Hey guys, I kinda just vanished a few weeks ago - well, maybe more like a week ago, mainly because I lost interest in NS. Honestly, now, I'm feeling up to the challenge after binge-watching History Matters YT vids and I'm going to try and be a pretty original nation - or at least, as much as I can be.
Instead of taking inspiration from other IRL nations, I'll be instead thinking about my own personal political beliefs and applying them to a nation and its history. I'll send in a map claim maybe now, if I have the time :)
Note: If any nation wishes to start relations with the United Republic, simply send a telegram and our diplomatic representive should get back to you soon!
Horizon Inc. Altera's most influential tech company
Horizon Incorporated is a company that makes computer software and video games for users around the world. Stadius Calerus founded the company in 1985. Horizon makes Skylight, Horizon Workspace (including Horizon Word) and the Glass browser, among others. Most Horizon programs cannot be downloaded for free - people have to purchase them in a shop or online through the Horizon web store. Horizon's Skylight Operating System remains one of the dominant in the region.
Computer software Computer hardware Consumer electronics Social networking service Cloud computing Video games Internet Corporate venture capital
Key People
Keith Ryansan (Chief Executive Officer) Stadius Calerus (Managing Director)
Products
- SkyLight - Atlas - Workspace - Bizerte - HoloDeck - Novae Studio - HWS (Horizon Web Services)
Services
- Workspace 365 - HiDrive - Telegram.com - Horizon Store - Horizon Update - Horizon Maps - RiChu - Fibre Optics Infrastructure - 3/4/5g Infrastructure - Internet Service Provider - Server Farms - Web Hosting and Data Storage
Revenue
▲ 47.0Ͼ billion ($56.4 billion)
Net Income
▲ 3.4Ͼ billion ($4.1 billion)
Employees
45,000
Horizon Incorporate (often just referred to as Horizon Inc. or Horizon) is an Alteran multinational technology company with headquarters in Inferatus, Altera. It develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services. Its best-known software products are the Horizon Skylight line of operating systems, the Horizon Workspace suite, and the Glass web browsers. Its flagship hardware products are the Horizon Atlas lineup of touchscreen personal computers. As of 2016, it is one of the world's largest software maker by revenue, and one of the world's most valuable companies.
Horizon was founded by Stadius Calerus on April 4, 1985, to develop and sell alternative keyboard hardware for personal PCs. It rose to dominate the personal computer operating system market with HI-DOE in the mid-1980s, followed by Horizon Skylight. The company's 1987 initial public offering (IPO), and subsequent rise in its share price, created three billionaires and an estimated 12,000 millionaires among Horizon employees. Since the 1990s, it has increasingly diversified from the operating system market and has made several corporate acquisitions, their largest being the acquisition of numerous technology and social media firms. It also holds significant data, server and other technological contracts with numerous governmental systems - including services for the governments of Noronica and Alteran Republics.
As of 2015, Horizon is market-dominant in the PC-compatible operating system market and the office software suite market, although it has lost the majority of the overall operating system market to its international competitors. The company also produces a wide range of other consumer and enterprise software for desktops and servers, including Internet search (with RiChu), the digital services market, mixed reality (HoloDeck), cloud computing (Mercia) and software development (Novae Studio).
Software
Horizon Skylight is an operating system, utilised as the basic software that manages and runs applications on a significant portion of computers and devices throughout the region. The majority of desktop and laptop computers run Skylight, and so do some tablet computers and a few smartphones. The latest version of Skylight is Skylight 10, which was released in October 2017. The latest server version is Skylight Server 2019.
Horizon Workspace is an office suite, with a variety of programs designed for productivity. Horizon Scribe is the word processor, Horizon Data is used for spreadsheets and data handling, Horizon Slideshow is used to make presentations, and Horizon Telegram is the office suite's email manager. Horizon Bizerte is a server tool included in Horizon Workspace (2007, 2013).
Internet Adventurer was the default web browser installed in Skylight from the 1990s up until 2015. In 2015, it was replaced by Skylight Glass, which featured a new rendering engine and was built from scratch to accept HTML5, as well as future-proof it against anticipated web developments.
