Financial and Investment News

In recent market activity, Nissan’s Stock rose for the first time in several days on the Tokyo Stock Exchange following a report that the firm plus partner Renault of France
are in negotiating with the Chrysler Corporation to purchase assets. This could be good or bad news, depending on how you look at. I live in hawaii myself and I have noticed that
the Hawaii Nissan dealers are not as busy as in recent months but it still remains one of the more popular vehicles on the road here in Hawaii at least. Actually here in Hawaii it seems that all the Japanese model cars are very popular such as Acura and Honda as well. During the trading day,
Nissan jumped by some 3.5 percent toward the end of the day. All in all, Japanese rivals also rose following a much weakened yen. The Toyota Motor Corporation, for instance, which is Japan’s largest automobile manufacturer, rose by an alright 1.6 percent while number 2, the Honda Motor Company, rose by about 0.4 percent overall.
Furthermore, Renault and Nissan might bid for Chrysler’s Jeep class Division as well as related assets, according to the mainstream media. But it should be considered that Nissan spokeswoman Pauline Kee refused to directly confirm this, at least at this point in time.
For her part, Chrysler spokeswoman Shawn Morgan would not comment nor would Peter Duda, a spokesperson for Cerberus Capital Management LP, the owner of this firm.
The weaker yen obviously increases the value of the dollar-related earnings. This certainly helps out the Japanese auto manufacturing power trio since they generally recieve perhaps half of their operating profits from the America.
If only the American auto industry could figure something out to help themselves as well.

Following a news headline on the web that Steve Jobs of the Apple corporation, maker of the iPhone and the famous iPod, had suffered a heart attack send Apple’s stock diving. the technology giant quickly verified that this was indeed false and asked why their  stock closed down just over three percent points. Such as is the wild and wacky world of technology securities. i really like the iPod and iPhone but I feel the latter can be difficult to repair at times. I mean, I suppose it is good to find a top rated iPhone repair service such as Ubreakifix, for example.All in all, it can be slow at the main office if you have a cracked or water damage and need the iPhone repair overall. the web report in question claimed that Jobs had been rushed to an emergency room after suffering a severe heart attack appeared on iReport.com and unfortunately, triggered many of Apple’s investors to panic. This false report then caused Apple to see the lowest stock closing it has seen in some seventeed months or so. The panic during the day of trading due to the false report proved that shareholders feel that Jobs is the Apple Corporation, according to reports that have come out since the event. All of this comes at a turbulent period when the Fisnnish mobile technology titan Nokia will be competing with Apple in a key sector. They just released their 5800 Xpressmusicphone which will compete in the digital music sector that Apple is currently the king of.  And you have to love the iPhone too, baby yeah.

the Motorola Corporation has bought the relatively high profile digital music company known as Soundbuzz, which provides the systems and content behind a lot of the mobile music stores offered by telco carriers. And yet while the Motorola corporations’ musical plans are largely built on tracks being distributed through carriers, the Finnish firm the Nokia Corp. has gone a step even further than that by committing to launching their own music store in

It appears that the vaunted Apple Corporation might be mulling taking their iPod line to the next level.

   There has been some rumors circulating all over the world wide web concerning iPod owners being able to have digital downloads of films available to them.

  This appears to be in negotiations of some sort with Apple and the various film studios, to make digital copies of films which will be compatible with the Apple iPods to download. A deal such as this could make using an iPod a whole new experience for the individual iPod owner.

   This will also be found at iTunes for downloads or as a feature on DVD’s when placed in a PC there will be a place on theDVD menu that will tell the viewer what version of iTunes needs to be loaded in order to watch the iPod version of the movie and a serial number that will need to be used to access the digital download at iTunes.

   Having a feature like this will change the use of iPods for some owners who will be able to view the latest movies that are available to download, along with listening to music of all genres.  Meanwhile, in

related news, the overall numbers are in from this past November in the radio industry and they are down from November of 2006 by six percent.

