A R Rahman is set to team up with Hollywood director Danny Boyle again - this time to compose a song for the London Olympics' opening ceremony. The music maestro reveals it will be a Punjabi song celebrating Indian influence in Britain.
"Clarifying the report on the Olympics track I am composing... It's a track in Punjabi celebrating the Indian influence in the UK," Rahman, who worked with Boyle in Oscar-winning film 'Slumdog Millionaire' and '127 Hours', posted on his Facebook page.
"It's a part of a medley in the Olympics opening ceremony, according to Danny Boyle's creative wishes!" he added.
AR Rahman revealed that it will be a Punjabi song celebrating Indian influence in Britain.
It has also been reported that music composer Ilayaraja's composition "Naanthaan ungappanda", from Kamal Hassan's 1980 film "Ram Lakshman" will be a part of the opening ceremony too.
The 2012 London Olympics will be held July 27 to Aug 12.
Bioplastics ( A growing industry ) Plastics made out of plants (e.g. Sugarcane, Corn ) or plastics that biodegrade. As a recent example Consumers protested on Facebook pages like " I hate the noise the Sun Chips bags make", Frito-Lay came up with a quieter bio plastic bags that easily biodegrade. It is not that Sun Chips customers want a quiet bag but they didn't want the bag made out of plastic.
Research conducted by a group in Bioplastic Industry suggest that consumers are willing to pay higher premium for Biodegradable material or Bioplastics.
Companies are focusing their product design to be in Bioplastics form and to have eco friendliness. Procter & Gamble uses sugarcane-based high density polyethylene, HDPE made by Braskem in some of its Pantene,Covergirl and MaxFactor brands. Papermate has a line of pens made up of Bioplastic Mirel, that is made by Metabolix. Also, Plant plastics used in Autos and coffee cup liners.
Dorel Industries ( Canadian baby furniture maker) developed a line blended with Cereplast's bio-resins.
Bioplastic Industry has grown annually 35 % since 2008 and it will reach $ 5 billion in 2018 according to a report from a Research Firm which will be 0.1% fraction of a total plastic demand globally.
Also fueling demand is a rapidly growing segment of the bioplastics industry that creates non-biodegradable plastics and bioplastics that can be blended with fossil-fuel-based resins, allowing them to be processed as if they were regular plastics.
Cereplast, based in El Segundo, California, makes two forms of bioplastic resins, one that can be used in products that are composted, and one that can be blended with traditional plastics. NatureWorks, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cargill, makes Ingeo, a bioplastic resin that can be used in both biodegradable and non-biodegradable end products.
The cost of bioplastics
Bioplastics generally are more expensive to produce than traditional plastics, but also, the cost of source materials like fossil fuel vs. plants, the cost of new material in same facility and amount of resins required to make a final products are considered.
As we see oil prices above $110 a barrel, the cost of plant based resins is comparable with petroleum resins,which may be helpful for the Bioplastics Industry growth. Type of bioplastics is also important factor to compare price factor. For example Mirel a bioplastic developed by Metabolix and Acher Daniels Midland is bio-based and biodegradable and its cost is around$2.25 to$2.75 a pound compare with $0.50 to$1 a pound from an petroleum based resin. While Ingeo Bioplastic ( Developed by NatureWorks) made up of polylactic acid or PLA has a price same as other plastics-polyethylene terephthalate and polystyrene.Groupe Danon's Stonyfield Yogurt unit found NatureWorks’ Ingeo to be a cost-effective choice for its multipack yogurt cups in part because the packaging didn’t break open as much during shipping.
Land for plastics
Another cost factor for bioplastics is land to grow corn and sugarcane, currently the main raw materials for bioplastics. Research is going on to use non-edible plants and parts such as switchgrass or corn husks and may be algae.
Another hurdle is processing.Non-biodegradable plastics are likely to take off more quickly than the biodegradable type is that processors and compounders that convert the resins into plastics can more easily deal with non-biodegradable bioplastics.
Chemically, Braskem’s bio-based polyethylene, made out of ethanol derived from sugarcane, is the same as polyethylene made from petroleum, so there’s no learning curve as far as processing it, compounding it.
NatureWorks, which only makes bio-based, biodegradable resins, says its strategy has always been to create a product that could be dropped into traditional processing. While that’s not possible yet, some of NatureWorks’ processors are beginning to sell enough PLA to reach the economies of scale necessary to make Ingeo more cost competitive.
End of life
One of the biggest issues in the bioplastics industry is what happens to the products after they’re not needed. Biodegradable plastics can, of course, biodegrade, but usually only if composted properly. And as of right now, the U.S. doesn’t have an infrastructure to handle widespread municipal-level composting.
Another solution is to recycle the materials. Products made of Ingeo, for instance, can be returned to lactic acid, the ingredient created when plant sugars are fermented, and then made into a virgin polymer again. Currently, NatureWorks does this with waste at its plant.Another solution is one both Coca-Cola and Pepsi are after: Creating a 100-percent, bio-based PET plastic bottle that can be recycled along with anything else made of plastic PET (the No. 1 plastic for those who recycle.)
Coke has already created Plant Bottle, 30 percent of which is made from plants, and now has the technology to get the bottle to 100 percent — as does Pepsi — but the process of bringing the bottle to market remains complex.
“Innovation isn’t worth much until you can commercialize it and make it available to consumers,”
That, however hasn't deterred it from grabbing a viable slot in the store, as CNET now reports that Google Chrome is already the No.1 free app in the iOS store, in both iPhone as well as the iPad categories. A dedicated version has been made available for the iPhone and the iPad, allowing an iPad user to view the browser as well. CNET's Lance Whitney writes, "Chrome now joins Opera, Dolphin, and other browsers as yet another alternative to mobile Safari for iOS users. The Chrome app has also made its splash in the Android world, officially out of beta mode and available through Google Play."
The app offers Mobile Chrome features that include an integrated address and search box, tabbed browsing, as well as the ability to switch the position of tabs. The Incognito feature thats present too lets you browse securely without having your history tracked.
