The future of the luxury sedan segment, in the form of the Cadillac XTS Platinum Concept is being previewed this week at the 2010 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) by American manufacturer GM. At least this is how GM hopes to future will look like, because to us, the Cadillac looks just not much different than any other Caddys showed in recent years.
At least this the impression we got just by looking at the XTS. GM however says it has designed the car as a "per… (read more)
XDA-Developers have always focussed on HTC-manufactured devices, even if rebranded under a different name such as Sony Ericsson, but with HTC only producing around 50% of Windows Mobile devices these days that has always left out quite a large number of users trying to get community support for their chosen device.
Well, that is now all set to change. As part of a series of changes to make their content faster and more accessible they will also be including selected smartphones by other OEM’s
Finally– and hopefully this doesn’t cause a mass uproar– we are considering the idea of selectively adding non-HTC device forums (focused on Windows Mobile and Android devices). Every day we get requests from users for this, and there’s really no good reason why we cannot oblige them. Already the discussion is happening in the general forums. That said, we will only add new forums if: 1. We are confident added traffic won’t cause site speed to suffer; 2. We can recruit quality moderators; and 3. The content and discussion is of high quality. The only way to know these things for sure is to try it out. So, within the next 14 days we are going to add two or three non-HTC forums. The delay is to ensure the site continues to operate at a reasonable speed and so we can figure out where to put the new forums (the forum homepage is already absurdly long and cluttered). We are open to suggestions as to deserving devices for our first non-HTC forums, so give us your ideas in this thread.
Read more in this XDA-Developers thread.
Do you as an XDA-Dev user welcome these changes? Let us know below.
Thanks hubbie from HTCEros.com for the tip.
I just updated Another Internet Soy Article with the following:
A 2009 report from the Shanghai Breast Cancer Survival Study showed that women with a prior diagnosis of breast cancer (including estrogen-positive), who ate more soy, had lower rates of death and cancer recurrence (12). The study followed women for an average of 3.9 years after a diagnosis of breast cancer. The researchers measured a beneficial effect of up to 11 grams of soy protein per day. Table 3 shows the results.
12. Shu XO, Zheng Y, Cai H, Gu K, Chen Z, Zheng W, Lu W. Soy food intake and breast cancer survival. JAMA. 2009 Dec 9;302(22):2437-43.
Since I can’t do mayo because of the egg allergy, here is how I make tuna salad. This version really tastes almost the same as using mayo and relish, so I don’t even feel I’m missing out on anything. In fact, I think this version tastes better.
Just mix everything up in a bowl, and chill for 20 minutes before eating. To add a hint of flavor, I only use about 2 dashes of garlic powder not salt because the tuna is salted already. Too much of the garlic powder changes everything.
I say 2-3 tbsp because it depends on how “wet” I want my tuna salad. I tend to like the salad on the dry side because it’s also less calories. Compared to like a Kraft regular Mayo, Brianna’s has 80 calories/tbsp and 7g of fat. Kraft mayo has 90 calories/tbsp and 10g of fat.
To me, Brianna’s Poppyseed dressing is a gift from heaven because it has a thickness similar to mayo, and it’s on the sweet side. It’s not trying to be a mayo substitute, it’s just another option, and I love it!
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Cadbury Plc reported robust 2009 results and an upbeat 2010 outlook on Tuesday in its last bid to escape from Kraft Foods’ 10.5 billion pound ($17 billion) hostile bid.
In its final defense document, the British confectioner says Kraft’s offer remain derisory, with the price valuing Cadbury lower than any comparable deal in the sector and added that its standalone value had risen since the Kraft bid emerged.
Cadbury has been fighting off Kraft’s cash and share bid since early September which is currently worth 762 pence a share compared to a Cadbury closing price of 781p on Monday with investors saying a winning bid needs to be 800p or above. Cadbury’s vociferous Chairman Roger Carr has been quick to dismiss Kraft’s offer and has questioned the ability of Kraft’s CEO Irene Rosenfeld to raise her bid after Kraft’s top shareholder Warren Buffet warned Kraft last week not to overpay.
“Don’t let Kraft steal your company with its derisory offer,” Carr said in Cadbury’s final defense document.
