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Apple Unveils iPhone 4, Video Calling As Smart Phone Competition Heats Up
By PATRICK SEITZ, INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY Posted 06/07/2010 07:13 PM ET
In what Apple (AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs described as a Jetsons-inspired dream, the company aims to make mobile video calling the next killer app for its iPhone smart phones.
Jobs demonstrated the application, called FaceTime, Monday at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.
“I grew up with ‘The Jetsons,’ dreaming about video phones,” Jobs said, referring to the space-age cartoon. “And it’s real now.”
Apple CEO Steve Jobs holds the new iPhone 4 at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday in San Francisco. The new device offers higher…
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FaceTime is one of 100 new features shipping with the newest version of its iconic smart phone, the iPhone 4. The device will be available June 24 in the U.S., France, Germany, Japan and the U.K., rolling out to the rest of the world by the end of September.
Better Screen, Battery
Jobs showed off a host of capabilities for the redesigned iPhone and its new operating system, now called iOS 4. The new device features a higher resolution display, video recording, an upgraded 5-megapixel camera with a flash, and improved battery life.
But he saved video calling for his trademark “one last thing” bit.
The iPhone 4 comes with front-facing and rear-facing cameras. FaceTime initially will work only between iPhone 4 devices and over Wi-Fi wireless hot spots, not cellular networks. Jobs says the quality isn’t good enough on cellular yet.
Other mobile devices are capable of video chat, but Apple has made it simple, says Ken Dulaney, an analyst with market research firm Gartner. “FaceTime looks pretty interesting,” he said. That users can switch between the front-facing and rear-facing cameras during a video chat is cool, he added.
Apple is unleashing mobile video chat at a good time because Skype video calling is growing popular, says Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with Technology Business Research.
“But the party doesn’t really begin until Apple arrives,” Gottheil said.
Apple’s iPhone 4 arrives as smart phone competition heats up, especially with vendors such as HTC and Motorola (MOT) selling devices running Google’s (GOOG) Android operating system.
The Whole Package
While other vendors might beat Apple on individual hardware specs, Apple excels at product design and marketing.
“With Apple, it’s the whole package,” Dulaney said. “They put the whole thing together, make it look great and then they advertise the heck out of it.”
The iPhone 4 is slimmer than its predecessors — 9.3 millimeters — and features a new glass and stainless-steel design.
Jobs called the iPhone 4 the “biggest leap” forward in mobile phones since the original iPhone, which launched in June 2007.
Much of the hardware announcements were leaked weeks ago by tech blog Gizmodo, which bought an iPhone 4 prototype that an Apple engineer lost at a Silicon Valley bar. Apple shares fell nearly 2% Monday. The Nasdaq also fell 2%.
The iPhone 4 will sell in the U.S. for $199 for the 16 gigabyte model and $299 for the 32 GB model with a two-year contract with AT&T (T).
The new phone runs on iOS 4, which features multitasking, folders, enhanced e-mail, deeper enterprise support and Apple’s new iAd mobile advertising platform.
The Cupertino, Calif.-based company said Monday that it will debut its iAd business on July 1 with mobile ad campaigns from big names such as Best Buy (BBY), Campbell Soup (CPB), Chanel, Citigroup (C), DirecTV (DTV), Geico, General Electric (GE), JCPenney (JCP), Liberty Mutual, Nissan, Sears (SHLD), State Farm, Target (TGT), Turner Broadcasting System, Unilever and Walt Disney (DIS).
$60 Mil Committed
Apple has advertising commitments totaling more than $60 million in 2010.
None of the Apple announcements Monday were earth-shattering, Gottheil says. But taken together, it’s enough to keep momentum going for the iPhone.
The most unexpected announcement was a gyroscope in the iPhone 4, which will help with video game apps, he said.
The three-axis gyro, when combined with the phone’s accelerometer, will provide six-axis motion control.
Please leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts!
It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.
“Profits are better than wages”… Jim Rohn
Hank Jennings
C.E.O., H&H Diversified Solutions LLC.
If interested in International or Domestic business opportunities please contact me @ facebook.com/hank.jennings or call 24 hours a day @ 404-935-0395
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Living in today’s America we constantly hear about all that is wrong. The wars in Iraq & Afghanistan, problems in the Job market, problems in the Stock market, problems in the Real Estate market, border problems in Arizona and the current oil catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico region.
However, to a growing wave of citizens (whose anger almost rivals the Tea Party) the greatest danger facing America today is (The Saggers) saggy pants, both baggy and skinny jeans types. What will happen to our society when these people become senior citizens America? Imagine the horror of thousands of elderly all walking around with saggy pants including catheters and all. America, we must stop this now and forever.
