Friends,
I’ll be OFF from Blogging until the first week of September 2007. For those who wish to get in touch with me can either ring me on my cell (friends only) or leave me a message in the comments section; which will obviously be responded to, after the above mentioned date.
Posted in Uncategorized
FutureDial Incorporated, the leader of mobile device management solutions to wireless carriers around the world, announced that the company and one of its major shareholders – Sun Corporation in Japan – have completed the acquisition of all of the assets of Cellebrite Mobile Synchronization, Ltd, an Israel-based provider of mobile content transfer solutions previously held by private investors. Financial details of the Cellebrite buyout deal were not disclosed.
According to George Huang, FutureDial Chairman and CEO, the acquisition is a concrete step toward executing the company vision of providing a host of industry-leading mobile content management solutions. “We see FutureDial and Cellebrite solutions as complementary offerings that, when integrated, provide more comprehensive value to wireless carriers and retail stores than either of us alone. We are excited to join forces with the Cellebrite team to create better solutions to meet the market needs.”
Mr. Shu Gan, VP of Marketing and Product Management at FutureDial, said that “We have identified Cellebrite as a valuable complement to our product line in the rapidly growing wireless industry. Working together we expect to achieve greater market success that brings even higher return to our development efforts.”
“We are impressed by the accomplishment of Cellebrite in the past few years in penetrating the wireless carriers with its Point-Of-Sales products,” added Mr. Randy Osborne, FutureDial’s V.P. of Worldwide Sales. “The partnership will provide both companies with new resources and synergy that further accelerate market adoption and product expansion.”
Established in 1999, Cellebrite offered contact synchronization and content transfer tools for mobile phones, for use by wireless carrier sales support staff in retail stores. Its UME-24 and UME-36-Pro series are widely adopted by many carrier stores due to their simplicity and ease of operation.
For FutureDial, the Cellebrite acquisition is the latest in a series of strategic moves this year, at a time that the company is enjoying increasing success among major global wireless carriers and wireless retailers with the new release of its web based client-server Retail Management Solution (TM) (RMS 3.0). FutureDial RMS enables store staff to provide mobile phone content transfer and backup services, while providing centralized management, reporting, and billing capabilities for carriers to manage the operations and generate additional service revenues. An initiative is already underway to leverage the synergies between FutureDial and Cellebrite technologies to create a joint offer that provides added value to the customers of both companies.
About Futuredial: Founded in 1999, FutureDial is a privately held software company focused on developing mobile device content management solutions that increase both revenue and customer satisfaction for the world’s leading wireless carriers. With its mission of “One Solution, All Devices,” FutureDial enables wireless carriers around the world to simplify and enhance operations in retail stores, service centers and warehouses. On the Web: www.futuredial.com
Posted in Acquisition, Business, Cellebrite, FutureDal, Israel, Japan, Marketing, Mobile, Product, Retail, Sales, Technology, Wireless
As millions of college freshman head to campus, a new study reveals that students are stocking their book bag, or rather their computer bag, with online study tools to stay ahead in class. The survey of 896 currently enrolled college students underwritten by Houghton Mifflin Company found that more than half (59 percent) of college students surveyed said they use online study tools to keep up with course work and prepare for exams.
Online quizzing is the most popular online study aid, with 78 percent of students saying they use this tool. Almost as popular are online course outlines that accompany textbooks, with two-thirds of students reporting that they download these study-aids. Rounding out students’ online ‘book bag’ are video tutorials (29 percent), online tutoring (24 percent) and online study groups (16 percent).
“Online study tools are a new resource that today’s wired students can take advantage of that past generations didn’t have access to,” said Katie Rose, who heads research and marketing for Houghton Mifflin College Division. “We’re finding that students are increasingly using online study tools in tandem with their textbooks.”
Old School, New School: eBooks are another digital study tool gaining in popularity, with more than one-third of students saying they would buy an eBook version of a textbook. Whether in paper or digital form, students place a high value on their textbooks. More than two-thirds said they believe having the assigned texts helps them get better grades, and for 75 percent, price is not a primary purchase barrier.
Professor Jeffery Vail, assistant professor of humanities at Boston University, offers this advice to incoming college freshman: “First-semester students can do some relatively simple things to get ahead in the study game, such as taking ‘freestyle’ notes during class and then editing them into outline form later. Honing in on key points and weeding out less important information early on makes studying easier down the road.”
“In my 15 years of teaching, I’ve found that good study habits are inevitably linked to better academic performance. This is as true for freshman as it is for returning students,” he said.
