Consumers Can Save Money on Intel-Based Netbooks, Laptops, and Comcast Services this Holiday Season

New packaged deal on Intel-based PCs and Comcast digital services at www.comcastspecial.com/freenetbook, powered by Bridgevine

VERO BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Looking to save money this holiday season? Just in time for the start of holiday shopping, an unbeatable deal is being offered at www.comcastspecial.com/freenetbook to help shoppers find cost savings on Intel-based netbooks and notebook computers with a variety of Comcast services, including high-speed Internet, phone, and cable.

Available today through the holiday season, this deal offers consumers bundled packages from Comcast and Intel that help to cut costs while gaining access to the latest computer hardware and best-in-class digital services. In addition, shoppers have the option to continue saving by adding any number of tiered Comcast services to their bundled purchases, from the Comcast HD Triple Play package to a double or single service of their choice.

At www.comcastspecial.com/freenetbook, online shoppers can choose from:

* A 10-inch Asus Eee PC netbook, which retails for $299.99, but free if purchased with a Comcast Triple Play package, or for only $100.00 if purchased with Comcast Double Play.
* A 15-inch Asus notebook, regularly priced at $499.99, for only $200 if selected as part of the Comcast Triple Play, or $300 if part of a Double Play package.
* A 16-inch MSI notebook, which retails at $599.99, complete with Microsoft’s new Windows 7 Home Edition, for $300 when combined with Comcast Triple Play, or $400 with Comcast Double Play.

“The economy is still taking a toll on many Americans’ ability to buy new goods and services, especially for the upcoming holiday season,” says Eric Greenman, Service Provider Marketing Manager of Intel. “This promotion with Comcast and Bridgevine eases the financial burden on consumers during the holidays, while providing them the best computers and digital services at significant savings.”

Powered by Bridgevine’s proprietary ecommerce platform, www.comcastspecial.com/freenetbook offers consumers a single location to find exclusive discounts on hardware and digital services this holiday season and into 2010. Through a simple, unified shopping cart, online shoppers can create personalized bundles from trusted providers that save them time and money, check their order status, and schedule delivery and installation services.

ABOUT BRIDGEVINE

Founded in 2003, Bridgevine, Inc. is headquartered in Vero Beach, FL with offices in Atlanta, GA. The company’s proprietary ecommerce platform is licensed by leading retailers, websites and Fortune 500 companies, making it possible for them to monetize online, call center and in-store traffic. Bridgevine was ranked 57 on the prestigious 2007 Inc. 500 list of fastest growing private companies. For more information visit www.bridgevine.com.

Win 10 Grand With Charter On Demand

You Could Win the $10,000 Grand Prize or Weekly Prizes Including a 52” Flat Screen HDTV

Charter Communications, Inc. today announced a new sweepstakes, “Win 10 Grand with Charter On Demand.” The Win 10 Grand with On Demand Sweepstakes offers customers the chance to win one 52” flat screen HDTV each week during May, in addition to one $10,000 grand prize. Participants that complete the online question every week will receive a free On Demand Movie coupon via email at the conclusion of the sweepstakes.

Charter customers can participate in this unique experience by visiting www.charter.net/10grand during the month of May. Each week, Charter’s website will host an On Demand question (hints are available) encouraging customers to explore Charter On Demand to find the answers. These questions will focus on different On Demand features such as new movie releases, trailers, original series, and Primetime On Demand shows. Charter offers a significant portion of On Demand content for free, and much of the content is also available in High Definition (HD).

Time Warner Cable Unveils Redesigned timewarnercable.com

New Features Include e-Service Capabilities and a Richer Content Experience

Time Warner Cable today announced the launch of its new company website designed to provide customers more choice, convenience and control. The newly redesigned www.timewarnercable.com website includes enhanced entertainment and product content, new self-service tools and is reorganized to significantly improve and simplify the user experience.

New e-service capabilities include the new Online Knowledge Base, Click-to-Talk and Click-to-Chat capabilities. In an upcoming enhancement, new support tools, including the “MyServices” section of the site provide customers the ability to access self care and account management options. These enhancements combined with electronic bill pay and online purchasing makes the Time Warner Cable website a more valuable resource for customers to manage their account, get answers to questions regarding their services, and stay up-to-date on the latest Time Warner Cable offerings.

“These new transformations to timewarnercable.com allow us to provide our customers with the online experience they would expect to find from a digital company like ours,” said Sam Howe, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Time Warner Cable. “As we move further into 2009, we will leverage the site as an important marketing channel within all our communications plans.”

The new look and feel of the Time Warner Cable website will be consistent for users across the Company’s service areas. This includes standardized functionality and uniform branding and product messaging.

Hit the Next Wave of New Online Media: PVideo.com Leads the Trend

Asian first VDP personalized video (pVideo) concept website -- pVideo.com.hk -- has been established, together with the launch of Valentine's Day pVideo campaign, with a view to introduce and promote the trend of this new online media.

