Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Senate hearing pits NRA, gun-control supporters

FILE - In this Friday, Dec. 21, 2012 file photo, The National Rifle Association executive vice president Wayne LaPierre, speaks during a news conference in response to the Connecticut school shooting in Washington. ?Law-abiding gun owners will not accept blame for the acts of violent or deranged criminals,? LaPierre said in his statement prepared for the hearing but released on Tuesday Jan. 29, 2013. ?Nor do we believe the government should dictate what we can lawfully own and use to protect our families.? (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

FILE - In this Friday, Dec. 21, 2012 file photo, The National Rifle Association executive vice president Wayne LaPierre, speaks during a news conference in response to the Connecticut school shooting in Washington. ?Law-abiding gun owners will not accept blame for the acts of violent or deranged criminals,? LaPierre said in his statement prepared for the hearing but released on Tuesday Jan. 29, 2013. ?Nor do we believe the government should dictate what we can lawfully own and use to protect our families.? (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

FILE - Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, left, and her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, wave at the start of a memorial vigil remembering the victims and survivors one year after the Arizona congresswoman was wounded in a shooting that killed six others, in this Jan. 8, 2012 file photo taken in Tucson, Ariz. Among those testifying Wednesday Jan. 30, 2013 at the year's first Senate hearing on what lawmakers should do to curb gun violence, will be Mark Kelly, husband of Giffords and a retired astronaut. Giffords, an Arizona Democrat, received a severe head wound in a 2011 shooting as she met with constituents outside a Tucson supermarket. Six people were killed and 12 others wounded. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)

(AP) ? The National Rifle Association and gun-control advocates, including the husband of wounded former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, are facing off at the year's first Senate hearing on what lawmakers should do to curb gun violence.

The two sides were squaring off Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, whose own members are divided in a microcosm of the debate that gun limits will face on their way through Congress. The hearing is a direct response to the Dec. 14 shooting rampage that killed 20 first-graders and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and transformed gun control into a top-tier issue in the capital.

"The time has come to change course," Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., one of Congress' leading gun-control advocates, said Tuesday. "And the time has come to make people safe."

Feinstein, a Judiciary Committee member, has already introduced her own legislation banning assault weapons and magazines of more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said he would listen to proposals and agreed that reviewing the issue was timely.

"But I'm a strong supporter of the Second Amendment," he said Tuesday, citing the constitutional provision that describes the right to bear arms, "and I don't intend to change."

The chairman of the panel, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said little Tuesday about the direction his committee's legislation might take. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., indicated that whatever the committee produced wouldn't necessarily be the final product, saying the package would be debated by the full Senate and senators would be allowed to propose "whatever amendments they want that deal with this issue."

Despite the horrific Newtown slayings, it remains unclear whether those advocating limits on gun availability will be able to overcome resistance by the NRA and lawmakers from states where gun ownership abounds. Question marks include not just many Republicans but also Democratic senators facing re-election in red-leaning states in 2014. They include Max Baucus of Montana, Mark Begich of Alaska and Mark Pryor of Arkansas.

Knowing that television cameras would beam images of the hearing nationally, both sides were drumming up supporters to attend Wednesday's session.

A page on an NRA-related website urged backers to arrive two hours early to get seats, bring no signs and dress appropriately. The liberal BoldProgressives.org urged its members to attend, saying the NRA "will try to pack the room with their supporters to deceive Congress into believing they are mainstream."

Earlier this month, President Barack Obama proposed a package that includes banning assault weapons, requiring background checks on all firearms purchases and limiting ammunition magazines to 10 rounds.

Among those testifying will be Mark Kelly, husband of Giffords and a retired astronaut. Giffords, an Arizona Democrat, received a severe head wound in a 2011 shooting as she met with constituents outside a Tucson supermarket. Six people were killed and 12 others wounded.

Kelly and Giffords, a gun owner, formed a political action committee called Americans for Responsible Solutions to back lawmakers who support tighter gun restrictions.

In testimony prepared for the hearing but released Tuesday, Wayne LaPierre, NRA executive vice president, said such steps had failed in the past. He instead voiced support for better enforcement of existing laws, beefing up school security and strengthening the government's ability to keep guns from mentally unstable people.

The massacre in Newtown has also set off a national discussion about mental health care, with everyone from law enforcement leaders to the gun industry urging policymakers to focus on the issue as a way to help prevent similar mass shootings. The issue of mental health has arisen in four recent mass shootings, including Sandy Hook, the Tucson shooting, the incident in an Aurora, Colo., movie theater last year and Virginia Tech in 2007.

"Law-abiding gun owners will not accept blame for the acts of violent or deranged criminals," LaPierre said in his statement. "Nor do we believe the government should dictate what we can lawfully own and use to protect our families."

While not yielding on specifics, much of LaPierre's statement had a milder tone than other remarks the NRA has made since Newtown.

That includes an NRA television ad calling Obama an "elitist hypocrite" for voicing doubts about having armed school guards while his own children are protected that way at their school. While Obama's children have Secret Service protection, officials at their school have said its own guards don't carry guns.

Feinstein said Tuesday that she will hold her own hearing on gun control because she was unhappy that three of the five witnesses testifying Wednesday are "skewed against us."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday he would wait to see what legislation Democrats produce. Republican leaders of the GOP-run House have expressed similar sentiments.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-01-30-US-Gun-Control-Congress/id-9f22cea4fce04b67ac6c738b2d4e8298

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Spring may come earlier to North American forests

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Trees in the continental U.S. could send out new spring leaves up to 17 days earlier in the coming century than they did before global temperatures started to rise, according to a new study by Princeton University researchers. These climate-driven changes could lead to changes in the composition of northeastern forests and give a boost to their ability to take up carbon dioxide.

Trees play an important role in taking up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, so researchers led by David Medvigy, assistant professor in Princeton's department of geosciences, wanted to evaluate predictions of spring budburst ? when deciduous trees push out new growth after months of winter dormancy ? from models that predict how carbon emissions will impact global temperatures.

The date of budburst affects how much carbon dioxide is taken up each year, yet most climate models have used overly simplistic schemes for representing spring budburst, modeling for example a single species of tree to represent all the trees in a geographic region.

In 2012, the Princeton team published a new model that relied on warming temperatures and the waning number of cold days to predict spring budburst. The model, which was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research, proved accurate when compared to data on actual budburst in the northeastern United States.

