TECH VENDOR NEWS

FROM RIS

Retail Finder Creates New Avenues by Linking Retailers to Shoppers

WebCollage launches its Retail Finder to give manufacturers the ability to point to where customers can buy products, whether searching online or offline. WebCollage Retail Finder creates links between the manufacturer’s website and its authorized online and offline retailers. Online retail shoppers can use the tool to choose their favorite retail website or physical store to purchase goods. Retail Finder locates and zooms in on the nearest retail location via embedded interactive maps and obtains directions to a particular store.

Reactions to the Fed's Subprime Solution

FROM THESTREET.COM

Yesterday's announcement that the Federal Reserve endorsed new rules for lenders of subprime mortgages, which includes banning low-documentation loans and setting limits on penalties for borrowers who want to repay their loans early, set off a debate about how effective the plan would be -- and who would really benefit from it.

Some experts say the proposed changes to the Regulation Z (Truth in Lending) and the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act will not help to repair the failing housing market, but will just benefit lenders and lock-out some buyers. Others say homeowners should be encouraged by the plan.

Some consumers and some industry pundits agree that regulating the subprime market will only reduce access to credit, but Kurt Eggert, a law professor who has testified to Congress on predatory lending issues and is a past member of the Federal Reserve Board's Consumer Advisory Council, says data do not support that theory.

"We have seen that the opposite is true," says Eggert. "By establishing clear and effective rules that require effective underwriting, escrowing of tax and insurance, and requiring effective documentation of the ability to repay the loans, the Fed could increase the access of beneficial credit to borrowers and increase investor confidence in subprime loans."

To read this entire story, please visit: http://www.paradigmshiftpr.com/reactionsto.htm

Survey Indicates Complete and Compelling Product Info Critical in Purchasing Decision

WEBCOLLAGE SURVEY INDICATES COMPLETE AND COMPELLING PRODUCT INFORMATION CRITICAL IN THE PURCHASE DECISION

During This Holiday Season, Consumers Researching Products On Retail Websites Seek To Learn Product Benefits, Product Capabilities, And Product Components

NEW YORK, NY – November 26, 2007 – WebCollage, the leading provider of Web marketing syndication solutions for manufacturers and their channel partners, today announced that shoppers are more likely to linger and make purchases at retail websites that offer complete and compelling product information. According to an in-depth review of WebCollage’s 2007 Survey of Online Consumer Product Research Habits, survey respondents noted that along with detailed product information determining the compatibility of a product they are researching with devices they already own, and determining what accessories come with a product, as the information that is most useful information to them when shopping or conducting product research online. Presenting customers with the comprehensive product information they find useful during the purchase decision process, also provides a more engaging online experience and increases the likelihood of customers remaining on the retailer’s site to purchase other products for the holiday season.

WebCollage’s 2007 Survey of Online Consumer Product Research Habits confirmed that retailers must provide complete product information in order to meet the needs of their online customers. Survey respondents were asked to consider the following question:
Which of the following pieces of information are useful to you when researching a product for purchase?

Detailed product benefits and capabilities: 67%
System requirements: 61%
List of items that are included with the product: 61%
Comparison of different models: 58%
Product Documentation/Warranty Information: 51%
A manufacturer's overview of the product: 48%
List of new features for this product model: 45%
List of compatible accessories: 44%
Larger or alternate product images: 31%
Product tours or demos: 27%
Other: 9%

“Customers want to know things like how a product works, its complete set of features and accessories and whether the product is compatible with products they already own ,” said Jed Alpert, Vice President of Marketing for WebCollage. “That's why manufacturers need to focus on providing their retail channel partners with complete product information, first and foremost.”

For retailers, the price of having poor online content can be steep. Shoppers who are not able to find the information they need to make a purchase are ready and willing to go elsewhere. In the search for more complete, up-to-date content, 37% of shoppers said they would visit a competitor’s retail website to find the information they needed. Recognizing manufacturers as the best authority on their products, 55% said they would go to a manufacturer’s website to find their information.

