tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2579013927103811552024-10-25T04:05:35.429-07:00News around the WORLDAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836912850776390471noreply@blogger.comBlogger481125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257901392710381155.post-24009118676252737642012-06-04T03:41:00.000-07:002012-06-04T03:41:00.397-07:00Private Businesses Fight Federal Prisons for Contracts <BODY readability="6"><IMG border=0 hspace=0 align=left src="/prisonbars200.jpg" width=200 height=150>Stephen Marks | The Images Bank | Getty ImagesAs chief financial officer of a military clothing manufacturer, Steven W. Eisen was accustomed to winning contracts to make garments for the Defense Department. </P><P>But in December, Mr. Eisen received surprising news. His company, Tennier Industries, which is in a depressed corner of Tennessee, would not receive a new $45 million contract. </P>Tennier lost the deal not to a private sector competitor, but to a corporation owned by the federal government, Federal Prison Industries. </P>Federal Prison Industries, also known as Unicor, does not have to worry much about its overhead. It uses prisoners for labor, paying them 23 cents to $1.15 an hour. Although the company is not allowed to sell to the private sector, the law generally requires federal agencies to buy its products, even if they are not the cheapest. </P>Mr. Eisen, who laid off about 100 workers after losing out on the new contract, said the system took sorely needed jobs from law-abiding citizens. “Our government screams, howls and yells how the rest of the world is using prisoners or slave labor to manufacture items, and here we take the items right out of the mouths of people who need it,” he said. </P>Although Federal Prison Industries has been around for decades, its critics are gaining more sympathy this year as jobs, competition and the role of government have become potent political issues. Recently, a clothing company complained that the government company had expressed interest in making Air Force windbreakers like one worn by the president. Last month, amid negative news reports and pressure from the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, F.P.I. said it would stop competing for the contract because it could damage the private company that makes the jackets, Ashland Sales and Service. </P>In addition, a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers is resuscitating a bill to overhaul the way the prison manufacturing company does business, proposing to eliminate its preferential status. </P>Under current practice — governed by intricate laws, regulations and policies — an agency must buy prisoner-made goods if the company offers an item that is comparable in price, quality and time of delivery to that of the private sector, with certain exceptions. The company’s prices are not always the lowest, but it frequently has been able to underbid private companies, Congressional aides say. </P>The bill seeks to limit those advantages by putting a limit on F.P.I.’s sales to the federal government, opening more product areas to private companies and strengthening requirements that the prices for prisoner-made products be competitive. The legislation would also impose federal work-safety standards and higher wages, starting at $2.50 an hour. </P>Separately, Senator McConnell has introduced a bill that would subject the Bureau of Prisons, including its manufacturing company, to greater Congressional oversight. </P>F.P.I. has traditionally relied on office furniture, electronics and clothing manufacturing for the bulk of its business, but it has been moving into new industries like renewable energy. The company already has one factory each in New York and Oregon to build solar panels and is looking into making energy-efficient lighting and small wind turbines. </P>“This is a threat to not just established industries; it’s a threat to emerging industries,” said Representative Bill Huizenga, a Michigan Republican who is the lead sponsor of the proposed overhaul legislation. “If China did this — having their prisoners work at subpar wages in prisons — we would be screaming bloody murder.” </P><IMG width="100%" height=0><br /><p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com//id/46746429" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836912850776390471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257901392710381155.post-69507801920052974292012-06-04T03:35:00.000-07:002012-06-04T03:35:00.237-07:00Android 4.0.3 ICS now rolling out to the Samsung Galaxy S II <BODY readability="44"><P><IMG class="alignnone size-full wp-image-76474" title=ICS_Android alt="Android 4.0.3 ICS now rolling out to the Samsung Galaxy S II " src="/ICSAndroid.jpg" width=500 height=375></P><P>Five months after the release of Ice Cream Sandwich, users will start seeing a roll out of the official ICS upgrade for their Samsung Galaxy S II device.</P><P>The update will be available in stages and will arrive first to Samsung’s home country Korea. The first European countries that will receive the update are: Poland, Sweden and Hungary. Samsung confirmed that the UK rolout will begin next week.</P><BLOCKQUOTE readability="6"><P>“Samsung UK can confirm that the roll out of Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) on Galaxy S II will be available from week commencing 19th March, however the availability of software upgrades in the UK will be dependent upon each network’s own software approvals process.”</P></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Samsung have informed users that Android 4.0 updates for the Galaxy Note, Galaxy S II LTE, Galaxy R, Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, 7.7, 8.9, 8.9 LTE and 10.1 will be coming along “Soon”. Owners of the Galaxy S, Galaxy Tab 7, Galaxy S Plus, Galaxy S Super Clear LCD and Galaxy W can all expect an update to Android 2.3 Gingerbread at the end of this month.</P><P>via</P><BR><BR><BR><br /><p><a href="http://dailymobile.se/2012/03/13/android-4-0-3-ics-now-rolling-out-to-the-samsung-galaxy-s-ii/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836912850776390471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257901392710381155.post-49844910455416362142012-06-04T03:22:00.000-07:002012-06-04T03:22:00.181-07:00Yelp Prices IPO Above Expected Range<br /><p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com//id/46575297" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836912850776390471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257901392710381155.post-46850565698848661982012-06-04T03:04:00.000-07:002012-06-04T03:04:00.905-07:00Free Theme for Nokia Belle “Numbers by IND190″ <BODY readability="22"><P><IMG class=aligncenter title="Free Theme for Nokia Belle Numbers by IND190" height=480 alt="Free Theme for Nokia Belle Numbers by IND190" src="/previepep.jpg" width=480></P><P>A great series by IND190, compatible with Belle.</P><P>You can download this theme from our Symbian^3 Themes section.</P><BR><BR><BR><br /><p><a href="http://dailymobile.se/2012/03/02/free-theme-for-nokia-belle-numbers-by-ind190/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836912850776390471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257901392710381155.post-59488783541492254202012-06-04T02:49:00.000-07:002012-06-04T02:49:00.273-07:00Facebook May Become Part of Your Digital Estate <BODY readability="6">When Karen Williams' son died in a motorcycle crash, the Oregon woman turned to his <B><STRONG>Facebook</STRONG></B> account in hopes of learning more about the young man she had lost. </P><IMG border=0 hspace=0 align=left src="/facebookloginhead200.jpg" width=200 height=150>Roslan Rahman | AFP | Getty ImagesWilliams found his password and emailed the company, asking administrators to maintain 22-year-old Loren Williams' account so she could pore through his posts and comments by his friends. But within two hours, she said, Facebook changed the password, blocking her efforts. </P>"I wanted full and unobstructed access, and they balked at that," said Williams, recalling her son's death in 2005. "It was heartbreaking. I was a parent grasping at straws to get anything I could get." </P>Now lawmakers and attorneys in at least two states are considering proposals that would require Facebook and other social networks to grant access to loved ones when a family member dies, essentially making the site contents part of a person's digital estate. The issue is growing increasingly important as people record more thoughts and experiences online and more disputes break out over that material. </P>Williams, a second-grade teacher from the Portland suburbs, ultimately got back into her son's account, but it took a lawsuit and a two-year legal battle that ended with Facebook granting her 10 months of access before her son's page was removed. </P>Nebraska is reviewing legislation modeled after a law in Oklahoma, which last year became the first state to take action. </P>"Mementos, shoe boxes with photos. That, we knew how to distribute once someone passed away," said Ryan Kiesel, a former legislator who wrote the Oklahoma law. "We wanted to get state law and attorneys to begin thinking about the digital estate." </P>Under Facebook's current policy, deaths can be reported in an online form. When the site learns of a death, it puts that person's account in a memorialized state. Certain information is removed, and privacy is restricted to friends only. The profile and wall are left up so friends and loved ones can make posts in remembrance. </P>Facebook will provide the estate of the deceased with a download of the account data "if prior consent is obtained from or decreed by the deceased or mandated by law." </P>If a close relative asks that a profile be removed, Facebook will honor that request, too. </P>Like the Oklahoma law, the Nebraska bill would allow friends or relatives to take control of social media accounts if the deceased person lived in the state. The measure would treat Facebook, Twitter and email accounts as digital assets that could be closed or continued by an appointed representative. </P>Omaha lawyer William Lindsay, who specializes in estate planning, said his professional experience has taught him that the issue should be addressed in the law. But he also has