The Artisanal Spirits Share Discussion Threads

[roily] 10/12/2014 16:06

This may not seem like a big deal but I believe the OTCQB is the highest level of the OTC market and it makes it much easier for US traders to buy shares. While ARHTF has been on the OTC it was on the "grey" market and many brokers put restrictions on trading grey market shares, but I don't think these same restrictions apply to OTCQB listings. I need to DD this a little better.



TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Dec 10, 2014) - ARHT Media Inc. ("ARHT") (TSX VENTURE:ART)(OTCQB:ARHTF), a company that creates digital human holograms called HumaGrams™, is pleased to announce that its common shares will begin trading today on the OTCQB Marketplace under the symbol "ARHTF". ARHT's common shares will continue to trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "ART".

CEO Paul Duffy states, "ARHT is pleased with this new listing on the OTCQB Marketplace as this will expand the company's presence in the United States and it will also provide our existing shareholders in the USA with a transparent trading platform."

[roily] 09/12/2014 21:26

GK- we are all in the same boat but I am trying to remain optimistic as I really don't have much of an option as there is no sense selling as I am already down 99% on my VST investment.

Carlos Slim is the second riches man on the planet so its not a bad thing to have him on your side. Heres a little bio:


If you're making a phone call nearly anywhere in Latin America, chances are good that you're using a network controlled by Mexico's Carlos Slim, the world's second richest man. His America Movil has telecom operations in 18 countries in the Americas -- including prepaid wireless firm TracFone in the U.S. --and 265 million mobile phone customers. In Mexico, America Movil units have a 70% share of the mobile phone market and 80% of the landline market, though a new law in the country forbids companies from controlling more than 50% of telecom and broadcast markets. To comply, Slim has said he will sell some assets. Slim also has his fingers in the retail, industrial and financial sectors in Mexico through controlling interests in industrial conglomerate Grupo Carso and financial firm Grupo Financiero Inbursa. In the U.S., he owns minority stakes in Saks Fifth Avenue and The New York Times. One of the world's leading philanthropists, he has partnered with the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation as well as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.



ARHT is a tech company and the world is just scratching the surface of tech so who knows what value their product has. Lets see how this plays out over the next few weeks/months and hopefully we can figure out how they make money with this.

With regards to the "big boys", from what I have been able to read they have been having some issues with whatever they are working on and you never hear anything about their system. ARHT is in the market so maybe they have a first in advantage.

[nil pd] 09/12/2014 16:45

Thanks roily!

[roily] 09/12/2014 16:20

I think the fact that they have rolled out their platform for the holiday season in one of Canada's large retail chains is a start and if what I have been told is correct, and Slim is going to use the platform in his Mexico retail locations, we should have a good sense on how this is going to work relatively quickly.

They are hitting twitter real hard with news items that are not directly related to the company but they must feel these items are related to the core business.

[nil pd] 09/12/2014 15:50

Good progress indeed on a PR outlook.

But this is with the advisory board and until I see it in action I'm going to restrain my optimism.

I want to know how it will work in practice. Can the company assemble these guys together in the same room or the same world time electronically, to get feedback - discussion and debate which is bounced off one another? Like a focus group, where all are present (in one form or another) and can hear or see each other's comments for generation of progress in real time.

Mr Market likes it if we are about 10% up on a very red day. But we are back to half-way up again versus the recent rise.

[roily] 09/12/2014 15:05

Well lets see if this has any impact on the price. I suspect that most holders knew that Slim was going to come on board so this may not have a big impact now, but I think this may put more of a spot light on the company.

[nickderby] 09/12/2014 14:39

Toronto, ON — ARHT Media Inc. (“ARHT”) (TSX-V: ART) is pleased to announce the appointment of the iconic Carlos Slim to its board of advisors.

Mr. Slim is an internationally known business magnate, investor and philanthropist. From 2010 to 2013, Mr. Slim was ranked as the richest person in the world. Known as the “Warren Buffet of Mexico”, Mr. Slim has extensive holdings in real estate, airlines, media, retail, and technology. Mr. Slim is the founder of America Movil, which is Latin America’s largest mobile phone carrier, with nearly 250 million users. Mr. Slim also has extensive retail holdings both in Mexico and abroad.

Carlos Slim states, “My good friend, Paul Anka, co-founder of ARHT, presented this technology to me in Mexico along with the company’s CEO. I was immediately impressed with the possible uses for the technology. I am proud of Paul, his friendship, and to be on the advisory board of this company.”

Paul Duffy, CEO states, “The addition of a business icon such as Carlos Slim is truly an honor for ARHT. Mr. Slim is not only an incredibly successful business magnate, but he also has an extensive network of people at his reach, which we hope to utilize. Meeting and presenting to Mr. Slim in Mexico was very exciting and we are privileged to have him join our advisory board.”

Rene Bharti, Co-Founder of ARHT states, “Having a partner such as Paul Anka has opened doors for the company that are ground-breaking. Our advisory board has leaders in a variety of fields, which gives the company incredible reach. The addition of Mr. Slim is invaluable, and we are truly proud of the advisory board we are creating for the company.”

