NEW YORK (Reuters) - He was ribbed by President Barack Obama, called a racist by David Letterman, accused of being a draft dodger and gave an expletive-laced political speech.
All in all, the headlines in recent days were not kind to property mogul and reality TV star Donald Trump, who is running high in polls among potential Republican presidential candidates.
Presidential historian and author Chester Pach said it was a terrible week for Trump, who he said revealed more of his "foolishly simplistic ideas."
"Donald Trump is not a serious candidate," Pach said. "This is just another chapter in a lifelong connected with tabloid headlines whether it is his hair, his marriages, his bankruptcies or now his presidential aspirations."
"But from Donald Trump's perspective, I expect any week in which he got a lot of publicity is a good week. The rating for his TV show will go up, his show may get renewed," said Pach of Ohio University. "But my guess is by summer he will have faded from presidential talk."
A political spokesman for Trump, who is considering a race for the White House in 2012, had a more positive take on events.
"Mr. Trump had an amazing week," Michael Cohen told Reuters. "This week, voters turned out in their droves in New Hampshire to tell him, 'Please run! You are our savior!' If that doesn't constitute a good week, what does?"
Trump's trip to New Hampshire, the first primary voting state, has added to buzz he may run. But some think it is all a publicity stunt for his "Celebrity Apprentice" reality TV show.
Wednesday, Obama chided Trump at a fund-raiser after releasing his long-form birth certificate to address Trump-fueled talk he was not born in the United States and therefore ineligible to be president.
"What we do in politics is not a reality show. It's serious," Obama said in a veiled reference to Trump's reality TV role where he utters his catch phrase, "You're fired."
The billionaire businessman also made news for a speech in Las Vegas Thursday night in which he called U.S. political leadership "stupid" and used an obscenity several times, including in a reference to taxing Chinese imports.
"Mr. Trump is a patriot," said Cohen. "Nothing gets him madder than watching America fall apart in front of his nose."
Cohen also said CBS "Late Show" host Letterman "should be ashamed of himself" for calling Trump a racist Thursday for questioning Obama's citizenship and his grades at Harvard.
The Smoking Gun website reported Thursday that Trump dodged the Vietnam War due to a medical deferment, not a high draft number, as he has said. Cohen said the report mischaracterized the facts and used documents out of context.
Source: news.yahoo.com
Sunday, 1 May 2011
HTC sees Q2 revenue doubled
TAIPEI: Taiwan smartphone maker HTC Corp said it expects both revenue and sales volume in the second quarter to double from the same period a year ago.
The company said in a statement that it sees revenue in April-June at T$120 billion ($4.18 billion) and sales volume at 11-11.5 million units.
It also sees its gross margin in the quarter at around 29 per cent, while net operating margin would be around 15.5 per cent.
HTC posted an almost triple first-quarter profit earlier this month, beating forecasts, driven by strong demand for its handsets, particularly those running on the Android operating system.
The shares touched a high of T$1,300 on Friday, more than triple a year ago. That surge has helped turn its chairwoman, Cher Wang, into Taiwan's richest person.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
The company said in a statement that it sees revenue in April-June at T$120 billion ($4.18 billion) and sales volume at 11-11.5 million units.
It also sees its gross margin in the quarter at around 29 per cent, while net operating margin would be around 15.5 per cent.
HTC posted an almost triple first-quarter profit earlier this month, beating forecasts, driven by strong demand for its handsets, particularly those running on the Android operating system.
The shares touched a high of T$1,300 on Friday, more than triple a year ago. That surge has helped turn its chairwoman, Cher Wang, into Taiwan's richest person.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
TRAI may further cut your mobile bill
NEW DELHI: Telecom regulator TRAI has fired the starting gun on radical changes in the mobile sector by proposing deep cuts in charges paid by operators to each other, a move that could lower tariffs for consumers but worsen the rancour in a deeply divided industry.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India set the ball rolling on its review of so-called "interconnect charges", seeking views from mobile operators on a range of proposals that even include the possibility of doing away with call termination charges.
Interconnect charges are fees mobile operators pay one another for using their networks for originating, carrying and terminating calls. These charges, which include top rates of 20 paise a minute in termination fees and 65 paise a minute for carrying STD calls, account for as much as 75% of the total cost of a mobile call.
