Youtube Video: Crazy Time - Simon’s Cat |
- Youtube Video: Crazy Time - Simon’s Cat
- Apple advertising dilemma aired at US$2b Samsung trial
- Weibo seeks to raise at least US$340m in US IPO
- US allows Boeing to sell plane parts to Iran
- Rodgers wary of Carroll threat to title bid
- Mysterious prehistoric reptiles fly into New York city
| Youtube Video: Crazy Time - Simon’s Cat Posted: 04 Apr 2014 05:55 PM PDT This is the latest instalment of the animated series "Simon's Cat" shows what happens when the feline protagonist has "a moment of madness." This is one of YouTube's top five 'Most Popular' videos as recorded on Friday, April 4.  |
| Apple advertising dilemma aired at US$2b Samsung trial Posted: 04 Apr 2014 05:50 PM PDT
Jurors in the companies' second US trial over smartphone technology today saw e-mails and heard testimony showing that Apple executives last year weighed dropping the firm that has exclusively handled its advertising for 17 years to better respond to a blitz by Samsung mocking the iPhone. The evidence introduced in federal court in San Jose, California, is part of Samsung's attempt to demonstrate that its products and marketing, and not the alleged infringement of Apple's patents, drove sales of Galaxy smartphones and caused iPhone sales to decline. The world's top two smartphone makers have fought in courts on four continents to dominate a market that was valued at US$338.2 billion last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Samsung had 31 per cent of industry revenue, compared with 15 per cent for Apple, whose share of the market has shrunk as the touch-screen interface has become commonplace and Samsung, LG Electronics Inc. and Lenovo Group Ltd. have introduced lower-cost alternatives. The evidence shown in the case illustrates how concerned Apple was about Samsung's advertising and the behind-the-scenes scramble under way to respond. iPhone sales Other documents shared with the jury today reveal Apple's concerns last year about slowing iPhones sales. In April 2013, as Apple was being targeted by ads, an internal company presentation outlined how sales growth was slowing as a result of less expensive and bigger-screen phones from competitors, including Samsung, using Google Inc.'s Android operating system. "I now have Apple board members asking 'what is going on with advertising and what are you doing to fix it,'" Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of marketing, said in a Jan. 31, 2013, e-mail to James Vincent at TBWA/Chiat/Day's Media Arts Labs unit, the ad agency. Apple's steady use of the same agency for almost two decades is a rarity in an area where companies often switch to get an injection of new ideas. Working with company co-founder Steve Jobs, the advertising team helped develop campaigns such as the "Crazy Ones" that associated Apple with historic figures such as Albert Einstein, as well as the "I'm a Mac" and "There's an app for that" pitches. 'Beleaguered' Apple The relationship frayed once Samsung began attacking Apple. Schiller said in January 2013 that instead of coming up with great iPhone ads, the advertising agency was criticising Apple as "beleaguered" and needing to change practices such as its corporate governance, according to an e-mail presented today. Schiller said the agency compared Apple's position in 2013 to 1997, the year Jobs returned as chief executive officer and the company was near bankruptcy and its image in tatters. After Schiller raised the idea of getting a new agency, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, who took over after Jobs died in October 2011, responded: "If we need to do this, we should get going." In another e-mail displayed for the jury, Schiller, who was on the witness stand for a second day, was discussing with Vincent a Wall Street Journal article from January 2013 titled "Has Apple Lost its Cool to Samsung?" Samsung's campaign, including some ads that ran before last year, mocked loyal iPhone users for waiting in line to buy new models and Apple for touting features that were already available in other smartphones including Samsung's Galaxy. "We have a lot of work to do to turn this around," Schiller wrote Vincent. 'It hurts' "We feel it too and it hurts," Vincent responded. "We understand the really critical nature of this moment. This perfect storm of factors is driving a chilling negative narrative on Apple." Schiller messaged Vincent about an ad Samsung aired before the 2013 Super Bowl. "It's pretty good and I can't help but think 'these guys are feeling it' (like an athlete who can't miss because they are in a zone) while we struggle to nail a compelling brief on iPhone," he wrote on Jan. 31, 2013. "That's sad because we have much better products." In a 2012 trial, jurors in the San Jose courthouse found that Samsung infringed six of seven Apple patents at issue and awarded the Cupertino, California-based company US$1.05 billion, while rejecting Samsung's infringement claims against Apple. Damages were later reduced to US$930 million after a retrial. Judge Koh In the second case, Apple claims that 10 Samsung products, including the Galaxy S3, infringe five different patents. Samsung alleges that eight Apple products, including the iPhone 5 and versions of the iPad and iPod, infringe two patents. Samsung, based in Suwon, South Korea, seeks about US$7 million in damages, according to a court filing. — Bloomberg |
