TAIPEI (Reuters) - Microsoft (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ.N: Quote, Profile, Research),
the world's top software and PC firms, on Thursday announced plans for
a new technology centre in Taiwan, the world's computer-manufacturing
hub.
Companies such as HP and Dell (DELL.O: Quote, Profile, Research)
are the world's top sellers of PCs, but most of the actual hardware --
about 80 percent of all laptops -- is made by Taiwan firms including
Quanta Computer (2382.TW: Quote, Profile, Research) and Compal Electronics (2324.TW: Quote, Profile, Research).
"Microsoft and HP solution centers will help advance the technology
of our Taiwanese business partners and corporate clients," John
Knutsen, Director of Global Microsoft Technology Center, said at a news
conference.
Microsoft said the centre would be focused on investing in advanced
software, hardware and improving technical support to its Taiwan
partners.
The two companies said they expect the new centre will be able to
generate a return of T$2.5 billion ($83 million) worth of sales in five
years.
There are now 16 Microsoft technology centers in the world,
including in Dubai, France, Germany, Britain, Bangalore and the United
States, said Knutsen.
Software giant Microsoft said earlier this month that it had not
seen any major impact on its businesses from an economic slowdown,
particularly in the United States, and that it has been helped by
emerging markets such as China, India, Brazil and Russia.
Hewlett-Packard posted forecast-beating quarterly earnings last
month and has said its strategies in emerging markets will help it
weather a tough economic climate this year.
Currently own the MDR-NC6 Sony Noise Canceling head phones. Seriously considering forking out $550 on the Bose ones. The Sony ones are awesome and very travel friendly.
Whether you're a serious
audiophile who demands the very best in music clarity or simply want to
block out airplane engine roar or crying kids, "noise-cancelling"
headphones have become a popular choice among today's travelers. Here
we look at five different solutions.
by Marc Saltzman
These clever products look like regular headphones
that go over (or sometimes in) your ears, but they use sophisticated
technology to greatly reduce environmental noise. While some companies
tackle this task in proprietary ways, most "noise-cancelling"
headphones work by introducing an electronic interference to the noise
– a kind of anti-noise, if you will – and thus dramatically reducing
the amount of noise experienced by the listener. This is achieved by a
tiny microphone that "hears" the noise and a processor that generates a
sound wave with the opposite polarity, which in essence cancels out the
noise within the headphones.
Some
prefer to wear these noise-cancelling headphones with no music playing
whatsoever; this is why most models ship with an optional cord to plug
into a portable music player. Noise-cancelling headphones aren't
perfect -- they won't completely block out clatter around you -- but
they're much stronger than plain 'ol earplugs.
Not surprisingly, these headphones vary in quality, size and price. The following is a brief look at our top picks.
Third
time's the charm for Bose's latest noise-cancelling headphones. Smaller
than its predecessors, the QuietComfort 3 headphones offer a very
comfortable on-ear fit, yet they feature similar noise-cancelling
technology developed by Bose for commercial pilots and military
applications. Unlike other noise-cancelling headphones in this
round-up, these include a rechargeable battery pack that snaps onto the
top of the right earpiece which saves you money in the long run.
Included in the travel pouch is the an optional audio cord (for use
with iPods, portable DVD players or laptops) and an airplane adaptor
for in-flight audio. The only downside to these headphones is you can't
use them if the battery dies out.
Because
Logitech's SilentSound technology includes "active" noise reduction
(via anti-noise electronic signals) as well as "passive" blocking
(larger, snug-fitting headphones that cut out many high-frequency
noises), the company claims its headphones offers up to 22 decibels of
cancellation instead of the usual 10 to 18 decibels as with most other
headphones of this kind. When paired with a portable MP3 player, music
quality proved quite good, but not as clean-sounding and well-balanced
as the Bose set. The gray travel pouch fits the headphones, audio cord,
in-flight adaptor and AAA battery.
Frequent
travelers who'd rather opt for a more compact noise-cancellation
solution might consider the great-sounding Sennheiser PXC300 earphones.
This foldable and lightweight model employ Seinheiser's newly-refined
NoiseGard Advance system, which significantly reduces ambient noise so
you can enjoy peace and quiet or your favourite songs, audiobooks or
movies. The PXC300 is also remarkably comfortable thanks to its small
and soft leatherette cushions. Two minor issues, however: these
earphones lack deep bass found in other noise-cancelling headphones and
the in-line battery compartment (which houses two AAAs) must be clipped
to a belt or purse.
