Gold Fields Management Discusses Q4 2013 Results - Earnings Call Transcript(Highlights)

Source: Seeking Alpha

"So looking at the quarter, we've achieved 598,000 ounces of goldequivalent for the quarter, that's up 21% against the previous quarter, principally because of the Yilgarn South acquisition, and I'll show you some details of that in a moment. That's the main reason for the increase. If you strip that out, we're pretty flat really across that [ph], but it was a good performance from those operations in the last quarter, we believe".

"There's a lot of confusion in people's minds about all-in costs and all-in sustaining costs. But this is the new metric that we will be reporting going into quarter 1. And the good news maybe for some, and maybe it's bad news for others, these are the only metrics that we are only going to report in 2014. Because it really gives a true reflection of what it costs to produce an ounce in the business. So all-in costs, we've come down to $1,095, and all-in sustainable, if you strip out what we classify as growth capital, and that's really up to South Deep, that's come down to $1,054".

Net cash generated from the core business before financing and any acquisitions, $38 million. That has been a key consideration for us, is to turn this business back to cash positive in the face of an unprecedented decline in the gold price during the course of 2013. And it's a start to where we want to get to, but importantly, it's a big turnaround from where we've come from. Normalized earnings of $14 million. We've paid a dividend in line with our policy, and let me just confirm again our policy has not changed. Our policy is still 25% to 35% of earnings that we'll use as a basis for dividend payout.

Gold Reserves.

We have to run all of our economic models at $1,300 per ounce to do that. That took us a number of months because we had to rerun our reserves. And so that means that we're impairing around about $672 million at year end, and that's principally in Ghana at Damang; $173 million of that is at Damang given the drop in thegold price, in particular, and also in St. Ives in Australia. Those are the 2 big ticket items that we've got. So it's really Ghana and Australia. And these impairments are really on the back of the lower gold price. Given that we were using $1,500 an ounce in the previous year, we're now using $1,300. So it's really gold price related. It doesn't have any bearing on the technical nature of the ore bodies. There hasn't been any material modeling changes in the ore bodies as such, and also we've used higher discount rates and that's a function of a change in the risk-free rates across the world, the risk premiums we apply and also the beater [ph] that applies to the gold industry, so we put those through

We dropped from $1,537 all-in costs in 2012 to $1,312 in 2013. But more importantly, as I said, at the end of quarter 4 2013, we were down to $1,095. And it shows you the scale of change from where we were in 2012 to the quarter 4 of 2013. And I've talked about the dividend.

This really demonstrates what we've achieved in the cost base. We've given you the last 8 quarters here. We've shown you the gold production in the bars, and then we're showing you the all-in costs in the red, the goldprice in the blue. And what you're seeing, really, over the last 2 quarters, in particular, is we've managed to increase the production base with the Yilgarn South acquisition. But at the same time, we've dropped the cost base, the all-in costs in red. We've dropped that down very significantly over the same period. And I think that sets Gold Fields up to be much more sustainable at the current price levels. And we're not restructuring this business hoping that the gold price is going to recover. We're restructuring the business, expecting that $1,300 is what we have to work with for the foreseeable future. In the longer term, I think it will improve. But we have to accept that over the next year or so, this may be as good as it gets.

We've also trimmed our corporate and regional cost structures. We've had a 10% reduction in headcount over that period, which, including contractors, translates to around about 1,700 or 1,800 people. We've rationalized our capital. In 2012, we spent $1.2 billion. This year -- this last year past, 2013, we spent $739 million, and that figure will be lower again in 2014. You might say, "Well, what are we giving away in terms of the future?" And the one thing we haven't stopped is development and stripping outputs to make sure that the future plans of the company are not compromised. I lived through $250 gold in 1999, and I saw what we and what the industry did. We pulled back our development significantly, and we never really got it back. We said that we did, but we actually never got it back, and we paid the price. So the important thing is, let's make sure that we retain the structural integrity of our operation. So that's the expenditure or what I call the good cost that we're going to continue spending".

Progress is slow at Barrick Gold, but at least it's progress

Source: Seeking Alpha

• The progress at Barrick Gold (ABX +1.6%) is akin to “turning the battleship on a measured pace," Sterne Agee analysts say, but at least it's progress, and shares have added nearly 8% since reporting Q4 results that missed on earnings but beat on revenue.
• Sterne Agee likes ABX's free cash flow position after the miner's series of transactions in 2013 to improve its balance sheet extended debt maturities, improved financial flexibility; as a result, net debt dropped by nearly 20%, and ABX now has only $300M of debt repayments due in next two years.
• The firm now expects ABX to be almost free cash neutral in 2014 with potential for almost $1B in free cash generation in 2015.
• Some analysts see the beginnings of a turnaround: ABX's problems discussed yesterday were well telegraphed, gold production remains solid in many mines and the cut in the reserve price to $1,100/oz. from $1,500/oz. was conservative and so likely to see upside.

