Despite all of the greed that comes in the package of corporations and companies, there are still of a lot of them that donate money to charities, fundraisers, and 3rd world countries. The first one I'd like to discuss is Starbucks. Starbucks is an International corporation with over 5,500 coffeehouses in over 50 different countries. Since the disaster hit Japan, the Starbucks Company has donated 100 million yen, which is our 1.2 million dollars, to the Red Cross to help as many of the Japanese as they can. This 1.2 million has been donated only since the disaster hit, which wasn't too long ago and they are still continuing to donate. Another company that participates in donating money is Boeing, the airplane company. They build commercial and defense, space and security planes. They donate just about 40 million dollars a year to multiple people in need, specifically the U.S. Army and companies of that nature. They have recently donated 5 million dollars to the National Museum of the U.S. Army. Another company that dabbles in philanthropy is GAP. GAP has a nonprofit organization group that does dollar for dollar and donates money to charities. The Charity is called the Gap Foundation Gap Giving. It’s a simple gift matching program that helps people in need. Gift matching is when people buy things for a certain price, and GAP will donate the same amount worth in gifts to charities, which is completely nonprofit. It’s very similar to the TOMS idea, which is shoe for shoe, except GAP is doing it on a bigger scale. They do dollar for dollar and their gifts are more diverse than just shoes. Despite that TOMS is strictly a shoe company, GAP donates clothes, shoes, winter wear, summer wear, accessories, and necessities to charities or for fundraisers.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Week 4 EOC: There's an App for that.
The first App idea I have is a finger print scanner to access the phone. You put your thumb over the front of your smart phone and it recognizes the thumbprint and allows you to access your phone. Other methods, such as the draw pad or voice recognition to unlock your phone, can be figured out one way or another but the thumbprint scanner would be indisputable. The second idea I had for an App is plant identifier. You take a picture of a plant that you can't find and it will go through a plant database and match up the picture with a plant that is most similar. It will also tell you the history of the plant, where it thrives most, and what it can be used for. It will also describe how to grow the plant and the best method to approach it. It will show what the seeds look like, what chemicals, specifically, will help it grow, and the temperature it needs to be grown at. The third idea I had for an App is for diabetics. It’s an App that can determine your blood sugar level simply by having a USB plug in with disposable saliva sheets. You lick the saliva sheet and slip it into your USB and it will then determine your blood sugar level within minutes. It will also calculate over a period of time your overall blood sugar level, weekly, annually, etc. If this was to happen you’d be able to understand your weekly, monthly, yearly blood sugar level and decide whether or not your diet is accurately keeping your blood sugar level normal. The App will also ask for your normal diet and will give hints and ideas of what you should or shouldn’t put in your diet to regulate your blood sugar level.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Week 2 EOC: Boston Consulting Group - Video Games
Currently in the video game market, there is a high demand for apps via the Iphone, Smart phones, or Android cell phone and devices. Apps are currently dominating the video game industry, which leaves the remainding competetors worried. Competetors such as Playstation, Xbox and the Wii, are trying to compete with add-ons and other soft/hardware that can enhance the gaming experience, despite that in the BCG chart, apps are definitely the star.
"It’s going to be a tough fight. The iPhone’s app store has more than 350,000 apps. Games and entertainment is the most popular app category, making up about a quarter of the total, Apple [AAPL 332.42 
-3.71 (-1.1%) 
] recently said."
-3.71 (-1.1%) ] recently said." The X-Box has developed the Kinect, which eliminates the controller. Despite its recent release, it hasn't had a huge income. With only 17 games released, it still only remains in the question mark slot of the BCG growth share chart. Playstation has recently released the Move, which is comparable to the Wii, with its motion detecting wand like tool. It hasn't had as much of a success as the Xbox's Kinect.
"According to estimates from Electronic Arts, total software sales for systems like the DS and PSP fell 32 percent in Europe and North America in the year ended in September. EA declined to give its own sales figures."
Regardless of the Wii's success, which i believe is neutral between other competetors, Nitendo's Cash Cow is the DS. It has reformed itself and has now become the Nitendo 3DS with 3D graphics, which dominated the PSP. Since it's release, it still has its income, but still doesn't compare the income that applications and games on phones are making. Unfortunately for Playstation, they haven't released the 2nd edition PSP due to funds and also has not had a lot of success with the Move, wand-like controller. "Alone among the three major videogame consoles, sales of the PS3 are down about 19% from November 2007, according to the latest stats from the NPD Group. Sony was only able to sell 378,000 PS3s this November, compared to 466,000 last year," begins the article. "And the problem for Sony isn't the recession, it's the PS3." The PS3 and Sony, on the other hand, are currently in the Dog slot of the BCG chart. It has been plummeting in sales and not even its additions are up to par. On Sony's behalf, they have released a new phone called the Xperia, which has Playstation games for apps and is compatable with other apps. Hopefully this new phone can at least revitalize Sony and the Playstation company, but until then apps will remain dominating.
Regardless of the Wii's success, which i believe is neutral between other competetors, Nitendo's Cash Cow is the DS. It has reformed itself and has now become the Nitendo 3DS with 3D graphics, which dominated the PSP. Since it's release, it still has its income, but still doesn't compare the income that applications and games on phones are making. Unfortunately for Playstation, they haven't released the 2nd edition PSP due to funds and also has not had a lot of success with the Move, wand-like controller. "Alone among the three major videogame consoles, sales of the PS3 are down about 19% from November 2007, according to the latest stats from the NPD Group. Sony was only able to sell 378,000 PS3s this November, compared to 466,000 last year," begins the article. "And the problem for Sony isn't the recession, it's the PS3." The PS3 and Sony, on the other hand, are currently in the Dog slot of the BCG chart. It has been plummeting in sales and not even its additions are up to par. On Sony's behalf, they have released a new phone called the Xperia, which has Playstation games for apps and is compatable with other apps. Hopefully this new phone can at least revitalize Sony and the Playstation company, but until then apps will remain dominating.
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