Swatch - Introduction

Swatch is a brand name for a line of wrist watches from the Swatch Group. & has accelerated its acquisition of Swiss luxury brands in recent years. The Swatch Group owns the following brands: , Omega, Rado, Longines, Tissot, Calvin Klein, Pierre Bal-main, Hamilton, and Endura. In 1982, Swatch was conceived and it was introduced to the market in Switzerland in March 1983. In light of the economic state of the Swiss watch industry at the time of the introduction of the Swatch, its directors understood that it was not enough to offer a good watch. The watches needed to be attractive, cheeky and good fun, daring in design and aggressively priced, with high quality and innovative flair. The Swatch watches were high-tech and came in a variety of fashion and art design. The first meaning of the name "Swatch" was "Second Watch" -because the new watch was introduced with a new concept of watches as casual, fun, and relatively disposable accessories. However Franz Sprecher conceived it as the contraction of Swiss (Made) Watch: "S'Watch", soon became "Swatch" as it is today perceived worldwide.

Origin

This concept was realised in the early 1980s, under the leadership of then CEO, Ernst Thomke with a small team of enthusiastic watch engineers, who had had the idea to use the case back as a movement main plate, as it had been done to realize the flattest watch in the world, the , suppressing a lot of parts. And designed for easy assembling. Conceived at the beginning as a standard timekeeper in plastic, Franz Sprecher, a marketing consultant soon led the project into what it has become: a fun Brand with a full brand identity and marketing concept, instead of developing just another watch collection, which could have soon been matched & killed by the competition. Swatch was originally intended to re-capture entry level market share lost by Swiss manufacturers during the aggressive growth of Japanese companies such as Seiko in the 1960s and 1970s, and to re-popularize analog watches at a time when digital watches had achieved wide popularity. The launch of the new Swatch brand in 1983, was marked by bold new styling and design.

The first collection The first collection of twelve Swatch models was introduced on March 1, 1983 in Zrich, Switzerland. With an aggressive marketing campaign and a very reasonable price for a Swissmade watch, it gained instant popularity in its home market.

Synthetic materials were used for the watchcases as well as a new ultra-sonic welding process and the assembly technology. Compared

to conventional watches, a Swatch was 80% cheaper to produce by fully automating assembly and reducing the number of parts from the usual 91 or more to only 51 components. Popularity Swatches enjoyed their peak popularity during the mid-1980s. Such '80s fads included wearing two Swatches and using a Swatch as a ponytail band. Some models, like Pop Swatch, allowed wearers to attach Swatches directly to clothing. During this same time, Swatch introduced the idea of partnering with noted artists, including Keith Haring and others. Artist watches gave a new cachet to what had previously been a trendy youth article.

Product lines

There are five families under the swatch brand. The five families are Swatch Originals The Originals are plastic cased watches. They are available in various sizes, shapes and designs. Swatch Irony - The Irony family contains all the metal cased watches produced by swatch. They too come in different sizes and shapes. Swatch Skin - The skin family contains two sub families; which are Original Skin and Skin Chronograph. The original skin was introduced on October 6, 1997 as a thinner version of the original swatch watch. It is ultra thin, standing at 3.9 mm thin hence the name Swatch Skin. The swatch skin later went on to enter the Guinness world book of records as the worlds thinnest plastic watch. The Swatch Chronograph is just the swatch skin with a chronograph function. It has two additional buttons on the side of the watch. Swatch Beat - The beat family launched in 1998 and incorporated beat watches across the three existing family but adding twists. Swatch Beat is the digital line and integrate Internet Time. Swatch Bijoux - The bijoux line is the jewelry line that swatch released in the new millennium.. It partnered with Swarovski to encrust their bijoux line and watches.

Swatch irony

Swatch Bijoux

Product structure
Diversified offerings From the original cult plastic watches, Swatch has diversified its offerings considerably, and the company now sells more than a dozen different types of watches, including metal-bodied watches (the Irony series), diving watches (the Scuba series), thin and flat bodied watches (the Skin family) an Internet-connected watch that can download stock quotes, news headlines, weather reports, and other data (the Paparazzi series). They have now become fashionable objects, generating specialized models (the "Flik-Flak" for children, semi-automatic movements, and even diamond-decorated Swatches). The company also produces watches with seasonal themes.

