soawesome

Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Emerging-market bonds extended gains after the Federal Reserve cut the benchmark lending rate to bolster growth in the U.S. economy, the main buyer of developing nations' exports.

The Fed reduced the overnight interbank rate by a quarter- percentage point to 4.50 percent. It was the Fed's second cut in interest rates in as many months. In September, it lowered the rate a half-percentage point.

``It's basically what the market expected,'' said Dario Pedrajo, who manages $100 million at Kapax Investment Advisers LLC in Miami. ``The general upward trend in markets continues. Risk appetite is picking up. People feel they have a backstop with the Fed if the economy slows.''

The spread, or extra yield, investors demand to own emerging-market dollar bonds instead of U.S. Treasuries narrowed 11 basis points, or 0.11 percentage point, to 1.85 percentage points at 4:11 p.m. in New York, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s EMBI Plus index. The risk premium is the lowest since Oct. 16. Developing-nation debt also rallied when the Fed cut rates last month, with the spread contracting 11 basis points.

Argentine dollar bonds, among the riskiest in emerging markets, led gains. The yield on the benchmark 8.28 percent bonds maturing in 2033 fell 25 basis points to 8.16 percent, according to JPMorgan. The bond's price, which moves inversely to the yield, climbed 2.85 cents on the dollar to 101.25 cents.

Fitch Ratings raised yesterday its outlook on Ecuador's debt rating to neutral from negative, saying the risk of default has receded. Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa had threatened to default on the nation's $10 billion foreign debt in December to free up funds for social spending.

Ecuador, Venezuela

The yield on Ecuador's benchmark 10 percent bonds due in 2030 declined 11 basis points to 10.48 percent today. The bond's price rose 0.88 to 95.88 cents.

The risk of owning Venezuelan bonds fell to the lowest since Oct. 18, according to data from Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Five-year credit-default swaps based on the country's debt dropped 15 basis points to 3.40 percentage points. That means it costs $340,000 to protect $10 million of the country's debt from default.

Nasdaq Stock Market Inc., the United States' largest electronic exchange, said yesterday its third-quarter profit surged from big gains on the sale of its 31 per cent stake in the London Stock Exchange.

Profits rose more than twelvefold to $365 million (U.S.), or $2.41 per share, from $30.2 million, or 22 cents per share, in the year-earlier period.

Along with $431.4 million in pre-tax gains tied to the sale of the LSE stake, results included $35.2 million in gains on foreign currency option contracts as well as charges of about $26 million. Excluding the items, earnings totalled $62.1 million, or 42 cents per share.

Net revenue, which excludes liquidity rebates, brokerage, clearance and exchange fees, rose 23 per cent to $210 million from $171.2 million a year earlier. Including such expenses, revenue stood at $652 million, a 62 per cent increase from a year earlier.

During the quarter, Nasdaq dropped its two-year attempt to acquire the LSE and announced plans to acquire Sweden's OMX AB through a complex arrangement with Borse Dubai.

CEO Bob Greifeld said he expects the OMX transaction to close in the first quarter of 2008. Nasdaq had previously said it expected to close the OMX transaction during the fourth quarter of 2007.

Greifeld also said the exchange would use its cash balances to fund share buybacks and continue to look for acquisitions "leveraging the core strengths of the mothership."

BEIJING, Oct 29, 2007 (SinoCast China IT Watch via COMTEX) -- BRD | charts | news | PowerRating -- Chinese digital advertising firm AirMedia Advertising Co., Ltd. had filed an application for a Nasdaq listing under the symbol AM-CN to raise about USD 100 million, an insider disclosed on October 24.

 

Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers both will be the major underwriters. However, top executives at the company make no comments on the story.

They currently cannot unveil more details, but will have an interview soon if the plan comes true, said Yan Ning (transliterated), director for the marketing.

AirMedia gained operating revenue of USD 18.9 million last year and USD 16.7 million in the first six months of this year. The fast growths in business will boost the company's plan for listing, noted industry insiders.

