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Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Monday, August 12, 2013
Is Ford Worried About GM's New Canyon and Colorado?
Chevrolet Colorado rendering courtesy of TopSpeed.com. Read the full review here.
Long ago it was Ford that was ridiculed as being an acronym of "Found On Roadside Dead," "Fixed Or Repaired Daily," "Factory Ordered Road Disaster," and some other nasty ones that aren't appropriate for my editors to publish. Fast-forward to today, and "Government Motors" or "General Tso Motors" is the joke of the day. But General Motors is attempting to turn things around, both financially and in terms of replacing or redesigning 90% of its lineup by 2016. In particular, it's undertaking a move that its cross-town rival Ford has avoided -- midsize trucks. Will the relaunch of GM's midsize trucks, the Colorado and Canyon, enable it to capture more of the highly profitable truck market?
Why it's possible
We know that for the past 36 years, Ford's F-Series has been the No. 1-selling truck in America, and that won't change anytime soon, as GM splits sales between its Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra. However, over the past three years, Ford has sold more F-Series trucks per year than those two combined and has outsold the two combined this year by nearly 40,000 units through July. Here's one possible way that could change because of the Canyon and Colorado.
In my former marketing job, we often placed opening price points that rarely brought the company much in the way of margin or profits. We did this in hopes that when the consumer arrived to purchase the basic product, we could up-sell him or her to a premium product through our marketing and packaging. Using that same logic, that's exactly what the midsize trucks should do. Those are often cheaper, more fuel-efficient trucks for first-time and often younger buyers. A decade ago, my high school parking lot was littered with Ford Rangers, and it's not a coincidence that many of them today own F-150s.
"We think there's a big market opportunity that hasn't been addressed," GM Chief Financial Officer Dan Ammann said, according to Detroit News.
He's right: There is a market opportunity, and it's even more enticing since Ford isn't willing to bring back its Ranger. That doesn't mean it will be a very profitable endeavor, because it probably won't be. However, it does give GM a chance to attract first-time buyers in the most brand-loyal segment, hoping that an increased bloodline of future truck buyers will boost sales of its Silverado enough to overtake the F-Series in the distant future.
So why does Ford avoid the midsize segment?
Ford discontinued its Ranger, and although it continues to sell globally, Ford has no plans to bring it back to America. It avoids the midsize market because it's a segment in serious decline. Last year in the U.S. market, fewer than 264,000 midsize trucks were sold, and sales have declined 19% in the first half of 2013, according to Autodata. Market share of the midsize trucks was a mere 8% in the mid-'90s and has declined all the way to less than 2%. Ford avoids the market because it sits on top of the full-size segment, and its loyal followers will continue to buy the F-150 -- which is drastically more profitable. So if Ford loses a few sales to the midsize segment, big deal. It's GM that needs to try a new strategy because it can't overtake the F-Series.
Bottom line
It's an intriguing move by GM, but it won't gain the company much profit or produce enough sales to help increase GM's record low market share. On the bright side for GM investors, the Canyon has been developed specifically for fleet buyers, while the Colorado is being developed for the retail market -- making a very efficient and more profitable sales strategy for the less lucrative midsize segment.
Full-size truck profits bring in majority of Ford and GM's profits, so if GM manages to steal young buyers and step them up into full-size pickups, it will be a development for investors to be keenly aware of. Ford is banking on having its loyal following continue regardless -- and I think that will be the case, securing Ford's profits for the foreseeable future.
Long story short: Ford's not worried, and it plans to keep on truckin'.
Ford has its profits secured in the U.S. with its full-size truck sales, but what about opportunities globally? Will Ford take advantage of emerging markets and emerge as one of the globes best automakers? There are two automakers poised for such a task, and investing in them now could bring investors market-beating gains. A recent Motley Fool report, "2 Automakers to Buy for a Surging Chinese Market,"?names two global giants poised to reap big gains that could drive big rewards for investors. You can read this report right now for free -- just click here for instant access.
