Automative: Nissan's revolutionary trapezoidal BladeGlider Concept

The BladeGlider concept to be shown by Nissan at the Tokyo Motor Show this month will no doubt cause a stir among the general populace for its radical shape, but it just might represent a significant moment in the history of the automobile. When Ben Bowlby conceived the vehicle’s revolutionary architecture in December 2008, he envisioned a far more efficient automobile than current form factors allow.
Just five years later, the same trapezoid form factor will be the marquee unveiling at one of the most important car shows in the world. The reason it is so important, and yes, revolutionary, is that the Bladeglider has such a low aerodynamic drag coefficient, that it uses considerably less energy to achieve the same performance as a conventional car using the same powerplant  maybe as little as half the energy.
When the Deltawing made its debut in the Le Mans 24 Hour race, it lasted just six hours before it was involved in an accident caused by another car. It qualified a highly respectable 29th but its race pace was at the bottom end of the LMP2 class.
 During the six hours it ran at Le Mans, it was using half the fuel of its competitors and running twice the distance on a set of tires. Indeed, the front tires were doing much better than the rears, but in time-honored tradition they got changed when the rears did, so we won’t know how much less wear they were experiencing until next June when hostilities resume once more.
As Road & Track magazine pointed out in its summary of the car’s efforts: “50 percent is the most prevalent figure and frame of mind with the Dan Gurney-built prototype. Bowlby's four-wheeled declaration was brought to life to prove that similar performance to that of the class-leading prototypes can be achieved with half the weight, half the power, and half the fuel and tire consumption.”
Unlike nearly all concept cars, which are designed to assess public opinion, the uber-radical Bladeglider already seems destined for production. 
Hence, the Nissan press release carries some statements as bold as the concept itself: "More than a concept, Nissan BladeGlider is both a proposal for the future direction of Nissan electric vehicle (EV) development and an exploratory prototype of an upcoming production vehicle from the world’s leading EV manufacturer."

Source: Gizmag

Interview to Jeff Immelt CEO of GE The Industrial Internet & Natural Gas and Unconventional Fuels Part I

Introduction by Steve Sargent, I'm the CEO of GE here in Australia and New Zealand:
It's terrific to have Jeff Immelt here today and we'll be talking about a broad range of issues but most importantly we're going to be talking about the industrial internet. We're living in a time where we have the convergence of very low cost sensors so ability to remotely sense the performance of large machines, low cost telecommunications to provide distributed data in a real time low cost form. Then be able to drive the behaviour of humans with that data.
    We actually think we're on the verge of another wave of productivity based on what we're going to be hearing and seeing in the industrial internet. It's an area where GE is investing an awful lot of money to make all of the large machines that we manufacture even smarter really with a view to help our customers not only optimise the effectiveness of those assets but also the effectiveness of their business overall.
   We actually think we're on the verge of another wave of productivity based on what we're going to be hearing and seeing in the industrial internet. It's an area where GE is investing an awful lot of money to make all of the large machines that we manufacture even smarter really with a view to help our customers not only optimise the effectiveness of those assets but also the effectiveness of their business overall. Joining Jeff today will be Geoff Elliott the business editor of The Australian.
  A few little facts about GE which are very interesting. It's one of the 12 original companies on the Dow Jones industrial index.
    Sales of over $140 billion annually, more than 300,000 employees which is a hell of a payroll. GE Power Equipment creates a quarter of the world's electricity every day and it's been named as one of the world's most admired companies by Fortune Magazine for the past six years. Of course the origins of GE start with Thomas Edison; it all started with the light bulb as we know. GE in Australian, you know, 70 per cent of commercial flights in Australia have GE engines. 

Jeff Immelt: let me start with a little bit of context in that one of the things we always try to do is pick one of the big productivity themes of every generation and I'd say GE for a long time has tried to do that. We kind of see in the area today what I would say four or five big productivity themes that we think can help power into the coming decades. Productivity is quite important. It has been the big engine of the US GDP growth for a long time. I would say productivity has slowed in recent years and that's not a good thing.

