Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Apr. 26 -- If AT&T Corp. succeeds in its $62-billion bid for MediaOne, the phone giant will not only provide long-distance service to one out of every two phone customers, but cable service to more than one in every four U.S homes.
The deal would make AT&T, the country's biggest long-distance company, the nation's biggest cable company as well.
"They'll be the king of the hill and it will be difficult, if not impossible, to knock them off," says Jeff Kagan, a telecommunications analyst in Atlanta.
"AT&T obviously was sad to lose its telephone monopoly and is doing everything possible to rebuild it in the cable industry instead," said Gene Kimmelman, codirector of Consumers Union in Washington.
He said that the deal would give AT&T disproportionate influence over cable TV rates and the programming seen by many cable subscribers.
New York-based AT&T Thursday made a surprise bid to buy MediaOne in an effort to foil a merger agreement between Comcast Corp. and MediaOne.
Comcast, the fourth-largest cable operator in the country with 800,000 customers in Michigan, in March announced its plan to buy MediaOne for roughly $48 billion.
MediaOne, the nation's third-largest cable company with 300,000 customers in Michigan, has 45 days to consider other offers.
AT&T's bid would pay MediaOne $58 billion in stock and cash. Under the agreement, AT&T would also assume $4.5 billion of MediaOne's debt.
AT&T stock closed at $53.38, down $3.38 a share Friday. Some industry experts worried whether it can manage the takeover of MediaOne while it's still trying to absorb Tele-Communications Inc., the cable company it bought last month.
MediaOne's stock soared Friday to close at $77.38, up $7.88.
AT&T is buying cable companies so that it can use the fiber-optic cable lines to break into the $110-billion local phone market as well as the cable TV and high-speed Internet business.
Experts say AT&T needs to transform itself from a long-distance phone company to a full-service telecommunications company to survive in a competitive market where regional phone operators will eventually be allowed to compete in the long-distance game.
"AT&T is on the defensive as much as they are the offensive," explains Rick Franklin, director of telecommunications research for Roney Capital Markets in Detroit. "If they can sell telecom services to residents, there's a good chance AT&T will be able to keep them as customers."
By offering local phone service, cable TV and high-speed Internet in addition to long-distance service, AT&T can increase the money its gets from a single customer as much as four-fold, Franklin said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Visit the four World Wide Web sites of the Detroit Free Press. Visit Auto Authority at http://www.auto.com, the Freep at http://www.freep.com, Jobspage at http://www.freep.com/jobspage and Yaks Corner for kids at http://www.yakscorner.com
Google has made permanent a playable Pac-Man doodle posted in tribute to the classic arcade game's 30th birthday.
"We've been overwhelmed, but not surprised, by the success of our 30th anniversary Pac-Man doodle," Google vice president of search products and user experience Marissa Mayer said in a blog post on the Google web site. "Due to popular demand, we're making the game permanently available."
The Pac-Man game, which spent the weekend incorporated into a logo atop the Google online search homepage, was given a new venue at www.google.com/pacman.
The game designed by Toru Iwatani was first released by Japan-based Namco into arcades on May 22, 1980.
The Google doodle Pac-Man comes complete with the arcade game's trademark music and sound effects, and an "Insert Coin" button where Google's "I'm feeling lucky" button usually is. It was the first time Google made an interactive logo on its homepage, which routinely features artistic touches in keeping with holidays or special occasions.
2009 Al Sidra Media LLC
Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company
According to the authors of a study from Tehran, Iran, "The behavioral-biometrics methods of writer identification and verification have been considered as a research topic for many years. However, many writer identification and verification methods have been designed based on English handwriting properties, but because of many differences between English and Persian handwriting and the challenges facing Persian handwriting analysis, designing such methods has many interests in Persian yet."
"In this paper, we have presented a fully text-independent and texture based method for identifying writers of Persian handwritten documents. As a result of special properties of Persian handwriting, a modified version of Gabor filter that is called Extended Gabor (XGabor) filter has been used to extract the features. An MLP (Multi Layer Perceptron (Node)) neural network and a K-NN classifier have been employed to classify the extracted features. In the evaluation phase, an exhaustive database of Persian handwritten documents was prepared and the method applied on. The experimental results showed that the accuracy of proposed method is about 97% and it is competitive with others," wrote B. Helli and colleagues.
