Amazon’s set-top Apple TV competitor looks primed for an April 2 launch

This year has been a busy one for Amazon, so far. The media giant has already unveiled more original content for its Amazon Instant Video service, and teased at a Chromecast-esque dongle in the works. Today, the company announced an invitation to an "Update" on its video business set for April 2nd, which many predict will offer the unveiling of its answer to the Apple TV and Roku devices — Amazon's very own set-top box.

The device has been highly anticipated since Amazon first mentioned news of its development just over a year ago. And in less than a week, the world may finally be able see what the company has spent all this time developing.

The set-top box, initially slated for release this month, is positioned to compete directly with Roku, Google's Chromecast dongle, and Apple TV, which secured its spot in the living room streaming hierarchy with $1 billion in revenue last year.

Similar to Roku's game plan, revealed earlier this month, Amazon appears to have a chosen a dual-device strategy for taking on its rivals — rather than betting on either the dongle or the bulkier set-top box, the company chose to develop both, and allow its customers to choose their preferred streaming method. Google and Apple acolytes currently have only one choice.

Amazon has indicated that its box will have third-party app compatibility for services such as Netflix and Hulu Plus, possibly nabbing more than just its own Amazon Instant Video users. The box will likely come with its own remote control, but Amazon could also just let users launch apps from mobile devices by including some form of send-to-screen technology, effectively making any tablet or smartphone a potential remote.

Many of these questions won't have definitive answers until (we hope) April 2 — a short wait considering the preceding year's rumors and pushed back release dates. Stay tuned as we cover the press release in detail next week.
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Rosberg quickest in Malaysia practice

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg beat Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen to set fastest time in second practice at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel was third as the fastest three cars were split by just 0.061 seconds.

Rosberg's team-mate Lewis Hamilton was fourth from Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, both of them within 0.2secs of Rosberg.

Williams' Felipe Massa was sixth, from Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo and McLaren's Jenson Button.

The second Williams of Valtteri Bottas and Force India's Nico Hulkenberg completed the top 10, from Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne and McLaren's Kevin Magnussen.

Rosberg was just 0.035secs quicker than Raikkonen, while Vettel's lap was impressive as it came on the second lap on the faster 'medium' tyres.

"We are more or less there in terms of pace, which is very good news," said Vettel. "For everything else we have to be patient. It is still early days, we still have a lot of problems we need to solve.
"But when we get the package together we seem to be on the right page, so I'm looking forward to tomorrow and Sunday."

BBC F1 analyst Allan McNish pointed out that Hamilton and Alonso both appeared to have more potential than they showed.

"They were both 0.5secs off the pace in the first sector of the lap," McNish said. "If they put a lap together, they look like they have more in their cars than their team-mates."

"We're just focusing on ourselves," said Hamilton. "You're guess is as good as mine [how everyone stands]. The car feels quite good. On the longer run it is pretty tough but I think everyone is in the same boat."

McNish added that he believed Mercedes may face a threat from Red Bull.

"For me, it's very close and competitive on single-lap performance and very close on the long runs. This is not a foregone conclusion. Mercedes look very good, and we don't know how much fuel they had on board to set those times, but Vettel and Red Bull are looking a lot more competitive than they did in Melbourne," he said.

An analysis of the times when the teams were doing race preparation suggests Mercedes have an advantage over Red Bull of about 0.4secs a lap, with Ferrari and Force India another 0.6secs further adrift.

Williams do not appear as competitive as they did in Australia two weeks ago and Button said McLaren were struggling.

The teams had to make changes to their cars to cope with the high ambient temperatures in tropical Malaysia - Mercedes and Ferrari both had increased cooling in their engine covers.

McLaren have a new front nose to their car, with a higher top to the bodywork behind the forward 'anteater' section, aimed at getting more airflow under the car and increasing downforce.
However, the change did not appear to deliver the half-second improvement chairman Ron Dennis had predicted in Australia.

Magnussen, who finished a sensational second to Rosberg in his debut race in Australia two weeks ago, had a difficult day.

His car ground to a halt in the first session when a sensor put the car into 'limp mode' to protect the engine. And in the second session he complained of not being able to get the power down and the team made changes to both the front suspension and brakes.

The Dane's problems paled compared to those of Lotus, however.

Still trying to catch up after a late start to pre-season testing, the car's reliability is poor.

Pastor Maldonado failed to set a time in either of the sessions following an engine problem and while Romain Grosjean managed 14 laps in the second session, he was 2.6 seconds off the pace and ended his day early when the car ground to a halt out on the track.
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Man hops on subway track to grab cell phone, survives being run over by train

Detailed by the local CBS affiliate in New York this week, an unidentified man at the East 105th Street L train station in NYC dropped his cell phone onto the track around 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday and decided that it was too valuable to leave on the track. According to the account from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the man jumped down onto the subway track in order to recover his phone. Unfortunately, the man wasn't able to get off the track in time as the L train rapidly approached the station.

