hotfrog Offers Tips for Online Sales Success Leading up to the Holiday Season
World's largest online business directory launches hotfrog Advantage in time for online holiday marketing
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 18/PRNewswire/ -- hotfrog, the world's largest online business directory, provides tips for businesses competing to attract maximum online sales in the lead up to the holiday period. As businesses gear up for the busiest shopping season of the year they can take advantage of a few simple steps to make it easier for potential customers to find them online:
1. Add Christmas and seasonally relevant product and service information to
your online properties, including your website, your business' social
media pages and business directory services like hotfrog, which allows
unlimited addition of products and services for free. This simple step is
often overlooked but can be incredibly valuable in making your site
appear in searches for seasonal gifts and services.
2. Make your online updates before the end of October to allow sufficient
time for search engines to index and rank the new content. Updating your
information well in advance of the holiday season will help ensure your
products and services are more easily found throughout the busy shopping
season.
3. Modify or add Christmas-specific and seasonal keywords to your content
and listings, focusing on specific products and services you are
marketing during the holidays - the more precisely you can define these,
the better chance that online search users looking for something specific
or unique will find you.
4. Take advantage of the current 60-day free trial of hotfrog AdVantage to
create online ads to specifically target holiday shoppers with your
seasonal products and services. hotfrog AdVantage delivers a targeted
professional ad for your business and an enhanced, advertising-free
company page to help you boost your sales.
"If small businesses want to compete during this holiday season, their online marketing activity needs to begin sooner to increase the chance of strong search engine positions during a very competitive and cluttered time of year," said Phil Robinson, hotfrog's strategy director. "In today's economy, small businesses are looking for every competitive advantage they can get and often overlook some simple, free, yet powerful things that they can do to stand out from the crowd."
hotfrog is empowering US small businesses to find new customers and business leads for listings on http://www.hotfrog.com through the launch of hotfrog AdVantage. A free 60-day trial launched today to showcase the new product, which builds on the free, intelligent marketing tools that hotfrog already delivers to nearly 17 million US SMBs to increase the profile and awareness of their business.
hotfrog, founded in 2005, is the world's largest global online business directory for small to medium sized businesses, operating in 36 countries with more than 61 million listings. With more than six million searches and 3.1 million users per month in the US alone, hotfrog levels the playing field by providing intelligent marketing tools that help small businesses distinguish themselves in an increasingly competitive market.
About hotfrog
Founded in 2005, hotfrog is the largest global online business directory for small businesses, operating in 36 countries with more than 61 million listings. Owned by Reed Business Information, hotfrog offers intelligent marketing tools helping small businesses easily turn listings into new business leads. Year to date there have been more than nearly 30 million visits to hotfrog in the US, helping people find the SMB they need. For more information about hotfrog please visit http://www.hotfrog.com
SOURCE hotfrog
hotfrog
CONTACT: Erin Roche of Weber Shandwick, +1-415-262-5996, eroche@webershandwick.com, for hotfrog
Verizon Wireless 'Express Services' Empower Customers to Manage Their Online Accounts
BASKING RIDGE, N.J.,Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Beginning this week, Verizon Wireless customers will find it easier than ever to manage their accounts using enhanced Express Services. Express Services are Verizon Wireless' easy-to-use tools that enable customers to quickly and conveniently manage their accounts at home or on the go.
Verizon Wireless customers using My Verizon (http://www.verizonwireless.com/myverizon) online or accessing My Verizon Mobile from any Android device will now see a list of frequent transactions involving their bills, their plans and their devices. In one click, customers can start to explore their account activity quickly and easily, and complete popular transactions, including viewing a bill, managing Friends & Family®, changing an address, adding a new line of service, or activating a new phone.
"Now, with one click, customers can use Express Services to select the transactions they want, with time-saving account management services that are simple to use and consistent across multiple touch points, empowering them to save time and control their wireless services, whenever and wherever they want," said John Stratton, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Verizon Wireless.
The new My Verizon Mobile will be available initially on DROID by Motorola, DROID(TM) 2 by Motorola, DROID X by Motorola, DROID(TM) R2-D2(TM) by Motorola, Motorola DEVOUR(TM), DROID ERIS(TM) by HTC, DROID Incredible by HTC, LG Ally(TM), and the Samsung Fascinate(TM). My Verizon users on Android devices will receive an alert to install the free update. Customers who have not yet tried My Verizon may download the application from Android Market(TM).
Later this year, Verizon Wireless plans to implement changes consistent with Express Services on additional phones and smartphones and on the voice response system customers use when they call customer service.
Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable and largest wireless voice and 3G data network, serving more than 92 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 79,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, NASDAQ: VOD). For more information, visit http://www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at http://www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.
SOURCE Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless
CONTACT: Tom Pica, Verizon Wireless, +1-908-559-7516, Thomas.Pica@verizonwireless.com
Leading Online Clinic Expands Payment Options for Preventative Healthcare to Become More Accessible
Social health diagnostic tests can be paid using cash service at thousands of stores nationwide
CHICAGO, Oct. 18/PRNewswire/ -- Today getSTDtested.com, a leading online social health clinic, announced that consumers preferring alternative payments to credit cards for diagnostic health tests that they have ordered can now pay with cash in a simple web-to-store transaction using PayNearMe services at select convenience stores nationwide.
As public confidence in online health tests increases, more consumers are purchasing STD tests and other diagnostic tests online because this approach can be convenient, anonymous, less expensive, and often reimbursable.
Public health experts support new ways for consumers to get health information and to manage their risks. The online social health site getSTDtested.com (GST) is supported by visionaries at the American Social Health Association and experts like the University of Washington's Dr. Hunter Handsfield, who sits on GST's medical advisory board and is the 2010 recipient of the Thomas Parran Award, named for the U.S. Surgeon General from 1936 to 1948, and presented by the American STD Association for lifetime contributions to STD research and prevention. getSTDtested.com attracts tens of thousands of consumers monthly who want to better understand their personal risks and testing choices.
"Navigating the healthcare system is as challenging as making healthcare accessible to more Americans," said Tracey Powell, CEO of getSTDtested.com. "We want to ease both of these burdens. Consumers ask us daily if there is an alternative payment option to using a credit card. Not everyone has one or wants to pay using credit. Our customers now have a cash option to pay for getSTDtested.com tests at select convenience stores across the country. A segment of the population can now be served that might not have taken these important diagnostic health tests."
Consumers visit getSTDtested.com, order tests and then choose the cash payment option, print a voucher with a personal identification number and visit participating convenience stores to use the fast cash service to pay. For locations, visit getSTDtested.com.
About getSTDtested.com
As more consumers turn to the internet for health information, getSTDtested.com is setting the standard for online sexual health awareness and testing, helping to destigmatize, prevent, and control sexually transmitted infections. The online clinic makes it easy for individuals at risk for STDs to get confidential diagnostic testing as well as professional and peer-to-peer referrals in the Forum, and to have access to a test recommendation tool developed by academic and medical experts. The site is founded on evidence based medical advice from its Medical Advisory Board that includes, Dr. Hunter Handsfield of the University of Washington Center for AIDS and STD, who received the 2010 Thomas Parran Award named for the U.S. Surgeon General from 1936 to 1948 and for lifetime contributions to STD research and prevention; Barbara Van Der Pol of Indiana University Department of Medicine; and, Neil S. Skolnik, M.D., professor of family and community medicine at Temple University School of Medicine. Visit getSTDtested.com and STDUniversity.org.
Contact: Kellee Johnson, 312.751.3959 or kjohnson@ballastgroup.com.
SOURCE getSTDtested.com
getSTDtested.com
CONTACT: Kellee Johnson, +1-312-751-3959, kjohnson@ballastgroup.com, for getSTDtested.com
iMatch Automatically Offers Solutions to Repeat Issues - for Both End User Self Help as Well as Experts
TEL AVIV, Israel, October 18, 2010/PRNewswire/ -- Softlib Software., a leading provider of Intelligent Enterprise Search &
Knowledge Management solutions with specific focus on Technical and
Scientific knowledge for IT, technical support centers and helpdesk teams,
today announced the general availability of its latest innovation - iMatch.
iMatch automates the response to repeat issues in Help Desk, Support,
Call Centers and IT environments, delivering either Self Help to end users or
automatically offering solutions to experts. Research indicates that
approximately 80% of the issues reported to the support/service/helpdesk
staff are repetitive. Identifying solutions to repeat issues is a challenge
as issues and Solutions are based on a person's vocabulary - so different
technical experts will likely describe the same problem in different words.
This makes it highly unlikely that the second expert to handle the issue will
find the first issue and leverage the knowledge gathered.
iMatch is an innovative software solution with built in dictionaries and
analytical algorithms that takes the description of a new technical issue and
can identify other similar "stories"/issues that were resolved in the past,
even if they were described in different words. Once a new issue is reported,
for example through email or by filling out a Web form, iMatch will scan the
relevant databases and knowledge bases and automatically suggest the top
matching similar issues/solutions. iMatch seamlessly integrates into any CRM,
Service Desk or Bug Tracking application in order to match the issues
documented and resolved in the past. This way iMatch extends existing
knowledge bases/repositories by linking into the information in them in its
solution matching - no data duplication needed & no manual labor required to
create FAQ lists.
iMatch innovation delivers the following key benefits:
- Deliver effective Self Help to end users and experts without any manual
effort
- Minimize downtime by accelerating issue resolution
- Save experts time
- Resolve issues once - avoid repeat handling of same issues
- Resolve issues without involving many experts
- Avoid manual labor on building FAQs or Solution categories
- Shorten training time for new personnel & reduce the impact of turnover
- Leverage existing knowledge bases / repositories without data
duplication
"Automatically identifying solutions to repeat issues, regardless of
choice of words, or vocabulary, or language is a breakthrough and innovation
that can significantly boost Self Help capabilities of organizations,
increase expert effectiveness and reduce escalations & rework.", said John
Ragsdale, VP Technology at TSIA
"We are very proud to bring the future into Self Help and Service Centers
and deliver innovation in a technically challenging domain. iMatch
breakthrough technology is the next wave of automation, eliminating repeat
issues & rework and saving experts valuable time " said Boaz Grinvald, CEO of
Softlib Software.
About Softlib
Softlib is a leading provider of Solution Identification software, enabling
our customers to reduce costs substantially while improving service to end
users. We bring innovative solutions to the marketplace that revolutionizes
the way Helpdesk/technical support/IT-service is delivered. Softlib products
are used by thousands of users worldwide. Among our customers are financial
institutions, telecom companies, technology vendors and government agencies.
SoftLib has offices in the USA & EMEA.
For more information, please visit http://www.softlibsw.com or contact:
Rotem Ackerman, rotem@softlibsw.com, +972-3-5615190
Source: Softlib Ltd
For more information, please visit http://www.softlibsw.com or contact: Rotem Ackerman, rotem@softlibsw.com, +972-3-5615190
Etisalat and Pacific Controls Launch the Environment Friendly 'Emirates Energy Star' Program
Inaugurated by UAE Minister of Environment, HE Dr. Rashid Ahmed Bin Fahad, the Project is First of its Kind in the Region to Harness Technology to Substantially Reduce Energy Consumption for Organizations
DUBAI, UAE, October 18, 2010/PRNewswire/ -- H.E. Dr. Rashid Ahmed Bin Fahad, the UAE Minister of
Environment, today inaugurated an environment friendly project - "Emirates
Energy Star", a collaborative effort by Etisalat and Pacific Controls to
engage and execute the project, the first of its kind in the region that aims
to substantially reduce energy consumed by existing buildings in the UAE.
This initiative is an extension of the memorandum of understating signed
earlier this year.
Emirates Energy Star, jointly sponsored by Etisalat and
Pacific Controls, will champion the cause of improving energy efficiency in
existing buildings thereby reducing the overall carbon footprint leveraging
the transformational Machine to Machine (M2M) technology to deliver cost
effective, real-time managed energy services.
Inaugurating the project, H.E. Dr. Rashid Ahmed Bin Fahad, the
UAE Minister of Environment, said: "I would like to congratulate Etisalat and
Pacific Controls for their vision for sustainable development in the UAE.
Through this transformational and innovative initiative, both Etisalat and
Pacific Controls are doing their bit for the environment, and encouraging
other organizations to think about sustainable development. I applaud both
these organizations for their efforts towards this direction, as the Ministry
of the Environment encourages such initiatives in the UAE."
Commenting on the project Mr. Abdulla Hashim, Senior Vice
President, Business Solutions at Etisalat said: "Today worldwide energy
consumption is at an all time high and there is immense ecological, social
and environmental pressure to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions.
Being one of the leading telecommunications corporations in the region,
Etisalat is leading this initiative from the forefront through the 'Emirates
Energy Star' program, in alliance with Pacific Controls. The program will
leverage on green technologies such as M2M, to
effectively help reduce the carbon footprint of the country."
Mr. Dilip Rahulan, Chairman and CEO, Pacific Controls, said:
"We are pleased to collaborate with Etisalat to launch Emirates Energy Star.
Buildings consume more than 40 per cent of the energy produced in the world.
In the UAE, it is estimated that this figure is higher. This is mainly due to
cooling and lighting loads within buildings. Emirates Energy Star will plan,
engage and execute Managed Energy Services with existing building owners, to
increase the efficiency of the existing building stock."
Etisalat clients who are building owners, contractors,
real-estate companies, government entities, infrastructure owners like
utilities and airports, can collaborate and leverage the resources of the
Emirates Energy Star offering using Etisalat networks and Pacific Controls
Command Control Center to optimize operations, reduce service costs, increase
return on assets and remotely manage them in real time.
The Emirates Energy Star will help building owners with an
initial audit that would identify potential Energy Conservation Measures
(ECMs). The program will design ECMs for individual buildings; establish
minimum costs; calculate the maximum energy savings; implement the project
parameters as contractor; provide on-going monitoring and identification of
project performance after completion; carry out measurement and verification
of carbon footprint of buildings in real time.
The Emirates Energy Star Rating System "ENERGY STAR AWARD"
will be bestowed on participating building owners. It comprises of five
successive levels, based on the energy efficiency improvements achieved
through the Program, beginning with a minimum of 10 per cent for one star and
ending with five stars for 30 per cent and above.
Apart from the obvious cost savings for the end user in the
form of lower energy utility bills, the Emirates Energy Star will help
decrease pollution, water consumption and resultant waste. The building
owners will be able to recover their investment towards the program from the
savings that they make. The payback period for the building owner would be in
the range of 18-24 months depending upon the STAR rating the client opts.
Due to compelling ROI the uptake of this program is expected to be high.
Etisalat
Etisalat operates in 18 countries across Asia, the Middle East
and Africa, servicing over 107m customers. Etisalat is a comprehensive
telecommunications provider offering a one-stop shop for mobile and
fixed-line voice and data services to individuals, enterprises and
international telecommunications companies, ISPs, content providers and
mobile operators.
Pacific Controls
Pacific Controls is an IS0 9001:2008 company providing
ICT-enabled city centric managed services for buildings & infrastructure
globally from the world's first Global Command Control Center; using its
enterprise platform "GALAXY", hosted on the Pacific Controls Cloud Computing
Network. The company has delivered some of the world's largest ICT projects.
