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Indian local search service provider Just Dial Ltd‘s up to $170 million initial public offer was subscribed 11.6 times on closing in what is the biggest IPO in the country so far this year, writes Reuters. The response to the equity offering signals strong investor appetite for new shares, although bankers said this would unlikely open up the moribund IPO market in the near term with few medium-to-large sized issues in the pipeline, writes Reuters.

Reuters – Indian local search service provider Just Dial Ltd’s up to $170 million initial public offer was subscribed 11.6 times on closing on Wednesday, in what is the biggest IPO in the country so far this year.

The response to the equity offering signals strong investor appetite for new shares, although bankers said this would unlikely open up the moribund IPO market in the near term with few medium-to-large sized issues in the pipeline.

Just Dial’s IPO, in which the company’s founders and private equity investors including Sequoia Capital and Tiger Globe sold some of their shares, is the biggest since Bharti Infratel Ltd’s about $750 million IPO in December last year.

Although 12 IPOs were launched in the Indian market in the first quarter this year, all raised less than $100 million each.

Investors in Mumbai-based Just Dial, which offers search for local businesses through Internet and mobile platforms, were selling 17.5 million shares through the IPO in an indicative price band of between 470 rupees and 543 rupees apiece.

Just Dial is benefiting from rising income levels in Asia’s third-largest economy that also has the world’s second-highest number of mobile phone connections. Cheaper smartphones have helped fast growth in Internet usage.

Citigroup, which topped the Indian equity market league table as bookrunner in the first quarter of this year, and Morgan Stanley were the lead managers for the Just Dial issue.

Just Dial had first filed papers with the regulators for an IPO in 2011, but shelved the issue due to a sharp fall in the markets that affected appetite for new shares. ($1 = 55.2850 rupees) (Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy and Sumeet Chatterjee; Editing by Anand Basu)

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Belgian postal operator bpost will list a minority stake, currently held by private equity group CVC Funds, on the Brussels stock exchange, writes Reuters. The Belgian state will continue to hold a 50.01 percent stake in the former monopoly and will not sell shares in the offering.

Reuters – Belgian postal operator bpost will list a minority stake, currently held by private equity group CVC Funds, on the Brussels stock exchange, the group said on Thursday.

The Belgian state will continue to hold a 50.01 percent stake in the former monopoly and will not sell shares in the offering, bpost said.

Belgium also owns a majority stake in telecoms operator Belgacom, which is also listed on the Brussels stock exchange.

Bpost, which did not indicate when the initial public offering (IPO) would take place, said it plans to return at least 85 percent of its annual net profit to shareholders.

The group made an operating profit of 404 million euros ($520 million) last year, on revenue of 2.42 billion euros.

Bpost said that JP Morgan, Nomura and BNP Paribas Fortis would act as joint coordinators of the IPO.

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Capital Dynamics has invested in a 21-megawatt (MW) onshore wind farm project in Northern Ireland. Capital Dynamics holds a 100% ownership stake in the project called the Dunmore wind farm.

PRESS RELEASE

Capital Dynamics, a global private asset manager, is pleased to announce it has invested in a 21-megawatt (MW) onshore wind farm project in Northern Ireland.

Capital Dynamics holds a 100% ownership stake in the project called the Dunmore wind farm. Capital Dynamics has commenced construction of the project and has secured a 15-year agreement with a major UK power retailer for the purchase of the energy produced by the seven turbine scheme. This means investors will begin receiving steady streams of income immediately upon completion of the project and commencement of power generation, both of which are expected in the first quarter of 2014.

Capital Dynamics has partnered with highly experienced wind developer TCI Renewables, whose specialist onshore wind development activities span Great Britain, Ireland and North America. The project is fully complemented by a 15-year warranty, operation and maintenance contract with Danish turbine supplier Vestas Wind Systems.

The Dunmore wind farm is situated just eight kilometers from the North Sea coast, near Limavady in County Derry, one of the highest wind speed locations in all of Europe. The project also benefits from exposure to the single “All Island” electricity market between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The “All Island” electricity market has committed to delivering 40% of its total electricity supply from renewable energy sources by 2020, the majority of which is expected to be supplied by wind power.

“The Dunmore wind farm is an outstanding wind power project with very strong fundamentals in its location, both in proximity to the grid and a robust wind supply,” said Rory Quinlan, Managing Director in the Clean Energy and Infrastructure team at Capital Dynamics. “Using well-proven Vestas V90 turbines, this clean energy investment will offer our investors attractive cash yields year-on-year under a 15-year sales contract with one of Ireland’s leading energy suppliers. Our team has significant experience in onshore wind power in the UK, adding value throughout the construction and long-term operation phase.”