a personal interest because of a cousin who died while serving in the Navy. </P>"We wanted to be able to get the email records, but we couldn't because nobody knew the password," Lindsay said. "We wanted to let her friends know she had died, but we didn't know all of them." </P>Sen. John Wightman, who sponsored the measure at the urging of the state bar association, said he expects the Judiciary Committee to approve the bill, sending it to the full Legislature. </P>Facebook spokesman Tucker Bounds said the company was surprised by the Oklahoma law and was working closely with Nebraska legislators on the latest proposal. The company declined to say how many people had requested access to accounts held by Oklahomans, but Bounds said it was relatively rare. </P>"I can tell you there aren't people pouring out into the streets asking for access," Bounds said. </P>Oregon could be the next state to take up the issue. The Oregon State Bar Association has formed a group to work on the matter and hopes to propose legislation next year. </P>Portland lawyer Victoria Blachly said the plan will mirror the Oklahoma law, but it will also include a "virtual asset instruction letter" that lists online information and passwords, along with instructions for when someone dies or becomes incapacitated. </P>"That's the part that social media providers have been wrestling with," Blachly said. </P>Like others, Blachly said she began studying the issue after a young relative died and left social media accounts in limbo. </P>Her top concern is the emotional value of social media accounts. </P>"Some people say, 'Well, if I get hit by a bus, what do I care?"' she said. "The people who love you care very much about it." </P>© 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</EM><IMG width="100%" height=0><br /><p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com//id/46750736" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836912850776390471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257901392710381155.post-4181609723969242012-06-04T02:40:00.000-07:002012-06-04T02:40:00.421-07:00Windows 8 vs Windows 7 vs OS X Lion <P><IMG border=0 alt="Early View: Windows 8 vs Windows 7 vs OS X Lion" align=left src="/Main204by320Lock20Screen-470-75.jpg" width=338 height=253> <P>The teasing's over: more than 1 million of you have got your hands on the Consumer Preview that enables you to see exactly what Microsoft's up to with Windows 8.</P><P>The new OS has an exciting new interface, exciting new apps, exciting new processor support and exciting new touch controls, and it's very, very different from the Windows we know and love. It's also very different from Apple's OS X Lion, which also introduced massively improved touch features and a host of interesting new things. So which one are you likely to prefer? </P><P>Will Metro tempt you away from the Mac? Would you be better off sticking with Windows 7? Let's find out.</P><P>By the way, we know that Apple has previewed OS X Mountain Lion already, but we haven't got hands on with it ourselves as yet, so that's why we've used Lion for comparison here. </P><P>While Windows 8 will be available on ARM-powered devices, the Consumer Preview is for 32-bit and 64-bit Intel and AMD machines only. OS X Lion, of course, is a 64-bit, Intel-only affair. System requirements are fairly undemanding: Lion wants a Core 2 Duo or better with 2GB of RAM, while Windows 7 and 8 both want a 1GHz processor with 1GB of RAM or 2GB for 64-bit.</P><P>Lion is only (officially) available for Apple PCs, and it's strictly a desktop/laptop OS. Despite appearing on the odd tablet we'd argue that Windows 7 is really just a desktop/laptop OS too. Windows 8, however, is designed to encompass desktops, laptops, tablets and possibly smartphones too, and should ship on a dizzying range of devices later this year. For more about Windows 8 tablets check out our need to know piece. </P><P><IMG title="Windows 8 is designed to run on everything from tiny mobile devices to enormous all-in-one pcs" border=0 alt="Windows 8 tablets" src="D:\Auto Blog Samurai\data\News around the WORLD\NDTV\" width=420></P><P>Lion's interface is the first step in an ongoing process: Apple wants to deliver a unified experience across its OS X and iOS apps, so while the operating systems remain separate their interfaces are starting to share things. </P><P>The jury's out on some of them - Lion's reversed mouse scrolling is designed to match the iPad's way of doing things, but drives some users demented; Calendar's iOS-style makeover has been widely mocked - but despite the iOSification it's still essentially a more refined version of the Snow Leopard UI.</P><P>Windows 7, similarly, is a refinement of the traditional Windows interface we've had since Windows 95: it's essentially Vista given a bit of spit and polish. The move to Windows 8 is much more dramatic.</P><P>The start button is gone, replaced with "hot corners" that make things happen when you move the mouse to the edges of the screen, and there's a new Metro-style user interface that ties in nicely with Windows Phone and the Xbox 360 Dashboard. A feature Microsoft calls Semantic Zoom enables you to zoom out for a birds-eye view of your programs, and you can easily reorganise the tiles by dragging them around.</P><P>The Windows 8 Metro interface is beautiful, but the traditional Windows one is there too for applications such as Windows Explorer, Office and legacy apps (on ARM devices it'll be there for Explorer and Office, but legacy software won't run). The jump from Metro to old-Windows is rather jarring, but the alternative would be for Microsoft to say "no, you can't use your old apps" to every Windows user. That would be commercial suicide. </P><P><IMG title="We think windows 8" border=0 alt="Windows 8 metro" src="/desktop20beta20fish-420-100.jpg" width=420></P><P>OS X has had an App Store since Snow Leopard, and it's becoming an increasingly important way to get software - in the forthcoming Mountain Lion release, you'll be able to block non-App Store apps completely if you wish.</P><P>Windows 8 gets an app store too, although Microsoft calls its one the Windows Store. That's where you'll get your Metro apps, which take advantage of the new interface and which are sandboxed for security. Windows 8 will also run traditional Windows apps unless your hardware is ARM-powered, although there will be an ARM-specific version of Microsoft Office. </P><P>Metro apps are lovely things, resembling big versions of Windows Phone apps - which, after all, is essentially what they are. We like what we've seen so far but it'll be a while before it's clear what Microsoft's developer army comes up with. For the duration of the Consumer Preview all apps will be free to download, although Microsoft stresses that the apps are "app previews" rather than the final versions you'll get when Windows 8 ships. </P><P>Metro apps aren't necessarily the same as their desktop equivalents: for example you get two versions of Internet Explorer 10, one for Metro and one for desktop mode. The latter supports plugins, toolbars and Flash but the Metro version doesn't.</P><P><IMG title="Metro apps look great and work just like the ones you" border=0 alt="Windows 8 metro apps" src="/weather20app20maps-420-100.jpg" width=420></P><P>What we think Windows 8 has that Windows 7 perhaps didn't is the wow factor, the iPad-y desirability that Apple fans know so well. </P><P>While the Consumer Preview looks and feels largely finished there's still plenty of work for Microsoft to do, but from what we've used so far we're very excited. Unless Microsoft does something spectacularly silly at the very last moment, Windows 8 is going to be something special.</P><A class=blue-btn onclick="javascript:return false;" href=""></A><A class=blue-btn title="Hey, you need to be logged in to like this news!" onclick="javascript: tb_show(this.title, this.href, false); return false;" href="http://www.techgig.com/ajax_files/ajax_login_register.php?show_form=yes&KeepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=340&width=652">Like This</A> 8 | </EM>0 Comments <br /><p><a href="http://techgig.com/tech-news/editors-pick/Windows-8-vs-Windows-7-vs-OS-X-Lion-10843" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836912850776390471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257901392710381155.post-44113908117012605282012-06-04T02:28:00.000-07:002012-06-04T02:28:00.203-07:00Unilateral military action against Syria <P><B>?????.</B> The US military on Sunday after the killing of civilians by the 16 Afghan anger erupted against the US terrorist organization operating in Afghanistan is threatened by the Taliban that they are Afghani beheaded American troops of killing civilians.</P><P>Hours after the threat of a delegation of the Government of Afghanistan on Tuesday attacked. to examine the phenomenon of this team Sunday to panjavai district, where on Sunday the murder-e-mango. delegation of Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Shah Wali Karzai addul Quayyum Karzai two brothers and Home Ministry officials with Intelligence Department and panjavai najiban and alekojai villages of the District of Kandahar on the tour.</P><P>The village's mosque in this team event information from villagers was taking both of the pills only. running the pill in turn leki Karzai brother secure a of a soldier, but in the meantime the man were injured by Taliban spokesman jabiulla Mujahid. said in a statement, "we may Allah help us killer soldiers beheaded."</P><br /><p><a href="http://www.bhaskar.com/article/INT-taliban-threaten-to-behead-us-soldiers-afghan-govt-team-attacked-2968908.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836912850776390471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257901392710381155.post-20977735941944221882012-06-04T02:21:00.000-07:002012-06-04T02:21:00.170-07:00Samsung I9070 Galaxy S Advance review: While-u-wait <P>Here's one to keep you busy while you wait for the Galaxy S III. One that may help the original Galaxy S finally take the hint and hang up its boots. The Galaxy S Advance is the next in a string of sequels looking to get the best afterburn out of Samsung's top-selling Android flagships.