Business

It seems that every day brings another story of exciting applications of 3D printing technology. As recently as Dec. 17, a Princeton University team announced it had printed a contact lens with an embedded LED capable of projecting light. But despite this constant stream of innovation, some printers are turning to older techniques in order to satisfy a growing demand for handmade or artisanal products. “It is a safe bet that at least one Christmas card you receive this year will be printed in the old-fashioned manner, by letterpress,” reads an Economist article from Dec. 18. “You'll recognise it by the way the letters are pounded deep into the paper, like some kind of reverse braille. The point, for a new wave of hobbyists around the globe, is the ostentatious tactility.” Why this desir...

For many advertisers, mobile games may still seem like a passing fad. But according to experts, mobile game advertising may be set to outpace traditional advertising much sooner than expected. In fact, it may even be taking money away from traditional advertising methods. In a discussion at the Global Mobile Internet Conference early this month, Dave Madden, senior vice president of global media solutions at the mobile games division of Electronic Arts, said that mobile games are sucking so much money out of other forms of media advertising that he believes it will soon be the largest advertising platform in the world. In the past, mobile games have been used primarily to appeal to a gaming crowd that subsists on Doritos and Mountain Dew, but that image is no longer representative of the...

A team of researchers in Australia has broken the efficiency record for a commercially available photovoltaic system, creating one that converts more than 40% of collected sunlight into power. “A new world record is making the future of solar energy look pretty bright,” Elizabeth Palermo wrote for Fox News Dec. 16. The team was led by Martin Green, a professor at the University of New South Wales. In order to reach 40% efficiency, the team combined commercial solar cells with optical filters. This allowed them to capture wavelengths of light that average photovoltaic cells can’t. The approach is known as concentrator photovoltaics, or CPV, and is associated with advanced applications in the solar industry. CPV systems are also typically very expensive to produce. But the team’s use of c...

Las Vegas-based casino conglomerate Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. (CEOC) is facing a pretty sticky situation, as it becomes clear that the company is millions of dollars in debt -- and may not be able to settle its debts in time to avoid a Chapter 11 bankruptcy. According to Cincinnati.com, the corporation is about $25 million in debt, and has had to close three different casinos within the past year. To make matters worse, the company recently announced that it would be skipping a $225 million interest payment, due on December 15 to one of its junior creditors, making it "the most indebted U.S. casino operator," according to Bloomberg Businessweek's Laura J. Keller. A recent Reuters article adds that this missed interest payment brings Caesars' total debt to about $18.4 billion. ...

More and more aspects of business are being conducted online, but according to Forbes contributor Jerry Weissman, the "personal" part of interpersonal communications is still essential -- especially in initial public offering (IPO) roadshows. Simply put, an IPO roadshow is a presentation given by a representative of a company to potential investors about an investment opportunity. Many companies in the United States start planning a roadshow in January -- about 37% of them -- and they usually take place in the months of February, March, May, June, September, November, and December. These roadshows are instrumental for generating interest in a company and getting seed investments; according to Weissman, the average public offering is about $150 million. Since investors are limited to buyi...

As the most popular and well-known fast-food chain in the world, it was no surprise when McDonald's created its McCafe brand to keep up with up-and-coming coffee competitors like Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts. Offering a variety of affordable coffee and espresso beverages in their restaurants has helped the fast food company keep up with the competition, but McDonald's will soon begin selling McCafe bagged coffee in stores to gain more of a competitive edge in the market. Both Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts have been selling bagged coffee in grocery stores across the country for years now, and both have continued to keep a loyal following of coffee-loving customers. Although they are a little late to the game, McDonald's, through a partnership with Kraft Foods Group, is launching a major m...

Dental lasers from two different companies were recently recognized in top technology lists from two major magazines. The Picasso Laser from AMD Lasers was listed in Dentistry Today's "Reader's Choice Top 50 Technology Products" for the fifth year in a row, and newcomer Convergent Dental's Solea CO2 laser was just named a “Best of What’s New” product for 2014 by Popular Science. AMD Lasers is a global leader in dental laser technology and education. The Picasso soft tissue dental lasers that the company develops and produces are used in procedures like periodontal treatment, laser whitening, and soft tissue surgery. The company has received countless industry honors over the past five years and have also been recognized by non-dental organizations for company growth, innovation de...

With online marketing and social media taking over the majority of a business's marketing and advertising campaigns, it's almost surprising that something like a TV commercial -- which is incredibly limited in terms of audience engagement and interaction, by comparison -- could grab news headlines. But when it comes to Super Bowl advertising, TV commercials reach a whole new level of dedication and creativity. It seems unlikely that any business would be able to drum up the same level of audience engagement with a TV commercial that can be found with just a few tweets, but as Variety reporter and senior TV editor Brian Steinberg notes, the web service company "GoDaddy" may have accomplished the impossible. It's no secret that Americans have a special place in their hearts for Super Bowl...

First, there was the carpet cleaner who sued anonymous Yelp reviewers over bad reviews. Then there was the hotel that withheld deposits from guests who left negative comments on the popular review site. Now a Brooklyn restaurant is offering free meals through Craigslist to customers willing to rave about its food. The now-removed ad, posted on Dec. 4, sought out Yelp reviewers with established or elite profiles to review the Littleneck seafood restaurant in exchange for meals. It doesn't specify "good" reviews, but that seems to be implied. Aaron Lefkove, one of the owners of Littleneck, told amNY that the ad didn't come from them, and that he may pursue legal action against the person who posted it. "We definitely did not post that," LefKove told amNY in an email. "I imagine it's an un...

Robotics have been a staple of the automotive industry for some time, but a new report has found that automation is moving into other sectors of the economy, as well. In countries with the highest use of robotics -- Japan, Germany and the United States -- the International Federation of Robotics reports that the density of robots in the automotive sector is seven times that in all other industrial areas. Japanese automakers use about 1,520 industrial robots for every 10,000 of their human employees, leading the way in the industry. Other industries in Japan, Germany and the U.S. use only around 214 robots per 10,000 workers -- but that number is slowly climbing. The newest industrial robots are poised to enter other, undeveloped parts of the manufacturing industry. The International Fed...