“We are delighted to have made an investment in such a compelling wind power project and in such a strategic location,” said Stefan Ammann, CEO of Capital Dynamics. “With this latest direct investment in renewable energy, our Clean Energy and Infrastructure program continues to gain momentum. We expect to make further investments in high-quality clean energy projects over the coming months, offering strong and stable cash returns.”

Capital Dynamics’ CEI team
Capital Dynamics’ CEI team collectively holds over 100 years of experience in investing, financing, owning and operating conventional and clean energy businesses globally. Established to capture attractive investment opportunities in this new class of real assets, Capital Dynamics’ CEI business mandate is to invest directly in proven clean energy technologies – such as solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, small hydro and landfill gas – across the globe. Since establishment of Capital Dynamics’ CEI business, the CEI team has successfully acquired, built and now manages more than 170 MW of clean energy capacity in North America and Europe.

Capital Dynamics
Capital Dynamics is an independent, global asset manager, investing in private equity and clean energy infrastructure. We are client-focused, tailoring solutions to meet investor requirements. We manage investments through a broad range of products and opportunities including separate account solutions, investment funds and structured private equity products. Capital Dynamics currently has USD 17 billion in assets under management1.

Our investment history dates back to 1988. Our senior investment professionals average over 20 years of investing experience across the private equity spectrum. We believe our experience and culture of innovation give us superior insight and help us deliver returns for our clients. We invest locally while operating globally from our London, New York, Zug, Beijing*, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Silicon Valley, Sao Paulo, Munich, Birmingham, Seoul, Brisbane, Shanghai* and Scottsdale offices.

1Capital Dynamics comprises Capital Dynamics Holding AG and its affiliates; assets under management, as of December 31, 2012, include assets under discretionary management, advisement (non-discretionary), and administration across all Capital Dynamics affiliates. Investments are primarily on behalf of funds managed by Capital Dynamics. *Capital Dynamics China is a legally separate company operating under a strategic cooperation with Capital Dynamics.

For further information, please contact:
MHP Communications
Virginia Furness, Consultant +44 (0) 203 138 8157 [email protected]
Jade Neal, Associate Director +44 (0) 203 138 8215 [email protected]

Capital Dynamics
Rory Quinlan, Managing Director +44 (0) 783 347 6370 [email protected]

Virginia Furness
Consultant

MHP Communications
60 Great Portland Street, London, W1W 7RT
Tel: +44 (0)20 3128 8100

Direct Dial: +44 (0)20 3128 8157
Mobile: +44 (0)7780 481 909

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MediSwipe, a data management solutions company for the medicinal marijuana and health care industry, has received the first $100,000 of a total of $600,000 in funding from a Chicago-based private equity fund. The company plans to use the capital to expand its marketing efforts for its cloud-based patient management system.

PRESS RELEASE

MediSwipe Inc, a data management solutions company for the medicinal marijuana and health care industry, today announced that the company has received the first $100,000 of a total of $600,000 in funding from a Chicago based private equity fund as of Tuesday this week. The Company plans to use the infusion of capital to expand its marketing efforts for its cloud-based patient management system or “MediSwipe DMS” to medicinal dispensaries across 20 states and distribution of its’ new Hemp based beverages “Chillo” and C+ Swiss Tea.

“We are extremely pleased to finally have the capital on our balance sheet to execute our business model in an aggressive manner at the very time we have completed our applications and introduced our wellness division. We are already receiving numerous requests from new clients for our beverages across the country and are fulfilling orders everyday. Our new shipping facility in Detroit is over 10,000 square feet with offices, loading docks and is both FDA and TSA monitored. We share trucking, shipping docks and inventory control with name brand food companies, and are moving product to Oregon and California this for new orders,” stated B. Michael Friedman, CEO of MediSwipe Inc.

“Our new Digital ID Hotline product announced just last week, allowing patients once certified and registered with the state to scan their records and have access via fax or mobile and be authenticated by live operators 24/7 for just $19.99 a year is also gaining traction. We are migrating 3,500 patients to the system now, and we expect this system with the feedback we are getting to be one of the biggest revenue generators of our Company. With the recent events in Southern California dispensaries last week closing and now re-opening, why would patients be held hostage with their medical records and history? For about two bucks a month, they can have complete control and by calling an 800 number send their records anywhere they want in seconds. I want MediSwipe to have 100,000 patients on this system by the third quarter. It’s a goal I believe is reachable, but more important is necessary for the patients,” further stated Friedman.

About MediSwipe Inc.
MediSwipe Inc. (www.MediSwipe.com) provides innovative patient solutions for electronically processing transactions within the healthcare industry. MediSwipe provides terminal-based service packages and integrated Web Portal add-ons for physicians, clinics, hospitals and medical dispensaries that include: digital patient records, Electronic Referrals, Credit/Debit Card merchant services, Check Guarantee and Accounts Receivable Financing.

