Computer Shopper Magazine Announces 23rd Annual Shoppers' Choice Awards - Awards Recognize Readers' Picks for Technology's Best Products, Companies, and Services

New York, NY (PRWEB) January 21, 2009

"Our Shoppers' Choice awards recognize companies and products that deliver outstanding technology, value, and service," said John A. Burek, Editor-In-Chief of Computer Shopper. "This is our version of the People's Choice Awards because we let our readers--an amazingly tech-savvy group of computer users--select the companies and products that they believe are best in class."

The Shoppers' Choice winners were announced today at ComputerShopper.com and in the February 2009 print issue of Computer Shopper magazine. Reflecting the huge purchasing influence of the Computer Shopper audience, winners were picked across a broad spectrum of categories ranging from "Best Place to Buy Consumer Electronics" to "Best Performance Desktop" to "Best Digital Camera." Thousands of readers voiced their choices with online balloting open to all readers of Computer Shopper and ComputerShopper.com

The winners of Computer Shopper magazine's 2009 Shoppers' Choice Awards are listed below and can be found online at http://www.computershopper.com/2009shopperschoice.

BEST GAMING/PERFORMANCE DESKTOP

Alienware Area-51 ALX

Runner-Up: Dell XPS 730

BEST BUDGET DESKTOP PC (Under $ 1,000)

Dell Inspiron 530

Runner-Up: HP Pavilion A6560f

BEST MIDRANGE DESKTOP

HP Pavilion Elite m9200t

(Replaced by the HP Pavilion Elite m9400t)

Runner-Up: Dell XPS 630

BEST SMALL-FORM-FACTOR DESKTOP

HP Pavilion Slimline s3330f

(Replaced by the HP Pavilion Slimline s3650f)

Runner-Up: Apple Mac Mini

BEST HOME THEATER PC

Sony VAIO VGX-TP25E/B

Runner-Up: HP TouchSmart IQ506

BEST DESKTOP-REPLACEMENT NOTEBOOK

HP Pavilion HDX Entertainment Notebook PC

(Replaced by the HP HDX18)

Three New EU Financial Services License Successes for Leading Cyprus-based Financial Services Advisory Firm MAP S.Platis

Limassol, Cyprus (PRWEB) October 27, 2011

Despite the financial crisis closing in on Europe, Cyprus continues to attract international business seeking preferential tax structures and a strategic European location with high quality infrastructure. One industry which has seen particularly dynamic growth is that of funds and investment firms, especially forex brokers seeking to achieve EU licensing through Cyprus.

The number of international FX Brokers, Asset Managers and Brokerage Houses seeking CySEC Licenses and registration as a Cyprus Investment Firm (CIF) has seen exponential growth recently. MAP S.Platis has been at the forefront of this development, assisting not only the investment firms, but also in providing specialized advisory and training to the regulatory body itself, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission.

During October, MAP S.Platis continued to break new ground achieving the fastest-ever licensing application success in CySEC to date. Registering one of their clients in less than 3 months, the leading consultancy firm managed to raise the number of CIF licenses achieved in 2011 so far to an impressive total of 13.

Amongst the financial services structures to successfully become registered and licensed this month are Levant and Balkans Special Situations Fund who received their International Collective Investment Scheme (ICIS) status from the Central Bank of Cyprus.

Amana Capital (Cyprus) Ltd which is part of a Middle Eastern Banking and Investment group, also successfully received their CIF License Number 155/11 from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) via MAP S. Platis. Finally, the third company to receive their financial services license Number 156/11 from CySEC this month, via the consulting and guidance of MAP S.Platis, was Jiffix Markets Ltd.

The Managing Director of MAP S.Platis, Dr. Stelios Platis, is proud of the companys continuing achievements. We are immensely proud of the accomplishments of our financial services advisory teams and this latest record proves the in-depth understanding of our in-house experts of what is required in order to be successful in obtaining CySEC licenses and recognition of funds regulated by the Central Bank of Cyprus. Our experience and unparalleled knowledge in this field allows us to deal with each licensing application in a timely and efficient manner in order to ensure its successful outcome. This is why to-date, MAP S.Platis is responsible for over 60% of all CySEC licenses issued under MiFID whilst holding a 100% success rate.