Sony MDR-NC60 Noise Cancelling Headphones ($249; www.sonystyle.ca)
Comfortable
and powerful, Sony's MDR-NC60 is the company's latest over-the-ear
noise-cancelling solution that can be used with music or without. When
the on-ear monitor switch is flicked, these headphones provide 16.5
decibels of noise reduction at 200Hz, which Sony says shuts out up to
85 percent of environmental noise, such as jet engines. Despite their
somewhat large size, the headphones are fairly lightweight at just 230
ounces (with AAA battery inserted). Sound quality during music playback
is clear and well-balanced between highs, mids and lows. We also love
the black travel case with optional shoulder strap and audio cable
pouch.
While
these earbuds offer "passive" sound blocking rather than electronic
"active" cancellation (read: no batteries required!), the Shure SE310s
do a remarkable job in keeping the outside world from entering your
ears. These sound isolating earbuds include foam tips to place gently
in your ear – and a "Deluxe Fit" kit with various sizes and materials
so you can choose what's best for you – while the high-definition micro
speakers (with excellent bass) deliver crisp-sounding audio from your
music device. Shure, an award-winning leader in high-end earbuds, claim
these sound-isolating earbuds can block more than 90 percent of outside
noise – and from our trial with them, we're inclined to agree.
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - The arrival of a truly mobile Web, offering a new generation of location-based advertising, is set to unleash a "huge revolution", Google Inc Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said on Friday.
"It's the recreation of the Internet, it's the recreation of the PC (personal computer) story and it is before us -- and it is very likely it will happen in the next year," he told a panel at the World Economic Forum.
Current estimates for mobile advertising are cautious, with consultancy Forrester predicting revenues of under $1 billion by 2012.
But Schmidt said this figure was too low and failed to take into account the fact the mobile Web was reaching a tipping point.
Google aims to be a prime mover by bidding for coveted airwaves to launch an open U.S. wireless network, pitting it against established telecommunications players. The move will take the Silicon Valley-based company well beyond its core Web search and online advertising franchises.
Some analysts are worried at the high costs involved but Schmidt said he was confident location-based advertising -- which could, for example, direct hungry travelers to nearby restaurants -- would be "a very, very good business".
Content providers, already struggling in the modern world of music and film downloads, are less convinced that mobile Internet is a minefield.
"It is not going to be easy to hang on the price of content," said Howard Stringer, chief executive of Sony Corp.
Advanced Micro Devices gave further details of its upcoming Fusion processor, saying it will be based on the design of a microprocessor used in the desktops currently shipping to enthusiast PC users such as gamers.
The Fusion chip, which will combine a graphics processing unit and CPU on one chip, will be a redesign of the company's current Phenom processor, said Patrick Moorhead, vice-president of advanced marketing at AMD, in an interview. However, the Fusion chip will witness significant design changes from the current iteration of Phenom, Moorhead said.
The Fusion chip, code-named Swift, will be shrunk from the Phenom core and be optimized for use in a notebook, Moorhead said. The optimization will focus on making the chip more power-efficient while increasing graphics capabilities, Moorhead said.
The graphics processing unit on the Fusion chip will include multiple "mini-cores" that breaks down code from a program, like 3-D games, to process data faster, said John Taylor, an AMD spokesman. Fusion's graphics processor will be based on a graphics card AMD plans to release in the near future, Taylor said, declining to give details.
The first Fusion chips will be released as dual-core CPUs for notebooks, followed by quad-core CPUs for notebooks, Moorhead said. The dual-core notebook processors will be available in the second half of 2009, said John Taylor, an AMD spokesman. The company didn't provide a timeline for the quad-core chips.
Fusion chips will also be released eventually for desktops, Taylor said, although he declined to
Gold provides a safe harbor investment with considerably greater returns than government T-bills.
From the 1990s until today, Americans have maintained their lifestyle
by borrowing. As the American consumer is about to find out, the bill
for that lifestyle is coming due.
So where will that lead the U.S. economy? Simply stated, surveying
the landscape of current events, many of which are a direct consequence
of excessive debt and an inevitable slowdown in consumer spending, we
expect stagflation ahead. Loosely defined, that term refers to a
general economic slowdown – a recession – but coupled with rising
prices triggered by massive infusions of liquidity into the market.
That liquidity can come from governments – witness the billions upon
billions now being thrown into the fray by the world’s central banks –
or it can come from, say, some percentage of the 6+ trillion in U.S.
dollars held by foreigners coming home to roost. On that latter point,
in recent weeks there has been almost daily news about foreign
corporations and sovereign wealth funds unloading their greenbacks in
exchange for shares in some of America’s largest financial
institutions. Doug Casey has correctly pointed out that it is when the
trade deficit starts to shrink, which it recently has, that you need to
look for cover... because, among other things, it means the tide of
U.S. dollars is beginning to wash back up on U.S. shores.
Our view that the stagflationary scenario is the most likely is
supported by a steady stream of data. For instance, despite an obvious
slowdown in 2007 holiday season shopping, the Bureau of Labor
Statistics reports that producer prices in November increased at the
fastest rate in 16 years.