    So I think these can help turbo charge it and let me just go through them Geoff and I'll explain where the industrial internet fits. One big wave that Australia participates in is just this incredible wave of natural gas and unconventional fuels. We see this as really game changing vis-a-vis the US economy, in many ways the global economy. The second thing is there's more engineering and science around manufacturing today than at any time that I can remember.
    That really is going to change the way that I would say the relative productivity of manufacturing bases on a global - in a global arena. So I think that's absolutely critical. The third is the industrial internet which I'll come back to. The fourth is the ability to design products that can be localised so that really takes away the need to have big bomber factories and in their place the ability of companies to localise production and services in a very significant way. 

The industrial internet has really been evolving. I would say many companies are working on it, from Cisco to Verizon, IBM so we're not necessarily first but I think we think it's very important. Social media has been the big driver I would say of the internet and of internet commerce over the previous five or 10 years. 

 When I talk about industrial internet I mean smart machines. Machines with sensors providing real time data that can be analysed and broad analytics, going into a distributed workplace so that people on the ground around where these assets are provided can make the right decisions to drive performance. 

So what are the outcomes for customers? I give you three levels. Starting at the most basic level, no unplanned downtime. So if you say what's a vision that our customers have that we have? Zero unplanned downtime. So we have all the LNG trains fundamentally in Australia vastly are GE technologies. Whether it's out in the western part of Canada or in Queensland where I was yesterday.
    We have performance guarantees with our customers that might guarantee 98 per cent uptime or 97 per cent uptime. The difference between 98 per cent uptime and 99 per cent uptime in the range of oil and gas industry is tens of billions of dollars. It's massive, a massive profitability and productivity. So base level, zero unplanned downtime by modelling data, doing prognostics on how [unclear] takes place, things like that.
    The next level is optimal asset performance, optimal asset performance. So what does that mean? If we can get one per cent better fuel performance on the entire installed base of GE Commercial Engines globally that's worth $3 billion of profit for airline customers. So I guarantee if you went to Qantas or American Airlines or any of these people they would say $3 billion, I'll take my share, I'll take my dividend out of that. -

  So every engine has about 20 sensors on it, probably on mass our engines take a couple of terabytes of data every year. How you position an aircraft to take off in Dubai is different than how you position it for take off in Sydney. If you can find ways to stretch outage cycles and things like that that again is billions of dollars.

    So no unplanned downtime, optimal asset performance, and then the third level I'd give you is optimal enterprise performance. So how do you manage all this data where it's not just a GE installed base but you're wiring up with an installed base of complementary assets? 

 So the Industrial Internet is about domain, it's about smart machines, it's about real-time analytics, it's about modelling performance. Think zero unplanned downtime, optimal asset performance, optimal enterprise performance. Doing those things is the next wave, we think, of productivity and profitability.

Source: theaustralian

Twitter IPO A new Paradigm for Valuation? Opens the door for others?

Twitter IPO sparks speculation on who could follow

"For technology executives weighing market flotations for Silicon Valley startups, this week's gangbusters Twitter Inc initial public offering sent a powerful signal: full speed ahead.

About a dozen private companies are valued at more than $1 billion (624 million pounds), and many of them have already been holding informal talks with bankers. Now, many - including Box, Square and Airbnb - are likely to accelerate their IPO plans, according to venture capitalists.

File-sharing company Box picked Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and JP Morgan to lead its IPO, Reuters reported Friday. The company has been valued at more than $1.2 billion by private venture capital investors, but it remains unclear whether it is profitable.

Twitter's lack of profits proved to be no obstacle to the micro-blogging site raising as much as $2.1 billion in its IPO. Its current share price of around $41 gives it a market value north of $22 billion.

That opens the door for other big-name private companies including Square, the payments company founded by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, which has begun exploring the possibility of an IPO next year, according to the Wall Street Journal. Profits are not expected until 2015. Square declined to comment".

Source: Reuters

 The only comment I would do to this article is that we shouldn't be surprised with this irrational exhuberance,when real interest rates are on negative territory,it is not going to be the last "gold rush". It is always very appropiate to remember  Warren's Buffet motto "Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful"

  

France sees big hurdles in search for Iran nuclear deal in Geneva

France  warned of serious stumbling blocks to a long-sought deal over Iran's nuclear programme as foreign ministers from the Islamic state and six world powers extended negotiations into a third day on Saturday to end a decade-old standoff.

