TECHNOLOGY NEWS: SoftBank to start selling personal robots next year

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's SoftBank Corp said on Thursday it will start selling human-like robots for personal use by February, expanding into a sector seen key to addressing labour shortages in one of the world's fastest ageing societies.

The robots, which the mobile phone and Internet conglomerate envisions serving as baby-sitters, nurses, emergency medical workers or even party companions, will sell for 198,000 yen ($1,900) and are capable of learning and expressing emotions, Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son told a news conference.

A prototype will be deployed this week, serving customers at SoftBank mobile phone stores in Japan, he added. The sleek, waist-high robot, named Pepper, accompanied Son to the briefing, speaking to reporters in a high-pitched, boyish voice.

"People describe others as being robots because they have no emotions, no heart. For the first time in human history, we're giving a robot a heart, emotions," Son said.

The robots were developed by French robotics company Aldebaran, in which SoftBank took a stake in 2012, and will be manufactured by Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd.

They will use cloud computing to share data that can develop their own emotional capabilities. Son said they would not share an owner's personal information.

Japan's population is one of the most rapidly ageing in the world and the government hopes companies can offset a decline in the labour force by utilising robotics.

Several Japanese technology manufacturers are targeting robotics for growth. Panasonic Corp and robotics research subsidiary ActiveLink Co Ltd this week showcased robotic suits and vests to assist in arduous manual tasks such as carrying heavy loads or picking fruit from trees. Personal or household robots, such as the Asimo robot that Honda Motor Co has been developing for more than a decade, are seen as potential elderly care providers.

Japan's overall robotics market was worth about 860 billion yen ($8.38 billion) in 2012 and is forecast to more than triple in value to 2.85 trillion yen by 2020, according to a trade ministry report last year.

A draft government growth strategy obtained by Reuters calls for a "robotic revolution" that would increase the use of robots in agriculture 20-fold and double manufacturing use. [ID:nL3N0OK2JQ]

($1 = 102.6400 Japanese Yen)

(Additional reporting by Faith Hung in Taipei; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Miral Fahmy)

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BASKETBALL SPORTS: Heat and Spurs ready to rumble in Finals opener

(Reuters) - Now that the verbal sparring is over, the San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat are ready to get down to business on Thursday with the opening game of the best-of-seven NBA Finals.

San Antonio power forward Tim Duncan has all-but guaranteed a victory after the team suffered a heartbreaking, seven-game loss to Miami in the finals a year ago.

Heat forward LeBron James knows San Antonio is inspired but doesn't believe that matters much once the game begins.

"They are motivated," James, the finals MVP the last two seasons, told reporters on Wednesday. "I think motivation can only go so far. How much motivation can carry you to a championship, I'm not sure.

"At the end of the day, five, ten guys on the floor, three refs and one basketball. You gotta make plays. I can't shoot the ball and say motivation will make it in.

"I can't sit in the lane and take a charge and say, 'Motivation, let me get this call.'"

Needing just one win for title, the Spurs squandered a five-point lead in the final 28 seconds of regulation in Game Six a year ago and lost 103-100 in overtime. The Heat won Game Seven 95-88, leaving the Spurs deflated, angry and wondering what might have been.

James knows the feeling, having lost in the finals to the Dallas Mavericks three years ago. But, he added, there's nothing more you can do than try your hardest.

"Motivation, yes, can carry you to some things, I agree, because I had it a lot after we lost in 2011 to the Mavericks, but at the end of the day you have to play the game of basketball and do it the right way," he said.

"Hopefully, you can sit back and say, 'Well, I did everything it took to win. Win, lose or draw I'm satisfied with it.'"

Duncan tempered his earlier we're-going-to-win-it remarks on Wednesday, saying, "I don't know if we're going in with a chip on our shoulder.

"We're going in this trying to win a championship," said the 38-year-old, 14-time All-Star. "We understand what happened last year, we understand how close we got and we're disappointed in that respect but we're ecstatic that we have an opportunity to challenge that.

"Series starts over again and we'll see what happens."

The first two games of the series are in San Antonio and the next two are in Miami. The Spurs have the home-court advantage, unlike last year's series.

Miami is shooting for its third straight championship, having beaten Oklahoma City in 2012 for the title.

"We have worked hard in training camp and all season to get ourselves back to this point," said San Antonio small forward Danny Green. "And we have been lucky enough to fight through a lot of adversity throughout the season and to get some playoff wins and get back to this point.

"We have tried to get better, be the last team standing. We have to be the best, do all the little things perfect. We want to continue to do that. At this point we're almost there.

"We know we're playing the two time defending champs and the best team in the league right now. It's not going to be easy. We got to earn it."

(Editing by Frank Pingue)

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DOWNLOAD NEW HIT MUSIC from Jaywon – Tana Wole ft. Reminisce (Reloaded/Remix)

"I think we've all established the fact that JAYWON doesn't dull. Now the CEO and 1st signed artist under NEXT WORLD MUSIC, he goes 2 steps forward and comes up with this hit Collaboration Remix with REMINISCE aka Alaga Ibile for his fresh tune 'TANA WOLE' which was released a few weeks back.



This time he comes up with a double package from the Original tune, TANA WOLE RELOADED & THE REMIX. Jaywon is really the Young Legend of our time.



Listen below and Enjoy.

Produced by Young John".



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http://mp3bullet.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Tana-Wole-RMX_mp3bullet.com_.mp3



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TECHNOLOGY As IPO nears, Alibaba prepares employees for $40 billion windfall

HONG KONG (Reuters) - As Alibaba prepares for what could be the biggest tech company IPO to date, the Chinese e-commerce giant has been counseling employees on how to deal with the roughly $41 billion they could unlock through a New York listing.

While some staffers have enquired if premium brand BMW (BMWG.DE) sells cars in Alibaba's corporate orange, others may invest windfall stock gains in property in North America or channel funds back into start-up ventures in China, hoping to build future Alibabas, bankers and financial planners say.

The company, though, has been preparing employees for years on how to manage the avalanche of cash, warning them not to be carried away and splurge on material goods.

While Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's (IPO-ALIB.N) co-founders Jack Ma and Joseph Tsai are already billionaires, many more paper millionaires could be minted once employees are free to sell shares some time after the IPO.

Current and former Alibaba employees hold 26.7 percent of the company, having built up their holdings through stock options and other incentives awarded since 1999, according to securities filings, though these didn't detail the number of employee shareholders.

The IPO windfall - Alibaba could be worth $152 billion, according to the average from a Reuters survey of 25 analysts - will be larger than anything China has seen because of the depth of the group's employee ownership and the size of the company.

Not just managers, but software engineers and staff from sales and marketing and related companies such as Alipay also stand to benefit from selling shares after the IPO.

Some of the 20,000 employees have already had the opportunity to sell part of their stakes during previous Alibaba structured share sales through so called liquidity programs.

"The thinking was that if sudden wealth is like venom, giving small doses every now and then was a bit like anti-venom because your company isn't thrown into chaos," said a person familiar with Alibaba's incentive plans who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

MOVING ON

In its IPO prospectus, Alibaba acknowledged its concerns about employee shareholders coming into new-found wealth, and maybe wanting to move on.

"It may be difficult for us to continue to retain and motivate these employees, and this wealth could affect their decisions about whether or not they remain with us," it said.

Over recent years, Alibaba executives have discussed with employees how the windfall gains could change their lives, warning them not to splash it all on "glitzy things", said people familiar with those discussions.

Former Chief Operating Officer Savio Kwan was one of the executives who took part in the talks, the people said, along with external speakers and academics brought in to talk about leadership, personal development and business goals.

"One thing Jack (Ma) and Savio did was from the early days prepare employees for the effects of having wealth," said Porter Erisman, a former Alibaba vice president and director of "Crocodile in the Yangtze," a documentary about Alibaba's first decade.

"I remember Savio giving a speech about what money means, and he encouraged people to think of money as something that offered more choices. Those choices don't have to be material goods," he added.

Alibaba declined to comment for this article.

HOW TO SPEND IT

As happened after Facebook Inc's (FB.O) IPO in 2012, the new Alibaba millionaires are seen driving up demand for luxury cars and apartments, giving a boost to the economy of China's eastern city of Hangzhou, where the company is based.

Facebook millionaires spent some of their cash booking a trip with a private space tourism company and on an exploration of ancient Mayan ruins in Central America, while some Google Inc (GOOGL.O) shareholders cashed in during the internet firm's IPO to travel around the world, start a documentary film business and open a health-conscious cafe, media reported at the time.

