comScore: Apple debuts 2013 as top US smartphone maker, Samsung gains but Android falls for the first time

In the US, Apple ended 2012 as the top OEM and it has only further increased its lead with the start of the New Year. Apple has once again increased its share in first place, and Samsung is gaining as well. Rounding out the top five are HTC, Motorola, and LG.

In the platform space, Google is still first courtesy of Android, Apple is second with iOS, but the latter is gaining on the former. In fact, Apple?s gains in the hardware space were so large recently that not only did iOS gain significantly but Android took a hit. Again, rounding out the top five are BlackBerry, Microsoft, and Symbian.

The latest data comes from comScore, which as usual surveyed over 30,000 mobile subscribers in the US (for the second time, it has limited its results to just smartphones, indicating the rest of the market simply doesn?t matter anymore). The analytics firm says 129.4 Americans owned smartphones (55 percent mobile market penetration) in January, up 7 percent since October.

Between those two months, here is how the top five smartphones OEMs have fared:

As you can see, Apple gained 3.5 percentage points in terms of smartphone subscribers (from 34.3 percent to 37.8 percent) while Samsung jumped 1.9 percentage points (from 19.5 percent to 21.4 percent). HTC fell 1.7 points (from 11.4 percent to 9.7 percent), Motorola dropped 1.4 percentage points (from 10.0 percent to 8.6 percent), and LG managed to gain 0.3 percentage points (from 6.7 percent to 7.0 percent).

Samsung and Apple gained a combined 5.4 percentage points while the other three lost 2.8 percentage points together. In other words, the duo continues to steal share from OEMs not in the top five.

It appears that the iPhone 5 is helping keep Apple ahead, while Samsung is still managing to push forward. With the Galaxy S4 announcement slated for March 14, we don?t expect Samsung to outgain Apple before the device hits the market.

HTC?s continued losses don?t surprise us, but Google really needs to figure out what to do with Motorola. We can attribute LG?s gains to Google marketing the Nexus 4, although sales have been limited by supply issues.

Yet the most interesting movements in these last three month were on the software side. Although Google is still dominating and Apple has moved ahead in its second place spot, we?ve witnessed Android drop for the first time. Everyone else is losing share as well:

Samsung?s and LG?s gains were apparently not enough to offset the losses of other Android maker?s as well as Apple?s iPhone 5 push. Last month we noted iOS was growing faster overall when compared to Android, but this most recent snapshot shows Android falling for the first time.

Google lost 1.3 percentage points between October and January (down from 53.4 percent to 52.3 percent). Apple meanwhile increased its share by 3.5 percentage points (moving from 34.3 percent to 37.8 percent).

BlackBerry is down 1.9 percentage points (from 7.8 percent to 5.9 percent), Microsoft lost 0.1 percentage points (from 3.2 percent to 3.1 percent), and Symbian has managed to hit yet another new low at 0.5 percent. BlackBerry doesn?t seem ready to recover yet with its BlackBerry 10 launch, as the company continues to be the biggest loser in these studies, month after month. Microsoft?s fall meanwhile appears to be slowing, suggesting it may finally start gaining soon with Windows Phone.

We don?t expect Google?s drop to continue. The Android-iOS duopoly continues at 90.1 percent market share, as Americans seem perfectly happy to choose between just the two camps, at least for now.

More to follow.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TnwGoogle/~3/Jm20xs2sgkQ/

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Sam Mendes says no to next James Bond film

LONDON (AP) ? Never say never again? Sam Mendes says he won't be directing the next James Bond film ? but may work on the series again in future.

Mendes has been praised for his work on "Skyfall," the first Bond film to rake in more than $1 billion in revenue.

But Mendes says he has made the "very difficult decision" to focus on other projects, including upcoming London stage productions of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "King Lear."

In comments published Wednesday by movie magazine Empire, Mendes said he was honored to have been part of the Bond family, "and very much hope I have a chance to work with them again."

Mendes worked in theater before turning to film. He won an Academy Award in 2000 for "American Beauty."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-03-06-EU-Britain-Sam-Mendes/id-af05289e6b0f4490bd888f8c49135d6b

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Visceral fat causally linked to intestinal cancer

Mar. 6, 2013 ? Visceral fat, or fat stored deep in the abdominal cavity, is directly linked to an increased risk for colon cancer, according to data from a mouse study published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

"There has been some skepticism as to whether obesity per se is a bona fide cancer risk factor, rather than the habits that fuel it, including a poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle," said Derek M. Huffman, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, N.Y. "Although those other lifestyle choices play a role, this study unequivocally demonstrates that visceral adiposity is causally linked to intestinal cancer."

