Intercultural Business News

Google has won its highest-profile customer in its battle with Microsoft to provide e-mail and other internet services to businesses.

Los Angeles City Council has approved a multimillion-dollar proposal to use Google’s range of office products for its 30,000 workers.

The deal could be a landmark for the search giant as it seeks to wrest market share for office software from Microsoft and IBM. It introduced Google Apps, which includes e-mail, word processing and spreadsheet tools, three years ago.

Google Apps

The technology is positioned as a rival to Microsoft’s dominant Office suite of software, which helped to deliver $2.9 billion (£1.8 billion) in revenue for the company’s business division in the last quarter.

The city council voted unanimously for the $7.2 million deal to replace many of its computer systems with the Google Apps services, choosing this offer over competing bids from Microsoft and more than a dozen other technology firms eager to win America’s second-largest city as a client.

The vote came amid a push by Google to market its “cloud computing” Apps services — applications that run remotely on the company’s own servers, instead of users’ desktop machines — to governments and large, security-conscious corporations.

Read More>Times Online

 Konsortium Jakob AB, the Swedish investor that wants to buy Volvo Cars from Ford Motor Co., aims to make a bid by end of this week, the head of the group said.

“We’re in serious discussions with our investors about making an offer,” Jakob Chief Executive Officer Peder Fast said in a phone interview today from Gothenburg, Sweden, where Volvo is based. Fast, a Volvo engineer, declined to identify the partners or say how much the group is prepared to offer.

Rivals bidding for Volvo

Ford said yesterday it has narrowed talks on the sale of Volvo to one bidder, China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. Ford hasn’t made a final decision and has “no specific timeline” to conclude the discussions, the Dearborn, Michigan- based automaker said.

Geely is prepared to pay about $2 billion for Volvo, less than a third of Ford’s purchase price a decade ago, people familiar with the talks have said.

“My understanding is this isn’t just about the amount,” Fast said, adding that his group has an “open dialogue” with Ford. “There are many factors to consider, such as long-term industrial cooperation and intangible rights.”
Read More>Bloomberg

Britain has fallen outside of the top ten in a world prosperity index but managed to come second for entrepreneurship and innovation.

 
The UK came 12th in the Legatum Prosperity Index, which ranks countries based on a combination of economic factors and happiness and quality of life.
Britain managed a respectable but unexciting mid-table finish in a Premier League of the top 20 most prosperous nations, with the top spots dominated by Scandinavian countries.

Finland (1), Sweden (3), Denmark (4) and Norway (5) made up the top five, along with Switzerland (2).

The UK was pushed out of the top ten by New Zealand and Ireland, but came above Germany and France.

Hong Kong (18), Spain (19) and Slovenia (20) found themselves occupying the relegation spots in the prosperity top 20.

Read More>This Is Money

Remember when hundreds of thousands of Wispa fans petitioned Cadbury to bring back the iconic chocolate bar? Social networks were inundated with comments and the chocolate company re-released the candy to record sales. Now, Polaroid is getting a taste of consumer power after announcing plans to discontinue the instant film camera.

The Cult Polaroid Camera Will Live On

The last batch of Polaroid film passed its “use by” date on the 9 October this year. Polaroid stopped producing film for the iconic cameras after its collapse two years ago. The volatile chemicals in Polaroid film give it relatively short shelf-life and fans of the vintage instant prints were in uproar all over the world over the discontinuation.

As film stocks ran increasingly short, gadget fans have been bombarding the firm with enquiries. A lucrative market for vintage versions of the camera, and lots of film, developed on auction site eBay.

In response to the furious demand, two companies have stepped forward to champion the cult brand. The instant cameras will be now made in China by Summit Global.

Read More>Real Business

Everybody wants to stay away from swine flu, but unfortunately, we can’t just live our lives stuck inside a bubble (or roll around in public in a bubble, for that matter). Walking around in a hazmat suit probably isn’t going to be accepted very well either. So what are we supposed to do? Japanese company Haruyama Trading Co. has the answer with its special suit.
The Telegraph reported that the Haruyama company has created a business suit made of material that is with the chemical titanium dioxide, which reacts to light to break down and kill the virus when it comes into contact with it, according to Junko Hirohata. Titanium dioxide is considered safe as it’s commonly found in toothpaste and cosmetics.

The suit will be less boiler and more business

News reports are spinning the suit as one that guards against swine flu, or H1N1, but the material’s properties are antimicrobial, which will fight many other forms of harmful substances, according to the official press release. The material is also billed to have a deodorant property as well, allowing it repel pet or smoke odor.

Read More>Tom’s Guide