Paper M-real Zanders will increase the sales prices for its carbonless paper Zanders autocopy (roll stock) by 6 percent in the main markets as of January 2007. The Group justifies the price increase with further increases in energy, pulp and transportation costs.

Printing Koenig & Bauer AG and Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG recently presented a joint concept for the standardization of UV and hybrid applications. The concept offers UV and hybrid printers more security and predictability for the corresponding consumables. This memorandum of understanding provides for the development, definition and implementation of generally applicable public standards through certification and accreditation of UV and hybrid inks, generally applicable public standards through certification of press-compatible consumables, and generally applicable public printing forms and printing standards for UV and hybrid inks.

Daily press The NZZ is optimizing its paper and online presence, but is keeping a low profile on further plans The NZZ recently announced a series of innovations under the heading of "optimizations". They essentially consist of a partial merger of the print and online editorial offices, the disappearance of supplements and the NZZ-Ticket cultural agenda, a corresponding upgrade on the Internet, the launch of a new lifestyle magazine and a reduction in staff (see below). The changes met with criticism, particularly in Medienspiegel, the weblog of ex-NZZ man Martin Hitz. Especially on the Internet, the NZZ was said to be discouraged and not offensive enough. "We can certainly meet the demand for more courage at the NZZ," says Daniel Hofer, NZZ Publishing Director for almost a year. Experience has shown that this culture does not tolerate too many changes at once.
Although the announced changes at the old aunt are just the first steps in a series of planned changes, Hofer does not want to further specify the other ideas of the NZZ visionaries. They are in the process of analyzing all products and adapting them step by step. However, Hofer admits that further efforts are needed on the Internet. "We still have to take significant steps in the online area."
A technical prerequisite for the individualization of offers that are to be distributed via various electronic channels appears to be the new content management system that has been announced for some time and which, according to Hofer, is to be introduced next spring.
In principle, the NZZ is to become more multimedia-based and differentiate its content according to media. "We want to offer the basic information as quickly as possible, and then provide the background and analysis in the newspaper," says Hofer.
However, the NZZ does not want to go as far as its colleagues at Ringier with their business platform Cash daily. Although the basic elements of website, e-paper, mobile and TV are identical to the NZZ, the linking of the elements at Cash daily is comparatively more consistent. However, the multitasking of Cash daily journalists only works up to a certain point. Hofer is convinced that researching content, discussing a podcast, writing a text and operating a handycam on the same topic becomes a problem when it comes to depth of content. So far, the NZZ has not differentiated strongly in the preparation of content. "But this is coming, even if not with the same consistency as with Cash daily," says Hofer.
According to Hofer, the paper is still in the red. Last year, the company's result was in the red at CHF 1.8 million. No current figures can be presented at present because the shareholders have not yet been informed. "However, we have made significant progress this year and will certainly be heading towards the black," says Hofer.
The optimizations are also to be understood as cost-saving measures, as the NZZ is cutting between 10 and 20 jobs. The discontinuation of the NZZ-Ticket cultural agenda accounts for the largest share of this. Some of the cuts will be made through early retirement, and a social plan is planned.
This will be new at the NZZJoint news and editorial team for the NZZ and the internet portal NZZ Online.
Improved reader guidance in the NZZ, for example on the front page.New organization and content expansion of the bundles.Leisure and entertainment offerings on NZZ Online with a service-oriented agenda database instead of the previous NZZ-Ticket entertainment agenda.Launch of a new lifestyle magazine "Z" instead of the previous fashion, watch and jewelry special supplements. Continuous expansion of NZZ Online in the Internet/mobile area.launch of NZZ Podium, a new NZZ event series.reduction of 10 to 20 jobs. René Worni

The presenter of the "Tagesschau," Heiri Müller (60), is retiring early. He will anchor his last "Tagesschau" on Friday, June 15, 2007. Heiri Müller will work as usual as anchorman and editor until March 2007. From March until June 15, 2007, he will only anchor. The reason: He wants to have more time available for his passion, making music. Two years ago, his first CD entitled "Footsteps" was released, the second CD is called "Chain of Pearls". Müller has been working for Swiss television since 1980. At first he worked for the "CH-Magazin" and the "Rundschau". Since 1985 he has been with the "Tagesschau".

