Talk NYC

Inside Foxconn: Little Evidence of Abuse, but Workers Sure Want a Raise

shiriadmin — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:48:26 +0000

Last night ABC’s “Nightline” broadcast its unprecedented look at Apple’s Chinese manufacturing partner, Foxconn, which for years has been plagued by accusations of labor abuse and poor working conditions . And while it was certainly an illuminating look at Foxconn’s suicide net-festooned Shenzhen, China, factory complex and the people who work there, it didn’t uncover much evidence of any offenses. In fact, aside from a few noteworthy tidbits helpfully compiled by The Verge , the report revealed very little we didn’t already know. Of course, Foxconn knew “Nightline” was coming and was obviously well prepared for its visit. Indeed, there are already allegations that Foxconn has been hiding underage employees from investigators . That said, the Fair Labor Association is at this very moment conducting a massive audit of Foxconn that will see it not only examining production lines and employee dormitories, but digging through the company’s employment records in search of evidence of more serious problems. So perhaps there’s more to learn here. Maybe, Foxconn really doesn’t meet social responsibility standards. But perhaps it does. And if — if — that’s the case and the FLA’s probe concludes without incident, maybe it’s time for the conversation to expand from allegations of employee abuse to subjects like fair wages, which actually seem to be top of mind for the Foxconn employees interviewed by “Nightline.” Not to downplay any past or as yet uncovered worker mistreatment, but right now Foxconn seems to be just a massive contract manufacturer that folks living in industrialized nations probably wouldn’t want to work for. But thousands of others do, because, troubling though it may be, collecting $1.78 per hour for performing mind-numbing labor for 12 hours a day is a better alternative to remaining in the rural villages they come from.

Excerpt from:
Inside Foxconn: Little Evidence of Abuse, but Workers Sure Want a Raise

NBC Plays Musical Chairs with Winter Schedule

shiriadmin — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:22:59 +0000

NBC has set premiere dates for the last of its 2011-12 slate, carving out time for two new sitcoms and a hidden-camera series starring Betty White. The Amanda Peet vehicle, Bent , bows Wednesday, March 21, in one of the toughest time slots on the dial, going head-to-head with ABC’s top-rated

Nike’s New High-Tech Sneakers Will Tell You How Much Air You Got on That Dunk

shiriadmin — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 22:00:17 +0000

Looks like the basketball players of tomorrow will boast that they’ve got data-tracking game. A new Nike+ “pressure sensor” is coming to Nike basketball and training shoes . The sensors will track data about wearers’ movements and transmit it wirelessly to their iPhones. The enhanced basketball shoes are meant to track the movements of players during practice sessions and games, including (but not limited to) how high the wearer jumps. The training shoes are meant for casual and competitive athletes involved in any intense fitness activities. Nike has been adding sensors to its athletic gear since 2006, though some of the products send data to an iPod or accompanying fitness watch rather than to a smartphone. The company says the Nike+ community has grown to more than six million “digitally connected” athletes. Last month, Nike introduced the Nike+ FuelBand , a lightweight rubber wristband meant to be worn all the time to track fitness levels, which are measured in a Nike-branded activity currency called NikeFuel. With these new basketball and training shoes, Nike says, workout statistics can be shared with friends on social networks. They also offer a “showcase” mode, which allows wearers to superimpose their live data onto a video that can then be shared with friends. So now, when a heated debate arises about who jumped higher on the court, you can take it inside, to Facebook. A couple of unanswered questions — which I’ll ask Nike in a short while, and update as needed — is whether the sensor uses Bluetooth or another kind of wireless technology to transmit the data, as well as how far the reach of the sensor is. Most casual basketball players I know wouldn’t want to carry their smartphones in their pockets while playing (and I’m imagining it’s the same case with pro players). So would the user have to head to the sidelines or locker room and be within a certain proximity of his or her phone to transmit the data? Or does the data sync automatically? And I’m curious to hear more about how verticals are actually measured. For example, if one foot edges higher than another, is the ultimate measurement an average of the two verticals? Or is it from the foot that got higher?

