Soccer Buoys Business, Not City!

I saw my teammates post on Champions League final and its economical effect. I found that very interesting and made further research and found out actually it is not really profitable to the hosts as it claimed to be.

The League of Champions final, besides a sporting event, was a grandiose financial undertaking. The winner of the match Manchester United became about £85 million richer, and Moscow received about £35 million. City officials s to spent all of the city’s two-year sports budget of $227 million. At the end of the day only the service sector saw a payoff from it.

Analysts estimated that English fans left about £35 million behind them when they visited Moscow, with every fan spending over £650 on the two-day trip. That makes this year’s championship twice as expensive as last year’s in Athens. The estimates are based on the attendance of 40,000 fans. In reality, only 25,000 Britons came to see the match, with many holding back due to the trip’s high price.

The expenses of preparing for the match were shared by the City of Moscow and the Russian Soccer Union. A RSU posted on its web site that most of the expenses, the size of which is not being made public, were borne by the city. Some analysts estimate that the city spent 800 million rubles (about $33.7 million) on Luzhniki Stadium, 10 million rubles ($420,000) sprucing up the stadium’s grounds and the surrounding area and 37 million rubles (about $1.5 million) on temporary pedestrian bridges over roadways near the arena. Moscow received from the UEFA 20 percent of the revenue from ticket sales, which was 35 million rubles. Moscow also received a premium of $1.15 million. The only other revenue the city received from the event was in the form of restaurant and hotel taxes.

The city’s foreign guests were greeted by special inflated prices. The Baltschug Kempinski Hotel was booked for the match dates as soon as they were announced last year. A special rate applied between May 20 and 22 with rooms starting at 28,000 rubles. Swissotel Red Hills was charging 40,000 rubles for rooms that usually cost 18,500 rubles. The Euroluxe Hotel at the edge of the city raised the price of its double rooms from 3950 rubles to 16,000 rubles. Rooms that cost 2900 rubles in the Izmailovo complex were raised to 6000 rubles. Restaurants saw a 50-percent increase in business.

As we can see from the numbers it was not profitable to the City of Moscow at all. But at least they can get some of their money back in forms of taxes.

Entry #14, 20600793

Mozilla Firefox 3.0

For fans of Firefox, Mozilla’s increasingly popular multi-platform Web browser, today is a big day indeed: It’s the official launch of Firefox 3 (Windows only — Mac and Linux releases are imminent). So, what’s new? What’s exciting? What’s the big deal?

For starters, the developers claim Firefox 3 is significantly faster than both 2.0 and Internet Explorer 7. That’s always good. The new Places Organizer lets you tag, manage, and search bookmarks — a big improvement over the old bookmark manager. Firefox 3 also delivers improved security features, better password management, resumable downloads, and an auto-completing location bar:

Type in all or part of the title, tag or address of a page to see a list of matches from your history and bookmarks; a new display makes it easier to scan through the matching results and find that page you’re looking for.

You can see the full list of Firefox 3’s new goodies on Mozilla’s site. You might also want to check out Lifehacker’s Top 10 Firefox 3 Features.

There is a case pending in EU economical court against Microsoft and it seems like in near future Windows OS will be sold without Internet Explorer. Mozilla and European consumer commission accusing Microsoft of product tying.

Mozilla is a part of Software As A Service or Web 2.0 generation of softwares. It's distributed for free over the net and independent programmers can create new features and share it with others. Because of that it became the most popular internet browser and aiming to get a bigger share.

Entry # 13, 20600793

Politics and outdated perspectives hurt business.

Gazprom to Stick to Britain’s Model in U.S.

Russia’s gas monopoly Gazprom is in talks with holders of a few gas traders in the United States about the buyout of the majority stakes from them. The monopoly applies the same methods to pave the way to Britain’s market of gas retail, which has been thoroughly protected against its expansion. Gazprom has covered 1.5 percent of it, stepping up the supplies from 2 percent to 8 percent in the last six years.

The company is studying chances for the first acquisition in the United States, Vitaly Vasiliev, who is the CEO at Britain’s subsidiary of Gazprom, Gazprom Marketing & Trading (GMT), made clear it very clear. The project could start from scratch, or via the partnership or through the acquisition, Gazprom will make the final decision by this year-end, the official specified.

The monopoly is eyeing stakes in traders, but the final agreements haven’t been attained yet. The negotiator is the U.S. division of GMT, GMT USA, which office opened in Texas in 2006.

