Cyber Monday Sales Reach Record as Shoppers Snub Stores for Web

Online shopping surged about 20 percent to a record on Cyber Monday as many consumers snubbed physical stores and took to the Web to buy holiday gifts.

Including shopping on personal computers and mobile devices, Internet retail sales on the Monday after Thanksgiving rose to almost $2 billion, according to researcher ComScore Inc. (SCOR) That made it the heaviest Web-spending day ever for the fourth straight year. More than $23.9 billion has been spent on the Web through PCs alone since Nov. 1, an 8.4 percent gain from the same period in 2012, the company said yesterday in a statement.

Cyber Monday marked a bright spot in a holiday shopping season that so far has lacked luster, including the first spending decline for a Black Friday weekend since 2009. While e-commerce is projected to make up only about 14 percent of total retail sales in November and December, companies such as Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and EBay Inc. (EBAY) are luring customers with the promise of daily deals, fast shipping and the ease of leaving the minivan in the driveway. They’re also catering to consumers who are browsing products from tablets and smartphones.

“The discounts are strong, and Amazon has gained share as it typically does,” ComScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni said in an interview on CNBC. “Their growth rates are well ahead of the overall market.”

Visa, Walmart.com

Businesses across the retail industry showed increased sales on Cyber Monday. Visa Inc. (V), the world’s biggest bank-card network, said U.S. cardholders spent $7.8 billion from Thanksgiving through Dec. 2, a 30 percent increase from a year earlier. On Cyber Monday, Visa customers spent $2.6 billion, up 28 percent and the most of any day during the five-day span.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), the world’s largest retailer, said Dec. 2 was its biggest-ever online spending day, and that Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday marked the company’s highest five-day Web sales period to date. Top-selling items on Cyber Monday included an LG Electronics Inc. 50-inch television, Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s iPad 2 and a Fisher-Price Power Wheels truck.

“The momentum we saw on Thanksgiving carried through to Cyber Monday,” Joel Anderson, president of Walmart.com in the U.S., said yesterday in a statement.

Amazon’s Cyber Monday same-store sales jumped 46 percent, while EBay’s climbed 32 percent, according to ChannelAdvisor Corp., which provides services to sellers on both of those sites. EBay’s PayPal unit said in a statement that mobile payment volume more than doubled as of 2 p.m. New York time on Cyber Monday compared with a year earlier.

Mobile Shopping

Retailers who tailored applications and websites for smartphone and tablet users benefited from the effort. Mobile traffic accounted for 32 percent of site visits, a 45 percent gain from a year earlier, according to International Business Machines Corp. In terms of sales, mobile devices drove more than 17 percent of online purchases on Cyber Monday, IBM said.

Such devices also helped make Black Friday and Cyber Monday the two biggest sales days inNorth America in Groupon Inc.’s history, the company said in a statement yesterday. Transactions made on smartphones or tablets made up 55 percent of sales for the four-day weekend. Bookings rose 30 percent in that period, Groupon said.

Wayfair LLC, which began selling home furnishings on the Web in 2002, posted a 50 percent increase in Cyber Monday sales, marking the biggest revenue day in the company’s history. From Thanksgiving through Dec. 2, the store saw $25 million in revenue, a 56 percent rise from a year earlier.

Store Slump

Web-based retailers are reporting strong sales even as those with physical stores face a less rosy holiday shopping season. Online spending increased 15 percent to a record $1.2 billion on Black Friday, according to Reston, Virginia-based ComScore. Because of the in-store slump, total purchases fell 2.9 percent to $57.4 billion during the four days beginning with the Nov. 28 Thanksgiving holiday, according to a survey commissioned by the National Retail Federation.

“The real winners are, in fact, the consumers, who are recognizing more savings through competitive pricing and great promotions being offered in every category,” NRF Chief Executive Officer Matthew Shay said in a statement.

Read More

Confirmed: Energy Drinks Are Bad For Your Heart

Fact: There are things in this world that, though delicious and convenient, are horrible for our bodies. Under dire circumstances, we may let ourselves indulge in a prepackaged brownie or some ramen noodles, but a new study reveals why we probably shouldn't reach for an energy drink — no matter how much we think we need the caffeine. A research team at the University of Bonn in Germany have found that energy drinks take a serious toll on our hearts.

