The tablet war is going on in full force. According to SamMobile, Samsung is all set to reveal a new device in the company's Note line-up. The new device, dubbed Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0, will be available in two versions?the GT-N5100 3G/Wi-Fi version and the GT-N5110 Wi-Fi only version.
It will have an 8-inch screen with a resolution of 1280 x 800, a 5 megapixel rear camera along with 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera, 2GB of RAM, 16/32GB of internal storage and a microSD slot. It will be powered by a 4600 mAh battery. On the connectivity side of things, the Note 8.0 will have Bluetooth 4.0, USB 2.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n and A-GPS. It will run on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. The dimensions of the tablet will be 211.3 x 136.3 x 7.95 mm and will weigh around 330 g. Judging by the specifications and the screen size, it looks like Samsung is going to compete with Apple's iPad mini.
A competitor to the iPad mini?
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The company will be introducing the tablet at MWC 2013.
Just yesterday, rumours of a Galaxy Note III were popping up. The rumour comes from a report in the Korea Times that mentioned the Galaxy Note III, along with a couple of specifications of the device. According to the report, Galaxy Note III will be pushing even further in terms of screen size, with a whopping 6.3-inch display. This is a considerable bump compared to the 5.5-inch screen on Galaxy Note II. Another key feature of Note III will be that it will run on the Exynos 5 Octa chip that Samsung had showcased at CES 2013.
Samsung had unveiled the Exynos 5 Octa during CES. It is based on the ARM big.LITTLE/Cortex A-15 architecture and is designed to be a low powered, high performance mobile processor.
According to Samsung, the performance of the chip is twice than that of anything available in the market today when it comes to 3D gaming. While the company hasn't unveiled full details about the chip yet, this chip may be able to run dual quad-core setups on a 28nm process. The Exynos 5 Octa will likely also power the rumoured Galaxy S IV.
Earlier this month, a picture of the Galaxy S IV had popped up. While the legitimacy of the picture is up for debate, it is very likely that this is the next device in the Galaxy S series.
The new phone is set to feature a much thinner bezel along with a bigger screen. Also notable is the lack of buttons on the front face. This points to Samsung finally making the shift towards on-screen buttons. Overall, the design is very reminiscent of the Galaxy S III and the Galaxy Premier, with a greater focus on curves at the corners. Without an official statement by Samsung, though, this could be just a fake picture.
This weekend, the Bay Area's lineup includes food, sports, and fun in winter sunshine as we welcome the end to our recent cold snap. Icy conditions, however, are considered good news inside HP Pavilion, where the San Jose Sharks are currently away, but back in skating action. With raised expectations, we'll be tuning in for kickoff with the 49ers on Sunday at noon when they take on the Falcons in Atlanta. Martin Luther King Jr. Day arrives on Monday, Jan. 21, ushering in the presidential inauguration,??
CONCORD, N.H. High school students hoping to earn college credits through Advanced Placement exams soon will be out of luck at Dartmouth College, which has concluded the tests aren't as rigorous as its own classes.
The Ivy League school currently awards credit in some academic subjects for qualifying scores on Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and A-level exams. But after nearly a decade of discussion, faculty recently voted to end the practice starting with the class of 2018.
"The concern that we have is that increasingly, AP has been seen as equivalent to a college-level course, and it really isn't, in our opinion," said Hakan Tell, a classics professor and chairman of the college's Committee on Instruction.
Dartmouth's decision comes at a time of rapid growth for Advanced Placement. Some 2 million students took 3.7 million AP tests last spring, figures that have more than doubled in the last decade. In 2011, 18 percent of U.S. high school graduates passed at least one AP exams (by scoring at least a 3 on a scale of 1 to 5), up from 11 percent a decade ago.
But the program also has faced criticism that its growing popularity has resulted in watered down courses.
"Many high schools have made their AP courses little more than test prep," said Bob Schaeffer, of FairTest: National Center for Fair & Open Testing. "The common criticism is that they're a mile wide and a quarter-inch deep."
Dartmouth also still believes AP courses are useful in preparing students for college and will continue to use test scores to help place students in appropriate courses, Tell emphasized, and students who may have wanted to use AP credit to graduate early will have other options. But he pointed to an experiment undertaken by the college's psychology department as proof that AP courses often fall short.