BMW dealerships in Hangzhou have fielded enquiries from Alibaba employees asking if they have models in orange, Reuters Insider television has reported.

But the Chinese government's austerity campaign is likely to keep a lid on too much ostentatious spending, and because the stock listing will be in the United States most of the money employees receive from eventual stake sales would likely be kept offshore rather than flow back to Alibaba's Chinese base.

"Check real estate in Vancouver, not so much Ferraris and real estate in China," said a person closely involved with the IPO who was not authorized to speak publicly on the issue.

Investment bankers and financial consultants predicted that much of the IPO windfall that does return to China would likely go into new technology ventures.

Hangzhou is in a part of China already known as a hotbed for entrepreneurship. As of last year, the city had more than 560 multi-millionaires and in a decade is expected to rival Los Angeles in the number of so-called ultra high net worth individuals, according to property consultant Knight Frank.

"There aren't many cases in China where a private company scales from an apartment to more than 20,000 people like that," said another person with direct knowledge of the IPO process. "More than anything, the impact might be in start-ups, with people coming out with money who have been through this and learned."

LOCKED-UP

Much of the Alibaba wealth is in the hands of Ma, Tsai and a group of senior executives who make up the so-called Alibaba Partnership.

These 28 people - 22 from Alibaba and 6 from related companies and affiliates - own a combined 14 percent of Alibaba, according to the company's filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission - worth over $21 billion.

The filing doesn't detail the holdings of top executives such as CEO Jonathan Lu, Chief Financial Officer Maggie Wu, Chief Operating Officer Daniel Zhang, Chief Technology Officer Jian Wan and General Counsel Timothy Steinert. Those five, who with Ma and Tsai are among the 28 partners, appear only as owning less than 1 percent of Alibaba.

The IPO will provide employees their biggest opportunity yet to cash out of their vested stocks once share lock-ups expire.

The largest previous sell-down was in 2011 when employees sold about $2 billion worth of stakes to investors including private equity firms DST Global and Silver Lake [SILAK.UL], according to a statement from those firms and the IPO filing.

Ma sold $162 million worth of shares that year, while Tsai raised $108 million from selling part of his stake.

In the same year, CEO Lu raised $37.7 million, CFO Wu sold $4.99 million worth of shares, and former COO Kwan sold a stake worth $40.5 million. Sabrina Peng, an early Alibaba employee and former vice president of its business department, raised $4.6 million in the 2011 sell-down.

Alibaba's biggest single shareholder, with a 34.4 percent stake, is Japanese telecoms firm SoftBank Corp (9984.T), followed by U.S. internet group Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O), with 22.6 percent. Other large shareholders include Silver Lake, DST Global and Singapore state investor Temasek [TEM.UL].

Employees will not be able to cash out of their holdings entirely through the IPO, as most employee stock is likely to be locked up for months, maybe years, people familiar with the listing process said.

When Alibaba listed its Alibaba.com business-to-business unit in 2007, it was six months before stockholders could sell 40 percent of the shares held in an employee equity exchange program. For the remaining 60 percent, the lock-up was for one year.

(Additional reporting by Paul Carsten in Beijing; Editing by Denny Thomas and Ian Geoghegan)

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Latest Jobs in Nigeria

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• Business Development Executive Job at Chords Media Limited
• Corporate Lawyer Job at Servarmour Nigeria
• Admin / Accounts Officer Job at Lorache Consulting
• Sales / Marketing Professional Job at Service Desk Limited
• Sales Representative Job at City Square Networks and Facility Managers
• Admin Assistant Job at Neoworld Consulting
• IT Support Officer Job at Techno Vision Communications
• House Master Job at Lead City High School

Business Development Executive Job at Chords Media Limited Posted: 03 Jun 2014 02:39 PM PDT Job Title: Business Development Executive Company: Chords Media Limited Location: Nigeria . Chords Media Limited is a media and information technology firm incorporated in January, 2014. It is a duly registered company (RC 1162443) with the Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria. Our business activities focus on online media, advertising and IT driven products. Our vision is “To be a premium provider of bespoke IT products and services in the Western Coast of Africa.” . Job Description: – Ensure all sales opportunities are captured and explored – Actively and successfully manage the sales process: lead generation; credentials pitch; asking questions; solution pitch; negotiation; close; handover to the account management team – Ensure prompt and accurate response to bids/tenders, requests for information and other client inquiries – Continually develop new business relationships. – Ensure maintenance of a comprehensive client and contact database and ensure that detailed prospect records are fully maintained – Continually update and develop your knowledge of the overall market place, portfolio and competitor activity. – Assist in the development of service improvement strategies – Assist the Business Development Managers in accomplishing strategic business objectives. . Remuneration: Fifty Thousand Naira monthly . Desired Skills & Experience: – Minimum of Degree in a relevant field – Good communication skills Apply to this job This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Corporate Lawyer Job at Servarmour Nigeria Posted: 03 Jun 2014 02:22 PM PDT Job Title: Corporate Lawyer Company: Servarmour Location: Lagos, Nigeria Ref: SV/0614 . Servarmour is an amouring company that sells, and leases armoured cars and vans, constructs panic rooms, bullet proof mobile banking technology and armoured wheel cabins for boats. We use the latest technology available in the industry. We wish to keep our “Customers for Life”. . Qualification Requirements: – Only First Class Candidates will be considered. – Minimum Work Experience – 2 years – Advanced knowledge of COMPLETE Microsoft Office Suite is a must . Description: – Draft legal documents in Corporate law with regards to: FCPA requirements, tax, insurance, service agreements, NCNDs, SLAs, protecting intellectual property, patents, financial agreements, all types of JVs, and business strategic planning – Other: Proposal writing, clerical and Business Development Apply to this job This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Admin / Accounts Officer Job at Lorache Consulting Posted: 03 Jun 2014 02:16 PM PDT Job Title: Admin/Accounts Officer Company: Lorache Consulting Location: Lagos, Nigeria Requirements/Specifications: – BSc/HND in any related field – Good IT knowledge – Excellent attention to details and time management – Strong communication and problem solving skills . Key Duties /Responsibilities: Works with other units to coordinate and plan fund-raising, grants, marketing, communications, and outreach activities. Independently carries out a portfolio of responsibilities under the department’s purview, such as managing committees, securing approvals, and providing communications. – Provide advice to senior management. Works with management to create short- and long-term business plans, including operational, organization, and financial aspects. – Oversees legal, safety, fiscal, and other compliance requirements. – Oversees facilities, technology, and materials utilized in the department, coordinating with appropriate services. – Works with management and others to develop and implement operating policies and procedures. – Manages operating budget and performs analysis and reporting to support decision-making. – Manages the ongoing financial, operational, and staffing activities of the department. – Provide expert guidance and leadership to more junior staff. – Perform other related duties as required, e. g, reviews of adequacy of departmental space requirements and technology requirements. – Implement and monitor support services, including procurement of supplies and services; transport, travel and traffic, communications, engineering and information technology support; and provision of local utilities and service requirements. – And others on management information and general administration issues and practices. – Produce major/complex reports for management, as and when required. Apply to this job This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Sales / Marketing Professional Job at Service Desk Limited Posted: 03 Jun 2014 02:08 PM PDT Job Title: Sales/Marketing Professional Company: Service Desk Limited Location: Lagos, Nigeria . Service Desk Limited is urgently recruiting Sales/Marketing professionals for a foremost Real Estate Development company in Lagos. Service Desk is a business process outsourcing company that offers mainly. sales/marketing solutions to its foremost clients. It operates a strong matrix model with client satisfaction being a top priority. . Responsibilities: – Individual will be mainly responsible for generating leads, meeting new clients and pitching sales. – Generate revenue – Identify new opportunities and maximize them – Ensure continuity in customer acquisition and retention – Interface with corporate clients – Submit reports to the line leader . Qualifications and Requirements: – Must possess good oral and written communication skills – Must have a good track record of Sales – Must be good-looking with a good dress sense – 5-7 years cognate experience in the relevant field – A Degree preferably in the social sciences – Professional certifications are an added advantage Marketing – Proficient in the use of Microsoft Office Suites – Experience in Brand and Content Marketing – Must possess great selling skills – Must have a robust social capital – Must possess great interpersonal skills – Living in the central mainland area would be an added advantage . Remuneration: – A highly and attractive scalable salary of 150,000 with commission Apply to this job This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Sales Representative Job at City Square Networks and Facility Managers Posted: 03 Jun 2014 01:49 PM PDT Job Title: Sales Representative Company: City Square Networks & Facility Managers Location: Lagos, Nigeria . City Square Networks & Facility Managers – We are the nation’s leading IT Solution Company driven by high quality professionals and managed by matured processes. City Square Networks help forward- thinking companies achieve and surpass their business goals with web solutions that boost their business on the Internet. Our time tested and emerging technology solutions are backed by the highest level of quality assurance. . Job Description The Sales Representative is responsible for developing new sales relationships with potential high value corporate clients. The role will be responsible for coordinating inbound sales opportunities and coordinating outbound new business development through the creation of sales propositions for new target clients. . Requirements: OND / HND / Degree qualification in relevant discipline Apply to this job This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Admin Assistant Job at Neoworld Consulting Posted: 03 Jun 2014 01:34 PM PDT Job Title: Admin Assistant Company: Neoworld Consulting Location: Enugu . Neoworld Consulting Limited is a national, multi-disciplinary, integrated HR, Management, technological, strategic alliances and Capacity building/Training Consulting Organisation, located in Enugu, Nigeria, with branch offices in Abuja and Lagos, Nigeria. . Responsibilities: – Handling general coordination and implementation of office procedures by the following duties: – Collect and maintain PC inventory. – Performing other duties as assigned by your department head and/or Manager. – Create and modify documents using varying applications. – Maintain hard copy and electronic filing system. – Provide support during training sessions. – Coordinate and maintain records and reports. . Requirements: – Minimum of HND/Degree – Excellent command of written and spoken English Language – Must be able to work with little supervision. – Excellent usage of Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, CorelDraw. Apply to this job This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

