Listen to the audio podcast interview with Audible, Inc.’s Chief Scientist and CTO Guy Story at http://didx.net/podcast/?p=episode&name=2013-05-16_guy_story_audible_connected_cars2.mp3. He shares the exciting history of Audible, Inc. before and after its acquisition by Amazon, why people gravitate to sound, a story, audiobooks and now the connected car concept. Technically, it’s about M2M, but personally, it’s about identity, comfort, happiness and productivity felt by audiobook listeners. Strangest thing of all is that audiobooks are so popular that there are not enough audio books, says Mr. Story. Audiobooks and the Connected Cars (http://www.connectedcarsworld.com) have a close relationship. Read the transcript below and/or listen to the audio discussion.

Suzanne Bowen (interviewer):
Welcome to the DIDX audio podcast channel where we record conversations with experts in the areas of unified communications, machine 2 machine, social media, startups, crowd-sourcing and more. Today is Thursday May 9, 2013. We welcome Guy Story (who graciously put up with me calling him Gary and matching him with the wrong company over our email discussion to plan this podcast). He is the CTO & Chief Scientist at Audible Inc. He began his work with Audible in 1996 as VP Technology and led the architecture and development of Audible’s mobile audio and Internet commerce technologies. He has worked in research and development for over 10 years at AT&T Bell Laboratories and Lucent Technologies in networked delivery of multimedia documents and interactive television. Today at Audible, Guy is focused on opportunities in wireless, automotive, in-home entertainment, content discovery, and social media.

Welcome, Gary. Would you share with us how Audible (and Amazon) fits into the Connected Cars industry?

Guy Store (Audible CTO and Chief Scientist, ConnectedCars13 panelist, previously with AT&T Bell Laboratories and the NYU Linguistic String Project):
Our customers are passionate about listening to long stories every day. The most popular and number one use case is listening in the car. Our customers are commuting in the car. We turn what could be one of your worst times of your day like when you are stuck in traffic for 45 minutes into one of the best times of your day. It’s because you are absorbed in a story you really care about and the time seems to pass very quickly.

So getting our content into the car so that our customers can listen to it while they are driving is a very important goal for us. The promise of the the truly connected car and its ability to provide that elegant delivery of our content to customer who is driving is a big thing for us. We care a lot about the connected car and its ability to

Suzanne Bowen:
Audio is easier than video. For example, you can multi-task more easily. I listen to books. I use Audible on a regular basis. I like listening because I want to use my time as productively as I can. I am really bad about multi-tasking. I just love it. I feel really good when I am listening while I am doing other important things. Thank you!

Guy Story:
We used to say, “When Your Eyes are Busy but Your Mind is Free …” That describes the times that are good to listen to one of these long stories. So, our customers are exercising. They are jogging in the park. They are mowing the lawn. They are cooking. They are driving in a car.

It’s a great alternative to music, for example. I am a big music lover. It’s a way for … our customers feel more enriched, productive … when they have used that time to listen to books.

Suzanne Bowen:
What is Audible’s approach to M2M (machine to machine) use with automobiles? For example, I read some comments from your talk at a Lean Newark event where you said, “If we have an idea, we have a business infrastructure set up where we field it and see what the customer wants us to do.”

Amazon who owns Audible has a “working backwards approach to things.”

http://www.njtechweekly.com/art/1852-at-lean-newark-audibles-guy-story-talks-product-launches-the-amazon-way/

Guy Story:
About five years ago, Amazon bought Audible although we had a strategic relationship with Amazon for many many years. We have a couple of things in common with Amazon that are key.

One is that Amazon … in their DNA … there are books. They started out as a bookstore, and you know, we were the ones selling the audio versions of those books. Secondly, both companies have been maniacally focused on the customer forever. One way that manifests itself is a kind of a methodology that Amazon has that we relate to and are practicing more and more … this “working backwards” approach.

That is … if you have an idea, before you just plow into the details, you first step back and you try to describe in a simple form … what exactly it is that you intend to do. This forces a discipline of deciding who it is for and what it is exactly. If it sort of passes a test of sounding like it’s worth it to whoever that is, then you know you can sell that to your colleagues.

It’s guided us from early on, even before the Amazon acquisition to not just build things for the sake of building them and to not use technology just for technology’s sake but to always be focused on what matters to the customer. The connected car is kind of a new concept. A lot of people are coming up with interesting ideas about what you might do in a car with bringing Internet content services to the car.

In our case, we could begin to brainstorm all kinds of new features, but the very first thing we want to do is just make it super easy for our customer who is riveted by a book, to be able to listen to it in a car in an easy way … make sure it is always there … it’s always playing where they were last listening. Just start from that premise. So … work backwards from there.

Don’t add stuff in just for the sake of adding stuff. One interesting thing, I think, that has risen out of our close relationship with Amazon is something that we launched last fall. That is we have synchronized our audio books with our companion Kindle books. For someone was an avid book reader … instead of having to … being forced to choose alternatives to their story when they get in the car, they can continue listening to the book where they last … left off on their Kindle app or on their Kindle device. We call that Whispersync for Voice.

You could be reading on the train. Then, you get in your car and you continue listening. The listening starts right where you were reading in the book. When you are done with your commute, you can pick up your Kindle, open it up, and it positions itself right where you were listening last in the audio book. The connected car offers the opportunity to make that coordination between your Kindle reading and your Audible listening even more elegant. This is all through the “Cloud.”

Kindle users are already familiar with the fact that through the cloud … Kindles will sync each other, so that you could be reading on your phone and pick up your Kindle later.

What we’ve done is build a bunch of magic into the cloud that knows where you are in the book when you are listening. Through the cloud, your phone will sync through your Kindle device and vice versa. All you really have to do is you have to have a Kindle device that can connect to the Internet. You have to have an Audible Player that connects to the Internet. This works with Audible Players on smart phones and on Kindle Fire and iPad tablets and phones and so on.

