(Reuters) - Google's Motorola Mobility unit is to shed another 1,200 jobs or 10 percent of its workforce as the smartphone maker tries to return to profitability, Google said on Friday.
The lay-offs come on top of the 4,000 jobs cut at Motorola Mobility in August as Google seeks to make more smartphones and fewer simple handsets.
"These cuts are a continuation of the reductions we announced last summer," spokeswoman Niki Fenwick said in an email to Reuters.
"It's obviously very hard for the employees concerned, and we are committed to helping them through this difficult transition," she added.
The Wall Street Journal reported the lay-offs earlier on Friday, citing a company email. (http://link.reuters.com/tun56t)
The email about the job cuts, which will affect workers in the United States, China and India, said, "our costs are too high, we're operating in markets where we're not competitive and we're losing money," according to the Journal.
Google bought the money-losing cellphone maker for $12.5 billion last year, its largest acquisition ever, aiming to use Motorola Mobility's armory of patents to fend off legal attacks on its Android mobile platform and expand beyond its software business.
But the acquisition raised concerns on Wall Street that Google was entering a business with much lower profit margins.
(Reporting by Sagarika Jaisinghani in Bangalore and Alexei Oreskovic in San Francisco; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Greg Mahlich)
Emotion-health connection not limited to industrialized nationsPublic release date: 8-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Anna Mikulak amikulak@psychologicalscience.org 202-293-9300 Association for Psychological Science
Positive emotions are known to play a role in physical well-being, and stress is strongly linked to poor health, but is this strictly a "First World" phenomenon? In developing nations, is the fulfillment of basic needs more critical to health than how one feels? A new study shows that emotions do affect health around the world and may, in fact, be more important to wellness in low-income countries.
The study, published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, is the first to examine the emotion-health connection in a representative sample of 150,000 people in 142 countries. Previous research on the topic has been limited to industrialized nations.
"We wondered whether the fact that emotions make a difference in our health is simply because we have the luxury of letting them," said Sarah Pressman, assistant professor of psychology & social behavior and the study's lead author. "We wanted to assess the impact of emotions on health in places where people face famine, homelessness and serious safety concerns that might be more critical correlates of wellness."
Against expectations, researchers found that the link between positive emotions (enjoyment, love, happiness) and health is stronger in countries with a weaker gross domestic product. In fact, the association increased as GDP decreased, according to Pressman.
People in Malawi, which has a per capita GDP of $900, show a more robust connection between positive emotions and health than residents of the U.S., which has a per capita GDP of $49,800.
"A hostile American with hypertension can take blood pressure-lowering medication. A Malawian cannot," Pressman said. "Medical interventions might lower the impact of emotions on health."
Using data from the Gallup World Poll, researchers noted whether participants had reported experiencing enjoyment, love, happiness, worry, sadness, stress, boredom, depression or anger during the previous day. They also measured physical health and the degree to which subjects' basic needs were met. Security was assessed by asking if participants felt safe walking alone at night or whether they had been robbed, assaulted or mugged.
"We hope that by showing that this phenomenon is prevalent and stronger than some factors considered critical to wellness, more attention will be drawn to the importance of studying both positive and negative emotions," Pressman said.
She co-authored the study with Shane Lopez of the Gallup Organization and Matthew Gallagher of Boston University.
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For more information about this study, please contact: Sarah D. Pressman at pressmas@uci.edu.
The APS journal Psychological Science is the highest ranked empirical journal in psychology. For a copy of the article "Is the Emotion-Health Connection a "First-World Problem"?" and access to other Psychological Science research findings, please contact Anna Mikulak at 202-293-9300 or amikulak@psychologicalscience.org.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Emotion-health connection not limited to industrialized nationsPublic release date: 8-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Anna Mikulak amikulak@psychologicalscience.org 202-293-9300 Association for Psychological Science
Positive emotions are known to play a role in physical well-being, and stress is strongly linked to poor health, but is this strictly a "First World" phenomenon? In developing nations, is the fulfillment of basic needs more critical to health than how one feels? A new study shows that emotions do affect health around the world and may, in fact, be more important to wellness in low-income countries.
The study, published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, is the first to examine the emotion-health connection in a representative sample of 150,000 people in 142 countries. Previous research on the topic has been limited to industrialized nations.
