Transparency lacking
When companies put out press releases one always hopes that such corporate communications will actually communicate. Shareholders of Lenovo must have been completely befuddled by a press release last week in which the company announced that it had acquired Seattle-based Switchbox Labs, Inc. for an undisclosed amount, and that Switchbox co-founders Michael Sievert, Robert Dickinson and Blake Ramsdell would join Lenovo.
Lenovo's press release stated that Switchbox Labs’ development projects are confidential, but will continue under Lenovo ownership. Lenovo expects that Switchbox's consumer technologies will be integrated into Lenovo products in the future.
Lenovo has just posted a loss and plans to cut 11 percent of its work force. So what are Lenovo shareholders getting from the Switchbox deal, how much did it cost them and when will it add value? Those key points Lenovo did not care to share with its investors.
Enhancing the cameraÅfs view
The National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) has announced the winners of its 4th annual Photoshop User Awards — the only worldwide competition for Adobe Photoshop users. Winners were selected from more than 700 entries from 12 countries. Best of Show winner Ciro Marchetti will travel to Barcelona, Spain to create a future cover for Photoshop User magazine. Learn more about the winning images in all eleven categories plus the Best in Show at www.PhotoshopUserAwards.com/winners.php.
Name that tune
The “Shazam” mobile application is expanding its reach across Europe on the Android platform, following its successful launch in the UK and US. If you haven't encountered it yet, it should be explained that Shazam (www.shazam.com) allows users to identify music by holding a mobile phone toward an unknown song and “tagging” a track. Users can then go on to purchase tracks through the Amazon MP3 store, automatically access more information about the music and become "friends" with artists through their MySpace pages. Shazam was the third most popular application when the Android Marketplace launched, and since then has generated more than 6,000 reviewers giving it a 4.5 star out of 5 star rating.
Shazam’s eight million strong track database is the most comprehensive in the sector and will take Android users on a musical journey that blends music discovery with individual music tastes and social experiences. Shazam users can access music from every corner of the globe and every era including the latest pre-release and local music.
HP by the numbers
HP will conduct a live audio webcast of its conference call covering earnings for the first fiscal quarter ended Jan. 31, 2009. The audio webcast of the conference call will be hosted by Mark Hurd, HP chairman and chief executive officer, and Cathie Lesjak, HP executive vice president and chief financial officer on Feb. 18 at 5 p.m. Eastern Time. Hear for yourself what the largest technology company in the world has to say about its earnings through www.hp.com/investor/q12009webcast.
Online presence wins sales
Internet marketing firm Internet-Engine (www.internet-engine.net), analyzed search results from the three major search engines — Google, Yahoo and MSN Live — for the past three years during the holiday season and found that online retailers, such as Amazon, are winning the Internet search battle against traditional retailers.
The project, called The Retail Search Presence Study, included visiting and categorizing over six thousand web pages that were found when performing typical Internet searches. The results show that online retailers have a very strong presence, representing well over 30 percent of the listings shown, while brick and mortar retailers consistently have had the weakest presence of any group, showing up only 12 percent of the time. With consumers' search activity growing to more than 10 billion searches each month and Forrester Research reporting that 24 percent of all offline purchases are influenced by the Internet, the importance of a strong search presence is clear.
"When a shopper does a search on the Internet, he or she will find three listings from online retailers for every one listing from a traditional retailer," said Thom Disch, Internet-Engine's CEO and the director of the study. "I find it very surprising that brick and mortar retailers have not invested more dollars in search marketing, since e-commerce sales have grown 28 percent since 2006,according to comScore, while total retail sales have grown by only three percent over the same time period.”
“The results of this study are confirmed by the financial performance of Amazon released just last week,” noted Steven Rogers, Professor of Entrepreneurship at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Business. “This is a classic example of how the more nimble entrepreneurs will use new technology and innovation to replace old school marketers. Traditional retailers are relying on brand awareness to drive their Internet marketing programs, while these start-up online retailers are reaching consumers in new and creative ways. The end result: Entrepreneurially oriented organizations, like Amazon, increase market share and show record profits while the traditional brick and mortar retailers are reporting sales declines and profit shortfalls.”
Physically destroy hard drives
According to the consumer advice magazine Which?, the only way to stop criminals from stealing information from old computer hard drives is by physically destroying the drives. The magazine’s staff recovered 22,000 “deleted” files from eight computers purchased on eBay.
In Saudi Arabia there's a thriving business in reselling old PCs. Many users think that they have deleted all data on the hard drive before putting the machine up for sale, when in reality, software is widely available now to recover those “permanently” trashed files. Such files could be photographs, financial records or scanned documents.
The only solution, according to Which?, is complete physical destruction of the hard drive - and it recommends using a hammer. If you don't know how to remove the hard drive from an old computer, enter the phrase "Hard drive removal" into your favorite search engine and then follow the instructions for your type of machine. Take the hard drive outside and use a hammer to smash it to smithereens. Eye protection is recommended.
Leading green notebook computer
The environmental group Greenpeace, has ranked the Toshiba Portege R600 as its winner in the notebook category of its "Green Electronics Survey 2008." According to the survey, which evaluated the greenest electronic products on the market, Toshiba is ahead of other manufacturers, scoring the highest for avoiding hazardous chemicals in its notebook.
Toshiba reduces the potential impact on the environment of the Portege R600 by restricting the use of lead, mercury and certain other hazardous substances in the notebook’s manufacture. The ultra portable laptop is also ENERGY STAR 4.0 compliant. An LED backlit display, the latest chips, and the use of a Solid State Drive (SSD) as a storage medium also results in low energy consumption and long battery life that further reduces its environmental impact. Check out the results of the Greenpeace Green Electronics Survey at: www.greenpeace.org/international/press/reports/green-electronics-survey-2.
