• Demonstrating PayWizard, the powerful payment system that also captures valuable marketing information to help broadcasters and content owners provide a better service
• Launch of the eWallet top-up service to allow consumers to easily purchase digital media from various sources and across multiple platforms
• Example of PayWizard in action – Racing UK
• Partner announcement – KIT digital, Tangerine

NAB 2010, Las Vegas – 12 April 2010 – At NAB 2010 MGt, the leading provider of billing and customer management software, will be demonstrating its enhanced payment and billings service, newly branded as PayWizard, which helps digital media content owners to monetise content and build closer relationships with consumers by simplifying the payment process. At the heart is an eWallet that provides a simple and efficient payment gateway service, allowing consumers to purchase digital media from a variety of sources using a single ‘top-up’ account.

In today’s multiplatform world digital content owners have a wide variety of outlets where they can sell their products, whether online newspapers, music videos or online games, but managing the process while maintaining a good service can be problematic. PayWizard – which currently manages more than 10 million customer transactions and bills more than $400 million annually and is fully PCI compliant – not only deals with payment transactions but also provides the tools to enable content owners to collect valuable marketing data about consumers, provide critical reporting capabilities, and offer a range of customer support services.

Jamie Mackinlay, Commercial Director, MGt, said, “It might seem like the last and most obvious piece of the content monetization puzzle, but the payment system is really important in order to create a simple easy-to-use service and to build a close relationship with the customer. Unlike other payment and billing tools, PayWizard allows the content owner to keep, analyse and use vital marketing data – where the customer has been, what they have bought, what their purchasing habits are – in order to improve their service, personalise the customer viewing experience and provide additional opportunities to sell more content.”

PayWizard’s value-added service allows merchants to quickly set up their online offering by providing technical integration services in order to connect with multiple platforms, and the necessary operational infrastructure and services such as reporting and content tracking, which would require heavy investment in time and money to set up independently.

PayWizard also provides a top-up payment device for digital media consumption. Instead of having to register personal and bank account details on individual sites, the consumer would register with PayWizard for a single ‘eWallet’, nominate payment details and choose how much to top up and how often, and would then be able to use their account quickly and easily on any site that is signed up to the PayWizard service.

“PayWizard is an attractive offer for all sizes digital media companies, allowing them to offer an easy and secure billing service, with the additional benefits of PayWizard, for a relatively small outlay,” Mackinlay said. “We see PayWizard becoming the common currency for digital media transactions.”

In addition to PayWizard, MGt will also be demonstrating its Profile Software Suite, which provides robust support for specific end-to-end applications such as subscriber TV and IPTV. MGt can be found on Booth SU9506R in the Broadband Lifestyles Pavilion.

ABOUT MGt

MGt is a specialist provider of payment and billing services, media consumer software and outsourced solutions for global Telecommunications, Media, Technology, Entertainment and Retail markets.

For over ten years MGt has developed an innovative and unique Tier 1 managed service platform that, along with our staff of over 1,000, annually manages more than 10 million customer contacts, bills more than $400 million and fulfils more than 4 million items.

MGt today provides a unique services package that includes: hosted billing and payment solutions, subscriber management software for digital media platforms, end to end IPTV solutions and a full outsourced customer management capability.

Our client list includes BT Retail, Sony Entertainment, BT Vision, Digital UK, Discovery Networks, Freeview, Move Networks, Orange, Top Up TV and Five.

For more information visit www.mgtplc.com

Just  a little while ago Apple issued a news release that they have filed a suit against HTC, alleging that the company is infringing on 20 patents, like iPhone’s user interface, underlying architecture, and hardware.  We just have to sit back, and wait for more details to unfold!

CUPERTINO, California—March 2, 2010—Apple® today filed a lawsuit against HTC for infringing on 20 Apple patents related to the iPhone’s user interface, underlying architecture and hardware. The lawsuit was filed concurrently with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and in U.S. District Court in Delaware.

“We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”

Apple reinvented the mobile phone in 2007 with its revolutionary iPhone®, and did it again in 2008 with its pioneering App Store, which now offers more than 150,000 mobile applications in over 90 countries. Over 40 million iPhones have been sold worldwide.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

Finally a long awaited Apple iPad has been unveiled, but is it all it cracked out to be?  Well lets first take a quick look at what it has, and then we can look at what it lacks.  Then you cam make your own decision weather this device is for you or not.

• The device is half-inch thick and weighs at 1.5 pounds
• 9.7-inch capacitive touchscreen IPS LCD display
• Custom 1GHz Apple “A4″ chip
• 10-hour battery life and a month of standby
• Will come in flavors of 16, 32, and 64GB
• 30-pin Dock connector
• speaker
• microphone
• Bluetooth
• 802.11n WiFi
• 3G (optional) Service through ATT Wireless
• accelerometer and a compass

Just like iPhone and iTouch, the iPad is managed by iTunes.  As promissed, it can run (most) iPhone apps ether in pixel-for-pixel or or pixel-doubled fullscreen mode.  As mentioned above, 3G version of iPad will run on AT&T network, and can be had with one of the new data plans, 250MB for $14.99 or an unlimited plan for $29.99 a month (contract-free), so you can activate and cancel whenever you want.  There are no details on the international service just yet.

