The Korea Herald

Apple offers music streaming service, iTunes Radio

Jun 11, 2013

Apple unveiled a long-expected Internet radio service called iTunes Radio on Monday and said it will personalize listeners' music based on what they've listened to and what they've purchased on iTunes.Apple said iTunes Radio will be available this year in the U.S. It will be free with advertisements included, although subscribers of Apple's iTunes Match music-storage service will get a commercial-free version. That service costs $25 a year.In unveiling the service at its Worldwide Developers Con
IEA: Energy emissions rose to record high in 2012

Jun 11, 2013

The world's energy-related carbon dioxide emissions rose 1.4 percent in 2012 to a record high of 31.6 billion tons, even though the U.S. posted its lowest emissions since the mid-1990s, the International Energy Agency said Monday.In its annual World Energy Outlook report, the Paris-based IEA said top carbon polluter China had the largest emissions growth last year, up 300 million tons, or 3.8 percent, from 2011. Still, the increase was among the lowest seen in a decade as China continues to inve
S&P boosts outlook for U.S. gov't's long-term debt

Jun 11, 2013

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services upgraded its outlook Monday for the U.S. government's long-term debt. S&P cited the government's strengthened finances, a recovering U.S. economy and some easing of Washington's political gridlock.The credit rating service raised its outlook to “Stable” from “Negative,” which means it's less likely to downgrade U.S. debt in the near future.S&P also reaffirmed the government's “AA+” long-term and “A-1+” short-term unsolicited sovereign credit ratings. The long-t
Apple revamps look of iPhone, iPad software

Jun 11, 2013

SAN FRANCISCO -- Apple is throwing out most of the real-world graphical cues from its iPhone and iPad software in what it calls the biggest update since the iPhone's launch in 2007. The new operating system, called iOS 7, strives for a clean, simple, translucent look. Apple is redesigning all its applications and icons to conform to the new look, driven by long-time hardware design chief Jony Ive. Apple demonstrated the new software at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisc
Smartphone life shakes up website world

Jun 10, 2013

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) ― Internet giants from Google and Facebook to Yahoo and Zynga are scrambling to adapt to an online world where people reach for smartphones or tablets instead of traditional computers.Social games pioneer Zynga, which rose to stardom making titles played at Facebook’s website, is cutting nearly a fifth of its staff as part of a move to focus on titles for mobile gadgets.After taking over as chief executive at Yahoo last year, former Google executive Marissa Mayer laid out a t
Google is said to be acquiring Waze for $1.1b

Jun 10, 2013

Google Inc. has agreed to acquire map-software provider Waze Inc. for about $1.1 billion, a person with knowledge of the deal said, seeking to keep competitors such as Facebook Inc. from eroding its lead in mobile-navigation programs. The deal for Waze, based in Palo Alto, California, may be announced as early as tomorrow, said the person, who asked not to be named because the plans are private. As consumers shift toward smartphones and tablets and away from personal computers, Facebook and Goog
China’s leaders face test of growth resolve after May slowdown

Jun 10, 2013

China’s new leaders face a test of their resolve to forgo short-term stimulus for slower, more-sustainable growth after May trade, inflation and lending data trailed estimates, signaling weaker global and domestic demand. Industrial production rose a less-than-forecast 9.2 percent from a year earlier and factory-gate prices fell for a 15th month, National Bureau of Statistics data showed Sunday in Beijing. Export gains were at a 10-month low and imports dropped after a crackdown on fake trade in
Japanese economy heats up in Q1

Jun 10, 2013

Country revises growth to 4.1% in first quarter in boost for Abenomics
Wal-Mart unveils $15 billion share buyback program

Jun 9, 2013

NEW YORK (AFP) ― U.S. retail behemoth Wal-Mart on Friday announced a $15 billion share repurchase program, citing the continued benefits of the company’s strong cash flow.Wal-Mart Stores said the new share repurchase plan replaces a previous $15 billion share repurchase plan announced in 2011.Wal-Mart said the 2011 share repurchase authorization has approximately $712 million remaining. A company news release did not say whether Wal-Mart would complete 2011 program before moving to the new progr
Abe hints at possible delay in tax hike

Jun 9, 2013

TOKYO (AFP) ― Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Sunday an upper house election will take place on July 21 and voiced the possibility of delaying a consumption tax hike scheduled for next year if the economy remains weak.Abe, in a live interview with national broadcaster NHK, also pledged a “dramatic” tax break in the autumn to encourage investment, calling it the second phase of his broad growth measures.He stressed that his basic policy was to raise the five percent consumption tax to eigh
Hollande: Eurozone crisis is over

Jun 9, 2013

TOKYO (AP) ― French President Francois Hollande sought reassure Japanese business leaders Saturday that the eurozone debt crisis is over but acknowledged that steps to boost the region’s growth and competitiveness need to be taken.In a speech on the final day of his visit to Japan, Hollande said that the potentially destructive debt crisis has served to “reinforce” Europe and foster greater integration of the 17 member economies that use the euro currency.He said authorities are developing tools
ECB holds rates but ‘ready to act’

Jun 7, 2013

FRANKFURT (AFP) ― The European Central Bank held its key rates unchanged, as widely expected, at a policy meeting here Thursday, but ECB chief Mario Draghi insisted the bank stood “ready to act” to give the eurozone’s economy a much-needed shot in the arm.With the euro area still mired in its longest recession ever, the ECB’s governing council voted to keep the bank’s key “refi” refinancing rate steady at an all-time low of 0.5 percent, after cutting it by a quarter of a percentage point last mo
Google chief says Glass privacy fears will fade

Jun 7, 2013

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) ― Google chief Larry Page assured investors Thursday that privacy fears about the company’s coming Internet glasses will fade as people incorporate the eyewear into their lives.“People worry about all sorts of things that actually, when we use the product, it is not that big a concern,” Page said while fielding questions at an annual shareholders meeting at the company headquarters in Silicon Valley.“You don’t collapse in terror that someone might be using Glass in the bathro
‘Japan won’t intervene in market after surge in yen’

Jun 7, 2013

Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said that the government won’t intervene in the currency market for now after the yen strengthened by the most in three years against the dollar. “We are carefully watching, but we don’t have any immediate intention of taking any action, such as intervention,” the finance minister told reporters in Tokyo Friday. The yen jumped 0.5 percent to 96.49 per dollar as of 11:38 a.m. local time. Japan’s currency surged 2.2 percent Thursday, adding to the headwinds of a
Abenomics won’t be ‘magic bullet’ for Japan, says Johnson of MIT

Jun 6, 2013

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s policies to stem deflation and spur growth won’t be a “magic bullet” that shakes the nation’s economy out of stagnation, said Simon Johnson of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While Abe’s efforts are “significant,” an aging population, heavy debt loads and a lack of immigration will continue to hobble the Japanese economy, Johnson, a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, said in an interview on “Bloomberg Surveillance” with Tom