A fashion statement
Also in the mid-1980s, mainstream Swatch fashion statements came about in the rising hip-hop scene with the introduction of various colored and interchangeable watch faces and wrist bands (made of vinyl). Colors included bright, day-glow and pastels. The key standard accessory was the Swatch Guard, a thin, rubber-band like strip that would stretch over the watch face.

Manish Arora swatch watch collection

Walkman -- origin

Walkman is Sony's portable audio cassette player brand, now used to market its portable audio and video players. The original Walkman introduced a change in music listening habits, allowing people to carry music with them. The device was built in 1978 by audio division engineer Nobutoshi Kihara for Sony co-chairman Akio Morita, who wanted to be able to listen to operas during his frequent transpacific plane trips The original Walkman was marketed in 1979 as the Walkman in Japan, the Soundabout in many other countries including the US, Freestyle in Sweden and the Stowaway in the UK. The names "Walkman", "Pressman", "Watchman", "Scoopman", "Discman", and "Talkman" are trademarks of Sony, and have been applied to a wide range of portable entertainment devices manufactured by the company. Sony continues to use the "Walkman" brand name for most of their portable audio devices, after the "Discman" name for CD players was dropped in the late 1990s. According to Sony, the plural form is "Walkman Personal Stereos", rather than "Walkmans" or "Walkmen"

Sony Walkman Official Logo (2000 present)

Sony Walkman WM-2 with plastic battery case and beltclip (1980).

Sony Walkman SRF-S84 transistor radio (released 2001), without earbuds Various products of the Walkman line

Cassette-based walkman

The original blue-and-silver Walkman model TPS-L2 (The first commercially available walkman.) went on sale in Japan on July 1, 1979. In the UK, it came with stereo playback and mini headphone jacks, permitting two people to listen at the same time Where the Pressman had the recording button, the Walkman had a "hotline" button which activated a small built-in microphone (the Pressman), partially overriding the sound from the cassette, and allowing one user to talk to the other over the music. The dual jacks and "hotline" button were phased out in the follow-up Walkman II model

CD Walkman (Discman)

The first CD based Walkman was initially launched in 1984 the D-50 (D-5 in some markets). It was officially called the 'Discman', and this name has since been used informally to refer to such players. In recent years, Sony has dropped the Discman name and markets all its personal stereos under the Walkman brand. Later Discman models featured ESP (Electronic Skip Protection), which pre-read the music from the CD into on-board memory and formed a type of buffer to prevent the CD skipping when the player was moved. The technology was since renamed 'G-Protection' and features a larger memory area, providing additional protection against skipping. For years, the Discman and MD Walkman were successes in the marketplace. However, newer technologies, such as flash memory and hard drivebased digital audio players have caused the CD- and MD-based Walkman to lose popularity. Sony still makes CD Walkmans the newer models are capable of playing ATRAC3, ATRAC3plus, and MP3 CDs, and have become progressively thinner and more compact with each revision.

Mini Disc Walkman

Initially the MiniDisc was comparable to a miniaturised CD, capable of storing up to 74 minutes of near CD-quality audio on a disc roughly two-thirds the size of a CD. Today MiniDiscs can hold data files as well as music, with the ability to record and reproduce audio in CD-quality MiniDiscs come in a plastic caddy protecting the disc's surface from dust and scratches. MiniDisc Walkmans are able to play and record MiniDiscs from digital and analogue sources, such as live audio from their microphone inputs.

Video Walkman

The Sony GV-8 Video Walkman was introduced in 1989. It played Video 8 format tape cassettes, showing them on a 3 inch diagonal color screen. It included a TV receiver and channels. It was 5 x 8 x 2 1/2 inches and weighed two and a half pounds. The rechargeable battery lasted from 45 minutes to one hour depending on usage.