FORWARD-LOOKING DISCLAIMER
This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements and information, as defined within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to the Safe Harbor created by those sections. This material contains statements about expected future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements by definition involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of MediSwipe Inc. to be materially different from the statements made herein.

Contact Information

Contact:
MediSwipe Inc.
248.262.6850
[email protected]

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North American Partners in Anesthesia (NAPA), a specialty anesthesia and perioperative management company has announced New Jersey Anesthesia Group has joined NAPA. In April 2011, Moelis Capital Partners led a recapitalization of NAPA’s practice management company, providing the company with the ability to pursue growth opportunities and maintain its leadership position in the expanding anesthesia management market.

PRESS RELEASE

North American Partners in Anesthesia (NAPA), the largest single specialty anesthesia and perioperative management company in the United States, today announced New Jersey Anesthesia Group (NJAG), located in Paterson, NJ, has joined NAPA. With the addition of NJAG, NAPA continues its expansion in the New Jersey anesthesia market. An additional 73 NJAG clinicians will join NAPA’s operations.

“From our first interactions with NJAG leadership, it was clear that NAPA and NJAG shared a similar clinical philosophy and approach to delivering care,” said Timothy J. Dowd, CEO and Managing Partner of North American Partners in Anesthesia. “As NAPA looks to strategically expand, we are seeking high quality practices with a strong leadership and focus, which is exactly what NJAG embodies. We look forward to providing our newest partner with the foundation to flourish and continue to advance our shared goal of providing quality anesthesia care.”

New Jersey Anesthesia Group is a multifaceted anesthesia practice located in northern New Jersey. The group provides anesthesia services for St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center, St. Joseph’s Wayne Hospital, Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center, and St. Michael’s Medical Center. In addition, NJAG provides anesthesia services to more than 12 outpatient facilities in the region. Total Pain Care, a division of NJAG that delivers state-of-the-art pain management services in Passaic and Bergen counties, is also included in the transaction.

“NJAG was attracted to NAPA because of its commitment to clinical excellence and leading infrastructure to support our facility clients in an evolving healthcare environment,” said Stephen Winikoff, M.D., president of NJAG. “At our core is quality, and joining NAPA will enable us to continue to practice medicine with the same local focus on quality, while incorporating the business infrastructure NAPA offers. NAPA’s wealth of knowledge, data and resources will provide our clinicians with the essential tools to continue to improve the quality of patient care we provide as well as enhance our residency program.”

In April 2011, Moelis Capital Partners, the private equity business of Moelis & Company, led a recapitalization of NAPA’s practice management company, NAPA Management Services Corporation (NMSC) providing the company with the ability to pursue growth opportunities and maintain its leadership position in the expanding anesthesia management market.

About North American Partners in Anesthesia

Founded in 1986, North American Partners in Anesthesia (NAPA) is the leading single specialty anesthesia management company in the United States. NAPA is comprised of the most respected clinical staff, providing thousands of patients with superior and attentive care. The company is known for partnering with hospitals and other health care facilities across the nation to provide anesthesia services and perioperative leadership that maximize operating room performance, enhance revenue, and demonstrate consistent patient and surgeon satisfaction ratings.

About New Jersey Anesthesia Group

Founded in 1988, New Jersey Anesthesia Group has developed into the preeminent provider of anesthetic care and pain services in northern New Jersey. The dedicated physicians of NJAG span many subspecialties of anesthesiology including pediatrics, obstetrics, cardiac, neurosurgery and pain medicine. NJAG has one of the largest residency programs in the state of New Jersey and is an affiliate of Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

ABOUT MOELIS CAPITAL PARTNERS

Moelis Capital Partners is a middle market private equity firm founded in 2007 in connection with the formation of Moelis & Company, a global investment bank. Moelis Capital Partners manages $800 million of committed private equity capital and specializes in traditional private equity investments in the middle market. For more information, please visit www.moeliscapital.com.

Contact Information

Media Contacts:
Jill Aaronson
Marketing Coordinator
North American Partners in Anesthesia
t: (516) 945-3030
[email protected]

Andrea Hurst
Marketing & Communications
Moelis & Company
t: (212) 883-3666
m: (347) 583-9705
[email protected]

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Del Monte Foods and Natural Balance Pet Foods have signed a merger agreement. Natural Balance Pet Foods, makers of super-premium pet food for dogs and cats sold throughout North America and also in Europe and Asia, will join Del Monte’s robust pet products portfolio.

