E1 Will Bow the First Fitness Title on Blu-ray November 19, 2009

The Johnsons’ workout is unique in its system of providing goals, measuring progress and setting accountability, all of which is based on research.

“There are tests in between at the beginning and end of each phase, based on age and gender,” Jay Johnson said. “Every three weeks take the test. If you don’t pass it, just rewind.”

The Johnson’s also give that extra mental push to get users through the physical challenge of the workouts.

“Fitness is more mental than anything,” said Robert I. Gonzalez, president of Music Access.

While most fitness suppliers haven’t so far seen the value of releasing fitness titles in high definition, the producers behind the “Boot Camp” series do.

ZOLD to Offer Canadian Eco-Fashion Designer Labels November 17, 2009

ZOLD represents twelve of the eco industry’s finest apparel and fashion manufacturers. Some of these brands include prominent designers such as ecoSkin, Indigenous Designs, PI Organics, B-Green and Our Love Yoga apparel, as well as PO-ZU’s and Autonomie Project’s lines of footwear.

But the company doesn’t stop here. ZOLD compliments its garments line with accessories and jewelry, such as Pure Blanks and Eco-Gear, two well-known Canadian brands. ZOLD also carries a selection of accessories and handbags from English Retreads and Designs by Estrada.

Strong business roots produce fruits for future November 17, 2009

When I took over a struggling envelope company, I had every intention of making it more successful than the previous owner could imagine. Toward that end, our mission statement since Day One has been “To be in business forever.” Anyone could make an envelope with the proper machinery, I figured, but some would upset their customers, some would sell out to other operations, and some would have management or quality issues. When I started, there were more than 400 envelope manufacturers in the country. About 100 remain.

Check out my package November 11, 2009

• Cellophane: A lot of people complain about how hard it is to remove this tightly applied shrink wrap and I usually rip it off as soon as I get home with my purchase (damaging the box in the process), but I’m still kind of glad it’s there, indicating that my movie is brand new and factory fresh. It’s like an unspoken guarantee that nobody has opened the box and licked the disc.

• Stickers: These colorful, eye-catching little decals look good, but since they’re affixed to the shrink wrap, they get ripped off and forgotten almost immediately. I’ve discarded loads of these things and I can’t recall what a single one of them said.

• Security tape: To some DVD manufacturers, shrink wrap isn’t enough. You’ve got to seal the top of the box with a strip of safety tape, just to be sure. All this does is add an extra step between you and an open box. Some companies put it on every single edge of the box, apart from the spine. Now that is one secure DVD. Next, they’ll be welding the damn thing shut.

Automotive camera market stays turbulent November 11, 2009

Cameras in vehicles are still emerging, and their suppliers are still tying to find their way. Automotive system suppliers, camera suppliers, and the makers of the image sensors are all fighting for a piece of the action in this growth segment in the automotive industry.

The supplier landscape has become more complex over the last two years. Increasingly, the major system suppliers are developing their own camera modules. At the same time, new and highly specialised suppliers are coming to market, delivering the whole application package. All in all, there are some 20-25 suppliers active in this area, with camera modules or vision systems either in development or production. Despite this only a handful of them currently have contracts and are in production.

China’s cell phone use surges to high November 9, 2009

China Cell Phone communications business accounted for more than 60 percent of the total telecommunications industry income in the first nine months, a record high since the country started to collect such figures a decade ago, the industry regulator said Monday.

The portion of fixed line income fell 4 percentage points year on year to 28.2 percent from January to September, said the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

“The mobile substitution (of fixed line) will continue in the domestic market because of the lower and lower mobile rate and the development of 3G,” said Sandy Shen, a telecom analyst of Gartner Inc, a United States-based IT consulting firm.

In the period, China’s telecom industry posted revenue of 625.69 billion yuan (US$91.11 billion), a 3.1-percent rise annually, the ministry said.

New NZ wool brands to go on sale in US November 4, 2009

New brands promoting New Zealand wool will start to appear on carpets going on sale in the United States in the next few months.

The two companies behind new strong wool initiatives have launched brands designed to lift consumer awareness about the benefits of using wool rather than synthetic fibres in carpets.

They specifically highlight the environmental and sustainability attributes of New Zealand-grown wool, all aimed at restoring prices and demand for the type of wool that makes up the bulk of this country’s production.

Wool Partners International, a joint venture between PGG Wrightson and a new farmer co-operative, has been signing carpet manufacturers in the United States to use its “Laneve” brand.

The E-Reader’s Future November 4, 2009

If the statistics on wholesale book sales from the International Digital Publishing Forum, which are typically half those of retail, are to be believed, e-book sales have approximately tripled within the last twelve months – the data coincides with Amazon’s entrance into the market, as expected.  But with the debut of Barnes & Noble, one of two monolithic North American book retailers, as both a hardware and e-book retailer, these numbers will likely grow at an even faster rate.

Trade Show targets 70 exhibitors November 2, 2009

Frank Comito, the Bahamas Hotel Association’s (BHA) executive vice-president, at a press conference to unveil the November 13-14 trade show, emphasised that it was not just designed as a platform for firms in the renewable energy/energy efficient industry, with manufacturers, marketing and public relations firms, food and beverage suppliers, IT firms, financial services providers and tourism-related companies among the 25 already signed-up.

Automotive suppliers: France creates bailout fund September 28, 2009

To help automotive suppliers, France’s industry minister Christian Estrosi plans to set up an additional fund resembling the Fonds de modernisation des equipementiers automobiles (FMEA). The exact size of the new fund is unknown. A committee chaired, among others, by Plastic Omnium, Valeo and Faurecia representatives, has been appointed to determine how the money will be distributed.

The new fund will apparently be financed equally by the government and large automotive suppliers. Three working groups will provide short-term assistance and discuss restructuring possibilities, all in keeping with market expectations.