New AT&T Online 'Recommendation Tool' Takes Guesswork out of Choosing Communications Technologies for Small Businesses
Self-Service Tool Enables Small Businesses to Quickly Assess, Select and Purchase Most Relevant Wireless and Wired Services for Their Operations
DALLAS, July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Because many small businesses have limited technical resources, identifying and selecting the best wireless and wired communications technologies for their operations can be a daunting task.
The good news for small businesses is that the task just got easier, thanks to the new "AT&T* Recommendation Tool," an online portal available at http://www.att.com/smallbusiness. The tool presents small businesses with a series of business-specific questions that are easily answered and quickly recommends the most relevant AT&T wireless and wired solutions, which can help them reduce costs, enhance productivity and, ultimately, get the most out of their communications technology budget.
The online tool has a simple user-friendly interface for non-techies and offers recommendations and purchasing capabilities for both wireless and wired solutions with a few clicks of a mouse. Those solutions include wireless voice and data services, wired local and long distance voice, high speed Internet, data backup, 24/7 tech support and website hosting or bundles featuring any or all of these services.
According to a 2010 study conducted by industry research firm Compass Intelligence, before making final purchase decisions for IT or telecom services, nearly half (46 percent) of small businesses indicate that they go to a preferred provider's website to see what they offer. A simple, compelling online resource, such as the AT&T Recommendation Tool, helps meet the needs of small businesses.
Recommendation Tool Key Facts/Features
-- Uses customer answers to questions about their business to determine
their wireline and wireless communications needs
-- Recommends appropriate AT&T products and services based upon the
customers communication needs
-- "Hands off" the recommended packages for purchase and pre-populates the
shopping cart with those products and services
-- Allows customers to quickly order pre-defined packages - such as "All
for Less" - or build their own customized solutions
-- Uses a single page shopping cart for ordering voice, broadband, and
wireless services
-- Dynamically determines and displays applicable savings based on the
selected products and services
-- Allows customers to add on services, including tech support, data backup
and website hosting and design
For a brief video, highlighting the AT&T Recommendation Tool, click here.
Quotes
"Online tools have become one of the most important ways to reach and influence decision-makers in the Small Businesses market," said Kneko Burney, President of Compass Intelligence. "This is because such tools can accommodate any schedule and help save the most precious resource for any small business ... time."
"Small businesses are continually looking for new ways to be more productive and get the most out of their technology investments," said Robert Sloan, AT&T Vice President of eSales & Service. "Our hope is that by providing a recommendation tool, we can take the guesswork out of selecting the best wireless and wired communications for a business' specific needs, and allow them to focus more on running their own business and improving their everyday operations."
General Information
Small businesses wanting information about all AT&T products and services can visit AT&T Small Business. For free business resources such as webinars, white papers, training, case studies and best practices, they can visit AT&T Small Business InSite.
Additionally, real-time information and updates can be found on the AT&T Small Business Facebook page and AT&T Small Business Twitter channel.
*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.
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.
LOS ANGELES, July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Daily deal sites seem to be a dime a dozen these days, and though some consumers feel overwhelmed by the coupon fad, they'll agree that there's nothing overwhelming or annoying about saving money. There is, however, a little something that needs to be said regarding the odd variety of deals these sites promote. Some companies are so large in scope that they'll offer a discount on a restaurant one day, and fifty percent off a kayak lesson the next. It's this run of disjointed deals that annoys the coupon community, and turns them off to the concept entirely. Regardless of the deal though, the concept is not flawed. It's just that the community of subscribers of any deal site should mirror the viability or type of deals offered. Specialization might just be the future of our discounted web world. Movie fans will subscribe to movie deal sites, vacation lovers will subscribe to vacation deal sites, and foodies will subscribe to restaurant deal sites.
Eat Deals (EatDeals.com), a new daily deal site, appeals to both consumers and restaurants by existing solely within their niche. Instead of offering deals on everything...from a tennis lesson to a car wash twenty miles from home, EatDeals.com offers restaurant deals, and restaurant deals only. This way, subscribers will know exactly what to expect: a daily deal on food, period. Subscribers will also be happy to know that they'll be able to redeem their vouchers instantly, and visit the restaurant within a matter of moments of buying the deal. It makes sense for a deal site focused on food to do away with 'the waiting period' in which a certain amount of people need to buy the deal for it be active. Instead, you can buy the deal and enjoy that restaurant in the same afternoon.
The Eat Deals platform is enticing to restaurant owners as well. Owners appreciate that Eat Deals will only email 'the deal' to their community of subscribers, all of whom reside within a ten mile radius of the restaurant. Of course, owners understand that all they have to do is offer good food and service, and the Eat Deals community will return again and again. Restaurant owners are also pleased by the flexibility Eat Deals offers in terms of 'the deal.' Owners are given more control regarding deal restrictions, limits, and any specifications they might have.
Visiting daily deal sites is an obvious and easy way to save money. Especially now, when times are tougher then ever, these sites fulfill consumers' financial needs. But Eat Deals understands that deals on what you need and deals on what you might want, are entirely different. After all, a bungee jumping lesson would be nice (for some), but it certainly isn't a necessity: Food, however, is. So, stop worrying about the bungee cord for now, and instead, consider what's important in life...like great food, and great savings at EatDeals.com
Bubbalon Releases Sentiment Sharing App Version 2.0 for Apple Devices - Users Give Granular Instant Feedback on Places, Things, Even People
Free App Works with Foursquare by Prompting Ratings after "Check Ins"- Real Time Sentiment Capture Provides Fresh and Candid Opinions
TORONTO,July 19, 2011/PRNewswire/ -- Bubbalon, a leading provider of mobile sentiment capturing tools, announced today the launch of its version Bubbalon 2.0 app for Apple devices.
Bubbalon encourages users to find social objects using a map and compass feature that guides them to different places. Users can then give places such as restaurants and attractions a sliding 0 to 100 score that represents their feelings about a particular place or thing. This score is aggregated with all of those from other Bubbalon users, providing a broader group sentiment. Bubbalon works on a granular level, giving users the option to provide their feedback on, for example, specific restaurant dishes or a small section or feature of an attraction.
Version 2.0 replaces the beta version of the app with several key enhancements. The new version includes "karma points," Bubbalon's rewards system that gives users ribbons, fan badges and other designations for using the app. The user interface was greatly enhanced, with a single click "check it out" button that allows users to quickly repeat their votes "for" or "against" the establishments they frequent repeatedly. A leaderboard function allows users to compare their participation with that of other users, allowing them to both be "followers" or "followed."
An additional version 2.0 functionality is an improved check-in alert integration with Foursquare that allows users to share their sentiments about check-ins. After checking in to a place on Foursquare and then leaving, the Bubbalon user is prompted to share their comments, providing instant feedback for other users. Integration with both Facebook and Twitter allows users to share their ratings with friends and followers. The app also captures check-in locations from Facebook Places and Gowalla.
Once a Bubbalon user selects a business or area as something they like or dislike, the back end of the system will designate it as a local social object for that user. Other Bubbalon users will then see this designation, sparking their interest in the local place.
"Our free app was created to give users an easy way to express their opinion about nearly anything they encounter in daily life," said Alexander Galkin, founder of Bubbalon. "We greatly improved the interface for version 2.0, giving our users fun rewards and allowing them to follow other users, among many other new enhancements. Our integration with several location based social networks lets our users' opinions become a part of the larger mobile world, where group sentiment shapes the behavior of others."
About Bubbalon:
Bubbalon is a provider of sentiment capture, sharing and analysis tools for mobile devices. The company offers an app for Apple devices users that allows consumers to create, rate, and share opinions, preferences and sentiment on all types of products, services, content and concepts. Bubbalon's publisher tools (http://publishers.bubbalon.com) enable content producers to capture and analyze consumer sentiment and preferences regarding their content alongside preferences for products, services and brands. The Montclair, NJ-based company is privately held. For more information, visit http://www.bubbalon.com.
SOURCE Bubbalon
Bubbalon
CONTACT: Bridget Gilbride of SSPR, +1-847-415-9333, bgilbride@sspr.com, for Bubbalon
PR Newswire to Host a Free Webinar, Visual PR: Gain Greater Visibility Through Multimedia
Increase the "shelf life" of your content and effectively generate real results through the use of multimedia
NEW YORK, July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- PR Newswire invites you to join an interactive webinar on Wednesday, July 20, 2011 at 1pm EDT that will offer best practices and tips for creating and using multimedia in social media and search engines, as well as unique techniques to differentiate your content and capture the attention of your audience.
Data shows that the use of multimedia content in press releases generates more visibility and drives greater interaction than text press releases. PR Newswire's free webinar, Visual PR: Gain Greater Visibility through Multimedia, will explore creative ways through which communicators are producing videos on tight budgets, quickly telling their stories using infographics and utilizing digital platforms to distribute their content.
For more information and to register, click here
As an industry thought leader, PR Newswire regularly produces and hosts topical webinars aimed at keeping public relations, investor relations and marketing professionals informed of the latest trends and providing advice and strategies necessary to reach their communications goals. Visit PR Newswire's Knowledge Center for a list of upcoming events and webinars or to listen to PR Newswire's archived webinars.
About PR Newswire
PR Newswire (http://www.prnewswire.com) is the premier global provider of multimedia platforms that enable marketers, corporate communicators, sustainability officers, public affairs and investor relations officers to leverage content to engage with all their key audiences. Having pioneered the commercial news distribution industry 57 years ago, PR Newswire today provides end-to-end solutions to produce, optimize and target content -- from rich media to online video to multimedia -- and then distribute content and measure results across traditional, digital, mobile and social channels. Combining the world's largest multi-channel, multi-cultural content distribution and optimization network with comprehensive workflow tools and platforms, PR Newswire enables the world's enterprises to engage opportunity everywhere it exists. PR Newswire serves tens of thousands of clients from offices in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, and is a UBM plc company.
Media Contacts:
Rachel Meranus
Vice President, Marketing and Communications
PR Newswire
+1.201.360.6776
Rachel.Meranus@prnewswire.com
Meryl Serouya
Marketing and Communications Associate
PR Newswire
+1.201.360.6009
Meryl.Serouya@prnewswire.com
SOURCE PR Newswire Association LLC
Photo:http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110719/NY37427LOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PR Newswire Association LLC
New Dual Pch MOSFETs from Toshiba Combine Two Transistors in One Package
New Series Offers Industry's Lowest On-Resistance
IRVINE, Calif., July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc., (TAEC)* has announced the addition of the SSM6P47NU and SSM6P49NU to its lineup of small signal MOSFETs. Ideal for charging circuits for mobile devices, these dual Pch MOSFETs feature the lowest on-resistance in the industry when compared to equivalent packages.
From mobile phones and game consoles to digital cameras, power consumption and physical size are key considerations in the design of mobile devices. Toshiba's SSM6P47NU and SSM6P49NU address these issues by combining two independent transistors into one package.
A 1.8V drive, combined with a 4A drain current and extremely low on-resistance allow the SSM6P47NU and SSM6P49NU to run at a high rate of efficiency, which enables batteries to be fully charged in less time. Available in a UDFN6 package (2.0 x 2.0mm), these dual MOSFETs are a suitable size for charging circuits and are capable of acting as a switch to control which loads are connected or disconnected from the circuit.
