| New mobile payment service eschews cash and checks for phones
Mpayy Inc., an online and mobile payment processing company, will launch tomorrow a service that enables merchants and shoppers to conduct retail transactions using mobile phones and online payment accounts. Shoppers can use the Mpayy service with roving salespersons or on retail web sites. Merchants set up accounts on Mpayy.com to establish a mobile payment system. Mobile merchantsMpayy is not yet targeting bricks-and-mortar retailerscan access reports on sales, send funds to desired banks, manage refunds and perform other tasks through a web-enabled administrative application. Shoppers set up accounts on the Mpayy site, entering their mobile phone number, account nickname, and checking account information. To conduct a transaction with a roving merchantan Avon lady, for examplea shopper logs in to Mpayys mobile web site and enters the merchants mobile phone number or nickname, enters the amount of the purchase, and submits the information, which brings up a transaction confirmation page with a Pay button to complete the purchase.
Unemployment figures for Scotland fell last month, official statistics ...
I think we're going to have to start shouting about the truth ("Scotching The Myth" etc.) a LOT LOT louder. I give you exhibit one from our dear friend Mr Simon Heffer: http://www.telegraph .co.uk/opinion/main. jhtml?xml=/opinion/2 007/11/14/do1401.xml .
Making a Hallmark
There were two rounds of bidding, with media giants such as News Corp. and Time Warner Inc. weighing in. But Crown ultimately took the network off the block. "There was enough interest evident from the major players," Granath said. "I mean, everybody was interested, and everybody had kind of a deal they wanted to do. But it wasn't writing a $2 billion check." Cable networks have traditionally been priced based on cash flow, and Hallmark Channel is only on the brink of turning cash-flow positive, according to Derek Baine, senior vice president for Kagan Research. "At the end of the day, networks are going to be [valued] on what the cash flow is going to be," Baine said. "It's going to take them five to 10 years to get up to the range where they're going to have cash flow to justify [a premium sale price]." As he sees it, Hallmark Channel has "a tough seat to sit in" because "the question is all about that license fee and how do you get that up to a dime, or something more normalized, so they really would be getting more significant cash flow." Since it pulled Hallmark Channel off the block, Crown has made good on its promise to trim costs, to the tune of $14 million to $15 million, in part by making cuts in marketing spending, laying off 25 of its 175 employees in April, and improving ad sales, trafficking and information-technology systems.
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