Prior research has shown that obesity markedly increases the likelihood of being diagnosed with and dying from many cancers. Huffman and colleagues sought to determine if removing visceral fat in mice genetically prone to developing colon cancer might prevent or lessen the development of these tumors.

They randomly assigned the mice to one of three groups. Mice in the first group underwent a sham surgery and were allowed to eat an unrestricted "buffet style" diet, for the entirety of the study, which resulted in these mice becoming obese. Those in the second group were also provided an unrestricted diet and became obese, but they had their visceral fat surgically removed at the outset of the study. Mice in the third group also underwent a sham surgery, but were provided only 60 percent of the calories consumed by the other mice in order to reduce their visceral fat by dieting.

"Our sham-operated obese mice had the most visceral fat, developed the greatest number of intestinal tumors, and had the worst overall survival," Huffman said. "However, mice that had less visceral fat, either by surgical removal or a calorie-restricted diet, had a reduction in the number of intestinal tumors. This was particularly remarkable in the case of our group where visceral fat was surgically removed, because these mice were still obese, they just had very little abdominal fat."

The researchers then subdivided the groups by gender. In female mice, the removal of visceral fat was significantly related to a reduction in intestinal tumors, but calorie restriction was not. In male mice, calorie restriction had a significant effect on intestinal tumors, but removal of visceral fat did not.

"This suggests that there are important gender differences in how adiposity and nutrients interact with the tumor environment," Huffman said. "In addition, the study emphasizes the need to promote strategies that reduce visceral fat in abdominally obese individuals."

Huffman noted that more studies are needed to definitively uncover the mechanisms behind the causality between visceral fat and intestinal cancer, to determine how abdominal obesity and nutrient availability act independently during the stages of tumor promotion and progression, and to determine how other strategies to promote weight loss, such as bariatric surgery, affect cancer risk.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).

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Journal Reference:

1. D. M. Huffman, L. H. Augenlicht, X. Zhang, J. J. Lofrese, G. Atzmon, J. P. Chamberland, C. S. Mantzoros. Abdominal Obesity, Independent from Caloric Intake, Accounts for the Development of Intestinal Tumors in Apc1638N/ Female Mice. Cancer Prevention Research, 2013; 6 (3): 177 DOI: 10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-12-0414

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/nutrition/~3/FssaSPHmd_g/130306083813.htm

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British guitarist Alvin Lee of rock band Ten Years After dies

(Reuters) - British blues-rock guitarist Alvin Lee, who was best known for his performance with rock band Ten Years After at Woodstock in 1969, died on Wednesday at age 68, his family said.

"With great sadness we have to announce that Alvin unexpectedly passed away early this morning after unforeseen complications following a routine surgical procedure," the family said in a statement on the singer's official website.

They did not say what sort of procedure Lee underwent or where the musician died.

Lee and Ten Years After rose to international prominence after a much-lauded performance at the 1969 Woodstock music festival in New York state.

The band's song "I'm Going Home," which featured Lee's singing and extended guitar solos, opened the band to bigger audiences after it was included in the documentary "Woodstock" in 1970.

Ten Years After's biggest hits followed Woodstock, including "Love Like a Man" in 1970 and "I'd Love to Change the World" in 1971.

Lee formed Ten Years After in 1966 but left the band in 1973 to focus on a solo career only to reform the group in 1988.

In a 1975 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Lee lamented how after the Woodstock performance audiences wanted more rock-driven songs from the band.

"We had respectful audiences then who would appreciate a jam or a swing," Lee said. "But after Woodstock, the audience got very noisy and only wanted to hear things like 'I'm Going Home.'"

He added: "I've always been much more of a guitar picker but I began to feel forced into a position of being the epitome of a rock and roll guitarist."

Ten Years After released 11 studio albums between 1966 and 2008. Lee put out 14 solo albums, the most recent was "Still on the Road to Freedom" in 2012.

