Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Yesterday, at this year’s Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), company CEO Steve Jobs unveiled iPhone 4, along with the new iOS 4 operating system for Apple mobile devices.

The announcement was long-awaited but not a very big surprise. In April, the technology blog Gizmodo obtained a prototype of the new phone and published details of it online. While introducing iPhone 4, at the annual conference, Jobs started by hinting at the incident, saying, “Stop me if you’ve already seen this.”

The new iPhone was praised by Jobs as “the biggest leap we’ve taken since the original iPhone.” It is only 9.3 millimetres (0.37 inches) thick, making it “the thinnest smartphone on the planet”, a 24 percent reduction from Apple’s previous model, the iPhone 3GS. Structure-wise, iPhone 4 has a new stainless steel frame, which acts as an antenna, supposedly boosting its signal reception abilities and possibly reducing the amount of dropped calls. It also has a new screen, dubbed a “retina display,” which displays images at 326 pixels per inch. During the keynote, Jobs demoed the device’s new internal gyroscope as well. Even though it now uses Apple’s faster A4 processor (first used in its iPad tablet), iPhone 4 has a claimed seven hours of 3G talk time, up two hours from the 3GS.

In addition to its design features, Jobs showed off iPhone 4’s new video calling abilities. This feature is called FaceTime, and connects with other iPhone 4s via Wi-Fi. The phone has two cameras: one on the front for video chats, and one on the back for taking pictures and other videos. The rear camera has a resolution of five megapixels, is capable of recording high-definition video, and has an LED flash.

The iPhone 4 will use Apple’s latest mobile operating system, iOS 4. Formerly “iPhone OS,” iOS 4 was first introduced by Apple in April, and includes multitasking capabilities. Jobs called the new software “the most advanced mobile operating system in the world.” iOS will support Apple’s new mobile advertising service, iAd, which goes live on July 1.

iPhone 4 will be available on June 24 in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Japan. It comes in two colors—black and white—and two storage capacities. The 16GB version is priced at US$199 and the 32GB version at US$299. The iPhone 3GS’s price will be reduced to US$99, and the iPhone 3G will be discontinued. iOS will be available as a free software update to users of compatible older Apple devices (including the 3GS) on June 21. In the U.S., iPhone 4 will only be available on AT&T’s cellular network, despite calls for Apple to let the iPhone be used on other carriers, such as Verizon.

Competition-wise, the BlackBerry mobile device is still the most popular smartphone right now. Apple is also facing some serious competition from web giant Google’s Android operating system, as well as Palm’s webOS. Earlier this year, Android phones managed to outsell iPhones. iPhone users, however, account for over half of those surfing the Internet on a mobile browser in the U.S. Jobs also noted that over five billion iOS applications, commonly called “apps,” have been purchased from Apple’s App Store. The App Store currently has around 225,000 different apps for sale.

Monday, April 16, 2012

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Los Navegantes, Pichilemu, Chile – Paulina Constanza Tapia Figueroa, 25, a surfer native to Pichilemu, known worldwide as the “Surf Capital”, died on Monday, at Punta de Lobos beach, about seven kilometers south of the city.

Her body was discovered by fishermen in the area, who called Pichilemu Police officers, who along with Homicide Brigade of the Investigations Police of Chile (PDI) officers, arrived at the place and took the body to the Forensic Medical Service offices in San Fernando.

Tapia had been practicing surfing for years, and earlier that day, had been accompanied with her friends. “A shellfish diver of the area noticed a surfboard floating, he approached it and saw that the girl [Tapia] was semisubmerged in the water. After taking her out, he realized she was dead,” Juan Reyes, officer of the Homicide Brigade of PDI told Televisión Nacional de Chile.

According to reports, Tapia either died because of a heart attack or after being hit. Third-party participation in her death was ruled out by officers.

“She had a free spirit, she loved nature, and I don’t really know what happened to her, a cramp [maybe],” Filippo Tapia, her father, told La Tercera. Josefa Tapia, her 14-year-old sister who is studying at Colegio Preciosa Sangre, seemed very affected by her death after being informed of the situation by school inspectors.

“Your sister will always be watching out and protecting you from heaven, remember the moments you and your family lived with her ??and that made ??you happy,” a friend of Josefa wrote on her Facebook wall.

Photos, videos, and messages such as “Paulita, rest in peace with love, I’ll miss you a lot, great waves and farewell forever,” and “My friend, I know you are in a better place having a really good time, you’re the best! I love you infinitely!” flooded Paulina Tapia’s Facebook wall.

Tapia’s body remained in the Forensic Medical Service of San Fernando on Tuesday morning, according to reports. According to Domingo Osorio Figueroa, Paulina Tapia’s remains have been veiled since Tuesday’s afternoon in the dependencies of Funerales Rodríguez, in Rancagua, capital of O’Higgins Region. A mass will be performed in the Rancagua Sur Catholic Parish, at 11:30 local time (14:30 UTC) on Wednesday, and then she will be buried in Parque Jardín Las Flores, in Machalí.