As part of their study, researchers gave 17 subjects an energy-style drink containing 32mg per 100ml of caffeine and 400mg per 100 ml of taurine. The scientists then looked at images of the participants' hearts just one hour after they consumed the beverage. And, what they saw is kind of frightening. The contractions were so much more forceful after just one energy drink, that children, and those with certain health conditions, ought to avoid the drink altogether.

The images showed the left ventricle (responsible for pumping blood through the body) was contracting harder an hour after the energy drink was consumed than before consumption. If you think about it, your heart always pumps a bit faster when you're nervous or excited. So, it wouldn't be unlikely if the participants began with an elevated heart rate.

We already know that energy drinks contain much more caffeine than a run-of-the-mill cup of coffee or cola. But, as Dr. Jonas Dorner, a scientist on the team, points out, consuming a large amount of caffeine at once has more serious effects: "There are many side effects known to be associated with a high intake of caffeine, including rapid heart rate, palpitations, rise in blood pressure, and, in the most severe cases, seizures or sudden death." 

While the study shows that energy drinks have a short-term impact on cardiac contractility, it remains unclear "exactly how or if this greater contractility of the heart impacts daily activities or athletic performance," or how it effects those with heart disease. Regardless of the additional research needed to comment on the effects of athleticism and pre-existing heart conditions, this preliminary study might be enough to make you rethink your energy drink habits.

Read More

Apple Said Developing Curved IPhone Screens, New Sensors

Apple Inc. is developing new iPhone designs including bigger screens with curved glass and enhanced sensors that can detect different levels of pressure, said a person familiar with the plans.

Two models planned for release in the second half of next year would feature larger displays with glass that curves downward at the edges, said the person, declining to be identified because the details aren’t public. Sensors that can distinguish heavy or light touches on the screen may be incorporated into subsequent models, the person said.

With screens of 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches, the two new models would be Apple’s largest iPhones, the person said, and would approach in size the 5.7-inch Galaxy Note 3 that Samsung Electronics Co. debuted in September. The South Korean maker last month released its curved-screen Galaxy Round, the latest phone in an array of sizes and price points that’s helping keep Samsung ahead of Apple in global market share.

The new Apple handsets are still in development and plans haven’t been completed, the person said, adding that the company probably would release them in the third quarter of next year.

Screen Size

Natalie Kerris, a spokeswoman for Cupertino, California-based Apple, declined to comment.

“Screen size is one of the things where Apple has to catch up to the Android camp,” Dennis Chan, an analyst at Yuanta Financial Holding Co. in Taipei, said, referring to phones using Google Inc.’s operating software. “Innovation in components has been a key for Apple since the first iPhone came out.”

Apple broke with past practice in September when it unveiled two versions of the iPhone at the same time, the iPhone 5s with more advanced features and the iPhone 5c at lower prices, as part of a strategy to appeal to broader markets.

Demand for the iPhone 5s is much higher, and iPhone 5c production has been reduced, the person said.

Revenue growth for the current quarter, Apple’s traditional holiday sales period, may be the slowest since 2008, according to data compiled by Bloomberg based on the company’s financial forecast published last month. Samsung said last month it expects this quarter’s shipment growth rate from the prior quarter to fall to a “low single digit” percentage from the “mid-10 percent range” the prior period.

Testing continues on the pressure-sensitive technology, which is unlikely to be ready for the next iPhone release and is instead planned for a later model, the person said.

Apple’s testing and development of new materials follows its history of working with suppliers to produce new technologies that can enhance device functions. The original iPhone, released in 2007, offered touchscreen technology developed with Taipei-based TPK Holding Co. that was more responsive than available at the time.

Apple said last week it will open a new plant in Arizona to make components for its devices. Merrimack, New Hampshire-based GT Advanced Technologies said Apple will prepay $578 million for furnaces to make sapphire materials used in smartphones, with the iPhone maker getting some exclusive rights.

Read More

Get drunk without the hangover on Professor Nutt’s pill

A drug that mimics the effect of alcohol without creating a hangover is being developed by a former government adviser

A drug that mimics the effect of alcohol without creating a hangover is being developed by a former government adviser.

Prof David Nutt said the discovery would lead to a revolution in health. But he needed funding to continue his research.

He claimed the drug would do for alcohol what the e-cigarette had done for smoking.

