Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 26 February 2018
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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 26 February 2018
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* Sibanye says clears most illegal miners from gold shafts
* South Africa's Bidvest Group names insider as CFO
* South Africa's JSE to launch project bonds in March
* Sasol says Moody's has decoupled firm from South Africa sovereign rating
* EU arsenic warning over magnetic putty children's toy
* Electric powered Minis to be built in China
* Trump tax reform gives Buffett $29bn boost
* Florida shooting: Firms abandon NRA amid consumer boycott
* Nokia reveals 'unbendable' 8 Sirocco and Matrix 8110
* China's Geely becomes biggest Daimler investor
* Samsung Galaxy S9 focuses on the camera
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Sibanye says clears most illegal miners from gold shafts
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Precious metals producer Sibanye-Stillwater
arrested nearly 1,400 illegal miners at its South African gold shafts last
year in a blitz the company says has mostly ended the practice at its mines.
Illegal gold mining has plagued South Africa for decades and it costs the
government and the industry more than 20 billion rand ($1.7 billion) a year
in lost sales, taxes and royalties, according to a Chamber of Mines report
last year.
Sibanye Chief Executive Neal Froneman vowed last year to take the war to
illegal miners and clear them from its shafts by January 2018 under the
battle cry “Zero Zama”, after the Zulu term for illegal miners.
According to data provided to Reuters by Sibanye, it made 797 arrests in
2017 linked to illegal mining at its Cooke operations and 1,383 overall. The
blitz peaked in June with more than 500 arrests, above the 443 arrests in
2016 as a whole.
While Sibanye fell short of its goal of stamping out illegal mining
altogether, Sibanye’s head of security Nash Lutchman said based on available
intelligence, “there are only about 40 to 50 illegal miners operating now,
scattered across our Kloof and Driefontein operations”.
Froneman said last year the number of illegal miners in the company’s gold
operations numbered “in the thousands”. Sibanye was the first South African
gold miner to set itself a deadline to stop the practice.
Most zamas are undocumented immigrants from neighbouring countries who have
long provided migrant labour for South Africa’s mines, but are now being
laid off. The syndicates that support them and traffic the illegal metals
are well-funded, well-established and highly dangerous, security experts
say.
‘END OF STAGE ONE’
Sibanye’s drive was helped by the mothballing of its loss-making Cooke
operation west of Johannesburg, which was the epicentre of illegal mining
activity in its shafts.
Illegal miners gain access to working gold mines through bribery and other
means, forcing companies to dispatch security teams to the shafts and to
tighten entrance measures.
Sibanye spent 300 million rand last year and will spend another 300 million
rand this year on access and biometric controls at the entry points to its
gold mines.
“It still costs us so I don’t know if we will ever declare a victory but we
are at the end of stage one,” Froneman told Reuters.
“My biggest concern about illegal mining is the corruption of our
supervisors and our employees. That just sets a path for creating a rotten
organisation. Everybody gets bribed and the integrity of the business just
gets undermined,” he said.
Froneman admitted there was no guarantee illegal miners would not try to
return, so the company needed to maintain its costly vigilance.
Security experts have said Sibanye would struggle to eradicate illegal
mining completely but could reduce it by 90 percent.
Sibanye is the second South African gold producer to announce a milestone
linked to illegal mining this month.
AngloGold Ashanti said it would spend up to $500 million to mechanise its
Obuasi mine in Ghana.
The gold mine was rendered worthless when it was invaded by thousands of
illegal miners. They were removed by the military last year and the South
African company decided to revive the mine as an automated operation after a
feasibility study.
($1 = 11.5400 rand)
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South Africa's Bidvest Group names insider as CFO
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s Bidvest Group on Monday named Mark
Steyn, the financial head of its freight business, as the next group chief
financial officer after the trading, services and distribution firm posted a
12.5 percent rise in first-half earnings.
Steyn will replace Peter Meijer, who is retiring on Wednesday after 28 years
with the company.
