Selwyn Uy Blog

Image Credits to Morris

Most salesmen today forget what it is like to be sincere. I am talking about genuine care for the need of the customer. Not that fake enthusiasm or that nice smile, pleasant comments just to get your business.

I believe that sincerity is one of the most important factors when doing any business transaction. The sincere salesman will take the time to understand your need, identify your problem, and present you with options best suited to your interest. Sometimes, the solution does not involve the product the salesman is selling at all. When this happens, don’t you just so appreciate the sincerity and honesty that you will likely purchase from that same person next time you need something he is selling?

Call me old school but I prefer this way of doing business. While this may not land you the most sales in the short-term, it will most likely build customer loyalty in the long-term.

Just to share a recent experience, the fitness club I go to is heavy on selling their “personal training sessions”. The personal trainers in the gym often fake sincerity by coming up to you to helping you with your workout.  After a while, they will try to “sell” you on getting their services for personal training. Once they realize you will not sign up. they’ll drop you like a hot potato and would much rather spend time by the water cooler than provide the assistance they were so eager to just minutes ago.

Regardless of the product you are selling, be sincere. Think of it as helping another human being if customer loyalty is not yet enough motivation. The world needs more sincere salesmen.

Hmm.. It certainly does seem to be like a Microsoft week. Here is yet another post related to them. Make no mistake, while Microsoft is a great company, I am no fanboy. I like Apple’s products as well as Microsoft’s. I just share what I find interesting as it happens. So here you go..

image courtesy of gizmodo

While people have been waiting and excited about Apple’s rumored tablet, the fruity company has yet to disclose anything official. Microsoft in the meantime has announced their working development. The Courier is a dual 7-inch screen multi-touch. The screen interface can be controlled by finger swipes and can be written into with a stylus pen. The full story can be found on gizmodo which were given the exclusive.  Watch this video:

Microsoft Philippines is officially launching Windows 7 this Saturday (Nov. 7, 2009) at Cyberzone SM North Edsa. This is located in the newest building SM built which used to be the old SM Annex. It starts at 10am and runs for two days until Nov. 8, 2009.

There is no specific activities disclosed but it is guaranteed there will be alot of games, prizes, and marketing gimmicks for this weekend. Part of Windows 7 launch strategy is to offer alot of discount and promos related to the release. One such promo is that you can get the Windows Home Basic Full Product for only Php 7,777. It is said to be at Php 8,000 post event.  I still find this item to be pricey to be honest. It would be better to just get the Windows Home Premium version for a bit more.

Alot of other marketing was done via Facebook and Twitter and I must say its a stroke of genius and well played by the marketing team. The facebook was able to get over 12,000 fans and its wall has just been crazy with activity and buzz. Alot of prizes were also given out via these social networking sites and the marketing promotions milked the social network perfectly. One of the longer term contest was the Hunt for Points.  People just have to click on special banners across the Microsoft site and partner website to earn points. These points can then be redeemed during the event. Giveaways include pens, buttons, stickers, shirts, hoodies, and even Windows 7 Home Basic software products.

All in all, I think this was the best marketing launch Microsoft Philippines has pulled off to date. It remains to be seen at the even itself but they hype they were able to build up is impressive. Too bad not everyone could walk away a winner of some prize since you had to compete with 12,000 other fans. =)

For a time-limited offer, I can sell you Microsoft’s latest new operating system at discount. Through my company, i4 Asia, I was able to get from our supplier a pre-launch special for the Full Packaged Product (FPP) versions of Windows 7.

FPP means they are not OEM and they are not upgrades. These are new original and transferable licenses.  This is a good investment actually. This means when your PC gets obsolete, your license can be transferred to your new computer. (OEM licenses can’t). Also, this is the only option I believe that you can buy if you are using a Mac and wants to install a licensed version of Windows 7. You can compare the editions here.

Home Basic – Php 5,500

Home Premium – Php 7,500 (Regular SRP of $199)

Professional – Php 12,500 (Regular SRP of $299)

Ultimate – Php 13,500 (Regular SRP of $319.99)

PRICES VALID UNTIL OCT 29, 2009 (as a special tie-up promotion to my blog, I will give P500 starbucks gift certificate for readers of my blog that buys. Just tell me you saw this)

SAVINGS!! I can get you discounts for volume orders. Just call me at 09178124062 for faster discussions. Hurry as this is a limited offer only. I am not sure what the new price will be after Oct 30. Don’t miss out! Order Now!

This version is said to be better than Windows XP or Vista by all reviewers. Since there has been tons of review out there, I will not waste time writing what has been written already. Here is an Engadget review if you want to know more.

Official launch in Philippines is on Nov. 7, 2009 at SM North Edsa Cyberzone

Honda recently unveils its new personal mobility gadget–The U3-X.  Its the smallest compact personal mobility device Honda has ever shown. Its still in development stages and Honda still has no plans on putting it on the market.

The device is small enough to be carried and is battery operated. It operates much like a segway device but is much much smaller. The device is steered by leaning towards the direction you want and no hands are required in its operation. While it can useful to anyone, it opens up new possibilities elderly and the handicapped.

Honda visions that this can be the smallest personal transport for the future.  Check this video:

Well.. officially, its called “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter”.

Universal Orlando Resort in Florida, US has revealed plans of developing the Harry Potter inspired theme park aptly named “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter”. (I still think something shorter would be nice). The project is a joint effort between Warner Bros. and Universal after gaining the rights to create a theme park based on J.K. Rowling’s novels. The park will be part of Universal’s “Island of Adventure” but expect the size and build of this park to be world-class quality.