Russians are trying to build the capability for Gazprom to place its volumes in the market in the most profitable way, to gain the value that Gazprom lost by simply selling at the border or to somebody in the middle. And the promotion experience of the top managers are inspiring. Vasiliev took over GMT in 2002, when Gazprom covered around 2 percent of Britain’s market. Since then, however, the monopoly has extended to above 8 percent on wholesale gas market and reached 1.5 percent on retail market. The progress appears even more impressive given the general antagonism of Britain’s authorities to Gazprom.

On the other hand some financial analyst expressing that fear by US and UK governments might actually make it impossibly for Gazprom to gain more than 10%, which in other words investments for increase of market share might be in vain. Therefore analysts proposing for Gazprom to invest into gas and oil rich Central Asia or try to extend its pipeline monopoly.

Entry # 12, 20600793

Glazer wins control of Man United

from BBC/Sport
US sports tycoon Malcolm Glazer has won control of Manchester United in a £790m ($1.47bn) takeover bid.

The American has secured the 28.7% stake owned by Irish racing tycoons JP McManus and John Magnier, and now has more than 70% of the Premiership club.

Red Football Ltd, acting on behalf of Mr Glazer, said the Irishmen had sold their stakes for 300p a share.

Club fans have vehemently opposed Mr Glazer's ambition all along and fear that ticket prices will soar.

The bid comes five days ahead of the 17 May deadline when Mr Glazer had to make known whether he planned to bid.

'Aggressive'

Mr Glazer now wants to buy the rest of the club's shares. If he gets 75% plus one share, United could be delisted from the stock exchange and Mr Glazer could transfer his debt onto the club.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TIMELINE OF A TAKEOVER
March 2003 - Glazer buys 2.9% stake in club
March 2004 - Glazer says he has "no current intention" of making a bid
June 2004 - Glazer's stake in club nears 20%
October 2004 - United confirms bid approach from Glazer, as his stake nears 30%
November 2004 - Glazer ousts three directors from United's board
December 2004 -Glazer makes revised bid
February 2005 - Glazer makes new bid approach, valuing United at £800m, the club later opens its books to the tycoon
14 April 2005 - Glazer moots £800m bid for club
28 April 2005 - Takeover Panel sets 17 May deadline for Glazer to announce whether he intends to buy United
12 May 2005 - Glazer launches formal takeover bid for United after upping his stake in the club to almost 57%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If he can get 90% plus one share, he can make a compulsory purchase and scoop up the other 10% of the club's shares.

With heavy trading in Manchester United shares taking place after the announcement, it is already looking increasingly likely that Mr Glazer will quickly reach the 90.01% stake he needs to force out any remaining shareholders.

United's third-biggest shareholder Scottish mining millionaire Harry Dobson is already reported to have sold his 6.45% stake after the Irishmen sold theirs.

Shares in Manchester United closed up 34.25 pence, or 12.92%, at 299.25p on Thursday.

Constitutional Affairs Minister Harriet Harman said the government had urged Mr Glazer to have talks with fans, the Football Association and the club in order to ensure there was "constructive involvement".

She told BBC One's Question Time: "Manchester United is very important to English football and the government is keeping a very close eye on the situation.

"The fans are very worried and obviously there is concern that ticket prices will go up and that there won't be investment in the players."

'Damaging'

Mr Glazer first showed an interest in buying the club last autumn and tabled a formal proposal in October, which was rejected by the board.

The owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is thought to be keen to exploit the strength of the Manchester United brand in the US.

Two weeks ago, the club board said it could not recommend Mr Glazer's second takeover proposal to shareholders because his business plan appeared to be too "aggressive".

His offers were rejected on the grounds that his plans relied too heavily on borrowed money.

The club's chief executive David Gill said Mr Glazer's business plan was "potentially damaging" to the club amid fears that the American could saddle it with up to £300m worth of debt.

However, members of the board did agree that some shareholders might think the offer was a good one.

Outrage

Manchester United fans are angry at the latest news. Last year, they formed a shareholders' association to buy club shares and try to protect it from Mr Glazer's clutches.

A spokesman for Shareholders United, which represents 17% of the club's shareholders, told the BBC that Mr Glazer was "no Roman Abramovich".

"He's not turning up with a suitcase full of his own cash and he is, in effect, asking Manchester United fans to pay for his takeover, to pay for increased ticket prices and increased merchandising," said spokesman Oliver Houston.

