"Architel sees big things ahead for Big in Japan and we're excited to be part of it," said Scott Ryan, CEO of Architel, an IT outsourcing company and incubator for technology startups. "The Big in Japan team is proving to be on the leading edge of mobile application development -- and with Android-based handsets soon to hit the market, we believe the company is in the right space at the right time."

"Architel's investment provides the resources we need to build the 'idea factory' we want Big in Japan to be," said Rylan Barnes, Big in Japan co-founder and lead developer of ShopSavvy. "ShopSavvy is the first of many commercial applications we intend to make a reality for users of Android-based handsets and iPhones."

ShopSavvy enables consumers to comparison shop on the go, simply by scanning any product's barcode using the phone's built-in camera. With this information, ShopSavvy searches the Web for the best prices on the product, displaying the lowest prices online as well as at nearby brick-and-mortar retailers. ShopSavvy looks up product reviews to further assist with purchase decisions.

ShopSavvy will be available to consumers through Google's Android Market when the first Android-powered handsets are introduced commercially later this year. You can view a ShopSavvy demo at www.youtube.com/watch?v=OALjXec6tHo.

About Big in Japan

Big in Japan Inc. is a Dallas-based idea factory for mobile applications, building software for Google's open-source Android platform and Apple's iPhone. Big in Japan's ShopSavvy application -- a personal shopping assistant -- will be available on Android-powered handsets later this year. For more information about Big in Japan, visit the company's Web site at www.biggu.com.

About Architel

Dallas-based Architel is an IT infrastructure outsourcing company focused on medium-sized businesses in north Texas. Architel offers managed outsourcing for a flat monthly fee, providing clients a turnkey solution to their IT headaches and a compelling alternative to traditional outsourcing services. Architel is an investor in early-stage, Dallas-based technology companies including ServiceGuy and Whitebox. Visit www.architel.com for more information.

SOURCE: Big in Japan Inc.

The Idea Grove 
Cathy Baradell, 972-235-3439 
cbaradell@ideagrove.com

In today's economic environment, marketers are looking for pragmatic solutions that reduce their participation risk, while gaining all the business benefits that were previously beyond the reach of their budgets.

A study by Orbius in October 2008 revealed that 88 percent of respondents plan to incorporate social media tools into their marketing mix over the next 6-18 months. According to Gartner, by 2010, more than 60 percent of Fortune 1,000 companies with a Web site will connect to or host some form of online community that can be utilized for customer relationship purposes.

"Orbius solves the social marketing problem for businesses by providing a structured set of community-building tools that enable fast and easy online customer and supply chain partner engagement in a brand safe environment," said C.H. Low, founder and CEO, Orbius. "We provide pragmatic marketers a complete, fully-configurable solution that won't put their budget at risk, doesn't require the involvement of IT and doesn't take weeks or months to operationalize. We're bringing sophisticated social marketing tools to pragmatic Main Street businesses and organizations."

Until today, only larger corporate brands and very innovative early adopter marketers could afford to build their own brand-safe online communities. Orbius' low-entry cost gives less well funded marketers the same community-building capabilities larger brands spend significant dollars to build and maintain. In the survey conducted by Orbius, more than half of the respondents believed a community should cost between $10,000 and $20,000 to implement. Additionally, 43% of those that had already taken the step to create their own online community said it took more than three-months to get a community up and running. Orbius' platform gives marketers control over the context and structure of content, so the voice of their brands isn't lost in the discussion. The platform is designed for marketers at small- and medium-sized businesses and those at the department level of large corporations.

The Orbius platform is based on a scalable, configurable and easy-to-use software-as-a-service (SaaS) model. The Orbius platform not only supports the creation of blogs and discussion forums -- traditional social media "point solutions" -- but also provides seamlessly integrated capabilities such as: Website Maker, Ask the Expert, Two-way Online Newsletters, Interactive Surveys, Content Space, Knowledge Center, Online Focus Groups and the Idea Factory.

See for Yourself

For those trying to understand social marketing, the best way to learn is to get started. Orbius makes it easy to start. Orbius will configure a sample community for those who want to see how their community and content might be organized and structured. Customers must complete a short 10 question discovery document. Orbius is waiving the $500 cost for this service for the balance of 2008. Interested customers should contact Orbius Sales at 484-913-9000, extension 103, or email sales@orbius.com for details and arrangements.

About Orbius

Orbius (www.orbius.com) solves the online community-marketing problem for pragmatic marketers with a cost-effective, structured platform to help them better engage, communicate and collaborate with their customers and partners. We provide smaller brands the same community-building features offered by larger brands. Orbius offers a complete solution with brand controls that is easy to configure without the need of an IT staff. All without brand risk. Orbius helps safely add Word of Mouth Marketing (WOMM) interactivity to an existing website/intranet to increase sales and drive greater customer loyalty and engagement. The Orbius Social Marketing Platform is offered as a secure Software as a Service (SaaS) total solution. The Orbius Online Community Platform solution product line includes our Complimentary Group Edition, Business Edition and Business Advanced Edition. Orbius is based in Malvern, PA, a suburb of Philadelphia.