Kicking off its first review of these charges since 2009, TRAI said the launch of services by new operators and the introduction of per-second billing had made it "necessary to have a re-look" at these charges.
It said its discussions with mobile companies revealed some of them wanted do away with termination charges altogether, and sought wider inputs on the feasibility of a "zero termination charge". TRAI acknowledged complaints of smaller and new operators that incumbents gained most from termination charges and sought the industry's response of having a lower slab of charges for new entrants.
It said globally many regulators had allowed new entrants to enjoy lower termination charges to help remove barriers to competition as these players had very little to offer in negotiations with incumbents.
Experts said the regulator's move was likely to divide the industry once again, with bigger, older operators with large customer base likely to oppose the proposals while newer entrants and those with fewer customers welcome the changes.
Older, new telcos at war
The incumbents and new operators are already at daggers drawn over a raft of issues, and TRAI's latest move comes at a time the sector is in the cross-hairs of a sweeping investigation over the so-called 2G scam.
The country's No. 1 mobile operator, Bharti Airtel , recently told TRAI that the costs of building and operating networks should be taken into account when determining termination charges and cautioned against extending "undue privileges or subsidisation" to new operators.
Another incumbent operator, Vodafone Essar, said in its submission to the regulator that interconnect charges needed to be cost-based and investment-friendly. "Adopting any methodology which does not take into account all costs, will only encourage a destructive retail price war and urban cream-skimming, which would be clearly inconsistent with the principle of sustainability."
But the Association of Unified Service Providers of India, an industry body representing firms such as Tata Teleservices and Reliance Communications, urged TRAI to cut all components of interconnect charges right away.
It said internationally, too, these charges were reviewed every two years and had fallen by 50% during this period. Tata Teleservices said the 33% cut in 2009 had led to an explosive growth in the mobile sector.
"This is an ideal stage for increasing competition by drastically reducing termination charges... Such a step would result in tremendous savings to the consumer, who would directly benefit by a reduction in tariffs and lead to the next round of explosive growth," it said.
Older operators with large customer base gain most from termination charges because the ratio of calls ending on their networks is far greater than that made by their customers to networks of other operators.
Large operators also enjoy the benefit of socalled "on-net" calls, in which they do not pay termination charges because a bulk of the traffic stays within their network—for instance, a Bharti Airtel Delhi customer calling an Airtel user in Mumbai or Delhi.
But some experts say new entrants and those offering services on the CDMA technology platform typically have a larger base of low end users and these companies receive more calls than their customers make.
Operators are allowed to charge lower amounts than the specified rates based on mutual agreements they have with each other.
-Joji Thomas Philip
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India set the ball rolling on its review of so-called "interconnect charges", seeking views from mobile operators on a range of proposals that even include the possibility of doing away with call termination charges.
Interconnect charges are fees mobile operators pay one another for using their networks for originating, carrying and terminating calls. These charges, which include top rates of 20 paise a minute in termination fees and 65 paise a minute for carrying STD calls, account for as much as 75% of the total cost of a mobile call.
Kicking off its first review of these charges since 2009, TRAI said the launch of services by new operators and the introduction of per-second billing had made it "necessary to have a re-look" at these charges.
It said its discussions with mobile companies revealed some of them wanted do away with termination charges altogether, and sought wider inputs on the feasibility of a "zero termination charge". TRAI acknowledged complaints of smaller and new operators that incumbents gained most from termination charges and sought the industry's response of having a lower slab of charges for new entrants.
It said globally many regulators had allowed new entrants to enjoy lower termination charges to help remove barriers to competition as these players had very little to offer in negotiations with incumbents.
Experts said the regulator's move was likely to divide the industry once again, with bigger, older operators with large customer base likely to oppose the proposals while newer entrants and those with fewer customers welcome the changes.
Older, new telcos at war
The incumbents and new operators are already at daggers drawn over a raft of issues, and TRAI's latest move comes at a time the sector is in the cross-hairs of a sweeping investigation over the so-called 2G scam.