"We wondered whether the fact that emotions make a difference in our health is simply because we have the luxury of letting them," said Sarah Pressman, assistant professor of psychology & social behavior and the study's lead author. "We wanted to assess the impact of emotions on health in places where people face famine, homelessness and serious safety concerns that might be more critical correlates of wellness."
Against expectations, researchers found that the link between positive emotions (enjoyment, love, happiness) and health is stronger in countries with a weaker gross domestic product. In fact, the association increased as GDP decreased, according to Pressman.
People in Malawi, which has a per capita GDP of $900, show a more robust connection between positive emotions and health than residents of the U.S., which has a per capita GDP of $49,800.
"A hostile American with hypertension can take blood pressure-lowering medication. A Malawian cannot," Pressman said. "Medical interventions might lower the impact of emotions on health."
Using data from the Gallup World Poll, researchers noted whether participants had reported experiencing enjoyment, love, happiness, worry, sadness, stress, boredom, depression or anger during the previous day. They also measured physical health and the degree to which subjects' basic needs were met. Security was assessed by asking if participants felt safe walking alone at night or whether they had been robbed, assaulted or mugged.
"We hope that by showing that this phenomenon is prevalent and stronger than some factors considered critical to wellness, more attention will be drawn to the importance of studying both positive and negative emotions," Pressman said.
She co-authored the study with Shane Lopez of the Gallup Organization and Matthew Gallagher of Boston University.
###
For more information about this study, please contact: Sarah D. Pressman at pressmas@uci.edu.
The APS journal Psychological Science is the highest ranked empirical journal in psychology. For a copy of the article "Is the Emotion-Health Connection a "First-World Problem"?" and access to other Psychological Science research findings, please contact Anna Mikulak at 202-293-9300 or amikulak@psychologicalscience.org.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Alina Selyukh and Deborah Charles, Reuters? ? ?2 hrs.
WASHINGTON ? As the White House and congressional lawmakers resume talks on legislation to improve U.S. defenses against cyber-attacks, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Thursday signaled that disagreements remain over a House cybersecurity bill, which she called insufficient.
In 2012, identical legislation passed the House of Representatives but died in Democrat-controlled Senate after President Barack Obama threatened to veto it, saying the bill did not have adequate safeguards for privacy and confidentiality, among other things.
Obama signed an executive order in February designed to make it easier for the government to warn private companies of cyberthreats and to set up a system of voluntary cybersecurity standards ? a contentious subject for the industry that helped kill broader Democratic legislation last year.
House intelligence committee Chairman Mike Rogers of Michigan reintroduced his bill last month. He recently said his team and the White House were "not that far apart" in the renewed talks about the bill, which focuses on better sharing of information among companies and the government.
The White House has sought a more comprehensive piece of legislation that would also set minimum security standards for critical companies, such as utilities, and provide better protection for private information that may be turned over to the government.
On Thursday, at a hearing on Obama's recently signed cybersecurity executive order, Democratic Senator Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia asked Napolitano whether a bill focusing on information sharing without addressing security standards would be sufficient.
"No," Napolitano answered, further adding: "In terms of the House bill, even in the information sharing area, I think there were some deficiencies in it."
She reiterated some of the concerns the White House voiced about the House bill last year, including the information monitoring power being given to the National Security Agency, which is part of the Defense Department.
Patrick Gallagher of the National Institute of Standards and Technology was tasked with setting voluntary minimum standards in the executive order. He reiterated the hope for good cooperation with the private sector in drafting such standards.
"Cybersecurity doesn't lend itself to simple solutions," he said at the joint hearing by the Senate's Homeland Security and Commerce committees. "Even with information sharing, when you're going to provide threat information to the private sector, they have to have the capacity to act on that information."
A conservation advocacy group, said that there are some 10,000 ads on Google Japan's shopping site that promote the sale of ivory.
By Todd Pitman,?Associated Press / March 5, 2013
Ivory tusks are displayed after being confiscated by Hong Kong Customs in Hong Kong in January. A conservation group claims that Google has something in common with illicit ivory traders in China and Thailand: It says the Internet search giant is helping fuel a dramatic surge in ivory demand in Asia that is killing African elephants at record levels.
