Dear Reader,

For any feedback on our newsletter, or to discuss how we can help you with your technology PR, marketing, copywriting or surveys, please email me at hbutters@prompt-communications.com. We are always delighted to hear from you.

Best regards,

Hazel Butters
Prompt Communications

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Technology Update

By Lance Concannon

Microsoft has best corporate reputation

Bill Gates' humanitarian work through the Gates Foundation has helped improve Microsoft's public image so much that the company was able to push Johnson & Johnson off the top spot of the Wall Street Journal's annual Reputation Quotient Survey. Johnson & Johnson's range of baby related products has given the company a family friendly image which has helped achieve top spot in the survey for seven years running.

While many in the technology industry may not think too highly of Microsoft, the almost 8000 members of the American public who participated in the survey felt that the good works carried out by the Gates Foundation reflected on Microsoft as a company. This news comes at an ideal time for the company, as it attempts to convince the world to upgrade to the just released Windows Vista.

Michael Dell back in the hot-seat

After disappointing market performance at Dell, company founder and chairman Michael Dell has returned to the CEO role, replacing Kevin Rollins who resigned earlier this week. Dell nominated Rollins to replace him as CEO in 2004, after spending twenty years in the role himself, but after a year of exploding battery recalls, stiff competition from chief rival Hewlett Packard, and poor financial results, Dell will once again take up the reigns.

Also this week, Dell admitted that it is developing a handheld games console to compete with the PSP and Nintendo DS, apparently hoping it can succeed where so many others have failed in this intensely competitive market.

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Marketing Update

By Elissa Fry, and Lisa Facinelli

Technology or not technology

It seems that marketing the latest mobile features or extra functions on that new laptop is proving too much for the British public. According to NMA Brits are in danger of becoming completely technology illiterate and are set to position ourselves as the technophobes of the world.

A report from online payments provider PayPal has concluded that more than half of the 1,010 British people surveyed felt threatened by complicated technology and were ready to shun innovative mobile and computer advancements. However, NMA, also writes that it found that 89% of internet users shop online and account for the biggest concentration of online buyers in Europe. Perhaps then there is hope for us Brits and we haven't completely shied away from all things wired and cyber!

Microsoft's marketing

Some say it's all about getting your name out there and using impressive sounding words such as 'visibility' and 'brand recognition'. Microsoft clearly already has this nailed; but it seems, according to CNet News, to have taken this a step further with its latest publicity stunt this week in New York City. Microsoft, known for its innovation in technology, can now add 'Cirque du Soleil' impressions to its profile as it dangled aerial dancers alongside one of its Manhattan warehouses to post the Vista logo.

This performance certainly drew attention; and as noted by CNN, paralleled Bill Gates' presentation in London where he displayed Leonardo Da Vinci's notebooks on a huge screen using Vista. Gates has taken out all the stops to promote Vista and even appeared on Jon Stewart's 'The Daily Show'. The predictable jokes were cracked at Gates' expense but after the first day of Vista sales come in, we'll see who's laughing.

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US Media Report

By Kay Wilson

Andrea Canning, Washington-DC based correspondent for ABC NewsOne has taken on the position of full-time producer and correspondent for Good Morning America Weekend, the weekend edition of the ABC morning show Good Morning America. Canadian born Canning is well known in the world of media for her coverage of many controversial news stories such as the Terri Schiavo case, the Hurricane Katrina aftermath and the war in Iraq.

The Boston Globe has announced that it will close the last of its overseas bureaus to save money - and jobs back in Boston. The respected New England newspaper, which is owned by The New York Times Co., is closing bureaus in Berlin, Bogota and Jerusalem. The Globe's editor, Martin Baron, said closing the bureaus would avoid cutting about a "dozen or so" newsroom jobs in Boston.

Stockholm-based Bonnier Magazine Group is to buy 18 magazines, with a combined circulation of more than 12 million copies, from publishing behemoth Time Inc. The magazines cover various outdoor sports, hobbies and parenting. The move will make Bonnier and its US magazine partner World Publications, one of the largest consumer publishing groups in America, with 40 titles and annual revenue of more than $350 million.

UK Media Report

By Annie Kasmai

Emap Radio will axe 40 jobs throughout its group of local radio stations. The cuts will affect 30 different stations, 21 of which are the stations that Emap acquired when it purchased Scottish Radio Holdings in 2005. Jobs at risk include duty managers, programme managers and programming jobs across the Big City Network. The job cuts are a result of a drive to centralise network programming and are said to be a result of a review by local managers.

Andy Coulson, editor of the News of the World, has resigned after one of his reporters was jailed for four months for plotting to tap into private phone messages at Buckingham Palace. Coulson was immediately replaced by Colin Myler who is the former editor of the Sunday Mirror. It is thought that Coulson had formally resigned two weeks ago but waited until the court case was over to go public.