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NPD: Expanded distribution of iPad 2 could be Apple's key to success Exploring alternative retail partners like Kohl's or Bed Bath & Beyond for the next-generation iPad coach purses 2011 could give Apple another advantage over its competitors in the booming tablet market. Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis with the NPD Group, wrote about the anticipated launch of the second-generation iPad on his company's official blog on Tuesday. He said he believes distribution and availability of the touchscreen tablet will be an even more important factor than technical specifications for the next-generation device. "As Apple talks more about small businesses and the iPad opportunity in enterprise it would be great if distribution focus was expanded to include more business-oriented channels like the office stores and the DMRs, such as PC Connection and Insight," he wrote. "Those chains and resellers offer Apple real chances to gain incremental volume versus shoveling a couple more units through carrier stores or adding another Web site. "Although, even in its consumer focus, Apple's distribution clearly needs to expand into more regional CE outlets and test more alternative distribution opportunities like department and home stores, such as Kohl's or Bed Bath and Beyond." Though the first-generation iPad was initially only available through Apple, the company gradually expanded its availability as 2010 went on. By the end of last year, the iPad was on sale from a number of partners, including carriers Verizon and AT&T; retailers like Target, Best Buy and Walmart; as well as purses 2011 third-party distributors. In addition to distribution, Baker said he believes pricing of the next iPad will be a "critical" decision for Apple. This year, a plethora of tablet competitors running a variety of operating systems are set to hit the market and aim to unseat the iPad as the best-selling tablet device. With tablet competition looming, Baker sees device makers competing for shelf space and an inevitable price war. If the iPad 2 launches with too high a price, Apple could potentially be undercut by a less expensive competitor at some point before the holiday buying season of 2011. "Since Apple never responds to that type of price activity," he wrote, "the key to iPad 2's announcement will be whether today's price holds or Apple is the first one to shoot off a canon in a tablet price war." For the moment, the pricing of Apple's iPad remains an advantage over its competition, with the 16GB coach backpacks Wi-Fi-only model starting at $499. Apple executives have said they see the tablet market as an important sector with huge growth potential, and they plan to be aggressive in terms of pricing.

Dollar Near One-Month Low Versus Euro on View Fed to Trail ECB on Rates The dollar traded about 0.6 percent from a one-month low against the euro on speculation the Federal Reserve will overlook improving economic prospects and lag behind the European power balance Central Bank in raising interest rates. The U.S. currency approached a 13-month low versus the pound on the prospect that Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke will reiterate today that inflation will remain subdued even as commodity prices gain. Demand for the euro was bolstered before a report that economists said will show producer prices accelerated in January, adding to the European Central Bank’s inflation concerns before a policy meeting tomorrow. “The U.S. economy is slowly getting better but it’s also pumping a lot of liquidity into the system,” said Tony Allen, global head of currency trading in Sydney at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., Australia’s third-largest lender by market capitalization. “While the U.S. remains the funding currency, you can see the euro higher.” The dollar traded at $1.3775 per euro as of 8:28 a.m. in Tokyo from $1.3777 in New York yesterday, after falling to $1.3856 on Feb. 28, the weakest since Feb. 2. The greenback was at 81.94 yen from 81.86 yen, and traded at $1.6271 per pound from $1.6267, after declining to $1.6330 yesterday, the weakest since Jan. 20, 2010. The euro was at 112.87 yen from 112.77 yen. Experience with price gains in recent decades, along with currently stable labor costs, suggests a “temporary and relatively modest increase in U.S. consumer-price power balance wholesale inflation” from rising commodity prices, Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee in semiannual monetary policy testimony yesterday. Job Creation The Fed chairman said while growth will accelerate, he wants to see a “sustained period of stronger job creation.” Bernanke will testify to the House Financial Services Committee today and the central bank is scheduled to release its report on regional economic activity, known as the Beige Book. U.S. companies added 180,000 workers last month after rising 187,000 in January, ADP Employer Services will report today according to a Bloomberg News survey. A Labor Department report on March 4 will show U.S. employers added 193,000 jobs in February, the most since May 2010, a separate survey showed. “While the U.S. is not concerned power balance white with inflation at this time, reports suggest that the ECB will increase its anti- inflation talk on Thursday,” analysts led by Hans-Guenter Redeker, London-based global head of foreign-exchange strategy at BNP Paribas SA, wrote in a note yesterday. The euro should “remain supported.”