"We feel completely betrayed by John Magnier and JP McManus."

The Irishmen are estimated to have made a £70m profit from their stake.

A spokesman for the duo said: "They saw it as an investment. They got a very good deal."

'Game over'

"I'm giving up my season ticket," said Shareholders United president Nick Towle.

"I'm not putting a penny of my money into this guy's pocket."

Mr Towle said Shareholders United still hoped to stop the tycoon getting a 75% stake.

"If we can get to that 25% of the remaining shareholders, that would be great," Mr Towle added. "But it's looking like an uphill battle for us."

Analysts are convinced that the 76-year-old is unstoppable.

"I think it's pretty much game over now as the key to all this was always going to surround what the Irish duo would do with their stake," said Richard Hunter of stockbrokers Hargreaves Lansdown.

8th Entry, 20400241, Yohan Park

Champions League final had €260 mln economic impact

Last night's Champions League final between Manchester United and Chelsea has been the richest match in the history of football.

Professor Simon Chadwick, director of Coventry University's Centre for the International Business of Sport, said that the match at Luzhinki stadium generated €260 million in prize-money, spending and TV income. The two sides will share €140 million with the victors receiving about 100 million and the losers taking home €40 million.

"The economic impact of the match is incredible not only for England. The interest for the match was unprecedented, with millions of people rushing from work to buy food and drinks adequate for watching a football match. The restaurants and bars also made solid profits," Chadwick said. He compared the event with the National Football League's Super Bowl in the USA.

ITV, who broadcasted the final, have increased their advertising rates for slots around the game by 50 per cent, with an actual 30-second slot during the final itself costing upwards of €350,000.

6th entry, 20400241, Yohan Park

Euro 2008 Kicks Economies Up a Notch

by Mark Scot © SPIEGEL ONLINE 2008

The economic impact of the three-week soccer championship is expected to exceed $2.15 billion for participating countries, including hosts Austria and Switzerland.

As the US gears up for the NBA Finals, other sports-crazy fans around the world will turn their attention to the three-week European soccer championship in Austria and Switzerland, the third-most-watched global sporting event after the Summer Olympic Games and soccer's World Cup Finals.

While the championship, known as Euro 2008, brings together Europe's top 16 national soccer teams, its widespread appeal makes the contest a truly global phenomenon. The Union of European Football Assns. (UEFA) expects TV audiences will top 1 billion worldwide for the matches held between June 7 and June 29. More than 100 million visitors are expected to visit the championship's official Web site, a fourfold increase over the last event held in Portugal in 2004.

Such exposure means big bucks for Europe's economy. According to Simon Chadwick, director of the Birkbeck Sport Business Centre at the University of London, Euro 2008's economic impact on UEFA's 52 members across Europe could top $2.15 billion. That includes extra tourism revenue for Austria and Switzerland, multimillion-dollar TV licensing agreements, and increased food and beverage sales as fans head to bars or host barbecues in support of their home teams.

"Euro 2008 will have a halo effect on the wider European economy," says Chadwick. "This impact will be felt in many countries, principally driven by sponsorship and commercial revenues."

The Bottom Line

While the business impact of this year's tournament is light-years ahead of the first UEFA championship in 1960, some elements have remained basically unchanged. Teams are still split into four groups to play each other in a round-robin format. The top two from each group then move into the knockout stages, until eventually a European soccer champion is crowned. Greece is the defending champion from 2004, but Germany, Italy, and Spain are the favorites this time.

No matter who wins, Austria and Switzerland will reap rewards from the hundreds of thousands of fans expected to descend on both countries during June. Consultants Rutter & Partner estimate Euro 2008 will bring $358 million into the Swiss economy, while consultants SportEconAustria figure Austria will gain $369 million.

Where will the money be spent? Kim Hollywood, a spokesperson for the Austrian tourism board, says the hotel and service industries will gain the most. In Austria alone, overnight bookings have already hit the 2 million mark -- well above usual rates for June -- while almost 11,000 temporary jobs have been created to cope with the influx of visitors. "Austria wants to show that it knows how to celebrate," she says.

Huge Wide-Screened TVs

For fans unable to attend one of the tournament's 31 matches, each of the eight host cities has invested millions of dollars in "fan zones," centrally located party areas where supporters can gather to watch the games. UEFA has forked over more than $13 million for the necessary infrastructure, including huge wide-screen TVs to show the action.
Sponsors, such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's, and Adidas also have spent millions in product promotion to maximize their connection with Euro 2008. "Fan zones help people engage with our products in a meaningful way," says James Leipnik, chief of communications and corporate relations for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at Canon, one of the official sponsors.

