Consumers in Control

In my previous newsletter, I shared with you a little about what marketing experts call interruption marketing in Malaysia and gave you some examples. In this newsletter, we'll delve a little into how consumers, in general, react to interruption marketing.

Before the emergence of the internet, when we talk about mass production and mass marketing, companies talk and consumers listen. Consumers, back in those days, don't have much of a choice.

Let's think about it - Malaysian consumers can't hit a button and skip TV commercials. Malaysian consumers can't help but notice those magazine and newspaper advertisements. Malaysian consumers can't skip radio commercials, don't have much information to rely on when they have to make decisions, don't have the options that we have now and possess very few tools that can delete or skip all forms of advertisements that are thrust into their faces.

Everything has changed now, with the internet. Malaysian consumers now HAVE the power to choose and they KNOW that they are in control.

Bar a few Malaysians who continue to bear with commercials because they rely on TV1, TV2, TV3, NTV7 and other free television channels. However, there are many others who pay to skip the commercials like on Astro on Demand. And besides, they don't have to watch their favorite movies on TV anymore. Prefer a more controlled experience? Watch it online - any time they want, wherever they want!

While impossible to skip commercials OFFLINE via magazines or newspapers, we can skip them online. And besides, a large percentage of the Malaysian population rely on their news online. If there was an ad, one click on the 'close' button is that it takes. And when it is still impossible to skip radio ads, we can opt to listen to our favorite free music on YouTube or iTunes which streams 24/7...completely free of ads.

Malaysians who didn't use to have information when they head out to a shopping mall now can hit the internet, search a company, product or reviews on Google and read on it before buying anything. So, in short, Malaysian consumers are smarter now than ever before.

With such information, Malaysians are found comparing prices and quality between competitors and suppliers. Consumers who used to endure mass marketing tactics before the internet can now delete an advertisement whenever they appear in an email. They can even get the company banned...or in a lot of trouble with search engines.

Pop-up windows are closed with a single click, banners can be deleted or stopped from appearing. In fact, if a company's website had a lot of ads or information in them, more often than not, impatient Malaysians tend to wave goodbye to it by dismissing the website altogether.

Malaysians have trained and developed their minds to the extent that it has become a habit to control, ignore and delete your advertisements. And since it has become a habit for them to do it online, one fine day, that habit will become their offline habit as well.

There are 16,902,600 internet users in Malaysia with a 65.7% penetration rate and it is growing incessantly even as you are reading this. Suffice to say that since the online population is increasing, getting in on the online marketing train is inevitable. But remember, these are intelligent consumers now...no longer the hand-to-mouth ones two decades or so back.

The informed consumers no longer pay attention to the rose-tinted marketing styles that we used to employ. The smarter they are, the more ways they will find to ignore you or delete your advertisements.

This is a whole new ball game - if we continue to market to these newer, smarter Malaysian consumers the way we used to market to them and not engaging them, we will lose out on our market share.

Malaysians now want you to listen to them, understand them, talk to them and then provide them with what they want with the quality that they know that they deserve.

We will show you example marketing strategies that you can use to engage the customers who are potentially interested in your services, product or brand in the future newsletters.

Kent Ong from Human Website invites you to read our Monthly Newsletters at http://humanwebsite.com.my.

(c) Copyright - Human Website. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

Article Source: http://humanwebsite.com.my/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=82&Itemid=149

Insurance For Staffing Companies

When starting a staffing company, it is important to note that before you send out your first temporary employee, you must have adequate business insurance in order to conduct business. At a bare minimum, you will have to purchase Worker's Compensation and General Liability Insurance. On top of those insurances, it would be a good idea to consider buying a G/L policy that will also include Professional Liability Coverage, as well as Errors & Omissions (E&O) coverages. The biggest challenge a staffing agency owner may face could be identifying an insurance company that truly understands the staffing industry.

