Free mobile phone service from Salesforce

Salesforce, the maker of business software has today launched a slimmed-down version of its customer-management services. Existing customers will be able to access the new service for free, only for those who use high-end mobile phones. Read more

Australian car industry crashes: worst sales in 30 years

The Australian car industry has crashed as business confidence is low; sales are now the worst they have been in 30 years. Fleet sales are falling sharply and 2009 is expected to get much worse, this is the same story across the globe. Read more

Time Card Calculator: TimeCard 3.0 Business Download

The Time Card Calculator (TimeCard) is for those who own a business and businesses that have employees using a punch time clock, if you are within these categories then this program may be just Read more

Video-game industry up 18% in October: Growth slowing

As the news that auto sales have been declining, the video-game industry is still doing very well. The industry has gone up by 18% in October, which does look good for the start of the Holiday Season. The growth in sales was a result of strong console sales, but handheld sales have fallen. Read more

Circuit City closing 20 percent of store locations

The second largest retailer in the United States is closing about 20 percent of its store locations, Circuit City will shut down 155 stores to survive the recession and keep in business.

Circuit City has around 700 stores currently so they will still keep many more open, but still this is a massive loss of jobs and will have a knock-on effect to many other businesses Read more

Consumer Shock - Spending Takes a Big Turn for the Worse

Rockville, Maryland, October 6, 2008 – The financial events of the past few weeks have led to a reflexive recoiling on the part of U.S. consumers.

The latest ChangeWave consumer survey – conducted in late September – shows another major leg downward for U.S. consumer spending. At the same time, confidence in the economy has dropped to exceptionally low levels. Read more

How to create a Dot Matrix Business Card

We now live in an age where people go on about the amount of paper that we waste, and those with business cards are one of the worst offenders. How can we get around this problem as we need to hand out business cards to potential business contacts.

Well Tom Ward from Instructables has a great idea, and that is to use an electronic Dot Matrix Business Card. The card will scroll your information on a 5×15 matrix of red LEDs.

Ok there is a downside to this, the electronic business card is more expensive than the paper version, but you can guarantee that a client will not throw one of these away.

Best Western has increased online security worries

The Best Western saga has proved one thing; it was the massive security mix-up. These security breaches are now getting more common, but what can we do to try and slow it down or put an end to it.

The security breach with Best Western was massive; Eight million customers of the hotel chain had their credit card details stolen by an Indian hacker last week. He had ties to the Russian mob; this loot would have been worth about £2.8 billion to the mob. Read more

Vuzix in the top 5000 fastest growing private companies

The world’s leading video iWear® manufacturer for consumer, medical and defense markets ranks #3346 in the 2008 Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America. See the press release below for more information Read more

Ford’s Ecoboost leading the way in Turbo sales

Honeywell Turbo Technologies, a technology leader in engine boosting and modern turbo technologies, estimates that the global turbocharger segment will grow from 30 percent of the overall automotive market to more than 38 percent by 2013 as automakers look to boost engines to help increase fuel efficiency and reduce emissions without hampering the fun-to-drive factor.

Ford is at the forefront of this spiking trend with its EcoBoost engine strategy, applying modern turbocharging and direct injection technologies to smaller displacement engines that offer improved fuel economy and fewer emissions, yet deliver performance feel of larger displacement engines. Read more

Toyota lowers forecast as gasoline prices affects SUV sales

Toyota Motor Corp. has had to lower their sales and production forecast, this has been blamed on the high price of gasoline. The continuing increase in gasoline prices means that Americans are less willing to purchase SUV’s and pickups, which is having an affect on Toyota’s sales targets.

Toyota is expecting to sell 9.5 million vehicles worldwide by the end of the year, that is 3.6 percent down on the 9.85 million target, or 350,000 units. Last year Toyota sold 9.37 million vehicles.

The price of a gallon of gasoline topped $4 last month, this immediately dented SUV sales and Pickups. It was not just Toyota who was affected by this; even General Motors saw sales in SUV’s drop.

As a result Toyota had to suspend production of the Tundra pickups and Sequoia SUVs for three months from August.

Source

Microsoft and One Laptop per Child (OLPC) Partner: Windows Available on XO Laptops

The latest press release news in is about Microsoft and One Laptop per Child (OLPC) partnering to give very affordable computing to students worldwide. It is also said that Microsoft Windows is now available on XO laptops, these trials will begin in key emerging markets next month.

Microsoft and One Laptop per Child (OLPC) have yes just announced an agreement which will indeed make the Microsoft Windows operating system available on OLPC’s low-cost XO laptops for the world’s poorest children, their plan is to start all this as soon as June in key emerging markets. We all know that by providing high-quality education for our children in the developing world is very large indeed in solving any single organization, so with Microsoft and OLPC committed to working with nongovernmental organizations and governments will ensure the success of these pilot programs.

With the availability of Windows in addition to Linux on XO laptops this will now allow customers the expanded choice of operating environments that best fit their requirements and that their intention to create a version of the XO laptop which will provide the best ability to host both Linux and Windows operating systems, this will in return give the users the ability to run either on XO laptops.