In the current paper published online in Geophysical Research Letters, Medvigy and his colleagues tested the model against a broader set of observations collected by the USA National Phenology Network, a nation-wide tree ecology monitoring network consisting of federal agencies, educational institutions and citizen scientists. The team incorporated the 2012 model into predictions of future budburst based on four possible climate scenarios used in planning exercises by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The researchers included Su-Jong Jeong, a postdoctoral research associate in Geosciences, along with Elena Shevliakova, a senior climate modeler, and Sergey Malyshev, a professional specialist, both in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and associated with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory.

The team estimated that, compared to the late 20th century, red maple budburst will occur 8 to 40 days earlier, depending on the part of the country, by the year 2100. They found that the northern parts of the United States will have more pronounced changes than the southern parts, with the largest changes occurring in Maine, New York, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

The researchers also evaluated how warming temperatures could affect the budburst date of different species of tree. They found that budburst shifted to earlier in the year in both early-budding trees such as common aspen (Populus tremuloides) and late-budding trees such as red maple (Acer rubrum), but that the effect was greater in the late-budding trees and that over time the differences in budding dates narrowed.

The researchers noted that early budburst may give deciduous trees, such as oaks and maples, a competitive advantage over evergreen trees such as pines and hemlocks. With deciduous trees growing for longer periods of the year, they may begin to outstrip growth of evergreens, leading to lasting changes in forest make-up.

The researchers further predicted that warming will trigger a speed-up of the spring "greenwave," or budburst that moves from south to north across the continent during the spring.

The finding is also interesting from the standpoint of future changes in springtime weather, said Medvigy, because budburst causes an abrupt change in how quickly energy, water and pollutants are exchanged between the land and the atmosphere. Once the leaves come out, energy from the sun is increasingly used to evaporate water from the leaves rather than to heat up the surface. This can lead to changes in daily temperature ranges, surface humidity, streamflow, and even nutrient loss from ecosystems, according to Medvigy.

###

Jeong, Su-Jong, David Medvigy, Elena Shevliakova, and Sergey Malyshev. 2013. Predicting changes in temperate forest budburst using continental-scale observations and models. Geophysical Research Letters. Article first published online: Jan. 25, 2013. DOI: 10.1029/2012GL054431

Princeton University: http://www.princeton.edu

Thanks to Princeton University for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126535/Spring_may_come_earlier_to_North_American_forests

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Home Remodeling Platform Houzz Raises $35M Series C Round ...

Houzz is one of those Silicon Valley startups you don?t hear all that much about, but the company is quickly disrupting the $300 billion home remodeling market by providing homeowners with inspiration for their projects and connecting them with the designers, architects and contractors who can turn their ideas into reality. Today, Houzz announced that it has raised a $35 million Series C round led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and GGV Capital, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Comcast Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Yammer founder David Sacks.

The company previously raised a $2 million Series A round led by Oren Zeev in 2010 and a $11.6 million series B round led by Sequoia in 2011. The service, the Houzz team also announced today, grew more than 450 percent in the last year and now sees over 12 million unique users.

As Houzz co-founder and CEO Adi Tatarko told me earlier this week, the company plans to use the new influx of capital to expand its team and hire additional engineering and design talent. Houzz, she told me, will continue to add more layers and technologies to its product and expand both its mobile and web product in the coming months. ?In order to transform the entire [home remodeling] industry, there is a lot to do,? she told me. What Houzz won?t do anytime soon, though, is to branch out to other real estate-related areas. The remodeling industry itself is so big and such an underserved market, Tatarko said, that the team plans to squarely focus on this business for now.

houzz_large_modern

?I found Houzz as I was remodeling my own home,? said David Sacks, the Yammer founder who probably has enough money for a very nice home remodel after selling his company to Microsoft last year, in a statement today. ?They?ve built an amazing product and technology platform that I love using. The company has solidified itself as the leading player and chief disruptor in the $300 billion home remodeling and design industry. I?m delighted to join an amazing group of investors like Alfred Lin, Oren Zeev, Hany Nada, Paul Hsiao and Mary Meeker.?

In addition to the new funding round, Houzz also announced the launch of its Pro+ platform for the professionals that use the service, including the large community of architects, designers, artists and contractors that use the service both to discuss design ideas and to find new clients. Currently, there are about 10,000 professionals listed on the service. These listing will remain free, but the Pro+ platform will now also allow professionals to highlight their work on the service. For an annual fee, professionals will be able to pick certain markets and categories where their work will be featured, with the annual price depending on the number of markets and categories they want to be featured in.

The Pro+ service is currently only available in a select number of metro areas, but the Houzz team plans to expand this service to all of the U.S. soon.


Houzz (www.houzz.com) is the leading online platform for home remodeling and design, providing people with everything they need to improve their homes from start to finish - online or from a mobile device. From decorating a room to building a custom home, Houzz connects millions of homeowners, home design enthusiasts and home improvement professionals across the country and around the world. With the largest residential design database in the world and a vibrant community powered by social tools, Houzz...

? Learn more

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/29/home-remodeling-platform-houzz-raises-35m-series-c-round-led-by-nwa-and-ggv-capital-launches-paid-pro-accounts/

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Tuesday, January 29, 2013

The Yeshiva World U.S. Appeals Court Shields SEC From Madoff ...

Investors who said they lost money in Bernard Madoff?s fraud may not pursue a lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for missing the swindler?s Ponzi scheme, a federal appeals court said on Monday.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena, California said a federal district judge correctly dismissed their lawsuit seeking to hold the SEC responsible under the Federal Tort Claims Act.

Citing a 2009 report by the regulator?s inspector general, investors led by Dichter-Mad Family Partners LLP in Florida said they would not have invested with Madoff had the regulator availed itself of ?multiple opportunities? to stop the fraud.

They said they instead relied on the regulator?s ?implied stamp of approval? prior to investing, and sought to recover losses they attributed to SEC negligence.

But the 9th Circuit in an unsigned order said the plaintiffs? claims fell within the regulator?s ?discretionary functions,? depriving courts of jurisdiction to hear the appeal.

?I respectfully disagree with the decision, and intend to seek further appellate review,? Richard Gordon, a lawyer who is one of the plaintiffs and argued the appeal, said in a telephone interview.

SEC spokesman John Nester said in an email: ?The decision speaks for itself.?

Monday?s order upheld an April 2010 ruling by U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson in Los Angeles.

In April 2011, a Manhattan federal judge dismissed a similar lawsuit by two other Madoff investors.

An exhaustive August 2009 report by SEC Inspector General David Kotz outlined how the regulator failed to uncover Madoff?s fraud by missing many red flags, disregarding tips, and failing to follow up properly on leads.

