This commenter is a Washington Post contributor. Post contributors aren’t staff, though might write articles or columns. In some cases, contributors are sources or experts quoted in a story.

More about badges | Request a badge

By CHRISTINA REXRODE, AP Business Writer
–
2 hours ago 

Apple is a world’s many profitable company. The Dow Jones industrial normal is substantially a world’s best-known batch index. So don’t they merit any other?

Consider this: If Apple had been combined to a Dow in Jun 2009, a final time there were critical rumors that it would happen, a normal would be about 2,500 points aloft than it is currently and good above a all-time high.

Paul Hickey of Bespoke Investment Group, that crunches numbers about a markets, says a Dow would be during 15,360, about 1,200 points above a record of 14,164, set in Oct 2007. The Dow sealed Wednesday during 12,835.

Not usually would investors be perkier, though bland Americans examination a Dow set one record after another would substantially feel wealthier. That competence enthuse them to spend some-more income and assistance a economy grow faster.

But if we consider a time is right for an Apple-Dow marriage, don’t check your mailbox for a marriage invitation. Apple, that redefined how people listen to song and reinvented a cellphone, is simply too prohibited for a Dow.

In 2009, when a broke General Motors and a hobbled Citigroup were booted from a Dow and Apple was talked about as one replacement, Apple batch traded during about $144.

On Wednesday, it sealed during $569. Because of how a Dow is calculated, Apple would dwarf a other bonds in a normal and crush a Dow from a purpose — that is to simulate a extended economy, not paint a hottest stocks.

A large one-day benefit by Apple, like a $50 burst after it reported blockbuster gain final month, would send a Dow aloft by hundreds of points. Similarly, a large dump would advise a marketplace was in some-more difficulty than it unequivocally was.

The Dow comprises 30 stocks. It is weighted so that a $1 pierce by any stock, no matter how inexpensive or expensive, moves a normal a same — about 7 and a half points as a Dow is distributed today.

Because it’s many easier for a $100 batch to pierce $1 than it is for a $20 stock, higher-priced bonds lift some-more importance. IBM, during about $200, is a many costly batch and carries scarcely 12 percent of a Dow’s weight.

Apple would lift a entertain or more, depending on that batch it replaced. That is because a Dow would be thousands of points aloft if it had welcomed Apple in 2009: Each share of Apple has grown by hundreds of dollars given then.

“It wouldn’t be a Dow Jones industrial average,” says Nicholas Colas, arch marketplace strategist during ConvergEx Group. “It would be a Apple Plus Some Other Stuff Index.”

Apple is already a biggest member of a other dual vital U.S. batch indexes: It creates adult scarcely 12 percent of a Nasdaq combination and some-more than 4 percent of a Standard Poor’s 500.

The Dow was innate in 1896 and has altered over a years to simulate a changing economy. Agricultural and spark companies have been transposed by banks and drug companies. Car makers have knocked off railroads.

Of a Dow’s 12 strange stocks, usually General Electric is still partial of a index. So because not supplement Apple, that has huge informative lift and indebtedness via corporate America — and a marketplace value of half a trillion dollars?

“We don’t run a Dow as we would an investment portfolio,” says John Prestbo, a executive editor of Dow Jones Indexes, that maintains a Dow and other indexes.

Prestbo, along with a handling editor of The Wall Street Journal and a investigate conduct of a CME Group, that owns a infancy interest of Dow Jones Indexes, confirm that companies make adult a Dow.

They accommodate spasmodic to plead either they need to change a index. The CME Group provides benchmark indexes on investments like rural products, appetite and metals.

The Dow cabinet competence foot a association if it’s no longer an attention leader, or if a attention is too heavily represented. Sometimes companies will ask to be included, that doesn’t indispensably harm or assistance their case, Prestbo says.

Three years ago, when GM and Citigroup got a ax, a organisation snubbed Apple and chose Cisco Systems, that creates mechanism networking equipment, and Travelers Companies, a word provider.

Travelers is adult roughly 50 percent given it was combined to a Dow, though Cisco has changed somewhat lower. In a suppositious instance supposing by Bespoke, Apple would have transposed Cisco in 2009.

There’s some story behind a thought of carrying a many profitable association be partial of a Dow. Exxon Mobil, that hold a pretension until Apple wrested it in January, is a Dow member. Ten years ago, dual Dow components, Microsoft and GE, jockeyed for a honor.

But Prestbo brushes off a what-if questions about Apple. Would a Dow be higher? Sure, he says. “But it also wouldn’t be tracking a market.”

Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Islamabad, May 10 — The BlackBerry handsets of former Pakistani attach� to US, Husain Haqqani and Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz, a categorical characters concerned in a memo scandal, will bear debate tests in London.

Forensic experts have reached a Pakistan High Commission in London to inspect a handsets, Geo News reported.

Haqqani was forced to renounce final year after Ijaz claimed he had asked him to pass on a memo from President Asif Ali Zardari to afterwards authority of a US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen, seeking assistance from a US supervision in box of a troops manoeuvre in Pakistan following a murdering of Osama bin Laden.

Haqqani was removed from Washington and faced a Supreme Court enquiry.

Ijaz was scheduled to seem before a debate experts though Haqqani has voiced his miss of certainty in a experts and refused to seem before them, a news said.

The legal elect probing a liaison had released notices to both parties to possibly seem in chairman or indoctrinate their member to seem before a debate experts during a High Commission.

In February, Ijaz handed over to a elect 4 pages of his Blackberry check detailing his communications with Haqqani.

Haqqani’s warn Zahid Bukhari, however, pronounced a pages did not lift names and numbers and were illegible.

Ijaz also pronounced he had created a argumentative memo after receiving points from Haqqani and afterwards delivered it to US National Security Advisor James Jones.

He pronounced Haqqani had “directives” from Zardari on delivering a memo to Washington.

“It was my bargain that Haqqani had directives from a Pakistani president,” Ijaz pronounced while recording his testimony during a High Commision.

“Haqqani pronounced (in a memo) that a municipal supervision needs to be strengthened opposite a ‘bad boys’”, Ijaz said.

The tenure “bad boys” referred to army arch (General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani) or ISI arch (Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha), he said.

IANS

This essay was distributed by a NewsCred Smartwire.

Original essay © IANS / Daily News 2012

The Samsung Galaxy Note is removing Ice Cream Sandwich, according to reports.

(Credit:
Samsung)

Samsung has started to hurl out
Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) to Galaxy Notes in Europe, according to several reports.

News of a rollout originated from Devin Balentina, a Netherlands-based
Galaxy Note owner. Balentina, whose tweet was first detected by The Verge, posted an picture of a program refurbish alert, that includes discuss of a horde of upgrades, including a new S Note App’s “advanced note-taking [and] capability tools.” The refurbish also includes a S Memo Widget, and a horde of other improvements.

Although one chairman removing entrance to Android 4.0 is by no means a smoking gun, Samsung-tracking site Sammy Hub is stating now that Germany-based members of a XDA Developers forum have also gotten their hands on a update.

Galaxy Note owners had hoped to get Ice Cream Sandwich in a initial quarter, though Samsung behind in Mar announced that a “premium apartment upgrade” that would accompany a Android 4.0 refurbish wouldn’t launch until a second quarter. The association pronounced that a refurbish would be rolled out worldwide, so even if it’s now usually accessible in tools of Europe, hopefully it’ll eventually make a approach to other countries.

CNET has contacted Samsung for some-more information on a update. We will refurbish this story when we have some-more information.

In late March, Apple’s Foxconn retailer in China betrothed to revoke workers’ hours and stabilise their compensate in response to a Fair Labor Association’s audit of a company. Apple upheld a decisions, and in a matter expelled during a time pronounced it common a “goal of improving lives and lifting a bar for production companies everywhere.”

Today, it is being reported that Apple and Foxconn will share a costs to make a unconditional changes to a factories and public lines. Foxconn CEO Terry Gou told reporters, including Reuters, in China that Apple “sees this as a rival strength along with us, and so we will separate a initial costs.”

In response to a FLA news in Mar Foxconn concluded to approve with FLA standards, that enclosed improved hours and some-more fast compensate for workers. In sequence to do that Foxconn concluded to boost a numbers of workers to say a same turn of outlay and not reduce a income of workers since of a reduced overtime.

Foxconn also lifted salary of workers by 25 percent in Febuary. But workers told a FLA that a salary still didn’t accommodate their simple needs. Subsequently, Foxconn betrothed to control a cost-of-living review in locations nearby a factories. Additionally, Foxconn concluded to compensate any workman retroactively who hadn’t perceived overtime salary they were righteously owed.

No sum were given on how Apple and Foxconn competence separate a cost. Apple already financially contributes to bettering a sourroundings during Foxconn, among a contributions is a Supplier Employee Education and Development (SEED) program, that aims to teach workers on internal laws, their rights, and health and safety.

Apple wouldn’t criticism serve currently to ABC News on Gou’s statements.

