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 Apple’s alleged roadmap for 2014 includes a 4.7” iPhone first and then another, 5.5-inch, phablet-sized iPhone coming later in the year.A brand new iWatch is also expected to arrive in 2 different sizes, and all of that insight is coming from KGI Securities analyst Ming Chi Kuo, a person with mostly good track record in regards to Apple. A disclaimer to all this is due, though. Keep in mind that 'good track record' does not mean perfect, and Kuo has also erred in the past, so keep a healthy grain of salt about all this - let's not forget that we have nothing but rumors at the moment. With this in mind, it's clear that new iPhones and iWatch are far from everything that Apple has up its sleeve in 2014. An iPad refresh is coming up, as well as a new, lower-cost iMac, an Apple TV upgrade, and a 12” ‘ultra-slim’ MacBook and MacBook Pro. In a research note to clients, Kuo not just mentions the allegedly upcoming products, but he also maps the launches, revealing that the new 4.7” iPhone, the iWatch and the iPad refresh should happen at the end of the third quarter, while the phablet-sized, 5.5” iPhone is expected to arrive right in the midst of the Holiday shopping season, around the end of Q4. What will those upcoming product look like? SOURCE: PhoneArena |
Friday, April 11, 2014
4.7' iPhone first, 5.5' iPhone later and iWatch in two sizes
Thursday, April 10, 2014
ZIPA attracts over $3.2bn projects, wants spice wealth fully tapped
Wed Apr 09, 2014 |
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 The Zanzibar Investment Promotion Authority (ZIPA) has so far attracted 519 projects in different sectors with a proposed capital of USD3.2bn.But the investment promotion agency feels that little has been done by local and foreign investors to tap the potentials of the Isles unique economy—spices--by adding value. ZIPA Executive Director Salum Nassor made the appeal recently in London during his presentation at the Tanzania-UK Trade and Investment Summit, 2014 which attracted more than 150 British investors. Known as ‘the Spice Islands’, Zanzibar is renowned for its exports of quality exotic home-grown spices to the world market. The spice sector offers great potential for expansion and creation of forward linkages through value addition, he said, adding that Zanzibar has variety of traditional spices including cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, black pepper and chillies. “There are many untapped opportunities especially on traditional spices, investors can inject money in value addition and processing products such as perfumes, perfumed soap, medication and food processing items. Nassor said that investors in Zanzibar are protected both constitutionally and through international conventions such as the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Others are Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (CPIP) and the Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitration Award (CREFAA) According to him, there are also investment potentials in construction of modern commercial port at Mpigaduri area. He said such investments are done under concessional arrangements between the investor and the government. Tourism is the leading sector, representing more than 64 percent of total investment projects. The other sectors are fisheries, manufacturing, construction, electric power, gas, water supply, transport, communication, real estate, education, tour operations, health and social work. According to ZIPA, currently the leading investors in Zanzibar with their percentages in brackets are Kenya (44), UK (19), United Arab Emirates (9), South Africa (7), Swiss (3), Italy (9), Mauritius (3), Poland (3), the Netherlands (2) and Belgium (2). SOURCE: IPPMEDIA |
Exim Bank hits 20bn/- profit mark
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 EXIM Bank Group, with operations in Tanzania, the Comoros and Djibouti has hit 20bn/- profit mark, the firm’s audited financial results for the year ended December 31, 2013 shows. The results released recently reflect 21 per cent increase in profit from 16.5bn/- reported in 2012. The bank’s balance sheet grew by 18 per cent from 967bn/- to cross a 1tri/- mark, after hitting 1.14tri/-, as the country’s fifth largest bank in Tanzania. Customer deposits grew modestly by 11 per cent from 723bn/- to 804bn/- following a strategic decision to focus on low cost deposits. Loan and advances portfolio recorded a growth of 23 per cent from 455bn/- to 559bn/-, with disbursements well diversified to all sectors of the economy. Further, the increase in value of investments available for sale and business profit resulted to a significant growth of the shareholders’ fund by 43 per cent from 109.4bn/- to 157bn/-. The Exim Bank Chief Finance Officer, Mr Selemani Ponda, said the impressive results and the on-going performance improvement demonstrated potential growth of the Bank. “Last year we aggressively implemented growth strategies through mobilisation of low cost deposits and operational efficiency that ensured customer satisfaction,” said the CFO. He added, “As a result of these strategies, fee-based income recorded a significant growth of 33 per cent from 22.8bn/- last year to 30.4bn/-.” The International Business demonstrated marked improvement with a strong performance of 26 per cent pretax profit growth year on year of Exim Bank Comoros to 3bn/-, thus contributing 15 per cent to the Group profit. The other subsidiary, Exim Bank Djibouti which was opened late 2011 showed improved business performance and expects to break-even this year. During the year, net interest income grew by 1 per cent from 45bn/- 45.4bn/-. Foreign exchange income posted a significant growth at 73 per cent from 4bn/- to 6.9bn/-, while other fees and commission recorded an increase of 24 per cent from 17.7bn/- to 22bn/-. “We are excited with this trend in our performance reflecting growth in all our business segments. Our total operating income increased by 12 per cent from 67.7bn/- to 75.8bn/-,” said Mr Ponda. As the result of recovery efforts and continued monitoring, the quality of the loan book significant improved during the year, where gross Non-performing assets to total gross loan ratio dropped from 14 per cent to 9 per cent. As it aspires to offer international standards banking services, the bank scooped overall winner of top customer focused banks in Tanzania out of about 52 banks operating in Tanzania. The training centre- ’Exim Academy’ got ISO certification in an endeavour to manage talents as well as part of staff retention strategy. EXIM Bank (Tanzania) Limited was established in 1997 and expanded its market by opening subsidiaries in Comoro (2007) and Djibouti (2010), hence become the first local bank to go offshore. SOURCE: DAILY NEWS |