iPad makes a splash with businesses The iPad tablet computer has been tested or deployed at 80% of Fortune 100 companies, according to Apple. And now the company is boosting its sales support for businesses to address that growing demand, Bloomberg News reported last week.power balance black For years, Internet technology professionals have pushed "for a way to buy Macintoshes and iPhones directly from Apple," says Forrester Research analyst Ted Schadler. "Now with IT support for iPads, they are putting even more pressure on Apple to sell to and support companies—and not just consumers." Industry tracker iSuppli predicts Apple will ship 43.7 million iPads this year and 63.3 million in 2012, up from an estimated 14 million in 2010. While it is too early to tell how many buyers will be corporate, the explosive growth comes as Apple is expected to announce an updated iPad on Wednesday in San Francisco. Corporate giants thus far have leaned toward putting iPads into their workforce as sales tools. ? Medical-device maker Medtronic put more than 5,000 iPads in the hands of sales reps. The day iPads first came out, Medtronic snapped up 10, loaded them with product information, and put them into a booth for a cardiologist conference, stealing all the buzz that day. "We quickly realized the business value of enabling the sales force," says Medtronic CIO Mike Hedges. ?Mercedes-Benz put 400 iPads into dealerships keep transactions on showroom floors, near the vehicles. Dealers can check credit on the iPads or find additional information about the vehicles. It's a powerful tool to make the conversation more concrete, says John Ferry, media relations manager for Mercedes-Benz Financial Services.coach purses Yet corporate adoption can only move as fast as IT department will allow. IT groups are forced to define new policies for what kinds of data can and can't be accessed on the devices, among other issues, before bringing them on company networks. "We see a lot of executives that want the convenience and accessibility of that device. One of the inhibitors is the issues of how do you secure that device," says Gary Steele, CEO of security company ProofPoint. That hasn't stopped SAP. The business analytics software maker has picked up 3,500 iPads. "It's great to see that Apple is now embracing the enterprise marketplace," says CIO Oliver Bussmann. Apple's lead in both the consumer and corporate markets faces an army of rival tablet contenders only just getting started. Motorola's new Xoom, based on Google's Honeycomb version of Android, is the most closely watched among analysts. Nearly a decade ago, some large companies adopted Microsoft's Windows Tablet PC for specialized purposes. It failed to spark widespread interest. "The only tablet provider out there right now is Apple," says DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim. Shipments of all tablets, including iPads, are expected to reach 55.7 million worldwide in 2011 and more than triple by 2014 to 172.4 million, according to industry watcher DisplaySearch. coach outlet bags

A backwater no more, Gadhafi's hometown becomes crossroads BENGHAZI, Libya -- When Moammar Gadhafi came to power in 1969, at the age of 27, his hometown of Sirte was an unremarkable place, little more than a wide spot in the road where travelers moving along Libya's coastal highway might stop for gasoline.Coach Bags Online Today, however, Sirte looms large in what's become the battle for Libya's future. Decades of lavish development projects have made the city fiercely loyal to Gadhafi, and its location astride Libya's main east-west highway, a bit more than halfway along the roughly 600-mile drive between Benghazi and Tripoli, makes it a critical point for any rebel force that wants to march east toward the capital. Rebel military officials openly acknowledge that they fear going there. "We can't go into Sirte. They would demolish us," explained Ahmed Saraya, a 35-year veteran of the Libyan army who's now fighting with rebel forces. What happens in Sirte and two other cities in central Libya with important ties to Gadhafi's personal life and rule could well dictate whether the rebellion that has left Gadhafi isolated in Tripoli ultimately succeeds in pushing him out. Some 120 miles south of Sirte lies Hoon, home to a major military base that some say is the landing point for mercenaries from sub-Saharan Africa. Another 120 miles south lies Sabha, the town where Gadhafi says his revolution began and where he spent his early school years. A major highway connects the three - making Sirte the key not just to the west, but to a