Friday, October 26, 2012

Windows 8: The World is Ready



Published on Oct 25, 2012 by
Around the world, people gather to experience and celebrate Windows 8 as it prepares to launch on 10.26.2012

NTT DoCoMo translation app converts languages in real time (hands-on video)


By Sarah Silbert posted Oct 2nd 2012 10:29AM

Last year at CEATEC, we saw NTT DoCoMo demo its translation app, which made life easier by translating a Japanese menu into English text. This time around the carrier is showing off the new Hanashite Hon'yaku service for Android devices, which can translate spoken Japanese to English and vice versa (it supports a total of 10 languages, including French, German and Korean). In addition to providing an on-screen translation, the system reads out your speaking partner's words in your language.To use the service, you need an Android-enabled (2.2 and higher) device running on either the carrier's spumode or moperaU plan. Provided you fit those requirements, you'll simply have to dial the other party, speak into the phone and wait for it to play back your words in a foreign tongue.

Of course, you can also use the service in person, which is exactly what we did at DoCoMo's booth. When we gave it a test run with some simple questions ("Where are you from?", "What time is it?"), the app had no trouble spitting back those phrases in Japanese so the DoCoMo rep could respond. When he answered in Japanese, the translation to English was equally seamless, taking just a second or two to communicate that he is from Japan. Though the app is free, you'll have to pay call and data charges (using the service for face-to-face conversation only entails a data fee). The cross-cultural barriers will break down starting November 1st, but you can get a glimpse of the service in action just after the break.

Greens Restaurant: Check, Please! Bay Area review



Published on Oct 24, 2012 by
Greens Restaurant was reviewed on KQED's Check, Please! Bay Area season 7 episode 11

Gold Climbs on Central Bank Stimulus Speculation


Oct. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg's Julie Hyman reports on today's top commodities news headlines on Bloomberg Television's "Lunch Money."

Snack Pack: Natural Gas, GM, Fixed Income Assets


Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg's Scarlet Fu, Dominic Chu, Julie Hyman Josh Lipton update the top trading stories of the day. They speak on Bloomberg Television's "Lunch Money."

This Is How Scared You Should Be of Hurricane Sandy


Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider talks about Hurricane Sandy's potential threat to the U.S. She speaks with Tom Keene and Sara Eisen on Bloomberg Television's "Surveillance." (Source: Bloomberg)

What's the Top City for Wealthy Singles?


Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) -- On today's "Off The Charts," Scarlet Fu looks at Hoboken, NJ, home of the richest one person households in the U.S. She speaks on Bloomberg Television's "Market Makers." (Source: Bloomberg)

Mexico migrants' mothers on "route" of the missing



Published on Oct 25, 2012 by
Mexico's government says 150,000 migrants pass through the country every year hoping to reach the United States.

Human rights groups put the number close to 400,000. Most come from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. In Mexico, they face several dangers, including sexual assaults, kidnappings and extortions.

More than 11,000 migrants were kidnapped in Mexico in 2010, most of them in the border state of Chiapas in the south and its northwestern neighbour Veracruz.

Most of the migrants attempt their final crossing through the northern state of Tamaulipas, an area dominated by the Zetas drug gang.

A caravan of Central American mothers has begun the journey on the so-called "route of the immigrant" in Mexico in the hopes of finding their missing children.

Al Jazeera's Rachel Levin traveled with the mothers and sent this report.

Ancient Archeological Find in Machu Picchu



Published on Oct 24, 2012 by
Peruvian archaeologists find ancient artefacts in legendary ancient city of Machu Picchu.

Archaeologists discovered some ancient artifacts last week in Machu Picchu, the world-renowned Inca city in southeast Peru.

The pieces were found buried below a three-walled patio known as a 'wayrana' in Quechua.

The discoveries include clay jugs, a ceremonial pot, 10 malachite beads, a bronze clasp, and carved stones.