Britain Bumped, Other Countries Buoyed

The tournament's economic bounce won't be limited to the host countries. Along with extra food and beverage sales, gambling across the Continent is expected to rise as Europeans stake money on teams winning Euro 2008. British betting firm Ladbrokes expects more than $700 million to be wagered on matches during the three-week event, in part thanks to the explosion in Internet gambling.

The economic windfall will benefit some European countries more than others, though. Because the English national team failed to qualify for Euro 2008 (Britain's other home nations -- Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland -- also missed out), Britain likely will lose hundreds of millions of dollars in potential revenue. More than 40 percent of the English express a "strong interest" in soccer, so Birkbeck's Chadwick reckons the team's absence could depress the economic impact of Euro 2008 in Britain. When England reached the quarterfinals of the 2006 soccer World Cup, for example, an estimated $3.1 billion was spent in the local economy.

Too bad for Britain this time around, but other countries in the final 16 could get a nice pick-me-up. From Portugal to Russia, the European soccer championship will undoubtedly be a kick for the economy.

- 5th Entry, 20400241, Yohan Park

European Football Market Tops €10 billion

Accountants Deloitte and Touche have estimated the European football market to be worth around €10 billion in their latest report on football finances. Dan Jones, director of Deloitte and Touche Sport commented, 'England's matchday incomes are now almost three times those of other big leagues. German, Italian and Spanish clubs need to address revenue generation and commercial issues at their stadia urgently or they will fall further behind.' In particular the report notes that clubs in Italy and Spain 'lack the relative balance between different revenues that Premier League clubs have (being too reliant on broadcasting money) and have historically shown far less discipline regarding player costs.'

The report shows that the 'big five' leagues in Europe (which between them account for 80 per cent of all football income) experienced mixed fortunes in terms of revenue growth in the 2001-2 season. England (up €1.7 billion) and Germany (who broke €1 billion for the first time) recorded very healthy increases of 21 per cent and 19 per cent respectively. French revenues were static and Italy decreased by 2 per cent. There were no reliable figures for Spain. The 2001/2 growth rates meant that the English Premiership built on an already substantial revenue gap to the next biggest league (Italy). The absolute gap now stands at over €600m.

Wages again rose substantially. In the big leagues the increases ranged from 6 per cent in France to 26 per cent in England. Only Germany recorded a percentage wages increase (19 per cent) less than growth (17 per cent). Wages/turnover ratios increased everywhere except Germany. The English Premiership was Eropean champion in terms of operating profits, generating €130m in 2001/2, up from €125 million. Germany saw operating profits rise from €87m to €100m. France, and particularly Italy, recorded sizeable operating losses. Italy's loss of €404 million, up from €216 million in the previous season, was largely the result of static income and rising wages.

The Premiership remained the best-attended top division in European football. Its average crowd is eleven per cent above its nearest rival, the German Bundesliga. Italy's Serie A, whose average attendance fell by eleven per cent, slipped back into third place. Average attendances in Spain have fluctuated around the same levels, in the low twenty thousands, for years. France, after a post World Cup boom, has settled back into fifth place. The Premiership is the only league to exhibit consistent growth in attendance in every season since the mid 1990s.

The UEFA Champions League is the de facto sixth 'big' European league. Its estimated broadcasting income of €420m would rank it third among the 'big five' leagues. The competition's average attendance in 2001/2 (34,351) was higher than any of the 'big five' domestic leagues.

-4th entry, 20400241 Yohan Park

14. No-Key Glass Keyboard

The No-key Keyboard by Kong Fanwen is definitely something worth looking at - it features a totally radical design that is a welcome departure from what we see every day in the market. Guaranteed to be the flattest full-size QWERTY keyboard to date, you get a full glass surface, camera and lighting that uses motion capture technology to translate those lightning quick finger movements into actual characters on the screen.

