He urged the general public to wisely consume news, in light of growing sensitivity towards messages circulated in social media. He said that some unsubstantiated opinions were meant to mislead society.
"I insist here that the Army has been tied up with urgent tasks, chiefly the rescue of flood victims... The Army is also prepared for royal celebrations which will take place from August to December... The Army is also tasked to ensure security as Their Majesties are now in Hua Hin...
"Please do not involve the Army with non-military activities, or put the Army into your imagination which could confuse society.
"To the general public, please don?t be concerned with the relocation of military equipment as this is part of normal training."
Tiger Woods hits from the sand to the seventh green during the third round of the Bridgestone Invitational golf tournament Saturday. Woods is still up by 7 heading into the final round. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
Associated Press
AKRON, Ohio ? With an elite field chasing the lead, Tiger Woods decided to play keep-away.
Already up by a staggering seven shots through 36 holes thanks to a career-tying best of 61 in the second round, Woods shot a solid 2-under 68 on Saturday in the Bridgestone Invitational to maintain that same seven-stroke lead.
It was as if he was turning around and daring the world's best players to come after him. No one really could.
"You know, today was a day that I didn't quite have it," said Woods, who was at 15-under 195. "But I scored. And that's the name of the game, posting a number, and I did today. I grinded my way around that golf course."
Now he's only 18 holes away from making even more history in a career of historic accomplishments. He'll be competing against the record book as much as the elite field.
"It's kind of tough to pick up seven or eight shots on Tiger around here," said Henrik Stenson, a distant second after a 67. "It would take something spectacular on my behalf or any of the other guys around me, and obviously a very, very poor round for him."
Woods, by the way, is 41-2 when leading after 54 holes in a PGA Tour event.
A victory would be his eighth at Firestone Country Club and in the Bridgestone and its forerunner, the NEC Invitational. That would match the tour-record eight he already has at Bay Hill and the eight wins Sam Snead had at the Greater Greensboro Open.
Woods also could capture his 79th victory on the PGA Tour, drawing him within three of Snead's record of 82. Continued...
"I'll just go out there and execute my game plan," he said. "It all starts with what the weather is doing, and then I build it from there. We'll see what I do tomorrow."
Unlike in a second-round 61 that could easily have been a 59 or even lower, Woods didn't recover from all of his errant shots. He bogeyed the ninth, 14th and 16th holes, failing to bounce back from wayward shots.
Yet he still was good enough to put himself in position for yet another lopsided victory, one that will likely mark him as the player to beat next week in the PGA Championship at Oak Hill.
WOMEN'S BRITISH OPEN
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland ? Inbee Park wanted tough conditions at St. Andrews to try to make up an eight-shot deficit in her pursuit of a fourth straight major. It turned out to be too tough for anyone.
The third round of the Women's British Open was suspended by gusts that topped 40 mph and kept golf balls from staying put on the greens. After waiting six hours for the wind to calm, players were told to return Sunday morning for a marathon finish.
Whether that becomes a break for the leaders Na Yeon Choi at 10-under 134 was an hour away from teeing off won't be known until Sunday. Park, trying to become the first golfer, male or female, to win four straight pro majors in the same season, was 1 under for the round and 3 under overall after four holes.
3M CHAMPIONSHIP
BLAINE, Minn. ? Tom Pernice Jr. moved into position for his second Champions Tour title, shooting a 7-under 65 to take a two-stroke lead over Tom Kite in the 3M Championship.
Pernice had a 13-under 131 total at TPC Twin Cities after opening with a 66. Continued...
The 63-year-old Kite, trying to become the oldest winner in the history of the 50-and-over tour, also shot 65 his lowest score at the TPC Twin Cities in five years.
Jay Don Blake, Rod Spittle and Corey Pavin were three strokes back at 10 under. Blake and Rod Spittle shot 66, and Pavin had a 69.
Paul Krugman: ?Madness of the GOP Is the Central Issue of Our Time?
Over the longer run the point is that one of America?s two major political parties has basically gone off the deep end; policy content aside, a sane party doesn?t hold ...
Today | Opinion (Article)
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The uniqueness of Punjabi movies lies in the fact that they are effortlessly humorous and entertaining. Punjabi cinema has, till date, delivered a row of musical comedies that have been much successful. One such musical comedy that hits the theatres today is?Naughty Jatts.?
Plot: Naughty Jatts is a hilarious story of three Jatts trying to woo one girl. With all of them trying hard to win her heart, who ultimately takes her away is what forms the crux of the story.
Performances: Arya Babbar and Roshan Prince manage to give you a good laugh. The two of them are funny and entertaining but not as good as they have been in their previous hits.
Neeru Bajwa, the queen of Punjabi Cinema, looks absolutely stunning. The kind of performance she delivers every time is just outstanding.
Binnu Dhillon steals the limelight once again! ?His sense of humor and perfect comic timing are unbeatable.
Music: The music album of Naughty Jatts is an eclectic combination of dance numbers and romantic tunes. The songs are fresh and entertaining peppered with some foot-tapping desi beats. The entire album celebrates the true essence of love, fun and youthfulness.
What?s good: The bone-tickling comic elements and entertaining music make this movie a complete entertainer!
What?s bad: ?The storyline is very usual and obvious.
Naughty Jatts will take you on a roller coaster ride of fun and laughter. It is one of those buffooneries that will definitely get you laughing. Watch it to refresh your mood with a good dose of comedy!
Verdict: Worth watching for those who understand Punjabi humour.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple Inc is headed for a showdown with the U.S. government and dozens of states, which on Friday urged that tough new restrictions be imposed on the company for illegally conspiring to raise e-book prices.
The changes proposed by the U.S. Department of Justice and 33 U.S. states and territories are designed to stop Apple from committing further antitrust violations after U.S. District Judge Denise Cote on July 10 said Apple had a "central role" in a conspiracy with five major publishers to raise e-book prices.
"Under the department's proposed order, Apple's illegal conduct will cease, and Apple and its senior executives will be prevented from conspiring to thwart competition," said Bill Baer, head of the Justice Department's antitrust division.
Apple is fighting back. In a court filing, it called the proposed injunction a "draconian and punitive intrusion" into its business that would hurt consumers and competition, and that it was "wildly out of proportion."
"The resulting cost of this relief - not only in dollars but also lost opportunities for American businesses and consumers - would be vast," it said.
Cote will weigh both the arguments at an August 9 hearing in her Manhattan courtroom. A damages trial might follow.
