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NST Online: Latest

Posted: 04 Jun 2011 11:18 PM PDT

And in a break from Apple's usual practice of shrouding its events in an air of mystery, the California gadget-maker this time revealed ahead of time what it plans to announce at the event in San Francisco.

WASHINGTON: Apple chief executive Steve Jobs is taking a break from medical leave on Monday to preside over the opening of the company's annual conference for software developers.

Sort of.

In a press release, Apple said Jobs and other executives will unveil the next generation of Lion, the software that powers Macintosh computers, and iOS 5, the next version of the mobile operating system for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.

And one more thing: iCloud.

Apple described the previously unknown iCloud as its "upcoming cloud services offering" but provided no further details of what awaits at the annual Worldwide Developers Conference.

"iCloud was almost a throwaway line in the press release," said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst for technology research company Gartner. "But that's getting the most scrutiny because we don't know anything about it."

According to multiple reports, iCloud would allow for streaming of music hosted on Apple servers in the Internet "cloud" to various devices — from computers to smartphones to touchscreen tablets.

The New York Times reported on Friday that Apple has nearly completed talks with the major music publishers over the new cloud music service after sealing deals with the four major record labels.

The Los Angeles Times said iCloud will initially be offered for free to iTunes users, allowing them to listen to music hosted on Apple servers on a Web browser or an Internet-connected Apple device.

Apple will eventually charge a subscription fee of around $25 a year for the service, the newspaper said.

A Web-hosted music service from Apple would come just weeks after online retail giant Amazon and Internet search titan Google unveiled their own cloud music offerings.

Amazon launched a Cloud Drive and Cloud Player music service in late March that allows subscribers to upload digital music to Amazon servers and play it on a computer or an Android device.

Google's music service introduced in May lets people store their music collections in online libraries for streaming to computers, smartphones and tablets.

Google Music does not sell songs, however, and Amazon's cloud service requires time-consuming uploading of each song to Amazon servers before a user can listen to it.

Gartenberg said he expects an Apple service would "provide consumer value, differentiation from what's come before and a way of taking the market forward."

"What is going to be that extra Apple bit of magic that's going to be infused that will drive consumers to use this?" he asked.

"Apple was not the first company to offer downloads of music," he said.
"But they did it the best and therefore conquered the market. They weren't first with MP3 players or smartphones."

Gartenberg also said iCloud may not be restricted to music.
"It could be synchronization for all my files — it could involve video, my office files," he said. "I think what we're going to see is something more than just another digital locker, another online storage place.

"It will be interesting to see if new business models are introduced," he added. "If we're talking about new ways to purchase, rent, listen to music, and share."

An Apple cloud service could potentially benefit from the huge existing base of iTunes accounts.

"Anything they do that would be commerce-related is going to be fairly low friction if you're already part of the iTunes ecosystem," Gartenberg said.

Gartenberg said it was unlikely that Apple planned to unveil a new iPhone although Jobs, a cancer survivor who went on medical leave in January for an undisclosed illness, is known to love surprises.

"The fact that Apple telegraphed that this is going to about Lion, iOS 5, iCloud seems to me to downplay any expectation of new hardware," Gartenberg said. "This is going to be very software-centric." -AFP

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Japan PM ready to step down in August

Posted: 04 Jun 2011 10:54 PM PDT

Last week Kan survived an opposition no-confidence motion that some members of his own party had threatened to support, after appeasing his enemies by promising to relinquish power but without specifying a date.

TOKYO: Japan's embattled Prime Minister Naoto Kan will be ready to step down in August, his coalition partner said on Sunday.

Kan later hinted he wanted to stay until next year, angering opponents.

"His real thought is to get his work done by the end of August," said Shizuka Kamei, leader of ruling coalition partner the People's New Party.

"That was the idea shared when I met him," he told TV Asahi on Sunday.

The government is expected to submit its second extra budget to parliament in August. The budget is aimed at funding the government's reconstruction effort after the March 11 quake and tsunami disaster.- AFP

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PM's Kluang visit: A commentary

Posted: 27 Mar 2011 03:59 AM PDT

2011/03/27
By Shahrum Sayuthi
news@nst.com.my

I WAS quietly amused when my hometown friend Fiona reacted with much enthusiasm when I told her that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was making a stopover at her alma mater, the Chong Hwa High School, during his visit to Kluang on Saturday.

She is after all a DAP supporter and had not made it a secret to me who she voted for when she had cast her vote for the first time in the 2008 general election.