Visit http://www.pacificcontrols.net.
Ruckus Wireless Delivers First End-to-End 802.11n Wi-Fi System for Carriers Looking to Capitalize on Explosive Mobile Internet Growth
Introduces Complete System of Carrier-Grade Wi-Fi Products to Give Operators More Capacity, Range and Reliability at a Fraction of the Cost of Alternative Technologies
CHICAGO, Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- 4G WORLD CONFERENCE -- Ruckus Wireless(TM) today announced an expanded range of affordable, carrier-grade Smart Wi-Fi products that give operators the power and confidence to leverage unlicensed spectrum in more wireless applications and services while addressing the unrelenting demand for mobile internet capacity and coverage.
The first comprehensive 802.11n system developed for wireless carrier infrastructures, the new Ruckus Mobile Internet products include a new outdoor Smart-Sector mesh access point (ZoneFlex 7762-S), a point-to-multipoint wireless backhaul bridge (ZoneFlex(TM) 7731), indoor/outdoor customer premises equipment (MediaFlex(TM) 7200 series), and system-wide remote Wi-Fi management (FlexMaster(TM) 9.0) proven to manage tens of thousands of Smart Wi-Fi network elements and hundreds of thousands of Wi-Fi clients. These products are ideal for carriers looking to:
-- reduce subscriber churn by bundling Wi-Fi services,
-- offload best effort wireless data traffic from expensive cellular
networks,
-- offer value added services such as Wi-Fi wholesaling and managed
enterprise wireless LANs,
-- provide last-mile wireless broadband access where fixed line or
macro-cellular based wireless service is not viable, and
-- augment backhaul capabilities with a low cost, low power Wi-Fi
alternative.
The company also said its Mobile Internet products have been selected by several next generation service providers around the world including Towerstream (U.S.), Jaring (Malaysia), STEL (Chile), WiNet (Malaysia), SawasdeeSHOP (Thailand) and Tikona Digital Networks (India).
The New Age of the Mobile Internet Driving Fundamental Infrastructure Changes
Fueled by the rapid adoption of smart mobile devices and media-rich mobile apps, the worldwide market for mobile data continues to accelerate. As of mid-2010, US mobile data revenue had risen 22% year over year, according to Chetan Sharma Consulting, although bandwidth consumption of an average US mobile subscriber had grown at a much faster pace of 50% in just the first 6 months, to 230MB per month. The explosive mobile data traffic growth is eroding operator profit margins and threatening to degrade wireless network performance. As mobile operators consider their options, Wi-Fi has emerged as one of the simplest solutions to increase wireless capacity at a much reduced cost.
"Until now Wi-Fi has largely been viewed as a band-aid for cellular operators," said Brian Modoff, managing director and senior telecommunications analyst at Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc. "Given the current market dynamics, Wi-Fi and related value-added services represent a key strategic option that carriers have to react to commoditization pressures that threaten to undermine their business."
"Wi-Fi is the simplest, most cost effective tool for service providers to address the disparity between exponential demand for wireless capacity and the linear supply of available wireless spectrum," said Selina Lo, president and CEO of Ruckus Wireless. "We are breaking new ground with the first carrier purposed 802.11n infrastructure solutions that deliver more extensive coverage, higher capacity, greater user density and steadier performance while preserving the reliability, price-performance and ease of deployment advantages that has set us apart from conventional Wi-Fi alternatives."
Lo noted that Wi-Fi will be an essential part of the Mobile Internet infrastructure even as carriers migrate from 3G to LTE technology. Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi innovations will harness reliable wireless capacity from unlicensed spectrum bands to augment expensive 3G and 4G spectrum resources.
Higher Capacity, Smarter Wi-Fi Opens Door to New Carriers Services
Conventional Wi-Fi had raised doubts among mobile operators because of its inability to guarantee service quality over unlicensed spectrum. To maximize network resiliency, coverage and performance from the crowded, unregulated spectrum bands, Ruckus has tapped into its patented BeamFlex(TM) technology, combining a newly designed Smart Sector antenna array with best path selection software and automatic interference rejection to deliver a new class of Wi-Fi for wireless operators.
Furthermore, Ruckus Smart Mesh Networking technology also enables more efficient spatial reuse. By varying the direction of each packet transmission, adjacent mesh APs often can transmit simultaneously on the same channel, thereby maximizing usable capacity. In addition, unique hybrid meshing capability (meshing Smart Wi-Fi APs over wired Ethernet connections) optimizes network performance by reducing mesh hops while enabling on-demand capacity scaling. For operators, Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi now opens the door to a variety of new carrier services such as 3G offloading, wholesale Wi-Fi/managed WLAN services and cost efficient last-mile wireless broadband access.
Early Customer Wins Show Benefits of Smarter Wi-Fi for Carrier Services
Towerstream, one of the nation's leading high-speed wireless broadband providers, has selected the ZoneFlex 7762-S Smart Sector AP as part of an R&D initiative to address the explosive growth of data traffic on 3G mobile networks.
"With mobile data growing at 150% per year, operators face the chilling prospect of doubling the capacity of network equipment every 18 months," said Jeff Thompson, president and CEO of Towerstream. "Smarter Wi-Fi infrastructure delivers capacity much faster at pennies of what telcos are used to paying. Recent technical advances in Wi-Fi technology, like those pioneered by Ruckus, are proving that offloading data traffic from 3G devices is the most expedient and cost effective approach an operator can take in the near term."
Tikona Digital Networks in India has employed Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi systems to build the world's largest outdoor commercial Wi-Fi mesh network to date - having deployed over 30,000 ZoneFlex mesh nodes in dozens of the largest cities in India over the past 18 months to deliver wireless broadband services to residential and business subscribers.
Based in Santiago, Chile, STEL is a next generation broadband wireless operator (see related release) that has deployed hundreds of ZoneFlex 7762 802.11n mesh access points to deliver reliable Wi-Fi services to tens of thousands of households in Chile. "Smarter Wi-Fi systems, such as those pioneered by Ruckus Wireless, are redefining the wireless carrier space by addressing fundamental issues related to cost, range, reliability, simplified deployment and management," said Alejandro Ulloa, managing director of STEL.
An End-to-End 802.11n Smart Wi-Fi System Designed with Carriers in Mind
The new ZoneFlex 802.11n Mobile Internet solution delivers, for the first time, all the essential elements for building a robust, reliable and high-speed Wi-Fi access infrastructure. The new products include:
-- ZoneFlex 7762-S is the first high-speed, dual-band 802.11n Smart Wi-Fi
outdoor access point that integrates a dual-polarized, sectorized, smart
antenna array capable of delivering 600 Mbps of throughput, up to 10dBi
of signal gain and 15dB of interference rejection within a 120 degree
beam width. This provides for much longer range signals, better signal
penetration into buildings and more resilient mesh connections that
adapt to interference and changing environmental conditions. IP-67
rated, the ZoneFlex 7762-S can be deployed as a standalone AP or as part
of a unified wireless system managed by the Ruckus ZoneDirector WLAN
controller or FlexMaster Wi-Fi management system. Self-provisioning,
self organizing and self-healing, the ZoneFlex 7762-S mesh AP provides
unprecedented deployment simplicity.
BACKHAUL: High-Speed, Long Range 802.11n Point to Multipoint Bridges
-- ZoneFlex 7731 is an 802.11n (5GHz) point-to-point and
point-to-multipoint outdoor bridge capable of extending Wi-Fi signals
over kilometers at data rates of up to 300 Mbps. The ZoneFlex 7731 is
the only high-speed Wi-Fi bridging system that automatically selects the
best channel based on actual throughput measurements. The ZoneFlex 7731
features IP-65 rated environmental support, a single ZoneFlex 7731
supports multiple high-speed remote links and operates at -40 degrees C
- 65 degrees C (-40 degrees F - 149 degrees F). The ideal solution as a
low-cost, high performance backhaul connection for GSM or data traffic,
the ZoneFlex 7731 is lightweight (2 lbs.) and features a dual-polarized
directional antenna delivering 14dBi of gain with a 30 degree beam width
for simple positioning and aiming.
CPE: Indoor and Outdoor 802.11n Wi-Fi Gateways
-- MediaFlex 7200 is a line of low cost, carrier-class 802.11n (2.4Ghz)
Wi-Fi gateways for homes and businesses. Each MediaFlex 7200 integrates
a dual-polarized antenna array for better indoor signal propagation of
outdoor Wi-Fi networks. The 7200 can function as a high-gain repeater
and includes three models: indoor only, outdoor only and an indoor model
with an external antenna connector.
MANAGEMENT: Carrier-Class Remote Wi-Fi System Management
-- FlexMaster 9.0 is a Wi-Fi management system that lets carriers monitor,
troubleshoot and configure an entire Smart Wi-Fi network, down to the
client level, from a single point of control. FlexMaster 9.0 provides an
intuitive and at-a-glance dashboard that can be customized on a per
administrator basis - helping administrators to quickly identify network
issues or potential trouble areas. FlexMaster 9.0 also includes
graphical reporting to help operators monitor capacity and performance
against committed service level agreements (SLA). Detailed information
such as RSSI (signal strength) for client devices and mesh APs, mesh
topology and hop counts as well as client trending data gives operators
visibility into and control over the Wi-Fi network end to end.
Leveraging FlexMaster's delegated administration capability, managed
service providers can offer advanced managed Wi-Fi services to customers
- providing different customers the ability to manage and monitor their
network using the same management platform while maintaining the clear
separation between their networks and administrative privileges.
Product Pricing and Availability
Available immediately, the new Ruckus Mobile Internet solution includes: the ZoneFlex 7762-S 802.11n mesh access point priced at US $1999, the ZoneFlex 7731 802.11n point-to-multipoint bridge priced at $1199 per device or $2398 per pair, the ZoneFlex 7200 series 802.11n Wi-Fi gateways starting at $99 and FlexMaster 9.0 starting at $5,000.
About Ruckus Wireless, Inc.
Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Ruckus Wireless is a manufacturer of advanced "Smart Wi-Fi" technology and wireless LAN (WLAN) systems used by enterprises and carriers around the world. Ranked as the top telecom company in the 2009 Inc. 500 list and named a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, Ruckus has developed patented technology that uniquely extends signal range and allows for consistently reliable distribution of delay-sensitive multimedia content and services over standard 802.11 Wi-Fi. Its flagship product line, ZoneFlex, is the first centralized wireless LAN system to combine state-of-the-art Wi-Fi smart antenna arrays and wireless meshing to deliver maximum range and reliable performance at the lowest cost. Leading broadband operators use its MediaFlex multimedia routers to extend wireless digital services such as IPTV throughout subscribers' homes worldwide. Ruckus has raised approximately $51 million from premier investors such as Motorola, T-Ventures, Telus, Sutter Hill Ventures, Mitsui, Sequoia Capital and others. Ruckus Wireless is led by Ms. Selina Lo, president and chief executive officer. For more information, visit Ruckus Wireless at http://www.ruckuswireless.com
Media Contacts
David Callisch
Ruckus Wireless
david@ruckuswireless.com
+1-408-504-5487
SOURCE Ruckus Wireless
Ruckus Wireless
CONTACT: David Callisch of Ruckus Wireless, +1-408-504-5487, david@ruckuswireless.com
Zenith Infotech Expands Schedule to Include 59 New Events
Expert demonstrations of the SmartStyle cloud-based solution will teach more IT service providers to take advantage of burgeoning opportunities
WARRENDALE, Pa., Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- As cloud computing continues to spark interest in both the IT and business communities Zenith Infotech continues educating IT service providers on how to best capitalize on the corresponding trends. Among its initiatives, Zenith has expanded the reach of its current touring schedule, adding a new set of Technology Tour dates and Win Big Dinner Seminars for fall, including sessions in Atlanta, Little Rock, Pasadena and Philadelphia. The Technology Tours will feature live technical demonstrations of Zenith's SmartStyle® SMB cloud-based solution. SmartStyle is a cost-effective, scalable solution engineered to help IT service providers enter and rapidly grow in the cloud computing market.
Zenith will also host 45 brand new Win Big Dinner Seminars. These events will focus on the business side of the SmartStyle solution as well as demonstrate how to increase sales and profitability with high-quality business continuity services. Attendees will enjoy a dynamic presentation and have the opportunity to speak individually with Zenith representatives with respect to their unique operations and objectives.
"We plan to begin using Zenith's SmartStyle Computing solution as well. The SmartStyle platform
is an integrated, fully-functional IT environment complete with virtual servers, desktops, and storage," shares Scott Yusavage, President of Pittsburgh-based Computer Fellows, Inc. "In addition to helping us get into cloud computing, we expect it to drive down our clients' infrastructure costs. That should free up money they can then invest in revenue driving business applications instead. Our customers will like that, and it should ultimately result in more project work for us."
Zenith Infotech Ltd. is a leading provider of remote monitoring and management (RMM), backup and disaster recovery, and virtual help-desk solutions for IT service providers worldwide. The company's award-winning solutions enable its technology partners to scale their business without increasing their overhead.
3D Joint Venture of Sony, Discovery Communications and IMAX Announces First Wave of Programming
- Forthcoming 24/7 3D Television Network Plans Broad Slate of Native 3D Original Productions and Strategic Acquisitions -
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The 3D joint venture of Sony Corporation, Discovery Communications and IMAX Corporation has commissioned a compelling and distinct collection of original and exclusive series and completed several partner program acquisitions, it was announced today by Tom Cosgrove, President and CEO of the joint venture. The announcements represent an initial list of native 3D programs that will be featured on the first 24/7, fully programmed 3D television network in the U.S. when the channel launches in 2011.
"Today's announcement represents the first step in our commitment to provide viewers with immersive, entertaining programming as we build the most extensive library of original and exclusive 3D content available anywhere," said Cosgrove. "As we work toward launch, we are focused on bringing together a diverse slate of high-quality 3D offerings from both our strategic partners, as well as premier production companies from around the globe."
The series and films announced today are (in alphabetical order):
Original Series
Abandoned Planet
Explore the strangest places on earth -- entire cities now completely devoid of all humanity. This series of one-hour programs sheds light on why people have abandoned the places they once called home and what happens after they leave. Produced by Flight 33 Productions.
Africa in 3D
From Gannet Island and its 100,000 seabirds of the same name sharing one giant rock, the 60,000 flamingos at Kamfers Dam, the Luangwa River and its 30,000 hippos and much more, this series of one-hour programs captures the richness and diversity of the world's second-largest continent. Produced by Aquavision Television Productions.
China
China's beauty is little seen, often hidden and always surprising. This hour-long series studies the thronging cities, epic vistas and spiritual heartlands of this huge and mysterious nation in stunning 3D. Produced by Natural History New Zealand Ltd. (NHNZ).
Jewels of the World
This hour-long series gives viewers unprecedented access to UNESCO's 'World Heritage' sites, where the planet's natural and cultural gems are catalogued and protected, including: the historic sanctuary of Machu Picchu, Peru; the Temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia; and the Grand Canyon National Park in the United States, among others. Produced by Natural History New Zealand Ltd. (NHNZ).