According to the Press Release news Wire,  the Maxell Corp has
retooled its entire line of iPod accessories, such as portable
entertainment & connector-compatible gadgets, giving buyers a little bit more practicality
in the applications.  New packaging updates include the
Blow-Away Guy icon to form a more visible, eye-catching
presence on the retail shelves. As it stands now, the
Maxell firms’ portable accessories include such items as FM transmitters,
headphone splitters, speakers, power adapters & even various protective
casings which have been updated for enhanced buyer appeal. Their
Back-Up Battery Pack for MP3 as well as iPods is
now much more sleek in general.  A USB slot has also now augments the P-2 2G so
consumers may hook-up any item which connects with a USB cord.  The P-3 2G Universal Charging Dock &
P-3A 2G Universal Charging Dock with Remote Control now has an adjustable
dock support to fit all different size iPods, taking away the requirement for variable-sized
trays, and a standard AC adapter to permit owners the complete liberty of recharging
their iPod without a pc which is a huge plus for many individuals, to be certain.
They also have the P-4 Digital FM Transmitter, P-5A Digital FM Transmitter with Auto
Adapter, P-6 Headphone Splitter, P-8B Digital Ear Buds and P-18 Portable
Speakers which likewise got makeovers to alter the look of these particular items.
And for the specificic Pod buyer who wishes to protect their player from the elements,
 the firm has added some brand new styles to its line-up of skin cases with
the new P-20B skin cases for iPod nano third rd generation and new P-33 skin
case for iPod touch.  The P-20B features the same shock-absorbing, durable
design of the P-20, but now with a 4-pack variety of sleek colors - clear,
black, blue and pink (new).  For on-the-go use, the P-20B Skins are also
conveniently equipped with a neck strap and belt loop. In addition, their
P-33 skin case for the iPod touch is now being made available in black and even comes complete
with invisible cling-film screen shields.

The Clarion Corporation of America, a
top ranked manufacture of mobile gadgets and technology items, unveiled a feature for the
direct iPod audio control via USB which is internall integrated into many of their newest
multimedia source units. The firm is presenting 6 of their new CD & multimedia units with an easy
direct iPod connection using the basic iPod USB cable. The 3 Clarion DXZ models feature the
 Direct USB iPod control which of course is also an important component in the excellent
premium single DIN VRX785BT and MAX685BT DVD double DIN multimedia units. These premium
CD receivers, the DXZ785USB and the DXZ585USB have Clarion’s signature “SLIDETRAK” HMI control,
 direct USB iPod connection, USB digital media streaming with DRM (WMDRM10) and MP3/ WMA/ AAC playback.
Wow what a nice combination there! As a matter of fact,  The SLIDETRAK control is a perfect fit for scrolling
 through music files from an iPod.  These units are Bluetooth and Satellite Radio capable plus offer CeNET
control.  In addition to all of these totally awesome and rear kicking features, they are additionally able to
 interfacing with the OEM steering wheel controls, have AUX input. Plus, they even have with a 2-year warranty.
You just cannot get much better than that, in my opinion. The top or flagship model, DXZ785USB, furthermore offers audiophile
features like time alignment control, 3 band parametric EQ and 3-way crossover control.  It is
motorized detachable front panel has a highly visible full dot LCD, 2-line
letter display which stands out to illuminate any dash very well.

And don’t forget about the other ones. With all-new cosmetics, the
DXZ385USB is a good looking unit offering MP3/ WMA/ AAC playback, front panel AUX
input and USB port and is likewise already Bluetooth and Satellite Radio ready.  The unit
includes CeNET control with 6-channel/ 2-volt RCA output, a detachable
faceplate and it even comes with a remote control.    Clarion’s new DXZ
line-up will be widely available in January 2008