As the talks stretched on, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said there was no certainty they would succeed in nailing down an interim deal that would begin to defuse fears of a covert Iranian advance towards nuclear arms capability.

"As I speak to you, I cannot say there is any certainty that we can conclude," Fabius said on France Inter radio, stressing that France could not accept a "sucker's deal".

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the talks have achieved "very good progress" but important issues remained unresolved and he did not know whether a deal could be clinched by the end of the day.

"We are very conscious of the fact that real momentum has built up in these negotiations and there is now real concentration on these negotiations and so we have to do everything we can to seize the moment," he told reporters.

Among the sticking points, Fabius said, was a call for Iran to halt operations at its Arak research reactor - a potential producer of bomb-grade plutonium - while the negotiating process goes on, as well as questions about Iran's stock of uranium enriched to 20 percent of fissile purity.

Both issues are at the heart of Western concerns that the Islamic Republic is stockpiling enriched uranium not for civilian nuclear power stations, as Tehran says, but rather potential fuel for atomic bombs.

"We are for an agreement, that's clear. But the agreement has got to be serious and credible. The initial text made progress but not enough," Fabius said.

Source: Reuters

Expert Douglas Paal: China's key session will be a chance to articulate vision

The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee has drawn worldwide attention and is one of the most awaited sessions of the Central Committee. CCTV correspondent in Washington interviewed China expert Douglas Paal from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace for his take on why the session is important.

"A lot of people hope China will be able to start implementing reforms, carry China from the rapid investment and export-led growth to the consumption-led growth. You have to make a lot of changes in system, not just parts of the system. So this third plenary session will be a chance to articulate vision and first step to accomplish that vision," Douglas Paal, VP of Carnegie Endowment for Int’l Peace, said.

"Reshaping the ways that the local communities finance themselves, dealing with the debts of the local communities, finding a legal form for the migrant residents in big cities to have some status outside or inside the hukou system are really sensitive. There are a lot of things that can be put on the table."

Short-term anxiety over Emerging Markets overblown,correct approach Diverging Markets

Emerging market (EM) stocks are the hot sauce of your portfolio. They can provide a quick kick to your performance, but a little can go a long way. And prepare for occasional heartburn. In light of recent, even higher volatility, is it time to put your EM holdings back on the shelf?

"While the outlook for emerging market economic growth remains relatively muted when compared to last year, recent data trends suggest that the slowdown may not be as severe as feared," writes Thomas S. White, Jr., president and chief investment officer for Thomas White International, in an analysis. "Chinese economic growth for the third quarter was robust, when seen in the context of the current global environment. Europe is gradually climbing out of a recession while Japan appears to have succeeded in stimulating its economy through extraordinary policy measures, after a long period of subpar growth and deflation."

But recent economic data trends over the past few months have been pointing to subdued growth, prompting the IMF and the World Bank to lower the current year growth forecasts for the emerging world, according to White.

"Despite the weaker export growth towards the end of the quarter, the Chinese economy expanded at a faster than expected 7.8% during the July-September period," writes White. "Manufacturing activity was also relatively subdued across most emerging economies, especially when compared to the developed world which is seeing acceleration."

Harold L. Sirkin, senior partner and Managing Director for The Boston Consulting Group, says sharp swings in exchange rates, swooning equity markets and slowing growth are warning signs that investors in emerging markets over the past three decades have seen before. And when they flash in a number of economies simultaneously, the outcome often is not good.

"So what should we make of the volatility that seems to be suddenly sweeping some of the world's most dynamic developing economies, including China, India, Brazil, Turkey, South Africa, Indonesia, and Mexico? For the next few years at least, companies will have to learn to shift gears, perhaps frequently, as they navigate the global economy," Sirkin writes in an overview. "Instead of treating all the big developing economies as emerging markets, they must learn to approach them as diverging markets -- economies that are growing at different speeds, experiencing different degrees of financial health, and facing different structural challenges."

Recent surveys of international executives have indicated that risks are growing in emerging markets. Even in China, a significant number of companies say that profits and growth have stalled. But Sirkin says emerging markets will remain the biggest sources of growth for decades.

