China Unicom Hopes 1000-yuan Smartphones Will Boost 3G Use (PC World)

China Unicom is gearing up to sell a new wave of smartphones for 1000 yuan (US$154), a price that the carrier believes will accelerate the growth of the mobile Internet in China among users of unsubsidized pay-as-you-go phones.

For that price, buyers will get a 3G phone with Wi-Fi capability, a 3.5-inch touchscreen, a processor running at 600MHz or faster, and a high-speed Web browser. Many of the phones will run Android, China Unicom said Monday as it announced its plans to sell more low-cost smartphones.

A China Unicom spokesman said the carrier plans to release many of these smartphones with a 1000 yuan price-tag, but could not say when they will be released.

The low cost smartphones are part of the carrier's strategy to bring its faster third-generation (3G) network to more Chinese users. The country's 3G user base has already exceeded 60 million. But this only accounts for a small percentage of China's nearly 900 million mobile phone users, the vast majority of which use slower second-generation networks.

China Unicom itself has 174 million mobile subscribers, 18.5 million of them 3G users, while its larger rival China Mobile has 600 million customers, although only 26 million of them are signed up with its 3G networks.

Some analysts attribute the higher proportion of 3G users among China Unicom's subscribers to the company's exclusive rights to sell the iPhone in China, giving its smartphone offerings a leg up over the competition.

Analysts and industry executives believe the uptake of smartphones in China will lead to more Internet usage in the country. Currently, the country has 457 million Web users, according to the China Internet Network Information Center.

The devices, however, have been out of reach for most consumers due to their high costs. For instance, an Apple iPhone 3G can cost at 3,999 yuan ($616), while many other popular devices sell for similar prices.

Smartphones priced at 1000 yuan or lower are expected to further open the market. By 2013, smartphones will account for half of all mobile phone sales, said Lu Libin, an analyst with Beijing-based research firm Analysys International. Currently they account for 27 percent of phone sales.

"The costs will decrease over time," he added. "We are already starting to see the release of lower-cost smartphones around 1000 yuan from China Unicom and its competitors."

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Volkswagen hopes to tap nostalgia with newest Beetle

s VW walks a fine line this morning with its global debut of a redesigned third generation of Beetle in flashy ceremonies, including at the New York and Shanghai auto shows. To succeed, the new bug will need cutting-edge features while tapping a deep vein of nostalgia.

If the design evokes too little of the original, VW risks alienating those with the deepest affection for the underdog. Yet if it fails to break ground in its look or in its technology and performance, the next Beetle will be dismissed as a relic.

PHOTO: Gallery - The 2012 BeetlePHOTO: Gallery - VW Beetle through the years

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'Gang of Six' hopes to spur bipartisan action on deficit

By Bob Brown, AP

Senators Mark Warner, D-Va, left, and Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga, are urging action on the debt.

EnlargeCloseBy Bob Brown, AP

Senators Mark Warner, D-Va, left, and Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga, are urging action on the debt.

The "Gang of Six," as they are known, is close to offering a deficit-reduction plan more specific than what Obama plans to talk about this week. It would be the only bipartisan plan in Congress, written by liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans.

The gang leaders, Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia and Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, outlined the need for major action Monday before the Rotary Club of Atlanta. Today, they'll be back in Washington for more private meetings.

"We hope this week to make the progress we need to close the deal," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the Senate's assistant majority leader. He said a plan from three Democrats and three Republicans "could be a game-changer" that "might set the stage for some broad agreement."

ROMNEY: Explores '12 presidential run GOP HOPEFULS: Line up endorsements from Congress As Congress prepares to vote this week on $38.5 billion in spending cuts for 2011 that averted a partial government shutdown over the weekend, plans for trillion-dollar savings are proliferating:

•An 18-member bipartisan commission called in December for nearly $4 trillion in spending cuts and tax increases over the next decade. It included four of the Senate gang's members — Durbin, Kent Conrad, D-N.D., Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Mike Crapo, R-Idaho. The Bipartisan Policy Center think tank went further, calling for almost $6 trillion.

•Last week, Republicans who won control of the House in November produced an ambitious plan that they said would cut nearly $6 trillion in spending. The plan, written by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, calls for major cuts in Medicare and Medicaid, cuts taxes, and includes small reductions in defense spending.

•Obama's speech at George Washington University and the Gang of Six proposal soon thereafter will complete the picture, giving lawmakers a range of options for what would be the biggest deficit-slashing package in at least 14 years.

"Everybody's going to have some skin in the game," Warner said. "We don't need another commission. … We need to move forward."

The slide show he and Chambliss presented to the Rotarians Monday was intended to boost their case for action this year. Without action, they said, the national debt will be on a par with Greece by the end of the decade. Congress must vote to raise the government's debt ceiling by early July or risk an unprecedented default.

The Gang of Six approach is based on Obama's commission, which called for a mix of spending cuts and tax increases. Obama never endorsed the plan, and his proposed 2012 budget called for only $1.1 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years. But White House press secretary Jay Carney said the president knows much more is required.

"The speech will once again demonstrate the president's seriousness about deficit reduction," Carney said.