Despite Apple's protests, analysts have said the bigger issue for the Cupertino, California-based company in this case might be damage to its reputation, not financial harm. Amazon.com Inc commands about 65 percent of the U.S. e-books market, while Apple's share has been estimated in the single digits.
LIMITS ON DEAL MAKING
The government's plan, which still needs court approval, would require that Apple end its contracts with the five publishers and be banned for five years from entering contracts that would effectively the raise prices of e-books sold by rivals.
The publishers included Lagardere SCA's Hachette Book Group Inc, News Corp's HarperCollins Publishers LLC, Pearson Plc's Penguin Group (USA) Inc, CBS Corp's Simon & Schuster Inc and Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH's Macmillan. All settled with U.S. regulators.
Apple would also be blocked from cutting deals with providers of movies, music and TV programs for its iPad tablets and iPhones that would likely increase the prices at which rivals might sell such content. It would also require providers to lower prices for Apple if they lower them for rivals.
Officials also want to make it easier for consumers to compare e-book prices by requiring Apple for two years to let Amazon, Barnes & Noble Inc and other rivals provide links to their own stores within their iPad and iPhone apps.
The proposal should solidify online retailer Amazon.com Inc's dominance in the e-books market.
The DOJ proposal "hands Amazon yet another win," said Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords, an e-book publisher and distributor that works with Apple, Barnes & Noble, Sony and others. "Why isn't the DOJ forcing Amazon to play fairly? This is the question the publishing industry wants answered."
"Apple brought much-needed competition to the e-book market and now the government is trying to undermine them."
Albert Greco, a book-industry expert at the business school of Fordham University, said the remedy proposed by the department of justice "does not address the long term issue of book pricing in the United States."
While the trial was fair, "I am not sure they looked at the book publishing industry in much detail," he said, adding that it is unclear how it will impact the industry broadly.
Under the proposal, Apple would also be required to hire a full-time internal antitrust compliance officer and employ a court-appointed external monitor to ensure its compliance with antitrust law.
Government officials said the changes would permit Apple to compete "vigorously and lawfully" in the e-books market.
Apple countered that the changes seek unnecessary relief for harm already remedied under the settlements with the publishers and impose "broad, invasive, and vague" requirements unrelated to Cote's findings. It urged Cote to reject the injunction entirely or approve a "narrower and more modest" alternative.
"APPLE SEIZED THE MOMENT"
Federal and state officials accused Apple of conspiring with the publishers in late 2009 and early 2010, as the iPad was being launched.
They said the conspiracy caused some e-book prices to rise to $12.99 or $14.99 from the $9.99 that Amazon charged.
Evidence damaging Apple's case included emails from Steve Jobs, its chief executive, that the officials said reflected a desire to boost prices.
"Taking advantage of the publisher defendants' fear of and frustration over Amazon's pricing," Cote concluded, "Apple seized the moment and brilliantly played its hand."
In their settlements, the publishers agreed to pay more than $166 million for consumers' benefit. None admitted wrongdoing.
The case is U.S. v. Apple Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 12-02826.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reporting by Diane Bartz in Washington, D.C. and Poornima Gupta in San Francisco; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Andre Grenon)
Contact: Dr. Niels Rattenborg rattenborg@orn.mpg.de 49-815-793-2279 Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology and the University of Lausanne have discovered that the sleeping patterns of baby birds are similar to that of baby mammals. What is more, the sleep of baby birds appears to change in the same way as it does in humans. Studying barn owls in the wild, the researchers discovered that this change in sleep is strongly correlated with the expression of a gene involved in producing dark, melanic feather spots, a trait known to covary with behavioral and physiological traits in adult owls. These findings raise the intriguing possibility that sleep-related developmental processes in the brain contribute to the link between melanism and other traits observed in adult barn owls and other animals.
Sleep in mammals and birds consists of two phases, REM sleep ("Rapid Eye Movement Sleep") and non-REM sleep. We experience our most vivid dreams during REM sleep, a paradoxical state characterized by awake-like brain activity. Despite extensive research, REM sleep's purpose remains a mystery. One of the most salient features of REM sleep is its preponderance early in life. A variety of mammals spend far more time in REM sleep during early life than when they are adults. For example, as newborns, half of our time asleep is spent in REM sleep, whereas last night REM sleep probably encompassed only 20-25% percent of your time snoozing.
Although birds are the only non-mammalian group known to clearly engage in REM sleep, it has been unclear whether sleep develops in the same manner in baby birds. Consequently, Niels Rattenborg of the MPIO, Alexandre Roulin of Unil, and their PhD student Madeleine Scriba, reexamined this question in a population of wild barn owls. They used an electroencephalogram (EEG) and movement data logger in conjunction with minimally invasive EEG sensors designed for use in humans, to record sleep in 66 owlets of varying age. During the recordings, the owlets remained in their nest box and were fed normally by their parents. After having their sleep patterns recorded for up to five days, the logger was removed. All of the owlets subsequently fledged and returned at normal rates to breed in the following year, indicating that there were no long-term adverse effects of eves-dropping on their sleeping brains.
Despite lacking significant eye movements (a trait common to owls), the owlets spent large amounts of time in REM sleep. "During this sleep phase, the owlets' EEG showed awake-like activity, their eyes remained closed, and their heads nodded slowly", reports Madeleine Scriba from the University of Lausanne (see video in the link below). Importantly, the researchers discovered that just as in baby humans, the time spent in REM sleep declined as the owlets aged.
In addition, the team examined the relationship between sleep and the expression of a gene in the feather follicles involved in producing dark, melanic feather spots. "As in several other avian and mammalian species, we have found that melanic spotting in owls covaries with a variety of behavioral and physiological traits, many of which also have links to sleep, such as immune system function and energy regulation", notes Alexander Roulin from the University of Lausanne. Indeed, the team found that owlets expressing higher levels of the gene involved in melanism had less REM sleep than expected for their age, suggesting that their brains were developing faster than in owlets expressing lower levels of this gene. In line with this interpretation, the enzyme encoded by this gene also plays a role in producing hormones (thyroid and insulin) involved in brain development.
Although additional research is needed to determine exactly how sleep, brain development, and pigmentation are interrelated, these findings nonetheless raise several intriguing questions. Does variation in sleep during brain development influence adult brain organization? If so, does this contribute to the link between behavioral and physiological traits and melanism observed in adult owls? Do sleep and pigmentation covary in adult owls, and if so how does this influence their behavior and physiology? Finally, Niels Rattenborg from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen hopes that "this naturally occurring variation in REM sleep during a period of brain development can be used to reveal exactly what REM sleep does for the developing brain in baby owls, as well as humans."