The country's No. 1 mobile operator, Bharti Airtel , recently told TRAI that the costs of building and operating networks should be taken into account when determining termination charges and cautioned against extending "undue privileges or subsidisation" to new operators.
Another incumbent operator, Vodafone Essar, said in its submission to the regulator that interconnect charges needed to be cost-based and investment-friendly. "Adopting any methodology which does not take into account all costs, will only encourage a destructive retail price war and urban cream-skimming, which would be clearly inconsistent with the principle of sustainability."
But the Association of Unified Service Providers of India, an industry body representing firms such as Tata Teleservices and Reliance Communications, urged TRAI to cut all components of interconnect charges right away.
It said internationally, too, these charges were reviewed every two years and had fallen by 50% during this period. Tata Teleservices said the 33% cut in 2009 had led to an explosive growth in the mobile sector.
"This is an ideal stage for increasing competition by drastically reducing termination charges... Such a step would result in tremendous savings to the consumer, who would directly benefit by a reduction in tariffs and lead to the next round of explosive growth," it said.
Older operators with large customer base gain most from termination charges because the ratio of calls ending on their networks is far greater than that made by their customers to networks of other operators.
Large operators also enjoy the benefit of socalled "on-net" calls, in which they do not pay termination charges because a bulk of the traffic stays within their network—for instance, a Bharti Airtel Delhi customer calling an Airtel user in Mumbai or Delhi.
But some experts say new entrants and those offering services on the CDMA technology platform typically have a larger base of low end users and these companies receive more calls than their customers make.
Operators are allowed to charge lower amounts than the specified rates based on mutual agreements they have with each other.
-Joji Thomas Philip
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Royal couple delay honeymoon after lavish wedding
LONDON (Reuters) - Following a spectacular Royal Wedding that dazzled the world, Prince William will go back to work as a search-and-rescue pilot next week before taking his new wife on honeymoon abroad.
The new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, looking fresh after partying into the early hours in the wake of Friday's wedding, boarded a helicopter in the Buckingham Palace gardens on Saturday for a weekend break at a secret location in Britain.
The prince will resume his job as a search and rescue pilot next week before the honeymoon starts at an undisclosed date, the royal family said in a statement.
"The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have chosen not to depart for a honeymoon immediately," it said, using the new titles bestowed on Prince William, 28, and the former Kate Middleton, 29, by Queen Elizabeth.
"The locations of both their private weekend before the Duke returns to work and their future honeymoon, which will be overseas, will not be disclosed in advance," it said, pointedly ignoring feverish speculation as to where the couple will go.
After a relationship of almost a decade, they married in London's towering 13th-century Westminster Abbey Friday as a million cheering supporters lined the capital's streets.
Worldwide, estimates put the global television and online audience at 2.4 billion people -- more than one in three of the global population if the figure is accurate.
Commentators praised the royal family for striking a balance between choreographed pomp -- military bands in black bearskin hats and household cavalrymen in shining breastplates -- and personal spontaneity at the wedding.
"The British still know how to combine pageantry, solemnity, romance (and wild hats) better than anyone else in the world," wrote Sarah Lyall in the New York Times.
William drove his bride the short journey from Buckingham Palace to St James's Palace in his father's open-top Aston Martin with the license plate "JU5T WED."
Photographs of their kisses on the balcony of Buckingham Palace carpeted newspaper front pages.
The day ended with a late-night party for the couple's friends and family, for which Kate changed into a strapless off-white dress and a cropped knitted cardigan while William donned a black dinner jacket and bow tie.
British media quoted one guest, Millie Pilkington, as saying the speeches at the bash were "absolutely hysterical."
Newspapers were also awash with pictures of Middleton's sister and maid of honor Pippa in a slinky dress which drew a chorus of approval. "Is Pippa the most eligible woman in the world?" asked the Daily Telegraph.
HONEYMOON A MYSTERY
Like other details of the wedding, including the designer of Middleton's dress, the honeymoon venue was a secret.
Suggestions have included the Seychelles, Kenya, the Caribbean island of Mustique, an island on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the Greek island of Corfu and the Scilly Isles off England's southwest coast.
The intense speculation over the couple's every move underlines the pressure they will face as the future British king and queen living in the full glare of the media spotlight.