IT Support Officer Job at Techno Vision Communications Posted: 03 Jun 2014 01:19 PM PDT Job Title: IT Support Officer Job Company: Techno Vision Communications Location: Nigeria . Techno Vision Communications – TVC Labs is a business Accelerator, with a mission to create national, regional, continental and ultimately global businesses that positively impact lives and drive development in Nigeria, West Africa and the African continent. . Job Description: – Diagnose hardware/software faults and solve technical and applications problems – Carry out research to improve ICT services for Clients – Installing and configuring computer hardware operating systems and applications; – Monitoring and maintaining computer systems and networks. – Troubleshooting system and network problems and diagnosing and solving hardware/software faults. – Replacing Computer parts as required. – Providing support, including procedural documentation and relevant reports. – Supporting the roll-out of new applications. – Setting up new users’ accounts and profiles and dealing with password issues. – Rapidly establishing a good working relationship with customers and other professionals, e.g., software developers. . Requirements: – Applicants must have at least a Second Class in any discipline (Preferably in Computer Science or Engineering) and must have completed their NYSC – Applicants must possess at one IT certification. (Preferably CCNA/MCITP/ CompTIA). Apply to this job This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

House Master Job at Lead City High School Posted: 03 Jun 2014 01:10 PM PDT Job Title: House Master Company: Lead City High School Location: Oyo, Nigeria . Requirement: Candidates should possess a first degree and should have at least 5 years experience in a similar position . Apply to this job This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

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EXCLUSIVE: Taylor Swift and Miranda Kerr Stars Who Dress Like They're in a Different Decade

1950s

Taylor Swift and Miranda Kerr look like they just stepped out of Pleasantville.



Credit:

Splash; Getty

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EXCLUSIVE!: 'Little Women: LA' Star Christy McGinty Gets Engaged!

Lifetime

If you've seen Lifetime's new reality series, Little Women: LA, you know two things: the cast is comprised of ladies who may be little, but they also know how to bring BIG drama!



When the series premiered last week, we were introduced to Christy McGinty, the sharp-tongued recovering alcoholic who makes it very well known to her gal pals that she is desperate for her boyfriend, Todd Gibel, to put a ring on it. The girl wants to be engaged!



Last week, we saw Christy's co-star, Briana Manson (who previously dated Todd before Christy got her hands on him), add a small dose of drama when she let Todd flirt with her at a girls' get-together.



But it seems as though all parties were able to get over it…because in an exclusive clip from tonight's second episode, Todd finally asks Christy to be his wife!



On top of a hill, overlooking the Los Angeles skyline, Todd gets down on one knee and tells Christy he wants to spend the rest of his life with her.



"I love it," Christy says looking down at her new bling. "This is the one I wanted!"



So we guess that's a yes!



"I'm engaged, I'm engaged, I'm engaged!" she excitedly tells the camera. "I cannot wait to show the girls….Yah bitches!"



To see the special moment for Christy and Todd, check out the exclusive clip here – and don't forget to tune in to an all new episode of Little Women: LA airing tonight at 9 p.m. on Lifetime!

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EXCLUSIVE: amy Adams and Anne Hathaway Stars Who Dress Like They're in a Different Decade

1970s

Add a little "Hustle" and a disco ball and VOILA! Amy Adams and Anne Hathaway's dresses are 70s complete.



Credit: Getty



Think the 20s, 40s, 60s and 80s are long gone? Think again!



These stars can't help but bring previous decades to life in the 2000s!

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DOWNLOAD FRESH Olamide MUSIC [@olamide_YBNL] – Make Us Proud Ft. Wale

"Papilo We Know Say One Day You Will Make Us Proud", I'm sure most of us remember that Peak Milk Commercial. We all strive to make it one day, here is Olamide's Story. He Made Us Proud, From "Apa Ti Jabo" To Make Us Proud Featuring Wale."



DOWNLOAD »

http://k007.kiwi6.com/hotlink/qkc3e6hq5i/Olamide_Ft_Wale_-_Make_Us_Proud_47vibez.com.mp3



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EXCLUSIVE: Kanye West's Stepbrother Confirms: Kanye Wants Another Baby ASAP!

Kim Kardashian Instagram via Vogue

A baby brother for North? Kim Kardashian and Kanye West just made it official but his family is already spilling that the couple are hoping to expand their family.



In the new issue of Life & Style, Kanye's stepbrother shares that Kanye wants a mini-me — and soon!



"He definitely wants a little Kanye Jr.," the rapper's stepbrother Hal "Gore" Carmichael exclusively tells Life & Style. "He won't stop until he has one. He's gotta keep his name going!"



Kim Kardashian and Kanye West Break From Honeymoon to Attend Friend's Wedding



Kanye's stepbrother also tells Life & Style he's certain the couple will have a big family. "Kanye has always wanted to be a family guy," Hal tells the mag. "There is more than one more kid in the picture for him."





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She RIP: Sick Cameroonian Woman Dies After Deliverance At TB Joshua’s Scoan Church

T.B. Joshua has come under intense pressure in recent months with the death of a Cameroonian woman shortly after she was said to have been healed by the prophet.



The woman had arrived Nigeria via Aero Contractors Airlines for healing in T.B. Joshua's church in January this year. She had been sick for some months and hoped T.B. Joshua could be the solution to her problem.



She met T.B. Joshua during a deliverance service in the church and was purportedly healed. But she died two days later in Lagos on 21 January.



After her death, Aero Contractors Airlines refused to refund the money to the relatives and insisted that they must use the ticket, even after they had paid for the remains of the woman to be airlifted to Douala.



Eventually, the airline gave relatives a ticket voucher and removed some charges, reducing the money to less than what was paid. The deceased's corpse was taken back to Cameroon and she was buried in March 2014.

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She RIP: Sick Cameroonian Woman Dies After Deliverance At TB Joshua’s Scoan Church

T.B. Joshua has come under intense pressure in recent months with the death of a Cameroonian woman shortly after she was said to have been healed by the prophet.

The woman had arrived Nigeria via Aero Contractors Airlines for healing in T.B. Joshua's church in January this year. She had been sick for some months and hoped T.B. Joshua could be the solution to her problem.

She met T.B. Joshua during a deliverance service in the church and was purportedly healed. But she died two days later in Lagos on 21 January.

After her death, Aero Contractors Airlines refused to refund the money to the relatives and insisted that they must use the ticket, even after they had paid for the remains of the woman to be airlifted to Douala.

Eventually, the airline gave relatives a ticket voucher and removed some charges, reducing the money to less than what was paid. The deceased's corpse was taken back to Cameroon and she was buried in March 2014.
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SHE NEEDS OUR PRAYERS: Kefee Is Still On Life Support, Husband Writes Fans To Pray For Her

Kefee's husband, Teddy Don-Momoh, has called on friends, well-wishers and Nigerians as a whole to join him in prayers for the life of his wife.