The man chose to lie down flat within the gap between tracks as the L train came to a screeching halt on top of him. Amazingly, the man was able to wiggle out from under the train after it came to a complete stop. Outdoor tracks, like the station at 105th Street, have a larger amount of space on the tracks compared to indoor stations around New York City. According to authorities, the FDNY sent medics to the scene, but the man has already run away from the platform, presumably unharmed, when they arrived. The L train resumed service shortly after the incident.



Speaking about the man's decision to jump onto the subway track, MTA spokesperson Kevin Ortiz told CBS New York "We can't say it enough. You should never, ever under any circumstances go onto the tracks to retrieve anything. Your life is certainly much more important than a cellphone…In essence, those trains can come at you very quickly. What most people don't understand is that often it's very difficult to climb back onto the platform from the tracks."

Due to the 53 deaths that were attributed to NYC subway trains last year, the MTA distributed a PSA video during December 2013 that warns NYC residents and visitors about the danger of jumping down onto the tracks. In the video shown below, a man hops onto the track to retrieve his iPhone, but can't muster the leverage to lift himself off the track before the train races into the station.
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Wall Street thinks Candy Crush’s time is already running out

King Digital Entertainment, makers of Candy Crush Saga, began life as a publicly-traded company earlier today, but it's not off to a great start on the New York Stock Exchange. While the company was initially priced at $22.50 per share, it opened at roughly $20.

According to Saxo Bank's Peter Garnry, time is of the essence for King. "King Digital is putting all its energy into finding the next game that can leave the company less reliant on cash-generator Candy Crush," said Garnry in a report. "Given what we have seen with other mobile games' trajectory in engagement, time is not King Digital's best friend."

Keep in mind that, during the last three months of 2013, Candy Crush accounted for roughly 80 percent of King's revenue. Though Candy Crush is a free download, King makes money off of in-game microtransactions. As such, investors are wary that King is simply relying on Candy Crush to ride the Wall Street wave, much like Zynga did with FarmVille back in 2011. Zynga suffered for it, shares have plunged by more than half since its initial public offering (IPO) back in 2011.

However, King CEO Ricardo Zacconi told CNBC that the company is focused on not having to solely rely on Candy Crush. "What we want to achieve is not to find another Candy Crush. That's not what we are here for," said Zacconi. "What we are here for is to build a portfolio of games. We want to build a network of players, of loyal players, who play out portfolio of games."

Also downplaying the lower-than-expected IPO is Rapid Ratings CEO James Gellert, who told Bloomberg that King is flexible enough to withstand the initial disappointment. "The market is focusing on whether Candy Crush can be replicated and the fact that they've had declining revenue over the past few quarters," said Gellert. "The company is really quite solid and is run in an efficient way that makes it well-positioned to be nimble."

At this point, it's to be determined whether King will avoid or suffer Zynga's similar fate.

(Image courtesy of Bloomberg)
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Photo Of The Day! Yvonne Nelson Dazzles In New pictures

We can't get enough of the stunning actress. Seems like her beauty increases everyday.

One of Ghanna's most beautiful actress today posted beautiful pictures of herself on instagram. The beautiful actress today posted these Sexy, beautiful pictures of herself.. She looks different but in good way.

 What do you think about the pictures?
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Good News Flight MH370: 'Objects seen' in new search area

This image of one the objects spotted was taken by a journalist on board the New Zealand plane.

A plane has spotted "objects" in the new area of the Indian Ocean being searched for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, Australian officials say.

The sightings would need confirmation by ship, which is not expected until tomorrow, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) said.

Earlier it was announced the search would now focus on an area 1,100km (700 miles) north-east of the previous zone.

The Beijing-bound airliner disappeared on 8 March with 239 people on board.

The identity of the objects - spotted by a Royal New Zealand Air Force Orion - were "to be established", Amsa said.

The crew said they had spotted 11 unidentified objects, the BBC's Phil Mercer reports from the western Australian city of Perth.

The images hold out the prospect of up-to-date information, as opposed to satellite images which are invariably days out of date by the time they are seen by investigators, our correspondent adds.

Earlier, the Australian and Malaysian governments said the focus on the new search area was based on further analysis of radar data that showed the plane had been travelling faster, thus burning more fuel.

Search efforts had until Friday morning focused on an area some 2,500km (1,550 miles) to the south-west of the Australian city of Perth.

A Malaysian delegation met relatives of those on board MH370 in Beijing

Pearce airbase in western Australia has become a focus of the search

'Still consistent'

Malaysian officials have concluded that, based on satellite data, the missing plane flew into the sea somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean. So far no trace of it has been found.

Using satellite images, several nations have identified objects floating in the sea in that search area, but these have not been located and there is no evidence that they are related to the plane.