"Oh my God! That's so great of him!" was what she text messaged me in return before proceeding to relate how when as a student she had, along with others, lined the street leading to her school when then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad went there in 1987.

"That was the last time a prime minister visited our school. I remember it was a very hot day and we were sweating, but we were all so happy that a prime minister visited our school," she added.

If Fiona was at the school on Saturday, she may have thought she had been transported back in time to that day.

The over 2,000 students, in their all white uniforms, were equally enthusiastic in welcoming Najib.

The highlight of Najib's visit to the school was when he mentioned in his speech the government's "landmark decision" to allow Unified Examinations Certificate holders with three credits including passes in Bahasa Malaysia and English, to take part in the special intake for the Chinese language degree course to become Mandarin teachers.

The students cheered as he made the announcement.

"We (the government) are committed to being fair to everyone and will continue to strive for this. Dreams will not be realised until we are at peace with one another," Najib had said.

My colleague Chuah Bee Kim interviewed some of the students and teachers on how they felt about Najib's visit.

Seow Yu Sheng, 15, a Form Three student said it was a memorable day as it was the first time he had seen the prime minister in person.

"I am happy to see him. Furthermore, he was here today to launch our school's green programme which my teachers have always promoted among us," he said.
Another Form Three student, Dana Lim, 15, echoed Seow's sentiment but lamented that Najib's hour-long visit was such a brief one.

"My classmates and I nonetheless feel very honoured to have the prime minister at our school," Lim said.

Liong Kok Kiong, 32, a geography teacher at the school for the past six years said the announcement made by Najib regarding UEC holders was very uplifting as it was a step towards the success of the 1Malaysia policy.

"I also hope that Najib's visit will encourage more English language teachers to join our school as we need more of them here," he said.

Later in the night, Najib attended a "dinner with the people" function at down town Kluang which was attended by more than 10,000 people.

Such was the overwhelming response given by the crowd when Najib arrived at the function that Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman had to pause several times to compose himself while delivering the welcoming speech.

Expressing his pleasure, Najib in his speech, suggested that judging by the crowd's response at the function and during his walk-about in several parts in Kluang earlier in the day, Barisan Nasional may probably recapture the lost ground it suffered during the coalition's disastrous outing in the 2008 general election.

He told the crowd how an old Chinese lady gave him a 51-year-old Jalur Gemilang during the walk-about.

"I was so touched because she told me that it was a gift for my effort in initiating 1Malaysia," he said to thunderous applause from the crowd.

The prime minister probably had in mind that Kluang, with its huge Chinese community, was the DAP's first stronghold in Johor before it was overwhelmed there by BN in the late 1970s.

However, in 2008, DAP captured the Mengkibol state seat there when its Ng Lam Hua defeated Gan Ping Shou of MCA by a majority of 1,281 votes. Ng had got 13,538 votes while Gan received 12,257.

When Najib announced an allocation of RM105 million for the construction of a dam in Kahang to ensure no recurrence of a water supply problem which hit Kluang during last year's Chinese New Year, I immediately sent a text message to Fiona.

After all, she was the one who had pushed for me to initiate extensive news coverage about the problem in the first place.

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Gamis students released after statements taken

Posted: 14 Mar 2011 03:24 AM PDT

Gamis students released after statements taken

2010/10/31
By Aidi Amin
aidiamin@nst.com.my

GUA MUSANG: Police today recorded statements from four university students who were detained for several hours yesterday for allegedly distributing political pamphlets in the Galas state constituency.

Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Ismail Omar said the students, aged between 18 - 25 years old were taken to the district police station and released soon after.

"We are investigating if the students are from Gua Musang or outsiders," he said after a briefing at the police operations centre here.

He said they would also work with the Election Commission and the students' universities during their investigations.

The students are from a group, calling themselves Gabungan Mahasiswa Islam SeMalaysia (Gamis) and were allegedly distributing brochures urging the locals to exercise their democratic right to vote.

A spokesman yesterday said the group represented students from various universities and had come to Galas to observe the campaign process and also explain to the people certain national issues, including the 2011 budget and how it effects them.

Higher Education Minister, Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the detention of the students should not be politicised as they were merely detained for not possessing a valid permit to distribute the pamphlets.

"The students were not aligned to any political party and were merely there to urge the people to come out and vote. They are acting on their own and nothing to do with their respective universities.

