Category: News

German officials were “horrified” to find out last week that Google was using Street View cars to collect Wi-Fi data. Why it took them so much to find out a publicly known fact, they didn’t say, but they were clear that Google’s actions were out of bounds. The claims were a bit hypocritical, since plenty of other companie… (read more)

The PlayStation Network is turning into a bullet-filled warzone thanks to a collaboration between Sony Online Entertainment and indie game studio Rockin’ Android. The two have announced that some of the latter’s bullet-hell titles will be launching

Bentley’s gracefully aging Azure convertible will reportedly retain its name when a Mulsanne-based replacement debuts in the not-too-distant future. Sources indicate that it will debut in 2011 as a 2012 model.

The range-topping convertible, which sits above the Continental GT, will, like the Mulsanne, be designed to appeal more to Bentley’s traditional customers. Look for the automaker’s classic-yet-updated 6.75-liter, twin-turbo V8 from the Mulsanne to carry over into the third-generation Azure.

Despite middling sales for the current Azure, which was never intended to be a volume model like the Continental GT, Bentley has been careful to ensure that there is enough production capacity for a flagship convertible at its Crewe, England, assembly plant.

The existing Azure has been on sale since 2006, although it was updated last year to become the Azure T. Based on the now-discontinued Arnage, its future has been the subject of much speculation.

As more details on the next-generation Azure become available, we’ll make sure to update this space.

References
1.’Bentley unveils high…’ view

   

Source: Leftlane

By Joe Wilcox, Betanews

Move over Apple, Nokia isn’t ready to give up its market share leading position just yet. After two failed flagship smartphone attempts — the N97 and N900 — Nokia has cued up the drool-worthy N8 for third quarter release. I’m suddenly excited about a Nokia handset again, and you should be, too. The N8 might also be the Nokia handset to crack the US market.

Nokia is leaning on its strengths in hardware innovation, while improving software and services. The handset manufacturer has long excelled at hardware, whereas Apple does much better with software. For example, Nokia shipped cell phones with great cameras years before Apple sold one iPhone. But Nokia has struggled to extend steller photo and video capabilities into the capacitive touchscreen era.

The N8 may change all that. Apple watchers might want to watch this Nokia smartphone, which should be available around the same time as or soon after the next iPhone. Now for those reasons:

1. Symbian^3. American bloggers may pine for iPhone OS 4, but Symbian is a maturer mobile operating system. Symbian^3 is all about social connections and capable widgets running in the background (not makeshift multitasking like the iPhone).

2. 12-megapixel camera. Nokia N-Series cameraphones are legendary for quality optics and sensor size. Nokia Conversations posted the first sample photos yesterday, and they are simply stunning and unedited straight from the handset. Click through the pics to the full-size images to see the detail captured and surprising low amount of distortion for a camerphone — or many compact digital cameras. (My daughter has the same bike, but in red.)

Sample image from Nokia N8 smartphone. Click thru for full size.

3. Xenon flash. Nokia aficionados have debated N-Series flash since release of the N82, which packed Xenon rather than the typical single- or dual-LED. Old as the N82 is, Nokia fan sites continue to do flash and image quality comparisons between the cameraphone and newer N-Series smartphones. The N82 remains the gold standard for Nokia image quality, although the N8 promises much more.

4. 720p video. Now that YouTube supports HD, 640×480 simply isn’t good enough. Apple’s fourth-generation iPhone is rumored to have 720p, too. But will Apple’s smartphone have Carl Zeiss optics and big sensor (for a handset)? The sample video below simply stunned me. It’s simply the best quality I’ve seen produced by any cameraphone and most compact digital cameras.

Another sample image from Nokia N8. Click thru to see amazing facial detail.

5. Support for AT&T and T-Mobile. Nokia has shortchanged American users for way too long. Most handsets support AT&T 3G frequencies, while there is limited support for T-Mobile (Nuron and N900). The N8 adds support for the 1700MHz band, which along with 2100MHz, would allow the smartphone to use T-Mobile 3G. Could this be the Nokia smartphone that either US carrier carries at a reasonably affordable subsidized price?

