Archive for October, 2008

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Netflix, TiVo team up after 4-year courtship

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

Home entertainment trendsetters Netflix Inc. and TiVo Inc. are finally joining forces to deliver more movies and old TV episodes to their mutual subscribers, consummating a relationship that was supposed to come together four years ago.

Under the partnership announced Thursday, the latest generation of TiVo’s digital video recorders will be able to beam selections from 12,000 movies and TV shows offered through Netflix’s streaming service, which must be piped over high-speed Internet connections. TiVo’s DVRs will start catering to Netflix subscribers in early December.

The collaboration fulfills a promise made in 2004 when DVR pioneer TiVo and online DVD rental trailblazer Netflix set out to develop a system for delivering video directly over the Internet. But they got sidetracked after Netflix couldn’t work out licensing deals with movie and TV studios.

By the time Netflix cleared the licensing hurdle and launched its Internet streaming service 21 months ago, the two companies had decided to pursue other partners.

But a reconciliation was inevitable, according to the leaders of Netflix and TiVo, whose Silicon Valley headquarters are about 18 miles apart.

“It’s just a natural pairing and we are thrilled to finally be working with them,” said Reed Hastings, Netflix’s chief executive officer.

“I don’t think there is any question we have gotten more frequently than, `What about TiVo and Netflix working together?’” said TiVo CEO Tom Rogers.

Coming off the first back-to-back quarterly profits in its 11-year history, TiVo is betting its ties to Netflix and other content providers like Amazon.com Inc. and Google Inc.’s YouTube will help distinguish its $299 DVRs from the generic recorders peddled by cable TV providers.

Alviso-based TiVo ended July with 3.6 million subscribers and Los Gatos-based Netflix ended with 8.7 million subscribers. The streaming service is available at no extra charge to any Netflix subscriber paying at least $8.99 per month for DVD rentals — a prerequisite that most customers meet.

TiVo will join other companies that sell devices that make it easier for Netflix’s streaming service to be shown on a TV set instead of a computer.

Since Silicon Valley startup Roku Inc. introduced a $100 player tailored for Netflix’s streaming service five months ago, Microsoft Corp. has agreed to tweak its video game console, the Xbox 360, so it can draw from Netflix’s Internet library beginning next month. And both LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics are selling Blu-ray DVD players compatible with Netflix’s streaming service.

Netflix eventually hopes to have its streaming service on dozens of devices, including TVs with built-in wireless connections to the Internet.

The growing selection of streaming devices could help boost Netflix’s profits by causing subscribers to request fewer DVDs. Each DVD rental makes a round trip through the postal service that costs Netflix 84 cents, so fewer requests will lower expenses — just as management is striving to save money to offset slowing revenue growth.

Netflix still has to pay movie and TV studios licensing fees for the streaming rights, but that doesn’t cost as much as mailing DVDs, said Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter.

“Netflix has really stumbled upon something that’s pretty clever,” Pachter said. “It’s kind of a win for everyone because the customer gets the instant gratification of watching a movie over the Internet, studios get more licensing fees and Netflix saves money.”

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Drink ‘Liquid Smoking’ if you itch for a cigarette

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

A Dutch company has come up with a non-nicotine based soft drink which gives off a sensation akin to smoking cigarettes.

The drink, ‘Liquid Smoking’, comes in a 275ml can shaped like a cigarette packet and will cost £1.50 when introduced in Britain shortly.

It is an energy drink laced with South African herbs, which gives off “a slight energising effect, followed by a euphoric sense of calming and relaxation”.

It has been on sale in the Netherlands for nearly a year now, and the Dutch company, United Drinks and Beauty Corporation, plans to launch it in Britain close to Christmas, The Telegraph has reported.

There is no lower age limit to buy it, but the manufacturer believes it should not be drunk by anyone under 15.

Company chief executive Martin Hartman told The Telegraph: “The product we have developed has got similar properties to nicotine, so we are trying to help people out who are affected by the ban on nicotine.”

People might use this instead of a cigarette or tobacco to help the cravings. “It will take the edge off of a need for nicotine for between one to four hours.”

Anti-smoking groups in Britain are concerned as such alternatives to smoking are unregulated and users have only the manufacturers’ word about what they actually contain.