Madoff, 74, pleaded guilty in March 2009 and is serving a 150-year prison sentence.

Have you checked out?YWN Radio?yet? Click?HERE?to listen!

(Reuters)

Source: http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/?p=154589

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Baruchel's love of country an open book

MONTREAL ? When the folks from Canada Reads, the prestigious CBC Radio literary contest, called Jay Baruchel to ask him to participate in this year?s edition, the Montreal actor didn?t hesitate for a second.

Only Baruchel ? an ardent Canadian nationalist who has a red Maple Leaf tattooed over his heart ? would tell you he said ?yes? for the very simple reason that he thought it was his patriotic duty to be there.

?As hokey as it sounds, I just felt there was a degree of civic duty to it,? said the Montreal actor, on the phone recently from Los Angeles where he was shooting one last scene for the star-studded apocalyptic comedy This Is the End, which comes out in June and, in his words, ?hanging out with my lady, who?s working on Season 2 of The Newsroom.?

The lady in question would be the woman he?s engaged to, actress Alison Pill, who now calls Montreal home. This Is the End is inspired by the short film Jay and Seth vs. the Apocalypse that Baruchel and Seth Rogen made several years back, and the feature stars Rogen, Baruchel, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Michael Cera and Paul Rudd.

Baruchel says he?s doing Canada Reads because it?s a good thing to do.

?However small my contribution might be, it?s a contribution to the betterment of Canada nonetheless,? he said. ?Hopefully, in some small way, I can get a few kids interested in our own culture and the reservoir of great art that?s come from our land.?

Baruchel ? whose film credits include Knocked Up, Tropic Thunder, The Trotsky, The Sorcerer?s Apprentice and Goon ? will be on Canada Reads, which runs on CBC Radio One the week of Feb. 11, defending Two Solitudes, the classic Governor General?s Award-winning novel from Montreal author Hugh MacLennan.

Baruchel will also be co-hosting a special edition of local CBC Radio drive-home show Homerun on Feb. 1, with regular host Sue Smith, to be broadcast live from the flagship Indigo bookstore downtown.

The entire show will be devoted to Two Solitudes, the book and the concept, with much discussion of whether or not the notion is still relevant to today?s Canada.

The novel is one of Can Lit?s most famous works, that rarest of creatures, a Canadian novel that introduced a phrase into the country?s lexicon, with ?two solitudes? routinely bandied about as a description of the divide that separates English and French Canadians.

It?s the story of a man, Paul Tallard, coming to grips with his bicultural heritage, hailing from a wealthy Montreal family with a francophone father and an Irish-Canadian mother.

I wondered if the book, first published in 1945, might be a tad long-in-the-tooth to be truly relevant to folks today.

Baruchel couldn?t disagree more.

?Aside from the fact that its title has been, for the better part of 60-plus-years, the go-to term to describe the relationship between the English and French in Quebec, I just think it?s important,? said Baruchel, who is busy these days working with his regular writing partner, Jesse Chabot, penning the sequel to Goon, last year?s hit hockey comedy.

?We come from a very young country,? he adds, ?and if we have anything remotely close to an epic poem, it?s important to cherish it. But cherishing something means nothing if people aren?t participating in it. I suspect that a lot of Canadians in the 21st century are not even familiar with the book and that?s all the more reason for me to get people back interested in it.

?I think it?s a beautiful masterwork. It functions on so many levels. It is just a sweeping generational epic, but without a doubt to me contained in it is as close to my philosophy as I?ve ever seen. It is the story of our country?s history. Canada starts with Upper Canada and Lower Canada, that?s the Genesis story of Canada, and Paul Tallard embodies what?s best about our country. What makes it all so Canadian is the moderation and the pragmatism that informs all of it. It doesn?t pick sides. It?s sympathetic without leaning toward one thing or another, aside from this thing we call Canada.?

So clearly you think it?s still relevant, I suggest.

?Oh my God, it couldn?t be more relevant. I don?t know what country people live in if they think they?re past the stuff in this book. We?re not in a sort of a post-linguistic society, if you will. Plus ?a change, man. It becomes even more truthful with every passing generation, for better or worse.?

Jay Baruchel will be co-hosting the CBC Radio One show Homerun with Sue Smith on Feb. 1, live from the Indigo bookstore downtown (1500 McGill College Ave.) from 3-6 p.m.

Canada Reads is on CBC Radio One at 11 a.m. Feb. 11-14, repeating at 8 p.m.

bkelly@montrealgazette.com

Twitter: @brendanshowbiz

Source: http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/Show+Chez+Nous+Baruchel+love+country+open+book/7879911/story.html

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The Pastime Shelf: Benefits Of Fast Internet Connection

The World Wide Web or the Internet in general has lots to offer. From a simple how to guide in terms of cooking your favorite dish up to some quick fix at home or even first aid in terms of health and medical issues. Because of the vast information and help that we can get online, a fast and reliable internet connection becomes a necessity and part of our everyday lives. Below are some of the most notable benefits a fast internet service or connection can give, either at home or at the office.

Business Benefits

If you have a business that relies at online sales and inquiries, it really pays to have a fast and blazing internet speed. Why? First and foremost, you can quickly respond to any customer inquiries either via email, your social network or even live chat via your website. A fast response in terms of business inquiries and transaction can give your business a better feedback from customers. To summarize it up, it will allow your business to give the best customer service that can turn into sales or profit online.

internetPersonal/Home Benefits

If you are student who relies so much at the information offered for free online, then a good internet connection is a must. It can save you a lot of hours (aside from the stress and headache) in terms of researching and studying online. Not only that, most of the time, you will be needing graphical representation, images, photos and videos to really get or understand the information or subject topic you are studying at. A slow internet connection can't serve you all of this simultaneously because of the internet bandwidth a multimedia will need to be fully downloaded. So, a good internet speed is what students of this generation really needs.

If you are a working at home online, internet connection speed is critical to your success. Most of the time, people or even companies who asks for your online expertise might require you to have or get a fast internet connection. The reason behind this is that, they might ask you to join online-video meetings (slow internet connection doesn't have the capability to handle online video meetings), they might give you a task or work that relies heavily at the internet speed (might be software or online work trackers), or they just really want a much better result for the online work they will give you which can only be attained if you have a faster internet connection than the others.

As you can see from the above information, a faster internet connection do have lots of benefits to offer, both business or personal wise. It can even give you the full entertainment you are looking for online, either via watching live sports or movie streaming or just playing your favorite online games.