If you're browsing a website on your Android phone using Chrome and then switch to the iPad, you’ll be able to pick up where you left off through Chrome as it will automatically sync all your opened tabs and bookmarks, provided you have signed in of course. It's also easier to launch ‘Incognito Mode’ right from the menu in the browser rather than having to go to Settings, which is the case in Safari. Chrome also offers to save your passwords.
One thing that iOS users will probably never get is the ability to set another browser as the default. This mean's while you can launch and use Chrome on iOS, clicking a link in an e-mail will always open Safari and nothing else. This is something I’m sure iOS users have gotten used to by now.
This version of Chrome for iOS, however, is not the same as the one for the desktop and Android as it still uses Safari's browser engine as the backend. Google had to make this compromise since it’s the only way they could port the browser to iOS since Apple does not allow any browser in the app store if they don't use their engine. You can think of Chrome on iOS as a new skin for Safari along with the features that come with Chrome of course. The trade-off here is performance as it’s a lot slower compared to its Android counterpart as it has to use WebKit.
According to this report, "The new app has been garnering rave reviews from the iOS crowd. A peek at the 3,574 ratings tallied so far reveals a full 2,855 users rewarding Chrome with a 5-star thumbs up."
Playboy magazine named Bechard Miss November in 2010, and she also started an online photo-sharing craze called "Frisky Friday." Neither seems quite on the level of an "internationally recognized award, such as a Nobel Prize," which the government cites as a possible qualification.
But Los Angeles immigration lawyer Chris Wright argued that Bechard's accomplishments earned her a slot. The government ultimately agreed.
That kind of success has put Wright on the map as the go-to visa fixer for both Hollywood and Silicon Valley. It also highlights the use of so-called genius visas known as O-1s and EB-1s, which have largely escaped political controversy and are now the immigration solution of choice for many entrepreneurs.
As many immigration lawyers see it, the paucity of immigration options for the most entrepreneurial foreigners mean they must use any avenue they can. This approach, along with seeming flexibility in Washington on what constitutes "extraordinary ability," means the O-1 is gaining traction in technology circles. Wider use could ultimately land it in political trouble.
For example, the H-1B visa, which allows employers to hire foreigners temporarily in certain specialized fields like technology, has drawn accusations from union groups and others that companies use it to bring in lower-skilled labor.
The O-1 visa allows individuals of "extraordinary ability" to come to the United States for up to three years, and can be extended. British journalist Piers Morgan used one when he replaced Larry King on his late-night TV show, Wright said.
The EB-1 is similar, but leads to a green card and permanent residency rather than a temporary stay, with "extraordinary ability" being one of the ways to qualify - along with being an outstanding professor or researcher, or a multinational executive.
Foreign entrepreneurs have another option - the Immigrant Investor Program, or EB-5 visa - but it requires a capital investment of at least $500,000 and the creation of at least 10 full-time jobs for U.S. workers.
By contrast, no proof of personal wealth or investment in the United States is required for the O-1 or the EB-1.
There is also no cap on the number of O-1s that the government can award each year; about 12,280 were approved in 2011, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said, up from 9,478 in 2006. It issued about 25,000 EB-1s last year, below their cap of 40,000.
The H-1B is much more popular. Applications hit their annual cap of 85,000 earlier this month.
FALLBACK POSITION
While high-profile artists and entertainers have long used the O-1s, they are now becoming a fallback for businessmen and technologists who cannot get H1-Bs.
Josh Buckley, a 20-year-old British-born entrepreneur and a client of Wright's, is among the new crop of Internet entrepreneurs to win an O-1 visa. He applied after starting a few small companies, including one he sold at age 15 for a sum reaching the low six figures, he says.
He got his O-1 last year after lining up letters of recommendation from luminaries including Netscape co-founder and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and Apple Inc co-founder Steve Wozniak.
Buckley, whose MinoMonsters gaming company is backed by Andreessen, saw little choice other than the O-1. The H-1B was off limits because it usually does not go to people who work for themselves. The O-1, unlike most H-1Bs, also does not require a college education--a key feature for the ever-younger entrepreneurs flocking to Silicon Valley.
Except when it comes to the O-1, visa officials "just don't understand the concept of someone being skilled without 12 years of experience or a bachelor's degree," says John Collison, a 22-year-old Irishman. He dropped out of Harvard University to work on Stripe, the payments company he co-founded with his brother, Patrick.
Like Buckley, he met Wright through the prestigious Silicon Valley start-up incubator known as Y Combinator. He won his O-1 in December 2010 and now has permanent residency status-- as does Buckley.
Wright, himself a South African immigrant, dismisses the notion that some of his clients might not rise to the level of "extraordinary ability."
"There's nothing in those regulations that requires you to be a genius," he says. "It's quite condescending to say, ‘Oh, the idiot Playboy Playmates, they don't qualify.'"
At the end of 2010, Bechard posted the first "Frisky Friday" photo on the Twitter microblogging service. Now young women all over the world tweet scantily-clad pictures of themselves on Fridays, with Playboy selecting a weekly winner.
Immigration officials "want to give (a visa) to someone who shows business skills," Bechard says. She also threw in such qualifications as her role as a mute Russian in a 2009 movie, "Sweet Karma," which won her a best actress award at the cult Fantastic Film Festival in Austin, Texas.
QUALIFICATION QUESTION
Many of Wright's young technology clients have had limited time to show they have "risen to the very top of the field of endeavor," as O-1 regulations state.
But quality rather than longevity is the key, Wright says. USCIS rules require extraordinary ability — demonstrated by "sustained national or international acclaim" -- that he says his clients can prove with awards and testaments from leading players in their field.
The visas are "a lot of work," he said. "You can't just crank them out at high volume."
Asked about how it decides to grant O-1s, a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service spokeswoman said: "USCIS decides each benefit request on a case-by-case basis relying on the law and evidence provided for that case. There are a variety of factors that influence the number of visa applications received and approved from year to year."