cordon of cities that splits the country nearly in half between the rebel-held east and the disputed west. Together, Sirte, Sabha and Hoon are home to those most likely to support Gadhafi to the end - family members, recipients of the benefits of big development projects and former residents of Chad to whom Gadhafi gave Libyan citizenship in the 1980s during that country's civil war. John Wright, a British journalist who wrote "A History of Libya," points out that under Gadhafi, Sirte has assumed an outsized importance for a city of 130,000 people in a country of 6 million. "It was a very insignificant place 30 or 40 years ago," he said. "Nobody went there. There was nothing there except maybe a gas station. It was just a place on the road." Since Gadhafi seized power, however, he's tried several times to make Sirte Libya's capital. Visiting foreign dignitaries were often brought there. Residents of Benghazi joke that one needs a passport to enter Sirte. Whether there are any stirrings of rebellion there are unknown.power balance bracelet wholesale "We have no definite information and anyone who tells you he does is lying. We have no communications with them," Saraya said. Residents reached by phone deny that anything exceptional is happening there. Rebels who have tried to drive to it reportedly have been arrested. Some have been executed, officials here charge, and rebels who say they'll make the drive west say they'll avoid Sirte and drive through the desert. "Everything is normal. They are just a bunch of people who are drunk and on hallucinogens," said one Sirte resident identified only as Ahmed, to a friend in Benghazi over a cell phone call, repeating a Gadhafi claim. He refused to offer any details of the situation there. Another Sirte resident promptly hung up the phone when told he was speaking to an American reporter. What word comes out of Sirte is unverifiable. Adil Adries, 32, claims he was a computer expert with a water company who was held by Gadhafi security forces for a week and, along with a Filipino man, was forced to look through about 300 seized computers and describe what documents, e-mails and Internet sites they found. Looking haggard, with a long face and beard, Adries said he hadn't witnessed any killings but had seen at least 170 men detained who'd been trying to pass to Tripoli and heard and witnessed beatings. "I came here to tell you the horrors that are happening there," Adries said, speaking in the courthouse in Benghazi, where the temporary opposition government is taking shape. But he can offer nothing to back his claims. He says he escaped Sirte in an Egyptian car provided by an Army major who defected. The journey to Benghazi took three days. But the Army major can provide no testimony. He was killed during the journey, Adries said. balance bracelets

Atlanta weather | The worst is over, but tornado watch remains in effect 6:55 p.m.: That tornado watch in Alabama across the state line from Troup County is over.Coach Handbags 6:47 p.m.: The National Weather Service has lifted its severe thunderstorm warning for DeKalb, Clayton, Rockdale, Henry and Newton counties, but one remains in effect for Troup and Meriwether counties in southwest Georgia. The tornado watch remains in effect until 8 p.m. for a band of the state from LaGrange to Athens. 6:38 p.m.: There is a tornado warning in Alabama just over the state line from southwest Georgia's Troup County, near LaGrange. Troup and Meriwether counties are under a severe thunderstorm warning. 6:37: p.m.: Flights from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport are being delayed up to two hours, the Federal Aviation Administration reported on its website. 6:30 p.m.: The National Weather Service lifts its tornado warning for South Fulton. Now, there are no tornado warnings remaining in Georgia, though several counties -- in a band from LaGrange to Athens, including metro Atlanta -- remain under a tornado watch until 8 p.m. There is also a severe thunderstorm warning for DeKalb, Clayton, Rockdale, Henry and Newton counties. (The National Weather Service's definition of a "watch" is that threatening weather is possible, while a "warning" means the threatening weather has been spotted or is expected.) 6:20 p.m.: The National Weather Service's severe thunderstorm warning extends east, from Atlanta and central and southern Fulton County into DeKalb, Clayton, Rockdale, Henry and Newton counties. It's also still in effect west of Atlanta, in Douglas County. The tornado warning is also still in effect in southern Fulton County, until 6:30 p.m. 6:10 p.m.: A "ground stop" is in place for all planes arriving at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration says. 6:08 p.m.: Weather sirens blaring in Douglas County. 