He called on the Government to give an “explicit recommendation” in support of the drug to encourage investment. His innovation could save the NHS millions.

The drug targets the brain to give the taker feelings of pleasure similar to the effects of drinking. However, an antidote can block the sensations immediately, leaving the user free to drive or return to work.

Prof Nutt resigned from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in 2009 after a clash over policy.

He said alcohol killed 1.5 million people a year and 10 per cent of drinkers became addicts. He predicted that side effects from drinking such as memory loss could be circumvented by the new drug.

However, he warned that investors remained wary due to the uncertainty of the Government’s position. He told the Dragon’s Den presenter Evan Davis on Radio 4’s Today programme today that he was not surprised that no one in the drinks industry wanted to fund his research.

Prof Nutt said the drug could be taken in a range of cocktails. “I’ve done the prototype experiments myself,” he said. “I’ve been inebriated and then it’s been reversed by the antagonist.

“That’s what really gave us the idea. There’s no question that you can produce a whole range of effects like alcohol by manipulating the brain.”

Emily Robinson, the deputy chief executive of the charity Alcohol Concern, questioned Prof Nutt’s call for the Coalition to support his research.

“We would urge caution on this,” she said. “We agree that alcohol is a serious burden to the country. But we would urge the Government to invest in policies that we know work, such as minimum unit pricing and advertising restrictions.

“We should focus on what is going wrong in our drinking culture rather than swapping potentially one addictive substance for another.”

Claire Fox, the director of the Institute of Ideas, an organisation that promotes discussion on public policy including drug legislation, criticised the BBC’s decision to give a platform to the professor. “It was outrageous,” she said. “Nobody else would get away with it would they?

“If someone else went on and just said: 'I am here to get investment in my company’ the BBC wouldn’t let that [happen].”

She said the broadcast was “a kind of lobbying disguised as a science item” given that Prof Nutt could benefit from the policy change.

A BBC spokesman said the subject was of interest to its audience.

“Prof David Nutt was interviewed about a drug which he claimed could mimic the sensation of alcohol without the health risks,” he said.

“He was questioned about the potential complications involved and it was made clear to listeners that his research was at the early stages because he had not yet obtained funding for the project.”

Read More

Apple Reportedly Developing Large Curved Screen iPhones For Late 2014, Better Touchscreen Sensors

Apple is said to be working on two curved display iPhone models for the “second half of next year,” according to a source speaking to Bloomberg, with a likely release planned for the third quarter, as well as better touchscreen sensors that introduce fine pressure sensitivity for later devices to be introduced after that.

These new iPhones for 2014 would come in 4.7 and 5.5-inch flavors, according to the report, meaning that Apple would be introducing not one, but two different models at the same time, in theory. We’ve seen reports of Apple working on different models of large-screen devices in the past, including one from the Wall Street Journal that suggests it’s been working on different tests of devices with screen sizes between 4.8 and 6 inches. This is the first time we’ve really heard firm information about a possible release date for said devices, from a source as generally reliable as Bloomberg. A Japanese iOS rumor site claimed a September launch for a large-screen iPhone late in October, however, and two reliable analyst sources predict a 4.7-inch iPhone 6 bound for stores in late 2014.

Apple also introduced precedent for doing two models of new iPhone at once this year with the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c, so the idea that it could do so again in the future makes some sense. But two new larger-screened devices at once does seem like a stretch – though if Apple retained an iPhone 5c as its third, budget device and added two more to the mid-tier and high-end range, that might allow it to do so without adding crazy complexity to its product lineup.

The sensor developments are potentially more interesting to those who find the current screen size of the iPhone adequate; true pressure sensitivity (currently, some crude extent of that is possible via the iPhone’s accelerometer) would make drawing and handwriting applications on the iPhone and iPad much, much better. Apple could sell the devices as professional-level artistic devices if it introduces those kinds of features, in addition to just making things better for everyday users who want to jot notes and doodle, for example, or perform minor photo touch-ups.

It’s very early days to make any kind of judgement about the likely accuracy of these claims, but the source gives it some weight. Apple’s iPhone joining the ranks of bigger-screened devices definitely makes sense as a next move for the lineup, but curved glass manufacturing also seems quite expensive at this point for Apple to be considering launching two new devices with that feature at once.

Read More