Wright says he hopes that one day, immigration reform will make it easier for talented immigrants, especially entrepreneurs, to come to this country. That is a widespread goal in Silicon Valley, where immigrant entrepreneurs have helped start many leading companies. Google Inc co-founder Sergey Brin, for example, came to the United States from the Soviet Union when he was a child.
The immigrant entrepreneurs say that far from taking away jobs, they are creating them by founding companies that may go on to employ hundreds or even thousands of people.
They have managed to find allies even among the harshest critics of H-1Bs.
"The O-1 is one of the few visas we support," said Kim Berry, a spokesman for the Programmers Guild, which favors the suspension of the H-1B program. "When they need to bring in the best and the brightest and the entrepreneurs, that's the only visa that helps America."
Indeed, efforts to make it easier for educated and enterprising foreigners to stay in the United States generally enjoy bi-partisan support in Washington. The complicated status of the immigration issue as a whole, though, has blocked any changes.
"The issue is pretty well understood," said Steve Case, the founder of AOL and now head of the venture capital firm Revolution LLC. "But there is this skepticism around the politics of immigration."
Thus the O-1 will probably remain a key channel for many immigrant entrepreneurs - and it does carry some additional side benefits.
British-born Scott Allison, co-founder of a software company called Teamly, was returning to the United States earlier this month and enjoyed a rare welcome from customs officials after they caught a glimpse of his new O-1 visa.
"'Wow, you must be really awesome,'" he recalls one commenting before waving him through. "I'm like, 'Gee, thanks.'"
( Reuters)
Bristol-Myers said late on Friday it had also reached a follow-on deal with UK-based AstraZeneca Plc to collaborate on developing Amylin's products once the buyout is completed, expanding upon an existing partnership between the two pharmaceutical makers in diabetes treatments. AstraZeneca will pay $3.4 billion in cash for these rights.
Bristol-Myers and AstraZeneca already collaborate on several diabetes treatments including Onglyza, and aim to strengthen their position in a growing, multibillion-dollar market. More than 360 million people worldwide have diabetes, with the overwhelming majority suffering from type 2 diabetes, a condition partly attributable to the rise in obesity in many countries.
In a statement, Bristol-Myers Chief Executive Lamberto Andreotti described the deals as a unique way to build on its relationship with AstraZeneca, which "demonstrates Bristol-Myers Squibb's innovative and targeted approach to partnerships and business development."
The boards of directors at Amylin, Bristol and AstraZeneca have approved the two transactions, the companies said.
Amylin began approaching potential buyers in April after rejecting a previous $3.5 billion takeover bid from Bristol-Myers, and facing pressure from activist investor Carl Icahn.
In all, five pharmaceutical giants including AstraZeneca, Novartis AG and Sanofi SA were in the running for Amylin, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters this week.
Bristol-Myers will pay $31 per share for Amylin, a premium of 10 percent to the company's closing price on Friday. Amylin's shares had already tripled in value from a low of nearly $8 last October.
Amylin and Eli Lilly Co introduced Byetta for type 2 diabetes in 2005, and the longer-acting version Bydureon, which can be taken once a week, was approved by U.S. regulators earlier this year. Both contain the active ingredient exenatide.
Amylin scrapped its partnership with Lilly in November last year after the two became embroiled in a legal dispute. Bristol-Myers has agreed to pay an additional $1.7 billion to cover Amylin's debt and its obligations to Lilly from ending their collaboration.
Bristol-Myers will finance the purchase from its existing cash resources and credit facilities. Amylin has agreed not to solicit competing offers. The transactions are expected to be dilutive to Bristol-Myers' adjusted earnings in 2012 and 2013 by about 3 cents per share, and become slightly accretive in 2014.
Citi and Evercore are serving as financial advisers to Bristol-Myers and Kirkland & Ellis LLP is its legal adviser. AstraZeneca's financial adviser on the deal is Bank of America Merrill Lynch, while Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP and Covington & Burling LLP are its legal advisers.
Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs & Co. are acting as financial advisers to Amylin. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is its legal adviser.
( Reuters )
Tata Docomo is the unified telecom brand of Tata Teleservices.
Under the new tariff plan, postpaid customers can choose from unlimited 6GB usage for only Rs 950 rental or unlimited 11 GB for only Rs 1,200. These two unlimited plans also offer cash back of Rs 100 per month for 12 months from date of purchase, the company said in a statement here.
Entry-level packs now cost Rs 250 that offers 1GB of data download compared to Rs 650 earlier. Likewise, Rs 450 pack which earlier cost 750 will offer 2GB now.
For the first time, the company also introduced reload packs for postpaid customers with 1GB data download at Rs 200 and 2GB at Rs 350.
Prepaid customers can now get unlimited 2GB usage on recharge of Rs 700.
Based on the original storyline, Gameloft has worked hard with both Marvel to develop an immersive game play experience that stays true to the story line of the action film.
Amazing Spider-Man is a 3D action game that incorporating similar characters and environments as in the movie The Amazing Spider Man.
It provides gamers plenty of missions, rich game play experience and comprehensive battle with the villains. During the course of the game players will get to explore the city, protect the citizens, develop their skills and discover amazing powers just the way the character does in the movie.
Amazing Spider-Man game is a paid game and can be downloaded from Google Play store as well as itunes. For Android devices one has to shell out around Rs 399 and for iOS based devices one has to pay around Rs 394 for downloading the game.
Snapette, a digital fashion app. launched in 2011 as a social network for women to "share images of their favorite fashion finds" it's just been completely overhauled as a new app that does something rather more powerful. The company is even heralding it as the "first location-based shopping application." It works by delivering information to the shopper based on location data. If it detects you're standing in a shopping district in New York City for example, it'll serve up to you information on items available in nearby stores as well as special offers, so you can work out if there's anything interesting in a store before you go in. Simultaneously, the app is a discovery engine because it may reveal to you something in a particular store that really appeals to you, even if you habitually never shop with that retailer.
