Software Industry Announcements and News
SharewareJunkies.com reviews Modern Investment Technologies SmartFolio
[ Comments Off ] Posted on 01.25.10 under ASP Member Companies, Business
Reviewer Arthur Williams Jr. takes a good look at SmartFolio. SmartFolio is an investment tool that uses a number of different methods to analyse financal data so that the smart invester cdan make better investment calls. It can use data from a number of sources and provides multiple methods of analasis.
With SmartFolio you can use walk-forward optimization, Value-at-Risk methodology (VaR), and the Black-Litterman mathematical model for portfolio allocation too.
Arthur highly recommended SmartFolio.
To read the complete review go Here.
eCommerce Provider Avangate Announces Strategic Plan for 2010
[ Comments Off ] Posted on 01.23.10 under ASP Member Companies, Business, Development
Focus on software sales channel integration, optimization and expansion into emerging markets
AMSTELVEEN, The Netherlands–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Avangate, full service provider of electronic software distribution and reseller management solutions for software vendors, sets strategy for 2010 with focus on sales channel integration: direct online, affiliates and reseller partner network.
“Our approach regarding sales channel integration will enable software vendors to leverage each available channel while reducing overall management costs.”
Furthermore, Avangate will bring in even more services and tools in the areas of localized search engine marketing, web usability, shopping cart optimization, web analytics & multivariate testing, social media and email marketing to proactively help clients maximize revenues through optimization of software sales related processes and marketing campaigns.
“Avangate has seen significant growth in 2009 despite the economic crisis and we have great confidence in our 2010 evolution”, mentioned Carmen Sebe, CEO at Avangate. “Our approach regarding sales channel integration will enable software vendors to leverage each available channel while reducing overall management costs.”
Sebe added, “Continuing on the successful cooperation with Intel for the Intel® Business Exchange Store in Europe and with partners such as TrialPay, Uniloc or Alipay -, Avangate will establish additional strategic integrations with key players in the industry. The aim is to enhance exposure and sales opportunities as well as to increase return and reduce effort for our clients’ sales and marketing departments.”
Avangate will keep on expanding its offering to cater for key global regions such as the BRIC countries. This is in line with the current strategy to support software vendors’ expansion plans and to assist them implement more effectively their eCommerce and channel distribution strategies on targeted local markets.
About Avangate
Avangate provides electronic software distribution and reseller management solutions assisting software vendors worldwide sell and promote their software online as well as through channel and distribution networks.
Tailored for software sales, the company’s offer includes a full-featured, secure eCommerce platform, results-driven web marketing services, an affiliate network and the ARMS reseller management system. Avangate’s expertise in the software business can help vendors increase their visibility on the Internet, maximize access to additional selling channels and generate software sales online and offline.
More information can be found on the corporate website, at www.avangate.com, and on the company’s blog, at http://blog.avangate.com/
Taxes, Refinancing and Mortgage Modification: Four Useful Tips
[ Comments Off ] Posted on 01.23.10 under Business
If you’re like most Americans, April 15 is not your favorite day of the year. The day the tax forms are due. With all of the economic upheaval, filing this year may be trickier than others, which weren’t all that easy in the first place. If you are a first –time buyer refinanced your home or had your mortgage modified, though, the extra complexity could work in your favor.
Ryan Boyajian is President of We Save Homes, Inc., a software company whose eTurboMod package makes applying for a loan modification as easy as filing your taxes with any of the programs that have become so popular lately. He offers some advice for homeowners who want to take advantage of the many changes to the tax code that were recently passed.
“First off,” he says. “get an expert opinion if you are unclear about whether you can take certain deductions or claim various credits. That doesn’t mean you need a lawyer or accountant. The IRS will let you know your status. The key is to call them now because it April, you’ll probably get a busy signal.
“Second, to get most of these deductions and credits, you’ll have to itemize your deductions by filling in Schedule A. That’s extra paperwork, but we’re talking about saving thousands of dollars. And there are plenty of other deductions that you can claim beside mortgage-related items that make this worthwhile.
“Third, pay special attention to recent innovations. For example as of 2007, cancelled or forgiven mortgage debt doesn’t count as income that you have to report. So, it you had more mortgage modified in 2009, the amount forgiven won’t count against you. Your lender will have to send you a 1099-C form. If you don’t get one soon, call and ask for it. In most cases, this applies to refinancing situations. And if you paid points for a refi, that’s deductible as well.
“Fourth, remember that your state may have different rules than the federal government. Check with your local tax authority to see if there is a special part of your local tax code that can save you even more.”
Get Organized With the Powerful Information Manager
[ Comments Off ] Posted on 01.22.10 under Business
CSoftLab has announced the release of C-Organizer Professional 4.0, the new major version of the advanced information manager providing the tools to organize and conveniently store all the important info in one place. The new version supports the Standard, Mixed and Ribbon interfaces, various color schemes, ensuring that a user will get comfortable with the program in no time.
