Tomorrow's Newspapers Online.. 10-31-2013 |

On Monday and Tuesday, Twitter Chief Executive Dick Costolo and Chief Financial Officer Mike Gupta met with large fund managers and analysts in New York and on the East Coast to sell them on an IPO that seeks to raise up to $1.6 billion for the loss-making social media company.

Closely watched by Wall Street and Silicon Valley, Twitter's relatively conservative offering has differed from Facebook's $16 billion IPO in a panoply of ways, from its vastly smaller deal size to a decision to list on the New York Stock Exchange over Nasdaq.

"It definitely was different than when (Facebook CEO Mark) Zuckerberg came through ... It's the right kind of buzz," said one fund manager who met with Twitter on Monday.

"With Facebook, the buzz was just stupid," said the manager, who declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Twitter last week said that it would price its IPO shares at $17 to $20 a piece, valuing the online messaging company at up to about $11 billion. That is less than the $15 billion that analysts had expected, and far below the $100 billion valuation that Facebook received in its IPO last May.

However, Facebook had reported an annual profit of $1 billion and revenue of $3.7 billion before it went public, whereas Twitter reported a net loss of $79.4 million on revenue of just $316.9 million in 2012.

At the upper end of its IPO price range, Twitter would be valuing itself at 20 times trailing 12-month sales currently, and about 17 times at the lower end, according to Reuters' calculations from Twitter's IPO filings. But its outstanding share base could swell by tens of millions of stock as holders exercise options and restricted stock units, inflating the valuation.

In comparison, Facebook trades at about 24 times trailing 12-month sales and LinkedIn Corp at roughly 30 times.

AND YET...

Fund managers viewed Twitter's price range as relatively conservative, basing their perspective on earlier guesses that had pegged the company's range as $28 to $30. Twitter itself mentioned that it had internally valued its own stock at $20.62 as recently as in September.

That has attracted some investors who expect Twitter's shares to climb after they begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on November 7.

Twitter "is getting a really warm welcome from people," said Scott Sweet, CEO of research firm IPO Boutique.

The students were doing an online course provided by Udacity, an educational organisation that Thrun co-founded in 2011. Thrun and his colleagues split the online students into two groups. One group saw the lesson’s presentation slides in colour, and another got the same material in black and white. Thrun and Udacity then monitored their performance. The outcome? “Test results were much better for the black-and-white version,” Thrun told Technology Review. “That surprised me.”

Why was a black-and-white lesson better than colour? It’s not clear. But what matters is that the data was unequivocal – and crucially it challenged conventional assumptions about teaching, providing the possibility that lessons can be tweaked and improved for students.

It was an early example of a trend promising to transform online education – the exploitation of huge amounts of data about how people actually learn. Artificial intelligence underpinning online courses can log every click and keyboard stroke a student makes, and this is revealing patterns of learning behaviour that are difficult, if not impossible, for teachers to see in a traditional classroom.

Equipped with this information, course designers can adapt their materials, and deliver the ultimate in targeted teaching. Could this lead to the perfect, personalised lesson?

This wealth of data is only available thanks to the recent rise in popularity of Moocs (massive open online courses), which offer anyone with access to the internet the chance to sign up for university courses and study them for free. These online courses, hosted by the likes of Udacity, Coursera and edX, have been the subject of much hype in recent months, as institutions debate whether this will save or endanger the traditional university degree. But arguably the real novelty they offer has been missed. Many critics dismiss Moocs as simply online videos of lectures, and so nothing new. Yet Moocs greatest impact may come from what they can teach the teachers: offering a unique opportunity to monitor student behaviour during lessons in unprecedented detail.

While discussions were in the advanced stages, it was still unclear if Verizon plans to take full control of Intel's media unit or Intel would maintain a stake in the unit, the report said.

Representatives from Intel and Verizon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Earlier this year, Intel decided it would launch an Internet TV service with live and on-demand content in a bid to find an alternative revenue stream as its core business of providing chips to computer makers erodes.

It's a crowded field as Apple Inc, Google Inc, Sony Corp and Microsoft Corp jockey for position to own the living room through TV, while Netflix Inc and Amazon.com Inc's streaming video services have millions of subscribers.

Failure of the main Syrian National Coalition to take a clear stance over the talks, which aim to find a political solution to Syria's 2-1/2 year civil war, are also expected to contribute to a delay of up to one month, the officials told Reuters.