There's also the ability to browse to discover fashion items by trend (locally, and internationally) or by brand. Meanwhile the most powerful bit is that "brands can also send real-time notifications to potential customers already shopping nearby with special discounts and the inside scoop on exclusive one-of-a-kind pieces." In other words, stores--or brands, knowing which stores their items are stocked in--can actively ping users of the Snapette app with a pop-up notification that says "Just in: New stripey green socks!" (Hey, they can look good with the right outfit!) Such notifications will excite consumers, drive sales, and drive foot traffic too.
Let's consider a couple of the subtleties in this idea. Firstly, the app may yield a very different kind of shopping experience: You may consider starting your shopping by sitting down in a coffee shop and using it to discover if there are any products or special offers nearby. Secondly, there's a ton of money to be made in the act of helping you to discover things you may like to buy. Snapette itself makes money by inserting itself into your shopping trip as a discovery agent. It relies on both user buy-in and brand/store adoption, without a userbase the app's makers would have no commodity to sell to their advertising partners, and without ubiquitous product placements and active participation from stores and brands then users would fall out of love with it. But it's likely to be closely followed by many other apps of its sort, perhaps evolving from services like Yelp--because if they make themselves the shopping app de rigueur, they may stand to make a lot of money by changing the entire shopping experience.
And simultaneously there's a booming technology that will help the precision of location-based "discovery" shopping--indoor GPS. Google and other companies like Apple have made special effort to try to invent indoor navigation systems, using data sources like Wi-Fi signals to replace GPS (which really doesn't work indoors) and user-submitted maps. But a new system from Duke University dubbed UnLoc does something even cleverer, because it uses "invisible landmarks" to help a smartphone work out where it is, and it doesn't require the same sort of wardriving system that Google's promoting. It also uses less battery power because it works out the landmarks using the phone's motion sensors--which react as their owners move through a space, or go up an escalator--in combination with sensing Wi-Fi dead spots or 3G signal drop-outs. Its inventors tested it out on campus and at the Northgate shopping mall in Durham, because they've already envisaged its use for shopping apps, and found it could locate phones to around 1.6 meters in accuracy.
Which means the next-generation of apps like Snapette will not only be able to alert you to nearby sale items, but also steer you directly to where it is--inside a store--or to direct you around a large shopping mall or department store. And with one more step it's possible to imagine a system like this seamlessly integrated into something like Apple's Siri or Google's Glass.
About Makani Airborne Wind Turbine ( AWT )
The Makani AWT is a tethered, autonomous wing fitted with onboard turbines for power generation. Flying at 1,000 ft, the system mimics the motion, and speed, of a conventional turbine’s aerodynamically effective blade tips.
How does it work?
The Makani Airborne Wind Turbine (AWT) is a tethered wing outfitted with turbines. It flies between 250 and 600 meters (800 and 1,950 feet), where the wind is stronger and more consistent. Makani is developing a 600 kW AWT, for utility scale generation at a cost below conventional solar and wind.
The Makani AWT operates like a wind turbine. Air moving across the turbine blades forces them to rotate, driving a generator to produce electricity.
Due to its speed, the tip of a conventional wind turbine blade is the most effective part and is responsible for most of the energy produced. The Makani AWT takes advantage of this principle by mounting small turbine/generator pairs on a wing that itself acts like the tip of a traditional turbine blade. The wing flies across the wind in vertical circles, fixed to the ground by a flexible tether.
Technicals
Makani has developed hybrid rotors with symmetrical, uncambered foils that let them generate energy as a turbine or apply thrust like a propeller. The rotors are used as propellers to keep the wing aloft during short lapses in the wind, allowing the wing to stay aloft if the wind dies.
Why Airborne Wind Power?
Makani’s Airborne Wind Turbine (AWT) can create inexpensive energy, in more locations than traditional wind turbines, because it flies where the wind is stronger and more consistent.
The Makani AWT can transform wind power:
Requires no more space than conventional turbines
Capable of handling large, sudden shifts in wind speed and direction
Redundant, fault tolerant design
Lightning hardened
Produces power at up to half the cost of traditional wind turbines
Accesses the stronger and more consistent winds at altitude
90% less material than a conventional turbine, it is less expensive to build and install
Opens up large new areas of wind resource, including the vast resources offshore above deep water
Allows for deployment outside of visually or environmentally sensitive locations
The Makani AWT is a practical solution:
Accesses the stronger and more consistent winds at altitude
90% less material than a conventional turbine, it is less expensive to build and install
Opens up large new areas of wind resource, including the vast resources offshore above deep water
Allows for deployment outside of visually or environmentally sensitive locations
The Makani AWT is a practical solution:
Requires no more space than conventional turbines
Capable of handling large, sudden shifts in wind speed and direction
Redundant, fault tolerant design
Lightning hardened
Twitter Gets Stricter, Parts Ways With LinkedIn
As of today, you will no longer be able to sync your tweets to your LinkedIn profile. In a blog post, LinkedIn explained that it will turn off its tweet stream, which has been available for the past two-and-a-half years, as a result of "Twitter's evolving platform efforts."
This type of move is not unprecedented--Twitter turned off real-time Google updates a year ago, and rolled out its own URL shortener to the dismay of third-party developers--the question is to what extent this is a harbinger of things to come. The LinkedIn announcement arrived just minutes after a Twitter blog post written by group product manager Michael Sippey. In it, he said that stricter API guidelines are coming over the next few weeks to ensure a better Twitter experience through "a consistent set of products and tools," provided by Twitter. It appears that Twitter is once again maneuvering more people to its own website and applications, instead of simply being a ubiquitous presence within other properties where it is unable to derive any advertising revenue.
Delta Taking Inflight Internet Global With Gogo Wi-Fi
Delta is taking Gogo Wi-Fi aboard its international flights starting in 2013. So far, the Wi-fi service has been confined to the U.S., but earlier this week picked up $135 million in credit facilities to pick up some international miles. Delta, plugging into Gogo's Ku-band capacity satellites, hopes to operate about 1,000 aircrafts with inflight Wi-Fi by 2015.