| Weibo seeks to raise at least US$340m in US IPO Posted: 04 Apr 2014 05:48 PM PDT
The updated plan suggests a tighter relationship with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba as Weibo spins off from the Internet firm Sina, another major player in China. The filing by Weibo scales back the amount indicated last month of up to US$500 million. The initial public offering (IPO) will include 20 million shares, with an option for three million additional shares if there is enough demand. The price per share was set at a range of US$17-US$19 in the updated filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The shares will be listed on the Nasdaq exchange under the symbol "WB." The date of the market debut was not announced. The document said a unit of Alibaba had agreed to buy three million shares in the IPO and had an option to increase its stake up to 30 per cent of the total capital of the company, up from the current level of 18 per cent. The Alibaba unit Ali WB could obtain up to 32 per cent of the ordinary shares, which would give it 15 per cent of the voting power. Funds from Alibaba will be used to repay loans from Sina, according to the filing. But Sina would still hold 56.9 per cent of the capital after the IPO, down from 79.9 per cent. The filing omits some financial information usually included because it is an "emerging growth company" with more lenient reporting requirements for companies with less than US$1 billion in revenues. The latest filing indicates a corporate structure that will see Weibo registered in the Cayman Islands, and owned by a Hong Kong corporation which is in turn owned by Chinese entities. Weibo was launched in August 2009 with a business model reminiscent of that of Twitter — which is banned in China. Weibo reported revenues for 2013 of US$188 million, triple the level of 2012, but has continually lost money, like its US counterpart, with accumulated losses of US$274.9 million as of December 31. Despite Weibo's vast popularity in China its ascent has hit a few speed bumps recently due to a social media crackdown by Beijing and the rise of rival Tencent's mobile app, WeChat — AFP |
| US allows Boeing to sell plane parts to Iran Posted: 04 Apr 2014 05:45 PM PDT
The license covers a "limited period of time" and allows Boeing only "to provide them spare parts that are for safety purposes." Boeing will still not be allowed to sell new planes to Iran, the spokesman said. The license was granted by the US Treasury Department in the context of an interim deal between world powers and Iran over its nuclear programme signed in November, the spokesman added. At the end of February, another US company, General Electric, indicated it had requested permission to sell spare airliner parts to Iran, but so far it has not received a response. The United States and European nations have imposed severe economic sanctions on Iran in recent years aiming to pressure Tehran to reduce permanently, or at least long term, the scope of its nuclear activities to make it extremely difficult for it ever to develop nuclear weapons. Iran has always denied any such ambition. The sanctions were partially lifted in January, after Iran agreed to freeze a part of its contested program. The West and Tehran are currently negotiating a definitive agreement which would guarantee Iran's nuclear programme would be peaceful, and would ultimately lead to all sanctions being lifted. Washington severed diplomatic relations with Iran in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic revolution. ― AFP |
| Rodgers wary of Carroll threat to title bid Posted: 04 Apr 2014 05:35 PM PDT
Rodgers quickly decided Carroll wasn't part of his plans when he took over at Anfield in 2012 and shipped the towering forward out on loan to the Hammers just two months later. The Reds boss felt Carroll's physical style wouldn't be a good fit with his pass and move philosophy and his eventual sale for £15 million (RM81.55 million) has proved a wise decision. While Rodgers's rebuilding of Liverpool's forward line with Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge has transformed the team into surprise contenders for the Premier League crown, Carroll has struggled to stay fit for much of his time with West Ham. But now Carroll stands directly in the path of Rodgers's road to immortality as Liverpool head to Upton Park within touching distance of winning the title for the first time since 1990. Liverpool have surged to the top of the table on the back of some brilliant attacking play and held a two-point lead over second placed Chelsea going into the weekend. Chelsea could regain first place if they beat Stoke today, but the destiny of the title remains in Liverpool's hands. If the Reds win their last six matches they will finally end their long wait to be crowned champions for the first time since the glory days of John Barnes and Ian Rush. With so much at stake, it was hardly surprising that Rodgers, keen to avoid unnecessarily angering Carroll, was determined to play down talk of a rift with the England international when asked if his jilted former player would be motivated to