Steyn, who will take over from March 1, joined Bidvest in May 1997 and has
held various financial positions within Bidvest Freight.
Bidvest, which is also involved in financial services, said headline
earnings per share in the six months to Dec. 31 rose to 574 cents from 510.3
cents a year earlier.
The services, freight, and office and print divisions were the outstanding
performers, with trading profit climbing 24.3 percent, 18 percent and 12.7
percent, respectively.
“This performance again demonstrates the benefits of our robust and diverse
operating units, which collectively serve many key sectors of the South
African economy,” group Chief Executive Lindsay Ralphs said in a statement.
The group declared an interim gross cash dividend of 255 cents per share, up
12.3 percent from 227 cents a year ago.
South Africa's JSE to launch project bonds in March
CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Africa’s largest bourse, the Johannesburg Stock
Exchange (JSE), will begin listing “project bonds” from mid-March, an
official said on Monday, giving institutional investors a window to invest
in infrastructure projects.
The bonds will provide private firms a chance to get a foothold in
infrastructure projects in Africa’s most industrialised economy, where
project financing has traditionally come from banks and government.
“We launch Project Bonds in the second week of March,” said spokeswoman
Pheliswa Mayekiso, adding that details of the listing would be made public
closer to the launch.
“Government and banks alone cannot fund South Africa’s infrastructure
programme,” the Treasury said in a review of the 2018 budget released last
week.
“These bonds will be underpinned by the cash flows of a ring-fenced project,
such as infrastructure or energy projects,” it said.
Capital markets have already reduced lending to some state-owned companies,
such as sole power supplier, Eskom.
South Africa plans to spend billions of dollars over the next three years to
build and revamp roads, power stations and ports, government officials said.
Sasol says Moody's has decoupled firm from South Africa sovereign rating
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African petrochemicals group Sasol said on
Monday that ratings agency Moody’s has decoupled the company from the
sovereign rating, which would allow it to have higher ratings and borrow
more cheaply than the government.
Sasol chief financial officer Paul Victor made the comments during the
presentation of the company’s interim results which showed a 17 percent
increase in earnings, boosted by higher oil prices. Moody’s is currently the
only major ratings agency that ranks South African debt as investment grade.
EU arsenic warning over magnetic putty children's toy
An EU-wide warning has been issued over a children's toy feared to contain
dangerously high levels of arsenic.
The "Magnetic Putty" toy was banned from sale by Northamptonshire Trading
Standards (NTS) who found it had seven times the permitted amount of
arsenic.
Amazon, eBay and Groupon all removed the toy, which has no manufacturer or
importer identification, from sale.
Last week a schoolgirl reportedly had 10 times the safe limit of arsenic in
her system after playing with the toy.
NTS discovered the toy on a market stall in the county and, as well as a
high level of the poison, the included magnet was found to be 29 times over
the allowed magnetic force and could be "easily swallowed".
It only banned this one particular type of magnetic putty, which did not
include a CE mark to show it complied with the essential safety requirement
for toys and also had twice the permitted amount of lead.
NTS has been unable confirm the supply chain of the putty because of a lack
of traceability, but other brands were being tested.
According to the European Union's Rapid Alert System website for consumer
products, the distributor has been ordered to withdraw the product from the
market.
Its warning states: "Arsenic is toxic and exposure to lead is harmful for
human health and can cause developmental neurotoxicity.
"If a child swallows this small magnet and other metallic objects, they
could attract one another causing intestinal blockage or perforation."
A spokesman for Northamptonshire County Council said: "Trading Standards
officers would reiterate the advice that if they have this particular type
of magnetic putty to stop using it.
"Any parents with health concerns about a child should consult their
doctor."
Earlier this month, a warning was issued for another magnetic putty, branded
"Peanfun", over fears of choking on the magnet.--bbc
Electric powered Minis to be built in China
Electric-powered Mini cars are to be built in China, as well as in Oxford
where most Minis are currently made.
