Google goes up against Amazon, Apple with Nexus tablet

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc will sell its first tablet from mid-July for $199, hoping to replicate its smartphone success in a hotly contested market now dominated by Amazon.com Inc's Kindle Fire and Apple Inc's iPad.

By taking a greater role in the tablet market, Google hopes to ensure that its various online services remain front-and-center to consumers amid a changing technology landscape in which tablets by Apple and Amazon are increasingly becoming gateways to the Web and Web-based content such as movies and music.

Google's maiden entry in the tablet market, which will also see the advent of Microsoft Corp's Surface this year, could also help accelerate development of tablet-specific applications for its Android operating software -- a key factor that has helped popularize Apple's iPad, analysts say.

The "Nexus 7" tablet, built by and co-branded with Taiwan's Asus, was one of several gadgets unveiled at its annual developers' conference on Wednesday, as the Internet search and advertising leader dips its toe into the intensively competitive consumer arena.

The announcement of the new tablet comes a month after Google acquired its own hardware-making capabilities with the $12.5 billion acquisition of smartphone maker Motorola Mobility. But Motorola, which Google has said it will run as a separate business, was absent from most the new products and services showcased at the event.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin demonstrated Google Glass, a futuristic-looking eye-glass-computer that can live-stream events, record, and perform computing tasks. The device will be available to U.S.-based developers early next year for $1,500.

And it unveiled the Nexus Q - a $300 device with a built-in amplifier that lets users stream content from Android devices onto their TVs.

But the Nexus tablet hogged the spotlight. Sold initially only on the Google Play online store, its $199 price tag and 7-inch stature is aimed squarely at the Fire, but the Nexus has a front-facing camera while Amazon's tablet does not.

Analysts consider the Fire a window into Amazon.com's trove of online content rather than an iPad rival, given the $499 that Apple asks for a device with a "retina" display that far outstrips it in terms of resolution.

Google can similarly use the Nexus 7 to connect to its own online offerings, which include YouTube and Google Play, the name of its online store where it sells digital music, movies and games. It will go after more cost-conscious users who might shun the pricier iPad.

"Nexus 7 is an ideal device for reading books. The form factor and weight are just right," said Chris Yerga, Google director of engineering for Android.

Google said it will offer buyers of the Nexus 7 a $25 credit to spend at the Google Play store and it showed off several media-centric capabilities, such as a new magazine reading app.

"They all but called it a Kindle Fire killer. They're clearly gunning for that No. 2 spot behind Apple's iPad that is currently occupied by Kindle," said Altimeter Group analyst Chris Silva. "But the con is they do not yet have a footprint in people's minds and wallets as the go-to place to purchase and consume media."

JELLY BEANS

Google has partnered with smartphone makers to develop Nexus-banded smartphones for several years, providing a showcase product that delivers Google's ideal vision for a device based on its Android software.

Extending the Nexus concept to tablets should similarly establish a model that other hardware makers can emulate, resulting in a more a competitive and uniform line of Android tablets to market, say analysts.

Shares in Google gained 0.8 percent to $569.37 in afternoon trade.

The Nexus will feature the new 4.1 "Jelly Bean" version of Google's software, as well as a front-facing camera, a 1280x800 resolution screen, and an Nvidia Tegra 3 processor.

Google's free Android software is the No. 1 operating system for smartphones, with about 1 million Android devices getting activated every day

But it has struggled to compete with Apple's iPad in the market for tablets, largely because it lags far behind Apple and Amazon in terms of available content and tablet-specific applications, such as games.

Meanwhile, Apple has increasingly moved to reduce its dependency on Google services on its devices. Earlier this month it unveiled its own mapping software, which will replace Google maps as the default mapping service in the next version of its mobile operating system.

And Amazon's Kindle Fire, while based on Google's open-source Android software, features a customized interface that does not use many Google services.

Executives showcased the new 4.1 "Jelly Bean" version of Android operating system on Wednesday. The new software delivers faster performance, according to the company, and new features such as "voice search."

"That range of services will be the secret to stitching together this rag-tag fleet of Android gadgets into a platform that can compete with Apple for minutes of users' attention rather than premium device dollars," said Forrester analyst James McQuivey.

The tablet's limited availability - executives said they had no plans yet to expand distribution beyond Google's own site - may curtail initial sales growth.

Google briefly sold a specially designed Android smartphone - the Nexus One - directly to consumers in 2010, but closed the online store after four months saying it had not lived up to expectations.

But it's the lack of "native" applications - software designed with a larger tablet in mind, rather than ported from smartphones - that is the Nexus' biggest impediment for now.

"Unless you have a strong app offering, for a consumer it is a piece of glass that does what a phone does on a larger screen," Carolina Milanesi, analyst at Gartner Research.

(Editing by Tim Dobbyn, Gary Hill, David Gregorio and Andre Grenon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/google-unveils-version-android-172447839--sector.html

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David Beckham and Rio Ferdinand take to Twitter as Stone Roses fever mounts ahead of Heaton Park shows

The wait is over, the Stones Roses Heaton Park takeover is here.

