ANTM Cycle 15 Episode 7

Some really fierce confrontation.


One of the more exciting ones

WGM 110402

WGM 110402

Stay tuned

Google Dominance

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) filed a formal complaint with European antitrust regulators about Google Inc. (GOOG)’s dominance of the Internet search market in the region.

Google bars competitors from accessing its YouTube video site for search results and has kept phones running Microsoft’s operating system from working properly with YouTube, Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft said in a blog posting by General Counsel Brad Smith.

A Microsoft unit and two other rivals last year lodged a complaint with the European Union, which is investigating whether Google has violated the region’s antitrust laws. Google is under growing pressure from global regulators that are probing whether the company uses its dominance of Web search to thwart competition.

“Our filing today focuses on a pattern of actions that Google has taken to entrench its dominance in the markets for online search and search advertising to the detriment of European consumers,” Smith wrote in the blog posting.

While Microsoft and partner Yahoo! Inc. have about a quarter of the U.S. search market and Google the rest, Google has almost 95 percent of the market in Europe, Smith said, citing data from regulators.

Google “is not surprised” that Microsoft has complained because its advertising unit, Ciao from Bing, filed a complaint last year, said Al Verney, a spokesman for Google in Brussels.

‘Happy to Explain’

“We continue to discuss the case with the European Commission and we’re happy to explain to anyone how our business works,” he said in an e-mailed statement today.

Besides cordoning off YouTube, Google is also seeking to block access to content owned by book publishers and restricting its own advertisers from accessing the data they put in Google servers as part of ad campaigns, Microsoft said.

“Unfortunately, Google has engaged in a broadening pattern of walling off access to content and data that competitors need to provide search results to consumers and to attract advertisers,” Smith said in the blog. Microsoft is the world’s largest software maker.

Search Boxes

Google also has signed contracts that block top European websites from distributing rival search boxes, Microsoft said. For example, Microsoft can’t distribute some e-mail and document services through certain European telecommunications companies that have contracts with Google because these services make use of Bing search boxes, Smith said.

The EU said in November that it’s investigating whether Google’s AdSense contracts prevent publishers from striking deals to place ads from other services on their sites. It’s also looking at claims Google limits advertisers’ ability to move data such as key search terms from AdWords to another service.

Google said in a statement in November that it “worked hard to do the right thing by our users and our industry” by marking ads clearly and enabling users and advertisers to move data to other services.

“There’s always going to be room for improvement and so we’ll be working with the commission to address any concerns,” Mountain View, California-based Google said in the November statement.

Burberry My New Love

Check out their spring/summer collection for 2011


I'm officially a Burberry fan now


They just blown me away with their new website, new styles, new music, everything about Burberry is perfect and immaculate.

Burberry Spring/Summer Collection 2011 

 Burberry Spring/Summer Collection 2011

 Burberry Spring/Summer Collection 2011

 Burberry Spring/Summer Collection 2011

 Burberry Spring/Summer Collection 2011

 Burberry Spring/Summer Collection 2011

Burberry Spring/Summer Collection 2011



Credits -burberry

They say God was very Happy when he made him

Choi Siwon for Cosmopolitan


He got the perfect man look man.

Outings

Below are some pictures of the latest outings :) :)

Charles & Keith joined Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy LVMH

Local shoe retailer Charles & Keith is now partly owned by French luxury giant Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH).

Starting out in their first shop in Amara Hotel in 1996, the Wong brothers, who own the company, have sold a 20 per cent stake to L Capital Asia, the private equity arm of LVMH, for more than S$30 million, reported The Sunday Times.

The deal puts the company's value at approximately S$200 million, and was completed last November after L Capital fought off a slew of rival suitors which included private equity funds, high net worth investors and even a manufacturing firm.

The deal will give Charles & Keith a global standing as it can leverage on LVMH's branding expertise. The French luxury giant currently has many top fashion labels under its name, including Marc Jabobs, Dior and Givenchy.

The company is looking to conquer the US, China, India and Western Europe markets. Currently, the shoe retailer has 229 stores across mainly Asia and the Middle East under its Charles & Keith and Pedro brands.

(China and India's market are definitely the one to go after. Especially when it comes to footwear, you definitely want to aim at the countries with the highest population. Furthermore, Charles & Keith's shoes are fashionable and affordable so it will appeal to the mass market. And if you are looking at a mass market, China & India are the largest you can find.)

Wong said he was happy with the deal, which took a long time to come together.

"There have been a lot of companies talking to us and we spent a lot of time considering all the options. We were definitely reluctant to sell the stake, but in the end it was more for the company to grow to the next level. We were looking mainly at knowledge transfer and for someone to help us understand certain markets deeper.

"We are looking at the bigger picture and how we can grow our company's revenue to three to five times what it was last year in a short time. We hope we can, through them, expand, improve and learn. That's the main reason we let them have the stake."

Its a very interesting assessment criteria for Charles and Keith. They wanted someone who had the knowledge. Interestingly, the knowledge-based economy is not constrained to the technological sector, it is even spreading to the shoe industry and every other industry. Knowledge is power today. The more you know about the consumer preferences, the better you are at targeting your market and serving them better, translating to higher value.

In addition, having the power of knowledge allows you to spot not just current, but future trends. You get to see what people like and where the tastes are floating towards. Then you can adjust accordingly, adapt, diversify and attack the market at the perfect time.

By the time your competitors get in, its already too late because you already got the first-mover advantage.

It is understood that the reason Wong decided to cut the deal with L Capital was because of the promise of a chance to conquer the China Market.

There are now six Charles & Keith stores in Shanghai, although they have yet to bring in profit, said Wong.

The company will also remain separate from LVMH's stable of designer brands.

"We don't want to ride on that brand. We want to maintain our DNA in terms of how we grow our two brands. We don't see the need to associate, not even with Sephora," said Charles & Keith's chief financial officer, Dicky Koh.

Mr Wong added, "My goal is to make sure that our brand is in all countries and cities, to make this a true global brand from Singapore."

Financial advisor Regina Sin, 34, is a big fan of the Charles and Keith line.

"I found them to very humble. Despite being the owners, they were serving customers in the shop just like any salesperson, kneeling on the floor and helping people find the right size of shoe. It's rare that local designers make it so big and I'm happy that they are so successful now. They deserve it."