Source: http://www.thepastimeshelf.com/2013/01/benefits-of-fast-internet-connection.html

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Monday, January 28, 2013

Lovetrack ? it?s not what you think?

I love riding bikes. I rode bikes as a kid, like everyone else, but I started again as an adult when I hit my mid-50s and health problems started rising. I quickly became addicted. Due to global climate change and the push-back against car-dominated design, there’s a new interest in bicycling all over the country [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/01/27/lovetrack-its-not-what-you-think/

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Antigua gets OK to become copyright haven

LONDON (AP) ? Americans call it piracy. Antiguans call it justice.

The islands of Antigua and Barbuda are threatening to strip intellectual property protections from American goods as part of a long-running trade dispute over the U.S. embargo on the tiny Caribbean nation's online gambling industry.

U.S. officials say the proposed copyright haven ? whose broad outlines were approved Monday at the World Trade Organization in Geneva ? amounts to "government-authorized piracy." But Antiguans, who've won a series of legal victories against the U.S. at the international trade body, reject any suggestion that they're pirates.

"We have followed the rules and procedures of the WTO to the letter," Antigua's high commissioner to London, Carl Roberts, said in a statement Monday. "Our little country is doing precisely what it has earned the right to do under international agreements."

The U.S. and Antigua have been tussling for years over the ability of Americans to use online casinos based in the Caribbean nation. U.S. laws have long been interpreted to mean that Internet gambling is illegal if it crosses state lines.

The World Trade Organization, however, has come down on Antigua's side. In 2007, it allowed the islands to draw $21 million a year's worth of "nullification or impairments" from the United States as a penalty for the continuing refusal of the U.S. to allow American customers to place their online bets in Antigua.

Antiguan officials say they could make up the money through the operation of a copyright haven, although what that might look like and what its scope would be remains unclear. Antiguan officials have kept details vague and the move has little precedent.

Observers have suggested, for example, a subscription service to access copyright-free American music, or a pay-per-download site that charges pennies for Hollywood hits.

Mendel cautioned that whatever ends up being set up, it wouldn't be an Antiguan version of The Pirate Bay, the free-for-all file sharing site whose name has become synonymous with illegal downloads.

"We aren't going to be flaunting the rules," he said in a telephone interview last week. "It's not piracy if you have the right to do it."

The proposed copyright haven may still never see the light of day; Mendel said Antigua's goal remains a negotiated settlement with U.S. authorities over the gambling dispute.

Even if such a haven were set up, international fans of free downloads may want to exercise caution. Antiguans may be allowed to download legally, but for those outside the country the legal regime remains murky.

Nevertheless, the notion of a country of 89,000 people standing up to the powerful United States on intellectual property matters has caught the imagination of many ? especially those who believe that U.S. copyright rules are too restrictive.

"It's time for small countries to be treated fairly in these organizations," said Mendel.

___

Online:

Raphael Satter can be reached at: http://raphae.li/twitter

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-01-28-Caribbean%20Copyright%20Haven/id-18aa5ee47b5d4dd7b275a925ad4eca96

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Watch This Renegade Phone Pull Off Its Own Aerobatic Stunts at the X Games

We've all broken our share of phones, and generally the only day-to-day danger they face is a three or four foot fall, or maybe the odd puddle of water. Norwegian X-Games competitor PK Hunder's phone had a bit more to deal with when he lost it in mid-air, half-way through a 720 during practice yesterday. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/lbDvz0hgSGA/watch-this-renegade-phone-pull-off-its-own-aerobatic-stunts-at-the-x-games

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Sunday, January 27, 2013

Azarenka beats Li, defends Australian Open title

Victoria Azarenka of Belarus hugs her trophy after winning the women's final against China's Li Na at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Victoria Azarenka of Belarus hugs her trophy after winning the women's final against China's Li Na at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Victoria Azarenka of Belarus reacts as she celebrates her win over China's Li Na in the women's final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

China's Li Na falls for a second time during her match against Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the women's final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

China's Li Na receives treatment to her ankle during her match against Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the women's final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013.(AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Victoria Azarenka of Belarus reaches for a backhand return to China's Li Na during the women's final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) ? Victoria Azarenka had the bulk of the crowd against her. The fireworks were fizzling out, and when she looked over the net she saw Li Na crashing to the court and almost knocking herself out.

Considering the cascading criticism she'd encountered after her previous win, Azarenka didn't need the focus of the Australian Open final to be on another medical timeout.

So after defending her title with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over the sixth-seeded Li in one of the most unusual finals ever at Melbourne Park, Azarenka understandably dropped her racket and cried tears of relief late Saturday night.

She heaved as she sobbed into a towel beside the court, before regaining her composure to collect the trophy.

"It isn't easy, that's for sure, but I knew what I had to do," the 23-year-old Belarusian said. "I had to stay calm. I had to stay positive. I just had to deal with the things that came onto me."

There were a lot of those things squeezed into the 2-hour, 40-minute match. Li, who was playing her second Australian Open final in three years, twisted her ankle and tumbled to the court in the second and third sets.

The second time was on the point immediately after a 10-minute delay for the Australia Day fireworks ? a familiar fixture in downtown Melbourne on Jan. 26, but not usually coinciding with a final.

Li had been sitting in her chair during the break, while Azarenka jogged and swung her racket around before leaving the court to rub some liniment into her legs to keep warm.

The 30-year-old Chinese player had tumbled to the court after twisting her left ankle and had it taped after falling in the fifth game of the second set. Immediately after the fireworks ceased, and with smoke still in the air, she twisted the ankle again, fell and hit the back of her head on the hard court.

The 2011 French Open champion was treated immediately by a tournament doctor and assessed for a concussion in another medical timeout before resuming the match.

"I think I was a little bit worried when I was falling," Li said, in her humorous, self-deprecating fashion. "Because two seconds I couldn't really see anything. It was totally black.

"So when the physio come, she was like, 'Focus on my finger.' I was laughing. I was thinking, 'This is tennis court, not like hospital.'"

Li's injury was obvious and attracted even more support for her from the 15,000-strong crowd.

Azarenka had generated some bad PR by taking a medical timeout after wasting five match points on her own serve in her semifinal win over American teenager Sloane Stephens on Thursday. She came back after the break and finished off Stephens in the next game, later telling an on-court interviewer that she "almost did the choke of the year."

She was accused of gamesmanship and manipulating the rules to get time to regain her composure against Stephens, but defended herself by saying she actually was having difficulty breathing because of a rib injury that needed to be fixed.