We are well aware of the tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico with the oil spill; and it brings to mind new energy sources. Imagine the potential when thousands of people like the “Saggers” can commit to a positive and beneficial common objective. That type of collective energy has toppled kingdoms and nations, it has made ordinary men extraordinary. However, most Saggers both knowingly and unknowingly collectively choose to overlook positive areas to focus on like self improvement, economic empowerment, entrepreneurism and improving academically.
If we could get them to transfer the same effort, energy, focus and determination of collaborating in today’s saggy pants era; where they show an incredible zeal, dogged determination and a burning focus by any means necessary, at all costs…. just to “keep it real“…. if we could only get them to transfer that level of commitment to a more useful purpose…. America may just have another powerful resource to unleash on the world, a new and powerful green energy source, OUR YOUTH.
Commit today to Save a Sagger, Find One Save One,Tough Times call for Tough Measures….
Please leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts!
It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.
“Profits are better than wages”… Jim Rohn
Hank Jennings
C.E.O., H&H Diversified Solutions LLC.
If interested in International or Domestic business opportunities please contact me @ facebook.com/hank.jennings or call 24 hours a day @ 404-935-0395
Buy Video Phone Now <- Buy One Now, click here!!!!
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One of the keys to success in today’s world is being able to handle change…. Can You?
Do You Have Adaptability?
By Tony Alessandra
Being willing and able to adapt your behavior increases your ability to communicate and build relationships with other people. The concept of adaptability, as developed by Dr. Michael O’Connor, my co-author of The Platinum Rule (Warner Books, August 1996), is a two-part process. It combines flexibility with versatility. Flexibility is your willingness to adapt. It’s your attitude.
Versatility is your ability to adapt. It’s your aptitude. People with adaptability are both flexible and versatile. Of course, our level of adaptability can be stronger in some situations than others. For example, we tend to be more adaptable at work with people we know less, and less adaptable at home with people we know better. In addition, research shows that people view themselves as more flexible and versatile than they actually are. That’s because we all aspire to those behaviors, and we judge ourselves on how we intend to act as well as on how we do act. But unfortunately, our actions don’t always match our intentions. Another reason for the gap between our ideal versus our actual level of adaptability is that it’s not easy. That’s why it’s also important to know the 10 characteristics that undermine your ability to adapt—the negative traits that undermine your adaptability. Let’s look now at the 10 positive characteristics for adaptability. We’ll start with flexibility.
The first half of the high-adaptability formula—Flexibility
High flexibility is characterized by these five attributes: confidence, tolerance, empathy, positiveness and respect for others. The first attribute, confidence, means that you believe in yourself; you trust your own judgement and resourcefulness.
The second high flexibility attribute is tolerance.
That means you’re open to accepting opinions and practices different from your own. We can easily think of people who are intolerant of others because of religious or political beliefs. Those intolerant folks may attract like-minded people, but they don’t gain the attention of a diverse audience.
Third, is empathy.
The root of the word empathy is pathos, which means “feeling” in Greek. Empathy is a term for deep feeling. It means, “I feel what you feel. I can put myself in your shoes.” Another word with the same root, sympathy, means merely acknowledging someone else’s feelings. It results in kindness and pity, and it comes from the head. Empathy results in feeling the pain, or the joy, of the other person. It comes from the heart.
The fourth high-flexibility attribute is positiveness.
The late Dr. Norman Vincent Peale’s book The Power of Positive Thinking has sold well for more than 40 years because it contains such a universal truth. A positive attitude leads to positive events in your life.
And the fifth high-flexibility characteristic is respect for others.
This is the sincere desire to understand and consider other people’s choices, commitments and needs in relation to yours.
The other side of the adaptability coin: The negative traits that undermine your adaptability. If you recognize any of these in yourself, try to improve your adaptability by eliminating this negative tendency from your behavior.
Negative flexibility is characterized by:
Rigidity—“It’s my way or the highway”
Competition with Others—“I’m smarter, prettier, etc., than you”
Discontent—“No, I don’t like it this way. Why can’t we…”
Unapproachable—“Don’t bother me unless it’s worth my time and you agree with me”
Difficulty with Ambiguity—“Let’s nail this down right now”
The second half of the high-adaptability formula—Versatility
The five high-versatility traits are resilience, vision, attentiveness, competence and self-correction.
Resilience means knowing how to overcome setbacks, barriers and limited resources. Mainly, it has to do with your emotional strength. Remember Raiders of the Lost Ark? Larry Kasdan’s hugely successful script was turned down dozens of times before someone finally shared his vision. How many cold calls that turn out to be, “No thank you,” can you bounce back from? If you keep on going until you succeed, that’s resilience.
Vision is the second high-versatility trait.