###
Original publication:
Scriba MF, Ducrest A-L, Henry I, Vyssotski AL, Rattenborg NC, Roulin A.
Linking melanism to brain development: Expression of a melanism-related gene in barn owl feather follicles covaries with sleep ontogeny.
Frontiers in Zoology, 26 July, 2013
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Contact: Dr. Niels Rattenborg rattenborg@orn.mpg.de 49-815-793-2279 Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology and the University of Lausanne have discovered that the sleeping patterns of baby birds are similar to that of baby mammals. What is more, the sleep of baby birds appears to change in the same way as it does in humans. Studying barn owls in the wild, the researchers discovered that this change in sleep is strongly correlated with the expression of a gene involved in producing dark, melanic feather spots, a trait known to covary with behavioral and physiological traits in adult owls. These findings raise the intriguing possibility that sleep-related developmental processes in the brain contribute to the link between melanism and other traits observed in adult barn owls and other animals.
Sleep in mammals and birds consists of two phases, REM sleep ("Rapid Eye Movement Sleep") and non-REM sleep. We experience our most vivid dreams during REM sleep, a paradoxical state characterized by awake-like brain activity. Despite extensive research, REM sleep's purpose remains a mystery. One of the most salient features of REM sleep is its preponderance early in life. A variety of mammals spend far more time in REM sleep during early life than when they are adults. For example, as newborns, half of our time asleep is spent in REM sleep, whereas last night REM sleep probably encompassed only 20-25% percent of your time snoozing.
Although birds are the only non-mammalian group known to clearly engage in REM sleep, it has been unclear whether sleep develops in the same manner in baby birds. Consequently, Niels Rattenborg of the MPIO, Alexandre Roulin of Unil, and their PhD student Madeleine Scriba, reexamined this question in a population of wild barn owls. They used an electroencephalogram (EEG) and movement data logger in conjunction with minimally invasive EEG sensors designed for use in humans, to record sleep in 66 owlets of varying age. During the recordings, the owlets remained in their nest box and were fed normally by their parents. After having their sleep patterns recorded for up to five days, the logger was removed. All of the owlets subsequently fledged and returned at normal rates to breed in the following year, indicating that there were no long-term adverse effects of eves-dropping on their sleeping brains.
Despite lacking significant eye movements (a trait common to owls), the owlets spent large amounts of time in REM sleep. "During this sleep phase, the owlets' EEG showed awake-like activity, their eyes remained closed, and their heads nodded slowly", reports Madeleine Scriba from the University of Lausanne (see video in the link below). Importantly, the researchers discovered that just as in baby humans, the time spent in REM sleep declined as the owlets aged.
In addition, the team examined the relationship between sleep and the expression of a gene in the feather follicles involved in producing dark, melanic feather spots. "As in several other avian and mammalian species, we have found that melanic spotting in owls covaries with a variety of behavioral and physiological traits, many of which also have links to sleep, such as immune system function and energy regulation", notes Alexander Roulin from the University of Lausanne. Indeed, the team found that owlets expressing higher levels of the gene involved in melanism had less REM sleep than expected for their age, suggesting that their brains were developing faster than in owlets expressing lower levels of this gene. In line with this interpretation, the enzyme encoded by this gene also plays a role in producing hormones (thyroid and insulin) involved in brain development.
Although additional research is needed to determine exactly how sleep, brain development, and pigmentation are interrelated, these findings nonetheless raise several intriguing questions. Does variation in sleep during brain development influence adult brain organization? If so, does this contribute to the link between behavioral and physiological traits and melanism observed in adult owls? Do sleep and pigmentation covary in adult owls, and if so how does this influence their behavior and physiology? Finally, Niels Rattenborg from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen hopes that "this naturally occurring variation in REM sleep during a period of brain development can be used to reveal exactly what REM sleep does for the developing brain in baby owls, as well as humans."
###
Original publication:
Scriba MF, Ducrest A-L, Henry I, Vyssotski AL, Rattenborg NC, Roulin A.
Linking melanism to brain development: Expression of a melanism-related gene in barn owl feather follicles covaries with sleep ontogeny.
Frontiers in Zoology, 26 July, 2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Samsung appears to be on a roll, either that or something is certainly in the air. It was only yesterday when we covered MangaCamera and Paper Artist and the manufacturer has released two more apps for its Samsung Zone collection of Windows Phone content. Offering consumers more exclusive apps is definitely something we're beginning to enjoy seeing from Samsung.
So what are these new apps? App Folder and Video Trimmer. Head past the break for a quick summary and download links. Just as before, these apps are Windows Phone 8 only and require a Samsung ATIV Windows Phone.
App Folder
This is an interesting app for Samsung Windows Phones. App Folder enables consumers to group apps and settings shortcuts. It has been a real issue for owners who continue to demand folder tiles, but Microsoft met said requests half way with small sized tiles. Now Samsung is offering a solution to group multiple apps (more than what's displayed on tiles themselves) and shortcuts to a single tile on the home screen.?
Shortcuts and apps can be horded into groups that can then be pinned to the home screen, offering more convenient access. Wide tiles are also supported, as well as the standard setup. You can download App Folder from the Samsung Collection on the Windows Phone Store (version 1.0.0.2?- only listed for Windows Phone 8).
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Video Trimmer
As the name suggests, this app helps make trimming videos easy with cropping functionality. Editing videos in an instant, if you enjoy recording exciting moments on your Samsung Windows Phone, this app is certainly worth checking out before publishing said content online. Not much else to report on this one, except check it out if you're looking for such a solution.
You can download Video Trimmer from the Samsung Collection on the Windows Phone Store (version 1.0.0.17?- only listed for Windows Phone 8).
Stream great shows to your Android device with our first app worth downloading today, Showtime Anytime. Provided you?re a Showtime subscriber with your cable service, you can watch all your favorite shows over your Internet connection on your phone or tablet. We?ve also got BBQScreen Android Client Beta, a screen-sharing app that allows you to give remote control of your Android to other users, and Blood Sword THD, a top-down action-role-playing title with great, Tegra 4 graphics.
What?s it about? Use Showtime Anytime to stream Showtime Channel programming, like movies and original shows, straight to your Android device.
What?s cool? Showtime Anytime brings users the ability to watch Showtime even when they?re not at home near their TV. The premium cable channel streams all its programming to the app, making it easy to watch shows like ?Homeland? and ?Dexter? so long as you have access to an Internet connection. You can also set up lists of favorite shows that will update you on when new episodes are available, and resume watching something on your Android device after stopping it on your computer and vice versa. Showtime Anytime?s new update adds the ability to watch Showtime?s live programming just as if you were watching it on cable.