To launch the the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the firm unveiled Rolly, an MP3 player and also robot. This palm-sized, egg-shaped media gadget moves its “arms”, “shoulders”, and wheels to the beat,
 all while flashing an array of lights. Apparently it can show some seven hundred colors, according to the firm. As it stands now, Rolly features some two Gbytes of flash memory, which will store about 520 128-Kbit/s MP3s files.
In addition, it supports AAC files, which is pretty cool. It is evident that while the Sony Corporation is not giving up entirely on the revival of its Walkman product line, this is evidence of Apple’s supremacy of the portable media player market segment.
As it stands now, The 2 systems act as charging speaker docks for iPods and likewise feature aux inputs
for computers plus additional audio players (and remote controls, for that matter). The CMT-BX20i has a single disc CD player and supports the AIFF CDs and MP3 CDs, and will read ID3 tags and display them on. In addition, it comes with a very handy thirty station
 AM/FM tuner and will be available to buyers in about a month. All in all,  the EC series has 3 distict speaker systems titlting towards the iPod—the MHC-EC98Pi, the MHC-EC78Pi, and the MHC-EC68Pi. The first 2 will be available in about five months or so and the the other will be on shelves in 4 months.
All of the systems have CD players, AM/FM tuners, plus built-in iPod docks, “Digital Media Ports” for connecting additional music such as the Walkman or perhaps some kind of Bluetooth-enabled gadget, for example. A pretty nice mix overall if you ask my opinion. besides the
iPod dock systems is the LBT-ZUX9, a segment of the Muteki product line. Supposed to fill a party with sound due to it’s very high wattage output, it also has a 3-disc changer which plays both AIFF CDs and even a dual cassette deck. In addition to all of this, it is capable of recording to a USB flash drive,
so that you may store your old cassettes as MP3s.
Rolly features Bluetooth for streaming audio from a compatible PC or phone, and the firm says the 2 built in speakers pack a big punch. It will apparently be available in the spring.

In other gadget and technology company related news, Pioneer has produced a multitasking navigation & entertainment system which will permit voice control of iPods as well as Bluetooth-enabled cellular phones.

The AVIC-F500BT aggregates all the things we take with us and also seeks to control them all by changing the existing in-car system as opposed to mandating a complete
changing out of the standard audio. It may be installed through an auxiliary audio input or using an installation module from Pioneer to become a major center for all personal audio and communication gadgets.
The wonderful thing about this of course is the voice control aspect of it.

the Apple Corporation has secured over seventy percent of the market share for MP3 players. That is respectable and impressive by any standard, if you ask me.
What is perhaps less well known, is the ratio of Apple’s investment in the iPod platform relative to its return. In the last 3 and half years or so, the Apple Corporation has added
only a single solitary item to it’s iPod stable, the iPod touch, making some 4 pieces of in all. In that time span, the catalog of
 available content has increased amazingly six-fold, to over four million items, rather staggeringly.
Meanwhile, the quantity of iPod accessories has increased tenfold, to some three thousand or so. The firm then collects fees for the vast majority of those accessories, with 3rd-party vendors
 and various producers paying to add the “Made for iPod” logo to a package or perhaps a fee to use the proprietary Apple connector. We should all be so lucky.
But I guess really a lot of it is skill and some strong business sense thrown in as well for good measure. As it tuens out,
quite a few firms have attempted to duplicate their methods by copying at the product level and placing an emphasis the design of the object itself.
But all of this effort has been largely for nothing as the underlying business strategy and structure as well as system is very difficult to properly
copy. The Sony Corporation, for instance, even with a strong brand. cutting edge product platforms such as the portable transistor radio laid the groundwork for the current era.
But they have not really transformed and morphed that success to this century, at least not yet.  All of this time they have released a rather frantic spectrum of digital cameras which
recorded on all different sorts of media such as DVDs yet now has merely 3 lines to show for the effort. The Apple Corporation
Apple ended its fiscal year on September 30, 2007, with a net margin of almost fifteen percent. To succeed on this level, firms should recognize the consumer whom they are targeting.
Apple knows that it can’t have everyone as its customer. But it is nonetheless ready and willing to eliminate some sections by emphasizing a strong core of individuals which are known as Cultural Creatives.
 These are folks who wait hours in line for the latest iPod or MacBook. With this in mind,
design is used for meaningful experiences which are authentic to the brand. It is not about paring product lines or simple creating making cool stuff. Done well, design can add value to the bottom line.
Design done right goes well  beyond the appearance and behavior of the object itself. It takes the entire product ecosystem into consideration.