</P><P><IMG alt="" src="/gsmarena001.jpg" height=200> <IMG alt="" src="/gsmarena002.jpg" height=200> <IMG alt="" src="/gsmarena003.jpg" height=200> <IMG alt="" src="/gsmarena004.jpg" height=200> <BR><STRONG>Samsung I9070 Galaxy S Advance</STRONG></P><P>The Samsung Galaxy S Advance could be spotted at this year's MWC along with other space-fillers like the Wave 3 and the Omnia W. Nothing wrong with either of those but the actual stars of the show were a couple of tablets and a new projector phone. Samsung had a rather underwhelming showing and used the venue to promote the hell out of their Galaxy Note.</P><P>Phoneblets and tablets must be higher on Samsung's agenda these days. Or they may've been asked to kindly abstain from major launches to give the Galaxy Nexus a good free run. Whatever the reason, the Galaxy S Advance comes at a dry time for the company in terms of major phone headlines.</P>Quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G support 14.4 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA support 4.0" 16M-color Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen of WVGA (480 x 800 pixel) resolution; Scratch-resistant coatingAndroid OS v2.3.6 with TouchWiz 4 launcher1 GHz dual-core Cortex-A9 CPU, Mali-400 MP GPU, 768MB of RAM 5 MP autofocus camera with a powerful LED flash, face and smile detection 720p HD video recording at 30fps Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n support; DLNA and Wi-Fi hotspotGPS with A-GPS connectivity; digital compass 8/16GB of inbuilt storage, microSD slot Accelerometer, gyroscope and proximity sensor Standard 3.5 mm audio jack microUSB portStereo Bluetooth v3.0 FM radio with RDS Gorilla Glass 1.3MP secondary camera Document editor File manager comes preinstalled No 1080p video recordingNo Super AMOLED Plus, pentile matrix display suffers pixelationNo dedicated camera keymicroSD card under the battery coverLaunches with Gingerbread <P>OK, life is a series of peaks and troughs and the S Advance finds itself at the low end of the oscillation. But it's by no means in need of being comforted and reassured. This is a rather solid package we're looking at, considering it'll be competing in the midrange. The combination of dual-core and Super AMOLED puts it in the elite company of the Note, the Nexus and the Galaxy S II.</P><P>Of course there's fine print in just about every deal. The AMOLED screen of the Galaxy S Advance is the PenTile variety and the WVGA resolution isn't the best there is. The NovaThor U8500 chipset is still to prove its worth and there's no commitment to ICS upgradability as yet.</P><P><IMG alt="Samsung I9070 Galaxy S Advance" src="/gsmarena020.jpg" height=100> <IMG alt="Samsung I9070 Galaxy S Advance" src="/gsmarena021.jpg" height=100> <BR><STRONG>The Galaxy S Advance at ours</STRONG></P><P>Samsung are known for trying to rule any price segment by sheer numbers and the Galaxy S Advance gives them extra penetration in the upper midrange. What we're not sure about is whether they need all that depth. Having already seen the Galaxy R at work, it seems the S Advance doesn't offer that much more.</P><P>They're perhaps meant for different markets. The S Advance for example is expected to debut in Russia before seeing wider availability. Anyway, the S Advance and the Galaxy R look very similar on paper save for the screens and the chipsets. But we won't rush to judgments before we've run our usual benchmarks. No need to tell you they're coming up, but first we'll see about the design and build.</P><br /><p><a href="http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s_advance-review-732.php" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836912850776390471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257901392710381155.post-8946532184858170682012-06-04T02:10:00.000-07:002012-06-04T02:10:00.358-07:00Hedge Funds for Everyone? Don’t Hold Your Breath <BODY readability="24">Last year was a difficult year for the hedge fund industry, with returns down 6.4 percent, but the drop hasn’t stopped experienced professionals from moving away from big investment banks to set up their own firms.</P>Earlier this month, the Financial Times reported that a team of top traders at JP Morgan was making the leap to launch one of the biggest hedge fund start-ups of 2012. Several new Asia-focused hedge funds have also sprung up in recent months, attracting investors who are encouraged by the managers’ strong track records.</P>But investing in hedge funds is not for everyone.</P>The high fees they charge in return for the promise of substantial returns mean only very wealthy individuals or professional investors such as insurance companies and pension funds can invest.</P>“There are a few that deserve it but not all of them,” David Butler, founding member of Kinetic Partners told CNBC. “I think you have to be careful about which hedge fund you look at.” </P>Margie Lindsay, editor of the Hedge Fund Review said that institutional investors were putting a lot more pressure on managers to negotiate the fees.</P>But despite efforts to make the hedge fund industry less opaque, there are few signs that hedge funds will be investing money for the man in the street any time soon.</P>Butler said hedge funds were not looking for retail investors and would not be able to cope with an influx of retail investors.</P>“The product and many of the strategies are so complex they are not really designed for the retail market. Most hedge fund managers don’t want retail investors and most retail investors shouldn’t be in them,” Butler said.</P>Rather than selecting hedge funds themselves, individuals can get some exposure to hedge funds through pension funds, the custodians of their money, Butler said.</P>“Retail investors are better to do it through some other means and just accept, through their pension funds, they get some exposure,” Butler added.</P><IMG width="100%" height=0><br /><p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com//id/46715593" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836912850776390471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257901392710381155.post-56354378142116614742012-06-04T02:01:00.000-07:002012-06-04T02:01:00.057-07:00PayPal Card Reader Means Tougher Battle for Square <BR><BR><IMG border=0 alt="PayPal Card Reader Means Tougher Battle for Square" src="/91780-1.jpg" width=450 height=300><BR><P>By Kate Knibbs | Tue Mar 13, 2012 2:17 pm</P>PayPal is intensifying its battle with Square, as the company prepares to launch a credit-card reading device and competes with the larger NFC-based mobile payment contenders. <P>PayPal plans to expand into physical stores with a credit-card reading dongle, similar to those used by Square, Intuit's GoPayment and Verifone's PAYware. According to reports, the device processes payments without expensive or heavy hardware, and is triangular, a possible dig at Square, PayPal's main rival.</P><P>Square just released Square Register, a check-out app aimed at small businesses, and PayPal's dongle indicates it aims to target the same corner of the mobile payment market.</P><P>PayPal already launched one part of its in-store expansion plan, integrating its software into Home Depot's registers so customers with PayPal accounts use them at checkout. The in-store software plan targets large retailers willing to overhaul their point-of-sales system to include PayPal. PayPal's dongle, however, may attract smaller businesses and those reluctant to revamp their whole checkout system.</P><P>Square and PayPal are battling it out, but both companies face increasingly stiff competition from mobile payment systems based on near-field communications, or NFC, technology. The upcoming Isis coalition is targeting businesses, merchants and consumers in a big push for NFC adoption on phones and in stores, which will likely bring mobile payments on a broad scale to the U.S. marketplace.</P><P>PayPal initially dismissed NFC technology as inconvenient, but the threat is mounting. Isis is ramping up security and gradually establishing a powerful coalition of backers, and more phones will land in the marketplace offering NFC capabilities. As NFC grows more accessible, it threatens both PayPal and Square.</P><P>PayPal enjoys a large user base, but the company faces stiffer competition bringing its payment system onto mobile devices and into stores, especially as Isis prepares its debut. The dongle may ramp up competition with Square and garner small business support, but PayPal has a long way to go in its quest for mobile payment dominance. </P><BR><BR><IMG border=0 alt="Can't Read Sign Language? There's an App for That" src="/132729-1.jpg" width=225 height=150> Tue Mar 13, 2012 4:13 pm | By <BR>Scottish scientists are developing an app converting sign language into text, showcasing mobile technology's capacity to evolve communication. <BR><BR><BR><BR><IMG border=0 alt="Daily Roundup: March 13, 2012" src="/132562-1.jpg" width=225 height=150> Tue Mar 13, 2012 4:04 pm | By <BR>AT&T is expanding its LTE service, and Tim Cook sold off more of his stock in Apple. Meanwhile, Verizon had some sporadic outages, Apple denies Proview's claims on its iPad name and Twitter snapped up Posterous, a blogging platform. <BR><BR><IMG border=0 alt="Anonymous Hacks Vatican Again" src="/100691-1.jpg" width=225 height=150> Tue Mar 13, 2012 3:57 pm | By <BR>Anonymous hackers struck the Vatican again, wreaking havoc despite ongoing arrests, defectors and rogue members that risk impairing future operations. <BR><BR><IMG border=0 alt="Yahoo Pokes Facebook With Patent Lawsuit" src="/96995-1.jpg" width=225 height=150> Tue Mar 13, 2012 3:42 pm | By <BR>Yahoo is suing Facebook over alleged patent infringement, opening up untested legal territory as the social network goes public. <BR><BR><IMG border=0 alt="Apple Pushes Into Education With Cheaper IPad" src="/99818-1.jpg" width=225 height=151> Tue Mar 13, 2012 2:46 pm | By <BR>Apple's is reducing the price of the iPad 2 with the release of the new iPad, boosting the company's educational initiatives by making tablets more affordable for schools. <BR><BR><BR>Editorials & Opinion By Kat Asharya<BR><IMG border=0 alt="In Brief: Patent Party's Over, Android Left in Cold" align=right src="/132604-1.jpg" width=112 height=75> The Justice Department approved the $4.5 billion purchase of over 4,000 Nortel patents to major Android rivals like Apple and RIM, guaranteeing no end in sight to the legal battles entangling the mobile industry.