Who?s it for? If you?re a subscriber to Showtime, you?ll want to grab Showtime Anytime. Just make sure your cable provider is included on the list of those compatible with the app.
What?s it like? Stream more great content with HBO Go and Crackle.
What?s it about? Share what you?re seeing on your Android device with another Android device, and allow another user to remotely control yours, with BBQSCreen Android Client Beta.
What?s cool? Remote viewing programs for PCs can be pretty handy, especially when you need a knowledgeable friend to help you with a technical issue. BBQScreen makes it possible to do the same screen mirroring with your Android devices. You can use the app to show another BBQScreen user what you?re seeing on your screen on their own device, and also allows you to give another user remote control of your device while you?re watching, so they can literally make changes and help out. It?s a handy app for a number of applications, not the least of them is helping keep your Android device running in top shape when you?re not as technologically oriented as someone you know.
Who?s it for? If you ever find yourself wishing you could show someone what you?re seeing on your screen, no matter where they are, check out BBQScreen. Just keep in mind that this is the beta version of the app, and that it?s still being tested.
What?s it like? You might also try BBQScreen Remote Control for your PC, and nScreen Mirroring.
What?s it about? Fire up your Tegra 4 Android device and jump into action-role-playing title Blood Sword THD, a fantasy title in which players fight all manner of monsters from a top-down perspective.
What?s cool? Blood Sword puts players into a fantasy world of magic and monsters, in which you play a hero who has to fight through various dungeons. The game is played from a top-down perspective, making it reminiscent of action-RPGs such as the Diablo series. You?ll face down huge bosses and hordes of creatures, gather new weapons and armor to improve your character?s stats and abilities, and win all kinds of loot as you explore through the game?s dark environs. Blood Sword also sports some awesome graphics, thanks to its use of NVIDIA?s Tegra chip, and also supports a keyboard or gamepad as well as its touchscreen interface.
Who?s it for? Fans of action-RPGs who want something with graphics that will push their top-tier Androids to the limit should check out Blood Sword.
What?s it like? For more great top-down RPG action, grab Dungeon Hunter 4 or Eternity Warriors 2.
Motorola Mobility, a feisty unit of electronics pioneer Motorola, was sold last year to Google for $12.5 billion. For most in-house law departments, that would have been the end of the story ? deal done, a few retained attorneys move up to the mothership, the rest are let go.
That's not quite how it happened. Indeed, 150 of the 250-member MM legal team either transferred to Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., or lost their jobs. One hundred survived, and were told to start packing for a move, early next year, from their longtime suburban Libertyville, Ill., headquarters to Google's flashy new regional offices at Chicago's historic Merchandise Mart.
Post-merger, MM's law department serves all operating groups within the unit, and handles commercial litigation, regulatory compliance, pre-litigation intellectual property matters (IP litigation is handled by Google's law department), and all of MM's patent operation.
Meanwhile, the MM team was encouraged to accelerate its use of technology. The team took that mandate and ran with it ? and now operates an in-house lab for creation of custom apps and other technology designed to fuel MM Legal's work and make it faster, smarter, transparent, and cheaper. Creating and using technology is a fitting assignment for the entity that 30 years ago launched a pioneer commercial (and memorably brick-sized) cell phone that evolved into the popular Razr smartphone brand using Google's Android operating system.
"If there's a company supportive of their own people doing their own thing, it's Google," explains David Kenzer, MM's vice president, law. The department's now-lean operation has already proved to be a plus, he says. "We can play around and innovate a little better because of our size within their organization." The department also has adopted Google's protocol of establishing quarterly goals that skew to individual projects. Among recent endeavors:
A game app for mobile devices queries employees' knowledge of company-wide ethics policies. Benefit: reduced training costs.
MM Legal's first "Innovation Challenge" (expected to become a quarterly event) that encourages everyone to pitch tech projects the department should fund in the future.
A predictive coding study pits different vendors' products against each other, using MM's actual data.
A global barcode-based document indexing system that will help MM locate legal documents worldwide.
Motorola Mobility's law department has long been recognized as an early adopter of legal technology. Elizabeth Jaworski, director, legal operations, is a member of ALM's LegalTech Educational Advisory Board; MM was a winner in The National Law Journal 's 2013 Chicago Legal Departments of the Year contest for technology use ( http://at.law.com/LTN1308c1).
Kenzer's boss is Scott Offer, MM's senior vice president and general counsel, who reports to MM's CEO Dennis Woodside.
The relationship between MM's legal team and Google's law department is collaborative. "We drive the boat on our vendor relationships, but we discuss those with Google ? and we are always looking for ways to optimize," says Kenzer. For example, the MM law group is in the middle of upgrading its nondisclosure agreement protocols.
Every technology move is aimed at elevating the work done by all attorneys and support staff, says Offer. The point is to get human hands off anything that can be automated and have them focus on strategy instead, he notes.
"As we look at our priorities, our objective is providing our [internal] business clients with the best service and solving their most difficult problems. You need expertise and judgment for that," he says. "We're focusing on productivity tools that give us a vehicle to provide services more efficiently."
Baseball fans often declare their love of the game's rhythm, its quiet pauses and bursts of action. For such people, watching a game on TV can be a struggle, particularly if they're annoyed by the chatter of announcers. Fans in Detroit had another option last night: watching a TV broadcast that included only the natural sounds of the ballpark.
On its "Plus" channel, Fox Sports Detroit offered fans a feed of Tuesday night's game pitting the Tigers against the Washington Nationals, titled "Natural Sounds at Comerica Park." The program's only voices came from the field and the stands.
The broadcast was enhanced by "extra microphones around the park so viewers can hear more of the sounds of baseball ? the bat cracks, ball popping in the mitt, vendors chiming in from the stands and the crowd's reaction to every play on the field," said Fox Sports Detroit's general manager, Greg Hammaren.
As the Awful Announcing site notes, the move was a hit with many viewers, who took to Twitter to call the broadcast "awesome." Others said, "Wish it was like this every game."
The experiment by Fox Sports Detroit follows in the footsteps of the famous NBC broadcast from 1980, when an NFL game between the New York Jets and the Miami Dolphins was aired without announcers providing play-by-play commentary or analysis.
And as large and complex events such as the Olympics and soccer's World Cup broaden their online offerings, fans can often find live streaming video of competitions that include only the ambient sounds of the arena.