That explanation didn't convince everybody. So when she walked onto Rod Laver Arena on Saturday, there were some people who booed, and others who heckled her or mimicked the distinctive hooting sound she makes when she hits the ball.

"Unfortunately, you have to go through some rough patches to achieve great things," she said. "That's what makes it so special for me. I went through that, and I'm still able to kiss that beautiful trophy."

She didn't hold a grudge.

"I was expecting way worse, to be honest. What can you do? You just have to go out there and try to play tennis in the end of the day," she said. "It's a tennis match, tennis battle, final of the Australian Open. I was there to play that.

"The things what happened in the past, I did the best thing I could to explain, and it was left behind me already."

The match contained plenty of nervy moments and tension, and 16 service breaks ? nine for Li. But it also produced plenty of winners and bravery on big points.

Azarenka will retain the No. 1 ranking she's mostly held since her first Grand Slam win in Melbourne last year.

Li moved into the top five and is heartened by a recent trend of Australian runner-ups winning the French Open. She accomplished that in 2011, as did Ana Ivanovic (2008) and Maria Sharapova (2012).

"I wish I can do the same this year, as well," Li said.

Later Saturday, Bob and Mike Bryan won their record 13th Grand Slam men's doubles title, defeating the Dutch team of Robin Haase and Igor Sijsling 6-3, 6-4.

Sunday's men's final features two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic and U.S. Open winner Andy Murray. Djokovic is seeking to become the first man in the Open era to win three titles in a row in Australia.

Azarenka was planning a night of partying to celebrate her second major title, with her friend Redfoo and the Party Rock crew, and was hopeful of scoring some tickets to the men's final.

She said she needed to let her hair down after a draining two weeks and hoped that by being more open and frank in recent times she was clearing up any misconceptions the public had of her.

"When I came first on the tour I kind of was lost a little bit," he said. "I didn't know how to open up my personality. It's very difficult when you're alone. I was independent since I was, you know, 10 years old. It was a little bit scary and I wouldn't show my personality.

"So the (last) couple of years I learned how to open up to people and to share the moments. I wasn't really good before. I hope I got better. It's your judgment."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-01-26-Australian%20Open/id-f48beaa7dd8f4ab68978ea7e5fd4dcfd

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March of Technology Eliminating Jobs

Part one of two.

Middle-class jobs not only in this country, but in developed countries around the world, have been lost due to the march of technology, and experts predict the majority of these jobs will not return.

Science fiction novels have warned of a future in which robots and computers would replace humans, and, according to an article in NBCNews.com, that day may be here.

As the software that runs computers, machines and devices becomes both more powerful and sophisticated, these computers, machines and devices can now more capably and efficiently complete the tasks that humans have done in the past, and unfortunately, many workers find themselves replaced by these software driven machines.

One expert in the field, Andrew McAfee, who is the principal research scientist for MIT, stated that he ?has never seen a period where computers demonstrated as many skills and abilities as they have over the past seven years.?

Labor economists in this country report that half of the 7.5 million jobs lost during the recession were middle-class wage positions.? Unfortunately, they also state that only two percent of the 3.5 million jobs gained back after the recession ended are in mid-pay industries, with seventy percent of the jobs gained being in low-pay industries.? Experts predict? the loss of mid-pay jobs is not over, and as technology becomes more sophisticated, more jobs will be lost.

There are those occupations that benefit from technological advances.? App designers for smart phones and tablet computers, and, of course, software engineers, all benefit by the increasingly technical and sophisticated computer software advances.? But overall, technology eliminates more jobs than it creates.

To be continued.

Original Article.

Source: http://www.tucsonbankruptcylawfirm.com/march-of-technology-eliminating-jobs/

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Road Trip!: A Dozen Texas Eccentrics Visit Sin City in the Towne ...

Greg Flowers (left) and Tim Stancil star in the Towne Players' of Garner's community-theater production of "Tuna Does Vegas"

Greg Flowers (left) and Tim Stancil star in the Towne Players? of Garner?s community-theater production of ?Tuna Does Vegas?

The first play of the Towne Players of Garner?s 2013 season is Tuna Does Vegas, a madcap comedy penned by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears, and Ed Howard and sassily staged in Garner by Towne Players artistic director Beth Honeycutt. This knee-slapping community-theater production of Messrs. Williams, Sears, and Howard?s third sequel to Greater Tuna? (1981) stars Greg Flowers and Tim Stancil as radio station OKKK?s crusty conservative disc jockeys Thurston Wheelis and Arles Struvie and a dozen or so other eccentric denizens of the ?third-smallest town in Texas? who experience an epic case of culture shock when they travel to Sin City.

Tim Stancil is a hoot as DJ Arles Struvie, who acts uncharacteristically romantic when he whisks his wife (the former Bertha Bumiller) away to Vegas to renew their wedding vows on Valentine?s Day. He is also hilarious as tough-as-a-nickel steak Didi?s Used Weapons owner Didi Snavely (her motto: ?If we can?t kill it, it?s immortal?), Greater Tuna Humane Society employee and all-around do-gooder Petey Fisk, town snob and Smut-Snatchers of the New Order vice president Vera Carp, Tastee Kreme Diner waitress Helen Bedd, and Hula Chateaux concierge Anna Conda and acupuncturist Wo Hu.

Greg Flowers is delightful as DJ Thurston Wheelis; second honeymooner Bertha Bumiller Struvie; high-strung Tuna, TX drama teacher Joe Bob Lipsey; and especially Bertha Bumiller?s curmudgeonly aunt Pearl Burras, who secretly poisons her neighborhood?s dogs. Aunt Pearl?s unexpected encounter with a porn channel on her hotel-room TV is a wordless wonder in which Aunt Pearl?s facial expression changes from horror to curiosity.

Tuna Does Vegas is a frisky romp through familiar territory, but there are plenty of surprise twists. This time, ?What Happens in Vegas ?? does not ?[Stay] in Vegas,? much to the delight of Triangle theatergoers. The show concludes its all-too-brief two-weekend run at 2 and 8 p.m. today in the Garner Performing Arts Center (formerly Garner Historic Auditorium).

The Towne Plays present TUNA DOES VEGAS at 2 and 8 p.m. Jan. 26 in the Garner Performing Arts Center, 742 W. Garner Rd., Garner, North Carolina 27529.

TICKETS: $12 ($10 students and seniors 55+).

BOX OFFICE: Tickets will be sold at the door.

