News

Newly Released QuickReader 2.0 Combines an iPhone eBook Reader With Proven Speed Reading Technology

QuickReader partners with Feedbooks.com to offer instant access to 6500+ free and indie published e-books directly from within the new version of the popular eBook reader

BEAVERTON, Ore., May 19 -- The top-selling speed reading application on the iPhone app store, QuickReader, has launched a new version that upgrades its market leading speed reading technology, offering a significantly enhanced eBook reader interface, and integrating with Facebook and Twitter.

With the release of the new version, QuickReader (http://www.quickreader.net/) is also announcing a partnership with Feedbooks, a pioneer in the standardization of eBook distribution. The deal gives QuickReader users instant access to 6500+ free public domain and self-published EPUB books directly from within the application.

"QuickReader 2.0 provides a unique reading experience on the iPhone and iPod Touch. We are glad that we can support this kind of diversity through our OPDS catalog and also help people improve their speed reading abilities through this unique eBook reader," said Hadrien Gardeur, Founder of Feedbooks (http://www.feedbooks.com/).

Improving your personal productivity through speed reading is an ability that can be learned over time. Using a specially developed reading guide, QuickReader teaches you how to double or even triple your  reading speed in just 10 minutes per day right on your mobile phone. The speed of the reading guide can be adjusted from 100 to 4000 words per minute, fast enough for even Superman!

QuickReader is also a state of the art conventional eBook reader, which can be custom tailored to match a user's most demanding reading habits. The app comes packaged with a great set of 50 books to get started, and provides instant access to a library of thousands of downloadable titles, all from a one click interface.  Users can also download books from other OPDS book catalogs, and very shortly will offer an exciting iPad version on the App Store.

About QuickReader:

QuickReader (http://www.quickreader.net/) is an iPhone eBook reader that combines laboratory proven speed reading technology bundled with the books and content that readers enjoy. The application is available through the iTunes App Store and is also available in a free Lite Edition, a Young Readers Edition, and French, German and Spanish versions. See screenshots at http://www.quickreader.net/screenshots and a demo video at http://www.quickreader.net/videos.

Source: QuickReader
   

CONTACT:  Media: Patrick Thompson, Inkstone Software, Inc.,
1-888-858-7969, pr@quickreader.net

Web Site:  http://www.quickreader.net/

Broadcom Accelerates WebM Video on Mobile Phones

The Broadcom® VideoCore® Mobile Multimedia Processor Enables Low Power, Hardware Accelerated WebM Playback on Mobile Devices

IRVINE, Calif., May 19 -- Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ:BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced that its VideoCore® mobile multimedia processor family now supports the recently open-sourced WebM video format. VideoCore's unique programmable hardware accelerator architecture enables high quality, low power playback of WebM video content at full resolution, supporting even the most advanced smart-feature and smartphone displays. With hardware accelerated mobile WebM support, consumers will be able to playback a broader spectrum of Internet video content on handsets at higher quality and lower power.

  Highlights/Key Facts:
  --  Audio and video encode/decode (codec) technologies continue to evolve
      toward delivering higher quality sound and video resolution at lower
      bandwidths. This evolution is particularly vital for supporting
      multimedia applications on resource-constrained mobile devices and
      networks. The WebM video format is one example of this evolution.
  --  Broadcom expects WebM to become a popular video format that will be
      deployed on a wide variety of consumer, mobile and computer devices
      for downloading and streaming content over cellular networks.
  --  More sophisticated codecs tend to require higher levels of processing,
      especially as video resolution increases. On mobile devices, software
      or DSP-based codecs suffer from increased power and resolution limits.
      Hardware-based codecs can deliver higher resolution and lower power,
      but generally require several years to appear in production handsets.
  --  The VideoCore processor utilizes a hybrid architecture with
      programmable hardware accelerators. This allows rapid support of new
      audio or video codecs, enabling hardware-based codec performance
      earlier to market, typically within 3 to 6 months of development
      start.
  --  The WebM multimedia format is currently in development and expected to
      be available to VideoCore customers in Q3 2010. Broadcom worked with
      Google during the definition phase of the VP8 video codec included in
      WebM, reviewing the architecture's suitability for mobile
      applications.
  --  The highly flexible architecture of the Broadcom® BCM2763 VideoCore IV
      processor will enable it to support WebM video up to WVGA (800 x 640)
      resolution at 30 frames per second (fps). This enables low power, full
      resolution WebM video playback on the most sophisticated smartphone
      displays. VideoCore-enabled smartphones are expected to provide up to
      8 hours of WebM playback on the handset display or up to 14 hours of
      playback on HDTVs connected via an integrated HDMI interface.
  --  The Broadcom VideoCore processor family currently supports prior
      generation Google video codecs VP6 and VP7 up to WVGA resolution at 30
      fps.
  --  The BCM2763 is Broadcom's next generation multimedia processor
      designed in 40 nanometer (nm) CMOS process to deliver industry leading
      performance and even higher integration, smaller footprint size and
      lower power consumption than competing mobile multimedia
      architectures. The BCM2763 features the most advanced mobile HD
      camcorder and video playback up to 1080p resolution, up to 20
      megapixel digital camera and photo image processing, and 1 gigapixel
      2D/3D graphics rendering for a world-class mobile gaming experience.

  Supporting Quotes:
  Mike Jazayeri, Group Product Manager, Google:

"A key factor in the web's success is that its core technologies are open and freely implementable. Video is fundamental to the web experience, and developers and content publishers need an open video format option. We are excited Broadcom is joining a broad coalition of industry leaders supporting the WebM project to bring a new era of open innovation in web video."

Mark Casey, Vice President & General Manager, Broadcom's Mobile Multimedia line of business:

"A high quality mobile multimedia experience will be an important component to the overall success of the WebM video format and we expect widespread adoption. We developed VideoCore specifically for enabling the rapid adoption of power and performance optimized multimedia codecs into mobile devices, which allows us to rapidly enable optimized WebM support to mobile consumers."

  Subscribe to RSS Feed: Broadcom Mobile Platforms Group

  Other Supporting Resources: VideoCore Product Information

  About Broadcom

Broadcom Corporation is a major technology innovator and global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications.  Broadcom products enable the delivery of voice, video, data and multimedia to and throughout the home, the office and the mobile environment.  We provide the industry's broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art system-on-a-chip and software solutions to manufacturers of computing and networking equipment, digital entertainment and broadband access products, and mobile devices.  These solutions support our core mission: Connecting everything®.

Broadcom, one of the world's largest fabless communications semiconductor companies, with 2009 revenue of $4.49 billion, holds more than 4,050 U.S. and 1,650 foreign patents, and has more than 7,900 additional pending patent applications, and one of the broadest intellectual property portfolios addressing both wired and wireless transmission of voice, video, data and multimedia.

A FORTUNE 500® company, Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., and has offices and research facilities in North America, Asia and Europe.  Broadcom may be contacted at +1.949.926.5000 or at http://www.broadcom.com.

Cautions regarding Forward Looking Statements:

All statements included or incorporated by reference in this release, other than statements or characterizations of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry and business, management's beliefs, and certain assumptions made by us, all of which are subject to change. Forward-looking statements can often be identified by words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "predicts," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "may," "will," "should," "would," "could," "potential," "continue," "ongoing," similar expressions, and variations or negatives of these words. Examples of such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the demand for low power, hardware accelerated WebM playback on mobile devices, our position in that market, and the timing of Broadcom to deliver WebM video format support in the VideoCore mobile multimedia processor family. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause our actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statement.

Important factors that may cause such a difference for Broadcom in connection with VideoCore mobile multimedia processors include, but are not limited to:

  --  the rate at which our present and future customers and end-users adopt
      Broadcom's mobile multimedia technologies for mobile applications;
  --  trends in the multimedia processor markets in various geographic
      regions, including seasonality in sales of consumer products into
      which our products are incorporated;
  --  the gain or loss of a key customer, design win or order;
  --  the volume of our product sales and pricing concessions on volume
      sales;
  --  our ability to timely and accurately predict market requirements and
      evolving industry standards and to identify opportunities in new
      markets; and
  --  competitive pressures and other factors such as the qualification,
      availability and pricing of competing products and technologies and
      the resulting effects on sales and pricing of our products.

Additional factors that may cause Broadcom's actual results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to the list that can be found at http://www.broadcom.com/press/additional_risk_factors/Q22010.php.

Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, recent Current Reports on Form 8-K, and other Securities and Exchange Commission filings discuss the foregoing risks as well as other important risk factors that could contribute to such differences or otherwise affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.  The forward-looking statements in this release speak only as of this date. We undertake no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statement, except as required by law.

Broadcom®, the pulse logo, Connecting everything®, the Connecting everything logo and VideoCore® are among the trademarks of Broadcom Corporation and/or its affiliates in the United States, certain other countries and/or the EU.  Any other trademarks or trade names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

  Trade Press                  Investor Relations
  Henry Rael                   T. Peter Andrew
  Public Relations Manager     Vice President, Corporate Communications
  949-926-5734                 949-926-5663
  hrael@broadcom.comandrewtp@broadcom.com

Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060609/BROADCOMLOGO
AP Archive:  http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Broadcom Corporation; BRCM Mobile & Wireless
   

CONTACT:  Trade Press, Henry Rael, Public Relations Manager,
+1-949-926-5734, hrael@broadcom.com, or Investor Relations, T. Peter Andrew,
Vice President, Corporate Communications, +1-949-926-5663,
andrewtp@broadcom.com, both of Broadcom Corporation; BRCM Mobile & Wireless

Web Site:  http://www.broadcom.com/

Telestream Joins Major Industry Leaders to Offer Video Transcoding Support for WebM

Telestream announces free support for WebM web media format along with Google and other industry leaders; FlipFactory, Episode and Vantage video transcoding and workflow products to include WebM/VP8

NEVADA CITY, Calif., May 19 -- Telestream, a leading provider of digital media tools and workflow solutions, today announced broad support for the WebM project along with Google and other industry leaders. The new WebM open web media format, based on the VP8 open source video codec, will be available at no additional charge in all Telestream video encoding, transcoding and workflow products, including FlipFactory, Episode and recently announced Vantage.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091009/TELESTREAMLOGO)

"A key factor in the web's success is that its core technologies are open and freely implementable. Video is fundamental to the web experience, and developers and content publishers need an open video format option," said Mike Jazayeri, Group Product Manager at Google. "We are excited Telestream is joining a broad coalition of industry leaders supporting the WebM project to bring a new era of open innovation in web video."

WebM is a flexible format that provides high-quality video across resolutions and bitrates to support a variety of viewing devices. Computational efficiency enables smooth video playback on low-power devices such as netbooks and mobile phones. WebM is optimized for the web and network video delivery, providing fast video starting and seeking within videos. VP8 is based on 10+ years of innovation in video compression by On2 Technologies. Its predecessors have been installed over two billion times, making it proven technology. Google gained access to the VP8 video codec when it acquired On2 Technologies earlier this year.

"Telestream has extensive experience optimizing and deploying On2 technologies and is uniquely positioned to bring the new WebM format to the video consumer, enterprise, media and entertainment markets," said Barbara DeHart, VP of Marketing at Telestream. "We are excited to join Mozilla, Opera, Google, YouTube, and other software and hardware manufacturers in the WebM project."

Telestream provides the broadest and deepest video and audio transcoding format support on the market today for desktop to server, Mac and Windows systems.  Telestream video compression products support more than 120 digital media formats and wrappers, including WMV9, H.264, VC-1, Flash 8, VP6, MPEG-2, and 3GPP. In addition, Telestream video transcoding and workflow products support direct integration with leading third-party systems, allowing users to create and distribute content to virtually any platform or viewing device.

Pricing and Availability

The WebM format, including the VP8 codec, is included free with all Telestream video transcoding and workflow products. WebM is available immediately in Telestream FlipFactory 7.0 software.  It will be available in Telestream's new Vantage and Episode 6 software products when they are released later this quarter.  More information is available at http://www.telestream.net/.

About Telestream

Telestream provides world-class live and on-demand digital video tools and workflow solutions that allow consumers and businesses to transform video on the desktop and across the enterprise. Many of the world's most demanding media and entertainment companies such as CBS, BBC, CNN, FOX, CBC, Comcast, Direct TV, Time Warner, MTV, Discovery, and Lifetime, as well as a growing number of users in a broad range of business environments, rely on Telestream products to streamline operations, reach broader audiences and generate more revenue from their media. These companies choose to work with Telestream as they know they will get a trusted and highly skilled technical partner.

Telestream products span the entire digital media lifecycle, including video capture and ingest; live and on-demand encoding and transcoding; playout, delivery, and live streaming; as well as management and automation of the entire workflow. The company also partners closely with the industry's leading digital media companies across the entire digital media lifecycle, from consumer to enterprise. Telestream corporate headquarters are located in Nevada City, California. The company is privately held. For more information on Telestream and its products, please visit http://www.telestream.net/.

Trademarked company and product names are the property of their respective companies.

Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091009/TELESTREAMLOGO
AP Archive:  http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Telestream
   

CONTACT:  Janet Swift of Telestream, +1-530-470-1328,
janet_swift@telestream.net

Web Site:  http://www.telestream.net/

VeriSilicon Announces Support for WebM on ZSP Digital Signal Processor Cores and SoC Platforms

Major Industry Leaders announced WebM an open web media project supporting VP8 video codec. VeriSilicon Adds WebM including VP8 to Software Portfolio Available on ZSP Cores and SoC Platforms

SANTA CLARA, Calif. and SHANGHAI, May 19 -- VeriSilicon today announced support for WebM including the VP8 video decoder on its licensable ZSP Digital Signal Processor Cores and SoC Platforms that will help its customers decode WebM content on ZSP based platforms. Optimized implementation of WebM on ZSP cores and SoC Platforms is now available for licensing from VeriSilicon.

VeriSilicon is a leading licensor of Digital Signal Processor cores and provider of custom silicon solution services. VeriSilicon's ZSP cores are widely used in various mobile and multimedia products throughout the world and are supported by a broad portfolio of optimized, field-proven software that are widely used in the voice, audio and video markets.  ZSP cores and software have been successfully deployed in Digital TVs, Set-top Boxes, Mobile handsets, VoIP terminals, data modem cards, Blu-Ray DVD players, Home Theater Boxes and a range of other products that are all shipping in volume.