BMW, the owner of the Mini brand, said it had agreed an outline deal with
Chinese manufacturer Great Wall Motor.
Cars made under that partnership will be for the Chinese market.
The deal will not affect BMW's plan, announced last year, to assemble the
first electric Minis in Oxford from 2019. Those cars will use electric
motors made in Germany.
BMW and Great Wall Motor still have to work out the exact location of their
production line and how much they will invest.
The Chinese governments has set a target that by 20% of cars sold should be
electric or rechargeable-hybrid vehicles by 2025.
That is spurring all car makers to raise their investment in China.
BMW already has a joint venture with Brilliance Auto to build BMW-branded
cars in China.
As well as two plants assembling cars, the joint venture has an engine plant
which includes a battery factory.
BMW is an ambitious company. It wants to expand, and it wants a bigger share
of the fast-growing market for electric vehicles.
China scores highly on both counts - it has a huge number of consumers, and
government policies there heavily favour electric cars.
BMW thinks that in order to take full advantage, it needs a local production
base.
So where does this leave Mini's UK factories? Initially at least, the
Chinese factory will produce vehicles for the Chinese market.
The cars made there there will be a different model from the electric Mini
due to be built in Oxford from 2019, and BMW insists the Mini brand can
expand internationally without calling into question its commitment to the
UK.
But the announcement may send another signal to the government - that Mini
can survive without the UK, and is more than capable of moving production
elsewhere if it finds the business climate after Brexit too
uncomfortable.--bbc
Trump tax reform gives Buffett $29bn boost
US billionaire Warren Buffet says his conglomerate has received a profit
boost of $29bn (£20bn) as a result of President Donald Trump's tax reforms,
he says.
Berkshire Hathaway reported a record quarterly and annual profit on
Saturday.
The Republican law reform, approved in December, cut the corporate tax rate
to 21% from 35%.
Mr Buffett, one of the richest men in the world, opposed the plan.
In his letter to investors, Mr Buffett said the tax cut accounted for nearly
half of the firm's gain in net worth during 2017.
"A large portion of our gain did not come from anything we accomplished at
Berkshire," he wrote. "Only $36 billion came from Berkshire's operations.
The remaining $29 billion was delivered to us in December when Congress
rewrote the US Tax Code."
Warren Buffett lines up possible successor
Are the US tax cuts helping workers?
Why Trump's cuts matter to us all
Non-partisan analysts had said the greatest beneficiaries of the tax package
would be multinational corporations.
Last month Barclays, a British bank, predicted that Berkshire Hathaway would
be a major beneficiary. It said that after an initial windfall, its earnings
could continue to rise by 12% on an ongoing basis.
Republicans have argued that the tax reform will boost economic growth.
Passing the bill through Congress was a major victory for President Trump.
He called it "the largest tax cut in the history of our country" and a gift
to the nation.
The reforms give the vast majority of taxpayers lower tax bills in the
immediate future. However those cuts expire in 2025.
Mr Buffett, who believes in higher taxes for the rich, has said he would
have preferred a different tax bill.
What does Berkshire Hathaway do?
Berkshire Hathaway has holdings in freight rail, major insurance companies,
real estate, newspapers and utilities.
Its investments include Geico, the Kraft Heinz Co, Fruit of the Loom and
Acme Brick Company, as well as Northern Powergrid subsidiaries, which serve
about 3.9 million customers in the UK.
The firm and its subsidiaries employ more than 367,000 people globally.
Mr Buffett has led it for more than four decades, making his vast fortune.
According to Fortune magazine's ranking of world billionaires, he is worth
$87bn, behind only Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, the founders of Microsoft and
Amazon respectively.--bbc
Florida shooting: Firms abandon NRA amid consumer boycott
Activists are putting pressure on companies with ties to the NRA, a powerful
gun lobby
A growing number of companies have cut ties with the National Rifle
Association amid calls for a boycott of businesses linked to the US gun
lobby after the Florida school shooting.
United and Delta airlines joined car rental giants Hertz and Enterprise in
ending discounts for NRA members.
