Links: 2013-03-16
News links for 16 Mar 2013
Digg to build a Google Reader replacement with same API, new features
“The news of Google Reader’s upcoming demise has put the spotlight on several alternatives that RSS fans can only hope will fill the gap. The latest to vie for our attention doesn’t even exist yet: Digg just announced that it will be creating a reader of its own. According to its blog, the aggregation service was apparently already planning to build such a reader, but upon hearing that Google’s version will bite the dust, the company is kicking into gear to develop a suitable replacement. Digg’s reader will maintain what it calls the best of Google Reader’s features, including its API, while incorporating changes that reflect the relevance of social networks and other popular Internet communities.”
It’s Not Just Reader – Google Kills Its RSS Subscription Browser Extension, Too | TechCrunch
“Oh Google. Thought we wouldn’t notice that you’re trying to kill off not just Google Reader, but also your support and endorsement for the RSS format itself? People have just started noticing that Google’s own RSS Subscription Chrome browser extension has disappeared from the Google Chrome Web Store. Though it’s unclear at this time exactly when the extension was removed, the change appears to be recent.”
Las comunidades autónomas deben 3.915 euros por habitante | Economía | EL PAÍS
The autonomous communities in Spain owe 3915 euros for every citizen in their remit.
This contrasts to what I was thinking when I saw the Microsoft store a few weeks ago.
https://www.creditwritedowns.com/2013/02/on-microsofts-mobile-strategy.html
I thought they did a good job of using the Xbox to give the sore some pop. But could the writing be on the wall for the standalone gaming console? If so, my points about using it for device convergence are all the more urgent for Microsoft.
Deposit protection scheme – Central Bank of Cyprus
Cate Long: “@cate_long: I guess the Cyprus Deposit Protection Scheme is just legislative roadkill… bit.ly/1111soR”
“Deposit Protection Scheme (DPS) was established in September 2000, and operates since then, in accordance with Article 34 of the Banking Law of 1997 as subsequently amended, and the Establishment and Operation of the Deposit Protection Scheme Regulations of 2000 to 2009. In accordance with these Regulations, a Deposit Protection Fund has also been established which operates as a separate legal entity administered by a Management Committee.”
Savers forced to bear costs in Cyprus bailout | Reuters
“The euro zone struck a deal on Saturday to hand Cyprus a bailout worth 10 billion euros (8 billion pounds) , but demanded depositors in its banks forfeit some money to stave off bankruptcy despite the risks of a wider bank run.”
Cypriot bank deposits hit in €10bn bailout – FT.com
“International lenders agreed to a €10bn bailout of Cyprus early on Saturday morning after 10 hours of fraught negotiations, which included convincing Nicosia to seize €5.8bn from Cypriot bank deposits to help pay for the rescue, a first for any eurozone bailout.
The cash from Cypriot account holders will come in the form of a one-time 9.9 per cent levy on all deposits over €100,000 that will be slashed from their savings before banks reopen Tuesday, a day after a Cypriot holiday. An additional 6.75 per cent levy will be imposed on deposits below that level.”
Argentina’s foreign law bonds downgraded by Moody’s | beyondbrics
“Moody’s has cut its rating of Argentina’s foreign law bonds to Caa1, putting them deeper into junk territory (seven notches below investment grade).
These are the bonds, of course, that are causing such a stir on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York. Moody’s full rationale after the break.”
Feedly tops Google Reader in every way possible | Android and Me
“This week Google announced they were closing Reader, and many of us news junkies panicked as we searched for another solution. We asked our audience, “What is the best alternative?“, and began searching for a new home to manage our feeds. I thought it would be a long journey or difficult transition, but then I discovered Feedly and I instantly fell in love.
Feedly operates in much the same way that Google Reader did, but it adds a ton of additional features and it does it with style. The web app and mobile clients are simply beautiful, and importing all my existing feeds only took a single click.”
