China's Mobile Sales Surge in Q3

Some 102.66 million mobile phones were sold in China in the third quarter of 2013, according to a report released by a major tech industry researcher on Thursday.

The figure indicated a 13.6-percent quarter-on-quarter increase, and a 54.5-percent year-on-year increase, showed Analysys International's report.

Among the total sales volume, 93.08 million of the phones were smartphones, up 20.7 percent quarter on quarter and 89.3 percent year on year. The share of smartphones on China's mobile phone market grew to 90.7 percent, said the report.

The top three mobile phone brands remained Samsung, Lenovo and Coolpad, with market shares of 18.4 percent, 12.5 percent and 10 percent respectively.

Apple's share fell 1.1 percent from that of the second quarter of 2013, but it is predicted to rebound in the fourth quarter as a result of the release of new iPhone products in September, said Wang Jun, an analyst with Analysys International.

Source: Xinhua

China's Alibaba to launch online fund sales service: media

Alibaba Group Holdings has secured approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) to act as a third party for the online sale of fund products, local media group Caixin reported on its website.

The fund products will soon be available on Alibaba's Amazon-like Taobao website, according to the report.

No-one at Alibaba was available to comment.

The approval marks a further step for Alibaba towards providing an alternative to China's tightly regulated traditional financial system.

Alibaba affiliate Alipay, whose parent company Zhejiang Alibaba E-Commerce Co is controlled by billionaire Alibaba founder Jack Ma, said in August that it had partnered with 37 funds to offer wealth management products to its customers.

AliPay's fund payment platform Yu E Bao, or "leftover treasure", launched its Zenglibao fund, managed by the fledgling Tianhong Asset Management Co, in June.

The Zenglibao fund, a money market product, is the most successful fundraising by any mutual fund in China this year, attracting 55.7 billion yuan ($9.14 billion) in assets under management from 13 million customers as of September 30.

Source: Reuters

Google Play launches its first foreign language TV show hub in Japan

Google's brushed up on its foreign language (and content bartering) skills to bring TV shows to Japan, making it only the third country after the US and UK.

You'll need a Japanese Google account to see the content, but it's a pretty up-to-date mix of homemade drama, animations and the obligatory American hit, translated and subtitled for its target audience.

NewsOnJapan

China October official manufacturing PMI beats forecasts

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday underlined the importance of gender equality, calling for full play to be given to the role of women in order to help achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Xi made the remarks while meeting with the newly elected leadership of the All-China Women's Federation.

The president also expressed his congratulations and greetings to the new leadership following the 11th National Women's Congress, which concluded in Beijing's Great Hall of the People on Thursday.

Xi said that China has attached great importance to gender equality in different periods of development over recent decades.

Noting that China is facing a more arduous task in economic and social development, he said that the country needs more contributions and wisdom from women than ever before.

Xi called for the process of China's development to be integrated with promotion of gender equality, which will ensure women to exercise their rights of democracy in accordance with law, take part into economic and social development and share the fruits of reform.

Source: Xinhua

China Metals Demand Slower, Not Lower

    According to an article published today on the Wall Street Journal,"While it’s true Chinese demand for commodities has slowed, as its economy cools, a new report by Wood Mackenzie points out that China will continue to underpin solid demand for base metals for years to come.

The international commodities consultancy reminds us that China’s demand for base metals – aluminum, copper, lead, nickel and zinc – is still growing at 5% to 8% per year".

"That’s slower than double-digit expansion between 2008 and 2013 – the go-go years for China’s economy. “However, it’s important to note that in absolute tonnage terms we still see significant numbers,” said Helen Matthews, head of base metals research at the consultancy".

"Prices for copper already have begun recovering, rising 9.3% from a trough in June. They were helped higher by Chinese imports in September, which last month were at their highest level in more than a year.

Prices for iron ore – which is used in the production of steel – also are up 22% since a low in May on record Chinese imports last month to feed demand from steel makers".

"China’s government has been boosting spending on infrastructure to help juice the local economy, which slowed rapidly earlier this year. The economy grew 7.8% on year in the third quarter, above 7.5% in the previous quarter, the government said Friday. The data also showed domestic steel and base metal production grew strongly".

“The outlook for Chinese base metals is slower not lower,” the report said.

Foreign Hedge Funds Atracted to China Investments

    According to a report from the Wall Street Journal "China 

focused hedge funds managed $12.9 billion in assets as of the end of September, exceeding levels before the global financial crisis, according to Eurekahedge, which tracks the industry. In the nine months ended Sept. 30, average returns from China-focused hedge funds eclipsed those in neighboring countries, with the exception of Japan''.

“A lot of [China-focused] offshore funds are looking towards global equity markets as a way to play out China-focused investment themes,” said Michelle Lim, vice president at Deutsche Bank AG’s Hedge Fund Capital Group, which helps Asian hedge funds raise money. Some hedge funds are also exploring ways to invest within China, and foreign investors expect further opportunities as the government slowly allows a broader range of financial instruments in its push to further develop the domestic market.

