TURKS & CAICOS SUN
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JUNE 29TH - JULY 6TH, 2013
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T ObamaOhas shortlist to succeed ECHN
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Federal Reserve chairman Bernanke
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he White House has assembled a shortlist of candidates to succeed Federal Reserve Bank chairman Ben Bernanke, a source familiar with the process said, and U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is running the search. Bernanke is expected to leave when his second term ends on January 31, after an eventful eight years in helping the U.S. economy recover from the worst recession since the Great Depression. Lew has assembled a short list with the help from several senior White House officials, the source said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. There was no information on who is on the list, although Janet Yellen, Lawrence Summers and Timothy Geithner are considered to be likely leading choices. “We decline to comment on speculation on any personnel matters until the President has made his decisions and is ready to announce them,” said Amy Brundage, White House spokeswoman. “The President believes that Chairman Bernanke is a vital and excellent partner in promoting our economic recovery and he continues to serve admirably and with distinction during this important time for our country,” she said. President Barack Obama hinted in an interview aired on Monday that he may be looking for
President Barack Obama in a meeting with Ben Bernanke a new chief of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, saying Ben Bernanke has stayed a lot longer than the current chairman had originally planned. Obama, speaking to Charlie Rose, host of a PBS interview program, compared Bernanke to longtime FBI Director Robert Mueller, who agreed to stay two years longer than he had planned and is to leave in the coming months. “Well, I think Ben Bernanke’s done an outstanding job. Ben Bernanke’s a little bit like Bob Mueller, the head of the FBI - where he’s already stayed a lot longer than he wanted or he was sup-
posed to,” Obama said. Asked whether he would reappoint Bernanke if he wanted to keep the job, Obama did not answer directly. “He has been an outstanding partner, along with the White House, in helping us recover much stronger than, for example, our European partners, from what could have been an economic crisis of epic proportions,” Obama said. Bernanke, who has tried to nurse along the ailing U.S. economy through the 2008 financial crisis, is widely expected to step down when his second term as chairman expires at the end of January. Obama was making the point that Bernanke worked through the stressful financial crisis of 2008, and is in his eighth year as Fed chair, and has likely stayed longer and endured more than he might have personally have wanted to, out of a sense of duty and public service, the official said. Bernanke has been a vital and excellent partner in helping to bring the United States back from the brink of depression, the official said. No decisions have been made about any personnel decision involving the Fed, the official added. Obama is said to be considering a number of monetary experts for the job, including Fed Vice Chair Janet Yellen, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, and former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
Google takes aim at gaming market with new Android video game console G
oogle Inc. is developing a videogame console and digital wrist watch powered by its Android operating system, according to people familiar with the matter, as the Internet company seeks to spread the software’s domination beyond smartphones and tablets and cement build the company ‘s reputation as a hardware maker. With the watch and game console, Google is hoping to combat similar devices that Apple Inc. may release in the future, according to the people familiar with the matter. Google is also preparing to release a second version of a Web-connected, Android-powered media-playing device, called Nexus Q, that was unveiled last year but not sold to the public, these people said. The Internet giant hopes to design and market the devices itself and release at least one of them this fall, they added. The hardware plans are the latest sign of Google’s determination to build on the success of Android, the software it launched in 2008 that powered 75% of all smartphones and 56.5% of tablets shipped globally in the first quarter, according to the research firm IDC. Games that run on Android software have proved particularly popular, and they are growing much more quickly than games made for the big-name consoles supplied by Microsoft Corp., Sony Corp. and Nintendo Co. The appeal of such
games has prompted the development of new devices aimed specifically for Android by other hardware companies. The people briefed on the matter said Google is reacting in part to expectations that rival Apple will launch a videogame console as part of its next Apple TV product release. Google has also been watching the efforts of Ouya Inc., a startup that this week began selling a $99 Android-based console and game controller, one of these people said. The company’s hardware efforts come as it wraps up development on the next version of Android, which is expected to be released in the fall. Among other things, the software will be better tailored to the lower-cost smartphones prevalent in developing countries with the aim of firming up Android’s market-share dominance globally, said some of the people familiar with the matter. Google, through its Android unit and Google X hardware lab, is seeking to build next-generation devices separately from the company’s Motorola hardware division. The hardware maker
was acquired last year and is currently focused on launching an Android-based smartphone called the Moto X, these people said. Meanwhile, Google has been developing lowcost Android smartphones of its own with an eye toward offering them in developing markets, other people familiar with the matter have said, including in markets where Google plans to fund or help create next-generation wireless networks. With the next release of Android this fall, Google is also moving more aggressively to take the software into additional kinds of devices, including laptops and appliances such as refrigerators. Personal-computer makers including Hewlett Packard Co. are already working on Android-powered laptops running the next version of the software, an effort that is separate from already launched Android tablets that can physically connect to a keyboard, according to people familiar with the matter. Android laptops would thus compete with those powered by Microsoft’s Windows software. An HP spokesman didn’t immediately provide a comment. Android is offered free to makers of devices like smartphones and tablets, with Samsung Electronics Co. the biggest of Google’s hardware partners. The hardware helps Google generate revenue from Google Search, YouTube and other Web services.