Houghton Mifflin, a leading educational publisher, reports that student usage of textbooks sold with companion online learning tools has increased 100 percent from 2004-2006. Using companion online tools is easy. Students receive a free online access code with their new textbook.
From “Animal House” to Honor Roll: Parents of college students can breathe a sigh of relief. The study reveals that today’s students have surprisingly good study habits. Still, some succumb to age-old distractions.
Do students really welcome every distraction? In fact, the majority (65 percent) of students said they use discipline, focus and a lock on their door for privacy during exam week. Not surprisingly, distractions of choice for students are (1) music/other entertainment (44 percent), (2) the computer (43 percent) and (3) caffeine, sugar/food (36 percent).
Are students really last-minute crammers? There’s good news and bad news. The good news is that 55 percent of students report studying throughout the semester … but this means that 44 percent are not. Still, only 18 percent called themselves ‘crammers,’ and only 6 percent said they don’t study at all.
Are students really late night learners? The majority (49 percent) of students actually said mid-day is their favorite study time, followed by 35 percent who prefer to study in the late night/dawn hours. “To no one’s surprise, only 12 percent of college students said they prefer to study in the early morning, which just goes to show that students really are not morning people,” said Rose.
Survey Methodology: The results of this survey, underwritten by the Houghton Mifflin College Division through third-party Packaged Facts syndicated research author and youth/family market research expert Marta Loeb, are based on a representative national telephone and Internet survey of 896 students currently enrolled in college. The survey was conducted July 12-16, 2007. The margin of error is + or – 5 percent.
About Houghton Mifflin: Boston-based Houghton Mifflin Company is one of the leading educational publishers in the United States, with more than $1.4 billion in sales. The Company publishes a comprehensive set of educational solutions, ranging from research-based textbook programs to instructional technology to standards-based assessments for elementary and secondary schools and colleges. The Company also publishes an extensive line of reference works and award-winning fiction and nonfiction for adults and young readers. In 2006, Houghton Mifflin merged with Riverdeep, bringing together one of the most respected print publishers with the leader in interactive courseware. With origins dating back to 1832, Houghton Mifflin combines its tradition of excellence with a commitment to innovation. To learn more about Houghton Mifflin, visit www.hmco.com.
About Houghton Mifflin College Division: The Houghton Mifflin College Division publishes textbooks, study guides, online tools and other study-support materials primarily for introductory-level college courses, for students at four-year, community and career colleges and universities.
Posted in America, College, Entertainment, Exam, Internet, Music, Online, Research, Technology, United States, University, Video
New Yorkers braved yesterday’s heat to take advantage of the opportunity to record free online video resumes, when the world’s first career TV-website, CareerTV.com, launched big in Times Square.
“It felt a bit weird doing it. But, being in the advertising industry, I believe online video resumes can really help me when applying for a job,” said Nina Ribbenklint, who completed her resume in just a few takes, despite many curious onlookers.
Best-selling author and career/workplace expert, Stephen Viscusi, states that we can expect to see more of online video resumes in the future. The technology is inexpensive and easy to use, and the online video resume has several advantages over traditional written resumes. “I call them ‘resumes on steroids’,” says Stephen Viscusi. “Employers receive such a large number of applications that one needs to grab the attention of the potential employer quickly, and that is exactly what online video resumes do.”
Another plus according to Viscusi, is that the applicant’s persona comes through in an online video resume. “In recruiting, personality and chemistry are very important. If candidates presents well in an online video resume, the employer will be more likely to offer an interview even if they, for example, lack the preferred work experience. A written resume rarely provides that opportunity,” says Viscusi, who estimates that an online video resume will score an applicant 20 percent more job interviews.
Just as job hunters are starting to post video profiles on the internet, prominent companies are now making use of the web’s latest format to promote themselves to potential applicants. “The recruiting world is always evolving and videos help candidates understand our company culture and what separates us from the competition, so they can tell if we would be a good fit for them,” says Larry Nash, Recruiting Director of Branding & Communications, Ernst & Young.
Ernst & Young, Google, JP Morgan, Walt Disney, L’Oreal, FBI, Apple, and BMW are just a few of the many top organizations that are using video clips to offer an inside perspective on their businesses via CareerTV.com.
According to Dr. John Sullivan, Professor of Management in the College of Business at San Francisco State University, online videos are an effective tool for companies wanting to market themselves towards professionals, “Videos have that ‘wow’ factor that regular ads don’t have, and unlike print ads, online viewer-ship can be tracked.”
