Speaking to the masses: Samsung focuses on affordability for new wireless speakers

Speaking to the masses: Samsung focuses on affordability for new wireless speakers
Plane with remains of 9 MH17 crash victims arrives at KLIA
Missing panda baby for Scottish zoo
Putin seeks ‘statehood’ talks on east Ukraine
Police detain Rayer to assist in PPS investigation
Four of 10 Jakim personnel return from the Netherlands

Posted: 01 Sep 2014 07:12 PM PDT

Samsung is the latest company to offer a range of affordable wireless speakers in the hopes of cashing in on the growing popularity of music streaming services.

The new wedge-shaped units, called the M3 series, will connect to a home's wi-fi network in order to pump out tunes in every room, either from a digital music library or directly from Amazon's Cloud Player, Pandora, Spotify or Rhapsody. And, of course, they can be controlled via a smartphone app.

And although Samsung is at pains to describe the new device as both "affordably priced" and "easy" to use, it won't be revealing any specifics about the M3 until its official IFA Press Conference on September 4. All it has confirmed is that users will be able to stream different tracks from Spotify to different speakers in different rooms as well as being able to send the same tune to every speaker.

Consumer interest in and demand for wireless speakers is growing at a pretty serious rate.

According to the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), one in 10 US consumers already owns a multi-room wireless audio solution that streams music around the home via wi-fi and 16 percent of homes already use at least one Bluetooth speaker that connects to a smartphone, tablet or PC for playing music remotely.

Part of the reason for their growing popularity is that music collections have moved from physical copies played on a stereo system to a host of digital files stored on PCs, handsets and in the cloud. However, according to Futuresource Consulting, premium music streaming services, from the aforementioned Spotify to Beats Music, are also having an impact.

In the US and Europe, consumers are expected to spend $3 billion in subscriptions to premium music streaming services, which in turn is leading serious music fans to look for equally 21st century ways of enjoying their favorite songs.

"Wireless audio hardware is in the driving seat, with devices like wireless speakers key to the development of streaming music subscription services, providing an additional layer to the user experience beyond a personal listening experience via headphones or a standard docking station," says David Sidebottom, Senior Market Analyst at Futuresource Consulting.

Futuresource claims that the wireless speaker market is growing by some 181 percent annually, a trend which is clearest to see when looking at companies joining the Wireless Speaker and Audio Association, the trade group set up to promote best practice and promote technology standards. Its ranks have swollen from 15 to 30 member companies since January.

And as membership has grown, so has the focus on mid-range and entry-level systems. Until 2013 wireless speaker systems were very much a premium product type and a market ruled by Sonos.

However, in recent months, Sonos has launched an affordable — i.e., sub $200 — range of speakers and Bose, Denon and Samsung have entered the market at the premium end.

With the M3, it looks as if Samsung is now looking to build up its market share. However, it will have competition. LG will be officially unveiling its own affordable wireless speaker system, LG Music Flow, at IFA too. -AFP/ Relaxnews

Plane with remains of 9 MH17 crash victims arrives at KLIA

Posted: 01 Sep 2014 07:03 PM PDT

SEPANG: The aircraft carrying the remains of nine victims – seven Malaysian and two Dutch nationals – of the Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash has arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor were at the Bunga Raya Complex, KLIA, to join the next-of-kin in receiving the remains which were flown to Malaysia in five caskets and four urns.

Flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, killing all 298 people on board, including 43 Malaysians.– BERNAMA

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Missing panda baby for Scottish zoo

Posted: 01 Sep 2014 06:47 PM PDT

Britain's only female giant panda, thought to be pregnant, has passed her due date with no sign of a panda baby appearing.

Edinburgh Zoo's Tian Tian should have gone into labour over the weekend, according to experts, but tests indicated she may have miscarried.

"Giant panda Tian Tian is now past her due date and the evidence suggests that this may be bad news," said Iain Valentine, director of giant pandas for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.

"She is still displaying some of the behaviours of a pregnant panda, but the scientific data from the urine analysis of her hormones is becoming more atypical. "

The 10-year-old pandas Tian Tian (Sweetie) and male Yang Guang (Sunshine), on loan from China, are the first giant pandas to live in Britain for 17 years. Tian Tian lost a cub at a late term last year.

Animal protection group OneKind said Edinburgh Zoo should abandon attempts to breed a baby panda.

"Unlike a human mother who makes the choice to undergo artificial insemination, Tian Tian has no say in whether she has these procedures," said OneKind policy director Libby Anderson. -AFP/ france24

Putin seeks ‘statehood’ talks on east Ukraine

Posted: 01 Sep 2014 06:11 PM PDT

MOSCOW: Moscow and Kiev representatives meet in Minsk yesterday after Russian President Vladimir Putin raised the stakes in the Ukraine conflict by calling for statehood to be discussed for the restive east of the former Soviet state.

Putin's remarks on Sunday came just hours after the European Union gave Moscow – which the bloc accuses of direct involvement in the Ukraine insurgency – a week to change course or face new sanctions.

"We need to immediately begin substantive talks … on questions of the political organisation of society and statehood in southeastern Ukraine," the Russian leader was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying.

Moscow has previously only called for 'federalisation' that would grant greater rights to the eastern regions of Ukraine, where predominantly Russian-speakers live.

But Putin had sparked speculation that he may be seeking to create a pro-Russian statelet when he began to employ the loaded tsarist-era term 'Novorossiya', or New Russia, to refer to several regions in southeast Ukraine.

His spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Sunday that Putin was not talking about 'Novorossiya's' independence from Ukraine, but rather 'inclusive talks'.

"Only Ukraine can agree with Novorossiya," he was quoted as saying.

Kiev has warned that it was on the brink of 'full-scale war' with Moscow over the crisis in its east, which Europe fears would put the whole continent at risk of conflict.

The EU agreed to take 'further significant steps' if Moscow did not rein in its support for the rebels, with new sanctions to be drawn up within a week.

Kiev said the invigorated rebel push of the past days has included substantial numbers of Russian regular army contingents, which are now concentrating their forces in major towns.

"Terrorists and Russian soldiers continue to concentrate personnel and equipment in regional centres," said security spokesman Andriy Lysenko.

Representatives of Kiev, Moscow and the OSCE were due to meet in Minsk, the capital of Belarus which borders both countries, on Monday under the so-called Contact Group on Ukraine.

It was unclear whether Ukrainian separatists would take part.

Russia has insisted repeatedly that Kiev must speak with rebels holding parts of east Ukraine if the conflict is to be resolved.

Kiev, however, has been reluctant to sit down at the table with the separatists, especially when many of their leaders are Russian.

A Kremlin statement said that Putin and his Belarussian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko 'emphasised the importance of organising' the meeting gathering representatives of "the Kiev authorities, the southeastern regions, the OSCE and Russia" during a phone call.

Nato will hold talks in Britain from Thursday at which the Ukraine crisis is expected to top the agenda. The alliance last week accused Moscow of sending at least 1,000 troops across the border to fight alongside the rebels, along with artillery, tanks and armoured vehicles.

Moscow denies direct involvement in the conflict, but there have been media reports of secret military funerals for those sent to fight in Ukraine.

Russia admitted that Russian paratroopers had been captured in Ukraine, but alleged they crossed the border by accident.

Soviet-made T-64 assault tanks seen by AFP near Starobesheve, a town about 30 kilometres southeast of Donetsk seized by the rebels, had only one number to mark them out, at the back, while fighters wore unmarked fatigues.

One pro-Russia rebel perched on the side of a tank, however, was decisive that they were not taken from the Ukrainians.

"No, they are ours," he told AFP, before being hushed by his comrade, who added quickly: "Yes, we took them from the Ukrainians."

Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaite, whose Baltic nation is wary of the resurgent power on its eastern border, warned that "Russia is practically in a state of war against Europe" and called for EU military assistance to Kiev. — AFP

Police detain Rayer to assist in PPS investigation

Posted: 01 Sep 2014 06:08 PM PDT

GEORGE TOWN: Seri Delima Assemblyman RSN Rayer has been detained to assist the police investigation on the Penang Voluntary Patrol Unit (PPS) set up by the DAP-led state government.

Timur Laut district police chief ACP Mior Faridalatrash Wahid said Rayer, the PPS chairman for Seri Delima, was detained at 6pm when he came to the Timur Laut police headquarters.

Rayer came to the police station to handle the release of PPS members who were in remand, he said when contacted by Bernama here yesterday.

Mior Faridalatrash said that as at 6.30pm yesterday, the police had released 30 PPS members, including its chairman, Phee Boon Poh, who is also the State Welfare, Caring Society and Environment Committee chairman.

"We expect to release all the PPS members who were arrested yesterday (Sunday) by tonight (Monday night)," he added.

On Sunday, police arrested 156 PPS members, including Phee, for allegedly flouting regulations after it was found that the organisation was not registered with the Registrar of Societies (ROS).

Twenty-one of them were released later yesterday, and the remaining held in remand. — Bernama

Four of 10 Jakim personnel return from the Netherlands

Posted: 01 Sep 2014 06:06 PM PDT

SEPANG: Four of the 10 personnel of the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) sent to the Netherlands to prepare the remains of MH17 tragedy victims for burial returned here yesterday, and spoke of their unforgettable experience.

One of them, Abdul Manaf Mat, the grand imam of the Putra Mosque in Putrajaya, said they had to endure the transition from hot weather to cold and, being the Ramadan month, they had to fast for up to 20 hours.

"When preparing the remains for burial, my thoughts were just on fulfilling my religious obligation," he told reporters at the KL International Airport after flying in from Amsterdam.

Abdul Manaf, who had headed the Jakim team, and the three other personnel were welcomed at the airport by Jakim director-general Datuk Othman Mustapha.

The 10 imams had been in Ukraine and the Netherlands since July 18.

Abdul Manaf said that in the Netherlands, bodies were prepared for burial at one place unlike in Malaysia where this was done at the nearest mosque.

The Jakim personnel were assisted by those from the Religious Corps of the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) as well as the Muslim community in the Netherlands, he said.

Meanwhile, Othman said four Jakim personnel, led by the grand imam of the Tunku Mizan Zainal Abidin Mosque in Putrajaya, Hazarudin Baharudin, would remain in the Netherlands until the preparation for burial of all the Malaysian Muslim remains had been completed.

Flight MH17 crashed in eastern Ukraine on July 17 as it was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with 283 passengers and 15 crew on board. The Boeing 777-200 aircraft is believed to have been shot down over the troubled country.

Besides Malaysians, nationals from the Netherlands, Australia, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, the Philippines, Canada and New Zealand were among the 298 people on board. — Bernama