"A clearer picture will emerge when the United States and Russia meet next week, but all indications show that the November 23 goal will be difficult to meet," said one of the officials involved in preparing for the talks.

U.S., Russian and U.N envoys are due to meet in Geneva next Tuesday as part of the preparation for the long-delayed peace conference, which was first proposed back in May.

A main point of contention, the official said, is the role of the Western-backed opposition coalition - an issue which has flared up since a meeting in London last week of Western and Gulf Arab countries opposed to Assad.

They announced that the Geneva negotiations should be between a "single delegation of the Syrian regime and a single delegation of the opposition, of which the Syrian National Coalition should be the heart and lead, as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people."

Russia sees the coalition as just one part of the opposition and has suggested that several delegations, including Damascus-based figures tolerated by the government, could represent President Bashar al-Assad's foes.

That position was echoed by Hassan Abdul Azim, head of the opposition National Coordination Body, who said after meeting international peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi in Damascus that delegates should attend not under the banner of the coalition but as part of a united "Syrian National Opposition".

A communique at the end of the London meeting also said Geneva would aim to establish a transitional government by which time "Assad and his close associates with blood on their hands will have no role in Syria".

"The Russians are furious at the strong stance taken in London and that the communiqué went a long way towards satisfying the demands of the coalition," a Western official said.

MINISTER SACKED

Preparations for the Geneva talks were thrown into further confusion on Tuesday by the dismissal of Syria's Deputy Prime Minister, Qadri Jamil, after he met senior U.S. diplomat Robert Ford in Geneva on Saturday.

Erian, deputy leader of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party, was taken into custody from a residence in New Cairo where he had been in hiding, an Interior Ministry source told Reuters.

At the al-Azhar university's main campus, students smashed windows, hurled chairs and covered walls of an administrative building with graffiti.

"Sisi is a dog. Down, down with the lord of the army," one protester scribbled, referring to army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who led the overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi.

One police officer yelled: "Arrest anyone you see. Bring me those kids. If you see anyone just arrest them right away."

Students at Egypt's top institution for Islamic teachings have demonstrated for weeks in support of the Islamist Mursi, whom the army toppled in July after mass protests against his rule. Demonstrations there are a sensitive matter because the institution has historically toed the government line.

Many Brotherhood leaders have been detained since the overthrow of Mursi, Egypt's first freely elected president. He, Erian and 13 other Brotherhood leaders are expected to go on trial on Monday on charges of inciting violence.

The charges relate to the deaths of about a dozen people in clashes outside the presidential palace last December after Mursi enraged protesters with a decree expanding his powers.

The trial of three senior Muslim Brotherhood leaders on charges of inciting violence was halted on Tuesday after the judge withdrew from the case.

Although he did not spell out his reasons, in similar situations in the past judges complained there was a lack of evidence, procedures were illegal or that the cases were politically motivated.

The trials are likely to create more upheaval in Egypt, which has a peace treaty with Israel and controls the Suez Canal, a vital global trade route.

TURMOIL IN STRATEGIC NATION

The Brotherhood, which demands Mursi's reinstatement, accuses the army of staging a coup that sabotaged democratic gains made since a popular uprising toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

At least 1,000 people, including members of the security forces, were killed in the violence that followed Mursi's overthrow. Hundreds of his supporters died when police forces stormed two protest camps on August 14.

"Hold me accountable for the debacle. I'm responsible," Sebelius, the nation's top healthcare official, told the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee.

She said while Michelle Snyder, the chief operating officer for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), was in charge of integrating the website's systems, Snyder was not to blame.

A spokeswoman for the company's Merck Animal Health unit said that while "it is too early to speculate on when we will resume sales for Zilmax in the U.S. and Canada," Merck was pushing forward with its quality control program to ensure the weight-adding drug is being properly used.

Merck halted sales of Zilmax in August after Tyson Foods Inc. said it would stop accepting Zilmax-fed beef given some cattle were observed arriving for slaughter with signs they were having difficulty walking or moving. Merck has said it stands behind the safety of its product. The email from company spokeswoman Pamela Eisele said Merck was "committed to completing this as quickly as possible, while also ensuring it is conducted appropriately and with rigorous scientific measures."

In a separate statement, Merck said it has formed an advisory board that includes representatives from meat processors, cattle feeder operations, producers, veterinarians, academics and industry consultants. The company declined to say who had been appointed to the board, which convened for the first time in October.