Copyright ? 1995 - 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Source: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/08/10/is-ford-worried-about-gms-new-canyon-and-colorado/
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Saturday, August 10, 2013
ASUS roadmap reveals bold smartphone ambitions with 5-inch 'MeMOFone'
If an ASUS roadmap unveiled at a conference in Taiwan pans out, we'll soon see a mini-me version of the PadFone Infinity, an 8-inch MeMO Pad, and more. The slides came out during the "Hero Innovation Wow Experience" portion of an investors call, showing that ASUS intends to build on recent MeMO Pad and PadFone hybrid momentum. In particular, the so-called MeMOFone HD 5 reveals the name of a standalone smartphone ASUS intends to launch in the US for those who don't need a tag-along tablet -- which jibes with recent comments it made about such a handset. Other than a likely 5-inch MeMOFone size gleaned from ASUS's overly elaborate naming scheme, there's no indication of specs, release dates or prices for such devices, of course. At least ASUS fans will know what to look forward to, though -- check after the break for the tablet strategy slide.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, ASUS
Via: Mobile Geeks
Source: ASUS
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/-geeiAY7FBg/
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UA Research Sheds New Light on Epilepsy Rates Along U.S.-Mexico Border
A University of Arizona study of epilepsy rates in communities along the Arizona-Sonora border found a dramatic reversal of expectations in regards to epilepsy rates among Hispanics.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-funded study set out to examine rates of epilepsy along the Arizona-Mexico border, focusing on three communities ? San Luis, Nogales and Douglas ? and found, contrary prior studies, that the prevalence of epilepsy in Hispanics was half of that in non-Hispanic whites. ?
"The starting point was the observation that in virtually all studies that had been done, minority populations tend to have higher prevalence of epilepsy, but none had been done in a border setting. Most had been done in cities," said Dr. David Labiner, director of the Arizona Comprehensive Epilepsy Program and head of the neurology department in the UA College of Medicine.
Combining two methodologies ? random phone calls, much like the state health department uses in its studies, and door-to-door canvassing ? Labiner's study focused on determining and comparing the epilepsy rates in the Hispanic population versus the non-Hispanic population specifically along the border. The researchers selected larger communities in Yuma, Santa Cruz and Cochise Counties, skipping the sparsely populated stretch of the border in Pima County.
The researchers discovered that non-Hispanic whites were two times more likely to have active epilepsy than Hispanics, a surprising reversal of comparative rates that previous city-based studies, in Los Angeles, Atlanta and New York, had determined. The study didn't determine the causes of that discrepancy, but Labiner suggested a number of factors could be involved, including language, acculturation factors, stigma or a reflection of the "healthy immigrant effect," which suggests that in order to travel, an immigration population is naturally more healthy than the general population.
Labiner, along with Jenny Chong, research associate professor of neurology, is participating in follow-up and related studies that may provide more insight on the unexpected findings. One, again funded by the CDC, examines seizures in an older population, which may exclude more recent immigrants, for Hispanics versus non-Hispanics, while another involves a collaboration with colleagues in Central America to explore that question with different immigrant populations.
"Epilepsy is a fairly common neurological problem but yet it does not get attention like multiple sclerosis or muscular dystrophy," Labiner said. "There are a tremendous number of life consequences associated with having a diagnosis of epilepsy and there's a lot of stigma associated with this disease."
Additionally, the border study found a surprisingly high number of cases in which epilepsy had not been identified in the past.
"We were fairly shocked that a quarter of the people we identified with epilepsy had never been diagnosed or treated," Labiner said. "It's not like there is no proximity to specialists. The areas are not that remote that you should expect people are going undiagnosed."
Source: http://uanews.org/story/ua-research-sheds-new-light-on-epilepsy-rates-along-u-s--mexico-border
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Friday, August 9, 2013
Pena Nieto delays Mexico energy bill amid party negotiations
Mexican leader Enrique Pena Nieto speaks during an interview at the Los Pinos presidential residence in Mexico City in July 2013. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills, File)
By Eric Martin and Adam Williams
Bloomberg News
President Enrique Pena Nieto will delay the announcement of his proposal to end Mexico?s seven-decade state energy monopoly until next week, he said today in a statement posted to his Twitter page.
?I continue to prepare the presentation of the energy reform that will stimulate national development,? he said in a statement confirmed by the presidential press office. ?I?ve decided to announce it next week.?
The delay comes as political parties extend negotiations, said a person who isn?t authorized to speak publicly about the president?s plans. Francisco Arroyo, a lawmaker with Pena Nieto?s ruling party and speaker of the lower house, said in a Radio Formula interview that the bill will be pushed back a few days to reach the ?broadest consensus possible.?
Pena Nieto is seeking to change the constitution to allow companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. to pump crude in the nation with Latin America?s third-largest proven oil reserves for the first time since 1938, the president of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party Cesar Camacho said in an interview yesterday. A more aggressive proposal delivered last week by an opposition party is increasing Pena Nieto?s chances of pushing the bill through Congress, according to Nomura Holdings Inc.
?Although we?d like to have the reform approved as is, it?s obvious that won?t occur,? Camacho said by telephone. ?It?s necessary to listen to many voices and for the legislators to come to an agreement on the essential topics.?
Pena Nieto said yesterday he was planning to present the bill this week.
