Archives for April 2005
CyberCarpet
Juniper Foo | Apr 29, 2005
MIAMI -- Systems Union Inc. a leading global provider of financial and performance management solutions for the mid-market, has been named on Gartner Inc.'s Magic Quadrant for Corporate Performance Management (CPM) Suites, 2005(1). The Gartner CPM Magic Quadrant is published annually as an analytical representation of the current CPM market, measuring vendors on their "ability to execute" and "completeness of vision."
The Magic Quadrant, which is compiled by Gartner analysts, comprises the market leading solutions and industry giants. It is widely recognized by organizations as a key tool in the research of best of breed solutions available on the market. Indeed it is viewed as a crucial source of independent analysis, assisting companies in the evaluation and potential selection of the most appropriate offerings to meet their different organizational needs.
"We believe Systems Union's position in the CPM Magic Quadrant confirms that we are delivering on our strategy to offer our customers world-class solutions for planning, forecasting, budgeting, consolidation, risk management, balanced scorecards and analytic reporting," said Paul Coleman, chief executive officer of Systems Union. "Our aim is to help customers realize the full value of business information by delivering finance and performance management solutions that are easy to use and simple to deploy and customize. We feel such recognition by Gartner, which is one of the most highly respected research houses, is very encouraging and provides an invaluable independent recognition of our strategy and the strength of our solutions in the CPM market place."
Since the acquisition of MIS AG in 2003, Systems Union has been building a world-wide performance management business, delivering an application framework for custom business intelligence and packaged applications for enterprise planning, consolidation, subsidiary management, risk management and balanced scorecards. Together with the acquisition of Lasata Software 2004 which added real-time ad-hoc transactional reporting through its Vision suite, Systems Union now boasts an unrivalled portfolio of market-leading and proven performance management solutions.
About The Magic Quadrant
The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted 4 November 2005 by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner's analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the "Leaders" quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
About Systems Union
Company background
Systems Union is one of the world's leading distribution networks through which it sells first-class financial and performance management solutions to the mid-market.
The Company, which is listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange, is committed to growth and to the continual development of solutions that improve an organization's ability to more effectively produce, consolidate, analyze and report financial and wider management information in a unified way.
In addition, our solutions enable today's organizations to adopt a proactive approach to budgeting, planning and forecasting processes, crucial for the future success of any business and its domestic and international operations.
The Group's objective to remain the world's leading mid-market provider of Financial and Performance Management solutions is supported by its expanding portfolio of global solutions, its global scale and its global reach combined with an international team of staff and management and the financial resources necessary to further drive the business and its success.
Systems Union at a glance
Today Systems Union Group plc comprises SunSystems, MIS, Vision, Pegasus, REDtechnology, ncSoft and Foundation Systems.
The Group delivers its Financial and Performance Management solutions to over 50,000 customer sites in 194 countries around the world via its network of 46 corporate offices in 19 countries and 500 reseller partners in 73 countries.
Corporate website: www.systemsunion.com
Email: doug_shirra@systemsunion.com
(1) Gartner Magic Quadrant for CPM Suites, 2005: Nigel Rayner,
Frank Buytendijk, Lee Geishecker, 4th November 2005.
Microsoft's Ultra-Mobile Concept PC
Juniper Foo | Apr 28, 2005
LAREDO, Texas -- International Bancshares Corporation ("IBC") (NASDAQ:IBOC) announced that on Nov. 17, 2005, its board of directors extended the termination date on its stock repurchase program. The Company is now authorized to conduct stock repurchases through December 2006, compared to the prior program termination date of December 2005.
Under the program, the Company is authorized to repurchase up to $195,973,000 of its common stock. Stock repurchases may be made from time to time on the open market or through private transactions. Shares repurchased in this program will be held in treasury for reissue for various corporate purposes, including employee stock option plans.
As of Oct. 31, 2005, a total of 3,974,327 shares had been repurchased under this program at a total cost of approximately $154.2 million, which shares are now reflected as 10,845,024 shares of treasury stock as adjusted for stock dividends. The Company currently has invested approximately $175.2 million in treasury shares, which amount has been accumulated since the inception of the Company.
"Safe Harbor" statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: The statements contained in this release which are not historical facts contain forward looking information with respect to plans, projections or future performance of IBC and its subsidiaries, the occurrence of which involve certain risks and uncertainties detailed in IBC's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Copies of IBC's SEC filings and Annual Report (as an exhibit to the 10-K) may be downloaded from the SEC filings site located at http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.
IBC is a $10.3 billion multi-bank financial holding company
headquartered in Laredo, Texas, with more than 200 facilities and more
than 300 ATMs serving more than 75 communities in Texas and Oklahoma.
Desktop Sushi Robot
Juniper Foo | Apr 27, 2005
Imagine having your own personal sushi chef. Now imagine having the next best thing--your own sushi-making robot. At 50 Nigiri pieces a minute, you'll be the envy of your neighbors. Need we say more?
Goes well with the Katsutare Zara Soy Sauce Plate and Sushi Specs
Price: N.A.
Availability: Nasaco
Device: Sushi making machine
Basic specs: 3,000 pieces/hr, 350 x 480 x 700mm, about 40kg, hopper capacity 8kg, feeding amount adjustment 18 to 25g/each rice ball, touch panel equipped in Japanese, English or Chinese versions
Episode III Darth Vader Voice Changer
Juniper Foo | Apr 26, 2005
A moment please for a snigger. With Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith just around the corner (May 18 for Singapore), vendors have been busy with their own kind of revenge, dropping Star Wars gizmos on eager-beaver fans which include this Darth Vader Voice Changer helmet. Don it and you'll instantly sound like the dark one, with voice conversion, breathing mode and five Darth Vader quotes to draw from. Since it's said to be adjustable for all head sizes, we're betting that some of our more loony starry-eyed colleagues will quietly purchase this online for some closet moments. May the Force be with them!
Get the closeup | box image
Price: US$36.99
Availability: Ships May 1, StarWarsShop.com
Device: Star Wars collectible
Basic specs: Helmet, mask, chest plate, voice adjusts to three different pitches, helmet size for 5-year-olds to adult, five quotes comprising "The Force is with you", "You don't know the power of the dark side", "Don't make me destroy you", "Your powers are weak", and "There is no escape"
Scent Dome
Juniper Foo | Apr 25, 2005
The Japanese have been there, done that. However, US-based TriSenx seems to be enjoying the sweet smell of success with its personal olfactory device. UK broadband provider Telewest is apparently already testing ScentMail to let people send aromatic emails. Meanwhile, Utah-based Dimension's Edge is ready to release a new virtual basketball game which, when hooked to a Scent Dome, will reward players with whiffs of popcorn or hot dogs when points are scored. Moms will probably be more interested in a software package that lets kids learn the alphabet through scent recognition, such as a whiff of apple for the letter A. If Scent Dome takes off, we're expecting Internet advertisers and spammers to smell this a mile away.
Via Popgadget.net
Price: US$369
Availability: TriSenx
Device: Tangible user interfaces
Basic specs: 5.5 inches tall, utilizes 20 base aromas to mix-and-match scents
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