PRESS RELEASE

Del Monte Foods and Natural Balance Pet Foods®, Inc. announced today that the companies have signed a merger agreement. Natural Balance Pet Foods®, makers of super-premium pet food for dogs and cats sold throughout North America and also in Europe and Asia, will join Del Monte’s robust pet products portfolio.

“Natural Balance was created nearly 25 years ago to give pet parents the best super-premium pet food on the market,” said Joey Herrick, president and founder, Natural Balance Pet Foods®, Inc. “After careful consideration, we believe we’ve found the perfect partner to help the business grow for the next 25 years. Not only does Del Monte care about pets as much as we do, they have a complementary culture and set of values, their respected brands are found in eight out of ten U.S. households and they have been a trusted name for healthy, quality consumer food for more than 100 years. Natural Balance looks forward to working hand-in-hand with Del Monte to leverage their strong distribution, supply chain and innovation resources that will help the brand achieve its next level of growth.”

“Natural Balance will continue to offer pet parents super-premium, high quality formulas that they have come to know and expect, and we look forward to continuing to nurture our valued relationships with our customers and other partners,” continued Herrick.

“Del Monte Foods is proud to welcome Natural Balance® into the Del Monte family of brands,” said Dave West, CEO, Del Monte Foods. “Natural Balance is well-positioned in the super-premium pet specialty channel and Del Monte looks forward to supporting and further strengthening that position, while honoring the brand’s esteemed culture and history.”

Continued West, “This merger is consistent with our long-term strategy for Del Monte to further strengthen our pet food and snacks brand portfolio and accelerate growth by expanding in the pet specialty channel. This offers us exciting prospects for continued growth, particularly in terms of strengthening our reach to independent pet retailers.”

The merger includes the equity interest held by private equity firm VMG Partners. “We are very proud to have worked side by side with Joey and the Natural Balance team in building one of the strongest brands in the pet specialty channel. We are excited about passing the baton to Del Monte Foods, who we believe will continue to grow and strengthen the Natural Balance brand,” said David Baram, VMG Managing Director.

Natural Balance Pet Foods®, Inc. was founded in 1989 by Dick Van Patten and Joey Herrick. Today, the brand includes both dog and cat formulas and spans wet food, dry food and treats. Natural Balance is headquartered in Pacoima, CA.

The purchase price and financial terms are not disclosed. The merger includes all Natural Balance® brands, products and other trademarks. The companies anticipate the merger will close in mid-June, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory clearances.

About Dick Van Patten’s Natural Balance Pet Foods®
Natural Balance® Pet Foods, created in 1989 by Dick Van Patten and Joey Herrick, is a leading premium pet food brand, offering more than 225 dog and cat products. Natural Balance products include Original Ultra® Ultra Premium Pet Foods, L.I.D. Limited Ingredient Diets® Formulas, ALPHA® Grain-Free Formulas, Delectable Delights™ Stews for dogs and cats and many more.

About Del Monte Foods
Del Monte Foods is one of the country’s largest producers, distributors and marketers of premium quality, branded pet products and food products for the U.S. retail market, generating approximately $3.7 billion in net sales in fiscal 2012. With a powerful portfolio of brands, Del Monte products are found in eight out of ten U.S. households. Pet food and pet snacks brands include Meow Mix®, Kibbles ‘n Bits®, Milk-Bone®, 9Lives®, Pup-Peroni®, Gravy Train®, Nature’s Recipe®, Canine Carry Outs®, Milo’s Kitchen® and other brand names. Food product brands include Del Monte®, Contadina®, S&W®, College Inn® and other brand names. The Company also produces and distributes private label pet products and food products.

CONTACTS:

Chrissy Trampedach, Del Monte Foods, (415) 247-3420, [email protected]
Joanna DiNizio, Coyne PR for Del Monte Foods, (973) 588-2000, [email protected]
Rob Bailey, RBCPR for Natural Balance Pet Foods, Inc., 201-760-0200 ext. 101, [email protected]

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European lower mid-market private debt manager Beechbrook Capital has raised 67 million euros ($86 million) at the first close of its latest fund, Beechbrook Mezzanine II. With pledges of a further 25 million euros for additional closes later in the year, Beechbrook is well on course for its target fund size of 100 million euros to 120 million euros.

PRESS RELEASE

Beechbrook Capital, one of Northern Europe’s most active lower mid-market private debt managers, has raised €67 million at the first close of its latest fund, Beechbrook Mezzanine II. With pledges of a further €25 million for additional closes later in the year, Beechbrook is well on course for its target fund size of €100 million to €120 million.

Beechbrook Mezzanine II has been backed by six institutional investors, including the European Investment Fund and the UK Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (in conjunction with the Business Finance Partnership scheme), both of which are responding to the continuing dearth of funding available to lower mid-market companies from banks and mainstream institutional lenders.