The park is set to open in 2010 will be bringing all of the Harry Potter universe into real life as much as possible. The park will draw from both film and books across the whole storyline. Some of the announced attractions are:

• Hogwarts Castle
• Hogsmeade Station/Hogwarts Express
• The Owlery
• The Owl Post
• Ollivanders
• Dervish and Banges
• Zonko’s
• Honeydukes
• Three Broomsticks
• Hog’s Head
• Filch’s Emporium of Confiscated Goods
• Dragon Challenge
• Flight of the Hippogriph
• Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey

Here is a great walkthrough video:

Official Website: http://www.universalorlando.com/harrypotter/‘

This week, huge fuss broke out as Warner Bros announced major restructuring of DC Comics. It has essentially folded up DC Comics and created DC Entertainment (really original guys).  What this really means is that the new DC Entertainment will be integrating the DC Comics brand more tightly with the studio.

What is alarming to fans is that Paul Levitz, president of DC Comics since 2002 will no longer be the president. He is staying on as a writer and consultant. How committed and how much influence he would still have worries alot of people. Paul had been the driving force for DC in the past and had made sure of the success it enjoyed.  This seems to be in sharp contrast to last week’s news on the Disney-Marvel buyout in which Marvel’s president was kept and promised autonomy.

The new president for DC Entertainment would be Diane Nelson, former president of Warner Premier. Dianne reports to Jeff Robinov, president of Warner Bros. Picture Group.

Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy will be getting superhero friends quite soon.  Disney has announced that it will be purchasing Marvel Entertainment (comics, movies, yes..the whole company) for $4 Billion in a combination of cash and stock purchase. Pending paperwork and other details, the deal is expected to be fully done within the year.

In  official statements, according to Disney:

“This transaction combines Marvel’s strong global brand and world-renowned library of characters including Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Thor with Disney’s creative skills, unparalleled global portfolio of entertainment properties, and a business structure that maximizes the value of creative properties across multiple platforms and territories,” said Robert A. Iger, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company. “Ike Perlmutter and his team have done an impressive job of nurturing these properties and have created significant value. We are pleased to bring this talent and these great assets to Disney.”

according to Marvel:

“Disney is the perfect home for Marvel’s fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses,” said Ike Perlmutter, Marvel’s Chief Executive Officer. “This is an unparalleled opportunity for Marvel to build upon its vibrant brand and character properties by accessing Disney’s tremendous global organization and infrastructure around the world.”

On a related note, most of Marvel’s blockbuster franchise movies are still tied up with studios so Disney won’t be making any superhero films just yet. Marvel’s CEO Ike Perlmutter will still get to run Marvel.

The fanbase on the other hand is mostly outraged as people are worried about seeing baby versions of their superheroes and maybe seeing Donald Duck VS The Hulk.

Here are some fan-made videos and mashups. Enjoy!

by Tim Wollweber

by Matt Brooks

by Matt Ochuizo

by A. David Lewis

by Via

by Matt Moylan

Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz (left) and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer (right) signs the deal with a giant pen

This is one of those news that already happened before I even put my blog up but its interesting enough that I wanted to post it out there for those that haven’t heard yet.  Yes folks, Yahoo! has officially sold their search engine business to Microsoft.

So what does this really mean?

What this really means is that Yahoo! will still have a search function on their site. What just happens when you search something is that it will be Microsoft’s technology working its magic and not Yahoo!’s. The site will be powered by Microsoft’s own search engine–Bing. If you search on Bing and on Yahoo!, you will get the same results. Yahoo’s will just have a “powered by Bing”.

So where will be the future of Yahoo! and Microsoft on this matter?

Yahoo will concentrate on it being a portal and being the site everyone wants to go to for all the other services like mail, groups, special interests. It just needs to have a search function but does not want to handle that side of the business anymore.

Microsoft will be focusing on promoting Bing and its ad-serving technologies to compete with Google. Having this deal adds value to advertising on Bing as it gets both customers searching on Bing and Yahoo!

Why did they do this?

From Yahoo!’s point of view, they feel that people go to their site to do other things like check email, horoscopes, rather than the search engine as a primary purpose. As such, by selling it, Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz feel that the deal enables them to have a healthy revenue stream to invest on critical areas to their future while Microsoft can focus on search.

From Microsoft’s point of view, they wanted to have a stronger competitive platform to compete with Google. By buying Yahoo! they would now have an estimated 30% of the market compared to Google’s 70%. This gives them a much better footing.

How much did it cost?

Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zero. What happens is that Microsoft will be paying Yahoo! 88% of the ad revenues coming from ads on Yahoo! for the next 5 years. Microsoft further guarantees Yahoo that it will earn equal or more than it currently does for the next one and a half years. Not a bad deal considering Microsoft originally wanted to buy it for $45 billion back in 2008. Today, it doesn’t have to pay anything outright and as they pay Yahoo! with revenue generated from Yahoo’s own site.

And oh, Microsoft gets exclusive rights for 10 years to Yahoo!’s search engine technology. After that its pretty much unclear. But given it has Bing, its really just to be sure Microsoft will have control.

So when is this going to happen?

The deal has already been confirmed and is expected to complete by early 2010. There is still alot of paperwork and signatures to get in order. The implementation is expected to take another 3-6 months so we should be seeing Yahoo search powered by Microsoft in mid 2010. The ads listings will take another 2 years so everything fully integrated should be by year 2012. Just right on time for the end of the world according to the Mayan calendar predictions.