Alibaba Group

Chinese sportswear maker Dongxiang Group said on Friday it will invest $100 million in Yunfeng Capital, a fund targeted at making investments in Alibaba Group.

Yunfeng Capital, Silver Lake and DST Global said on Thursday they will buy shares in China's largest e-commerce group Alibaba by leading a tender offer for employee shareholders, option holders and certain other shareholders of Alibaba Group.
Singapore-based investment firm Temasek, a shareholder in Alibaba Group, is also taking part in the offer.
The transaction would give Alibaba an enterprise valuation of $32 billion, the tech blog AllThingsD said, adding the group would get a stake of just under 5 percent if the offer is fully subscribed.
Chinese online game developer Giant Interactive also said it will invest $50 million in Yunfeng Capital, which is co-founded by Alibaba Group Chairman Jack Ma.
Alibaba Group is the parent company of Alibaba.com, Taobao Mall, Taobao and AliCloud. Alibaba.com trading 3.5 percent higher at 0145 GMT (9:45 p.m. EDT).
Yahoo holds about 40 percent of Alibaba Group and will not be selling shares in the offer, the blog said.

Faster than light

Sub-atomic particles apparently traveling faster than light could force a major rethink of theories about how the cosmos works and even allow dreams of time travel and extra dimensions, scientists said on Friday.

Jeff Forshaw, a professor of particle physics at Britain's Manchester University, said the results, if confirmed, would mean it would be possible in theory "to send information into the past."
"In other words, time travel into the past would become possible ... (though) that does not mean we'll be building time machines any time soon," he told Reuters.
The international physicists who made the startling findings at CERN near Geneva said they must now be confirmed by independent research teams. The wider scientific community expressed astonishment and skepticism.
"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and this is an extraordinary claim," cosmologist and astrophysicist Martin Rees told Reuters.
CERN, also home to the Large Hadron Collider that is probing how the universe began and developed, said measurements over three years had shown invisible neutrino particles covering the 730 km to a laboratory in Italy 60 nanoseconds -- or 60 billionths of a second -- faster than light.
That reading could show that Albert Einstein, father of modern physics, was wrong when he laid down in his 1905 theory of special relativity that the speed of light was a "cosmic constant," and nothing could go faster.
CORNERSTONE OF SCIENCE
That principle, and Einstein's later general relativity theory, which expanded it into wider fields of physics, have been cornerstones of scientific views of the cosmos and how it works ever since.
The new finding was recorded when 15,000 neutrino beams were pumped over three years from CERN to an underground Italian laboratory at Gran Sasso near Rome.
Physicists on the experiment, called OPERA after the initials of its formal scientific title, say they had checked and rechecked over many months anything that could have produced a misreading before announcing what they had found.
Professor Jenny Thomas, who works on neutrinos at Fermilab, the U.S. physics research center near Chicago, commented: "The impact of this measurement, were it to be correct, would be huge."
OPERA's Dario Auterio, presenting the findings to a packed and clearly sceptical auditorium at CERN on Friday, said they were of "high statistical accuracy" and could not be explained by extraneous effects such as seismic tremors or moon phases.
He declined to get into theoretical interpretations and told his audience of largely CERN scientists that other research centres -- Fermilab and probably Japan's T2K neutrino research team -- must now take up the baton.
"In science, you can never be sure. Something odd can always happen, however careful you are," said CERN spokesman James Gillies. "You've always got to get an independent result from someone else before you can say it's a discovery."
SCEPTICISM VOICED
Many leading scientists were sceptical that Einstein's theories would have to be abandoned.
"It is premature to comment on this," said Professor Stephen Hawking, perhaps the world's best-known physicist, who has come up with contested ideas of his own. "Further experiments and clarifications are needed."
The high level of caution is normal in science where anything that could be a breakthrough discovery, especially one that overturns well-established thinking, is rigorously inspected by other researchers to see if they get the same results.
CERN's research director, Sergio Bertolucci, reaffirmed this principle.
"When an experiment finds an apparently unbelievable result and can find no artefact of the measurement to account for it, it is normal to invite broader scrutiny ... That is good scientific practice," he said.
Einstein's theory has been tested thousands of times over the past 106 years and only recently have there been slight indications that the behavior of some elementary particles of matter might not fit into it.
OPERA spokesman Antonio Ereditato said the sub-atomic neutrino, which is normally produced in nuclear decay or nuclear reactions such as those on the Sun and was only confirmed to exist in 1934, "is still surprising us with its mysteries."