Exclusive U.S. Premieres
Attack of the Giant Jellyfish (Discovery)
This hour-long program explores the myths and realities behind the global explosion of deadly jellyfish, including the giant Nomura, whose strength and size makes them capable of capsizing boats and wreaking havoc on the high seas. Produced by Story House Productions.
The Haunted (Discovery)
Using infrared cameras and sensitive recording devices, a paranormal team investigates true, chilling and terrifying stories of animals and their owners who are experiencing the unexplainable. This one-hour program is produced by Picture Shack Entertainment.
Into the Deep 3D (IMAX)
This IMAX special takes audiences on a spectacular three-dimensional exploration of the undersea world. Using the IMAX 3D camera in its underwater housing for the first time, this film captures unique marine life and magnificent underwater vistas.
Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D (IMAX)
Through the magic of IMAX 3D, narrator Tom Hanks takes viewers to the lunar surface to walk alongside the 12 extraordinary astronauts who have been there to experience what they saw, heard, felt, thought and did.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (Sony)
Inspired by the beloved children's book of the same name, this animated 3D feature follows inventor Flint Lockwood and a brainy weathergirl as they attempt to discover why the rain in their small town has stopped, and food is falling in its place.
Monster House (Sony)
A suburban home has become physically animated by a vengeful human soul looking to stir up trouble from beyond the grave, and it's up to three adventurous kids from the neighborhood to do battle with the structural golem in this comically frightful tale.
About 3D Joint Venture of Sony, Discovery Communications and IMAX
This joint venture of Sony Corporation, Discovery Communications and IMAX Corporation brings together three of the world's leading media, technology and entertainment companies to launch one of the first 24/7, fully programmed 3D television networks in the U.S. The three partners bring an extraordinary collection of award-winning 3D content, technology expertise, television distribution and operational strength to the project, which was announced in January 2010. The forthcoming all-3D network will deliver the highest quality and most immersive in-home 3D viewing experience. The channel will feature one of the most extensive libraries of 3D content in genres that are most appealing in 3D, including natural history, adventure, theatrical releases and IMAX movies.
About Sony Corporation
Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) is a leading manufacturer of audio, video, game, communications, key device and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. With its music, pictures, computer entertainment and on-line businesses, Sony is uniquely positioned to be the leading electronics and entertainment company in the world. Sony recorded consolidated annual sales of approximately $78 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010. Sony Global Web Site: http://www.sony.net/
About Discovery Communications
Discovery Communications (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) is the world's number one nonfiction media company reaching more than 1.5 billion cumulative subscribers in 180 countries. Discovery empowers people to explore their world and satisfy their curiosity through 100-plus worldwide networks, led by Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Science Channel, Investigation Discovery, Planet Green and HD Theater, as well as leading consumer and educational products and services, and a diversified portfolio of digital media services including HowStuffWorks.com. For more information, please visit http://www.discoverycommunications.com.
About IMAX Corporation
IMAX Corporation (Nasdaq: IMAX; TSX: IMX) is one of the world's leading entertainment technology companies, specializing in immersive motion picture technologies. The worldwide IMAX network is among the most important and successful theatrical distribution platforms for major event Hollywood films around the globe, with IMAX® theatres delivering the world's best cinematic presentations using proprietary IMAX, IMAX 3D, and IMAX DMR® technology. IMAX DMR is the Company's groundbreaking digital re-mastering technology that allows it to digitally transform virtually any conventional motion picture into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience. The IMAX brand is recognized throughout the world for extraordinary and immersive entertainment experiences for consumers. As of March 31, 2010, there were 438 IMAX theatres (316 commercial, 121 institutional) operating in 47 countries.
SOURCE Discovery Communications
Discovery Communications
CONTACT: Rod Riegel, Discovery Communications, +1-310-244-8907, rod_riegel@discovery.com
Store Offers Hands-On, Interactive Retail Experience for Customers in Southern New Jersey
BURLINGTON, N.J., Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- As people's lives become increasingly mobile and fast-paced, and to address the growing demand for advanced wireless data products and services, AT&T* today announced the opening of a new wireless retail store at the Towne Center, 2703 Mt. Holly Road in Burlington. To help celebrate the occasion, professional hockey player Chris Pronger is scheduled to be on hand for the store's grand opening celebration today, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. to interact with customers and sign autographs.
The store has a state-of-the-art, hands-on design to engage customers and provide a "try before buy" service experience. Trained sales consultants will provide demonstrations of a wide range of wireless products and services. Shoppers can also test out various advanced wireless data applications including GPS navigation, mobile social networking and mobile television.
The Burlington store is led by Jeffrey Allen and has a staff of nine employees who are trained to assist customers -- both business and consumer -- with purchasing decisions, customer service and technical support. Hours of operation are Monday through Saturday 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. and Sunday 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
AT&T operates 18 AT&T-owned retail locations in southern New Jersey. AT&T's products and services are also available at a number of other authorized dealers and national retail locations.
*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.
About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates - AT&T operating companies - are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation's fastest mobile broadband network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet and voice services. A leader in mobile broadband, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries. It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verse® and AT&T |DIRECTV brands. The company's suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world. In domestic markets, AT&T Advertising Solutions and AT&T Interactive are known for their leadership in local search and advertising. In 2010, AT&T again ranked among the 50 Most Admired Companies by FORTUNE®magazine.
Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com. This AT&T news release and other announcements are available at http://www.att.com/newsroom and as part of an RSS feed at http://www.att.com/rss. Or follow our news on Twitter at @ATT. Find us on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/ATT to discover more about our consumer and wireless services or at http://www.Facebook.com/ATTSmallBiz to discover more about our small business services.
Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
Information set forth in this press release contains financial estimates and other forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results might differ materially. A discussion of factors that may affect future results is contained in AT&T's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. AT&T disclaims any obligation to update and revise statements contained in this news release based on new information or otherwise.
SOURCE AT&T Inc.
AT&T Inc.
CONTACT: Adam Cormier of AT&T Inc., +1-203-506-5456, acormier@attnews.us
Pandora Extends Mobile Advertising Platform to Small and Regional Businesses
New Functionality Powered by AdReady Allows SMBs to Directly Connect with Local Customers
OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Pandora, the leading personalized radio service, today announced additional advertising capabilities that allow small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to enhance their local Pandora advertising campaigns with a customized mobile platform presence. The expansion of Pandora's mobile advertising capabilities for SMBs complements current web-based advertising options, allowing local and regional businesses to directly reach and connect with local consumers across multiple platforms.
To facilitate this new SMB advertising solution, Pandora has expanded an existing partnership with AdReady, a company that delivers best-in-class software solutions for digital display advertising. Technology from AdReady is helping to make SMB advertising on mobile a turnkey process by offering support to build mobile banners at no additional cost to the advertiser. Now, local and regional businesses have access to an affordable, streamlined campaign implementation process to run sophisticated localized campaigns on Pandora's mobile applications. To support the growing roster of SMB advertisers, the Pandora SMB team size has continued to increase.
"Historically, up-front costs associated with running a mobile campaign made it difficult for small and medium-sized businesses to advertise on mobile," said John Trimble, chief revenue officer, Pandora. "This streamlined platform gives local and regional advertisers, from universities and banks to car dealerships and entertainment venues, the ability to implement multi-platform digital campaigns that effectively reach very large local audiences on Pandora."
Pandora Vice President of Sales, Brian Mikalis stated, "We know that display and audio advertising is working for our regional clients on the web, so we're very excited to now offer the same advertising opportunities on our mobile platforms."
"For UMassOnline, the primary factors that drew us to showcase our brand on Pandora Internet radio are the ability to broadcast our message in an environment that is free of competitive clutter and to directly connect with our target of potential online learners," said Jennifer Brady, associate vice president of business development, UMassOnline. "Pandora eliminated obstacles we had dealt with in the past and through their turnkey solution were able to deliver highly targeted audio inventory to geographically relevant listeners for UMassOnline."
Over half of the daily listening on Pandora is on smartphones. With over 65 million registered listeners in the US, this represents a truly significant local mobile audience in every market around the country.
About AdReady
AdReady's platform delivers the power and sophistication of multiple best-in-class enterprise software solutions for digital display advertising in a simplified, cost-effective, yet highly powerful next-generation platform. The platform is for large agencies and companies trying to efficiently reach micro-targeted segments and mid-sized companies trying to cost-effectively go digital. AdReady provides centralized, single-point control across all major publishers for end-to-end display advertising management. AdReady's technology platform was recently named "Best Ad Delivery Platform Innovation" by the Digital Publishing and Advertising Conference (DPAC). The company was also named "Service Provider of the Year" by the Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA). To learn more, please visit http://www.adready.com, follow us on Twitter @AdReady, or find us on Facebook.
About Pandora
Pandora gives people music they love anytime, anywhere, through connected devices. Personalized stations launch instantly with the input of a single "seed" - a favorite artist, song or genre. The Music Genome Project®, a deeply detailed, hand-built musical taxonomy, powers Pandora's personalization - using musicological "DNA" and constant listener feedback to craft personalized stations from a growing collection of hundreds of thousands of recordings. Tens of millions of people in the U.S. turn on Pandora to hear music they love. http://www.Pandora.com. Advertisers interested in running a campaign on Pandora can go to http://www.pandora.com/advertising.
SOURCE Pandora
Pandora
CONTACT: Cristin Zweig of Pandora, +1-510-423-3975, Cristin@pandora.com
Cirago Partners with PlayOn to Deliver Internet Video Content and Personal Media Library Straight to Your TV
CiragoTV Multimedia Centers Now Provide Instant, Easy Access to Content from Hulu, Netflix, YouTube and More, Plus Your Personal Collection of Videos, Photos and Music; For a Limited Time, Get up to 50% Off PlayOn Membership with Cirago Device Purchase
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Cirago International, a leading manufacturer of multimedia centers, storage and wireless solutions, today announced that it has partnered with PlayOn to enable customers to access the online digital media service's expansive variety of Internet video content from Hulu, Netflix, YouTube, Amazon VOD and more through the CiragoTV line of multimedia centers. To commemorate the partnership, for a limited time, Cirago is offering up to 50 percent off the first-year annual PlayOn subscription with the purchase of any CMC3000 Multimedia Center. PlayOn is a service of Internet TV provider MediaMall Technologies.
"We're very excited to introduce our customers to the breadth of content available through PlayOn's innovative and affordable service," said Tenny Sin, Executive Vice President at Cirago. "What makes our system unique is that, unlike video game consoles and other media players, the CMC3000 multimedia center also allows users to store their entire personal multimedia collection on the built-in hard drive and access and stream both their own and PlayOn content through their TV."
In addition to the CiragoTV Platinum (CMC3000), the CMC1000 and CMC2000 multimedia players are also compatible with the PlayOn platform. Each enables consumers to stream a wide range of content--including high-definition movies and TV programs--from their PC to their TV over a wired or wireless connection.
The CiragoTV Platinum CMC3000 features 500GB or 1TB of built-in storage capacity, plus built-in network-attached storage capability and a built-in PC-less BitTorrent client that enables users to download peer-to-peer movie and music files directly onto the device quietly in the background, without having to leave the PC turned on. Equipped with full 1080p playback capabilities, the CMC3000 also features timeshift technology that allows viewers to pause, record and playback live TV and Internet content with an easy-to-use remote control.
"We're pleased to have Cirago's products join our growing list of compatible devices that make it easy and affordable for consumers to access the expansive selection of Internet video content PlayOn delivers," said Jeff Lawrence, CEO of MediaMall Technologies. "Cirago's devices leverage a high-performance chipset and offer true multi-media functionality that allows users to enjoy a more complete line of content options."
Setting up the system is easy: users first download the PlayOn software package to their PC, then connect the CiragoTV Platinum to their home network via wired or wireless connection and their TV. Users can access their Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, Amazon VOD accounts and more directly on their HD TVs through the remote control, instead of watching those movies and videos on their small computer screens. Additional PlayOn video content channels include Comedy Central, CBS, CNN, PBS, PBS Kids, MTV, VH1, TV.com, ESPN3, MLB, NHL, Spike and others.
For a limited time, customers who purchase the CiragoTV Platinum CMC3000 can purchase a 1 year subscription to PlayOn for only $19.99, 50% off the regular retail price of $39.99.
For more information about the CiragoTV line of multimedia centers, visit http://www.cirago.com.
About Cirago International
Cirago International, headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., is a leading manufacturer of multimedia centers, storage and wireless solutions. Incorporated in 1996, Cirago consistently provides user-friendly, affordable products with state-of-the-art technology, outstanding functionality and sleek, contemporary design. With manufacturing capabilities in the United States and China, Cirago offers products with the quality, service and value that consumers demand. For more information, visit http://www.cirago.com.
About PlayOn/MediaMall Technologies
MediaMall Technologies was founded in 2003 to make it simple, affordable and fun to enjoy your favorite movies, TV shows and videos from the Internet on your TV. Its PlayOn software runs on Windows PCs and wirelessly streams Internet content to networked Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation3 gaming consoles, any number of DLNA-compliant devices connected to your TV, and iOS devices including the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. MediaMall operates with offices in New York, Seattle and Copenhagen and can be found online at http://www.PlayOn.tv.
PlayOn is a trademark of MediaMall Technologies, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
New Los Angeles City Guide Launches on The Purple Passport
Free online guide features the city's hippest and chicest spots as a resource for both locals and travelers
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- The Purple Passport, a new web-based guide to the world's most exciting cities, has just launched its complete Los Angeles City Guide. Featuring over 100 of the choicest hotels, restaurants, spas, nightlife spots, shops, and activities, the guide will point locals to nearby hotspots and help travelers plan distinctive city experiences.
The guide's venue reviews and overview articles capture Los Angeles' many colorful contrasts. Recommendations run the gamut from Old Hollywood haunts to young starlet clubs, celeb-beloved boutiques to wide-open parks, and art museums to surfing lessons. Written in a fresh, accessible voice, the guide will appeal to stylish and discriminating individuals who like to be "in the know."
Users can also take advantage of the site's unique functionality features, including a mapping tool to find recommended venues near their primary destinations. Those who open free Purple Passport accounts can create customized "Passports" of their favorite venues to print or share with friends via email.
The site's user-friendly, taste-making approach is a reflection of what its founders, best friends Jennifer Garcia-Alonso and Emily T. Chang, look for when they travel. "We've been traveling together for over a decade -- with matching purple-colored passport covers in tow," said Garcia-Alonso. The pair began blogging about their journeys on The Diary of The Purple Passport in 2008 and launched the beta version of The Purple Passport in 2010 with their first City Guide to London. They look forward to moving beyond the beta phase in 2011.
About The Purple Passport
The Purple Passport (http://www.thepurplepassport.com) is a web-based collection of city guides for the hip and highly discerning traveler. The site is a one-stop-shop for the full range of urban travel planning needs, from researching a trip start to finish, to reserving hotels and restaurants, to creating an itinerary to be shared with travel companions. The Purple Passport team personally visits every spot that it reviews and never accepts compensation for featuring a venue on the site. First-person accounts of the team's travel experiences can be found on the companion blog, The Diary of The Purple Passport (http://diary.thepurplepassport.com).