The researchers concluded: "We believe that the proposed method may be extended to identify writers in other languages by adjusting some parameters."
Helli and colleagues published their study in International Journal on Artificial Intelligence Tools (An Off-line Text-independent Persian Writer Identification Method. International Journal on Artificial Intelligence Tools, 2011;20(3):489-509).
For more information, contact B. Helli, Shahid Beheshti University G C, Electrical & Computational Engineering Department, Tehran, IRAN.
Publisher contact information for the International Journal on Artificial Intelligence Tools is: World Scientific Publ Co. Pte Ltd., 5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224, Singapore.
Keywords: City:Tehran, Country:Iran, Region:Asia, Machine Learning, Emerging Technologies
This article was prepared by Internet Networks & Communications editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2011, Internet Networks & Communications via VerticalNews.com.
"Gaikai's streaming game technology runs on many different devices and displays, giving us a very complex user interface challenge. Even more importantly, we need to create a compelling eco-system for developers to target. To tackle this, there's no better choice than hiring the #1 user interface and middleware guru in the video game industry, that's Brendan", said David Perry, CEO Gaikai Inc.
"After following the cloud gaming initiatives for several years, I'm very excited to be joining Gaikai, especially given their unique business strategy and advanced GPU server infrastructure." said Brendan Iribe. "Building out an integrated ecosystem and scalable platform that appeals to both developers and consumers will help establish Gaikai as the leading interactive cloud platform." About Gaikai Inc. Gaikai is the world's first open interactive cloud platform that provides its partners with the ability to deliver state-of-the-art video game and software application experiences instantly to any Internet connected device. Gaikai's global cloud streaming network is fully managed and live in over a dozen countries. Gaikai's robust service layer is specifically designed to allow Gaikai's partners to grow their online and offline revenues by improving customer acquisition while extending their reach to new channels previously unavailable through physical media. Headquartered in Southern California, Gaikai is backed by Benchmark Capital, TriplePoint Capital, Rustic Canyon Partners, Limelight Networks and Intel Capital. For more information, please visit: http://www.gaikai.com Follow Gaikai online at facebook.com/GaikaiInc twitter.com/Gaikai_Inc Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6749926&lang=en
Keywords: Electronics, Gaikai, Software, Technology, Video Game.
This article was prepared by Computer Weekly News editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2011, Computer Weekly News via VerticalNews.com.
Nomination affirms a market leading position in wireless infrastructure as the company brings WLAN and point-to-point products to market
LOS GATOS, Calif. -- Firetide announced today it has been selected as a Finalist for Red Herring's Top 100 North America award, a prestigious list honoring the year's most promising private technology ventures from the North American business region.
The Red Herring editorial team selected the most innovative companies from a pool of hundreds from across North America. Finalists for the 2011 edition of the Red Herring 100 North America award are selected based upon their technological innovation, management strength, market size, investor record, customer acquisition, and financial health.
"This year was very rewarding," said Alex Vieux, publisher and CEO of Red Herring. "The global economic situation has abated and there are many great companies producing really innovative and amazing products. We had a very difficult time narrowing the pool and selecting the finalists. Firetide shows great promise and therefore deserves to be among the Finalists."
Firetide is the leader in wireless infrastructure mesh technology for demanding public safety "crime camera" applications, and has been ranked as #1 private company in wireless mesh used for video surveillance in the Americas by IMS Research. To expand on its leadership position in infrastructure mesh, Firetide has recently introduced a family of point-to-point bridges and video-optimized WLAN solution, including 802.11n access points and WLAN controller.
"It's an honor to be recognized as a top technology company, and as innovators in the wireless industry. It's not surprising, since we continue to invest over 30% of revenues in R&D," said Bo Larsson, CEO of Firetide. "No other company in the space offers an end-to-end product portfolio, capable of supporting metro-wide all-wireless infrastructures, from backhaul to Wi-Fi access. Our team has worked very hard this year, and the results speak for themselves."
The Finalists are invited to present their winning strategies at the Red Herring North America Forum in Hollywood, California, June 13-15, 2011. The Top 100 winners will be announced at a special awards ceremony the evening of June 15 at the event.