A Facebook "Want" Button Could Be On The WayVia Inside Facebook: Facebook is reportedly experimenting with a new "Want" button that would act similarly to its popular "Like" feature. Third-party Open Graph developers have already created similar features, but a native button means Facebook users wouldn't have to authorize a third-party app to click away at products they desire. If implemented, the addition of a "Want" button could provide a powerful distinction between people who "Like" a product--a vague action that doesn't necessarily indicate a desire to purchase--and people who are actually likely to make purchases. The massive trove of resulting data could prove very valuable to advertisers and e-commerce businesses looking to better target consumers.
A Facebook spokesperson would only confirm they're testing new Platform features and have nothing to announce at this time.
RIP PC Extended Edition: The Tablet Takes Over
The success of the tablet, and the pace at which it has innovated, has put the PC in peril. A new study from Monetate group takes a close look at how tablets have changed the habits of web shoppers.
First off, PC visits are sliding. Today, 88 percent of website visits are made on are PCs--last quarter, that was 92 percent. At this rate, Monetate anticipates PC website traffic will drop to below 75 percent one year from now.
Meanwhile, website traffic from smartphones and tablets has been shooting up. Since last year: traffic from tablet devices increased 348 percent, while visits from smartphone users increased 117 percent. Today, 6 percent of all website access comes from tablets, and as of last quarter 95 percent of those tablets were iPads.
In such numbers, websites can no longer risk having a website that is difficult for visitors on tablets to navigate. Optimizing to be "swipe friendly," using larger navigation, and adding the right buttons that lets tablet users flip through can make a big difference, Monetate recommends.
Two New Training Programs For Google Developers
Google, in the thick of its I/O developer conference, has brought out two new programs to orient newbie app builders within its famously open platform community. Adding to the face-time that developers get with Google engineers as I/O attendees, Google launched Google Developers Academy, featuring courses and training modules where aspiring app builders can learn to build an app for Google Drive or build chapter markers into YouTube videos. Google's second program, Google Developers University Consortium, is built to connect Google users who use the platforms for education or research.
Foursquare Opens Up With Connected Apps Platform
Foursquare is expanding its app ecosystem. Under the new "Connected Apps" program, third-party partner apps will be better integrated into the Foursquare universe. What does this mean? When you check in for the first time on a day, the Weather Channel app will give you the forecast for the day on Foursquare. If you check-in with a partner app like Foodspotting, Foursquare will post that check in with a link back to Foodspotting, and draw inrecommendations from Foodspotting into Foursquare. The changes will also allow developers at third party app partners to engage more directly with users who use their services to check in. In other words, it allows Foursquare to inject its location-based DNA into other web services--with limitless possibilities.
RIM Cuts 5,000 Extra Staff After Reporting Loss, Microsoft Tie-Up Possible
After posting an adjusted net loss of $192 million, its first net loss in eight years on revenues of $2.8 billion for the first quarter, smartphone giant RIM is said to be facing enormous pressure. According to Reuters, the board is being squeezed to consider more radical ways to turn its ailing business around, and this may even include abandoning its own BlackBerry operating system and adopting a rival OS such as Windows. Microsoft's Steve Ballmer has apparently approached RIM recently, looking for a similar deal to the one Nokia has struck in its own survival attempt. Meanwhile BlackBerry 10, RIM's next-gen operating system, has been delayed until 2013 from late this year, and an additional 5,000 staff will be let go--on top of previously announced layoffs.
U.S. Supreme Court lets most of health care overhaul go forward
Most provisions of the U.S. health care law, backed by President Barack Obama, can be implemented after the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to largely uphold the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The court struck down a measure that would have allowed the federal government to withhold funding from states that refuse to participate in a Medicaid expansion. Medicaid benefits can be broadened in all states that support the change.
Process for setting Libor heads toward shake-up
The British Bankers' Association, which supervises the the London Interbank Offered Rate, expressed "shock" that false submissions were made to manipulate the benchmark. The association requested the government's help to avoid future problems. "It's all about evolution, confidence and no fireworks," BBA CEO Angela Knight said. "If you went for a big bang change, you have big market instability." Meanwhile, U.K. Chancellor George Osborne said the Financial Services Authority is considering criminal charges regarding attempts to manipulate Libor.
EU leaders relax bailout rules for Spain and Italy
Leaders at an EU summit agreed to ease conditions for emergency loans to Spanish banks and for a possible financial rescue of Italy. German Chancellor Angela Merkel made major concessions, clearing the way for the eurozone to take a wide range of measures to end the debt crisis. The news sent the euro soaring on currency markets.
IMF and others will discus altering loan terms with Greece
Representatives from the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Commission will head to Greece next week to begin discussing changing terms of the country's loan. The gathering is described as a fact-finding mission and will feature an assessment of recent economic developments and a chance for the troika to meet Greece's new leaders.
Germany denies report that it backs sooner action on eurobonds
Germany denied a report by The Wall Street Journal that Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble backed a more rapid implementation of shared eurozone debt liability through issuance of eurobonds than he previously supported. A Finance Ministry spokesman said Schaeuble merely repeated Germany's long-held position that debt mutualization might be possible after further integration of the eurozone.
SEC might force Nasdaq to upgrade trading systems
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into the cause of problems during Facebook's initial public offering and might force Nasdaq OMX Group to upgrade its trading systems. The agency is considering requiring Nasdaq to overhaul its IPO processes, sources said, but hasn't decided whether to take enforcement action against the exchange operator.
Market Activity
Actions at EU summit send Asian-Pacific markets soaring
Actions at EU summit send Asian-Pacific markets soaring
Asian-Pacific share markets surged Friday after EU leaders at a summit in Brussels took a variety of actions to deal with the eurozone's debt crisis. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 2.2%. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.5%. China's Shanghai Composite advanced 1.4%. South Korea's Kospi gained 1.9%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 1.2%. Taiwan's Taiex climbed 1.8%. India's Sensex was up 2% shortly before midday.