The Toshiba SSM6P47NU and SSM6P49NU dual Pch MOSFETs are available now.
Toshiba's Discrete Products
Toshiba is a leading supplier in a number of discrete product categories, including power transistors, rectifiers and thyristors, LMOS logic, CMOS logic, photocouplers, Toslinks(TM), LEDs, small signal diodes and transistors. The company's discrete devices are designed to meet the growing demand for high-performance and lower voltages in today's wireless telecommunications and consumer electronics applications, while emphasizing its strength in the automotive and industrial markets.
*About Toshiba Corp. and TAEC
Through proven commitment, lasting relationships and advanced, reliable electronic components, Toshiba enables its customers to create market-leading designs. Toshiba is the heartbeat within product breakthroughs from OEMs, ODMs, CMs, distributors and fabless chip companies worldwide. A committed electronic components leader, Toshiba designs and manufactures high-quality flash memory-based storage solutions, discrete devices, displays, advanced materials, medical tubes, custom SoCs/ASICs, digital multimedia and imaging products, microcontrollers and wireless components that make possible today's leading cell phones, MP3 players, cameras, medical devices, automotive electronics and more.
Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. is an independent operating company owned by Toshiba America, Inc., a subsidiary of Toshiba Corporation, Japan's largest semiconductor manufacturer and the world's third largest semiconductor manufacturer (Gartner, 2010 WW Semiconductor Revenue, Jan. 2011). Toshiba was founded in 1875, and today operates a global network of more than 740 companies, with 204,000 employees worldwide and annual sales surpassing $77 billion.
Information in this press release, including product pricing and specifications, content of services and contact information, is current and believed to be accurate on the date of the announcement, but is subject to change without prior notice. Technical and application information contained here is subject to the most recent applicable Toshiba product specifications. In developing designs, please ensure that Toshiba products are used within specified operating ranges as set forth in the most recent Toshiba product specifications and the information set forth in Toshiba's "Handling Guide for Semiconductor Devices," or "Toshiba Semiconductor Reliability Handbook." This information is available at http://www.chips.toshiba.com, or from your TAEC representative.
Gigamon Solutions Enhance and Protect the Cyber Infrastructure of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications
Gigamon's comprehensive data monitoring solutions deliver complete network visibility to NCSA.
SILICON VALLEY, Calif., July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Gigamon®, the creator and leading global provider of data access network solutions, has been selected by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) to deliver powerful network visibility products for its 'Blue Waters' project. Gigamon's Intelligent Data Access Networking® technology will enable researchers to greatly enhance the scalability and security of their network infrastructure, increasing their productivity and as a result, reduce the time required to deliver breakthrough research.
The objective of the NCSA Blue Waters' project is to deliver a supercomputer capable of processing 1 quadrillion calculations per second (one petaflop). The project is a combined effort between the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IBM and the Great Lakes Consortium for Petascale Computation. The project is also supported by the National Science Foundation.
As the Blue Waters project progressed, the security team at NCSA realized their existing technology would not support the higher speed 10Gbps network connections required for the remote collaboration between the project researchers. The team turned to Gigamon's GigaVUE-2404 intelligent data access switch to enable centralized monitoring for their higher performance network.
Using the GigaVUE® solution as their cornerstone, the security team at NCSA developed a robust monitoring architecture that allows them to aggregate multiple 10Gbps connections between the border routers/WAN, balance the aggregated traffic load, provide active failover, and replicate the traffic to existing Bro IDS and Netflow tools, ensuring that all network traffic is visible to the centralized security suite.
"With Gigamon appliances, NCSA is able to protect its cyber infrastructure to best serve the researches who use that cyber infrastructure to advance science and engineering," said Mike Dopheide, Security Engineer at NCSA.
"Gigamon is proud to have been selected for one of this nation's most important computing projects," said Ted Ho, company Co-Founder and CEO. "Network scalability, information security and data visibility are of the utmost importance in advanced networking projects like Blue Waters, and this is specifically why we created our Intelligent Data Access Networking Technology."
For more information about Gigamon or GigaVUE appliances, please visit the website at http://www.gigamon.com, or call (408) 263-2022.
About Gigamon
Gigamon® provides purpose-built appliances to enable visibility and deliver critical packet-flow information across data networking infrastructures. As creator and leader of the Intelligent Data Access Networking® architecture, Gigamon's patented technology provides secure access and enhanced visibility for traditional and cloud-based data networks. The GigaVUE® line of intelligent data access switches eliminate SPAN port contentions, extend legacy tool utilization within 10Gbps environments, and enhance the effectiveness and productivity of network monitoring and security tools - all while running at full line rate speeds. This provides seamless and controlled delivery of the right data, at the right time, to the right tools; benefiting customers with greater uptime, reduced vulnerability to threats, and improved regulatory compliance. Founded in 2004, Gigamon has sold thousands of units to customers in more than 40 countries around the globe.
Information Architects Corporation Announces WEB 2.0 INTERFACE Launch
ORLANDO, Fla., July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Information Architects Corporation (OTCQB: IACH) announced today that the launch of WEB 2.0 INTERFACE, an online campaign with Automated Customer Care, Inc., is planned for August 15, 2011. ACC is a technology company specializing in a fully integrated, online, customer relationship management software system.
"The ACC team is passionate about the same thing IA is, we believe that we can provide a better overall experience for our clients, while allowing them to achieve their goals in the most productive, efficient way possible, thus increasing their productivity, customer retention, and bottom line," notes Joe Vangeiri, head of marketing for ACC.
"Our ACC CRM philosophy and strategy is growing to encompass broader components of the customer relationship, so that businesses may anticipate and innovate to better serve customers via Facebook and LinkedIn, referred to as Social CRM," states Roland Breton, President of IA.
About Automated Customer Care, Inc.
Automated Customer Care's online customer relationship management system (CRM) fulfills the basic needs of businesses large or small. Its many features include customer prospecting, customer tracking, out-bound and in-bound customer relationship management. The system has been designed for the small office/ home office (SOHO) environment. ACC is a full vertical integration 'one stop' for customer database, customer telephony and customer email. This Wizard based system allows easy use for those not highly trained in IT. One familiar with windows and Facebook can use it thus eliminating the need for IT staff. Much like Constant Contact, Sales Force and LinkedIn ACC has been designed as a true Web 2.0 Software as a Service (SaaS).
More details about launch of WEB 2.0 INTERFACE will be provided in beginning of August.
CORPORATE PROFILE
Information Architects Corp. (IACH) is a worldwide Marketing and Distribution company.
"Forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 may be included in this news release. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance. These statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future results or events. Information Architects Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. There are important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to risks associated with changes in general economic and business conditions (including in the information technology and financial information industry), actions of our competitors, the extent to which we are able to develop new services and markets for our services, the time and expense involved in such development activities, the level of demand and market acceptance of our services, changes in our business strategies, and the purchasing activity or lack thereof by registered web mall members.
Tipard's Newly Released iPhone Manager for SMS: Helping You Better Manage Your SMS
BEIJING, July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- In order to help users better manage their SMS, Tipard newly released Tipard iPhone Manager for SMS, an economic and user-friendly SMS managing app specially designed for all iPhone users. Once owning this software, you can easily copy and save all your iPhone SMS to computer as TXT format without any loss. Then, you can easily avoid missing an SMS or a full SMS box that will reject a new SMS. Even, with this iPhone SMS Manager, you can delete unwanted messages in the backup file. In addition, in case of losing contacts, you can transfer all your Contacts to your PC to save it as VCF format.
Key Features of Tipard iPhone Manager for SMS
1. Transfer iPhone Contacts to PC;
2. Backup iPhone SMS for safety;
3. Delete unwanted SMS in backup file;
4. Highly supports iOS 4.3 and iTunes 10.2;
5. Compatible with all iPhone modes.
OS Supported: Windows NT4/2000/2003/XP and Windows Vista, Windows 7CPU: 800MHz Intel or AMD CPU, or aboveRAM: 512MB RAM or more
Price and Availability
Tipard iPhone Manager for SMS is priced only for $9.95, for more information and to get the free trial version, please visit the following webpage: http://www.tipard.com/iphone-manager-for-sms.html .
About Tipard Studio
As a leading player in the multimedia software field, Tipard Studio always takes bringing multimedia users best software as its responsibility and keeps being innovative and competitive. With advanced technologies and a first-class R&D team, it has constantly developed many excellent multimedia desktop applications, which are very popular among Windows and Mac users. For more details about Tipard Studio, please visit: http://www.tipard.com.
SOURCE Harbour Software
Harbour Software
CONTACT: Eric Smith, +86-132-6028-6758, pr@tipard.com
Google Approves Cyber Security News Services for Android Store
NationalCyberSecurity.com Is Now Available in the Android Store
LOS ANGELES, July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Hi-Tech Crime Solutions (OTC:SPFM) the sister company to LIGATT Security International (OTC:LGTT) and the service provider for NationalCyberSecurity.com which is the largest web portal on the Internet for cyber security news, is now available in the Google Android Market Place.
This free application is for the layman, computer geeks, students, law enforcement and fellow computer hackers. With over 60 categories and 1500 news feeds from around the world, National Cyber Security covers everything from computer hacking, cell phone security, cyber bullying, events, conferences, videos, computer security job openings.
National Cyber Security was created in 2009 by ex-hacker Gregory Evans (GregoryDEvans.com). Today its Managing Editor- in- Chief is Gregory Scott, a 23- year veteran of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) who recently retired from the Los Angeles office. Scott worked in Los Angeles and the Washington, D.C. area, where he held many leadership positions in administration and conducted criminal investigations. He recently managed a cyber squad task force that investigated the exploitation and sexual abuse of children in Southern California, resulting in successful outcomes and awards from the United States Attorney's Office.
"Currently National Cyber Security is in the middle of closing a sale Between LIGATT Security International and Northstar Global Business Services (OTC:MDIN)," says Scott. "Hi-Tech Crime Solutions developed the applications before the sale in order to increase its brand by revenue sharing with LIGATT Security," adds Scott.
National Cyber Security has over 200,000 unique viewers a month. National Cyber Security newsletter has another 100,000 subscribers reading our feature news stories daily. You can currently subscribe to National Cyber Security Radio Podcast in Apple iTunes store or BlogTalkRadio.com/NationalCyberSecurity.
Hi-Tech Crime Solutions Inc., formerly SPOOFEM.COM, is committed to lead the nation in providing an outlet for small businesses and individuals to promote their products and provide them to consumers. We are a publicly traded company that licenses products from other companies and individuals to retail stores around the world. In addition we also book speaking engagements on TV, Radio and Print to promote products through the company. For additional information on products and services offered by the company visit http://www.hitechcrimesolutions.com.
***This press release was done in-house by a LIGATT Security International staff member. LIGATT Security International never has and never will use stock promoters, or outside Investor Relations firms.***
Safe Harbor Act: This release includes forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involves risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, the impact of competitive products, the ability to meet customer demand, the ability to manage growth, acquisitions of technology, equipment, or human resources, the effect of economic business conditions, and the ability to attract and retain skilled personnel. The Company is not obligated to revise or update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release.