"With the surge in network connected devices, there is a lot of demand for high quality video content that is easily available on the web. We recognize WebM including VP8 as becoming widely adopted", said Wayne Dai, CEO of VeriSilicon. "Our licensable ZSP cores offer unique capabilities to efficiently support multiple audio, video and voice formats thus creating popular award winning SoC products. By proactively porting and optimizing standards like WebM on our ZSP cores and SoC Platforms, we ensure faster time to market and quality products for our customers."

"A key factor in the web's success is that its core technologies are open and freely implementable. Video is fundamental to the web experience, and developers and content publishers need an open video format option," said Mike Jazayeri, Group Product Manager at Google. "We are excited VeriSilicon is joining a broad coalition of industry leaders supporting the WebM project to bring a new era of open innovation in web video."

Optimized implementation of WebM software on ZSP cores is available for licensing from VeriSilicon. The deliverables include certified WebM including VP8 library packages with API documentation and example test harness to help with integration. In addition  VeriSilicon also offers Design and Turnkey services to help customers develop quality products in record time.

About VeriSilicon

Founded in 2003, VeriSilicon Holdings Co., Ltd. ("VeriSilicon") is a fast growing IC (integrated circuit) design foundry providing custom solutions and SoC (System-on-A-chip) turnkey services.  With four R&D centers in China (Shanghai & Beijing) and US (Santa Clara & Dallas), VeriSilicon's technology solutions combine licensable digital signal processing (ZSP(R)) cores, eDRAM, value-added mixed signal IP portfolio and other star IP into a SoC platform that extends below 65nm process technology.  These platforms benefit a wide range of consumer electronics devices such as STB (set top box) and Home Gateway, MID (mobile internet device) and Cellular Phone, HDTV and Blu-ray DVD Player. VeriSilicon's design and manufacturing service provides differentiation based on specific customer requirement that ranges from initial SoC specification and application software, RTL and backend design implementation through silicon samples and volume production, utilizing multiple foundry partners, assembly and test companies in Asia and US. Having sales and customer support offices in Asia (China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan), North America (US) and Europe (France) enables VeriSilicon deliver its platforms and services to worldwide customers and at the same time support them locally.  VeriSilicon's global customer base of market leading multinationals and fabless start-up companies benefit from shorter development cycles, reduced cost of ownership, and economies of scale. For more information, please visit http://www.verisilicon.com/ .

  Press Contact:

   Bill Wang
   Corporate VP of Business Development
   Tel:   +1-408-855-8560
   Email: press@verisilicon.com

Source: VeriSilicon
   

CONTACT: Bill Wang, Corporate VP of Business Development, +1-408-855-8560,
or press@verisilicon.com

Web site: http://www.verisilicon.com/

Brightcove Announces Support for WebM Video Format for Adobe Flash & HTML5

Reduces cost and complexity of video publishing across the Web and devices

SAN FRANCISCO, May 19 -- Brightcove, the leading online video platform, today announced plans to support WebM, an open Web media project and the open sourcing of the VP8 video codec, unveiled at the Google I/O developer conference. Brightcove will provide H.264 and WebM as standard encoding options for Adobe® Flash and HTML5 video experiences to its customer base of more than 1,500 media publishers worldwide. Brightcove's support for WebM will reduce the cost and complexity of delivering high quality experiences across an increasingly diverse landscape of Web browsers, rich media platforms, operating systems, and mobile devices.

"Brightcove is committed to helping our customers cope with the complexity of consistently delivering full-featured, high quality video experiences across browsers on the desktop, mobile devices and Internet-connected TVs," said David Mendels, Brightcove president and chief operating officer. "In supporting de facto Web standards like Adobe Flash and emerging open standards like HTML5 and codecs like WebM, we're providing organizations around the world with a full range of options for operating flexible, successful online video businesses."

"A key factor in the Web's success is that its core technologies are open and freely implementable," said Sundar Pichai, vice president of Product Management at Google. "Video is fundamental to the Web experience, so developers and content publishers need an open video format option. Brightcove's commitment to bring WebM support to its online video platform makes this open, Web-optimized video format accessible to leading content publishers."

Brightcove joins other Web technology leaders, including Mozilla, Opera Software, and Adobe, in bringing support for WebM to a wide range of desktops and devices.

"Adobe is focused on enabling developers and content publishers to deliver rich online video content and applications regardless of the device, browser or platform," said Ricky Liversidge, vice president, product marketing, Flash Platform at Adobe. "Together with Brightcove, we are pleased to support the WebM project to provide consumers with seamless access to high quality video content and experiences on all of their Internet-connected devices."

Brightcove customers will be able to deliver video simultaneously in both H.264 and WebM formats to Adobe Flash and HTML5 video experiences and to native apps running on mobile, tablet and connected TV devices. In the future, Brightcove will automatically generate both H.264 and WebM renditions of all video content uploaded to the Brightcove service, enabling customers to insert a single embed code into their websites that will detect the capabilities of the device and browser environment and render the best possible experience with maximum functionality. This ensures that Brightcove customers will enjoy the broadest possible reach for their video content, including Web browsers, Apple devices, connected televisions, and other devices without incurring the cost and complexity of manually managing multiple formats and playback experiences.

Brightcove customer, The New York Times, which continues to set the standard for the media industry in leveraging new standards and formats, will be testing Google WebM in the future. The Times produces more than 100 original videos per month, featuring breaking news and analysis, as well as enterprise and investigative reporting by Times journalists around the world. The Times Company is an equity investor in Brightcove.

Brightcove's delivery system is built around Flash and has grown to support emerging standards such as H.264 and HTML5. Brightcove's support for WebM is the latest in a series of product innovations that deliver on the company's vision of empowering organizations to easily distribute high quality video across any screen. Earlier this year, Brightcove announced the Brightcove Experience for HTML5, a framework for publishing and delivering high quality, interactive and advertising-supported Web video experiences for HTML5-compatible devices and platforms, including the Apple iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.

About Brightcove

Brightcove is a cloud-based online video platform. Media companies, businesses and organizations worldwide use Brightcove to publish and distribute video on the Web. Founded in 2004, Brightcove has offices across North America, Europe and Asia and customers in 45 countries. For more information, visit http://www.brightcove.com/.

Source: Brightcove
   

CONTACT:  North America, Erika Shaffer of SutherlandGold Group,
+1-206-972-5514, erika@sutherlandgold.com, for Brightcove; or Europe, Stephen
Orr of AxiCom, +44 20 8392 4056, stephen.orr@axicom.com, for Brightcove

Web Site:  http://www.brightcove.com/

Cool Meets Cool: Everest Poker and David Guetta

LONDON, May 19, 2010--     One of the world's biggest recording artists is teaming up with one of
the world's biggest names in poker. Grammy-winning DJ/Producer David Guetta
is one of today's most influential and sought-after musicians.

    In the upcoming video for his newest hit single, Gettin' Over You, the
trendsetting Guetta, is seen congratulating his friend for winning an online
poker tournament - at Everest Poker.

    For the first time the global phenomenon of online poker is so
prominently featured in a major music video.

    Everest Poker is thrilled the Parisian born and raised Guetta features
France's original online poker room in his latest video. "This video
demonstrates that poker is truly a definitive part of today's popular
culture," says Sandrine Mangia-Park, Director of Everest Poker France. "We
love to associate the Everest Poker brand with what our players like, and our
players are huge fans of David Guetta and his music."

    Since 2004, Everest Poker has been the place to play for French poker
enthusiasts. Thousands of players can be found at the tables any time, day or
night. Everest Poker's passion for the game has made them one of the most
successful and popular places to play poker online not only in France, but
throughout Europe and the entire world.

    Gettin' Over You features American R&B artist Chris Willis, additional
vocals were provided by electro hop artists LMFAO and Fergie of the Black
Eyed Peas.

    Gettin' Over You is scheduled to premiere within the next few weeks.
Guetta's videos have each received almost 20 million views on YouTube, a
testament to his international superstar status. With millions of fans on
social media sites such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, Guetta is ranked as
one of the Top 10 most influential recording artists in the world.

   
    For more information, please contact:
    Marco Trucco
    Everest Poker Press Office
    +39-3319183737
    mtrucco@everestgaming.com

Source: Everest Poker

For more information, please contact: Marco Trucco, Everest Poker Press Office, +39-3319183737, mtrucco@everestgaming.com

Verizon Wireless Joins Forces with RecycleBank® to Make Recycling Even More Rewarding for Philadelphia Tri-State Area Households

Exclusive Partnership Offers Residents Additional Incentives to Recycle -- Residents can sign-up for free and earn reward points through RecycleBank for curbside recycling and helping the environment. -- Points can be redeemed for groceries, gift card, entertainment and other merchandise at hundreds of participating local and national merchants. -- Participating Verizon Wireless stores in PA, NJ, DE offering valuable "bonus" points to RecycleBank customers.

TREVOSE, Pa., May 19 -- Verizon Wireless, provider of  the nation's largest and most reliable 3G network, and RecycleBank, which manages the country's premier recycling-rewards and loyalty program, have teamed up to help increase the curbside recycling rate in households across the Philadelphia Tri-State region.  The partnership - a first of its kind for Verizon Wireless and RecycleBank - offers additional benefits for participating in the innovative recycling-rewards program.

RecycleBank rewards consumers for green actions such as curbside recycling, servicing more than 300 communities across the United States and in the United Kingdom. In Philadelphia, the company works closely with the city's Streets Department to encourage recycling through the Philadelphia Recycling Rewards program.

"This is the first time RecycleBank has joined forces with a wireless company to make curbside recycling more rewarding for households," said Ron Gonen, CEO and co-founder of RecycleBank. "This innovative partnership will allow us to offer additional incentives for RecycleBank members in the Philadelphia tri-state area and help us achieve our common goal of increasing recycling."

Residents who participate in the program can potentially earn hundreds of dollars of rewards points each year for recycling. The points can be redeemed through RecycleBank for groceries, gift cards, merchandise and entertainment at hundreds of participating local and national merchants. Additionally, residents have the option to donate their points to the RecycleBank Green Schools program. Through its exclusive partnership with RecycleBank, Verizon Wireless is offering additional incentives to residents in southeastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware to help increase residential recycling, including:

  --  Fifty bonus RecycleBank points for the first 10,000 consumers to sign
      up for the program;
  --  Plus, the first 500 RecycleBank members who sign a two-year contract
      for Verizon Wireless service will receive double their curbside
      recycling points for the entire two-year period.

"This initiative is yet another way we are continuing our strong track record of fostering sustainability both inside our business and in the communities we serve. It's a win-win for local economies, the environment and our customers," said Mario Turco, president of Verizon Wireless' Philadelphia Tri-State Region.  "I applaud Mayor Nutter's vision to make Philadelphia the nation's 'greenest' city by 2015 and I'm convinced that innovative programs like Philadelphia's Recycling Rewards effort, powered by RecycleBank, will be critical  to helping speed the Mayor's vision along the road to reality."

In just five years, RecycleBank's rewards-based model has proven its success. On average, city recycling volumes increase two-to-five times and members across the country earn hundreds of dollars in reward value. Additionally, every ton of recyclable material diverted away from landfills decreases landfill disposal costs for the partner cities.

For more information, visit http://www.PhillyRecyclingPAYS.com and http://www.recyclebank.com/partners/verizon.

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable and largest wireless voice and 3G data network, serving nearly 93 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with  81,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ)(NASDAQ:VZ) and Vodafone (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.

About RecycleBank®

RecycleBank® motivates people to recycle and rewards consumers for taking greener actions with points that can be redeemed from participating local and national business partners. Through collaboration and innovation, RecycleBank is helping to create a culture that encourages people to take simple steps towards greener lifestyles. With new products and services like residential recycling, product reuse, expanded e-waste recycling, responsible disposal or simply focusing on using what already exists in the world today, we believe that making greener choices shouldn't feel at all like a trade off. It should be a trade up, and so RecycleBank rewards you every step of the way.  RecycleBank currently provides service to over one million people across the U.S. and the U.K. and has been recognized with a number of business and environmental awards, including being named as a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum and as a Champion of the Earth by the United Nations Environmental Programme. RecycleBank is headquartered in New York City.  For more information, visit http://www.RecycleBank.com.

Source: Verizon Wireless
   

CONTACT:  Sheldon Jones, of Verizon Wireless, +1-215-638-5668,
sheldon.jones@verizonwireless.com, Twitter: http://twitter.com/vzwphillyprguy;
or Lori Dandelias for Verizon Wireless, +1-215-790-4383,
ldandelias@tierneyagency.com, Twitter: http://twitter.com/vzwphillymetro

Web Site:  http://www.verizonwireless.com/

Follett Higher Education Group Leads Movement to Integrate Digital Textbooks Into Campus Systems

LONG BEACH, Calif., May 19 -- A college student's textbook should be at the heart of his or her learning experience.

That is why Follett Higher Education Group, the leading college bookstore operator and a digital textbook pioneer, is leading an effort to make e-textbooks fully interoperable with learning management systems (LMS). Today at the Learning Impact 2010 conference, Follett became the first to demonstrate this interoperability by sharing professors' textbook notes through the Moodle standards-based LMS.

"Instructors can now make notes in our CafeScribe® digital textbooks and click to place the notes in a learning management system for students' immediate access," said Bryce Johnson, Follett's director of eTextbook solutions. "When students view these notes, hyperlinks bring them to the relevant spot in the eBook, automatically placing the notes in the context of the eBook and vice versa. Students will not experience this as two software environments, but instead as one learning experience."

Learning management systems are the default electronic classroom environment for higher education. Students and instructors use an LMS to share course materials, calendars, notes, links, syllabi, opinions, assignments and now, textbook content.

To affect the interoperability between notes and digital textbooks, Follett developers modified CafeScribe to support the IMS Global Learning Consortium's Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) standard. Learning management system vendors that support the standard include Blackboard Inc., Desire2Learn Inc., eCollege and Sakai Foundation. CafeScribe is the first eBook platform to support LTI.

"Traditional bound books are to classrooms as e-textbooks are to learning management systems," said Dr. Rob Abel, CEO of IMS Global Learning Consortium. "Higher education institutions need to integrate these resources to create a seamless educational experience for students. Through CafeScribe, Follett is helping us realize this vision."

About CafeScribe

The CafeScribe eBook platform is an e-textbook and social networking platform for students and educators. The platform is the latest addition to Follett's broad portfolio of course material options for students, available online and at more than 850 college bookstores operated by Follett in the United States and Canada. For more information, visit http://www.cafescribe.com.