U.S. health care ruling's effect on investors likely will be mixed
For investors, the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the law that overhauls the U.S. health care system isn't all good news or bad. New restrictions may cut into insurance companies' profits, but hospitals will get millions of patients who can pay their bills. Most health care companies have long anticipated the coming changes.
Economics
Automakers add jobs in U.S. to boost production
Automakers are ramping up hiring in the U.S. to keep up with demand for their most popular models. Nissan Motor said it will hire 1,000 workers at its plant in Canton, Miss., and begin assembling its Sentra sedan there.
Politicians put London's future as financial hub at risk
Over time, a shift of global wealth and trade to emerging economies could undercut London's position as a major financial center, according to The Economist. "Yet London is not entirely at the mercy of external forces," the magazine notes. "Policies matter. Just as the British government unwittingly accelerated London's decline after the second world war, so politicians today risk driving away some of the people on whom this city, and this country, depend for their future prosperity."
Initial unemployment claims close in on highest rate this year
First-time jobless claims last week neared the highest level this year, the U.S. Labor Department said. Applications declined 6,000, to 386,000, short of the year's peak of 392,000.
U.S. economic growth held at 1.9% in Q1; corporate profit fell
Expansion of the U.S. economy maintained at 1.9% in the first quarter, but corporate profit decreased for the first time in four years, the Commerce Department said. Meanwhile, an increase in exports was much smaller than previously estimated.
Brazil launches $57B loan program for agricultural sector
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said the nation will loan $57 billion to agricultural businesses to create jobs and counteract a global economic slowdown. "This plan will show that Brazil is one of the few countries that can create new jobs amid the very serious sovereign-debt crisis affecting the world," she said.
Japan's factory output posts sharpest drop since 2011 earthquake
Japanese industrial production fell 3.1% from April to May, the biggest decline since the March 2011 earthquake, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said. Weak auto exports to Europe were a major factor.
Women's top wish from advisers is investment performance
Women's top priority in terms of financial advisers is steady earnings on their investment, according to a survey by Koski Research. Fifty-eight percent of respondents said continuous good performance is most important from an adviser. A long-term financial plan is the top priority for 40%.
Geopolitical/Regulatory
Can EBA fill the role of a single EU regulator?
The idea of a European banking union has come up many times as a solution to the debt crisis, but for a union to be truly effective, it needs a single regulator, according to this Reuters analysis. Many, however, do not think the 7-month-old European Banking Authority, a supranational watchdog, has the ability to get the job done, even though it comprises central bankers and supervisors from all EU states.
Germany aims to regulate ultra-fast trading
Germany's ruling coalition is moving forward with rules to govern high-frequency trading. The government is working to give financial regulator BaFin authority to supervise high-frequency traders, sources said. "We are on the right path -- the Finance Ministry has made convincing suggestions," said Klaus-Peter Flosbach, a finance expert for Chancellor Angela Merkel's party.
• Eisai Company, Ltd. (ESALY.PK) and Toyama Chemical Company Receive Approval to Market Anti-rheumatic Agent Iguratimod in Japan More...
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• BioDelivery Sciences International (BDSI) Announces Positive Results from BEMA Buprenorphine/Naloxone (BNX) Pharmacokinetic Study More...
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• Medivir AB (MVIRb.F) Announces an Interferon-Free Phase II Combination Trial With TMC435 and Daclatasvir to Commence Shortly More...
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Biogen Idec, Inc. (Massachusetts) (BIIB), Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ISIS) Strike Deal Worth Up to $271 Million More...
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Ampio Pharmaceuticals ( NASDAQ: AMPE ) stock jumped more than 30% to $5.16 and touched an intraday high of $5.50. There was not specific announcements from the company regarding any developments. Up move might last if there might be an insider news or announcements, that might come later today or tomorrow. Traders should follow it closely for a momentum trade. Last development news from company was on June 11 2012, when company has announced a positive clinical trial data for its drug Optina used in Diabetic macular edema. Read belowAmpio Pharmaceuticals Inc announced that it's CRO has completed analysis of the primary end point in the Optina clinical trial for DME conducted at St Michael Diabetes Hospital in Toronto Canada. The primary end point for efficacy was central subfield retinal thickness as measured by Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) and reported in microns. The study was double masked and included 32 patients with moderate to severe diabetic macular edema (range 316-707microns) that were treated orally with either placebo or one of three doses of Optina. Central retinal thickness and retinal volumes were measured at baseline and at four and 12 weeks of treatment. The results confirm a significant interaction between the patient's body mass index (BMI) and efficacy at the different doses of Optina. For higher BMI (BMI=35) patients, higher doses of Optina were more effective and for lower BMI (BMI=26) patients, lower doses were more effective. The improvement of efficacy by adjusting the dose to the BMI is in agreement with both in vitro data as well as with the known strongly lipophilic nature of Optina. At one of the low doses, regardless of BMI, there was a reduction of the subfield central retinal thickness of approximately 20% at four and at 12 weeks, which was statistically significant from placebo for the higher BMI group (p = 0.01).
Are you ready to join the finger dancing revolution?
Moonshark and Jennifer Lopez proudly present DancePad, a tasty new finger dancing game for the iPad inviting you to join the revolution and move your hand to the beat. Jump, slide and jive as you level up and unlock new dances!
Turn your iPad into the miniature dance floor of your dreams! Dance to the beat and hit your mark to learn fresh finger moves guaranteed to make you the talk of the town*. Featuring 100 available levels! (*Talk of the town not actually guaranteed)
Twenty Free Levels
A quick tutorial and you’re off dancing
DancePad tells you when you’re smokin’ and when you’re …meh
Earn 1, 2 or 3 stars, and keep leveling up
Unlock new dances as you progress
A quick tutorial and you’re off dancing
DancePad tells you when you’re smokin’ and when you’re …meh
Earn 1, 2 or 3 stars, and keep leveling up
Unlock new dances as you progress
Hot Music From
♪ Mayer Hawthorne
♪ Blaqstarr
♪ Vintage Trouble
♪ The Bangerz
♪ Nabiha
♪ The Whigs
♪ Saint Motel
♪ Shu-Sho
♪ Sebastien Drums
♪ and many more!
