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Crypto mining companies are actively negotiating contracts with Brazilian electricity providers, such as Renova Energia, that would benefit from the South American country’s surplus renewable power without burdening the grid during peak times. Following crypto heavyweight Tether, which announced in July an investment in the South American country, there are at least six negotiations for small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as one for a larger project of up to 400 megawatts (MW), people from six different companies told Reuters. Mining machines that solve complex mathematical problems to back crypto transactions have overloaded grids in multiple countries. However, in Brazil, where crypto mining hardly exists today, they could help address a chronic clean electricity oversupply problem, which has cost energy companies almost $1 billion in the last two years, according to wind and solar industry groups ABEEolica and Absolar. Tether, the world’s largest digital assets company, said it is leveraging its recent acquisition of Adecoagro to tap its renewable energy, such as the electricity coming from sugarcane mills, to power a bitcoin mining operation in Brazil. Renewable energy supplier Renova told Reuters it is making one of the first major investments in the crypto sector, a $200 million mining project for an undisclosed client in the state of Bahia in the northeast of Brazil. The 100-MW venture consists of six data centers that will draw power from a wind farm. “We aim to expand the company and enter new markets,” Renova CEO Sergio Brasil said. “We realized that by providing all the infrastructure (for crypto mining), we were one step ahead of our competitors.” Crypto miners can rapidly scale operations up or down based on energy availability, providing a flexible consumer base for excess energy without straining the grid during peak demand periods. Brazil’s energy oversupply stems from years of government incentives that spurred a boom in wind and solar investments. But the pace of development has outstripped the expansion of transmission infrastructure, and some plants now waste as much as 70% of the power they generate. “There’s tons of potential,” John Blount, one of the founders of Enegix, a crypto miner based in Kazakhstan, told Reuters. “We will try somehow to elaborate mobile data centers,” he added, that would be plugged directly into power plants. Enegix is looking into deals in Brazil’s northeast, the region suffering from the biggest energy surplus, including tapping into solar and wind power in the state of Piaui. Penguin, which is based in Paraguay, one of the world’s biggest crypto hubs, said it is negotiating projects too, but declined to share any details. And China’s Bitmain, one of the largest manufacturers of mining equipment, is also exploring opportunities, according to an executive who asked not to be named. Miners seen as ‘diamonds’ Energy providers have also expressed an interest in crypto projects. Casa dos Ventos, which partners with France’s TotalEnergies on wind power, and U.S.-based investment firm Global Infrastructure Partners’ (GIP) Atlas Renewable Energy confirmed their intentions to Reuters. French utility Engie’s subsidiary in Brazil and Auren Energia, the joint venture between Votorantim Energia and CPP Investments, Canada Pension Plan’s global investment arm, are also looking into projects to monetize their unused energy, three sources told Reuters. The companies declined to comment. Providers look “at consumers like this as if they were diamonds,” said Raphael Gomes, a lawyer who has been working on several crypto projects. Companies are assessing different models, including buying equipment to mine on their own. In Bahia, electricity provider Eletrobras, the biggest in the country, is installing ASIC mining machines, along with a microgrid fed by a wind turbine, solar panels and batteries, for a pilot project. “We want to understand how this industry works,” said Juliano Dantas, Eletrobras’ vice president for innovation. The work could help energy providers prepare to enter the data center industry, which the Brazilian government is trying to attract as a strategy to grow the clean energy economy. There are concerns about the industry’s water use, as some of the regions with the biggest amount of unused energy also suffer from droughts. Brazil also has infrastructure problems and lacks regulations for cryptocurrency mining. “We went after 400 MW — it was like a Sisyphean journey, a bit difficult,” said Bruno Vaccotti, an executive at Penguin. “We’re still exploring Brazil, but it’s not that easy.” —Leticia Fucuchima, Reuters Additional reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft and Samuel Chen. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding my work at Lifehacker as a preferred source. Early Prime Day deals have started, and you can find many Amazon devices with record-low prices, including Kindle readers, all leading up to October Prime Day. One of these deals worth highlighting is the Amazon Echo Frames + Echo Spot bundle, currently going for $119.99 (originally $229.99), the lowest price it has been, according to price-tracking tools. Amazon Echo Frames + Echo Spot Smart Glasses with Alexa, Modern Rectangle frames in Charcoal Gray with prescription ready lenses $119.99 at Amazon $349.98 Save $229.99 Get Deal Get Deal $119.99 at Amazon $349.98 Save $229.99 The third-generation Echo Frames are the latest to be released this summer. They work like open-ear headphones that let you hear your surroundings, with the frames projecting sound to your ears. This can be good or bad, depending on your intended use. If you want to focus on your media in loud environments like a busy coffee shop, they might not work great. But if you are in a more controlled environment like an office or home, being able to hear when someone talks to you is a necessity. The bundle also brings the Echo Spot, which is normally $79.99 and is the latest smart speaker with Alexa built in, and the Echo Frames normally run for $269.99, so being able to get both of these products for $119.99 is a steal. The Echo Frames feel like regular glasses (or sunglasses). The standout features are the excellent microphone and well-balanced mids and highs, according to PCMag's review. Keep in mind, though, like most open-ear headphones, the bass is very weak. You can wear these out to work out if you want, since they are water and sweat-resistant. Keep in mind this price does not include the cost of your prescription lenses. But you can get the prescription-ready configuration with lenses meant to be swapped out by your optometrist. Our Best Editor-Vetted Tech Deals Right Now Apple AirPods Pro 2 Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds — $199.00 (List Price $249.00) Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge 256GB Unlocked AI Phone (Titanium JetBlack) — $819.99 (List Price $1,099.99) Apple iPad 11" 128GB A16 WiFi Tablet (Blue, 2025) — $319.00 (List Price $349.00) Blink Mini 2 1080p Indoor Security Camera (2-Pack, White) — $34.99 (List Price $69.99) Ring Battery Doorbell Plus — $79.99 (List Price $149.99) Blink Video Doorbell Wireless (Newest Model) + Sync Module Core — $34.99 (List Price $69.99) Ring Indoor Cam (2nd Gen, 2-pack, White) — $49.98 (List Price $79.99) Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K (2nd Gen, 2023) — $24.99 (List Price $49.99) Shark AV2501S AI Ultra Robot Vacuum with HEPA Self-Empty Base — $229.99 (List Price $549.99) Amazon Fire HD 10 (2023) — $69.99 (List Price $139.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

The retail giant, in asking a court to dismiss the case, said its deal with a North Carolina brokerage was within the law's carve-out for such agreements. View the full article