Teddy made the plea from the U.S. where his wife is still under intensive care at the hospital.



Kefee wants her friends, fans and well-wishers to know that she loves them. We just need prayers now; she just needs our prayers now because there is nothing God cannot do; prayer is the key. God is still the same yesterday, today and forever, He has done it before and he will do it again,'' he said.



Kefee collapsed on a Chicago-bound flight some days back which forced the plane to make an emergency landing in Los Angeles so she could receive medical attention. Continue



Teddy said that he couldn't really give a full account of the situation and cause of the collapse as he just got to the U.S. on Saturday to be with his wife and she has been in intensive care since then.



Kefee and Teddy recently obtained diplomas in filmmaking from the U.S. and had started off on some projects together. One was the shoot of her music video which was directed by Teddy.

She also recently released a single titled, 'Dem Go Talk', before all this happened.



Teddy pleads that the privacy of the family be respected as much as possible while we all take this situation to God in prayers.

Signed

Publicist.

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Delta Police recover arms, ammunition, arrest four

    
The police in Delta State on Tuesday said they recovered a large consignment of arms and ammunition abandoned by armed robbers in Warri.

The Acting Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Charles Muka, said in Asaba that a police patrol team had on Monday confronted a gang of hoodlums robbing citizens in the oil city.

He said the patrol team from 'B' Division Warri met the robbers along Eboh road Okumagba Avenue and engaged them in a shoot-out.

"After a hot chase, the hoodlums fled and abandoned a bag. Items recovered from the bag include one locally made cut to size double barrel gun and seven live cartridges.

The PPRO also said the police also arrested two people in illegal possession of firearms at Obiaruku.

He gave the names of the arrested people as Dafe Abua Obu and Ochonogo Ejime both from Obiaruku. He said at the time of the incident, the suspects were using a Nissan Titan Jeep with covered plate number and one Pump Action gun belonging to the said Dafe Abua Obu.

Muka said Dafe claimed to be a peace ambassador with the United Nations.

"When the vehicle was searched at the Police station seven rounds of 9mm live ammunition, one expended cartridge, one Police bullet proof jacket, one battle axe, one long cutlass, one hammer, one gun jacket, two photocopy of firearms licence, one police belt, one handcuff, one chieftaincy photograph and a complimentary card were recovered," he said.

He said the suspects have been transferred to the Department of Criminal Investigation, Asaba.

Meanwhile, the command has arrested two cult members for causing grievous harm and forcefully initiating people into their cult.

The PPRO said, "One Obadoni Ifeanyi, an engineering student of Delta State University, Oleh Campus, reported at the Oleh Police Station that he was attacked by one Jerry Chukwuka, Joshua Okijiri and one Precious surname unknown.

"He stated that the attack was sequel to the fact he resisted their attempts to forcefully initiate him into their cult group. He added that he also refused to pay the N300,000 demanded from him for turning down their request that he should join their cult group.

"The suspects also wounded his girl friend one Padra Okafor in the process."

Muka said two of the suspects were subsequently arrested and were undergoing investigations, while efforts were on to arrest the third suspect currently at large.


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NEW TECHNOLOGY: Blumoo controls your home theater with no wires, but strings attached

Blumoo Reviews

For all of the clever, innovative gear we saw at CES 2014, one home theater product in particular caught our attention: Flyover Innovations' Blumoo. Harnessing the power of Bluetooth and infrared, Blumoo promises to turn any Android or iOS mobile device into a universal remote contol, while pulling double duty as a Bluetooth music streamer for existing audio systems.

After a brief demonstration in Vegas, we were excited to fire up a Blumoo for ourselves and wield omnipotence over our home theater. However, while the $130 device promises to be one of the easiest ways to transform a smartphone or tablet into a home entertainment control center, the system's bugs and limitations put a damper on our good time. We've been told forthcoming firmware updates should fix most of these issues, but in its present state, the Blumoo simply isn't ready for primetime.

Features and design

There's not much to the hardware here, just a simple block of glass and metal with cables attached for power, and an RCA connection for your stereo. There are no onboard controls – not even a power button, since the device remains in constant standby mode. An LED at the front indicates connection status: red means Blumoo is at rest, blue means it's connected to your device and ready for action. Any time you execute a command, the blue LED will blink, registering a shot fired from the Blumoo's IR blaster. The blaster is powerful enough to bounce off any wall, allowing setup of the unit alongside your home theater, facing outward.

The Blumoo's brains and brawn live in the hardware's companion app. From the app you can create a custom remote control pad for each of your devices, download local program guide information for satellite, cable, or broadcast TV, and even customize each control pane, adding buttons at your leisure for any device that you've programmed. It should be noted that, at this time, the Blumoo doesn't support macro functions. For example, you can't program a string of commands for a "Watch Blu-ray" button which would power on all the necessary devices, switch to the right inputs, etc.

The app's layout consists of a home screen with icons for each programmed device, a Music section, which consists of Pandora and iTunes (though they are just as easily called up on your phone itself), a settings screen for basic firmware info and simple parameters, and the Guide screen, which allows you to browse what's programming from your mobile device, and tune to it.

While the system pairs automatically to your phone or tablet for remote control, you'll have to complete a second pairing process in order to use the wireless music streaming feature. Once done, you can call up the Blumoo like any other Bluetooth speaker and stream music to any audio system with an analog audio input. The Blumoo supports up to CD-quality audio, according to its website.

Setup

The app is relatively intuitive, once you cozy up to it. However, it can also be very time consuming. To get started, you tap an icon on the home screen which asks if you'd like to add a device, remove a device, move, or create a custom remote – the latter of which creates a blank slate to create a mix of buttons from any and all of your programmed devices. The first order of business, however is to add a device – Blumoo automatically starts with your TV.

First you must specify which brand and model you're working with. If the system doesn't have your model in its database (which we ran into several times) you'll have to try random models in hopes that you'll stumble onto one with compatible codes. Once a choice is made, Blumoo will attempt to power up your device, asking "did your device turn on?" If yes, you're ready for action. If no, a check mark appears by the modela you've chosen to help you keep track of which codes you've already tried. If none of the available options wind up working, you're out of luck – for now anyway. Flyover reps told us they're working on an update that will enable the Blumoo to learn IR codes from stock remotes.

If connection is successful, a remote pane appears with a basic selection of controls – for a TV that means a number pad, volume, power, channels, etc. Any button that isn't offered by default must be created manually. This is the time consuming part. You can choose the size, general shape, and even a custom name for your new button, as well as which device it will control – a key option, allowing you to potentially add basic controls for, say, your Blu-ray player to your TV's remote pane. You then assign a control parameter to your new button, and a name.

Once you've finally gotten all the commands you think you'll need (you can add as many buttons as will fit on a page) you're ready to start using your Blumoo.

Performance

We played around with the Blumoo over a period of several weeks, and for brevity's sake, we'll just say Blumoo isn't yet ready for primetime. There are bugs and limitations that must be addressed before it gets our stamp of approval.

Before we get into our issues with the device, however, we should mention that we generally enjoyed using it for basic TV and Blu-ray player control, especially with the iPad. It was fun to be able to customize buttons, and as a cord-cutter, it was also cool to be able to select and tune to broadcast TV channels from the guide. One issue we had was a slight delay between tapping a command and execution. It wasn't a big deal for basic controls, but when we had to type a veritable novel for our Netflix login, it was a real pain. Still, having all home theater controls in one place is worth some hassle.

Wireless music playback was plagued with streaming hiccups.

Unfortunately, having all controls in one place didn't always happen for us.

While Blumoo promises access to "more than 200,000" components, we found several devices with model numbers not in the database, flipping through every model in the category to no avail. Blumoo worked well with multiple Samsung TVs, as well as our Samsung BD-H6500 and Sony BDP-S590 Blu-ray players. But devices that wouldn't connect included a Cambridge Audio Minx XI media receiver, a Toshiba BDX-6400 Blu-ray player, and an old Sony MHC-BX6AV component system. As mentioned, Flyover Innovations said a general IR learner is coming, and as far as we're concerned, that can't come soon enough.

Finally, wireless music playback – a big reason we were hyped about this particular style of universal remote in the first place – was plagued with streaming hiccups. The unit teased hints of real promise, providing clear streaming with good resolution when it worked. But a ceaseless repetition playback dropouts put us on edge and ruined the mood – not exactly what we look for when relaxing to our favorite tunes. We contacted Blumoo, and were informed of a firmware update that was meant to fix the issue. Unfortunately, even after the update, our streaming woes persisted both with an iPhone 5, and an iPhone 4S.

