Business Management Europe

Sebastien International - Episode 5 � New York

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 11:18:00 +0000

In October 2010, Australian entrepreneur Sebastien Eckersley-Maslin embarked on a bold business challenge: become the Smallest Multinational in the World. Follow Sebastien's whirlwind journey around the world as he attempts to prove that with the right entrepreneurial spirit, you don't need to be big to be big. Sebastien International tells the inspiring story of a unique business adventure.

Episode 5 - New York

It's the toughest city in the world to crack and New York first-timer Sebastien certainly has his work cut out. But a meeting with a contact Sebastien describes as "like someone from The Godfather" is promising, and an encounter with a celebrity mentor soon have Seb on top of the world in the Big Apple.

The business idea - one for one for a better world

There's nothing like arriving in a city of 8.2 million people to remind you that you're a very small fish in a global pool of movers and shakers. That's why, as an entrepreneur trying to get noticed in New York, it's important to have a strong support network - either business or personal - that can help open doors.

But don't be fooled by the warm welcome at the door. If you don't have a mighty powerful business proposition, the door won't open twice.

Fortunately, the ‘one for one' model has already been proven by a handful of entrepreneurs around the world - another key to getting serious airtime in New York, and critical for me when I had only a matter of weeks to put together a business plan and take it around the world.

So what does a One-for-one business do?

The idea is simple but powerful: Every time you buy something, a one-for-one business donates the same item to someone in need.

It's charity as part of everyday life and it empowers you to make a difference, one transaction at a time.

The revenue model is that of a ‘for profit' business, proving you can have a charitable aspect and still be profitable. Where it makes money is through selling one-for-one branded products - from FMCG to financial services products. The criteria is that they have either a very low cost-per-sale, so a donation with every purchase does not significantly affect the bottom line, or, the commercial platform is a scalable online service that requires minimal resources to operate.

Currently, the model is providing shoes, spectacles and condoms to the underprivileged in African and Asia, and it's no surprise that the philosophy has been embraced in New York - a place where generosity is as much a sign of success as profitability. But it will take significant interest from the global business community before ‘one for one' marketed products become synonymous with supporting third world communities.

Until then, the one for one business platform will remain the domain of that handful of dedicated entrepreneurs. Without wishing myself out of a job, I sincerely hope the landscape changes soon.

Find previous episodes here...

ep 1, ep 2, ep 3, ep 4

Sebastien International - Episode 4 � Paris

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 15:26:00 +0000

Episode 4 - Paris

Nothing is going right in France for Sebastien. His hotel room is double booked and he's failed to secure any meetings. Will he be down and out in Paris, or can Sebastien pull something out of the entrepreneurial bag?

OVERCOMING OBSTACLES

We face them all the time. It doesn't matter if you're an entrepreneur, a business person, a writer*, an athlete or an entire country. These are the complications that hinder the progression of your goals. However, I find, with the right balance of strategic thinking and a good dose of persistence, obstacles can actually turn into prime motivators. *I particularly suffer from writers' block!

Map it out

The proverbial has hit the fan. The first thing I do is pick myself off the ground and try to work out what happened, why it happened and where I was going. Map this out. Not only will this process create a path of logic, it may help identify new obstacles you can avoid. I personally use butcher paper and whiteboards as I find they promote brevity and keep things nice and visual, but use any process that works for you.

Test what you know

Don't ever underestimate the value of past experiences and how they can apply now - empirical methodology is where scientists start when they enter unexplored territory and you can use some of this in your own problem solving. Take some time out, think about how you have dealt with major obstacles in the past and what the resolution involved. You might pull out a forgotten tactic, an emotional response, or a resource that can help you push through. This might also be a good time to hit up your contacts on LinkedIn and see what you can learn from their experiences. (As it's always better to learn from someone else's mistakes!)

Return to your vision

Sometimes the most confronting thing you can be asked when you're starting out is "why" you're doing it. As the diary becomes full and the business plan stretches in different directions, it's easy to let your vision sit unnoticed in the background and that's when issues arise. Before they threaten your business confidence, dig out the original vision and remind yourself of why. If what you're doing doesn't align itself with your primary goal and original vision then you should ask yourself "why you are not" doing it.

Go to lunch

Lunch could be a sandwich in the park with the sunglasses on and the headphones in, it could be 3 courses and wine with a trusted friend, or it could be a metaphor for simply making some space in your head. Whatever it is for you, make sure you do it to clear your mind. In Paris I had a few issues with the direction of the business, I took a lunch break (aka gastronomic adventure) in the Eiffel Tower and came back refreshed, clear minded and scored a meeting within minutes of returning to the office. (Evidenced in the Paris video above)

Whilst it's desirable to have everything go your way, the truth is something will not quite work out. Stepping away calmly and asking the right questions of yourself and others are the best things you can possibly do when things don't go to plan.