Unless you are working with someone who understands your business, you will spin your wheels in trying to secure proper insurances. The challenge with underwriting an insurance policy for a staffing company is the fact that you are or will be sending out temps or contract employees to remote, 3rd party client sites, which can cause you to lose direct control over those employees. If those employees worked on-site every day at your office location, the risk would be easier to assess. However, in the staffing world, your direct employees work at client locations, which adds risk from an insurance company's perspective. Insurance companies have a larger underwriting task when taking into effect that your employees may be asked to perform certain tasks at a client location that you may not otherwise ask them to perform if they were on-site at your office.

I would imagine researching insurance companies, finding the right company and insurance policies to purchase, then actually purchasing the policy would be about as much fun as making a trip to the dentist. Both are quite necessary, but not much fun. However, if you don't have insurance for your staffing business, you will not be able to operate your company.

How do you know just how much insurance to purchase, and what types are right for your firm? You don't want to be over-insured, but you certainly don't want to be under-insured either. Once you find the right insurance partner that understands YOUR staffing business, ask them to recommend coverage amounts and types of policies. If you already have staffing clients in place, or if you have potential clients you will be doing business with, ask them to send you their standard staffing contract. More than likely, your client will have a section in their contract that will cover insurances, and how much and what types you need to have in order to do business with them.

Keep in mind, your clients want to deflect as much insurance risk on to you as possible. They would prefer to have zero risk in having your employees work on-site at their location. If a potential client is asking for more insurance coverage than you will be able to pay premiums for, you may consider trying to renegotiate their contract, or consider foregoing that business. It may not be worth the extra premium dollars you will pay in order to pick up the staffing business. However, if the margins are large enough, and you feel certain the client will utilize your services for a long-term period, you should consider upping the insurances to grow your business.

As a start-up staffing company, you may have no choice but to purchase your Worker's Compensation insurance from a State Fund, rather than from a private insurance company. The laws are different in each state, but when you speak to your insurance agent, find out if private insurance is available for Workers Comp, due to the fact that it may be less expensive to purchase than from the State.

Also, you will either have to estimate your payroll or sales/revenue in order to get a quote on your insurances. I would be prepared to have a projected figure in mind. Don't over-estimate payroll or sales because you may end up paying more each month in premiums during the first year, which could eat up profits from the business. Also, don't under-estimate because you may be hit with a major one-time premium at the end of the year due to withholding less during the year. It's a tricky calculation, but hopefully your agent can assist you in your calculations.

If you would like to discuss your situation, please contact Dale Busbee, Vice President of Business Development, Prosperity Funding at dale@prosperityfunding.com or by phone at (985) 641-8817

When Do Hard Money Commercial Mortgage Loans Make Sense

Privately funded, often called "hard money" commercial mortgage loans typically carry annual interest rates of more than 10% and charge origination points of 2%-4%. These kinds of rates and terms may seem restrictive, but when the situation calls for it, taking advantage of private lending is a smart business move.

When Time is of the Essence

In the commercial real estate game time truly is money. Experienced property owners, investors and developers will tell you that often speed of execution can trump interest rates and points. When facing a looming purchase option expatriation date, a pending balloon payment that's coming due fast, an unexpected cost overrun or, worse, a foreclosure scenario business people don't have time to wait the 60-90 days it can take to close a conventional bank loan. Unfortunately, there are times when your property or you project are on the line and nothing short of quick cash can solve your problem. Hard money lenders can make on-the-spot decisions and can close fast. One week funding is very possible and any legitimate private lender can close almost any deal in less than 3 weeks. Hard money is relatively expensive but it's a heck-of-a-lot less expensive than losing your deal.

When You Have Credit or Documentation Issues

Conventional lenders will insist on large amounts of documentation and that the borrower(s) have decent credit. To start with, real estate investors must produce 3 years tax records, profit and loss statements, copies of leases, bank statements, building maintenance records and much more. Details will be verified and a deal can be killed because of an "I" that was not dotted or a "T" that was not crossed. Private loans, on-the-other-hand, are usually equity based and not driven by the strength of the borrower. Your credit may not matter at all. Hard money lenders do not have the bureaucracy and the regulations that banks, Wall Street and the insurance companies do. They routinely do deals with minimal documentation, sometimes without even a property appraisal. If your record keeping is in disarray, if you are missing required documents, if you have poor credit or you simply don't wish to share so much personal financial information, then hard money may be your best (and only) option.

