XINHUA'S CNC World English Channel Selects Three Eutelsat Satellites for Reach Across Europe, Middle East and Africa
PARIS, December 16, 2010/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CNC World, the English channel of Xinhua News Agency's TV arm
CNC, will be able to reach into homes across Europe, the Middle East and
Africa from 1 January 2011 following the conclusion of new satellite
distribution agreements on the HOT BIRD(TM), EUROBIRD(TM) 1 and W7 satellites
operated by Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL).
Launched for the Asia-Pacific region and North America 12
months ago, CNC's objective is to develop into a global TV network covering
breaking news and major political, economic and cultural news around the
globe.
Following the conclusion of a three-year agreement signed this
month with Eutelsat, CNC World will have privileged access to cable and
satellite markets across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa via
Eutelsat's HOT BIRD(TM) satellites at 13degrees East whose measured audience
continues to expand, now reaching into over 121 million homes. Premium
coverage of the UK and Ireland will be ensured via Eutelsat's EUROBIRD(TM) 1
satellite at 28.5degrees East that reaches into over 10 million satellite
homes, anchoring it as the flagship neighbourhood for this region. The
channel will be available via a digital platform operated on EUROBIRD(TM) 1
by Arqiva.
CNC has concluded an additional agreement with MultiChoice
Africa for carriage of CNC World from 1 January 2011 on the DStv pay-TV
platform, which broadcasts via Eutelsat's W7 satellite in over 40 countries
in sub-Saharan Africa.
Wu Jincai, deputy editor-in-chief of Xinhua News Agency and chairman of
CNC, said: "With the satellite coverage provided by Eutelsat, an operator of
reference in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, CNC World can deliver on its
ambition to grow into a global network providing the best quality of service
to our viewers."
Michel de Rosen, Eutelsat CEO, added: "We are delighted to
partner with CNC for the rapidly expanding CNC World network. The selection
of three Eutelsat satellites by a media agency seeking efficient and fast
international distribution testifies to the footprint and access to cable and
satellite homes provided by our video positions. We look forward to a
longstanding relationship with CNC, and to continuing to meet the
requirements of a new player in the international broadcasting landscape
driven by objectives of quality and innovation."
About Eutelsat Communications
Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL, ISIN code:
FR0010221234) is the holding company of Eutelsat S.A.. With capacity
commercialised on 26 satellites that provide coverage over the entire
European continent, as well as the Middle East, Africa, India and significant
parts of Asia and the Americas, Eutelsat is one of the world's three leading
satellite operators in terms of revenues. At 30 September 2010, Eutelsat's
satellites were broadcasting more than 3,700 television channels. More than
1,100 channels broadcast via its HOT BIRD(TM) video neighbourhood at 13
degrees East which serves over 120 million cable and satellite homes in
Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The Group's satellites also serve a
wide range of fixed and mobile telecommunications services, TV contribution
markets, corporate networks, and broadband markets for Internet Service
Providers and for transport, maritime and in-flight markets. Eutelsat's
broadband subsidiary, Skylogic, markets and operates access to high speed
internet services through teleports in France and Italy that serve
enterprises, local communities, government agencies and aid organisations in
Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. Headquartered in Paris, Eutelsat and
its subsidiaries employ nearly 661 commercial, technical and operational
employees from 28 countries.
acapela.tv Season 3: Premium Content Coming to a Screen Near You, With Exclusive Fun
MONS, Belgium, December 16, 2010/PRNewswire/ -- acapela.tv, the sparkling, talkative, playground, proud to count over 60
million talking cards created by its enthusiastic fans, has been busy
designing exciting new features to entertain and delight its special members.
The ever-growing community of acapela.tv users is demanding new features and
games to keep sharing the fun with family and friends. So acapela.tv is
launching its Premium channel, now on air, broadcasting to a screen near you.
acapela.tv comes in three modes: free and unregistered, free and
registered and Premium. Each mode change adds content and features.
acapela.tv Premium offers a no-ads interface, more content, more features,
more texts and much more... for a nominal yearly subscription.
Acapela's Christmas gift to you!
To celebrate the launch of acapela.tv Premium, and share the fun and
season's greetings, acapela.tv Premium content will be available to all,
absolutely free, until January 31st! Be creative, be content, and send
your talkative messages to everyone you know!
Acapela Premium fun:
Exclusive acapela.tv cards
Up to now your acapela.tv cards have been personalized through your own
unique audio messages, vocalized from your typed words. Now new applications
will bring a different dimension, allowing you to add your personal image,
your favorite picture, to a talking card.
- Rudy the Christmas reindeer will deliver your best wishes and Christmas
cheer with the background of your choice. Just download the picture you
would like to use, type in your text as usual, choose the voice and your
talking message is ready.
- Capture the sixties will let you create an amusing, talking, animated
card, using your own cast! Add your own face or that of a family member
or friend. Put any head on our perfectly designed bodies and have your
new character say whatever you want. Discover the possibilities: create
your own heads or use a painter's masterpiece, and transform your
talking card into a work of art. It's up to you, you're the scissor
wizard.
Ads free environment!
acapela.tv Premium will let you enjoy acapela.tv fun without commercial
ads, for your own pleasure or maybe for other uses.
'I would like to use acapela.tv with my pupils, as a friendly and amusing
way to learn languages and to hear the audio result of what they type in, but
advertising is really an issue for me and prevents educational use, which is
a shame' is the type of feedback we regularly receive on acapela.tv.
Special Offer : access Premium content for free until January 31st 2010!
After then, to become a Premium user, there is a yearly subscription price of
12 Euros.
Premium members will be given exclusive access to new features and
fun-filled initiatives: subscription will include credit for up to 9999
shared post cards per year with no advertisements, longer texts, access to
exclusive Premium content and more... or you may prefer to occasionally
purchase post cards for 0.5 euro each. In both cases payment will be handled
through Paypal.
acapela.tv, as a free playground for millions of users, will remain the
same with a cheerful range of talking games and cards, allowing to make smart
use of Acapela text to speech. Free registration entitles users to the
creation of a personal page to share talking messages with friends, keep
track of activity on acapela.tv, easily manage a friend list and share
messages on social networks such as Facebook or Twitter.
acapela.tv is a showcase that shares the possibilities of speech
synthesis with Internet users. Its huge success and millions of addicted
fans speak volumes about how far speech synthesis can add audible value to
your content and messages and help companies develop their brand awareness.
Created in November 2008, acapela.tv has already generated over 60 million
talking e-cards and talkative games which have been sent and received around
the globe, from Greenland to Chile.
Acapela Group, the leading voice expert, invents text to speech solutions
to give your content a voice in up to 30 languages. Our speech solutions
allow you to turn any written text into natural speech files, using any of
our 50 High Quality standard voices or your own synthezised voice talent.
Acapela can answer all text to speech needs and provide perfect vocalization
whether for voice integration and development, online & on demand use, audio
files production, or ready to speak products for personal accessibility use.
Source: Acapela Group
Caroline Houel, Telephone number : +33-562247104, E-mail : caroline.houel@acapela-group.com
Superonline Collaborates on Regional Cable Network Project
ISTANBUL, December 16, 2010/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Turkcell (NYSE: TKC, ISE: TCELL), the leading communications and
technology company in Turkey, announced today that a consortium of seven
operators including Turkcell's 100% subsidiary, Superonline, together with
Etisalat (UAE), Mobily (Saudi Arabia), Jordan Telecom, Mada-Zain Consortium
(Jordan), and Syria Telecommunications Establishment (Syria) have signed an
agreement which will initiate the Regional Cable Network ("RCN") Project.
Starting from Fujairah (United Arab Emirates) and passing
through Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), Amman (Jordan), Tartous (Syria) and reaching
Istanbul (Turkey), the RCN Project's fiber optic cable line is expected to
cover the entire Gulf region in the Middle East for the first time and be
operational as of the second half of 2011. Totaling 7,750 km with its
round-trip routes, the RCN Project is expected to become the region's longest
terrestrial fiber infrastructure between Fujairah, one of the busiest nodes
for submarine fiber cables, and the West.
The RCN project offers the region an alternative internet
infrastructure with a high-capacity, far more economical structure (compared
to the submarine systems) which is diversified into two separate routes. This
infrastructure, which will cross five countries and intersect in five cities
has the ability to provide capacity of 12.8 Terabits per second.
The RCN project is designed to reach Europe through more than
15 access points readily available on the Bulgarian border and to initially
activate 2.4 Terabit per second capacity along the two different routes which
the fiber optic cables will follow.
Turkcell's CEO, Sureyya Ciliv, said: "This substantial
infrastructure project, which will greatly benefit the region and connect the
Middle East to the world through Turkey, is planned to position Istanbul as
the world's newest Internet base. Through this highway between Fujairah and
Istanbul we are aiming for faster and easier Internet traffic, widening
Internet expansion and to bring new opportunities to people across the
region. We are proud to collaborate on such an important project for
Istanbul, for Turkey and for the region, changing lives by offering users an
enhanced communications experience."
Turkcell is the leading communications and technology company
in Turkey with 33.9 million postpaid and prepaid customers and a market share
of approximately 55% as of September 30, 2010 (Source: Our estimations,
operator's and the Telecommunication Authority's announcements). Turkcell
provides high quality data and voice services to approximately 80% of the
Turkish population through its 3G technology supported network and to 99.07%
of the Turkish population through its 2G technology supported network.
Turkcell reported TRY2.3 billion ($1.5 billion) net revenue for the period
ended September 30, 2010 and its total assets reached TRY14.5 billion ($10.0
billion) as of September 30, 2010. Turkcell has become one of the first
operators among the global operators to have implemented HSDPA+ and to reach
to 42.2 Mbps speed with HSPA multi carrier solution. Turkcell is a leading
regional player and has interests in international mobile operations in
Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Northern Cyprus and
Ukraine which, together with its Turkish operations, had approximately 60.4
million subscribers as of September 30, 2010. Turkcell has been listed on the
NYSE and the ISE since July 2000 and is the only NYSE-listed company in
Turkey and is among the top 15% of companies listed on NYSE by its size as of
October 2010. 51.00% of Turkcell's share capital is held by Turkcell Holding,
0.05% by Cukurova Holding, 13.07% by Sonera Holding, 2.32% by M.V. Group and
0.01% by others while the remaining 33.55% is free float. Read more at http://www.turkcell.com.tr/en
Investors:
Nihat Narin, Investor and International
Media Relations
Tel: + 90-212-313-1244
Email: nihat.narin@turkcell.com.tr
investor.relations@turkcell.com.tr
Virtacore Among First to Offer Google Apps for Business Along with Hybrid Cloud Services
Customers benefit from a single provider for all cloud services
ASHBURN, Va., Dec. 16, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Virtacore Systems, Inc., a leading provider of hybrid cloud computing solutions designed to meet the dynamic needs of middle market and emerging businesses, announced today it will offer Google Apps for Business and ISPs as part of its growing cloud services, becoming one of the first providers to deliver both hybrid clouds and Google Apps for Business.
The upcoming first quarter 2011 launch of Google Apps for Business from Virtacore coincides with the recent unveiling of its vCore(TM) platform, the first infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) offering tailored to meet the swiftly changing needs of middle market and emerging businesses, independent software vendors, telcos and service providers.
Virtacore will take over the role previous fulfilled by its parent company, IKANO Communications, as a key wholesale partner for Google Apps for ISPs, which has seen wide interest from wireless and fiber service providers, ILECs and CLECs, cable companies, and even municipalities. Virtacore will also serve as a reseller of Google Apps for Business, an enterprise and SMB-focused offering. Because IKANO was one of the first companies to join Google's solutions provider program, its team brings unsurpassed experience and migration knowledge arising from the transition of hundreds of businesses domestically and internationally to Google Apps.
Virtacore will supply businesses of all sizes Google's popular email and communications tools, such as Gmail - including Postini anti-spam and anti-virus protection, Google Docs collaboration tools, Google Calendar shared calendaring functionality, Google Talk instant messaging with voice and video chat, and Google Blackberry Enterprise Server (GBES) hosting and management. Virtacore will also provide implementation services including Exchange migration, project management, help desk and call center training, and customer/employee communications. Over 3,000 businesses per day signup for Google Apps.
"Virtacore can now provide what many companies are seeking - a cloud provider that can assist at every step of the company's development with every dimension of cloud services," commented George Naspo, CEO of Virtacore. "Whether just starting with email or going all the way to virtualizing entire data centers, Virtacore will support and manage important cloud implementations for business of all sizes."