China's terracotta warriors inspire artist's schoolgirl "army"

When French artist Prune Nourry decided to document China's missing daughters, those never born due to gender preferences, she drew inspiration from one of the country's most recognizable symbols: the Terracotta Warriors.

For her installation, "Terracotta Daughters," on display now at the Magda Danysz Gallery in Shanghai, the artist created 108 life-sized sculptures of schoolgirls in the style of the ancient warriors.

"I feel it is important to bring light to a subject that affects us all, especially in the years to come," she said, adding that the work invites people to ponder the issue through a reinterpretation of a familiar symbol.

One Chinese woman, who asked to remain anonymous, was filled with emotion at the sight of the army. She could not control her tears when she saw the schoolgirls lined up, saying that the exhibit resonated with her own past and social conditions as a woman in China.

"Terracotta Daughters" is a continuation of Nourry's previous series, "Holy Daughters," an examination of the gender imbalance in India. The 108 sculptures in the Shanghai exhibit are molded after eight Chinese orphan girls the artist met through an NGO called The Children of Madaifu.

"The warriors are a national pride, but also a powerful symbol I chose as inspiration for my project," she added.

The artist noted the number of single men has been increasing ever since the 1980s, and that "combined, China and India total more than one third of the globe's population, and both encounter a similar gender imbalance."

The male to female ratio at birth has hovered at a high level since fetal ultrasound exams became common in China in the 1980s.

"Technology and research in recent years have allowed us to make tremendous progress in our evolution. But it can also be misused, like ultrasound technology, made to monitor the fetus's health, is used to select the sex," said the artist.

Source: NewsOnJapan

China says Japan's interference with navy drills dangerous, provocative

The recent intrusion of Japanese warship and military plane into Chinese navy drills is a very dangerous provocation, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said here Thursday.

The Defense Ministry has lodged a stern representation to Japan, Yang told a press briefing.

Yang said the Chinese side demands that Japan reflects on its mistakes, take actual actions to correct them, stop all activities that disturb China's legitimate military drills and make sure no such incident will happen again.

"Otherwise, all consequences that arise shall be borne by the Japanese side," Yang said. "The Chinese side reserves the right to take further actions."

Yang said on Oct. 23, China issued an alert through the International Maritime Organization that the Chinese navy would conduct military drills and live fire in a certain zone on the open seas of the West Pacific Ocean between Oct. 24 and Nov. 1. Ships and aircraft of other countries were advised to keep out of the area.

Yang said despite this, the No.107 ship of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force ignored repeated dissuasion of the Chinese side, forcedly intruded into the drill zone at 10:41 a.m. on Oct. 25. Yang said the Japanese warship remained in the drill zone until 7:32 a.m. on Oct. 28.

Yang said Japanese surveillance aircraft repeatedly entered the drill zone.

During the navigation of the Chinese navy fleet, warships and aircraft of the Japanese self-defence force conducted intensive tracking, surveillance and monitoring, Yang said.

"These actions by the Japanese ships and aircraft have not only disturbed our legitimate drills, but also imposed hazards to the navigation safety of our ships and aircraft, and may even lead to misjudgment, misfire and other incidents," Yang said.

In contrast, China offered help to the Japanese side when it asked to rescue a Japanese trawler in the drill zone of the Chinese navy, Yang said.

"These acts and deeds by Japan are not only against international practices, they are also in contradiction to the norms of international relations," Yang said.

Source: Xinhua

Japanese Researchers move closer to an oral treatment for diabetes

Japanese researchers said Thursday they had moved a step closer to an oral treatment for diabetes, offering hope of a breakthrough against a disease racking an increasingly obese world.

Scientists at the University of Tokyo said they have created a compound that helps the body to control glucose in the bloodstream.

Glucose is a fuel that is vital to the functioning of organs all over the body, but too much of it is bad news. In some people it leads to Type 2 diabetes, a condition that can cause heart disease, strokes and kidney failure.

Doctors say the incidence of Type 2 diabetes has rocketed over the last few decades, a factor they blame largely on the growing number of overweight people.

Studies have shown that obese people tend to have lower levels of adiponectin-a hormone that regulates glucose and increases the effectiveness of insulin.

Now researchers in Japan have developed a compound they named AdipoRon that mimics the effects of the hormone. Crucially, unlike adiponectin, which is broken down as it passes through the gut, AdipoRon survives unscathed all the way to the blood.

AdipoRon could be "a lead compound" in a possible oral treatment for diabetes, according to Toshimasa Yamauchi, a member of the research team and lecturer at the Graduate School of Medicine at the University of Tokyo.

Source: NewsOnJapan

Honda to build wind power plant in Brazil

Japanese carmaker Honda is building a wind farm in Brazil to supply the electricity needs of its local auto manufacturing plant.

The Industry Ministry said output rose 1.5 percent from the previous month.

Auto production iThe company held a ground-breaking ceremony at the site of the project in the southernmost state of Brazil on Tuesday. The site is about 1,000 kilometers from the Honda plant in the state of Sao Paulo.

The carmaker is investing about 46 million dollars to build the energy project. Company officials say they expect it to provide a stable supply of electricity.