SOURCE Orbius

http://www.orbius.com

BNET (www.bnet.com), a Web site that provides information and tools to help business managers succeed at work, and a property of CBS Interactive, today announced a new fall editorial package, "Blowing up 'Business as Usual',". The in-depth editorial report explores how a radical workplace philosophy, the Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE), is gaining traction in the executive ranks. Pioneered at $40 billion retailer Best Buy, ROWE lets employees set their own schedules, take unlimited vacation time, and even skip meetings. The real surprise? Productivity at the company is up 35 percent.

The ROWE method - as well as other unconventional approaches to organizational management - is getting attention at an opportune moment: independent-minded Gen X and Millennial employees, who are clamoring for flex-time schedules and a better work/life balance, are filling the ranks of corporate cultures across the country. Plus, as work becomes something that can be done anywhere, anytime, the notion that employees should work on an 8-5 schedule is becoming outdated and unproductive.

"Corporate cultures are changing dramatically to meet the needs of a new generation of employees," said Jeff Davis, executive editor at BNET. "Increasingly, managers need to find new ways to keep their talent pool deep and as productive as it can be in this shifting environment, and this new editorial series highlights how a few leading companies are approaching that need."

BNET's editorial fall package includes:

    --  What Is a Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE)? - A profile of the work
        model, ROWE, and a look at its early beginnings at Best Buy
    --  The End of Time-Based Management? -- A Q&A with Tammy Erickson,
        author of several books, including "Retire Retirement:  Career
        Strategies for the Boomer Generation," where she gives BNET her
        honest assessment of ROWE
    --  How to Get ROWE Working For Your Team - A list of the top ten tips any
        business manager can do right now to kick the habit of old-fashioned,
        time-based management and get teams focused on results
    --  Four Radically Different Cultural Models:  Best Buy, Google, General
        Electric, and Semco - A snapshot view of different people management
        models like  Best Buy's "everyday-is-Saturday" mentality,
        Google's "whimsical idea factory," General
        Electric's "ruthless meritocracy" and Semco's
        "extreme democracy"

In addition, BNET has several other recent articles aimed at helping business managers in the workplace environment:

    --  Managing Millennials - This highly successful series teaches business
        managers how to recruit and understand a new working class of employees,
        about 80 million members of Generation Y, also known as millennials
    --  Master Your Multitasking - A personal productivity expert helps business
        managers master the skill of multitasking by using a specific
        time-management system
    --  Managing a Remote Team - This BNET "Crash Course" helps
        business managers learn how to keep remote employees engaged and
        productive in today's workplace consisting of work-at-home
        employees and outsourced jobs

About BNET.com

BNET, a property of CBS Interactive, provides managers practical, trusted resources for the business challenges they face every day, and effective techniques for moving their companies and their careers forward. A top 10 business site, BNET offers award-winning original content, as well as one of the largest business libraries available on the Web.

About CBS Interactive

CBS Interactive, a division of CBS Corporation, is the best online content network for information and entertainment. Its portfolio of leading brands, which include CNET, CBS.com, CBSSports.com, GameSpot, TV.com, BNET, and Last.fm span popular categories like technology, entertainment, sports, news, and business. With more than 150 million people visiting its properties each month, CBS Interactive is a top 10 web property globally.

SOURCE BNET

http://www.bnet.com

The conference features workshops, seminars and roundtables on business topics and the "how-to" of various support tools that help companies to familiarize and translate Websites, communications and products or services for the business markets of South and Central America, Spanish-speaking markets in the USA, and Spanish and Portuguese language markets in other parts of the world. Programs will be conducted in English and Spanish. There will also be an exhibit hall featuring various products from tool and service vendors.

Full program details are available at http://www.localizationlatinamerica.com/index.php. To register see: https://www.localizationworld.com/lla/order.php. Participants may register for the full program including pre-conference sessions or for only part of the conference. The conference is appropriate for product managers with responsibility for Spanish-speaking markets, including:

-- Buyers of localization services

-- Localization engineers and testers

-- Buyers of related technologies

-- Localization project managers

-- Service and tool providers

-- Managers of localization companies

-- Managers of government agencies dealing with multilingual issues

-- Educators interested in helping to train translators and interpreters equipped to handle new tools and technology

-- Translators and editors

Localization Latin America follows closely after the group's major event in October, Localization World Madison 2008, where hundreds of globalization and translation professionals from more than 30 countries converged for an educational forum and tradeshow in the US. International speakers at that event included executives from Facebook, Sun Microsystems, Oracle, IBM, and Google, among others.

Localization is a vital function in vertical industries around the world, including high tech, health care, publishing, software and others. All Localization World events feature comprehensive topics as well as networking opportunities for both beginners and experienced professionals involved in adapting products, services, or communications to an international language or culture. Programs and exhibits are directed to both the customer and service sides.

Event sponsors for Localization Latin America include: IDEA FACTORY Languages, Inc., as platinum sponsor, and Translated in Argentina, Ushuaia Solutions, and Julia Figueroa Spanish Translation and Localization Solutions as bronze sponsors, with Moravia Worldwide and SpanSource as hosts of the closing reception.

Note to reporters: Press passes are available with official press credentials by contacting Lexy Yates at +1-858-724-2500.

SOURCE: Localization World

Clearpoint Agency, Inc. 
Beth Walsh, 858-724-2500 
beth@clearpointagency.com