Walkman MP3 player

Some hardware changes include the exclusion of stick remote control and the usage of new connector for charging, accessories and data transferring. Starting with the NW-S series, Walkmans feature Sony's new proprietary port called WMPORT which is a USB 2.0 compliant 22-pin connector. Another notable hardware change is a color screen which can display album art. These models also use new power management features which give the device a three-hour battery life after only three minutes of charging. NW-A series models still use the previous connector and can still use the stick remote control.

Walkman Video MP3 Player

Walkman Video MP3 Player combined the music playback capability of current Walkman MP3 Player line with video.

Mobile Phones

A mobile phone or mobile (also called cellphone and handphone,[ as well as cell phone, wireless phone, cellular phone, cellular device, cell, cellular telephone, mobile telephone or cell telephone) is a long-range, electronic device used for mobile telecommunications (mobile telephony, text messaging, email or data transmission) over a cellular network of specialized base stations known as cell sites. Also haveaccess to the Internet, gaming, Bluetooth, infrared, camera with video recorder and MMS for sending and receiving photos and video, MP3 player, radio and GPS

Hand Sets

There are several categories of mobile phones, from basic phones to feature phones such as musicphones and cameraphones. There are also smartphones, the first smartphone was the Nokia 9000 Communicator in 1996 which incorporated PDA functionality to the basic mobile phone at the time. As miniaturisation and increased processing power of microchips has enabled ever more features to be added to phones, the concept of the smartphone has evolved, and what was a high-end smartphone five years ago, is a standard phone today. Several phone series have been introduced to address a given market segment, such as the RIM BlackBerry focusing on enterprise/corporate customer email needs; the SonyEricsson Walkman series of musicphones and Cybershot series of cameraphones; the Nokia N-Series of multimedia phones; and the Apple iPhone which provides full-featured web access and multimedia capabilities.

Related systems

Car phone A type of telephone permanently mounted in a vehicle, these often have more powerful transmitters, an external antenna and loudspeaker for handsfree use. They usually connect to the same networks as regular mobile phones. Cordless telephone (portable phone) Cordless phones are telephones which use one or more radio handsets in place of a wired handset. The handsets connect wirelessly to a base station, which in turn connects to a conventional land line for calling. Unlike mobile phones, cordless phones use private base stations (belonging to the land-line subscriber), and which are not shared Radio phone This is a term which covers radios which could connect into the telephone network. These phones may not be mobile; for example, they may require a mains power supply, they may require the assistance of a human operator to set up A phone call. Satellite phone This type of phone communicates directly with an artificial satellite, which in turn relays calls to a base station or another satellite phone. A single satellite can provide coverage to a much greater area than terrestrial base stations. Since satellite phones are costly, their use is typically limited to people in remote areas where no mobile phone coverage exists, such as mountain climbers, mariners in the open sea, and news reporters at disaster sites. IP Phone This type of phone delivers calls over wireless internet networks. Several vendors have developed standalone WiFi phones. Additionally, some cellular mobile phones include the ability to place VoIP calls over cellular high speed data networks and/or wireless internet.

Market

In Q3/2008, Nokia was the world's largest manufacturer of mobile phones, with a global device market share of 39.4%, followed by Samsung (17.3%), Sony Ericsson (8.6%), Motorola (8.5%) and LG Electronics (7.7%). These manufacturers accounted for over 80% of all mobile phones sold at that time. Other manufacturers include Apple Inc., Audiovox (now UTStarcom), Benefon, BenQ-Siemens, CECT, High Tech Computer Corporation (HTC), Fujitsu, Kyocera, Mitsubishi Electric, NEC, Neonode, Panasonic, Palm, Matsushita, Pantech Wireless Inc., Philips, Qualcomm Inc., Research in Motion Ltd. (RIM), Sagem, Sanyo, Sharp, Siemens, Sendo, Sierra Wireless, SK Teletech, T&A Alcatel, Huawei, Trium and Toshiba.There are also specialist communication systems related to (but distinct from) mobile phones.