When You Need a Bridge

Private lenders are among the most efficient and professional bridge lenders in the financial services industry. When a commercial property owner or developer finds themselves in need of a bridge loan (short term, interim financing) they are well served turning to private funding sources. Very often bridge loans are used to "bridge" the time gap that can exist between their permanent financing coming on line and their immediate need for cash, such as when they have a closing in days but their bank can't close their loan for weeks. Bridge loans are also an important method of dealing with construction cost overruns, when a few million dollars can get the project finished and ready for sell-out quickly. There are many situations that call for bridge financing and many private lenders exist for the sole purpose of providing it quickly.

When You Need To Make an Attractive Offer

Cash is still king and having a reliable hard money lender on your team is like money in the bank. If you tell a seller you can close on a prize piece of property in 10 days with all cash, you will get that sellers attention. Your competition is likely asking for a 30 day due diligence period and as-much-as 60 days to close. If you can establish credibility with a dependable private lender and you know what their loan criterion is, you can bid with confidence and the cash to back it up.

There is no denying that private loans are more expensive than conventional loans but consider that they are usually short term and can often make the difference between a deal closing and a deal falling through. A successful commercial development project or a profitable income producing building can make an investor millions over its life cycle. When all factors are considered, and your deal is on the line, hard money can be down-right cheap.

Privately Funded Commercial Mortgage Loans. Answers Quickly. Closings in Days. Online at: http://www.masterplancapital.com

Mr. Fydenkevez spent more than 20 years on Wall Street, the last 14 as an officer with one of the world's largest investment banks. His firm, MasterPlan Capital, arranges financing for the purchase, refinanced and development of commercial real estate. He can be contacted via e-mail at: glenn.fydenkevez@masterplancapital.com

Commercial Auto Insurance Quotes - Compare and Save

Do you own or drive a vehicle that you use for commercial purposes? Are you a business owner or a company's sales rep that does supplies, pickup and delivery etc, using many commercial automobiles? If yes, you need to get the right commercial auto insurance for you vehicle(s).

The question now is, how do you get the right insurance coverage for these vehicles? Getting the right coverage simply means that your vehicles are adequately insured and you are not over paying for insurance. Here are some steps that will help you get the right coverage at the most affordable price.

Start your research by using car insurance quote comparison websites. You are advised to know your coverage needs before using any quotes comparison tool. This is a very important step if you must get the best insurance deal at the right price for your commercial automobile(s).

These comparison websites are equipped with quote calculator tools. These tools connect you with different insurance companies in its network. When you use this tool, the quotes you get are those from trusted insurance companies providing quality insurance coverage in your area.

When getting quotes, it is necessary you indicate the model, capacity, make and year of your commercial vehicle. Having good information of your vehicle will help by making the quote sourcing process less stressful.

It is easy to save by getting and comparing commercial auto insurance quotes correctly. Your premium must not hit the sky simply because you own, use or drive a commercial automobile.

Start correctly, get your commercial auto insurance quotes and save!

Where To Start?

Here Are My Favorites: AFFORDABLE AUTO INSURANCE / CHEAP CAR INSURANCE

FREE QUOTES FROM LEADING AUTO INSURANCE COMPANIES. SERVICE AVAILABLE IN ALL STATES IN THE UNITED STATES! QUALITY SERVICE PROVIDERS. INSURANCE. FREE QUOTES. FINANCE.

How To Analyze Currency Movement - A Simple But Powerful Method

When many traders talk about analyzing currency movement, they tend to focus on two separate methods - fundamental and technical - but these do NOT give you the market psychology.

Here we outline two powerful tools, that can be used to analyze currency movement, and work with either the fundamental, or technical method - and help you to spot the really bid trend changes.

When analyzing currency movements the following equation applies:

Supply & Demand Fundamentals + Investor psychology = Price action

Fundamental analysis does not make any effort to study investor psychology - whereas technical analysis does so - in terms of repetitive price patterns. However, technical analysis still does not predict when a price pattern is at an extreme - it simply follows market action.