Conclusion

Flyover Innovations' Blumoo is a great device in theory, but in practice, it doesn't yet measure up. The good news is that, aside from the inherent delay in command execution, firmware updates could potentially cure all of its woes. If and when that happens, we will be sure to retest and update our review. As of now, a lack of device compatibility and some music streaming hiccups have us looking elsewhere for our universal control solution.

Highs

Succinct design
Well featured
Customizable interface
Lows

Delay in command execution
Lack of device compatibility
Music streaming hiccups
Pricey

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TECHNOLOGY Bitcoin entrepreneur settles SEC charges over stock sales

(Reuters) - A well-known proponent of the electronic currency bitcoin agreed to pay nearly $51,000 to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission civil charges that he publicly offered unregistered shares in two Internet ventures, the regulator said on Tuesday.

Erik Voorhees, 29, published prospectuses and solicited investors through the Bitcoin Forum website to buy shares in FeedZeBirds and SatoshiDICE, both of which he co-owned, without first registering the offerings as required under federal securities law, according to the SEC.

The settlement calls for Voorhees to give up $15,844 in profit and interest, and pay a $35,000 fine. He did not admit or deny wrongdoing.

Voorhees is also a founder of Coinapult, which lets users transfer bitcoin via email or messaging service. The virtual currency is transacted independent of central control, and is not backed by any government or central bank.

"All issuers selling securities to the public must comply with the registration provisions of the securities laws, including issuers who seek to raise funds using bitcoin," said Andrew Ceresney, head of the SEC enforcement division.

Brian Klein, a lawyer for Voorhees, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Klein has also worked for the nonprofit Bitcoin Foundation, which advocates use of the currency.

The SEC said Voorhees helped raise 2,600 bitcoins in May 2012 through the sale of 30,000 shares in FeedZeBirds, which promises to pay bitcoins to Twitter users who forward sponsored text messages.

It also accused Voorhees of helping raise 50,600 bitcoins from August 2012 to February 2013 through the sale of 13 million shares of SatoshiDICE, a gaming website that pays out casino-like winnings in bitcoin.

SatoshiDICE was sold last July for more than $11 million, Voorhees said at the time.

According to the SEC, the value of bitcoin has fluctuated since Voorhees' first unregistered offering from about $5 to $1,200 per bitcoin.

The case is In re: Voorhees, SEC Administrative Proceeding No. 3-15902.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Andrew Hay)

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SHE NEEDS OUR PRAYERS: Kefee Is Still On Life Support, Husband Writes Fans To Pray For Her

Kefee's husband, Teddy Don-Momoh, has called on friends, well-wishers and Nigerians as a whole to join him in prayers for the life of his wife.

Teddy made the plea from the U.S. where his wife is still under intensive care at the hospital.

Kefee wants her friends, fans and well-wishers to know that she loves them. We just need prayers now; she just needs our prayers now because there is nothing God cannot do; prayer is the key. God is still the same yesterday, today and forever, He has done it before and he will do it again,'' he said.

Kefee collapsed on a Chicago-bound flight some days back which forced the plane to make an emergency landing in Los Angeles so she could receive medical attention. Continue

Teddy said that he couldn't really give a full account of the situation and cause of the collapse as he just got to the U.S. on Saturday to be with his wife and she has been in intensive care since then.

Kefee and Teddy recently obtained diplomas in filmmaking from the U.S. and had started off on some projects together. One was the shoot of her music video which was directed by Teddy.
She also recently released a single titled, 'Dem Go Talk', before all this happened.

Teddy pleads that the privacy of the family be respected as much as possible while we all take this situation to God in prayers.
Signed
Publicist.
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NEW TECHNOLOGY: Blumoo controls your home theater with no wires, but strings attached

Blumoo Reviews

For all of the clever, innovative gear we saw at CES 2014, one home theater product in particular caught our attention: Flyover Innovations' Blumoo. Harnessing the power of Bluetooth and infrared, Blumoo promises to turn any Android or iOS mobile device into a universal remote contol, while pulling double duty as a Bluetooth music streamer for existing audio systems.

After a brief demonstration in Vegas, we were excited to fire up a Blumoo for ourselves and wield omnipotence over our home theater. However, while the $130 device promises to be one of the easiest ways to transform a smartphone or tablet into a home entertainment control center, the system's bugs and limitations put a damper on our good time. We've been told forthcoming firmware updates should fix most of these issues, but in its present state, the Blumoo simply isn't ready for primetime.

Features and design

There's not much to the hardware here, just a simple block of glass and metal with cables attached for power, and an RCA connection for your stereo. There are no onboard controls – not even a power button, since the device remains in constant standby mode. An LED at the front indicates connection status: red means Blumoo is at rest, blue means it's connected to your device and ready for action. Any time you execute a command, the blue LED will blink, registering a shot fired from the Blumoo's IR blaster. The blaster is powerful enough to bounce off any wall, allowing setup of the unit alongside your home theater, facing outward.

The Blumoo's brains and brawn live in the hardware's companion app. From the app you can create a custom remote control pad for each of your devices, download local program guide information for satellite, cable, or broadcast TV, and even customize each control pane, adding buttons at your leisure for any device that you've programmed. It should be noted that, at this time, the Blumoo doesn't support macro functions. For example, you can't program a string of commands for a "Watch Blu-ray" button which would power on all the necessary devices, switch to the right inputs, etc.

The app's layout consists of a home screen with icons for each programmed device, a Music section, which consists of Pandora and iTunes (though they are just as easily called up on your phone itself), a settings screen for basic firmware info and simple parameters, and the Guide screen, which allows you to browse what's programming from your mobile device, and tune to it.

While the system pairs automatically to your phone or tablet for remote control, you'll have to complete a second pairing process in order to use the wireless music streaming feature. Once done, you can call up the Blumoo like any other Bluetooth speaker and stream music to any audio system with an analog audio input. The Blumoo supports up to CD-quality audio, according to its website.

Setup

The app is relatively intuitive, once you cozy up to it. However, it can also be very time consuming. To get started, you tap an icon on the home screen which asks if you'd like to add a device, remove a device, move, or create a custom remote – the latter of which creates a blank slate to create a mix of buttons from any and all of your programmed devices. The first order of business, however is to add a device – Blumoo automatically starts with your TV.

First you must specify which brand and model you're working with. If the system doesn't have your model in its database (which we ran into several times) you'll have to try random models in hopes that you'll stumble onto one with compatible codes. Once a choice is made, Blumoo will attempt to power up your device, asking "did your device turn on?" If yes, you're ready for action. If no, a check mark appears by the modela you've chosen to help you keep track of which codes you've already tried. If none of the available options wind up working, you're out of luck – for now anyway. Flyover reps told us they're working on an update that will enable the Blumoo to learn IR codes from stock remotes.

If connection is successful, a remote pane appears with a basic selection of controls – for a TV that means a number pad, volume, power, channels, etc. Any button that isn't offered by default must be created manually. This is the time consuming part. You can choose the size, general shape, and even a custom name for your new button, as well as which device it will control – a key option, allowing you to potentially add basic controls for, say, your Blu-ray player to your TV's remote pane. You then assign a control parameter to your new button, and a name.

Once you've finally gotten all the commands you think you'll need (you can add as many buttons as will fit on a page) you're ready to start using your Blumoo.

Performance

We played around with the Blumoo over a period of several weeks, and for brevity's sake, we'll just say Blumoo isn't yet ready for primetime. There are bugs and limitations that must be addressed before it gets our stamp of approval.

Before we get into our issues with the device, however, we should mention that we generally enjoyed using it for basic TV and Blu-ray player control, especially with the iPad. It was fun to be able to customize buttons, and as a cord-cutter, it was also cool to be able to select and tune to broadcast TV channels from the guide. One issue we had was a slight delay between tapping a command and execution. It wasn't a big deal for basic controls, but when we had to type a veritable novel for our Netflix login, it was a real pain. Still, having all home theater controls in one place is worth some hassle.

Wireless music playback was plagued with streaming hiccups.

Unfortunately, having all controls in one place didn't always happen for us.

