Give a more longer term perspective of Economic trends and the Macroeconomic and Monetary Interdependence of the Global Economy.
With the Background of this approach the blog will deal with the implications for Investment decisions.
The author believes that China and the Asia Pacific Region are and will be the powerhouse for the
global economic growth for years to come.
It will also cover IT because of its momentum driver for economic growth.
Came back to Spice Resto-Lounge. Quel Dommage.
They have a live band that plays well Salsa, Bachatas and Merengues.
Not great musicians for a live concert night. Know what I mean?
It was all they had about a latino place there. Less and only the best dancers
should be dancing on the bar.
If you like to look how other people dance, maybe you can enjoy,but that is not a latino taste.
This bar seems to me more kind of spanglish,that would be the closer and
true meaning of it.
It is a pitty.Less cool atmosphere,less spice,more back to the latin roots would be great.
China’s biggest ecommerce company is fusing online shopping with good, old-fashioned brick-and-mortar retailing. Sort of. Today, Alibaba announced a US$692 million (HK$5.37 billion) investment [1] in InTime Retail (HKG:1833), which has 28 department stores and eight shopping malls across China. The deal will allow users of Alibaba’s ewallet app, Alipay, to make in-store payments at all InTime malls and department stores after tying the app to virtual prepaid cards. There’s no indicated launch date for this feature. The partnership between the two shopping giants will also result in some online changes. Shoppers on Alibaba’s Tmall site will be able to claim InTime members points at some estores, and InTime will ship items to online buyers from their physical stores. That should speed up delivery times in some areas, and will also bring more international fashion brands to Tmall customers.
This isn’t Alibaba’s first foray into online-offline purchasing. Alipay users can already use the app for things like movie tickets and paying for a taxi ride. Alibaba’s latest investment comes as the company feels the heat from WeChat, the popular messaging app that its parent company, Tencent, is developing into new areas such as in-store payments. WeChat users can also use the app for film tickets and taxi fares. WeChat was used to book 21 million taxi rides in a one-month period earlier this year after the feature was first rolled out.
This announcement comes as the entire mobile commerce and epayment industries are under threat in China. The People’s Bank of China indicated earlier this month that it wants to issue strict new regulations on online payments, and banks are already complying by setting one-time payment and monthly total limits. Those caps mean that a consumer could not use Alipay (or any rival epayment service) to pay for an iPhone because its price-tag is in excess of the new limits imposed by some Chinese banks. Jack Ma, Alibaba’s founder and chairman, last week hit out at the pending regulations by slamming the banks as a “monopoly power.” However, Alibaba’s investment in InTime today shows that it’s pushing forward with offline-online commerce – spurred on by the need to beat arch-rival Tencent, and in apparent defiance of looming government regulations.
Cloning a clone But it doesn’t stop there. The Xiaomi MiKey is the spitting image of Kuai Anniu (literally ‘speed button’), a Chinese kickstarter project. This indie project raised RMB 208,579 ($34,462) late last year, but still hasn’t started sales to buyers. In fact, the Xiaomi MiKey has so totally ripped off Kuai Anniu that it has even copied the plastic carrier case that the tiny gizmo fits into – and which clips onto your earphone cable – when not in use. (Pressy is different in using a keychain attachment when it’s not being used). Here’s a comparison:
Less than a buck To add insult to all that injury, the Xiaomi MiKey will beat all the projects it has copied to market and will come with a tiny price-tag – just RMB 4.9, which is $0.80. In stark contrast, Pressy costs $27. Xiaomi said on its Weibo account over the weekend that the MiKey will launch on April 8. We contacted Xiaomi HQ in Beijing yesterday to ask about its design, but we’ve yet to get a response. (Update: In response to my earlier query, a Xiaomi representative says the MiKey is its own design, and it did not acquire Kuai Anniu). Hopefully Xiaomi is not transforming from a cool startup into an evil empire that steamrollers and clones others’ ideas. It’s taking Chinese web giant Tencent – the makers of WeChat – more than a decade to clean up its tarnished reputation for doing that. It’s not something that’s easy to shake off.