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Piya Sinha-Roy and Eric Beech)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/british-guitarist-alvin-lee-rock-band-ten-years-215518916.html

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Yes, we get it: VW has big plans for the U.S. - Automotive News

GABE NELSON

March 5, 2013 - 11:28 am ET

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GENEVA -- Need more evidence that Volkswagen AG is infatuated with the idea of conquering the American market?

Monday night, at the German automaker's sneak peek reception before the Geneva auto show, one of the guests of honor was Felix Baumgartner, the Austrian sky diver who gained worldwide attention in October by jumping from 23 miles above the Earth. The other was no celebrity; it was Amir Dizdarevic, a young sales consultant from Chicago who has jumped into the top spot among salespeople at his dealership.

Dizdarevic, of Jennings Volkswagen in Glenview, Ill., took the stage with Christian Klingler, the board member for sales at Volkswagen AG, who gave a presentation on how the automaker approaches customers in markets outside Europe.

Chinese customers expect the utmost courtesy, Klingler said, and VW offers them massages and TV lounges. In Japan, sales staffers visit customers at home to run them through vehicle options. Customers in Turkey can stand around and watch as their cars are repaired to pick up skills, the sales chief said.

As for the United States, the young American salesman was asked how his country has responded to the Passat, which was redesigned to U.S. tastes and has been built in Chattanooga since 2011.

"We absolutely love it," Dizdarevic replied.

OK, so maybe he wouldn't dare say anything else, not in the presence of VW's entire executive lineup, all the way down from Chairman Ferdinand Piech and CEO Martin Winterkorn.

But even if it was for show, the fact that Dizdarevic was in Geneva -- and was asked for his opinion -- shows the level of focus on the United States by Europe's largest automaker. A decade ago, this probably would not have happened, but VW's ambitious U.S. sales goals and the European economic downturn have changed things.

Later, while Dizdarevic was walking around VW's new XL1 plug-in hybrid and snapping pictures, he said he started the job at Jennings, his first at a dealership, almost two years ago. VW noticed him because of his ranking among salesmen and his YouTube videos, where he walks around the cars and points out their features.

A week ago, VW invited Dizdarevic to Geneva. He said he was grateful for a chance to see some of the new cars he will be selling next year, such as the GTI hatchback, a hot seller in Chicago.

But the reliance goes both ways. If VW neglects its American sales force, the company will have a harder time hitting its target of 800,000 U.S. vehicle sales for the VW brand by 2018. VW wants to show that it gets it.

You can reach Gabe Nelson at gnelson@crain.com.

Source: http://www.autonews.com/article/20130305/BLOG06/130309917/yes-we-get-it-vw-has-big-plans-for-the-u-s

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Venezuela's Hugo Chavez dies from cancer

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has died after a two-year battle with cancer, ending the socialist leader's 14-year rule of the South American country, Vice President Nicolas Maduro said in a televised speech on Tuesday.

The flamboyant 58-year-old leader had undergone four operations in Cuba for a cancer that was first detected in his pelvic region in mid-2011. His last surgery was on December 11 and he had not been seen in public since.

"It's a moment of deep pain," Maduro, accompanied by senior ministers, said, his voice choking.

Chavez easily won a new six-year term at an election in October and his death will devastate millions of supporters who adored his charismatic style, anti-U.S. rhetoric and oil-financed policies that brought subsidized food and free health clinics to long-neglected slums.

Detractors, however, saw his one-man style, gleeful nationalizations and often harsh treatment of opponents as traits of an egotistical dictator whose misplaced statist economics wasted a historic bonanza of oil revenues.

Chavez's death opens the way for a new election that will test whether his socialist "revolution" can live on without his dominant personality at the helm.

VICE PRESIDENT MADURO FAVORITE TO WIN ELECTION

The vote should be held within 30 days and will likely pit Maduro against Henrique Capriles, the centrist opposition leader and state governor who lost to Chavez in the October election.

One recent opinion poll gave Maduro a strong lead.

Maduro is Chavez's preferred successor, enjoys support among many of the working class and could benefit from an inevitable surge of emotion in the coming days.

But the president's death could also trigger in-fighting in a leftist coalition that ranges from hard-left intellectuals to army officers and businessmen.

Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves and some of the most heavily traded bonds, so investors will be highly sensitive to any signs of political instability.

A defeat for Maduro would bring major changes to Venezuela and could also upend its alliances with Latin American countries that have relied on Chavez's oil-funded largesse - most notably with communist-led Cuba, which recovered from financial ruin in the 1990s thanks largely to Chavez's aid.