SHOW/SEASON: http://www.towneplayers.org/performances/current-season/.

PRESENTER: http://www.towneplayers.org/.

VENUE: http://www.garnerperformingartscenter.com/.

DIRECTIONS: http://www.garnerperformingartscenter.com/Directions.asp.

OTHER LINKS:

Tuna Does Vegas: http://www.samuelfrench.com/p/2934/tuna-does-vegas (Samuel French, Inc.).

Beth Honeycutt: https://www.facebook.com/beth.honeycutt2 (Facebook).

EDITOR?S NOTE:

Robert W. McDowell is editor and publisher of Triangle Review, a FREE weekly e-mail arts newsletter. This review is reprinted with permission from Triangle Review.

To start your FREE subscription to this newsletter, e-mail RobertM748@aol.com and type SUBSCRIBE TR in the Subject: line.

To read all of Robert W. McDowell?s Triangle Review previews and reviews online at Triangle Arts & Entertainment, click http://triangleartsandentertainment.org/author/robert-w-mcdowell/.

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Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)


Tagged as: Ed Howard, Garner Performing Arts Center, Greater Tuna, Greg Flowers, Jaston Williams, Joe Sears, Tim Stancil, Towne Players, Tuna Does Vegas

Source: http://triangleartsandentertainment.org/2013/01/road-trip-a-dozen-texas-eccentrics-visit-sin-city-in-the-towne-players-production-of-tuna-does-vegas/

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Saturday, January 26, 2013

Gingrich won?t run for U.S. Senate in Georgia

Newt Gingrich's spokesman confirmed on Friday that the former presidential candidate and U.S. House member from Georgia will not be a candidate for the U.S. Senate.

Hammond tweeted the news after Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss' announcement that he will not be running for re-election in 2014.

Democrats are already expressing optimism about the open-seat race.

Guy Cecil, executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, released the following statement on Friday:

Georgia will now offer Democrats one of our best pick-up opportunities of the cycle. There are already several reports of the potential for a divisive primary that will push Republicans to the extreme right. Regardless, there?s no question that the demographics of the state have changed and Democrats are gaining strength. This will be a top priority.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/gingrich-won-t-run-u-senate-georgia-175929007--election.html

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16 die in Egypt riot after soccer violence verdict

Egyptian soccer fans of Al-Ahly club celebrate in front of their club in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. An Egyptian court sentenced 21 people to death on charges related to one of the world's deadliest incidents of soccer violence, which killed 74 mostly teenage fans of Egypt's most popular sports club last year. Poster in background showing one of the victims with Arabic reads "martyr Hamed Fathi Hamed." (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Egyptian soccer fans of Al-Ahly club celebrate in front of their club in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. An Egyptian court sentenced 21 people to death on charges related to one of the world's deadliest incidents of soccer violence, which killed 74 mostly teenage fans of Egypt's most popular sports club last year. Poster in background showing one of the victims with Arabic reads "martyr Hamed Fathi Hamed." (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Egyptian soccer fans of Al-Ahly club celebrate in front of pictures of victims of soccer violence at their club premises in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. An Egyptian court sentenced 21 people to death on charges related to one of the world's deadliest incidents of soccer violence, which killed 74 mostly teenage fans of Egypt's most popular sports club last year. Arabic reads, "we will never forget you." (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Egyptian soccer fans of Al-Ahly club celebrate a court verdict that returned 21 death penalties in last years soccer violence, inside the club premises in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. Egyptian security officials say military to deploy in Port Said after at least 8 people including a senior police officer and a policeman were shot dead in the Mediterranean city of Port Said after a judge sentenced 21 people to death in connection to one of the world's deadliest incidents of soccer violence. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Egyptian soccer fans of Al-Ahly club celebrate a court verdict that returned 21 death penalties in last years soccer violence, inside the club premises in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. Egyptian security officials say military to deploy in Port Said after at least 8 people including a senior police officer and a policeman were shot dead in the Mediterranean city of Port Said after a judge sentenced 21 people to death in connection to one of the world's deadliest incidents of soccer violence. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Families of the victims of the Ultras Al-Ahli football supporters who died last year in soccer violence, react in court after the issuance of the death penalty for 21 accused in the Port Said incident, in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. Egyptian security officials say military to deploy in Port Said after at least 8 people incuding a senior police officer and a policeman were shot dead in the Mediterranean city of Port Said after a judge sentenced 21 people to death in connection to one of the world's deadliest incidents of soccer violence. (AP Photo/Ahmed Abd El-Latef, Shorouk Newspaper) EGYPT OUT

CAIRO (AP) ? An Egyptian court sentenced 21 people to death Saturday on charges related to one of the world's deadliest incidents of soccer violence, touching off an attempted jailbreak and a riot that killed 16 in the Mediterranean port city that is home to most of the defendants.

The verdict follows deadly clashes between police and demonstrators on Friday, the second anniversary of the uprising that overthrew longtime leader Hosni Mubarak. Such cycles of violence, often lasting for weeks and costing dozens of lives, have occurred regularly over the past two years.

Die-hard soccer fans from both teams, known as Ultras, hold the police at least partially responsible for the Port Said deaths and criticize Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi for doing little to reform the force.

Al-Ahly Ultras in particular have been at the forefront of protests. But anger also is boiling in Port Said, where residents say they have been unfairly scapegoated.

Immediately after the verdict, two police were shot dead outside Port Said's main prison when angry relatives tried to storm the facility to free the defendants. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets, as well as live rounds, at the crowd outside the prison, killing 14, security officials said. Hundreds were wounded. They spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Security officials said the military is being deployed to Port Said ? the second such deployment in less than 24 hours. The army was widely used to keep order by top generals who took over after Mubarak, but the military has kept a much lower profile since Morsi was elected as president in June.

Morsi cancelled a scheduled trip to Ethiopia Saturday and instead met for the first time with top generals as part of the newly-formed National Defense Council.

The military was also deployed overnight in the city of Suez after eight people died in clashes between security forces and protesters opposed to Morsi. Another protester was killed in Ismailiya, and security officials told the state news agency MENA that two policemen were killed in Friday's protests, bringing the death toll on the second anniversary of Egypt's uprising to 11.

Judge Sobhi Abdel-Maguid read out the death sentences related to the Feb. 1 riot in Port Said that killed 74 fans of the Cairo-based Al-Ahly team. Defendants' lawyers said all those sentenced were fans of the Port Said team, Al-Masry. Executions in Egypt are usually carried out by hanging.

