interested in buying a GM electric car?
See how the price and range of GM’s EV models compare with its competitors in key markets.
Go to our detailed breakdown of Global EV Sales to see how the GM electric car strategy fares to its competitors in the fast-growing EV market.
GM ELECTRIC VEHICLES IN THE NEWS
Week 2 2019 - Cadillac to spearhead GM's EV strategy
Tesla’s dominance in 2018 is forcing traditional automakers to continuously adapt and rethink their strategy to keep up with the “surprising” shift by consumers to cleaner and more advanced products offered by the auto start-up. I am using the term start-up lightly as it now relates more to the relatively young age of the company compared to its competitors rather than its operations. Reuters this week indicated that GM is redirecting a large portion of its engineering talent to focus on electric vehicle technology to back GM CEO Mary Barra’s bold promise to investors that the US automaker will turn a profit selling EVs by 2021.
According to the Reuters report, GM is working very hard to follow Tesla in reducing the cobalt content of its EMC1.0 battery system by increasing the use of nickel in its battery chemistry, thereby reducing the cost of its batteries to below $100/kWh by 2021 from the current $145/kWh. GM and its Chinese strategic partner SAIC is also working to bring down the cost of EV assembly by developing dedicated electric car plants which are less complex than combustion plants. A third focus area is the creation of flexible, modular plug-and-play platform on which battery systems and fuel cells of various sizes can be added. All-in-all 1,700 engineers and other professionals are already exclusively focusing on GM’s electrification strategy.
In a press release by the company following an investor update on Friday the 11th of January GM put Cadillac front and center of its EV strategy making the brand its lead EV brand. Cadillac will develop GM’s first pure electric EV following the Chevrolet Bolt on the groups new flexible BEV3 platform, To date, Cadillac was only able to sell around 4,000 plug-in hybrid versions of the Cadillac ELR and CT6 luxury sedans.
Furthermore, GM announced to investors that it would start to commercialize its self-driving vehicles in dense city environments this year. GM’s Seattle based autonomous vehicle subsidiary Cruise also signed a partnership with food delivery company DoorDash this week.
In related news, Tesla backed away from purchasing one of the three assembly plants closed in GM’s recent restructuring. According to GM Tesla were not willing to take on GM’s unionized employees at the Ohio plant.
Week 48 2018 - GM EV strategy shift
Signs of Tesla’s transformation of the auto sector is emerging in boardrooms all over the globe and with its competitors all rehashing their EV strategies no seemingly every year GM announced this week that it would double its investment in electric and autonomous vehicles. The news came with the announcement that the Chevrolet Volt and Cadillac CT6 PHEV will be killed off by March 2019 as the company joins the direction taken by Ford earlier focusing on trucks, crossover and SUVs and not sedans. The restructuring and discontinuation of the Volt which has sold nearly 160,000 units to date will result in the closure of three assembly plants and two drivetrain factories leading to job losses amounting to 15,000 employees. The plants in question are:
- Oshawa Assembly in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.
- Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly in Detroit.
- Lordstown Assembly in Warren, Ohio.
- Baltimore Operations in White Marsh, Maryland.
- Warren Transmission Operations in Warren, Michigan.
The announcement caused the ire of Donald Trump which promised to make American jobs his priority. Donald Trump’s actions seem to have the opposite effect as the world including America is now spiraling towards a recession and instead of his denialism of the impact of greenhouse gasses on the climate the world is rushing towards greener transport and energy sources. Trump threatened that he would take away GMs EV subsidies if they don’t plan to replace the lost capacity and build another car in the USA prompting the following reaction by GM stating their commitment to the US economy.
GM is committed to maintaining a strong manufacturing presence in the U.S., as evidenced by our more than $22 billion investments in U.S. operations since 2009. Yesterday’s announcements support our ability to invest for future growth and position the company for long-term success and maintain and grow American jobs. Many of the U.S. workers impacted by these actions will have the opportunity to shift to other GM plants where we will need more employees to support growth in trucks, crossovers and SUVs. GM’s transformation also includes adding technical and engineering jobs to support the future of mobility, such as new jobs in electrification and autonomous vehicles.
We appreciate the actions this administration has taken on behalf of industry to improve the overall competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing.