France’s second look at ‘Artist’

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:46:04 +0000

Film News: WB to re-release kudos favorite for bigger box office bump

Original post:
France’s second look at ‘Artist’

France’s second look at ‘Artist’

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:46:04 +0000

Film News: WB to re-release kudos favorite for bigger box office bump

More here:
France’s second look at ‘Artist’

Downgrades A-Plenty For Dell After Earnings Miss

shiriadmin — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:34:36 +0000

A day after Dell reported quarterly earnings that fell 18 percent , analysts are slashing their ratings on its stock today, which opened lower by nearly 7 percent as markets opened in New York. Dell’s earnings were 51 cents and missed the consensus of analysts by a penny, and also said that revenue would decline by 7 percent in the current quarter. In a note to clients today, Shaw Wu of Sterne Agee dropped his rating to underperform, the equivalent of a “sell” arguing that Dell’s PC business continues to suffer at the competitive hands of Apple, Acer, and rejuvenated Hewlett-Packard. “We are concerned with the company’s longer-term fundamental position and may face more difficulty making further operational improvements,” Wu wrote. Richard Kugele of Needham and Co. in New York downgraded Dell to a Hold from a Buy

Go here to see the original:
Downgrades A-Plenty For Dell After Earnings Miss

Resonate Raises $22 Million For "Values" Ads

shiriadmin — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:00:15 +0000

The Web ad industry has gotten crazily complicated . But advertisers’ goals remain as simple as ever: Put their messages in front of people who will care about them. Ad tech firm Resonate has a simple pitch along those lines: It says it can figure out what different groups of Internet users care about, and where to find them on the Web. The Reston, Virgina-based startup has been at it for four years, and just raised a big series B round led by Revolution Growth, the new fund led by former AOLers Steve Case, Ted Leonsis and Donn Davis . Resonate won’t announce the total amount of the raise, but a person familiar with the company says it’s $22 million. Earlier investors like Greycroft Partners, LLC and iNovia Capital put another $7 million into the company, and some of them have reupped as well. Lots of ad tech companies promise to target Web surfers based on their online behavior, and some are now saying they can do they can tie-in offline behavior, like voting records (!), as well. For now, at least, Resonate is avoiding that kind of targeting. Instead it recruits panels of Internet users, asks them to complete comprehensive surveys on their likes, values, etc., and tracks their surfing patterns. Then it uses that data to figure out where to find people who will be most receptive to particular pitches. The idea: While marketers might want to advertise a new light salad dressing on a food site that caters to women, Resonate might figure out that sports site with a big male audience would be a better bet. Resonate started out selling itself to political advertisers, and CEO Bryan Gernert says he’ll be doing a bunch of that this year. But he says the company is primarily focused on brand advertising, and counts McDonalds, Verizon and Toyota as clients. Last year Resonate did “north of $10 million” in revenue, he says.

See the rest here:
Resonate Raises $22 Million For "Values" Ads

Sony nabs ‘Invertigo’ script

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:46:04 +0000

EXCLUSIVE: ‘Transformers’ scribe Ehren Kruger will also produce

See the original post here:
Sony nabs ‘Invertigo’ script

Juarez, Bello launch IntuitionBlex

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:34:02 +0000

Film News: J.v. looks to tap coin for Canaries projects

Follow this link:
Juarez, Bello launch IntuitionBlex

Good Evening. I’m Old Media.

shiriadmin — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:01:29 +0000

Our response to date as an industry has been as equally inefficient and in many cases emotional. “You’re gonna miss us when we’re gone” is not much of a business model. – From MediaNews Group and Journal Register Company CEO John Paton’s speaking notes for an address to the Canadian Journalism Foundation

View post:
Good Evening. I’m Old Media.