Today, more than 3 million businesses have moved beyond traditional software and hardware to cloud computing - where data and applications live online and resources can be provisioned and managed "on the fly". IT managers are moving rapidly to transition to managing cloud services rather than managing in-house hardware and network operations for their businesses. Virtacore's combined Google Apps for Business and vCore-based public and private cloud offerings can help accelerate adoption of cloud services for organizations.
About Virtacore Systems
Virtacore Systems is a leading provider of hybrid cloud services, offering unique solutions to the middle market with vFabric Enterprise(TM) and the developer market with vCloud Express(TM), both managed through the company's unified vCore(TM) platform. vCore enables customers to virtualize and move their IT infrastructure into the cloud, reducing capital and operating expenses, and improving data security, network availability, application performance and scalability. Through vCore, Virtacore customers manage all their public, private and corporate cloud resources - including CPU, bandwidth, storage and disaster recovery - using a single online portal. Virtacore is one of only four exclusive partners offering integrated cloud solutions built on VMWare's vCloud Express, and the only such partner with a unified management portal.
Over 10,000 virtual environments are managed by Virtacore in state-of-the-art Tier 3 Equinix data centers globally. Headquartered in Ashburn, Virginia, Virtacore was founded in 2000 and acquired in 2009 by IKANO Communications - an enabler of Internet services backed by Insight Venture Partners, a leading private equity and venture capital firm with over $3 billion under management. As part of IKANO, Virtacore recently expanded its cloud offerings to include Google Apps. To learn more, visit http://www.virtacore.com and http://www.twitter.com/virtacore.
SOURCE Virtacore Systems, Inc.
Virtacore Systems, Inc.
CONTACT: Marissa Ramey of Lewis PR, +1-202-349-3788, virtacore@lewispr.com, for Virtacore Systems, Inc.
BLATA-L-BAJDA, Malta, December 16, 2010/PRNewswire/ -- The European Commission has released a summary of the 9th
eGovernment Benchmarking Report which measures public sector performance of
32 countries (27 EU member states plus Croatia, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland
and Turkey). The report measures six core indicators and through a ranking
system, it shows the best performing countries that have implemented the most
mature e-Government services. This year Malta was established as the European
leader in e-Government after achieving 100% in five of the six core
indicators measured.
The first core indicator, 'Online sophistication', measures
the extent to which eGovernment services allow for interaction and/or
transaction between Government and citizens or businesses. The second
indicator, 'Full online availability' measures to which extent the 20 basic
services are available; Malta scored 100% in both.
The third and forth core indicators are User-experience for
'eServices' and 'national portals'. These cover aspects of usability,
transparency, privacy, multi-channel policy and the possibility for users to
provide feedback; Malta attained 100% in both.
The final two indicators are related to eProcurement.
'eProcurement visibility' measures to what extent potential suppliers are
able to find information and links to eProcurement by contracting
authorities. Malta scored 100%. 'eProcurement availability' measures to what
extent the eProcurment process can be carried out online and Malta scored
76%.
Hon Dr Austin Gatt, Minister for Information, Transport and
Communication in Malta said: "We have always believed in the ability of the
Internet to act as a tool to transform and enhance public service delivery.
This is the factual realisation of Government's Vision 2015, wherein we lead
the pack through our knowledge, capabilities and determination to cut
red-tape."
Claudio Grech, Chairman of the Malta Information Technology
Agency (MITA), the agency responsible for e-Government in Malta said: "We
converged the technological and administrative developments in the Maltese
government into an e-Government synergy enabling us to remain ahead of the
curve. We extended the online environment boundaries to open ourselves to a
wider audience, capitalising on Internet penetration which has increased
exponentially over the last few years."
The benchmark study has been annually prepared since 2001 and
is compiled by Capgemini, Sogeti, IDC, RAND Europe and the Danish
Technological Institute for EC's Directorate General Information Society. The
full report will be published in January 2011.
NetDragon Releases New EP 'The Returning Light' for 'Conquer Online'
HONG KONG, Dec. 16, 2010 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- NetDragon Websoft Inc., a leading online game developer and operator in China ("NetDragon"; Stock Code: 777), released the English version for its 7th expansion pack ("EP") "The Returning Light" for its large-scale online game "Conquer Online" on December 16th 2010, while the corresponding Chinese version was released in November.
The new class "Martial Monk," promoted by the 7th EP, strengthens the Chinese martial arts element of the game style, enabling gamers to better engage in the fierce PK and enjoy friendly manipulation. Also, the total 6 classes provide players with more options. In addition, "The Returning Light" has greatly improved "Steed System" enjoyed by gamers in the 5th EP "Raiding Clans". Other new updates such as the abundant sub classes, powerful Boss from ancient times have refreshed the game content. NetDragon believes that the new EP will once again generate enthusiasm among current gamers and will attract more new ones who are keen on the Chinese martial arts fantasy genre.
Based on the mythological world of eastern martial arts, "Conquer Online," one of NetDragon's flagship products, has been released in several foreign versions including English, French, Spanish and Arabic, with a Portuguese version having entered open beta testing in Brazil in November 2010.
About NetDragon
NetDragon Websoft Inc. is a leading innovator and creative force in China's online gaming and mobile internet industries. Established in 1999, we are a vertically integrated developer & operator of MMORPGs and a cutting-edge R&D powerhouse. We launched our first self-made online game Monster & Me in 2002, followed by multiple titles including Eudemons Online, Conquer Online, Heroes of Might & Magic Online and Disney Fantasy Online. We are also China's pioneer in overseas expansion, directly operating titles in overseas markets since 2004 in English, Spanish, Arabic and other languages. Our online games currently in development include Dungeon Keeper Online, TRANSFORMERS Online, Cross Gate, and a new version of Ultima Online. In the mobile internet industry, our 91 PC Suite is one of China's leading marketplaces for smartphone users, offering applications and content for the most popular mobile operating systems globally.
SOURCE NetDragon Websoft Inc.
NetDragon Websoft Inc.
CONTACT: Ms. Maggie Zhou (Investor Relations Department), NetDragon Websoft Inc. at +86-591-8754-3120, maggie@nd.com.cn or ir@nd.com.cn
Game Giveaway by Imagination Research Labs allows users to play high quality paid game for free each day
MARIETTA, Ga.,Dec. 16, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- In the style of Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, 16-year old computer whiz kid William LeGate takes the Apple App Store by storm. With the launch of a new free App for iPhone through his company Imagination Research Labs, LeGates' Game Giveaway enjoyed overnight success. Each day Game Giveaway gives away a high quality paid game for free. Game Giveaway allows users to download a paid game for free everyday and developers to promote their games.
With over 300,000 game applications available for iPhone users, Game Giveaway gained instant popularity in just weeks on the market. With 100,000 downloads of Game Giveaway in just 24 hours, the App quickly rose to number two on the Top 25 Free iPhone applications with a 4.5 out of 5 star rating.
The first game promoted by Game Giveaway, Paper Ninja soared to number one in the App store creating a whirlwind of enthusiasm for game developers to promote their games through the App.
"It's basically a Groupon for the mobile gaming environment except that it's completely free," said developer William LeGate.
Game Giveaway provides a high quality game for free each day to users of the free Game Giveaway iPhone App. For 24-hours the Giveaway of the Day is available for users to download and keep forever.
About the developer: A Georgia native, William LeGate is a rare young talent who harnessed his propensity for computers and love of video games into something productive. The high school sophomore's career started at age 11 when he began setting up network hubs. By age 12 he was blogging and by 13 he was an arbitrageur, buying and repairing iPods and iPhones and selling them for a higher price. At 14, LeGate wrote a popular iPhone app, Fake-A-Text that was featured in the New York Times. Game Giveaway was developed through Imagination Research Labs, an iPhone development firm based out of Atlanta, GA founded by LeGate. For more information about Game Giveaway, visit http://www.gamegiveaway.com. For more information of Imagination Research Labs visit http://www.imaginationresearchlabs.com.
Duane LeGate
888-888-3034 x1401
Duane@Hbninteractive.com
AutoTrader.com Announces Closing of Kelley Blue Book Acquisition
ATLANTA, Dec. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- AutoTrader.com, the Internet's leading automotive marketplace and consumer information website, announced today the completion of its transaction to acquire Kelley Blue Book (http://www.kbb.com), the leading provider of new car and used car information.
As announced previously, AutoTrader.com strongly believes in and will be maintaining Kelley Blue Book's independent and unbiased position in the marketplace. Furthermore, AutoTrader.com is committed to maintaining and strengthening Kelley Blue Book's role as The Trusted Resource® for vehicle valuation and other important information consumers, dealers, manufacturers, financial and governmental institutions rely upon.
"Kelley Blue Book has a wonderful history as an iconic brand and trusted provider of vehicle information to generations of car buyers and sellers," said AutoTrader.com President and CEO Chip Perry. "And as we look into the future we believe AutoTrader.com and Kelley Blue Book can together bring a host of new technologies and tools to market that will significantly improve the car shopping process for consumers and help auto dealers and manufacturers better capitalize on the fundamental marketing efficiencies provided by the Internet."
With innovative marketing tools and one of the largest audiences of in-market auto shoppers on the Web, AutoTrader.com has become a leading resource for auto dealers and manufacturers to present their vehicles for sale and influence shopper and buyer behavior via highly targeted and cost effective online advertising. For the auto shopper, AutoTrader.com offers a wealth of research-and-compare functions, search tools and inventory of cars for sale, all of which allows car shoppers to find the perfect car to meet their individual needs.
Kelley Blue Book, founded in 1926, launched its top rated web site in 1995 and is now a leading provider of new and used vehicle pricing information to the auto industry. The company provides its values to dealers, banks, finance and insurance companies nationwide on a weekly basis. In the last few years, the company implemented a new multi-million dollar, state-of-the-art vehicle information management system, positioning the company to deliver the best market insights in the auto industry.
The finalized agreement, first announced on October 26, makes Kelley Blue Book a subsidiary of AutoTrader.com.
About AutoTrader.com
Atlanta-based AutoTrader.com, created in 1997, is the Internet's ultimate automotive marketplace and consumer information website. AutoTrader.com aggregates in a single location millions of new cars, used cars and certified pre-owned cars from thousands of auto dealers and private sellers and is a leading online resource for auto dealers, individuals and manufacturers to advertise and market their vehicles to in-market shoppers. The company also provides a robust suite of software tools for dealers and manufacturers to help them manage and market their vehicle inventory and display advertising on the Internet. AutoTrader.com continues to grow key business metrics, including revenue, profitability and site traffic. Today, AutoTrader.com attracts more than 15 million unique monthly visitors who utilize the site to review descriptions, photos and videos of vehicles for sale; research and compare vehicles; review pricing and specials; and read auto-related content like buying and selling tips and editorial coverage of major auto shows and automotive trends. AutoTrader.com operates two other auto marketing brands, AutoTraderClassics.com and AutoTraderLatino.com. AutoTrader.com also owns used vehicle management software company vAuto. AutoTrader.com is a majority-owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. Providence Equity Partners is a 25 percent owner of the company and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is also an investor. For more information, please visit http://www.autotrader.com.
Since 1926, Kelley Blue Book, The Trusted Resource®, has provided vehicle buyers and sellers with the new- and used-vehicle information they need to accomplish their goals with confidence. The company's top-rated website, http://www.kbb.com, provides the most up-to-date pricing and values, including the Fair Purchase Price, which reports what buyers are paying for new cars. The company also reports vehicle pricing and values via products and services, including software products and the famous Blue Book® Official Guide. According to the C.A. Walker Research Solutions, Inc. - 2009 Spring Automotive Website Usefulness Study, kbb.com is the most useful automotive information website among new- and used-vehicle shoppers, and half of online vehicle shoppers visit kbb.com. Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com also is a W3 Silver Award winner, sanctioned by the International Academy of Visual Arts. Kbb.com is a leading provider of new car prices, used car values, car reviews, new cars for sale, used cars for sale, and car dealer locations.
SOURCE AutoTrader.com
AutoTrader.com
CONTACT: Mark Scott, +1-404-568-7905, +1-404-435-2047 (cell), mark.scott@autotrader.com
PA Lottery Director Urges Lawmakers to Oppose Legalization of Internet Poker
Bill Could Diminish Profits that Fund Vital Services for Older Pennsylvanians
MIDDLETOWN, Pa., Dec. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Federal legislation to legalize Internet poker could decimate Pennsylvania Lottery sales, cut net profits that fund vital services for older adults and harm Lottery's 8,700 business partners, Lottery Executive Director Ed Trees said today as he urged lawmakers to oppose the effort.