Fox Sports Detroit will have another announcer-free game at the end of August. But Awful Announcing's Matt Yoder says fans shouldn't expect to see such games on a regular basis.
"There's a reason the play-by-play man has had a job for decades ? game broadcasts usually need a narrative and layer of context to what's happening on the field," Yoder writes. "More importantly, we'd be out of a job."
Still, he adds, "one also wonders if Fox would ever look into the 'natural sounds' feed for the World Series given the, ahem, 'popularity' of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver with many baseball fans."
Coffee shop + Internet?it?s a pairing that many of us have come to rely on. WiFi access makes work time, downtime, travel time and lots of in-between times more enjoyable and productive. That?s why we?re teaming up with Starbucks to bring faster, free WiFi connections to all 7,000 company-operated Starbucks stores in the United States over the next 18 months. When your local Starbucks WiFi network goes Google, you?ll be able to surf the web at speeds up to 10x faster than before. If you?re in a Google Fiber city, we?re hoping to get you a connection that?s up to 100x faster.
Google has long invested in helping the Internet grow stronger, including projects to make Internet access speedier, more affordable, and more widely available. The free Internet connection at Starbucks has become an important part of many communities over the years, such as in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, or for students without Internet at home who do their homework at Starbucks.
We?ll start rolling out the new networks this August. We appreciate your patience if it?s still a little while before we get to your favorite Starbucks?you?ll know your new network is ready to go when you can log in to the ?Google Starbucks? SSID.
Posted by Kevin Lo, General Manager, Google Access
FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) ? It's judgment day for Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, the soldier charged with aiding the enemy for giving troves of U.S. government secrets to WikiLeaks.
The military judge hearing the court-martial for the former intelligence analyst was expected to announce her decision Tuesday afternoon. Manning faces 21 counts including espionage, computer fraud and theft charges, but the most serious is aiding the enemy, which carries a possible life sentence.
Prosecutors have tried to prove Manning had "a general evil intent" and knew the classified material would be seen by the terrorist group al-Qaida. Legal experts said an aiding-the- enemy conviction could set a precedent because Manning did not directly give the classified material to al-Qaida.
"Most of the aiding-the-enemy charges historically have had to do with POWs who gave information to the Japanese during World War II, or to Chinese communists during Korea, or during the Vietnam War," Duke law school professor and former Air Force judge advocate Scott Silliman said.
Manning's supporters also worry a conviction on the most serious charge will have a chilling effect on other leakers.
The verdict by judge Col. Denise Lind follows about two months of conflicting testimony and evidence. Manning, a 25-year-old native of Crescent, Okla., has admitted to sending more than 470,000 Iraq and Afghanistan battlefield reports, 250,000 State Department diplomatic cables and other material, including several battlefield video clips, to WikiLeaks while in Iraq in early 2010. WikiLeaks published most of the material online.
The video included footage of a 2007 U.S. Apache helicopter attack in Baghdad that killed at least nine men, including a Reuters news photographer and his driver.
Manning said he sent the material to expose war crimes and deceitful diplomacy. In closing arguments last week, defense attorney David Coombs portrayed Manning as a naive whistleblower who never intended for the material to be seen by the enemy. Manning claims he selected material that wouldn't harm troops or national security.
Prosecutors called him an anarchist hacker and traitor who indiscriminately leaked classified information he had sworn to protect. They said al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden obtained copies of some of the documents WikiLeaks published before he was killed by U.S. Navy Seals in 2011.
A conviction on the most serious charge, if upheld on appeal, "would essentially create a new way of aiding the enemy in a very indirect fashion, even an unintended fashion," said Air Force Reserve Lt. Col. David J.R. Frakt, a visiting professor of law at the University of Pittsburgh.
In bringing the charge against Manning, prosecutors cited the Civil War-era court-martial of Pvt. Henry Vanderwater, a Union soldier convicted in 1863 of aiding the enemy by giving an Alexandria, Va., newspaper a command roster that was then published.
Coombs countered that the Civil War-era cases involved coded messages disguised as advertisements. He said all modern cases involve military members who gave the enemy information directly.
Manning also is charged with eight federal Espionage Act violations, five federal theft counts, and two federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act violations, each punishable by up to 10 years; and five military counts of violating a lawful general regulation, punishable by up to two years each.
BRENTWOOD -- Class sizes, salaries, the number of days teachers work each year -- there's nothing out of the ordinary about the talking points that Brentwood Union School District administrators soon will be addressing at the bargaining table.
And yet the discussions will be anything but business as usual: For the first time since California's public school employees gained the right to negotiate with their bosses in 1975, the district will be hammering out a contract with a teachers' union.
The state recognized Brentwood Teachers Association as the exclusive representative of the district's 403 certificated employees on June 4 after teachers voted to unionize.
Although a simple majority of the 316 who cast ballots would have decided the matter, those favoring a union won by a two-thirds margin.
Until now, a group of 20 instructors known as the Teacher Liaison Committee would present district decision-makers with their wish list but held no sway over them: The district wasn't obligated to negotiate anything or even to meet with them, said Bruce Colwell of the California Teachers Association.
He advises bargaining teams in far East County's four other school districts and now will serve Brentwood Union's as well.
The district also had the power to change the teachers' employee handbook unilaterally, Colwell said.
The scope of the topics discussed was limited because TLC's members only had so much time to research them, he added.
Now, "everything's on the table," said middle school history teacher and union President Darrin Spencer, one of five educators who spearheaded the campaign to organize.
According to a 2010 story in this newspaper, Brentwood Union was the sole school district in Contra Costa County without a teachers union. Clovis Unified in Fresno County was the only other district widely known in education circles to be nonunion.
Ironically, the vote this spring marked the second time that the district's teachers have formed a union.
In May 1976, teachers filed a request with the state Public Employment Relations Board to have the district recognize Brentwood Teachers Association as their sole representative.
Instead of asserting their rights, however, they reverted to the practice of allowing the state's Education Code and board policy alone to determine their working conditions.
As the years passed, teachers eventually forgot about their new powers, so it came as a surprise when Spencer and some of his colleagues discovered in 2001 that a union existed.
This time, however, a majority of teachers preferred the status quo and voted to decertify the union in February 2002.
Spencer says he only can speculate why certificated employees now have chosen the California Teachers Association to represent them once again; one reason might be the temporary freeze the district placed in 2011-12 on the years of experience that teachers were accruing, a factor used to calculate their pay raises, he said.
Margaret Kruse, assistant superintendent of human resources, doesn't think there was any conflict that precipitated the push for a union, however.