(Reporting by David Jones)
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12 January 2010
SPONSOR
The Board of Cadbury plc (“Cadbury” or the “Company”) is today publishing its second response document (the “Response Document”) following the offer (the “Offer”) posted by Kraft Foods Inc. (“Kraft”) on 4 December 2009. The Board has unanimously rejected Kraft’s wholly inadequate Offer and continues to recommend that shareholders take no action in relation to the Offer.
The Response Document published today sets out the latest estimate of our outstanding financial performance for 2009 and highlights our strong business momentum going into 2010.
Highlights of Cadbury’s 2009 performance
· 2009 performance is well ahead of market expectations, driven by strong growth in the fourth quarter and the savings generated by Cadbury’s Vision into Action business plan
o 5% base business revenue growth; up 11% on an actual currency basis‡^
o Trading margin of 13.5%; up 155 bps on a constant currency basis and 160 bps on an actual currency basis*^‡
o Full year dividend growth expected to be 10%
o Further evidence of our management team’s strong track record of delivery
· Strong second half performance and excellent momentum going into 2010
o 6% base business revenue growth for the second half of 2009‡
o Sustained investment to support our long-term revenue growth target of 5-7% through investments in key growth drivers including our emerging market businesses and innovation capabilities
o Specific activities to drive margin improvement in 2010, including additional benefits from the manufacturing reconfiguration programme and continuing SG&A reduction initiatives
· Strong business momentum, combined with 6% compound average growth in revenues from 2004 to 2009‡ and 370 bps margin improvement since 2007*‡, provides the foundation for our enhanced long-term targets
Commenting on the 2009 performance, Todd Stitzer, Cadbury’s CEO said: “Our performance in 2009 was outstanding. We generated good revenue growth despite the weakest economic conditions in 80 years. At the same time, our Vision into Action plan drove a 160 basis point improvement in margin to 13.5%*‡, on an actual currency basis, delivering over 70% of our original target in half the time.”
“Looking forward to 2010, we are targeting revenue growth within our 5-7% goal range, led by new product innovations across our categories and supported by incremental investment in marketing. We expect benefits from our restructuring and reconfiguration actions in 2010 to drive continued progress to achieve our targets of good mid-teens margin by 2011 and 16-18% margin by 2013.”
The Response Document also sets out further reasons why Cadbury believes Kraft’s Offer is even more unattractive today than it was when they published the Offer in December.
Kraft’s Offer remains derisory
· The Offer price values Cadbury at only 12.0 times 2009 EBITDA*‡
o Lower than any comparable transaction in the sector (14.3 – 18.5 times EBITDA)
o A significant discount to Kraft’s own publicly stated branded food benchmark of 14 times EBITDA
· Since Kraft’s approach on 4 September, the Board believes that Cadbury’s standalone value has risen further
o Cadbury’s 2009 financial performance is ahead of previously upgraded expectations
o Cadbury has set out upgraded targets for the next four years of its Vision into Action plan, including 5-7% revenue growth, 16-18% margin by 2013 and significantly higher levels of cash generation and returns
o Equity markets globally have risen substantially
o The share prices of Cadbury’s peers have increased on average by 12%
· The majority of the Offer consideration comprises Kraft’s shares; this is unappealing given Kraft’s unattractive business model and poor track record of delivery
o Kraft has an unfocused, conglomerate business model with significant exposure to lower growth categories and a track record of missed financial targets
o Kraft shares have significantly underperformed; down 42% compared to its peers since its IPO in June 2001
The Board of Cadbury is committed to maximising shareholder value and, against the background of the Kraft bid, believes that this is best achieved through the strong continuing performance of an independent Cadbury.
Roger Carr, Chairman of Cadbury, said: “Kraft’s Offer is even more unattractive today than it was when Kraft made its formal offer in December. Our 2009 performance is ahead of our previously upgraded expectations and we have excellent momentum going into 2010.”
“Kraft’s offer is very significantly below all comparable transactions in the sector; applying any of the comparable multiples would imply a price per share far above Kraft’s offer. Over half the offer consideration is in the form of Kraft shares, exposing our shareholders to Kraft’s low growth conglomerate business model, its long history of underperformance and its track record of missed targets.”
“Don’t let Kraft steal your company with its derisory offer.”