Peso Slides
Mexico?s peso fell 0.5 percent to 12.6857 per U.S. dollar at 12:10 p.m. in Mexico City, the biggest decline among 16 major currencies tracked by Bloomberg. The proposal?s delay is ?seen in a very bad light,? said Roberto Galvan, a currency trader at Intercam Casa de Bolsa SA in Mexico City. ?Everyone expected that today it would be presented.?
Galvan said a delay suggests that there?s been some problem in the negotiations between political parties even as it remains a top priority for Pena Nieto. The Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, which has said it opposes changing the constitution, will present its own energy proposal this week.
Pena Nieto delayed the bill ?in order to negotiate with the PRD,? Jorge Chabat, a political scientist at the Center for Economic Research and Teaching, a Mexico City-based university, said in a phone interview. ?It?s the only explanation,? Chabat said. ?I think this favors Pena Nieto?s proposal. It allows more time for the bill to be hammered out.?
Production Sharing
The bill to loosen state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos?s grip on crude output and attract investment would be the economy?s biggest overhaul since the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994.
Pena Nieto, a 47-year-old former governor who took office in December, will propose production-sharing contracts for oil exploration and output, while drawing the line at offering private companies equity stakes in concessions, Camacho said. He declined to say which constitutional articles would be modified.
Exxon, the world?s most valuable energy company, Chevron and Spanish oil producer Repsol SA are among companies that have expressed interest in Mexico?s oil fields. Alan Jeffers, an Exxon spokesman in Irving, Texas, wasn?t available for comment, an assistant said by phone yesterday.
A press official who isn?t an authorized spokesman for Pemex, as Petroleos Mexicanos is known, said the company won?t comment until Pena Nieto?s proposal is released.
Source: http://fuelfix.com/blog/2013/08/07/pena-nieto-delays-mexico-energy-bill-amid-party-negotiations/
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Thursday, August 8, 2013
Plantronics BackBeat Go 2
Buying an audio product requires balancing your priorities for sound quality and price. If you can spend a lot on a pair of headphones, they're probably going to sound great (with certain distinctions between the models). If you can't spend a lot, you're going to have to compromise certain aspects of sound quality. For less than $100, you can't expect a Bluetooth headset with powerful bass. However, you can get a pair of comfortable in-ear earphones with very good mid- and high-end sound quality. The Plantronics BackBeat Go 2 are the follow-up to last year's Editors' Choice BackBeat Go, and at $79.99 without a charging pouch or $99.99 with a charging pouch, they offer an even better value and an incremental upgrade over the previous model.
Design
The BackBeat Go 2 is nearly physically identical to the original Backbeat Go with a few small changes. It's still a pair of earbuds on a short, flat, tangle-free cable with an in-line remote and microphone in a small rectangular box near the right ear. The in-line remote now has three buttons instead of one, and can adjust volume and change tracks in addition to answering calls. It's still available in black and white versions. It still has a micro USB connection for charging hidden behind a rubber door on the right earbud. It still comes with three pairs of rubber tips in different sizes and a pair of looped ear stabilizers that hook just behind the ear tips. The only other real visible difference besides the remote is that it comes with the ear stabilizers already mounted on the earbuds instead of sitting in the box. The headset is otherwise indistinguishable from its predecessor.
The headset can come with a battery charger and carrying pouch for an additional $20, a new addition to the BackBeat Go. The pouch is a sturdy nylon bag just large enough to hold the earbuds and cable round in a small, loose loop. A short micro USB cable can plug into the headset while it's in the pouch to charge from the small battery built in. A micro USB port in the bottom of the pouch keeps it charged and can directly charge the headset before topping off its own battery. A small button and two LEDs indicate the pouch's charging level and if it's charging the headset. Plantronics claims the case can add an additional 10 hours to the BackBeat Go 2's 4.5 hours of listening or 5 hours of talk time, making the extra $20 for the carrying case a very good deal. Together, the headset and case package retails for the same as the original BackBeat Go did at launch without a case, at $99.99.
Plantronics kept almost all changes to the BackBeat Go 2 on the inside, or at least invisible. The headset has a P2i nano-coating to effectively waterproof it, protecting it from sweat and other moisture (but it still isn't built for diving or submersion), though this was introduced to the original BackBeat Go in later production runs. It can now pair with up to eight devices instead of just one, and has a DeepSleep hibernation mode that Plantronics says can let it stand by for up to six months. It still has a 6mm driver in each earbud, but Plantronics says they're third generation instead of first generation drivers, and feature enhanced bass. And, of course, there are the aforementioned extra buttons on the inline remote, which are very helpful.