Sebastien Eckersley-Maslin

Catch episode 1 here

Catch episode 2 here

Catch episode 3 here

Sebastien International - Episode 3 � London

Tue, 04 Jan 2011 15:12:00 +0000

Sebastien International - The Web Series

Episode 3 - London

Sebastien has just two days to strike a deal in London and a tube strike has brought the city to a stand still. It's far from ideal for the young man who is trying to become the world's smallest multinational, but as every successful entrepreneur knows - it's about how you adapt and overcome.

Top apps when you're on the road

If there is anything that my last business trip to London taught me, it's to make sure you've got your apps in order before you go.

With the right technology you can be prepared for anything, even a tube strike the day you've got a major presentation, an interview and a networking event.

Here are some of the apps I rely on to stay productive - on the road and in the back of a London cab:

Todo
- a very powerful to do list designed for both the iPhone and iPad. You can create projects and checklists and even get a little help in ‘Getting Things Done' GTD. More about Todo

Cisco Mobile
With this app I can make ‘local' calls from any office number in my virtual network and make calls over a Wi-Fi network to save on roaming charges. This app only works as part of an enterprise buy, but anyone connected to Servcorp Online can benefit from it. More about Cisco Mobile

Dropbox
A great cloud computing app, dropbox let's you access your files from anywhere, syncs from multiple computers so you'll always have the latest version of the file, and it lets you share files with others via a private URL - it's simple and beautiful and a great timesaver. More about Dropbox

Servcorp Meetings
Book a meeting room anywhere in the world, arrange lunch, tea and coffee, request a white board for a presentation or make sure a personal assistant is on hand to translate. The meetings app highlights what's truly unique about Servcorp's Virtual Office packages. More about Servcorp Meetings

Flight Track
This app allows you to stay on top of last minute changes to your travel schedule. Check the times and status of flights anywhere in the world, view boarding gate numbers, baggage claim numbers, temperature in destination cities and much more. More about Flight Track

LinkedIn
All the contacts of the world via a very intuitive application. Don't underestimate the power of LinkedIn, particularly when you're on the road. The portal is a constant source of inspiration and can put you within reach of business opportunities in an instant. More about LinkedIn app

Of the 300,000 or so apps now available for iOS, there must be a few more that Business Management readers can add to this list.

Sebastien Eckersley-Maslin

To see episode 1 click here.

To see episode 2 click here.

To see episode 4 click here.

Sebastien International - Episode 2 - Tokyo

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 11:46:00 +0000

Sebastien International - The Web Series

Episode 2 - Tokyo

In February 2010, Sebastien Eckersley Maslin left the Australian Navy and became an Entrepreneur. Shortly after, he started a successful business in seven days with just AU$500. And now, he's taking on his biggest challenge ever: become the Smallest Multinational in the World. In episode 2, we join Sebastien in Tokyo.

Doing business in Japan is like a lesson in fine art. While the pace of Tokyo can make your head spin at street level, step inside the cool calm of any highrise and the attention to time honoured traditions is as detailed as an 18th century block print.

You'll also find that being skilled in these customs is powerful currency. The Japanese are extremely polite and place significance on respect and social rank. From ceremonial rituals like the exchange of business cards, to the importance of attire and the formality of meetings, etiquette is to be observed with reverence. Here are some tips that will help you make a good first impression and build a lasting relationship with your Japanese partners.

1. Exchanging business cards
The exchange of business cards during a meeting is a ceremony in itself. Always present your business card to the most senior member at the meeting first. Always bow when presenting or receiving a business card and handle with both hands. Always treat the business card with respect, take the time to read it carefully, never write on it or play with it. A symbol of your name and your credibility, business cards are very important in Japanese business culture.

2. What to wear
Business attire must be formal. Wear a dark suit with a white shirt and subdued tie, but steer clear of a black suit and tie worn with a white shirt, as this is traditional Japanese funeral attire. A red tie is traditionally the colour of someone heroic. The combination of red and white (tie and shirt) is also a symbol for auspicious or happy occasions (business meetings). Men in power - like the Presidents of the United States - are often seen sporting dark power suits with white shirts and a red tie.

3. Business meetings
Punctuality is a must in Japan. Arrive 10 minutes early and plan a detailed agenda. Wait to be seated in the meeting room, as it is customary for the most important or senior associate to sit the furthest away from the door. Business meetings are about relationship building and decisions are rarely made on the spot. Meetings may feel a bit slow and key details are often discussed in a round-about way - but don't mistake indirectness as non-commitment. Be patient, it will pay off. Silence is also a virtue, if things go quiet during a meeting do not panic, reflection is taking place.

4. Language
Another important aspect to consider is language. If you don't speak Japanese, your meetings will be done through an interpreter. Documents, presentations and even business cards need to be translated. It's important to find yourself a trusted partner on the ground in Japan to help you with these services and anticipate your needs if you visit regularly. This is where the services of a virtual office provider like Servcorp can be invaluable.