If you store the important information in several places, you most likely suffered the inconvenience of this method. Retrieving contact info, looking for a sketch or in a pile of assorted papers, remembering all the appointments and scheduling meetings can come as a quite complicated task. What you need in this case is an integrated solution for information management that will store all the necessary info, so that you would always know where it is and be able to find it with just a few clicks. To meet this need, CSoftLab has developed C-Organizer Professional.
Designed to make information management quick and easy, C-Organizer Professional enables a user to plan and organize business and personal life, thus helping to save time and improve productivity. The comprehensive software offers a planner, an address book, password and bookmark managers, a notebook and a calendar of events all rolled into one PIM that smoothly integrates with your default e-mail client and web browser.
C-Organizer Pro features built-in Calendar to schedule tasks, appointments and meetings. And you can be sure that you don’t miss anything: the smart program will remind you of an upcoming deadline, holiday, birthday and other important events. The PIM allows you to make To-Do lists for your employees and teammates, group them and share over the network.
The program also offers the Address Book that allows storing pictures along with the usual contact info and features easily configurable database structure. To prevent information leaks, your sensitive data can be password protected and encrypted. You, on the other hand, will be able to access your info anytime, even while on the go, thanks to the support for synchronization with Pocket PC and Palm devices.
Pricing and Availability
C-Organizer Professional runs under Microsoft Windows 98, ME, NT4, 2000, XP, Vista and Windows 7, and costs $49.95 for a license. Licensed users are entitled to unlimited technical support and free lifetime updates. Further information on the product as well as its free 30-day evaluation version is available at http://www.csoftlab.com/C-OrganizerPro.html.
About CSoftLab
Founded in 2000, CSoftLab is an independent software development company focused on providing information management solutions. C-Organizer Professional edition remains the company’s bestselling title since the product launch in 2001. Originally developed in 2001, the program has since gained wide recognition from media and enjoyed popularity among customers. For more information, please visit www.csoftlab.com.
Digital River and Softonic Announce Strategic Partnership
[ Comments Off ] Posted on 01.13.10 under ASP Member Companies, Business
MINNEAPOLIS & BARCELONA–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Digital River, Inc. (NASDAQ: DRIV), a leading provider of global e-commerce solutions, and Softonic, a leading European software download site, announced a strategic partnership. As part of a joint agreement, Digital River acquired a less than 15 percent ownership stake in Softonic for a $26 million USD cash investment. Digital River’s final percent of ownership in the privately-held, Barcelona-based business will be determined based on Softonic’s future financial performance. Softonic will maintain its independence and organizational structure. Softonic is recognized as a top download site and market leader in software downloads in Europe and Latin America, offering thousands of software titles for Windows, Macintosh and mobile phones.
“We are pleased to announce a new strategic partnership with Softonic and excited to work with them in offering the global marketplace an unrivaled collection of downloadable software titles”
As part of the strategic partnership, Digital River will become the exclusive third-party e-commerce provider for digital buy-now software titles on the Softonic site and significantly increase Softonic’s existing software catalog by adding a major portion of Digital River’s collection of approximately 100,000 downloadable software titles. The expanded software collection will provide Softonic added opportunity to drive global sales and strengthen its leadership position in key markets.
“We are pleased to announce a new strategic partnership with Softonic and excited to work with them in offering the global marketplace an unrivaled collection of downloadable software titles,” said Joel Ronning, Digital River’s CEO. “By working as their e-commerce partner and marketing our software catalog through Softonic, we are expanding our presence in the European marketplace and further differentiating our e-commerce solution from our closest competitors in the region. Through this agreement, we can deliver even more value to our global software clients, broadening their market reach by giving them access to a sizeable population of European software consumers that frequent the Softonic site.”
“The announcement of our relationship with Digital River reflects our ongoing commitment to developing key alliances with industry leaders that expand our position in strategic markets such as the US and Asia and reinforce our leadership presence in Europe and Latin America,” said Tomás Diago, founder and president of Softonic. “There are great synergies and opportunities to grow our businesses. We signed an agreement with Digital River because of its high-caliber software catalog and powerful, industry-leading e-commerce system. Through this single relationship, we look forward to offering our customers both a significantly expanded selection of downloadable software titles as well as a superior online shopping experience.”
No additional terms of the investment and agreement were disclosed.
About Softonic
Softonic is a market leader in Europe and Latin America in free software downloads and sales. Founded in Barcelona in 1997, the company has over 170 employees. Softonic offers one of the largest collections of shareware and freeware software titles and commercial demos analyzed, evaluated and validated in different languages by an expert team. Currently, it has more than 100,000 software titles for Windows, Macintosh and mobile phones. Softonic is available in English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese and Polish. The Dutch and Japanese version will be launched in the first half of 2010. Softonic’s headquarters is located in Barcelona. The company has offices in San Francisco, Shanghai, Tokyo, and Madrid as well.
For more details about Softonic, visit the Web site at www.softonic.com.