"All the short-term anxiety does not diminish the reality that emerging markets still present companies with some of the greatest opportunities for growth over the medium and long term," he writes. "China's economy is still booming by world standards, most African economies are growing at a 5-6% clip, and the Philippines are expanding at an annualized rate of around 7%. For the next several years, the GDPs of rapidly developing economies are projected to grow several percentage points on average faster than those of developed economies."

Source:  CCTV

China reform plan from the Development Research Center of the State Council

Here are some more details about the 3-8-3 plan, and about the meeting as a whole.

This year the plenum will see 376 members and alternate members of the Central Committee attending, and will draw up the strategy for next 5 to 10 years. Among all the reform suggestions, is the much-anticipated reform plan from the Development Research Center of the State Council.

Its 3-8-3 proposal has three key themes: improving the market system, transforming the role of the government and building an innovative corporate structure.

Eight areas of reform are proposed: reforms aiming to improve the efficiency of administration within the government, monopoly sectors, land reforms, the financial sector to internationalize Renminbi, the tax system to set up a nationwide network of medical, social security, management of state assets, innovation and further opening-up of the economy to introduce more competition in the market.

Focus is placed on three of these areas, namely: opening up, the social security system and land reform.

China's Third Plenum: Springboard for changes

What’s in store for the world’s second biggest economy? That’s what the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee is set to decide in its third plenum.

Many observers expect it to be a landmark event in the country’s economic reforms. It will be the third time the Party’s current 200-member Central Committee has gathered since last year’s leadership change.

The CPC Central Committee is the highest authority within the Party, and is elected every five years at its National Congress.

The Central Committee holds 5 or 6 plenary sessions, with all members present, during its five-year tenure.

The first two sessions are focused on the selection of key Party and State leadership.

The third session draws up the long-term strategy to guide the Party and the State for the next 5 to 10 years.

The most significant third plenum was in 1978, following the end of the Cultural Revolution. It marked the start of China’s reform and opening up.

Six years later, in 1984, the concept of the planned economy was abandoned. For the first time, China declared itself a socialist market economy. A key point was speeding up reforms in urban areas.

In November 1993, China released a framework of building a socialist market economy. It included deepening economic reforms in the rural areas.

In 2003, there were new ideas and measures to complete the transformation to a socialist market economy. Key points included encouraging development in the private sector and reforms of State-Owned Enterprises.

Source:  CCTV

China's CPI rose 3.2% YoY in October, new high since February.

China's inflation has risen to a new high since February as the country's economy shows more signs of firming.

The consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, grew 3.2 percent year on year in October, up from 3.1 percent in September, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Saturday, adding to proof of an improving economy.

In the first 10 months, CPI growth stood at 2.6 percent on average, well below the government's full-year target of 3.5 percent.

  Yu Qiumei, a senior statistician with the NBS attributed the rise in October mainly to a rebound in prices of non-food products, including clothing, home appliances and daily necessities.

Last month, food prices dropped 0.4 percent month on month, while prices of non-food products rose 0.3 percent, according to the NBS.

"CPI growth exceeded 3 percent in September and October, which indicated increasing inflationary pressure," said Kuang Xianming, head of economic research at Hainan's Institute for Reform and Development, adding that the rising inflation was due to the improving economy at home.

Saturday's NBS data also showed China's producer price index (PPI), which measures inflation at the wholesale level, fell 1.5 percent in October from a year ago.

"The reducing PPI means businesses have started to draw down stocks more quickly with increasing interest for investment, and this is also proof that the country's economy is improving," said Kuang.

A string of economic indicators in the past couple of months have suggested a firming economy.

An official survey showed earlier this month that the October Purchasing Managers' Index, a barometer for the health of China's manufacturing activities, hit a new high since May 2012.

Inflation may continue to pick up in coming months due to colder weather and growing demand for food, but it can be kept under control to realize the government's full-year target of 3.5 percent, said Kuang.

"The government should seize the opportunity to advance price mechanism reform as there could be more inflationary pressure in 2014," he suggested.

The much-anticipated Third Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee, kicked off here on Saturday, with a discussion on comprehensively deepening reform top on the agenda.

History shows that economic growth tends to be lower after major third plenum meetings. This is because structural reforms, while good in the longer term, tend to slow growth in the near term, noted the latest research report from Britain's Barclays Bank.

In the past month, China's industrial production grew faster, with industrial value-added output expanding 10.3 percent year on year, 0.1 percentage points higher than that of September, according to the NBS.

