General electric

The Power That Turns the World

More people around the world turn to us for advanced power systems and around-the-clock energy services than any other company. Since we installed our first steam turbine in 1901, our installed base of steam and heavy-duty gas turbines has grown to over 10,000 units, representing over a million Megawatts (MW) of installed capacity in more than 120 countries. With over 5,500 wind and 3,600 hydro turbines, the installed capacity of renewable energy exceeds 160,000 MW.

logitech

QuickCam® Pro 9000

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coca-cola

The world's most recognized trademark in the World!
It is recognized by 94% of the world's population.

The world has changed in many ways since pharmacist, John Styth Pemberton first introduced the refreshing taste of Coca-Cola in Atlanta, Georgia. However, the pure and simple magic of one thing remains the same - Coca-Cola. The name and the product mean so many things to hundreds of millions of consumers around the globe. Coca-Cola products are served more than 705 million times every day, quenching the thirsts of consumers in more than 195 countries in every climate. That's a long way to come after such a modest beginning...

May 1886	-	Pemberton concocted a caramel-colored syrup in a three-legged brass kettle in his backyard. He first "distributed" the new product by carrying Coca-Cola in a jug down the street to Jacobs Pharmacy. For five cents, consumers could enjoy a glass of Coca-Cola at the soda fountain. Whether by design or accident, carbonated water was teamed with the new syrup, producing a drink that was proclaimed "Delicious and Refreshing." Dr. Pemberton's partner and bookkeeper, Frank M. Robinson, suggested the name and penned, in the unique flowing script that is famous worldwide today, "".
1886	-	Sales of Coca-Cola averaged nine drinks per day. That first year, Dr. Pemberton sold 25 gallons of syrup, shipped in bright red wooden kegs. Red has been a distinctive color associated with the No. 1 soft drink brand ever since.
1891	-	Atlanta entrepreneur Asa G. Candler had acquired complete ownership of the Coca-Cola business. Pemberton was forced to sell because he was in a state of poor health and was in debt. He had paid $76.96 for advertising, but he only made $50.00 in profits. Candler acquired the whole company for $2,300. Within four years, Candler's merchandising flair helped expand consumption of Coca-Cola to every state and territory.
1893	-	In January "Coca-Cola" was registered in the U.S. Patent office.
1894	-	The first syrup plant outside of Atlanta was opened in Dallas.
1899	-	Chandler's great achievement -- large scale bottling of Coca-Cola
1906	-	The first two countries outside the United States to bottle Coca-Cola were Cuba and Panama
1915	-	The Root Glass company created the Coca-Cola contour glass bottle.
1917	-	3 Million Coke's sold per day. "" is the worlds most recognized trademark.
1919	-	The Coca-Cola Company was sold to a group of investors for $25 million.
1923	-	The Coca-Cola Company was sold after the Prohibition Era to Ernest Woodruff for 25 million dollars. He gave Coca-Cola to his son, Robert Woodruff, who would be president for six decades.
Woodruff's leadership took the business to unrivaled heights of commercial success, making Coca-Cola an institution the world over. Woodruff was an influential man in Atlanta because of his contributions to area colleges, universities, businesses and organizations. When he made a contribution, he would never leave his name, this is how he became to be known as "Mr. Anonymous." During the Woodruff era, Mr. Woodruff made a promise to the armed forces of the United States to supply Coca-Cola to every serviceperson. He said that costs and location did not matter, he supplied 5 billion bottles to the service. Robert Woodruff did have one dubious distinction, he raised the syrup prices for distributors. But he improved efficiency at every step of the manufacturing process. Woodruff also increased productivity by improving the sales department, emphasizing quality control, and beginning large-scale advertising and promotional campaigns. Woodruff made Coke available in every state of the Union through the soda fountain. For all of these achievements he earned the name, "The Boss"
1923	-	Woodruff introduced the six bottle carton
1925	-	6 Million Coke's sold per day.
1927	-	The first Coca-Cola radio advertisement.
1928	-	Sales of bottled Coca-Cola surpassed fountain sales for the first time.
1929	- -	Coca-Cola was made available through vending machine The Coca-Cola bell glass was made available
1931	-	The Coke Santa was introduced as a Christmas promotion
1934		Johnny Weissmuller, and Olympic champion swimmer, and Maureen O'Sullivan, a motion-picture star, appeared on a metal serving tray for Coca-Cola.
1940	-	Coke is bottled in over 40 countries.
1943		On June 29, an urgent cablegram arrived from General Dwight Eisenhower's Allied Headquarters in North Africa, requesting 10 Coca-Cola bottling plants to serve American servicemen overseas. Eventually, 64 plants were set up during WWII.