Source: TECHINASIA Over the weekend, Chinese phone-maker Xiaomi added to its growing repertoire of accessories with the MiKey. It’s an extra, configurable button for your Xiaomi smartphone that you can stick into the headphone jack and set to launch specific actions – like one click to launch the music app, two clicks to bring up the SMS app. It can link an action to up to 10 clicks. Xiaomi’s new gadget promises to work with popular apps like WeChat and Sina Weibo too. The big trouble with this little gizmo is that it’s a total rip-off of not just one but two crowdfunding projects. Firstly, it’s obviously based on Pressy, the hugely popular Kickstarter project unveiled last summer that still hasn’t shipped to buyers. Pressy ended up raising US$695,138 – way above its $40k goal. As you can see in this side-by-side comparison, Xiaomi’s MiKey is clearly a lot like Pressy:
China’s Twitter-esque Sina Weibo is now one big step closer to its IPO. The social network has filed a new form with the US SEC that shows Weibo will price its shares in the US$17 to $19 range. If it debuts at the top of that range, Weibo will raise $437 million. Weibo had 143.8 million monthly active users in March. Earlier this week, Weibo – which is a spin-off from web portal company Sina (NASDAQ:SINA) – revealed that it has opted for NASDAQ rather than the NYSE. Its stock ticker will be NASDAQ:WB.
Yesterday I came back from my vacations to Hollywood and Ft Laudardale.
I bought a round-trip LAN ticket online.
The surprise came when I wanted to confirm my return flight.
On Thursday I tried to do my check-in online,once twice I couldn't do it,I desisted,I thought it was
too early.
On Friday I tried again. I couldn't do it either.
Although there was always a message on the frontline(given them the benefit of the doubt):
Don't rush! Remember that you can check in your LAN flight between 48 and 2 hours before
departure.
Yesterday morning I tried to do the check-in again, my flight departed at 16.35, it was never open online!
Just in case a went early to the airport .
I went to the check-in line of LAN, I had to wait maybe 40 minutes.
When my turn arrived, I was told by the attendant that for a reason (he didn't gave no explanation), my flight return was operated by American Airlines.
He said that there was an explanation at the entrance of the waiting line for the check-in for LAN
flights!!!!!!!!!!!! And that then I had to go to the check-in points of American Airlines.
To make this story short, I had to rush all the way from LAN to AA.
I waited shortly in the line, my turn arrived, the attendant said she couldn't help me, that I should do the check-in in the computers that where placed just before the check-in desks.
She tried to help me but the computers where very slow and busy.
At the end I was finally assisted by a third lady who really understood the problem. She was already used to these "surprised" passengers of American Airlines.
Always surprised by the oldie fly-hostess of AA of today, and remembering the good Old days of this almighty company and their young and beautiful and sometimes naughty fly-hostess.
A slide in momentum stocks pulled Wall Street and a measure of global equities lower on Friday despite a solid U.S. jobs report, while the dollar weakened on views the Federal Reserve will likely continue to wind down its stimulus.
The U.S. bond market surprisingly rallied, particularly five-year Treasury notes, which had been weak lately on fears the Fed could raise interest rates earlier than anticipated.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of European shares touched a high last seen in 2008 on the jobs data and closed higher, marking nine straight gains and three consecutive weeks of higher closes.
But stocks on Wall Street retreated after stabilizing earlier in the week as momentum stocks such as biotechs fell for a second straight session. The Nasdaq biotech index <.NBI> lost 3.2 percent and the Nasdaq composite fell more than 2 percent, pulling down U.S. stocks and global equities.
"You’ve got some big names in there. There is a high correlation inside of those groups," said Keith Bliss, senior vice-president at Cuttone & Co in New York. "Managers tend to trade the entire group as opposed to individual names. So that of course, is hitting the Nasdaq and everybody else."
Equities had opened higher on optimism spurred by the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, which showed jobs rose by 192,000 in March, just shy of the 200,000 forecast, after rising 197,000 in February. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.7 percent.
With a solid pace of hiring for a second month, the economy appears to be recovering from a winter slowdown. [ID:nL1N0MV1UG]
A smaller survey of households, from which the unemployment rate is derived, showed a much bigger surge in employment. That jump was met by a rise in the number of people entering the labor force, a show of confidence in the U.S. job market.