"The draft legislation - introduced by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and rumored to become attached to the bill extending federal tax cuts and unemployment benefits - would legalize Internet poker and create a new gaming industry, overturning a 2006 federal law that effectively prohibits online gambling," Trees said in a letter distributed to lawmakers today.
"Online poker would negatively impact the local economies our retail partners support and directly threaten funding for programs that protect older Pennsylvanians' independence, preserve their health and improve the quality of their lives," Trees wrote.
Trees issued statements today to all Pennsylvania Congressional delegates, all members of the General Assembly and each of the commonwealth's 52 Area Agencies on Aging. Additionally, as president of the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL), Trees released a statement opposing the Reid bill nationally, on behalf of all U.S. Lotteries.
About the Pennsylvania Lottery: The Pennsylvania Lottery remains the only state lottery that designates all its proceeds to programs that benefit older residents. Since its inception 38 years ago, the Pennsylvania Lottery has contributed more than $20.1 billion to programs that include property tax and rent rebates; free transit and reduced-fare shared rides; the low-cost prescription drug programs PACE and PACENET; long-term living services; and the 52 Area Agencies on Aging, including more than 600 full- and part-time senior centers throughout the state. The Pennsylvania Lottery reminds its players to play responsibly. Players must be 18 or older.
PA Lottery Letter to Pennsylvania Congressional Delegation
Dec. 15, 2010
Dear Member of the Pennsylvania Congressional Delegation:
I write today to draw your attention to troubling draft legislation - which I understand is moving behind the scenes, quietly and quickly, through the U.S. Senate - that intends to legalize Internet poker for a certain number of selected privately owned gaming operators. The Pennsylvania Lottery vehemently opposes this legislation, as it has the potential to decimate Lottery sales, diminish net profits that fund vital services for older Pennsylvanians and detrimentally impact the Pennsylvania Lottery's 8,700 business partners.
The draft legislation - introduced by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and rumored to become attached to the bill extending federal tax cuts and unemployment benefits - would legalize Internet poker and create a new gaming industry, overturning 2006 federal law that effectively prohibits online gambling.
Last year, the Pennsylvania Lottery provided nearly $916 million to programs benefiting hundreds of thousands of older residents through property tax and rent relief; free reduced-fare transit; low-cost prescription drugs; long-term living services; and social, educational and recreational activities offered by Pennsylvania's 52 Area Agencies on Aging and more than 600 senior centers.
Additionally, the Lottery provided more than $160 million to retailers across the state, many of which are small businesses that rely on the Pennsylvania Lottery for commissions and increased store traffic. For nearly 40 years, this mutually beneficial business relationship has helped Lottery retailers create jobs, inject money into local economies and create taxable revenue for the commonwealth.
The new gaming industry that would be created by Senator Reid's bill would put points of purchase in every Pennsylvanian's home, directly vying for the discretionary entertainment dollars Lottery games attract exclusively through a network of 8,700 retail partners, thereby leaving the Pennsylvania Lottery at a competitive disadvantage. Online poker would negatively impact the local economies our retail partners support and directly threaten funding for programs that protect older Pennsylvanians' independence, preserve their health and improve the quality of their lives.
For these reasons, I strongly encourage you to oppose this legislation to legalize Internet poker. I am available to discuss the Lottery's opposition at your convenience.
Thank you for your attention to this very important matter.
Sincerely,
Ed Trees, Pennsylvania Lottery Executive Director
NASPL Letter Issued on Behalf of All State Lotteries
Dec. 15, 2010
As President of the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL), I am writing this letter on its behalf. Founded in 1971, NASPL includes among its membership all of the 44 state lotteries in the United States. Being the most regulated form of wagering, our industry generates more than $56 billion in gross annual sales and contributes more than $17 billion in net revenues each year, which are used to support much needed programs and/or services within each state.
I am writing you today regarding the bill that Senator Harry Reid introduced that attempts to legalize Internet poker for a limited number of selected privately owned gaming operators. This initiative threatens the future success of state lotteries and directly violates the intent of two existing federal laws - the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, which prohibits online gambling, and the Wire Act of 1961, which is intended to assist states with enforcement of their own gambling laws.
The stated purpose of the new bill is to "strengthen the prohibition of unlawful Internet gaming, to provide for licensing of Internet poker with consumer protections and strong regulatory oversight, to enforce the tax code, and for other purposes."
However, the bill is unnecessary and harmful to states because it would interfere with a state's right to conduct and regulate gaming. Therefore, it is important to protect the games now being offered by individual states. The Reid bill will exempt from the scope of the Wire Act of 1961 only those lottery games in which the outcome is determined daily or less frequently. It would not include in the safe harbor, for example, existing games such as video lottery, five-minute keno or "instant win" games such as virtual instant ticket games. The Reid bill suggests that all such games would be prohibited under the Wire Act if bets on such games (or information assisting in the placing of such bets) were transmitted via a wire communication facility and the routing of the bets (or information assisting such bets) crossed state lines - even if it crossed state lines only to return to the same state. Existing lottery games - even if played from a licensed lottery retailer location - could thus be prohibited depending on the routing of the wagering transactions.
In short, the proposed legislation would dictate to the Lottery industry what games it could and could not offer, thereby squelching certain opportunities for future growth and much-needed revenue for states.
It has been stated by numerous courts and commentators that the purpose of the Wire Act is:
to assist the various States ... in the enforcement of their laws pertaining to gambling, bookmaking, and like offenses and to aid in the oppression of organized gambling activities by prohibiting the use of ... wire communication facilities which are or will be used for the transmission of certain gambling information in interstate ...commerce...
Instead of assisting the states in the enforcement of their gambling laws, the Reid bill's amendment to the Wire Act would thwart states in their efforts to regulate gambling. Specifically, it would purport to limit the types of games state lotteries could offer for sale.
I ask that you protect the rights of your state and the ability of each state to manage its games as seen fit. If the Reid bill is passed, it will greatly hamper future lottery sales that support the much needed programs and/or services earmarked for lottery revenues.
Sincerely,
Ed Trees
President, NASPL
SOURCE Pennsylvania Lottery
Pennsylvania Lottery
CONTACT: Elizabeth Brassell of Pennsylvania Lottery, +1-717-787-6960
Mall of America® Rewards Twitter Followers With VIP Parking
BLOOMINGTON, Minn., Dec. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- The Saturday before Christmas is known as the second busiest shopping day of the year. In fact, the National Retail Federation just announced that 37 million people have yet to start their holiday shopping this season. To ease the pangs of parking during this high traffic time, Mall of America is launching the Big Secret Parking Party, rewarding loyal Twitter followers with VIP parking.
On Dec. 18, for the first time ever, Mall of America will close the north surface parking lot to the general public reserving 96 parking spots for registered Twitter followers. Registration will be done through an Eventbrite, created specifically for #bspp. Registrants will have the option to arrive between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. for a parking spot in this lot.
"We want to reward loyal Twitter followers with something extremely coveted during the holiday shopping season - a close parking spot without the hassle of a time consuming search," said Dave Haselman, executive vice president of operations at Mall of America. "We hope this service will be an added value as well as increase our follower base. Our goal is to find success in the event, which will allow us to build on it in the near future."
In conjunction with #bspp, Mall of America plans to extend other social media initiatives. On Foursquare, Mall of America will offer a $25 gift card to the first five people who check-in per day Dec. 20 through Dec. 23. On Facebook Places, the Mall of America Youth Foundation will donate $1 each, up to $500 per organization, to VEAP and One Heartland now through Dec. 24.
The Mall of America twitter account can be found at http://www.twitter.com/MallofAmerica. For details regarding this event, search for the hashtag #bspp and for updates specific to parking, use the hashtag #moaparking.
About Mall of America®
Mall of America is the nation's largest retail and entertainment complex. At 4.2 million square feet, MOA is home to more than 520 world-class shops; Nickelodeon Universe®, the nation's largest indoor family amusement park; Underwater Adventures® Aquarium, a 1.2 million gallon walk-through aquarium; Moose Mountain Adventure Golf; Theatres at Mall of America® - a 14-screen movie theater with VIP theatre and more. The Mall opened in August of 1992 and is located in Bloomington, Minn., just minutes from downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul. For more information visit http://www.mallofamerica.com.
SOURCE Mall of America
Mall of America
CONTACT: Bridget Jewell of Mall of America, +1-952-883-8846, bjewell@mallofamerica.com
Colorado Public Utilities Commission Approves CenturyLink-Qwest Merger
Colorado Will be the Largest Operating State for the Combined Company
MONROE, La. and DENVER, Dec. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) today unanimously approved the pending merger between CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) and Qwest Communications (NYSE: Q).
The PUC's approval of the merger in Colorado included an in-depth review of the transaction and an agreement on public interest benefits the companies reached with the commission staff.
In the agreement, the companies committed to investing a minimum of $70 million in broadband infrastructure in Colorado over five years. It also resolved certain retail and wholesale issues, and included filing integration updates and reports with the PUC.
After the transaction is completed, which is expected during the first half of 2011, Colorado will be the combined company's largest operating state, based on customer access lines, in its 37-state local service region. Denver also will become the headquarters for the company's Mountain Region, which will serve Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming, and its Business Markets Group.
MERGER UPDATE
-- Including Colorado, 14 states and the District of Columbia have approved
the proposed merger.
-- The companies also must receive approval from seven additional states
and the Federal Communications Commission.
-- CenturyLink and Qwest already have reached agreements with commission
staffs in Arizona, Minnesota and Utah. The companies also have
agreements with Integra Telecom, Cox Communications and other
competitive local exchange carriers, and the U.S. Department of Defense
in Arizona, Colorado and Utah.
-- In October, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) agreed that the
merger is in the public interest.
-- Shareholders from both companies approved the merger in August.
-- The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission cleared the
transaction in July after determining there were no antitrust concerns.
-- As of Sept. 30, 2010, CenturyLink served approximately 2.4 million
broadband customers, 6.6 million access lines and 588,000 satellite
video subscribers. On the same date, Qwest served approximately 2.9
million broadband customers, 9.1 million access lines, 960,000 video
subscribers and more than one million wireless customers. The
combination will create a robust 180,000-route-mile national fiber
network, which will increase the combined company's scale and enable the
delivery of a diverse mix of service and product offerings.
SUPPORTING STATEMENTS
Chuck Ward, Qwest Colorado President:
"Gaining the Colorado PUC's approval is a major milestone in the merger process. Qwest has a long and successful history of providing Colorado with reliable and innovative communications services. That tradition will continue as the combined company will have enhanced financial and operational resources to support further network investment and the deployment of technology solutions to urban as well as rural areas of the state."
Kenny Wyatt, President of CenturyLink South-Central Region:
"We appreciate the approval of the transaction by the Colorado Public Utility Commission and look forward to bringing a wider variety of communications products and services and broadband availability to Colorado than either company could offer alone."
Bill Ritter, Governor of Colorado:
"It is my hope that by combining their extensive knowledge and experience, CenturyLink and Qwest are creating a stronger company to participate in the increasingly competitive communications marketplace, one that will, as the new company believes, provide more choices for consumers in Colorado."
SUPPORTING RESOURCES
-- Merger website: centurylinkqwestmerger.com.
About CenturyLink
CenturyLink is a leading provider of high-quality broadband, entertainment and voice services over its advanced communications networks to consumers and businesses in 33 states. CenturyLink, headquartered in Monroe, La., is an S&P 500 company and is included among the Fortune 500 list of America's largest corporations. For more information on CenturyLink, visit http://www.centurylink.com.
About Qwest
Customers coast to coast turn to Qwest's industry-leading national fiber-optic network and world-class customer service to meet their communications and entertainment needs. For residential customers, Qwest offers a new generation of fiber-optic-fast Internet service, high-speed internet solutions, as well as home phone, Verizon Wireless, and DIRECTV® services. Fortune 500 companies and other large businesses and wholesale customers, as well as small businesses and governmental agencies, choose Qwest to deliver a full suite of network, data and voice services. Additionally, Qwest participates in Networx, the largest communications services contract in the world and is recognized as a leader in the network services market by leading technology industry analyst firms.
