Accommodation In New Orleans - Forget The iPhone 5S, Let's Talk About The iPhone 6

Source      - http://www.cnbc.com/
By            - Cadie Thompson
Category  - Accommodation In New Orleans
Posted By - Homewood Suites New Orleans

Accommodation In New Orleans

Sales of Apple's iPhone 5S have been impressive so far, but an iPhone 6 next year will likely give the company an even bigger boost, according to an analyst report. 

Apple's iPhone 6 will likely be larger than the current models, featuring a display screen that is 4.8-inches, which will prompt more people who are available for an upgrade to purchase the device, said Peter Misek, an equity analyst at Jefferies, in a note. The latest models are 4-inches. 

"Also the ecosystem is excited about the iPhone 6, which we feel is warranted. We think the stock will appreciate ahead of the iPhone 6 launch," he said in his note. 

Misek, who recently returned from a trip to Asia where he met with Apple's suppliers, increased his price target for Apple from $425 to $600 and increased his rating for the stock to buy from hold.

Previously, Misek feared Apple's gross margins would shrink because of increased costs from suppliers, but after his trip he said they have become more lenient on pricing. 

"In contrast to earlier this year when suppliers boasted that Apple would not be able to push them around anymore, they are now scrambling to be in Apple's supply chain as competitor ramps have not gone as planned," he said in his note. 

Misek estimates that there will be 85 million iPhones eligible for an upgrade by the time the iPhone 6 launches--which he expects to happen next September. In addition, the 5 million to 10 million customers who passed on the iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C cycle may upgrade at that time. 

"A poor iPhone 5s/5c cycle means a bigger upgrade opportunity for the iPhone 6," he wrote. The larger screen and the estimated number of current Apple users expected to upgrade to an iPhone 6 next year will boost the company in 2015, he said.

However, Misek notes that while Apple's iPhone 5S remains in demand, the company is actually cutting orders for the less-expensive iPhone 5C because of slow sales. He estimates the company is cutting orders from 30 million to between 15 million and 20 million. And he said Apple may cut the price of the device to boost sales.

Accommodation In New Orleans - PayPal Unveils New Gadget To Help Stores ID Shoppers

Source     - http://www.usatoday.com/
By            - Alistair Barr
Category   - Accommodation In New Orleans
Posted By  - Homewood Suites New Orleans

Accommodation In New Orleans

The holy grail of retail in the 21st century is to recognize shoppers as they walk into stores — like Amazon.com, the e-commerce giant, does when people visit its website.

David Marcus, president of PayPal, the online payment division of eBay, thinks he has the answer in Beacon, a new gadget the company unveiled on Monday at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco.

Beacon is a three-inch high stick that plugs into an electric wall socket and lets stores automatically identify and authenticate PayPal users as they walk in.

The gadget connects to stores' point-of-sale systems and shoppers' smartphones using a technology called Bluetooth Low Energy, letting consumers pay without launching an application or checking in — actions that are currently needed to pay with the PayPal app. Beacon also does not need GPS, or a cellular phone signal, to work.

This is the latest effort by PayPal to get consumers paying in physical stores with their phones rather than by swiping a credit or debit card. This has proved tough so far because swiping a card is so easy and quick.

"This is the one thing I'm most excited to launch since joining PayPal," said Marcus, who took over the online payment giant in the spring of 2012. "This is the first thing I think that is better than swiping a credit card."

PayPal is opening Beacon to third-party developers on Monday and hopes to encourage the creation of shopping apps that work with the new device in stores.

In the fourth quarter, PayPal plans to pilot the device with some large brands, followed by a "massive roll-out" in 2014, Marcus said.

Beacon will cost less than $100, although PayPal has not finalized the pricing, he noted.

PayPal designed the gadget itself. The project was code-named Blueberry, a reference to the new Bluetooth Low Energy technology and one of the engineers who led the project - Hasty Granberry, who joined PayPal through its 2011 acquisition of start-up Fig Card.