I think it’s easy to see why someone who has the power to imagine, to be creative, to suggest alternatives, is going to be more influential than someone who can’t.
Next, is attentiveness. That means being aware of elements in the environment. It can be as simple as noticing when someone is getting bored, or sensing that now is not the right time to present your ideas. It’s knowing when to act and when not to act. It means paying attention to more than your own needs.
The fourth high-versatility trait is competence.
Competence begins with expertise. And it also involves a problem-solving ability that goes beyond your specialty. If you don’t know how to answer a question or fix a problem, you can find someone who does. It means having a can-do attitude and following through on it.
And the fifth high-versatility trait is self-correction.
That means that once you initiate a project, you ask for feedback and place high priority on problem solving, not on being right. It means you’re able to see when you’ve developed a nonproductive pattern in your behavior. It’s being able to say, “I think this approach isn’t working. I’d better try something different.”
Negative versatility is characterized by:
Subjectiveness—“This is the way it looks to ME”
Bluntness—“That’s a stupid idea!”
Resistance—“This is the way we’ve always done it”
Single-Mindedness—“It’s my goal and nothing else matters”
Unreasonable Risk-Taking—“I’m going to jump; won’t you come with me?”
Developing your adaptability allows you to understand how different types of people would like to be treated. It does not mean imitating the other person’s behavior. It does mean adjusting your behavior to be more in line with the other person’s preferences. The effectively adaptable person meets the other person’s needs and his own. He knows how to negotiate relationships in a way that allows everyone to win. With adaptability you are practicing the spirit of the Golden Rule, which I call The Platinum Rule, and can treat the other person the way he wants to be treated.
Please leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts!
It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.
“Profits are better than wages”… Jim Rohn
Hank Jennings
C.E.O., H&H Diversified Solutions LLC.
If interested in International or Domestic business opportunities please contact me @ facebook.com/hank.jennings or call 24 hours a day @ 404-935-0395
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Billionaire Submarines Toys of the Super Rich…
Please leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts!
It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.
“Profits are better than wages”… Jim Rohn
Hank Jennings
C.E.O., H&H Diversified Solutions LLC.
If interested in International or Domestic business opportunities please contact me @ facebook.com/hank.jennings or call 24 hours a day @ 404-935-0395
Buy Video Phone Now <- Buy One Now, click here!!!!
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Recent Articles
By David Javitch
Traditional approaches to motivating employees have hit a snag; they don’t seem to apply to the contemporary generation of employees, called Generation X and Generation Y (or Millenials).
Who Are the Generation Xers?
Most writers agree that these approximately 50 million people were born between the mid 1960s and 1980–the offspring of the famous baby boomers. Many grew up as “latch key” kids, home alone after school while both of their parents worked, and/or they were raised by a single parent.
They saw their parents married to the workplace, often devoting long hours to factories, the office or on the road. Their parents sacrificed time at home with their families. In the economic downturn of the 1980s, many of these hard workers lost their jobs.
The result? The Gen X or Y kids learned to become more pragmatic and were often disillusioned with the lack of work/life balance in their home. In addition, they often looked askance at the lack of loyalty by employers to their employees.
Motivating Gen Xers
So how does this information translate into working with and motivating this group of employees? Smart employers will need to recognize those characteristics mentioned above and provide some of the following:
- Room to grow. Offer Gen X employees clear statements of goals, but allow them reasonable latitude on how to achieve those goals. Build on their interest in gaining new skills and knowledge by providing opportunities to grow on the job. Gen Xers tend to have a “work hard, play hard” mentality.
- Opportunities to make choices. Since this generation has become accustomed to “fending for themselves,” provide options–options for task selection, options for challenges, options to formulate new processes, and options to develop creative yet appropriate conclusions. You also want to allow them the freedom to use their own resourcefulness and creativity to achieve success.
- Mentoring. Strong, relationship-oriented mentorships are a great value for young employees. Be careful not to micro-manage them or suggest rigid guidelines for completing projects. Spend time with them and offer clear and frequent feedback on their progress.
Who Are the Generation Yers or Millenials?
The approximately 70 million Gen Yers came next, born in the mid to late 1970s through the late 1990s. They have often been called the “Trophy Kids” because on sports teams and in school, each child, regardless of capability, when provided a chance to contribute and perform, was often given some kind of a certificate or award just for having participated. (Recall, in contrast, how previous generations received credit only when they won.)
These kids were praised lavishly by their parents and teachers, who had high levels of hope and expectations for positive outcomes. Often Gen Yers were involved in many activities concurrently with school: lessons, sports, social events, playgroups and teams. They can also be thought of as the “over-scheduled” generation.