Forward Looking Statements
Except for the historical and factual information contained herein, the matters set forth in this communication, including statements regarding the expected timing and benefits of the acquisition such as efficiencies, cost savings, enhanced revenues, growth potential, market profile and financial strength, and the competitive ability and position of the combined company, and other statements identified by words such as "estimates," "expects," "projects," "plans," and similar expressions are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, many of which are beyond our control. Actual events and results may differ materially from those anticipated, estimated or projected if one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if underlying assumptions prove incorrect. Factors that could affect actual results include but are not limited to: the ability of the parties to timely and successfully receive the required approvals of regulatory agencies and their respective shareholders; the possibility that the anticipated benefits from the acquisition cannot be fully realized or may take longer to realize than expected; the possibility that costs or difficulties related to the integration of Qwest's operations into CenturyLink will be greater than expected; the ability of the combined company to retain and hire key personnel; the timing, success and overall effects of competition from a wide variety of competitive providers; the risks inherent in rapid technological change; the effects of ongoing changes in the regulation of the communications industry; the ability of the combined company to effectively adjust to changes in the communications industry and to successfully introduce new product or service offerings on a timely and cost-effective basis; any adverse developments in commercial disputes or legal proceedings; the ability of the combined company to utilize net operating losses in amounts projected; changes in our future cash requirements; and other risk factors and cautionary statements as detailed from time to time in each of CenturyLink's and Qwest's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). There can be no assurance that the proposed acquisition will in fact be consummated. You should be aware that new factors may emerge from time to time and it is not possible for us to identify all such factors nor can we predict the impact of each such factor on the acquisition or the combined company. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this communication. Unless legally required, CenturyLink and Qwest undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
CONTACT: Debra Peterson of CenturyLink, +1-913-323-4881, debra.d.peterson@centurylink.com; or Tom McMahon of Qwest, +1-202-429-3106, tom.mcmahon@qwest.com
L.J. Star Announces LED Sight-Glass Luminaires that Cut Costs for Green Initiatives
TWINSBURG, Ohio, Dec. 15, 2010 - L.J. Star has slashed the cost for company green initiatives by introducing two LED-based sight-glass luminaires (lights) at less than half the price of its previous LED models. The new luminaires use a newer LED technology that can be changed out like a halogen bulb, unlike LED luminaires that must be discarded or rebuilt after the LED component reaches the end of its useful life.
L.J. Star's Lumiglas® USL 16-LED and USL 36-LED sight-glass luminaires outshine conventional lights by providing low energy consumption, outstanding reliability and low maintenance. They incorporate an LED light source that consumes only 7 Watts of electricity, emits an equivalent of a 45 Watt halogen, and lasts up to 50,000 hours (five and a half years of service in typical operation). The affordable LED component fits a standard E27 or GU10 socket and is easily replaced. In addition, the luminaires produce light without heat and are not susceptible to shock and vibration, making the new luminaires ideal for heat-sensitive and vibration-prone processes.
Both models have a crevice-free, stainless-steel design and may be used in sanitary and washdown applications in pharmaceutical, food processing, biotech and industrial facilities in non-hazardous areas.
Compared to traditional halogen-bulb based luminaires, the Lumiglas USL 16-LED and USL 36-LED luminaires reduce maintenance costs by needing fewer bulb changes - over 30 times less. Compared to older-style LED based luminaires, they allow quick light-source replacement, reducing the length of time that processes cannot be viewed.
The Lumiglas USL 36-LED luminaire mounts flush- to a sight-glass port using a MetaClamp sanitary clamp connection. The Lumiglas USL16-LED luminaire mounts using a mounting bracket and allows lighting and viewing to take place through the same sight glass.
The 316 stainless steel housing is water-jet tight to NEMA 4X and IP65. A momentary or permanent on/off pushbutton switch is optional.
Complete Product Line
In addition to the Lumiglas USL 16-LED and USL 36-LED luminaires, L.J. Star offers a wide variety of conventional and explosion-proof luminaires for lighting the interiors of bioreactors, mixers, filters and the interior of tanks, hoppers, silos, agitators, separators, pipelines and other - usually closed - containers. Beyond luminaires, L.J. Star offers a complete line of process observation equipment including sight glasses, video cameras, and level gages.
Availability
The Lumiglas USL16-LED and USL 36-LED luminaire is available from stock. . For additional information, contact L.J. Star Incorporated at: web http://www.ljstar.com/pubs/32.htm; phone: 330-405-3040; fax: 330-405-3070; email: view@ljstar.com.
About L.J. Star
L.J. Star Incorporated provides an extensive line of process observation equipment -- sight glasses, lights, sanitary fittings, and level gage instrumentation. L.J. Star is the exclusive North American supplier of the number-one-selling Metaglas® Fused Sight Glass, which uses true fused borosilicate glass and - unlike some sight glasses - meets the critical standards of USP Type 1, DIN 7079, and DIN 7080. Other product lines include Lumiglas® Explosion Proof Lights and Cameras, Visual Flow Indicators, Sight Ports, Sanitary Clamps, Magnetic Level Gages and Gage Glass. For additional information, contact L.J. Star Incorporated, P.O. Box 1116, Twinsburg, OH 44087. Phone: 330-405-3040. Fax: 330-405-3070. Email: view@ljstar.com.
Pareto Networks Launches eBook: The Definitive Guide to Telework
Equipped with information and tools on teleworking to ensure businesses can make the most of their telework transition
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Dec. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Pareto Networks today introduces a definitive guide to teleworking, a dedicated eBook that explores the benefits and barriers to telework. Examining telework from all angles, it looks at the technical and cultural requirements to support teleworking, and the considerations enterprises should make to ensure they have what they need for an effective telework deployment in their workplace.
"For the obvious cost, employee morale and business continuity benefits, more and more organizations are attracted to telework, yet adoption continues to lag," said Dan Ryan, Pareto Networks CEO. "We launched this book to educate businesses on how they can approach their telework initiatives, so they can determine what they are going to need to successfully transition to a telework environment."
Even with all of the research indicating the many benefits to telework, there is still a disconnect. Hindering factors include:
-- Large Capital Investments - Multiple networking and security devices
needed to connect a remote site
-- Ongoing Operational Expenses - All the labor-intensive, manual processes
associated with the upkeep of each site
-- Compliance Requirements - Auditable records of all activity to meet
regulatory needs
-- Adjusting Manager Mindset - Long conditioned to associate face-time,
rather than results, with productivity
Pareto explores why the timing is right for telework, as there are new options for deployment, new networking business models and simplified, centralized management. In fact, according to recent research the number of Americans working remotely is growing faster than in years past. There are many elements driving this trend:
-- Reduced Operational Expenses
-- Management of Environmental Impacts
-- Business Enabler
-- Increased Productivity
-- Attraction and Retention of Top Talent
-- Ensured Business Continuity and Accelerated Disaster Recovery
As research spotlights the many benefits and cost savings gained by companies who make the switch, organizations are able revisit their strategy and look at ways to reap all the benefits telework can offer. As a way of helping companies make the transition to telework, the eBook gives companies critical considerations to ensure a successful roll out, including:
-- Top 10 Requirements for IT to Consider
-- Top 10 Requirements for HR to Consider
For more information, please visit http://www.paretonetworks.com. To download the complete Pareto Networks eBook click here. In addition, for a live Pareto Networks solution demo, please click here.
About Pareto Networks
Pareto Networks is the leader in Cloud-based networking, eliminating the complexity and reducing the cost of the extended enterprise network. Through an innovative, Cloud-based network infrastructure, enterprises are able to easily deploy and gain centralized control of teleworkers, on-site teams, remote kiosks and small branch office networks with a breakthrough zero CAPEX subscription model.
SOURCE Pareto Networks
Pareto Networks
CONTACT: Jill Tsugawa of onechocolate communications, +1-415-989-9803, jillt@onechocolatecomms.com, for Pareto Networks
eLink Media and SMI Network Launch Strategic Partnership to Help Companies Scale Social Media Marketing
eLink Media CEO, Stephen Berg & SMI Network Founder/Creator Lawrence Zhang announce strategic alliance at TwtrCon 2010
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Dec. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- eLink Media Inc., a leader in the digital and email marketing space, and SMI (Social Media Integration) Network, a business proven social media management system that is currently riding the wave of industry leader recommendations, today announced a strategic partnership to help the world's largest brands more effectively scale their marketing efforts on multiple social media portals.
eLink Media is entering into an exclusive licensing agreement under the terms of the partnership. The goal of the partnership is to simplify and improve the process by which current eLink Media clients and potential clients that want to engage with audiences on the social media channel can do so via the SMI Network platform.
Key elements of the partnership include:
--Integration of the SMI Network Platform with eLink's suite of digital marketing services so that brands can tie social media marketing efforts into their overall marketing programs.
--Dedicated access to the SMI Network Platform, which allows brands and marketers to optimize their presence on social media for a global audience, while achieving significant cost savings by reducing the need for one-off custom development projects and redundant manpower content management.
--Training of client staff/administrator on the SMI Platform within the first year of the relationship, including comprehensive education on how to utilize the SMI Network platform to launch, maintain, scale, and monitor their social media presence globally.
--Co-development of new products and social applications exclusively for eLink Media clients.
About eLink Media, Inc.
eLink Media is an industry leader in digital and email marketing services. Through its operation, eLink provides a comprehensive range of advertising and marketing services including advertising; media investment management; consumer acquisition; branding and identity; direct, digital, promotion and relationship marketing. For more information, visit http://www.elinkmedia.com
About SMI Network, Inc.
SMI Network is a proven technology platform provider for advertisers in the social media space. Through its founder and creator, Lawrence Zhang, a distinguished Master's degree holder of the University of Chicago in Business Administration, has burst on the social media management market scene. Mr. Zhang, prior to creating and launching SMI, has built technology solutions in the Financial Services and Trading environment for over 10 years. For more information, visit http://www.sminetwork.com
Contact: Jonathan Dunn, 561-833-1313, jonathan@elinkmedia.com
SOURCE eLink Media Inc.
eLink Media Inc.
CONTACT: Jonathan Dunn, +1-561-833-1313, jonathan@elinkmedia.com
'COMEDY CENTRAL Presents' is Back! Featuring Today's Best and Brightest Stand-Up Talent, the 15th Season Premieres Friday, January 21 at 11:00 p.m.*
Tom Segura And Michael Kosta Star In Back-To-Back Premiere Episodes
New All-Star Line-Up Includes: Natasha Leggero, Kyle Kinane, Chelsea Peretti, Hari Kondabolu, Mike Vecchione, Jack Whitehall, Jessi Klein And Sheng Wang
NEW YORK, Dec. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- COMEDY CENTRAL, the ultimate source in comedy, has scoured the stand-up universe and hand-selected sixteen of the funniest people out there. Unveiling an all-new, all-star line-up of today's finest comedians, the 15th season of "COMEDY CENTRAL Presents" premieres Friday, January 21. The sharpest and most hilariously irreverent season ever kicks off with "COMEDY CENTRAL Presents Tom Segura" at 11:00 p.m., followed by "COMEDY CENTRAL Presents Michael Kosta" at 11:30 p.m.
If comedy enthusiasts can't wait until January 21 to get their stand-up fix, they're in luck because COMEDY CENTRAL is airing a special half-hour sneak peek of selected highlights from the upcoming season with "COMEDY CENTRAL Presents Best of 2011," premiering on Friday, January 14 at 11:00 p.m.
"COMEDY CENTRAL Presents" is the premiere showcase for top stand-up talent. Filmed at New York City's Gerald W. Lynch Theater in front of a live audience, the 15th season of "COMEDY CENTRAL Presents" will air every Friday night beginning January 21 with two all-new episodes each week at 11:00 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. Fresh new episodes from this season will include stand-up performances from Jack Whitehall, Al Jackson, Chelsea Peretti, Chris D'Elia, Hari Kondabolu, Jay Larson, Jessi Klein, Kyle Kinane, Louis Katz, Matt Fulchiron, Mike Vecchione, Natasha Leggero, Nate Bargatze and Sheng Wang.
Leading up to each on-air premiere and throughout the new season, Jokes.com will feature preview clips and never-before-aired footage from each episode of "COMEDY CENTRAL Presents," as well as viral videos from comedians. In addition to this exclusive content, Jokes.com will feature the latest tweets and chatter from the comedians themselves.
Each episode of "COMEDY CENTRAL Presents" will be made available the day after air in HD and SD for download-to-own on iTunes, Xbox, Zune, PlayStation and Amazon. A sneak peek of the season is also available now for free download on iTunes in SD and HD.