Suzanne Bowen:
I have a Kindle Fire. I have the Audible app. I going to try this.

Guy Story:
You should. I am on my tenth book I’ve read. I use the word “read” when I actually mean both listening and reading. It’s just great because the book … every day when I’m about at the end of where I was on my train trip [reading] and instead of being disappointed that I can’t keep going because I am very engrossed in the story, I just switch over to listening. The story just keeps going. It’s actually quite great.

Suzanne Bowen:
How about this? You speak of keeping it practical in meaning that desire to be entertained or to be informed by listening while taking care of other tasks in life. Would you give us a dream of the future and possibilities that Connected Car in general could increase productivity, entertainment, convenience …?

Guy Story:
We’re really trying to make sure we take care of the main use case very well, and that is I’d really like to be able to just get in my car and have it know who I am and have it know what I was listening to begin playing as I am ready to go. So in that very simple thing, it’s quite a challenge for the industry because right now, in every car you get into, the way to get your audio to play … if it comes from the Internet, it’s different.

Beyond that, though the promise of connecting the car is to be aware of who is in the car, who is in the back seat, the fact that you can deliver video to the back seat or games for the rear seat passengers who can interact with the screen.

Perhaps … suggest content that is related to where you are, your location or where you are going? These things are also enabled if you include the car into the overall platform.

Suzanne Bowen:
Connected Cars as I mentioned at the beginning … which is being colocated with the LTE World Summit. I was wondering if you would share a little more information about how Audible will be participating at the Summit. I heard that you are going to give a presentation.

Guy Story:
I think I am going to be on a panel. We’ll be discussing a general topic that we’re discussing but focus it particularly on the role of wireless. I would say that having a connected car in the context of a wireless conference makes sense because the way they connect the cars is through wireless networks. We’re sitting in a great moment of opportunity in connecting the cars more effectively with the cloud.

I’d like to make the car a first-class citizen of the Internet. There are a variety of ways of trying to connect the car. Cars are connected first and foremost … the right thing to do … for safety reasons. The next thing is going to be to make all your favorite Internet content and applications like Audible and Amazon Music and whatever else that you … is appropriate to bring to the car … bring it straight to the car.

The wireless industry will be playing, I believe, a major role in making that happen.

Gary Story:
Suzanne, not Susan.

Suzanne Bowen:
So, there you go. (Chuckles.) Let’s go back in time about Audible

Gary Story:
Well, I mean … Audible started in 1995 – 1996 … this idea of delivering stories in audio form to customers, and as we said before, to listen when they were exercising, driving, or whenever their eyes are busy, but their minds are free.

We were real pioneers, back before you could buy music and download it. Nobody knew what we were doing. They thought they were buying cassettes from us for a long time. We would try to make it as clear as possible. Nobody knew what a digital audio player was at the time.

Over time, we have had partnerships with all kinds of companies, all to the end of making it possible for our customer to listen to the content … whatever they want to. In coordination with that effort, we have been very aggressive in trying to get more audio books created. There are not enough audio books. Lots and lots of books that are created every year. Nine out of ten books created … that are published every year … that should be in audio, we think, are not.

We are very aggressively trying to address that issue as well, so that we have more selection for our customer. Audible is now the largest producer of audio books in the world as well as the largest seller of audio books. We have studios here at Audible’s headquarters. We have actors coming in every day recording audio books. We have a network of studios around the country doing this, and we have even done up an online marketplace where folks who have the rights to books whether author, agent or publisher … can meet narrators and get together and make more audio books. We’ll put them in the store.

Back to that “working backwards” and customer focus, you know, we are maniacally focused on trying to provide the best selection possible at the best price in the most convenient places to consume audiobooks.

Suzanne Bowen (interviewer, TMCnet blogger, co-founder of Elegant Group Inc, Super Technologies and DIDX):
I’m looking forward to sharing this conversation with those who will be listening. (Yes, that is a kitten in the background who wants a copy of The Berenstain Bears’ New Kitten Audible audiobook.) They should try Audible, take advantage of the online marketplace such as matching up narrators with book authors and we look forward to seeing you guys at Connected Cars13 conference June 25 – 26, 2013 in Amsterdam. So I do appreciate this. Thank you.

Guy Story:
Thanks, Suzanne. Yeah, thank you.

More information:
A review of Audible Whispersync
http://www.cinemablend.com/pop/Kindle-Audible-Whispersync-Voice-Review-Best-Both-Worlds-48082.html

At ACX, unused audio rights can be matched with narrators, engineers, recording authors and other producers capabale of producing a finished audiobook
https://www.acx.com/help/how-it-works/200484210

Connected Cars13
http://www.connectedcarsworld.com

The recent recessions paralyzed the global economy severely that it swept away many big names from the market. A huge number of companies managed their expenses by cutting short extra services in every manner. During the phase, many professionals lost their jobs, many companies got bankrupt and almost every individual was worried. During such periods emerged a new development that remained saved from recession and that is outsourcing. Many companies decided to outsource many services at cheaper rates accessing professionals globally. The people of under developed countries, offered services at much affordable rates, gradually increasing outsourcing ratio.

Outsourcing replaced inhouse professionals with offshore professionals. The certain tasks for which the companies had been paying full wages to its personnel besides providing complete office infrastructure, were exchanged with economic global personnel with no liability of providing office necessities. On the other hand, this enabled the world population to sell its skills globally. This emerged a new trend for skill development instead of mere having degrees. The more professional skills each individual would have, the better chances are there to get hired globally. A survey report indicates that for the second quarter of 2011, total value of outsourcing contracts increased by 13 per cent, to reach €7.6 billion (£6.7 billion).

Outsourcing in other words gave a big boost to IT organizations, the people who were skilled and aware enough with Information technology got benefited making timely use of it. IT organizations are outsourcing a greater portion of their IT functions today than just a few years ago.

