Consumer Technology World Brief
Research In Motion (RIM) announced last month that its new BlackBerry 10 will finally debut on Jan. 30, a year after the company’s next-generation smartphones and software were originally slated to go on sale. Shares of RIM have rallied over the past several months as the company made progress with the twice-delayed BlackBerry 10, which promises to deliver must-have smartphone features that could make it competitive with Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android. But even with the promise of its new BlackBerry 10 shares plunged 23% after the company reported plummeting quarterly sales.
Raspberry Pi (RPi) offers surprising proof for the virtue of moderation. Its resembles little more than a credit card-sized scrap of exposed circuit board, the RPi is a fully programmable PC that runs a free, open-source Linux operating system, plugs into any TV, can power 3D graphics and connects to the Internet. Not only is it the world’s smallest personal computer but, perhaps most importantly of all, at just USD 25 (RM76.69) the RPi is also the world’s cheapest. Its function was to mainly stimulate students to open them up to the various potential and to stimulate outside the box thinking. In reality it has seen amazing demand with not only students but engineers and DIY geeks because instead of getting specialized computer to do specific tasks they could be swapped out for these inexpensive units
North America World Review
The US government will hit its statutory debt ceiling on Dec. 31. To avert a default, the Treasury will take action to create about USD 200 billion in headroom under the debt limit, which would normally last about two months. However with unresolved tax and spending policies for 2013, it is not possible to predict the effective duration of these measures. It is important that the US government make the necessary changes to its debt ceiling or it will trigger a chain reaction of more than USD 600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts that might cause a U.S. recession. Both parties have however approached the outlines of a plan that would raise about USD 1 trillion in tax revenue and cut about USD 1 trillion in spending but nothing conclusive has been agreed upon yet.
The mass shooting at Newtown, Conn., has spurred a national conversation about gun laws, but it hasn’t made Americans feel that their communities are less safe than after other incidents. What it has done is however brought up the debate on gun control laws and how it can be made safer. The production and manufacturing of guns have led to more effective machines but has it improved in terms of safety and redundancy measures to ensure that it is not used besides by those for whom it is owned by. There have been safety devices designed such as the magnetic bracelet which is part of a 2 component mechanism; one is attached to the gun trigger and the other a bracelet and the gun can only be fired if the trigger mechanism detects the bracelet. However commercial adaptation of safety devices is still very much lacking. There is much room for gun safety innovation, but the onus is on gun producers to make it happen.
Asia World Review
China’s economy has grown at an average of around 10% a year for the past three decades, allowing the country to rocket past international competition to become the world’s second largest economy. Along the way, China’s markets have opened to the rest of the world, trade has increased dramatically and many of China’s citizens have joined an emerging middle class. But growth slowed to 7.4% in Beijing’s most recent GDP report as weak demand especially in the Eurozone weighed on exports. The downturn, however, is beginning to look like a temporary phenomenon. China’s economy is heavily dependent on the manufacturing sector, which appears to be mounting a recovery. The drop of new export orders and the downside surprise of November exports growth suggest the persisting external difficulties. The prescription for further improvement is dependent on the continuation of the government’s stimulus efforts.
China has officially opened the world’s longest high-speed rail route, linking the capital Beijing with the southern commercial hub of Guangzhou Trains will initially travel at 300km/h (187mph), more than halving travel time. A Chinese official has described the route – parts of which were already in operation – as “one of the most technically advanced in the world”. The 2,298km route will have 35 stops. They include such major cities as Wuhan and Changsha. The previously 22-hour journey will now take less than 10 hours. Once the Shenzhen-Hong Kong HSR link is completed in 2015, the line will also connect Hong Kong with the Chinese capital.
Europe World Review
Greece is currently receiving the second of two bailouts. Last week, Greece started to receive the latest tranche of the bailout funds from the European Union and International Monetary Fund. They agreed to release 49.1 billion euros after continuing austerity work by Greece, and a buyback of some of its debt. A total of 240bn euros have been earmarked for Greece from the two bailout loans. So far, Greece has received nearly 149 billion euros from the Eurozone and the International Monetary Fund. Ratings agency Standard and Poor’s has raised the credit rating of Greece’s sovereign debt by six levels, praising the “strong determination” of fellow Eurozone countries to help it stay as a member state. S&P has increased Greece’s rating from “selective default” to “B-minus”. Greece had to seek the bailouts to meet its debt repayments after years of overspending meant it could not keep up with its debt obligations.
The U.K. aims to cut emissions by 34 percent in 2020 from 1990 and has a European Union goal to get 15 percent of all energy from renewables. Solar photovoltaic power is on a list of nine technologies, which also includes marine and offshore wind energy, the Department of Energy and Climate Change said today in an e- mailed statement. The other technologies classed as “key” by the department are: biomass electricity, onshore wind, biomass heat, ground- source and air-source heat pumps, and renewable transport. The U.K. offers incentives for clean-energy projects as it seeks to replace aging power stations without adding to polluting emissions. Solar capacity increased more than fivefold to 1.4 gigawatts in the year through June after costs fell 50 percent, the department said in an update to its Renewable Energy Roadmap first published in July 2011. Total electricity output from renewables rose 27 percent in the period, it said. Moving forward the global energy needs is going to be an important sector to pay attention to as it will contain many energy alternatives that may or may not provide energy solutions to existing constraints caused by conventional methods.