From January 1, 2007, Swiss television will be offering children a revised program with "Tubii". New are various series and sitcoms as well as in-house productions. The new daily knowledge and skill game "Die Gameshow" will be hosted by Conny Brügger and Patrick Hässig. The show "Topjob" starts on Sunday, December 3, 2006. The decisive factor for the conception of a new children's program was the expiring contract with the Munich-based production and distribution company EM.TV (see
). New series from various program providers, such as "Here's Ian", "Pettersson and Findus" and "Woofy", are added to the tried-and-tested shows. Children will also be back in the studio. On January 1, 2007, "Die Gameshow" starts at 12.25 p.m. on SF zwei. In this new knowledge and skill show, two teams compete against each other, supported by their school classes. In the first two rounds, brains are required. In the third and final round, the two teams fly through a virtual world on a high-speed vehicle. The show is hosted by Conny Brügger or Patrick Hässig. Hässig joins the SF moderation team, but remains with Schweizer Radio DRS and presents the "DRS 3 - Hitparade".
Another new addition to the children's program can be seen from 3 December 2006. Every Sunday at 9.25 a.m., kids can embark on a journey through the Swiss world of work with "Topjob". "Topjob" is the first SRG production in which the children's and youth programs of all four language regions are participating. Two young presenters from each language region are on a professional taster course.

Food Migros is continuing its freshness offensive with a TV commercial. This time in the frozen food range. It is well known that opinions are divided about frozen food. Some like it because it is quick to prepare with little effort. Others, on the other hand, use it to drive away guests that they want to get rid of quickly. In Switzerland, a country of gourmets, frozen products are cool, but not in great demand. People prefer fresh and organic. Because the quality of ready meals is underestimated up and down the country, Migros is launching a new campaign together with the advertising agency Exxtra Kommunikation. It aims to strengthen Migros' leading position in the frozen food sector. Exxtra Kommunikation produced a TV commercial for the retail giant. Director Gus Filgate stages an everyday scene in a professional kitchen.
The picture freezes abruptlyA lot of hard work goes on. Fresh products from Migros are prepared with the utmost care, precision and speed. Mussels here, a juicy steak here and sweet berries there. The vegetables are fresh and colorful. Suddenly, however, the visual delights come to an end. The music also stops playing. In the middle of the scene, the image freezes abruptly - a metaphor for the production of frozen products. A voice explains: "Almost everything that's fresh at Migros is also available frozen."
Migros is the market leader for frozen products in Switzerland and offers the largest selection in the country. According to a survey, however, consumers are not sufficiently aware of the breadth of the product range. The TV commercial aims to pick up the consumer where Migros has its core competence: The range of fresh products. Migros offers over 650 products in its frozen range.
Christian Lüscher

Sony is launching a pink Playstation 2 in stores just in time for the Christmas season. Naturally, young female gamers will be particularly pleased. A games console is now available to match their outfit and make-up table. TBWA Zurich was commissioned to create an ad with two different messages especially for the Swiss market. On the one hand, a young female target group is to be addressed who will buy the Pink PS2 themselves. On the other hand, it was positioned as an ideal gift idea for parents, grandparents and godparents. The result is an idea that is as simple as it is convincing: traces of pink paint on a Persian carpet suggest that the kids used to give their Playstation a pink outfit using a spray can.