1950	-	Advertising on on the television began. Currently Coca-Cola is advertised on over five hundred TV channels around the world.
1952	-	"The Big Beverage", the first novel about Coca-Cola, was written by William T. Campbell.
1960	-	The twelve ounce Coke can was introduced.
1961	-	Sprite was introduced.
1971	-	The song "I'd like to Buy the World a Coke" was released.
1977	-	The Coca-Cola contour bottle was patented
1978	-	The two liter bottle was introduced, and during that same year the company also introduced plastic bottles
1979	-	Fifteen hundred employees moved to the new corporate headquarters in Atlanta located on North Avenue. The new corporate headquarters came to be known as "The Tower."
1982	-	Diet Coke was introduced in July.
1985	-	The Coca-Cola Company made what has been known as one of the biggest marketing blunder. They stumbled onto a new formula in efforts to produce diet Coke. They put forth 4 million dollars of research to come up with the new formula.
The decision to change their formula and pull the old Coke off the market came about because taste tests showed a distinct preference for the new formula. The new formula was a sweeter variation with less tang, it was also slightly smoother. Robert Woodruff's death was a large contributor to the change because he stated that he would never change Coca-Cola's formula. Another factor that influenced the change was that Coke's market share fell 2.5 percent in four years. Each percentage point lost or gain meant 200 million dollars. This was the first flavor change since the existence of the Coca-Cola company. The change was announced April 23, 1985 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at the Lincoln Center. Some two hundred TV and newspaper reporters attended this very glitzy announcement. It included a question and answer session, and a history of Coca-Cola. The debut was accompanied by an advertising campaign that revived the Coca-Cola theme song of the early 1970s, "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke" The change to the world's best selling soft drink was heard by 81 percent of the United States population within twenty-four hours of the announcement. Within a week of the change, one thousand calls a day were flooding the company's eight hundred number. Most of the callers were shocked and/or outraged, many said that they were considering switching to Pepsi. Within six weeks, the eight hundred number was being jammed by six thousand calls a day. The company also fielded over forty thousand letters, which were all answered and each person got a coupon for the new Coke. Many American consumers of Coca-Cola asked if they would have the final say. When Pepsi heard that the Coca-Cola company was changing its secret formula they said that it was a decision that Pepsi tastes better. Roger Enrico, the president and CEO of Pepsi-Cola wrote a letter to every major newspaper in the U.S. to declare the victory. Coca-Cola management had to decide: Do nothing or "buy the world a new Coke". They decided to develop the new formula.
1985	-	July 10, eighty-seven days after the new Coke was introduced, the old Coke was brought back in addition to the new one. This was greatly due to dropping market share and consumer protest. The market share fell from a high of 15 percent to a low of 1.4 percent. This was said to be a classic marketing retreat. Coca-Cola executives admitted that they had goofed by taking the old Coke off the market. The Coca-Cola company's eight hundred number received eighteen thousand calls of gratitude. One caller said they felt like a lost friend had returned home. The comeback of old Coke drove stock prices to the highest level in twelve years. This was said to be the only way to regain the lead on the cola wars.
1988	-	Coca-Cola was the first independent operator in the Soviet Union.
1993	-	Coca-Cola exceeds 10 Billion cases sold worldwide.
1993	-	Advertising slogan -"Always Coca-Cola".
1995	-	Coke was consumed aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery -- marking the third trip into space for Coca-Cola and the first for Diet Coke.
1996	-	The Summer Olympics will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, the home of Coca-Cola. For more than 65 years, Coca-Cola has been a sponsor of the Olympics.

One great earmark that the Coca-Cola Company has is helping the people of Atlanta. They accomplish this through scholarships, hotlines, donations and contributions. Another large accomplishment that the Coca-Cola has, is being the first company to make and use recycled plastic bottles. One way to see all of the achievements of the Coca-Cola company is to visit the World of Coke in Atlanta. It houses a collection of memorabilia, samples of the products, exhibits, and many other exciting items. All of what has been said is the basis of what Coca-Cola was built on. Without societies help, Coca-Cola could not have become over a 50 billion dollar business. Keep on consuming the world's favorite soft drink, Coca-Cola.