About Follett Higher Education Group

Follett Higher Education Group of Oak Brook, Illinois, is the leading provider of bookstore services and the foremost supplier of used books in North America. Follett services five million students and over 400,000 faculty members through more than 850 stores. Follett also services more than 1,600 independent campus stores with its wholesale services, and has the most visited ecommerce collegiate website, efollett.com, that provides services and products through a network of more than 900 campus stores.

About Follett

Follett Corporation is a $2.7 billion, privately held company that provides products, services and solutions to the educational marketplace.

Source: Follett Higher Education Group
   

CONTACT:  Isabella Hinds, Follett Higher Education Group,
+1-617-232-4320, ihinds@fheg.follett.com, or  Darby Johnson, Beaupre & Co.
Public Relations, +1-603-559-5809, djohnson@beaupre.com

Web Site:  http://www.follett.com/

Paper or Plastic? Technology Fuels Gift Card Popularity and Access as an Alternative to Cash Incentives and Gifts

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., May 19 -- Gift cards have dramatically evolved over the last decade, along with the technology that supports them. Once viewed strictly as a last-minute gift for hard-to-shop-for friends and family, gift cards are now a common currency in just about everyone's billfold or purse. According to the National Retail Federation, consumers spent $25 billion on gift cards in the 2009 holiday season.

(Logo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100412/CG84702LOGO)

Today, an increasing portion of gift card sales is for corporate use, as employee incentives, promotions, and rebates. As a prepaid card pioneer, iCARD Systems continues to innovate to meet this growing demand for plastic and electronic gift cards.

The scale and complexity of corporate orders belies the simplicity of the rectangular piece of plastic that ends up in people's wallets and purses. A diverse array of technology is required to service such orders. The mere logistics of ordering, personalizing, activating, packaging, and delivering a single 10,000 card corporate order are daunting enough. But before shipping off the order, consider the technology involved to accept payment, and comply with anti-money-laundering measures and the Patriot Act. Without technology and years of experience, this single order might take weeks to get out the door!

iCARD Gift Card, a Florida company and affiliate of iCARD Systems delivers individual prepaid cards and gift cards to thousands of individual locations each and every week of the year. Fortunately, some entrepreneurial smarts, Web technology and good, old-fashioned know-how make the process highly efficient and error-free. iCARD provides prepaid Visa cards, an emailable Super Gift Card, and bulk merchant giftcards.

"The real trick in our business is to offer choice," said Jeff Ehney, iCARD's founder. "For example, we have an emailable gift card, a Super Gift Card, that allows the recipient to use the value to select the merchant gift cards that they want.  That way," he says, "an employer doesn't have to give every employee the same restaurant or merchant card. People are different. We all like different things. Likewise," he says, "our corporate customers all have unique programs that have specific goals, restrictions and requirements. Fortunately, prepaid Visa cards, an emailable Super Gift Card, and bulk merchant giftcards can each be modified to meet a client's specifications for their program."

An example of how iCARD uses technology to support the growth and diversity of gift cards can be seen in its emailable Super Gift Card product. iCARD uses some patent-pending technology for distribution of a unique value code, along with a customizable, e-greeting-type card that is delivered via email. Alternatively, it can be printed for hand-delivery. Either way, the code is redeemed at a redemption Web site, http://www.icardgiftcard.com, where the recipient selects gift cards from nearly 170+ different popular merchants and restaurants. Macy's, Kohl's, iTunes and Starbucks are among the more popular merchants. Restaurants vary from national chains like TGIFriday's to more regionally popular choices like Longbranch Steakhouse.

iCARD's vaults are stocked with a healthy inventory of merchant gift cards to ensure timely fulfillment. Without iCARD's inventory management and accounting software, and strict cashflow management, this business would not be possible.

iCARD services both business and individuals. "Busy moms love us, because our iCARD Gift Card is perfect for last-minute gifting," said Strautman. "Oftentimes, they'll use our system to schedule delivery of their gift card ahead of time. That way, several orders can be placed at one time, ensuring that you won't miss an important birthday, anniversary, graduation or something else. It almost works like your personal assistant." iCARD provides template designs for nearly any occasion.

Meanwhile, on the corporate side of the business, iCARD provides easy online ordering to support programs as diverse as clinical trials compliance payments, health savings accounts, tire rebate programs, and payroll applications.

"iCARD was one of the first companies to provide prepaid Visa Gift Cards," Ehney said. "We made it easy for people to customize the embossing and put a special message on letter that goes with the card. We also made it easy for companies to order hundreds or thousands of cards at one time and deliver them in bulk or to individual addresses."

"iCARD's pioneering efforts in the industry are to be commended," said Strautman. "Back in 1998, Visa Gift Cards didn't exist. Now we supply Visa gift cards, merchant gift cards, restaurant gift cards and emailable gift cards."

In fact, the companies latest offering allows a company to provide an entirely GREEN employee incentive, consumer promotion or product rebate. The reward is delivered via email and it is redeemed online for merchant gift codes that are good for online shopping. No plastic, no stamps, no waiting, and no mail trucks!

The technology required to support fulfillment, and service of all those gift cards is pretty amazing. iCARD's innovative ordering system is just the beginning. Consider what it takes to provide customer service for all those cards! "When customers contact us via phone or email, our systems must enable us to look up their order, see what it was charged to, see where it was shipped, see if the cards were activated, and see if the cards have been used," said Strautman. "That requires backend coordination of multiple databases and adept employees who are eager to please our customers."

To consumers, it may just be a valuable piece of plastic in their wallet or purse. Its simplicity of character and use belies the fact that it is a highly sophisticated form of currency, with an incredible amount of technology behind it.

About iCARD Systems

Founded in 1998, iCARD is a pioneer in the development of network-branded prepaid cards and was one of the first to offer Visa Gift Cards. Today, iCARD is a leading provider of all manner of gift cards for corporate incentives, promotions and rebates. Additionally, iCARD is a dominant player in digital gift card delivery. Its emailable, Super Gift Card gives recipients access to more than 170 top merchant brands. iCARD is an Independent Sales Organization for the Bancorp Bank and is a Hallmark Cards licensee. Its channel partners include American Greetings and AOL. iCARD has serviced more than 1,500 corporate clients and more than a million cardholders. Learn more at http://www.icardsystems.com/ or order a gift card at http://www.icardgiftcard.com/.

Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100412/CG84702LOGO
AP Archive:  http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: iCARD Systems
   

CONTACT:  Eric Strautman, Marketing & Communications of iCARD Systems,
Office, +1-636-489-4698, ext. 2007, eric.strautman@icardsystems.com

Web Site:  http://www.icardsystems.com/
http://www.icardgiftcard.com/

Video Chat API Transforms Your Multi-User Activities Through 6rounds in Less Than 15 Minutes

6rounds social entertainment platform launches their API at Google I/O 2010, enabling developers across the web multi-user functionality, while incorporating video chatting capabilities

TEL AVIV, Israel, May 19 -- Today, 6rounds announced the launch of its developers API at Google I/O 2010. The API is designed to offer a powerful tool for developers of multi-user games and social activities as well as to further enrich their video chat experience with exciting new capabilities.

6rounds social entertainment platform challenges traditional video chatting methods by creating a beautifully designed, simple to use and user friendly platform, that offers people a real place to meet, video chat, collaborate, feel close to one another and have fun together. The platform is available to use on http://www.6rounds.com and through their video chat Google Wave extension as well as their Facebook application (to be launched soon).

Developers are invited to create real-time multi-user rich activities through 6rounds API. They can incorporate their activities with video streaming and text chatting, sync users' events and mouse movements, customize the user backgrounds and webcam effects, as well as use visual gifts to enhance the video chat experience. These features create a breathtaking experience for users and prolong their interaction within the platform.

In less than 15 minutes, developers can simply and easily integrate their existing activities and games into 6rounds video chat experience, or create new inspiring apps, both of which can leverage the ability to use gifts, effects and skins. Furthermore, the developers will soon have the opportunity to embed their activities in a stand-alone widget, anywhere across the web, which will allow fast distribution and mass market penetration.

The first few submitted applications will get the chance to be a default application in the video experience that will be spread throughout the cross platform environment through leading social networks and other future partnerships. Furthermore, the 6rounds studio will contain an app store, with free and premium apps, which will allow revenue sharing opportunities as well an affiliation program for developers.

6rounds is a flash-based cross-platform environment that uses P2P technology in its video chat experience.

"As developers ourselves, our focus was to create something that will speed up the development process and concentrate on game functionality instead of platform boundaries," says Gadi Srebnik, VP Product of 6rounds. "Typical social activities are focused primarily on an asynchronous experience. 6rounds finally changes this," states Co-Founder and COO, Ilan Leibovich.

To read more about the 6rounds API launch, you can view their developers' page.

  Contact Details:
  Natasha Shine
  Marketing Manager
  M: +972 54 802 9810
  T: +972 3 6878752
  E: Natasha@gixoo.com

Source: 6rounds
   

CONTACT:  Natasha Shine, Marketing Manager for 6rounds, M:
+972-54-802-9810, or T: +972-3-6878752, Natasha@gixoo.com

Web Site:  http://www.6rounds.com/

The Virtual World Web (VWW) Network Reaches 25,000 Independently Developed Virtual Worlds

Webmasters Become 'Worldmasters' in Internet's Next Generation

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 19 -- Virtual world developer Utherverse Digital Inc. today announced that the 25,000th virtual world was created in the Virtual World Web (VWW), a vast network of independently developed, interconnected virtual worlds that form the "Internet in 3D."

As a prime example of what some are calling "the next generation of the Internet," the Virtual World Web is a network of virtual worlds built using Utherverse's free software that function as interactive webpages and add an extra dimension of engagement for the visitor. With the VWW, webmasters become "worldmasters"--complete with their own URLs--leveraging tools provided by Utherverse to easily and inexpensively construct their own fully branded virtual world.

Launched in September 2009, the VWW saw nearly 1,500 new virtual worlds created in its first day alone. Since then, the network has posted a 25 percent monthly growth rate, logging around 50 new virtual worlds per day in its first months and rising to 150 per day in March. Riding only grassroots momentum, the VWW is now adding about 200 new worlds per day, numbers are expected to reach 250 per day before June and 5.7 million users have already registered accounts to surf the new 3D web. "These numbers represent an exponential growth curve that mimics what happened with web sites at the dawn of the Internet," said Brian Shuster, Utherverse founder and CEO.

Shuster says the new appeal is linked to the ease with which virtual worlds are now created and a much lower cost of production. "In the past, it would cost you millions of dollars and anywhere from six months to two years to build your own virtual world. What the Virtual World Web does is hand people the tools and resources that make building their own fully-branded virtual world simple and inexpensive. It's easier than building a website--and essentially as easy as assembling Lego bricks."

For instance, the recent collapse of There.com, a popular virtual world, left many users without a virtual home. To accommodate roaming There-ians, the Utherverse team put together a replica of There.com--a four-year, $15-20 million project--in a span of two work days.

Comparing the last generation of virtual worlds to "downloading a new browser every time you wanted to visit a new website," Shuster says that the VWW is a "universal 3D web-browser that allows you to move from one world to another with a simple click of the mouse." Users have the capability to search the network (just like with the 'flat' web). Anything developers can imagine with a 2D website can be applied and amplified in the VWW.

Real-Time Feedback and Realistic Audience Engagement

While virtual worlds have developed into major centers of e-commerce, the VWW was developed with the belief that a significant portion of virtual world potential lies as yet untapped. In fact, Computerworld recently reported that Sean Koehl, a "technology guru at Intel Corp.," predicts the 3D web could overtake the flat web in as little as 5-10 years.

"Corporate events, book promotions, conventions, conferences, flea markets, live concerts, movie premiers--the list of applications that are driving the speedy development of virtual worlds goes on and on," added Shuster. "The community feeling, the extra dimension of engagement and the ability to interact realistically and gain real-time feedback are all strong pulls for the 3D web."

  For more information on the Virtual World Web, visit http://www.TheVWW.com

  About Utherverse.com

Utherverse is the Internet's most sophisticated and advanced 3D virtual reality universe. The company was formed in 2002 to create a virtual-world web of massive multiplayer online communities. Specifically designed to appeal to the 21-49 year-old demographic market, the site offers users virtual nightclubs, hotels, movie theaters, stores, and community events.

Among Utherverse's offerings are the Virtual World Web -TheVWW.com - which provides simple software that enables anyone to create their own Virtual World, and Virtual-Vancouver.com, a music-focused online community.

For more information, please see http://www.utherverse.com/.

Source: Utherverse.com
   

CONTACT:  Lauren Kaminski of SS|PR, +1-847-415-9317, lkaminski@sspr.com,
for Utherverse.com

Web Site:  http://www.utherverse.com/

ViVOtech Wins 2 Major Awards for Its Role in Enabling the Biggest NFC Mobile Payment Pilot to Date for Citi in India

ViVOtech Awarded the Smart Card Alliance OSCA Awards for Best Payments Innovation Technology and the Contactless Intelligence 'Monkey' Awards for Competitive Advantage through Technology

SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 19 -- Silicon Valley-based ViVOtech, the leader in Near Field Communication (NFC) mobile payments, loyalty and marketing applications and contactless NFC readers, announced today it is the recipient of two major awards for its role as the NFC software solution provider for the Citi Tap and Pay mobile payment pilot in India. ViVOtech was selected as the winner of the Smart Card Alliance "Outstanding Smart Card Achievement" (OSCA) Award for Innovation in Payments Technology and the Contactless Intelligence "Monkey" Awards for Competitive Advantage through Technology. Citi Tap and Pay was the world's largest and most comprehensive next-generation contactless credit card payments pilot ever undertaken based on NFC technology. ViVOtech provided the underlying technology including the NFC wallet, the Over-the-Air (OTA) card provisioning software, the smart posters and the mobile coupon application in addition to the contactless readers that participating merchants used to accept payments.

"ViVOtech is very excited with the recognition we are receiving for our role in enabling the Citi Tap and Pay pilot as the NFC software solution provider," said Michael Mullagh, CEO of ViVOtech. "ViVOtech's mobile software solution is designed to be easily rolled out to a large base of consumers, and it was proven through delivering over 3,000 users a seamless mobile payment and promotion experience."

