The Light Is Green

Now you can read at the table!

Here's some cool new technology out of San Francisco as reported by Business 2.0...

It's a thin, self-contained, Wi-Fi-enabled touchscreen computer that the company, TableTouch, embeds right into a table so you can for example read the newspaper while you drink coffee.

They're currently field testing ten tables in Bay Area coffee shops, partnered with the San Francisco Chronicle. The TableTouch also has built-in Bluetooth to send audio to your headset to complete full-scale alienation from your fellow sippers.

Microsoft has also announced their own similar Surface product. They show some very interesting applications at their website.

Tags: TableTouch, Microsoft Surface, Surface, touchscreen, cool stuff, San Francisco Chronicle

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Top brands in the world: #21-30

Continuing with Interbrand's most recent yearly report on the most valuable brands in the world for 2007, here are the brands ranked 21 through 30:

21. Samsung

22. Merrill Lynch

23. HSBC

24. Nescafe

25. Sony

26. Pepsi

27. Oracle

28. UPS

29. Nike

30. Budweiser

Related posts:

• Top brands in the world: #1-10
• Top brands in the world: #11-20
• Top brands in the world: #21-30
• Top brands in the world: #31-40

Tags: branding, brands, marketing, top brands, Interbrand, Samsung, Merrill Lynch, HSBC, Nescafe, Sony, Pepsi, Oracle, UPS, Nike, Budweiser

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Global Compact: a path towards social responsibility in business

Our firm has just adhered to the United Nations Global Compact, a powerful and important initiative through which businesses commit to respecting human rights, labor standards, the environment, and anti-corruption standards.

In the words of Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the UN,

"We need business to give practical meaning and reach to the values and principles that connect cultures and people everywhere."

These are the principles that make up the Global Compact:

Human Rights

• Principle 1: Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and
• Principle 2: make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.  
  

Labour Standards

• Principle 3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;
• Principle 4: the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour;
• Principle 5: the effective abolition of child labour; and
• Principle 6: the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation. 
   

Environment

• Principle 7: Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;
• Principle 8: undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and
• Principle 9: encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies

Anti-Corruption

• Principle 10: Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.

Links:

• Global Compact (English)
• Pacto Global (Spanish)

Tags: Global Compact, UN, United Nations, social responsibility

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Top brands in the world: #11-20

According to Interbrand and their most recent yearly report on the most valuable brands in the world, these are brands eleven through twenty:

11. Citi

12. Hewlett-Packard

13. BMW

14. Marlboro

15. American Express

16. Gillette

17. Louis Vitton

18. Cisco

19. Honda

20. Google

Related posts:

• Top brands in the world: #1-10
• Top brands in the world: #11-20
• Top brands in the world: #21-30
• Top brands in the world: #31-40

Tags: branding, brands, marketing, top brands, Citi, Hewlett-Packard, BMW, Marlboro, American Express, Gilette, Louis Vitton, Cisco, Honda, Google, Interbrand

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Top ten brands in the world

These are the top ten global brands for 2007 according to Interbrand in their most recent yearly report:

1. Coca-Cola
2. Microsoft
3. IBM
4. General Electric (GE)
5. Nokia
6. Toyota
7. Intel
8. McDonald's
9. Disney
10. Mercedes Benz

What Interbrand does is measure brands as business assets. Their criteria for consideration are:

• There must be substantial publicly available financial data
• The brand must have at least one-third of revenues outside of its country-of-origin
• The brand must be a market-facing brand
• The Economic Value Added (EVA) must be positive
• The brand must not have a purely b2b single audience with no wider public profile and awareness

These criteria exclude brands such as Mars, which is privately held, or Wal-Mart, which is not sufficiently global (it does business in some international markets but not under the Wal-Mart brand).

The number one brand in the world, Coca-Cola, is valued at at $65 billion dollars.

Related posts:

• Top brands in the world: #1-10
• Top brands in the world: #11-20
• Top brands in the world: #21-30
• Top brands in the world: #31-40

Tags: Coca Cola, Microsoft, IBM, General Electric, GE, Nokia, Toyota, Intel, McDonald's, Disney, Mercedes Benz, Interbrand, branding, marketing, best brands

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Super-efficient gas guzzlers

Johnathan Goodwin is a  37-year-old professional car hacker out of Kansas that's making a name for himself by taking muscle cars and doubling their horsepower, and at the same time quadrupling their mileage and cutting emissions by 80 percent.

His latest project: creating a super-efficient electric hybrid Hummer H3 by putting in an electric motor plus a military-grade 60,000 rpm turbine modified to run on biodiesel, doubling horsepower from 300 to 600, getting 60 miles per gallon, and doing zero to 60 in five seconds. It'll also have a hydrogen-injection system that will cut the already low emissions by half.