The judge Saturday said in his statement read live on state TV that he would announce the verdict for the remaining 52 defendants on March 9.

Among those on trial are nine security officials, but none were handed sentences Saturday, lawyers and security officials say.

Fans of al-Ahly, whose stands were attacked by rival club Al-Masry in the Feb. 1 incident in Port Said, had promised more violence if the accused did not receive death sentences. In the days leading up to the verdict, Al-Ahly fans warned of bloodshed and "retribution". Hundreds of Al-Ahly fans gathered outside the Cairo sports club in anticipation of the verdict, chanting against the police and the government.

Before the judge could read out the names of the 21, families erupted in screams of "Allahu Akbar!" Arabic for God is great, with their hands in the air and waving pictures of the deceased. One man fainted while others hugged one another. The judge smacked the bench several times to try and contain reaction in the courtroom.

"This was necessary," said Nour al-Sabah, whose 17 year-old son Ahmed Zakaria died in the melee. "Now I want to see the guys when they are executed with my own eyes, just as they saw the murder of my son."

The verdict is not expected to calm tensions between the two rival teams. The judge is expected to make public his reasons for the death sentences March 9, when the remaining 52 defendants receive their sentences.

A Port Said resident and lawyer of one of the defendants given a death sentence said the verdict was nothing more than "a political decision to calm the public."

"There is nothing to say these people did anything and we don't understand what this verdict is based on," Mohammed al-Daw told The Associated Press by telephone.

"Our situation in Port Said is very grave because kids were taken from their homes for wearing green T-shirts," he said, referring to the Al-Masry team color.

The violence began after the Port Said's home team won the match, 3-1. Al-Masry fans stormed the pitch after the game ended, attacking Cairo's Al-Ahly fans.

Authorities shut off the stadium lights, plunging it into darkness. In the exit corridor, the fleeing crowd pressed against a chained gate until it broke open. Many were crushed under the crowd of people trying to flee.

Survivors of the riot described a nightmarish scene in the stadium. Police stood by doing nothing, they said, as fans of Al-Masry attacked supporters of the top Cairo club stabbing them and throwing them off bleachers.

Al-Ahly survivors said supporters of Al-Masry carved the words "Port Said" into their bodies and undressed them while beating them with iron bars.

While there has long been bad blood between the two rival teams, many blamed police for failing to perform usual searches for weapons at the stadium.

Both Al-Ahly Ultras and Al-Masry Ultras widely believe that ex-members of the ousted regime of Hosni Mubarak helped instigate the attack, and that the police at the very least were responsible for gross negligence. It is not clear what kind of evidence, if any, was presented to the court to back up claims that the attack had been orchestrated by regime officials.

"The police are thugs!" yelled relatives of the deceased inside the courtroom before the judge took the bench.

As is customary in Egypt, the death sentences will be sent to the nation's top religious authority, the Grand Mufti, for approval, though the court has final say on the matter.

All of the defendants ? who were not present in the courtroom Saturday for security reasons ? have the right to appeal the verdict.

The melee was the world's deadliest soccer violence in 15 years.

The Ultras are proud of their hatred for the police, who were the backbone of Mubarak's authoritarian rule. They then then directed their chants against the military rulers who took over after Mubarak's ouster.

Ultras from several Egyptian sports clubs were engaged in deadly clashes with police near the Interior Ministry headquarters in Cairo that killed 42 people less than three months before the soccer melee in Port Said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-26-Egypt/id-f2db9b7ab3334f91a4e910349af3f10a

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Global mobile phone shipments breached 1.6 billion units in 2012, Samsung, Apple and Nokia still on top

Global mobile phone shipments breached 16 billion units in 2012, Samsung, Apple and Nokia still on top

A charger on every nightstand and a phone in every pocket -- it could be a presidential slogan, but it's really just reality. According to research from Strategy Analytics, a staggering 1.6 billion mobile phones were shipped (not sold) globally in 2012, and 700 million of them were smartphones. Samsung, Nokia and Apple, in that order, were the biggest movers of handsets, though the latter two change places when it comes to smartphones -- Espoo only shipped 35 million to Cupertino's 135, while Samsung topped the trio at 213 million devices shipped.

Surprising? Hardly -- smartphone sales climbed throughout 2012, and the aforementioned manufacturers have been kings of the category since last February. The numbers are telling though -- according to ABI Research, Apple saw less growth in 2012 than the previous year, and may hit a plateau in market share in 2013. Samsung, on the other hand, may have some room to grow -- capturing 34 percent of total smartphone shipments in Q4 with over 60 million smartphones moved. Apple nabbed 24.5% of the market with 47.8 million shipped iPhones, while Nokia and RIM took up the tail of the quarter with 86.3 and 6.9 million shipped devices, respectively. Statistic lover? You'll find full numbers (plus a little analyst speculation) in a trio of press releases after the break.

Show full PR text


Strategy Analytics: Global Mobile Phone Shipments Reach 1.6 Billion Units in 2012

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global mobile phone shipments grew a modest 2 percent annually to reach 1.6 billion units in 2012. Samsung was the star performer, accounting for 1 in 4 of all mobile phones shipped worldwide last year.

Neil Shah, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics, said, "Ongoing macroeconomic challenges in mature markets like North America and Western Europe, tighter operator upgrade policies, and shifting consumer tastes were among the key reasons why global mobile phone shipments grew just 2 percent annually to reach 1.6 billion units in 2012. Fuelled by robust demand for its popular Galaxy models, Samsung was the star performer, shipping a record 396.5 million mobile phones worldwide and capturing 25 percent marketshare to solidify its first-place lead. However, Samsung's total volumes for the year fell just short of the 400-million threshold."

Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, added, "Nokia's global mobile phone shipments fell 20 percent from 417.1 million units in 2011 to 335.6 million in 2012. Nokia faced tough competition from Samsung in developing markets like China, while Apple and others ramped up the pressure in developed regions such as Western Europe. Nokia's dual-SIM feature phones, Asha touchphones and Lumia handsets have been performing well, but this was not enough to offset a slump in demand for the company's aging Symbian smartphone platform last year."

Linda Sui, Analyst at Strategy Analytics, added, "Apple shipped a record 135.8 million mobile phones worldwide in 2012. Apple delivered 46 percent annual growth last year, which was bolstered by solid demand in North America and Asia. Apple's launch of the iPhone 5 in Q4 2012 was a success as volumes ramped up in dozens of countries worldwide, but negative media coverage of the model's new integrated maps service and supply chain challenges cast a slight shadow over the launch."