Contact:
Jennifer Garcia-Alonso
Co-Founder
The Purple Passport, LLC
245 Park Avenue, 24th Floor
New York, NY 10167
jenn.garcia-alonso@thepurplepassport.com
Verizon Wireless Introduces Field Force Manager on Android Smartphones for Business Customers
Mobile Workforce Management App Puts the Power of Android in the Hands of Businesses and Their Employees
BASKING RIDGE, N.J., Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless today announced that the latest version of its mobile worker management application, Field Force Manager, is available for Android smartphones. Field Force Manager now allows customers to take advantage of Verizon Wireless' extensive portfolio of Android smartphones to use the enhanced Web-based and handset business productivity application that offers location management, mobile timecards and job dispatch for their mobile workforces.
Field Force Manager on Android smartphones provides a significantly enhanced user experience to help drive adoption amongst mobile workers. With new features, including a redesigned user interface, and barcode scanning, Field Force Manager on Android smartphones helps businesses, ranging from transportation and distribution to mobile healthcare and business services, embrace the power of Android to meet their field workforce management needs.
Field Force Manager on Android smartphones offers the following enhanced features:
-- New User Interface - Customers have the ability to use the phone's touch
screen for seamless navigation with intuitive icons to save time when
navigating through the application.
-- Powerful Search - Customers can use the search bar to find forms,
locations and messages.
-- Easy Touch Screen Access - A simple tap can add a job to the device
calendar.
-- Built-In Barcode Scanning - With the addition of a free download of the
XZING Barcode Scanner application, customers with Field Force Manager
Basic can use the phone's built-in camera to scan 1D/2D barcodes and
capture information instantaneously.
Available on all Verizon Wireless Android smartphones, Field Force Manager offers two pricing options - Limited and Basic - each providing a different level of features when added to qualifying voice plans. The following packages will be available for Android smartphones:
-- Limited - Available for $15 per month, this option offers management of
field teams, including details of current and past travel history.
-- Basic - In addition to the benefits of the Limited package, this option,
available for $20 per month, adds location-validated mobile timecards
and basic job dispatch and, when combined with Google maps and
navigation, offers driving directions.
Verizon offers wireless and wireline products and services that provide small businesses, enterprise and government customers in a variety of industries with the networking capabilities they require to keep their organizations running at top speeds today and in the future. For more information about Verizon products and services for business, visit http://www.verizonwireless.com/business.
About Verizon
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving more than 92 million customers nationwide. Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers innovative, seamless business solutions to customers around the world. A Dow 30 company, Verizon last year generated consolidated revenues of more than $107 billion. For more information, visit http://www.verizon.com.
Android, Gmail, Google Calendar, and Android Market are trademarks of Google Inc.
SOURCE Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless
CONTACT: Brenda Boyd Raney, Verizon Wireless, +1-908-559-7518, Brenda.Raney@verizonwireless.com
Wondershare Releases 100% Free Movie Maker Software
SHENZHEN, China, Oct. 18 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Wondershare Software announced the release of Wondershare DVD Slideshow Builder Free, a brand-new 100% free movie maker for users to turn photos into movies and burn onto DVDs instantly.
With Wondershare DVD Slideshow Builder Free, users could create fabulous DVD movies with animated titles, soundtrack and some special effects by just importing photos and music and using pre-made free movie styles in just a few mouse clicks. "This all-new free movie maker software is easy and fast for people all around the world to preserve and share photo memories more easily and enjoyably." said Mr. Lei, Director at Photo Software Division of Wondershare.
Key Features of Wondershare DVD Slideshow Builder Free
1. Add unlimited photos in all regular formats like GIF, BMP, JPEG, JPG,
PNG, etc.
2. Select your favorite songs as movie background music.
3. Bring still photos to life with 130+ free Hollywood-like movie styles.
4. Retouch movies with built-in Intro/Credits, scrolling titles, and other
special effects.
5. Burn movies to DVD for long time preser ving with 60+ free DVD menu
templates.
6. Output videos for PSP, Android & Nokia phones, etc. or share on YouTube,
Facebook...
Wondershare Software Co., Ltd. is an innovative consumer software player dedicated to bringing consumer software products and services in terms of multimedia, business and other ranges. Due to its persistent innovation, Wondershare has been honored by ranking 41st in the Deloitte Technology 2009 Fast 500. For more details, please visit: http://www.wondershare.com.
For more information, please contact
Vera Chen
Tel: +86-755-8611-7717
Fax: +86-755-8611-7737
Email: vera@wondershare.com http://www.wondershare.com
SOURCE Wondershare Software Co., Ltd.
Wondershare Software Co., Ltd.
CONTACT: Vera Chen, +86-755-8611-7717, +86-755-8611-7737(FAX), http://www.wondershare.com, vera@wondershare.com
North America's most popular premium, on-demand music service is now available on all major smartphone platforms: Apple, Android and RIM
SEATTLE, Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- America's hardest-working smartphone finally gets to play--from Rhapsody®'s 10.5 million-track music catalog. Today, the premium on-demand digital music service announced the launch of its acclaimed mobile application for the BlackBerry®.
With Rhapsody for BlackBerry, Rhapsody subscribers can access the award-winning music service from anywhere with a network connection. As with Rhapsody apps for Apple and Android, subscribers can enjoy their playlists from any BlackBerry smartphone and discover new music through playlists and radio stations programmed by Rhapsody's renowned music editors.
"We are committed to bringing the Rhapsody experience anywhere our subscribers wish to enjoy digital entertainment, be it the mobile device, MP3 player, home audio system or television," said Brendan Benzing, chief product officer, Rhapsody. "Paramount to this is creating an optimal experience that is tailored for each specific device, exemplified by the BlackBerry app."
The Rhapsody for BlackBerry app is the only on-demand premium music service application to fully integrate the hardware on the ubiquitous Curve (version 5.0 and higher), allowing users to operate the media, mute and volume buttons on the popular device. In addition, the app can be controlled via Bluetooth headsets.
Listening to and discovering music is simplified on the BlackBerry with charts of top tracks, albums and artists; lists featuring new releases and editor recommendations; and the top stations on Rhapsody Radio.
The streaming radio service contains more than 200 genre-based stations programmed by Rhapsody's in-house music experts, who guide listeners through a variety of music collections culled from Rhapsody's expansive music catalog. Subscribers can easily access all this content from the home screen, which also features Search, My Playlists and New This Week.
In related news, the company announced it has simplified the music download experience for iPhone® users as well, with an updated version of its iPhone app, available today on iTunes. This enhanced version of the app gives iPhone users the ability to download entire albums for offline playback with just one click.
BlackBerry users can download the new application from http://www.rhapsody.com, and it will soon be available at BlackBerry® App(TM) World and other app stores. Users are entitled to a free seven-day trial of the Rhapsody mobile app, after which they can purchase a Rhapsody subscription for only $9.99 per month. Visit http://www.rhapsody.com/discover/plans for more information.
About Rhapsody
The Rhapsody® digital music service (http://www.rhapsody.com) gives subscribers unlimited on-demand access to more than ten million songs, whether they're listening on a PC, laptop, MP3 player, mobile phone or internet-connected home stereo or TV. Rhapsody allows subscribers to access their music through more touch-points than any other digital music service. It's available on mobile phones from Verizon Wireless; through Rhapsody applications on the Apple iPhone, iPod Touch and Android mobile platform; and through devices from Vizio, SanDisk, HP, Sonos and Philips. Rhapsody and the Rhapsody logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Rhapsody International Inc.
The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited.
iTunes and iPhone are registered trademarks of Apple Inc.
Top Ranked Pageonce Personal Finance Selected as Launch Partner for Windows Phone 7 Marketplace
PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Pageonce, a top-ranked personal finance service for mobile devices, today announces support for Windows Phone 7. As a Microsoft Windows® Phone 7 launch partner, Pageonce Personal Finance will be showcased in Windows Marketplace, slated to debut in the U.S. on November 8. Preview Pageonce Personal Finance for Windows Phone 7 here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XranMnlLsQQ
"Windows Phone 7 is setting a new benchmark for the mobile experience on which Pageonce will deliver people a way to control their daily finances and gain financial peace of mind," said Guy Goldstein, CEO of Pageonce. "The 'glance and go' experience of Windows Phone 7 maps to industry trends that show consumers want 24/7 access to cash and bills and is synonymous with the services we deliver. We incorporated the unique Windows Phone 7 hub and tile interface so each user has a financial hub for cash, bills, credit cards and investments."
"Pageonce is a recognized leader in delivering top-rated mobile personal finance applications and we couldn't be more excited to have them as a launch partner for Windows Phone 7," said Charlie Kindel, general manager mobile developer ecosystem at Microsoft. "Windows Phone 7 characterizes a new direction for Microsoft and its partners, and Pageonce has developed an app that supports this direction in a significant way."
Pageonce Personal Finance for Windows Phone 7 gives users a simple and immediate read of their financial situation. It's built upon Pageonce's robust and proprietary platform that updates information for almost every financial institution and biller in the U.S. in real-time. The application will be available for free and features:
-- Account Monitoring: A quick and simple snapshot of available cash,
credit card balances, upcoming bills, and investment values.
-- Transaction Insights: Ability to dive deeper and look into daily
financial transactions and spending behavior
-- Bill Tracking: A comprehensive look at bills, when they are due and how
much is owed
-- Spending History: A monthly spending history and trends across all
accounts
-- Real-Time Alerts: Notifications and updates deliver important account
events and help users avoid fees, penalties and suspicious activity
About Pageonce
Pageonce is a free service on mobile devices that allows consumers to monitor cash flow, spending, and bills in one place. More than three million people count on Pageonce for monitoring, tracking and alerts of their financial accounts and bills management and more. Pageonce, available on the iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Phone 7 and the Web, has received top ratings from the New York Times, Fox News, CNN, USA Today, PC Magazine, PC World, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, Cnet and others. Launched in January 2008, Pageonce has quickly grown to track nearly $300 billion in transactions. A privately held company based in Palo Alto, Pageonce investors includes Pitango Venture Capital and Hillsven LLC. For more information, visit http://pageonce.com.
About Windows Phone 7
Windows Phone 7 has been carefully crafted to help people get more done in fewer steps with a unique Hub and Tile interface. The Windows Phone 7 Hubs offer quick and easy access to a person's latest and most valuable information and include People, Pictures, Games, Music & Video, Office and Marketplace content. Windows Phone 7 also integrates with many popular Microsoft consumer services such as Xbox LIVE, Windows Live, Bing and Zune.
SOURCE Pageonce
Pageonce
CONTACT: Angela Nibbs, of maven communications, +1-415-644-8832, pr@pageonce.com, for Pageonce
Microsoft Research Collaborates With Wikipedia to Enhance Multilingual Content
WikiBhasha tool will help simplify and speed up the process of creating multilingual content in Wikipedias.
REDMOND, Wash., Oct. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Research today announced the launch of the beta version of WikiBhasha, a multilingual content creation tool for Wikipedia. The WikiBhasha tool enables contributors to Wikipedia to find content from other Wikipedia articles, translate the content into other languages, and then either compose new articles or enhance existing articles in multilingual Wikipedias. The WikiBhasha beta is available as an open source MediaWiki extension, under the Apache License 2.0 at http://svn.wikimedia.org/viewvc/mediawiki/trunk/extensions/WikiBhasha, and as a user gadget in Wikipedia. The tool is also available as an installable bookmarklet at http://www.wikibhasha.org, which is hosted on the Windows Azure platform from Microsoft Corp. The name WikiBhasha derives from the well-known term "wiki," denoting collaboration, and "bhasha," which means "language" in Hindi and Sanskrit.
WikiBhasha will support content creation in more than 30 languages. The beta version of WikiBhasha will enable easy content creation in non-English Wikipedias by leveraging the large volume of English Wikipedia content as the source of information. Initially, the Wikimedia Foundation and Microsoft Research will also work closely with the Wikipedia user communities focusing on content creation in Arabic, German, Hindi, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish.
"We're always happy to see work on improving multilingual collaboration between wikis," said Danese Cooper, CTO of the Wikimedia Foundation. "Microsoft Research is doing some interesting work with WikiBhasha, and we're very pleased that it chose to share its client code in open source as well."
By making it easier for the Wikipedia community to create multilingual content, Wikipedia and Microsoft Research hope to inspire a new wave of multilingual content creation.
"The WikiBhasha beta holds the promise of enabling easy creation of content in multiple languages, and also of generating a large body of parallel language data for researchers to work on to further machine translation technology," said P. Anandan, managing director, Microsoft Research India. "Creating quality content in multiple languages can be greatly improved and accelerated with the active participation of the Wikipedia communities."
The WikiBhasha beta is a browser-based tool that works on Wikipedia sites. It features an intuitive and simple user interface (UI) layer that stays on the target-language Wikipedia for the entire content creation process. This UI layer integrates content discovery with linguistic and collaborative services, focusing the user primarily on content creation in the target Wikipedia. A simple three-step process guides the user in the content discovery and sourcing from English Wikipedia articles, composing a local-language Wikipedia article and publishing it in the target Wikipedia. Although a typical session may be to enhance a target-language Wikipedia article, new articles may also be created following a similar process. The WikiBhasha beta currently works on Windows Internet Explorer (7.0 and 8.0) on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7, and on Firefox (3.5 or above) on Linux Fedora (11 and 12), Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.
WikiBhasha, which is supported by Microsoft's Machine Translation system and Microsoft's Collaborative Translations Framework, was conceptualized by the Multilingual Systems Group at Microsoft Research India. The Multilingual Systems Group explores multilingual and cross-language technologies that work seamlessly across languages, and in creation of resources for aiding computational linguistics research. The tool was developed in collaboration with the Natural Language Processing Group in Microsoft Research Redmond.
A video tutorial that familiarizes users with the rich functionalities offered by the beta of WikiBhasha can be found at http://www.wikibhasha.org.
About Microsoft Research
Founded in 1991, Microsoft Research is dedicated to conducting both basic and applied research in computer science and software engineering. Researchers focus on more than 55 areas of computing and collaborate with leading academic, government and industry researchers to advance the state of the art. Microsoft Research has expanded over the years to eight locations worldwide and a number of collaborative projects that bring together the best minds in computer science to advance a research agenda based on their unique talents and interests.
Microsoft Research has locations in Redmond, Wash.; Cambridge, Mass.; Silicon Valley, Calif.; Cambridge, England; Beijing, China; and Bangalore, India, and also conducts research at the Cairo Microsoft Innovation Center in Egypt; European Microsoft Innovation Centre in Aachen, Germany; and the eXtreme Computing Group in Redmond. Microsoft Research collaborates openly with colleges and universities worldwide to enhance the teaching and learning experience, inspire technological innovation, and broadly advance the field of computer science. More information can be found at http://www.research.microsoft.com.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
CONTACT: Mike Houlihan, +1-503-443-7157, mhoulihan@waggeneredstrom.com, Rapid Response Team, +1-503-443-7070, rrt@waggeneredstrom.com, both for Microsoft
Countdown to Kinect: 17 Controller-Free Games Launch in November
With exclusive dance, sports, action and party titles, the Kinect launch portfolio offers something for everyone just in time for the holidays.