About Firetide Inc.
Firetide is the leading provider of wireless infrastructure mesh networks that enable concurrent video, voice, and data for government, transportation and commercial applications. Firetide provides reliable high performance wireless infrastructure mesh and access solutions for video surveillance, Internet access, public safety networks and temporary networks wherever rapid deployment, mobility and ease of installation are required. Headquartered in Los Gatos, Calif. with offices in Asia Pacific, Firetide is a privately held company with worldwide product distribution. http://www.firetide.com
UPMC to consolidate extensive telemedicine offerings on new platform to help lower costs and improve access to high-quality care.
PITTSBURGH and PARIS, May 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- UPMC and Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) have signed an agreement to jointly develop a telemedicine platform and suite of applications that will enable patients to receive care even when they are far from doctors and hospitals. This newest collaboration builds on a relationship and co-development agreement dating back to 2006 between UPMC and Alcatel-Lucent.
The solution, expected to be ready for commercial launch in early 2013, will offer secure, real-time clinical encounters in a virtual "exam room" designed to fit the workflow of health care providers and the mobility of patients. Using a secure Web portal, patients will have access to both scheduled and emergency care from any location at any time through a variety of mobile devices using real-time video and audio communication among multiple participants in multiple locations. At the same time, the system will securely generate, retrieve and store patient data in a clinically relevant way.
"Advances in telecommunications technology and the widespread adoption of mobile devices have paved the way for eliminating the restrictions that bricks and mortar have placed on health care," said Rebecca Kaul, president of UPMC's Technology Development Center, who will co-manage the effort and help to oversee development teams in Pittsburgh and New Jersey. "By combining our clinical and technological expertise, UPMC and Alcatel-Lucent are poised to deliver on the promise of providing seamless care to patients that is only a click away."
The platform is being developed along with Bell Labs, Alcatel-Lucent's research arm, making use of advanced technologies such as immersive and cloud-based communications.
"The challenge involved in creating this next-generation telemedicine system is designing a true multi-point communication platform that allows everyone involved in the medical case to securely view the same data and medical records at the same time regardless of the communication device used," said Sid Ahuja, Vice President of Alcatel-Lucent Ventures, who will co-manage the initiative. "With cloud-based technologies, services and software applications are delivered from the Internet rather than a dedicated enterprise network in a single location, enabling a new level of medical collaboration and information sharing via secure real-time audio, video and data links."
A national leader in the use of information technology, UPMC will consolidate its extensive telemedicine offerings on the new platform, with the goal of lowering costs and improving access to high-quality care. Since 1997, UPMC has expanded its use of telemedicine into 16 service lines, including stroke care, cardiology, pathology, dermatology and ophthalmology. Its telemedicine network encompasses 19 facilities, both within and outside of UPMC, including ISMETT, UPMC's transplant center in Italy, and UPMC Beacon Hospital in Ireland. UPMC also provides administrative support, business assistance and information technology services to hospitals, physicians and other medical professionals interested in telehealth services.
About UPMC
UPMC is a $9 billion global health enterprise with more than 50,000 employees headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pa., and is transforming health care by integrating more than 20 hospitals, 400 doctors' offices and outpatient sites, a health insurance services division, and international and commercial services. Affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences, UPMC is redefining health care by using innovative science, technology, and medicine to invent new models of accountable, cost-efficient, and patient-centered care. For more information on how UPMC is taking medicine from where it is to where it needs to be, go to www.UPMC.com.
About Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE : ALU)
The long-trusted partner of service providers, enterprises, strategic industries and governments around the world, Alcatel-Lucent is a leader in mobile, fixed, IP and Optics technologies, and a pioneer in applications and services. Alcatel-Lucent includes Bell Labs, one of the world's foremost centres of research and innovation in communications technology.
With operations in more than 130 countries and one of the most experienced global services organizations in the industry, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with global reach. The Company achieved revenues of Euro 16 billion in 2010 and is incorporated in France and headquartered in Paris.
For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com, read the latest posts on the Alcatel-Lucent blog http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/blog and follow the Company on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Alcatel_Lucent.