5. The Experience
The natural partner to a Tokyo business trip is a stay in a capsule hotel. You might choose a regular city hotel or even the more traditional Ryokan for the majority of your stay, but if you have a sense of adventure it's an experience not to be missed. Once inside, the capsules are larger than they appear, but still definitely not for the claustrophobic. Or those particularly sensitive to hospital style robes, communal showers and smoking. Sometimes all at once!

They might seem like small things, but the few pointers above can make all the difference to a trip to Japan for business. Take some time to consider them before you go and you'll be glad you did your homework.

Sebastien Eckersley-Maslin

Catch Episode 1 here.

Did Anonymous Crash Amazon Website?

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 11:54:00 +0000

Amazon is potentially the next high-profile name to be targeted by a group of cyber-activists in relation to the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks, after the online retailer's website went down for half-an-hour on 12 December.

Among the European websites affected were the British, French, German, Austrian and Italian sites, which end .it, .de, .uk, .fr and .at - which are all hosted in Dublin. The half an hour crash happened at 21.45 GMT on Sunday - one of the busiest online shopping times.

Initial blame has been directed at Anonymous, a cyber-activist group that managed to bring down Mastercard's official website last week after the financial giant withdrew funding to Wikileaks. However Amazon were quick to point out that the outage on Sunday was in fact due to a "hardware failure" and not cyber crime.

"The brief interruption to our European retail sites last night was due to hardware failure in our European datacentre network and not the result of a [distributed denial of service] attempt," said a spokesperson for the firm.

Amazon stopped hosting Wikileaks material on its servers on 1 December saying the site was breaking its terms and conditions.

As part of its campaign, Anonymous had planned to mount a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on Amazon on Friday, but publicly abandoned the plans, saying they did not have the "forces."

"While it is indeed possible that Anonymous may not have been able to take Amazon.com down in a DDoS attack, this is not the only reason the attack never occurred," read a statement that appeared to be published by the group.

"After the attack was so advertised in the media, we felt that it would affect people such as consumers in a negative way and make them feel threatened by Anonymous.

"Simply put, attacking a major online retailer when people are buying presents for their loved ones would be in bad taste."

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Borders Disastrous Third Quarter, Loses $74 Million

Fri, 10 Dec 2010 08:54:00 +0000

Borders, the Ann Arbor-based bookseller, has failed to turn around a poor 2010 with revenue falling 17.6 percent in the third quarter, to $470.9 million. The loss from continuing operations was $74.4 million compared to a loss of $37.7 million a year ago.

The losses impacted the share price, with the chain losing $1.03 a share in the three months up to the end of October. Sales on Borders.com fell 8.6% to $12.5 million in the third quarter. It reduced its inventory by $233.7 million in the quarter. But it signed up more than 580,000 customers for its rewards plus program, bringing in $11 million in revenue.

Borders Group President Mike Edwards said during a conference call with analysts that a new strategic plan had not been in place long enough to improve results.

"We have a comprehensive, executable plan in place that supports our goal of transforming the iconic Borders brand into a profitable economic model over time," Edwards said on the call.

Borders faces a number of challenges ongoing challenges. It is competing directly as a walk in store with store giants like Walmart and Barnes & Noble, and online against the likes of Amazon.

"With Google, Amazon and Walmart, you have three 800-pound gorillas in the room. And you are a 98-pound competitor," Dalto said of Borders.

"If you go four years with all these losses, the core of your strategy is not working," Dalto said. "It is faulty. This just shows it."

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Sebastien International - Episode 1 � Sydney

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 11:19:00 +0000

Sebastien International - The Web Series

Episode 1 - Sydney

So Sebastein, tell BM what you're doing right now.

Basically I'm in the middle of a round the world trip to become the world's smallest multi-national. It's a bit of a challenge. I'm also going do it in record time - two weeks. That's the end objective.

I'm no stranger to challenges. I've done a few of these business challenges in the past. One was a start-up in 7 days for under $500.00, a business which is still going today quite successfully. This is all just basically a way of inspiring other people and pushing the boundaries of what can be achieved in really just demonstrating that someone doesn't really have to be big to be big.

Tell us a bit more about Sebastien International. Sebastian International is the global organization. It's just a name. It's a branding exercise. The real business itself is called One for One, and it's basically an organization that for every product that you purchase through us, we donate a like product to someone of need.

It's just a really good way of increasing social conscience in consumers. I found through a lot of research that charities are fantastic and do a lot of good in the world, but people sometimes get a little disenfranchised about the whole charity concept.

They can't really see exactly what their donations actually do because charities work on a much larger scale. What One for One does is it gives people a direct understanding of exactly what their contribution is doing. So, for example, with a bottled water product, you buy a bottled water through One for One and we donate clean drinking water to a child in South Africa for a month. It's a very clear understanding of exactly what their purchases have done.