6. Five colors. Kodak pioneered the five-color gadget concept during the late 1920s among several series of compact film cameras. Apple brought the five-color concept to new millennium gadgets with the iPod mini and later the iPod nano. Nokia will apply the concept to smartphones, with the N8, which will be available in black, silver, green, orange and blue. What’s not to like about that?

7. Capacitive display. Apple popularized smartphone capacitive touchscreens (which respond to electrical impulses in the fingers), while Nokia largely stuck with resistive touchscreens (which require physical touch). Too few Nokia handsets ship with capacitive displays today. Nokia is a latecomer, and it’s about time that one of the company’s flagship phones used capacitive instead of resistive touchsreen.

Nokia N8 first HD video sample from Nokia Conversations on Vimeo.

8. HDMI. Given the 12-megapixel camera and 720p video capture capabilities, HDMI output is a sensible necessity.

9. Unified social networking. Already, Nokia’s newer smartphones offer some of the best social networking features available on any handset. Apple is behind in this area in part because of its applications focus and iPhone’s stunted multitasking. HTC also offers great out-of-the-box social with its Sense UI. Motorola’s MotoBlur is another social-networking skin, and the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 also offers social connections. N8 promises to be the social ladder climber of the summer (at least until the next, great smartphone announcement comes from somewhere else). As for iPhone, third party developers will have to do what Apple hasn’t.

10. Price. Nokia has priced the N8 at €370, unsubsidized. At today’s exchange rate, that’s about US $486. The N8 looks to be Nokia’s lowest-cost flagship smartphone ever. Unsubsidized, the 16GB N8 would cost about $110 less than what Apple charges carriers for the 16GB iPhone 3GS. However, to be truly competitive with iPhone 3GS or Android-based smartphones, Nokia needs subsidized US carrier distribution.

Regardless, photo and video capture quality promise to make the N8 a reasonable replacement for digital camera and pocket videocam. From that perspective, there is plenty of potential value in the one device to replace others. Oh, yeah, the N8 makes phone calls, too. 🙂

Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

In my opinion, it makes the most sense to start out by electrifying government and public transit vehicles prior to private corporations entering the electric car market. First off, the government should at least try to be efficient. Also, the way bus routes are set up, the limited range of electric vehicles wouldn’t be much of a problem as charging points could be set up along the way.

In this vein, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the parent company of Mitsubishi Motors, is in the planning stages of an experiment with swappable battery electric buses in Japan. Makes sense to me!

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Durante um trecho do Rally da Turquia, o piloto Aleksandr Saluk e seu Mitsubishi Lancer fizeram uma coisa que chamou muito a atenção de quem estava no local assistindo.

Saluk ao saltar uma rampa, literalmente saiu “voando” com seu carro a uma altura considerável, o que assustou até mesmo o co-piloto que não se conteve e falou uma palavra “feia” para seu colega.

Ao ver a câmera interna do carro, imaginei a sensação que deve ser quando se dá um salto desses. Deve ser algo muito doido mesmo! Vejam o vídeo para maiores informações.

Good news: the large, fuzzy creature that an Ohio woman found nestled on the top of her can of Chef Boyardee spaghetti and meatballs was not a rodent hoping to star in a “Ratatouille” sequel. It was just a fluffy, cuddly clump of mold.

ConAgra, the company that makes Chef Boyardee, released a statement last week about the pasta’s rodent-free status. Despite the family’s claims in their YouTube video that they saw tiny feet, they were mistaken.

“It’s not an animal of any kind, that it is most likely mold,” said Dave Jackson, spokesperson for ConAgra Foods. “We will confirm this with a series of tests we’ll be doing over the next two days.”

Those tests are expected to be concluded by Thursday.