♪ Mayer Hawthorne
♪ Blaqstarr
♪ Vintage Trouble
♪ The Bangerz
♪ Nabiha
♪ The Whigs
♪ Saint Motel
♪ Shu-Sho
♪ Sebastien Drums
♪ and many more!
Challenge Your Friends
- Post your best scores to Facebook and Twitter.
- Dozens of Game Center achievements to earn.
- Post your sweet moves to YouTube. (tag: DancePad)
- Post your best scores to Facebook and Twitter.
- Dozens of Game Center achievements to earn.
- Post your sweet moves to YouTube. (tag: DancePad)
About Moonshark
Moonshark (previously known as Creative Mobile Labs) is a mobile game publisher start-up co-founded by Creative Artists Agency (CAA), the world’s leading entertainment and sports agency, and Qualcomm, bringing to market original mobile entertainment properties by pairing the most creative minds in entertainment with leading mobile developers. Moonshark funds, produces, markets and publishes app concepts developed in partnership with high-profile talent, finding the best developers to bring these apps to life.
ArduSat is a miniature cubic satellite, measuring 10 cm along each edge and weighing about 1 kg. Onboard it will have a suite of 25+ sensors, including three cameras, a Geiger counter, spectrometer, magnetometer and more. The sensors are connected to a bank of user-programmable Arduino processors, which run your application or experiment, gathering data from the space environment.
The Arduinos can also read status data from the satellite (like orbit position, per-system power usage, board temperature, etc.), so you can also run tests on the satellite itself. Check out our YouTube Channel for technical details and up-to-date videos of the payload development.To run your application, experiment or steer the camera you can write your own code from scratch, leverage existing codes available on the internet or use one of the templates we will make available to our backers, creating a growing library of code elements.
Through our web-interface you can then upload your code to our exact replica of the satellite on the ground and make sure that it works as intended. Once you’ve worked out any bugs in your experiment (not that you would ever have any...) we will run a final test before it is uploaded into space to ArduSat. Now your code is running in space, steering the satellite and gathering data! Once the time you have booked on ArduSat is expired, we will send back the data to you via the internet.
Created by a physicist, two aerospace engineers, and a NASA business manager, the project will allow users on Earth to upload their code via a web interface to a ground-based satellite replica. Once the ArduSat crew is sure that the code works, they’ll send it up to the real satellite. At the end of the experiment, data will be sent back down for users to peruse.The ArduSat team has already built a prototype of the sensors, software, and other technical bits necessary to launch the satellite; now they just need funding (which they have surpassed) to build and integrate all the hardware and software for the launch. Anyone who pledges $325 is guaranteed "three days of uptime on the satellite" to run experiments--not a bad deal.
What ArduSat Apps the nano satellite can do?
flies away over the horizon at over 18 times the speed of sound,
detects meteors vaporizing in the skies over Europe,
photographs the sunset over the horn of Africa,
maps the Earth's magnetic field cruising over the Indian Ocean,
snaps a picture of the Southern Lights dancing underneath off the coast of Australia,
samples the upper atmosphere to learn about biomarkers and other signs of life,
stares down the eye of a hurricane,
maps the emitted spectrum of the sun,
and is already back over your head, having circled the entire planet!
What you can do with ArduSat?
Engineering: Your Eye in the Sky - Try writing an app that would synchronize the output of a head mounted-gyro to the steering system on the satellite. If you’re feeling really ambitious, try downlinking the attitude vector in real-time to watch the satellite follow your head - you could even tie-in your head-steering to our program that takes pictures! (Talk to Joel if you’re interested in this experiment!)
Point-and-shoot - The following settings can be set on the camera: "exposure, gamma, gain, white balance, color matrix, windowing". Try designing an algorithm that fine-tunes the settings to take even better pictures or more artistic pictures!
Entertainment: Geiger Counter Bingo - Write an app that transmits a message with a random number and letter every time a particle hits the satellite with enough energy. Have a 'bingo from space' game between HAM radio amateurs.
Photography Competition - See who among your friends can snap the coolest/most interesting picture from space. The eye of a hurricane, sunrise over the Indian ocean, even aurora from space – see what marvels you can capture!
Take Pictures from Space
The satellite is not just for scientific purposes; ambitious photographers and artists will be able to steer the satellite cameras take pictures on-demand of the Earth, the Moon, or the stars. Especially from the Artist community we expect to see some spectacular private space pictures so we all can marvel at the beauty of Earth from above.
Following the earnings announcement, the BlackBerry maker's shares dropped sharply after earlier being halted ahead of the report.
The company posted a first-quarter loss excluding items of 37 cents per share, down from a quarterly profit of $1.33 a share in the year-earlier period.
Its adjusted net loss was $192 million, or 37 cents a share, down from net income of $695 million, or $1.33 a share, last year.
Revenue plunged 43 percent to $2.8 billion, from $4.91 billion a year ago.
Analysts had expected the company to report a quarterly loss excluding items of 3 cents a share on $3.10 billion in revenue, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.
Following the earnings announcement, CEO Thorsten Heins said the company will aggressively drive sales of BlackBerry 7 devices and launch a new PlayBook tablet soon but expects a loss in the current quarter.
Last month, the company warned that it would report its second consecutive operating loss this quarter. Before the warning, analysts had been expecting a profit of 42 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters.
The loss is the latest in a string of dismal messages for the once-dominant BlackBerry maker that has seen its smartphone market share be eroded byApple's iPhone and devices running Google's Android operating software.
In May the company hired JPMorgan and RBC Capital to look at its strategic options and has announced impending layoffs as the company's shares continue their slide downward.