So talk us through the business model

Firstly, the One for One organization will promote other businesses in this space that currently do this, and there are others out there that already use this concept. We've got them on board already.

Secondly, we really want to show with One for One is that businesses can still have a charitable aspect and be profitable at the same time, and going to show that by having our own product line. So that's really where the actual business sense is.

So the One for One group is more of the marketing and PR aspect to the organization. We'll make our revenue in business in the actual One for One product line.

So why philanthropy?

Well for two reasons. One, I was heavily involved in the Club Kidpreneur Program in Australia, which is a not-for-profit organization that teaches our primary school children basic leader skills. I helped write the curriculum for that. I felt really good about doing that and I wanted to continue down that path.

Secondly, because this challenge is over a very short amount of time I needed a product or an idea that people would jump on and support. One for One is something people will get really excited about because they can see that you're doing good in the world.

It seemed like a really natural fit for this opportunity to go around the world and make a global organization, and also change the way people think and perceive products and consumerism.

Biggest challenges?

There have been a few challenges, some of which we've managed to overcome on the way. The biggest challenge is time. I'm doing this in a very short amount of time, but things are going well and the support of the virtual office provider, Servcorp, just made it so much easier because I had the staff, systems and office space I could call my own.

The other real challenge is that large organizations have long lead times. They'll only meet businesses who want to sell them something in certain time periods and if you're not in that one week period they won't even talk to you. So it's a bit of a challenge to get around that. Calling lots of personal favors, using LinkedIn to identify the exact individual I want to talk to and leveraging my network and going through agents is my way around that.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab Hits 1 Million Sales

Mon, 06 Dec 2010 08:13:00 +0000

It may not have sold with the speed of its rival iPad, but the recently available Samsung Galaxy tablet has reached the one million sales plateau after only two months on the market.

The mark is a positive result for Samsung, who had come under scrutiny from Apple's Steve Jobs about the size of the Galaxy screen. At Apple's quarterly review, Job's claimed that a 10-inch screen was "the minimum required to create great tablet apps." He also expressed that 7-inch tablets like the Galaxy would be "DOA, dead on arrival and manufacturers will realize they're too small and abandon them next year. They'll then increase the size, abandoning the customers and developers who bought into the smaller format."

Despite a successful result for the Galaxy, the tablet still took a month longer to sell the same number of units as the iPad, however the result is still positive for Samsung and Google Android, the tablets operating system.

Samsung's success could be attributed to the popularity of its Galaxy S smartphones, which is sold by the majority of US carriers. According to a ComScore survey, 24.2 percent of the 3000 surveyed said they were using a Samsung phone or a similar Samsung device.

iPad have now estimated to have sold eight million tablets since hitting the market earlier this year, with fourth quarter sales peaking at four million.

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Google Comes Under Scrutiny from EU

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 08:11:00 +0000

The European Commission has launched an investigation against Google Inc. in light of claims that the company has abused its dominant position by penalising the search results of competing services.

Ciao.de, Foundem.co.uk, and Ejustice.fr prompted the antitrust investigation after making allegations that Google manipulates its search results to promote its own services above those offered by competitors. Foundem said in its complaint filed against Google in February 2010, "Google is exploiting its dominance of search in ways that stifle innovation, suppress competition, and erode consumer choice."

Should the allegations be proven that Google has abused a dominant position in online search, this would be in violation of European Union rules. However, the European Commission stresses that the launch of the investigation does not imply that it has any proof of infringements and states, "It only signifies that the Commission will conduct an in-depth investigation of the case as a matter of priority."

The Commission will probe whether Google has decreased the ranking of unpaid search results of competitors' services in favor of its own. It will also look into whether the ‘Quality Score' was lowered by Google, which influences the amount paid by advertisers to have their ad displayed with the search result.

Google denies deliberately lowering the ranking of competitors. In the case of Foundem, Google ascertains that the poor page ranking is due to that fact that the website duplicates a majority of its content from other sites.

However, the search engine giant has agreed to work with the EC. "Since we started Google we have worked hard to do the right thing by our users and our industry," Google stated, "But there's always going to be room for improvement, and so we'll be working with the Commission to address any concerns."

It is predicted to take six months for the EC to arrive at a conclusion over the investigation. In the worst-case scenario for Google, they could be fined up to $2.4 billion by the EC, although this is unlikely. To date, the largest fine raised in a similar case was against Intel for £930 million.

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Google Could Buy Groupon Deals Site

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 08:10:00 +0000

Google, the internet giant is in talks to buy Groupon for $6 billion, according to sources from the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.

The move would solidify Google's move into the local advertising space, adding a welcome addition to its multibillion-dollar online advertising business. The purchase would also extend Google's dominance against surging competition from Facebook, which has rolled out its own deals initiative last month.