Jackson says they believe the can was damaged on the way to the store.
“Sometimes a very small piece of damage to a can that would be very difficult for a customer to see, but we have the ability to test and determine, could lead to something like this,” said Jackson.

The company’s advice to consumers: Don’t buy dented cans.

Solid advice.

We contacted ConAgra for the final test results, and will update this post when we get them.

Can Mystery Solved, ConAgra Says It’s Mold [KY Post]

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The Republicans may have some legitimate concerns about Democrats’ financial reform bill, but their reported alternative has some problem of its own. The Wall Street Journal’s Real Time Economics blog has obtained a 20-page summary of the Republican plan. It eliminates the concerns Republicans have, some of which include the controversial resolution fund, forcing banks to spin off their derivatives business, and a too powerful consumer protection agency. While some of their ideas are good, others need a little more thought. Here are some highlights.

The Good

GSEs

Perhaps the most sensible move by Republicans is to add in some oversight and regulation for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Virtually everyone agrees these government-sponsored entities played a pivotal role in the crisis, as they were the biggest bailout recipients. Yet Democrats’ financial reform proposals completely fail to address these troubled firms.

Financial Stability

The Democrat bill would create a list of systemically regulated firms. This remains an area of contention, because Republicans worry that these firms will be seen as too big to fail and receive a special competitive advantage in the market as a result. The Republicans appear to create a similar systemic risk regulator to watch over the economy, but without the list of firms.

Derivatives

The Republican bill almost certainly wouldn’t require banks to spin off their derivatives desks, though this isn’t explicit in the WSJ highlights. As long as banks remain in the business, the derivatives industry will be much more stable. Their large capital bases will provide for a safer market.

The Bad

Resolution

Republicans identified a legitimate problem with the Democrats’ proposed resolution fund used to wind down large firms. The right believes that it would provide an advantage to those firms, since their creditors and/or counterparties would be more willing to do business with them, due to their access to these funds through failure. Yet, here is the Republicans’ strange alternative:

The FDIC would be able to advance funds to creditors, but it would have to recoup from creditors any money a creditor received in excess of what it would have gotten in bankruptcy.

That sounds great in theory, but in practice — what happens if those creditors can’t pay back the FDIC? One can only imagine that the cost falls on the shoulders of taxpayers. Even though the Democrats’ resolution fund has some problems, at least taxpayers would be left out of it.

Fed

The Republicans want greater Fed oversight. That’s not necessarily bad — so long as it doesn’t interfere with the Fed’s independence. But it also looks like the Republicans want to limit the Fed’s ability to stabilize the financial markets. That’s inadvisable. Without the Fed’s ability to calm markets and restore liquidity, the financial crisis would have been much, much worse.

Derivatives

Yes, this was just listed as a good idea. But it isn’t all good. Republicans appear to fall prey to the same misconception about derivatives as Democrats. They intended to allow for clearing exemptions as regulators see fit. That’s good. What’s not good is that they continue worry about the distinction between “swap participants” (think speculator/investor) and “end users” (think farmer or other non-speculators), saying the latter doesn’t need to clear its derivative exposure or maintain collateral requirements. Yet, more often than not, these two kinds of parties are on either side of a derivatives transaction. Does only one side need to clear? How much will that screw up netting for the clearinghouse? And why shouldn’t non-bank firms be forced to put up collateral? If they run into financial trouble, they could also default on their derivatives obligation.

In a perfect world, Congress will reconcile Republicans’ good ideas with the smart ones that Democrats have already offered. That might happen to some extent, as it appears that Democrats will have to make concessions to get to 60 votes, after failing for the past two days to pass a test vote. How much they’ll give, however, is hard to say. Clearly Republicans won’t get all of what they want, but they might get some of it. Both sides of the aisle know financial reform must pass. Let’s just hope Democrats incorporate Republicans’ good ideas and not their bad ones.