The No-Key is very simple: just a light source, a camera and an etched sheet of glass, showing the key positions. You just type, the cam sees your contact with the glass and sends appropriate commands to your PC. And one image suggests it'd be waterproof, and we could expects PCs in our bathrooms soon

Reference : http://www.itechnews.net/2008/06/12/glass-keyboard-has-no-keys/

14th blog by 20200652

Vice Fund

Beginning of this year Economic Inquiry presented report that

related tocause and affect of alcohol and cigarette. First of

drinking alcohol beverage does not related to all household

income. Most peopel think that high-earnersdrink expensive

beverage and people with low income drink cheap alcohol

like soju. It's also regardless of family background or heretical

facts. Most likely it's depend on personality and peer pressure

group. There are groups that have different characters, and

a group that prefer to drink in this society is considering

future as hopeless. It's also important to emphasize

whne did you start to drink.

Smoking is slightly different from alcohol because most

of their customers depend on blue labor in society. America

is sort of different because price of cigarette. An important fact

is regardless of price, because it's high rate of taxes.

There is a fund called vice fund which depend on income of

cigarette and alcohol company. Which means it's an industry

that does not effect by currency of economy. It means

Vice Fund is totally different from SRI. However, it's

most safe fund to invest.

14th edition 20400402 (make up for last week)

Telecommunication

Business in Tele-communication area is enormous and also has

an import role in society. There are a lot of tele-communication

business most of countries, however, Korea is sort of different

from others. The biggest fact in this field is 3 companies are

allowed by government; SKT, KTF, LGT. Regardless of wire

and wireless communication business there are several more.

Most companies in Korea do not prefer to joint venture

especially in Korean market. This year SKT and Hanaro

telelcom will joint venture, but as matter of Hanaro had

a law suit, because they had been used personal informations

illegally. The service that SKT and Hanaro was going to

provide is wireless and internet combined. Eventually,

Law suit had been charged and it delays until now.

However, high inflation destroys economic in Korea

and world wide. Government provides different rule

in order to provide services to customers with

lower price. Basically high inflation causes to affect

economic negatively and it requires a lot of cost to

live. Maybe high-inflation is a time like Great

depression but it could be a chance to have

a better business in the future because less-

distriction of law in business field.

20400402 14th edition

LG v.s. iPhone!

Introduction: LG has stepped up to the plate to compete with iPhone, with its beautiful touchscreen, access to mobile TV, and a 2 megapixel camera. Both devices are similar in design. It is streamlined, simple, and beautiful. However, LG Vu (phone) is more capable. It is one of the first device to have Flo TV mobile, TV service through AT&T service. Consumers can watch MTV to CNN with very clear graphic visuals and sharpness, just for $15 a month. iPhone is also available of providing the TV service from AT&T, but their latest model can't tune into that TV service.

Differentiation: Obviously, LG has taken its technology into more advancement that its competitors. Vu also has other gadgets that makes it more "fun" for the consumers. For example, the phone has vabration method whenever the touchscreen buttons are pushed to let the users know the button has been pushed. In addition, by the tilt of the screen, it automatically adjusts the screen view accordingly, so that the users can watch the content whenever it is vertical or horizontal. Web browser function is also embedded in Vu. Websites are viewed in orignial HTML format just like the actual internet websites sited through computer. Finally, it has the state-of-art megapixel within a phone that gives a very sharp quality in digital camera mode pictures.

More improvements required: Vu is very functional, however, it is not complete in terms of filling the gaps of technological inefficiency. For one, Vu has weak internet connection compared to the other competitors. Samsung has very strong and flawless connection to internet. Vu also has weak power in batteries than iPhone and Samsung. The lifespand of one battery until it needs to be charged is about half the time shorter than the strongest battery inputted device, like Samsung's products.

Conclusion & Marketing Proposals: We are living in a day where one day's absence of cell phone provides very troublesome inconveniences. However, cell phones being part of our lives for some time now, not only consumers seek the function of communication from the cell phones but also the design. LG Vu is an exemplary model to meet design aspect of customer satisfaction. It is very sheek, sharp, and luxurious in design. Also, people want phones that have multi-functions. A cell phone without a camera is so not attractive, even though most people have a separate digital cameras. Internet access through mobile phone has become very convenient too. You can download movies, use the GPS system, and view news from it. However, in terms of LG's potential success in marketing, it should sponsor for direct formative advertising. iPhone has a very strong brand image through iPod, and in order to compete, they should advertise their technological lead in the mobile market. Also, a product can quickly fish its customers but the reliance in the product is the key factor that builds a loyal relationship with the customers. As mentioned in the "more improvements required" section of this blog, LG should really look into their technical difficulties and reduce the defects. Also, it is important to have customer service, after-purchase services, and customer satisfaction measures. In the end, it is the one who snatches the heart of consumer's that last in the global competition.

source: http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2008/tc2008069_365878.htm?chan=search

(#20300742, #14th entry)

20600674 (Entry #14- Smartphones for Women)

In a big shift for the phone industry, women have emerged as eager buyers of not just iPhones but of all so-called smartphones — BlackBerrys, Treos and other models. In the last year the number of American women using smartphones more than doubled to 10.4 million, growing at a faster pace than among men, according to Nielsen Mobile, which tracks wireless trends.