If the deal is completed, it would be Google's biggest acquisition ever, easily surpassing the $3.1 billion it spent for online display advertising firm DoubleClick in 2007 and the $1.6 billion for YouTube in 2006.

"I give it a 70-30 chance of going through," says Martin Tobias, CEO and founder of Groupon rival Tippr. "It's something that Google needs to do."

Groupon has seen a meteoric rise since it began only two years ago. In just two years, Groupon has staked claims in more than 300 markets worldwide and has more than 33 million subscribers, making it one of the fastest-growing companies in history. The local advertising market is extremely lucrative, and according to BIA/Kelsey, a consulting firm, total spending will reach $133 billion in the US this year. According to analysts Groupon's customers will spend $500 million through the website this year.

The possible buy-out is not without risk for Google, as Groupon has stiff competitors, yet Lou Kerner, a social media analyst at Wedbush Securities, said he's betting that Groupon has staying power.

"What we've seen is new businesses on the Internet can emerge and be immensely valuable. Quite often, the first company in these kinds of new and emerging fields on the Internet gain market share and continue to be the leaders," he said. "There's every reason to believe that Groupon will continue to grow and continue to command significant market share."

"Google's got the cash to spend, and Groupon is one of the few properties worth hunting. If Google buys Groupon, we will have to wait and see if it's worth the premium Google has to pay," BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis said.

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Lego Lays Building Blocks for New Business Model

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 15:18:00 +0000

Traditionally a family run business, Lego Group has made drastic changes within its business strategy bringing on Jorgen Vig Knudstorp as CEO.

From its humble beginnings in 1932, Lego has gone from strength to strength and has grown to be a global enterprise and a household name; it is now the fifth-largest toy manufacturer globally.

However, after decades of success, the toy giant began to lose footing in 1998, and by 2003 had made record losses. Kjelf Kirk Kristiansen, grandson of Lego's founder, put a substantial sum of his own money into the company, but it soon became apparent that a more dramatic change was needed. In 2004, the decision was made for 36-year-old Jorgen Vig Knudstorp to replace Kristiansen as CEO. This marked a significant transformation in Lego's business model, as, for the first time, the company would be run by someone removed from the Kristiansen family.

Although he had only been with the company for three years, Knudstorp had the advantage of being able to offer a unique perspective as an outsider to the company. After graduating from the University of Aarhus, Denmark, with a BA in Economics and PhD in Business Economics, Knudstorp began his career as an Engagement Consultant at McKinsey & Company before joining Lego Group as Director of Strategic Development in 2001.

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Since taking up the position of CEO, Knudstorp has driven the design of Lego's new business model and system around the question ‘why do we exist'? Instead of diversifying the business further into new areas, he encouraged the concept of ‘rediscovering Lego' and focusing on what made Lego unique as a company. "So, that was the question; getting back to the simple thing that makes you really unique, and then everything else evolves from that question," he tells MeetTheBoss.tv.

Knudstorp believes that Lego's diversification strategy in the 1990s was too ambitious and fast moving, "I think it's a golden rule in business that most companies don't die from starvation; they die from indigestion because there is so much opportunity if you open your eyes to it," he explains. "One rule I stick to is that you can only really build an adjacency to your core business every three to five years because it is such a major undertaking in terms of culture and capabilities. That's what we did wrong in the past: rather than doing it every three to five years, we did three to five adjacencies every year. That is what nearly killed us."

Focus returned to Lego's most successful and traditional favourites - its building system for children - and abandoned products such as Legoland, which had become a distraction from the company's main product line. Emphasis was placed on the quality of the moulding and the precision of the manufacturing process.

Under Jorgen's leadership, Lego's profits have again skyrocketed from a €259 million net loss in 2004, to making an astonishing €181.5 million net profit in 2008. The future is once again looking bright for the Danish toy company.

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The Daily - Murdoch�s Exclusive Tablet Alternative

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 09:17:00 +0000

Rupert Murdoch, the News Corp. CEO is planning on an iPad newspaper, according to reports. ‘The Daily', as it will be called, will have 100+ staff and break stories like similar news outlets.

Unlike Reuters and other online news resources, ‘The Daily' won't be free, with initial costs around $.99 a week. ‘The Daily' will not have foreign correspondents or any staff in Washington D.C.

"There are three managing editors," reports John Koblin of WWD Media. "Mike Nizza, a veteran of The New York Times, AOL News and The Atlantic; Steve Alperin, a producer at ABC News, and Pete Picton, an online editor at The Sun in the U.K. Alperin's TV experience gives a hint to a valuable part of the newsroom: In addition to journalists, there will be plenty of people producing videos. Also, there will be lots of design staff."