</B> <BR><br /><p><a href="http://www.mobiledia.com/news/132869.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836912850776390471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257901392710381155.post-1448032745109329412012-06-04T01:55:00.000-07:002012-06-04T01:55:00.568-07:00Sony Xperia S hits UK, carrier Three is the first to get it <IMG id=news-img align=left src="/big.jpg"> <P>The Sony Xperia S finally completed its journey to the UK and is now available for purchase. The first smartphone to ship with the Sony branding, rather than Sony Ericsson, is already offered by Three both on a contract and on a pay-as-you-go basis.</P><P>You can have the Sony Xperia S for free if you are willing to sign a contract on The One Plan worth ?30/month or ?36/month. That would give you all-you-can-eat data, 2,000 minutes and 5,000 texts and, of course, the chance to own the latest and greatest in the Xperia world.</P><P>Alternatively, the Sony Xperia S can be had with a pre-paid card, but you'll need to pay ?369.99 upfront. You'd need to spend ?15 or ?25 extra for either an All in One 15 or All in One 30 package, but you won't have to commit to Three long term.</P><P>Sadly, the Sony Xperia S is still unavailable at the Three UK online store, so you'll have to visit one of their brick and mortar stores if you want to get it, or just wait for a few days until it comes up.</P><P>The other major UK carriers are all expected to start offering the Sony Xperia S in the following weeks, but we are yet to learn more about the specific conditions each of them is going to be offering.</P><P>Source | Via</P><br /><p><a href="http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_s__hits_uk_three_the_first_to_get_it-news-3953.php" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836912850776390471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257901392710381155.post-81285206062241203432012-06-04T01:49:00.000-07:002012-06-04T01:49:00.980-07:00Google Rebrands Android Market, Google Music as 'Play' <IMG border=0 align=left src="/photo1331085778tempjpgpagespeedceD-PLX-j4iV.jpg">Google said Tuesday that it rebranded its Android Market, Google Music, and its online eBookstore as a single brand, Google Play. <P>Over the next few days, Google will upgrade its Android Market app to Google Play, the company said in a blog post. Likewise, Google Play Music, Google Play Books, and Google Play Movies will become the names used by Google's music, books, and movie storefronts, the company said.</P><P>The rebranding won't be consistent on a worldwide basis. For example, in Canada and the U.K., Google said it will offer movies, books and Android apps; in Australia, books and apps; and in Japan, movies and apps. Everywhere else, Google Play will be the new home for just Android apps, the company said. </P><A class=blue-btn onclick="javascript:return false;" href=""></A><A class=blue-btn title="Hey, you need to be logged in to like this news!" onclick="javascript: tb_show(this.title, this.href, false); return false;" href="http://www.techgig.com/ajax_files/ajax_login_register.php?show_form=yes&KeepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=340&width=652">Like This</A> 2 | </EM>0 Comments <br /><p><a href="http://techgig.com/tech-news/editors-pick/Google-Rebrands-Android-Market-Google-Music-as-Play--10841" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836912850776390471noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257901392710381155.post-71658315816697663792012-06-04T01:42:00.000-07:002012-06-04T01:42:00.883-07:00Rare Earths Case Against China Too Late, Experts Say <BODY readability="24">Hong Kong - Even as the United States, the European Union and Japan jointly filed a trade case Tuesday against China over its export restrictions on strategic rare earth metals, many specialists could not help wondering whether it was too little and too late for Western and Japanese manufacturers.</P><IMG border=0 hspace=0 align=left src="/china20rare20earth200.jpg" width=200 height=150></P>President Obama heralded the case as a landmark when he announced it at the White House on Tuesday morning, signaling that the United States and its allies would require China to play by international trade rules.</P>“Our competitors should be on notice: You will not get away with skirting the rules,” he said.</P>But international trade officials, industry leaders and specialists in China and the West noted that Beijing would have a strong hand of cards as it seeks to defend its export policies on rare earths.</P>The metals are needed for making an array of sophisticated products, from smartphones to smart bombs, as well as wind turbines and other green technologies. China is the source of more than 90 percent of the world’s processed rare earth metals.</P>Even if the West and Japan overcome the stiff challenges of winning their <B><STRONG><STRONG>case at the World Trade Organization</STRONG></STRONG></B>, it could still take several years before Beijing changes its policies — by which time companies in the West and Japan could have moved even more of their factories that use rare earth metals to China.</P>“The filing was too late,” said Karl A. Gschneidner Jr., a rare earths specialist at the Energy Department’s Ames Laboratory in Iowa. China was “cutting off supplies and controlling things in the past couple years,” he said.</P>He noted that this year the reopening of a long-idle American mine at Mountain Pass, Calif., and the opening of another mine in Australia would start putting more rare earths into the global supply chain — potentially enough to meet more than half of the demand outside of China. But many rare earth metal users, including computer hardware manufacturers and producers of energy-efficient lighting, have already shifted operations to China and are unlikely to move soon.</P>But some specialists say that the West has benefited indirectly from China’s quotas, because they drove rare earth prices up by as much as 30 times. That caused a boom in mining investment that is now opening alternatives to China.</P>“I don’t think it’s too little, too late,” said Yaron Vorona, executive director of the Technology and Rare Earth Metals Center at the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, a nonprofit organization in suburban Washington focusing on energy security.</P>Whatever the eventual implications for world supplies of rare earths, in some ways a recent Western victory on a somewhat related trade case may have strengthened China’s hand.</P>The World Trade Organization ordered China last July to dismantle export duties and quotas on nine other industrial raw materials, including bauxite. An appeals tribunal upheld the ruling and added details in late January.</P>China has been able to study those orders as it has redesigned its export restrictions on rare earths. The new quotas are as stringent as the old ones, making it harder for Western manufacturers to obtain rare earths in the quantities and with the timeliness their factories require. But the revamped quota rules could be easier for China to defend in front of a W.T.O. tribunal, than its earlier policies would have been.</P>China, for example, has begun requiring its rare earth exporters to obtain a certificate of environmental compliance before they are allowed to make any overseas shipments. That could strengthen China’s claim that export quotas on rare earths are environmentally necessary. Without dispute, the mining and processing of rare earths have many toxic and even radioactive byproducts — which is one reason the West and Japan for decades were reluctant to produce them.</P>China denies claims by Western trade officials that Beijing has waved the environmental flag to disguise its true motive: to force Western and Japanese factories to move to China to gain access to an uninterrupted supply of low-cost rare earths.</P>The Chinese government has also lent large sums to four state-owned mining companies that are buying many of their smaller, private domestic rivals in rare earths. That raises the prospect that China could assemble a state-owned rare earth oligopoly — one that could effectively limit exports without government policies that mandate the restrictions. W.T.O. rules mostly cover government regulations, not the behavior of oligopolies.</P>“It will be much more difficult for us to win the rare earth case than it was for us to win the previous case,” said a Western trade official, referring to the W.T.O. rulings on industrial raw materials. The official, who insisted on anonymity because the case was diplomatically and legally delicate, added that the rare earth case could still be won because of voluminous files that point to abusive Chinese trade practices.</P>A diplomatic confrontation between China and Japan over disputed islands in September 2010, for example, turned into a Chinese show of force on rare earths. Chinese regulators abruptly summoned the presidents of China’s rare earth mining companies to a secret meeting in Beijing, said a person with a detailed knowledge of the meeting, who insisted on anonymity to avoid angering Chinese officials.</P>The mining executives were told that the Chinese government was about to halt all shipments of rare earths to Japan, where the electronics industry, camera industry and others depended heavily on the materials. The executives were told that if any of their companies stepped up shipments to another country instead, allowing reshipment of rare earths from that country to Japan, then the company would lose its export license. The assembled executives were also warned against speaking to the news media about the coming embargo, this person said.</P>Chinese trade statistics showed that exports of rare earths to Japan dropped to almost zero during the embargo, which continued for two months. Legal shipments to other markets increased little in that period, although smuggling to Vietnam and then to Japan increased.</P>On Tuesday, besides trying to free the global flow of rare earth metals, the United States and its allies demanded that China dismantle export restrictions on two other strategic minerals mined mainly in China: tungsten and molybdenum, which are used to strengthen steel.