"COMEDY CENTRAL Presents" is produced by RickMill Productions. Paul Miller and Kimber Rickabaugh from RickMill Productions served as executive producers of this season's episodes of "COMEDY CENTRAL Presents." Ryan Polito served as director. JoAnn Grigioni is the executive in charge of production for COMEDY CENTRAL.
COMEDY CENTRAL, the only all-comedy network, currently is seen in more than 98 million homes nationwide. COMEDY CENTRAL is owned by, and is a registered trademark of, Comedy Partners, a wholly-owned division of Viacom Inc.'s (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B) MTV Networks. COMEDY CENTRAL's Internet address is http://www.comedycentral.com. For up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs visit Press Central, COMEDY CENTRAL's press Web site at http://www.comedycentral.com/press.
*All Times ET/PT
SOURCE COMEDY CENTRAL Corporate Communications
COMEDY CENTRAL Corporate Communications
CONTACT: Kelly Campbell, +1-310-407-4728, kelly.campbell@comedycentral.com
The Afikim Foundation Launches 'ToTallyOnline.org', First Live Interactive Online Hebrew School
NEW YORK, Dec. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Afikim Foundation will change the face of Jewish education in January 2011 with the launch of 'ToTallyOnline,' the first live, interactive online Hebrew School. Utilizing cutting-edge web-conferencing technology and a kid-friendly interface, this groundbreaking program will allow students, ages 8-11, to interact via video, audio or text chat to create a fully functional virtual classroom from the comfort of their own home.
With the rising cost of 'bricks and mortar' Jewish education and the closing of many community Hebrew Schools due to the current economic climate, ToTallyOnline will enable children everywhere to acquire a foundation of Jewish knowledge from master teachers who will also be available to their students between classes for questions and discussion.
An introductory semester of 10 one-hour classes on consecutive Sunday mornings will begin on January 9, 2011 and continue through March 13th. Parents can register without obligation to attend an information session and preview the classes.
The host of ToTallyOnline.org is Rabbi Tzvi Gluckin, talented educator, author, lecturer and gifted musician, who will interact with students live via text, audio and/or video chat while incorporating videos, music, guest teachers, animation, polls, quizzes, games and prizes into each class.
The curriculum for the introductory term will focus on Jewish literacy, selected mitzvahs and Hebrew reading, incorporating National Jewish Outreach Program's Twebrew School. Each session will be archived for students to review and refer to for homework. Family involvement will be encouraged and homework materials will include family discussions, stories and activities. Graduates will be automatically entitled to enroll in Afikim's online Bnei Mitzvah Program that will launch in Fall 2011.
The Afikim Foundation is an incubator and implementer of Jewish educational, cultural and values-oriented programming worldwide. ToTallyOnline.org will be drawing upon the educational materials, resources and experience of Afikim's ToTal Hebrew School network of more than 50 bricks and mortar locations nationwide.
According to Afikim president, Rabbi Raphael B. Butler, "ToTallyOnline will be utilizing the very latest in dynamic web technology to enable us to keep pace with the iPod generation and reach Jewish families across the globe, regardless of denomination, who desire to help their children gain a better understanding of their heritage."
Additional information and registration details are available at http://www.ToTallyOnline.org. or totally@afikimfoundation.org
SYLVANIA Headlight 2.0 iPhone App: Find Replacement Bulbs at the Speed of Light
HILLSBORO, N.H., Dec. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Do you want to find replacement headlight bulbs faster than you can say SYLVANIA? Then, download the new SYLVANIA iPhone app, Headlight 2.0.
The world leader in automotive lighting solutions launched an enhanced version of its free SYLVANIA iPhone app that allows users to quickly find the correct replacement number for their vehicle's headlights, taillights, signal lighting and dome lighting through an easy and interactive experience. This is an ideal reference app for automotive lighting installers, independent mechanics, independent repair or inspection facilities, small shop owners and do-it-yourself consumers.
"Headlight 2.0 now houses 58 years worth of parts data, so virtually all installers, mechanics and consumers can use the app to find their replacement bulbs. No more thumbing through the 4-inch thick parts catalog," said Joe Verbanic, Marketing Manager for SYLVANIA Automotive Lighting.
In addition to providing replacement part numbers, SYLVANIA Headlight 2.0 also contains product photos and descriptions, allowing users to make a more informed decision about the type of lighting needed to ensure the best driving visibility. Users can even contact SYLVANIA customer service via email with the click of a button, or connect directly to the SYLVANIA website.
The app, an upgrade from SYLVANIA Headlight 1.0, allows users to select the make, model and year of their vehicle to quickly see a detailed listing of all the replacement bulbs available. Developed by Fastrak Retail, LLC, the reference app features a cleaner look, increased response time and OS4 technology so that multiple apps can run at once.
Since the app's data is housed on the phone, it works without internet access or cell phone reception. However, internet connectivity is needed to email customer service or access additional product information through the SYLVANIA website, http://www.sylvania.com/auto.
SYLVANIA's new app is one of only a handful of reference apps specific to the automotive category. Headlight 2.0 is currently available for the iPhone 4G, 3GS, 3G, iTouch and iPad. To download the app, go to iTunes.
About OSRAM SYLVANIA Automotive Lighting
OSRAM SYLVANIA, together with OSRAM GmbH who recently released their own European Application Reference Guide for the iPhone on iTunes, is the world leader in automotive lighting for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and the aftermarket. The company's global automotive lighting division has its principal North American operations in Hillsboro, N.H., with nearly 500 employees. In addition to TS 16949, this facility has also achieved ISO 9001 and 14001 certifications. Automotive Lighting designs, develops, manufactures and markets state-of-the-art automotive light sources, including auxiliary, advanced halogen, LED and high-intensity discharge lighting for interior, exterior and forward lighting applications. More than 400 lamp types are produced for cars, trucks, and electronics in facilities throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Automotive applications for OEMs are marketed under the OSRAM brand while products for the aftermarket are sold under the SYLVANIA brand. For more information, visit http://www.sylvania.com/auto.
About OSRAM SYLVANIA
OSRAM SYLVANIA is a leader in lighting solutions and specialty products that feature innovative design and energy saving technology. The company sells products for homes, businesses and vehicles primarily under the SYLVANIA brand name, and also under the OSRAM brand. Headquartered in Danvers, MA, OSRAM SYLVANIA is the North American operation of OSRAM GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Siemens AG. For more information, visit http://www.sylvania.com.
SOURCE OSRAM SYLVANIA
OSRAM SYLVANIA
CONTACT: Anne Guertin, OSRAM SYLVANIA, +1-978-750-2225, anne.guertin@sylvania.com; or Sativa Ross, Weber Shandwick, +1-248-633-6528, sross@webershandwick.com
More Wireless Data and Call Capacity Activated for San Diego, California
Verizon Wireless adds capacity to cell sites to stay ahead of demand for calls, e-mail, text and web surfing
IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Even more San Diego County residents, businesses and visitors can now enjoy enhanced high-speed wireless data and voice connections in the area of Chatsworth Boulevard and Catalina Boulevard in Point Loma, thanks to recent Verizon Wireless network upgrades. Hundreds of upgrades since December 2009 have increased the company's 3G data and voice capacity by nearly thirty percent in Southern California. The increased capacity means more users are empowered to surf the web, download applications and content, and exchange e-mail and other messages.
"People expect their cell phones and wireless devices to work whenever and wherever they need them," said Bill D'Agostino, executive director of network for Verizon Wireless in Southern California. "That's why we continue to invest in our network. By meeting the growing demand for data services on our network, we empower each of our customers to Rule the Air in their own unique, individual way."
To learn more about how Verizon Wireless empowers its customers to Rule the Air, visit: http://tinyurl.com/2arpjjs
Businesses can tap into the power of Mobile Broadband
Mobile Broadband allows users to connect to the Internet wirelessly to download applications, business documents and music, as well as accessing e-mail and corporate data while on the go. Small business owners interested in Mobile Broadband can visit http://tinyurl.com/392334g where they can:
-- Watch videos about how mobile technologies can improve business results
-- Check out case studies and articles on business strategies to become
more productive
-- Learn about the latest promotions and discounts for small businesses
-- Read white papers about wireless security and connectivity options for
business
4G LTE services
Verizon Wireless launched its 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless network in the Los Angeles and San Diego metropolitan areas. In the Los Angeles area, 4G LTE coverage extends north to Pasadena, east to Chino, south to San Clemente and west to Woodland Hills. In the San Diego area, 4G LTE coverage extends north to Del Mar and Poway, east to Lakeside and south to Imperial Beach.
The company's ongoing aggressive network build includes launch in 38 major metropolitan areas, including 60 airports, covering more than 110 million people. The company will cover virtually all its current nationwide 3G footprint with the 4G network by the end of 2013.
About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable and largest wireless voice and 3G data network, serving more than 93 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with more than 79,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, Nasdaq: VOD). For more information, visit http://www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at http://www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.
SOURCE Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless
CONTACT: Ken Muche of Verizon Wireless, +1-949-286-8193, Ken.Muche@VerizonWireless.Com
GoPro's 'You in HD' National TV Campaign Brings Consumer Generated Content to Broadcast Television
GoPro rolls out 16 national TV commercials, shot entirely with the world's best selling wearable sports camera, the HD HERO®.
HALF MOON BAY, Calif., Dec. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- GoPro, the world's best selling wearable HD camera company, is celebrating the success of its world famous HD HERO® line of wearable and gear mountable sports cameras by launching a national TV campaign comprised of 16 action sports commercials, nearly all of which are consumer generated. The commercials were shot entirely with the HD HERO camera, which sells for $179-$299 in retail stores including Best Buy, REI, and Cycle Gear as well as online at GoPro.com. The :30 spots feature GoPro customers enjoying a wide variety of sports from skiing to snowboarding, surfing to race car driving and were shot by the customers, themselves.
GoPro's television commercials represent a milestone in consumer generated content and demonstrate the professional broadcast quality of GoPro's HD HERO cameras.
"The most exciting thing about GoPro's national TV campaign is that the quality of the commercials is so incredible, so professional," says Nicholas Woodman, GoPro's founder and CEO. "That 13 of the 16 commercials were shot by our customers, using the same HD HERO camera you can buy at Best Buy for $299, is incredible...nobody has ever seen consumer generated content like this on TV before," says Woodman.
"We tell people that our cameras make it easy to capture broadcast quality HD video of themselves enjoying their favorite sports and activities, and thanks to these commercials we can now show people at home, on their own HD TVs, just how good a GoPro camera really is."
Since the first HD HERO camera was launched in November of 2009, GoPro has seen an explosion in the amount of high quality HD content created from customers. Every few minutes, customers around the world upload videos titled or tagged "GoPro" to YouTube and even more GoPro videos are posted without mention of the GoPro name. More customer videos are posted daily to the GoPro's Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/goprocamera where roughly 1,000 people a day "Like" GoPro's fan page as a result of the engaging, international content.
"Given the amount of high quality content our customers are creating with their GoPros, we just had to make these commercials," exclaims Woodman. "These commercials are a celebration of our customers, our cameras, and our excitement about GoPro's rise as one of the world's most innovative camera companies."
To further celebrate its national television campaign, GoPro is giving away one of every product they make to one lucky winner, daily. The promotion appears at the end of each television commercial and visitors to GoPro.com can enter daily, no purchase necessary.
About GoPro
Based in Half Moon Bay, California, GoPro is the world's leading activity image capture company. GoPro's HD HERO line of wearable and gear mountable cameras and accessories are sold in over 60 countries, in specialty sports retailers, REI, Best Buy, and online at GoPro.com.
Red Aril Offers Websites Better Audience Targeting Technology
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 15, 2010/PRNewswire/ -- Red Aril today publicly launched a software service that puts Websites in charge of their audience data, enabling them to profit from audience targeting and site personalization. This technology solution, called a Data Management and Audience Optimization Platform (DMP), helps sites reach quality target audiences by using predictive modeling that integrates all data -- any source, any type.
Red Aril lets sites effectively use data to drive revenue. Red Aril's DMP collects and organizes non-personally identifiable data, including site activities and third-party data. It creates audience profiles, and enables sites to deliver high-quality, targeted audiences that advertisers demand.
Unlike other DMPs, Red Aril is an independent, full-featured offering that gives sites complete control over their audience data and profiles. It is different than a tracking service or ad network, as Red Aril only analyzes behavior on the customers' specific sites. It does not track personally identifiable information and does not sell its customers data.