NOKIA

Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki.[4] Nokia is engaged in the manufacturing of mobile devices and in converging Internet and communications industries, with 128,445 employees in 120 countries, sales in more than 150 countries and global annual revenue of EUR 50.7 billion and operating profit of 5.0 billion as of 2008.[1][2] It is the world's largest manufacturer of mobile telephones: its global device market share was about 38% in Q2 2009, down from 40% in Q2 2008 and up from 37% in Q1 2009g Nokia produces mobile devices for every major market segment and protocol, including GSM, CDMA, and W-CDMA (UMTS). Nokia offers Internet services that enable people to experience music, maps, media, messaging and games. Nokia's subsidiary Nokia Siemens Networks produces telecommunications network equipment, solutions and services.[5] The company is also engaged in providing digital map information through its wholly-owned subsidiary

Milestones and releases

Nokia opened its, mobile phone factory on May 5, 2000 IN HUNGARY In May 2007, Nokia announced that its Nokia 1100 handset, launched in 2003, with over 200 million units shipped, was the best-selling mobile phone of all time and the world's top-selling consumer electronics product. In November 2007, Nokia announced and released the Nokia N82, its first (and currently, only) Nseries phone with Xenon flash. At the Nokia World conference in December 2007, Nokia announced their "Comes With Music" program: Nokia device buyers are to receive a year of complimentary access to music downloads.The service became commercially available in the second half of 2008. In 2008, Nokia released the Nokia E71 which was marketed to directly compete with the other BlackBerry devices offering a full keyboard and cheaper prices. Nokia announced in August 2009 that they will be selling a high-end Windowsbased mini laptop called the Nokia Booklet 3G. On Sep 03, 2009, Nokia launched two new music and social networking phones, X6 and X3. The Nokia X3 is a music device that comes with stereo speakers, built-in FM radio, and a 3.2 megapixel camera. On Sep 11, 2009, Nokia unveiled a new handset 7705 Twist, a phone with a sports square shape that swivels open to reveal a full QWERTY keypad. The new mobile, which will be available through Verizon Wireless, features a 3mp camera, web browsing, voice commands and weighs around 3.44 ounces.

My Nokia Nokia offers a free personalised service to its subscribers called My Nokia (located at my.nokia.com).egistered My Nokia users can avail free services as follows: Tips & tricks alerts through web, e-mail and also mobile text message. My Nokia Backup: A free online backup service for mobile contacts, calendar logs and also various other files. This service needs GPRS connection. Numerous ringtones, wallpapers, screensavers, games and other things can be downloaded free of cost. Comes With Music On December 4, 2007, Nokia unveiled their plans for the "Nokia Comes With Music" initiative, a program that would partner with Universal Music Group International,Sony BMG, Warner Music Group, and EMI as well as hundreds of Independent labels and music aggregators to bundle 12, 18, or 24 months worth of unlimited free music downloads with the purchase of a Nokia Comes With Music edition phone. Nokia Messaging On August 13, 2008, Nokia launched a beta release of "Nokia Email service", a new push e-mail service, since graduated as part of Nokia Messaging. Nokia Messaging operates as a centralised, hosted service that acts as a proxy between the Nokia Messaging client and the user's e-mail server. It does not allow for a direct connection between the phone and the e-mail server, and is therefore required to send e-mail credentials to Nokia's servers.

Nike Greak goddess of Victory

Head quartered in Beaverton, Oregaon, present in 120 countries, Employing 30,000 people, Fortune 500 company. Founded in 1964 by Bill Bowerman & Phillip Knight , officially named Nike in yr. 1978. Famous slogan Just do it Breathable Sports Wear

Nike

Sportswear (or Active attire) is clothing, including footwear, worn for sport or exercise. Typical sport-specific garments include shorts, tracksuits, T-shirts, polo shirts and trainers. Specialised garments include wet suits and salopettes. It also includes some underwear, such as the jockstrap. Sportswear is also often worn as casual fashion clothing. Lightweight, Should not restrict movement, Should be climate friendly, Protective in function Nike worlds largest supplier in Shoes & Apparel