OUT THIS WEEKEND July 29, 2010 FILM Karate kid Shame on you Jackie Chan. Remake with Jaden “son of Will and Jada” Smith as the kid. south of the border Oliver Stone’s documentary about South America’s left wing resurgence. beautiful kate Harrowing, incest-themed Australian drama, with Bryan Brown. DVD clash of the Titans Lame-brained Greek gods and goddesses adventure, with Sam [...]
More than a simple stopwatch July 29, 2010 A WATCH that tells the time is one thing. A watch that tells the time, the date, the temperature and has an alarm and stopwatch is – well, child’s play in the world of digital technology, but really rather impressive in a hand-made, hand-wound mechanical piece. It’s not for nothing that such features on mechanical [...]
SOCKS IN THE CITY July 29, 2010 WHY would you want to draw attention to a skinny, sometimes hairy piece of leg between your trousers and your shoes? Is it because you’re particularly fond of the knobble on your ankle and it warrants extra attention? Or that you feel that the five inches in question needs cheering up? After David Beckham’s appearance [...]
Tourbillon: the ultimate complication July 29, 2010 IF chronographs are at one end of the complications scale, at the other you find the tourbillon. Originally developed by the Abraham-Louis Breguet in the 18th century, it’s designed to lessen the effect of gravity and motion on the watch’s accuracy by mounting the escapement and balance wheel – which transform the inner workings into [...]
Easyjet row turns nasty July 28, 2010 A BITTER war of words broke out between easyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou and the budget airline over its poor punctuality yesterday adding fresh fuel to ongoing tensions over their branding agreement. Stelios, who quit the board in May in a row over strategy but whose private holding company, easyGroup, owns the “easy” brand and [...]
RIM hopes to kill iPhone July 28, 2010 Blackberry maker Research In Motion (Rim) is expected to announce the release of its new “iPhone killer” handset next week. It is understood the firm will unveil its 9800 model touchscreen smartphone at a press conference in New York on Tuesday. The launch has special significance for the firm which has seen its share price [...]
Growth slows in parts of US July 28, 2010 Economic growth in parts of the US is at risk of grinding to a halt, heightening fears of a double-dip recession. The Federal Reserve’s latest Beige Book survey, released yesterday, and tracking 12 regions showed growth in Atlanta and Chicago had slowed and Cleveland and Kansas City had held steady. Other regions were described as [...]
World trade is continuing to recover July 28, 2010 WORLD industrial production has overtaken its pre-recession peak – that is the key finding from one of the world’s most useful economic surveys, produced monthly by the Dutch Statistics Bureau. The Netherlands are a key hub for world trade; local statisticians are experts at crunching the numbers. Ian Harwood, chief economist at Evolution Securities, is [...]
Sage bids for TeamSystem July 28, 2010 Accounting software group Sage is first in line to snap up Italian business management software group TeamSystem for an estimated €650m (£542m). TeamSystem, which has been put on the market by private equity vehicle Bain Capital, will close the bidding tomorrow. It is understood HgCapital and Cinven are also interested in the firm. Bain stands [...]
Carphone beats forecasts July 28, 2010 Carphone Warehouse, Europe’s top mobile phone retailer, beat quarterly revenue forecasts, boosted by demand for smartphones, and said its megastore partnership with US group Best Buy had a successful launch. The British group said it remained cautious about the economic environment but was confident of achieving its full-year guidance.