A brand development agency focuses on shaping and enhancing your brand’s identity to connect with your target audience effectively. They conduct thorough market research, develop cohesive brand assets like logos and messaging, and craft compelling narratives that represent your brand’s mission. By monitoring performance and making strategic adjustments, these agencies help nurture customer loyalty. Comprehending their specific processes and the benefits they offer can greatly impact your brand’s success in a competitive environment. Key Takeaways Conducts in-depth market and competitor research to identify unique value propositions and target audiences. Develops cohesive brand assets, including logos, style guides, and strategic messaging for consistent brand identity. Crafts compelling brand narratives that resonate with audiences and enhance emotional connections. Implements, monitors, and evaluates brand performance to ensure effectiveness and customer engagement. Provides ongoing support and expert guidance to optimize brand strategies and achieve long-term success. Understanding Brand Development Agencies When you consider how to raise your business, comprehension of brand development agencies is essential, as they offer specialized services that can greatly improve your brand’s impact. A branding agency in NYC helps you conceptualize and refine your brand through strategic guidance. They conduct thorough research to clarify your business goals and identify your target audience, ensuring a solid foundation for your brand identity. Brand strategy agencies in New York focus on creating key branding materials like logos and taglines, maintaining a cohesive image across platforms. Furthermore, brand consultancy in New York emphasizes storytelling to craft a narrative that resonates with your audience. Key Services Offered by Brand Development Agencies Brand development agencies offer a range of services aimed at improving your business’s identity and market presence. They conduct in-depth research to understand your market, competitors, and target audience, informing strategic branding decisions. As a brand strategy agency, they create cohesive brand assets, such as logos and style guides, ensuring a consistent visual identity across platforms. The agency develops thorough brand strategies, encompassing positioning and messaging customized to your audience. They assist in crafting a compelling brand narrative that boosts recognition and relatability. Furthermore, branding agency services include ongoing support, producing branded marketing materials and tracking brand performance. In New York, brand consulting NYC firms and brand identity agency New York specialists excel at these services, ensuring effective corporate branding. The Brand Development Process The brand development process starts with thorough research and analysis to understand your market and audience. Next, you’ll move into the creative development process, where you shape your brand’s identity through messaging and visual elements. Finally, implementing and monitoring strategies will help you assess the effectiveness of your brand and make adjustments as needed. Research and Analysis Phase To effectively shape your brand, the research and analysis phase plays an important role in gathering thorough data about your target market, competitors, and industry trends. Branding agencies employ qualitative and quantitative methods, like surveys and focus groups, to understand consumer preferences. This phase helps identify your unique value proposition and key differentiators, vital for effective positioning. Research findings become actionable insights guiding your messaging, brand identity, and overall strategy. Analyzing existing brand perceptions reveals strengths and weaknesses, allowing branding firms to make informed decisions. Insight Type Purpose Market Trends Understand industry shifts Consumer Behavior Identify preferences Competitor Analysis Recognize competitive edges Brand Perception Assess current brand image Unique Value Proposition Define what sets you apart Creative Development Process Beginning with a clear definition of company goals and objectives sets the foundation for the creative development process. In this phase, a brand strategy agency Los Angeles will conduct strategic planning sessions to identify competitive advantages and craft a messaging framework that highlights your differentiators. You’ll develop a compelling brand story that encapsulates your company’s identity, nurturing an emotional connection with your target audience. Crucial brand assets, such as logos and marketing materials, are created to guarantee a cohesive presence in the marketplace. Collaborating with the best brand strategy agencies helps refine these elements. A brand marketing agency NYC or branding companies New York will likewise assist in aligning your vision with effective branding and advertising agency strategies, enhancing your overall brand impact. Implementation and Monitoring Strategies Once your brand strategy is solidified and your assets are developed, it’s time to focus on implementation and monitoring strategies. You’ll want to set clearly defined goals that align with your overall business strategy, guiding your branding efforts. This is where the best branding agencies in NYC can help, conducting strategic planning sessions to identify your competitive advantages and messaging. By developing a compelling brand story, your identity shines through, serving as a foundation for all communications. Once launched, engage a brand marketing agency in Los Angeles to track metrics and measure effectiveness. This ongoing monitoring allows you to make necessary adjustments, ensuring your brand stays relevant and impactful, a vital step embraced by top branding agencies in the world. Importance of Strategic Brand Positioning Comprehending your target audience is crucial for effective brand positioning, as it allows you to tailor your messaging and differentiate from competitors. By clearly establishing your brand’s unique value proposition, you not just attract customers but additionally nurture loyalty, which can greatly influence your bottom line. A well-defined brand position creates consistency across all marketing channels, reinforcing customer perceptions and enhancing recognition in a crowded marketplace. Defining Target Audience Defining your target audience is essential for effective strategic brand positioning, as it allows you to tailor your messaging and product offerings particularly to the needs and preferences of your ideal customers. Research shows that brands with a well-defined target audience experience 60% higher engagement rates. Demographics Psychographics Behaviors Age, gender, income Values, interests, lifestyle Purchase habits, brand loyalty Understanding these elements helps you create personalized experiences that resonate with your audience. Brands that effectively communicate can see up to a 55% increase in purchase likelihood. By clearly defining your target audience, you inform brand messaging, product development, and marketing efforts, ensuring alignment with consumer expectations, an essential aspect that branding agencies NYC and brand strategy firms Los Angeles excel in. Differentiating From Competitors In a competitive marketplace, differentiating your brand from others is vital to standing out and attracting your target audience. Strategic brand positioning helps define your unique place in the market, which is significant for distinguishing your brand from competitors. By working with top branding agencies in New York or best brand development companies, you can conduct thorough research into industry trends and competitor offerings. This research identifies gaps that your brand can fill, enhancing its relevance. A corporate branding consultant can help you articulate a clear value proposition, leading to increased purchase likelihood. Consistent messaging across platforms reinforces your brand’s distinct identity, nurturing customer loyalty as consumers are more likely to return to brands they understand and connect with, like those represented by branding companies NYC. Establishing Brand Messaging Crafting effective brand messaging is vital for any business aiming to carve out a distinct position in the marketplace. Strategic brand positioning helps define your unique value proposition in relation to competitors, clarifying your market role and target audience. A strong brand messaging framework communicates your mission, vision, and values clearly, which can boost customer loyalty by 55% when authenticity is prioritized. Top brand strategy agencies conduct thorough market research to identify gaps and opportunities, ensuring your messaging resonates. Consistency across all platforms reinforces your brand identity and builds trust; 72% of consumers prefer brands with a coherent voice. By developing compelling narratives, brand development agencies help create emotional connections that are fundamental for long-term success. Creating Cohesive Brand Assets Creating cohesive brand assets involves a strategic approach to establishing a brand’s identity through visual elements. Top branding agencies in NYC excel in creating logos, color palettes, and typography that reflect your brand’s values. By ensuring consistency across all platforms, you improve brand recognition by up to 80%, making it easier for consumers to connect with you. Branding firms in NYC often develop style guides that outline proper asset usage, promoting uniformity in messaging. Effective brand design in NYC is rooted in thorough audience research, aligning with consumer expectations to boost engagement and loyalty. In the end, brands with cohesive identities can outperform competitors by 60% in customer loyalty metrics, making it vital to partner with the best branding agency for success. Launching and Monitoring Brand Performance Launching a brand successfully requires a well-defined go-to-market strategy that outlines the target audience and positions the brand effectively within the marketplace. Collaborating with the best branding agency in New York or a top branding firm in NYC can improve this process. After the launch, monitoring brand performance is essential. Agencies utilize metrics like brand awareness and customer engagement to assess effectiveness. A brand consulting agency in Los Angeles might implement tools to track consumer feedback in real time, allowing for immediate adjustments. Regular performance reviews help identify areas for improvement, increasing customer retention rates by up to 55%. Choosing the right partners among the top brand development companies or best brand strategy firms guarantees your brand remains competitive and visible. Differentiating Between Branding and Marketing Agencies Comprehending the distinction between branding and marketing agencies is crucial for businesses looking to improve their market presence. Branding agencies focus on establishing your brand’s core identity and messaging, whereas marketing agencies execute promotional strategies to engage customers. For instance, if you partner with top branding companies in the USA or a boutique branding agency, they’ll create elements like logos and taglines. Conversely, branding agencies Los Angeles may offer business branding services that build your brand’s foundation. Effective marketing campaigns rely on this established branding for consistency. A digital branding company specializes in research for brand positioning, whereas marketing agencies develop campaigns aimed at driving sales. Fundamentally, strong branding boosts marketing effectiveness and nurtures customer loyalty. Benefits of Partnering With a Brand Development Agency Partnering with a brand development agency offers numerous advantages that can considerably boost your business’s market presence. These professionals help you create a cohesive brand identity that resonates with your target audience, setting you apart from competitors. By leveraging the best online branding services, you can guarantee a strategic approach during saving time and resources. Award-winning branding agencies provide expert guidance that mitigates common mistakes, enhancing brand perception and recall. Collaborating with top brand management companies gives you access to innovative strategies customized to your unique goals. If you choose a boutique branding agency in Los Angeles, you’ll benefit from personalized creative branding services that lead to effective outcomes. Investing in professional branding can yield long-term returns through increased recognition and customer loyalty. Conclusion In summary, partnering with a brand development agency can greatly improve your brand’s identity and market presence. These agencies provide crucial services, from conducting market research to creating cohesive brand assets and monitoring performance. By focusing on strategic brand positioning and clear messaging, they help you connect with your target audience effectively. In the end, leveraging their expertise can lead to increased customer loyalty and long-term success, ensuring your brand stands out in a competitive environment. Image Via Envato This article, "What Does a Brand Development Agency Do?" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