Goldcorp's CEO Discusses Q4 2013 Results - Earnings Call Transcript

Partial Transcript.

"Gold production increased 11% to 2.7 million ounces and in an all-in sustaining cost of $1031 per ounce. The lower cost guidance of a $1050 to $1100 per ounce. Of particular note nearly every mine in the portfolio either met or exceeded production guidance a testament to our focus on execution.

Our financial results demonstrate the impact of lower metal prices that have on our overall performance but they also reflect the swift response by our operating teams to the changes we saw in the business during the year. We significantly reduced our spending forecast in mid-2013 and in the year-end we repeat the revised forecast. Our capital spending, exploration expense and G&A.

Importantly these changes have not adversely affected our leading growth profile which will include contributions from two important new gold mines in 2014. In response to changing market conditions in 2013 investors have rightly demanded that renewed focus on profitable gold production. While we’re disappointed to break our string of nine consecutive years of increasing gold reserves our 54.4 million ounces of proven and probable gold reserves demonstrate strong economics in the current metals market and in fact we saw our overall reserve rate increased by 18%. Peñasquito is a prime example of how a new mine plan that cuts reserves and mine life can actually yield enhanced value and cash flow. We remain bullish on the long term direction of gold prices but our focus on cost containment across our portfolio represents best opportunity for continued success in (indiscernible) gold price environment.

Our strategy is unchanged, we’re committed to being a gold focus company and intend on growing safe profitable gold exposure for investors. On that front our plans to deliver two new outstanding gold mines in 2014 remain on track. With Cerro Negro in Argentina scheduled to commence gold production mid-year and Éléonore in Quebec on track for first gold by year end. Our period of intense capital investment is nearing an end. In fact most of our capital spending this year will be front end loaded such that at a flat gold price of $1200 per ounce we expect to generate free cash flow during the fourth quarter of this year. The completion and integration of the Cochenour project will soon follow in 2015 bringing a new source of gold production to Red Lake and an initial capital cost that’s actually decreased from our expectations a year ago.

The prospect of growing cash flows coupled with our strong balance sheet provided the confidence to maintain our dividend at $0.60 per share in 2013 when many companies were compelled to cut or cancel dividends. As a our cash flows increase overtime we will continue to evaluate our capital allocation alternatives to maximize shareholder returns while pursuing future growth opportunities. On January 8 we provided new production and cost guidance for 2014 and our updated five year growth profile. Production is expected to increase significantly in 2014 to between 3 million and 3.15 million ounces with all in sustaining costs decreasing to between $950 and a $1000 per ounce.

Capital expenditures are expected to range between $2.3 billion and $2.5 billion. Our five year gold production profile remains intact with a forecast increase of approximately 50% over the next two years driven by our three new projects coming online this year. The ramp up of Pueblo Viejo and continued increases in production for Peñasquito. Our five year plan positions us for continued success. With strong production growth combined with continued decreases in all-in sustaining cost we expect to generate increasing cash flows even in a flat gold price environment.

We have worked very hard to get to this position and we look forward to delivering sustained value to our shareholders in 2014 and for many years to come".

GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia stocks rally, dollar slips as emerging market fears ebb.

Asian shares extended their recent rally on Monday as worries about emerging markets continued to ebb, dragging down the U.S. dollar while giving commodities a lift.

Stocks across the region felt the benefit with MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan  up 0.8 percent, bringing its gains to almost 6 percent in eight sessions. Indonesia's market added 0.8 percent <.JKSE>, as did the Philippines <.PSI>.

Several once-embattled Asian currencies all gained ground as sentiment improved. The Indonesian rupiah did especially well with the dollar down 4 percent in as many days and dealers reporting a return of funds to many emerging markets.

The lower dollar in turn tends to be positive for commodities priced in that currency, helping lift gold to a fresh three-month peak at $1,323.76 .

Even Japan's Nikkei <.N225> managed to shrug off a firmer yen and soft domestic data to gain 0.4 percent. It had eased early as the U.S. dollar lost a quarter of a yen to 101.58 , while the euro made a three-week peak at $1.3723 .

The calmer mood was only briefly ruffled by data showing Japan's economy grew just 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, compared to the previous quarter, confounding forecasts of a 0.7 percent gain. [ID:nL3N0LH3C4]

The disappointing result will keep pressure on the Bank of Japan to support the economy once an increase in the sales tax goes through in April. The central bank's latest policy meeting ends on Tuesday and the market will be keen to see what it makes of the growth figures.