The role of IT in health sector also brought forward global employment opportunities where web based systems made it easy to access the application data anywhere anytime. This initiated trend towards electronic health record, electronic medical billing, electronic transcription etc. Besides this, each office was supposed to have IT staff to maintain and manage computer system whereas web based technology enabled offices to outsource personnel to look after their computer setups. Most often, software vendors are providing free software training services and the staff remains available to answer any queries that further reduced the burden of hiring IT staff in offices and resulted more economical.

There had been certain experiences where outsourcing resulted a disadvantage as well. The companies agreed as per the quoted price however, few of the people could not handover the expected quality of work which led companies to be more careful in future in out-sourcing their work. In the upcoming times, outsourcing would be more beneficial for the ones having adequate professional skills. Following this, educational institutes should also focus skill development to meet global challenges.

Further to this, in the interest of lowering the cost of outsourcing, the global trends are now heading towards what’s known as outcome-based outsourcing that is based not on number of hours a work takes to complete but is purely based on results achieved. This further gives rise and intensifies the need to have the skill and proficiency in any field of work.

Using technology in the workplace has brought forward new international work environment and a new way of digital life. People working together with diverse country background, diverse cultures emerged the development of new global work ethics.  Social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook made it easier to maintain relationships with current and past co-workers and even having more influential global networking that is essential to have better outsourcing.

The type of work that is being outsourced more successfully includes;

1. Writing Skills
2. Administrative skills to be a virtual assistant
3. Web Programmers and Designers
4. Human Resources
5. Call Centers
6. Medical Professionals
7. Computer Professionals,
8. Graphic Designing
9. accounting
10. Drafting etc

A number of analysts have forecast a raise in outsourcing. A lot of the offshore business that was delayed by the recession is also back. Companies that have not outsourced so far are also now considering outsourcing to low-cost locations or countries. Outsourcing is seen primarily by many as a way to cut costs. The survey found that 46% said the need for better quality services was their reason for outsourcing, while 51% said it was due to a lack of in-house skills. Therefore, it brings forward a two way opportunity for both the employer and the employee to hire or get hired globally. However, employees are supposed to upgrade their skills to meet the international challenges.

Partnership combines Tech Mahindra’s proven system integration capabilities with the ThingWorx M2M Enablement Platform, driving innovation and improving time-to-market for customers deploying Machine-to-Machine and Internet of Things applications
Exton, Pa. – May 14, 2013 – ThingWorx™ today announced a global partnership with Tech Mahindra, a leading provider of solutions and services to the telecommunications industry. This partnership will enable Tech Mahindra to deliver innovative Machine-to-Machine (M2M) solutions at minimized cost, risk, and time to market for its customers worldwide by utilizing the ThingWorx Platform – the industry’s first application development platform designed to reduce the effort required to build M2M applications for the emerging connected world.

The combination of Tech Mahindra’s proven system integration and solution delivery capabilities along with ThingWorx’s M2M platform allows customers to take advantage of a 10X improvement in solution development and delivery for connected applications. With industry leading companies estimating that the number of Internet-connected devices will reach 50 billion by 2020, business enterprises and telecommunications providers are seeing M2M as a new avenue for business growth and sustained revenue. While this partnership encompasses a wide range of industries and geographies, the initial focus will be around a Tier1 Telco’s hosting solutions.

According to Manish Vyas, Global Head, Business Development of Tech Mahindra, “After an extensive evaluation, we concluded that ThingWorx provides an innovative application enablement platform for delivering M2M and IoT solutions. The development advantage offered by ThingWorx will enable us to deliver innovative applications that are much richer in functionality, in a fraction of the time required with alternate approaches.”

“We are pleased to enter into a strategic partnership with Tech Mahindra”, stated Russ Fadel, CEO of ThingWorx. “Their global reach and M2M expertise, combined with the ThingWorx platform, will speed the adoption of innovative applications which we believe will be a catalyst for rapid growth in the emerging connected world. Our customers planning global rollouts of the ThingWorx platform will benefit from Tech Mahindra’s global reach and scale. We also envision broad consumption of the ThingWorx platform, enabled by Tech Mahindra, across many of the business sectors that make up The Mahindra Group. This partnership represents yet another step in ThingWorx’ global expansion plans.”

About Tech Mahindra

Tech Mahindra is a leading provider of solutions and services to the telecommunications industry with a majority stake owned by Mahindra & Mahindra Limited. Tech Mahindra serves telecom service providers, equipment manufacturers, software vendors and systems integrators worldwide and their proven delivery models, distinctive IT skills and decades of domain expertise enable clients to maximize returns on their IT investment. A SEI-CMMI Level 5 organization, Tech Mahindra’s development centers are ISO 9001:2008, ISO 27001:2005, ISO 20000-1:2011 and ISO 22301:2012 certified. Tech Mahindra has principal offices in the UK, United States, Germany, UAE, Egypt, Singapore, India, Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, Philippines, Canada and Australia. Tech Mahindra is part of the USD 15.9 billion Mahindra Group. The Mahindra Group employs more than 155,000 people in over 100 countries and operates in key industries that drive economic growth, enjoying a leadership position in tractors, utility vehicles, information technology and vacation ownership.

For more information, see www.techmahindra.com

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tech_mahindra

For clarifications, write to us at: corporate.communications@techmahindra.com

About ThingWorx

ThingWorx™ provides the first platform designed to efficiently build and run the applications of today’s connected world. ThingWorx’s model-based design and search-based intelligence reduces application development efforts by 10X, minimizing cost, risk and time to market. The ThingWorx platform combines the key functionality of Web 2.0, search, and social collaboration, and applies it to the world of “things,” including connected products, machines, sensors, and industrial equipment. Businesses use the ThingWorx platform to rapidly deliver innovative applications and connected solutions across markets ranging from manufacturing, energy, and food, to Machine-to-Machine (M2M) remote monitoring and service, as well as in emerging Internet of Things applications, including smart cities, smart grid, agriculture, and transportation. For more information, please visit our website at www.thingworx.com and our blog at www.thingworx.com/blog or follow us on Twitter at @ThingWorx.

