E- Readers _ Next wave of high tech "electronic toys"

E-readers: Target and appeal

Que by Plastic Logic

Features: The device weighs 500g and is 7.6mm thick.
Target: Those who read digital newspapers and business documents.
Price: US$649-US$799 (S$908-S$1,117)



eDGe by enTourage

Features: The 1.3kg device has two 25.4cm screens, a Web camera and microphones.


Target: Those who want to record lectures, read and browse the Web.

Price: US$500



Cool-er by Interead

Features: The 178g device is 10mm thick. It comes in a range of colours but does not have a touchscreen.



Target: People above 45 years of age.
Price: US$299





Skiff by Skiff

Features: Weighing less than 500g and 6.8mm thick, it is shatter-proof and crack-proof, and its battery can last a week.



Target: Newspaper and magazine readers.
Price: Not yet fixed.

 
 
 
Dell, Samsung and other tech heavyweights launched their e-readers at the four-day Las Vegas consumer electronics show(CES), which started on Jan 7. Pitched against them are upstarts like Plastic Logic, Interead, enTourage, Demy and Notion Ink, all of which also unveiled devices at CES.

Watching closely from outside CES are competitors from the traditional book world, such as online store Amazon and chain Barnes & Noble. It was Amazon's Kindle, unveiled in 2007, that popularised the e-reader, reportedly the hottest gift last Christmas.
According to CES, 2.2 million e-readers were shipped to stores last year, nearly four times as many as the year before. With the popularity of e-books growing rapidly, the group expects 5 million e-readers to be shipped this year.
Over the next few months, a cascade of new e-readers will hit the market, taking the devices beyond black-and-white screens to colour and other features like touch navigation and video chatting.

Singapore is yet to be a target country for e-readers due to a number of reasons, of which book licensing rights is one. But the good news is that upstarts like enTourage are interested in expanding their markets to Asia, including Singapore, this year. I think anyone who is able to get their imports of such gadgets, will likely to make a quick buck, but has to be fast and first in making the deal, else, everybody will start follow suit and margins will erode as war pricing will kill every importers of different models, types,etc.

But all the buzz could fizzle out later this month when Apple launches the iTablet. Envisioned as a slate-like device larger than an iPhone but smaller than a laptop, it is expected to be a computer- cum-e-reader with music and video capabilities.
Microsoft on Wednesday unveiled its Hewlett-Packard tablet.   Watch out for these devices soon to be found in local shops........

Financial crisis not related to bad loans ?

Following Straits Times extracts on interview with Mr Dhanabalan
He mentioned the global financial tsunami came about because of a bubble formed from bets on how events in the economy would pan out, not because bankers made inappropriate loans.
Mr Dhanabalan praised the book's author, Dr Y. V. Reddy, a former governor of the Reserve Bank of India, for laying a foundation that helped India emerge more resilient in the wake of the crisis.
He said of Dr Reddy: 'He refused to be seduced by the much-celebrated financial innovation culture of the central banks and their regulators in the West.'
Dr Reddy has earned widespread kudos for effectively managing India's calibrated financial integration with the global economy during his time as governor of India's central bank from 2003 to 2008.
Added Mr Dhanabalan, 'While banks in the United States over-indulged in financial instruments and wholesale banking, Indian banks were encouraged to concentrate on more fundamental banking functions such as mobilising deposits and disbursing credit.'   [ I think similarly as in Muslim Banking, they seem also not greatly impacted by the crisis. I will try to find more reasons why Muslim Banks are not affected ]
India's banks avoid extensive exposure to toxic assets, and protected the country's banking system from a crisis of liquidity, he added.
Titled India And The Global Financial Crisis: Managing Money And Finance, the book is a collection of essays offering insights into the formation of the country's public policy from 2003 to 2008 - a period of rapid growth for the Indian economy and extraordinary challenges for the conduct of monetary policy.
There has been keen interest in the way that India managed its financial sector during this period, which allowed it to facilitate growth while maintaining stability after the onset of the financial crisis.
The book discusses these issues, giving a comprehensive account of the events that led to the crisis, the policy responses and directions for reform. It also examines the Indian approach to overcoming contagion effects from the recent turmoil.  To follow up on this topic with more info search....... stay on.

To be happier and merrier come 2010........

If you can, give more away than you can take. “Research shows it really doesn’t make people happy to spend money on themselves,” one professor Michael Norton tells Harvard magazine. “It’s not how much you give, it’s that you give…. If you have an extra $20, it’s better to spend it on someone else than on yourself.” In a range of experiments, the researchers found that those who give to others —particularly those who give regularly — report higher levels of happiness.


