Port Washington, NY (Vocus) August 4, 2010

Riding the wave of new handset introductions and wide carrier distribution in the second quarter (Q2), the Android smartphone operating system (OS) continued its upward climb in the U.S. consumer mobile phone market, according to The NPD Group, a leading market research company. For the first time since the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2007, RIM fell to second position, as Android took the lead among operating systems in handsets sold to U.S. consumers. NPD’s latest wireless market research reveals that Android accounted for 33 percent of all smartphones purchased in Q2, ahead of RIM (28 percent) and Apple (22 percent).

“For the second consecutive quarter, Android handsets have shown strong but slowing sell-through market share gains among U.S. consumers,” said Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis for NPD. “While the Google-developed OS took market share from RIM, Apple’s iOS saw a small gain this quarter on the strength of the iPhone 4 launch.”

Based on U.S. consumer purchases of mobile phones in Q2, the top 5 Android smartphones were as follows:

1. Motorola Droid

2. HTC Droid Incredible

3. HTC EVO 4G

4. HTC Hero

5. HTC Droid Eris

“Blackberry 6 will soon offer features that have been popular in recently launched Android handsets, such as support for capacitive touchscreens and a WebKit-based browser. However, the Blackberry Torch lacks the large screen allure that has characterized the best selling Android devices at its price point, including the Droid Incredible and EVO 4G,” Rubin said.

Model selection and promotions continue to play a role in the race for carrier dominance. According to NPD’s Mobile Phone Track, Verizon Wireless has maintained its lead among top carriers for the last three quarters comprising a third (33 percent) of the units sold in the U.S. mobile phone market in Q2, followed by AT&T (25 percent), Sprint (12 percent), and T-Mobile (11 percent). In Q2 Verizon Wireless continued their buy-one-get-one (BOGO) offers on all smartphones, including both RIM and Android models.

In spite of an overall decline in the number of mobile phones purchased year over year, the ongoing popularity of both messaging phones and smartphones, which are generally more costly than standard feature phones, resulted in slightly higher prices for all mobile phones in Q2. The average selling price for all mobile phones reached $90, which is a 3 percent increase since Q2 last year. Smartphone unit prices, by comparison, averaged $143 in Q2 2010, which is a 9 percent decrease over the previous year.

Data Note: The information in this press release is from Mobile Phone Track — NPD’s consumer tracking of U.S. consumers, aged 18 and older, who reported purchasing a mobile phone. NPD does not track corporate/enterprise mobile phone purchases.

About The NPD Group, Inc.

The NPD Group is the leading provider of reliable and comprehensive consumer and retail information for a wide range of industries. Today, more than 1,800 manufacturers, retailers, and service companies rely on NPD to help them drive critical business decisions at the global, national, and local market levels. NPD helps our clients to identify new business opportunities and guide product development, marketing, sales, merchandising, and other functions. Information is available for the following industry sectors: automotive, beauty, commercial technology, consumer technology, entertainment, fashion, food and beverage, foodservice, home, office supplies, software, sports, toys, and wireless. For more information, contact us or visit http://www.npd.com/] and http://www.npdgroupblog.com]. Follow us on Twitter: @npdtech and @npdgroup.

Contact:

Lee Graham

The NPD Group

(212) 333-4983

###

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prwebwireless_market_research/android_smartphones/prweb4350164.htm

Indianapolis, IN (Vocus) August 4, 2010

Consona Corporation (Consona), a worldwide leader in providing customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and services for companies of all sizes, announced today the availability of a new white paper, “Making Support Social: Turning Customer Engagement into Customer Success.” Jointly produced with David Kay, principal, DB Kay & Associates, the white paper dives into the current social media trend and reveals the many inherent benefits it offers to service and support groups.