A brand development agency focuses on shaping and enhancing your brand’s identity to connect with your target audience effectively. They conduct thorough market research, develop cohesive brand assets like logos and messaging, and craft compelling narratives that represent your brand’s mission. By monitoring performance and making strategic adjustments, these agencies help nurture customer loyalty. Comprehending their specific processes and the benefits they offer can greatly impact your brand’s success in a competitive environment. Key Takeaways Conducts in-depth market and competitor research to identify unique value propositions and target audiences. Develops cohesive brand assets, including logos, style guides, and strategic messaging for consistent brand identity. Crafts compelling brand narratives that resonate with audiences and enhance emotional connections. Implements, monitors, and evaluates brand performance to ensure effectiveness and customer engagement. Provides ongoing support and expert guidance to optimize brand strategies and achieve long-term success. Understanding Brand Development Agencies When you consider how to raise your business, comprehension of brand development agencies is essential, as they offer specialized services that can greatly improve your brand’s impact. A branding agency in NYC helps you conceptualize and refine your brand through strategic guidance. They conduct thorough research to clarify your business goals and identify your target audience, ensuring a solid foundation for your brand identity. Brand strategy agencies in New York focus on creating key branding materials like logos and taglines, maintaining a cohesive image across platforms. Furthermore, brand consultancy in New York emphasizes storytelling to craft a narrative that resonates with your audience. Key Services Offered by Brand Development Agencies Brand development agencies offer a range of services aimed at improving your business’s identity and market presence. They conduct in-depth research to understand your market, competitors, and target audience, informing strategic branding decisions. As a brand strategy agency, they create cohesive brand assets, such as logos and style guides, ensuring a consistent visual identity across platforms. The agency develops thorough brand strategies, encompassing positioning and messaging customized to your audience. They assist in crafting a compelling brand narrative that boosts recognition and relatability. Furthermore, branding agency services include ongoing support, producing branded marketing materials and tracking brand performance. In New York, brand consulting NYC firms and brand identity agency New York specialists excel at these services, ensuring effective corporate branding. The Brand Development Process The brand development process starts with thorough research and analysis to understand your market and audience. Next, you’ll move into the creative development process, where you shape your brand’s identity through messaging and visual elements. Finally, implementing and monitoring strategies will help you assess the effectiveness of your brand and make adjustments as needed. Research and Analysis Phase To effectively shape your brand, the research and analysis phase plays an important role in gathering thorough data about your target market, competitors, and industry trends. Branding agencies employ qualitative and quantitative methods, like surveys and focus groups, to understand consumer preferences. This phase helps identify your unique value proposition and key differentiators, vital for effective positioning. Research findings become actionable insights guiding your messaging, brand identity, and overall strategy. Analyzing existing brand perceptions reveals strengths and weaknesses, allowing branding firms to make informed decisions. Insight Type Purpose Market Trends Understand industry shifts Consumer Behavior Identify preferences Competitor Analysis Recognize competitive edges Brand Perception Assess current brand image Unique Value Proposition Define what sets you apart Creative Development Process Beginning with a clear definition of company goals and objectives sets the foundation for the creative development process. In this phase, a brand strategy agency Los Angeles will conduct strategic planning sessions to identify competitive advantages and craft a messaging framework that highlights your differentiators. You’ll develop a compelling brand story that encapsulates your company’s identity, nurturing an emotional connection with your target audience. Crucial brand assets, such as logos and marketing materials, are created to guarantee a cohesive presence in the marketplace. Collaborating with the best brand strategy agencies helps refine these elements. A brand marketing agency NYC or branding companies New York will likewise assist in aligning your vision with effective branding and advertising agency strategies, enhancing your overall brand impact. Implementation and Monitoring Strategies Once your brand strategy is solidified and your assets are developed, it’s time to focus on implementation and monitoring strategies. You’ll want to set clearly defined goals that align with your overall business strategy, guiding your branding efforts. This is where the best branding agencies in NYC can help, conducting strategic planning sessions to identify your competitive advantages and messaging. By developing a compelling brand story, your identity shines through, serving as a foundation for all communications. Once launched, engage a brand marketing agency in Los Angeles to track metrics and measure effectiveness. This ongoing monitoring allows you to make necessary adjustments, ensuring your brand stays relevant and impactful, a vital step embraced by top branding agencies in the world. Importance of Strategic Brand Positioning Comprehending your target audience is crucial for effective brand positioning, as it allows you to tailor your messaging and differentiate from competitors. By clearly establishing your brand’s unique value proposition, you not just attract customers but additionally nurture loyalty, which can greatly influence your bottom line. A well-defined brand position creates consistency across all marketing channels, reinforcing customer perceptions and enhancing recognition in a crowded marketplace. Defining Target Audience Defining your target audience is essential for effective strategic brand positioning, as it allows you to tailor your messaging and product offerings particularly to the needs and preferences of your ideal customers. Research shows that brands with a well-defined target audience experience 60% higher engagement rates. Demographics Psychographics Behaviors Age, gender, income Values, interests, lifestyle Purchase habits, brand loyalty Understanding these elements helps you create personalized experiences that resonate with your audience. Brands that effectively communicate can see up to a 55% increase in purchase likelihood. By clearly defining your target audience, you inform brand messaging, product development, and marketing efforts, ensuring alignment with consumer expectations, an essential aspect that branding agencies NYC and brand strategy firms Los Angeles excel in. Differentiating From Competitors In a competitive marketplace, differentiating your brand from others is vital to standing out and attracting your target audience. Strategic brand positioning helps define your unique place in the market, which is significant for distinguishing your brand from competitors. By working with top branding agencies in New York or best brand development companies, you can conduct thorough research into industry trends and competitor offerings. This research identifies gaps that your brand can fill, enhancing its relevance. A corporate branding consultant can help you articulate a clear value proposition, leading to increased purchase likelihood. Consistent messaging across platforms reinforces your brand’s distinct identity, nurturing customer loyalty as consumers are more likely to return to brands they understand and connect with, like those represented by branding companies NYC. Establishing Brand Messaging Crafting effective brand messaging is vital for any business aiming to carve out a distinct position in the marketplace. Strategic brand positioning helps define your unique value proposition in relation to competitors, clarifying your market role and target audience. A strong brand messaging framework communicates your mission, vision, and values clearly, which can boost customer loyalty by 55% when authenticity is prioritized. Top brand strategy agencies conduct thorough market research to identify gaps and opportunities, ensuring your messaging resonates. Consistency across all platforms reinforces your brand identity and builds trust; 72% of consumers prefer brands with a coherent voice. By developing compelling narratives, brand development agencies help create emotional connections that are fundamental for long-term success. Creating Cohesive Brand Assets Creating cohesive brand assets involves a strategic approach to establishing a brand’s identity through visual elements. Top branding agencies in NYC excel in creating logos, color palettes, and typography that reflect your brand’s values. By ensuring consistency across all platforms, you improve brand recognition by up to 80%, making it easier for consumers to connect with you. Branding firms in NYC often develop style guides that outline proper asset usage, promoting uniformity in messaging. Effective brand design in NYC is rooted in thorough audience research, aligning with consumer expectations to boost engagement and loyalty. In the end, brands with cohesive identities can outperform competitors by 60% in customer loyalty metrics, making it vital to partner with the best branding agency for success. Launching and Monitoring Brand Performance Launching a brand successfully requires a well-defined go-to-market strategy that outlines the target audience and positions the brand effectively within the marketplace. Collaborating with the best branding agency in New York or a top branding firm in NYC can improve this process. After the launch, monitoring brand performance is essential. Agencies utilize metrics like brand awareness and customer engagement to assess effectiveness. A brand consulting agency in Los Angeles might implement tools to track consumer feedback in real time, allowing for immediate adjustments. Regular performance reviews help identify areas for improvement, increasing customer retention rates by up to 55%. Choosing the right partners among the top brand development companies or best brand strategy firms guarantees your brand remains competitive and visible. Differentiating Between Branding and Marketing Agencies Comprehending the distinction between branding and marketing agencies is crucial for businesses looking to improve their market presence. Branding agencies focus on establishing your brand’s core identity and messaging, whereas marketing agencies execute promotional strategies to engage customers. For instance, if you partner with top branding companies in the USA or a boutique branding agency, they’ll create elements like logos and taglines. Conversely, branding agencies Los Angeles may offer business branding services that build your brand’s foundation. Effective marketing campaigns rely on this established branding for consistency. A digital branding company specializes in research for brand positioning, whereas marketing agencies develop campaigns aimed at driving sales. Fundamentally, strong branding boosts marketing effectiveness and nurtures customer loyalty. Benefits of Partnering With a Brand Development Agency Partnering with a brand development agency offers numerous advantages that can considerably boost your business’s market presence. These professionals help you create a cohesive brand identity that resonates with your target audience, setting you apart from competitors. By leveraging the best online branding services, you can guarantee a strategic approach during saving time and resources. Award-winning branding agencies provide expert guidance that mitigates common mistakes, enhancing brand perception and recall. Collaborating with top brand management companies gives you access to innovative strategies customized to your unique goals. If you choose a boutique branding agency in Los Angeles, you’ll benefit from personalized creative branding services that lead to effective outcomes. Investing in professional branding can yield long-term returns through increased recognition and customer loyalty. Conclusion In summary, partnering with a brand development agency can greatly improve your brand’s identity and market presence. These agencies provide crucial services, from conducting market research to creating cohesive brand assets and monitoring performance. By focusing on strategic brand positioning and clear messaging, they help you connect with your target audience effectively. In the end, leveraging their expertise can lead to increased customer loyalty and long-term success, ensuring your brand stands out in a competitive environment. Image Via Envato This article, "What Does a Brand Development Agency Do?" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

A gauge of present conditions fell 7 points to the lowest level in a year, while a measure of expectations for the next six months also dropped in September. View the full article

