Source: http://www.stylishpetite.com/2013/08/h-online-shopping-is-finally-here.html
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Thursday, August 1, 2013
Stylish Petite | Fashion, Petite Reviews and Style: H&M online ...
The day is finally here! Hallelujah! H&M has officially launched online shopping for the U.S.! They have delayed online shopping to Amercians for a couple of years now and this launch has been highly anticipated and well overdue. ?Thanks to Jess for letting me know! I was so excited about this that I couldn't log on fast enough. ?Shipping is $5.95 no matter what the weight of your order is. I think this is pretty fair for those of you who don't have a store nearby but it still sucks. ?They should at least offer free shipping with a minimum purchase. Another disappointment is that you can't return items purchased online in stores and you have to pay for return shipping by mail. Tsk tsk. ?Hopefully this will change in the future. They also offer H&M Home online too! I?Just wanted to spread the word. ?Happy shopping everyone!?
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
The Rise of the Apple TV: What should be Apple's next step?
Frost & Sullivan recently reported that Apple TV made up more than half of the streaming device market for 2012, beating competitors like Roku and TiVo. Not bad for something that Steve Jobs once referred to as "a hobby" for the company. What should be Apple's next step for the little black box?
First, let's put that news into some context. The Apple TV is the most popular streaming box out there, according to this report - and that's a device that Apple doesn't separately report in its quarterly revenue figures. In fact, the Apple TV's contribution to Apple's balance sheet this past quarter is buried in the "Accessories" portion of its quarterly statement, which for the most recently reported quarter was $1.18 billion (out of $35.23 billion in total revenue).
Compared to the gargantuan revenues of the iPhone ($18.15 billion), the sizable revenues of the iPad ($6.37 billion), or even the Mac ($4.89 billion), that Accessories number is pretty small - especially when you consider that it includes all other Apple-branded hardware peripherals, and accessories made for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
But Tim Cook did offer details earlier this year that may give some insight about the success of the Apple TV. In May, Cook said that Apple has sold 13 million Apple TVs to date. About half of those were sold within the previous year, Cook revealed.
That's an average of almost 1.63 million Apple TVs sold each quarter. At $100 a piece, that's $163 million in Apple's coffers from Apple TV each quarter. Some quick back of the envelope math suggests that Apple TV is contributing a little less than 14 percent to Apple's overall "Accessories" revenue numbers. Small potatoes for Apple's balance sheets, perhaps, but if Frost & Sullivan's analysis is correct, a huge chunk of the streaming box market. Apple's biggest competitor, Roku, grabs less than half the remaining pie, according to the report. Other competitors divide what remains into even smaller slivers.
The Apple TV has been around for six years and is already in its third hardware generation. Apple doubling its installed base of Apple TVs in the last twelve months certainly indicates that public momentum for the device is picking up.
But the overall small numbers demonstrate just how nascent the streaming box market really is. While many of us Apple enthusiasts have bought Apple TV, there are still a huge number of consumers who don't find the device particularly useful or interesting, or feel that their TV viewing needs are serviced well enough by cable TV, DVRs and other set-top devices.
Apple's gobbled up a huge piece of a very small pie. But that small market is growing.
Where does Apple go from here?
The second and third generation Apple TV - the small black box - lacks any sort of local storage capability, but makes up for it by being more programmable than its predecessor. Not only is it easily updatable with firmware improvements and other enhancements, but it can be programmed with entirely new apps.
In mid June, Apple rolled out an update for the Apple TV that added support for several new content services including ESPN, HBO, subscription-based anime service Crunchyroll and more.
Some analysts and pundits hope to see the Apple TV become a disruptive technology for television watching - something that people could use in place of cable television altogether. And indeed, some Apple TV users find the content from iTunes, Netflix, Hulu and the other services the Apple TV supports to be sufficient for their viewing habits.
But it's clear that Apple is taking a more iterative approach with the device - an approach that requires customers to have other media at their disposal. Take HBO Go, for example. The app works the same way on the Apple TV that it does on the iPhone and iPad - you can stream HBO content, including current and archived TV series, but it requires you to validate by entering your cable service provider account information first. You can't subscribe to the service a la carte, as it were.
Tim Cook describes a "grand vision" for the Apple TV and calls television itself an "area of intense interest" for the company, but so far he hasn't publicly articulated what that vision is.
According to Frost & Sullivan, the secret to the Apple TV's success is AirPlay, which enables iOS devices and Macs to stream audio and video content to the Apple TV. AirPlay is the killer app for the Apple TV, because it enhances the experience of users of other Apple products by making it easier for them to share content on their television.