REDMOND, Wash., Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Yoga, Zumba and dance. A hedgehog, sorcerer and lion cub. Rapids, moguls and race tracks. Microsoft Corp. today unveiled 17 ways for you to jump into the action with the final launch lineup of games for Kinect for Xbox 360. Completely free from controllers, Kinect immerses you in dance, fitness, racing, sports, action, adventure and party games, offering something for everyone on your holiday gift list.
"Together with the industry's most creative minds, we're launching Kinect with a lineup of games that offers experiences like nothing before," said Phil Spencer, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios. "Kinect is now a fundamental piece of the Xbox experience, and this is just the first wave of remarkable games and entertainment we're bringing to market."
Seventeen Kinect-enabled game titles from the industry's biggest publishers will debut in November, including "Dance Central" (MTV Games/Harmonix), winner of the Game Critics Best Original Game award at E3 2010. From the minds behind the ground-breaking "Rock Band" franchise, "Dance Central" gets everyone off the couch and onto the dance floor, ushering in a brand new era in music games.
"'Dance Central' is a first-of-its-kind game that simply wasn't possible without Kinect," said Alex Rigopulos, CEO and co-founder of Harmonix Music Systems. "Kinect enabled us to breathe new life into the dance genre with an extraordinary, full-body gameplay experience that anyone can enjoy."
Family Game Night ... With a Kinect Twist
Befriend a playful tiger cub, collect treasures from around the globe, or cast a spell in the wizarding world. Whether adopting a new family pet in "Kinectimals" (Frontier Developments Ltd./Microsoft Game Studios), or embarking on a wet and wild rafting trip in "Kinect Adventures" (Good Science Studio/Microsoft Game Studios), Kinect for Xbox 360 is the one gift the whole family will enjoy this holiday season.
-- "Kinect Adventures" (Good Science Studio/Microsoft Game Studios),
included with every Kinect sensor, Nov. 4. Float in outer space.
Experience the thrill of roaring rapids. Tackle mountaintop obstacle
courses. And dive into the deep sea to save a leaky underwater
observatory -- all from your living room. With "Kinect Adventures," you
are the controller as you jump, dodge and kick your way through exciting
adventures set in a variety of exotic locations. "Kinect Adventures" is
designed with something for everyone to enjoy and will be available with
every Kinect sensor and Kinect bundle sold.
-- "Kinectimals" (Frontier Developments Ltd./Microsoft Game Studios) $49.99
ERP (U.S.)/$59.99 ERP (U.S.) limited collector's edition, Nov. 4.
"Kinectimals" invites children, their parents and animal lovers of all
ages to build lasting friendships with some of the world's most exotic
creatures. Just like real pets, your feline cubs will come running when
they hear your voice, respond to commands such as "jump," "roll over"
and "play dead," and purr with joy when you scratch them behind their
ears. Limited collector's editions of the "Kinectimals" game packaged
with a 7" plush toy that unlocks a new animal and toy in the game will
be available exclusively at select retailers.
-- "Game Party(TM): In Motion" (Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment),
$39.99 ERP (U.S.), Nov. 18. The popular party game value series comes to
Kinect for Xbox 360. "Game Party: In Motion" lets players engage in
true-to-life motions with 16 games appealing to people of all ability
levels, ranging from sports such as Hoop Shoot and Darts to arcade and
party games, including Rootbeer Tapper, Table Hockey and more.
-- "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 The Videogame" (Electronic
Arts/EA Bright Light), $49.99 ERP (U.S.), Nov. 16. "Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hallows -- Part 1 The Videogame" is the most challenging yet,
packed from start to finish with action and combat. Playing as Harry,
you are on the run from the opening sequence, fighting for survival on a
desperate and dangerous quest to locate and destroy Voldemort's
Horcruxes. And with 22 exclusive Kinect challenges, conjure the weapons
of magical warfare where your motions make the magic, only on Xbox 360.
Off the Couch and Into the Gym
Kinect gives you all new ways to swing, sweat and step up your workout with a range of exclusive dance and fitness games. From martial arts and yoga to a variety of activities in "Your Shape: Fitness Evolved" (Ubisoft) to the iconic personal trainers of "The Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout" (THQ), you've never had a living room workout like this before.
-- "Your Shape(TM): Fitness Evolved" (Ubisoft), $49.99 ERP (U.S.), Nov. 4.
With Kinect for Xbox 360 and "Your Shape: Fitness Evolved," you will
experience the most advanced fitness technology available, your way and
on your schedule. The advanced feedback system detects when your body is
out of alignment and coaches you to correct your form. Personalize your
workout, challenge your friends and share your progress while achieving
real results.
-- "Dance Central" (MTV Games/Harmonix), $49.99 ERP (U.S.), Nov. 4. From
the creators of "Rock Band" comes the next great music experience:
"Dance Central," the first controller-free, body-tracking,
fully-immersive dance video game that helps you take your moves to the
next level. Featuring more than 90 routines and 650 dance moves, every
routine has authentic choreography for beginners and experts alike to
master, alongside a killer soundtrack that spans today's current pop,
hip-hop and R&B artists. You won't just learn the dance moves -- you'll
own the dance floor.
-- "The Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout" (THQ), $49.99 ERP (U.S.), Nov. 4.
Based on the hit television show, "The Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout"
comes to Kinect offering the ultimate workout experience. Complete your
fitness program using the interactive motion control sensors providing
real-time feedback. From a body analyzer and recipes to personalized
tips and a video diary to track your journey, "The Biggest Loser
Ultimate Workout" fitness game has it all to drop the weight and change
your life.
-- "DanceMasters" (Konami), $49.99 ERP (U.S.), Nov. 4. The pioneer of the
franchise that started the dance game craze, Konami introduces a brand
new way to experience music and rhythm. The next generation in full body
dancing is finally here.
-- "EA SPORTS Active 2" (EA SPORTS), $99.95 ERP (U.S.), Nov. 16. "EA SPORTS
Active 2" with Total Body Tracking will combine motion tracking from
Kinect and heart rate data from the included wireless heart rate monitor
to provide true fitness results. Users will be able to track and share
their workout data online through automatic uploading from their online
connected Xbox 360 consoles to their personalized EA SPORTS Active
profile.
-- "Zumba Fitness®" (Majesco), $49.99 ERP (U.S.), Nov. 18. Join the party
with Zumba Fitness®, a one-of-a-kind, dance fitness workout set to
sexy, high-energy Latin and international music! Find your rhythm and
let go as Zumba instructor fan favorites Gina Grant, Tanya Beardsley and
Zumba's creator Beto guide you through 30 routines that will work you
into a sweat and make you forget you're even exercising.
Co-Op or Compete? The Choice Is Yours
Step onto the field with the first generation of sports games that turn you whole body into the controller. Want to play soccer? With Kinect, you use your feet -- not your thumbs! Hone your skills solo, or compete with friends at home and afar over Xbox LIVE. Beach volleyball, boxing, skiing and more -- Kinect offers something for athletes of every stripe.
-- "Kinect Sports" (Rare/Microsoft Game Studios) $49.99 ERP (U.S.), Nov. 4.
The first controller-free sports game that lets you physically compete
with friends over Xbox LIVE, "Kinect Sports" is so real, you will almost
feel the wind in your hair as you fly over hurdles and the sand in your
toes as you set, bump and spike your way to volleyball victory. With six
full sports -- Soccer, Beach Volleyball, Track & Field, Boxing, Bowling
and Table Tennis -- "Kinect Sports" is the only title with a Team vs.
Team mode, allowing the whole family to play in a fast-paced tournament
style competition.
-- "DECA SPORTS FREEDOM" (Hudson Entertainment), Price TBA, Holiday 2010.
Hudson Entertainment is taking sports to the next level with 10 sporting
events you play using your own body in "DECA SPORTS FREEDOM." No
controller necessary -- just move yourself as if you were playing the
sport in real life. Spin, throw and smash your way to victory across all
of the included events: Tennis, Boxing, Archery, Paintball, Beach
Volleyball, Dodge Ball, Kendo, Mogul Skiing, Snowboard Cross, and even
Figure Skating!
-- "MotionSports(TM)" (Ubisoft), $49.99 ERP (U.S.), Nov. 4. Grab your
friends and rush the living room -- it is time to catapult into the wide
world of "Motion Sports." Race down the slopes of a Super G slalom,
score a mind-blowing penalty kick, duck-and-run your way to a
game-winning touchdown, or throw punches at the champ as you test your
skills in more than 40 awesome sports challenges. "Motion Sports" live
in-game commentary will follow your hits and misses, as you compete to
go from local hero to a global sports phenomenon.
Thrills, Spills and All-Out Action
Get your adrenaline fix with new, controller-free ways to race and rumble. Kinect removes the barrier between you and your games, delivering action and excitement like nothing you've experienced before.
-- "Kinect Joy Ride" (Big Park/Microsoft Game Studios), $49.99 ERP (U.S.),
Nov. 4. "Kinect Joy Ride," the first controller-free racing game, will
take you and your friends on the ride of your lives -- no driver's
license required. "Kinect Joy Ride" combines wild kart-racing excitement
with the effortless fun of full-body gaming possible only with Kinect
for Xbox 360. Go solo, or compete with up to eight players over Xbox
LIVE to take on the world.(1)
-- "ADRENALIN MISFITS" (Konami), $49.99 ERP (U.S.), Nov. 4. "Adrenalin
Misfits" thrusts gamers into unbelievable fantasy worlds with exciting
sideways stance, boarding battles in amazing environments. It's not just
a race, it's a battle!
-- "Fighters Uncaged" (Ubisoft), $49.99 ERP (U.S.), Nov. 4. Charge head
first into the vicious world of illegal free fighting tournaments, where
you will use every muscle in your body to battle your way to the top.
Forced into a secret tournament, Simon must use what he learned from his
father, an ex-boxing champ, as he faces off against violent combatants
who will brutally unleash a range of mixed martial arts attacks to take
him down. No guns. No blades. Your body is the deadly weapon.
-- "SONIC FREE RIDERS(TM)" (SEGA) $49.95 ERP (U.S.), Nov. 4. "Sonic" is
speeding onto Kinect for Xbox 360 in an action-packed experience unlike
any other. Become your favorite character as you jump on your board and
compete in adrenaline-fueled races against tough competition. For the
first time, use full-motion body control to twist and turn your way
through a range of stunning courses.
Unbelievable Value
For less than the price of four tickets to see "The Nutcracker" this holiday, Kinect is a gift that awakens the living room all year round with laughter, camaraderie, and the simple joy of new experiences shared with family and friends. The all-in-one Xbox 360 4GB Console with Kinect includes the new Xbox 360 4GB console, Kinect sensor and "Kinect Adventures," priced at $299.99 ERP (U.S.). Or for those who have an Xbox 360 console(2) at home, the stand-alone Kinect for Xbox 360 priced at $149.99 ERP (U.S.) includes the Kinect sensor and "Kinect Adventures" and works with the 42 million Xbox 360 consoles currently in homes worldwide.
Amazing Entertainment
So much more than just games, Kinect brings entertainment to life in magical new ways, offering controller-free TV, movies, music and sports and connecting family and friends from coast-to-coast with video chat from the comfort of the living room. With Xbox LIVE, jump right into a movie in instant-on 1080p high-definition simply by saying "Xbox, play," or thumb through millions of songs from Zune with just a wave of your hand. With cutting-edge experiences for movie buffs, music lovers, sports gurus and gamers alike, Kinect and Xbox 360 bring the living room of the future home this holiday(3).
About Xbox 360
Xbox 360 is a premier home entertainment and video game system. This November, with the addition of Kinect, Xbox 360 will forever transform social gaming and entertainment with a whole new way to play -- no controller required. Xbox 360 is also home to the best and broadest games as well as the largest on-demand library of music, standard- and high-definition movies, TV shows and digital games, all in one place. The entertainment center of the living room, Xbox 360 blends unbeatable content with a leading social network of 25 million Xbox LIVE members to create a limitless entertainment experience that can be shared at home or across the globe. More information about Xbox 360 can be found online at http://www.xbox.com.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
(1) Xbox LIVE Gold membership required for online multiplayer.
(2) 190 MB of storage required.
(3) Xbox LIVE Gold membership and additional subscriptions and/or requirements may apply for video chat, Zune Pass music, ESPN on Xbox LIVE, and instant-on 1080p HD. See http://xbox.com/live.
CONTACT: Deaira Irons, +1-206-664-7804, deaira.irons@edelman.com, or Breanna Wilson, +1-206-268-2285, breanna.wilson@edelman.com, both of Edelman, for Microsoft Corp.
Countdown to Kinect: 17 Controller-Free Games Launch in November.
Anticipation for Kinect swells with sold-out pre-orders, ad campaign launch, special appearances on two of America's top daytime talk shows.
REDMOND, Wash., Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Tune in to see it on "The Oprah Show®." And find out what has Ellen DeGeneres moving and grooving. Even Geoffrey the Giraffe® knows Kinect for Xbox 360 is sure to be the hottest gift this holiday. Today, the countdown to Kinect begins, as Microsoft Corp. announced the launch of a multiyear advertising campaign and revealed the complete lineup of 17 controller-free games that will transform living rooms around the world starting on Nov. 4.
With pre-orders rapidly selling out and thousands of retailers across the country opening at midnight on launch day, Kinect is set to fly off store shelves and get everyone off the couch and on their feet this holiday season.
"The very first time we saw Kinect, we knew it would be a 'must have' item for the holiday season," said Richard Barry, vice president, general merchandise manager, Toys"R"Us® Inc. "There is no better place in the world to introduce innovative new products than Toys"R"Us, and we are excited about the full day of activities planned in New York City, building up to the much anticipated sale of the first Kinect sensor at our flagship store in Times Square."
Excitement for Kinect has reached a fever pitch. Over the past four months, tens of thousands of kids and parents, seasoned gamers and newbies alike jumped into the world of controller-free entertainment on the nationwide Kinect Experience Tour. This week, Microsoft continues to fan the flames with the launch of the Kinect global ad campaign.
Tune in to see Kinect for Xbox 360 featured on "The Oprah Show" on Tuesday, Oct. 19 as part of "Susan Boyle, Jackie Evancho: What Happened to the Next Big Thing?" Check local listings for air times. Even Ellen is in on the fun when Kinect makes a special appearance on the "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" later this month.
"The Xbox 360 team created a multiyear, integrated campaign showcasing real people at the heart of the experience," said Mike Delman, corporate vice president of IEB global marketing, Microsoft. "Kinect puts consumers at the center of their entertainment, and our marketing efforts follow that same charter."
A Gift for the Whole Family
For less than the price of four tickets to see "The Nutcracker" this holiday, Kinect is a gift that awakens the living room all year round with laughter, camaraderie and the simple joy of new experiences shared with family and friends. The all-in-one Xbox 360 4GB Console with Kinect includes the new Xbox 360 4GB console, Kinect sensor and "Kinect Adventures," priced at $299.99 ERP (U.S.). Or for those who have an Xbox 360 console(1) at home, the stand-alone Kinect for Xbox 360 priced at $149.99 ERP (U.S.) includes the Kinect sensor and "Kinect Adventures" and works with the 42 million Xbox 360 consoles currently in homes worldwide.
