RIM, Telefonica announce NFC trial, aim to launch mobile wallet next year

RIM's NFC campaign is about to roll into Iberia, now that the BlackBerry manufacturer has announced a new partnership with Madrid-based Telefonica. This week, the two companies unveiled plans to begin testing a mobile payment and ID card system across the Spanish capital, in the hopes of launching commercial services next year. The so-called Telefonica Wallet for BlackBerry trial will involve some 350 Telefonica employees and a select group of testers within Madrid, each of whom will be able to make payments, access offices and check bank statements from their BlackBerry handsets. Telefonica's Matthew Key told Reuters that his company chose RIM to participate in the trial primarily because of the security of its BlackBerry platform, stressing the importance of earning enough consumer trust to handle sensitive personal data. No specifics yet on when or where the carrier will launch a full payment system, though Key said that Telefonica's aiming to bring it to a handful of markets in 2012.

RIM, Telefonica announce NFC trial, aim to launch mobile wallet next year originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 17:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fame-hungry funds risk investor ire with A-list ads (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? Fund managers keen to cash in on the cult of celebrity are being warned high-profile, pricey marketing campaigns in today's tough economic times could lose them more business than they win.

Soccer manager Jose Mourinho recently joined the roster of Hollywood stars and sporting legends hired by banks and insurers to promote their brands, signing up last month to represent funds firm Henderson Group (HGGH.L).

Against the backdrop of industry job cuts, sluggish business and flatlining fund fees however, this kind of spending may backfire, say financial advisors and corporate governance groups.

"The use of celebrities can be damaging as well as helpful especially as the link between celebrity and company can be tenuous to say the least," said Tom Biggar, investment manager at TQInvest.

"It may become a hindrance as clients express interest in products that are completely inappropriate for them."

Henderson's campaign is designed to project unity and strength after two recent buyouts. But spending vast sums on marketing that may be more geared to boosting internal morale than luring new clients could alienate cost-conscious investors expecting to see far more bang for their buck.

Henderson recently reported retail investors, spooked by the Euro crisis, withdrew 692 million pounds more from their funds than they put in during the three months to September 30.

"You can understand why Henderson would like the public to equate the firm with Mourinho - 'the special one' - and his endorsement may be quite compelling if Mourinho limits the number of companies he pitches," Simon Wong, a partner in active investment firm Governance for Owners said.

"Whether the Mourinho deal is justifiable depends on, among other things, the amount paid to him and the expected payback measured in terms of increased name recognition of the firm, reputational impact and success in growing revenues from the targeted segments," he said.

Mourinho signed up as the new face of Braun's Series 7 electric razors in September and has also fronted financial sector campaigns for American Express and more recently Portugal's Millennium Bank, in which he urged fellow countrymen to be proud of their country despite its economic difficulties.

Richard Wilson, Henderson sales & marketing director, said his company was delighted with its "excellent value" arrangement with the Real Madrid coach but conceded it would be tough to pinpoint how much new cash he could help Henderson bring in.

"It's clear Henderson has been through a period of change and is now rallying around the idea of having a common objective," Wilson said.

Pete Davis, founder of Getmemedia.com, a search service for marketing ideas, who in the past managed sponsorships at Swiss foods group Nestle, estimates endorsement by a well known personality could be worth about 1-2 million pounds to the individual.

By comparison, sponsorship of a Formula 1 racing team could cost around 25 million pounds.

British insurer Aviva (AV.L) ruffled feathers among its investors with its 10 million pound celebrity-backed rebranding of unit Norwich Union in 2009, at a time when the reputation of financial services firms was languishing in the doldrums.

Some shareholders used the forum of that year's annual general meeting to accuse Aviva of overspending on the campaign, which featured actor Bruce Willis and supermodel Elle Macpherson, but Chief Marketing Officer Amanda Mackenzie said time has underlined just how effective the tactic was.

"Our television advertisements, featuring famous people who had all changed their names, showed how this had helped them achieve a change in fame and fortune. Using celebrities is a proven way of gaining high impact fast, so you ultimately spend less on media buying," Mackenzie said.

"Media costs were also lower at the time we rebranded due to the economic downturn and we benefited from billboard advertising staying up beyond the period we'd paid for."

Davis suggested the financial crisis may have driven the cost of celebrity endorsement for fund managers and banks higher because of caution on the part of the stars about being associated with institutions seen by the public as villains.

"Quite often now... celebrities will turn things down because they don't think the fit is right or they don't think the brand is moral enough. They don't necessarily need the money at the top level, so they can pick and choose," said Getmemedia.com's Davis.

Although the campaigns are likely to generate a spike in interest in financial services firms in the short term, advisors said they seldom lead directly to a product sale, particularly with so many other factors influencing fund selection.