Whether blogging, rating, commenting, debating or collaborating, society has embraced social media as a critical communication tool – and one that is quickly proving to be valuable to businesses. In most organizations, the marketing department has taken ownership of the social media presence. However, this paper reveals that the business impact of social media is stronger and more beneficial in service and support. There, customers may help each other, while at the same time providing businesses with insight into the customer experience and opportunities to improve. Smart companies are taking note, monitoring blogs and forums, and they like to immediately act on customer tips, complaints and kudos. They are also engaging the online society through social media to gather solicited feedback on services and products. Nowhere else can a company obtain this scale of brainpower so quickly.

In the paper, award-winning and support-centric CRM solution vendor Consona partners with industry thought leader David Kay to offer an overview of the current, broad social media trends and critical advice to advance your business’ service and support using social media. The white paper concludes with a “Social Support Action Plan” — five suggestions for engaging social media sources and moving forward with a social media plan.

“The social media revolution is turning the entire Internet into a virtual suggestion box,” said Tim Hines, vice president of product management, Consona. “By ignoring the goldmine of information held within it, companies are essentially ignoring valuable customer feedback and an opportunity to deliver support better, faster and more cost-effectively.”

To view “Making Support Social: Turning Customer Engagement into Customer Success,” please visit http://crm.consona.com/CRM/LearnMore/social-support/.

For more information on Consona and its CRM solutions, please visit the Consona CRM website at http://crm.consona.com/.

About Consona Corporation

Consona Corporation (Consona) is a worldwide leader in providing customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and services for companies of all sizes. Consona is dedicated to becoming a valued business partner by helping each and every customer continuously improve business processes over time. Toward this mission, Consona invests in the people, processes, technology and tools needed to provide its customers with a unique combination of customer care; product fit; a broad range of consulting, IT and business services; and industry expertise. Consona serves more than 4,500 customers worldwide and across a variety of industries. Battery Ventures VI LP and Thoma Bravo LLC jointly own Consona. For further information, visit www.consona.com, e-mail infoATconsona.com, or call (888) 8 CONSONA.

Contact:

Mitch Briggs

Consona Corporation

P: (317) 249-1620

M: (317) 829-4210

###

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prwebConsona-CRM/Social-Media/prweb4351974.htm

Plano, TX (PRWEB) August 4, 2010

VanillaSoft announced today that it has completed its planned infrastructure expansion, and part of that expansion included bringing a new data center on line. VanillaSoft selected Terremark Worldwide as a trusted partner for its North American hosting facility. Ken Murray, President of VanillaSoft, stated, “As our foot print expanded into multiple countries and time zones, we found ourselves a 24/7 365 day a year operation. This required not only a new data center but a new partner with world class facilities and service. Terremark and their global presence are the perfect fit for us.”

VanillaSoft continues to see optimism in the lead management software space as more and more companies focus on Inside Sales and deploying software to drive productivity. VanillaSoft expects its high growth rate to continue through the remainder for 2010.

About VanillaSoft http://www.vanillasoft.com/

Don’t just store data and report on it - drive productivity with VanillaSoft’s web-based, on-demand lead management software and telemarketing software, created by Inside Sales experts for Insides Sales teams. The award winning Best-In-Class feature set includes next-best call logic, auto dialing, on-board intelligent messaging, integrated e-mail, real-time lead distribution, live dashboard and call recording for training. Typical users realize a production increase of 30 to 50% over traditional CRM, creating an easy to justify ROI. VanillaSoft dials over existing phone systems or VOIP meaning no new or high fees for telecom. VanillaSoft is based in Plano, Texas where it has served a global client base since 2005. http://www.vanillasoft.com/c/lead-management-software

About Terremark Worldwide

Terremark Worldwide is a leading global provider of IT infrastructure services delivered on the industry’s most robust and advanced technology platform. Leveraging data centers in the United States, Europe and Latin America with access to massive and diverse network connectivity, Terremark delivers government and enterprise customers a comprehensive suite of managed solutions including managed hosting, co-location, disaster recovery, security, data storage and cloud computing services. Terremark’s Enterprise Cloud computing architecture delivers the agility, scale and economic benefits of cloud computing to mission-critical enterprise and Web 2.0 applications and its DigitalOps® service platform combines end-to-end systems management workflow with a comprehensive customer portal. More information about Terremark Worldwide can be found at http://www.terremark.com.