The Manchester rockers will play the first of three sell-out gigs tonight to 75,000 fans.

And Twitter is?buzzing?with expectant with fans.

High profile fans such as Rio Ferdinand, Clint Boon and Liam Gallagher have been joinng in the excitement on the social networking site.

On Twitter Rio Ferdinand said: "Stone Roses? tickets just arrived.....can't wait now! What a group!"

Former team mate at Manchester United David Beckham, who is not on Twitter, has said that The Stone Roses bring back memories of the happiest time in his football career.

XFM DJ Clint Boon, who is hosting an after party at South nightclub in Manchester, on Sunday night, tweeted: "More than ever, Manchester feels like the centre of the world this morning xxx #StoneRoses."

Liam Gallagher, whose band Beady Eye is one of the support acts on Saturday night, tweeted:" I just wanna wish the fab 4 good luck for tonight at Heaton Park."

Former Shameless actor Chris Coghill has been discussing more pressing matters, such as the unpredictable Manchester weather and what shoes he should wear. He tweeted: "Mancunia. What's the weather saying?

"Just so you know. I won't be wearing wellies.

"Can someone just bob into Heaton park for me and check the ground conditions? Need to work out what colour trainers to wear. Ta."

More stars such as Holly Willoughby and Lilly Allen are expected to attend the gigs. Hollywood supremo Brad Pitt is also rumoured to be on the guest list.

Follow our live blog? over the weekend Sarah Walters on Twitter @SarahCityLife from 2pm when she?will be tweeting live from Heaton Park with behind the scenes gossip, pictures and band interviews.

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Historic First: Pope?s Choir To Sing With Anglican Church Choir

VATICAN CITY (AP) ? The Sistine Chapel Choir, whose boys and men sing for the pope at all his Masses, is about to get some illustrious company.

The Westminster Abbey Choir, the world-renowned chorus that last year performed at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, will join the Sistine singers at a special papal Mass on Friday in St. Peter?s Basilica, a historic event seen as a perfect symbol of Christian harmony after centuries of discord.

It?s the first time in its 500-plus year history that the pope?s personal choir will sing as a single chorus with another choir, let alone one from the breakaway Anglican church.

And this isn?t any ordinary chorus: The Westminster Abbey Choir represents some of the finest of the Anglican church?s liturgical music traditions.

As a result, the symbolism of the choirs from the two churches uniting into one is enormous, particularly given Pope Benedict XVI?s stated aim of trying to unite all Christians.

The Mass marks the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul and is the day in which newly appointed Catholic archbishops receive a woolen stole, known as the pallium, as a sign of their communion with the pope.

?It?s the big Mass for underlining our links to the Holy Father, and to ask at that occasion for a non-Catholic choir to take part is deeply significant,? said Monsignor Mark Langham, the Vatican official responsible for relations with Anglicans.

Anglicans split from Rome in 1534 after English King Henry VIII was refused a marriage annulment. A half-millennium later, the two churches remain divided on a host of issues, especially female bishops and openly gay priests.

The differences prompted the Vatican in 2009 to make it easier for Anglicans uneasy with the liberal bent of their church to convert, throwing another wrench in ecumenical dialogue.

Organizers of the historic performance have tried to downplay the differences or at least acknowledge that while deep theological problems remain, culturally the two churches can come together.

?In diversity you can find points of unity,? said Monsignor Massimo Palombella, the choirmaster of the Sistine Chapel Choir. ?And I dare say, it?s not just that you can find it, you must find points of unity. To do this, we use culture.?

That said, the uniting isn?t going to be easy. The two choirs are vastly different in style and come to liturgical music from very different backgrounds. And to many ears, Westminster is simply better.

?It is a splendid choir,? said the Rev. Jerome Weber, a Roman Catholic priest who reviews sacred music for Fanfare, the respected classical music magazine. Known for its precision, attention to detail and tonality, the Westminster choir is recorded twice a year by Hyperion, the British classical music label.

The Sistine choir, on the other hand, is simply of a lesser quality: warm as the Roman vocal tradition requires, but often loud with a ?harsh, bombastic tone,? he said.

Colin Mawby, the English composer, recently wrote a glowing review of the Sistine choir?s May concert at the Roman Catholic Westminster Cathedral, saying the pope?s singers had unfairly suffered from a bad reputation when in fact they were ?a superb and expressive group.?

?One tends to listen to the Sistine Chapel Choir with English ears and then foolishly compare it with our own, with their fussy attention to technical detail, detail that is often achieved at the expense of musicality,? Mawby wrote in a review for the cathedral?s magazine that was reprinted in the Vatican newspaper and is now featured prominently on the Sistine choir?s website. ?However the Sistine Choir isn?t an English choir. It?s Italian and reflects the Italian vocal tradition.?

How the two will blend remains to be heard.