Finally, iTunes Is Getting A Huge Makeover
Via Bloomberg: Apple will give iTunes its most radical makeover to date, sources tell Bloomberg. Apple hasn't changed much about iTunes since it launched in 2003, but sources say the new version, due by the end of the year, will have tighter integration with social networks (long live Ping), better sharing and discovery features, a la Spotify, and better iCloud integration for cross-device consumption for the millions of Apple product users who use iTunes as their one-stop shop for music, movies, and television shows. That last feature will only become more important for Apple moving forward as competitors such as Google and Amazon beef up their own entertainment stores and on-demand services such as Spotify and Netflix offer consumers different media experiences.
With 310M Active Users, Google Chrome Is Coming To iPad, iPhone
In March and again in May, Google Chrome briefly surpassed Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox to become the world's most popular browser. While metrics vary as to which browser is truly the market leader, Google is indisputably nearing the top position if it's not already No. 1: As the company announced today, the Chrome browser now boasts 310 million active users.
The milestone is remarkable given Google's relatively short history in the space. While Microsoft has been battling in the browser wars for decades--and Mozilla for years as well--Google only joined the fight in late 2008, but quickly skyrocketed in popularity. And the company is looking to increase its browser's presence: Not only has the company pushed the platform on its Android and ChromeOS devices, but it unveiled today that the browser would be coming to iPhones and iPads too.
Later today, Google Chrome will supposedly appear in Apple's App Store, giving Apple's Safari browser some much-needed competition. Apple has long lagged behind other browsers in the PC space, but thanks to the dominance of its smartphones and tablets, Safari has become the market leader in mobile browser share. Perhaps that could change with Chrome sneaking into iOS users' homescreens.
In addition to the iOS version of Chrome, Google announced this week that Chrome for Android would be coming out of beta, and also showed off some new features of its Chromebooks, which have the browser at its core.
Supreme Court Rules On Obamacare, Explodes Twitter
The U.S. Supreme Court announced their decision to uphold the main points of President Obama's health care proposal. If you decided to follow the healthcare ruling on television, you missed the party that was exploding on Twitter at hashtags #SCOTUS, #Healthcare, #Chief Justice Roberts, #Medicaid, and several more.
The Supreme Court set up a live blog to cover the announcement and analyze the decision, featuring "4 web servers, 5 bloggers 2 tech teams" and "$25k for 20 minutes." After the decision was made public, the blogging team also live tweeted sections of the ruling.
Reporters at the Supreme Court live-tweeted developments, but rapid reporting got a bit out of hand. Seconds after the ruling went live CNN and Fox both reported, incorrectly, that the mandate had been struck down, and Twitter jumped to draw a comparison to the infamous "Dewey Defeats Truman" error that the Chicago Daily Tribune made in 1948. CNN quickly corrected its website to reflect the error, but not before a few hundred Twitter users grabbed screenshots of the flub. (AP later asked its reporters stop poking jibes at news outlets that got the news wrong.)
Amidst this chaos, Twitter's merry band of snarksters tweeted on, meming chief justices and mock-covering the ruling as if at an Apple event.
News Corp Confirms Plans To Split Entertainment And Publishing Businesses
News Corp, the multi-billion dollar media company led by Rupert Murdoch has confirmed plans to split into two companies, Wall Street Journal reports. Murdoch will remain CEO of the new entertainment and media company, which will include film studio 20th Century Fox, Fox broadcast network and Fox News Channel. The second company will include News Corp's publishing products including the Journal and The Times along with HarperCollins and others. The split is expected to localize the damages faced by the company as a fallout of the phone hacking scandals involving newspapers in the U.K. More details here: AllThingsD has published Murdoch's internal memo explaining the split.
New Survey Finds Third Party Cookie Web-Tracking More Prevalent Than You Think
A new survey from Keynote Systems has looked at the tracking behavior of 269 leading websites in the news, finances, travel and retail sectors and discovered that 86% of the sites had some form of web history tracking cookie that delivered customer web habit data to third parties. 60% of the sites had at least one tracker tha "violated good industry practices." And while the media and travel sectors were the worst offenders in tracking Netizen activity, a surprising three out of four financial services sites had one or more tracker that didn't comply with good practice. Worst of all of the 211 cookies discovered by the survey, only one had support for "Do Not Track" protocols.
DNT is a hot topic at the moment, as technology companies struggle to comply with legal pressure to protect consumers and on the other hand the advertising and marketing industry presses for more access. Microsoft recently courted controversy by saying DNT will be turned on by default in Internet Explorer 10--a move which is, curiously, disapproved of by Net regulating body the Worldwide Web Consortium. W3C has itself been trying to come to conclusive decisions about DNT, but has failed to achieve any yet, so much so that the privacy-conscious EU has this week been pressuring W3C to permit Microsoft's decision and to force Netizens to make a decision on their DNT settings in a browser pop-up window.
NZ Court Rules Dotcom Raid Illegal
A New Zealand judge has ruled that the raids on Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom's house were illegal, and that the police warrants that backed the entry into his house did not cover the hard drives which were subsequently seized. Following the raid, the FBI made copies of the hard drives and transported them to the U.S.--also a series of actions that the court ruled was a violation of Kiwi law. Dotcom is currently on bail, but the FBI has been attempting to extradite him to the U.S
Google Aims At Facebook Timeline, Lets Google+ Import All Your Past Social Media Updates
Google has revealed to VentureBeat that its upcoming Google+ APIs will allow the company's social network to do something unusual: It will be able to soak in all your previous social media updates from other services. Called the History API, the system will import updates like text entries, purchases, and imagery from sources like Foursquare and Twitter.
Essentially this is a quick and easy way for Google+ to vampire feed on its users previous social efforts in order to better populate every user's timeline, and is enabled by the full-featured APIs Google's rivals have long operated, even while Google demurred and didn't allow full access to Google+ itself via APIs to third-party apps. Though the History trick may seem trivial, it seems intended to create a flow of information in each user profile that rivals that of Facebook's new Timeline, and it's further evidence that Google is really resting a lot of its hopes, as well as spending quite considerable effort, on Google+.