Media Contact:
Hi-Tech Crime Solutions
1(866) 354-4288 ext. 5
pr@HiTechCrimesSolutions.com
Virtualizer Accelerates Software Development Schedules by Up to Nine Months with Lower Engineering Effort
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --
Highlights:
-- Accelerates software development schedules by up to nine months and
delivers up to 5X increase in design productivity compared to
traditional methods
-- Leverages proven virtual prototyping technologies deployed at more than
50 leading semiconductor and electronic systems companies
-- Fast and accurate simulation with comprehensive system visibility and
control delivers near real-time software execution with unparalleled
debug and analysis efficiency
-- Integral part of the industry's most comprehensive solution of tools,
models and services for early software development, hardware/software
integration, and system validation
-- Enables efficient software-driven verification by linking to Synopsys'
HAPS® FPGA-based prototyping systems and VCS® functional verification
solution, as well as other environments
Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS), a world leader in software and IP for semiconductor design, verification and manufacturing, today announced the availability of Synopsys' Virtualizer tool set as part of its next-generation virtual prototyping solution. Virtualizer addresses the increasing development challenges associated with software-rich semiconductor and electronic products by enabling companies to accelerate both the development of virtual prototypes and the deployment of these prototypes to software teams throughout the design chain. Prototypes created with Virtualizer allow engineers to accelerate software development schedules by up to nine months, and deliver up to a 5X productivity boost over traditional approaches to teams performing software development, hardware/software integration, system-on-chip (SoC) verification and system validation.
"As designs increase in complexity and software content to meet the demand for smart devices, companies need to reduce the risk of embedded software project delays and improve developer productivity," says Steve Balacco, director, embedded software and tools practice, VDC Research. "Synopsys delivers a virtual prototyping solution that directly addresses the debug and analysis needs of embedded software developers in semiconductor and electronic products companies, while bridging the gap with hardware development flows."
Virtualizer leverages proven technologies from Synopsys' acquisitions of Virtio, VaST and CoWare as well as expertise gained from deployments at more than 50 leading semiconductor and electronic systems companies. For developers creating a virtual prototype, Virtualizer's graphical design entry, software debug, and analysis components combined with Synopsys' broad portfolio of system-level models deliver the fastest time to prototype availability. For software engineers using a virtual prototype of their system to create, integrate, and verify software, Virtualizer Development Kits (VDKs) offer a cost-effective development platform capable of executing unmodified production code at near real-time speed. VDKs provide fast and accurate virtual prototype simulation combined with unmatched multicore-aware software debug and analysis capabilities, concurrent hardware/software analysis, and synchronized debugging with third-party software debuggers and integrated development environments (IDEs). Open and standards-based, Virtualizer supports key industry standards such as OSCI TLM-2.0 and SystemC(TM) and runs on both Windows and Linux operating systems.
"Companies deploying virtual prototypes need to easily integrate with existing software development tools," said Norbert Weiss, international sales and marketing manager at Lauterbach. "The integration of Lauterbach's TRACE32® with Synopsys' Virtualizer enables development teams to start software development earlier in a more productive way, as well as expand these benefits from semiconductor to electronic systems companies."
Virtualizer's broad set of integration capabilities enables development teams to be more efficient and increase the degree of concurrent engineering in their product development process. Combined with FPGA-based prototyping such as Synopsys' HAPS systems, Virtualizer facilitates faster SoC validation and software bring up at near real-time performance. Connecting Virtualizer with RTL simulators such as Synopsys' VCS and emulation platforms such as EVE's ZeBu enables the use of embedded software in hardware verification environments. Software developers can integrate prototypes based on Virtualizer with their existing debuggers and IDEs, retaining their existing software tool investment. Virtualizer also gives electronic product developers the ability to conduct system validation by networking multiple virtual prototypes together with physical system simulation, testbenches and virtual I/Os. With this broad range of integration capabilities, Virtualizer is uniquely positioned to support the entire electronic supply chain by accelerating development at all stages of the product design cycle.
"With growing hardware complexity, it is critical for verification engineers to start their work as early as possible, and exercise the design with as much real system software as possible," says Lauro Rizzatti, general manager and marketing vice president of EVE. "The customer-proven integration of Synopsys' leading virtual prototyping solution and EVE ZeBu's fast emulation platform enables true software-driven scenarios, extending verification coverage and confidence and reducing verification schedules by up to six months."
"We are focused on helping our customers address their top system-level design challenges: starting software development earlier, accelerating hardware/software integration, and performing full system validation and testing," says John Koeter, vice president of marketing for IP & systems at Synopsys. "Synopsys' complete virtual prototyping solution - which includes Virtualizer, an extensive model library, services and support - enables our customers to start software design up to 12 months before first silicon is available. In addition, VDKs cost-effectively enable the development and integration of software throughout the design chain, from IP to SoCs to full systems. At a time of exploding software content at all levels of electronics, Virtualizer enables semiconductor and systems companies to start their software tasks earlier and avoid the risk of surprises late in the development cycle."
Availability
Virtualizer is available immediately. Virtualizer Development Kits (VDKs), which incorporate a subset of Virtualizer features specifically targeted for end use cases by software and hardware developers, are also available immediately. For more information, please visit: http://www.synopsys.com/Virtualizer.
About Synopsys
Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS) is a world leader in electronic design automation (EDA), supplying the global electronics market with the software, intellectual property (IP) and services used in semiconductor design, verification and manufacturing. Synopsys' comprehensive, integrated portfolio of implementation, verification, IP, manufacturing and field-programmable gate array (FPGA) solutions helps address the key challenges designers and manufacturers face today, such as power and yield management, system-to-silicon verification and time-to-results. These technology-leading solutions help give Synopsys customers a competitive edge in bringing the best products to market quickly while reducing costs and schedule risk. Synopsys is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and has approximately 70 offices located throughout North America, Europe, Japan, Asia and India. Visit Synopsys online at http://www.synopsys.com.
Synopsys, VCS and HAPS are registered trademarks of Synopsys, Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks mentioned in this release are the intellectual property of their respective owners.
New Financial Concept Videos Increase Investor Engagement
BOSTON, July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- McGraw-Hill Financial Communications has partnered with vWise to produce a dynamic series of financial education videos that engage and empower investors to make informed decisions. The videos cover a broad range of investing topics for viewers in various life-stage segments and use informative and thought-provoking charts and graphics to emphasize key points. Topics covered include investment risk, catch-up strategies, and asset allocation basics, as well as fundamentals of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, target-date funds, and ETFs.
Financial institutions can personalize the videos by including their logos, disclaimers, and calls to action.
The videos can be fully integrated into an organization's website and are effective as stand-alone educational vignettes or as part of a more comprehensive multimedia educational experience. Enhance user experience further by incorporating a custom splash screen while the videos are loading, a personalized video player, targeted calls to action, multiformat conversions, and robust reporting.
"We are continually developing cost-effective ways for organizations to improve investor engagement and make education more intuitive," says Larry McQuaid, vice president and general manager of McGraw-Hill Financial Communications. "By partnering with vWise, we are able to give investors a strong basis from which to make financial decisions, clear directives as to how to take action, and a positive user experience that will aid in attracting new investors."
"We are pleased to partner with McGraw-Hill to create this unique series of investor videos. The combination of their content and our production strategies has resulted in a powerful and compelling series of concise video vignettes ideally suited to an online environment," remarked vWise President and CEO Tony Mingo.
At McGraw-Hill Financial Communications, the videos are available individually or in packages for a discounted price. Our financial concept video library currently includes the following packages:
-- Investing
-- Investing in Stocks
-- Investing in Funds
-- Retirement
-- Saving for Retirement
-- Investing in Retirement
-- General Saving
To take part in a video experience of your own, contact us today.
About McGraw-Hill Financial Communications
McGraw-Hill Financial Communications, a division of McGraw-Hill Professional in collaboration with Standard and Poor's, is a leading provider of investor education, marketing, and communication solutions for financial services firms. The company creates and implements solutions for clients by bringing together content, delivery, and industry expertise. As a division of McGraw-Hill Professional, it leverages world-class content and data from Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, and more. Additional information is available at http://visitfc.com.
McGraw-Hill Professional is a leading global provider of print and electronic content and services for the business, technical, and medical communities. Its offerings include reference and certification books for all professional and educational disciplines and online solutions on business and financial, medical and health, engineering, and scientific topics. For more information, visit http://www.mhprofessional.com/.
McGraw-Hill Professional is a unit of McGraw-Hill Education. McGraw-Hill Education, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), is a leading innovator in the development of teaching and learning solutions for the 21st century. Through a comprehensive range of traditional and digital education content and tools, McGraw-Hill Education empowers and prepares professionals and students of all ages to connect, learn, and succeed in the global economy. McGraw-Hill Education has offices in 33 countries and publishes in more than 65 languages. Additional information is available at http://www.mheducation.com.
About vWise
vWise is a leading developer of rich-media internet applications based upon its E3 (that's E-Cubed) architecture. Its SmartPlan Enterprise solution, which serves the defined contribution markets, and its SmartHealth solution, which serves the employee benefits market, use a proprietary mix of video and interactive technologies to help people better understand complex information and make personalized choices. For more information, visit http://www.vwise.com.
AT&T Customers Get More Mobile Broadband Coverage in Westchester County
Two New Cell Sites Activated as Part of Ongoing AT&T Investment in Local Wireless Network
YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y. and HAWTHORNE, N.Y., July 19, 2011 /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 two new mobile broadband cell sites in Westchester County that will enhance coverage for consumers and businesses.
New areas of coverage in Yorktown Heights include along the Taconic State Parkway between Route 129 and Kitchawan Road. In Hawthorne, the network was expanded along the Taconic State Parkway between Lakeview Avenue and the Sprain Brook Parkway and on Stevens Avenue between Route 100 and Columbus Avenue. With mobile broadband speeds, AT&T customers can surf the Web, download files faster, and enjoy the very latest interactive mobile applications.
"I would like to congratulate AT&T on their expansion in Westchester County," said Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D/I/WF-35th District). "Westchester consumers will now have greater access to mobile broadband services which will help businesses grow and keep people connected. It is encouraging to see businesses like AT&T continue to take advantage of all of the opportunities for growth here in Westchester."
"Delivering dependable wireless coverage for consumers and businesses who need to stay connected is our ultimate objective," said Amy Hines-Kramer, regional vice president of external affairs, AT&T New York. "AT&T's ongoing investments in Westchester County will help ensure that our customers have access to the wireless services that help drive economic growth. In addition, our recently announced agreement to acquire T-Mobile USA will strengthen and expand our network in the county. If approved, this deal means that we'll be able to expand the next generation of mobile broadband - 4G LTE - from our current plan of 80 percent of the U.S. population to more than 97 percent."
The new cell sites are part of AT&T's ongoing efforts to drive investment and innovation to deliver the nation's best, most advanced mobile broadband experience for customers. With the nation's fastest mobile broadband network, AT&T provides accelerated mobile data speeds and simultaneous voice and data capabilities.
"Our goal is for our customers to have an extraordinary experience. We're part of the community in Westchester County and always looking for new opportunities to provide enhanced coverage, and our investment in the local wireless network is just one way we're accomplishing that," said Tom DeVito, vice president and general manager for AT&T in New York and New Jersey.
AT&T's 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 broadest international coverage of any U.S. wireless provider, providing access to voice service in more than 220 countries and data service in more than 200 countries. AT&T also offers voice and data roaming coverage on more than 135 major cruise ships, as well as mobile broadband services in more than 130 countries.