The iPad will come at different pricing, $499 for 16GB, 32GB for $599, and $699 64GB.  A 3G option will set you back another $130,  so the most expensive model (64GB / 3G) will cost you $829.  The WiFi-only model will ship in 60 days, and the 3G models will come in 90.

Now for things that everyone would have liked to see but are missing:

• There’s no multitasking.  this a a huge disappointment!
• No built in camera. Which means No video conferencing.
• iPhone OS 3.2 (why?)
• No Flash support! What aret hey thinking about???
• No memory slot for any kind of external expansion.

Well we gave you the details on what it has and what it lacks (some major lacking there), but at the end of the day it is up to you to decide whether this device is for you.  Let us know what you think.

Source:  GDGT, Engadget

We have put together a list of gadgets that we feel would make any gadget and electronics lover jump for joy once they open their present and receive one of these:

1.  Amazon Kindle – Is a leader in e-book market.  It is very simple to use, and yet has enough gadgets to tech to impress almost any gadget geek.  There is a physical keyboard for ease of typing, and you can even browse the web 9basic text browsing).  there is plenty of content that can be downloaded directly through Amazon, paid and free, and it does support PDF format so you can upload your own documents.  

2.  Barnes & Noble Nook – This is a new e-book reader that is trying to give a very tough competition to the above mentioned Amazon kindle.  Current you can only pre-order the Nook, but some of the lucky people may actually receive it before Christmas.  The biggest difference with this device is its dual-screen interface, open format support.  If you tend to find yourself at Barnes & Noble a little much this device maybe for you.  

3.  Archos 5 Internet Tablet - Archos 5 Internet Media Tablet is not just another media player and internet device, it is also a GPS navigation.  This is a perfect gift with many features in one great package for all those garget lovers. 

4.  Apple iPhone 3GS – If you know someone who has been on the market for an iPhone but has not gotten one just yet, and you would like to be the one who can make it happen, Apple offers gift cards specifically for the phone, which makes it a relatively painless process for the one that you would like to give this perfect gift for.

5.  Motorola Droid – This is another great gift for this holiday season.  The Droid has Android 2.0, a beautiful capacitive WVGA display, 5 megapixel cam with LED flash, and OMAP3 processor.  Perfect gift for those hat would like to jump on the Android bandwagon.

6.  Lenovo X200 Multitouch Tablet – There are plenty of touch screen laptops out there, but what sets all of them apart is the Lenovo’s X200t new 12.1-inch multitouch capacitive display, 1.4GHz Intel SU9400 Core 2 Duo and 2GB of RAM just a start.  Most of these specs can be upgraded.  Not to mention that this is a sexy little tablet.

7.  Apple 13-inch MacBook Pro – if you are a MAC lover or the person who you would like to get this gift for, you may want to look in to an all new aluminum MacBook Pro. it has a very solid construction, a  very nice screen, Core 2 Duo processor and NVIDIA 9400M graphics processor.  it will be able to handle almost anything you can throw at it.  You know you can run Windows on it as well right?

8.  Canon EOS 7D – Canon EOS 7D is a big brother of the T1i.  Not only is it a really nice DSLR camera with dual DIGIC IV processors, and 18 megapixel sensor, it is also a great video camera that can shoot 1080P.  It has a great low light performance, and it will not completely break your bank (well for some of you that is). 

9.  JVC HD Everio GZ-HM400- With a  capability of full HD recording, a 10.3 megapixel sensor, and 32GB internal storage with SD / SDHC expansion, makes this camcorder a great gift.  if you are in to sports and video shooting that requires high frame rate shooting, then 600fps, 300fps and 120fps slow motion capabilities will certainly get your heart racing.  

10.   Kodak’s Zi8 HD – Zi8 pocket camcorder boasts 1080p recording, in addition to face tracking, image stabilization, a 2.5-inch LCD display, and SD card slot. YouTube uploading, and Facebook support, too.  Its a great little gift and can be purchased for under $180.

AT&T has released a new iPhone app that will allow their customers to report any problems that they experience with their service.

If you have just experienced a dropped call, or poor service, no data service or static, you can just launch an application and report your problem directly to AT&T.

I don’t know about you, but I have been waiting for something like this for a long time, because every day I experience dropped calls in specific areas to the point where it is unacceptable.  This is a great app, but the big question is, how soon will AT&T will get to fixing the problems from the feedback that they receive from their customers?

You can get your app here App Store.