By now, the company had built a complete industrial chain and joined hands with a number of famed companies, such as China Mobile, China Unicom, Nokia, Motorola, Haier, and Lenovo. With nearly 300 professional advertising employees, it has successively set up offices in more than 20 Chinese cities.

AirMedia owns a large digital media network in China for air travel advertising. It operates over 1,800 digital screens in 52 airports, such as Beijing Capital International Airport, Shanghai Pudong International Airport, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, and Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, and places its programs on over 1,600 digital screens on aircrafts.

The company also has rights to place its programs on the domestic flights offered by nine Chinese airways, like China Southern Airlines Co., Ltd. (NYSE: ZNH, SEHK: 1055, and SHSE: 600029), China Eastern Airlines Corporation Ltd. (NYSE: CEA, SEHK: 0670, and SHSE: 600115), and Air China Ltd. (SEHK: 0753 and SHSE: 601111).

Notably, it can supply advertisers with other media platforms in airports, compassing light box displays, 360-degree light-emitting diode displays, and 3D displays.

Earlier, Focus Media Holding Ltd. (Nasdaq: FMCN), another leading outdoor media advertising company in China, was said to try to expand into the nation's emerging and booming online game advertising field. However, its public relationships division yesterday denied it and another rumored acquisition of WonderAd, the nation's largest online game-based advertising company, headquartered in Beijing.

Online game advertising will turn into a new battlefield attracting a number of participators. Data show that in 2006, the nation's Internet advertising marketing market grew to more than CNY 6 billion and the figure was predicted to tumble to CNY 23 billion by 2010. The number of its online gamers already swelled to 31.12 million last year.

Los Angeles, CA ---October 29th, 2007 ----Tony Golan, Chief Technical Analyst with StockProfit.com, has issued a Technical Trading Alert on Zoran Corporation  (NASDAQ: ZRAN). 

 

According to Mr. Golan, “ZRAN is starting a strong new long-term up-trend.  The stock is making higher highs and higher lows above a rising 200-day moving average.  Relative Strength Differential (RSD), our proprietary indicator for selecting super-strong stocks, has crossed above the 25% threshold a few days ago, indicating ZRAN is now moving fast enough compared to the S&P 500 and can therefore be considered as a candidate for a buy.”

 

For the full details, visit http://www.stockprofit.com/alerts

 

 

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It's high noon, Apple and AT&T -- we really hate to break it to you, but the jig is up. Last night the impossible was made possible: right in front of our very eyes we witnessed a full SIM unlock of our iPhone with a small piece of software. It's all over, guys.

The iPhoneSIMfree.com team called us up to prove their claim that they cracked Apple's iPhone SIM lock system, and prove it they did. (No, we don't have a copy of the unlock software, so don't even ask us, ok?) The six-man team has been working non-stop since launch day, and they're officially the first to break Apple's SIM locks on the iPhone with software. It's done. Seriously. They wouldn't tell us when and how they would release it to the public, but you can certainly bet that they'll try to make a buck on their solution (and rightly so). We can hardly believe the iPhone's finally been cracked. No, scratch that -- we just can't believe it took this long.

Again: we can confirm with 100% certainty that iPhoneSIMfree.com's software solution completely SIM unlocks the iPhone, is restore-resistant, and should make the iPhone fully functional for users outside of the US. Read on for details and links to our video, and check out the gallery of images below.

The midrange, 12.3-megapixel Nikon D300 is being introduced side-by-side with the company's new, high-end professional digital SLR, the Nikon D3. Remarkably, both cameras share some characteristics--including using Nikon's internal processor, newly dubbed the Expeed Image Processing System (Nikon says Expeed is akin to Canon's Digic III branding for its image processor).

The D300 has a 51-point auto focus system with Nikon's new 3D Focus Tracking Feature. The camera continues the trend--first begun by Olympus--of having a digital SLR with a live preview of the image on the LCD screen.
The D300 has two LiveView modes: one for standard handheld shooting, and one for use with a tripod. It also has Nikon's new Scene Recognition System to enahnce he accuracy of photos' focus, exposure, and white balance; includes its Picture Control System for image adjustments; a bright 3-inch VGA LCD display; and Active D-Lighting for providing real-time highlights and shadow corrections. All of these features are also found on the D3.