Rising prices make a stagflationary environment positive for gold, if
for no other reason than that investors reallocate depreciating
paper-backed investments into tangibles with a demonstrated ability to
float as the intangibles sink.
So, our view remains that we are headed for a stagflation. But what if we are wrong?
What happens if the global economic crisis gets so bad that it trumps
any and all inflationary influences and we enter a straight-up
deflationary recession?
That is, we are sure, a question on the minds of many gold investors.
Some quick thoughts...
Gold in a recession
Traditionally, gold has been a safety net against inflation. Inflation
is good for gold, a case we don’t need to make again here.
But, in a typical recession, the demand for everything slows and the
prices of many things fall. The knee-jerk reaction of most casual
market observers, therefore, might be that if inflation is always good
for gold, then the opposite is always bad.
Historically, however, that is not the case. The chart below shows the
price of gold overlaid against official periods of recession as defined
by the National Bureau of Economic Research. As you can see, about half
the time gold actually rises in a recession.
(Note: this chart uses monthly averages, so you can see that current prices are,
in nominal terms, higher than the 1980 high, based on those averages.)
Simply, there isn’t a specific historical precedent that demonstrates that gold will fall during a recession.
But could we have a general deflation, one that might tip gold into one of the down cycles? Of course.
The developing recession, based as it is on a global contraction in
credit, looks to be especially long and deep. Almost daily now we learn
of multi-billion-dollar debt defaults. Those, in turn, trigger both a
freeze-up in easy credit and a flight from risk.
In response, the government has responded with its predictable "fix-it"
tools – stimulus and bailouts. The tools of government stimulus are
lowering the Fed funds interest rate, and potential new large-scale
bailouts like the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) that was put into
action to straighten out the Savings and Loan crisis of the 1980s, to
the tune of $200 billion. While the Europeans have just unleashed an
amazing $500 billion in new liquidity, so far, U.S. Treasury Secretary
Paulson and Fed Chairman Bernanke and friends have been surprisingly
slow to act. They started with denial and have moved to inadequate
band-aids.
In the absence of any concentrated and well-funded program – such as
the RTC – to try and keep the wheels on (and, at this point, it is not
clear that any imaginable measure will suffice), the deflationary
pressures of the housing collapse are winning.
But there is an important, longer-cycle pressure that is not talked
about much, although it is increasingly obvious to the American
consumer: the dollars they're spending are buying less. They see
gasoline and heating prices rise, but don’t think much about the dollar
itself as the underlying source of price inflation.
This decline in the purchasing power of the dollar is extremely
important for the price of gold. That’s because the pressures on the
dollar seem overwhelming when aggregated: huge budget and trade
deficits; wars and retirement demands of baby boomers; unprecedented
foreign holdings of U.S. dollars. Watching the prices of
internationally traded goods, including oil at $90 per barrel and wheat
at a record $10 per bushel, it is hard to imagine a situation of
serious deflation emerging.
Looking for Alternatives
The flight to quality by investors who no longer trust packages of
mortgage loans, or anything that is not strictly labeled as government
backed, is unprecedented. The interest rate on government-issued
two-year Treasuries dropped to 3%, reflecting the demand for safety.
Concurrently, other interest rates have risen in response to increasing
mistrust and uncertainty.
Gold, of course, provides a different form of safe harbor alternative –
an asset that is not only readily liquid but, unlike government paper,
positively correlated with the very same inflation that will erode the
purchasing power of paper assets.
Right now, gold is not on the front burner, but this is only to be
expected because of the state of flux of global financial markets. Like
observers of a war of Titans, the market is confounded by the sheer
magnitude of all that is going on, from the devastation being wreaked
on the world’s best-known and most established financial institutions,
to the unleashing of billions upon billions in experimental new
liquidity measures by central banks.
As the fog of war begins to clear and it becomes obvious that not only
will economic growth be severely curbed, but that the fiat currencies
are going to be sacrificed in the fight, some percentage of the funds
now sitting on the sidelines – much of it in U.S. Treasuries – will
begin to move into gold and other tangibles. In the face of limited
gold supplies, this surge in demand should create strong upward
pressure on the price of gold and, for leverage, gold shares.
In sum, even though the relatively sluggish and inept responses from
the U.S. government in the face of the current credit crisis could
produce a severely slowing economy, creating periods of deflationary
fears that put stress on the price of gold, we continue to believe that
the most likely case is for massive inflationary bailouts that support
a positive outlook for gold.
Bud Conrad and David Galland are, respectively, the chief economist and managing editor with Casey Research, publishers of BIG GOLD,
an inexpensive monthly advisory dedicated to providing unbiased and
actionable research on simple, effective and cautious ways to
participate in rising gold markets.