Part of the press release says ““Transforming education is a fundamental goal of Microsoft Unlimited Potential, our ambitious effort to bring sustained social and economic opportunity to people who currently don’t enjoy the benefits of technology,” said Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer at Microsoft. “By supporting a wide variety of affordable computing solutions for education that includes OLPC’s XO laptop, we aim to make technology more relevant, accessible and affordable for students everywhere.”

Microsoft have now spent well over a year working on a variety of partners to develop customized drivers that enable Windows to run on the XO laptop and now Windows now supports the laptop’s e-book reading mode writing pad and custom keys, standard Wi-Fi networking, camera, as well as the power-saving and other features of the XO hardware. More technical details regarding Windows for the XO laptop and a video demonstration can be found at http://blogs.technet.com/jamesu

Signed Agreement $13.9 billion Deal: HP purchase EDS at a price of $25.00 per share

Yesterday we reported that HP was to buy EDS where we said “HP to Buy EDS: Would this mean the ability to compete against rivals IBM Corp? (Read Here), well today we have the latest information that HP and EDS have announced that they have finally signed a definitive agreement where HP will purchase EDS at a price of $25.00 per share which actually means an enterprise of around $13.9 billion; this has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of HP and EDS.

This new transaction is expected to close in the second half of calendar year 2008 which will more than double HP’s services revenue at $16.6 billion in fiscal 2007, as of the end of each company’s 2007 fiscal year where annual revenues of over $38 billion and 210,000 employees doing business in over 80 countries. HP are intending to establish a new business group to be branded EDS and HP company which will have their head quarters at EDS’s existing executive offices in Plano, Texas. HP do plan on EDS to continue to be led after the deal closes by EDS Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Ronald A. Rittenmeyer who will indeed join HP’s executive council and report to Mark Hurd, HP’s chairman and chief executive officer.

HP to Acquire EDS for $13.9 Billion, Transaction expected to more than double HP’s revenue from services, furthering its standing as world’s largest technology company and EDS shareholders to receive $25.00 per share in cash for each EDS share, this is all good news where the company will definitely be able to compete even more so now with rivals. The combination of the two companies HP and EDS will bring a force of leading global IT services which means a stronger business partner, most competitive portfolio of products and services in the industry and delivering customers the broadest services.

Looks like technology will only get stronger; Rittenmeyer said “First and foremost, this is a great transaction for our stockholders, providing tremendous value in the form of a significant premium to our stock price. It’s also beneficial to our customers, as the combination of our two global companies and the collective skills of our employees will drive innovation and enhance value for them in a wide range of industries. In addition, our Agility Alliance will be significantly strengthened.”

Because HP have acquired EDS this actually advances the HP objectives which even more so makes the company so much stronger in the way of its services business and the new offerings delivered by the two companies mean including data center services, IT outsourcing, networking services and managed security, workplace services, CRM and HR outsourcing; applications, including development, business process outsourcing, modernization and management; consulting and integration; and technology services, solutions to customers in the areas of government, healthcare, manufacturing, financial services, energy, transportation, communications, and consumer industries and retail and so much more.

No price cuts for Nintendo Wii or DS this year

For those of us who were hoping for a price cut with Nintendo’s Wii or DS, then you will not be happy to learn that Reuters had an interview with Nintendo president Satoru Iwata and said that it is unlikely that there will be any price reductions. So it looks like there will be no price cut any time soon, maybe not at all this year. In the interview Iwata said “”Our earnings projection for the year is not based on hardware price cuts, and I don’t think we are going to need them”.

The thing is when you sit back and think about it, why would Nintendo want to reduce the price when the company are selling more consoles than the Sony PS3 and the Xbox 360 from Microsoft. However; Nintendo Wii sales are only going to get better as the launch of Mario Kart and Wii Fit has proved very popular, and with the launch of even more titles rivals Microsoft and Sony must have a lot to worry about and this has been evident with both consoles being reduced in price a number of times.

Nintendo have always done well in Japan as well as over in America however; Europe has never embraced their consoles, but this has changed with the launch of the ever popular Wii and the cool portable DS. It seems that no matter whom you talk to they own either a Nintendo or a Nintendo DS, the Xbox 360 or Sony PlayStation 3 might have better graphics, but when it comes to the fun factor nothing comes close.

Source - Reuters

Stealth Computer Quietly Expands Operations To Manage Growth

Stealth Computer, a market leader in the industrial computer and peripherals market, today announced it has expanded their current facilities with the acquisition of a neighboring building. Stealth’s current headquarters operates from within a 15,000 square feet facility and includes production, sales, corporate and administrative offices. The new adjoining building comprises of an additional 11,000 square feet expanding Stealth’s total facility to just over 27,000 square feet in size.



“The prospect of expanding our facility by acquiring the adjoining building was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up. It is absolutely critical that we invest and plan for our current and future growth, remarked Ed Boutilier”, Stealth’s President & CEO.