ViVOtech provided a complete NFC mobile payment and coupon solution, including the following software, hardware, and services components:

  --  Citi Wallet Software distributed with Nokia 6212 NFC mobile phone
  --  OTA & Trusted Service Management Software (Control Server) installed
      at Vodafone, the participating Mobile Network Operator
  --  OTA card provisioning software (Issuer Server) installed at the Citi
      India data centre
  --  Mobile promotion coupon and smart poster management software
  --  Smart posters with ViVOtag technology installed in various shopping
      areas
  --  NFC contactless readers installed at merchant locations
  --  Local support during the trial period

The mobile payment infrastructure deployed with ViVOtech technology allowed pilot participants to purchase NFC-capable Nokia N 6212 classic phones at designated Nokia stores, pre-loaded with Citi Tap and Pay wallet application enabled with MasterCard's PayPass(TM) contactless payment technology. Participants were then able to securely and easily execute an OTA download of their Citibank MasterCard credit card onto their mobile phones. Participants also enjoyed promotional offers by tapping their NFC phones on smart posters, and received coupons in seconds. Post-purchase, participants used their phones to make Tap and Pay transactions at locations displaying the Citi Tap and Pay and MasterCard PayPass(TM) acceptance marks.

With over 3,000 participants the Citi Tap and Pay pilot was a major success. Edgar Dunn & Company in an independent report published in early march said that the "The Tap and Pay mobile proximity payments pilot project in Bengaluru, represented a watershed event in the recent intensive history of Mobile Financial Services." The report went on to say  "It was the largest pilot programme of its kind to date. It identified positive consumer demand, reliability of available technology, and growth in purchase volumes. It demonstrated that with confirmed commitment and investment from industry stakeholders, mobile NFC proximity payments have the potential to generate growth in payments, create value for stakeholders, and help convert cash transactions to electronic payments."

To download the full report on Citi Tap and Pay pilot from Edgar Dunn & Company, go to:

http://www.edgardunn.com/pointsofview/whitepaper.cfm.

About the Smart Card Alliance (http://www.smartcardalliance.org/pages/activities-osca-awards)

The Smart Card Alliance is a not-for-profit, multi-industry association working to stimulate the understanding, adoption, use and widespread application of smart card technology. The Alliance invests heavily in education on the appropriate uses of technology for identification, payment and other applications and strongly advocates the use of smart card technology in a way that protects privacy and enhances data security and integrity. Through specific projects such as education programs, market research, advocacy, industry relations and open forums, the Alliance keeps its members connected to industry leaders and innovative thought. The Alliance is the single industry voice for smart card technology, leading industry discussion on the impact and value of smart cards in the U.S. and Latin America.

About the Contactless Intelligence Monkey Awards (http://c-i.tv/index.php?id=394)

The Monkey Awards are presented to those companies, organizations and retailers who have done the most to embrace and implement contactless technology into their day-to-day operating practices. These awards represent a real promotional springboard and give the winners a reputation and credibility for their efforts within the industry. The competition is open to all implemented contactless applications within the relevant sectors, regardless of geographic region or size of corporation. Selected by a panel of experts, the Awards will be presented to the Winners at a prestigious evening ceremony organized in London during the Contactless Intelligence Spring Conference (29th April 2010).

About ViVOtech

ViVOtech (http://www.vivotech.com) is the leading end-to-end enabler of next-generation mobile payments, loyalty and marketing solutions. ViVOtech provides mobile payment solutions, mobile marketing and loyalty applications software for existing as well as Near Field Communication (NFC) enabled mobile handsets, Over-The-Air (OTA) provisioning infrastructure software, NFC smart posters and contactless terminals. ViVOtech's products are used by most prominent retailers all over the globe; the company has shipped over 660,000 contactless and NFC payment terminals to more than 35 countries. In 2009, ViVOtech received the prestigious Frost and Sullivan North American Smart Cards Product Line Strategy of the Year Award. In 2010, ViVOtech won 2010 Mobility Award for its NFC mobile ViVOwallet software. ViVOtech's investors include Citi, First Data Corporation, Motorola Ventures, NCR and Nokia Growth Partners.

Source: ViVOtech
   

CONTACT:  Kristin Miller of SS|PR, +1-719-634-8292, kmiller@sspr.com, for
ViVOtech

Web Site:  http://www.smartcardalliance.org/
http://www.vivotech.com/

Sigma Systems Scores First TM Forum Order Management API Certification

Latest OSS/J Management Standard Provides First Common Interface for Order Management Functionality for Next-generation Operators

NICE, France, May 19 -- Sigma Systems, an industry leader in Advanced IP Service Fulfillment solutions, today announced at Management World 2010 that its Service Management Platform has received the industry's first TM Forum certification for Order Management API and Web Services-certified next-generation OSS (NGOSS) framework. The certification establishes Sigma Systems as the first OSS provider to fully interoperate with other certified BSS and CRM vendors.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090302/PH77214LOGO )

The OSS/J order management API - called Information Framework JSR-264 - is the only open standards-based API interface available for order management solution providers. This new TM Forum API eases interoperability among back-office and CRM vendors, resulting in speedier service rollouts, improved operational efficiencies and reductions in deployment costs by as much as 30 percent.

"We commend the TMF for helping to define a standards-based API that provides consistent, yet flexible, abstraction between the OSS/BSS layers," said Brian Cappellani, CTO and vice president of Engineering for Sigma Systems. "Information Framework JSR-264 will remove a major bottleneck that slows the introduction of new services: interoperability among back-office solutions. By being the first IP service fulfillment provider to achieve this certification, Sigma Systems uniquely gives operators worldwide the choice to deploy a best-of-breed order management solution for multi-play bundles and next-gen services."

Sigma Systems' portfolio of service fulfillment solutions for telecom and cable operators also enables the provisioning, activation and management of integrated IP-based services, including digital TV/IPTV, residential and business VoIP, broadband and mobile offerings. Core to Sigma Systems' end-to-end service fulfillment solutions is its award-winning and SOA-based Service Management Platform. Sigma Systems' SMP allows next-generation operators to move services out of silo-based environments and onto a single service platform, enabling them to deploy new services quickly, create service bundles and identify up-sell opportunities.

The TM Forum develops widely-adopted management standards for OSS/BSS vendors and communications service providers and delivers worldwide awareness and training events. The forum provides practical solutions, guidance and leadership to transform the way next generation service providers and network operators create, deliver and charge for digital services.

For more information regarding TM Forum Information Framework JSR-264 please see: http://www.tmforum.org/ossj/downloads/jsr264.

About TM Forum:

With more than 700 corporate members in 195 countries, TM Forum is the world's leading industry association focused on enabling best-in-class IT for service providers in the communications, media and cloud service markets. The Forum provides business-critical industry standards and expertise to enable the creation, delivery and monetization of digital services.

TM Forum brings together the world's largest communications, technology and media companies, providing an innovative, industry-leading approach to collaborative R&D, along with a wide range of support services including benchmarking, training and certification. The Forum produces the renowned international Management World conference series, as well as thought-leading industry research and publications.

About Sigma Systems

Sigma Systems is the proven global leader in delivering advanced IP service fulfillment solutions. Sigma Systems' powerful solutions enable the world's Next-Generation Operators (NGOs) to Deliver a Rich Consumer Experience through communications and entertainment services -- over any access technology to any device. The company's award-winning solutions include order management, provisioning and activation, and active mediation of residential and business VoIP, broadband, video, and triple-play and quad-play services. NGOs around the globe -- including Bell Aliant, Cox, Rogers, TELUS, YouSee and ZON Multimedia -- trust Sigma Systems for service transformation and innovative solutions with market-leading expertise for the delivery of today's -- and tomorrow's -- new services. For more information about Sigma Systems, visit http://www.sigma-systems.com/. Follow Sigma Systems on Twitter: http://twitter.com/SigmaSystems.

Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090302/PH77214LOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Sigma Systems
   

CONTACT:  Francis Hopkins, +1-240-752-7056,
Francis.hopkins@sigma-systems.com; or Neila Matheny, Engage PR, for Sigma
Systems, +1-510-748-8200 ext. 215, nmatheny@engagepr.com

Web Site:  http://sigma-systems.com/

Verizon Expands Availability of FiOS TV's Mobile Apps, Which Now Surpass 250,000 Downloads

Customers Can Control and Enhance Their FiOS TV Experience From More Than 50 Mobile Devices

NEW YORK, May 19 -- Verizon continues to rapidly enhance the FiOS experience inside and outside the fiber-optic-powered digital home, expanding access to two of FiOS TV's growing suite of mobile applications -- Mobile Remote and Remote DVR Manager -- and adding new features to Mobile Remote.  Both applications feature advanced capabilities that are available only from Verizon.

Effective immediately, the FiOS TV Mobile Remote app can be downloaded to additional smartphones (the DROID ERIS by HTC, DROID Incredible by HTC, HTC Touch Pro2 from Verizon Wireless and the HTC Google Nexus One); and the Remote DVR Manager app now operates on more than 50 mobile devices.  Both applications are available for download at no additional cost.

User response to Verizon's suite of applications is consistently favorable, with the applications receiving average user ratings of four stars or higher (through May 2010) in every application store where the suite is available: the Verizon Wireless Media Store, the Android Market, Apple's App Store and BlackBerry App World.  After just one year in the market, both Remote DVR Manager and Mobile Remote have been downloaded more than 250,000 times.

"Verizon continues to add innovations to - and personalize -- the TV experience, bringing mobile applications across more than 50 devices within the last year," said Eric Bruno, vice president of product management for Verizon.  "As we continue to enhance our suite of mobile applications, we are addressing the needs of our customers, offering more choice and flexibility."

Mobile Remote, which is now available on devices running Android's latest (v.2.1) software, lets FiOS TV high-definition subscribers use their mobile phones as a television remote control, dynamically changing the TV experience. The application automatically personalizes options based on the specific smartphone connected to the set-top box, enabling customized favorites and other preferences.

In addition, customers can use their mobile devices to flick stored photos from the mobile device to the TV, and Mobile Remote has virtually the same functionality as the standard FiOS TV remote.

Verizon is also enhancing its mobile remote interface on smartphones, with two new features that offer immediate access to FiOS TV Video on Demand (VOD) and the ability to return to live FiOS TV programming.  Subscribers can now click on the VOD button and browse, search or purchase on-demand titles; or click on the FiOS TV button and jump to live TV when watching recorded programs or respond to interactive prompts.

In addition to enhancing and expanding Mobile Remote, Verizon is also expanding its popular remote DVR management application, now available on more than 50 devices including most Verizon Wireless BlackBerry devices and Apple's iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.  Customers can review, change or add recording requests; record an entire series; delete recorded programs; browse and search TV and VOD listings; set parental controls; check their DVR recorder status and more -- all through their mobile device, anytime, anywhere.

(For screen shots of the Mobile Remote application, visit http://verizon.mediaseed.tv/Story.aspx?story7391.)

Verizon offers these applications across multiple carriers and mobile platforms.  To see if an application is available on a particular mobile device, consumers can go to the mobile application store on the device and search "FiOS."  Once set up, FiOS Mobile Remote offers features including My Photos, My Favorites, Tele-TV Mute and My Remote.

FiOS provides next-generation interactive services including an advanced interactive media guide; social-networking, news and entertainment widgets; Internet videos on TV; streaming of personal videos, photos and music from home computers to the TV; and many  others.

For more information on FiOS TV, consumers can visit http://www.verizon.com/fiostv or call their local Verizon sales office or 888-438-3467.  For the latest news, updates and information about FiOS TV, visit http://www.verizon.com/newscenter and http://www.verizon.com/athomeblog.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)(NASDAQ:VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers.  Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving nearly 93 million customers nationwide.  Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers innovative, seamless business solutions to customers around the world.  A Dow 30 company, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of more than 217,000 and last year generated consolidated revenues of more than $107 billion.  For more information, visit http://www.verizon.com.

VERIZON'S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: Verizon news releases, executive speeches and biographies, media contacts, high-quality video and images, and other information are available at Verizon's News Center on the World Wide Web at http://www.verizon.com/news.  To receive news releases by e-mail, visit the News Center and register for customized automatic delivery of Verizon news releases.

Source: Verizon
   

CONTACT:  Deidre Mulcahy Hart, +1-908-559-3483,
deidre.m.hart@verizon.com, or Heather Wilner, +1-908-559-6407,
heather.b.wilner@verizon.com

Web Site:  http://www.verizon.com/

Company News On-Call:  http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/094251.html

CampaignTrac, LLC Announces Launch of New Do-It-Yourself Web Design for Municipal, County and Local Candidates

CANTON, Ohio, May 19 -- CampaignTrac, LLC announced the launch of their new web site design package (http://www.campaigntrac.com) aimed exclusively at municipal, county and local political candidates who don't have the budget to hire expensive web design firms.

CampaignTrac provides candidates and office holders with the ability to quickly and easily create and update their campaign website with personalized messages and graphics, brand their home page to make it their own, build and manage email lists of supporters, and seamlessly accept donations from their supporters.

"CampaignTrac eliminates the 'scariness' of managing and updating your campaign website," said CampaignTrac, LLC VP Raymond Sheerer. "If you can cut, paste, point and click, you now have the ability to be in complete control of your site. It allows a candidate to communicate with their supporters and constituents in a minute-by-minute manner, accept and process donations, build and manage email lists, all right from your laptop."

CampaignTrac developed this breakthrough technology by collaborating with current countywide office holders who did not have the budget to hire an expensive web design firm to manage their site, but wanted to have the access, flexibility and "bells and whistles" that national and congressional candidates have.

"That's really what sets CampaignTrac apart," says Mr. Sheerer. "We listened to what the local and municipal candidates wanted in a web design tool and developed our product to satisfy every possible need of those candidates who simply don't have the budget or IT staff to deal with the huge web design firms. And the best part is that our 24 hour turnaround time gives our new clients a first-class web presence in less than a day."

CampaignTrac, LLC also places top priority on customer service, with a support staff on hand to handle all clients' questions and recommend best practices to increase traffic to their site. They've also incorporated social networking applications into their platform to allow their clients the benefit of spreading their message through Facebook and Twitter.

"When creating CampaignTrac we knew without a doubt that a key component to the future of campaign fundraising lies in social networking...so we asked ourselves, 'Why should that only be for the national and Congressional candidates?' and incorporated the power of social networking into our product."