Update: Just found the full summary text here.

iTag is a FREE service to locate and protect your lost or stolen phone. View your cell phone’s location, make it ring, lock the keys, back up your data, delete the information on the phone and MORE! You can optionally be alerted when friends are near and send a message to your friend nearest your lost phone.

Price: Free (for first 10k registered or refer 3 friends to get it Free), $20 for Unlimited

AndroidTapp.com Android App Review:

Pros & Cons:

Pros

• Find your phone if lost or stolen
• Backup and Restore data
• Remotely lock keys
• Send and request friends location

Cons

• Forces Close often… buggy
• Issue with Android users who use Home Screen replacement Android apps
• Battery drain, process run away app

Features:

iTag Android App aims to help you find your Android phone is lost or stolen. It does this mostly but at the cost of a lot of bugs and user experience issues. Let’s address the bad first then the good.

The Bad; it forces close at random often, it adds to battery drain as it seems like a run-away process app (can’t exactly pin point it but I started having those issues after installing the app… this is just speculation), for many users whom replaced their default home screen (with apps like aHome, Open Home or SlideScreen, etc.) it asks to be the default home… overriding your customized home screen.

The Good; like other remote phone finding apps it helps you locate exact position via GPS, backup data in scheduled intervals and restore if needed, remotely lock the key pad if stolen, and send friends your location or request theirs provided they have iTag installed and allow it in Privacy settings.

Video: iTag

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJBw9kHVJKo

Usefulness:

Using a stealthy app to help find a lost r stolen phone is always infinitely useful. iTag has a unique feature when your friends have the app installed and allow you to access their location; for example it can be used if your phone in a coffee shop near a friend… you can use the web portal to see how close the friend is and SMS text them from the computer to grab your phone for you.

Ease of Use:

If you can get past registration, operating the app is straight-forward. Simple toggle controls happen on the device whereas more control is offered on www.iTag.com website.

Frequently Used:

Intended for use if you lose or misplace your phone.

I remain defiantly optimistic about the future of trains in America. We used to have the fastest, smoothest, most comfortable trains in the world. Then, seemingly overnight, streamliners and thousands of miles of tracks just disappeared. America seems ready to rekindle its love affair with the train, but we need to do so in a way that promotes alternative fuels as a way of motivating massive trains.

Amtrak, which has not turned a profit in, uh, forever, is moving forward with plans to test out a new biodiesel blend in one of its trains. The extended one-year experiment will try to prove the viability and lower emissions of a biodiesel train. But will it stick?

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Siempre es un placer leer lo que se recibe desde Lotus Engineering, teniendo en cuenta que hoy por hoy, es una de las divisiones de ingeniería que va por delante de unas cuantas marcas. En esta oportunidad usan toda su experiencia en vehículos deportivos con poco peso y presentan un concepto que hace uso de la menor cantidad posible de piezas que componen el vehículo, para lograr precisamente un menor peso.

Y es que los modelos actuales de Lotus no serán tan potentes como un Ferrari, pero no todo es la potencia del motor ni la aerodinámica. Lotus ha logrado establecerse como un fabricante de deportivos empleando una táctica que siempre le ha dado resultado, desarrollar coches con motores no muy potentes en HP, pero muy maniobrables y con poco consumo de carburante.

Y aqui es donde entra en juego este concepto hecho a partir del SUV Toyota Venza: Lotus Engineering ha demostrado que se puede fabricar un coche con menor peso, usando materiales ya conocidos se puede lograr un coche más barato de producir.

Para ello, han desarrollado dos prototipos que en teoría saldrían a la luz para el 2017 y el 2020. En el primero, la reducción que se logró fue del 21% de peso y su producción costaría 2% menos que un Venza normal. En el segundo, la reducción que se logró fue del 38%, con un aumento del costo de solamente el 3%. El vehículo del 2020 podrá fabricarse a futuro, con materiales que estarán disponibles en el futuro cercano.

