Business News Holding

Tag: appointments

  • XStreamHD Strengthens Pre-Launch Executive Team


    XStreamHD has boosted its executive team ahead of a national launch with the appointment of Jude Panetta as vice president of operations and Jack Wrigley as vice president of business development.

    The direct-to-home Full HD transport network company is to launch later this year, offering 1080p images and 7.1 surround sound through a USD $400 box.

    George Gonzalez, XStreamHD founder and CEO, said the new appointments will play important roles in its launch.

    He said their past experiences in the satellite communications and the HD music industries would be invaluable.

    "Jude will lead our efforts to commercialize products that consistently exceed customer expectation," he said. "Jack will be instrumental in building strategic business alliances for XStreamHD."

    George Gonzalez, XStreamHD founder and CEO

    Prior to joining XStreamHD, Panetta held senior executive roles at business units with communications systems manufacturer Andrew Corporation.

    Before joining XStreamHD, Wrigley served as VP of sales at HDGiants.

    MusicGiants, a unit of HDGiants, was the first digital download service to offer high definition music direct-to-consumers from all of the major music labels including Sony Music Group, Universal Music Group, EMI, Concord Music Group and Naxos.

    Wrigley drove substantial sales volume increases, while successfully introducing new product offerings.

  • Palm Announces Successor To CFO Andy Brown


    Palm has announced that Douglas C. Jeffries has been appointed as the company’s Chief Financial Officer.

    Previously chief accounting officer at eBay, Jeffries will join Palm in January as replacement for Andy Brown.

    In addition to his role as chief accounting officer at eBay, Jeffries has held financial and information technology leadership roles at GenCorp, Red Herring Communications and Cardinal Health. Jeffries began his career at Price Waterhouse, is a CPA and holds an MBA from the University of Southern California.

    The executive changes come as Palm is about to launch what is being widely seen as the key to its future – a smartphone platform called Nova.

    It is also releasing an App Store for its Palm OS and Windows Mobile-based smartphones along the lines of Apple and Google’s software ventures.

    The beleaguered handset maker is beset by falling sales as it struggles in the smartphone market.

    In mid-2007, Palm hired Jon Rubenstein, formerly an Apple product development specialist who led development on the iMac and iPod, to help revive its fortunes.

    Rubenstein has said that Nova will bridge the market between enterprise-oriented BlackBerry devices from Research In Motion and more consumer-centric ones like Apple’s iPhone 3G.

  • Wyless Appoints New Group CEO


    Wyless Group Holding announced this week that Rami Avidan was appointed group CEO as of 1 November 2008.

    Avidan has acted as a non-executive board director of Wyless Group for several years.

    As Group CEO he will have direct responsibility for all Wyless operations globally. Mr. Avidan previously served as COO of Cryptzone AB, a Swedish listed company.

    Michael Jeffries, chairman of Wyless plc, welcomed Avidan to the business.

    “His professional and industry experience will be invaluable in taking the Wyless business to the next level,” he said.

    Wyless Group Holding is the parent company of the expanding Wyless Mobile Data Network Group, with offices in the UK, Boston, Gothenburg and Malaga.

    Wyless, an international wireless data communications group, pioneered, developed and manages a global wireless data network, which enables organizations to securely and reliably communicate with their remote and mobile devices in over 120 countries, using a single network provider.