Uncomfortable parallels have been drawn between Middleton and William's hugely popular mother Princess Diana, who was hounded by paparazzi right up to her death in a Paris car crash in 1997 aged just 36.
Her death, and divorce from heir to the throne Prince Charles the year before, marked a low point for the royal family, which has also been embroiled in scandal and is seen by many as being out of touch with the British public, particularly during austere economic times.
But Middleton's background -- she is the first commoner to marry a prince close to the British throne in over 350 years -- and William's personable style have helped reverse the monarchy's rating in recent opinion polls, at least for now.
Not that the wedding was universally acclaimed in a country where many people face harder times, including unemployment and cuts in social services, due to a government austerity program meant to cut Britain's huge budget deficit.
"The royal family have too many rights in a country where other people are having their state rights withdrawn. We are funding a wedding of two people I've never met and I don't care about at all," said London charity worker Jessamy Barker, 29.
Middleton has been given the title Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Cambridge, after the queen made her grandson William the Duke of Cambridge to mark the marriage.
(Additional reporting by Mike Collett-White, Michael Holden and Tim Castle; editing by Mark Heinrich)
Source: news.yahoo.com
The new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, looking fresh after partying into the early hours in the wake of Friday's wedding, boarded a helicopter in the Buckingham Palace gardens on Saturday for a weekend break at a secret location in Britain.
The prince will resume his job as a search and rescue pilot next week before the honeymoon starts at an undisclosed date, the royal family said in a statement.
"The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have chosen not to depart for a honeymoon immediately," it said, using the new titles bestowed on Prince William, 28, and the former Kate Middleton, 29, by Queen Elizabeth.
"The locations of both their private weekend before the Duke returns to work and their future honeymoon, which will be overseas, will not be disclosed in advance," it said, pointedly ignoring feverish speculation as to where the couple will go.
After a relationship of almost a decade, they married in London's towering 13th-century Westminster Abbey Friday as a million cheering supporters lined the capital's streets.
Worldwide, estimates put the global television and online audience at 2.4 billion people -- more than one in three of the global population if the figure is accurate.
Commentators praised the royal family for striking a balance between choreographed pomp -- military bands in black bearskin hats and household cavalrymen in shining breastplates -- and personal spontaneity at the wedding.
"The British still know how to combine pageantry, solemnity, romance (and wild hats) better than anyone else in the world," wrote Sarah Lyall in the New York Times.
William drove his bride the short journey from Buckingham Palace to St James's Palace in his father's open-top Aston Martin with the license plate "JU5T WED."
Photographs of their kisses on the balcony of Buckingham Palace carpeted newspaper front pages.
The day ended with a late-night party for the couple's friends and family, for which Kate changed into a strapless off-white dress and a cropped knitted cardigan while William donned a black dinner jacket and bow tie.
British media quoted one guest, Millie Pilkington, as saying the speeches at the bash were "absolutely hysterical."
Newspapers were also awash with pictures of Middleton's sister and maid of honor Pippa in a slinky dress which drew a chorus of approval. "Is Pippa the most eligible woman in the world?" asked the Daily Telegraph.
HONEYMOON A MYSTERY
Like other details of the wedding, including the designer of Middleton's dress, the honeymoon venue was a secret.
Suggestions have included the Seychelles, Kenya, the Caribbean island of Mustique, an island on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the Greek island of Corfu and the Scilly Isles off England's southwest coast.
The intense speculation over the couple's every move underlines the pressure they will face as the future British king and queen living in the full glare of the media spotlight.
Uncomfortable parallels have been drawn between Middleton and William's hugely popular mother Princess Diana, who was hounded by paparazzi right up to her death in a Paris car crash in 1997 aged just 36.
Her death, and divorce from heir to the throne Prince Charles the year before, marked a low point for the royal family, which has also been embroiled in scandal and is seen by many as being out of touch with the British public, particularly during austere economic times.
But Middleton's background -- she is the first commoner to marry a prince close to the British throne in over 350 years -- and William's personable style have helped reverse the monarchy's rating in recent opinion polls, at least for now.
Not that the wedding was universally acclaimed in a country where many people face harder times, including unemployment and cuts in social services, due to a government austerity program meant to cut Britain's huge budget deficit.