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Wisconsin News Have Given Hopes To State Union Workers

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Costly battle of politics over Wisconsin’s Supreme Court is heating up; it was listened that the battle was going to be over by Wednesday because Tuesday was the day of elections. Voters had come to polls in large numbers. But the battle was very close till the end of vote counting; results have not come according to their prediction. Elections were given big coverage by media because the battle of budget had divided Wisconsin. Earlier, Wisconsin had avoided voting due to advice of Senate Democrats; their criticism had politicised the issue and the issue could only be settled after consensus with state union workers. Fulfilment of quorum was essential for legitimization of vote; therefore senators of Republican frozen all fiscal parts of bills. It was the repair bill of budget which directly linked with state union workers. Democrats had to sue Republicans for the reason that their action was in violation of state’s law.

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Romney's Strategy Hopes to Reverse 2008 Outcome

AP

FILE: Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann, are greeted in Bartlett, N.H. on March 5. .

In his first presidential run in 2008, Mitt Romney sought back-to-back victories in Iowa and New Hampshire to propel him to the Republican nomination. He won neither, the two-state sprint failed and so did his candidacy.

This time his strategy is more of a multi-state marathon, with economically suffering Nevada an important round in what advisers predict could be a protracted fight to be the party's 2012 nominee.

On his first trip this year to Nevada, the former Massachusetts governor toured a neighborhood north of Las Vegas that has been hit the hardest in the U.S. by foreclosures. He was expected to focus on the economy in a speech Saturday at a meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition.

Nevada is third in line to vote on the 2012 Republican primary calendar to choose delegates to the party's presidential nominating convention. It has the highest U.S. unemployment rate, at 13.6 percent in February, and that gives Romney a chance to hone his central campaign theme: President Obama's policies are hurting the economic recovery and I'm the best Republican to challenge the Democratic incumbent on that issue in the general election.

Romney is the closest to a front-runner in a field that lacks one. He's expected to enter the race later in April and has readied for a second act since falling short to Arizona Sen. John McCain in 2008.

Allies and aides who outlined the path that Romney is charting to the nomination spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publically discuss private strategy sessions.

The strategy calls for big showings in New Hampshire and Nevada to boost momentum. After that come strong fights in enough other states so Romney enters the party convention in Tampa, Florida, next fall with more convention delegates pledged to him than any other Republican.

Romney's planning seeks to seize on a change in how the party chooses its nominee.

Candidates who won a state used to get all its delegates in a winner-take-all system. Republicans now will award delegates proportionally, meaning finishing second or third in a state is worth it. That could benefit a wealthy candidate such as Romney. In 2008, he spent $110 million, $45 million of his own money.

His hopes aren't without hurdles. There's the health care law enacted in Massachusetts on his watch. It's similar to Obama's national health overhaul, which conservatives despise.

Romney must overcome a record of changing positions on social issues such as gay rights and abortion. His shifts have left conservatives questioning his sincerity and his Mormon religion.

In 2008, Romney spent $7 million on Iowa airwaves and built an enormous statewide organization. Yet he never won over social conservatives who dominate the early decision-making.

This time, signs point to a token Iowa effort.

"Right now, Iowa is sort of the Christian Coalition primary and he's not really playing," said Doug Gross, a Des Moines lawyer who managed Romney's caucus campaign in 2008 but hasn't signed on to a campaign this time. "He doesn't have to win Iowa. If he finishes third in Iowa, that would be seen as a positive thing."

Romney plans to make his first big stand in New Hampshire, which borders Massachusetts. He finished second there in 2008 and has maintained strong ties to the state, where he owns a vacation home. He's helped the state party raise money and has kept a political team in place in preparation for a second run.

Nevada's up next on the nominating calendar and is ripe for Romney to do well.

He won the state in 2008, though his competitors largely overlooked the caucuses because they assumed the state's heavily Mormon population would vote overwhelmingly for one of their own.

"I honestly do believe a Mormon in office would help our country," said Jennifer Fung, a Mormon who met Romney as he walked through her neighborhood in North Las Vegas on Friday. "All the people that I associate with, everybody says they voted for Mitt Romney in the election."

U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas came in second place, underscoring a libertarian streak in the state.

"Romney, should he run, walks into this as a front-runner in that he's got an organization left over from last time," said Ryan Erwin, a senior adviser in Nevada during Romney's last campaign. "He has a lot of friends here but crazy things happen."

The Republican primary electorate is shaping up to be more conservative than it was four years ago, because of the emergence of the tea party. Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, a Mormon who served as Obama's ambassador to China, is expected to compete strongly in Nevada if he runs, and that could cut into Romney's support.

Unlike four years ago, South Carolina isn't likely to get lots of attention from Romney. He worked the state for over a year in 2008, only to place a distant fourth. Religious conservatives who hold great sway in the state never warmed to Romney.

Romney's advisers anticipate working hard in Michigan and Florida.

Romney won the 2008 primary in Michigan, where his was father was governor. He'll shoot for a repeat before turning to Florida, where he hopes his economic message will play well with the state's large retiree population.

He narrowly lost to McCain in Florida. Within days, he dropped out of the race, endorsed McCain and started looking ahead to 2012.

Now, it's here.

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Senate Dems Pin 2012 Hopes on Budget Battle

AP

Sen. Charles Schumer speaks to reporters about budget negotiations March 2 on Capitol Hill in Washington.

Democrats, who are barely clinging to a majority in the Senate, seem to be pinning their 2012 election hopes on exploiting the current budget impasse that has Republican leaders under pressure from Tea Party activists not to compromise.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who is in charge of the party's messaging, was heard this week giving talking points on the budget to other Democratic senators during a news conference

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