While Blumoo promises access to "more than 200,000" components, we found several devices with model numbers not in the database, flipping through every model in the category to no avail. Blumoo worked well with multiple Samsung TVs, as well as our Samsung BD-H6500 and Sony BDP-S590 Blu-ray players. But devices that wouldn't connect included a Cambridge Audio Minx XI media receiver, a Toshiba BDX-6400 Blu-ray player, and an old Sony MHC-BX6AV component system. As mentioned, Flyover Innovations said a general IR learner is coming, and as far as we're concerned, that can't come soon enough.

Finally, wireless music playback – a big reason we were hyped about this particular style of universal remote in the first place – was plagued with streaming hiccups. The unit teased hints of real promise, providing clear streaming with good resolution when it worked. But a ceaseless repetition playback dropouts put us on edge and ruined the mood – not exactly what we look for when relaxing to our favorite tunes. We contacted Blumoo, and were informed of a firmware update that was meant to fix the issue. Unfortunately, even after the update, our streaming woes persisted both with an iPhone 5, and an iPhone 4S.

Conclusion

Flyover Innovations' Blumoo is a great device in theory, but in practice, it doesn't yet measure up. The good news is that, aside from the inherent delay in command execution, firmware updates could potentially cure all of its woes. If and when that happens, we will be sure to retest and update our review. As of now, a lack of device compatibility and some music streaming hiccups have us looking elsewhere for our universal control solution.

Highs

Succinct design
Well featured
Customizable interface
Lows

Delay in command execution
Lack of device compatibility
Music streaming hiccups
Pricey
____________________________________

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Delta Police recover arms, ammunition, arrest four

    
The police in Delta State on Tuesday said they recovered a large consignment of arms and ammunition abandoned by armed robbers in Warri.

The Acting Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Charles Muka, said in Asaba that a police patrol team had on Monday confronted a gang of hoodlums robbing citizens in the oil city.

He said the patrol team from 'B' Division Warri met the robbers along Eboh road Okumagba Avenue and engaged them in a shoot-out.

"After a hot chase, the hoodlums fled and abandoned a bag. Items recovered from the bag include one locally made cut to size double barrel gun and seven live cartridges.

The PPRO also said the police also arrested two people in illegal possession of firearms at Obiaruku.

He gave the names of the arrested people as Dafe Abua Obu and Ochonogo Ejime both from Obiaruku. He said at the time of the incident, the suspects were using a Nissan Titan Jeep with covered plate number and one Pump Action gun belonging to the said Dafe Abua Obu.

Muka said Dafe claimed to be a peace ambassador with the United Nations.

"When the vehicle was searched at the Police station seven rounds of 9mm live ammunition, one expended cartridge, one Police bullet proof jacket, one battle axe, one long cutlass, one hammer, one gun jacket, two photocopy of firearms licence, one police belt, one handcuff, one chieftaincy photograph and a complimentary card were recovered," he said.

He said the suspects have been transferred to the Department of Criminal Investigation, Asaba.

Meanwhile, the command has arrested two cult members for causing grievous harm and forcefully initiating people into their cult.

The PPRO said, "One Obadoni Ifeanyi, an engineering student of Delta State University, Oleh Campus, reported at the Oleh Police Station that he was attacked by one Jerry Chukwuka, Joshua Okijiri and one Precious surname unknown.

"He stated that the attack was sequel to the fact he resisted their attempts to forcefully initiate him into their cult group. He added that he also refused to pay the N300,000 demanded from him for turning down their request that he should join their cult group.

"The suspects also wounded his girl friend one Padra Okafor in the process."

Muka said two of the suspects were subsequently arrested and were undergoing investigations, while efforts were on to arrest the third suspect currently at large.

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TECHNOLOGY Bitcoin entrepreneur settles SEC charges over stock sales

(Reuters) - A well-known proponent of the electronic currency bitcoin agreed to pay nearly $51,000 to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission civil charges that he publicly offered unregistered shares in two Internet ventures, the regulator said on Tuesday.

Erik Voorhees, 29, published prospectuses and solicited investors through the Bitcoin Forum website to buy shares in FeedZeBirds and SatoshiDICE, both of which he co-owned, without first registering the offerings as required under federal securities law, according to the SEC.

The settlement calls for Voorhees to give up $15,844 in profit and interest, and pay a $35,000 fine. He did not admit or deny wrongdoing.

Voorhees is also a founder of Coinapult, which lets users transfer bitcoin via email or messaging service. The virtual currency is transacted independent of central control, and is not backed by any government or central bank.

"All issuers selling securities to the public must comply with the registration provisions of the securities laws, including issuers who seek to raise funds using bitcoin," said Andrew Ceresney, head of the SEC enforcement division.

Brian Klein, a lawyer for Voorhees, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Klein has also worked for the nonprofit Bitcoin Foundation, which advocates use of the currency.

The SEC said Voorhees helped raise 2,600 bitcoins in May 2012 through the sale of 30,000 shares in FeedZeBirds, which promises to pay bitcoins to Twitter users who forward sponsored text messages.

It also accused Voorhees of helping raise 50,600 bitcoins from August 2012 to February 2013 through the sale of 13 million shares of SatoshiDICE, a gaming website that pays out casino-like winnings in bitcoin.

SatoshiDICE was sold last July for more than $11 million, Voorhees said at the time.

According to the SEC, the value of bitcoin has fluctuated since Voorhees' first unregistered offering from about $5 to $1,200 per bitcoin.

The case is In re: Voorhees, SEC Administrative Proceeding No. 3-15902.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Andrew Hay)

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TOP NEWS Erdogan to grow more powerful as president, Turkey more polarized

ANKARA/ISTANBUL (Reuters) - On the first anniversary of nationwide protests that shook Prime Minster Tayyip Erdogan's rule, barely a thousand anti-government demonstrators marched in Istanbul on Saturday.

Outnumbered by riot police, they were soon sent scurrying into side streets by tear gas and water cannon.

Their scant numbers were an illustration of Erdogan's tightening grip on power despite a year punctuated by street protests, international criticism of his response and allegations of government corruption.

Erdogan, an aide told Turkish television the same day, would remain in power until 2023, having won a presidential election that will be held in August. Changes to the constitution would bestow greater powers on the presidency, the aide predicted.

Interviews with those close to him reveal more detail about the shape of a future Erdogan presidency.

A "council of wise men" - made up partly of close allies in his current cabinet - would help oversee top government business, senior officials told Reuters, effectively relegating some ministries to technical and bureaucratic roles.

"They will work with Erdogan on important subjects in the presidential palace. You could call them wise men, an advisory council, a shadow cabinet," one senior figure in the ruling AK Party said, with energy policy, the Kurdish peace process and elements of foreign policy likely to be among them.

"The presidency's weight will be felt more in decisions."

Erdogan has yet to announce his candidacy in the August vote but has made no secret of his ambition to run. Those around him say the decision is made.

The results of municipal polls on March 30, when the AK Party won 43 percent of the national vote, suggest a majority in the first round could be within his reach, especially if he secures the support of the Kurdish minority.

"There is no longer a question mark," a senior official from Erdogan's AK Party told Reuters. "Barring an extraordinary situation, Erdogan will announce his candidacy and we expect him to win in the first round."

PLIANT PRIME MINISTER

Erdogan may not yet have engineered the full presidential system he wants for Turkey, but he has made clear that the direct nature of August's vote - previous presidents were appointed by parliament - will enable him to exercise stronger powers than incumbent President Abdullah Gul.

Gul's role has been largely ceremonial. Under the current constitution, presidents have the authority to appoint the prime minister, convene and chair cabinet meetings, and head the national security council and the state supervisory council, which audits public bodies.

"There are many dormant powers that a President Erdogan could use," said Jonathan Friedman, Turkey analyst at London-based global risk consultancy Control Risks.

"Policy in the AK Party has long been made by Erdogan and a small coterie of advisers ... This will continue from (the presidency) – and is why having a pliant successor as prime minister to coordinate MPs and pass laws is key."

Erdogan is barred from standing for a fourth term as prime minister by AK Party rules, which stipulate members of parliament who have served three terms must subsequently be out of office for one.

The regulation, which Erdogan has made clear he is opposed to changing, will also exclude 73 MPs from candidacy in the 2015 parliamentary election, pointing to a significant cabinet reshuffle and major overhaul of the AK Party ranks.

Senior party officials said Erdogan was keen to select a prime minister and new head of the AK Party who would be unencumbered by the three-term limit and able to hold the post for two terms, with current Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Deputy Prime Minister Emrullah Isler among the favorites.