Week 23 2018 - GM intensifies EV plans in China
General Motors announced this week that it would intensify its electrification strategy in China. Automotive News China quoted GM’s China head Matt Tsien, who said in Shanghai on Tuesday that the automaker will now develop 20 heavily electrified vehicle models through 2023. The plan to build 10 EVs by 2020 will be bolstered by a further ten models from 2021 to 2023.
In related news, GM and Honda extended their EV partnership to include battery development. The company made the following announcement this week:
General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) and Honda (NYSE: HMC) announced an agreement for new advanced chemistry battery components, including the cell and module, to accelerate both companies’ plans for all-electric vehicles. The next-generation battery will deliver higher energy density, smaller packaging and faster-charging capabilities for both companies’ future products, mainly for the North American market.
Week 14 2018 - GM to sell two more EV models in China
GMs Buick brand announced that it would expand the electrification of its models in China by launching a plug-in hybrid and pure electric Buick Velite 6. The BUICK 6 Velite will be presented on the 17th of April and join the plug-in hybrid Buick Velite 5 on the showroom floors. The Buick Velite 6 is based on the Buick Velite Concept introduced in November 2016 at the Guangzhou Auto Show, pictured on the left below. The Velite 5 will also get a Range Extended model. The Velite 5 is based on the Chevrolet Volt platform and pricing starts at ¥265,000. According to GM press release the Velite 6 will adopt an all-new battery electric vehicle propulsion system which in my language reads Chevrolet Bolt.
Week 11 2018 - Maven Gig goes live in Austin
GM announced that it is moving into the production and commercialization phase of its autonomous version of the Chevrolet Bolt, the Cruise AV. GM’s autonomous vehicle subsidiary, Cruise, developed the world’s first production-ready vehicle built from the ground up to operate safely on its own with no driver, steering wheel, pedals or manual controls. I recently jokingly mentioned to friends that steering wheel manufacturers are going the way of the buggy whip, as evident from the picture of the GM Cruise AV on the cover of this weeks newsletter. GM will invest $100 million in its Orion and Brownstown facilities to bring the Cruise AV to market in 2019. The Orion Township assembly plant currently manufactures the Chevrolet Bolt EV while the Brownstown Battery assembly plant will be expanded to include the production of the Cruise AVs roof modules.
Week 10 2018 - Maven Gig goes live in Austin
The service will work as follows:
- Maven Gig vehicles are available for flat weekly rates that include the car, unlimited miles, insurance (minus deductibles) and maintenance.
- Pricing starts at $229 per week plus taxes.
- Maven will provide charging for Maven Gig drivers for a limited time through the Austin Energy Plug-In EVerywhere and EVgo networks.
- Drivers can see vehicle availability and pricing via the mobile app.
- Reservations and pickup date/time can be scheduled through the app.
- Maven Gig is platform agnostic and members can use the car to drive for rideshare services or for grocery, package and food delivery.
The Chevrolet Bolt is the most popular car in for Maven Gig drivers and has completed 6.5 million all-electric miles since February 2017 and have saved an estimated 250,000 gallons of gas.An estimated 643,800 rideshare passengers have been transported in Maven Gig vehicles, and drivers shouldn’t feel any range anxiety:
- On average, Maven Gig members in Bolt EVs drive more than half the vehicle range every day.
- Approximately 9 percent of daily trips exceed the EPA-estimated range of the car.
- Maven Gig drivers have taken trips from San Francisco to Portland and from San Diego to Los Angeles.
Week 5 2018 - GM China Strategy
Week 49 2017 - GM Marketplace roll-out
General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) this week started with the rollout of what GM calls the first-ever commerce platform for on-demand reservations and purchases of goods and services, although I am certain some Chinese companies such as Baidu have already started similar services. Marketplace, allows eligible Chev, Buick, GMC and Cadillac cars to order food, find the closest gas station to save on fuel and make dinner reservations on the go.
“The average American spends 46 minutes per day on the road driving (according to the AAA). Leveraging connectivity and our unique data capabilities, we have an opportunity to make every trip more productive and give our customers time back,” said Santiago Chamorro, vice president for Global Connected Customer Experience, GM. “Marketplace is the first of a suite of new personalization features that we will roll out over the next 12 to 18 months to nearly four million U.S. drivers.”
For a list of the first brands accessible through Marketplace click here. The question now is how will Apple, Amazon, Google and other platforms react to the competition from the auto sector in their domain?