Spotting Market Tops and Bottoms in Advance

What if you knew in advance:

1. What investors were thinking

2. What investors were doing

In addition, you could spot if they have pushed a trend too far with the emotions of greed and fear.

How useful would that information be? - You could spot big potential market tops, or bottoms in advance, and make huge profits!

That's, exactly what the two tools can do for you - and they're free!

The Importance of Market Psychology

In any investment market, we know that investor psychology is vitally important when analyzing currency movements - as investors push prices too far in either direction, as the emotions of greed and fear come into play.

Investors push prices away from fair value - and then prices recoil in the other direction.

Ever wondered why big price moves take place when the market is at its most bullish, or bearish? - This is investor psychology at work.

So, How can we Measure Investor Psychology?

There are two powerful tools you can use - and they can help you spot every major top and bottom - yet few traders use them!

Here are the two tools:

1. The Commitment of Traders Report

This is published bi weekly by the US government and breaks down the open interest of the US futures markets, (which include currencies) into three separate groups:

Commercial hedgers - These are savvy traders who are hedging, not speculating - and they are unaffected by the emotions of greed and fear.

Large speculators - These are mostly funds, who are trend following - and always get caught at turning points.

Small speculators - This represents small individual traders - and they are the worst traders of all, as they are mainly motivated by the emotions of greed and fear

Profiting from Tracking the Pros

So, what use are these positions? - Commercials are hedging, and if prices spike too far from fair value, the commercials will move aggressively the other way - starting a buying frenzy - and the buying price collapses when they have gone too far.

The Commercials are hedging - so no greed or fear comes into play - they are just looking at the facts. When you have an aggressive price move, and commercials trade in the opposite way to the trend, and the positions of large and small speculators - then a trend change is imminent.

A Word of Caution

When analysing currency movements with net traders positions, it is important to only trade extremes. If you watch for these extremes, and trade with the commercials you can catch the big turning points.

2. Percent Bullish

This is a good backup tool to the Commitment of Traders Report, and is a poll of investors; brokers, fund managers, etc. - Percent bullish expresses their bullishness as a percentage.

Traders in currencies should look for a figure below 20%, to indicate a market that's too bearish - and above 80%, for a market that's to bullish. When these numbers are hit - look closely at commercial selling and buying - if they line up, get ready for a turning point.

New! A valuable FREE Currency Trader CD containing 9 critical trading reports, tips, strategies and currency movement info. Visit our web site now and grab your CD http://www.tradercurrencies.com

Samsung C8700 46 Review

Some people are in the lucky position to receive high-end stuff from high-end companies for review. I'm not one of them. But a family member felt it was time for 3D and bought the new Samsung C8700. And I managed to get a good look at it.

It was a Thursday morning when the mailman rang the door and entered with a big package labeled Samsung. The feeling of excitement was hard to suppress. I opened the box and saw the TV its stand and a lot of cables. The instruction manual was huge and contained instructions in a lot of languages, I only used it for installing the stand though. Real men don't need user manuals! Read: geeks like me.

Design

I had a good look at it after installing the stand and carefully placing it on the furniture. The first thing I noticed was the silver metal border around the screen, a risky move considering the all-black trend of the last couple of years. But I really like it. It makes the television look more premium and makes it stand out from the pack. The very edge of the television isn't silver but see through plastic. From the side it's very thin. Under an inch thick, that's about as thin as it gets for sure.

The screen is held by a 4-legged stand, which looks great. At first I wasn't sure but it grew on me. And the obvious benefits of the stands are the great stability of the TV and the unique design. The all silver looks will disappoint some users though; I've heard stories of people going for the C7700 just for the black borders around the screen.

Overall the Samsung C8700 is one of the prettiest TVs on the market. Its all silver design and 4-legged stand will make it stand out wherever it stands. The backlit Samsung logo is also a very nice touch. Less successful is the branding on the lower left corner. And it should be noted that the design isn't for everyone.