# # #

In recent years, companies around the world have faced a number of difficulties in their operations, such as the rising price of petroleum, the shortage of energy, the Eurozone debt crisis, increasing labour costs, environmental pollution, etc. Apart from having a well-planned business strategy, a crucial factor in successfully tackling these problems is the quality of a company’s work team.

Last year, Adsale organized an in-house staff training programme entitled“Managing and Leading Changes”, which was aimed at encouraging staff to respond to these changes with a positive mind and to regard each change as an opportunity for further development, to cultivate border less support as a corporate culture, to strengthen team spirit among staff members, to share experience with others and to enrich their market knowledge. In an effort to express the importance of staff training, Adsale submitted this training programme to the 2013 UFI Education Award competition organized by the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI) and finally won the award. (Details…)

Stanley Chu, Chairman of the Adsale Group, says, “We attach great importance to staff development. Since 2005, we have been organizing a two full-day conference each year with the objective of enhancing the leadership of our middle level managerial staff. Past topics covered include bench marking  blue ocean strategy, vision and mission, corporate values, innovation, motivation, etc. Last year, our theme was “Managing and Leading the Change”. Fifty-four department heads from offices located in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Singapore gathered at the conference to contribute strategies for dealing with challenges in the future.

The objectives of the UFI Education Award are to appreciate novel results-oriented educational and vocational activities that have been developed and implemented, and to share innovative ideas on concepts of in-house education. As Stanley Chu explains, “That we stand out from several participants is largely due to the fact that our conference had a clearly defined objective and it addressed a defined target group. The programme design was innovative and creative. It was successful in having increased participants’ knowledge of the industry and market, strengthened their confidence in overcoming challenges and cultivated team spirit through a series of diversified activities, such as reading, group discussions, interactive games, sharing of China and the industry’s updates, etc. The most important outcome is that with the active participation of managerial staff from different departments, some major changes in the exhibition industry in the upcoming three years have been identified; these include changes in Chinese government industry policies, the China and international market environment, exhibitors’ high expectations on return on investment, visitors’ interest in new technology, innovation and brand development, a higher proportion of Generation Y in the company, increasing popularity of online and mobile devices, and more and severe competition. To cope with these changes, participants at the conference laid out their corresponding action plans and devised short-term and long-term strategies so as to maintain the sustainability of our competitive edge.”

CHINAPLAS 2013, which is going to stage its 27th edition from May 20-23, 2013 at the China Import and Export Pazhou Complex, Guangzhou, PR China, will demonstrate how the Adsale team has managed the change with a positive attitude and created another record high for the show in such a difficult economic situation.

Occupying an exhibition area of 220,000sqm, CHINAPLAS 2013 is now Asia’s No. 1 and the world’s No.2 in the plastics and rubber industries. Stanley Chu points out that currently the increasing labour cost is the issue of most concern in China and the international market. The sluggish international economic situation has led to a decrease in exports from China and the shifting of her manufacturers to the inland provinces and Southeast Asia. At the same time, China’s development model has changed from being exported-oriented to one that promotes domestic consumption and high-end manufacturing technology. CHINAPLAS 2013 is alert to this trend and will exhibit many high-end manufacturing machines and a range of automated equipment. The team has also increased its effort to promote the exhibition to visitors from Asia and China and in doing so captured new business opportunities brought by urbanization. CHINAPLAS 2013 will gather more than 2,900 exhibitors from 38 countries and regions as well as having 14 country and regional pavilions displaying over 3,200 different energy-saving plastics and rubber machines, plus a wide range of green chemicals and raw materials. It is expected that the show will welcome 115,000 visitors from around the world.

With the business environment becoming more and more challenging, exhibitors attach greater importance to the effectiveness of their participation. To meet exhibitors’ expectations on their return on investment in participating, the organizing team held a series of buyers’ activities to reinforce networking and interaction between exhibitors and buyers. For example, plastics industry forums were held in Bangkok, Thailand, and Jakarta, Indonesia, in March, while a plastics seminar tailor-made for home appliance manufacturers was held in Shunde, Guangdong, China. All these pre-show activities were effective in mobilizing both overseas and local buyers, and helped expand exhibitors’ business networks.

Stanley Chu says, “The record-breaking scale of CHINAPLAS 2013 hinges on the positive and proactive attitudes of our staff. This further proves the importance of staff training. The participation of Adsale in the UFI Education Award competition demonstrates our great attention to training and that we regard our staff as valuable assets and partners. This year, the Adsale Group celebrates its 35th anniversary and this award marks a new milestone in the Group’s history and stands testament to the fruitful contribution made jointly by our staff.”

Issued on behalf of Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd
Media Enquiry
Ms Helen Chan, Marketing Communications Department
Tel ：(852) 2516 3395
Fax：(852) 2516 5024
Email：helenchan@adsale.com.hk
Adsale Group ：www.adsale.com.hk

About The Adsale Group
Stanley Chu is the founder and Chairman of the Adsale Group. Established in 1978 in Hong Kong, the Adsale Group is an international trade media group in the Asia-Pacific region. Members of the Group include Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd – the pioneer and leading international trade fair organizer in China, Adsale Publishing Limited – publisher of international trade journals and Adsale Online – a multimedia providing virtual exhibitions, e-publications and e-marketing services. Adsale’s branch offices are located at Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Singapore with a total staffing over 200. Moreover, Adsale has an agency network covering near 30 countries and regions.

Adsale’s business covers a wide range of industries, including textile and garment, plastics and rubber, energy and power, telecommunications, printing and label, packaging, woodworking and furniture, automobile, lighting, boiler technology, shoes and shoe technology, etc.