With 17 Kinect-enabled titles debuting in November, Kinect for Xbox 360 offers something for gamers (and nongamers) of every stripe.
Family Game Night ... With a Kinect Twist
Befriend a playful tiger cub, collect treasures from around the globe or cast a spell in the wizarding world. Whether adopting a new family pet in "Kinectimals" (Frontier Developments Ltd./Microsoft Game Studios), or embarking on a wet and wild rafting trip in "Kinect Adventures" (Good Science Studio/Microsoft Game Studios), Kinect for Xbox 360 is the one gift the whole family will enjoy this holiday season.
-- "KinectAdventures" (Good Science Studio/Microsoft Game Studios),
included with every Kinect sensor, Nov. 4. Float in outer space.
Experience the thrill of roaring rapids. Tackle mountaintop obstacle
courses. And dive into the deep sea to save a leaky underwater
observatory -- all from your living room. With "Kinect Adventures," you
are the controller as you jump, dodge and kick your way through exciting
adventures set in a variety of exotic locations. "Kinect Adventures" is
designed with something for everyone to enjoy and will be available with
every Kinect sensor and Kinect bundle sold.
-- "Kinectimals" (Frontier Developments Ltd./Microsoft Game Studios),
$49.99 ERP(U.S.)/$59.99 ERP (U.S.) limited collector's edition, Nov. 4.
"Kinectimals" invites children, their parents and animal lovers of all
ages to build lasting friendships with some of the world's most exotic
creatures. Just like real pets, your feline cubs will come running when
they hear your voice, respond to commands such as "jump," "roll over"
and "play dead," and purr with joy when you scratch them behind their
ears. Limited collector's editions of the "Kinectimals" game packaged
with a 7" plush toy that unlocks a new animal and toy in the game will
be available exclusively at Toys"R"Us and GameStop.
-- "Game Party(TM): In Motion" (Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment),
$39.99 ERP (U.S.), Nov. 18. The popular party game value series comes to
Kinect for Xbox 360. "Game Party: In Motion" lets players engage in
true-to-life motions with 16 games appealing to people of all ability
levels, ranging from sports such as Hoop Shoot and Darts to arcade and
party games, including Rootbeer Tapper, Table Hockey and more.
-- "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 1 The Videogame"
(Electronic Arts/EA Bright Light),$49.99 ERP (U.S.), Nov. 16. "Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 1 The Videogame" is the most
challenging yet, packed from start to finish with action and combat.
Playing as Harry, you are on the run from the opening sequence, fighting
for survival on a desperate and dangerous quest to locate and destroy
Voldemort's Horcruxes. And with 22 exclusive Kinect challenges, conjure
the weapons of magical warfare where your motions make the magic, only
on Xbox 360.
Off the Couch and Into the Gym
Kinect gives you all-new ways to swing, sweat and step up your workout with a range of exclusive dance and fitness games. From martial arts and yoga to a variety of activities in "Your Shape: Fitness Evolved" (Ubisoft) to the iconic personal trainers of "The Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout" (THQ), you've never had a living room workout like this before.
-- "Your Shape(TM): Fitness Evolved" (Ubisoft), $49.99 ERP (U.S.),Nov. 4.
With Kinect for Xbox 360 and "Your Shape: Fitness Evolved," you will
experience the most advanced fitness technology available, your way and
on your schedule. The advanced feedback system detects when your body is
out of alignment and coaches you to correct your form. Personalize your
workout, challenge your friends and share your progress while achieving
real results.
-- "Dance Central" (MTV Games/Harmonix),$49.99 ERP (U.S.), Nov. 4. From the
creators of "Rock Band" comes the next great music experience: "Dance
Central," the first controller-free, body tracking, fully immersive
dance video game that helps you take your moves to the next level.
Featuring more than 90 routines and 650 dance moves, every routine has
authentic choreography for beginners and experts alike to master,
alongside a killer soundtrack that spans today's current pop, hip-hop
and R&B artists. You won't just learn the dance moves -- you'll own the
dance floor.
-- "The Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout" (THQ), $49.99 ERP (U.S.), Nov. 4.
Based on the hit television show, "The Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout"
comes to Kinect offering the ultimate workout experience. Complete your
fitness program using the interactive motion control sensors providing
real-time feedback. From a body analyzer and recipes to personalized
tips and a video diary to track your journey, "The Biggest Loser
Ultimate Workout" fitness game has it all to drop the weight and change
your life.
-- "DanceMasters" (Konami),$49.99 ERP (U.S.), Nov. 4. The pioneer of the
franchise that started the dance game craze, Konami introduces a brand
new way to experience music and rhythm. The next generation in full-body
dancing is finally here.
-- "EA SPORTS Active 2" (EA SPORTS), $99.95 ERP (U.S.),Nov. 16. "EA SPORTS
Active 2" with Total Body Tracking will combine motion tracking from
Kinect and heartrate data from the included wireless heart rate monitor
to provide true fitness results. Users will be able to track and share
their workout data online through automatic uploading from their online
connected Xbox 360 consoles to their personalized EA SPORTS Active
profile.
-- "Zumba Fitness®" (Majesco), $49.99 ERP (U.S.), Nov. 18. Join the party
with "Zumba Fitness," a one-of-a-kind, dance fitness workout set to
sexy, high-energy Latin and international music. Find your rhythm and
let go as "Zumba" instructor fan favorites Gina Grant, Tanya Beardsley
and "Zumba" creator, Beto, guide you through 30 routines that will work
you into a sweat and make you forget you're even exercising.
Co-Op or Compete? The Choice Is Yours
Step onto the field with the first generation of sports games that turn your whole body into the controller. Want to play soccer? With Kinect, you use your feet -- not your thumbs! Hone your skills solo, or compete with friends at home and afar over Xbox LIVE. Beach volleyball, boxing, skiing and more -- Kinect offers something for athletes of every stripe.
-- "Kinect Sports" (Rare/Microsoft Game Studios),$49.99 ERP (U.S.),Nov. 4.
The first full-body, controller-free sports game that lets you
physically compete with friends over Xbox LIVE, "Kinect Sports" is so
real, you will almost feel the wind in your hair as you fly over hurdles
and the sand in your toes as you set, bump and spike your way to
volleyball victory. With six full sports -- Soccer, Beach Volleyball,
Track & Field, Boxing, Bowling and Table Tennis -- "Kinect Sports" is
the only title with a Team vs. Team mode, allowing the whole family to
play in a fast-paced tournament style competition.
-- "MotionSports(TM)" (Ubisoft) -- $49.99 ERP (U.S.), Nov. 4. Grab your
friends and rush the living room, it is time to catapult into the wide
world of "MotionSports." Race down the slopes of a Super G slalom, score
a mind-blowing penalty kick, duck-and-run your way to a game-winning
touchdown, or throw punches at the champ as you test your skills in more
than 40 awesome sports challenges. The "MotionSports" live in-game
commentary will follow your hits and misses, as you compete to go from
local hero to a global sports phenomenon.
-- "DECA SPORTS FREEDOM" (Hudson Entertainment), Price TBA, Holiday 2010.
Hudson Entertainment is taking sports to the next level with 10 sporting
events you play using your own body in "DECA SPORTS FREEDOM." No
controller necessary -- just move yourself as if you were playing the
sport in real life. Spin, throw and smash your way to victory across all
of the included events: tennis, boxing, archery, paintball, beach
volleyball, dodge ball, kendo, mogul skiing, snowboard cross, and even
figure skating.
Thrills, Spills and All-Out Action
Get your adrenaline fix with new, controller-free ways to race and rumble. Kinect removes the barrier between you and your games, delivering action and excitement like nothing you've experienced before.
-- "Kinect Joy Ride" (Big Park/Microsoft Game Studios),$49.99 ERP (U.S.),
Nov. 4. "Kinect Joy Ride," the first controller-free racing game, will
take you and your friends on the ride of your lives -- no driver's
license required. "Kinect Joy Ride" combines wild kart-racing excitement
with the effortless fun of full-body gaming possible only with Kinect
for Xbox 360. Go solo or compete with up to eight players over Xbox LIVE
to take on the world.(2)
-- "ADRENALIN MISFITS" (Konami), $49.99 ERP (U.S.), Nov. 4. "Adrenalin
Misfits" thrusts gamers into unbelievable fantasy worlds with exciting,
sideways-stance boarding battles in amazing environments. It's not just
a race, it's a battle!
-- "Fighters Uncaged" (Ubisoft), $49.99 ERP (U.S.), Nov. 4. Charge
head-first into the vicious world of illegal free-fighting tournaments,
where you will use every muscle in your body to battle your way to the
top. Forced into a secret tournament, Simon must use what he learned
from his father, an ex-boxing champ, as he faces off against violent
combatants who will brutally unleash a range of mixed martial arts
attacks to take him down. No guns. No blades. Your body is the deadly
weapon.
-- "SONIC FREE RIDERS(TM)" (SEGA), $49.95 ERP (U.S.), Nov. 4. Sonic is
speeding onto Kinect for Xbox 360 in an action-packed experience unlike
any other. Become your favorite character as you jump on your board and
compete in adrenaline-fueled races against tough competition. For the
first time use full-motion body control to twist and turn your way
through a range of stunning courses.
Amazing Entertainment, Unbelievable Value
So much more than just games, Kinect brings entertainment to life in magical new ways, offering controller-free TV, movies, music and sports and connecting family and friends from coast to coast with video chat from the comfort of the living room. With Xbox LIVE, jump right into a movie in instant-on 1080p high-definition simply by saying "Xbox, play," or thumb through millions of songs from Zune with just a wave of your hand. You can even literally reach out and freeze the frame on that game-changing touchdown or three-pointer with ESPN on Xbox LIVE. With cutting-edge experiences for movie buffs, music lovers, sports gurus and gamers alike, Kinect and Xbox 360 bring the living room of the future home this holiday.(3) For more information, visit http://www.kinectholiday.com.
Follow Kinect on Facebook as we tour the world, transforming how people experience games and entertainment. More information is available at http://www.facebook.com/xbox.
About Xbox 360
Xbox 360 is a premier home entertainment and video game system. This November, with the addition of Kinect, Xbox 360 will forever transform social gaming and entertainment with a whole new way to play -- no controller required. Xbox 360 is also home to the best and broadest games as well as the largest on-demand library of music, standard- and high-definition movies, TV shows and digital games, all in one place. The entertainment center of the living room, Xbox 360 blends unbeatable content with a leading social network of 25 million Xbox LIVE members to create a limitless entertainment experience that can be shared at home or across the globe. More information about Xbox 360 can be found online at http://www.xbox.com.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
1 190 MB of storage required.
2 Xbox LIVE Gold membership required for online multiplayer.
Xbox LIVE Gold membership and additional subscriptions and/or
requirements may apply for video chat, Zune Pass music, ESPN on
3 Xbox LIVE, and instant-on 1080p HD. See http://xbox.com/live.
CONTACT: Deaira Irons, +1-206-664-7804, deaira.irons@edelman.com, or Breanna Wilson, +1-206-268-2285, breanna.wilson@edelman.com, both of Edelman, for Microsoft
CA Technologies Next-Generation Automation Suite Helps Accelerate the Journey from Virtualization to Cloud Computing
New and Enhanced Products and Solution Bundles Help Tame Complexity of Managing Hybrid Physical, Virtual and Cloud-based IT Infrastructures and the Business Services they Support
ISLANDIA, N.Y., Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- CA Technologies (Nasdaq: CA) today announced a next-generation CA Automation Suite to help customers with their journey to a virtualized, dynamic cloud computing infrastructure. The Suite is designed to offer a comprehensive, business service-centric approach to the dynamic deployment and elastic scaling of IT infrastructure and services by automating, orchestrating, integrating and standardizing the provisioning and management of physical, virtual and cloud resources.
"Enterprise data center virtualization and cloud computing strategies are being rapidly implemented across heterogeneous physical and virtual infrastructures," said Mary Johnston Turner, research director, Enterprise System Management Software, IDC. "These new computing architectures significantly complicate many activities, such as application and server provisioning, and change management. Automated provisioning solutions are needed to help IT teams address these challenges. The CA Automation Suite targets many of these requirements while providing customers with modular implementation options designed to deliver value quickly and allowing customers to ramp up use of automation at a pace that makes sense for their business."
The CA Automation Suite is designed to offer a comprehensive solution to help solve the most challenging IT operational tasks. Designed with unified physical and virtualization management in mind, the Suite provides a clear path toward helping enterprises accelerate the benefits of virtualization and cloud computing.
"MGM Resorts deployed components of the CA Automation Suite in early 2010 in order to standardize and streamline physical and virtual server provisioning and life-cycle management activities," said Chris Gebelin, executive director - enterprise management of MGM Resorts International. "Our investment in the CA Technologies automation solutions has enabled us to improve staff productivity and IT resource utilization."
The CA Automation Suite features two new products and enhancements to four other products. All the products may be purchased and implemented separately or in three new pre-integrated solutions designed for critical use-case requirements: hybrid clouds, Cisco UCS, and data centers.
Business Service Automation
-- NEW: CA Process Automation helps reduce operational expenses, increase
staff productivity and increase speed in delivering IT services by
documenting, automating, and orchestrating a range of processes across
platforms, applications, and IT groups. Key features include a graphical
designer interface, over 50 CA Technologies and third-party pre-built
data connectors, and visual exception handling. These features provide
context to the architects of the tasks being automated and help enable
quicker results.
-- NEW: CA Configuration Automation is designed to enable greater
standardization of IT services, reduced downtime, and increased
compliance with regulatory and IT security policies by providing
application and system discovery and dependency mapping across a range
of applications and distributed physical and virtual servers. Key
features include granular configuration tracking and auditing; more than
1000 out-of-the-box application, service and system templates and
policies; and the flexibility of using either agent or agent-less
approaches.
-- CA Workload Automation automates and optimizes the scheduling of
enterprise workloads, helping IT meet service level objectives of
mission critical workloads. The solution can be hosted and managed from
both mainframe and distributed platforms, offering choice and
flexibility to data center managers. New capabilities include enhanced
agents that support more than 50 job types; dynamic management of mixed
workloads for virtualized resources; and the ability to schedule
workloads in public clouds such as Amazon EC2, manage business workloads
and IT services as a single process, and monitor an entire business
process and perform impact and root cause analysis in the event of a job
failure.
Infrastructure Automation
-- CA Virtual Automation provides self-service and automated virtual server
provisioning using an integrated self service reservation system; built
in templates and reports for chargeback; and public, private, and hybrid
cloud support, including the ability to directly provision applications
into Amazon EC2. New capabilities include support for hypervisors such
as Microsoft Hyper-V and support for Amazon VPC.
-- CA Server Automation dynamically provisions, patches, and deploys
applications and services across physical and virtual systems based on
standard templates and key performance metrics. New capabilities include
support for new hypervisors, including Microsoft Hyper-V and support for
Cisco UCS.
