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TMCNet: Our Subscribers Know First!! WZE,DRYS,EBIX,FINL,GRMN

[November 05, 2009]

Our Subscribers Know First!! WZE,DRYS,EBIX,FINL,GRMN

(M2 PressWIRE Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) STOCK MARKETING INC PRESENTS : (NYSE: WZE - Wizzard Software Corp.) (NASDAQ: DRYS - DryShips, Inc.) (NASDAQ: EBIX - Ebix, Inc.) (NASDAQ: FINL - Finish Line, Inc. (THE)) (NASDAQ: GRMN - Garmin Ltd.) www.StockMarketingInc.com To sign up for our free Profiles & Alerts :: visit http://www.StockMarketingInc.com email us!! info@StockMarketingInc.com or call 1-866-583-8960 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (NYSE: WZE - Wizzard Software Corp.) LATEST NEWS!! Wizzard Media Launches 24 New iPhone Apps PITTSBURGH, Nov 05, 2009 -- Wizzard Media (NYSE Amex: WZE), the world's largest podcasting network, today announced the launch of 24 new iPhone(R) Apps available for sale in the App store including Investors Business Daily Editorials and Alaska HDTV. The average price for the new Apps is $1.99.

The newly launched Apps are iPhone companion Apps for popular podcasts on the Wizzard Media Network, offering audiences one-click access to the podcast directly on their iPhone or iPod Touch(R), bonus content and new social communication features creating an unprecedented level of audience engagement.

Wizzard recently announced 2009 third quarter network numbers of 12,281 podcasts downloaded 332 million times in the quarter by over 18 million unique monthly audience members. Approximately 70% of the audience for podcasts subscribe through iTunes(R) from which users download podcasts for their iPhone and iPod(R). Until recently, Wizzard's only means to derive revenues was through podcast publishing services as well as advertising sales.

With the launch of the iPhone App store in iTunes, Wizzard created a unique iPhone App that can be quickly customized for each podcast and allows podcast publishers to generate a new revenue stream by marketing their own iPhone App directly to their audience. Wizzard shares in this revenue with the podcast publisher. Now, with Wizzard's unique podcast companion App for the iPhone, participating podcasts can market their customized App to their audience and then drive future reoccurring episode and subscription sales through a process called in-App purchasing.

Analysts project the App market to be a $1.0 billion market today, headed for $4.0 billion by 2012. With the holiday season approaching and the recent launch of the iPhone in China, Wizzard's Management believes the number of people using iPhones and iPod Touches to consume podcasts and interact with Apps will continue to grow well beyond the current 50 million user base.

Having launched the first podcast App only 95 days ago, Wizzard Media already has launched 70 iPhone Apps with 60 more Apps awaiting approval. Additionally, Wizzard has exclusively licensed 12 high quality, game type Apps and is currently marketing them through targeted podcasts across the Wizzard Media Network. Select podcast Apps on the Wizzard Network have already helped to convert approximately 15% of their audience from free, to paid, in the first 75 days since launch.

"We think our podcast companion App initiative is a game changer for the podcasting industry. We believe the next great opportunity on the web for media is the seamless combination of three trends -- publishing services, advertising and micropayments for App sales," says Dave Mansueto, co-founder Wizzard Media. "Now, podcasting becomes a platform that converts audiences to revenue, accelerated by the micropayment billing process that Apple has created with the App store. We believe this new process is the model for how digital media is published, audiences are grown and revenues derived." "We know there is strong demand for the podcasts we distribute seeing downloads grow from 400 million to well over 1 billion in the last three years and monthly audiences grow from 4 million to 18 million," says Laurie Sims, President of Wizzard Media. "Now that we have a method to charge for podcast content and subscriptions, we believe there is dramatic change ahead for the podcast industry. Unlike most Apps in the App store, podcasters have a distinct advantage to successfully market their App in iTunes due to the fact that they have already built a substantial audience for their product through iTunes." About Wizzard Media: Wizzard Media provides publishing and distribution services to podcasters and monetization services for podcasters. Wizzard Media is the industry's leading podcasting network with an unprecedented 1.2 billion download requests in 2008. Podcasts are a means for independent and professional content creators to publish audio and video shows for the world to enjoy over the Internet or on mp3 players, such as the Apple iPod(R), iPhone(R) and the Microsoft Zune(R). Podcasting is a relatively new phenomenon, but Wizzard Media collectively broadcasts millions of podcast downloads per day through media aggregators like Apple's iTunes and Microsoft's Zune Marketplace. For more information, please visit www.wizzardsoftware.com/media . Wizzard Media is a division of Wizzard Software, a leader in speech technology distribution and development.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (NASDAQ: DRYS - DryShips, Inc.) LATEST NEWS!! DryShips Announces It Has Reached Agreement With Commerzbank and West LB on Waiver Terms for $70 Million of Debt ATHENS, GREECE, Nov 04, 2009 -- DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) (the "Company" or "Dryships"), a global provider of marine transportation services for drybulk cargoes and off-shore contract drilling oil services, announced today that it has signed an agreement with Commerzbank and West LB on waiver terms for $70 million of our outstanding debt. This agreement is subject to customary documentation.