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U.S. STOCKS - Dow, S&P slip as GE’s outlook talk douses late rally

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

U.S. stocks fell in the last minutes of trading on Wednesday after the chief executive of General Electric disappointed investors with comments that the big industrial conglomerate aims to keep next year’s profit the same as 2008.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 74.16 points, or 0.82 percent, to end unofficially at 8,990.96. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index declined 10.42 points, or 1.11 percent, to close unofficially at 930.09. But the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 7.74 points, or 0.47 percent, to finish unofficially at 1,657.21.

The comments by GE’s chief executive were made to Dow Jones Newswires.

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Iran’s Rafsanjani blames finance ‘tsunami’ for low oil price

Saturday, October 25th, 2008

The influential former president of OPEC’s second largest oil producer Iran on Friday called the world financial crisis a tsunami which has dragged down oil prices and caused a huge loss of revenue.

“This is the first wave of the tsunami to reach us. The oil price has fallen from 147 dollars a barrel to around 64 dollars. This is a huge loss” for Iran, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said in a Friday prayer sermon on state radio.

“Our economists and government and parliament officials should cooperate and be prepared. The first wave has arrived and it was dangerous for oil-producing nations,” added Rafsanjani.

He heads the Expediency Council, Iran’s top arbitration panel, and also the Assembly of Experts which supervises the work of the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“We have to be able to control future such waves or they will inflict serious harm on our society, especially the poor,” Rafsanjani said.

Oil prices hit record highs in July of above 147 dollars a barrel, but plunged to their lowest for 17 months on Friday, despite news that OPEC will cut output by 1.5 million barrels per day.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for December delivery, tumbled to 62.85 dollars a barrel — a price last seen in May 2007.

Ahead of Friday’s OPEC meeting in Vienna, Iran urged a cut in the cartel’s output to combat the sharp dive in oil prices as the world battles a financial crisis experts say it is the worst since last century’s Great Depression.

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Sex education to be taught in all primary schools

Friday, October 24th, 2008

Millions of children in England aged from five to 16 in state-funded schools will receive compulsory lessons about subjects including sex and drug use, a minister said on Thursday.

Acknowledging, however, that the announcement raises “complicated issues,” the government has appointed a headteacher to carry out a review into how the new proposals can be best implemented, given local circumstances and parents’ values.

The new policy will apply to 6.5 million schoolchildren in 22,500 schools in England, a government spokesman told AFP.

“This is a bold move and a necessary one,” said England Schools Minister Jim Knight.

“Modern life is increasingly complex and we have a duty to equip our young people with the knowledge and skills to deal with it.”

In a statement, the Department for Children, Schools and Families said that Downing Street “sees education as key to supporting young people to avoid teenage pregnancy, STI (sexually-transmitted infections), drug and alcohol misuse.”

The statement said that ministers recognise that parents had to take the lead, but noted that schools could help by providing information and emotional and social skills for pupils.

Collated figures for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland show one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancy in western Europe, and critics of the new policy warned that the proposals could raise that even higher.

Christian Voice’s National Director Stephen Green said the plans would “encourage experimentation,” and added that teaching young children about sex was “a wickedness” from ministers who wanted to see “a whole generation fornicating.”

The lessons will be adapted to suit the target age group, with children as young as five learning that animals give birth to offspring, naming body parts and preparing for oncoming puberty.

When it comes to drugs, primary school students will learn about how medicines and other toxins affect the body, while older pupils will study drug and alcohol misuse, the laws surrounding those issues and their social impact.

Education is governed separately in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

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Reliance profit up 7%

Friday, October 24th, 2008

The country’s largest private sector firm Reliance Industries (RIL) has posted a 7.4 per cent increase in quarterly profits at Rs 4,122 crore. The company reported consistently high margins in processing crude.

Total revenues stood at Rs 44,787 crore during the period under review against Rs 32,043 crore posted a year-ago. “We are in the final leg of capital expenditure and will see cash flows from these investments in the coming quarters,” Mukesh Ambani, chairman RIL, said.

“Leading economies are passing through some unprecedented challenges. Our businesses are gearing to meet these challenges.

” The company’s refining margins stood at $13.4 per barrel, above the bench mark Asian Dubai crack margin at $5.8 barrel. Refining margin is the profit from processing a barrel of crude oil.

The company’s shares closed down 7.62 per cent at Rs 1,215.25 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Thursday.