The percentage of working-age Americans with a job reached its highest level since the summer of 2009.
"Overall, people are taking this as a sign there isn’t some sort of underlying weakness in the economy," said Kate Warne, investment strategist at Edward Jones in St. Louis.
"It has fit into people’s belief that most of the weakness we saw earlier was due to the weather and not something really changing about the economy."
The S&P 500 hit a fresh record high before retreating. MSCI's all-country world stock index <.MIWD00000PUS> fell 0.07 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 40.17 points, or 0.24 percent, to 16,532.38. The S&P 500 lost 9.96 points, or 0.53 percent, to 1,878.81 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 83.989 points, or 1.98 percent, to 4,153.75.
Bond prices rose, with the 5-year up 12/32 in price to yield 1.7008 percent. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose 16/32 in price to yield 2.7298 percent.
"This number doesn't give any reason to move up the Fed timing of rate hikes, which is what was feared most," said John Briggs, U.S. rates strategist at RBS in Stamford, Connecticut.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index closed up 0.56 percent at 1,352.78 points.
The dollar was choppy against the euro and declined against other major currencies despite the solid U.S. jobs gains.
The jobs report will likely encourage the Fed to continue reducing, or tapering, its massive monetary stimulus, according to Anthony Valeri, investment strategist at LPL Financial in San Diego.
"It's a Goldilocks report, not too warm and not too cold, and puts pressure on the next report in May to be good," Valeri said. "It doesn't change the pace of tapering and shows the economy is still on track."
The greenback was up 0.17 percent against the euro at $1.3695. It fell 0.51 percent to 103.38 against the Japanese yen after hitting a session high of 104.12 yen in trading immediately after the employment report.
Brent crude rose above $106 a barrel as expectations of a deal to reopen vital Libyan oil ports were balanced by doubts that a lasting resolution was imminent.
Brent crude was up 69 cents at $106.84 a barrel. U.S. crude , or West Texas Intermediate (WTI), rose $1.04 to $101.33 a barrel.
The Wall Street Journal reports,"the nation's exports declined 1.1% to $190.43 billion, while imports rose 0.4% to $232.73 billion, the Commerce Department said Thursday. As a result, the nation's trade gap widened 7.7% to $42.3 billion, more than the $38.6 billion gap forecast by economists. It was the largest trade deficit since September".
February's export decline followed a 0.6% gain in January. That suggests the surge in overseas sales that helped boost economic growth late last year was likely unsustainable. Growth in China is slowing while Europe's recovery remains fragile, tempering demand for U.S. exports.
The report triggered a spate of downward revisions to first-quarter growth estimates, which had already come down substantially due to economic disruptions caused by unusually cold and stormy weather.
Macroeconomic Advisers lowered its first-quarter growth forecast to a 0.9% annual growth rate from 1.4% previously. Morgan Stanley lowered its forecast to a 1.2% pace from 1.5%. Economists at Royal Bank of Scotland lowered their forecast to a 0.6% annual growth rate from 1.2% previously.
February's meager import growth provided new evidence of weak spending by U.S. consumers and businesses in the early part of the year. Domestic demand looks even weaker after adjusting the import data for inflation. Stripping out the effect of higher prices for petroleum and other products, imports fell slightly. Imports of capital goods, industrial supplies and petroleum products all declined. Imports of crude oil fell to $19.5 billion, the lowest level since late 2010, a reflection of expanded domestic energy production.
The U.S. economy trade data showed also some signs of strengthening in March. Recent data showed auto sales surging to one of the strongest rates in years after weakening in January and February, while manufacturing activity strengthened. According to a survey of purchasing managers by the Institute for Supply Management, March manufacturing output rebounded from multiyear lows in February, new orders rose and export orders picked up.
A bout of financial volatility in emerging markets early in the year has subsided, providing a more stable outlook that should help support U.S. exports.
But challenges remain for the global backdrop. China's growth engine is downshifting. Many economists believe Europe risks entering a period of deflation. And tensions with Russia over Ukraine could further harm the global economy.