[Carlos Werner Delgado, Archeologist at Cusco Office of Regional Culture]:
"This was an offering that was imported, perhaps by the Chimus themselves or by the Incas. We didn't find anything else apart from these objects."

The Chimu lived on the northern coast of Peru and were later conquered by the Incas around 1470 A.D.

[Carlos Werner Delgado, Archeologist at Cusco Office of Regional Culture]:
"The Incas, as we know, expanded to the north of the American continent, to the south, to the jungle and also to the sea. They had a policy of both integration and expansion, and managed in some way or another to conquer other peoples whether it was done peacefully or, in many cases, with violence."

Machu Picchu was rediscovered in 1911 by American explorer Hiram Bingham. It had been unknown to the outside world for over three centuries but is now one of the most famous sites in Peru.

Supersonic Plane Fly New York-Tokyo in 90 mins



Published on Oct 26, 2012 by
XCOR released pictures of the Lynx, a suborbital spacecraft that will eventually fly the New York - Tokyo connection in 90 minutes.

Full story:

A California based company is going toe-to-toe with Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic in the race to offer commercial space flights. It is revving up to launch a suborbital spacecraft called the Lynx, and it could be as early as next year.

XCOR Aerospace has just released pictures of a mock-up of the aircraft it hopes will soon fly the New York -- Tokyo connection. They project it will make the flight in 90 minutes and will swing into outer space in the process.

The supersonic ride will apparently cruise at a booming three and a half times the speed of sound.

Those willing to pay the $95,000-dollar ticket fare will enjoy a several-minute float in microgravity and a view of Earth from outer space.

XCOR announced on Thursday they plan to begin commercial flight operations from NASA's Kennedy Space Center sometime in 2014.

Eventually, XCOR plans to fly the Lynx from California as well as several other locations around the world.

Test flights of the Lynx are expected to start early next year.
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Credit: XCOR Lynx Photos

Festival brings taste of French Polynesia to Melbourne



Published on Oct 25, 2012 by
A new festival in Melbourne is hoping to promote the Pacific territory of French Polynesia as a destination for business investors as well as tourists.

Campbell Cooney reports from the inaugural French Polynesia Festival.

Philippines looks to boost strategic ties with Australia



Published on Oct 25, 2012 by
During a visit to Canberra, Philippine President, Benigno Aquino held talks on defence and trade with the Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Political editor Catherine McGrath

Burma banking on change after ATM arrival



Published on Oct 26, 2012 by
Life has changed greatly for the Burmese since a quasi-civilian government came to power, and introduced a series of wide-ranging reforms.

One of these changes has been the introduction of ATMs and debit cards, which are changing the way people bank and shop.

Emma Younger reports.

Walmart eyes slice of China's e-retail market



Published on Oct 25, 2012 by
China's retail hyper-market sector is highly competitive and flooded with both foreign and local players.

The Chinese Minister of Commerce has taken the unusual step to enable Walmart to take a major stake in local Chinese e-tailer Yihaodian.

The move is expected to help Walmart capture a large slice of Chinese online shoppers.

Wang Lihuan is business reporter with international channel Shanghai.

ASEAN chief says free trade targets on track



Published on Oct 25, 2012 by
South-East Asia has faced fewer more testing subjects in recent years than the array of increasingly bitter disputes with China over territory in the South China Sea.

The issue divided ASEAN when foreign ministers met earlier this year. Leaders will be hoping to paper over the cracks - at the very least - when they get together in Cambodia next month.

And the indications are that they may accept Beijing's demand that the disputes must be resolved individually rather than multilaterally.

ASEAN's Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan is visiting Australia, with progress on freer trade in the region also on his agenda.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/australianetworknews/newsline/

Syllabus in Indonesia to cut 'non-essentials'



Published on Oct 26, 2012 by
In a bid to lighten the workload of its students, the Indonesian government is mulling over a change to the primary school curricululm that would see the elimination of English, science, and social studies. Religion, the Indonesian language, and nationalism lessons, deemed essential, are set to take the place of the subjects should they be axed. Al Jazeera's Step Vaessen reports from Jakarta.