Arrested In Tripura

A total of 14 Bangladeshi nationals, including three women and two children, were Saturday arrested for illegally entering India, police said.
'Acting on a tip-off, the Mobile Task Force (MTF) personnel arrested them from the Tripura capital and brought them before a local court, which later sent them into jail custody,' police spokesman Nepal Das told reporters.
Das, a deputy inspector general of police (police control), said that the foreign nationals were detained under the Indian Passport Act and they would be sent back to Bangladesh after completion of their jail term.
The apprehended intruders, who might have crossed the border in search of jobs, are residents of Moulavi Bazar, Nowakhali, Hatia, Habibganj, Feni, Chattagram, Commilla and Kishoreganj districts of Bangladesh adjoining India.
Indian and Bangladeshi currencies and some official documents were recovered from the detainees.
According to police, the MTF troopers recently intensified their drive to detain illegally migrants from Bangladesh, Myanmar and other countries.
Since last year, the Tripura Police have also detained 23 Myanmar nationals in Tripura and later sent them back to Bangladesh, from where they entered into the Indian territory looking for livelihood and jobs.

Online Music Studio

Bollywood producer Sunil Bohra is set to launch an online music studio that will reveal to the producers the revenues earned from the music of their film in a transparent manner.
Bohra Bros Music Studio will enable producers to remain the ultimate music rights owner, which is not being done by the big labels who typically acquire the music rights.
As opposed to a one-time music rights acquisition cost paid by the big music firms currently, Bohra Bros Music Studio aims to promote film music albums at initial cost to the producer.
And only after music starts selling will the studio plan to split the revenue with the producer in 70:30 ratio favouring the film producer.
The studio will also offer monthly reports of revenue earned by the film's music album and even give a break-up of sales across mobile, online, radio, digital and physical sales.
The BB Music Studio will be launched with the music of Bohra Bros upcoming film 'Sahib, Biwi aur Gangster', which releases Sep 30.

Most Returned Electronic Products

Only 5 percent of consumer electronics products returned to retailers are malfunctioning --yet many people who return working products think they are broken, a new study indicates.
The report by technology consulting and outsourcing firm Accenture pegs the costs of consumer electronics returns in 2007 at $13.8 billion in the United States alone, with return rates ranging from 11 percent to 20 percent, depending on the type of product.
Accenture estimates that 68 percent of returns are products that work properly but do not meet customers' expectations for some reason. "Either they thought it was defective when it wasn't, or there was an expectation gap," says Accenture executive Terry Steger.
The study attributes another 27 percent of returns to buyer's remorse--situations where customers simply changed their minds. That leaves only 5 percent of returns that are attributable to defects or other malfunctions.
Steger believes that the return rates for functional products would decline significantly if vendors and retailers in­vested more in making them easier to set up and use, and in educating buyers.
"I don't believe the returns issue is the result of lax retail return policies, or customers taking advantage of the ability to return," he says.
Rather, he says, high return rates often point to problems with products.
Complicated setup is one issue: The Accenture report cites a 2006 study by Dutch scientist Elke den Ouden, which determined that the average U.S. consumer spends only 20 minutes trying to make a device work before giving up and returning it to the seller.

Laptop Computers

Why would any person select an aluminum laptop briefcase instead of a normal tanned hide briefcase or a soothing laptop carrying case? Aside from the fact that they are great looking, aluminum laptop carrying cases are written especially for laptop computers. Other briefcases and carrying cases are holdovers from an progressing period and aren't unequivocally apt for computers.
Open up a standard, normal briefcase and you'll find a array of folders and compartments for keeping papers. On the side, there will moreover be pouches for pens, business cards and other tiny items. The normal briefcase developed in to a smart "mobile office" in the pre-computer age. A businessman's briefcase was frequently his honour and happiness and showed the world that he was a professional.
The complaint is, when laptops became the businessperson's necessary tool, briefcases didn't develop to adapt them. They did adapt to them by adding padded sections is to laptop, but that's not the same thing as conceptualizing a briefcase from the belligerent up is to internet age.
Aluminum laptop briefcases have been written from graze with the laptop initial and leading in mind. In fact, the designers chose aluminum over tanned hide precisely since it is a more apt element for a laptop carrying case. Aluminum is light, nonetheless burly and rigid. This creates it the best element for safeguarding your laptop from the blows it will fundamentally be subjected to when you're on a swarming street.
Traditional briefcases are non-stop from the tip whilst aluminum laptop briefcases open similar to suitcases, creation it ample simpler to fix up and eliminate your P.C. and its accessories. Larger models written for journey or presentations have a place is to laptop and its fittings in the tip half of the case, whilst the bottom half is indifferent for documents, clothing and other necessities.
Aluminum laptop briefcases grip the computer, its fittings and all your papers and outfit resolutely but kindly in place. When you open your case, all is where you wish it to be. Inferior briefcases and cheap, soothing bombard laptop carrying cases do not grip their essence as securely.
While it is loyal that you can purchase a accumulation of styles of tanned hide briefcases, they are not written for definite sizes of laptops. Aluminum laptop briefcases, on the other hand, are written with definite uses and laptops in mind. You can obtain anything from a super slim box for your cover P.C. to a considerable rolling laptop carrying box for receiving with you on abroad business trips.
These are a few of the reasons why aluminum laptop briefcases are so higher to normal briefcases. As a bonus, they are great seeking and uncover that you are living in the P.C. age, not the past.