The Apple Corporation has opened the new year on an infamous note:
 on the target end of another suit pertaining to its huge lead in the music player space.
An antitrust claim filed December 31 alleges the company is maintaining an illegal monopoly on the digital music market.

As it stands now, the particulars of the  suit claims that the Apple Corp. is purposely crippling the iPod, preventing it from playing back, for instance, Windows Media files, despite the fact that the chips used in the device could do so.
Apple would have to pay Microsoft a licensing fee for Windows Media playback, but anticipates that this particular fee would be under $800,000, or 3 cents per iPod sold last year. As it were,
the firm is not by any means by itself in pricing higher capacity players at more than the cost of parts. Microsoft charges fifty dollars more for its 8GB Zune than the 4GB model, the same difference as the 4GB and 8GB iPod nano. And there is really no law against premium pricing as the law currently stands.

The tech giant is already deep into in a legal war going back several years which states that the firm ties the iPod to the iTunes Store, and so on. The entity has failed in its motion to dismiss that legal suit and litigation continues. An eerily similar class-action suit known as Black verses. Apple Incorporated. was filed in August 2007

They have likewise been involved in litigation with the French consumer group Union Federale des Consummateurs since 2005 because of the iPod being only compatible with the iTunes E-Store. As others have since begun selling DRM-free music, however, those positions against Apple might have weakened, at least somewhat.

According to an awesome article by Peter Cohen from the ‘MacWorld’ online news resource,
it was reported that the Hitachi Global Storage Technologies division is currently planning to leave
 the one inch hard disk drive market, and furthermore believes that there will be substantially diminishing demand for the 1.8-inch hard drives used in devices such as, perhaps
most famously, the iPod classic. The corporation states the various flash memory storage-based gadgets are basically filling up that particular niche, and also stated that it will make it’s primary focus on various computer drives instead.
Further, they statedfor the record to Macworld (as reported on their excellent site) that the one inch and 1.8-inch hard drive markets are essentially tiny businesses as compared to the hard drive market as a whole. Well,
it certainly sounds as if the firm did it’s research and due diligence in this regard. They have a reputation for being thorough in this area. On the
whole, this information was initially reported last week by the Japanese business media giant ‘Nikkei Business Daily’. This respected publication likewise stated that the Fujitsu Corporation has basically trashed their plans to go into this relatively tiny
 market. So who recieves the “leftovers” now that these big players have left the field? Well, it has been essentially taken by both the Toshiba and Samsung corporations, respectively, which offer products all the way up to 160GB,
which is also the same size as what is used inside the Apple Corporations’ bigger-capacity iPod classic (the smaller iPod classic has an 80GB drive, by the way).
For their part, they do not identify the producers of the various components used in the iPod.
Meanwhile, the other iPod models use flash memory to store files as, essentially, a replacement for hard disk drives. But the real question
for most industry analysts is why has this particular market shrunk or is currently shrinking? Apparently, it is because,
of alterations and modifactions with regards to consumer electronics requirements. You see,
the single inch drives were initially thought of as alternatives to Compact Flash media, yet flash drive capacities now essentially outstrip the capacity of the one-inch drives.
 And the rather gentle design of tiny hard drives is simply not a real match for the durability of flash storage, generally speaking.
Historically speaking, the Hitachi Global Storage Technologies entity was formed back in 2003 when the Hitachi Corporation joined their own operations with that of the other giant, the International Business machines Corporation,
commonly referred to as IBM. The left the storage market totally just 2 years after that. This firms products include many of the two and a half inch hard disk drives used in laptop computers. As stated earlier, they will continue to focus on that market instead