Dr. Platis is however keen to point out that the client has a key role to play in the process. It goes without saying of course that these successes would not be possible if it was not for the valuable cooperation of our clients management teams and their trust in our guidance and procedures. It is the combination of innovative processes, comprehensive analysis and professional efforts on both sides which result in these continued successes that we are seeing.

I would like to thank not only our hard working teams for their consistent efforts but also our clients for their trust in our financial services advisory team and we would like to wish them every success for the future, comments Platis.

Due to the increased level of interest in its services and several client requests, MAP S.Platis will be participating in the forthcoming Middle East Forex & Investment Summit, taking place on the 15th and 16th of November 2011 in Hilton Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

This will be an opportunity for all those who would like further information on obtaining an EU financial institution license in order to operate within or from the European Union, to discuss their options with a firm which has experience and expertise in this sector and an impressive track record for successful licenses obtained. All those wishing to meet with MAP S.Platis can do so at Stand No. 37 at the exhibition.

As well as providing information on their spectrum of services, MAP S.Platis consultants will be available to discuss and explain various available models and types of European investment, corporate and financial structures with companies interested in obtaining their European Union financial services license or becoming active in the European union.

About MAP S.Platis:

MAP S.Platis is a specialised and comprehensive EU Financial Services consultancy firm located in Cyprus, offering consulting services, executive training and research to the European financial services sector, with an impressive client list, throughout Europe. In Cyprus, MAP S.Platis have registered, assisted and consulted the registration of over 60% of all Investment Firms registered under MiFID, to-date and regularly provide training to these firms and also the government regulatory authorities. For further information about MAP S.Platis, visit http://www.mapsplatis.com, email info(at)mapsplatis(dot)com or call +357 2535 1335.

For further information on the participation of MAP S.Platis at the forthcoming Middle East Online Trading Summit please visit http://www.meforexexpo.com.

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WRIS Web Services Earns Google AdWords Certified Partner Distinction

Cleveland, OH (PRWEB) November 11, 2011

WRIS Web Services, a search engine optimization, online advertising and social media design and development firm, recently received notification from Google that it had been approved as an AdWords Certified Partner with the search engine leader. That designation affirms that WRIS has achieved a globally recognized level of expertise from Google. It also demonstrates the companys in-depth knowledge of AdWords.

Certification as a Google AdWords Partner is a rigorous two-tier process. First, the company must have managed at least a $ 10,000 spend [in AdWords pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, cost-per-thousand (CPM) advertising, and site-targeted text, banner and media-rich advertising over 90 days. Second, a certified partner must have at least one individually qualified employee. That individual must further demonstrate advanced proficiency in AdWords by passing both the Fundamentals exam and one of Googles three advanced exams: Search Advertising, Display Advertising or Reporting & Analysis.

Status as a Google Certified AdWords Partner affords WRIS Web Services the opportunity to display a certification badge on its website. The designation further ranks WRIS among an elite group of online marketing professionals, agencies and other individuals (e.g., search engine marketers (SEMs), search engine optimizers (SEOs) and marketing consultants) who exhibit advanced capabilities and expertise in managing AdWords campaigns.

As a SEO provider, we are fully aware that 50% of traffic to websites originates from search engines such as Google, explains president of WRIS Web Services, Charlie Meyers. One of the main goals of our SEO offerings is, therefore, getting our clients listed as one of the top Google results when someone searches online for their product or service.

Meyers goes on to say, Weve gone to great lengths to become experts in all the nuances involved in attaining a top Google ranking. That includes a comprehensive knowledge of Google AdWords. Now Google has publically taken notice of out tireless commitment. Our status as a Certified AdWords Partner is confirmation that all that hard work has paid off.