Accommodation In New Orleans - Brains Of Dying Rats Yield Clues About Near-Death Experiences

Source - http://www.npr.org/
By - ROB STEIN
Category - Accommodation In New Orleans
Posted By - Homewood Suites New Orleans

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A burst of brain activity just after the heart stops may be the cause of so-called near-death experiences, scientists say.

The insight comes from research involving nine lab rats whose brains were analyzed as they were being euthanized. Researchers discovered what appears to be a momentary increase in electrical activity in the brain associated with consciousness.

Although the experiment relied on animals, the results could apply to humans, too, the researchers say.

"Now science tells us the experiences really could be real for these individuals, and there is actually biological basis for that," says , of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, who led the research. "There's a scientific basis in their brain. It's all really happening in their brain during this very early period of cardiac arrest."

People regularly report having powerful experiences when they come close to dying. They often say they had an overwhelming feeling of peace and serenity. Frequently they describe being in a dark tunnel with a bright light at the end. Many report meeting long-lost loved ones.

"Many of them think it's evidence they actually went to heaven — perhaps even spoke with God," Borjigin says.

Borjigin wanted to find out if there was something happening in the brains of these people who had close calls with death that could help explain these experiences.

"If the near-death experience comes from the brain, there's got to be signs — some measurable activities of the brain — at the moment of cardiac arrest," she says.

But it's really hard to study this in people. So Borjigin and her colleagues decided to study rats. They implanted six electrodes into the brains of nine rats, gave the animals lethal injections and collected detailed measurements of brain activity as they died.

"We were just so astonished," Borjigan tells Shots.

Just after the rats' hearts stopped, there was a burst of brain activity. Their brain suddenly seemed to go into overdrive, showing all the hallmarks not only of consciousness but a kind of hyperconsciousness.

"We found continued and heightened activity," Borjigan says. "Measurable conscious activity is much, much higher after the heart stops — within the first 30 seconds."

Borjigin and her colleagues think they essentially discovered the neurological basis for near-death experiences. "That really just, just really blew our mind. ... That really is consistent with what patients report," she says.

Patients report that what they experienced felt more real than reality — so intense that it's often described as life-altering.

But Borjigan thinks the phenomenon is really just the brain going on hyperalert to survive while at the same time trying to make sense of all those neurons firing. It's sort of like a more intense version of dreaming.

"The near-death experience is perhaps is really the byproduct of the brain's attempt to save itself," she says.

Other scientists praised the research, which is in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"It shows us in considerable more detail than ever done before what happens when the brain is dying," says , a neuroscientist at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle.

"When you turn off a light switch, the light immediately goes from on to off," Koch says. "The brain doesn't immediately go off, but it shows a series of sort of complicated transitions."

But other scientists are unconvinced. They question how much rat brains can really tell us about humans. "I don't think that this particular study helps in any way to explain near-death experiences in human beings," says , who studies dying and near-death experiences at the Stony Brook University School of Medicine in New York.

"We have no evidence at all that the rats had any near-death experiences or whether animals can have any such type of experience, first of all," Parnia says.

Borjigin and Koch argue that rat brains and human brains are similar enough to think they probably work in similar ways when they're dying. But they acknowledge that the new research is just the first step in trying to understand the neurological basis of near-death experiences.

Accommodation In New Orleans - What Makes You So Tasty To Mosquitoes?

Source - http://www.usatoday.com/
By - Polly Davis Doig,
Category - Accommodation In New Orleans
Posted By - Homewood Suites New Orleans

Accommodation In New Orleans

Whether you're one of those people who gets eaten alive by mosquitoes depends on some pretty tangible factors, and Smithsonian Magazine runs down the reasons that make an estimated 20% of us especially delectable to those buzzing little bloodsuckers. 

Without ado: 

-- How much booze you drink: Turns out beer goggles aren't just for humans. According to one study, just one bottle of beer can increase your appeal in the insect world. The scientific reasons aren't exactly clear, so we're sticking with beer goggles. 

-- How pregnant you are: It's just one more discomfort for moms-to-be, but pregnant women get about twice as many bites as other people. That's probably because they're about a degree warmer, and exhale 21% more carbon dioxide. 