Y para muestra, los números: el modelo experimental del 2020 usó 211 partes, comparado con el Venza actual, con más de 400. De esas partes, el prototipo usó 37% de aluminio, 30% de magnesio, 21% de compuestos varios y 7% de materiales tradicionales. En el modelo actual del Venza, el uso de los materiales tradicionales derivados del acero, alcanza el 100%. La conclusión es simple: a menor peso, menor consumo y un costo de fabricación menor o igual. Se calcula que el modelo del 2020 estaría reduciendo los consumos en un 23%.

Vía | Autocar

KNOXVILLE – The Spring 2010 commencement ceremony for the College of Communication and Information (CCI) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, will be “all in the family” for Phillip Fulmer.

Fulmer, head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers football team from 1992 to 2008, will give the CCI commencement address at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 12, in Thompson-Boling Arena. Two of Fulmer’s daughters, Alison and Brittany Fulmer, are graduating from the college in the summer but will participate in the ceremony on May 12. Alison will receive a bachelor’s degree in public relations and Brittany will receive a master’s degree in communication studies. Brittany received a bachelor’s degree in communication studies in 2007, as did Fulmer’s other daughter, Courtney, in 2005.

“The faculty, staff and students of the College of Communication and Information are honored to have Coach Phillip Fulmer as our 2010 commencement speaker,” said CCI Dean Mike Wirth. “Coach Fulmer has had an incredible impact on everyone who knows and loves the University of Tennessee and the Knoxville campus. His long-term dedication to the university and the community and his ability to motivate and lead young adults make him a perfect choice to inspire our graduates as they leave the university to pursue their personal and professional goals.”

More than 200 students will graduate with bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from the college this semester. An archived webcast of the ceremony will be available online.

—

C O N T A C T :

Charles Primm (865-974-5180, [email protected])

Filed under: Etc.

For as many people out there who own a car, there is seemingly an equally large group of people who want to steal them. The funny thing is that car thieves rarely pull a Gone in 60 Seconds and steal expensive, rare autos. Year after year some aging model year of the Honda Accord tops the list as the most frequent car stolen in the U.S., followed by such everyman-mobiles as the Civic, Toyota Camry and Ford F-150. Ubiquity rather than desirability seems to be the common denominator among these top stolen vehicles.

Follow the jump for our latest infographic that explores the facts and figures of stealing cars. And remember not to be one of the 15 percent of people who leave their keys in the ignition.

[Source: Auto Insurance for Autoblog.com]

Continue reading Infographic: One car stolen every 33 seconds… and other fun grand theft auto facts

Infographic: One car stolen every 33 seconds… and other fun grand theft auto facts originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 28 Apr 2010 10:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Plans for the world’s largest telescope just took a major step forward. Researchers have selected a site for the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT): It will sit on the Cerro Armazones mountain in central Chile’s Atacama Desert. This site beat out other contenders, including other sites in Chile and La Palma in Spain, due to its excellent conditions for astronomy.

On this desert mountain, researchers will enjoy near-perfect observing conditions – at least 320 nights a year when the sky is cloudless. The Atacama’s famous aridity means the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere is very limited, reducing further the perturbation starlight experiences as it passes through the Earth’s atmosphere [BBC]. With such clear skies, astronomer Diego Mardones from the University of Chile remarked, “If you want to find another [observation area] like Chile, your options are Antarctica or space” [Merco Press].

The telescope’s primary mirror will measure 138 in diameter. The mirror will be made up of 984 segments and will gather 15 times more light than the largest optical telescope while returning images 15 times sharper than those beamed back from the Hubble Space Telescope [Wired]. Astronomers say the telescope will provide new information on the nature of black holes, galaxy formation, dark matter, and dark energy.

The E-ELT, which is estimated to cost almost a billion euros, is expected to be operational by 2018. The final go-ahead for the telescope’s construction is expected later this year.

Related Content:
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80beats: Hubble 3D in IMAX: View of the Heavens in a Theater That’s Almost That Big
80beats: In a First, Ground-Based Telescope Measures Alien Planet’s Atmosphere
80beats: World’s Biggest Telescope Will Provide “Baby Pictures” of the Universe
Image: ESO

Green Right Now Reports

Once the hybrid auto shopper debated between the Prius and the Civic.