Kin Cheung/AP/File
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A conservation group claims that?Google?has something in common with illicit?ivory?traders in China and Thailand: It says the Internet search giant is helping fuel a dramatic surge in?ivory?demand in Asia that is killing African elephants at record levels.
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The Environmental Investigation Agency, a conservation advocacy group, said in a statement Tuesday that there are some 10,000 ads on?Google?Japan's shopping site that promote the sale of?ivory.
About 80 percent of the ads are for "hanko," small wooden stamps widely used in Japan to affix signature seals to official documents. The rest are carvings and other small objects.
Hanko are used for everything from renting a house to opening a bank account. The stamps are legal and typically inlaid with?ivory?lettering.
The EIA said Japan's hanko sales are a "major demand driver for elephant?ivory(and) have contributed to the wide-scale resumption of elephant poaching across Africa."
Google?said in an emailed response to The Associated Press, "Ads for products obtained from endangered or threatened species are not allowed on?Google. As soon as we detect ads that violate our advertising policies, we remove them."
The EIA said it had written a letter to?Google?CEO Larry Page on Feb. 22 urging the company to remove the ads because they violate?Google's?own policies. It said?Google?had not responded to the letter or taken down the advertisements.
"While elephants are being mass slaughtered across Africa to produce?ivorytrinkets, it is shocking to discover that?Google, with the massive resources it has at its disposal, is failing to enforce its own policies designed to help protect endangered elephants," said Allan Thorton, the U.S.-based president of the EIA.
Curbing the trade in so-called "blood?ivory" is at the top of the agenda of the 178-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES, which is meeting in Bangkok this week to discuss how to protect the planet's biodiversity by regulating the legal trade of flora and fauna and clamping down on smuggling.
Around 70 years ago, up to 5 million elephants are believed to have roamed sub-Saharan Africa. Today, just several hundred thousand are left.
Over the last few years, as Asian economies have grown and demand for?ivoryhas risen, the slaughter of elephants has reached its worst level in more than two decades. Last year alone, some 32,000 elephants were killed in Africa, according to the Born Free Foundation, which says black-market?ivory?sells for around $1,300 per pound. Much of it ends up as tourist trinkets and carvings.
CITES banned the international?ivory?trade in 1989, but the move did not address domestic markets. Wildlife groups say legal?ivory?markets in China and Thailand are used to hide much larger trade in illegally poached?ivory.
Japan imported stockpiles of?ivory?before it began complying with the CITES rules.
Google's?advertising policies state that?Google?"doesn't allow the promotion of products obtained from endangered or threatened species," including elephant tusks, rhino horns and products made from whales, sharks and dolphins.
Thorton said the policies were laudable "but sadly these are not being enforced and that's devastating."
Concerned Internet shoppers have alleged that?ivory?is being sold on other sites as well, including eBay. Some objects now offered for more than $1,000 apiece are marketed as "ox-bone" or "faux?ivory."
At least one wildlife group, the United Kingdom-based International Fund for Animal Welfare, has said it has worked with eBay to help them enforce anti-ivory trading policies by showing them how their rules are being flouted and improving efforts to flag suspicious items.
In 2007, IFAW alleged that eBay was "one of the main channels through which trafficking in wildlife and wildlife products are conducted online," but it has said the shopping site clamped down after IFAW shared research with them concerning illegal trading.
Dr. Scott Schnee, a pediatric cardiologist in Phoenix, Arizona, apologized on Wednesday for mocking Denver Post reporter Adrian Dater, who lost a friend in the movie theater mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado (video below).
According to Channel 9 News, Dr. Schnee, of Banner Health Care, was responding to something Dater had written in his column about the Phoenix Coyotes hockey team.
Schnee tweeted under his Twitter name Baby Doc Scott: ?Go catch a movie in Aurora. Join Jessica for all I care.?
?Jessica? refers to Jessica Ghawi, a journalist and friend of Dater?s who died in the movie theater shooting on July 20, 2012,? in Aurora, Colorado.
Jessica Ghawi?s mother later tweeted at Dr. Schnee: ?Does he know Jessie had a heart condition? Doctor, I would suggest you heal yours.?
Banner Health has issued a statement that it supports Schnee?s apology, which it reprinted:
Mr. Dater.