To further establish Adsale’s commitment to quality management in her delivery of services to customers, Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd joined the ISO program for over 10 years (2000-2011) and has become a member of UFI from 2006, with some of her exhibitions being certified as “UFI Approved Events”, such as CHINAPLAS, EP China, EP Shanghai, etc., demonstrating Adsale’s professional project management and her dedication to the provision of quality exhibiting and visiting services. (www.adsale.com.hk)

About UFI
UFI is the association of the world’s leading tradeshow organizers and fairground owners, as well as the major national and international exhibition associations, and selected partners of the exhibition industry. UFI represents 629 member organizations, including exhibition organizers, hall owner managers, associations and partners of the exhibition industry, present in 226 cities in 85 countries on the 6 continents. (www.ufi.org)

About CHINAPLAS 2013
First introduced in 1983, CHINAPLAS is China’s only plastics and rubber trade show approved by UFI (The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry). CHINAPLAS has been exclusively sponsored by the Europe’s Association for Plastics and Rubber Machinery Manufacturers (EUROMAP) in China for the 24th time. CHINAPLAS is currently Asia’s No.1 and world’s No.2 plastics and rubber trade fair. (www.ChinaplasOnline.com)

Connected cars represent an exciting evolution for consumers, car manufacturers and mobile operators

Dear Readers,
Research conducted by agency SBD on behalf of the GSMA reveals that, today, the global total revenue for the automotive embedded telematics market stands at around €1.5bn. But the association’s research forecasts that it will reach €20bn by 2025, by which point all cars on the road are expected to have broadband connectivity

While SBD predicts that connectivity revenues alone will increase to almost €4bn by 2025, the bulk of this revenue is expected to be from the sales of vehicle-related services and content.

These services and content represent the largest revenue generating opportunities for the growing connected car industry and will continue to do so into the future. Francesca Forestieri, Director of the GSMA’s mAutomotive Division states that “the range of connected car services is constantly expanding and only our imaginations today limit the possibilities.”

Connected Cars 2013 | Save the Date

This evolution of the Connected Cars debate away from one of technology, to one of content and services will provide the framework for the Connected Cars 2013 conference, taking place this June 25-26 in Amsterdam. The show will bring together the auto-OEM, app developer, content, services and mobile network operator communities to identify the automotive content and services that will monetise the connected consumer and define the future of the connected car. Review the Connected Cars 2013 Agenda.

In addition, with tethered LTE smartphones and embedded LTE simcards enabling huge amounts of data to be transmitted to connected cars to enable the next-generation of automotive content and services, the Connected Cars 2013 event will run alongside the LTE World Summit – the world’s leading 4G event – for unrivalled networking opportunities and knowledge sharing to fully understand how the latest LTE developments will affect the connected car industry.

More than 3,500 attendees, 150 exhibitors and 280+ speakers from across the global Connected Car, LTE and Mobile App industries are expected to attend.

For full details of the agenda and to register, visit the website at www.connectedcarsworld.com

Best wishes,

The Connected Cars Team

Cloud-based WaterWorX software, powered by ThingWorx, provides remote monitoring and control system for water assets

EXTON, Pa.—April 24, 2013—Software company Aquamatix has helped deliver a comprehensive solution for the monitoring and optimization of Veolia Water’s water and sewerage services in Tidworth, Wiltshire, UK. Utilizing its cloud-based WaterWorX™ software, a real-time solution that integrates operational and fixed asset data has been developed. It has also delivered an SMS and voice alarm facility for out-of-hours alerts, creating a virtual control center.

Veolia Water has provided water and sewerage services to domestic and commercial customers in the Tidworth and Perham Down areas since 2007. Until recently the assets were monitored and controlled at a centralized facility that also served Veolia Water’s previously owned regulated water businesses. Tidworth comprises self-contained water and wastewater systems and provides an ideal opportunity to develop and test smart water networks and performance-based water management systems.

Veolia Water’s Dave Nicholl, said: “We had a pressing need to implement a monitoring and control system. Aquamatix interpreted our needs and worked with us to deliver a cost-effective and tailored solution that has not only replaced the control center, it has improved our visibility of on the ground operations, allowing us to make more informed decisions about our asset operations.”

Project Management, installation and commissioning was provided by Z-Tech Systems Ltd. Systems Director, Patrick Heaton said: “WaterWorX offered a standard solution which will potentially reduce development time and cost for new installations. The idea of an opex license for SCADA will be an attractive option for some of our customers seeking to reduce cost and improve efficiency of their water assets.”

Powered by ThingWorx™, the world’s first software application platform that combines key functionality of Web 2.0, search, and social collaboration, WaterWorX™ connects water industry assets without the need for investment in expensive bespoke hardware and software.

Laurie Reynolds, Managing Director of Aquamatix, said: “it’s a real-time monitoring solution that extends beyond the capability of conventional SCADA systems by integrating data with other operational systems, such as asset management and GIS. Whilst the current Tidworth project has simply replaced the existing telemetry alarm reporting system and is a step change towards real-time operations.”

Aquamatix is a software and services company providing specialist integration of real-time systems and data for water and wastewater operations and asset management. We are adapting technologies and standards from smart grid and Internet of things and applying them to the water industry. Our WaterWorX™ platform enables real-time measurements and performance data to be combined with asset and GIS data to gain new knowledge and understanding of asset condition and system performance. The insight gained can be used to optimize new investment to balance capacity, obsolescence, demand and risk.

Veolia Water provides water and wastewater management services throughout the UK and Ireland and is part of the world’s leading water company. Veolia Water specializes in delivering integrated sustainable solutions that range from drinking water supply management and wastewater treatment to bespoke design solutions for business and industry. Veolia Water is part of Veolia Environnement (Paris Euronext: VIE and NYSE: VE), the worldwide reference in environmental solutions. With more than 315,000 employees, the company has operations all around the world and provides tailored solutions to meet the needs of municipal and industrial customers in four complementary segments: water management, waste management, energy management and passenger transportation. Veolia Environnement recorded revenue of $46.5 billion in 2010.