Jim Soss, CEO of Red Aril, explained, "Our objective is to give our customers an all-encompassing inclusive service that collects data, creates quality audience profiles, and optimizes performance. In this way, sites manage their data and give real value to their inventory, increasing revenue."
Unique to the marketplace, Red Aril categorizes consumers' interest categories based on behavior within the site. It packages this information with other public and private, structured and unstructured, online and offline data, and scores the performance of any data. The result is the ability to qualify the audience on the spot with a high degree of accuracy and minimal data expense.
Red Aril works with top media companies, including Rodale, Inc.
"Red Aril's DMP will serve an important role within Rodale's overall strategy to broaden our online media capabilities. The DMP product, coupled with Red Aril's data management acumen, should further enhance the insight into both our online customer base and the valued intelligence we offer our advertisers," said Ken Citron, COO at Rodale Inc., which reaches more than 70 million people through some of the best-known health and wellness lifestyle media brands, including Men's Health, Prevention, Women's Health, Bicycling, Runner'sWorld, and Organic Gardening.
"We're using advanced technology to deeply define and target audiences," Soss explains. "Rather than blindly selecting ads for consumers to view, we give sites the knowledge to better understand visitor interests and deliver relevant content."
Founded in 2009, Red Aril is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in New York. The company's Data Management and Audience Optimization Platform (DMP) enables digital media to gain insight into the true value of their data. Red Aril's DMP was designed to manage today's intense marketing and advertising environment, including - high data volumes within a real-time environment. The platform is a real-time, self-learning system for data processing and analysis, audience modeling and optimization. Utilizing predictive models, Red Aril efficiently processes and monetizes value of consumer interactions, including the numerous channels of quality data sources available, and the impressions served each month to provide Web sites with a quantified value of their data inventory. Red Aril is a privately held company funded by institutional investors. For more information, visit redaril.com.
SOURCE Red Aril
Red Aril
CONTACT: Sharon Nieuwenhuis of RLM Public Relations, +1-212-741-5106 x237, RedAril@RLMpr.com
Microsoft Hardware for Business line offers the same high quality Microsoft webcams, headsets, mice, and keyboards, packaged for volume purchasing by businesses.
REDMOND, Wash., Dec. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Microsoft Corp. is making it easy and affordable for corporations to have high-quality webcams, headsets, mice and keyboards with its line of Hardware for Business products. The line includes a range of Microsoft Hardware products packaged for volume purchasing by businesses, such as the recently launched LifeCam Studio for high-definition video calls, saving businesses money and time on travel, and the Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000, providing users with ultimate comfort. With devices that offer maximum comfort and productivity, the line of Hardware for Business products lets employees get the job done--whether at the office, from home or on the go.
Microsoft Hardware for Business makes a range of Microsoft Hardware products available for purchase in increments of five, with each product individually packaged and licensed for easier distribution and customer support. The line makes it easy for IT professionals, business owners and distributors to purchase Microsoft Hardware devices for themselves and their customers. Because Microsoft has been a leader in PC peripherals for close to three decades, purchasing Microsoft Hardware means businesses can feel confident that their employees have the tools needed to stay productive with comfortable keyboards and mice and with webcams and headsets that work with leading communications software, all at a great price.*
For more than 28 years, the Hardware Group has employed innovative engineering, cutting-edge industrial design and extensive usability testing to create products of exceptional quality and durability that enhance the software experience and strengthen the connection between consumers and their PC. Microsoft Hardware leads the industry in ergonomic engineering, industrial design and hardware/software compatibility, offering consumers an easier, more convenient and more enjoyable computing experience. More information about Microsoft Hardware is available at http://www.microsoft.com/hardware and http://www.microsofthardwareblog.com.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
* Based on estimated retail price. Actual retail prices may vary.
PHOENIX, Dec. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- EASYNEWS.COM, the world's leading browser-based Usenet newsgroup provider, is pleased to announce that it is now accepting PayPal. In response to rising demand outside of the U.S., Easynews' PayPal enhancement allows for the internationalization of Easynews Usenet newsgroup services and provides a secure and convenient payment gateway. Easynews' website offers free Usenet account signup and the original web-based newsgroup management tool.
Additionally, Easynews.com has recently announced that all current and new Big Gig plan subscribers will receive its Unlimited NNTP upgrade, for free, which offers unlimited access to over 100,000 newsgroups, both text and binary. The Unlimited NNTP add-on features 760 days of retention, secure SSL encrypted access and an unlimited number of connections, which is unrivaled by any other Usenet provider. Unlimited NNTP is offered on other Easynews.com subscription plans for a $9.95 monthly fee.
Additional enhancements will continue to be introduced over the coming months to further expand the overall Easynews offering. Subscribers can look forward to developments such as app-free support for mobile devices as well as usability enhancements to the Easynews browser application.
About Easynews.com
Easynews is the most versatile Usenet provider in the world, offering a unique, intuitive, and proprietary browser based interface that eliminates the necessity of any third-party newsreader client. Subscribers are able to search, preview, and download files directly from their favorite web browser from any location in the world. With over 15 years of service, Easynews continues to provide premium and all-inclusive Usenet access to users worldwide.
For more information regarding Easynews or the Easynews service, please visit http://www.Easynews.com. Support is also available 24x7 at support@easynews.com
EveryScape to Power Immersive Imagery for Local Businesses on Bing
New "Interior Views" feature provides 3D experiences of local businesses in search results
NEWTON, Mass., Dec. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- EveryScape, a pioneer in immersive advertising and search, announced today plans to power immersive imagery for local businesses through Bing local search results.
EveryScape utilizes an international network of photographers and a proprietary technology platform to create 3D experiences of local businesses - allowing people to "walk around" as if they were there in person. Bing will indicate availability of these images through a "Step Inside" icon, which will be displayed in local search results.
"Providing users with the most compelling and useful content is the cornerstone of Bing; it's key to helping people make more informed and faster decisions," said David Gedye, principal program manager, Bing Maps for Microsoft Corp. "The new Interior Views feature in Bing uses EveryScape's 3D experiences of local businesses to help users to answer the all-important question of whether this business is worth their time."
"Local search is inherently personal and subjective. The problem of where to take your boss to dinner is not easily solved by a simple list of nearby restaurants," said Jim Schoonmaker, CEO of EveryScape. "EveryScape's mission is to enable consumers to have a deeper understanding of a local business, allowing them to form their own opinion about the business, rather than just relying on the opinions of others. Our immersive imagery mimics the real-world retail presence for a business, which answers a whole new range of questions that text and flat imagery alone cannot."
A demo of the EveryScape experience in Bing can be seen here: http://bit.ly/fPjCXa
EveryScape's immersive imagery includes thousands of local businesses from around the world. The company also offers an EveryScape Eats! iPhone application that provides visual dining guides in Boston, San Francisco, SoHo (New York) and Seattle, with plans for rapid expansion into other cities.
About EveryScape, Inc.
EveryScape is a pioneer in immersive advertising and enabler of immersive search. Just as websites gave local businesses a front door, EveryScape's immersive ads open the door and invite visitors to come in, look around, and stay awhile. EveryScape invented the technology that transforms 2D still photos of a local business into a new 3D online presence that allows people to "walk around" and explore as if they were there in person. By mimicking a business' real-world retail presence, immersive ads provide instant answers to otherwise subjective questions regarding local businesses - answers that cannot be answered by text and flat imagery alone. In fact, 87 percent of people had a positive affinity for the business that they explored via EveryScape immersive advertising and 70 percent of those people stated that they were more likely or much more likely to visit that business offline. EveryScape is headquartered in Newton, Mass. and is venture backed by SK Telecom Americas, Dace Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Draper Fisher New England, Draper Atlantic and Launchpad Venture Group. Find out more at http://www.everyscape.com.
Callaway Digital Arts and HIT Entertainment Bring Thomas & Friends(TM) to the iPad in Time for the Holidays
Misty Island Rescue for iPad Brings Children's Classic to Life with Narration, Animation, Games and Art
NEW YORK, Dec. 15, 2010/PRNewswire/ --Callaway Digital Arts (http://www.callaway.com), interactive publisher of premium children's and lifestyle applications for the iPad, today announced a partnership with HIT Entertainment that brings Thomas the Tank Engine(TM) to life on the iPad. Misty Island Rescue, the first and only Thomas & Friends(TM) application designed specifically for the iPad, is available today in Apple's App Store. This visually stunning, story-inspired interactive app is just the first in a series of applications the two companies will be creating together for the Thomas & Friends brand.
Based on the animated feature-length movie, Misty Island Rescue for iPad ushers the iconic blue engine into the multimedia era with a unique, dynamic iPad app where children can experience Thomas like never before. The app tells the popular story with vibrant multi-touch animation and narration and also includes engine and story-related sound effects, games, CG animated video and art activities, enabling children and families to engage in the story via multiple touchpoints.
"This is truly the ultimate Thomas experience," said Callaway Digital Arts Chairman and Chief Creative Officer Nicholas Callaway. "The iPad is an entirely new medium. We've taken advantage of its breakthrough capabilities to create an immersive experience for play and learning. Our app tells the Misty Island Rescue story children already love and builds on it with interactive games, puzzles, video animation, and narration."
"Thomas is an experiential brand, and Misty Island Rescue for iPad provides a unique and immersive experience that children and families will find completely new," said Natasha Fishman, Senior Vice President, Global Brand Management and Digital Media, HIT Entertainment. "Combining the iPad's advanced technology and Callaway's creative and development sensibility, this app is a must-have for every Thomas fan."
In Misty Island Rescue, Thomas leaves the Island of Sodor for the very first time to build a new Search and Rescue Center. When Thomas helps a friend in need, he is rewarded with an exciting trip to the mainland. Along the way, he gets lost at sea and finds himself on the mysterious Misty Island, where he meets new friends Bash, Dash, and Ferdinand. Together they discover the secrets of Misty Island and help Thomas find his way home.
Callaway Digital Arts recently announced a partnership with Martha Stewart and launched the Martha Stewart Makes Cookies for iPad. It is also known for its enormously successful applications based on the Miss Spider series of children's books, Miss Spider's Tea Party (for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch) and Miss Spider's Bedtime Story (for the iPad). Callaway's in-house production studio brings talented storytellers, digital artists, and interactive designers together to create unforgettable apps for people of all ages.
Launched for the first time in 2010, Thomas & Friends mobile apps are extremely popular. In its first week of launch in the iTunes store worldwide, the Thomas Tilt and Go app charted as the #1 paid app for children in the UK and the #7 paid app for children in the US. In addition, the Thomas & Friends Game Pack, which was recommended by the Parents' Choice Foundation, charted in the Top 10 paid apps for kids in the UK and the Top 25 paid apps for kids in the US.
Misty Island Rescue for iPad is available at a special introductory price of $4.99 from the App Store on iPad or at http://www.itunes.com/appstore/. Callaway and HIT Entertainment will also be releasing Thomas & Friends: Misty Island Rescue for the iPhone and iPod Touch in 2011.
About Callaway Digital Arts
Callaway Digital Arts (CDA) publishes premium lifestyle and children's applications for Apple's iPad, iPhone, and iPod family of products. CDA's in-house studio brings talented storytellers and digital artists together to create high-quality applications that leave a lasting impression on people of all ages. Funded by the Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers iFund, CDA's apps include Martha Stewart Makes Cookies, Miss Spider's Tea Party, Miss Spider's Bedtime Story, and (RED): The Lazarus Effect. For more information about CDA, visit http://www.callaway.com.
About HIT Entertainment
HIT Entertainment is one of the world's leading independent children's entertainment producers and rights-owners. HIT's portfolio includes properties, such as Barney(TM), Bob the Builder(TM), Thomas & Friends(TM), Pingu(TM), Fireman Sam(TM), Angelina Ballerina(TM) and Rainbow Magic(TM). HIT represents Chapman Entertainment's Fifi and the Flowertots(TM) and Roary the Racing Car(TM) in North America, as well as Wallace & Gromit(TM), Shaun the Sheep(TM), Timmy Time(TM) and Aardman Classics from Aardman Animations. HIT also acts as representative for The Wiggles® in the UK. Launched in 1989, HIT's lines of business span television and video production, content distribution, publishing, consumer products licensing and live events and has operations in the UK, US, Canada, Hong Kong and Japan. HIT is a part-owner of US-based preschool channel, PBS KIDS Sprout(SM), and international preschool channel JimJam, (outside of the US, UK and China). For more information, visit http://www.hitentertainment.com.