"I can honestly say that this should have absolutely no impact upon an advisor's decision when recommending suitable investments to clients, and any suggestion otherwise is incorrect," TQInvest's Biggar said.

(Editing by Sophie Walker)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111125/bs_nm/us_endorsements_funds

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26 bodies dumped in mass slaying in Guadalajara (AP)

GUADALAJARA, Mexico ? The bound and gagged bodies of 26 young men were found dumped Thursday in the heart of Mexico's second-largest city, in what experts said could mark a new stage in the full-scale war between the country's two main drug cartels, Sinaloa and the Zetas.

The bodies were stuffed in two vans and a pickup truck abandoned on an expressway near the Milennium Arches in Guadalajara, one of the most recognizable landmarks in the picturesque city that hosted last month's Pan American Games.

Most of the men died of asphyxia, according to officials in Jalisco state where Guadalajara is located, though initial reports indicated some had been shot.

The victims, apparently between the ages of 25 and 35, all had the words "Milenio Zetas" or "Milenium" written on their chests in oil, said Jalisco state Interior Secretary Fernando Guzman Perez. A law enforcement official who was not authorized to speak on the record said the writing was apparently meant as the killers' calling card, identifying the assassins as being from the Zetas and a smaller, allied gang, the Milenio Cartel.

The official said a banner found in one of the vehicles ? whose contents Guzman Perez refused to reveal ? was in fact signed by the Zetas. Mexican cartels frequently leave threatening messages with the bodies of their victims as a way of intimidating rivals and claiming responsibility for their actions.

The killings, apparently carried out before dawn, bore an eerie similarity to the Sept. 20 dumping of 35 bodies on an expressway in the Gulf coast city of Veracruz.

The victims in the Veracruz mass slaying were purportedly Zetas and the killers were allegedly linked to the Sinaloa cartel; those two cartels have emerged as Mexico's most powerful, and have each been trying to expand into each others' territories.

Raul Benitez, a professor at Mexico's National Autonomous University who studies security issues, said the Guadalajara mass killing may have been retaliation for the Veracruz slayings.

"I think the Zetas are responding by giving back in kind ... it is a game of one-upmanship," said Benitez.

The Guadalajara International Book Fair, which opens Saturday, is expected to draw as many as 600,000 visitors from around the world and describes itself as the world's most important Spanish-language book fair. The bodies were found about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the Expo Guadalajara events center.

Best known as the home of mariachi music and tequila, Guadalajara also sits on the main highway running through western Mexico from the methamphetamine-producing state of Michoacan north toward the Pacific Coast state of Sinaloa.

In recent months, security officials and analysts have worried that the city could become a target for the Zetas, which has rapidly expanded since breaking with its old allies in the Gulf cartel in 2010.

The Zetas have been expanding west, from their base on the Gulf coast, and Sinaloa has apparently been sending proxy forces eastward into the territory of the Zetas or their allies, in what now appears to have become a nationwide battle.

"As long as there is definition on the division of territories, between Sinaloa and the Zetas, we are going to continue seeing this," said Benitez.

Guadalajara's mayor, Jorge Aristoteles Sandoval, told reporters that "these acts of barbarism show how the war between cartels, and crime, is getting more brutal."

"It's sad to see what's going on," taxi driver Jesus Amado said. "We used to be looking at the problem from afar. Now we're not, we've got it right here."

Officials initially reported that there were 23 bodies found. Ulises Enrique Camacho, a spokesman for the attorney-general's office, said Thursday afternoon that the toll had risen to 26.

Crime in this colonial city of some 1.5 million people was historically dominated by the powerful Sinaloa cartel, but the group's tight grip was shattered by the death of its regional commander, Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel, in a shootout with federal police in July 2010.

Guadalajara's murder rate then soared as factions of the cartel known as the New Generation and the Resistance battled to control Coronel's territory and assets. Street battles have left hundreds dead in the city and surrounding areas.

Killing slowed to a trickle during the Oct. 15-30 Pan American Games, which brought a massive influx of police and soldiers. Law-enforcement officials and analysts said they were nonetheless concerned that a Zetas onslaught could be imminent.

On Wednesday, 17 bodies were found burned in two pickup trucks in a strikingly similar attack in Sinaloa, the home state of the eponymous cartel. Twelve of the bodies were in the back of one truck, some of them handcuffed and wearing bulletproof vests.

____

Associated Press writers E. Eduardo Castillo and Michael Weissenstein in Mexico City contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mexico/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111125/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_drug_war_mexico

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iPhone Live 181: Apparently we?re baristas

Subscribe via iTunes: Audio | Video Subscribe via RSS: Audio | Video Download directly: Audio | Video Show notes Rene, Georgia, and Seth talk about the future of consumer electronics and the mythical Apple Television, Samsung vs. Sprint ads, top 10 apps...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/msOMwSQkBbc/story01.htm

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WGN Radio Petcast: Help Feed Pets in Need; John O'Hurley ...