And--perhaps most notably for those of us who loathe digital SLRs' dirty little secret about the misery of dust-on-the-image-sensor-- the D300 features a dust reduction system. Nikon's multipronged approach includes both a mechanical dust shake-off option and a reduction in the static electricity of components inside the camera. The D3 also has dust reduction.

Other noteworthy D300 attributes: Nikon says it has improved the camera's noise reduction abilities; given the camera a start-up time of just 0.13 seconds, and its shutter release a lag of 45 milliseconds; and supplied a shooting speed of six frames per second.

One key difference between the D300 and the beefier 12.1 megapixel D3: The D3 introduces Nikon's equivalent to a so-called "full frame" sensor (as found on Canon's EOS 5D). Depending upon the sensor size, a digital SLR can have what's often referred to as a crop factor (the crop applies a magnification effect to images when using standard 35mm lenses). The Nikon D300 has a 1.6x crop, for example.

By contrast, the D3 marks the introduction of Nikon's newly coined FX-format CMOS image sensor (the sensor measures 23.9 by 36mm). The D3 has virtually 100 percent frame coverage, and a .7x magnification. This camera format supports new digital-specific FX lenses (DX lenses will also work on this model). The specs on the D3 are impressive, and, says senior technical manager Lindsay Silverman, are intended to put this camera squarely in competition with Canon's EOS 1D Mark III.

A truly neat feature on the D3 that I'm sure pro shooters will appreciate: The inclusion of two CompactFlash card slots for a variety of image capture scenarios (including automatic switching to the second card when the first card fills up, and copying images between the two cards).

And high-definition fans will like the D3's integrated HDMI port.

An interesting trivia note: The D3 is being introduced eight years after the ground-breaking D1 professional digital SLR. In 1999, a time when digital photography was in its infancy, the Nikon D1 cost a whopping $18,000.
When the D3 ships later this year, Nikon expects the price to be $4995. The D300 is also expected to ship in November; Nikon estimates its price to be at about $1800.

Sony A700 preview: The new Sony Alpha A700 was launched during a Sony press conference in Italy. Unfortunately, the surprise element was lost because one day earlier the Alpha introduction was disturbed by a leak caused by Sony. The Sony Alpha 700 is Sony’s second digital SLR camera that has to contribute to a continuously compiling series of SLR cameras, with which Sony manifests itself as renowned DSLR manufacturer. The Sony DSLR A700 is a digital SLR camera which is positioned in the middle segment, and with that, has to compete (heavily) with the new collection of Canon and Nikon D-SLR cameras, among others. During my stay in Italy, I had the chance to work with the Sony A700 for a short period.