2009 summary unaudited financial performance to be published on 14 January 2010
As set out in the announcement of 7 January 2010, Cadbury will be publishing information on 2009 summary unaudited financial performance following the UK market close on 14 January 2010. The 2009 financial information will be incorporated into an update of the Response Document published today, along with certain supporting explanatory detail, which will be posted to shareholders as soon as possible thereafter.
* This statement includes a profit estimate based on the results included in the unaudited management accounts for the eleven months ended 30 November 2009 and the Cadbury Directors’ estimate of the results for the one month ended 31 December 2009, which take account of the Group’s preliminary view of sales and underlying profit from operations for that month. This statement is a profit estimate for the purpose of Rule 28 of the City Code. As such, it is a requirement that this statement be reported on by the Company’s reporting accountants and financial advisers in accordance with Rule 28 of the City Code. The bases and assumptions behind the reports of the reporting accountant and financial advisers are set out in Appendix 2 of the Response Document. The reporting accountant and financial advisers have given and not withdrawn their consent to publication.
† Neither this press release nor the Response Document constitutes or includes the Company’s preliminary statement of annual results (for the purposes of the Listing Rules made by the UK Listing Authority) or statutory accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 2009.
‡ Estimate to be confirmed or revised in the updated document that will be published after the market close on 14 January
^ Base business revenue is stated at constant currency and before acquisitions and disposals. Constant currency excludes the impact of exchange rate movements during the period.
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For Further Information: |
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Cadbury plc |
+44 1895 615000 |
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Capital Market Enquiries |
+44 1895 615124 |
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John Dawson, Michelle Rees and Basak Kotler |
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Media Enquiries |
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Cadbury |
+44 1895 615011 |
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Trevor Datson |
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Finsbury |
+44 20 7251 3801 |
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Rollo Head |
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Finsbury US |
+1 212 303 7600 |
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Andy Merrill and Jeremy Fielding |
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About Cadbury
Cadbury is one of the world’s largest confectionery businesses with number one or number two positions in over 20 of the world’s 50 biggest confectionery markets. It also has the largest and most broadly spread emerging markets business of any confectionery company. With origins stretching back nearly 200 years, Cadbury’s brands include many global, regional and local favourites including Cadbury Dairy Milk, Flake, Creme Egg and Green & Black’s in chocolate; Trident, Dentyne, Hollywood and Bubbaloo in gum; and Halls, Cadbury Eclairs, Bassett’s and The Natural Confectionery Co. in candy.
Forward Looking Statements
Except for historical information and discussions contained herein, certain statements in this document are “forward looking statements”. Forward looking statements are generally identifiable by the fact that they do not relate only to historical or current facts or by the use of the words “may”, “will”, “should”, “plan”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “believe”, “intend”, “project”, “goal” or “target” or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. Forward looking statements involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause our or our industry’s actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. These forward looking statements are based on numerous assumptions regarding the present and future strategies of each business and the environment in which they will operate in the future. Cadbury does not undertake publicly to update or revise any forward looking statement that may be made in these materials, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. All subsequent oral or written forward-looking statements attributable to Cadbury or any person acting on their behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements above.
In evaluating forward looking statements, you should consider general economic conditions in the markets in which we operate, as well as the risk factors outlined in our most recent Form 20-F filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and posted on Cadbury’s website www.cadbury.com. These materials should be viewed in conjunction with our periodic half yearly and annual reports and other filings filed with or furnished to the SEC, copies of which are available from Cadbury plc, Cadbury House, Uxbridge Business Park, Sanderson Road, Uxbridge UB8 1DH, UK and from the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
Sources and Bases
For sources of information and bases of calculation please refer to the second Response Document published on 12 January 2010.
Additional Information
Each of Goldman Sachs International, Morgan Stanley & Co. Limited and UBS Limited is acting exclusively for Cadbury and for no-one else in connection with the matters referred to in this announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than Cadbury for providing the protections afforded to their respective clients or for providing advice in relation to such matters.