With the additional space Stealth will primarily expand their production floor by adding a clean room facility, secured inventory and extended configuration and burn-in capability for their rugged PC product lines.

About Stealth

Founded in 1990 Stealth Computer Corporation, is a leading manufacturer of specialized Computers and Peripherals. The company is ISO 9001 registered and continually develops innovative products designed to meet the exact needs of their clients. For almost two decades Stealth has provided thousands of proven reliable product solutions that have assisted clients with a myriad of applications. Our impressive customer base includes a wide range of customers from single man operations to Fortune 500 companies, Military installations and Governments worldwide.

Visit them at www.stealth.com


Nokia Tube: should shareholders be worried?

Following on from Mark’s post earlier today about the Nokia Tube, a cellphone/handheld computer that’s aiming its targets at the Apple iPhone. We had a comment early today on PR that raises an interesting question about Apple’s rule over the high-end phone market.

The reason Apple could rule this market is because the future of the so-called phone is more of a handheld computer/do everything device.

Here is what Arn said:
It’s a hand-held computer that just so happens to have voice capability market, and without a unified approach to the OS and application development, Nokia and the other manufacturers are fragmenting their market share into all these “specialist” phones that only appeal to small niches. They are nullifying the only advantage they have, size.

So they own a huge share of a commodity market. Ask Dell how that’s working out. What good is it if they can’t parlay a leadership position in the current handset market into a large share of this new handheld computer market.

Do you agree and what’s your view of the Apple iPhone and the Nokia Tube taking its market share?

Corporate Satisfaction Survey: Apple Leopard users happier than Windows XP or Vista

So it seems after a survey it revealed that corperate users of Apple Inc.’s Leopard operating system are apparently 5 times more happier or should I say satisfied with the OS than business users of Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Vista.

When the survey was done back in February 2008 of 2,200 U.S corporate computer users a staggering 53 percent of those using Apple Mac OS X 10.5 reported that they were indeed satisfied with their operating system.

But of those using Microsoft Windows Vista or Windows XP 40 percent of the former and only 8 percent of the latter were indeed very satisfied.

Paul Carton, director of research at ChangeWave Research said “”Apple continues to set the standard for corporate customer satisfaction,” and that it is fact that corporate buying plans for Macs remain at high levels and indicate that users like what Apple’s doing, continued Carton.

Look at it this way, we all know laptops are big business and will get stronger and stronger as time moves on and according to the ChangeWave’s survey 7 percent of the corporate respondents would likely purchase laptops in the next 90 days and that they are planning on buying Apple.

For the full survey results please visit Computerworld.

Tata Motors shares drop 3% ahead of Jaguar and Land Rover deal

It was meant to be a good day for Tata Motors, as they are to sign the deal with Ford which sees the Indian Automaker take control of Jaguar and Land Rover. Well it seems as if share holders do not see this as a good investment for the company, as a result Tata Motors shares dropped by 35 ahead of the JLR deal.

Tata Motors have singed a $2 billion deal which sees them take both Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford. The thing is we know that Ford have had a hard time of late and sales figures have not been that great, which is why they had to raise some funds, so selling Jaguar and Land Rover was the only choice for them.

However I have to wonder if Ford has just passed on a bigger problem to Tata Motors, as JLR did no help with Ford’s sales figures, so what plans have Tata got. I do see a shinning light at the end of the tunnel for Tata though, as it seems that Indians are buying cars at a quick rate, and the company is in a unique position to offer Indian drivers a luxury option.

Source - The Economic Times

Google Android will outsell Apple iPhone: According to Group Manager

Rich Miner who is the group manager for Google Android has said that they will outsell the Apple iPhone, however Google have not released any of their predicted sales figures. Miner made this statement while at the Emerging Communications Conference.

He said that “Once you have devices out there from Motorola, HTC, Samsung, and so on, there’s a much larger potential market on Android than for the iPhone.” He then went on to say “there’s a single manufacturer, it’s targeted at a particular demographic, and it falls far short of the 1 billion mobile phones sold every year worldwide.”

Android was released last November and is a complete open-source software for cell phones. Google have also introduced an Android Developers Challenge, and whoever develops the most innovative and useful app will share $10 million in prizes.

Source - Information Week

Apple flagship Sydney store soon to open: new stores in Australia coming

Apple are planning to open three new retail stores in Australia, all will be opening this year. Two will open in Sydney and the other on Victoria. The opening of these stores is part of a massive expansion for Apple on an international scale. These stores will form part of Apple’s 200 stores worldwide.

Apple has been aggressive of late trying to get more stores around the globe, and this new flagship store just being finished is the newest. The new store located on the corner of George Street and King Street in Sydney is on three floors. From this picture you can see that the transparent glass façade is just being installed. Then comes that big Apple logo.

We know how Apple likes to keep things to their chest, so it comes as no surprise that they are not saying where the other two stores will be going. For people who mange to get a job at these new stores, will have the chance to fly to Apple’s headquarters located in California.

Source - The Sydney Morning Herald

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