Rather than award credit for an introductory course to incoming students who got the highest score on the AP test, the department gave those students a condensed version of the Dartmouth course's final exam. Ninety percent failed, Tell said. And when those students went on to take the introductory class, they performed no better than those who did not have the high AP test scores.
Suril Kantaria, president of the student body at the university in Hanover, N.H., called the change prudent given that high school AP classes are rarely as rigorous as Dartmouth courses.
Students with AP credits "often opt to graduate early instead of taking challenging upper level classes," he said. "This trend challenges the spirit of intellectual growth and discovery that pervades our institution."
But Kate Lyon, a 2005 graduate, said Dartmouth has made a terrible decision. Lyon, who double majored in history and psychology, estimates she saved her parents about $15,000 by using her AP credit to graduate in 11 terms instead of 12.
"Tuition costs at Dartmouth are rising every year and a decision like this seems to show very little regard for the fact that students struggle to pay for college," said Lyon, the oldest of four siblings. "I got just as much out of my Dartmouth experience as someone who took classes all four years, and I completed all the requirements of my degrees but it cost me less to do it."
Tuition, room, board and fees at Dartmouth for the current academic year amount to $58,000, but registrar Meredith Braz said students who want to shave off some of that time and expense still have other ways to graduate early, including taking four courses instead of three for some terms.
"This is not an effort to make it more difficult for students to graduate early," Tell said.
A spokeswoman for the College Board, which runs the AP program, declined to comment specifically on Dartmouth's decision because the college has not notified the company of its policy changes.
But Deborah Davis said the company's research indicates that most students who enroll in small, highly selective colleges use AP scores for placement, not to graduate early. But with the average time to complete a bachelor's degree increasing to six years at most colleges, she anticipates that AP exam scores will increasingly be used to provide credits.
Dartmouth officials weren't able to point to other colleges that have eliminated credit for AP exams, though some have tightened their policies over the years. Davis said each year, between 1 and 3 percent of colleges and universities change their policies, with a balance between those who allow more credit and those who allow less.
Policies vary at other Ivy League schools. At Princeton, AP tests scores can help students become eligible for "advanced standing," and earn credit equivalent up to a full year. But no more than five students have taken advantage of that option in recent years, a spokesman said, and there are no plans to change the policy.
Columbia plans to review its policies this year, but for now, allows students to earn up to 16 points through AP tests. But very few use that credit to graduate early, said Dean of Advising Monique Rinere. Similarly, Harvard College currently offers students the opportunity to use test scores to satisfy the language requirement and sometimes to place into higher level courses, but only a small fraction ultimately graduate early.
*Eye on the Economy is an NAHB newsletter that is published every two weeks and takes a larger view of recent economic and housing policy news.
The year 2012 was a promising one for housing. With consistent improvements in housing construction and prices, home building is once again contributing to economic growth. And the December housing starts report capped off the year with confirmation of these trends.
Per Census data, solid gains in both single-family and multifamily production resulted in nationwide housing starts rising 12.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 954,000 units: the highest level of new home production since June 2008. Single-family starts rose 8.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 616,000 units in December, while multifamily production jumped 23.1%, to 338,000 units.
Combined single-family and multifamily starts activity was up across all regions in December. The Northeast posted a gain of 21.4%, the Midwest was up 24.7%, the South posted a 3.8% increase and the West was up 18.7%.
Permit issuance, which can be a harbinger of future building activity, held virtually steady at a 903,000-unit rate in December. Single-family permits rose for a fourth consecutive month, by 1.8% to 578,000 units while multifamily permits declined 2.1% to 325,000 units.
As an aside, according to data from the Census Bureau, the market share of single-family homes built for rent stands at 5.1% for the third quarter of 2012. This is only slightly lower than the recent peak of 5.35% set at the beginning of 2011, and is considerably higher than the 20-year average of 2.7%. Clearly there has been an increase in single-family development with an eye toward rental demand.
The December increase in starts is consistent with the upward path of builder confidence over the last few months, as measured by the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). The index held steady at a level of 47 in January, after increasing from 25 to its current level over the course of 2012. The January reading represents a pause in the rise of builder confidence and is perhaps related to policy uncertainty in the wake of the fiscal cliff debate and the impending decisions regarding big-picture issues like tax reform and the future of the housing finance system.