Last night I tweeted unconscionable statements to you for which I owe an apology not only to you but to anyone who has read these tweets via subsequent news coverage or in numerous social media channels. I am especially sorry to those whose loved ones or friends were victims in the horrible massacre in the Aurora theater. I can offer no excuse. I can only express my sincerest and heart-felt apologies for my poor judgment that has offended so many.
A wristwatch that reads your text messages out loud, a jacket that heats up when you're cold, eyeglasses that display directions as you walk down the street.
Gimmicks, or fashion of the future?
Although those products may seem like something out of a James Bond movie, the world's largest technology companies and start-ups alike believe "wearable tech" is the next big frontier, and they have been pouring money and research into developing high-tech clothing and accessories.
"It's a function of time before wearable technology becomes real, and it's closer than a lot of people think," said Gene Munster, senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray. "Eventually, wearable technology is probably going to be your most easy access point to your technology."
Google Inc., the world's largest Internet company, has been testing augmented-reality eyeglasses that feature cameras and use voice recognition. Apple Inc. is reportedly working on a watch that would have some of the same functions as a smartphone.
The idea behind so-called wearables is to integrate technology into everyday basics, but it's more than just inserting a gee-whiz factor into your favorite pair of jeans. Bringing tech into the fold, developers say, will create a more seamless experience with technology that involves fewer devices to carry around and less time rummaging through your purse or pocket.
But there are numerous challenges to overcome before wearable tech can become mainstream. Developers are working on improving battery life, scaling the technology down and making the products affordable.
Companies also need to persuade the public to accept the notion that digital devices and fashion can coexist in one unit by designing wearables that don't look too techie and figuring out what kinds of functions to embed within the products.
"We have a lot of research to do," said Cory Booth, a user experience researcher at Intel, which has a team looking into the potential for wearables. "It's actually more about will people want to do it and how will they want to do it. When people start putting things on their bodies, it becomes very personal."
For now, wearable tech is taking off in the sports and health markets.
Goggles made by Oakley assist snowboarders via a display that integrates GPS capabilities, Bluetooth and sensors that gauge jump analytics such as distance, height and airtime. There's also smartphone connectivity and the ability to locate and track friends via an app.
With the Nike+ FuelBand, a wristband containing an accelerometer, wearers can set daily activity goals and track calories burned on the band's LED display. Data from the FuelBand ? which Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook has been seen wearing ? can be viewed on a mobile device via an iOS app. The Up by Jawbone wristband and Fitbit wireless activity trackers are similar products that help users eat and sleep better and record their physical activity.
But tech companies have goals that stretch beyond fitness, with the goal of equipping clothing with mini computers and sensors.
The tech-fashion hybrid that has gotten the most attention so far is Google Glass, Web-connected eyeglasses that the company has been previewing to big buzz in recent months. The futuristic glasses are still in the early stages of development under the company's secretive Google X lab.
Wearers can record what they're seeing in real life and broadcast it over a Google+ Hangout, perform a quick Google search and send a hands-free voice message with the glasses. They can view data such as directions and weather on a tiny screen connected to the device, and tell the glasses to take a photo.
"It has been transformative for my lifestyle," Google co-founder Sergey Brin said of Project Glass last year. "That's our job at Google X, to push the edges of technology to where the future might be."
The Mountain View, Calif., company has also filed for a laser projection patent, leading to speculation that Glass wearers will be able to project a virtual touchpad onto their limbs and other surfaces.
Google has taken pre-orders for an early pilot version of the eyeglasses called Glass Explorer Edition from developers who paid $1,500. On Wednesday, the company announced that it would hold a contest for early adopters who want to try out a pair; winners will be offered the chance to buy a Glass Explorer.
Apple could be preparing to take on Google in the wearables space. Last year, the company filed a patent for a "peripheral treatment for head-mounted displays." The device ? which people speculate could be a helmet, pair of glasses or a visor ? immerses the user with two displays and techniques for filling the peripheral vision with the image being shown, according to reports.
More likely for Apple, at least in the near term, is an iOS smartwatch. In recent weeks the Cupertino, Calif., tech giant set the rumor mill churning with reports that it has a team of 100 developers working to build a curved glass iWatch. Analysts have speculated that the device could be used to make calls and texts, get directions and search the Internet, and would be compatible with the iPhone.
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Public release date: 8-Mar-2013
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