The murder of 17 people has prompted renewed calls for tighter gun controls.
Florida Republican Governor Rick Scott has backed calls to raise the minimum
age for buying a gun from 18 to 21.
Mr Scott has been widely seen as an ally of the NRA who has previously
opposed stricter laws in the state. However, he has come under mounting
pressure to respond to the demands of students who survived the shootings at
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
How did the boycott come about?
Activists have tried to put pressure on the NRA since the shooting by
targeting firms that offer discounts and other benefits to its members.
They have flooded its corporate partners with comments on social media under
the hashtag #BoycottNRA.
Firms under pressure include delivery company FedEx and tech giants such as
Amazon, which distributes NRA television programmes.
Trump: Florida school officer 'didn't have the courage'
US gun control: What is the NRA and why is it so powerful?
Six radical ways to tackle US school shootings
Which companies have cut NRA ties?
On Thursday, the family-owned First National Bank of Omaha said it would not
renew NRA-branded credit cards, citing "customer feedback".
Other companies distanced themselves from the NRA on Friday and Saturday.
Those included MetLife Insurance, the Avis Budget Group, home security firm
Simplisafe, two moving brands - Allied Van Lines and northAmerican Van Lines
- and Symantec Corp which had offered discounts for its LifeLock identity
theft product.
Insurance firm Chubb also said it had stopped underwriting an NRA-branded
insurance policy three months ago.
Delta Air Lines and United followed suit on Saturday, saying that they would
ask the NRA to remove their information from its website. Both airlines had
been offering special flight discounts to NRA members travelling to the
association's annual meeting in May.
In Florida, the president of the Florida Education Association, which
represents teachers' unions, also called on the state to look at pension
holdings in gun companies in a statement to the Miami Herald newspaper.
What has the NRA said?
The NRA, which claims five million members, did not respond to a request for
comment about the effect of the boycott.
The group defended itself in comments on Twitter, saying people upset about
the shooting should focus on lapses by law enforcement.
"Instead of placing the blame on an organization that defends everyone's #2A
rights, maybe people should take a hard look at the number of failures by
the FBI and local law enforcement agencies, or does that not fit your
agenda?" it wrote, referring to the constitutional amendment that protects
gun rights.
Media captionSeven things the NRA blames after Florida
NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre spoke out on Thursday, arguing that
"opportunists" were using the 14 February tragedy to expand gun control and
abolish US gun rights.
"They hate the NRA. They hate the second amendment. They hate individual
freedom," he said.
Prior campaigns aimed at the NRA have had limited results.
President Donald Trump has defended the NRA, while others criticised the
boycott on Twitter.
What about gun purchases?
On Friday, the governor of Florida urged state lawmakers to restrict access
to firearms for young people and the mentally ill.
Rick Scott said his aim was for Florida to "require all individuals
purchasing firearms to be 21 or older," adding that the he wanted to make it
"virtually impossible" for anyone with mental health issues to acquire a
gun.
Mr Trump earlier said he supported the proposal to raise the age at which a
person can buy a gun from 18, and said he believed the NRA would back such a
proposal.
"I don't think I'll be going up against them," Mr Trump said of the gun
lobby. "They're good people."
In other developments:
It has emerged that an unidentified woman called the FBI on 5 January to say
she was worried that Nikolas Cruz, the suspected gunman, would get into a
school, "shooting the place up". The woman said the information had already
been passed to police and she had not heard back
Police have released previous recordings of 911 calls reportedly made by
Nikolas Cruz,, in which he says that someone he was living with at the time
was "going to gut me"
President Trump said an armed officer stationed at the school who did not
enter the building where the shooting was taking place was a "coward"
CNN reports that in addition to the armed officer, three Broward County
deputies were waiting outside the school doing nothing to confront the
shooter when Coral Springs police arrived
Media captionAs a gunman opened fire in a Florida high school, students
inside reached for their phones.
What other issues are attracting boycotts?