Do not look back and regret; indulge from time to time. Do heed and not ignore your needs and desires. People can sometimes live too much for the future. We all know that people can be too impulsive and yield to temptation. Our argument is that people can also be too farsighted and over confident. As a result, they have wistful regrets of missing out on life’s pleasures when they look back.
Go for ‘content and satisfaction'. Aspire to become the richest, the brightest, the most talented, the best in class— might not guarantee lasting happiness. Let us look at our limits, professors Laura Nash and Howard Stevenson write in Just Enough: Tools for Creating Success in Your Work and Life.

If life were lived in a fixed time frame, where success was measured only in the instant you hit the peak, maximized measures would work. But the only fixed time frame we know for sure is death. Everything else is subject to moving targets. If you wish to live with a continually renewing sense of success that really seems worthwhile and lasting on all your success targets, you probably have to give up aspiring to be in the standard of the "Rich & Famous".
Live life happier by: using your resources to help others, living your life without regret and not look back on what you missed. Embracing limits as a way to slow down and gauge your life’s progress.

Will you be happier now from 2010 onwards?

* Disclaimer

This Blog has been prepared, drafted and updated keenly with interest by me periodically for purpose of information networking, sharing and exchange of knowledge with any outside interested party or parties. All posted material and opinion expressed, as well as those readers who post their comments are their own expression, opinion, judgement and do not necessary reflect the views or policies having direct or indirect implication to any individual, third party or established organization. While the author of this blog made his posts with possible link to external materials, has with great care, though the contents herein have not been vetted or reviewed by experts or validators. In particular, outdated posts may have been expired and will not be relevant and deemed less helpful as time passed and the content could no more be valid due to either technological or any kind of event improvement or development. It is to the discretion of readers to decide if the information posted are useful or not.

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Bloggers not affected by MDA rule ( courtesy of Straits Times dated 28May 2013 )
THE Media Development Authority (MDA Singapore) said it wanted to "clear the air" on new online regulations, saying individuals writing on blogs would not be required to get a licence.

The licensing framework applies only to sites that focus on reporting Singapore news and are notified by MDA that they meet the licensing criteria. An individual publishing views on current affairs and trends on his/her personal website or blog does not amount to news reporting, the media regulator said. 
On Tuesday, MDA announced rules that compel a news site to apply for an individual licence if it meets two criteria: an average of at least one article per week on Singapore's news and current affairs over a period of two months, and at least 50,000 unique visitors from Singapore each month over a period of two months. Such sites will be required to post a $50,000 performance bond pegged to that required for niche TV broadcasters.

MDA also stressed the rules are not an attempt to influence the editorial slant of news sites. Rather, they are focused on ensuring that sites are free from content that threatens Singapore's social fabric and national interests.

Copenhagen Summit 2009 outcome

Seems there was no agreement to reduce emissions, but just "meet and talk". Developed countries proposed targets that could limit climate change to an average of two degrees Celsius. Some developed countries made this commitment conditional on major developing countries, notably China, India and Brazil, agreeing to accept binding targets. This wasn’t forthcoming, though China did, for the first time, suggest it would be prepared to accept binding intensity targets.


The dialogue between the developed and developing countries was further complicated by the developing countries most vulnerable to climate change pushing to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees. This standoff ended with the developed countries, including the United States, agreeing to submit their firm emissions targets no later than the end of January. The two-degree limit would call for reductions of 25% to 40% relative to 1990 by 2020, a level deeper than any proposed at Copenhagen; the estimate of current non-binding pledges yields about a three-degree increase, so there’s a large gap to be closed. What is going to happen to the major industries reaction to this ? Improve technology to reduce emission is going to cost them in production and manufacturing and will directly pass on to the consumers. Their concerns were mitigated somewhat when the developed countries, again including the United States, agreed to fund as much as $100 billion for technology transfer to accelerate the development of low-carbon economies and adaptation measures in the developing world. The action has to be taken very carefully by these major producers. China and the United States agreed to internally measure and report on the results of their mitigation actions. While agreeing to the overall conference summary, the smaller developing countries remained skeptical that there would be sufficient commitment to even the two-degree target, which they already deemed too high for comfort. Brazil and Norway proposed an international fund to support deforestation reductions in developing countries.

The EU already is committed to 20% below 1990 levels, but has agreed to 30% if other major emitters, notably China, the United States, India and Brazil, make meaningful commitments. This higher level will mean some radical rethinking of everything from building codes to energy supply. However, while challenging domestically, the EU's overall climate policy is acting as a catalyst for some world-class businesses.