Connectivity & specs

The high-end Samsung C8700 allows you to connect virtually any device, like you'd expect from a TV in this price class. It has 4 HDMI 1.4 ports, the new standard which allows maximum 3D visuals. Further more in comes with: PC audio in, RF in, Cl+ slot, 2x USB, 2x scart, optical audio, Ethernet, headphone and 2 components. That's really nice connectivity right there.

All the connections are angled, so you can put the Samsung on the wall without worrying about cables sticking out. I should also mention that most of the connections require a special 'extension' cable, which is provided in the box.

It also packs some serious specs. It has 200hz, a new hyper 3D engine, Internet, DLNA, PVR and a marketed contrast radio no television will ever accomplish. Further more it's a LCD edge-lit LED, which means that the light comes from the side. It has local dimming in 12 zones, meaning that the TV can control the light at 12 parts of the screen to achieve better blacks. All these specs will come back further in the review; so don't worry if you don't know what any of them mean. For your convenience, here's the full spec list provided by Samsung.

Remote

The Samsung C8700, C7700 and C9000 televisions are the first to carry a special new remote. It's thinner silver remote with backlit keys. The traditional rubber keys have been replaced for flat keys, which give you no point of reference for blind use. Also new are a few buttons, most noticeably the 3D button.

I really like the new remote. It looks amazing. The silver fits the TV well and I found the key allocation logically.

Features

I'm a bit of a geek when it comes to these things. I always try to use every feature that a gadget has in store for me. Samsung has included a lot in the new C8700, including Internet apps and media play.

They have also provided a new menu graphic for the different features. It displays an icon of the feature on the edge of a wheel which you can turn using your remote. Television keeps playing even after activating the menu, a nice touch.

The new Samsung application store allows you to download apps for the television. Offering differs per country but it should include the likes of Twitter, Facebook and weather. Downloading went with ease and using the apps was a mixed experience. The limited processing capabilities of the TV should be mentioned; don't expect iPad like experiences. Navigation wasn't always smooth and some of the apps were completely useless. Still it's a nice upgrade from last year's leds. But the slightly improved sluggish feel still makes me want to avoid all of it.

Media play means that you can insert an USB device and play its content. This may not sound like a big deal but it is. Samsung claims to support virtually every format, and in a way they're right. The feature has improved this year. The user interface first lets you choose between Movies, Music or Photos. Browsing the USB disk follows after your selection; luckily this is easy and fast. Sub maps are handled perfectly and I was able to navigate with serious speed.

So does it really play every format out there? Yes and no. I threw a lot at it, including media that the PS3 can't play. AVI, MPEG, MP4 were all played with ease. MKVs weren't a problem either, even the big 15+ gig ones. I had one instance where it declined to play my audio format because it was not supported - DTS I think. I was in cloud 9 until I came across a little problem. Do you know those small HD cameras? They sometimes record in a file called.MTS, also known as AVCHD. The Samsung C8700 didn't want in and couldn't even see the files appear in the browsing window. A small hiccup in an otherwise perfect playback score, guess I've to use the PS3 for AVCHD files.

Calibrating

Everyone who's serious about televisions can tell you that proper calibration is critical. To accomplish this I calibrated the television for a few different scenarios and ultimately chose a compromise. Because I don't want to switch settings each time I change to gaming, SD or HD movies. The menu is very easy to use. I pressed display options and found myself confronted by a few sliders controlling: sharpness, contrast, backlight, colors etc. I could also change the local dimming settings (smart LED) and the way the television tries to remove grain.

After about 2 hours, I found a good compromise in settings, displaying both SD and HD very well. I had turned the sharpness down a notch to remove unwanted artifacts around objects, most noticeably in SD signals. Contrast was upped a bit but not too much otherwise it removes shadow details. Colors were set up high and backlight was set to maximum with the eco sensor enabled.

The new eco sensor is Samsung's response to Sony's system. Basically it reads the environment and changes settings accordingly. It can lower brightness based on ambient light, turn the TV off when there's no signal and a few other less interesting things.

The sound settings give basic control, not nearly as extensive as the image setting capabilities. It allowed me to change the sound to the optimal settings for: movies, music and speech. And of course it has the surround mock-up setting, which I like. Last but not least the C8700 can normalize volume differences between channels. This can work but I kept it off because I never experience this problem much.