The campaign comes as US businesses increasingly find themselves entangled
in political debates, as activists target them on issues such as LGBTQ
rights, as well as ties to the president.
Companies such as retailer Nordstrom and sportswear brand Under Armour are
among the firms that have been subject to calls for boycotts from the left
and right.
Executives serving on presidential councils, including the former chief
executive of Uber, have resigned from the advisory groups after consumer
pressure. The councils eventually disbanded last summer.
North Carolina last year also rescinded a law that restricted bathrooms for
transgender people after a boycott by businesses and sports leagues.--BBC
Nokia reveals 'unbendable' 8 Sirocco and Matrix 8110
An Android smartphone billed as being almost impossible to bend by hand has
been added to Nokia's line-up, alongside a simpler slider model that plays
on nostalgia for the 1990s.
The flagship Nokia 8 Sirocco features a steel frame and lays claim to being
one of the toughest models on the market.
Meanwhile, the 8110 revives the design and name of a handset that famously
featured in the Matrix movie.
Analysts say they should both build on one of last year's big success
stories.
Although the devices feature Nokia's name, they are in fact made by the
Finnish start-up HMD Global.
The company made a splash at 2017's Mobile World Congress when it unveiled
the retro 3310 feature phone alongside more powerful models, and it appears
that it has tried to repeat the trick at this year's event in Barcelona this
weekend.
Samsung Galaxy S9 focuses on the camera
MWC: Why do smartphones look so alike?
"Last year was about relaunching Nokia's smartphone business," commented Ian
Fogg from the IHS Technology consultancy.
"HMD only began shipping internationally in the last seven months of 2017,
and yet over that period it delivered more than 8 million smartphones.
"That means in volume terms it's already ahead of HTC, ahead of Sony, and
ahead of Lenovo - all brands that have not had a period of absence from the
market."
HMD said at its press conference that it had sold 70 million phones of all
types across 2017 as a whole.
Steel body
The Sirocco runs a "pure" version of Android Oreo. By contrast, most rivals
tend to have their own "skinned" proprietary user interfaces, which is often
a source of criticism.
However, the new phone does reintroduce the Pro Camera mode Nokia used to
offer to users, who wanted full manual control when taking photos.
The decision to feature a steel frame follows a similar choice by Apple for
its iPhone X, but does so for a significantly lower price. The Sirocco will
cost cost 749 euros ($921; £659) when released in April.
"History has shown that an awful lot of people like to carry their phone in
their back pockets, which has often led to them getting out of shape," noted
Ben Wood from the CCS Insight consultancy.
"So, this is a smart initiative to help their product stand out from the
crowd."
A choice to use Qualcomm's 835 processor rather than the newer, more
powerful 845 might deter some consumers.
Although both are capable of running current games and other apps, the
latter promises a higher degree of future-proofing and has allowed some
adoptees to introduce new features of their own.
It means that Nokia's marketing is more likely to focus on the device's
industrial design rather than its capabilities.
"HMD wants to show it is able to differentiate its flagship from other
Android handsets and prove it can make high-end phones - not just
'affordable' ones," commented Carolina Milanesi from the Creative Strategies
consultancy.
"It's not just about using a retro brand."
Banana phone
HMD also unveiled three other Android handsets, but they are likely to be
overshadowed by the 8110.
It is a feature phone, meaning it only runs a small number of apps on its
Kai operating system.
These include Google Assistant, Google Maps and Facebook but not Twitter,
Snapchat or WhatsApp.
The 8110 has a curved design - which led to the original being nicknamed the
banana phone - and a keypad cover that slides down.
But unlike the version that featured in sci-fi movie The Matrix, the cover
does not move on its own but must be moved by hand.
The firm told the BBC that this was a deliberate decision to be true to the
original design. But one expert said it might have more to do with being
able to achieve a 79 euros ($97; £69) price tag.
"You could argue they missed a trick by not having it spring-loaded,"
commented Ben Wood from the CCS Insight consultancy.