Lars-Henrik Molin is the CEO and founder of CareerTV.com. “Online videos enable candidates and employers to interact in an effective way that wasn’t possible before, and more and more people will discover the many benefits. Online video is the future in recruiting.”
About CareerTV: CareerTV.com is the first and only global interactive TV and video website designed to help college students and young professionals develop long- lasting, successful careers within the world’s top companies. In 2008, the company is planning to launch a CareerTV Cable Station. CareerTV.com is a sister company to Universum – the global employer branding leader. Universum’s independent research is cited by CNN, Fortune, NY Times, Wall Street Journal, and many others.
Posted in Apple, Brand, CNN, Google, Internet, New York, Technology, Video, Wall Street Journal, Walt Disney, Website, Work
Rezzable Productions Ltd. announces that small green aliens have invaded the Second Life virtual world! It’s all kooky, good fun at the grand opening of the Greenies Home in Second Life(SL). This stunning new region is already considered to be one of the most fascinating places on the grid, allowing people to explore, discover and have fun in a 3D, immersive environment.
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vatars arriving at Greenies Home are transformed into mouse-sized scale as they enter the space inhabited by the alien Greenies. Mundane household items, such as a toaster, desk and birdcage take on surreal beauty as visitors fly around them admiring the attention to detail. Beware the seemingly giant cat-who looks hungry for both Greenie and avatar alike! The Greenies Home features a spectacular new sculpture art piece using the latest SL building tool, the sculptie prim.
“This sculptie prim piece is the greatest thing ever rezzed,” comments Jonathan Himoff, Rezzable CEO. “It is an example of the level of creative excellence that can be acheived in Second Life. The Greenies Home is an amazing build – full of surprises, but also an entertaining place to hang-out and make friends.”
SL residents can also become a Greenie themselves. Avatar sets are on sale in the Spaceship allowing customers to directly partake in the action.
The Greenies Home has already gained massive positive support from SL residents and SL Bloggers. Its popularity proves that engaging content and activities can capture strong interest and solid traffic-both in SL and across the web.
“The virtual world is becoming a major thing for many people.” adds Himoff, “We are working to prove that it is possible to generate self-sustaining, long-term revenues. We are operating at a relatively large-scale now and will open the largest continuous public area in SL shortly. Rezzable will preview further areas this month to continue to meet the demand for enjoyable things to do. Greenie is a great start!”
About Rezzable: Rezzable Productions Ltd, is a UK-based company that creates and manages entertainment areas in Second Life. Rezzable is developing what will be the largest public area in SL and will deliver the highest-quality visitor experiences in the metaverse. For more information www.rezzable.com
Posted in Avatars, Entertainment, Internet, Rezzable, Second Life, Web, Website
Allrecipes.com, the world’s largest social networking site for food enthusiasts, has unveiled an innovative new Community feature that allows users to easily explore member profiles, find home-town recipes and read the latest reviews from more than 2 million home cooks behind the site’s long-trusted user generated content. This new feature brings the world of food enthusiasts closer together to share their passion for cooking, whether across the globe or right in their own backyard.
“Allrecipes.com is very much a social networking medium for members to share a glimpse into their own kitchens and we’re excited to provide them with more options to showcase their passion for creating and sharing great food,” said Lisa Sharples, president of Allrecipes.com. “We were proud to be the first to introduce the idea of community to the online food space and are thrilled that after 10 years we’re still driving the industry ahead with tools and functionality that are unique to our community.”
Allrecipes.com’s new Community feature makes it easy for people to share the authentic dishes of their region, their family’s generation-tested recipes and personal kitchen secrets with home cooks the world over. Users can search the latest reviews, user-generated photos, recipes, menu ideas and more by geography or by member profile. A geographical search can be done by selecting regions on an interactive map or by typing in a city or town name. Users can then browse member profiles unique to that area to find recipes and meal ideas that define the tastes and traditions of the region, be it all-American comfort food or foreign-inspired traditional fare. Truly a global community of home cooks, Allrecipes.com invites anyone to share ideas, successes, tips and personal experiences.
To celebrate the new Community, and the personalities that create it, Allrecipes.com would like to invite food enthusiasts world wide to check out what’s cooking this summer in its hometown of Seattle at: http://allrecipes.com/Cooks/USA/Western-USA/Pacific- West/Washington/Seattle/Main.aspx.