-- What blood type you are: Type O? You get bitten about twice as much as Type A, and Type B is somewhere in the middleground.

-- How much you exercise: Working out builds up lactic acid in your sweat and body heat, making you all the more tasty. 

-- What you're wearing: Skeeters are also looking for you, so wearing eye-catching colors such as black, navy, or red make you stand out, according to one entomologist.

Accommodation In New Orleans - Billionaire’s Money Woes Irk Business Owners

Source - http://www.news-register.net/
By - DYLAN LOVAN
Category - Accommodation In New Orleans
Posted By - Homewood Suites New Orleans

Accommodation In New Orleans

West Virginia billionaire Jim Justice made his fortune in coal and agriculture, and he is revered in his home state as the man who rescued the historic Greenbrier resort from bankruptcy.

Worth an estimated $1.7 billion, Justice is a prominent member of the tiny West Virginia community of Lewisburg, keeping a modest home and finding time to coach basketball at the local high school. He ranks No. 292 on a list of wealthiest Americans by Forbes magazine, which estimates that his personal wealth has grown by $500 million in the last year.

But his coal operations in Appalachia are struggling as business owners have filed at least nine lawsuits since late 2011 claiming they are not being paid for work at Justice mines. Still others say they are owed money but haven't yet sued.

"There are some angry, angry people," said Mark Miracle, the owner of Dynatech Electronics in Harlan, Ky. Miracle says he is owed about $150,000 for electrical mining supplies provided to three Justice mining companies more than a year ago. "They owe a lot of people a lot of money."

In an interview with The Associated Press, Justice acknowledged his companies have some debts but said they are emblematic of the coal industry's wider struggles.

"The coal business is terrible, it's just terrible and we're doing everything in our power to stay open and keep people working," Justice said. "We're one of the few (companies) that are even still working, trying to employ people and pay taxes."

Coal production in central Appalachia where Justice operates dozens of mines is expected to tumble from 235 million tons mined in 2008 to about 139 million tons by 2015, a decline of more than 40 percent, according to government numbers.

The hard times have led to sluggish business in Harlan and nearby counties, where Justice is being sued by electric, repair and maintenance companies that specialize in mine work.

An Associated Press review of court records found that since the beginning of 2012, there have been at least five lawsuits - one in federal court - that seek unpaid bills in the three Kentucky counties where Justice has mining operations. Two more actions in Tennessee federal court and two in Wise County, Va., filed since August of 2011 also sought unpaid bills or debts owed as part of a contract. Four of those nine legal claims, which in total exceed $1 million in alleged debts, have been settled for undisclosed amounts.

Aside from those debt claims, a handful of other pending lawsuits seek to settle disputes over Justice's acquisition of mining lands in Kentucky and elsewhere.

Miracle and other business owners in southeastern Kentucky said when they made efforts to collect what they were owed by contacting the Justice company's home office in Roanoke, Va., they were repeatedly delayed. Miracle, who sells specialized mining equipment and employs five people, said the debts prevented him from replenishing his inventory, harming future sales. He said his attorney is in the process of filing a lawsuit.

"When you do business with a billionaire, you think you are going to get paid," said Lee Kersey, owner of M&D Electrical Supply in Hazard. Kersey said Justice's companies owe him about $240,000 for work dating back to January 2012, but he has not filed a suit. Kersey, who has about eight employees, said he received a check for $28,000 in February.

Timothy Bates, a lawyer in Hindman, Ky., sued Justice subsidiary Kentucky Fuel Corporation last year for about $16,000. His client, who did some excavating work, received payment after the suit was filed.

Referring to the other lawsuits, Bates said: "There's definitely a pattern, I'll say that."

Justice said he isn't deeply involved in the day-to-day operations of his coal companies, and complaints about debts have reached him "on a limited basis." But he said he can "absolutely promise" that outstanding debts will be paid.

"Everybody should be really confident they're going to get paid," he said.

Justice offered a dire outlook on the future of coal, as demand in the U.S. slumps and cheap natural gas entices electric utilities.

