Tecway the FEC (Family Entertainment Center) game machine developer based in Taiwan exhibited recently at the GTI exhibition in Taipei. The company exhibited many new and exciting products and welcomed visitors from Throuhghout Asia, Europe, South America and Africa.
New products included: Juice Hoop the new Childrens Basketball game, Pong Pong prize vending machine, Fancy Bowling and Power Strike bowling / midway game.
Pictured are Ray Hsieh the company's Managing Director, Emily Wang and Neal Barrington from YourGuide.
The underwater world of Bikini Bottom - home to the cartoon anti-hero Spongebob Squarepants is causing another storm in UK arcades.
Harry Levy Amusements has already shipped out one container of the redemption game called Spongebob Jellyfishing, which is an additional piece to the original Spongebob Squarepants, which has been such a hit for the company.
The machine takes on the classic skill-stop format, as players aim to stop Spongebob's arm on the highest possible ticket payout on the playfield. As with the other Spongebob redemption piece from Harry Levy, the game is housed in an attractive cabinet, featuring the colourful characters from the popular cartoon and audio samples from the original soundtrack. "Spongebob seemed to capture kids' imaginations and was one of our best-selling redemption pieces of the past year," says Gary Newman, sales director at Harry Levy. "We are really pleased that the new machine is also doing exceptionally well."
11/07/06 - Merit and Hong Kong Customs Crackdown on Piracy
Merit Entertainment has announced that the Hong Kong Customs and Excise raided a Kowloon, Hong Kong business on June 28, 2006, where they arrested one employee and seized 32 illegal copies of Merit's 2005 and 2006 Force video games.
"Hong Kong Customs is regarded as one of the best law enforcement agencies in the world, and Merit Entertainment appreciates their swift and positive action. I had the pleasure of working with Customs in the early and mid 90's. It was a pleasure to work with them again," said Bob Fay, Merit's Director of Government Relations. Fay also praised the work of Hong Kong based law firm Baker & McKenzie, which coordinated the investigations and raids on behalf of Merit.
The raids culminated a three-month investigation into the illegal distribution of Merit's 2005 and 2006 Force video games. Fay also stated that the Hong Kong company is one of the largest distributors of copy Merit products, and that their illegal activities violated Merit's intellectual property rights. The evidence seized will be the basis for criminal charges under Hong Kong's Trade Descriptions Ordinance.
"We will continue to protect our distributors and operators, who have invested their money in Merit products, from unscrupulous counterfeit dealers," said Dave Logan, Merit's CEO. "We are proud to help secure the industry that we worked hard with operators and distributors to build." "This police action will be the first of several that are likely to happen worldwide in the months ahead," Fay added. "Individuals who copy, distribute, or operate Merit copies should be aware that Merit is serious about protecting their intellectual property rights, and will take aggressive actions worldwide to eliminate Merit copies in the marketplace."
For more than 27 years, Merit has ensured long-term return on investment for operators by providing continually high-earning equipment along with updates and upgrades for its products. With an installed base of over 250,000 touch-screen games garnering nearly 4.6 billion plays per year, Merit Entertainment is the worldwide leader in touch-screen entertainment devices. Merit Entertainment products appear globally in a wide array of venues and appeal to an almost limitless demographic. Merit continues to expand its position in the industry with ever-increasing entertainment, content, and new games. The company maintains a Web site with all the latest information at www.meritind.com.
4/7/06 - EUROPE FALLS BEHIND USA AND ASIA PACIFIC IN TAKE UP OF NEW TECHNOLOGY
KioskCom Europe 2006 to demonstrate how businesses can transform the cost of sale and improve customer service through the use of self-service kiosk technology
In order to have competitive advantage, there is a growing need for businesses across every sector to reduce costs. Whilst American and Asian companies are embracing new self-service kiosk technology to boost revenue, improve customer service and support new channels to market, their European counterparts appear reluctant to get on board.
In the US, the market for kiosk technology is set to grow 39% in 2006 compared to only 15% in Europe. In the UK, kiosks are starting to make an appearance; cinemas, for example, increasingly offer self-service ticket systems for those who have already paid online or via the telephone, using the machine to validate identity. Yet, many European businesses are still failing to adopt the self-service technologies, such as self-service food ordering devices, that are increasingly standard across the US and Asia Pacific.
This year's launch event for the UK and Europe, KioskCom Europe 2006 (www.kioskcomeurope.co.uk), is designed to demonstrate the value of point-of-service, point-of-information and point-of-sale self-service solutions. A combined Expo, strategic conference and kiosk 'test drive' area, will provide education on how to deploy, manage and maintain these new, fast growing channels and services.
Phil Hunter, Managing Director of KioskCom Europe 2006, explains, "The UK may be a nation of queuers; but in an increasingly demanding consumer society, perhaps no longer a nation of happy queuers. It is hard to measure the cost of lost sales and disgruntled customers who fail to return but every consumer-based organisation recognises the problem associated with poor customer throughput. Furthermore, given the switch to Chip & PIN technology, the sales assistant's role has, in many cases, been reduced to little more than supervising the consumer transaction."
"The reasons for self-service technology adoption are evident: self-service technology saves money, reduces costs and improves customer service," he adds. "The adoption may well be slow but, if tackled appropriately, will be sure. And, once in place, self-service offers organisations extraordinary opportunities to transform the process of direct consumer interaction."
Kioskcom Europe draws upon a 10 year history of successful events in the USA. The two-day event, 8-9 November at London's Olympia, will bring together industry professionals to discuss how European companies can take advantage of self-service kiosk technology to increase profitability, create long-term revenue generating opportunities, and increase customer loyalty.
Hunter concludes, "If the consumer - especially the queue loving British consumer - is to be encouraged to self-serve, organisations need to take a long term training stance towards encouraging adoption. It may go against the national grain but self-service is a global trend; failing to follow suit will fundamentally constrain competitive position."
Alberici Spa is constantly innovating their range of products, as well as their organization structure and premises. Working in a proper environment makes a proper product: a way of saying that, the Company believes, reflects reality. Alberici is growing in terms of staff, of internal organization and of working spaces. - The refurbishing of the Company head office is now being completed: a new window-paneled façade houses enlarged offices, show-room and meeting rooms. Furthermore, new premises have been built for the technical department and for the tests laboratories. New specialists too have joined the staff in strategic functions: design, sales and marketing. The staff increase has involved also a change in the organization of procedures, pushing ahead the process of improving lean flow-practice.
New quality staff, new quality premises - generate new products quality.