Apple implicitly understands this - the company's executives have spoken for years about the "halo effect" of people buying one Apple product and having a great experience with it, then that driving their purchase of more Apple hardware. To that end, AirPlay is getting a big boost in OS X Mavericks, due out later this year. Apple TV owners can already mirror the Mac's display to their television. But with Mavericks' improved Multiple Display support, Mac users will be able to use an Apple TV-connected television as a completely independent display.
The television question
Analysts like Gene Munster have long prognosticated that Apple will build an actual television, but the economics of doing so don't make a lot of sense, at least not right now. Flat panel TVs are an increasingly commodity-drive market, with inexpensive Chinese manufacturers flooding the market with cheap sets you can buy at Walmart and Target.
There may be a window for some new brands to be established in the Ultra HDTV market - the new 4K sets that are coming out. Apple could leverage its legendary supply line muscle with Chinese manufacturers to produce 4K televisions.
And Apple does appear to be making a play for 4K on some of its hardware, like the new Mac Pro, which will feature Thunderbolt 2 interfaces capable of driving 4K resolution displays. But that's a technology that is squarely focused on the high end of Apple's Mac line at the moment, and for the Mac Pro that makes a lot of sense: it's a machine that's historically had a high penetration in the professional digital video and film editing market.
But what, ultimately, would an actual Apple television - 4K or otherwise - gain Apple in the long run? It could establish itself as a niche player - a high end boutique brand, perhaps, but could it muscle itself onto store shelves the same way that competitors like Samsung, LG and Vizio, or long-time players in the field like Sony and Panasonic, have?
Stay the course
It's a smarter play for Apple to continue to to refine the black box with software updates, then roll out a new generation as it makes sense with new features like UHDTV support as it becomes something more consumers are looking for.
While more and more televisions are coming from the factory with "smart" capabilities like connecting to the Internet and to services like Netflix, many consumers continue to use them as simple dumb terminals for their set top boxes and their streaming devices.
For as long as that's the case, Apple's best strategy for the Apple TV remains building a black box that can connect to any of them, instead of building its own branded television. Compared to a television, the Apple TV is almost an impulse buy, and it capitalizes on the halo effect that continues to drive consumers to new Apple products.
Would you buy an Apple-branded television if they make one? Is the Apple TV a better solution? Or is the whole thing stupid? Tell me what you think in the comments.
Source: http://www.imore.com/rise-apple-tv
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Samsung Galaxy S 4 and S 4 Mini unveiled with dual-mode LTE
As we saw yesterday with the look into Android fragmentation, Samsung is no stranger to releasing a wide variety of handsets. While this often means a variety of display sizes and price points, today we are seeing another variant of the Galaxy S 4 and the Galaxy S 4 Mini. Both of these models will soon be available in a dual-LTE variant.
Samsung has said these two devices will bring support for TDD-LTE and FDD-LTE. Perhaps more important for some is how Samsung is also promising them to arrive with ?seamless handover technology.? At the moment there hasn?t been any timeline for release given.
Instead Samsung has shared a bit about how this makes them the ?first player in the global mobile industry to provide dual-mode? smartphones. Samsung also announced plans to continue launching TDD-LTE devices in other (still unspecified) markets during the third quarter of 2013.
At present FDD-LTE technology accounts for majority of the global LTE market. Moving forward though, TDD-LTE is expected to gain wider usage in the US as well as in Australia, China, the Middle East, Southwest Asia and Northern and Eastern Europe. Basically, these dual-LTE handsets should make for a better user experience in places where both LTE modes are being used.
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Lifelike cooling for sunbaked windows: Adaptable microfluidic circulatory system could cut air-conditioning costs
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Sun-drenched rooms make for happy residents, but large glass windows also bring higher air-conditioning bills. Now a bioinspired microfluidic circulatory system for windows could save energy and cut cooling costs dramatically -- while letting in just as much sunlight.
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PSA: Free Cupcakes on the Hill From Ford Motor Co.
Posted at 11:41 a.m. today
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(Courtesy Stephanie Lundberg)
To commemorate what would have been original hot rodder Henry Ford?s 150th birthday, Ford Motor Co. is treating Congress ? as well as anyone in the general vicinity of the Capitol South Metro stop ? to free cupcakes.
The promotion is being run in conjunction with motorized snack slingers Curbside Cupcakes, which will be distributing 1,400 cupcakes ? 700 at Cap South and another 700 around Metro Center ? today between noon and 2 p.m.
The giveaway is limited to one per person, with a choice of red velvet or vanilla bean. Curbside is also running a trivia contest via its Twitter account.
An event promoter said Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., is expected to pop by for part of the festivities, and held out hope that other members of the Michigan delegation would also be able to attend.
The company is hoping to sweeten the deal by hauling out a 1909 Model T for antique car lovers to gawk at.
