Sprint Business Chief: BlackBerry Is Resilient

The glossy brochure that Sprint Nextel is using to publicize Biz 360, its new package of communications services for small businesses, features just one cellphone. That handset, Motorola’s XPRT, appears three times in the 12-page handout. A caption notes that the Android phone boasts “enterprise-class security”, international roaming in more than 200 countries, a physical keyboard and touchscreen and mobile hotspot functionality.

Sprint may be highlighting Android devices like the XPRT to its enterprise customers -- and have a "reinvigorated relationship" with Motorola to sell its high-end smartphones -- but the company says demand remains for BlackBerry phones. That position is notable given the tumult that BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) has endured in recent months. Even RIM’s unveiling of five new BlackBerrys last week elicited only muted enthusiasm from most industry watchers.

Paget Alves, Sprint's head of business services, is more optimistic about RIM’s fate. The Canadian company still holds about 50% (in terms of operating systems) of the enterprise market, said Alves in an interview. That “pretty substantial” share means “by no stretch is RIM vanishing,” added Alves.

At the same time, Android has become much more appealing to businesses in the past year or so, as Google and its hardware partners, like Motorola and Samsung, have worked to make the operating system more secure and manageable for IT managers. Alves acknowledged those strides but also said that RIM continues to be viewed as a particularly secure operating system by his business clients. The company “still has the dominant security solution for enterprises,” said Alves. “We think it has a resilient business model.”

Alves’ remarks are in line with Sprint’s announcement last week that it would offer two of RIM’s new devices: a revamped BlackBerry Bold and the new, full-touchscreen BlackBerry Torch. Those two phones, which have yet to be priced, will come to Sprint in the September timeframe.

Alves has also been keeping a close eye on business interest in tablets. He said the trend is ramping up “perhaps faster than many people expected,” primarily because companies view tablets as compelling, lower-priced alternatives to laptops. “There can be a cost benefit to letting workers have tablets,” said Alves. With business customers, the “primary catalyst is saving money,” he added.

Sprint currently offers two tablets with cellular plans: Samsung’s Galaxy Tab and HTC’s EVO View 4G. but Alves said the tablet market remains “Wi-Fi centric” for now. He expects that to change once more consumers adopt tablets and grow comfortable toting them around. “The trend will change as users…shift to using tablets in motion,” said Alves.

Like other carriers, Sprint develops its own mobile applications, for both consumers and business customers. So far, Sprint has not created many business-focused apps specifically for tablets but Alves said he expects that to change.

Free iPhone Apps to Boost Your Car's MPG

That iPhone in your pocket is good for more than making calls and social networking – it can also be used to help motorists save money at the gas pump, thanks to a growing assortment of fuel-economy-minded apps. Here’s a quick look at a few of the best of them; all are available as free downloads via the iTunes App Store:

• AAA TripTik Mobile can help locate the lowest prices locally or en route for all available grades of gasoline. It also provides maps and turn-by-turn directions and identifies other points of interest, such as hotels, restaurants and attractions, with the ability to call for lodging reservations at the touch of a button.

• CarEconomy computes and displays a car’s average fuel economy, and can show instantaneous fuel economy on a real-time basis via an in-app upgrade.

• Fuelculator estimates the cost of a road trip based on distance traveled, a car’s fuel economy and the cost of fuel (per national averages or user-inputted).

• Gas Cubby tracks gas mileage and vehicle maintenance, and charts MPG, gas prices and fuel/maintenance expenses; it also delivers customizable service interval reminders.

• Gas Manager automatically tracks fuel economy, gas expenses and miles travelled, and can calculate a vehicle’s carbon footprint, based on fuel consumption. It further includes a GPS-based “find my car” function, and can help locate nearby gas stations, garages, restaurants and hotels.

• Road Trip Lite can work with multiple vehicles, graphically and statistically tracks a car’s fuel economy, maintenance and expenses and can import data from and export it to Microsoft Office.

• MyMPG teaches motorists how to make small changes in the way they drive for maximum mileage with real-time feedback. It uses the iPhone’s accelerometer technology to sense acceleration and encourage smoother driving, while tracking a car’s fuel economy.

• Also, while not specifically designed to boost your car's fuel economy, both Gas Buddy and Local Gas Prices can come in handy to help locate the cheapest gas prices in a given area for regular, midgrade, premium and diesel grades.

Women smokers have more heart risk than men

Women who smoke cigarettes are more likely to develop heart disease than men, says new research released on Wednesday.

After reviewing data on 2.4 million people and 44,000 cardiac events, the article's authors found female smokers have a 25 percent greater risk for coronary heart disease than males who smoke cigarettes.