Other findings from the research include:
o. ZTE captured 5 percent share of the global mobile phone market in 2012, as its shipments fell minus 8 percent from 2011, partly because of heightened competition in core markets like China and Western Europe from rivals such as Coolpad and Samsung.

Exhibit 1: Global Mobile Phone Vendor Shipments and Market Share in Q4 2012 1

Global Mobile Phone Shipments (Millions of Units) Q4 '11 2011 Q4 '12 2012
Samsung 95.0 327.4 108.0 396.5
Nokia 113.5 417.1 86.3 335.6
Apple 37.0 93.0 47.8 135.8
ZTE 24.4 78.1 19.5 71.7
Others 169.7 630.4 189.3 635.4
Total 439.6 1546.0 450.9 1575.0
Global Mobile Phone Vendor Marketshare % Q4 '11 2011 Q4 '12 2012
Samsung 21.6% 21.2% 24.0% 25.2%
Nokia 25.8% 27.0% 19.1% 21.3%
Apple 8.4% 6.0% 10.6% 8.6%
ZTE 5.6% 5.1% 4.3% 4.6%
Others 38.6% 40.8% 42.0% 40.3%
Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Total Growth Year-over-Year % 9.9% 13.7% 2.6% 1.9%

_____________________________

1 Numbers are rounded. Total in the data-table does not include grey phone shipments.



Strategy Analytics: Global Smartphone Shipments Reach a Record 700 Million Units in 2012

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global smartphone shipments grew 43 percent annually to reach a record 700 million units in 2012. Samsung was the star performer, capturing 30 percent marketshare worldwide and extending its lead over Apple and Nokia.

Neil Shah, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics, said, "Global smartphone shipments grew 38 percent annually from 157.0 million units in Q4 2011 to 217.0 million in Q4 2012. Global smartphone shipments for the full year reached a record 700.1 million units in 2012, increasing robustly from 490.5 million units in 2011. Global shipment growth slowed from 64 percent in 2011 to 43 percent in 2012 as penetration of smartphones began to mature in developed regions such as North America and Western Europe."

Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, added, "Samsung shipped a record 213.0 million smartphones worldwide and captured 30 percent marketshare in 2012. This was the largest number of units ever shipped by a smartphone vendor in a single year, beating Nokia's previous all-time record when it shipped 100.1 million units during 2010. Despite tough competition in stores and courtrooms, Samsung continued to deliver numerous hit models, from the high-end Galaxy Note2 phablet to the mass-market Galaxy Y. Apple grew a healthy 46 percent annually and shipped 135.8 million smartphones worldwide for 19 percent marketshare in 2012, broadly flat from the 19 percent level recorded in 2011. Apple had a strong year in developed regions like North America, but this was offset partly by its limited presence in high-growth emerging markets such as Africa."

Linda Sui, Analyst at Strategy Analytics, added, "Samsung and Apple together accounted for half of all smartphones shipped worldwide in 2012. Large marketing budgets, extensive distribution channels and attractive product portfolios have enabled Samsung and Apple to tighten their grip on the smartphone industry. The growth of Samsung and Apple has continued to impact Nokia. Nokia retained its position as the world's third largest smartphone vendor for full-year 2012, but its global marketshare has dropped sharply from 16 percent to five percent during the past year. Nokia's Windows Phone portfolio has improved significantly in recent months, with new models like the Lumia 920, but we believe the vendor still lacks a true hero model in its range that can be considered an Apple iPhone or Samsung S3 killer."

Exhibit 1: Global Smartphone Vendor Shipments and Market Share in Q4 2012 1

Global Smartphone Vendor Shipments (Millions of Units) Q4 '11 2011 Q4 '12 2012
Samsung 36.5 97.4 63.0 213.0
Apple 37.0 93.0 47.8 135.8
Nokia 19.6 77.3 6.6 35.0
Others 63.9 222.8 99.6 316.3

Total

157.0 490.5 217.0 700.1
Global Smartphone Vendor Marketshare % Q4 '11 2011 Q4 '12 2012
Samsung 23.2% 19.9% 29.0% 30.4%
Apple 23.6% 19.0% 22.0% 19.4%
Nokia 12.5% 15.8% 3.0% 5.0%
Others 40.7% 45.4% 45.9% 45.2%
Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Total Growth Year-over-Year % 55.9% 63.8% 38.2% 42.7%


Smartphone Pressure Mounts for Samsung and Apple Exiting a Strong Q4 2012, According to ABI Research

SINGAPORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nearly 196 million smartphones and 451 million handsets were shipped during Q4 2012, according to the latest estimates from marketing intelligence firm ABI Research. This brings 2012 annual totals to 653 million smartphone and 1.6 billion handset shipments, representing a 36% and 2% YoY growth rate respectively. Smartphones accounted for 43% of all handset shipments in Q4, which pushed smartphones to 41% of all shipments in 2012.

Samsung retained its lead position overall by shipping 106 million handsets of which 60 million were smartphones in Q4 and capturing 31% of total smartphone shipments. In 2012 Samsung grew its handset shipments by 21.6% and its smartphone shipments by 123.8%. Despite missing most analyst estimates in Q4, Apple grew its smartphone shipment share to 24.5%, up from 16.4% in Q3. Apple shipped 47.8 million iPhones in Q4 bringing its 2012 annual total to 135.8 million. Apple's 2012 annual shipment growth declined from 96% in 2011 to 46% in 2012.

"It is clear that the iPhone's hyper-growth has ended, and ABI Research believes that Apple's market share will peak in 2013 at 22%," says mobile devices senior analyst Michael Morgan. "Unless Apple is willing to trade iPhone margins for low cost iPhone shipments, Apple's handset market share will become dependent on customer loyalty."

Looking at the rest of the pack, Nokia shipped 86.3 million handsets and 6.6 million smartphones in Q4 while RIM's shipments of smartphones declined to 6.9 million. ZTE had an excellent Q4 with 20.7 million handset shipments and 11.2 million smartphone shipments.

"Samsung and Apple are both under pressure to maintain their market lead as less costly smartphones gain momentum entering 2013," notes senior practice director Jeff Orr. "Technology optimization choices and a diverse handset portfolio are critical decisions over the next 6 to 9 months to come out ahead."

These findings are part of ABI Research's Mobile Handset Markets Database, which includes files detailing smartphone and mobile handset shipments, forecasts, and market share.

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Comments

Source: Strategy Analytics, ABI Research

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/25/global-mobile-phone-shipments-2012/

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