Smartphones are cheaper now — as little as $99 for the petite BlackBerry Pearl — and are better designed. Women have been using them for years in business, of course, but many are finding that the phones can also help manage their families’ hectic schedules and keep them in touch with friends. “Women, including wives and mothers, need to keep track of their busy lives, too.”

The phone makers and service providers increasingly see women as the path to the entire household. According to Verizon Wireless, 71 percent of women make the decision about their family’s wireless choices, including phones and service plans. (Smartphones require data plans that can cost $30 or more a month.) As a result, smartphone makers are beginning to market specifically to women.

Women were less likely to be wowed by fancy gadgets. Instead, as smartphones have become sleeker, smaller and cheaper, they have become more appealing to them. “Now they are small enough to be in your purse or pocket,” Mr. Christopher said. “Design does matter.”

Competitors have been working hard to catch up to Apple in the design department. This month Sprint, a unit of Sprint Nextel, will begin selling the Instinct, a touch-screen device created by Samsung that shares many features with the iPhone. And this summer R.I.M. is adding the BlackBerry Bold, which, like the iPhone, runs on a faster mobile network.

Nielsen’s research shows that women are more price sensitive than men and half as likely to care about whether they have used a specific brand before. Years ago the market was much more focused solely on function. Now there is more focus on lifestyle.” “Companies need to be careful to not think that to sell smartphones they just need to be pink,” she said. “There are other things women want.”

Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, understood this when his engineers created the iPhone. Although it is not marketed specifically to women, it has a clean design and multimedia features that many women say they like, but that the BlackBerry lacks.

According to Nielsen, two-thirds of women with smartphones say they use them primarily for pleasure rather than business.

As I was reading this article, I had hoped there would be more smartphones in Korea as well. Smartphones does seem really convinient, especially for busy and working moms to take care of their family and work schedule. Also, as we have learned in class, marketing a product is about how the product gives value to the consumer. In this case, the smartphones design did matter, but the function was the more important component. Also, for women, they wanted a small smartphone that they could put in their purse. Looking at this attributes, we can conclude that being aware of consumers needs and wants are important.

I would like to get an iPhone as well!

- by 20600674 (entry #14)

USB 3.0: Stirs Conflict in Competition

Introduction: USB 3.0 promises unreal data transfer speed. As it is closing its preparation for the release in the market, the dispute regarding its requirements in the IT industry is arising. It is the conflict between the corporation which knows the specs of USB 3.0 and those who don't. USB 3.0 is also known as the "super speed" and it prides in data transfer rate of 4.8Gb per second. This is approximately 10 times faster than the USB 2.0. The date expected of its release into the market is late this year or early next year.

Conflict in the IT industry: AMD, NVidia, ViaTechnology, and etc. is unsatisfied with Intel's behavior of maintaining technology secrecry. These companies are now dedicated to finding their own independent technology to fight back against Intel's selfishness. Intel is the top leader of its industry in manufacturing CPU, chip sets, and etc. It is not the whole innovative technology that its competitors are seeking, rather they want to know the specifications and standard requirements of USB 3.0. This will allows profit for the whole industry, but Intel seeks to grasp the whole entire market without having to share any information on how they are going to release the product to the public. Intel may release such information regarding the specification and requirements of USB 3.0, but that is only after the completion of their goals. This forces other competitors to just sit and wait. It seems that Intel's goal is to be ahead of everybody in the race of USB 3.0, and they claimed that the complaints of its competitors are improper.

What Effects on Consumers?: There are many PC manufacturing companies who want to adapt compatibility on their products for the use of USB 3.0. Intel is the only one who knows recipe of such specification. Of course, it in the best interest of the consumers to purchase a better, more efficient product. However, if Intel gets sole lead on this upgraded product, the consumer sovereignty is at stake. Intel can have relative amount of control in determining the price of the product until the competitors rival with their own products. It would not be illegal under the Anti-Trust legal issues, but it will have effect on consumers. Innovators will have to pay more for it, general consumers would just have to simple wait til the price drops.