In response to the Offer, Cadbury has filed a Solicitation/Recommendation Statement on Schedule 14D-9 with the SEC. Holders of Cadbury Ordinary Shares and Cadbury American Depository Shares are advised to read the Solicitation/Recommendation Statement on Schedule 14D-9 because it contains important information. Copies of the Schedule 14D-9 and other related documents filed by Cadbury are available free of charge on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. In addition, documents filed with the SEC by Cadbury may be obtained free of charge by contacting Cadbury’s media or investor relations departments at Cadbury House, Uxbridge Business Park, Sanderson Road, Uxbridge UB8 1DH, United Kingdom or on Cadbury’s website at www.cadbury.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cadbury has updated its microsite today with a question and answer section addressing shareholders’ frequently asked questions (“FAQs”). The FAQs relate to Kraft’s Offer and Cadbury’s response documents and are designed to assist Cadbury shareholders in understanding the current situation. The microsite is part of Cadbury’s website at www.cadburyinvestors.com.
Publication on Cadbury Website
A copy of this announcement will be made available for inspection on Cadbury’s website (www.cadbury.com) free of charge.
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Ferrari presented its 2010 drivers lineup for the first time this year, during the traditional winter pre-season event at the Madonna di Campiglio ski resort in northern Italy. Of course, the event itself is no news to anyone, as it happens every year in the same place and approximately at the same time. This year, however, it marked the first appearance of Fernando Alonso in Ferrari clothing.
As reported by the Ferrari official site, Alonso came to the event via the helicopter, w… (read more)
Information on RapidBET can now be found at the RapidKL website
RapidBET1 – Kota Damansara to KL Sentral & Pasar Seni via the Penchala Link
RapidBET2 – Bandar Sungai Long to KL Sentral & Pasar Seni via the Grand Saga Highway
Cheers, m
Perhaps I should be happy that I didn’t have the budget to buy the Nexus One right away (oh yeah, as if I could buy this now… *rolling eyes*). Lenovo’s Android phone looks really awesome, and so does its optional keyboard accessory! When I heard about Lenovo’s hybrid laptop, the IdeaPad U1, I was really impressed with the innovative engineering behind it. It’s like what the DualCor cPC never became. No, actually, it’s way better than what the DualCor was going to be. Anyway, I would love to see the IdeaPad U1 in person, and this LePhone is a close second!
From UPI,
Miep Gies, who helped shelter Anne Frank’s family from Nazis in the Netherlands during World War II, died Monday, the Anne Frank Museum said. She was 100.
[…] In a memoir published in 1987, Geis rejected the notion what she and the others did was heroic.
“I stand at the end of the long, long line of good Dutch people who did what I did and more — much more — during those dark and terrible times years ago, but always like yesterday in the heart of those of us who bear witness,” she wrote in “Anne Frank Remembered.”
See reports from BBC, CNN, and NPR.
Posted in Love, people, World, World Affairs 
Eco Factor: Concept bicycle to be used as the basis of a bike-sharing program.
Thomas Coulbeaut’s MyLoop bicycle has been adjudged as the final winner of the Copenhagen Bike Share Competition. The design revolves around the use of a futuristic bike that comes with a docking station that provides electricity for all energy demanding functionality and secures the bicycle when not in use.
DFine, maker of a medical device that injects bone cement into spine fractures in order to heal them, has brought in $2.8 million of an anticipated $3 million round of securities, warrants, rights and debt financing. Based in San Jose, Calif., the company is backed by BB&T Fund, Highland Credit Strategies Fund, Prospect Venture Partners, and Vanguard Ventures.
Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]
Nicira Network, developer of software used to transition data centers to cloud infrastructure by virtualizing computing networks, has raised $9 million of an anticipated $11 million round of equity. Based in Palo Alto, Calif., the company is backed by Andreessen Horowitz, as well as several private investors.
Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]
Neuralieve, maker of a portable, non-invasive device used to treat neurological problems, particularly migraines, has brought in $3.9 million of a targeted $7.5 million round of equity, according to a filing with the SEC. Based in Sunnyvale, Calif., the company includes a managing member of MedVenture Associates on its board of directors.
Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]
Oorja Protonics, maker of methanol fuel cells used to charge batteries used to power forklifts, pallet loaders and other industrial vehicles, has raised $450,000 in debt, warrants and rights, according to a filing with the SEC. Based in Fremont, Calif., the company is backed by Sequoia Capital, DAG Ventures, Artis Capital Management, McKenna Management, Northshore Partners and Spring Ventures. It raised $500,000 in September 2009.
Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]
Chinese online game firm Shanda Games has purchased Flash game platform company Mochi Media for $80 million in cash and stock.
