Importers - Don't miss the May manufacturing slot for delivery into Europe before end of July - price, supplier credit and stock availability are the key features to fulfil orders for the School Summer Holiday Rush - having stock in your warehouse at the end of July is key . Be sure to get your orders placed in time for the summer rush or customers may rush off elsewhere.

Expensive extended warranties sold with electrical goods look set to fall under fresh scrutiny by consumer rights activists and the Office of Fair Trading - The Observer

The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations - which came into force because of an EU directive at the end of May 2008 - prohibit the 'selling' of rights that people already have in law. But some consumer rights groups argue that extended warranties often do just this, playing on consumers' ignorance. Marc Gander, a founder member of the Consumer Action Group, believes many extended warranties trick consumers into buying insurance that offers them little or no better protection than they already have by law. 'Extended warranties are often an expensive rip-off,' he says. 'These goods are supposed to work for a certain length of time, so what a great trick it is to get consumers to buy an extended warranty in case a product goes wrong too early.'

The IR touch screen is a very well established, well proven, and reliable technology. Invented in 1971, the first "touch sensor" was developed by Dr Sam Hurst (founder of Elographics) in 1983 Hewlett-Packard's HP-150 was one of the first commercially available IR touchscreen PCs with a grid of infrared beams across the front of a monitor which detected finger movements.

Other touch technologies have been developed since including resistive and capacitive used in many hand held devices and the much later optical imaging technology.

There are some serious misunderstandings that reach me about the quality of sound systems in the classroom.

Unlike Hi-Fi systems where listeners are used to, and some obviously enjoy, booming bass sounds and higher pitched screaming guitars or the full range of an orchestra, the need to make the voice of a teacher intelligible to a classroom of young pupils requires very different sound qualities.

China’s vast export sector has been battered on several fronts recently according to the Los Angeles Times. Demand from foreign customers has slowed. The Renminbi is strengthening, making Chinese goods more expensive. Hourly wages are rising with additional pressure resulting from headlines about poor working conditions at Foxconn, the massive assembler of Apple tablets and phones.

Despite this, China has strengthened its position in the global supply chain. Already the world’s largest exporter, China’s share of global exports expanded during the recent global downturn, increasing to 10.7 per cent last year from about 9 per cent in 2008. When times are hard lower cost goods have a greater edge.