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More challenges than cheer for Apple chief on Asia tour

With slowing iPhone sales in China, Apple Inc (AAPL.O) is having to take India more seriously, but investors hoping for a stock price fillip from CEO Tim Cook's week-long Asia trip instead were given a taste of the daunting challenges that lie ahead.

The second leg of Cook's trip, to India, the world's third-largest smartphone market, comes at a crucial time as Apple battles slowing growth in China, its second-biggest market. But the challenges suggest it will be years before India is anything close to a major earnings pillar for the U.S. tech giant.

"With China saturating, everybody has no choice but to look at India, and Apple's rivals have been strengthening there in the last two years. Apple is playing catch-up," said Ville-Petteri Ukonaho, a senior analyst at Strategy Analytics.

While the numbers in India suggest huge potential - fewer than two in every 10 of the country's 1.3 billion people have a smartphone - the world's fastest growing major market operates differently to other markets where Apple has enjoyed stellar growth and high margins.

Apple's traditional model is to sell its phones at full price to local telecoms carriers, which then discount them to users in exchange for charging them for data as part of a multi-month contract. Not so in India.

"In India, carriers in general sell virtually no phones and it is out in retail - and retail is many, many different small shops," Cook told analysts recently. "Because smartphones there are low-end, primarily because of the network and the economics, the market potential has not been as great," added Cook, likening India to the Chinese market 7-10 years ago.

In meetings with India's two largest carriers, Bharti Airtel (BRTI.NS) and Vodafone (VODA.NS), Cook discussed ways to work more closely to sell iPhones, including whether a contract pricing model could work in India. He said Apple sees opportunities to expand in the market as operators roll out 4G services.

"The trip was more about understanding the Indian market, but was also about signaling to the world that Apple has arrived in India," said Vishal Tripathi, research director at Gartner.

PRICE SENSITIVE

Another challenge for Apple is how to be a premium-end player in a low-income market.

"In India, incomes are so low that not many customers appreciate the full value of the Apple ecosystem, and it will take a lot more effort for Apple to sell the Macs and iPads in Indian stores compared to China," said Strategy Analytics' Ukonaho.

India is a more price sensitive market than China, and Apple's relatively expensive iPhones are out of reach to most Indians, who on average live on less than $3.10 a day according to World Bank data.

With per capita income of $1,570 as of 2014 and the average smartphone selling for less than $90, a third of the global average, India's market growth is predominantly led by cheaper phones. High-end smartphones - costing from $300 - make up only 6 percent of the market, or just 6 million units, according to Morgan Stanley.

Rebuffed by India's government in its plan to import and sell used, refurbished iPhones, Apple has seen only slow growth in a market dominated by Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and Chinese brands.

That issue was not resolved in talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi - which a Modi aide called "extremely successful" - and government officials have pressed Apple to set up manufacturing facilities in India, said officials involved in discussions, a move that would create jobs and boost Modi's "Make in India" initiative.

"Now it's for Apple to talk about their plans," the Modi aide said.

Apple declined to comment on what Cook achieved on his Asia trip.

MORE MARKETING

Apple's brand awareness ranks 10th in India, trailing Samsung, Sony (6758.T), Blackberry (BB.TO) and some local rivals. Almost half of respondents in a Morgan Stanley survey said they do not know Apple.

While Apple is likely to double its share in the $400-plus segment to 40 percent, it "has to significantly increase its store presence, ramp up marketing, and add local content," the brokerage said in a recent note.

A first Apple retail store in India is unlikely to open its doors until next year at the earliest.

In internal meetings, Cook stressed how Apple wants to increase its retail operations in India and work with re-sellers to make its products available more widely. "We've been hiring for India retail and distribution for the last few months, and Tim's message was that we need to double down on that," said an Apple official in India.

In China, where iPhone sales slumped in January-March and some online entertainment services were suspended, Cook also had little to cheer investors.

At meetings with Chinese officials, Cook emphasized Apple's contributions to China's economy - creating jobs, generating revenue and paying taxes - said people familiar with the matter. His visit came just days after Apple announced a $1 billion investment in a local ride-hailing app firm, a move Cook says will help Apple better understand China.

But when he asked about the shutdown of online services and emphasized that Apple had followed procedures in establishing those services, he was told only that China would look into it, the people said.

Enigmatic French cave structures show off Neanderthal skills

WASHINGTON: Mysterious ring-shaped structures fashioned about 176,000 years ago by Neanderthals using broken stalagmites deep inside a cave in southwestern France indicate that our closest extinct relatives were more adept than previously known.

Scientists on Wednesday described six rock structures discovered about 1,100 feet (336 meters) inside Bruniquel Cave in France's Aveyron region. While their purpose is unclear, they are among the oldest-known constructions by a human species.

The scientists attributed the work to Neanderthals, who thrived in Europe at the time but vanished roughly 40,000 years ago, after our species Homo sapiens, which first appeared in Africa about 200,000 years ago, trekked into Europe.

The six short-walled structures were built with pieces of stalagmites, rock formations made of mineral deposits from water dripping onto a cave floor. The two ring-shaped ones measured 22-by-15 feet (6.7-by-4.5 meters) and 7.2-by-6.9 feet (2.2-by-2.1 meters). All six had traces of fire.

"They moved more than two tons of broken stalagmites," said paleoclimatologist Dominique Genty of France's Climate and Environment Sciences Laboratory.

The purpose of these structures built, as University of Bordeaux professor of prehistory Jacques Jaubert put it, in the "underworld" remains an enigma. Jaubert said the site probably was not a place to live or cook, so far from daylight.