"We still have to see how much last-minute domestic demand ahead of the sales tax hike boosts January-March GDP before pondering whether extra fiscal and monetary stimuli are needed," said Junko Nishioka, chief economist at RBS Securities in Tokyo.

In energy markets, Brent oil futures dipped 8 cents on Monday to $109.00 a barrel, while U.S. crude firmed 18 cents to $100.48.


CHINESE LOANS

There was better news on China as data showed banks there disbursed the highest volume of loans in any month in four years in January, a surge that suggests the world's second-biggest economy may not be cooling as much as some fear.

Chinese banks made 1.32 trillion yuan ($218 billion) worth of new yuan loans in January, beating a 1.1 trillion yuan forecast and nearly three times December's level.

It is usual for loans to spike in January, when banks try to lend as much as they can to grab market share, but last month's surge was still the largest since January 2010.

The next hurdle will be Thursday's HSBC flash PMI survey of manufacturers for February, given that January's disappointing result sent ripples through global markets. 

The same day has a rash of flash PMIs for Europe and the United States, along with U.S. inflation data. 

Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 also start their meeting in Sydney on Thursday. Events run through to Sunday, when European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, among others, gives a news conference.

Minutes of the February policy meeting of the Federal Reserve are due on Wednesday but are not expected to differ greatly from the steady outlook offered by Fed Chair Janet Yellen last week.

Yellen still has to appear before the Senate after her testimony was postponed due to bad weather, but no firm day has been set as yet.

Source: Reuters

Japan's economy grows at slower pace, raises stakes for Abenomics

Japan's economy grew at a much slower pace than expected at the end of last year, posing a challenge to policymakers as massive government stimulus efforts showed few signs of sparking momentum in consumption and exports.

The data showing disappointing private consumption, business investment and shipments came as the Bank of Japan met to review its ultra-easy policy, with markets widely expecting the central bank to hold firm to the current pace of bond-buying stimulus. [ID:nL3N0LI07U]

However, pressure is likely to mount on the BOJ and the government to do more in coming months, especially if a planned sales tax hike in April proves more damaging to growth than expected.

The Cabinet Office said on Monday that the economy grew 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter, well below the median estimate for a 0.7 percent increase and followed 0.3 percent growth in July-September.

It was the fourth successive quarter of growth, which is the best run for the world's third-largest economy in more than three years.

Economists still expect that growth will accelerate in the current quarter as shoppers buy more goods before the tax hike, but any further disappointments could increase the need for further fiscal and monetary stimulus.

"I am not so concerned about domestic demand given a buying rush ahead of a sales tax hike in April will play out more strongly in the current quarter," said Taro Saito, senior economist at NLI Research Institute.

"What's more worrying is sluggish exports despite long-expected impact of a weak yen on boosting external demand."

Export growth has remained sluggish over recent quarters, partly reflecting softer demand in Asian markets though some of it also underlined the shift by Japanese companies of their manufacturing plants to offshore centres.

The weak external sector is a worry for Japan especially as the initial burst of momentum created by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's unprecedented monetary and fiscal expansionary policies start to fade.

After decades of lacklustre growth, during which time China overtook Japan as the world's second-biggest economy, Abe swept to power in December 2012 with a bold plan to end deflation and strengthen economic reforms.

His policies, dubbed Abenomics, helped Japan's economy speed past many of its Group of seven counterparts in the first half of last year, but the latest data will raise doubts about Abe's strategy.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average <.N225> opened higher but then fell 0.4 percent as the slower-than-expected growth weighed on sentiment. It has since rebounded 0.3 percent.

On an annualised basis, Japan's economy grew 1.0 percent, below the median estimate for a 2.8 percent rise and 3.2 percent annualised growth in the United States in the same quarter, the Cabinet Office data showed.


SLACKENING MOMENTUM

Capital expenditure, a weak link in Japan's rebound so far, rose 1.3 percent in October-December. This marked the quickest growth in two years but was still less than the median forecast for a 1.9 percent gain.

The data adds to recent signs of slackening momentum in the economy, including from a closely-watched leading indicator of capital expenditure that suggests companies could turn more cautious this year due to worries about consumer spending. [ID:nL3N0LH26E]

In the fourth quarter private consumption, which makes up about 60 percent of the economy, grew 0.5 percent from the third quarter.

That was less that the median estimate for 0.7 percent in October-December, suggesting that a spurt in demand ahead of the sales tax hike is not as strong as anticipated.

The government will increase the sales tax in April to 8 percent from 5 percent, and consumers have been buying cars, homes and durable goods before the tax increase.