Motivating Gen Yers
There is a direct relationship between their experiences growing up and methods to motivate this group of Gen Y employees. To attain success with this population, you should consider these approaches:
- Multitasking. Provide more than one task to accomplish at a time, but without overwhelming them. They are accustomed to multitasking and can most likely sort out what has to be done and when. What’s more, they look forward to the challenges of having several tasks to perform at once.
- Collaboration. Create work teams or partners to work with, where appropriate. They are accustomed to working in tandem with others.
- Structure. Provide structure and clear guidelines, and at times, specific processes or approaches for achieving goals. While they appear confident, they still need input from management.
- Technology. Encourage and allow them to use the latest technology in the work setting.
- Challenges. Positively challenge their interests, abilities and achievements.
- Relationship building. Create a bonding relationship with them so that they feel comfortable asking for input and direction and know they can rely on you as the authority figure when the need arises.
- Positive reinforcement. Reward them frequently with positive feedback and citations for successful accomplishments and milestones on the road to longer-term achievements.
- Engaged leadership. Set up specific and regular times to meet with and supervise them. Demonstrate your sincere interest in their professional growth and success.
- Communication. Understand that they prefer using electronic means to communicate with you as opposed to face-to-face meetings. This generation is far more fluent and comfortable with technology than any other group.
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Please leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts!
It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.
“Profits are better than wages”… Jim Rohn
Hank Jennings
C.E.O., H&H Diversified Solutions LLC.
If interested in International or Domestic business opportunities please contact me @ facebook.com/hank.jennings or call 24 hours a day @ 404-935-0395
Buy Video Phone Now <- Buy One Now, click here!!!!
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How to Move Your Business to Cloud Computing
Make your workflow easier and more efficient with web-based computing.
By Adam Pash
Editor’s note: Adam Pash is a technology guru and the editor-in-chief of Lifehacker, a popular website that focuses on technology, productivity and making your life easier with your computer.
The internet has changed the way people do nearly everything–from consuming media to performing research to maintaining relationships to communicating.
Its effect on business has been similarly wide ranging. And today, for mission-critical data, internet-based computing–aka cloud computing–is introducing major changes to the way work is done.
Whether you’re ready to move your business operations to the cloud full time or just want to dip a toe in the water vapor, cloud integration offers significant benefits. Specifically:
* You have access to data that lives in the cloud from any PC, regardless of where you are. All you need is a connection to the internet and a web browser.
* For data in the cloud, companies like Google provide offsite data redundancy that’s stronger than the backups most business users have in place. If your hard drive crashes or if your computer vanishes, you don’t need to worry that your data has gone missing with it.
With the right tools, you can have your data in the cloud in no time–and it will still play nicely with your desktop, laptop, or smartphone.
Don’t Make Me Ditch Microsoft Office!
The internet has certainly changed the way people work, but desktop applications continue to outperform the web on a number of fronts–especially in the business world. Fortunately, you can take advantage of the cloud without ditching desktop apps altogether. With the right tools and know-how, you can pair your significant business apps and data with the web to keep everything in sync, accessible from any browser and backed up to the cloud.
Note: There are more options for syncing data to the cloud than we can highlight in one article. Our focus here is on some of the most popular and trustworthy options–and in general, that means a large number of Google applications.
Microsoft Office Live
Since businesses tend to create lots of documents, spreadsheets and presentations, you probably use Microsoft Office regularly. Most web alternatives still haven’t come close to matching the power of the Microsoft Office suite. But you do have a couple of good options for integrating the most popular Office apps with the web.
Microsoft’s own Office Live Workspace service works with Word, Excel and PowerPoint; it aims to eliminate your need to carry a thumb drive, by letting you to store any of the three types of Office documents on the Live Workspace website.
When you save a document to Live Workspace, you can view it from any browser, share it with other people in your workspace and edit it on your desktop with Microsoft Office. The files are stored online on Microsoft’s servers, but you can open, edit and save them with your desktop Office applications just as though they’re on your hard drive.
To get started with Live Workspace on your desktop, download Microsoft’s Office Live Update for Office.
Google Docs
If you prefer Google Docs (Google’s suite of online office applications) to Live Workspace, a couple of tools can help you sync your desktop Office apps with Google Docs.
The first, Memeo Connect, syncs any document between your desktop and Google Docs. You can choose to edit the documents locally in Office or online in Google Docs; either way, Memeo Connect will keep your local Office documents constantly in sync with Google Docs.
If you do a lot of collaboration, a better option may be OffiSync. Once installed, OffiSync works much like Memeo Connect, allowing you to view and edit any document on your desktop or within Google Docs.
OffiSync pays a little more attention to collaboration, so users can work on the same document at the same time, and any changes that one user saves will instantly merge with the version of the document that the other user has open.
