Showing posts with label Innovation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Innovation. Show all posts

Innovation Takes Lancashire's Forrest & Jones Into New League



INNOVATION has been the key to continued growth for Preston-based magnetic wall-covering pioneers Forrest & Jones despite the nation’s on-going economic challenges, according to the company’s founder and Managing Director Gareth Jones.

While others have cut-back and concentrated on steering themselves through the economic slow-down, the directors at Forrest & Jones have launched three new and innovative product ranges that have caught the attention – and the imaginations of designers.


‘Magalomania’, a unique magnetic design system that can transform a wall into an aesthetically pleasing surface, that is also an effective and flexible education tool, is aimed at children’s nurseries, schools, playbarns and healthcare centres.


SwitchScene is a new magnetic display system using the latest innovations in removable and re-usable magnetic graphics which has sparked excitement in the advertising and retail sectors.


Seamless Wallpaper is a PVC free, tough, polyester woven fabric that can be produced up to five metres high and by any length required and which boasts a pin-sharp print quality. It is proving to be a hit with designers who don’t want to see the joins.


“We have a wealth of experience in the wallpaper and wall coverings business,” said MD Mr Jones, speaking from his office in Garstang Road, Broughton. “My fellow director Mark Forrest and I have been involved in the industry for many years, so we really do know what this business is about.


“That’s why our team has been able to come up with new ideas like ‘Magalomania’ and ‘SwitchScene’ because in addition to having the technical know-how to create the product, we also understand the market place well enough to predict whether there will be sufficient demand.


“Magalomania has already been taken up by the Lake District National Park. A Magalomania wall has been created at the South Lakes Visitor Centre at Brockhole and SwitchScene has been snapped up by a number of customers across the North West.”


Mark Forrest, who later this year will celebrate four decades in the wallpaper and wall covering industry said: “We are so confident in our new products that we have invested heavily in new state-of-the-art printing machinery here at our base in Broughton. We really are ready for more growth.”


Gareth said he believed that early signs of an increasing sense of positivity in the business community would continue.


“Here at Forrest & Jones, we’ve got every faith in our new range of products,” he added. “We’re ready and fully prepared for growing demand.”


For further information about Forrest & Jones click onto: www.forrestandjones.com.


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Intel App Innovation Software Contest Challenges Developers to Get Creative



CodeProject has announced its newest contest, the Intel App Innovation Contest (AIC) 2013, with over $100,000 in cash prizes.  The global competition, which ends on November 20, is sponsored by Intel and co-sponsored by Lenovo.  Application developers submit their most innovative Windows 8 tablet and all-in-one desktop app ideas to compete in a three-round challenge to win big and gain recognition in the international developer community.

Are you up for the challenge? Here’s how to enter:


Round 1: Developers must submit their best Windows 8 Desktop App ideas in one of the following six categories: Education, Entertainment, Finance, Games, Healthcare and Retail.  CodeProject will then select up to 125 finalists who will receive a Lenovo Windows 8 device and move on to Round 2 where they will compete against each other and up to 375 other finalists from international developer communities including India, China, and Russia.


Round 2: The finalists from all four of the developer communities will receive a new Windows 8 device from Intel to code, develop, and optimize their app, turning their idea into reality. The lucky finalists will also get a chance to submit a short demo and pitch their app to the Intel judges for final evaluation.


Round 3: The Intel Judges will choose five apps from each of the six categories to go on to the final round where celebrity and Intel judges will announce the winners.


The grand prize for the most innovative application is $20,000.  Prizes of $10,000 will be awarded to each platform and category winner.  Winners will also be showcased in Intel’s Developer Zone newsletter.


For more information, visit the Intel Innovation App Contest 2013 page (http://www.codeproject.com/Competitions/660/Intel-AppInno...) on CodeProject here http://www.codeproject.com/Competitions/660/Intel-AppInnovation-Contest-2013.


About CodeProject:


CodeProject, a member of the Developer Media network, is one of the world’s largest independent communities of developers. It’s built with the simple goal of helping to make a developer’s day-to-day life easier and to teach them the skills they need. CodeProject has over ten million members and tens of thousands of articles.  Formed to provide developers with a place to meet and exchange ideas, CodeProject provides developers with the resources they need to help them with their day-to-day programming as well as keep up-to-date with the latest technologies .NET development.


About Developer Media:


Founded in 1998, Developer Media is the world’s largest developer-focused advertising network with over 23 million unique professional developers visiting its sites each month.  Developer Media represents over 400 influential websites, online communities, blogs and publishers serving the software and app development market. It delivers innovative ad solutions to help tech marketers reach developers directly. From ad campaigns to custom multi-channel marketing and thought leadership programs spanning paid, owned and earned media, Developer Media’s reach, expertise and service help technology vendors and advertisers find their next customer. Developer Media sites provide the latest how-to information, trends and news covering such technology giants as Intel, Microsoft, Google, and Apple. More at: http://www.developermedia.com.


For more information, please contact


Carrie Davis-Sydor
Director of Marketing and Business Development
carrie@developermedia.com
416-849-8900 ext. 501


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Global Product Management Talk On The Innovation Imperative



Innovation is an ongoing economic imperative that calls for more people to be innovating, more often. A key ingredient to successful innovation is the everyday practice of Human-Centered Design—the discipline of developing solutions in the service of people.  The discipline of Human-Centered Design combines three essential skills: Looking, Understanding and Making.

Chris Pacione, CEO, LUMA Institute, will chat with host, Cindy F. Solomon, on Monday, April 8, 2013 at the simultaneous times of 10:00 AM Pacific Time, 11:00 AM MST Denver, 12:00 Noon CST Chicago, and 1:00 PM EST Boston. Participants are welcome to listen live at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/prodmgmttalk, call in to talk on the show (323) 927-2957 and to participate on Twitter by following @ProdMgmtTalk and tweeting using the hashtag #ProdMgmttalk


"LUMA is delighted to connect with the Global Product Management Talk community. Innovation is tough stuff! So cultural exchanges like this provide a much needed platform for dialog and the sharing of different approaches. This helps us all," says Chris Pacione.


The Global Product Management Talk features an expert guest talking with Cindy F. Solomon and Twitter participants broadcast live over BlogTalkRadio. The transcript of Tweets and podcast are available following the event for on-demand consumption on the web, iTunes, Google Play and mobile devices. More information available at http://www.prodmgmttalk.com Get reminders and listen live by following http://www.blogtalkradio.com/prodmgmttalk


About Chris Pacione:


As a Co-Founder and CEO of LUMA Institute, Chris leads a highly skilled, multidisciplinary team of practitioners located around the world who are passionate about preparing organizations to be more innovative. He is a frequent speaker on the topic of design and innovation in the US, Europe and Asia and is co-author of the book, “Innovating for People”. Prior to LUMA Institute, Chris co-founded BodyMedia, Inc., one of the early pioneers in wearable health monitoring, and headed up experience design and customer marketing.


Chris’s work has been cited in numerous national and international publications including Business Week, the NY times, Wired Magazine and Fast Company as well as several popular books about design and innovation including “In the Bubble: Designing in a Complex World” and “The Design of Things to Come: How Ordinary People Create Extraordinary Products.” He holds several IDEA Gold Medal Awards sponsored by Business Week and the Industrial Designers Society of America and has been awarded numerous US and EU patents for his work.
 


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