The Xperia Z2 has liquid heat-pipe cooling technology
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 A DigiTimes report revealed that Sony is the second smartphone vendor to adopt liquid heat-pipe cooling technology for its products, namely the Xperia Z2.The first company to move on from the mainstream graphite carbon fiber solution used for heat dissipation was Japan's NEC, with its MediaS X06E Snapdragon 600-powered smartphone. Around that time, Samsung and Lenovo were also looking up the technology together with Taiwan-based thermal module makers. While specialized heat pipes for smartphones are already available for mass production, the two technological giants decided against adopting them for the time being. Compared to PC and laptop heat-pipes, which range from 0.003 inches (0.8mm) to 0.08 inches (2mm) in diameter, smartphone pipes measure only 0.02 inches (0.6mm). They are said to have better heat-dissipation effects than graphite carbon fiber sheets. Although cooling technology doesn't seem to be an obstacle for device performance right now, heat pipes could become common in next year's flagship models. It goes without saying that, as chipsets and basebands grow increasingly powerful, they will be emitting larger amounts of heat. The Sony Xperia Z2 was delayed until June in Hong Kong and other markets. Meanwhile, it is speculated that Verizon will launch the smartphone in the US as an exclusive in the second half of 2014. Over at the UK, it seems the new Xperia flagship won't be coming in May, as previously reported. Allegedly, it's not the heat-pipes, but a shortage of specific parts that contributed to the postponement. The smartphone was revealed at this year's MWC in Barcelona, and was supposed to arrive on time to spar with Samsung and HTC's new contenders. Ironically enough, it's possible that overheating and build problems with the Xperia Z2 have contributed to its delayed release in broader markets. Users in Singapore, where the smartphone has been selling for about a week, reported that the Z2 is overheating while recording 4K-video, to an extent where the camera app gets shut down. In addition, owners have found a small gap between the phone's display and body, which could compromise the phone's waterproofing. Both issues are being investigated by Sony at the moment. SOURCE: PhoneArena |
Adobe Announces Lightroom Mobile For iPad & iPhone
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 Adobe has announced that it is bringing Lightroom to mobile devices, starting with the iPad and then later to the iPhone.Just like the desktop version, the Lightroom app will enable you to work with RAW photos, as well as smartphone images, so that you can make the most of your photos and give them a professional finish. However, if you want to take advantage of Adobe’s new service, you will have to subscribe to Creative Cloud. Users have been asking Adobe for a mobile app for some time, so what can they expect to get? Well first of all it automatically syncs with Lightroom 5 on the desktop. It works with pretty much every image format, imports photos direct from your iOS device camera roll and comes with a built-in slideshow feature. Once you are happy with your beautifully edited images, you can then upload them to your favourite social network through the app’s sharing option feature. Lightroom mobile has been given a new interface so that it works well on an Apple device screen. The image takes up the majority of the display, with the sliders and touch-optimized controls filling the rest of the space. All the tools you need to edit your image are here, so you can adjust the exposure, colour and tone, just like in the desktop version. As mentioned earlier, you are required to be a Creative Cloud member and you have four options to choose from:
SOURCE: TechBeat |
Twitter's new profile design kinda looks like Facebook
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 Twitter's forever tweaking its service with new features and visual touch-ups, and today its revealed a fresh redesign for web profiles that makes imagery ever more prominent.We actually saw much of what's new teased on Twitter's test channels a couple of months ago, including the larger, G+-like header photo and bigger, Facebook-esque profile pictures. There are several changes to how tweets appear on your user page, too . You can pin a tweet, forum-style, to the top of your ramblings as a sort of extension to your bio, which is less visible under the left-aligned profile pic setup. Furthermore, your 'best tweets,' defined by how much other users have interacted with it, will be enlarged to draw attention to them. Also, when you're scanning the profile pages of others, you can now filter out tweets that don't contain any visual media, or those that don't have replies. New accounts get the redesign straight away, and all others will see their profile pages change in 'the coming weeks.' SOURCE: Engadget |
Samsung's suppliers getting ready to build parts for 2K tablets
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 A report published on Wednesday, says that Samsung's suppliers are getting ready to build parts for tablets with 2K resolution screens.Coming from industry sources, the report adds that the slates are expected to be 10 inches in size, and should be launched later in the year. Most of the components for the tablets are coming from suppliers inside China. Those familiar with Samsung's plans, say that the Korean based manufacturer is turning to Chinese suppliers in an effort to cut costs. Besides making components for 2K slates, these companies are also working on new low-cost parts for manufacturers working on handsets sporting 2K resolution displays. As 2014 progresses, we should see more flagship phones shipped with screens offering resolution of 1440 x 2560. There already have been models introduced with QHD glass, such as the Oppo Find 7. There is speculation that the LG G3 and Samsung Galaxy Note 4, among others, will be released with a 2K resolution display. SOURCE: PhoneArena |
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