  Contact: Raymond Sheerer, VP
  CampaignTrac, LLC
  Phone: (330) 353-TRAC (8722)
  Email: rsheerer@campaigntrac.com

Source: CampaignTrac, LLC
   

CONTACT:  Raymond Sheerer, VP, CampaignTrac, LLC, +1-330-353-TRAC (8722),
rsheerer@campaigntrac.com

Web Site:  http://www.campaigntrac.com/

Centrifuge Systems & Saffron Technology Announce Partnership to Deliver Visually Interactive Streaming Data Analytics Solution

'Visual Experience Management' Makes Big Data 'Pop' With Meaning

MCLEAN, Va. and CARY, N.C., May 19 -- Centrifuge Systems, Inc., a leading provider of next-generation Business Intelligence (BI) software, and Saffron Technology, Inc., a data analytics software firm providing associative-memory-based Experience Management solutions, today jointly announced they are partnering to deliver a graphical, highly interactive streaming data analytics and Business Intelligence solution for enterprises worldwide.  Both Saffron and Centrifuge were recently recognized as "Cool Vendors" by a leading analyst firm.

The integrated solution combines Saffron Natural Intelligence Platform Version 8.0 (Saffron 8) and Centrifuge 2.0.  The offering gives customers in business and government the ability to apply associative memory to analytics and business intelligence -- both via Saffron's sense-making and decision support capabilities, and Centrifuge's powerful visualization solutions.

The Companies are calling their combined solution "Visual Experience Management."  What is unique and most significant is that the system gains Experience in real time -- it learns from memory and can remember and visually present everything -- because of the nature of visual associative memory technology.

The cloud-ready solution, available now, has broad applicability to public and commercial enterprises across industry sectors.  Potential uses of the combined solution include: corporate, national and cyber security, fraud detection, financial data analysis, geospatial data management, customer relationship management, intelligence analysis, legal and litigation matters, B2B and consumer marketing, and supply and demand chain management.

"Visual Experience Management"

Overlaying Saffron with Centrifuge delivers rich, interactive visualization features such as bubble charts, relationship graphs, heat maps and time lines that give clarity and meaning to the memories stored in Saffron.  By transforming data into memories, memories into Experience, and Experience into graphical images, what results is a highly interactive form of Business Intelligence.

With Visual Experience Management from Saffron + Centrifuge, users can quickly connect to and integrate data from widely disparate sources into consolidated visualizations.  Data from public or private sources, enterprise or departmental data, geospatial or sensor data, indeed data across the entire Internet -- including the Deep Web -- can be ingested into Saffron, and graphically depicted by Centrifuge.  Users can find connections, similarities, groupings and patterns in their data, and see non-obvious relationships and anomalies in large data sets at record level detail.

The Saffron Natural Intelligence Platform

Built on associative memory technology, Saffron is the new framework for Experience Management, the business intelligence of the future. Semantically connected, statistically rich with frequencies, free of traditionally bounded models of statistics and rules, and powered by service-oriented technology architecture, Saffron continuously identifies patterns and situations -- "Experience" -- in data.  As new data arrives, new memories are formed.  Saffron learns incrementally about connections and frequencies among people, places, things and events. The result is a multi-dimensional, non-parametric, massively scalable connection engine capable of helping companies achieve new breakthroughs in real-time consumer personalization, business intelligence and national security.

Centrifuge Interactive Analysis

Centrifuge provides freeform data exploration using charts, time lines, maps, relationship graphs (link analysis) and geospatial visualizations.  The link analysis technology allows analysts to show important relationships between data such as people, places, events and other attributes. By enabling users to connect, explore and visually share what's in their data, Centrifuge delivers timely, accurate and relevant visualizations that enhance collaboration, performance and results.  The Centrifuge approach to Interactive Analysis brings together three important capabilities needed when performing data discovery: interactive data visualization, unified data views and collaborative analysis.

"Businesses today need effective ways to reveal non-obvious insights quickly. Users want products to be easy to use and implemented in days rather than months. We believe the unique Saffron + Centrifuge approach to Visual Experience Management is well-aligned with this growing need and has been proven in the most demanding applications in the world," said Guljit Khurana, president and CEO, Centrifuge Systems.

"Traditional, rules-based or statistically oriented BI and data analytics solutions are falling way short in the face of today's rapidly increasing data management challenges.  By combining our respective solutions, Centrifuge + Saffron are delivering a new and powerful way to capture, present, manage and apply what's really in the data and use it for non-stop sense making and adaptive decision support," said Manny Aparicio, founder and CEO, Saffron Technology.

Availability

The Saffron + Centrifuge Visual Experience Management solution is available now via SaffronSierra, a global developer platform.  For access and pricing information, and co-development and education opportunities, contact either company.

About Saffron Technology

Saffron helps business and IT leaders use the collective Experience hidden in their data to better understand business scenarios, determine best possible courses of action, and make higher value decisions about critical business issues.  Our customers are innovators in academia, corporations and government. They are engaged in high-stakes research, financial services, risk management, supply chain operations, national security, health care, social media & marketing, and more.  SaffronSierra is a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) for developers creating new applications with the Saffron Natural Intelligence Platform, including SaffronMemoryBase(TM).  To learn more, visit http://www.saffrontech.com.

  Saffron Technology.
  The World of Experience.(TM)

About Centrifuge:  Centrifuge Systems (http://www.centrifugesystems.com) is a leading provider of next-generation business intelligence software that helps organizations discover insights, patterns and relationships hidden in their data. The unique Centrifuge approach to data visualization is called "Interactive Analytics" and brings together three innovations in analysis: Interactive Data Visualization, Unified Data Views and Collaborative Analysis. With Centrifuge, users ask open-ended questions of their data by interacting with visual representations of the data directly. Traditional business intelligence solutions require users to define what they want to see in advance and present the results in static dashboards. With Centrifuge, users determine what is of interest "on the fly," then manipulate the displays directly in a highly interactive fashion. The experience is refreshingly easy-to-use and the resulting insights can be extraordinary. Data integration has never been more flexible in allowing users to join disparate data sources without any complex programming or wait times.

Centrifuge is used in some of the most demanding applications in the world, including counter-terrorism, homeland defense, cyber security and financial crimes analysis. Commercial applications of this technology include fraud analysis, cyber security, performance management, customer relationship management, business intelligence, manufacturing analysis, clinical trials analysis and much more. Centrifuge is available for a free evaluation, either as a download or online, at http://www.centrifugesystems.com/company/tryit.php.

  Centrifuge Systems.
  The Freedom to Explore.

  Contacts:
  Tony Agresta
  Centrifuge Systems, Inc.
  571-830-1390
  aagresta@centrifugesystems.com

  John Sawyer
  Saffron Technology
  303-601-2949
  jsawyer@saffrontech.com

Source: Saffron Technology, Inc.
   

CONTACT:  Tony Agresta of Centrifuge Systems, Inc., +1-571-830-1390,
aagresta@centrifugesystems.com; or John Sawyer of Saffron Technology,
+1-303-601-2949, jsawyer@saffrontech.com

Web Site:  http://www.saffrontech.com/
http://www.centrifugesystems.com/

Unitrends Launches Release 5 Software for Its All-In-One Backup Appliances

Release 5 Adds Adaptive Deduplication, VDDK VMware Protection and Disk-to-Disk-to-Disk Archiving Support

COLUMBIA, S.C., May 19 -- Unitrends, the leader in affordable, heterogeneous, disk-based all-in-one backup appliances, today launched Unitrends Release 5, the latest version of its all-in-one backup appliance software.  Featuring a new Adaptive Deduplication data reduction capability, vStorage-based (VDDK) VMware ESX and ESXi Backup, and a radically new implementation and new features associated with its D2D2D (Disk-to-Disk-to-Disk) archiving subsystem, Release 5 optimizes backup and disaster recovery processes for more than 100 different versions of operating systems and applications.

"At Unitrends, delivering affordable, easy to use data protection solutions with enterprise-class features for the heterogeneous SMB environment is our core mission," said Dr. Mark Campbell, chief operating officer, Unitrends.  "With the availability of Release 5, we have expanded on this mission with compelling features for data reduction, VMware protection and true rotational archiving.  This, combined with our integrated, simple and elegant interface, gives users the single-pane-of-glass management they need for the reliable protection of all their operating systems and applications."

Generally available this month, Release 5 offers the following new key features:

  --  Adaptive Deduplication - Release 5 features a hybrid
      compression/deduplication data reduction mechanism that adapts
      dynamically to reduce the storage footprint of the content it is
      protecting while overcoming the overhead, high costs, and slow
      recovery times associated with other deduplication implementations.
      Called Adaptive Deduplication, this storage-based deduplication
      technique is designed to work with high efficiency on affordable
      hardware platforms.
  --  vStorage-Based (VDDK) VMware Protection - VMware has announced that
      future versions of VMware won't support VCB.  Release 5 offers a
      vStorage API-based VMware protector that offers direct support from
      Unitrends appliances for VMware ESXi 3.5 and ESXi backup 4.0 as well
      as VMware ESX 3.5 and ESX 4.0.
  --  Enhanced Disk-to-Disk-to-Disk Archiving System - Release 5 provides a
      new archiving system for disk-to-disk-to-disk (D2D2D) that supports
      all of the features of Unitrends' past archiving systems and adds
      significantly increased performance and capabilities for appending
      archives.
  --  New VSS-Based SQL Agent - Release 5 includes a new SQL Server backup
      option for Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2005 that utilizes
      the VSS backup foundation Microsoft offers.

Release 5 is available on all Unitrends all-in-one server backup appliances which are offered in separate configurations for backup, disaster recovery and combined backup and disaster recovery processes, both on premise and offsite.  Disk-to-disk-to-disk devices are also available to use with Unitrends' backup and disaster recovery appliances for rotational archiving.

Release 5 is available on all current generation Unitrends backup appliances.  Pricing for Unitrends appliances starts at $2495 ($75 per month for a three-year lease).  Unitrends appliances feature Unitrends' No Limits(TM) data protection licensing, a radically simple licensing approach that gives users freedom to store as much on the device as they wish until the physical capacity is full.

About Unitrends

Unitrends provides The Best Server Backup Software, at the lowest total cost of ownership in the industry, through a family of scalable disk-based data protection appliances that integrate and protect existing heterogeneous computer and storage systems through a single, intuitive, graphical user interface.  Unitrends uses a common backup and recovery engine for providing protection for over 100 different versions of operating systems and applications.  This means you can support Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SQL, Microsoft Hyper-V, VMware, Sun Solaris, Novell OES, Novell Netware, Novell GroupWise, Novell eDirectory, Linux, FreeBSD, Apple MacOS X, IBM pSeries/AIX, HP HP-UX, SCO UnixWare, SCO OpenServer, IBM iSeries/OS400, and SGI IRIX on notebooks, PCs, workstations, and servers and on DAS, NAS, or SAN storage - all using a single backup appliance.  A virtual appliance free trial is also available for download.

Information about Unitrends can be found at http://www.unitrends.com/.

Source: Unitrends
   

CONTACT:  Kara Hugg, +1-803-454-0300, pr@unitrends.com

Web Site:  http://www.unitrends.com/

Testimony Highlights Billions in New Revenue and Tens of Thousands of New Jobs From Internet Gambling Regulation

House Hearing Paves Way for Movement on Internet Gambling Legislation

WASHINGTON, May 19 -- The Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative today applauded testimony provided by Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Jim McDermott (D-WA) on the ability to effectively regulate online gambling in order to protect consumers, collect tens of billions in new government revenue and create tens of thousands of new jobs in the U.S.  Today's hearing before the House Committee on Ways and Means sets the stage for continued movement on companion pieces of pending legislation introduced by Reps. Frank and McDermott that would regulate the industry and ensure applicable taxes and license fees are collected.

"Today's witnesses clearly articulated why Congress should give fair consideration to regulating online gambling activity as a way to protect Americans, stimulate the economy by creating tens of thousands of new jobs and profit from the collection of tens of billions of otherwise lost revenue," said Michael Waxman, spokesperson for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative.  "Upon hearing today's testimony and acknowledgment that current attempts to prohibit online gambling have failed, it simply makes sense for Congress to address this issue and take control of the thriving underground marketplace."

The primary focus of today's hearing was Rep. McDermott's Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act of 2010 (H.R. 4976), which would generate as much as $72 billion in new revenue over ten years for federal and state governments.  This legislation would also apportion 25 percent of the federal revenue, estimated by the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation at nearly $42 billion over 10 years, to provide assistance for those in foster care.

"With our national unemployment rate at more than 10 percent and all but six states anticipating budget shortfalls for the 2011 fiscal year, this legislation is a win-win," said Waxman. "It's not everyday that the opportunity to generate billions of dollars and create tens of thousands of jobs comes along.  Congress should seize the opportunity that this legislation presents and move forward in regulating Internet gambling."

Chairman Barney Frank's (D-MA) Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act of 2009 (H.R. 2267), a companion to Rep. McDermott's legislation, sets forth how operators would receive licenses to accept wagers from individuals in the U.S.  Among the conditions for licensure, the legislation mandates licensed operators to adopt a range of substantial consumer protections, including safeguards to protect the young and the vulnerable.  Further, the legislation reinforces the rights of each State and Tribal Government to determine whether to allow online gambling activity for people accessing the Internet within their borders and to apply other restrictions on the activity as necessary.  Since its introduction last year, a bipartisan group of 69 co-sponsors has signed onto Chairman Frank's bill.

About the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative

The Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative promotes the freedom of individuals to gamble online with the proper safeguards to protect consumers and ensure the integrity of financial transactions. For more information on the Initiative, please visit http://www.safeandsecureig.org. The Web site provides a means by which individuals can register support for regulated Internet gambling with their elected representatives.

Source: Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative
   

CONTACT:  Michael Waxman of Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative,
+1-202-872-0010, or +1-202-872-4860, info@safeandsecureig.org

Web Site:  http://www.safeandsecureig.org/

Start-Up shotfarm Sparks a Revolution in Product Image Management

Free Image Repository Only the First Step in Bringing Unmatched Ease-of-Use and Cost-Efficiencies to Retail Marketing Industry

CHICAGO, May 19 -- Efficiency is the ultimate mantra in today's business climate, but product image management - on which the retail marketing industry spends $5 billion annually according to AMR Research - continues to be the exception to the rule.

Chicago-based start-up shotfarm aims to change that.