Inside Story - Should scientists be playing God?



Published on Oct 26, 2012 by
Scientists in the US say they have developed a new gene-swapping technique to prevent babies from inheriting diseases. So is it a step towards healthier humans or designer babies? Guests: Josephine Quintavalle, Laurie Zoloth, Brian Bigger.

Offline not enough: How internet retailers won the world



Published on Oct 26, 2012 by
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Pakistan's Karachi hosts Asia's largest cattle market



Published 26 October 2012 04:41 555 Views
Muslims around world are celebrating Eid al-Adha this weekend. Part of that tradition includes the slaughter of cows or goats and then distributing the meat between family and the poor. But among Pakistan's wealthy the tradition has developed into a different type of event. Al Jazeera's Imtiaz Tyab reports.

UK economy breaks out of recession



Published 25 October 2012 14:42 1221 Views
The British economy has made its way out of recession, posting one per cent growth in the third economic quarter of 2012, official data shows. The growth was the strongest quarterly GDP performance in five years, Thursday's data showed. The jump in growth was subject to a number of temporary factors, including the Olympics, which may mask a weaker underlying picture. But it was still much better than expected and may mean Britain's full 2012 economy will not be in the red. Al Jazeera's Laurence Lee reports from London.

Finland enjoys rare euro triple-A rating



Published 26 October 2012 16:29 96 Views
Finland is the only triple-A rated country, with an economy that's on the rise. But some Finns resent having to bail out their crisis-stricken neighbours in the single currency. Al Jazeera's Tim Friend reports from Helsinki.

Instability dampens Mali's Eid festivities



Published 25 October 2012 07:44 1052 Views

The political instability in Mali has drastically affected the economy - with many people struggling to get by. As the Muslim religious festival of Eid approaches, families buy an animal to be sacrificed. But as Al Jazeera's Mohamed Vall reports from the capital Bamako, it is a luxury many people are not able to afford this year.

A Trip to Basilicata | Euromaxx



Published on Oct 26, 2012 by
Euromaxx discovers the charms of this region in southern Italy.
For more go to: http://www.dw.de/euromaxx-lifestyle-europe-2012-10-25/e-16283614-9798

Bavarian Fusion | Euromaxx



Published on Oct 24, 2012 by
Bavarian and Italian food don't seem to have much in common. But the owner of Bavarese in Munich would argue otherwise. Here, tradition German cuisine is given an Italian twist. We see how and get a recipe to try out.

Lunching in Style | Euromaxx



Published on Oct 25, 2012 by
Company cafeterias aren't known for their cutting-edge designs. Until now. One group of German architects gave the cafeteria at Spiegel magazine in Hamburg a major facelift.
For more go to: http://www.dw.de/euromaxx-lifestyle-europe-2012-10-23/e-16283431-9798

10/26/2012 BUSINESS BULLETIN



Published on Oct 26, 2012 by
You are watching the latest business report from FRANCE 24.

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FT Connected Business: The Future of IT



Published on Oct 26, 2012 by
Paul Taylor, Connected Business editor, looks back on the highlights from the Gartner IT Symposium in Orlando, where some 8,000 IT professionals, including 2,000 chief information officers gather to discuss the latest trends and issues.

Related Articles:
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/b066428a-1c71-11e2-ba75-00144feabdc0.html
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/c5485c6a-1c5d-11e2-ba75-00144feabdc0.html

For more video content from the Financial Times visit http://www.ft.com/video

Europe Week Ahead: Debt, earnings worries pile up (2:29)



Oct. 26 - Greece is back on centre stage as the troika report on its finances gets nearer, while it may also be another weak of disappointing earnings for Europe

3XSQ: U.S. GDP expands 2% (3:33)



Oct 26 - Economic growth picked up in the third quarter as a late burst in consumer spending offset the first cutbacks in investment in more than a year by cautious businesses