Week 48 2017 - The Future is here faster than you think
GM unpacked its autonomous vehicle strategy this week. Reuters reported that GM would deploy autonomous vehicles in US cities from 2019 to compete with Tesla and Waymo who is leading the race in the autonomous vehicle development. GM will commercially deploy self-driving cars as robo-taxis earlier than competitors Ford, VW and others which only see production versions of autonomous vehicles by 2021.
Disruption in mobility caused by ride-sharing and autonomous vehicles had a major impact on Car rental companies such as Hertz and Avis. Avis this week announced the establishment of its Mobility Lab in Kansas, Missouri to test connected vehicles as it tries to remain relevant in the changing market.
Week 46 2017 - GM next gen EV platform by 2021
Appart from plans to produce EVs for the Chinese markets some of the major international automakers this week clarified their EV strategy for other parts of the globe.
GM CEO Mary Barra told Automotive News that the US-based company would launch its next-generation EV platform in 2021 and hope to have EV sales of one million vehicles per annum by 2026. According to Mary Barra, the company aims for at least 20 EVs and FCEVs by 2023. The next generation platform will be modular, at least 30% cheaper and have a range of over 300 miles. The improved platform will have the battery cells integrated into the architecture.
Week 46 2017 - GM to monetize services
In her presentations at the Barclays 2017, Global Automotive Conference in New York GM CEO Mary Barra gave a glimpse of GMs plans to monetize services embedded in its smart connected vehicles. According to Barra GM will launch a marketplace application in its connected vehicles which will be simpler to use than current smartphones. Like other carmakers, GM is exploring how it can gain value from its 13 million connected cars which create 3 petabytes of data per year.
Week 40 2017 - GM ramps up EV plan (finally)
How different is the news we report today than that of a year ago? In 2016 the general topic when reporting on large US automakers EV strategies was them downplaying electric vehicles as a small niche. This week the USA’s two largest automakers (historically, before Tesla unseated them on market cap) announced strategy shifts towards more aggressive EV development.
In a press release Mark Reuss, General Motors executive vice president of Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain said “General Motors believes in an all-electric future. Although that future won’t happen overnight, GM is committed to driving increased usage and acceptance of electric vehicles through no-compromise solutions that meet our customers’ needs.”
The plan towards an All Electric Path to Zero Emissions recently announced by CEO Mary Barra includes two new pure electric cars in the next 18 months based on learnings from the Chevrolet Bolt, ultimately reaching 20 new all-electric models by 2023. The plan also includes Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles starting with SURUS — the Silent Utility Rover Universal Superstructure — a fuel cell powered, four-wheel steer concept vehicle on a heavy-duty truck frame that’s driven by two electric motors. With its capability and flexible architecture, SURUS could be used as a delivery vehicle, truck or even an ambulance — all emissions free. The company also announced that it more than doubled its autonomous vehicle test fleet in California.
Week 38 2017 - GM sets its China EV Strategy
GM CEO, Mary Bara, provided greater insight into the companies strategy to meet stringent Chinese Regulation during a press briefing in Shanghai. Mrs. Bara along with other CEOs from the industry in the past attempted to influence the Chinese Government to soften its hardline aimed at a drastic shift towards electrification. The GM CEO stated that the company will release ten new EVs by 2020 and that it will open a battery plant with its domestic partner, SAIC, this year. She maintained GM’s stance though that Government support is required to help the consumer shift towards EVs.
Week 37 2017 - GM unveils production ready autonomous vehicles
General Motors and its subsidiary, Cruise Automation, unveiled a production-ready self-driving car based on the Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle. Up to now, autonomous cars are all hand build, a process that can only produce a couple of hundred cars a year, but presenting a self-driving car that is based on a mass-market platform is a game changer for GM.
Week 32 2017 - GM is selling a $5,000 EV in China
The E100, which is Baojun’s first electric car, is powered by a single 39-horsepower electric motor and has a top speed of 62 miles an hour. The E100 can drive about 96 miles on a fully charged battery. More than 5,000 people have already registered to buy the first 200 vehicles. Another 500 vehicles will be made available this week, and buyers will be chosen on a first-come-first-served basis. The Baojun E100 will sell for around $5,000 after incentives.
Week 30 2017 - GM SAIC JV to deliver first EV
In China, the SAIC / GM / Wuling joint venture, Baojun launched its first electric vehicle, the Smart look-alike Baojun E100 city car. GAC also released its much anticipated GAC GE3 SUV BEV. Both vehicles will go on sale in August. The Baojun will sell for CNY35,800 ($5,300) and the GAC GE3 starting at CNY 150,000 ($22,200).