The first of the company's game-changing image management products, located at http://www.shotfarm.com, is a free, centralized image repository for product image transfer between retailers and manufacturers.   Shotfarm offers a gallery-style interface for finding, tracking, organizing and sharing product assets, an automatic reminder option for asset requests, image quality requirements, batch uploading, asset tagging and customizable batch downloading...all within a secure, permission-based environment.

This suite of features takes on key "pain points" that make product image management so ripe for a better approach including multiple methods of product image transfer, an extensive chain of contacts, time- and cost-intensive processes, and a considerable margin for error.

"Having experienced the inefficiency of requesting and fulfilling product assets on both the client and agency sides of retail and manufacturing, the need for an industrywide solution has always been painfully clear," said Mike Lapchick, founder and CEO of shotfarm.  "The shotfarm concept is simple: manufacturers put their product images and information in the same place retailers go to get them.  One system, one password, one workflow."

The shotfarm model offers effectiveness and efficiency previously unseen in this space which will only increase each time a retailer or manufacturer invites another partner.  And there are good reasons to invite:  shotfarm member Asana Activewear recently saw an immediate 50 percent increase in efficiency related to image exchange and management among partners using shotfarm compared with those who haven't joined yet.

"Our partners have been receptive to our request for them to join because they're willing to simplify our workflow but, in doing so, they've simplified their own as well," said Gary Schwake, co-founder and co-owner of Asana Activewear.  "Our goal is a single method of exchange for all of our partners, and with that comes previously unimaginable efficiencies."

The free image exchange is only the beginning of shotfarm's groundbreaking products; coming in June, a hosted viewer will make rich media extremely affordable, manageable and effective for all businesses big and small.  The HTML5-based hosted viewer will permanently eliminate the need to standardize, rename and resize images, generate thumbnails, and upload images to a separate hosting provider.

Visit http://www.shotfarm.com to learn more and join the revolution.

Source: shotfarm
   

CONTACT:  Tracie Lesser, Burson-Marsteller for shotfarm, +1-312-596-3521,
Tracie.Lesser@bm.com

Web Site:  http://www.shotfarm.com/

Jabra Joins Newly Launched UCIF to Advance Unified Communications Interoperability

Forum will enable interoperability of Unified Communications hardware and software through inter-vendor openness and collaboration

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, May 19 -- Jabra, the world leader in innovative audio solutions for unified communications, today announced it has joined the newly formed Unified Communications Interoperability Forum (UCIF) to participate in the development of open, standards-based, inter-vendor Unified Communications (UC) interoperability.  The UCIF is a non-profit alliance of worldwide technology leaders working together to fully realize the potential of unified communications.

With the goal of propelling worldwide enterprise UC adoption, Jabra has joined the UCIF along with founding members HP, Juniper Networks, Microsoft, Logitech / LifeSize, and Polycom, as well as Acme Packet, Aspect, AudioCodes, Broadcom, BroadSoft, Brocade, ClearOne, Plantronics, RADVISION, Siemens Enterprise Communications, and Teliris.  Recognizing that seamless interoperability is one of the key requirements to drive UC further into today's enterprises, UCIF members will collaborate to overcome existing interoperability barriers and deliver a reliable and rich UC experience.

"As distributed organizations deploy unified communications, interoperability is an enormous hurdle," said Tomasz Goldman, Vice President, Jabra Technology Management.  "They've found over time that their different regional offices have bought systems that aren't compatible with headquarters or with each other.  Or they've discovered their partners and customers have different, incompatible systems, eliminating the most significant benefits of UC - decreased costs and increased productivity.  Jabra, as part of the UCIF, will help overcome these hurdles.  We are honored to be part of this important initiative."

"Interoperability is not only critical to customer success for deploying unified communications but intrinsic to the delivery of legacy, current and next-generation UC tools, services and infrastructure from multiple vendors. Until now, efforts to achieve interoperability have appeared ad-hoc, which has given customers little assurance that their existing and planned investments are protected and will deliver the value promised," said Jonathan Edwards, research analyst, Unified Communications, IDC. "I'm delighted to see Jabra take a leading role by joining the UCIF. Together, these companies will help drive industry wide adoption of open standards and develop programs that put accountability on the vendors and provide peace of mind and investment protection for end customers - something that will surely accelerate adoption of UC technologies."

The UCIF will work with existing industry standards, identifying and filling the gaps between current protocols and interoperability issues that have stalled broad adoption and deployment of valuable communications. UCIF membership is open to hardware and software solution providers, service providers and network operators. For more information or to join the UCIF, visit http://www.ucif.org.

About the Unified Communications Interoperability Forum

The Unified Communications Interoperability Forum (UCIF) is a non-profit alliance of worldwide communications technology leaders working together to realize the potential of unified communications (UC) by increasing efficiency, decreasing implementation costs and improving the interoperability experience for UC customers. The UCIF's vision is to enable interoperability of standards-based UC hardware and software across enterprises, service providers, and consumer clouds, as a means of generating incremental business opportunity for all stakeholders in the ecosystem and of increasing the business use of UC technologies and services. The UCIF creates and tests interoperability profiles, implementation guidelines and best practices for interoperability between UC products and existing communications and business applications. Visit http://www.ucif.org to learn more.

About Jabra / GN Netcom

Through its Jabra brand, GN Netcom is a world leader in innovative headset solutions. With around 900 employees and sales offices around the world, GN Netcom develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of wireless headsets and speakerphones for mobile users and both wireless and corded headsets for contact center and office-based users. GN Netcom's business activities also include its original equipment manufacturing (OEM) business. GN Netcom is a subsidiary of GN Store Nord A/S. Visit

Source: Jabra
   

CONTACT:  Mike Rush, +1-617-585-5792, mrush@360publicrelations.com, or
John LeRoy, +1-617-585-5791, jleroy@360publicrelations.com, both of 360 Public
Relations for Jabra

Web Site:  http://www.jabra.com/

AllianceBernstein Launches Suite of New Websites

NEW YORK, May 19 -- AllianceBernstein has launched a suite of redesigned websites intended to  significantly improve the ability of our asset-management clients to access information and explore a wealth of in-depth research -- a trademark of the investment-management company.

The new global web portal, AllianceBernstein.com, encompasses a suite of websites, each tailored to a particular investor group. This allows the site's editors to highlight research, investment opportunities and products relevant to clients with varying needs in different regions of the world. The new website serves private clients, defined benefit and defined contribution plan sponsors, subadvisory clients, endowments and foundations, sovereign wealth funds, and insurance companies around the world. The second phase -- slated for 2011 -- will extend the redesigned site to retail clients worldwide.

The new site underscores AllianceBernstein's commitment to providing research-based solutions and sharing knowledge to help clients achieve investment success. Along with unrestricted access to the firm's renowned buyside research "black books," the new website provides perspectives on market, economic and investment-industry developments worldwide. It also features microsites focused on topical investment opportunities, and provides an easy way to locate and compare AllianceBernstein's wide range of investment services.

"We serve many different types of clients around the world," said David A. Steyn, AllianceBernstein's chief operating officer. "With our new website, we're able to more effectively provide each type of client with ideas and opportunities that address their concerns and investment needs."

The new website offers more interactivity, including greater use of information graphics and webcasts, to deliver sophisticated investment ideas quickly and clearly. Topical new investment opportunities are highlighted in microsites that pull together relevant research, presentations and product information. A unified Product Center provides detailed information on the company's investment strategies and vehicles, and offers an innovative product-comparison tool. The Product Center is available to institutional visitors, with access slated to expand to other client types in the second phase of the project.

The site is built on a new, state-of-the-art content-management platform, Methode, which enables AllianceBernstein to publish simultaneously to multiple web, print and mobile distribution channels. This system, developed by EidosMedia (http://www.eidosmedia.com/) and widely used by major global media organizations, also simplifies the web-publishing process, allowing the site's editors to post content to AllianceBernstein.com without production support.

"We're confident that our clients will find the site's information to be relevant, timely and insightful," Mr. Steyn added. "And I believe the new site will help other investors discover why AllianceBernstein is one of the world's most respected providers of research and investment-management services."

About AllianceBernstein

AllianceBernstein is a leading global investment management firm that offers high-quality research and diversified investment services to institutional clients, individuals and private clients in major markets around the world. AllianceBernstein employs more than 500 investment professionals with expertise in growth equities, value equities, fixed income securities, blend strategies and alternative investments and, through its subsidiaries and joint venture, operates in more than 20 countries. AllianceBernstein's research disciplines include fundamental research, quantitative research, economic research and currency forecasting capabilities. Through its integrated global platform, AllianceBernstein is well-positioned to tailor investment solutions for its clients. AllianceBernstein also offers high-quality, in-depth research, portfolio strategy and brokerage-related services to institutional investors, and equity capital markets services to issuers of publicly-traded securities.

At March 31, 2010, AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) owned approximately 36.6% of the issued and outstanding AllianceBernstein Units and AXA, one of the largest global financial services organizations, owned an approximate 62.3% economic interest in AllianceBernstein.

Source: AllianceBernstein
   

CONTACT:  Philip Talamo, Investor Relations, +1-212-969-2383,
ir@alliancebernstein.com, or John Meyers, Media, +1-212-969-2301,
john.meyers@alliancebernstein.com

Web Site:  http://www.alliancebernstein.com/

HubCast Demonstrates Cloud Print Service at Hewlett-Packard's IPEX 2010 Stand

HubCast Customer Pioneer Investments Speaks on Cloud Printing

WAKEFIELD, Mass., May 19 -- HubCast, the leader in Cloud Print Services, today announced it will be demonstrating its award-winning product, HubCast Professional, at IPEX 2010 in the Hewlett-Packard exhibit, Hall #12, booth AB-150 on Friday May 21st, 2010 at 1:00PM GMT in Birmingham, United Kingdom.  Joining HubCast at Hewlett-Packard will be HubCast customer Pioneer Investments, who will be describing their success using Cloud Print Services to reduce costs, improve quality and consistency, reduce lead times, and save on carbon emissions utilizing a distributed, on-demand Cloud Print workflow.  The companies will demonstrate how enterprises can implement a highly-efficient, global business process for print and delivery of premium-quality materials.

"HubCast's Cloud Print Service allows enterprises to print and deliver premium-quality materials around the globe," said Alon Bar-Shany, vice president and general manager, Indigo Division, HP.  "The high quality, productivity and color consistency of the HP Indigo Digital Presses enables HubCast to create a real-time network that delivers commercial quality print, fast delivery and global reach.  HP Indigo owners benefit through reduced cost of sales, increased order volume, and extended market reach to customers anywhere in the world."

"We are thrilled Hewlett-Packard has invited us to demonstrate the power of Cloud Print Services with them at IPEX," said Toby LaVigne, founder and CEO of HubCast.  "Hewlett Packard's Indigo platform enables an efficient and scalable Cloud Print infrastructure that makes commercial-quality printing as simple, fast and ubiquitous as other Cloud-enabled services.  Linked in a real-time global network by HubCast Cloud Print technology, this revolutionary production model enables enterprises to print from any location and to anywhere in the world with next-day delivery."  LaVigne continued, "Hewlett-Packard's Indigo owners' benefit by overcoming limitations imposed by geography and time, and gain access to business sourced from across our global network."

HubCast will be conducting demonstrations of the Cloud Print Services as well as displaying premium-quality material printed by its customers in locations on its networks across the globe. For additional information, or to watch a demo on how to use HubCast's Cloud Print platform, please visit http://www.hubcast.com/.

About HubCast

HubCast is a fully automated Cloud Print Service that provides users with the ability to print and deliver materials at premium quality, anywhere in the world, whenever they need to. With its proven global print network, HubCast ensures rapid delivery of materials at the highest industry standards to meet customers' needs. Utilizing HubCast's cloud-print capabilities, users experience a greatly simplified experience, compared to traditional printing, built on the ease, speed and reach of Cloud Computing.  For more information on HubCast, please visit http://www.hubcast.com/

About Pioneer Investments

Pioneer Investments is the asset management division of the UniCredit Group, one of Europe's leading banking groups. A multi-discipline investment management firm, Pioneer Investments offers a complete range of traditional, institutional and alternative investment services. As at 31 December 2009, assets under management totaled euro 175.8 billion. Pioneer Investments has a presence in more than 31 countries worldwide and an experienced team of 2,100 employees globally, of which over 360 are investment professionals.

Source: HubCast
   

CONTACT:  Tony Dolph of HubCast, +1-781-425-2238, tony.dolph@hubcast.com;
or Kori Green for HubCast, +1-617-520-7256, kgreen@webershandwick.com

Web Site:  http://www.hubcast.com/

Teliris Telepresence Joins Newly Launched UCIF to Advance Unified Communications Interoperability

Forum will enable interoperability of Unified Communications hardware and software through inter-vendor openness and collaboration

NEW YORK, May 19 -- Teliris Telepresence today announced its membership in the newly formed Unified Communications Interoperability Forum (UCIF), a non-profit alliance of worldwide technology leaders working together to fully realize the potential of unified communications (UC). The UCIF is dedicated to enabling standards-based, cross-vendor interoperability of UC hardware and software across enterprises, service providers and consumer clouds and is designed to enable global businesses to be more productive.

Teliris joins founding members HP, Juniper Networks, Logitech / LifeSize Communications, Microsoft and Polycom, as well as Acme Packet, Aspect, AudioCodes, Broadcom, BroadSoft, Brocade, ClearOne, Jabra, Plantronics, RADVISION, Siemens Enterprise Communications. Recognizing that seamless interoperability based on open standards is one of the key requirements to drive UC further into today's enterprises, UCIF members will collaborate to overcome existing interoperability barriers to widespread UC adoption and deliver a reliable and rich UC experience, with the goal of propelling worldwide enterprise UC adoption.

"Teliris fully supports the UCIF mission and strongly believes that open interoperability standards are critical in creating and maintaining the simple, natural meeting experience that defines telepresence - regardless of vendor, system size or deployment location," said Marc Trachtenberg, Teliris CEO and Co-Founder. "We look forward to joining this group of industry leaders in the quest to achieve real telepresence and overall UC interoperability."