China’s factory activity shrank for a sixth straight month in September, the longest slump since 2019, an official report said Tuesday. The official manufacturing purchasing managers index, or PMI, improved to 49.8 from 49.4 in August. But it remained below the 50-cutoff level between contraction and expansion on a scale of 0 to 100. A private sector PMI survey by the credit research and rating startup RatingDog was more upbeat, with September’s overall PMI rising to 51.2 from 50.5 in August. The mixed manufacturing measures reflect persisting sluggish domestic demand and uncertainties over trade tensions with the United States. More detailed data measuring new orders and production saw month-on-month improvements. “The September PMI reads from China offered a picture that looked less like a coherent growth engine and more like a car with one cylinder firing while another misfires,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary Companies are under pressure from price cutting amid rough competition, he said. “Factories are moving more goods, but they’re being forced to do it at thinner margins, like street vendors selling more bowls of noodles at half price just to keep the crowd coming,” Innes said. The latest data show China’s economy is gaining momentum, with output accelerating slightly, said National Bureau of Statistics chief statistician Huo Lihui. China’s official manufacturing PMIs first slipped back into contraction in April as trade friction with U.S. President Donald The President’s administration heated up after he took office. The two sides are still slowly working their way toward a broad trade agreement after exchanging threats of sky-high tariffs on each others’ exports. A pause in steep U.S. tariff hikes on China has been extended until November, while a Sept. 19 phone call between The President and Chinese leader Xi Jinping offered glimmers of hope for improving relations. A truce hinges largely on a widely anticipated U.S. proposal for transferring ownership of TikTok to a U.S. company from its Chinese owner ByteDance. That would also require Beijing’s approval. A face-to-face meeting between The President and Xi is set for the end of October in South Korea on the sidelines of an annual summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. China’s economy has remained in the doldrums, bogged down by a prolonged slump in the property sector, elevated unemployment and weak household spending. Some economists are hoping that a rate cut by China’s central bank by the end of the year could help encourage more spending and investment. This month, the People’s Bank of China left its key lending rates unchanged following the U.S. Federal Reserve’s rate cut for the first time this year. —Chan Ho-Him, AP Business Writer View the full article

Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding my work at Lifehacker as a preferred source. Amazon's October Prime Day is nearly here. Between Oct. 7 and 8, you’ll find promotions on products from companies both big and small, all vying for your clicks and the contents of your bank account. Many of these offers will claim to be great deals, with the implication that not buying the item during Prime Day will mean you miss out on massive savings. But not all Prime Day deals are really all that great—just because a product is discounted on Prime Day doesn't mean it hasn't been cheaper before, and won't be cheaper later. Fortunately, there are a few strategies you can use to quickly figure out whether that “amazing deal” really is all that. How to tell a good Prime Day price from a bad oneOne of the best things you can do to tell if a Prime Day deal is legit is to employ the use of a price tracker. These sites and tools keep tabs on the prices for any given product across the many different stores and vendors where it is sold, in order to give you the best possible price, as well as show you whether that current “deal” really is that much lower than the original price or other deals that are out there. A common technique to make deals look good is to pump up the price of the product: That way, when the company slashes the price for something like Prime Day, it can claim a large discount, even if the overall price tag isn’t much lower than the original price (if it's lower at all). If something originally costs $60, a company can raise the price to $75, then cut it back down to $60, claiming it took 20% off. It’s accurate, but scummy, so watch out for it. You can use a browser extension like Keepa to watch a product's price history. But other trackers, like Capital One Shopping, can help you find prices and price histories for items across multiple stores. Their browser extensions are especially useful: If there’s another store selling the same product you’re looking at on Amazon for less, you’ll get a pop-up letting you know, with a direct link to that store’s product page. Knowing whether something is a good deal isn’t all about getting the best price, though. You might see that an item isn’t any cheaper elsewhere on the web, but there’s more than just the general price tag to consider. Amazon’s own products will have the best dealsIt’s Amazon Prime Day, after all. The company is here to sell as much inventory as it can, but it’s happiest if you’re buying Amazon products from Amazon. As such, the best tech deals are likely going to be with Amazon’s own line of gadgets. Of course, just because an Amazon product is massively on sale doesn't make it a "good deal." If you would rather buy a different brand over Amazon's, or if you just want to make sure you're getting the best version of a product, make sure to compare offerings from different companies, too. Make sure you’re not unknowingly buying an outdated piece of techI’m a big believer in old tech: I think we should be holding onto our devices for longer than many of us do. However, I don’t think companies should sell you old tech as if it were new, especially when new tech is right around the corner. Amazon is actually sometimes helpful here: If you’re looking at an outdated version of a product, Amazon lets you know, and gives you a link to the current version of that device. However, that’s only true if Amazon carries that new version of the device or if there’s a direct successor to that product. Lines are blurred these days: Last year’s device isn’t necessarily obsolete just because there’s a new version out, so Amazon doesn’t always try to sell you on the newer product. And that can be fine! Last-generation laptops, tablets, smartwatches, and phones are often great choices: Tech is advancing so rapidly that it can be frugal and practical to buy older tech that still works well. That said, Amazon telling you to buy something that won’t be able to update to the latest software later this year isn’t right. If you’re looking to buy a piece of tech on Prime Day, research is your friend. It’s more than okay to buy something that came out last year or the year before; what matters more is making sure the product will still work as it should in 2025, and if it’ll last as long as you’d reasonably expect it to. If the reason a device is such a good price is because it’s obsolete, that’s not a good deal. Not everything that's “cheap” is good On a similar note, be wary of cheap tech that simply isn’t very good. It might be affordable, but if it doesn’t work well, it’s not worth the cost. Often, this issue arises with the many brands you’ve never heard of selling items for pennies compared to other companies. Sure, you could save some money and go with these brands, but what about the long-term investment? After Amazon’s 30-day return policy is up, you’re sunk without a customer support channel, something many of these tiny companies lack themselves. On the other hand, you might have heard of the brand, but the product itself just isn’t very good. It might seem like a steal to get a giant 65-inch 4K TV for less than $300, but if the picture quality is really poor, was that really worth it? (No.) Read the reviews (not on Amazon, if you can help it)One way to make sure that TV is worth its steep price cut, or whether those cheap headphones are going to pass the listen test, is to read reviews for the products you’re considering buying. I’m not talking about Amazon reviews, either: Amazon’s ratings can be helpful, but they can also be compromised. Sometimes the reviews don’t even match the product they’re supposed to be talking about, which doesn’t bode well for the integrity of the review. And in the age of AI, you can never be too sure who's writing that customer review in the first place. When it comes to tech, the best approach is to listen to the reviewers with technical experience, who put these products through their paces before issuing an opinion. An outlet like our sister site PCMag will help you figure out pretty quickly whether that TV is really worth the hype, and they show their work so you can understand how they came to their conclusions. At the end of the day, it’s all about taking your time and doing your research—the opposite of Amazon’s “BUY IT NOW” strategy. Fight the urge to buy something on impulse, and make sure your money is going toward the best possible product for your needs. View the full article

Federal Reserve Vice Chair Philip Jefferson said despite the near term cloudiness to economic projections, he does expect inflation to resume its downward trajectory next year and reach the Fed's 2% inflation target in the coming years. View the full article

US Republicans and Democrats trade blame for funding impasse hours before midnight deadlineView the full article

The hurried diplomacy and backroom arm-twisting that shaped the White House planView the full article