Performance
For a set of $80 Bluetooth headphones, the BackBeat Go 2 has very good sound quality, despite predictably weak bass. Both Powerman 5000's cover of "We're Not Gonna Take It" and Twisted Sister's original studio version sounded clear and crisp, with both the tweaked, beepy industrial sounds of Powerman 5000 and the classic, bombastic heavy metal sounds of Twisted Sister both sounding full and clear and not overshadowing Michael Cummings or Dee Snyder's vocals. The live Twisted Sister version of the song didn't fare quite so well, with the crowd sounding distant and indistinct even when they sang along, and the drums fading behind the guitars and vocals.
Like the previous BackBeat Go, the BackBeat Go 2 is weak on the bass. To its credit, it handled the deep synth notes of The Knife's "Silent Shout" without a hint of distortion, but they didn't really have much presence, either. They faded against the higher notes as the song went on. This doesn't mean bass is entirely indistinct, though. In jazz fusion tracks like the Beastie Boys' "Electric Worm" and "B For My Name," the bass notes lacked presence but could still be distinguished against the rolling cymbals, sharp snares, and jangly electric guitar.
For calls, the BackBeat Go 2 sounds decent indoors, but the microphone placement (just under the right ear, on a cable that runs behind the neck) makes it pick up a lot of street noise when walking around. It's not an ideal headset for calls, compared with headsets with better placed microphones like the Plantronics Voyager Legend.
Conclusion
The Plantronics BackBeat Go 2 is a solid upgrade to the original BackBeat Go, with good sound quality and a slightly improved design. It only makes small changes and it still has weak bass, but considering it's $20 less than the original BackBeat Go was at launch, or can come with a very handy portable charger and keeps all of the good points of the previous version for the same price, it's readily our new budget Editors' Choice stereo Bluetooth headset. If you want to pay more to emphasize audio quality with a Bluetooth headset, the JayBird BlueBuds X are an excellent, albeit twice as expensive, choice.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/LZYnyklgzkk/0,2817,2422584,00.asp
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Sunday, August 4, 2013
Letters: Duck football facility, faith-based outreach, Springwater support
Print publication: Sunday, Aug. 4
Duck football facility
Submit a letter
Post at My Oregon, the Oregonian's online community opinion hub. As a former University of Oregon spokesperson, I still marvel at how posh the university's athletic facilities were, even in comparison to some of the ooshest Fortune 500 corporate offices I have worked in during my career.David Sarasohn is correct when he implies that Phil Knight, or any other university donor, can direct their gifts in any way they want ("University of Oregon opens its pigskin palace: 200 wiseguy words," OregonLive.com, Aug. 2). If they want to help build pigskin palaces, fine. If they want to help build libraries and law schools (as Knight has done at UO), that is great too.
And if the people and businesses of Oregon really want all of the non-athletic university facilities and programs at the University of Oregon to compete in the same posh and reputation factor as those of athletics, there are several solutions. One is to start demanding that the state of Oregon fund the university at levels more fitting of world-class universities. Another is to make the private contributions to the university that would help, for instance, the geography department compete in the Rose Bowl of geography.
Because palaces -- pigskin, geographic or otherwise -- have to be paid for by somebody.
MARY STANIK
Minneapolis ?
Stanik was senior director of media and public relations at the University of Oregon from May 2005 to June 2006.
Faith-based outreach
Sara Hottman's article "Expanding outreach to those in need" (Portland Community News section, July 24) provides timely Catholic Church good news.
St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church's 30-year history of providing safety-net services to the poorest of the poor among us, along with a smiling, personable Pope Francis, shine a positive light on faith-based ministries.
On any given night of the year, many hungry and homeless Oregonians are fed and sheltered by faith-based organizations. According to the Oregon Food Bank, 72 percent of OFB partner organizations that provide emergency food services in Multnomah County are faith-based.
All Oregonians can be proud of this good news.
GORDON and MARY ANN DICKEY
Wilsonville?
Springwater support
It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon. I had just begun my first Springwater Trail ride on my two-week-old bicycle when, a mile and a half from Gresham, I found myself face town on the asphalt.
As I was assessing the damage to my body and freaking out about my new bike, along came a young couple and their little girl. They offered baby wipes to clean my wounds, mechanical support to get my bike back on the road and chocolate to cheer my spirit.
At the time, I might have spent too much time whining about my bike and not enough expressing how appreciative I am. As I try to look at the positive side of this experience, this young couple is at the top of my list.
DONNA WEBER
Estacada?
Source: http://blog.oregonlive.com/myoregon/2013/08/letters_duck_football_facility.html
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