Consumer Technology Regional Brief

Instead of relying on a bog-standard bulb to beam light out over a darkened road, car headlights in the future would use something more akin to a projector. A camera sits nestled beneath that projector, keeping an eye on drops of rain as they enter the headlights’ beams. Information from that camera is sent to a processing unit, which identifies raindrops and makes a guess as to where each droplet is headed. The projector then blots out the bits of its projection where the rain drops are. The result is a light that shines out from the front of a car in the dark, but doesn’t highlight any rain. This would increase the visibility of driving at night as the view of the driver would not be inhibited by the lights being reflected off the raindrops. This is being jointly developed by Intel and Carnegie Mellon University.

The Google glass is in the headlines as it has been rumored that Twitter is developing an app to be used by the Google glass platform app. No official statements has been released by twitter as of yet. We can expect other apps by other companies appearing soon to be used by the Google glass as companies figure out the best way to tap into a new product that has very large potential to replace many conventional technologies being used now. The creation of the glass is leading to the creation of a new form of media.

North America Regional Review

After giving into Democratic demands in December to raise taxes and later working with them to avoid a government shutdown, Republicans have been gearing up to use the debt limit as leverage to seek fresh budget cuts and changes to the tax code. Analysts had expected the federal government to hit the congressionally-set limit on its debt sometime between early-August and mid-September but stronger-than-expected revenues and deeper-than-anticipated budget cuts mean the ceiling on borrowing probably will not be reach until sometime between mid-August and mid-October. If Congress does not raise the borrowing cap before the Treasury hits the limit, the government will no longer be able to borrow money to pay its bills, including interest on its bonds, raising the risk of a damaging debt default.

The U.S. Congress approved a plan to ease nationwide air-traffic delays caused by federal spending cuts, seeking to calm irritated travelers but sparking a backlash from groups still being hit by budget cuts. The legislation will give the Department of Transportation flexibility to use about USD 250 million in unspent funds to cover immediate salaries of air traffic controllers and other essential employees at the Federal Aviation Administration who had been furloughed. Lawmakers hurried the bill through, eager to stem the growing wrath of the traveling public, which had dealt with significant take-off and landing delays since the furloughs started on Sunday. Congressional approval of the air travel bill, barely four pages long, came as lawmakers prepared to fly out of Washington for a week-long recess. It is however not clear as to how quickly the air delays will ease once the bill is passed

 Asia Regional Review

Japan’s household spending surged in March at the fastest pace in nine years in a sign that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s bold efforts to end two decades of stagnation are lifting consumer confidence and setting the stage for an economic revival. On the whole, the figures suggest that expectations for Abe’s combination of fiscal spending, monetary stimulus and structural reforms, known as “Abenomics,” are having a positive impact on the household sector although the corporate sector is lagging behind. Overall, policymakers will be encouraged by the improving mood among consumers. Data earlier this month showed Japanese consumer confidence rose in March to the highest level in almost six years, an important signal as Abe’s policies rely heavily on expectations for future growth and prices.

The Chinese government, which owns and operates all domestic rail companies, launched the country’s first high-speed service in 2007 and now boasts 9,300 kilometers (5,778 miles) of high-speed routes nationwide, turning a nonexistent network into the world’s longest in a few short years. In less than a decade they have managed to build more high-speed rail lines compared to Japan and Europe. The amazing growth is due to the availability of land and labor at inexpensive costs. Another contributing factor is the economies of scale achieved with building thousands of kilometers of rail lines. The Chinese government is reportedly spending some USD 300 billion to make that vision a reality, moving full steam ahead on its plan to build a 25,000-kilometer (15,534 mile) high-speed rail network by 2020.

Europe Regional Review

The euro zone will not return to growth until 2014, the European Commission said on Friday, reversing its prediction for an end to recession this year and blaming a lack of bank lending and record joblessness for delaying the recovery. The 17-nation bloc’s economy, which generates nearly a fifth of global output, will shrink 0.3 percent in 2013, the Commission said, meaning the euro zone will remain in its second recession since 2009 for a year longer than originally foreseen. The Commission, the EU executive, late last year forecast 0.1 percent growth in the euro zone’s economy for 2012, but now says tight lending conditions for companies and households, job cuts and frozen investment have delayed an expected recovery.

Greek lawmakers on Sunday agreed to cut thousands of government workers to secure another 8.8 billion euros (USD11.5 billion) in bailout funds. The vote clears the way for 15,000 civil servants to be fired by the end of 2014, the first time Greece’s cash-strapped government has said it will cut its workforce of about 700,000. But the layoffs will be coming when unemployment has skyrocketed to more than 27%. Previous austerity measures have cut pay for public workers as much as 30% and reduced pension benefits. EU and IMF officials said earlier this month that Greece is on track to reach its bailout targets. But each round of austerity measures has fueled sometimes-violent demonstrations, and critics argue the tax increases and spending cuts imposed by struggling eurozone economies have driven up unemployment without spurring growth.