“Apple has been cautious about entering the low-cost market in the past, repeatedly saying that it won’t compromise device experience in order to hit a certain price target. But recently, the value of a low-cost iPhone in the Apple stable (which can be made available cheaply to pre-paid customers in markets like India where subsidies aren’t an option) has become apparent. Apple could add $11 billion to its annual revenue with a low-cost device, one analyst estimated this week, and it would help considerably with acquiring additional market share in markets where Android is currently having lots of success.
Offering last year’s model as a cheaper option has been Apple’s strategy of choice in the past, but if it introduces a dedicated low-cost line, the advantages could be considerable. Based on these reports from Kuo and others, the company is looking to dramatically decrease physical material costs, which are relatively stable compared to the cost of processor and flash memory components, and tooling/factory setup, which decrease as a production process matures. That could result in big changes to the way Apple sells in prepaid and emerging markets, which is exactly what it needs to kickstart more explosive growth.”
The Samsung Galaxy S 4 And Its De-Googling Of Android Suggests We Might See A Split | TechCrunch
“Samsung did something fairly surprising given that it included the most recent version of Android, 4.2.2, on its brand new Galaxy S 4 smartphone: it didn’t talk about that much at all last night at the special launch event. Maybe the company was too busy trying to cram as many song and dance numbers into the show as possible, but maybe that’s because Samsung will soon take what it needs from Android and go its own way.
Which isn’t to say it would get rid of Android altogether – just that it might choose to follow Amazon’s example and build a version of Android that’s virtually unrecognizable on the surface from the Google mobile OS that will be running on the vast majority of other OEM handsets. The more control Samsung has over the OS running on its devices, the greater its take of revenue resulting from software and media use, and the better it can solidify its position at the top of the global smartphone market.”
The pictures speak volumes.
The Importance of Printing Your Own Currency – Tim Duy’s Fed Watch
“Time and time again, Japan sticks out like a sore thumb that those preaching the unsustainability of government debt want to sweep under the rug with the “Japan is a special case” story (a country fixed effect). But it seems more likely that Japan’s economy is behaving exactly as you might expect given that it issues debt in its own currency. In other words, Japan is just a normal case pushed to the extreme. “
“President George W. Bush kept it simple in his short television address the evening of March 19, 2003: U.S. forces had begun their campaign to unseat Saddam Hussein, he said. The goals, he outlined in his first sentence, were straightforward: “to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger.” Some 522 words later he promised the result: “We will bring freedom to others and we will prevail.””
Canadian Home Sales Down 2.1% in February from January – WSJ.com
“Existing home sales across Canada fell 2.1% in February from January–and dropped a sharp 15.8% from a year ago–as real-estate activity slowed in most major cities and prices fell by the widest margin since July, the country’s real-estate trade group said Friday.
Nearly 80% of local markets across Canada posted year-over-year declines, the Canadian Real Estate Association said. The home-sales weakness is just the latest indicator clouding Canada’s economic picture. Once among the quickest recovering developed countries in the wake of the global economic crisis, Canada has more recently been buffeted by a series of headwinds. Those include slower-than-expected output and lower commodities prices.
The average, non-seasonally adjusted home price in Canada fell 1% year-over-year, CREA said, to 368,895 Canadian dollars”
February industrial output rises on manufacturing rebound | Reuters
Expect Q1 US GDP expectations to go up further.
“Industrial production grew 0.7 percent last month, the Federal Reserve said on Friday. Economists polled by Reuters had expected industrial output to rise 0.4 percent.
Manufacturing output rose 0.8 percent during the month, snapping back from a decline in January.”
Portugal Gets Another Year to Meet Budget Goals – WSJ.com
“The troika revised the country’s deficit target for 2013 to 5.5% of GDP, from a previous target of 4.5% of GDP, and the deficit target for 2014 to 4% of GDP from 2.5% previously. In 2015, the deficit target is 2.5% of GDP.
The finance minister said the country’s budget deficit last year, including the sale of airport operator ANA-Aeroportos de Portugal SA, was 4.9% of GDP, below the 5%-of-GDP threshold set.
However, Mr. Gaspar said the EU’s official statistics agency, Eurostat, has decided against using this one-off source of revenue for deficit-cutting purposes and thus the country will report a total budget deficit of around 6.6% of GDP in 2012.”
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