Electricity generation in the Midwest is beginning to show a significant distinction, particularly for small business owners who may be wondering how energy sourcing will impact their operations and costs. The latest findings from the U.S. Energy Information Administration reveal that the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) and the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) continue to produce more electricity from coal than from natural gas during winter months. This trend has implications that small business owners should consider as they navigate their energy needs. While national trends indicate a shift away from coal towards natural gas—especially since coal-generated electricity fell below natural gas since January 2018 in the broader U.S. context—SPP and MISO markets are bucking this trend. The upcoming winter months are forecasted to see coal generation outpace natural gas from December 2025 through February 2026. “Coal remains competitive, especially when natural gas prices are relatively high,” notes Jonathan Church, one of the principal contributors to the report. For small businesses, these findings bring both opportunities and challenges. Understanding the dynamics of energy generation sources can help owners make informed decisions about their electricity providers and long-term contracts. Businesses reliant on seasonal heating may find themselves benefiting from stable coal prices, particularly when natural gas supply faces constraints during colder months. Factors like production freeze-offs can impact the availability of natural gas, potentially leading to fluctuations in costs for gas-fired electricity. The increased coal reliance in SPP and MISO markets could represent a cost-effective energy source for businesses during winter. Owners in these regions might want to examine their power contracts and consider whether a reliance on coal could result in more predictable and potentially lower electricity bills, especially when they anticipate doing more business during peak heating months. However, small business owners should also keep a close eye on the long-term market shift. Natural gas is poised to gain market share as older, less efficient coal-fired generators retire. The infrastructure for natural gas is often newer and more efficient, making it a more sustainable choice in the long run. “Much of the natural gas capacity in SPP and MISO is from the newer and relatively efficient combined-cycle units that have come online since 2000,” says Owen Comstock, a co-contributor. Nevertheless, as companies consider transitioning to natural gas, they should also consider the potential for increased costs if natural gas prices rise. Given the past volatility in natural gas pricing, small business owners need to incorporate flexible strategies in their financial planning. Locking in energy contracts during stable periods—or seeking out service providers that offer competitive rates year-round—could mitigate the risk of skyrocketing costs during peak demand periods. Additionally, it’s essential to be aware that the location-specific dynamics of energy generation are becoming more pronounced. While regions like California and New England have shifted almost entirely away from coal since at least 2010, SPP and MISO are clearly operating under different market conditions. This may necessitate a tailored approach for small businesses looking to harness energy solutions that best fit their operational needs. As the landscape of energy generation becomes increasingly fragmented, the onus falls on small business owners to stay informed and adaptable. By actively monitoring trends in their specific electricity markets, business leaders can seize opportunities brought by coal’s temporary uptick while also preparing for the inevitable shift towards more modern and efficient energy sources. For those interested in digging deeper into this data and its implications, the original report can be found here. This article, "Coal Still Dominates Winter Power Generation in Midwest Markets" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Electricity generation in the Midwest is beginning to show a significant distinction, particularly for small business owners who may be wondering how energy sourcing will impact their operations and costs. The latest findings from the U.S. Energy Information Administration reveal that the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) and the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) continue to produce more electricity from coal than from natural gas during winter months. This trend has implications that small business owners should consider as they navigate their energy needs. While national trends indicate a shift away from coal towards natural gas—especially since coal-generated electricity fell below natural gas since January 2018 in the broader U.S. context—SPP and MISO markets are bucking this trend. The upcoming winter months are forecasted to see coal generation outpace natural gas from December 2025 through February 2026. “Coal remains competitive, especially when natural gas prices are relatively high,” notes Jonathan Church, one of the principal contributors to the report. For small businesses, these findings bring both opportunities and challenges. Understanding the dynamics of energy generation sources can help owners make informed decisions about their electricity providers and long-term contracts. Businesses reliant on seasonal heating may find themselves benefiting from stable coal prices, particularly when natural gas supply faces constraints during colder months. Factors like production freeze-offs can impact the availability of natural gas, potentially leading to fluctuations in costs for gas-fired electricity. The increased coal reliance in SPP and MISO markets could represent a cost-effective energy source for businesses during winter. Owners in these regions might want to examine their power contracts and consider whether a reliance on coal could result in more predictable and potentially lower electricity bills, especially when they anticipate doing more business during peak heating months. However, small business owners should also keep a close eye on the long-term market shift. Natural gas is poised to gain market share as older, less efficient coal-fired generators retire. The infrastructure for natural gas is often newer and more efficient, making it a more sustainable choice in the long run. “Much of the natural gas capacity in SPP and MISO is from the newer and relatively efficient combined-cycle units that have come online since 2000,” says Owen Comstock, a co-contributor. Nevertheless, as companies consider transitioning to natural gas, they should also consider the potential for increased costs if natural gas prices rise. Given the past volatility in natural gas pricing, small business owners need to incorporate flexible strategies in their financial planning. Locking in energy contracts during stable periods—or seeking out service providers that offer competitive rates year-round—could mitigate the risk of skyrocketing costs during peak demand periods. Additionally, it’s essential to be aware that the location-specific dynamics of energy generation are becoming more pronounced. While regions like California and New England have shifted almost entirely away from coal since at least 2010, SPP and MISO are clearly operating under different market conditions. This may necessitate a tailored approach for small businesses looking to harness energy solutions that best fit their operational needs. As the landscape of energy generation becomes increasingly fragmented, the onus falls on small business owners to stay informed and adaptable. By actively monitoring trends in their specific electricity markets, business leaders can seize opportunities brought by coal’s temporary uptick while also preparing for the inevitable shift towards more modern and efficient energy sources. For those interested in digging deeper into this data and its implications, the original report can be found here. This article, "Coal Still Dominates Winter Power Generation in Midwest Markets" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding my work at Lifehacker as a preferred source. You once needed a decent computer and expensive software in order to seriously edit video. No longer. These days, you can download a free app on any smartphone, and instantly have the tools necessary to put together a legitimate video, especially for social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. It would have been difficult to imagine something like Adobe Premiere working properly on a smartphone in the heyday of desktop video editing, but these days, it's a reality. Perhaps that's why Adobe is changing with the times. Following its Photoshop mobile app rollout earlier this year, Adobe released an official version of Premiere for iPhone on Tuesday. The company had announced the news at the beginning of the month, and confirmed an Android version is in the works. Premiere for iPhone According to Adobe, if you're familiar with Premiere, you'll be familiar with its mobile adaptation. There's the same multi-track timeline, with "vibrant colors and dynamic audio waveforms," that supports frame-by-frame trimming, layering, and tuning. There are automatic captions, subtitles, layers for video, audio, text, and 4K HDR support. Unlike the current desktop version of Premiere, which requires a subscription, the mobile version of Premiere is free to download and use. Adobe says that only users who need extra storage or want to use the app's AI features need to pay—though it doesn't appear that Adobe has released pricing information yet. To that point, Adobe is pushing some of its AI features here, including Generative Sound Effects, which combines your voice with text prompts to produce a stylized voice over. There's also Enhance Speech, which uses AI in an attempt to improve the quality of your voice recordings. You can also use Adobe Firefly, the company's AI content generator, to generate video, image, and audio assets. Adobe says Firefly content is safe for commercial use, so you should have no issue including generations in your content. In addition, you can tap into any of the assets in the Adobe Stock library, which includes music, sound effects, photos, graphics, and videos. While it seems like the major editing tools you'd expect from the full Premiere app are here, there's no doubt this experience was designed for mobile—and the platforms that mobile video editors tend to produce for. Adobe says you can export your projects instantly to platforms like TikTok, YouTube Shorts, or Instagram—as well as Premiere Pro, if you have it—in case you'd like to finish the video in these apps. If you complete the video in Premiere, you can publish the finished product directly to TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram. Videos can also automatically resize depending on the platform you're sending it to. Will Premiere on mobile be worth it?There are a lot of video editing apps out there specifically designed for mobile use. That's not to say Premiere won't be a good editing option: Adobe's editor is popular for a reason, and if they've properly designed it to work on an iPhone or Android, it could be a serious threat to existing options like CapCut and LumaFusion. In fact, the company has already dipped its toe into mobile editors before, with Adobe Premiere Rush. That app is much more basic than the version of Premiere Adobe is announcing today. Many users will likely enjoy trying out the app free of charge, and I know most (if not all) will have no problem shirking Adobe's expensive subscriptions. However, as the saying goes, if a product is free, you are the product. According to Premiere's App Privacy report in the App Store, there's a lot of data Adobe collects from you when using this app, including: Purchases Contact Info User Content Identifiers Usage Data Location (not linked to you) Diagnostics (not linked to you) This is actually an improvement from the initial announcement. Back then, Search History and "Other Data" were part of the data collection list, as they are with Adobe Premiere Rush. More concerningly, these data points, along with Location data, were linked to your identity. If Adobe had kept the privacy policies the same, the company would know where you were when editing your videos. At some point in the past month, that changed. But there's no denying there are some privacy trade-offs here. Sure, it's great to have a full-fledged video editor on your iPhone, but will it be worth the privacy invasion? It's not the only one of Adobe's apps to collect this much data, nor does Adobe have the best track record when it comes to user privacy, but still, it's worth a consideration before you use it. LumaFusion, for example, does not collect any data that is linked to your identity. The data it does collect—identifiers, diagnostics, and usage data—is anonymized, so it can't be traced back to you, though the app does cost $30. While Premiere is not alone in its data collection policies, understand that any purchases, contacts, content, or data generated by your usage can be collected by Adobe and tied to you. If Premiere for mobile is as capable an editor as Premiere Pro, I imagine this could make for a great experience, especially for those already in the Adobe ecosystem. For others, there may be some compromises to weigh. View the full article

Prime minister calls Nigel Farage a ‘snake oil salesman’ in speech aimed at party’s working-class baseView the full article

Adventure travel used to mean strapping on a backpack and vigorously sweating your way up a steep mountain with a can of bear spray swinging from your belt—a niche pursuit for the hardcore. But the page has turned: The once extreme is now mainstream. Marriott Bonvoy, the rewards program from hotel giant Marriott International, is riding this momentum with the launch of Marriott Bonvoy Outdoors, a hub showcasing more than 450 outdoor-focused hotels and 50,000 homes and villas, along with curated tours and activities. The launch, announced Tuesday, includes a real-world treasure hunt across 20 outdoor destinations in North America led by Dylan Efron, actor Zac Efron’s brother and self-proclaimed outdoorsman. ‘Adventure-first’ travel is on the rise It’s no surprise Marriott is doubling down now. The “adventure-first” traveler base has climbed from 30% to 40%, and two-thirds of international travelers now fall under the “Open to Adventure” banner, as reported by the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA). The market has soared to become a $1.16 trillion global movement. And it’s not just about cliff faces and kayaks anymore. Seventy percent of travelers say they now prioritize cultural exchange and physical activity in their trips, ATTA says. The pandemic swiftly propelled this shift. While business plummeted, Airbnb dropped 40% and Expedia 58%, nature-based travel was in full bloom, the Boston Globe reported at the time. Pitchup.com, which books lodges, cabins, and campsites, reported advance reservations for 2021 were six times higher than the year before, the Globe reported. Getaway, which rents tiny cabins in the woods, saw bookings spike 148%. Travelers voted with their wallets for fewer crowds and more campfires. And as we all know, demand sparks supply. Destinations that once offered a handful of local activities now tempt travelers with dozens, if not hundreds, of ways to hike, paddle, surf, or stargaze. And Marriott is hardly alone. Its fellow hotel giants are racing into the woods as well. Last July, Hyatt Hotels teamed up with glamping brand Under Canvas, pulling its safari-style tents into the loyalty fold. And earlier last year, Hilton Hotels linked with AutoCamp, making Airstream suites and luxury tents bookable through its platform. All of this comes as the broader travel business is facing potential headwinds from a rapidly shifting political climate. The U.S. economy is projected to lose $12.5 billion in international traveler spending this year, according to the London-based World Travel & Tourism Council. In April, Oxford Economics had warned that intensifying “America first” policies from the The President administration were breeding a negative sentiment toward the U.S. among potential international travelers. Julia Simpson, president and CEO of the council, spoke bluntly in a statement. “This is a wake-up call for the U.S. government,” she said. “The world’s biggest travel economy is heading in the wrong direction, not because of a lack of demand, but because of a failure to act. While other nations are rolling out the welcome mat, the U.S. government is putting up the ‘closed’ sign.” View the full article