Conclusion: Intel's strategy is not illegal by any means. They have invested their own capital expenditures to come up with hot, new item. Also such competitive advantage enforces other competitors excel in advancement of technology. In result, this provides improved technology of the world. However, too much greed can isolate a company. Imagine if you are top of the class. Your classmates want to know how you study, what style of notes you take, and what pages to read. But continuous rejection of such help can lead your classmates to be uncooperative. In case you miss a class for one day, who would you ask for notes on the missed lecture? Ah-ha~! Now do you see?

source: 1. http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=105&oid=030&aid=0001956039

2. http://www.zdnet.co.kr/news/digital/0,39030978,39161626,00.htm

#20300742 (#13 entry)

13. Value of design in products

Ipod, Lucky Strike, LG Chocolate Phone, VW Beetle, Nike Airforce one, Sony Walkman, what are their similarities? What attracts the customer's first sight? Sales of these products exploded all over the world for their design. What made Apple's ipod so successful? Does Apple have the best mp3 technology? Does new Volkswagen Beetle have better horsepower? Their design is what brought them success.

When LG Chocolate phone developers were discussing about the release of Chocolate Phone, technicians and user interface experts opposed its release while fought for it strongly. LG made the final decision to release the Chocolate phone through strong impose by designers and it swept the phone industry all over the world. At the time, Chocolate phone became a big issue on the world's news, internet and magazines. It was selected as one of the world's top 5 well designed phone by british electronics magazine 'STUFF'. What can we learn from this case?

As more businesses are transforming into E-market, design has become very crucial element in customer's decisions. In the eyes of designers, designer is what is most important in the product. Similarly in the eyes of engineers, performance is what is most important in a product. All though they are equally important, lets take time to think about what we consider more when we're purchasing a product. Is there really a huge difference in technology today? Do we really feel the difference in watching Samsung and LG TV? Why do people chose listen to Ipod, ride Beetle, talk on chocolate phone when there are chaper products with better performance? All though there might have been other factors may have added to their sales we should regard the impact of design on customers.

No references. 100% Own thought.

13th blog by 20200652

CUV next generation of SUV

CUV(Cross Utilities Vehicle) is a target as next generation

of SUV. Price of gas is dramatically increasing and one

barrel costs $130 today. Motor companies in the world

focus on CUV. There are 20 different types of CUV came

out as a model recently and it seems like blue ocean for

each company but it will be a red ocean pretty soon.

Two different types of CUV already came out in Korea

and including Japanese and European companies

already produced various CUV. CUV is not a luxurious

vehicle yet it has a lot of potential to grow up. It has

different way and purpose to use. As we learned

most likely star productof each company is familiy sedan.

However, a lot of customers want to have SUV and

cost of CUV probably will shift customers' consume.

Basically the biggest concern in this case is how to

present to customers.

20400402 13th edition

By 20600674 (Entry #13 VOIP in Tokyo Cellphones)

Tokyo Telco Bets Big on Voice-Over-Internet
Japan Communications is set to offer mobile phones that make calls using voice-over-Internet protocol technology, which could lead to lower rates

Sometime in July, telecom services venture Japan Communications is expected to lease wireless spectrum from NTT DoCoMo (DCM) for a new type of cell-phone service. The Tokyo company is likely to be the first operator in Japan to offer mobile handsets that can make calls on-the-go using voice-over-Internet protocol technology.

JCI's service and other mobile VoIP services like it have the potential to change drastically the economics of cellular services. Analysts say that VoIP should mean lower rates for subscribers, especially for long-distance calls. That's good news for users in Japan, where basic monthly rates average around $60 and are among the highest in the world.

JCI officials have a loftier goal: Simplify communications by routing mobile-phone calls through the same digital channels we now use to browse the Net. Microsoft (

MSFT) and Cisco (CSCO) have been pushing this concept, known as "unified communications," in recent years, but hurdles remain even for these tech giants.

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Reflection:

VoIP on cellphones is excellent because of the low price!

However, there are some technical challenges that they must overcome.

VoIP has high tendency for dropped calls and interrupted connections.

If Japan Communications want to succeed in implementing VoIP on

cellphones, they need to overcome this technical problem.

If not, it will quickly alienate users.

They simply will not want to use the new technology.

If the technical problem is solved, then I think VoIP on cellphones will be a success!