</P>Mr. Obama also signed a law meant to make it easier for companies and unions to file antisubsidy cases against imports from China and other countries designated by the United States as having nonmarket economies.</P>This story originally appeared in The New York Times </EM></EM><IMG width="100%" height=0><br /><p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com//id/46726795" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836912850776390471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257901392710381155.post-12589376174963215202012-06-04T01:31:00.000-07:002012-06-04T01:31:00.091-07:00Others to Profit During J.C. Penney Turnaround: Analyst <BODY readability="22">A lot of retailers are going to profit as <B><STRONG><STRONG>J.C. Penney</STRONG> </STRONG></B>continues its turnaround, Morgan Stanley analyst Michelle Clark told CNBC Thursday.</P><IMG border=0 hspace=0 align=left src="/shopperswithbags3.jpg" width=200 height=150></P>Penney [JCP Loading... () <IMG border=0 src="/realtimeicon.gif">] announced its new <STRONG>pricing strategy</STRONG> in January, as well as a plan to offer "stores within a store" and offer more exclusive goods from such brands as Martha Stewart, in whose company Penney bought a sizable stake.</P>CEO Ron Johnson told CNBC at that time the strategy is "the first key step in the transformation" of the retailer.</P>But in the short term, Clark said, other retailers across the board will be able to profit from Penney's transition. </P>"In the department store space, <B><STRONG><STRONG>Macy’s</STRONG></STRONG></B> will be a bigger beneficiary than <B><STRONG><STRONG>Kohl's</STRONG></STRONG></B> because they have a higher store overlap with J.C. Penney," Clark said. Macy’s [M Loading... () <IMG border=0 src="/realtimeicon.gif">] is "also executing from a <B><STRONG><STRONG>product standpoint</STRONG></STRONG></B>" because "Kohl's [KSS Loading... () <IMG border=0 src="/realtimeicon.gif">] </P>has not introduced enough new brands into its assortment."</P>In specialty retail, <B><STRONG><STRONG>Gap's</STRONG></STRONG></B> [GPS Loading... () <IMG border=0 src="/realtimeicon.gif">] Old Navy is likely to pick up market share, she continued, while <B><STRONG><STRONG>Target</STRONG></STRONG></B> [TGT Loading... () <IMG border=0 src="/realtimeicon.gif">] will benefit within the discount category. In the off-price sector <B><STRONG><STRONG>TJX</STRONG></STRONG></B> [TJX Loading... () <IMG border=0 src="/realtimeicon.gif">] and <B><STRONG><STRONG>Ross Stores</STRONG> </STRONG></B>[ROST Loading... () <IMG border=0 src="/realtimeicon.gif">] will pick up "J.C. Penney's price-conscious consumer."<BR></P>"We also think the off-price retailers will pick up some of J.C. Penney's vendors as it looks to narrow down its vendor base," Clark said.</P>Expectations for Penney are high. Some analysts, including Piper Jaffrey's <B><STRONG><STRONG>Jeff Klinefelter</STRONG></STRONG></B>, believe Penney earnings won't see any "meaningful" bounce from the strategy until 2013.</P>At the same time, the bulls will point to Ron Johnson and J.C. Penney's management team as driving same-store sales growth this year, according to Morgan Stanley's Clark. She thinks the first-quarter earnings, due out in May, could disappoint.</P>"We think sales are underperforming expectations there," she said of Penney's. Macy's, by contrast, is gaining market share with its "exclusive brands and localization initiatives."</P>"It's one of the cheapest names" in the retail sector and "it's the one we would put money behind at current levels," she said.</P>Clark does not own shares of the companies but Morgan Stanley has received compensation for banking services at one or more of them.</P><B><STRONG><STRONG><STRONG>Questions? Comments? Email us at </STRONG></EM>document.write("");<STRONG>document.write("consumernation"+"@"+"cnbc.com");</STRONG></EM>document.write('');.</STRONG></EM></STRONG></B></EM> <IMG width="100%" height=0><br /><p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com//id/46669384" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836912850776390471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257901392710381155.post-5796614435813744352012-06-04T01:16:00.000-07:002012-06-04T01:16:00.643-07:00New Apple iPad goes official, Retina display and A5X chip <P>Apple just unveiled the next-gen iPad at its event in San Francisco. Packing a Retina IPS display with the mind-blowing resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels and a bumped up GPU, this shapes up to be one of the hottest slates on the market. And yes, the iPad has kept its Home button alright. </P><P><IMG src="/gsmarena005.jpg"></P><P>Strangely, rumors about the new slate being called iPad 3 or iPad HD turned out wrong and the new device is simply called iPad - just like the first generation device.</P><P>The event started with the announcement of iOS 5.1 - it's available starting today and will roll out in Japan over the next few weeks, bringing Japanese language support for Siri, as previously rumored.</P><P><IMG src="/gsmarena006.jpg"></P><P>The new Apple TV also got a spot under the sunlight at the event - 1080p-capable, running iOS with a new UI with big "billboard images for movies". It will be available for $99 and will be available next week with pre-orders starting today.</P><P><IMG src="/gsmarena009.jpg"></P><P>Moving on to the main course for the night, the new Apple iPad offers a Retina display with a resolution of 2048 x 1536 with around 263.92 ppi. Apple also says that it has better color saturation than the iPad 2.</P><P><IMG src="/gsmarena007.jpg"></P><P>The processor inside is not a quad-core A6 but a dual-core A5X with quad-core graphics.</P><P>The camera is dubbed iSight - it's a 5 MP BSI unit with auto-focus, sporting a 5-element lens. The new iPad's camera offers 1080p video recording.</P><P><IMG src="/gsmarena008.jpg"></P><P>The new iPad features 21Mbps HSPA+ and 42Mbps DC-HSDPA and 4G LTE up to 73Mbps.</P><P>The new iPad will keep its acclaimed 10-hour battery life, save when in 4G mode when it will be able to do 9 hours.</P><P><IMG alt="" src="/gsmarena002.jpg" height=100> <IMG alt="" src="/gsmarena003.jpg" height=100> <IMG alt="" src="/gsmarena004.jpg" height=100></P><P>The 16GB version of the new iPad will cost $499, the 32GB abd 64GB will be $599 and $699. The 4G versions will be $629, $729 and $829 for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB versions. It will be available on March 16.</P><P>Along with the third-gen iPad we saw the iPhoto for iOS and updated iMovie app as well as new versions of Infinity Blade - Dungeons and Sketchbook Ink.</P><br /><p><a href="http://www.gsmarena.com/apple_ipad_event_coverage-news-3947.php" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836912850776390471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257901392710381155.post-6851604699837741432012-06-04T01:09:00.000-07:002012-06-04T01:09:00.927-07:00The Kindle, iPad tug-o-war <BODY readability="18"><P><IMG class="alignnone size-large wp-image-76490" title=0312120-ipad-kindle-tug-of-war alt="The Kindle, iPad tug o war" src="/0312120-ipad-kindle-tug-of-war-500x283.jpg" width=500 height=283></P><P>As reports of Apple’s 7-inch iPad gain steady steam, similar news of Amazon’s 10-inch Kindle also start floating around.</P><P>The iPad has always dominated the high-end tablet market, while Kindle secures the lower-end of the spectrum. With rumors of both devices trying to dip into each others respective market segments, things could become really interesting.</P><P>The big A’s of the tablet market is seemingly locked in a tug-of-war of consumer tablet dominance. Both companies neither confirm nor deny the rumours, each one probably waiting for the other to spill the beans first.</P><P>Will Apple finally break Steve Job’s credo of never coming up with a 7-inch iPad version? Is Amazon gearing to finally give Apple a worthy competition in the 10-inch tablet market? Stay tuned!</P><BR><IMG class="avatar avatar-100 photo" alt="" src="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/942a59074de893c9381f755640da28eb?s=100&d=http%3A%2F%2Fdailymobile.se%2Fwp-includes%2Fimages%2Fblank.gif&r=PG" width=100 height=100><BR>Michael Cadiz<BR>Corporate veteran by day, full-time partyphile at night. A true-blue internet bibliophile who spends his day surfing and reading anything and everything about gadgets, TV Shows, and movie reviews. If he's not on the internet, check him out at the local arcade playing Tekken Tag Tournament 2. Follow him on twitter: @ImNotUrAngel23<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>You can also discuss this over at our<STRONG> forum</STRONG> <br /><p><a href="http://dailymobile.se/2012/03/13/the-kindle-ipad-tug-o-war/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836912850776390471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257901392710381155.post-13085656064536815172012-06-04T00:49:00.000-07:002012-06-04T00:49:00.633-07:00Legislator searched over killingAppId is over the quota<br />AppId is over the quota<br /> 5 March 2012 Last updated at 05:27 GMT <IMG height=299 alt="File photo of Shehla Masood (PTI)" src="/5877835858778357.jpg" width=224> Shehla Masood was killed outside her home last year Police in India have raided the offices of a legislator in Madhya Pradesh state in connection with the murder of a right to information activist last year in the city of Bhopal.</P><P>Bharatiya Janata Party's Dhruv Narayan Singh was also questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). </P><P>Last week, police arrested two people, including an architect in Bhopal, Zahida Parvez. </P><P>The second person was a criminal hired for the killing, they said.</P><P>Shehla Masood was found with a gunshot wound in her car outside her home on 16 August.</P><P>She was on her way to an anti-corruption protest in the city.</P><P>A special team of senior CBI investigators is arriving in Bhopal on Monday to investigate the murder. </P><P>Mr Singh's office was searched on Sunday evening and he was questioned for several hours on Saturday.</P><P>"The CBI had called me for questioning and I have told them whatever information I had on the issue. Whenever the agency would call me again, I will go there," Mr Singh told reporters after his interrogation.