A Calendar in the Cloud
A desktop calendar helps you schedule your appointments, remember important events and keep your life in order–as long as you’re in front of your PC.
A calendar that syncs to the cloud ensures that you’ll always have access to your schedule. It can sync wirelessly to your smartphone and will keep your entire schedule flawlessly in sync.
To handle the job, look no further than Google Calendar and the Google Calendar Sync plug-in for Microsoft Outlook. Once installed, the calendar can perform seamless two-way synchronization between your desktop Outlook calendar and Google Calendar.
Bonus for your phone: If you have a BlackBerry, iPhone, Nokia S60, or Windows phone, Google Sync for your phone wirelessly syncs your calendar with your device so you can check your schedule on the go, add an appointment and rest assured that the next time you sit down at your computer, your calendar will be in perfect sync.
Contacts in the Cloud
Your contacts are the lifeblood of your business, so making sure they’re always backed up, accessible from anywhere and up-to-date is incredibly important.
If you shell out for the Google Apps Premier Edition (not a bad idea if you’re serious about syncing your data with Google’s cloud), you also gain access to Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook–a tool that deftly handles syncing of your contacts between Outlook and Google Contacts. (Unfortunately, Google supports contact sync with Outlook only with Premier accounts.)
If you don’t want to commit to Google Apps Premier but you’d like to sync your Google Contacts with your Outlook contacts, check out GO Contact Sync. Want to try a non-Google app? Plaxo is an excellent online contact management service that syncs with Outlook like a charm.
Bonus for your phone: Google Contacts, like Google Calendar, syncs seamlessly with BlackBerry, iPhone, Nokia S60 and Windows phones. Google Sync for your phone is particularly handy with contacts, especially if you often add new contacts from your phone: Transfer a contact from your phone, and Google Sync will wirelessly sync to the cloud and then back to your desktop.
Syncing Files and Folders to the Cloud
If you’re not especially concerned about creating or editing files online, you may prefer to use a file-syncing application such as Dropbox or SugarSync to sync your documents to the cloud.
After installing one of these utilities on your computer, you can instantly sync and back up any file between the cloud and any computer that has the app installed on it. Thereafter, anything you add to a synced folder syncs between the web and every desktop where you’ve installed it.
E-Mail in the Cloud
E-mail is exceedingly important to any business, but syncing e-mail between your desktop and the web–whether via your company’s e-mail server or a cloud service like Gmail–isn’t exactly new.
If you use Gmail or Google Apps, we recommend setting up Gmail’s IMAP with your desktop e-mail client to keep your desktop client and your Gmail inbox in perfect sync. (To enable IMAP in Gmail, log in and visit the Forwarding and POP/IMAP page.)
Once you’ve set up Gmail IMAP on your desktop, your desktop e-mail client of choice will always be in perfect sync with Gmail in your browser.
Please leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts!
It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.
“Profits are better than wages”… Jim Rohn
Hank Jennings
C.E.O., H&H Diversified Solutions LLC.
If interested in International or Domestic business opportunities please contact me @ facebook.com/hank.jennings or call 24 hours a day @ 404-935-0395
Buy Video Phone Now <- Buy One Now, click here!!!!
The Hottest International Blog The WealthCurve
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Why Cars Have To Go Electric
Shai Agassi’s plan for electric cars
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Shai Agassi says Gulf spill makes it ever more obvious oil costs too high for powering cars
- He says countries like Japan, China, Israel committing to some electric cars
- For example, his company has electric taxi project in Japan to show what’s possible, he says
- He says as countries realize benefits to global economy, more will adopt electric car technology
Editor’s note: Shai Agassi is the Founder and CEO of Better Place, an electric vehicle services provider whose goal is to accelerate the global transition to sustainable transportation by building infrastructure and networks for the widespread adoption of electric vehicles. TED, a nonprofit organization devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading,” hosts talks on many subjects and makes them available through its website.
(CNN) — It’s hard to believe it’s been more than a year since I stood before the audience at one of my favorite forums, TED. But a year later, our vision for an oil-free world where electric cars are more convenient and affordable than gasoline-powered cars remains the same.
It’s been a turbulent year for the global economy, and the events of recent weeks only underscore the urgency of our situation as a society and as a planet. We see firsthand the severe damage oil can inflict, not only on our global economy but also on our environment.
Just look at the tragedy unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico. We will soon see the damage of this horrific event in very human terms, as the damage to the industry, the environment and the livelihood of those in the Gulf grows and all struggle to recover in the coming months and years.
My hope is that we will soon get to a point where we see that the cost of oil in human capital is no longer acceptable and that the increasing complexity of finding and retrieving this diminishing resource no longer makes economic sense. The good news is we are already seeing a shift that will ultimately take us from a transportation system based on a volatile oil ecosystem to one based on a more sustainable model using electric cars that creates a market for clean energy.