About the WebCollage 2007 Survey of Online Consumer Product Research HabitsThe WebCollage 2007 Survey of Online Consumer Product Research Habits is a national survey designed to provide insight into the product research habits of consumers that shop online. The survey was conducted in May 2007 via Zoomerang, an online survey services provider, and is based on 333 respondents aged 18 and over who shopped online at least once within the last year. The survey is sponsored by New York, New York-based WebCollage, Inc.
About WebCollage, Inc.

WebCollage is the leading Web content integration network for manufacturers and their channel partners — retailers, VARs and distributors. Using WebCollage's patented, turnkey solution, manufacturers can extend their Web product marketing content to all of their channel partners and address the challenge of how to optimize the selling and marketing of products via the Web. WebCollage benefits manufacturers and channel partners alike with measurable bottom-line results including higher conversion rates and larger overall order sizes.

Founded in 2000, WebCollage is a privately-held company headquartered in New York, NY, and backed by Cedar Fund, Sierra Ventures, Gilde IT Fund and GSI Commerce, Inc. For more information, please visit: www.webcollage.com or call 1.212.563.2112.

Senator Specter and the Patriot Tapes

FROM THE PHILADEPHIA INQUIRER

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/15473207.html

Editorial: Sen. Specter and the Patriot Tapes
Spy inquiry is way out of bounds

Sen. Arlen Specter is expected to meet with NFL Commissioner Rodger Goodell this month to get to the bottom of alleged spying by the New England Patriots.

> With all due respect to the good senator from Pennsylvania, you're wasting taxpayers' time and money with this unnecessary inquiry. Please get back to more pressing matters.

> If Specter wants to investigate spying, how about examining the Bush administration's use of illegal wiretaps. Instead, Specter is focused on the NFL's decision to destroy videotapes the Patriots used to spy on other teams.

> Specter wondered if the league was involved in a "cover-up." He questioned whether illicit taping helped the Patriots beat the Eagles in the Super Bowl three years ago. He also suggested he may hold Senate hearings into the matter.

> Puhleeze.

> We could see Specter getting worked up over the CIA's decision to destroy tapes of terror suspects getting tortured. Instead, he's carrying on about football as if it's a matter of national security.

> Surely, Specter's outrage has nothing to do with his backing of the cable industry, and his big donors at Comcast, who are in a fight with the football league concerning the NFL Network.
> Or perhaps the NFL didn't get Specter's chief of staff good enough seats to the Super Bowl. Specter says he wasn't aware of the request and that the staffer would pay for the seats, which cost $700 each.

> That's fine. But what does it say about arrogance and influence-peddling that a Senate staffer would even pick up the phone and request a couple of Super Bowl tickets? Perhaps, Specter should start a hotline so constituents can call him next time they need tickets to a big game or concert.

> Specter is a smart, distinguished senator. If he wants to play games, he should stick to his beloved squash courts.

The Fed: Damned If They Do

FROM FORBES.COM

Here's how the Fed's proposal works: For subprime loans, the plan prohibits lending without a thorough review of the borrower's ability to repay. Lenders cannot make loans based on unverifiable assets, and they would be required to establish an escrow account to pay for property taxes and insurance. In addition, only certain subprime loans would be subject to prepayment penalties, which have left many borrowers stuck with exceptionally high mortgage payments.

For any mortgage loan secured by a borrower's primary home, the Fed's plan prohibits lenders from paying mortgage brokers fees to steer borrowers into high-rate loans. It also prohibits brokers from encouraging appraisers to misrepresent a home's value and requires loan advertisements to be more up front: If a loan has a "teaser" rate that expands into an inflated, fixed rate, the ad must say so.

It comes on the heels of a White House plan, announced nearly two weeks ago, that freezes the "teaser" rates on some subprime loans. That plan has been widely criticized for not doing anything to help borrowers who were already in distress.

The Fed’s plan isn’t designed to help those who are already in foreclosure--the central bank doesn’t have the jurisdiction to do that. And there’s still a three-month comment period that must pass before the modified Fed regulations can take effect.

"What the Fed has done is an important first step," says Kurt Eggert, a law professor at Chapman University in Orange, Calif., and a member of the Fed's Consumer Advisory Council. "If this step had been taken five years ago, we may have avoided the subprime meltdown."

If you'd like to read this entire article, please visit: http://www.paradigmshiftpr.com/damnedif.htm