He's currently converting a 1987 Jeep Wagoneer to biodiesel for Arnold Schwarzenegger, and a 1960 Lincoln Continental into a biodiesel-electric hybrid for Neil Young.

Read more at Fast Company.

Tags: auto industry, electric cars, hybrid cars, Hummer, Johnathan Goodwin, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Young, alternative energy

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High end Chinese brand debuts

Haima may be a lesser known Chinese brand, but it is one that is known more as a quality brand. It's also one of the three leading domestic sedan brands in China.

The Chinese automaker has now chosen the Dubai Motor Show later this month for its world premiere. Haima's international distribution partner, Global Automotive Partners, is in charge of the effort.

Haima will be showing three models, all developed in cooperation with Mazda.

Ulli Urban, Chairman of GAP, says,

“We have a long term vision for Haima and are confident that it is exactly the right product for those seeking a quality car that also offers a range of features and provides value for money. 

"Part of that long term vision is our commitment to provide first-rate customer service and after sales care, including spare parts and full service options.  In order to achieve this, we have already begun to establish a strong dealership network, starting in the UAE, which will be developed across the MENA region.”

The company is also known for their Haima H12 electric car recently unveiled at the Shanghai Auto Show earlier this year.

Tags: auto industry, China, Chinese auto industry, Haima, Dubai Auto Show, Ulli Urban, Global Automotive Partners

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How Honda negotiates

Here's how Honda works with suppliers, as reported by Strategy+Business magazine in an excellent article titled Win-Win Sourcing.

"At Honda, during meetings with suppliers, the executives write their proposed actions and agreements on a whiteboard. When all the items have been discussed, the meeting is over. The contents of the whiteboard are then typed up and two copies are printed, the supplier and the automaker sign them, and the contract is complete...

"... This is one of the many ways in which far-reaching manufacturers like Honda and Toyota rewrite the conventional rules of procurement.

"... The two sides, instead of being at odds, collaborate openly on lowering costs and raising overall performance, with the expectation that this mutuality will continue over many years, benefiting both companies."

Tags: Honda, supply chain, procurement, best practices

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Chinese Internet scam

I just learned of an Internet scam coming from China that targets businesses and not consumers. I had never heard of it, but I've now read that it looks to be an old scam.

Here's how it works:

1. A Chinese Internet domain registrar contacts your company and tells you that a local (Chinese) company has "pre-registered" your domain name in several formats, (www.yourcompany.com.cn, .cn, .net.cn, etc.). In my case they wrote to my personal email address (I'm CEO of a software company that specializes in the auto industry).

The subject of the email is very to the point: "Autologica Domain Names For Intellectual Property Disputation".

2. They tell you that a Chinese company has "suspiciously" applied for Chinese domain names that "infringe on your trademarks". Since they know this is "harmful to your business", they've put these registrations on hold and are giving you the chance to register them ASAP!

3. They also give you the chance to register your "keywords", á lá those old Internet Keywords offered way back in 2000 by long and deservedly defunct RealNames.

4. All you have to do is contact the Chinese registrar and they'll take care of everything!

The email is written in such a personable style, complete with cute English language errors, and makes such good use of  the old quid pro quo tactic, that I was very much compelled to fall.

Of course, it's all baloney. We immediately went to Godaddy and registered our Chinese domains on the spot.

Wait a minute... maybe that's exactly what these guys wanted?! I feel like a perplexed Andy Garcia at the end of Ocean's Eleven!

Tags: Internet scams, email scams

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Best movies: October 2007

Some excellent movies this past month... here they are in order of preference...

• Mirrormask
• Sweeney Todd. The original play is supposed to be macabre yet darkly humorous ("The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"). The movie is just chilling and totally believable. The excellent Ray Winstone stars.
• Inland Empire. David Lynch. Strange.
• RKO 481 - The Battle over Citizen Kane. Details the all-out struggle between Orson Welles and media mogul William Randolph Hearst, and how this great movie almost never got made.

Book of the month: Flatland (Edwin Abbott)

CD of the month: The Beginning Stages Of... (The Polyphonic Spree)

Other Best Movie posts:

• September 2007
• August 2007
• July 2007
• June 2007
• May 2007
• April 2007
• March 2007
• February 2007
• January 2007
• December 2006
• November 2006
• October 2006

Tags: movies, best movies, movies of the month, CDs, best CDs, CDs of the month, books, best books, books of the month, Mirrormask, Sweeney Todd, Inland Enpire, David Lynch, RKO 481, Citizen Kane, Flatland, Edwin Abbott, The Polyphonic Spree

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