Nonetheless, the economic improvements witnessed in 2012 ? at least compared to the terrible years that preceded it ? manifested themselves in ongoing good news for housing. For the January reading, the NAHB/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI) increased to 242, adding a net 41 more markets to the 201 in December. The total represents two-thirds of all the eligible metropolitan areas. All but two states have at least one metro on the list (Wyoming and New Mexico). A metropolitan area makes the IMI list if three indicators of economic and housing health improve for at least six months: single-family housing permits, employment and home prices.
The improvement in home building in 2012 has boosted construction spending. Spending on private residential construction activity ticked 0.4% higher on a month-to-month basis during November 2012 per Census data. Spending has increased in each of the last eight months (and 15 of the last 16), rising to a 4-year high and nearly 33% above the trough during the third quarter of 2010.
New single-family home construction led the way in terms of spending growth among the private residential categories during November, posting a 1.3% increase versus October. Spending has climbed more than 29% above its nominal level of a year ago and stands 57% higher compared to the trough in mid-2009.
The multifamily construction sector registered its slowest rate of month-to-month growth in nearly a year, but November?s 0.5% still marked the 14th month in a row spending activity has increased. In the past year, nominal spending on multifamily projects has jumped 46% and stands nearly 83% higher than the low posted in August 2010.
Spending on home improvements dipped 0.7% in November, adding to the 1.9% contraction (revised downward from a 1.8% gain) reported for October. Expressed as a 3-month average, nominal spending on remodeling activity has hovered around a 5-year high for the past few months. Going forward, as part of the fiscal cliff deal, the tax code section 25C retrofit tax credit was extended for 2013, which may help boost remodeling spending in the near-term.
The overall improvement?for house prices may also be partly responsible for an uptick in property tax receipts for state and local governments. According to the latest data from the Census Bureau, over a one-year period spanning the fourth quarter of 2011 to the?third quarter of 2012, approximately $475 billion of tax was paid by property owners, a slight increase.
As state/local income and corporate tax receipts recovered in recent years, the share of local tax collections due to property taxes fell from recession highs. However, according to the most recent data, the share has stabilized and is on the rise again. The average share of total state and local tax receipts for property taxes since 2000 is 32.3%, while the current share stands at 34.3%. Consequently, housing and other real estate owners are still paying a higher-than-average percentage of state and local taxes.
Despite the improvements for housing, there has not yet been a surge in residential construction employment. For the construction sector, Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicate that hiring levels picked up in November after a slight slowing in the fall. November hiring for the construction sector totaled 351,000, marking the seventh month in a row of hiring in the construction sector above a 300,000 level. The significant month-over-month gain in hiring was consistent with the October data, which showed an increase in job openings for the sector. But recent gains in housing have led, for the most part, in fuller employment of existing workers, rather than gains to total employment.
Job openings in construction remain elevated despite a downward revision for October?s spike in openings. The number of open positions?for October (99,000) and November (93,000) marks the highest two-month total in a year and a half. These data lend evidence of increased demand for construction workers and future growth in construction sector employment.
The lack of significant uptick in construction hiring matches the overall job market picture. The BLS establishment survey indicated payroll employment increased by only 155,000, with private sector payrolls increasing by 168,000 and of the government sector losing 13,000. The household survey indicated the unemployment rate held steady at 7.8% in December after revising the November figure up to 7.8% from 7.7%. A more robust recovery would have job creation at twice this pace.
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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 17th, 2013 at 5:44 pm and is filed under Data, Issues, Policy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
It can be really difficult for you to choose between all of the products availabe so if you want to quit it is imperatively important for you to research the products available to you. If you want to avoid getting a product that may not work it might be best to discuss options with your physician. The first thing your physician may do is an assessment of your physical health before suggesting a product for you. Finding a stop smoking product to help you is easier this way. Here are just several you can learn about so you will have a better idea about them.
Every now and then, quit smoking merchandise will alter their packaging and technique of delivery. That is the situation with Smoke Deter, on account of it once being a patch and now it surrenders in the form of a sublingual spray. But they went well beyond transfer tactics, as they also increased the dosage amount. They made their spray stronger in its active components. The approach for using it is to spray it below your tongue. The basis for that is that it allows for a hurried manner of it becoming absorbed into your bloodstream. The purpose of Smoke Deter is to decrease the symptoms of nicotine cravings when they occur.