Some companies have indicated they are willing to raise salaries during annual wage negotiations with labour unions held in the spring, which is an important barometer of whether Abe's economic policies are working.

Still, some economists worry wage gains will not be strong enough to support consumer spending after the tax hike takes effect.

"Optimists say the last time the sales tax was raised in 1997, consumption stumbled not because of the tax hike but because of a financial crisis," said Takumi Tsunoda, senior economist at Shinkin Central Bank Research Institute.

"But at that time, wages were growing 1.5 percent. Today wages are up just 0.4 percent. So the negative impact on consumers' real purchasing power will be bigger this time."

External demand subtracted 0.5 percentage point from growth, versus the median estimate for a 0.4 percentage point subtraction. The negative contribution is due partly to Japan's expanding domestic demand, which is boosting imports.

However, some economists worry that net exports could subtract from growth this year as companies continue to look for low-cost places outside of Japan to produce their goods, which means they ship less from Japan.

Recent turmoil in emerging markets, have also raised concerns about an external shock harming shipments.

BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda has dismissed the need for additional monetary easing as consumer prices are headed toward its 2 percent inflation target and as overseas economies recover.

At its policy review on Tuesday the BOJ is widely expected to maintain its commitment of increasing base money at an annual pace of 60-70 trillion yen ($585-$683 billion) -- the world's biggest money-printer after the U.S. Federal Reserve started to trim back its own stimulus program since January. 
Source: Reuters

Led by UC Browser, China spends twice as much time on mobile browsers as last year

iResearch, the Shanghai-based internet research firm, released a report today revealing data on mobile browser usage in China.

Among other key points, the study revealed that the most popular mobile browser in China (measuring both iOS and Android devices) is UC Browser, the popular app designed by UCWeb, with a market share of over 65 percent when measured in monthly active users.

Sitting behind UC Browser is Tencent’s QQ Mobile Browser with roughly 30 percent market share, followed by Baidu’s Baidu Browser at roughly 10 percent.

Other key data points from the report include:

• Mobile browser effective usage time increased 97 percent in China from November 2012 to November 2013.
• Mobile browsers reached 210 million monthly active users by November 2013, marking a 51 percent increase from the year prior.
• The number of mobile browsers on the average Chinese consumer’s phones has decreased year-on-year, from 2.46 in November 2012 to 1.29 in November 2013.

Mobile browsers tend to be one of those love-them-or-leave-them apps on smartphones. For some users, they’re the core of the mobile experience, the gateway to everything they do on their phones. For others they’re borderline bloatware, to be used only when they’re required to type in a URL. And while web-browsing on a smartphone pales in comparison to doing so on a tablet or desktop, mobile browsers are likely to grow more powerful in the future, acting equally as “fluid” as native apps.

As a result, a successful mobile browser can serve as prime real estate to push other moneymaking services. In the case of UC Browser, Chinese tech giant Alibaba owns a sizeable stake in parent company UCWeb. This gives the e-commerce firm yet another potential avenue into the pocketbooks of consumers in China and India, where it reportedly owns 25 percent market share.

Source: TECHINASIA

Alibaba, Temasek, Qiming Venture Partners pump $100m into online education platform

Online education platform and English-learning institution TutorGroup announced it has raised $100 million in strategic funding from Alibaba, Temasek Holdings, and Qiming Venture Partners. The latest figure adds to its $15 million round raised in April 2012.

According to a report by VentureBeat, with its new funding from Chinese and Singaporean investors, it plans to build its brand within the Asia region. Since incorporating in 2004, the online education platform currently hosts more than 10,000 hours of course content, has educated students across 40 countries, and has hosted more than 5 million sessions through its four products, namely VIPABC,TutorABC, TutorABCJr, and TutorMing. TutorMing is also offering a scholarship for students in the United States and Singapore to learn the Chinese language, in celebration of the new funding.

In the same report, the company spokesperson also said that the online education platform differentiates its product from others in the market by being “personalized”; with course content all made by teachers, rated by real students, and constantly updated and checked for errors and accuracy. It is also available for learning anytime and anywhere, even from mobile devices using its TutorMobile classroom apps, which is available in both iOS and Android.

It also plans to go beyond the scope of online language learning by venturing into other sectors, such as wine education classes taught by practitioners and experts in their respective fields.

Source: TECHINASIA

From gamers to podcasters to major events, this startup banks on the growth of live-streaming

Streaming live video to Twitch, UStream, or YouTube Live is quite popular with both regular people and companies who need to livestream events. Sometimes, more video features or controls are needed, and numerous companies have come up with products for this nice area.

