| Curt Cavin: IRL & Formula One Q&A
At this point, the IRL has about a dozen possibilities for new events next season. Brian Barnhart told me that only four or five have significant steam, and I�m sure this is among those.
Question: You have the best interactive sports gig going here. Thanks. Okay, it's way early, but who do you see will be the 10-13 one race wonders that will try to qualify for Indy. Will Hearn try again? Will P.J. Jones saddle up? Okay, I started, now its your turn. (Tim, Xenia, Ohio).
Answer: I�m not sure about Hearn. I visited with him at the Superkart Nationals in Las Vegas in November, and he was burned out on the IRL. Certainly, you�d think P.J. will be here looking for a shot, and the rest of the list includes familiar names: Papis, Yasakawa, both Laziers, Townsend Bell, Gregoire, Thiago, Dare, maybe Bucknum.
Woolworths boosts ecommerce functionality
Mixed merchandise retailer Woolworths has built on its use of product reviews on its website with the development of an automatic recommendation engine. The system by Avail draws on previous purchases on the site to recommend additional products to customers. Cheat Sheets ♦ Web 2.0 ♦ Mash-ups Woolworths online marketing manager Mark Batty said the retailer expects an uplift of online sales in the region of 20 per cent added to the average purchase value. Batty is hoping that Woolworths' automatic product recommendations will be more effective than other sites, such as Amazon, that use similar tools because the UK high street retailer's customer demographic has a narrower range. The move is part of a sustained online strategy that includes taking independent customer reviews from Revoo and a trial of video product demonstrations some time in the next six months.
Monarch soars with Google search tech
Monarch Airlines has recently started to use Google's Custom Search technology on its website to improve its ability to answer customer queries. The company went live with the tech at the beginning of November as a low cost way of reducing the need for emails to be sent by customers to have their queries answered. The airline saw a significant increase in email queries following its introduction of online check-in earlier in the year and the tightening up of airport security last summer. Agenda Setters 2007 Find out who made this year's Agenda Setters list of the top technology movers and shakers. If you disagree with our list then on each of the 50 individual biographies you'll find voting buttons to allow you to rank the personality in questions as well as in depth analysis and a list of long-running achievers.
'Ain't no stopping us now,' SNP leader taunts Brown
As you can probably detect, they don't like it very much. I don't think they just lost the election, they lost touch. They are losing the connection with the Scottish people. More and more, Scottish people identify with the SNP." The theme of Scotland being robbed of its oil revenues by a UK government squeezing public finances was reinforced by John Swinney, the finance secretary. Mr Swinney used his conference speech to attack Westminster for its spending settlement. But he hinted that the net result would be less money for Scotland's public services. He said: "The London way means taxes on small businesses go up and a squeeze on Scotland's public services takes effect. At the same time, our black gold is filling the Chancellor's self-inflicted financial black hole. If there was ever a case for Scotland to be in full charge of our own revenues and spending, the UK spending review made that case as well as any of us could have." Mr Swinney insisted he would deliver a budget for Scotland which met the aspirations of the Scottish people within the "tight" financial settlement.
Mercado Equips evo Customers With the Online Experience They Need to ...
PLEASANTON, Calif. --(Business Wire)-- Mercado Software, the leading provider of eCommerce search & merchandising solutions, today announced that evo, a leading retailer of outdoor equipment and apparel for ski, board, and skate enthusiasts, has launched Mercado On-Demand on its online store (www.evogear.com).
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Small business: Betting on what's ahead for an area
An area that's been popular with entrepreneurs of late is the North Loop neighborhood in downtown Minneapolis. Business owners took note as young adults moved into lofts and condos developed in old warehouses and industrial buildings and into new construction that followed. The prospect of a new Twins ballpark, and the crowds of fans it will draw to the area when it opens in 2010, added to the appeal. The potential has drawn new retail shops, clubs, restaurants and other locally owned businesses and has prompted some existing ones to expand or update. The question for those investing in the North Loop, and one for other entrepreneurs to consider, is when will the promise become a reality? Can they hang on until what looks like a good bet proves to be a great one? Among those grappling with such issues is Jason Cobb, owner of Java J's Coffee at 700 Washington Av.
Fast-moving digital world - present and future
The growth in digital devices and rising broadband penetration is causing headaches as well as creating new opportunities for content owners, platform providers and technology companies alike, not to mention regulators. Come together
Everyday media devices, including mobile phones, digital TVs and video gaming systems, look set this year to take a step closer to the truly converged media hardware so long predicted. China/RegulationDigitisation gains
I have a map in my Beijing office produced here and China is at the centre - that makes the world look very different. Industry under scrutiny
It's going to be a hectic year for Ofcom. The regulator, still busy looking into pay TV, is now due to review public service broadcasting. Games
Video games and virtual worlds are both becoming an increasingly central part of big media companies' growth strategies, particularly to target younger people who spend large amounts of time online or on portable games consoles like the Nintendo DS.
Women ignored by gadget makers and sellers - still
Gadget retailers and manufacturers are missing out on �600m a year because they fail to connect with the female market. One in three female internet users polled by advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi said they would increase their spending on consumer electronics if retailers thought harder about how they approach them and offered more guidance in stores and on ecommerce sites. Almost one in three of the 750 female internet users surveyed do not consider technology advertising relevant to them and the majority of women feel disillusioned that brand owners and retailers don�t understand what they care about and don�t view them as a relevant group of customers. One third of women do not feel confident enough to ask questions in stores with one respondent describing electronics retailers as reeking of a "strong scent of man".
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