</P><P>Officials have not said anything yet about the motive behind the killing.</P><P>But media reports, quoting CBI sources, said Mr Singh was close to both Ms Masood and Ms Parvez.</P><P>Ms Masood, who ran an event management company, had filed a number of right to information applications, a number of them related to wildlife conservation.</P><P>According to reports, last year she had informed the authorities that she "feared for her life" and had complained about it to the police chief.</P><P>Nearly a dozen right to information activists have been killed and many others attacked in India since 2008.</P><P>The law allows Indians to access information held by the government.</P><br /><p><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-asia-india-17254708" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836912850776390471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257901392710381155.post-62415489204534728892012-06-04T00:40:00.000-07:002012-06-04T00:40:00.209-07:00US Conducting Lending Rate Manipulation Probe: Source <BODY readability="4">The U.S. Justice Department is conducting a criminal probe into whether the world's biggest banks manipulated a global benchmark rate that is at the heart of a wide range of loans and derivatives, from trillions of dollars of mortgages and bonds to interest rate swaps , a person familiar with the matter said.</P><IMG height=150 hspace=0 src="C:\Program Files\ABS\Auto Blog Samurai\data\News around the WORLD\CNBC\NYSE_trader_worried6_200.jpg" width=200 align=left border=0></P>While the Justice Department's inquiry into the setting of the <B><STRONG>London interbank offered rate <IMG height=16 alt="[cnbc explains]" src="C:\Program Files\ABS\Auto Blog Samurai\data\News around the WORLD\CNBC\CNBC_explains_icon1.gif" width=106 img> </STRONG></B>, or Libor, was known, the criminal aspect of the probe was not.</P>A criminal inquiry underscores the serious nature of a worldwide investigation that includes <B><STRONG><STRONG>regulators and law-enforcement agencies</STRONG></STRONG></B> in the United States, Japan, Canada and the UK.</P>Several major global banks, including <B><STRONG>Citigroup</STRONG></B>, <B><STRONG>HSBC</STRONG></B>, <B><STRONG>Royal Bank of Scotland</STRONG></B> and <B><STRONG>UBS</STRONG></B>, have disclosed that they have been approached by authorities investigating how Libor is set.</P>Global Banks Approached by AuthoritiesNo bank or trader has been criminally charged in the Libor probes. It wasn't clear which banks or traders the Justice Department is targeting in its criminal probe.</P>The Justice Department and the banks declined to comment.</P><B><STRONG><STRONG>Libor</STRONG> </STRONG></B>is set everyday in London for 10 currencies for a range of maturities. The rate is supposed to reflect the rate at which banks lend to one another. Dollar Libor, for example, is calculated after 18 banks submit the costs to borrow dollars.</P>The rate underpins $10 trillion in loans to consumers and companies and another $350 trillion in derivatives. In the derivatives market, Libor is used in the pricing of the massive and popular interest-rate swaps market, where two parties swap floating- and fixed-rate interest payments. Libor typically is used as the basis for the floating rate.</P>The investigations are examining whether traders at the banks tried to influence whether the <B><STRONG><STRONG>rate went up or down</STRONG></STRONG></B>. A change in the rate could mean a windfall of tens of millions of dollars if a trader has bet correctly on the direction of Libor.</P>Swiss bank UBS is playing a key role in the probes because it agreed to come forward and <B><STRONG><STRONG>cooperate in the inquiries</STRONG></STRONG></B>.</P>The bank said in a regulatory filing it has been granted conditional leniency or conditional immunity by the antitrust division of the Justice Department and the Swiss Competition Commission.</P>In recent months, probes in Japan and Canada have focused on a group of interest-rate traders who attempted to manipulate yen Libor, according to court and regulatory documents.</P>In Ontario Superior Court, a Canadian antitrust regulator said that a "cooperating party" has provided information on how the alleged manipulation took place. The cooperator is UBS, people familiar with the situation said previously.</P>The Canadian documents provide examples of how a trader at the cooperating bank contacted traders at banks such as RBS to try and influence Libor.</P>Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.</EM><IMG height=0 width="100%"><br /><p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com//id/46567763" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836912850776390471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257901392710381155.post-47021021460007232412012-06-04T00:23:00.000-07:002012-06-04T00:23:00.944-07:00VÍDEO: Uma alta de preços do algodão na proibição de exportação7 De Março de 2012 atualizada às 03:35 GMT <A class="emp-help" title="help" href="about:www.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/help/7277283.stm">ajudar</A> <br /><p><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/business-17282013" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836912850776390471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257901392710381155.post-54817905342483429262012-06-04T00:03:00.000-07:002012-06-04T00:03:00.032-07:00AP survey: More optimism about US jobs and economy WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy is improving faster than economists had expected. They now foresee slightly stronger growth and hiring than they did two months earlier — trends that would help President Barack Obama's re-election hopes.</P><P>Those are among the findings of an Associated Press survey late last month of leading economists. The economists think the unemployment rate will fall from its current 8.3 percent to 8 percent by Election Day. That's better than their 8.4 percent estimate when surveyed in late December.</P><P>By the end of 2013, they predict unemployment will drop to 7.4 percent, down from their earlier estimate of 7.8 percent, according to the AP Economy Survey.</P><P>The U.S. economy has been improving steadily for months. Industrial output jumped in January after surging in December by the most in five years. Auto sales are booming. Consumer confidence has reached its highest point in a year. Even the housing market is showing signs of turning around.</P><P>"The economy is finally starting to gain some steam, with consumers and businesses more optimistic about prospects in 2012," said Chad Moutray, chief economist at the National Association of Manufacturers.</P><P>On Friday, the government will issue the jobs report for February. Economists expect it to show that employers added a net 210,000 jobs and that the unemployment rate remained 8.3 percent.</P><P>The AP survey collected the views of two dozen private, corporate and academic economists on a range of indicators. Among their forecasts:</P><P>— Americans will save gradually less and borrow more, reversing a shift toward frugality that followed the financial crisis and the start of the Great Recession.</P><P>— Obama deserves little or no credit for declining unemployment. Only one of the 19 economists who answered the question said Obama should get "a lot" of credit. They give most of the credit to U.S. consumers, who account for about 70 percent of economic growth, and businesses.</P><P>— The economy has begun a self-sustaining period in which job growth is fueling more consumer spending, which should lead to further hiring.</P><P>— European leaders will manage to defuse their continent's debt crisis and prevent a global recession. But the economists think Europe's economy will shrink for all of 2012.</P><P>— The economy will grow 2.5 percent this year, up from the economists' earlier forecast of 2.4 percent. In 2011, the economy grew 1.7 percent.</P><P>The brighter outlook for jobs follows five straight months of declining unemployment. Employers added more than 200,000 net jobs in both December and January. The unemployment rate is at its lowest level in nearly three years.</P><P>One reason the rate has fallen so fast is that fewer out-of-work Americans have started looking for jobs. People out of work aren't counted by the Labor Department as unemployed unless they're actively seeking jobs.</P><P>Many economists have been surprised that the stronger economy hasn't led more people without jobs to start looking for work. If many more were looking, the unemployment rate would likely be higher.</P><P>Manufacturers have been hiring more consistently than other employers. Moutray expects factory output to rise 4 percent this year, better than in 2011. Manufacturers will have to continue hiring to keep up with demand, he said. That will help lower the unemployment rate to 8 percent by Election Day, he predicts.</P><P>"Manufacturers are relatively upbeat about production this year," Moutray said. That will require expanding factories and buying more machinery.</P><P>"All that plays into a better year than some people might have been expecting," he added.</P><P>The economists forecast that employers will add nearly 1.9 million jobs by Election Day, up from their December projection of nearly 1.8 million.</P><P>But Mike Englund of Action Economics is among those who noted that the declining unemployment is due, in part, to fewer people seeking work. Millions of those out of work remain too discouraged to start looking again, or, in the case of many young adults, haven't begun to do so.</P><P>"Most of this recent drop in the unemployment rate is due to a mass exodus" from the work force, Englund said.</P><P>The economy still has about 5.5 million fewer jobs than it did before the recession began in December 2007.</P><P>Still, the falling unemployment rate appears to be raising the public's view of Obama's economic stewardship. In an Associated Press-GfK poll last month, 48 percent said they approved of how Obama was handling the economy, up 9 points from December. And 30 percent of Americans described the economy as "good" — a 15-point jump from December and the highest level since the AP-GfK poll first asked the question in 2009.</P><P>The U.S. economy remains under threat from Europe's debt crisis. But those concerns have eased, the AP survey showed.