Today there’s a hybrid for everyone from your spitfire teenage daughter (keep her down to earth with a Civic) to your boat-pulling, SUV-loving family fisherman (dare we say Tahoe?) to the mom who’s still carting a crowd to soccer games (let the good times roll in a Highlander).

Surveying the hybrid sedans, SUVs and compacts on the market for 2010, the auto analysts at AutoTrader.com, reviewed what consumers were looking for most frequently on their online auto classifieds site and came up with this list of “top 10 most searched-for hybrids”:

1. Toyota Prius II
2. Toyota Camry
3. Ford Fusion Hybrid
4. Honda Insight EX
5. Lexus HS 250h
6. Toyota Highlander Limited with 3rd Row
7. Ford Escape Hybrid FWD
8. Honda Civic
9. Ford Escape Hybrid 4WD
10. Lexus RX 450h AWD

Number one, no surprise, is the highest mileage hybrid on the market, the pioneering Toyota Prius, now rated at over 50 mpg in the city.

But note that the Ford Escape, a darling of a mini-SUV appears on the list twice, in front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive versions.

The rest of the list is diverse. And with the Toyota Camry, Ford Fusion and Lexus HS 250h occupying top spots, one might conclude that America is looking for a roomier hybrid, a family car, even — when they’re not looking for a Prius or Honda’s answer to the Prius, the Insight.

“In the past, the selection of eco-friendly cars was limited, forcing consumers to choose from a handful of options,” said Shawn Tucker, auto analyst at AutoTrader.com.

“Today, manufacturers are catering to everyone, and the definition of eco-friendly vehicles are changing. Consumers who want to help reduce their carbon footprints need to educate themselves on the wide array of vehicles available, and keep up with evolving green car trends, which will help them save money and stay informed when searching for an eco-friendly vehicle of their own.

Things were sure hotting up in Cheltenham last night as candidates James Green (Labour), Martin Horwood (Lib Dem), Mark Coote (Tory) and Peter Bowman (UKIP) joined the neon pink table at Cheltenham’s St Andrew’s Church in Montpellier to deliver their ideas on climate change.

 

With an audience of 70 eager faces suitably refreshed with tea and coffee and the Gloucestershire Echo’s photos taken, the panel were ready to begin.

 

The Chair, Oxfam’s Kathleen Spencer Chapman, introduced ‘Ask the Climate Question’ as the sun went down the church spire, the candidates in turn opened with a short introduction about themselves, their party and their views on climate change.

 

Then it was the public’s turn. They probed the panel with questions about reducing carbon emissions, population growth, the Robin Hood Tax, monitoring targets, aviation and de-forestation.

 

Chair Kathleen then invited the audience’s opinion about the Robin Hood Tax. Clearly involved, passionate listeners were quick to stick up their hands, as the majority in the room agreed with the idea. Then they learned from the Tory candidate that he has been heavily lobbied about the tax – fantastic!

 

Friends of the Earth received recognition for leading the campaign for the Climate Change Act, and the Tory candidate said, “We want to be the greenest government ever”. Let’s hope that includes the glorious green-coloured Robin Hood Tax!

 

The Lib Dem candidate mentioned an approach of measuring happiness levels instead of using GDP and GNP, like they do in Bhutan. Perhaps this changed the level of cheer in the room.

 

The candidates finished on a high note, very much welcoming the opportunity to examine an issue in depth thanks to a very erudite audience! The pink cloth is cooling off until the next showdown.

The head of Saudi Arabia’s national oil company Saudi Aramco has warned that total Saudi crude oil experts could begin declining as soon as next year according to Risk.net.

Domestic Saudi oil consumption is increasingly rapidly, and over the next two decades out to about 2028 total Saudi Arabian energy demand is expected to grow 250%.