Electronic Product Development

Design and Development

Useful Devices offers experience and expertise in many areas of design enabling our clients to meet their goals quickly, efficiently and at a reasonable cost. We have a broad range of capabilities allowing us to provide assistance extending farther than what many design firms are willing to offer. Useful Devices fully supports and manages any level of product development you may need.

Education

We at Useful Devices continue to fervently expand our knowledge base and experience through training and educational programs. We believe through continued education we can offer the most practical, cost efficient and effective solutions to our customers.

Manufacturing

In addition, Useful Devices offers manufacturing from prototypes to complete production. Prototypes and low volume products are built in-house using the latest tools and materials while through industry partners we offer world-class manufacturing for medium to high volume production. These various levels of manufacturing capabilities enable us to provide our customers with the proper solution that best fits production volumes and budget. Within our industry partners are facilities with proven processes that are ISO-9002 and ISO-14000 certified allowing Useful Devices to offer complete manufacturing support and management with a guarantee of quality.

iPhone4, launched in India

India has become a dumping point for all electronic wasted rather than a fast developing market. Govt. without even thinking about the future hazards for our coming generations just keeps on giving clean chits for these companies to sell their products only for their benefits. These multinational companies knows Indian tastes.. Sastha and Kaam chalau type.. Whenever a new model comes, it may came with a offer.... Ek se sath ek free... then the very next day another one will say...Ek ke sath do free... Where will the excess go along with the actual one since they give off after few days. These gets dumped in our surroundings and gradually during rainfall, the harmful chemicals from these pollute our environment along with very harmful radiations. Our own future generations will be the victims and our own country will lose its strength. Please see whats up in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, generations have passed and the victims are the poor innocent people of today. I request not to buy/ encourage these products.

ARM For Mobile Chips

Intel, whose chips are the brains in 80 percent of the world's PCs, is rushing to improve the power consumption of its mobile processors with new chips for tablets and smartphones.
To put advanced mobile chips on the market more quickly, Otellini said Intel would increase the pace of implementing new manufacturing technologies. Intel currently adopts new manufacturing technology every two years.
This month, Intel took the wraps off next-generation technology that crams more transistors onto microchips, betting it will eventually become a significant advantage in tablets and smartphones, where Qualcomm, Texas Instruments and Nvidia are key players and use ARM.
Intel claims the "3D" new manufacturing process delivers as much as a 37 percent jump in performance while consuming less electricity -- a key ARM selling point.
"To be fair, process technology is just one important element of winning for Intel, but it is a major advantage and one we suspect the Street is underestimating," Raymond James analyst Hans Mosesmann said in a note to clients.
ARM Chief Executive Warren East told the Reuters Technology Summit on Tuesday that Intel's move to 3D technology would not affect plans by ARM's partners to manufacture smaller, more powerful chips.
Concern about Intel's lack of progress in the mobile segment has weighed on its stock, which is trading at 10 expected annual earnings, much cheaper than peers like Texas Instruments at 13 times and Advanced Micro Devices at 14 times.
The market for mobile chips is still tiny compared to Intel's PC processor business, but investors expect it to grow quickly.
Smartphones using Intel's new Medfield chip will go on sale early next year, executives said.
"With Medfield we're in the power envelope for phones ... We're working with several customers and we start to expect to see the revenue ramp toward the end of this year," Chief Financial Officer Stacy Smith said.
In April, Intel introduced a new chip for tablets, codenamed Oak Trail, and said it will be used in more than 35 upcoming tablets and hybrid computer devices made by companies including Fujitsu and Lenovo.

Reuters Summit

LG Display sees LCD panel shortage from H2

The oversupplied flat screen market will swing back to a shortage in the second half, helped by strong demand from China and restocking by television makers to prepare for a seasonal rise in demand, an executive at LG Display said.
"We see the LCD market tightening and swinging back to a short supply condition in the second half," Kevin Choi, head of TV sales and marketing at the world's No.2 flat-screen maker, told the Reuters Technology Summit in Seoul on Wednesday.
"Prices (of television panels) have just started rising and will continue to rise steadily toward the second half as worldwide panel inventory has now returned to historically normal levels and TV demand tends to pick up in the fourth quarter," Choi said.
LG Display's outlook was more bullish than that of its bigger rival Samsung Electronics. The head of Samsung's LCD business told the Reuters Technology Summit that flat screen prices were stabilising and its earnings would improve.
Choi said demand growth was strong in China and the U.S. markets but subdued in western Europe.
After a one third fall in prices over the past one year, TV panel prices are finally showing signs of bottoming out this month, with prices of 40-42 inch panels edging up 1 percent from late April, according to industry data.
Choi said gains in blended selling prices of LG Display's TV panels are outpacing an overall market recovery and started rising slightly from April thanks to strong demand for pricey 3D panels.
Shares in LG Display, which counts LG Electronics and Philips AG as its major TV screen clients, were up 1.6 percent by 0335 GMT in a broader market up 1.3 percent.