SOURCE Alcatel-Lucent
Taipei, April 1, 2011 (CENS) -- With exhibitors and visitors growing in number, Computex Taipei 2011, one of the world's top three trade fairs for the IT (information technology) industry, will create purchase orders and post-show business opportunities valued at US$23 billion, according to Walter Yeh, executive vice president of TAITRA (Taiwan External Trade Development Council), the show organizer.
With over 1,800 exhibitors participating and occupying 5,200 standard booths, Computex Taipei 2011, slated for May 31-June 4 at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center and Taipei World Trade Center, is expected to attract more than 36,000 professional buyers at home and abroad, including heavyweights as Intel, Google, AMD and Lenovo, noted TAITRA. Buyers from emerging countries, such as India, Vietnam, Russia and China, will also increase significantly.
Most of Taiwan's globally well-known PC suppliers as Acer Inc., Asustek Computer Inc., Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. along with China's IT firms, such as Digital China, Hanvon, Hisense, etc., will take part in the trade fair to demonstrate their newest products.
TAITRA pointed out that the show's top five product categories are tablet PCs, e-book readers, smartphones, 3D technology and cloud computing applications. To expand the show's product lines, this year the organizer will also set up exhibition areas specifically for embedded products and the Internet of Things.
Noteworthy is that TAITRA has signed a memorandum of understanding with the organizer of Germany's CeBIT (Center for Office Automation, Information Technology and Telecommunication), the largest computer expo in the world, to enhance cooperation between both sides.
Besides, nearly 100 seminars and speeches regarding the newest trends, including tablet PCs, smart handsets, cloud computing, innovative design and the Internet of Things, in high-tech industries will be arranged during the five-day exhibition period. TAITRA stated that senior managers from AMD, Intel and Microsoft will also attend the supporting events to give lectures on technology development, solutions, branding and marketing strategies.
Hungarian TV operator Magyar Telekom's TV service gave it something to cheer about in what was clearly a disappointing third quarter for the company. Magyar Telecom's DTH (direct-to-home) platform had 121,563 new users in the fourth quarter of the year, while its IPTV (Internet Protocol television) service's uptake increased to 53,176 from 18,580. The firm's total TV user base, meanwhile, increased 34 percent to 583,936. Magyar's other IPTV services, which were launched in Macedonia and Montenegro, also did well in the quarter.
RALEIGH, N.C., March 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Alliance Hospitality Management, a leading hotel management firm located in Raleigh, NC with 6500+ rooms under management throughout the US, announced today that they have appointed Andrew Broad as Senior Vice President of Development for the Company.
Andrew Broad is a lodging industry deal veteran. With over fifteen years of franchise development, brokerage and capital market experience, Mr. Broad brings tremendous market knowledge to Alliance Hospitality. Andrew Broad comes to Alliance from HREC Investment Advisors where he was Senior Vice President specializing in hotel real estate transactions in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States. Mr. Broad has extensive experience in the lodging and real estate industries, having served as the primary broker on over 80 hotel transactions throughout the United States. He was responsible for all phases of the sales process including; sourcing listings, providing opinions of market value, creating marketing brochures, identifying qualified buyers, assisting buyers in their due diligence, and ultimately responsible for closing hotel real estate transactions.
Joseph Smith President of Alliance Hospitality said, "We are excited about the opportunities in the current market and expect with our appointment of Mr. Broad and the company's dedication to servicing our clients, Alliance Hospitality will continue to add to its portfolio of tier one hotels."
Prior to his experience with HREC, Andrew was an associate broker with Timm & Associates, Inc., a hotel brokerage firm located in Minneapolis, MN. In addition to being the primary broker on multiple transactions, Andrew assisted in the development of "Hotel-Broker.com," an Internet site designed to assist hotel owners and brokers to market their hotel listings to active buyers.
In addition to his decade plus experience as a hotel broker, Mr. Broad was a director of franchise development for Roof Inns, where he was responsible for the development of the Red Roof Inn Brand. He also was a director of franchise development for the Cendant Corporation, where he was responsible for the development of the Days Inn, Ramada, Howard Johnson, and Villager Lodge brands in the Midwestern US. Andrew is a graduate of Cornell University.