</P><P>Several economists credited the European Central Bank's move to provide unlimited low-interest loans to banks with helping prevent an international crisis</P><P>"Time fixes all wounds," said Marty Regalia, chief economist at the U.S Chamber of Commerce. "Europe didn't come apart at the seams, and we haven't fallen into the abyss. Every day ... it becomes a little less likely that it will happen."</P><P>___</P><P>AP Economics Writer Derek Kravitz contributed to this report.</P><br /><p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/ap-survey-more-optimism-us-jobs-economy-050354816.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836912850776390471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257901392710381155.post-50916952337280011122012-06-03T23:57:00.000-07:002012-06-03T23:57:00.039-07:00Finally, a Comedy Movie About the Economic Crisis! <BODY readability="6">There comes a point in every breakup, every tragedy you go through in life, where you say, “I just can’t cry anymore.” </P><IMG title="False Profit, Dan Abrams & Josh Zepps" border=0 hspace=0 alt="False Profit, Dan Abrams & Josh Zepps" align=left src="/kick-start-false-profit-300.jpg" width=300 height=225></P>Well, filmmaker Dan Abrams, Science Channel host Josh Zepps and Second City ETC founder Jeff Michalski have decided it’s time to stop crying about the economic crisis and <B><STRONG>recession</STRONG></B> <IMG alt="[cnbc explains]" src="/CNBCexplainsicon1.gif" width=106 height=16 img> — and start laughing. </P>They’re working on a mockumentary (think “Spinal Tap”) about the economic crisis called “False Profit.” </P>But wait, don’t answer yet. You also get — an investment opportunity! </P>Between them, they’ve worked with some of the most famous names in comedy, from Stephen Colbert to Robin Williams, but they’ve decided that YOU are the one to fund this project.</P>They’ve launched a campaign on <B><STRONG><STRONG>Kickstarter.com</STRONG> </STRONG></B>to raise money for the film. If they get $50,000, they’re totally doing it. (If they don’t, they’ll probably blow the money on cheeseburgers and hair products.) </P>The Kickstarter page includes a trailer for the movie that includes narration in a voice that sounds like Dana Carvey doing George Bush (so read this in that voice): </P>2.8 trillion dollars …gone. </EM></P>Lehman and Bear Stearns … wiped out. </EM></P>Entire neighborhoods … foreclosed. </EM></P>Europe … breaking apart. </EM></P>And as the world crumbles, everyone is asking one question: “Who’s to blame?” </EM></P>The answer, as it turns out, is Eugene Kramer, a simple Iowa farmer who brought his folksy wisdom to Wall Street at an entry-level trading job in 2004. </P>From the credit crash to the auto bailout, from the euro crisis to Occupy Wall Street, Eugene Kramer caused it all — and now it’s up to him to fix it.</EM></P>If you pledge $10 or more, you get a special digital download before the official DVD is released. At the $25 level, you get a special edition DVD/Blu-ray before the DVD release AND the digital download. For $50, you get all that AND the chance to attend a special online premier (are sequins still appropriate for that? what's the protocol for an online premier?!), plus access to several live streaming workshops on comedy with Michalski. </P>They don't want to be around you until you reach the $100 level, where you get all that AND two tickets to a live screening. And for $250, you get four tickets, blah blah blah, AND an invite to the after-party. (Now we're talking.) You go $500, you also get an "associate producer" credit and at $2,000 or more, you get an "executive producer" credit.</P>We’ve all been burned by some bad investment choices during the past few years, so it’s understandable if some investors are a little skittish. I mean, how can we know for sure they’re not the Bernie Madoffs of comedy and this is nothing more than a Ponzi film that you could have an executive producer credit on that could actually land you interviews with the FBI, SEC and Justice Department?!</P>They assuage any concerns on their Kickstarter page, describing the project as a “gleefully absurdist farce,” in the vein of “Arrested Development” and “Best in Show.” </P>Well, when you put it that way, it sounds better than any of the investments we’ve made in the past few years. Jimmy, hand me my wallet! </P>And, scene. </P>Disclaimer: Due to SEC regulations concerning qualified investments, Kickstarter and the aforementioned filmmakers are unable to sell equity or profit points on this project. So, you will have to be happy with the DVD, producer credit, etc., depending on the investment package you choose. </EM></P>Disclaimer, part deux: Both of Abrams's parents are corporate lawyers.</EM></P><B><STRONG><STRONG><STRONG>More From CNBC.com:</STRONG></STRONG></STRONG></B><B><STRONG> </P><STRONG><STRONG readability="2"><STRONG>Email us at </STRONG>document.write("");<STRONG>document.write("ponyblog"+"@"+"cnbc.com");</STRONG>document.write('');<STRONG>or drop a line in the comment box below.</STRONG></EM> <P><STRONG>More from The Pony Blog: </STRONG><STRONG>ponyblog.cnbc.com</STRONG></EM></STRONG></STRONG></STRONG></B> </P><IMG width="100%" height=0><br /><p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com//id/46748000" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836912850776390471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257901392710381155.post-89045760756491592752012-06-03T23:44:00.000-07:002012-06-03T23:44:01.018-07:00Rumour: Samsung Galaxy S3 set for April Release <BODY readability="24"><P><IMG class="alignnone size-full wp-image-76029" title=030212-samsung-galaxy-s3 height=303 alt="Rumour: Samsung Galaxy S3 set for April Release" src="/030212-samsung-galaxy-s3.jpg" width=500></P><P>Although it hasn’t even been announced yet, the Samsung Galaxy S3 is allegedly set for an April release. This means that an announcement should be coming between now and then, leaving very little time in between.</P><P>Perhaps this is why Samsung decided to pull the announcement of the S3 out from the MWC so that it would have it’s own spotlight, rather than be lost in the noise of quad-core phone announcements from other manufacturers. As for specs, there are still a lot of rumours floating around but we can expect to see at least a 1.5GHz quad-core processor. Most likely the Exynos and an even larger screen at around 4.8 inches. Some rumours claim an edge to edge design. Expect the camera to be even better, but doubts are it can best the current camera king, the Nokia 808 PureView.</P><P>It seems Samsung is taking a page out of Apple’s marketing book and believes it deserves top billing at it’s own launch event. Can Samsung quiet the buzz already building for Apple’s inevitable iPhone5 announcement? Maybe for a little while at least.</P><P>[VIA]</P><BR><BR><BR><br /><p><a href="http://dailymobile.se/2012/03/02/rumour-samsung-galaxy-s3-set-for-april-release/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836912850776390471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257901392710381155.post-90959569992767257652012-06-03T23:24:00.000-07:002012-06-03T23:24:00.069-07:00Why Apple Wins: Better Beats "New" <BR><BR><IMG border=0 alt='Why Apple Wins: Better Beats "New"' src="/120591-1.jpg" width=450 height=300><BR><P>By Melissa Daniels | Mon Mar 12, 2012 1:40 pm</P>At Apple, being new isn't good enough, according to design leader Jonathan Ive -- it's only improvement that gives way to innovation and builds the company's successful brand philosophy. <P>Ive opened up about the company's design process in a rare interview with the Evening Standard, boiling it down to "designing and prototyping and making." Those three steps are essential to advancing development, Ive said, shedding light on how Apple consistently produces top products.</P><P>The noted designer's comments suggest why the Cupertino, Calif.-based company's competitors may have failed to win over Macs, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad, all of which Ives oversaw. By offering devices that, in Ives words, fit with the mission "to create simple objects, objects that you can't imagine any other way," Apple manages to edge out competitors trying to beat it with something "new" that may not necessarily improve the overall product.</P><P>Forging new ground is where Apple succeeds, or as Ives says, "if we can't make something better, we won't do it."</P><P>As the senior vice president of industrial design for Apple, Ive is widely acclaimed as one of the world's most influential designers both within the design world and beyond. Ive was knighted by the Queen in his home country of England, was also named Designer of the Year by the Design Museum London, and received the title of Royal Designer for Industry by The Royal Society of Arts.</P><P>With such recognition, the designer rarely opens up about what goes on in Apple's creative team. But his recent interview shed light on how Apple stays focused on its mission -- and suggests how competitors can wander from the path during the race to the next big thing.</P><P>"Most of our competitors are interested in doing something different, or want to appear new -- I think those are completely the wrong goals," he told the Evening Standard. "A product has to be genuinely better. This requires real discipline, and that's what drives us -- a sincere, genuine appetite to do something that is better."</P><P>That appetite is readily filled in the market, with Apple breaking iPhone sales records at the end of 2011 with 37 million worldwide sales. Sales jump while other manufacturers see decline in a shaky economy, and that demand for Apple products is intrinsically related to the "something that is better" manifesto.</P><P>Apple's success in the future is assured by some analysts who say its customer loyalty and return rate project long-term stability. When Apple does release a new product or feature, it's a problem-solving tactic, like Siri voice recognition, which offers multiple services to users without installing technology for technology's sake.</P><P>Design is different at Apple, Ive says, because designing, prototyping and making are all part of the same process. Separating those, he says, makes it suffer. Ive acknowledged it is difficult to describe the design process, but there is much to glean of his insights into high standards and razor-sharp focus.