Ford to withdraw works support for World Rally Championship
By Jamie O'Leary Monday, October 15th 2012, 15:02 GMT
Ford will cease to have a factory presence in the World Rally Championship at the end of the 2012 season.
A statement issued by Ford of Europe on Monday said that the decision had been taken due to the current economic climate, following a major review of its marketing activities in the continent.
"Ford has a long and proud history in the WRC and this was not an easy decision," said Roelant de Waard, vice president, Marketing, Sales and Service, Ford of Europe.
"At this time, however we determined that it was better for the company and the Ford brand to reduce our commitment to the WRC and deploy our resources in other areas."
Malcolm Wilson's M-Sport organisation, which has run Ford's factory squad since 1997 and taken 52 wins plus the manufacturers' world championships in 2006 and '07, aims to continue in the WRC with the Fiesta model in the coming years.
Ford is on talks with M-Sport to provide continued vehicle and engineering support.
Monday, October 15, 2012
The value of hype. Or not.
LG's Nexus 4 might just be the worst-kept secret in the technology world.
Jason Parks, a Texas-based software engineer who works for Google, published photos on his Google+ page over the weekend of his son sleeping. Although that might seem innocuous enough, after users clicked the "Photo details" link to the side of the images, EXIF data contained in that pane revealed it was taken with the Nexus 4.
An LG Electronics employee also posted images to Google+ that contained mention of a Nexus 4 camera. However, unlike Parks' images, the LG photos have been removed from the social network.
LG's Nexus 4 has been springing leaks all over the place lately. Last week alone, the device popped up in the U.K. retailer Carphone Warehouse's inventory, in photos published in Belarus, and in a French newspaper. The only thing left for LG to do is finally launch it.
When that launch might actually happen, though, remains to be seen. The latest reports suggest that LG will finally unveil the handset on October 29. When it does, the Nexus 4 is expected to look similar to the LG Optimus G and come with a quad-core Snapdragon processor, as well as 2GB of onboard RAM and an 8-megapixel camera.
Jason Parks, a Texas-based software engineer who works for Google, published photos on his Google+ page over the weekend of his son sleeping. Although that might seem innocuous enough, after users clicked the "Photo details" link to the side of the images, EXIF data contained in that pane revealed it was taken with the Nexus 4.
An LG Electronics employee also posted images to Google+ that contained mention of a Nexus 4 camera. However, unlike Parks' images, the LG photos have been removed from the social network.
LG's Nexus 4 has been springing leaks all over the place lately. Last week alone, the device popped up in the U.K. retailer Carphone Warehouse's inventory, in photos published in Belarus, and in a French newspaper. The only thing left for LG to do is finally launch it.
When that launch might actually happen, though, remains to be seen. The latest reports suggest that LG will finally unveil the handset on October 29. When it does, the Nexus 4 is expected to look similar to the LG Optimus G and come with a quad-core Snapdragon processor, as well as 2GB of onboard RAM and an 8-megapixel camera.
More Dropbox for iOS.
Like an app, only without all the pesky local storage requirements.
Dropbox photo-sharing just got a little more handy. Now, if you head over to Dropbox.com in Mobile Safari, you get a fantastic new mobile view which lets you swipe and tap your way through your photos.
The new light-box view is full-screen (with browser chrome), and photos are presented on a black background. Tapping takes you to the next web-optimized image, and icons at bottom right let you share the link, see the full-sized original, download a copy or delete the photo entirely.
It’s no Photo Stream, to be sure, but if you have struggled to find some sane way to organize the mess of photos coming from your iPhone, iPad and digital camera, then Dropbox makes a good deal of sense.
And this light-box view also makes the automatic Dropbox Camera Upload feature a lot more useful. Camera upload simply uploads every photo you add to your iOS camera roll to your Dropbox.
I have had it switched on because, well, why not? My 100GB plan won’t run out of space, and I understand Dropbox way better than I understand Photo Stream’s foibles. Now I can also browse my photos in this great new view, even from my horrible Android phone, it makes a whole lot more sense.
Dropbox photo-sharing just got a little more handy. Now, if you head over to Dropbox.com in Mobile Safari, you get a fantastic new mobile view which lets you swipe and tap your way through your photos.
The new light-box view is full-screen (with browser chrome), and photos are presented on a black background. Tapping takes you to the next web-optimized image, and icons at bottom right let you share the link, see the full-sized original, download a copy or delete the photo entirely.
It’s no Photo Stream, to be sure, but if you have struggled to find some sane way to organize the mess of photos coming from your iPhone, iPad and digital camera, then Dropbox makes a good deal of sense.
And this light-box view also makes the automatic Dropbox Camera Upload feature a lot more useful. Camera upload simply uploads every photo you add to your iOS camera roll to your Dropbox.
I have had it switched on because, well, why not? My 100GB plan won’t run out of space, and I understand Dropbox way better than I understand Photo Stream’s foibles. Now I can also browse my photos in this great new view, even from my horrible Android phone, it makes a whole lot more sense.