Broad said, "I am thrilled to join forces with the Alliance Hospitality Management in these trying times. The professionalism and creativity of the Alliance team is compelling." He concluded, "There is a real opportunity to help hotel owners through one of the most difficult markets in the last century."
**PHOTOGRAPHS & INTERVIEWS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST** About Alliance Hospitality Management:
Alliance Hospitality is a hotel management company that provides superior management of hotel properties for owners and asset managers. Headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, Alliance Hospitality has a growing portfolio of 45 plus upscale hotels, located in 15 states across the country. Alliance is one of the Premier Hotel Management Company's in the US and is approved by Hilton, Marriott, Inter-Continental, Choice, and Starwood.
CONTACT: Jon Schade, Tel: +1-919-791-1812, Fax: +1-919-791-1880, jschade@alliancehospitality.com, of Alliance Hospitality Management
Web Site: http://www.alliancehospitality.com/
DALLAS, Jan. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- The Texas Office of the Public Utility Counsel (OPC) and MCI today announced a compromise plan to resolve the need for a new area code within the Dallas 214 area code region. Their approach filed with the Texas Public Utility Commission takes into account both city boundaries and the technical constraints of the local telephone network.
OPC's and MCI's plan would draw area code boundaries based upon which city has the most customers served by the phone company's different central offices. While Southwestern Bell (SWB) has over 40 central offices in the Dallas area, only 11 are affected by their plan.
"For months, local officials have wrestled with the problem of how to introduce a new area code in Dallas area," said Neal Larsen, MCI's director of state regulatory and governmental affairs for the southern region. "We believe this plan ensures the least amount of customer confusion while promoting competition for local telephone services."
"The exploding consumer demand for new telecommunication services promises a dizzying array of choices and products for Texas consumers," said Suzi Ray McClellan, Public Counsel. "The Office of Public Utility Counsel, which represents residential and small commercial ratepayers, believes this compromise plan will preserve the communities of interest in the Dallas and Houston areas while promoting competition and eliminating any unnecessary customer confusion and inconvenience."
Here's how the OPC/MCI proposal solution would work in Dallas. The City of Richardson's telephone exchange, for example, serves a majority of Richardson customers and small number of Dallas residents. Under the joint proposal, Richardson customers and those Dallas residents served by the Richardson exchange would switch to the 972 area code.
Likewise the Addison exchange serves a majority of Dallas customers and a small number of Addison residents. In this instance, these Dallas and Addison customers would retain their 214 area code. The remaining Addison customers served by another central office would receive the 972 area code. Overall, most customers within the city boundaries of Dallas would keep their 214 code, while customers in surrounding areas would get a new 972.
The OPC's and MCI's plan is based on a geographic split solution which literally splits an existing area code region along geographic boundaries. It differs greatly from SWB's "overlay" proposal which would completely ignore current geographic boundaries by overlaying a new area code on top of the 214 code.
The SWB proposal would create customer confusion because Dallas residents would not be able to identify which area code to use even if they knew where they are calling, whether its across the street or across town. Furthermore, all customers would be required to dial 10 or more digits regardless of which area code they are calling.
An overlay approach is also anti-competitive because it would force residential and business customers to change their telephone number when switching to a new telephone provider. Recent Gallup polls indicate that most customers would not change companies if they have to change phone numbers.
Endorsed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), geographic splits represent the traditional approach to adding new telephone numbers to an area. Across the country, it is seen as the best solution to serve the needs of both business and residential customers.
MCI, headquartered in Washington, D.C., is one of the world's largest and fastest growing diversified communications companies. With annual revenue of more than $13 billion, MCI offers consumers and businesses a broad portfolio of services including long distance, wireless, local access, paging, Internet software and access, information services, outsourcing, business software, advanced global telecommunications services, and music distribution and merchandising.
-0- 1/23/96
/CONTACT: Bernie Tylor, 202-887-2474, or Dan Greenfield, 202-887-2750, both of MCI/
(MCIC)
CO: MCI; Texas Office of the Public Utility Counsel ST: Texas IN: TLS SU:
DC -- DCTU021 -- 5371 01/23/96 13:17 EST
WPP is strengthening its network in Asia with the acquisition of Bangalore-based consultancy Ray & Keshavan Design Associates.