The wind farm will consist of 9 turbines generating about 95,000 megawatts of power a year.ncreased. Demand for electronic parts was also strong. These are generally for smart phones and tablets.

NewsOnJapan

The US wants China to coordinate Strategic Reserves to help ensure Market Stability

   According to a report published today on the Wall Street Journal,

"over the past five years, China has amassed hundreds of millions of barrels in strategic petroleum reserves".

"Now the U.S. wants China to work with it to coordinate releases of those barrels when needed to help ensure oil market stability.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz said Wednesday during a trip to Beijing that China is willing to discuss a coordination agreement on the use of strategic petroleum reserves. Mr. Moniz said he expects both countries to hold “stronger” and more “active” discussions about that coordination in the coming year".

"China is relatively new to managing petroleum reserves, and is building its capacity in three phases. The first phase, holding 100 million barrels, was completed in 2008. The second phase was finished last year, bringing the reserves to 270 million barrels, enough for about 50 days of cover. A third phase, to be finished by 2020, will boost them to 500 million barrels.

In contrast the U.S. holds Strategic Reserves of  727 million barrels – enough for about 90 days of coverage. A plan to boost capacity to 1 billion barrels was cancelled in 2011 due to concerns over the environmental impact of constructing a new facility.

 “Knowing what major oil consumers are doing and what their reserves are is important for traders, analysts and the global market,” said Mr Moniz.

  The U.S. isn’t alone in pressing China to coordinate use of strategic reserves. The International Energy Agency, has for years pressed China to improve the transparency of its oil data and sign an agreement, to release stockpiles during periods of intense shortages".

Italia: Il tasso di disoccupazione a settembre 12.5%

Il tasso di disoccupazione a settembre segna un nuovo record, salendo al 12,5%, in rialzo di 0,1 punti percentuali su agosto e di 1,6 punti su base annua. Lo rileva l’Istat (dati provvisori). È il valore più alto dall’inizio sia delle serie mensili, gennaio 2004, sia delle trimestrali, primo trimestre 1977.
Mentre a settembre il tasso di occupazione giovanile (15-24 anni) scende al 16,1%, in calo di 0,5 punti percentuali su agosto e di 2,1 su base annua. È un valore che eguaglia il minimo storico. Quindi a settembre sono occupati meno di due giovani su dieci, anche se tra gli under 25 vanno contati anche gli studenti. Il tasso di disoccupazione giovanile, ovvero la quota dei disoccupati sul totale di quelli occupati o in cerca, è pari in settembre al 40,4%, in aumento di 0,2 punti percentuali rispetto al mese precedente e di 4,4 punti nel confronto annuo.
In dati assoluti a settembre gli occupati sono 22 milioni 349 mila, in diminuzione dello 0,4% rispetto al mese precedente (-80 mila) e del 2,1% su base annua (-490 mila). Il tasso di occupazione, pari al 55,4%, diminuisce di 0,2 punti percentuali in termini congiunturali e di 1,2 punti rispetto a dodici mesi prima. Il numero di individui inattivi tra 15 e 64 anni aumenta dello 0,5% rispetto al mese precedente (+71 mila unità) ma rimane sostanzialmente invariato rispetto a dodici mesi prima.

Corriere della Sera

Chinese Automakers Getting Better, Improving Quality.

   According to an article published today in the Wall Street Journal reports,for years, Chinese auto manufacturers have been notorious for producing clunkers. In 2005, car testers in Germany described Landwind, the sport-utility vehicle from China’s Jiangling Motors Co
as “catastrophic.”

Two years later Brilliance Auto Group’s BS6 sedan scored only one point out of five in a prominent European crash test.

It appears they have learned from past mistakes.

A study by automotive industry consultants J.D. Power released Thursday shows Chinese auto makers have significantly narrowed the gap with international brands in producing reliable vehicles.

The study, which examined design-related problems, and defects and malfunctions, found Chinese domestic brands succeeding in cutting problems related to engines, transmissions, and heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.

Four Chinese brands–GAC Motor, Venucia, Roewe and Luxgen–outperformed industry average, Mei Songlin, vice president and managing director at J.D. Power’s China operations, noted in the study. That stands in marked contrast to last year’s report, in which not a single Chinese auto maker scored above average.

GAC Motor is a unit of Guangzhou Automobile Group Co. and produces Trumpchi brand cars. Venucia is the joint venture brand developed by Donfeng Motor Group Co.and Japan’s Nissan Motor Co. The Roewe brand is owned by China’s largest auto group SAIC Motor Corp., which purchased technology from U.K.’s defunct MG Rover Group Ltd. in 2005. The Luxgen is built by Dongfeng and Taiwan’s Yulon Motor Co.

Chinese brand Qoros–a joint venture between China’s Chery Automobile Co. and investment group Israel Corp.—may also deserve a mention. In September, the car maker received a five-star score from the authoritative European New Car Assessment Program for one of its sedans. Qoros cars are expected to go on sale in China later this year.

Tony Zhou, automotive research director at J.D. Power’s China Operations, said to improve quality China automakers should focus on raising fuel efficiency and reducing noise.

Blackstone plans to sale Rental Backed Bonds(Remember Derivatives?)