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Ornate scroll and a ton await VVS in Nagpur

Friday, October 24th, 2008

BARRING INJURY nothing will stop V.V.S. Laxman from celebrating his 100th Test in the new stadium at Nagpur, home to Shashank Manohar, president of the BCCI. With Anil Kumble emphatically stating in his column in this newspaper that he was fit and raring to go at the Ferozeshah Kotla, where he has 55 wickets at an average of 15, and Amit Mishra picking up seven wickets on debut, sections of the media began speculating on whether Laxman - the universal scapegoat - could miss out if India decided to play five bowlers. On cricketing merit there can be no argument for benching Laxman, and Kumble himself came out in strong support of the stylist at the end of the first Test, saying: “Laxman is a true champion.

It is sad that he is always in the spot (scrutiny). Laxman has played 97 Tests and has played a large role in our winning moments and this axe on his shoulder is not done.

” It seems the BCCI is in complete agreement, for they have already produced an ornate scroll to celebrate Laxman’s century of Tests. The Board commissioned ‘The Award Gallery’, a Mumbai-based company, to produce commemorative mementos for Laxman and Ganguly, who will play his last Test in Nagpur.

“For Laxman, we have produced something similar to what the maharajahs used in ancient times to write letters to each other. It’s called a maan patra,” Vibhash Sonawane of ‘The Award Gallery’ told HT. “For Ganguly, we have done something different.

It is a solid silver salver with an intricate Kolkata design on the border. Sourav being from Kolkata, we thought it would be something close to his heart.

” Laxman’s scroll, signed by Manohar, congratulates him on completing 100 Tests in the fourth Test against Australia at Nagpur. Ganguly’s salver speaks of how he has given 16 years to Indian cricket, from his first-class debut in 1989-90.

‘The Awards Gallery’ produces trophies and awards for a variety of events, most notably the 55-year-old Filmfare awards and the Addy awards. They recently produced their first major cricket trophy when the Maharashtra government wanted to felicitate the T20 World Cup winning team in Mumbai.

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ConocoPhillips posts high profits, warns of weaker results ahead

Thursday, October 23rd, 2008

US oil group ConocoPhillips posted a 41 percent rise in net profit in the third quarter but warned that future earnings in the industry would be “dramatically” lower in the coming years.

The group said net profit was 5.18 billion dollars in the third quarter, or 3.39 dollars per share, despite disruption from hurricanes Ike and Gustav in the oil-producing Gulf of Mexico.

ConocoPhillips chief executive Jim Mulva said the Houston, Texas-based company expected to see “modest” production in the coming years and that the earnings of oil companies would be substantially lower than this year.

“The sustainability of earnings that we’ve just reported in the third quarter is not going to be 5.2 billion dollars. It’s going to be dramatically less,” he said in a conference call.

Mulva was addressing a question about how Conoco was preparing for possible tax increases proposed by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama if Obama wins the November 4 election.

“We have to stand up and talk and make our point that increased taxation and regulation is just not the thing to do,” he said, arguing that higher taxation took money away from investment programs that could increase oil supplies.

Sales in the third quarter increased by 52 percent over 12 months to reach 70 billion dollars.

Oil prices fell heavily on Wednesday on expectations of weaker demand because of falling economic growth.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for December, skidded 5.43 dollars to close at 66.75 dollars a barrel

Crude oil has lost a third of its value since first crossing 100 dollars a barrel at the start of the year.

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New Space Station Crew Takes Charge

Thursday, October 23rd, 2008

Two Russian cosmonauts turned over control of the International Space Station to their replacements Wednesday as they prepare to return to Earth with an American space tourist.

Space station commander Sergei Volkov and flight engineer Oleg Kononenko, both of Expedition 17, handed the orbiting laboratory’s reins to its new Expedition 18 crew during a traditional change of command ceremony. The two cosmonauts are due to land on the Central Asian steppes of Kazakhstan late Thursday with American space tourist Richard Garriott.

“I would like to thank everyone for the support we’ve received throughout our six-month stay on board the station,” Volkov said during the televised ceremony. “We tried to do our best here. We accomplished a lot of tasks.”

Volkov and Kononenko arrived at the station in April and hosted one visiting NASA shuttle in June that delivered Japan’s tour bus-sized Kibo lab. They also performed two spacewalks outside the station in July. During one, they retrieved a suspect explosive bolt from their Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft for the return trip to Earth.

The Expedition 17 crew’s landing will mark a human spaceflight first. It will be the first time two second-generation spaceflyers, Volkov and Garriott, will return to Earth together.