The group has taken a majority stake in the consultancy that specialises in brand identity, packaging, print and interactive design.
Ray & Keshavan's clients include Airtel, Hindustan Lever, Infosys, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Wipro. The consultancy was founded in 1989 and employs 33 people. Its revenues for the year ended 31 March were 58.2m Indian rupees (#686,000).
The group is also strengthening its hold in China with Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide taking a majority share of Internet marketing consultancy Beijing Century Harmony Advertising.
Located in Beijing, with a branch in Shanghai, the five-year-old company has clients including Yahoo China, ICBC and Li Ning.
The acquisition forms part of a long-term regional strategy to grow the group's network in mainland China. WPP employs 7000 people in China and claims it is one of its fastest growing markets.
WPP's Wunderman has also agreed to acquire two marketing services agencies based in South Korea - SRP Corporation and ComHaus Korea. Both are located in Seoul.
India, China, Brazil and Russia were identified by Goldman Sachs as key drivers of future economic growth, according to a global financial report in 2003.
Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors
Byline: MARK PRIGG
MEASURING only 2.6 metres wide, this cube home could be the answer to London's housing crisis.
Inside the wood and plastic box is a small bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and office - and it could all be yours for just over [pounds sterling]30,000.
The " micro compact home" has been developed by researchers at Munich University and a British architecture firm, Horden Cherry Lee.
The firm is in talks with Hackney council to build a mini village of the homes, which are being tested by Munich University students.
The architects believe the pods could eventually be in use across London as student and key-worker accommodation. "These are really the ultimate London houses," said Richard Horden, one of the cube's creators.
"For key workers, and even businesspeople, they offer the perfect combination of price and space. They are small but they have everything you need."
The homes provide a double-bedroom on an upper level and a working table and dining space for five.
The kitchen is accessible from both levels and the entrance lobby doubles as the bathroom.
The cubes can be stacked on top of each other and come with hi-tech gadgets including LCD TVs and broadband internet access.
Byline: Fred Mitchell
CHICAGO _ Humility is not a word often associated with Bears wide receiver David Terrell.
But the first-round pick from Michigan acknowledged being humbled Sunday when he dropped two potential touchdown passes in the Bears' 13-10 victory over the Lions.
"I don't make excuses. I dropped the football," Terrell said. "I can't do that. There is no way you can explain it. The wind? The sun? ... You just can't explain it."
With the Bears trailing 7-3 early in the third period, quarterback Jim Miller spotted Terrell wide open down the middle of the field. But Terrell, who had beaten the safety, bobbled then dropped the perfectly thrown pass.
"When you have the opportunity to make great catches, you have to make them," Terrell said. "I am real upset at myself right now because I had a great week of practice. Then to come out and play like that is not in my characteristics. I don't go out like that."
Terrell would have another pass sail through his hands at the back of the end zone that literally sent him climbing up the goal post in frustration.
"I just can't put my team in a situation like that," Terrell said. "Both (of the drops) were touchdowns. I haven't ever played like that. Ever. But you've got to live and learn. I'm cool with it."
Miller completed 17 of 34 passes for 124 yards. Terrell, Dez White and Marty Booker held down his numbers with several drops, although Booker wound up with a team-high nine catches for 74 yards.
He also empathized with Terrell. "I've been through it. I dropped the ball a lot last year," Booker said. "The thing is, you just can't go in the tank. It's all about how you rebound from it. He has five weeks left to improve. I think he'll go out and bounce back tremendously."
Bears offensive coordinator John Shoop remains confident in his receiving corps.
"Drops are part of the football game and nobody is going to panic," he said. "Our wideouts are some of the toughest son-of-guns who are going to put on a uniform. They're our guys and we love them and we're going to keep playing them.
"There were a lot of drops? They're still our guys. I'm going to keep calling their number and they're going to come through for us. There's a lot of peer pressure on this team. His teammates expect him to make those catches. Nobody is putting more pressure on David than David."
Terrell wound up with just one catch for nine yards.
"The main thing is to come out next week ready to play because Green Bay is going to be ready to play," Terrell said.
Miller tried to reassure Terrell that he still has confidence in him.