By Steve Dale, today at 9:45 pm

WGN Radio Petcast: Help Feed Pets in Need; John O'Hurley Wonders Which End of the Dog; Andrea Arden's Dog Training Bible; 2011 AAHA Canine Vaccine Guidelines

CLICK HERE TO LIST TO THIS WGN PETCAST - it's fun, it's easy and it's free....

More people are having trouble feeding families than in decades...that includes people who truly can barely afford to feed their animals. Banfield Charitable Trust is doing something about that with a pet food campaign called Season of Summers. Diane McGill, executive director and CEO of explains how easy it is for you to make a difference, with a donation or even a click on Facebook's Banfield Charitable Trust page- and 'like it.'

John O'Hurley stars on Broadway in Chicago, played J. Peterman on Seinfeld, was the first season winner on Dancing with the Stars, and he announces dog shows on TV -- including the Thanksgiving Day National Dog Show presented by Purina.

Andrea Arden, host of Animal Planet's Underdog to Wonderdog, is a frequent guest on the Today Show; if those accolades aren't enough -- she's now authored a bible, "Barron's Dog Training Bible." Rarely do I get to speak with the author of a bible.

Vaccines have become nearly as controversial in medicine for pets as they've become for children. Dr. Link Welborn, chair of the American Animal Hospital Association Task Force which just revised canine vaccines recommendations, explains what's new and we also talked about some misconceptions that people have concerning vaccines for dogs. Also, if you're interested in vaccines - check out the 2011 Canine Vaccine Guidelines yourself; they're free to download.

Filed under: dogs, pets, Podcast, veterinary health

Tags: 2011 Caine Vaccine Guidelines, American Animal Hospital Association, Andrea Arden, Animal Planet, Banfield Charitable Trust, Barron's Dog Training Bible, Diane McGill, Dr. Link Wleborn, John O'Hurley, National Dog Show, Steve Dale, Steve Dale archives, Steve Dale arcives, Underdog to Wonderdog

Source: http://www.chicagonow.com/steve-dales-pet-world/2011/11/wgn-radio-petcast-help-feed-pets-in-need-john-ohurley-wonders-which-end-of-the-dog-adrea-ardens-dog-training-bible-2011-aaha-canine-vaccine-guidelines/

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Global search for Tata chairman ends close to home (Reuters)

MUMBAI (Reuters) ? The next chairman of India's venerable salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group will be an insider and a family member by marriage.

India's biggest corporate house had mounted a global search that lasted more than a year for a successor to Chairman Ratan Tata, but ended up tapping Cyrus Mistry, whose father is the biggest shareholder in the Tata Sons holding company.

Mistry, 43, was named deputy chairman of Tata Sons and will succeed Ratan Tata when he retires in December 2012 at the helm of a sprawling conglomerate that generates two-thirds of its $83 billion in revenue from overseas.

"I would probably have been more worried if it had been an outsider, because the culture is so strong at Tata. This keeps the continuity," said Andrew Holland, director at Ambit Capital in Mumbai.

"The only question mark could be that he is a large shareholder. I mean, the one thing people might raise is that the Pallonji family owns a large stake and a relative was given the job," he said.

Mistry is the younger son of Pallonji Mistry, who with a stake of 18 percent is the single largest shareholder of Tata Sons, and has been a director of Tata Sons since 2006. The future chairman's sister is married to Ratan Tata's half-brother Noel Tata, who was also a candidate to be Tata chairman.

He has big shoes to fill in succeeding Ratan Tata, who has built the group from a $5 billion operation of steel making, commercial vehicles and hotels into a global empire, largely through acquisitions.

"It's such a complex organisation, it's a challenging position to step into. It's very important that the new person has a vision for taking the group forward for the next 20-30 years," said Taina Erajuuri, a fund manager at FIM Asset Management in Helsinki, which owns stock in Tata firms.

The Tata Group includes Tata Motors, owner of the Jaguar Land Rover brands and maker of the Nano, the world's cheapest car, as well as Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Steel and dozens of other companies.

LONG SEARCH

In August 2010, the group named a five-person panel, which included Cyrus Mistry himself, to look for a successor to Ratan Tata, who is not married and does not have children, for India's highest-profile corporate post.

The panel conducted a global search and considered bringing in what would have been the first non-family member as chairman. The closely watched but tightly guarded search had been expected to wrap up by March but took longer.

Sources told Reuters earlier this year that the committee had approached PepsiCo Chief Executive Indra Nooyi, an Indian-born American, who declined to enter the race for personal reasons.