‘The Daily' will be exclusive to the iPad and other tablets, meaning it will not be available on normal desktops, or printed as a hard copy. According to reports, "It will be produced into the evening, and then a button will be pushed and it will be ‘printed' for the next morning. There will be updates - the number of which is still under discussion - but not at the velocity or with the urgency of a news website."

Murdoch is outlaying $30 million for the news outlet.

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Google Android to Replace Credit Cards?

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 15:07:00 +0000

Google's next Android-powered smartphone could eventually replace credit cards according to the search engine giant's CEO Eric Schmidt.

The phone in question was revealed at this year's Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, and will contain a Near Field Communication chip that enables mobile payments.

Although the manufacturers label was covered during the display, the phone is thought to be a Nexus device.

Gingerbread, the latest version of Android, due to land in shops within a month, will power this new handset according to Schmidt, and will feature this new mobile payments system as a key too.

"This could replace your credit card," Schmidt said. "The reason this NFC chip is so interesting is because the credit card industry thinks the loss rate is going to be much better, they're just more secure."

For users to use the new device as a credit card, they will require both a phone with an NFC chip and Android's Gingerbread operating system. To complete a transaction, users will need to tap their phones on a symbol or a designated item within the retailer which will make an action - like a payment - happen. Or "tap and pay" according to Schmidt.

Schmidt also outlined that Google has no affiliation with particular retailers and that it would partner with third-party payment processors. He also said that Google would not retain any personal data obtained through credit card transactions via the phone.

Google's Android operating system now has a market share of 25.5 percent worldwide, up from 3.5 percent in the same period a year ago, according to the latest figures from Gartner.

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A380 Engines Recalled by Rolls Royce, Problems for Qantas

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 10:50:00 +0000

Roll-Royce, the engine maker responsible for the Trent 900 engine has asked Airbus to return some engines from production lines in order to use them to replace faulty engines on airplanes currently in service.

The move comes in light of a number of high profile incidents involving A380s used by Qantas over the last 10 days. A Sydney-destined A380 was forced to land in Singapore after part of an engine disintegrated in midair. The incident caused Qantas to ground its fleet of six A380s, while engineers ascertained the cause of the explosion was limited exclusively limited to the Trent 900 engine.

Qantas, Singapore Airlines Ltd. and Deutsche Lufthansa AG may need to replace one component in each of the engines powering their Airbus SAS A380 fleets, Rolls-Royce, the world's second-largest maker of engines, said in an email.

"Over a period of time, it is likely we will replace the relevant module on all engines," Rolls-Royce said. "We seek to minimize disruptions and this program will enable our customers progressively to bring the whole fleet back into service."

A380s out of service

Singapore Air had pulled three A380s out of service last week to change one engine each aircraft - Nicholas Ionides, a spokesman for the airline, told Bloomberg that all three airplanes would be back in service today.

The disruption could have a knock-on-effect on further A380 production, with Rolls-Royce expected to deliver over a dozen A380s primarily to Singapore Airlines, Qantas and Lufthansa by the end of 2011.

"Until this problem is fully resolved I think the situation with the delivery of A380 to customers... will be in jeopardy," Standard & Poor's analyst Sukhor Yusof said.

But both Singapore Airlines and Qantas, with a combined 22 A380s still to be delivered, said on Tuesday they had not been informed of any delivery delays.

Qantas fell 2.5 percent to A$2.72 as of 1:44 p.m. in Sydney trading, while Singapore Air dropped 0.1 percent in Singapore. Rolls-Royce declined 2.3 percent in London yesterday, when Lufthansa gained 0.5 percent in Frankfurt.

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Samsung 7-Inch Galaxy Tablet to Rival iPad?

Thu, 11 Nov 2010 10:59:00 +0000

Samsung has released its 7-inch Galaxy tab - a mid-range tablet that aims to tap into the Apple iPad market. The new tablet will be available in the US on 4 major carriers: Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, T&T, and runs using the Google Android operating system.

Although the 7-inch Samsung Galaxy is smaller than the 10-inch iPad, there will always be comparisons drawn between rival tablets. In fact, even Apple CEO Steve Jobs was quick to shoot down a viable 7-inch tablet, saying at Apple's quarterly review that a 10-inch screen was "the minimum required to create great tablet apps" while 7-inch tablets like the Samsung Galaxy will be "DOA, dead on arrival and manufacturers will realize they're too small and abandon them next year. They'll then increase the size, abandoning the customers and developers who bought into the smaller format." To add even more flames to the fire, Jobs then criticised Google's Android system by exclaiming: "we think Android is very, very fragmented and becoming more fragmented by the day."

This comment could be in light of Google's original comments regarding the Galaxy's running system. The Android 2.2 Froyo, "[is] not optimized for use on tablets," according to Hugo Barra, Google's director of mobile products, which was reported by TechRadar UK back in September. Barra continued by saying that 2.2 Froyo was "not going to be available on devices that don't allow applications to run correctly."