U.S. exports to the European Union in February were down 2.5% from January, while exports to China were 4.6% lower.
"The recovery is taking hold, but is too slow," Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said in a speech Wednesday. "Unless countries come together to take the right kind of policy measures, we could be facing years of slow and subpar growth."
The U.S. created 192,000 jobs in March, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.7%, the result of more than a half-million people joining the labor force in search of work, according to Labor Department figuresissued Friday. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected an increase of 200,000 nonfarm jobs. In March, hiring was strongest in the professional ranks and at bars and restaurants. Manufacturing shed 1,000 jobs but was the only sector to do so. Average hourly wages, meanwhile, dipped 1 cent to $24.30 after several strong gains. And the average workweek jumped 0.2 hours to 34.5 hours, matching a post-recession high. The labor-force participation rate moved up to 63.2% from 63%, as 503,000 people searched for work, a sign that they think more jobs are available. Employment gains for February and January were revised higher by a combined 37,000. The number of new jobs created in February was raised to 197,000 from 175,000, while January's figure was increased to 144,000 from 129,000. Source: Marketwatch
Xiaomi founder Lei Jun is spewing out more numbers than the Count in Sesame Street today. After saying that Xiaomi plans to sell 100 million smartphones next year, the phone-maker boss revealed that the upstart company has already shipped a stellar 11 million smartphones in the first quarter of this year – that’s more than half of its sales for the whole of 2013. ‘Shipments’ don’t equate to sales, but it shows that Xiaomi is off to a rocketing start to 2014. So much so that Lei Jun has revised his sales target for the year from 40 million to 60 million.
For a sense of scale, Xiaomi sold 18.7 million of its Android-powered smartphones in 2013, and 7.2 million back in 2012. Xiaomi’s numbers this year will be boosted by sales in its newest market, Singapore. Lei Jun may also have in mind future launches across Southeast Asia. Xiaomi said back in February that it’s looking into India, Indonesia, Thailand, and a few other emerging markets, but it hasn’t yet singled out its next launch market.
If there's a company that can challenge, if not top, Apple's standing as the leader in smartphone design, it's HTC. Last year's HTC One and the newHTC One (M8) just might be the two most beautiful mobile devices ever made. What happens when you put the One M8's features and specs next to those of the iPhone 5s? Read on, as Gizmag breaks it down. Size
The GoodFrom engine to suspension, through the steering and differential, the 2014
Chevrolet Corvette Stingray makes use of tech to enhance performance. The exterior design is breathtaking, and clever LCD instrumentation lets the driver customize information. The Bose audio system pumps the bass yet produces a clean sound.
The Bad The cabin tech interface was confusing, with convoluted means of accessing music libraries, audio sources, and map features. The Stingray wasn't well-suited for heavy traffic.
The Bottom LineAmong the long line of Corvette models, the Stingray feels like something special, a thoroughbred sports car for the 21st century that must be put on the track to be really enjoyed.
While impressive that the Corvette model has been in continuous production for over 60 years, more astounding is the lack of a slacker in its seven generations. You might decry the crippled power output of some mid-70s models, or sniff a little at the C4's design. But none of these could really be called bad. So Chevy faced an uphill battle designing the 2014 Corvette, the C7, for seventh generation.
The company felt it did so well with the C7 that it is called the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray; the Stingray name having only been applied to two previous generations.
Corvettes of recent past, while they looked good on the outside, relied on GM's parts bin for cabin appointments. But the new Stingray looks and feels much improved, with a tastefully appointed cockpit with high-tech flourishes, such as a head-up display and an LCD instrument cluster. One thing that survived the redesign was a faint hint of epoxy mixing with the new car smell.
As before, the body panels are made of a composite material, although the hood and roof are carbon fiber. Chevy designed the new Corvette Stingray on an aluminum frame, which combines lightness and incredible rigidity. Weight comes in at a mere 3,300 pounds.
The GoodFrom engine to suspension, through the steering and differential, the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray makes use of tech to enhance performance. The exterior design is breathtaking, and clever LCD instrumentation lets the driver customize information. The Bose audio system pumps the bass yet produces a clean sound.