WRIS Web Services is an established comprehensive web services company in Cleveland, OH providing the full spectrum of web related products and services. Our services include web design and development, Coldfusion web hosting, search engine optimization, internet marketing and social media.

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Global Market for Mobile Video Services to Reach US$30 Billion by 2017, According to New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

San Jose, CA (PRWEB) November 09, 2011

Follow us on LinkedIn - Entertainment services over mobile devices potentially generate several billions of dollars for service providers, worldwide. Despite the fact that ringback tones and ringtones continue to be substantial revenue generators for mobile service providers, other services such as gaming, full-track music, video and TV services are emerging as lucrative market segments. Buoyed by the huge demand for data communications from mobile users in both business and consumer markets, content providers, right from independent content developers to large-scale movie studios are beginning to develop applications, music, games movies and videos especially for mobile devices. Not surprisingly the use of mobile devices is extending beyond the traditional communication functions to embrace novel concepts such as mobile videos, and games. Mobile video segment especially is gaining tremendous popularity over the last few years. Despite being a small market, mobile video services continues to grow, with video-on-demand, video telephony and video messaging capturing a significant share of the markets revenue. With Internet providing a large number of video services, and service providers increasingly willing to offer these services on mobile devices, video is rapidly making inroads into the mobile arena across the geographies.

The impact of the 2007-2009 recession, in retrospect, reveals a market that has withstood the recessionary pressures largely as a result of the continued growth in sales of mobile video capable smartphones and increase in the number of phones supporting 3G and other faster networks based on High Speed Packet Access (HSPA). Consumer interest on downloading and streaming mobile video and mobile TV content remained largely unchanged during the recession period, proving that quality entertainment was left uncompromised even amidst tight economic conditions.

Consumer spending on choicest of mobile videos largely remained intact despite the witnessed reduction in household wealth, low consumer confidence, reduced discretionary spending, and lower new application development efforts. In other words, served right on to consumer handsets, mobile video services allow users to cut down traveling expenses and provide an alternative to other expensive entertainment options, such as, public movie screenings and live sports action and therefore are best for entertainment in a weak economy. Continued interest shown by wireless carriers on data centric services, particularly for utilizing their networks optimally and improving their ARPU by offering value added content to cost conscious customers, also boosted prospects for mobile video services market during the period, as the same resulted in increased promotional activity and more attractive pricing options for mobile TV and video services. With mobile users graduating towards a richer, and more sophisticated mobile experience, the market for video delivery has and will continue to remain opportunity-rich, and dynamic.

Growth in the market, although stabilizing, will nevertheless be driven by introduction of novel video services, particularly the highly popular content on YouTube and growing adoption of live TV services such as live news, weather forecasts and music programs. Improvements in quality of content, content protection and delivery frameworks are expected to boost market prospects for mobile video services over the next few years. Increased use of mobile videos by companies as a platform to advertise their products and services augur well for the market. Widespread availability of sophisticated mobile devices supporting mobile video downloads and streaming and ongoing deployment of advanced mobile networks will also boost the adoption and consumer spending on various mobile video services.

Introduction of economical and flexible data plans by service providers will attract many new users to the market, thereby increasing revenue making opportunities. Widespread deployment and availability of 3G mobile network infrastructures across the world will continue to drive adoption of video services over mobile. With mobile network operators making active efforts to move towards 4G technology, which promise faster connectivity, higher bandwidth and superior capabilities and enable the service providers to offer a range of video services to mobile users, the popularity of mobile video services is expected to increase further.

As stated by the new market research report on Mobile Video Services, Asia-Pacific represents the largest regional market worldwide. Asia-Pacific is also the largest regional market for mobile video services in terms of subscription. Rapid proliferation of 3G enabled handsets, introduction of 3G services in major nations such as China, and India and growing popularity of mobile video services such as mobile video sharing, mobile video communication and mobile TV are primary factors driving accelerated adoption of mobile video services in these markets. Streaming Services represent the largest service segment in the US mobile video services market. Growth in the market is particularly driven by increased advertising of subscription-based streaming video services in the nation. Multicast Video Services market represent the fastest growing service segment in the US mobile video services market with revenue waxing at a CAGR of about 38.7% over the analysis period.