The ARHT advisory board currently consists of: Paul Anka (Chairman Board of Advisors), Larry King, Jason Bateman, Richard “Skip” Bronson, Michael Bublé and Carlos Slim.

[gussher] 09/12/2014 00:00

Hi Roily .. and now we got some Rosens on board .. all sounds very Kossher ..that alone makes me pause a bit ... and the share price when I first checked in a coupla weeks back hit 55cents ..... now its at 41cents, despite all the good vibes being shown on this forum.
So far, all the vibes are sound .. pity about the share-price trend .. or is this a good time to buy in ?
..... hmmm ...for me, it still all depends on the Patents pending - and whether even they will be strong enough to block out the heavyweights ie (Google, Amazon, Japan, USA, and a multitude of Hi-tech Geeks around the globe ..)
Still watching the share price & the volume.. a drop from 55cents-41cents in a coupla weeks is not too encouraging, but maybe its early days yet ...
LoL
GJ

[roily] 03/12/2014 13:48

I just watched a CNBC interview with Mike Roth the CEO of Interpublic Group which is a very large global advertising agency and while the interview had no direct reference to ARHT, he did mention that they project that in two years digital advertising will over take TV and ARHT is trying to get a foothold in the digital commerce market. Interpublic places between $35-40 billion a year in ads for their clients and they are just one ad agency. There may a lot of upside to what AHRT has.

[roily] 02/12/2014 14:52

ARHT Media’s (CVE:ART) share price has more than tripled in the last three months as investors are becoming increasingly excited by the company’s human holograms, or HumaGrams, which have the potential to turn the concept of proximity marketing on its head and revolutionize the retail industry as we know it. The idea is so intriguing that, even at this early stage, it has attracted the famous Paul Anka, media titan Larry King, actor Jason Bateman and real estate developer Richard D. “Skip” Bronson to its advisory board, assuring key contacts are formed from the get-go.

The company’s HumaGrams are based on its Augmented Reality Holographic Technology (ARHT) platform, which is a scalable, repeatable and transportable form of 3D without the use of special glasses. The unique engine makes it possible for humans to interact with the HumaGram, opening up a wide range of applications – from concerts to retail stores and tradeshows.

The origins of ARHT Media date back to 2012, when Coachella surprised the world with the resurrection of West Coast rap legend Tupac Shakur. On the heels of this show, ARHT chairman Rene Bharti got the wheels of the company in motion, and phoned up longtime friend Paul Anka to try and find a way to resurrect Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack. After a fairly fulsome demo in California at the end of 2012, Bharti and Anka agreed that the technology had yet to mature.

In early 2013, they met current chief executive officer Paul Duffy, who had developed a form of multi-plane visualization, or simply 3D without glasses, and the rest, as we say, is history.

“We set about testing the technology with a version of Frank Sinatra and Paul Anka at the end of 2013, and then set about building the business,” says Duffy. “We perfected the technology such that it uses two planes to visualize, with a holographic frame on the front and a rear plane at the back,” he explains.

The 3D technology is not only cost effective but also highly scalable, says the chief executive, and can work on TV, in a window display format, or at large, arena-type events – a concept that makes the technology unique and unlike the Tupac hologram.

After having spent months developing the platform, ARHT is now looking to validate the technology with early adopters. The interest has been significant so far, with the company realizing it can tie up its platform with the idea of proximity marketing and e-commerce.

“The power of celebrity should never be underestimated. We can create celebrity holograms and place them in window displays and other high traffic destinations, drawing customers in to a region of proximity and offering them a value proposition,” says Duffy.

Once the potential here was realized, the company began to consolidate a package into the ARHT engine, which works with an Android operating system, giving ARHT Media the opportunity to not only display HumaGrams in the form of 3D, but also add gesture controls, motion detection, analytics and e-commerce features. Now, retailers can track how humans interact with the holograms and how they behave, so ARHT can customize and curate appropriate messages.

“We quickly realized applicable markets could go well beyond just entertainment,” says ARHT’s chief, who referred to several potential uses including retail, the digital signage market, conferences, advertising agencies, sporting events, self-service kiosks and more.

The company will continue to test and validate its platform over the next two quarters, aiming to generate some $2.35 million in revenues next year. It has projections to increase this figure by more than four times in its second year.

The aggressive growth trajectory outlined for proximity marketing over the next five years suggests ARHT’s technology has nowhere to go but up. According to stats from eMarkter, US consumers spent $1.59 billion using their smartphone at a physical point of purchase in 2013, and spent $3.5 billion in 2014.

This figure is projected to grow to $118.1 billion by 2018, meaning 1 in 4 US smartphone users will make a proximity payment in just four years from now.

With HumaGrams, the human hologram would act as a medium between the consumer and the retailer, delivering what Duffy calls a “dynamically created message on a particular product tilted towards the viewer’s level of interest”, then offering up the ability to buy the product right there on the spot through a QR code, an SMS text or side load of a coupon to the retailer’s mobile app on a smartphone.