-- CA Client Automation (formerly CA IT Client Manager) integrates and
automates a wide range of client device management tasks such as bare
metal buildups and rebuilds, patch management, migration to Windows 7
and remote desktop support. New capabilities include application
virtualization management, VMware VDI linked clone management, and
business reporting options.
New Pre-Integrated Solutions
-- CA Automation Suite for Hybrid Clouds is designed for enterprises
interested in building an internal private cloud and also potentially
planning to leverage a public cloud as a part of their data center
strategy. CA Automation Suite for Hybrid Clouds helps standardize IT
service delivery to business customers through a unified, self-service
reservation system and seamless administration. The integrated solution
includes three automation products: CA Process Automation, CA Server
Automation, and CA Virtual Automation; and CA Service Catalog and
Accounting.
-- CA Automation Suite for Cisco UCS is designed for enterprises scaling
out a Cisco UCS solution in their data centers that needs heterogeneous
configuration and provisioning support and industrial-grade scalability.
The integrated solution includes joint CA Technologies and Cisco
developed content for CA Configuration Automation, CA Process
Automation, CA Server Automation, and CA Virtual Automation that enables
images to be moved to Cisco UCS from non-Cisco UCS servers.
-- CA Automation Suite for Data Centers is designed for enterprises looking
to maximize the benefits of managing integrated physical and virtual
infrastructure and preparing to take advantage of cloud computing's
benefits. This integrated solution, previously called CA Spectrum
Automation Manager, is comprised of CA Configuration Automation, CA
Process Automation, CA Server Automation, and CA Virtual Automation.
"The promise of greater agility, increased ROI and improved resource utilization is driving rapid implementation of virtualization and cloud computing initiatives across enterprise data centers," said Roger Pilc, general manager of Virtualization and Automation, CA Technologies. "However, this results in an additional layer of management complexity that can constrain IT's ability to meet business needs. The CA Automation Suite is designed to absorb this complexity, helping IT to increase agility, reduce risk and cost, and improve service delivery while aligning with the business in unprecedented, transformational ways."
For more information about the CA Automation Suite, visit http://www.ca.com/us/service-automation.aspx. Demonstrations are available at the CA Technologies booth (PS2) at Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2010 today through October 21. In addition, Gebelin will discuss MGM Resorts' use of the CA Automation Suite at the event. His joint session with Pilc, "Quit Stalling: Overcoming the Barriers to Broad-based Virtualization Deployments," will be held October 19 at 12:30 p.m. ET.
Additional Resources
-- Blog: CA on Virtualization and Automation
-- Product Demonstration: CA Automation Suite for Data Centers
-- Twitter: @CAvirtualAuto
-- White Paper: CA Automation Suite Paves the Way for the Cloud
-- White Paper: Workload Automation for the Cloud
-- Video: Automation: Pre-requisite to the Cloud
-- Executive Brief: Automating Service Delivery
CA Technologies (NASDAQ: CA) is an IT management software and solutions company with expertise across all IT environments - from mainframe and distributed, to virtual and cloud. CA Technologies manages and secures IT environments and enables customers to deliver more flexible IT services. CA Technologies innovative products and services provide the insight and control essential for IT organizations to power business agility. The majority of the Global Fortune 500 relies on CA Technologies to manage evolving IT ecosystems. For additional information, visit CA Technologies at http://www.ca.com.
Follow CA Technologies
-- Twitter
-- Social Media Page
-- Press Releases
-- Podcasts
Traffix Announces Diameter Router Version 2.0 at 4G World 2010
LONDON, October 18, 2010/PRNewswire/ -- Traffix Systems, the NGN and Diameter control plane expert,
today announced the release of a new version of Traffix Diameter Router, the
industry benchmark for Diameter routing and management, matching the emerging
needs of operators upgrading their core networks to LTE.
The announcement follows successful deployment of Traffix
Diameter Router in a dozen operators' LTE core networks.
The Traffix Diameter Router enables mobile operators to scale
their networks to meet the growing volume of LTE signaling traffic, shorten
services introduction time, and gain visibility into their networks.
Traffix Diameter Router is the industry's most mature Diameter
Routing solution, launched over two years ago, and is the industry most
robust and widely deployed Diameter routing solution.
Traffix Diameter Router's unique architecture offers unmatched
industry performance, using commercial off the shelf hardware capable of
millions of transactions per second, and is the only market solution meeting
the strict demands and scalability requirements of advanced Tier-1 operators.
New key features requested by service providers are offered in
the new release, including more extensive legacy signaling protocol support,
additional dynamic adaptive routing algorithms, and enhanced statistics and
management.
"Mobile operators face multiple challenges when introducing
LTE network entities into their core network. The issue of building a
scalable, robust and manageable network is becoming strategic", said Ben
Volkow, Traffix Systems CEO. "This announcement comes as a result of joint
work with over a dozen of service providers that installed Traffix Diameter
Router over the last two years".
About Traffix Systems
Traffix Systems (http://www.traffixsystems.com) is the NGN and
Diameter control plane expert. Traffix leads the control plane market, with a
range of NGN and LTE Diameter control plane products and solutions. Traffix
supports telecom operators on their way to establish a high capacity data
network, accommodating the needs of telecom customers on the way to LTE, by
building a series of easy to use products to enable a smooth, secure, cost
efficient road to a high capacity data network.
Voice Solutions at Gitex: Meet Acapela's Family of Arabic Voices and Enjoy New Speech Experiences!
MONS, Belgium, October 18, 2010/PRNewswire/ -- With 8 super natural voices in Arabic, Ibn Sina the advanced talking
android, talkative avatars on iPhone & smartphones and impressive demos,
Acapela Group - the expert in voice solutions - invites you to discover and
enjoy the world of synthesized speech at Gitex 2010!
Speech synthesis: Meet Acapela's diverse, happy family of Arabic voices
We are delighted to introduce the 8 members, male and female, of
Acapela's Arabic family, all very different one from the other. They join the
extensive range of varied, multilingual personalities already part of
Acapela's voice portfolio. Meet Nizar (Arabic/English bilingual), Salma,
Leila, Medhi, Youssef, Fouad, Charifa and Jaouad and choose the voice you
prefer or ask Acapela experts to create your own, unique, synthesized voice
talent.
Acapela natural voices allow you to give the power of speech to any
application or service, using different Arabic voices, with a choice of
female or male tones. Acapela's Arabic portfolio has been developed by
dedicated specialists with extensive expertise. The team has acquired over
several years a cutting edge knowledge and understanding of the Arabic
language and created a process whereby Arabic is converted into a vowel
transcription, so allowing speech synthesis to turn written Arabic content
into natural speech.
Acapela Group offers high quality speech synthesis in 30 languages and
over 50 natural voices and creates bespoke solutions to meet particular
needs. Acapela continuously works with new languages and new voices to one
day welcome them into its ever growing, multilingual, extended family.
Ibn Sina, the world's first Arabic-talking android, is back on stage at
Gitex Following his successful performance at Gitex 2009, Ibn Sina, the
world's first Arabic-speaking human-like humanoid robot, created by the
Interactive Robots and Media Lab (IRML) of the United Arab Emirates
University, is back and ready to meet you at Acapela's stand, keen to
converse and chat. Ibn Sina is part of a new family of robots taking a step
further towards interactive relationships with humans - by using novel face
recognition, vision, speech solutions and other advanced technologies, and
also by using and publishing online social information available on FaceBook.
Acapela speech solutions voice empower Ibn Sina allowing him to
voice-interact and communicate with his environment. The robot is using both
ASR and TTS technologies from Acapela to set up a full dialogue and add a
natural Arabic voice to the Ibn Sina persona.
Talking Avatars
Last but not least, enjoy our talking avatars on iPhone and smartphones,
cheerful friendly characters that deliver your own words to your friends and
contacts. Using Acapela text to speech and Living Actor Avatar(TM) technology
from Cantoche, talking avatars provide operators and advertisers with a
powerful way to speak volumes.
Natural Arabic voices for all platforms
Arabic voices are available to vocalize any content, whatever the
platform or service: servers, Macs and PCs, mobile devices including the
iPhone, or web services. Software Development toolkits and API are perfectly
suited to your vocalization requirements.
Meet the Acapela Team at Gitex 2010, Hall 2K2-15 - 17-21 October 2010,
Dubai, UAE - http://www.gitex.com
About Acapela Group, http://www.acapela-group.com
Acapela Group, the leading voice expert, invents text to speech solutions to
give your content a voice in up to 30 languages and provides a wide portfolio
of Arabic voices. Acapela text to speech solutions allow you to turn any
written text into natural speech files, using any of our 50 high quality
standard voices or your own synthesized voice talent.
Acapela's wide range of vocal solutions - both offline and online - aimed
at both professional developers and a wider public, are creating a vocal
world accessible to anyone, whatever the size of their project, in all
fields. Our solutions offer perfect vocalization whether for voice
integration and development, online and on demand use, audio files production
or personal accessibility use. Already chosen by over a thousand customers
and adopted by millions of users throughout the world, Acapela bespoke
solutions give our customers a powerful voice, helping them successfully take
to the floor.
Major players in the Middle East have already chosen Acapela to speech
empower their services and applications: Medialog, Nattiq Technologies,
VoiceMpower, FDS, iPhoneislam are using Acapela Arabic voices to speech
enable their world.
Source: Acapela Group
Caroline Houel, Telephone number : +33562247104, E-mail : caroline.houel@acapela-group.com
According to some news, Best Buy has started selling the new Sony Internet TV as of the 17th of October! You can jump over to Gizmodo and take a quick look, as they have a great deal of pictures to take a look at.
Quote
Earlier this morning rumor had it that Best Buy was getting—and selling—the new Sony Internet TVs as early as today. An anonymous tipster sent us some pics confirming that this could indeed be the case.
Stop by over at Gizmodo and check this puppy out :-)
AT&T Expands Mobile Broadband Coverage in Franklin County
New Cell Sites Activated as Part of Ongoing AT&T Investment in Pennsylvania Wireless Network
CHAMBERSBURG, Pa., Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its continuing network investment to support growing demand for advanced mobile devices and applications, AT&T* today announced the activation of three new 3G cell sites in Franklin County, Pennsylvania.
The new sites will enhance wireless coverage for area residents and businesses in Chambersburg along Cumberland Highway (Route 997) and Sunset Pike (Route 433) near Letterkenny Army Depot, as well as in Blue Ridge Summit along Route 16 between Pennersville and the Adams County line. The third new site in Waynesboro will boost coverage for customers along Route 16 between Route 316 and Hades Church Road.
With 3G speeds, AT&T customers can surf the Web, download files faster, and enjoy the very latest interactive mobile applications.
State Representative Rob Kaufmann explained this network enhancement is good news for residents and businesses in the Chambersburg area.
"Our area already is an attractive place to live, work, and start or grow a business," said Kaufmann. "AT&T's investment in its mobile broadband network in our communities will make our communities even stronger and more competitive."
"Our goal is pretty simple: we want you to have an extraordinary experience when you make a call, check e-mail, download a video, or surf the Internet on your AT&T device," added J. Michael Schweder, president, AT&T Pennsylvania. "This upgrade in Franklin County is part of the significant private investments we are making to provide enhanced coverage in Pennsylvania and throughout the U.S."
Today's announcement builds on AT&T's mobile broadband expansion to Franklin County late last year. It's also part of AT&T's Pennsylvania wireless network investment plans for 2010, which include the addition of more than 60 new cell sites and the upgrade of nearly 400 additional cell sites to 3G.
From 2007 through 2009, AT&T's total capital investment in its Pennsylvania wireless and wireline networks was more than $725 million.
The new cell sites are one part of AT&T's ongoing efforts to extend the nation's fastest mobile broadband wireless network, according to expert, independent testing. AT&T has continued to drive investment and innovation to deliver the nation's best, most advanced mobile broadband experience for customers.
The new cell sites are one of many ongoing network initiatives planned to enhance wireless coverage and capacity across the country. AT&T recently upgraded 3G cell sites nationwide to High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) 7.2. Future plans include another upgrade to HSPA+ technology at the end of this year followed by the initial deployment next year of LTE, the next-generation of wireless technology. These advancements, when combined with an ongoing initiative to increase the number of high-speed backhaul connections to cell sites, are a part of AT&T's strategy to provide customers with an enhanced mobile broadband experience, both today and in the future.
AT&T's 3G mobile broadband network is based on the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) family of technologies that includes GSM and UMTS, the most widely used wireless network platforms in the world. AT&T has the best international coverage of any U.S. wireless provider, providing access to voice service in more than 220 countries and data service in 200 countries. AT&T also offers voice and data roaming coverage on more than 140 major cruise ships, as well as 3G services in more than 125 countries.
AT&T also owns and operates the nation's largest Wi-Fi network** with more than 23,000 hotspots in the U.S. and provides access to more than 125,000 hotspots globally through roaming agreements.
Most AT&T smartphone customers get access to our U.S. Wi-Fi network at no additional cost, and Wi-Fi usage doesn't count against customers' monthly data plans.
For more information about AT&T's 3G coverage in Franklin County or anywhere in the United States, consumers can visit the AT&T Coverage Viewer. Using the online tool, AT&T customers can measure coverage quality of coverage from a street address, intersection, ZIP code or even a landmark.
For updates on the AT&T wireless network, please visit the AT&T network news page.
*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.
** Largest based on company branded and operated hotspots. Access includes AT&T Wi-Fi Basic. A Wi-Fi enabled device required. Other restrictions apply. See http://www.attwifi.com for details and locations.
About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates - AT&T operating companies - are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation's fastest mobile broadband network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet and voice services. A leader in mobile broadband, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries. It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verse® and AT&T | DIRECTV brands. The company's suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world. In domestic markets, AT&T Advertising Solutions and AT&T Interactive are known for their leadership in local search and advertising. In 2010, AT&T again ranked among the 50 Most Admired Companies by FORTUNE®magazine.
Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com. This AT&T news release and other announcements are available at http://www.att.com/newsroom and as part of an RSS feed at http://www.att.com/rss. Or follow our news on Twitter at @ATT. Find us on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/ATT to discover more about our consumer and wireless services or at http://www.Facebook.com/ATTSmallBiz to discover more about our small business services.
Channel Chargers Launches First Turnkey Market Service
Program allows technology vendors to better monitor channel marketing efforts and ROI
SAN DIEGO, Oct. 18, /PRNewswire/ -- Channel Chargers, http://www.channelchargers.com, an outsourcing sales and marketing company for technology industry channel participants, announced today the launch of its Turnkey Channel Advantage program, designed specifically for vendors to enhance or replace traditional MDF programs, while gaining greater control over marketing dollars and results.
"In order to more effectively help channel partners in their marketing efforts, many vendors are migrating from standard co-op and MDF programs to more flexible support," stated Bertha Edington, VP Marketing for Channel Chargers. "At the same time, they are seeking to provide turnkey programs that can be simply, easily accessed and implemented while giving the vendor better control over their return on their investment. That's what the Channel Chargers Turnkey Channel Advantage Program is all about."