Today’s workforce often spans four—sometimes five—generations. Gen Z, millennials, and baby boomers bring distinct experiences and expectations that enrich organizations yet complicate workplace design. The core challenge is building physical and cultural environments that serve these different—and sometimes conflicting—needs. The stakes are high. Gallup’s 2024 State of the Global Workplace shows global engagement falling to 21%, the second decline in 12 years. Engagement drops fastest when generational needs go unmet. Nearly 60% of employers say their workforce spans four or five generations, and in a recent AARP study, 83% said “creating a more multigenerational workforce would drive their success and growth.” Addressing this divide demands more than new policies. It requires intentional design, empathetic leadership, and norms that respect every age group. Flexibility is a universal demand—but for different reasons If one expectation transcends generational lines today, it’s the desire for flexibility. But the why behind that desire differs. Boomers and Gen X often see flexibility as a tool for managing work-life balance or caregiving responsibilities. Millennials view it as a non-negotiable element of trust and autonomy, while Gen Z perceives it as a reflection of an employer’s adaptability and tech-savviness. Offering hybrid or remote options alone isn’t enough for workplace designers and change managers. Organizations must clearly define flexibility across roles and levels and be prepared to support it through policies, digital infrastructure, and space planning. PDR collaborated with one client to develop a “living lab” that tested various workplace design solutions to enhance collaboration, flexibility, and employee wellness. This pilot provided valuable data and feedback that informed the design of that firm’s future workplaces. Design implication: Create dynamic office environments with zones that accommodate focused work, collaboration, and social interaction, allowing people to work where they’re most productive. Technology adoption isn’t about age—it’s about mindset Gen Z quickly embraces chat-based apps but abandons clunky software, while Gen X and boomers master enterprise systems, once trained. Blanket assumptions of digital fluency miss these key facts: 75% of knowledge workers already use generative AI at work, 46% adopted it in the past six months, and even boomers (73%) bring their own AI tools—almost as many as Gen Z (85%). Relying on outdated platforms frustrates younger staff who expect real-time collaboration, yet rolling out new tools without support sidelines those who learn differently. True adoption comes from aligning technology with workflows and giving every generation training—and a voice—in the process. Leadership implication: Invest in tech that meets a real need, then train, support, and listen to feedback from all generational perspectives to drive adoption and equity. Career growth means different things The way each generation defines career success has changed over time. For baby boomers, upward mobility and long-term job security were often measured as success. Gen X shifted the focus toward autonomy and work-life balance, shaped by layoffs, economic uncertainty, and institutional skepticism. Millennials redefined success around purpose, growth, and social impact—values that Gen Z amplifies, viewing each career move as part of a broader personal brand strategy. Traditional annual reviews and fixed career ladders no longer fit a multigenerational workforce. Provide clear growth paths, mentorship, and real-time feedback that align with diverse definitions of success. According to PWC, “more than half of workers feel there’s too much change at work happening at once, and 44% don’t understand why things need to change at all.” HR implications: Offer multiple development tracks—not everyone aspires to management. Emphasize mentorship, skills development, and lateral mobility. Values matter—and not just for Gen Z Much has been said about Gen Z’s insistence on social responsibility, sustainability, and inclusion. However, research increasingly shows that employees of all ages are asking their employers to take principled stands. What differs is how those values are communicated and operationalized. Boomers may appreciate top-down statements of ethics. Millennials and Gen Z want visible, measurable action through diverse leadership, mental health support, or environmental policies. The credibility gap between rhetoric and reality is especially noticeable to younger staff, who grew up in an era of brand transparency and accountability. Cultural implication: Values must be lived, not just listed. Leaders must model behaviors and allow employee-led initiatives. Toward a multigenerational mindset Gen X was raised to “push through” so many still see mental health support as optional, even though 76% of C-suite leaders say the pandemic harmed their well-being. Companies need to reframe self-care as a productivity strategy: When Gen Z employees request a mental health day, it signals resilience, not fragility. That matters because nearly half of Gen Z reports feeling stressed most of the time, and only 57% of workers worldwide rate their holistic health as good. Workplace expectations also diverge by age. Younger employees value remote work yet still want mentorship, networking, and a sense of belonging. Many boomers and Gen Xers appreciate the structure of an office but reject a strict 9-to-5 schedule. Reflecting this tension, CBRE’s 2023 survey shows 65% of occupiers require some office attendance, while 30% leave it entirely up to employees. The question is no longer “Should we return to the office?” but “What purpose should the office serve now?” Space must earn its keep by fostering collaboration, connection, and creativity. When a Houston-based Fortune 500 energy company faced a renovation-versus-relocation decision, it engaged PDR to create a modular, home-like headquarters. The adaptable design cut costs and heightened both teamwork and employee satisfaction. Design strategy implications: Involve employees across generations in co-creating the space. The more they see their needs reflected in the outcome, the more likely they will embrace it. PDR sees the future of work shaped by design, not policy. Through design, strategy, and change management, we help organizations transcend compliance to create spaces that spark conversation, preserve knowledge, and elevate diverse voices. Resilient workplaces mirror their people’s adaptability. Lauri Goodman Lampson is principal emeritus at PDR. View the full article

The resurgence of high-profile IPOs in 2025 shows no sign of abating—especially in the fintech space. This week, Wealthfront Corporation announced its intention to go public. Here’s what you need to know: What is Wealthfront? Wealthfront Corporation was founded 17 years ago, in 2008. It is headquartered in Palo Alto, California, and is led by CEO David Fortunato. The company is one of a number of fintech firms that operate in the robo-advisor space. It offers a financial platform and dedicated smartphone app that allow users to invest in various assets, including stocks and bonds. The company also offers cash accounts and automated index investing. Wealthfront specifically targets digital natives, which it defines as those born after 1980. These are consumers “who use digital platforms for the vast majority of their everyday services ranging from entertainment and commerce to food delivery and ride sharing,” the company stated in its Form S-1 registration statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The demographic includes millennials, Gen Z, and later, and Wealthfront describes them as typically having “large liquid savings with long time horizons ahead,” and being “undeterred by corrections and bear markets.” The company’s registration statement also noted that these individuals “lost trust in traditional financial institutions which they blamed for high unemployment and an economic downturn.” A study by Oxford Economics, commissioned by Wealthfront, found that the total wealth of digital natives is expected to grow from $12 trillion in 2022 to $140 trillion in 2045. Wealthfront by the numbers According to Wealthfront’s SEC filing, the company’s key metrics include (as of the company’s Q2 2026): Platform assets of $88 billion Year-over-year (YOY) platform asset growth of 24% Revenue of $339 million over the last 12 months (LTM) LTM YOY revenue growth of 26% LTM net income of $123 million Around 1.3 million “funded” users When is Wealthfront’s IPO? At this time, the exact date of Wealthfront’s public offering is unknown. On September 29, the company issued a statement announcing its intention to go public, but it has not specified a date. What’s interesting about its IPO filing is that Wealthfront actually filed for an IPO with the SEC in June, but the filing was confidential until now. As for when the company might actually debut on public markets, CNBC notes that most companies typically have their IPO within weeks of the S-1 filing being made public. If Wealthfront adheres to the typical schedule, the company’s shares could debut sometime in October. What is Wealthfront’s stock ticker? Wealthfront’s shares will trade under the stock ticker “WLTH.” What market will Wealthfront’s shares trade on? Wealthfront shares will trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. What is the IPO share price of WLTH? In this week’s announcement, Wealthfront declined to specify an IPO share price or expected price range. The company stated that the “number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined.” It’s likely Wealthfront and its book-running managers, which include Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan, are waiting to price WLTH shares until they can better gauge investor interest via its “roadshow”—which is when a company markets it shares to potential investors. How many WLTH shares are available in its IPO? As with its share price, Wealthfront has also declined to say just how many shares of WLTH will be available in its IPO. The company said the number of shares on offer is yet to be determined. How much will Wealthfront raise in its IPO? Until Wealthfront announces the number of shares on offer and the price of those shares, it is impossible to say how much Wealthfront will raise in its IPO. It’s also worth noting that Wealthfront has cautioned that, despite announcing its IPO, there’s always the chance that the public offering may not come to pass. “The offering is subject to market conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed, or as to the actual size or other terms of the offering,” the company stated. How much is Wealthfront worth? It’s currently unknown what Wealthfront’s current valuation is. However, as noted by CNBC, in 2022, Swiss banking giant UBS announced its intent to purchase Wealthfront for $1.4 billion in cash. The bank later abandoned that deal. High-profile fintechs IPOs are a thing in 2025 If Wealthfront does indeed go through with its proposed public offering, the company will be far from the only fintech firm to make its public debut this year. Numerous other high-profile fintech companies have already gone public in 2025, including Klarna, Chime, Circle, eToro, and Bullish. As Reuters notes, several years ago, fintech firms began falling out of favor with investors due to the challenges associated with rising interest rates, leading ot a dearth of related IPOs. However, in 2025, the fintech industry has gained increasing favor with investors, resulting in numerous IPOs this year. View the full article