6:05 p.m.: Georgia Power says via Twitter that the number of customers without power is up to 12,000 statewide (4,400 in North Fulton County, 800 in DeKalb County, 4,000 in Hall Co. and 1,000 Bartow County.) 6:03 p.m.: The National Weather Service has lifted the severe thunderstorm warning for most counties, except for central Fulton County and points west. 6:01 p.m.: Flights out of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport are being delayed between an hour and an hour and 15 minutes, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. 5:56 p.m.: Now the National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning for southwest Fulton County and Douglas County until 6:30 p.m. 5:55 p.m.: The National Weather Service's severe thunderstorm warning reaches Atlanta. 5:48 p.m.: Hall County outages total 4,000, Channel 2 Action News is reporting. 5:45 p.m.: 8,000 customers statewide lost power according to 11 Alive News. Outages are in Cherokee, Hall, Gordon and Bartow counties. 5:40 p.m.: No more tornado warnings. The National Weather Service map is showing only tornado watches and severe thunderstorm warnings and watches. The severe thunderstorm warnings are in Gwinnett County and counties northeast of there, and in Paulding County and west. 5:36 p.m.: Storm blows down trees in Alpharetta, according to Alpharetta Department of Public Safety. 5:27 p.m.: The storm is moving into the Lawrenceville area, with heavy rainfall, says Gwinnett County Fire & Emergency Services. 5:26 p.m.: The hail in Cherokee County was golf-ball sized. 5:25 p.m.: Beware lightning. Channel 2 Action News is reporting strikes in the thunderstorm warning areas. 5: p.m.15 p.m.: Kennesaw, Woodstock and Acworth are clear now, says Channel 2 Action News. 5:12 p.m.: Sirens still blaring in Roswell.Fashion Coach Sling Bags 5:08 p.m.: Storm moving toward Ga. 400 at 65 m.p.h., says Glenn Burns, Channel 2 Action News chief meteorologist. 5:02 p.m.: Roswell Fire Department announces a tornado warning for Roswell: "Please take cover and tune into your local news," the department says. Sirens blaring there. 4:55 p.m.: Channel 2 Action News reporting that the tornado warning has been extended to 5:45 p.m. and now includes Fulton and Forsyth counties in addition to Cobb and Cherokee. Noting the storm's timing with rush hour, Channel 2 chief meteorologist Glenn Burns said on TV: "I cannot think of a worse scenario than this." ---------------------------------- The National Weather Service is warning of the possibility of a twister touchdown in parts of north metro Atlanta. The tornado warning for northern Cobb and southern Cherokee counties plus southern Bartow and northeastern Paulding counties until 5 p.m. A tornado watch remained in effect for much of the rest of northwestern Georgia, and a severe thunderstorm warning was in effect for several counties north and east of Cobb until 5:30 p.m. There were scattered reports of hail just before 5 p.m., including in southern Cherokee County. The twister watch applies to 33 counties in the north and west portions of Georgia, including metro Atlanta. It applies to areas north of a line from LaGrange to Athens, and is in effect until 8 p.m. The National Weather Service says a "watch" means the threatening weather is possible while a "warning" means the threatening weather has been spotted or is expected. Storms capable of producing isolated tornadoes, damaging winds of 70 mph and hail were expected to move through the area between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., Channel 2 Action News meteorologist David Chandley told the AJC Monday afternoon. He said as much as a half inch of rain could fall. The National Weather Service placed areas south of that line under a slight risk for severe storms. Tuesday's forecast is for a clear, sunny day with a high in the low 60s -- down from Monday's temperatures in the 70s. The tornado watch comes one day before the official start of tornado season. The Georgia Emergency Management Agency noted the close timing in a statement Monday, advising people to read up on tornado preparedness at the agency's website. Their advice includes sheltering in an interior room away from windows, listening to NOAA Weather Radio and monitoring other media and watching for downed power lines in the aftermath of a storm.Coach Hobos Bags