"Interoperability is not only critical to customer success for deploying unified communications but intrinsic to the delivery of legacy, current and next-generation UC tools, services and infrastructure from multiple vendors Until now, efforts to achieve interoperability have appeared ad-hoc, which has given customers little assurance that their existing and planned investments are protected and will deliver the value promised," said Jonathan Edwards, research analyst, Unified Communications, IDC. "I'm delighted to see Teliris take a leading role by joining the UCIF. Together, these companies will help drive industry-wide adoption of open standards and develop programs that put accountability on the vendors and provide peace of mind and investment protection for end customers - something that will surely accelerate adoption of UC technologies."

The UCIF will work with existing industry standards, identifying and filling the gaps between current protocols and interoperability issues that have stalled broad adoption and deployment of valuable communications methods. UCIF membership is open to hardware and software solution providers, service providers and network operators. For more information or to join the UCIF, visit http://www.ucif.org.

About Teliris Telepresence:

Teliris develops and implements the world's most widely deployed fully managed telepresence and collaboration solutions, realistically replicating the human dynamics of an in-person meeting experience. Through its 6G platform and unique intellectual property, Teliris has radically simplified the acquisition, deployment and operating costs of telepresence, breaking new ground in adoption and reach of the technology. Teliris has deployments in over 50 countries with the largest installed base of Global 2000 companies. Headquartered in New York and London, the company is the leading innovator in agile telepresence with end-to-end integration, market-leading 99%+ availability guarantee and interoperability with all standards-based telepresence and traditional videoconferencing systems.

About the Unified Communications Interoperability Forum:

The Unified Communications Interoperability Forum (UCIF) is a non-profit alliance of worldwide communications technology leaders working together to realize the potential of unified communications (UC) by increasing efficiency, decreasing implementation costs and improving the interoperability experience for UC customers. The UCIF's vision is to enable interoperability of standards-based UC hardware and software across enterprises, service providers, and consumer clouds, as a means of generating incremental business opportunity for all stakeholders in the ecosystem and of increasing the business use of UC technologies and services. The UCIF creates and tests interoperability profiles, implementation guidelines and best practices for interoperability between UC products and existing communications and business applications. Visit http://www.ucif.org to learn more.

Source: Teliris Telepresence
   

CONTACT:  Shanley Stern Gravel, Teliris, +1-917-515-4548,
shanley.gravel@teliris.com

Web Site:  http://www.ucif.org/

uVuMobile Signs Letter of Intent to Acquire WASP Mobile

WASP Mobile will become a wholly owned subsidiary of uVuMobile

ATLANTA, May 19 -- uVuMobile(TM), Inc. (Pink Sheets: UVUM), a mobility solutions and content aggregator announced today that the Company has signed a letter of intent to acquire WASP Mobile, LLC, a privately-held company based in Boca Raton, FL, as a wholly owned subsidiary of uVuMobile.  The Board of Directors of both companies has approved the acquisition and the transaction is anticipated to close within the next 30 days.

WASP Mobile, LLC is a technology driven company that has developed its own suite of mobile marketing, mobile application and E-commerce solutions.  The company's SMS platform offers customers the ability to run marketing and billing campaigns through many of the leading wireless providers in North America including Verizon, AT&T and Sprint.  Its mobile application development platform enables WASP to build applications for multiple smartphone platforms including iPhone, Android, Windows, BREW and Ovi (Nokia).

"The joining of WASP with uVuMobile will put both companies in a strong position for market growth," said Richard Seifert, President and CEO of uVuMobile.  "There is tremendous demand for companies that can deliver mobile video and application services to the market and we intend to compete vigorously for market leadership in this space."

"The combined companies present us with increased opportunities to offer media and marketing companies a 'one-stop shop' for development, marketing and distribution of mobile video applications and services," said Rick Catinella, President of WASP Mobile.  "I am looking forward to working together as a member of the combined team.  We believe that this combination will create an opportunity for accelerated growth and significantly increase our existing revenue stream."

"This acquisition by uVuMobile will be in the form of company stock," Mr. Seifert said.  "Both parties are eager to conclude this deal as quickly as possible."

About uVuMobile

uVuMobile recognizes the ever-increasing demand for personalized, interactive entertainment content anytime and anywhere on media-enabled devices by offering a full suite of products that effectively deliver video and audio content to mobile handsets. uVuMobile provides back-end media hosting, application development, mobile marketing, messaging, content aggregation, billing, advertising and other services directed towards the mobile business-to-business market. These services are now available to entertainment brands, carriers, developers, aggregators, distribution partners and other players in the mobile value chain.  uVuMobile now offers ad supported and white label mobile video services. For additional information, please visit http://www.uvumobile.com.

About WASP Mobile, LLC

WASP is a technology driven marketing company that provides an integrated Mobile and Web based software as Service (sass) to businesses or brands seeking to digitize and mobilize their marketing campaigns. Using our proprietary technology, proven marketing efforts and turnkey solutions, we make every facet of building or improving on a campaign relevant to current consumer trends. WASP clients choose from a suite of services that effectively entails all facets under the mobile umbrella including: SMS text messaging (short code), Bluetooth /Proximity Marketing, and Mobile Web and Mobile Applications.

Forward Looking Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties concerning uVuMobile's business, products, and financial results. Actual results may differ materially from the results predicted. More information about potential risk factors that could affect our business, products, financial results, financial position and liquidity are included in uVuMobile's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008 and in other reports filed by uVuMobile with the SEC subsequent to the filing of such Form 10-K. All documents are available through the SEC's Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval system (EDGAR) at http://www.sec.gov or from uVuMobile's web site at http://www.uvumobile.com. uVuMobile hereby disclaims any obligation to publicly update the information provided above, including forward-looking statements, to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

All trademarks and/or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Source: uVuMobile, Inc.
   

CONTACT:  Ron Warren, +1-678-417-2000

Web Site:  http://www.uvumobile.com/

AT&T Unveils New Wireless Store in Holyoke

Store Offers Hands-On, Interactive Retail Experience for Customers in Western Massachusetts

HOLYOKE, Mass., May 19 -- As people's lives become increasingly mobile and fast-paced, and to address the growing demand for advanced wireless data products and services, AT&T* today announced the opening of a new wireless retail store in Holyoke.

The store, located in the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside in Holyoke, has a state-of-the-art, hands-on design to engage customers and provide a "try before buy" service experience. Trained sales consultants will provide demonstrations of a wide range of wireless products. Shoppers can also test out various advanced wireless data applications including GPS navigation, mobile social networking or mobile television.

The Holyoke store is led by Vladimir Viess and has a staff of 14 employees who are trained to assist customers -- both business and consumer -- with purchasing decisions, customer service and technical support. Hours of operation are Monday through Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 9:30 p.m., Sunday 11:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

The store, which officially opens today, will celebrate with a ribbon cutting on Thursday, May 20th at 10 a.m.

AT&T operates 48 AT&T-owned retail locations in Massachusetts. Its products and services are also available at a number of other authorized dealers and national retail locations.

To find out more details about AT&T's coverage in Massachusetts or anywhere in the United States, consumers can go to http://www.wireless.att.com/coverageviewer/. The online tool provides up-to-date wireless coverage information for specific locations. The tool can measure the quality of coverage based on a street address, intersection, ZIP code or even a landmark.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc. The Samsung Strive(TM) is just $19.99 with minimum $20/mo data package purchase and a wireless voice plan with a new two-year agreement.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates - AT&T operating companies - are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation's fastest 3G network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet and voice services. A leader in mobile broadband, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries. It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verse® and AT&T |DIRECTV(SM) brands. The company's suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world. In domestic markets, AT&T Advertising Solutions and AT&T Interactive are known for their leadership in local search and advertising. In 2010, AT&T again ranked among the 50 Most Admired Companies by FORTUNE® magazine.

Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com/. This AT&T news release and other announcements are available at http://www.att.com/newsroom and as part of an RSS feed at http://www.att.com/rss. Or follow our news on Twitter at @ATTNews. Find us on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/ATT to discover more about our consumer and wireless services or at http://www.facebook.com/ATTSmallBiz to discover more about our small business services.

Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this press release contains financial estimates and other forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results might differ materially. A discussion of factors that may affect future results is contained in AT&T's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. AT&T disclaims any obligation to update and revise statements contained in this news release based on new information or otherwise.

© 2010 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. 3G service not available in all areas. AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies.

Source: AT&T Inc.
   

CONTACT:  Kate MacKinnon of AT&T Inc., +1-508-271-8442,
kate.mackinnon@att.com

Web Site:  http://www.att.com/

Verizon Wireless Expands Netbook Lineup With HP Mini 210-1076NR

Enhanced Multimedia Experience Now Available on the Largest Wireless Network in the United States

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., May 19 -- Verizon Wireless today announced the immediate availability of the HP Mini 210-1076NR netbook.  Sporting a Black Crystal color, the HP Mini 210 is an affordable computer that provides Verizon Wireless customers with built-in 3G Mobile Broadband connectivity in a slim and lightweight design.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100519/NY06403 )

With up to 8.75 hours of battery life, the stylish HP Mini 210 provides fun and functionality for customers - from business travelers to students - who want to surf the Web, check e-mail, listen to music and access information while on the go.  Customers can also use the HP Mini 210 to browse the Web or access e-mail in more than 200 destinations worldwide when coupled with a Verizon Wireless GlobalAccess service plan.

  Key features and specifications:
  --  Operating system: Genuine Windows® 7 Starter
  --  10.1"-diagonal LED BrightView Infinity widescreen display
  --  Offers an enhanced multimedia experience and makes it easier to access
      offline content and update files on the go with:
      --  HP CloudDrive allows users to access their synchronized content
          from multiple computers - documents, photos and music - from the
          cloud without having to store it on a local drive.
      --  HP QuickSync software automatically synchronizes files created or
          edited on the road with a home or business PC over a wireless
          connection when connected to the same network.
  --  Processor: Intel® Atom(TM) Processor N450
  --  Processor speed: 1.66 GHz
  --  System memory: 1 GB RAM
  --  Storage hard drive: 250 GB
  --  Stereo speakers
  --  HP Webcam with integrated digital microphone
  --  Integrated 5-in-1 digital media reader
  --  External VGA (15-pin) port
  --  Radio/frequency bands: CDMA/1X/EV-DO Revision A: 800/1900 MHz;
      UMTS/HSPA: 850/1900/2100 MHz; GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
  --  Built-in Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g)
  --  Bluetooth® capable
  --  Weight: 2.99 lbs.
  --  Dimensions: 10.55"(l) x 6.9"(d) x 0.90"-1.57"(h)

  Pricing and availability:
  --  The HP Mini 210-1076NR is available now for $149.99 after a $100
      mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement on a Mobile
      Broadband plan.  It is available online at http://www.verizonwireless.com and
      in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores.  Customers will receive the
      rebate in the form of a debit card; upon receipt, customers may use
      the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted.

  Mobile Broadband pricing:
  --  Customers can select from various price plans to connect to Verizon
      Wireless' Mobile Broadband network, which also gives them access to
      thousands of Wi-Fi hotspots at no additional charge and allows them to
      move easily from the nation's most reliable 3G wireless network to
      those hotspots:
      --  $39.99 monthly access for 250 MB monthly allowance and $0.10/MB
          overage
      --  $59.99 monthly access for 5 GB monthly allowance and $0.05/MB
          overage
  --  Prepaid Mobile Broadband plans are also available:
      --  $15 for 75 MB (one day of use)
      --  $30 for 250 MB (one week of use)
      --  $50 for 500 MB (one month of use)

  GlobalAccess pricing:

Customers traveling abroad can sign up for one of the following GlobalAccess plans:

  --  GlobalAccess Monthly Plan, which starts at $129.99 for monthly access
      (5 GB allowance for the United States and Canada, $0.05/MB overage)
      with 100 MB allowance in select destinations ($0.005/KB after
      allowance).  Customers who require higher usage when traveling abroad
      can take advantage of the $219.99 monthly access plan that offers 200
      MB allowance with the same rates for overage as the $129.99 plan.

  --  GlobalAccess Pay Per Use for occasional use must be purchased with a
      $59.99 Mobile Broadband service plan in the United States.  The Pay
      Per Use rate is $0.002/KB in Canada, $0.005/KB in Mexico, and $0.02/KB
      in more than 200 other destinations.

For more information on Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to http://www.verizonwireless.com.

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable and largest wireless voice and 3G data network, serving nearly 93 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 81,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ)(NASDAQ:VZ) and Vodafone (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.

Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100519/NY06403
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
AP PhotoExpress Network:  PRN9
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Verizon Wireless
   

CONTACT:  Brenda Boyd Raney, Verizon Wireless, +1-908-559-7518,
Brenda.Raney@verizonwireless.com

Web Site:  http://www.verizonwireless.com/

Company News On-Call:  http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/094251.html

SAP, Cisco, EMC and VMware Team to Speed the Journey to Cloud Computing

SAP and Strategic Partners Join Forces With Levi Strauss & Co. to Demonstrate Promising Lab-Based Results Running SAP(R) Software on Vblock(TM) Architecture

FRANKFURT, Germany and ORLANDO, Fla., May 19 -- Reinforcing its commitment to co-innovate with partners to help companies around the globe reap the key benefits of virtualization and cloud computing, SAP AG (NYSE:SAP) unveiled progress toward delivering enhanced agility while reducing total cost of ownership (TCO) for customers looking to transition to next-generation data center architectures. Through the Virtual Computing Environment (VCE) coalition and its Vblock(TM) Infrastructure Packages, Cisco, EMC and VMware have committed to extensive and ongoing innovation with SAP to unleash the benefits of pervasive virtualization and speed the journey to "private cloud computing." The initiative marks an important step toward running SAP® software reliably and securely on internal and external cloud environments, and also underscores integration with the SAP NetWeaver® Adaptive Computing Controller tool to help customers increase flexibility and save costs in their data centers. The announcement was made at SAPPHIRE® NOW, being held simultaneously in Frankfurt, Germany, and Orlando, Florida, May 17-19, 2010.

(Logo:   http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050310/SFTH009LOGO-a)

In lab-based tests with Levi Strauss & Co., the technology partners demonstrated potential TCO reductions by running SAP software on Vblock. Vblock Infrastructure Packages are integrated IT offerings that include best-in-class virtualization, compute, storage security and management technologies. These include the Unified Computing System and Multilayer Director Switches (MDS) from Cisco, EMC Symmetrix V-Max and EMC CLARiiON CX4 Storage Systems (secured by RSA), and the VMware vSphere(TM) platform.