ThingWorx provides the first software application platform designed for today’s connected world. The ThingWorx platform combines the key functionality of Web 2.0, search, and social collaboration, and applies it to the world of “things,” including connected products, machines, sensors, and industrial equipment. Businesses use the ThingWorx platform to rapidly deliver innovative applications and connected solutions across markets ranging from manufacturing, energy, and food, to M2M remote monitoring and service, as well as in emerging “Internet of Things” applications, including smart cities, smart grid, agriculture, and transportation.

Z-Tech Systems based in Cambridge, UK provide engineering solutions in Power, Control and Information systems. Employing over 160 quality trained staff, their services include a complete package of electrical mechanical, instrumentation and software design, installation and maintenance.

CONTACT DETAILS:

Aquamatix: For further information, please contact Laurie Reynolds on +44 (0)5603 670 537 or visit our website www.aquamatix.co.uk.

Veolia Water: For further information, please contact the communications team on +44 (0)207 843 8506 or visit our website www.veoliawater.co.uk.

ThingWorx: For more information, please contact Dave Westrom on +1 (610) 594-6200 or visit our website www.thingworx.com.

Z-Tech Systems: For further information, please contact Patrick Heaton on +44(0)1954 232 097or visit website www.z-tech.co.uk.

Munich, April 10, 2013 – The trend towards greater mobility places ever tougher demands on security in the digital world. To meet this need, Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) is continuously developing new solutions to safeguard data against wrongful use and ensure reliable identification of people and devices. Examples of such applications include innovative payment solutions and interconnection of machines. Security requirements around traditional cash-based transactions and ID systems also continue to grow.

At today’s presentation of its annual results, Giesecke & Devrient highlighted strategic solution areas in which the company aims to further extend its market-leading position. In addition to banknote-related innovations, the company’s portfolio is being increasingly aligned to meet the requirements of users in the digital world. It is not enough here to focus solely on maximum security. To achieve the huge gains in convenience and flexibility that are a feature of many of these digital solutions, it is also important to ensure simple data management and intuitive use.

A current example of this can be found in the area of NFC payment (near field communication). Using multi-application NFC SIM cards, this technology allows regular cell phones and smartphones to be upgraded to enable easy, contactless payments. SmartTrust Portigo from Giesecke & Devrient, an electronic wallet that received the Sesames Award in the e-Transactions category at the 2012 CARTES payments show, is a complete solution that users can deploy as an app. In the NFC arena, G&D is currently involved in more than 20 major commercial projects worldwide, with partners including the Royal Bank of Scotland and Telefónica.

Another example is M2M communication (machine-to-machine). The SIMs installed in machines for this purpose can be activated, personalized, and managed over the cell phone network using the SmartTrust AirON subscription management platform from Giesecke & Devrient. This avoids the need to switch cards or have wired access to the device. Accordingly, a SIM can be installed in a vehicle, for example, and the network operator changed via remote access when the vehicle is sold. G&D is cooperating with leading car manufacturers and network operators in this field and its technologies support the M2M World Alliance’s work on the rollout of global M2M solutions. In addition, the company is working with Vodafone Deutschland on mobile security solutions for the corporate sector and has started a project with Symantec to develop secure one-time passwords for smartphones.

Alongside these developments, technologies from Giesecke & Devrient deliver ongoing security innovation in the banknote segment. In addition to holograms, watermarks, foils, and threads, this increasingly involves the introduction of completely new features, such as MAGnite. The underlying principle here is that special color pigments become aligned in a magnetic field, e.g. when placed near the speaker of a cell phone, rendering them visible. With NotaScan Mag, G&D has also developed a sensor that sets new standards for the measurement of magnetic properties in banknotes. G&D offers high-performance banknote processing systems as well, such as the BPS M5, which can handle up to 33 banknotes a second and significantly boost throughput in cash centers.

Anti-counterfeit protection for ID documents is also of key importance. As the technology leader in this field, Giesecke & Devrient repeatedly demonstrates its capabilities with new solutions that are in many cases unique worldwide. In 2012, for example, G&D became the first manufacturer to be certified by the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) in relation to tough new requirements for electronic passports and residence permits. Giesecke & Devrient products already support the PACE (Password Authenticated Connection Establishment) protocol, which creates a highly secure connection between a contactless chip in the ID document and the electronic reader. The PACE protocol becomes mandatory in EU countries from 2014.

About Giesecke & Devrient

Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) is a leading international technology provider headquartered in Munich, Germany. Founded in 1852, the Group has a workforce of around 10,500 employees and generated sales exceeding EUR 1.64 billion in fiscal 2011. 58 subsidiaries and joint ventures in 32 countries ensure customer proximity worldwide.

Over 150 countries place their trust in G&D solutions when producing and processing their banknotes. The company primarily supplies central and commercial banks, cash-in-transit companies, and security printers with innovative technologies that render the cash cycle efficient and secure. G&D bank and SIM cards are used all over the world to make payments and telephone calls. As an end-to-end provider of smartcard and mobile security solutions, the Group develops and distributes hardware, software, and services to a client base that includes banks, mobile network operators, transportation companies, business enterprises, and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Governments and public authorities turn to G&D for passport, ID card, and border control systems, ensuring reliable identity verification right around the globe. For more information, please visit: www.gi-de.com

Contact:heiko.witzke@gi-de.com
Phone +49 89 4119-2422
Fax +49 89 4119-1208
Heiko Witzke | Head of Media Relations

Mobile Payments market leaders, Gemalto, KPMG, SAP & VeriFone will be sharing their vital views
in implementing Mobile Wallets, Banking the Unbanked, Point of Sales Mobile Payments & Mobile
Remittance at Mobile Payments & NFC World Summit 2013 which will be held from 18 to 19 April
2013 in Hong Kong.

The theme of this summit is ‘Profiting from Mobile Payments Services through Strategic
Partnership & Alliances’.