George Economou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented: "We are pleased to have reached an agreement with Commerzbank and West LB. We are now left with two facilities with aggregate outstanding debt of $117.5 million, where waiver agreements are close to finalization." About DryShips Inc.

DryShips Inc., based in Greece, is an owner and operator of drybulk carriers and offshore oil deep water drilling that operate worldwide. As of the day of this release, DryShips owns a fleet of 39 drybulk carriers comprising 7 Capesize, 30 Panamax and 2 Supramax, with a combined deadweight tonnage of over 3.4 million tons, 2 ultra deep water semisubmersible drilling rigs and 4 ultra deep water newbuilding drillships.

DryShips Inc.'s common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Global Market where trades under the symbol "DRYS." Visit our website at www.dryships.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (NASDAQ: EBIX - Ebix, Inc.) LATEST NEWS!! Ebix Announces Unified Ebix CRM Division for On-Demand CRM and further Enhanced Integration of LifeSpeed and AnnuityNet ATLANTA, Nov 04, 2009 -- Ebix, Inc. (NASDAQ: EBIX), a leading international supplier of On-Demand software and E-commerce services to the insurance industry, announced today that it has created a new business unit focused on CRM services to life insurance agents, advisors and insurance companies. Called Ebix CRM, this new division consists of California-based E-Z Data, Inc. which will continue to provide superior customer value and a simplified user experience under the new Ebix CRM name.

Through E-Z Data offerings and the SmartOffice(R) solution, Ebix CRM currently services many of the top 20 Fortune 500(R) life insurance companies, leading broker dealers, while being a clear leader in the Life CRM space in the United States. Ebix now offers more customer value through the only combination of insurance focused CRM unified with electronic transaction capabilities for Life Insurance and Annuities.

Ebix CRM will focus on improving seamless workflows and integrations with other EbixExchange products, such as LifeSpeed, AnnuityNet, WinFlex and Vital Sales Suite. It will also support existing integrations with WinFlex Web and Data Exchange to continue to provide SmartOffice users with the ability to leverage customer data within SmartOffice to create illustrations, launch new business application processing and aggregate customer service data from a wide range of participating life insurance companies.

The integration between SmartOffice and EbixExchange solutions helps deliver fast, efficient client service for both insurance manufacturers and distributors by improving workflow and reducing the rework associated with outmoded data entry. SmartOffice users can easily launch these bundled EbixExchange applications and populate the associated fields with contact, family, and financial information from within SmartOffice.

Ebix CRM customers can now have the ability to move seamlessly from CRM to Life Insurance Illustration to Life Application. Similarly, users can also move from CRM to Annuity processing, all in good order while cutting processing time and reducing back office costs and mailing costs. Rapid improvement in IGO (In Good Order) rates and reduced redundant data entry helps shrink the risk of litigation and FINRA issues as well.

The centerpiece of customer value is achieved through bundling SmartOffice with LifeSpeed and AnnuityNet for expanded operational efficiencies. The ability to manage clients and mine data to define service needs and sales opportunities in SmartOffice coupled with transacting new business in LifeSpeed and AnnuityNet provides superior opportunity to grow an agency or brokerage.

The new Ebix CRM division will be headed by Senior Vice President Dale Okuno and will be headquartered in Pasadena, California. Existing products and support methods will continue as previously managed with strong commitment. In order to make Ebix CRM and EbixExchange easy to work with, all integrated sales activities will be headed by Dan Delity, SVP and Division Head of EbixExchange.