Until the 1960s, both small town and big city dwellers enjoyed carbonated beverages at the local soda fountain or ice cream saloon. Often housed in the drug store, the soda fountain counter served as a meeting place for people of all ages. Often combined with lunch counters, the soda fountain declined in popularity as commercial ice cream, bottled soft drinks, and fast food restaurants came to the fore.

• The term "soda water" was first coined in 1798.

• In 1810, the first U.S. patent was issued for the manufacture of imitation mineral waters.

• The first soda fountain patent was granted to Samuel Fahnestock in 1819.

• In 1858, G.D. Dows invented and operated the first marble soda fountain, which he patented in 1863.

• In 1883, James W. Tufts patented a soda fountain, which he called the Arctic. Tufts went on to become a huge soda fountain manufacturer.

• On January 25, 1870, Gustavus Dows patented a modern form of the soda fountain.

• In October of 1874, Robert M. Green created the first ice cream soda.

• In 1903, a revolution in soda fountain design took place with the front service fountain patented by Dr. Heisinger.

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More fun facts and trivia

• Coca-Cola can be used to bake a ham. Pour one can into the baking pan, rap the ham in aluminum foil, and bake. Thirty minutes before the ham has finished cooking, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coca-Cola to make a delicious brown gravy.

• Mexico and Iceland have the highest per capita consumption of Coca-Cola.

• Coca-Cola translated to Chinese means, "To make mouth happy".

• Every second over 7,000 Coca-Cola products are consumed.

• The tallest Coca-Cola bottling plants are in Hong Kong. The plant in Quarry Bay is 17 floors, and the plant in Shatin is 25 floors.

• The bottling plant at the highest elevation in the world is located in Bolivia, at 12,000 feet.

• The world's longest Coca-Cola truck is in Sweden. It is 79 feet long with a four-azle trailer.

• The best selling non-carbonated soft drink in Japan is a product of The Coca-Cola Company named "Georgia", a coffee flavored beverage.

• Coca-Cola first crossed the Atlantic on board the Graf Zeppelin, the German dirigible.

• The Varsity Restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia, has earned the distinction of serving the highest volume of Coca-Cola anywhere. It dispenses nearly 3 million servings of Coca-Cola annually.

• If the Coca-Cola company constructed a sign like the ones McDonald's uses to count their millions of customers, by 1983 it would have read "over 1 trillion served."

• If all the Coca-Cola ...

  • ever produced were in 6 1/2 oz. bottles and placed end to end they would wrap around the earth more than 11,863 times.

  • sold in 1994 were in 8-ounce bottles laid end-to-end, those bottles would reach to the moon and back 76 times.

  • vending machines in the U.S. were stacked one on top of each other, the pile would be over 450 miles high.

  • ever produced were to erupt from "Old Faithful" at its normal rate of 14,000 gallons per hour, the geyser would flow continually for 1,577 years.

  • products sold in 1994 were flowing over Niagara Falls at its normal rate of 1.5 billion gallons per second, the falls would flow for three hours.

The Coca-Cola Company began bottling operations in ...
...	1907	in Hawaii.
...	1912	in the Philippines.
...	1920	in France.
...	1927	in Belgium, Bermuda, Colombia, Honduras, Italy, Mexico, Haiti and Burma.
...	1928	in Antigua, China, Guatemala, Holland, Spain, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic.
...	1929	in Germany and Spanish Morocco.
...	1938	Australia, Austria, Gutana, Surinam, Jamaica, Curacao, Luxembourg, Norway, Scotland, South Africa, The Virgin Islands, and Trinidad.
...	1940	in Ecuador, and El Salvador.
...	1942	in Nicaragua, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Iceland, and Uruguay.
...	1945	in Egypt, and Martinique
...	1946	in Barbados, Japan, and Okinawa
...	1947	in Morocco and Tangier
...	1948	in Liberia, Rhodesia, and Guadeloupe