Volkov’s father is famed Russian long-duration cosmonaut Alexander Volkov. Garriott’s father is retired NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, a veteran station flyer aboard the U.S. Skylab outpost in 1973.

“Thanks to both crews for welcoming me here onto your station,” said Garriott, who is paying about $30 million for his 10-day trip under a deal between Russia’s Federal Space Agency and the Vienna, Va.-based firm Space Adventures. He is the sixth paying visitor to the space station and the first American second-generation spaceflyer.

Volkov turned command of the station over to Expedition 18 commander Michael Fincke, of NASA, and Russian flight engineer Yury Lonchakov. The two veteran spaceflyers launched toward the station with Garriott on Oct. 12 and arrived two days later.

“You guys did so much and you left the ship in really fine shape,” said Fincke, a veteran station astronaut making his second long-duration trip. “We’re very proud to be able to take the ship and to work with it hopefully as well as you have.”

The third member of the new crew is NASA astronaut Greg Chamitoff, who joined the Expedition 17 crew during the June shuttle mission. He will stay on for the first part of Expedition 18 until his replacement arrives aboard NASA’s shuttle Endeavour next month.

“It’s been an honor and a privilege to serve onboard the International Space Station as part of Expedition 17,” said Chamitoff, adding that Volkov and Kononenko have become lifelong friends. “It’s really sad for me to see them go, but I hope maybe we can fly again in space someday.”

Garriott and the Expedition 17 crew are slated to undock from the space station at around 8:15 p.m. EDT (0015 Oct. 24 GMT) and land at 11:36 p.m. EDT (0336 Oct. 24 GMT).

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Mexico arrests an alleged Sinaloa cartel chief

Thursday, October 23rd, 2008

A drug cartel leader who directed cocaine trafficking through Mexico City’s international airport was arrested after a shootout in the capital, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Jesus “The King” Zambada was among 16 Sinaloa cartel members arrested Monday after a gunbattle with police in which an apparent grenade explosion destroyed a car, Attorney General Eduardo Medina said. Zambada’s son, his nephew, two federal police officers and one state police officer were also among those arrested.

Zambada was identified as the brother of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who allegedly heads the cartel along with one of Mexico’s most wanted men, Joaquin Guzman.

Medina described Jesus Zambada as one of the top four leaders of the cartel. He was allegedly in charge of operations in central Mexico, including cocaine and methamphetamine trafficking through the capital city’s international airport. He is suspected in the death of several people found decapitated around the airport in 2007, Medina said.

“He is one of most important importers of cocaine and methamphetamine to this country from South America,” said Marisela Morales, head of the organized crime division at the Attorney General’s Office.

The Sinaloa cartel has suffered several blows since President Felipe Calderon deployed thousands of federal troops and police across the country two years ago to seize back territory from drug gangs.

In January, police arrested Alfredo Beltran Leyva, one of five brothers believed to have been top lieutenants of the Sinaloa cartel, based in the northwestern Mexican state of the same name. Federal officials say Beltran Leyva brothers have broken away from the Sinaloa cartel.

“The arrest of Jesus Reynaldo Zambada Garcia stands out, without a doubt, as one of the most significant of the government of President Calderon,” Medina said.

He said authorities have arrested nearly 48,000 drug cartel members since Calderon took office in December 2006, seized nearly 69 tons of cocaine and recovered more than 24,000 illegal weapons.

Despite high-profile drug arrests, homicides and shootouts linked to the drug trade has surged across Mexico, particularly along the northern border with the United States. Fighting between drug gangs have become increasingly brutal, with piles of bodies — sometimes decapitated — turning up in public. Cartels have stepped up attacks on police, gunning them down in their homes or headquarters.

Prosecutors said Zambada was suspected of having a role in a failed bomb attack against a Mexico city police commander in February and in the May 8 assassination of acting Mexican federal police chief Edgar Millan.

Millan was shot inside his Mexico City home five months after announcing the arrests of 11 alleged hit men linked to the Beltran Leyva brothers.

El Universal newspaper reported Wednesday that, by its count, at least 4,000 people have been killed across Mexico this year, a record number. Federal authorities have acknowledged that homicides have surged, though they do not regularly release homicide figures.

Zambada gave a false name upon his arrest, and it took several days for investigators to confirm his identity, said Morales. The 16 suspects were lined up in front of reporters Wednesday, standing behind a table cluttered with weapons seized after the shootout.

None of the 16 suspects have been charged. Morales said prosecutors would ask a court to order them jailed while investigations continue.

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