Dale Okuno, SVP Ebix CRM, said, "The combined value proposition of SmartOffice + Ebix Exchange capabilities will deliver superior business value to our customers. For example, pre-integrated straight through processing using AnnuityNet and LifeSpeed will speed order entry, reduce errors, and reduce processing costs for advisors, distributors and carriers." Dan Delity, SVP and Division Head of EbixExchange, said, "Life insurance companies and their distribution partners can really benefit from streamlined workflows within SmartOffice as it relates to matured, established integrations and alignment with other EbixExchange solutions like LifeSpeed for order processing for example." Delity said, "The EbixExchange Division is very pleased by the initial overwhelming interest and industry excitement for immediate term customer value. Customers are expressing excitement with the ability to rapidly complement CRM with the EbixExchange illustration tools, agent sales tools and electronic applications integrated. The complete agent desktop solution is now a reality with a single vision and vendor." About Ebix CRM A product group within EbixExchange which provides on-demand, front office systems trusted by leading financial services organizations and top financial advisors worldwide. The company's SmartOffice(R) solution delivers web-based practice management, distribution management, , and CRM to industry-leading firms including Capital Analysts, HSBC, ING, M Financial, MetLife, National Financial Partners and Securian. http://www.ebix.com/SmartOffice.aspx About EbixExchange A division of Ebix, Inc., EbixExchange is the premier On-Demand Software Exchange that offers products and services that automate, expedite, and improve the process for the life insurance, annuity, property & casualty, and health insurance industries. Seen as a leading developer of electronic Straight Through Processing, EbixExchange currently supports a broad range of insurance agencies, brokerage and clearing firms, and operations centers at over 100 of the leading insurance carriers and their affiliates. EbixExchange products include WinFlex (multi-carrier compliant illustrations), VitalSales Suite (research/quotes/forms), AnnuityNet (annuity order-entry), LifeSpeed (advanced application processing), EbixCRM (SmartOffice(R) Customer Relationship Management and Agency Management System), EbixHealth (employee benefits and claims) and various P&C exchanges across the world. For more information, please visit www.ebixexchange.com About Ebix, Inc.

A leading international supplier of On-Demand software and E-commerce services to the insurance industry, Ebix, Inc., (NASDAQ: EBIX) provides end to end solutions ranging from infrastructure exchanges, carrier systems, agency systems and BPO services to custom software development for all entities involved in the insurance industry.

With 30+ offices across Singapore, Australia, the US, New Zealand, India and Canada, Ebix powers multiple exchanges across the world in the field of life, annuity, health and property & casualty insurance while conducting in excess of $100 billion in insurance premiums on its platforms. Through its various SaaS-based software platforms, Ebix employs hundreds of insurance and technology professionals to provide products, support and consultancy to thousands of customers on six continents. Ebix's focus on quality has enabled it to be awarded Level 5 status of the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute's Capability Maturity Model (CMM). Ebix has also earned ISO 9001:2000 certification for both its development and BPO units in India. For more information, visit the Company's website at www.ebix.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (NASDAQ: FINL - Finish Line, Inc. (THE)) LATEST NEWS!! Finish Line to Donate 92,500 Pairs of Shoes and $100,000 to Soles4Souls INDIANAPOLIS, Nov 04, 2009 -- The Finish Line, Inc., one of the nation's leading athletic footwear and apparel retailers, today announced that through its "Sole Destination" program, approximately 92,500 pairs of gently used shoes will be donated to Soles4Souls, a charitable organization that distributes shoes free of charge to people in need throughout the world. In addition to collecting the shoes at its 679 retail stores and its corporate and distribution facilities, Finish Line has matched the donation of each pair with a $1 corporate contribution to Soles4Souls, totaling $92,500, to assist the charity with shipping and distribution costs.

"We are pleased with the results of the 'Sole Destination' program and sincerely gratified by how generous our customers and employees have been in donating shoes to this effort," said Finish Line Senior Vice President of Marketing Kevin Flynn. "Still, we set a goal to donate $100,000 and we fell a bit short. More awareness is needed to push us to our goal so that we can help the 300 million people worldwide that Soles4Souls estimates are without shoes today." To drive additional awareness and reach the $100,000 donation goaI, Finish Line is launching a campaign on Twitter. Throughout the "Sole Destination" initiative, which began in June, Finish Line has engaged Twitter to keep followers up-to-date on the number of pairs collected as part of the "Sole Destination" program. Beginning today, Nov. 4, through Nov. 15, Finish Line will donate $1 to Soles4Souls for each new Twitter follower up to 7,500 new followers. Visit the Finish Line Twitter page at http://www.twitter.com/theFinishLine. The additional $7,500 donation will allow Finish Line to meet its donation goal of $100,000 to Soles4Souls.

About Finish Line The Finish Line, Inc. (Nasdaq: FINL) is a premium athletic footwear store and one of the nation's largest mall-based specialty retailers, offering a deep selection of performance and sport-style footwear, apparel and accessories for men, women and kids. The Finish Line, Inc. is publicly traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol FINL. The company operates 679 Finish Line stores in 47 states and online at www.finishline.com.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (NASDAQ: GRMN - Garmin Ltd.) LATEST NEWS!! Garmin Reports Strong Third Quarter Results on Sequential Growth in Revenues and Operating Margin Resulting in Year-over-Year EPS Growth CAYMAN ISLANDS, Nov 04, 2009 -- Garmin Ltd. (Nasdaq: GRMN) today announced third quarter results for the period ended September 26, 2009.