"But the reality is that if you've got to build a phone for a certain price
point, that level of mechanical complexity would have made it too expensive.
"People love a bit of nostalgia, and the important thing is that it's 4G.
That should mean it's more widely adopted by network operators than last
year's 3310, which was originally only 2G."--BBC
China's Geely becomes biggest Daimler investor
Chinese carmaker Geely has become the biggest investor in Mercedes-Benz
owner Daimler, saying it hopes to cooperate with the German giant on
electric cars.
Geely shares jumped in Hong Kong after the deal to buy almost 10% of the
firm was announced over the weekend.
The Chinese carmaker already fully-owns Sweden's Volvo and black cab maker
London Taxi Company.
Chairman Li Shufu is expected to meet Daimler executives on Monday and
German government officials later in the week.
Geely's 9.7% stake in the high profile German carmaker has raised some
concerns that the Chinese firm will seek access to technology and innovation
in exchange for the deal.
But the German government said it saw "no need to act in terms of
competition rules or foreign investment rules".
'Invaders from outside'
China is widely considered the most important future market for global car
manufacturers.
In a statement by Geely, Mr Li said he wanted to "accompany Daimler on its
way to becoming the world's leading electro-mobility provider," and was
looking for a long-term commitment.
Describing what he called a "strategic vision," he argued that "invaders
from outside" the traditional car sector, meant firms needed to cooperate
through partnerships and alliances.
Traditional carmakers are increasingly facing competition from newcomers
from the technology sector, including Tesla and the Google-associated Waymo.
Also over the weekend, Daimler announced a $1.9bn (£1.4bn) investment into a
partnership with another Chinese auto firm, BAIC.
The money will go into modernising a BAIC plant to build Mercedes cars
including electric vehicles, the two companies said.
Daimler and BAIC are already cooperating in the Chinese market, where
foreign production is often only permitted through partnerships with Chinese
firms.
Last week, fellow German carmaker BMW announced a deal with Chinese
manufacturer Great Wall Motor to build electric-powered Mini cars in China
for the local market.
The Chinese government has said 20% of cars sold by 2025 should be electric
or rechargeable-hybrid vehicles - a target that is spurring many global
carmakers to raise their investment in China.--BBC
Samsung Galaxy S9 focuses on the camera
New and improved camera capabilities are the main thrust of Samsung's pitch
for its latest flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S9 and larger S9+.
The handsets gain a super-slow-motion facility designed to make it easy to
extend key moments of action. They also gain a type of lens that should
improve low-light photography.
Samsung's sales rose in 2017 but not as fast as those of many Chinese
rivals.
Experts suggest the new facilities represent minor upgrades.
That may make marketing the S9 a challenge since the phone's design also
strongly resembles that of the existing S8. Slightly smaller bezels at the
top and bottom and a new position for the fingerprint sensor are the biggest
alterations.
The S9+ is only a little more distinct from the S8+. It now features two
camera lenses on its rear, providing different fields of view and allowing
photo backgrounds to be digitally blurred.
"I'm not sure if the improvements will be enough to make people rush and
upgrade," commented Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst at market research firm
IDC.
"The quality of the camera is a purchasing driver for many consumers, and
Samsung's does appear better than [Google's] Pixel 2.
"But I was expecting to see more development around its intelligence - it
still relies on the cloud, meaning you need to be connected to the net to do
live translations, for instance."
By contrast, he added, Huawei's latest phones can translate words they are
shown while offline thanks to their use of a new chip technology.
Manufacturer 2017 handset shipments Year-on-year change Market
share
Samsung 317.7 million +2.0% 21.7%
Apple 215.8 million +0.2% 14.8%
Huawei (incl Honor) 154.2 million +10.7% 10.6%
Oppo 111.7 million +12.0% 7.6%
Xiaomi 92.7 million +75.0% 6.3%
Vivo 87.6 million +13.4% 6.0%
LG 55.8 million +1.2% 3.8%
Industry total 1.46 billion -0.5% 100%
Source: IDC
Samsung held its launch on the eve of the Mobile World Congress tech show in
Barcelona.