  According to an article published on the Wall Street Journal"bond buyers are evaluating a $479 million offering of securities by Blackstone's single-family home-rental business, Invitation Homes LP" The offering is expected to come to market next week, said an executive at Deutsche Bank, which is arranging the deal.
"Theoffering isa test for the home-rental market, which has attracted rising interest since the financial crisis from institutional investors seeking to profit from a drop in U.S. home prices and rising monthly rents.
A successful sale could unlock a new channel for investors such as Blackstone,American Homes 4 rent and Colony Capital LP. The companies have spent billions of dollars in recent years buying homes and renting them out, helping to pave the way for a housing recovery that has boosted home sales and prices following an epic decline during the financial crisis"

The plantoselltherental-backed securities underscores investors' desire for bonds that generate more income at a time when yields on government bonds are near historic lows and stocks are near record highs.

The Invitation Homes deal is expected to yield more than typical mortgage-backed bonds, the lion's share of which are highly rated and backed by the government-supported mortgage companiesFannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Companies have raised about $20 billion over the past 18 months and acquired about 150,000 properties, according to Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. The purchases account for around 10% of sales of distressed properties over that span, KBW said.

Blackstone is the largest buyer of single-family homes, owning more than 30,000, and its real-estate investing has become a major driver of the private equity firm's profits in the past couple of years.

Blackstone invested $5 billion in real estate during the second quarter of 2013. Much of that has been spent acquiring U.S. homes. Invitation Homes has bought about $7 billion worth of houses this year and continues to spend at a clip of about $100 million a week.

Bond ratings firms have expressed concerns about the deals because there is no history to judge how they may fare. They have said they're concerned that absentee corporate owners wouldn't be effective at collecting rents or maintaining their properties, Moody's Investors Service said in a note last year.

Another key question for investors and rating firms was whether bond buyers would have a stake in the underlying property and where they stand in the order of payments in case the rental company goes bankrupt.

Fitch Ratings on Tuesday said that it wouldn't rate deals like this one above single-A because such transactions are new and are "highly vulnerable" to costs such as repairs, capital and property taxes.

Eurozone Inflation fell to 0.7% in October

Eurozone inflation in October fell to 0.7%, its lowest since February 2010, thanks to a fall in energy costs.

official figures also showed the currency bloc's unemployment at another record high in September.

The figures increase pressure on the European Central Bank (ECB) to cut interest rates further.

Core inflation, which does not include energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, also fell from an anual rate of 1.4% to 1.1%.

The jobless rate in the 17 euro-using countries was unchanged from August's figure, although that month's rate was revised up to 12.2%.

However, the Eurostat agency said that 60,000 more Europeans were unemployed than in the month before.

U.S.Dollar rose, euro fell.High expectations for next Central Banks Moves

The euro fell on Thursday while the U.S. dollar rose on diverging market views about next moves from top central banks, while the greenback's advance sent gold prices on their largest drop in three weeks.

Wall Street stocks traded slightly lower, a gauge of global equities fell the most in a week, and crude prices fell alongside other risk assets.

The dollar rose for a fifth straight session against a basket of major currencies as the Federal Reserve's latest outlook was perceived as less dovish than expected.

The greenback's gains extended as the euro fell after a drop in eurozone inflation to its lowest in nearly four years raised speculation the European Central Bank will further ease monetary policy.

Market expectations that the Fed would continue its $85 billion a month bond-buying stimulus well into next year were not fully met, and some now see a chance for the Fed to begin a wind-down in December.

Source: BBC

PM Abe Top Priority Expand Japanese Trade

This week, the prime minister wrapped up a trip to Turkey, where he extolled Japan's central role in a 10-year project to build a rail tunnel that for the first time links by rail the Asian and European sides of Istanbul. The project was led by the Taisei construction company with $1.5 billion in loans from Japan.

The prime minister has made his goal clear: He wants to push Japan's U.S.- and European-centric businesses into the largely untapped markets of Myanmar, India and East Africa.

"In the first 10 months of office, I have visited 23 countries and held more than 110 meetings with other world leaders," Mr. Abe said in a policy address before parliament last month.

Germany: "The trade surpluses reflect the strong competitiveness of the German economy and the international demand for quality products from Germany,"

   According to the Wall Street Journal,"the trade surpluses reflect the strong competitiveness of the German economy and the international demand for quality products from Germany," the German Economics Ministry said in a statement Thursday, responding to a report from the U.S. Treasury published Wednesday that bluntly criticized Germany's economic policies and blamed the euro-zone powerhouse for dragging down its neighbors and the rest of the global economy.

"The U.S. government should critically analyze its own economic situation," said Michael Meister, a senior lawmaker and close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, criticizing the high debt level in the U.S., which "doesn't just unsettle [the U.S.], but has negative effects on the global economy."

"The German economy is competitive, with record-high employment—so it's really not understandable why we're being blamed for this success," Mr. Meister added.

While the U.S. has previously tried to persuade Germany—as the euro zone's major surplus country—to do more to increase spending by consumers and businesses, the tone sharpened in the latest Treasury report, which put Germany on a par with the U.S.'s traditional target, China. European officials have also nudged Germany to open its services sector and increase competition to boost growth and labor participation.