"There really is nothing you can say," Miller said. "He's going to be a great player. He was very frustrated with himself. He came up to me and said: `Jim, don't not throw to me.'
"Those receivers are harder on themselves than anyone. There are going to be times when I throw a bad ball and they make a great catch. It all evens out."
___
(c) 2001, Chicago Tribune.
Visit the Chicago Tribune on the Internet at http://www.chicago.tribune.com/
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
By Mark Minton, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Nov. 15--If you're shipping Christmas presents this year, your choice may come down to peanuts: Pay them or pack them?
The holidays are closing in, and the big three package-delivery services -- FedEx, UPS and the U.S. Postal Service -- all want to deliver your presents.
But in an industry where the real competition is to sign contracts with big shippers such as catalog companies, there are no price wars or flashy packaging innovations to draw holiday shipping customers in. It's still foam peanuts or bubble wrap, and shipping costs have been creeping up across the board.
Still, with their peak season at hand, the big three package shippers are making holiday pitches that emphasize convenience and cost, all hoping to maximize a peak shipping period that begins around Thanksgiving and runs through Christmas.
"It's a good season," said Art Hatfield, an industry analyst at Morgan Keegan in Memphis. "But I don't characterize it as a war. There's plenty of business to go around for everybody."
About 500 million packages will move during the peak period, during which companies lease extra planes and trucks and bring in temporary workers to handle the volume.
You can choose the cheap route, preparing the packages yourself and dropping them at the post office; or choose UPS or one of the smaller pack-and-ship companies that supply the box and packing material, wrap your package for you and then ship it. But the extra service -- and those packing peanuts -- will cost you more.
The big three calculate their peak holiday periods differently. The Postal Service says it began last month; UPS figures its peak season from Thanksgiving to Christmas; and FedEx said its busiest stretch is typically the week before Thanksgiving. But all three say their volumes rise significantly.
They are expected to increase more this year than last year.
The National Retail Federation projects a 5.7 percent increase in holiday sales in 2003, with U.S. consumers spending $217.4 billion. That would be the biggest increase since 1999.
Package-delivery companies are expected to see a surge of deliveries from increased Internet buying. Forrester Research predicts that online holiday spending will grow from $8.4 billion last year to $12.2 billion this year.
Overall, UPS has the biggest share of the U.S. package-delivery market, Hatfield said. The Atlanta-based company has $30 billion in annual revenue. It ships mostly by truck, with union drivers hauling the freight in their familiar brown vehicles.
Memphis-based FedEx operates the world's largest air delivery service, but has been diversifying as shippers, facing a tough economy, have cut back on pricier air deliveries. FedEx, which has $22 billion in annual revenue, bought a truck delivery company five years ago and now operates North America's second-largest ground-delivery business. To improve profitability, the company has been reducing staff by offering incentives for some workers to retire or quit.
The Postal Service, a federal agency that says it's the only delivery service that goes to every address in America, also has been cutting positions, among other steps, as part of a "transformation plan" to improve efficiency and customer service.
For the holidays, post offices have rolled out The Cat in the Hat displays -- a tie-in to the movie based on the Dr. Seuss book that stars Mike Myers -- to promote a strategy of bundling shipping options to make them easier for customers to order. Much like fast-food restaurants that offer value meals, post offices are promoting "value-added" features for priority mail on menu boards over the counter.
One menu option offers priority mail with delivery confirmation starting at $4.30.
The goal is to simplify choices for customers in a hurry.
With its ubiquitous UPS Stores -- the result of buying 4,000 Mail Boxes Etc. in 2001 -- UPS is emphasizing convenience for customers who will be pressed to cram all their shipments into the 18 delivery days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, said UPS spokeswoman Christine McManus.
"You don't have to stand in a long postal line," McManus said. "We're selling convenience."
Besides offering faster service, the stores, nearly all of which have been rebranded UPS, have a selection of packing supplies. Clerks wrap packages themselves. Insurance comes automatically with all packages up to 100 pounds.
At FedEx, spokeswoman Allisson Sobczak stressed prices.
"We offer great rates," said Sobczak, a spokeswoman for the company's FedEx Ground division.
To see more of The News & Observer, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.newsobserver.com.
(c) 2003, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
FDX, UPS,