###

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prwebVanillaSoftTerremark/telemarketingSoftware/prweb4349554.htm

Experts believe the Bank will hold interest rates and Quantitative Easing again in August, but Governor Mervyn King recently laid bare the challenges facing its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).

In a recent appearance in front of MPs on the Treasury Select Committee, the central bank boss warned a sustained recovery was still highly uncertain, despite the recent 1.1% surge in growth during the second quarter.

But he also cautioned inflation would remain high throughout 2010 and most of 2011 signalling more pain for households already under pressure from tough austerity measures.

Despite the inflation woes, his comments sent out a clear message that growth needed to be prioritised for some time yet - and that interest rates would likely remain low for many months.

Read full story

(PRWeb UK) July 30, 2010

The UK’s market leader in cloud accounting software, Liquid Accounts, is delighted to announce three new partnerships as increasing numbers of businesses switch their accounts to the system.

Now Let’s Get Started, AltruWorld and Daily Express Franchising are online business development services providing a range of information for business owners and are now official resellers of Liquid’s award winning software.

Now Let’s Get Started provides help, information and a wide range of support services to help people set up and run their own business. For those who are setting up their own business, NLGS is a great place to start and get their business up and running.

AltruWorld connects suppliers and customers quicker and cheaper than advertising, through an online community that matches registered suppliers’ services and products to customers’ needs, whilst protecting privacy, in an affordable and environmentally friendly way. Suppliers control who they reply to and customers control who contact them.

Daily Express Franchising provides franchising support and promotes the services of new and existing franchisors and franchisees in an online community. It provides all the latest news on available franchises and hold a huge industry database of businesses looking for new franchises.

Speaking about the latest partnerships, Liquid’s Director of Strategic Partnerships, Richard Holmes, said: “Liquid aims to actively build partnerships with other expert companies who offer complementary services that we believe are of benefit to our clients and can enhance the service we offer.

As an ethical company, keen to help small businesses grow, we are delighted to be partnering with these three online business development services. As our software is fully scalable and perfect for start-ups and SMEs, we are interested in helping small businesses grow, and these partnerships allow us to do that. Also, the fact that our software has multi-user capability means that it is ideal for franchises who operate in multiple locations.

The partnership means that all three online services will offer Liquid’s award-winning software to their members and website visitors.”

Liquid is looking for new partners as part of our Accredited Partner Programme. For further information on how to become a partner of Liquid Accounts, contact Director of Strategic Partnerships, Richard Holmes, by emailing richard(dot)holmes(at)liquidaccounts(dot)net

Notes to Editor:

Liquid Accounts

Liquid Accounts Ltd is an online developer and vendor of accounting software using the Software as a service (SaaS) model. SaaS is a component of the ‘Cloud’ which facilitates the use of third party servers over the internet in a ‘pay-as-you-go’ way. The benefits of SaaS to business being no large capital outlay; no on-site servers or internal IT expertise required; no upgrade/compatibility issues; no backups or security required; no up-front/long term commitments; and no hidden costs.

Liquid Accounts has gained industry wide acclaim; featuring in the Institute of Chartered Accountants’ Guide to Online Accounting, earning glowing reviews from specialist groups like AccountingWeb, and winning several high profile awards including Best Web-Hosted Accounting Software and runner-up for Best Small Business Accounting Software at the Software Satisfaction Awards. MD, Matt Holmes is a recognised expert in the field of online software and is Chair of the Cloud Computing Special Interest Group for the Software Developers’ Association (BASDA).

For further information about Liquid Accounts or this specific story, please contact:

Lisa Kendrick

0845 450 7304

# # #

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prwebaccounting_software/Liquid_Accounts/prweb4260914.htm

(PRWeb UK) July 30, 2010

Signs Express in Dartford helped local fundraisers and customers Andy and Steve by sponsoring them as they embarked on the bike ride from London to Paris to raise money for disability charity Scope.

