Filed under: Features, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Productivity, Web services

Back in prehistory (or January, thereabouts) we talked a bit about webOSes, and the migration of Ewedrive to Desktop on Demand. This week we got a opportunity to play around with Desktop on Demand in more depth.

Desktop on Demand (DOD) is a true networked OS. It’s a Linux based system, with a clean, clear GNOME interface. There is online storage, and a good mix of open source apps. Our little issue about using a browser to access a webOS to surf the internet in its browser has been addressed in an innovative way: launcher clients.

Yes, DOD offers clients to launch the service. Truthfully, we heard this and got a little annoyed. But trust us when we state that this is actually a freakin’ massive advantage over the old time webOS set ups. The clients are available for Windows, OS X, and Linux. They’re small, and can be installed on a flash drive. If you want to keep one on a hard drive on a given personal, it runs from the downloaded location. Very easy, very unoffensive — very personal, and very secure.

When the desktop opens, it doesn’t open in a browser. Maybe this shouldn’t sit better with us, but for some strange reason, it just does. It feels much more natural. There’s less clutter and we could forget that we were using a totally different operating system underneath it all.

Continue reading Desktop on Demand: Nice, but worth the cost?

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Filed under: Products and services, Amazon.com (AMZN), Marketing and advertising, Technology

The marketing and release of digital-only albums before a physical copy is available received another significant boost this week when the instrumental Nine Inch Nails album Ghosts I-IV brought in $1.6 million in revenue in its first week. Billboard reported the news, and indicated that the revenue comes from around 800,000 transactions, which includes free and paid downloads and pre-orders for the physical album to be released next month.

Unfortunately, sales figure to compare to “traditional” releases will not be made available to the band; similar in style to the road Radiohead took last fall when the band pioneered this style of release with seventh album In Rainbows.

Nine Inch Nails had eschewed the record label method of releasing albums after numerous problems arose with the band’s previous album Year Zero last year. Much of the strife between band leader Trent Reznor and label Interscope Records, a part of the Universal Music Group, revolved around exorbitant prices for the album in international markets. Reznor deplored the pricing in places like Australia and China where fans were expected to pay the equivalent of $30 for the CD, which sold in the United States for around a third of that price.

The new album was released via the Nine Inch Nails website and utilized the same methods Radiohead had used back in October, albeit with higher bit-rate files. Now that two prominent bands have chosen this route to distribute their new music, perhaps this trend will catch on. Additionally, since it has been released, the album has also been added to Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN)’s MP3 Store.

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Filed under: Products and services, Consumer experience, Time Warner (TWX), Marketing and advertising, Film

The Wall Street Journal reported [subscription required] this morning that Time Warner (NYSE: TWX)’s Warner Bros. Pictures plans to film the adaptation of the seventh “Harry Potter” book in two parts. The first part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be released during the holiday season of 2010 and the second part will follow six months later. A similar proposal was made for the filming of the fourth book, before enough material was cut from the book to facilitate a single film. Warner Bros. Pictures said that filming the book in two parts was “necessary to stay true to the tome.”

The five “Harry Potter” films released thus far have grossed $4.5 billion according to the Journal, and expectations are high that the sixth film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, will repeat that success when it is released later this year. Current director David Yates will stay on board for the final two installments, after directing the fifth film and the upcoming sixth film. In addition to “staying true to the tome,” WB President Jeff Robinov admitted that “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is ‘packed with vital plot points’ and that ‘the best way to do the book, and its many fans, justice is to expand the screen adaptation.’”

Clearly, part of the scheme of adding an eighth film to the series is to continue the success the films have seen, as well as the record-breaking sales that the book’s have enjoyed as well. Fans will likely welcome the decision, although not the time lag between the films, and question why similar methods were not taken for the longer fourth and fifth books. At the same time, they might also question the economics of it but the films will likely still do quite well and bring in further revenue that Warner Bros. looks toward.

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Filed under: Forecasts, Launches, Coca-Cola (KO), PepsiCo (PEP), Marketing and advertising

It is tough day for the market as traders express their concerns over a possible recession, surging crude oil prices and persistent weakness for the U.S. dollar. The tumbling dollar hit new lows against the euro and surging gold prices that reached $1000 an ounce made investors set off a major selloff. Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) is joining the general market anxiety, despite optimistic comments from its CEO.