That’s what Hong Kong startup SplitMedia Labs specializes in. So far it has come out with two pieces of software for this sector. One is XSplit, for individuals and organizations to publish live video streaming through platforms such as UStream, Twitch, or YouTube Live, or to make recordings to share online. And there’s XSplit Broadcaster, which allows switching between multiple video scenes for television-like production techniques. SplitmediaLabs CEO Henrik Levring says this has been used for live webinars, video podcasting, eSports, and other events.

This month the startup expanded its Broadcaster to come out with XSplit Gamecaster, a similar application built for gamers so they can broadcast and record gameplay. In a nutshell, these applications let users create videos and add visual effects such as images, video and text intuitively through simple controls.

Levring believes that video streaming services have been extremely successful in creating a huge interest in watching and creating content. “We don’t expect the growth of the medium to slow down anytime soon.” He adds:

Like many other forms of internet television, live streaming has certainly caused disruption in how media is being consumed, and we definitely believe that XSplit has been an important part of this evolution.

These applications have personal and premium licenses which start at US$14.95 for three months. It also licenses out its technology on a business-to-business scale. Levring declined to divulge the number of registered users across its apps, but he says the company gains thousands of new XSplit users every day.

The Asian advantage

While headquartered in Hong Kong, its development center sits in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. Levring explains that the firm chose Manila because “the city has an active and engaged tech and gaming industry that we believe will continue to thrive in the coming years.”

Given that the gaming industry is the core of its business, the team found it logical to grow its talent here in Manila. More than that, it engages with the local community through eSports events.

Apart from Manila, SplitMedia Labs also has team members spread across Asia, such as in Japan and China.

Source: TechinAsia

Daemon And Influx Author Daniel Suarez On Why Innovation Has Stalled

  Daniel Suarez,self-published his first novel,Daemon, in 2006. The book and its sequelFreedom™ chronicled the rise of a botnet that uses self-driving cars to kill humans, crashes the stock market, and creates a new society in its own image. His next novel, Kill Decision, published by Dutton in 2012, was about aerial drones that could decide when to use lethal force independently of any human.

After reading his books, you could be forgiven for thinking it was time for someone — the government, maybe — to put the brakes on technological progress for a while. But he wouldn’t agree with you. In fact, his latest novel, Influx, explores the idea of trying to control technological progress. And it’s just as scary as his previous stories.

Influx, which will be out next Thursday, is the story of Jon Grady, a physicist who invents a machine that can reverse gravity. But before he can share his work with the world, a secret U.S. government agency called the Bureau of Technology Control seizes it and arrests him. He soon learns the BTC has seized many other inventions, including cold fusion reactors and quantum computing systems. Using the technology it’s stockpiled, the BTC has become more powerful than any government. And it’s completely out of control.

I interviewed Suarez about Influx, the real reason that technological innovation has slowed down and why he has reservations about Bitcoin.

TechCrunch: Your previous books focused on the dangers of certain technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, robotics and drones. But your new book focuses on the dangers of withholding or restricting technology. What made you decide to change direction?

Daniel Suarez: I’m not sure I would say that it’s a change of direction. Let me revisit how you describe what I do. I actually love technology. I worked for 18 years as systems analyst in technology. If we are going to be addressing the very major problems that you see before humanity, it is going to be technology that’s going to rescue us, basically. We are going to have to think our way through this and that’s going to involve obviously a lot of people and all these conflicting ideas.

That’s why I push back when people describe my books saying that I’m showing the dangers of technology. Not just the dangers.

I think that for all of the dangers of technology spreading, I think it is more dangerous in some ways that it doesn’t. My simple reason for that is we’ve got 7 billion people on the planet and we have these very serious problems and I think we don’t know who’s going to have the answers to the problems that are coming around the bend. That’s why we really need everybody thinking on it. We need every Einstein on this planet to help us.

Who’s going to have the idea that modifies a technology that brings it to the next level or combines it with another technology? I think in the long run we’re going to be better served by sharing knowledge as opposed to creating silos of it.

The role I see for my books is trying to think through the consequences of various things because a lot of the issues around technology and the nuances in it are not usually widely appreciated. That’s how I view my writing as I sort of explore this terra incognita ahead of us in an effort to try to understand where we might be heading. And I do that using the thriller genre because I think it’s a useful way to explore the territory in a realistic way without boring the crap out of people.

TechCrunch: You wrote this book before the Edward Snowden NSA revelations, but you’ve said that the Snowden revelations weren’t that surprising given the leaks that had come before. Did you have the NSA in mind when you wrote the book?