The Economics Ministry said the country's domestic economy is the main pillar of its growth, noting that both investment in Germany and consumer demand are increasing.

It also said the U.S. criticisms are at odds with the International Monetary Fund's stance: "Furthermore, the IMF also doesn't see economic policy distortions as the basis for Germany's trade surplus."

Euro tumbles, dollar up on central bank views

The euro fell on Thursday while the U.S. dollar rose on diverging market views about next moves from top central banks, while the greenback's advance sent gold prices on their largest drop in three weeks.

Wall Street stocks traded slightly lower, a gauge of global equities fell the most in a week, and crude prices fell alongside other risk assets.

The dollar rose for a fifth straight session against a basket of major currencies as the Federal Reserve's latest outlook was perceived as less dovish than expected.

The greenback's gains extended as the euro fell after a drop in eurozone inflation to its lowest in nearly four years raised speculation the European Central Bank will further ease monetary policy.Market expectations that the Fed would continue its $85 billion a month bond-buying stimulus well into next year were not fully met, and some now see a chance for the Fed to begin a wind-down in December.

Source: Reuters

Sony Corp. Q3 US$ 197 million Loss. Cuts FY 2013 Profit Target

Sony Corp cut its full-year profit targets after slipping to a quarterly net loss as its recovering TV operation relapsed into the red.

The Japanese electronics maker's worse-than-expected performance, a setback after years of striving to return to its former glories, also featured weak sales of video cameras and a steep slump in personal computers in the July-September quarter.

With a quarterly net loss of 19.3 billion yen ($197 million), Sony's bad-news Thursday came in stark contrast to an upbeat showing by Japanese peer Panasonic Corp. It also stirred doubts about how the best-known Japanese technology company can anchor a turnaround as rivals like Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co have gained dominance through heavy investment in new mobile devices.

Overall, Sony cut its operating profit forecast for the year through next March to 170 billion yen from previous guidance of 230 billion yen, which would have been flat on the year.

The 170 billion yen forecast is below the average of 221 billion yen expected by 22 analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Since Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai took the helm last year, Sony has promised a rebound in hardware with a three-pronged strategy focused on mobile devices, imaging technology and gaming.

But only a few of its consumer product divisions, including smartphones, showed signs of holding up in the latest quarter. Sony said it still expects to sell 42 million smartphones this fiscal year, unchanged from previous guidance.

There have also been signs of a strong debut next month in the U.S. and other key markets for Sony's new PlayStation 4 game console, based on preorders. As with previous consoles, development and rollout costs have been steep, although Sony has pledged to turn a profit much faster than the four years it took for the previous iteration of the console to make money.

Source: Reuters

Chicago PMI at 65.9 the strongest in more than 2 years

The government shutdown certainly didn't hold back the Chicago economy with the PMI surging more than 10 points for the strongest monthly gain in over 30 years. The rate of monthly growth, at 65.9, is the strongest in more than 2-1/2 years. And the strength is centered where it should be, in new orders which surged more than 15 points to 74.3 for the highest rate in 9 years. Backlog orders are suddenly at a 2 1/2-year high, up more than 14 points to 61.0.

Production has been very active this month in Chicago, at 71.1 which is another 2-1/2 year high. Inventories are steady and deliveries are only slowing slightly, both pointing to available capacity in the supply chain, capacity that may soon have to be tapped given the strength in orders. Employment, at 57.7 for a sizable 4 point gain, is already beginning to move up.

This report, which covers all areas of the Chicago economy, points to upward surprises for the coming ISM reports on manufacturing and non-manufacturing both of which have already been running very much on the strong side. The Dow isn't showing much reaction to today's surprisingly strong report.

Source: Bloomberg

Project Ara: Motorola's vision for a modular smartphone

An interesting concept for a modular smartphone blew up online in September, with Dave Hakkens revealing his idea for Phonebloks. It turns out that Hakkens wasn't the only one to be imagining a brave new future for smartphones, with Motorola announcing it has been working on a similar concept for the past year. Could Motorola Ara actually happen or is it still, despite Google's enviable and practically unlimited resources, a nice idea that is unlikely ever to become reality?

Phonebloks generated a lot of press thanks to its innovative vision that, were it to become reality, could irrevocably change the smartphone market. The need to upgrade every year or two years would be gone, with the consumer given power over which individual components they wanted to upgrade or replace.

Project Ara is Motorola's take on the same concept, with the company developing a free and open hadrware platform which is intended to fuel the creation of modular smartphones.

As this is currently just a concept, details are thin on the ground, but Motorola suggests the Ara hardware will consist of an endoskeleton; a structural frame into which modules are slotted.

Motorola is now teaming with Hakkens, pairing the company's technical work with the community that built up around Phonebloks. Project Ara is, therefore, being developed in the open, with research scouts helping to turn the concept into reality. 