About Allrecipes.com: Allrecipes.com, America’s largest food networking site, is an online cooking community where everyday cooks from around the world come to share, rate and download the site’s more than 40,000 recipes and meal ideas. For site members, Allrecipes.com is more than a cooking resource, it’s a social medium to share recipes, advice and experiences with friends, family and other enthusiastic home cooks. Allrecipes.com has more than 23 million loyal users and a membership base more than two million strong. For the past 10 years Allrecipes.com has been an indispensable resource for home cooks who are looking for trusted recipes, everyday and holiday meal ideas, practical cooking tips and food advice. For additional information regarding the site please visit www.allrecipes.com.
Purchased in 2006 by The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc., Allrecipes.com is now part of the Reader’s Digest Food and Entertaining Affinity group along with Everyday with Rachael Ray and Taste of Home.
Posted in Allrecipes, America, Food, Internet, Social Network, Website
Ketchum, a leading marketing and corporate communications firm, announced today a new apparel marketing initiative, Fashion Interactive 2.0. Led by fashion marketing innovators Roy Edmondson and Jeff Danzer, this offering provides a unique combination of traditional and nontraditional marketing tools to the apparel business. Taking its cue from Web 2.0, Fashion Interactive 2.0 combines traditional marketing communications with new media tactics that harness the power of social networks, blogging, online relationships, word-of-mouth and experiential marketing.
Edmondson, senior vice president, Global Brand Marketing Practice, and Danzer, who joins Ketchum to launch this offering as vice president and group manager, apparel, will direct communications campaigns designed to reach and engage today’s digital consumers. Using Ketchum’s newly developed proprietary program that proactively harnesses the power of social networks, such as MySpace and Facebook, the group will provide a completely measurable communications platform that encourages consumers to become brand evangelists as never before.
Fashion Interactive 2.0 also will utilize the powers of the agency’s global resources, including its interactive capabilities and Ketchum and Omnicom Group’s word-of-mouth marketing firm, Zocalo Group. The initiative aligns with the agency’s work with European beauty and fashion clients.
“Roy and Jeff have proven success at enhancing relationships between brands and their target consumers. In the changing media landscape, they will be able to help brands harness the power of interactive media while strategically aligning programs with traditional tactics to create brand ambassadors,” said Barri Rafferty, partner and director, New York.
Edmondson and Danzer possess more than 30 years of combined experience in the fashion industry. Prior to joining Ketchum, Edmondson served as director of global marketing at Levi Strauss and vice president of marketing at Rocawear. Danzer, who was named a “Marketer of the Next Generation” by Brandweek, is best known as the brand architect behind 2(x)ist, founder of PL>Y Underwear (and the inventor of the iBoxer), and the executive responsible for brokering Donald Trump’s Signature dress-shirt and tie deal with Phillips- Van Heusen.
About Ketchum: A communications innovator, Ketchum ranks among the largest global public relations agencies, operating in more than 50 countries. With five global practices — Brand Marketing, Corporate, Healthcare, Food and Nutrition, and Technology — and specialty areas that include Concentric Communications (experiential marketing, events and meetings), Ketchum Entertainment Marketing, Ketchum Global Research, Ketchum Sports Network, Stromberg Consulting (change management and workplace communications) and The Washington Group (lobbying and government relations), Ketchum leverages its marketing and corporate communications expertise to build brands and reputations for clients. For more information on Ketchum, a unit of Omnicom Group Inc., visit http://www.ketchum.com.
Posted in Blogging, Brand, Communication, Entertainment, Europe, Facebook, Fashion, Marketing, MySpace, Social Network
At TypeCon2007, Microsoft Corp. and Apple announced they have renewed their font licensing agreement, giving Apple users ongoing use of the latest versions of Microsoft(R) Windows(R) core fonts.
Under the agreement, Apple and Microsoft are extending the seamless Web and software experience Apple users have enjoyed for years when using and viewing popular Microsoft fonts such as Times New Roman, Arial and Verdana(R).
Apple customers, developers and Web designers can safely specify fonts knowing that their documents, presentations and Web pages will appear as they are meant to be seen on screen and in print.
Minekey, a provider of online content discovery and recommendation services, today announced it has completed a $3 million Series A Round of venture capital financing led by NEA IndoUS Ventures.
“Content discovery and personalization is the new frontier of online media,” said Vinod Dham, founding partner of NEA IndoUS Ventures and acknowledged father of the Pentium microprocessor. “Minekey’s innovative technology was built in collaboration with a team of top tier scientists and engineers at IIT, the leading technology institute in India. So far, we’re delighted by the very positive customer response.”