AT&T also operates the nation's largest Wi-Fi network** with more than 24,000 hotspots in the U.S. and provides access to more than 135,000 hotspots globally through roaming agreements. Most AT&T smartphone customers get access to our entire national Wi-Fi network at no additional cost, and Wi-Fi usage doesn't count against customers' monthly wireless data plans.
For more information about AT&T's coverage in New York State 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, voice and cloud-based services. A leader in mobile broadband and emerging 4G capabilities, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide of any U.S. carrier, 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.
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.
LIONSGATE'S DEBMAR-MERCURY TO STREAM HIT SHOW 'HELL'S KITCHEN' EXCLUSIVELY ON HULU
LOS ANGELES, July 19, 2011/PRNewswire/ -- Lionsgate's (NYSE: LGF) Debmar-Mercury, a leading media company and programming distributor, today announced that the first eight seasons of the hit FOX series Hell's Kitchen, produced by ITV Studios America and starring celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay running a rigorous culinary boot camp, will be exclusively available on the Hulu Plus subscription service beginning today. Current episodes from season nine and a rotating selection of library episodes will also be available on the free, ad-supported Hulu service.
"We are excited to expand the presence of Hell's Kitchen's with a premium video service like Hulu," said Debmar-Mercury Co-Presidents Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein. "Digital networks are an important and complementary part of the overall distribution mix for a top-tier series like this; increased programming demand from digital video services benefits not only producers and distributors, but viewers who gain access to quality shows on screens of all sizes."
"There are many exciting opportunities to monetize our content across an expanding array of digital platforms worldwide," said Jim Packer, Lionsgate's president of worldwide television distribution and digital. "We're delighted to be working with Hulu, a force in premium television programming, on this innovative distribution deal."
The Hell's Kitchen deal with Hulu is one of several major digital distribution deals in the past year for Lionsgate and Debmar-Mercury as they continue to pursue a forward-looking digital distribution strategy. Earlier this year Lionsgate announced a multiyear syndication deal licensing seven seasons of the Emmy®-Award winning series Mad Men for streaming on Netflix. EPIX, a multiplatform joint venture among Viacom Inc, MGM and Lionsgate, entered into a multiyear agreement with Netflix last year to stream an array of new theatrical releases and library titles.
About Debmar-Mercury:
Debmar-Mercury, a leading media company specializing in syndication, network, cable and ancillary markets, produces and distributes The Wendy Williams Show; distributes The Jeremy Kyle Show, produced by ITV Studios America, debuting in September 2011; distributes Tyler Perry's House of Payne and spinoff Meet the Browns;distributes Are We There Yet?, a sitcom from Revolution Studios' Joe Roth and Cube Vision, starring Ice Cube, debuting in national syndication in fall 2012; distributesstrips Hell's Kitchen, Family Feud, South Park and True Hollywood Story; and distributes a movie library featuring titles from Revolution Studios. Debmar-Mercury is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF), a leading global entertainment company.
Media Contacts:
For Debmar-Mercury:
Jim Benson
The Lippin Group
323.965.1990, ext. 327
jbenson@lippingroup.com
For Lionsgate corporate inquiries:
Peter D. Wilkes
310-255-3726
pwilkes@lionsgate.com
Orbitz for Business Rolls Out the Red Carpet With Business Advantage Hotel Rates
New Offering Delivers Savings and Flexibility for Companies, Premium Visibility for Hotels
CHICAGO, July 19th, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Orbitz for Business, the corporate travel group of Orbitz Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: OWW), today rolled out the red carpet for companies and business travelers with Business Advantage, a new offering that gives road warriors the confidence to book hotel accommodations in advance with fully refundable rates*, discounts and complimentary amenities. Orbitz for Business Business Advantage rates and amenities are now available from hotel partners in every major U.S. market, as well as key international business destinations in Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom.
In exchange for refundable rates and amenities, Business Advantage gives participating hotels premium visibility and search placement with hundreds of thousands of qualified, in-market business travelers. Since the pilot launch of Business Advantage in January 2011, participating hotels have seen a 62 percent year-over-year increase in Orbitz for Business bookings (compared to a 20 percent increase for non-participating hotels).
"From the moment we launched the pilot, Business Advantage has delivered a compelling value proposition to our individual business travelers, corporate travel managers and participating hotel partners," said Frank Petito, president, Orbitz for Business. "Given the nature of business travel - and the frequent last-minute adjustments to meeting dates, times and venues - it was important for us to work with our hotel partners in key markets to give business travelers more flexibility and savings when making their travel arrangements."
Corporate customers and travel managers that participate in Business Advantage can access these discounted rates and amenities with no online booking or cancelation fees if the reservation is canceled or changed at least 24 hours before check-in.
In order to participate in Business Advantage, hotels are required to provide a refundable room rate and encouraged to offer a further rate discount or value-added business amenity (free Wi-Fi, breakfast, room upgrades, etc.) not available through other public channels. Once a refundable rate is entered into the Orbitz for Business system, participating hotels will start reaping the benefits of premium visibility and placement with thousands of business travelers.
To learn more about Business Advantage and other Orbitz for Business corporate travel offerings, please visit http://www.orbitzforbusiness.com or call 1-800-861-2779.
*Fully refundable Business Advantage rates allow cancellation without penalty up to 24-hrs before check-in.
About Orbitz for Business
Orbitz for Business is the corporate travel brand of Orbitz Worldwide (NYSE: OWW). Launched in 2002, Orbitz for Business offers a complete portfolio of business travel products and services that help corporate customers plan, search and book travel. Orbitz for Business leverages the Orbitz Worldwide technology platform, customized for corporate travelers. In addition to its leading technology, Orbitz for Business delivers full service, cost effective travel management solutions including 24x7 customer support; expense reporting and policy management tools; and comprehensive choice in travel inventory.
About Orbitz Worldwide
Orbitz Worldwide is a leading global online travel company that uses innovative technology to enable leisure and business travelers to research, plan and book a broad range of travel products. Orbitz Worldwide owns a portfolio of consumer brands that includes Orbitz, CheapTickets, ebookers, HotelClub, RatesToGo and the Away Network. Also within the Orbitz Worldwide family, Orbitz Worldwide Distribution delivers private label travel solutions to a broad range of partners including many of the world's largest airlines, and Orbitz for Business delivers managed travel solutions for corporations. Orbitz Worldwide uses its Investor Relations website to make information available to its investors and the public at http://investors.orbitz.com. You can sign up to receive email alerts whenever the company posts new information to the website.
SOURCE Orbitz Worldwide, Inc.
Photo:http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20070813/AQM125LOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/
Orbitz Worldwide, Inc.
CONTACT: Jay Pierce of Orbitz Worldwide, +1-312-894-6947, jay.pierce@orbitz.com
Domainmonster.com to Treat .CODomain Names as Premium
BOSTON, Massachusetts, July 19, 2011/PRNewswire/ --
Domainmonster.com today announce comprehensive support for customers to
secure expiring .CO domain names using its domain back order service. http://www.domainmonster.com/backorder/co/
Expiring .CO domain names can be secured by a domain registrar using two
methods. They can either elect to use the registry's premium reservation
system; or they can await the completion of the domain names expiry cycle
and secure the back order using a traditional method. Domainmonster.com will
use the premium reservation method for all back orders placed into its
system.
"This decision is excellent news for our customers. No matter what .CO
domain you back order with us, you can be certain we'll always secure your
domain in the premium drop catch space. We won't be charging additional fees
to our customers for doing so, but they'll always benefit from the premium
service the registry is offering in this case", commented Matt Mansell, CEO,
Domainmonster.com
The Domainmonster.com back order service works entirely on a first come
first served basis, with no auctions. Fees aren't charged until the domain
is secured, making the service entirely risk free.
"Our customers just love the fact we can offer them a superior product
at a sensible price that doesn't inflate based on the quality of the
domain", commented Pete Osmond, Account Director, Domainmonster.com. "We are
very excited that our support for .CO back orders follows the same theme for
our customers. Fixed budget price point, premium service and product", he
continued.
Back orders can now be placed online at http://www.domainmonster.com/backorder or via Domainmonster.com's sister
domain reseller product, Domainbox.com.
About Mesh Digital
Mesh Digital has rapidly grown to become a Top 30 fastest growing ICANN
accredited registrar. Operating two major domain brands, Mesh is well known
to its retail customers through its Domainmonster.com brand. A top 3
performer in all major domain launches in the past three years,
Domainmonster.com has earned its fast growth, now trading as a round the
clock operation in Dollars, Sterling and Euros in 133 different countries.
With a lightning fast Application Programming Interface (API) at its
core, Domainbox.com is Mesh's wholesale offering. A comprehensive and
innovate wholesale offering for Domains, Email & SSL, Domainbox is now
handling in excess of 1 million API calls a day across its diverse network
of resellers.
Editor's notes
Domainmonster(R), Domainbox(R) and Mesh Digital(R) are registered
trademarks of Mesh Digital Limited. All other trademarks and registered
trademarks are acknowledged.
For further information, please contact:
Pete Osmond, Account Director, +44-1483-304030
Matt Mansell, CEO, Domainmonster.com, +44-1483-304030
You've Got a Chance to Win a Free Luxury China Vacation With ChinaTours.com
ChinaTours.com will provide a free China tour worth $1168.00 for participants on Twitter or Facebook respectively as a prize of this lucky draw.
XIAN, China, July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- China Tours Dot Com is excited to launch a fantastic free prize draw for participants on Twitter or Facebook to celebrate its website redesign and to utilize the power of social network. Twitter followers and Facebook fans who participate in this promo can enter in the lucky draw to win two free 8-day luxury China tours, one for Twitter followers and another for Facebook fans. The tour brings you to Beijing, Xian and Shanghai, the most popular cities in China with Great Wall of China, Terracotta Warriors and the Bund covered in this itinerary. The tour includes internal airfares, 7-nights first class accommodations and meals and excludes international airfares, taxes, visa services and gratuities to guides & drivers and any expense of personal nature.
If you are planning to travel to China and would like to take advantage of this great offer, you may not want to miss this chance to win a free trip! Here are two ways you can participate.
Win as a Twitter Follower
Twitter users can follow @chinatourscom and retweet "Follow @chinatourscom to win an 8-day luxury tour to China. Win this #FreeChinaTour valued at $1168 http://bit.ly/lL6K4G. RT & Enter."
Win as a Facebook Fan
Be a fan of ChinaTours.com on Facebook and navigate to Promos to register to win this free 8-day luxury tour to the best destinations of China, $1168.00 of value.
All entrants are required to be over 18 years old holding a valid passport so that they can travel to China. Those who don't win the free tour are eligible to get a $59.00 coupon if they book a tour valued over $1000.00 with ChinaTours.com.
About ChinaTours.com
ChinaTours.com is an online travel service platform owned and operated by Xian ANZ International Travel Service Co., Ltd. It's specialized in providing a full spectrum of packaged tours in China, including competitively-priced group tours and fully-customized private tours for inbound tourists in China.
Foothill-De Anza and Product Realization Group Partner on Product Realization Certification
Revised program helps companies accelerate time-to-market
SAN JOSE, Calif., July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Center for Applied Competitive Technologies (CACT) in the Foothill-De Anza Community College District and Product Realization Group have teamed to develop a three-month, continuing education certification program that covers all aspects of the product lifecycle and new product introduction (NPI). Classes begin September 27.