Levi Strauss & Co. Sees Private Cloud Benefits

Seeking new ways to accelerate its business and technology objectives, Levi Strauss & Co. worked with SAP, Cisco, EMC, VMware and an integration team from Accenture to explore how the company could realize the potential benefits of running its SAP software in a private cloud environment.

"From both a business and IT perspective, the results are significant and highly compelling, clearly showing how a private cloud environment could help us better manage our SAP landscape and contain costs at the same time," said Tom Peck, SVP and CIO, Levi Strauss & Co. "We also saw how we could achieve greater agility in our business applications to rapidly meet our internal customer business needs. And all of this was achievable through better utilization of our infrastructure assets, without sacrificing performance, security or availability -- a really big plus."

TCO Reductions Benefits Revealed

Independent tests commissioned by SAP, Cisco, EMC, VMware and Accenture show that running SAP software on Vblock architecture can reduce TCO in a number of key areas, including:

  --  Reduction in capital expenses for hardware and software due to use of
      scalable servers and proprietary virtualization management tools
  --  Fewer implementation costs due to reduced planning and design
      requirements, simple setup and reconfiguration of virtual machines and
      the use of pre-configured templates
  --  Savings in project costs due to increased business agility achieved
      through reduced system management efforts and the ability to add or
      remove virtual machines based on demand
  --  Less spent in upgrade expenditures due to quick and easy provisioning
      of test- and training systems on demand and fallback scenarios right
      out of the box

"Today's announcement marks an important step forward in our private cloud strategy," said Vishal Sikka, chief technology officer and member of the SAP Executive Board responsible for Technology and Innovation. "This collaborative demonstration of success is only possible when combining the strength of SAP's world-class business applications and the offerings from global technology leaders such as Cisco, EMC and VMware. Through our partnership and commitment to reducing costs of computing and increasing agility, we were able to prove that customers can quicken application development, lower TCO and improve overall system up-time for the entire SAP landscape, including production systems. As our team works even closer with customers like Levi Strauss & Co., this project will continue to evolve and thrive based on new advances in in-memory computing which SAP will make available and based on customer input into refining and ripening products that will pave the way for the secure private cloud."

SAPPHIRE® NOW

With SAPPHIRE® NOW, SAP marks the next evolution of its SAPPHIRE customer conference and networking events, offering SAP customers, partners and prospects even more opportunities to engage in dialogue with peers, participants and thought leaders around the globe. Being held simultaneously in Orlando, Florida, and Frankfurt, Germany, May 17-19, 2010, this enhanced, real-time event connects attendees on site with global participants through state-of-the-art broadcast studios and a newly designed online experience that incorporates the latest social media and community functionality. Whether onsite or online, participants can gain insight on how innovative business solutions from SAP are enabling long-term, profitable business growth. For more information about the Orlando show, visit http://www.sapandasug.com; for the Frankfurt event, visit http://www.sap.com/sapphire/emea. Join the conversation via Twitter at @SAPPHIRENOW and visit the SAPPHIRE NOW Social Newsroom at sapphirenow.blogs-sap.com.

SAP and the Americas' SAP Users' Group (ASUG) are co-locating their premier events in Orlando, where the 2010 ASUG Annual Conference takes place May 16-20.

About SAP

SAP is the world's leading provider of business software(*), offering applications and services that enable companies of all sizes and in more than 25 industries to become best-run businesses. With more than 97,000 customers in over 120 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE, under the symbol "SAP." For more information, visit http://www.sap.com.

(*) SAP defines business software as comprising enterprise resource planning, business intelligence, and related applications.

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "should" and "will" and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

Copyright © 2010 SAP AG. All rights reserved.

SAP, R/3, mySAP, mySAP.com, xApps, xApp, SAP NetWeaver and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries all over the world. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. Data contained in this document serve informational purposes only. National product specifications may vary.

  For customers interested in learning more about SAP products:
  Global Customer Center: +49 180 534-34-24
  United States Only: 1 (800) 872-1SAP (1-800-872-1727)

  For more information, press only:
  Amisha Gandhi, +1 (415) 341-7101, amisha.gandhi@sap.com, PDT
  Hilmar Schepp, +49 (6227) 7-46779, hilmar.schepp@sap.com, CET
  SAP Press Office, +49 (6227) 7-46315, CET; +1 (610) 661-3200, EDT;
   press@sap.com

During SAPPHIRE NOW (from May 17 to 19), to speak with press contacts on site, please dial the SAP press room: Orlando: +1 (610) 661-0469; Frankfurt: +49 (6227) 7-74065.

Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050310/SFTH009LOGO-a
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: SAP AG
   

CONTACT:  Amisha Gandhi, +1-415-341-7101, amisha.gandhi@sap.com, PDT, or
Hilmar Schepp, +49 (6227) 7-46779, hilmar.schepp@sap.com, CET, or SAP Press
Office, +49 (6227) 7-46315, CET; +1-610-661-3200, EDT; press@sap.com, all of
SAP AG

Web Site:  http://www.sap.com/

SouthernLINC Wireless Launches Motorola i1, World's First Push To Talk, Android-powered Smartphone for iDEN

ATLANTA, May 19 -- Motorola i1, the world's first Push To Talk (PTT), Android(TM)-powered smartphone for the Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (iDEN), is now available from SouthernLINC Wireless, a Southern Company (NYSE:SO).

  (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100519/CL07173 )

  (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090507/CL13145LOGO )

The sleek, tablet-style Motorola i1 combines the convenience of PTT two-way radio with a premium browsing and messaging experience. Motorola i1 comes preloaded with the Opera Mini 5 Browser for optimized mobile Web browsing, Android WebKit Browser with Adobe® Flash® Lite® for access to content created with Adobe Flash and multiple keyboard options, including Swype(TM), for quick and efficient messaging.

Popular tools, including Google(TM) mobile services and Microsoft Document Viewer, help users keep the ball rolling while on-the-go. In addition, personal and work information, such as e-mails, calendar appointments and contacts, are automatically synced and integrated throughout the device, keeping users' digital worlds connected. Customize Motorola i1 with thousands of widgets and applications available for download from Android Market(TM).

"SouthernLINC Wireless customers can now experience the first Android-powered iDEN smartphone in the marketplace," said Bob Dawson, president and CEO of SouthernLINC Wireless. "With a touch screen, built-in Wi-Fi and enterprise e-mail capability, the feature-rich, multitasking Motorola i1 gives SouthernLINC Wireless customers the immediacy of our premier, Push To Talk service, the practicality of rugged construction and the ability to download data at Wi-Fi speeds."

Featuring durable, rubber housing and sturdy, state-of-the-art Gorilla® glass that safeguards the 3.1-inch touch screen from shocks and other damage, Motorola i1 is as tough as it is stylish. Moreover, Motorola i1 is Military Spec 810F certified for blowing rain, dust, shock, vibration, temperature extremes, low pressure, salt fog, humidity and solar radiation.

Motorola i1 comes fully-loaded with multimedia features, including a music player, stereo Bluetooth® technology and a 5-megapixel camera with flash, video, geotagging and panoramic capabilities. Store up to 2 gigabytes of images, videos and music on the included microSD memory card, or replace it with up to a 32 GB card, sold separately, to hold even more data. Easily transfer files, including pictures, videos, music and ringtones, from computer to memory card using the USB drag and drop feature.

Motorola i1 is now available at all SouthernLINC Wireless sales and service locations, through authorized SouthernLINC Wireless dealers and online at http://southernlinc.com/android. In-stock availability may vary by location.

About SouthernLINC Wireless

SouthernLINC Wireless, a Southern Company (NYSE:SO), is an Atlanta-based regional wireless carrier with network coverage in the major metro and rural areas of Alabama, Georgia, southeast Mississippi and northwest Florida. SouthernLINC Wireless bundles multiple communication options, including Push To Talk two-way radio, cellular service, text messaging, wireless Internet access and wireless data, into one hand-held device. For more information, please call 1-800-818-LINC (5462) or visit http://www.southernlinc.com.

About Southern Company

With 4.4 million customers and more than 42,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company is the premier energy company serving the Southeast. A leading U.S. producer of electricity, Southern Company owns electric utilities in four states and a growing competitive generation company, as well as fiber optics and wireless communications. Southern Company brands are known for excellent customer service, high reliability and retail electric prices that are below the national average. Southern Company is consistently listed among the top U.S. electric service providers in customer satisfaction by the American Customer Satisfaction Index. Visit our Web site at http://www.southerncompany.com.

Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090507/CL13145LOGO
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100519/CL07173
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: SouthernLINC Wireless
   

CONTACT:  Media: Jamie Schaff of SouthernLINC Wireless, +1-678-443-1527,
jschaff@southernco.com

Web Site:  http://www.southernlinc.com/

FreeWave Technologies Announces Latest Version of Tool Suite Software

Software now offers several enhanced features, including radio support for most currently released Plus series radios

BOULDER, Colo., May 19 -- FreeWave Technologies, (http://www.freewave.com/), manufacturer of the most reliable, high-performance spread spectrum and licensed radios for critical data transmission, today announced several updates to its Tool Suite(TM) platform management system. Tool Suite allows users to manage their radio configuration and network diagnostics, and is free to all FreeWave customers. The software is ideal for use across all markets, including oil and gas, water/wastewater, electric power, irrigation/agriculture, cathodic protection and solar/wind power.

"In order to provide the easiest and most efficient way to manage FreeWave radios, we have continued to update the Tool Suite software based on our customers' needs," explained Ken Granader, vice president of sales at FreeWave. "In addition to diagnostics and configuration improvements, we added support for several new radios in the latest version."

  The new updates to Tool Suite include:
  --  Additional radio support for several series of FreeWave radios,
      including FGR2-PE, I2 Plus and IP mini.
  --  Improved configuration and network diagnostics such as updates to tree
      view, revised network selection and a network settings report with
      expanded capabilities of exporting a csv file.
  --  New auto clean feature for each network.
  --  Network loading optimization.
  --  Support for FreeWave's IO Expansion modules and CP DataLogger
      software.

The latest version of Tool Suite is available now. Existing Tool Suite customers can download the updated version by clicking on the "Updates" button in the lower left hand corner of their Tool Suite application. Customers who want to download Tool Suite for the first time need to contact FreeWave's Technical Support Department (see contact information below) and request a customer log-in.

Additional information, about Tool Suite is available online at http://www.freewave.com/toolsuite or by contacting FreeWave at 866-923-9948.

About FreeWave Technologies

Founded in 1993, FreeWave Technologies manufactures the most reliable, high performing, lowest power consumption, license-free and licensed radios for mission-critical data transmission. Through engineering excellence and a relentless commitment to best-in-class manufacturing, FreeWave customers enjoy superior radio up-time, transmission reach and the lowest cost of ownership available. Based in Boulder, Colorado, FreeWave designs and manufactures radios that are the leading choice for oil and gas, utility, military and numerous other industrial applications. Organizations that count on radio data communications for operational success - where failure and down-time are not an option - trust FreeWave for custom network design, system engineering and customer support that is unparalleled in the market. For additional information, contact FreeWave directly at 866.399.4930 or at newsinfo@freewave.com. Visit the company's website at http://www.freewave.com.

  Press Contact:
  --------------
  Christin Jeffers
  Catapult PR-IR
  303.581.7760, ext. 19

Source: FreeWave Technologies
   

CONTACT:  Christin Jeffers of Catapult PR-IR, +1-303-581-7760, ext. 19,
for FreeWave Technologies

Web Site:  http://www.freewave.com/

Revision3 Signs off With Penn Jillette for the Highly-Anticipated Penn Point

Legendary Entertainer Brings His Act and Opinions to Revision3 Studios

SAN FRANCISCO, May 19 -- Revision3 (http://www.revision3.com), the leading Internet Television network, today announced the launch of Penn Point (http://www.revision3.com/pennpoint), featuring the always no-holds-barred opinions and thoughts of performer, writer, actor, inventor, magician, illusionist and libertarian Penn Jillette.

Penn Point will cover a spectrum of topics from politics, celebrities, popular culture and technology that is sweeping the nation... anything top of mind for Penn as well as the general public.  For its first week, Penn will focus on topics including Seth MacFarlane and the Tea Party, a brand new Penn and Teller trick and his thoughts on the iPad.  Each program will run three to seven minutes in a continuous rant-like format that has Penn ruminating and analyzing any particular topic.  The show will premiere Monday, May 24, 2010 at 9 AM ET and new episodes will be released Monday through Thursday weekly.

"I'm really jacked up about working with Revision3 on my new online show Penn Point," said Penn Jillette.  "I'm saying and shooting whatever I want, wherever I want and the team at Revision3 is just going to make it better in edit.  We've been working on the first few episodes and they're really kick-ass and I can't wait to do more."

"Penn Point is an unfiltered look at the world through the eyes of Penn Jillette," said Ryan Vance, Vice President of Programming & Production, Revision3.  "We are excited to bring his huge following of fans a regular dose of all things Penn with Penn Point.  Penn is one of the most intelligent guys I've ever met and his insightful and often controversial opinions will be a great fit for our audience."

You can view episodes at revision3.com/pennpoint in addition to youtube.com/pennpoint and follow the show at twitter.com/pennpoint.

About Revision3

Revision3 is the first media company that gets it. Born from the Internet, Revision3 is the home of Internet Television, creating and producing shows for a new audience: passionate, committed fans who want to watch shows about technology, modern culture, video games, entertainment, music and comedy that entertain, educate and help to expand their life experiences.

The company was founded in 2005 by technology visionaries Kevin Rose, Jay Adelson and David Prager because they couldn't find anything they wanted to watch on traditional television. The company is now led by Internet TV pioneer Jim Louderback. Revision3's programs can be found everywhere from Revision3.com to a wide range of platforms, including iTunes, YouTube, Dailymotion, Metacafe, TIVO, Roku, Blip.TV and many others. Shows can be watched on any device, from a cell phone to an Apple iPod to a computer or a TV.

  CONTACT:    Debby Chen / Madhuri Shekar
              Rogers & Cowan
              310.854.8168 / 310.854.8145
              dchen@rogersandcowan.com / mshekar@rogersandcowan.com

Source: Revision3
   

CONTACT:  Debby Chen, +1-310-854-8168, dchen@rogersandcowan.com, or
Madhuri Shekar, +1-310-854-8145, mshekar@rogersandcowan.com, both of Rogers &
Cowan for Revision3

Web Site:  http://www.revision3.com/