For some-more on operative conditions during Foxconn, review ABC News “Nightline’s” disdainful stating from inside a factory.

(click picture for incomparable perspective and for slideshow)
The Department of Defense has authorized 6 comparatively new BlackBerry inclination for use on troops networks, BlackBerry builder Research In Motion announced Monday.

The inclination that will now be enclosed on a list of products that accommodate a military’s confidence mandate embody a touchscreen BlackBerry Torch 9850 and 9860; a touchscreen and keyboard Torch 9810, Bold 9900, and Bold 9930; and a Curve 9360. The certification, that was handed down on May 2 by a Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), also includes BlackBerry Enterprise Server and dual versions of a BlackBerry Smart Card Reader.

The technologies were listed following a fusillade of contrast achieved by a Army over a final year. However, their acceptance does not come but a series of conditions. A DISA memo antiquated May 2 lists 13 stairs that a troops needs to take in sequence to safeguard that any BlackBerry deployment meets troops confidence requirements, including a requirement that any “non-core” apps commissioned on a inclination be authorized by a DISA.

[ What will a initial RIM phone with a new BlackBerry height demeanour like? See RIM BlackBerry 10 Image Leaks. ]

“These new smartphones will now capacitate Army users, and all DOD users, to knowledge an even larger turn of performance,” Scott Totzke, comparison VP of BlackBerry confidence during RIM, pronounced in a statement. Among a technologies in a new inclination embody near-field communications, amicable features, and “augmented reality” record that uses a devices’ cameras and location-based facilities to assistance users navigate a genuine universe by, for example, directing them to points of seductiveness within their margin of view.

For now, BlackBerry stays a height of choice for supervision agencies, even as Research In Motion’s marketplace share slips with businesses and consumers. Government officials have told InformationWeek that they trust a height due to a prolonged history, a conformance with confidence standards, and a manageability around BlackBerry Enterprise Server.

Numerous BlackBerry inclination have perceived confidence acceptance for supervision use, including acceptance from a National Institute for Standards and Technology as assembly federally-mandated FIPS 140-2 encryption requirements.

“[The sovereign supervision sector] continues to grow in terms of new subscriber merger as good as in a reinvestment/refresh business, or business that are during a finish of their agreement upgrading to new BlackBerrys,” Totzke told InformationWeek in February.

However, even in government, RIM is saying increasing foe from Android and Apple iOS devices. The Department of Veterans Affairs, a Department of a Interior, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and a Army all are possibly contrast or migrating to Android and/or iOS devices.

InformationWeek is conducting a consult to get a baseline demeanour during where enterprises mount on their IPv6 deployments, with a concentration on problem areas, including security, training, budget, and readiness. Upon execution of the survey, we will be authorised to enter a sketch to accept an 16-GB Apple iPad. Take the InformationWeek IPv6 Survey now. Survey ends May 11.

Gundotra said: “We’re not meddlesome in a mobile or amicable knowledge that’s only smaller. We’re embracing a sensor-rich smartphone (with a substantial shade and high-density display), and transforming Google+ into something some-more intimate, and some-more expressive.” The new Google+ app for iPhone indeed delivers that.

The full-bleed photos, videos, immeasurable form photos and superb fonts make Google+ for iPhone a feast on a eyes. There’s also a bubbling-like animation when posts in a tide are loaded, that seems really healthy to scrolling on a phone. The app is also liquid and responsive, a immeasurable alleviation over a simple Web coupling a prior chronicle was.

Worth The Wait On Android

It’s engaging that Google did not launch a updated Google+ app UI for Android first, a possess mobile OS. Instead, it chose to aim iOS users initial – iPhone users mainly, as a app does not have a dedicated iPad interface.

Vic Gundotra was really deceptive over when Android users should design to get a polished Google+ app UI – “the Android refurbish is entrance in a few weeks,” he said. But a wait competence be value it, he hinted, observant a Android chronicle will have “a few additional surprises.”

Meanwhile, Google has been operative on improving a Google+ interface for desktop browser users. In Apr Google+ perceived a finish overhaul, a +1 symbol now has a sibling, a Share button, and Hangouts On Air is being rolled out to everyone, permitting for coexisting live streaming on Google+ and YouTube.

Follow Daniel Ionescu and Today @ PCWorld on Twitter

Oracle and Google continue to battle it out in a San Francisco courtroom. Photo: MartinBowling/Flickr

Google’s Android operating system infringes on two patents owned by Oracle, according to Stanford professor John Mitchell, an expert witness hired by Oracle in the ongoing court battle over Android and its use of the Java programming language.

