Warren Knight

Nokia has decided to enter the PC market with a Windows-based machine it dubs the Booklet 3G.

The 1.24 kilogram machine gives a claimed 12 hours of batery life, is two centimeters thick and supports a number of Internet access options including 3G/HSPA and wi-fi.

The mini-laptop includes an HDMI port for HD video out, a built in camera for video calls, Bluetooth and an SD card reader.

Nokia is still being somewhat coy about the specs – it is holding onto those details until it holds its jamboree at Nokia World in early September.

The firm’s executive vice president for vices, Kai Oistamo, claimed that the Nokia Booklet 3G “is a natural evolution” for the company.

There’s no word yet on pricing.

Beijing, China – Four people have been jailed for up to three and a half years for selling pirate copies of Windows XP.

A court in Suzhou city in eastern China sentenced Hong Lei and Sun Xianzhong to three and a half years and fined them a million Yuan ($176,000). Two other people were jailed for two years and fined 100,000 Yuan.

State prosecutors said that the gang had offered free downloads of the operating system, making money from advertising and that more than ten million people had downloaded the software.

The company that ran the Tomato Garden site, Chengdu Gongruan Networking Technology, was fined 8.77 million yuan ($1.5 million) and ordered to hand over 2.92 million yuan ($510,000) of income.

The pirates were arrested after the US Business Software Alliance filed a complaint with the Chinese authorities about the site last June. Also last year, 11 people were sentenced to up to six and a half years in prison in Shenzhen for selling more than two billion dollars’ worth of fake Microsoft products.

On Friday, August 21, for the first time in New York Stock Exchange history, the trading floor community will dress down for business and wear Gap’s new 1969 Premium Jeans. Named in honor of Gap’s debut year, the 1969 Premium Jeans feature 12 core fits for women and men and were completely reworked and redesigned at every level with a major focus on fit, premium washes, and styles that accommodate different body types.

Later that day, Gap brand North America president Marka Hansen, along with board member Bob Fisher and fellow founding family members John Fisher and Bill Fisher will ring The Closing Bell remotely from the company’s headquarters in San Francisco.

“On August 21, 1969, Don and Doris Fisher opened a shop in San Francisco called Gap that sold jeans and records. Now Gap is one of the most iconic brands of our time and jeans have become the foundation of everyone’s wardrobe,” said Marka Hansen, president of Gap North America. “The fact that we’re dressing the New York Stock Exchange in jeans for the first time in history really speaks to the role that Gap has played in pop culture and in outfitting America in jeans for the past four decades.”

Yasmin Le Bon has collaborated on a capsule fashion range for Wallis. The 44 year-old beauty graced countless London catwalks before marrying Simon Le Bon and becoming a mother at the age of 24. Said Yasmin: “I have a great wardrobe, but I find it difficult to find clothes for my age: sexy and demure at the same time. When Philip Green asked me if I wanted to design my own collection for Wallis, I selfishly just designed a new wardrobe for my self!” WallisYasmin Le Bon is one of the original ‘supermodels’ with a successful career spanning three decades. She has worked with every top photographer from Mario Testino to Peter Lindeberg, aswell as appearing on the launch issue covers of American and British Elle magazine and more recently the cover of British Vogue magazine. This Autumn Winter Wallis launches an exciting new collaboration ‘YLB For Wallis’ with world renowned supermodel. This is the first time Yasmin has stepped away from modelling to design her own range of clothing and jewellery and Wallis is delighted to be working with Yasmin for her exclusive debut collection. YLB captures the essence of Yasmin, her Persian descent, her iconic style and love of vintage, for a timeless sophisticated collection. Yasmin has been involved in every stage of the project working alongside the Design and Creative teams at Wallis to create ‘a wardrobe I truly want for myself’. Yasmin says ‘I have so much admiration for what they do at Wallis, I can’t just put my name to something to me that’s completely meaningless, if I’m going to do something I’m going to be involved all the way and it’s been a fantastic learning curve’.” Comprising of 20 styles in various colour options, Yasmin’s collection ‘YLB for Wallis’ will be available to buy exclusively at www.wallis.co.uk from the 12 September 2009 and in Wallis top stores from the 15 September 2009.

New research exploring reasons behind shopping basket abandonment has revealed that 87% of consumers abandon online shopping baskets. But, according to the study conducted by digital marketers Amaze in conjunction with the University of Glasgow, 75% claimed they would return at a later date to complete the purchase — effectively using the basket as a wish list.

In fact, the researchers found, the pleasure of browsing without the pain of buying is a real phenomenon that online retailers would do well to take into consideration when developing the ecommerce side of websites.

The researchers looked into the psychology of online shoppers and identified the personalities of three types of online shopper — vague, cost conscious and window shoppers.

42% of shoppers were labelled as ‘vague’ because they seek more information from other people before completing the purchase and stated that they ‘wanted to think about it’ or ‘consult with someone first’. Cost conscious shoppers accounted for 42% of customers and often cited ‘high postage’ costs or ‘found the item cheaper elsewhere’ as reasons why they didn’t complete the purchase.

The research found 16% of people surveyed could be labelled as window shoppers, with no intention to purchase, and claims that these customers should be discounted from online retailers’ abandonment rates.

“While techniques can be used to convince ‘vague’ and ‘cost conscious’ shoppers to buy, it doesn’t matter what retailers offer the ‘window shopper’ type of customer; they are there to browse, not spend money,” says Amaze’s Tunde Cockshott. “They experience the pleasure of shopping but without the pain of paying.”

“Retailers can stop scratching their heads trying to work out why shopping baskets are being loaded up only to be left at the checkout because there’s nothing they can do except exclude these visitors from their abandonment figures,” Cockshott added.

Shopping basket abandonment was more common for books, movies and music, but less likely around more expensive items including clothing, jewellery, electrical and computing products, the researchers found.