Major players in the marketplace include AT&T, Dialogic Corporation, Dilithium, Google Inc., MobiTV Inc., Nokia Corporation, PacketVideo Corporation, Phunware Inc., Qualcomm Incorporated, QuickPlay Media, RealNetworks Inc., ROK Broadcasting Corporation Limited, Sprint, Verizon Wireless Inc., Vuclip, and Yamgo.

The research report titled Mobile Video Services: A Global Strategic Business Report announced by Global Industry Analysts, Inc., provides a comprehensive review of current market trends, key growth drivers, recent industry activity, and profiles major companies worldwide. The report provides market estimates and projections for mobile video services across all major geographic markets, including the US, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of World. The study analyzes the US market in terms of revenues for segments - Downloadable Video Services, and Multicast Video Services.

For more details about this comprehensive market research report, please visit http://www.strategyr.com/Mobile_Video_Services_Market_Report.asp

About Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

Global Industry Analysts, Inc., (GIA) is a leading publisher of off-the-shelf market research. Founded in 1987, the company currently employs over 800 people worldwide. Annually, GIA publishes more than 1300 full-scale research reports and analyzes 40,000+ market and technology trends while monitoring more than 126,000 Companies worldwide. Serving over 9500 clients in 27 countries, GIA is recognized today, as one of the world's largest and reputed market research firms.

Follow us on LinkedIn

Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

Telephone: 408-528-9966

Fax: 408-528-9977

Email: press(at)StrategyR(dot)com

Web Site: http://www.StrategyR.com/

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Two Weeks Until Thanksgiving: Consolidated Credit Counseling Services, Inc. Offers 6 Tips to Cut Costs and Stress

Ft. Lauderdale, FL (PRWEB) November 09, 2011

Serving a 2011 Thanksgiving meal could cost you more than ever. The American Farm Bureau reported that the price of the average holiday meal was up 11 percent last year. Prices have continued to climb an average of 10.5 percent for many grocery staples, including potatoes, milk, flour, apples, and oil.

Nearly 25 percent of Thanksgiving food is wasted due to lack of planning. At Consolidated Credit, we speak with hundreds of Americans each New Year who realize that they didnt plan well for the holidays and it leads to money problems and credit card debt. To help people get through the holidays this year, we have devised a list of tips for how to have the best Thanksgiving within budget, said Howard Dvorkin, founder of the credit counseling agency Consolidated Credit and author of Credit Hell: How to Dig Out of Debt.

Consolidated Credit offers a list of 6 costs cutting tips:

1. Budget, plan, and stick to it! Shopping last minute causes overspending and may create overwhelming anxiety. Rather than dealing with limited options and mobs of people at the grocery store two days before Thanksgiving, the experts at Consolidated Credit advise people to get all Thanksgiving food and supplies at least one week prior.

2. Estimate realistic portion sizes - By picking reasonable plate sizes and cooking proportionate dishes, everyone will be able to eat their favorite foods without tipping the scale. Preparing less food will reduce waste and cut down the grocery bill!

3. Shop sales Dont waste gas or time looking for small discounts. Sign-up for email alerts or newsletters from grocery stores or coupon sites to find discounts and sales for Thanksgiving expenses.

4. Evite.com keeps family and friends in the know To better maintain communication about holiday activities, especially with family members in other states, create an electronic invitation via Evite.com and send it to all members participating in Thanksgiving festivities. People can post their RSVP, recipes, food allergies, and fun ideas to make the holiday extra special. Evite.com is free and allows everyone to stay in the know about Thanksgiving plans.