The program is structured in five modules that cover engineering development; product reliability; data management processes and collaboration; supply chain management; and business compliance. The class meets Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6-8 p.m. and runs until December 13.
"Through this program, participants will gain a new understanding of how they can improve their organization's competitiveness through the use of team-based development and industry best practices," said Rick Kuhn, director of Foothill-De Anza's Center for Applied Competitive Technologies. "It offers a rare opportunity for students to have access to the people who are at the forefront of developing the next-generation NPI services."
Michael Keer, Founder and CEO of the Product Realization Group, said, "For 2011 we will be following a new product from initial concept, development, new product introduction through volume manufacturing."
"The effects of increased business competition, technological complexity, and globalization have combined to result in a gap between product development and manufacturing," he said. "We created this program with the Center for Applied Competitive Technologies to help businesses that want to accelerate time-to-market and understand how quality, compliance, and customer service integrate into the process."
"There were good and practical examples that clarified the concepts," said Bob O'Hagan, a senior Quality and Engineering professional, who completed last year's program.
The Product Realization Group certificate program is ideal for design engineers, engineering program managers, document control and operations engineering and supply chain personnel (including managers) who are interested in learning best practices about the development and release of electronic high-technology products. The training course offers an opportunity to gain a comprehensive understanding of the product lifecycle and NPI processes. All materials are presented by practicing subject matter experts. Class meetings will be held at the Krause Center for Innovation at Foothill College.
About Foothill-De Anza Community College District and the Center for Applied Competitive Technologies
Foothill-De Anza Community College District serves more than 45,000 students a year at two locations, Foothill College in Los Altos Hills and De Anza College in Cupertino. The district's Center for Applied Competitive Technologies offers customized on-site training delivered in a flexible way that is oriented to direct business application. CACT's training programs help companies implement basic and advanced manufacturing techniques to aid in achieving technical and business objectives. For more information, visit http://www.makingitincalifornia.com/centers_deanza.php
About Product Realization Group
The Product Realization Group (PRG) is the only one-stop-shop of product lifecycle services designed for high-tech electronics businesses. PRG enables rapid and cost-effective introduction of products to the market, regulatory compliance, manufacturing, service, and lifecycle support. Engagements are tailored to fit business and product profiles. Twenty PRG companies currently deliver services to over four-hundred high technology clients worldwide. For additional information, please call (408) 427-4645, email mkeer@productrealizationgroup.com or visit http://www.productrealizationgroup.com.
CONTACTS:
Rick Kuhn, (650) 949-7793, kuhnrick@fhda.edu
Michael Keer, (408) 427-4645, mkeer@productrealizationgroup.com
This press release was issued through eReleases(R). For more information, visit eReleases Press Release Distribution at http://www.ereleases.com.
SOURCE Foothill-De Anza Community College District; Product Realization Group
Foothill-De Anza Community College District; Product Realization Group
DOUGLAS, Isle of Man, July 19, 2011/PRNewswire/ --
Viaden Gaming - a well-known developer of remote gambling software, has
recently presented a new real money casino application for mobile phones -
Real Casino. Alongside its full compatibility with iOS devices, the app
features unprecedented 14 casino games that can be played for real money.
Keeping a sharp edge over the competition, Viaden Gaming is ready to conquer
the growing mobile casino market.
Viaden Gaming - a company famous for its online casino
[http://www.bigcasino.co.uk ] software solutions - has recently presented a
one of a kind 14-in-One mobile casino application that allows playing for
real money as well as supports free play. The new application, which is
compatible with mobile iOS devices including iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, is
currently the only real money casino app in the AppStore featuring more than
one game.
According to the independent industry research reports, by the end of
2011 mobile gambling will reach $3.6 billion worldwide. By 2012, global
gross win from mobile gambling is expected to exceed $1 billion annually. UK
mobile gambling market, which the Real Casino application was designed for,
greatly contributes to the overall growth of these figures. No wonder Viaden
Gaming has invested into this highly profitable business releasing an
all-in-one iPad casino
[http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/real-casino/id438668179?mt=8 ] - a unique
product on the market.
Although real money play in the new multigame application is available
to UK residents only, it has obviously helped Viaden Gaming to secure an
advantageous position in a developing, but already highly competitive mobile
gaming market. No other application offers such complete online casino
functionality that can be easily experienced by every owner of Wi-Fi enabled
iOS device. Real Casino is another standout unit added to the company's
extensive portfolio comprised of iGaming software solutions, free poker
games [http://www.zeda.com ] website, and numerous apps for iOS devices.
"Though the market of mobile casinos is still experiencing all toughness
of any newly appeared industry, we expect it to be a boom soon. Having
created our multiple-games mobile casino app, Viaden Gaming enters the
market with an ace in the hole. Thus, we are sure to occupy leading
positions in the sphere soon", says Inna Igontova - marketing manager of
Viaden Gaming.
About Viaden Gaming
Viaden Gaming has been on the market since 2001, specializing in online
casino and poker software [http://www.viaden.com/products/poker.html ]
development. Proven methodology and cost-effective approach to creation and
distribution of mobile gaming applications have allowed the company to occupy
a leading position in the gaming market.
Ivan Artsimovich, email: ivan.artsimovich@viaden.com, mobile:
+375295865896
Activision Reveals Spider-Man(TM): Edge of Time and X-Men(TM) Destiny Voice Talent at San Diego Comic-Con
Val Kilmer Headlines Spider-Man: Edge of Time and Milo Ventimiglia Leads X-Men Destiny Casts
Talent to Take Part in Comic-Con Panel on Saturday, July 23, at 10:00am
SANTA MONICA, Calif., July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- World-famous Super Heroes deserve world-class talent! That's why, to kick off San Diego Comic-Con 2011, Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) and Marvel Entertainment, LLC are pleased to announce the top-tier celebrity actors that will voice characters in the upcoming Spider-Man(TM): Edge of Time and X-Men(TM) Destiny video games. Both games will be playable at this year's Comic-Con and are set to thrill comic fans this fall.
The highly anticipated Spider-Man: Edge of Time game will feature legendary film star Val Kilmer as Walker Sloan, Smallville and V mainstay Laura Vandervoort as Mary Jane, and Katee Sackhoff, who played Lieutenant Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica,makes her debut as the Black Cat.
Additionally, Heroes icon Milo Ventimiglia, Sucker Punch and The HangoverPart II vixen Jamie Chung and Friday Night Lights star Scott Porter will bring three all-new playable mutant characters -- Grant Alexander, Aimi Yoshida and Adrian Luca -- to life respectively in X-Men Destiny.
"These amazing casts of talented Hollywood actors help bring the rich storylines of Spider-Man: Edge of Time and X-Men Destiny to life," said Vicharin Vadakan, Director of Marketing, Activision Publishing. "Players this fall will get to control the destinyof their own mutants or save Spider-Man and through this voice talent feel like they are part of the action."
Comic-Con fans can also catch their favorite stars from Spider-Man: Edge of Time and X-Men Destiny at the Activision Marvel Video Games Panel where they will join legendary comic creator Stan Lee, Marvel writer Peter David and Beenox Studio Head Dee Brown, among others, to discuss the latest Super Hero adventures and their roles in the upcoming video games. The panel will take place on Saturday, July 23, at 10:00am in room 5AB. Show-goers who visit the Activision booth (#5445) will be among the first to get their hands on both games.
About Spider-Man: Edge of Time
Playing the roles of the Amazing Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2099, Spider-Man: Edge of Time propels gamers on a high-octane, adrenaline-fueled adventure in which the heroic web-slingers must urgently work together across time to save each other and prevent a disaster that ultimately leads to the death of the Amazing Spider-Man. Against the backdrop of a rich, tightly crafted narrative by acclaimed Marvel veteran writer Peter David, the gamefeatures two individual timelines evolving in parallel, as well as "cause-and-effect" moments driven by the narrative. The game utilizes "picture-in-picture" moments where the actions of the Spider-Man in the present immediately affect the Spider-Man in the future and his surroundings.
About X-Men Destiny
X-Men Destiny allows gamers to control the fate of one of three brand-new mutant characters forced to choose between saving humanity or ensuring its destruction. Players are able to customize the path, powers and development of their character and decide their role in the mutant cause alongside, or against, some of Marvel's greatest X-Men franchise characters. Their mutant skills will evolve through a unique upgrade system that allows them to choose how they will mix and match the powers from their favorite X-Men and Brotherhood characters, then engage in fast and furious combat against a variety of opponents bent on defending their beliefs.
Spider-Man: Edge of Time is being developed by Beenox for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Wii(TM) and Nintendo 3DS(TM). Silicon Knights is developing X-Men Destiny for Xbox 360®, PlayStation®3 system and Wii. Both games are being developed by Other Ocean for Nintendo DS(TM).
For more information on Spider-Man: Edge of Time and X-Men Destiny tune in to the HeroHQ community on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/HeroHQ.
About Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world's most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of over 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media over seventy years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing and publishing. For more information, visit http://www.marvel.com.
About Activision Publishing, Inc.
Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products.
Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, South Korea, China and the region of Taiwan. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company's website, http://www.activision.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Activision Publishing's expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Activision Publishing generally uses words such as "outlook," "will," "could," "would," "might," "remains," "to be," "plans," "believes," "may," "expects," "intends," "anticipates," "estimate," future," "plan," "positioned," "potential," "project," "remain," "scheduled," "set to," "subject to," "upcoming" and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause Activision Publishing's actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include, but are not limited to, sales levels of Activision Publishing's titles, shifts in consumer spending trends, the impact of the current macroeconomic environment, the seasonal and cyclical nature of the interactive game market, Activision Publishing's ability to predict consumer preferences among competing hardware platforms, declines in software pricing, product returns and price protection, product delays, retail acceptance of Activision Publishing's products, adoption rate and availability of new hardware (including peripherals) and related software, industry competition including from used games and other forms of entertainment, litigation risks and associated costs, rapid changes in technology, industry standards, business models including online and used games, and consumer preferences, including interest in specific genres such as music, first-person action and massively multiplayer online games, protection of proprietary rights, maintenance of relationships with key personnel, customers, licensees, licensors, vendors, and third-party developers, including the ability to attract, retain and develop key personnel and developers that can create high quality "hit" titles, counterparty risks relating to customers, licensees, licensors and manufacturers, domestic and international economic, financial and political conditions and policies, foreign exchange rates and tax rates, and the identification of suitable future acquisition opportunities and potential challenges associated with geographic expansion, and the other factors identified in the risk factors sections of Activision Blizzard's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Activision Publishing and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither Activision Publishing nor Activision Blizzard assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Activision Publishing or Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.
SOURCE Activision Publishing, Inc.
Activision Publishing, Inc.
CONTACT: Lindsay Morio, Sr. Publicist - X-Men Destiny, +1-424-744-5733, lindsay.morio@activision.com, or Vanessa Vanasin, Sr. Publicist - Spider-Man: Edge of Time, +1-424-744-5756, vanessa.vanasin@activision.com, both of Activision Publishing, Inc.