The scarcity of traditional finance is reflected in the excellent deal flow being seen by Beechbrook. The firm specialises in supporting smaller and medium-sized private companies with an enterprise value of €10 million to €100 million across a range of industries in the UK and Northern Europe. Its strong team of investment professionals, led by Nick Fenn and Paul Shea, has already identified a promising pipeline of investment opportunities. They expect to make several investments before the end of 2013.

Beechbrook’s first fund, which raised around €100 million, is fully invested in a portfolio comprising 16 companies across its four target regions: the UK and Ireland, the Nordics, Benelux and the German-speaking countries.
ENDS

For further information, please contact: Nick Fenn, Beechbrook Capital,
020 3551 5970
[email protected]

Caroline Cecil, Caroline Cecil Associates,
020 7610 4110
[email protected]

Note to editors
Beechbrook Capital, a specialist fund manager founded in 2008, actively lends to and invests in SMEs across a range of industries in the UK and Northern Europe. Beechbrook supports companies with a typical enterprise value of £10 million to £100 million, investing an average of £4 million to £7 million per transaction. The mezzanine finance Beechbrook provides often fills a funding gap between equity and bank debt faced by SMEs as banks focus on big corporate and capital market activities. Beechbrook is backed by institutional investors drawn to the attractive risk-adjusted, circa double digit returns it provides.

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Microsoft has been on a roll lately in its sad attempt to publicly bash Google. From the “Scroogled” campaign, to “Bing It On”, the company is more focused on the current king of online search than solving its own problems. Focusing on Google internally is fine enough, but is classless to do so publicly. You should never have to bash a competitor’s products to further advance your own.

With that said, Microsoft continues the desperation in the latest Bing blog entry entitled “The Grand Bargain”. Stefan Weitz, Bing senior director, explains that your information being sold to advertisers is the price paid for Google services. However, Weitz further claims Microsoft does it too but it is OK because the software giant isn’t “solely an advertising-driven company”. This implies that Google is strictly an advertising-driven company. While advertising is a huge source of Google’s revenue, it is not the company’s sole source. Microsoft’s statement is simply not true.

The blog goes on to criticize Google Play Music All Access by saying “Google’s streaming music is intended to crowd out Spotify and Pandora”. I personally love Google Play Music All Access and recently wrote that Spotify and Pandora are in trouble. But, to say that Google launched the new service with the intention of harming Pandora and Spotify is not a statement that can be proven. However, even if it is true, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing — it is capitalism. Plus, let us not forget Microsoft’s infamous bundling of Internet Explorer in Windows, which “crowded-out” other browsers such as Netscape and Opera and resulted in an anti-trust law case. Remember that Microsoft?

The blog then criticizes Google for tying its users to one identity. While Microsoft portrays this as a privacy negative, many users appreciate that feature for convenience. Comically, Microsoft brags that conversely,  users can login to its services with both Microsoft accounts and Facebook accounts. How is Facebook integration better for a user’s privacy? That company is notorious for having complicated privacy and security options.

Microsoft, do yourself a favor and follow these adages:

• If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
• People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

Photo Credit: paulista/Shutterstock

On May 21, Microsoft unveiled its next-generation game console, the Xbox One. This hour-long sneak preview into what’s coming soon for the entertainment platform gives us a pretty good picture into how serious Microsoft takes the living room. While the devices-and-service company struggles in mobile and other computing devices, it has pretty good head start in the living  room, and the message to competitors: We’re ready for a fight.

Microsoft positions the new console as a serious player in the living room. Xbox One shucks tradition to the wind as evidenced by the fact that the very first demo showed off its multimedia prowess: Fast app switching, made capable by three operating systems; deep Skype integration and a drastically improved natural interface layer powered by Kinect.

Instead of telling the same story as Apple TV, Roku, and Boxee by playing in a market dominated by devices that connect TVs to other services like Netflix, Hulu Plus, and many others, Microsoft decided to tell its own story and change the conversation. Deep integration into the live TV experience opens up the floodgates for all sorts of new usage scenarios and interactive TV experiences.

The little Microsoft has shared so far is quite compelling. What we don’t know is how much it will cost; what the developer story will be; how gaming platform enables new experiences (i.e. real-time multiplayer multi-device gaming) and a host of other questions. Microsoft did show enough to let competitors know that it will not cede this space easily. In enabling live TV through the console, making the content interactive and the device natural to use, Microsoft effectively changes the conversation in living room entertainment.

Amazon is said to be entering this space. What remains to be seen is whether the retailer will create a small Roku-like box that provides easy access to its content and other connected services. Regardless, no one seems to be even close to the media capabilities of the Xbox One. Is the Xbox One a game changer?  I don’t know. However, I definitely think it’s a conversation changer.