Sony A700 DLSR camera - Conference During the press conference in Italy, the Sony Alpha A700 was introduced extensively. The presentation was supported by, among others, Richard Kalvar, professional Magnum photographer, by sharing his experience with the Sony A700 with the international press. According to Richard Kalvar: “The body of the Sony Alpha A700 is light in weight, but because of the clear hand grip it lies in the hand excellently. I am especially impressed by the LCD display on the Sony DSLR-A700. Because of the high resolution, evaluating the recordings is simple and efficient.” Sony Alpha 700 camera - Professional photographer and Experience Richard continues: “Sony clearly cooperated with professional photographers. This has lead to an improvement of the ergonomic and control of the camera’s operation. The operation has a clear setup, so you hardly ever have to take your eye off the viewfinder. The ergonomic of a camera is very important for a pro; the attention has to go 100% towards the composition. The wireless shutter-release is a convenient accessory; no more hassle with wires, very effective! The setting dial on the back of the camera needs a little getting used to, but he who has problems with it can even adjust the dial’s features through the camera’s menu. The Sony Alpha 700 really adapts to the photographer completely; a relief to me personally. After my experience in practice, I am completely convinced of the Sony A700 and I anticipate that the professional market will embrace the Sony Alpha.” Sony A700 digital SLR - Workshop Sony Netherlands After the press conference, there is time to go more into detail about the Sony A700. Three aspects are important; Image quality, Photography presentation, Users’ convenience and result. The Sony Alpha A700 has been equipped with the new Exmor CMOS image sensor and a double noise reduction technology. The noise reduction occurs before the conversion of the data which are to be recorded, and faster data processing and transmission is possible because of the improved BIONZ processor. Another outstanding feature of the Sony A700 is the Super SteadyShot technique. Starting point is image stabilization for each lens. The Sony Alpha 700 has an improved Super SteadyShot technique, which reveals itself in a 4 stops range, among other things. Nevertheless, the effective range depends on the lens and the focal range that was used. A large tele-lens of, for instance, 600mm will be harder to stabilize (read: Super Steady Shot’s less effective range) compared to a 24mm lens. Sony A700 SLR - Sensitivity and Image format The ISO range of the Sony A700 has been increased to a standard ISO 3200 with a possibility to give it a ‘boost’ of ISO 6400. The new CMOS image sensor was developed by Sony and sets a new CMOS technology standard. Sony invested 360 million EURO in this image-sensor technology. The auto focus of the new Sony A700 DSLR camera consists of an 11-point AF, with which can be focused accurately. The shutter has been newly developed; the high speed shutter enables a minimal shutter speed of 1/8000 and continuous photography with a speed of 5 fps. Also new is the cRAW image format, where a smaller file with preservation of all raw data is being stored. The file is reduced by about 30%. With this, 25 recordings in a buffer are possible, instead of the 18 images which the standard RAW format contains. At the time of introduction it is only possible to open the cRAW files with special Sony software. Sony is cooperating with Adobe to let this file format be supported by Adobe. Very striking is, by the way, that Sony chose to work with 12bits RAW files instead of the 14bits format with which part of the competition works. Sony A700 digital SLR - Material and Memory cards The housing of the Sony A700 is light in weight and consists of aluminum. The buttons, memory card slot and flaps in the body are dust- and waterproof. A handy feature is the indication of the battery life in percentage, which is made possible through the use of an InfoLithium battery; also with the use of an optional grip, this information remains visible. The Sony Alpha 700 has a double card slot supporting Memory Stick PRO Duo and CompactFlash type I & II flash memory cards. It’s a pity that Sony does not fully utilize the presence of a double card slot; you have to set the card slot manually, via the camera’s menu. It would be handier, and above all faster, if the camera itself would recognize and activate the card slot. Perhaps a future firmware solution can offer such possibility. New is also the built-in studio- flash connection, so a direct connection to a studio flash-installation becomes possible. Sony A700 SLR - Navigation and Locations The users’ comfort of the new Sony A700 DSLR camera has been improved by giving a so-called film-strip preview on the LCD screen. Besides this, a histogram gives sufficient image information to evaluate the image on the high resolution display. The menu’s navigation has been perfected by means of a joystick operation because of which speed and comfort are increased. The so-called ‘C’ button can be programmed with a function that is used often, handy to maintain the speed of the photography in practice. With the Memory Recall function, you can store up to three preferred settings, so you can set certain lighting situations, with which working on different locations becomes simple. It’s only possible to store these data inside the camera, by the way, not on the memory card. Sony DSLR-A700 - LCD monitor and High Definition The clear LCD monitor with 921,000 dots is striking. You can evaluate the result right at the spot. The coating enables the use in- and outdoors. While photographing with the Sony A700 in Italy, the glaring sun still appears to sabotage the reproduction a great deal. Not very uncommon, and a fact we just have to learn to live with. High Definition (HD) has a central role within the Sony selection at this time. Data communication with BRAVIA televisions is possible now too. The HD interface of the Sony A700 makes high resolution possible in the living room and brings the image in absolute high quality within the reach of anybody. The Photo TV HD feature enables intelligent communication with BRAVIA television. In practice this means that the BRAVIA is being optimized which makes the highest quality possible. The ‘old-fashioned’ slide presentations are back with an unheard-of improvement in the image reproduction. Sony A700 D-SLR camera - Configurations and Pro body The new Sony Alpha A700 is being offered in the following configurations: Sony A700 body (DSLR-A700), Sony A700 body including DT 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6 standard zoom lens (DSLR-A700K) and the Sony A700 body including DT 16-105 f/3.5-5.6 standard zoom lens (DSLR-A700P). In total, there will be 24 lenses and 2 tele converters available in 2008 for the Sony Alpha A-DSLR photographer. During the press conference outstandingly little has been said about the third body which Sony shows as a mock-up during the different events globally. Rumors about the application of a full-frame image sensor in a professional housing are neither being confirmed nor denied. Nevertheless, it is a fact that we can expect a new Sony Alpha product in 2008. We are going to receive a test sample of the Sony A700 soon, and we will publish a Sony Alpha 700 review after we tested the camera extensively in the DIWA lab.