The researchers, published in The Lancet medical journal, also found the difference in risk for male and female smokers increased by two percent for every year they smoke.

"It hasn't been widely recognized that there had been this sex difference," said Rachel Huxley of the University of Minnesota, the article's lead author, in an interview.

The findings could be attributed to physical differences between men and women, or differences in smoking habits, according to the study.

"For example, there are some data that indicate women will absorb more of the harmful agents in a cigarette compared to men," said Huxley. "Women may inhale more smoke or they may smoke more intensively."

Huxley said her next step is to complete a similar study to examine if the same finding can be applied to other complications related to smoking, such as strokes.

A fifth of the world's 1.1 billion smokers are women and an analysis released in March said millions of women in developing countries risked disease and death as their rising economic and political status leads them to smoke more.

Pfizer begins long-delayed payouts over Nigerian drug trial

US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer on Thursday began long-awaited compensation payments to families over a 1996 drug trial blamed for the deaths of 11 children and disabilities in dozens of others.

But even as the compensation process began, the company faced further criticism since only four families were paid in the initial disbursements, while some 200 children participated in the trial of meningitis drug Trovan.

Parents of four of the children who died received cheques of $175,000 each at a ceremony in the northern Nigerian city of Kano, where the trial took place.

A dispute over whether DNA testing should be used to verify the identification of victims had held up compensation payments.

Thursday's payments followed the release of eight results of DNA tests of 546 saliva swabs of claimants, said Abubakar Bashir Wali, who heads the claims verification committee.

"Out of these eight results, four died as a result of their participation in the clinical trial and each is entitled to ... $175,000 as full and final settlement of compensation," Wali said at the ceremony.

The other four claimants suffered deformities and would be paid compensation commensurate with their disabilities, Wali said.

"We are pleased that these four individuals, the first group of qualified claimants...have received compensation," Pfizer said in a statement it issued from New York.

The statement described the initial payments as a "milestone in the implementation of the settlement agreement reached by Kano state government and Pfizer".

"The compensation cannot replace my loss, but will only cushion the hardship the drug trial caused me and my family," Hauwa Umar, who lost a child, said between sobs.

Outside the ceremony, a group of claimants accused the compensation committee of unnecessary delay in the verification and payment of claims.

"It is frustrating that 10 months after taking over 500 swabs for DNA tests only eight results have been released despite assurance that the results would be out within six weeks," Surajo Hassan said.

Hassan said his nephew suffered deafness from the trial.

"The procedures contained in the settlement agreement are quite cumbersome, and we appeal to all stakeholders to be patient...," Wali said at the ceremony.

The payments were part of a $75 million out-of-court-settlement reached between Pfizer and Kano state government in July 2009 over the drug trial.

The trial occurred during a meningitis epidemic that, according to Pfizer, killed nearly 12,000 people.

Pfizer says it was given approval from government authorities and about 200 children were involved in the trial, half of whom were treated with Trovan. It has argued that Trovan helped save lives.

But France-based medical charity Doctors Without Borders, which was at the time urgently trying to treat meningitis victims in Nigeria, has harshly criticised Pfizer over the trial.

Tourists flock to Morocco for sun, sea and... surgery

Long famed as a tourist destination for its sunny beaches, exotic cuisine and historic sites, Morocco is now offering foreign visitors another attraction: plastic surgery clinics.

Only a short flight from Europe, the North African country is attracting growing numbers of foreign visitors looking to take advantage of lower prices for everything from face-lifts and nose jobs to tummy tucks and penis enlargements.

For clients like Marcela, a 31-year-old Spanish mother of three, Morocco offered the chance for a surgery that would have cost much more at home.

"We can get help to look after our children here and the surgery is much cheaper than in Spain. We also think that this clinic is one of the best," she said as she had her final consultation with her surgeon at a clinic in Rabat before getting abdominoplasty, better known as a tummy tuck.

Marcela said she had chosen Morocco, a country she had previously visited as a tourist, because the price of the operation here was only about 2,500 euros ($3,500) -- three times less than in her native Spain.

In an industry known for lax regulation, Marcela said she preferred to see the clinic and check its standards before booking the surgery.

"We wanted to visit the clinic first to see if we liked it. I don't like buying it as a package online where I choose a clinic from a website and set off into the unknown. The operation is very serious," she said.

But everything appeared to have gone well and four days later Marcela had recovered enough from the surgery to be out for a walk on the beach with her family.

Morocco has a history of plastic surgery dating from the early 1950s and in recent years the country has become, along with north African neighbour Tunisia, an increasingly favourite destination for procedures, Salaheddine Slaoui, a specialist in cosmetic and reparative surgery, told AFP.