In a statement to India’s Economic Times newspaper, Neville Isdell, the company’s Chief Executive, declared he believes that both the tumbling dollar and an expansion in emerging markets will help the company achieve global growth during this year. As key elements, Isdell cited Coca-Cola’s plans to spend more money on marketing, offer new products on the market and make some strategic acquisitions.

Isdell’s optimistic statement came despite Wednesday’s report from industry publication Beverage Digest showing that United States soft drink sales volume slipped 2.3% to 9.92 billion cases last year. The report also unveiled that the weak sales numbers came as a result of consumers’ preferences for other drinks such as bottled water and teas.

Beverage Digest cited beverage companies like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP) as being unable to gain consumers’ interest in their products. In addition, the companies increased prices for their drinks by about 5% in the past year, which wasn’t exactly a great move in the eyes of consumers.

However, Isdell believes that Coca Cola, the world’s largest soft drink maker, will be able to “achieve good global growth,” helped by improved emerging markets like India and Latin America. The company announced last month it aims to increase annual sales volume by 3% to 4% and for revenue set a target rise of 5% to 6%.

Eliza Popescu is a financial writer for the on the web investment advisory service Investor’s Observer.

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Filed under: Products and services, Wal-Mart (WMT), Marketing and advertising

Just in time for the Easter holiday, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) will be rolling back thousands of prices to lure shoppers into stores for that special event shopping visit. This time, though, it’s Wal-Mart’s Canadian stores that’ll be rolling back the prices on hundreds of store shelves at each location.

The Easter holiday falls in March this year, as well as “Spring Break” for many children (and many parents who scheduled vacations as well). As such, the mode to capitalize on a portion of this month certainly was not lost on the world’s largest retailer. So, Wal-Mart will be promptly lowering prices on over 3,500 products in its Canadian stores due to Easter being the third-largest holiday shopping day of the year.

With Easter falling on the earlierstdate than in nearly 200 years, this seems like a very special merchandising opportunity for any retailer. A fact that Wal-Mart recognizes is that two shopping dates — Easter and Spring Break — are so close to each other that it could press the wallets and purses of financially-strapped shoppers. The “price rollback” to the rescue, though. Wal-Mart’s du-jour policy of competing mainly on price won’t be taking a break this year.

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School district keeps ‘09 hike to targeted 4%
Boston Globe - The $24.8 million plan for fiscal 2009 adopted by the Regional School Committee March 5 calls for a 4 percent increase, which matches the guideline set by the finance committees of the three member towns.

‘De Villiers must pick Springbok team’
Star - Among those who have resigned are commercial manager Kyle Nel, former management committee member Cliffie Booysen, finance manager Vanessa Bell and marketing manager Khutso Mathekgana.

School budget could bring tax increases
Boston Globe - West Newbury’s finance director, Tracy Blais, described Pentucket’s proposed 3 percent increase as a “very realistic budget proposal.” Blais suggested the town seek an override to help fund its share.

Darling says markets must set FX rates
Reuters UK - No one yet knows the full extent of what’s going to happen in the United States,” Darling said, referring to the global credit crunch, which has its roots in the U.S. mortgage market and lenders’ inability to finance the loans they’ve made.

Assembly election’s finance flaws
BBC UK News - Financial flaws and inconsistencies in the way last year’s Welsh assembly election was run, have been identified by the Electoral Commission. Its report shows not all of the £4.5m spent on the election, £2 for each elector, was properly accounted

Shekel rises to 11-year high
Jerusalem Post - The Fed plan to increase liquidity adds to the positive momentum in our local markets,” said Moshe Ben-Assayag, a bond trader at Clal Finance Batucha Investment Management Ltd. in Tel Aviv.

