Páginas

Você está em: Home » Todos os artigos

AT&T sold 200,000 iPhones in 12 hours


"AT&T (T.N) sold more than 200,000 of Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) latest iPhone in the first 12 hours and said it had seen "extraordinary demand" for a gadget unveiled a day before the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

The iPhone 4S was unveiled on Tuesday and immediately underwhelmed fans who had hoped for a revolutionary design after a wait of more than 15 months.

But Wall Street analysts are betting that hardware updates and software enhancements, including a well-reviewed voice-recognition software system, will pull in buyers.

AT&T, Verizon (VZ.N) Wireless and Sprint (S.N) began taking U.S. online orders for the device on Friday.

Comparisons are difficult because the iPhone is now carried by three wireless operators, versus just one. Last year AT&T was the only carrier to sell the phone. But the previous generation of the smartphone, the iPhone 4, was the fastest-selling mobile in Apple's history, with 1.7 million devices selling in the first three days.

Estimates vary, but some analysts expect Apple to sell about 27 million to 28 million iPhones in the October-December quarter.

The latest iPhone 4S hits store shelves around the world on October 14. It debuts at a critical juncture for Apple.
Phones based on Google Inc's (GOOG.O) Android -- such as Samsung's (005930.KS) Galaxy -- are providing heightened competition just as a new CEO, Tim Cook, takes the reins. "



Ler Mais

Apple's Steve Jobs dead


"Passionate, prickly, and deemed irreplaceable by many Apple fans and investors, Steve Jobs made a life defying conventions and expectations.
And despite years of poor health, his death on Wednesday at the age of 56 prompted a global gasp as many people remembered how much he had done to transform the worlds of computing, music and mobile phones, changing the way people communicate and access information and entertainment.
"The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come," said Microsoft co-founder and long-time rival Bill Gates.
"For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it's been an insanely great honor."
The founder of Apple Inc died on Wednesday in Palo Alto, surrounded by his family. The circumstances of his passing were unclear, but Jobs has had a long battle with cancer and other health issues.
Jobs' family thanked many for their prayers during the last year of Steves illness.
A college dropout, Jobs floated through India in search of spiritual guidance prior to founding Apple - a name he suggested to his friend and co-founder Steve Wozniak after a visit to a commune in Oregon he referred to as an "apple orchard."
With his passion for minimalist design and marketing genius, Jobs changed the course of personal computing during two stints at Apple and then brought a revolution to the mobile market. (...)"
Ler Mais

'The Simpsons' is in danger in 23rd year

"In its 23rd year on TV, "The Simpsons" could be on the endangered species list.

The show's producer said Tuesday the show can't continue under its current financial model, following a report that big pay cuts are being sought for the actors who provide voices for Homer, Marge and Bart Simpson and other characters.

"We believe this brilliant series can and should continue, but we cannot produce future seasons under its current financial model," said Chris Alexander, spokesman for 20th Century Fox Television. He said producers hope a deal can be reached.

The animated series is a fixture on Fox's Sunday night schedule, and critics consider it one of the best shows in the medium. But like many programs that have been on the air for a long time, the cost of making it has become prohibitive.

The Fox network reportedly loses money each year on new episodes, even as all the old episodes run in perpetuity in reruns and are a cash cow for producers and creators.

The Daily Beast reported Tuesday that producers are demanding a 45 percent pay cut from the six voice actors, who reportedly make nearly $8 million each for a season. The website said the voice actors have offered to take a 30 percent pay in return for a portion of the show's syndication and merchandise revenue.

Allan Mayer, a spokesman for one of the show's voice actors, Harry Shearer, said he had no comment on the talks. The manager for Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer Simpson, told The Associated Press she didn't know about the negotiations, and creator Matt Groening didn't immediately return a phone call.

"The Simpsons" is averaging 7.1 million viewers for its new episodes this fall, down 14 percent from last year. Back in the 1991-92 season, an average of 21.7 million people watched it every week, Nielsen said.

The median age of the show's viewers back two decades ago was 23, and this season it is still very young for a TV show - 32, Nielsen said. That's an indication of how the show has regenerated its audiences as the years go by.  (...)"


Ler Mais

Italian appeal court clears Amanda Knox of murder


"Amanda Knox and her former boyfriend left prison after four years Monday when an Italian appeals court cleared them of the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher.
Seattle native Knox and Italian computer student Raffaele Sollecito, had appealed against a 2009 verdict that found them guilty of murdering the 21-year-old Kercher during what prosecutors had said was a drug-fueled sexual assault four years ago.
A whoop of joy was heard in the court as the ruling overturning their sentences was read out but Knox herself broke down and was led out sobbing and supported by police officers.
"As you could see from the images, Amanda was a nervous wreck who just collapsed. She wasn't able to say anything other than 'thank you' in a flood of tears," one of her lawyers, Maria Del Grosso, told reporters.
Speaking to a crowd outside the courtroom, Knox's sister Deanna thanked her legal team and supporters.
"We're thankful that Amanda's nightmare is over. She suffered for four years for a crime she did not commit," she said. "We are also thankful to the court for having the courage to look for the truth and to overturn the conviction."
The verdict, a severe embarrassment to the Italian justice system, came after independent forensic investigators sharply criticized police scientific evidence in the original investigation, saying it was unreliable.
Kercher's half-naked body, with more than 40 wounds and a deep gash in the throat, was found in 2007 in the apartment she shared with Knox in the Umbrian hill town of Perugia where both were studying.
Both Knox and Sollecito, 27, consistently had maintained their innocence throughout the original investigation and trial. A third man, Ivorian drug dealer Rudy Guede, was imprisoned for 16 years for his role in the murder.
Knox returned briefly to the Perugia jail where she had been held to complete formalities before being driven away to an unknown destination in a black Mercedes with shaded windows.
She is expected to return to the United States Tuesday although it was not immediately clear whether she would be returning on a regular flight or on a private plane.
Sollecito, who had been held in a separate jail near Perugia, also left custody but his lawyer refused to say where he would be spending his first night of freedom.
"It was obvious that he had nothing to do with the death of that poor girl," Sollecito's father, a doctor, said after the verdict which he said had "given me back my son."
The court upheld a conviction against Knox for slander, after she had falsely accused barman Patrick Lumumba of the murders. It sentenced her to three years in prison, a sentence which she has now already served. "
Ler Mais