make a point tomorrow. "Andy wasn't let go from here because he wasn't good enough — I'll state that first and foremost," Rodgers said. "He is wonderful in the air, has a good touch in and around the box, so he certainly has nothing to prove to Liverpool. "I think he is one of the best players in Europe in how he plays — that style of attacking the ball in the air is outstanding. "When I came in here, everyone knew the way I worked and it was never to say Andy couldn't work that way, but we had other certain financial aspects of the football club we had to look at. "He needed to play and I think he has gone on and done great for West Ham. "When he has been fit he has shown he is one of the top strikers playing in that style of football West Ham play. "Andy wanted to play because he had spent the 12 to 18 months beforehand not playing regularly, so this was a chance for him to do that and he has taken that really well." Carroll bagged just his second goal of another injury-ravaged season in Monday's win at Sunderland as the Hammers eased their relegation fears and lifted the mood after fans jeered boss Sam Allardyce during a recent home victory over Hull. But Liverpool have been in red-hot form of late, winning their last eight matches and scoring 30 goals in the process to underline their title credentials. And Allardyce concedes that taking on a Suarez and Sturridge inspired Liverpool is a daunting proposition. "At the moment the Liverpool team in terms of form and coupled with results are at 100 per cent," he said. "Sometimes you can be playing really well and not achieve results, but at the moment, based on results and performances, they are the top team and are now in the position they find themselves in. "At the moment Suarez now finds himself in the top two or three players in the world. "His combination with Sturridge has flourished. The rest of the team is providing service behind them and they've all grown in quality and confidence." — AFP |
| Mysterious prehistoric reptiles fly into New York city Posted: 04 Apr 2014 05:32 PM PDT
"Pterosaurs: Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs," opens today and runs until January 2015 at the American Museum of Natural History, co-curated with an expert from Brazil. It is the largest exhibition ever mounted in the United States about these flying reptiles that have long captured popular imagination and which play a starring role in any dinosaur movie. In a full interactive experience, visitors can even "pilot" two species of flying pterosaurs over prehistoric landscapes via a sensor program that reproduces the human body's movements on a screen. "Despite persistently captivating our popular imagination, pterosaurs are among the least well understood large animals from the age of dinosaurs," said museum president Ellen Futter. They were the first vertebrates to fly, diversifying into more than 150 species ranging in size from a sparrow to a two-seater plane before becoming extinct 66 million years ago. From the small Nemicolopterus crypticus of just 10 inches (25 centimetres), to the gigantic Quetzalcoatlus northropi of 10 yards (metres), the exhibition showcases many of the known pterosaurs through rare fossils and stunningly realistic models. "It's just a fantastic exhibition, taking those bones and putting them into life," says co-curator Alexander Kellner, a paleontologist from Brazil's Museu Nacional in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil, China and now Transylvania The first pterosaur fossil ever found; a Pterodactylus antiquus, was part of a collection belonging to a German prince in the 18th century and had fascinated scientists for years. Only in 1809 was it correctly identified by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier, who named it in reference to the Greek words "ptero" or wing and "dactyle," which means finger. Pterosaurs had developed their characteristic long front limbs and fins adapted to flying by more than 200 million years ago. Like other flying animals, they spent time on land, where the general consensus is that they moved on all fours. For more than a hundred years paleontologists focused their searches on Bavaria in Germany, southern England and the US interior. But in the last two decades, north-eastern Brazil and northeast China have seen a "renaissance in terms of discovery." "We had three places for over a hundred years. Now we have two more places that are even better than the other three," said Mark Norell, curator and chair of the museum's paleontology division. "It's just exploded in terms of diversity as well as in number of specimens." This revival is not only the result of new excavation sites, but also stems from "more support" for science in the two emerging economies of Brazil and China, said Kellner. While Brazil is known for fossils preserved in "3D," in China there is "a lot of diversity," he said. A sixth area, Transylvania in Romania, has more recently emerged as a new magnet for paleontologists, with the discovery of some "spectacular specimens," said Norell. One of the fossils found in the region was of a species "even stronger and heavier than the "Quetzalcoatlus northropi" and is still little known. ― AFP-Relaxnews |
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