"It could be for a specific domestic use or cultural one," Genty said.

The findings are more evidence that Neanderthals were not our dimwitted cousins, as they have long been portrayed. Other research indicates Neanderthals used complex hunting methods, spoken language, pigments for body painting, employed fire in a sophisticated way and performed burials.

Jaubert said there are other examples of Neanderthal structures like hearths and rock workshops, "but never the structures of this magnitude, and in this deep cave context."

Building such deep-cave structures requires leaders, mobilization of individuals to carry out the task, manufacturing construction material and keeping the site lit up for long periods, Jaubert said. The Neanderthals probably burned bones for light, Genty said.

"This is the work of a group of at least three to four people, and possibly more. All this indicates a structured society," Jaubert said.

Neanderthals and their contemporary Homo sapiens seemed to possess roughly equivalent technological, social and other capabilities, Jaubert said.

There were some anatomical differences between the two species, with the bodies of Neanderthals shorter and stockier and they had larger brows and larger noses.

World's first 3D-printed office opens in Dubai

Dubai has opened what it said was the world's first functioning 3D-printed office building, part of a drive by the Gulf's main tourism and business hub to develop technology that cuts costs and saves time.

The printers - used industrially and also on a smaller scale to make digitally designed, three-dimensional objects from plastic - have not been used much for building.

This one used a special mixture of cement, a Dubai government statement said, and reliability tests were done in Britain and China.

The one-storey prototype building, with floorspace of about 250 square metres (2,700 square feet), used a 20-foot (6-metre)by 120-foot by 40-foot printer, the government said.

"This is the first 3D-printed building in the world, and it's not just a building, it has fully functional offices and staff," the United Arab Emirates Minister of Cabinet Affairs, Mohamed Al Gergawi, said.

"We believe this is just the beginning. The world will change," he said.

The arc-shaped office, built in 17 days and costing about $140,000, will be the temporary headquarters of Dubai Future Foundation - the company behind the project - is in the centre of the city, near the Dubai International Financial Centre.

Gergawi said studies estimated the technique could cut building time by 50-70 percent and labour costs by 50-80 percent. Dubai's strategy was to have 25 percent of the buildings in the emirate printed by 2030, he said.

Latest Game of Thrones episode leaves fans in shock, despair
The latest Game of Thrones' episode that debuted on Sunday left hardcore fans of the show sad after Hodor became the latest character who had to bite the dust.

Bran Stark was once again in troubled waters that eventually led to his direwolf Summer and faithful servant Hodor getting killed. Unsupervised, the young Stark child grasped a root and went deep into a dream wherein he saw the frightening White Walkers up close. As Bran went close to their fiercely horrifying commander, he ultimately realised that the creature could see him. Not only that, he grasped him by the hand until the boy woke up startled.

That meant curtains for Bran and his entourage who were holed up in the Three-Eyed-Raven's cave. The leader of the White Walkers had gotten a whiff of the young boy and would soon come looking for him, warned the Three-Eyed-Raven. As soon as the party was about to depart, sure enough the White Walkers turned up by the thousands outside their cave, ready to hunt the young boy and his bewildered party.

Clearly the strongest member of the group, it was up to Hodor to hold the fort--or more appropriately, the door when the going got tough. Left behind by Meera Reed (who could be labeled selfish but we really can't question her judgment) to hold back the barrage of White Walkers pounding on the door, Meera was able to drag Bran away from an impending slaughter as the Walker got to Hodor in the end.

The transition of the dialogue 'Hold the door' to 'Hodor' was the icing on the cake. All the more, it evoked a strong response from Game of Thrones' fans around the world, who missed the burly man and couldn't come to grips with the fact that there'd be no more of him in the upcoming seasons.

All in all, it would certainly be interesting to see how Bran and Meera (both of whom are on the run with a hoard of White Walkers on their trail) manage to evade almost certain death and survive without Hodor watching over them.
Coffee was Shahid Kapoor's 'high' for Udta Punjab role
Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor's Udta Punjab role has already generated much interest and intrigue among fans as well as movie buffs. For one, the actor has entirely revamped his look for the movie to get more in line with his character of a substance abusing rockstar.

Actors always go the extra mile to delve into their characters and our Udta Punjabstar did nothing less. According to Shahid Kapoor, to be able to portray a drug addict in the movie, he had gotten himself a 'caffeine high'.

"In the absence of alcohol and any kind of substance, what helped me to get the kind of high I needed for my character was coffee. I would drink several cups of coffee before giving those shots," he said.

According to the Kapoor lad, playing a substance abusing character was something which he wasn't familiar with. This was due to the fact that Shahid Kapoor has always been a teetotaller. Hence, the Shandaar actor gulped down 8-9 cups of coffee to get that high effect before he would shoot for his scenes.

Udta Punjab stars Alia Bhatt and Kareena Kapoor along with Shahid himself, who plays the rockstar Tommy Singh. Shahid had also stated in the past that Tommy Singh was one of the scariest roles he had ever tried to portray on-screen.
Atomic bomb survivors to attend Hiroshima event for Obama visit
ISE-SHIMA: At least three atomic bomb survivors will attend an event in Hiroshima on Friday when President Barack Obama becomes the first incumbent U. S. leader to visit the site of the world´s first atomic bombing, Japan´s Kyodo news agency reported.

Obama has said he will not apologise or address the debate on whether the Aug. 6, 1945, dropping of the bombs on Hiroshima and on Nagasaki three days later was justified, but will honour all those who lost their lives in World War Two.

He will be accompanied by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the visit.
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