"You're in a time when the world economies are really struggling, our economy is really struggling, utilities are converting to natural gas, and you may be witnessing the death of the coal industry," Justice said.

Accommodation In New Orleans - Samsung Sells Over 10 Million Galaxy S4 Smartphones In First Month

Source - http://www.pcworld.com/
By - John Ribeiro
Category - Accommodation In New Orleans
Posted By - Homewood Suites New Orleans

Accommodation In New Orleans

Samsung Electronics has reported global channel sales of over 10 million units of the Galaxy S4 in less than a month after its global launch.

The new smartphone from the Samsung stable has outstripped its predecessors in first-month sales.

The GALAXY S III reached the 10 million mark 50 days after its launch in 2012, while the GALAXY S II took five months and the GALAXY S seven months to reach the milestone, Samsung said.

The device is now available in over 110 countries and will gradually be rolled out to a total of 155 countries in tandem with partners, Samsung said Thursday.

The Galaxy S4 features a 5-inch full HD Super AMOLED display with 441 pixels per inch, and a dual camera function that allows simultaneous use of both front and rear cameras, besides software such as Air View and  Air Gesture that aim to simplify interaction with the phone including through hand gestures.

Samsung is also planning to introduce more color variations of the device. In addition to the currently available White Mist and Black Forest, new color iterations will be added this summer, including Blue Arctic and Red Aurora, followed by Purple Mirage and Brown Autumn, the company said.

The South Korean vendor had a 30.8 percent share of the smartphone market in the first quarter to Apple's 18.2 percent, research firm Gartner said.

Samsung is also making profits from its Android smartphone sales, and captured a 95 percent share of all Android smartphone profits in the first quarter, research firm Strategy Analytics said earlier this month. Global Android smartphone profits reached US$5 billion in total during the first quarter of 2013, and accounted for 43 percent share of the entire smartphone industry's operating profits, it added.

The success of the Galaxy S4 has not gone unnoticed by its competitors. Apple has filed to a court in California that the smartphone infringes on five of its patents. The company aims to add the Galaxy S4 to an ongoing case involving Apple and Samsung being heard in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division.

Accommodation In New Orleans - Europe Risks 'Endless Depression' in Pursuit of Austerity

Source - http://www.cnbc.com/
By - Katy Barnato
Category - Accommodation In New Orleans
Posted By - Homewood Suites New Orleans

Accommodation In New Orleans

One of the U.K.'s largest asset managers has warned that the continued focus on austerity in Europe could lead to "almost endless depression" for the region.

The comments come as George Soros and the U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew have urged Europe's leaders to do more to boost growth after Portugal's top court rejected some of the country's austerity measures, on which its bailout depends.

(Read More: Portugal Fires Warnings Shot at Austerity)

"The prospects for GDP [gross domestic product] recovery in the euro zone in 2013 or 2014 are diminishing by the month," John Greenwood, chief economist at U.K. asset manager Invesco Perpetual wrote in his quarterly outlook on Tuesday.

"My forecast is for real GDP growth of -0.2 percent, compared with an estimated -0.5 percent in 2012. In short, there will be no meaningful recovery in 2013, and there is a risk of the downturn extending into 2014."

Greenwood added that the precedent set by Cyprus's creditor-funded 10 billion euro ($13 billion) bailout meant that euro zone banks will opt to be far more conservative with lending in the future, leading to extended deleveraging.

"In view of this outcome, it is clear that the euro area orthodoxy implies further austerity and almost endless depression," he said.

On Monday, Jack Lew, the newly installed U.S. Treasury secretary, urged European officials to adopt more growth-friendly policies. His comments echoed those of his predecessor, Timothy Geithner, who repeatedly called on Europe to ease up on austerity.

"We have an immense stake in Europe's health and stability," Lew said at a joint press conference with European officials. "I was particularly interested in our European partners' plans to strengthen sources of demand at a time of rising unemployment."