Shanda is one of the biggest online game publishers in China, with more than 70 online games in operation. Mochi Media, based in San Francisco, operates an ad network that helps hobbyist game developers make money. It does so by inserting ads into Adobe Flash-based web games, which are often played by the millions. Mochi Media makes money as advertisers pay it for every gamer reached, and Mochi Media shares revenues with the developers. In this way, even hobbyist game developers can become professionals. Mochi Media’s ads run in 15,000 Flash-based games played by 140 million users.
“The Shanda deal shows the global nature of gaming,” said Ping Li, a partner at Accel Partners, which is one of Mochi’s backers. “It’s nice to see it to this move to the next level.”
The acquisition is one of Shanda’s biggest moves in the U.S. Li said we can probably expect to see more of that in the future as Chinese game companies become more global players. Mochi Media raised $14 million in two rounds. Li said he was pleased with the exit valuation and said it was a good fit.
Jameson Hsu, chief executive of Mochi Media, said in an interview that the deal is a landmark transaction between a Chinese game company and an American one.
“We liked them because they have some of the best content and we want to be associated with good quality,” Hsu said.
Hsu said the company will operate independently within Shanda, but the companies will have collaborative projects in the future. Besides Accel, Mochi Media’s backers include Shasta Ventures.
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The New York Times’ Green Inc blog has an interview with Google’s green energy guy Bill Weihl, talking about their investments in clean energy and their focus on solar thermal power, enhanced geothermal power and high altitude wind power – Q&A: Google’s Green Energy Czar.
Q. Google’s stated aim with regard to energy is to make renewable energy cheaper than coal. How did you arrive at this particular goal?
A. We’ve learned that a small team of smart people with basic technical expertise and the freedom to really innovate can do something quite remarkable, and we wanted to see if that really could be true for alternative energies. One of the keys there is the freedom to go after a really aggressive goal, and so we set a goal of making renewable energy cheaper than coal – it’s a very simple, kind of audacious and crazy goal.
Coal is the energy source of about half the electricity we consume in the U.S. and is responsible for about 82 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions in the electricity sector, so until you’ve done something about the emissions coming from coal, you’ve made only a tiny dent.
Putting a price on carbon can help level the playing field, but to actually deploy renewables to the extent that we stop burning coal, I believe that’s only going to happen if they can compete economically without any substantial price on carbon or substantial subsidies, because I don’t think that people will tolerate that. I hope they will; I would be willing to pay that extra cost, but I can afford it. There are lots of people in the developing world who probably would say, I’m not going to pay that.
So that’s why we took as our direct goal that we’re aiming for, let’s make renewables cheaper than coal, and let’s make that happen as quickly as we can.
Q. Which technologies do you think are most likely to beat coal?A. There are three areas we’re looking at: concentrated solar thermal, enhanced geothermal and high-altitude wind.
On the concentrated solar side, we’ve invested in two companies: eSolar and BrightSource, both of which are working on power tower platforms where a field of swiveling mirrors reflects sunlight toward a central tower with a receiver.
We’re doing some internal R&D work on the mirrors — things that eSolar and BrightSource aren’t looking at and really shouldn’t be looking at: they don’t need to take the risks to explore these kinds of designs and materials.
We’re also looking at the receiver and turbine technology, looking at some ideas about going to higher temperatures which just from a thermodynamic point of view can give you higher efficiency. But again, I think these are things that both eSolar and BrightSolar are interested in, and if we’re successful with the R&D we’re doing, they would be natural places to pick it up and start to deploy it.
Enhanced geothermal is based on the idea that pretty much anywhere on earth, if you drill deep enough, it’s hot. If it’s hot enough and you have the right kind of rock, then you inject water and cycle that water through the system, and it produces energy from steam just like a normal hydrothermal reservoir.
One really nice thing about enhanced geothermal is that it’s base load power: the fuel’s always there, whereas for solar and wind, sometimes the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow and you can’t produce any energy. So we think enhanced geothermal is very promising, and we’ve invested in AltaRock Energy and Potter Drilling. It has a ways to go before it gets to be really cost-competitive with coal, and it might never quite get there, but it’s got a big upside.