Singapore (April 3, 2013) / — Mobile Payments market leaders, Gemalto, KPMG, SAP & VeriFone will
be sharing their vital views in implementing Mobile Wallets, Banking the Unbanked, Point of Sales
Mobile Payments & Mobile Remittance at Mobile Payments & NFC World Summit 2013 which will be
held from 18 to 19 April 2013 in Hong Kong.

The following key issues will be addressed in depth with necessary Real World Case Studies:

• Regulatory Issues for Mobile Payments and the Applicable Rules and Regulations
• Current State and Future Trends of Mobile Payments
• New Opportunities and Challenges Facing the Banks in Delivering M-Payments
• For Banks – How to Successfully Align Financial Services with NFC and Mobile Payments Systems?
• Opportunities for Increasing Sales Volume for Merchants/Retailers in Deploying M-Payments
• Retailer Case Study – Mobile Payments in Australia – Are We Advanced or Behind the World?
• Transit Provider Case Study – Evolution of NFC Applications for Mobile Commerce in Singapore
• Operator Case Study – Business Model in A Bank-Led Environment
• Operator Case Study – NFC – More Than Payment
• Innovative Mobile Payments Strategies to Capture New Market
• Additional Revenue Generating Channels through Deployment of M-Payments
• Critical Success Factors in Deploying Mobile Payment Services? – From Each Stakeholder’s Point of View
• Benefits and Business Case Drivers for Each Stakeholder
• Comparisons – Operator-Centric, Bank-Centric, 3rd Party Centric or Collaboration
• Critical Success Factors in Implementing Mobile Payments Services – Partnerships, Alliances, and Joint-Ventures
• Profitable and Sustainable Business Models
• How to Handle New Players that Have Emerged Strongly Positioned in Mobile Payments?
• Benchmarking Remittances-The Future of Money Transfer
• International Mobile Money Transfer and Remittance Market
• Enhancing the Lives of the Consumers through Mobile Money and Improve Stickiness
• Addressing Issues of Standardization and Interoperability
• Banking the ‘Unbanked’ – How to Capture the Mass Market?
• Effective & Sustainable Strategies to Encourage Active Consumer’s Usage of Mobile Payments
• Accessing Mobile Users Cost Effectively & Securely
• How to Drive the Consumer Usage of Mobile Payments?
• New Innovative Delivery Platforms for Mobile Payment Services
• Innovation & Sustainability in Offering Mobile Payments Services
• Building A Robust and Sustainable NFC Infrastructure
• Handset Technology Development Updates
• Management and Cost Issues in Implementation
• Security Issues – How to Succeed in Mobile Financial Services by Building A Trusted Brand?
• Fraud Mitigation in Mobile Payments

Companies/organisations representing the Mobile Payments Ecosystem will be speaking at this conference :

• Russell Zimmerman, Executive Director, Australian Retailers Association, Australia
• Nitin Chittal, Vice President & Head, Direct Banking Group, Axis Bank, India
• Solaiman Alam, Head of PR & Communication and Mobile Commerce, Banglalink, Bangladesh
• Frederick M. Faustino, Head, Mobile Banking Channel, Bank of Philippines Islands, Philippines
• Salil Bhuvanadasan, Mobile Financial Services, BICS Asia, Singapore
• Zhao Rong, Senior Business Development Director, China Mobile Labs, China
• Fariq Cader, Senior General Manager Mcomm, Dialog Axiata, Sri Lanka
• Karl Weaver, OEM/ODM Mobile Device Business Development Manager, Gemalto, China
• Mir Rashedul Hossain, Head & General Manager-Business Development, Financial Services, Grameenphone, Bangladesh
• Sandeep Indurkar, Head-Mobile Payments, ICICI Bank, India
• James Mckeogh, Director, Management Consulting, KPMG, Hong Kong
• Silvester Prakasam, Director (Fare Systems), Land Transport Authority, Singapore
• Philip Yen, Group Head, Emerging Payments Asia/Pacific, Middle East & Africa, MasterCard Worldwide
• Ichwansyah Putra, Head Product Development-Mobile Commerce Group, PT Indosat, Indonesia
• Tom Wills, Director, Ontrack Advisory Group, Singapore
• Tarik Husain, Senior Director, mCommerce, SAP, Singapore
• Basker Rangachari, Regional Chief Marketing Officer, Hong Kong & North East Asia, Standard Chartered Bank, Hong Kong
• Thierry Crespo, ST Secure Microcontroller NFC Marketing Manager, STMicroelectronics, France
• Dan Armstrong, Partner, Takashi Mobile, The Netherlands
• Sebastien Taveau, Chief Technical Officer, Validity, USA (formerly Astronomer/Principal, Mobile Ecosystems Integration, Paypal)
• Matthew Teo, Director, Marketing and Business Development, ASPAC, VeriFone, Singapore
• Gregg Marshall, VP of Business Development, Western Union, Singapore

The conference website is : http://www.symphonyglobal.com/index.php/event/page/
mobile_payments_nfc_world_summit_2013/overview

About Symphony Global

Symphony Global is a business media and consulting company that aims to provide the best
networking platforms for global business connections.

All our events are research-driven with direct contacts with major industry stakeholders to ensure
that they meet their needs and keep up to the industry trends and developments. SG Conferences
offer you an unrivalled opportunity to network with your peers within your areas of business and

ultimately develop the best business partnership for future business expansion. Our workshops and
masterclasses provide an informative and interactive forum for developing latest techniques and
skills.

Take advantage of SG services and products to keep up-to-date with the latest developments within
your industry.

Contact:

Phyllis Goh, senior conference manager
Symphony Global Pte Ltd
65-6474 1471
Email: Phyllis.goh@symphonyglobal.com
http://www.symphonyglobal.com

Partnership combines INS’s industrial IT services with the ThingWorx Platform, bringing the benefits of remote asset management and Machine-to-Machine applications to industrial solutions.