Source: Gizmag

MIT´s 110-core CPU Reduced On Chip Traffic 10 fold

Computer scientists at MIT have developed a 110-core CPU chip based on a new architecture in which, instead of bringing data across the chip to the core that happens to want it, the program is moved to the core where the data is stored. In practice, this new architecture reduces the amount of on-chip data exchange tenfold, along with cutting the heat and infrastructure demanded by conventional chip architecture.

You may have noticed that the rapid progress of computing power has become a bit sluggish in the past decade or so.

 MIT professor Srinivas Devadas offers a path to increased computing power by instead moving the program to a core having direct access to the required data.

The number of transistors (MOSFETs – Metal Oxide Silicon Field Effect Transistor) that can be integrated onto a single chip continues to double about every two years, as the feature size of lithographic process technology shrinks. However, Moore's law, as this is called, is only one part of why computing power has grown so rapidly.

Source: Gizmag

Global liquidity swell to spill into 2014

 "World markets seem awash with cash again and it looks like spilling into 2014".

"Even though the U.S. Federal Reserve has kept its $85 billion-a-month of bond buying constant throughout, fevered speculation surrounding its easy money spigot has by itself dictated the massive ebb and flow of liquidity seen this year.

The rethink of Fed intentions after September 18 - when the central bank declined to cut back its asset purchases as expected - has raised all financial boats in one big wave.

Since the Fed demurred six weeks ago, the S&P500 index of top Wall St stocks has jumped 3.5 percent. So too have 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds. High-yield corporate "junk" bonds are also up more than 3 percent, as are gold and the euro. Even indices of the most esoteric and speculative 'frontier markets' have added more than 3 percent.

The global surge has been remarkable as an evaporation of this year's U.S. dollar's gains has removed huge pressure from emerging market currencies and, in turn, eased the strain on some $7.2 trillion of emerging central bank reserves. And given these reserves are largely banked in western bonds, a virtuous circle of liquidity appears to have formed.

And by pumping up the euro and Japanese yen, the retreating dollar has upped chances of further easing - quantitative or otherwise - by the Bank of Japan and European Central Bank.

The global liquidity pool - one seeded by central banks and supercharged by the markets themselves - seems to expand anew.

With the Fed speaking softly again, one-month U.S. Treasury bond volatility indices .MERMOVE have fallen to their lowest since May - half of June's peaks.

JPMorgan estimates its measure of "excess liquidity" in the global system is still surging into record territory, with global M2 aggregates up by $3 trillion, or 4.6 percent, so far this year, far outstripping a 2 percent global inflation rate.

Two thirds of that M2 expansion came from emerging markets, where domestic loan growth shows few signs of being fazed by the mid-year financial market turbulence.

Using these "excess liquidity" gauges as a guide to asset prices and assessing their power over time, the report concludes that remains a powerful upsurge".

"The current episode of excess liquidity, which began in May 2012, appears to have been the most extreme ever in terms of magnitude," it concluded.

Source: Reuters

Biggest surge on nonperforming loans for Top Chinese Banks in Q3

Nonperforming loans at Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (601398), China Construction Bank Corp. (939), Agricultural Bank (1288) of China Ltd. and Bank of China Ltd. (3988) rose 3.5 percent in the three months to Sept. 30 from June to a combined 329.4 billion yuan ($54 billion), according to data compiled by Bloomberg News based on third-quarter results. Profit rose to 209 billion yuan…The nation’s debt-to-GDP ratio, excluding central government and financial debt, widened to 207 percent at the end of the third quarter from 190 percent a year earlier as credit growth continued to outpace productivity gains, Mike Werner, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, said this month.

Source: Sinocism China News

Snowden Leaks and the end of American Internet Exceptionalism?

 If, say, the Chinese had behaved like this toward the Internet and toward social platforms used around the world, there would be barely contained fury in the West. Little wonder that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was not impressed by President Obama’s repeated assurances that “there is no spying on Americans.” That was, he pointed out, of little comfort to American entrepreneurs trying to build global businesses. //one China point in a long and important essay by The Guardian’s Editor. The era of American Internet Exceptionalism may be coming rapidly to an end, with Snowden’s exposures an accelerant to a process that was already underway with the rise of China’s Internet, its 600m+ netizens and a world increasingly receptive to its approach to online information management.

The New York Review of Books
The Snowden Leaks and the Public
By Alan Rusbridger

China Clean Air Policy will take a long time

The Chinese government is working on the problem and recently announced new limits on pollutants along with a promise of increased monitoring. Public awareness has spiked, a necessary step toward ending the crisis. But the overriding message from other nations is a discouraging one: Serious change can take decades, especially when pollution is a byproduct of economic growth.

Source: Sinocism

Rewards of Consistency and Capital Discipline Are Enduring for Exxon Investors

  According to an article published today on the Wall Street Journal,"over the past five years, the energy giant's share price has lagged 46 percentage points behind a leading exchange-traded fund used to gain exposure to the oil-and-gas sector—quite a bit, considering Exxon is its largest holding. Thursday's third-quarter results aren't likely to help much if income from refining and marketing continues to sag".
"During the second quarter, those so-called downstream earnings collapsed to $396 million, from $6.64 billion a year earlier. Tepid results earlier this week from Valero Energy Corp., a pure-play on that sector, don't bode well. Analysts have cut their expectations for Exxon's third-quarter earnings by about 8% in just the past month, to $1.82 a share. It earned $2.09 a year earlier.