Personalized Video (pVideo) is one of the recent hot topics on the Internet. People can now see their own names and faces showed up on video. With VDP technology, mass production of customized videos becomes possible. PVideo.com.hk ( http://www.pvideo.com.hk ) is the first VDP pVideo website in Asia established by Focus Imaging, one of the leading digital marketing companies in Hong Kong. And today, it announced the launch of the site and released its latest Valentine's Day pVideo.

The founder of PVideo.com.hk, Focus Imaging, has created a pVideo -- 'Love is All Around' ( http://www.pvideo.com.hk/lover/index_en.php ) -- with the theme of spreading love in town, and sent it out to the Internet. Instead of sending Valentine's Day eCard or other conventional gifts, people can create a unique personalized video as a special gift to their loved ones. People do not have to pay. They just need to click into pVideo.com.hk. Apart from watching their own pVideo, they can add others' names, photos and personal messages into the pVideo, making a brand new one to their friends or to share it on the Internet.

It is not the first time for Focus Imaging to produce and publish such kind of pVideo. The Chinese New Year's VDP campaign this year ( http://www.focus-vdp.com/video/ny2009 ), as the first attempt, has given it experience and confidence. The last pVideo campaign has received more than 130,000 video views in 10 days from 44 different territories. Besides Hong Kong, it has been viewed by people from regions including Mainland China, Macau, Taiwan, Malaysia and Japan; and overseas countries such as USA, Canada, UK and Australia. Besides, the pVideo has gained popularity and responses from many online forums such as Discuss.hk and Uwants, and video sharing community like YouTube. Some users even made the pVideo using celebrities' photos. The hottest examples are young singers G.E.M, Stephy Tang and Teresa Fu; and also the Japanese animated character -- Ponyo. They produced the pVideo and posted them on their Blog or Facebook for sharing.

AOL Celebrates First Anniversary With Goowy Media, Inc.

AOL People Networks celebrated the first anniversary of its acquisition of enterprise widget platform Goowy Media, Inc. Founded in 2004, Goowy makes it easy for content owners and third-party developers to build, syndicate and measure user interaction for widgets across social networks such as myAOL, Bebo, and Facebook. Throughout 2008, Goowy drove almost 2 billion widget impressions for AOL, and served more than 3 billion widgets.

Prior to joining AOL People Networks, Goowy created original widgets for myAOL, (http://my.aol.com), and a number of major retailers, and since has allowed third parties within AOL to create widgets including, Daily Horoscope, MapQuest, MP3 of the Day, and PopEater's Pop the Question.

"Over the past year, we've put a lot of focus at Goowy on building the most interactive and innovative widgets on our platform, and developing the tools that content creators and third-party developers need to measure engagement across the social networking community," said Gary Benitt, founder & COO of Goowy Media, Inc. "Joining the AOL family has really accelerated our ability to do this -- we've since grown our team, migrated to the AOL infrastructure and signed on with new partners. We're excited to offer unique monetization opportunities for them."

With its rich analytics, content creators have the power to better understand how their widgets are performing and being used, allowing them to serve their users more relevant content and advertising. Goowy's sophisticated measurement tools include visual representations of where users have clicked within a particular widget, illustrating interactivity as a "click heatmap", and allowing developers to visualize how users engage with their widgets.

Goowy also offers a dynamic ad unit that includes real-time content and provides a rich media experience with greater interactivity than traditional online ads. Since its acquisition by AOL, Goowy has launched widgets as ads on both the AOL Network and third party networks for a range of leading retailers. To increase the viral nature of its widgets, Goowy lets consumers to copy widgets to social networks, blogs, and their desktops, creating both additional exposure and turning consumers into marketers.

Nintendo Wii – A Console for the Entire Family

After a little over two years, sales of the Nintendo Wii are still going strong—and for good reason. The Wii is affordable, adaptable, downward compatible, and fun. Families throughout the US are learning that the Wii is the game system of choice for family-friendly gaming. Take a look at some of the many reasons to look into getting a Wii for your family.

Physically Involving Games

One of the main reasons so many parents are thrilled with the Wii is the fact that it is a physically demanding game system. Wii Sports, which comes with the console, includes games like baseball, golf, bowling, and tennis, which all required players to stand up and physically interact with one another as the TV acts as an interface.

Wii Fit, another extremely popular game offered by the folks at Nintendo, actually tests the balance of participants, measuring body mass index, weight, fitness age, and much more all while tracking progress over a period of time. The balance board used with Wii Fit is also used for participation in yoga exercises demonstrated on screen, which must then be performed by players. The balance board is also being used in conjunction with skateboarding and snowboarding games.

Family-Friendly Characters and Games

Nintendo has long been identified with more family-friendly games. Mario is still a character used in many of the games, which have grown far past the Super Mario Brothers games of the mid-80’s. Most games made by Nintendo are intended to encourage cooperative and competitive play, all while keeping things fun and friendly.

Besides their own games, many other companies have made games for the Wii with great success, like EA Games’ Boom Blox, designed for interactive play. Additionally, using the Wii Ware option on the online store, customers can purchase and download new Wii games directly from their console, leaving players able to enjoy new games in just minutes.