Another long-mooted possibility - that Gul would succeed Erdogan as prime minister - now appears unlikely after Gul in April appeared to rule out such a move, saying it would not be "appropriate" for democracy. [ID:nL6N0NA159]

Some senior deputies facing a term outside parliamentary office were likely to be among Erdogan's "council of wise men", including Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag, Energy Minister Taner Yildiz and deputy Prime Ministers Bulent Arinc and Besir Atalay.

"Ultimately it is Erdogan who will have the final word in all decisions like this," a senior party official said.

POLARIZED

Residents in some areas hung out of windows banging pots and pans - a traditional sign of protest - as demonstrators chanting for Erdogan to resign were chased by riot police on Saturday, but much of the energy has gone from a protest movement which, a year ago, sustained week after week of street demonstrations.

Erdogan has variously dismissed the protesters as vandals, terrorists and anarchists and his party's strong showing in the March polls has reinforced the sense that his rise, despite polarizing the country ever further, is unstoppable.

His rhetoric plays on a schism in Turkish society between a western-facing, largely secular segment of the population suspicious of his conservative Islamic ideals and a pious, working-class mass who see him as a hero for returning religious values to public life and driving a decade of growth.

It is a strategy, his opponents say, which sees him deliberately appeal to only the half of the population while ignoring the rest.

Yet even Erdogan's critics acknowledge that he has overseen Turkey's transformation from a financial backwater into one of the world's most dynamic economies, a record which means that a narrow majority of voters - as well as investors - have kept giving him the benefit of the doubt.

"One of the greatest fears is that the government will make populist policies, which will grossly affect growth, but they haven't done that yet," said an Ankara-based diplomat, asking not to be identified so as to speak more freely.

"Erdogan is a smart man, he can turn the bleakest situations to his advantage. He is only focused on the 50 percent. His only point of reference is to stay in power," he said.

"He's as pragmatic as you can get."

(Additional reporting by Jonny Hogg in Ankara and Ayla Jean Yackley in Istanbul; Writing by Nick Tattersall; editing by Janet McBride)

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TECHNOLOGY AT&T raises full-year revenue outlook for second time

(Reuters) - AT&T Inc T.N raised its full-year revenue forecast for a second time, citing strong growth in its equipment installment plan even as its service revenue stagnated.



The No. 2 U.S. telecom services provider said on Tuesday it now expects full-year revenue to increase 5 percent, compared with its prior forecast of 4 percent.



AT&T shares inched up 0.3 percent at $35.55.



By the end of 2014, analysts expect two-thirds of AT&T's postpaid wireless customers to be on its NEXT pricing plan, which unbundles device payments from mobile service payments. Due to the growing popularity of the plan, the company said it expects no service revenue growth in the second quarter and lower average revenue per user.



Net subscriber additions to the company's wireless services are expected to exceed 800,000 in the second quarter, it said, well above Wall Street estimates of 525,000.



AT&T reaffirmed its full-year forecast for adjusted profit, margins, capital expenditure and free cash flow.



The company, which is scheduled to report second-quarter results on July 23, said it expects to report sales of about 3.2 million AT&T Next smartphones in the current quarter.



AT&T also expects increased content costs on its wireline business, a concern the company has said drove its $48.5 billion bid on DirecTV last month.



(Reporting by Soham Chatterjee; Editing by Ted Kerr, Tom Brown and Sofina Mirza-Reid)





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TECHNOLOGY: Android 4.4 KitKat: Android 4.4.3 arrives on Google and Motorola devices (Updated)

Google announced Android 4.4 KitKat in late 2013, and while we know it made its debut on the Nexus 5, its arrival on other smartphones is as always, up in the air. Information has been coming through from various sources since its release, so we've combined all the official announcements, along with any less formal news we've heard, to make sure you know when Android 4.4 KitKat is headed to your device.

Updated on 06-04-2014 by Andy Boxall: Android 4.4.3 has arrived on the Nexus 5, several Google Play Edition devices, and the newest Motorola Android phones.

Android 4.4.3 updates now available

Google has already started sending out an Android 4.4.3 update to the Nexus 5, and it has now been joined by Motorola, which has confirmed its newest hardware will also benefit from the latest OS version. An official blog post on the matter lists the T-Mobile Moto X, all Moto G phones purchased in the U.S. and in Brazil, plus the Moto E, all of which will see the update from June 3. In addition to a few minor alterations to the dialer, and the usual stability, performance, and security fixes, the phones will also get the following:

Improved camera image quality on the Moto X's front and rear cameras.
A pause mode while shooting video on the Moto X and the Moto G
A live update message system for Motorola Alert on the Moto X and Moto G.
Reports are also gathering that Android 4.4.3 is arriving on Google Play Edition phones. The HTC One, the HTC One M8, the Galaxy S4, and the Sony Xperia Z Ultra have all been shown running the update, which started to show up from June 3.

Sony to update modern Xperia hardware

Sony first talked about its plans for Android 4.4 in November last year, and while it was all good news, the wait for any further information has been a long one. Finally, on March 19 2014, Sony published a blog post saying the update for the Xperia Z1, Xperia Z Ultra, and the Xperia Z1 Compact is ready to go.

Sony will add Android 4.4 KitKat to these phones, along with a few new features of its own. These include a new Status Bar and Quick Settings menu, a PS4-style UI with new live wallpaper, plus a wide selection of improvements spread across Sony's stock apps. No exact timeline is given, and the usual warning that these things vary by country and carrier is clearly stated, but it should be on its way soon.

Now its most recent phones have been updated, Sony has turned its attention to the Xperia Z, Xperia ZL, Xperia ZR, and the Xperia Tablet Z. According to a blog post, the Android 4.4 KitKat update for these devices is complete, and will be sent out to selected markets from May 21, with a wider release coming in the next few weeks. All the enhancements listed for the Xperia Z1 are included, along with new versions of Sony's Social Camera and Battery Stamina Mode apps, plus compatibility with the Smartband and Lifelog app.

Finally, the Xperia T2 Ultra, Xperia E1, and the Xperia M2 – including the dual-SIM variants – have all been added to Sony's list for a future Android 4.4 update, which is now expected sometime in July.

Samsung's KitKat updates are coming

Initially, Samsung kept quiet about its plans for 4.4 KitKat, having announced update schedules in the past, then been burned by missing self-imposed deadlines. Following early international tests of the new OS – specifically Galaxy Note 3 owners in Poland during January, and Korean Galaxy S4 phones in February – Samsung soon started sending out its Android 4.4 KitKat updates in America.

On February 13 2014, Sprint officially confirmed the arrival of an Android 4.4 update for the Galaxy S4, posting on its support webpage the new software was being released in stages, and a system prompt would appear once it was ready to download. It warned this may not show up for several days.

A week later, Samsung sent out a press release confirming 4.4 KitKat will soon be available for the following devices across all U.S. networks. These are the Galaxy Note 3 and the Galaxy Note 2, the Galaxy S4, S4 Mini, S4 Active and S4 Zoom, plus the Galaxy S3 and S3 Mini. The Galaxy Mega and Galaxy Light are also listed. Moving on to tablets, the Galaxy Note 8.0, Galaxy Tab 3, Galaxy Note 10.1, and finally, the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition will all be updated to version 4.4. Samsung says all carrier variants will get the update. The rollout began on February 18 and will continue for several months. 

AT&T has now confirmed Galaxy Note 3 devices connected to its networks will be receiving Android 4.4 KitKat from March 27. In a short blog post, the network provides an overview of the new features. KitKat will add the new-look user interface, the option to use Hangouts as the SMS app, wireless printing, better GPS performance, and enhanced audio controls. Additionally, the update will add music controls to the lock screen, and a quick access camera button too.

In addition, AT&T began to roll out Android 4.4.2 KitKat updates to Galaxy S4 Active owners last week. However, the carrier stopped delivering the over-the-air update, saying it is working with Samsung to bring some "potential improvements" to the update. There's speculation that some bugs in the firmware update reared their ugly heads, one of them being Wi-Fi connectivity issues. There's no indication as to when AT&T Galaxy S4 Active owners will be able to update to KitKat.

Reports gathered on April 21 that Korean Galaxy Note 3 Neo devices were being updated to Android 4.4, either over-the-air or through Samsung's Kies software. Additionally, the same update for the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition tablet has also been spotted, although in some smaller international markets. Both these point to a wider release in the near future.