Week 24 2017 - GM produces Autonomous Bolt EV
GM announced this week that it completed the equipment of 130 Chevrolet Bolt EVs with its next generation of self-driving technology. The vehicles will be added to its fleet of 50 current generation Bolt EVs testing the autonomous technology on public roads in San Francisco Scottsdale and Detroit. The company reported that the new generation technology features GM’s latest array of equipment, including LIDAR, cameras, sensors and other hardware designed to accelerate development of a safe and reliable fully autonomous vehicle.
In related news the California DMV permitted self-driving truck start-up, TuSimple, to test its artificial intelligence (AI)-based Level 4 autonomous driving system on 420-miles of public roads from San Diego to Tucson in Arizona.
Week 13 2017 - GM acquires OSVehicle
OSVehicle provides an open-source platform to hobbyists and other start-ups. Customers can have a full EV platform, the Tabby EVO, shipped between $12,500 and $19,500. OSVehicle claim start-ups can save $2 million and 3-years in Research and Development by going the open-source route. The open-source platform enables for larger disruption in mobility options using electric vehicles. Imagine adding George Hotz’s self-driving car kit which he plans to market through his company comma.ai at a price of $1,000, and you can build your own “ai-chauffeur” driven zero emission vehicle.
GM aims to use OSVehicle to develop its EDIT modular self-driving car based on the Chevy Bolt M1 platform. The decision was influenced by the ability of modular platforms to extend the lifespan of heavy use vehicles, such as ride sharing and hailing applications. OSVehicle‘s Yuki and Tin Hang Liu claim that through the use of modular architecture, car fleets can last ten times longer by enabling seamless hardware upgrades of self-driving and connected car technologies.
Week 9 2017 - USA February EV sales unpacked, GM stays ahead, Bolt slides
February Electric Vehicle sales data released for the USA this week reveals some interesting talking points. Overall, February sales gained a further 13.4% in January 2017 and over 55% on year on year basis. Contributors to the increase came from a nearly doubling in sales of the Tesla Model S and continued demand for the new Toyota Prius Plus. Unfortunately, the Prius in our books hardly counts as an electric vehicle due to its underwhelming continued reliance on its combustion engine. Disappointingly, sales for the Chevrolet Bolt declined over 18% from January, bringing total sales for the four months to 3,272 units, far short if one takes that at a claimed 30,000 units per annum the Bolt should have sold 10,000 units during the four months. In the carmaker standings, GM retained its lead with 2,776 units over Tesla’s 2,550 units with Ford taking third place with 1,704 units.
Week 2 2017 - GM CEO to Co-Chair government committee to oversee self-driving development
The USA Department of Transportation this week announced the formation of an Automation Committee to oversee its self-driving policy, with Tesla, a clear leader in the sector not on it. Self-driving vehicles and electric vehicles are not necessarily mutually inclusive as the technology could be applied to all drivetrains. However, the appointment of GM CEO Mary Barra as Co-Chair of the committee could be a clear indication of which tail is wagging the dog. GM recently opposed the new EPA emission requirements of 54.5 mpg by 2025. Follow the link for the complete list.
Week 45 2016 - Los Angeles Auto Show 2016
Although not as electric vehicle focused as the Paris Auto Show earlier the year, the Los Angeles Auto Show to be held this coming week promises to provide further insight in how automakers gear up for their respective electric vehicle strategies. Vehicle Manufacturers to keep an eye out for is Hyundai, Land Rover, GM, Tesla, BMW, Mercedes, and Nissan. Market commentators will also be looking at how some manufacturers utilise the low fuel cost environment to bring more SUV’s and crossovers to the market. The consumer’s appetite for these vehicles in the low fuel environment has long been the Achilles heal for the addition of EV vehicles, adding to an ever increasing glut of sedan vehicles.
Week 44 2016 - Charging Corridors
Reuters reported on an announcement by the White House that it will establish 48 EV Charging corridors, comprising 25,000 miles across 35 States with the support of Utilities and vehicle manufacturers. The initiative will allow for charging stations every 50 miles. The press release goes further by identifying specific State programs to support the adoption of electric vehicles, including California’s commitment to have 5% of all public parking to include charging stations. Car manufacturers supporting the initiative includes BMW, Nissan, and GM.