About Digital River, Inc.
Digital River, Inc., a leading provider of global e-commerce solutions, builds and manages online businesses for software and game publishers, consumer electronics manufacturers, distributors, online retailers and affiliates. Its multi-channel e-commerce solution, which supports both direct and indirect sales, is designed to help companies of all sizes maximize online revenues as well as reduce the costs and risks of running an e-commerce operation. The company’s comprehensive platform offers site development and hosting, order management, fraud management, export controls, tax management, physical and digital product fulfillment, multi-lingual customer service, advanced reporting and strategic marketing services.
Founded in 1994, Digital River is headquartered in Minneapolis with offices across the U.S., Asia, Europe and South America. For more details about Digital River, visit the corporate Web site at www.digitalriver.com or call +1 952-253-1234.
Corel Corporation Directors Approve U.S.$4.00 per Share Tender Offer
[ Comments Off ] Posted on 11.28.09 under Business, Desktop Publishing
OTTAWA & SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Corel Corporation (NASDAQ:CREL; TSX:CRE) and Corel Holdings, L.P. (“CHLP”), a limited partnership controlled by an affiliate of Vector Capital, today jointly announced that the directors mandated by the Board of Directors of Corel Corporation (the “Company”) to act as the Board have unanimously determined to recommend, on behalf of the Company, that shareholders tender their shares pursuant to the CHLP tender offer.
The Company announced that the directors mandated to act on behalf of the Board have carefully reviewed the CHLP tender offer with the assistance of their financial and legal advisors. In addition, the Company announced that based on that review, the directors have unanimously determined that the U.S. $4.00 per share price offered by CHLP in its tender offer is fair to the minority shareholders and to recommend, on behalf of the Company, that shareholders tender their shares pursuant to the CHLP tender offer.
“We are delighted that the directors have resolved to support the tender offer” said Amish Mehta, partner at Vector Capital. “We have arrived at an outcome that will provide the minority shareholders with a significant premium for their shares and allow Corel to benefit from being an private company.”
The tender offer is scheduled to expire at midnight, New York City time on Wednesday, November 25, 2009.
The offer is conditioned upon, among other things, there being validly tendered and not withdrawn on or prior to the expiration of the offer a number of common shares of Corel Corporation representing at least a majority of the aggregate number of the outstanding common shares (calculated on a fully-diluted basis as of the date the shares are accepted for payment pursuant to the offer), excluding the common shares beneficially owned by CHLP and its affiliates, and the votes attaching to which shall be qualified to be included as votes in favor of any Subsequent Acquisition Transaction (as defined in the offer to purchase relating to the offer) in determining whether minority approval (as construed under applicable Canadian securities law) has been obtained in respect thereof (the “Majority of the Minority Condition”). The Majority of the Minority Condition is not waivable. The offer is not subject to a financing condition.
If the tender offer is successfully completed, CHLP will take steps as necessary to acquire all common shares not tendered in the offer at the same price per share as it paid in the offer, to de-register Corel as a public company and to thereby cause Corel to become a private company owned by CHLP.
Advisors
The Board has retained Genuity Capital Markets as its financial advisor and Bennett Jones LLP and Kaye Scholer LLP as its legal advisors. The Company has retained Woodside Counsel, P.C. as U.S. counsel, and Bennett Jones LLP, as Canadian legal counsel.
Innisfree M&A Incorporated is serving as information agent for the tender offer. Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP and Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP are acting as legal counsel to Vector Capital and CHLP.
About Corel
Corel is one of the world’s top software companies with more than 100 million active users in over 75 countries. We develop software that helps people express their ideas and share their stories in more exciting, creative and persuasive ways. Through the years, we’ve built a reputation for delivering innovative, trusted products that are easy to learn and use, helping people achieve new levels of productivity. The industry has responded with hundreds of awards for software innovation, design and value.
Our award-winning product portfolio includes some of the world’s most widely recognized and popular software brands, including CorelDRAW(R) Graphics Suite, Corel(R) Painter(TM), Corel DESIGNER(R) Technical Suite, Corel(R) Paint Shop Pro(R) Photo, Corel(R) VideoStudio(R), Corel(R) WinDVD(R), Corel(R) WordPerfect(R) Office, WinZip(R), and the recently released Corel(R) Digital Studio(TM) 2010. Our global headquarters are in Ottawa, Canada, with major offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, China, Taiwan and Japan.
About Vector Capital
Vector Capital is a leading private equity firm specializing in spinouts, buyouts and recapitalizations of established technology businesses. Vector Capital identifies and pursues these complex investments in both the private and public markets. Vector Capital actively partners with management teams to devise and execute new financial and business strategies that materially improve the competitive standing of these businesses and enhance their value for employees, customers and shareholders. Among Vector Capital’s notable investments are LANDesk Software, Savi Technology, SafeNet, Precise Software Solutions, Printronix, Register.com, Tripos and Watchguard Technologies. For more information, visit www.vectorcapital.com.