SOURCE Callaway Digital Arts
Callaway Digital Arts
CONTACT: Katherine Madariaga, +1-415-593-1400, Katherine@atomicpr.com, for Callaway Digital Arts; or Noelle Dong of HIT Entertainment, +1-646-467-5336, ndong@hitentertainment.com
Innovation Drives Success in 2010 for Everything Channel
A commitment to providing IT channel executives with solutions that drive revenue and increase efficiencies fuel company growth
FRAMINGHAM, Mass., Dec. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Everything Channel (http://www.everythingchannel.com), a UBM company, today announced the company has continued along its path of growth and innovation in 2010 due to a focus on providing IT channel executives comprehensive solutions to help drive bottom line growth. With the re-launch of the company's flagship web property CRN.com, the strategic acquisition of cloud marketing technology solution SharedVue and the reintroduction of COMDEX as a virtual event, Everything Channel solidified its reputation as the destination for IT channel resources.
--Hosted 20 successful in-person and virtual events
--Recognized for editorial and design excellence
--Introduced a new Senior Vice President of Events and Vice President of Marketing
--Continued Channel@Work program momentum
Addressing Unique Channel Requirements
The re-launch of CRN.com in August was coupled with the re-design of EverythingChannel.com and IPED.com, as part of an overall corporate strategy to offer a more dynamic and integrated experience for technology executives seeking channel expertise. Through the complementary network of sites, Everything Channel offers channel managers a comprehensive look at events, media, research, consulting and sales and marketing services available to support their individual business needs.
The IPED.com site in particular was updated to address the increasing need for custom research and education. IT executives can now engage with other channel colleagues in specialized workshops, leverage consulting services to assess the best opportunities for launching new products into the channel and access free resources such as the recently launched eBook on cloud computing.
Everything Channel's dedication to providing unmatched editorial and design was also recognized by the prestigious Min's b2b Editorial Design & Excellence awards. CRN.com was selected as a finalist in three categories including Best Print/Online Coverage of Single Topic, Best Single Article - B2B, and Best News Coverage. The submission for Best Single Article - B2B, "Never Enough" was chosen as the category winner.
Content Syndication
Committed to addressing the unique needs of the channel audience, Everything Channel also sought to meet the demands of today's channel marketers. Increasingly this audience has struggled to find a comprehensive solution that can manage end-to-end marketing campaigns, while delivering rapid, tangible ROI. With the acquisition of SharedVue, Everything Channel now provides a marketing automation platform to simplify and syndicate content throughout the partner ecosystem. To date, there are nearly 10,000 registered partners on the SharedVue platform, making it one of the largest cloud marketing platforms for the channel today.
To see the value SharedVue and Everything Channel can bring to your organization, read the HP case study.
Targeted Events
Despite the uncertain economy, organizations continue to recognize the value of both virtual and face-to-face event opportunities. This past year, Everything Channel hosted 20 events, including the anticipated return of COMDEX as a virtual event. With nearly 5,000 attendees over the course of two days, COMDEXvirtual became the largest independent virtual tradeshow in the IT industry. In addition the annual XChange Americas event brought together technology vendors and channel leaders, including over 100 sponsors.
By providing venues for channel leaders to solve business problems, create partnerships and expedite growth, Everything Channel events large and small delivered the content, connections and opportunity businesses require to succeed in today's marketplace.
Executive Leadership
To help bolster its event roster and further integrate Everything Channel's unique channel offerings, the company expanded its executive bench with the promotion of veteran employee, Lisa MacKenzie as Senior Vice President of Events and IT industry veteran Miriam Kutcher as Vice President of Marketing. MacKenzie and Kutcher are working together to elevate Everything Channel's complete set of channel technology solutions.
Commitment to Community
In addition, Everything Channel was proud to continue its Channel@Work initiative, designed to give back to local communities, throughout 2010 at several events. At XChange Solution Provider in March, participants volunteered in the Dayton Heights School Technology Makeover which provided an upgrade to the computer lab and library as well as mural paintings in the school hallways. In August, the XChange Americas project, Supporting Our Troops, honored eight military families and presented them with technology to help communicate with loved ones at home and abroad in addition to gift cards for living expenses.
To watch a video of the Dayton Heights School Makeover click here.
To watch a video snapshot of the Supporting Our Troops program in action click here.
"2010 was a year of incredible growth and exciting new opportunities and we expect nothing less from 2011," said Robert Faletra, CEO of Everything Channel. "We are committed to serving as the destination for channel resources and will continue to look for innovative ways to help customers succeed in an increasingly dynamic IT channel environment."
Everything Channel
Everything Channel is the premier provider of IT channel-focused events, media, research, consulting, and sales and marketing services. With over 30 years of experience and engagement, Everything Channel has the unmatched channel expertise to execute integrated solutions for technology executives managing partner recruitment, enablement and go-to-market strategy in order to accelerate technology sales. Everything Channel is a UBM company. To learn more about Everything Channel, visit us at http://www.everythingchannel.com.
UBM (UBM.L) focuses on two principal activities: worldwide information distribution, targeting and monitoring; and, the development and monetization of B2B communities and markets. UBM's businesses inform markets and serve professional commercial communities - from doctors to game developers, from journalists to jewelry traders, from farmers to pharmacists - with integrated events, online, print and business information products. Our 6,500 staff in more than 30 countries are organized into specialist teams that serve these communities, bringing buyers and sellers together, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently.
Contacts:
Sarah Murray
Sarah.murray@ec.ubm.com
781.794.3214
New Social Network for Gay Men is 'Fab' - As in Fab.com
Expanded Site Includes Largest Global Directory of Gay-Centric Places & Events; Company Closes $1.75 Million in Series A Financing
NEW YORK, Dec. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Combine Facebook, TripAdvisor, Yelp, Eventful and Foursquare, tailor it to the gay community, and what do you get? Fab.com, a new social network designed to help gay men discover people, places and activities wherever they live or travel anywhere on the globe.
Launched as Fabulis.com seven months ago, the renamed and newly expanded Fab.com:
-- Now has more than 110,000 members with 40% logging in at least 10 times
per month, 25% visiting more than 50 times per month, and upwards of
5,000 new users joining on a weekly basis.
-- Just introduced the largest worldwide directory of gay-friendly places
with accompanying rankings, reviews, tips and photo uploads,
complementing the site's interactive profiles and extensive database of
gay-relevant events.
-- Offers a full-featured iPhone app including the ability to check in,
identify your current location, name the people you're with, upload
images, rate places, provide tips, and perform all other functions
available from the Web.
-- Just closed the first $1.75 million Series A financing with investors
including First Round Capital, The Washington Post Company, Baroda
Ventures, and Zelkova Ventures, adding to an earlier $1.25 million in
angel financing.
"Before Fab.com, people thought of gay social networks as dating sites. Fab has a completely different mission," said founder and CEO Jason Goldberg. "We help gay men meet new friends anywhere in the world, find places to go and things to do that suit gay tastes, share their experiences through reviews and rankings, and in general expand their social circle in a way that fits the gay social graph."
Passport to the Gay World
Goldberg, a serial entrepreneur who previously founded the social news site Socialmedian that was sold to XING AG in 2009 as well as the employment website Jobster, was inspired to create Fab after encountering difficulty in finding gay-centric online recommendations while working in Europe.
He set out to fill the void with a new platform that would serve as a central clearinghouse of gay-oriented activities and destinations as well as providing a safe forum for gay conversation removed from Facebook communications with family and co-workers.
In a unique approach to promoting member interaction, Fab builds user profiles by adding content based on the member's check-ins and answers to questions posed by other users - whether they know each other or not. The site currently handles more than 15,000 user-answers to questions every day, essentially hosting dozens of freeform conversations that help "Fabbits" get to know each other as well as exchange advice on navigating the gay environment.
Users can check in directly on Fab or import their Facebook check-ins, search for gay-oriented events by city and date, filter those searches by Fab followers if desired, and view lists of top-ranked Fab people, cities and tags (e.g. writer, activist, gamer, foodie, musician, blogger, etc.) to quickly zero in on people with common interests.
With the new Fab Places feature, members can also browse a database of more than 50,000 gay-rated locations in categories ranging from travel, food, nightlife and bed and breakfasts to arts, shopping, buildings and outdoors - complete with comments that meet gay needs in a way that reviews like those on TripAdvisor and Yelp cannot.
"If you're going to Boston next week and you post that on your Facebook wall, it's not going to help you when you get there. With Fab, you can find out what events are going on in Boston, who's going to be there, arrange to meet, and research gay-friendly hotels and restaurants - all in one place," said Bradford Shellhammer, co-founder and chief creative officer. "Facebook still helps you communicate with your current friends, but Fab gives you a whole new channel for expanding your horizons and connecting with the gay community wherever you go."
What could be more fab than that?
About Fab.com
Fab.com - the fun way to discover the gay world - is the definitive resource for gay men, helping them find "fab" places to go, things to do and people to meet. Fab's website and mobile applications provide instant access to the largest global index to gay-centric places and events, unique interactive profiles that assist in making new friends, and other features that quickly connect members to the best of gay life. The company is headquartered in New York and has development operations in Pune, India and Deinze, Belgium.
SOURCE Fab.com
Fab.com
CONTACT: Mallory Primm, +1-847-415-9301, mprimm@sspr.com, for Fab.com
Aspiring Entrepreneurs Gain Edge with New Online Program
The Business Start-Up Institute launches program to help entrepreneurs 'succeed the first time'
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Dec. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- With the U.S. unemployment rate expected to exceed 9 percent through next year, twice as many people are starting their own businesses. The Business Start-Up Institute based in Colorado Springs, CO, is helping create jobs by teaching entrepreneurs how to successfully build their first business via affordable online courses.
The Institute's new Entrepreneurship Program is a 21 course program that takes aspiring entrepreneurs through three steps: Planning, Launching , and Growing a Venture. The Entrepreneurship Program features Dr. Thomas Duening, a professor of entrepreneurship and renowned author of 12 books on business and entrepreneurship. In hour long courses such as: "Raising Capital," "Financial Forecasting" and "Risk Management," Dr. Duening shares both the practical expertise he acquired while starting several businesses, along with the fundamental principles of entrepreneurship he's learned through 20 years of teaching and research.
The Business Start-Up Institute was created by Jim Holley, an experienced entrepreneur who left a secure position in aerospace engineering to pursue his own venture 20 years ago. After selling his business, Holley set out to help aspiring entrepreneurs avoid the trials he had encountered on his own journey.
Mr. Holley recruited Dr. Duening, a professor at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, to share his expertise via The Business Start-Up Institute. "Dr. Duening, has been working to generate growth in Colorado Springs, to combat the bad economy and create more opportunity," says Holley. "Real growth comes from small business successes. We hope to create jobs by helping more entrepreneurs succeed the first time."
The Entrepreneurship Program curriculum, which has drawn classroom crowds at prestigious U.S. universities for many years, is available online at http://www.BusinessStartUpInstitute.com. All courses feature video lectures and allow students to learn at their own pace. Along with links to online resources, the courses include tools such as a financial forecast template and a guide for writing a winning business plan.
Dr. Duening is enthusiastic about The Business Start-Up Institute. "I've been able to reach a lot of entrepreneurs through my books," says Duening, "but this online delivery system is the most exciting thing I've done in my career. Through this system I'm now able to communicate with aspiring entrepreneurs beyond my classroom, and potentially around the world.
"I believe anyone can join the 10% club, those entrepreneurs who succeed," Duening says. "They just need to take action." Take Dr. Duening's advice: register for the first course, "Opportunity Evaluation" - absolutely free. "In just 40 minutes, you'll learn to evaluate the viability of a business concept," says Holley. "Then, further courses can provide the knowledge and mentoring you need to succeed on your first start-up."
About The Business Start-Up Institute
The Business Start-Up Institute (http://www.BusinessStartUpInstitute.com), was created by parent company Businesses2Learn, LLC, in 2010 to offer online curriculum.