</P><P>As rival companies attempt to take away sales from Apple, Ives and Apple engineers are staying focused on what they have to offer, honing in on their own philosophy. As the public learns more about what goes on inside one of the most powerful technology companies in the world, the philosophy behind Apple's success is sure to inspire the next wave of innovators, designers and those who dare to think differently. </P><BR><BR><IMG border=0 alt="Daily Roundup: March 13, 2012" src="/132562-1.jpg" width=225 height=150> Tue Mar 13, 2012 4:04 pm | By <BR>AT&T is expanding its LTE service, and Tim Cook sold off more of his stock in Apple. Meanwhile, Verizon had some sporadic outages, Apple denies Proview's claims on its iPad name and Twitter snapped up Posterous, a blogging platform. <BR><BR><BR><BR><IMG border=0 alt="Apple Pushes Into Education With Cheaper IPad" src="/99818-1.jpg" width=225 height=151> Tue Mar 13, 2012 2:46 pm | By <BR>Apple's is reducing the price of the iPad 2 with the release of the new iPad, boosting the company's educational initiatives by making tablets more affordable for schools. <BR><BR><IMG border=0 alt="IPads Help Doctors Work More Efficiently" src="/102901-1.jpg" width=225 height=150> Tue Mar 13, 2012 1:39 pm | By <BR>IPads drastically help doctors boost their productivity, according to a study, highlighting how mobile technology is revolutionizing healthcare. <BR><BR><IMG border=0 alt="Apple Factories Still Dangerous, Injured Workers Say" src="/128921-1.jpg" width=225 height=150> Tue Mar 13, 2012 10:58 am | By <BR>Chinese factory workers say Apple overlooked safety hazards after an explosion last December, as the company struggles to maintain its reputation amid mounting public concern. <BR><BR><IMG border=0 alt="Daily Roundup: March 12, 2012" src="/132562-1.jpg" width=225 height=150> Mon Mar 12, 2012 4:15 pm | By <BR>The Apple-Samsung battle heats up, RIM's BlackBerry loses a key sector of customers and other stories from today's news. <BR><BR><BR>Editorials & Opinion By Kat Asharya<BR><IMG border=0 alt="In Brief: Patent Party's Over, Android Left in Cold" align=right src="/132604-1.jpg" width=112 height=75> The Justice Department approved the $4.5 billion purchase of over 4,000 Nortel patents to major Android rivals like Apple and RIM, guaranteeing no end in sight to the legal battles entangling the mobile industry.</B> <BR><br /><p><a href="http://www.mobiledia.com/news/132583.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836912850776390471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257901392710381155.post-44596987306320377692012-06-03T23:10:00.000-07:002012-06-03T23:10:00.679-07:00Gingrich pins hopes Tuesday on big Georgia win ATLANTA (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is banking on a big win in Georgia Tuesday to keep his fading hopes of winning the nomination alive.</P><P>"It looks now like in Georgia we will carry the state by four or five times the margin that Romney had in Michigan," Gingrich told supporters in Alcoa, Tenn., Monday.</P><P>The former House speaker was hoping that momentum from an expected win in the state he represented in Congress for 20 years would propel his campaign, which has struggled since his lone victory in the Jan. 21 South Carolina primary.</P><P>But he sent signals he would continue by campaigning in Alabama Tuesday before the votes in Georgia are counted. Likewise, Gingrich plans to begin airing ads this week in Alabama and Mississippi. Both states hold their primaries Mar. 13.</P><P>Gingrich leads by wide margins in Georgia polls. He trails former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in Tennessee, although the race there is tight and Gingrich was closing the gap in some surveys.</P><P>"We have the chance to win a stunning victory here in Tennessee," Gingrich told 200 supporters near Knoxville.</P><P>Gingrich campaigned doggedly across Tennessee Monday, while a key supporter, former candidate Herman Cain, campaigned for him in Oklahoma before joining him at a rally in Chattanooga.</P><P>Gingrich touted himself as the only candidate experienced with the issues facing the nation, drawing on his four years as House speaker during the Clinton administration.</P><P>"The biggest difference in this race between the three major contenders is one of us has consistently shown leadership," Gingrich told about 150 people in the upstairs conference room of a Food King grocery store in Kingsport, Tenn.</P><P>Gingrich has been helped by four political action committees, including one financed largely by billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson.</P><P>Yet Gingrich sought to portray a win in Georgia as a triumph in light of heavy spending on anti-Gingrich attack ads by the pro-Romney political action committee Restore Our Future.</P><br /><p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/gingrich-pins-hopes-tuesday-big-georgia-win-083911538.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836912850776390471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-257901392710381155.post-40488324868269261262012-06-03T23:01:00.000-07:002012-06-03T23:01:00.316-07:00IPads Help Doctors Work More Efficiently <BR><BR><IMG border=0 alt="IPads Help Doctors Work More Efficiently" src="/102901-1.jpg" width=450 height=300><BR><P>By Melissa Daniels | Tue Mar 13, 2012 1:39 pm</P>IPads drastically help doctors boost their productivity, according to a study, highlighting how mobile technology is revolutionizing healthcare. <P>Research from the University of Chicago found iPads helped 68 percent of residents avoid delays in patient care, and 90 percent used it routinely for clinical duties.</P><P>Technology can help speed up medical care in many ways, but a tablet condenses several steps and provides portability so doctors don't trek all over a hospital to check records, medicine and patient care. The efficiency is set to increase even further as tablets become less exclusive and gain popularity with medical professionals.</P><P>Researchers studied tablet use of 115 doctors for four months, finding the devices help order tests, review results, keep patient records or check medical journals. Most doctors said it cut out an hour of their daily workload, and 78 percent said it made them feel more efficient.</P><P>"Residents face a vast and increasing workload packed into tightly regulated hours," said researcher Dr. Bhakti Patel. "They spend much of their time completing documentation and updating patient charts. This study indicates that personal mobile computers can streamline that process."</P><P>Having more patient information at doctors' fingertips could mean quicker service, good news to anyone whose spent hours waiting in an emergency room. As the benefits of iPads become clear, and as medical personnel join in the trend, it could catch on in hospitals around the world if departments choose to invest in the devices.</P><P>But the change does bring up questions on privacy and security. Test orders or results could be misinterpreted by an autocorrect or clicking a wrong number. There's the element of distraction, as email applications and web browsers could result in potentially risky multi-tasking.</P><P>Also, iPads containing patient health records will need to include certain security measures to prevent others from seeing the data, or risk jeopardizing it in the case of a misplaced devices.</P><P>Such issues may find solutions as device-assisted doctors become more common. Already the medical field is subject of a swarm of apps hitting both smartphone and tablet markets, and medical professionals in some hospitals are already using mobile devices to communicate with one another.</P><P>Hospitals are taking steps to join the many advantages of mobile technology to help speed up and improve patient care. And as organizations across the industry evolves with best practices, even more medical-specific apps and programs will likely aid doctors in hospitals and clinics, as well as emergency situations worldwide. </P><BR><BR><IMG border=0 alt="Daily Roundup: March 13, 2012" src="/132562-1.jpg" width=225 height=150> Tue Mar 13, 2012 4:04 pm | By <BR>AT&T is expanding its LTE service, and Tim Cook sold off more of his stock in Apple. Meanwhile, Verizon had some sporadic outages, Apple denies Proview's claims on its iPad name and Twitter snapped up Posterous, a blogging platform. <BR><BR><BR><BR><IMG border=0 alt="Apple Pushes Into Education With Cheaper IPad" src="/99818-1.jpg" width=225 height=151> Tue Mar 13, 2012 2:46 pm | By <BR>Apple's is reducing the price of the iPad 2 with the release of the new iPad, boosting the company's educational initiatives by making tablets more affordable for schools. <BR><BR><IMG border=0 alt="Apple Factories Still Dangerous, Injured Workers Say" src="/128921-1.jpg" width=225 height=150> Tue Mar 13, 2012 10:58 am | By <BR>Chinese factory workers say Apple overlooked safety hazards after an explosion last December, as the company struggles to maintain its reputation amid mounting public concern. <BR><BR><IMG border=0 alt="Daily Roundup: March 12, 2012" src="/132562-1.jpg" width=225 height=150> Mon Mar 12, 2012 4:15 pm | By <BR>The Apple-Samsung battle heats up, RIM's BlackBerry loses a key sector of customers and other stories from today's news. <BR><BR><IMG border=0 alt='Why Apple Wins: Better Beats "New"' src="/120591-1.jpg" width=225 height=150> Mon Mar 12, 2012 1:40 pm | By <BR>At Apple, being new isn't good enough, according to design leader Jonathan Ive -- it's only improvement that gives way to innovation and builds the company's successful brand philosophy. <BR><BR><BR>Editorials & Opinion By Kat Asharya<BR><IMG border=0 alt="In Brief: Patent Party's Over, Android Left in Cold" align=right src="/132604-1.jpg" width=112 height=75> The Justice Department approved the $4.5 billion purchase of over 4,000 Nortel patents to major Android rivals like Apple and RIM, guaranteeing no end in sight to the legal battles entangling the mobile industry.</B> <BR><br /><p><a href="http://www.mobiledia.com/news/132842.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836912850776390471noreply@blogger.com0