The event, which took place on 23rd July, saw 160 cyclists cycle from Blackheath through the Kent countryside and on to Dover where they boarded the ferry to Calais and resumed cycling on to the romantic city of Paris. The 300-mile bike ride which would usually take three days was completed in just 24 hours where cyclists crossed the finish line at the Eiffel Tower.

As part of the UK and Ireland’s leading signs and graphics company, Signs Express (NW Kent & SE London) provides a complete design, manufacture and installation service for all forms of signage including interior/exterior signs, vehicle graphics, exhibition and display products, window graphics and health and safety signage for businesses in Dartford and the surrounding areas.

###

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2010/07/prweb4331984.htm

(PRWeb UK) July 30, 2010

Birstall based integrated strategic marketing agency, Fantastic Media, has appointed two new members of staff to strengthen its account management team.

Emily Smith joins as Account Executive to support the team across the agency’s broad range of clients, including Paxman Coolers, Card Factory, Chadwick Lawrence and Northern Commercials. She recently graduated from Huddersfield University with a degree in Advertising, Media and Design Management and is keen to build on her experiences within her new role.

After winning new clients, the agency has also appointed a new Account Manager, James Scarr. James previously worked for a number of full service and digital agencies in Yorkshire across a range of industry sectors, from retail to automotive to sports and leisure.

Responsible for ensuring his clients’ marketing strategies are delivered with precision, James is very keen on keeping up to date with the latest online and offline offerings available, so he can make sure his clients are always one step ahead of the competition.

At almost 5 years old, Fantastic has continually grown to become recognised as one of the region’s most successful integrated agencies, increasing in size year on year.

Andy Hobson, MD at Fantastic, said: “The agency keeps growing and gaining more clients so it was essential for us to recruit more members to the account management team. James and Emily bring valuable skills which will ensure that we continue to achieve consistent, tangible, results for our clients.”

For more information please contact:

Charley Morello

08450 176 090

Notes to Editor:

Fantastic Media

Based in Birstall near Leeds, Fantastic Media is the fastest growing integrated marketing agency in Yorkshire, displaying growth year on year since inception in 2006.

The company operates an ethos of ‘People, Results, Value’, applying these principles to everything it does.

Fantastic offers the full marketing mix of services from strategic planning to web, graphic design, online marketing, print and PR for national and international clients including: Card Factory, Bonmarche, Chadwick Lawrence Solicitors, Northern Commercials, Liquid Accounts, prestige car brand Overfinch and several National League football clubs.

# # #

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prwebstrategic_marketing/Fantastic_Media/prweb4331784.htm

Melville, NY (PRWEB) July 26, 2010

FalconStor Software, Inc., the provider of totally Open™ data protection solutions, today announced that Wendy Petty, vice president of North American Sales at FalconStor, has been recognized by Everything Channel’s CRN Magazine as one of the top Women of the Channel. CRN’s annual list recognizes female executives across vendors’ channel organizations, distributors and solution providers for their accomplishments over the past year and the far-reaching impact they are having on the technology industry going forward. This year’s Women of the Channel were chosen by the editors of CRN magazine based on their achievements as executives and the amount of influence they wield over the technology channel.

With over 21 years of experience in sales, management and technology in networking and data protection, Petty has been a key player in driving FalconStor to a leading position in the storage virtualizationand data protection markets. Under Petty’s leadership, FalconStor’s channel program has earned Everything Channel and VARBusiness five-star awards for two consecutive years. Her efforts have helped FalconStor expand its channel presence, strengthen existing relationships and empower her channel team to be successful even during an economic downturn. In addition to receiving the CRN Channel Chief Award for the past four years, Petty has also received recognition by Everything Channel as a Top Channel Executive.