Suarez: Well, it’s funny that I showed them in the book as sort of hapless victims in a way of the BTC. There was something appealing of course about seeing the NSA being tapped and helpless, trying to figure out how to resist a technologically superior foe. I thought that that was an interesting way to look at things. It’s not just the NSA, but any unseen and unaccountable concentration of power that I’m trying to portray in this story. And right now that might be the NSA, but over time it might change. And I wouldn’t really put a specific nationality on it. It’s a story about progress and an effort to try to retain advantage.

So, yes, it was partly about the NSA but then it’s also partly about the broader issues — the broader issues of control and transparency.

TechCrunch: It feels like the power imbalance isn’t just a political power imbalance but it’s also the lack of understanding and awareness on the part of the public as to how these things work.

Suarez: And possibly interest. It’s been mildly infuriating to me to speak with even friends and people I know who shrug and say “Well, you’re not doing anything wrong, why should you worry about surveillance?” And of course you and I would probably say well, actually, it’s not just people doing things wrong. For example somebody running for Congress 20 years from now I think is going to have a very detailed record to have to defend. “Why were you standing next to this person every day for five years and this person later turned out to be a criminal?”

I think that is why these revelations were powerful. I don’t think that many technology or IT people were surprised by this, but I think it became much more personal with Snowden. Now, it’s dying down again but I think there will be more revelations that hopefully wake people up. We can’t just be passive. Being a citizen in a democracy really does require some interest.

TechCrunch: Were you also thinking at all about the power imbalance between a wealthy nation and a poor nation, both in terms of their military might as well as just access to healthcare or plentiful food?

Suarez: Well, that certainly is part of it. Although I would say that a billionaire in a third world nation lives very much like a billionaire elsewhere. I mean they create an enclave, and they have satellite uplinks and they have jets and things like that. So, yes, the great majority of people in underdeveloped countries would live a much more technologically backward life, although it’s a mix. Again, they might skip the hardwire telephone networks that we have. I’ve never been to Africa, but a number of people that I talked to who have been to various places in Africa talk about how great the cell service is. And here I am in a first-world nation having to seek a hill top to talk to you on the cellphone.

I think technology is spreading and I think one’s experience of technology is going to relate increasingly to class, not so much to country. There are areas in parts of this country that look very technologically backward and abandoned by society in general. I wouldn’t say that they resemble the third world exactly, but they are not experiencing technology and its advantages like the rest of the country.

Source: TechCrunch

A Man And a Woman Theme Music for the Film of Claude Lelouch

Claude Lelouch Film Un Homme et une Femme, parlent les acteurs

     
                                        Anouk Aimee et Jean Louis Trintignant derriére des scenes

Nikon Df Is The Latest In That Last Refuge Of The Standalone Camera – Retro Chic

Source: TechCrunch

Nikon has introduced a new full-frame camera, and it’s no slouch on paper; with a 39-point AF system, with nine cross-type sensors, burst mode of 5.5 frames per second, a 16.2 megapixel FX0format CMOS sensor and EXPEED 3 image processing, the Nikon Df will keep up with the big boys in terms of image quality. But its most noteworthy feature, and the one Nikon is playing up, is its retro good looks that call to mind Nikon’s classic “F” series 35mm film cameras.

Nikon’s new DSLR is its smallest and lightest with a full-frame sensor, which is a similar refrain to what we’ve been hearing from camera makers lately. Sony only just recently introduced its own full-frame smallish cameras, the A7 and A7R. Where those were mirrorless cameras, this is a true DSLR, however, which explains why it’s a slightly bigger and bulkier affair.

The body-only version of the Df comes in at just shy of $2,800, which is a pretty penny to spend on a camera, but it’s also quite close to the sticker price of the higher-end Sony A7R. Retro cameras in general seem to be commanding a premium, with Fujifilm seeking $1,300 for its fixed-lens X100s, for instance. All of these share a similar rangefinder-style design with ample manual controls on the face.

Nikon’s camera seems to aim for high-end pros more than the others, calling out to old-school photogs with its pyramid viewfinder hump and dedicated dials for just about everything, including ISO, exposure compensation, shutter speed, release mode and exposure mode. It has a threaded shutter release button for use with soft shutter releases and shutter release cables, too, and it works with Nikon’s existing speedlights, FX and DX lenses. It’s shipping with a new AF-S Nikkor 50 mm f/1.8G lens, which should appeal to photographers looking for a classic rangefinder experience in both body and optics.

Camera makers know that the smartphone is eating away at their market share in the general consumer category – the heyday of the pocket camera is gone. The Nikon Df is a prime example of what happens when dedicated camera manufacturers look to their past to find out what they might be able to offer camera buyers that is both special and unique. That also happens to be something they appear willing to pay a premium for.