Of the 41 industrial categories monitored by the bureau, 40 posted year-on-year growth. The manufacturing sector grew 11.4 percent, electric, gas and water production increased 7.6 percent, and mining sector was up 4.3 percent.

With investment and exports gradually recovering, analysts expect industrial production to continue improving.

According to the NBS, China's urban fixed-asset investment expanded 20.1 percent year on year to 35.17 trillion yuan (5.73 trillion U.S. dollars) in the Jan.-Oct. period, down 0.1 percentage points from the growth rate in the first nine months.

Retail sales grew 13 percent year on year to 19.03 trillion yuan in the first 10 months of this year, almost the same as the 12.9-percent growth in the first nine months.

The current growth was still propelled by investment and exports, indicating entrenched problems in the economy have not been sorted out, according to a report released by Ccidnet, a consulting company.

In the mid- and long-term, industrial production may experience a minor contraction, the report said.

The Chinese leadership is striving to steer its economy with a slower, more sustainable growth model based on domestic consumption instead of investment and exports.

Source: Xinhua

Chinese American angry about Jimmy Kimmel's offensive skit

Chinese Americans are continuing to protest against US comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s recent offensive skit.

More than two hundred people gathered on Friday outside a New York studio of the American Broadcasting Company. They were demanding a formal apology from ABC. Protesters say they want Jimmy Kimmel to be fired, and they want ABC to promise that such things will not happen again.

In the midst of the US government shutdown, Kimmel sat at a "kids" table, during which a kid suggested “killing everyone in China” to solve the US debt issue. Many protesters argue that the problem was not the child’s comment, but that Kimmel did not challenge it.

Source:  CCTV

The Yinchuan Comprehensive Bonded Area, will focus on the wine industry, halal beef and mutton processing, finance lease, aviation industry.

The infrastructure construction of the Yinchuan Bonded Area has already passed national inspection.

The inside ground projects are accelerating their building to ensure their accomplishment on time.

Xu Guangguo, leader of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Yinchuan Municipal, inspected the construction site on Oct. 25.

Xu put forward new requirements to the workers and managers, saying they should make a good use of the investment and develop the area in line with the local condition.

The Yinchuan Comprehensive Bonded Area, with a planned area of four square kilometers, will focus on the wine industry, halal beef and mutton processing, finance lease, aviation industry.

Source: Xinhua

China's retail sales up 13% YoY in first 10 months

China's retail sales grew 13 percent year on year to 19.03 trillion yuan (3.1 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first ten months of this year, the National Bureau of Statistics said Saturday.

Source: Xinhua

China's urban fixed-asset investment expanded 20.1 % YoY

China's urban fixed-asset investment expanded 20.1 percent year on year to 35.17 trillion yuan (5.73 trillion U.S. dollars) in the Jan.-Oct. period, down 0.1 percentage points from the growth rate in the first nine months, the National Bureau of Statistics announced on Saturday.

Source: Xinhua

China's industrial output growth picks up in October

China's industrial production grew faster in October, with industrial value-added output expanding 10.3 percent year on year, 0.1 percentage points higher than that of September, according to data released Saturday by the National Bureau of Statistics.

Source: Xinhua

Child predators used the Nintendo 3DS Swapnote service in Japan

Last week, without warning, Nintendo terminated the Swapnote service for the Nintendo 3DS, which allows 3DS owners to exchanges hand-written messages and photographs with their registered friends over the Internet.

A recent report by two Japanese publications might provide further insight as to why this happened.
When Nintendo terminated Swapnote service, they mentioned that they had learnt that certain 3DS owners, including minors, were using the application to exchange offensive material over the Internet. According to a new report by Yomiuri Online (translated by Kotaku), two men aged 49 and 36 in Japan were recently arrested for performing "improper acts" with a 12-year-old girl on multiple occasions. The girl met both individuals through her Nintendo 3DS.

Meanwhile, Mainichi reports a separate incident, and this one mentions the Swapnote application by name. According to Mainichi's report, charges for child pornography have been filed against a 44-year-old man who had two girls-aged 11 and 12 at the time-send him nude photographs via Swapnote. The man has since confessed to the incident.

Source: NewsOnJapan