Large-format printing At Fujifilm Switzerland, customers can choose between large-format printing systems from different manufacturers.those who have the choice are spoilt for choice - and are usually well served by a supplier that offers competing solutions under one roof. This also applies to large-format printing. One such company that enables direct comparisons is Fujifilm Switzerland (Fujifilm), which since the takeover of CBC imaging solutions, Wädenswil, in September 2006 now also offers large format printers from Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Canon in addition to the traditional Epson printers.Graphic companies and especially photographers in focusThe comparability of the systems on site has great advantages, because otherwise the choice of the "right" large format printer becomes a difficult undertaking. Starting with the print width, speed and features, the durability of the print/ink and, of course, the price, the systems are otherwise very difficult to compare. "The customer's requirements should therefore be at the forefront," explains Christian Broglie, Division Manager at Fujifilm Switzerland.
To help its customers with this, the company recently presented its new and expanded portfolio at a customer event organized by the company at its headquarters in Dielsdorf in mid-November. In addition to print shops, the main target group for the event was primarily photo studios and photographers.
"Photographers," says Christian Broglie, "are much more price-sensitive customers than graphic design companies." This is due to the fact that the photography business hardly allows for large investments. On the other hand, the disappearance of film-based photo enlargements has created a greater demand for large-format prints, printed posters or photo enlargements. In addition, private individuals increasingly have access to high-quality data that they would like to have printed out as large-format posters.
HP Z3100 took center stage as a Swiss premiereDespite the emphasis on manufacturer neutrality, a product from HP took center stage at the customer event. The reason for this is reportedly the recent expansion of the DesignJet product line by HP with the Z2100 and Z3100 models.
The new large-format printers, which are being shown for the first time in Switzerland at Fujifilm and will be on sale from the beginning of December, offer the special feature of being able to use up to twelve colors. In addition to the classic CMYK colors, the HP DesignJet Z3100 Photo also offers cyan and magenta light, red, green, light grey, matt black, photo black and an ink that enhances gloss and reduces bronzing (Gloss Enhancer).
A unique feature of the new printer is the integrated and comprehensive color management solution, including a built-in spectrophotometer. After photometric measurement of the substrate thanks to the integrated "i1" measurement technology from GretagMacbeth (part of the American color management provider X-rite since mid-2006), the printer adjusts to the subsequent job thanks to integrated measurement technology and enables largely color-accurate prints by calculating and applying a color management profile. Euroscale, Fogra and other printing standards can also be taken into account during print output. This procedure saves separate calibration in advance - and therefore time.
The largest printer from Canon, the highest resolution from EpsonWhen it comes to print format, Canon is ahead in this device class. With the introduction of new large format printers and, not least, the imagePrograf iPF9000 in the middle of the year, the Japanese industrial group has sent out clear signals and demonstrated that it takes large format printing very seriously. The 60-inch-wide device, which was also on display in Dielsdorf, is currently unbeatable in this segment, not only in terms of working width but also in terms of printing speed.
Epson is currently in a tight spot when it comes to large-format systems. In comparison with the competition, there is a gap in the larger systems; in terms of printing speed and number of colors, Epson is lagging behind the competition. The largest Epson printing system not exhibited at Fujifilm Switzerland, the Stylus Pro 9800, "only" has an eight-color printing system, but is recommended with 1440 x 2880 dpi and thus the highest output resolution of the three competitors.
So overall, the agony of choice still remains. Each printing system has specific advantages over the competitor's product: integrated color management and economical ink consumption with HP, the largest print format with Canon and the highest resolution with Epson. Direct comparisons, ideally with your own printable data, ultimately help in the decision-making process.
Jürgen Franck

Advertisements Larger independent publishers are considering introducing a direct booking discount. And publishers under Publicitas management? Most of them are (still) holding back - and sticking to their contracts. Since Ringier, like Tamedia, has been offering a discount for media agencies that book directly, an intensified print-internal battle for market share has been launched among publishers, which is likely to ultimately reduce the publishers' income. Publipresse General Director Otto Meier warned in an interview in the last issue of Werbewoche. "This battle for market share is not just limited to self-published titles," said Meier. "P-directed titles are also dealing with this issue in order to have a level playing field. "Werbewoche asked larger directed titles what they think about the direct booking discount. "We are looking into a discount. In particular, we are considering what to do if direct booking compensation becomes state of the art," says Daniel Ehrat, Publishing Director at St. Galler Tagblatt. Incidentally, the publishing house and P will meet this week and then present a "united opinion" on the subject.
There is no such date in Baden. "A direct booking discount is not yet an issue for us, but I understand all those who introduce it," says Ueli Eckstein, Head of Print Media at AZ Medien Group. And if there are disadvantages for AZ? "That's when you get creative," he says. In any case, he would then seek "rapid and intensive" discussions with P.
According to its CEO Erwin Bachmann, LZ-Medien is "not well-behaved, but faithful to the contract". "Our agreements with the P do not allow any unilateral changes, and we are sticking to them," he says. However, this does not prevent him from considering together with the P whether the Neue Luzerner Zeitung could suffer disadvantages from this situation - and how to react if so.
According to reports, this is also the case at Südostschweiz, but no official statement was available by the editorial deadline.
And at the NZZ? Publishing director Daniel Hofer "will certainly not ignore the multi-year contract with the P." Nevertheless, he emphasizes: "The discussion about whether and how advance services and various order channels are remunerated and to whom these fees belong is necessary."
Clear rules of the game requiredIn Hofer's opinion, such a compensation system should have three components: Firstly, compensation should go to those who provide professional advance services. Secondly, it should be compensated according to "transparent, clearly defined criteria" and also be openly disclosed to the advertising client. And thirdly, Hofer demands "conformity with existing legal provisions and with the constantly growing needs in the audit sector". "Increasingly, decision-making processes and remuneration channels need to be documented," Hofer warns.
But one thing is clear: the NZZ does not want to be at a competitive disadvantage either. That is why Hofer is in constant contact "with partner P". But there is no need to panic, he says, at least the NZZ has not felt the effects of Tamedia's and Ringier's discounts so far.
For the sake of completeness, we would like to mention two publishers with close ties to P, which Werbewoche reported on earlier: Basler Zeitung Medien is thinking aloud about the partial introduction of a discount despite its P lease (WW 41/06). Similarly, Edipresse: Although they are not touching the management contract with the newspapers, the Edipresse magazines without P management are examining the discount.
Markus Knöpfli