Whilst it did not develop it's own internet search engine, Horizon acquired RiChu and its associated search engine in 2012, helping to further boost its online presence - as well as add advertisement revenue to the companies' coffers. In 2017, it was estimated that RiChu brought in 3Ͼ billion ($3.6 billion) in pre-tax revenue.
HI-DOE (Horizon Incorporated - Desktop Operating Environment) was the first operating system developed by the company in the 1980s. Whilst no longer used, its interface is and programming structure forms the backbone of the underlying Skylight operations.
Horizon Game Studios owns and develops several successful well-known video game titles including; Void, Age of Nations, Urbania and Frontline.
Services
Although Horizon is best known for its hardware and software products, however, they also offer numerous web services:
Telegram.com (as well as its local domain derivatives) is a webmail service. Whilst all accounts are offered as free, an ad-free experience, an expanded inbox capacity and intelligent spam filtering is offered as part of a premium service. As well as email, it also offers a web calendar and contact service - with the ability to sync most mobile operating systems and apps.
HiDrive is an online cloud-based file service. Offering 250 GB free to a Horizon account holders, it can store and synchronize files between various devices - including mobile and PCs - using Horizon's cloud-based file storage system. For a premium fee, and as part of the Workspace 365 subscription service, users can get up to 1TB of cloud storage, though this can be expanded further.
RiChu is Horizon's flagship search engine, having purchased the company in 2012. The company also came with its own brand of Smartphone; the Dawn, although it doesn't use the SkyLight Mobile operating system. RiChu is often used as most internet user's first port of call on the web, with over 40% of Alterans using RiChu as their default home page.
Horizon offers data storage and handling services through its Cloud Computing service: Mercia. Mercia is often used by private companies, utilising the web and cloud computing storage services for a subscription fee. However, Mercia is also utilised by national governments and large corporations for a wide range of services; namely, the handling and sorting of data collected and managed on behalf of the government and corporate services and activities.
As part of the data and internet services, Horizon offers a web connection service, Internet Service Provider (I.S.P.), to domestic, commercial and governmental properties. Although it does has some differing names depending on the location, the company sells its internet connection services through simple its company name: Horizon. Through its fibre service, users experience a minimum download speed of 70Mbps - however, in some nations with higher quality and investment, these can increase to 1Gbps.
Hardware
Atlas is the name of a range of computing devices designed and manufactured by Horizon. Originally started in 2010, the Atlas range was the first series of computers designed by the company, who before were satisfied with developing the software for other companies to incorporate into their hardware. As of 2019, the company offers the Atlas Book (a laptop), Atlas Tablet (touchscreen tablet), Atlas Phone (a smartphone with 5" and 6" variants), Atlas Hub (a smart speaker connected to Horizon's AI 'Cecil') and the Atlas Studio (an all-in-one desktop PC).
Horizon offers a range of telecommunication hardware solutions ranging from satellites, optic fibre cables, wireless data services (3/4/5g) and signal boosters. Horizon holds a monopoly of telecommunication services in Altera, with 90% of users purchasing phone and internet services through the company. Whilst smaller independent companies offering similar services do exist, Horizon is the clear dominant market force.
Overseas Operations
Keverai - Skylight Services, Fibre Optic, Data Handling and Internet Infrastructure Noronica - Mercia Data-Hub, Skylight Services, Fibre Optic, Data Handling and Internet Infrastructure Segentova - Skylight Services, Fibre Optic, Data Handling and Internet Infrastructure Serpens land - Mercia Data-Hub, Skylight Services, Data Handling and Internet Infrastructure Townside - Mercia Data-Hub, Skylight Services, Fibre Optic, Data Handling and Internet Infrastructure
Finally gotten around to creating the new generation of devices from Horizon Inc. Coming soon to an office near you!
Athara magarat, Serpens land, Hyukai, and Osemira
Almorea
First day after testing positive for Covid, I must say it is kicking my a**. I've never felt so generally sick in my life. I'm a college student. Don't screw around with getting yourself exposed people
That sucks dude. I hope you recover soon. Back in October my flatmates and I all got it because we didn't take it seriously and decided to throw a Halloween party. One of the guests didn't tell us she'd been to visit another friend of ours who was awaiting their test results. We felt like clowns after we discovered we'd been exposed. I was fortunate in that I was only feeling rough for a few days. One of my flatmates lost his sense of taste and smell for the better part of three months.