Photo Credit: Nicholas Piccillo/Shutterstock

There was never any doubt that the Galaxy S4 was going to be a huge hit. When my colleague Joe Wilcox asked BetaNews readers if they were likely to buy the new flagship phone, a whopping 70 percent said you were definitely considering it.

A month after the phone went on sale — it launched globally on April 27 — Samsung has taken the unusual step of actually reporting sales numbers, something it hasn’t done in years. According to the South Korean tech manufacturer, the device has shifted 10 million units and is selling at an estimated four units every second, making it the fastest selling smartphone in Samsung’s history.

To put that in context, the smartphone’s predecessor, the Galaxy S III, took 50 days to reach the 10 million milestone, and its predecessor, the Galaxy S II, took five months. The Galaxy S took even longer — around seven months.

However, the Galaxy s4’s numbers are actually shipments to wireless operators, rather than sales to end users, and the iPhone 5, in comparison, sold (not shipped) five million units in its first three days — and was viewed by many to be something of a flop. It’s all about the expectations…

“On behalf of Samsung, I would like to thank the millions of customers around the world who have chosen the Samsung Galaxy S4,” JK Shin, CEO and President of the IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung Electronics said, following the announcement. “At Samsung we’ll continue to pursue innovation inspired by and for people”.

The Galaxy S4 is available in more than 110 countries and will eventually be rolled out to a total of 155 countries. Samsung is planning to introduce more color variations, including Blue Arctic and Red Aurora, followed by Purple Mirage and Brown Autumn. There’s also the Google branded S4 to look forward to.

Voters in Portland, Oregon solidly defeated a city-wide water fluoridation measure yesterday, with 60% of the voters saying “NO!” to the practice of adding toxic fluoride chemicals to the water. The result is a huge victory for www.CleanWaterPortland.org and all the…

As Natural News readers know, we recently announced the availability of Clean Chlorella and explained how it was cleanest chlorella on the planet. Today I’m happy to share with you the actual lab test results which have now been repeated across multiple production batches…

LoJack, if you’re familiar with their software for computers and laptops, have made the jump into mobile device territory with the Samsung Galaxy S4 as their first supported device. With this software you’ll be able to trace, lock, and of course, remotely wipe your device if you choose to do so. Unlike other soft wares, LoJack stays in your phone no matter what you do to it, such as factory resetting the device. More importantly you’ll get LoJack’s experience with their years of success in the laptop and computer industry, so you know their representatives are highly trained to retrieve your device.

So far no date of the release has been set, but we expect it to be around this summer. Prices have yet to be confirmed but it should range depending on the longevity of your desired subscription. Hit up the break for the full press release!

Absolute Software Launches an Industry First with a Consumer Theft Recovery Solution for Android Smartphones

Available Soon for the Samsung GALAXY S4

Vancouver, Canada: May 21, 2013 – Absolute® Software Corporation (TSX: ABT), the industry standard for persistent endpoint security and management solutions for computers, laptops and ultra-portable devices today announced it is first to market with a consumer theft recovery solution for Android smartphones.

This solution is the result of the Absolute Software and Samsung global partnership announced in early April 2013. Samsung has embedded patented Absolute persistence technology into select Samsung GALAXY devices starting with the Samsung GALAXY S4.

Leveraging the same Absolute persistence technology used in LoJack for Laptops, once installed and activated it cannot be removed even if the device is restored to factory settings. When a protected Samsung GALAXY S4 is stolen, the Absolute Investigations and Recovery Services team will work with law enforcement globally to get the device back. Users can also remotely lock, locate their device or delete sensitive files to prevent identity theft.

Smartphone theft is on the rise, more than 40 percent of all robberies in New York City involve smartphones and other cell phones. Other major US cities have similar statistics, with robberies involving cell phones comprising 30-40 percent of all robberies.*

“Absolute’s unique approach to investigations and theft recovery is exactly what is needed to solve this serious epidemic of smartphone and mobile device theft that is sweeping across our nation,” stated Sheriff Leon Lott, Sheriff, Richland County, South Carolina Sheriff’s Department.

“With the rapid growth of smartphone use, mobile theft has increased extensively putting consumers at personal risk. I am thrilled we can provide consumers with a solution to address this serious issue,” said Mark Grace, Vice President, Consumer at Absolute Software. “With our consumer theft recovery solution installed and activated on Samsung GALAXY S4s, users can rest assured that their device can be recovered in the event it is stolen with the help of the Absolute Investigations and Recovery Services team, which has assisted in more than 29,000 successful recoveries in 98 countries.”