"The royal family have too many rights in a country where other people are having their state rights withdrawn. We are funding a wedding of two people I've never met and I don't care about at all," said London charity worker Jessamy Barker, 29.
Middleton has been given the title Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Cambridge, after the queen made her grandson William the Duke of Cambridge to mark the marriage.
(Additional reporting by Mike Collett-White, Michael Holden and Tim Castle; editing by Mark Heinrich)
Source: news.yahoo.com
I love cursing: Hudgens
London, May 1 (IANS) Actress Vanessa Hudgens confesses that she loves cursing and has a 'sailor mouth'.
The actress shot to fame in 2006 with her role in the 'High School Musical' franchise, but after that she is more in news for posing naked or wearing saucy lingerie for various photos and film footage, reports starpulse.com.
'I have definitely got a wicked side. I have what I call 'sailor mouth'. I can get very gangster at times. I used to be very timid. Now I'm my own person. I don't feel pressure to look a certain way,' she said.
Source: news.yahoo.com
The actress shot to fame in 2006 with her role in the 'High School Musical' franchise, but after that she is more in news for posing naked or wearing saucy lingerie for various photos and film footage, reports starpulse.com.
'I have definitely got a wicked side. I have what I call 'sailor mouth'. I can get very gangster at times. I used to be very timid. Now I'm my own person. I don't feel pressure to look a certain way,' she said.
Source: news.yahoo.com
Patil, Meira and Sonia concerned over Khandu''s wellbeing
New Delhi, Apr 30 (PTI) President Pratibha Patil tonight expressed concern over the missing helicopter with Arunachal Pradesh Dorjee Khandu onboard and hoped he and other passengers are safe.
Patil is in touch with the state Governor on the matter, a Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesman said.
Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, who had met Dorjee in Itanagar, yesterday, said she was concerned over his well-being.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi spoke to the wife and son of Khandu and is also in touch with party men from the state to enquire about his well being. PTI SPG SMJ PAL
Source: news.yahoo.com
Patil is in touch with the state Governor on the matter, a Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesman said.
Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, who had met Dorjee in Itanagar, yesterday, said she was concerned over his well-being.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi spoke to the wife and son of Khandu and is also in touch with party men from the state to enquire about his well being. PTI SPG SMJ PAL
Source: news.yahoo.com
ZTE, Huawei in patent war
HONG KONG: ZTE Corp, China's No.2 telecommunications equipment maker, has filed a lawsuit against larger Chinese rival Huawei Technologies Co Ltd in China, it said, a day after it was sued by the latter in Europe.
ZTE is suing Huawei, the world's No.2 telecoms equipment maker, for patent infringement over its fourth-generation LTE (long term evolution) technology, it said in a statement.
"ZTE will continue to use legal means to protect our intellectual property rights worldwide too ensure our legal rights are not infringed upon," ZTE said. "However, we feel that patent competition shouldn't become the main means of competing in the industry."
Huawei executives were unavailable for comment.
On Thursday, Huawei said it filed lawsuits against ZTE in Germany, France and Hungary for patent and trademark infringement.
Huawei said ZTE had infringed on a series of its patents relating to data card and LTE technologies and illegally used a Huawei-registered trademark on some of its data card products.
ZTE shares were down 1.24 per cent on Friday, underperforming the main Hang Seng index's 0.5 per cent drop. Huawei is unlisted.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
ZTE is suing Huawei, the world's No.2 telecoms equipment maker, for patent infringement over its fourth-generation LTE (long term evolution) technology, it said in a statement.
"ZTE will continue to use legal means to protect our intellectual property rights worldwide too ensure our legal rights are not infringed upon," ZTE said. "However, we feel that patent competition shouldn't become the main means of competing in the industry."
Huawei executives were unavailable for comment.
On Thursday, Huawei said it filed lawsuits against ZTE in Germany, France and Hungary for patent and trademark infringement.
Huawei said ZTE had infringed on a series of its patents relating to data card and LTE technologies and illegally used a Huawei-registered trademark on some of its data card products.
ZTE shares were down 1.24 per cent on Friday, underperforming the main Hang Seng index's 0.5 per cent drop. Huawei is unlisted.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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