Risk.net:

“Along with China and India, we do expect Saudi Arabia to be one of the largest sources of global oil demand,” says Amrita Sen, oil analyst at Barclays Capital. “And given Saudi’s importance in the oil market as the swing producer, in the longer term, this can impact their ability to control the market at the margin. However, this is unlikely to have a significant impact this year, given the substantial spare capacity it is sitting on, though that buffer could get eroded sooner rather than later in the coming few years.”

He explains how the Saudi Arabian economy’s energy intensity has increased 138% since 1980 and will continue to do so as the economy diversifies into other industries such as manufacturing.

Maybe this is one reason why Saudi Arabia is trying to develop nuclear energy production. Burning oil to produce electricity, as Saudi Arabia does, is horribly inefficient as it stands because coal, natural gas, and nuclear power are generally much cheaper methods when possible.

Regardless, some believe Saudi Aramco is exaggerating the growth of domestic Saudi Arabian oil consumption in order to keep the oil market on its toes:

“I think this is very long term and I doubt much will change in the near future,” says Andrey Kryuchenkov, analyst and strategist for the commodities team at investment house VTB Capital. “I think they are just talking their economy and oil prices up. The original statement came from Saudi Aramco, which needs further investments to cope with growing demand and need for extra capacity. The alleged capacity is around 12.5 million b/d, but the more likely number is just below 12 million b/d at the moment. 2028 is a very, very far-fetched forecast, as they are simply adjusting the current rate of change in consumption.”

“Saudi Arabia is running out of oil and Ghawar field will exhaust itself in the end,” says Kryuchenkov. “It has been producing oil since 1948, which is unprecedented for any field and still accounts for around 55–60% of exports. The decline will accelerate from here and I think these are more immediate concerns than its consumption growing. As a rule of thumb in the oil industry, Saudi Arabia is seen as the following: a 5% decline in production and a 2% rise in consumption is approximately 15% decline in net oil exports. However, this is not the case just yet.”

So this analyst isn’t as concerned about Saudi’s growing domestic consumption as he is about the potential for Saudi output to drop.

Problem is, for those who consumer oil internationally such as the U.S., both of the above commentators seem to expect a potential reduction in international oil supply from Saudi Arabia, even if they are emphasizing different causes.

As the world’s most important swing producer of crude oi, one suspects that relatively small changes for Saudi Arabia can have a large impact on the tightness of oil supply vs. demand globally. Thus any decline for whatever reason would be bad news for oil bears.

Join the conversation about this story »

Weight is without a doubt the enemy of efficiency. Once, all that extra heft was considered a safety feature, but with new technologies that make cars safer even at lighter weights, now it is considered more of a hindrance than anything. Yet, despite space age materials and new construction methods, most cars still weigh well over 3000 pounds. This has put automakers in an uphill battle, where they have to move increasingly heavier cars with smaller engines, while still maintaining some sort of “fun” factor while driving.

But a recent study by Lotus suggests that mainstream automakers could achieve a 38% reduction in the mass of the car (not including the drivetrain) — and thereby increase fuel efficiency 23% — yet only increase costs associated with the extra manufacturing by a scant 3%.

(more…)

Spain just got downgraded by S&P.  Given that S&P is usually the last to know, it looks like things are only going to get worse for the eurozone giant.

While Spain might seem like another Greece or Portugal, its something far different–and worse.

The country is a way more important part of the eurozone economy, with way too much debt to be bailed out by a weak EU-IMF initiative.

See Also:

• Spain Begs Markets To Stop Comparing It To Greece
• Spain Is On The Brink Of Financial Collapse Because Nobody Pays Taxes
• Forget Greece, With Nearly 19% Unemployment, Spain Should Have You Freaking Out

Property Boom: Spain experienced a property boom larger than the US and UK

This property boom saw the price of Spanish real estate rise 80% from 1990 to 2009.

This was due to similar reasons as those for the US and UK booms: relatively low interest rates and an easy credit environment.