Third Quarter 2009 Financial highlights: -- Total revenue of $781 million, down 10% from $870 million in third quarter 2008 -- Automotive/Mobile segment revenue decreased 13% to $546 million -- Outdoor/Fitness segment revenue increased 11% to $132 million -- Aviation segment revenue decreased 29% to $58 million -- Marine segment revenue increased 3% to $45 million -- North America and Europe continued to experience year-over-year revenue declines while Asia improved: -- North America revenue was $503 million compared to $585 million, down 14% -- Europe revenue was $237 million compared to $247 million, down 4% -- Asia revenue was $41 million compared to $38 million, up 8% -- Gross margin improved to 52.4% compared to 44.3% in third quarter 2008 and declined slightly from 52.6% in second quarter 2009 -- Operating margin improved to 30.3% compared to 24.6% in third quarter 2008 and 29.8% in second quarter of 2009 -- Diluted earnings per share increased 30% to $1.07 from $0.82 in third quarter 2008; pro forma earnings per share increased 17% to $1.02 from $0.87 in the same quarter in 2008. (Pro forma earnings per share excludes the impact of foreign currency translation gain or loss.) -- Generated $281 million of free cash flow in third quarter 2009 for a cash and marketable securities balance of just over $1.8 billion.

Year-to-Date 2009 Financial highlights: -- Total revenue of $1.89 billion, down 23% from $2.45 billion year-to-date 2008 -- Automotive/Mobile segment revenue decreased 27% to $1.24 billion -- Outdoor/Fitness segment revenue increased 4% to $320 million -- Aviation segment revenue decreased 29% to $181 million -- Marine segment revenue decreased 16% to $144 million -- All geographic areas experienced a year-to-date slowdown in revenues: -- North America revenue was $1.20 billion compared to $1.57 billion, down 23% -- Europe revenue was $577 million compared to $764 million, down 24% -- Asia revenue was $105 million compared to $109 million, down 4% -- Diluted earnings per share decreased 21% to $2.12 from $2.68 in year-to-date 2008; pro forma EPS decreased 15% to $2.10 from $2.47 in year-to-date 2008. (Pro forma earnings per share excludes the impact of foreign currency translation gain or loss and the 2008 gain on sale of TeleAtlas N.V. shares.) -- Generated $813 million of free cash flow year-to-date.

Business highlights: -- Posted sequential revenue growth of 17% with both automotive/mobile and outdoor/fitness showing increased revenues.

-- Reported 25% sequential revenue growth in the automotive/mobile segment with sequential gross margin and operating margin improvement of 360 and 490 basis points, respectively, as pricing, cost, and volumes improved.

-- Resumed revenue growth in the outdoor/fitness segment due to growing worldwide interest in the product category and a strong reception to our latest fitness watches, the Forerunner(R) 310XT and FR 60.

-- Reported 3% revenue growth in the marine segment as market share gains offset the ongoing weakness within the marine industry.

-- Sold 3.9 million units in the third quarter of 2009 driven by PND unit growth in both North America and Asia and strong outdoor/fitness unit growth resuming.

-- Continued to lead in world-wide PND market share. Independent market share research indicates that we have expanded our leadership position in the North American PND market with approximately a 60% share, which is up sequentially from 57% in second quarter. We maintained a market share of approximately 20% in Europe.

-- Finalized nuvifone launch initiatives with G60 availability in the U.S. (AT&T), Switzerland (Sunrise), and France (unlocked) and Asus leading efforts to launch the G60 and M20 in various Asian markets including Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia.

-- Introduced the nuvi(R) 1690T, a connected PND featuring rich, real-time content delivered wirelessly with product offerings in both the United States and Western Europe, for delivery in the fourth quarter.

Executive overview from Dr. Min Kao, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer: "We saw steady sequential improvement in our consumer segments during the third quarter and are very pleased to return to year-over-year earnings per share growth in the quarter. While revenues fell year-over-year, the rate of decline moderated at 10% but our margin improvements more than offset that decline. We remain focused on efforts to improve productivity and manage expenses as the consumer spending environment continues to recover.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ About StockMarketingInc.com StockMarketingInc.com is a website that profiles stocks of interest. We are not licensed brokers or financial consultants. The information here is believed to be reliable, but not guaranteed to be accurate by StockMarketingInc.com. Please be advised that the information contained may or may not be complete and is solely for informational purposes only. This is not to be construed as an offer to sell, hold or the solicitation of an offer to buy. Investors are encouraged to seek opinions by their registered brokers or financial advisors after extensive due diligence is performed.

((Comments on this story may be sent to info@m2.com)) (c) 2009 M2 COMMUNICATIONS

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