“Women hold many prominent executive positions at vendor organizations, distributors and solution provider organizations, providing critical insight and influence when it comes to technology and the channel. We want to honor and congratulate these women for their contributions to the industry and their respective organizations,” said Kelley Damore, vice president and editorial director of Everything Channel.

“It is a great honor to be included in this group of distinguished women by being named one of the top Women of the Channel by CRN. Receiving this award further acknowledges FalconStor’s position as a world-class channel organization; and it serves as a testament to our reseller partners around the globe,” said Petty. “The channel is integral to FalconStor, and we are 100 percent committed to strengthening our ties and forging dynamic new partnerships, while making it even easier to bring FalconStor’s award-winning data protection solutionsto market.”

A special feature of the Women of the Channel is in the July issue of CRN Magazine and expanded coverage will be featured online at www.crn.com.

Everything Channel

Everything Channel is the premier provider of IT channel-focused events, media, research, consulting, and sales and marketing services. With over 30 years of experience and engagement, Everything Channel has the unmatched channel expertise to execute integrated solutions for technology executives managing partner recruitment, enablement and go-to-market strategy in order to accelerate technology sales. Everything Channel is a UBM company. To learn more about Everything Channel, visit us at http://www.everythingchannel.com.

About United Business Media Limited (www.unitedbusinessmedia.com)

UBM (UBM.L) focuses on two principal activities: worldwide information distribution, targeting and monitoring; and, the development and monetization of B2B communities and markets. UBM’s businesses inform markets and serve professional commercial communities - from doctors to game developers, from journalists to jewelry traders, from farmers to pharmacists – with integrated events, online, print and business information products. Our 6,500 staff in more than 30 countries are organized into specialist teams that serve these communities, bringing buyers and sellers together, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently.

About FalconStor Software

FalconStor Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: FALC) is the market leader in disk-based data protection. FalconStor delivers proven, comprehensive data protection solutions that facilitate the continuous availability of business-critical data with speed, integrity and simplicity. The Company’s TOTALLY Open™ technology solutions, built upon the award-winning IPStor® platform, include the industry leading Virtual Tape Library (VTL) with deduplication, Continuous Data Protector (CDP), File-interface Deduplication System (FDS), and Network Storage Server (NSS), each enabled with WAN-optimized replication for disaster recovery and remote office protection, and the HyperFS™ file system. FalconStor products are available as OEM or branded solutions from industry leaders, including Acer, Data Direct Networks, Dynamic Solutions International, EMC, Fujitsu, Hitachi Data Systems, Huawei, Pillar Data Systems, SGI, SeaChange and Spectra Logic and are deployed by thousands of customers worldwide, from small businesses to Fortune 1000 enterprises.

FalconStor is headquartered in Melville, N.Y., with offices throughout Europe and the Asia Pacific region. FalconStor is an active member of the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA). For more information, visit www.falconstor.com or call 1-866-NOW-FALC (866-669-3252).

FalconStor, FalconStor Software and IPStor are registered trademark and TOTALLY Open and HyperFS are trademarks of FalconStor Software, Inc., in the U.S. and other countries. All other company and product names contained herein may be trademarks of their respective holders.

Links to websites or pages controlled by parties other than FalconStor are provided for the reader’s convenience and information only. FalconStor does not incorporate into this release the information found at those links nor does FalconStor represent or warrant that any information found at those links is complete or accurate. Use of information obtained by following these links is at the reader’s own risk.

###

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2010/07/prweb4301034.htm

Myrtle Beach, SC (Vocus) July 26, 2010

As part of its 10-year anniversary, World Tour Golf Links announces a last minute special that can save golfers up to $76. Golfers who book tee times within 48 hours of playing can get an exceptional value this summer at World Tour Golf Links, an award-winning, public, 27-hole course in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Green fees when booked through this last-minute special are only $69 per person, per day and include 27 holes of championship golf, use of a Club Car® golf cart equipped with Uplink GPS system, and a stunning 24″x36″ poster print featuring the famous holes at World Tour Golf.