Cisco Debuts New Linksys Entertainment Bridge for the Ultimate Home Theater and Gaming Experience
New Wireless-N Dual-Band Bridge Provides Easy Wireless Connectivity for Multiple Home Entertainment Devices
IRVINE, Calif., July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Cisco today announced a simple and powerful new way for consumers to enjoy the latest in video and home entertainment with its new Linksys WES610N Wireless-N Dual-Band Entertainment Bridge. Building on its leadership in home networking and the recent launch of its acclaimed Linksys® E-Series family - a complete suite of powerful and easy-to-use next-generation wireless-n routers - the new Linksys Bridge enables consumers to effortlessly connect multiple home entertainment devices to their wireless networks for optimum performance in streaming 3D/HD video and music, gaming online, and more.
"With Internet video usage exploding and sales of wireless-enabled products steadily growing, consumers need more from their home networks than ever before," said Brett Wingo, general manager, Cisco Home Networking business unit. "The new Linksys Entertainment Bridge delivers our trademark wireless simplicity and is the perfect way to supercharge a wireless home network for a high quality entertainment experience."
Market data underscores the growing consumer demand for wireless-enabled connectivity in the home. A recent survey by Opinion Research on home wireless devices revealed that, in the U.S., sixty six percent of consumers surveyed had a game console connected to their wireless network and forty seven percent of those with a wireless network wanted to stream shows or movies on a TV or other device. With more entertainment devices in the home, such as game consoles and Internet-enabled televisions, a wireless bridge offers a simple solution for connecting multiple wireless home entertainment devices to the Internet and for high quality wireless streaming of 3D/HD media.
The Linksys Wireless-N Dual-Band Entertainment Bridge features a high-speed wireless connection (up to 300 Mbps*), superior range with multiple antennas, four Ethernet ports to connect up to four devices, and a dual-band option (operates in either the 2.4 or 5 GHz radio bands) designed to avoid interference from competing networks and devices. In addition, Quality of Service (QoS) provides traffic prioritization for smooth video viewing, music streaming and gaming performance.
The new Linksys Entertainment Bridge also features WPA2 Security and a Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) button for easy pairing with a wireless router.
Pricing and Availability:
The Linksys WES610N Wireless-N Dual-Band Entertainment Bridge is now available at the suggested retail price of $129.99. Linksys also currently offers the WET610N Wireless-N Bridge for $99.99, which includes one Ethernet port. For the ultimate entertainment experience and optimal network performance, Cisco recommends pairing the bridges with a Dual Band-N Router like the Linksys E2500, E3200 or E4200, but it also works with other a/b/g/n wireless routers. The full line of Linksys routers, switches and bridges is available at retailers nationwide and on the Linksys website at http://www.linksys.com/store.
About Cisco
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Cisco's vision for the consumer is to enable people to live a connected life that is more personal, more social, and more visual. Further information about Cisco and its full line of consumer products including Linksys can be found at http://www.linksys.com, and http://www.cisco.com/consumer.
*The maximum performance for wireless is derived from IEEE Standard 802.11 specifications. Actual performance can vary, and might result in lower wireless network capacity, data throughput rate, range and coverage. Performance depends on many factors, conditions and variables, including distance from the access point, volume of network traffic, environment building materials and construction, operating system used, mix of wireless products used, interference and other adverse conditions.
Cisco, the Cisco logo and Linksys are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Cisco's trademarks can be found at http://www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company.
CONTACT: Press, Karen Sohl of Cisco, +1-949-823-1578, mobile, +1-949-302-3470, ksohl@cisco.com; or Rich Mullikin of CommStrat Public Relations, +1-925-779-9115, mobile, +1-925-354-7444, rich@commstrat.com, for Cisco; or Analysts, Analyst Relations, Lisa Soto, +1-949-823-4778, lisoto@cisco.com, or Investor Relations, Mackenzie Banks, +1-408-424-3413, macbanks@cisco.com, both of Cisco
New Energy Systems Group Develops Three New Products for Tablet Consumers
Anytone(R)-Branded Products Used for Motorola Xoom(R), Apple's iPad(R) and Samsung's Galaxy(R) Tablets will Formally Launch in September 2011
SHENZHEN, China, July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- New Energy Systems Group (NYSE Amex: NEWN) ("New Energy" or the "Company"), a vertically-integrated original design manufacturer and distributor of lithium ion batteries and consumer branded backup power systems, today introduced three new remote power Anytone® models for tablets and mobile devices.
New Energy's Anytone® division successfully developed three new mobile power models for leading tablet manufacturers, including Apple, Samsung and Motorola. Anytone®'s Model AT-006 "iPad Smart Power" is a light-weight, portal lithium ion battery charger that allows consumers to charge their iPad, iPod or iPhone wherever they are. The Anytone® AT-006 attaches to the iPad SmartCover. The AT-006 comes with a USB cable for use with an iPod or iPhone.
Anytone® also developed two other mobile power chargers for tablet PCs. The 8800D is designed specifically for Motorola's Xoom® tablet and is the first mobile power device manufactured for the Xoom®. The M700 is a high-capacity lithium-powered recharging device which houses two USB output ports to charge two devices at the same time. Available in black or white colors, the M700 can be used to charge the iPad, Xoom® and Samsung's Galaxy® tablet The M700 is the first mobile power charger in the market which can recharge different tablet PCs universally through transforming different voltages.
"Developing new products is the lifeblood of our organization," began Weihe "Jack' Yu, Chairman of New Energy Systems Group. "Because consumers have purchased thousands of our Anytone-branded products for their mobile phones and laptops, they will love our new battery packs for tablets as well. We believe innovative products such as these will help differentiate our brand in a competitive market and drive growth in sales and earnings."
New Energy will ship initial orders of each model to its distributors in China in August and will formally launch the products in September. The Company will support the launch by featuring its Anytone® iPad2 Smart Power® at MacWorld Asia held in Beijing from September 22nd to 25th and all three new models at The Shenzhen High Tech Fair in November.
About New Energy Systems Group
New Energy Systems Group is a vertically integrated original design manufacturer and distributor of lithium ion batteries and backup power systems for leading manufacturers of mobile phones, laptops, digital cameras, MP3s and a variety of other portable electronics. The Company's end-user consumer products are sold under the Anytone® brand in China while it's commercial and OEM batteries and battery components are sold under New Power and E'Jenie. The fast pace of new mobile device introductions in China combined with a growing middle class make it fertile ground for New Energy's end-user consumer products, as well as its high powered, light weight lithium ion batteries. In addition to historically strong organic growth, New Energy is expected to benefit from economies of scale, broader distribution and higher profit margins in 2011. Additional information about the company is available at: http://www.newenergysystemsgroup.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This release contains certain "forward-looking statements" relating to the business of the Company and its subsidiary and affiliated companies. These forward looking statements are often identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes," "expects" or similar expressions. Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to be materially different from those described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors, including those discussed in the Company's periodic reports that are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on its website (http://www.sec.gov). All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or to persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these factors other than as required under the securities laws. The Company does not assume a duty to update these forward-looking statements.
For more information, please contact:
COMPANY
New Energy Systems Group
Ken Lin, VP of Investor Relations
Tel: +1-917-573-0302
Email: ken@newenergysystemsgroup.com
Web: http://www.newenergysystemsgroup.com
INVESTOR RELATIONS
HC International, Inc.
John Mattio, SVP
Tel: US +1-212-301-7130
Email: john.mattio@hcinternational.net
Web: http://www.hcinternational.net
Victorinox Swiss Army Slim and Slim Duo USBs Now Shipping
4GB to 128GB Flash Drives Deliver Unparalleled Protection for Digital Data
MONROE, Conn., July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Victorinox Swiss Army (VSA), the exclusive marketer of Victorinox USB Flash Memory devices, today announced the availability of its Slim and Slim Duo USB drives, featuring iron-clad protection and a range of storage capabilities in a flight-friendly "slim" design and stylish color options. The Slim and Slim Duo lines join Victorinox Swiss Army's current offering of Flash Memory devices, which boast the most sophisticated USB data encryption technology available and provide consumers with unmatched protection for their digital data.
"The Slim and Slim Duo USBs highlight the very best of the Victorinox Swiss Army brand standards--exceptional quality, unparalleled functionality and unmistakable design and style," said Rene Stutz, president of Victorinox Swiss Army North America. "We are proud to develop solutions for the consumer electronics category that meet the needs of today's modern, tech-reliant consumer and provide an essential product for anyone seeking to protect their personal or professional files."
Specific features and benefits of the Victorinox Slim and Victorinox Slim Duo include:
-- Iron-Clad Protection--With multiple layers of data encryption and
password protection, both the Slim and Slim Duo provide unparalleled
file security
-- Range of Data Storage--Designed to accommodate a range of file storage
needs, the Slim is available in 4GB, 8GB 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities
while the Slim Duo is available in 128GB
-- Resilient--Waterproof and shock-resistant, all data is safeguarded from
any of life's bangs, bumps and drops
-- TSA-Approved--Frequent fliers will breeze through security with the
flight-friendly, bladeless design
-- Stylish Colors--Slim and Slim Duo USBs are available in an array of
stylish colors including silver, blue, orange, pink and green
-- Smaller is Better--The Slim line is the future of on-the-go storage,
with its highest capacity 128GB drive able to accommodate the equivalent
of the following:
-- 25,600 songs, which equals an estimated 14.6 years of uninterrupted
music
-- 25,000 pictures taken with a 20 megapixel camera, or 50,000 pictures
taken with a 10 megapixel camera
-- 18 full videos in HD format
-- 32 Britannica encyclopedias with multimedia content
The Slim and Slim Duo are now available for purchase at Swiss Knife Shop, Amazon, B&H and Datavision, with pricing starting at $39.99 (4GB) for the Slim and $349.99 (128GB) for the Slim Duo.
Victorinox produces and sells unique, high-quality products worldwide which are of practical use in differing areas of life: Swiss Army Knives, Cutlery, Timepieces, Travel Gear, Fashion and Fragrances. The head office of the company is in Ibach, Schwyz, in the heart of Switzerland. This is where the founder of the company, Karl Elsener, first set up his cutler's business in 1884 and, a few years later, designed the legendary "Original Swiss Army Knife,"
When Preventing Stress Saves Cash: New Fast-teks Owner Emphasizes the Importance of PC Security, Data Backups, and Regular Maintenance
Native New Yorker Ira Axelrod brings quality IT service and high-caliber data protection to his local community with the opening of a Fast-teks On-Site Computer Services branch
HUNTINGTON STATION, N.Y., July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- With looking for information online now a far more common task than looking it up in a reference book, and the use of a wide variety of programs, platforms, and devices a day-to-day affair for many, the general US population is increasingly comfortable when working with computers. This increased expertise, though, does not mean that we all know what to do when a computer breaks down, how to protect our data from threats, or who to call first when we have a personal or business-related computer problem in need of an immediate solution.
For these issues, however, Ira Axelrod has an easy answer to offer, in the form of the as-needed IT services provided by his new Fast-teks On-Site Computer Services branch, opening in Huntington Station, New York, and also serving Dix Hills, Deer Park, North Babylon, and surrounding areas. There he will manage a fleet of highly trained technicians who can provide fast, on-location, expert IT services.
A native New Yorker, Mr. Axelrod holds a degree in Computer Science and has spent his career in the area's IT field. When deciding to branch out on his own, however, he says that Fast-teks quickly became the obvious choice. "I evaluated many computer franchises," he states. "But Fast-teks has many national partners, major names in the computer industry - and I loved their organizational structure and commitment to excellence. Opening a Fast-teks branch felt like a natural fit."