Yet the Samsung Galaxy is here, and does run 2.2 Froyo, and has, generally speaking, impressed early users. The Galaxy has duel cameras (unlike the iPad) - one front, one back - which enable both a 3-megapixel camera similar to a smartphone and the advantage of conference calls with a 1.3MP lens in front for video chat using apps such as Qik and Fring.

The Samsung Galaxy's tab browser also comes with a Flash Player 10.1 - something the iPad doesn't - but early reviews suggest that this may hinder the tablet, as opposed to improve it. The issue being, that Flash videos, banner ads, and other interactive elements slow the tablet down - generally slowing a page opening by a few seconds - making usability a little more difficult.

A major sticking point for Samsung might be with price; according to which report you read, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon are all charging around $600 for the tablet on a no-contract basis, with Sprint and T-Mobile offering to knock off a third of the price if for a two-year contract.

The price also varies slightly on storage space - the $600 option does come with a 16GB microSD memory card) - which is $30 less than the 16GB, 3G-enabled iPad.

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In Brief: Google Offers Employees Additional Bonuses

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 16:20:00 +0000

Google has offered its 20,000 employees monetary incentives for 2011, a move seen as a precursor to its high employee turnover - something that has seen a high number of staff leave to join other companies.

Google will give staff 10 percent pay increase across the board, and a $1000 holiday cash bonus (Google will pay the tax so the employee gets the full amount), which will take effect on 1 January 2011.

Employees will also receive an additional raise equivalent to 1X the employee's target bonus for the year, according to BusinessInsider's Henry Blodget.

With 23,331 employees as of September and assuming an average salary of $100,000, the new bonus plan will cost Google $256,641,000 next year, including the $1,000 holiday gifts, one percent of Google's estimated revenue for 2011.

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General Motors Posts Third-Quarter Profit

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 15:09:00 +0000

General Motors (GM) looks set to boast a full-year of profit in 2010, its first for six years. Its profit for the third-quarter was posted as $2 billion, driven in part by an improvement in North America, which had posted large losses for some time.

The profits have been rising steadily throughout the first three quarters in North America, driven mainly by a reduction in incentives and increases in sales from showrooms over the prior three months. However GM was quick to point out that forecasted fourth-quarter profits would likely be significantly less due to the introduction of the Chevrolet Cruze compact car and increased expenses.

The automaker also reported an increase in truck production that supported the results. GM expects to build more cars in the fourth quarter with the introduction of the Chevrolet Cruze compact car.

Revenues at the firm, which last week unveiled plans for a $13 billion share sale, totalled $34.1 billion.

According to the BBC, GM's third quarter profit was higher than rival Ford's $1.7 billion and Chrysler's $84 million net loss for the third-quarter.

The results in North America were not mirrored across the pond in Europe, where the continent saw further losses. International results remained stagnant.

"We know we have much work to do, we still have to fix Europe," Chief Executive Dan Akerson said in a conference call, reports Reuters.

GM reported losses totalling about $88 billion from 2005 to 2009, when it fell into bankruptcy, as losses mounted in North America.

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Barclays, PayPal Announce Britain M-Payment Milestones

Thu, 04 Nov 2010 16:03:00 +0000

Both Barclays and PayPal have achieved a million transactions for contactless transactions and m-payments respectively.

According to PayPal, a million Britons have used its m-payments to make a payment or send money using their mobile phones.

Although the number is still dwarfed substantially by payments made by non-mobile payments - which amounts to over $1.5 billion - the landmark number does highlight the advances in m-payments and users attitude towards it.

PayPal highlighted in released statistics that it expects to reach $700 million in mobile payments by the end of 2010; 30 times the global volume of 2008.

The results are not altogether shocking: PayPal has been a pioneer since it began m-payments back in 2005; plus PayPal was the one of the first companies to launch an app on iPhone when Apple opened its platform to developers.

Petra Jung, head, mobile, PayPal in the UK, says: "We're seeing the start of a revolution in the way we pay. People have talked about 'mobile money' for some time, but our figures show real traction in the amount of money PayPal's UK customers are sending from their mobile phones."

Barclays announce contactless payments total a million

Like PayPal, Barclays are celebrating a milestone with contactless payments totalling a million, a rise of 217 percent in monthly payments.

The rise has attracted both Virgin Money and Bank of America's card unit MBNA, who have committed to rolling out cards to millions of UK customers.

"The latest statistics on contactless payment show we are reaching a tipping point. The number of terminals has gone from 25,000 at the beginning of 2010, to 42,500 today, and this is before the big grocers like Co-operative begin their roll out in earnest. At a time when every penny counts for retailers, contactless helps boost customer satisfaction and reduce queue abandonment," said Stuart Neal, head, payment acceptance, Barclaycard.