Standalone cameras won’t die, but they’ll become the province of hobbyists, enthusiasts and specialists, and it’s actually very impressive to see manufacturers like Nikon dip back into their roots to capitalize on that trend, rather than simply ridding the consumer market to extinction.

Google And VMware Make Accessing Windows Apps, Desktops From ChromeOS Easier

Google and VMware today announced that they are working together to make it easier for Chromebook users in the enterprise to access Windows apps and the Windows desktop on their machines. Using VMware’s Horizon desktop as a service (DaaS), which uses VMware‘s HTML5 Blast protocol, it will now be easier for Chromebook users to connect to a traditional Windows experience.

Remote access to a Windows machine on Chrome OS is nothing new. Google offers its ownRemote Desktop app for this, and there are a number of third-party options that offer the same kind of service. For the most part, though, these solutions don’t offer the kind of security features that enterprises look for in a remote access tool. According to the companies, today’s launch will bring an enterprise-ready solution to the growing number of businesses that have deployed Chrome OS devices.

Using VMware’s Horizon Chromebook-optimized DaaS, Google says, enables “customers to centralize other desktop environments and manage these as a cloud service.” Right now, this service is only available as a fully managed, subscription-based offering by VMWare and its partners, both in the cloud and within hybrid deployments.

VMware says users will be able to use the service to access their Windows applications, data and desktops from a web-based application catalog on their Chromebooks. Soon, Chromebook users (or their IT admins) will also be able to install the service from the Chrome Web Store.

Given that Google is now also putting more emphasis on its Chromeboxes, the company is clearly positioning Chrome OS as an alternative to Windows. Indeed, in its announcement today, Google stressed that it believes that “as the countdown to Windows XP end of life continues, deploying Chromebooks and taking advantage of a DaaS environment ensures that security vulnerabilities, application compatibility and migration budgets will be a thing of the past.”

Besides the obvious marketing-speak here, there are security issues with still running Windows XP, though Google is clearly going after a bigger market, too. It sees Chrome OS as an alternative to any traditional desktop operating system.

Source: TechCrunch

Turn Your iPhone Into A Combination GoPro Mount And Monitor With The GoPhone

Source: TechCrunch

A new Kickstarter project aims to make your GoPro filmography easier to handle, with a case designed to hold the GoPro in such a way that you have a full view of the screen of your iPhone 5s or 5, so that you can monitor all the action while you shoot one-handed.

There are no shortage of iPhone cases that offer double-duty performance with some other task, be it acting as a wallet, or opening beers, or propping up your iPhone itself, but the GoPhone might have just the right feature mix for the action hero in your life. It features a hump at one end that’s designed to allow you to slide in your GoPro’s quick release buckle, giving you full access to the screen at any orientation.

The iPhone still connects to the GoPro in the traditional manner – wirelessly, using the camera’ s inbuilt Wi-Fi connectivity, but now a shooter can watch the action as they film while operating as a follow cam, which is particularly useful if you’re trying to capture your buddy showing off at the skatepark or on the bike track.

It’ll come in multiple colors when it ships, and offers not only live video while shooting, but also a quick and easy way to review footage just shot without having to put down one mount and pick up your phone. Australian project creators Andrew Dorn and Carson Tully have aimed for an economy of design here, and they’ve also spent months testing it in real-world situations at the skatepark. Tully is an industrial designer and illustrator, and Dorn works in the film industry and previously created an iPhone app called ‘Ramped Slow Mo.’

HTC Confirms That Windows Phone 8.1 Exists, Shocking Precisely No One

In a Reddit AMA session today, HTC employees confirmed that the company’s 8X Windows Phone handset will receive future firmware updates. This indicates that the company is working with Microsoft to bring Windows Phone 8.1 to the device. Windows Phone 8.1, also known as Windows Phone Blue, is a upcoming set of updates to the Windows Phone platform expected to land in April.

The as-yet unannounced Windows Phone 8.1 has been bouncing around the news lately. Not that Microsoft likely minds too much. Having the media pick over what is coming next for Windows Phone helps keep the enthusiasts enthused, and earns the platform coverage that it can repeat when the features are ‘officially’ released. Less of a bang at the end, but if you need to stay relevant, well, it’s an option.

Here’s HTC confirming that Blue is coming, and that they are working with Microsoft to deliver it to 8X customers:

So, that’s happening. Microsoft declined to comment.

Before I let you go for the weekend, keep the lower branches of that statement in mind. We know that a number of OEMs are either considering, or perhaps even now working on, getting into the Windows Phone game. Could HTC jump back in? I had an 8X for a while and can say that it was a fine piece of hardware. Windows Phone as a platform could use more like it. And HTC left the door plenty open in its statement on Reddit.