Source: http://www.rollcall.com/news/psa_free_cupcakes_on_the_hill_from_ford_motor_co-226738-1.html
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Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Israelis, Palestinians start arguing even before peace talks start
Charles Dharapak / AP
Secretary of State John Kerry, accompanied by former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk speaks at the State Department in Washington, Monday, July 29, 2013, where he announced that he Indyk will shepherd the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
By Andrew Rafferty, Staff Writer, NBC News
Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday appointed former U.S. ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk as the envoy tasked with shepherding the delicate Israeli-Palestinian peace talks set to begin later in the day.
Indyk?s appointment comes one day after the State Department announced talks ? which have been stalled for three years ? would resume between the two countries.
?I know the negotiations are going to be tough, but I also know that the consequences of not trying could be worse,? Kerry told reporters. ?To help the parties navigate the path to peace and to avoid its many pitfalls, we?ll be very fortunate to have on our team, on a day-to-day basis, working with the parties wherever they are negotiating, a seasoned American diplomat ? ambassador Martin Indyk.?
To take on his new role, the former diplomat gave up his post as director of the Foreign Policy Program at the Brookings Institution, a think tank in Washington, D.C. Before that he served in a variety of diplomatic roles during President Bill Clinton?s administration.
Indyk called the appointment a ?daunting and humbling challenge? but said he believes a lasting peace agreement is achievable.
But before negotiations resumed, leaders from both sides put forward clashing views over what a final agreement needs to look like. Negotiations in 2010 broke down over Israel?s settlement of occupied land where Palestinians seek a state.
Previous attempts to resolve the decades-old conflict had sought to ward off deadlock and the risk of knock-on violence by tackling easier disputes first and deferring the most emotional ones like the fate of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees.
This time "all of the issues that are at the core of a permanent accord will be negotiated simultaneously," Silvan Shalom, a member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netayahu's cabinet and rightist Likud party, told Israel's Army Radio.
The Palestinians, with international backing, want their future state to have borders approximating the boundaries of the West Bank, adjacent East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip before Israel captured them in the 1967 Middle East war.
Yasser Abed Rabbo, a top official in Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's umbrella Palestine Liberation Organisation, said the U.S. letter of invitation to the Washington talks had not specified which disputes were to be discussed.
But Abed Rabbo told Voice of Palestine radio the talks "will begin, in principle, on the issues of borders and security."
Netanyahu had resisted Abbas's calls to accept the 1967 border formula before talks resumed. Shalom said that the Israeli position would help keep the talks, which are slated to last nine months, comprehensive.
"Had the matter of borders and territory been given over, what incentive would they (Palestinians) have had to make concessions on the matter of refugees or Jerusalem?" Shalom asked.
Israel deems all of Jerusalem its capital - a status rejected internationally - and wants to keep West Bank settlement blocs under any peace accord. It quit Gaza in 2005 and that enclave is now ruled by Hamas Islamists hostile to the Jewish state and opposed to Abbas's peace strategy.
Palestinian refugees from the 1948 war at Israel's founding, along with millions of their descendants, claim the right to return to their original homes in what is now Israel. The Israelis rule that out as demographic suicide, saying the refugees should resettle in a future Palestine or elsewhere.
Netanyahu says any peace accord must safeguard Israel, which has often clashed with Hamas in Gaza and fears the Islamist movement could gain ground in the West Bank. Kerry has also described Israel's security as ?paramount.?
Abed Rabbo said Israel and the United States had been conferring about security without including the Palestinians.
"This is a big shortcoming in the Israeli and the American behavior because they are not discussing their bilateral security, they are discussing a central and a fundamental issue of ours and it concerns our future as a whole," he said.
After months of intensive and discreet mediation, Kerry announced on July 19 in Amman, Jordan, that the parties had laid the groundwork to resume negotiations on the so-called "final status" issues that must be resolved to end the dispute.
"The meetings in Washington will mark the beginning of these talks," Kerry spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. "They will serve as an opportunity to develop a procedural work plan for how the parties can proceed with the negotiations in the coming months."
In what it dubbed a goodwill gesture required to restart diplomacy, the Israeli cabinet on Sunday approved the release of 104 long-serving Palestinian security prisoners in stages. Thousands more Palestinians remain in Israeli jails.
Still, Indyk, who said he has believed a peace agreement is achievable since his time studying in the Middle East nearly 40 years ago, remained optimistic.
?I look forward with great excitement?to do our best to achieve President Obama?s vision of two states, living side-by-side in peace and security,? he said.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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You Can Compare 16 Cities 35 Different Ways With This One Mapping Tool
These days we?ve got plenty of ways to visualize data within our cities, from car crashes to Flickr photos. But there aren?t many tools that let us compare information about multiple cities at once?until now. Meet Urban Observatory, a site that compares data from 16 global metropoli.
Source: http://gizmodo.com/you-can-compare-16-cities-35-different-ways-with-this-o-950593096
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