"At the time when sex change operations were banned in Europe, they were practised here," the surgeon said.

"The demand for cosmetic surgery in Morocco is actually growing steadily. There are about 1,000 to 1,200 cosmetic surgeries per month in Morocco, and 10 to 15 percent of patients came from abroad," Slaoui said, adding that the number of plastic surgeries had also doubled in the last decade.

About 80 plastic surgeons -- working in both private and public clinics -- are operating in the country, mostly in Rabat and the economic capital Casablanca.

Surgeons say breast enhancement and liposuction are the most popular operations. Women are the main clients, accounting for three-quarters of plastic surgeries, according to the Moroccan Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Cosmetic Surgery (SMCPRE).

But men are also increasingly turning to plastic surgery with one operation in particular -- penoplasty, or penis enlargement -- growing in popularity.

"I see dozens and dozens of patients every month for this kind of surgery," Casablanca plastic surgeon Maria Reghai told Moroccan magazine TelQuel.

"And demand is growing stronger and stronger. Compared with last year, the number of consultations for penoplasty has practically multiplied by five!"

MSF launches mass vaccination in Ethiopian camp

Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) launched a mass vaccination Thursday against measles at a refugee camp in southern Ethiopia hosting Somalis who have fled a severe drought.

The Dolo Ado camps host 118,400 Somali refugees, including 78,000 who arrived this year, and on the first day 3,000 children were vaccinated.

"(Among) our 10 priorities, the first is vaccination campaign for measles," MSF emergency coordinator Guillem Perez told AFP.

The UN refugee agency at the weekend announced a measles outbreak in the camps where the residents are especially vulnerable to communicable diseases due to congestion and immunity weakened by malnutrition.

The vaccination is targeting children under 15.

"Children are the most vulnerable, so they are our first priority," said UN refugee agency spokeswoman Laura Padoan, who added that if the outbreak spreads, adults will also be vaccinated.

Many of the Somali refugees also suffer from malnutrition and aid agencies voiced worry their plight be made worsr by the measles outbreak.

"Malnutrition is very high, so if you mix malnutrition with measles, the scenario is very bad in terms of public health," Perez said.

For Hassan Majero, who fled Somalia to seek refuge in neighbouring Ethiopia, the immunisation came too late. Three of his five children have measles.

"They felt sick and then they had diarrhoea and then pimples appeared," Hassan recounted.

"I am very worried," he added, sitting among his children at the health centre in the camp.

A harsh and prolonged drought in the Horn of Africa has left some 12 million people facing starvation and aid agencies are scrambling to deliver aid and medicine to help victims of the region's worst drought in decades.

Parts of Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya and Uganda have been affected by the drought, but war-wracked Somalia has been the worst hit in the region.

Thousands of Somalis have fled to neighbouring Kenya and Ethiopia for help.

Ethiopia this week began relocating Somali refugees to a fourth camp opened last Friday. It will house some 15,000 people.

S.Africa approves national health insurance scheme

South Africa on Thursday announced it has approved a national health insurance proposal aimed at overhauling weak public facilities that serve more than 80 percent of the population.

"We are building a health system that will offer decent health care for all our people. This is a right that large numbers of South Africans, over many generations, have never known," said Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi.

Details of the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme, which will be piloted in 10 areas next year and rolled out nationally over 14 years, will be published on Friday.

The ruling African National Congress last year estimated the fund would cost 128 billion rand ($18 billion, 12.5 billion euros) in 2012, rising to 267 billion rand in 2020.

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan told a press briefing on Thursday that it will be funded through various sources including tax revenue, mandatory contributions from employers, and co-payments from individuals for services not covered by the scheme, and potential partnerships with the private sector.

South Africa's quality health services are currently heavily skewed toward the more expensive private sector.

Some 84 percent of the country's 50 million people depend on public hospitals and clinics, which are greatly overburdened and poorly staffed despite the state's health spending accounting for 8.5 percent of gross domestic product.

"It is true that the quality of care in public health institutions is often totally unacceptable and that radical measures are needed to put matters in order," said Motsoaledi.

The long-awaited proposal has drawn controversy over fears about costs and threats to the private health care industry.

But Motsoaledi said the scheme was not a war between the public and private sectors and that the government did not aim to abolish private health insurance. Individuals would still be able to enroll in private medical aid schemes, but would continue to have to pay NHI contributions.

The proposal was approved by the cabinet on Wednesday and will be gazetted for public comment on Friday before draft legislation is developed.