*FCC, Announcement of New Initiatives to Combat Smartphone and Data Theft, April 10, 2012

Availability
The consumer theft recovery solution for Android smartphones will be available early this summer starting at $29.99 with several subscription options ranging from one year up to four years. For more information: www.LoJackforLaptops.com/android

About Absolute Software
Absolute Software Corporation (TSX: ABT) is the industry standard in persistent endpoint security and management for computers, laptops, ultra-portable devices and smartphones. The Company, a leader in device security and management tracking for more than 20 years, has over 30,000 commercial customers worldwide. Positioned as a Visionary vendor in Gartner, Inc.’s Magic Quadrant for Client Management Tools, Absolute’s solutions – Computrace®, Absolute Manage®, Absolute Service, Absolute Secure Drive, and Computrace LoJack for Laptops – provide organizations with actionable intelligence to prove compliance, securely manage BYOD, and deliver comprehensive visibility and control over all of their devices and data. Absolute persistence technology is embedded in the firmware of computers, netbooks, tablets and smartphones by global leaders, including Acer, ASUS, Dell, Fujitsu, HP, Lenovo, Motion, Panasonic, Samsung, and Toshiba, and the Company has reselling partnerships with these OEMs and others, including Apple. For more information about Absolute Software, visit www.absolute.com.

Come comment on this article: LoJack launches phone recovery service with the Samsung Galaxy S4 as its first supported device

Twitter is an extremely popular social media site, and like all other popular services, it suffers from its share of security concerns. Well, today Twitter is stepping up to help ease some of those security issues by introducing two-factor authentication for accounts. Basically, you can set up your account to require a confirmed phone number to verify you whenever you log into Twitter from a new location. This cuts down on unauthorized use from someone stealing your credentials and logging into your account miles away.

Setup is simple; go to your account settings page, check the option to require a verification code when you sign in, and set up a phone number. Each time you try to log into Twitter after that, you’ll be sent a text message with a six-digit pin number that you’ll have to put in on Twitter to gain access to your account. As always, picking a strong password and not sharing it is the best way to keep your account secure, but accidents do happen, so it’s nice to have a fallback plan if and when they happen.

source: Twitter

Come comment on this article: Twitter introduces two-factor authentication for log-ins

Today LG announced their high-end waterproof handset called the Optimus GJ. The device is just slightly larger than the original Optimus G at 131.9 x 68.9 x 8.5 mm vs. 136.9 x 68.9 x 9.9 mm. It can stay underwater up to 1 meter for as long as 3 minutes. It also features a 4.7 inch IPS HD display, Bluetooth 4.0, 13MP rear camera, quad-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal memory, MicroSD card slot, and a 2,280 mAh battery.

The GJ should be available around June for about $600.

source: ePrice

Come comment on this article: Waterproof LG Optimus GJ E975W officially announced, will be priced at $600

Ummm, what? You read it right folks, Jennifer Lopez has launched her premium wireless retail center dubbed “Viva Movil” which directly aims the Latino community. Viva Movil is teaming up with Verizon to provide the phones, tablets, and of course the cell phone service for their customers. Viva Movil is no different than going to any other Verizon store or retailer and acquiring their service. Viva Movil will have the same prices, and their devices will be exactly the same as Verizon’s, even branding and all.

So one may ask, what’s the difference? Well, J-Lo wants Viva Movil to make cell phone service purchasing a less painful task for the Latino community by having (I’m assuming) bi-lingual representatives and even having a play area for kids when they shop with their families.

You can expect this to launch in large metro areas such as New York, Los Angeles and Miami. For now no exact launch dates have been announced, but we expect that to come soon enough.

I honestly have no idea why there was a need for this. I obviously have my own opinions on this, but I’ll hold off and ask you guys what you think about this. Good idea, bad idea or are you just as confused as I am?

source: Viva Movil

Come comment on this article: Viva Movil, a mobile service focused on Latino consumers by Jennifer Lopez

CBS has just added another comedy to its 2013-2014 season – Bad Teacher.

Based on the 2011 film of the same name, Bad Teacher is a single-camera comedy that follows the exploits of a former trophy wife posing as a teacher. The show will star Ari Graynor, who you may know from Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Youth in Revolt, and the TV hit Fringe.

The show will also feature Roseanne and The Talk‘s Sara Gilbert, Sex and the City‘s Kristin Davis, and David Alan Grier.

Here’s CBS’ description of the show:

Based on the hit feature film, BAD TEACHER stars Ari Graynor as an always inappropriate, fearless and unapologetic former trophy wife who masquerades as a teacher in order to find a new man after her wealthy husband leaves her penniless.

CBS recently unveiled their Fall lineup, including a handful of new comedies and dramas. Notable additions include the new show The Crazy Ones, starring Robin Williams and Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Wayne F. Miller, the photographer best known for his portraits of black America in post-WWII Chicago, has died. He was 94.