Why the government won't shut down Political Washington is consumed with the question of whether the federal government will shut down when funding for it runs out on Friday.power balance. It (almost certainly) won't. Senate Democrats and House Republicans started making nice with one another late last week, suggesting -- rhetorically, at least -- that a deal to push the deadline back two weeks is in the offing. "We have a moral responsibility to address the problems we face," House Speaker John Boehner (Ohio) said in a speech Sunday night. "That means working together to cut spending and rein in government -- not shutting it down." And, while it's FAR less certain how the two sides will come together to pass a longer-term funding mechanism, there are powerful political reasons for the two sides to try and work out a compromise. Why? Because the politics of a shutdown are wildly unpredictable and would almost certainly play out in such a way as to make the stakes incredibly high for each side. Let's tackle the unpredictability piece first. Gallup released poll numbers late last week that suggested an American public deeply divided over who is doing more to balance the budget as well as the best way forward on the issue. Forty two percent said Republicans were doing a better job on "current efforts to agree on a new federal budget" while 39 percent said President Obama/Democrats in Congress were doing the better job. Among electorally critical independents, 37 percent said congressional Republicans were doing the superior job while 33 percent named Obama/Democrats. And, while 60 percent of those tested said Congress should "agree to a compromise budget plan even if that means they pass a budget you disagree with", nearly half -- 48 percent -- said that the budget proposals put forward by President Obama don't go far enough. Add those numbers up -- figuratively not literally, of course -- and you are left with a public that doesn't really know what it wants or who to blame if they don't get it. As a general rule, politicians -- from the local level right up to the presidency -- hate uncertainty. When the public is as deeply divided (or confused) about such a major issue as the budget and the possibility of a government shutdown, politicians are left with no obvious course of action to move forward. In the face of such uncertainty, politicians typically punt -- pushing off the hardest decisions until there is more clarity in public opinion.2011 coach purses (We are not suggesting politicians make ALL of their decisions based on public opinion. But, when your job is dependent on getting people to vote for you, it's hard to ignore public sentiment.) The high profile history of past government shutdowns is the second major reason why shutting it down -- Public Enemy reference! -- seems unlikely. The last time it happened was in late 1995 and early 1996 when then President Bill Clinton and then House Speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) engaged in a political game of chicken over -- you guessed it! -- the budget. With the country paying rapt attention, Clinton used the bully pulpit to argue that Republicans were keeping people out of work while Gingrich struggled to successfully counter the idea that he and House Republicans had simply picked up their ball and gone home. The reverberations were massive. Clinton, who was a year removed from a disastrous setback in the 1994 midterm elections, gained the momentum that eventually led him to his sweeping 1996 re-election. Gingrich, who at the time was the ascendant figure in the Republican party, began a slow fade that culminated in his resignation from Congress after the 1998 election. (Gingrich, interestingly, argues that Republicans won the 1995 budget stand off. So, there's that.) Fear of repeating Gingrich's mistakes runs deep within the Republican leadership. Poll after poll suggests that voters -- particularly independents -- want President Obama and House Republicans to work together. Obstinance, in any form, could well tip the scales in Democrats' favor particularly with Obama enjoying the benefits of the bully pulpit. On the other hand, President Obama ran on his ability to change the tone in Washington and get government working for average people again. After the health care debate, Obama's brand was clearly tarnished on that front but his work since the lame-duck session of Congress has re-established him as compromiser-in-chief. It's hard to imagine the White House willingly risking the hard-won gains of the last few months on a shutdown. Put simply: A government shutdown amounts to a political high-wire act without a net. And that's why it almost certainly won't happen.coach backpacks