The Bad The cabin tech interface was confusing, with convoluted means of accessing music libraries, audio sources, and map features. The Stingray wasn't well-suited for heavy traffic.
The Bottom LineAmong the long line of Corvette models, the Stingray feels like something special, a thoroughbred sports car for the 21st century that must be put on the track to be really enjoyed.
While impressive that the Corvette model has been in continuous production for over 60 years, more astounding is the lack of a slacker in its seven generations. You might decry the crippled power output of some mid-70s models, or sniff a little at the C4's design. But none of these could really be called bad. So Chevy faced an uphill battle designing the 2014 Corvette, the C7, for seventh generation.
The company felt it did so well with the C7 that it is called the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray; the Stingray name having only been applied to two previous generations.
In looks, the Stingray certainly seems worthy of its title. I could walk around and around it, appreciating the clever mix of curves and angles, the long nose and sharp front fenders, the vents fore and aft, the way the cab rises and rakes back. I could call out the taillights for their Camaro-ish look, but then my eye was drawn to the center-mounted quad exhaust tips.
Corvettes of recent past, while they looked good on the outside, relied on GM's parts bin for cabin appointments. But the new Stingray looks and feels much improved, with a tastefully appointed cockpit with high-tech flourishes, such as a head-up display and an LCD instrument cluster. One thing that survived the redesign was a faint hint of epoxy mixing with the new car smell.
As before, the body panels are made of a composite material, although the hood and roof are carbon fiber. Chevy designed the new Corvette Stingray on an aluminum frame, which combines lightness and incredible rigidity. Weight comes in at a mere 3,300 pounds.
Chevy felt the new Corvette was good enough to earn the appellation 'Stingray.'Josh Miller/CNET
Five flavors of drive
On the Stingray's console sits a mode selector, a simple dial that takes the car through five settings: Weather, Eco, Touring, Sport, and Track. Each mode can set up to 12 performance parameters, everything from throttle sensitivity and the stability program, to exhaust note and the look of the instrument cluster. And you can customize some of the parameters for each mode, choosing, for example, how the mode will affect the steering.
When cruising down the freeway, Eco and Touring felt very similar. However, Eco engages cylinder deactivation, which runs the Stingray's 6.2-liter V-8 on just four cylinders, and reverting to all eight when I hit the gas. As another means of helping fuel economy, the seven-speed manual transmission shunts the shifter from second to fifth in a casual upshift, a trick Chevy has used before. These tricks earn the Stingray an EPA-rated 17 mpg city and 29 mpg highway, the latter remarkable for a car of its power. In a mix of driving modes, I turned in 20.2 mpg.
The Stingray I was driving came with Chevy's Magnetic Selective Ride Control technology, an optional adaptive suspension that changes the damper response based on sensor information and the driver-selected program. Both Eco and Touring modes use the suspension's most comfortable setting, which I wouldn't call soft. The car always felt sports-car stiff, but the ride was just a tad compliant in these modes. Likewise, the throttle was easier to modulate when slogging through stop-and-go traffic, and the electric power steering assumed a light feel.
Twisting the dial to Sport, the Stingray felt like it was coming into its own. The exhaust assumed a more thunderous note, while the ride and steering stiffened up. The throttle mapping change was subtle, and not so sensitive that I couldn't keep a steady speed crawling along behind a truck going uphill. If I didn't feel a need to test out the other drive modes, and give the fuel economy a fair shake, I would have left it in Sport all the time.
Track mode stiffened the suspension so much as to be uncomfortable. This level of rigidity doesn't work so well on public roads, where little bumps and imperfections can bounce the car off-course. Track mode was designed for well-maintained race courses, where the Stingray won't have to deal with five years worth of county paving crew neglect.
Weather mode detunes the torque, good for preventing the tires from spinning at every start on a wet road.
The Stingray finds its element on twisty mountain roads.Josh Miller/CNET
I had far too much time driving the Stingray in heavy traffic. Like any car with a lot of power and manual transmission, it wasn't fun under these circumstances. I wouldn't want to use this car as a commuter. There was also quite a bit of road noise, making me question how enjoyable it would be on a road trip. And the steering rack felt like it was binding when I had the wheels cranked at maximum for parking lot maneuvers, resulting in an uncomfortable rolling thump-thump.