Miller got his start studying banking at the University of Illinois at Urbana, only doing photography work on the side. He later studied at the Art Center School in Los Angeles. As a lieutenant in the Navy, Miller took some of the iconic photos from the war. He was one of the first to photograph the aftermath at Hiroshima.

He is known for his work The Way of Life of the Northern Negro, which was later published in the book Chicago’s South Side, 1946-1948. He also worked on Dr. Benjamin Spock’s A Baby’s First Year.

Miller served as a contributor to international photographic cooperative Magnum Photos since 1958. Here’s what president Alex Majoli had to say about Miller’s passing:

“The first time I met Wayne Miller I was surprised to see a white man. Having known his legendary pictures of the Southside of Chicago for so long, I had always imagined the man to be black. He paved the ground for the rest of us who tried to depict the streets, the real life. He was a pioneer. Only recently, I learned that he served in the navy as a photographer in WWII, and then a contract photographer for LIFE. It might have seemed like golden years for photographers now, but he had to invent himself in many ways, a character trait I highly appreciate in people. With the utmost respect and great sorrow I have to say goodbye to a master I was so fortunate to meet, even if it was only on a few occasions.”

CIOs have a tough gig. They’re besieged by the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) boom; have to keep up with the latest cloud services; they have to assess the value of the latest big data innovations; and often deal with CEOs and subordinates who think they could do the job better.

“Being the CIO of a tech company is easy, you support 60,000 users and 59,999 think they have your job,” EMC executive vice president and COO  (and former CIO) Sanjay Mirchandani told attendees of the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium on Wednesday.

Here are the key takeaways from the conference.

1:  Learn to work well with others

It’s a lesson we were all supposed to learn in grade school but too often IT staff and the business units beyond are not fully in concert. That’s got to stop.

CIOs are tired of being “the department of naysayers” and the best ones embed themselves in the business cases of the company. And they have to be active participants in business talks, not order takers for technology.

In the traditional model with CIOs, it was “come in and tell me what your requirements are — we need to get out of that we need to have the courage to participate in the process,” said Michael Loo, SVP of Global IT for Avaya.

2: Embrace big data but don’t be bedazzled.

Everyone is besotted by data. The more the better. A common mistake is to confuse correlation with causation, was another refrain. But without the right background knowledge and statistical analysis tools you can still leap to the wrong conclusions about your data.

“There’s a shocking correlation between lung cancer and people who have ashtrays at home,” said Andrew Lo, professor of Finance at MIT’s Sloane School of Management.

Alex “Sandy” Pentland, professor at the MIT Media Lab concurred. “Big data is good for interpolation, when you know the field you’re working in but bad for extrapolation where you’re entering new areas,” Pentland said.

3: Stop managing by gut

Having  said that, there is still no substitute for data and metrics, properly applied and analysed. Too often early in the war on cancer, medical research has been hobbled by researchers’  tendency to let intuition drive their trials, said Dmitri Bertsimas, professor of operations research and statistics at MIT’s Sloan School. “We didn’t make a lot of progress,” he said.

“We need to change from opinions and hunches and go with facts and data,” agreed Erik Rynjolfsson, director of the MIT for Digital Business at the Sloan School.

4: Beware the HIPPO

Too often key business and tech strategic decisions are made by the HIPPO, aka the ”Highest-paid Person with an Opinion.” That person may big-foot a process where discussion and pushback are a better to go.

This is a term I first heard a few weeks ago at another industry event where Phil Swisher, chief innovation officer at Brown Brothers Harriman bemoaned this tendency of HIPPOS to dominate discussion. As The Boston Globe’s Scott Hirsner wrote:

Running experiments is much better than simply taking direction from a HIPPO, as politically difficult as that may be. “Hypothesis testing is better than hunches,” Swisher said.

5: Balance innovation with stability.

Remember, bleeding edge is bleeding for a reason.  Sometimes you do have to simply make sure the trains run on time, while hopefully making those trains better, faster, cheaper over time.

Kazuhiro Gomi, president and CEO of NTT America, knows from experience. “Many of our customers rely on us to run their systems for them and running things smoothly is sometimes more important than being innovative,” he said.

6: Beware the CMO

There’s been a lot of talk that chief marketing officers will control more of the IT spend than CIOs. “Over my dead body,” said Avaya’s Loo said he was well aware of the study which also said “CMOs and CIOs should be best friends.” That makes sense, Loo added, because CMOs need data and to get data they need things like point-of-sale systems and e-commerce sites which are all about IT.

So, will CMOs get more IT spend then CIOs? Loo said: “Over my dead body.”

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