A respected nationwide company, Fast-teks works with both business and residential clients to provide a wide variety of on-site solutions, says Mr. Axelrod, and can even serve as a cost-saving on-call IT department for small- to medium-sized businesses who may not have the resources to maintain a permanent IT staff. The company's business customers frequently enjoy services such as server support, data recovery, web design, remote data backup, and much more.
Residential customers, meanwhile, often benefit by having Fast-teks provide solutions that they may not have the expertise or spare energy to implement themselves. Individuals frequently use Fast-teks to troubleshoot computer problems, for antivirus and security solutions, and to set up home wireless networks - often also saving money through the time- and productivity-saving tactic of hiring immediate expert service at an affordable rate. Both businesses and individuals often benefit from Fast-teks software training, among other services.
Fast-teks can not only address current problems but prevent future ones, Mr. Axelrod stresses. "Security and backup are services that will be huge for my clients - both home and business computer users have major concerns in these areas. While no one can guarantee a 100% secure PC, Fast-teks' tools can vastly improve PC or Mac security, making it safer to surf or do business on the web. And, while most Americans don't think often enough about data backups, imagine how costly or impossible it might be to replace personal photos, documents, music, and video files if a hard drive were to fail. This loss can be devastating, and yet data back-up solutions are relatively low-cost. Your PC's security and the integrity of your data are both important to us, and we can help you protect them."
As a lifelong Long Islander, Mr. Axelrod is excited about bringing such high-quality service to his own neighborhood. "I have spent my career working for companies in New York City and Long Island," he comments. "Serving a need for the local community is important."
For more information about Mr. Axelrod's Fast-teks branch and services available in Huntington Station, Dix Hills, Deer Park, and North Babylon, or to take advantage of a $25 discount currently offered to first-time clients, please visit http://www.fastteks.com/FixitFast or call 631-271-3278.
This press release was issued through eReleases(R). For more information, visit eReleases Press Release Distribution at http://www.ereleases.com.
Knoodle Announces Enhanced Interface to Power Social Learning
Social Features and Easy-to-Use Interface Allows Anyone in a Company to Create On-Demand Presentations and Learning Content
SANTA CLARA, Calif., July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Knoodle, an innovative cloud-based social learning solution provider, announced today the third release of its social learning platform. In this release, Knoodle has enhanced the entire presentation creation and management process, allowing anyone in a company to quickly create and deliver content to facilitate social learning. Knoodle brings learning and knowledge sharing to the center of any social workplace with functionality that allow companies to deliver hosted, informal, self-paced, and mobile training on demand.
"The future of e-learning is just-in-time training; small sessions only 10-15 minutes long that include video and are mobile. This is how the current generation learns, with video and short blasts of information," said Tammy Turner, Director of Training, at Fresquez Concessions. "Knoodle enables the training of tomorrow in an inexpensive product today."
Knoodle combines social features (such as chat, annotation, comments, and viewer ratings) with the capabilities of a lightweight learning management system (LMS) (such as testing, tracking, and data reporting) into a single solution where anyone can augment PowerPoint slides with audio, video, or voice-recordings to create a social learning environment. With Knoodle, anyone in an organization can share their expertise as a teacher and leverage that knowledge as a student. Knoodle's new release focuses on eliminating complicated design, the need for extensive course scheduling and video production expertise, and the cost of expensive learning management systems. New functionality includes:
-- Adding surveys, quizzes, video, and audio while you create a
presentation: You can now add quizzes/surveys as well as record video
and audio on the fly as you create your presentation, making the
presentation creation process much more streamlined.
-- Drag-and-drop multiple files for uploading: The new "drag-and-drop"
feature lets you select and drag multiple files from your desktop into
Knoodle for easy bulk uploading.
-- Fine-tune slide syncing: Fine-tune your presentations by typing in the
exact time you want a slide to appear in your video our audio track -
perfect if you already know the specific timing for your presentation.
-- Manage your presentations easily: Our new "Manage" interface provides a
much improved layout that allows you to see all presentations in one
viewing window, making editing and publishing your presentations even
easier.
"Today's social workplace needs knowledge sharing and learning that leverages the experts across a business without slowing the company down," said Michael Rose, GM of Knoodle. "Knoodle breaks down the barriers between silos of people where knowledge resides, and takes the complication out of training and knowledge sharing by turning every presentation and piece of content that may already be available into a quick opportunity to learn collaboratively. Now, in a matter of minutes, they can share, grow and innovate together."
Knoodle provides a quick and easy cloud-based social learning solution. With Knoodle, organizations can deliver presentations and online training in the way their social workplace operates today: socially, organically, and ubiquitously. Knoodle places communications and training in the hands of every employee, allowing for dynamic and on-demand knowledge sharing with team members, partners, and customers. Deliver more engaging presentations and training within minutes by using a combination of PowerPoint slides, video, audio, images, surveys or tests, multiple delivery options, and data analytics.
Founded in 2009, Knoodle is an SK Telecom Americas portfolio company. With a $12 billion market cap, SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM) is South Korea's largest telecommunications company.
IGN Leverages Opscode to Consolidate and Automate Datacenters
Leading Video Game Source Uses Hosted Chef for Efficient Management of Platform Configurations and Scalability
SEATTLE, July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Opscode, Inc., the leader in cloud infrastructure automation, today announced that IGN, an Internet media and services provider focused on gaming and entertainment, is successfully using Hosted Chef from Opscode to integrate datacenters and automate and virtualize the company's infrastructure. The solution saves IGN precious man-hours and increases customer access.
IGN Entertainment, a business unit of News Corporation, is experiencing tremendous growth. With its main headquarters in San Francisco and offices throughout North America, Europe and Australia, IGN's properties reach more than 70 million unique users worldwide. Because of the company's significant growth, IGN was planning data consolidation and migration to a single, large scale datacenter in Las Vegas. IGN was faced with challenges including the immediate need for better configuration management, and requirement to rapidly virtualize that hardware into a virtual configuration.
"Immediately we were able to see a lot of success with Hosted Chef. For our datacenter move, we faced the challenge of transitioning from an extremely heterogeneous physical infrastructure to highly virtualized environment. Utilizing Chef to standardize the way we build our systems, and to rely on Hosted Chef as a managed solution, allowed us to quickly focus on doing things in an idempotent fashion," said Ryan Creasey, Principal Systems Engineer for IGN. "We're now able to focus more on doing things better and more efficiently, rather than the constant interrupt-driven incident mitigation."
IGN deployed Hosted Chef by Opscode and has experienced significant success because it is implemented using Ruby DSL, which allowed better integration of both centers, superior configuration management, OS flexibility, and easier virtualization and automation. Hosted Chef is the world's first and only hosted software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform for automated infrastructure configuration and management, and allows Chef to take dynamic, infrastructure centric actions across any portion of the environment. By leveraging Hosted Chef, IGN was able to significantly reduce man-hours spent on infrastructure maintenance tasks, increase the ability to add new nodes in minutes to keep up with peaks in web traffic and achieve a fully-automated, virtualized infrastructure.
Overall, deploying Hosted Chef alleviates unnecessary complexity and significantly reduces man-hours for maintenance and scalability. "I shudder to think how long it would have taken to migrate if we didn't have a systems automation framework," concludes Creasey. "We did it quickly with Chef, and saved a lot of time and man-hours in the process."
With Opscode, IGN was able to streamline its datacenter and offer quicker access to information. When the need arises to add web servers to the pool to meet customer demand, it can be accomplished via hands-off automation. Based on the success of implementing Hosted Chef, IGN plans to leverage Hosted Chef to consolidate its Santa Clara, Linux-based datacenter.
"We're thrilled to see the results IGN is experiencing. Consolidating datacenters can present significant challenges in configuration management, but the result is a streamlined process, saving significant time and money," said Adam Jacob, chief product officer for Opscode.
About Opscode
Opscode is the leader in cloud infrastructure automation. We help companies of all sizes develop fully automated server infrastructures that scale easily and predictably; can be quickly rebuilt in any environment, and save developers and systems engineers' time and money. Opscode's team is comprised of web infrastructure experts responsible for building and operating some of the world's largest websites and cloud computing platforms. Opscode is headquartered in Seattle. More information can be found at http://www.opscode.com.
About IGN Entertainment
IGN Entertainment is the leading Internet media and services provider focused on the video game and entertainment enthusiast markets. Collectively, IGN's properties reached more than 70 million unique users worldwide in February 2011, according to Internet audience measurement firm comScore. IGN's network of video game-related properties (IGN.com, 1UP.com, GameSpy, FilePlanet, TeamXbox and others) is the Web's #1 video game information destination. IGN also owns the world's largest men's lifestyle website, AskMen.com, and men's entertainment site UGO.com. It also provides technology for online game play in video games. IGN is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, with offices across North America, Europe and Australia.
Google's Texas Get Your Business Online program makes it easy for Texas businesses to grow.
AUSTIN, TX -TodayGoogle is announcing Texas Get Your Business Online, a first-of-its kind program in the United States. Designed with local partners to help drive economic growth, the program provides Texas businesses the tools and resources to establish a website, find new customers, and grow their businesses.
Core to Texas Get Your Business Online is an easy and fast way for all Texas businesses to get online. Businesses get a free, easy-to-build website and web hosting for one year powered by Intuit. Businesses also get a customized domain name, a local business listing on Google Places and free tools, training and resources to succeed online.
Getting online represents an enormous economic opportunity for Texas businesses. While 97% of Americans look online for local products and services, 51% of Texan small businesses do not have a website or online presence. The perception that getting online is complex, costly and time-consuming has prevented many small businesses from taking the first step.
"Small businesses in Texas know how important the Internet is, because they use it every day as consumers. Now they have a chance to easily and quickly create their own web presence," says Amy Chang, Director of Product Management at Google. "There's a huge opportunity to find new customers, increase sales and grow their businesses."
"As a leading provider of small business solutions, we have witnessed the growth small businesses have seen from getting online," said Ralph Matlack, Group Product Manager at Intuit. "We are excited to offer Intuit Websites for free to all the wonderful small businesses in Texas and to help them create a customized presence that represents their unique brands."
"Small businesses in Texas realize that they operate in a global marketplace and in order to be competitive, having a strong online presence is critical for success, says Jeffrey L. Boney, Founder and CEO, Texas Business Alliance. "I am excited that Google has made the investment and commitment to ensure small businesses have the tools and resources necessary to be more competitive and accessible in this new global economy."
"Choosing Austin as a launch market for the Google 'Texas Get Your Business Online' program is a natural fit as our area is recognized around the world as a hotbed for innovation where entrepreneurs and businesses thrive," said Rebecca Martin, SVP Marketing, Austin Chamber of Commerce. "This new Google program is a great tool designed to help small businesses succeed in a tech-savvy, global marketplace."
Businesses can either get online through http://www.texasgetonline.com, or in person through a series of Google-hosted events throughout the state.
The first of several events for small businesses will be held in Austin on July 19-20 at La Zona Rosa, and in San Antonio on July 22 at Alamo Cafe. Businesses across Texas who cannot attend the events can visit [http://www.texasgetonline.com] to quickly and easily get online today. The program will be available online for a year.