The fun came when hitting the gas for a fast take-off, and on winding mountain roads.
From the driver's seat, the nose, marked by the fender ridges, looked wide. But the steering wheel guided the front with perfection. I could feel the rigidity of the frame and how it aided turn-in. It only took a little steering wheel input to guide the car around, and then it followed with precision. Going around a sweeper, I could feel the electronic limited slip differential do its thing, maintaining power from the rear at each vector of turn.
There's a ton of grip here, especially with the Z51 Performance Package, which ups the wheel size by an inch, putting 19-inch wheels in front and 20-inch wheels in back, wrapped in Michelin Pilot Super Sports. At $2,800, the Z51 package is a bargain, as it also brings in upgraded brakes, a dry sump oil system, and the aforementioned limited slip differential. The adaptive suspension is an additional option, but well worth it.
China acted for the first time this year to steady its stumbling economy by cutting taxes for small firms on Wednesday and announcing plans to speed up the construction of railway lines.
The Chinese cabinet said after its weekly meeting that it will accelerate the construction of rail projects that have been approved, and increase the total length of lines being laid this year by 18 percent compared to 2013.
The government also said it would lower tax rates for smaller companies by relaxing the criteria that allows them to halve their income taxes. This policy will be extended to the end of 2016, the government said.
The measures mark the first concrete action being taken by China this year to boost its economy, and come after Premier Li Keqiang last week sought to reassure jittery markets that Beijing was ready to provide support. [ID:nL4N0MP0CQ]
Flagging growth has unnerved global investors and fuelled speculation about a modest stimulus package to boost activity.
Two surveys of China's vast manufacturing sector showed this week that factories faced persistent headwinds in March, raising fears that the economy may be cooling much faster than thought. [ID:nL4N0MT0AA]
"We will find innovative ways including fiscal and financial methods to...steady economic growth," the cabinet said in a statement on the government's website.
The Chinese government said in March that it aims to grow the economy by around 7.5 percent this year, and a minority of analysts believe growth will ultimately fall short of 7.5 percent.
Increased construction of railway lines will foster investment, the biggest driver of China's economy, and which is rising at its slowest rate in at least a decade as the country moves towards consumption-driven growth.
The railway investment will be partly financed by bank loans, the government said. Authorities will also create an annual fund worth 200 billion yuan ($32.2 billion) to 300 billion yuan each year that is open to private investors.
For this year, the government will also sell 150 billion yuan worth of bonds to pay for over 6,600 kilometres of new railway track.
Railway projects in China gained infamy in recent years for their rife corruption and heavy debt load - problems that culminated in a series of corruption scandals at the Ministry of Railways that led to its dissolving in March 2013.
Projects are now overseen by China Railway Corp, which won approval on Tuesday to sell 150 billion yuan worth of bonds, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter. Source: Reuters
The latest update to Windows 8 will be available on April 8 and brings much-needed tweaks for desktop users, restoring some of the features Windows users have been missing since the Metro interface first launched.
First and foremost, the OS now detects whether you're using a tablet or desktop and mouse setup, and delivers the best experience for your device. This means that upon launch, if you're on a desktop computer, the OS will boot straight to the desktop, and on a tablet, you'll get the touchable tiles of Microsoft's modern interface. But don't worry if you prefer the way Windows currently behaves; you still have the option to choose your startup preferences in the settings.
One of the biggest complaints about Windows 8 was the loss of the Start Button as we knew it in previous versions of Windows. Windows 8.1 brought back the Start Button for some functions, but still didn't offer many of the most used features in older Windows versions. Now, with the Windows 8.1 Update, you get a mash up of both the traditional Start Button view and the live tiles. So, with a click you can now get recently opened apps, your documents folder, and other common options found in older versions of the Start Menu, but on the right, you get the live tiles from the modern interface. It seems like a good compromise between the two, and I like that it doesn't completely remove you from the desktop any longer.