To take advantage of this special, golfers must contact World Tour Golf at 877-377-7773 (toll free) or 843-236-2000 (local) and secure a tee time reservation starting within 48 hours. This special will be offered based on availability through September 29, 2010.

The 10-year-old World Tour Golf Links recreates 27 of the world’s most renowned and challenging golf layouts from 23 courses in six countries and 10 states. Its inspiration parallels the world’s most elite courses, such as Augusta National, the Seminole Club, Winged Foot, Oakmont, Pine Valley, St. Andrews, and Royal Melbourne. At World Tour Golf, players have a passport to some of the most famous golf holes in the world, all in a single day or weekend.

It is located near Highway 501 off of River Oaks Drive in Myrtle Beach, one of America’s favorite golf destinations. It is regarded for offering a private-club experience on a public golf course, most notably by its Ambassadors Program which offers golfers exceptional customer service.

World Tour Golf Links’ 27 holes are comprised of three 9-hole courses: The Open 9, The International 9, and The Championship 9. Every hole has been crafted to preserve the features and hazards of each original design, as well as the rich history of challenge and opportunity that golf embodies. The club is located at 2000 World Tour Boulevard, Myrtle Beach, SC 29579. For more information about World Tour Golf Links, visit www.theworldtourgolf.com, e-mail info(at)theworldtourgolf(dot)com or call 877-377-7773 (toll free) or 843-236-2000 (local).

###

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2010/07/prweb4302114.htm

Memphis, TN (Vocus) July 26, 2010

RealYields, a new cloud-based real estate application, allows buyers, sellers, investors, and real estate professionals to quickly analyze, publish, and share property performance metrics.

In the wake of the housing crisis home buyers and investors are leveraging tools make better decisions when buying real estate. Normally people use financial calculators, formulas, and spreadsheets to profitability of real estate ownership. RealYields aims to simplify this process by making it easy for anyone to enter basic information on a specified property and quickly receive an easy-to-understand, visual output. This output can then be published to the web and shared via email, Twitter, or Facebook.

In addition to creating a visual property analysis for a home-buyer, RealYields offers property sellers and real estate professionals an easy-to-use property marketing platform. After inputting relevant property data the seller or real estate professional can quickly create a public page (complete with an email generating form), and syndicate the property to property listing sites like, Zillow, Trulia, Google Base, Oodle, and more.

“The primary goal of RealYields is to solve agonizing problems associated with analyzing and marketing property as an investment”, said Ryan Hinricher Co-Founder of RealYields. Hinricher also founded Investor Nation Realty, a real estate investment sales company. “The first version of RealYields was used exclusively in-house to assist us in buying and selling real estate. When people were able to visually see property analysis, it made our business more transparent. The sales obviously followed”, said New York-based Hinricher.

Transparency Translates to Trust

With foreclosures and housing become entwined in daily life, more consumers are interested in buying real estate as an investment. An April survey by Move, Inc revealed that 17.2% of potential home buyers say they plan to purchase home as an investment. “With real estate becoming more and more of a commodity we felt RealYields could aid real estate professionals, and investment property wholesalers in building trust with their clients”, said Manish Patel, Co-Founder and architect of the application. “We built RealYields to not only display property analytics, but to teach and show consumers what’s relevant in a real estate transaction, and further what metrics actually mean”, added Patel.

When a potential property buyer clicks on a RealYields link, they’re able to customize financing terms and tailor the analysis to their specific purchase structure. RealYields, in fact, may be the first of its kind to help prospective buyers analyze property metrics and offer the dual role as a social marketing tool for real estate professionals. The site boasts that a user can quickly analyze, publish, and share property metrics in under 2 minutes. RealYields offers a free version for limited use and has premium plans for real estate professionals starting at a mere $17 per month. Businesses with multiple users start at $47 per month.

RealYields was developed in Austin, TX and has an office in New York.

# # #

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2010/07/prweb4303974.htm