What's in a Coke??? Carbonated Water High Fructose Corn Syrup Caramel Color Phosphoric Acid Natural Flavors Caffeine

asus

Asus officially unveils its G1 and G2 gaming notebooks

Posted Nov 12th 2006 11:34PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Laptops

If you've been holding off on picking up a mobile gaming machine, Asus has officially launched two gamer-focused designs that should pack the power those FPS freaks want need. The 15.4-inch G1 and 17-inch G2 sport common innards and unique styling cues, as the G1 rocks green outer LEDs while the G2 is complimented in red. Beneath the hood of these beasts is your choice of Intel's T7600/T7400/T7200/T5600/T5500 Core 2 Duo processor, up to 2GB of DDR2 RAM, up to 160GB SATA hard drive, LightScribe-compatible dual-layer DVD burner, built-in 1.3-megapixel webcam, Bluetooth, and 802.11a/b/g. The G1 sports WXGA / WSXGA Color Shine LCD options and a 512MB NVIDIA GeForce Go7700 graphics set, while the G2 gets a WXGA display and the 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon X1700 card. You'll also find a fair assortment of ports, including video output, an ExpressCard slot, a flash card reader, and a few USB 2.0 ports to boot; additionally, the outer casing is built to withstand the less-than-gentle travels a mobile LAN machine is bound to endure, and the customizable "OLED instant display" can presumably showcase battery life, performance statistics, or available updates on the fly. While concrete pricing hasn't quite been nailed down yet, both notebooks will supposedly come with the pictured backpack and mouse combination, but we're sure this fairly well-loaded laptop will demand a hefty premium when it hits the market.

SAMSUNG

With the start of the second millennium, SAMSUNG begins its second century.

The digital age has brought revolutionary opportunities and changes to global business. The SAMSUNG Group has responded to these changes and is currently upgrading its business structure, management perspective, and corporate culture to meet global standards.

At SAMSUNG, we see every challenge as an opportunity, and believe that we are perfectly positioned to be one of the world's recognized leaders in digital technology.

Our commitment to being "World's Best" has won us the number one global market share for thirteen of our products. Our target is to have thirty of our products rated "number one in world products" by 2005, adding digital TVs, IMT 2000, and printers to our current list of world market leaders: semiconductors, TFT-LCDs, monitors and CDMA mobile phones.

Always a step ahead, we're making historic advances in research and development of our overall semiconductor line, including flash memory and non-memory, custom semiconductors, DRAM and SRAM. An example of this is SAMSUNG Electronics, which remains one of the world's "top 10" in US patents for four consecutive years, with 13,000 researchers representing a US$ 1.7 billion investment in Research and Development.

Financially, SAMSUNG is committed to being the World's Best, with the SAMSUNG Card, a payment solution selected as the "Best Card Company in the New Millennium" by Master
Card. The SAMSUNG Card secured more than 1 million members within one year through the release of "Aha Loan Pass," the first loan-only card in Korea. Euromoney has also selected SAMSUNG Securities as the "Best Security Company" for the 3rd consecutive year, and SAMSUNG Life Insurance was ranked as "10th Largest Company" by Fortune's "Global 500" in the Life/Health insurance category.

We are also actively promoting our brand value, a key engine of business growth. SAMSUNG's brand value increased to US$8.31 billion in 2002 from US$6.37 billion in 2001 and was recognized by Interbrand Corporation as the fastest growing global brand.

Our success in achieving global competitiveness is achieved through continually improving our financial structure and profitability, as we examine the structure of our own organization. Reducing production costs and working hard to maintain our brand image has greatly contributed to our progress, and SAMSUNG Electronics has secured a nation's credit rating from S&P and Moody's, while SAMSUNG Fire also has been recognized by S&P for its stability and growth potential, receiving its second consecutive A rating.

The quick pace of our development is reflected in our management philosophy "We will devote our human resources and technology to create superior products and services, thereby contributing to a better global society."

Our active participation in sporting events has helped promote community spirit, as well as returning corporate profits to society. As a Worldwide Olympic partner in the wireless equipment sector for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, SAMSUNG provided 25,000 advanced digital wireless telecommunication devices including mobile phones. We have also served in that capacity at the 1999 Nagano Winter Olympics, and will be a Worldwide Olympic Partner in the 2006 Torino Olympics and 2008 Beijing Olympics. SAMSUNG is an active contributor to the Asian Games, SAMSUNG Nations Cup Riding Competition, SAMSUNG Running Festival, SAMSUNG World Championship (a U.S. LPGA Tour), and many other sporting events around the world.

