The SRC AWARD, ACT Responsible

The competition deadline has been extended until January 31^st 2008.

IAA Socially Responsible Communications Award

The International Advertising Association (IAA) in association with Advertising Community Together (ACT) launches the first worldwide Award to recognise the role of Socially Responsible Communications.

The two main themes are :

• Environnemental Ads: Visual communication examples regarding environmental areas, such as Water Preservation, Climate Change, Biodiversity and natural areas Protection, Desertification, Renewable Energies...
• Social Ads: Visual illustrations on subjects such as Solidarity, Human Rights, Childhood Protection, Poverty, Education, Sanitation, Racism...and also Alcohol Abuse, Drug Addiction, Personal Health, Road Safety, Obesity Prevention, Organ Donation...

Ads created for TV, Cinema, Press, Outdoor, Postcards and Interactive ones published since January 2007 can be submitted.
250 euros is the participation fee for each entry.

All new entries and ads from ACT Responsible Collection 2007 will compete for this Worldwide Award which will be presented during the next IAA World Congress in Washington DC in April 2008. The winners will also be part of the ACT Responsible world exhibition tour.


To submit your work click here

Super-slim MacBook Air

Apple big boss Steve Jobs has just unveiled the ultra-slim MacBook Air laptop computer that he billed as "the world's leanest laptop". At the Macworld Expo opening in San Francisco- January 15, 2008-, Jobs slid the laptop from a brown envelope typically used for inter-office mail.
"It's the world's thinnest notebook (computer)," Jobs said with a smile. "We went out and looked at all the thin notebooks out there and tried to distill a best-of-breed."
The super-slim MacBook Air is less than an inch thick and turns on the moment it's opened. It weighs three pounds and have battery life of five hours. The ultra-lean laptop is priced at 1,799 dollars and will begin shipping in two weeks, Jobs said.





On another level, Jobs pointed out that Apple Inc. has sold four million iPhones since the cellphone, was launched in June 07. He also unveiled iPhone software upgrades including a location-detecting map feature crafted with help from Internet giant Google and wireless communications firm SkyHook.

Google wove a "location finder" into its mobile map service last year. SkyHook has mapped 23 million wireless signal "hot spots" in the United States and Canada, and is working on Europe, and uses the information to triangulate positions of wireless-enabled mobile devices.
"We are using both of them (Google and SkyHook) and it works pretty doggone well," Jobs said while demonstrating the 399-dollar iPhone's new map feature, which is part of a free software upgrade made available this Tuesday(15 jan 08).
"The iPhone is not standing still. We keep making it better."
SkyHook map technology, which works without need of mobile telephone service, will be part of a 20-dollar software upgrade package for iPod Touch devices, Jobs said.

MENA Cristal: ski, fire & creativity

Microsoft on conquest mode

Microsoft Corporation has offered approximately $1.2 billion USD for the acquisition of the Norwegian software firm Fast Search & Transfer, a leading provider of enterprise search solutions.
The transaction is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2008, as the board of Fast has unanimously accepted the takeover offer from Microsoft.
The complete details of the offer, including all terms and conditions, will be drafted in the document expected to be sent to FAST shareholders sometime around January 14th.

Fast Search & Transfer aka FAST focuses on data search technologies. It operates in the enterprise search sector but has over the course of 2007 significantly moved out of this business and towards search monetization and on-line advertising related business. Also Fast offers a number of search-derivative applications, focused on specific search use cases, including publishing, market intelligence and mobile search.


“Enterprise search is becoming an indispensable tool to businesses of all sizes, helping people find, use and share critical business information quickly. Until now organizations have been forced to choose between powerful, high-end search technologies or more mainstream, infrastructure solutions. The combination of Microsoft and FAST gives customers a new choice: a single vendor with solutions that span the full range of customer needs,” said Jeff Raikes, president of the Microsoft Business Division.

Music album in my pocket

Shall We Say Adiós to our CDs & Welcome Music Plastic Cards?














Rolling out January 15, SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT launches credit card-sized album vouchers.

Dubbed Platinum MusicPass, it is a digital album card people can buy from retail outlets across the U.S. --with music to download through it-- playable on all MP3 players, including iPods, and of course on your computer.

It is crystal clear that such a creative offering is an attempt to counter attack the increasing loss in music sales.  According to Nielsen SoundScan, sales of 584.9 million albums or their digital equivalents last year were off 9.5% from 2006.
Sony BMG hopes this innovative approach will help delete or at least decrease illegal downloads and music piracy, as these cards will entitle the consumer to purchase an entire music album.
However, and since it is possible to burn copies of the files acquired for personal use, illegal sharing will still prevail and the claimed mission of the # 2 record company -- after Universal Music-- to wipe out free downloads won't be a piece of cake.
Nonetheless, the cards do offer several advantages over traditional Compact Disc.

"We see MusicPass as a great way to bring digital music to the physical retail space. We believe it will have strong appeal for a broad range of customers, and that it will ultimately expand both the digital and physical markets for music," said Thomas Hesse, president of global digital business and U.S. sales at Sony BMG, in a statement.


The cards come in two different retail prices: $12.99 and $19.99 and are redeemable for one year from purchase, or in accordance with retailer local and state laws.
The redemption/download process is said to be simple and streamlined.
In order to get the content from their MusicPass cards, consumers scratch the back of their card to unveil their pin number. They then visit MusicPass.com to download their music files and bonus material.
Tracks can be added directly to iTunes, Windows Media Player, or the like.
Download speeds always depend upon everyone's Internet connection.
MusicPass supports both PC and Mac.

Right now, you can purchase a MusicPass for 37 artists-- of Sony label of course -- including, Bob Dylan, Pink, Santana, Alicia Keys,  Tony Bennett. 
All of the cards will feature either bonus material that can include music videos, interviews with the artist, bonus audio tracks, lyrics, or in the case of compilations, an extensive number of tracks.

MusicPass are set to hit the Canadian market late January.

Andrea Jung got the apple

Apple has elected a new director: Andrea Jung.

• In 1998, the American Advertising Federation inducted her into the Advertising Hall of Fame.
• In 2001, Time Magazine/CNN declared her one of the 25 Most Influential Global Executives.
• in January 2003, she was featured in Business Week as one of the best managers of the year.
• She has been ranked among Fortune magazine's "50 most powerful women in business" for the past five years, including being ranked at #3 for 2003 and 2004.
• In 2004, the Wall Street Journal named Jung one of "50 people to watch in business" .
• Newsweek magazine named her one of "10 prominent people to watch in 2005".
• Jung is a Magna cum Laude Graduate of Princeton University. She is fluent in Chinese (Mandarin).