Wish You Had a Girlfriend? New Service Offers You (a Fake) One


"Craving some female attention? Fakegirlfriend.co offers a bit of the textual kind.
If for some reason you've found yourself in need of a fake girlfriend — NewsFeed doesn't want to imagine what that reason might be, but concedes there could be one — a new service will pose as a faithful paramour, who sends you loving text messages and phone calls when you need them most. According to the website Fakegirlfriend.co, you simply save the company's number in your phone under whatever name you've given your imaginary lady friend and then send a text when you're out with your friends, co-workers or whoever you've been lying to. The service will then send you a "girlfriend-esque message," closely followed by a phone call.

So exactly what are these "girlfriend-esque" messages and calls saying? According to MSNBC's Digital Life, the messages and calls range in content but most are along the lines of, "Why don't you leave the boys and come hang out with me?" and "Please come hang out with me? Please? I really miss you."

Which, to be honest, is totally baffling to NewsFeed and likely anyone who's ever read a women's magazine. We thought men were supposed to hate behavior like this? Now it seems some of them are requesting it."

in Time
Ler Mais

TV's Highest-Paid Actresses


"Forbes' top-paid television actresses list proves ABC's Housewives aren't desperate for money.

Whoever called the number 13 unlucky didn't bookend it with a dollar sign and six zeros. Tina Fey and Eva Longoria top Forbes' list of the highest-paid television actresses on Tuesday, with each raking in $13 million for their TV gigs between May 2010 and May 2011.

Fey, star as well as head writer and producer of 30 Rock, has made bank on her show that was inspired by her days as SNL head writer. Though never a ratings smash, its fiercely loyal fans and syndication deal have turned it into a profitable cultural touchstone for the yuppie-hipster crowd. The show is also something of a family affair — Fey's husband, Jeff Richmond, composed the show's zippy theme song.

 Tied for the top spot is Desperate Housewives actress Eva Longoria, who supplements her healthy paycheck with lucrative endorsement deals with L'Oreal and LG. This pushed her ahead of her Housewives costars Marcia Cross, Teri Hatcher and Felicity Huffman, who also made the list.
Forbes came up with their earnings estimates (which are gross earnings and don't account for things like agent and manager fees) by talking to lawyers, producers and agents in the know to find out what each star made per episode, from any syndication deals and from endorsements.
To put these numbers in perspective, the top three women in movies earned nearly as much ($88 million) as the top 10 TV actresses combined ($94 million).
The top five on TV:
1. Tina Fey (30 Rock): $13 million
2. Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives): $13 million
3. Marcia Cross (Desperate Housewives): $10 million
4. Mariska Hargitay (Law & Order: SVU): $10 million
5. Marg Helgenberger (CSI): $10 million
(..)"

in Time
Ler Mais

Why Scientists Are Smarter than Politicians


"One of the best things about being an artist is that nobody can tell you you're doing things wrong. There's no true or false in a Picasso painting, no yes or no in a Mahler composition. That, of course, is how it should be.

The opposite is true for science — and that's how it should be too. The scientific method is defined by the search for the irreducible truth. The riddle of a disease isn't solved till you've isolated the virus; no particle is fully understood till it's been successfully smashed. It's not for nothing that recent news of a neutrino that may have traveled .0025% faster than light is causing such a stir. If that vanishingly tiny anomaly can't be resolved and disproven, a century of physics could collapse.


But the stone walls between art and science aren't nearly as thick as they seem; indeed, in some ways they're entirely permeable. That's a lesson we badly need to learn if we're going to make sound policy decisions in an era in which science and politics seem increasingly at odds.

In the Oct. 3 issue of TIME, theoretical physicist Lisa Randall of Harvard University made a plea for greater deference to reason in the still-young but already-ugly 2012 presidential campaign. Randall lamented "the fundamental disregard for rational and scientific thinking" in a political culture in which Texas governor Rick Perry can dismiss evolution as "merely a theory that's out there," and Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann can traffic in poppycock about the HPV vaccine causing mental retardation.

Randall's new book, Knocking on Heaven's Door, takes the case one intriguing step further. The book explores some of the biggest ideas in contemporary physics and how they undergird such everyday matters as risk assessment, logic and even our understanding of beauty. But it's in her chapter on creativity — not a quality always associated with the data-crunching business of science — that she makes her most compelling case against the willful know-nothingism that plagues public debate. (...)"

in Time
Ler Mais
Subscribe to: Comments (Atom)
 
World Daily News | by TNB ©2010