Alec Saunders SquawkBox

This morning we announced a promotion with Samsung Canada.  Buy a Samsung Laptop or Netbook between now and April 30, and you can have a year of Calliflower service free.  If your business requires you to have the occasional online meeting or conference call, then Calliflower is the tool for you!

So how does this work?

If you’re a Samsung customer and you’ve just bought a laptop or netbook, visit this web page to sign up.  You’ll get 12 months of Calliflower service at no charge.

If you’re a Samsung system integrator or VAR, then visit our affiliates portal, and sign up. Once you have signed up, then apply for the Samsung Canada campaign.  Within 24 hours, you’ll be approved.  Then sign up your customers using the link provided in the campaign.  After the initial 12 month free period, when your laptop customer signs up for Calliflower you’ll be eligible for commissions on those Calliflower sales – 20% to the reseller, and 5% to the rep who closed the deal.

That’s all there is to it.  Nothing to lose, eh?

A few people have written about this promotion today.  Jon Arnold gives us plaudits for “trying something different”, and the dynamic duo of Ken Camp and Sheryl Breuker described the offer as “a HUGE value”. As for us, we’re just to be pleased to be working with a great company like Samsung Canada. 

Now it’s time to charge ahead and make a few sales.

Image by wilding.andrew via Flickr

For our final daily SquawkBox, we discussed these stories:

• Reports are emerging that AT&T is developing an iPhone tethering plan, but network glitches are holding it up!
• Marlin, a digital rights technology created by Sony and Samsung, is apparently ready for prime time. An open source solution, it claims to solve the problems with DRM solutions from Microsoft and Apple. Have they solved the biggest problem, the fact that consumers hate DRM?
• Vonage dodges the bullet, and refinances their $253 million in convertible debt six weeks ahead of the December 16th due date.
• And Cox Communications… raises their VoIP pricing!

James Body also gave a short recap of the Symbian Show this week in London, and we had a discussion about the future of SquawkBox.  More on that later.

On today’s Calliflower Conference Call: Dan York, James Body, Jonathan Jensen, Jeanette Fisher, Jim Courtney, and Sheryl Breuker.

 

 Squawk Box October 24 [47:45m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Image via Wikipedia

Reports are emerging today that a 450,000 computer strong botnet has been built over the summer. The Shadowserver Foundation says that the number of compromised PC’s may have  expanded from 100,000 at the beginning of the summer.

According to the Internet Storm Center, an increase in  malware infected email hasn’t been infected, leading them  to believe that the increase in compromised PC’s is  either due to more experienced botnet herders getting  better at keeping control of infected machines, or an  increase in drive-by downloads.

I myself have had my anti-malware system trigger twice in  the last few weeks at two different web sites.

We talk about what a botnet is, how to avoid being ensared by one, and how these nets are being used by their creators.

Also, yesterday – just in advance of the CEDIA show — a  flood of new Blu-Ray devices was announced from Sony,  Samsung, and others.  Samsung VP Andy Griffiths has said  he figures Blu-Ray has five years left in the format.  He  also says this is the year the format will hit  mainstream.  Cognitive dissonance, I asked?  No, said the panel.  Physical media is dead.  Most of the folks on the call live in the US where video on demand, including the Amazon variant, is widely available.  Several claimed not to have rented a DVD in over a year.

On today’s conference call: Tom Orr, Dan York, Dan Rockwell, Bill Volk, Mark Hewitt, Jim Courtney, Jeanette Fisher, Sheryl Breuker, Michael Graves

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• PS3 will outlive Blu-ray, claims Samsung
• Samsung: “Blu-ray has 5 years left” (Stuart Miles/Pocket-lint.co.uk)
• Sony introduces $2,000 BD-Live-capable BDP-S5000ES Blu-ray player
• Sony Just Can’t Stop Kicking a Dead, Dead Horse [CEDIA 2008]

 

 Squawk Box September 4 - Botnets, Blu-Ray and Amazon VOD [35:34m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

More details of Samsung’s Microsoft-based phone emerge. Features include dual LCD panels, infrared port, and SD memory slot

I’d buy one of these.  I like Samsung phones in general, and the convergence of PDA and phone makes so much sense to me.  I own the Samsung T130 now, which can synchronize with Outlook for appointments, address book, and to-do lists.  It’s great!