(Read More: In Effort to 'Rebalance,' Europe Sticks to Austerity)

Greenwood said the euro zone could also face deflation in the future, particularly in peripheral countries, due to low money and credit growth, high rates of unemployment and spare economic capacity.

"The longer term danger is a 'Japanization' of Europe, as growth stalls and deflation takes hold," he said.

Greece entered into deflation for the first time in 45 years in March, according to data it posted on Tuesday. Consumer prices fell 0.2 percent year-on-year in Greece's first month of deflation since 1968.

Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho warned this weekend that he will still pursue further spending cuts, despite the Constitutional Court ruling on Friday that wage and pension cuts to public sector workers were unlawful.

However, analysts said that fiscal austerity is failing to help the country.

"Portugal's 2011 bailout program went off track some time ago. If it were not for the troika's leniency and the dramatic rally in Portuguese debt, the program would have already failed by now," Nick Spiro of Spiro Sovereign Strategy told CNBC.

Accommodation In New Orleans - U.S Ties Mexico, 0-0, In World Cup Qualifier — And U.S. Is Happy

Source - http://www.latimes.com/
By - Press Release
Category - Accommodation In New Orleans
Posted By - Homewood Suites New Orleans

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Officially the game ended in a tie. But try telling that to the U.S. and Mexico, which fought to a scoreless draw in a World Cup qualifying match that left both teams heading in different directions.

For the U.S., Tuesday's result felt like a win — especially since it came at a sold-out Estadio Azteca, a place where the Americans have never won a World Cup qualifier. Plus it leaves the U.S. in third place three games into the six-nation, 10-game qualifying tournament for Brazil 2014.

For Mexico, meanwhile, the tie was as humiliating as a loss. El Tri has played two World Cup qualifiers in Azteca in the last two months and not only is it still looking for its first win, it's still looking for its first goal — this despite the fact it outshot the U.S., 17-1.

So for the second time in as many months, Mexico's fans booed their team off the field after it fell to fifth in a qualifying tournament in which only three teams are guaranteed berths in Brazil.

"It's a tie," said U.S. Coach Juergen Klinsmann, who was in a celebratory mood nonetheless. "We came here, we wanted to win this game. But obviously we're very pleased with this result.

"Mexico gave us everything they had. Put us under a lot of pressure. It was an unbelievable team effort. But this group is ready for those challenges."

And it truly was a team effort, especially on the back line where Omar Gonzalez and Matt Besler — playing in a World Cup qualifier for the first time — led a staunch defensive effort that bent several times but never broke.

The U.S. strategy was fairly simple: Make things difficult for Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez, Mexico's high-scoring striker. And the Americans accomplished that in part by pushing Mexico's wingers wide and by double-teaming Hernandez in the middle, pounding him, once even knocking him down in the box — a foul that the assistant referee appeared to signal against U.S. midfielder Michael Bradley.

But after frantically waving his flag and calling for a penalty kick, the assistant referee was ignored by Guatemalan official Walter Lopez, who ordered play to continue. It was a scenario that repeated itself in the 81st minute after Javier Aquino was knocked hard to the ground deep in the box.

Despite frantic protests from the Mexicans, Lopez did not call that penalty either.

Which isn't to say Mexico — or Chicharito — didn't have their chances. Hernandez narrowly missed on a header in the 21st minute and came even closer on a diving shot at the near post eight minutes later.

And then late in the second half, a 10-yard volley from Jesus Zavala was deflected wide by one of a trio of U.S. defenders, the first shot of a wild barrage by Mexico over the final 20 minutes that tested — but never beat — U.S. keeper Brad Guzan.

The U.S., meanwhile, had just one shot all night and had just one decent scoring opportunity — in the 15th minute when Geoff Cameron missed inches wide at the far post. Not that it would have counted anyway since Lopez whistled him for a foul.

So while the U.S. goes home with a tie that feels like a win, Mexico is left to lick its wounds — and possibly begin searching for a new coach.

Although Mexico has yet to lose in World Cup qualifying, winning all six of its matches in the third round last year and tying three times this year in the fourth, Coach Jose Manuel de la Torre's job is rumored to be in jeopardy.