Following Copenhagen, China was criticized by many as being a major barrier to a deal. Specifically, it wasn’t ready to commit to intensity reductions or outside verification. In the same month, China established some of the most ambitious renewable energy standards anywhere in the world, backed by strong domestic policy and guidelines. This follows its recent implementation of tough vehicle efficiency standards, systematic development of high-speed rail and radical upgrading of building codes. The need to grow with far less pollution is becoming clearer to the Chinese, and they aren’t overlooking the potential world market for energy-efficient solutions and climate-friendly products.

The next conference will be in Mexico in November this year.  One way or another, U.S. need to be comfortable with monitoring and managing greenhouse gas emissions as a part of their normal job responsibility, just as their bankers now have greater moral responsibility to work harder and pay back their dues, if at all, by way of reduced bonuses, where in the past they have been generously and overly remunerated.

Tough Times ahead ( post 2009 )

Last week, Dr Tony Tan, deputy chairman of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), gave an exclusive interview to Commonwealth Magazine, a Taiwanese business periodical.

I have extracted some of the points being discussed below for us to ponder upon :

• Right now, the biggest concern is about an asset bubble. What do you think?
If you look at the consequence of what has happened in 2008 and 2009, apart from the economic difficulties which have been felt by a lot of countries, there's one major change. It's already been quite clear for some years now that economic growth throughout the world is going to shift from the West, essentially from the US and Europe, to Asia, particularly to China, India and other countries. And 10 years ago, 80 per cent of the world's economic growth took place in Europe and the US. This has steadily declined. The share of world economic growth accounted for by Asia has risen and will soon rise to over 50 per cent. And we believe that this will continue. So by and large, economic growth will be stronger in Asia than in the Western countries.

• Some people think that Citigroup's situation is a symbol of the decline of Europe and America. What's your view about the financial industry landscape in the future? Do you think that Asian banks will replace their Western counterparts?
This financial crisis has presented Asian financial institutions with what I will regard as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to increase their market share in the world's international banking business and become much more important players in the global banking system. The reason is a very simple one - the financial crisis which originated in the US has damaged many US and European banks.
But in Asia, because we went through the Asian financial crisis 10 years ago, in 1997 and 1998, which caused us a great deal of problems, I think the Asian banks have learnt their lessons, and so have Asian governments. So by and large, the central banks in Asia - for example, the Monetary Authority of Singapore - have made sure that the banks...operate in a very conservative way. They did not invest a lot of money in collateralised debt obligations and other types of derivatives. As a result, Asian banks have come out of this crisis in much better shape. They have higher capital ratios, they are not as leveraged as the American and European banks, they have much more capacity to extend their lending. They are in relatively good shape. So they are in a good position to expand their business.
The only qualification which I would have is that for this to happen, the Asian banks would have to build and develop their capabilities because if they want to play a more global role, they need to have more global capabilities. And these are technical capabilities, like the ability to do investment banking transactions, the ability to do foreign exchange business across the globe on a 24-hour basis, the ability to engage with companies not only in Asia but also in Europe and America. If they can do that, then they have the capital base and the financial balance sheets in order to increase their share of the world's banking business. As I said, I think that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Whether it will be realised by the banks in Asia depends on what they actually do.

• You mentioned the rise of Asia. Will GIC invest more in emerging markets and less in developed markets?
You will find more of that in our chief investment officer report. But all I can say is that when GIC started in 1981, we started in a very simple way. We invested only in public markets, equities and bonds in the stock markets in the US and Europe. And even at the present time, we have substantial investments in the US and in Europe, but with the shift in world growth from the US and Europe to the emerging countries, particularly in Asia, our view is that over a period of time, we will be investing more in the emerging countries than in the US and Europe. But GIC does not operate on strict allocation targets. We look at where we can see value, but certainly value will come in regions where there is economic growth. So we would expect over a period of time that more of our investments will be in the emerging countries, particularly in Asia, rather than in the US or in Europe. But we have no specific targets.

• Right now, the rate-of-return target is the G-3 (the US, Europe and Japan). Does GIC intend to modify the target because of the shift in economic power (that is, to China)?
That's a very big question because the definition of global inflation, as in the sense the average of the inflation rates of Europe, America and Japan, is arbitrary. It need not be the case but you need some measure. I would imagine that as the Asian economies grow, countries like China will play a much greater role in the world economy and when that happens, I think it would make sense for GIC to re-look again as to whether our definition of global inflation rate as the average of the inflation rates of the US, Europe and Japan is the right one or not, or whether we should include countries like China. That will be more realistic.