In 2000, SAMSUNG started its management program with a new twist and aimed to stay ahead of the great waves of digital changes now engulfing the world. We expect nothing less than to lead the digitalization of society with our advanced technologies, competitive products, and professional human resources.

philips

The foundations for what was to become one of the world's biggest electronics companies were laid in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, in 1891.

Philips began by making carbon-filament lamps and, by the turn of the century, was one of the largest producers in Europe. As developments in new lighting technologies fueled a steady program of expansion, in 1914 it established a research laboratory to study physical and chemical phenomena and stimulate product innovation.

In 1918, it introduced a medical X-ray tube. This marked the beginning of the diversification of its product range and the moment when it began to protect its innovations with patents in areas stretching from X-ray radiation to radio reception.

In 1925, Philips became involved in the first experiments in television in 1925 and, in 1927, began producing radios; by 1932, it had sold one million of them. A year later, it produced its 100-millionth radio valve and started production of medical X-ray equipment in the United States. By 1939, when it launched the first Philips electric shaver, the company employed 45,000 people worldwide.

Science and technology underwent tremendous development in the 1940s and 1950s, with Philips Research inventing the rotary heads that led to the development of the Philishave electric shaver, and laying down the basis for later ground-breaking work in transistors and integrated circuits. The company also made major contributions to the development of the recording, transmission and reproduction of television pictures. In 1963, it introduced the Compact Audio Cassette. In 1965, it produced its first integrated circuits.

The flow of exciting new products and ideas continued throughout the 1970s. Research in lighting contributed to the new PL and SL energy-saving lamps, while Philips Research made key breakthroughs in the processing, storage and transmission of images, sound and data. These led to the inventions of the LaserVision optical disc, the Compact Disc and optical telecommunication systems.

In 1972, the company established PolyGram, the enormously successful music recording label. In 1974, it acquired Magnavox and in 1975, Signetic, both in the United States. Acquisitions in the 1980s included GTE Sylvania's television concern and Westinghouse's lamps business. Then, in 1983, came a technological landmark: the launch of the Compact Disc. Other milestones of the time included the production of Philips' 100-millionth TV set in 1984 and, in 1995, the 300-millionth Philishave electric shaver.

The 1990s was a decade of significant change for Philips. The company carried out a major restructuring program to return it to a healthy footing, simplifying its structure and reducing the number of business areas. In 1997, in cooperation with several other companies - and building on the success of its Compact Disc technology (invented by Philips and jointly introduced with Sony) - it released what proved to be the fastest growing home electronics product in history: the DVD.

Moving into the 21st century, Philips has continued to change and grow. Long aware that for many people it is no more than a consumer electronics producer, it has dedicated itself to projecting a new and more representative image that reflects the products it offers in the areas of Healthcare, Lifestyle and Technology. By following this up in 2004 with a massive advertising campaign to unveil its new brand promise of 'sense and simplicity', the company confirmed its dedication to offering consumers around the world products that are advanced, easy to use and, above all, designed to meet their needs.

shell

On July 5, 1907, Royal Dutch Shell’s corporate forefathers went to the notary to sign the official declaration for what at the time was a rather unique event: the coming together of two companies in two different countries, Royal Dutch and Shell Transport and Trading.

Looking back over 100 years of history, it’s been an amazing journey. Mankind has managed to adapt, time and time again, through a century of rapid change and periodic upheaval. So has Shell.

In 1907 the world swarmed with oil companies, all full of ambitions to grow. Over the next 100 years many of them saw those ambitions shattered as events galloped forward and they failed to keep up. Little wonder, really, given everything the planet has gone through in the past century: two world wars, the spread and then decline of communism, deep economic recessions, de-colonisation, the rise of a cartel of oil-exporting countries, the use of oil as a political weapon, rocketing growth in energy consumption, mass mobility, accelerating globalisation, and more.

There are big challenges in the century ahead, as well. Shell and other energy companies must find more energy to help keep the world’s economy humming, as places like China and India expand at a rapid clip. And they must do so in ways that safeguard society and the environment.