In this week’s Top 5 EV news | BYD launch Tang in Europe | Volta Electric Truck pilot | Byton bites the dust
Top 5 EV News Week 26 2020 | California pushes the world to electric trucks, Britain fast tracks 100% EV adoption, new EV models launched this week.
Top 5 EV News Week 25 2020: Bunch of new EVs launched this week. We look at the Lordstown Endurance electric pick-up to be launched later this week.


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Love Island star Alexandra Cane is finally on the mend after undergoing an expensive facial that left her face completely bloodied and scabbed over.
The 27-year-old reality star had undergone a CO2 laser facial last week and revealed the shocking results in an Instagram video.
Fans were concerned for Alex’s skin which was entirely red with blood, puffy and visibly scabbed. However, it appears the initial extreme state was simply part of the process as Alex has shared an update on her skin, which looks much clearer than before.
In an Instagram Story, Alex posted a close-up selfie of her face, which still appears to have some scabbing around the eye area. The TV star said: ‘Current face update for those asking!’
According to The Sun, Alex spent almost £3,000 on the procedure.
Unveiling the results earlier in the week, Alex said in a video: ‘This the current state of skin, it looks quite blood. It’s starting to scab over now but all is good according to my consultant.
‘Hopefully in a few days all of this scabbing should start peeling off. The most sore part is my eyes, but the rest of my skin feels pretty good [sic].’
After fans expressed their concern, Alex reassured them: ‘Guys, don’t panic, I’ve just had a few DMs saying “Oh my god, what’s happened?” This is how my skin is meant to look at the moment, please don’t worry, all is fine.’
Fortunately, Alex’s current state is only temporary as she reveals her face should settle in three to five weeks when the results are expected to show.
Alex explained that she underwent the facial to help with the skin condition she battles, impetigo, which had left her with scarring.
One fan was surprised to learn of Alex’s skin condition, stating that her skin usually looks flawless, to which she replied: ‘I’m a makeup artist and know how to make my skin look good.’
CO2 laser treatments are said to treat a large number of skin conditions and aging issues. The procedure tightens the skin and smooths out deep wrinkles while removing acne scars and diminishing pigmentation.
The session typically lasts between 60 to 90 minutes and should not require a follow-up treatment.
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The post office in Castlecomer is on the move.
It’ll be shutting down at its current location at the end of the month.
The 27th of August will be its last day operating at its current location on Chatsworth Street. As happened in Callan recently (more on that here) it’s set to reopen across the road in its new supermarket home on Monday the 30th.
Willie Forde is the owner of that outlet, Eurospar on the Square, and has been telling KCLR Lunch “That weekend it’s changing over into our store, we’ve just totally refurbished the unit beside the shop and we’re going to have a brand new post office there; now Helen is staying on, Anna May is retiring and I’d like to wish her and Dick happy retirement at this stage they’ve been there for generations, but it’s more or less the same as it always was, the same service, in newer surroundings, but the same people will be serving them”.
He adds “They’ve won many awards and everything so we’ve a hard act to follow in keeping up to Anna May and the girls and the team’s standards that’s why it’s important we kept the staff on and we were very anxious to do that, it’s a very important service for the area”.


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GE Lighting takes its energy-saving, cost-reducing lighting solutions on the road again with the 2012 GE Lighting Revolution Tour.
This tradeshow on wheels is designed to give designers, distributors, architects, contractors, facility maintenance, and utility executives a first-hand experience of GE’s latest innovations in lighting technology. This year, GE will host commercial users and officials in nearly 50 cities, showcasing new advanced-technology products and solutions in areas ranging from architectural lighting to retail and outdoor lighting.
The tour kicked off in Miami, Florida, in February and concludes in Hendersonville, North Carolina, on September 20 after stops in 57 cities across North America. End-users are invited to join the revolution or just track its progress at www.gelightingrevolutiontour.com
This year, on-board exhibits include products in-use, educational information, and innovative solutions, all focused on helping lighting customers reduce energy. A new lighting-control solutions section highlights ways to make lighting operations easier to manage by adopting a low-maintenance control format.