The shift to electrification is inevitable, and we’re seeing some of the world’s leading countries make strong commitments to electrification. China, France, Japan and Israel are just a few. Motivations vary from country to country, but the end result will be the same: a stronger economy, healthier automotive sector and increased development of clean energy, leading to a healthier society.
We will see new countries emerge to lead the way, and we will see former powerhouses who fail to act, left behind in this new sustainable global economy. While governments have the ability to accelerate the shift, the question remains how quickly we can get there.
My start-up, Better Place, has made great progress in the past 12 months, and we’re moving forward in all of our committed markets. We began the year by raising $350 million in a financing round led by HSBC, and we continue to drive toward a full system test in Israel later this year, followed by our commercial launches in Israel and Denmark in late 2011.
On April 26 of this year, we launched the first switchable-battery electric taxi project in Tokyo. With the support of the Japanese government, we’ve partnered with Nihon Kotsu, Tokyo’s largest taxi operator, to show what’s possible in a rigorous environment with cars that drive almost continuously. Tokyo has much to gain from this: The city’s 60,000 taxis may only represent 2 percent of all cars in the city, but they are responsible for 20 percent of emissions. If the switch works for taxis, imagine how it can work for average drivers.
Just two days before our Tokyo launch, Better Place signed a memorandum of understanding with Chery Automobile Co., China’s largest independent auto producer and exporter. You can’t talk about the future without considering China: They get it, they’ll do it, and it’s that simple.
Today, only 2 percent of China’s population owns a car, but 80 percent of sales last year came from first-time car buyers, presenting a huge opportunity to get it right. The Chinese recognize EVs as a solution to the problem of the oil monopoly and its associated pollution, as well as an opportunity to leapfrog internal combustion engine technology and the rest of the auto industry. In fact, recent research from HSBC predicts that China’s share of the global EV market will grow from 2.7 percent this year to 35 percent by 2020.
In late 2011, we’re planning countrywide rollouts of the Better Place model in Israel and Denmark. With the infrastructure deployment under way, both of these countries will be ready when the first EVs from Renault come to market. We are talking about mass market with these cars — as Better Place and Renault have committed to 100,000 electric cars for Israel and Denmark beginning in 2011. This is just the beginning, and we’re seeing clear direction and new visionaries emerge such as Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault Nissan, who sees a future where EVs are mass marketed and make up 10 percent of all car sales by 2020.
Call it a revolution or an evolution, but this shift is happening today. While we still face a number of challenges, over the past 12 months, we’ve seen a new willingness from the global auto industry to change. Two years ago, most automakers considered electric cars a niche market, but today, we see almost every automaker in the world producing electric vehicles.
As the benefits of a more sustainable transportation model are realized, we will very quickly see a dramatic change in the global economy, the health of the car industry and, most importantly, in the air we breathe. All of this points the way to a bigger, brighter future. It’s simply up to us to make it happen.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Shai Agassi.
Please leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts!
It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.
“Profits are better than wages”… Jim Rohn
Hank Jennings
C.E.O., H&H Diversified Solutions LLC.
If interested in International or Domestic business opportunities please contact me @ facebook.com/hank.jennings or call 24 hours a day @ 404-935-0395
Buy Video Phone Now <- Buy One Now, click here!!!!
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A Dazzling Future For Solar Power?
Concentrating solar power plants like the PS10 near Seville, Spain may provide around 10 percent of world electricity by 2050.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Solar power to provide almost a quarter of world’s electricity by 2050 report says
- International Energy Agency predict that solar panels will provide 11 percent
- Solar power plants will aid solar panels on residential and commerical property
- Renewable energy expert says solar power’s time is “starting to come”
London, England — Solar power is expected to provide almost a quarter of the world’s electricity supplies by 2050, according to a new report published by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Eleven percent of total supplies are predicted to come from solar panels on homes and offices while a further 11 percent will be provided by central solar power stations feeding clean electricity to populous areas.
Solar power currently accounts for 0.5 percent of total electricity supplies, but this will need to rise if cuts in carbon emissions are to be achieved, according to the IEA.
Executive director of the IEA, Nobuo Tanaka said in a statement: “The combination of solar photovoltaics and concentrating solar power offers considerable prospects for enhancing energy security while reducing energy-related CO2 emissions by almost six billion tonnes per year by 2050.”
The future success of solar power stations (known as Concentrating Solar Power or CSP) will depend on the development of “dedicated transport lines,” but the IEA predict that it could become competitive with coal and nuclear power plants by 2030.
The IEA expects North America to be the largest producer of CSP electricity, followed by India and North Africa — which will likely export half of its output to Europe.