Journalists who cover the Pentagon and the The President administration are in a standoff about new rules that limit the access of the media to most areas within the Pentagon and appear to condition overall entry to the building on an agreement to restrictions in reporting. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s team characterizes the changes as an effort to protect national security and the safety of those who work at the Pentagon, while many in the press see it as an effort to exert control and avoid embarrassing stories. Journalists who want to hold on to badges that permit access to the Pentagon were told on Sept. 19 they must sign a letter acknowledging the new rules by this Tuesday or the badge “will be revoked.” The new policy says that Defense Department information “must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if unclassified.” Classified material faces even tighter restrictions. That level of control immediately alarmed journalists and their advocates. “Asking independent journalists to submit to these kinds of restrictions is at stark odds with the constitutional protections of a free press in a democracy, and a continued attempt to throttle the public’s right to understand what their government is doing,” said Charles Stadtlander, spokesman for The New York Times. Dispute over what the new rules actually mean In a subsequent letter to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Hegseth aide Sean Parnell suggested that journalists misunderstood some of the new rules. He said, for example, that the restriction against releasing unclassified information is the policy that Pentagon officials must follow — not something the journalists must abide by. “It should come as no surprise that the mainstream media is once again misrepresenting the Pentagon’s press procedures,” Parnell said in a post on X. “Let’s be absolutely clear: Journalists are not required to clear their stories with us. That claim is a lie.” However, the new policy says that journalists who encourage Pentagon officials to break the rules — in other words, ask sources for information — could be subject to losing their building access. While it appeared that Parnell sought to soften some of the hard edges of his policy in response to questions raised by the reporters’ committee, there’s still enough confusion to merit a meeting to clear things up, said Grayson Clary, a lawyer for RCFP. There’s some wariness among news organizations about what they would be agreeing to if they sign the letter, and it’s not clear how many people — if any — have done so. The new rules continue a tense relationship between the press and the Hegseth team, which had already evicted some news outlets from their regular workspaces in favor of friendlier outlets and limited the ability of reporters to roam around the Pentagon. Hegseth and Parnell seldom hold press briefings. Parnell did not respond to a request for comment by The Associated Press. To one editor, it’s all about control “It’s control, just 100% control,” said Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine. Goldberg, who is not stationed at the Pentagon, wrote the most embarrassing story of Hegseth’s tenure so far when he was inadvertently included in a Signal group chat where Hegseth and other national officials discussed an imminent attack on Houthis in Yemen. The brouhaha became widely known as “Signalgate.” Pentagon leadership was also reportedly unhappy over a story that said Elon Musk was to get a briefing on military strategy for China, leading President Donald The President to stop it, and other stories about initial assessments of damage in the military strike against Iran. No American reporter accredited to the Pentagon that he knows is interested in subverting national security or putting anyone in the military in harm’s way, Goldberg said. In his own case, Goldberg did not report on what he learned until after the attack was over. He said he contacted officials in the group chat to ask if there was anything he learned that was harmful to the country in any way. He did not include in his story the name of a CIA official mentioned in the messages who was technically still undercover, he said. “The only people in Signalgate who were putting American troops in harm’s way were the national leadership of the United States by discussing on a commercial messaging app the launch times of strikes on a hostile country,” he said. Access to officials in the Pentagon has been invaluable in helping reporters understand what is going on, said Dana Priest, a longtime national security reporter at The Washington Post who is now a journalism professor at the University of Maryland. With the exception of a few areas, reporters are not permitted under the new rules to walk through the Pentagon without an official escort. Priest said the corridors of the Pentagon were like areas around Congress where reporters buttonhole politicians. Priest recalled staking out military officials waiting for them to come out of a bathroom. “They know the goal of the media is to get around the official gobbledygook and get out the truth,” Priest said. “They may not help you. But some of them want to help Americans know what is going on.” Experienced national security reporters know there are many ways to get information, including through other channels of government and people in the private sector. “The Pentagon is always very well versed in the advantages of controlling the story, so they always try to do that,” she said. “The reporters know that. They’ve known that for decades.” Is there any room for common ground between the Pentagon and reporters? Reporters who don’t follow the new rules won’t necessarily be expelled immediately, Parnell told the reporter’s committee. But access will be determined by Hegseth’s team. While reporters already stationed in the Pentagon were given until Sept. 30 to sign, they were allowed to request an additional five days for legal review. Although the Times, Washington Post and Atlantic all put out statements against the Pentagon’s plan, none of the publications would say what they have recommended that their reporters do — perhaps an indication that they consider negotiations potentially fruitful. President Donald The President hasn’t hesitated to fight the media when he thinks he’s been wronged, launching lawsuits against CBS News, ABC News, The Wall Street Journal and the Times. Yet he’s also frequently accessible to the press, more so than many of his predecessors, and there has been some uncertainty in the White House about the Pentagon’s policy. When a reporter asked, “should the Pentagon be in charge of deciding what reporters can report on?” the president replied, “No, I don’t think so. Listen, nothing stops reporters. You know that.” Goldberg noted that it’s more than just an issue for reporters. “The American people have a right to know what the world’s most powerful military does in their name and with their money,” he said. “That seems fairly obvious to me.” David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social —David Bauder, AP Media Writer View the full article

So-called The PresidentRx will allow people to buy prescriptions at discounted price negotiated by governmentView the full article

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's union is appealing an appellate panel's ruling that allows acting CFPB Director Russell Vought to fire 90% of the bureau's staff. View the full article