The service consists of a suite of professional market development programs for vendors to offer channel partners including items such as HTML email campaigns, and event participation, recruitment and management tools. Each program is customized to the individual vendor product and can be co-branded by the channel partner.
Completely web-based, the service provides online forms and management of market development programs including lead and ROI tracking and vendor/partner communications management to assure maximum impact for the investment dollar. Once the program has been established, the vendor can run it in-house or Channel Chargers can continue to manage it, acting as the vendor's marketing services arm.
"It's a natural outgrowth of our successful MDF Assist(SM) program, where we work with channel partners to help them make the most out of available marketing dollars," said Edington. "Now we are closing the circle with Turnkey Channel Advantage, working with vendors to make programs more effective from the start."
About Channel Chargers
Led by a team of experienced channel veterans, Channel Chargers serves IT vendors, VARs and service providers with outsourced sales and marketing services backed by market analysis, industry knowledge and contacts. By giving vendors additional resources, without additional overhead, Channel Chargers provides a rapid link to channel success that delivers solutions that speed time to market and revenue. At the core of Channel Chargers success is their ability to create effective Go-to-Channel plans that match the right products and companies to the right sellers and markets. For more information http://www.channelchargers.com.
CONTACT: Bertha Edington, VP Marketing of Channel Chargers, 1-888-600-5414, bedington@channelchargers.com, or Judy Smith of JPR Communications, +1-818-884-8282, judys@jprcom.com, for Channel Chargers
LG-Ericsson USA Hybrid Telephone System Delivers Innovative, Easy-to-Use VoIP Solution for Small- and Medium-Sized Businesses
ipLDK-60 Simplifies Business Communications, Reduces Costs Providing Robust Call Control and IP Integration in a Plug-and-Play Solution for Up to 48 Digital and Analog Extensions
IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ --LG-Ericsson USA, a leading provider of voice and data communications solutions for the SMB and enterprise markets, today announced the availability of the ipLDK-60 Hybrid Key Telephone System, a feature-rich, easy-to-use and manage hybrid Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) solution for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMB).
Designed to simplify voice communications for even the smallest of offices, ipLDK-60 reduces costs by eliminating the need for a separate PBX for call handling. Easy-to-install and manage, the ipLDK-60 is a scalable hybrid communications solution that supports up to 48 digital or analog extensions and provides maximum flexibility by enabling users to utilize a variety of terminals including digital, analog, and IP phones, and fax machines. The system's robust feature set includes text messaging, caller ID, conferencing, call recording, call coverage, and voice-over on camped on calls.
Ideal for growing small- and medium-sized companies, the ipLDK-60 supports both analog (PSTN) trunks, and digital and SIP trunks enabling users to migrate the voice communications infrastructure to a full VoIP solution using affordable, easy-to-install IP expansion cards.
Designed to reduce costs, the ipLDK-60 enables authorized managers to monitor call traffic and implement forced call control using Least Call Routing (LCR) which pre-selects the least expensive call routes for lowest cost and greatest value. To maximize productivity, the system provides voice mail notification to users' cell phones and supports 15-party conferencing.
"The ipLDK-60 system provides SMBs with an affordable, easy-to-use voice communication system that provides scalability to support growth and gives companies the ability to transition from the legacy analog telephone infrastructure to a state-of-the-art VoIP solution affordably and at a time that makes sense for the company," explained Tony Stramandinoli, Vice President of Marketing at LG-Ericsson USA. "The business-class feature set incorporated into the system provides SMBs with a full-featured telephony solution that makes even the smallest businesses sound like a large corporation, while minimizing the overall cost of ownership and maximizing the productivity of the staff."
About the LG-Ericsson ipLDK-60 Hybrid Key Telephone System
The LG-Ericsson ipLDK-60 offers simplicity and intelligence in a single compact platform that provides a business-class voice communications solution for up to 48 digital, analog or IP extensions.
The hybrid system can support a maximum of 24 +9 trunks including 24 digital trunks (T1-PRI) and a combination of up to 12 analog trunks or eight SIP trunks. The ipLDK-60 can support a maximum of 48 stations through a combination of up to 47 analog, 40 digital KTU, 16 IP KTU (wired and wireless), and four door phones. The system can support up to 36 central office (CO) line ports.
Equipped with a 10/100Mbps Ethernet port for VoIP, the ipLDK-60 can also be managed via modem or RS-232C. Remote maintenance and software upgrades can be managed through the LAN or PSTN modem.
The robust feature set of the ipLDK-60 solution includes: auto hold, call forwarding, call coverage, call log, call parking, call screening, camp on, conferencing for up to 15 parties, Do Not Disturb, Meet Me paging, messaging, mobile phone support, multi-lingual display, speed dial, music on hold and background music (13 music sources), automatic call distribution, account codes, alarms, Direct Inward Dialing (DID), CO line distinctive ringing, emergency call service, internal/external paging, wake-up service, full-featured attendant and voicemail capabilities.
The LG-Ericsson ipLDK-60 is backed by 24/7 technical support and a limited lifetime warranty and is available in North America via our dedicated value-added resellers at a list price of less than $1000.
About LG-Ericsson USA
Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., LG-Ericsson USA is a joint venture between LG-Ericsson and Accton Technology. LG-Ericsson USA combines its core competencies in both data networking and IP-based telecommunications technology to deliver to SMBs and enterprises affordable, integrated data networking and voice communications solutions that offer reduced costs, ease-of-management and improved functionality. LG-Ericsson USA's robust portfolio of end-to-end solutions includes enterprise-class wired and wireless data networking products and VoIP telephony solutions.
CONTACT: Ken Hagihara, Media Relations Representative of Integrity Public Relations, +1-949-768-4423, ext. 801, ken@integritypr.net, for LG-Ericsson USA, Inc.
Studio Chateau: The Internet-Based Options Selection Program Debuts Product Demo
IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Studio Chateau launches their newly designed "product demo" page which showcases the capabilities of this design center management program via a four minute video. This dynamic video provides a swift and comprehensive overview to how Studio Chateau functions complete with program screen shots and detailed explanations.
This innovative new internet-based options selection program is designed for the homebuilder, design centers and flooring companies to manage the option purchase process during the new home construction phases.
"We are thrilled to debut our product demo to better visualize and enhance the convenience and ease of Studio Chateau and how it evolves to become an extended member of our clients team," noted Carolyn Little, Vice President of Options Management. "We are setting a new standard of excellence in design management and customer satisfaction with modern web-based options technology that will revolutionize the home buying experience."
The downturn of the housing industry in 2006 has caused building companies to drastically reduce the size and scope of their operations and staffing which in turn has made it difficult to maintain a high level of customer service and buyer satisfaction. Builders have resorted to cutting builder options first however the buyers still wanted to purchase the upgrades.
This challenging situation for the housing industry provided the perfect opportunity to launch a program to increase customer satisfaction, improve company bottom line profits and introduce the concept of options technology.
Studio Chateau offers state-of-the-art web-based technology that improves communications during the new home purchase coupled with the interior options selection process. The system connects the homebuyer, sales, design center, purchasing, accounting, construction, trade partners, subcontractors and escrow by providing them all with accurate real-time information.
This innovative program includes: a visual lot specific options catalog for each community, drag and drop placement diagrams for each floorplan, construction cut-off date notification and management, purchase order generation and subcontractor notification, flooring entry and installation date management, accounting management and customer service follow-up and survey.
Studio Chateau is the national leader in design center technology for builder options. For more information, visit http://www.studiochateau.com.
SOURCE Studio Chateau
Studio Chateau
CONTACT: Lynn Ellis, +1-619-916-7959, or Dave Snow, +1-602-920-1564, both for Studio Chateau
REHOVOT, Israel, October 18, 2010/PRNewswire/ -- CellGuide, the GNSS SNAP technology pioneer, today announced the
availability of its patent-pending HiMap(TM) technology for precision urban
positioning. HiMap(TM) is now commercially available for CellGuide's ACLYS
chip, ACLYS IP Core, and GPSense engine. HiMap(TM) is also available for
licensing as an add-on to GNSS receiver manufacturers.
HiMap(TM) significantly improves GNSS navigation performance in urban
canyons. City skylines create particularly demanding operational conditions
for GPS receivers. Line-of-sight blockages and erroneous measurements
adversely affect the accuracy of GNSS device positioning, tracking and
navigation. CellGuide's HiMap(TM) technology boosts GNSS receiver accuracy
and availability in built-up areas. Based on high-resolution, worldwide
digital elevation mapping (DEM), HiMap(TM) serves as an additional beacon for
better navigation accuracy with four or more received satellites, and true
3-D navigation with three received satellites.
HiMap(TM) enhances GNSS receiver positioning for diverse applications
including vehicle and pedestrian navigation. Of particular note, HiMap(TM)
advanced compression provides global urban coverage in a compact database of
only a few megabytes.
"Our multi-beacon SNAP technology ensures an enhanced user experience for
location-based applications. HiMap(TM) is an impressive innovation on our
technology roadmap." said Boaz Efroni Rotman, CellGuide's VP Sales and
Marketing. "We continue to add beacons to our positioning engine to ensure
industry-leading precision in outdoor navigation and indoor applications."
A white paper detailing HiMap(TM) technology and benefits is available on
request from CellGuide. Please contact CellGuide Ltd. at
himap@cell-guide.com.
About CellGuide
CellGuide Ltd. designs and manufactures high-performance, integrated GNSS
solutions for mobile devices. CellGuide's product-lines of integrated IC and
IP Core set a new price / performance standard compared to conventional GPS
chips, making on-board GNSS possible for more mobile phones and consumer
products than ever before.
Learning A-Z's October Open House Highlights Exciting Product Innovations, a New Company Website and 10 Free Licenses
TUCSON, Ariz., Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Learning A-Z, a PreK-6 educational resource companyand business unit of Cambium Learning Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: ABCD), announced today that it will be opening its celebrated reading websites, ReadingA-Z.com and Raz-Kids.com, with free trial offers and 10 chances to win a free classroom subscription to both sites. Winners will be selected randomly and everyone who signs up for a free trial will be eligible to win.
The October Open House (http://www.learninga-z.com/OctoberOpenHouse) runs from October 18 through October 31 and anyone can sign up for a free trial to either website -- even if that person took a previous trial. October enhancements to ReadingA-Z.com and Raz-Kids.com include:
ReadingA-Z.com
-- Ease of use -- Improvements to the search tool now include national core
standards, correlations to key basal series, and more
-- Wide Access -- The addition of Kurzweil 3000(TM) format books, which are
perfect for special education programs and struggling readers who are
already making huge gains with Kurzweil's celebrated software
-- Currency -- A complete update of our Oil Spill Theme Pack is now
available -- taking currency to the next level!
Raz-Kids.com
-- Online Assessment -- Measure and track student progress through the new
Online Running Record tool and reports
-- More Leveled Books -- We've added more than 40 new titles, with an
emphasis on the upper elementary grades, bringing each of our 27 levels
up to at least 10 books per level
-- Even More Engaging -- With new Teacher-to-Student messaging, students
are motivated and the teacher-to-parent interaction expands
"We constantly upload fresh content and functionality to our websites, but this October is something special. We've added so many revolutionary features and enhancements to ReadingA-Z.com and Raz-Kids.com that we want every educator -- and all their friends -- to take free seven-day trials to both sites," says Bob Holl, publisher and founder of Learning A-Z. "We're so excited that we're giving away free licenses, just to encourage people to see what's new."
The October Open House also features the launch of a brand-new company website at http://www.learninga-z.com. Filled with helpful product information, videos, ways to connect and share via social media and news and information, the new site is a fresh expression of Learning A-Z's powerful brand story. "More than half of the districts in the U.S. and Canada already use resources from Learning A-Z, but most teachers don't know much about the company," says Holl. "Sure, the new LearningA-Z.com site tells our story. But that story has never really been about us at all -- it's about the teachers and students we serve."
Learning A-Z,a Tucson, AZ-based business unit of Cambium Learning Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: ABCD) of Dallas, TX,is a PreK-6 educational resource company specializing in online delivery of leveled readers and supplementary curriculum.Founded in 2002 to help teachers differentiate instruction and meet the unique needs of all students, Learning A-Z's resources are currently used in nearly half of the districts in the U.S. and Canada and 155+ countries worldwide. Serving a wide range of student need, including ELL/ESL, Response to Intervention, Special Education, and general classroom instruction, Learning A-Z offers six integrated websites for individual classrooms, schools, and districts, including ReadingA-Z.com, Raz-Kids.com, Reading-Tutors.com, ScienceA-Z.com, VocabularyA-Z.com and WritingA-Z.com.
LearningA-Z.com
Media Contact:
John Jorgenson
Director of Marketing
520.232.5070
jjorgenson@learninga-z.com
Investor Contact:
Shannan Overbeck
Cambium Learning Group, Inc.
214.932.9476
shannan.overbeck@cambiumlearning.com
SOURCE Learning A-Z; Cambium Learning Group, Inc.
Learning A-Z; Cambium Learning Group, Inc.
CONTACT: Media Contact: John Jorgenson, Director of Marketing, +1-520-232-5070, jjorgenson@learninga-z.com; Investor Contact: Shannan Overbeck, Cambium Learning Group, Inc., +1-214-932-9476, shannan.overbeck@cambiumlearning.com
The Whole Brain Group and Made in USA Certified Form Strategic Business Alliance to Foster Growth and Expansion for U.S.-Based Businesses
ANN ARBOR, Mich. , Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Marisa Smith, President of The Whole Brain Group, LLC, winner of the Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP)/AT&T Innovator of the Year Award, has partnered with Made in USA Certified (http://www.usa-c.com) to form a strategic business alliance that will focus on fostering technological growth and expansion for U.S.A- based service and manufacturing businesses.
The Whole Brain Group recently became "Service in USA Certified(TM)" (http://www.usa-c.com) and has developed a strong presence in Michigan as a leading U.S. provider of paperless solutions for business, education and non-profit organizations. The company has also expanded its reach beyond Michigan with its successful web-based AccreditStation® product, and has developed a national reputation among research institutions as the leading provider of accreditation management and automation software.
Marisa and The Whole Brain Group have simultaneously developed a reputation for providing smart websites to businesses who want to position their website as the center of their social media universe. Websites developed by Marisa's company are built to be social media machines - integrating with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Yelp!, Foursquare and other popular platforms - to drive traffic to websites and increase exposure for clients. As the market share of technologies like the iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android grow her clients are also demanding more mobile solutions to allow-on-the-go access to information in an ever increasingly mobile business world.
The Whole Brain Group and Made in USA Certified are Woman Owned Businesses and both Marisa and Julie Reiser are active members of Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP). Smith and Reiser share the same commitment to helping local businesses grow and compete in a very competitive economic environment. Smith from Michigan and Reiser from Florida have seen firsthand the devastating effects of the global outsourcing movement and the negative effect this has had on jobs and their local economies. Both women are committed to raising the bar of innovation and creativity to allow businesses to thrive in this new environment.
Together, through this new alliance they will be able to provide their clients access to services and benefits previously not available. Additionally both companies will offer reciprocal discounts for members.