GoToMyPC
@GoToMyPC:
Good news! GoToMyPC for #Android now works on phones! Get it now Google Play
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Good news! GoToMyPC for #Android now works on phones! Get it now Google Play
http://t.co/zpRUMXfR
AmazonAppstore
http://t.co/QI7M2PWp
Mac sales up. Notebook sales down.
Apple jump in global slump: Macbook sales up 30%, overall notebook sales down 4.5%
OCTOBER 15, 2012 JOHN KOETSIER
Apparently, Apple sells more than products preceded by the letter “I.”
iPhones, iPads, iPods, and soon, iPad Minis are the hottest and most visible stories for the world’s most valuable company … but they are not Apple’s only source of massive sales growth.
A Digitimes research report just released today says that Apple’s laptop sales have jumped 30 percent higher than the previous quarter. That’s significant growth, particularly when compared to a 4.5 percent drop in global notebook shipments from the previous quarter, and a massive 11.6 percent drop from the same quarter last year.
“One of the things that has helped Apple’s laptop shipments is Apple’s overall ecosystem,” Frost & Sullivan analyst Todd Day told me this morning. “Consumers are used to the convenience.”
Apple had released new MacBook Airs in July, and thinner, retina display MacBook Pros in June of this year. The recent retina display MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models are not just continuing Apple’s strong portable performance, they’re actually increasing the rate of growth. But it’s not just about the ecosystem — it’s also just simple build quality, according to analysts.
“The other factor is the quality of product … Apple has made a lot of strides here.” said Day.
Meanwhile, cost leader Acer, netbook pioneer Asustek, and Toshiba all dropped from 15-25 percent.
Part of the global weakness in Windows-based laptops can be blamed on Redmond, according to Digitimes analyst Joanne Chien, who said that “consumers’ wait-and-see attitude to PC purchasing due to Windows 8′s upcoming launch” was one of the drivers of poor performance, along with the general economic downturn.
OCTOBER 15, 2012 JOHN KOETSIER
Apparently, Apple sells more than products preceded by the letter “I.”
iPhones, iPads, iPods, and soon, iPad Minis are the hottest and most visible stories for the world’s most valuable company … but they are not Apple’s only source of massive sales growth.
A Digitimes research report just released today says that Apple’s laptop sales have jumped 30 percent higher than the previous quarter. That’s significant growth, particularly when compared to a 4.5 percent drop in global notebook shipments from the previous quarter, and a massive 11.6 percent drop from the same quarter last year.
“One of the things that has helped Apple’s laptop shipments is Apple’s overall ecosystem,” Frost & Sullivan analyst Todd Day told me this morning. “Consumers are used to the convenience.”
Apple had released new MacBook Airs in July, and thinner, retina display MacBook Pros in June of this year. The recent retina display MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models are not just continuing Apple’s strong portable performance, they’re actually increasing the rate of growth. But it’s not just about the ecosystem — it’s also just simple build quality, according to analysts.
“The other factor is the quality of product … Apple has made a lot of strides here.” said Day.
Meanwhile, cost leader Acer, netbook pioneer Asustek, and Toshiba all dropped from 15-25 percent.
Part of the global weakness in Windows-based laptops can be blamed on Redmond, according to Digitimes analyst Joanne Chien, who said that “consumers’ wait-and-see attitude to PC purchasing due to Windows 8′s upcoming launch” was one of the drivers of poor performance, along with the general economic downturn.
The jump. A few stats.
Felix Baumgartner yesterday jumped from a capsule 24 miles above the earth's surface, and into the history books. The 43-year-old now holds the record for the world's highest parachute jump, and is the first skydiver to break the sound barrier. But it almost didn't happen: thanks to a foggy visor, the Austrian daredevil almost aborted the feat.
Once he'd leapt off the capsule, it took Baumgartner over nine minutes to reach solid ground. There were worries that he'd fluffed it as the skydiver, a veteran of over 2,500 jumps, didn't get into the correct position. At his fastest he was travelling at 833.9mph, or Mach 1.24, and he was in free fall for 4 minutes and 20 seconds.
The previous record, which has stood since 1960, was for a jump measuring just a shade over 19 and a quarter miles. It was held by Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Joe Kittinger, whose voice was Baumgartner's link to mission control during his descent.
Once he'd leapt off the capsule, it took Baumgartner over nine minutes to reach solid ground. There were worries that he'd fluffed it as the skydiver, a veteran of over 2,500 jumps, didn't get into the correct position. At his fastest he was travelling at 833.9mph, or Mach 1.24, and he was in free fall for 4 minutes and 20 seconds.
The previous record, which has stood since 1960, was for a jump measuring just a shade over 19 and a quarter miles. It was held by Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Joe Kittinger, whose voice was Baumgartner's link to mission control during his descent.
Really?
"The real enemy of humanity is the man who tries to mold the human spirit so that it will not dare to spread its wings"
As long as humanity doesn't forget to exercise ethical conduct....
As long as humanity doesn't forget to exercise ethical conduct....
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