Normally you'd be done now but there's one more setting to worry about: 3D. Samsung has provided a wide array of tools to make the experience, especially the conversion system, as comfortable as possible. Settings include: generated depth, brightness and the way the system generates the 3D effect. I noticed that bigger depth in the settings can be really nice or really annoying. It all depended on how well the conversion worked in the first place.

So with my TV calibrated it was time for some real world tests. So I did what each family does... connect a 2TB HDD with 1080p content and hundreds of movies and TV series that I legally own. But before that I watched some regular television.

Testing

Now bear in mind that I don't have the equipment to do a scientific test. I just looked at real world material and calibrated the television using a method that every normal person uses.

First some general remarks about the testing process and findings. I watched content in three categories: SD, HD and gaming. I took my time and got a good look at different aspects of the image quality, especially motion, colors, black levels and general sharpness.

First my finding that applies to everything I watched. The viewing angles on this TV are disappointing. A small angle already resulted in a considerable loss of colors. Everything became tinted quite quickly. There's also some lightning uniformity. It's a problem that troubles every edge lit LEDs, basically the edges are more bright because the background light comes from the edges only. I didn't notice much during my tests, but it's there. Okay now for some real world testing starting with SD.

SD

First I connected a digital television receiver box onto the Samsung C8700. The signal was SD (720x480) and 50hz. The quality was okay from a distance. For the 46" model a distance of at least 7 feet (2,1 meters) is recommended. From up close the lack of pixels became painfully obvious. I also noticed that the television was unable to remove all graining without losing detail. Motion was handled well by the 200HZ engine, which means that the television makes motion smoother by placing more frames in between.

I searched for more SD materials and found an episode of Glee. Episode 21. It stumbled upon the same problem. The image wasn't very sharp and looked washed out. The missing pixels become a big pain. Again the same advice applies. Only try watching this from a distance! Students don't buy a 46" television for a one-room house, which some call home for lack of better.

Overall I was disappointed by the SD picture quality but it wasn't the Samsung C8700's fault. It's just very hard to display DVDs crisp on a panel of this size. It's watchable from a distance but don't get too close.

My second test was one for the future. Every thing we watch is converted to HD. This new higher standard equals more pixels and thus a better video quality. In fact we have so much faith in this technology that we're even converting old classics like Star Wars episode 4-6 and the Shining to the new platform. Remember though that a camera with ¼ the amount of pixels shot those movies. Which means that the extra dots need to appear from thin air - not possible. So I only tested HD movies filmed after 2007, modern movies.

HD

I started with Leap year. This new 2010 romantic comedy was the perfect candidate because of the beautiful scenery of Ireland. And boy was it beautiful. The Samsung C8700's local dimming system does a great job in generating impressive black levels. Black is really black on this television! Motion was also good as the scenery flashed by. It was really smooth. Some don't like this but I do. Leap year ended in a completely dark room. During the movie I couldn't notice that the television was adjusting its brightness dynamically and to be honest during the end I found the screen sometimes too bright. Not sure if the eco system really adjusted the LEDs accordingly.

Secondly I watched Avatar. This fast pace movie was perfect because it can really stress the Samsung and show any imperfections. Let me be honest there weren't many for me but could be for some. It all rests on the motion. It's buttery smooth and almost looks unreal because of it. Some will not like this but no matter the setting I used I couldn't get rid of it completely. I also noticed artifacts around some of the objects, but it wasn't a big deal as it only happened once. And I wouldn't have seen it if I was paying attention to the movie.

Color reproductions and black levels were again spot-on. Although I think that most full LED local dimming sets could do better, but that's only noticeable in a direct comparison environment. And it's not like your neighbor will buy one and install it right next to yours for showing. If someone experienced this please contact me and I'll remove that statement.

Blu-rays or legally owned 1080p content are amazing on this set and the real reason why someone would own a television of this caliber in the first place. Color reproduction is excellent and black-levels are spot on. Motion isn't always handled perfectly. I saw some artifacts and some people will find it unnatural no matter the settings. If you're one of those people than this can be your deal breaker!