Sure enough, a few days later, Verizon confirmed the Android 4.4 KitKat update was ready for the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition tablet. In addition to the latest version of the OS, the Note 10.1 also gains a full-screen viewing mode, a multi-user option, and faster multi-tasking. Several bugs have been fixed, and some performance enhancements have been made to S-Note. Verizon says the update is being pushed out in phases from around April 28.

Verizon also made available Android 4.4.2 KitKat for the Galaxy Note 3. Owners of the handset can download the update through Samsung Kies or the Verizon Software Assistant, with the update not yet available over-the-air.

If you own a Galaxy Note 2, here's some good news. Your Android 4.4.2 KitKat update appears to be ready, and is being sent out to international versions of the device right now. According to reports, French Note 2 phones are first on the list, with other countries to follow afterwards. It's an over-the-air update, so look out for a notification soon. Features are expected to be in-line with the Galaxy Note 3. 

Positive news for owners of slightly older Galaxy smartphones continued at the beginning of May, when Sprint announced it had an Android 4.4 update for the Galaxy S3 ready to be distributed. The support page doesn't provide any detail, saying only that it would be released on May 1.

However, for the international variant of the Galaxy S3 and S3 Mini 3G, they wont be so lucky. In a statement sent to ZDNet, Samsung confirmed that KitKat will not make its way to the two handsets. Samsung blames the handsets' hardware limitations, with both devices having 1GB of RAM. KitKat was released for the Galaxy S3, but only for variants with 2GB of RAM.

As for the Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Edition, a post on the official Android Google+ page confirmed the new version was sent out on November 26 2013.

A report published by SamMobile.com says Samsung is already working to integrate Android 4.4.3 into its phones. This is believed to be the next version of KitKat, and may be announced during Google I/O at the end of June. We shouldn't expect many major changes to the way the OS looks, but welcome bug fixes and performance improvements instead. Most major Samsung devices, from the Galaxy S3, S4, and S5 to the Note 2, Note 3 and the Galaxy Mega range should get the new software. If the software is being prepared, then it won't be released until Google has made the final code official, but any devices still waiting for an earlier build of Android 4.4, may end up getting 4.4.3 instead.

LG sends out KitKat to the G Flex

LG already officially announced the G Flex update for Korea, and has now confirmed its arrival in America. In an April 29 press release, LG stated that G Flex phones on AT&T should already be receiving their update, while Sprint phones will start seeing it over the coming week. Those with their flexible phone connected to T-Mobile will have to wait a little longer, but Android 4.4 should arrive around mid-May. Included in the update is LG's new Knock Code feature, along with an overall performance upgrade, and tweaks to the way the phone uses battery power, which should result in longer periods between charges.

As LG is responsible for the Nexus 5, we'd been expecting to hear something official about Android 4.4 KitKat for the LG G2 quite quickly, but we were forced to be patient. On December 15 2013 we got our first piece of official news. LG published a short press release on its blog, saying the Android 4.4 KitKat update for the G2 was, "In progress," in Korea.

T-Mobile USA became the first network to offer an update to Android 4.4 KitKat for the LG G2, confirming on its official update page the rollout would begin on March 3. Owners should expect to find all the KitKat improvements, along with an auto-brightness option, and general user experience improvements.

Sprint also confirmed it has started sending out Android 4.4 KitKat for the LG G2 on March 31. The update contains the new software version, plus a bug fix for Next Radio. The network warns it's a staggered release, and not all phones will receive notification of the new software at the same time.

At the beginning of April, LG pushed another two Android 4.4 KitKat updates live in Korea, this time for the G Pad tablet, and the Vu 3 smartphone/tablet hybrid. Rumors have also emerged LG is working on Android 4.4 for the Optimus G, its 2012 flagship Android phone. The news comes from the same French network where the mostly accurate reports of the first LG software updates originated.

According to a post made to LG's Italian Facebook page, the company is just about ready to release Android 4.4 KitKat for the Optimus L9 2, and the Optimus G Pro Lite, two of its smartphone range from 2013. There's also some more news regarding the Optimus G update, which is apparently now scheduled for between July and September, meaning owners of the original G must continue to have patience.

HTC updates continue with the Verizon HTC One Max

HTC talked about getting Android 4.4 on its devices almost immediately after the software was announced.

A tweet sent though the HTC USA Twitter account on November 13 2013 confirmed the update for the Google Play edition of the HTC One was with Google, and that it was responsible for pushing the update. A Google+ post from the official Android account ten days later confirmed the update was being sent out.

Subsequently, HTC also said Android 4.4 would be out for the Developer Edition and SIM-free HTC One before the end of November. It was right on the money too, as on November 29 it sent out another message saying Android 4.4 KitKat was out for unlocked One phones and the HTC One Developer Edition.

The official HTC USA Twitter account has informed us that HTC One smartphones connected to Sprint will be the first to receive an update to Android 4.4 KitKat. The new version began finding its way to Sprint devices on February 1 2014. Additionally, HTC confirmed Android 4.4 had reached the final "certification" stage with AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon.

On February 6, HTC announced the Verizon update was ready to go, and added Sense 5.5 would also be included. Verizon followed this up with documentation detailing all the alterations. Android 4.4.2 and Sense 5.5 will add a new lock screen process, a redesigned music and gallery app, revised and more detailed location services, plus a Do Not Disturb mode. At the moment, the update is only for the HTC One, but the HTC One Max is set to follow soon. Also, Verizon is investigating an Android 4.4 update for the Droid DNA along with the Virgin Mobile Desire 601.

It has taken more than a month, but HTC has finally got the Android update for the Droid DNA ready to go. Announced by the company's executive product manager on Twitter, Android 4.4.2 accompanied by Sense 5.5 will start making its way to the phone on April 24. As always with these updates, it may not reach your phone on the first day, but sit tight, it'll get there eventually.

Verizon announced on April 8 the HTC One Max was the next in-line for an Android 4.4 KitKat update. All the usual KitKat treats are included, along with a variety of other improvements and bug fixes. Verizon's official documentation talks about a "master switch" and three new profiles for location settings, along with a battery usage indicator for each app using them. Other changes include the notification light now indicating missed calls, emails and pending messages. 

In November 2013, HTC UK announced plans to have Android 4.4 and HTC Sense 5.5 for the One smartphone ready for the end of January 2014. In mid-January, it reiterated the point, saying it was working with local networks to make this happen. However, a short time after the update began, HTC halted the rollout on March 3, after some users complained of rapid battery drain following installation of the new software. On March 18, reports gathered that HTC had restarted the update process. A tweaked version of Android 4.4.2 was being sent out to UK and European HTC One phones, with a fix for an unspecified Wi-Fi issue.

Motorola Moto X and Moto G top of its list

Motorola confirmed the Moto X would be getting Android 4.4 via its website dedicated to software updates. The first Moto X's to get a taste were those connected to Verizon, and Motorola started a staggered rollout on November 19 2013. 

On February 19 2014, Motorola added Moto X smartphones connected to US Cellular to the list. According to the official update page, Android 4.4.2, along with some bug fixes, has been approved for release and should be with owners soon.

Motorola has confirmed Moto X phones connected to AT&T should expect a 4.4.2 KitKat update very soon. The new software promises to fix a few software bugs, including those which may have affected battery life, and one which could have caused problems with international roaming. The main new feature is support for photo printing via Google Cloud Print and HP ePrinters. 

Verizon's Droid phones aren't being left out. In December 2013, via a tweet, the network announced it had started updating the Droid Ultra, Droid Mini, and Droid Maxx to Android 4.4 KitKat. It said the new version would be delivered in stages. You can find a few details on the update here.

Meanwhile, Verizon updated the support documents for both the Motorola Droid Razr HD and Razr M with new information about the updates and changes Android 4.4.2 KitKat will bring. The soak test for both devices has finished, so it seems as if the update will go live soon. Some users have reported the update is live via OTA, with David Schuster of Motorola saying the update should be available to all Razr HD users by week's end.

Motorola confirmed in a blog post that U.S. versions of the Moto G would receive Android 4.4 updates from December 19 2013, and not early 2014 as originally promised. It said phones purchased through Amazon and Motorola would be first, while Moto G phones bought from networks will follow soon. In the UK, a post on Motorola's customer support page listed the improvements Android 4.4 KitKat would bring to the Moto G, and confirmed the update was being sent out.

Google, its Nexus hardware, and Glass

Android 4.4 KitKat slightly deviated from the tradition of previous versions, which all debuted on Nexus hardware, by deciding to also hit the Verizon Moto X at around the same time. Google confirmed Android 4.4 KitKat

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