In August, Tyson Foods, the largest U.S. meat processor, said its decision to stop using Zilmax was not made over food-safety concerns. It said it did not know exactly what was causing the animals' behavior, but Tyson officials said animal health experts suggested that the use of Zilmax may be one possible cause.

Cattle carcass weights have dipped in recent weeks as feedlots rush animals to market to cash in on record-high prices but are no longer feeding them the growth promotant, analysts and economists said. Feed lot operators have been peppering Merck with questions over if or when Zilmax sales will resume, according to nutritionists and feed lot owners who have spoken to Merck.

The central bank, which will announce its policy decision at 2 p.m. (1800 GMT), has held interest rates near zero since late 2008 and has quadrupled the size of its balance sheet to more than $3.7 trillion through three rounds of bond buying. The purchases are aimed at holding down longer-term borrowing costs.

It shocked markets in September by opting to keep buying bonds at an unchanged pace, after allowing a perception to harden over the summer that it was ready to start scaling back the purchases. Its caution has since been vindicated.

Consumer and business confidence has been dented by a bitter budget battle in Washington that triggered a 16-day government shutdown earlier this month and pushed the nation to the brink of a potentially devastating debt default, and a slew of economic data has pointed to economic weakness.

"I think you will certainly see a change in tone in the statement," said Scott Anderson, chief economist at Bank of the West in San Francisco.

Like many economists, Anderson now thinks the Fed will keep buying bonds at an $85 billion monthly pace until March.

Reports on Wednesday showed U.S. private-sector employers hired the fewest number of workers in six months in October, while inflation stayed under wraps last month.

Other recent data on hiring, factory output and home sales in September had already suggested the economy lost a step even before the government shut down. Readings on consumer confidence this month have shown the fiscal standoff rattled households.

The signs of weakness and the absence of inflation pressure are expected to convince the Fed's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee to maintain its asset purchase course.

"The October government shutdown has undoubtedly slowed down the economy in the fourth quarter," economists at Rabobank wrote in a note to clients. "It will be 2014 before we are able to see a number of months of economic data that may convince the FOMC that the recovery is continuing at a solid pace."

NO RATE HIKES BEFORE LATE 2015

The soft tone in the data has led financial markets to recalibrate forecasts for a tapering in the Fed's bond purchases. It has also pushed rate hike expectations back into mid-2015 at the earliest.

"It is looking like most of the hikes would happen in 2016," said Anderson, adding that the shift in expectations has helped pull bond yields lower.

The South Korean firm is releasing five new software development kits (SDKs).

It said they would make it easier to create programmes that can share content on its phones, tablets and TVs.

The company announced the news in San Francisco at its first ever developer conference. It is already the best-selling Android device manufacturer.

Samsung wants to defend that position by ensuring new software takes advantage of its devices' proprietary features, such as support for its S Pen stylus and its Multi Window function, which allows two apps to be run in split-screen mode.

"Consumers want the best possible experience," Samsung Senior Vice President Curtis Sasaki told the BBC.

"So, part of our job is to get developers excited about supporting all of our new features. That ends up benefiting the consumer with much better applications. "We're hoping that innovation happens outside of the company. That's why we have developers from 33 different countries."

Stand-out smart devices In holding a developers conference, Samsung follows the lead of other firms including Apple, Google, Microsoft and Blackberry.

All are seeking to offer unique software features to help their platforms stand out.

In the last couple of years Samsung has overtaken Apple to become the world's top-selling smartphone maker.

But, unlike Apple and Blackberry - which develop both their own hardware and the operating systems that power it - Samsung relies on a third-party OS, Android, which is engineered by Google.

The same software is also used by many of Samsung's competitors - including Sony, HTC and LG.

Although Samsung adds its own TouchWiz user interface to the system, its use of Google's OS means its customers may find it relatively easy to migrate to other Android devices when they decide to upgrade.

It also means that customers who purchase apps after they buy a device typically funnel revenue to Google rather than Samsung itself, a situation the Asian firm is keen to address. To do so, Samsung has developed a multi-pronged approach.

In terms of hardware, it is trying to build an ecosystem in which one device relies on another. This is the case with its recently launched Galaxy Gear smartwatch, which is only being made compatible with the company's Galaxy Note, Mega and S handsets.

Project Ara allows users to buy a basic phone structure and add modules such as keyboard, battery or other sensors.

Motorola has partnered with Dutch designer Dave Hakkens, who has created Phonebloks, a modular phone idea, on the project.