Gaming

Gaming. We all do it, some admit it but few feel proud of it. I connected my PS3 to the Samsung C8700 to test gaming. Again I don't have the high-end stuff to measure input lag, this review represents what the naked eye sees.

First up was Need for Speed Shift. This new EA title was released in 2009 and marked a change for the series. Moving more towards the semi-simulation racer with great graphics and spectacular crashes. The Samsung C8700 held itself well during the tests. The color reproduction was good and the image remained crystal sharp despite only showing 1280x720 pixels. I did notice some input lag compared to my reference display, a 2ms TNT panel. But for me as a casual gamer I don't see this as a big issue.

LittleBigPlanet was tested next and the Samsung C8700 nailed it. Input lag was even less of an issue thanks to the slower paced game. The game showed better depth thanks to the sharpness and the size of the display. Further more I saw nothing unusual.

Last but not least was the game Resistance 2. This popular shooter sits high with the likes of Call of Duty and Battlefield Bad Company 2. My first impression wasn't too great with this title. I found the color tending a bit too much towards the yellows. And I found halos around some of the objects during heavy motion. I got rid of it after some tweaking, but it wasn't ideal.

Gaming was nice on the Samsung C8700 television. The big size really makes the experience more immersive. I did notice some input lag but it's not that big of a deal.

Glasses

Samsung doesn't provide glasses with the television. Costs are 70 - 130 $ depending on the model you choose. Your options are limited between Samsung rechargeable or non-rechargeable, the latter working on special batteries. Glasses from other manufacturers don't work.

For this test I used a set of non-rechargeable glasses. I found them to be average in both looks and comfort. They don't look as good as the more expensive rechargeable glasses. And I felt a pinch at the touching point near my ears. Moving the glasses as bit relieved the pain.

Samsung claims that the glasses can work over 100 hours with a single battery and those numbers are impressive. But despite that I have to advise everyone to go for rechargeable ones - at least for yourself. They're better looking, more comfortable and nobody wants to buy batteries these days. My family member decided to purchase 2 rechargeable for regular use and 3 non-rechargeable ones for guests.

Conversion

Samsung's biggest change for 2010 is 3D. It's not a surprising move; competitors like Sony have pushed it and everybody knew it was coming this year. But I still don't have any comparison because Samsung is the only one out there with a fully available 3D set. I've seen Sony's 3D engine a while back at a demonstration, but can't use it to compare because they were running special demos. For this part of the review I tried the special 2D to 3D conversion on a wide range of media. I couldn't test the native 3D engine because I don't own a 3D Blu-Ray player. Sony update the PS3 already!

The 2D to 3D conversion is very easy to use. There's a button on the remote saying 3D, press it and the real time converting begins. Further tweaks are possible in the menu, controlling things like depth simulation, color correction and so forth. For this test I kept everything at default because the depth simulation at maximum emphasized mistakes too much, and a lower value made the whole 3D experience an average experience. I started with SD.

Glee was a good test case. The busy hallways of overly stereotyped teens gave me the perfect opportunity to see if the Samsung C8700 is capable of aligning objects properly. And it was. People in the front 'popped out' a bit, while background students really remained in the back. Even with movement everything stayed fine. I can truly say that an episode of Glee is worth watching in 3D, despite a small loss of colors.

Next was a motion test. I played back a F1 race that I had recorded. F1 is like NASCAR but with corners and modern technology. It was raining and I was interested to see how timing graphics and cars would show. After ten minutes of viewing I was disappointed and forced to take off the glasses. All of this was because my glass of water was empty and I had to refill. After refilling the glasses stayed off because the fast moving cars were a pain to watch. Cars going from the right side of the screen towards the left weren't sharp and 'shook' heavily on the screen surface. The system clearly couldn't keep up with the fast pace. On a positive note: graphics were rightfully showed in front of the action, and the extra depth was exciting to watch at times. Just not when there were any fast moving cars around - Red Bull cars and such.