The panel met 18 times, and when Mistry became a candidate for the post, he excluded himself from deliberations on himself and other candidates, a group spokesman said.

Noel Tata had been considered a front-runner after he was moved into the top spot in the group's international operations.

"It's been a long decision and they have looked hard, and they must have their reasons for taking this decision, for selecting someone from the inside and not an outsider. We also have to remember that he will work with Ratan Tata for a year, so I suppose he will be groomed," Erajuuri said.

An engineer by training, Mistry is managing director of Shapoorji Pallonji Group, a major construction firm that has been in business for 147 years, and does not have a high public profile. He was not available for comment.

"I am aware that an enormous responsibility, with a great legacy, has been entrusted to me," he said in a statement.

Mistry will be the sixth chairman of the 143-year-old group, and just the second not named Tata.

The Tata group was founded as a textile business in 1868 by Ratan's great-grandfather, Jamsetji Tata, a member of the close-knit Parsi community -- Persian Zoroastrians who fled to India around the 10th century. His older son expanded into steel, insurance and the production of soaps and cooking oil.

"I would think that the new chairman has the unenviable task of trying to move fast in a difficult global environment, particularly in Europe, where they have made so much investment," Holland said.

Unlike most of India's big business houses, the Tata group is not family owned and Ratan Tata is not on the Forbes list of billionaires. Tata Sons holds the bulk of shares in key companies, and philanthropic trusts endowed by the Tata family own 66 percent of Tata Sons.

Pallonji Mistry, also a member of south Mumbai's Parsi community, owns about 18 percent of the group, and ranks 9th on the last Forbes India rich list, with a fortune estimated at $7.6 billion.

(Reporting by Prashant Mehra and Tony Munroe; Editing by Aradhana Aravindan and John Chalmers)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/india/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111123/india_nm/india606895

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Engadget Distro Issue 15 tackles the Nook Tablet, HTC's Rezound and your turkey hangover

What better way to spend this post-turkey day than curling up with a brand new edition of Engadget Distro? This issue we cover Barnes and Noble's creatively named Nook Tablet, HTC's stellar new smartphone, the Rezound, and Toshiba's Ultrabook contender, the Portege Z835. We're also serving up a piping hot dish of a Samsung Galaxy 7.0 Plus review and Ross Rubin's lip-smacking Switched On, which explores HTC's journey back to the feature. If that's not enough to sate your geeky appetite, we've also got our latest installment of IRL. So belly up and download it now -- this is one holiday treat that won't go straight to your hips.

Continue reading Engadget Distro Issue 15 tackles the Nook Tablet, HTC's Rezound and your turkey hangover

Engadget Distro Issue 15 tackles the Nook Tablet, HTC's Rezound and your turkey hangover originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 09:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gingrich: Cutting off gasoline would contain Iran (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich says the United States could "break Iran within a year" if allies worked together on a strategy instead of focusing on specific tactics.

Gingrich says that ending gasoline sales to Iran and sabotaging its refineries would lead to regime change and end its nuclear ambitions. The former House speaker says the world must change regimes in Tehran before Iran acquires a nuclear weapon.

Other Republican presidential candidates debating in Washington Tuesday night had different views of how to deal with Iran's aggressive nuclear program.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry says he favors sanction on Iran's central bank.

Businessman Herman Cain says he would support an Israeli military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities only if he were convinced it would work.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111123/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_debate_iran

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Roots welcome Bachmann with pointed song (AP)

NEW YORK ? Jimmy Fallon's house band the Roots didn't have a warm welcome for Republican presidential contender Michele Bachmann when she appeared on the NBC show early Tuesday.

As Bachmann strode on to the stage at Fallon's "Late Night," the show's band played a snippet of a 1985 Fishbone song called "Lyin' Ass Bitch."

The song begins with a distinctive "la la la la la la la la la" refrain ? the only words audible before Bachmann, smiling and waving to the audience, sat down.

The song itself, about a relationship gone wrong, isn't political. Among its cleanest lyrics: "She always says she needs you, but you know she really don't care."

Bachmann's campaign had no immediate comment.

Fallon joked on Twitter that Roots bandleader Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson was grounded. The show itself didn't have any comment.

The Roots frequently make sly, often obscure, song choices as Fallon's guests are introduced.

When Fox Business Network's Lou Dobbs came out, they played part of Genesis' "Illegal Alien," a reference to Dobbs' frequent commentaries on the topic. Current TV host Keith Olbermann, formerly of MSNBC, heard part of Klymaxx's "I Miss You." Kathie Lee Gifford was saluted with UB40's "Red Red Wine," a reference to the drink she often shares on-air with "Today" co-host Hoda Kotb.

___

AP Music Writer Nekesa Mumbi Moody contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111122/ap_en_tv/us_bachmann_song_choice

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