?I think it will be a challenge to sing with them,? acknowledged Hugh Rowlands, a 13-year-old Westminster chorister who will be performing on Friday, and a day earlier at a private concert with the Sistine singers for Vatican officials in the Sistine Chapel itself.

He noted that the choir often sings with other English choirs, which are similar in style. Performing with foreign choirs is another matter. ?It might be challenging but if we have our wits about us it will go well,? he said.

Rowlands spoke at a reception Tuesday for the Westminster crew at the American Academy in Rome, designed to give the boys a relaxing start to a busy few days of concerts and services, the highlight of which will be Friday?s Mass. The 19 boys played ping pong and bocce in the academy gardens, crawled down to an ancient Roman aqueduct on the academy grounds and inhaled plates of pasta with meatballs.

It was a welcome break from the daily grind for the choristers, who from the age of seven or eight are selected to attend the prestigious London choir school, where they live away from their families and carry a full load of academics while performing eight services a week, plus touring and concerts.

?There are some times when you can get very tired and you just wish you could sleep until noon when you wake up from a concert,? said 12-year-old Benjamin MacLean. ?But it is very fun and the experiences you get on tours like visiting the pope or meeting the president, it?s amazing.?

The 19 Westminster boys came to Rome along with 12 lay vicars, the adult men in the choir. They may well be overwhelmed by the 35 boys and 22 men in the Sistine choir.

James O?Donnell, the music director of the Westminster choir, said both sides would have to make some adjustments for the performance but that the music chosen ? Palestrina, the 16th century Roman composer who represents the best of Renaissance polyphony ? is common to the repertoires of both.

?We are different, but we have a lot of things in common despite the many differences,? he said. ?We don?t want to turn into the Sistine Chapel Choir and they certainly don?t want to turn into the choir of Westminster Abbey. But what we want to do is make music together.?

Benedict himself was behind the decision to invite Westminster to Rome, so awed by the quality of the choirboys when they sang for him at Westminster Abbey during his September 2010 visit. He specifically asked that the choirs be united as one, rather than alternate during the performance as is commonly done, said the Very Rev. John Hall, dean of Westminster Abbey.

Palombella, the Sistine choirmaster, jumped at the chance, eager to open up his choir to outside influences and shed the Sistine?s reputation as a historical relic closed to innovation.

?These meetings are good for both Sistine and Westminster,? he said in an interview. ?Because it makes us learn the precision and detail of the English choirs, and it makes the English learn the warmth and intensity that the Italian choir has.?

O?Donnell, his counterpart in London, concurred.

?They are a very important, unique musical institution,? he said. ?And if they open themselves up to working with us and to other influences that they are open to at the moment, which will broaden their range and help them explore new avenues, then that can only be encouraged, as it must be for any musical ensemble.?

The Westminster Abbey Choir?s vocal precision is on display in this video.

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New Sony president gets shareholder approval

by Associated Press

WCNC.com

Posted on June 27, 2012 at 8:54 AM

TOKYO (AP) -- Kazuo Hirai, the former head of Sony's game division, won shareholder approval Wednesday to steer a turnaround at the struggling Japanese electronics giant as its new president and chief executive.

?

But frustrated investors at the company's annual meeting in Tokyo grilled him and other board members, demanding to know how the company's past glory was going to be revived.

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One shareholder got up without being picked to speak, and began shouting. Another shareholder asked why Howard Stringer, whom Hirai replaced, was staying on as chairman when Sony's performance had been so dismal under his seven-year tenure. Reporters were able to watch the proceedings on a monitor.

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Tokyo-based Sony, once an icon of Japan Inc. with its portable Walkman music player, reported its worst loss in its 66-year corporate history for the business year ended March. Its profitability was battered by the tsunami disaster in 2011, flooding in Thailand, the global economic slowdown and a soaring yen.

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The plunging prices of gadgets have also hurt Sony. Its annual loss last fiscal year of 457 billion yen ($5.7 billion) was its fourth straight year of red ink.

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More critically, it has stumbled in the face of powerful rivals such as Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea, which dominates the global TV business, and Apple Inc. with its iPhone and iPad offerings. Apple's devices have been bigger hits than Sony products even in the Japanese market. Sony has lost money for eight straight years in its mainstay TV business.

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"We take the problem Sony's electronics business is facing very seriously, and we feel a sense of crisis," Hirai told shareholders.

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Hirai's appointment as president and chief executive, replacing Welsh-born Stringer, the first foreigner to head Sony, was announced in April, and up for vote at the meeting. Despite some critical questions, the proposal passed at the end of the 90-minute meeting.

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Sony is forecasting a return to profit for the business year through March 2013. Its troubles were worsened by factory and supplier damage in northeastern Japan, which was ravaged by the earthquake and tsunami last year. Sony also suffered production disruptions from the flooding in Thailand.

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Hirai has already said the company will cut 10,000 jobs, or about 6 percent of its global workforce, and turn a profit in TVs in the next two years. The job cuts come on top of a couple of rounds of layoffs under Stringer.

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Sony shares have lost about half their value over the past year to trade recently at about 1,000 yen ($12).

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