Source: TechCrunch

Haiku Deck Launches An iPhone App For Viewing And Controlling Your Presentations

Haiku Deck is the simple new way to create stunning presentations – whether you are pitching an idea, teaching a lesson, telling a story, or igniting a movement. Featured on the iTunes “New and Noteworthy” and “What’s Hot” lists, Haiku Deck makes it fast and fun to create beautifully designed slideshows you’ll be proud to share. The app has been the top ranked productivity app on iTunes in more than 36 markets around the world.

“A smart app that makes beautiful slide shows in no time and makes your iPad a more productive tool” – Wall Street Journal

“Makes creating beautiful presentations a cinch and a joy, whether you have design skills or not” – Lifehacker

“The easiest-to-use presentation tool out there” – Robert Scoble

“Insanely cool” – Lawrence Lessig, Creative Commons Founder

Headquartered in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood, Haiku Deck is a privately held company with the backing of prominent investors including Trilogy Partnership, Madrona Venture Group, Founder’s Co-op, and Techstars. The Seattle-based startup was founded by Adam Tratt and Kevin Leneway.

Source: TechCrunch

Dosomething.Org Taps Snapchat For Teen-Centric Valentine’s Campaign

Dosomething, a not-for-profit focused on making volunteer work and social change exciting to people under 25, is going after its key demographic where they’re comfortable: Snapchat.

The company used the photo-sharing platform, which has yet to launch a formal advertising or brand program, to run a Valentine’s-themed campaign in NYC.

“We noticed that teenagers, our core demographic, were flocking away from Facebook,” said DoSomething’s Colleen Wormsley. “But they love Snapchat.”

DoSomething first signed up for a Snapchat account in November of 2013, with Bryce Mathias in charge of the channel. The company alerted their Twitter following that they now had a Snapchat account, and simply waited for requests to come in. Mathias, a male model, mostly sent selfies to new friends making goofy faces.

The team learned that they received more response snaps during school days, so Mathias began setting aside a block of time just before lunch to respond to everyone’s snaps.

As February rolled around, DoSomething launched a Love Letters campaign that encourages teens to create Valentine’s Day cards for homebound seniors. As a part of the campaign, the not-for-profit created a Snapchat story promising that Mathias would deliver these Love Letters on Valentines Day dressed as cupid. In the middle of New York. In February.

All the followers had to do was text to vote for how he should deliver them: by bike, ice skates, or around Central Park. Once they voted, they would be sent a call-to-action to create their own Love Letter for a homebound senior.

In the end, 11 percent of the people who viewed the story asked him to go ice skating. Of those who texted in to vote, 57 percent signed up to participate in Love Letters.

Putting those figures in perspective can be difficult without much transparency into Snapchat’s monetization plan, but we may not have to wait too much longer.

The interactive portion of the campaign might be just the ticket on a platform where social media responses and feedback can’t be shared or showed off by brands. But that works in those brands favor. Younger demographics would much prefer a more authentic relationship with the brands they like, and with 400 million snaps sent per day, there could actually be potential to build lasting conversations between brands and younger consumers.

Snapchat was rumored to be building out a sales team last summer, and the company certainly has people in place to communicate with brands behind the scenes.

Snapchat’s Josh Stone responded to DoSomething shortly after they published the story to welcome them to the platform and lend a hand with any support or feedback they might need.

TechCrunch

Flappy Bird Developer Says He’s Taking The Hit Game Down Tomorrow

The developer of the popular mobile game Flappy Bird just declared that he’s taking the game down tomorrow.

Dong Nguyen, an indie game developer based in Hanoi, Vietnam, tweeted, “I am sorry ‘Flappy Bird’ users, 22 hours from now, I will take ‘Flappy Bird’ down. I cannot take this anymore.” He then elaborated, “It is not anything related to legal issues. I just cannot keep it anymore.”

After his tweets first went out, others asked if he was willing to sell it, but he said no. Nguyen also said that he’s still making games.

TechCrunch interviewed Nguyen via email a week ago, after Flappy Bird took off (it’s still the number one free app in both Apple’s App Store and in Google Play). He said that he’s the only creator at his game studio .GEARS , and he seemed to be as surprised by Flappy Bird’s popularity as anyone else, telling us, “I have no resources to do anything else beside uploading the game.”

I’ve emailed Nguyen to find out more and will update this post if I hear back. Presumably, if you’ve already downloaded the game you’d be able to continue playing it, but again, that’s not something I’ve confirmed with Nguyen.

As noted in Kotaku, Nguyen said earlier this week that the press was “overrating” the success of his games: “It is something I never want. Please give me peace.”

Source: TechCrunch