SOURCE The Business Start-Up Institute
The Business Start-Up Institute
CONTACT: Cyd Wilson, VP Communications of Businesses2Learn, LLC, +1-719-232-3871, cyd@businesses2learn.com
Market America to Acquire SHOP.COM Business to Create Social Shopping Site Positioned to Rival Internet's Leading Shopping Destinations
Acquisition will Combine the Power of Cash Back Program, Personal Networks, Seamless Search of Millions of Products and Comparison Shopping
Company to Maintain Operations, Locations and Employment Levels; Poised for Growth in 2011
GREENSBORO, N.C., Dec. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Market America, an Internet marketing and product brokerage company, announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the business of SHOP.COM, a pioneer in online comparison shopping, creating a powerful, new social shopping destination poised to challenge the Internet's leading shopping destinations. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
MARKETAMERICA.COM and SHOP.COM will continue to operate as separate websites through a transition period while integration of the unique benefits of each company will begin immediately. Market America's headquarters will remain in Greensboro, NC, while SHOP.COM's facilities in Monterey and Pasadena, CA and London, UK will continue without disruption. The combined entity will have in excess of 650 employees. The transaction is expected to be completed by year-end 2010.
The acquisition will combine SHOP.COM's strength in technology and merchandising, providing customers with the latest, high-tech online shopping, with Market America's high-touch, personal shopping experience, including the industry's only unlimited cash back program. It will expand the current people-powered, relationship-based shopping portal into a content rich destination that informs, entertains and guides customers in their shopping experience.
"Together, Market America and SHOP.COM are creating a new 'social shopping' movement," said James Ridinger, President and CEO of Market America. "To date, no one has truly harnessed the power of technology to provide a high touch, personal shopping experience combined with the depth of selection available through instant search of the more than 43 million products in our database. Our business model rewards customers at every stage - by making their shopping easier and more efficient, and rewarding them with cash back for shopping with us. This unique strategy positions us for explosive growth and to compete head-to-head with the biggest, most dominant shopping sites on the Internet."
Market America is a leader in one-to-one marketing, and pioneered ma CashBack; a revolutionary new shopping program that pays the customer up to 50 percent cash back on their purchases as well as one half of one percent on the purchases of customers they refer. SHOP.COM is the pioneer shopping portal in search, comparative shopping, shopping content, and created the patented OneCart technology that transformed online shopping from retail sites to retail portals.
"Market America and SHOP.COM are online shopping pioneers with distinct areas of expertise," added Ken Goldstein, Chairman & CEO of SHOP.COM, who will depart his current role and become a strategic advisor to Market America as part of the transition. "By bringing our companies together, we are creating a game changing shopping experience with transformative potential to our customers, retailers, consumer brands and business partners."
ABOUT MARKET AMERICA
Market America is a product brokerage and Internet marketing company that specializes in One-to-One Marketing. With more than six million customers and 180,000 Shopping Consultants worldwide, the company has generated over $3.4 billion in accumulated retail sales. Headquartered in Greensboro, NC - the company was founded in 1992 by president and CEO James Ridinger and employs over 600 people globally with international operations in the United States, Canada, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia and the Philippines. Through its revolutionary One-to-One Marketing concept, Market America combines the Internet with the power of people - creating the ultimate online shopping destination. More information is available at MarketAmerica.com.
ABOUT SHOP.COM
SHOP.COM is the comparison shopping engine designed to meet the shopping needs of the consumer and the business needs of merchants. Leveraging the features of its patented OneCart along with extensive partner marketplace integration, and thousands of pages of unique shopping-centric editorial, SHOP.COM helps customers "Shop Smart, Save Big" across thousands of online stores. The company also publishes ShopCompanion, a comprehensive directory of online and brick-and-mortar stores, as well as The Shopping Vine, a shopping blog network. For more information, Please visit http://www.SHOP.COM/corporate.
SOURCE Market America
Market America
CONTACT: Susan Kenney, MWW Group, +1-201-507-9500, skenney@mww.com
Nomad Editions Continues to Build Momentum in Advance of January Official Launch; Announces New Custom Media Division Headed by Former Inc. Editor Chris Leach
First-of-their-kind digital weekly publications for iPhone, iPad and other mobile devices launches new Custom Media Division; creates original content for targeted readerships in partnership with corporate sponsors and brands
NEW YORK, Dec. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Nomad Editions, a first-of-its-kind media company producing digital weekly publications designed exclusively for mobile devices such as the iPhone, iPad and other platforms, today announced the launch of its new Custom Media Division, which will produce customized, original content in partnership with select corporate brands and sponsors. The division will be headed by former Inc. Magazine editor and media industry veteran Chris Leach.
Since leaving Inc., Leach has created custom media for dozens of companies, from IBM to Northwestern Mutual Life to Fidelity Investments to ESPN to Medco. The start of this new division builds on momentum from the launch of the first three Nomad Editions--Wave Lines and Real Eats, which went live on December 3, and Wide Screen, which launched on December 8. The entire Nomad Editions platform will be live, with the launch of u+me, in early January, 2011.
"Nomad Editions has created tremendous momentum as a premier source for high quality, original digital content," said Mark Edmiston, CEO of Nomad Editions. "With the launch of our new Custom Media Division we can now leverage the power of highly targeted readership needs so that corporate sponsors and database owners can effectively engage with specific audiences whom they want to reach, with content that is originally crafted for mobile devices."
Leach will oversee the custom content development team for Nomad Editions and will focus on launching two specific content areas in 2011: health and sports. For each custom digital publication, Nomad Editions will partner with select corporate sponsors to customize ads, editorial and sponsor sections, in addition to the high-quality original content provided by Nomad Editions' award-winning editorial team.
Leach has spent the last five years publishing a monthly magazine about diabetes with a circulation of 1 million-plus and creating the first "reality" video series about diabetes for the Web, which can be viewed at Realage.com or TCOYD.org under the title of Extreme Diabetes Makeover. Robert Benchley, a long-time colleague of Leach's, will lead the health initiative as the Chief Content Officer. Both Leach and Benchley worked for many years with John B. Caldwell, regarded by many as the father of custom publishing and for whom the Custom Content Council's Lifetime Achievement Award is named.
Nomad Editions' Custom Media's second subject area will be college and professional sports, and will be directed by sports marketing guru and Nomad Editions Director of Business Development Peter Savarino. Along with Savarino's experience in sports media and marketing, Leach too, has an extensive background in the sports area. He was hired along with Caldwell and Benchley by ESPN in 1989 to develop TV Sports, a programming guide that became the prototype for ESPN The Magazine, and later produced a weekly ad campaign in Sports Illustrated for the network that was among the first media promotions to feature SportsCenter in the early 1990s.
Leach began his career as a print journalist and publisher while an undergraduate at Princeton University in 1969, when he teamed with Steve Forbes and other Princeton undergraduates to found Business Today, then and now the largest circulation student-published magazine in the U.S. He founded New Jersey Monthly in 1975, selling it in 1980 to become editor of Inc. Magazine, a role he filled until 1985.
Between 1992 and 2002, he co-founded two custom publishing companies, Marblehead Communications (later Cadmus Custom Publishing, now The Pohly Company) and Custom Communications Partners, which was sold to Forbes in 2001. Since 2002, he has been director of custom media for EPS Communications, a diversified marketing communications company.
"Nomad Editions is built around a proven publishing formula--create quality content to meet specific needs and interests of a specialized audience," said Chris Leach, Director of Custom Media at Nomad Editions. "I look forward to leading the efforts in the Nomad Editions Custom Media division, providing readers with a highly customized and targeted reading experience that is not available elsewhere today, even on the digital platform."
For more information, including instructions on how to register for free one-month trial subscriptions to Nomad Editions' digital weeklies, please go to http://www.nomadeditions.com.
About Nomad Editions:
Nomad Editions is a unique media marketplace that provides readers with digital publications on a wide range of subjects, developed specifically for mobile devices. High-quality editorial and rich multimedia capabilities are enhanced by new technology that automatically formats content onto the web browser of any mobile device, ensuring easy engagement and mobility on this new media format. Founded by Mark Edmiston, former Newsweek President and long time media investment banker--along with renowned designer Roger Black and a team of media veterans--Nomad Editions uses a subscription-based business model where editors, writers and contributors are fairly compensated for their creativity.
SOURCE Nomad Editions
Nomad Editions
CONTACT: Media - Matt Rizzetta of North 6th Agency, Inc., +1-917-398-0818, mrizzetta@north6thagency.com
New low-cost CraneBoard offered by Mistral Solutions simplifies design on TI's AM35x Sitara(TM) ARM® microprocessors
ARM Cortex(TM)-A8-based open source development board supports broad range of differentiated peripherals, large software ecosystem and offers collaboration with BeagleBoard.org community
DALLAS, Dec. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Mistral Solutions announced CraneBoard, a new low-cost ARM®-based development board, offers designers a fully open source printed circuit board (PCB) and design to reduce development costs. CraneBoard provides a cost-effective, alternative development option to Texas Instruments' (TI) AM35x Sitara(TM) ARM® Cortex(TM)-A8 microprocessors (MPUs) evaluation module (EVM). It also utilizes community support and resources from the popular, open source BeagleBoard community. The CraneBoard is available today from Mistral and a number of distributors, including DigiKey, starting at $199.
Based on TI's AM35x Sitara ARM Cortex-A8 MPU, the CraneBoard provides new features not available on existing open source, low-cost development boards, including Power over Ethernet (PoE) and Controller Area Network (CAN) bus interfaces. Both the PoE and CAN interfaces can be used in industrial applications such as human machine interface (HMI), and CAN is also suitable for automotive applications.
The CraneBoard offers numerous integrated peripherals and provides users with flexible power options, such as a power-over-DC wall adapter, PoE enabled by TI's TPS23750 PoE controller, and USB, which allows for portability. An expansion port allows the ability to easily add functionality such as an LCD panel, along with wireless and audio capabilities and is compatible with other ARM Cortex-A8 open source boards. A complete open source board support package (BSP) for Linux is available from CraneBoard.org.
By leveraging BeagleBoard.org , TI Sitara ARM MPU and ARM communities, CraneBoard users can share ideas, projects, and engage in discussions with fellow developers to utilize knowledge and resources for design and development. The CraneBoard also provides a reference platform for hardware and software developers to easily duplicate these designs, allowing them to go to market faster. By utilizing AM3517 Sitara ARM MPU advanced packaging, designers can implement low-cost, four-layer PCB designs. Additionally, the CraneBoard is code compatible with other TI ARM Cortex-A8-based devices, allowing designers to add varying functionalities and utilize previous code investments, while designing with confidence for future devices. For more information on the CraneBoard, please visit CraneBoard.org.
CraneBoard features and benefits:
Features Benefits
Provides users with full featured
operating systems and faster user
600 MHz ARM Cortex-A8 interface transitions
256MB DDR2 SDRAM and 256MB Allows developers to utilize low
NAND Flash memory cost memories
Takes advantage of TI's Via Channel(TM)
package technology to allow a
simple 4-layer PCB design that
users can easily reference to
Open source PCB reduce PCB costs
Enables communication with numerous
devices and customization for
Robust peripherals proprietary interface
--Three power sources (wall
adapter, USB and POE)
-- 3.3V I/O
-- CAN Bus
-- On-chip Ethernet
-- USB Phy
-- Integrated OTG Phy
-- JTAG
Vast library of Operating
system (OS)/real-time
operating system (RTOS),
codec libraries and demos Broad software ecosystem to make
available designing fast and simple
------------------------- --------------------------------
Developers can easily migrate from
Code compatibility with TI ARM the CraneBoard to other platforms
Cortex-A8 devices with maximum code reuse.
------------------------------ ----------------------------------
Pricing and availability
The CraneBoard is available starting at $199 from Mistral and a number of distributors, including DigiKey. For community information, support and updates on CraneBoard development, please visit http://www.craneboard.org.
About Mistral Solutions
Mistral Solutions is a technology design and systems engineering company providing end-to-end solutions for product design and application deployment. Mistral is focused in three business domains: Product Engineering Services, Defense Solutions and Homeland Security. Mistral provides total solutions for a given requirement, which may include hardware board design, embedded software development, FPGA design, systems integration and customized turnkey solutions. Mistral's strategic partnerships with leading technology companies help provide customers with a comprehensive package of end-to-end solutions.
Mistral Solutions is a broad market OMAP Technology Center (OTC) offering services in the area of software and hardware design, development and consulting on the OMAP(TM) platform.
Trademarks
Sitara is a trademark of Texas Instruments. ARM and Cortex are trademarks of ARM Limited. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
CONTACT: Akhila D S of Mistral Solutions, +91-80-3073 1557, akhila@mistralsolutions.com; or Christi Davidson of GolinHarris, +1-972-341-2584, cdavidson@golinharris.com, for Mistral Solutions; (Please do not publish these numbers or e-mail addresses.)