Acting Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said that the fact that the search area had moved did not discount the earlier satellite images of possible debris further south.

"Because of ocean drift, this new search area could still be consistent with the potential objects identified by various satellite images over the past week," Mr Hishammuddin said.

Vast expanse

Mystery still surrounds the fate of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 which vanished from civilian radar screens less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur.

The reason why the airliner veered off course and lost contact with air traffic controllers continues to baffle experts.

The remote and vast expanse of ocean has turned the search into a major challenge.

Some relatives of the flight's 153 Chinese passengers have refused to accept the Malaysian account of events and have accused officials of withholding information.

Earlier, China's state news agency Xinhua said that Chinese insurance firms had begun to offer payouts to the relatives.

On Thursday, Malaysia Airlines took out a full-page condolence advertisement in the New Straits Times, saying: "Our sincerest condolences go out to the loved ones of the 239 passengers, friends and colleagues. Words alone cannot express our enormous sorrow and pain."
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More than just a smiley face: 5 things you should know about emojis

You know those smiley faces you text to your friends on your phone? Those are called emojis. Whether you think they're a nuisance or a great way to spruce up a conversation, emoji have become ingrained into texting and social media. You can have conversations while punctuating them with colorful images, such as planes and a pig's snout. However, recent stories have placed the light squarely on emoji once more, so here are five things you might not know about the modern-day lingua franca.

1. Emojis are about to get more diverse

Sure, emoji are usually associated with yellow faces that express various emotions, but that doesn't mean there aren't those who wish for a more ethnically-diverse set of faces. America's lovechild Miley Cyrus and guy-who-makes-Kim-Possible-ask-about-the-sitch Tahj Mowry seem to think so, and so did MTV Act contributor Joey Parker. Parker sent an email to Apple CEO Tim Cook about whether Apple would issue a more diverse set of emoji.

Cook forwarded the email to Apple vice president of worldwide corporate communications Katie Cotton, who agreed with Parker. "There needs to be more diversity in the emoji character set," wrote Cotton in the email response, "and we have been working closely with the Unicode Consortium in an effort to update the [Unicode] standard." The Unicode standard is what the emoji are based on in order for them to be shown across various platforms, while the Unicode Consortium 

Whether or not you think diverse emoji should be a thing doesn't seem to be up for debate for Apple, though you're more than welcome to chime in. Just make sure to keep it classy.

2. There are White House petitions for a hot dog emoji

Image via Andy Post Productions
While we can sit back and enjoy the fact that there is such a thing as an emoji for soup, there currently isn't one for the American hot dog. Laura Ustick, the Patriot and Good Samaritan that she is, wants to change that by petitioning President Barack Obama and the father of emoji, Shigetaka Kurita, for the inclusion of hot dogs while also forming the Hot Dog Emoji Coalition. It recently added competitive eater Patrick "Deep Dish" Bertoletti to its ranks.

Co-founder of the Unicode Consortium, Mark Davis, thinks the request is just a bit high-maintenance. "The problem with the hot dog emoji," said Davis to The Wall Street Journal, "is, what do you then want with the hot dog? Would we do one with ketchup or without?" While Davis doesn't think there will be a hot dog emoji anytime soon, Kurita still supports Ustick's efforts. "In Japan, we have onigiri [rice ball] emoji, so why not hot dogs?"

3. You can buy slippers with emojis on them

Image via Moda Operandi
If you've ever wanted to just wear the emoji you use instead of simply seeing them on a screen, then you'll be glad to know that online boutique Moda Operandi has officially jumped the shark and begun to offer slippers embroidered with emoji.

Called M'oticons (we're not kidding), the line is a collaboration between luxury lifestyle brand Del Toro and designer label Edie Parker. The line features the poo emoji (#theshit), lipstick and high heel emoji (#highmaintenance), dancing and castle emoji (#dancingqueens), the queen and bee emoji (#queenbee), and many more.

There is a price to pay for your attempts at cultural relevance, however: $340 for the slippers and $1,600 for the clutches. To that, we say: #whybother.

4. Shigetaka Kurita is the guy who created emoji

This is Shigetaka Kurita, the man who created emoji.
As previously mentioned, Shigetaka Kurita is the person people who use and enjoy emoji should probably be thankful for. Designer of the first emojis for cellphones, Kurita first created emoji while he was a member of a team that, at the time, was preparing for the debut of NTT Docomo's i-mode, the world's first mobile Internet system. The debut was set for February 1999.

Inspired by manga, Chinese characters and street signs, Kurita wanted to convey emotions and thoughts without having the symbols polarize those who would see them. Eventually, Kurita came up with 176 12×12 images that would eventually be the foundation for emoji everywhere. Domo arigatou gozaimasu, Kurita-san.

5. You can emoji-fy headlines from The Wall Street Journal

You think we're joking, don't you?
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