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Ryanair Records 15% Profits Since March

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 13:13:00 +0000

Budget airline operator Ryanair has boasted half-year pre-tax profits of €482.50 million (£420 million) in the six months to 30 September, up from €419.40 million in 2009.

The increase of over €60 million equates to a 15 percent increase, due in part to raised prices and an increase in passenger numbers.

The news is a real success for Ryanair, especially in light of difficult economic conditions, something that has had a knock-on effect on other airline operators.

From March through September, Ryanair's passenger numbers totalled 40.1 million, a 10 percent increase from 2009, and its revenues increased 23 percent. Ryanair increased its ticket prices by an average 12 percent.

However, second-quarter net profit was €313 million, slightly below analysts' expectations.

"There's a little bit of disappointment, most people were (expecting) around €350 (million) for second-quarter net profit and they came in a bit behind that," said Ken Darmondy, analyst with Goodbody Stockbrokers.

"Other people might be a little bit disappointed that the upgrade that came wasn't bigger because all the airlines across Europe have had upgrades in the last two weeks."

"We continue to gain market share across Europe," Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said in a statement. "We expect this trend to continue."

Shares in Ryanair were trading at €3.98 on the Irish Stock Exchange at 10.30am, down 3.6 per cent on the day.

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Desertec: Electricity From Desert Unites Europe Arab World

Wed, 27 Oct 2010 11:54:00 +0100

Clean electricity from deserts will soon be making a growing contribution to supplying the people of North Africa and the Middle East with power. And electricity from solar and wind plants in the desert will also find its way to Europe within the space of the next decade. In doing so, it will help all 27 EU states achieve their ambitious renewable energy goals by the year 2020.

'Based on a foundation of mutual respect, partnership and cooperation, a new age of sustainable energy supply can begin that is to the benefit of all. We now want to show how the Desertec vision of electricity for North Africa, the Middle East and Europe from renewable energy sources can be turned into very real activities and projects through this collaboration,' said Dii CEO Paul van Son today at the first annual Dii conference in Barcelona.

Around 300 participants from the Arab nations and Europe are using this conference today and tomorrow to take stock of the progress being made on the topic of electricity from the desert. The presence of government and corporate representatives from potential electricity-generating countries such as Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt bears witness to the great interest that North Africa has in renewable energies. Opened by EU Commissioner for Energy Günther Oettinger, the conference will address all the important aspects of the Desertec vision:

- Generating energy in deserts:

At which locations in desert regions can energy be generated using sun and wind, with which technology and at what cost? These are the key questions in the field of power generation that international experts from the commercial and research sectors are discussing. On the basis of geo-scientific analysis, the possible locations have to be found and the best suited technologies identified, such as solar thermal and photovoltaic, and the expected generation costs calculated. The ways of reducing energy production costs are also an important consideration here.

- Transporting electricity to local and distant consumption centres:

There are also many technical and economic aspects that have to be clarified when it comes to how to transport the electricity from the generation locations to the places where consumers need it. Existing electricity grids have to be examined as to their suitability for the future, bottlenecks have to be identified and the best possible
transmission technologies selected. Within the scope of its work, Dii will also submit scenarios for the structure of the electricity grids by 2012, and the related investment propositions. In doing so, the close collaboration between Dii und MEDGRID/Transgreen will be of particular importance. This international industrial consortium is to be founded in Paris in November and develop an integrated master plan in the framework of the Mediterranean Solar Plan for a high-performance electricity grid in the Mediterranean. Using this grid, the plan is then to be able to transport up to five gigawatts from Africa to Europe.

- The development of the energy markets:

In the focus of the market analysis is the question of how the gap between the costs of electricity from the desert and the income that can be expected from it can be bridged over time. The analysis of the market potential is as important here as is the issue of who comes into question as a future buyer of the electricity. In order to make desert electricity marketable in the medium term, stimulation mechanisms have to be investigated and compared. In particular, a standardised pan-European feed-in tariff for North African solar and wind energy would be an important tool here. The earnings that can be achieved in Europe - for solar energy, for example - could also be used as financing levers for more investments in North Africa.

- Economic and social development potential for the MENA region:

A crucial success factor for the realisation of the Desertec vision will also be the analysis and ascertainment of the benefit that the potential producers of the energy from the desert will gain. To this end, the macro-economic effects of the expected investments have to be identified. The value created locally by Desertec has to become visible - for example, through the development of industries, the creation of jobs and the transfer of know-how.- Political-regulatory environment: The political-regulatory environment is another key factor for the realisation of the Desertec vision. The EU directive on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources provides the legal foundation for the integration of electricity from the desert. This directive makes it possible to import renewable electricity from non-EU states as long as it is then consumed within the EU. 'The EU directive for the promotion of renewable energies is an important regulatory lever for decisively advancing the vision of electricity from the desert,' says Paul van Son, CEO of the industry initiative Dii.

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