Exxon's problem is growth or, rather, lack thereof. Management is targeting volume increases of just 2% to 3% a year in its exploration-and-production, output. This has lagged behind expectations in recent years.

There's a silver lining, though: Through booms and busts, Exxon has used cash that might have gone to juicing output to reward shareholders. The sums are impressive: some $327 billion in payouts since oil prices bottomed in 1999—about two-thirds through share buybacks and the remainder from dividends. That's enough to buy rival BP PLC twice and have plenty of change left over.

What do investors get for such consistency? Recent subpar share-price performance aside, Exxon earns superior economic returns of the sort valued by long-term shareholders.

Its average return on invested capital over the past five years is 25.3%—well ahead that of its closest rival, Chevron Corp.  That is about double the returns earned by Europe's four big oil companies, Total SA,  BP, Royal Dutch Schell PLC and ENI SpA. In other words, Exxon has reinvested fewer dollars but earned far more on them".

"The rewards of consistency and capital discipline across those cycles are hard to recognize up close".

StarChase tech lets police shoot fugitive cars with GPS tags

Police car chases are extremely dangerous, not only for the officers involved, but also for any innocent passers-by whom the feeing car crashes into. The StarChase system, however, is designed to make those chases safer. Instead of pursuing fugitive vehicles, police can just shoot them with GPS tags.

At the heart of the system is a compressed-air cannon and a laser sighting system, installed in the front grille of a police car. Using a simple console-mounted control panel, officers can activate that cannon to shoot an adhesive GPS "tag" at the back of the other vehicle. Each unit, not including the tags, costs approximately US$5,000.

Once the fugitive vehicle has been tagged, its whereabouts can be tracked by a central dispatcher, who can coordinate the movements of other cruisers to head it off. The pursuing officer can drop back to a discrete distance, hopefully causing the fugitive driver to slow down, as they're no longer trying to outrun the police car.

The StarChase system is currently being tried out by police forces in Iowa and Florida.

Source: Gizmag

Huawei and AC Milan sign a Sponsorship Agreement

China's biggest information and communication technology (ICT) firm Huawei and AC Milan on Wednesday signed a sponsorship agreement that named Huawei Premium Sponsor and Mobile Partner of AC Milan.

Huawei and AC Milan representatives said at a press conference held inside the football club headquarters in Milan that with the signing of the agreement, Huawei became the official Mobile Partner of the AC Milan team and, in recognition of the technological excellence of its products, supplier of communications solutions for the football club.

The sponsorship was aimed at creating synergy between the two brands and included the use of AC Milan's logo and player images for Huawei's communication and promotion activities, they said.

"It is a great honor for AC Milan to be chosen by a global giant like Huawei to implement its development and market strategies," Adriano Galliani, Deputy Chairman and Managing Director of AC Milan, highlighted.

George Zhao, CEO of Huawei Italy, said that after the great success of 2011 Super Cup sponsorship in Beijing, Huawei was " excited to continue the partnership with AC Milan, a recognized football leader that perfectly matches the goal of building Huawei 's leadership within the consumer market."

"AC Milan's popularity in China opens up great opportunities for collaboration in the near future," he added.

After starting as telecommunication technologies and equipment supplier, Huawei has gradually moved into the consumer world with a wide range of mobile devices and connectivity products.

"This sponsorship is a great opportunity to bring our brand and our products to a wider consumer audience, not only in the Italian and European markets but also on a global level," Daniele De Grandis, Executive Director of Huawei Device Italy, noted.

Source: Xinhua

Japan working to attract Arab students

Japanese universities taking part in an education fair in the United Arab Emirates are calling on young people to study in Japan.

About 160 universities and educational institutes from around the world are participating in the event, which opened on Tuesday the capital city of Abu Dhabi.

The University of Tokyo, Waseda University and 13 other Japanese schools are joining the fair for the first time.

Competition is intensifying among the world's universities to attract promising foreign students.

Source: NewsOnJapan

BOJ likely to maintain outlook for 2% inflation in FY 2015

The Bank of Japan is likely to retain its price projection of around 2 percent inflation in fiscal 2015 at its policy meeting Thursday, while maintaining its ultraeasy monetary policy to beat deflation, sources close to the matter said.

At the central bank's one-day policy meeting, the nine-member Policy Board is expected to discuss whether to raise the BOJ's economic growth projection for the next fiscal year starting April, given expectations that public investment will increase under the government's stimulus measures announced earlier this month.In its semiannual outlook report for the next three years to be released after the meeting, the BOJ is expected to largely maintain its view released in April and revised in July that core consumer prices, excluding fresh food, will rise 1.9 percent in fiscal 2015 excluding the impact of the planned sales tax in April.

Source: NewsOnJapan

U.S. Energy Secretary maps out China collaboration

U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz said in Beijing on Wednesday that the United States and China can collaborate on renewable technology for green growth and that water-based technology can be a new focus area for partnership.