With the right policies in place, the IEA says that solar panels on residential and commercial buildings could compete with traditional electricity supplies by 2020 in many regions. By 2030 the IEA anticipate solar panels will provide five percent of global electricity.
Tanaka, who announced the initiatives at the Mediterranean Solar Plan Conference in Valencia, Spain, called for “long-term oriented, predictable solar-specific incentives” in order to “bring both technologies to competitiveness.”
Professor Philip Eames, director of the Center for Renewable Energy Systems Technology at the UK’s Loughborough University believes that solar power is a viable alternative to fossil fuels.
“Realistically, I think solar power has quite a bright future. I’ve seen predictions before and they are becoming more and more bullish as the technology develops,” Eames told CNN.
“If you look at the resources that are available and the way technology has developed in the last few years, there will be quite a large increase in solar panels and CSP if it keeps developing.”
Eames says costs of solar panels have come down a “huge amount” over the past 12 months and will continue to fall as the technology develops and CSP’s maintenance costs are relatively small.
“Solar power’s time is starting to come,” Eames said.
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Hank Jennings
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Forbes debuted its first issue of the 400 Richest Americans in 1982. Listed among the most powerful and wealthy people in the country was a 27 year-old computer geek from Los Gatos California worth $100 million: Steven P. Jobs. Now worth $5.5 billion, Jobs is a member of a small and elite group of billionaires–including Warren Buffett and Donald Trump–who debuted in that first issue and are still Forbes 400 members today.
Despite this feat, Jobs doesn’t hold the record of the youngest self-made titan to appear on our list of the ultra wealthy. That title belongs to Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg. He joined the 400 richest Americans at age of 24 (and was counted among the World’s Billionaires at just 23).
The technology world has created the majority of our youngest Forbes 400 debuts. Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, made the Rich List at age 30. Google’s Serge Brin and Larry Page both premiered at 31.
Why does the tech industry produce so many young tycoons?
We asked Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban–who himself made the 400 at the age of 40 after selling Broadcast.com to Yahoo for $5.7 billion in 1999.
His answer: “It doesn’t take a lot of startup capital to start a tech business. A PC, some smarts and some luck, and the next thing you know …”
Click here to see when some of America’s richest first debuted on the Forbes 400.
Please leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts!
It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.
“Profits are better than wages”… Jim Rohn
Hank Jennings
C.E.O., H&H Diversified Solutions LLC.
If interested in International or Domestic business opportunities please contact me @ facebook.com/hank.jennings or call 24 hours a day @ 404-935-0395
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Eat Your Way to a Spicier Sex Life
These reputed aphrodisiacs may liven up your love life.
By Elizabeth M. Ward, MS, RD
Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD
Your love life is lacking, and you’re tempted to try certain foods to reignite the spark. Edible aphrodisiacs can turn up the heat in more ways than one.
“For centuries, the smell, taste, and appearance of food has been touted as passion-producing,” says Sari Greaves, RD, spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association and co-author of the Cardiac Recovery Cookbook.
Some foods are reputed to strip away inhibitions. Others claim to put you in the mood for lovemaking, and still others boast of improving blood flow to your genitals, enhancing performance and pleasure.
There’s more folklore than scientific proof to substantiate the link between food and passionate sex. But that’s no reason why you and your partner should shy away from these so-called natural love potions.
It’s a win-win situation. The most notorious food aphrodisiacs are a treasure trove of nutrients necessary for sexual prowess and good health.
Sexually Suggestive Fruits and Vegetables
Some people find produce erotic. Bananas, asparagus, cucumbers and carrots speak for themselves on that score.
Avocados, Greaves says, were prized by the Aztecs, who called them “testicle trees” because they grow in pairs. Ancient Greeks and Romans feasted on figs to promote potency. And let’s not forget pomegranates, also known as “love apples.”
Those ancient civilizations were on to something. Fruits and vegetables are loaded with vitamins and minerals required to produce sex hormones necessary for sexual arousal and pleasure.
Honey
Ever wonder where the term “honeymoon” came from?
Centuries ago, newlyweds in Europe drank honey wine during the first month of marriage to improve their sexual stamina. As a bonus, the long-ago lovebirds also got small amounts of beneficial vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants from honey.
Chocolate
The Aztec emperor Montezuma’s chocolate consumption is legendary. Rumor has it that he drank 50 glasses of honey-sweetened chocolate a day in the name of virility.
Perhaps Montezuma valued chocolate for its feel-good qualities, too. Cocoa beans contain phenylethamine, a compound that triggers the release of endorphins, compounds associated with pleasure.