Multiple Systems in One Unit

Also available for download are many games from the systems of yesteryear, including NES, Sega Genesis, Turbo Grafix 16, and Nintendo 64. The system itself can play Gamecube games and even has ports for Gamecube controllers. Used games can be purchased at gaming stores fro as little as four dollars. In all, this system is one of the most family friendly units for a variety of reasons—including its versatility and wide selection of gaming possibilities.


This post was contributed by Holly McCarthy, who writes on the subject of an internet provider. She invites your feedback at hollymccarthy12@gmail.com

Bundled Service, Unbundled Customer Service

Memo to telecom service providers: "We never thanked you, but you did a great job offering us consolidated billing. It is hard to remember now, as for the last few years yo have been so aggressive in promoting bundled services, but five years ago, this was a major pain point. Three bills for ISP, cable and telephone, and usually three different due dates a well

Click here for the complete story

Verizon Wireless Invests $155 Million to Enhance Florida Network During 2008

Florida Network Now 100 Percent 3G; Investment Totals $1.8 Billion in State since 2000

Verizon Wireless announced today that it invested nearly $155 million to further expand and enhance coverage to customers throughout Florida in 2008. The company’s ongoing network investment now totals $1.8 billion in Florida since the company was formed.

The company completed enhancements to its 3G high-speed wireless network throughout the state this year, allowing customers to access advanced wireless services more reliably and at even faster broadband speeds. The enhancements, which took nearly two years to complete, entailed installing the most advanced hardware and software on thousands of cell sites in the Verizon Wireless network in Florida, as well as updating and optimizing technology in five Verizon Wireless regional network switching facilities throughout the state.

In addition, Verizon Wireless constructed more than 90 new advanced digital cell sites throughout the state in 2008.

These upgrades help provide high-speed access to advanced services such as V CAST – which allows customers to stream video clips, play cutting-edge 3D games and download full song tracks over the air; and VZ Navigator – a location-based service offering maps, audible driving directions, traffic updates, gas station locations and pricing.

This technology also enables customers to wirelessly access their e-mail and calendars, the Internet and other information anytime, anywhere via a secure connection with the company’s BroadbandAccess service. BroadbandAccess offers average download speeds of 600 kilobits per second (kbps) to 1.4 megabits per second and upload speeds of 500-800 kbps, which means being able to upload or download a 1 Megabyte e-mail attachment – the equivalent of a small PowerPoint^® presentation or a large PDF file – in less than two seconds.

Small Businesses See 10 Percent Increase on Cyber Monday

Consumers Buying from Smaller Online Retailers Too

Network Solutions, a leading provider of small business web services, announced today that its more than 7,000 e-commerce customers saw a collective 10 percent year-over-year increase in sales on Cyber Monday, the highly anticipated start of online holiday shopping. While retailers across the country reported slow same-store sales, smaller online entrepreneurs enjoyed a jump in holiday sales this year, with more consumers shopping online in greater numbers.

As many brick-and-mortar shop owners struggle with increased costs and shrinking in-store sales, small businesses with e-commerce sites are augmenting their revenues with online sales. As more consumers search Google first to find bargains and products, local small businesses with properly marketed Web sites are benefiting from national exposure. According to a report from iProspect and Jupiter Research, 62 percent of searchers click on a link within the first page of results. Having an e-Commerce Web site and using search engine optimization tools from Network Solutions, small businesses have secured new audiences to increase holiday sales.

“With small businesses across the country struggling, Network Solutions’ is excited to see that our e-commerce customers are benefiting from greater exposure,” said Scott Ableman, Chief Marketing Officer at Network Solutions. “Whether you own a small shop or work out of your home, having a professional web site is an economical way to build sales during tough times.”

Bebo Launches ‘Social Inbox’

Bebo Builds on the Foundations of Social Networking to Become the First Major Network to Give Consumers a One-Stop Destination from Which to Experience Life Online

Social Media Network Opens Its Doors to Aggregated Social Feeds, Mail and Media Recommendations

Launch Companies Include Twitter, Flickr, Del.icio.us, AIM, YouTube, Gmail, Yahoo! Mail and AOL Mail

Every AOL and AIM User Now Can Now Log into Bebo Using Their Credentials

Bebo today made it easier for Internet users to manage their online life by providing users with a one-stop “Social Inbox” that combines e-mail, social networking and media recommendations in one easy-to-use interface. Designed to allow consumers to organize their lives online, Bebo’s Social Inbox makes it simple for users to keep in touch with the information and people who are important to them. The Social Inbox aggregates feeds and updates from Twitter, Flickr, Del.icio.us, YouTube, AIM and others, so users can see at-a-glance what's going on in their online world. The new experience also offers one-click access to Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, AOL Mail, as well as user-selected media favorites, such as videos, music and photos. In addition, more than 100 million* users of AOL and AIM can now log directly into the Bebo service, http://www.bebo.com, using their existing screen names.