Rather, she attributes the campaign's success in part to proponents' perseverance in informing their colleagues about the benefits of unionization.
"They have presented it enough times where they reached a majority of people who said yes," she said.
Kruse also noted that Brentwood Union has a growing number of teachers who belonged to unions in other districts and want the same level of representation here.
In addition, layoffs and pay cuts in recent years have left employees feeling uncertain about the future and wanting job protection, Kruse said.
Whatever the reasons that brought them to this point, Spencer and his colleagues will have more leverage when they come to the bargaining table and additional rights when they leave.
Teachers historically haven't had access to the sophisticated tools CTA uses to analyze school budgets, Colwell said.
As a result, they've been at a disadvantage when the district has announced its spending plans for the next year's revenue.
"They just didn't have the power to counter what the district was telling them," Colwell said.
Contact Rowena Coetsee at 925-779-7141. Follow her at Twitter.com/RowenaCoetsee.
Fourteen professional baseball players are likely to be disciplined in a drug scandal involving a Florida anti-aging clinic. The Yankee's Alex Rodriguez (A-Rod), the highest payed player in the sport, is expected to be among the accused.?
By Ronald Blum,?Associated Press / July 31, 2013
In this file photo, New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez speaks at a news conference during baseball spring training at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla. Rodriguez may face a lifetime suspension for his involvement with a Florida anti-aging clinic, Biogenesis of America.
AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File
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Major League Baseball is threatening to kick Alex Rodriguez out of the game for life unless the New York Yankees star agrees not to fight a lengthy suspension for his role in the sport's latest drug scandal, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
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The person spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on condition of anonymity because no statements were authorized.
Whether Commissioner Bud Selig would actually issue a lifetime suspension was unclear and a permanent ban could be shortened by arbitrator Fredric Horowitz to about 200 games, the person said.
The number of players likely to be disciplined stood at 14 Wednesday.
Front and center is Rodriguez, baseball's highest-paid player and the most prominent one linked in media reports over the past seven months to Biogenesis of America, a closed Florida anti-aging clinic that allegedly distributed banned performance-enhancing drugs.
The Yankees expected Rodriguez to be accused of recruiting other athletes for the clinic, attempting to obstruct MLB's investigation, and not being truthful with MLB in the past. Baseball has considered suspending him for violations of its labor contract and drug agreement.
Even if he is banned from baseball, there is precedent for a shortened penalty: When pitcher Steve Howe was given a lifetime ban in 1992 in his seventh suspension for drug or alcohol use, an arbitrator reduced the penalty to 119 days.
A three-time MVP, Rodriguez acknowledged four years ago that he used performance-enhancing substances while with Texas from 2001-03 but repeatedly has denied using them since.
He's been sidelined all season since hip surgery in January and then a quadriceps strain during a minor league rehabilitation assignment in July. The Yankees say he'll start another rehab Friday ? Double-A Trenton appeared to be the likely destination.
"Hopefully Alex will be back shortly thereafter," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said.
Rodriguez didn't stop to talk with reporters after his workout Wednesday at the team's minor league complex in Tampa, Fla.
At first, MLB and the union thought talks on the Biogenesis probe could be completed by Friday, but negotiations to avoid grievances are likely to push back announcements until at least Saturday or Sunday.
BEIJING/TOKYO (Reuters) - China has ruled out the possibility of a proposed summit with Japan after Tokyo suggested the meeting in a bid to defuse an increasingly bitter territorial row, the official China Daily reported on Tuesday.
The report, quoting a statement by an unidentified Chinese official made on Monday, coincided with a visit to Beijing by Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki.
Saiki's visit is the latest effort by Tokyo to improve ties soured by the row over tiny, uninhabited islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries.
Chinese and Japanese officials were tight-lipped about who Saiki would meet in Beijing, where he arrived on Monday.
Hawkish Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who cemented his grip on power in an upper house election last week, has been signalling a desire for dialogue with China - although he has also rejected any conditions set by Beijing.
At the same time, Japan has raised its assessment of the risk of China's military buildup and maritime assertiveness.
The unidentified Chinese official urged the Japanese government to take concrete measures to improve strained ties rather than "empty slogans", the China Daily reported.
In Tokyo, a Japanese foreign ministry source said he had not seen the China Daily report and could not comment on it directly, but a summit could still be held at the right time.
"It is true no concrete date is set for a leaders' summit or foreign ministers' summit," the Japanese source said. "But this does not mean there will never be one in the future."
The China Daily also said statements by Abe adviser Isao Iijima that a summit between Abe and President Xi Jinping could occur in the "not-too-distant future" were misleading.
Iijima's statements were based on conversations with Chinese officials in Beijing in mid-July.
The Chinese foreign ministry said on its website on Monday that Iijima had not met any Chinese government officials recently, despite reports on Sunday that he had.
The English-language China Daily quoted the Chinese official as saying: "What Iijima told reporters on Sunday is not true and is fabricated, based on the needs of Japan's domestic politics."
Often fragile Sino-Japanese ties have been further strained since September, when the territorial row over the East China Sea islands flared following the nationalisation of the islands by Abe's predecessor last September.
Concern that Abe, who came to power in December, wants to recast Japan's wartime history with a less apologetic tone added to the tension. Critics have also accused the Chinese Communist Party of manipulating domestic opinion through anti-Japanese propaganda to buttress its own legitimacy.
YASUKUNI HURDLE
Experts in Japan say both sides, as well as Tokyo's security ally the United States, would like to calm the tension to avoid an unintended clash near the islands, where Japanese and Chinese planes and patrol ships have been playing cat-and-mouse.
Abe may also be hoping to repeat one of the few successes of his troubled 2006-2007 term in office, when he thawed ties with China that had frayed during the five-year stint of his predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi.
Analysts said, however, that Abe may have been overconfident about prospects for talks following his ruling bloc's big win in the July 21 upper house election. The victory ended a parliamentary deadlock and set the stage for Japan's first long-term government since Koizumi's 2001-2006 term.
"I think the Abe government got confident thinking that now ... that they have a secure majority, China should know that Abe is here for the long term and they have to deal with him," said Sophia University professor Koichi Nakano.
Nakano also said it was unlikely China would want to commit to any summit at least before seeing whether Abe or other top officials, such as Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso, visit Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine on the emotive August 15 anniversary of Japan's defeat in World War Two.
A visit to Yasukuni would outrage public opinion in China, where many view the shrine as a symbol of Japan's past militarism because it honours Japanese leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal along with war dead.