Chavez was a garrulous figurehead for a global "anti-imperialist" alliance stretching as far as Belarus and Iran, and he will be sorely missed by anti-U.S. agitators.

?

(Reporting by Andrew Cawthorne and Daniel Wallis; Additional reporting by Girish Gupta, Mario Naranjo, Marianna Parraga and Patricia Velez in Caracas, David Adams in Miami, Daniel Bases in New York; Editing by Kieran Murray, Sandra Maler and David Brunnstrom)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/venezuela-says-chavezs-breathing-problems-worsened-024327679.html

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China to dismantle bloated rail ministry: sources

BEIJING (Reuters) - China is likely to dismantle its sprawling, scandal-plagued Railways Ministry into operations and commercial arms that will be supervised by different agencies, two sources said, part of an overhaul of the bureaucracy as a new set of leaders takes charge in Beijing.

The restructuring is aimed at ending long-standing inefficiencies and addressing the ministry's reputation for insularity and corruption, they said.

"The Railways Ministry will be demoted (in status)," said one of the sources.

The changes are set to be approved at the annual full session of the National People's Congress, or parliament, which begins on Tuesday. A cabinet reshuffle is expected as Xi Jinping takes over formally as president and Li Keqiang as premier.

"Part of the Ministry of Railways will be merged with a super Ministry of Transport," said a second source who has leadership ties, requesting anonymity to avoid repercussions for speaking to foreign reporters. The source was referring to the operations of the railways.

A state-owned enterprise will absorb the ministry's commercial arm, which has responsibility for passenger ticketing and freight operations, the sources added.

The Railways Ministry has faced numerous problems over the past few years, including heavy debts from funding new high-speed lines, waste and fraud. The government has pledged to open the rail industry to private investment on an unprecedented scale.

"Our deep hope that the (railway) reforms become the clarion call for a new round of trade reform and a trigger for the huge potential of reforming the monopoly state sector, to create the maximum benefit for China's future development," wrote Hu Shuli, editor in chief of Caixin, a respected financial weekly.

The 21st Century Business Herald newspaper reported the ministry will likely be split into a "Railways Bureau" that will oversee operations and personnel, while the lucrative freight business and passenger transport would be incorporated and added to state-owned enterprises overseen by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, or SASAC.

Previous reform plans had involved hiving the ministry into a number of competing entities. For the moment, the ministry's 18 bureaus will remain a part of the operating arm, it said.

Shares in Chinese rail firms listed in Hong Kong fell on Monday, in what analysts said was investors reducing risk exposure in the face of the long-anticipated reforms.

China Railway Group fell 4 percent in Hong Kong and China Railway Construction closed down 2.3 percent, underperforming a 2.1 percent drop in the China Enterprises Index of the top Chinese listings in Hong Kong.

SACKED

Railways Minister Liu Zhijun was sacked in February 2012 and expelled from the ruling Communist Party last May for taking bribes and using his position to help the chairman of an investment company get "enormous illegal profits".

Liu successfully resisted a merger with the Ministry of Transport five years ago, but the Ministry of Railways was dealt a big blow and its reputation damaged when he was sacked and by a deadly 2011 crash on its flagship high-speed service killing 40 people.

The South China Morning Post reported China would set up a new watchdog similar to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration could be set up, streamlining a complex regulatory system that has seen a series of scandals over food contamination and fake medicines.

Last-minute wrangling could keep pharmaceuticals out of the watchdog's purview, after an unsuccessful first attempt several years ago, the Hong Kong-based newspaper said.

China's State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) was founded in 2003 as a ministerial-level agency directly under the State Council but was downgraded and affiliated the Ministry of Health in 2008 after a number of corruption scandals involving the sale of drug approvals.

The SFDA is currently responsible for policies and programs on the administration of drugs, health food, medical devices and cosmetics, while the Health Ministry mainly handles food safety and other agencies look after packaging and animal health.

The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) also has responsibility for inspecting product quality in China and for imports or exports.

Zheng Xiaoyu, former head of SFDA, was executed in July 2007 for taking bribes and dereliction of duty after a series of drug safety scandals on his watch.

(Additional reporting by Clement Tan in Hong Kong and Mark Bendeich in Sydney; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/china-likely-set-single-regulator-food-drugs-report-001549488.html

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