It has priced the S9 at 849 euros (£750; $1,047) and the S9+ at 949 euros
(£838; $1,170) - 50 euros more than their predecessors
The biggest hardware change to the S9's camera is that it now features a
variable aperture, with a choice of two settings.
Nokia reveals 'unbendable' 8 Sirocco and Matrix 8110
MWC: Why do smartphones look so alike?
At its widest setting it allows in more light, which can be helpful in dim
conditions, but at a cost of having shallower focus.
It is not the first handset-maker to do this. Nokia offered a similar
technology in its N86 phone in 2009, but the innovation failed to catch on.
To further improve low-light imagery the S9 now takes 12 images in quick
succession to help detect and remove noise - the S8 took three.
But its standout feature is the capacity to slow down video while keeping it
in high-definition resolutions: 960 frames per second in 720p and 480fps in
1080p.
The slow motion videos can be turned into Gifs and also be placed on the
phone's lock screen
Sony's Xperia XZ Premium phone added a similar feature last year, but
Samsung says its version is "more usable".
In both cases, owners must determine, at point of capture, the 0.2 seconds
that get turned into six seconds of footage, at the slowest setting. This
can be a challenge to get right.
While Sony relies on users pressing a button at exactly the right moment,
Samsung's S9 auto-triggers the function when motion is detected in a chosen
part of the screen.
Other camera-related innovations include the introduction of AR Emojis.
These are animated cartoons created from facial scans of the owners that
then mimic their expressions. They are similar in concept to Apple's
animal-based Animojis, but Samsung suggests its version is more "personal".
The Bixby Vision image-recognition app gains the ability to identify foods
the camera is pointed at and estimate their calorie content.
And the phone now combines data from its iris and facial-recognition systems
to improve their reliability.
Samsung, however, declined to provide a failure rate to permit a comparison
with Apple's one-in-a-million statistic for its Face ID facility.
IHS Technology's Ian Fogg said the risk for Samsung was that if consumers do
not view the new features as a huge leap forward, they might prefer to wait
to see what the S10 offers.
"The typical Samsung upgrader probably has an S6 or S7," he explained
"Samsung has delivered significant incentives to upgrade with the improved
camera and the larger display, compared with the older phones.
"But the problem is that those handsets from two to three years ago are
still very usable and will still feel pretty good to many."
How keen are you to see the world in ultra slooooooow motion or to have an
animated emoji that looks just like you?
Samsung is betting that these are not niche interests and will spark a rush
to upgrade, particularly amongst those people whose phones are a couple of
years old.
In truth, the Galaxy S9 feels like an incremental improvement on last year's
S8 - the screen stretches a bit further in the same space, the sound system
is louder, which means more anti-social noise in public places, and
Samsung's underwhelming Bixby assistant has got a bit smarter at reading
foreign menus.
To be fair, smartphones like the Galaxy are already brilliant computers
delivering extraordinary performance on the move - and making new models
stand out from the crowd is a struggle for all manufacturers.
It is a good bet that the S9 will sell very well indeed and put another
rocket under Samsung's profits - it just isn't going to make jaded
phone-buyers go "wow!"--BC
INVESTORS DIARY 2018
Company
Event
Venue
Date & Time
ART
AGM
202 Seke Road, Graniteside
27 Feb 2018 14:00
Ariston
AGM
Centenary Room, Royal Harare Golf Club
27 Feb 2018 16:00
Powerspeed
AGM
Boardroom, Gate 1, Powerspeed Complex, Corner Cripps Road and Kelvin Road
North, Graniteside
01 Mar 2018 11am
Proplastics
final dividend of 0.26c record date
02 Mar 2018
Mash
AGM
Boardroom, 19th Floor, ZB Life Towers, 77 Jason Moyo Ave
22 Feb 2018 12PM
<mailto:info at bulls.co.zw>
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