The other one that we’re looking at is high-altitude wind — ways to capture the stronger and steadier winds that are at 500 or 1,000 or 2,000 meters high, or potentially even up in the jet stream. Internally, we’ve been looking at taking traditional wind turbines and putting them on much taller towers so you can get to much stronger steadier winds. Today, with the way people build towers, it would cost a lot more to go up to 200 meters compared to the usual 80 meters. We’ve been looking at some ideas that would let you go up and build a turbine at 200 meters at very little extra cost. If that pans out, it would be a way to knock 20 or 30 percent off the cost of wind, and wind is pretty close to the cost of coal today.
We’ve also invested in a company called Makani Power that is doing high-altitude wind using an airborne platform. They’ve been looking at using a kite or a wing under autonomous control, where the wind pulls the kite out and you change the angle of attack so you can wheel it back in at less cost than the energy would make going out. The other approach is to use some kind of wing with propellers on it and the generators on the wing. So you’re flying a kite through the wind and it’s making the propeller spin so it’s acting like a wind turbine, and then you have to get the power down the cable back to the ground. There are other companies in that space with some similar ideas.
VentureBeat reports that Google has also created a new energy trading subsidiary – Google applies to buy and sell energy — is a Googley utility imminent?.
Mere days after Google launched its own phone, the Nexus One, it has come out with another big announcement: the creation of Google Energy, a subsidiary that it will use to buy and sell electricity on federally-regulated wholesale energy markets. Could it have plans to launch its own utility? Could you one day be buying your electricity from American’s favorite search engine instead of PG&E?
So far that seems unlikely. Yes, Google is applying to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the ability to buy and sell electricity, but it doesn’t plan to market it to the general public. Rather, the company seems to want to lower its own energy costs by buying it on the wholesale market; and it has been very vocal about greening its power mix by buying electricity generated by renewable sources (it already derives power from rooftop solar panels at its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters, but this is only a small sliver of what it uses every day).
Considering the volume of greenhouse gas emissions produced by Google and its many energy-intensive data centers, the company is going to have a hard time achieving its goal of carbon neutrality. But buying more affordable, cleaner energy could give it the leg up it needs to actually become the first IT company to pull it off.
The SMH has an article on the potential for a clean energy revolution in the US – In the wind: America’s drive towards clean technology.
ROOSEVELT transformed the US during the Great Depression by introducing Social Security, building dams, roads and an electricity network; Eisenhower gave the US its interstate highway system, transforming the economy and cementing the car in the fabric of American life. Microsoft, Apple, Netscape and Google turned the US of the late 20th century into the leader in the information economy.
Now Barack Obama, facing the steepest downturn since FDR’s time, wants to transform America into a green machine, a nation that leads the world in technology and manufacturing of solar panels, wind turbines, electric cars, technologies to make the electricity grid more efficient and long-life batteries.
Can the US, the land of the internal combustion engine and the McMansion, where bigger is always better, really become a green economy? Can it catch up to Germany, Denmark, Spain and even China, which have been fostering green technology for years? And can the US achieve Obama’s dream without passing a scheme that puts a price on carbon?
There are plenty of evangelists for the new green economy despite the outcome at Copenhagen, which left the world well short of a binding commitment to lower global emissions.
In California, the venture capital industry, having weathered some tough times over the past 12 months, is roaring back to life and ”clean tech” is hot.
”I am more bullish about this than ever,” says Steve Westly of Westly Group, a venture capital fund that is backing the electric car company, Tesla. ”We have seen some stunning innovation in California and in China,” he says, adding that China is now the leader in clean tech. ”But most people don’t realise how quickly these technologies are coming.”
The parallel, says Westly, is the mobile phone market. The first mobile phones cost $3000 and weighed 3.2 kilograms. Now they are 95 per cent cheaper and weigh almost nothing. He believes it will not take long before solar reaches ”grid parity” – when a kilowatt of solar power can be produced for the same cost as conventionally generated power – and at that point the technologies will ”go through the ceiling”, he says.
The argument is similar with electric cars. Tesla, the company that Westly has backed, has produced its first all-electric Tesla roadster, which goes from zero to 100 km/h in 3.9 seconds. But it comes with a hefty $US100,000 ($A110,000) price tag. Tesla is now working on a more economical family vehicle, which Westly believes will take the US car industry by storm.