Japanese Guy Turns his Mobile into Fully-Functioning Transformer-Phone

Some people are just too clever—like this man, who modded his MOTOROKR E6 into no less than a Transformer. And the killer fact is that the phone still works. Check the gallery below.

Perhaps if I ask him nicely, he'd be able to transform my cruddy RAZR into an iPhone for me.

Apple dominated the technology headlines this week, as it typically does following highly anticipated product unveilings like the one held Wednesday.

But this week's news wasn't just about the shiny new iPods and related features CEO Steve Jobs introduced in his polished presentation at San Francisco's Moscone Center. It was about the huge price cut Jobs announced for the 8GB iPhone--from $599 to $399, and the resulting anger expressed by those loyal fans who were first to buy the product at the higher price point.

Following the uproar from customers--and in a rare admission of a mistake--Jobs on Thursday posted an open letter on Apple's Web site acknowledging the company shouldn't have treated its early adopters in such a fashion and offering them a $100 store credit.

"We apologize for disappointing some of you, and we are doing our best to live up to your high expectations of Apple," Jobs wrote.

Some commended Jobs and the company for what they considered a humble and fair response to the iPhone price flap. Others, however such as CNET News.com reader Jake Kushner, president of JK Media, said Apple's response didn't go far enough to satisfy those who bought a 4GB iPhone for $499, only to see the 8GB model become $100 cheaper. They should get a free upgrade to an 8GB model or a $200 rebate, he said.

"I feel wronged and misled by Apple. Such a quick price reduction indicates that Apple premeditated this reduction before the initial release," Kushner wrote, addressing Jobs. "I read your public response on Apple.com to this issue, but I still feel that the solution you are offering is not adequate."

Meanwhile, those who've been contemplating purchasing an iPhone might be interested instead in Apple's new iPod Touch, which is essentially a phoneless, camera-less version of the iPhone with the same 3.5-inch screen, multitouch interface, home screen and OS X. The iPod Touch has the ability to connect to the Internet with 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, comes with Apple's Safari Web browser and has built-in Google and Yahoo search.

Apple is also revising some of its previous iPods--the regular iPod, the Nano and the Shuffle. It will offer a new 160GB version of the regular iPod (now known as the iPod Classic) that's thinner than the regular iPod and has better battery life. It made minor changes to its iPod Shuffle line, which will come in new colors. And the new iPod Nano will now have video capability, though its screen is only 2 inches wide.

Jobs also announced the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, which allows consumers to buy songs wirelessly, and a partnership with Starbucks. People with an iPod Touch or iPhone who walk into a Starbucks coffee shop will see a button pop up on their screen. They will then have the option to buy the last 10 songs that have been playing in the store, as well as music from featured artists at Starbucks.

A few other non-Apple products worth noting were also announced this week. Still on the gadget front, Hewlett-Packard unveiled the HP Blackbird 002, a souped-up, flashy gaming PC that is the company's first joint effort with its Voodoo unit. In a computing niche that leans heavily on design, the Blackbird shows careful attention was paid to detail both inside and out, industry observers say.