Aniston and Theroux making baby plans

Hollywood actress Jennifer Aniston and actor-writer Justin Theroux are planning to get married and have a baby soon, friends of the couple told UsMagazine.com.

The pair have been dating for about four months and are currently on a romantic vacation in Hawaii.

Aniston, 42, was famously married to actor Brad Pitt, but they divorced in 2005. Pitt went on to have six children with his longtime partner Angelina Jolie.

Theroux, 40, broke up with Heidi Bivens, his girlfriend of 14 years, in March.

"They have talked at length about getting married and starting a family," an insider close to Aniston and Theroux told UsMagazine.com. "She is anxious for the next phase of her life and feels like this is the time."

"They both want it to happen soon," a second source said of the couple's plans to try to have a baby in the near future.

"They are moving quickly, but they know the feelings they have about [each other] are different from past romances," a third friend told UsMagazine.com.

Obama: 2012 'more important' than 2008

President Barack Obama said Thursday the U.S. political system is "broken" and that makes the 2012 election "more important than 2008."

Speaking at a fundraiser at the New York home of film producer Harvey Weinstein, Obama reflected on an appearance earlier in the day in Michigan, where he said he saw "the enthusiasm, the energy, the hopefulness, the decency, of the American people."

"What I said to them is you deserve better than you have been getting out of Washington over the last two and a half months, for that matter for the last two and a half years," the president told a New York audience that included actress Gwyneth Paltrow, her husband, singer Chris Martin, comedian Jimmy Fallon, fashion designers Vera Wang and Anna Wintour, singer Alicia Keys and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Obama said Americans "realize that they needed to change the way they work, live and play" because of globalization but "they look at what is happening in Washington and think these folks are from outer space. They don't seem to understand how critical it is for us to work together."

Obama said "Washington reached a low water point" with Congress' handling of legislation to raise the federal limit on borrowing and the public "suddenly realized … we are going to have to get engaged."

"If that energy is harnessed and tapped I am absolutely convinced this country is going to be on the upswing in the next couple of years."

The president "a lot of folks thought you elect Obama and suddenly you can fix politics in Washington" when he ran in 2008, but he said the U.S. political system needs repair.

"Democracy is messy and is tough and our system is broken," he said. "That makes this election more important than 2008."

Appeals court overturns death penalty

A man sentenced to death in a 1984 killing had his conviction overturned after a federal appeals court in Ohio found his due process rights had been violated.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled John David Stumpf's rights were violated when prosecutors led a lower court to believe he was the main offender in the murder of a woman in her New Concord home, The Columbus Dispatch reported.

Stumpf must be released unless the state grants him a new hearing within 90 days, the court said in its 2-1 ruling.

The court found prosecutors had evidence and believed Clyde Daniel Wesley, a friend of Stumpf's and the co-defendant, was the trigger man in the death of Mary Jane Stout.

The court, which heard arguments four years ago, had overturned Stumpf's conviction and death sentence. The U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the conviction and sent the case back to the appeals court to determine whether he should receive the death penalty.

Stumpf and Wesley had been arrested in the killing of Stout and shooting of her husband, Norman. The two men had gone to the couple's home and asked to use the phone so they could rob them.

Stumpf, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, admitted shooting Norman Stout in the head but said Wesley killed Mary Jane Stout.

Pipe bomb found on Okla. gas line

Authorities said they discovered a pipe bomb attached to a natural gas line on a remote site in Oklahoma.

The 12-by-12-inch pipe bomb, disarmed by FBI and state officials, was found near Okemah, about 70 miles east of Oklahoma City Wednesday, The Oklahoman reported.

The Okfuskee County Sheriff's Department notified the FBI about the pipe bomb around 11 a.m., FBI Special Agent in Charge James Finch said.

"Incidents like this illustrate why the state of Oklahoma places a high priority on emergency response plans and preparedness," Gov. Mary Fallin said in a statement. "We don't now know why an explosive device was left near Okemah, but we do know that the professionalism of our local law enforcement and public safety officials, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and the Federal Bureau of Investigation ensured that nearby areas and roads were quickly evacuated and the device was rendered harmless."

Clinton urges funding for food program

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged support Thursday for President Barack Obama's "Feed The Future" program, which faces a drastic budget cut.

Clinton, addressing the International Food Policy Research Bureau in Washington, said the East African drought would have been even more devastating than it has been without the program, The Washington Post reported. She said international aid programs have helped Ethiopia, one of the countries most affected by the drought, cut the number of people in danger of starving from 13 million during a similar drought in 2002 to 5 million.

"While some might say that this is a conversation for another time -- that we should worry about preventing food crises only after this one has passed -- I respectfully disagree," she said.