"It would be surprising for China to agree to a fast improvement in relations before August 15," Nakano said.
Experts say the main sticking point to a Sino-Japanese summit is whether the two sides can find a way to set aside the row and focus on other aspects of relations between the world's second- and third-biggest economies.
China wants Japan first to acknowledge that a formal dispute exists, a step that Tokyo has rejected for fear it would undermine its claim to sovereignty of the isles, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China, the experts said.
(Reporting by Pete Sweeney in SHANGHAI and Linda Sieg in TOKYO; Editing by Paul Tait)
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai vowed to pack entrenched President Robert Mugabe off into retirement at a thunderous final campaign rally on Monday, capping a high-spirited election race that has gone down to the wire.
With no reliable opinion polls, it is hard to say whether 61-year-old Tsvangirai will succeed on Wednesday in his third attempt to unseat his 89-year-old rival, who has run the southern African nation since independence from Britain in 1980.
To judge by the vociferous support for Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and Mugabe's joking references to his own chances of success in Harare, the veteran president's ZANU-PF party is a long shot to take the capital in the vote.
The result hinges on whether Mugabe's control of the state media and security forces, the loyalty of independence war veterans and rural voters, and alleged irregularities with the voters' register, are enough to secure Africa's oldest leader another five years in power.
Speaking to 50,000 red-clad supporters in a Harare parade ground, Tsvangirai struck a conciliatory note towards Mugabe, saying he was not after revenge or prosecution, despite the death of 200 MDC supporters in disputed polls in 2008.
"After all this is done, I want President Mugabe to enjoy his retirement in the peace and comfort of his home," Tsvangirai told the crowd. "It's time for new blood and new ideas."
In return, MDC supporters, some perched high in trees to get a better glimpse, chanted "Bye Bye, Mugabe, we'll miss you". Many waved placards saying "89, 90, Game Over", a reference to the advanced years of the former guerrilla chief who led the fight against white minority rule in former Southern Rhodesia.
Mugabe receives regular medical treatment in Singapore, but denies reports he has been suffering from prostate cancer.
"CRY BABY"
The elections bring the curtain down on four years of fractious unity government brokered by South Africa and other countries in the region after the violence-marred 2008 poll.
Around 6.4 million people, almost half the population, are registered to vote although critics say the list is riddled with irregularities such as legions of dead people and, in some areas, more voters than residents.
At his final rally on Sunday, Mugabe dismissed Tsvangirai's charges of ZANU-PF vote rigging as the unfounded complaints of a "political cry baby", warning him to respect laws giving only the Zimbabwe Election Commission the power to announce results.
"I can tell you in advance that if you breach the law and become a law breaker, the police will arrest you," he said to cheers from thousands of supporters at a Harare stadium.
The election law says the results of the parliamentary and presidential vote should be known by August 5, although it is likely to come well before that.
Western observers are barred but the African Union and Southern African Development Community have nearly 500 monitors between them. More than 7,000 domestic observers are also accredited and tallies are to be posted outside each of the 9,735 polling stations in a bid to prevent vote-rigging.
Despite the extra transparency and greater use of technology such as mobile phones and the Internet, Tsvangirai supporters were resigned to the prospect of post-poll shenanigans, although they said the overall result was not under threat.
"The MDC always wins and then ZANU-PF steals it," said Saxon, a 32-year-old engineer, who did not want to give his family name for fear of reprisals. "But this time they won't get away with it."
After chaotic early voting for 70,000 police and civil servants, South African President Jacob Zuma's top Zimbabwe envoy said preparations for the poll were "not looking good", unusually strong words from Zimbabwe's powerful neighbor.
The United States and Britain have also voiced concerns, suggesting they are in no mood to lift the anti-Mugabe sanctions that prevent Harare normalizing relations with the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
Mugabe, who has depicted Tsvangirai as a puppet of the West, accused Washington of being "absolutely insane".
Easing sanctions is seen as critical to getting Zimbabwe's economy back on track after a decade-long economic meltdown until 2009, blamed on Mugabe policies such as the seizure of white-owned commercial farms.
The precipitous decline, which included hyperinflation of 500 billion percent, only ended when the unity government scrapped the worthless Zimbabwe dollar. But despite some improvement from agriculture and diamond mining, the economy is struggling to take off due to lack of investment capital.
One of Tsvangirai's top election officials was arrested at the weekend on charges of tampering with ballot papers, a move unlikely to soften Western criticism that the run-up to the polls has been short of 'free and fair'.
Eastlake's Nick Mura strikes out eight, holds locals hitless the final four innings to secure Southern California title.
LONG BEACH -- The dream is over for Sherman Oaks South Little League.
The 11- and 12-year-olds advanced all the way to the Southern California championship series after a month-long baseball run that including 10 consecutive victories, but the end came Sunday in a 5-0 loss to Eastlake of Chula Vista to finish a two-game sweep before an overflow crowd at Stearns Champions Park.
Eastlake (13-0) advances to the Western Regional in San Bernardino -- the last stop before the World Series in Williamsport, Pa. -- while Sherman Oaks South (10-2) can only ponder the what-ifs.
"I just love this team, and I've loved the ride," Sherman Oaks infielder Charlie Mendez said. "Eastlake is a good team, and their pitching was just outstanding."
Sherman Oaks South went hitless over the final four innings and advanced a total of one runner past first base.
"We just ran into a team of monsters from top to bottom. Eastlake was just outstanding," Sherman Oaks South manager Chris Dollard said.
"Their pitching was great and just so consistent, and our hitters were just stumped. It's by far the best pitching we've faced."
Sherman Oaks South advanced the furthest in the league's 51-year history.
Eastlake built a three-run lead in the first inning on Nick Mura's two-run homer, followed by Giancarlo Cortez's solo shot.
From there, Sherman Oaks South right-hander Stephen Richardson found his groove, retiring nine of the next 11 before Eastlake rallied in the fourth to pad the lead to
5-0.
With two outs, pinch-hitter Charlie Peterson single to right, followed by Micah Wiggs' line-drive two-run homer over the left-field fence -- his second in as many days -- prompting Tyler Cox to come on in relief.
Sherman Oaks South's Noah Taylor doubled up the gap in right-center with one out in the first, but Mura pitched his way out of it. The right-hander got R.J. Schreck on a grounder, then Richardson flied deep to center for the third out.
Mura also went 3 for 3 with two RBIs and Wiggs was 1 for 1 with two walks. In the two-game series, he reached base every at-bat except once.
Sherman Oaks South never threatened again. Mura, displaying a good fastball and a hard-breaking curve, got the win, going five innings with three hits allowed and eight strikeouts.