Commercials are never fun to watch, except when they're about a product you want to purchase. This has nothing to do with my third 3D test though, which was regular television. I'm sad to say that the C8700 made mistakes regularly when the commercials hit in. I found slogan text (buy cheese now) to pop out while the price remained in the background. On top of that some of the graphics weren't sharp. Overall the loss of brightness and the discomfort from the glasses made regular television not recommended for 3D conversion. Of course your mileage may vary, some shows lend themselves more to the system than others.

I popped Avatar in my PS3 and hit 3D on the remote. Mind you I haven't seen this movie in 3D in the cinemas so no reference there. Avatar looked amazing in 3D. The opening scene when the main character floats looks fantastic. Objects looked sharp, and the television made to mistakes in depth calculations. The only downside isn't really Samsung's fault but a compromise in the active shutter glasses technique. These darkened glasses work like sunglasses and remove some brightness when viewing 3D. This occurred in all the footage I saw.

Last but not least: gaming. I turned on my PS3 and started the titles I discussed earlier. I was again torn between good and bad experiences. LittleBigPlanet made no difference at all. But it does work in racing titles. Overall I felt the games were built up in 4 layers of depth, with nothing really coming out of the TV or sitting completely in the background. I found a lot of instances of crosstalk and that wasn't the only problem. Some of objects showed 'halos' around them, some weren't sharp and other weren't as far on the background as they needed to be. It made the experience very tiring and therefore I won't use it much. Native 3D games can change my mind but for now gaming in 3D is a no go, with the Samsung C8700 at least.

So here's what I think about the conversion system by Samsung. It works but your mileage may vary. Some of the television shows/movies don't work too great, especially with a lot of moving objects. I also found SD 3D way more frustrating than HD 3D, with the latter displaying very sharp textures and objects. Gaming for now is a no go with conversion, a nice gimmick that will not last. Also a no go is watching 3D in a resting position. You can't watch 3D with the glasses in a 90-degree angle. Doing so will result in a black screen. I'd like to stress that I wasn't able to test native 3D, so for now my opinion about 3D is subject to change.

Conclusions

Samsung did a terrific job with the C8700 LED television. Its design is beautiful and will please most buyers - but not all. Watching SD is a bit of a pain on the large screen so a few feet of viewing distance is advised. HD content looks excellent though, with great black levels and amazing color reproduction. But the overly smooth motion can annoy some and please others.

The 3D conversion system is very easy to use and can work great. Especially HD movies are converted well. Fast paced SD or gaming should stay into the 2D realm for now.

You can't really go wrong with the Samsung C8700. It's an excellent television but be prepared to overlook some minor flaws for this expensive silver piece of engineering brilliance.

I'm Robin Chung, author of the dutch book Tegenlicht. I have a website that brings interesting reading material from all kind of subjects like health and gaming. The website also includes a forum, so you can discuss the articles, and you can order my book from there.

http://www.robinchung.com

California's Hottest New Model

San Francisco- Cheri' Clark aka Frenchi, has hit Northern California by storm as the area's most popular teen model in the industry thus far this year. The sixteen year old green-eyed platinum beauty has become the hottest commodity in the local commercial market. Late last summer her modeling career was launched, quickly breaking through barriers and bringing her widespread recognition. Catching the eye of many of the Bay Area's exclusive photographers, she has indeed become the popular choice of models in the region. Cheri' has worked with the industry's top local professionals, and is currently being sought after by numerous agencies, clothing manufacturers and representatives in television industry. Portraying a clean cut all American teen, Frenchi has become a role model for young girls in California. It is this youthful image that has proven to be one of the major driving forces in her success in the industry.

Cheri' Clark will certainly continue to be one of the most sought after commercial models in Northern California. Currently, she has been introduced into the Los Angeles market where she is working with numerous advertising and entertainment professionals. It is in Southern California that she hopes to continue to capture and expand into the teen and young adult market, as well as further her career. Her new projects include fashion shows, voice-over/televsion work and brand advertising. She is also working with many established charities where she will be involved in raising revenue for those in need. Frenchi is by far the one up-and-coming model to watch for in the future.