The Tagblatt der Stadt Zürich was published for the first time on Wednesday as a weekly city magazine in tabloid format. Tamedia announced the repositioning at the beginning of November 2006 (see ). The Tagblatt now focuses on the city's residents, such as Dagmar Windisch, producer of the musical "We will rock you". Other people featured in the current issue are light artist Gerry Hofsteller and a worm researcher. In addition, an editor reports on her experiences as a McDonald's employee.
A new recurring element is a docu-soap. In the form of a photo novel, Tagblatt readers will accompany a family of five from Wiedikon through the pre-Christmas period over the next few weeks. Tips for going out, a crime story and the city council column complete the content, which will continue to be supplemented with official news. On the other hand, daily news from politics, accidents and court cases have disappeared completely from the paper.
 
The Zurich City Council is not happy that the Tagblatt will only be published weekly in future, reports the news agency SDA. The new concept was a purely publishing decision, but the city had been informed of the reasons in advance. Tamedia announced at the beginning of November 2006 that the city of Zurich had been involved in the concept design. The city council considers the basic requirements for an official gazette to be fulfilled, but has already communicated suggestions for improvement to Tagblatt Ag. In addition, further developments will be monitored "critically".

Hardware/software The new MacBook Pro is a coherent update - and becomes a dream team with Aperture 1.5 The bad news first: Even if you opt for a new MacBook Pro notebook from Apple equipped with an Intel Core 2 Duo "dual-core processor", you have to expect that this processor will also be updated soon. Intel has recently launched a dual-core chip called Intel Core 2 Extreme. After Intel Core Duo and Intel Core 2 Duo, this would be the third generation of Intel Core processors since its introduction in early 2006. Nevertheless, Apple's move from the PowerPC to the Intel platform must be seen as the right one - also because the company no longer runs the risk of lagging behind its major competitors. Decent equipmentIt remains to be seen whether the new Intel Core 2 Duo computers will sell like hot cakes. In any case, there are good prerequisites for this. The new 15-inch models have either 2.16 or 2.33 GHz Core Duo 2 chips to ensure sufficient performance. The flagship model, which has a 17-inch, particularly bright screen, also runs at 2.33 GHz. Thanks to the higher processor clock rate and 64-bit support, the new processors are up to 40 percent faster than the previous model. Apple even speaks of a factor of 7 when comparing it with computers from the last PowerBook G4 generation.
Adobe Creative Suite products, above all Photoshop, are now faster on the new MacBook Pro than on PowerBooks equipped with the last generation of Power PC chips, although the program suite (with the exception of the recently integrated Acrobat 8 program) has not yet been adapted to the new Intel processors. In addition to the higher clock speed, the increase in performance can also be attributed to further optimizations of the continuously updated Mac OS X 10.4.8 operating system.
Finally, the computers are equipped with acceptable 120 GB (15-inch) and 160 GB (17-inch) hard disks even in the standard configuration. Those who need particularly fast hard disks can order an optional 7200 rpm hard disk in the 17-inch model, although this is only 100 GB in size. A FireWire 800 connection means that users who need significantly more storage space and at the same time cannot do without fast external data storage are not left out in the cold.
However, Apple is not only generous with the connections, but also with the RAM: The entry-level configuration of the 15-inch models (the screen diagonal is actually 15.4 inches = 38.1 cm) comes with 1 GB RAM as standard, while the mid-range configuration, just like the 17-inch model (43.1 cm diagonal), comes with 2 GB RAM. Finally, a high-quality ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics card ensures fast image processing. With this and with the aid of a DVI cable, the 4 million pixels can also be transferred to a monitor of up to 30 inches, an HD television or a high-resolution projector.
A must-have for digital photographersThe Aperture application, which was updated in time for the Photokina trade fair (WW 35/2006), is particularly useful - and fun - with the new computers. Aperture, which is mainly, but not only, aimed at professional photographers, is currently probably the most comprehensive solution for photographers - especially after the (necessary) update to version 1.5.