Moniz, who is making a three-day visit to China, had meetings with Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli a speech at the prestigious Tsinghua University.

The meetings reinforced the view that China and the United States are both committed to a clean energy future, a commitment that will play a central role in U.S.-China collaboration at the government level and in the commercial sector, Moniz said at a press briefing at the U.S. Embassy.

There is a mindset that renewable technologies are always five to 10 years in the future. However, they have gained market share and it is time for a clean technology revolution, he said, naming water-based clean technologies, such as tidal, wave and hydro power systems as a potential new form of collaboration in the context of extended U.S.-China energy research.

During Moniz's visit, construction on a nuclear security center jointly financed by China and the United States began in Beijing on Tuesday. The center, located in the Changyang science and technology park in the southwestern outskirts of Beijing, will be equipped with environmental labs, response force exercise facilities, test sites for physical protection, and buildings for technology displays and training, experiments and scientific research.

Moniz also talked up the growing role of shale gas in clean energy. "Shale gas production continues to increase robustly. It has gone from nothing to approximately 40 percent of our national gas supply in just a five-year period, and we have again become the largest natural gas producer," he told the press briefing.

Both the United States and China have "strong interest" in shale gas development cooperation. Moniz pointed out that the United States not only has favorable geology, but also by far the most mature natural gas infrastructure, in terms of pipelines, market structures, trading hubs and future contracts.

Asked if the United States will export gas to China, Moniz said the country itself doesn't determine the destinations. "Those are purely commercial interests. So whether it's Japan, India, China or Europe, the entities in those countries negotiate contracts with those to whom we give the licenses."

Source: Xinhua

China Construction Bank opens branch office in Luxembourg

China Construction Bank (CCB), one of the country's four largest state-owned banks, on Tuesday inaugurated its first branch office in Luxembourg and the CCB (Europe) Corporation.

CCB board chairman Wang Hongzhang said the CCB was attracted by Luxembourg's good location, its good financial environment, the effective government, the prudent supervision and an open attitude towards the Chinese banking sector.

He noted that the speed with which the CCB acquired authorization from the Luxembourg government was the fastest since the beginning of the internationalization of CCB businesses.

The CCB will provide corporate finance and capital market services for companies that wish to accelerate their international businesses and European transnational companies that have trade relations with the CCB in China.

According to Wang, Luxembourg would be a platform for CCB to expand its businesses across Europe, particularly regarding loans and credits, international settlements and offshore services of the Chinese currency renminbi (RMB).

Luxembourg Finance Minister Luc Frieden, for his part, stressed that the CCB Luxembourg was a symbol of trust and cooperation between Luxembourg and China in political, diplomatic and economic fields.

He also voiced support from the Luxembourg government for future development of the RMB offshore services in Luxembourg.

Previously, two major Chinese banks, namely the Bank of China (BOC) and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), have already opened offices in Luxembourg.

At present, the CCB has 17 branches or subsidiaries in 15 countries and regions, with assets totaling 120 billion U.S. dollars.

Source: Xinhua

China urges end of U.S. embargo on Cuba

China on Wednesday urged the United States to end its long-running economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba after the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution urging for it to be terminated.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a daily press briefing, "China has always attached great importance to relations with Cuba, and supported the just demand of Cuba."

The best way to settle differences and disputes is through talks on an equal footing, said Hua. "China hopes that the country concerned will act according to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and the relevant General Assembly resolutions and terminate its embargo against Cuba as soon as possible," the spokeswoman said.

The resolution was approved on Tuesday by the 193-nation assembly with 188 votes for, two against and three abstentions.

This is the 22nd year in a row that the UN General Assembly has adopted such a resolution by an overwhelming majority to condemn the U.S. embargo on Cuba.

The U.S. imposed the blockade against Cuba in 1962 when both countries severed diplomatic ties.

Source: Voice Of China

Japan: Finance Ministry upgrades economic assessment

Japan's Finance Ministry has upgraded its assessment of the country's economy for a third consecutive quarter.

It says personal spending is continuing to improve.

The leaders of the ministry's 11 bureaus met on Wednesday to report on regional economic trends for the July-September quarter.

Many reported that personal spending had increased, particularly for items such as air conditioners and refrigerators.

They also reported increased production of electronic components, as well as iron and steel, as auto exports remained steady.

Source: NewsOnJapan

Xi urges better housing security

 Chinese President Xi Jinping has stressed the need to accelerate the country's housing security and supply to guarantee people's basic residential needs.

Presiding over a group study session of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee on Tuesday, Xi said that pushing the construction of the housing supply system is a solid project that benefits all people.

"China will exert every effort to increase housing supply while pursuing affordable, environmentally friendly and safe living standards in accordance with the country's practical situation," he said.

According to the country's 12th five-year plan, China will increase its quantity of affordable housing so that it covers 20 percent of all residential areas by 2015 through construction of 36 million affordable housing units, including renovation of run-down neighborhoods.

Xi said the government will first ensure the quality and safety of these buildings and strive to accomplish the goal while speeding up the construction of public rental and low-rent housing as well as the renovation of run-down neighborhoods.

Source: Xinhua