Tech --BlackBerry

Analysts are bullish on Research In Motion's upcoming Wireless Enterprise Symposium, where the company is expected to unveil OS 6.0 for its BlackBerry smartphones, browser demos and updates on upcoming smartphones such as the BlackBerry 9670. RIM is the leading smartphone maker, with 42 percent of the market, followed by Apple's iPhone at 25 percent and Microsoft Windows and Google Android at around 15 percent and 9 percent, respectively. But the company has slide a bit, shipping 10.5 million devices in the most recent quarter compared to the 11 million analysts expected. RIM's WES conference kicks off April 26 in Orlando, Fla., where the company is geared to make product announcements designed to assuage investors' fears of any downslide. Among the new points, BroadPoint Amtech analyst Mark McKechnie is expecting some noise about the BlackBerry OS 6.0, screenshots, which were published by Boy Genius Report. The blog noted the OS 6.0 boasts multitouch capability, tab switching and new favorites:

"Something big for OS 6.0 is the homescreen. While we didn't see any sort of widget support, it appears RIM has made the home screen completely customizable with pages. You can have your applications on the main page, then slide left or right to another page with different applications and browse that way." This touch user experience, a departure from the keyboard/e-mail driven mode BlackBerry enterprise users are accustomed to, is something consumers have become comfortable with from Apple's iPhone and Android smartphones, such as the Motorola Droid or Google Nexus One. BGR said the new OS 6.0 is expected in June or July, but a taste could come this week at WES. This could accompany demos for the new BlackBerry browser, which is allegedly three times more efficient for bandwidth than Apple or Android browser and could be ready in July or August.  "The UI is CRITICAL in our opinion to providing easy access to RIM's App World, which we view as rich but under-appreciated partly due to its heavy 'business' positioning and challenging user interface," McKechnie wrote in his April 21 research note. RIM could also unveil "major content announcements," inking deals with application providers for such areas as music, gaming, mapping and location, movies, and e-commerce. "While we view the often quoted "number of apps" metrics as a poor indicator given that five killer apps could beat 10,000 losers, RIM's apps store boasts 6,000 apps versus Apple's at 185,000-plus and Android at 38,000-plus," McKechnie said. No. 1 U.S. carrier Verizon Wireless is the premier carrier of RIM BlackBerry devices, but McKechnie said unit shipments to Verizon fell from 2 million in November to less than 400,000 in February. This was likely due to Verizon's well-marketed push of the Google Android-based Droid, which sold more than 1 million units in its first 2.5 months. This has reduced RIM's deep reliance on Verizon and could also take the focus off of "when does the iPhone come to VZ (we think early 2011)," McKechnie said, adding that RIM should benefit from an increased push by AT&T for RIM's products in a "post iPhone" exclusive environment.  Be that as it may, the analyst said RIM will sell 10 million smartphones through Verizon's channel in 2011 and could grow that number to 13 million in 2012 if the iPhone somehow doesn't appear on Verizon's network. Meanwhile, Reuters claims RIM could unveil new handsets at WES, including the high-end BlackBerry 9670. The device, which BGR offers a peek at here, may use the BlackBerry 0S 6.0.

Economic ----China's Housing Market Has Exhibited Slow Down Signal?

BEIJING—China's red-hot housing market shows signs of cooling, according to government data, news that is likely to encourage Chinese leaders who face mounting political pressure from urban residents unable to afford new homes.
Property prices are still going up: They were 10.7% higher than a year earlier in February, the National Bureau of Statistics said, even as prices of food and other daily necessities are also rising. The consumer-price index was up 2.7% in February from a year earlier, the bureau said Thursday, the fastest rise in more than a year.
However, sales of residential properties are now easing from growth rates of more than 50% late last year, with the data showing an increase of 37% in the first two months of 2010. Figures compiled by real-estate consultancy Soufun, which counts transactions in 30 major cities, show an even sharper slowdown at the beginning of the year: Housing-sales volume was down 49% in February from January, which in turn was down 46% from December.

Falling transactions indicate that high prices and tighter financing are deterring more people in major cities from taking the plunge into what many think is a frothy market.
People getting pushed out of the housing market include Jiang Yun, a 38-year-old marketing executive in Beijing. Since his son was born three years ago, and his parents moved in to help take care of him, his current 86-square-meter (925-square-foot) place in eastern Beijing has seemed quite cramped. But Mr. Jiang can't find the money to buy a new and bigger apartment at today's prices.
"I don't want to put such a big financial burden on our family just to buy a home," he said. "It's not exaggerating to say that buying a home can kill a middle-class family in Beijing."
The surge in property sales and construction has been one of the biggest supports for China's economic recovery over the past year. But the accompanying jump in housing prices has become a political headache for China's leaders. It has been one of the key issues at this week's annual meeting of the National People's Congress, the legislature.


Premier Wen Jiabao and other officials have repeatedly said the government plans to tackle the problems in the housing market by boosting the supply of subsidized housing and cracking down on speculative demand.
Government policies aimed at deterring speculators now require a 40% down payment for second homes, compared with 30% for first-time mortgage seekers. Banks are facing government pressure to keep lending under control, and some have raised mortgage rates in recent months.
Mr. Jiang says those changes have helped to turn buying a new home from a very expensive proposition to a simply unaffordable one for him.
Government officials are still moving cautiously, haunted by the memory of what many now think was an overly aggressive crackdown on a real-estate boom in 2008 that ended up shutting down the market for months.
"There is no need to issue new policies now," as officials are still evaluating the effects of measures already taken, deputy central bank governor Su Ning said Monday. This week's legislative session hasn't produced any new policies on housing.
"If they did feel things were getting hot right now they could intervene immediately," said Andy Rothman, China strategist for brokerage CLSA. "I see no indication at all that they want to crash the market."
Some property analysts do expect prices to ease later this year, as the burst of new housing that developers started last year is finished and comes on the market.
"We anticipate that around the middle of this year we could see a potential turning point from more of a seller's market to more of a buyer's market," said Bei Fu, an associate director at Standard & Poor's.
That timing could suit potential home buyers like Qu Lei, a 28-year-old who has started his own consulting company. He has been driving around Beijing looking at housing since November, but has been put off by what he calls the "crazy" prices being asked. "I will wait to May to see whether it's time to buy," he said.
Mr. Qu still thinks housing prices in China are headed up over the long term. That view is widespread—one of the reasons why real estate is now the preferred investment for the Chinese upper classes. Even the government has a hard time arguing with it.
"I personally think that for the next 20 years there will be great pressure on China's housing prices to rise, since these years will be a period of rapid urbanization and industrialization. The demand is pretty big and the supply of land is limited," housing minister Jiang Weixin said Monday.
—Sue Feng
contributed to this article.

NBA Final Game --- Kobe vs James, 24 VS 23 ? Can It Happen?

In NBA final game, many basketball fans want to watch 23 vs 24, but can it happen this season?
No matter what kinds of estimations you have used, it still is in doubt.

When we date back to last season, we did try to list the N possible probabilities--24 vs 23 for final game. However, we were very disappointed. At the beginning of this season, we listed all possible outcomes who is to whom in final game, finally, we have the answer----still unknown!

All NBA fans are looking forward and hope 24 vs 23. For both numbers, which one is in the other front, it seems representing the hope and wish. Someone believes James vs Kobe, and other fans even believe Kobe is even lagged in some sense, but it is not important any more. What is important for us is blessing and wishing. Even though James would get champion in the final, we still are looking forward that it is the game between 23 and 24, in other word, between James and Kobe. After all, all NBA fans have not had the chance to watch 23 PK 24.

We hope that the lucky is for all NBA FANS this season!