Users of the 1.0 version can look forward to the separation of image data management. All images can still be packed into a single library; it is now also possible to access a folder structure and organize the images in this way. A practical feature in this context is that once imported (original) image data stored on external storage media remains accessible. This means that even large amounts of data can be easily transported and presented to a customer, for example.
The data can be compressed by a factor of 20 - i.e. from 1.25 terabytes to 65 GB (which roughly corresponds to the free space of a standard 80 GB hard disk). The images can still be edited, but of course data export is then only possible with the connection to the fine data.
More as an enhancement of iWork and iLife and less of Aperture, image collections and lists are now visible there. It is a pity that there is not yet a program extension for XPress or InDesign that makes the same thing possible there ... But this is perhaps to be expected soon - in any case, Apple has created the possibility for this with the opening of Aperture. While Adobe and Quark will probably have to wait for new versions, providers of stock photos are already using this interface.
Edit images and synchronize with iPodThe options for making colour adjustments in Aperture have been significantly improved. The selected parameters can now be saved as adjustment sets and applied to other photos in this way. To further process images in Photoshop, for example, the new "Show in Finder" function has been created, which enables access to any image outside the library via a control click. A program can also be specified so that images can be opened without this intermediate step.
Aperture offers a wide range of image output options. One practical feature is the new integration into Apple's Keynote presentation program. This makes it very easy to create high-quality (image) presentations without having to overload Aperture with even more functions.
In addition to a very simple upload of image pages to a Mac account (or via export to a folder structure, which can then be manually uploaded to a web server), Aperture can also be used to compile layouts for books - in a way that would suit many a professional layout program. Another hip feature is the ability to transfer the Aperture library to an iPod and synchronize the image data with it. In this way, Aperture also becomes an "iTunes for pictures".
Other new features in Aperture 1.5The new drag-and-drop JPEG export function allows JPEG files to be integrated into other Mac OS X applications. The size and compression quality of the images can be controlled.
Apple is opening up the software to plug-in developers by providing a corresponding interface, and renaming and assigning names has been simplified by improved tools, making it possible to automatically create folders and subfolders during import. AppleScript and Automator support has been improved. For example, filters can now be applied or the export of images with metadata (XMP) can be automated.The addition, management and updating of keywords is simplified by a floating palette, which can also be locked to prevent accidental changes.The output resolution can now be specified for printing individual images.Improved tools allow the transfer of adjustments for cropping (Aperture incorrectly uses the term "clipping" in the German version) and straightening images.Quickly find images with any keywords or without keywords when searching for IPTC information using the search criteria hover palette.Search images by file status.1 to 5 star rating buttons can now be used to rate images.Aperture can now handle RAW images from over 50 camera models. New models include Fuji S2, Fuji S3 Pro and Sony A100.Aperture 1.0 users can download the update for free. For those interested, Apple is providing a 30-day limited but fully functional version.
Jürgen Franck

Casting Mark van Huisseling (far left) is a columnist for Weltwoche and is the only Swiss man who meets a more or less big star every week and then writes about it. Over the past few years, this has given him plenty of visual lessons in how to act like a star. He also writes for Welt am Sonntag, Financial Times Deutschland, Park Avenue and GQ. Mark van Huisseling became known to a wider audience in Switzerland as a member of the jury for the program "Superstar" on 3+. There he attracted attention with his idiosyncratic grading. On a scale of 10 possible points, he stubbornly only gave a 1, 5 or 10. The candidates found this unprofessional and threatened to go on strike for the final show on December 5 if van Huisseling was not removed. Now the Bohlen wannabe has been given early retirement. A tribute to the candidates, who are obviously taken as seriously at 3+ as the advertising for the show said. And van Huisseling has more time for Weltwoche again. Where his lack of a sense of nuance will hardly be noticed anymore.  
Andreas Panzeri