The program aims to provide small farmers with better seed and agricultural extension services.

The Obama administration has asked for $1.4 billion for the program next year. An appropriations subcommittee in the Republican-dominated House has proposed cutting that by at least one-third.

8 GOP candidates debate in Iowa

Eight Republican presidential hopefuls attacked Democrats and each other Thursday in a debate in Iowa, the state with the first presidential caucuses.

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, trying to break into double digits in polls, took on President Barack Obama as well as his Republican rivals, The Des Moines Register reported. Pawlenty has invested more time, money and energy than his rivals have in Iowa.

In some of his remarks, Pawlenty took on Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at the same time, the Register said. He referred to Obama's healthcare plan as "Obamneycare" because the president has said he used Romney's plan in Massachusetts as a model.

Pawlenty and Minnesota Rep. Michelle Bachmann attacked each other, Fox News Channel -- a sponsor of the debate -- reported. The debate was co-sponsored by the Washington Examiner and the Iowa Republican Party.

The debate occurred hours after Texas Gov. Rick Perry said he is definitely a candidate for the GOP presidential nomination. Perry could combine the gubernatorial experience of Pawlenty and Romney with an appeal to Christian conservatives who support Bachmann, political analysts say.

Romney touted his business experience.

"If you spend your life in the private sector, you understand what President Obama has done is the complete opposite of what needs to be done," he said.

Bachmann suggested Pawlenty shares Obama's positions on cap and trade and requiring individuals to buy health insurance.

"During my time in U.S. Congress, I have fought all of these unconstitutional measures," she said.

Pawlenty said Bachmann lacks experience.

"She says she's got a titanium spine. It's not her spine we're worried about, it's her record of results" he said.

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich; Texas Rep. Ron Paul, the libertarian in the race; Herman Cain, the former chief executive officer of Godfather's Pizza and the only black candidate on the Republican side; and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, were also in the debate.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/08/11/8-GOP-candidates-debate-in-Iowa/UPI-61951313049600/#ixzz1UmvVQ4ML

Student apologized for gay video

The New Jersey grand jury that charged a college student with recording his roommate caressing another man was given incomplete information, lawyers said.

Dharun Ravi's defense team asked a judge in Middlesex County to dismiss charges against him, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Thursday. Ravi, 19, a Plainsboro, N.J., resident and former student at Rutgers University, is charged with bias intimidation and invasion of privacy.

Among the evidence Ravi's lawyers cited was an apology Ravi texted to his roommate, Tyler Clementi, Sept. 22, 2010. Ravi sent the message around the time Clementi took his own life by jumping from the George Washington Bridge.

"I'm sorry if you heard something distorted and disturbing, but I assure you all my actions were good-natured," Ravi said.

The lawyers, in a 700-page brief, argued Ravi did not deliberately broadcast a video of the sexual encounter, although it was picked up by iChat. They cited an e-mail Clementi sent describing Ravi's actions as "not so bad."

Clementi might have had other reasons for killing himself, the lawyers said. They cited evidence he was upset after telling his parents he was gay.

USPS to cut workforce, benefits

The U.S. Postal Service is looking to cut its workforce and change employee benefits in an attempt to cap a financial crisis, officials say.

However, to meet its goal, the USPS would have to circumvent union contracts that prohibit layoffs by petitioning Congress, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

In a letter to employees, the postal service said "we will be insolvent next month due to significant declines in mail volume and retiree health benefit prefunding costs imposed by Congress."

USPS needs to let go of 120,000 employees, 20 percent of its workforce, by 2015, in addition to 100,000 expected leave through regular attrition in coming years. The agency is also looking to drop from the federal health and retirement plans that cover federal employees and create its own benefit program for postal workers.

In a draft of the proposal to be sent to Congress, the postal service says "asking Congress to eliminate the layoff protections in our collective bargaining agreements is an extraordinary request by the Postal Service, and we do not make this request lightly. However, exceptional circumstances require exceptional remedies.

"The Postal Service is facing dire economic challenges that threaten its very existence. . . . If the Postal Service was a private sector business, it would have filed for bankruptcy and utilized the reorganization process to restructure its labor agreements to reflect the new financial reality."

American Postal Workers Union President Cliff Guffey said, "The APWU will vehemently oppose any attempt to destroy the collective bargaining rights of postal employees or tamper with our recently-negotiated contract -- whether by postal management or members of Congress."

Fredric V. Rolando, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers said: "The issues of layoff protection and health benefits are specifically covered by our contract. ... The Congress of the United States does not engage in contract negotiations with unions and we do not believe they are about to do so."