• So do you think it's time to think about this issue?
We are thinking about this already because you have to. We can see, for example, during this crisis, that China has come out of this global financial crisis very well. I mean, it has maintained its growth rate at 8 per cent. It is in a strong position with its very large reserves, more than US$2 trillion (S$2.8 trillion) and it must continue to be responsible for a large part of the world's growth. You can see the way this has changed in how major decisions are made throughout the world today. Today, it's no longer the G-7 of industrialised countries which make decisions but the G-20 which includes countries like China, Brazil and Indonesia. And I think that this is a reflection of how economic wealth and influence is shifting from Europe and America to the emerging countries.

Financial lessons from the decade

I have picked this article which is very timely reminder of what "keen small time investor" should be careful and not jump on the wagon start of 2010 and get into "hot soup"........

By Lorna Tan, Senior Correspondent
I joined the Money section of The Straits Times in May 2000. Back then, the personal finance sector, made up of banks, insurers and broking houses, was like a sleepy giant. Each party operated in its own silo and cross-selling was uncommon.

Looking back, most Singaporeans were generally ill-prepared for the influx of financial products that hit them at almost every turn. Many were too complacent to find out what they were really getting into. Instead, they put their complete trust in their insurance agent or adviser, a costly mistake for some.
Measures were then taken to raise the standards of sales practices.
In 2001, advisers began to conduct a financial-needs analysis exercise with customers, and key market conduct rules like a 'reasonable' basis for recommendation of products as well as disclosure and competency standards were laid down.
Despite these, many consumers were still caught short when they overestimated their risk appetites or made the wrong investment choices either through their own fault or having been misled by advisers.

As we begin a new year, here's a look back at some of the financial issues I uncovered in the past decade and the actions that have been taken.

2003: AIA's 'critical year' issue
• Nub of the matter: Thousands of policyholders had bought insurance with a unique 'critical year' feature.
They were allegedly told they could stop paying premiums when they reached this 'critical year' because by then, the policies would have become self-funding.
Because of the falling investment market, this did not happen, and they had to continue paying, leaving them feeling cheated. It led to a public outcry. Some disgruntled policyholders also took legal action.
• Action taken: Eventually, AIA offered a compensation package to affected policyholders.
A new investors' guide on policyholders' rights on the critical-year issue was issued. There were guidelines that insurers should follow when dealing with policyholders.
It was also decided that compensation for mis-selling could not come from the insurer's life funds, and the issue also initiated a review into facilitating class action suits.

2005: Suitability of investment-linked insurance policies (ILPs)
• Nub of the matter: Regular premium ILPs are unsuitable for older policyholders. This is because they might be unable to continue with premium payments if they have a short investment horizon as insurance charges will rise to outstrip the premiums and may also eat into the value of the investments.
• Action taken: Several affected policyholders were compensated, but no details were given. A guide to ILPs was issued.

2006: Suitability of some endowment policies
• Nub of the matter: Insurer Great Eastern (GE) Life came under the spotlight when two policyholders complained that their maturity payouts were lower than the premiums they had paid for their 18-year endowment plans.
It turned out that GE had sold them the plans even though they were in their 60s.
What happened was a greater portion of their premiums had gone into paying for the insurance against death and disability. These costs eroded any 'positive' cash benefit they might have got.
Action taken: Most insurers now acknowledge the pitfalls by imposing cut-off ages and minimum duration periods for these plans. Policyholders should not be allowed to enter these plans too late, or insurers should encourage a longer tenure to build the maturity value.

2007: Sunshine Empire
• Nub of the matter: Sunshine Empire was a multi-level marketing firm that had attracted investments of almost $190 million from Singaporeans.
Consumers were lured by generous cash rewards, but it is alleged that the returns simply came from funds pumped in by new investors.
• Action taken: The people linked to Sunshine are now facing charges of running a fraudulent business and criminal breach of trust.
2009: Churning of investments using Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings
• Nub of the matter: Some CPF members who are desperate for fast cash are working in cahoots with unscrupulous advisers who 'churn' investment products using their CPF money.
This involves the improper buying and selling of investment products for no good reason other than for the advisers to earn more commissions. In the process, these CPF members receive cash rebates.
This violates CPF rules as such rebates should be credited back to the CPF member's account. The CPF member also loses out as the transaction costs eat into his CPF savings.
• Action taken: The CPF Board issued warning letters to 35 financial advisory representatives. Seven of them have since been suspended. It also stated the penalty for guilty CPF members - a fine of up to $2,500 for a first offence and up to $10,000 subsequently.

My advice to keen investors is to hold their horses and do alot of checks and probes and consult the expert before diving into the "deep sea" where there could be many ups' and downs', profit or loss..... Do not gamble your luck away.