The latest floating, sleek and stylish 2X2 Lumination LED Edge light fixture will be shown, along with several new product lines including the GE ConstantColor CMH Integral PAR38 lamps, a replacement option that is four times more energy efficient than the halogen PAR38 lamp which will soon be eliminated. Refrigerated display case lighting, outdoor signage, indoor LED solutions, and more will be featured this year. In addition, visitors will have direct access to onsite GE experts who will be available to analyze specific lighting application challenges and objectives.
“We are excited to spend another year on the road showcasing GE’s new and existing lighting technologies. With the new regulations taking effect, GE is setting higher efficiency standards for every platform, whether for retail customers or consumers at home,” says Jim Benson, GM of professional marketing, GE Lighting. “GE Lighting is offering this tour as a way to engage customers and educate them about the energy-saving, innovative solutions GE has to offer in this new era of lighting.”
The 2011 GE Lighting Revolution Tour reached 47 US and Canadian cities last year, hosting almost 10,000 total visitors over the course of 10 months. “We’re looking forward to another year of educating people on the most recent lighting innovations and options through this year’s tour,” Benson says.


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San Francisco-based electric motorcycle manufacturer Zero is kick-starting the summer with an eight stop tour across the UK, giving riders a chance to test ride the latest model range.
The transition to electric is taking some time in the UK – but with Zero recently upgrading its battery tech, helping to make Zero’s newest models capable of trekking more than 150 miles (250 kilometers) without needing to stop for a charge, going electric is as good a proposition as it’s ever been.
Enjoy everything More Bikes by reading the monthly newspaper, Read FREE Online.
The event kicked off yesterday at Ponderosa Café in North Wales – so there’s still seven dates left on the tour, if you fancy swinging your leg over the revolutionary bit of kit.
Zero’s UK Country Manager, Dale Robinson said: “Riding a Zero is quite an experience so we’ve decided to go out and take our bikes to the people, to give them an opportunity to try one for themselves. Lots of people have preconceptions about electric motorcycles but I’ve never met anyone yet who didn’t come back from a test ride with a smile on their face. There’s no hard sell, just an opportunity for riders to ask any questions they may have, take one out for a ride and make up their own minds on electric motorcycles.”
In order to test ride one or more Zero models, riders simply need to bring their own protective gear (helmet, jacket, gloves, etc) and valid license. Easy.
HERE’S THE REMAINING DATES –
June 24 – Squires Café, North Yorkshire
June 27 – Loomies Café, Hampshire
July 21 – Hartside Café, Northumberland
July 22 – Otterburn Mill, Northumberland
August 18 – The Biker’s Cove, Scotland
August 19 – The Green Welly, Scotland
September 19 – Ryka’s Café, Surrey


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The San Francisco-based freight forwarder, which has now raised a total of $94 million to fund global expansion, said it is constructing a new operating system for global trade that will unite the world in a seamless web of commerce.
In addition, the Baltic Exchange has named Mark Jackson its new chief executive officer, who is replacing the current CEO Jeremy Penn.
The global tire manufacturer said construction on its new distribution center in Spartanburg County, S.C. is expected to begin this year, the center's first phase is slated to open in late 2017, and full build-out is expected in early 2017.
Registration takes less than 1 minute.
The South Korean liner carrier is surely to blame for its own demise, but how much of its demise can be attributed to luck in an industry where most play follow the leader?
The South Korean carrier said certain providers have been charging its customers more than what it would have charged to transport cargo and has tried to intervene, taking its concern up with the Federal Maritime Commission.
The South Korean ocean carrier filed for recognition of its Korean insolvency proceeding in the United States Friday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey and the court ordered a hearing on the request for Tuesday.


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The internet blew up last night with rumors that Kanye West had canceled his YEEZY Season 6 show. The news was originally posted by Harper’s Bazaar, before later taking down the post, but the news was also widely reported by numerous other outlets. The problem was that YEEZY Season was never supposed to be showing on the official fashion calendar, but instead showing at an off-the-calendar presentation.
According to an email obtained by BoF, the presentation will not be going ahead. The magazine reported that the presentation was supposed to show on September 13, but that beauty brand Redken had told the site that the event had been canceled.
However, multiple sources have told Highsnobiety that the YEEZY Season 6 presentation is still set to happen, just not in the near future. Whether this means the presentation will still happen in New York is yet to be seen, though we could certainly see Kanye moving the whole operation to Paris Fashion Week.
In other news, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian are expecting a third baby in January.
- Main & Featured Image: Bryan Bedder / Getty Images