EXTON, Pa.—April 4, 2013—ThingWorx™ today announced an integration partnership with Industrial Networking Solutions (INS), a leading provider of network products and engineering services for the industrial marketplace. This partnership will allow INS to offer Machine-to-Machine (M2M) solutions at minimized cost, risk, and time to market for its customers by utilizing the ThingWorx Platform—the industry’s first application development platform designed to reduce the effort required to build M2M and network applications for the emerging connected world.

With industry leading organizations estimating that the number of Internet-connected devices will reach 50 billion by 2020, companies in many industrial markets are seeing M2M as a new avenue for business growth and sustained revenue. By combining INS’ world-class industrial IT services and solution delivery capabilities with the ThingWorx M2M platform, customers can capitalize on these opportunities and take advantage of a 10X improvement in solution development and delivery for connected applications.

“ThingWorx is a revolutionary M2M application platform that INS is excited to be able to offer our customer base,” said Stephen Woram, Founder of INS. “Our new partnership with ThingWorx allows the INS IT Service group to provide a complete M2M solution, assisting our customers in not only connecting remote assets to the cloud, but also in facilitating a secure and reliable data stream between users and remote assets via the Cloud, and developing valuable user interfaces, reporting, and historical data analysis tools for users to manage their remote asset investment.”

INS’s industrial domain expertise and IT services, coupled with the latest in M2M technology offered by the ThingWorx Platform, will help customers capitalize on emerging business opportunities and innovations that are possible through the integration of their connected assets with their business processes. This integrated offering enables customers to rapidly build applications and make business decisions based on data coming from the intelligence at the edge of the network, creating new avenues for business growth and sustained revenue in industrial markets such as oil and gas, consumer product manufacturing, water and wastewater management, and transportation.

“We are pleased to be partnering with INS, a well recognized solution provider for M2M solutions in the industrial markets,” said Russ Fadel, CEO and Co-Founder of ThingWorx. “INS represents another important step in the expansion of our ecosystem and will enable ThingWorx-based M2M solutions to be delivered even more efficiently and reliably. We look forward to continued mutual success with INS.”

About INS

Industrial Networking Solutions (INS) distributes products, and provides industrial IT services and training designed specifically for the industrial marketplace. Founded in 1998, INS is a pioneer of the industrial Ethernet marketplace, and is one of the largest dedicated industrial networking distributors in the world. INS brings a control system engineering perspective to networking technology. In addition to stocking and selling a wide range of industrial Ethernet and M2M products, INS has an experienced engineering team which assists its customers with troubleshooting existing networks, as well as designing and implementing new industrial IT infrastructure. For more information, visit www.industrialnetworking.com/.

About ThingWorx

ThingWorx™ provides the first platform designed to efficiently build and run the applications of today’s connected world. ThingWorx’ model-based design and search-based intelligence reduces application development efforts by 10X, minimizing cost, risk and time to market. The ThingWorx platform combines the key functionality of Web 2.0, search, and social collaboration, and applies it to the world of “things,” including connected products, machines, sensors, and industrial equipment. Businesses use the ThingWorx platform to rapidly deliver innovative applications and connected solutions across markets ranging from manufacturing, energy, and food, to Machine-to-Machine (M2M) remote monitoring and service, as well as in emerging Internet of Things applications, including smart cities, smart grid, agriculture, and transportation. For more information, please visit our website at www.thingworx.com and our blog at www.thingworx.com/blog or follow us on Twitter at @ThingWorx.

Listen to DIDX podcaster Suzanne Bowen interview ThingWorx CEO Russell Fadel at http://www.didx.net/podcast/?p=episode&name=2013-02-07_thingworx_machine2machine.mp3 on March 12, 2012 to discover where Thingworx has been and check out this above announcement to see how much they have accomplished since then!

Munich, March 25, 2013 – Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) is to provide PayPal and Brazilian network operator Vivo with a mobile payment solution that allows their customers with prepaid accounts to top up their credit directly on their cellphone using PayPal. G&D will also deliver the necessary payment solution, the SmartTrust Mobile Transaction Gateway, to ensure that the transactions are executed securely.

The easy-to-use service gives customers direct access to phone credit, without having to buy a recharge card from a point of sale during normal opening hours. Based on USSD technology and compatible with all types of cellphone, the solution does not require users to download any other applications. For PayPal it is an opportunity to leverage on the mobile channel. Users can set up a PayPal account for the services directly on their mobile phone, and modify the account details to add or remove linked credit-card information whenever necessary.

The backend servers for this mobile payment solution are hosted and managed by Giesecke & Devrient in a secure data-processing center. The Mobile Transaction Gateway (MTG) via which all top-up and other mobile transactions are processed is based on the SmartTrust DP framework.

About Giesecke & Devrient
Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) is a leading international technology provider headquartered in Munich, Germany. Founded in 1852, the Group has a workforce of around 10,500 employees and generated sales exceeding EUR 1.64 billion in fiscal 2011. 58 subsidiaries and joint ventures in 32 countries ensure customer proximity worldwide.

Over 150 countries place their trust in G&D solutions when producing and processing their banknotes. The company primarily supplies central and commercial banks, cash-in-transit companies, and security printers with innovative technologies that render the cash cycle efficient and secure. G&D bank and SIM cards are used all over the world to make payments and telephone calls. As an end-to-end provider of smartcard and mobile security solutions, the Group develops and distributes hardware, software, and services to a client base that includes banks, mobile network operators, transportation companies, business enterprises, and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Governments and public authorities turn to G&D for passport, ID card, and border control systems, ensuring reliable identity verification right around the globe. For more information, please visit: www.gi-de.com

Contact:stefan.waldenmaier@gi-de.com
Stefan Waldenmaier | Press Officer

stefan.waldenmaier@gi-de.com
Phone +49 89 4119-2985
Fax +49 89 4119-1208