Nowadays, cocoa powder processed without alkaline provides the biggest bang for the buck. It contains the highest levels of the antioxidants associated with lower blood cholesterol levels, reduced inflammation in blood vessels, and maximum blood flow. Darker chocolate contains more cocoa powder.
Oysters
Oysters are dripping with dopamine, a compound that stirs feelings of sexual desire, and pleasure. These mollusks are also bursting with zinc, a mineral that fosters the production of testosterone, necessary for arousal and pleasure in men and women.
You may need to resist the temptation to ply your paramour with raw oysters – your romantic interlude could end with a severe case of food poisoning. Most raw oysters in the U.S. carry a bacterium called Vibrio vulnificus. Healthy people are unlikely to have adverse affects from eating raw oysters, but those with diabetes, liver disease, immune systems disorders, AIDS, and other chronic diseases can end up with a severe infection that may be fatal.
Salmon
You can’t get down when you’re uptight. Eating salmon can help brighten your disposition.
“Salmon harbors an abundance of omega-3 fats, which qualifies it as a natural mood booster,” says Susan Kleiner, PhD, RD, author of The Good Mood Diet: Feel Great While You Lose Weight.
Salmon also supplies large amounts of vitamin D. Researchers at the University of Toronto have found that vitamin D appears to work in the brain like many antidepressantmedications do: by raising levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that induces feelings of calm and banishes bad moods.
Garlic
Rich in antioxidants that protect against cell damage, garlic is said to stir sexual desire and increase blood flow, says Greaves.
Just be sure to eat as much as your bed partner, as the effects of garlic can linger on your breath for hours.
Alcohol
Nothing says seduction like popping the cork on the best bottle of bubbly money can buy, if that’s what you enjoy.
A drink a day may help reduce the risk of heart disease in healthy people, but more than that may turn your tryst into a snooze fest.
Alcohol is a central nervous system downer. Chronic drinking is linked to erectile dysfunction, which will put a damper on lovemaking.
The Couple that Eats Together, Sleeps Together?
If you enjoy foods with a reputation for making you hot to trot, you may be thinking about whipping up meals that will knock your socks off, and your partner’s.
“A delicious meal can be a prelude to sex,” Kleiner says.
The act of cooking together can be a form of foreplay, and the smell of food can ignite intimacy, too.
According to Greaves, research has shown that the aroma of pumpkin pie, cheese pizza, and buttered popcorn induced blood flow to the penis, and the combination of pumpkin pie and lavender did the best job. Women, on the other hand, responded to a combination of Good & Plenty and cucumber.
The smell of vanilla is particularly alluring. “Add vanilla extract to whole grain French toast or drop a vanilla bean into your champagne,” she recommends.
If you’re not interested in any of the foods with a reputation for enhancing your love life, are you doomed to a lust-free existence? Not at all.
What matters most is that you and your partner dine on meals that include foods that you both enjoy, as long as you don’t overeat or drink yourself into a stupor, Kleiner says. She puts it this way: “What you eat on a daily basis is far more important to overall sexual satisfaction that a single meal.”
Good Health, the Ultimate Aphrodisiac
In the long run, peak physical and emotional well-being is key to a satisfying sex life.
“If you want better sex, take care of your health,” advises Judith Reichman, MD, author of I’m Not In the Mood: What Every Woman Should Know About Improving Her Libido.
Good Health, the Ultimate Aphrodisiac continued…
You don’t need to be model-thin to have a wonderful sex life, but if you’re uncomfortable with your weight, you may not be at your best in the bedroom for a few reasons.
“Being overweight may deflate your libido, especially if you don’t feel attractive,” says Kleiner.
Extra body fat raises the specter of elevated blood glucose levels that can damage the blood vessels and nerves that allow for arousal and sexual pleasure. It also increases the risk for high blood pressure and clogged arteries.
Clear, flexible arteries allow maximum blood flow to all the right places during sex, enhancing your pleasure.
A balanced diet rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, and other lean protein foods helps to control your blood pressure, blood cholesterol levels, and your weight.
But don’t cut too many calories.
According to Reichman, upon menopause, women lose 90% of their circulating estrogen, which may result in less blood flowing to the genitals and diminished capacity for arousal. Body fat offers some protection, because, like your ovaries, it produces estrogen.
Whatever your weight, exercise may help to ignite your love life by improving circulation, managing blood pressure, increasing energy levels, and helping you to look better, which can have a positive effect on your sex life.
Please leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts!
It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.
“Profits are better than wages”… Jim Rohn
Hank Jennings
C.E.O., H&H Diversified Solutions LLC.
If interested in International or Domestic business opportunities please contact me @ facebook.com/hank.jennings or call 24 hours a day @ 404-935-0395
Buy Video Phone Now <- Buy One Now, click here!!!!
The Hottest International Blog The WealthCurve
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