Amazon’s new Echo Dot Max is a $99 ball. Its Echo Studio is a $199 ball. Its Echo Show is a tablet (starting at $179), attached to a ball. For its grand refresh of its Alexa-powered line of speakers and tablets, Amazon spent three years rethinking the foundations of its audio engineering to conquer the home theater market in the most spherical manner possible. “Legitimately—they sound really good,” says our senior editor Liz Stinson, after a listening test. But from my own discussions with the design team, it’s clear that what Amazon has created are not just new voice assistants, or even mix-and-matachable speakers capable of creating a 3D soundscape for movies and music in your home. What these new Echo products are supposed to do is enable a more intuitive (and intimate, and surveillant) AI for home tomorrow—one that doesn’t just hear what you say, but senses what you do. The industrial design behind Amazon Echo This is not the first time that Amazon has snuck Alexa into a little speaker ball. Its existing Echo Dot is already exactly that. But the Dot’s sound quality is middling at best. If you wanted something that sounded better from Amazon, you had to buy a larger Echo Studio: a big cylinder. When Amazon talked to its own customers, people often said it was just too large for them to buy. And that’s because our entire culture has been wooed by tiny Bluetooth speakers with good enough audio quality. “If I can get acceptable sound out of a small device, that’s what I expect now,” says Phil Hilmes, Director, Audio Technology at Amazon Lab126. Amazon’s goal was to make a more competitive wave of smaller Echos that still sounded superb—even if that meant they cost more. So they doubled down on space efficient spherical designs across the new Echo line. To a casual observer, nothing looks all that new. But once you actually remove the original Dot’s candy shell, it’s clear just how differently the new Echos are built compared to the old ones. The old Dot was basically a single driver (a sound emitter), wrapped in a block of plastic housing that kept it positioned inside the ball. The new Echo speakers get rid of this housing entirely. A single driver has been replaced with multiple that specialize in different frequency ranges. These drivers connect directly to the outer shell, which doubles as an exoskeleton. This design leaves lots of empty space inside the sphere for tweeters and subwoofers to float, blowing air out of the speaker to make sound. “At the end of the day, when we want to get more sound, it’s all about how much air can we push out of this thing?” says Hilmes. The Echo Dot Max has two drivers—one tweeter for the highs, and a larger woofer for mids and lows. They aim right at you for maximum clarity. Amazon telegraphs what “right at you” looks like by placing a new, flat control panel on the front of each speaker. Amazon says the Dot Max is one of the smallest two-way speakers ever created. The larger Echo Studio—promising Dolby Atmos sound—has three drivers that handle highs and mids. It also features a 4-inch subwoofer for the bass. Subwoofers are large by nature; they push more air and have bigger diaphragms to make those low sounds. When Richard Little, senior manager of audio technology at Amazon, holds up the Studio’s subwoofer—a cone the size of a coffee mug complete with saucer—I cannot imagine how it fits inside. In fact, it barely fits. It fires straight down into the base, and the entire bottom of the Studio has been perforated to allow air out. Meanwhile, those three other drivers can only squeeze in by being integrated right into the subwoofer’s own structure. It’s basically a wad of sound structures. Clever geometry and some small plastic caps are all that keep this pile of drivers sounding clear rather than buzzy and cacophonous. Amazon is wrapping the Echos in a new, 3D-knit fabric that offers a more luxe texture but doesn’t dampen sound. I actually think that’s a missed opportunity. The black cannonball design is still jarring, even when wrapped in domestic-friendly textiles. So why not lean into the unique shape? The internal components are so interesting that Amazon could have created a clear speaker celebrating high-end audio with throwback vibes like Nothing has been capitalizing upon. “We want to work our way [there],” says Pete Kyriacou, VP of product at Amazon, who admits Amazon has considered the more head-on audiophile approach. “And we want to earn that credibility through people listening to our devices.” Everything else the Echos can do The new Dot Max and Studio configure themselves automatically to project sound inside any room, and the more you add, the more the speakers can position 3D audio in space. This is particularly exciting for the team as it’s planning that the Echo can be part of a come-as-you are home theater setup. One in front of your TV acts something like a soundbar. Another stuck on a shelf to the side widens the soundscape—with each speaker compensating the right frequencies to sound balanced. Stick one behind your couch, and audio flies in from behind your head for full surround sound with three speakers. The system supports up to five, and the better 3D audio positioning is only available with the Studio, as the Dot Max doesn’t have Dolby Atmos support. Optimization is automatic and constant. In fact, one of the most important parts of the audio is an AI that analyzes frequencies every moment, and tunes the power draw up and down across each individual driver dynamically to milk the most possible sound at any given moment. (The team tells me that this AI system doubles bass output through software optimization alone.) But of course, while Amazon is focusing on audio quality, its vision for Alexa+ goes much deeper. The speakers will glow with a blue ring when you activate them, and as the conversation goes on, it dulls to something more akin to a smile than a circle—a nod to the Amazon logo that glows less brightly in your face. “We’re finding what’s the right way to keep that light ring on without being intrusive,” says Kyriacou, noting that the smile gives “this human aspect of what you’re talking to.” Beyond music Inside all of the new Echo devices live various sensors, including Wi-Fi for mapping devices in space, ultrasonic proximity detection that knows where you are, vibration-reading accelerometers that feel the tremors of your touch (or perhaps footfalls?), microphones for your voice, and cameras inside the two Echo Show tabletop tablets that can see who you are. For the first time, Amazon is assembling all of these sensors into an AI platform it calls Omnisense. AI is incredibly powerful at discovering insights hiding in sensor data. And with Omnisense, Amazon will likely be able to detect subtleties in our habits that we can’t even imagine. But in the immediate, Kyriacou says it will allow Amazon to “start getting more proactive with Alexa.” That means these devices will know who is in the room, learn their routines (are they cooking or winding down with a book), and offer the right response (turn up the music? dim the lights?) for these moments. The Echo Show will see you coming, and change its own UI—perhaps from family photos to smart home notifications—as you move closer. This sort of specific, contextually aware understanding has been a holy grail of the quite flawed promise of the smart home, and Amazon is redoubling its efforts to own the space through its latest wave of meticulously developed Echos. No doubt, Amazon’s storefront and services will move ever closer to our daily routines through speakers that are capable of harvesting new troves of largely invisible data. And while it’s a crafty enough plan, I can’t help but wonder if there’s one significant flaw. To use the Echo Dot Max or Studio to watch movies, in particular, you need to be using a Fire TV. Amazon has a grand vision for taking over the smart home through your home theater, but it’s limiting its reach to the most ardent Amazon loyalists. Sure, Amazon has shipped more than 200 million Fire TV devices to date. But that’s a drop in the bucket compared to the billions of TVs in use worldwide. View the full article

Defence secretary tells top brass that they should resign if they disagree with his policies View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. As far as tablets go, the Amazon Fire Max 11 is a well-designed crowd-pleaser with a large, vibrant display. Right now, you can get it for 38% off as part of the Amazon Fire Max 11 Productivity Bundle, which includes a keyboard case and stylus pen that transforms it into a fully functional laptop complete with essential accessories for design, studying, and everyday use. Amazon Fire Max 11 Productivity Bundle $221.49 at Amazon $356.97 Save $135.48 Get Deal Get Deal $221.49 at Amazon $356.97 Save $135.48 The tablet features an 11-inch display certified for low blue light with a 2000 × 1200 pixel resolution and 410 nits of brightness, making it bright enough to use in sunny conditions. It has 4 GB of memory, dual-band Wi-Fi 6 (but not 6E), and 64 GB of storage. The octa-core processor is improved and more efficient than that of previous Fire tablets. The 7,500mAh battery lasts around 14 hours, but according to this PCMag review, it takes close to four hours to charge and lasts around eight hours with constant video streaming at maximum brightness. According to the listing, the aluminum body is three times as durable as the iPad 10.9-inch (10th generation) as measured in tumble tests, and the design with slim, rounded corners makes it both sleek and ergonomic to hold. The Fire Max 11 can capture 1080p video, and the PCMag reviews mention that the 8 MP cameras (one on the front, and another on the back, which has auto-focus) are suitable for video calls and basic snapshots, but they can’t compete with smartphones. While tablets like the iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab might have stronger hardware and more mature app ecosystems (you don’t get Google Play), with the included keyboard and stylus, the Amazon Fire Max 11 Productivity Bundle delivers a total package at a comparatively low price point. Beyond included accessories, its strengths lie in the large LCD display, decent hardware for the price, respectable performance, and overall value—especially for those who are already in the Amazon ecosystem. Our Best Editor-Vetted Tech Deals Right Now Apple AirPods Pro 2 Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds — $199.00 (List Price $249.00) Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge 256GB Unlocked AI Phone (Titanium JetBlack) — $819.99 (List Price $1,099.99) Apple iPad 11" 128GB A16 WiFi Tablet (Blue, 2025) — $319.00 (List Price $349.00) Blink Mini 2 1080p Indoor Security Camera (2-Pack, White) — $34.99 (List Price $69.99) Ring Battery Doorbell Plus — $79.99 (List Price $149.99) Blink Video Doorbell Wireless (Newest Model) + Sync Module Core — $34.99 (List Price $69.99) Ring Indoor Cam (2nd Gen, 2-pack, White) — $49.98 (List Price $79.99) Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K (2nd Gen, 2023) — $24.99 (List Price $49.99) Shark AV2501S AI Ultra Robot Vacuum with HEPA Self-Empty Base — $229.99 (List Price $549.99) Amazon Fire HD 10 (2023) — $69.99 (List Price $139.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

Google’s YouTube has agreed to pay $24.5 million to settle a lawsuit President Donald The President brought after the video site suspended his account following the Jan. 6, 2021 attacks on the Capitol following the election that resulted in him leaving the White House for four years. The settlement of the more than four-year-old case earmarks $22 million for The President to contribute to the Trust for the National Mall and a construction of a White House ballroom, according to court documents filed Monday. The remaining $2.5 million will be paid to other parties involved in the case, including the writer Naomi Wolf and the American Conservative Union. Alphabet, the parent of Google, is the third major technology company to settle a volley of lawsuits that The President brought for what he alleged had unfairly muzzled him after his first term as president ended in January 2021. He filed similar cases Facebook parent Meta Platforms and Twitter before it was bought by billionaire Elon Musk in 2022 and rebranded as X. Meta agreed to pay $25 million to settle The Presidents’ lawsuit over his 2021 suspension from Facebook and X agreed to settle the lawsuit that The President brought against Twitter for $10 million. When the lawsuits against Meta. Twitter and YouTube were filed, legal experts predicted The President had little chance of prevailing. After buying Twitter for $44.5 billion, Musk later became major contributor to The President’s successful 2024 campaign that resulted in his re-election and then spent several months leading a cost-cutting effort that purged thousands of workers from the federal government payroll before the two had a bitter falling out. Both Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg were among the tech leaders who lined up behind The President during his second inauguration in January in a show of solidarity that was widely interpreted as a sign of the industry’s intention to work more closely with the president than during his first administration. ABC News, meanwhile, agreed to pay $15 million in December toward The President’s presidential library to settle a defamation lawsuit over anchor George Stephanopoulos’ inaccurate on-air assertion that the president-elect had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll. And in July, Paramount decided to pay The President $16 million to settle a lawsuit regarding editing at CBS’ storied “60 Minutes” news program. The settlement does not constitute an admission of liability, the filing says. Google confirmed the settlement but declined to comment beyond it. Google declined to comment on the reasons for the settlement., but The President’s YouTube account has been restored since 2023. The settlement is will barely dent Alphabet, which has a market value of nearly $3 trillion — an increase of about $600 billion, or 25%, since The President’s return to the White House. The disclosure of the settlement came a week before a scheduled Oct. 6 court hearing to discuss the case with U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers in Oakland, California. —Barbara Ortutay and Michael Liedtke, AP Technology Writers View the full article