Experts were unsure on how big a shake-up for the mobile phone industry the customisable handsets would represent.

In a blog post, Motorola said that it had been working on the project for more than a year.

"We want to do for hardware what the Android platform has done for software - create a vibrant, third-party developer ecosystem," the firm wrote in a blog post.

"To give you the power to decide what your phone does, how it looks, where and what it's made of, how much it costs and how long you'll keep it."

The project will consist of what Motorola is calling an endoskeleton, the frame that will hold all the modules in place.

"A module can be anything from a new application processor to a new display or keyboard, an extra battery, a pulse oximeter - or something not yet thought of," the firm said. Motorola plans to begin inviting developers to create modules in a few months time with a module developer's kit launching soon afterwards.

Motorola came across the work of Dave Hakkens, the creator of Phonebloks, while developing the project and asked him to team up with them. Phonebloks has gained much interest in recent months.

Lego phone Mr Hakkens launched Phonebloks on crowd-promoting website Thunderclap and quickly amassed 950,000 supporters.

"We've done the deep technical work. Dave created a community," Motorola added in its blogpost.

Chris Green, principal technology analyst at the Davies Murphy Group consultancy, dismissed the project as a "gimmick".

"I don't see this as being a big deal. It is not responding to any particular demand and there is no real benefit to assembling your own device,

"The days of DIY IT, people building their own desktop PC, are gone due to falling costs of hardware," he said.

Ben Wood, a mobile expert from CCS Insight, is equally unsure of how mass market such a product can be.

"Creating a Lego-like phone seems on the face of it like a great idea but the commercial realities of delivering such a device are challenging. Consumers want small, attractive devices and a modular design makes this extremely difficult.

While most people stayed away, I rushed to the scene to report on the unfolding attack. It was impossible to keep up with all the responses, and equally challenging to send out my own queries – to friends, loved ones and acquaintances who could be inside, amid the chaos and confusion. Meanwhile, those inside the mall frantically tried to keep those on the outside updated through text messages and emails – as long as batteries lasted – desperately hoping for rescue, or information on a passage to safety.

Nearly three quarters of humans on this planet are practically tethered to their mobile phones. Yet it is only during emergencies that we realise how precious this connection is to our lives. Perhaps reassuringly, a series of technologies are now emerging that promise to make it easier to reach loved ones and share vital news during emergencies – be it armed attacks or natural disasters.

Early signs suggest that the rise in mobile phone ownership is beginning to mitigate the impact of emergencies and natural disasters. Last year saw the lowest number of deaths and people affected by disasters for a decade, according to the 2013 World Disasters Report from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). Bekele Geleta of the IFRC admits the number of disasters in 2012 was also amongst the lowest in several years, but argues that technology played a significant role in reducing the human toll – specifically ownership of phones, linked to weather prediction, satellite imagery and mass alert systems.

But when the NSA director and other spy chiefs appear at a House Intelligence Committee hearing on Tuesday it will be against a backdrop of angry European allies accusing the United States of spying on their leaders and citizens.

The most prominent target appears to have been German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose mobile phone was allegedly tapped by the NSA.

More than any previous disclosures from material given to journalists by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, the reports of spying on close U.S. allies have forced the White House to promise reforms and even acknowledge that America's electronic surveillance may have gone too far.

"We recognize there needs to be additional constraints on how we gather and use intelligence," White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Monday.

U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the Senate's intelligence committee, joined the ranks of critics on Monday, expressing outrage at U.S. intelligence collection on allies, and pique that her committee was not informed.

"With respect to NSA collection of intelligence on leaders of U.S. allies - including France, Spain, Mexico and Germany -let me state unequivocally: I am totally opposed," said Feinstein, who appeared to confirm U.S. spying on Merkel's communications since 2002.

The White House is conducting a review of intelligence programs prompted by disclosures about top secret spying programs to the media by Snowden, who is living in Russia, out of reach of U.S. attempts to arrest him.

NSA Director General Keith Alexander, NSA Deputy Director Chris Inglis, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and Deputy Attorney General James Cole will testify at an open hearing of the House Intelligence Committee at 1:30 p.m. (1730 GMT) on Tuesday.

Their testimony will cover NSA programs and potential changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which regulates electronic eavesdropping.

"The House Intelligence Committee continues to assess a number of proposals to improve transparency and strengthen privacy protections to further build the confidence of the American public in our nation's FISA programs," said Susan Phalen, spokeswoman for Republican committee Chairman Mike Rogers.