Friday, May 1, 2009

The American auto company Chrysler filed for bankruptcy Thursday, however a deal with European auto maker Fiat went through. The emerging Chrysler will be owned 55 percent by the United Auto Workers, eight percent by the United States Government, two percent by the Canadian Government and Fiat would begin with a 20 percent share.

Chrysler Chief Executive Robert Nardelli will step down when the bankruptcy proceedings are finalized.

Initially, the Italian company, Fiat, will appoint three members on the emerging Chrysler’s new board, and the United States government will appoint six. Fiat can assume the majority of the ownership upon repayment of American loans.

Chrysler administrators expect that the bankruptcy should take a couple of months.

“We expect this to be a very short, 30-to-60-day bankruptcy process, during which the company will function normally,” a top administration official said, “People will be able to buy cars, they will have their warranties honored, and everything should go on normally.”

The bankruptcy filing indicated that Chrysler was in debt to 20 creditors to a tune of more than $10 million each.

Meanwhile, the deal with Fiat did go through, and Chrysler should have cars designed by Fiat out on the market by 2011.

“It’s a partnership that will give Chrysler a chance not only to survive, but to thrive in a global auto industry,” said American president Obama, “Fiat has demonstrated that it can build the clean, fuel-efficient cars that are the future of the industry.”

However, automotive analyst Erich Merkle has hesitations.

“History would show that alliances really don’t work that well,” Merkle said, “even though, no matter how good they may look on paper.”

The restructuring has been managed by Steve Rattner, a former investment banker, and the U.S. Government auto task force.

Obama has set three ultimatums before Fiat. Fiat should produce a 40 mile per gallon vehicle while managing the new Chrysler, transfer fuel efficient Fiat technology to Chrysler factories in the United States, and produce cars in Chrysler factories and distribute them in Europe.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

David McGruer is running for the Freedom Party of Ontario in the Ontario provincial election, in the Ottawa-Orleans riding. Wikinews’ Nick Moreau interviewed him regarding his values, his experience, and his campaign.

Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as independents.

Friday, January 9, 2009

An Israeli rocket has struck the Press TV building in the Gaza Strip. According to the news agency, other television news stations called Al-Alam and Al Arabiya are also based inside the building. At least two people have been injured. The attack occurred at about 15:40 GMT.

There was no warning prior to the attack and only journalists were inside the building when the rocket hit. Press TV states that some of their broadcasting equipment on the building’s roof was damaged in the blast. According to live video being broadcast by Press TV, journalists on the roof are marked with ‘TV’ or ‘press’ on their coats and helmets. Press TV uses the roof of their building to broadcast most of their live video feeds of Gaza.

The agency claims that they were given assurance by the Israeli military that the building would not be targeted. The agency also states that coordinates of the building were given to the Israeli military everyday so they would not attack the building or mistake news crews for Hamas militants.

Despite the claim by witnesses and Press TV employees, a spokesperson for the IDF states that the building was not a target and was likely a result of “collateral damage.” There are no reports of other buildings having been hit in the area around the Press TV building.

Press TV states that regardless of the attack, they are still “prepared to show the horrific attacks by the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) with graphic images of children being killed”.

Press TV, an Iranian based news agency, is one of few international news agencies broadcasting live video feeds of Gaza and currently has more journalists in Gaza than any other world news agency.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

The International Monetary Fund and the European Union approved aid packages to help Georgia recover from its conflict with Russia, which occurred in early August. The IMF approved a US$750 million loan which will allow Georgia to rebuild its currency reserves. The European Union also approved an aid package of €500 million in aid by 2010, which is expected to help internally displaced people (IDPs) and economic recovery in the form of new infrastructure. Only €100 million of the EU aid will be given to Georgia this year.

These loans are aimed to restore confidence in Georgia’s economy and send a signal to international investors that Georgia’s economy is sound. According to the IMF, international investors have been “critical to Georgia’s economic growth in recent years.”

Takatoshi Kato, Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chairman of the IMF executive committee, said the loan will “make significant resources available to replenish international reserves and bolster investor confidence, with the aim of sustaining private capital inflows that have been critical to Georgia’s economic growth in recent years.”

Georgia has requested $2 billion in international aid to help it recover from the conflict. So far, the United States has pledged $1 billion in aid. Further assistance and loans to Georgia are expected from other organizations. Kato noted that “…Georgia is expected to receive financial assistance from multilateral and bilateral donors and creditors in support of the reconstruction effort.” It is expected that an international donors’ conference will take place next month to solicit more aid for the country.

Georgia’s government expects that economic growth will be more than cut in half as a result of the conflict. Last year, Georgia’s GDP increased 12.4% and it is predicted by the IMF that growth will be less than 4 percent in the coming year.