5. DIY The latest trend taking over this holiday season is do it yourself decorating. Instead of spending money on expensive retail decorations look in the back yard or visit a dollar or craft store and make Thanksgiving inspired decorations.

6. Have a Potluck Spread out the cooking and expenses by having each guest make one dish. This will allow everyone to share costs and eliminates one person from overspending and shouldering all of the work.

For more holiday season tips, visit Consolidated Credits personal finance blog http://www.missmoneybee.com.

About:

Consolidated Credit Counseling Services, Inc., founded in 1993, is one of the nation's largest credit counseling organizations in the country and has helped over 5 million people with financial issues. Their mission is to assist families throughout the United States in ending financial crisis and solving money management problems through education and professional counseling.

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The UPS Store in Towson, MD Offers New and Improved Small Business Services, from Shipping to Digital Printing to Mailbox Rentals

Towson, MD (PRWEB) August 16, 2011

The UPS Store in Towson, MD is pleased to announce the New Small Business Services that it is offering to customers. Running a small business is very challenging. That's where The UPS Store in Towson, MD comes in. Their products and services and their best-in-class customer service makes them the perfect small business partner! For directions click here. http://www.theupsstorelocal.com/3326/map.htm

The UPS Store in Towson, MD helps its customers stay organized and on schedule by handling all of their Packing and Shipping Logistics. They will ship a document or product overnight or by ground to anywhere in the United States. They also ship overseas by offering DHL International services. Come in and have your documents Notarized or give them a call for their Mobile Notarizing Services and they will meet the customer at the place and time of their choosing. They also offer USPS shipping and stamps. The bottom line is The UPS Store in Towson, MD is the one-stop solution for its business customers. Please redeem these coupons that have been included in this release or see the offer coupons are offering by The UPS Store in Towson, MD by clicking this link. http://www.theupsstorelocal.com/3326/coupons.htm They want to save their customers money as well as time!

The UPS Store in Towson, MD offers premier Copying, Faxing, Digital Printing and Document Services? Their small business customers partner with them to tackle countless challenges every day. Their record speaks for itself as they have been a trusted neighborhood business with global reach and small business solutions for years. They keep getting better and so do their offerings. Whether they are handling one of their House Account's monthly orders, or a last-minute job, they can do it all!

One great recent example is an out-of-town business person who The UPS Store in Towson, MD helped. He was staying at a nearby hotel and had forgotten his presentation. He called the store frantically needing to print, bind and have ready 75 copies of his 55 page document in two hours. It was a 4-color job on glossy stock with lots of vibrant graphs and images. The UPS Store in Towson, MD got the job done in less than an hour and saved it on a thumb drive for him. "I couldn't have pulled this off without you! Many thanks."

Many of their small business customers rent mailboxes from them. They are better than P.O. Box that people rent at the post office. The UPS Store in Towson, MD's mailboxes are legal addresses, not P.O. Boxes. They are perfect for Ebayers, Small Office Home Office (SOHO) businesses, or just about anyone. A customer's mailbox comes with Receipt Notification, 24-Hour Access, Full-Service Mail and Packages Receiving, Mail Holding and Forwarding and the store accept packages from ALL Carriers.

Please visit The UPS Store in Towson, MD or their sister store, The UPS Store in Lutherville, MD http://www.theupsstorelocal.com/0567/, for all your small business needs. Find more coupons and join their E-Rewards Club by clicking this link http://www.theupsstorelocal.com/3326/about.htm and receive even better discounts via email.

Store Address & Hours:

722 Dulaney Valley Road

Towson, MD 21204-5109

(410) 821-0804

Located on Dulaney Valley Road, directly across from the Towson Town Center Mall.

Monday: 8:30 AM - 7:00 PM

Tuesday: 8:30 AM - 7:00 PM

Wednesday: 8:30 AM - 7:00 PM

Thursday: 8:30 AM - 7:00 PM

Friday: 8:30 AM - 7:00 PM

Saturday: 9:30 AM - 5:00 PM

Sunday: 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM

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