Minekey’s content discovery service provides highly personalized article recommendations based on what someone is looking at or has read in the past. “Most companies in this space achieve results for their clients through collaborative filtering, which looks at aggregated data and wisdom of crowds rather than specific interests,” said Carla Thompson, a leading analyst at Guidewire Group. “Minekey’s robust discovery service integrates behavioral targeting, contextual matching, personalization affinity and the collective wisdom of the experts, to ensure that users get content specifically relevant to their needs.”
The company was created, said Minekey CEO Delip Andra, to solve the number one challenge facing the average internet user: information overload. “People are overwhelmed by the volume of news stories and work-related information that they have to manage everyday online, much of which is not immediately relevant to their interests or needs,” said Andra. “Minekey’s Recommendations Widget helps users discover personally relevant information they would not have found on their own.”
Minekey enables both small blogs and large media companies to deliver personalized content. “Online publishers can improve their user experience and increase page views by deploying Minekey’s content recommendations service,” said MyWire Founder and CEO Louis Borders, an early beta customer of Minekey. “It was easy to implement and increased our click-through rate measurably.”
Publishers also have the opportunity to syndicate content via the widgets deployed on Minekey’s fast-growing blog network to dramatically increase traffic and revenue.
About Minekey: Minekey enables content discovery on blogs and websites. Minekey’s Recommendations Widget delivers personalized content to users, based on what they are currently reading or have read before. The service enables publishers and bloggers to surface the most relevant content for each online user, which results in an improved user experience, greater stickiness, increased page views and higher revenue. Founded by Delip Andra in 2005, Minekey was incubated at IIT Kharagpur, India’s leading technology institute. Minekey, headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA, is funded by NEA IndoUS ventures. For more information, visit: www.minekey.com.
About NEA-IndoUS Ventures: NEA-IndoUS Ventures is a venture capital firm based out of the US and India. Co-founded by Vinod K. Dham and Vani Kola, the firm invests in businesses that leverage accelerated, long-term growth prospects and capital efficiencies. For additional information, visit www.neaiuv.com.
Posted in Blog, Business, Finance, India, Internet, Minekey, Technology, Venture Capital
Starting today, Facebook users will be able to publish, upload and share documents with their Facebook friends – right from Facebook – with ThinkFree Docs, an application created by ThinkFree, developer of the first online office productivity suite.
ThinkFree Docs on Facebook is the first service that provides an easy way to view office documents in your Facebook network with true Microsoft Office compatibility.
“We looked at what was out there and decided we could make it easier and more intuitive,” said TJ Kang, CEO of ThinkFree. “With ThinkFree Docs, we have integrated user-generated document publishing and sharing with the social networking capabilities of Facebook. There’s no need to go to a separate site, and you can easily share your documents with your friends – without losing the formatting you painstakingly put in.”
Imagine being on Facebook and collaborating on your class project without ever leaving the site. Or sharing a recipe or a script for one of your groups – without ever leaving the site. That is what ThinkFree Docs makes possible – all without losing formatting.
Users already share original documents on ThinkFree Docs. Professors post homework, and students post collaborative assignments and papers. Cooks post recipes, and gardeners share planting schedules. Authors post stories and poems, while lawyers and others post prototypical documents like wills. Business and marketing people share presentations — all in the free, ThinkFree Online format, which provides the best roundtrip compatibility to Office documents anywhere.
That is what ThinkFree can bring to Facebook’s 30 million registered users. For more information and to add the application to your Facebook profile, see the ThinkFree company blog at http://blog.thinkfree.com.
“ThinkFree Docs is already becoming a mini-universe of interesting content for its users,” said ZDNet Blogger and ThinkFree advisor Marc Orchant. “It makes perfect sense to harness that for Facebook users, who can share with as many or as few friends as they like — without ever leaving the Facebook site.”
With ThinkFree Docs on Facebook, you can:
ThinkFree is already offering to its users ThinkFree Online, a free service where users can edit their presentations, spreadsheets and word processing documents – which can make life even easier for Facebook users.
“This generation is one of the first to ‘cut the cord’ and not use a landline telephone,” noted Kang. “We hope to make it easy for them to not need a conventional desktop office productivity suite, either. We want ThinkFree to be where people need it to be.”
For more information, visit www.thinkfree.com
Posted in Facebook, Microsoft, Social Network, Technology, ThinkFree
Technochondria 