Sherman Oaks South had hit at least one home run every game until the series against Eastlake, which became the first District 42 team since Park View of Chula Vista in 2009 to win the Southern California championship.
Ryan Dollard singled in the second for Sherman Oaks South, and Charlie Stern added a single in the third.
One area where it?s always difficult to please your audience is in regards to technology. Between hardware and software advancements you have a public who not only yearns but demands frequent updates for their devices. Some of it is rational and some of it resembles the tantrums of children. But somewhere in between, there is the truth.
Microsoft is in a precarious situation with Windows Phone as they have a lot of so-called 'chicken versus egg' problems to solve. For instance, they need more mainstream apps. But in order to get more apps, they have to have enough devices in user?s hands to convince developers to get on board with Windows Phone. But how can you convince people to buy your phone if you don?t have the apps (either real or perceived)?
With Windows Phone 8 build 10327 (GDR2), Microsoft is pushing out their second minor update for their new operating system this year (the first was GDR1 aka Portico). The concern for a lot of current users is GDR2 doesn?t really bring much to the table in terms of new features. Sure FM radio and an improved Xbox Music library are nice to have, but it?s far from the dozens of features people are demanding on Microsoft?s UserVoice forum.
The GDR2/GDR3 gambit?grow device availability
Part of the problem is also a misunderstanding of Microsoft?s strategy: GDR2 is less about new features and more about enabling new hardware.? Same thing with the GDR3 release, expected around October, empowering next generation Qualcomm chipsets and 1080P displays.
More specifically, devices like the Nokia Lumia 1020 are built around GDR2. Sure, current Windows Phones will benefit from GDR2 but the Lumia 1020 needs it. Things like ?dual capture? were not possible before within the OS, but Nokia wanted it badly in order to bring their 41MP vision to Windows Phone. As a result, Microsoft had to devote development resources to make that happen. In fact, a lot of the camera ability is a result of the Microsoft-Nokia partnership e.g. setting the default camera app.
This is one reason why Nokia is happy with the Microsoft deal, because they can focus on building great hardware while Microsoft worries about the OS.
That?s not to say everything is great between the two companies, as recent comments by Nokia vice president Bryan Biniak to the International Business Times suggest. Biniak publicly criticized Microsoft for dragging its feet on getting big name apps to Windows Phone. While Redmond seems content on getting apps on a schedule, Nokia is more about the right now. As Biniak states:
?To give you a reason to switch, I need to make sure the apps that you care about on your device are not only on our phones, but are better. I also need to provide you unique experiences that you can't get on your other devices."
?We are trying to evolve the cultural thinking [at Microsoft] to say 'time is of the essence.' Waiting until the end of your fiscal year when you need to close your targets, doesn't do us any good when I have phones to sell today."
Nokia gets it, but evidently Microsoft is still adapting. Still, as a whole, the two companies are working together and shaping the ecosystem based around what Nokia and the other OEMs want. Think LTE, think low-cost devices. Windows Phone was shockingly not going to get LTE support until Windows Phone 8 and Nokia is clearly eating up the entry-level handset market with the Lumia 520, Lumia 620 and Lumia 625. Both of those changes in strategy are partner-influence in action.
More boats for more passengers
It should now be clear that Microsoft?s strategy in 2013 is about enabling more hardware options for their OEMs partners. More chipsets, more display options, deeper level access to the OS plumbing, etc. The idea is to flood the market with many levels of devices, from mid-range to high end ?wow? gadgets like the Lumia 1020 to what actually sells en masse, the Lumia 520.
Is the strategy working? At least one analyst thinks so. Dominic Sunnebo, over at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech notes in today?s market report:
?While flagship Windows handsets such as the Nokia 925 and HTC 8X grab the headlines, it is the low and mid-range models, such as the Nokia Lumia 520 and 620, which are quietly driving its momentum. It is vital for Windows to be seen as a mainstream alternative to Android and iOS rather than a niche platform. Selling large volumes of lower end smartphones is a good way of getting Windows seen in the hands of potential customers? friends and family, convincing them there isn?t a risk in choosing the operating system. The majority of people are trend followers, not trend setters, so Windows needs to get as many smartphones to market as quickly as possible.?
Microsoft?s corporate vice president and manager for Windows Phone Program, Joe Belfiore, admitted as much when responding to a recent complaint on Twitter about the company not moving fast enough with OS updates:
?Different people want lots of different things.? Most of you want apps like Instagram?for that we need to increase volume.?
Ding ding. While it has always been speculated the reason Instagram won?t release an app is due to low Windows Phone market share, it now appears to be confirmed. Microsoft needs to get more phones in more people?s hands if they want those apps.
That?s why Microsoft is devoting so much to GDR2 and GDR3, seemingly paying more attention to their OEM partners than current customer demands (we say ?seemingly? because we know Microsoft does care, but priorities, folks).
The tradeoff
And that?s just it: In order for Microsoft to focus on enabling new hardware and radical innovations like the Lumia 1020, they had to take their resources away from straight up ?feature updates? akin to what Windows Phone 7.5 Mango did earlier, packing 500 new functions or improvements.
Mind you, we?re not trying to justify their strategy, but merely explain it as we see it for a better understanding.
Windows Phone 8.1 Blue appears to be the big overhaul of the OS, where new features and functionality to bring it closer to Windows 8.1 desktop will become evident. Things like syncing of Accent color across devices, more location services, actionable notifications for developers, notification center and more are all being considered for that update due in early 2014.
So what's better: Have Blue's features on fewer handsets earlier or Windows Phone Blue on more devices, but later? That's an interesting question.
But why not do both, you say? We?re not privy to how Microsoft operates, their budget nor how their strategy meetings progress, but it seems to us from observers on the outside that like most organizations, they have limits on resources preventing them from doing everything at once.
Clearly some market research firms, like Kantar, see the benefit of going for entry-level devices before Apple gets in there (see our earlier editorial ?Nokia well positioned for approaching smartphone price wars as costs plummet?). Others though will disagree, noting that Microsoft should beef up the OS and that will sell devices.
Microsoft does have a lot of problems to solve with Windows Phone. The user base is rightly getting frustrated with the lack of frequent feature-packed OS updates, the delays from carriers approving those updates and the seemingly far off Windows Phone 8.1 Blue update. It also gives a lot of ammo to critics and detractors. Will Microsoft prevail? We hope so, but some recent market share numbers suggest they still have a long way to go.
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Public release date: 2-Aug-2013
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