The HumaGram’s features would of course be left up to the discretion of the retailer, which could choose to give it the ability to ring in purchases via QR codes, or obtain information pertinent to the product, or both. “We want to embed ourselves into this food chain, and license our technology stack to a number of partners,” says Duffy.

Company revenues would be generated through the licensing of the technology, as well as through goods and services sold through the HumaGrams, with ARHT taking a small portion of any transaction. It also would charge one-time service fees for set up and the creation of content.

Duffy points out that the HumaGrams can be rolled right in on wheels, plugged in and then turned on. “It’s an easy delivery and set up, and the tear down is simple. You just unpack it and ship it back. Retailers can design point of sale and window displays quickly and cost effectively.”

The technology is not stereoscopic 3D, or the kind of 3D one encounters in a movie theatre, in the sense that the ARHT engine brings together two planes of visualization, such that a HumaGram can be placed inside any imaginable “moment in time.”

“We drop people into this moment in time, letting them escape into the storyline. All the while, our Proximity Technology can determine in real time multiple viewers’ levels of interest and dynamically curate the most appropriate segments of the story to display,” says the company’s CEO, who describes the human holograms as quite “fantastic-looking” in an environment where lighting can be totally controlled.

Perhaps most interesting is the seamless way HumaGrams can work with smartphones, which can be detected by the human holograms through proximity sensors. If a retailer’s app is on a smartphone, communication can be pushed from the ARHT engine via the HumaGram to the app on the said smartphone. This means that instead of buying on the spot, a particular offer can be redeemed later.

At the moment though, the key interest for retailers seems to be the ability for HumaGrams to inform customers about what’s available in the store.

“We’re active in the market right now with early adopters, and we’re confident that in Q4, a number of opportunities will be firm, with deliveries expected in Q1,” asserts Duffy, who says the company will be hitting a number of different marketing channels full on next year.

The company, whose product development team and day-to-day operations are based in Toronto, doesn’t have any qualms about building its business given its big name supporters.

Earlier this month, ARHT announced it appointed co-founder Paul Anka as executive chairman of its advisory board, and iconic TV and radio host Larry King as a board advisor. This was followed by the prestigious appointments of famous actor Jason Bateman and 40-year real estate veteran Richard D. “Skip” Bronson as advisory board members.

“We’re still in early days, so having relationships like these is critical,” explains Duffy. “They have opened doors as we continue to validate the technology. It has taken on all manners of benefits for us. All tech companies need visibility like this.”

The company is being prudent with its cash right now, but the CEO says ARHT is currently in a good position, and has plans to open up a studio in Hollywood shortly that will act as one part demonstration station and one part experience center.

With all the fast progress so far, it seems consumers can expect HumaGrams to pop up at their favourite retail display windows in just a few short months.

[roily] 01/12/2014 16:48

hxxp://www.pinnacledigest.com/articles/michael-bubl%C3%A9-joins-arht-medias-growing-advisor-board-celebrities-and-moguls#.VHyZT1tXGxY.twitter

They added another big name person to their advisory board.

My contact has been traveling and he has not responded to my recent emails as I have a few follow up questions. If I do not receive an email response today I will give him a call tomorrow.

[panagos] 25/11/2014 15:25

Fair enough roily.

[roily] 25/11/2014 13:38

When I first spoke with them I explained that there were many of us that had lost a considerable amount of money and now we all hold a very small fraction of our original investment and they were very mindful of this. I mentioned that we are all hesitant to remain involved because of the sour taste left by VST. I want to believe that this is different but that remains to be seen.

[panagos] 25/11/2014 13:22

Well having lost a considersble part of my life savings with vst you can understand that i dont buy anything yet from the F&M boys just yet...remeber the net oil collimn...tip of tge iceberg etc....could be niko fooling us but just dont trust them.... i will keep my 5.000 as they are written off and see what happens but dont need to trust f&m ever again...if they deliver with art good on them.

[roily] 25/11/2014 13:05

NO. No relation what so ever. Just a coincidence with the last name.

[panagos] 25/11/2014 12:52

Isn't Neil brother of ahmet?

[roily] 25/11/2014 12:40

Pangos-not really a true statement as ARHT bears little to no resemblance to VST. Yes there are a couple of people still involved but you and I are still involved as well. For the record-Neil is NO relation to Ahmet, they just happen to have the same last name.

[panagos] 25/11/2014 11:29

The barhtis (rene not stan) and the saids (neil not ahmet).yep the old clan is still here!

[molatovkid] 25/11/2014 10:08

So are any of the old VST management connected to this business now ?

[andywg] 20/11/2014 23:14

ARHT Media Inc. Announces the Addition of Jason Bateman and Richard D. "Skip" Bronson to the Board of Advisors

[panagos] 20/11/2014 18:00

Roily cheers for the research althought i dont buy it...still! (But hold 5.000 from quarter of a mil. Vst)