Microsoft also made some changes with full-screen apps making them a lot more intuitive for desktop users and more in line with the history of the Windows OS. Full screen apps now (once again) have a title bar at the top, with the X in the upper right so you can quit out of an app easily with a click of your mouse.
With the modern interface out of the way on your desktop, it makes sense that Microsoft would find a way to make the Windows Store more accessible. Now, with this latest update, the Windows Store is automatically pinned to the taskbar on your desktop.
The GoodMammoth cabin space and smooth ride quality make the 2014 Mercedes-Benz S550's cabin the place to be, whether in front or back. LED lights and big LCD dashboard panels keep the tech ahead of the pack. A new Steering Assist feature eases driving in heavy traffic.
The Bad App integration loads too slowly for general use. Virtual instrument gauges look a little flat, and it needs a graphic fuel gauge.
The Bottom LineMercedes-Benz takes a big step forward with its 2014 S550 flagship sedan, improving just about every feature in this model update, but app integration suffers from slow connection times.
Given its size (over 17 feet), powerful engine, and loads of tech, it is certainly worthy of more than one nickname.
Mercedes-Benz's flagship S-Class luxury sedan has been facing stiff competition, from the Audi A8to even the Hyundai Equus. The company obviously couldn't rest on its laurels, especially considering the much lower prices of a few other big, luxury rollers.
The 2014 S550 shows that Mercedes-Benz took the threat seriously, and designed a car that will force other luxury sedan makers back to their drawing boards. Along with redesigned bodywork, a huge cabin, large LCD panels for instruments and cabin tech, and fuel economy technology, Mercedes-Benz adds an innovative steering-assistance feature that will ease driving and bring the S550 one step closer to being an autonomous car.
The GoodA diesel drivetrain gives the 2014 Audi A7 TDI impressive fuel economy for a large car. Connected features include Google local search and Google Earth integrated with navigation. Bang & Olufsen audio delivers detailed and balanced music reproduction.
The Bad The A7 TDI requires additional maintenance in the form of 10,000 mile AdBlue fill-ups. Audi's proprietary audio port requires adapter cables for external devices; a standard USB port would be preferable.
The Bottom LineThe 2014 Audi A7 TDI includes some of the best connected tech available today in an automobile, and those inclined to put up with a few diesel drivetrain quirks will be rewarded with significantly higher fuel economy than from the gasoline equivalent.
In heavy traffic on the freeway, I let the 2014 Audi A7 TDI's cruise control handle braking and accelerating, and gave lane-keeping assist a try by letting the car drift over to the left lane line. Cruise control, using its radar to track the car ahead, unerringly handled stop-and-go without my intervention. And before the car crossed the lane line, the camera-based lane assist moved the wheel under my light grip, steering the A7 TDI back into its own lane.
Was I experiencing a glimpse of our autonomous driving future?
Not exactly, as the pull on the steering wheel sent the car on a drift toward the right lane line, from which it also corrected. If I let it have its way, I figured it would drunkenly weave back and forth between the lines, then get completely thrown off by the first serious curve or faded line paint. The A7 TDI's radar and cameras made it dimly aware of its surroundings, but true autonomy requires more sophisticated sensors.
Despite not exactly being the future of self-driving, the A7 has been a high-tech showcase for Audi since its launch in 2010, not to mention having an excellent body design that became much copied. For 2014, the A7 adds some driver assistance features, but its connected infotainment system is largely the same as before.
Just what the world needs: more Samsung tablets. Samsung has officially announced the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4, a new line of mid-range Android tablets in 7, 8 and 10-inch sizes.
All three are powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor and Android 4.4 KitKat software. They connect to the Web via 4G, with 3G versions for the 10 and 7-inch models that will probably save you a few pennies. Prices and release dates are yet to be confirmed.
Each Tab 4 has 16GB of storage on board, or you can opt for an 8GB version of the 7-inch model.
The trio all include a 3-megapixel snapper coupled with a low-resolution camera for video chat. The tablets come decked out in a choice of black or white cases.
All three models boast a 1,280x800 screen, which means the smallest 7-inch model has the best pixel density: 215 pixels per inch, compared to the 8-incher's 188ppi or the 10-incher's 149ppi.