With its case, Oracle claims that Android steps on two Java-related patents — U.S. Patents 6,061,520 and RE38,104 — and, yes, Mitchell agrees. The Stanford academic took the stand on Wednesday during the patent phase of the trial that pits Oracle against Google, and he was paid by Oracle.

During the trial — which is now into its fourth week — Judge William Alsup has chided both Google and Oracle for calling paid witnesses who seem predisposed to completely agree with their arguments.

Oracle sued Google in August of 2010, claiming that the search giant violated both its copyrights and its patents in building a new version of the Java platform for Android. Rather than license the Java platform from Sun, Google created its own virtual machine — known as Dalvik — for running applications written with the Java programming language.

On Monday, the jury decided that Google infringed on Oracle copyrights covering the overall structure, sequence, and organization of 37 of Java’s application program interfaces (APIs) — software that lets Java programs talk to the Java platform on PCs, smartphones, and other devices. But it was unable to agree on whether Google’s use of the copyrighted material constituted fair use under the law. Google immediately moved for a retrial, arguing that you can’t decide on infringement without deciding on fair use, but Judge William Alsup has yet to address this.

In the meantime, the trial has proceeded into its second phase, which addresses Oracle claims that Google also violated its patents.

U.S. Patent RE38,104 — aka ’104 — describes a “method and apparatus for resolving data references in generated code.” Basically, it covers a way of improving the software compilation — i.e., the process of translating programming code into an executable application. It uses “symbolic references” to identify data during compilation rather than numeric memory locations. Google argues that Dalvik does not use symbolic references, whereas Oracle says otherwise.

The second patent –’520 patent — describes a “method and system for performing static initialization,” a way of consolidating classes of files so that virtual machines execute less code than they otherwise would. Oracle claims that Google uses “simulated execution” with Dalvik, whereas Google says it merely parses files.

Taking the stand on Wednesday, John Mitchell spent the better part of the afternoon taking questions from Oracle’s lead counsel Mike Jacobs and walking the jury through extensive diagrams and software code in an effort to show that Google has indeed infringed on these two patents. Mitchell also discussed a number of tests he ran on the Android code prior to the trial, saying that these prove infringement.

Although Mitchell is paid by Oracle, the jury has been instructed to view his testimony as fact. Google will cross-examine Mitchell on Thursday, and after Oracle rests its case, it will have the chance to call its own paid expert witness.

To prove infringement, Oracle must show that Google was “willfully blind” of Sun’s patents when it developed the Dalvik virtual machine. Earlier on Wednesday, Andy Rubin, who oversees the Android project, took the stand, and Jacobs asked if he was aware of Sun’s Java patent portfolio. “As an engineer, you shouldn’t study someone else’s invention when you’re trying to come up with your own,” Rubin said.

Jonathan Schwartz, Sun’s former CEO, testified during the copyright phase of the trial, but Oracle has asked that the judge prevent him from taking the stand during the patent phase. With his previous testimony, he said that although Sun didn’t like that Google had built Android, he — as CEO — did not believe Sun should take legal action against the search giant.

On Wednesday, in an attempt to challenge Schwartz’s testimony, Oracle called Jonathan Sutphin, a former Sun executive who reported to Schwartz. Oracle lawyer Mike Jacobs asked him whether Sun ever made a definitive decision not to sue Google. “Not that I’m aware of,” Sutphin answered.

Google’s Robert Van Nest countered by showing that Schwartz was the ultimate decision maker at Sun, not Sutphin. “Other than the board, he was the highest-ranking official at the company?”

“Yes,” Sutphin answered.

While at Sun, Schwartz published a blog post espousing his support for the new platform. Oracle has pointed out that this is just a blog post, not a legal or official document. But in questioning Sutphin, Google’s Van Nest pointed out that typically, public companies must notify the SEC of public statements from their CEOs and that Sun had done so with Schwartz’s post. The implication was that the blog post was official.

]]> http://firman23.co.cc/oracles-expert-says-android-ripped-off-java-patents/feed 0 http://firman23.co.cc/blackberry-7-models-approved-by-defense http://firman23.co.cc/blackberry-7-models-approved-by-defense#comments Thu, 10 May 2012 00:11:54 +0000 admin http://firman23.co.cc/blackberry-7-models-approved-by-defense Post Contributor Badge

This commenter is a Washington Post contributor. Post contributors aren’t staff, but may write articles or columns. In some cases, contributors are sources or experts quoted in a story.

More about badges | Request a badge