There are some stop smoking products that are based on an herbal approach. Some interrelated merchandise is based on Aromatherapy, Smoke Less Aromatherapy. What you will come to find out about this merchandise is a mixture of key oils, like lavender, eucalyptus, and helichrysum. You use it with the inhaler contrivance that is supplied. Another method used in this merchandise is associated with positive affirmations. When operate the Aromatherapy inhaler, you are meant to repeat the specific affirmations that are put together to reinforce and implant the proper psychological perspective conducive to cessation.
Another solution to your nicotine addiction is a transdermal patch known as Novaris. Yes, this is a nicotine delivery replacement approach, and therefore you need to follow a strict method for using it safely. This method for quitting smoking is meant to help you with the symptoms of withdrawal you may experience. But what you want to do is read information that discusses the emotional hardships that seem to be a guaranteed part of quitting. Changing your habits will also help.
You can find stop smoking products that have been in use for decades as well as new technology approaches such as electronic cigarettes. Each piece of merchandise has its own distinctive good and bad things, qualities and benefits. So there is really no explanation associated to a lack of something that ?works? for you. The biggest obstacle is admitting, or deciding, that you want to quit and then taking positive action.
An affordable way to experience Texas Baseball and Softball.
Jan. 17, 2013
Softball This year, fans have the option to choose any five games to design their own package. The five-game Mini Plan costs only $20. Seats are located in the general admission sections. Deadline to order is Friday, April 12 at 4 p.m.
Baseball 10-game Baseball Mini Plans return for a fifth season for only $75 per plan. This plan includes some of the best competition at home this season. Texas Baseball Mini Plans are reserved seats, so order early to secure the best available seat locations.
Nebraska: Saturday, Feb. 23 UC Santa Barbara: Friday, March 8 Texas Tech: Sunday, March 17 Texas State: Tuesday, March. 26 Oklahoma: Friday, April 5 Texas State: Tuesday, April 9 West Virginia: Saturday, April 20 Houston: Tuesday, April 23 K-State: Saturday, May 4 Texas Southern (DH): Saturday, May 11
Deadline to order: Friday, Feb. 22 at 4 p.m.
Mini Plans may be ordered online at TexasSports.com or by calling the UT Athletics Events, Sales and Services office at (512) 232-3865. All tickets are based on availability. Game dates and times subject to change. Visit TexasSports.com for updates.
Season tickets A limited number of season tickets are still available for both baseball and softball. Season tickets get you the best available seats for every game of the season as well as post season priority. Fans interested in purchasing season tickets should call the UT Athletics ticket office at 512-471-3333 or visit TexasSports.com.
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To inquire about baseball season tickets in sections 1-11 or in the premium field level box seats, contact The Longhorn Foundation at (512) 471-4439 or email LonghornFoundation@athletics.utexas.edu.
If your computer seems to be running slowly and acting as if it does not have enough memory installed, you can use software that comes with the operating system to see what is going on under the hood.
On a Windows system, open the Task Manager program by right-clicking on the Windows task bar and choosing Start Task Manager. (You can also use the keyboard shortcuts of Control-Alt-Delete or Control-Shift-Escape to summon the Task Manager.) In the Task Manager window, you can see all the programs, services and processes currently running on the computer. You can also use the Task Manager to close an application that is not responding; Microsoft has a demonstrations video online.
On a Mac, open the Activity Monitor program. Go to the Applications folder, then to the Utilities folder and double-click on the Activity Monitor icon. On Macs with the Launchpad feature, just click the Launchpad icon in the Dock, click the Other icon and open Activity Monitor. Here, you can see the amount of system memory being used, what programs and processes are currently running and other system information. Apple has more information about using the Activity Monitor and steps for quitting a frozen or memory-hogging program on its site.
It can be really difficult for you to choose between all of the products availabe so if you want to quit it is imperatively important for you to research the products available to you. If you want to avoid getting a product that may not work it might be best to discuss options with your physician. The first thing your physician may do is an assessment of your physical health before suggesting a product for you. Finding a stop smoking product to help you is easier this way. Here are just several you can learn about so you will have a better idea about them.