LDK Solar Announces Near Sellout of Wafer Capacity for 2008 and 2009
Forbes - All statements other than statements of historical fact in this announcement are forward-looking statements, including but not limited to, the Company’s capability to raise additional capital to finance the Company’s activities; the effectiveness

Home Retail sees yr to Feb 09 profit forecast consensus staying at 393
CNBC - LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Home Retail Group PLC finance director Richard Ashton said he expects the consensus of analyst forecasts for benchmark pretax profit for the year to end-Feb 2009 to stay at around 393 mln stg. Speaking to reporters, he

Shinsei Sells Offices, Avoids Missing Profit Goal (Update4)
Bloomberg - March 13 (Bloomberg) — Shinsei Bank Ltd. sold its Tokyo headquarters to Morgan Stanley, keeping the Japanese bank from missing profit targets for a second straight year and removing a potential threat to the jobs of top managers. Shinsei Bank raised

No divergence between Finance Ministry, RBI on inflation
Reuters India - NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Containing inflation remains high on the government’s agenda and there’s no divergence of views between the central bank and the finance ministry on the issue, the Minister of State for Finance said on Tuesday. “Policies of the

Airport authority nominee again tests county politics
Allentown Morning Call - Finance Committee Chairman Ron Angle stated Buesing has the capability, regardless of ”petty differences in the past.” Grube was unmoved. ”Remember your [radio] program, ‘At Issue,’ where you demeaned and degraded and put everybody down, especially

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Filed under: Law, Television, Marketing and advertising, Scandals

Instruct Me To Trade — the company behind those annoying infomercials full of false promises and exaggerated claims — has attracted the scorn of the Securities & Exchange Commission, which has filed civil fraud charges against Linda Woolf and David Gengler.

The SEC charges that “In order to con victims into paying as much as $40,000 for TMTT products and services, the Commission alleges that Woolf and Gengler lied about their success with the trading system, when in truth neither Woolf nor Gengler ever purchased TMTT’s products or became successful traders.”

SEC Chairman Chris Cox chastised the promoters for preying on the “elderly, the desperate, and even the unemployed by promising financial security while instead robbing victims blind.”

The Commission alleges that, while the promoters portrayed themselves as successful traders, neither of them had ever reported a profit from trading on their tax returns.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia has also filed an indictment against the promoters.

Here’s where it gets really interesting. The Instruct Me To Trade “system” is part of the the Whitney Information Network (OTC: RUSS), which is dealing with an SEC investigation of its own. That company’s namesake and former CEO? Russ Whitney, whose rap sheet includes armed robbery.

It’s been said before but it’s worth saying again; Late-night infomercials are not the place to find the secrets to tremendous wealth, and if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

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Filed under: Marketing and advertising, Abercrombie and Fitch (ANF)

The Columbus Children’s Hospital in Ohio is under fire after accepting a $10 million donation from Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) — and concurring to christen a new building The Abercrombie & Fitch Emergency Department and Trauma Center.

Not surprisingly, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood is up in arms. In a press release, the group urged the hospital to “rescind the naming rights because of Abercrombie’s long history of using highly sexualized images to market its brand to teens and preteens and selling clothing that objectifies and demeans young people.”

They certainly have a point. Given how sexually charged Abercrombie’s advertising is, an Abercrombie children’s hospital certainly is an interesting juxtaposition.

But the truth is that Abercrombie doesn’t really harm children. This isn’t like a hospital building the Philip Morris Cancer Ward. And if this is a deal with the devil, it’s a deal that will provide $10 million for helping children.

It would be a lot worse if the hospital turned down money to help kids as a matter of principal. Abercrombie isn’t that evil.

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Filed under: Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO), Time Warner (TWX), Marketing and advertising, Media World, Technology, Israel

Israeli start-up Eyeblaster announced that it has filed a prospectus for an IPO, and though not in the filing, it is believed that it is looking to raise an amount north of $100 million. Eyeblaster operates in the field of on the web advertising, developing technologies to manage online campaigns.

This is a space that saw seen some huge acquisitions recently. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) bought aQuantive for around $6 billion, and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), bought DoubleClick for over $3 billion. Eyeblaster has some huge customers, two of them are particularly interesting. Both Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Time Warner (NYSE: TWX)’s AOL are customers as well as players in this space.

With online advertising growth rates slowing, there’s a big need to optimize marketing campaigns, and that is why we have seen consolidation in the industry. Everyone is gunning to take market share from Google and Microsoft. The planned Eyeblaster IPO will raise the stakes even higher, as it will use the money raised to continue to grow both its business and its product suite. If Eyeblaster succeeds, don’t be surprised to see an AOL or Yahoo acquisition of Eyeblaster in the near future.

Aaron Katsman is the lead Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. and Senior Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com. DISCLOSURE: Writer’s fund has no position in any stock mentioned, as of 3/12/08.

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