The Texas Get Your Business Online program is made possible by Google in partnership with Texas Association of Business, Texas Business Alliance, Texas Small Business Development Center Network, Association of Small Business Development Centers, Meetup, SCORE, Intuit, Austin Chamber of Commerce, Small Business United, National Small Business Association.
CONTACT: Alison Langdon
The Monument Group
(512) 450-5171
alison@monumentgroupllc.com
About Texas Get Your Business Online
Texas Get Your Business Online is a joint initiative by Google, Texas Association of Business, Texas Business Alliance, Texas Small Business Development Center Network, Association of Small Business Development Centers, Meetup, SCORE , Intuit, Austin Chamber of Commerce, Small Business United, National Small Business Association and other business organizations to provide complementary resources and tools to help small businesses create a website and help them understand the huge economic opportunities offered through the Internet. The program has set a target of helping tens of thousands of Texan businesses get online over the next 12 months.
AutoTweeting Launches New Twitter Management Marketing Tool!
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- A newly established 100-per-cent legal Twitter management marketing tool, designed to automate and effectively manage one's tweeting activities, has today been officially launched by AutoTweeting, a company which has now claimed a piece of the bourgeoning cyberspace real estate at http://www.autotweeting.com.
"If you use Twitter for more than an hour a day, this is where AutoTweeting.Com comes in professionally manage your Twitter activities, thus saving you time and worry," says Pablo Correa, CEO of the Uruguay-based online Twitter management portal, AutoTweeting.Com.
AutoTweeting, which is a professional Twitter marketing tool that allows you to build flourishing Twitter accounts with thousands of niche specific followers, offer the following management functions:
-- Scheduled Tweets: It keeps your account fresh with scheduled tweets that
go out like clockwork.
-- Targeted Following: It offers suggestions about which user follow based
on one's preferences.
-- Unfollow Tool: It allows the user to remove, without prejudice, those
who do not follow him or her back after a determined period of time,
usually a up to a week.
-- Multiple Accounts: It also allows the user to run multiple accounts in
an easier way without having to log out. Each member can also choose how
many Twitter accounts he or she wants running and upgrade to more at any
time.
-- Stats: This is awesome, because it gets the user stats about his or her
Twitter accounts evolution and provides insightful comparison between
them.
"Among the many users that have joined us is a well known internet marketer, which is using his twitter accounts to earn money," said Pablo.
The site also provides users with get suggestions on following niche specific Twitter users, and the means to auto-welcome new followers.
Users can now sign up for free and create their AutoTweeting Account. However, there are four paid membership options that offer a 7-day free-trial. Should a user not be satisfied with his or her membership, Pablo said that member can cancel at any time. "Interestingly, if you do it during the free trial period you won't be billed," said Pablo.
"This is the first Twitter management marketing tool that really works," said Pablo, who originally sets over a year ago to creating a Twitter management marketing tool that would suit their company's purpose, and now they have opened its use to others.
Benchmark Solutions Launches Independent, Streaming Real-Time Pre-Trade Pricing Data to the Fixed Income and Derivatives Markets
Warburg Pincus Backs Founder Jim Toffey
NEW YORK, July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Jim Toffey, the founder of Tradeweb, the first multi-dealer online marketplace for U.S. Treasuries and one of the world's leading providers of online markets, today announced the launch of Benchmark Solutions, the first and only provider of fully independent, streaming, real-time, market-driven prices for fixed income and derivatives markets.
Backed by Warburg Pincus, a leading global private equity firm, Benchmark Solutions is focused on addressing fundamental shortcomings in price transparency and independence in the OTC fixed income and derivatives markets.
"After the 2008 credit crisis, there was a clear need for greater transparency in the OTC markets," said Jim Toffey, Benchmark Solutions Founder and Chief Executive Officer. "We brought together key industry experts in finance and technology to develop a system that synthesizes millions of market observations daily and creates market-driven prices which are updated and available to our clients every 10 seconds. For the first time, investors and investment professionals will have real-time access to pre-trade pricing intelligence to help them make better trade decisions, understand the true market value of their assets, and manage risk more effectively. This is a necessary progression for the fixed income markets and investors can now access the same level of price transparency as they do currently in the equity markets."
Targeted at front office professionals such as traders, portfolio and risk managers at hedge funds, asset management companies, and regional dealers, Benchmark's flagship offering, the BMark(SM) Real-Time solution, provides continuous real-time pricing data for fixed income and derivatives products, starting with corporate bonds and credit default swaps, with ongoing expansion slated across other OTC asset classes.
Using its patent-pending Market Calibrated Framework(SM) technology, the BMark Real-Time solution analyzes over 12 million market inputs to price 550 CDS curves across six distinct tenors, as well as 7,000 corresponding US corporate bonds. This proprietary technology generates 118 million market-derived prices each trading day with updates every 10 seconds. Designed to integrate with and enhance clients' daily workflows, the real-time data is deliverable via the web or data feed and includes a comprehensive real-time overview of credit market activity.
"We are delighted to have the opportunity to invest behind Jim, a talented and proven CEO, who joined us back in October 2008 as an entrepreneur-in-residence," commented Warburg Pincus Managing Director, Cary Davis. "In today's evolving market, customers still rely on dealers for indicative market data, but none of the current offerings provide continuous pricing. This presents an interesting opportunity, and Jim, along with his team of market intelligence experts and technology innovators are particularly well suited to address that need."
Benchmark Solutions provides the fixed income and derivatives markets with comprehensive pricing transparency and analytic solutions. Benchmark's flagship pre-trade transparency solution provides the industry's only streaming, market-driven pricing for US corporate bonds and CDS (with ongoing expansion across other OTC asset classes). Based on a patent-pending market calibrated approach, the BMark(SM) suite of solutions also includes evaluated pricing services, historical pricing and the BQuotes(SM) advanced quote discovery tool.
The firm seeks to empower investment decisions and enhance their clients' daily workflows, helping them understand the true market value of assets, discover previously unseen buy/sell opportunities, and proactively manage risk in real-time.
Benchmark Solutions is a portfolio company of Warburg Pincus, founded in the wake of the credit crisis in September 2009 to address fundamental shortcomings in price transparency and independence in the fixed income and derivatives markets. Led by CEO, Jim Toffey (Founder and CEO of Tradeweb) and industry experts in finance and technology, Benchmark employs over 65 professionals and is headquartered in New York.
Warburg Pincus is a leading global private equity firm. The firm has more than $30 billion in assets under management. Its active portfolio of more than 125 companies is highly diversified by stage, sector and geography. Warburg Pincus is a growth investor and an experienced partner to management teams seeking to build durable companies with sustainable value.
Founded in 1966, Warburg Pincus has raised 13 private equity funds which have invested more than $35 billion in over 650 companies in more than 30 countries.
Since inception, the firm has invested more than $13.5 billion in technology, media and telecommunications including investments in BEA Systems, BhartiAirtel, Covad Communications Group, FIS, Institutional Shareholder Services, iParadigms Holdings LLC, MLM Information Services LLC, NeuStar, Nuance RDA Microelectronics Inc, UGS Capital Corp., VERITAS Software, Wall Street Systems and Ziggo.
The firm is headquartered in New York with offices in Amsterdam, Beijing, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Mauritius, Mumbai, San Francisco, Sao Paulo and Shanghai. For more information, please visit http://www.warburgpincus.com.
Zipments iPhone App is Now Available - Bringing Delivery and Freelance Employment to Your Fingertips
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- One week after launching service in New York City and Chicago, Zipments released its iPhone application for couriers and customers in the Zipments marketplace. Now Zipments users can save money or make money getting items across town, right from their iPhone.
The Zipments mobile app is free and allows couriers to find new Zipments job postings, bid on them, track their existing jobs, receive routing information on any job in the marketplace and confirm delivery of completed jobs. The app also allows couriers to post questions directly to customers on jobs in their area. Customers can use the app's web interface to post new jobs, with upcoming versions allowing for jobs to be posted within the app.
Zipments is concentrating on growing the Chicago and New York City markets but the mobile app release allows users to post jobs in any community throughout the U.S.
"Zipments is community-based service so regardless where you live, you can bring the Zipments marketplace to your community," says CEO, Garrick Pohl.
Do you want Zipments to help promote couriers and jobs in your city? They want to hear from you on the ways your city would benefit from Zipments. Send your ideas and feedback to zipmycity@zipments.com and include ways you think your city would use Zipments to send things around town. The Zipments team will be giving away Zipments t-shirts to respondents with the best responses.
Zipments launched May 2011 in Grand Rapids, Michigan and is an online marketplace for businesses and individuals to post same day delivery jobs. Local couriers registered on Zipments bid on these deliveries to make extra money in their spare time. Zipments couriers must be over 18, with a text enabled phone, reliable transportation and a verified PayPal account.
IBS IT Services ("IBS"), a subsidiary of IBS Group, announces completion
of two major projects that include deployment of an integrated budgeting
system across subsidiary offices of Polyus Gold, and development of a system
of websites for Russia's statistical agency, Rosstat.
In June 2011, IBS completed the first stage of an integrated budgeting
system for Polyus Gold, Russia's leading gold producer and one of the
world's largest gold mining companies, with market capitalization of about
US$12 billion and 2010 revenues of US$1.75 billion.
Polyus Gold's cross-border production management required the
development of an integrated budgeting system, and IBS was engaged to
implement a solution based on IBM Cognus TM1 after competitive bidding
process. As part of the project, IBS built a standard budgeting model for a
mining enterprise and a model to consolidate budgetary data at the corporate
headquarters level.
Also in June 2011, IBS developed a system of websites for Rosstat, a
federal executive agency responsible for collecting, processing, and
publishing official statistics on social, economic, demographic,
environmental, and other developments in Russia.
In order to expand the capabilities of Rosstat's website, IBS upgraded
the hardware and software platforms including a migration to IBM WebSphere
Portal Server 6.1. The existing software and contents were ported to new
more powerful hardware. This provided for improved website processing and
search times, a launch of value-added services and applications, and an
overall enhancement of user interface.
IBS IT Services, a member of IBS Group, is the leader in the Russian IT
and consulting market. It is part of IBS Group Holding Limited (IBSG), along
with Luxoft. Its core lines of business span management consulting,
implementation of business applications, IT outsourcing, and IT
infrastructure. IBS headcount is about 2,700 employees including over 1,500
certified consultants and professionals. IBS customer base includes 34 of
Russia's top 50 companies. For more information on IBS, please visit http://www.ibs-company.com.
IBS Group is a leading software development and IT services provider in
Eastern Europe. Through its two principal subsidiaries, Luxoft and IBS IT
Services, it offers a wide variety of information technology services, such
as software development, IT outsourcing, business and IT consulting,
business applications implementation. IBS Group is headquartered in Russia
and has business operations in Russia, Canada, Germany, Romania, Poland,
Switzerland, the UK, Ukraine, the USA, Vietnam and Singapore. IBS Group
employs more than 7,200 people worldwide. According to the preliminary
unaudited accounts for financial year 2010, IBS Group reported US GAAP
revenues of US$656m.
IBS Group's Global Depositary Receipts are listed on the Regulated
Market (General Standard) at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Bloomberg:
IBSG:GR; Reuters: IBSGq.DE). IBS Group is majority-owned by management with
portfolio investors holding 35% of the Group's share capital. For more
information on IBS Group, please visit http://www.ibsgr.com.