Source: The Economist

Property Boom: Boom leads to employment growth and influx of workers

The property boom led to a period of relatively low unemployment in Spain and an influx of foreign workers and dependents from abroad.

Since the boom collapsed, this influx has only served to further exacerbate the unemployment problem.

Source: Index Mundi

Unemployment: 18.8%

Spain’s unemployment was a staggering 18.8% in the fourth quarter of 2009. This is a rise on the previous quarter’s 17.9% and was above the consensus projections by 0.3%.

This is a return to the pre-boom time numbers, though higher than the year 2000 average of 16%.

Source: Instituto Nacional Estadistica

Unemployment: Increase looks set to continue to trend upward

Unemployment looks continue to trend upwards due to an increasing labor force and new austerity measures which will cut down on government spending.

The austerity budget is calling for a 5% cut in GDP and while illegal immigrant worker numbers are decreasing, it appears unlikely the rate will be equal by any measure.

Source: Index Mundi

Euro Zone Imbalances: Inability to deal with labor problems

Because of Spain’s position in the Euro zone, it has been confronted with wage demands which are unfit for its less modern economy.

Spain cannot compete with Germany for the quality of its manufactured goods, as it cannot devalue its currency, lower wages, and become more competitive in the market place.

Source: OECD

Debt: During the boom times, it seemed as though Spain was doing well at paying down debt.

Spain, unlike Greece, used its period of growth to pay off debts and only had debt of 55% of GDP, which is the Euro zone average, prior to the crisis.

This should, theoretically, make servicing its debt easier as it has less.

Source: Index Mundi

Pension And Entitlement Schemes: Slash and Burn

Spain has been on a slash and burn assault of entitlement programs since the severity of its recession became obvious.

Most obvious of these cuts is the raising of the retirement age to 67 from 65. This, coupled with cuts in the civil service, could make a strong impact on the country’s deficit.

Source: OECD

No Growth Sectors In The Economy: GDP unlikely to grow swiftly

The collapse of the property bubble has put Spain in a position of retrenchment in terms of where it sees its economy going.

It now needs to develop new growth sectors to grow its GDP. Likely candidates include energy, where Spain has invested heavily in solar technologies.

Source: Banco de Espana

Who is exposed: Financial Companies

Compared to Greece, foreign bank exposure to Spanish government debt is limited. This does not mean that it isn’t systemically large in certain countries banking sectors, however.

A primary example of this would be Cathay Life Insurance of Taiwan, which has significant exposure to Spanish debt. More interesting is which banks and or insurance companies have issued derivative instruments on Spanish debt, such as CDS.

These investors could be put under heavy pressure come July, when Spain has huge obligations to meet.

Source: Bank of International Settlements

Right now, Spain looks in good shape in debt markets

Spain is still in a position much better than the other PIIGS states. It does not have their debt load, nor the CDS spread of its rivals.

However, contagion via a European default or a prolonging of the Greek debt crisis could bring further pressure on the Spanish economy, which will result in higher CDS spreads and increasing yields on debt.

This week will see another Spanish debt issuance, this time of the 15-year variety, which will provide raw data on how markets perceive the country against its neighbors. Future months might hold more problems for Spain, however.

Source: Reuters

But July is D-Day for Spanish debt

Barclays Capital finds that Spain is not one of the PIIGS most in need of debt refinancing over the next several months, but will be faced with huge obligations in July, according to the FT Alphaville.

Spain may be safe from the uncertainty over Greece right now, but come July things could get extremely difficult.

Approximately 25 billion Euros ($34.31 billion) in refinancing are needed in July, and Spain will have to tap the debt markets to get that. Spain can only hope the crisis over Greece is over by then, lest it might be dealing with its own.

Source: Barclays Capital via FT Alphaville

Now Check Out How Spain Is Begging For Money To Save It From Its Debt

Check Out Spain’s Presentation To Potential Investors Here >

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