"However, I would like to advise these students to go home and concentrate on their studies instead," he said when contacted.

On another issue, Ismail also said the police had to date received four reports on minor incidents involving the parties contesting the by-election here.

"I urge all parties to adhere to the laws and prevent any untoward incidents," he added.

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Gamis students released after statements taken

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NST Online: Sports

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East Coast derby decisive in title race

Posted: 04 Jun 2011 08:39 AM PDT

2011/06/04
Zainuddin Muhammad

Kelantan's Nurul Azwan Roya (centre) is challenged by Terengganu players in their Super League match on Feb 1. The teams play at Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium tomorrow.

LOSING is not an option for Kelantan when they take on Terengganu at Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium in Kuala Terengganu tomorrow.

In fact, even a draw in the usually fiercely contested East Coast derby will not be a good enough result, said captain Badhri Radzi.

"For starters, this will be a prelude to the FA Cup final and a win in Kuala Terengganu will give us the psychological edge when we meet them again in Bukit Jalil on June 11.

"But more important than that, we are neck and neck with our neighbours on 47 points in the chase for the Super League title and with three more matches remaining in the league, we need all the points we can get," he said.

The midfielder who has scored 10 league goals thus far in the season, said a draw will allow Selangor who are two points behind, to catch up with the two teams.

"Should we draw with Terengganu and Selangor beat Perlis on Monday (tomorrow) then the three teams will share 48 points with two more matches to go.

"Terengganu will be playing their 'little brothers' T-Team next and chances are, they will get whatever they need from that match," he said.

Meanwhile, coach M. Karathu said his team will be weakened considerably without goalkeeper Khairul Fahmi Che Mat and leftback Zairul Fitree Ishak.

"Khairul is still with the Olympic squad and his place will be taken by Sharizan Ismail who did good in our early FA Cup matches.

"Zairul is suspended for one match after receiving three yellow cards but both players will be available for the FA Cup final," he said.

Karathu said it was a relief to hear that Terengganu will also be missing attacking midfielder Ashaari Shamsuddin through suspension and defender Mohd Zubir Azmi who is also with the Olympic squad.

"As always, it will be tough to play Terengganu as both teams are more than familiar with each other. The last time we beat them in their backyard was two years ago and we hope we can do it again this time," he said.

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Fighting Syafiq comes up short in Singapore

Posted: 04 Jun 2011 08:38 AM PDT

Syafiq Ridhwan posted only 192 in the first match of the stepladder finals to finish fourth at Orchid Bowl yesterday..

WORLD No 12 Syafiq Ridhwan almost stole the thunder on the final day of the Singapore Open but lost steam in the stepladder finals, ending up fourth at Orchid Bowl yesterday.

Syafiq, a former national champion, overcame a setback in Friday's Masters first block with a gallant show in the following eight games to record a combined 16-game total of 3,358 pinfalls to finish fourth and qualify for the title deciding round.

But he could not sustain his performance as he posted only 192 to finish behind Singapore's Remy Ong (202) and UAE's Shaker Al Hassan (237), the eventual champion, in the first match of the stepladder finals.

Syafiq hopes his performance in last week's Malaysia Open and in Singapore will be enough to convince the Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress to send him for the final two rounds of the World Tour in Thailand and Australia.

The elite bowler is ranked 12th on the tour after finishing second in the Brunswick Euro Challenge in France in March.

Former national bowler Kang Bo Long was Malaysia's second best performer in the Men's Open by recording 3,308 to finish 10th ahead of compatriots Zulmazran Zulkifli (18th: 3,169) and Aaron Kong (41st: 2,891).

Zulmazran has not been performing to expectations since injuring his wrist just before last year's Guangzhou Asian Games.

In the women's section, Siti Shazwani Ahmad Suffian missed by a mere 26 pins in her bid to qualify for the stepladder finals.

Siti Shazwani finished fifth on 3,319, behind Singapore's fourth-placed Daphne Tan (3,345).

Newly promoted elite bowler Sin Li Jane finished seventh on 3,238 followed by Zandra Aziela Ibrahim Hakimi (11th: 3,174), Hee Kar Yen (12th: 3,163), Zatil Iman Abdul Ghani (14th: 3,110), Jacqueline Jenelee Sijore (15th: 3,102) and Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman (16th: 3,086).

Kelly Kulick of the United States defeated Singapore's Jazreel Tan in two games to lift the title.

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Sabtu, 4 Jun 2011